" *? LIBRARY OF THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY PRINCETON, N. J. Presented by Es-Vc\^e of "Rev. Greor^e &.5mitla BR 145 .P7 1871 Pond, Enoch, 1791-1882. A history of God's church from its origin to the c^(^7T TEXT -BOOK ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. C ^^Z^^^^^r.^^ K^y <^^^i^•*•• S35 CHAPTER -XXrS. The Kings of Judah and Israel, Concluded .,,,,«.,,• 348 CHAPTER XXX. The Jews under the Babylonians •••• 362 CHAPTER XXXI. The Jews under the Medo-Persians ■••••• 374 CHAPTER XXXn. The Jews under the Medo-Persians, Continued ...••• i t • 384 CHAPTER XXXni. The Jews under the Medo-Persians and Greeks ...,,,,,. 396 CHAPTER XXXrV. The Jews under the Kings of Syria and Egypt ..,,,,,,, 408 CHAPTER XXXV. The Maccabees ••••• 419 CHAPTER XXXVI. The Maccabees to the Death of John Hyrcanus • • • 431 CHAPTER XXXVn. The Maccabees to the Time of Herod • • . t • 443 CHAPTER XXXVni. Herod to the Birth of Christ ■>•■!•• 455 PART II. HISTORY OF GOD S CHURCH FROM THE COMING OP CHRIST XO THE PRESENT TIME. CHAPTER I. Introductory • 467 14 CONTENTS. CHAPTER n. Life of Cbbist , ,, ... 475 CHAPTER m. Life of Christ, Continded , 485 CHAPTER IV. Life of Christ, Concldded •« ,,,.496 PERIOD I. THE CHURCH UKDER THE APOSTLES AND THEIR IMMEDIATE SUCCESSORS. CHAPTER V. The Opening of the New Dispensation 509 CHAPTER ^n[. Early Labors and Successes of the Apostles. — Lr\'ES of the Apostles . . .518 CHAPTER Vn. Lives OF the Apostles, Continued ' , .529 CHAPTER Vni. Life of the Apostle Paul , . , 540 CHAPTER IX. Life of Paul, Concluded 549 CHAPTER X. Companions and Immediate Successors of the Apostles ..,,,.. 560 CHAPTER XI. Church Organization and Government in the First Period . , . , ' , .572 CHAPTER xn. Persecutions and Progress of the Church in this Period 581 CHAPTER Xm. Doctrines, Controversies, and Religious Spirit, in this Period ..... 583 PERIOD 11. KEMAINDER OF THE SECOND CENTURY. CHAPTER XIV. Pebsecctions and Progress of Religion . , ,698 CONTENTS. 15 CHAPTER XV. Church Organization, Religious Rites and Teachers 608 CHAPTER XVI. Doctrines, Heresies, and Controversies. — State of Religion 618 PERIOD m. FROM THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE THIRD CENTURY TO THE REVO- LUTION UNDER CONSTANTINE. CHAPTER XVn. Persecutions and Progress of Christianity in this Period 627 . CHAPTER X\'TII. Church Organization, Religious Rites and Teachers 637 CHAPTER XIX. Doctrines, Heresies, Controversies, and State of Religion . . ■ • . i 647 PERIOD IV. FROM THE REVOLUTION UNDER CONSTANTINE TO THE FALL OP THE WESTERN ROMAN EMPIRE, A.D. 476. CHAPTER XX. External History of the Church during this Period 656 CHAPTER XXI. Church Organization, Religious Rites and Teachers .••!••• 668 CHAPTER XXn. Doctrines, Heresies, and Controversies 683 CHAPTER XXm. Controversies, Concluded.— State of Religion 695 PERIOD V. FROM THE SUBVERSION OF THE WESTERN ROMAN EMPIRE TO ITS RES- TORATION UNDER CHARLEMAGNE, A.D. 800. CHAPTER XXIV. External History of the Church during this Period 707 16 CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXV. Church Organization. — Religious Rites and Teachers 718 CHAPTER XXVI. Doctrines, Heresies, and Controversies. — State of Religion . , , , , 728 PERIOD VI. FROM THE RESTORATION OF THE WESTERN EMPIRE UNDER CHARLE- MAGNE TO THE CULMINATION OF POPERY AT THE CLOSE OF THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY. CHAPTER XX\TI. External History of thi: Church during this Period ...#•... 738 CHAPTER XXVm. Church Organization, Government, and Teachers 751 CHAPTER XXIX. History of Doctrines, Superstitions, and Controversies 766 CHAPTER XXX. Religious Observances and Sects. — State of Learning and Religion . , . 778 PERIOD VII. FROM THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE. FOURTEENTH CENTURY TO THE REFORMATION. CHAPTER XXXI. External History. — [Popery and the Popes. — Teachers 791 CHAPTER XXXII. Doctrines, Controversies, and Rites. — State of Learning and Religion . . .805 PERIOD VIII. THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. CHAPTER XXXIII. The Protestant Reformation. — Introductory . , , CONTENTS. 17 CILVPTER XXXrV. Reformation in Germany. — Life of Luthek . • • # i i • * • • 827 CHAPTER XXXV. Reformation in Germany. — Life of Luther, Continued .■••••• 840 CHAPTER XXXVT, Reformation in Germany. — Life of Luther, Continued .... t t . 853 CHAPTER XXXVn. Reformation in Germany. — Life of Luther, Continued ..«•.•• 865 CHAPTER XXXVin. Reformation in Germany. — Life of Luther, Continued 878 CHAPTER XXXIX. Reformation in Germany. — Life of Luther, Concluded ■ • • i • • • 890 CHAPTER XL. Reformation in Switzerland i«>ii 902 CHAPTER XLI. Reformation in France ..-.i 916 CHAPTER XLH. Reformation in Denmark, Sweden, the jSTetiierlands, Bohemia, Italy, and Spain, 030 "^ CHAPTER XLIII. Reformation in Germany, Concluded • > i . . 943 CHAPTER XLIV. Reformation in England 954 CHAPTER XLV. Reformation in Scotland and Ireland 96S CHAPTER XLVI. Reformation in S^nTZEKLAND and France 982 CHAPTER XLVn. Reformation in the Xetfierlands , , , . 995 CHAPTER XLVIII. Different Churches and Sects in the Sixteenth Century, Subsequent to the Reformation , 1007 2 18 CONTENTS. PERIOD IX. THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. CHAPTER XLIX. History of Different Churches axd Sects » • t . 1021 PERIOD X. FROM THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY TO THE PRESENT TIME. CHAPTER L. UisTORY OF Different CiiuRcriEs and Sects 1033 CHAPTER LI. Benevolent Operations ln the Present Century 1045 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. PART I. • HISTOEY OF GOD'S CHUECH BEFOEE THE COMINa OE CHEIST. ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY. THE PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY, in the full sense of the terms, is the liistory of God's Church on the earth, from the beginning to the present time. God had a Church in the Avorld long ages before the coming of Christ. He began to have a Church as soon as there were any pious people of whom to compose it ; and he began to have a visible Church as soon as these pious people became in any way organized so as to render their calling and their piety visible. The earliest form of ecclesiastical as well as civil government was the patriarchal. The father of a family, the ancestor of a tribe, was acknowledged as both its ruler and its priest. We have examples of this form of government in Noah, in Abraham, in Melchisedec, and in Job. The Church before the Flood was patri- archal, and had, at least, two visible rites, or ordinances, — the weekly sabbath and bloody sacrifices. At the time of Abraham, another significant rite was added, viz. circumcision ; and a formal covenant was given. At the time of Moses, various other rites were instituted, all of them of symbolical or tj-pical import. At this time, also, the ancient patriarchal form of government was exchanged for the theocratic and national. The Jehovah of Israel condescended to become, not merely the covenant head of his peo- ple, but their civil ruler and governor. In the language of the prophet, he was henceforth to be " their judge, their lawgiver, and their king" (Isa. xxxiii. 22). At this period, the Church may be said to have entered upon a new dispensation, exchanging the patriarchal for the JMosaic. Under this dispensation, it continued till the death of Christ. 21 22 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. The liistoiy of God's Church previous to the commg of Christ is chiefly to be found in the Old-Testament Scriptures ; and it is this which is now to engage our attention. Before directly entering upon it, however, it will be necessary to consider some introduc- tory topics, which will occupy several chapters. And, first, let me call attention to what has been called the pMlosoijhj of Imtory. The transcendental view of the philosophy of history may be stated as follows : This living world, wliich is the proper subject of history, is one vast organism^ in which every thing is moving on, developing, according to established laws. This organism is from a germ, like the animal or vegetable, and, like them, is replete with life. One tells us that " it is a process of life, which springs from within, and which remains, in all its coiu'se, identical with itself ; as man, through all the stages of his life, still continues a man." Another calls it " a living, moral development. It is, in its own sphere and Idnd, as much of the nature of a living principle as the breath of life in the nostrils." In this view, history is not the detail of outward occurrences, connected together as cause and effect; but it is a constant living growth in one direction or another, each event growing organically out of that which precedes it, and giving birth to that which follows it, just as the man grows from the infant, or the oak from the acorn, or the leaves and the flowers of sprmg from the opening buds. Tliis philosophy of history originated with the transcendentahsts of Germany, and dates back to the beginning of the present cen- tury. " It was brought out," we are told, " with peculiar emphasis and freshness by the genial Herder. The more mature and philo- sophical conception of it, however, and the impulse which it gave to a deeper and livelier study of liistory, are due especially to the philosophy of Schelling, and still more to that of Hegel. AVith Hegel, all life and thought are properly development, or a process of organic growth." On these views of history has been constructed the pretended science of sociology, which, if it shall succeed as its votaries antici- pate, will, ere long, enable us to resolve all questions in history or prophecy with as much certainty as we now do problems in mathe- matics ; will enable us as accurately to predict the course of nations, in given circumstances, as we now describe the orbits of the heav- enly bodies. The Hegelians in Germany, or some of them, are expecting, at no distant day, to be able to dispense entirely with the ordinary books of history, and, by a purely d-priori process, to THE PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. 23 lay open all the past and all the future, from the beginning to the end of time. This period is looked forward to as the very millen- nium of pliilosophy, when science shall take the reins in politics and rehgion, and subjugate all things to itself. Such are the views entertained by not a few at this day as to the philosophy of history ; and they look down upon those who follow the old methods as empirics and smatterers, who have not the capacity to scale the heights of transcendental wisdom, or pene- trate the depths of a true philosophy. My objections to a philosophy of history such as this are two- fold. In the first place, the grand assumption on which the whole fabric rests is not true in fact. It may pass in fiction, or as a figure of speech ; but, m point of fact, it has no foundation. The world of mankind is not an organism in the sense here supposed. It has not organic parts and members. It is not pervaded by a common principle of life like that of the animal or the vegetable. Swedenborg taught that all heaven is one " grand man," pos- sessed of the human form and features, and animated by a common Hfe ; and he is very particular in describing what kind of characters from this world go into the different parts of " the grand man," — the head, the breast, the limbs, the feet.* Our transcendental pliilosophers woidd combine all the inhabitants of this world — past, present, and to come — into a "grand man," a vast organic structure; and give it life, growth, maturity, and decay. Now, such an idea, as I said, may do well enough in poetry, or in the hallucinations of a visionary enthusiast ; but to lay it at the foun- dation of a system of philosophy, and demand that it be received as fact, is simple nonsense \ there is no truth in it. The human race is made up of millions, and hundi-eds of millions, of distinct beings, each having a soid, a life, of its own, and having no common life. To be sure, these myriads of men are all of them social beings, existing in groups, in families, in communities, and nations. They act as nations, and form national characters. But to fancy the immense multitude as constituting one vast, living, organic structure, all of whose movements are normal outgroivths^ unfoldings, from a germ witliin, as much so as the leaves of the forest, and flowers of the field, is one of the strangest phantasms that ever entered the brain of a German transcendentalist. As I said before, there is no truth in it. It contradicts all that we know of ourselves and of one another ; and to make such a theory the * See Swedenborgianism Examined, p. 47. 24 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. basis of a vast philosopliical system is simply to build a castle in the air.* My second objection to this new philosophy of history grows ont of its 2)antheistic, atheistic, fatalistic tendencies. Tliis is admitted by its adherents in this country. " It is indeed true," says one, " that the idea of a living, organic development has been employed in an atheistic manner, and enters largely into all pantheistic methods." It is thus employed continually by the German phi- losophers who originated it and first launched it upon the world. It is not enough for these men to draw around the physical world the bands of law, so necessary, so changeless, that no sus- pension, no proper miracle, ever did or could take place ; but the same bands must reach to the moral world, and to all the minutiae of social life, else the reign of law is not universal, and a necessity is left for a personal God : and all this the philosophy before us proposes to do. Social progress is subject to law as much as astronomy, — to the same kind of law ; and the former moves on as irresistibly and as uniformly as the latter. The buds on the trees open in the spring, the leaves shoot forth, and, in due time, the blossoms and the fruit appear. This is groivth, development, normal development ; and, by a like progress of organic law, the movements of the moral and religious world are regulated. Pantheism always runs into fatalism ; and so we find it here. The organic laws of which we have spoken are not like God's moral law, which intelligent beings are free to obey or disobey ; but, nolens volens, they bear all created beings and things, actions and events, along with them, and nothing can be otherwise than it is : consequently they obliterate all moral distinctions, and render sin and holiness ahke impossible. * This strange idea is the staple of Dr. Temple's * Essay on the Edncation of the World, the first in a volume of Essays and Reviews recently published by clergj^men of the Church of England. Dr. Temple begins by assuming that the whole human race is no other than "a colossal man," whose life reaches from the creation to the end of time. The successive genera- tions of men are days in this gi'eat man's life ; the inventions and discoveries of all time are his works; the successive states of society are his manners; while the creeds, the doctrines, the opinions, of the successive ages, are his thoughts. This hj'pothetical man, we are toIJ, is growing not only in knowledge, but in visible size, just as we do; and is developing his faculties with great regularity. In the education of this monster man, the different races that have inhabited the earth have been plapng their several parts. Thus the Hebrews trained his conscience, the •Romans his will, the Greeks his reason and taste, and Asia his imagination. Dr. Temple does not tell us what the Chinese have done in this matter, nor what Egypt, nor what the swarming myriads of India and Africa, nor what the barbarians of Northern Europe and Asia, or the American Indians. The conclusion to which the author comes is, that his monster man has already oiitgrown Christianity; that the Bible is obsolete, and no longer worthy to be accepted as a rule of faith and life. * Dr. Temple is now Bishop of Exeter. THE PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. 25 We do not say that all who have embraced this philosophy of history are pantheists or fatalists ; far from it : but we do say that this is the natural tendency of the system, and that this view of it is actually taken by the propounders and advocates of it in Germany. Thus, in an English review of HegeFs " Philosophy of History," the writer says, " A certain tone of fatalism pervades liis interpretation of history, as if men, by seizing its seminal idea at the root of all things, could predict its future course. In the primitive germ of existence, when first it arose out of nothingness, Hegel assumes a latent wealth of imphcit power, which must ever, by the working of an inherent power, press outward into expres- sion and embodiment, as the acorn expands organically into the oak." * No w^onder that men, on this ground, " by seizing the seminal idea at the root of all things, can predict its future course." No wonder that moral freedom finds no place in such a system. What freedom is there in the growth of the oak from the acorn, or in the movements of social and political life, if these proofed on the same principle, and in accordance with the workings of a like organic law ? Some have thought that this new pliilosophy has been a prodi- gious gain to history. " The great change that has taken place within the present century," says one, " in the way of conceiving and constructing history, is owing to the adoption and use of a method that was foreign to the mind and the intellectual ten- dencies of the eighteenth century. One only needs to compare history like that of Dr. Robertson with history Hke that of Dr. Arnold, or history like that of Gibbon with history like that of Niebuhr, to see, that, from some cause, a great change has come over tlie department witliin fifty years." The supposed improve- ments in history here referred to are accounted for, not because of a better arrangement or a purer diction, but solely on the ground of the new philosophy ; so much more being made of " the germs and dynamic forces of liistory " than Avas ever done before. But, as to the alleged improvements in history on the ground of the new pliilosophy, I can only say that all men are not of the same opinion. To my own mind, the introduction of the prin- ciples, the method, and the peculiar phraseology, of the new philosophy into history, has been no improvement, but rather a detriment. To trace it only in the department of church history, the church historians of Germany, within the last fifty years, may * See Eclectic Magazine for September, 1858, p. 12. 26 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. have excelled their predecessors, and perhaps all others, in pro- foundness of research ; and yet their histories arc soiled through- out, and half spoiled, with the mmghngs of the transcendental pliilosophy. Take, for example, the voliunes of Neander, whose learning, whose candor, whose childlike simphcity of pm-pose, whose humble piety, we all admire ; and yet his philosophy has shut these volumes out as text-books in most of our higher schools of learning, and must exclude them in all coming time. It is not enough for an historian of tliis stamp to tell us that a particular event occurred at a given time, and how and why it occurred, and what consequences resulted from it (all this would be shallow and empirical) : but he must go into a long d-priori argument to show that such an event must have occurred at that time ; that its development could not have been sooner or later. Nor is this the worst of it. If the actual course of things does not fall in with the course of development, then it must be broken in. Organic development is more to be relied on than the testimonies of history. The latter may be false ; but the former must be true. It is on this ground that we find the transcendental historians, or some of them, throwing aside so many of the genuine works of the ancients, — some of the Orations of Cicero and of the Dialogues of Plato, and whole books of the Bible, with all its miracles. They do not develop right. Of course, they are rni- historical, and must be discarded. It will be seen that we repudiate this development-theory in its apphcation to history as being false in fact, heretical in its ten- dencies, and positively injurious in its bearing upon the cause of historical Hterature and truth. The sooner we renounce it, and retui'n to the simple natural methods of the Bible and of our fathers, the better will it be for all concerned. But, if the theory which has been examined is not the true philosophy of liistory, what shall we say on the subject ? Is there any pliilosophy of liistory ? and, if so, what is it ? To tliis I answer, The pliilosophy of history, Hke all other true philosophy, has to do, not with theories or hjq^otheses, but with facts. Its province is, by a patient induction, to ascertain the facts of history, and then to go into an investigation of the causes of these facts, and also of tlieu' results. This, I have supposed, is the true philosophy of history; and tliis opens a field to the student of history which is all but boundless. To ascertain the facts of history — what an immense labor must THE PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. 27 that be ! The volume of history, taken in its widest extent, is no otlier than the great book of Providence. It inchides every thing that has taken phace in the providence of God, whether in tliis world or in any other world, from the beginning to the present time. A vast majority of the events which go to make up this mass of history have never been recorded except in the book of God's remembrance, and will never be unfolded until the great burning- day. • The history of many things, indeed of most things, belonging to the present world, is now utterly lost to us. They were not recorded at the time, or the record, if made, has failed to reach us ; and they are not noAv within the scope of our inquiries. They, too, are in the book of God's remembrance, and nowhere else. But we need not repine at the loss of so much history, since what remains to us, what is fairly within our reach, is far beyond our ability to investigate. It surpasses not only the labor of a life, but of many lives. The history of a pre-Adamite earth, God has written out, to some extent, in the embedded rocks beneath our feet. Here is a field now beginning to be opened to human investigation, wliich long- ages may not be sufficient to explore.. Another portion of history, one pertaining to the human race, is inscribed on the ruins of mouldering cities and the mau- soleums of ancient kings. These, too, are beginning to be opened ; and hoary legends written in mysterious characters, after having been buried for thousands of years, are beginning to be read. Here is another field of historical research, which Avill not soon be exhausted, and which is full of promise to the curious inquirer. Of the open records of the past, the oldest, by far, are those of our Old-Testament Scriptures. Moses and Joshua and Samuel, and the Hebrew prophets, lived and Avrote long anterior to any of the secular historians of which we have any knowledge ; and we have reason for the profoundest gratitude that their writings, stamped with all appropriate marks of correctness and authenticity, have come down to us. Herodotus, appropriately called the father of secular histo;.y, lived four hundred and eighty years before Christ, and was contemporary with Ezra and Nehemiah. Manetho, the first historian of Egypt, lived near a hundred years later, in the days of Ptolemy Philadelphus. We now approach the time 28 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. of the more ancient liistorians of Greece and Rome ; and the his- tories of the church and workl proceed together. Enough has been said to show that the hibor of investigating the facts of history, even those which are 02)en to human investiga- tion, is very great. Were this hibor imposed upon any one man during the orcUnary period of human hfe, he would find it an utter impossibihty. But to study the mere facts of history includes but a small part of the philosophy of history. The causes of events are to be inquired into, and also their consequences, their results. Nor, in searching out the causes of events in history, are we to satisfy ourselves with proximate causes, — those which are near and obvious ; but we must look beyond them, to such as have a deeper and wider mfluence. The general course of events in given peri- ods, the spirit of the times, prevailing customs, the intercourse of nations one with another, the impressions which have come down from previous ages, — things of this nature must come into the account, since they all go to modify the currents of liistory, and stand connected with its results. Then there is the natural and universal depravity of man, — a fact wliich the Bible abundantly discloses, and which expe- rience and observation unitedly teach : what a mighty influence this has had in shaping and controlling the history of the world ! It is this wliich has made the natural course of things on the earth, in a moral view, perpetually downward from good to bad, and from bad to worse. Why was it, that, in the antediluvian ages, the world became so soon and so dreadfully wicked, filled with every species of violence and crime, till nought remained for it but an utter destruction ? And, after the Deluge, how soon again did ' the earth become idolatrous and sinful ! so that God was con- strained, in order to preserve a knowledge of himself among men, to separate a single family from the surrounding nations, establish his covenant with them, and constitute them a people for himself ; while the rest of the world were given up to their own hearts' wanderings.* And then how soon did the family of Abraham become corrupt, — so corrupt, that they could no longer be tolerat- ed, but were cut off and cast off for their unbelief ! And the Chris- tian Church, so pure at the first, and so likely, apparently, to hold on its way, — how soon did this relapse into error, superstition, darkness, and sin, till scarcely a semblance of true piety remained ! * See Eom. i. 24, 26, 28. THE PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. 29 Now, facts like those at which I have here hinted — great pubhc facts, reaching back to the remotest ages, and coming down to the present time — all go to show the influence of human depravity in shaping the course of tilings in this wicked world, and how insuffi- cient every theory of the philosophy of history must be in which this doctrine of depravity is ignored or passed over. Much of the history of nations is but a history of their wickedness and its results. " Whence come wars and fightings among you ? come they not hence even of your lusts ? " (Jas. iv. 1.) A pregnant passage this in the philosophy of history. In close connection with human depravit}^, there is another fact which I cannot forbear to notice, — the existence and influence of evil spirits. The Bible makes us acquainted with the existence of such spirits, with their access to human minds, and with their vast and destructive influence upon human affairs ; and the history of the past evinces that these utterances are true. How else are we to account for far-reaching schemes of corruption and wickedness, running often through many generations, and thus forbidchng the supposition that they could have been set on foot by any one man, or generation of men ? Witness the long reign of idolatry in the earth, by which the worship which belongs only to God has been turned aside, and given to devils. Witness, also, the long and cruel reign of Popery. No sooner had Christianity taken possession of the Roman Empire, and it had become certain that it would spread and prevail, than we see an influence starting up to prevent it, turn it aside from its holy purpose, and make it an engine of persecution and wickedness. Witness, also, the frequent perversion of revivals of religion, and schemes of social and moral reform. If Satan cannot prevent or stop a revival of religion, he will be very likely _ to turn revival-preacher, and supplant the genial workings of the Spirit by the wildfire of demoniac influence. If he cannot stop the chariot of social reform, he can mount the driver's box, and seize the reins, and, like Jehu of old, drive furiously. We must not be ignorant of his devices ; nor can we account for some of the more striking facts in history without recurring to his exist- ence and mfluence. As an offset to human depravity and Satanic temptations, we must take into account in our philosophy of history the benign and powerful effects of the gospel and its p>rovisions ; such as the Bible, the sabbath, the preached word, the Church and its ordi- nances, and especially the work of the Holy Spirit. I need not 30 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. enlarge on these topics. It cannot be doubted that they have a mighty influence upon the destinies of men, and in^ shaping the currents of tliis world's history. Obviously, they are at the foun- tain-head of all ecclesiastical history ; since, without them, there could be no chiuxh, no piety, no real goodness, on the earth. The world, and all it contains, would go to destruction together. Above all things, therefore, must these be regarded as among the causes of human events, and as a part of oui* philosophy of history. The events of history are connected not only as cause and effect, but in the eternal and universal purpose of the Supreme Being. From all eternity, God had before liim a perfect plan of all his works. At the appointed time, he entered upon the execution of this plan. He commenced the great works of creation and j)rovi- dence ; and all that has taken place from the beginning to the present hour, — the worlds that have been created, the countless myriads that have been placed upon them, the entire series of events in providence which go to make up the material of his- tory,— all are but the unfolding, the fidfilling, of God's eternal and perfect plan. As his counsel purposed it, and his omniscience foresaw it, so his hand has been concerned in it all. " Who worketh all thmgs after the counsel of his own will " (Eph. i. 11), Here, then, we have a chain of connection running through the whole course of events, — not the organic development of the pan- theist, but the providential purpose of an infinitely wise and holy God, who "sees the end from the beginning," and whose counsel shall stand forever. This plan of God, of which the whole work of providence is but the exponent and fulfilment, is all-perfect like its Author, though often dark and mysterious to us. Its unfold- ings not mifrequently surprise us, puzzle us, confound us ; and yet we know tliiit all is light and right with him. " Clouds and dark- ness are round about him ; but righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne." The pliilosopliical student of history sees events taking place not only in fulfilment of an eternal and perfect plan, but in accordance with established laws. In other words, they take place regularly ; so that their occurrence can be depended on, and often predicted. But then these laws of procedure, or of Nature (as they are some- times called), are not inflexible arrangements, which no being ever estabhshed, and none can suspend, and Avhich the pantheist sub- stitutes in place of God ; but they are the ordinances of God him- self, — the track which he has laid down on which the wheel of THE PHILOSOPHY OF PHSTORY. 31 Ms providence is to roll ; established modes of divine operation, v^^hich, in case of miracles, lie has suspended, and which, if he pleases, he may suspend again. Nor will the Christian student of history be willuig to stop even here. He reads in his Bible, that, as all things were made by Christ, so they were all made /or him ; that he "is Head over all things to the Church ; " and that he is overruling all, in some way, for the advancement of his holy Idngclom. History is thus brought into close connection with the kingdom of Christ. It is represented as being subservient to that Idngdom ; and the Chris- tian student is led to inquire in what the subserviency consists. He perceives, first of all, that the arrangements of Providence were so ordered, m ancient times, as to i^repare the ivay for the Idngdom of Christ. They were so ordered as to illustrate its necessity, to make room for it, and fitly introduce it. Here is one important point of connection. Another point of connection is this : Whatever stands in the way of Christ's kingdom, or cannot be made to subserve its interests, 'is quickly removed. " The nation and Idngdom that will not serve Thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted" (Isa. Ix. 12). What a commentary on this divine declaration does the history of the ancient world present ! Where, now, are the kingdoms of Assyria and Egypt ? — the oldest of which we have any knowledge. Where is great Nineveh, and the still greater Babylon, which once frowned defiance on all who approached them, and seemed as though they must stand forever ? Where is the Medo-Persian ram which Daniel saw, pusliing westward and northward and southward, so that no beast could stand before him, neither could any dehver out of Ids hand ? And where is that Grecian he-goat which canie so rapidly from the west, that he seemed scarcely to touch the ground ; which smote the ram, and brake his two horns, and trampled his empire in the dust ? And where is that fourth beast which Daniel saw, dreadful and ter- rible and strong exceedingly, which devoured and brake in pieces with its iron teeth, and stamped the residue with its feet ? These mighty empu'es have long since departed ; their cities are in ruins : their names and their history are all that remain to us. And why have they passed away ? Why have they been so utterly and miserably destroyed ? With the Bible in our hands, we cannot hesitate for an answer. They set themselves in opposition to the Idngdom of Christ, and they could not prosper. They put them- 32 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. selves in the way of the stone cut out ' of the mountain without hands ; and it rolled over them, and ground them to powder. And so shall it be with every other kingdom which presumes to follow their example. We have, in the Apocalj^se, visions of the future, wliich are as instructive on this point as events abeady past. We have there brought before us the last fearful enemies of God and Ms Church, — the beast and the false prophet, and the mystical Babylon drunk with the blood of martyrs and saints. And what is to become of them ? What is their end ? The beast and the false prophet are taken, and " cast alive into the lake of fire." " A mighty angel takes up a stone like a great mill-stone, and casts it into the sea, saying, Thus Avith violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all" (E,ev. xix. 20; xviii. 21). So true is that fearful decla- ration of the prophet above quoted, " The nation and kingdom that will not serve Thee shall perish ; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted." The foregoing discussion is enough to satisfy any one that the true philosophy of history is essetitiaUi/ religious. There is no tracing the events of liistory to their causes but by tracing them ultimately to God, to his all-wise counsel, and his providential direction and control. We are not to overlook instrumental causes, second causes, influences bearing upon us for good or for evil ; but then all these are subject, in some Avay, to the great First Cause of all. We are not to overlook general natural laws ; but then these are but established modes of divine operation, wliich God in his wisdom has appointed, and the operation of which he may at any time suspend. And when we look still farther into the causes of things, when we inquire for their final causes, we find them all bearing, in some way, upon the kingdom of Christ. They were all made /or Christ ; and he is overruling all for the advancement of his kingdom. Much of the past liistory of the world has gone to illustrate the necessity of that kingdom, and to prepare the way for it ; while other much has tended to remove hinderances and obstructions out of the way. Mighty nations, which have set themselves in op- position to that kingdom, have, one after another, been destroyed ; while the stone cut out of the mountain without hands is rolling on, and is destined to roll, crushing every thing which opposes its progress, until itself becomes a mountain, and fills the whole earth. THE PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. 33 It adds a tenfold interest to the study of Mstory to see God in it all the way, to trace it in its religious bearings, and especially in its relation to the kingdom of Christ. Pres_. Edwards un- derstood this subject, and commenced a work, which he did not live to finish, on this grand principle ; and, in my opinion, there is more true pliilosophy of history in Edwards's " History of Redemption," though it be but a fragment, than in all that has been dreamed out by the transcendentalists of Germany in the last half-century. CHAPTER II. INTRODUCTORY. CHURCH HISTORIANS. IN giving a sketch of the historiographers of the Church, I begin with the sacred writers of the Old Testament. Herodotus is sometimes called the father of history, and Eusebius the father of church history. But Moses wrote history, and church history, a thousand years before Herodotus was born, and eighteen hundi'ed years before the time of Eusebius. In the five books of Moses, the history of God's Church is sketched for the long period of two thousand five hundred and sixty years, — more than six hundred years longer than the whole period which has elapsed smce the commencement of the Christian era. To be sure, the notices of God's dealings with liis people, in some parts of this vast period, are brief and fragmentary : but then they are all that we have ; they are all that we ever shall have ; and we should be devoutly thankful, not only to that Divine Spirit who mspired them, but to that most remarkable and venerable man who was the instrument of recording them for our benefit. Succeeding Moses, m the list of church historians, were Joshua and Samuel, and the prophets who were contemporary with the kings of Judah and Israel. During the captivity, and immediately followmg it, we have Daniel and Ezra and Nehemiah. Later down in the liistory of God's ancient people, we have the apocry- phal writers of the Old Testament, more especially the author or authors of the Maccabees. Then the entire history of the Church, from the beginnmg to the commencement of the Clu'istian era, is re-sketched and condensed in the Antiquities of .Josephus. His twenty books of Antiquities, together with his defence of them in the two books against Apion, though marked by some glaring imperfections, are yet an invaluable contribution to our knowledge of ancient church history. They help to connect and explain some parts of the sacred liistory ; and, during a portion of the period, — 34 CHURCH HISTORIANS. 35 between the close of the Old-Testament history and the coming of Christ, — they are almost our only guide. In Christian church history, we are, most of all, indebted to the writers of the four Gospels and of the Book of Acts. These writers lead us to the fountain-head of divine knowledge and influence ; and, under the guidance of an inspiration which secured them from all error or mistake, they acquaint us with the circumstances of the incarnation of the Son of God, of his birth, his baptism, liis pubhc and private teachings, his miraculous works, his cruel sufferings, his martyr-death, and his triimiphant resurrection, and ascension into heaven : and then, following down the hue of church history, they tell us of the mighty effusions of God's Spirit and the great and glorious re\dvals of religion which were enjoyed in the first age of Chfistianity. They give us the only reliable account we have, or ever shall have, of the labors, successes, and sufferings of the apos- tles and early evangelists, and of the rapid diffusion of the gospel during the first seventy years of tlie Christian era, until near the deaths of the apostles Peter and Paul. After the close of the sacred history, we are left much in the dark as to the course of events in the Church of Christ for the next two hundred years. It is matter of wonder and regret that no one should have thought of writing a history of that interesting period ; but so it is. With the exception of what the sacred writers have given us, the first three hundred years after Christ are almost a blank. Papias and Hegesippus, who flourished about the middle of the second century, collected some traditions of the apostolic age ; and the same may be said of Julius Africanus, who wrote a hundred years later. But the writings of these men have been mostly lost. Nothing remains of them, unless it be some meagre quotations found in the works of later authors. The oldest church history now extant (if we except the sacred writings) is that of Eusebius, Bishop of Csesarea, prepared in the early part of the fourth century. Eusebius was the confidential friend and spiritual guide of Constantme the Great. He was a man of good mind and disposition, of extensive learning, and famil- iarly acquainted with all the great events and persons of the day. He had superior advantages as an historian, from his free access to the archives of the empire, and also to the great library at Csesarea, which had been collected by his friend Pamphilus. He wrote several works, as his " Preparatio et Demonstratio EvangeHca," his "Chronicon," "The Martyrs of Palestine," and "A Panegyric on 36 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. Constantine." But liis most important work, that by wliich lie is best known, is his " Ecclesiastical History." The style of the history and its method are both faidty ; and yet it is a work of vast importance to the Christian world. It is so for two reasons : first, we have here the testimony of a competent and credible witness to the great events of his own time ; and, secondly, we are indebted to Eusebius for the collection and preservation of numerous facts and testimonies of older date, which, but for him, had been lost to the world. The work is made up, to a great extent, of these collected fragments and quotations, and in this way has become a thesaurus of ecclesiastical information to all subsequent historians of the Church. The history of Eusebius ends with the year 321. Near the close of the century, Epiphanius, Bishop of Salamis, wrote a kind of dogmatic history^ giving a full account of the heresies of the times, more especially of the Arian heresy. The next century produced several continuators of Eusebius, the more eminent of which were Socrates and Sozomen, and Theo- doret, Bishop of Cyrus. Theodoret brings down the history of the Church to the year 427. In the beginning of the sixth century, Theodoras of Constan- tinople wrote a continuation of Eusebius, wliich is lost, though an abridgment of it stiU. remains. Near the close of the sixth century, Evagrius of Antioch wrote a furtiier continuation of Eusebius, bringing down the history to his own time. The works above named were all written in Greek ; the Latin church liistorians of the same age being little more than transla- tors and compilers. The histories of Sulpicius Severus and of Orosius are not strictly ecclesiastical, though they have much to say of religion and the Church. Rufinus translated the work of Euse- bius into Latin, and continued it to his own age. Cassiodorus, a learned civilian under Theodoric, the Gothic king of Italy, compiled a manual of church history, which was used as a text-book through the middle ages. During all these ages, there were no professed church historians in Greek. As Church and State were closely united, so ecclesiastical and general history were mixed up to- gether. The subjugation of the Western Roman Empire, near the close of the fifth century, was followed by great intellectual depression, and neglect of learning, during which all history degenerated, and more especially ecclesiastical history : and what history there was CHURCH HISTORIANS. . 37 more frequently took tlie form of annals and acta sanctorum^ acts and legends of the saints ; and these were so stuffed with marvels and miracles as to be entirely unworthy of credit. And yet, even at this period, some local church histories were written, which are of considerable value : such, for example, was the history of the Gallic Church, by Gregory of Tours ; the history of the old British and Anglo-Saxon Church, by the Venerable Bede ; and the four books of Adam of Bremen, on the period from Charlemagne to the year 1076. Church history, like all other history, was at its lowest ebb im- mediately previous to the reformation from Popery; and it was for the interest of the church-rulers to keep it so. They wished to maintain the prevalent impression, that the existing church gov- ernment, with its accompanying rites, usages, and doctrines, was of apostolical origin, — an illusion which must have been instantly dispelled by a clear view of the intervening history. Most of the writings of the great reformers were, to some extent, historical, as they went to expose the superstitions and corruptions of the Church- of Rome, and contrast them with the simplicity and purity of primitive times. Still, neither Luther nor Calvin wrote any formal church histories. Melancthon and Beza accomplished something in this line ; but it was left to Matthias Flacius, a rigid Lutheran of Germany, to produce the first complete ecclesiastical history that was written after the Reformation. In order that the work might be thoroughly executed, Flacius associated nine others with himself, making ten in all, who divided the labor between them. Seven were engaged in collecting materials, two in digest- ing them, and the tenth in giving them shape and form ; after which the entire work was submitted to a committee of five, who reviewed and corrected the whole previous to publication. This great work was published in parts, or numbers ; each number includ- ing a century. It was commenced in the year 1552. The first number was issued in 1559, and the last in 1574. The whole is comprised in thirteen folio volumes, each volume containing the his- tory of a century. As most of the writers resided at Magdeburg, the work has been commonly designated " The Magdeburg Centuries." Notwithstanding the greatness of this work, it obtained a wide and rapid circulation among both the friends and enemies of the Reformation ; and, wherever it went, it was like a blaze of light, penetrating and dissipating the surrounding darkness. Its imme- diate good effects were great; and then it raised ecclesiastical his- 38 . ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. tory to a position which it has ever since retained, more especially in Germany. It not only stirred up Lutherans and Calvinists to prosecute a study thus auspiciously introduced, but led to immedi- ate counteracting efforts in the Church of Rome. Csesar Baronius commenced publisliing liis Annals in the year 1558 ; and labored upon them thirty years, until his death in 1607. They were published in twelve folio volumes, each volume includ- ing a century, and bringing down the history to the year 1198. They furnish from the Papal archives, and from many libraries, particularly the Vatican, a host of documents and public papers previously unknown ; and, with all their faults, are regarded as of much value, and are frequently consulted, at the present day. For this great work, the author was rewarded with the dignity of a cardinal. Baronius commences his work with the assumption that he is about to j)resent the first true, reliable church history. He cen- sures Eusebius for leaning towards the Arians, Socrates and Sozo- men for favoring the Novatians, and ail his predecesors for their lack of critical discrimination. " The Magdeburg -Centuries " he denounces as " Centuries of Satan ; " though, in his feigned con- tempt of them, he seldom mentions them directly. He writes everywhere in the interest of absolute Romanism ; and, of course, his liistory is, tlu'oughout, a one-sided affair. He endeavors to show that the Papacy was instituted by Cliiist ; that, in doctrine and con- stitution, it has always been the same ; and, consequently, that the Reformation was an apostasy from the true Church, and rebellion against the ordinance of God. But, in attempting this, he is obliged to rely upon fictitious or corrupted narratives and spurious docu- ments, and to suppress or distort important public records. The Annals were continued by Raynaldus, an Italian, and Spondanus, a Frenchman, to the year 1610. They were controverted, not only by Protestants, but by the more liberal Catholics. Among those who replied to them were Casaubon, Spanheim, and one of the Basnages. The highest merit in Roman-Catholic historiography belongs, undoubtedly, to the French. In the year 1676, Natalis Alexander commenced publishing his great work in twenty-four volumes, bringing down the history to the beginning of the seventeenth cen- tury. He severely criticises, in many places, tlie Annals of Baronius. In 1690, Claude Fleury, abbot of a Cistercian convent, began the publication of his church history, which reaches, in twenty volumes, CHURCH HISTORIANS. 39 to the year 1414, and was continued by Fabre to 1595. Fleury wrote diffusely, in the spirit of a monk, but with taste and skill, and with a decided love for Christianity and the Church. Bossuet, the eloquent Bishop of Meaux, pubhshed a compend of Universal History, reaching from the creation to the time of Charle- magne. It is not strictly an ecclesiastical history ; and yet he has much to say in it of religion and the Chui'ch, which he represents as the soul and centre of all history. Near the close of the seventeenth century, Tillemont, a Jansen- ist, prepared a liistory of the first six centuries, in sixteen volumes. For his facts he went to the original sources, consulting them with accurate and conscientious fidelity, and adding his critical observa- tions in the form of notes. Other French writers of history at tliis period were Morinus, Petavius, Richard Simon, and Du Pin. Sev- eral of them, though professed Catholics, were so anti-Catholic in their statements, that their works were condemned and prohibited at Rome. During the greater part of the seventeenth century, the Lutheran Church was distracted with controversies, so that little was done in the way of general church history. George Calixtus was a man of peace, and wrote a liistory with a view to favor this object ; but his well-meant endeavors tended rather to foment strife than to allay it. Osiander wrote a history, m nine quarto volumes, com- piled chiefly from " The Magdeburg Centuries,'' and being a con- tinuation of that great work until the beginning of the seventeenth century. Near the close of this century, Godfrey Arnold pubhshed what he called " An Impartial History of the Church and of the Heretics, from the Beginning of the New Testament to the Year 1688." Arnold was a pietist, a friend and follower of Spener, and strongly prejudiced against all church establishments. He not only, hated the Romish Church, but he distrusted the church of the fourth and fifth centuries, and the Lutheran Church, by which the pietists were persecuted. He seems to have been a pious man, but was constitutionally gloomy and melancholy, and much attached to the mystics. His was professedly a history of true spiritual religion ; and he was inclined to look for it all the way, not in the established churches, but among those who had .been stigmatized as heretics. He favored not only the Novatians and Donatists, the Nestorians and Monophysites, the Paulicians, the Cathari, the Albigenses and Waldenses, but even the Arians 40 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. and Pelagians. At the same time, lie did great injustice to the representatives of the orthodox ; impeaching their motives, aspers- ing their characters, passing over their merits in silence, and dwelling almost exclusively upon their imperfections. So far was his from being an impartial history, that many of the pietists were dissatisfied with it. It provoked a new controversy in the Lutheran Church. The Reformed Church produced no important work in general church history in the seventeenth century, excepting that of Hot- tinger, in nine volumes ; iTut several scholars distinguished them- selves in particular branches of historical research, shedding light on the characters of individuals, on various controversies, on pa- tristic antiquity, also on the course of the Papacy and of the Reformation. Thus Frederic Spanheim of Leyden, and Samuel Basnage of Zutphen, undertook the refutation of Baronius ; while James Basnage, who was settled at the Hague, controverted Bossuet, endeavoring to show that the true Church of Christ has never failed, but has had faithful witnesses in every age. Others who distinguished themselves at this period by their historical researches were Bathinger, Hospinian, and Heidegger, among the German Swiss ; Beza, Mornay, Du Moulin, Blondell, Daille, Sal- masius, Claude, Beausobre, and L'Enfant, among the French ; the elder Vossius, Vitringa, Venema, among the Dutch ; and Arch- bishop Usher, Bishops Pearson, Beveridge, Burnet, and Bull, Strype, Bingham, Cave, Graba, Whitby, and Prideaux, among the English. But to return to the Germans. In the first part of the eigh- teenth century, Weisman published his " Introduction to the Memorabilia of Sacred History," distinguished for its mild spirit, its quiet, moderate tone, its predilection for the pietists and mystics, and its regard throughout to the purposes of edification. He was soon eclipsed, however, by the celebrated Chancellor of Gpttingen, John Lawrence Mosheim, who holds indisputably the first place among the church historians of the last century. Be- sides a multitude of books and tracts on various subjects more or less connected with ecclesiastical history, Mosheim published two, which have never lost their place and authority in the Church. One of these is his " Commentaries on the State of Christianity before the Time of Constantine : " the other is his " Institutes of Ecclesiastical History, Ancient and Modern." Both these have been translated into English ; and the latter has long been a text- CHURCH HISTORIANS. 41 book in England and America. His division of his subject into centuries may be regarded as faulty ; and he is lacking throughout in religious fervor and spirituality. Still, the work is one of high merit, and fully entitled to the authority which it has attained. We entirely accord with the following sentiments of " The Prince- ton Review : " " These works of Mosheim," referring to the two above mentioned, " are distinguished by a thorough knowledge of his subject, rare acuteness and sagacity in critical conjecture and combination, great completeness and exactness as to the essential facts of history, clearness of arrangement, and by the classical elegance of his Latin," in which the works were originally writ- ten.* Of the two English translations of Mosheim's History, (Maclaine's and Murdock's), the former is free and declamatory ; the latter accurate, but rather stiff and inelegant. The notes of Murdock are numerous and valuable, embodying all the important historical matter which has come to light since Mosheim's death. The influence of Mosheim in his own country was very great, as may be seen in the histories of those who were his contemporaries, or who immediately followed him. Pfaff of Tiibingen was equally learned ; but his Institutions were not written in so clear a style, and are overladen with names and citations. Baumgarten brought down his " Abstract of Church History " only to the close of the ninth century. The most extensive work of the age was that of Schrockh, a disciple of Mosheim, and Professor of History at Wit- tenberg, With Tzschirner's continuation, it makes forty-five volumes, and was published between the years 1768 and 1810. Notwithstanding its diffuseness and its injudicious method, it is exceedingly valuable for its numerous and faithful transcriptions from original authorities, and will long be referred to as a mine of historical learning. J. A. Cramer, Chancellor of the University of Kiel, wrote a con- tinuation of Bossuet's " Universal History." The younger Walch gave attention, chiefly, to the history of heresies and controversies ; and his work, in eleven parts, is still much esteemed. The elder Planck prepared histories of Christian Doctrine and of Church Government ; both of which he treats simply as a philosopher, mth the utmost indifference to religious truth. In the same spirit of religious indifference, Muenscher prepared his " History of Chris- tian Doctrine," an abridgment of which was translated and pub- lished in tins country by Dr. Murdock in 1830. * See No. for October, 1857. 42 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. The era of rationalism in Germany commenced with John Solo- mon Semler, in the latter part of the eighteenth century. Semler himself wrote no proper church liistory. His whole course was merely preparatory ; raising doubts and suspicions, forming con- jectures and combinations, and getting together a huge mass of material, wliich his followers were left to work over at theu" pleas- ure. Of his long array of pubhcations, scarcely one is consulted at the present day. The principal work from Semler's school is Henke's " General History of the Christian Church," in eight parts, the first of which was pubhshed in 1788. His principal aim is to show up the mischief which rehgious despotism and doctrinal con- straint have wrought in all ages ; and he presents a glaring picture of what he tails enthusiasm, superstition, stupidity, and wicked- ness. In his hands, church history becomes mainly a history of human folly. Wherever the unprejudiced eye discerns true great- ness, Henke can see nothing but hypocrisy, calculation, cunning, and bigotry. The efforts of Henke, and others of the same school, resulted in a total indifference as to the religious import of church history. In this spirit, Schmidt of Giessen composed his Manual, in six parts, which was completed in 1820. Within the last fifty years, historical theology has awakened an extraordinary amount of diligence and zeal in Germany. Her more distinguished chiu'ch liistorians are Neander and Gieseler. Neander commenced liis career by the preparation of monographs ; but these led on to the great work of his life, — his "General Church His- tory." Neander's history was first published in 1825 ; and nearly at the same time appeared the equally learned and elaborate history ' of Gieseler. These works have both been translated, and are in familiar use in England and in this country. They are so entirely different in spirit and plan, tl:^it tliey hardly admit of a comparison with each other. In Gieseler we have an excellent selection from the original authorities, inserted in the form of notes, and strung together by a meagre, cold, and slender thread of narrative. In Neander we have the same materials ; but they have been digested in his own mind, and wrought up into a flowing homogeneous nar- rative, bearing the impress of their author upon every page. In Gieseler the notes are every thing ; in Neander, notliing. In the former, the author conceals himself behind the fathers and reform- ers, whose very words he sets before us : in the latter, the self- same fathers and reformers are exhibited ; but they appear in the dress and voice of Neander. Gieseler's piu'pose seems to have been CHURCH HISTORIANS. 43 to enable every reader to form his own conclusions, and construct a history for himself; while Neander gives us the liistory made ready to our hand. Neander has had many imitators and followers in Germany, — some in general church history, but more in the presentation of particular branches ; but of these we shall be able to give little more than the names. The following writers have furnished man- uals of church history, intended rather for students than for general circulation : viz., Neidner, distinguished for original learn- ing, and a masterly condensation of details ; Hase, who excels all others in spirited description, comprehensive brevity, and a success- ful dehneation of individual characters ; the compend of Guerike, which, notwithstanding its heavy and awkward style, has found much favor with the public ; and Kurtz, who greatly surpasses Guerike in point of style, and may ultimately take his place in regard to circulation. The principal writers in doctrinal history are Baumgarten-Crusius ; Engelhardt ; Baur of Tiibingen, who is no better than an infidel; and Hagenbach, whose work has been translated into English, and is widely circulated both in England and in this country. The writers of monographs on special topics, single doctrines, and celebrated individuals, are very numergus. We will only mention Ullman, Marheineke, Rothe, Dorner, Bunsen, and Ebrard, among the Protestants ; and Mohler, Hofler, Hefele, and Hurter, among the Catholics. The more recent works of Roman Catholics in this department of literature are the following : Sacharelii's Church History, pub- hshed near the close of the eighteenth century, in twenty-five volumes ; the History of Rohrbacher, professor at Louvain, in twenty -nine volumes ; A Manual of General Church History, by John Alzog ; and the Civil and Ecclesiastical Histories of Dr. Lin- gard, a Roman-Catholic priest of England. While Germany has displayed, since the age of Mosheim, a pro- digious activity in the field of church history, the other Protestant countries of Europe have done but little. In England, the work of Joseph and Isaac Milner was first published near the beginning of the present century, and is of more value than has been gener- ally supposed. It was no part of their plan to write a history of nominal^ organized Christianity, but rather of real Christianity, of true piety. In pursuing this object, they were led to pass over much on which other historians had treated, and to search only for the image of Christ. Their work is pervaded not only by a 44 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. deeply religious spirit, but by solid learning and original research ; and, in connection with other histories, should be carefully studied. Nearly at the same time with the above, the Rev. Thomas Haweis published a church history, in three volumes, on the same plan as that of the Milners, but vastly inferior to it in point of Hterary execution. A little later, Messrs. Bogue and Bennett pub- lished their " History of the Dissenters of England," in four vol- umes, containing a vast amount of information respecting this noble body of Christians. Dr. Milman, Dean of St. Paul's, has written " A History of Chris- tianity to the Abolition of Paganism in the Roman Empire ; " also "A History of Latin Christianity." These works are distinguished for their, learning, and for an elegant though not easy style. Among the productions of England, we only mention further the liistories of Waddington and of Hardwicke, both of them learned and well written, and worthy the attention of students. From the Protestants of France, the only work to be noticed here is D'Aubigne's " History of the Reformation." Though yet unfinished, it has attained an almost unprecedented popularity in England and America, and has spread a knowledge of the Refor- mation where otherwise it would never have gone. D'Aubignd's chief merit lies in his extraordinary poAver of spirited dramatic and picturesque representation, by which he gives interest to the study of history, and makes the pursuit of it a pleasure. It must be said, however, that, in his efforts to please, he sometimes impairs the simplicity and truthfulness of the narrative, and too much confounds the task of the earnest historian with that of the novelist. In our own country, the church historians are yet to appear. In civil history, we have done our full share. The names and the works of such men as Ramsay and Marshall and Prescott and Bancroft and Sparks and Motley and Palfrey will not soon be forgotten. But, for our knowledge of ecclesiastical history, we have been content to rely chiefly on the Germans. With the exception of some translations, and the learned " History of Chris- tian Doctrine," lately published by Prof. Shedd, little has been done among us.* At present, however, there is a learned German with us, whom we are happy to recognize as an adopted fellow- * In the yeor 1859, Prof. Henry B. Smith published A History of the Church of Christ in Chronoloi^ical Tables. It is characterized by learning and accuracy, but is chiefly valuable as a book of reference. CHURCH HISTORIANS. , 45 citizen, who is laboring with great success in the important branch of historical theology. I refer to Dr. Philip Schaff, professor in the Theological Seminary at Mercersburg. Should he live to com- plete a history of the Church in the same spirit and manner with which he has commenced it, the work will be received with great favor in this country, and will be a blessing to the world. Should it be asked, in conclusion, which of all the histories that have been mentioned are best_ deserving the attention of ministers and Christian students, the question is not easily answered. Each has its pecuUar excellences, and each is characterized by some defects. Milner's is what it professes to be, — a history of the real living Churchy and should be relied upon only in this view. As a general history of that great organized body commonly called the Chui'ch of Christ, it has no vaUd claims ; nor does it profess to have. Neander's history is full, learned, candid, truthful, and would be entitled to an almost unqualified commendation, were it not for the minglings of the transcendental philosophy and theology, which, for the greater part of a century, has tainted every thing in Ger- many. Neander was the particular friend of Schelling, one of the leading transcendental philosophers, and dedicated to him the first volume of his history. His partiality for this philosophy leaks out everywhere. It shows itself in his fondness for the development theory, and for d-priori reasonings and conclusions. Neander seems to have adopted, too, the transcendental theory of Chris- tianity, — that it is not a system of immutable truth, but rather a feeling^ a sentiment^ a life. " This notion," says one, " is the spinal cord of Neander's ' History,' the substance of Ullman's ' Essence of Christianity,' the basis of Twesten's ' Dogmatik,' the grand distinction of the Mercersburg theology, the beginning and end of Morell's ' Pliilosophy of Religion.' " Neander wrote his " Life of Christ " with a view to refute the blasphemies of Strauss ; and yet it has been thought that the former work was calculated to do more injury in this country than the latter. Strauss shocked and repelled all serious readers by his grossness ; wliile Neander let down stitches, and left them down, threatening the whole fabric of Christianity. I am sorry to feel constrained to say these things of Neander, — a man so learned, so childlike, and, I doubt not, so truly pious. I would not dissuade from the study of his history ; by no means : but then it should be used with discrimination and caution, and in connection with other works. 46 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. Gieseler was more of a rationalist than Neander ; and yet there are not the same objections to his history. His narrative is so brief and slender, that, of itself, it seems not capable of doing much good or hurt. The chief excellence of Gieseler hes in his notes ; and these are invaluable. To be benefited by Gieseler," one must make up his mind beforehand to translate and master all his notes. As a text-book in history, I am far from being satisfied with Mosheim. He is cold and passionless, and, for that reason, unin- teresting to the reader. Besides^ his method is arbitrary and objectionable, leading to much sameness and repetition, more especially in the middle ages. Still, until a better book is pre- sented, I know nothing that can well be substituted for Murdock's Mosheim. CHAPTER III. INTRODUCTORY. — PECULIARITIES OF THE SACRED HISTORY. THE greater portion of our Bible (the Old Testament and the New) is historical, — a record of events either past or passing at the time when the books were written. To distinguish it from other books of the like description, it is commonly called sacred history. As we shall make much use of the sacred history in the following chapters, it may be well to preface them with some account of its peculiarities^ or the points in which it differs from other histories. Of some of these I have spoken already ; as, for example, its early date ; Moses ha^^ng lived more than a thousand 3-ears pre- vious to the times of Herodotus, Berosus, Manetho, or any otheii credible liistorian. I have referred, too, to tlie length of time over which the sacred history stretches. Other ancient histories describe the events of only short periods, — a few years, or, at most, a few centuries. Thus Herodotus traces the Persian history from the time of Cji'us to that of Xerxes, — about two hundred and forty years. Thucydi- des wrote a history of the Peloponnesian War, embracing a little more than twenty years. The history of Polybius extends from the Fkst Punic War to the capture of Macedon by the Romans, — less than a hundred years. But our sacred history is of a vastly greater extent than either or all of these. Beginning at the crea- tion, it runs rapidly down the first two thousand years to the time of Abraham ; and then, following the line of his descendants in the famUies of Isaac and Israel, it stretches onward two thousand more, — to the commg of Chi"ist. Nor does it stop there. It fm^nishes an account of our Saviour's life and pubhc ministry ; of his crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension ; of the outpouring of the Spirit upon his primitive disciples ; and of the planting and prospects of the Christian Church imtil past the middle of the first century. Where, 47 48 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY, now, shall we look for another history (unless it have been in great measure copied from this) which bears any comparison with it as to the length of the period over which it stretches ? A thhd pecuharity of the sacred history consists in its ecclesias- tical character. It is primarily and essentially a history of God 's Church. Other liistories record the affairs of individuals and of nations, — theu^ wars, their revolutions, their origin, and their end ; but the subject of the sacred liistory is, almost exclusively, the Church of God. God has had a Church in the world from the days of righteous Abel to the present time, — sometimes in obscurity, then in pros- perity ; sometimes almost liidden from the sight of men, and then standing forth the great object of interest and hope. To trace the history of this Church in its various changes, straits, persecutions, and dehverances, through the long space of more than four thou- sand years, is the prime object and work of the sacred history. The Church before the Flood seems to have been confined chiefly to the family of Seth. They were " the sons of God," in distinc- tion from " the daughters of men." They " called on the name of the Lord," in distinction from others who despised and forgat him. Enoch, that holy man who " walked with God, and was not, for God took him," was among the children of Seth : and it is to the children of Seth that the sacred history is confined, from the fifth chapter of Genesis to the Deluge, and even beyond it ; for Noah and his family were of the children of Seth. After the Deluge, the Chui'ch of God was concentrated chiefly in the family of Shem. While incidental notices are given of the descendants of the other sons of Noah, the interest of the narrative is confined, for the most part, to Shem and his children, down to the time of Terah and Abraham. From this point, the Church of God is limited to the seed of Abraham in the line of Isaac and Israel ; while, for their idolatry and wickedness, the other nations are given over to their own hearts' lusts. And it is of the children of Israel that the sacred liistory treats for the next sixteen hundred years, — down to the time of Ezra and Nehemiah. Here is a break of about four hundred years, which brings us to the coming of Christ. At the death of Christ, the old dispensation, with all its rites, types, and shadows, passed away, and the new dispensation was ushered in. Then, also, the great body of the Jewish nation, so long the covenant people of God, were broken off from his Church PECULIARITIES OF THE SACRED HISTORY. 49 for their unbelief ; and the way was opened for believing Gentiles to be grafted into the stock of Abraham. Of these great transac- tions, we have a faithful account in the New-Testament history, which closes about the year 63. We thus see, that, from first to last, the sacred history is essentially church history. It is a history of God's dealings with his covenant people. K fourth peculiarity of the sacred history is its prominent exhi- bition of (xod's universal and eternal purpose^ — his great plan of -providence and grace. To the eye of sense, events seem to be fol- lowing each other in this world without much order. Some are prospered, and some afflicted ; some are sick, and some well ; some die almost as soon as they are born, wliile others hve to old age. And as it is with individuals, so also with nations. They rise and fall; they become rich and prosperous and powerful; and then, ere long, they pass away. Wars are waged and concluded. Revo- lutions are excited and accomplished, or they are speedily checked and crushed. Such being the course of human affairs, a faithful record of them, or, in other words, their liistory, seems, at first view, chaotic and disorderly. Figures are moving on the canvas ; but why and wherefore, in what order, to what purpose, and for what end, no one can tell. Such is history, prepared, it may be, with accuracy, but with no guide but the eye of sense. But very different from this is the sacred history, or any other history prepared in the hght of God's holy and eternal counsels. In the sacred history, we are taught to look upward. We see a Power above us, which rides on the whirlwind, and directs the storm. In periods the darkest to the view of mortals, all is light with God. In circumstances the most chaotic and unaccountable to the eye of sense, he is directing and controlhng all in infinite wisdom and goodness. In the plenitude of Iris sovereignty, he says, " I am the Lord, and there is none else ; I form the hght, and create darkness ; I make peace, and create evil. My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure." To the writer of history, to the careful observer of human affairs, passages such as these are a reve- lation. They shed the light of heaven upon his path, — alight which can come from no other source. By the eye of faith, he can see order now where all before was confusion and chaos : and with the Psalmist he is able to sing, " The Lord reigneth ; let the earth rejoice ; let the midtitude of isles be glad thereof. Clouds and darkness are round about hun ; but righteousness and judgment are the habitation cf his throne." With a confidence ins^Dired by these 4 50 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. » views of God's sovereignty and supremacy, and which can be created in no other way, the good man looks up, and says, " God is my refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. There- fore will we not fear though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the depths of the sea, though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, tiiough the mountains shake with the swelling thereof." Another peculiarity of the sacred history is its continual recogni- tion of God's providential agency in human affairs ; and that, too, in connection with an unembarrassed free agency, and entire ac- countableness, on the part of man. Other histories, if prepared on Christian principles, will indeed recognize a providence in the affairs of men, and speak of it submissively and devoutly : still, they come very far short of the sacred history in their views of divine efficiency, and of its control over the hearts and the conduct of men. Take, for example, the case of Pharaoh. How often does God say of this man, " I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and multi- ply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, and Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you, that I may lay my hand upon Egypt, and bring forth my people out of the land with great judgments " ! And, in the midst of these desolating judgments, how often do we hear God saying, " I have hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and the heart of his servants, that I might show these my signs before him " !• And yet it is as often said that Pharaoh hardened his own hearty and wickedly refused to let the people go. He was altogether as free, as responsible, and as guilty, as though there had been no divine providence in the case. These statements may seem inexplicable to us ; and the sacred historian makes no attempt at explanation. He merely writes them, and there leaves them. Nor does the case of Pharaoh stand alone. It is but one among many of a like nature. Take the instance of Joseph. He was wickedly seized, sold by his brethren, and carried into Egypt, where he remained for many years, part of the time a slave, and part of the time a close prisoner. Were not his brethren responsible and guilty for this terrible transaction ? Were they not brought, at length, to an open confession of their guilt ? " We are verily guilty con- cerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul when he besought us, and we would not hear." And yet the Lord's hand was in all this ; and in it, too, for a wise and benevolent purpose. "6roc? did send me before you to save your lives by a great deliver- ance." • PECULIARITIES OF THE SACRED HISTORY. 51 Take another case out of the many that might be presented. When Absalom had rebelled against his father, and had driven liim away from Jerusalem, the traitor sent for two of David's counsellors to advise with him as to the measures to be pursued. Ahithophel gave him good advice, which, had it been followed, would have led to the destruction of the old Idng. But Hushai advised to a very different course, which could end in notliing but Absalom's defeat and ruin. The two courses were both before the mind of the trai- tor : he had his choice of them ; and he chose freely to follow the advice of Hushai. How came he to do so ? The whole thing is explained in a single verse : " The 'Lord had appointed to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, to the intent that he might bring evil upon Absalom " (2 Sam. xvii. 14). Such, then, is the sacred history. A broad line of distinction is here presented between it and all other histories in the world. The divine hand is here seen controlling as infallibly the hearts and conduct of men as it controls events in the natural world. And yet, without any attempt at explanation, men are said to act freely and responsibly ; and, when they act wickedly, are justly exposed to condemnation and punishment. Still another peculiarity of the sacred history is, that it is mixed , up everywhere with types and symbols and prophetic declarations. I hardly need say that these are not found in secular history ; or, if pretensions are made to them, they are deceptive and false. But in the sacred history, as well as in the prophetical writings, they are of continual occurrence. Thus Enoch, the seventh from Adam, uttered predictions : " Behold the Lord cometh, with ten thousand of his saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungpdly among them of their ungodly deeds, and of all the hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him " (Jude 14, 15). Noah also uttered predictions : " Cursed be Canaan ; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren." " God shall enlarge Ja- pheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem " (Gen. ix. 25, 27). Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, each and all of them, uttered predic- tions ; or, rather, God uttered his predictions by them, — predictions which are not yet entirely fulfilled, and will not be till the end of the world. Joseph's dreams, and those which he interpreted for Pharaoh and for his chief butler and baker, were all of them of the nature of predictions. Moses was a prophet as well as an historian. He predicted the coming of the Messiah and the future defections 52 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. of Israel, and the judgments wliich should fall upon them for their sins, until they were scattered to the ends of the earth. Samuel too, and David, and the writers of the Kings and Chronicles, were prophets ; and several of those who are distmctively called proph- ets made important additions to the sacred history. Then the types and symbols of oiu- sacred books are a peculiar feature of them. We do not find them in other books ; but the sacred history abounds with them. Many parts of the Old Testa- ment are little more than the institution of types ; types, too, of great significance, shadowing forth the most important truths, and point- ing forward to coming events. Thus Paul, speaking of the holy places in the ancient temple, represents them as figures (types) of the true ; that is, of heaven (Heb. ix. 24). The symbols of Scripture differ from the types. There are fig- ures, pictures, or pictorial scenes, presented, sometimes actually, and sometimes in visions and dreams, by means of which important truths, and often coming events, are indicated. Thus the cheru- bim in the ancient temple are supposed to symbolize angelic beings. Nebuchadnezzar's gigantic image which he saw in vision ; Daniel's four beasts ; Zechariah's horses, red, speckled, and wliite ; and most of the scenic representations of the Apocalypse, — may be regarded as prophetic symbols. As types and symbols are peculiarities of our sacred books, so they require a peculiarity of interpretation. It is sometimes said that the Bible is to be interpreted on the same principle as other books ; but this rule is not apphcable to the whole Bible. As the Bible has peculiarities not found in other books, more especially its types, symbols, and prophetic declarations ; so these require a mode of interpretation peculiar to themselves. In these there must be, often, sometliing like a double sense, — the apparent and the real, the hteral and spiritual. Yet another peculiarity of the sacred history is its frequent record of miracles. Other histories contain no accounts of real miracles ; and it is sometimes objected to the sacred history that it has such accounts. It is assumed that a mkacle is an impossibil- ity ; that the estabhshed course of Nature never was nor can be interrupted or supervened ; and that the frequent stories of mira- cles which we find in the Bible cannot be true. Tliis is no place to go into a consideration of this objection. Suffice it to say, that God, who established what are commonly called the laws of Nature, is able, if he pleases, to suspend or contravene them. He is able PECULIARITIES OF THE SACRED HISTORY. 53 to perform miracles such as the Scriptures relate ; and the fact that he has performed them, and furnished a record of them in his Word, is one of the distinguishing peculiarities of that Word. So far from proving it untrue, it goes to authenticate it as a revelation from himself. Another of the pecuHarities of the sacred history is, that its central figure is the cross of Christ. Everywhere it looks, either forward or backward, to the Saviour. This, in a lower sense, may be said of all true history. This world was made not only bt/ Christ, but for him ; and its provi- dential arrangements are conducted, in all their branches, with reference to the interests of his kingdom. Hence much is said, and properly too, of Christ in history/. All history, correctly and appropriately written, must have reference more or less to the Saviour. But this, which is in some sense true of all history, is more emphatically so of that contained in the Bible. The great object of the Old-Testament history is to reveal a coming Saviour, and direct the eyes of a lost world in strong expectancy to him : the great object" of the New-Testament, history is to proclaim a Saviour, and publish abroad the triumphs of his cross. In its very commencement, the sacred history announces the vic- torious seed of the woman, which is to bruise the serpent's head. Bloody sacrifices, which were instituted immediately after the fall of our first parents, and which continued to the end of the Mosaic dispensation, spreading themselves meanwhile over all the earth, were everywhere a revelation of Christ, a type of his suiferings and death ; directing the eye of the penitent worshipper to Him whose blood cleanseth from all sin. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were heirs together of the one great promise, that a Personage should proceed from them in whom all the families of the earth should be blessed. In the blessings of Judah, his father Israel spake of a Sliiloh to come, unto whona the gathering of the people should be. Moses predicted a Prophet like unto himself, who should be abundantly taught of God, and would faithfully publish all his will. Even Balaam, the son of Bosor, had visions of a future Deliverer : " I shall see him, but not now ; I shall behold him, but not nigh. A Star shall come out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, which shall be victorious over all the ene- mies of God's people." And thus it is through the sacred history generally. Christ is the great subject and object of it. He is the . 54 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. centre from which all the light of the sacred Word proceeds, and towards wliich all its reflected radiance tends. It may be mentioned as another peculiarity of the sacred history, that in it some of the best examples^ and some of the worsts are set- before us, — the latter to deter from sm, the former to persuade and win us to the practice of holiness. Example, it is commonly said, has much more influence with people generally than precept. There are good reasons why it should be so. Examples go to illustrate good precepts, show their practicability, and make an impression of their importance. We are all inclined, more or less, to follow the examples of those under whose influence we fall, whether for good or for evil. If this be so, then we see a sufficient reason why so large a part of the Bible is historical. It is fiUed up with examples, the best and the worst, — the latter, as I said, to deter from sin, the former to encourage us in the performance of duty. There is the example of Enoch, who, in an age of compar- ative darkness and of abounding wickedness, was enabled to hold fast his integrity, and maintain a consistent walk with God. There is the example of Abraham, strong in faith, the patriarchal head of God's ancient Church, and, in some sense, the father of aU them that beheve. There is the example of Joseph, lovely in youth as he was useful and fruitful in age, who came out of the fiery furnace of afiliction and temptation like silver seven times purified. There is the example -of Moses, the writer of so much of our sacred his- tory; a prodigy of wisdom, firmness, meekness, patience, and unwavering trust in God ; to whom the world is, perhaps, more X indebted than to any mere man who ever lived in it. And what shall I say more on this head ? for time would fail me to speak of Job, of Samuel, of David, of Ehjah and Elisha, of Isaiah and Jer- emiah, of Daniel, Nehemiah, and Paul, "who, through faith, subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, and put to flight the armies of the ahens." I must not omit to mention, however, the example of our Lord Jesus Christ, in whose spotless life "the law appears, drawn out in living characters ; " to love and to follow whom is oiu* first duty and highest happiness, and the only proper evidence of disciple- ship in his kingdom. But the sacred history furnishes us with another class of exam- PECULIARITIES OF THE SACRED HISTORY. 55' pies, — the opposite class, — whose influence upon us, if properly- used, may be equally happy in deterring us from sin. There is Cain, the first murderer, with the mark of infamy upon his fore- head, and the curse of heaven upon his soul ; and Pharaoh, the very image of pride, obstinacy, and rebellion, whose heart was hardened beyond mercy and hope, and whose overthrow was as signal as his wickedness was great ; and Ahab, of whom it is written, " There was none hke unto him of all the kings of Israel, who did sell hmi- self to work wickedness in the sight of the Lord ; " and Haman, who plotted the destruction of the whole Jewish nation, and who was hanged on the gallows which his own hands had made ; and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed his Master for a mere pittance, and, in the bitterness of despair, went out and hanged himself. Now, all these examples, the good and the bad, are recorded " for our admonition, on whom the ends of the world are come ; " and, if we do not profit by them, the fault will be our own. Who would wish to live or die like Pharaoh and Haman and Judas Iscariot ? Who will not rather copy the example of Joseph and Moses and Daniel and Paul, that so he may die the death of the righteous, and his last end may be like his ? There is sometliing peculiar in the style and manner of the sacred history, wliich must not be overlooked. There is a simplicity and directness about it which we find in no other historical writings. There is a detail of the characters of both good and bad men, their virtues and vices, their excellences and defects, without any color- ing or exaggeration one way or the other. The noblest actions and the basest are faithfully portrayed, without being set off by rhetorical flourishes or passionate exclamations. Witness the treachery of Judas, the death-scene of Stephen, and, above all, the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Clirist. The facts are stated with perfect simplicity and plainness ; and the reader is left to his own reflections. " And Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went unto the chief priests to betray Jesus unto them. And, when they heard it, they were glad, and promised to give him money. And he sought how he might conveniently betray him." Here are no maledictions or exclamations, no expressions of resentment or reproach. The facts are simply stated, and that is all. And so in the account of Judas' death : " He cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and went and hanged himself." I give this instance as one among a thousand of Hke character. No other history was 56 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. ever composed in this way, so direct and simple, and, for that very reason, so attractive and interesting. I add but another pecuharity of the sacred history ; which is, that it was written under a plenary mspiration^ — the inspiration of the Holy Grhost. I do not mean by this that every word in the sacred narrative is the truth of God ; for it is not so. Many things are recorded in the Scriptures which are not revealed truth, or truth in any sense. Witness the speech of the serpent to our first mother, and the speech of the man in the parable, " I know thee that thou art a hard man, reaping where thoa hast not sown, and gatheriug where thou hast not strewed ; " and the sj^eech of Ter- tullus before Fehx, and against Paul, of which it has been said by commentators that there is not a word of truth in it. Yet all these speeches were written under a divine inspiration. The sacred writer was directed and inspired, not to indorse the truth of what was said, but to tell us exactly ivhat was said : in other words, to give a correct narrative. Nor do we mean by inspiration that every word was suggested by the Spirit to the writer's mind before he recorded it. This may have been so, or it may not. In many cases, I suppose it must have been so : but, in every case, the Spirit so guided and super- intended the sacred writer, that he was led to record just what God would have recorded, and just in the manner in which God would have it done ; so that not only the sacred histories, but the whole Bible, is God's book, written under the mspiration of the Holy Ghost. In this respect, the Bible is unlike every other book. It stands out before the world unique and alone. Nor is it to be regarded or treated like any other book. There is a sacredness and impor- tance attaching to it, to which no other book has any claim. It is to be approached with a reverence and devotion which we cannot feel in regard to any other book or writing in the world. When the Bible speaks, God speaks ; and what the Bible says is to be regarded as the word of God. It is lawful for us to investigate the evidences of divine revela- tion ; it is lawful for us to criticise copies and versions, and to arrive, if possible, at the very mind and meaning of the Spirit : but when we have reached tliis, or have come to be satisfied that we have, then we are to stop. We are to ask no further ques- tions. We are to say with ChiUiagworth, " No demonstration PECULIARITIES OF THE SACRED HISTORY. 57 can be stronger than this. God hath said it : therefore it must be ti-ue." • May the remarks which have been made as to the pecuharities of the sacred history prepare us to look into it with attention and interest ! May we study its inspired narratives, and scan its dif- ficulties, and investigate its reasonings and its facts, earnestly seek- ing that it may be " profitable to us for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness " ! CHAPTER IV. INTEODUCTORY. THE AUTHOR OF THE PENTATEUCH. THE enemies of divine revelation have usually commenced their assaults upon it with the Old Testament, and more especially with the first five books. Perceiving the intimate con- nection of these books with those that follow, they have thought, that, if they could destroy the credit of these, the conquest of the remainder would not be difficult. The first to assail the Old Testament, and particularly the writ- ings of Moses, were the Gnostics of the second century, and the Manicheans of the fourth. Regarding matter as essentially evil, and as the source of all evil, they could not beheve, with Moses, that the Supreme Being created tliis material world or the gross bodies of men. The material creation, in all its parts, must have been the work of some inferior and malicious being ; and Moses' account of the matter was rejected. After the disappearance of these heresies, and the overthrow of Paganism in the Roman Empire, we hear of little direct opposition to the Scriptures for the next thousand years. Numerous other errors and controversies arose ; but the great controversy respect- ing the fundamental documents of our faith was permitted to slumber. By the EngUsh infidels of the seventeenth century, the question was revived as to the authenticity and genuineness of the books of Moses. Mr. Hobbes says, in his " Leviathan," " It is sufficiently evident that the five books of Moses were written after his time." Spinoza, who was a Jew, advanced the same sentiment. The Pen- tateuch, he thought, could not have been written before the time of Ezra. Others followed in a similar strain, such as Bloimt, Toland, Morgan, and Bohngbroke. But the most violent assaults upon the Mosaic writings in modern times have come from Germany. Near the close of the 58 THE AUTHOR OF THE PENTATEUCH, 59 last century, commenced in that country the era of what has been called " historical criticism." This demolishing criticism was first employed upon the Greek and Latin classics. In the year 1795, Wolf, the philologist, pubhshed his " Prolegomena to the Homeric Poems," in which he endeavored to show that the " Ihad " and " Od- yssey " are not the works of Homer or of any one else, but are made up of fragments loosely put together, and are to be ascribed to different authors. He next took in hand the Orations of Cicero, and declared, in regard to four of these, that " Cicero could never have written them, sleeping or waking." Niebuhr, the historian, followed in the same strain, and, after " demohshing Livy's beauti- ful fabric in regard to the early history of Rome, attempted to reconstruct it on a more durable basis." From this period, dis- credit or contempt was continually heaped upon some of the most valuable. remains of antiquity. Herodotus was a garrulous story- teller, pleasing enough to children, but imworthy the study or the belief of men. The genuineness of some of the most undoubted of Plato's Dialogues was called in question. Even Thucydides did not entirely escape this destructive criticism. Under these circumstances, it was hardly to be expected that the sacred books of the Old Testament would be unmolested. All sorts of theories were invented to account for the origin of some of them, more especially the five books of Moses. Wliile it was insisted, generally, that Moses could not have written them, no two could agree as to the real author or authors, or as to the period to which they should be assigned. All periods were proposed, fi-om Joshua to the Maccabees; and all writers mentioned, whether known or unknown in Jewish history. The famous document and fragment theories were, for a time, immensely popular, rep- resenting the Pentateuch, like the Homeric poems, as a sort of patchwork, originated at different periods and by different hands, and put together by some one, — nobody could tell who. The fragments of wliich the books of Moses were composed were many, and were designated by various names ; the more prominent of which were the Elohistic and the Jehovistio. In the former, the name given to the Supreme Being is constantly Elohim; but, in the latter, it is Jehovah. Much labor was employed m parcelling out the sacred text according to this principle ; assigning one por- tion to the one class of fragments, and another to another. But, after all, it appears that there is no real ground for this division ; since, parcel out the fragments as we may, the two names 60 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. of the Deity occur promiscuously in both. Thus in the second chapter of Genesis, which is said to be Jehovistic, the two names of God occur together no less than ten times, — Jehovah-Mohim, the Lord God. So in Gen. v. 29, which is Elohistic, we have Jehovah. Also in Gen. vii. 9-24, which is pronounced Elohistic, the word Jehovah appears again. We give but one example more. The forty-ninth chapter of Genesis is throughout Elohistic ; but, in verse eighteen, we have these words of Jacob : " I have waited for thy salvation, O Jehovah ! " Difficulties such as these divided, for a time, all Germany, array- ing critic against critic in strange confusion ; no one seeming to suspect that the theory which had been assumed was a baseless one, contradicted perpetually by the sacred text. One of the last specimens of the document theory comes to us, not from Germany, but from a writer i^ " The Princeton Review." Without thinking to detract aught from the authority or inspira- tion of what is commonly called the Book of Gfenesis, this writer represents it as made up of eleven distinct books, each complete in itself, and all of them anonymous, with which Moses seems to have had nothing to do.* This scheme, however, did not originate at Princeton. It was first broached by Astruck, a French physician, in 1753 ; and was adopted, in part, by Eichhorn, Ilgen, and various other German critics. If Genesis is really made up of eleven or twelve distinct books, it is singidar that readers of the Bible for the last three thousand years have not discovered the lines of demarcation between them. The truth is, there are no such lines. There are differ- ent subjects treated of in Genesis, and corresponding to them are sectional divisions, as there are in other books ; but the Book of Genesis is evidently one. It has a beginning, a jDrogress, a plan, an end ; and is as well entitled to be considered one book — the work, under God, of one individual mind — as any of our canonical Scriptures. The authorship of the last four hooks of the Pentateuch is expressly ascribed to Moses. " When 3Ioses had rr\ade an end of writing the words of this law in a book, until they were finished., he said to the Levites which bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord, Take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, that it may be there for a witness " (Deut. xxxi. * No. for January, 1861, p. 51. THE AUTHOR OF THE PENTATEUCH. 61 24-26). " We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, — Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph " (John i. 45). " Had ye beheved Moses, ye would have beheved me ; for he wrote of me " (John v. 46). It is true, indeed, that the Book of Crenesis is not so expressly ascribed to Moses as the remaining four books : but then it is evi- dent, if he wrote the last four of these books, he must also Ivdxe written the first ; for the books manifestly belong together. They were originally one book, and they constitute one connected whole. They were appropriately classed together by the Hebrews, and col- lectively called the Law. They were classed together, too, by the Seventy, and called the Pentateuch, or the volume of five books. To this one volume, one work, the Book of Genesis is the proper introduction. The other books, without this, would be irretrieva- bly imperfect, — a column without a base ; while this, without the others, would be a base without a column , a porch, an entry, without a house. The design of the Book of Genesis was to introduce the history of God's ancient covenant people ; while the other books continue the history of the same people until their entrance into the prom- ised land. Such being the character and design of the Pentateuch, it is obvious that it can have had but one author. If Moses wrote the last four books, the inference is that he wrote also the first. There is no resisting this conclusion, unless there is some positive evidence to the contrary ; which evidence cannot be found. The Jews, from the earliest periods of their history, have as- cribed the entire Pentateuch to Moses. They have called the whole collectively " the law of Moses,''' implying that Moses wrote it all.* Josephus, speaking of the sacred books of the Jews, says, '■'■Five belong to Moses, which contain liis laws, and the traditions of the origin of mankind, until his death." f So Philo, in his treatise on Rewards and Punishments, says, " In the oracles delivered by the prophet Moses, there are three species : one concerning the crea- tion of the world ; the second, historical ; and the third, legislative." The internal evidence in favor of the Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch is conclusive. The work is precisely such a one as a writer of the age, character, and circumstances of Moses might be expected to produce. The style is archaic. Even the English reader feels that he is here brought into contact with a greater sim- * See, Luke xxiv. 44. t Contra Apion, book i. sect. 8. 62 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. plicity, a more primitive cast of thought and speech, than he meets with anywhere else. The hfe described, the ideas, the characters, have about them the air of a remote antiquity. Then the writer shows a familiar acquamtance with Egypt, — its general aspect, its history, geography, manners, customs, productions, and language, — all perfectly natural to Moses, but which cannot be shoAvn to belong to any other Israelite down to the captivity. And the same may be said of the writer's intimate acquaintance with the Sinaitic peninsula, and with the names and condition of the primitive races of Canaan ; such as the Rephaim, the Zuzim, the Emim, the Horim, the Avim, and Anakim. These were all well known to Moses ; but at a later period they had either perished, or were reduced to insignificance. On the whole, the evidence, external and internal, in favor of the Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch, is such as never can be set aside. It has been often assailed ; it is violently assailed at the present day: but it is so abundantly supported, so rooted and grounded in the word of God, that we may be sure it will stand forever. The principal objections to the Mosaic authorship of the Pen- tateuch are the following : — 1. Alphabetic writing was unknown in the time of Moses : it was the invention of a later period. This objection, wliich was once urged with great confidence, is now pretty much abandoned. It is generally admitted at this day that the art of writing was known in Egypt, in Chaldsea, and in some other countries, long be- fore the time of Moses. The Egyptians attribute the discovery of letters to Thoth, or, in other words, to divine inspiration. Gesenius thinks they had the art of writing some five hundred years before Moses was born. Prof. Olshausen says, that, at a period extending back of all sure chronology, not only the Egyptians, but the Phoe- nicians and Hebrews, were in possession of an alphabet. Indeed, it is probable that alphabetic writing was in use among the ante- diluvians, and that this, like many other arts, survived the Flood. 2. It is insisted that Moses could not have written the books as- cribed to him, because the style is so very like to that of the later Hebrew books. It would have exhibited greater peculiarities, more frequent archaisms, had it belonge(\to the age of Moses. To this we reply, in the first place, that the style of the Pentateuch has its pecu- liarities. It does differ somewhat from that of the later Hebrew books. That it does not more widely differ is owing, undoubtedly, to the THE AUTHOR OF THE PENTATEUCH. 63 fixed habits, customs, and modes of speech, which prevail in Orien- tal countries. In this respect, the Orientals are very unlike the Europeans. " Progress," it has been said, " is the law of the West ; stability, of the East." The Occidental languages are subject to the same ceaseless change which characterizes all other things. The Oriental delights to rehearse the same allegories and apothegms, expressed in the same terms, which gratified his earliest progenitors. He delights to do the same things, and in the same way. The books of Samuel, for example, must have been written hundreds of years before the prophecy of Malachi ; yet the style of the two is not essentially different. Some of the Psalms were written after the captivity ; and yet the style and idiom are much the same as of those which are ascribed to David. This fixedness of character, which attaches to the Hebrew of different- ages, belongs also to the other Semitic languages. For many centuries, the Syriac and Arabic underwent very little change. 3. It is confidently insisted that there are anachronisms in the books before us ; that events are referred to, and names given, which were not known until long after the death of Moses. It will be necessary to exan;iine some of these. The writer of Genesis represents Abraham as residing in Hebron (Gen. xiii. 18, xxiii. 2) ; but it is insisted that the place was not called Hebron until after the death of Moses, and after the entrance of the Israelites into Canaan. Its more ancient name was Kirjath Arba (see Josh. xiv. 15, xv. 13). But this is not a true representation of the case. The most ancient name of the place seems to have been Hebron. It was also called Mamre, from an Amorite prince who resided there, and was confederate with Abraham. At a later period, the Anakim got possession of it, one of whose chiefs was Arba. From him it took the name Kirjath Arba, or city of Arba ; but, after the conquest of Canaan by the Israelites, they restored the ancient name of the place, and - called it Hebron. It became the possession of Caleb, the son of Jephunneh. In Gen. xiv. 14, Abraham is said to have pursued the confederate kings, who had captured Lot, unto Dan. It is assumed that this was the place long afterwards called Dan, from its being in posses- sion of the Danites, one of the tribes of Israel ; but it seems, from 2 Sam. xxiv. 6, that there was another city in Sjrria, not far <" from Damascus, which was called by the ancients Dan, or Dan- 64 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. Jaan. This may have been so called in the time of Abraham, and is very likely to be the place referred to in Gen. xiv. 14. In Gen. xii. 6, it is said, that, when Abraham first went into Canaan, " the Canaanite was then in the land ; " imj)l}ing that the Canaanite was not in the land at the time when this passage was written. But the Canaanites kept possession of the land until after the death of Moses ; consequently, he could not have written this part of Genesis. But tliis difficulty is obviated by a slight change in the translation. God had promised to give the land of Canaan to the seed of Abraham. But the Canaanites had settled there before the promise was made, and probably before Abraham was born. The design of the sacred writer is to show, that, when Abraham came to the land of promise, the Canaanites had antici- pated him : they were there before him. Accordmgly, the passage may be rendered, " The Canaanite was already in the land." Another alleged anachronism occurs in Gen. xiv. 7, where the confederate kings, before the capture of Sodom, are said to have smitten " all the country of the Amalekites." These Amalekites are assumed to have been the descendants of Esau (who had a son named Amalek), and who, of course, could have had no existence until many years subsequent to this invasion. But the Amalekites of Arabia were not all of them the descendants of Esau. Wander- . ing, plundering hordes, called Amalekites, roamed the deserts as early as the time of Abraham. They were the same who attacked the Israelites at Rephidim, and against whom a terrible curse was pronounced : " I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven " (Exod. xvii. 14). These Amalekites could not have been the descendants of Esau. The children of Esau dwelt together at this period in Mount Seir, and the Israelites were not permitted to molest them (see Num. xx. 14).* It has been often said that the catalogue of the dukes and kings of Edom, recorded in Gen. xxxvi., comes down much later than the time of Moses ; but recent investigations have refuted these pretences. It now appears that the kings of Edom here spoken of, and the dukes of Edom, were contemporaries ; the -kings having the chief command, and the dukes, or sheiks (as they are now called), being princes under them. The names of * From time immemorial, the Arabs have been divided into two races: the elder, the Yemenites, claiming descent from Joktan, the son of Heber; and the other, the Maudites, being descended from Abraham in the line of Lshmael and Esau and the sons of Keturah. The first y of these were called Amalekites in the time of Abraham; and Amalek, the son of Esau, may have derived his name from them. THE AUTHOR OF THE PENTATEUCH. 65 only eight kings occur in the catalogue; and surely there was time enough between Esau and Moses, a period of more than two hundred years, for these eight to have reigned and passed away. I shall notice but another alleged anachronism, and that occurs in connection with the same subject. In Gen. xxxvi. 31 it is said, " These are the kings that reigned in Edom before there reigned any king over the childi'en of Israel." This language is thought to imply, that, at the time when it was written, a king had reigned over the children of Israel : of course, it could not have been written by Moses, or by any one previous to the time of Saul. But this conclusion is not so strong as at first view it appears ; for, although no long had reigned over Israel in the tune of Moses, kings had been predicted and promised. In Deut. xvii. 14-20, Moses tells the people that the time will come when they will desire a king, and will have one ; and he goes on to give directions as to the manner in which their king shall live and rule. Moses knew, therefore, that, in process of time, the Israelites would have a king ; and he merely says in the passage before us that eight kings had reigned in Edom before any one should reign in Israel, — before the time should come for Israel to be made a kingdom. It may be thought that the question, whether Moses wrote the Pentateuch, is one, after all, of little consequence. The more important inquiry is, Are these writings reliable ? Are the state- ments, by whomsoever written, to be received as truth ? It ma}^ be admitted, indeed, that the truth of the statements is the point chiefly to be regarded ; but then it often happens that the genuineness of an historical work is the best possiljle guaranty of its truth. How entirely would it change our estimate, say of Xenophon's "Anabasis" or the "Annals" of Tacitus, to find that they were written, not by those whose names they bear, but (as some have pretended) by the monks of the middle ages ! Given the i^'enuineness of an historical work like the Pentateuch, and its truth follows almost as a matter of course, unless it can be shoAvn that the author is unreliable, and intended to deceive. Who can suppose that Moses would have written such a work as the Penta- teuch, and published it among the Hebrews, his contemporaries, giving an account of their deliverance from Egypt, and of their journeyings, their rebellions, and corrections in the wilderness, unless he had known that it was true ? Would he have dared, under the circumstances, to publish statements which were not true, and which, he might be sure, thousands of voices would 5 6Q ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. instantly be raised to contradict ? Or, if Moses had had the effrontery to publish falsehoods under these circumstances, would his contemporaries have had the stupidity to receive them ? Moses often appeals to the senses of those for whom he wrote : " Your eyes have seen all the great acts of the Lord which he did " (Deut. xi. 7). Would not those into whose hands these writings first came have known whether their eyes had seen the events described ? and, if they had not seen them, who can suppose that they would have received and believed the books ? We see, in these remarks, that the question of authorship, in the case before us, is really one of very great importance ; since on the decision of this depends, most materially, the ulterior question of reliableness and truth. But, admitting Moses to have written the first five books of the Bible, how, it may be inquired, did he become acquainted with many of the facts there recorded ? He was not an eye-witness of them all. Many of them, such as the creation of the world and the events of antediluvian history, took place long ages before he was born. To this question I answer, Some of these facts were made known to Moses by direct revelation. He could have become acquainted with them in no other way. During the last forty years of his life, Moses was in continual communication Avith God. He con- versed with him as a man with his friend. God undoubtedly revealed to his servant Moses many things of which otherwise he could have known nothing. Some of the facts recorded in Genesis may have come down to him by tradition. Nor, in coming to him in this way, need they have passed through many hands. Adam was two hundred and forty-three years contemporary with Methuselah, Methuselah may have conversed a hundred years with Shem. According to the Hebrew chronology, Shem was for fifty years contemporary with Isaac and Jacob, and may have conversed with the parents of Moses. We thus see that traditions of the earhest times may have come to Moses through only four or five different hands. If any are of the opinion, that, in composing the Book of Genesis, Moses availed himself of records which were made in antediluvian and patriarchal times, I have no objection to such a supposition ; nor would it militate at all against the divine authority of the book. The writers of the Books of Kings and Chronicles certain- ly availed themselves of such records ; they continually refer to THE AUTHOR OF THE PENTATEUCH. 67 them : and yet those books are of divine authority. Whatever assistance of this kind Moses may have had in composing Genesis, he was directed by the Spirit of God just what to take, and what to omit or correct ; and the whole is as much of divine origin and authority as though it had been penned directly by himself. In ascribing, as we do, the Pentateuch to Moses, we except, of course, the last chajDter of Deuteronomy. This records the touch- ing scene of the death and burial of Moses, and of the mourning which was had for him in the congregation of Israel. It was prob- ably written by the author of the Book of Joshua. On the whole, we have much reason to be thankful that we have the first five books of our Bible ; that they were written by Moses ; and that they carry with them such indubitable evidence of having come from God. Let us gratefully receive them, hold them fast, and not suifer them to be wrested from us by a remorseless and infidel criticism. They are an undoubted record of God's truth and will ; and their inspired author was one of those " holy men who spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." CHAPTER V. INTRODUCTORY. THE CHRONOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. THE chronology of the Old Testament is rendered uncertain, chiefly on account of a diversity of readings in the original Hebrew and in the Septuagint. According to the Hebrew, the Deluge occurred in the year of the world 1656 ; according to the Septuagint, in the year 22dt2. According to the Hebrew, Abraham was born in the year of the world 2008 ; according to the Septua- gint, in the year 3334. According to the Hebrew, our Saviour was born in the year of the world 4000, or thereabouts ; according to the Septuagint, in the year 5426. It is certain that these differences in chronology are the result, not of accident, but of design. This appears from the very nature of them. Either the Masorites designedly lessened the chronology of the Old Testament after the Septuagint translation was made, or the Septuagint translators, or some of their successors and copy- ists, designedly lengthened this chronology beyond that of the original Hebrew text. The differences between the Hebrew and the Septuagint occur chiefly in the ages of the patriarchs ; and they are in this wise : The Septuagint makes the life of the patriarch at the birth of his genea- logical son a hundred years longer than the Hebrew ; and then it makes his life subsequent to the birth of this son a hundred years shorter than the Hebrew : so that the whole life of the patriarch, in both copies, is the same. Thus the Hebrew makes Adam a hundred and tliirty years old at the birth of Seth ; while the Septuagint makes him two hundred and thii'ty. The Hebrew makes Seth a hundred and five years old at the birth of Enos ; the Septuagint, two hundred arid five. The Hebrew makes Enos ninety years old at the birth of Cainan ; the Sep- tuagint, a hundred and ninety. The Hebrew makes Cainan seventy years old at the birth of Mahalaleel; the Septuagint, 68 THE CHRONOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 69 two hundred and seventy. And so, with few exceptions, the dif- ferent accounts proceed — the Septuagint adding a hundred years to the age of the patriarch at the birth of the genealogical son, — almost to the time of Abraham. Meanwliile, a hundred years are taken from the age of the patriarch after the birth of his son ; leaving the wljole period of his life, in both copies, the same. Now, it is certain that alterations such as these could never have been made accidentally. Whichever copy may have been changed, the change must have been effected for a purpose, and with design. Which, then, of these copies is to be preferred ? Which account is to be accepted as the true chronology of the Old Testament ? In favor of the Septuagint chronology, it is urged that it agrees, in general, with that of Josephus ; and as Josephus was acquaint- ed with both the Hebrew and Greek, and had both copies before him at the time of writing his history, it is to be presumed that both were, at that time, what the Septuagint now is. But this ar- gument, though plausible, is far from being conclusive. It is true that the chronology of Josephus, as recorded in his " Antiquities," book i. chap. 3, agrees generally, though not entirely, with that of the Septuagint. But Ernesti and MichaeUs both tell us that the passage in Josephus has been altered, to make it agree with the Seventy, by transcribers who had been accustomed to read the Scriptures only in the Greek version ; and we have this evi- dence that what these critics tell us is true, — that Josephus in an- other place, where he has escaped correction, makes the time which elapsed between the Creation and the Deluge almost the same as that of the Hebrew. He says that the building of Solomon's tem- ple was commenced in the year of the world 3102, and 1440 years after the Flood.* Now, if we take 1440 from 3102, the remainder will be 1662, — the years which must have elapsed between the creation and the Deluge ; and this differs only six years from the chronolo- gy of the Hebrew. But if Josephus wrote this latter statement, upon which no suspicion of alteration has ever fallen, then he can- not be supposed to have written the former. It must have been the work of some ignorant transcriber. In short, the chronology of Josephus, as it now stands in his history, is, in many points, inconsistent with itself. In the language of Dr. Hales, " His dates have been miserably mangled, and per- verted, frequently by accident, and frequently by design." The younger Spanheim too, in his " Chronologia Sacra," devotes an * Antiquities, book viii. chap. 3. 70 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. entire chapter to the errors, anachronisms, and inconsistencies of Josephus, the most of which he attributes to the mistakes of tran- scribers, or the hypotheses of interpreters ; and concludes with saying, that " the recovery of his genuine computations is a matter of great hazard and difficulty." But if all this be true, then it is not much in favor of the Septuagint chronology, that flosephus, as he noiu stands, is, for the most part, in accordance with it. It is urged again in favor of the Septuagint chronology, that it was accepted by most of the early Christian fathers. That this state- ment is true, there can be no doubt ; and for the very good reason, that most of the Cluistian fathers used the Septuagint version of the Old Testament, and nothing else. They had never looked into a Hebrew Bible, and had no knowledge of the language. They were familiar with the Septuagint chronology, and quoted it, and quoted one from another. No wonder, then, that they agree with the Septuagint. I say that this is true of most of the early Christian fathers, but not of them all. Origen, the greatest biblical scholar of the third century, and Jerome of the fourth (both of whom were well ac- quainted with Hebrew), dissent from the chronology of the Septua- gint. Jerome agrees almost entirely with that of the Hebrew as settled by Archbishop Usher. It is urged yet again in favor of the Septuagint chronology, that the Hebrew does not afford sufficient time for connected events, and cannot be made to harmonize with the chronologies of the Chinese, the Egyptians, the Chaldseans, and Hindoos. This objection can lie only against the period following the Deluge. The term of a thousand six hundred and fifty-six years, which the Hebrew allows between the Creation and the Deluge, was long enough, surely, to account for all events occurring between those two great epochs ; and, if we look at^ the subject considerately, we shall find that the Hebrew chronology after the Deluge furnishes ample time and opportunity for all connected events. It has been confidently urged, that the Pyramids, according to the Hebrew chronology, could not have been built after the Deluge. But this is more than the objector knows. The probability is, and recent investigations go to show, that they were built subsequent to the Deluge, — about two thousand years before the birth of Christ. But suppose they were not:, what objection to the idea that they ^ere built, or that some of them were, before the Deluge ? It cannot be doubted that Egypt was inhabited, densely inhabited. THE CHRONOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 71 before the Deluge ; and, for augiit we know, these huge structures may have been built in those long ages, and, like the great moun- tains, may have resisted the ingulfing waters.* Dr. Hales says, that, according to tlie Hebrew, Noah lived almost to the time of Abraham, and Shem lived almoat to the birth of Esau and Jacob. And suppose they did : what objection to all this ? Where Noah resided after the Deluge, we are not informed. No mention is made of him subsequent to the disgraceful affair which occurred in his tent. Shuckford supposes that he remained somewhere in the east, where he and his sons first settled when they came forth from the ark.f We are told expressly that his sons "journeyed from the east" when they came into the land of Shinar. It is not improbable that the father remained in the east ; that he had other children there ; and that some parts of Eastern Asia were settled directly from him, and not through the line of his former sons : and this accounts for it, if the supposition be admitted, that we hear nothing more of him in the sacred history. I am aware that it is said of Shem, Ham, and Japheth, that " of them was the whole earth overspread" (Gen. ix. 19); but this may refer only to the historical earth, of which alone the sacred writer had knowledge, or had occasion to speak. Dr. Hales further insists, that it is impossible to account for the populousness of the countries in which Abraham dwelt, as Meso- potamia, Canaan, and Egypt, on the supposition that he lived only from four to six hundred years after the Flood. But it is clearly intimated, in the same history, that these countries were not very thickly settled in the time of Abraham. When he migrated into Canaan, that country seems to have been generally open to him. He found there only a few scattered families and tribes ; ^ and, when' he wandered into Egypt in time of famine, he found the Egyptians comparatively a small people. Indeed, long after this, so late as the birth of Moses, the King of Egypt assigned it as a reason for oppressing the Israelites, and destroying all their male infants, that " the children of Israel are more and mightier than we " (Exod. i. 9). * Berosus speaks expressly of ten generations who lived in Clialdaa before the Flood, — the precise number given in Genesis. He mentions, in order, the kings who reigned in those times (ten in number), from Alorus the first to Xisuthrus, in whose reign the Deluge came (see Rawlinson's Evidences, p. 274). t Connection, vol. i. pp. 99-101. t " It is everywhere intimated," says Dr. Stanley, " that the population of Canaan was then but thinly scattered over its broken surface." — Lectures on the Jewish Church, p. 29. 72 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. There is yet another event in the history of Abraham which shows, that, in his time, the people of the surrounding countries were few and weak. Four kings came out of the east, — among whom were the Kings of Elam and Shinar, or what was afterwards Persia and Chaldsea, — and wasted the land of Canaan and the adjacent countries, and then attacked and carried captive the five kings of Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighboring cities. Among the rest, they conquered and carried captive Lot and his family. How powerful these four victorious kings were, and the kings whom they conquered, and the countries they had wasted, may be learned from the fact, that Abraham, assisted by a few of his friends and by his household servants, pursued them, overcame them, and brought back all the goods and captives which they had carried away. In short, there can be no doubt, that from four to six hundred years was time enough for all the people to be born and to die of whom we hear in the days of Abraham. New England has been settled about two hundred and fifty years ; and yet its native popu- lation has almost filled the land, and, by successive emigrations, has contributed not a little to fill other lands. We see, from what has taken place among ourselves, that the five hundred and twenty- seven years intervening between the Deluge and the death of Abraham furnished a sufficient time for the countries where he dwelt to become settled, at least to the extent in which he found them. But we are told that the chronology of our Hebrew Bibles can never be reconciled with that of the Chinese, the Egyptians, the Chaldseans, and Hindoos. I have heard too much of the pretended antiquity of these nations to be greatly moved by an objection of this nature. Their chronology, like that of other ancient countries, may be divided into three parts, — the fabulous^ the traditional, and the historical Of these, the two former may be passed over as of no account. The Chinese are an ancient nation, — more ancient, perhaps, than any other now existing on the globe. But " that their empire dates back to a period before the Flood is as extrava- gant," says Mr. Gutzlaff, " as any of the mythological stories of the Greeks or Hindoos." They have no reliable, authentic history before the time of Confucius, which was only five hundred and fifty years before Christ. All preceding this is fabulous and uncertain. The Egyptians lay claim to a very higli antiquity ; but their claims, like those of the Chinese, are chiefly fal>ulous. Their monu- THE CHRONOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 73 ments contain no continiions chronology, and no data from which such a chronology can be framed. Manetho tells us of thirty dynasties of kings which reigned between Menes and Alexander ; but, if his account is to be accepted, these kings, or many of them, seem to have reigned contemporaneously, some in one part of Egypt, and some in another : so that it is impossible to compute any system of chronology from them. The Menes of Manetho m-Aj have been the same as Mizraim, the son of Ham ; and the Egyptian government, or rather governments (^patriarchates'), may have commenced about two hundred years after the Flood. Of the Chaldiean kingdoms, the Bible lays the foundation in the times of Ashur and Nimrod, — from one to two hundred years sub- sequent to the Deluge. No other history traces it farther back than this, or so far by several hundred years. Of the Hindoos, with all their fables and mythologies, we have no reliable historical accounts previous to the time of Alexander. On the whole, the arguments which have been urged in favor of the Septuagint chronology seem to me to have little weight ; and I feel inclined to rest in the accuracy of our Hebrew Bibles. Whether the chronology of the Hebrew was altered by the Sev- enty, or by succeeding copyists, I pretend not to say. It is well known, however, that these translators themselves had a great desire to stand well with their heathen neighbors, and that, in some instances, they did not scruple to vary their translation, having this object in view. This is specially true of the translator of the Pentateuch. " Being anxious," says J. D. Michaelis, " to render his author agreeable not only to Jews, but to foreigners, he sometimes puts forced meanings upon words, and, with still greater audacity, absolutely corrupts the reading. For, lest the Egyptian philosophers should draw something from the sacred writer in support of their own errors or to the discredit of the Jews, he sometimes substi- tutes his own sentiments for those of Moses ; sometimes changes the text (making it to conform to Egyptian history), and alters whatever might be likely to offend foreigners by its improbability. Now, he who has once or twice corrected, when he should have translated, the original text, may well be suspected, in other in- stances, of doing the same." * Thus far Michaelis. The particular motive of the translator in changing the Hebrew chronology (if he did change it) may have been to increase the age of the * Syntagma, vol. ii., disc. 13. 74 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. world and of his own nation, and thus render them more respecta- ble in the eyes of the Egyptians. Those who altered the Hebrew chronology seem to have done it in accommodation to certain hypotheses which they had adopted, but which have no foundation in truth. One of these was, that in the antediluvian ages, when people lived almost a thousand years, they were not capable of having cliildren until they were at least a hundred and fifty years old. They were a long while, it was thought, in coming to maturity, — as much longer than we in propor- tion as their entire age was longer than ours. They were children till they were more than a hundred years old, and, as such, were incapable of procreation. That such an idea prevailed among the Greeks, and with some of the Christian fathers, Ave have the full- est proof. In accommodation to this hypothesis, it was natural that the Seventy, or those who copied from them, should add a hundred years to the lives of the patriarchs previous to the birth of their first-born sons. In most cases, they must do this in order to make the patriarch of a suitable age to have chil- dren at all.* But the hypothesis before us is a mere assump- tion, entirely without proof, or so much as probability. What rea- son have we to suppose that human nature before the Flood was not essentially the same as now, and that men did not come to he men, and to have families, as early in life as at the present time ? At a later period in the history of the patriarchs, we find this hypoth- esis contradicted by facts. The children of Jacob married much younger than would be deemed advisable at this day. Dinah could not have been more than sixteen years old when her hand was sought by Shechem (Gen. xxxiv. 4). Nor could Benjamin have been more than twenty-five when he went with his father into Egypt ; yet he took with him ten sons, whose names are given in Gen. xlvi. 21. Another groundless assumption, having an influence in the same direction, Avas, that the son mentioned in the genealogy was uni- formly the first-born ; but of this the Scriptures furnish no proof. In one instance, indeed, they expressly contradict it. Seth, Avhose name occurs in the genealogy, was far from being the first-born son of Adam. And the supposition is in itself improbable, that, for * Augustine thinks that the Hebrew chronology was changed by some copyist who wished to render the sacred writings more credible by the supposition that ten antediluvian years were equivalent to one of ours. The age of the patriarchs is therefore altered ; a hundred years being added to them, that so they might be old enough to have children. — City of God, book xvi. THE CHRONOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 75 fifteen successive generations, the first-born should uniformly be a son, and a son that lived some hundreds of years. Another Jewish hypothesis which led to the lengthening of their chronology was, that the Messiah could not come until the world had stood at least five thousand years. Five thousand years must pass before the Messiah ; during the sixth thousand, his king- dom would be advancing in the earth ; while the seventh would be a season of rest and peace. But, according to the Hebrew predic- tions and chronologies, the Messiah would come in about the four thousandth year of the world ; and this was a thousand years too soon. Hence the chronology of the Old Testament must be lengthened. The mode of lengthening it was that adopted by the Seventy, or their transcribers, which has been before explained. Still another Jewish hypothesis, which led to the lengthening of their chronology, was, that the first six thousand years of the world were to be equally divided in the days of Peleg, whose name signi- fies division; and that the first three thousand years were to end with the hundred and thirtieth year of Peleg's life. But the length- ening of the chronology, as we find it in the Septuagint, would not alone accomplish this purpose ; and so the name of a new and fictitious patriarch (the post-diluvian Cainan) was thrust in between Arphaxad and Salah, and a generation of a hundred and thirty years was given to him. This second Cainan is certainly a fictitious character. The strongest advocates of the Septuagint admit as much as tliis.* And if the Seventy, or their transcribers, would thrust him in to carry out a favorite hypothesis, the pre- sumption is that they would not scruple to make all other needful alterations. The evidence, so far as manuscripts and versions are concerned, is decidedly in favor of the Hebrew chronology. Indeed, almost no important evidence of this kind can be urged in favor of the Septuagint ; for although the ancient Latin and Coptic versions, and most of the Greek fathers, agree with the Seventy, they are none of them independent supporters and witnesses. They copied from one another and from the Septuagint, and, of course, might be expected to agree with it. In favor of the Hebrew chronology, we have, in the first place, * This second Cainan was entirely unknown to Philo, Josephus, Eusebius, and Theophilus of Antioch. It shows the obsequiousness with whicli the early Christian fathers followed the Sep- tuagint, that they foisted the second Cainan into the genealogy of Luke, chap. iii. 36. It is not at all likely that Luke ever placed it there. 76 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. the Targums of Onkelos and of Jerusalem. These are Chaldee paraphrases upon the Pentateuch, written, both of them, before the coming of Christ. The Targum of Onkelos is the most esteemed. It is so short and simple, that it can hardly be suspected of being corrupted. The Targum of Jerusalem is less reliable ; but both agree with the chronology of our Hebrew Bibles. The same may be said of the old Syriac version and of two Arabic versions. Je- rome, in the fourth century, found in the Hebrew books the same readings that we now have, and from them corrected the Vulgate, or Latin translation. Besides the Septuagint, there were three other ancient Greek translations of the Old Testament ; viz., those of Aquila, Theodotian, and Symmachus. Respecting the first two, we have no information touching the question before us ; but the version of Symmachus is known to agree with the Hebrew. The Samaritan Pentateuch, as it now stands, agrees in part with the Hebrew, in part with the Septuagint, and in part it differs from both. But, if we may believe the testimony of Jerome, the Samari- tan chronology in his day agreed entirely with that of the Hebrew. Of course, it must have been altered and corrupted since. It may be urged, finally, against the chronology of the Septua- gint, that it is inconsistent in one important point with the narra- tive of Moses : it makes Methuselah to have lived several years after the Flood ; whereas the history assures us that the whole human race, Avith the exception of Noah and his family, at that time per- ished. According to the Septuagint, Methuselah was 167 years old when he begat Lamech ; and Lamech was 188 years old when he begat Noah ; and Noah was 600 years old when the Flood came.* Putting these numbers together, 1674-188-|-G00, gives us 955 years after the birth of Methuselah as the date of the Flood. But the Septuagint agrees with the Hebrew in stating that Methuselah lived, in all, 969 years : consequently, he must have lived fourteen years after the Flood. This shows conclusively (unless there is some error iii the reading) that the Septuagint chronology, at least in this particular, is unreliable and defective. • According to the Hebrew chronology, Methuselah died in the very year of the Flood, — whether by old age, or by the deluge of waters, we are not informed. Lamech, the father of Noah, died five years earlier. None of the patriarchs whose names occur in the narrative are represented in the Hebrew as living beyond the * There is some diversity of reading, in respect to these numbers, in the Septuagint. I have followed that which seemed the most probable. THE CHRONOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 77 Flood. All, with the exception of Noah and his family, had passed away. Having thus expressed our preference of the Hebrew chronology before that of the Septuagint, and assigned our reasons for so doing, we repeat the statement already made, that, according to the He- brew, the Flood came in the year of the worlfl 1656. The patriarch Abraham was born 352 years later, — in the year of the world 2008. We have no contemporary history, as yet, with which to compare and rectify our dates. Mizraim, a son of Ham, migrated into Egypt, and founded a kingdom there, about two hundred years after the Flood. Two hundred and thirty years later, Abraham went into Egypt, and found an organized government, and a Pharaoh on the throne. Ample time had now been furnished for events and changes such as these. After about two hundred and ten years, Jacob goes into Egypt to meet his lost son Joseph. He finds there a rich and powerful kingdom under the rule of a monarch who goes by the common name of Pharaoh. The children of Israel remain in Egypt two hundred and fifteen years ; making, in all, four hundred and thirty since Abraham came to sojourn in the land of Canaan.* And now they come out under the direction of Moses ; and Pha- raoh, their persecutor, is destroyed. The question may be asked, whether we can identify the Pharaohs with Avhom Abraham and his descendants came in contact with any of those Egyptian kings whose names occur in the catalogues of Manetho and other ancient historians. My own opinion is, that this cannot, with any degree of certainty, be done. The slightest inspection shows that these old catalogues are wholl}^ unreliable. They are little more than bare lists of names, commencing at no fixed, assignable period, and not agreeing with themselves or with one another. There is nothing in them to contradict the history and chronology of Moses ; nor is there any thing which can enable one to say confidently, This is the Pharaoh who entertained Abraham, and that the king who promoted Joseph, and that the one who was drowned in the Red Sea. Hence we find that those Christian writers, from Eusebius downward, who have undertaken to har- monize the Mosaic and Egyptian chronologies, and to identify the Pharaohs of Scripture with the kings of Manetho, have differed continuously and variously. Hardly any two of them have agreed together. The truth is, there are no existin;:;^ catalogues of tlie ancient kings of Egyj)t which are at all reliable. Several of the * Compare Exod. xii. 40 and Gal. iii. 17. 7'8 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. names are mentioned twice ; and the more ancient kings, if tliey reigned at all, were contemporary, patriarchal chieftains, who reigned over different parts of the country. . What may yet be discovered in the catacombs of Egypt we pretend not to say. We have no fear of any discoveries to contradict the Bible. After the time of Moses, the Israehtes had no historical connec- tion with Egypt for a long period. The next that we hear of them is in the time of Solomon. He married a daughter of Pharaoh, King of Egypt, and carried on a commerce with him in horses and chariots and linen yarn. In the reign of Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, Shishak, the King of Egypt, came up against him, and conquered him, and carried away all the treasures of his house. This Shishak or Sheshonk was the first king of Mantheo's twenty- second dynasty ; but his name does not occur in the other cata- logues. His tomb was opened by ChampoUion, who found in it a pictorial representation of his victory over the Jews. This event occurred about the year 970 before Christ, or five hundred and twenty years after the exodus from Egypt. From tliis time, we frequently hear of the interference of the kings of Egypt, and also of the Idngs of Syria, Assyria, and Baby- lon, with the affairs of the Israehtes ; until at length Jerusalem was taken, the Temple was destroyed, and both Israel and Judah were carried into captivity. Solomon's Temple was destroyed in the year 588 before Christ, when it had stood four hundred and seventeen years. After this, we find the children of Israel subject, first to the Babylonians, then to the Medo-Persians, and then to Alexander and his successors, the kings of Syria and Egypt. From these they were delivered by the Maccabees, and lived, for a time, under their own native princes, subject to the inspection and interference of the Romans. At length they fell under the power of Herod the Great, who was an Idumsean by birth, but by profession a Jew. He was set over them by the Romans, and reigned as a tributary king. It is needless to trace their chronolog}^ through the long, dark period intervening between the Old Testament and the New. It is easily reckoned, and harmonizes perfectly with all that we know of the history of the surrounding nations. Near the close of the reign of Herod, the Great Light of the, World appeared. Our Saviour was born, according to Archbishop Usher, in the year of the world 4004. But this, we know, was three or four years too late. He was certainly born before the THE CHRONOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 79 death of Herod ; but Herod died in the year of Rome 749 or 50, — three or four years earlier than the commencement of our vulgar era. We have another datum in the New Testament which leads to the same conclusion. According to Lul^e iii. 1, 2, our Savioiu- was thirty years old in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Csesar ; and this would bring the birth of Christ in the year of Rome 749, as before, — three or four years earlier than the com- mencement of our era. The probability is, — we do not pretend to perfect accuracy, — that Christ was born in the year of the world 4000 ; and that four years more have passed since his birth than is commonly supposed. CHAPTER VI. THE CREATION OF THE WORLD. THE event which first meets us in sacred history is the creation of the workl. This occupies the first chapter of the Bible, and a portion of the second ; and as tliis world was made by Christ, and for him, — to be the theatre of his redemptive work, and the home of his Church in the earlier part of its existence, — it seems proper, that, in a history of the Church, we should begin with some account of the creation. My principal object will be to explain and vindicate the statements of Scripture in regard to this great work. By the creation of the world, we understand something more than the making of one thing from another. We can make one thing from another. With the appropriate materials, we can make many things ; and, by most of the ancient heathen philosophers, creation was supposed to be nothing more, in kind, than this. Assuming the axiom, Ex nihilo nihil fit, they maintained the exist- ence of two eternal, independent principles, — God, and elemental, chaotic matter, — and taught, that, fi'om these chaotic elements, God (or some inferior divinity) made the world. But it is evident that a world thus made would not be a proper creation. It would be no more than a transformation or fabrication. It might be a great work, but not a creation in the sense in which we here use the term. Again : by creation we mean something more than the emanation of all existing things from the very substance of God. This doctrine was held by some of the ancients, and it has its advocates in modern times : but it has no foundation, either in reason or Scripture ; on the contrary, it is refuted by both. If all things are from the substance of God, then, as to their substance, they are independent and indestructible, like God ; which Ave have no reason to suppose is true. They are also parts of God ; and this involves THE CREATION OF THE WORLD. 81 the absurdity, that the infinite God is divisible into parts. It involves, also, the mutability^ the changeableness, of God ; for cer- tainly there are continual changes going on in the world around us : and if the world, and all it contains, are of the substance of God, then there are continual changes in his substance. In short, the doetrine before us is but saying that every thing is God, and God every thing ; which is j^antheism^ atheism. It is denying the existence of a personal God, who made the world, and governs it ; and this is to deny that there is, properly spealdng, any God at all. By creation, we understand the making of all created things from 7iothing. God made them all, not out of himself, or from eternal, elemental, chaotic matter, but from notliing. He brought them into being. He gave them existence when before they had none. This is what ive understand by the work of creation. This is the proper, original signification of the word 5*13, translated create., in the first verse of the Bible. The apostle Paul also gives us the same idea in the eleventh chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews : " Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God ; so that the things which are seen were not made of things which do appear," or of things already existing : which is the same as to say that they were made from nothing. The Jews seem to have held this idea of creation in all periods of their history. Thus it is said in the Maccabees : " Look upon the heaven and the earth, and all that is therein, and consider that God made them of things that were not;'''' i.e., from nothing" (2 Mace. vii. 28). Philo also says, " The things that were not, God called into being." And this is the only reasonable view of the subject. The elements of material things were either created in the sense above explained, or they are eternal. But against the eternity of matter, even in its elementary ingredients, there are insuperable objections. To suppose matter eternal is to invest it with some of the more essential attributes of Jehovah, such as self-existence, independ- ence, omnipresence, unchangeableness ; not one of which can it be supposed to possess. It is also to take it out fi'om the rightfid domain and providence of God. If God did not create material atoms, then they are not his ; and he has no right to meddle with them, or to make any thing out of them. On this ground, his government over the material world is no better than a usurpation. 82 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. But, if tliis world was created from nothing, it was created in time ; and it has been insisted that the date of its creation, as fixed in the first chapter of the Bible, can never be made to harmonize with the facts of geological science. It is assumed by those who urge this objection, that the Scrip- tures make the age of the world to be something less than six thousand years ; that, at the time of the placing of our first parents upon it, the world itself was created from nothing. But geologists have demonstrated that this world has existed for much more than six thousand years ; that its existence runs back to a vastly remote period ; that the placing of the first human pair upon it is a comparatively recent event in its history. I need not here exhibit the proof on which this geological conclusion is based. To my own mind, it is perfectly satisfactory. There is no accounting for innumerable facts which meet us as we penetrate into the bowels of the earth, or even walk upon its surface, but by supposing that the earth itself has existed for a very long period, — a period remotely anterior to the origin of our race. Here, then, it is said, is a manifest contradiction between the deductions of geology and the declarations of Scripture. The teach- ings of the Bible are contradicted by plain matters of fact, and, of course, cannot be true. But let us look at this subject again. Let us be sure that we understand some of the first verses of the Bible before we- declare them inconsistent with facts, and unworthy of confidence. I have said that those who urge the objection we are considering assume that the Scriptures make the whole age of the world to be something less than six thousand years ; but have they any right to this assumption ? Where is it said in the Scriptures that the world we inhabit was made from nothing at the time of the crea- tion of our first parents ? I answer confidently. Nowhere. " In the heginning, God created the heavens and the earth." This sentence I regard as a paragraph by itself. It is an independ- ent, a most important, and I will add, — considering the circum- stances under which it was written, — a most wonderful declara- tion ; announcing that at some time, at some remote period of anti- quity, in the beginning of his works, God did create the heavens and the earth. There is not a verse in the Bible which bears the impress of divine inspiration more strongly than this. At what period in the lapse of eternal ages this great event took place, we are not informed ; what was the appearance or consistence of the THE CREATION OF THE WORLD. 83 earth at its first creation, we are not informed ; nor have we the slightest information as to tlie changes and revolutions of the world, nor as to the form of animal and vegetable life which it bore upon its surface during the remoter ages of its history. The geologist has space enough here for his deepest, widest researches. He has scope enough for any conclusions to which he may reason- ably come, without the remotest danger of trencliing on any of the annunciations of revealed truth. That a vastly long period intervened between the proper crea- tion of the world spoken of in the first verse of the Bible, and the commencement of the six-days' work recorded in the follow- ing verses, there can be no reasonable doubt. It was during this period that the earth assumed a solid form. Its heated masses were cooled and conglomerated ; the primary rocks were crystallized ; the transition, the secondary, and the deeper portion of the ter- tiary rocks were deposited and petrified ; the lower forms of animal and vegetable existence appeared and perished ; multi- tudes of marine and amphibious animals — some of them of huge and terrific forms — lived and died, and their remains lie embedded in the solid rocks. Vast quantities of vegetable matter also accu- mulated on the earth, and was treasured up beneath its surface, in the form of coal, for the future use and benefit of man. It is evident that the earth, during this long period, underwent frequent and terrible revolutions. Its internal fires were raging in their prison-house, and often bursting through the crust which con- fined them. The mountains were upheaved from their deeper than ocean-beds ; trap-dikes were formed ; and the stratified rocks were tilted from their original, horizontal positions, — as we now see them, — in, every direction. It was subsequent, as I think, to one of these terrible convul- sions, which had torn the earth to its very centre, merged the greater part of it beneath the ocean, and destroyed almost every trace of animal and vegetable existence, that mention is made of it in the second verse of our Bible. It was then " without form, and void ; and darkness was upon the face of the deep." The earth was dark at that period, not because there was no sun, but because caliginous gases and vapors had utterly obscured the light of the sun, and shut it out from the desolate world. It was like the dark- ness of Egypt in one of the plagues of that smitten country. But God had not abandoned the work of his own hands. He had nobler purposes to answer by tliis seemingly ruined world 84 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. ' than any which it had hitherto accomplished. It was no longer to be the abode of sauriaus and mastodons, and other hiis^e and ter- rific monsters, but was to be fitted np and adorned for a new and nobler race of beings. Accordingly, the Spirit of God began to move upon the turbid waters ; and order and j)eace were gradually restored. " And God said. Let there be light ; and there was light." The dense clouds and vapors which had enveloped the earth, and shut out entirely the light of heaven, were so far dissipated, that it was easy to distinguish between day and night. On the second day, God said, " Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God called the firmament Heaven." The work here denoted was the elevation of the clouds, and the separation of the aerial waters by a visible firmament — the seeming canopy of heaven — from those which rested on the earth. " And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear ; and it was so. And God called the dryland Earth ; and the gathering-togeth- er of the waters called he Seas. And God said. Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit-tree yield- ing fruit after his kind ; and it was so. And the evening and the morning were the third day." In the course of this day, vast por- tions of the earth's surface were elevated ; others were depressed ; continents and islands were raised up ; and the seas and oceans were made to know their bounds. As soon as the dry land appeared, it began to be clothed with vegetation. The forming hand of the Creator covered it (without doubt, by miracles) with new species of vegetables in place of those which had been destroyed- " And God said. Let there be lights in the firmament of heaven to divide the day from the night. And God made two great lights ; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night : he made the stars also. And the evening and the morning were the fourth day." The language here does not neces- sarily imply that the sun, moon, and stars were now first created, but only that they were first made to shine out upon the renovated earth. They now became visible lights to the forming world. The dark clouds and vapors had been so far dissipated on the first day, that it was easy to distinguish between day and night. But now they were entirely dissipated, and the lights of heaven shone down upon the earth " in full-orbed splendor." THE CREATION OF THE WORLD. 85 It should be remarked here, that the representation throughout this chapter is phenomenal rather than philosophical. It accords to what would have been the appearance of things had there been any spectator on the earth at the time to observe them. Thus, when it is said that God made a firmament, we are not to under- stand that the seeming canopy above us is a literal thing, a shining substance, but only that such is the appearance to a spectator on the earth ; and when it is said that God made two great lights, and set them in the firmament, we are not to suppose that the sun and moon were now first created, and fixed in the blue expanse, but that such would have been the appearance to man had he been in existence on the fourth day, when the sun and moon commenced their shining. On the fifth day, God peopled the waters with fishes, and the air with birds and flying fowls. On the sixth day, he brought forth the beast of the earth, the cattle, and every creeping thing, after his kind. He also created man in his own image. Male and female created he them ; and he gave them dominion over all the creatures that he had made. On the seventh day, God ended his work, — the great work of re-organizing, renewing, a desolate world, preparing it for the resi- dence of man, and placing man and the other creatures upon it. "And he blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it, because that in it he had rested from all his work." We have here the institution of the weeldy sabbath. It commenced with the renewing of the world, and is to continue to the end of it. I have given this running commentary on the first chapter of Genesis, the better to illustrate the distinction between the original creation spoken of in the first verse, and the six-days' work described in the remainder of the chapter. The date of the original creation is vastly remote, — beyond all human calculation. The six-days' work took place, as the Scriptures represent, about six thousand years ago. Between these two great epochs there was a wide space, — wide enough to account for all the phenomena of the pre- Adamite earth ; for all that geologists have ever discovered, or ever will. It will be seen, that, in harmonizing the revelations of the Bible with the facts of science touching the creation of the world, I have not taken the ground, with some of my brethren, that the days spoken of in the first chapter of Genesis were not literal days, but indefinitely long periods of time. I have several objections to this theory, which I will frankly state : — 86 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 1. The theory rests on the groundless assumption, that the crea- tion of the world, and all the changes which have occurred in it, are the result of established laws, — the laws of Nature, — involving a long and regular process, without any sudden and violent revolu- tions, or interpositions of Almighty Power. I have called this theo- ry a groundless assumption. It is worse than that : it is incon- sistent with Scripture, with reason, and facts, and leads naturally, if not necessarily, to pantheism and atheism. Throughout the Bible, what we call the work of creation is represented as taking place rapidly, almost instantly, at the word and fiat of the Creator : " Let there be light ; and there was light." " Let there be a firma- ment ; and a firmament was." " By the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water." " By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth." " He spake, and it was done ; he commanded, and it stood fast." Scriptures such as these clearly indicate that what we call the work of creation was accomplished, not by a long process in accordance with estab- lished laws, but rapidly, quickly, at the will and word of the Creator. And in what sense can it be true that creation was accomplished in accordance with the laws of Nature ? Did Nature create the world ? or did the creative power of God originate that established order of things which is commonly called Nature ? Nature's laws are simply God's ordinary mode of operation ; and creation was his extraordinary work, originating those laws, and setting them on their course. To tie up creative power to the processes of Nature, is, in effect, to make Nature the Creator, — to deify Nature, and undeify God. And then what does the appearance of the earth, both on its surface and under it, indicate on the question before us ? Is it likely that the great mountains — the Alps, the Andes, the Hima- layas, the AUeghanies — were raised by a slow and gradual move- ment ? Or, rather, were, not the deep granite foundations broken up, and thrown up, to the height of miles, as we now see them, by some violent concussion from within ? Some mountains are entire- ly of volcanic origin, and must have been hurled by internal fires from the very bowels of the earth. And what do the analogies of Providence — events which have occurred since the world was created — teach us on this question ? The Deluge of Noah — was that a slow and gradual development ? THE CREATION OF THE WORLD. 87 or was it a sudden breaking-up of the fountains of the great deep, and an opening of the windows of heaven, by means of which a wicked world was drowned ? Or, if any are incredulous as to the fact of such a Deluge, what shall be said of tornadoes, inundations, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, which, although in accordance with Nature's laws, are not of slow and gfadual development, but burst upon the Avorld with sudden and overwhelming power ? And what shall be said of that coming day, when in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, the trumpet shall sound, the dead shall be raised, the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, the elements shall melt with fervent heat, and the earth with all its contents shall be burned up ? I have said that this development-theory is pantheistic in its tendencies. It is clearly so. Its advocates, in many instances, make so much of established laws, that they forget the Almighty Lawgiver. They discard miracles. They recognize no God but Nature ; and Nature is no God at all. We repudiate, therefore, the slow, gradual process of creation, requiring loiig successive pe- riods for its accomplishment ; and believe, with the Scriptui"es, that the fitting-up of earth for the residence of man was perfected in six natural days. 2. We reject the theory of long, successive periods in the process of creation, from the impossibility of reconciling it with the facts of the case. In some of these periods, however protracted, very little is reported to have been accomplished. In the first, for in- stance, nothing was done except to produce a change from a state of total, primeval darkness to one of hazy, misty light ; and this was interrupted for half of the time by returning darkness : for there was an evening as well as morning to the first day. And then, through the second long, long period, naught is done but to create what is called a _^rwamew^ ; i.e., an apparent blue expanse, separating the .vapors in the sky from the waters on the earth. But, without insisting on this consideration, we would inquire of the advocates of the theory in question, whether there was any sun before the fourth period. If there was a sun, why Avas it so long shut out from the earth ? Of what use could it be through three successive periods, indefinitely and almost immeasurably long, and yet all the while obscured and invisible ? Or if there was no sun (as it is generally conceded that Ijhere was not), then how could the earth, for one whole period, be covered, without a sun, with trees and vegetables ? and how could the earth, without a sun, be held 88 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. in its orbit ? and how were the evenings and mornings produced — long intervals of light and darkness — by which those vast pe- riods of time were divided ? 3. But my principal objection to the theory under consideration grows out of the language of Scripture. I know that the word " day " is sometimes used in Scripture, as it is in common life, to denote an indefinite period of time : but then this is not the proper signification of the word ; and there are connected circumstances in the case before us which go to settle its meaning, and limit it to a period of twenty -four hours. Not only are days spoken of in the first chapter of Genesis, but the morning and evening as constitut- ing the day ; a manifest indication that only a single diurnal revolu- tion is intended. Then there is the seventh day, — a season of holy and blessed rest. Was this, also, an indefinitely long period ? And, if so, what becomes of the j)rimeval institution of the sabbath ? And how are we to account on this ground for the division of time into weeks of seven days, which we know prevailed as early as the Deluge, and probably from the creation of man ? And, more than all, what shall be said of the language of the fourth commandment, and of the reason assigned for its observ- ance ? Here is a positive reference to the institution of the sab- bath on the day following the creation, and a solemn injunction that we are to labor six days, and rest the seventh, in commemora- tion of that great event. Does not this prove that the six working- days of the creation were no more than literal days, as the seventh was a literal day of rest ? But it will be said that oiir interpretation of the six-days' work is equally inconsistent with the fourth commandment, which says, " In six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that in them is ; " whereas u>e have said that the six-days' work was only the renewing, re-organizing, and repeopling of a previously-created but then desolate world. In answer to this, I may remark, that the original word trans- lated 7nade in the fourth commandment does not import, like Kiia in the first verse of the Bible, a literal creation, but rather a trans- formation, ?i fabrication, the shaping and making of one tiling from another. In this sense, the world was literally made in six days ; not created from nothing, but made over, — made what it now is. It was fitted up for the residence ^f man, and the present races of animals and vegetables ; and the}^ were placed upon it. This was the work of the six days, as before explained ; and it was a great THE CREATION OF THE WORLD. 89 work, worthy to be commemorated in a succeeding and perpetual day of rest. It will be objected again, that six literal days were not sufficient for the renewing, re-organizing, and repeopling of the world, unless we suppose many things to have been accomplished almost instant- ly and by miracle. All this we allow. We do suppose many things to have been accomplished by miracle ; and all who hold rto a proper creation or re-organization of the world must admit the same. The whole work was an almost continual succession of mir- acles. The formation of every new species of animal or vegetable was a miracle. There is a natural law, by which a species, once created, may propagate itself, but no law by which it may bring itself into being, or by which one species may generate another, or may grow, develop, into another. Hence the commencement of every new species involves a miracle, in whatever time or man- ner the work may have been performed. It is as much a miracle to form an acorn, and let it grow into an oak, as it would be to form the oak itself. It is as much a miracle to form an infant, and let him grow into a man, as it would be to form a man. There is no avoiding the supposition of miracles in the forming and peopling of the world, in whatever manner the work may have been done ; and if we allow the intervention of miracles, then six da3^s — or even a shorter period, if such had been the pleasure of the Almighty — would have been amply sufficient for the work performed. It is objected to the creation of man at the time supposed in the Scriptures, that his existence may be* traced to a much earlier peri- od. This is a recent objection of geologists ; * and we have exam- ined all the facts which have been adduced in support of it, — the flint implements, the jaw-bones and skeletons, the brick and pot- tery of the Nile, the lake-buildings, &c. We might remark upon them at length ; but really they do not deserve so much attention. The things discovered may be the relics — or some of them may — of antediluvian men, but not of pre-Adamite men. They fail entirely to prove the point for which they are adduced ; and this has been often shown by scientific men. Those who urge them will ere long be as much ashamed of them as they are now earnest in bringing them forward. We adduce two facts for the consideration of those who claim * Only a few years ago, Mr. Lyell, the great advocate of pre-Adamite men, was opposed to the progressive-development theory, anvith submission and thankfulness : on the contrary, he was fretted with it, and even put the prophet in chains. From this time forward. King Asa became petulant and unhappy. He had a disease in his feet, — perhaps the gout, — which may * Ramah was not more than sis miles from Jerusalem. KINGS OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. 339 account in part for Ms peevishness and ill-humor. He is remem- bered, however, as one of Judah's best and most prosperous kings. While Asa reigned over Judah, Israel was cursed with no less than eight wicked kings ; viz., Jeroboam, Nadab, Baasha, Elah, Zimri, Tibni, Omri, and Ahab. Jeroboam died about two years after the commencement of Asa's government. Nadab was assas- sinated by Baasha when he had reigned less than two years. In the twenty-sixth year of Asa, Baasha died,* and was succeeded by his son Elah, a vicious man, who, in the second year of his reign, was murdered by Zimri, one of his officers. Zimri reigned only seven days, when he was cut off by a military chief whose name was Omri. Tlie Israelites were now about equally divided be- tween Omri and Tibni ; but Omri at length prevailed, and Tibni was slain. Omri founded the city of Samaria, which was ever afterwards the capital of the kingdom. He compelled his people to worship the golden calves, and restrained them by severe statutes from going up to Jerusalem. These prohibitory laws were stigmatized by the prophet Micah as "the statutes of Omri" (Mic. vi. 16). In the thirty-eighth year of Asa, Omri died, and was succeeded by his son Ahab. He was the most profligate and wicked of all the kings of Israel ; for he not only continued the worship of the calves, but having married Je2iebel, daughter of Ethbaal, king of Tyre, he brought back into Israel the worship of Baal.f He built a temple for Baal in the- new city of Samaria, and set up an altar, and made a grove, where all sorts of impurities were practised. He was the first to set an example of persecution in Israel by slaying the prophets of the Lord. To reprove him for his wickedness, God sent him Elijah the Tishbite, — one of the. most renowned of the ancient prophets, — armed with miracles both of mercy and of judgment, who, when his work on earth was finished, was translated visibly to heaven. During the reign of Ahab, there was a drought and a famine in Israel of more than three years' continuance; which was finally removed at the intercession of Elijah. * In 2 Chron. xvi. 1, it is said that Baasha was alive " in the six and thirtieth year of the reign of Asa;" but this evidently is a mistake of some transcriber. Baaslia died ten years earlier, and seems to have engaged in the fortifying of Ramah in the last year of his life. t Menander, the Tyrian historian, makes mention of Eithbalns (Ethbaal) as king of Tyre at this very time; also of the drought iu the time of Ahab. — See Eawlinson's Evidences, p. 111. 340 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. After this, Benhadad, the kmg of Syria, invaded Israel, and was twice beaten by the forces of Ahab ; but in a third conflict with the Syrians, undertaken in direct opposition to the warnings of heaven, Ahab was mortally wounded, and died. I have said that Ahab came to the throne of Israel in the thirty- eighth year of Asa, king of Judah. Three years later, Asa died, and was succeeded by his son Jehoshaphat, who, in all acts of piety and religion, imitated, if not exceeded, the doings of his father. Jehoshaphat was tliirty-five years old when he began to reign ; and he reigned twenty -five years in Jerusalem. He com- menced his reign, not only by suppressing idolatry, with its kindred vices, but by taking measures for the better instruction of his people in the duties of religion. He sent priests and Levites into all the cities to read and expound the law of God. In consequence of his fidelity, God blessed Jehoshaphat with riches and honors. His people loved him, and his enemies submitted themselves unto him, and gave gifts. The great faidt of his administration was, that he married his son and successor, Jehoram, to Athaliah, a daughter of Ahab and Jezebel. This alliance was offensive to God, and it involved him and his family in many troubles. Jehoshaphat was present with Ahab at Ramoth-gilead when the latter was slain, and with difficulty escaped from the field. After this, the Moabites and Ammonites, with a numerous band of auxiliaries, invaded his kingdom ; but he proclaimed a fast, sought help from God, and received a promise of victory without his striking a blow. And the promise was remarkably fulfilled ; for, when Jehoshaphat and his army approached the camp of his enemies, he found them all dead. The mixed multitude had quar- relled among themselves, and had utterly destroyed one another ; so that nought remained to Jehoshaphat and his people but to carry away the spoil. Jehoshaphat, like Soilomori, engaged in commerce from the ports of Eloth and Ezion-geber, on the Red Sea. In his first attempt he ^was unsuccessful, on account of his partnership with Ahab ; but afterwards, when freed from this damaging alliance, he had better success. On the whole, Jehoshaphat was a good king. He was greatly honored and respected while he lived, and deeply lamented at his death. He was succeeded by his son Jehoram. In the seventeenth year of the reign of Jehoshaphat, Ahab was slain, as before related, and was succeeded by his wicked son Ahaziah. His reign was inglorious and short, having lasted scarcely KINGS OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. 341 * two years. He died in consequence of a fall from a lattice * in liis house ; and was succeeded by Jehoram, another son of Ahab. Jehoram commenced his reign in the eighteenth year of Jehosha- phat, and continued it twelve years. He reformed some of the abuses which his father and brother had encouraged. He put an end, for. a time, to the worship of Baal, but persisted in the worship of the calves. It was during his reign that the prophet Elisha made his appearance in Israel. He came in the spirit and power of Elijah, and, like him, performed many miracles. Jehoram engaged in war with the Moabites, and had the address to make Jehosh- aphat and the king of Edom his confederates. As the three kings, with their armies, were crossing the desert to attack the Moabites, they found no water, and were on the point of perishing with thirst ; but, in answer to the prayer of Elisha, an abundant supply of water was furnished, and a victory was gained. At a later period in the reign of Jehoram, the land of Israel was distressed with repeated invasions from* the king of Syria. At one time, Samaria was besieged until " an ass's head was sold for four- score pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a cab of dove's dung for five pieces of silver;" until famished mothers were constrained to cook and eat their own children. But by a miraculous interposition, according to the word of Elisha, the siege was suddenly raised ; the affrighted Syrians fled ; and from the spoils of their camp the starved city was abundantly supplied. ■ In the seventh year of Jehoram, good Jehoshaphat died, and was succeeded, as I said, by his son Jehoram : so that there were now two Jehorams reigning together, — one over the kingdom of Judah, and the other over Israel. One of them was a son, and the other a son-in-law, of the infamous Jezebel ; and both walked in the steps of that guilty corrupter of God's people. Jehoram of Judah began his reign by destroying all his brothers, the sons of Jehosha- phat, and with them many of the chief rulers of the kingdom. He received one of the most remarkable warnings of which we have any account in the Bible, — a letter of reproof and denuncia- tion from Elijah the prophet, who, several years before, had been translated from earth to heaven. Whether the letter was sent directly from heaven, or whether the old prophet, foreseeing what was to take place after the death of Jehoshaphat, prepared the letter, and left it beliind him to be delivered when the occasion for it should occur, I pretend not to say. It had no good effect, how- * A window constructed with cross-bars or sashes. 342 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. • ever, upon the guilty Jehoram. He persisted in his wicked courses, and was visited with crushing judgments. His tributaries revolted from him ; the Philistines and Arabians invaded his territories, and carried away his wives and children ; and, to crown all, he was seized with an incurable disease of the bowels, under which he sank, after an inglorious reign of eight years. There is some confusion as to the time when this Jehoram of Judah commenced his reign. In 2 Kings i. 17, it is said that Jehoram of Israel began to reign in the second year of Jehoram, the son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah ; but in 2 Kings iii. 1 it is said that Jehoram of Israel began to reign in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat, — six or seven years before Jehoshaphat's death. The solution is, that Jehoshaphat not only appointed his son Jehoram to be his successor, but made him the partner' of his throne several years before his death. He reigned alone seven or eight years after the death of his father. Jehoram of Judah Avas succeeded by his youngest son, Ahaziah, — or Jehoahas, as he is called in 2 Chron. xxi. 17, — the only one of his sons who escaped the ravages of the Philistines and Arabians. He was the son of Athaliah, the wicked daughter of Ahab and Jezebel ; and, being entirely under his mother's influence, his short reign was one of idolatry and sin. He ascended the throne at the age of twenty-two, and died in less than two years.* Both he and his uncle, Jehoram of Israel, were slain on the same day by Jehu, the son of Nimshi. The death of these two kings was on this wise : In his wars with the Syrians, Jehoram, assisted by Ahaziah, had laid siege to Ramoth-gilead, which he claimed as belonging to himself. Here he was wounded, and retired to his palace in Jezreel to be healed of his wounds ; leaving his army, under the command of Jehu, to carry on the siege. Meanwhile Ahaziah left Ramoth-gilead, and came to Jezreel to visit Jehoram. While the kings were absent from Ramoth, Elisha commissions one of the prophets to go there, and anoint Jehu to be Idng over Israel. He goes in the most quiet way possible, and executes his commission. But no sooner is it known that Jehu has been anointed than the army arises at once, and proclaims him king : whereupon, being surrounded by a * In 2 Chron. xxii. 2 he is said to have been forty-two years old when he began to reign; but this is manifestly an error of some transcriber. It would make him older than his father. Athaliah, too, is called the daughter of Orari (2 Chron. xxii. 2): she was his grand-daughter. KINGS OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. 343 company of valiant men, Jehu rides iDost-haste from Ramotli to Jez- reel, lulls both Jehoram and Ahaziah, and causes the death of old Jezebel herself. Next he writes letters to Samaria, about twenty- miles distant, and orders that the heads of seventy of the royal family of the house of Aliab should be brought to him. He then slew all that remained of this wicked family in Jezreel, with their great men, their kinsfolk, and their idolatrous priests, until he left none remaining. Jehu now gets into his chariot to go to Samaria. On his way he meets more than forty of the royal house of Judah, all of them connected with the family of Ahab, going up to Samariah to visit their cousins. These, too, he destroys, and then presses on to the capital, where he kills all that remains of Ahab, according to the word of the prophet Elijah. Next, under pretence of a great idolatrous festival, he draws together all the priests and the worshippers of Baal to Samaria ; and, while they were practising their heathen rites, he fell upon them, and destroyed them. And thus was the worship of Baal, which Ahab and Jezebel had done so much to promote, effectually put down in Israel, to be revived no more. Jehu was now established on the throne of Israel, where he reigned during the next twenty-eight years. • Though he com- menced with a fiery zeal against idolatry, he did not carry the reformation consistently through. He continued the worship of the golden calves, and bequeathed the same to his successors. When it was known at Jerusalem what Jehu had clone, Atha- liah, the queen-mother, who still survived, undertook to destroy all that remained of the seed royal of David, and take the government into her own hands ; and she well-nigh succeeded in her diabolical purpose. No one but Joash, an infant son of the late king, was left. He was secreted by an aunt, the wife of Jehoiada the high priest, and was kept concealed in the temple for the next six years. During all this period, Athaliah reigned over the land, and idolatry triumphed. But, when Joash was seven years old, his uncle Jehoiada, after having taken all necessary precautions, brought him out into the court of the temple, where he anointed him, crowned him, and proclaimed him king. Athaliah, hearing the shouts of the people, ran towards the temple, crying " Treason, treason ! " But the guards of the young king instantly fell upon her, and slew her with the sword. Joash was now acknowledged king of Judah, over which he 344 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. reigned forty years. During the first half of his reign, while Jehoiada, his great patron and instructor, lived, he governed faith- fully and well. He took much pains in. repairing the house of the Lord, which, since the death of Jehoshaphat, had been neglected.* He labored, also, to reclaim the people from idolatry, and establish them in the service and worship of God ; and, happily, Jehoiada lived to the age of one hundred and thirty. But, when he >was dead, Joash fell under the influence of bad advisers, who led him to tolerate and even countenance idolatry ; and, though the prophets were sent to reprove him, he grew no better : he was angry with them, and persecuted them. He was so angry with Zechariah, a son of his old friend Jehoiada, for reproving him, that he took his life : wherefore God visited him, as he was wont to do in like cases, with distressing judgments. He sent against him, year after year, the king of Syria, who, on one occasion, entered and pillaged Jerusalem. He also afflicted him with a com- plication of diseases. At length, two of his servants conspired against him, and took his life. In the twenty -first year of the reign of Joash, Jehu, the king of Israel, died. He was succeeded by his son Jehoahaz, who continued the worship of the calves, as his father had done. He reigned seventeen years, and was succeeded by his son Joash. This was in the thirty-eighth year of Joash, king of Judah ; so that, for the next two years, the kings of Judah and Israel again bore the same name. The successor of Joash, king of Judah, was Amaziah, who came to the throne at the mature age of twenty-five. For a time, he governed his people well, and was prospered. He made war upon the Edomites, who had revolted from Judah, and triumphed over them. He slew ten thousand of them in the Valley of Salt, and pursued the remainder to Selah (now Petra), their capital city. He took the city, and destroyed another ten thousand there ; but, strange to tell, on his retuVn from the slaughter of the Edomites, Amaziah brought back their idols with him, and set them up at Jerusalem, and worshipped them. For this he was sternly * It is said in 2 Kings xii. 13, tliat, of the money contributed to repair the house of the Lord, no vessels were made fortlie service of the liouse; but in 2 Chron. xxiv. 14 it is said that sucli vessels were made of the money tliat remained after the repairs were finished. But here, obviously, is no contradiction. No vessels were made until the repairs were finished, as stated in Kings; but when theyxoere Jinished, and a surplus of money was found to be left, it was cpncluded to make of it vessels of silver and gold. KINGS OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. 345 reproved by the prophets, but in vain : consequently, he was visited with heavy judgments, and died in disgrace. He provoked a war with Joash, king of Israel, in which he was beaten, taken captive, and brought a prisoner to Jerusalem. The temple was pillaged ; the wall of the city was broken down ; a tax was levied on the people ; and hostages were taken to secure the payment of it. After this shameful defeat, Amaziah lived several years ; but, persisting in his idolatry, the affairs of the Idngdom waxed worse and worse. At length, his subjects became so tired of him, that they pursued him to Lachish, and there slew him. His entire reign was twenty-nine years. Joash, king of Israel, began to reign 'two years previous to the death of Amaziah. In the first part of his reign, the prophet Elisha fell sick and died. Joash visited him in his sickness, wept over him, and received his blessing ; yea, more than this ; Elisha encouraged him to make war upon the Syrians, and promised him three successive victories. And all this was gloriously fulfilled ; * for in three pitched battles he triumphed over the king of Syria, and recovered the cities which had before been taken from Israel. Of his success against Amaziah I have already spoken. He reigned sixteen years, and was succeeded by his son, Jeroboam II. Encouraged by the prophet Jonah, Jeroboam engaged success- fully in several military expeditions. He enlarged the border of his dominions north and east, till they were as extensive almost as in the days of David and Solomon. He was one of the greatest of the kings of Israel, and died in great honor after a reign of forty-one years. Amaziah of Judah died in the fifteenth year of the reign of Jeroboam, and was succeeded by his son Azariah, sometimes called Uzziah. He was only four years old at the death of his father, and did not come to the throne until the age of sixteen, — after an inter- regnum of twelve years. He reigned in all fifty-two years. It ma}^ be said of him, as of his father, that, in the first part of his reign, he governed his people well, and was prospered. He had a mighty army, with which he triumphed over the Philistines, the Arabians, and the Ammonites. He repaired the walls of Jerusa- lem, fortified them with towers, and was the first inventor of engines with which to hurl darts and stones. Such weapons had never been known or used before in the wars of the East. He was also a lover of agriculture, and did much to encourage and * Elisha propliesied about sixty years. 346 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. improve it among his people. But, like thousands of others, his prosperity ruined him. Contrary to the law of Moses, he madly intruded himself into the priests' office, and took it upon him to offer incense. For this offence he was smitten with leprosy, and continued a leper to the day of his death. This disastrous event took place in the thirty -third year of his reign ; after which he was obliged to live, like other lepers, in a separate house ; while the government was administered by his brave son, Jotham. In the period of which we are speaking, several of the prophets whose writings have come down to us commenced their ministry. The first of these were Jonah and Hosea, who prophesied chiefly in the kingdom of Israel. Following them were Joel, Amos, Oba- diah, and Isaiah. Isaiah commenced his prophesy in the reign of Azariah, and continued it down to the time of Hezekiah. Jeroboam II. lived until the twenty-sixth year of the reign of Azariah ; but his son Zachariah did not come to the throne until the thirty-eighth of Azariah : consequently, there was an interreg- num of twelve years (2 Kings xv. 8). And, when Zachariah came to the throne, he held it only six months, when he was murdered by Shallum, a usurper ; and thus was fulfilled the divine prom- ise to Jehu, that his sons should sit upon his throne to the fourth generation (2 Kings x. 30). From this point we shall drop, for the present, the history of the kings of Judah, and follow out that of the ten tribes until the overthrow of their kingdom. Shallum, the murderer of Zachaiiiah, reigned but one month ; when he was put to death by Menahem, one of his generals. Mena- hem was a man of blood ; but by the help of Pul, king of Assyria, whose favor he had purchased, he was enabled to hold the govern- ment ten years. This Pul is the first of the kino;sj)f Assyria whose name occurs in the Old Testament. He reigned at Nineveh, and may have been the king to whom Jonah preached. Menahem was succeeded by his son Pekahiah, who was miu-- dered, after two years, by Pekah, the son of Remaliah. Pekahiah died the same year with Azariah, king of Judah. Pekah, the son of Remaliah, reigned over Israel twenty-one years, but not without great trouble and perplexity. In repeated instances, Tiglath-pileser, king of Assyria, invaded his land, took his cities, ravaged the country, and carried many of his people into captivity. At length, as Pekah had mui'dered liis master, Hoshea, the son of Elah, murdered him. KINGS OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. 347 He died in the fourth year of the reign of Ahaz, or in the twentieth from the accession of Jotham, the father of Ahaz (2 Kings XV. 30) ; but it was not until the twelfth year -of Ahaz that Hoshea began to reign (2 Kings xvii. 1) : consequently, there must have been an interregnum here of eight or nine years. These were times of great confusion and distress in Israel, owing to the repeated invasions of the king of Assyria. Encouraged by him, Ahaz seems to have interfered with the affairs of Israel, and set up a pretence to be their king. ' He is called in one place the King of Israel (2 Chron. xxviii. 19). But at length, in the twelfth year of Ahaz, Hoshea, the murderer of Pekah, was called to the throne, which he held for the next nine years. He was the last of the kings of Israel. In the second year of his reign, Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, invaded his country, and laid him under tribute. For several years, Hoshea paid the tribute-money; but becoming, at length, tired of it, he entered into a confederacy with So, otherwise called Saba- con, king of Egypt, and withheld his tribute from the king of Assyria. Upon this, Shalmaneser came against him with a great army, ravaged the country, besieged Sainjiria, and after three years took it. He put Hoshea in chains, and shut him up in prison to the day of his death. He carried the great body of the Israelites into captivity, and placed them in the northern part of Assyria, in the cities of the Medes. As the same time, he brought a mixed multitude of people from the different provinces of his empire, and planted them in the cities of Israel ; and from these foreigners, mixed up with some straggling Israelites who remained in the land, descended the Samaritans ^ of whom we hear so much in the subse- quent history of the Jews. No wonder the Jews would not ac- knowledge them as the veritable seed of Abraham, and that an interminable prejudice existed between the two nations. When the kingdom of Israel was overthrown by Shalmaneser, it had been in existence about two hundred and fifty-six years : it commenced with Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, and ended with Hoshea, the son of Elah. CHAPTER XXIX. KINGS OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. CONCLUDED. IN the last chapter, I brought down the history of the kings of Judah to the death of Azariah, and of the kings of Israel to the carrying-away of the ten tribes by Shalmaneser. Fifty years later, Esarhaddon, the grandson of Shalmaneser, came into the land of Israel, and carried away a great multitude, — nearly all that re- mained of the former captivity. These captives, like those which preceded them, were settled in the cities of the Medes, and their places were supplied by colonists from those regions. These being joined by a few of the Israelites, and being instructed somewhat in the Israelitish worship, constituted what were known as the Samaritans in subsequent ages. They were not pure Israelites, though they adopted, to some extent, the religion of Israel. There was a bitter hostility between them and the Jews, which continued till the coming of Christ. Leaving now the ten tribes in their remote exile, and leaving their land in the possession of these mongrel Samaritans, we turn to contemplate further the history of the kings of Judah. Jotham, who, on account of his father's leprosy, administered the government for him several years before his death, came to the throne in the second year of Pekah, son of Remaliah. He was now twenty-five years of age, and he reigned alone sixteen years. He was an excellent prince, distinguished alike for his piety, his justice, and his strict regard for the best interests of his people. He made it his business to correct disorders and reform abuses ; and he would have accomplished much more than he did, but for the perverse- ness of some of his people. He repaired the walls of the city and the temple, and did much to strengthen and fortify his kingdom. He subdued the Moabites who had revolted from Judah, and brought them again under tribute. He died in peace at the age of forty-one, and was buried in the sepulchre of the kings. 348 KINGS OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. 349 He was succeeded by Ahaz, his son, who came to the throne at the age of twenty, and possessed it sixteen years. He was a wicked king, regardless alike of God and of the welfare of his people. He not only worshipped the golden calves, but made molten images of the gods of the heathen round about, and caused his sons to pass through the fire to Moloch. For these offences he was terribly chastised by the confederate armies of Rezin, king of Syria ; and of Pekah, the king of Israel. They vanquished his army, with the loss of a hundred and twenty thousand men, plundered his cities, captured Jerusalem, and slew many of his princes. They carried away two hundred thousand captives, whom they intended to have sold for slaves ; but, moved by the remonstrances of the prophet Oded, they released them, and sent them back to their own land. Next, the Edomites on the south of Judah, and the Philistines on the west, took possesssion of those parts that lay contiguous to them, and ravaged and plundered the other parts. Distressed on every side, Ahaz now applied to Tiglath-pileser, king of Assyria, for help. He sent him large presents of gold and silver, and promised to be his servant in time to come if he would consent to help him against the kings of Syria and Israel. Accordingly, the king of Assyria marched against Rezin, king of Syria ; slew him in battle ; besieged and took his capital city, Damascus ; carried the Syrians into captirity, and planted them in Upper Media. After this, he waged war upon Pekah, king of Israel ; took from him all his possessions east of the Jordan ; plundered Galilee ; and then pro- ceeded towards Jerusalem, hoping to squeeze some further tribute out of Ahaz, — which he did. He then went into winter-quarters at Damascus, where Ahaz met him to pay him homage as his vassal and tributary. Here Ahaz saw an altar, with which he was so much pleased, that he sent a model of it to Jerusalem, with orders to the high priest to prepare one like it. This was accordingly done ; and then the altar of the Lord was taken away to give place to the new heathen altar. At length, he caused the temple to be closed, and the worship of the God of Israel to be suppressed ; devoting himself entirely to the worship of idols. But he was driven away in the midst of his wickedness, at the early age of thirty -six ; and his good son Hezekiah reigned in his stead. As Ahaz was but thirty-six years old when he died, and Hezekiah was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, it would seem that Ahaz was but eleven years old when this son was born ; but this difficulty is removed by supposing, that, in the confusion and I 350 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. distress of the times, two or three years may have elapsed between the death of Ahaz and the accession of Hezekiah. It was the custom of these kings to give their children in marriage at a very early period ; and instances have been known in which persons have l:)ecome parents at the age of from twelve to fifteen. Hezekiah was one of the best of the kings of Judali. Immedi- ately on his accession, he set about a thorough reformation of religion. He caused the doors of the temple to be opened ; cast forth the new Syrian altar, and put the Lord's altar in its place ; and, whatever other pollutions the sacred places had contracted, he caused to be purged away. He sanctified the priests, offered sacri- fices according to the law, and appointed singers to praise the Lord in the words of David, and of Asaph the seer. He revived the Passover, and invited the jDcople of Israel to imite with his own subjects in observing it. And so interested were they all in this solemn national festival, that they continued it fourteen days, — twice the usual appointed time. There had been no such Passover in Israel since the days of Solomon. At the close of the feast, those who had observed it went out together, and brake in pieces the images, cut down the groves, demolished the high places and altars of idol worship, and restored the worship of the true God in Israel. They even destroyed the brazen serpent which Moses had made in the wilderness, because it had been perverted to purposes of idola- try. And God, whom Hezekiah so diligently served, granted him unusual prosperity. He overcame the Philistines, and not only recovered from them the cities which his father had lost, but made great inroads upon their own territories. It was in the early part of .Hezekiah's reign that Shalmaneser besieged and took Samaria, and put an end to the Iraelitish kingdom. When this was accomplished, the conqueror meditated an attack upon Jerusalem ; but he was diverted from his purpose by an expe- dition against Tyre, where he died. Not long after this, Hezekiah was visited with distressing sickness, and was warned by the prophet Isaiah to^repare for death. At the same time, he was threatened with an invasion by Sennache- rib, the son of Shalmaneser, king of Assyria. In his distress, he cried unto the Lord ; and his prayer was heard. Soon the prophet was sent again unto him to assure him of a recovery from sickness, and of a deliverance out of the hands of the Assyrians ; and, in confirmation of the message, a stupendous miracle was wrought, — the sun went ten degrees backward upon the dial of Ahaz, on which it had gone down. KINGS OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. 351 Upon Hezekiah's recovery, the king of Babylon sent messengers to congratulate him, and to inquire respecting the wonder which was done in the land. Hezekiah was flattered with the attention shown to him, received the messengers gladly, and showed them all the treasures of his house. For his pride and ostentation in this matter, he was reproved by Isaiah, and was told that the time was near when all his treasures should be carried to Babylon. Meanwhile Sennacherib had invaded the land, and captured several of the cities of Judah. At length, he came and sat down before Lachish, intending, when that was taken, to attack Jerusalem itself. Hezekiah made every possible preparation for defence. He fortified the city ; he enrolled and drilled his army ; he entered into an alliance with the king of Egypt. This last measure proved of no advantage to him ; and for it he was reproved and censured by the prophet. At length, he bought off the king of Assyria, and induced him to turn his hand against Egypt ; but Sennacherib soon came back, re-invested Lachish, and sent three of his principal officers to demand the surrender of Jerusalem.* Hezekiah now brought the case more directly to God, and entreated the prophet Isaiah to intercede for him. He did so, and received for answer that Jerusalem was safe ; that it was under the divine protection ; that Sennacherib should not come near it, nor shoot an arrow against it. Almost immediately upon this, Sennacherib received intelligence that his own dominions were invaded by Tirhakah, king of the Ethiopians. He was constrained, therefore, to leave Judsea, and march against them. When these troubles were disposed of, — as they soon were, — he hasted back into Judsea, resolved to destroy Jerusalem and all that were in it ; but his bloody purpose was most remarkably defeated. An angel from God came down into his camp, and slew a hundred and eighty-five thousand of his men in a single night. Terrified at this dreadful slaughter, Sennacherib hastened back into his own country, where he was slain by two of his sons. After this memorable deliverance, Hezekiah passed the remain- der of his days in peace, revered by his own subjects, and feared and honored by the surrounding nations. He fortified Jerusalem in the strongest manner, brought a supply of pure water into it, * Distinct accounts of these expeditions of Sennacherib, and of the siege of Lachish, have been recovered from the mounds near the Tigi'is, all going to confirm the sacred history. — See Raidinson^s Evidences, pp. 119, 120. 352 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. and did all in his power for the improvement and happiness of his people. He died in the fifty-fourth year of his age, and the twenty- ninth of his reign, and was buried in the most honorable of the sepulchres of the sons of David. Manasseh, liis son, was only twelve years old when he came to the throne ; and, falling into the hands of wicked advisers and guardians, he became as pre-eminently corrupt and sinful as his father had been holy. He not only restored the high places, wor- shipped idols, and erected altars unto Baal, but he removed the ark of the covenant from its place in the sanctuary, and get up an idol m its stead. He practised enchantments, consulted those who had familiar spirits, and made his children pass through the fire to Moloch. Nor was he content to work these abominations alone ; but, being naturally of a cruel temper, he raised a perse- cution against those who would not unite with him. The proph- ets who were sent to reprove him he treated with the utmost contempt and outrage, and filled Jerusalem, not only with idols, but with innocent blood. The venerable prophet Isaiah, the friend and counsellor of his father, he is said to have sawn asunder with a wooden saw. But it Avas not long before the vengeance of God overtook him. Esarhaddon, the son and successor of Sennacherib, undertook to accomplish what his father had in vain attempted, — the subjugation of all Palestine to his sway. He first marched his army into the territory of the ten tribes, and carried away a multitude of Israel- ites,— the remains of the former captivity. He then sent his generals into Judtea, where they found and captured Manasseh, bound him with chains, and carried him a prisoner to Babylon". His prison and his chains here brought him to repentance. With deep sorrow and humiliation, he implored the divine pity and for- giveness ; and God was pleased so to melt the heart of the king of Babylon, that he consented to restore him to his liberty and his kingdom. Upon his return to Jerusalem, Manasseh redressed, so far as pos- sible, the mischiefs which -his former impiety had occasioned. He cleansed and purified the temple, destroyed the idols, restored the reformations which his father had made, and obliged his people to worship and serve the Lord only. After thi^, he reigned in pros- perity about twenty years. His whole reign was fifty-five years, — longer than that of any of the kings of Judah. He retained to the last a deep sense of his unworthiness, and was unwilling KINGS OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. 353 on this account, as the Jews tell us, to be buried in the sepulchres of the kings. We have what purports to be liis penitential prayer in one of the apocryphal books of the Old Testament.* Manasseh was succeeded by his son Amon. He imitated the wickedness of the first part of his father's reign, but not the re- pentance of the latter part. He gave himself to all sorts of im- piety. But his time was short. Two of his servants conspired against him, and slew him when he had reigned only two years. He died at the age of twenty-four. His son Josiah was only eight years old at his father's death. He began early to seek the Lord, and was a prince of extraordinary goodness and piety. At the age of sixteen, he took upon himself the administration of the kingdom ; and, beginning with the ref- ormation of religion, he endeavored to purge it from all those corruptions which had been introduced in the preceding reign. He travelled through his kingdom, demolishing the altars, cutting down the groves, and breaking in pieces the molten images. He defiled Tophet, which was in the Valley of Hinnom ; burned the chtiriots of the sun ; and drove the Sodomites out of the land. He went beyond his own borders into the land of Israel, and destroyed the monuments of idolatrous worship there. He overthrew the altar of Jeroboam's calf at Bethel, where it had stood more than three hundred years. Having purged the land, so far as possible, from idols, his next care was to repair and purify the temple. This work Josiah com- mitted to Hilkiah, the high priest, who, while he was searching in every place, chanced to find the hook of the law of the Lord. The probability is that he found the original copy., written by Moses, which had been deposited in the ark of the covenant with the tables of stone. The book was carried immediately to the king, who had never before seen a copy of the law, and was read before him. He was much affected in view of the great guilt which had been incurred, rent his clothes, and sent some of his principal officers to Huldah the prophetess to inquire of the Lord. * This is a very humble and remarkable prayer, whether prepared by Manasseh or not: " My transgressions, 0 Lord! are multiplied, my transgressions are multiplied; and I am not •worthy to behold and see the hei*ht of heaven for the multitude of mine iniquities. I am bowed down with many iron bands, that I cannot lift up my head; neither have I any release: for I have provoked thy wrath, and done evil before thee. I did not thy will, neither kept I thy commandments. I have set up abominations, and have multiplied offences. I have sinned, 0 Lord ! and I acknowledge my iniquities. Wherefore, 0 Lord ! forgive me, and destroy me not in my sins." 23 354 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. She returned answer, that the judgments threatened in the book of the law would ere long be executed ; but that, on account of the contrition of the king, they shoidd not come in his day. Josiah now called together the elders and people of the land, and had the book of the law publicly read to them ; when they all entered into a solemn covenant to observe and do according to its precepts. After this Josiah made another circuit of the land, that he might ferret out and destro}?" all the remains of idolatry ; and, when the season of the Passover came round, he kept it with more exactness and solemnity than had ever before been witnessed in Israel. In short, this excellent prince did all in his power to appease and avert the wrath of God ; but the doom of Judah had been pronounced, and could not be revoked. In the thirty-first year of his reign, Pharaoh-nechoh, king of Egypt, desired to pass through some part of Judaea on his way to fight the king of Babylon ; but Josiah would not consent to this, and unwisely di'ew up his army in the Valley of Megiddo to oppose him. The two armies came to a battle, and Josiah was slain; and great was the lamentation in Judah on account of him. Jere- miah the prophet prepared a funeral elegy on the occasion, which was long sung by the singers in Israel. After the death of good Josiah, his son Jehoahaz (also named Shallum) was called to the kingdom ; but he reigned only three months. On the return of the king of Egjrpt from his war in the east, he deposed Jehoahaz, and sent him a prisoner into Egypt, where he died. Jehoahaz had an elder brother, whose name was Eliakim. Him the king of Egypt took, changed his name to Jehoiakim, and placed him on the throne of Judah. He was a cruel, wicked prince, who strove to undo all that his pious father had established ; and, when reproved by Jeremiah and the other prophets, he was angr}^ and put some of them to death. In the fourth year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, captured Jerusalem, and took him prisoner ; but upon his humbling himself to the king of Babylon, and^ Consenting to l5^come his tributary and vassal, his throne and kingdom were restored to him. It was at this time that the first captives were taken from Jerusalem to Babylon ; among whom were Daniel and his three friends. This is reckoned as the commencement of the seventy -years' captivity. Only three years after this, Jehoiakim rebelled against Nebu- chadnezzar, and entered into a confederacy with the king of KINGS OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. 355 Egypt : whereupon the Babylonians again invaded Judah, took Jehoialdm prisoner, and slew him with the sword. His lifeless body was cast out into the field, having none to bury it ; thus ful- filling one of the prophecies of Jeremiah: "Thus saith the Lord of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, His dead body shall be cast out in the day to the heat, and in the night to the frost ; and I will punish him and his seed for their iniquity " (Jer. xxxvi. 80). After the death of Jehoialdm, his son Jehoiachin ascended the throne. He is also called Jeconiah, and sometimes Coniah. In the Chronicles, it is said that he was eight years old when he began to reign ; but in the Kings, that he was eighteen.* Both may be true. The probability is that he shared the government with his father ten years ; and that at the age of eighteen, when his father died, he began to reign alone. He continued in the government only three months and ten days ; when he was taken prisoner by Nebuchadnezzar, and carried to Babylon. He was kept in prison until the death of Nebuchadnezzar ; after which he was released ; but he never returned to Jerusalem. In him Avas ful- filled another of the prophecies of Jeremiah: " I will give thee into the hand of them that seek thy life ; and I will cast thee out into another country, and there shalt thou die " (Jer. xxii. 24-28). Many of the princes and principal inhabitants of Judah were carried into captivity at the same time with Jeconiah ; among whom was the prophet Ezekiel. Jerusalem and the temple were yet standing, and many of the poorer class of the people still remained in the land. Over these Nebuchadnezzar placed Zedekiah, a third son of Josiah, exacting of him at the same time a most solemn promise to be true and faithful to himself. This engagement Zedekiah fulfilled for several years ; but in the eighth year of his reign he violated it, and entered into a confederacy with the king of Egypt. This brought Nebuchadnezzar again to Jerusalem with a great army, by Avhich the city was closely besieged^ and, after a time, taken and de- stroyed. When. Zedekiah saw that his affairs were desperate, he endeavored to escape towards the wilderness ; but he was soon discovered, brought back, and carried to Nebuchadnezzar to Riblah, where he gave judgment upon him. He first caused his children to be slain before his eyes ; then his eyes were put out ; and he was carried in chains to Babylon, to be a close prisoner to the end of life. * Compare 2 Kings xxiv. 8 with 2 Cliron. xxxvi. 9. 356 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. When Jerusalem had been taken, the officers of Nebuchadnez- zar first gathered together all the wealth of the place, including the vessels of the house of the Lord : they then set fire to the city and temple ; brake down the walls, the fortresses, and towers ; and ceased not till they had made the place an utter desolation. Some of the more considerable of the people were put to death ; and large numbers were carried away to Babylon to join their brethren who were already there. Some of the poorer of the people — enough to till the ground and dress the vineyards — were left in Judsea ; and Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, was made their governor. With him Jeremiah chose to remain rather than go with the captives to Babylon. In a short time, Gedaliah was treacherously murdered by Ishmael, one of the seed roj^al, who thought to make himself king. In this, however, he did not succeed, and, fleeing for his life, took refuge with the Ammonites. Johanah, the son of Karea, now took upon himself the office of governor ; and, fearing the return of the Baby- lonians to revenge the death of Gedaliah, he resolved, in direct opposition to the word of the Lord by Jeremiah, to flee into Egyj)t. He did so, taking Jeremiah and many others of the people with him. It is supposed that Jeremiah died in Egypt. About two years after the capture of Jerusalem, the Babyloni- ans came and swept over the land of Israel again, carrying away the poor remains of the scattered people. This last company of exiles amounted, in all, to seven hundred and forty-five persons (Jer. Hi. 30). Thus the Holy Land was left waste and desolate, ta^ enjoy her sabbaths, according to the denunciations of the prophets, until the time of the captivity should be fulfilled. As our chief authority in preparing the above account of the kings of Judah and Israel has been the sacred Books of Kings and Chronicles, it may be well to close the narrative with some remarks respecting these books. The two Books of Kings formerly constituted but one book, and are closely connected with the Books of Samuel : ijideed, the two Books of Samuel are called in the Vulgate the first and second Books of Kings ; while our Books of Kings are the third and fourth. The present division and naming of the books are of modern date. Our two Books of Kings may have received their names from the fact that they contain a history of the several kings of Judah and Israel ; or more probably from the fact that the initial word KINGS OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. 357 of the first book is -jb^a King. Thus the Hebrew names of Gene- sis, of Ecclesiastes, and of some other books, come from the initial words. Respecting the author or authors of the Books of Kings and Chronicles, there has been much difference of opinion. Some have thought them the work of the same author, and have ascribed the whole to Ezra ; but I cannot be of this opinion. The Books of Chronicles are evidently s^ipplementary to those of Kings, and were written at a later period. This consideration is against the supposi- tion that they belong to the same author. If Ezra wrote the Kings, why should he long afterwards write the Chronicles, including much of the same matter, and often in the same words ? Why not incorporate the whole in one Ijook ? The most probable supposition in regard to these books is, that they were not originally composed by any one author, but were compiled by some inspired prophet or prophets from the authorized records of the kings of Judah and Israel. That such records were carefully kept, there can be no doubt : under each reign, an indi- vidual was appointed for this very purpose. Thus Jehoshaphat, the son of Aliilud, was David's recorder (2 Sam. viii. 16) ; and Joab, the son of Joahaz, was Josiah's recorder (2 Chron. xxxiv. 8). The records which these men kept were called the Chronicles — in Hebrew, the day-hooks., or diaries — of the Kings, and are continually referred to in our books as the sources from which the history was taken, and as containing more full accounts than it comported with the plan of the sacred writer to give. " Now, the rest of the acts of , and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah ? " or " of Israel ? " By the Book of the Chronicles here referred to, we are not to understand our Books of Chronicles, but the registers which were daily made and carefully preserved in the recorder's office, or, as we should say, in the office of Secretary of State. From these registers, and others equally authentic, our sacred narrative was undoubtedly compiled ; the Holy Spirit directing the writer just what to take and what to omit, and how to modify and correct the different statements, so that the completed work might be regarded as the inspired word of God. ^ Who the inspired compiler or compilers of tKe Books of Kings were, it is impossible now to say. There was a succession of in- spired prophets, reaching all the way from David to Zedekiah, — such as Nathan and Gad and Iddo, and Elijah and Elisha and Jonah, 358 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. and Isaiah and Micah and Jeremiah, — either or all of whom may have been concerned in this matter. Jeremiah had Baruch for a scribe ; and it is not unlikely that Baruch, under the direction of Jeremiah, may have finished the writings of the Kings, unless it be the last four verses of the second book. The whole may have been' revised, and these last verses added, by Ezra, after the captivity. Several passages may be quoted to show that the Books of the Kings — with the exception, perhaps, of some suj)plementary para- graphs— were written before the captivity. Thus it is said of the ark, after it was put by Solomon in the most holy place in the temple, " And there it is unto this day " (1 Kings viii. 8). But there it could not have been after the captivity, because the temple, the ark, and the holy place, were all demolished by Nebuchadnezzar. So the kingdom of the ten tribes is spoken of in the First Book of the Kings as subsisting unto this day (chap. xii. 19) ; but the king- dom of the ten tribes was extinct long previous to the captivity. The Books of Chronicles were obviously written, or rather com- piled, after the captivity ; and were designed, as I said, to be sup- plementary to the Books of Kings. They sustain about the same relation to the Kings that the Gospel of John does to the other Gospels. They contain not a little which we find in the Kings, and often in nearly the same words ; showing that the writers of both had access to and copied from the same original documents. Still the Chronicles omit much which we find in the Kings, and contain much that we do not find there. They are called in the Septuagint jtagalsiTtofisva, — things left out or omitted. There is no reason to doubt that these books were compiled by Ezra. The last two verses in the second Book of Chronicles, and the first two in Ezra, are the same. Much has been said of discrepancies between the statements in the Kings and Chronicles. If by discrepancies are meant differ- ences of statement, there undoubtedly are such. "Why should the latter book have been written at all, if they were to contain the same as the former, and in the same words ? But if by discrepan- cies are meant irreconcilable contradictions, I can only say that I have found none. 'There are a few errors of transcribers, more es- pecially in regard to numbers, which require to be corrected ; but, with the exception of these, there are no contradictions. I have' noticed those in the foregoing pages which have been thought the most formidable, and find them easy of solution. , KINGS OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. 359 Among the things omitted in the Chronicles, which are found in the Books of Samuel and the Kings, are the following : — 1. A history of the reign of Ishbosheth, the son of Saul, and of all the kings of the ten tribes, after their secession under Jeroboam. In the Chronicles, we have only incidental references to these kings ; while in Kings we have distinct accounts of them all. This makes quite a difference in the two histories from the time of Jeroboam to the captivity of the ten tribes. 2. The account of David's sin in the matter of Uriah is not in the Chronicles. Nor, — 3. Do we find in the Chronicles the disgraceful story of Amnon's treatment of his sister Tamar, and of his consequent death at the hand of Absalom. Nor, — 4. Do the Chronicles inform us of Absalom's rebellion, defeat, and death. 5. The Chronicles have nought to say of the hanging of the seven sons and grandsons of Saul to appease the Gibeonites and avert the severity of famine (2 Sam. xxi.). 6. David's psalm of thanksgiving, after having vanquished all his enemies, is not in the Chronicles (2 Sam. xxii.). 7. We have no account in Chronicles of Adonijah's conspiracy and death ; neither of the death of Joab. Nor, — 8. Have we any account in Chronicles of Solomon's defection in his old age, and of the consequent denunciations pronounced upon him. 9. As we have no distinct history in the Chronicles of any of the kings of Israel, we hear nothing there of Ahab and his descendants, and of the intercourse, of Elijah and Elisha with that wicked ra^e of kings. The numerous miracles of Elijah and Elisha ; the story of the drought, the famine, and of Elijah's successful intercession for rain; the miracles of both these men in raising the dead, with the narrative of Elijah's translation to heaven, — all this, and much more in regard to these prophets, is omitted by the writer of the Chronicles. It had been circumstantially narrated in the Kings ; and why should the pen of inspiration record it again ? But as there is much valuable instruction in the Books of Sam- uel and the Kings wliich we do not find in Chronicles, so there is as much and equally valuable in the Chronicles which we do not find in the other books. 1. There are the genealogical tables, reaching from Adam to the 360 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY.* * time of Ezra, and some of them even later, recorded in the first nine chapters of the First Book of the Chronicles. 2. The number and names of David's mighty men ; also the numbers, from the different tribes of Israel, who came to David to Hebron to make him king (1 Chron. xi., xii.). 3. The story of Hiram's kindness to David in sending him materials and artificers from Tyre to build him a house (1 Chron. xiv. 1, 2). 4. The number and names of the Levites who assisted David in bringing up the ark ; also the song of praise which was sung on that occasion (1 Chron. xv., xvi.). 5. No account of the great preparation which David made in the latter part of his life for the building of the temple occurs in Sam- uel or the Kings (See 1 Chron. xxii., xxviii., xxix.). Neither, — 6. Do we find in these books any account of David's appointing the courses of the Levites, the priests, the singers, the porters, and the captains, such as is given in the Chronicles (1 Chron. xxiii.-xxvii.). 7. David's charge to Solomon and the princes concerning the temple and other matters is much more full in the Chronicles than in the Kings. 8. In the Kings, we have no account of Abijam's speech to Jeroboam and his army, and of the great victory which he gained over them (2 Chron. xiii.). Neither, — 9. Have we in the Kings any account of Manasseh's repent- ance, and of liis restoration to his throne and kingdom. Of this most remarkable display of the power and grace of God in the recovery of a flagrant and hardened transgressor, we should never have heard but for the writer of the Chronicles. On the whole, we have much reason to be thankful for these Books of Chronicles. Instead of raising cavils and objections con- cerning them, and thus endeavoring to disparage their authority and bring them into contempt, we should rather bless God for them, diligently studj^ them, and gather up lessons of heavenly wisdom from them. Like all other Scripture, when properly used, these books are profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. The general design of the writer and of the Holy Spirit in giv- ing us these books was to instruct and benefit the Church of God in all coming time. The more specific design of the writer was to benefit the afflicted Church of God in his own time. He wished KINGS OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL. 361 to encourage the returned exiles from Babylon in building the new temple by settmg before them the high examples of David and of Solomon. By showing them how much their former princes con- tributed for the old temple, he wished to stir up the princes and people around him to a corresponding liberality. He wished also to instruct the priests and Levites in their appropriate duties by pointing them to the manner in which the orders of God's house had been observed in other days. And, finally, as there was dan- ger, in the confusion and distress of the times, that the genealogies of the people might be broken and lost, it seemed good to the writer of these Books of Chronicles, and to the Holy Ghost who inspired him, to give a new and abbreviated edition of these gene- alogies, that so the line of them might be preserved to the coming of Christ, that he might be known to be — what it had been pre- dicted he should be — the Son of David. CHAPTER XXX. THE JEWS UNDER THE BABYLONIANS. IN our last chapter, we brought clown the history of God's ancient covenant people to the time of their captivity. The ten tribes were carried into captivity by the kings of Assyria : first by Tiglath- pileser in the reign of Pekah ; secondly by Shalmaneser, who took Samaria, and put an end to the Israelitish kingdom ; and thirdly by Esarhaddon, who some fifty years later swept over the country of the ten tribes again, and carried away the last remains of the Israelites. It was at this time that Manasseh, king of Judah, was taken prisoner by Esarhaddon, and carried to Babylon, where he repented, and was restored to his kingdom. Some seventy years after this, Jerusalem was taken by Nebu- chadnezzar, king of Babylon ; the city and temple were destroyed ; the Judsean monarchy was subverted ; and great multitudes of the Jews were carried away to Babylon. Since the kingdoms of Judah and Israel were overthrown by the monarchs of Assyria and Babylon, it may be well to preface the following narrative with a brief account — the briefest possible — of these two great nations. Babylon was founded by Nimrod, a son of Ham, about a hundred and ten years after the Flood. At the same time, or near it, Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, was founded by Ashur, a son of Shem (see Gen. X. 10, 11). Assyria derived its name from Ashur ; and Nineveh, from his son and successor Ninus. Babylon was situated on the Euphrates, in north latitude 32° ; and Nineveh on the Tigris, about four degrees farther nortlv. Ninus, the first king of Nineveh after its founder, was an aspiring, ambitious man. He began a war of conquest, and was " the first," says Shuclcford, " to break the peace of the world." He conquered the Babylonians, and annexed their city and territory to his empire. He was succeeded by his more ambitious wife, Semiramis, who removed the seat of empire from Nineveh to Babylon, and did 362 THE JEWS UNDER THE BABYLONIANS. 363 much to adorn and strengthen this latter, city. She was succeeded by her son Ninyas, who seems to have been a quiet, luxurious prince, who labored to improve his kingdom rather than to enlarge it, and who cultivated the arts of peace. After the death of Ninyas, the Assyrians are scarcely mentioned in history for a long period. We hear almost nothing of them or their rulers, except in an incidental way, for the next twelve hun- dred years. Among the kings who invaded Sodom, and whom Abraham conquered, were " Amraphel, king of Sliinar," the very country in which Babylon was situated, and " Chedorlaomer, king of Elam," or Persia, which lay beyond the Tigris (Gen. xiv. 1). Perhaps one of these may have been, under another name, the king of Assjaia. Mention is made of Assur, or Assyria, in the prophecy of Balaam, who was a native of that country (Num. xxiv. 22-24). Among the things which Achan hid in his tent in the time of Joshua was a " goodly Babylonish garment," which shows that Babylon was then a city of some importance (Josh. vii. 21). Assur is spoken of in the Psahns as among the confederates against Israel ; probably in the war with Hadarezer, king of Zobah, when David extended his conquests to the Euphrates (see Ps. Ixxxiii. 8 ; 1 Chron. xviii. 3). From incidental motives such as these, we infer that the kingdom of the Assyrians, or Chaldseans, existed all along from the days of Nimrod and Assur to the time of the Persian conquest, though during the earlier part of this long period it could not have been of very great extent. It is earnestly hoped that the excavations at Nineveh and Babylon may throw further light on the history of this ancient people. The prophet Jonah, who may have been contemporary, or nearly so, with Elisha, was sent of God to Nineveh to announce its destruction (see 2 Kings xiv. 25). Nineveh was at this time "an exceeding great city, of three days' journey," — an indication that it had been favored with great prosperity. Not long after this, during the reign of Menahem, king of Israel, "Pul, the king of Assyria, came into- the land; and Menahem gave him a thousand talents of silver, that his hand might be with him to confirm the kingdom in his hand. And Menahem exacted the money of Israel to give to the king of Assyria : so the king of Assyria turned back, and staid not there in the land " (2 Kings XV. 19, 20). This was the first king of Assyria who invaded Israel, and may have been the king of Nineveh who repented at the preaching of Jonah. ,, 364 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. The Assyrian Empire was at this time one ; but it was ere long divided. Sardanapalus, the reigning king, was an effeminate prince^ so much so as to inspire the contempt of his subjects : wherefore two of his principal officers, Arbaces the governor of Media, and Belesis governor of Babylon, conspired against him, overcame him, and divided his kingdom between themselves ; the former reigning at Nineveh, and the latter at Babylon. Arbaces was the Tiglath- pileser of the Scriptures, — the same who fought against Pekah, king of Israel, and carried many of the Israelites into captivity (2 Kings XV. 29). Belesis is the same as Nabonassar, with whose reign commences the celebrated astronomical era called the era of Nabo- nassar. He is called Baladan in the Scriptures (Isa. xxxix. 1). Shalmaneser succeeded his father Tiglath-pileser, and completed the conquest of the ten tribes of Israel. This event took place in the year before Christ 720. Among the captives at this time was Tobit, with his wife Anna, and his son Tobias, as recorded in one of the apocryphal books of the Old Testament (Tob. i.). The same year in which Samaria was taken by Shalmaneser, Merodach-baladan, the son of Baladan (or Belesis), commenced his reign at Babylon. This is that king of Babylon who sent messengers and a present to King Hezekiah on hearing of his recovery from sickness (Isa. xxxix. 1). Shalmaneser was succeeded on the throne of Assyria by his son Sennacherib. He repeatedly invaded Judsea, and proudly threatened the destruction of Jerusalem ; but in answer to the prayers of Isaiah and Hezekiah, and in rebuke of his own blasphemy, his army was terribly destroyed. The angel of the Lord went forth into his camp, and in a single night smote a hundred and eighty-five thousand of his men : " So Sennacherib departed, and returned to Nineveh. And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch, his god, that two of his sons smote him with the sword ; and they escaped into the land of Armenia. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead" (Isa. xxxix. 37, 38). Esarhaddon came to the throne of his father in the twenty- second year of King Hezekiah, and reigned in great prosperity and glory thirty-nine years. In the twenty-sixth year of his reign, he vanquished the monarch of Babylon, and united that kingdom to his own. Soon after this, he invaded Palestine, and carried into captivity the poor remains of the ten tribes of Israel. At the same time, he sent an army into Judgea, as before related, and captured Manasseh, one of the vilest and wickedest of the THE JEWS UNDER THE BABYLONIANS. 365 kings of Judah. He took Manasseh with him to Babylon, where his prison, his chains, and his deep affliction, brought him to repentance. The successors of Esarhaddon were Sundochseus his son, and Chyrilidanus his grandson, — both imbecile, inglorious, luxurious princes, who accomplished nothing worthy of mention in history. Against the latter, Nabopolassar, one of his generals, conspired, took from him his kingdom, and reigned at Babylon twenty-one years. Nabopolassar, in connection with the Medes, destroyed the great city of Nineveh when it had stood about sixteen hundred years. In this destruction were fulfilled the terrible predictions of the prophet Nahuni against Nineveh ; and from this time Babylon became the sole metropolis of the Assyrian Empire. Nabopolassar was the father of the renowned Nebuchadnezzar, who destroyed Jerusalem, and led the Jews into captivity. Nebuchadnezzar seems to have reigned conjointly with his father a few years previous to his father's death. It was while his father was yet alive that he first invaded Judsea, — in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Jerusalem. Jerusalem was conquered at this time, and Jehoiakim was taken prisoner ; but upon his humbling himself to the king of Babylon, and consenting to become his vassal, his throne and kingdom were restored to him. It was at this time, as remarked in the last chapter, that the first captives were sent from Jerusalem to Babylon, among whom were Daniel and his three friends. It was in the second year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign, after the death of his father, that he had the vision of a mighty image, in shape like a man, whose head was of gold, whose breast and arms were of silver, whose belly and thighs were of brass, whose legs were of iron, and whose feet and toes were partly of iron, and partly of clay. The dream greatly astonished the king at the time ; and yet, when he awoke, it was gone from him : he could recall nothing of it ; nor could any of his wise men assist him at all in this matter. It was the disclosing of the dream, and the interpretation of it, which first brought Daniel into favor with Nebuchadnezzar, and established his reputation as the wisest man in the kingdom. Daniel was now a youth, not more than twenty- two years of age ; yet he received the richest gifts, and was advanced to the highest honors. The king " made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief of the governors over the wise men of Babylon." 366 ECCL-ESIASTICAL HISTORY. It was in the eighteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar (accord- ing to the Septuagint), after the destruction of Jerusalem and the return of his army to Babylon, that the king set up that majestic image of gold on the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon, and commanded all his princes, governors, officers, and people to fall down and worship it. The three friends of Daniel refused ; and for this offence they were cast into a burning fiery furnace, from which they were miraculously delivered by the power of God. But where was Daniel on this occasion ? Was he absent ? — this is hardly probable. Did he fall down and worship the image? — this is still more improbable. The most likely supposition is that he was not accused. Owing to his high position, and great influence with the king, the accusers of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednegp, did not venture to aim their shafts at him. At any rate, they thought it safer to dispose of his three friends first. In the second year after the destruction of Jerusalem, Nebuchad- nezzar marched his armies again into Syria, and laid siege to Tyre. This was a strong and wealthy city ; and the capture of it occupied him several years. While the king, with a part of his army, lay before Tyre, another part was sent into the land of Israel to glean the straggling Jews who still lingered there, and send them into captivity to Babylon. This was the last transportation of exiles from Judsea ; and the number carried away amounted to no more than seven hundred and forty-five persons.- During the siege of Tyre, the armies of Nebuchadnezzar were also employed in subjecting most of the surrounding nations, — as the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Edomites, the Philistines, and ■ Zidonians, — thus verifying the denunciations of Jeremiah and Eze- kiel respecting them (see Jer. xxvii., xxviii., xxix. ;Ezek. xxv.). At length, the city of Tyre fell into the hands of Nebuchad- nezzar, but not before the inhabitants had removed all their effects to an island about half a mile from the shore, and built there a new city : so that, in capturing Tyre, the king of Babylon took but a deserted town, and found no spoil. To reward him for the hard and bootless service- which he had performed in executing the divine wrath upon doomed Tyre, God promised him by the prophet Ezekiel that he would give him the spoils of Egypt (E'zek. xxix. 18-20). Accordingly, this same year, as soon as his army was released from Tyre, Nebuchadnezzar marched into Egypt, and overran the whole country from one end to the other. After this, having loaded his army with the rich spoils of Egypt, and made THE JEWS UNDER THE BABYLONIANS. 367 the land his tributary, he returned to Babylon. During this ravage of the land of Egypt, most of the Jews who had fled there after the mui-der of Gedaliah fell into the hands of the king of Babylon, and were either slain, or carried by him into captivity. And in this was fulfilled another of the predictions of Jeremiah, when Johanan and those under him had made up their minds to go into Egypt (see Jer. xlii. 16-22). After returning from his wars in Syria and Egypt, Nebuchad- nezzar applied himself to the strengthening and adorning of his capital ; and this work he continued until he made Babylon one of the wonders of the world. 'The walls of the city were eighty- seven feet thick, three hundred and fifty feet high, and in circum- ference round the city not less than sixty miles. Then there were the towers upon the walls, the hanging-gardens, the temples, the palaces, the walls and gates on the banks of the river within the city, the artificial lake and canals for the draining of the river in case of flood. Altogether there never was such a city before, and probably never will be to the end of time. It was Avhile Nebuchadnezzar was engaged in these stupendous works that he had his second prophetical dream. He saw a great tree which towered to the heavens, and whose branches reached to the ends of the earth. He saw it cut dpwn by a watcher from heaven, and yet not utterly destroyed. He saw it sprout and come up again after it had for a time lain desolate and been wetted with the dew of heaven. This dream, and Daniel's interpretation of it, we have recorded in the fourth chapter of his prophecy. And in due time it was all accomplished ; for as Nebuchadnezzar was walking in his palace, and looldng out upon the splendors and luxuries of his favorite city, he gave utterance to the pride of his heart in the following words : " Is not this great Babylon which I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honor of my majesty ? " Whereupon there befell him instantly what Daniel had predicted : his reason and his kingdom were taken away ; he was driven from the society of men ; he had his dwelling with the brutes ; he did eat grass like an ox ; and his body was wet with the dew of heaven until his hair was grown like eagles' feathers, and his nails like birds' claws. But, at the end of seven years, his reason returned, and his former kingdom and majesty were restored unto him ; and then it was that he made the following noble and humble confession : "I do bless the most high God, and praise and honor Him who liveth 368 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. for ever and ever ; whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and whose kingdom is from generation to generation. And all the inhabitants of the earth are as nothing before him ; and he doeth according to his will in the armies of heaven, and among the in- habitants of the earth ; and none can stay his hand, or say unto him. What doest thou ? I do praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways are judgment ; and those who walk in pride he is able to abase " (Dan. iv.). From this period, Nebuchadnezzar became, as I would fondly hope, a truly pious man. He died, however, in a little more than a year ; having reigned in great prosperity and glory sole mon- arch of Babylon for the long space of forty-three years. He was an instrument in the hand of God of chastising many guilty na- tions, among whom were the Jews ; and at length, through the influence of a distinguished Jew, he was brought to the open acknowledgment and worship of the only living and true God. Nebuchadnezzar was succeeded by his son Merodach ; or, as he is called in Scripture, Evil-merodach. He was a profligate and vicious ruler ; and yet he bestowed one act of kindness upon the Jews. He showed favor to Jehoiachin (otherwise called Coniah and Jeconiah), a former king of Judah, who had now been in con- finement at Babylon thirty-seven years. As the sacred writer ex- presses it, the king of Babylon " spake kindly to him, and set his throne above the thrones of the kings that were with him at Baby- lon, and changed his prison-garments; and he did eat bread con- tinually before him all the days of his life " (2 Kings xxv. 28). The occasion of Jehoiachin's being so kindly treated, according to an ancient Jewish tradition, was this : " Evil-merodach, having had the government of the empire during his father's derange- ment, administered it so badly, that, as soon as the old king came to himself, he took it from him, and shut him up in the same prison where Jehoiachin had been so long confined. He here formed a particular acquaintance with the unfortunate king of Judah, and a friendship for him ; so that when the old king died, and Mero- dach came to the throne, he remembered Jehoiachin, and showed him favor." Merodach reigned only two years at Babylon ; when Neriglissar, his sister"'s husband, conspired against him, slew him, and succeeded to the throne. Jehoiachin, it seems, died before him, or (what is more likely) was slain with him. While Jehoiachin lived, he was regarded by the Jews at Babylon as the head or prince of the cap- THE JEWS UNDER THE BABYLONIANS. 369 tivity^ — an office which descended to Salathiel liis son, and was long continued among the Jews. Of Nerighssar, and his son and successor Laborosoarchod, no mention is made in the Scriptures. Their reigns were short and inglorious ; the latter having been slain by his subjects when he had been king only nine months. He was succeeded by Nabona- dius, a grandson of Nebuchadnezzar, who is called Belshazzar in the Scriptures. The Babylonian Empire, strong as it seemed under Nebuchad- nezzar, was now verging to its end. Its doom had years before been pronounced by the prophets ; and God was raising up a terri- ble power for its overthrow. The kingdom of the Medes, lying- north of Babylon, had long been one of great strength. It was now governed by Cyaxares II., called in Scripture Darius the Mede. Another ancient kingdom now coming into notice was the Persian : this lay east of Babylon ; was founded by Elam, a grandson of Noah, but never had distinguished itself among the nations until the times of which we speak. Cyrus, who was now on the throne of Persia, was a nephew of Darius the Mede. This brought the Medes and Persians into close alliance ; and the princi- pal thing attempted by the alliance was the overthrow of Babylon. Cyrus, I hardly need say, was the greatest warrior of his age, and among the greatest of any age. He led the united forces of Media and Persia ; and it was under him as a leader that Neriglis- sar had been slain. He was the chief combatant and ultimate conqueror of Belshazzar, the last monarch of Babylon ; but this conquest Wtis not achieved without many battles, and long years of siege and war. In his attempts upon Babylon, Cyrus thought it necessary first to engage and subdue those nations that were confederate with Babylon, or subject to it. This occupied him several years ; at the end of which he found himself master of Armenia, Lesser Asia, Syria, and all those countries which Nebuchadnezzar had formerly conquered. When this was accomplished, Cyrus laid siege to Babylon itself. This, obviously, was the only way in which Baby- lon ever could be taken ; and to capture it in this way seemed almost a hopeless task. The walls were high and impregnable; and the number of men within to defend them was very great. They were furnished with provisions for twenty years, in addition to what might be raised in the gardens and tillage-lands within the city. It is not strange, therefore, that the Babylonians, in their 24 370 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. towers and on the walls, scoffed at Cyrus, and derided his seem- ingly vain efforts to molest them. When two full years had passed away, and nothing effectual had been accomplished, Cyrus hit upon an expedient through which success seemed possible, and by which he at length got pos- session of the city. Having learned, that, on a set day, a great national festival was to be celebrated in Babylon, when the king and his nobles would spend the whole night in revelling, drunken- ness, and other disorders, he thought this a favorable opportunity to surprise them ; and, for effecting his object, he adopted this plan : He sent a party of men up to the head of the canal, leading to a vast artificial lake which had been excavated for the purpose of taking off the surplus waters of the river, with orders, at a time appointed, to remove the embankment between the river and canal, and draw off the whole current, or so much of it as possible, into the lake. At the same time, he opened the head of the trenches which had been dug round the city, and- let the residue of the water into them. Meanwhile he had posted one part of his army at the place where the river ran into the city under the wall, and the other part at the place where it ran out, with orders to enter the city by the channel of the river as soon as they should find it fordable. Before midnight, the river was sufficiently drained ; and both parties entered through the opened channel into the city. But here they must have encountered an insuperable obstacle had it not been for the drunkenness and consequent carelessness of those witliin the walls. The brazen gates which opened down to the river from every street, and which were always shut by night, happened now to be left open ; and through them both parties of the invaders ascended directly from the channel into the city. Thus remarkably was a prophecy of Isaiah, addressed to Cyrus by name, and uttered more than a hundred years before he was born, fulfilled at this time : " I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight. Twill open the two-leaved gates, and the gates shall not be shut" (Isa. xlv. 1, 2). The soldiers, having entered the city in the manner described, proceeded directly to the palace, where Belshazzar and his lords were drinking wine out of the golden and silver vessels which had been plundered from the temple at Jerusalem, and where the mysterious handwriting on the wall had just been interpreted by Daniel. Here they surprised and slew the guards ; and when, THE JEWS UNDER THE BABYLONIANS. 371 upon the noise, the palace-gates were opened, they rushed forward, and pLanted themselves within. The king and his nobles encoun- tered them sword in hand ; but they, and all who resisted, were almost immediately slain. After this, a proclamation was issued, promising life and protection to such as would lay down their arms, and threatening destruction to all who refused. Whereupon all quietly jdelded to the conquerors ; and Cyrus, without further re- sistance, became master of the city. Daniel was now an old man : he cannot have been less than eighty years of age. We hear little of him in any public of&ce or employment from the death of Nebuchadnezzar until he was called to interpret the handwriting on the wall. In the first year of Belshazzar, he had his remarkable vision of the four beasts, denoting the four great monarchies of the ancient world, to be followed by the everlasting kingdom of Christ. In the third year of Belshazzar, he had his vision of the ram and the he-goat, by which were signified the overtlirow of the Persian Empire by Alexander the Great, and the persecution that was to be raised against the Jews by Antiochus Epiphanes, king of Syria. This vision was had, not at Babylon, but in Shushan, the palace by the River Ulai, in the province of Elam, — a province which soon after revolted to Persia. Daniel was here occupied in " the king's business ; " which shows that he was still in office under Belshazzar, though we hear very little respecting him (Dan. viii. With the taking of Babylon, the Babylonish Empire came to an end,^when it had existed (reckoning from the time of Nimrod) seventeen hundred years. The city, to be sure, was not now destroyed ; and jet it never flourished more. Its decline was gradual, but constant, until it became a heap of ruins ; and all that the prophets had foretold of its desolation was accomplished. The causes which hastened the destruction of this ancient city, aside from the* ordinary ravages of time, were the follow- ing : — • 1. The Persians declined to adopt it, and make it the capital of their vast empire. Their kings preferred to reside, for the most part, at Shushan, some two hundred miles east of Babylon. It was here that Nehemiah attended upon Artaxerxes, and that Esther resided with Ahasuerus (Neh. i. 1 ; Esth. i. 2). 2. The revolt of the Babylonians duiing the reign of Darius 372 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. Hystaspes was to them and their city a most disastrous event. Babylon was captured a second time ; its massy gates were demol- ished ; its walls were in part broken down ; and three thousand of its nobles were put to death. 3. When Xerxes returned from his disgraceful expedition into Greece, he passed through Babylon, threw down the Tower of Belus, and (under pretence of destroying the idols) robbed the temples of their treasures. 4. The means employed by Cyrus for the capture of Babylon operated as one of the causes of its ruin. The river, diverted from its original bed, never but partially returned : it overflowed the surrounding country, and turned it into a great morass ; thus fulfilling one of the predictions of Isaiah : "It shall be a posses- sion for the bittern and for pools of water " (xiv. 23). This cause of destruction Alexander the Great undertook to remove by restoring the river to its channel ; but his untimely death .put an end to his plans, and Babylon continued to suffer as before. 5. The building of Seleucia, or, as it was sometimes called, New Babylon, by Seleucus Nicator,* drew away from the old city a large portion of its inhabitants, and- left its palaces and houses desolate. 6. Babylon was subject to the Parthians from the second century before Christ to the third century of the Christian era ; and, from their alternate violence and neglect, it suffered greatly. All suc- ceeding writers bear testimony to its desolate condition. In the fourth century after Christ, Jerome tells us that it was used by the Persians as a park, or hunting-ground ; the wild beasts being enclosed within the walls. Babylon was visited by Benjamin Tudela, a Jew, in the twelfth century, who saw nothing there but heaps of ruins ; and these were so full of venomous serpents and reptiles, that it was dangerous to inspect them. Thus terribly have the denunciations of the ancient prophets against Babylon been fulfilled: "It shall f never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation ; neither shall the Arabian pitch his tent there ; neither shall the shepherds make their folds there : but wild beasts of the desert shall lie there, and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures ; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there ; and the wild * Seleucia was situated on the Tigris, about forty miles north of Babylon. There was an- other Seleucia at the mouth of the Oroutes, near Autioch. THE JEWS UNDER THE BABYLONIANS. 373 beasts of the islands shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in their pleasant palaces " (Isa. xiii. 20-22). So completely has old Babylon disappeared, that it was for a long time uncertain where it was situated. Its supposed site has been lately discovered, and excavations have been commenced ; but nothing decisive as to its history has thus far been eliminated. CHAPTER XXXI. THE JEWS UNDER THE MEDO-PERSIANS. IN the last chapter, I spoke of the state of the Jews under Neb- uchadnezzar and his successors. When Babylon fell, the cap- tive Jews changed masters : they fell under the power of the Medes and Persians. I now propose to trace their history in con- nection with this power. Upon the death of Belshazzar, Darius the Mede is said to have taken the kingdom (Dan. v. 31). And this is true ; for although Cyrus had gained it by his valor, yet, so long as his uncle lived (who was also his father-in-law), he allowed him not only a joint title to it, but the first place of honor in it. This is that Darius who set over the kingdom a hundred and twenty princes, and over these three presidents, of whom Daniel was first ; and who thought to set Daniel over the whole realm. This is that Darius, who, to gratify the envy of his princes, cast Daniel into the den of lions ; and who, upon his miraculous deliverance, published a de- cree, that " men should everywhere fear and tremble before the God of Daniel ; for he is the living God, and steadfast forever, and his dominion shall be even unto the end " (Dan. vi.). While these things were transacting at Babylon, Cyrus and his army were in Syria, Palestine, and Egypt, subduing the restive nations, and setting in order the affairs of his vast kingdom. The symbolic ram was " pushing westward and northward and south- ward ; neither was there any that could deliver out of his hand." All was reduced under him as far as to the Red Sea and the very borders of Ethiopia. Cyrus was absent on this expedition about two years, when he was summoned home by the death of Darius. He now became sole monarch of the Medo-Persian Empire, over which he reigned in great prosperity for the next seven years. This is called in Scripture, and also in Xenophon, the first year of the reign of Cjrrus ; though other historians place it higher, — while 374 THE JEWS UNDER THE MEDO-PERSIANS. 375 he reigned in connection with Darius. This is also the time when the seventy-years' captivity of the Jews at Babylon was fulfilled, and when the first proclamation was issued for their return (Ezra i.l). Long before Jerusalem was destroyed, God had said to his peo- ple by the mouth of Jeremiah, " Ye shall serve the king of Baby- lon seventy years ; " and, " after seventy years shall be accomplished at Babylon, I will visit you, and perform my good word towards you in causing you to return to this place " (Jer. xxv. 11 ; xxvii. 10). At a still earlier period, God had spoken of Cyrus hy name as the instrument through whom the restoration of Israel was to be accomplished. It was Cyrus who should " say to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built ; and to the temple. Thy foundations shall be laid^'' (Isa. xliv. 28). Accordingly, in the very first year of the reign of Cyrus, he " made proclamation throughout all his king- dom, and put it also in writing, saying, Thus saith Cyrus, king of Persia : The Lord God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth ; and he hath charged me to build him a house at Je- rusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people ? his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, and build the house of the Lord God of Israel which is at Jerusalem. And whoso sojourneth in any place, let the men of his place help him with silver and with gold, and with goods, and with beasts, besides the free-will offerings for the house of God which is in Jerusalem " (Ezra i. 2-4). If any. doubt whether the captivity of the Jews had now con- tinued seventy years, the question may be easily settled. It commenced a year and two months previous to the death of Nabo- polassar, the father of Nebuchadnezzar, — when Daniel and his three friends, with many others, were carried away. It continued through the entire reigns of Nebuchadnezzar, forty -three years ; of Evil-merodach, two years ; of Neriglissar, four years ; of Bel- shazzar, seventeen years ; and of Darius the Mede, two years ; making a period of sixty-nine years and two months. If we sup- pose the proclamation above quoted to have been issued in the tenth month of the first year of Cyrus (which is as early in the year as could well be expected), we have precisely the term of seventy years from the commencement of the captivity to the decree of restoration. All history ascribes to Daniel the chief instrumentality in pro- curing this decree ; and the supposition is a very reasonable one. 376 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. Daniel was now a venerable man, an old minister of state, famed for his great wisdom all over the east, and* of long experience in the management of public affairs. It is likely, also, that he held the same station, which was one of the highest authority (next to the king), under Cyrus, which he had held before ; for we are told that " he prospered in the reign of Darius and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian " (Dan. vi. 28). He had learned from books that the years of predicted captivity were now accomplished, and had been much in prayer for the restoration of his people (Dan. ix.). As he had the ear of Cyrus, it is next to certain that he would use his influence with him to bring about this desirable event. It is evident, from the proclamation of Cyrus, that he had seen and read those prophesies of Isaiah in which he was designated as the re- storer of the Jews ; and who so likely to make him acquainted with them as his prime minister and chief counsellor Daniel ? In consequence of the decree of Cyrus, the Jews and Israelites gathered themselves together out of the several parts of his empire to the number of forty-three thousand. With their servants, they numbered about fifty thousand. I say, the Jews and Israelites gathered themselves together ; for the decree of emancipation ex- tended to all alike ; and it is certain that many of the latter re- turned with the Jews. They had for their leaders Zerubbabel, the son of Salathiel, the son of Jehoiachin, of the seed royal, and Joshua, the son of Jozadek, the high priest. Unto them were de- livered, by the command of Cyrus, all the vessels of gold ^ and sil- ver which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the old temple at Jeru- salem. A part of these were now returned to Jerusalem ; and the remainder were brought by Ezra at a later period. From the great number of Jews who accepted the invitation of Cyrus to return, it may be thought that only a few were left be- hind ; but such was not the fact. Vast numbers, and those in general of the richest class, j^referred to remain in Chaldsea. The Jews have a proverb, that " it was only the hrcm that returned to Jerusalem: the fine flour staid behind." Hence from this time we find a multitude of Jews in those Eastern countries, where they continued until after the coming of Christ, and where there pos- terity remain unto this day. Babylon (that is, new Babylon) was long the seat of a distinguished school of Jewish learning, from which the largest and most elaborate of the Talmuds was after- wards issued. The apostle Peter visited these Eastern Jews, and dates his first epistle at Babylon (1 Pet. v. 13). THE JEWS UNDER THE MEDO-PERSIANS. 377 The returning exiles, under Zerubbabel and Joshua, arrived in Judsea in the month Nisan, — the first in their year, correspond- ing to a -part of our March and April. ' This was the second year of the reign of Cyrus, and five hundred and thirty -five years before Christ. Their first effort was to provide themselves dwellings, and to commence the cultivation of their fields ; but in the month Tisri, the seventh of their year, they all assembled at Jerusalem, and united in celebrating their great annual festivals. At the same time, they made a contribution for the rebuilding of the temple, amounting to more than three hundred and fifty thousand dol- lars of our money, — a prodigious sum to be offered by these poor returned exiles, — an example of liberality such as the Avorld has rarely seen. In the second month of the next year, the founda- tions of the new temple were laid with great solemnity ; some shouting, and others weeping, so that " the noise was heard afar off" (Ezra iiL 13). This second temple was of equal dimensions with the first, having been built upon the same foundation. Still it was in many respects far inferior. It was not built of such costly mate- rials as the first, or adorned with such splendid ornaments, or sur- rounded with such elegant porches, courts, and buildings. It was also lacking in those peculiar tokens of the divine presence and favor, — the original ark of the covenant with the tables of stone, the dazzling Shechinah, the Urim and Thummim, the holy anoint- ing oil, and the holy fire. But all these defects were more than compensated when the Lord whom they sought came suddenly to his temple, and Christ, the great Prophet, Priest, and King, honored it with his presence and worship. In this respect, the glory of the latter house did far exceed the glory of the former ; and the proph- ecy of Haggai, who foretold that it should be so, had a complete fulfilment (Hag. ii. 9). When the Samaritans heard that the Jews had returned, and had commenced rebuilding the temple at Jerusalem, they sent mes- sengers unto them, offering to assist them in the work, and to unite with them in acts of worship ; alleging, that, ever since the days of Esarhaddon, they had worshipped the same God with the Jews. But Zerubbabel and Joshua, with the elders of the people, declined their proffered assistance and fellowship ; and for the following reasons : 1. As these Samaritans were not Israelites, but descend- ants, in part, of those foreigners whom Esarhaddon had planted in the cities of Israel, they were not included in the decree of Cyrus. 378 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. * 2. They were not true worshippers of the God of Israel, but served him in connection with their idols: " They feared the Lord, and served their own gods, after the manner of the nations whence they had been taken" (2 Kings xvii. 33). 3. The leaders of the Jews had much reason to suspect them of improper motives. They had come, not to do them good, but hurt : they sought to be associated with them for purposes of mischief. The sequel proved that these suspicions were too well founded. Because the Jews declined their assistance and fellowship, the Samaritans became henceforth their bitterest enemies. They strove to the utmost to embarrass and hinder them in their work. They could not, indeed, annul the decree of Cyrus ; but by bribes and slanders the}^ contrived to prejudice his servants against them, and obstruct them in their important undertaking. For these causes, the building of the temple went slowly on ; and was far from being completed when Cyrus, their great patron and benefactor, died. Cyrus was succeeded by his son Cambyses, called by Ezra Ahas- uerus (chap. iv. 6). To him the enemies of the Jews made sup- plication against them ; and, though he would not revoke his father's decree, he rather discouraged than aided the work at Jerusalem. Cambyses died after a reign of between seven and eight years, and was succeeded by Smerdis, a usurper, who pretended to be a son of Cyrus, and whom Ezra calls Artaxerxes (chap. iv. 7). Him the enemies of the Jews undertook to influence, and with more success. They wrote him a letter, a copy of which is pre- served by Ezra (chap. iv. 7-16), spealdng of Jerusalem as being of old " a rebellious city, and hurtful to kings ; " and praying that the rebuilding of it and of the temple might be stopped. This had the desired effect. Forthwith Smerdis issued an order against the Jews, which put a stop to their work during the remainder of his reign, which, happily, continued only a few months. The successor of Smerdis was the renowned Darius Hystaspis, who reigned thirty-six years. Although, on the death of Smerdis, his decree against Jerusalem was no longer in force, yet dis- couraged by opposition, and too much engrossed in their own concerns, the people neglected to enter as they should have done upon the work of the temple ; and for their negligence in this respect they were visited with drought and famine. They were also stirred up to their duty by the fervid appeals and remon- strances of the i3rophet Haggai : " Is it time for you, 0 ye people ! THE JEWS UNDER THE MEDO-PERSIANS. 379 to dwell in your ceiled houses, and this house lie waste ? Go ye up to the mountain and bring wood, and build the house, and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the Lord of hosts" (Hag. i. 4-8). These and other like exhortations and promises had the desired effect. The people arose almost immediately under the direction of their leaders, began to collect materials, and to carry forward the work of the house. Again, therefore, the Samaritans were excited to opposition. They applied to Tatnai, who was prefect, under Darius, of Syria and Palestine, and to Shethar-boznia, governor of Samaria, and persuaded them to go up to Jerusalem, and put a stop to proceed- ings there. But Tatnai, who was evidently a man of justice and moderation, when he had surveyed the work at Jerusalem, simply inquired of the Jews as to the authority under which they acted ; and, when they showed him the decree of Cyrus, he wrote to Darius to know whether Cyrus had ever issued such a decree, and what his own pleasure in the case might be. In consequence of this inquiry, Darius made search, and found the decree of Cyrus ; and, having found it, he confirmed it, and wrote to Tatnai and She- thar-boznia to see it executed. He commanded that the tribute of the Samaritans should be paid over to the Jews ; and that they should be liberally assisted with money and with whatever else they needed. He finally ordered, that if any one should further oppose them, or attempt in any way to hinder them in their work, a gallows should be made from the timber of his house, and that he himself should be hanged thereon. From this time the work of the temple went so rapidly on, that in three years more it was entirely finished. Twenty years had this second temple now been building, during the greater part of which time the people had been guided, cheered, and strengthened by the prophecies of Haggai and Zechariah. It adds new interest to these prophecies, and helps to a right understanding of them, to know the times and occasions on which they were uttered. In the sixth year of the reign of Darius Hystaspis, and on the third day of the twelfth Jewish month Adar, the new temple at Jerusalem was dedicated. It was to all an occasion of great solemnity and rejoicing, when there were offered up "one hundred bullocks, two hundred rams, and four hundred lambs, besides twelve he-goats for a sin-offering, according to the number of tribes of Israel" (Ezra vi. 17). We have here an intimation that 380 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. the persons concerned in tliis transaction were not merely Jews, but members, to some extent, of all the tribes of Israel. On the fourteenth day of the next month, wliich was Nisan, the Passover was celebrated at the new temple, not only by those who had returned from captivity, but by all who were prepared to unite in it : " Seven days they kept the feast of unleavened bread with joy ; for the Lord had made them joyful, and turned the heart of the king of Assyria unto them, to strengthen thek hands in the work of the God of Israel." When the temple had been built and dedicated, the Samaritans claimed that they were no longer under obligations to pay custom, or tribute, for this object ; but, on referring the question to Darius, he ordered that they should observe his edict, and pay their tribute as before. It was now needed for the support of the temple as it had before been for the building of it. From this period, we hear of no futther opposition from the Samaritans until the time of Sanballat and Nehemiah. After the dedication of the temple, Darius reigned about thirty years. He was a prince of great wisdom, energy, clemency, and justice ; and, next to Cyrus, was the most distinguished benefactor of Israel who had yet appeared. It was through his favor, espe- cially, that the temple of God at Jerusalem was finished, and that public worship was there established and maintained. He was unfortunate in some of his military expeditions, — more especially those against the Scythians and Athenians. It was during his reign that the Persians lost the famous battle of Marathon. But he extended the empire of Cyrus in other directions; having added to it in the east a considerable part of India, and, in the west, Thrace, Macedon, and the Ionian isles. It was during this reign that the celebrated Persian philosopher, Zoroaster, flourished. He was not the author of the Magian reli- gion, but only the reformer of it ; * and the principal improve- ments which he introduced are supposed to have been borrowed from the Jewish Scriptures, with which he must have had a con- siderable acquaintance. He may have been personally acquainted with Ezekiel and Daniel, and studied the writings of Moses and the prophets. Like Mahomet and other impostors, Zoroaster pre- tended to have been in heaven, and to have learned the doctrines * There seems to have been a Chakleean Zoroaster, who flourished at a much earlier period He may have been the author of Magianism, of which the Persian Zoroaster was but the reformer. THE JEWS UNDER THE MEDO-PERSIANS. 381 of religion there. He undertook to reform the old Magianism in its first principle^ which was dualism^ — a god of light, and a god of darkness ; the one the author of all that is good, and the other of all that is evil. ' In oj^position to this, Zoroaster taught the doc- trine of one Supreme God, — the prime Original, and Author of all things ; and that the two great leaders in the conflict going on in the world are both of them derived and inferior beings. The struggle between good and evil, he held, " will continue to the end of the world ; that then there will be a. general resurrection, and day of judgment, in which all will be treated according to their works : after which the angel of darkness and his followers shall go away to a world of their own, where they shall suffer in eternal darkness the punishment of their evil deeds ; whereas the angel of light and his disciples shall go to a world of light, to receive the endless rewards of their goodness. From this period, the two classes are to be forever separated ; and light and darkness are no more to be mmgled to all eternity." Like the more ancient Magians, Zoroaster and liis followers abhorred images ; but he taught his disciples to worship the sun and the fire, — not that he considered either of these as a god, but that they were the special residences and brightest exhibitions of God. The book containing the revelations of Zoroaster is called the Zendavesta ; or, by contraction, the Zend. He presented a copy of it to Darius Hystaspis, bound in twelve volumes, each of which consisted of a hundred skins of vellum. The book is still preserved among the Magians in the East, and regarded by them with great veneration. The wise men who came from the East to worship our Saviour at his birth were undoubtedly philosoj)hers of this class. Pretended fragments of the Zend have been pub- Hshed at different times, — more particularly by the Gnostics and the New Platonists after the time of Christ ; but these are entitled to little confidence. Darius was succeeded by his son Xerxes, sometimes called the Great. He was a grandson of Cyrus, whose daughter Darius had married. Xerxes confirmed to the Jews at Jerusalem all the pri^'i- leges which had been granted them by his father. In particular, he ordered that the tribute from the Samaritans for the support of the temple-worship shoulcj be paid. In the third year of his reign, Joshua, the venerable high priest at Jerusalem, died, and was suc- ceeded by Jehoiakim his son. The reign of Xerxes is chiefly remarkable for his unfortunate 382 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. expedition into Greece. His preparations for this, in men and money and naval armaments, were immense. As had been pre- dicted by Daniel, he literally " stirred np all against the realm of Grecia" (chap. xi. 2). He entered into a league with the Cartha- ginians, by which they were to assist him with an army and with ships. He drew together from all parts of his vast empire such a body of men as the world had never seen. According to Herodo- tus, his active forces, when he arrived at the straits of Thermopylse, amounted to 2,642,610 men ; while the servants, eunuchs, women, sutlers, and others who followed the camp, were thought to be as many more. Here, then, was a collection of more than five mil- lions of souls, brought together at a single point for the subjuga- tion of Greece. No Avonder that Xerxes wept as he looked down upon them from an eminence, under the impression, that, in less than a hundred years, not one of them would be left : they would all be dead. Josephus informs us (and the statement is quite probable) that in this vast company were many Jews. My readers have all heard of the manner in which this unwieldy army of Asiatics was received at Thermopylse by Leonidas and his invincible Spartans. You have read of the battle of Salamis, where the Greeks took and destroyed hundreds of the Persian ships, and obliged the rest to flee to the coasts of Asia. Upon the loss of his fleet, Xerxes, with the greater part of his army, hastened back into Asia, and took up their winter-quarters at Sardis. Meanwhile the Carthaginians, on whom he had relied to assist him, were so totally defeated in Sicily, that scarely a man remained to tell of the dis- aster. On his return out of Greece, Xerxes left Mardonius, one of his generals, behind, with three hundred and fifty thousand men. These encountered the Greeks at Platsea the next year, where they were utterly defeated, and the most of them were slain. Thus ended this ill-planned and worse-conducted expedition into Greece. Xerxes, on hearing of the defeat of his army at Plat^a, and of the destruction of the remainder of his fleet at Mycale (which occurred the' same day), lost no time in getting back to Persia. He only stopped to' destroy and to plunder all the idola- trous temples which stood in his way. This he is supposed to have done for two reasons : first, being himself a Magian, and a follower of Zoroaster, he was opposed to idol-Avorship ; and, secondly, he needed the spoils of the temples to indemnify him for the enormous expenses of the war. It was at this time that he plundered the THE JEWS UNDER THE MEDO-PERSIANS. 383 temples and destroyed the images of old Babylon. As he passed through Babylon on his way to Shushan, his capital, he overthrew, in part, the famed Tower of Belus, or Babel ; thus fulfilling, with- out knowing it, the prediction of Jeremiah : " Bel is confounded ; Merodach is broken in pieces : her idols are confounded ; her images are broken in pieces." " I will do judgment upon all the graven images of Babylon" (Jer. L 2; li. 52). From this time, we hear of no great Persian expedition into Greece ; -but soon the tide of war flows in the other direction, and Greece is pouring her armies into Persia. The remainder of the reign of Xerxes was far from being hon- orable to him. After his return to his capital, he became involved in shameful domestic troubles, which could be terminated only in cruelty and blood. When these were at length adjusted, he gave himself up to luxury and ease, minding nothing but the grati- fication of his pleasures and lusts ; on which account, one of his military officers conspired against him, and slew him in his bed. He was succeeded by his third son, known in history as Arta- xerxes Longimanus. He was called Longimanus on account of the length of his arms and hands, with which, it is said, he could touch his knees when standing upright. He was the great-grandson of Cyrus. The incidents of his reign, with the distinguished favor which he showed to the Jews, will be the subject of the next chapter. CHAPTER XXXII. THE JEWS UNDER THE MEDO-PERSIANS. CONTINUED. THE last chapter closed with some account of the reign of Xerxes, and of the condition of the Jews under his government. 'His successor, as I said, was his third son, Artaxerxes Longimanus, known in Scripture as Ahasuerus, the husband of Esther.* Arta- xerxes had great difficulties to contend with in the beginning of his reign, — moire especially from those who had slain his father, and from his eldest brother, the governor of Bactria ; but by his energy and wisdom these were at length overcome : after which he set himself to reform abuses and disorders in the empire ; to call the governors of the provinces to an account, and to remove such as had proved themselves unworthy. By these means he not only strengthened himself in the kingdom, but secured the affections and confidence of his subjects. In the third year of his reign, when his government was firmly established, he appointed a solemn festival to be observed in his palace for the term of one hundred and eighty days ; and, when these were ended, he made another for the j^&ojjle that were in Shusan, seven days. His queen, at the same time, made a like entertainment in her apartments for the women. " On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he com- manded his seven chamberlains to bring in the queen with the crown royal upon her head, that he might show to the princes and people her beauty." But the fair queen resented this injunction, as being inconsistent with her dignity, and unbecoming the modesty of her sex : she would not come. Upon this the king was highly incensed, and called around him his wise counsellors that he might * It has long been a question which of the Persian kings was the husband of Esther. I acquiesce in the opinion of Prideaux, Stackhouse, and some others, that it must have been Artaxerxes Longimanus. — See au able article on the subject in the Journal of Sacred Litera- ture for April, 1860, p. 120. 884 THE JEWS UNDER THE MEDO-PERSIANS. 385 confer with them respecting the matter. Believing the example of disobedience which the queen had set to be one of dangerous influence in the realm, they advised that she should be forthwith deposed and divorced ; that she should come no more into the presence of the king ; and that her royal estate should be given to another better than herself. This advice was accepted of the kino- ; and a decree Avent forth for its immediate execution. The disgrace of Queen Vashti prepared the way for the elevation of Esther, whose story is told with inimitable beauty in the book which bears her name. Her Jewish name was Hadassah ; but her Persian name was Esther. She was instrumental, as we shall see, in the hand of God, of promoting in various ways the interests of her people, — more especially of delivering them from a threatened destruction, and of effecting the ruin of their proud and cruel enemy. In memory of this deliverance, an annual festival was long observed among the Jews, — the feast of Purim, or the lots. In the seventh year of the reign of Artaxerxes, Ezra obtained of him and his counsellors a commission to go up to Jerusalem, with as many of the Jews as were pleased to accompany him, with full power to settle the State and reform the Church of Israel, and to govern both according to their own laws. This Ezra, who was a priest by descent, was a very learned and holy man. He was a faithful, useful, and divinely -inspired man. He is spoken of as " a ready scribe in the law of his God." The commission which he received from Artaxerxes is given at large in the seventh chapter of the Book of Ezra. It is certainly very ample, granting every favor and all the authority Avhich he could desire. He was authorized to take with him any number of his people Avho were minded to go, and any amount in gold and silver, and in vessels for the house of the Lord, which might be contributed : " And whatsoever more shall be needed for the house of thy God, bestow it out of the king's treasure-house. I, Arta- xerxes, do make a decree to all the treasurers that are beyond the river " (the Euphrates), " that whatsoever Ezra, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, shall require of you, it be done speedily. And thou, Ezra, according to the wisdom of thy God which is in thee, set magistrates and judges which may judge all the people that are beyond the river ; and whosoever will not do the law of thy God, and the law of the king, let judgment be executed speedily upon him, Avhether it be unto death, or unto banishment, or to confiscation of goods, or to imprisonment " (Ezra vii. 20-26). 25 386 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. From the purport of this remarkable decree, it may be inferred that Ezra was in high reputation at the Persian court for integrity and wisdom ; otherwise such powers and largesses had never been intrusted to him. It is further probable that the hands of Mor- decai and Esther were in the thing to help it forward ; because, without such intercessors, it would hardly have been thought of, much less executed. Having received his commission, Ezra commenced his journey from Babylon on the first day of the first Jewish month, — about the middle of our March. He halted a little at the River Ahava, in Assyria, till the rest of his company came up ; when in a solemn fast he commended both himself and them to the protection of the Almighty. They then set forward on their way to Jerusalem, where they all safely arrived on the first day of the fifth month ; having been just four months on the journey. Arrived at the temple, Ezra delivered to the keepers of it the gifts and offerings which had been made by the king and his princes, and the people of Israel who remained in Chaldtea, amount- ing to one hundred talents of gold and six hundred and fifty talents of silver, together with vessels of gold and silver, for the service of the temple, of exceeding value. He then entered upon his government acccording to the king's decree, and continued in it, much to the comfort and edification of his people, for the next thirteen years. It is the opinion of Dean Prideaux and other eminent chronolo- gists, that the seventy weeks of Daniel, at the close of which the Messiah was to be cut off, had their beginning with the above commission to Ezra, which was given in the seventh year of the reign of Artaxerxes. The prediction of Daniel is in the following words : " Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon the holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, arid to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy. Know therefore, and understand, that from the going-forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks and threescore and two weeks. And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself ; and he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week, and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease " (Dan. ix. 24-27). THE JEWS UNDER THE MEDO-PERSIANS. 387 It has been generally understood, that m these seventy prophetic weeks,' or four hundred and nmety days, each day stands for a year; so that the whole period designated is four hundred and ninety years. Now, it is a remarkable fact, that the period inter- vening between the seventh year of Artaxerxes, when the above commission was given to Ezra, and the year of our Lord's cruci- fixion, is precisely four hundred and ninety years.* I make this statement concerning the time, as one that may be relied upon, without going at all into the disputed questions respecting the true import and meaning of this interesting prophecy. It would be needless to repeat in this connection the story of Haman's defeat and Mordecai's advancement, and the deliverance of the Jews from impending destruction through the intercession of Queen Esther. These events took place in' the twelfth and thirteenth years of the reign of Artaxerxes. For a narrative of them, I refer to the Book of Esther, with which no human account of the matter can compare. If any one doubts that " pride goeth l)efore destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall," or doubts as to the odiousness and wretchedness of unsated malice, env}', and revenge, let him ponder the history of Haman as re- corded in the Scriptures. When Ezra arrived at Jerusalem, he found the people much degenerated and corrupted, and much in need of a thorough ref- ormation ; and such a reformation he immediately attempted. He obliged those persons who had connected themselves in mar- riage with the people of the land to put away their strange wives, and conform in this respect to the law of Moses. He took much pains to instruct the people in the law ; multiplying copies of it, and causing it to be read and expounded on great public occasions. By degrees, he brought the Jewish Church into an outward, visible state, in which it remained to the coming of the Saviour. Nor was this the only important work which he accomplished. Being an inspired man, and one thoroughly versed in the sacred books, he was led to collect and revise those holy records, and give to the Church a correct edition of them, or of such of them as had then been written. Some of these books he wrote himself; and the others he so prepared and set in order as in eifect to settle the canon of the Old-Testament Scriptures. He settled it so perfectly, * Our Saviour was cnicified in the year of the Julian period 4746. The seventh year of Artaxerxes was the year of the Julian period 4256. The difference between these two num- bers is 490. 388 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. that it received the sanction of our Saviour and his apostles, and has been accepted by Jews and Christians in all periods since.* This was the great work of Ezra's life. For this he will be remem- bered in gratitude and honor so long as the Bible is read or the world endures. It has been questioned whether it was Ezra, or some later teacher, who introduced the worship of the synagogue into the Church of Israel. It is very certain that there were no synagogues in the land previous to his time, and that they were in use shortly after his death. It would seem, also, that they must have been of divine institution, or they would not have been frequented and sanctioned by our Saviour. Neither can it be doubted that they were of great advantage to the Israelites, tending, as they neces- sarily must, to multiply copies of the sacred writings, and to promote a better understanding of them among the people. Pre- vious to the establishment of synagogues, the people, having no religious worship but that of the temple, and being comparatively ignorant of the law, were perpetually running into idolatry. The gods of the surrounding nations were a constant snare to them ; but after the introduction of sj^nagogues, in which the law was read and explained every sabbath, they were as much averse to idolatry as they had been before addicted to it. And so it has been with the Jews ever since : they have fallen into other great sins ; but with the worship of idols they have not been chargeable. But the question returns as to the origin of the synagogues. The Scriptures do not acquaint us with their origin : but we know that Ezra was in the habit of reading and expounding the law to the people ; and the probability is that the synagogues grew up from the influence of his example, if they were not established by his direct authority. If the synagogue Avas of divine appointment, it must have originated with some inspired man ; and who so likely to have introduced it as Ezra ? Some have supposed that the Hebrew vowel-points were intro- duced by Ezra, and that they are of equal authority with the sacred text ; but the arguments against this supposition seem to me con- clusive : 1. The copies of the Old Testament made use of by the Jews in their s>Tiagogues have ever been and still are without the points. 2. The more ancient various readings of the sacred * Some few verses in the Chronicles and in Nehemiah were inserted after the time of Ezra. With these exceptions, he may be said to have settled the whole canon. THE JEWS UNDER THE MEDO-PERSIANS. 389 text have respect, all of them, to the letters, and not to the points ; thus showing that the points are not of ,a high antiquity. 3. We have further evidence of the same conclusion in the fact that the ancient Cabalists derive- none of their mysteries from the points, but all of them from the letters. 4. If we compare the more an- cient versions of the Old Testament, as the Septuagint and the Chaldee Paraphrases, with our pointed Hebrew Bibles, we find that they do not always agree ; showing that the authors of those versions did not read the text according to* the present punctua- tion. 5. In neither of the Talmuds, written after the coming of Christ, is any mention made of the vowel-points ; as there certainly would have been, had they been in existence, and of authority, when the Talmuds were written. It is no part of my present purpose to give a history, or to de- tract from the importance, of the Hebrew vowel-points. That they are of essential service in learning and using the Hebrew lan- guage, both Jew and Gentile now agree ; but that they originated with Ezra or with any other inspired man, or that any divine au- thority is to be attached to them, cannot, I think, be maintained. They probably originated with the Masorites, or Jewish critics, long after the canon of the Old Testament was closed,* I have said that the practice of publicly reading and expounding the law commenced with Ezra. This led to the setting apart of an order of men for the purpose. Their expositions, accompanied often with traditionary legends, soon came to have authority ; and an antiquity was ascribed to them to which they had no claim. In short, we have now arrived at the period when the oral tradi- tionary law began to appear ; and by many it was regarded as of equal authority with the written law. As years rolled on, the tra- ditions were multiplied and increased, till, in the time of our Saviour, the written law was quite obscured, and in ^ome instances nulli- fied, by them : hence we hear our Lord complaining of the Phari- sees and scribes that they " had made the commandment of God of none effect by their traditions " (Matt. xv. 6). At length, the traditions became so numerous, that they could no longer be handed down orally : they were committed to writ- ing, and constitute the substance of the Talmuds. There are two Talmuds, — that of Babylon, and that of Jerusalem ; the former ten times as large as the latter. Each Talmud consists of two parts, — * The Hebrew vowel-points were not in existence in Jerome's time, in the fourth century. — See Schaff 's Ecc. Hist., vol. iii. p. 970. 390 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. the Mishna, or text, which is much the same in both ; and the Gemara, or comments of the rabbins on the Mishna. It is supposed that the Tahnuds began to be written about two hundred years subsequent to the time of our Saviour. That Ezra was an eminently wise and good man, I have before remarked, and his works declare. His administration was one of great value, not only to the Jews at Jerusalem, but to the whole Israel of God. Few men have ever lived to whom the Church is more indebted than to this venerable scribe of the law. Still he seems to have been more a scholar than a ruler : at any rate, he was not an efficient magistrate. After his utmost endeavors to re- form abuses and to carry forward the work of the Lord, irregu- larities crept in among the people ; and the enclosing and fortifying of the city was not accomplished. This is evident from the sad account of things which was brought to Nehemiah, then in Persia, and which led to his appointment as successor to Ezra in the gov- ernment. Nehemiah was a Jew whose ancestors had formerly lived at Je- rusalem ; but his genealogy is not given. He was ndw an inhabit- ant of Shushan, the royal city of Persia ; was a man of indomita- ble energy and profound wisdom ; was the possessor of great wealth ; and held an important office near the king. While in this station of honor and influence, he learned from certain Jews who had come from Jerusalem that his brethren there were in great affliction and reproach ; that the walls of the city were still broken down ; that its gates had not been set up ; and that, though the temple had been rebuilt and its worsliip estabhshed, the city remamed comparatively desolate. When Nehemiah heard these tilings, he " sat down and wept and mourned, and fasted certain days, and prayed before the God of heaven." He resolved at the same time that he woidd apply to the king for permission and authority to repair to Jerusalem, and set up its gates and build its broken walls. Accordingly, he sought an opportunity, when it came his turn to wait upon the king, and when Queen Esther was sitting beside him, to present a petition to this effect ; which was readily and liberally granted. A royal decree was issued for rebuilding the walls and gates of Jerusalem ; and Nehemiah was sent thither, as governor of Judoea, to put it in execution. And, to do him the greater honor, the king sent a guard of horse with him to conduct him in safety to his province. He also wrote letters to all the governors beyond the Euphrates to aid THE JEWS UNDER THE ' MEDO-PERSIANS. 391 him in liis work, and to the keeper of his forests to allow him as much timber out of them as he should need. Thus commissioned and furnished, Nehemiah went up to Jeru- salem, took upon him the administration of government, and immediately commenced the great work for which he had come. All this took place in the twentieth year of the reign of Arta- xerxes ; and from this time the civil administration of Ezra closed. No sooner had the Jews, under their new governor, commenced repairing the gates and walls of their city, than they were assailed by their old adversaries the Samaritans, and by the other surround- ing nations. Prominent among tliese were Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, who gave them all the disturbance in their power. They assailed the Jews, not only with derision, reproach, deceit, and treachery, but with threats of force and violence : so that, while a part of the people labored on the wall, another part were under arms for their defence ; and all had their arms at hand to repel an assault if one should be made. In consequence of the excellent arrangements of the governor, and the diligence and perseverance of the people, the wall of Jerusalem was repaired in less than two months ; the gates were set up ; and a public dedication was celebrated with great solemnity by all the Jews. Having thus accomplished the first great object of his mission, Nehemiah next set himself to ease the people of their burthens, and to accomplish all necessary reforms ; in which good work he was essentially aided by the counsel and co-operation of Ezra. Previous to this time, the rich among the Jews had been in the habit of exacting usury of their poorer brethren, and of oppress- ing them in various ways ; so that many had been constrained to ahenate their possessions, and even to sell their children into servi- tude, to procure bread for the support of themselves and families. Upon hearing these things, Nehemiah was resolved to correct the evil at once ; and so, having called the people together, he showed them how grossly they had violated the law of God, and how much their oppressions tended to provoke his wrath. Whereupon it was resolved by the whole assembly, not only that these odious exac- tions should cease, but that full restitution should be made to the poor of all that had been taken from them. The next thing projected by Nehemiah was to. increase the popu- lation of Jerusalem, and fill it up with houses and inhabitants; for while it was unfortified, without walls and gates, few had been 392 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. inclined to take up their abode there. In furtherance of this object, he first prevailed upon the rulers, the elders, and the great men of the nation, to build themselves houses within the city ; and then others, influenced by their example, voluntarily offered to do the same ; and of the rest of the people, every tenth man was taken by lot, and obliged to come and settle in Jerusalem. In this Avay the city was soon filled with inhabitants, and recovered something of its ancient greatness. Herodotus, speaking of it shortly after this time (under the name of Cadytis), compares it with Sardis, the capital of Lesser Asia. In carrying out his plans as to the settlement of the country, Nehemiah found it necessary to inquire very carefully into the genealogies of different families, that he might know from what tribes they were descended, and to what portions of the country they should be assigned. With characteristic energy, this matter was carried through; and the result is recorded in the seventh chapter of Nehemiah. It was about this tiine (under the direction of the governor) that Ezra engaged, more publicly and formally than ever" before, in the reading and exposition of the law. The occasion selected was one of the great festivals, which occurred in the seventh month, when all the people were assembled at Jerusalem. The reading was continued from day to day until the whole was read and expounded to the people. In the words of the sacred historian, Ezra and his assistants " read in the book of the law distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused the people to understand the read- ing" (Neh. viii. 8). Nor was this effort of the excellent governor and priest without good results. The people were greatly affected in view of their transgressions : a day of fasting was observed ; a public confession of sins was made ; and reformation was promised. A solemn cove- nant was entered into by the whole congregation that they would abstain from those particular sins into which they had more scan- dalously fallen, and that they would observe the law of God in time to come. From this period, as I have before remarked, the public reading and expounding of the law was more frequently practised, not only on the great festivals at Jerusalem, but in the cities and villages of Judsea and Galilee ; and public buildings, or spiagogues, were ere long erected for the accommodation of the people on these occasions. THE JEWS UNDER THE MEDO-PERSIANS. 393 When Nehemiah had been twelve years governor of Judsea, he was under a necessity of returning to the Persian court : indeed, he left his place at court, in the first instance, under a promise to return. He was absent from Jerusalem on this service about five years, when he was sent back with a new commission from the Idng ; and by this time his return was greatly needed, since, during his absence, some flagrant abuses and corruptions had been tolerated. In particular, he found that his old enemy, Tobiah the Ammonite, had allied himself in marriage to the family of the high priest ; and, for his special accommodation, the high priest had assigned to him one of the chambers in the house of the Lord. But Nehemiah was not long in removing this evil. He cast forth at once " all the household stuff of Tobiah out of the chamber," and commanded that it should be cleansed, and restored to its former use. Nehemiah also found, that, during his absence, the portions of the singers and Levites had not been given them ; so that they had been constrained to forsake their appropriate employments about the temple, and seek a support by the labors of the field. .This evil also was soon corrected. Nehemiah got the rulers together, and chided them, saying, "Why is the house of God forsaken?" Under his vigorous administration, the Levites were quickly re- stored to their places; and the tithes of corn and wine and oil were duly rendered. The next abuse with which Nehemiah grappled was the viola- tion of the sabbath. There were some among the Jews who trod their wine-presses on the sabbath, and brought sheaves and all manner of burthens into Jerusalem ; also the Tyrian merchants brought fish and all kinds of ware, and sold them in Jerusalem on that holy day. For these things Nehemiah sharply reproved the rulers and nobles of the city, saying, " Did not your fathers thus ? and did not our God bring all this evil upon us and upon this city ? Yet ye bring more wrath upon Israel by profaning the sabbath " (chap. xiii. 18). From this time Nehemiah commanded that the gates of the city should be shut the evening before the sabbath, and that no secular business should be performed either within the city or without the walls. At the same time, Nehemiah discovered that many of the Jews, and some even of the priests, had corrupted themselves by inter- marriages with the Philistines, the Moabites, and the Ammonites. With his characteristic energy, he attacked this evil also, and had 394 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. the happiness to see it speedily removed. Those who had taken strange wives were obliged either to put them away, or to be them- selves separated from the congregation of the Lord. Among those who were driven out from the congregation was Manasseh, one of the sons of the high priest. He had married a daughter of the notorious Sanballat, governor of Samaria, and refused to put his wife away. " Wherefore," says Nehemiah, " I chased him from me." Manasseh fled to Samaria, carrying with him a copy of the book of the law, and persuaded Sanballat to build a temple for him on Mount Gerizim after the same pattern with that at Jerusalem. We have here the origin of the Samari- tan Pentateuch, and of the worship on Mount Gerizim, Avhich con- tinued until after the coming of Christ. We have also one of the causes of that inveterate hatred of the Samaritans which continued so long among the Jews. It was during the prevalence of those corruptions which had crept in at Jerusalem during the absence of Nehemiah, that Mala- . chi, the last of the Hebrew prophets, made his appearance. He does not, like Haggai and Zechariah, reprove thie people for neglect- ing to build the fallen temple, but for neglecting what appertained to the true worship of God in it. In short, the corruptions which he charges upon the Jews were the same which Nehemiah under- took to correct on his return ; which leads to the conclusion that Malachi must have lived and prophesied in these days. How long after this Nehemiah lived, or when he died, we are not informed. The reformation Avhich he so happily accomplished after his return from Persia is the last of his history of which we have any knowledge. He outlived his great prince and patron, Artaxerxes ; and was retained in office by Darius Nothus, his son. Nehemiah, Ezra, and the prophet Malachi, — fellow-laborers in the work of the Lord at Jerusalem, — disappear from the sacred page together ; and with them, with the exception of a few names in the genealogies,* the canon of the old Testament closes. I need not here speak particularly of the character of Nehemiah : this is best known from his works. That he was a man of great firmness, decision, and energy, as well as goodness, — " a terror to evil-doers, and a praise to them that do well," — is very obvious ; that he had a quick insight into human character, and much experience and wisdom in the direction of public affairs, is equally obvious. In short, he was in some sense a model magistrate^ * See 1 Chron. iii. 19-24; Neh. xii. 22. THE JEWS UNDER THE MEDO-PERSIANS. 395 raised up and qualified for the particular service to which he was called, and to whom his nation was under the highest obliga- tions. I ought to say a word, in this connection, of his liherality, his public spirit. During the whole time that he was in office, he sus- tained the honors of it with a princely magnificence, and all at Ms own personal expeiise. There was provided for his table daily, as he himself tells us, " one ox and six choice sheep, together with fowls and wine ; " yet for all this he would receive no salary or support from the people, because their burthens were heavy upon them (Neh. v. 18). Artaxerxes Longimanus (the Ahasuerus of Esther) reigned over the whole Persian Empire forty-one years. His administration was in general peaceful and prosperous, and eminently favorable to the Jews. He reconquered the Egyptians, who had revolted from him, and held them in subjection to the end of his reign. Jle succeeded early in concluding a peace with the Greeks, which added much to his own security and tranquillity. During the lat- ter part of his reign, the Peloponnesian war was raging in Greece, which furnished sufficient employment for that restless and turbu- lent people, without turning their arms ' against the Persians. It was at this time that Socrates commenced his philosophical career at Athens, and that Plato, his most distinguished pupil and fol- lower, was born. Artaxerxes was succeeded, after some petty domestic struggles, by his son Darius Nothus ; of whose reign, so far as it concerned the Church of God, I shall give some account in the following chapter. CHAPTER XXXIII. THE JEWS UNDER THE MEDO-PERSIAJTS AND GREEKS. THE last chapter was entirely occupied with the state of affairs among the Jews during the long reign of Artaxerxes Longi- manus. It was under him that Jerusalem was rebuilt, and that Ezra and Nehemiah were successively appointed to be governors of Judsea. With the closing chapter of the Book of Nehemiah, the sacred history of the Old Testament ends. Nehemiah was at this time an old man ; and the probability is that he died soon after at Jerusalem. After him, there seem not to have been any more governors in Judaea. This country was annexed to the province of Coelo-Syria, and was subject to its prefect, who resided at Damascus. The chief ruler at Jerusalem, in affairs civil and ecclesiastical, was the high priest. During the government of Nehemiah, Eliashib was high priest. He was grandson of Joshua, who came with the first company of exiles from Babylon. He was succeeded in office by his son, Joia- da. It may be feared that neither of these men had any strict regard for the religion of their fathers ; since the former was allied in marriage to Tobiah the Ammonite, and prepared for him a chamber in the house of the Lord ; and the latter was similarly connected with Sanballat the Horonite, as stated- in the last chapter. Darius Nothus was now on the throne of the Persian Empire. He succeeded in quelling revolts and rebellions, and in keeping his vast empire together. By aiding the Lacedsemonians, he enabled them to overcome the Athenians, and thus put an end to the Pelo- ponnesian war; but this only left the Lacedsemonians at liberty to. invade the Persian provinces in Asia, whereby great injury accrued both to the king and his successors. Darius died after a reign of nineteen years, and was succeeded 396 THE JEWS UNDER THE MEDO-PERSIANS AND GREEKS. 397 by his son, Artaxerxes Mnemon. Mnemon had a younger brother, whose name was Cyrus, who governed the provinces of Lesser Asia. Cyrus raised a great army, composed in part of Greeks, and marched into Persia for the purpose of driving his brother from the throne. They came to a battle on the plains of Cunaxa, near Babylon, where Cyrus was slain. The Greeks who accompanied him, under the direction of Xenophon, effected a retreat of more than two thousand miles, — the longest and most remarkable that was ever made through an enemy's country. This expedition and retreat form the subject of Xenophon's " Anabasis." The " Cyro- pedia " of Xenophon relates to a very different person, — the older Cyrus, that great monarch by whom Babylon was overthrown. The reign of Artaxerxes Mnemon was long, and, on the whole, prosperous. He is represented as a mild and generous prince, who ruled with clemency and justice, and whose name was revered and honored throughout the empire. He had long and bloody contests with the Greeks, more especially the Lacedaemonians, who harassed and plundered the provinces of Lesser Asia. When these were quelled, he undertook the subjugation of Egypt, which had been for some time in a state of revolt ; but he did not live to see tliis object accomplished. ■ In the thirty- fourth year of Artaxerxes Mnemon, Joiada, the high priest at Jerusalem, died, and was succeeded by Jonathan, his son. This Jonathan was a man of blood ; for when one of his brothers aspired to the high priest's office, and undertook to drive him from it, he fell upon him, and slew him, in the inner court of the temple. By this murderous act, Jonathan greatly incensed the governor of Syria and Palestine, who, in punishment of it, imposed a fine upon the temple. He condemned the priests to pay him, for every lamb they offered in sacrifice, a tribute of fifty drachms, which is about eight dollars of our money. Artaxerxes died at the age of ninety-four years, forty-six of which he had reigned over the Persian Empire. He was suc- ceeded by his cruel and wicked son, Artaxerxes Ochus. He made his way to the throne by blood ; and, when he had secured it, he slew most of the members of the royal family, without regard to age, sex, or condition. There were disturbances in the provinces at the commencement of this king's reign ; but, by the energy of his government, these were ere long subdued, when he bent all his force for the reduction of Egypt. With this view he put him- self at the head of his army, and marched in person into Syria and 398 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. Phoenicia. He inflicted a terrible destruction on the city of Sidon ; and, because he suspected the Jews of favoring the Sidonians, he had a quarrel with them. He sent an army into Judsea, besieged and took Jericho, and made many of the Jews captives. A part of these he took with him into Egypt ; and a part he sent aAvay into Hyrcania, and planted them on the shores of the Caspian Sea. He soon effected the subjugation of Egypt, and drove their king, Nectanebus, into Ethiopia. Tliis king was the last native Egyptian- that ever reigned on the throne of Egypt. From that time to the present, Egypt has been governed by strangers, according to the prophecy of Ezekiel : " It shall be the basest of kingdoms ; neither shall it exalt itself any more among the nations ; for I will dimin- ish them, that they shall rule over the nations no more " (Ezek. xxix. 15). After the reduction of Egypt and the other revolted provinces, Ochus gave himself up to his pleasures, spending his whole time in indolence and luxury. He was poisoned by his favorite eunuch Bagoas, and died, when he had reigned twenty-one years. In the third year'of Ochus, Alexander the Great was born, — he who was destined so soon to effect the overthrow of Persia. In the eleventh year of the reign of Ochus, Plato, the celebrated Athenian philosopher, died. Seven years later died Jonathan, the high priest at Jerusalem : he was succeeded by Jaddua, his son, who is the last of the high priests whose names occur in the gene- alogies of the Old Testament (Neh. xii. 11). After the death of Ochus, Bagoas, his murderer, placed Arses, his youngest son, upon the throne ; but, being offended with him, he slew him when he had reigned only two years. The wretch now gave the throne to Darius Codomannus, a descendant of Darius Nothus, but not a son of the late king. Not finding him so obsequious as he desired, Bagoas undertook to remove him, too, by poison ; but Darius, being advised of the fact, compelled him to drink the potion himself. In this way he destroyed the traitor, and became firmly settled in the kingdom. Darius is represented as of an imposing stature, of great personal bravery, and of a mild and generous disposition. In ordinary times, he might have reigned as long and as happily as any of his predecessors ; but, having the genius of Alexander to contend with, he was not able to stand against it. Shortl}^ after his father's death, Alexander, being now about twenty-one years of age, was appointed generalissimo of all the THE JEWS UNDER THE MEDO-PERSIANS AND GREEKS. 399 Greeks ; and each of the (jrecian cities agreed to'furnish its quota of men and money for carrying on a war against the Persians. Thus furnished, this brave young man crossed the Hellespont into Asia in the second year of the reign of Darius. His army con- sisted, at this time, of only thirty thousand men ; nor had he the means of supporting them for more than thirty days. Still he was not discouraged : he trusted to his good fortune and to the providence of God ; and Providence favored him in a most remark- able manner. In a few days, he gained a complete victory over a Persian army five times as great as his own, at the River Granicus, which put him in possession of a vast amount of treasure and of all the provinces of Lesser Asia. In the year following, he came to the still more decisive battle of Issus, in which he defeated an army of six hundred thousand Persians, and left a hundi-ed thou- sand dead upon the field. Darius himself hardly escaped ; while his camp, his baggage, his mother, his wife, his children, all fell into the enemy's hands. In consequence of this victory, Damascus, with its immense wealth, came into possession of the conqueror, and with it the entire province of Syria- Alexander now bent his course southward in the direction of Phoenicia and Egypt. Most of the cities submitted to him without a struggle : but the siege and the conquest of Tyre cost him a great effort and many lives ; and, what was still more vexatious, it retarded him for months in his career of blood. Tyre having fallen, the conqueror next turned his steps towards Jerusalem. The Jews, unwilling to forfeit the friendship of the Persians, had refused to grant him supplies during the siege of Tyre ; and now he was intending to punish them for their dis- obedience. But God interposed in a most remarkable manner for their deliverance : in a vision of the night, he directed Jaddua the high priest not to fight with Alexander, but to go out to him in his pontifical robes, with the priests following him in their proper attire, and all the people in white garments. Accordingly, Jaddua prepared to do as he was directed. The next day, he went out of the city, attended by the priests and people in "k long and sacred procession, and waited in the most solemn manner the coming of the king. As soon as Alexander saw him, he was struck with a profound astonishment and awe. He leaped- from his chariot, and, rushing forward, bowed down before the high priest, and did him rever- ence, to the great surprise of his generals and of all who attended 400 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. him. And, when he was inquired of as to the reason of what he had done, he said that he did not so much honor the priest as tliat Divine Being whose priest he was : " For," says he, " when I was at Dio, in Macedonia, and was there deliberating with ihyself how I shoukl carry on this war against the Persians, and was much in doubt as to the issue of the undertaking, this very person, and in this very habit, appeared to me in a dream, and encouraged me to lay aside all distrust about the matter, and j)ass boldly over into Asia, promising me that God would be my guide in the expedition, and give me the empire of the Persians. Wherefore, seeing this sacred personage, and knowing him to be the same that appeared to me in my own country, I feel assured that this present war is under the direction of the Almighty, and that he will conduct it - to a happy issue." Having thus said, Alexander kindly embraced the high priest, went with him into Jerusalem, and offered sacrifices in the temple.* It was on this occasion that Jaddua read to him those portions of the Book of Daniel in which it was predicted that the Persian Empire should be overthrown by a Grecian king. By these, Alexander was still further assured that he should suc- ceed in his conflict with Persia ; and, at his departure, he encour- aged the Jews to ask any favor of him which they desired. Where- upon they requested that they might enjoy the freedom of their country, their laws and religion, and be exempted every seventh year from paying tribute ; because in that year, according to their law, they neither sowed nor reaped. This request Alexander very readily granted, and treated them ever afterwards with distin- guished favor. The Samaritans, seeing how kindly the Jews had been treated, immediately preferred a request to the king that he would honor their city and temple with his presence, and exempt them also from paying tribute every seventh year. Alexander did not absolutely deny them, but deferred the consideration of their case until his return from Egypt. At this the Samaritans were much incensed ; and, to show their resentment, they rose against one of the friends of the king whom he had made governor of Syria and Palestine, set fire to his house, and burned him to death. When Alexander returned, he took exemplary vengeance upon these murderers, and upon the Samaritans generally. Some he put to death ; some he exiled into Egypt ; and the remainder he drove from Samaria to Shechem, where they builded a city, and where their descendants * Josephus, Autiq., book ii. chap. 8. THE JEWS UNDER THE MEDO-PERSIANS AND GREEKS. 401 still reside. Their former city he settled with Macedonians : their territory he gave to the Jews. Alexander's mission into Egypt was one of mingled glory and shame. He had no difficulty in the subjugation of Egypt ; indeed, it could hardly be called a subjugation : so tired were the Egyp- tians of Persian rule, that they submitted to him of their own accord, and even ran to him as a deliverer. In establishing his authority over Egypt, he hardly needed to strike a blow. But Alexander was not satisfied with the possession of Egypt. In the pride of his heart, he thought to be deified and worshipped there : so he projected a journey from Mempliis to the Temple of Ammon, situated in the desert two hundred and fifty miles off, and bribed the priests to declare him a son of the god. This notion of being a sort of demi-god like Bacchus and Hercules seems to have possessed him ever after, and was, in fact, the occasion of his ruin. It was this which led him, like Hercules, foolishly to invade India, and more foolishly to drink himself to death in imitation of Bac'chus. On his, way to the Temple of Ammon, Alexander observed a place over against the Island of Pharos, on the seacoast, which he thought a favorable situation for a new city ; and there he caused to be built Alexandria. He named it for himself, and made it the future capital of Egypt. For long ages, Alexandria was not only the grand dep6t of European commerce, but the principal seat of learning in the world. At present it is a poor place, remarkable chiefly for the ruins of its former greatness. When Alexander had settled the government of Egypt, and disposed of all things according to his will, he set out for the East in pursuit of Darius. The two armies, with their leaders, came together beyond the Tigris, not far from the site of ancient Nine- veh. The Persians numbered not less than a million, while the whole force of Alexander did not exceed fifty thousand ; yet he had no hesitation in hazarding battle, and that, too, on an open plain, which gave great advantage to the Persians. The fortune of the day was soon decided. Darius was routed and defeated; and the whole Persian Empire, to the utmost extent in which it was possessed by Cyrus or by any of his successors, fell into the hands of Alexander. And herein was accomplished what had long before.been predicted by Daniel : " A he-goat came from the west, on the face of the whole earth, and he touched not the ground ; and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes. And he came 26 402 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. to the ram which had two horns, which I had seen standing before the river, and ran unto him in the fury of his power, and smote tlie ram, and brake his two liorns. And there was no power in the ram to stand before him ; but he cast him down to the ground, and stamped upon him : and there was none tliat could deliver the ram out of his hand" (Dan. viii. 5-7). Having lost the battle, Darius fled into Media, and afterwards into Bactria, endeavoring in vain to raise another army ; but his own followers, becoming weary at length of his fallen fortunes, took his life. Alexander shed many tears over his dead body: he wrapped it in his own cloak, and sent it to Shushan to be buried among the Idngs of Persia. The expenses of the funeral he bore himself; nor did he cease to pursue the traitors who murdered Darius, until they were destroyed. I have no occasion to speak further of the rapid .marches and flying conquests of Alexander in the East. He soon made himself master of all those wild and mountainous regions lying north and east of Persia, penetrated far into India, and returned by a circui- tous route to Babylon. He seemed rather to fly than to march ; and, wherever he came, the terrified nations bowed down before him, and owned him as their lord : so remarkably did he answer in this respect to Daniel's prophetic symbols of him, — a he-goat coming from the west, and 7iot touching the ground; a leopard, having on its back the wings of a fowl with wliich to fig and take the prey (Dan. vii. 6 ; viii. 5). While Alexander lay at Babylon, he was constantly projecting great designs for the future. One of his plans was to prepare a fleet with which to ^circumnavigate the African continent, and return into Greece by the Pillars of Hercules ; another was to rebuild the ruined Tower of Belus and the city of Babylon, and restore both to more than their ancient splendor. At the same time, he was intent upon his pleasures, which he carried to the most ruinous excess. He often spent whole days and nights in drunkenness and debauchery, drinking quarts and (if the accounts are to be credited) gallons at a sitting. By such means, he brought on a fever which in a few days put an end to his life. He feared not to meet the East in arms ; but its vices and luxuries destroyed him. His death occurred in the year before Christ 323, when he had reigned only twelve years and a half. His success in war during this period was beyond all example. He was often extravagant in his plans, and rash, almost to madness, THE JEWS UNDER THE MEDO-PERSIANS AND GREEKS. 403 in their execution ; and yet none of tliem failed. He seems to have been raised up by Providence to chastise and destroy the guilty nations ; and most remarkably did he fulfil his destiny : he subjected all to his sway, from the Adriatic to the Ganges, and from the unknown regions of the North to the Indian Ocean. After the death of Alexander, there was great confusion among his followers about the succession. At length, the government was settled upon his idiot brother and his infant son ; but these reigned only in name, and for a little while : the government (what of government there was) was really in the hands of Alexander's great military leaders ; and these were constantly quarrelling and fighting among themselves. During these commotions, which lasted more than twenty years, the Jews were variously and often painfully affected. In the fourth year after the death of Alexander, Jaddua, their high priest, died, and Avas succeeded in office by Onias, his son. The same year, Jerusalem was besieged by Ptolemy Soter, who had been consti- tuted governor of Egypt. The place was strongly fortified, and might have held out for a long time ; but Ptolemy, knowing the strictness with which the Jews observed their sabbath, made choice of that day in which to attack them and storm their city. Having got possession of Jerusalem, he was at first inclined to treat the inhabitants with rigor. He broke down their walls, and removed not less than a hundred^ thousand of them to the new city of Alexandria in Egypt : hence the multitude of Jews which are known to have dwelt in Alexandria from these times down to the age of the apostles. In a little time, the heart of Ptolemy began to relent : he came to think better of the Jews, restored to them their privileges, and treated them with much favor. He was not permitted, however, to retain permanent possession of their coun- ' tr3^ It fell, for a time, under the power of Antigonus, another of Alexander's generals ; on which occasion, many of the Jews volun- tarily left the land of their fathers, and went into Egypt. At length, Ptolemy succeeded in recovering the provinces of Syria and Palestine, and in attaching them to his dominions. After a long period of confusion and bloodshed, the empire of -Alexander was finally divided into four parts ; and four of his more distinguished followers assumed the title of kings, and reigned over them. Ptolemy had Egypt, Arabia, and Palestine ; Cassander had Macedon and Greece ; Lysimachus had Thrace, Bythinia, and some other provinces in North-western Asia ; and Seleucus had all 404 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. the rest. And herein was fulfilled several of Daniel's most remark- able predictions. When " the he-goat had waxed very great, and was strong, the notable horn between his eyes was broken ; and for it came up four notable horns towards the four winds of heaven." This rough goat, we are expressly told, " denotes the king of Grecia ; and the great horn between his eyes, the first king. Now, that being broken, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power " (Dan. viii. 8, 21). We have the same events more literally predicted in another place: "A mighty king shall stand up, that shall rule with great dominion, and do according to his will ; and, when he shall stand up, his kingdom shall be broken, and shall be divided towards the four winds of heaven, but not to his 2)osterity^ nor according to the dominion with which he ruled " (Dan. xi. 3, 4). It is remarkable that not one of those who divided among themselves the empire of Alexander was of his posterity or kindred: they were all of them of other blood. So remarkably have these predictions of Daniel been fulfilled. It was just at this time that Onias, the high priest of the Jews, died, and was succeeded in office by his son Simon, who, on account of his excellent chai^acter and his eminent abilities and holiness, was called Simon the Just. His praises are devoutly sung by the son of Sirach. He is said to have fortified Jerusalem and the temple, and to have discharged all the duties of his high office in the most acceptable manner.* There are some parts of the Old Testament — &om.e fragments at least — which could not have been inserted by Ezra : they relate to events which occurred after his death. The genealogies of Zerubbabel and of Joshua are carried down to the time of Alexander the Great (see 1 Chron. iii. 19-24 ; Nell. xii. 10, 22). The Jews have a tradition (which is very prob- able) that these names were inserted by Simon the Just : if so, to him belongs the honor of putting the last finishing touch to the canon of the Old Testament. He continued in office only nine years, when he died, and Avas succeeded by his brother Eleazer. Of the territories assigned to the four kings above mentioned, those of Seleucus were much the largest, extending from India to the Mediterranean Sea. He built many cities, the principal of which were Antioch, situated on the Orontes in Upper Syria, about twenty miles from the Mediterranean ; and Seleucia, on the Tigris, near the site of the modern Bagdad. Antioch soon became and long continued the most distinguished city of Western Asia. It * See Ecclus. chap. 1. THE JEWS UNDER THE MEDO-PERSIANS AND GREEKS. 405 was here that the Syrian kings had their seat of empire ; here the Roman governors afterwards resided ; here the followers of Jesus were first called Christians ; and here, for many centuries, was the see of the chief patriarch of the Asian churches. Upon the building of Seleucia, ancient Babylon became almost entirely deserted. The inhabitants flocked to the new city, which was sometimes called New Babylon : indeed, from this time, when- ever Babylon is spoken of as an inhabited city, whether in sacred or secular history,, New Babylon, and not the Old, is intended. Seleucus was a firm friend and patron of the Jews. He ad- mitted them into all his cities, and granted them equal privileges with the Greeks and Macedonians. It was through his influence that so many of the Jews settled in Antioch and in the other cities of Western Asia. From the time of the captivity, the Jews had always been nu- merous in the East. Notwithstanding all the encouragement given them by the Persian kings, not half of them ever returned into Palestine. They were of great service to Seleucus in his wars ; and he bestowed upon them all the privileges which they could reasonably desire. The Jews of Palestine were now under the government of Ptol- em}^ king of Egypt ; and he was equally favorable to them in his dominions as Seleucus was in his. They had special privileges granted to them at Alexandria, and constituted an important part of the population of that great city. In the year 283 before Christ, Ptolemy Soter died, at the ad- vanced age of eighty-four ; having governed Egypt from the death of Alexander, — forty years. He was the wisest and best of all the Ptolemies, and left an example of prudence, justice, and clemency, which none of his successors cared to follow. Before his death, he had admitted his son, Ptolemy Philadelphus, to be the partner of his throne, and thereby established the succession. The famous Alexandrian Library was commenced by Ptolemy Soter. It was greatly increased by Philadelphus and his succes- sors, until it numbered at length seven hundred thousand volumes. A part of this vast library was destroyed in the time of Julius Caesar : the remainder was burned by the command of the caliph Omar, A.D. 642. His reply to his general, who inquired of him what should be done with the books, was as follows : " If their contents agree with the Koran, we have no need of them ; if they disagree, we cannot suffer them : therefore let them be burned." 406 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. So these inestimable treasures of ancient learning and wisdom were distributed for fuel to the public baths, and sufficed to heat all the baths of the city for the space of six months. It was during the reign of Ptolemy Philadelphus that the Greek version of the Old Testament, commonly called the Septuagint, was commenced at Alexandria. The ancient Jewish legends re- specting this version, — such as, that Ptolemy sent to Jerusalem for a copy of the sacred writings, and for six learned scribes from each of the twelve tribes of Israel (making seventy-two in all) to trans- late them ; that these were secluded in distinct cells, on the Isle of Pharos, till each had prepared a separate version ; that, on com- paring these versions, they were found to agree word for word with each other, — these and othei* like stories, which were copied from the Jews by the early Christian fathers, and on account of which the version has ever since been called the Septuagint^ are deservedly rejected by the learned of the present day. This ver- sion, evidently, was not all made at once. The Pentateuch may have been translated for the use of the synagogues as early as the reign of Ptolemy Philadelphus. It was then much needed, because the Hebrew languag was no longer understood in Egyj)t, at least by the common people. The rest of the Old Testament seems not to have been translated until the time of Antiochus Epiphanes, when the Jews were forbidden to read the law in their synagogues, and commenced reading the other Scriptures. It is, moreover, certain that tliis translation was not all made by the same hand. The differences in the style and character of the translations ; the accuracy with which some of the books are translated, and the carelessness and inaccuracy which appear in others, — are full proof of this. On the whole, there can be no reasonable doubt that a transla- tion of the Old Testament into Greek was commenced at Alexan- dria as early as the days of Ptolemy Philadelphus, and that in a course of years it was completed. There 'can be no doubt that this version was used in the synagogues of Alexandria, where, as I said, it was now needed ; and that a copy of it was deposited in the king's great library. There can be no doubt that this version came into general use amons^ the Jews wherever the Greek Ian- guage was spoken ; that it was much used in Palestine in the days of our Saviour, and was frequently quoted by him and the apostles. As to the origin of this celebrated version, it was probably made THE JEWS UNDER THE MEDO-PERSIANS AND GREEKS. 407 by learned Alexandrian Jews in Egypt, and from some authorized copy which was there. Why should the king send to Jerusalem for a copy, when there were doubtless fifty copies in Alexandria ? or why should he send to Jerusalem for translators, when the scribes at Alexandria were much better qualified for the work than any he could get from the Holy Land ? The Greek language was vernacular at Alexandria ; whereas it had scarcely begun to be spoken at this time in Jerusalem. There were other translations of the Old Testament into Greek, — as those of Aquila, of Theodotion, and Symmachus ; but these were made at a later period, and were never regarded as of equal authority and sacredness with the Septuagint. CHAPTER XXXIV. THE JEWS UNDER THE KINGS OF SYPIA AND EGYPT. IN the preceding chapter, I spoke of the vast empire of Alexander as divided among four of his great generals, who governed the different parts of it as kings. The last of these which survived was Seleucus. He reigned over all the East, and was intent on extending his empire into the West. While on his way to invade Macedonia,- he was treacherously murdered by one of his followers. He was succeeded in the government by his son Antiochus, com- monly called Antiochus Soter. Ptolemy Philadelphus still reigned over Egypt and Palestine. In the year 274 before Clii'ist, he sent an embassy to the Romans ; and the Romans the next year sent ambassadors to him. This is the first mention we have of the Romans as concerning them- selves with the affairs of the East. Ptolemy, that he might advance the riches of his kingdom, con- trived to direct the trade of the East from its accustomed channels through Tyre and Antioch, and bring nearly the whole of it to Alexandria. For this purpose he established a port, and built a city, on the western shore of the Red Sea, from which he con- structed a road across the desert to the Nile. He built houses of entertainment on the way, and furnished them with water by a channel from the river. In this way, the commerce of the East, which in all previous ages had gone through Syria and Palestine, was now brought directly to the Nile, down which it floated to the great city of Alexandria ; and in this channel the trade between Asia and Europe continued to flow for the next seventeen hundred years, — until a better route was discovered by the Cape of Good Hope. We have now arrived at the age of the Mishnical doctors (so called from their love of tradition) among the Jews. The first of these was Antigonus Socho, who was president of the Sanhedrim, ' 408 THE JEWS UNDER THE KINGS OF SYRIA AND EGYPT. 409 and teacher of tlie law at Jerusalem. Among his pupils was a Jew named Sadop. Having heard his master often insist that the God of Israel should not be served from mere selfish motives, — such as the love of reward, and fear of punishment, — Sadoc came at last to believe that there are no rewards or punishments beyond the grave ; or, in other words, that there is no future life. He had many followers, particularly among the higher classes, who, taking their name from him, were called jSadduoees. They differed from the other Jews, not only in respect to the doctrine of immortality, but in discarding all tradition, and receiving only the books of Moses. I have here given what seems to me the most probable account of the name and origin of the Sadducees. I hardly need say that this sect of liberalists continued and flourished till the time of our Saviour. In the year 261 before Christ, Antiochus Soter died, and was succeeded by his son Antiochus Theos. To this king, Berosus, the famous Chaldsean historian, dedicates his history. He was a priest of Belus, and lived at Babylon in the days of Alexander. He afterwards rfesided at Cos and at Athens, where he wrote his history in the Greek language. The entire work is not extant ; but we have fragments of it in Josephus and in Eusebius, which shed light on many passages of the Old Testament. At the same time, also, lived Manetho, the historian of Egypt. He, too, had been a priest in his own country. His history, of which only some extracts remain, was written in Greek, and dedicated to Ptolemy Philadelphus. Between Antiochus Theos and Ptolemy Philadelphus there were long and bloody wars. While the former was engaged in contend- ing with the latter, his eastern provinces — nearly all beyond the Tigris — revolted from him, and set up an independent government. As he was not able, to reduce them, a commencement was made of what was afterwards the Parthian Empire. Antiochus and Ptolemy died the same year. The former was succeeded by his son Seleucus Callinicus ; and the latter, by his son Ptolemy Euergetes. These two princes, like their fathers, were almost constantly engaged in war, in which Ptolemy had greatly the advantage of his rival. He carried the war far into the East ; and might have entirely overthrown the empire of Seleucus, had he not been summoned home to suppress a revolt in Egypt. On his return from this expedition, he brought back a vast amount of treasure ; and with it no less than two thousand five hundred idols. 410 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. which in former times had been carried away. All these he re- stored to the temples of Egypt ; on which account he received from the priests the cognomen Euergetes^ the Benefactor. It is said, also, that on his return he visited Jerusalem, and offered sacrifices to the God of Israel in token of his gratitude for the victories he had gained over the king of Syria. Seleucus Callinicus was one of the most unfortunate of the Syrian kings. He was constantly at war, and almost as constantly defeated. The 'very elements seemed often to conspire against him. While his empire was gradually diminishing in the West, the new Partliian kingdom was becoming strong in the East, — too strong to be subverted either by him or liis successors. In his wars with the Parthians he was at length taken prisoner, and died among them. Meanwliile Ptolemy Euergetes was enjoying peace and prosper- ity in Egypt. Like his father and grandfather, he was the patron and promoter of learning. He gathered around him learned men, and made large additions to the royal library of Alexandria. In the twenty -first year of his reign he had a quarrel with the high priest at Jerusalem, growing out of the failure of the latter to pay the customary tribute. The priest now in office was Onias II., a son of Simon the Just ; but he seems to have been the very opposite of his father in those good qualities which his office required. He was of a sluggish temperament, and of a mean, sordid, avaricious spirit. As he advanced in years, his covetous- ness increased upon him, till at length he withheld the twenty talents which was required to be paid annually to the king of Egypt. Upon this, Ptolemy sent an officer to Jerusalem to demand the money ; threatening, in case of refusal, to invade Judsea with an army, and dispossess the Jews of their country. In this emer- gency they were delivered through the prudence, the energy and perseverance, of a young kinsman of the high priest, whose name was Joseph. He collected the tribute which had been kept back, hastened with it into Egypt, made a satisfactory apology to the- king, and was received into favor with him, as he deserved. I have before stated that the unfortunate Seleucus Callinicus died a prisoner among the Parthians. He was succeeded by his eldest son Seleucus, who took the name of Ceraunus, the Thunderer ; but never was such a title less deserved. He was a very weak prince, both in mind, body, and estate ; and accomplished nothing worthy of notice. Indeed, he reigned only two years, when two THE JEWS UNDER THE KINGS OF SYRIA AND EGYPT. 411 of his generals conspired against liira, and cut him off. He was succeeded by his younger brother, known in history as Antiochus the Great. The following year (before Christ 221), Ptolemy Euergetes died, after a prosperous reign of twenty-five years. He was succeeded by his profligate and wicked son Ptolemy Philopator. He mur- dered his mother and brother, and afterwards his wife and sister. His reign was characterized throughout by acts of barbarity, brutality, and wickedness. There were long wars between him and Antiochus, in which the territory of the Jews, lying as it did between the two, suffered repeatedly and severely. In the year 218 before Christ, Palestine fell into the hands of Antiochus-; but the next year, Antiochus having been defeated at the battle of Raphia, the country reverted to the dominion of Egypt. It was at this time that Ptolemy Philopator came to Jerusalem. He took a view of the temple, gave gifts to the priests, and offered sacrifices to the God of Israel. After this, he insisted upon going into the temple, — even into the holy of holies, where no one could law- fully enter except the high priest, and he only once a year. The high priest at this time was Simon, son of Onias II., and grand- son of Simon the Just. He did what he could to dissuade the king ; but, the more he was opposed, the more obstinate he became, until he had pressed into the inner court of the temple ; but, on his attempting to proceed farther, he was suddenly smitten with such a tremor, with such terror and confusion of mind, that he fainted, and was carried out of the place in a state of insensibility. Upon this he hasted away from Jerusalem, filled with wrath, and uttering the most terrible threats against the whole nation of the Jews. On his return to Alexandria, he immediately commenced putting his threats into execution. He first degraded the Jews of Alexan- dria, and deprived them (or such of them as would not renounce their religion) of the privileges, which, from the first founding of the city, they had enjoyed. He next commanded that all the Jews of Egypt should be brought together at Alexandria, and shut up in the hippodrome, intending there to expose them, for his own amusement and that of his court, to be destroyed by elephants ; but when the elephants were brought out, — having been mad- dened for two days to prepare them for the fray, — instead of fall- ing upon the defenceless Jews, they turned their rage upon the spectators, and destroyed many of them. The king now was thor- 412 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. ouglily frightened : he dared not carry out his threats any further, He revoked his decrees against the Jews, restored to them their privileges, and bestowed upon them peculiar favors.* Three years after this, the people of Alexandria, being tired of their oppressions, and disgusted with the abominable government under which they lived, rose in arms against it. In this rebellion, the Jews of the city took a part ; and Eusebius tells us that no less than forty thousand of them were slain. Ptolemy Philopator reigned in all seventeen years. He had naturally a robust constitution, which was thoroughly worn out by his intemperance and debaucheries ; and he died at the early age of thirty-seven : so true is it that " the wicked are driven away in their wickedness," and that "bloody and deceitful men do not live out half their days." His successor was Ptolemy Epiphanes, a little son only five years old. But, before speaking of the events of his reign, it is necessary that we turn back, and give some account of Antiochus the Great. He found the Syrian Empire in a state of great weakness and con- fusion, curtailed on every side, and apparently tottering to its fall ; but by the energy of his government, and the success of his arms, he was enabled to restore it almost to its former strength. He first established his authority in the East, and (with the exception of Parthia, Bactria, and some of the provinces of India) recovered all that had been held by his predecessors. He then passed into Western Asia, and reduced most of the revolted provinces there. He was unfortunate in his first attempt upon Palestine and Egypt ; but these did not belong properly to the empire of his fathers. In the year 195 before Christ, the great Carthaginian general, Hannibal (having been beaten in the Second Punic War, and being under the necessity of leaving Carthage), threw himself upon the hospitality, and implored the protection and friendship, of Antiochus. It was through his influence, chiefly, that Anti- ochus was induced to attempt the conquest of Greece, and to engage in war with the Romans. This war, though undertaken by the advice of Hannibal, was not prosecuted according to his wise suggestions. It proved most disastrous to Antiochus. In his encounters with the Romans, whether by sea or land, he was always beaten. They drove him out of Europe, took from him most of the provinces of Lesser Asia, and obliged him, on settling a treaty, to bear all the expenses of the war. He lived but a little * See 3 Mace, chaps, ii.-v. THE JEWS UNDER THE KINGS OF SYRIA AND EGYPT. 413 while after this. In endeavoring to raise money with which to fulfil his treaty with the Romans, he became so sacrilegious and 0]3pressive, that his subjects rose against him, and slew him. He is represented as possessing, according to the standard of the age in which he lived, an amiable character. He was mild, humane, beneficent, just ; and, until his last unhappy war, was almost uni- formly prospered in his undertakings. He died in the year 187 before Christ, and left his throne to Seleucus Philopator, his eldest son. We return now to the affairs of Egypt. I have said that Ptolemy Epiphanes was left heir to the throne when only five years of age. As he had neither father nor mother, and his dominions were menaced on every side, the court of Egypt sent an embassy to the Romans, praying them to accept the guardianship of their king, and a regency of the empire, during his minority. The Romans readily consented to the proposal, and took on them the charge of the young king. Antiochus had before this marched an army into Palestine, and taken possession of it the second time ; but now an army of Greeks was sent there to recover the lost province to Egypt. The next year, Antiochus took possession of it again : so that, in the space of a very few years, Jerusalem changed masters no less than four times. In these revolutions, the city and coun- try suffered severely; for, with every change, there must be a repetition of carnage and plunder. At this time, the Jews seem to have become tired of the yoke of Egypt. They preferred the rule of the monarch of Syria : he had been less oppressive in his government over them ; and then he had treated their brethren in the East with distinguished favor. Influenced by such motives, when Antiochus came to take posses- sion of their country the third time, the Jews went out in long procession to meet him, and received him with gladness into the city. From this time, the land of Israel continued in the hands of Antiochus until the marriage of his daughter to Ptolemy Epipha- nes, when it was voluntarily given back to Egypt as a part of the dowry of the youn^ princess. This transfer took place in the twelfth year of the reign of Ptolemy, and in the year before Christ 193. It was in the eighteenth year of Ptolemy that Antiochus died. He was succeeded, as I said, by Seleucus Pliilopator, his eldest son. He was obliged, by the treaty which his father had con- cluded with the Romans, to pay them a thousand talents a year 414 • ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. for twelve years. This obligation embarrassed him, and led him to deal more hardly by his people than he would otherwise have done. He is fitly characterized in the predictions of Daniel as " a raiser of taxes" (Dan. xi. 20). In the early part of his reign, he suc- ceeded (but by what means is not known) in getting possession of Palestine, which his father had given, with his sister, to Egypt. Under his government, the Jews were treated, for the most part, with equity- and kindness. It is recorded to his honor, by the writer of the Second Book of the Maccabees, that " the holy city was inhabited with all peace, and the laws were kept very well, because of "the godliness of the high priest, Onias III., and his hatred of wickedness;" while " Seleucus himself, out of his own revenues, bare all the cost belonging to the service of the sacri- fices " (ghap. iii. 1-3). But there was at this time one Simon, governor of the temple at Jerusalem, who had a quarrel with good Onias, and who, to injure him, made report to the king that there was an immense treasure laid up within its walls. Seleucus being poor, and the Roman tribute pressing heavily upon him, could not resist the temptation of seizing this wealth ; and he despatched his general-in-chief, Heliodorus, to carry it away. He came to Jeru- salem, introduced his unwelcome message, and, notwithstanding the remonstrances of the high priest, insisted on plundering the temple ; but in the midst of his sacrilege he was met, repulsed, and stunned by a most terrific apparition. He was carried stupe- fied and senseless from the temple, and Avas recovered only through the intercessions of the high priest (see 2 Mace. iii. 24-36). Not long after this, Seleucus was murdered by this same Heliodorus, when he had reigned only twelve years. He was suc- ceeded by his brother, Antiochus Epiphanes, in the year before Christ 175. Ptolemy Epiphanes reigned over Egypt twenty-four years. So long as he was under tutors and governors, the affairs of the king- dom were managed with discretion ; but, when he had come to an age to take the government upon himself, he plunged into all the evil and disgraceful courses of his father. He seems to have been a greater tyrant than his father, — so much so, that his subjects twice rose upon him, and in the second instance put an end to his life. He died at the age of twenty-nine, leaving his wife (Cleo- patra, the daughter of Antiochus the Great), and a son and suc- cessor (Ptolemy Philometor) only six years old. Antiochus Epiphanes was one of the vilest characters and most THE JEWS UNDER THE KINGS OF SYRIA AND EGYPT. 415 cruel persecutors that ever sat upon a throne. He was no sooner estabhshecl in the kingdom than he deposed the good high priest Onias, and sokl the office (for three hundred and sixty talents) to his unprincipled brother Jason. Nor did this satisfy him long ; for, only tAvo years after, he sold the same office to Menelaus, a younger and still more wicked brother, for three hundred talents more. In order to pay the debt thus contracted, Menelaus was' under the necessity of plundering the temple ; and this caused a tumult at Jerusalem, which could not be quieted without blood. A quarrel commenced early between Antiochus and his nephew, the young king of Egypt, respecting Palestine. This properly belonged to Ptolemy, though it was now in possession of Antiochus. Foreseeing that the Egyptians were intending to claim it, Antio- chus commenced a war upon Ptolemy, in which he gained several battles, and made himself master of nearly all Egypt except Alexandria. Indeed, either by force or by flattery, he obtained possession of the young king's person, and had him with him at his table in his camp. While these things were transacting in Egypt, a report came to Jerusalem that Antiochus was dead ; which caused great rejoicing among the Jews. At the same time, Jason, the deposed high priest, came to Jerusalem with an army, that he might crush Menelaus, and regain his office. Antiochus, hearing of these things in Egypt, and being greatly offended that the rumor of his death should have caused so much exultation among the Jews, resolved to wreak his vengeance upon them. His victorious army was soon before Jerusalem. The city was taken, and was given up to pillage and slaughter. Within three days, forty thousand of its inhabitants were slain, and as many more were sold into slavery. Not content with this, Antiochus (under the guidance of the traitorous high priest Menelaus) forced himself into the recesses of the temple, polluting with his presence even the holy of holies ; and that he might offer the grossest insult, not only to the people, but to the God of Israel, he sacrificed a sow on the altar of burnt-offering, and, making broth of a portion of its flesh, sprinkled with it the holy place. He next proceeded to plunder the temple of its golden vessels to the value of eighteen hundred talents, and made off with his booty and his army to Antioch. The Alexandrians, finding that Ptolemy Philometor was not hkely to protect them against the intrusions of Antiochus, took a 416 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. younger brother of his (known in history as Ptolemy Physcon),. and placed him on the throne. When Antiochus heard of this, he resolved upon a second expedition into Egypt, — professedly to restore Philometor, but really to subject the whole kingdom to himself. When the Egyptians knew of his intentions, they sent at once an embassy to the Romans, praying them to interpose to^ stay the ravages of Antiochus, and restore peace to their distracted country. The Romans gladly availed . themselves of the oppor- tunity to extend their influence and power ; and their ambassadors (at the head of whom was Caius Popilius) arrived in Egypt just as Antiochus was commencing for the last time to lay siege to Alexandria. Seeing Popilius coming, Antiochus (who had known him at Rome) put forth his hand to embrace him as an old ac- quaintance and friend ; but Popilius withdrew his hand, telling him that public interests must take the precedence of private friend- ships. He immediately handed him the decree of the senate, re- quiring him to stay all further proceedings against Egypt, and withdraw his army from the country. Antiochus hesitated, and asked time for consideration. But Popilius replied, that the decision must be made upon the spot ; and then, drawing around him a circle in the sand, forbade him to step out of it until he had settled the question one way or the other. The proud spirit of Antiochus was compelled to yield. He dared not risk a quarrel with the Romans. He promised to raise the siege of Alexandria, and to withdraw his forces out of Egypt. But he went away in great wrath ; and, because he could not punish the Egyptians, he determined to vent his spite upon Jeru- salem. Accordingly, as he passed on with his army through Pales- tine to Antioch, he sent Apollonius, one of his generals, to invest,, capture, and destroy that devoted city. It was just two years after the taking of the city by Antiochus that Apollonius arrived before it with his army. He concealed his purpose until the Jewish^sabbath ; when, falhng upon the un- suspecting and defenceless people, he slew all the men he could find, and took the women and children to sell them into slavery. After this he plundered the city, set fire to it in several places; demolished the houses, and broke down the walls ; and with the ruins which had accumulated he built a strong tower, high enough to overlook and command the temple. Here he placed a garrison, and furnished it with abundant provisions, that the soldiers might THE JEWS UNDER THE KINGS OF SYRIA AND EGYPT. 417 guard the temple, and cut off all who came there to worship. From this time the temple was entirely deserted ; the daily sacrifices were omitted ; and none went into it to pay their devotions for the space of three years and a half. Nor was tliis all the evil which now befell the miserable Jews. Upon his return to his capital, Antiochus published what may be called in modern phrase an act of uniformity. He commanded all people throughout his dominions to renounce their former rites and usages, and conform to the religion of the State ; and, that his decree might be faithfully executed, he sent deputies into all the towns and villages of the empire to see to the observance of it, and to instruct the people in the new religion to which they were required to conform. This decree, to be sure, was couched in universal terms ; but then it was known to be designed more especially for the Jews. The king's intention was, either to convert them to his religion, or to cut them all off. The deputy who was sent for this purpose into Judaea was re- solved to execute his commission thoroughly. He suppressed all Jewish festivals and observances, forbade the practice of circum- cision, searched out and destroyed the books of the law, shut up the synagogues, and, having defiled the temple in every part, con- secrated it to Jupiter Olympus. He set up an image of Jupiter in the inner court of the temple, and built an altar before it, on which heathen sacrifices were offered. A portion of the Jews, and nearly all the Samaritans, at tliis time, apostatized from thek religion : for it was the custom of the Samaritans, when the Jews were in prosperity, to claim connection and favor with them ; but, when the Jews were persecuted, they would disclaim all such connection, hoping in this way to escape. There were those among the Jews, however, and they were not few, — in the deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth, — who would not bow the knee to Baal. Such were two pious mothers at Jerusalem, who, having lately circumcised each of them her infant, were condemned to be thrown from the top of the wall, with their murdered children hanging about their necks ; such was Salamona, a noble Jewish mother, who, with her seven sons, under- went a most terrible death rather than forsake the God of Israel (see 2 Mace. vi. 7). It was just at this awful crisis, when the people of God and the true religion seemed likely to be swallowed up together, that 27 418 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. the standard of revolt was raised by Matthias and his valiant sons, and the hour of Judah's deliverance came. " The mount of danger is the place Where we shall see surprising grace." But this brings me to the history of the Maccabees, of which I shall treat in the next chapter. CHAPTER XXXV. THE MACCABEES. IN the preceding chapter, we traced the history of the Jews to the time of their deepest depression and persecution under Antiochus Epiplianes, when their city was deserted, their temple profaned, the holy rites of their religion prohibited, and many of the pious in Israel had been put to death. As the deputies of Antiochus " passed through all quarters," searching out the scat- tered people, and compelling them to do sacrifice to their gods, they found at Modin* a venerable priest named Matthias, a descendant of Asmonseus, from whom the family are sometimes called Asmonaeans. Matthias had seven sons, all valiant men, who, like him, were zealous for the law of their God. The deputy at Modin undertook, first of all, to persuade Matthias to lay aside his scruples, and conform to the religion of the king ; urging the influence of his example upon others. But Matthias declared with a loud voice, that no consideration whatever should induce him, or any of his family, to act contrary to the law of their God ; and seeing at that instant a recreant Jew presenting himself before the heathen altar, and preparing to offer sacrifice upon it, he ran upon him, and, in the heat of his indignation, slew him. He next fell upon the king's deputy, and, by the help of his sons, slew him and all who attended him. The sword of revolt was now fairly drawn, and the scabbard thrown away. Matthias and his sons retired into the mountains, where they were soon followed by many others. Observing that their enemies had generally taken advantage of their sabbath to attack and destroy them, this noble band of fugitives agreed among themselves, that while they would endeavor always to keep the * A town north-west of Jerusalem, in the tribe of Dan, near the sea. 419 420 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. sabbath, according to the commandment, they would have no scruple, if assaulted, in defending themselves on that holy day. i Having got tggether enough followers to constitute a little army, Matthias and his sons came out of their fastnesses, and went round the cities of Judah, pulling down heathen altars, demolishing images, circumcising the children, and destroying apostates and persecutors wherever they could be found ; and, having obtained copies of the law, they set uj) the worship of the synagogues as it was before. But Matthias, bemg an old man, and unable to endure this kind of life, expired before the end of the year. As he lay dying, he called his sons around him ; and having appointed Judas to be their captain, and Simon their chief counsellor, he adjured them to stand up valiantly for the law of their God, and to fight his battles against their persecutors. Thus saying, he gave up the ghost, and was buried in the sepulchre of his fathers amid the lamentations of the faitliful in Israel. As soon as the funeral-rites were over, Judas, with his little army, took the field. Upon his standard was written this inspirit- ing motto. Mi OamoJca Baalim Jehovah, — " Who is like unto thee among the gods, Jehovah?" (Exod. xv. 11.) The first letters of - these four Hebrew words, Mem, Kaph, Beth, Yod, being conjoined into one word, make Macahi : hence those who fought under this sacred standard were called Maccabees ; and Judas, their captain, was called, by way of eminence, Judas Maccabceus. Antiochus was at this time celebratmg games at Antioch, after the manner of the Greeks and Romans ; but Judas was playing another sort of game in Palestine. He was marching from place to place, encouraging and delivering the faithful people of God, cutting off idolaters and apostates, and destroying so far as possi- ble every vestige of the new religion ; and not only so, he was fortifying the towns, establishing garrisons, and making himself strong and powerful in the land. Apollonius, the king's heuten- ant, hearing of liis successes, marched against him with a great army; but Judas met him, vanquished him in battle, and took- much spoil. He took, among other things, the sword of Apollonius, which he himself carried ever afterwards. Another of Antiochus' generals then took the field against Judas, followed by a still more numerous army ; but they met the same fate as the first. Judas fell upon them, slew great multitudes, and scattered the remnant to the winds. When Antiochus heard of these disasters in Palestine, he was THE MACCABEES. 421 excited to the intensest indignation. He immediately set about collecting a vast army with which to destroy the whole nation of the Jews, and blot out the remembrance of them from the earth ; -but, in the language of the prophet, "tidings from the north and from the east troubled him." In the north, the king of Armenia had revolted : and in the east his tribute could not be collected ; so that funds for the sujDport of his army were wanting. In this emergency, the long concluded to divide his great army into two parts. With the one part, he would go in person into Armenia and Persia ; while the other part, under Lysias, his chief captain, was to defeat and exterminate the Jews. Lysias was not slow in entering upon his bloody commission. Urged on by the king's commandment, he set forward an army of forty thousand foot and seven thousand horse, under the direction of Nicanor, one of his lieutenants ; intending himself soon to follow, should it be found necessary. These all encamped at Emmaus, near Jerusalem, attended by thousands of Syrian and Phoenician merchants, who had come together for the purchase of captives, which- they supposed would of course be taken in the war. Judas, although he could not muster more than six thousand men, was resolved to take the field, and fight till he died in the service of God and his country. But, first of all, he assembled his forces at Mizpeh, and kept a day of solemn fasting and prayer, imploring direction and strength from Heaven. Then he made proclamation, according to the law, that all those who that year had built houses, or betrothed wives, or planted vineyards, or were dismayed and fearful, might depart. In consequence of this, his army of six thousand was reduced to three thousand. Still this noble-hearted man was not discouraged : he divided his little company into four parts, under the direction of his brothers and himself, and solemnly waited the movements of the enemy and the providential direction and interposition of God. In these circum- stances, he learned that a detachment of the enemy, under Goro-ias, had left their camp in the night, and were marching round secretly to attack him in his rear : whereupon he made immediately for the deserted camp, took it, plundered it, and set it on fire. The rest of the Syrian army, under Nicanor, seeing the camp of Gorgias on fire, and supposing that his forces had been captured and destroyed, fled at once in great terror, leaving their tents also to be taken by the Jews. By this time, Gorgias, having sought in vain for Judas, was marching back to his own place ; but finding 422 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. his camp destroyed, and the rest of the Syrian army fled, he fled also in great amazement, declaring that it was vain to fight against the God of Israel. The result of the expedition was, that Judas and liis company took the whole Syrian camp, with a vast amount of spoil and treasure, slew nine thousand of the enemy on the field, dispersed the rest, and sent most of the merchants into captivity to the Jews, who had come there thinking to make captives of them. The following sabbath was kept by the Jews with great rejoicing ; giving praise and thanksgiving to God for their wonder- ful deliverance. Greatly strengthened by this victory, and resolved to make the most of it in his power, Judas immediately led his forces across the Jordan to attack another of Antiochus' generals who was sta- tioned there. Here he gained another battle, and left twenty thousand of the enemy dead upon the field. By tliis time, Lysias, who had not yet tried his fortune in Judsea, was thoroughly aroused. As speedily as possible, he mustered an army of sixty thousand foot and five thousand horse, and, putting himself at the head of it, marched into the land of Israel. He pitched his camp at Bethsura, a fortified town lying south of Jeru- salem, near the borders of Idumsea. Here Judas met him with only ten thousand men, vanquished him in battle, slew five thou- sand of his soldiers, and put the rest to flight. Being now fairly master of the country, Judas proposed to his followers that they should go up to Jerusalem, purify the tem- ple, and consecrate it anew to the service of the Lord. On coming to the holy city, they found every thing, as they expected, in a most lamentable condition. The walls were thrown down, the sanctuary desolate, the altar profaned, the gates of the temple consumed, the priests' chambers demolished, and the courts about the temple grown over with weeds and shrubs. But Judas and his company, though they could not refrain their tears, were not men to be discouraged. They immediately set about repairing the desolations, and cleansing the sanctuary. They pulled down the heathen altars, removed and destroyed the idols, replaced the sacred vessels which Antiochus had carried away, rebuilded the altar of the Lord, and hung up a new veil between the holy and most holy place. And, when every thing had been set in order, they ap- pointed a day on which the temple and its furniture should be consecrated anew. The dedication took place on the twenty-fifth day of the ninth Jewish month, Cisleu, about the time of the win-- THE MACCABEES. 423 ter solstice, — just three years and a half after the xiity and temple had been profaned and desolated by Apollonius. The solemnity continued for eight successive days ; and an annual festival in com- memoration of it was long observed among the Jews. Tliis Feast of the Dedication our Saviour once honored with his presence (John X. 22). It Avas the only one of the great annual festivals which occurred in the winter. When the Jews had recovered and purified the temple, and in- stituted anew the public worship of God, there was but another thing wliich they had reason to desire ; and this was the destruc- tion of the tower which Apollonius had built, and garrisoned with soldiers, to prevent the people from going up to the temple to worship. This was still in the hands of the enemy ; nor was Judas able, either by siege or assault, to bring them to surrender : where- fore he built walls and towers round about the temple, and placed soldiers in them, that they might defend the holy places, and pro- tect the priests and pious worshippers. During all tliis time, Antiochus was in the East, endeavoring to collect liis tribute, and to enrich himself from the plunder of tem- ples and the oppression of his people. When he heard of the exploits of Judas, and of the defeat of his armies in Palestine, he was terribly enraged. The furnace of his wrath was kindled seven- fold hotter than ever before. He set out with the utmost speed on his return ; threatening, as he hurried on, that he would make Jerusalem a sepulchre for the whole Jewish nation, and destroy them to a man. But, while thus " breathing out threatenings and slaughter," the judgments of insulted Heaven overtook him. He was suddenly smitten with an incurable disease of the bowels, and with the most tormenting anguish, which no remedies could re- move or abate. Still he would not stop in his career, but com- manded his charioteer to drive on, that he might the sooner be in a situation to wreak his vengeance on the Jews. In a little time his chariot was overset ; and he was so sorely injured, and so ter- ribly diseased, that he was constrained to stop. And here he be- came, both to himself and to all around him, a monument of the avenging judgment of God. His sufferings, both of body and mind, were beyond expression. His lower extremities became pu- trid and rotten, filled with loathsome vermin, emitting a stench unendurable, not only to others, but to himself. At the same time, his imagination was haunted with horrid spectres and apparitions, which were continually reproacliing him, and stkring up his con- 424 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. science to the keenest remorse. He was brought, at length, to confess that the hand of an offended God was upon hhn for what he had done agamst his holy temple at Jerusalem, and against the lives of his faithful servants. He deeply lamented his cruel perse- cutions, and promised, should his life be spared, to do what he could to make reparation ; but his repentance came too late. God would not hear him ; and so, after languishing for a time in these unut- terable torments, he went to Ms account in the other world, hav- ing reigned over the Syrian Empire eleven years. Our history from the death of Alexander the Great has been chiefly confined to Syria and Egypt ; and that for two reasons : first, the other two kingdoms into which Alexander's empire was divided became ^ early, to a great extent, merged in these ; and, secondly, with these were connected, more or less, the destinies and interests of God's covenant people. The Jews during all this period, though considerably dispersed over the ancient world, had their residence chiefly in three or four places, — such as Babylonia and Antioch, subject to the Idngs of Syria ; Alexandria, which was in Egypt ; and Palestine, wliich lay between the two, and was subject alternately to the one or the other. The kings of Syria and Egypt, being thus intimately connected with the Church of God, we might expect would be noticed in the language of prophecy ; and so, by universal consent, we find them. There is not a more remarkable prediction in all the Bible — so remarkable, that infidels have often alleged that it must have been wiitten subsequent to the events referred to — than that relating to the kings of the north and the south, or (which is the same) of Syria and Egypt, recorded in the eleventh chapter of Daniel. Be- fore proceeding further with our history, let us pause a moment, and compare these predictions with the facts as they have been detailed. The vision of which the eleventh chapter of Daniel forms a part was seen in the third year of Cyrus, king of Persia, — some four hundred years previous to the reign of Antiochus Epiphanes. The revealing angel commences with saying, " There shall yet stand up three kmgs in Persia ; and the fourth shall be richer than they all, and by his strength he shall stir up all against the realm of Grecia " (ver. 2). The three Persian kings here predicted were Cambyses, Smerdis, and Darius Hystaspis. The fourth, who was to be richer than they all, and who was to stir up all against the realm of Grecia, was Xerxes the Great, — a memorable prediction, this, of his most unfortunate expedition into Greece. THE MACCABEES. 425 The mighty king who was to stand up after him, as predicted in the third verse, and who should rule with great dominion, was Alexander the Great. The breaking-up and dividing of his Idng- dom unto the foui- winds, but not to his posterity (ver. 4), denotes, as I have before remarked, the sudden death of Alexander, and the division of his empire to his four great generals, — Seleucus, Ptole- my, Lysimachus, and Cassander. The king of the south, who shall be strong (ver. 5), is Ptolemy Soter, the first of the name who reigned in Egypt. The one of his (Alexander's) princes who shall be " strong above him, and have a great dominion," is Seleucus Nicator, the first of a long succession of Syrian kings, whose dominions far exceeded those of Ptolemy. The Idngs of the north and the south, through the re- mainder of the chapter, denote the successive kings of Syria and Egypt ; the former lying north of Palestine, the latter south of it. " And in the end of years " (i.e., in process of time, not imme- diately), "they," the kings of the north and the south, "shall join themselves together; for the king's daughter of the south shall come to the king of the north to make an agreement " (ver. 6). After long wars between Syria and Egypt, Ptolemy Philadel- phus gave his daughter Berenice iu marriage to Antiochus Theos, in hope of putting an end to the contests between the two coun- tries. " But she shall not retain the power of the arm ; neither shall he stand, or his arm : but she shall be given up, and they that brought her, and he that begat her, and he that strengthened her in these times " (ver. 6). When Ptolemy Philadelphus was dead (and he died very soon), Antiochus put away Berenice, and took again his former wife Laodice, who poisoned her husband, and caused Berenice and her child to be put to death. Here, then, is the death of Philadelphus, who brought her, begat her, and strengthened her ; the death of her husband who received her ; her own death ; and the death of her son, who was the intended heir of the crown of Syria. " But out of the branch of her roots," or from the same root with her, " shall one stand up in his estate " (ver. 7). The refer- ence here is to Ptolemy Euergetes, brother of Berenice, and who, of course, sprang from the some root with her. He succeeded his and her father Philadelphus, or " stood up in his estate." To avenge the death of his sister, he " came with an army, and entered into the fortress of the king of the north," and prevailed against 426 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. liim. On his return into Egypt, he carried with him, in the very words of the prophecy, " their gods, their princes, and their precious vessels of silver and gold" (ver. 8). Jerome says that Euergetes brought with him out of Syria and the East forty thousand talents of silver, and twenty-five hundred statues of the gods, many of which were Egyptian idols which had before been carried into Syria. " And he," says Daniel', " shall continue more years than the king of the north." Euergetes outlived Seleucus Callinicus by several years. " But his sons shall be stirred up, and shall assemble a multitude of great forces " (ver. 10). These were the sons of Seleucus Cal- linicus ; viz., Seleucus Ceraunus and Antiochus the Great. " And 07ie shall certamly come, and overflow, and pass through : then shall he return, and be stirred up, even to his fortress " (ver. 10). The one here spoken of is Antiochus the Great ; for Ceraunus ac- complished very little. Antiochus raised a mighty arm}^ for the invasion of Egypt, and penetrated as far as Pelusium. Here Ptolemy Philopator made a truce with him for a few months. At the end of the truce, Antiochus returned, and penetrated to Ra- ■phia, the fortress of the king of the south. " And the king of the south shall be moved with choler, and shall come forth and fight with him : and he," the king of the north, " shall set forth a great multitude ; but the multitude shall be given into his hand ; " i.e., into the hand of the king of the south. " And, when he hath taken away the multitude, ... he shall not be strengthened by it " (ver. 11, 12). All this was literally fulfilled. Ptolemy defeated Antio- chus at Raphia, and took and destroyed a multitude of people. Still he was not strengthened by the victory, as might have been expected. He made peace with Antiochus on easy terms, and relapsed into liis former debauched and listless course of life. The next seven verses of the prophecy relate to the further proceedings and destiny of Antiochus the Great. " After certain years, the king of the north shall return with a great army and with much riches " (ver. 13). Some fourteen years subsequent to his former invasion, after he had gained a series of victories in the East, Antiochus did return for the conquest of Palestine and Egypt with a greater army than before, and with much wealth. " And in those times many shall stand up against the king of the south " (ver. 14). Owing to the feeble and wicked government now ex- ercised in Egypt, many did rise up against it. The provinces THE MACCABEES. 427 revolted ; there were insurrections in Egypt itself : the king of Macedon entered into a league with Antiochus to divide the em- pire of Ptolemy between them. " Also the robbers of thy people," or among thy people, " shall exalt themselves to establish the vision " (ver. 14). The prevailing faction among the Jews broke away at this time from the dominion of Egypt, and placed them- selves under the rule of Antiochus. " But," says the prophet, " they shall fall " (ver. 14). And so they did; for no sooner had Antiochus left Palestine, than a hired army of Greeks, under Scopas, was sent by Ptolemy to recover the country and Jeru- salem to Egypt. " But the king of the north shall come, and cast up a mount, and. take the most fenced cities ; and the arms of the south shall not withstand ; but he that cometh against him shall do according to his will, and none shall stand before him " (ver. 15, 16). On hearing of the success of Scopas, Antiochus very soon returned, recaptured Palestine, besieged Scopas in Sidon, and took him ; and none was able to stand before him. " He also shall set his face to enter" Egypt "with the strength of his whole kingdom" (ver. 17). Antiochus now meditates the entire subjugation of Egypt. But for some reason he changes his plan, and enters into a pacification ; for this is the proper rendering of the next two paragraphs. Instead of trying to conquer Egypt by force, he plans to get possession of it by treaty ; and the main article of the treaty is next indicated : " He shall give him the daughter of women, corrupting her " (ver. 17). Antiochus proposed to give his daughter Cleopatra to the young king of Egypt in marriage, prom- ising to bestow upon her the province of Palestine as her dowry; but all this he did with a corrupt design, expecting through his daughter's infl.uence to make himself master of Egypt. But in this he was disappointed : " She shall not stand on his side, neither before him " (ver. 17). After her marriage, Cleopatra preferred her husband's interests to those of her father, and refused to carry out the plan which he had devised for her. " After this shall he turn his face unto the isles, and shall take many ; but a prince, for his own behalf, shall cause the reproach offered by him to cease " (ver. 18). After Antiochus had given up his designs upon Egypt, he turned his arms against the Grecian isles, and took several of them. This brought him into conflict with the Romans ; and the Roman generals soon caused the re- proaches which he had uttered against them to cease. They beat 428 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. him at every point, drove him out of Europe, took from him the provinces of Lesser Asia," and obUged him to bear all the expenses of the war. " Then shall he turn his face towards the fort of his own land ; but he shall stumble and fall, and not be found " (ver. 19). After his disgraceful treaty with the Romans, Antiochus went into his own country ; and, while engaged in x^lundering a temple, he was killed by the enraged populace. " Then shall stand up in his estate a raiser of taxes," &c. (ver. 20.) Antiochus was succeeded by his eldest son, Seleucus Philopator, a weak prince, who did little else but " raise taxes " and collect tribute to pay the enormous debt which his father had contracted to the Romans. The remainder of this chapter, or at least the greater part of it, is taken up in predicting the character, the exploits, the persecu- tions, and the end of Antiochus Epiphanes. " And in his estate shall stand up a vile person," &c. (ver. 21.) Antiochus was a younger brother of Seleucus Philopator, and succeeded him. He was, indeed, " a vile person." He took the name of Epiphanes, Illustrious ; but his subjects often called him Epimanes the Madman. " He shall come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flat- teries " (ver. 21). There were several aspirants to the throne, among whom was the lawful heir, Demetrius, son of the former king ; but by flattering the court, the people, and some of the neighboring princes, Antiochus succeeded in obtaining peacefid possession of it. The next six verses (from the twenty-second to the twenty- seventh) contain predictions of Antiochus' two first successful expeditions against Egypt, in which he carried the war to the very gates of Alexandria : " He shall stir up his power and his courage against the king of the south with a great army ; and the king of the south shall be stirred up to battle with a mighty army ; but he shall not stand " (ver. 25). " With the arms of a flood shall they be overflown from before him, and shall be broken " (ver. 22). After this, Antiochus entered into some sort of covenant or agreement with the young king of Egypt, but hypocritically^ deceit- fully; hoping in this way to get possession of his kingdom. Hence it is said in these vei^ses, that, " after the league made with him, he shall work deceitfully " (ver. 23). He brought over to his interests some of the household of the king of Egypt ; in accordance with which it is said in the prediction, " They that feed upon a portion THE MACCABEES. 429 of his meat shall destroy him " (ver. 26). Antiochus even got pos- session, in some way, of the person of the king of Egypt, and had him with him, as I remarked before, in his camp and at his table. This circumstance is also noted in the prediction : " They shall speak lies at one table ; but it shall not prosper " (ver. 27). To account for the success with which Antiochus practised his flatteries and falsehoods, it must be borne in mind that Ptolemy Philometor, the young king of Egypt, was his nephew, his own sister's son. After having tried in vain to extirpate him utterly, Antiochus undertook to cajole and flatter him, and, from a pretended concern for his welfare, to get possession of him and his kingdom. When his plans had been fully concerted, Antiochus returned, in the very words of the prophet, " with great riches to his own land " (ver. 28). And what does he do on his way thither ? " His heart shall be against the holy covenant, and he shall do exploits " (ver. 28). On his march from Egypt to Antioch, the kmg came to Jerusalem, as before stated, and took it. He slew thousands of the Israelites, forced himself into the recesses of the temple, sacri- ficed a sow on the altar of burnt-offering, and otherwise defiled the holy place. "At the time appointed," says Daniel, "he shall return,, and come toward the south ; but it shall not be as the former or as the latter " (ver. 29). This relates to his last invasion of Egypt, which was very different in its results from either of his former expeditions. " For the ships of Chittim shall come against him : therefore shall he be grieved, and return " (ver. 30). These ships of Chittim are those which brought Popilius, and the other Roman ambassadors, who compelled Antiochus, much to his grief and dis- appointment, to raise the siege of Alexandria, and return into his own land. We have before seen, that, on his way to Antioch at this time, Antiochus despatched Apollonius to Jerusalem, again to vent his rage against that devoted city. All this is very distinctly noted by the prophet : " He shall have indignation against the holy cov- enant," and " shall have intelligence with them that forsake the holy covenant ; " i.e., with the renegade, apostate Jews. " And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate ; and such as do wick- edly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries " (ver. 30- 430 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 32). All this was literally fulfilled in the sacking of Jerusalem and the temple by Apollonius, as before stated. It was just at this point, as we have seen, that the Maccabees raised the standard of revolt, and the Jews were temporarily de- livered. To this deliverance there is a reference in the following verses : " The people that know their God shall be strong, and shall do exploits ; and they that understand among the people shall instruct many " (ver. 32, 33). The Maccabees " were strong, and did exploits " such as almost no other military leaders ever did. The remainder of this eleventh chapter, ov/ing to our imperfect history of the times, is not of so obvious interpretation ; yet there are passages which were strikingly fulfilled upon Antiochus. Thus, while he was meditating a more terrible infliction upon the Jews than any they had before suffered, we are told that " tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him : therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many ; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him " (ver. 44, 45). These tidings related to the revolts in Armenia and Persia, which defeated his plan of going at once and in per- son against the Jews. While prosecuting his designs in the East, he heard of the successes of the Maccabees in Palestine, and set out in great wrath and fury to return. But now the vengeance of insulted Heaven overtakes him : he comes to his end, and there is none to help him. I have thus detailed, so far as we have the means of doing it, the fulfilment of this remarkable prediction. It is so remarkable, that I felt justified in pausing in the progress of our history for the purpose. We know, as well as we can know any thing on the testimony of the ancients, that the prophecy of Daniel was written at least four hundred years before the time of Antiochus Epiphanes, and long before any part of what we have here referred to was accomplished ; and yet with what wonderful, circumstantial ex- actness it was fulfilled ! And I have no doubt that the fulfilment would appear still more exact if we had the history as accurately as we have the prophecy ; but, as it is, this prediction alone is enough to confound the infidel, and to vindicate the claim of the book containing it to its place among the oracles of God. CHAPTER XXXVI. THE MACCABEES TO THE DEATH OF JOHN HYRCANUS. IN our last chapter, we pursued the history of the Jews to the death of Antiochus Epiphanes. I spoke of the rise of the Mac- cabees and of their astonishing successes, and showed how re- markably one of the last predictions of Daniel was fulfilled in the kings of Syria and Egypt. Antiochus Epiphanes was succeeded by his son Antiochus Eu- pator, a child only nine years of age. By his will, the father had intrusted the young king to the guardianship of Philip, one of his most faithful servants, who hastened to Antioch to assume the charge : but, when he arrived, he found that Lysias had already undertaken that office ; and Philip, being too weak to contest the point with him, fled into Egypt. Meanwhile the Maccabees were busy in Palestine defending themselves against their heathen neighbors the Edomites, Ammon- ites, and Gileadites, who had conspired together for their destruc- tion. Of the Edomites, in two expeditions, Judas slew not less than forty thousand men. The Ammonites, under Timotheus their governor, invaded Judaea with a very great army, intending nothing less than the utter destruction of the Jews ; but Judas, having commended his cause to God, went forth to meet them, and left thirty thousand of their number, horse and foot, dead upon the field. The Gileadites next resolved to try their fortune in this war, and commenced by destroying such of the Jews as dwelt within their own borders ; but Judas hastened to the relief of his brethren, dispersed, their enemies, and slew of them eight thousand men. At the same time, his brother Simon was sent with an army into Galilee to chastise the oppressors of God's people there. Lysias, hearing at Antioch of these successes of the Jews, thought it time for him to interpose. Wherefore, getting together an army of eighty thousand men, besides horsemen and elephants, he 431 432 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. pressed into Judaea, threatening, as others had done before him, utterly to exterminate the Jews, and make Jerusalem a habitation for the Gentiles. He encamped, as he had done on a former expe- dition, at Bethsura, a strong fortress between Jerusalem and Idu- msea ; but Judas, notliing daunted, went forth to meet him, slew eleven thousand foot and sixteen hundred horse, and put the rest of his great army to flight. Thus humbled, Lysias was willing to give peace to the Jews. By the terms of the treaty, the decree of Epiphanes, requiring the Jews to conform to the religion of the Greeks, was wholly rescinded, and they were permitted to hve. according to their own laws. But the peace thus established was soon interrupted by the treachery of the surrounding tribes. The men of Joppa rose upon the Jews in that city, and threw two hundred of them into the sea. To chastise them for this, Judas fell upon them by night, burned their shipping and their fortifications, and slew all the men of the city that could be found. He was next drawn quite to the other side of Palestine to the help of his distressed brethren in Gilead. Here he encountered Timotheus a second time, who had now collected an army of a hundred and twenty thousand foot and twenty-five hundred horse to oppose him. Judas met this great multitude at a place called Raphon, on the River Jabbok, and slew of them thirty thousand men. In another engagement with the remnant of the same army, he slew twenty-five thousand more. On his return to Jerusalem, he was obliged to pass through the city of Ephron, where Lysias had a garrison of soldiers. He desired and requested that he might be permitted to go on his way peaceably ; but, as his re- quest was not granted, he carried the place by assault, slew twenty-five thousand of the inhabitants, and took their spoil. Arrived at Jerusalem from this most hazardous but triumphant expedition, Judas and all his company went up to the temple and rendered thanksgiving and praise to the God of Israel for his most merciful interpositions in their behalf. Judas now undertook, for the second time, to reduce the fortress of Acra at Jerusalem, — the same which ApoUonius had built years before to overlook and command the temple ; but, before this could be accomplished, Lysias was again upon him with an army of a hundred and twenty thousand horse and foot and thirty-two elephants, attended and encouraged by the presence of the young king. This unwieldy host encamped as before at Bethsm-a, where THE MACCABEES TO THE DEATH OF JOHN HYRCANUS. 433 Judas fell upon them by night, and slew four thousand of them before they had light enough to see where to oppose him. The next day the two armies came to an open engagement, in which Eleazer, one of the brothers of Judas, was slain, and he was himself obliged for the first time to retreat. He fell back upon Jerusalem, and fortified himself within the precincts of the temple. Lysias fol- lowed and besieged him ; but, before the fortresses of the temple could be reduced, he was summoned to Antioch to quell a for- -midable insurrection there. When about to withdraw his army from Jerusalem, he renewed his former treaty with the Jews. The ex-high-priest Menelaus, who bought the office of Antiochus Epiphanes, and who had been the cause of most of the miseries which the Jews liad suffered, was present with the Syrians at this time, hoping by some means to be re-instated ; but Lysias, who knew his character, and was heartily sick of the conflict which he was constantly striving to foment, seized him on his return to An- tioch, and smothered him in ashes, — a kind of death which was inflicted only on the most atrocious criminals, and which Menelaus richly deserved. The pontifical office was now conferred upon Alcimus, a man scarcely less wicked than Menelaus himself. But the end of Lysias, and of the young king whom he had in charge, was now come ; for Demetrius, the son of Seleucus Philop- ator, whom Antiochus Epiphanes had defrauded of his right to the throne, having escaped from Rome, where he had long been kept as a hostage, suddenly made his appearance in Syria. He pretended that he had been sent by the Roman Senate to take pos- session of the kingdom : upon which the court, the soldiers, and the people, all came at once into his interest ; and Lysias and the young king were slain. Demetrius, who took the name of Soter, Avas early incited by Alcimus, the wicked high priest, to renew the war against the Jews. For this purpose, Bacchides was sent into Judoea, and after him Nica,nor, an old adversary whom Judas had once defeated. He besieged Jerusalem and the temple, and uttered blasphemous words against it, threatening to pull it down, and build a temple to Bacchus in its place ; but, coming to a battle with Judas, Nicanor was slain, and his whole army routed. So entire was this destruc- tion, that the writer of the First Book of the Maccabees says, " There was not a man of the army left to carry the news of their defeat to Antioch." Shortly after this victory, Judas sent an embassy to Rome, pray- 28 434 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. ing that tlie Jews might be acknowledged as friends and allies of the Romans, and that a league of mutual defence might be estab- lished between them. The ambassadors were favorably received, and the request granted ; but, before tidings to this effect could reach Jerusalem or Antioch, Judas Maccabseus was no more. Bac- chides having been sent a second time into Judoea with a great army to avenge the defeat and death of Nicanor, Judas encoun- tered him with only eight hundred men. It was in this most unequal and desperate conflict that he lost his life. His body was recovered by his brothers Jonathan and Simon, and honorably buried in the sepulchre of his fathers. Of the character of Judas Maccabseus, his public acts are, per- haps, the best expositors. That he was wise in council, and pow- erful in action, brave, courageous, and all but invincible, his un- paralleled achievements and successes declare ; but he possessed, we think, something better than all this. He had a steady faith and trust in God ; a zeal like that of Phinehas, his great progeni- tor ; a feeling all the while that he was doing the Lord's work, and that the God of Israel was with him. It M^as this which nerved his arm for the deadly conflict, and led him on from vic- tory to victory. It will be said, perhaps, that he was a man of blood ; and so he was : but then his wars were all of them strictly defensive. He was placed in circumstances where he must fight, or die ; and, if he died, to all human appearance the cause which he supported must die with him. His battles were all begun with prayer, and ended with thanksgiving : the glory of his achieve- ments he felt and acknowledged were due only to the Lord. In the religious aspects of his character, — in his humble prayer, his dauntless fortitude, his overcoming faith, and his devout ascriptions of thanksgiving and praise ; in the manner in which he was drawn, or rather driven, into the field of conflict, and in which he acquitted himself there, — Judas more resembled the Puritan Cromwell than any other general of modern times. In the success of his bat- tles, in the number of his victories against overwhelming odds, he was never exceeded by any warrior. His history belongs not merely to the Jews, but, like that of Moses and Joshua and David and Nehemiah, is the property of the whole Church of God. The death of Judas was followed with great distress and dis- couragement to his followers. The execrable high priest Alcimus triumphed everywhere, and many of the Maccabseans were put to death. In this extremity, those of them which remained gathered THE MACCABEES TO THE DEATH OF JOHN HYRCANUS. 435 around Jonathan and Simon, the surviving brothers of Judas, and placed them at the head of their affairs. In the first year of Jona- than, which was 160 before Christ, Alcimus, the great troubler of Israel, died; and the pontificate remained vacant several years. Demetrius also (influenced, undoubtedly, by letters from Rome) withdrew his forces from the country ; and the land had a season of rest and peace. But, as in times of old, the peace and prosperity of Israel their heathen neighbors could not endure. Filled with envy, they ceased not to tease and urge the king, until Bacchides was sent with another army into Judsea. The plan was, to surprise Jona- than and his followers, and cut them all o& in a single night : but Jonathan had timely warning of the plot ; and, falling upon the conspirators, he slew the most of them. He then retired to one of his strong fprtresses in the wilderness, where he so wearied and harassed Bacchides, that he was glad to make peace with him on favorable terms. Bacchides now left the country, heartily sick of this kind of warfare, and declaring that he would never more contend against the Jews, — a promise which he faithfully kept. Shortly after this, Jonathan established himself at Michmash, a little way from Jerusalem, where he judged Israel according to the law, and corrected, so far as he was able, whatever was amiss in Church or State. In the eighth year of Jonathan, an impostor calling himself Alexander Balas, and pretending to be a son of Antiochus Epiph- anes, made an attempt upon the throne of Syria ; and so strongly was he supported, and so unpopular had Demetrius made himself with his subjects, that for a time he was successful. Alexander prevailed, and Demetrius was slain. While the question between them was pending, both kings appealed to Jonathan, and made to him the most flattering offers, each hoping to gain him over to liis own party ; but Jonathan, having suffered so much and so often from Demetrius, and withal having no confidence m his promises, concluded to cast in his lot with Alexander. Nor was the new king, though a usurper, false to the engagements which he had made. He constituted Jonathan high priest of the Jews ; which office continued in the Asmonsean family till the time of Herod. He also clothed him with purple, and caused him to be enrolled among the chief 'of his friends, and as one of the first princes of the empire. In giving a history of the Jews in these times, we must not 436 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. forget the large body of tliem who dwelt in Egypt. At the death of Antiochus Epiphanes, two brothers, Ptolemy Philometor and Ptolemy Physcon, were contending for the crown. Philometor, the eldest, was a mild and amiable but unfortunate prince ; while Physcon was luxurious, selfish, debauched, cruel, and altogether one of the most odious characters in all antiquity. The dispute between them was referred to the Roman Senate, who concluded to divide the kingdom, giving a part to each. Philometor reigned at Alexandria and in all Lower Egypt, — the part which was most thicldy settled by the Jews. Among his chief counsellors was a Jew named Onias, — the son of that Onias who was ejected from the pontifical office to make room for Jason, and afterwards for Mene- laus. He had interest enough with the king to obtain his consent for the building of a Jewish temple in Egypt very like to the temple at Jerusalem. This was situated in the prefecture of Heliopolis,* about twenty miles from Memphis, where a heathen temple had formerly stood. The whole province was thickly inhabited by Jews ; and in it Onias built a city, calling it Onion, from his own name. In this Egyptian temple, divine service was celebrated in the same order and manner as in the temple at Jeru- salem for more than two hundred years. The structure was finally demolished by the command of the Roman emperor Vespasian. Alexander Balas had scarcely become settled in the government of Syria, when, giving himself up to luxury and pleasure, and neglecting almost entirely the affairs of his kingdom, his subjects grew uneasy, and were again wishing for a change : whereupon Demetrius, son of the late Demetrius Soter, who had been brought up in Greece, thought it a favorable opportunity to assert his claims. Accompanied by a band of Cretans, he landed in Cilicia, and soon drew around him a great army. Jonathan thought it his duty to stand by Alexander, with whom he was in treaty, and from whom he had received distinguished favors ; but not even his powerful support could save him. Demetrius prevailed, and Alexander was vanquished and slain. In consequence of his victory over the usurper, this Demetrius received the name of Nicator, the Conqueror. The year of Alexander Balas' death (B.C. 145) is one of con- siderable note in history. This year died Ptolemy Philometor, king of Lower Egypt ; this year, Carthage was ^destroyed at the close of the Third Punic War ; this year, ancient Corinth was destroyed by Lucius Mummius, the Roman consul. This, too, THE MACCABELS TO THE DEATH OF JOHN HYRCANUS. 437 was tliG year in wliicli Polybius closed his celebrated history in forty books, only five of which remain. Tliis history commences with the beginning of the Second Pnnic "War, and extends to the close of the Third. From this time, the affairs of Syria become exceedingly per- plexed. Demetrius Nicator proves himself to be a cruel tyrant, neglects his duties, violates his engagements, and alienates the affections of his subjects : whereupon a conspu'acy is formed by one Tryphon, who takes Antiochus Eutheus, a son of Alexander Balas, and sets hun up for king in place of Demetrius. This plot succeeds for a while ; when Tryphon finds it convenient to destroy Eutheus, and put the crown upon his own head. Still Demetrius is not vanquished. He continues the war against Tryphon for a season, and then marches into the East to resist the Parthians, and to quell disturbances there : he falls at this time iiito the hands of the Parthians, and remains a captive among them for several years. But the captive monarch leaves a brother behind him, — a younger son of Demetrius Soter, — who is now summoned out of Greece to resist Tryphon, and take possession of the throne of his ancestors. He listens to the call, comes into Syria with an army of mercenaries, drives Tr}'phon into exile, and reigns nine years. He is known in history as Antiochus Sidetes, or the Hunter. Such is a brief statement — the briefest possible — of the changes which took place in tlie government of Syria in the course of eight or ten years. The Jews of Palestine were variously affected during these changes ; but, on the whole, their strength increased. The most painful event of the times to them was the death of their noble and faithful chieftain, Jonathan. By false promises and flatteries, the wretch Trj^phon got him into his hands, and took his life. He was buried at j\Iodin by the side of his father and his brother Judas ; and Simon, the only surviving brother, erected a noble monument over them, which was standing uninjured in the days of Eusebius, after a space of five hundred years. On the death of Jonathan, Simon was constituted high priest, and was acknowledged as the ruler and judge of Israel. He renewed the league already existing between the Jews and Romans, and was constituted by Demetrius, before his captivity, a sovereign prince ; he demolished that heathen fortress which had so long been a terror and a trouble to the Jews at Jerusalem, 438 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. — not only razing it to its foundations, but levelling down the hill on which it stood, so that no similar structure could ever again be built there ; he established garrisons throughout the country, and fortified the port of Joppa, that he might secure to his people the benefits of commerce. Having no brother to succeed liim, and finding his son, John Hyrcanus, to be a true and valiant man, he appointed him general-in-cliief of all the forces of Judsea. Antiochus Sidetes had hardly become seated on his throne when he set himself to recover Judeea to his empire, and for this purpose engaged in a war with Simon. But John Hyrcanus and Judas, two of the sons of Simon, vanquished him in battle, destroyed his towers and fortresses, and slew two thousand of his men. Three years after this, as Simon, with two of his sons, was making a tour through the cities of Judah to see that justice was duly administered, they came to Jericho, and were invited by the gov- ernor to a festival which he had prepared for them. But, while they were eating and drinking in his house, a band of assassins,, who were had in readiness, fell upon them and slew them ; and thus ended the family of good old Matthias, and the first generation of Asmonsean princes and warriors. Happily, John Hyrcanus was not with his father and brothers at this time, but was at the fortress of Gazara, in the western part of Palestine. The treacherous governor of Jericho immediately despatched messengers to surprise and destroy him, intending to deliver the whole country into the hands of Antiochus ; but John had timely warning of his danger, and no sooner did the messen- gers appear than they were seized and put to death. He then hastened to Jerusalem to secure the city and the fortresses of the temple ; and was unanimously elected to the place of liis father, — as high priest, and sovereign ruler of the Jews. But Antiochus, who had concerted the death of Simon, was still intent upon recovering Judsea to his empire. He therefore raised an army and ravaged the country, and shut up Hyrcanus in Jeru- salem. But when he had pressed the siege to the last extremity, and the distressed Jews were almost ready to yield, the Lord put it into his heart (in opposition to most of his advisers) to listen to proposals, and to make peace with them. To be sure, a tribute was exacted of them ; but the deliverance was a great one, and was owing entirely, under God, to the unexpected clemency of the king. Some years after this, Antiochus led a great army into the East, THE MACCABEES TO THE DEATH OF JOHN HYRCANUS. 439 professedly to release liis captive brotlier Demetrius, but really to increase his dominions by the subjection of the revolted Eastern provinces. At the first, he was successful, and recovered Media and Babylonia. John Hyrcanus accompanied him in this expedi- tion, participated in his triumphs, and returned with glory at the end of the year. But the Syrians determined to winter in the East ; and, while scattered about in different places, the Parthians fell upon them, and cut them all off. Antiochus himself was slain ; and scarcely a man returned to tell the story of the disaster. Meanwhile the captive monarch, Demetrius, made his escape, and came back to take possession of his kingdom. * Hyrcanus also, taking advantage of these disturbances, enlarged his dominions, freed himself from all subjection to the Syrian yoke, and became an independent prince. He took Shechem, the principal seat of the Samaritans, and destroyed their temple which Sanballat had built on Mount Gerizim. He conquered the Idumseans, who had long dwelt in the southerly part of what was anciently Judaea ; and compelled them either to embrace the Jewish religion, or to leave the country. They chose the former alternative, were cir- cumcised, and became, as to their religion, Jews. From this period we hear no more of the Idumseans, or Edomites, as a distinct people. Hyrcanus also sent an embassy to the Romans to inform them of his position and prospects, and to seek the continuance of their friendship. His ambassadors were graciously received ; the independence of Judeea was acknowledged ; and it was decreed that the Sjo-ians should no more be permitted to invade the Jewish territories, or to march their armies through them. I have before said that Demetrius, after having been so long a captive among the Parthians, escaped on the death of his brother Antiochus, and recovered his kingdom. He projected an expedi- tion against Egypt, and marched an army to Pelusium to com- mence the war : but he was obliged to return to quell disturb- ances in his own kingdom ; soon after which he was dethroned and slain. The kingdom of Syria was now divided between Cleopatra, the widow of the late king, and a usurper by the name of Zebina, who claimed to be a son of Alexander Balas ; but neither of them lived more than a year. Zebina was slain in a tumult at Antioch ; and Cleopatra, who was a very wicked woman, was compelled by her son to drink a cup of poison which she had prepared for him. The Syrian Empire, after some severe struggles, was again rent 440 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. into two parts. Two sons of Cleopatra, the one by Demetrius, ^ and the other by Antiochiis, divided it between themselves. Anti- ^ ochiis Cyzicenus reigned at Damascus over Coelo-Syria and Phoeni- 'v_ cia, and Antiochus Grypus reigned at Antioch over all the rest. • While these brothers were contending one with the other, Hyrca- nus was profiting by their dissensions, and growing continually in riches and in power. In the year 110 before Christ, he besieged and took Samaria, which had been inhabited by Greeks from the time of Alexander the Great. He not only demolished its walls and houses ; but, by means of trenches, he laid the whole site of the city under water. From this time, he became master of all Judsea, Samaria, and Galilee, and was regarded as one of the most consid- erable princes of the age in which he lived. We turn now for a moment from Syria and Palestine to contem- plate the affairs of Egypt. On the death of Philometor, Ptolemy Physcon married his widow, and became sole monarch of the country. He was, as I have said, one of the most odious and brutal characters in all antiquity. He was deformed in body as well as mind. He was ugly in features, short in stature, and of such monstrous lateral dimensions, that no one man could encom- pass him with both his arms. Yet, notwithstanding his deformi- ties and his wickedness, he reigned over Egypt fifty-two years, — twenty-three in connection with Philometor, and twenty-nine alone. His ancestors had distinguished themselves as friends of learning, and had gathered around them learned men from all parts of the world ; but Physcon by his cruelty drove these men from him, and scattered them abroad wherever they could find a place. Indeed, 'he drove out or destroyed most of the ancient families of Alexandria, and peopled the city chiefly with foreigners. In the thirty-eighth year of his reign, Jesus, the son of Siracb, came from Jerusalem into Egypt, and translated from the original Hebrew into Greek the book which in our Apocryphal Scriptures is called Ecclesiasticus. It was written by Jesus, the father of • Sirach,* about the time of Seleucus Philopator, while Onias II. was high priest at Jerusalem. It consists chiefly of short, pithy sen- tences, or proverbs, after the manner of Solomon 5 many of which are weighty, and valuable for the conduct of life. Ptolemy Physcon was succeeded in the government of Egypt by his two sons, Lathyrus and Alexander. Hyrcanus continued in the government of Palestine, after the * The grandfather of the translator. THE MACCABEES TO THE DEATH OF JOHN HYRCANUS. 441 death of his father Simon, twenty-nine years. He was the founder of the Castle Baris, near the temple in Jerusalem, which was the palace of the Asmonsean princes as long as they reigned there. Herod afterwards converted it into the Castle Antonia, which was standing in the age of the apostles (Acts xxi. 37). In the latter part of his life, Hyrcanus had a quarrel with the Pharisees, which caused him and his successors no little trouble. Up to this time he had rather favored the Pharisees, and was regarded as one of their number ; but being charged by one of them falsely with being the son of a captive woman, and therefore incapable, according to the law, of sustaining the high priest's office, and the rest of the Pharisees not consenting that the slan- derer should be punished as Hyrcanus felt that he deserved, he regarded them as in some way concerned in the libel, and respon- sible for it. He separated, therefore, from the Pharisees,- and sympathized rather with the Sadducees than with them. Hyrcanus died in the year before Christ 106, — the same in which Pompey and Cicero were born. He was succeeded in both the royal and pontifical office by his eldest son, Aristobulus. As I have said something here of the Pharisees, it may not be improper to close the chapter Avith a short account of this trouble- some sect. Of the origin of the Sadducees I have before spoken. They were the followers of Sadoc, a religious teacher at Jerusalem who flourished in the time of Ptolemy Philadelplius. They ad- hered strictly to the law, rejecting the traditions, and rejecting also the doctrine of future rewards and punishments. These men were the Uberalists of their times. They were never numerpus, but embraced many of the higher and wealthier families among the Jews. The Pharisees, on the contrary, were a popular sect. They carried with them, not only the scribes, and men learned in the law, but the great mass of the common people. They received as of divine authority, not only the books of the law, but all the other books of the Old Testament ; and not only so, they received the traditions of the elders, ascribing to them the same authority as to the written Word. They held to the doctrine of the resur- rection, and to a state of rewards and punishments beyond the grave. In practice they were strict formalists, who tithed their mint, anise, and cumin ; talked much about religion ; and made pretensions to extraordinary sanctity. They are supposed to have derived their name from the Hebrew word Pharos^ which signifies 442 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. to separate ; because they separated themselves from others who did not receive their doctrines and come up tcLtheir standard of Hfe. They probably originated near the time of the Mishnical doctors, not long after the days of Simon the Just. They were sometimes called Cliasidim, or Chasidseans ; i.e., pious men. Many of them enhsted in the Maccabsean armies, and fought valiantly for the God of Israel. We do not hear of them under the name of Pharisees untd about the age of Hyrcanus. They continued down to the time of the Saviour. CHAPTER XXXVII. THE MACCABEES TO THE REIGN OF HEROD. AT the close of the last chapter, two kings were reignmg in Syria, — Antiochus Cyzicenus and Antiochus Grypus. Two kings .were also reigning in Egypt, — Lathyrus and Alexander, both sons of Ptolemy Physcon. Aristobulus, the son of Hyrcanus, was high priest and ruler of the Jews. From this point, it will no longer be necessary to give a detailed account of the aifairs of Syria and Egypt. Both nations were enervated by vice, and torn and weakened by perpetual dissensions; and the way was fast preparing for them to be swallowed up in the wide-spreading, ingulfing power of Rome. Antiochus Grypus was slain in the twenty-ninth year of his reign, — the year 96 before Christ ; and, three years later, Cyzicenus was slain by Seleucus, the eldest son of Grypus. Shortly after this, Seleucus was slain by Antiochus Eusebes, a son of Cyzicenus. Antiochus, the second son of Grypus, then attacked Eusebes, and was overcome and killed ; and his army was cut to pieces. The contest was now carried on, with various success, between Eusebes and the three surviving sons of Grypus, — viz., Philip, Demetrius, and Dionysius, — until the Syrians, wearied out with the contentions of these troublesome princes, offered the crown of Syria to Tigranes, king of Armenia. This took place in the year 83 before Christ. Meanwliile the affairs of Egypt were scarcely less disturbed than those of Syria. Although there were nominally, as I said, two kings of Egypt, yet Cleopatra, the mother of both, was virtually the sovereign ruler. Because Lathyrus, her eldest son, displeased her, she took from him his wife, cbove him out of Egypt, and left him only the government of Cyprus. Upon this, Alexander, her other son, fled from her in disgust, and was with difficulty persuaded to return. Some years after this, Cleopatra undertook to destroy Alexander, that she might reign alone ; but he discovered her de- 443 444 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. sign, and put her to death. For the murder of his mother, Alexan- der was driven from the country, defeated, and slain ; and Lathy- rus became the sole monarch of Egypt. In the year 80 before Christ, Lathyrus died ; and the crown descended to a son of his deceased brother, who was named for his father, Alexander. With these brief notices of Syria and Egypt, let us now turn back to the history of the Jews. The first generation of INIac- cabfean princes were noble men : some of them were truly pious men. Our knowledge of the second generation is limited almost entirely to John Hyrcanus, the son of Simon. And though his character was less virtuous and honorable than that of his immedi- ate predecessors, yet he was, on the whole, a brave, true-hearted, and faithful ruler. Certainly the Jews owed to him a debt of gratitude which some of them were little inclined to pay. Hyrcanus left five sons : but these had not been trained and dis- ciplined like their fathers ; and^they exhibited very different traits of character, as we shall see. Aristobulus, the eldest (who took upon him the title of king), commenced his reign by casting his mother into prison, where she perished with hunger. He also im- prisoned his three younger brothers. For Antigonus, who was next to himself in age, he had more regard, and trusted to him, in part, the administration of affairs. The two brothers conquered the Iturteans, who dwelt in the north-easterly part of Palestine, and- proselyted them to the Jewish religion. After his return from this expedition, Aristobulus became jealous of Antigonus, and caused him to be waylaid in one of the secret passages leading to and from the temple ; and there he was put to death. But from this time the ruthless monarch enjoyed not one mo- ment's peace. He was sick in body, but more diseased and dis- tressed in mind. His guilt in destroying his mother, and then murdering his faithful brother, tortured his conscience, and contrib- uted with other causes to hasten his end. He reigned only one year. Upon his death, his three brothers were released from prison ; - and Alexander Janneus, the eldest of them, succeeded to the mitre and the throne. The next older brother attempted to depose Alex- ander, and was executed ; but the youngest, Absalom, being con- tented to live in a humble, quiet way, was tolerated by the king. Alexander was a restless, ambitious prince, who experienced al- most every variety of fortune, but left his dominions wider than he found them. This was partly owing to his own bravery and skill, THE MACCABEES TO THE REIGN OF HEROD. 445 but more to the dissensions of the neighboring States. His borders were first invaded by Lathyrus, king of Egypt, who defeated and might have ruined him, had not Cleopatra, who was hostile to Lathyrus, come to his relief. Next he was drawn into a snare by Cleopatra, and would have been slain by her but for the interces- sion of one of her chief counsellors, who was an Alexandrian Jew. After the departure of Cleopatra, Alexander made some important conquests. He took the fortresses of Gadara and Amathus, on the other side of the Jordan ; and then, directing his march southward, he got possession of Raphia and Gaza and Anthedon. He subdued the Moabites and Gileadites ; but in an expedition against Gaulo- nitis he fell into an ambush, lost his army, and came very near losing his life. In the year 9X before Christ, a civil war broke out in Judj3ea, which wasted the country for the space of six years, and cost the lives of not less than fifty thousand Jews. It grew out of the old quarrel of Hyrcanus with the Pharisees, and their consequent hatred of him and his house. While Alexander was offering sacrifices in the temple, they commenced pelting him with citrons, and call- ing him by the most opproljrious names ; which enraged him to such a degree, that he fell upon them, and slew six thousand men. Still the Pharisees were not humbled or subdued ; but, persisting in their opposition, the king asked them what they would have, promising to satisfy them if it was in his power. To this they replied, that but one thing would satisfy them ; and that was for him to cut his throat. On no other tei^ms would they be at peace with him ; and he might think himself happy if they suffered him to rest even in his grave. Seeing them actuated by such a spirit, Alexander prepared in earnest for war ; and his enemies called in the aid of the Syrian kings to oppose him. In this contest Alexander was beaten, and would have been ruined, had not his enemies become alarmed at their own successes, and volunteered, some of them, for his relief. They preferred Jiis rule to that of the Syrians. From this time Alexander pursued the rebels with great energy, and drove the most of them into the fortress of Bethsura, where they Avere be- sieged and captured. To be revenged on them for their obstinacy, he took eight hundred of the leaders to Jerusalem, and crucified them together ; and as though this were not enough, while they hung dying on the cross, he ])utchered their "wives and children be- fore their eyes. This was an act of barbarity and cruelty such as 446 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. the world has seldom witnessed, and for which he could have no excuse ; and yet it was not without an effect upon those of the rebels who sur\dved. Horror-stricken at such an example, they fled the country ; and Alexander had no more trouble from them to the day of his death. Being thus relieved from civil war, Alexander undertook still farther to extend liis dominions. He took Dios and Pella, and the strong fortress of Gerasa, where he obtained a large amount of treasure. Two 3'ears later, he pushed his conquests still farther beyond the Jordan. He subdued Golan, Seleucia, the vale of Antiochus, and the fortress of Gamala. Retiu-ned from these conquests, Alexander became more quiet and luxurious ; in consequence of which he contracted a quartan fever, from which he never recovered. He died m his camp at the siege of Rayaba, a fortress beyond the Jordan, in the country of the Geraseans, having governed Israel twenty-seven years. He left a widow, Alexandra, who was to succeed him in the government ; and two sons, Hyrcanus and Aristobulus. Fearing the rage of the Pharisees, who were still very numerous among the Jews, he enjoined upon his wife, before his death, to make her peace with them, and to be guided in her administration by their counsels. She followed his directions, and succeeded in obtaining for him an honorable burial, and for herself and her sons a quiet establishment in the government. It may appear to those who hear only of the wars and cruelties of these times that there were no pious people left in Israel ; that the true Church of God had become extinct : but tliis would be an unwarrantable conclusion. As, in the daj's of Ahab, God re- served to himself seven thousand men who had not bowed the knee to Baal ; so, in these times, there was undoubtedly a remnant. Down in the humbler walks of life, away from the tumult and the strife of kings, we may hope there were many who loved the God of Israel, and served him in sincerity and truth. It was in these times, or near them, that good Zechariah and Elisabeth were born, — the father and mother of John the Baptist. In these times, also, were born Simeon and Anna, who were present in the temple when the infant Saviour was brought there by his parents "to do for him after the custom of the law " (Luke ii. 25-38). In the year 89 before Christ commenced the war of the Romans against Mithridates, king of Pontus. Tliis, next to the Cartha- THE MACCABEES TO THE REIGN OF HEROD. 447 •ginian wars, was the most terrible contest in which the Romans ever engaged ; and Mithridates, next to Hannibal, was the most fearful enemy which they were ever called to encounter. This war was begun by Lucius Cassius, Roman prefect of Pergamos ; was carried on chiefly by LucuUus and Sylla ; and was finished by Pompey in the year before Christ 62. It continued, with little cessation, for twenty-seven years. It brought the Romans into contact with nearly all those parts of Asia which had constituted the old Grecian and S\Tian empires, and in its issue subjected all to their power. But it is not my purpose to speak of these con- quests any further than they affected directly or indirectly the con- cerns of the Jews. I have before said that the Syrians, tired of the dissensions of the Antiochian princes, had placed the government of their coun- try in the hands of Tigranes, king of Armenia. In the progress of the Mithridatic war, in which Tigranes was deeply involved, Antiochus Asiaticus, a son of Antiochus Eusebes, seized the gov- ernment of S}T^a, and reigned over it several years. He was the last, however, of this race of kings ; for when Pompey came into Syria, in the year 64 before Christ, he took from him the scepti-e, and put a final end to the empire of the Seleucidpe, after it had- continued two hundred and fifty-eight years. From this time, S}"Tia, of wliich we have had occasion to speak so frequently, be- came a Roman province. Egypt was at this time too much enfeebled to exert much in- fluence upon the surrounding nations. It claims notice here chiefly from the fact that it contained a Jewish tem,ple and altar, and a large body of the descendants of Israel. I have before remarked, that, upon the death of Lathyrus, Alexander, a son of his deceased brother, came to the throne. He reigned, by the sufferance of the Romans, fifteen years ; when the people rose against him, and drove him out of the kingdom. He died shortly afterwards at Tyre. His successor was an illegitimate son of Lath}*rus, called _ Ptolemy Auletes, or the Piper. He is said to have exceeded all the Ptolemies in effeminacy, as much as his grandfather, Ptolemy Physcon, did in brutality and wickedness. StiU he was suffered to rule over Egypt fourteen years. Dying, he left the throne to his eldest son and daughter, Ptolemy and Cleopatra. This is that Cleopatra who afterwards became so famous, or rather infamous, for her amours with Julius Caesar, Mark Antony, and other distin- guished Romans. After the fall of Antony, she caused herself to 448 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. be Litten by an asp, which she carried with her for the purpose ;* and so died in the thirtieth year before the birth of Christ. And in her ended the dynasty of the Ptolemies in Egypt, after it had continued, from the death of Alexander the Great, two hundred and ninety-four years. From this time Egypt became a Roman province, and was governed by a prefect sent from Rome. We now come back to the history of the Jews. Alexander Janneus left his government, as I have said, to his queen Alexandra, to be held by her in reserve for her two sons, Hyrcanus and Aris- tobulus. Hyrcanus, who was a quiet man, she advanced to the high priesthood ; while to Aristobulus, who had more capacity . and ambition, she intrusted the command of tha army. As, in obedience to her dying husband, Alexandra had made her peace with the Pharisees, and consented to rule according to theu' wishes, they undertook the direction of her affairs. They re-established the authority of the traditio7is which Hyrcanus had rejected ; they Oldened the prisons, and set those at liberty who were con- fined on the charge of rebellion against the late government ; they recalled those from exile who had fled or been banished from the same cause ; they instigated the c^ueen to put some of . the principal supporters of the late king to death, on the ground of their participation in the cruelties he had perpetrated ; and they would have destroyed more of this number, but that the queen, in order to save them, dispersed them in the garrisons and frontier-towns of her dominions. Alexandra died in the year 69 before Christ, after a peaceful and prosperous reign of nine years. She designated no one to succeed her ; but the Pharisees imme- diately placed Hyrcanus, her eldest son, upon the throne. Aris- tobulus, however, was intent upon being king ; and being popu- lar with the army, and having most of the garrisons, under his control, he had every facility for carrying his purpose into effect. The question was ere long decided in battle, in which Hyrcanus was vanquished, and Aristobulus mounted the throne. Hyrcanus retired into ^Drivate life ; and there, coidd he have been left to his own preference, he would have remained. But there was about him one Antipater, the father of Herod, who professed the warmest attachment to him, and who persuaded him that he must either recover his crown, or die by the hand of Aristobulus. This An- tipater was an Idumsean by birth, who had embraced the Jews' religion at the time when his people were proselyted by John Hyrcanus. At his instigation, the conquered king fled to Aretas, an THE MACCABEES TO THE REIGN OF HEROD. 449 Arabian prince, who came with an army of fifty thousand men with a view to replace him on his throne. Unable to withstand so great a force, Aristobulus retreated, and shut himself uj) in Jerusalem. He was here closely besieged, and might have been taken, but that the Roman prefect at Damascus interposed, and compelled Aretas to return to his own country. Hyrcanus, therefore, was again an exile ; and Aristobulus kept possession of the throne. Not long after this, Pompey arrived at Damascus, where he was met by ambassadors, and loaded with rich presents from all the surrounding nations. Among the rest, Hyrcanus and Aristobulus appeared before him to obtain a settlement of their disputes. Pompey listened to their respective statements, but deferred decid- ing the question between them until his return from an expedition into Arabia. Meanwhile Aristobulus was strengthening his gar- risons, and making all possible preparation for war, which was an injury to his cause in the eyes of the Romans. On the return of Pt)mpey, the courage of Aristobulus forsook him. He offered to surrender all his fortified places, and to give a large sum of money, on condition that the war might cease. Pom- pey agreed to the proposal, and sent Gabinius with a division of the army to Jerusalem to receive the stipulated sum ; but, when he arrived there, he found the gates shut against him, and no money was to be had. Pompey now invested the city, and, by the help of Hyrcanus' party, soon gained admission within the walls. Aristobulus and his followers retreated to the temple, where they hoped to be able to hold out for a long time. But Pompey brought up his military engines, and pressed the siege with great vigor. He had an advantage over the Jews, on account of their unwill- ingness to do any thing to oppose or hinder him on the sabbath day. At the end of three months, a breach was made in the wall, and the temple was taken. The Romans rushed in, and put twelve thousand of the Jews to the sword. Among these were many of the priests, who, being then engaged in the sacrifices, would not move from the altars, nor interrupt their sacred rites, to escape the attack of their enemies. They were accordingly slain, and their blood was Hterally mingled with their sacrifices. The temple was taken in midsummer of the year 63 before Christ, during the consulship of M. T. Cicero, — on the very day which was observed, with fasting and lamentation, in remembrance of the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar. Pompey, attended by his generals, went into the temple, — even 29 450 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. into the holy of holies ; but he left untouched all the sacred utensils, and even the treasures of the temple, amounting to two thousand talents of gold. He gave orders that the holy places should be purified, and divine service continued as before. He appointed Hyrcanus to be high priest, and prince of the country, but forbade that he should wear a crown, or call himself king, or extend his territories beyond their ancient boundaries. . Soon after this, Pompey returned to Rome laden with the spoils of conquered countries, and attended by hundreds of noble prison- ers to grace his triumph. Among these were Aristobulus, with his two daughters, and two sons, Antigonus and Alexander. Before they arrived at Rome, however, Alexander contrived to make his escape, and, returning into Judsea, soon gathered around him a little army. So Iqng as he was opposed by Hyrcanus alone, he carried every thing before him ; but, when the Romans came to the assist- ance of the high priest, Alexander was constrained to retreat, and take refuge in a fortified castle. Here he was closely besieged, and in the end was obliged to submit ; after which, for a time, Hyrcanus was permitted to enjoy his honors unmolested. These, however, were more nominal than real ; for Gabinius, the Roman general, proceeded to new-model the Jewish governments- making it rather an aristocracy than a monarchy. He deprived the Sanhedrim of all authority ; and, setting up five independent tribunals in different parts of the country, he committed to them the power of administering justice, each in its respective district. This necessarily threw the power of the government into the hands of the nobles who presided in these courts, leaving to Hyr- canus little more than a name ; and so things continued for the next ten years, when Julius Csesar restored them to their ancient order. It was not long after this that Aristobulus and his son Antigo- nus escaped from Rome, returned into Judaea, and made another attempt to recover their lost power : but it ended, as Alexander's had done, in their defeat and capture ; though their condition was so much bettered by it, that all the family, except Aristobulus, succeeding in obtaining their liberty. In the year 54 before Christ, Gabinius was removed from the government of Syria ; and M. L. Crassus came into his place. But the pro^dnce was not at all benefited by the change. Crassus was even more faithless and grasping than his predecessor. Soon after his arrival in the country, he came to Jerusalem with his soldiers THE MACCABEES TO THE REIGN OF HEROD. 451 that he might plunder the temjile. Eleazer, who had charge of the treasures, promised him a bar of gold, weighing three hundred minre,* which was concealed in a beam at the entrance of the holy of holies, on condition that he would leave the remaining treasures untouched. This condition Crassus solemnly swore to observe ; but, as soon as he had got possession of the golden bar, he ' pro- ceeded to rob the temple of ten thousand talents more, — a sum exceeding two millions of pounds sterling, or ten millions of our money. But his ill-gotten treasure did him no good : he expended it in fitting out an expedition against the Parthians, in which he was drawn into an ambush, and put to death. So true is the decla- ration of Solomon, that " the robbery of the wicked shall destroy them " (Prov. xxi. ly. In the wars which now commenced between Csesar and Pompey, ^.Aristobulus and his sons espoused the cause of Caesar, and were sent by him into Syria that they might oppose the interests of Pompey there. But Aristobulus was poisoned while on the jour- ney ; and his son.Alexander was seized and beheaded in Judsea. There remained, therefore, only Antigonus. Nor was Ctesar, after the defeat of Pompey, at all inclined to show him favor. He continued Hyrcanus in the priesthood ; abolished the courts which Gabinius had established ; restored the government to its ancient form ; and, passing over entirely the claims of Antigonus, appointed .two sons of Antipater, Phasael and Herod, — the one to the govern- ment of Jud[ea, and the other to that of Galilee. This is the first that we hear of Herod in Jewish history. » Julius Caesar had received much assistance from the Jews, especially during his campaign in Egypt ; and he showed himself their constant friend. Before leaving Egypt, he confirmed all the privileges of the Egyptian Jews, and commemorated their impor- tant services by an inscription on a brazen pillar which he caused to be erected at Alexandria ; and in Judaea the people are said to have enjoyed greater prosperity during his brief administration than they had done at any time since the Babjdonish captivity. The walls of Jerusalem were rebuilt, which Pompey had broken down ; the tribute due to Rome was relinquished every sabbatical year ; while the affairs of the government were wisely adminis- tered (Hyrcanus being high priest) by Antipater and his two sons. It was at this time that Hyrcanus sent to the Roman Senate a shield of gold of very great value ; on which occasion the Jews, by * Forty-three thousand dollars of our money. 452 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. a decree of the senate, were publicly acknowledged as the allies of - the Romans. Herod, the youngest son of Antipater, was now governor of Galilee ; and he gave early proof of a bold and enterprising spirit. He attacked the robbers of Galilee, who were very numerous, and put all to death who fell in his power. By this means he secured the confidence of the people and of the prefect of Syria. But the Sanhedrim at Jerusalem, thinking that he had made too free with human life, summoned him before them. He obeyed the summons ; but, instead of appearing as a criminal, he j)resented himself armed, in purple, and surrounded with his body-guard. The members of the Sanhedrim were terrified, and dare not proceed against him : whereupon one old man, Sameas, reproved them for their coward- ice, and told them that the time would come when Herod would not pardon them as readily as they were now disposed to pardon him, — a prediction which was literally fulfilled. The year 43 before Christ was a very long one. It was made to consist of four hundred and forty-five days to compensate for the errors of the ancient calendar. The next year was the commence- ment of the new calendar, — the Julian year, consisting of three hundred and sixty-five days and six hours. Two years after this, Csesar gave permission to the Jews to fortify Jerusalem. He also restored to them all that they had formerly possessed, and con- firmed them in the enjoyment of all their privileges. The same year (41 before Christ), while preparing to leave Rome on an expedition against the Parthians, this great man was treacherously murdered by Brutus, Cassius, and some others, in the senate-house, after he had governed the Roman Empire three years and six months. The death of Caesar was followed with much confusion, not only at Rome, but in all the provinces. Brutus and his party were obliged to flee from the city, leaving the direction of affairs chiefly in the hands of Mark Antony and Octavius Csesar, This Octavius Csesar (afterwards the great Augustus) was a nephew of Julias Csesar, and claimed to be his adopted son and heir. After much contention between these two rivals for power, Lepidus was asso- ciated with them ; and thus was constituted a triumvirate who thought to govern Rome. It was during their bloody administra- tion that Cicero was put to death. Meanwhile the East was in open rebellion against the trium- virate. Brutus and his party controlled all the country from the THE MACCABEES TO THE REIGN OF HEROD. 453 Euphrates to Macedon. The fate of Brutus was decided in the battle of Philippi (in the year 39 before Christ), where he was defeated, and, in despair, put an end to his Hfe. The following year, the triumvirate divided the empire between themselves ; Lepidus receiving Africa, Antony the East, and Octavius Caesar the West. Italy they agreed to hold in common. During these commotions, the Jews had no great reason to com- plain of the Romans, except that oppressive pecuniary exactions were sometimes made upon them ; but they had frequent dis- turbances among themselves. Antipater was put to death by one Malichus, a Jew, through envy that an Idumsean should have so much power and influence at Jerusalem. Next Phasael and Herod slew Malichus, that they might avenge the death of their father. Hyrcanus, the high priest, espoused at first the cause of Malichus ; but, not being able to resist the two brothers, he was fain to make -his peace with them by giving Mariamne, Ms beautiful grand-daugh- ter, to Herod to wife. The discontented among the Jews made repeated solicitations to Antony against Herod, but all without effect. They then recalled Antigonus, the surviving son of Aristobulus, into Palestine, intend- ing to place him on his father's throne ; but he was defeated by Herod, and compelled for a time to relinquish his purpose. But Herod's turn at length came to experience reverses and de- feat. While Antony was dallying with Cleopatra in Egypt, the Parthians, assisted by some discontented Romans, seized the oppor- tunity to invade Western Asia, and were carrying all before them. Not daring to encounter them single-handed, Herod fled, — first to Arabia, and then to Egypt in pursuit of Antony ; but, not find- ing him, he passed on to Rome. Meanwhile Antigonus, by the help of the Parthians, — which help he purchased for a thousand talents and five hundred female slaves, — took upon himself the goverment of Judaea. He seized his venerable uncle Hyrcanus, cut off his ears, and gave him into the hands of the Parthians. Phasael, the brother of Herod, he meant to have crucified ; but his victim anticipated him by putting an end to his own hfe. He now garrisoned Jerusalem, and provided it with ample stores, in- tending, if attacked, to hold out to the last extremity. Nor were these precautions needless. Herod pleaded his cause so effectually at Rome, that he obtained a grant of the crown of Judaea for himself, and the assistance of a Roman army to put him in possession of it. Thus furnished, he was again in Palestine 454 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. sooner than could have been anticipated, to renew the war. After various reverses and dehiys, he at length drove Antigonus witliin the walls of Jerusalem, where he closely besieged him with an army of sixty thousand men. After a desperate resistance, which continued about a year, the city was again taken by storm, and suffered the extreme rigor of mihtary execution. Enraged at the obstinate defence which the Jews had made, the soldiers continued to massacre and pillage after all resistance had ceased ; and, to prevent the total destruction of his capital, Herod was obliged to buy them off with a large sum of money. Twenty- seven years before this, and at about the same time of the year, Jerusalem had been taken and sacked by Pompey.* The fate of Antigonus was such as he had reason to expect. Antony was inclined to spare him for the purpose of gracing his triumph at Rome ; but, at the solicitation of Herod, he was con- demned to death, and was executed, like a common malefactor, by the axe of the lictor. And thus ended the Asmonsean dynasty, after it had subsisted a hundred and twenty-six years, — "a noble and illustrious house," says Josephus, " distinguished by their descent, by the dignity of their pontificate, and by the great exploits of their ancestors for the house of Israel." In the year 37 before Christ, Herod came to the throne of Judaea, not as an independent king, but as subject and tributary to the Romans. Of the events of his reign I shaU speak in the following chapter. * At the same time of the year, Jerusalem was taken and destroyed by N^ebuchadnezzar; viz., on the ninth day of the Jewish month Tammus, — about midsummer with us. CHAPTER XXXVIII. HEROD TO THE BIRTH OF CHRIST. IN the last chapter, we pursued the history of the Jewish state to the termination of the Syrian and Egyptian dynasties \)y which it had been successively ruled ; also of the Asmonsean dynas- ty, under which it assumed for a time a degree of independence ; and down the broad pathway of Roman dominion to the time of Herod. Under the triumvirate, which was still in power, Antony had the chief government of the East ; and Herod was a tributary under him. Of the principal events of Herod's checkered and eventful administration I am now to speak. Herod commenced his reign by murdering most of the Jewish nobles who had favored Antigonus and opposed himself. He con- demned to death all the members of the Sanhedrim except two ; viz., Shammai and Hillel, the founders of two separate schools of Jewish law. He exalted to the high priesthood Ananel, a com- mon priest from Babylon, who had neither connections nor influ- ence to render him dangerous. Hyrcanus, who had been so long high priest, and who was now living in exile among the Parthians, Herod invited back to Jerusalem ; but it was only to insnare him, and accomplish his destruction. At the age of more than eighty years, he caused this venerable old man to be put to death. At the earnest request of Mariamne his wife, who was a grand- daughter of Hyrcanus, Herod deposed Ananel from the pontificate when he had held it only two years, and put her brother Aristo- ,bulus into his place ; but this lasted but a little while. Herod soon grew jealous of him, and caused him also to be put to death. But, by this act of cruelty, he endangered his own life to Anto- ny : for Alexandra, the mother of the murdered young man, ac- cused Herod to Cleopatra, and Cleopatra to Antony ; and he was summoned to Laodicsea to give an account of himself. But, by flatteries and bribes, he succeeded in satisfying his Roman master, and came off in safety. 455 456 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. Meanwhile the triumvirate, which for several years had governed Rome, was hastening to its dissolution. First, Octavius had a quarrel with Lepidus, defeated him, and obliged him to retire into private life. The empire was now in the hands of Octavius and Antony. But Antony, instead of exerting himself as a wise man should, was wasting his time, and forfeiting his character and in- fluence, in the arms of Cleopatra. He was either with her at Alexandria, or she must be with him wherever the affairs of the public required his presence. At one time, he had proceeded as far as Antioch on an expedition against the Parthians, when Cleopatra sent after him that she was sick of love, and should certainly die if he did not return : so he gave up all thoughts of the Partliian war, and hastened back to the embrace of his mistress. This insnaring and wicked connection at length proved the ruin of Antony ; for, in addition to the neglect and consequent confu- sion of public affairs, it brought him into direct conflict with Octa- vius Csesar. Antony had a wife all this while at Rome, and she was the sister of Octavius ; and it could not be expected that Octa- vius would look coldly on and see the honor of his sister sacrificed to the influence of a harlot. Octavius declared war against Antony in the spring of the year 30 before Christ. Two years afterwards, the question be- tween them was decided in a sea-fight at Actium, where Antony was beaten. His land-forces now forsook him ; and very soon his affairs became desperate. Even Cleopatra turned against him at the last, hoping thereby to ingratiate herself with his rival ; but in this she was disappointed. She had insnared Julius Csesar and Antony, but could make no impression upon the heart of Octavius. Both Antony and Cleopatra fell by their own hands in the year 27 before Christ. From this time Octavius (or, as he was called afterwards, Augus- tus) became the virtual emperor of Rome ; though he declined using the title, and kept up for a time the ancient republican forms of government. From Eg3rpt, he returned through Asia Minor and Greece to Rome, where he arrived in the month Sextilis of the following year, which is still called August, after his name ; as the previous month is called Jul^, from the name of Julius Csesar. Herod had warmly espoused the cause of Antony, and con- tinued to support him as long as there was any hope ; but, when Antony fell, he was resolved, if possible, to make his peace with Augustus. He was aware that this was a doubtful undertaking ; HEROD TO THE BIRTH OF CHRIST. 457 and, before entering upon it, he placed his favorite wife Mariamne and her mother in the castle of Alexandrium, with stiict orders to the commandant to put both of them to death whenever it should be certainly known that he had been slain. Ha^d.ng• completed his preparations, Herod set forward to meet Augustus, and found him refreshing himself at Rhodes. Being admitted into his presence, he took off his crown, and laid it at Ms feet. He fi-ankly acknowl- edged all that he had done for Antony, and what a faithful friend he had been to him so long as his good offices were accepted. " And now," says he, addressing himself to Augustus, " I propose to be the same to you. I am in your power, and at your disposal : will you accept of such a friend ? " Augustus, who had at the first exerted himself to procure the crown of Judsea for Herod, was pleased with his frankness, accepted his proposals, and con- firmed him in his kingdom. Herod returned to Judaea much elated with his success, and found the state of affairs such as he could wish, except that his beloved wife Mariamne, who had learned his murderous orders respecting her, was in great trouble, her affections being entirely alienated from her husband. She repelled with disdain all his attempts to please her and to promote a reconciliation with her. She reproached him with the murder of her family, — her father, her brother, her uncle Antigonus, her grandfather Hyrcanus. She -reproached his mother and sister on account of thejneanness of their birth ; and they, in turn, spared no pains to excite the hatred of Herod against her. These domestic troubles continued and' increased till they could be endured no longer. Herod added another to the list of his murders. He caused Mariamne to be put to death on the false charge of adultery. But this new cruelty, instead of relieving, served only to ag- gravate, his distress. Such was his remorse for his crimes, and his anguish in remembrance of his murdered wife, that he withdrew from all society, and shut himself up in Samaria, where he was attacked with a dangerous disease. He at length recovered ; but liis afflictions were not sanctified to him. So far from softening, they tended only to harden his heart. He became more ferocious and tyrannical than ever, and, on the slightest suspicions, would order his best friends to be put to death. When the Asmongean family had been all removed, and there were no longer any aspu-ants to the throne, Herod began openly to introduce innovations upon the Jewish customs. He built a theatre 458 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. at Jerusalem, and also an ampliitheatre, in which games were cele- brated every fifth year in honor of Augustus. These were a source of great dissatisfaction to the Jews ; and a band of them conspired together to assassinate Herod as he was going into the theatre. The conspirators were discovered and executed ; and many others were executed with them as being implicated in the plot. Finding that he could no longer trust his subjects, Herod pro- ceeded to erect fortresses for his own seciu'ity, and to garrison them with foreign soldiers hired for the purpose. He fortified Samaria, which had been destroyed by John Hyrcanus, »nd rebuilt, but not fortified, by the prefect Gabinius. He fortified Strabo's Tower, a strong castle in the Plain of Esdraelon, and called it. Caesarea. He also built Gaba in Galilee, and Heshbon in Persea. Still Herod was not indifferent to the good opinion of his subjects : he valued it highly, and often made great sacrifices in order to obtain it. In the year 22 before Christ, there was a dis- tressing drought in Palestine, followed by famine, and its usual con-. comitant, pestilence. Herod exhausted his treasury, and even sold the plate from his table, for the purpose of procuring provisions from Egypt. At this time, most of the sheep in the country were slaughtered, both on account of the scarcity of provisions, and because the drought had destroyed their pasturage. Herod, at his own expense, procured great quantities of wool in order to supply the people with clothing. By kindnesses such as these, he did something to abate the hatred of his subjects ; but soon again his government would become so tyrannical, that all remembrance of past favors would be obliterated. When Palestine had recovered in some degree from the effects of famine, Herod commenced building him a splendid palace, after the Grecian style of architecture, on Mount Zion. He also built a castle called Herodium, which was afterwards his tomb. He was exceedingly fond of architecture, and erected many sjDlendid edifices in different parts of his kingdom, hoping thereby to im- mortalize his fame. About this time, Herod sent the two sons which his murdered Mariamne had borne to him to Rome to be educated. Augustus received them with great favor, and, in token of confidence, still farther enlarged the dominions of Herod. But his increase of power gave him no additional favor with the Jews : they distrusted him ; they hated him ; and were constantly watching an opportunity to^rise against him. This led him to HEROD TO THE BIRTH OF CHRIST. 459 institute a stricter espionage and a more rigorous' government over them. He forbade all assemblages of the people under the severest penalties. He employed a great number of spies, and spared no pains or expense to make them diligent and faithful. He fre- quently disguised himself, and went out secretly among the people, that he might learn their real sentiments respecting him. Many of the discontented and refractory were by these means dis- covered, and put out of the way. He at length required the whole. body of his people (with the exception of a few who deemed all oaths unlawful) to bind themselves to him by an oath of allegiance. In the year 16 before Christ, Herod formed the design of erect- ing a new temple at Jerusalem on a larger scale, and in a style of greater magnificence, than the old one. He laid his project before the people at one of the great festivals, when many were brought together at Jerusalem ; and, Avlien he found that they distrusted his intentions, he promised not to disturb the old temple till the materials for the new one should be all in readiness. Two years were spent in collecting materials ; and then the old temple was taken down piecemeal, as its parts could be replaced by those of the new building. In this way, the Jews were never without a temple ; and the new building seemed but an improved con- tinuation of the old one. Thus the temple which was standing in the time of Christ is sometimes spoken of as the second temple, though with more propriety it may be called the third; and the prophecy of Haggai, that the glory of the latter Jiouse should exceed that of the former, in that it should receive " the desire of all nations," was fulfilled (Hag. ii. 7-9). The main body of the new temple was completed in nine years and a half; but the whole structure, including the courts and cloisters, was not finished till long after the death of Herod, nor till years after the death of Christ. Hence the Jews said to our Saviour (changing our translation a little), " Forty and six years has this temple been in hidlding ; and wilt thou rear it up in three days ? " (John ii. 20.) Just forty-six years before this declaration was made, Herod began to rebuild the temple. The work was con- tinued, and artificers were employed in it, during the whole period that our Saviour was on earth : hence the propriety of what his disciples said to him when " they came to shoiv him the buildings of the temple : " " Master, see what manner of stones and what buildings are here " (Matt. xxiv. 1). The expression implies that 460 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. the work of the temple was still in progress. This great work was finally completed under the administration of Gessius Florus, only a few years before the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans. The year after he had commenced building the temple, Herod made a journey to Rome, where he was received with much favor by Augustus. On his retui-n, he took his two sons with him, who had before been sent to Rome to be educated, — the one of them to be married to a daughter of Archelaus, king of Cappadocia ; and the other to a daughter of his sister Salome. The following year, Agrippa, the son-in-law of Augustus, and governor under him of all the East, made a visit to Jerusalem. He was received with the greatest honor, not only by Herod, but by all the people , and nothing was omitted which could contribute to his gratification. Nor was Agrippa insensible to the honors conferred upon him. He brought a hecatomb of offerings to the temple, and made a feast to all the people. Soon after this, at the intercession of Herod, Agrippa confirmed to the Jews in Ionia, Asia Minor, and in other places, their religious freedom ; exempted them from military service ; and conferred upon them other important privileges. I have just stated that Herod, on his return from Rome, took with him his two sons. These had not been long at Jerusalem before the other members of his family began to envy them, and to excite the suspicions of their father against them. The young princes were not always as prudent as they should have been ; and every incautious word they dropped, or deed they performed, was seized upon, and magnified, to fan the flame of Herod's jeal- ousy, and involve them in new troubles. This difficulty continued, with some intervals of quiet, but on the whole waxing worse and worse, till, in the third year before the birth of our Saviour, these innocent young men were condemned and executed. And then — when the deed was done, and could not be recalled — the eyes of the wretched father were opened. He had full proof furnished him, not only of the innocence of his murdered children, but that those members of his family — in particular, his brother Pheroras, and his eldest son Antipater — who had been their cliief accusers were really guilty of a conspiracy against his life. They had re- solved to take him off by poison, and would have accomplished their purpose but that Pheroras was taken sick and died. The whole plot was discovered soon after his death ; and Antipater was publicly executed. HEROD TO THE BIRTH OF CHRIST. 461 But the end of Herod's bloody career was now come. He was seized with his last sickness. He had a violent internal fever ; his intestines were ulcerated ; his feet were swollen ; his breath was fetid; and, like Antiochus Epiphanes, he was literally eaten of worms. He now gave ujd all hope of recovery, and made prepara- tions for leaving the world. He appointed his son Archelaus to be his successor in the kingdom of Judah ; made Herod Antipas, another son, tetrarch of Galilee ; and Philip, a younger son, tetrarch of Gaulonitis, Trachonitis, and other provinces in the north-east part of Palestine. He gave rich presents to the Em- peror Augustus, to his wife Julia, and to other relatives and friends ; and died, in the utmost distress both of body and mind, in the seventieth year of his age, and the thirty-seventh of his reign. Well knowing how much the Jews hated him, he called together some of the principal men of the nation just before his death, con- fined them in the hippodrome, and gave strict orders to his attendants to massacre them as soon as he had breathed his last, that so there might be a mourning when he was gone. But this cruel order was not executed. His corpse was carried with great pomp to Herodi- um, near Jericho, and there laid in a sepulchre which he had him- self prepared. The character of Herod may be given in few words. He was ambitious of power, and altogether unscrupulous as to the means of securing it ; he was suspicious, jealous, fond of magnificence and display, blood-thirsty and cruel to the last degree. The mur- ders which he committed in his own family — to say nothing of the thousands whom he sacrificed out of it — are full proof of this. So harshly did he treat his own children, that it passed into . a proverb, " Better be Herod's hog than his son." And yet he may be said, in the common acceptation of the terms, to have been a lucky man. In repeated instances, he seemed to be on the very brink of ruin ; and then he escaped, and rose to power, when he had the least reason to expect it. Nor was he without some redeem- ing qualities. He knew how to show kindness to his people, and he often did it when he could do it with safety and advantage to himself ; and he managed to hold the Jewish state together, and to maintain its honor and its power, until Shiloh came^ and the prom- ises of the Messiah were fulfilled. But this brings us to an event which took place a little previous to the death of Herod, and which was of more importance than 462 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. any that had ever transpired, — the birth of our Lord Jesus Christy the Saviour of the ivorld. Of the events immediately connected with the birth of Christ we have no mention in secular history ; nor could this have been reasonably expected. The wise men who came to the court of Herod from the East were probably Magians from northern Arabia or Persia. The star which guided them was a meteor, providentially (perhaps miraculously) prepared and sent. The murder of .the children at Bethlehem accords well with the suspi- cious, cruel temper of Herod, and must have been among the last acts of his life. According to Josephus, Herod had nine wives and many chil- dren. Three of his sons, as before related, he put to death. Archelaus succeeded him on the throne of Judaea. He was a cruel king ; and, through fear of him, Joseph and Mary, on their return from Egypt, declined settling in Judaea, but " turned aside into the parts of Galilee" (Matt. ii. 22). Archelaus reigned ten years, when, for his great wickedness, he was deposed by Angus- „ tus, and banished into Gaul. Herod Antipas was tetrarch of Galilee. He divorced the wife of his youth, and married Herodias, his brother Phihp's wife. Being reproved for this by John the Baptist, he seized his reprover, shut liim up in prison, and then (to gratify his adulterous wife and her wicked daughter) put him to death (Matt. siv. 1, 2). This is the Herod who was at Jerusalem, and who became recon- ciled to Pilate at the time of our Saviour's crucifixion. He, with his wife Herodias, was afterwards banished to Lyons, in Gaul. Of Philip, the tetrarch of Itursea, Trachonitis, and Gaulonitis, little is known, except that his brother took away his wife, and that he died early. Of the grandchildren of Herod the Great (as he is sometimes called), the most distinguished was Herod Agrippa, who " killed-a James, the brother of John, with the sword," and intended " to take Peter also," but was miraculously prevented (Acts xii. 1, 2). After passing through many changes in the early part of his life, Caligula made him king of what had been the tetrarchy of his -. uncle Philip. Upon the death of Caligula, Claudius gave him the entire kingdom of his grandfather Herod. He reigned over Judsea about three years, and died in the wretched manner described in j the Acts of the Apostles : " The angel of the Lord smote him because he gave not God the glory ; and he was eaten of worms, HEROD TO THE BIRTH OF CHRIST. 463 and gave up the ghost." The Herodias who instigated the murder of John the Baptist was his sister. These were the cliildren of Aristobulus, one of the sons of Herod by Marianine. Tlie Herod Agrippa of whom we have spoken left a son Agrippa, who became a king, and reigned over several provinces in the •northern part of Palestine. Drusilla, the wife of Felix, was his sister. He had another sister, Berenice, whom he kept constantly with him, and with whom he is said to have lived in incest. They were the great-grandchildren of Herod the Great and Mariamne. This is that King Agrippa before whom Paul pleaded his cause at Csesarea (Acts xxvi.). No wonder he was not entirely persuaded to be a Christian. It will be remembered that Herod and his descendants were IdumjBans by birth, though they professed the Jews' religion. The Idumaeans were all proselyted to the Jewish religion by John Hyr- canus more than a hundred years before the birth of Christ. Still the Herods were none of them heartily Jews. Their principal endeavor was to please the Romans ; and their whole influence went to break down the spirit and corrupt the religion of the Jewish people. The ground over which we have passed thus far should teach us GocVs love a7id faithfulness to his Church. God has had a Church on the earth from the beginning to the present time ; but its continued existence is to be ascribed, not to any inherent virtue in man, but entirely to his own love and faithfulness. Why was it not drowned in the Deluge ? Why was it not crushed and consumed in Egypt ? Why did it survive the captivity at Babylon ? Why was it not utterly destroyed (as the tyrant often threatened) under Antiochus Epiphanes ? How was the holy fire kept alive through those long centuries of darkness, when there was no voice of prophecy, no open vision, and nothing to cheer the desponding people of God but the promise of a Shiloh to come ? The answer to all these questions is the same : God loves his Church ; he kindly and con- stantly watches over it ; he is inviolably faithful to preserve it. In faithfulness he corrects it, but has never abandoned it, and never will. Another lesson taught us in this history is, that Christ made his appearance in our world at the right time. He is said to have come " in the fulness of time ; " which may mean the right time.., the best time. God had been preparing the way for his coming through four thousand long years. He had been using means and trying 464 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. experiments for tlie benefit of our lost race ; all which had suc- cessively failed, and left our prospects more and more dark, until in our greatest extremity, and as the last effort wliich could be made on our behalf, he sent into the world his Son; he sent him " to seek and to save that which ivas lost. He directed that his name should be called Jesus, Saviour, because he would " save his people from their sins." In this view, we have reason to be thankful that Christ came just when he did, — no sooner, no later. He came when the way had been fully prepared for him ; he came when .the world had come to feel in some measure its need of him ; he came, as Paul well expresses it, "in the fulness of time." Let us, then, receive him, love him, consecrate and devote our- selves to him, and do what we can to make the world acquainted with his salvation. PAET 11. HISTORY OF GOD'S 'CHURCH FROM THE COimO OF CHRIST TO THE PRESENT TIME. 30 , 465 .^,-.^ ' "''- '^^^^^:- J (_) Hif wi(r J^ PART II. CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY. THE history of what may properly be termed the Cliristian Church commences with the gospel dispensation, and con- tinues down through the intervening ages to the present time. It is a history of the changes through which this great spiritual organization has passed ; of the causes wliich have operated to produce these changes ; and of the influence which it has exerted upon individuals, upon society, and the world. Church history is commonly divided into the external and the internal. The former includes all those outward occurrences, whether prosperous or adverse, — the result of causes foreign to itself^ — which have come upon this sacred institution. The inter- nal treats of the changes through which the Church has passed, springing up within itself^ and relating to its own appropriate concerns. This department includes an account of its teachers and other officers ; of its forms of government ; of its rites and ceremonies ; of revivals and declensions ; of its doctrines, ordi- nances, and laws ; also of the false teachers and heresies with which, from time to time, it has been infested. The external and internal history of the Church is so closely connected, and so often intermingled, that the difference between them cannot, indeed, be very sharply defined. Still the distinction is a valid one, and worthy to be regarded. The benefits of Church history, when accurately written and faithfully studied, are very great. In the first place, it is, like all other history, instructive. It enlarges the circle of our ideas, and makes us acquainted with the facts of God's providence and grace. 468 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. It shows US what God has been domg in the world, and doing in reference to his own spiritual and eternal kingdom. It shows us, also, the method of his operations, the means he employs, and the laws by which the general course of things is regulated. As, without geographical knowledge, our ideas are necessarily confined, shut up within the narrow circle of our own personal observation ; so, without history, the past is all a blank to us, and we can only know what is passing before our eyes. In the history of God's Church we have striking illustrations of the truths of his Word. The depravity, the guilt, the ingrati- tude of man ; the goodness, the patience, the long-suffering of God, his faithfulness to his promises, his displeasure at sin, his love for his people, his watchful care and providence over them, — these are among the lessons which the word of God inculcates ; and they are all of them illustrated a thousand times over in the history of his Cliurch. We thus have history teaching by example, and impressing upon us by a united testimony the truths and pre- cepts of the Bible. The history of God's Church as a means of illustrating his truth and ivill is of great importance to all men, but more especially to the ministers of Christ. In addressing their fellow-men on gospel themes, how often do ministers need appropriate illustrations ! And the most fertile source of them, next to the Bible, is the history of the Church. For example : The power of Christian faith and love under the most trying circumstances is beautifully illustrated in the case of Polycarp, who, when urged by his persecutor to swear, and reproach Christ, said, " Eighty and six years have I served him, and he hath never wronged me : how, then, can I blaspheme m}' King and m}^ Saviour ? " And the good effects of a decidedly Christian maternal influence are nowhere more strikingly illustrated than in the case of Augustine, whose mother followed him with her counsels, praj^ers, and tears through more than thirty years of discouragement and darkness, and never gave over till she found him in the embrace of Christ. The study of ecclesiastical history is calculated to confirm our faith in the divine origin of the Gospel and the Church : for here is a bush which has been always burning, and yet never consumed ; here is a cause, an interest, a religion, a kingdom, which has been subjected through long ages to the most adverse influences, and been bro'ught often, apparently, to the verge of ruin ; and yet it lives. It has been sustained, recovered, strengthened, builded up, INTRODUCTORY. 469 and is expecting ere long to triumph and fill the earth. Is not, then, this kingdom from Heaven ? Is it not the cause of truth and of God ? Who but God could have preserved it through all its i^erils, and brought it along thus far triumphant and glorious ? But this leads to another remark. The history of God's Church is full of encouragement and comfort to his people. They are here encouraged to cling to their covenant God and Saviour, and to confide in him even in the darkest times. The God who saved Noah and his family in the ark, and Lot from the flames of Sodom, and the congregation of Israel in the midst of the sea, will never leave or forsake his people. He who has done so much for his Church in other ages, under both the old dispensations and the new, will not desert it in time to come. The most tender mother may forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb ; yet saith the God of Israel, " I will not forsake thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands : thy walls are continually before me." Let the people of God, then, as they ponder the history of his Church, take courage from it, and rejoice. And the lessons of church history should encourage us, not only to put our trust in God, but to labor perseveringly for the advance- ment of his kingdom. Our Lord has a service for us to perform ; and, all along down the track of time, we see how faithfully holy men have served him, and how much they have done for the advancement of his cause. Now, the example of such men, stand- ing out upon the page of history, should not be lost upon us. It should shame us out of our negligence and sloth, and stimulate us to increased exertion. This world is the field of labor for the Christian : his rest is in heaven ; and it is only after the toils of this weary life that the rest of heaven will be sweet. Among the important lessons of ecclesiastical history are those of caution and of ivarnhig. We learn not only what we are to do, but what to shun. We see the snares in which others have been taken, and learn to avoid them. We see the rocks on which thousands before us have been wrecked ; and, if we dash upon them, the fault will be our own. Sailing as we now do on the dark ocean of life, we need a compass and a chart. Let us be thankful that we have them, not only in the sacred Word, but (in a lower degree) in the history of God's Church ; and let us study them with all diligence, that so we may escape the ills which beset us, and make our callino- and election sure. 470 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. But I need not enlarge on the benefits of the study to which attention is here called. History, in general, is full of interest and importance ; but church history has advantages peculiar to itself. It relates to higher subjects, it dwells on nobler themes, than those pertaining merely to the present life : it treats of a kingdom which is to survive all other kingdoms ; wliich is to fill the earth, and exist forever. It is proof of the benefits of this study, and also an honor to it, that so much of the Bible is church history ; that so large a part of what the Holy Spirit has indited comes to us in this form, by the diligent study and practice of which " the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto every good word and work." Before entering directly on the history of the Church of Christ, it ma}^ be necessary to say something as to the state of the world at the time of his appearing. The vast Roman Empire was then in the zenith of its power. Augustus Cpesar, having vanquished his rival Antony, reigned supreme and alone from India to the Atlantic Ocean, from the African deserts and the Indian Ocean to the unknown regions of the North. This was the celebrated Augustan age^ pre-eminent in power and splendor, in literature and the arts. The grouping of the nations together under one vast government had some advantages for the spread of the gospel. It gradually civilized the barbarous nations, and gave free access to them. It was a protection, in many instances, to the first mission- aries ; more especially to those of them who, like Paul, were Roman citizens. It also furnished a well-nigh universal language ; the Greek being spoken almost everywhere in the times of the apostles and their immediate successors. At the time of our Saviour's birth, the Roman Empire had a respite from its long intestine and foreign wars, and was enjoying a season of comparative peace. Some have supposed that it was a time of perfect peace, and that the gates of the Temple of Janus were closed. It is admitted by all to have been a time of general peace, — fit opportunity for the advent of Him who is appropriately denominated the Prince of Peace. The religions of the nations at this period — with the single exception of the Jews — were idolatrous. Their gods and god- desses were numerous and various ; and a vast temple was built at Rome during the reign of Augustus, called the Pantheon, which contained all their shrines, and was appropriately dedicated to them all. The greater part of these divinities were no other than INTRODUCTORY. ' 471 ancient heroes and heroines famous for their achievements and illustrious deeds, whom a grateful posterity had deified.* To these were added some of the more splendid and useful objects in the natural world ; such as the sun, moon, and stars, the earth, the ocean, the winds, the rivers, &c. The worshippers of these different gods were not accustomed to quarrel about their religions ; for the most of them were mere local divinities presiding over different objects, or portions of the earth : and the common impression was, " Your gods may be good for you as mine are for me : conduct your worship as you please, and leave me at liberty to do the, same." The moral influence of these pagan superstitions, the world over, was corrupting. They tended, not to make men better, but everywhere and always to make them worse. The characters of the gods themselves were stained by the most degrading vices. Though called holy and just, they were involved in perpetual jealousies and quarrels ; full of envy and wrath, hatred and lust ; ever provoking each other to lying and cruelty, perjury and wicked- ness. No people can be expected to be much better than their gods ; and, if the ancient heathen were not better than theirs, certainly they must have been degraded and vicious. The heathen priests, too, were monsters of wickedness, who neither by precept nor- example encouraged the people in the practice of virtue. To be sure, they inculcated a future life, a future state of rewards and punishments ; but then these were dubious and uncertain, and of a nature to excite, not fear and respect, but rather ridicule and contempt. If is not to be won- dered at, therefore, that a universal corruption of morals prevailed, and that crimes which cannot at this day be named with decency were practised without restraint. We have seen what were the religions of the heathen nations at the time of our Saviour's advent : their systems of philosophy were little, if at all, better. The Oriental or Gnostic philoso- phy, which had long prevailed in the East, had been gradually extending itself into the West. Pythagoras had introduced it into Greece ; and the religion of the Alexandrian Jews had been corrupted by it previous to the coming of the Saviour. It traced * Most of the Grecian gods and goddesses, as Saturn, Jupiter, Titan, Pluto, Minerva, Juno, Venus, &c., are said to have been princes among the Gomerites (descendants of Gomer, a grandson of Noah), from whom descended the GeiTnans and Celts. They are supposed to have lived about the time of Abraham, and were afterwards deified and worshipped by the Greeks. — See Universal Hist., vol. vi. pp. 34, 175, 203. 472 • ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. all the evils which afflict mankind to the corrupting influence of matter ; and inculcated either the most rigid asceticism, with a view to mortify the body, or a wanton degrading of it by the unre- strained indulgence of fleshly lusts. The different sects of Grecian philosophy, such as the Epicurean and Stoic, the Platonic and Aristotelian, had their schools at Athens and Alexandria, to which the nobility of Rome and of other na- tions continually repaired; but, while some of these. were directly injurious in their moral influence, the best of them had no power to stem the torrent of corruption which was pouring in upon the world. The state of the Jews at this eventful period was little better than that of the surrounding nations. For more than thirty years, they had been under the iron rule of Herod, an Idumsean by birth, but a Jew by profession, who had been set over them by the Romans, to whom he was tributary. He was unprincipled, am- bitious, tyrannical, and cruel, whose chief concern was to please the Romans and to gratify himself. He drew on himself universal hatred, and exhausted the wealth of the unhappy nation, by his extravagance and his wars. Under his administration, Roman luxury and licentiousness everywhere prevailed. The Jews were indeed permitted to retain most of their national laws, and to practise the religion which had been established by Moses. Their religious affairs were still conducted by a high priest, with priests and Levites under him, and by their national senate, or Sanhedrim ; but the amount of evil which they suffered from the cruelty and avarice of their governors, and from the frauds and rapacity of the publicans, is almost incalculable. Two religions now flourished in Palestine, — the Jeivish and the Samaritan, — between the followers of which a deadly hatred had for a long time prevailed. Both looked for a deliverer, — not a holy, spiritual Saviour, such as the prophets had foretold, but a temporal sovereign, an invincible warrior, a vindicator of their national liberties. Both placed the sum of religion in the observ- ance of external rites and ceremonies which had been enjoined by Moses, and excluded the rest of mankind from the hope of salvation. The principal sects among the Jews were the Pharisees, Sad- ducees, Herodians, and Essenes. The Pharisees were the most numerous and powerful. They received the entire Old Testament as a revelation from God, and believed in a future state of rewards INTRODUCTORY. 473 and punishments. They were strict religionists, but self-righteous and ostentatious; stickling not only for the letter of the Jewish law, but for the traditions of the elders. The Sadducees were a more liberal class, embracing many of the rich and the noble, who wished the show of a religion without its restraints. They rejected the traditions, and received only the books of Moses. They had no faith in angel or spirit, or in the doctrine of a future life. The Herodians were rather a political party than a religious sect: they stood up for the rights of the Roman government and for the claims of Herod. Of the Essenes, we hear nothing directly in the New Testament : they were a sect of recluses, residing in the deserts of Palestine and Egypt, and mingling little with the other Jews. They had received their monastic ideas and habits from the heathen, and most probably from the Gnostic philosophy. Such being the state of things among the Jews at the time of our Lord's appearance in the flesh, it cannot be doubted that piety was at a very low ebb. There were some truly religious people, as Simeon and Anna, Zechariah and Elisabeth, Joseph and Mary, and probably others whose names have not reached us, though they are written in the book of life. But the state of religion among the common people was exceedingly low. They were sunk in deplorable ignorance and darkness, and knew no way of rendering themselves acceptable to God but by ablutions and sacrifices, and other ceremonies of the Jewish law. Hence our Saviour describes them as sheep having no shepherd, and their teachers as blind leaders of the blind. Both Jews and Gentiles were groping together in error and in sin, feehng after God, but unable to find him ; and seemed looking, waitmg, and silently im- ploring, for a deliverer from heaven. God had long been preparing the way for the coming of Christ ; and he made his appearance in the best, the appointed time. The world was now ready for him, and was expecting him. ' The Jews had become so corrupt, that their own historian has declared his belief that the doom of Sodom must have come upon Jeru- salem if it had not been captured by the Romans. Greece had long passed its culminating point, and fallen under the dominion of all-conquering Rome. Its light-hearted religion had lost what- ever of power it had before possessed, and lived only to minister to a depraving sensuality. Its better systems of philosophy had done all they could — and this was very little — towards reform- 474 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY, ing the minds and morals of men ; while Epicureanism and Scep- ticism and Stoicism had loosened the bonds of moral obligation, and imparted barely light enough to make the darkness visible. Over all minds there brooded an ever-increasing darkness and doubt in regard to the deepest matters of human thought and feeling. Men found it much easier to refute the views of others than to reach the truth themselves. The immortality of the soul was a question of curious discussion ; but, whatever the conclusions of the disputants, not one of them had such a settled conviction as could afford comfort in affliction, or throw a relieving gleam of ' hope over the hour of death. The elder Pliny condenses into a few sentences what we may suppose to have been the general feel- ing on tliis momentous subject : " The vanity of man, and his insatiate longing after existence, have led him to dream of a life after death. A being full of contradictions, he is the most wretched of creatures. Other creatures have no wants which transcend the boundary of their natures ; but man is full of desires and wants which reach to infinity, and can never be satisfied. His very nature is a lie, uniting the greatest poverty with the greatest pride. Among these so great evils, the best thing that God has bestowed upon man is the power to take his own life." The state of society throughout the Roman Empire was at this time such as must have forced upon the minds of men the most desponding thoughts. Every portion of this vast domain was barely breathing from its wasting wars, and groaning under its heavy burthens ; and yet in all that sages had taught, and poets sung, and priests disclosed, and oracles muttered, there was no relief. Foreign religions had been tried in vain ; magicians and astrologers had been multiplied : and still the darkness and misery increased. It was just in this crisis of the world's history, when all experiments had been tried and failed, and hope was giving place to black despair, that the Light of the world commenced its shining : " the Desire of all nations " came. CHAPTER II. LIFE OF CHRIST. A HISTORY of the Church of Christ commences, properly, with the life of its Founder. Without such an introduction, the originating facts of the history would be left out of the account, and the whole fabric would be baseless and imperfect. Then it is meet, certainly, that every follower of Christ should be familiarly acquainted with the life of Christ. On such a subject, no Chris- tian can consent to be in ignorance or doubt. In what follows, I shall not undertake to present any new facts concerning our Saviour. All that we know of him, or shall ever know in this world, is spread out before us in the Gospels. My object will rather be to exhibit the facts of his life in their proper connections, in an harmonious and consistent order, that we may look at them in a single view. Nor will this be a vain or profitless labor. We shall find that it gives additional interest to particular events in- the life of Christ, and helps to a right understanding of his discourses and parables, to know where in his history they come in ; to know in what places, and under what circumstances, his acts were performed, and his discourses delivered. The year of our Saviour's birth is not certainly known. Accord- ing to the common reckoning, which was fixed by Dionysius Ex- iguus and one of the popes in the sixth century, he was born in the year of the world 4004 ; but I have assigned reasons in a previous chapter * for supposing that his birth was several years earlier than this. He was certainly born before the death of Herod ; and Herod died in the year of the world 4001. Also Jesus was about thirty years of age in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tibe- rius Csesar (Luke iii. 1) ; and this would fix his birth to the four thousandth year of the world. And the same conclusion is reached by another fact mentioned in Scripture. The enrolment or taxing * Part I., Chap. V. 475 476 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY, spoken of by Luke (ii. 1-5) was made when Cyrenins was first governor of Syria ; at which time our Saviour was born : but this, it is pretty well ascertained, was the four thousandth year of the world. Ten years later, Cyrenius was again governor of Syria, when there was another taxing, and an insurrection m consequence (see Acts v. 37). The probability therefore is, that our Saviour was born in the year of the world 4000 : and this agrees with an old tradition of the Jews, that the world was to stand seven thousand years, — two thousand of which were to be before the law, tAvo thousand under the law, and two thousand under the Messiah ; after which was to follow the sabl)atical millennium, or the thousand years of rest. Respecting the month and day of Christ's birth, we are left al- most wholly to conjecture. The disagreement of the early fathers is evidence that the day was not celebrated in apostolic times. Of the remarkable events which preceded and immediately fol- lowed the birth of Christ, — such as the appearance of the angel Gabriel to Zechariah to announce the coming of his forerunner ; the appearance of the same angel to Mary to inform her of her miraculous conception by the Holy Ghost ; the visit of Mary to Elisabeth ; the revelation to satisfy the mind of Joseph ; the birth of our Saviour in a stable at Bethlehem ; the song of the angels, and the visit of the astonished shepherds to the infant Saviour, — of these and other remarkable events occurring in the same connec- tion, I have no occasion now to speak. They were all designed and calculated to do honor to the Saviour, to herald his coming, and direct to him the eyes of a careless, thoughtless world. On the eighth day after his birth, our Lord was circumcised, and received his name, — the same that before had been given him by the angel. Thirty-three days subsequent to this, when his mother's purification was accomplished according to the law of jNIoses (Lev. xii. 3), he was taken by his parents to Jerusalem, and presented in the temple before the Lord. A sacrifice was offered for him, — "a pair of turtle-doves, or two young pigeons;" which was all that the straitened circumstances of his parents enabled them to bring. It was at this time that good old Simeon took him into his arms, and blessed God on his account. Pious Anna was also pres- ent to give thanks because of him, and to speak of him to all those that looked for redemption in Jerusalem. When the parents of Jesus had performed all these things ac- cording to the law of the Lord, they returned to Bethlehem, where LIFE OF CHRIST. 477 they were visited by the wise men of the East. These were probably Magians from Northern Arabia or Persia. The star which guided them was a meteor providentially, perhaps miraculously, prepared and sent. Their visit to the holy family was opportune every way. It was not only an honor to the Saviour, and a testimony to his Messianic character, but it furnished the means of his sustenance ; at least, for a time. Without the rich presents which they brought, his parents might not have been able to carry him into Egypt and support him there, and thus elude the bloodthirsty Herod.* How long Joseph and Mary remained in Egypt, we are not in- formed ; certainly till they heard of the death of Herod, which oc- curred, probably, the following year. When admonished to return into the land of Israel, their first thought was to go and reside at Bethlehem ; perhaps because it was the city of David, and they deemed it appropriate that He whom they could but regard as the great Son of David should be trained up there. But when they found that Archelaus, who inherited all the cruelty of his father Herod, reigned in Judfea, they were afraid to go there, and concluded to return to their old home at Nazareth. And here they dwelt, probably, as long as Joseph lived, — until near the com- mencement of our Saviour's public ministry. The next that we hear of Jesus is at Jerusalem, when he was about twelve years of age. The males in Israel were required to go up to Jerusalem to the great festivals three times in a year. The more devout women, though exempt by law from regular at- tendance, usually accompanied their husbands or other relatives on these occasions. Doubtless the parents of Jesus had been often * The apocryphal writers of the New Testament have much to say respecting the journey into Egypt. The following are some of their foolish and incredible stories: " As they journey, they seek repose in a cave. Many dragons suddenly appear; but Jesus leaps down from his mother's bosom, and they worship him. Lions and other wild beasts go before them to point out the way. Being hungry and thirsty, Jesus commands a palm-tree to bend down its boughs laden with fruit, and a fountain to spring forth at its root. As they enter Egj'^pt, all the idols fall down in the temples ; and Jesus heals the son of a priest possessed with devils. Almost every day, he performs some miracle, — now healing the sick and leprous; now freeing the en- chanted, and frightening robbers; now causing w.'fter to spring from the ground with which to wash his clothes, and changing drops of sweat into balsam." " After the return from Egypt, Jesus is taken to Bethlehem, where his mother heals sick children, and cures lepers, by sprinkling them with water in which he had been washed. A portion of one of his garments made into a tunic preserves a boy from drowning, and also from being burned. One child is healed by lying in his bed. He makes sparrows of clay, which come to life and fly away. Garments are instantly dyed of any color which the owner wishes. Joseph's poor carpenter-work is miraculously perfected. A single kernel of wheat produces enough flour for all the poor of the town." But enough of these silly marvels. How strongly do they contrast with the sober and reliable narratives in the Gospels ! 478 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. to Jerusalem during his younger years : but at the age of twelve they took him with them ; .for such was the custom of the feast. In the Jewish Church, children were not allowed to go to the Passover earlier than this : but, at the age of twelve, they were brought to the temple, where a sacrifice was offered, and some other initiatory rites were performed ; after which they were al- lowed to eat of the Passover, and to participate in the other festi- vals of the Church.* To this custom of the Jews our Saviour and his parents con- formed. But when the feast was ended, and Joseph and Mary commenced their journey homeward, Jesus was not with them : he tarried behind at Jerusalem. And, when they returned for him, to their astonishment they found him among the doctors in the temple, both hearing them, and asking them questions ; and all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and his answers. From Jerusalem, Jesus returned with his parents to Nazareth, and was subject unto them, and doubtless labored with them to procure a subsistence. He was not only the son of a carpenter, but in one instance is called a carpenter (Mark vi. 3) ; which im- plies that he pursued the same occupation as his reputed father. Of his character and conduct for the next eighteen years, we can only speak in the most general terms. Without doubt, it was blameless, dutiful, holy, perfect. Luke tells that "he was strong m spirit, filled with wisdom ; and that the grace of God was upon him." He increased not only in stature, but in wisdom, and in favor with God and with men (Luke ii. 40, 52). While Jesus was growing up to manhood at Nazareth, his fore- runner, John, was leading a solitary, contemplative life in the deserts of Judsea. Zechariah and Elisabeth, who were old at his birth, in all probability were now dead. When John had arrived at the age of thirty, the time appointed for entering upon the more public services of religion (Num. iv.), he commenced preaching and baptizing, — first in the deserts of Judsea, but afterwards in the * The following account is from a Jewish magazine entitled "Once a Week:" "Until the Jew attains his thirteenth j'ear, he is entirely under the control of his parents, who are sup- posed to be accountable for all the sins he may commit up to that period; but their responsi- bility ceases on the sabbath succeeding his thirteenth birthday, when a ceremony akin to that of confirmation takes place. The boy is called up to the reading-desk in the synagogue, and is required to read a portion of the law. If he cannot read, the minister does it for him; after which the father lays his hands on the head of his- son, and solemnly renounces his responsi- bility for his future actions." LIFE OF CHRIST. 479 neighborhood of the Jordan. His preaching produced a great sen- sation ; and muldtudes of all classes and ages flocked to hear him, and to receive his baptism. Among those who came to Inm for this purpose was Jesus of Nazareth. He had now arrived at the age of thirty; being only six months younger than John (Luke i. 36). He was about to enter upon his public labors ; and though he had no need of baptism in token of repentance or of spiritual purifica- tion, yet, as Moses had enjoined a lustration for the priests before entering upon their public duties (Exod. xxix. 4), he chose to follow them in this, and so "fulfil all righteousness " (Matt. iii. 15). These young men, John and Jesus, though relatives on their mother's side, seem not to have been previously acquainted with each other. They had rarely if ever met. John says of Jesus expressly, " I knew him not " (John i. 31). But, though John had no previous acquaintance with Jesus, his true character was soon revealed. When John saw the heavens opened at his bap- tism, and saw the Divine Spirit descending on him like a dove, and heard that memorable voice, " This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased," he could not doubt. He knew that he had seen and baptized the promised Messiah, — the Lamb of God. . The place of our Lord's baptism was Bethabara, on the east bank of the Jordan. It was a common fording-place near Jericho and Gilgal, about twenty miles east of Jerusalem. It must have been near the place, if not the very spot, where the Israelites passed over the Jordan when they entered Canaan. Immediately after his baptism, Jesus retired into the desert west of the Jordan, where he remained fasting, praying, communing with God and with his own spirit, forty days. It was during this period that he had those sore and repeated temptations of which we have an account in the fourth chapter of Matthew ; but, in every encounter with the wily Tempter, he came off victorious. On leaving the desert, Jesus returned to John, who again bore testimony in the most solemn terms to his Messiahship. He here made the acquaintance of several persons whom he afterwards selected to be his apostles ; such as Andrew and Peter, Philip and Nathanael, and probably John. After this second visit to John, Jesus went into Galilee and met his mother. His reputed father, it is likely, was no longer living. In company with his mother, he attended a "wedding at Cana in Galilee, where he turned water into wine. This is spoken of by the apCstle John as the first of his miracles (John ii. 11). After 480 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. this, he went with his mother to Capernaum ; but soon left there, and went up to Jerusalem to the Passover. Our Saviour's ministry embraced four Passovers, and continued between three and four years. The one at which we have now arrived was the first : besides this, he attended the second and the fourth, but not the third. In what follows, we shall attempt to sketch very briefly his course of life from one Passover to another. While our Lord was at Jerusalem at this his first Passover after entering upon his public ministry, he undertook and accom- plished the difficult work of purging the temple : he did the same again, as we shall see, near the close of his public ministry. He drove out those from the courts of the temple who sold oxen, sheep, and doves for sacrifice ; he poured out the changers' money, overthrew their tables, and told them not to make his 'Father's house a house of merchandise ; and, when the Jews de- manded of him a sign in proof of his authority to do these things, he said, '' Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." Understanding him to speak of the literal temple, the Jews replied, " Forty and six years has this temple been in building ; and wilt thou rear it up in three days ? " The temple here spoken of was Herod's temple, which he commenced sixteen years before the birth of Christ, and which at this time had been in progress of erection just forty-six years. It was not finished till long after the Saviour's crucifixion, nor until a few years previous to its destruc- tion and that of Jerusalem by Titus. While Jesus was at Jerusalem, he wrought . numerous miracles, which made him an object of much thought and conversation with the people. Among those who felt a deep interest in him was Nicodemus, a member of the Sanhedrim, and a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, " We know that thou art a teacher sent from God ; for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him." Our Saviour, having so good an opportunity, entered into conversation with Nico- demus, and delivered to him a most important discourse. Perhaps he never gave utterance to so much solemn, gospel truth, in so few words, as on this occasion. Nor were his instructions lost upon the mind of the ruler : they made an impression never to be effaced ; for we find Nicodemus afterwards interposing his -good offices in favor of Jesus ; and, when he had expired on the cross, Nicodemus assisted in taking down the bod}^i and brought a hun- LIFE OF CHRIST. 4S1 dred pounds' weight of myrrh and aloes for the purpose of embahn- ing it. From Jerusalem, our Saviour passed into the towns and villages of Judaea, where he preached, and his disciples baptized. These baptisms seem to have been of the same nature with those admin- istered by John, — not a proper Christian ordinance, but an impres- sive rite, designed to prepare the way for the full introduction of the Messiah's kingdom. John had now removed from Bethabara, and was baptizing at Enon, — a place on the west side of the Jordan, about twenty miles south of the Sea of Galilee. He here bore a new testimony to Jesus as being the Christ, and exhorted his followers to put their trust in him : " He must increase ; but I must decrease. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life ; but he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him." John was now in the dominions of Herod Antipas, tetrarch of Peraea and Galilee. Herod, for a time, was deeply interested in him, went often to hear him, and was persuaded by him to attempt some reformation of life. But, when John had reproved him for his adultery and incest in cohabiting with his brother's wife, the king's pride was wounded, his anger was kindled, and he shut up the reformer in prison ; and here John remained in the dungeons of Mach£erus unto the day of his death. When Jesus heard of the imprisonment of John, he left Judaea, and retired into Galilee. On his way, he passed through the country of Samaria, and had that interesting conversation with the Samaritan woman, recorded in the fourth chapter of John. While in Galilee, our Saviour visited Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and where he had spent the greater part .of his life. He went into the synagogue, as his custom was, on the sab- bath day, and there read and expounded the Scriptures. At first, the people heard him with admiration ; but, as he proceeded to apply the truth more particularly to their case, their admiration was turned into wrath, and they madly sought to take his life. He made his escape, however, and came down to Capernaum, where he abode some considerable time. While here, our Saviour was continually occupied in his appro- priate work. He preached in the synagogues, healed the sick, procured the miraculous draught of fishes, and summoned Andrew and Peter, James and John, and Matthew the publican, to leave 31 482 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. their customaiy employments, and become hi-s ministers. The fame of him was at this time so great, that multitudes continually thronged him, and sometimes hindered him in his work. To avoid them, he left Capernaum, and went into the country, preaching in the synagogues throughout all Galilee. It was during this preaching tour that our Saviour delivered that most remarkable of all divine or human productions, — the Sermon on the Mount. It is impos- sible to decide at this day on what particular mountain the sermon was delivered. We only know that it was in Galilee, on the west side of the lake, and at no great distance from Capernaum. In labors such as have been described, — teaching, preaching, per- forming miracles, going about doing good, — our Saviour had filled up the year. The time had come for another Passover when he went up to Jerusalem* (John v. 1). Soon after his arrival at Jerusalem, our Lord visited the Pool of Bethesda, where he saw a poor man who had been bowed down with infirmity thirty-eight years. He was waiting with others for the moving of the waters ; but had little prospect of relief, as he had none to help him, and some one would be sure to step into the agitated pool before liim. Jesus had compassion on him, and said, " Rise, take up thy bed, and walk ; " and immediately he was made whole, took up his bed, and went his way. As it was the sabbath when this was done, the Jews were greatly excited, and charged both the healed man and Jesus with violating the sabbath. This led to a long discourse from our Saviour, in which he asserts his divine authority, and vindicates himself from the charge which had been urged against him, Grieved at the blindness and intolerance of the Pharisees, our Saviour tarried but a short time at Jerusalem. On his return to- wards Galilee, he had repeated discussions with the Jews, who continued to accuse him of violating the sabbath. Unable to meet him in argument, they took counsel together to destroy his life. But he withdrew himself from them ; and soon we find him, where he had so often been before, by the Sea of Galilee. In Galilee and the parts adjacent, sometimes on one side of the * There has been much dispute on the question, whether the feast here spoken of was the Passover, or one of the other Jewish festivals. And this is really a very important question : for on the decision of it depends whether our Saviour's public ministiy included four Pass- overs, or only two; whether it continued three years and a half, or only one and a half. I agree with the most approved commentators, that this feast was the Passover, and that his ministry included four Passovers. I find it impossible to harmonize all the events of his public life, and crowd them into the short space of a year and a half. LIFE OF CHRIST. 483 sea, and sometimes on the other, and sometimes sailing and even walking upon its surface, our Saviour filled up the next year of his public ministry. It was a busy and most important year. He was everywhere surrounded by wondering multitudes, whom he carefully instructed, whom he miraculously fed, and whose sick he healed. He raised the dead son of the widow of Nain ; cast out many devils ; uttered some of his most interesting parables, as that of the sower and of the tares in the field ; and performed other preaching tours through the cities and villages of Galilee. It was during this year that he appointed his twelve apostles, and sent them forth with the glad news of salvation to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. When our Saviour had come down from the mountain, — where •he had spent the whole previous night in prayer, and where he had appointed the twelve apostles, — he found a vast multitude waiting for him ; to whom he repeated, with some variations, a considerable part of the Sermon on the Mount (Luke vi. 20-40). I am aware that some interpreters make this the identical Sermon on the Mount. They insist that it was never preached but once, and that this was the place and occasion of its delivery ; but I cannot be of this opinion, and for the following reasons : 1. The sermon contained in Matthew (chaps, v.-vii.) was delivered on a mountain, but this on a plain (comp. Matt. v. 1 with Luke vi. 7). 2. The sermon as given by Matthew was delivered the year previous to the calling and commissioning of the apostles, but this in Luke immediately after their call. 3. The two discourses, though con- taining many similar passages, are very unlike. Matthew's is four times as long as that of Luke ; and yet Luke has several expres- sions which do not occur in Matthew. The structure of the sen- tences, and the connections in which they stand, are also different. In short, the discourse in Luke is precisely what it purports to be, — a repetition in part, with occasional omissions and alterations, of the sermon as given by Matthew. And those who know the excellence of this sermon will not wonder or regret that our Saviour thought proper to repeat some parts of it. When minis- ters preach as well as this, we will consent that they repeat their old sermons as often as they please. It was during this year's labor that the Pharisees ascribed the miracles. of our Saviour to diabolical influence : " He casteth out devils by Beelzebub, the prince of the devils." Our Lord refuted the objection, and solemnly warned them against such language in 484 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. future. It constituted the sin against the Holy Ghost, — a sin for which there could be no forgiveness (Matt. xii. 24-32). It was during this year, also, that John the Baptist, who was still in prison, sent two of his disciples to Jesus, saying, " Art thou he that should come ? or do we look for another ? " Without di- rectly answering the question, our Saviour said to those who came, " Go and tell John what things ye have seen and heard, — how that the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and to the poor the gospel is preached. And blessed is he that shall not be ojffended," i.e., stumbled, scandalized, " in me." This led to a long discourse re- specting John, in which our Saviour bore the highest testimony to the ability and fidelity of this holy man of God : " Among those that are born of women, there is not a greater prophet" oi> preacher " than John the Baptist : nevertheless, he that is least in the kingdom of heaven," or in the new dispensation about to be ushered in, " is greater than he (Luke vii, 18-28). But the sufferings of John were now about to end. He had been for months in close confinement in the Castle Macha3rus, east of the Jordan ; but, to gratify his adulterous wife and her wicked daughter, Herod sent and beheaded him in prison. Still the conscience of the tyrant seems not to have l^een easy with what had been done ; for, when he heard of the miracles of Jesus, he was alarmed under the apprehension that John had risen from the dead, and might stand up to avenge his previous injuries and wrongs. We have now arrived at another Passover, — the third which occurred during our Saviour's ministry.* He did not attend it, but abode still in Galilee. The reason assigned is, that his enemies in Juda3a were intent on destroying him : " He would not walk in Jewry because the Jews sought to kill him " (John vii. 1). * There must have been a Passover abont this time (see John vi. 4). In all probability, it comes in here. \ CHAPTER III. LIFE OF CHRIST. CONTINUED. WE now enter upon the last year of our Saviour's ministry. As he did not think it prudent to adventure himself before his time among the Jews at the Passover, he took the opportunity to travel into the north country, and proceeded even to the borders of Tyre and Sidon. And here he found a' Syro-Phcenician woman, whose daughter was possessed with a devil ; and having conversed Avith the afflicted mother, and sufficiently tried and tested her faith, he healed her daughter. This is the only miracle of which we have any knowledge which our Saviour performed upon a Gentile. From Syria our Lord returned to Galilee, where he was sur- rounded, as usual, by a great multitude, whom he miraculously fed a second time with a few loaves and fishes. He tarried here but a short time, when he took a journey to Caesarea Philippi, situated in the north-easterly , part of Palestine. Here he had a season of retirement with his disciples. He prayed with them, and entered into conversation with them, saying, " Whom do men say that I am ? " They answered, " Some say that you are John the Baptist ; some, that you are Elias ; and some, that you are Jeremias, or one of the old prophets, risen from the dead." — "But whom say ye that I am?" Peter answered, " Thou art the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the living God." For this noble confession, our Saviour blessed Peter, and said, "Thou art Peter; and upon this rock" — this foundation-truth which you have uttered — "I will build my Church ; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." Our Saviour next proceeded to instruct the disciples in regard to his approaching sufferings and death ; when Peter discovered how little he understood as yet the nature of the gospel. He took his Master aside, and began to rebuke him, saying, "Be it far from thee. Lord : this suffering and death shall not be unto thee." Our Saviour now rebuked Peter with as much earnestness as before he 485 486 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. had blessed him : " Get thee behind me, Satan ; thou art an offence unto me ; thou receivest not with a relish the things that be of God, but only such as be of men." It was during this retirement in the northern part of Galilee that our Saviour took Peter and James and John, and went up into a mountain with them for prayer ; and, as he prayed, he was trans- fiofured before them. The form of his countenance and of his whole appearance was suddenly and gloriously changed ; and there appeared unto them Moses and Elias, talking with Jesus in regard to his approaching sufferings and death. They heard also a voice from heaven, saying, " This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased : hear ye him." This whole scene was calculated, and without doubt designed, to impress upon the disciples that great cardinal truth which they were so slow to learn, — that Christ must suffer and die for the sins of men. When Jesus and his disciples had returned to Capernaum, the collectors of tribute came to Peter, and said, " Doth not your master pay tribute ? " Peter answered that he did. When our Saviour met Peter, he showed him that the collectors had no right to exact tribute from him. "Nevertheless," said he, "that we may not offend them, go to the s'ea, and cast in thy hook : and in the mouth of the fish that first cometh up thou shalt find a piece of money called a stater; that take, and pay your tribute and mine." And Peter did as he was directed : he found the stater in the fish's mouth, with Avhich he paid his own and his master's tribute. During this visit to Capernaum, Jesus had much interesting conversation with his disciples. He reproved their ambition ; inculcated humility, self-sacrifice, and self-denial ; and gave direc- tions as to the manner in which scandalous offenders in his church and kingdom should be treated. He insisted on the importance of a forgiving spirit, and illustrated it by the parable of the unfor- giving servant (Matt, xviii.). Intending soon to leave Galilee, our Lord appointed other seventy besides the twelve apostles, and sent them forth, two and two, into all the cities and villages where he expected soon to come. He gave them instructions very similar to those which he had before given to the twelve ; and concluded by saying, " He that heareth you heareth me, and he that despiseth you despise th me, and he that despiseth me despiseth Him that sent me " (Luke X. 1-16). It is not likely, however, that these seventy, like the LIFE OF CHRIST. 487 apostles, were intended to be a permanent body of missionaries. They ^Yere appointed for a particular purpose, which they soon accomplished ; and we hear no more of them in the Scriptures. The Jews' Feast of Tabernacles was now at hand ; and, as Jesus had failed to go both to the Passover and Pentecost, his brethren urged him to go up to Jerusalem : " Why seclude thyself here in Galilee ? If thou really doest these things, show thyself to the world." But Jesus declined going with them to the feast : never- theless, after they and the rest of the people had gone, he went rather privately to Jerusalem ; and, when he had arrived there, he went up into the temple and taught. But he soon came in conflict with the prejudices and the hostility of the Jews. They charged him with having a devil ; and he charged them with plotting against his life. The Pharisees and chief priests sent officers to take him ; but they returned without him, saying, " Never man spake like this man." There was much discussion among the people whether he was the Christ, or no ; nor were the members of the Sanhedrim entirely agreed respecting him. Nicodemus in particular stood up for him, and spake boldly on his behalf. It was during this visit to Jerusalem that the Jews brought be- fore him an adulterous woman for judgment, thinldng that, whether he cleared or condemned her, they should find occasion against him. But he managed to convict them rather than the woman ; and they slunk away confounded from his presence (John viii. 11). Our Saviour continued, therefore, to teach in the temple, holding up the light of truth, and having frequent altercation with those who rejected it. And this course of things continued, until the Jews became so much exasperated, that they took up stones to stone him ; but he went out of the temple, and escaped their hands (John viii.). It was while our Saviour lingered about Jerusalem, before his last return to Galilee, that the seventy disciples returned to him from their mission, which they seem to have accomplished very successfully. They reported to their Master their journeyings and miracles, saying, " Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name." Our Saviour received them with words of comfort and instruction, telling them that they should not so much rejoice in the subjection of evil spirits as that their names were written in the Lamb's book of life. It was at this time that our Lord made that visit to his friends at Bethany of which we have an account in Luke x. 38-42. Martha 488 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. " was cumbered about mucli serving ; " but Mary sat at the feet of J'esus to hear his words. For this, Martha was reproved, and Mary commended : " Mary hath chosen that good part which shall not be taken from her." On his way from Bethany to Galilee, our Saviour had much interesting conversation with his disciples. He instructed and en- couraged them in the duty of prayer, and repeated to them a new form of the Lord's Prayer (comp. Luke xi. 2 with Matt. vi. 9) ; he cautioned them against hypocrisy, and strengthened them against the fear of man by promise of the Holy Spirit ; he re- peated many of the cautions and arguments against a covetous, anxious spirit, which he had before given in the Sermon on the Mount ; he finally exhorted them to continual watchfulness in expectation of his coming, and of the account which they must render at the last for all their privileges. It was about this time that one came to Christ, and told him of the slaughter of the Galileans at Jerusalem, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. Perhaps this was said in hope that he would denounce either the cruelty of Pilate or the wick- edness of the Galileans, in either of which cases they might bring him into trouble. But he made the fact which had been reported to him the occasion of a most solemn call to repentance : " Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." And, the more deeply to impress the necessity of repentance and reformation, he uttered the parable of the barren fig-tree which stood only to cumber the ground. Our Saviour had now arrived in sOme part of Galilee, and was performing his last labor in its towns and villages. And, as he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath day, he saw there a poor woman, who had been bowed down with an infirmity eighteen years, and could not lift up herself ; and he said unto her, " Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity." And immedi- ately she rose up, and glorified God. But the ruler of the syna- gogue was filled with indignation, and said, " There are six days in which men ought to work : in them, therefore, come and be healed, and not on the sabbath day." To him our Saviour replied with unwonted severity, " Thou hypocrite ! doth not each one of you on the sabbath day loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering ? and ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, Avhom Satan hath bound these eighteen years, to be loosed from her bond on the sabbath day ? " And all his adversaries were ashamed. LIFE OF CHRIST. 489 Then some of the Pharisees came to Jesus, and said, " Depart at once out of Galilee, or Herod will kill thee, as he lately killed John the Baptist." The probability is, that Herod sent this mes- sage to him with a view to terrify him, and drive him away. The purport of our Saviour's answer was, that he must preach and per- form miracles in Galilee a few days longer, and only a few ; that his work on earth would soon be done ; and that then he should die, as many of the old prophets had died before him, at Jerusalem. During this visit to Galilee, our Saviour was invited by one of the chief Pharisees to dine with him ; and, while they sat at meat, one of the company said, " Blessed is he that shtiU eat bread in the kingdom of God." This led our Lord to utter the parable of the great supper, from which those who were first bidden excused themselves, but which was furnished with guests from the high- ways and hedges ; purporting, as the Pharisees themselves must have understood it, the rejection of the gospel by leading Jews, and the ingathering of the Gentile nations. As he came out of the Pharisee's house, our Saviour was quickly surrounded by a class of people who could not have been admitted there ; viz., publicans, and those who were accounted notorious sinners. At this the Pharisees took offence ; and, to justify himself, our Saviour uttered the j)arables of the lost sheep, the lost piece of money, and of the prodigal son (Luke xv.). He uttered also in this connection the parable of the unjust steward, and took occasion from it to reprove the Pharisees for their covetousness and hypocrisy (Luke xvi. 1-18). Still further to show the vanity of earthly riches in comparison with true piety, he narrated the story of the rich man and Lazarus * (Luke xvi. 19-31). Our Saviour had now finished his work in Galilee, and was on his way to Jerusalem to attend the Feast of Dedication. And, desir- ing to go through Samaria, he sent messengers forward to prepare the way for him ; but the Samaritans, finding that he was intent upon going to Jerusalem, refused to receive him. Whereupon the disciples James and John were highly indignant, and requested, that they might call down fire from heaven to consume the inhos- pitable Samaritans, as Elijah did ; but our Saviour rebuked them, saying, "Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of." * This is frequently, but improperly, called a parable. It is not a parable, has none of the requisites of a parable, and is never called one in the Scriptures. It is a simple narrative of occurrences, partly in this world, and partly in the next. Our Saviour vv^as as competent to speak of occurrences iii one world as the other. 490 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. As they went on their way, they came to a village inhabited by lepers, — a class of diseased persons who were obliged to live by themselves. And no less than ten lepers came out to meet them, standing afar off, and crying with a loud voice, " Jesus, Master, have mercy on us ! " And Jesus said, " Go show yourselves to the priests." And, as they went, they were all cleansed ; and one of them, a Samaritan, when he saw that he was cleansed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God. Our Saviour at length arrived at Jerusalem ; and, as he was walldng the street, he met a man who had been blind from his birth : and he spat upon the ground, made soft clay with the spittle, rubbed it on the eyes of the blind man, and told him to go and wash in the Pool of Siloam ; and, when he had washed, he came back healed. This miracle excited more attention among the Jews than any which Jesus had performed. They resolved to investigate the matter to the bottom, hoping to find some clew to the secret of these miraculous Avorks ; but they were obliged to give it up, and could only say to the restored man, " Give God the glory " (Jolm ix.). And, as Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon's porch, the Jews . gathered round him, and said, " How long dost thou make us to doubt ? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly." Jesus Avent on to speak of the proofs of his Messiahship, and among other things said, " I and my Father are one." Upon this the Jews accounted him guilty of blasphemy, and took up stones to stone him ; but he left the place in safety, and retired for a time to Bethabara, beyond the Jordan, — the place where he had been baptized (John x.). And here great multitudes resorted unto him, to whom he preached the gospel and healed their sick. While he tarried here, the Pharisees came to him with a subtle question about marriage and divorce. Our Saviour discussed the matter with them, and laid down what was to be the law of his kingdom ; viz., that there was only one cause for which a man could be justified in putting away his wife, or the wife in putting away her husband : and, when Moses was appealed to as teaching a dif- ferent doctrine, he replied, "Because of the hardness of your hearts, Moses suffered you to put away your wives ; but from the beginning it was not so." While Jesus remained- at Bethabara, many parents in the vicinity brought their little children to him that he might lay his hands on LIFE OF CHRIST. 491 them and bless them ; but for some reason his disciples discoun- tenanced the practice. WhereuiDon he said to his disciples, " Stiffer the little children to come imto me, and forbid them not ; for of such is the kingdom of God." During otu' Sa^•iotu•'s abode in this yicinity, another remarkable circumstance took place. A wealtlw young ruler came running to him, and, kneeling down before him, said, " Good Master, what good thing shall I do that I may inherit eternal life ? " To tr\- him, our Saviour told him to keep the commandments. The young man insisted that he had kept all these from his- youth. Our Sa- viour, beholding him with tender compassion, said, " One thing thou lackest. Go sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven ; and come, follow me." But the young man could not consent to such a proposition. He went away sorrowful ; for he had great possessions. Oiu" Lord improved the occasion for the purpose of showing the danger of riches, and the necessity of being willing to forsake all for him. While Jesus continued in the neighborhood of the Jordan, some fifteen or twenty miles east of Jerusalem, he heard that his friend Lazarus was sick at Bethany. On receiving the intelligence, our Sa\dour did not hasten at once to Bethany, but tarried two whole days in the place where he was. He then told his disciples that Lazarus was dead, and proposed that they should go at once to the afflicted family : but the disciples discouraged him, sa^-ing, " The Jews of late sought to stone thee ; and goest thou thither again ? " He insisted, however, upon going ; and the disciples went with him. When Jesus arrived at Bethany, he found ^lartha and Mary in great affliction ; for their brother had been dead four days. He repaired with them to the sepulchre ; commanded that the stone which closed it should be removed ; and. ha^'ing offered up a short praj'er, he cried with a loud voice, '* Lazarus, come forth I and he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with grave- clothes. And Jesus said imto them. Loose him. and let him .go." This miracle, as might have been expected, had a great effect in Judaea. Many, in consequence of it, were led to believe on Christ ; and this alarmed the Jewish rulers the more, who came at once to the conclusion that Jesus must be put to death. It was on this occasion that Caiaphas gave utterance to that oracular expression, " Ye know nothing at all. nor consider that it is exjjedient for us 492 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not." To avoid his enemies, who constantly sought his life, Jesus now retired to a little city called Ephraim, lying north of Jerusalem, at the distance of some ten or twelve miles. But the Passover was at hand, and he soon left his retreat to return to Jerusalem. On the way, he spoke further to his disciples of his approaching sufferings and death ; but they could not understand him. Their minds were still intent upon a temporal kingdom ; and they were even plotting among themselves, as they passed along, who should be the greatest in that kingdom. On their way from Ephraim to Jerusalem, they took a circuitous route through Jericho. And as they went out of Jericho they passed two blind men, who sat by the wayside, begging. One of them, and the only one spoken of by Mark and Luke, was Bar- timeus, who seems to have been more importunate, and to have attracted greater notice, than the other. He persisted in crying aloud, and would not be silenced, " Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on us ! " And Jesus called them to him, and kindly inquired what they desired of him ; and they said, " Lord, that we may receive our sight." And Jesus touched their eyes, and said, " Receive your sight ; " and their eyes were opened, and they followed him in the way. It was on this journey from Jericho to Jerusalem that our Lord met and converted Zaccheus the publican (Luke xix. 1). It was at this time also that he uttered the parable of the ten pounds, designed to set forth the reward of his faithful servants and the destruction that was about to overwhelm his enemies. Arrived in the neighborhood of Jerusalem six days before the Passover, Jesus was entertained by his faithful friends, Martha and Mary, at Bethany ; also by Simon, who had been a leper, but whom, in all probability, Jesus had healed. Here they made him a supper ; and Martha served, while the raised Lazarus sat with him at the table. But Mary was otherwise employed : she was anointing her Lord's feet with spikenard exceedingly precious ; which gave occasion to the spiteful remark of Judas Iscariot, " Why was not this ointment sold for more than three hundred pence, and given to the poor ? " Our Saviour rebuked Judas, and vindicated Mary, saying, " She hath wrought a good work upon me ; and, wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that this woman hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her." LIFE OF CHRIST. 493 The next day, in fulfilment of an ancient prophecy (Zech. ix. 9), Jesus rode into Jerusalem on an ass's colt, — the only instance recorded of his riding (except on the sea) during his whole public ministry. And now he rode in a sort of triumph ; some of his friends spreading their garments in the way, and others strewing it with green boughs, and all crying together, " Hosanna to the Son of David ! Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord ! Hosanna in the highest ! " They seem to have anticipated that the temporal kingdom so long desired was now about to be set up. Arrived at Jerusalem, our Lord went into the temple, and saw with sorrow what was done there ; and he undertook to accom- plish — what he had done before, near the commencement of his public ministry — a purgatio7i of the temple. He cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the money-changers and the seats of them that sold doves, and would not that any one should carry any vessel through the temple (Mark xi. 15, 16). The chief priests and scribes were not slow to demand of him, " By what authority doest thou these things ? " But, instead of answering them directly, our Saviour put to them a question: "The baptism of John — was it from heaven, or of men?" This question they did not care to answer either way; and so our Lord declined answering their question. From this time, our Saviour continued his discourses in the temple for several days, in a way to arouse and exasperate the chief priests, the Pharisees and scribes. He delivered the parable of the vineyard let out to unfaithful husbandmen, which they could not but interpret against themselves ; also the parable of the marriage-feast, to which those who were first invited would not come. He confounded the Pharisees and Herodians, who came to hiin with an artful question about paying tribute to Csesar. He met the Sadducees, and answered their foolish objection against the resurrection of the dead. He replied to one of the scribes respecting the first and greatest commandment of the law, and puzzled the Pharisees with a question, from Ps. ex. 1 : " The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool." David here calls the Messiah his Lord : how is he, then, his son ? He reproved the scribes and Pharisees for their manifold hypocrisy, oppression, and wickedness, and denounced woe after woe upon them, till it seemed as though their measure of woe was full. Christ knew that he was deliver- 494 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. ing his last message to tliem ; and he meant that it should be one of searching plainness, of terror, and of power. Our Saviour had now finished his discourses in the temple ; and, as he left it, the disciples came to show him the stones and build- ings of the temple. This was Herod's temple, which he had com- menced building several years before his death, and which was not as yet completed. Jesus said unto them, " See ye not these great buildings ? The days are coming when there shall not be left one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down." This prediction, which was astounding to the disciples, led to another question on their part : " Master, when shall these things be ? and what shall be the sign of thy coming and of the end of the world ? " In answer to these inquiries, our Saviour was led to speak very particularly of the approaching destruction of Jeru- salem and the temple, and of the signs which should precede this terrible catastrophe. And then, passing over from the type to the antitype, and following out further the inquiry of the apostles, he was led to speak of the final judgment and the end of the world ; interspersing with the prediction the parables of the ten virgins and of the talents, designed to impress upon his disciples the importance of constant watchfulness, and a diligent preparation for his coming and kingdom. This most impressive discourse was delivered by him while sitting with his disciples on the Mount of Olives over against the temple (Matt, xxiv., XXV.). We have now come to the eve of our Saviour's fourth and last Passover ; and, as the journeyings of his public ministry are over, it may be well, in the briefest manner, to sum them up, that so we may get a connected view of them. From early infancy until about the thirtieth year of his age, he spent his time chiefly at Nazareth, an obscure village of Galilee, subject to his reputed father, and laboring with him as a carpenter. In his thirtieth year he left Galilee, and came to John at Bethab- ara, where he was baptized. After his baptism, he retired into what was called "the wilderness of Judsea," where he tarried forty days, and was tempted of the Devil. Thence he returned to John, and soon after went into Galilee to meet his mother. From Galilee he went up to Jerusalem to his first Passover, and spent several months teaching and preaching in Judsea. After the imprisonment of John, he retired into Galilee, where he remained till the second Passover. He went up to the feast, but tarried in LIFE OF CHRIST. 495 Jerusalem but a short time. He returned to Galilee, and there continued through the year. He did not go to the third Passover, but took a journey into Syria, almost to the confines of Tyre and Sidon. Returned from this excursion, he took another into the north-easterly part of Galilee, going as far as Ccesarea Philippi. He came back to Capernaum, and soon set forward to Jerusalem to attend the Feast of Tabernacles. From Jerusalem, he returned to Galilee for the last time ; and, having finished his work there, he went again to Jerusalem to the Feast of the Dedication. Here the Jews sought his life ; and he retired for a season to Bethabara, — the place where he was baptized. From this place he was sum- moned to Bethany, near Jerusalem, by the sickness and death of Lazarus, whom he raised from the dead. When the Jews again sought to kill him, he retired to the little village of Ephraim, some ten or twelve miles north of Jerusalem. Here he remained until a short time before the Passover, when he returned by the way of Jericho to Jerusalem, where he ate the Passover, was betrayed and crucified. From this it appears, that, in something more than three years, our Saviour made four journeys from Galilee into Judaea, and back again, in addition to the last, from which he did not return. This would carry him over the ground nine times, besides his excur- sions to the north of Galilee and in the vicinity of Jerusalem, and his long and repeated preaching tours in different parts of both countries. All these journeys he accomplished on foot, surrounded generally by thronging multitudes, whom he carefully instructed and repeatedly fed, and for whose benefit he performed the greatest miracles. Who will say that his public life was not a beneficent one and a weary one ? What Christian will complain of labor after this ? CHAPTER IV. LIFE OF CHRIST. CONCLUDED. IN the preceding chapter, we sketched the life of Christ to very- near the time of his last Passover at Jerusalem. Two days before the Passover, while the chief priests and scribes were in secret conclave, plotting how they might destroy Jesus, Judas Iscariot went to them privately, and said, " What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you ? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver," — less than twenty dollars of our money. On the fifth day of the Jewish week (answering to our Thurs- day), Jesus despatched Peter and John to the city to make ready the Passover ; giving them particular directions where to go, and with whom to find the necessary accommodations. They went, and found all things as their Master had described. Meanwhile the disciples had been having one of those strange disputes of which we hear so much ; viz., which of them should be the greatest. So, to reprove them, after they had set down to- gether to the paschal supper, Jesus rose from the table, laid aside his outward garments, girded himself with a towel, and began to wash his disciples' feet. This he did to set them an example of humili- ty and condescension : " If I, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet, so ought ye to wash one another's feet. Instead of striving together as to which of you shall be the greatest, be ready at all times to perform for one another every needed act of conde- scension and love." When our Saviour had washed his disciples' feet, he sat down with them again ; and, as they did eat, he testified, and said, " Be- hold, one of you shall betray me." This astounding declaration led to instant personal inquiry ; when our Saviour indicated, though not in a manner to be generally understood, that the traitor was no 496 LIFE OF CHRIST. 497 other than Judas Iscariot. Soon after this, Judas left them, and went out to carry into effect his traitorous design. After the departure of Judas, our Saviour had a long and affecting conversation with the eleven disciples, in Avhich he exhorted them to mutual love ; told them what was to come, and urged them to be f)repared for it. After this, he took bread, and blessed and brake it, and instituted tlie sacred supper, to take the place of the Passover, and to be a standing memorial, in all coming time, of his sufferings and death. Nor did our Saviour immediately leave the chamber when the supper- was ended. He sat long there with his disciples, and de- livered those most instructive and comforting discourses, and offered up that remarkable intercessory prayer, which we find re- corded from the fourteenth to the seventeenth chapters of John. When his prayer was ended, and he had sung a hymn with his disciples, they went out of Jerusalem on the way to the Mount of Olives. As they passed along, our Saviour continued his conver- sation with the disciples, repeating his warnings as to what was coming, and its effect upon them. He told them, that in a very short time they would all be offended (stumhled^ at him, and scat- tered from him. To this Peter replied with his usual self-confi- dence, " Though all shall be offended, yet will not I." Upon which our Saviour turned to him, and said, " Tliis very night, be- fore the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice." Having passed the Brook Kedron, they came to the Garden of Gethsemane, — a secluded spot near the foot of Olivet, where Jesus often went with his di'sciples. Here he fell into a most intense and indescribable agony, under which his human nature seemed ready to sink. He prayed repeatedly, though with the most entire submission to the divine will, that the cup of suffering might pass from him. So intense was his agony, that his sweat was, as it were, great drops of blood falling down to the ground. He had exhort- ed his disciples to watch with him in his extremity ; but, by some strange fatuity, they were overcome with sleep. It was at this time, and under these circumstances, that Judas, with his ruffian band, came upon him to take him. He voluntarily surrendered himself to his persecutors, and consented to be bound, and led away as a captive criminal to the palace of the high priest. In this terrible transaction, there were several touching incidents which require to be noticed. One was our Saviour's care for his 32 498 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. disciples : " If ye seek me," said he to the guard, " let these my dis- ciples go away: do not molest or injure them." And so the disciples went away. As had been just before predicted, they all forsook him, and fled. Another incident which I cannot fail to notice was the healing of the ear of Malchus, which Peter had cut off. The soldiers were just now in the act of binding the hands of Jesus : but he said, " Suifer ye thus far ; let me have my hand a moment ; " when, raising it, he touched the wounded ear, and it was well. Was not this Godlike ? Did ever any thing like it take place beneath the sun? Jesus was first examined in the palace of the high priest. It was here that Peter denied hun, and soon and bitterly repented of his denial. At break of day, he was .removed to the great council-chamber, — the hall of the Sanhedrim, — where he was still further exam- ined ; and on his confessing himself to be the Messiah, the Son of God, and futiu-e Judge of the world, he was charged with blasphemy, and pronounced guilty of death. And, had the Jews been permit- ted to execute their sentence, he would undoubtedly have been stoned ; for this was the form of death prescribed by the Jewish law for the blasphemer (Lev. xxiv. 16). But our Saviour was not to die in this manner. He was to " be lifted up," — to be " hanged on a tree ; " or, in other words, to be crucified. Hence it was necessary, in the purpose of God, that he should be put to death by the Romans ; for crucifixion was not a Jewish, but a Roman mode of executing criminals. Early in the morning, therefore, on Friday of our week, Jesus was brought before Pilate, the Roman governor.* And here the accusation against him was entirely changed. "Before, he had been accused of blasphemy ; but now he is charged with setting himself up to be a king, and thus conspiring against the Roman govern- ment. This, it was thought, was a charge in which Pilate would feel some interest ; whereas he would care little for a • charge of blasphemy against the God of the Jews. Pilate examined our Saviour closely on the charge presented, and had concluded to * Of the hii5tory of Pilate, little is known ; but that little warrants the belief that " he was a Roman officer of average capacity, deeply imbued with the pride and prejudice of his class, and resolute, sometimes cruel, in asserting the rights of his imperial master, and in main- taining his personal authority." He was in frequent conflict with the Jewish rulers; sometimes yielding to them, but more frequently chastising them with blood. — See Luke xiii. 1. LIFE OF CHRIST. 499 ■ release him ; but, learning incidentally that he was a Galilean, he resolved to pass him over to Herod, who Avas at this time in Jeru- salem. But Herod Avith his men of war set him at nought, mocked him, arrayed him in a gorgeous robe, and sent him again to Pilate. Pilate now made another effort to release him ; but he was over- come by the clamor of the Jews. He repeatedly declared that he found no fault in him ; but the enemies of Christ would listen to nothing but his crucifixion. The governor, therefore, was corii- pelled to yield. He first took the blessed Jesus and scourged him. Then the soldiers took off his garments, and arrayed him in purple, and platted a crown of thorns, and put it on his head ; and, still further to ridicule his pretensions to royalty, they j)ut a reed into his right hand to represent a sceptre, and bowed the knee before him, saying, " Hail, King of the Jews ! " They also spat upon him, and took the reed out of his hand, and smote him on the head. While this profane mockery and cruelty were going on, Pilate received a message from his wife, charging him to have nothing to do with that just man. This, with other circumstances which came to light, caused the governor still further to hesitate. He went again into the judgment-hall, examined anew his bleeding victim, and was more earnest than before to release him. But, the more he wavered, the more fierce and clamorous were the Jews : "If thou let this man go, thou art not Csesar's friend. Crucify him ! crucify him ! " " When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person." Then tile Jews answered, and said, " His blood be on us and on our children," — an imprecation which has been most terribly fulfilled. When the Jews had received their victim, they took off from him the purple, put his own clothes upon him, and led him forth to the place of 'crucifixion. On the way, he was attended by his faithful female friends, who bewailed and lamented him, and to whom he administered words of consolation and instruction : " Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but Aveep for your- selves and for jonv children." Meanwhile the traitor Judas, when he knew that Jesus had been condemned, was sorry and distressed for what he had done ; not Avith that godly sorroAv which worketh repentance unto life, but with that sorroAv of the world Avhich Avorketh death : so he 500 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. brought back tlie thirty pieces of silver which he had received, and, ill his desperation, went out and hanged himself. The place of our Saviour's crucifixion is called Golgotha and Calvary ; but the precise locality is uncertain. We only know that it was without the walls of the ancient city, and probably on the north-western border. Here Jesus was led, bearing his cross (so long as he was able to bear it), and attended by two thieves, who were to suffer with him ; and here the Lord of life and glory was crucified. His hands and feet were nailed to the fatal wood ; the cross was erected ; and here he hung in shame and agony, — a monument at once of the justice and the grace of God, and of the insatiate cruelty of man. It was wliile the nails were driving through*his flesh, and every nerve within him must have twinged with the keenest torture, that he prayed for his murderers : " Father, forgive them ; for they know not what 'they do." * Our Saviour lived after he came to the cross about six hours ; i.e., from nine in the morning to three in the afternoon. During the first three hours, he was continually insulted and reproached by those who stood by. They wagged their heads, saying, " Ah ! thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself, if thou be the Son of God. He saved others : himself he cannot save." It was during these first hours that he commended his mother to the care of John, and pardoned and assured the penitent thief. At the end of three hours, i.e. about noon, there came a super- natural darkness over all the land until the ninth hour, — fit emblem of the darkness and horror which seem to have pervaded the pure mind of the Saviour during this period. At the ninth hour, when the sufferer could endiu^e no longer, he uttered that loud and bitter cry, " My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me ? " Shortly after, when he had sucked some vinegar from a sponge that was put to liis lips, and thus fulfilled the last predic- tion which had been uttered respecting his sufferings, -he said, "It is finished ; " and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost. Thus died the immaculate Son of God, and made expiation for the sins of the world. Thus ended in a moment all his sufferings, and liis pure soul took its flight to the paradise of God. No indig- * There is a discrepancy in the evangelists as to the time of the day when our Lord was crucified. Mark says it was the third hour, or about nine o'clock (xv. 25). John says it was about the sixth hour when Pilate delivered him up to be crucified {xix. 14). I incline to the opinion that the reading in John was originally the third hour; and to this agree some ancient manuscripts of very high authority. LIFE OF CHRIST. 501 nity was offered to his lifeless body, except that, to make sure of his death, it was pierced shortly after with a soldier's spear. But the throes and convulsions of Nature at this awful moment Avere terrible. In addition to the appalling darkness which brooded over the whole land, there was now a terrible earthquake, which rent the rocks asunder, and burst open the tombs. The thick veil of the temple which separated the holy from the most holy place was also rent in pieces ; thus indicating that the dispensation of types and shadows was ended, and that the way into the holy of holies was made manifest by the blood of the cross. The earthquake and the darkness put an end to the profane mockeries which had been so recently indulged in around the cross. Every one quaked and shuddered with fear : they smote upon their breasts, and said, " Certainly tliis was a righteous m,an ; he was the Son of God ! " Towards evening of the same day, Joseph of Arimathea, a member of the Sanhedrim, who had not consented to their vile proceedings, came boldly to Pilate, and asked that he might have the body of Jesus ; and, when Pilate had ascertained that he was truly dead, he gave the body to Joseph. Then Joseph, assisted by other friends, took down the body, and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth. Nicodemus also came to his assistance, bringing a hundreds pounds' weight of myrrh and aloes to prepare the body for its burial : and, having swathed it with the spices, they laid it in a new tomb near by which had been hewed out of a rock, in which no person had ever yet been laid ; and they rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre, and departed. During all this while, the faithful female friends of Christ had not deserted him for a moment. They saw him die ; saw him taken down from the cross ; followed him to the tomb, and saw where he was laid. The Jews, too, were on the alert. To make sure against any attempt to remove the body privately, they procured an order from Pilate that the door of the tomb should be sealed, and a watch set to guard it, at least until after the third. day. When this was done, the tomb was left in charge of the guards ; and friends and enemies departed together to keep the Passover sabbath, which by the Jews was regarded as a great day. And in truth it was a great day. Never before had such a sabbath been kept in Jerusalem. The chief priests and Pharisees were in high exultation, though not altogether without anxieties 502 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. and fears. The terrible portents attending the death of Jesus, together with his known prediction that he should rise on the third day, were enough to fill them with apprehension. To the friends of Christ, this sabbath was a time of deep distress. They knew not how to understand the trying scenes through which they had passed, or what to think of them. They trusted that they had found the long-promised Messiah who was to deliver' Israel ; but he was dead and buried, and all their hopes were buried with him. But the sabbath passed quietly away, and the night following it ; and the first day of the week began to dawn. And now we come to a new chapter in our Saviour's history, — his triumphant resur- rection, his occasional appearances for forty days, and his final and fflorious ascension into heaven. Some have thought it impossible to harmonize the different accounts of the evangelists in regard to our Saviour's resurrection and subsequent appearances ; but I am satisfied that they admit of a consistent harmony, and shall proceed to detail the several events in the order in which I suppose them to have taken place. Towards morning on the first day of the week, while the guard was keeping watch about the sepulchre, suddenly there was a great earthquake. One of the chiefest of the angels of light descended from heaven, rolled away the stone from the door of the sepulchre, and sat upon it. His countenance was like lightning, and his rai- ment white as snow. For fear of him the keepers trembled, swooned away, and became as dead men ; so that they were no longer able to see or tell what was passing around them. At this time, Jesus awoke from the dead, threw aside his grave-clothes, and left the sepulchre. At the same time, also, many bodies of the old saints which had been buried round about Jerusalem, and whose tombs had been burst open b}^ the earthquake at the time of Christ's death, arose from the dead, went into the holy city, and appeared unto many. While these things were passing at the sepulchre and among the dead, the female friends of Christ were awake, and preparing to go to the sepulchre,' that they might more formally and perfectly embalm the body of Jesus. Foremost among them were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joses, and Joanna, and some others ; and, as they passed along to the sepulchre, they had some anxiety and conversation between themselves respecting the stone at the mouth of it. It was very great ; and who should LIFE OF CHRIST. 503 assist them in rolling it away ? But, as they approached the sepul- chre, they saw that the stone was rolled away. The guard by this time had recovered from their swoon, and gone into -the city to report respecting the earthquake and the angel. As soon as the women saw that the stone had been removed, they stopped and turned back ; Avhile Mary Magdalene, leaving them, ran into the city to inform the disciples. And Peter and John arose, and ran to the sepulchre. They went down into it, and found the grave-clothes carefully laid away ; but the body was not there. They then returned in doubt and wonder to the city, leaving Mary Magdalene alone weeping at the sepulchre : and as she wept she stooped down, and looked into it ; and there she saw two angels sitting — the one at the head, and the other at the feet — where the body of Jesus had been laid. They seem to have been in the form of men, so that she Avas not frightened at all by the apparition. And one of them said, " Why weepest thou ? " She answered, " Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him." And, having said this, she turned round, and saw Jesus standing near her ; and, supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, " Sir, if you have removed the body of my Lord, please tell me where you have laid it, and I will take it away." Then Jesus said unto her in his usual voice and tone, " Mary ! " Instantly she knew him, and was about to fall at his feet and embrace him : but he told her, " No, not now : rather run quickly and tell my disciples what you have seen." While Mary Magdalene was gone with her message to the dis- ciples, the other women, from whom she had been separated, came to the sepulchre at the rising of the sun. They even ventured to go down into it ; and there, instead of the body of Jesus, they saw two angels in the form of men, — probably the same which had before appeared to Mary Magdalene, — sitting in shining garments on the right side of the sepulchre.* The angels spoke kindly to them, told them not to be affrighted, and no longer to seek the hving among the dead : " Your Lord is not here ; he is risen : come see the place where they laid him. And now go quickly and tell his disciples that he is indeed risen from the dead." And, as they went to tell the disciples, Jesus met them, and said unto them, "All hail!" And they fell together at his feet, and worshipped him. But he hastened their departure, as he had * Matthew and Mark speak of but one angel, — the one, it is likely, which addressed the women. 604 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. before done in the case of Mary Magdalene, saying, " Go tell my brethren that I am alive, and that ere long they shall see me." So they ran, and united their testimony with that of Mary Magdalene that they had seen the Lord. But the disciples were slow of heart to believe : they thought the women had been deluded, and their words seemed to them as idle tales. Some time in the course of the day, our Saviour appeared to Simon Peter ; but when he made this appearance, and under what circumstances, we are not informed (Luke xxiv. 34 ; 1 Cor. xv. 5). In the afternoon of this same day, he appeared to two of the disci- ples as they went to Emmaus, — a village a few miles west of Jeru- salem. One of these disciples was Cleopas, or Alpheus, the hus- band of Mary, and father of James and Joses. Appearing in another form, so that he was not recognized by the disciples, he discoursed with them on the way respecting the recent events at Jerusalem ; showed them that the Messiah promised in the Old Testament must necessarily suffer ; and, beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. Arrived at Emmaus, he went in to tarry with these disciples, and made himself known to them in the breaking of bread. As soon as they knew him, he vanished from their sight ; and they arose at once, and returned to Jerusalem. Here they found the apostles assembled with closed doors, and other disciples with them ; and no sooner had they commenced telling their story than Jesus himself appeared in their midst, and said, " Peace be unto you." They were all terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit ; but Jesus took measures to convince them that he was something more than a spirit. " Handle me and see ; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see me have." He kindly reproved them for their unbelief, and hardness of heart, in not receiving the testimony of those who had seen him after he was risen ; and then repeated the comforting salutation, " Peace be unto you. As my Father hath sent me, so send I you." Thus closed the transactions of this important day, — the first Lord's day under the new dispensation. Christ appeared visibly during the day no less than five times, — first, to Mary Magdalene ; secondl}^ to the other females; third, to Simon Peter; fourth, to the two disciples on the way to Einmaus ; and, fifth, to the assembled apostles and disciples at Jerusalem. A question arises here as to the properties of our Saviour's risen LIFE OF CHRIST. 505 body. Christ is spoken of in the Scriptures as "the first-fruits from the dead;" "the first that should rise from the dead," &c. (Acts xxvi. 23.) I suppose he was the first that ever rose with a proper resurrection-body, — rose to die no more. And the ques- tion presents itself, Wliat where the projjerties of his raised body ? It evidently had some properties after the resurrection which it had not before : it could enter and leave a room with closed doors ; it could go from place to place otherwise than by the ordinary processes of locomotion ; it could appear in (^her than its natural form ; it could make itself visible and invisible at pleasure. And yet it seems not to have parted with all its grossness. It had " flesh and bones," if not flesh and blood ; and, in repeated instances afteir the resurrection, we find our Saviour partaking of material food. I know not how to account for all the phenomena in the case but by supposing that the change from the natural to the spiritual body commenced at his resurrection, but was not consummated till the time of his ascension. As he was to remain on the earth forty days, and furnish " infallible proofs," meanwhile, of his resurrec- tion from the dead, it was necessary that his body should retain at least some of its natural properties ; else how could these " infalli- ble proofs " be given ? But when they had been adequately fur- nished, and his work on earth was done, and he was about to ascend to the right hand of God in heaven, then these remaining natural properties were laid aside, and the entire spiritual body, in all its fulness and glory, was assumed. From the first Lord's day to the second, our Lord made no visi- ble manifestation of himself: nor do we know how the disciples were employed ; but when they were again assembled, on the second Lord's day, Christ appeared in the midst of them as before. The circumstances under which he appeared were these : Thomas was not with them at the previous meeting, nor had he yet seen his risen Lord ; and he was very incredulous as to his being alive : " Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe." Now, though his unbelief was quite inexcusa- ble, yet was his gracious Master pleased to overlook it, and take him at his word. Thomas was present on the second Lord's day, when Christ said to him, " Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands ; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side ; and be not faithless, but believing." The incredulous disciple was 506 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. overcome at once. He exclaimed in accents of joy and wonder, " My Lord and my God ! " Our Lord's next appearance was in Galilee, where the disciples had gone in expectation of meeting him (see Matt, xxviii. 7). They were together near the lake, and concluded to go a-fishing. All night they had toiled, and taken nothing. In the morning, a stranger appeared on the shore, and asked if they had any meat. They told him they had none. Then said he unto them, " Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find." They did so, and enclosed more fishes than they could draw to the shore. And now it was evident to them all that this apparent stranger was the Lord. At once they rushed on shore to meet him, and had a most interesting season of communion with him. It was at this time that he thrice demanded of Peter, " Lovest thou me ? " and received the thrice-repeated protestations of Peter's love. It was at this time that he predicted Peter's martyrdom, and intimated that John might long survive him. Our Savioiu''s ne;i:t appearance was also in Galilee, on a moun- tain, where he had appointed to meet his friends, and where " he was seen by more than five hundred brethren at once. After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles" (1 Cor. XV. 6, 7). Our Lord repeatedly met his disciples at Jerusalem, and instructed them in the things pertaining to his kingdom. He told them that all power Avas given unto him in heaven and on earth, and directed them to tarry, at Jerusalem until they were endued with power from on high. He instituted Christian bap- tism, — baptism in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, — and made it one of the standing ordinances of his kingdom. And whereas he had formerly restricted them in their missionary labors to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, he now greatly enlarged their commission : " Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." He promised to aid them by mi- raculous powers and gifts as long as these should be needed, and to be with them by his gracious Spirit even unto the end of the world. And now the forty days of his continuance on earth were ended, and the time of his ascension had come. He met his disciples in Jerusalem, and led them out over the Brook Kedron, by the same path in which they went the night before the crucifixion. And when they came to Bethany, on the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives, he lifted up his hands and blessed them ; and it came to LIFE OF CHRIST. 507 pass, while he blessed them, that he was separated from them, and a cloud received him out of their sight. And, while they looked steadfastly towards heaven, suddenly two angels stood beside them, and said, " Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye here gazing towards heaven ? This same Jesus which has been taken from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven." And the disciples worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. They spent most of the time for the next eight or ten days in some one of the porches of the temple in united prayer, waiting for the promised descent of the Holy Spirit. It will be seen from the above account that our Saviour's ap- pearances after his resurrection were confined to his disciples and friends. And the question has been asked, " Why did he not appear to the unbelieving Jews, and. convince them all, at once, of his resurrection and Messiahship ? " I migljt answer this question by asking another : " Why does not Christ appear now in celestial glory, and substantiate his divinity and his Messiahship at once and forever ? " I can conceive of two reasons why Christ did not appear to his enemies after his resurrection. In the first place, they were not in a state of mind to be convinced by any amount of evidence which he could consistently afford them. They had perverted all the evidence which had been given them during his life ; had charged him with blasphemy ; had ascribed his miracles to Beelzebub ; had procured his murder, and imprecated his blood upon themselves and their children ; and in these ways had proved themselves to be incorrigible. If Christ had appeared to them after his resurrec- tion, they would have called him a spectre, an illusion, a demon ; any thing, rather than the risen Saviour. Hence, secondly, these Jews had reached the point (or many of them had) to which sinners under the gospel not unfrequently come, — the point of judicial abandonment. God had said of them, as he had long before said of Ephraim, " Let them alone." They had been given over to hardness of heart, and blindness of mind ; and no further means of instruction or conviction were to be wasted upon them. I have thus presented a brief sketch of the life of Christ, — the briefest possible that should contain a connected account of the facts of his history. And, now, are we not all ready to say in review, 508 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. " A wonderful life, a divine life ! — fuUy attesting his high claims to be the Son of God and the Saviour of the world " ? Such a life surely is worthy our daily and constant study. It can never grow old to us ; it can never be pondered but with interest and profit to the Christian. The Lord assist each one of us to study as we ought the life of Christ ! and, in so doing, may we drink deep of his spirit, grow into his image and likeness, and thus be preparing for his everlasting kingdom ! PEEIOD I. THE CHURCH UNDER THE APOSTLES AND THEIR IMMEDIATE SUCCESSORS. CHAPTER V. THE OPENING OF THE NEW DISPENSATION. THE last three chapters were occupied with the life of Christ. I have spoken of his work of humiliation and suifering on the earth, of his resurrection from the dead, and of his triumphant ascension into heaven. We are now to treat of the opening of the new dispensation under the apostles. I have before said that the Church of God, though passing through several dispensations, has always been the same body : " My dove, my undefiled, is but one : she is the only one of her mother." Pious persons in every age have not only possessed, but professed, the same true religion, and have been members of the same Church of the living God. Righteous Abel belonged to the same Church with Abraham, and Abraham to the same with Moses, and Moses to the same with Peter, John, and Paul, and they to the same with Christians now. The dispensations have changed ; but the Church has remained the same. The earliest dispensation of God's Church, as I have before re- marked, was the patriarchal. This was succeeded by the Mosaic dispensation, which commenced at Sinai at the giving of the law. The Israelites had now ceased to be a tribe or clan, and had become a nation. They grew to be a great and powerful nation, of which God was the Sovereign and the Head, and in which Church and State were inseparably united. Under the gospel, although the Church entered upon a new dis- 509 510 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. pensation, it still continued to be the same body. Christ came, not to destroy the floor, but to purge it (Ma'tt. iii. 12). Accord- ing to his own prediction, the Gentiles were gathered into the same kingdom or church of God from which the unbelieving Jews were ejected (Matt. viii. 11). They were grafted into the same olive-tree from which the Jews were broken off (Rom. xi. 17). But ivhen did the Mosaic economy end, and that of the gospel begin ? And who constituted the Churchy — the acknowledged visible Church, which passed over from the one to the other? These are important questions, and require a careful consideration. 1. When did the Mosaic dispensation end, and that of the gospel begin ? It is generally conceded that the Mosaic dispensation continued till the coming of Christ, and till he entered upon his public ministry. Did it cease then ? or did it continue till his death ? My own opinion is, that the Mosaic dispensation did not cease till the death of Christ. In proof of this, I urge the follow- ing reasons : — * 1. Our Saviour observed all the rites of the Mosaic dispensation to. the end of his life, and enjoined their observance upon others. Soon after his birth, he was brought to the temple to be presented as the first-born unto the Lord (Luke ii. 22). At the age of twelve years, he went up with his parents to the Passover, accord- ing to the custom of the feast ; and, from that time to the day of his death, we find him a punctual attendant upon all the fes- tivals and rites of the Jewish religion. He worshipped in the synagogue every sabbath. During his public ministry, we find him in Jerusalem at the Feast of the Dedication, at the Feast of Tabernacles, and repeatedly at the Passover. He celebrated the Passover with his disciples on the last evening of his life. And he not only observed these institutions himself ; he enjoined them upon others : " The scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do ; but do not ye after their works " (Matt, xxiii. 2). " Go thy waj^, show thyself to the priest, and offer the gift which Moses com- manded, for a testimony unto them " (Matt. viii. 4). Certainly the Mosaic institutions must have been binding at this time, else our Saviour would not have observed them, and so positively en- joined them. 2. The bloody rites of the Mosaic dispensation lost none of their significance until the death of Christ. The great object of these rites was to prefigure his death. The blood of bulls and lambs THE NEW DISPENSATION. 511 and goats had no efficacy in itself : its use and efficacy all lay in its typical character and import. It directed the faith of the offerer to a nobler sacrifice, a more precious blood, which alone was able to cleanse from sin. Hence these bloody rites must continue until that nobler sacrifice was offered, and that more precious l^lood was spilt. They were as significant and as necessary the year, the month, the day, before the crucifixion, as they had been in the days of Moses or of Samuel. Hence, — 3. We find it expressly stated by the apostle Paul, that the ordi- nances of the Mosaic dispensation terminated, not at the birth of Christ, nor at the commencement of his public ministry, but at Ms death : " Blotting out the hand-writing of ordinances that was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross " (Col. ii. 14). It was on the cross, th-en, that the* rites of the old dispensation were taken out of the way. It was the sacrifice of the cross which removed their significancy and necessity ; and when these were gone, and there was no further use for them, they ceased to be binding, and ere long ceased to be observed. And with them • ? ended the dispensation of which they were an integral part. Immediately after the death and resurrection of Christ, we find the Church in a new position. It has entered on the dispensation of the gospel. New rit^es have been instituted, and are beginning to be observed. The Lord's Supper was instituted at the close of the last Passover, — as late as it could be previous to the death of Christ. Christian baptism was instituted after the resurrection of Christ, but before his ascension : " Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." There had been baptisms in the Church previous to this. Paul speaks of " divers washings," or baptisms, among the institutions of Moses (Heb. ix. 10). There had been the baptism of John, and the baptisms administered by the disciples of Christ during his public ministry ; but none of these were proper Christian baptism. They all belonged to the old dispensation, which continued till the death of Christ ; and, besides, they were not administered in the name of the Trinity. Accord- ingly, we find those who had received John's baptism afterwards receiving Christian baptism at the hands of the apostles (Acts xix. 5). II. We come now to our second inquiry : Who constituted the visible Church, which, at the time of Christ's death, passed over from the old dispensation to the new ? Not the whole body of the 512 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. Jewish nation, which had constituted the visible Church before. This people, generally, had rejected their Messiah : " He came to his own ; but his own received him not." He had appeared among them with all needed evidence to substantiate his claims. They had seen his miracles ; they had listened to his words ; and, while a faithful few adhered to him, the great body of the nation had openly rejected him. They had been in a fearful sense the pro- curers of his death; and now 'his death had done for them what they little expected, — it had blotted out forever the handwriting of Jewish ordinances ; it had put an end to the dispensation of Moses, of which they were so tenacious and so proud ; it had sun- dered their connection with the visible, or even the nominal. Church of God ; it had brought that Church out into a new dispensation, with which they had no spnpathy, and to the privileges of which they had no claim. As the idolatrous world was abandoned at the calling of Abraham, and the visible Church thenceforth was con- fined to his family ; so the great body of Abraham's descendants were now abandoned, and the Church was confined to the faithful few who had followed Christ in the regeneration, and adhered to him through the dark period of his sufferings and death. The hour of Christ's death, then, was" the time of the great excision^ — when the fioor of the visible Church was purged ; when the great body of its members were broken off for their unbelief ; when the stock of the good olive was pruned almost to utter naked- ness, preparatory to the reception of new and better branches. The faithful few who adhered to Christ through the period of his trial, and thus proved themselves to be his true disciples and followers, — these were they who bridged the gulf of separation ; who passed over from the old dispensation to the new ; and who, sub- sequent to the resurrection of Christ, constituted the Church of the living God. Here were the eleven apostles ; here were Christ's faithful female friends, — "last at the, cross, and first at the sepul- chre." The whole number of names, we read in one place, was a hundred and twenty. On another occasion, there seem to have been^ue hundred assembled together. We nowhere read of a higher number than this. These then, at the first, constituted the Ghurch of the new dispensation. They were the only remaining branches of the stricken and terribly pruned olive-tree. They were the nucleus about which the Christian world was now to gather, and into which converted Jews and Gentiles were soon to be received. And here we see the reason why these five hundred brethren THE NEW DISPENSATION. 513 and sisters, more or less, did not receive Christian baptism, and were not formally admitted to membership in the Christian Church. They were members of the Church already. They had never been exscinded. They were church-members under the former dispen- sation ; and, when all the rest were cut off for their unbelief, these alone remained. It was their privilege, and theirs alone, to stand " the refiner's fire and the fuller's soap ; " to abide the great win- nower's fan ; to pass over the' separating line between Moses and Christ ; and to constitute the Church of the new dispensation. Of course, they did not need to be taken into this Church : they were never out of it. They had received the seal of the church- covenant under the former dispensation, and needed not to have it rej)eated under the new. But, as soon as the unbelieving exscinded Jews began to be con- verted, those being out of the Church must be taken into it : they must receive the initiatory rite of baptism. The apostles under- stood this matter, and baptized all those who were received at the Pentecost and on subsequent occasions. And though many of these, undoubtedly, had been baptized by John, this made no dif- ference. John's baptism was a mere preparatory rite ; it was not Christian baptism ; and when any were received to the Christian Church, whether Jews or Gentiles, they must be baptized. The period we have here contemplated — the time of Christ's suffering and death — was the most deeply interesting one in the whole history of the church or of the world. It was so on many accounts, and particularly this : The Church of God was now purged and purified ; its decayed and rotten branches were broken off ; while the faithful few who loved their Saviour and trusted in him, being sheltered in the arms of the everlasting covenant, passed over the line of separation, and became the Church of the Neio Tes- tament., — the Church which, in after-days, was to expand and fill the earth ; which was to exist thenceforth, without any further change of dispensation, to the end of time. Around this little body, which had been saved from the wreck of the old Jewish Church, others began almost immediately to cluster. In a few days, the number was three thousand ; in a little time more, it had swelled to five thousand. It spreads beyond Jerusalem into Sama- ria and Galilee and other parts of Palestine ; it opens its bosom to the Gentile as well as the Jew ; and, within the period of a sin- gle generation, it diffuses itself throughout the greater part of the then known world. But wherever diffused, from that day to the 33 514 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. present, it looks back always to the same humble beginning, — to that little band who were believers before the death of Christ; who, of course, were not exscinded for their unbelief ; who passed over, church-members, from one dispensation to the other, and were the connecting link between the two. A most interesting period, this, in the history of the Church of Christ, — the crowning event of which, and the greatest event that ever occurred on this earth, was the death of Christ. Before our Lord's ascension, he had promised his disciples the gift of the Holy Spirit ; and he had directed them to tarry in Jeru- salem until this promise was fulfilled. Accordingly, they returned from Mount Olivet into the city, and spent most of the time for the next eight or ten days in united and earnest prayer. They had a protracted meeting for conference and prayer ; they were "with one accord in one place," imploring the descent of that blessed Comforter which their divine Master had promised to bestow. The only article of business to which they attended in this interval was the appointment of Matthias, in place of Judas Iscariot, to the apostleship. But when the day of Pentecost was fully come, and the disciples were assembled in their usual place* of meeting (which, I supj)ose, was one of the porches or chambers about the temple), suddenly the Holy Spirit came upon them like a rushing mighty wind from heaven, filling all the place where they were sitting, and filling each of their hearts with light and love. It was attended also with miraculous appearances and gifts : for there appeared in the room pointed, glittering, lambent flames, in shape like tongues of fire, and they settled on the heads of each of the apostles ; and imme- diately these apostles began to speak with pther tongues, — in languages which they had never learned, — as the Holy Spirit gave them utterance. Jerusalem was at this time filled with people, — Jcavs, speaking different languages, from all the surrounding countries, -— who had come together to celebrate the Pentecost : so, when the strange occurrences in the apostles' meeting came to be known, many rushed in there to see and hear for themselves ; and they were all amazed and confounded to hear these unlettered Galileans speaking the languages of the nations round about, — the Median, the Per- sian, the Chaldsean, the Greek, the Arabic, the Egyptian, the Roman, — and publishing forth, in all, the wonderful works of God. And not knowing what else to make of it, and resolved to THE NEW DISPENSATION. 515 turn it, if possible, to the discredit of the apostles, some insisted that the J must be intoxicated. But Peter, standing up in the midst, refuted this slander in few words. He then went on to preach to the people a long and pointed discourse, in which he explained to them the nature and cause of the strange appearances which they had witnessed. This was no other than an outpouring of the Spirit in fulfilment of an ancient prediction of the prophet Joel. It was also a fulfilment of an express promise of Jesus, who had been crucified and slain, but whom God had raised from the dead, and taken up visibly into heaven ; of which, said he, " we all are witnesses." He proceeded to show that this same Jesus was the promised Messiah, and that they had been guilty of crucifying the Lord from heaven. When the people heard this, they were pricked to the heart. Their hearts bled and brake under a sense of their guilt ; and they began to cry out in bitterness of soul, " Men and brethren, what shall we do ? " To this inquiry, Peter had an answer ready : " Repent, and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins ; and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." The people complied with this direction on the spot ; and the same day there were added to the little company of disciples no less than three thousand souls. It has been often asked, " On what day of the week did this great outpouring of the Spirit occur ? " I have no doubt that it occurred on the first day of the tveek, — that wliich was afterwards called the Lord's Day. The Pentecost always occurred on the first day of the Jewish week. The law of the Pentecost runs in this wise : " From the morrow after the sabbath," i.e. the sabbath in the Passover week, " ye shall count unto you seven sabbaths, even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath ; " and then the Pente- cost begins (Lev. xxiii. 15, 16). This festival was called the Feast of Weeks'^ and the Feast of the First-fruits. It is called Peritecost, from the Greek mvTrfAovra., " fifty," because it came fifty days after the Passover. As it was appointed to commence on " the morrow after the seventh Jewish sabbath," reckoning from the sabbath of the Passover week, of course it must always commence on the first day of the Jewish week, which is our Lord's Day, or Sunday. Our Saviour honored and set apart the first day of the week by his resurrection from the dead ; he further honored it by appear- ing repeatedly to his disciples on this day after his resurrection ; and now he put, if possible, a still higher honor upon it by pouring 516 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. out his Spirit on this day, and gathering in the first-fruits of the Christian harvest. The great accession to the Church on the day of Pentecost changed materially the position and circumstances of the disciples. From being a feeble, despised band, they now came to be a great company ; they were in honor and favor with the people ; and " continuing with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they did eat their meat with gladness, and singleness of heart ; and the Lord added unto them daily such as should be saved." It is said of them at this time, that " they sold their possessions, and parted to all men as every one had need." They " had all things common," This measure was partly one of necessity, show- ing at the same time their abounding liberality. Many of these new disciples were strangers in Jerusalem, drawn together for the purpose of celebrating the feast. Probably the greater part of them were not residents in the city. They were thrown together in these peculiar circumstances from all parts of Palestine, and from beyond it ; they were draAvn together by the cords of Chris- tian love ; they felt as though they could not be separated, at least for a time. But how were they to subsist ? How shall they be supported ? These trying questions were readily answered : " Let us put all our property into a common stock, and live upon it so long as it lasts : when it is gone, the Lord will provide." It is very certain that this mode of living was never designed to be perpetuated in the Church. It came in for the time as a meas- ure of necessity ; and, when the necessity ceased, it passed away. The next noticeable event in the history of the infant Church was the healing of the lame man at the gate of the temple. This excited much attention, and led to many inquiries among the peo- ple ; in replying to which, Peter was led to deliver another of his stirring discourses. He charged home upon the Jews, as before, the guilt of rejecting and murdering the Lord ; and concluded by solemnly calling them to repentance : " Repent, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out." The result of this discourse was another large addition to the Church. The whole number had now come to be five thousand. The Jewish rulers, therefore, thought it time for them to inter- fere. They had hoped that the death of Jesus would effectually scatter and discomfit his followers : but they were preaching, work- ing miracles, and making many proselytes ; and something effectual THE NEW DISPENSATION. 517 must be clone. So tliey laid hold of Peter and John, and put them in prison, and brought them before the council for examination. At their examination, Peter addressed the rulers of his nation in the boldest, plainest manner. He asserted the resurrection and ascension of Christ, together with his divine authority and power, and proclaimed liim the only Saviour of lost men : " Neither is there salvation in any other ; for there is none other name given amojig men whereby we must be saved." The Jewish rulers were puzzled to know what to do with their prisoners. They had committed no offence against the laws ; and they were in great favor with the people generally. They con- cluded, therefore, to threaten them, and let them go. Thus far the Lord had favored his Church with uninterrupted prosperity : it had had nought but one continued shower of bless- ings. The time had come when it needed a trial ; and so a trial was sent. It came in the detected hypocrisy and death of two of their own number. Ananias and Sapphira had drifted into the Church on the high-tide of the Pentecost revival, without having the selfishness of their hearts subdued ; and yet they wished to stand well Avith the disciples, and keep up the appearance of being as liberal as any of them. So when they saw others selling their land, and laying the proceeds at the feet of the apostles, they con- cluded that they w^ould do the same. They sold their land, and brought a part of the proceeds to the apostles, pretending at the same time to have brought it all. And here was their error and their sin. They were not obliged to sell their land unless they chose ; and, when they had sold it, they might have retained the whole price of it, or any part of the price, in their own hands, if they pleased. But they deceived and lied about it. They wished to have the credit of giving up all, when in fact they kept back a part. But the lie was instantly detected, and they were struck down dead for their sin. An awful example to the infant Church of the guilt and danger of hypocrisy ! an awful warning to those who knew of it then, who have since read of it, or ever will read of it to the end of the world, to be afraid of sinning against the Holy Ghost, and tempting the Almighty in similar ways ! CHAPTER VI. EARLY LABORS AND SUCCESSES OF THE APOSTLES. LIVES OF THE APOSTLES COMMENCED. THE last chapter closed with an account of the death of Ana- nias and Sapphira. The apostles had been once already before the Jewish rulers, but were dismissed with the simple charge that they should stop their preaching, — a thing which, of course, they were determined not to do. Hence, as they continued to preach, and work miracles, and great numbers were attracted to them, they were arrested and imprisoned again ; but the angel of the Lord opened the prison-doors by night, brought them out, and said unto them, " Go stand and speak to the people in the temple all the words of this life." They did so ; and hence, when the rulers called for them the next day, instead of finding them in the prison, they found them engaged in tlieir old work of preaching. They summoned them to a trial, and perhaps might have punished them ; but Gamaliel, a celebrated doctor of the Jewish law, dis- suaded them from it : " Refrain from these men, and let them alone : for, if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought ; but, if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it, lest haply ye be found to fight even against God." This good advice was heeded by the Jewish rulers ; and so, with another charge to stop their preaching, the apostles were dismissed. The next important event in the history of the mother Church at Jerusalem was the choice of deacons. In addition to their duties as teachers, the apostles, with such other help as they could ob- tain, had been much engaged in distributing supplies from the common stock, and especially in caring for the poor ; and, after all their labor, entire satisfaction was not given. There was a mur- muring of the foreign Jews against the Hebrews because their widows were overlooked in the daily ministration. Wherefore the apostles called the Church together, and said, " It is not meet 518 LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 519 that we should leave the word of God to serve tables. Choose 3^011, therefore, seven men, of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and of wisdom, Avhom we may appomt over this business ; but we Avill give ourselves to prayer and the ministry of the word." This suggestion was cordially accepted by the Church: the seven deacons were appointed, and solemnly consecrated to their work by the imposition of hands, and prayer. The first-named of these deacons, and probably the most dis- tinguished and eloquent among them, was Stephen. He wrought numerous miracles, and was much engaged in propagating the faith. Being a foreign Jew himself, he had frequent disputes in the synagogue of the foreign Jews ; and they, being unable to withstand him in argument, undertook to destroy his life. They arraigned him before the Sanhedrim on the charge of having spoken blasphemous words against Moses and against God. In his defence, Stephen delivered a long and eloquent discourse, sketching the history of God's dealings with the Israelitish nation in ancient times, that he might overcome prejudice, and better in- troduce his testimony in favor of Christ. The Jewish rulers heard him for a while ; but at length, becoming impatient, they inter- rupted him, and brought his address to a sudden conclusion : " Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost : as your fathers did, so do ye." Hearing this, the Jews were cut to the heart, and gnashed upon Stephen with their teeth. But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and said, ''' Behold, I see the heavens opened, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God." Then the Jews cried out " Blasphemy ! " with a loud voice, and ran upon him with one accord, and thrust him out of the city, and stoned him. So Stephen died, like liis divine Master, with the language of for- giveness and supplication on his lips : " Lord Jesus, receive my spkit ; " " Lord, lay not this sin to their charge." If it be inquired, " Where was Pilate at this time ? and what au- thority had the Jews to put Stephen to death without his consent and approbation?" my answer is, that Stephen may have died in a popular tumult, without the regular forms of law ; or Pilate may have been at the time absent from Jerusalem ; or (what is more probable) he may have given a general license to persecute and de- stroy the Christians. Having put their Master to death, he may have permitted the Jewish rulers to treat his followers as they pleased. There was one young man particularly active in the murder of 520 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. Stephen, of whom we shall hear much in the subsequent history of the Apostolic Church. This was Saul of Tarsus. The false witnesses Avho accused Stephen, and afterwards stoned him, laid down their clothes at the feet of Saul. The murder of Stej)hen was but the prelude to a great perse- cution against the Christians, in which Saul of Tarsus was par- ticularly active. It is said that " he made havoc of the Church," entering into the houses of the Christians, and committing many of them to prison ; and, when they were put to death, he gave his voice against them (Acts xxvi. 10). But this persecution, though most maliciously intended and wickedly executed, was overruled for the furtherance of the gospel. Up to this time, the Christian community had clung together at Jerusalem. They revered the apostles ; they loved one another ; and they were unwilling to be separated. But God designed that they should be separated, and he overruled their bitter persecution for this very purpose. The apostles still resided, for the most part, at Jerusalem ; but the members of the Church were scattered abroad. And, to whatever parts of the land they were driven, they carried the gospel message with them : " They went forth every- where preaching the Word." Their labors, we have reason to know, were not in vain ; for almost immediately we begin to hear of little communities of Chris- tians in all the principal cities of Palestine and Syria. The success of one of these first missionaries was so considerable, that the pen of inspiration has recorded it. Philip, one of the seven deacons (who very soon became an evangelist), went down to Samaria, and preached Christ there. The Samaritans were at this time greatly interested in the performances of one Simon, a magician, who pre- tended to work wonders, and to have at his command the great power of God ; but when Philip came among them, and preached the gospel, and performed, not magical tricks, but real miracles^ they all forsook Simon, and gathered round the evangelist. And very soon there was a great revival of religion, and many were baptized. Even Simon himself professed to be a believer, received baptism, and continued with Philip, beholding the signs and miracles which were done. Soon the apostles at Jerusalem heard of the success of Philip's labors,, and sent to his assistance Peter and John. When these were come, they did for the new converts at Samaria what Philip could not do, — they laid their hands upon them, and unparted to LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 521 them the miraculous influences of the Holy Ghost ; in other words, they imparted the power of performing miracles. These converts had received the Holy Ghost already in liis awakening and sanctifying influences ; but now they received his miraculous influences. This gift could be imparted by the laying-on of the apostles' hands, and in no other way. Others wrought miracles in the apostolic age ; but none but the apostles could impart the gift. And this was that which Simon the sorcerer wanted to buy, — not the power of' performing miracles, but the apostolical power of imparting the gift : " Give me ailso this power, that, on whom- soever I lay my hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost." His preferring such a request as fliis, accompanied by the offer of money, was what revealed the secrets of his character, and led Peter to say to him, with mingled emotions of indignation and scorn, " Thy money perish with thee ! Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter ; for thy heart is not right in the sight of God." When a church had been planted and organized at Samaria, the apostles returned to Jerusalem ; and Philip was sent by the Spirit on another errand. He must travel into the south of Palestine to meet the Ethiopian eunuch, and preach the gospel of salvation to him. The eunuch was soon convinced, converted, and baptized, and returned to the court of his royal mistress rejoicing ; and Philip, turning his feet northward, preached in all the cities till he came to Csesarea. While these things were transacting in other parts of the land, Saul was still engaged in his bloody work at Jerusalem. Nor was he satisfied to confine his persecuting zeal to the holy city ; but, hearing that there were Christians at Damascus, he went to the high priest, and desired of him letters to the synagogues at Da- mascus, that, if any of the hated sect were secreted there, he might ferret them out, and bring them bound unto Jerusalem. But the end of Saul's persecuting career was now come ; for, as he approached Damascus on his journey thither, suddenly there shone round about him a light from heaven, before which he was instantly struck bhnd, and prostrated. And then he heard a voice crying in his ear, " Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me ? " And Saul astonished asked, " Who art thou. Lord? " And the Lord said, " I am Jesus ivliom thou jyersecutest.^'' And now, if a thunder- bolt had struck the prostrate persecutor, he could not have been more confounded. He saw at once what he. had been doins:. He 522 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. saw that tliis Jesus of Nazareth was really what he claimed to be, — the Messiah of the Scriptures, whom he had been mfidly persecuting in his followers. He saw his guilt, his danger, his ruin ; and he seems to have submitted to his Redeemer at once. And so, turning to him the eye of faith (for his natural eye was for the time extinguished), he said to him in accents of love, " Lord, ivJiat wilt thou have me to do ? " As much as to say, " My whole course of life is changed. I am now 3'our servant. I am ready to do any thing. Lord, wilt thou accept me ? Lord, what wilt thou have me to do ? " Being risen from the earth, Saul was led by the hand into Da- mascus, where, after three days of reflection and repentance, he was baptized by Ananias, and became a member of the Christian Church. At the same time, his sight was restored to him.; and he began at once to preach Christ in the synagogues, proving to his Jewish brethren that he is the Son of God. About this time, the apostle Peter performed a missionary tour through different parts of Palestine. In the course of it, he visited Lydda, — a town lying between Jerusalem and Joppa, about a dozen miles from the latter place. Here he healed Eneas of a palsy which had confined him to his bed eight years. This miracle ar- rested the attention of the people ; and great numbers in Lydda and in the surrounding country were converted. While Peter was laboring in this revival, a very solemn event occurred at Joppa. A beloved female disciple, whose name was Dorcas, was taken sick, and died. And forasmuch as Lydda was nigh to Joppa, and the bereaved friends had heard that Peter was there, they sent messengers unto him, desiring that he woidd not delay to come to them. So Peter went with them to Joppa, and visited the family of the deceased woman ; and, in answer to his prayer, she was raised from the dead. This great miracle extended still farther the fame of the apostle ; and many in Joj)pa believed on the Lord. It was while Peter was staying at Joppa that he had his vision of the great sheet let down from heaven, on which were all man- ner of beasts, clean and unclean, and creeping things, and fowls of the air ; and Peter was astonished to hear himself commanded to eat of them promiscuously, — a thing which he had never done, and which he was forbidden to do by the Jewish law. While Peter was revolving this strangef command, he received a message from Ccesarea which threw some light upon it, and helped him to understand it arifrht. LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 523 It seems that at Caesarea, a city about thirty miles north of Joppa, there resided a pious military officer whose name was Cor- nelius. Though still a Gentile, he had come to a knowledge of the true God, and was a devout and spiritual worshipper. In answer to his prayers, an angel had appeared to him, who directed him to send to Joppa for Peter, who would come and instruct him in the gospel. Accordingly, he sent ; and the messengers of Cor- nelius arrived at Joppa just as Peter had recovered from his vision. Putting the two revelations. together, Petei- could not doubt as to the import of his call or as to the path of duty. He must go with the messengers of Cornelius, and open the door of faith to the Gentiles, though in so doing he might contravene some of the pre- cepts of the Jewish law. Accordingly, he went with them, met Cornelius and his family, and preached to them the gospel ; and, as he was preaching, the Holy Ghost fell on them as it did upon the disciples on the day of Pentecost, enabling them to speak with tongues, and to perform other miraculous works. Then Peter said, " Can any man forbid water that these should not be bap- tized, who have received the Holy Ghost as well as we ? And 'he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus." Such was the entrance of the gospel among the Gentiles, — a work which shortly spread, under the auspices of the converted Saul of Tarsus, into all parts of the Roman world. Peter was soon called to an account for what he had done by his Jewish brethren at Jerusalem ; but, when he had expounded the whole matter to them, they joyfully acquiesced, saying, " Then hath God granted also unto the Gentiles repentance unto life." The gospel was next preached to the Gentiles in the great city of Antioch, where many believed, and turned unto the Lord. When the brethren at Jerusalem heard of this revival at Antioch, they sent thither Barnabas, a native of Cyprus, " a good man, full of faith and the Holy Ghost," that he should go and assist his brethren. He did so, and had great encouragement in his labors ; but, finding the work too great for his strength, he went to Tarsus, and secured a most efficient helper in Saul, — afterAvards the great apostle of the Gentiles. These men now spent a whole year at Antioch,* where they gathered a flourishing church, and taught * It will be recollected that there are two Antiochs spoken of in the Acts. The one here j referred to was on the Orontes, in Syria, nearly opposite the Island of Cyprns, — aljout twenty miles from the Mediten-anean. It had been for a long time the chief city and capital of Syria. 524 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. mucli people ; and the disciples were first called Christians here at Antioch. Probably the name was first applied to them in reproach by their enemies ; but it was cheerfully adopted by them, and has been their glory ever since. While these things were going on so prosperously in Syria, the Church in Jerusalem was tlu^eatened with another persecution. Herod Agrippa, a grandson of Herod the Great, had come into favor with the Emperor Claudius, who gave him the entire kingdom of his grandfather. He reigned over Judsea and Palestine about three years, and then died in the wretched manner described in Acts xii. 23. It was during his short reign that " he stretched forth his hand to vex certain of the Church, and slew James, the brother of John, with the sword." This James was the first of the apostles who was called to seal his testimony with his blood. Finding that this act of cruelty was pleasing to the Jews, Herod next proceeded to take Peter also ; and, when he had apprehended him, he put him >.in prison under charge of no less than sixteen soldiers, intending, when the feast was over (for it was now the Passover), to bring him forth unto the people. But pra3'er was made without ceasing of the Church unto God for liim : and the prayers of God's people prevailed ; for, lo, while Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with chains, and the keepers of the prison were guarding the door, the angel of the Lord appeared in the prison, aAvoke the apostle, knocked off his chains, and said to him, " Gird on thy sandals, and follow me." So the angel led him forth through all the barred gates and guarded wards, till he was quite at liberty in the streets of Jerusalem. Being thus miraculously delivered, Peter wended his way to the house of IN'Iary, one of the sisters of the Church, where many were assembled for the purpose of prayer. He gained access to the meeting, rehearsed the story of his dehver- ance, commanded them to go and tell the other apostles of the fact, and then retired to some place of safety. After this event, we do not often hear of the apostle Peter in the sacred history. For several years, he seems to have resided for the most part at Jerusalem. Here Paul met him when he went up from Antioch to Jerusalem on the question of circum- cising the Gentile converts. This was about the year 49, — fourteen years subsequent to the conversion of Paid (Gal. ii. 1). It was at The other Antioch was in Pisidia, — some two hundred miles north-west of the former. Here Paul and Barnabas preached the gospel during their first missionary tour among the heathen. LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 525 this time that Paul received from Peter, James, and John the right hand of fellowship, that he should go to the heathen, while they continued to labor chiefly among the Jews. Soon after this, we find Peter at Antioch, where he dissembled through fear of the Jews, refused to associate with the Gentile converts, and acted contrary to the decree which had been passed at Jerusalem. For this his brother Paul rebuked him;- which rebuke he received in a Christian manner, being convinced, no doubt, that it was deserved. After this, he spent some time at Corinth ; for, when this Church became divided respecting its ministers, some claimed that they were of Paul, and some of ApoUos, and some of Cephas (i.e., Feter^, and some of Christ (1 Cor. i. 12). Still later in life, we find him at Babylon, — either Babylon in Egypt, or more probably New Babylon in Assyria, in the neighborhood of which many Jews had resided ever since the Babylonish captivity. It is from this place that Peter dates his First Epistle (1 Pet. v. 13). According tp Origen, Peter's last missionary labors were chiefly among the dis- persed Jews in the regions of Pontus, Galatia, Bithynia, Cappado- cia, and Asia ; and this agrees with the representation of Paul, that, while he was commissioned to go to the heathen, Peter was the apostle of the circumcision. It agrees also with the repre- sentation of Peter himself, who addresses his First Epistle " to the strangers," i.e. foreign Jews, " scattered throughout Pontus, Ga- latia, Cappadocia-, Asia, and Bithynia." The Romanists contend very strenuously that Peter resided long | at Rome, and was the first bishop of Rome ; but the Scriptures, ' instead of favoring this supposition, give their testimony decid- edly against it, Paul wrote his Epistle to the Romans about the. year 57, — long after Peter, according to the Papists, had become bishop of that Church ; yet there is not a word in it about Peter, nor so much as an intimation that he, or any other apostle, had ever been there. In the last chapter of this epistle, Paul sends salutations to beloved Christian friends at Rome, mentioning them by name, and stating a variety of circumstances respecting them ; but not a word do we find in respect to Peter. Two or three years . later, Paul himself arrived a prisoner at Rome, and was received | with great favor by the Church ; but still no mention is made of ' Peter. Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house at Rome, whence he wrote several of his epistles to the churches ; but in none of these epistles do we find the slightest allusion to 526 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. Peter. In one of his epistles, Paul says of those about him, "All seek their own, not the things that are Jesus Christ's " (Phil. ii. 21). And in his Second Epistle to Timothy, the last that the apostle ' ever wrote, he says, "At my first answer, no man stood with me ; but all men forsook me. I pray God that it may not be laid to , their charge" (2 Tim. iv. 16). If Peter was now at Rome, why did he desert his brother Paul on this trying occasion ? In view of all these representations, who can believe, that, up to the time of Paul's writing his Second Epistle to Timothy, Peter had ever resided at Rome, — much less that he had long been the bishop of that Church ? In short, there is no reason to suppose that Peter ever was, in the proper sense of the term, a bisJiop anywhere ; or, in other words, that he ever took upon himself a pastoral charge. He was an / apostle, and not a bishop. Not only are these two offices not the same : they are incompatible one with the other. An apostle is a missionary, a minister at large ; one who has (what Paul tells us he had) "the care of all the churches." A bishop has, or should have, a pastoral charge ; he is the overseer of a jDarticular flock ; he is confined in his attentions to some particular field of labor. But to what particular field of labor were the apostles individually con- fined ? They were appointed expressly that they might be " wit- l/iUwAiM jiggggg for Christ in Jerusalem, and in all Judsea, and in Samaria, 4'^*^! and to the uttermost part of the earth.'' They were given to the Church at large, and would have been guilty of a violation of duty had they confined their labors to any particular portion of it. Pe- ter is degraded by the supposition, that, from being a distinguished apostle, he became the bishop of a single city, even though that city were Rome. In short, we have no certain evidence that Peter ever saw the city of Rome ; though the probability is that he came there, or was carried there, a little while before his death. According to the unbroken testimony of the ancient Church, he was crucified at Rome in the persecution under Nero, — about the year 65. At his own request, he was crucified head downwards. The apostle Peter had a brother Andrew, who became a follower of Christ even sooner than he did. They were born at Bethsaida, near the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee ; were fishermen by / profession ; and were both of them disciples of John the Baptist. When John had pointed out Jesus as the Lamb of God who should take away the sin of the world, Andrew at once commenced fol- LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 527 lowing him. Shortly after, he found his brother Simon, and brought him to Christ ; and henceforward they followed the Lamb of God together. During the personal ministry of Christ, though Andrew was, so far as we know, a consistent and faithful disciple, still we hear but little of him. While his brother Peter was naturally for- ward, talkative, impulsive, Andrew was a very different character : he was a silent witness of our Saviour's miracles, and listener to his instructions, and received no special tokens of his Master's affection and regard. After the ascension of Christ, he doubtless remained for a time at Jerusalem, as all the other apostles did. He then went forth to pul)lish the gospel ; but the ancients are not agreed as to the field of his labors. Some think that he went into Scythia ; others, with more probability, assign him to different points in Greece. The modern Greeks regard him as the founder of the Church at By- zantium (afterwards Constantinople) ; but of this there is no cer- tain evidence. The story is, that, after long labor and great success in his chosen work of preaching the gospel to the nations, he was 'crucified at Patrse, a city of Achaia, by ^Egeas, the proconsul. The "Acts of his Passion" were early published by those who profess to have been witnesses of the scene ; but of their authenticity there is good reason to doubt. He is said to have been crucified on a cross in the form of an X ; which, from this circumstance, has been called St. Andrew's cross. There were two Jameses in the family of our Lord, — the senior and the junior, or the greater and the less. The elder James, who was the son of Zebedee and the brother of John, was the first of the apostles who suffered martyrdom. He was slain at Jerusalem, as before stated, by Herod Agrippa, — about the year 44. With a few words respecting him, this chapter will be concluded. These sons of Zebedee were native Galileans, born either at Capernaum or Bethsaida. Like Andrew' and Peter, they were fishermen ; and they seem to have inherited from their father more worldly substance than most of the apostles. John had a home, to which, after the crucifixion, he took the mother of our Lord, and where he nourished her as long as she lived. Peter, and the brothers James and John, were among the more favored discij)les of Christ, whom he called Boanerges (" sons of thunder "), and whom he admitted to a peculiar intimacy and privileges. These alone were allowed to go with him when he raised the daughter of the ruler of the synagogue from a state of apparent death to 528 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. life and health, when he went into the Mount of Transfiguration, and when he fell into that dreadful agony in the Garden of Geth- semane. These sons of Zebedee, though true and loving disciples, were not wholly divested of a worldly spirit : witness the request of their mother for them, — made, no doubt, with their concurrence, — that they might sit, the one on the right hand of their Lord, and the other on the left, in his kingdom ; witness also their un- christian proposal to call down fire from heaven upon the inhospit- able Samaritans. The Church of Rome has many traditions as to the missionary labors of James the Elder after the ascension of Christ ; but we have no proof that any of them are true. The apostles lingered about Jerusalem for several years after the crucifixion ; and the probability is that James was with them. It is not likely that he ever travelled as a missionary out of Palestine. He was put to death early, as I said, and buried at or near Jerusalem. The Romanists pretend, that, after several hundred years, his remains were disinterred, and carried into Spain ; but this is as improbable as most of their other legends. CHAPTER VII. LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. CONTINUED. 'TTT'E have already sketched the lives of Andrew, Peter, and V V James the brother of John. Of the original apostles, there were nine others, including Mattliias, who came into the place of Judas Iscariot ; but of the most of these we know very little except what stands connected with the personal history of Christ. It is commonly said that they all died as martyrs to the truth ; but this is more than can be affirmed with certainty. There were two Pliilips among the early disciples of Christ, — the one an apostle, and the other a deacon, and afterwards an evangelist. Philip the apostle was born at Bethsaida in Galilee, — the city of Apdrew and Peter : he had the honor to be the first who was expressly called to become a disciple of Christ. Very soon he finds Nathanael, and invites liim to become a fellow-disciple (John i. 46). From this time, Philip was a steady and consistent follower of Jesus, though not much is said of him in the Gospels. It was to Philip that our Lord propounded the question, when sur- rounded by famishing multitudes, " Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat ? " (John vi. 5.) It was to him that the Hel- lenist Jews, or proselytes, who came up to Jerusalem to the Pass- over, addressed themselves when desiring to see Jesus (John xii. 21). It was with him that our Lord had a discourse when just about to enter on his scene of suffering : " PhiUp saith unto him. Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him. Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip ? He that hath seen me hath seen the Father " (John xiv. 8). After the death and resurrection of Christ, we hear nothing of this apostle in the sacred liistory. The probability is, that he re- mained several years at Jerusalem with the other apostles. And, when he departed, we have no reliable information as to the region 34 529 530 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. of country to which he withdrew. It is generally thought that he visited the northern parts of Asia Minor, and finally died at Hie- rapolis in Phrygia. Fables we have in abundance respecting liis labors, sufferings, and martyrdom ; but they were got up at too late a period, and contain too many silly stories, to be worth re- peating. When Nathanael was invited by Philip to become a follower of Christ, he immediately consented. And, when Jesus saw him . coming, he said, " Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile ! " Nathanael is also called Bartholomew ; i.e., the son of Tholomew, or Tholomai : just as Simon is called Barjona ; and Joses, Barsabas. In the Gospels, we find Philip and Nathanael, or Philip and Bar- tholomew, constantly named together, indicating that they were special friends. • Nathajaael, like most of the other apostles, was a Galilean. His home, we are told, was at Cana of Galilee (John xxi. 2). We hear little of him in the sacred history, and have not the means of tracing his course with certainty after the dispersion of the apostles from Jerusalem. Tradition says that he travelled as far as the hither India, bordering upon Chaldsea ; and that he left there a copy of Matthew's Gospel, which was found long after by a missionary. From India he returned to North-western Asia, and joined his friend and fellow-apostle Philip at Hierapolis in Phrj^gia. After the death of Philip, he passed into Lycaonia and Armenia, where he laid down his life. The apostle Matthew, also called Levi, was, like the rest, a Galilean. His home was at or near Capernaum. He was the son of Alpheus, though not the same Alpheus who was the father of James and Jude (Mark ii. 14). He was a publican, or tax-gatherer, in the employ of the governor, whose business it was to collect and pay over the tribute-money. These publicans were peculiarly odious to the Jews : first, because they were, in general, rapacious and oppressive ; then the tribute itself, being a token of subjection, was an offence to the Jew ; and, thirdly, their office brought them so much in contact with Gentiles, that the strict Jew could hardly own them as belonging to his people. Hence, to the ears of the Jew, " publicans and sinners " were synonymous terms ; and they were regarded as among the vilest of mankind. Yet Matthew, though a native Jew, was a publican. His office was lucrative ; and he was rich. At an early period in his public ministry, as Jesus walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Matthew sitting in his LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 531 office, and receiving the tribute-money ; and he said unto him, '■'Folloiv me."" And Matthew rose up at once, left his office, his money-changing, his worldly business, — the grand source of his wealth and honor, — and became a follower of Christ. We have hardly an instance of more prompt obedience, and of apparently greater self-denial, in the Bible. To do honor to the Saviour, and show that he was not dissatisfied with the decision to which he had come, he invited our Lord and his disciples to dine with him, in company with several of his own profession. At this the Pharisees were offended, and gave vent to their pride and scorn by saying, " How is it that he eateth with publicans and sin- ners ? " After his election to the apostolate, we hear little of Matthew in the Gospels. He continued to follow Christ while he lived, and, after his death and resurrection, remained for a time with the other apostles in the vicinity of Jerusalem. It was here, that, in com- pliance with the request of his brethren, he wrote his Gos^Del, — the earliest of the four that were written. It is thought to have been written about eight years after the death of Christ. The tradition is, that Matthew wrote his Gospel in Hebrew, and that it was early translated into Greek. I cannot go into this question here ; nor dp I think it one of great importance. If our Greek copies are a translation, the translation was made under the eye of the apostles, and under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost. Hence it is as really the word of God as though it were an original pro- duction. Whether written originally in the Hebrew language, or not, it is certain that there was a Hebrew copy of Matthew's Gospel among the early Christians ; but this, falling into the hands of the Ebionites, and being by them garbled and interpolated, lost all credit in the Church. After leaving Judaea, it is very uncertain into what part of the world Matthew travelled, or what became of him. Amidst a crowd of legendary tales, the truth is irrecoverably lost. Among the apostles of Christ was Thomas, also called Didymus, or the twin. He was probably a Galilean, and a fisherman, like most of the other apostles ; though of this we are not certified in the Scriptures. During the ministry of Christ, Thomas was rather a listener than an active speaker. We have but few notices of him in the Gospels. When our Saviour would not be dissuaded by any considerations of personal danger from going into Judsea to raise Lazarus from the dead, Thomas said, " Let us also go, that we 532 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. may die with him ; " intimating not only his fears for the personal safety of his Master, but that he was willing to stand by him to the end. In his parting address to his disciples, our Saviour assured them that he was going to prepare a place for them ; and then added, " Whither I go ye know, and the way ye know." Thomas said unto him, " Lord, we know not whither thou goest, and how can we know the way ? " To this Jesus answered, " I am the way and the truth and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me." Upon the death of Christ, the disciples seem to have been dis- tracted with doubts and fears as to his resurrection and Messiahship : " We trusted that this had been he who should deliver Israel ; but he is dead and buried, and all our hopes are buried with him." This seems to have been the feeling which at the time possessed their minds ; and after our Saviour had risen, and appeared to his female friends, and they had told it to the disciples, their words seemed to them as idle tales ; and, after he had appeared to all the disciples except Thomas, still he was slow of heart to believe : " Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe." So, when Jesus appeared to the assembled dis- ciples on the second first day of the week, he furnished Thomas with the very test which he had required. He caused him to put his finger into the print of the nails, and to thrust his hand into his side. The incredulity of Thomas was at once overcome : he could only exclaim, " My Lord and my God ! " After the dispersion of the apostles from Jerusalem, Thomas is said to have gone into the East, — to the Medes, ' Persians, Par- thians, and Hindoos. There is this evidence that Thomas preached the gospel in India, and established churches, — that there is still a large body of Christians in the East which bear his name. They were found by the Portuguese when they took possession of some parts of India, and were visited by Dr. Buchanan early in the present century. Dr. Buchanan received from them a copy of the Syriac Scriptures, and was gratified to find that it agreed almost entirely with our own.* Another of our Lord's apostles was Simon Zelotes, or the Zealot. He is also called the Cananite (not Canaanite) ; a word of Hebrew origin, which is synonymous with the Greek " Zelotes." He was * Buchanan's Researches, p. 186. LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 533 undoubtedly a Jew, though we know not the place of his birth. He may have been called Simon the Zealot to distinguish him from Simon whose sui-name was Peter ; or he may have belonged before conversion to the sect of Zealots, — a sect which, in the last days of the Jewish state, became exceedingly turbulent an^l troublesome. Being invested with the apostolical office, no further mention is made of Zelotes in the gospel history ; nor do we know what parts of the world he visited after the dispersion of the apostles. Some think that he Avent into Africa, and afterwards to Britain and the Western Islands ; others tell us that he went into Mesopotamia. That he was a good and faithful man, we have no reason to doubt ; but the latter part of his life, so far as reliable history is concerned, is a blank. The apostle Jude is also called Lebbeus and Thaddeus (Matt. X. 3). He was the brother of James the Less ; and both were the sons of Alpheus, sometimes called Cleopas, and of Mary, the sister of our Lord's mother (John xix. 25). Cleopas, according to Euse- bius, was a brother of Joseph. They had three sons, whose names are given in the Gospels ; viz., James, Joses, and Jude. Tradition has given them another son, Simeon, who was the first pastor or .bishop of Jerusalem. These sons were all cousins of our Lord, — perhaps double cousins. In the family of Joseph and Mary there were also, besides Jesus, four sons whose names are given ; viz., James, Joses, Simon, and Judas (Matt. xiii. 56). Whether these were the sons of Joseph and Mary, or of Joseph by a previous wife, we are not informed. It has been conjectured by some, that while James and Jude, the sons of Alpheus, were apostles of Christ, the James who re- sided so long at Jerusalem, who wrote the epistle, and of whom we hear so much in the Acts and in Paul's Epistles, was hot the apostle James, but James a son of Joseph, if not of Mary, and a literal brother of our Lord.* But I cannot be of this opinion, and for the following reasons : — 1. It is said of Christ's literal brothers, at a late period in his public ministry, that they did not believe on him (John vii. 5). They may have become believers about the time of his resurrec- tion and ascension (see Acts i. 14) ; but the fact that Jesus did not commit his mother to them, but to John, is evidence that at that time they and their mother were not in full sympathy on the subject of religion. And, — * See Bib, Sacra for October, 1864. 534 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 2. The manner in which the James who dwelt at Jerusalem is spoken of in the Acts and in the Epistles of Paul shows that he must have been an apostle. It was he who presided at the great church-meeting at Jerusalem, and pronounced the decision on the question of circumcising the Gentiles (Acts xv. 19). Then, when Paul went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, he says, " Other of the apostles saw I none, save James, the Lord's brother" (Gal. i. 19). This proves that the James whom he saw was an apostle. At his next visit to Jerusalem, Paul saw there " James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to he pillars,^^ — a proof, again, that James was not only an apostle, but a distinguished apostle ; as much so as Peter and John (Gal. ii. 9). I conclude, therefore, that the James who resided at Jerusalem, and wrote the epistle, was no other than the apostle James. He was not a literal brother of our Lord, but a cousin ; and, on this account, is sometimes called " the Lord's brother." Several in- stances occur in the Scriptures of this use of the term among the Jews.* But to return to Jude. In the Gospels, we find but a single ques- tion proposed by Jude to his Lord and Master : " How is it that thou wilt manifest thyself to us, and not unto the world ? " Jesus answered him, " If a man love me, he will keep my words ; and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him " (John xiv. 22). After the ascension of Christ, Jude is said to have been sent to Agbarus, king of Edessa, where he wrought miracles, preached the gospel, and converted Agbarus -and his people to the faith. For this the king offered him a large reward, which he refused, saying that he had no occasion to receive from others what he had long before relinquished on his own behalf. Jude seems to have had a wife and family ; for, near the close of the first century, two of his grandsons were brought before Domitian, as being of the lineage of David ; from which stock the emperor feared that some one would arise claiming to be king of the Jews. But when he saw that they were poor, humble, labor- ing men, he dismissed his fears on their account, and sent them back to their own country. Jude has left us a short epistle addressed to the whole body of Christian believers. Its authenticity was doubted by some in the ancient Church ; but we see no good reason for rejecting it. Its * See Schleusner's Lexicon, under odeTiipoc. LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 535 principal design is to expose certain enemies of the truth, — "un- godly men, who had crept into the churches unawares, turning the grace of God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ." Let us next bring together what little can be known of Matthias, who was divinely designated to be an apostle in place of Judas Iscariot. His appointment was one of the first acts of the as- sembled apostles after their return from the ascension of Christ. We have a concise account of the whole transaction, with the reasons and the manner of it, in the first chapter of the Acts. From this account it appears that Matthias, though not before an apostle, was one of those who had companied with the disciples all the time that the Lord Jesus had gone in and out among them, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up ; and consequently was a most suitable person to be ordained with the other apostles to be a wit7iess of his resur- rection. Of the labors of Matthias after the dispersion of the apostles, we have no certain knowledge. He is commonly thought to have received the crown of martyrdom about the year 64 ; but it is not certain that he was a martyr at all. As we hear no evil of him, we may hope that he fulfilled, as a hireling, his day, and has long since entered on the rewards of the just. Of the original apostles of our Saviour, we have only to speak further of James the brother of Jude, and of John. Where James and Jude were born, or what their course of life before they were called to the apostolate, we have no intimation in the Scriptures ; nor do the Gospels refer to any incident in the life of James after he became an apostle. Between our Lord's resurrection and as- cension, he appeared in one instance to James alone, as he did in another to Simon Peter (1 Cor. xv. 7). • After the ascension of Christ, James seems to have become, for some reason, — perhaps on account of his affinity to Jesus, — a sort of president in the college of the apostles. He resided at Jerusalem, and was virtually pastor of the great Church there. Paul met him there repeatedly on his visits to Jerusalem. To him Peter sent the news of his deliverance from prison : " Go show these things unto James and to the brethren" (Acts xii. 17). As I have before remarked, James presided at the meeting of the Church at Jerusalem when the question of enforcing circumcision upon the Gentile converts was considered. Peter opened the dis- 536 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. cussion ; Paul and Barnabas debated it ; but James stood up to publish the result : " My sentence is, that we trouble not them which, from among the Gentiles, are turned to the Lord " (Acts XV. 19). So holy and venerable was the apostle James, so " blameless and harmless, a son of God without rebuke," that the Jews for a long time could find nothing against him. Though hated by the more bigoted class, he was honored and feared by the people generally ; but at length his time of trial came. The tradition is, that he was violently thrown from some part of the temple, and afterwards killed with clubs and stones. His death was greatly lamented by all sober and just persons among the Jews. Josephus tells us that " the miseries which came afterwards upon the Jews were by way of revenge for James the Just, who was the brother of Jesus, whom they call Christ ; for the Jews slew him, though a most righteous person." * The Epistle of James was written not long before his death. It is addressed " to the twelve tribes scattered abroad ; " i.e., to Jews and Israelites wherever dispersed. The most of it was intended for believing Jews ; but some parts of it are addressed to those who did not believe. " From whence come wars and fightings among you ? Come they not hence, even of your lusts ? " This and the following verses of the fourth chapter we cannot regard as applicable to Christian Jews, but are specially applicable to those murderous zealots with which the holy city was at this time infested. James encounters in his epistle a very different class of persons from those who so much troubled the apostle Paul. Paul's an- tagonists were strenuous for the works of the Jewish law, insist- ing that without them no flesh could be saved ; but James's opponents relied upon faith without the deeds of the law. The former class were Legalists ; the latter, Antinomians, — both equally at variance with the doctrine of the apostle. James closes his epistle with setting forth the duty and the efficacy of prayer : " The eifectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." He was himself an eminent example of the duty here inculcated. He used to retire so often into the temple to pray, that, as one of the ancients informs us, " the skin of his knees became hard like that of a camel." The apostle John is supposed to have lived longer, and to have * Antiq., lib. xx. cap. 9. LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 537 written later, than any other of the apostles. He was a Galilean, the son of Zebedee and Salome, and a younger brother of the first James, with whom he was trained to be a fisherman. He was called to be a disciple at the same time with James ; and in the Gospels they are usually mentioned together. John was peculiarly dear to his Lord and Master, being spoken of as " the disciple whom Jesus loved." He was not only one of the three whom our Saviour admitted to the more private passages of his life, but, in some instances, a special kindness was shown him: He lay on the Saviour's breast at the paschal supper ; and when Peter wished to know which of the disciples was to be a traitor, instead of asking the question himself, he beckoned to John to put it for him. John was more constant to his Master than any of the disciples at the time of his trial and crucifixion ; for, though he fled from him at the first, he soon recovered himself, and returned. He boldly entered into the high priest's palace ; followed his Master through the several parts of his trial ; and was the only apostle, so far as we know, who stood by him through the terrible scene of the crucifixion. Here it was that his suffering Lord committed to him his blessed mother : " Woman, behold thy son ; disciple, behold thy mother." And from that hour John took her to his own home, and made her to the end of li^e the special object of his charge and care. On the morning of the resurrection, Peter and John were the first of the apostles to run to the empty sepulchre. He recognized his risen Lord even sooner than Peter at the Sea of Galilee. After the ascension of Christ, we find Peter and John going up to the temple together at the hour of prayer, where they preached to the people, and healed the poor cripple. They were apprehended, and imprisoned together, and the next day were brought out to plead their cause before the Sanhedrim. These were the two dis- ciples who were deputed to go down to Samaria, and assist Philip in the great revival which had sprung up there. It was to James, Peter, and John, still residing at Jerusalem, and seeming to be pillars, that Paul, many years later, addressed himself ; and they, seeing the grace which God had imparted unto him, gave him the right hand of fellowship, and confirmed his mission to the Gentiles (Gal. ii. 9). John seems to have resided chiefly at Jerusalem until after the death of the Lord's mother, — in all, from fifteen to twenty years, — when he migrated into Asia Minor, and exercised his ministry 538 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. there. Several churches were formed by him, as those at Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, and Philadelphia ; but his prmcipal residence during the latter part of his life was at Ephesus. He seems not to have been molested during the Neronian persecution, in which Peter and Paul were put to death ; but in the subsequent jDersecution under Domitian, which occurred about the year 93, he Avas arrested, brought to Rome, and thence banished to Patmos, a desolate little island -in the ^gean Sea. The story told by Tertullian, of his having been previously thrown into a caldron of boiling oil and coming out unharmed, is now generally dis- carded. It was on the Isle of Patmos, near the close of the first century, that John had those remarkable visions and revelations recorded in the Apocalypse. This book, Irenseus informs us, was written on the island. That John was banished to Patmos under Domitian, and not some thirty years earlier under Nero, is an important fact in its bearing on the interpretation of the Apocalypse : for, in the time of Domitian, Jerusalem had been long destroyed ; and consequently none of John's predictions could have looked forward, as some pretend, to its destruction. They must portend other calamities about to fall upon the enemies of the Church. That John was really banished under Domitian is proved by the almost uniform testimony of the early Christians ; and we have conclusive evidence to the same point in the Apocalypse itself. If this book was written during the Neronian persecution, then it must have been written shortly after the later epistles of Paul. But it is perfectly evident that the condition of the seven churches in Asia, as indicated in the second and third chapters of the Apoc- alypse, was very different from what it was in the time of Paul. They had undergone a fearful change, a relapge ; and time must be furnished for such a declension. The Church at Ephesus, for example, could not have fallen from what it was when Paul took his leave of the Ephesian elders to what it was at the writing of the Apocalypse, in a less period than thirty years. Domitian was assassinated at Rome A.D. 96, and Nerva suc- ceeded him. He rescinded the cruel edicts of his predecessor, and recalled those from banishment whom Domitian had driven away. Taking advantage of this freedom, John left the Isle of Patmos, and returned to Ephesus. Here he wrote his Gospel, designed to refute the errors of the times, and to supply what the other evan- LIVES OF THE APOSTLES. 539 gelists had omitted. He also left three Epistles, which are generally- supposed to have been written before his banishment. John lived to the time of Trajan, — near the close of the first cen- tury, — and was almost a hundred years old at his death. As to the manner of his death, the fathers are not agreed. Some think that he died a martyr, while others insist that he did not die at all : he was either translated, like Enoch and Elijah ; or concealed himself for a time, to be again manifested. Several incidents are related of this apostle after his return from banishment, which are not unlikely to be true. Thus Eusebius relates, that, before his banishment, he had committed a beloved young man to the bishop of Ephesus, with a charge to train him up for him. On his return, the apostle found that the bishop had neglected his charge, and that the young man had become a robber in the mountains. The venerable apostle went in pursuit of him, found him, brought him to repentance, and restored him to the communion of the Church. Irenseus tells us, that, as John was one day going into the bath, he learned that the heretic Cerinthus was in the building. " Let us flee from this place," said the aged apostle, " lest the bath in which there is such an enemy of the truth as Cerinthus should fall upon us, and crush us together." In his last days, when the venerable man could no longer preach, or even walk to the place of meeting, he used to be carried there, and would repeat from time to time, " Little children, love one another : " and, when asked why he always gaVe the same exhorta- tion, he replied, " Such is the command of Christ ; and this duty, if faithfully performed, is enough." Thus lovingly and peacefully passed away the last of the twelve original apostles, — a noble, venerable band of men, honored by the Saviour's selection and personal instructions while he was yet with them ; and left as the depositaries of his truth, and founders of the churches of the new dispensation, when he was removed to his throne in heaven. CHAPTER VIII. LIFE OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. THERE was yet another apostle, called as it were out of due time, and commissioned to preach the gospel to the Gentiles, whose important part in the missionary work of the first century will requu^e a somewhat extended consideration. Paul the apostle was " a Hebrew of the Hebrews," and was born at Tarsus, the chief city of Cilicia. Tarsus was at tliis time dis- tinguished not only for its numbers and wealth, but for its schools of learning ; being not inferior in this respect to Alexandria, or even to Athens. It had also been greatly favored by Julius and Augustus Caesar, who constituted it a free city, and made its native inhabitants citizens of Rome. This privilege Paul pleaded more than once in times of persecution, and thus escaped inflictions which otherwise he might have suffered. In his youth, Paul was instructed at Tarsus in Grecian and classic learning. He was also instructed, like every other Jew, in a mechanical trade. He was by profession a tent-maker ; which occupation he followed, and by it supplied, in some instances, his own personal wants during his apostolical ministry. Having passed through the prescribed courses of learning at Tarsus, Paul was sent by his parents to Jerusalem, and placed under the ilistruction of Gamaliel, to be perfected in the study of Jewish law. He early attached himself to the interests of the Pharisees, the straitest and most illiberal of the Jewish sects. He was regarded by them as a youth of great promise, and seemed fairly entitled to the liighest honors which his nation had it in their power to bestow. "We have heard already of the part which he took in the perse- cution and death of Stephen ; also of the zeal with which he pur- sued the defenceless Christians, seizing men and women wherever he could find them, and committing them to prison. We have 540 LIFE OF THE APOSTLE PAUL, 541 heard, too, of his bloody commission to Damascus ; and how he was smitten down, convicted, and converted, while breathing out threatening and slaughter against the saints of the Lord. Blinded by the excessive brightness which shone around him, his attendants led him into Damascus, where, after three days of fasting, reflec- tion, and devotion, he was baptized, and became a member of the Church of Christ. If it be inquired whether Paul was not conscientious in persecut- ing tlie Christians, I suppose, that, in a loose sense of the term, he was. He was as conscientious as persecutors generally are ; per- haps more so. He " verily thought that he ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth." But it does not follow from this that he was justified in persecuting the Church. He certainly did not think so himself afterwards. A warped, mis- guided, prejudiced conscience is one of the most dangerous guides which a man can follow. No sooner had Paul received baptism than he began to preach the gospel in the synagogues of Damascus, alleging and proving that . the same Jesus whom he had so lately persecuted was the Christ of God. Amazed and confounded at the change which had taken place in him, and not being able to refute his words, the Jews at Damascus sought to destroy him ; but he, being aware of their design, left the city, and retired into the northern part of Arabia, where he remained almost three years (Gal. i. 17). How Paul passed his time during this season of retirement, we do not know. Doubtless a considerable portion of it was spent in meditation and devotion ; in communion with Christ, and receiving revelations from him. It was during this period that he " was caught up into the third heavens," into the paradise of God, and heard those unspeakable words which it is not lawfid for a man to utter (2 Cor. xii. 4). It was during this period that he was super- naturally instructed in regard to the truths and facts of the gospel, which he tells us expressly that he did not receive from man, or from conversation with the other apostles, but t)y the revelation of Jesus Christ (Gal. i. 12). This retirement in Arabia was of unspeakable importance to the apostle Paul. He grew rapidly in knowledge and in grace. He received a fresh anointing, a renewed consecration and commission for the great work of his life. At the end of about three years, Paul returned from Arabia to Damascus. He commenced anew his appropriate work there, pro- 542 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. « claiming in the synagogues and in other public places that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ. But, instead of receiving his testimony, the Jews again sought his life ; and, the more surely to effect their purpose, they complained of him to the governor, who set a guard at the gates of the city to prevent all possibihty of escape. Nev- ertheless, he did escape ; for, watching their opportunity, his friends let him down through a window in a basket by the wall, and thus effected his dehverance (1 Cor. xi. 32). From Damascus, Paul went directly to Jerusalem, — the first time that he had been there since liis conversion. But, when he essayed to join himself to the disciples, many were afraid of him ; they did not believe that he was a disciple : but Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles, and declared unto them the fact of his conversion, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of the Lord Jesus. After this he was received joyfully by the whole Church, and began at once to preach Christ in the syna- gogues, laboring more especially among the Hellenist Jews. But, instead of being convinced, they Avere enraged, and sought to kill him. He had a revelation also from his Lord and Master, warning him to depart quickly out of Jerusalem, and directing him to go and preach to the Gentiles * (Acts xxii. 21). Accordingly, being assisted by the brethren, Paul departed, first to Csesarea, and after- wards to Tarsus. He was at Jerusalem at this time only fifteen days, and saw none of the apostles save Peter and James (Gal. i. 18). It was while Paul was stopping at Tarsus, his native city, that Barnabas came for him (as before related) to go and preach at An- tioch, — where he remained a full year. His residence at Antioch must have been a delightful one to himself, as well as profitable to the Church. He was here associated with a choice company of ministers, whose names are given in Acts xiii. 1. Through their joint instrumentahty, the work of the Lord prospered greatly, and a large and flourishing church was established. This was a year of famine in several parts of the Roman Empire, and especially in Judsea ; and the disciples at Antioch re- solved to send relief to their brethren at Jerusalem. They in- trusted their bounty to the hands of Barnabas and Paul. This was Paul's second visit to Jerusalem after his conversion. Of the in- cidents of it we know notliing, except that he speedily discharged the commission intrusted to liim, and returned to Antioch. * Paul may have received his commission at this time as the Apostle of the Gentiles. LIFE OF THE APOSTLE PAUL 543 Soon after this, Paul and Barnabas were specially called by the -Holy Ghost to go on their first mission to the heathen. So wlien their brethren at Antioch had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands upon them, they sent them away. Taking Mark, a nephew of Barnabas, with them as an assistant, they went down to Se- leucia, the port of Antioch ; whence they sailed over to Cyprus, which was the home of Barnabas. They first visited Salamis, a large city in the south-eastern part of the island, preaching in the synagogues on the sabbath, and visiting from house to house. Thence, crossing to the western side of the island, they came to Paphos, which was the residence of Sergius Paulus, the proconsul of the country. And here they found a sorcerer Elymas by name, who was with the proconsul, and exerted an unfavorable influence over him. Nevertheless, the proconsul sent for Barnabas and Paul, and desired to hear from them the word of God ; but Elymas withstood them, hoping to turn away the proconsul from the faith. Whereupon Paul, fixing his eyes upon him, said, " O full of all subtlety and mischief, thou child of the Devil, thou enemy of. all righteousness ! wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord ? " And immediately the sorcerer was smitten with blind- ness, and groped about, seeking some one to lead him by the hand. This miracle had a great eifect upon the mind of the proconsul. He became a believer "at once, being astonished at the doctrine of the Lord. From Paphos our missionaries sailed northerly across a part of the Mediterranean, and came to Perga, the chief city of Pam- "phylia. Here Mark left them to return to Jerusalem ; and Titus, a converted Greek, took his place. From Perga they travelled in a northerly direction some seventy or eighty miles, until they came to Antioch in Pisidia. Here they went into the synagogue on the sabbath ; and Paul preached to the Jews a long discourse, affirming some of the principal facts of the gospel history, provino- incontestably the Messiahship of Jesus, and solemnly warning his Jewish brethren of the danger of rejecting him : " Beware, there- fore, lest that come upon you which is spoken in the prophets ! Behold, ye despisers, and wonder and perish ; for I work a work in your day which ye shall in no wise beheve, although one declare it unto you " (Acts xiii. 40). This sermon produced a. great effect. Many Jews and religious proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who exhorted them to continue in the grace of God. Great numbers of the Gentiles 544 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. also requested that the same word might be preached unto them ; and, the next sabbath, ahnost the whole city came together to hear the gospel.- But, when the Jews saw how much interest was excited, they were filled with envy. They raised a persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them away. So they shook off the dust of their feet against them ; and, journeying some thirty miles in a south-easterly du-ection, they came to Iconium. Here our missionaries pursued the same course as at Antioch. They went first into the synagogue, and so spoke that a great mul- titude of the Jews and proselytes believed. They abode here many days, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord ; and signs and miracles were wrought by their hands. But at length the multitude of the city became divided respecting them, and a con- spiracy was formed to assault and to stone them. Aware of this, they took warning, and fled ; and, going still farther in a south- easterly direction, they came to Derbe and Lystra, cities of Lyca- onia. At Lystra, Paul healed a lame man who had never walked ; which so astonished the people, that they declared the strangers to be gods in the likeness of men, and were about to offer sac- rifice unto them. But Paul and Barnabas forbade them, saying, " Why do ye these things *? We are not gods, but men of like passions with yourselves, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, who made the heavens and the earth." This gust of popular favor at Lystra soon passed away ; for certain hostile Jews from Iconium and Antioch came down there, and so excited the people against the missionaries, that they stoned Paul, and drew him out of the city as one dead ; but he • soon revived, went into the city, and, the next day, departed unto Derbe. Here also they preached the gospel, and instructed many ; and then, returning through Lystra and Iconium to Antioch, they confirmed the souls of the disciples, and exhorted them to con- tinue steadfast in the faith. And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and praj^ed and fasted with them, they commended them to the Lord in whom they believed. From Antioch in Pisidia, the missionaries returned to Perga, where they first landed when they came from Cyprus ; and there they tarried a while, and preached the gospel. Thence they went to Attaha, another town on'the seashore ; from which place they LIFE OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. 545 sailed to Antioch in Syria, — to the great Church which had sent them forth on this mission of mercy. And, when they had gathered the Church together, they rehearsed all that God had done with them and by them, and how he had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles ; and here they tarried with their brethren, and labored for a considerable time. It was during this respite at Antioch that certain Jewish believers came down from Jerusalem, and insisted that the Gentile converts must all of them be circumcised, and keep the law of Moses, or they could not be saved. This demand Paul and Barna- bas strenuously resisted ; but, as there seemed to be no prospect of settling the question there, it was determined that* Paul and Barnabas, with Titus and certain other bretliren, should go up to Jerusalem, and lay the case before the apostles and the elders of that mother-church. This was Paul's third journey to Jeru- salem after he became a Christian ; in accomplishing which he and his brethren passed down the Mediterranean as far as Tyre, thence across the country to Samaria, and thence to the holy city ; declaring wherever they went the conversion of the Gentiles, which caused great joy to all the brethren. Arrived at Jerusalem, they gathered the apostles and elders and the whole Church together, and submitted the very important question with which they were charged. After much discussion, in which Peter and James largely participated, it was decided not to enforce the yoke of circumcision and the Jewish law upon the Gentile converts ; and a letter was prepared and sent to Antioch, an- nouncing this decision. It should seem that this ought to have settled the question ; and yet it did not. The Judaizing teachers continued to agitate. They persisted in their demands, and were indefatigable in urging them. They followed Paul in his future labors among the Gentiles, and were determined to give him no peace. This was the first great controversy in the Christian Church. It related, not to the practice of circumcision as a mere matter of ex- pediency, but to the enforcing of it as essential to salvation. This Paul could not admit ; and we can never be sufficiently thankful to the great Apostle of the Gentiles for the stand which he took and maintained on this occasion. We find frequent reference to this controversy in the Epistles of Paul, particularly in those to the Romans and Galatians. During this visit to Jerusalem, Paul had more intercourse with 35 546 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. the original apostles — with Peter, James, and John — than he had had before. He compared notes with them, and found that he preached the same gospel as they : " In conference they added nothing to me (Gal. ii. 6) ; they could teU me nothing of im- portance which I had not already received by revelation from Jesus Christ ; and, when they perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and to Barnabas the right hand of fel- lowship." Their mission to Jerusalem being accomplished, Paul and Bar- nabas returned to Antioch, taking Judas and Silas with them. They took with them the decision of the Church at Jerusalem, which gave great satisfaction to the Gentile brethren. Not long after this, Peter came to Antioch ; and, falling in with some of the zealous Judaizers, he was led to swerve from an upright and consistent course, and gave countenance to their schismatical proceedings. He separated himself from the Gentile converts, and refused to eat with them ; and so great was his influence, that even Barnabas was led into the same error. Again, then, we are indebted to the firmness of Paul for withstanding the incipient threatening evil. He calmly but firmly rebuked Peter and the other dissemblers, and maintained the position which had been taken at Jerusalem. Shortly after this, Paul and Barnabas resolved to visit the churches which they had planted among the Gentiles, and look after their state. Barnabas wished to take Mark with them again ; but Paul would not consent to this, since Mark deserted them on their former mission, and went not with them to the work.* On this ground the two friends now separated : Barnabas took Mark, and sailed over to Cyprus, his native island ; but Paul took Silas, a brother who had recently come with him from Jeru- salem, and entered on liis second and far more important mission to the heathen. They first went through Syria and Cilicia, confirming the churches, and delivering unto them copies of the late decision at Jerusalem. At Lystra, Paul found Timothy, a young brother in Christ, whose mother was a Jewish convert, but his father was a Greek. Him Paul invited to accompany him on his mission ; and, that he might encounter less prejudice among the Jews, he first circumcised him. From Lystra they passed through Phrygia into * This was John Mark, a nephew of Barnabas, and not Mark, the companion of Peter, who wrote the Gospel. LIFE OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. 547 Galatia, where Paul met with great acceptance, and established many churches, to which he afterwards addressed an epistle. From Galatia, Paul intended to preach the gospel in the several provinces of Asia Minor ; but he was directed by the Spirit, and by other manifest indications of the divine will, to cross the ^Egean into Macedonia. So, sailing from Troas, he came first to the Island of Samothracia, and thence to Neapolis, and thence to Philippi, one of the chief cities of Macedonia, and a Roman colony. Here he baptized Lydia and the jailer, with their house- holds, and established a flourishing church, which was afterwards honored with an epistle. But, being persecuted without cause, he departed from Philippi ; and, passing through Amphipolis and Apollonia, he came to Thessalonica, another large city of Mace- donia. Here Paul went into the synagogue, and for three successive sabbaths reasoned with the Jews out of their own Scriptures, opening and alleging that Christ must needs suffer, and rise from the dead, and that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ : and many believed, both Jews and proselytes ; and the materials of a church were soon gathered. But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the people, set the city in an uproar, and constrained Paul and his company to depart. They next went to Berea, a neighboring city, and commenced preaching the gospel there : and the Berpan Jews were more liberal than -those of Thessalonica; for they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the Scriptures daily whether these things were so. The consequence was, that many were converted, both Jews and Greeks. But, when the Thessalonian Jews heard that the Bereans had embraced the truth, they came down there and created a tumult, and made it necessary for Paul to depart : so, leaving Silas and Timothy at Berea, he went on to Athens, the great seat and centre of Grecian art and wisdom. While waiting here for his companions, Paul took a survey of Athens, preached in the synagogue, entered into conversation with the philosophers, and, as he was found to hold some novel doc- trines, was brought by them to the Areopagus, an Athenian court designed for looking into such matters. And here he delivered his celebrated speech on Mars' Hill, one of the finest specimens of popular oratory in all antiquity. His object was to set before them that " unknown God " for whom both they and their fathers had been so long groping in vain. His success in Athens, however, was small. These proud philosophers were not in a mood to receive 548 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. instruction from a travelling Jew: a few only adhered to liim, among whom were Dionysius the Areopagite, and a noble lady named Damaris. Upon his departure fi-om Athens, Paul went to Corinth, the metropolis of Greece Proper, and the residence of the proconsul of Achaia. Here he found Aquila and Priscilla, lately come from Italy, because that Claudius Csesar had banished all the Jews from Rome. With them Paul resided, and wrought with them in the business of tent-making. He assembled with the Jews every sabbath in the synagogue, and testified to them that Jesus is the Christ ; and, though some few of them received his testi- mony, the multitude rejected it, opposing and blaspheming the doctrine of the Lord : wherefore Paul shook his raiment, forsook the synagogue, and commenced preaching to the Gentiles. At the same time, he was encouraged by a vision of his risen Lord, who said to him, " Be not afraid ; hold not thy peace ; for I am with thee, and no man shall hurt thee ; for I have much people in this city." So Paul continued at Corinth a year and six months, teach- ing and publishing the word of the Lord. In this time a large church was established, which continued to flourish for a long period. The Jews, as their custom was, endeavored to excite against him Gallib the proconsul ; but Gallio would not listen to them, and the work of the Lord continued to prosper. While residing at Corinth, Paul is supposed to have written his two Epistles to the Thessalonians, — about A.D. 52. If so, these are the oldest of his epistles. After leaving Corinth, Paul sailed over the jEgean to return to Syria, taking his friends Aquila and Priscilla with him. On their way they stopped at Ephesus, where he went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews ; and, when they requested him to tarry with them, he refused, being determined, if possible, to keep the approaching Passover at Jerusalem. This was his fourth visit to the holy city after his conversion. And here we leave him and his history for the present, to be concluded in the following chapter. CHAPTER IX. LIFE OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. CONCLUDED. IN the last chapter, we followed the apostle Paul through his second long and perilous missionary tour, in which he not only- visited the churches before planted by him, but passed over into Macedonia and Greece, preaching the gospel at Philippi, at Thessa- lonica, at Berea, at Athens, and at Corinth. On his return he touched at Ephesus, and then landed at Csesarea in Palestine; whence he hastened forward to Jerusalem to be present at the Passover. He seems to have spent but little time at Jerusalem ; for we soon find him at Antioch in Syria, from which place his missionary tours in both instances had commenced. Here he tarried some consider- able time, and then revisited the churches he had before planted in Phrygia and Galatia. While Paul was thus engaged, an Alexan- drian Jew named ApoUos made his appearance at Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, and mighty in the Scriptures ; but he only knew the doctrine and the baptism of John. Him Priscilla and Aquila took, and instructed in the doctrine of the Lord. After this he went over to Corinth, where his labors were greatly blessed ; for he mightily convinced the Jews at Corinth, showing from their own Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ. About this time, Peter also preached at Corinth; for, when the members of this Church became divided respecting their teachers, some of them claimed to be of Paul, and some of ApoUos, and some of Cephas, and some of Christ (1 Cor. i. 12). Meanwhile, Paul, having accomplished his mission in Phrygia and Galatia, fulfilled his promise in returning to Ephesus ; and here he found certain disciples — probably those to -whom ApoUos had first preached — who knew only the baptism of John. They had not heard of the actual coming of Christ, or the descent of the Holy Ghost : so Paul took them under his special charge, care- 549 550 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. fully instructed them, administered to them Christian baptism, laid his hands upon them, and they received the Holy Ghost in his miraculous influences. They began at once to speak with tongues. In his public labors at Ephesus, Paul pursued his usual course. He went into the synagogue every sabbath for three months, endeavoring to convince and persuade the Jews ; but, the most of them becoming hardened and obstinate, he departed from them, and went to the Gentiles. He taught for two full years in the schoolroom of one Tyrannus, so that all those of Lesser Asia heard the word of the Lord : and not only did he teach, but he wrought the most astounding miracles ; for if only a handkerchief from his body were carried to a sick person, or to one possessed with a devil, immediately he was healed. It was here that the sons of Sceva the Jew undertook to counterfeit the miracles of Paul, and to cast out devils in the name of Jesus, whom Paul preached. But the attempt (a profane one) was most disastrous to themselves ; for the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and prevailed against them, and they fled out of the house naked and wounded. There was now a great revival of religion at Ephesus. Many believed on the'Lord Jesus, and made an open confession of their sins ; and many of those who had used magical arts brought their books together and burned them : so mightily grew the word of God and prevailed. But the Devil could not be easy to see his kingdom thus rudely assailed : so he stirred up the silversmiths which made shrines for Diana, insisting that the new religion was likely to ruin their business ; and tliese men got up a mob and an uproar, from which Paul and his companions thought it prudent to retire. It was during PauFs abode at Ephesus that he wrote liis Epistle to the Galatians and his First Epistle to the Corinthians. From Ephesus, Paul and his companions crossed over the sea to Macedonia, leaving Timothy behind to attend to some important matters, which, in the hurry of his departure, he had not time to finish (1 Tim. i. 3). From Macedonia, Paul wrote his First Epistle to Timothy. In Macedonia, Paul not only visited the cities where he had before preached, but went beyond them, even unto the borders of lUyricum and Thrace (Rom. xv. 19). Here also he was comforted by the coming of Titus, who brought him a favorable account of the reception of his First Epistle to the Corinthians : whereupon he wrote them a Second Epistle. LIFE OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. 551 From Macedonia, Paul went into Greece Proper, where he abode three months. In this time he visited Corintli, where he wrote his Epistle to the Romans, and sent it to them by Phcebe, a servant (deaconess) of the Church at Cenchrea. Cenchrea was the port of Corinth. It was during this visit to Macedon and Greece that Paul was urging forward his collections for the relief of the j)oor saints at Jerusalem (2 Cor. ix.). It had been Paul's intention to pass directly over from Greece into Syria ; but, when he learned that the Jews were lying in wait for him, — perhaps to rob him of the money he had collected, — he resolved to turn back through Macedonia. In all these journeyings, Paul was attended by several young men, who waited upon him, ministered to him, executed his orders, and aided him in the work of the ministry. They were in many instances his pupils and evangelists, whom he was training for usefulness in the Church when his own labors should be ended. Among those who were with him at this time were Sopater, Aris- tarchus, Secundus, Gains, Timotheus, Trophimus, Tychicus, and Luke the beloved physician (Acts xx. 4). From Philippi in Macedonia they sailed to Troas in Asia, making the voyage in five days. At Troas they tarried seven days. It was here that Paul preached until midnight, when a young man in his sleep fell from the third loft, and was taken up for dead. He was not dead, however, but was presently restored through the instrumentality of Paul. The following day, Paul walked to Assos, a town on the sea- shore, whither he had sent his company by ship. Thence they set sail to Mitylene, and from thence to Samos ; and, having staid some little time at Trogyllium, the next day they passed by Ephesus, and came to Miletus. From Miletus, Paul sent messengers to Eph- esus, and called for the elders of the Church ; and, when they had come to him, he delivered to them that touching farewell ad- dress and charge which we find recorded in the twentieth chapter of the Acts. His parting with them was of the most affecting character. They prayed and wept together, .under the impression that on earth, they should meet no more. Leaving Miletus, Paul and his company first came to Coos, then to Rhodes, then to Patara, and then to Tyre, where, finding disci- ples, they tarried with them seven days. From Tyre they came to Ptolemais, and the next day to Ceesarea, where they lodged in the house of Philip the evangelist, originally one of the seven ? 552 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. deacons at Jerusalem. Philip had four daughters endowed with the gift of prophecy, who warned Paul — as he had been before warned at Tyre — of the danger of going up to Jerusalem. In view of these prophetic warnings, his friends entreated him to stop, or to turn aside to some other place. But to his own mind the point of duty was clear, and his resolution was fixed. He pro- ceeded directly to Jerusalem, and was kindly received by brethren there. Indeed, he ought to have been kindly received ; for this was his second visit to the holy city, bringing presents from the Gentile churches for the relief of the poor. The day after his arrival, Paul went to the house of James, where he found the elders of the church assembled. He gave them an account of his mission- ary labors and successes, in which they were greatly interested. But the questions at once arose, " How is Paul to be disposed of here at Jerusalem ? How are we to satisfy the thousands of Jew- ish believers, who are all zealous of the law, that he is not, as he is charged, a disorderly walker, and a despiser of the institutions of Moses ? " To meet the difficulty, the following expedient was proposed : " We have four men which have a vow upon them : purify thyself with them, and be at charges, and shave thy head, that all may know that the things reported of thee are false, but that thou walkest orderly, and keepest the law." To this propo- sition Paul assented. He purified himself with the men under a vow, and entered into the temple with them to accomplish the seven days of purification, that an offering might be made for each of them. And here, as it seems to me, Paul mistook, for once, the line of his duty. Instead of keeping about his business, and putting his trust in God, he descended, at the suggestion of others, to a specious artifice, a trick, with a view to satisfy the Jews that he was a more strict observer of the law than he really was. And soon 'the event proved that this very artifice, resorted to to save him from trouble, was the means of plunging him into it. For, when the days of his purification were almost ended, certain Jews from Asia Minor, seeing him in the temple, stirred up the people, and laid hands on him, crying out, " Men of Israel, help ; for this is the man who preaches everywhere against this holy place and the law." And the whole city was moved : the people ran together : they di-agged Paul out of the temple, fell to beating him, and would soon have killed him, had he not been rescued by the chief captain of the temple (a Roman military officer) and his soldiers. The chief captain, therefore, took Paul, bound him, and was in the LIFE OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. 553 act of carrying him into the Castle Antonia, which stood near the temple ; but, when he came upon the stairs, Paul asked and ob- tained permission to address the people. And here he delivered to the excited multitude, in the Hebrew tongue, one of his most eloquent and powerful speeches, recorded in the twenty-second chapter of the Acts. He spake of his birth, of his education at the feet of Gamaliel, of his zeal in persecuting the Church, of his sudden and surprising conversion, and of the commission he had received of the Lord Jesus Christ to preach the gospel to the Gentiles. They heard him patiently till he came to this point, — the preaching of the gospel to the Gentiles, — when they broke out upon him with great violence, crying, "Away with this fellow from the earth ! for it is not fit that he should live." The chief captain took Paul into the castle, and was about to examine him by scourging ; but Paul pleaded his Roman citizen- ship, and so escaped the infliction. The next day, the chief cap- tain brought Paul before the. Sanhedrim, that he might know the nature of the charges against him ; but the Sanhedrim broke up in confusion, without coming to any decision. The night following, Paul was favored with a vision of his ascended Lord, who stood by him, and said, " Be of good cheer, Paul ; for as thou hast testi- fied of me at Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness at Rome." When the captain of the temple learned the next morning that the Jews were lying in wait for Paul, and that more than forty of them had bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink till they had killed him, he resolved at once that he would send him away under a strong military guard to Felix, the Roman gov- ernor, who dwelt at Caesarea. And all this was successfully accom- plished. Paul was safely lodged in Herod's judgment-hall at Csesarea, waiting for his accusers to come and implead him. Here Paul, after a little time, confronted his accusers, and easily refuted their false and malicious charges. Here he preached so pointedly to Felix of righteousness, temperance, and a judgment to come, that the governor trembled. Still Paul was not released. He was retained a prisoner, in the expectation that he would ere long consent to purchase his liberty with a bribe. At the end of two years, Felix was displaced by Nero, and For- tius Festus was made governor in his room. To him tlie Jewish rulers made an earnest appeal, entreating that Paul might be con- demned and punished, or at least that he might be sent back to Jerusalem to be tried according to the Jewish law. When the 554 , ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. governor laid this proposition before Paul, lie firmly replied, " I stand at Csesar's judgment-seat, where I ought to be judged. I have done nothing against the Jews worthy of death or of bonds ; and I will not be delivered into their hands. / appeal unto Gcesar.'''' Then Festus answered, " Hast thou appealed unto Ceesar ? unto Csesar shalt thou go." Shortly after this, King Agrippa, son of Herod Agrippa, and great-grandson of Herod the Great, came down to Csesarea to salute Festus. To liis notice Festus brought the case of Paul ; when the king expressed an earnest desire to hear him. So Paul was brought before the king, the governor, and all the nobility of the province, and there made a speech, — an apology for himself. This speech is given entire in the twenty-sixth chapter of the Acts, and }ias been justly regarded as one of the finest specimens of popular eloquence. The result was, that King Agrippa was almost per- suaded to be a Christian ; and all were agreed that Paul might have been set at liberty if he had not appealed unto Csesar. We come now to Paul's voyage into Italy, m which he was accompanied by Luke, by Aristarchus, and by other Christian friends. The prisoners, among whom was Paul, were intrusted to the charge of a centurion, whose name was Julius. They em- barked early in September, and, sailing northerly, touched at Sidon, where Paul was permitted to go ashore and visit his friends. Thence they passed by the eastern end of Cyprus, not far from Antioch in Syria ; then, turning their course westward, they sailed along the borders of Cilicia and Pamphylia to Myra, a city of Lycia. Here they were put aboard of another vessel ; and, coasting along the shores of Asia, they came as far as Cnidus, op- posite the Island of Rhodes. A contrary wind now arose, which drove them in a south-westerly direction upon the Isle of Crete. They touched at Fairhaven, on the south-eastern shore of Crete ; and Paul advised th^m to winter there : but, as the harbor was not commodious, it was resolved to sail a hundred miles farther, — to Phenice, on the south-western shore of the island. But no sooner had they embarked than they encountered a tempestuous wind, which rendered the ship wholly unmanageable ; and so they were tossed about, without sun or stars, and not knowing at all whither they were drifting, for a long time. After about fourteen days, they were wrecked on the coast of Melita, now Malta ; having been di"iven in a westerly direction across the whole sea of Adria. At Melita the ship's company were detained about three months ; LIFE OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. 555 in which time Paul healed many that were sick, and did all in his power to inculcate and commend the gospel. They at length em- barked" in a ship of Alexandria, and touched first at Syracuse, on the Island of Sicily ; then at Rhegium, the southern extremity of the Italian peninsula ; and then at Puteoli, where they left the ship, and tarried with Christian brethren seven days. Thence they pursued their journey by land, and were met and cordially .greeted by brethren from Rome, — first at Appii Forum, some fifty miles from the city ; and afterwards at the Three Taverns, a dis- tance of thirty miles. Greatly encouraged by these tokens of affection and regard, Paul and his company were conducted in a kind of triumph into the city. The prisoners were delivered over by the centurion to the captain of the guard ; but, instead of. being lodged with the rest in the common prison, Paul was permitted to live in his own hired house. He was, to be sure, encumbered with a chain ; but he had a degree of liberty, and received all who came to him. The first thing that Paul did after coming to Rome was to call the chief of the Jews together, acquaint them with the cause of his being brought there a prisoner, and assure them that he had no charge to prefer against the Jews. As they expressed a wish to hear him concerning the faith of Christ, he appointed them a day, when they came in great numbers to his lodgings ; and he reasoned with them out of the Scriptures from morning till night. And some believed the things that were spoken, while others rejected them. Paul continued a prisoner at Rome two full years, laboring as best he could with the encumbrance of a chain. He ceased not to teach and preach the things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, no man 'forbidding him. Without doubt, many were converted through his instrumentality ; among whom were some of Csesar's household. There was a slave at Rome, Onesimus by name, who had run away from his master, Philemon of Colosse. He was converted through Paul's influence, and sent back to his master with a letter, not to consign him to hopeless bondage, but rather to effect his legal release ; which object was at once accomplished. Onesi- mus was set at liberty, and sent back to Rome, to be an assistant of the apostle in the work of the Lord. Onesimus was afterwards •employed with Tychicus to carry Paul's Epistle to the Colossians. The Christians at Philippi, hearing of Paul's imprisonment at 656 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. Rome, and fearing that he might -be in circumstances of want, got up a contribution for him, and sent it by Epaphroditus, one of their ministers. Epaphroditus fell sick at Rome ; but after his recovery he returned to his charge, carrying with him the Epistle to the Philippians. The Epistle to the Ephesians was also written at this time, and sent to them by the hand of Tychicus. The Epistle to the Hebrews, I cannot doubt, is a genuine writing of the apostle Paul. The style of it differs somewhat from that of his other epistles, as does also the subject ; and yet it bears unmis- takable marks of being the product of his great, overflowing mind and his full heart. The sentiments are coincident with those of his other epistles, and the whole is just what might have been ex- pected from him in an address to his Hebrew brethren. It could have been written by no man in that age of whom we have any knowledge, except the apostle Paul. It is dated from Italy, speaks of Timothy as having been recently set at liberty, and was proba- bly written near the close of Paul's confinement. By what means the apostle obtained his liberty, we are not in- formed : it may have been tlirough the intercession of some in Cesar's household who had been converted by his means. In regard to the places which Paul visited after his enlargement, there is much uncertainty. My OAvn opinion is, that he first trav- elled eastward, visiting many of the churches in Macedonia, Greece, Asia Minor, and Syria. He may have carried out his expressed design of revisiting Palestine (Heb. xiii. 23). It was during tliis tour that he left his cloak and his parchments at Troas (2 Tim. iv. 13). This was also the time of his mission to Crete, where he left Titus to regulate and organize the churches, and when he left Trophimus at Miletum sick (Tit. i. 5 ; 2 Tim. iv. 20). Returning from the East, Paul may have accomplished his long- cherished purpose of visiting the churches in Spain and Gaul. We have no notice of this in the Scriptures ; but it accords well with the enterprising spirit of the apostle, and also with the testimony of the Roman Clement, a companion of Paul, who perfectly knew his personal history, and who tells us that he did publish the gos- pel " to the uttermost boundaries of the west." From this tour (if he actually made it) Paul returned to Rome about the year 64. The Neronian persecution broke out soon after, and he was imprisoned. He was not now, as before, a prisoner at large, living in his own hired house, and receiving all that came to him; but he was in close confine;ment, — so close, that good One- LIFE OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. 557 sipliorus was under necessity of searching very diligently for him in order to find him (2 Tim. i. 17). During Paul's first confinement at Rome, his brethren were encouraged by his bonds, and were bold to speak the word more abundantly without fear (Phil. i. 14). But, during his last im- prisonment, circumstances must have greatly changed. It was a time of terrible persecution, and his more timid brethren were con- cealed : "At my first answer, no man stood with me ; but all men forsook me " (2 Tim. iv. 16). It was after his first imprisonment, and previous to the second, that Paid wrote his Epistle to Titus ; but the Second Epistle to Timothy was written durhig his last close confinement at Rome. The closing chapter of tliis epistle may be regarded, therefore, as his last ivorcls, — the last, certainly, of wliich we have any knowl- edge. And with what more appropriate words could he have closed his ministry on earth ? — "I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight ; I have finished my course ; I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day." The tradition is, that Peter was now a prisoner at Rome, and that the two apostles suffered martyrdom together. Peter was cru- cified : but Paul, on account of his being a Roman citizen, was not exposed upon the cross ; he was beheaded. He was buried in the Via Ostiensis, about two miles from the city ; and over his grave a splendid church was erected by Constantine about the year 318. The ancients represent Paul as a man of small stature, and somewhat stooping. His complexion was fair, his eyes bright and intelligent, his nose long and aquiline, his brows thick and shaggy, and his hair and beard, during the latter part of his life, sprinkled with gray. His age cannot be certainly determined. He must have been more than sixty at his death ; having been born only a few years later than Christ. I have no occasion at this time to go into a lengthened consid- eration of the character of Paul. That he had a vigorous intellect, well sharpened by early training and culture, no one can doubt. His emotional nature was impulsive, strong, and deeply sanctified. He had a great and a good heart. Though for the gospel's sake he would not suffer his apostolical claims to be called in question, yet he was a truly humble man. He spoke the feelings of his heart when he said, " I am the least of the apostles, and am not meet 658 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the Cliurch of God." " Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ." Paul was an example of temjoerance and sohriety. He kept under his body, and brought it into subjection, lest, when he had preached to others, he himself should be a castaway. His kindness and charity were admirable, even towards those who were his personal enemies : "I speak the truth in Christ, I lie not, my con- science also bearing me witness, that I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart ; for I would that myself were ac- cursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh." The zeal and enterprise of the apostle, his activity in publishing the gospel and gathering sinners into the fold of Christ, were un- paralleled. By night and by day, on the land and on the deep, he was instant in season and out of season, reproving, rebuking, ex- horting every man, that he might present them faultless before the judgment-seat. For more than thirty years after his conver- sion, he was seldom long in one place. From Jerusalem round about unto Illyricum, and then to Rome, and " to the utmost boun- daries of the west," he fully preached the gospel of Christ ; " running," says Jerome, " like the sun in the heavens, — sooner wanting ground to tread upon than a desire to propagate the faith of Christ." While the other apostles were laborious men, Paul says truly, though not boastfully, " I labored more abun- dantly than they all." And what shall be said of his patience and fortitude in meeting and overcoming difficulties and trials ? His perils and sufferings were perpetual. A thousand times his life was at stake. Every- where he manifested that he counted not his life dear unto him- self, that so he might accomplish the ministr}^ he had received, and finish his course with joy. Therefore, when under sentence of death, he could triumphantly say, as before quoted, " I am now ready to be offered. I have finished my course. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness." Though Paul has long been dead, his influence can never die. It still lives in his example, his writings, and his works, and will continue to live on earth to the end of time, and in heavenly places forever. Of all the mere men that ever dwelt upon the earth, to no two is the world so much indebted as to Moses and LIFE OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. 559 Paul. Nor can we ever sufficiently admire the providence and grace of God m making a thorough-bred and bigoted Jew the prmcipal means of deliverance from Jewish rites, and in makin- the earliest and most violent persecutor of Christianity such an emment means of spreading the Christian rehgion throughout the earth. ° CHAPTER X. COMPANIONS AND IMMEDIATE SUCCESSORS OF THE APOSTLES. THE companions of the apostles were tliat corps of evangelists who generally attended them, and labored under their direc- tion. Pre-eminent among these were Mark, Luke, Barnabas, Timothy, and Titus. The immediate successors of the apostles were those venerable men — the most of them bishops, or pastors of churches — who filled up the first century, and part of the second. They are designated Apostolical Fathers. ' - ■ MARK. Among the evangelists of the apostolic age were two men by the name of Mark. The first was a relative and assistant of the apostle Peter ; the second was John Mark, a sister's son of Barna- bas. Eusebius tells us that the first Mark was early sent by Peter into Egypt, and there planted the great Church of Alexandria. He was instrumental in leading many in that city not only to embrace the Christian faith, but to honor it by a holy, consistent life. When Peter came or was carried to Rome near the close of life, Mark is supposed to have been with him, and there, at the request of the Roman Church, and under the direction and inspection of Peter, to have written his Gospel. It is virtually Peter's Gospel, — the account of our Lord's life, labors, sufferings, and death, which Peter was accustomed to relate in his discourses, — although it bears the name of Mark. After the martyrdom of Peter, which occurred in the year 64, Mark is supposed to have returned to Alexandria, where he was greatly instrumental in guiding ■ and building up the Church which he had before planted. And here he at length obtained the crown of martyrdom. The idolaters of , the city broke in upon him while engaged in the solemnities of divine worship, 560 COMPANIONS AND SUCCESSORS OF THE APOSTLES. 561 bound his feet with cords, and dragged him through the streets until his flesh was literally torn from his body and he expired. This is supposed to have taken place about the year 70. It is remarkable that the Gospel of Mark, which, as I said, is Peter's Gospel, is more severe upon the foibles and faults of Peter than either of the other Gospels ; thus showing, that, however the other writers may have been disposed to spare the reputation of Peter, he was not at all disposed to spare himself. Of John Mark we are told expressly that he was " sister's son to Barnabas" (Col. iv. 10). His home was at Jerusalem; and his mother's name was Mary. It was at her house that the disciples were assembled when Peter, having been rescued from prison by an angel, came and knocked for admittance at the door (Acts xii. 12). When Paul and Barnabas set forth from Antioch on their first mission to the heathen, they took Mark with them as an assist- ant ; but, when they reached Perga in Pamphylia, he became dis- couraged, and turned back to Jerusalem (Acts xiii. 13). When they were about to enter upon their second mission, Bar- nabas was minded to try Mark again : " But Paul thought it not best to take him with them, who departed from them in Pamphylia, and went not with them to the work" (Acts xv. 38). This dif- ference of opinion respecting an assistant was the means of sejDa- rating the two missionaries; Paul (attended by Silas) going one way, and Barnabas and Mark another. Later in life, Mark seems to have recovered the good opinion of Paul ; for he mentions him to the Colossians as a " fellow-worker unto the kingdom of Christ, who has been a comfort unto me : " and, in his last letter to Timo- thy, Paul says, " Take Mark, and bring him with thee ; for he is profitable to me for the ministry " (Col. iv. 11 ; 2 Tim. iv. 11). We hear nothing further of John Mark in the New Testament, but may hope, from the favorable mention of him by the apostle Paul, that he proved himself a faithful minister of Christ, and finished his earthly course with joy. LUKE. Luke, to whom we are indebted for the Gospel which bears his name, and for that invaluable fragment of early Christian history entitled " The Acts of the Apostles," is supposed to have been a proselyte of Antioch, where he may have been converted under the searching ministry of Barnabas and Paul. That he was an adept in Grecian learning, as well as a " beloved physician," his 36 562 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. works sufficiently declare. He became a compaition and follower of Paul during his second mission to the heathen. Thus, when Paul had the vision calling him into Macedonia, the writer of the Acts says, " Immediately we endeavored to go," — importing that at that time he was of Paul's company ; and from this period he seems to have constantly attended Paul, or to have waited upon him, almost to the close of his earthly labors. Paul gratefully owns him as his fellow-laborer, — as the brother whose praise is in all the churches. He mentions him in his Epistles, and uniformly speaks of him with affection and confidence. At what time Luke wrote his Gospel, it is impossible to decide. He had had abundant opportunities for information from those who " from the beginning were ejx- witnesses and ministers of the word," and " had a perfect understanding of all things from the very first ; " add to this, he wrote under the inspection of the apostle Paul and the inspiration of the Holy Ghost. Both his Gospel and the Acts Luke addresses to " the most excellent Theophilus," who most probably was some distinguished Christian brother and patron at Antioch. The history in the Acts is continued down to the close of Paul's first imprisonment at Rome. Why the writer did not pursue the narrative further, I am unable to say. I should con- clude that he died about that time, but that we find him still asso- ciated with Paul when the Second Epistle to Timothy was written ; which was during Paul's second imprisonment, and only a little while before his death. Whether Luke survived Paul, and, if so, where he labored afterwards, we have no means of knowing. We know that he was a learned and faithful man, and a devoted Chris- tian, whose writings will be read and pondered, and whose memory will be honored, to the end of time. BARNABAS. Though Barnabas has left us no writings which are of divine authority, he was an honored minister and missionary of the apos- tolic age. He was a Levite, born and brought up in Cyprus, a large island in the north-easterly part of the Mediterranean Sea. We first hear of him at Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, or a little later. He was then a decided, self-sacrificing believer, who sold his property for the common weal, brought out the proceeds, and laid them at the apostles' feet. COMPANIONS AND SUCCESSORS OF THE APOSTLES. 563 * Barnabas seems to have had an early acquaintance and intimacy with Paul. They may have been students together at the feet of Gamaliel before either of them was converted. Upon Paul's first visit to Jerusalem after his conversion, when the disciples were afraid of him, Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles, and satisfied them as to the reality of his change. When news of the great revival at Antioch reached Jerusalem, the apostles sent forth Barnabas, that he should go and labor there ; but, finding the work beyond his strength, he went to Tarsus to secure the assistance of Paul. When they had labored together a whole year at Antioch, they were summoned to go forth to- gether on the first formal mission to the heathen. This being accomplished, they returned to Antioch, and reported to their brethren all that God had done with them and by them. During their stay at Antioch, the question came up respecting the obligation of the Gentile converts to be circumcised and to keep the Mosaic law. Being unal^le to settle this question among themselves, Paul and Barnabas went ujd with it to the apostles and elders and the Church at Jerusalem. The decision of the apostles was against the circumcision of the Gentile converts. On their return from Jerusalem, Paul and Barnabas soon pro- jected another mission to the heathen ; but, as they could not agree in regard to the person to be taken with them as an assist- ant, they separated one from the other : and we hear little of Bar- nabas in sacred story afterwards. We know that he was a good man, " full of faith and of the Holy Ghost," and that he wore out his life in the service of the gospel ; but where he labored, and when and how he died, it is impossible to tell. There is extant an epistle bearing his name ; but, though a very ancient writing, I could never persuade myself that Barnabas wrote it. It is ad- dressed chiefly to Jews, with the design of drawing them oif from the letter of the law to a more spiritual understanding of it. It is full of allegorical interpretations, and is unworthy of the name of Barnabas. TIMOTHY. \ We first hear of Timothy at Derbe, or Lystra, in the progress of Paul's second missionary tour in Asia. He was probably converted at the time of Paul's first visit. His father was a Gentile ; but his grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice were of Jewish descent, and had been converted to the faith of the gospel. They had 564 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. taken much pains in the rehgious education of Timothy, who " from a cliild had known the Holy Scriptures." It was this early religious instruction which restrained him from the vices and vani- ties of youth, made him a fit subject of renewing grace, and pre- pared him for future and distinguished usefulness. When Paul came to Lystra the second time, he was struck with the attainments and gifts of young Timothy ; and, hearing him well reported of by all the brethren, he resolved to take liim with him as a helper in the 'ministerial work. And, the better to prepare him for such an undertaking, he circumcised liim ; not that he laid any stress upon this Jewish rite, but that Timothy might labor with less prejudice among the Jews. He was subsequently or- dained to the work of' the ministry by the laying on of the hands, not only of Paul, but also of the presbytery (1 Tim. iv. 14 ; 2 Tim. i. 6). From this time we find him almost continually with Paul, or laboring under his direction. The apostle calls him his own son, his brother, his yoke-fellow ; and declares that there is no one so much united with him in mind and heart as Timothy. Timothy accompanied the apostle into Macedonia, — to Philippi, to Thessalonica, and to Berea ; and, when Paul departed from Berea, he left Silas and Timothy there to strengthen and establish the new converts. At Athens, Paul sent for them to come to him ; and when they had come, and had given him an account of the distressed condition of the churches in Macedonia, Paul sent Timothy back to them ; whence he afterwards returned, and came to Paul at Corinth (1 Thess. iii. 2). Here he remained with Paul for more than a year ; and the apostle mentions him and Silas in the inscriptions of the two epistles which he wrote from Corinth to the Thessalonians. When Paul left Corinth, he came back into Asia ; and, stopping a little at Ephesus, he hurried on to Jerusalem, that he might be present at the Passover. From Jerusalem he returned to Antioch ; and, having visited the churches which he had before planted in Phrygia and Galatia, he came to Ephesus, where he remained more than two years. It is likely, that in most of these journeys, if not in all, the apostle was attended by his young friend Timothy. It is certain that Timothy was with him at Ephesus ; for, during the apostle's long residence there, he despatched Timothy, on some occasion, to Macedonia and to Corinth ; whence, having fulfilled his mission, he returned to Paul (Acts xix. 22). From Ephesus Paul was at length driven by a mob got up by COMPANIONS AND SUCCESSORS OF THE APOSTLES. 665 the silversmiths ; and, leaving Timothy behind him, he passed over into Macedonia. It was at this time that he wrote his First Epistle to Timothy (see 1 Tim. i. 3). Timothy soon followed his great leader into Macedonia ; for in the inscription of the Second Epistle to the Corinthians, written at this time, we find his name associated with that of Paul. In company with Timothy, Paul now visited Corinth, taking up contributions for the poor saints at Jerusalem. From Corinth he wrote his Epistle to the Romans, containing the salutation of Timothy (Rom. xvi. 21). Paul was now projecting a journey to Jerusalem, taking with him the money which he had collected. He went back through Macedonia, sailed over to Troas, and touched at Miletus, where he sent for the elders of the Ephesian Church, and delivered unto them his parting words. Thence he went forward by easy stages to Jerusalem ; whence he was sent a prisoner, first to Csesarea, and afterwards to Rome. Whether Timothy accompanied Paul to Jerusalem, and staid by him during his two-years' confinement at Csesarea, and then went with him in his voyage to Rome, we are not certainly in- formed. The probability is that he did, as we know that he was with the apostle aft Rome, His name is associated with that of Paul in most of the epistles written from Rome. Indeed, he was himself a prisoner at Rome during a portion of the two years that Paul was there ; for, in the conclusion of the Epistle to the Hebrews, the writer says, " Know ye that our brother Timothy is set at liberty ; with whom, if he come shortly, I will see you." As to the movements of Paul and Timothy after their Kberation at Rome, we are not so accurately informed. The probability is that they journeyed eastward through Macedonia, Greece, Asia Minor, and perhaps Palestine, visiting and strengthening the churches which they had planted. Then they may have visited Crete ; for I cannot find that Paul was at Crete at any earlier period.* Thence they may have passed over into Gaul and Spain, and come back to Rome about the year 64 or 65. The Neronian persecution was now raging ; and Paul was soon made a close pris- oner. It was during this imprisonment that he wrote his Second Epistle to Timothy, — the last that he ever wrote. Timothy was now in Asia Minor, perhaps at Troas (see iv. 13). He was urged to visit the apostle quickly, — at least, before winter, — and to bring with him his master's cloak, his books, and his parchments. If * Except that he touched there on his voyage to Rome. 566 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. Timothy complied with this injunction (as he certainly would if it were practicable), he may have witnessed the martyrdom of Paul. Much is said, in certain quarters, of Timothy as bishop of Ephesus : but the supposition has no foundation in Scripture ; indeed, it is contradicted by the entire history of Timothy as given in the Bible. Timothy was not a bishop anywhere. He never had, so far as we know, the pastoral supervision of any par- ticular church or flock. He is expressly called an evangelist ; and an evangelist in the primitive Church was an itinerant, a mis- sionary, who labored usually in connection with some one of the apostles, and under his direction. Of the life of Timothy after the death of Paul, we have no reliable information. He was a faithful man, a devoted servant of the Lord Jesus Christ, and no doubt finished his course with joy ; but whether he died a natural death, or fell by martyrdom as many insist, it is impossible to say. TITUS. " Titus was another of Paul's evangelists. He was a Gentile, and converted through the instrumentality of Paul, who calls him his son (Tit. i. 4). Paul took him Avith him when he went up to Jerusalem on the question of circumcising the Gentile converts. Some would then have constrained him to circumcise Titus ; but neither he nor Titus would consent. Titus was afterwards sent by the apostle to Corinth on account of some divisions and abuses in that Church (2 Cor. xii. 18). He was well received by the Corinthians, and much satisfied by their submission to the reproofs and instructions of Paul. He went back to the apostle in Macedonia, and gave him a gratifying account of the state of things among the Corinthians (2 Cor. vii. 6, 7). A short time afterwards, he was desired by Paul to return to Corinth, help forward their charitable collections, and prepare matters for his own arrival there. This journey Titus readily undertook, carry- ing with him Paul's Second Epistle to the Corinthians (2 Cor. viii. 16, 17). How Titus was occupied for several of the next years, we have no account : but after Paul's release from his first imprisonment at Rome, when he undertook his mission to Crete, we find Titus with him ; and, when Paul was called away from Crete, he left COMPANIONS AND SUCCESSORS OF THE APOSTLES. 567 Titus there to " set in order the things that were wanting, and ordain elders in every city " (Tit. i. 5). Titus has been called the first bishop of Crete ; but the truth is, he was not a bishop anywhere : like Philip and Timothy, and a great many others, he was an evangelist. His residence in Crete when left there by Paul was very short ; for, only a little while after, Paul writes to Timothy, " Titus is gone to Dalmatia," — a great way from Crete. As to the remainder of Titus's life, and the manner of his death, nothing is known. The Apostolical Fathers, so called, are Clement of Rome, Igna- tius, Polycarp, Hermas, and perhaps Papias. CLEMENT OF ROME. Of the early life of the Roman Clement we know nothing. His name proves him to have been a native of Italy, if not of Rome. That he was an early convert to Christianity, and member of the Church at Rome, there can be no doubt. He is generally thought to be the Clement spoken of by Paul in his Epistle to the Philippians, as one of his " fellow-laborers whose names are in the book of life " (Phil. iv. 3). • Roman Catholics of modern times have much difficulty in deter- mining who (next to Peter) was the first bishop of Rome. Some think it was Linus, others Cletus or Anacletus, and others Clement. The truth is that Peter never was bishop of Rome in any sense ; and as to the rest, the probability is that they were all bishops or presbyters together. The words " presbyter " and " bishop " at that period denoted the same persons, and were often used inter- changeably. Of these presbyter-bishops, the Church of Rome, like most of the other large churches, had several at the same time (see Acts xiii. 1; xx. 17). Among these, undoubtedly, were Linus and Cletus, and the„Clement of whom we now speak. Clement is chiefly known to us by an Epistle to the Corinthians, in fifty-nine chapters, written before the close of the first century. This epistle strongly resembles the apostolical writings, and, next to them, is perhaps the best authenticated fragment of high Christian antiquity. It is often quoted by the early fathers, and was sometimes read in the churches. For a long period, it was supposed to have been lost ; but it was found complete, and sent into England as part of the Alexandrine codex of the Bible, by Cyrillus Lucaris, a patriarch of Constantinople, near the beginning 568 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. of the seventeenth century. It was written, not from one bishop to another, but in the name and by the authority of the Church of Rome to the Church which is at Corinth. It was occasioned by party divisions and quarrels in the Corinthian Church, in the progress of which some restless spirits had undertaken to depose their presbyters or ministers. It consists of earnest exhortations to compose these differences, to restore their injured pastors, and to stand fast in the faith and order of the gospel as delivered to them by the holy apostles. Of the particular doctrines of this epistle, as well as of the writings of the 'other apostolical fathers, I shall have occasion to speak in another place. Clement of Rome was so early a Christian writer, and at the same time so celebrated, that various works in later times were falsely ascribed to him ; as a Second Epistle to the Corinthians, the Apostolical Canons and Constitutions, the Recognitions of Clement, and the Clementina; IGNATIUS OF ANTIOCH. Ignatius, surnamed Theophorus on account of his eminent piety, was pastor-bishop of the great Church at Antioch at the close of the first century and the beginning of the second. Of his early history we know nothing ; neither do we know precisely at what time he was called to preside over the Church at Antioch. The great event of his life was his martyrdom under Trajan, which took place about the year 106. As he was then nearly eighty years old, he must have been for a long time contemporary with the apostles. The story is, that, as Trajan passed through Antioch in prosecuting a war with the Parthians, Ignatius was brought be- fore him for examination ; and, when he boldly confessed Christ, the emperor commanded that he should be taken to Rome, and there thrown to the wild beasts for the entertainment of the peo- ple. On his way to Rome, Ignatius wrote several epistles to the churches, which are still extant. As to the genuineness of these epistles, or some of them, there has been much dispute. Time was when there were thought to be fourteen or fifteen of them : then they were cut down to seven ; and so they are commonly reckoned. But recent investiga- tions have reduced them to three; and these are considerably abridged. The probability, however, is, that there were originally seven (and so they are reckoned by Eusebius), addressed to the Ephesians, the Magnesians, the Trallians, the Romans, the Phila- COMPANIONS AND SUCCESSORS OF THE APOSTLES. 569 delphians, the Smyrneans, and to Polycarp. These were translated into English, and published by Archbishop Wake. There is much reason to believe that these seven have been interpolated and tampered with, particularly in regard to episcopal authority ; since they use a language, and urge claims in reference to this matter, not at all in accordance with contemporary writers. Ignatius died triumphantly at Rome, according to his sentence. His bones, Avhich the wild beasts left, were gathered up by his friends, and carried back to Antioch, where they were long regarded as a most precious relic. An account of his martyrdom, purport- ing to have been drawn up by his friends at the time, is translated and published by Archbishop Wake in connection with his epistles. POLYCARP. This apostolical pastor of the Church at Smyrna lived in the latter part of the first century, and far into the second. He was a disciple of the apostle John, a personal friend of Ignatius, and may have been the angel of the Church in Smyrna, addressed by our Saviour in the second chapter of the Revelation. His disci- ple, Irenseus of Lyons, has recorded his reminiscences of this apos- tolical man. He tells us of his personal appearance, his mode of life, his discourses to the people, and his communications respecting the teachings and miracles of the Lord as he had heard them from the mouth of John and other eye-witnesses. Polycarp, like his friend Ignatius, was called to seal his tes- timony with his blood. In the persecution under Marcus Aurelius, about the year 167, he was brought for examination before the proconsul of Asia, who urged him to swear, and reproach Christ. Polycarp replied, " Eighty and six years have I served Christ, and he has never done me the least wrong : how, then, can I blaspheme my King and my Saviour ? " The proconsul said, " I have wild beasts ready : to them will I throw thee except thou repent." " Call for them, then," said Polycarp ; " for we Christians are fixed in our minds never to change from good to evil." The proconsul then said, " Since thou despisest the wild beasts, I will cause thee to be devoured by fire unless thou repent." Polycarp answered, " Thou threatenest me with fire which burns for an hour, and so is extinguished, but knowest not the fire of the future judgment, and of that eternal punishment which is reserved for the ungodly." The examination here ended, and Polycarp was led a'way to the 570 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. flames ; his enemies shouting as he passed along, " This is the teacher of Asia, the father of the Christians, and the overthrower of our gods ! " I shall say nothing of the miracles which are said to have taken place at the burning of Polycarp. His ashes were carefully col- lected, and long preserved as a treasure more precious than gold. Polycarp wrote an Epistle to the Philippians, in fourteen chap- ters ; which is all that remains to us of tliis holy man. A particu- lar account of the martyrdom of Polycarp was published by the Church at Smyrna, addressed to the Church at Philadelphia and " to all the other assemblies of the holy Catholic Church in every place." This interesting narrative, together with the Epistle of Polycarp, has been translated and published by Archbishop Wake.* HERMAS. Hermas was not a bishop or pastor, but a private member of the Church at Rome. He was a contemporary of Clement, and is sup- posed to be the same Hermas whom Paul greets by name in his Epistle to the Romans (xvi. 14). " The Shepherd of Hermas " pur- ports to be a kind of apocalyptic revelation, and consists of three parts ; viz., the Visions, the Commandments, and the Similitudes. It is called the shepherd of Hermas because the angel who re- vealed the greater part of it appeared to Hermas as a shepherd. The estimate formed of it by the primitive church fathers was very different. Origen thought it divinely inspired ; while others rank it with the apocryphal books, and recommend that it should be read only in private. It is rather a practical than a theological treatise, inculcating a rigid morality and a strict religious life. There were others besides those which have been mentioned, who Avere contemporary with the apostles, and immediately suc- ceeded them in the care of the churches ; as Linus at Rome, and Simeon at Jerusalem, and Papias of Hierapolis, and the author of the Epistle to Diognetus. Papias is represented as a pious but weak and credulous man, who was much engaged in collecting tra- ditions respecting Christ and the apostles. He published " Expla- nations of our Lord's Discourses," in five books ; of which only some fragments remain. The Epistle to Diognetus is an elegant production, vindicating * Other translations of the Apostolical Fathers have followed that by Archbishop Wake. COMPANIONS AND SUCCESSORS OF THE APOSTLES. 571 Christianity against the aspersions of some distinguished heathen who had slandered it. The date of the epistle is not certainly known, though it is generally ascribed to the age of Trajan or Adrian, — near the commencement of the second century. The fol- lowing is the author's description of Christians as they appeared in his own time : " The Christians," says he, " are not distinguished from other men by country, by language, or civil institutions ; for they neither dwell in cities by themselves, nor speak a peculiar tongue, nor lead a singular mode of life. They dwell in the Gre- cian cities or the Barbarian, as the case may be. They follow the usage of the country in dress, food, and the other affairs of life. Yet they present a wonderful and confessedly paradoxical course of conduct. They dwell in their own native land, but as stran- gers. They take part in all things as citizens, and yet suffer all things as foreigners. They live upon the earth ; but their home is in heaven. They love all, and are persecuted by all. They are unknown, and yet are condemned. They are killed, and they make alive. They are poor, and make many rich. They lack all things, and yet abound in all. They are reproached, and glory in their reproaches. They are calumniated, and yet justified. They are cursed, and they bless. They receive scorn, and they give honor. They d© good, and are punished as malefactors. By both Jews and Greeks they are hated and persecuted; and yet the cause of their enmity their enemies cannot tell. In short, what the soul is in the body the Christians are in the world. The soul dwells in the body, but is not of the body ; and so Christians dwell in the world, but are not of the world. Being itself immortal, the soul dwells in a mortal body ; and so the Christian dwells in corruption, but looks for incorruption in heaven. This lot hath God assigned to Christians in the world ; and it cannot be taken from them." CHAPTER XI. CHURCH ORGANIZATION AND GOVERNMENT IN THE FIRST PERIOD. IT lias been made a question, whether there is any precise model of church organization and government laid down in the New Testament to which Christians universally are under obligations to conform. By some it has been contended that this is the ease ; that nothing is left to the discretion of the Church ; that we are bound to copy in every particular after the divine pattern which has been given us. By others it is asserted that we have no divine pattern which is at all obligatory ; that Christians are left to their own judgment in this matter ; that it is not only their right, but their duty, to modify the government of the Church according to existing circumstances. The truth probably lies between these two extremes. There are some general outlines of church organization and government marked out for us in the ScrijDtures ; and these, so far as they can be discovered, should be regarded. But, aside from these, God has wisely left many things to be judged of by the light of reason, and to be modified according to circumstances in providence. It was remarked in a former chapter, that the Church of God has been the same under all the dispensations. At first, its gov- ernment was patriarchal ; then theocratic and national ; and then congregational, using the word " congregational " in the general sense. At first, its visible rites were the weekly sabbath, bloody sacrifices, and (after a time) circumcision ; then a variety of new ordinances were added, mostly of a typical or symbolical character ; and, when these were abolished, the Christian rites of baptism and the Lord's Supper took their place. Yet, amid all these changes of rites and dispensations, the Church of God has been the same, consisting of a peculiar people, and brought into a near and covenant relation to its Lawgiver and Head. I have said that the government of the Church, as it passed from 572 CHURCH ORGANIZATION AND GOVERNMENT. 573 the Jewish to the Christian disiDensation, became congregational. The followers of Christ were embodied, not in one corporate, uni- versal Church, but in particular churches. The materials for such churches Avere prepared by Christ himself during his personal ministry ; and, soon after his ascension, such a Church was fully organized at Jerusalem. It was a principal labor of the apostles and evangelists to form such churches in the cities and villages where they preached, and where a sufficient number of disciples could be collected. Nearly thirty particular churches are expressly spoken of in the New Testament, besides a much greater number which are referred to in more general terms. These churches were accustomed to assemble for religious wor- ship on the first day of the week, and frequently on other days. Where the congregation consisted chiefly of Jews, the seventh day was observed. Towards the close of the century, the first day of the week came to be called " the Lord's day," and was regarded as the proper Christian sabbath. During the whole of this century, the Christians met for wor- ship wherever they could find a place, — in public buildings, in private houses, and often in dens and caves of the earth. Their meetings were conducted much like our social prayer-meetings. The Scriptures were read, prayers were offered, the praises of God were sung, and exhortations warm and affectionate were delivered. At the close of service on the Lord's day, and perhaps oftener, the Lord's Supper was administered, followed frequently by what was called an ayanri^ or feast of love. The churches in the days of the apostles were all of them volun- tary associations. The apostles had no compulsory power to bring persons into the churches, nor did they desire any. All who joined themselves to any of these bodies did it freely and of their own accord. Those who became members of the churches at this period were required to profess their faith in Christ, and to give credible evi- dence of piety. It was those who " gladly received the word " who were admitted to the Church on the day of Pentecost. It was not till the Samaritans*" believed Philip, preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God," that they were received by him to baptism and the Church. The Holy Ghost fell on the family of Cornelius, and satisfied Peter as to their piety, before he would admit them to the Church, and administer to them the ordinances of the gospel. Ananias objected to baptizing Paul, until a voice 674 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. from heaven assured him of the piety of this recent persecutor : " He is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gen- tiles and kings and the children of Israel" (Acts ix. 15). We here see what were the terms of admission to the primitive churches. In all cases, there must be a credible profession of piety. The rite of initiation was baptism "in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." This was administered, ordi- narily, very soon after a profession of faith. A long probation at that period was not thought to be necessary. Of the other stand- ing ordinance in the early Church, — the Holy Supper, — I have already spoken. In the close of the century, these ordinances were observed in their prmiitive simplicity as the apostles left them. The churches of the first century, being voluntary associations, united by a common faith and a holy covenant, possessed all the essential rights of such associations. One of these rights, and one* which they exercised in presence of the apostles, was that of choos- ing their oivn officers. Thus, when an individual was to be appointed to fill the place of Judas Iscariot, the disciples chose two from among themselves, one of whom was designated by lot to be numbered with the apostles (Acts i. 23) ; and, when deacons were to be appointed in the Church at Jerusalem, these were first chosen by the Church, and afterward ordained by the apostles (Acts vi. 5). The churches of Macedonia chose delegates to travel with Paul and his company, and carry their contributions to Jerusalem. This right of choosing its own officers continued to be exercised in the Church long after the close of the first century. Origen, near the end of his great work against Celsus, represents elders as " chosen to their office by the churches which they rule." Cyp- rian insists largely on the right of churches to choose their own officers ; affirming that this was the practice, not only of the African churches, but of those in most of the other provinces of the Roman Empire.* Socrates, speaking of the election of Chrys- ostom, says, " He was chosen by the common vote of all, both clergy and people." f Theodoret describes the election of Eusta- thius in the same manner ; " He was compelled to take the bishop- ric by the common vote of the bishops and clergy and of all the people." :|: The churches retained the right of electing their own officers when most of their other immunities had been taken away. * Epistle 68. t Ecc. Hist., lib. vi. cap. 2. \ Ibid., lib. i. cap. 7. CHURCH ORGANIZATION AND GOVERNMENT. 575 The people of Rome continued to »choose their bishop until past the middle of the eleventh century. The churches of the first century also had the right of admitting and excluding members. Our Saviour directs, Avhen an offending member is not reclaimed by private remonstrance, that his case be brought before the Church ; and, if he hear not the Church, that he be excommunicated (Matt, xviii. 17). "When," says Neander, "a vicious person was to be excluded from the Church at Cor- inth, the apostle regarded it as something which must proceed from the whole Church; and when this. same person, being hum- bled, was to be forgiven and restored, his restoration must be effected by the same body" (1 Cor. v. 7; ii. 2). Another right of the early churches was that of holding and controlling their own property. Paul, speaking of widows, says, " If any who believe have widows, let them relieve them, and let not the Church he charged^'''' — a form of expression which implies that the Church at that period had funds which it disposed of at discretion (1 Tim. vi. 16). The Church at Jerusalem was early in possession of property to a very considerable amount : for a time, it seems to have held the property of nearly all its members ; for " as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold, and laid them down at the apostles' feet" (Acts iv. 34). It was to take charge of the property of the Church, and see to its equitable distribution, that the order of deacons was first instituted (Acts vi. 3). In short, every church in the first century seems to have had the right to dispose of its own proper concerns, subject only to such restrictions and regulations as had been imposed by Christ himself. It had the right to do all that needed to be done in order to preserve its own existence, and secure to itself the privileges and blessings of the gospel. It follows fronr the statements here made, that, wRile the churches planted by the apostles maintained a fraternal inter- course one with another in all holy fellowship and communion, they were independent one of another in respect to jurisdiction and authority. The apostles indeed, as the divinely commissioned and inspired founders of churches, had a degree of authority over them which was peculiar to themselves ; but among the churches we find no one of them, and no confederated body of them, pre- suming to exercise authority over the rest. Not even the mother- church at Jerusalem, considered as separate from the apostles, ever 576 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. undertook to dictate to the otjier churches, or to extend its juris- diction over them. The independence of the primitive cliurches, in the sense and to the extent here exphxined, is not only sanctioned by the Scriptures, but is most exphcitly asserted by learned and impartial historians of different denominations. Thus Waddington, an Episcopalian of the Church of England, speaking of the Church in the first cen- tury, says, " Every church was essentially independent of every other. The churches thus constituted and regulated formed a sort of federative body of independent religious communities, dispersed through the greater part of the Roman Empire, in continual com- munication and in constant harmony with each other."* Mosheim, a Lutheran, who could have had no predilection for the doctrine of church independency, thus describes the state of things in the first century : " All the churches in those primitive times were independent bodies, or none of them subject to the juris- diction of any other ; for though the churches which were formed by the apostles frequently had the honor shown them to be con- sulted in dijfficult cases, yet they had no judicial authority^ no con- trol, no poiver of giving laws. On the contrary, it is clear as the noonday that all Christian churches had equal rights, and were in all respects on a footing of equality." The same author, speaking of the second century, says, " During a great part of this century, all the churches continued to be, as at first, i^idependent of each other, or were connected by no consocia- tions or confederations. Each church was a kind of little inde- pendent republic, governed by its own laws, which were enacted, or at least sanctioned, by the people." f Archbishop Whately, speaking on the same subject, says, " Each church, though connected with the rest by ties of faith, hope, and charity, seems to have been perfectly independent so far as regards any power or control. The plan of the apostles -^eems to have been to establish a great number of distinct, independent communities,^ each governed by its own bishop, conferring occasionally 'with the brethren of other churches, but owing no submission to the rulers of any other church, or to any central common authority, except the apostles." X The testimony of Neander, Gieseler, and other approved histo- rians, as to the constitution of the primitive churches, is altogether * Ecc. Hist., p. 43. t Ecc. Hist. (Murdock's edition), vol. i. pp. 86, 142. t Essay on the Kingdom of Christ. CHURCH ORGANIZATION AND GOVERNMENT. 577 coincident with that given above. A single fact shows that the churches of the first century must have been independent bodies. There were no synods, consociations, or confederations of any kind in existence to make laws for the churches, or to whose behests they were required to submit. Such confederated bodies were not known in Christendom until past the middle of the second century. But while the primitive churches were, in the sense explained, independent of each other, they were bound together by the strongest ties, and maintained (as hinted above) a constant inter- course in all suitable acts of fellowship and communion. They were to each other objects of deep interest, and of mutual concern and prayer. As their teachers journeyed from place to place, it is not to be doubted that they had an interchange of pastoral labors. The members too, when absent from their own churches, were freely admitted to communion in the assemblies of their brethren. The primitive churches sent Christian salutations, and letters of instruction and warning, one to another : they also sent messengers one to another, and administered mutual relief in distress. They cheerfully bore one another's burthens, and, in case of doubt and difficulty, looked to each other for advice. This delightful fellowship of churches, which was established under the apostles, was continued under their immediate suc- cessors. The Epistle of Clement of Rome to the Corinthian Church commences as follows : " The Church of God which is at Rome to the Church of God which is at Corinth, elect, sanctified by the will of God, through Jesus Christ our Lord." Several like instances occur in the age immediately succeeding that of the apostles, in which one church, or the pastor of some one church, addresses letters of exhortation to other churches. The ofl&cers in the primitive churches were of two kinds, — the|' ordinary and extraordinary. The extraordinary officers were the] apostles and their missionary assistants, called evangelists. Thei ordinary standing church-officers — those designed to be perpet- ]^^r\^AAAti«./t deacons. It seems to have been no part of the official work of a ' { w I •*! ? / deacon to preach the gospel, but rather to have charge of the ' « t-ht /» temporal concerns of the Church: " Look ye out among you seven; p*' men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and of wisdom, "^ • ' ■ c>V.i whom we may appoint over this business" (the serving of tables) ; ;;Tt> " but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the min- istry of the word " (Acts vi. 3). 37 578 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. The higher order of standing church-officers are called in Scrip- ture by different names ; as pastors, teachers, bishops, presbyters, or elders, &c. That the terms " bishop " and " presbyter " refer to the same class of church-officers, and indeed to the same persons, is evident from the fact that they are often used in Scripture inter- changeably. Thus Titus was left in Crete that he might " ordain elders in every city." But, in a following verse, these elders are denominated bishops (Tit. i. 5-7). In his farewell address to the Ephesian elders, Paul calls these elders overseers, or (as in the original) bishops (Acts xx. 17, 28). Peter exhorts elders to take the oversight of the flock, or (as it is in the Greek) to do the work of bishops, not by constraint, but willingly (1 Pet. v. 2). The identity of bishop and presbyter is taught, not only in Scripture, but in the writings of the early fathers. Hermas, who was a member of the Church at Rome, and lived in the first cen- tury, uses the terms "bishop" and "presbyter" promiscuously, and speaks of presbyters as presiding over the Church at Rome.* Clem- ent of Rome says that presbyters had been placed over the Church at Corinth, and complains that these presbyters had been ejected from the episcopate.^ Irenseus uses the terms " bishop " and " presbyter " interchangeably : " We ought to obey those presbyters who, have succession from the apostles, who, with the succession of the epis- copate, received the certain gift of truth." " Such presbyters the Church nourishes ; concerning whom the prophet says, ' I will give you princes in peace, and bishops in righteousness.' " % Several epistles have been published under the name of Ignatius, an early pastor of the Church at Antioch, in which the bishop is distinguished from the presbyter, and great authority is ascribed to him. There is so much evidence, however, that some of these epistles are spurious, and that those which are not have been tam- pered with in reference to this very subject, that no certain con- clusions can be drawn from them. There can be no doubt, that in the third and fourth centuries, and onwards, important changes took place in the government of the churches. The power of the clergy was increased, and the liberties of the churches were diminished, and ultimately destroyed. In the third and fourth centuries, bishops generally claimed to be a distinct and superior order of ministers. The manner in which this distinction came into the Church is pretty fully explained by Jerome in his commentary on Tit. i. 2 : '•'•A presbyter,'^ says he, * Vision ii. sect. 4. t Sect. 42-57. % Advers. H^res., lib. iv. cap. 43, 44. CHURCH ORGANIZATION AND GOVERNMENT. 579 " is the same as a bishop ; and before there were, by the instigation of the Devil, parties in religion, the churches were governed by the joint counsels of presbyters. But afterwards it was decreed throughout the whole world that one chosen from among the presbyters should be put over the rest, and that the whole care of the Church should be committed to him." Jerome proceeds to support his opinion as to the original equality of presbyters and bishops hy commenting on Phil. i. 1, and on the interview of Paul with the Ephesian elders ; and then he adds, " Our design in these remarks is to show, that, among the ancients, presbyter and bishop were the very same ; but by degrees, that the plants of dissension might be plucked up, the whole concern was devolved on an individual. As the presbyters, therefore, know that they are subjected, by the custom of the Churchy to him who is set over them ; so let the bishops know that they are greater than presbyters, more by custom than by any real appointment of Christ ^ It is remarkable how long the opinion of the original identity of ' bishops and presbyters was retained in the Church. This was the generally -received doctrine of the Romish Church, insisted on both by canonists and schoolmen, until past the middle of the six- teenth century, when the opposite opinion was affirmed by the Council of Trent. This was also the doctrine of the fathers of the English Episcopal Church down to the time of Archbishop Laud, in the first part of the seventeenth century. In the larger churches of the first century, we find several bishops or presbyters holding office together in the same church. Paul's Epistle to the Philippians is addressed" to all the saints in Christ Jesus Avhich are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons ;^^ implying that there were in that church several bishops as well as deacons. So also we read of the elders of the churches at Ephesus and at Jerusalem ; importing that there was a corps of elders in each of these great churches (Acts xv. 4, 6 ; xx. 17). Some have inferred from this fact that there were two classes of elders in the primitive churches, — the teaching and the ruling elders ; and this conclusion has been strengthened by a passage in Paul's First Epistle to Timothy (v. 17) : " Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially they that labor in word and doctrine ; " importing that there were some who did not labor in word and doctrine. But I doubt whether this passage implies any official distinction among the elders. In a company of elders such as existed in all the large churches, some 580 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. would be more learned and gifted, more competent to teach, and more acceptable preachers, than the rest. On these, of course, the greater part of the labor of preaching would devolve. They would preach more frequently than their less-qualified brethren ; they would labor more in word and doctrine : and while Paul would have the elders that ruled well counted worthy of high honor, even though they were not so effective preachers, he would have special respect accorded to those who devoted themselves more enthely to the preaching of the Word. We are confirmed in the interpretation here given to the apostle's language from the fact that no such officers as lay elders are found in the Church for several centuries succeeding the apostolic age. On a revicAV of what has been written respecting the organization and government of the churches in the first century, it appears that these churches were essentially congregational. Each one was a body by itself, independent of every other in regard to authority and control ; having the right to elect its own officers, to admit and exclude members, and to manage, in general, its own appropriate concerns. Such were the chiu-ches of the first century ; and, being such, they were essentially congregational, using the term " congre- gational " in the larger sense. The one essential characteristic of Congregationalism is the independence of the individual church, to the exclusion, not of church-fellowship, but of outward dictation and control. Where this principle is retained, there is Congrega- tionalism in the larger sense : if this be swallowed up and lost, as it is in most of the nominal churches of Christendom, Con- gregationalism is lost with it. It further appears from what has been said that the congrega- tional churches of the present day are not, as is sometimes alleged, innovations, novelties, in church-order, but rather a reviving of the original order, — that established by the apostles and their imme- diate successors. This original order had been lost for more than a thousand years. The independence of the individual Church had long been swallowed up in the ail-ingulfing power of a domi- nant hierarchy. But, subsequent to the reformation from Popery, the fathers of the present independent churches sought out this original, apostolical principle, and found it. They succeeded, after a long struggle, in restoring it, and have transmitted it to us their successors ; and we shall be recreant to their memory and to our own rights if we do not cherish it, preserve it, and transmit it unimpaired to the generations which shall come after us. CHAPTER XII. PERSECUTIONS AND PROGRESS OF THE CHURCH IN THIS PERIOD. THE first persecutors of the Christians were the Jews. Having crucified the Lord of glory, tliey naturally set themselves in hostile array against his interests and kingdom. They had heard of the resurrection of Christ, but persisted in the mad pretence that the disciples had stolen the body from the sepulchre while the soldiers slept. They had witnessed the strange appearances on the day of Pentecost, but accounted for them by saying, " These men are full of new wine." But, notwithstanding all their lies and reproaches, the cause of Christ continued to prosper. The original five hundred soon came to be more than three thousand ; and in a little time the three thousand had swelled to five thousand ; and their numbers were increasing daily. The Jewish rulers, therefore, thought that it was time for them to bestir themselves if they meant to arrest the growing evil. In a previous chapter, I have spoken of the arrest, in two sepa- rate instances, of Peter and John by the Jews, and of their deliv- erance ; of the persecution following the death of Stephen, in which Saul of Tarsus was so much engaged, and by which the dis- ciples were scattered abroad ; also of the designs of Herod Agrippa against the Church, when he slew James the brother of John with the sword, and intended to take Peter also, but was disappointed. With the death of Herod, the persecution ceased ; and from this time, although the Jews retained all their spite and hate, they lacked the power to inflict essential injury upon the people of God. They continued to annoy the Christians, so far as they were able, more especially in and around Jerusalem. In about the year 62, they effected the murder of James the Less ; for which wickedness and cruelty, Josephus believes that they were visited with the de- struction of their city and temple. Early in the next century, 681 582 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. they took the life of good old Simeon, the son of Cleopas, who succeeded James in the care of the Church at Jerusalem. But the next general and fiery persecution came, not from the Jews, but from the heathen. It sprang up, not at Jerusalem, but at Rome. This was the terrible persecution under Nero. Nero, the successor of Claudius, became emperor of Rome A.D. 54. During the first years of his reign, while he was under the influence of able counsellors, his government was respected ; but he soon showed himself to be one of the most cruel and brutal charac- ters in all antiquity. He murdered his mother, his brother, his wife, his two preceptors, Burrhus and Seneca, and at last murdered himself. In the latter part of his reign, he set fire to Rome, just for the satisfaction of seeing it burn (as it did for six successive days) ; and then, to avoid the indignation of the citizens, he charged the burning upon the Christians. The Christians were at this time numerous at Rome ; and the fury of the enraged emperor fell upon them without measure or mercy. The most horrible methods of punishment were resorted to. Some were thrown to wild beasts ; but more were sewed up in tarred clothes, and set on fire in the night, that they might illuminate the burned city. This persecution lasted four years, and was not confined to the city of Rome, but extended into other parts of the empire. A vast number of Christians were put to death, among whom were the apostles Peter and Paul. Upon the death of Nero, which occurred in the year 68, the persecution ceased. During the short succeeding reigns of Galba, Otho, Vitellius, Vespasian, and Titus, the Church enjoyed some repose ; but under Domitian, a suspicious and blasphemous tyrant who reigned from the year 81 to 96, the fires of persecution were kindled anew. He had heard that some one of the descendants of David was destined to come to universal empire ; and this led him to hate and persecute both the Jews and Christians. He sent and brought two young men of the lineage of David — grandsons of Judas the " cousin of our Lord " — from Palestine to Rome ; but seeing their poverty and humility, and hearing their explanation of the kingdom of Christ, as being not temporal, but spiritual, not earthly, but heaven- ly, he dismissed them, and with them dismissed his fears of their disturbing the stability of his throne. It was during this persecu- tion that Flavins Clemens, a cousin of the emperor, was put to death, and his wife Domatilla was driven into exile. It was under Domitian that the apostle John was banished to the Isle of Pat- PERSECUTIONS AND PROGRESS OF THE CHURCH. 583 mos,* and that Andrew and Mark and Onesimus, and Dionysius the Areopagite, are supposed to have been slain. Domitian Avas suc- ceeded by Nerva, under whom those who had been banished were recalled, and the persecution ceased. It may be inquired, as it often has been, why the Romans, who were proverbially tolerant to the religions of their conquered provinces, were so averse to the Christian religion, and so ready to persecute and distress its followers. One reason for the fact here noticed was, that, while the different heathen religions embraced each other, the Christian religion was exclusive. The heathen of one country could say to those of an- other, " Your gods may be good for you, as ours are for us : you enjoy your religion, and we will enjoy ours." But the Christians could not say as much as this. They professed to worship the only true God, and to have the only true religion. The religions of the heathen (and that of imperial Rome among the rest) they held to be false and worthless, — an abomination and a lie. Now, this, to the proud Romans, was an outrageous presumption, an insufferable offence. They were as ready to have fellowship with Christians as with other religionists, if Christians would have fellowship with them. They would even have placed the image of Jesus in the Pantheon, and offered incense before it, if the Christians would do as much for their images : but the Christians could enter into no such compromise with idolatry ; and hence their religion was a detestable superstition, and must be suppressed. But further than this : the religion of Rome was the religion of the State, and its idolatries entered into and formed an integral part of the State policy and government. The emperor was, ex officio, the Pofitifex Maximus ; the gods were national ; while the eagle of Jupiter Capitolinus moved as a good genius in front of the all-conquering legions. Not an oath could be taken, nor any important office be held, without an appeal to the Romish divinities and a professed belief in them. But such complicity with idolatry the Christians could not consistently practise : hence they were constrained to stand aloof in great measure from public affairs, and thus incur the reproach of hostihty to the government. There were yet other causes of hostility to the Christians. As they had no images, no visible gods, they were thought by many * Some persons think that John was banished under Nero; but I cannot be of this opinion. Irenseus, a disciple of Polycarp, who was a disciple of John, testifies that he was banished by Domitian. 584 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. to have no god at all, and lay under the charge of atheism ; and as they were obliged to hold their meetings privately, and often in the night-season, they were charged with practising in them the grossest abominations. The Pagan priests, too, as their altars came to be comparatively deserted, wrought earnestly upon the fears of the people, imputing all public calamities to the anger of the gods. Hence, at every inundation or drought or famine or pestilence, the populace were excited to proclaim, " Away with the atheists ! Christianos ad leones ! " (" Hurl the Christians to the lions ! ") Then, in addition to the priests, there were hordes of jugglers, artificers, merchants, and. others, who derived their support from the idolatrous worship. These all, like Demetrius at Ephesus, had a personal interest in sustaining the established rehgion, and in crushing those who set themselves against it. But, notwithstanding the persecutions of the first century, the religion of Christ made constant and rapid progress. It spread often, not merely in spite of persecution, but by means of it. Thus in the persecution about Stephen, when the Christians were scat- tered away from Jerusalem, they went forth everywhere preaching the Word ; and churches sprang up all over the land. So Paul tells us that his imprisonment at Rome was overruled for the further- ance of the gospel. For " my bonds," says he, " are manifest in all the palace and in all other places ; and many of the brethren, wax- ing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the Word without fear " (Phil. i. 12-14). Of the extent to which Christianity was propagated in the first century, it is impossible to speak with literal exactness. That it early spread throughout Palestine, Judsea, Samaria, and Galilee, and on both sides of the River Jordan, there can be no doubt. We next trace it into Syria, — to Sidon, Damascus, Antioch, and the other great cities. Thence it extended into Asia Minor, and thence through the principal cities of Macedon and Greece. Almost im- mediately, we hear of churches springing up at Rome and in other parts of Italy ; whence the sound of the gospel passed over the Alps into Gaul, and (as Clement of Rome informs us) to " the farthest regions of the west." We know that there were churches in Egypt, in Ethiopia, and other parts of Africa, in the apostolic age. Nor were the regions lying north and east of Palestine unvisited by the light of gospel truth. Peter wrote his First Epistle at Babylon, during his visit to the Jews residing there ; and he addresses it to converted Jews PERSECUTIONS AND PROGRESS OF THE CHURCH. 585 " scattered through Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and By- thinia " (chap. i. 1 ; v. 13). Of the missionary labors of Paul we have heard in former chap- ters. Several years before his martyrdom, he tells the Romans, that " from Jerusalem " as a centre, " and round about unto Illyricum " (beyond Macedon and Thrace), " he had fully preached the gospel of Christ." He preached it in a much wider circle afterwards. In the same epistle, speaking to the Romans of the wide diffusion of the gospel, he says, " Its sound went forth into all the earth, and its words to the end of the world " (Rom. x. 18 ; xv. 19). With regard to the other apostles, we are told that Andrew labored on the shore of the Black Sea, near the site of the modern Constantinople ; that Philip went to Hierapolis in Phrygia ; that Thomas travelled eastward into Parthia, Media, Persia, and India; and that Jude, the brother of James, preached in Edessa, in the north of Syria. It is not to be understood that the countries here mentioned were thoroughly Christianized through the labors of the apostles and their immediate successors. But the gospel was preached in them ; the kingdom of God came near to them ; a seed was Sown which ere long sprang up, and in most places yielded precious fruit. In the following century, Tertullian says, " We are a people of yesterday ; and yet we have filled every place belonging to you, — your cities, islands, castles, towns, assemblies, joiiv very camp, your tribes, your companies, the palace, the forum, and the senate. We leave you nothing but your temples. You can count your armies ; but our numbers in some single provinces are greater than they." Justin Martyr uses a similar language : " There is no people, Greek or Barbarian, or of any other race, by whatsoever appellation or manners they may be distinguished, however igno- rant of arts or agriculture, whether they dwell in tents or wander about in covered wagons, among whom prayers and thanksgivings are not offered in the name of the crucified Jesus to the Father and Creator of all things." Passages such as these — making all due allowance for rhetori- cal exaggeration — indicate a prodigious spread of Christianity at or near the close of the first century ; and the questions arise. How are we to account for this extended and rapid diffusion ? To what cause or causes is it to be attributed ? Not certainly to the learning and eloquence of its first preachers 586 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. and « promoters ; for they were plain, unlettered men, whose only aim was to live the religion they professed, and to deliver their important message m a simple, truthful way. Nor can we account for the success of the gospel on the ground of its offering any favor or indulgence to the corrupt inclinations and practices of men ; for the whole tendency of it was the other way. Its demand for repentance and newness of life, for a renunciation of self and the world, was perpetual and inexorable. Nor can we account for the success of the first preachers of the gospel on ac- count of the support of the civil powers ; for these, as we have seen, were all arrayed against them : instead of meeting with support and encouragement from the world, they were obliged to encounter a world in arms. There was, indeed, a preparation for the gospel in the existing state of the world and of its prevalent religions. Judaism had fallen, with its doomed capital and temple, and wandered restless and accursed ; while Heathenism, though outwardly in power, was inwardly rotten and in process of decay. Public morality was under- mined, the moral bands of society were sundered, and the minds of men were prepared to look with expectation and hope upon the light of the new religion which was beginning to rise upon them. Then this religion was of a nature to commend itself to every man's conscience^ however pointedly it may have condemned his course of life. In the manifest truth of its leading doctrines ; in the purity and elevation of its moral precepts ; in its regenerat- ing and sanctifying effects upon the heart and conduct; in the brotherly love, the beneficence, the holy lives and triumphant deaths, of its confessors ; in its adaptedness to all classes, condi- tions, and relations among men, — it carried its own evidence with it, and this evidence in many cases was irresistible. Still there is no accounting for the rapid success of the gospel in the first century but by referring to its divine origin and to the accompanying power of God. Its divine origin the first preachers of the gospel constantly affirmed : " Which things we speak, not in words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth" (1 Cor. ii. 13). In proof of their claims, they appealed to a long line of manifestly accomplished prophecy, and to the signs and wonders which were performed by their hands. Most of the leading facts of the gospel were predicted long ages before they took place ; and the miracles which accompanied the early propagation of it were a standing proof of its divine original. PERSECUTIONS AND PROGRESS OF THE CHURCH. 587 But there was another way in which the power of God operated to promote the early success of the gospel, and without which all other appliances had been vain. The Spirit of God was continually shed forth, enlightening dark minds, conquering stubborn preju- dices, breaking hard hearts, bowing reluctant wills, and bringing rebellious Jews and Gentiles to the obedience of faith. On the day of Pentecost, three thousand who came together to scoff remained to pray. Within a few days after, two thousand more had been affected in the same way ; and, wherever the gospel was preached, similar scenes were witnessed through the entire first century. Against a power which wrought so secretly, and at the same time so effectually, there was no contending. What could high priests, and Jewish elders, and heathen governors and magis- trates, do ? The Jewish rulers send officers to the temple to lay hands on Jesus, and bring him before them ; but the officers return without him, saying, " Never man spake like this man." These same rulers send a fiery zealot to Damascus to seize all the Chris- tians whom he can find there, and bring them bound to Jerusalem : but their ambassador is converted before he reaches Damascus ; and no sooner does he arrive there than he begins to publish in the synagogues that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ. Assuming that the gospel is of God, and was enforced in the early dispensation of it by the .Spirit of God, and its diffusion, in face of all difficulties, is easily accounted for ; but, rejecting this assumption, the undeniable facts of the case are all a mystery. They can never be accounted for on the ground of mere natural causes. The rapid diffusion of the gospel in the first century is, therefore, a valid argument for its divine original. CHAPTER XIII. DOCTRINES, CONTROVERSIES, AND RELIGIOUS SPIRIT, OF THE FIRST PERIOD. IN discussing the subjects here announced, it would be super- fluous to go into a consideration of the doctrines of the New Testament. Suffice it to say that they are substantially the doctrines of the Reformation, the doctrines of evangelical religion ; embracing the Trinity, the divinity and atonement of Christ, the natural and entire depravity of unrenewed men, the neces- sity of regeneration by the Holy Spirit, justification by faith, the perseverance of saints, a general resurrection and final judg- ment, the endless happiness of the righteous, and punishment of the wicked, beyond the grave. These doctrines, and those essen- tially connected with them, are, not systematically, but clearly, written out in the New Testament, and command the assent of evangelical Christians generally throughout the world. The same doctrines were taught, and in much the same way, by the fathers of the first century. They prepared no connected system of doctrines, but announced the truth in all plainness and simplicity, as occasions called for it, after the manner of the sacred writers. These fathers taught abundantly, and in all possible forms of speech, tlie divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ. Clement of Rome saith, " The sceptre of the majesty of G-od, our Lord Jesus Christy came, not in the show of pride and arrogance (though he could have dojie so), but with humility " (Epis. to Cor., sect. 16). Poly- carp says, speaking of Christ, " To whom all things are subjected, both that are in heaven and that are in earth ; whom every living creature shall worship " (Epis. to Phil., sect. 2). Ignatius says, *' There is one Physician, both fleshly and spiritual ; made, and not made ; G-od incarnate, both passible and impassible, — even Jesus Christ our Lord " (Epis. to Eph., sect. 7). And again : " Permit me 588 DOCTRINES, CONTROVERSIES, AND RELIGIOUS SPIRIT. 589 to imitate the passion of my God " (Epis. to Rom., sect. 6). And yet again : ^' I wish you all happiness in our God, Jesus Christ " (Epis. to Polycarp, sect. 8). Inscriptions on tombstones in the Catacombs at Rome, reaching back to the first century, conclusively show the faith of those early Christians in the proper divinity of Christ: "God, Son of God, save." " Cyriaca, thou sleepest in the peace of Jesus Christ, God." " Eremaisca, my darling, live thou in God, Lord, Christ." " To the well-beloved sister Bona, peace. God, Christ, Almighty, shall refresh thy soul." Believing in the proper divinity of Christ, these early farthers, of course, held the Trinity. Thus Ignatius says, " Be subject one to another, as Jesus Christ to the Father, and the apostles both to Christ and the Father and to the Holy Ghost " (Epis. to Magne- sians, sect. 13). Again he says, speaking of Christ, " With whom all glory and power be to the Father, with the blessed Spirit, forever and ever" (Martyrdom of Ignatius, sect. 14). Polycarp says in his last prayer at the stake, " I glorify thee by the eternal and heavenly high priest Jesus Christ, with whom, to thee and to the Holy Ghost, be glory both now and through all succeeding ages " (Martj^'dom of Polycarp, sect. 14). In the close of the same epistle, the Smyrnean Church says, " We wish you, brethren, all happiness, by living according to the rule of the gospel by Jesus Christ ; with whom, glory be to God the Father and the Holy Spirit" (sect. 22). Of the many passages in these fathers teaching the vicm^ious nature of Christ'' s sufferings and deaths I need give but a few speci- mens. The following sentences occur in Clement's Epistle to the Corinthians : " Let us look steadfastly to the blood of Christ, and see how precious his blood is, ivhich tvas shed for our salvation " (sect. 7). " By the blood of our Lord, there is redemption to all those that believe " (sect. 12). " Let us reverence our Lord Jesus Christ, whose blood was given for us ^^ (sect. 21). "Our Lord Jesus Christ gave his otvn blood for us by the will of God, his flesh for our flesh, his soul for our souls " (sect. 49). Polycarp says of Christ, that he " suffered himself to be brought even unto death for our sins " (Epis. to Phil., sect. 1) ; and that " he suffered for the salvation of all such as sliall be saved " (Martyr- dom, &c., sect. 17). Ignatius says that Christ " gave himself to God an offering and sacrifice for us" (Epis. to Eph., sect. 1), In the epistle ascribed to Barnabas, it is said that " Christ was one 690 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. day to offer up his body for our sins ; " and tliat " he gave up his body to destruction, that, through the forgiveness of our sins, we might be sanctified by the sprinkUng of his blood" (sects. 5, 7). On the subject of justification, Clement writes as follows : " We are not justified by ourselves, neither by our own wisdom or knowledge or piety, or the works which we have done, but by that faith by which God Almighty has justified all men from the beginning" (Epis. to Corinth, sect. 32). Ignatius, speaking of Christ's " cross and death and resurrection, and the faith which is by him," adds, " By which faith I hope, through your prayers, to be justified " (Epis. to Philadelpliians, sect. 8). In these writings of the fathers, the resurrection of the body is earnestly affirmed and argued against the Gnosticising tendencies of the age ; and so also are the doctrines of a final and general judgment and of eternal punishment. Ignatius, speaking of those who " by wicked doctrine corrupt the faith," adds, " He that is thus defiled shall depart into unquenchable fire; and so also shall they that hearken to him" (Epis. to Eph., sect. 16). The Smyr- neans, speaking of the martyrs in their account of Polycarp, saj^, " Being supported by the grace of God, they despised all the torments of the world; by the sufferings of an hour, 'redeeming themselves from everlasting punishment. For this cause, the fire of their barbarous and cruel executioners seemed cold to them ; whilst they hoped thereby to escape that fire tvhich is eternal, and shall never be extinguished " (sect. 2). While the religious teachers of the first century were thus united in setting forth the doctrines of the evangehcal faith, there were some, as there always have been, who impugned and rejected them. The first controversy of any moment in the Christian Church arose from the attempt of certain teachers to impose circumcision and the Jewish law upon the Gentile converts. When Paul and Barnabas had returned from their first missionary excursion among the Gentiles, and reported their proceedings to the Church at Antioch, " there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed and said that it was needfid to circumcise the new converts from among the Gentiles, and to command them to keep the law of Moses." And these things were urged, not as a matter of mere order and ceremony, but as essential to salvation : " Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved " (Acts XV. 1). Here, then, we havu the precise point in dispute. DOCTRINES, CONTROVERSIES, AND RELIGIOUS SPIRIT. 591 Paul and his companions affirmed that the blood of Christ was the sole and sufficient ground of salvation ; and that all who truly believed in him would be saved, whether circumcised or not : while their opponents insisted that faith in Christ was not alone sufficient, but that all. Gentiles as well as Jcavs, must be circum- cised, and keep the law of Moses, or they could not be saved. As the brethren at Antioch could not well settle this question among themselves, they agreed to refer it to the apostles and elders, and the Church at Jerusalem, where it was determined, as might have been expected, in favor of Paul. But, notwithstanding this decision, the question was far from being at rest. It continued to be agitated ; and Paul continued to be troubled by these Judaizing teachers to the end of his life. The point in debate between them was one, as we have seen, of great importance in itself. It respected the foundation of our hope and the way of salvation. It respected the manner in which the believer is to be justified before his God. Paul insisted that he is to be justified by faith in the Redeemer ; but his opponents urged that this would not avail without circumcision, and obedience to the ceremonial law. And as this controversy was important in itself, so was it in its consequences. The adversaries of Paul, in order to bring reproach upon his doctrines, disputed his claim to be ranked among the apostles of Jesus. This imposed on him the disagreeable necessity of vindicating his own apostleship : " In nothing am I behind the very chiefest of the apostles, though I be nothing." " Truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among you in all patience, in signs and wonders and mighty deeds." In disproving the claims of Paul to be an apostle, it was urged that his knowledge of the gospel must have been received from others, and not directly from the great Head of the Church. This led him to say in reply, " The gospel which was preached of me was not after man ; for I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it but by the revelation of Jesus Christ." These Judaiz- ing teachers, and their followers afterwards, rejected the Epistles of Paul, and refused to receive them as divine revelation. In consequence of their views of justification by the law, and not by the faith of Jesus Christ, many of them were early led to deny the doctrines of Christ's proper divinity, and of atonement by his death. They regarded him as a teacher, rather than a Saviour, — a divinely-inspired man like Moses ; and they trusted 592 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. for salvation to useless rites and ceremonies, rather than to his blood. Early in the next century, they separated themselves from the Church, and were disowned as heretics. They became distinct sects, and are known in history under the names of Nazarenes and Ebionites. Another class of errors which infested the churches of the first century arose from the attempts made to incorporate with the holy doctrines of the gospel the dogmas of the Oriental or Gnostic philosophy. This philosophy was of very ancient origin. It ap- peared first in the East, but gradually extended itself into Egypt and Greece. It was against this corrupt but enticing system that the apostle warned his Colossian brethren in the following words : " Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit after the traditions of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ." Against the same proud system he also cautioned his beloved Timothy : " O Timothy ! keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of yvcoarg, scierice, falsely so called, which some, profess- ing, have erred concerning the faith." It was a first principle with all the Gnostics that matter is essen- tially corruptiiig, — the source of all evil and of all vice. Con- sequently, they inferred that the Supreme Divinity, whom they considered as absolutely perfect, could not have been the author of mattel' or of any thing material. Hence, to account for the existence of this material world, and of the material bodies of men and animals, they had recourse to the following hypothesis : " The Supreme God, having dwelt from everlasting in a profound solitude and a blessed tranquillity, produced at length from him- self two minds of different sexes, which resembled their Supreme Parent in the most perfect manner. From the union of these two, others arose, Avho were followed by succeeding generations ; so that, in process of time, a numerous celestial family was formed in the regions of light." These inferior divinities were called ^ons by the Eastern sages, and Demons by the Greeks. One of them, possessing less purity, though not less power, than some of his kin- dred, degraded himself so far as to become the Creator, or rather the Former, of this material world. He formed the vile bodies of men, and made them the prisons and the corrupters of human souls. From these corrupting prisons, the Supreme Divinity is using all methods to deliver the wretched souls of men, in which work of benevolence he will finally have complete success ; after DOCTRINES, CONTROVERSIES, AND RELIGIOUS SPIRIT. 593 which he will dissolve the frame of the material universe, and bury it in a general ruin. Such, in general, was the theory of the ancient Gnostics ; al- though, in carrying out their theory into particulars, they divided into numerous sects. This philosophy had corrupted the religion of the Jews, more especially in Egypt, previous to the commence- ment of the Christian era ; and no sooner did the religion of Christ come in contact with it than its pernicious influence began to be visible. We find repeated allusions to it, and contradictions of it, in the writings of the apostles. A few instances of these allusions and contradictions will be noticed. The inferior divinities of the Gnostics were with them objects of worship. These were thought b}?" the Christian Gnostics to be the same, in general, as the angels ; and hence the propriety of wor- shipping angels began to be advocated. This led the apostle to say, " Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary hu- mility and ivorslivpinng of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, being vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind " (Col. ii. 18). The Gnostic philosophers had much dispute respecting the num- ber and rank of their inferior divinities, and in tracing their differ- ent genealogies up to the Supreme God. In these disputes, such professing Christians as had been corrupted by them more or less participated. It was on this account, probably, that Paul cau- tioned Timothy not " to give heed to fables and endless genealo- gies, which minister questions rather than godly edifying" (1 Tim. i. 4).* The Gnostic believers regarded the Lord Jesus Christ as one of their ^ons, or inferior divinities, sent into the world to aid in de- livering the imprisoned souls of men from the corrupting influence of matter. Hence they were unanimous in rejecting the proper divinity of our Saviour. They also rejected his humanity : they could not think that he had a real body of flesh, or that he really suffered and died. All this took place in appearance only. In both these particulars, their errors were contradicted by the apos- tle John. He wrote his Gospel near the close of the first century, with a view to establish, in opposition to all who questioned it, the proper divinity of the Saviour. In the very first verse, he asserts that " the Word ivas God : " and he goes on to say that " all things were made by him, and without him was not any thing made that * See Rosenmiiller in he. 38 594 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. was made ; " thus contradicting another Gnostic opinion, that the material world was not made by God. In many passages, both of his Gospel and his Epistles, the apostle John asserts that Jesus Christ liad a material body, or, in other words, that he had come in the flesh: "The Word was made fleshy and dwelt among us" (John i. 14). " Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God ; and every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. Many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist" (1 John iv. 2 ; 2 John 7). John further contradicts the spectre theory of Christ's life on earth by sayjing that he had not only seen, but handled, the Word of life (1 John i. 1). A spectre can be seen, but not handled. The spectre theory was also contradicted by the fathers of the first century. Thus Ignatius insists that Christ " was truly born of the Virgin Mary, and did eat and drink ; was truly persecuted under Pontius Pilate ; was truly crucified and dead ; and was truly raised from the dead by the power of God." He denounces those as atheists " who pretend that Christ only seemed to suffer and die" (Epis. to Trallians, sect. 9, 10). Since the Gnostics regarded the material body as the clog and prison of the soul, they were led to deny with one voice the resur- rection of the body. There will be no resurrection but a spirit- ual one ; and that, in respect to all true Christians, is past already. Such were Hymeneus and Philetus, of wliom Paul speaks (2 Tim. ii. 17) ; such, also, were those among the Corinthians who asserted that " there is no resurrection of the dead," and in reply to whom the apostle wrote the fifteenth chapter of his First Epistle. There can be no doubt, that, before the close of the first century, many of the Gnosticising Christians were separated from the true Church, and held meetings for worship by themselves. Among these was Cerinthus, a Jewish convert, who had become fatally corrupted with this imposing philosophy. It is in reference to these, probably, that the apostle John says, " They went out from us because they were not of us ; for, if they had been of us, no doubt they would have continued with us : but they went out that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us " (1 John ii. 19). There were some in the Church at Jerusalem, in the age of the apostles, who took occasion, from the doctrine of justification by DOCTRINES, CONTROVERSIES, AND RELIGIOUS SPIRIT. 595 fiiitli aloiic, to represent a holy life as unnecessary : " It matters little what our life is, if we only have faith ; since it is by faith that we are to be justified without the (UhhIs of (he law." This error was very properly noticed and refuU'd by the apostle James: " What doth it profit, my brelhren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? Can faith save liini ? If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, and one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and fiHcd, notwith- standing ye give not those things tliat are needful for the body, what doth it profit ? Even so faith, if it hav(! not works, is dead, being alone " (Jas. ii. 14). We know very little about this old Antinomian controversy exeept what we gather from these appeals of the apostle James. We know, however, that such a perversion of gospel truth is a very natural one ; it has been often made ; and it is not strange that it made its appearance even in the apostolic age. It could not have been so avcU met and refuted in any subse- quent age. It was an error of the first century, into Avhich many seem to have fallen, that the day of judgment and the end of the world were near at hand. This idea was for a season so prevalent among the Thessalonians, that they were induced to negh'ct tlu'ir necessary avocations, and thus brought discredit on tlu'ir profession. Wluu'c- fore the apostle wrote unto them : "We })eseech you, brcilhren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by o\ir gathering togollu'r unto him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troul)led, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means ; for that day shall not come exeept there come a falling-away lirst, and that Man of Sin be revealed, the son of perdition. . . . Re- member ye not, that, while I was yet with you, I told you of these things?" (2Thess. ii. 1-5.) It may be supposed that some to whom tlus apostle Peter wrote had been expecting the coming of the day of (iod, and had begun to lose their confidence in his promises because it was delayed ; for he thought it necessary to say unto them, " The Lord is not slack concerning his promise as some men count slackness, but is long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. For one day is with the J^ord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the niglit, in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall 596 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. melt with fervent heat ; the earth also, and the works that are therein, shall be burned up " (2 Pet. iii. 1-10). Among the fathers of the first century, the chief advocate of the speedy coming of Christ was Papias, a weak and credulous man, who spent the most of his time in collecting and repeating marvels which he pretended to, have learned from the apostles or their im- mediate successors. His views respecting the state of the world during the personal reign of Christ upon it were many of them gross and ridiculous. These opinions prevailed more in the second century than in the first ; nor were they entirely abandoned until the revolution under Constantine, — in the fourth century. Our view of the first age will be concluded with some remarks respecting the state of religion among the early Christians. These Christians were not great or learned men in the sense in which these terms are used in modern times, though some of them were as learned and as great as any of those among whom they lived. They were not biblical critics, or scientific theologians, or deeply versed in civil or ecclesiastical history. This was not to be ex- pected of them ; but, for a strong and vigorous exercise of some of the cardinal Christian virtues, they have never been excelled. In the first place, they were men of strong faith^ — that faith which brings invisible things near, and makes them seem to us as though they were realities. Living so near to the fountain-head of Christian truth, and having it confirmed to them continually by signs and wonders and mighty deeds, this was to be ex- pected of them ; and most strikingly was it exemplified in them. Though living bodily in this world, they lived spiritually in an- other. They walked by faith more than by sight. They com- muned continually with invisible realities, and had their conversa- tion in heaven. It was their faith which nerved them to meet persecution, and gave them the victory over the world and death. They could say to those who pursued them with bonds, and inflicted upon them the spoiling of their goods, " Take these things if you will ; take away my liberty or my life : but, blessed be God ! I have a por- tion which you cannot take. I have an inheritance above, and a life, which are beyond your power." The readiness and fearless- ness of these Christians in meeting death were a mystery to their enemies, but are easily accounted for on the ground of their faith. Another characteristic of the early Christians was their mutual DOCTRINES, CONTROVERSIES, AND RELIGIOUS SPIRIT. 597 love. They had a common faith^ were eml)arkecl together in a common cause, and bound together by a common stiffering ; they suffered, they bled, they died together : no wonder, then, that their hearts were knit together in love. They constituted together the mystical body of Christ, of which, if one member suffered, all the members suffered with it. The mutual affection subsistinsr amona* the Christians of the first age was remarkable. To the heathen around them it was scarcely less wonderful than the miracles which were wrought by their hands. They had never seen any thing like it. They knew not how to account for it. They could only look on, and exclaim in wonder, " See how these Christians love one another ! " Still another trait in which the early Christians were an example was .their liberality. Not " any of them said that aught of the things which he possessed was his own." They " sold their possessions and their goods, and parted them to all men as they had need," and, for a time, "had all things common." Never before was there an example of such overflowing liberality. Nor was it confined to the Church at Jerusalem, but extended also to Christians of the ■Gentiles. No sooner was it known in Macedonia and Achaia that the poor saints at Jerusalem were in distress than contributions flowed in from the Gentile churches for their xelief. In a word, seeing that the early Christians in general were but babes in Christ, — suddenly changed from bigoted Judaism or be- sotted Heathenism to the faith of the gospel, — it cannot perhaps be said that they were pre-eminent in all Christian attainments ; but in the respects which have been mentioned, and probably in others, they were^pre-eminent. They were examples to every succeeding age. Happy the Christian who looks up to them, and follows them wherein they followed Christ ! PEEIOD 11. THE SECOND CENTURY. CHAPTER XIV. PERSECUTIONS AND PROGRESS OF THE CHURCH. THE emperors of Rome during the second century were the following : Trajan, Adrian, Antoninus Pius, Marcus Aurelius, Commodus, and Septimius Severus. Trajan reigned from the year 98 to 117, and has the reputation of being a mild and equitable ruler. Still the Church suffered very considerably during his ad- ministration ; not so much from any persecuting edicts which were passed, as from the rage of the pagan priests and populace. It was under him that good old Simeon of Jerusalem, and Ignatius of Antioch, suffered, of whose martyrdom I have 5.1ready spoken. At festivals, and on other public occasions in the provinces, the populace, set on by the priests, would raise an outcry against the more prominent Christians ; bringing them before the magistrates, and demanding that they should be put to death. The younger PHny was at tliis time governor of Bj^thinia ; and so great was the number of Christians brought before him in this way, that he knew not what to do with them, and wrote to Trajan for advice. He had put many to death on a profession of their faith : but the more the accusers were encouraged, the more they multiplied ; and the number of victims brought up for trial quite appalled him. To his request for instructions, the emperor answered, " The Chris- tians must not be sought after ; nor must anonymous accusations be received. If any confess themselves to be Christians, and per- sist in it, let them be capitally punished ; but if any renounce 598 PERSECUTIONS AND PROGRESS OF THE CHURCH. 599 Christianity, and evince their sincerity by offering supplication to our gods, let them be pardoned." This edict may seem sufficiently severe ; and so it was, and many were put to death under it : yet it operated, on the whole, as a restraint upon the enemies of the Christians. The Christians were not to be sought after, or anonymously accused ; and few persons were willing to assume the dangerous office of accusers. Trajan died while on his military expedition against the Parthi- ans ; but his edicts remained, and the Christians suffered from them for several years under his successor Adrian. The priests stirred up the people, at the public shows and games, to demand with united voice the destruction of the Christians ; and these public clamors could not be safely disregarded. Whereupon Serenus Granianus, proconsul of Asia, wrote to the emperor, that it seemed to him inhuman and unjust to immolate men and women convicted of no crime, jiist to gratify a furious mob. To this the emperor returned answer, that the Christians should not be disturbed with- out cause, nor shall sycophants be encouraged in their odious prac- tices : " If any people of the province will appear openly, and make charges against the Christians, so as to give them an opportunity of answering for themselves, let them proceed in that manner, and not by rude demands and popular clamors. You can then decide according to the nature of the offence ; but, if the charge be a mere calumny, do you punish it as it deserves." This rescript was clearly an advance upon that of Trajan ; and it operated still more to shield and protect the Christians. We hear of little palpable persecution from this time to the end of Adrian's reign. But, while the Christians in great measure escaped, the Jews were more severely dealt with ; for now appeared the detestable Barcho- chebas, pretending to be the Messiah, — the Star spoken of by Balaam. This wretched people, who had rejected the true Messiah, received the impostor with open arms. He vented his rage upon the Christians who refused to deny Christ and adhere to his cause, and went into open rebellion against the Roman government. The result was the destruction of the traitors, and the entire exclusion of the Jews from the city and territory of Jerusalem. Having destroyed the remains of the old city, Adrian built a new one, and called it ^lia, and forbade that any Jew should come within its walls. To escape this edict, the believing Jews, or the greater part of them, laid aside the Jewish rites ; chose one Mark, a foreigner, 600 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. for their bishop ; and declared that they were no longer Jews, but Christians. A portion of the Church, however, refused to do this, separated from their brethren, and are henceforward known in history as Ebionites. The events here recorded constitute an important epoch in church history. Up to this time, the believing Jews in and around Jerusalem had been earnest sticklers for circumcision and the Jewish law : some were for enforcing them even on the Gentile converts ; but now, by the churches in general, they were quietly laid aside, and the distinction between the Jewish and Gentile believer" was very much obliterated. It was during the reign of Adrian that we first hear of Apologies for the Christians. While the emperor was at Athens, in the sixth year of his reign, two papers of this kind were addressed to him, — the one by Quadratus, bishop of Athens ; and the other by Aris- tides. Neither of these Apologies is extant. Antoninus Pius succeeded Adrian, A.D. 138, and reigned until the year 161. He was one of the best of the Roman emperors, and was comparatively guiltless of Christian blood. The usual charges Vere urged against the Christians ; viz., those of incest, and the devouring of infants. But time at length refuted these slanders ; and men no longer pretended to believe what was improb- able in its very nature, and was supported by no evidence. The Christians were charged, as they had been before, with atheism. To refute this, Justin Martyr presented his first Apology to the emperor ; nor was it perused by him and his court in vain. Some years after this, Asia Minor was visited with earthquakes, which the priests ascribed to the anger of the gods because their altars were forsaken. In their panic and fury, the people were ready to fall upon the Christians and destroy them. When informed of this, the emperor addressed an edict to the common council of Asia, denouncing punishment upon the accusers of the Christians : * " I am quite of the opinion," says he, " that the gods will take care of the contemners of their worship ; for it much more concerns them to punish such persons, if they are able, than it does you. Why do you harass and vex the Christians, and accuse them of atheism and other crimes which you cannot prove ? To them it appears an advantage to die for their religion ; and they gain their point against you while they throw away their lives. * This edict has been regarded as spurious ; but it is given at length by Eusebius (lib. iv. cap. 13), and I see no reason to doubt its genuineness. PERSECUTIONS AND PROGRESS OF THE CHURCH. 601 As to the recent earthquakes, compare your own despondency under them with their serene trust and confidence in God. Con- cerning these men, some of the provincial governors wrote to our divine father Adrian ; to whom he returned answer, that they should not be molested unless they attempted something against the Roman government. Many also have signified the same to me, to whom I have returned answer agreeably to the maxims of my father ; and now, if any will still accuse them merely as Christians, let the accused be acquitted, and the accuser punished." Eusebius informs us that this was no empty edict, but was put •in execution ; nor was it sent to Asia alone, but to all the cities of the Greeks. Marcus Aurelius Antoninus succeeded his father in the year 161. He was a Stoic philosopher, a rigid morahst, and has the reputa- tion of being a great and good man. Pope calls him " the good Aurelius," and compares him with Socrates ; and yet he was, through the greater part of his reign of nineteen years, a bloody persecutor of the Christians. His treatment of them proceeded, we hope, not so much from direct hatred and malice as from philo- sophic pride and a cruel contempt. " That the followers of the crucified Nazarene should affect not only to be wiser than the wise men of Greece, and to j)Ossess a purer religion than that of great Rome, but to have the only true spiritual wisdom, the 07ily true religion, the only means of reaching happiness and heaven, — this is an intolerable affectation, a presumption not to be endured. Crush the madness out of them, or let the miscreants be crushed out of the world." So reasoned the renowned philosophic emperor, Marcus Aurelius ; and, under the influence of such reasonings and such feelings, he set himself to destroy some of the best men and women which the world contained. Among the more distinguished martyrs who suffered in this reign were Polycarp, a disciple of the apostle John and bishop of Smyrna, and Justin, the most learned Christian of the age. Of the death of the former I have already spoken : of that of the latter I shall speak in another place. In the year 177, the churches of Lyons and Vienne, in the south of France, were called to pass through one of the most dreadful persecutions that was ever visited upon a Christian people. These churches were planted by missionaries from Asia Minor, among whom was Pothinus, long bishop of Lyons. He was called to suffer when more than ninety years of age. 602 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. The survivors of this terrible persecution published a full account of it in a letter to their brethren in Phrygia and Asia Minor. The greater part of this letter is preserved by Eusebius ; but the details of it are too heart-sickening to be copied here. The old stories were revived against the Christians, — of living in incest, and devouring infant children. The servants of the Christians were put to the torture, and made to confess that these things were true ; and then they were punished as though they were true. Some of the principal of the martyrs were Sanctus, a deacon ; and Maturus, a recent convert, but an unfaltering witness for the Saviour ; and Attains, a missionary from Pergamos ; and Alexander, a physician" from Phrygia ; and Ponticus, young in years, but a veteran in endurance ; and Blandina, a tender female and a slave. She was tortured repeatedly, and for a great length of time, till her torment- ors were fatigued, worn out, and confessed themselves conquered ; while her confession continually was, " I am a Christian, and no evil thing is practised among us." At last she was enclosed in a net, and thrown to a wild bull ; and, having been tossed some time by the furious animal, at length she breathed out her soul. The corpses of the martyrs, which filled the streets, were shamefully mutilated ; then burned, and the ashes cast into the Rhone, lest any relic of them should remain to desecrate the soil. At length, the people grew weary of the slaughter ; and a considerable number of Christians survived. Among these was Irenceus, who succeeded the venerable Pothinus as bishop of Lyons, and of whom we shall hear more hereafter. Repeated Apologies were addressed to the emperor during these persecutions ; of which those by Justin Martyr, Athenagoras, and Tatian, are still extant. Perhaps they were never read by him ; or, if read, they had no effect to soften his heart. Marcus Aurelius was succeeded by his son Commodus, who, though a detestable character in other respects, was not guilty, to any great extent, of persecuting the Christians. During the twelve years of his reign, the Church had rest. But when Sep- timius Severus came to the throne, near the close of the century, much Christian blood was shed in Africa, in Egypt, and the other provinces. The edicts of the former emperors were still in force ; and hence it was in the power of the governors to persecute the Christians with impunity whenever they pleased. It was these calamities, near the close of the century, which induced Tertullian to write his Apology for the Christians. PERSECUTIONS AND PROGRESS OF THE CHURCH. 603 The Christians at this time were assailed, not merely with fire and sword, but by ridicule and satire. As Lucian the satirist laughed at every thing, more especially the Grecian philosophers and gods, the Christians could not be expected to escape. In the " Perigrinus " he ridicules their misplaced philanthropj^, and thus bears an unwilling testimony to their works of benevolence. A more serious attack upon the Christians was made by Celsus, who wrote the first book against them of which we have any knowledge. Unlike most modern infidels, he assumes the authenticity of our sacred books, and argues from them against those who believe them : " Your own apostles and evangelists did write these books : we hold you to them, and shall refute you out of them." He admits that Jesus wrought many miracles, but not more than some others, who'never thought on that account of being deified. The miracles were performed hy magic. The great burthen of Celsus' ridicule is the crucified Grod ; which shows how firmly the Christians of that day held to the proper divinity of the Saviour. The work of Celsus, which he entitled " The True Word," is not extant, except so much of it as is preserved in Origen's Reply to it ; but from the method of Origen's Reply, paragraph by paragraph, it is presumed that we have the greater portion of it. It is justly regarded as one of the most conclusive proofs of the authenticity of our sacred books, and of some of the doctrines inculcated in them. After what has been said of the persecution of the second century, it may be supposed that it was little better than one continued scene of murder and blood ; but such was not the fact. The persecuting emperors occupied the throne for less than half of the century ; and at no time while they reigned were the persecutions universal. While in one portion of the empire the Church was afflicted, in others it would be enjoying comparative ' repose. And, even in places where the persecutions raged, the saying of Tertiillian (uttered at this very time, and oft repeated since) proved true : " The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church." Their sufferings excited pity, and drew attention to the new religion ; their constancy recommended it ; and, for every one that fell a martyr, many others were raised up to stand in his place. The consequence was, that, throughout the entire century, Christianity made great and rapid progress^. It spread into fields before unoccupied, and more deeply penetrated countries where it had already found its way. From the remotest east to the 604 " ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. remotest west, and froin the northern extremities of the Roman Empire, and beyond them, far down into Africa and Ethiopia, we shall scarcely find a country in which the religion of Christ was not professed. Persia, Hither India, Mesopotamia, Armenia, Arabia, Asia Minor, Greece, Italy, Germany, Spain, Gaul, Britain, Egypt, and Northern Africa, — some of these countries were spread over with churches, and full of Christians ; while in others, missionaries, private individuals, merchants, travellers, and in some instances captives, and even captive females, were busily at work, telling the story of a Saviour's death, and endeavoring to lead poor blinded, groping, ruined sinners in the way of life. It was impos- sible but that Christianity, — a religion so convincing in its proofs, so pure and reasonable in itself, and so admirably adapted to human wants, — when recommended and enforced with so much earnestness and perseverance, — it was impossible that it should not spread and prevail. When we search for causes for the rapid diffusion of the gospel in the second century, much is to be attributed, undoubtedly, to the zeal and faithfulness of its early representatives. Their patience under sufferings, their kindness to the distressed and even to their enemies, their fervent pleadings and untiring exertions, their holy lives, and their martyr deaths, — it was impossible that these things should not have influence, and promote the cause which they supremely lovfed. But there were other causes for the rapid spread of the gospel in the times of which we speak. All the books of the New Tes- tament had now been written and collected ; and the canon of Scripture was virtually closed. To be sure, there were doubts and discussions in regard to the claims of some of the books until a . later period ; but the canon was substantially settled as early as the middle of the second century. Then these books were translated^ and extensively circulated. Several Latin translations were early made, of which the best was the Italic version. This Latin version was followed by a Syriac, an Egyptian, an ^Ethiopic, and some others. These were essential helps in the propagation of the gospel ; for, as the gift of tongues had now measurably ceased, it was impossible to disseminate re- ligious truth but by the ordinary methods of translation. Also the several Apologies which were written and circulated were of eminent service to the cause of religion. The effect of them was to disprove calumny, to remove prejudice, to make the PERSECUTIONS AND PROGRESS OF THE CHURCH. 605 new religion known, and to open the minds and hearts of intel- ligent people to receive it. Up to this time, and even later, heathen authors were accustomed to speak of Christians in terms of con- tempt, indignation, and reproach. They were called atheists, be- cause they derided the heathen gods ; magicians, because they wrought miracles ; self-murderers, because they submitted to martyrdom for the truth ; and haters of the light, because, to avoid the fury of their adversaries, they were constrained to hold their assemblies in the night. They were charged too, as I have before hinted, with practising in their night-meetings the most abomina- ble crimes. It was as much as one's life was worth at that time to stand forth publicly, and rebut charges such as these ; and yet it was an indispensably necessary work, and nobly was it performed. The Apologies of Justin, of Tertullian, of Athenagoras, and of Tatian, which are still extant, are worthy to be read on every account. Besides conveying much important information, they stand as monuments of the zeal of their venerable alithors in de- fence of a cause for which they were willing to sacrifice their lives. Nor were the works which were written in opposition to the heretics without an influence in promoting the cause of truth. The opinions of these heretics, more especially the Gnostics, were wild and extravagant ; and their conduct was more disgraceful than their opinions. They either practised the most rigid as- ceticism, with a view to destroy the body and its influence ; or they gave a loose to every indulgence, under the impression that the body alone was affected by such practices, while the soul remained pure. Still these heretics called themselves Christians, and Chris- tians of the highest order. They were regarded as Christians by the heathen ; and the whole Christian community suffered on ac- count of their extravagances. It was necessary, therefore, that they should be entirely separated from the Church of Christ, and that their opinions and practices should be exposed and refuted. And those Christians who set themselves in earnest to do this ac- complished an important work, — one intimately connected with the progress and triumph of the gospel. In accounting for the spread of the gospel in this century, less influence should be ascribed to miraculous gifts than in the preced- ing century ; and for the sufficient reason, that miracles were less frequent, and, before the century closed, seem to have entirely ceased. My reasons for supposing that miraculous gifts ceased before the close of the second century are the following : — 606 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 1. The great object of miracles had now been fully answered. This was to attest the revelations that God was making to the world ; to prove that these revelations were from him^ and that . those who promulgated them were inspired by him for this purpose. But the volume of revelation was now complete. All had been given that was ever expected to be given. Of course, miracles were no longer necessary ; and the probability is that they were no longer performed. 2. The apostles alone possessed the power of conferring mirac- ulous gifts. Other Christians wrought miracles in the apostolic age ; but the prerogative, by the imposition of hands, of bestowing the gift, seems to have been intrusted to the apostles only. And this was what Simon the sorcerer wished to purchase, not the mere power of performing mkacles, but of conferring the gift : " Give me this power, that on whomsoever I lay my hands he may receive the Holy Ghost" (Acts viii. 19). In the second century, the apostles were all dead. The last of them died near the close of the first century. Some of those to whom they had imparted the gift of miracles may have lived to the middle of the second century, but not much longer. Hence the conclusion again is, that miracles ceased at about this time. And then, — 3. If we examine the miracles alleged to have been performed at a later period, we shall find them all of a suspicious character. There have been pretences to miracles through the whole history of the Church. The Church of Rome pretends to them now. But, when we look at the miracles said to have been performed at a later period than that above specified, we find them either no miracles at all, or they are so silly, uncalled for, and incredible, as to pass all belief.* The most remarkable alleged miracle of the latter part of the second century is that of " the thundering legion." Marcus Aure- lius was waging war with the Marcomanni, a tribe of Germans, about the year 174. It was a time of remarkable drought ; and his whole army were on the point of perishing with thirst. The heathen soldiers cried to their gods for deliverance, and the Chris- tians prayed to the God of heaven. Unexpectedly, they were visited by a violent thunder-gust, accompanied by an abundance of rain ; and the thirst of the arm}'' was relieved. All were agreed * Augustine and Chrysostom both deny that any miracles like those of Scripture were wrought in their day. Augustine classes the miracles of his age under two heads: 1. Forgeries of lying men ; 2. Prodigies of deceitful devils. — De Unitate Eccles., cap. 16. PERSECUTIONS AND PROGRESS OF THE CHURCH. 607 to call it a miracle ; the heathen ascribing it to their gods, and the Christians to theirs. But obviously it was no miracle at all. The most that can be said of it is, that it was a remarkable interj)osi- tion of Providence in answer to prayer, but no more a miracle than a thousand like events which have occurred at later periods. There may have been miracles in the first half of the second century ; and, if so, they had an influence, undoubtedly, in promot- ing the gospel : and yet their influence must been of small account compared with what it had been in the apostolic age. But, whatever other causes may have contributed to the rapid spread of the gospel ■ in the second century, the chief of all, and that without which all others had been nugatory and vain, was the accompanying Spirit and power of God. If miraculous influences had comparatively ceased, converting and sanctifying influences (which are of far greater consequence) had not ceased. God vouch- safed to his people in those fiery times the sustaining and com- forting influences of his blessed Spirit. He sustained their faith, their fortitude, their pious endeavors, their holy zeal, and made them conquerors, and more than conquerors, through Him who loved them, and had died for them; and when they went forth among Jews and heathen, carrying with them the word of life, the Spirit of God went with them, wrought with them, impressed the minds and hearts of those whom they addressed, and brought multitudes everywhere to the knowledge of the truth. Without such an accompanying influence, all their labors had been fruitless ; but with it they were clad with a moral omnipotence. Nothing could effectually resist them, or stand before them ; opposition either vanished, or was vanquished ; while the word of God had free course, and was glorified. CHAPTER XV. CHURCH-ORGANIZATION, RELIGIOUS RITES AND TEACHERS, IN THIS PERIOD. THE second century was signalized by some important changes in church order and government. In the first place, the distinction between bishop and presbyter, which was unknown in - the first century, began to be marked before the close of the second. It was introduced in this wise : In most of the churches, there had been from the first several presbyters, or ministers. Thus we read of the elders of the Church at Jerusalem, and the elders of the Church at Ephesus (Acts xv. 4; xx. 17). When these elders came together, as they often would, for consultation and prayer, one of their number — on account of his age, learning, or other qualifications — would naturally be called to preside over the meeting. He would be the standing moderator, or presiding elder ; and is called TtQosarcog, or president, by Justin Martyr and TertuUian. After a time, the presiding elder, or president, began to be called bishop, in distinction from the others, who retained the name of presbyters. In this way, the distinction was first intro- duced. Still the bishop of the second century was not considered as belonging to a distinct and superior order. He was one among his brethren, — ?i primus inter pares, — although their acknowledged leader and head. Nor had the bishop of the second century, or the first half of it, any diocese. He was simply the pastor of a single church. The manner in which dioceses were created was as follows : The several ministers in the large city churches would naturally extend their labors to the vicinity. They would hold meetings, and collect converts, in the suburbs and surrounding villages. But instead of forming these converts, as they should have done, iiito separate, independent churches, they constituted them branch churches, hold- ing a vital connection with the mother-church. In this way, the 608 CHURCH-ORGANIZATION, RELIGIOUS RITES, ETC. 609 president, the bishop of the city church, soon came to be the head of several surrounding churches. In other words, he had a diocese. Ere long, the rank of this functionary began to be estimated by the number of his branch churches, or, in other words, by the extent of his diocese. Nor was it long before inferior bishops, chorepiscopi, were set over some of these rural churches, subject, of course, to the bishop of the central church, who now had the rank, and ere long took the name, of archbishop. These changes, to be sure, were not all accomplished in the second century ; but they began to be inaugurated, and the way was opened for their full develop- ment. Another important change in church government occurred in the latter half of the second century. The churches surrendered their primitive independence, and became subject to the jurisdiction of large, confederated ecclesiastical bodies. This change resulted from the institution of such bodies called synods, or councils. We hear of no confederations of this sort until past the middle of the second century. The churches, without doubt, felt the need of a greater degree of union, — a union not merely of love and fellowship, but of organization. They were exposed to common calamities and dangers. Enemies on every hand were thirsting for their blood, and they felt as though their only safety was in organic union. And there had been no hazard in such a union — on the contrary, it might have resulted in important benefits — had it been formed and conducted in a proper manner. Had the churches — being associated together at stated times' for mutual acquaintance, consultation, and prayer — avoided the exercise of jurisdiction and authority, their meetings had been not onl}^ pleas- ant, but edifying and profitable. But the synods pursued a different course. They soon began to make laws for the churches, and to decide causes and questions of controversy ; and the churches submitted to their jurisdiction. In this way, the independence of the individual churches was surrendered and lost ; nor was it recov- ered for more than a thousand years. We find no distinct traces of it till the rise of the Independents and Baptists in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The institution of synods, and the manner in which they were conducted, operated disastrously upon the churches in another way. In these assemblies, the bishops of the larger churches would naturally exert a controlling influence. This added mate- rially to their authority and power ; and the possession of power, 39 610 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. as a general thing, instead of making them more spiritnal and holy, made them more grasping and oppressive. In this way, the steps were early laid for that gigantic usurpation, which, in a few centu- ries, swallowed up all the liberties of the churches, and culminated in the terrific power of Papal Rome. A change also came over the ritual forms of Christianity in the course of the second century. These, at the first, were very simple : the only standing outward ordinances were those of Baptism and the Lord's Supper. But the early fathers were not long satisfied with these : they wished for something more striking to the eye, more imposing, more formal. Hence the rites of the Church were gradually multiplied in the second and third centuries. These new rites were some of them symbolical^ — designed to impress religious truth by outward sjrmbols ; but the most of them were borrowed from the Jewish and heathen temples, in the hope of making the new religion more acceptable to Jews and Pagans. They wished also to wipe off the reproach of atheism, which had been cast upon them on account of the extreme simplicity of their worship. Because they had no visible gods and altars, theii* ene- mies insisted that they had no god at all. But, Avhatever may have been the motives of those who origi- nated these changes, it is certain that their introduction was of disastrous influence. The pure and spiritual religion of the gos- pel was gradually changed into a system of formalism ; and salva- tion by the sacraments took the place of salvation by the blood of Christ. • The Christians, at this period, had no temples. They met in pri- vate houses, in sepulchres, in dens and caves of the earth, — wher- ever they could find a place. Justin Martyr, an eye-witness, thus describes one of their ordinary meetings : " On the day which is called Sunday," — the first day of the week, — "all Christians, whether dwelling in towns or villages, hold meetings ; when the memoirs of the apostles, and the writings of the prophets, are read. When the reading is finished, the president, in a speech, exhorts to an imitation of the excellent examples which have been presented. Then we all rise, and pour forth united prayers. After prayer, bread is brought forward, with wine and water ; when the president offers up prayers and thanksgivings, to which the people respond. Then there is a distribution of the things blessed to each one present, and they are sent to those absent by the deacons. Then those who are willing give what they choose, to be de- CHURCH-ORGANIZATION, RELIGIOUS RITES, ETC. 611 posited with the president, for the relief of orphans and widows, and all who have need of help." This last service was an exact fulfilment of the injunction of Paul : " On the first day of the week, let each one of you lay by him in store as God hath pros- pered him, that there be no gatherings when I come " (1 Cor. xvi. 2). The Lord's Supper continued to be administered in this century, as in the one before it, on the first day of the week ; but there had been a change in regard to baptism. This was administered ordi- narily but twice in the year ; viz., at the two great festivals of Easter or the Passover, and the Pentecost. Before baptism, the candidate must repeat the creed of the Church, confess his sins, and renounce the Devil and all his works. After baptism, he was signed with the cross, anointed with holy oil, commended to ^God by the imposition of hands and prayer, clothed with a white robe in token of his purity, and directed to taste some milk and honey to denote that he was but a babe in Christ.* The principal teachers and writers of the second century whose works have reached us were Justin Martj^r, Irenteus, Pantsenus, and Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, Dionysius (bishop of Cor- inth), Melito of Sardis, and Theophilus of Antioch. Of each of these I shall give some account in the order in which they have been mentioned. Flavins Justinus, surnamed the Martyr, was born near the close of the first century, at the ancient Sichem, near Samaria. His parents were probably pagans, and he was educated in Greek lit- erature. He had an earnest desire for truth, and more especially for religious truth. He wished to come, if possible, to the true knowledge of God. With this object in view, he travelled in Egypt and Greece, and applied himself to the different schools of jjhilosophy. At first, the Stoics appeared to him as the great teachers of wisdom, and masters of happiness. He gave himself up to one of this sect, but soon found that he could learn nothing from him as to the nature of God. His teacher told him that this species of knowledge was not at all necessary. He next applied to an Aristotelian ; but his master's desire to get a high price for his instructions satisfied Justin that the truth could not be with * In the English liturgy, the name of the Pentecost is changed to Whitsuntide, because the newly-baptized persons at that time appeared in lohite. The name of the Passover is also changed to Easter, from the Anglo-Saxon Eastre, — tlie name of a heathen festival, correspond- ing very nearly to the Pascha of the Jews and ancient Christians. 612 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. him. He next consulted a Pythagorean ; but the teacher rejected him because he had not a sufficient acquaintance with geometry, astronomy, and music. In much solicitude, he went to a Platonic philosopher, who recommended seclusion and meditation. As he was walking alone at one time near the sea, he met an aged per- son of most venerable appearance, whom he surveyed with the closest attention. " Do you know me ? " said the stranger. Jus- tin acknowledged that he did not. "Why, then, do you look at me with so much scrutiny?" — "Because I wondered," says Justin, " to find any person here." The stranger offered some excuse for his being there, and then retorted the question, " But why are you here ? " Justin told him of his earnest desire to come to the knowl- edge of God, and of his love, for this purpose, of retirement and meditation. The stranger referred him to the writings of the He- brew prophets, as being much more ancient and valuable than those of the philosophers ; and also called his attention to the Christian Scriptures ; adding, "Above all things, pray that the gates of light may be opened to you ; for these things are not to be discerned except as God and his Christ shall give thee understanding." — " The stranger having spoken these things," says Justin, " and much more, left me, and I saw him not again ; but a fire was kindled in my soul which could not be quenched. I began to study the Hebrew prophets, and soon came to have a strong affec- tion for them and for the followers of Christ ; and, weighing within myself the things to wliich my attention had been called, I found this to be the true philosophy." The conversion of Justin was not a mere intellectual process, but a spiritual change, going to the depths of his moral and spirit- ual nature, and resulting in an entire newness of conversation and life. He made an open profession of Christianity ; and though he continued to wear the philosophic garb, the pallium, and bore the name of philosopher as well as that of Christian, yet his love for the gospel was never called in. question. He honored it in his life, and sealed his testimony to it with his blood. Coming to Rome about the year 140, he wrote a confutation of the heretics, more especially of Marcion, who was a Gnostic. He also published his first Apology for the Christians, addressed to Antoninus Pius ; which may reasonably be supposed to have had a favorable influence upon the mind of the emperor in regard to his treatment of the Christians. Not long after his first Apology, Justin left Rome, and went to CHURCH-ORGANIZATION, RELIGIOUS RITES, ETC. 613 Ephesus, where he had his dialogue with Trypho the Jew. The substance of this he committed to writing, and it is still extant. In it he endeavors to meet and refute the objections of an intel- ligent Jew to the Messiahship of Jesus of Nazareth. On his return to Rome, Justin had frequent contests with Crescens the philosopher, — a man equally remarkable for his hatred of the Christians (of whom he knew little or nothing), and for the most abominable vices. Marcus Aurelius was now on the throne ; and the Christians were relentlessly persecuted. Justin seized the opportunity to write his second Apology, and present it to Aurelius, hoping thereby to soften his mind towards the Christians ; but in vain. He continued to hate and persecute them to the end of his reign. The doom of Justin was now not long delayed. It was brought about through the instrumentality of his old antagonist and enemy, Crescens, as he predicted it would be. He was accused of the great crime of being a Christian, — nothing more, — and, with six of his companions, was cast into prison. They were brought together before the prefect, who endeavored to persuade Justin to obey the emperor's edicts, and worship the gods. Justin defended the reasonableness of his religion. When the prefect inquired in what kind of learning he had been educated, he told him that he had tried all methods of learning ; but, finding satisfaction in none of them, he had embraced the doctrine of Christ. " Wretch ! " cried the magistrate, " art thou then captivated by that religion ? " — "I am," says Justin. " I follow the Christians ; and their doctrine is right." — " But, if I scourge thee from head to foot, do you think that you shall go to heaven, and receive a reward ? " — " I have a certainty of it," replied Justin, " which excludes all doubt." The prefect insisted that they should all go together, and sacrifice to the gods. " No man who knows the truth," says Justin, " can be guilty of such impiety." — " But, unless you comply, you shall be tortured without mercy." — " We can endure all tortures joy- fully for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ," said Justin ; and so said they all. The prefect then pronounced their sentence : " Let those who refuse to offer sacrifice to the gods, and obey the imperial edicts, be first scourged, and then beheaded, according to the laws." The martyrs rejoiced, and blessed God; and, being re- manded to their prison, they were scourged with rods, and after- wards beheaded. Their dead bodies were removed by Christian friends, and interred with great care. 614 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. Thus slept in Jesus the Christian philosopher Justin, about the year 163, and in the third or fourth year of the reign of Aurelius. Like many of the ancient fathers, he appears to us under great disadvantages. Works really his have been lost, while others have been ascribed to him which are unworthy of his name. He is the first of the Church fathers who brought classical scholarship and the Platonic philosophy into contact with the Christian theology. He attributed all that was good in Plato to the inspiration of the Logos, or to his acquaintance with the writings of Moses. Of the doctrines of Justin I shall speak in another place. We cannot say that his philosophy did not injure him as a Christian teacher ; neither can we say that it essentially corrupted him. He stands before us as a truly pious man, — an eminent servant of God, and martyr of Jesus, — notwithstanding that he swerved in some things from the simplicity that is in Christ. Justin was not a bishop or a presbyter, nor did he aspire to any office in the Church. He was an itinerant teacher and evangelist, who had no fixed abode, but who endeavored to do good in every place to which in Divine Providence he was called. " Every one," he said, " who can preach the truth, and does not preach it, incurs for his neglect the judgment of God." I have dwelt so long on the life and character of Justin, that it will be necessary to touch more briefly upon the other church- teachers who have been named. Irenseus was one of those missionaries who went from Asia Minor into Gaul in the early part of the second century, and established churches at Lyons and Vienne. He was a disciple of Polycarp, and, through him, was brought into near connection with the apostle John. After the death of Pothinus, he took the place of this aged martyr as bishop of Lyons, and labored there with zeal and success for the upbuilding of that persecuted church, for the defence of the truth, and for the spread of true rehgion through Western Europe. He is supposed to have died as a martyr, in the persecution under Septimius Severus, about the year 202. The most important work of Irenseus is his refutation of the Gnostic heresies, in five books. The Greek original of this work is chiefly lost ; but we have it in a very literal Latin translation. It contains much information respecting the Gnostics, and sets forth in opposition to them the true doctrine of the Church. Of the other works of Irenseus we have only fragments ; but these show CHURCH-ORGANIZATION, RELIGIOUS RITES, ETC. 615 him to have been a man not only valiant for essential truth, but of great mildness of disposition, and of true Christian liberality in reo'ard to unimportant matters. He rebuked Victor, the in- tolerant bishop of Rome, for his harsh treatment of the Eati,tern churches, who differed from him as to the time of observing Easter. "The apostles have ordained," he said, "that we make conscience with no one of food and drink, or of particular feasts, new moons, and sabbaths. Whence, then, these controversies ? Whence schisms ? We keep feasts, but with the leaven of wickedness and deceit rending asunder the Church of God. We observe the outward to the neglect of the higher faith and love." Irenseus followed Papias in his millenarian views, expecting the speedy coming of Christ to set up his kingdom on the earth ; but in this he did not differ from many, perhaps most, of his contemporaries. • Pantfenus, and Clement of Alexandria, were connected succes- sively with the catechetical school in that city. This school was originally instituted for the purpose of preparing catechumens for baptism and the Church. Ere long, however, it assumed a more learned character, became a kind of theological seminary, and exercised a powerful influence on the education of those who were to be teachers in the Church. It had at first but a single teacher, afterwards more ; but they had no fixed salary or special build- ings. They gave instruction at their homes, after the manner of the ancient philosophers. The first superintendent of this school of which we have any knowledge was Pantsenus, a converted Stoic philosopher. He was followed by Clement, who continued his instructions until about the year 202 ; when the persecution under Severus com- pelled him to flee. Clement was by birth a Greek, was brought up in heathenism, and well versed in all branches of Grecian learning and philosophy. Finding nothing in these studies to satisfy his longings after truth, he at length turned his attention to the Scrip- tures, and became a Christian. He travelled much in pursuit of light and instruction, but was specially attracted to Pantsenus, who, he says, "like the Sicilian bee, plucked flowers from the apostolic and prophetic meadow, and filled the souls of his dis- ciples Avith pure, genuine knowledge." Pantaenus and Clement, and their successors in the Alexandrian school, were strongly tinctured with the philosophy of the times, and intermixed their philosophy with the doctrines of the Church. They were instrumental, in this way, of obscuring and corrugating 616 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. these heavenly doctrines to such a degree, that it has been made a very serious question whether the school itself was not more a detriment than a benefit to the cause of truth. The principal works of Clement wMch have come down to us are his " Pedagogus," designed for the instruction of new converts ; liis " Exhortatio ad Gri3ecos," intended for the conviction and con- version of idolaters ; and his " Stromata," or " Miscellanies," in eight books. This last work answers to its name. It is a heterogeneous mixture of the curiosities of history, the beauties of poetry, and the reveries of philosopliy, with Cliristian truths and heretical errors. He compares it to a thick-grown shady mountain or garden, " where fruitful and barren trees of all kinds — the cypress, the laurel, the ivy, the apple, the oKve, and the fig — stand confusedly together." TertuUian may be regarded as the father of Latin theology, and' one of the greatest men of Christian antiquity. He was born at Carthage, of heathen parents, about the year 160 ; received a lib- eral education, and became a jurisconsult and advocate both at Carthage and at Rome. The firs.t half of his life he spent in heathen blindness and licentiousness. Near the close of the second century, he embraced Christianity ; coming to it evidently from the deepest conviction, and with all the fiery energy of his soul. He entered the Christian ministry, but like Clement of Alexandria, and Origen, never rose above the rank of presbyter. Some years later, he attached himself to the rigid, ascetic, but, in point of doctrine, orthodox sect of the Montanists. To these he was attracted by their peculiar qualities, — their rigid discipline, their martyr-enthusiasm, and their thorough contempt of the world. He was disgusted also by the growing laxness, in point both of doctrine and disciphne, of the Romish Church. He labored chiefly at Carthage as preacher and author, and died of a decrepit old age in the first part of the third century. The works of TertuUian were numerous, but in general short, touching on almost every department of religious life. The most important of those that remain to us is his " Apology for the Chris- tians," composed, probably, in the reign of Septimius Severus, about the year 200. He wrote against the Marcionites and Valentinians and other Gnostic sects ; also against Hermogenes and Praxeas. After he became attached to the Montanists, he, wrote numerous tracts advocating their peculiarities, — against the restoration of the lapsed, against second marriages, on the dress of females, on CHURCH-ORGANIZATION, RELIGIOUS RITES, ETC. 617 fasting, &c. In regard to all such matters, he was a rigid, radical man, but a valiant defender of the faith, and a devout Christian. Dionysius, bishop of Corinth, lived in the times of Marcus Aure- lius and his son Commodus. He wrote epistles to various churches, evincing his care and vigilance in support of Christian doctrine and practice. He was liberal in his discipline, and withstood some of those rigid practices which were so much favored by Tertullian. Melito, bishop of Sardis, was a devoted Christian, Avhose labors, we doubt not, were blessed to that drooping Church. He lived under Marcus Aurelius, and was one of those, who, by labored Apologies, endeavored in vain to soften his heart and put a stop to his merciless persecutions. Among his lost works was one on the submission of the senses to faith ; another on the body, soul, and spirit ; and another on God incarnate. He was one of those (of whom there were several in the primitive Church) "who made themselves eunuchs for the Idngdom of heaven's sake " (Matt, xix. 12). Theophilus of Antioch was a learned and pious man, who wrote several books, nearly all of which are lost. The only one which has reached us is addressed to Autolycus, a pagan friend, in vindi- cation of Christianity. He is fond of allegorical and fanciful in- terpretations ; and on them rests the stress of his arguments. For example, the springing of vegetables from seeds and roots teaches the resurrection of the body ; the dry land surrounded by seas de- notes the Church surrounded by enemies ; the sun represents God, and the changing moon represents man ; the three days preceding the creation of the sun and moon are types, tQiadog ro Oeu, of the trinity of God. This is said to be the first instance in which the term " trinity " occurs in the writings of the fathers. The doctrine is scriptural, and was held from the beginning ; but the term, so far as we know, was invented by Theophilus. CHAPTER XVI. DOCTRINES, HERESIES, AND CONTROVERSIES DURING THIS PERIOD. STATE OF RELIGION. THE doctrines of religion were taught in the second century with a good degree of simplicity and purity ; and yet there had been some change, both as to matter and manner, from the teach- ings of the apostles and their immediate successors. This arose, in part, from the mingling of a corrupt philosophy with the pure principles of Christianity, and in part from the frequent discus- sions which were held with those who perverted and rejected the truth. Justin Martyr was a philosopher before he was a Christian, and never ceased to be a philosopher afterwards. It was natural that he should continue the style of the philosophers, and intro- duce something of theii" spirit and speculations into the minds of his followers. The teachers in the Alexandrian school were also philosophers, and began early to corrupt the theology of the times. The influence of this school, however, was much more extensive and disastrous in the third century than in the second. But, even now, the doctrines of an intermediate place, and of purgatorial fire for all departed souls except those of the martyrs, began in some places to be shadowed forth. A foundation was also laid for the later doctrine of baptismal regeneration. The word "regenerate" was commonly used by Justin Martyr and others as synonymous with baptism ; putting the sign in place of the thing signified. Thus Justin, speaking of some who had been recently baptized, says, " They are regenerated in the same way in which we are regener- ated ; for they are washed with water in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." And Irenseus says, " When Christ gave his apostles the command of regenerating unto God, he said, Go and teach all nations, baptizing them," &c. G]*eat stress began to be laid in this century on bodily austeri- ties and mortifications ; and a strong tendency was manifested to- 618 DOCTRINES, HERESIES, AND CONTROVERSIES. 619 wards a monastic life. Several things contributed to this result : one was the prevalence of the Gnostic philosophy, which degraded the body, and directly inculcated the crucifixion of the flesh. Then there had been recluses for long ages among the heathen in the East. There were also recluses — for example, the Essenes and Therapeuts — among the Jews. Probably the Christians thought it a shame to be outdone in this direction by Pagans and Jews. Some were driven into the deserts by their constant exposure to persecution and death ; while others interpreted too literally some expressions in the inspired writings. They seemed to hear their Saviour calling out to them, " Come out from among them, and be ye separate, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you ; " and they knew not how to obey such a call but by a literal and entire separation from the world. The mo- nastic spirit first showed itself in Syria and Egypt ; from which places it gradually spread into other parts of the Christian world. The Scriptures were held in high estimation in this century, and were devoutly studied, so far as they had opportunity, by all Chris- tians. Some tried their hand at interpreting the sacred writings ; but their interpretations (so far as we have the means of judging) were of little value, owing to their perpetual search after hidden, allegorical meanings. This allegorical method of interpretation, which became so preva- lent in the ancient Church, the Christians borrowed from the heathen and the Jews. The heathen philosophers — as Plato, for example — were ashamed of their sacred mythologies, and were in the habit of allegorizing them in order to draw instruction from them, and bring them into harmony with their philosophical views. And, when the Jews in Egypt began to be philosophers, they pur- sued the same course with their sacred books, and for the same reason. Their philosophy and their sacred books could in no other way be harmonized. Numerous examples of this method of in- terpretation among the Jews are furnished by Philo and the Talmuds. For the same reason, those of the Christian fathers who aspired to be philosophers were led to adopt the allegorical method of interpretation. This method was popular with all the philoso- phers ; and, besides, it made of the Scriptures a nose of wax, which could point one way as well as another. It enabled its votaries to harmonize the sacred writings with any philosophy which they might be led to adopt. This allegorical method of interpretation had a 620 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. long and disastrous prevalence in the Church. It began to appear in the second century, but prevailed much more extensively in the following ages, and can hardly be said to be extirpated even in our own times. The heresies of the second century may, be divided into four classes, — the Ebionistic, the G-nostic, the Antitrinitarian, and the folloioers of Montanus ; each and all of them resulting in more or less of controversy. The Ebionites of the second century are the genuine descend- ants of the Judaizing teachers of the first century who gave so much trouble to the apostle Paul. We have referred to the origin of the sect already. Upon the revolt under Barchochebas, when the Jews were driven away from Jerusalem, and forbidden to return there, the great body of the old Jerusalem Church, in order that they might evade the decree, declared that they were no longer Jews, but Christians. They laid aside circumcision and the Jewish law, conforming in this respect to the practice of the other churches. But a portion of the Church refused 'to take this ground. They continued to practise the Jewish rites, seceded from their brethren, and became a sect, under the appellation of Ebionites. The sect was soon divided into two classes, on the score of liber- ality. The more liberal portion of them, though they continued to observe the Jewish law, indulged in no harsh antipathies against their brethren who had renounced it. They believed in the Mes- siahship and divinity of Jesus, acknowledged the apostleship and the Epistles of Paul, and were scarcely regarded by the other churches as heretics. They took the name of Nazarenes^ — the name originally given to all the followers of Christ. They soon disappear from the page of history. But the more rigid separatists pursued a different course. They were pretty numerous for a time, and spread themselves, not only in Palestine and Syria, but in Asia Minor, the Grecian islands, and even in Italy. They were called Ebionites, from the Hebrew "^iin!*, signifying poor. They were, in fact, a. poor, despised people. Their peculiarities may be set forth in the four following propositions : 1. Though they regarded Jesus as the promised Messiah, they held him to be a mere man, like Moses or David, and that he sprang by natural generation from Joseph and Mary. They were the first and only proper Humanitarians in the ancient Church. 2. Like their prototypes in the days of the apostles, the Ebionites said of all men, Jews and Gentiles, " Except ye be circumcised, DOCTRINES, HERESIES, AND CONTROVERSIES. 621 and keep the law of Moses, ye cannot he savedT 3. They rejected all the Epistles of Paul, and denounced him as an apostate and heretic. 4. They believed that Christ was soon to appear the second time, and set up his kingdom on the earth, the seat and centre of which was to be at Jerusalem. In regard to this latter point, they did not differ from many other Christians. The sect continued until the fourth century, when it became extinct. Of the Gnostic philosophy, and of the manner in which it began to corrupt the Church, even in the age of the apostles, I gave some account in a previous chapter. It originated in the East, but had spread itself into Syria, Egypt, and Greece before the commence- ment of the Christian era. The grand problem with the Gnostics, to the solution of which all their inquiries tended, was that respect- ing the origin of evil. They traced it to the influence of matter^ and referred the origin of this material world, and of the material bodies of men, not to the supreme God, but to some inferior divin- ity. The body they all regarded as the prison and corrupter of the soul ; and the redemption of the soul consisted, not in its deliverance from sin and death, but in its present deliverance from the influence of matter, and ultimately from matter itself. To aid in this work of deliverance, the Christian Gnostics — and it is with these that we have now to do — believed that Christ had kindly interposed. Christ they regarded as neither God nor man, but a mighty ^Eon from the region of light, — an emanation, directly or indirectly, from the One Supreme. As to the person and nature of Christ, the Gnostics of Asia differed from those of Egypt. The former class regarded him as a mere spectre, without a body ; while the latter believed that Jesus had a body, into which the ^on entered at the time of his baptism, and out of wliich it fled at his crucifixion. They were divided, also, as to the morality which they inculcated. The greater part of them enjoined bodily mortifications and austerities, and favored an ascetic, monastic life. But some went quite to the other extreme : in a proud conceit of the exaltation of the spirit above matter, or thinking, perhaps, that sensuality can best be overcome by indulging it, they bade defiance to every moral law, and gave themselves up to the most shameful licentiousness. They were all agreed in contemning Moses and the Old Testament, and in rejecting the doctrine of the resurrection. Though this doctrine prevailed in the first century, and corrupted numerous individuals and some whole churches, it is doubtful 622 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. whether any distmct sects were at that time organized. But, in the second century, heresiarchs made their appearance in different parts of the world, and sects were multiphed. Indeed, ahnost all the heresies of the age of which we are informed by Irenseus and others were of the Gnostic stamp. The different sects of the Gnostics were agreed as to the general jyrinciples of their philosophy ; hut they differed variously as to particulars : for example, as to the number and rank and genealo- gies of their ^Eons ; as to the INlaker of the material universe, and the manner of its formation ; as to the origin of liuman souls, and their incarceration in material bodies ; and as to the method of their final deliverance and purification. These, it will be seen, are subjects on which their fancies might be expected to riot; and each one had a delusion of his own. Among the oldest of the Asiatic Gnostics was Saturninus of Antioch, who flourished in the time of Adrian. He taught and practised great austerities, and, by the show of virtue, drew many after liim. Following him w^re Cerdo, a Syrian, and Marcion, the son of a bishop of Pontus. These men established their sect at Rome, and, from that place as a centre, spread their peculiarities in all direc- tions. The moral discipline which Marcion prescribed was very rigorous. He condemned marriage, wine, flesh, and every thing else which had a tendency to exliilarate the body or delight the senses. Among the Asian Gnostics may also be classed Bardesanes and Tatian. Tatian was an Assyrian, a learned man, and a disciple of Justin Martyr. His moral principles were rigid in the extreme, and were founded on the Gnostic basis ; viz., the necessity of mace- rating and mortifying the body, that the soul might be delivered from its corrupting influence. His followers renounced all the comforts of life, fasted rigorously, lived in celibacy, and held wine in such abhorrence, that they would not use it even in the sacra- mental supper. Among the Egyptian Gnostics, the first place is commonly as- signed to Basilides of Alexandria. He recommended purity of heart and life ; and yet there were some things in his moral pre- cepts which were offensive to other Christians. He taught that it is lawful to conceal our religion ; to deny Christ, if we may thereby save our lives ; and that it is no sin to participate in the pagan feasts which were connected with their sacrifices. He also refused DOCTRINES, HERESIES, AND CONTROVERSIES. 623 to honor the martyrs, maintaining that they had forfeited their hves by their peculiar sinfuhiess. But much worse than he was Carpocrates, who was also a native of Alexandria. As to general principles, he agreed with the other Gnostics ; but the morality which he inculcated was corrupt. He held that concupiscence was implanted in the soul by God, and was therefore innocent ; that actions are good or evil only as they are made so by the opinions and laws of men ; and that among men there should be a community of goods, and even of women. Obviously, principles such as these swept away the foundations of all virtue, and gave license to every species of iniquity. The Nico- laitans, spoken of in Rev. ii. 15, may have been Gnostics of this class. The most celebrated of all the Eyptian Gnostics was Valentinus, the founder of the numerous sect of the Valentinians. This sect originated at Rome, but had its principal seat on the Island of Cy- prus. From this point it spread itself with great rapidity over a considerable part of the Christian world. It is of the Valentin- ians especially that Irenseus treats in his work against Heresies (lib. i. chap. 1-7). Tertullian also wrote a book against them. In speaking of the Egyptian Gnostics, we must not omit the Ophites^ or Serpentinians, a senseless sect, which is thought to have originated among the Jews before the coming of Christ. In the second century, a part of them professed to be Christians. Tliey believed that the serpent which tempted our first parents was either Chrigt himself, or an impersonation of Sophia^ — heavenly Wisdom. Hence the peculiar honor, and even worship, which they paid to their sacred serpents. In celebrating the Lord's Supper, the priest let out one of these serpents upon the dish to crawl around and over the bread. When the bread had been distributed, each one Idssed the serpent ; after which it was confined in a box. Such are the absurdities into which men readily fall when they forsake the word of God, and give heed to fables. There were other obscure sects of Gnostics, — as the Adamites and Cainites and Abelites and Sethites, — of which the ancients give us little more than the names. With all their absurdities, these Gnostics were an arrogant, overbearing class of men. They made pretensions to a superior illumination. They were in possession of the true .-^'vayaig, — of all knowledge and wisdom, — and looked down upon other Christians, like the transcendentals of our own times, as no better than grovelUng empiricg. They flourished chiefly in 624 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. the second century ; though their principles continued to show themselves, in one form or another, for several hundred years. The Antitrinit avian controversies, which commenced in the sec- ond century and continued through the third, grew out of a vain desire on the part of some Christian philosophers to explain the mystery of the Trinity, or to show precisely how the Three are one, and the One three. This was attempted by Praxeas, a distinguished man, and a confessor at Rome. Discarding all real distinction between Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, he taught that the Father — the whole Deity — joined himself to the human nature of Christ, and suffered with him on the cross. Hence Praxeas and his followers are appropriately called by TertuUian, who wrote a book against them, Patripassians. The doctrine of the Trinity was explained somewhat differently at Rome by Theodotus the tanner, and by Artemon the father of the Artemonites. They held, that, when the man Christ Jesus was born, a certain divine energy, or some portion of the divine yiature^ and not the entire person of the Father, entered into him, and qualified him for his redeeming work. Other persons advanced similar opinions, as we shall see, in the next century. About the middle of the century, an obscure man of Phrygia, named Montanus, began to have visions and ecstasies, and to utter prophecies. He gave out that himself was the Paraclete, — the promised Comforter, — who had been sent to reform the Church, and carry it forward to perfection. Two fanatical women, Maximilla and Priscilla, joined themselves to him as prophetesses ; and thus a party was formed, of high spiritual pretensions, who looked down upon other Christians as walkmg in the flesh. They did not essay to change the received doctrines of the Church, but rather to confirm them. Their province was to reform its manners ; to en- force a new and higher and more spiritual course of life. Accord- ingly, they prescribed new and rigorous fasts ; forbade second marriages ; attributed an extraordinary value to cehbacy and mar- tyrdom ; manifested a profound contempt for every thing earthly ; and taught that intemperance, incontinence, and other like offences (although they might not exclude utterly from the grace of God), ought to shut one out forever from the Church of Christ. They were also confirmed Chiliasts; proclaiming that the end of the world, and the millennial reign of Christ, were near at hand. Their pecu- liarities were of such a nature, and were so pertinaciously persisted in, that they were excluded from the Church, and obliged to as- DOCTRINES, HERESIES, AND CONTROVERSIES. 625 sume the position of sectaries. But Montanus speedily built up a church of his own, and spread his peculiarities into other parts of the world. His most distinguished follower, as remarked already, was Tertullian, — a man very like to Montanus in spirit and char- acter, who did much by his publications to promote the cause which he had espoused. I close with a few words in regard to the religious spirit and character of the age. There was a greater stress laid, as we have seen, on outward rites and forms, than in the first century. A greater importance also was attached to self-mortification and a " neglecting of the body." It must be said, too, that the philo- sophic spirit which had begun to insinuate itself into the schools and churches of the Christians was exerting an unfavorable influence upon the tone of their piety. Still, notwithstanding these abatements, the ardor and vigor of Christian piety in the second century were well sustained. The frequent persecutions of the Christians, and the hard treatment to which they were con- tinually exposed, had the effect to humble them, to strengthen their faith, and keep them near to the throne of grace. Their untiring missionary efforts were a.lso a great blessing to them. It happened unto them, as it has done to Christians in every age, that, while they were endeavoring to water others, they were themselves watered with the dews of heavenly grace. The spirit exhibited by the martyrs was, in general, of the most heroic character. In some instances, there was a zeal for martyr- dom, and an apparent glorying in it, which hardly comports with the true Christian, spirit. The kindness which the Christians manifested, not only to one another, but even to their enemies, is also remarkable. Witness the following extracts from Tertullian's Apology, written during the persecution under Septimius Severus, near the close of the second century: "We pray," says he, "for the safety of the emperors to the true and living God, whom emperors themselves should desire to be propitious to them above all others that are called gods. Looking up to heaven with outstretched hands and uncovered heads, we pray constantly for the emperors, that they may have long life, a secure dominion, a safe house, strong armies, a faithful senate, a well-behaved people, and a quiet state of the world. We solicit these things from the God of heaven, because he alone can bestow them ; and we expect them of him, being his servants, who worship him in spirit and in truth. And while our hands are thus 40 626 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. stretched out, if it must be so, let crosses suspend us, let fires con- sume us, let swords pierce our hearts, let wild beasts destroy us : a praying Christian is in a frame for any form of death." Here, surely, is something of the spirit of Him who prayed for his murderers while hanging on the cross. The writer proceeds to describe further the principles and character of his brethren in Christ : " We are dead to all ideas of worldly honor and dignity. Nothing is farther from us than a disposition to meddle with political concerns. We are a spiritual body, united in one bond of religion, of discipline, and of hope. We meet in our assemblies for prayer and praise. We have con- tinual recourse to the divine oracles for instruction and warning. We nourish our faith by the word of God. We establish our hope, we fix our confidence, we strengthen our discipline, by repeatedly inculcating its precepts and exhortations. " Those who preside among us are elderly persons, distinguished not for opulence, but for worth of character. Every one pays into the pubhc chest once a month, or oftener, as he pleases ; for there is no compulsion. Thence we relieve the needy, bury the dead, and support orphans, decrepit persons, those who have suffered ship- wreck, and those who, for the word of God, are condemned to the mines or to imprisonment. This very charity has caused us to be noticed by some, who say, ' See how these Christians love one another ! ' " But I will not quote further. These extracts will give us some idea of the purity, the integrity, the heavenly-mindedness, and passiveness under injuries, for which Christians were distinguished at the close of the second century. PEEIOD in. FROM THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE THIRD CENTURY TO THE REVOLUTION UNDER CONSTANTINE. CHAPTER XVII. PERSECUTIONS AND PROGRESS OF CHRISTIANITY DURING THIS PERIOD. AT the commencement of the tliird century, Septimius Severus governed the Roman Empire. During the first years of his reign, he seemed not unfavorably disposed towards the Cliristians, though tliey often suffered severely in some of tlie provinces ; but, being disgusted with the excesses of the Montanists, he at length passed a law prohibiting all persons from abandoning the religion of their fathers. This did not directly condemn those who were already Christians ; yet the governors of the provinces, instigated by the populace and by the pagan priests, took occasion from it to molest and destroy many of God's people. Among those who suffered were Leonidas, tire father of Origen, and some distinguished Roman ladies. Potamiana, a virgin of rare beauty and accomplish- ments, after suffering various tortures, was slowly burned, with her mother, in boiling pitch. One of her executioners was so affected with her sufferings and patience, that he shortly after em- braced Christianity, and was himself beheaded. Perpetua, a young woman of noble birth, resisting not only the entreaties of an aged heathen father, but the silent appeals of a helpless babe, sacrificed the tender feelings both of a daughter and mother rather than deny her Lord. Having been apprehended, and kept under guard for several days, her babe was at length taken from her ; and she and her companions were thrust into a 627 628 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. dark and dismal prison. Speaking of her feelings at this time, she says, " O fearful day ! I was terrified at the darkness ; I was torn with anxiety about my infant : but, by the help of the deacons of the Church, my child was brought to me, and we were removed to a more open part of the prison. Having nursed the dear babe, who was dying of thirst, I was obliged to part with him again." Her wretched father came to her in the prison, and threw him- self at her feet, weeping as though his heart would break. " Think of me," said he, " and think of your mother, and think of your little son, who cannot live without you." She answered his entreaties by saying, that, while nothing on earth would delight her more than to please and obey him, she could not displease God, and deny her Saviour. When her trial came, her father forced himself through the crowd, with her child in his arms, that he might make his last appeal to her to change her mind. The heathen judge was moved to tears at the sight, and said, " Oh, spare the old age of your father and the helplessness of your infant! Perpetua, are you a Chris- tian?" She replied, "I certainly am. I have lived a Christian, and a Christian I am resolved to die." The prisoners were now sent away to their cells to await the execution of their sentence ; which was, to be thrown to the wild beasts. Here Perpetua was to be again tried by a visit from her father. He tore his hair ; he fell frantic on the floor ; he used every entreaty with her: but in vain." Her heart was in heaven. She trusted in Christ, and he sustained her to the last. Felicitas, one of her companions, had also a little babe. After a fervent prayer on its behalf, she gave it over to her sister, and so relieved herself of all earthly cares. When led to execution, these heroic females sang a hymn, and then called on the magistrates and people to remember that they must give an account of that day's work. They charged them also to bear witness that they died in the faith of Christ, " whom, not having seen, they loved." It was the lot of these two Christian females to be thrown to a wild cow. The infuriated animal ran upon Perpetua, and dashed her wounded upon the ground. She then flew at Felicitas, tossed her in the* air, and tore her in the most frightful manner. Perpetua sprang upon her feet, ran to her poor sister in suffering, adjusted her clothes, and smoothed her disordered hair. The spectators, not hking this kind of sport, demanded that the victims should be despatched with the sword ; when, giving each PERSECUTIONS AND PROGRESS OF CHRISTIANITY. 629 other the kiss of peace, they presented themselves before their executioner. Felicitas was killed b}^ a single blow ; but the faint- ing, trembling gladiator was not so successful with Perpetua. He struck at her and wounded her repeatedly, but to no purpose. At length she seized the weapon, pointed it to the most vital part, and called upon him to finish his work. Without a groan, she sank down upon the sands of the amphitheatre, -and fell asleep in Christ. I have given the particulars of this martyr-scene, because, in the first place, it is well authenticated, and because by this means we get a more vivid idea of what the Christians were called to suffer in these fiery times. It is easy to tell of cases of martyr- dom, and to say that they were multiphed by scores and hundreds, and yet get no strong impression of the cases ; but when we hear the story of Perpetua, and .remember that this was but one of a thousand like scenes which were acted over during the first three hundred years after Christ, we begin to realize what it cost to break down the old heathen altars, and establish Christianity in the earth. Caracalla passed no laws against the Christians, though the persecutions in some places were continued. The reckless and vicious Heliogabalus tolerated all religions, in hope of at last merging them in his favorite Syrian worship of the sun. He was himself a priest of the sun, and thence took his name. Alexander Severus, who reigned from the year 222 to 235, was inclined to favor the Christians. He placed the busts of Abraham and of Christ in his private chapel, with those of Orpheus and some of the Roman emperors ; and caused the golden rule, to do to others as we would that they shoidd do to us, to be engraven on public monuments and on the walls of his palace. His mother, Julia Mammi3ea, was almost, if not quite, a Christian. Maximin the Thracian, who killed Alexander and reigned in his stead, fearing that the Christians might be disposed to avenge the death of their patron, ordered some of their bishops who had been particularly friendly to the late emperor to be seized, and put to death. This encouraged the populace and the pagan priests to rekindle the fires of persecution ; and many Christians were destroyed. His reign, however, was short, and was followed by a long season of trancLuillity to the Church under Gordian, and the two Philips, father and son. In the year 249, Decius Trajan came to the throne. He was an 630 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. earnest and energetic man, in whom the old Roman spirit revived ; and he resolved to extirpate the Christian sect, and restore the old pagan religion in all its glory. Accordingly, he published terrible edicts, requiring the governors in all the provinces either to bring back the people to the religion of their fathers, or to exterminate them utterly. This was the signal for a persecution, which, in extent, persistency, and cruelty, exceeded all that had been before it. During the next two years, vast numbers of Christians in all the Roman provinces were cut off. Large numbers also, terrified, not so much by the fear of death as of the long-continued tortures which were inflicted with a view to shake the constancy of the Christians, were driven to apostasy. They either sacrificed to the idols, or (what was as bad) they bribed the judges to . certify that they had sacrificed when they had not. In this time of severe trial, the confessors at Rome wrote thus to their suffering brethren in Africa : " What more glorious and blessed lot can fall to man, by the grace of God, than to confess him amidst tortures and in the face o^ death ; to confess Christ with lacerated bod}^ but with the spirit free ; and to become fellow-sufferers with him, and in his name ? Though we have not yet been called to shed our blood, we are ready to do so. Pray for us, dear Cyprian, that the Lord, the great Captain, would daily strengthen each one of us more and more, and at last lead us to the field as faithful soldiers armed with those divine weapons which can never be conquered." The authorities were specially severe against the bishops and ofiicers of the churches. Fabian, bishop of Rome, perished near the commencement of the persecution. Many withdrew to places of concealment, — some, perhaps, from cowardice, but more from Chris- tian prudence, — hoping to allay by their absence the fury of the persecutors, and to preserve their lives for the good of the Church in better times. Among these was Cyprian, the excellent bishop of Carthage. Many censured him for his flight ; but he fully vin- dicated himself by his pastoral industry during his absence, and by his subsequent martyrdom. He says concerning the matter, " Our Lord commanded us, when persecuted in one city, to flee to another; and this command he illustrated in his own practice. Since the martyr's crown comes by the grace of God, and cannot be gained before the appointed hour, he who retires, and remains true to Christ, does not deny the faith, but only bides his time." Decius reigned only two years ; but his successors, Gallus and Volusian, continued the persecution two years longer, — unto the PERSECUTIONS AND PROGRESS OF CHRISTIANITY, 631 year 253. The multitudes who fell away in this persecution caused great_ dissensions afterwards in different parts of the Church : for the lapsed wished to be restored to Christian fellowship without that severe penitence which the laws of the Church prescribed ; and some of the bishops favored their wishes, while others opposed them. The dispvites on the subject resulted in the Novatian schism, or heresy, of which we shall hear more hereafter. Valerian succeeded Volusian, and the Church had several years of comparative rest; but, in the fourth year of his reign, Valerian commenced making havoc of the Christians. The most distin- guished martyrs at this time were Sixtus II., bishojD of Rome, and Cyprian, bishop of Carthage. When Cyprian received his sen- tence, he said, " Deo Crratias ! " (" The Lord be praised ! ") When he came upon the scaffold, he prayed once more, undressed himself, covered his face with his hands, and asj^ed one of liis presbyters to pay the executioner twenty-five pieces of gold. With trem- bling hands, the executioner performed his office ; and Cyprian won the incorruptible crown. His faithful friends caught up his blood on their handkerchiefs, and buried their sainted pastor with great solemnity. From this time, A.D. 2G0, there was no general persecution to the end of the century. About the year 274, Aurelian issued an edict of persecution ; but he was himself assassinated before the edict could go into effect. The result of these forty years of con- tinued tranquillity was to extend the borders of the Church, to increase its numbers, and to confer other marks of outward pros- perity; while at the same time there was a decrease of internal purity and spirituality. The time had come when the Church evidently needed a fiery trial ; and, in covenant faithfulness, God was preparing such a trial for it. At the commencement of the fourth century, the vast empire of Rome was governed by four rulers ; viz., Diocletian and Herculeus Maximianus with the title of Augustus, and Galerius Maximianus and Constantius Chlorus with the title of Csesars. The state of the Church was peaceful and happy. Christians were regarded with favor, and admitted to the most important civil offices ; spacious buildings were erected for public worship, to which the people resorted without fear ; and they had little more to hope for, unless it were that one or more of the emperors should embrace their religion. Under these circumstances, the pagan priests and populace began to be alarmed lest the power which 632 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. "they had so long wielded should pass out of their hands. They first began to work upon the fears and prejudices of Diocletian, who was an old man, and whom they knew to be both timid and credulous, and induce him to persecute the Christians. But, fail- ing here, they next tried tlieir arts upon Galerius, who was son-in- law to Diocletian ; and with him they were more successful. He, being a cruel and fanatical _ pagan, persuaded Diocletian to publish an. edict requiring that the temples of the Christians should be demolished, their sacred books burned, and they deprived of all civil rights and honors. Tliis decree did not aim directly at the lives of the Christians ; and yet many were put to death because they refused to give up their sacred books. Other many, who surrendered their books, were stigmatized by their brethren as traditors ; i.e., traitors. Not long after the publication of this first edict, there were two conflagrations in the palace at Nicomedia ; which being, charged upon the Christians, many of them were by an imperial edict put to the torture with a view to extort confessions. Nearly at the same time, there were insurrections in Armenia and Syria, which provoked the emperor to pass a third edict, committing all Christian bishops and ministers to .prison, that, by tortures and punishments, they might be compelled to offer sacrifice to the gods. In con- sequence of this order, many ministers were put to death ; wliile others. were exiled, or banished to the mines. But the malice of Galerius was not yet satisfied. In the following year, he induced Diocletian to pass his fourth and final edict, compelling all Chris- tians to offer sacrifice to the gods, under penalty of death. The malice of the persecutors could go no further >; and the con- dition of the Church, more especially in the eastern provinces, seemed to be hopeless. And what rendered it the more so was, that Galerius, just at this time, succeeded in deposing Diocletian and Herculeus Maximianus, and thus became sole emperor of the East. Constantius Chlorus, the father of Constantine- the Great, had refused from the first to participate, in these bloody proceed- ings ; and the Christians in Spain, Gaul, and Britain, over which he ruled, were in comparative security. This persecution was the last desperate struggle of Roman heathenism for its life. When it was fairlj^ ended, the persecutions of pagan Rome ceased. Diocletian was deposed in the year 305, and, eight years afterwards, put an end to his life. Constantius Chlorus died A.D. 306 ; when the army by acclamation made >" PERSECUTIONS AND PROGRESS OF CHRISTIANITY. 633 Constantine his successor. Galerius, who was the real author of the persecution, being visited by a terrible disease, put an end to the slaughter by a decree of toleration in the year 311. In this document he declared, that, his purpose of reclaiming the Christians from their innovations having failed, he would now grant them the free exercise of their religion, provided they did not disturb the peace of the state ; adding the singular request, that they would pray to their God for the welfare of the emperors, of the state, and of themselves, that the country might prosper, and that they might lead quiet and peaceable lives.* I have said already said that Constantine succeeded his father in the West in the year 306 ; but his path to universal empire was not a smooth one. Maxentius, who governed Africa and Italy, made war upon him, but was vanquished and destroyed. Maximin, who reigned in the East, and who was projecting new calamities for the Church, was also vanquished, swallowed poison, and came to a miserable end. Licinius, the only remaining colleague of Constantine, was conquered and destroyed at a later period, leaving him sole ruler and governor of the vast Roman Empire. The religious character of Constantine, like his power, was of gradual growth. He did not profess to be a Christian, nor do we know that he seriously contemplated becoming one (although he had never been a persecutor), until his war with Maxentius, — about the year 312. He then saw a remarkable vision, which had a great effect upon him, and did much towards shaping the future of his life. The story, as he related it to Eusebius, is as follows ; He had been engaged in prayer that the true God (whoever he might be) would manifest himself to him ; when, says he, " a little past the middle of the day, as the sun was verging towards the west, I saw in the heavens the appearance of a cross, on which was inscribed, ' By this conquer.'' " The night following, the Saviour appeared to Constantine in his sleep, directed him to make an exact representation of what he had seen in the heavens, adopt it as his standard, and henceforth carry it in front of his armies. f There are many difficulties attending this story. In the first place, it is not likely that it is a pure fiction got up by Constan- tine for political effect ; neither is it likely that such a prodigy * For a particular account of this terrible Diocletian persecution, see Milner's Ecc. History, vol. ii. pp. 1- 30. t This story is related by the author of the work, De Moribus Persecutorum, in the year 314 ; and by the heathen panegj'rists of Constantine, especially by Nazarius, in 321. 634 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. actually appeared in the heavens to be seen by the whole army, as nothing seems to have been known of it until Constantine re- lated the. story to Eusebius several years afterwards. The proba- bility is that it was a vision, appearing to the emperor in a state of partial sleep, — a state not at all uncommon, and which can hardly be distinguished by the subject of it from one of entire wakefulness. The vision, if it was one, was not without its in- fluence ; since, from that time, Constantine carried the standard of the cross before liis armies, and seems to have been intellect- ually convinced of the truth of Christianity. After the death of Licinius, he openly declared himself a Christian ; although, for prudential reasons, he was not baptized, and admitted to the Church, until a short time before his death. Constantine's personal appearance was winning and imposing. He was tall, portly, and handsome, and was favored with a vigor- ous and healthy constitution. He was showy in his dress and personal demeanor ; always wearing an Oriental diadem, a helmet studded with jewels, and a mantle of silk embroidered with gold. His mind was not highly cultivated, but naturally clear, strong, shrewd, and seldom thrown off its guard. Constantine, it must be confessed, was a man of blood. His murder of his conquered colleague Licinius, after having j^romised him safety, cannot be justified ; much less his slaying of his eldest son Crispus, and his -wife Fausta, under the influence of suspicions which were probably unfounded. In the 'latter part of his life, he diligently attended divine worship, and would stand during the longest sermons. He com- posed and delivered several discourses, one of which is preserved by Eusebius. I have spoken of the frequent and terrible persecutions which came upon the Church in the period before us. The Church had also trials of another sort. Towards the end of the third century. Porphyry, a Neo-Platonist philosopher, wrote an extended work against the Christians, in fifteen books. He charged the Bible with numerous contradictions. He insisted that the prophecies of Daniel must have been written subsequent to the events of which he speaks. He makes much of the collision between Paul and Peter at Antioch (Gal. ii. 11), and charges eve.n Jesus with equivo- cation and inconsistency. Still Porphyry could not wholly reject Christianity. Like Rationalists of modern times, he made a dis- tinction between the pure doctrines of Jesus and the adulterated account of them given by the apostles. PERSECUTIONS AND PROGRESS OF CHRISTIANITY. 635 The last literary antagonist of Christianity, in the period of which we speak, was Hierocles, who wrote in the first part of the foiu'th century. He was a bitter persecutor of the Christians, and an instrument of Diocletian in putting many of them to death. Still he pretended to be much interested for them,, and addressed his work directly to them, in hope of persuading them to renounce Christianity, and thus save their lives. He repeated the objections of Celsus and Porphyry, and drew a comparison between Jesus and Apollonius of Tyana, which was altogether favorable to the latter. The Christians, he says, consider Jesus a god, on account of some miracles ascribed to him by the apostles ; whereas the heathen regard the greater wonder-worker Apollonius as simply a favorite of the gods. We know little, however, of the works either of Porphyry or Hierocles, since their books were destroyed by the Christian emperors ; and nought remains to us but a few fragments preserved by Eusebius and others, who undertook to refute them. Notwithstanding the persecutions of the period under review, the Church had long intervals of rest and peace ; and Christianity made very considerable progress. Its progress, however, was in- dicated, not so much by a diffusion into new and untried regions, as by more thoroughly penetrating the countries already visited. Origen is said, indeed, to have instructed some of the wandering Arabs in the truths of Christianity. The Goths also received a knowledge of Christ from some priests whom they had carried away captive. To this age may be referred the origin of some of the German churches ; and many new churches were established in what is now France. But this was not, like the first two centuries of the Christian era, an age of diffusion so much as of consolida- tion. The number of Christians and of churches was greatly in- creased; and Christianity, though often persecuted, was pretty firmly established. Its professors were freel}^ admitted into the army, the court, and other places of honor and trust. They began to have temples, in which they openly assembled for worship. Great attention was given in this period to the Holy Scriptures. The canon of Scripture was virtually settled ; the sacred books were translated into various languages, and copies were mul- tiplied and circulated. In labors of this kind, the learned and indefatigable Origen distinguished himself above all others. His " Hexapla " was the first Polyglot Bible ; but it covered only the 636 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. Old Testament, and was designed not so much to restore the original text even of that as to improve and defend the Septuagiht. It is doubtful whether this work was ever transcribed. It was in existence in the library at Csesarea in the time of Jerome, and was probably destroyed by the Saracens about the middle of the seventh century. Only some fragments of it still remain. j& CHAPTER XVIII. CHURCH-ORGANIZATION, RELIGIOUS RITES AND TEACHERS, DURING THIS PERIOD. IN a previous chapter, I spoke of some important changes in Church organization and government which occurred in the last half of the second century, and of the manner in which they were brought about. By the introduction of synods, the original independency of the individual churches Avas sacrificed and lost. The distinction between bishop and presbyter, which was unknown in the first century, began to be marked ; and, from being the pastor of a single church, the bishop, in some places, had sur- rounded himself with a circle of dependent churches, constituting what is now called a diocese. Such was the state of things at the commencement of the third century. The Episcopal form of government, having supplanted the simple Congregationalism of the first age, very generally j)re- vailed. A bishop presided over each church, and, in some instances, over several dependent churches ; having a board of presbyters for his council, and taking the voice of the people on questions of general interest and importance. The bishops of Rome, Antioch, and Alexandria, were regarded as more important than any other, and were more frequently consulted, on account of the extent of their charges, and because thqir churches had been founded by the apostles. These changes had been brought about under the impression that the safety of the Church required them, and that the govern- ment of the Church would thereby be rendered more efficient and useful. But the natural effects of them, more especially upon the higher clergy, began soon to be manifested. A spirit of ambition was awakened, and a fondness for pomp and display. Some of the bishops affected the state of princes ; for they sat upon thrones, surrounded by their ministers, and dazzled the eyes and minds of 637 638 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. the populace by tlieir splendid attire. Some were chargeable, not only with arrogance, but also with dissipation, voluptuousness, con- tention, and other vices. By examples such as these, an aspiring, ambitious spirit was awakened among the lower church-officers. The presbyters imitated the bishops in neglecting the duties of their office, and living in indolence and pleasure ; and this em- boldened the deacons to make encroachments upon the office and prerogatives of the presbyters. To relieve the deacons in part of their appropriate duties, a variety of inferior church-officers were created ; as the sub-deacons, the acolyths or servants, the ostiarii or door-keepers, the lectors or readers, the copiatce or undertakers, and the exorcists, whose duty it was to dispossess and drive away the evil spirits. The exorcists owed their origin to a doctrine which had been re- ceived from the Neo-Platonists, — that evil spirits are attracted to human bodies ; and that men are impelled to sin, not so much by their natural depravity and the influence of bad examples, as by the suggestions of indwelling evil spirits : hence the necessity of - their being expelled previous to baptism. Marriage was yet allowed to all the clergy, although the current of opinion was setting against it. Celibacy was accounted a holy state, since those who practised it were far less exposed than oth- ers to the assaults of evil spirits. And yet the results of this course of life, even at this early period, were just what they have been at all periods since, — a shameful licentiousness among its votaries. Those who were too holy to be lawfully married were not too holy to receive into their houses, and even to their beds, a class of sis- ters, who, like themselves, were under vows of perpetual chastity. The tendency to an increase of ceremonies, which began to show itself in the second century, continued in full force during the period before us. In proportion as the spirituality of religion di- minished, the tendency to ritualism constantly increased. The temples which were now permitted to be erected were frequently adorned with pictures, and perhaps with statues or images. Nor was the use of incense in public worship, which the early Chris- tians so much abhorred, prohibited or discountenanced. It began to be used at funerals to counteract offensive smells ; it was burned in the temples to purify the atmosphere ; and ere long de- generated into a superstitious rite. The discourses in the temples were becoming more formal and scholastic than before, being mod- elled after the rules of Grecian eloquence. The Lord's Supper CHURCH-ORGANIZATION, RELIGIOUS RITES, ETC. 639 was administered in private, and with more pomp and ceremony than in the previous age ; and was regarded by most persons as essential to salvation. Under this impression, the practice com- menced, in the third century, of administering it to little children. Baptism was ordinarily administered only t.wice in the year, — at the festivals of Easter and Whitsuntide, and to candidates who had been through a long process of preparation. Of course, none were allowed to be present but those who had been baptized. The ceremonies used on the occasion were the following : First, a sol- emn consecration of the water. This is mentioned by Tertullian and Cyprian ; and, in the Apostolic Constitutions, the prayer of consecration is given. Then the person to be baptized must be exorcised. He must make a public renunciation of the Devil and all his works ; after which the exorcist breathed on him three times, and, by a solemn and menacing formula, adjured the. evil spirits, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, to come out of him. In the case of infants, the renunciation was made by the sponsors. After exorcism, the subject was anointed with holy oil, the sign of the cross was made upon him, and a veil was put upon his face to denote the darkness of his state previous to baptism. Then he was led naked to the font, and immersed three times, unless neces- sity required some other mode ; in which case pouring or sprinkling was used. When females were baptized, the preparatory rites were performed, and the subject was led into the water, by dea- conesses. The baptism having been administered, it was followed by addi- tional rites. The veil was removed from the subject's face in token of his having now passed from darkness into light. He was again anointed with holy oil. The priest put his fingers into his ears, and touched his eyes with spittle and clay, and breathed on him, that he might receive the Holy Ghost. Then some milk and honey was given him in token of his being a babe in Christ ; and some salt was laid upon his tongue, indicating that henceforward his " conversation must be with grace, seasoned with salt." Then a white robe was put upon him to denote his purity, which he must wear seven days ; a lighted taper was put into his hand ; he was saluted with the kiss of charity, and told to depart m peace. Such are the ceremonies, which, as early as the third and fourth centuries, had come to be connected with the simple rite of baptism. The most of them were borrowed from the heathen or Jewish tern- 640 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. pies, and were adopted with a view to make the Christian religion more acceptable to Pagans and Jews. They were intended also to be symbolical, — to set forth by expressive outward signs im- portant scriptural truths. But, whatever the intention of their in- ventors may have been, their results in a religious view were ulti- mately disastrous. They introduced a system of dead formalism, — the substitution of outward rites for the graces of the spirit, — which brooded over all Christendom for a thousand years, and still rests upon the great majority of those who bear the Christian name. The stated hours of prayer among Christians in the age we are considering were the same that had been observed among the Jews ; viz., the third, the sixth, and the ninth ; or, according to our reckoning, nine o'clock, twelve, and three in the afternoon. On the Lord'^j day, and on other joyful occasions, it was the custom of Christians to pray in a standing posture ; but, in seasons of fast- ing and humiliation, they prayed on their knees, and sometimes prostrated themselves on the earth. Forms of prayer which be- longed not to the first century had come into use in the third and fourth. They seem to have been introduced chiefly for two rea- sons : first, the ignorance of many of the clergy ; and, secondly, because of the prevailing disputes and errors, that so nothing might be uttered in the prayer which was contrary to sound doctrine. Much importance was attached, at the time we are reviewing, to fasting and the sign of the cross. These were regarded as the surest preservatives against the influence of evil spirits. The Latins observed every seventh day of the week as a season of fasting. The great man of the age in which he lived, and the most learned man in all ecclesiastical antiquity, was Origen, surnamed Adaman- tius. He was born at Alexandria, of Christian parents, A.D. 185, and was baptized in infancy. Under the direction of his father Leonidas, and of the famous Clement of Alexandria, he received a learned and Christian education. While yet a boy, he had com- mitted to memory whole sections of the Bible, and often perplexed his father with questions on the deeper sense of Scripture. In the persecution under Septimius Severus, about the year 202, Leon- idas was apprehended, and shut up in prison. Fearing that his father's constancy might waver, out of a regard for his dependent family, Origen wrote to him in the prison,, urging him to be stead- fast, and leave his wife and children to God. Leonidas was j)ut CHURCH-ORGANIZATION, RELIGIOUS RITES, ETC. 641 to death, and Origen was intent upon dying with him, but was prevented by his mother, who secreted his clothing that it could not be found. The property of Leonidas was confiscated, and the mother was left a widow with seven children. Origen was assisted for a while by a friend of the family, but afterwards supported him- self by giving instruction in the Greek language and hterature, and by copying manuscripts. When only eighteen years of age, he was placed at the head of the catechetical school at Alexandria. To qualify himself for this office, he gave himself to the study of Grecian philosophy, espe- -cially Neo-Platonism, which was now beginning to attract notice. He was much attached to this philosophy, and mixed up its teach- ings with theology, to the prejudice of his own orthodoxy and that of his school. He was eminently successful as a teacher, and brought some distinguished heathens and heretics into the Catho- lic Church. Among his converts was Ambrosius, a wealthy Gnos- tic, who became thenceforth his most liberal patron. He furnished Origen with a costly library, with stenographers to take down his discourses, and with copyists to correct and engross them. His fame spread far and wide over Egypt, Italy, and Greece. Julia Mammi3ea, the mother of Alexander Severus, sent for him to An- .tioch, A.D» 218, that she might learn from him the doctrines of Christianity. He was visited also by an Arabian prince for the same purpose. His mode of life during this whole period, and indeed through his whole life, was strictly ascetic. He refused the gifts of his pupils, and retained nothing for his sujDport which was not abso- lutely necessary. He had but one coat, no shoes, rarely ate flesh, drank no wine, devoted the greater part of the night to prayer and study, and slept (when he did sleep) upon the naked floor. That he might be free from temptation and suspicion in his intercourse with females, he literally made himself a eunuch for the kingdom of heaven's sake (Matt. xix. 12). Of this inconsiderate act he afterwards repented, as he thereby disqualified himself, according to the church canons, for the clerical office. He was, however, constituted a presbyter late in life by the bishops of Caesarea and Jerusalem. By his consenting to be ordained by foreign bishops, Origen in- curred the hostility of Demetrius, bishop of Alexandria. Deme- trius charged him, before a council, not only with being ordained contrary to the canons, but with corrupting the doctrines of the 41 642 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. Church. The charges were decLared to be sustained ; and Origen was excommunicated in the year 232. The sentence was disre- . garded, however, by the Eastern bishops ; and Origen was con- tinued in fellowship as before. Origen bore his harsh treatment at the hands of Demetrius in a truly Christian manner. Speaking of his enemies, he said, " We must pity them, and not hate them ; we must pray for them, and not curse them ; since we were made for blessing, and not for curs- ing." He took up his residence at Csesarea in Palestine ; prose- cuted his studies there ; opened a new theological school, whicL- soon outshone that at Alexandria ; and labored in every way possi- ble for the spread of Christ's kingdom. He Avas continually con- sulted on controverted topics, and had numerous correspondents ; among whom was no less a personage than the wife of the emperor, Philip the Arabian. At an Arabian council, he convinced Beryl- lus, bishop of Bostra, of his errors concerning the person of Christ, and brought him back into the fellowship of the Church. Upon the death of Demetrius, Origen was invited to return to Alexandria ; but it does not appear that he took up his residence there. In the Decian persecution, about the year 250, he was apprehended, cast into prison, cruelly tortured, and condemned to the stake ; and although, by the death of the emperor, he- regained his liberty, he never recovered from the injuries which he at that time received. Worn out with continuous study and ascetic priva- tions, and broken down by violent persecution, he died at Tyre, about the year 234, at the age of sixty-nine. Though we may la- ment his philosophical speculations, by which his theology was not a little corrupted, and his influence in his own time and in after- ao-es was curtailed, still he was a laborious, self-sacrificing, and devoted Christian, whose memory should be cherished, and whose name should be held in honor wherever it is known. He did more than all his enemies combined to advance the cause of sacred learn- ing, to refute and convert heathens and heretics, and to make the Church respected in the eyes of the world. The peculiarities of Origen's theology all sprang from his phi- losophy, and may be classed under the following particulars : — 1. He believed in the pre-existence and fall of human souls ; and that they are incarcerated in bodies here as a discipline, a punish- ment, for sins previously committed. 2. He was the first to express a belief in the eternsil generation of the Logos, or his eternal emanation from the substance of the CHURCH-ORGANIZATION, RELIGIOUS RITES, ETC. 643 Father ; and from him the emanation doctrine descended, and was received by the whole Church for a tliousand years. 3. Origen beheved that the human soul of our Lord pre-existed, and became united to the Logos, before his incarnation, and birth of the Virgin, 4. He believed that the benefits of Christ's redemption Avould somehow be extended to the inhabitants of the stars, and to all created beings. 5. Origen is commonly represented as believing in the certain restoration of all creatures, even the devils and the damned, to eternal happiness and glory ; but this is not a correct statement of his views. He held, with the Platonists, not to a universal restora- tion, but to a universal revolution^ or liability to change. To him there was no final, confirmed state, either of holiness or sin. The inhabitants of heaven had fallen once, and they might fall again. Some of the lost had come up from their fallen state, and others might do the same ; and then they might fall again, and be again among the lost. There is no confirmed state, either of holiness or sin, but a constant liability to change ; and continual changes are occurring from one state and condition to the other. Such were some of the peculiarities of Origen, which were so fruitful of controversy in the subsequent ages ; but, though he held these opinions in speculation, they rarely, if ever, appeared in his public discourses. He preached the doctrines of the Church like other men, only with an increased earnestness and power. Of Origen's " Hexapla," and of his labors upon the sacred text, I spoke in the last chapter. He gave much attention also to the interpretatio7i of the Scriptures. His commentaries covered nearly all the books of the Old and New Testaments ; but are of little value, owing to his persistent, allegorical method of interpretation. The Scriptures, he says, resemble man. As man consists of three parts, — a material body, a sensitive soul, and a rational mind ; so the Scriptures are to be taken in three senses, — the literal, the moral, and the spiritual. The spiritual sense also divides itself into the allegorical and anagogical ; making five senses in all. Origen did not invent this absurd method of interpretation ; but he did much to give it currency, and spread it over the Christian world for long ages. Origen was a very prolific author. Epiphanius reckons the num-' ber of his works at six thousand ; which may be true if we in- clude all his short tracts, homilies, and letters, and count them as 644 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. • separate works. Many of them were got up, not only without his co-operation, but against his will, by the writing down of his oral lectures by others. The most of Origen's works which remain are known to us only through Latin translations. His most valuable work extant is his reply to Celsus, in eight books, written in the last years of his life. We have this in the original Greek ; and the reply is so conducted, that it is supposed to contain, in ex- tracts, nearly the whole work of Celsus. The other distinguished Greek writers in the period before us were the following : — 1. Dionysius of Alexandria. — He was converted to the faith through the instrumentality of Origen ; was made bishop of Alex- andria in the year 248, and died in 265. He took an active part in the controversies of the times ; but nothing remains of his works but some fragments preserved by Eusebius and Athanasius. 2. Crregory, surnamed Thaumaturgus., or the Wonder - Worker. — He, too, was a convert and a pupil of Origen. He was bishop of Neo-Csesarea, in Pontus, from the year 244 to 270. His ministry was a very successful one ; but the miracles ascribed to him seem to have been fabulous. We hear nothing of them until a full cen- tury after his death. He wrote a glowing eulogy on his beloved teacher Origen, which is still extant. 3. Julius Africanus. — He was an older friend of Origen, who labored chiefly in Palestine, and died in 232. He was the first Christian chronologist, commencing at the creation, and coming down to the year of our Lord 221. Of his work, Eusebius made good use in the preparation of his Chronicon. 4. Hippolytus. — Of this father very little was loiown in modern times, until, in 1851, a genuine work of his (the " Philosophou- mena ") was discovered and published by Baron Bunsen. He lived in the first part of the third century, and -was bishop of Ostia, the port of Rome. His newly-discovered work is a refutation of the heresies of his time, more especially those of the Gnostic stamp, and resembles that of Irenseus on the same subject. Of his other works we have only fragments remaining. 5. Methodius., bishop of Tyre, who died a martyr in the year 311. He was not a friend, but an opponent, of Origen, whose speculations he endeavored to refute. He wrote many popular works ; among • which is one against the Gnostics, ascribing the origin of evil, not to matter, but to an abuse of the human Avill. The principal Latin writers of the age were Tertullian, Cyprian, CHURCH-ORGANIZATION, RELIGIOUS RITES, ETC. 645 and Miniitius Felix. Of Tertullian, who belongs more properly to the second century than to the thbd, I gave some account in a previous chapter. Cyprian, who was both a bishop and a martyr, sprang from a wealthy heathen family in Carthage, about the year 200. He was thoroughly educated, became a teacher of rhetoric, and lived in worldly splendor and in the vices of heathenism dur- ing the first half of his life. Of his conversion, which took place about the year 2-15, he gives the following account in a letter to a friend : " While I languished in darkness and deep night, tossing upon the sea of a troubled world, I floated about in wandering ways, ignorant of my destination, and far from truth and light. I thought it a hard thing that a man must be born anew in order to be saved ; that, while preserving the identity of the body, he must be transformed in mind and heart. I said, How is such a change possible ? How can one divest himself, at once, of all that was either innate, or was acquired and grown upon him ? How can he who has been prodigal learn frugality ? and he who has gloried in costly apparel come down to a simple attire ? and he who has been in honor and station consent to become private and obscure ? . . . But when, by the aid of regenerating water, the stain of my former life was washed away, a serene and holy light was poured from above into my purified breast. So soon as I drank the spirit from above, and was transformed by a second birth into a new man, then the wavering mind became wonderfully firm ; what had been closed was opened ; the darkness became light ; strength was im- parted for that which before had seemed difficult; what I had thought impossible became practicable ; and I could clearly distin- guish between that which was born of the flesh, and that which was of God and which the Holy Spirit animated." From this time, Cyprian became indeed a new man. He re- nounced the world, entered the class of catechumens, sold his estates for the benefit of the poor, took a vow of chastity, and was baptized. He went into retirement for the study of the Scriptures, and was a diligent reader of Tertullian. But such a man could not be concealed. Only two years after his baptism, he was made bishop of Carthage, and thus became the head of the North Af- rican Church. For the space of ten years, ending with his martyr- dom in 258, he sustained the xiuties of his office with exemplary wisdom, fidelity, and energy. Cyprian was in principle a high- churchman, and did much to advance Episcopal dignity and au- thority. His works are chiefly practical. They are for the most 646 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. part epistles, written while he was in exile, in which he discusses various questions of Christian discipline and duty. He suffered in the Valerian persecution, and, as his end approached, gave utter- ance to the following noble sentiments : " Only above are true peace, sure repose, and a constant, firm, and eternal security ; there is our dwelling, there our home. Who would not fain hasten to reach it ? There a great multitude of beloved ones await us, — fathers, brothers, children, friends. There is the glorious choir of apostles, there the number of exulting prophets, there the count- less midtitude of martyrs and holy virgins, crowned with victory, and enjoying their eternal reward. Thither let us hasten with strong desire. Let us wish to be soon with them ; soon with Chi'ist. After the earthly comes the heavenly ; after the perisha- ble things of time follows a blessed immortality." Minutius Felix was a prominent jurist, of North African descent, and a contemporary of Tertullian, though several years younger. He embraced Christianity in adult life, and wrote an eloquent de- fence of the Christian faith in the form of a dialogue. The argu- ments on both sides are clearly stated. In the end, the advocate of Christianity carries his point, and convinces his friend. The dialogue is extant in a good English translation. CHAPTER XIX. DOCTRINES, HERESIES, CONTROVERSIES, AND STATE OF RELIGION. THEOLOGY was not taught as purely in this period as in the preceding. There was more of the parade of learning, and more of the minglings of a false and corrupting philosophy. The philosophy with which the Church was called chiefly to contend in the second century, we have seen, was the Gnostic : but being encountered by the Christians, and also by the promo- ters of another philosophy, — the Neo-Platonic, — it began to lose its credit ; and we hear little of the old, troublesome Gnostic sects beyond the limits of the second century. The founder of the Neo-Platonic theory, with which the Church came in contact in the third century and onwards, was Ammonius Saccus. This man was born and educated a Christian, and perhaps made pretensions to Christianity all his life. His plan was to bring all philosophies and religions into harmony ; to propound a theory by which the men of all religions — the Christian not excepted — could unite together, and have fellowship. The principal means of effecting this object was the allegorical method of interpreta- -tion. By allegorizing the teachings of the old philosophers and their mythologies, and also the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, all might be brought to speak substantially the same language ; and Christians, Jews, and Pagans might walk together in the same company. Origen was taken with this philosophy, accepted the compromise which it proposed, introduced it into his school, and thought he derived much assistance from it in explaining the doctrines of Christianity. The great facts of the gospel Origen never suffered himself, or any one else, to call in question ; but in explaining these facts, in assigning the grounds and reasons of them, and harmonizing them with the wisdom of the ancients, he sought the aid of the Neo-Platonic philosophy. It was in this way that his 647 648 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. theology was modified and corrupted ; and, througli the influence of his school and his pupils, the corruption was widely diffused. As we have had occasion before to speak of the catechetical school at Alexandria over which Origen presided, it may not be amiss to give a brief account of it here. It is said to have been founded by the evangelist Mark, and was originally designed for catechumens, — to prepare them, by appropriate instruction, for baptism. But, in that city of scholars and philosophers, it ere long began to assume a learned character, and became a sort of theo- logical seminary, where many of the clergy, both bishops and pres- byters, were educated. It had at first only a single teacher, though afterwards there were two or three ; but they had no salaries, nor were any buildings appropriated to their use. The teachers gave instruction on their own premises, after the manner of the ancient philosophers. The first superintendent of the school was Pantse- nus ; the second was Clement ; and the third, Origen ; under whom it reached the height of its prosperity. Subsequently it was under the care of Origen's pupils, — as Heraclas, Dionysius, and the blind Didymus, — until, at the end of the fourth century, it was subverted amidst the commotions of the Alexandrian Church. From the first, it partook of a philosophical character, which it never lost. Of course, it favored the speculations of Origen, and was a means of diffusing: them throughout the Eastern Church. I have said already, that, while Origen admitted the leading facts of the gospel, he was in the habit of explaining them by means of his philosophy. This introduced a species of rationalism, and laid a foundation for the scholastic method of teaching, which in the ages following was so much in vogue. At the same time, there was that in the philosophy of Origen which favored seclusion, — an ascetic, monastic course of life, — and which led to the adop- tion of a mystic theology ; for, in common with the Platonics^ he held that there is something of the divine nature diffused through all human souls, which can be awakened, not by discussion and disputation, but by solitude, silence, internal reflection, the avoidance of all active scenes, and the mortification and subjugation of the body. We have here the beginning of the two kinds of theology, — the scholastic and mystic, — which ran down through all the middle ages, and continue even to the present time : the former insisting that truth is to be elicited only by study, discussion, and the exercise of reason ; while the latter abjures all such methods, and relies alone THE STATE OF RELIGION. 649 upon meditation and seclusion. The rise of* the mystic theology at this time gave a new impulse to the monastic spirit, which was already beginning to prevail in the Church. The period before us was distinguished by its spurious writings, many of which were palmed off under the names of apostles and of apostolical men. The more remarkable of this class of writings were " The Apostolical Constitutions " so called, " The Recognitions of Clement," and "The Clementina." 'The Clement here spoken of was the Roman Clement, a companion of the apostle Paul (Phil. iv. 3). The mystics, too, must have high authority; and so they caused a book to be published under the name of Dionysius the Areopagite, who was converted at Athens through the instru- mentality of Paul. This book was translated, and widely circu- lated in the subsequent ages, and tended mightily to promote the spread of monkery. The principal heresy of the period before us was the Manichean. . Manes, its author, was a Persian, educated among the Magoi, and instructed in all the sciences that were taught by those men. Manes (who was fanatical, if not delirious) undertook to combine the principles of the Magoi with those of Christianity, or rather to explain the latter by the former. He insisted that Christ did not profess to explain the way of salvation fully and perfectly ; that he left much to be done by the Paraclete ; and that he himself was the promised Comforter : accordingly, he propounded new doctrines, set up a new gospel, and, by his imposing exterior and rigid asceti- cism, induced many to become his followers. But, being convicted by the Magoi of corrupting their religion, he was put to a cruel death_by Varanes I., king of the Persians, about the year 277. It is reported that he was flayed alive, and that his stuffed skin was hung up, in terrorem^ at the gates of the city. The religious system of Manes is a compound of Magianism and Gnosticism with Christianity. Manes differed from the Gnostics of the second century in phraseology, and in some points of specula- tion, as they differed variously among themselves ; but I have always regarded him as belonging essentially to the Gnostic family. He agreed with them in tracing all the evils of life to the influence of matter ; in regarding the soul in its present state as imprisoned in matter ; and in teaching that Christ — who had no material body, but only seemed to have one — was sent into the world to aid in the deliverance of these imprisoned souls. Those who follow the teachings of Christ, and more especially of the Para- 650 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. clete whom Christ has sent into the world (i.e., of Manes himself), will be delivered from the contamination of base matter, and ascend ultimately to heaven ; while those who neglect the appointed means of purification will pass at death into other bodies — perhaps the bodies of animals — until they become purified and cleansed. When the greater part of the souls of men shall ha,j/e been liberated, and restored to the world of light, then, at the command of God, infernal fire will burst forth from the caverns of the earth, and burn up and destroy the whole fabric* of Nature. The Prince of Darkness, with all his adherents, and with such of the souls of men as have proved themselves incurable, will then be driven away to their own wretched place, where they will remain for- ever. Like the Gnostics, Manes rejected nearly all our sacred books. With the Old Testament he was especially displeased. He pro- nounced it to be the work, not of God, but of the Prince of Dark- ness, whom the Jews worsliipped in place of God. The Acts of the Apostles he wholly rejected. The Gospels and the Epistles of Paul contained some truth, but had been so adulterated, and stuffed with Jewish fables, as to be unworthy of credit. In place of our Scriptures, he published a gospel of liis own, which he affirmed had been dictated to him by God himself. The rules of life which Manes prescribed to his followers were peculiarly severe. The body must be macerated and mortified in every possible way, and all the instincts and propensities of nature must be subdued, that thus the soul may be redeemed from mate- rial corruptions, and prepared for the world of light. Pie did not expect all his followers, however, to observe these rigorous proscrip- tions, but only those who aspired to a perfect state. For the rest a more liberal rule was instituted. They might possess property, eat flesh, and live in the marriage state ; though their liberty in these respects was subject to limitations. There were those among the Manichees, as among the Gnostics, who so interpreted their religion as to give it a licentious charac- ter. They made so wide a distinction between their physical and their spiritual nature as to suppose that the former might have every indulgence, and yet the latter be not contaminated. So reasoned Augustine, a,nd so he lived, as he llimself confesses, dur- ing the nine years that he was a Manichee. Unlike the Gnostics of the second century, the Manicheans were organized into a sort of hierarchy. At the head of the community THE STATE OF RELIGION. 651 were Manes and his successors, occupying the place of pontiff ; sub- ject to the pontiff were the twelve apostles ; and under these the seventy bishops. Still lower in the grade of office were the pres- byters, deacons, and evangelists. In the congregations were two distinct classes, — the mere hearers, and the elect or perfect. The perfect were in the last stage of the process of liberation from the world of matter into the kingdom of light. They observed Sun- day, in honor of the sun. Tliey rejected baptism and the Church festivals, but partook of the Lord's Supper without the use of wine. After the death of Manes, liis principles spread much more widely than before. We find them, not only in Persia, but in Asia Minor, in North Africa, in Sicily, and Italy. They were embraced, not only by the ignorant and fanatical, but by some learned and distinguished men. But the sect was persecuted, first by Diocle- tian, and afterwards by the Christian emperors, until, in the sixth century, it disappeared. In the period we are reviewing, the discussions which had been commenced in the second century respecting the Trinity were con- tinued and extended. The proljlem was, to reconcile the persons of the Trinity with the unity of God ; and, to solve the difficulty, various expedients were resorted to. Noetus held, as Praxeas had done before him, that the Eternal Father himself became personally united to the man Christ Jesus, and suffered in him. The same doctrine was taught, according to Hippolytus, by Calixtus L, bishop of Rome. He declared the Son to be a mere manifestation of the Father in human form ; the Father animating the Son as the spirit animates the body, and suffering with him on the cross. " The Father," says he, " took flesh, and made it God : uniting it with himself, he made it one. Father and Son were, therefore, the name of the one God ; and this one person cannot be two. Thus the Father suffered with the Son." Those who use such language cannot be offended when they are called Patripassians ; nor can Romanists fail to see that at least one of their own pontiffs is chargeable with essential heresy. Beryllus of Bostra is said to have denied the personal existence of the Son previous to his birth, but held that the Father dwelt in him during his earthly life. Beryllus was so solidly confuted by Origen at a council assembled in Bostra, A.D. 244, that he publicly renounced his error, and returned to the bosom of the Church. 652 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. Paul of Samosate, bishop of Antioch, was an ostentatious man, opulent and arrogant, who greatly disquieted the Eastern Church by his novel explanations of the Trinity and the person of Christ. He supposed the Son and Spirit to exist in God, as the reason and the operative jjotver do in man ; that Christ was born a mere man, but that the reason, the Logos of the Father, entered into him, en- abling him to teach, and work miracles ; and that, on account of this indwelling of the Divine Word in Christ, we may properly say that Christ is God. He managed for a long time to conceal his sentiments ; but at length they were drawn from him, when he was convicted of error, and divested of his office as bishop. A heresiarch of the same class, who appeared in the latter part of the third century, was Sabellius. His system is known to us only by a few fragments, and these not altogether consistent with each other. Hence there has been much dispute, both in ancient and modern times, as to his real sentiments. According to some, Sabellius taught that a divine energy from the Father united itself with the man Christ Jesus, on account of which he was able to perform miracles, and might, in a modified sense, be called divine. In the opinion of others, the Trinity of Sabellius was but a three- fold revelation or manifestation of God. The Father is manifested in giving the law ; the Son, in the incarnation ; and the Holy Ghost, in inspiration : and as these peculiar manifestations will at length cease, so the process of Trinitarian development will at length close, and " God will be all in all." It is obvious that each and all of these theories in regard to the Trinity and the person of Christ are but different forms of Unita- rianism. The Trinitarian holds to three persons, or personal dis- tinctions, in the Godhead ; the Unitarian, to but one person. Ac- cording to this definition, Sabellius was as really a Unitarian as Arius. To be sure, their Unitarianism assumed different forms. Sabellius made no real^ essetitial distinction between the Father and the Son : Arius made too wide a distinction. And the proba- bility is that the opposition of the Church to the spread of Sabel- lianism prepared the way for the introduction of Arianism. In straightening himself up against the former error, Arius went over to the other extreme, and was led to deny the proper divinity of the Son. The only remaining heresy to be noticed in the period before us is that of the Novatians. They did not corrupt the doctrines of Christianity, but, by the severity of their discipline, produced a THE STATE OF RELIGION. 653 lamentable scliism in the Church. Novatian, a presbyter of the Church at Ronie, insisted that those who had fallen into gross sins, and more especially those who had renounced the faith during the Decian persecution, ought never again to be received to the Church. Cornelius and most of the other presbyters were of a different opinion. Hence, when, in the year 250, Cornelius was chosen bishop of Rome, Novatian withdrew from his communion. In a council held at Rome the next year, Novatian and his ad- herents were excommunicated. Novatian, therefore, established a new sect, of which he was the first bishop. The sect had many adherents, who were pleased with the severity of its discipline ; and it continued to flourish in different parts of Christendom down to the fifth century. Besides the controversies growing out of the heresies which have been mentioned, several others arose during the period we are reviewing. One was the old dispute respecting the millennium. Origen opposed the Millenarians, and brought them into disrepute ; but Nepos, an Egyptian bishop, espoused their cause, and published a book against the AUegorists, as he contemptuously styled the fol- lowers of Origen. Dionysius, bishop of Alexandria, who had been a pupil of Origen, took up the matter, and, by his writings and oral discussions, succeeded in quelling the rising controversy. A question arose in the third century as to the validity of hereti- _cal baptisms. " Were those who came over from the heretics to the Catholic Church to be received without a new baptism ? or were they to be re-baptized ? " By most of the Asian and African churches, reclaimed heretics were classed with the catechumens, and were received by baptism ; but the Christians of Europe, in general, regarded the baptisms of heretics as valid, and received those who came over to them simply by the imposition of hands and prayer. This diversity of practice had long continued without giving rise to much contention ; but, in the period before us, it became the occasion of sharp controversy. The Asiatic Christians attempted to force the whole Church into an adoption of their views. This, Stephen, bishop of Rome, strenuously resisted, and excluded the Asiatics from his fellowship. The controversy, which for a time seemed very portentous, was hushed, partly by the mod- eration of Cyprian and the other African bishops, and partly by the death of Stephen. The controversies respecting Origen, which continued to trouble the Church for several centuries, commenced even before Origen's 654 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. death. Demetrius, his bishop, was displeased with him because he went out of his jurisdiction to be ordained. It is likely that this difficulty might have been healed had it not been for the doctrinal speculations of Origen. Demetrius laid hold of these, and brought them before a council at Alexandria, by which Origen was condemned, and deprived of his ministerial office. Their sentence, however, was disregarded by the Eastern bishops, among whom Origen labored until his death. The general state of religious feeling and practice in the period before us was less satisfactory than in the second century. This was specially true during the last half of the third century. Per- secution had subsided ; and the churches were favored with out- ward prosperity and peace. The effect of this was to awaken ambition, more especially among some of the higher clergy ; to beget a selfish, worldly spirit ; to relax watchfulness ; to induce negligence and sloth, and promote a sinful conformity to the world. Christians at all periods can bear affliction better than they can prosperity and ease. Then the causes which commenced their deteriorating influence in the previous age continued to operate with increasing force. Rites and forms were multiplied, and in many instances substituted- for true Christian spirituality. The philosophic spirit was ap- plauded and cultivated, and its deleterious influence became more and more manifest. It not only corrupted the theology of the Church, but affected its religious life. Celibacy and monkery were much insisted on. Those who renounced a useful and active life, retired into the deserts, and moped away a miserable existence, were regarded with high honor, and held up as exam- ples to the world. The work of missions, too, was not prosecuted in the third century as it had been in the first and second. Chris- tianity made some visible progress, but not so much in heathen lands as in countries where it had before been planted. Still, notwithstanding all these abatements, there was much earnest piety and holy living in the Church in the period before us. Of Origen and Cyprian I have already spoken ; not perfect men, either of them, and yet eminent examples of some of the Christian graces and virtues. The piety of many who lived later was tried and proved in the furnace of the Diocletian persecution. The discipline of the churches was very strict, not only purging out and keeping out every species of immorality, but prohibiting many things which at other periods have been tolerated. Church- , THE STATE OF RELIGION. 655 members were forbidden, on pain of excommunication, to attend the popular gladiatorial shows, where murders were often per- petrated to gratify a cruel curiosity. Attendance was also pro-' hibited at all kinds of public spectacles, — as theatres, tragedies, comedies, dances, mimic plays, and races, — because such things were regarded in themselves as unbecoming a Christian ; and then they were so closely connected with other heathenish abomi- nations, that to reform and elevate them was impossible. Certain callings, too, were strictly forbidden, — as that of the stage-plaj^er, the astrologer, the inn-keeper, and every species of magic ; also every thing connected with the manufacture, the decoration, or the sale of images. All business of this nature was prohibited in the Church, and must be renounced by the candidate for baptism. We read of one Theodotus of Ancyra, who had been an inn- keeper ; but, after his conversion, he made his house a refuge for the Christians, and a place of prayer, during the Diocletian per- secution. Christians had no power, in the times of which we speak, to abolish slavery in the Romaii Empire ; yet much was done to improve the intellectual and moral condition of the slaves, to lighten their burthens, and prepare the way for their liberation. There were frequent instances, too, of individual emancipation, especially in the case of Christian masters. There was a Christian by the name of Hermas, in the reign of Trajan, who at his baptism liberated twelve hundred and fifty slaves, and at the same time endowed them with munificent gifts. A wealthy Roman prefect, Chromantius, during the reign of Diocletian, became a Christian, and at his baptism emancipated fourteen hundred slaves. These facts show that the spirit of Christianity at this period — as it must be at all periods — was opposed to slavery, and that the two things could not long exist .together. "God," says Lactantius, " would have all men equal. With him there is neither servant nor master. As he is the same Father to all, they are all by the same right free. No one is poor before God but he who is desti- tute of righteousness. No one is rich but he who is full of grace." I need not say more as to the state of religious feeling and practice among Christians in the period before us. Although the third century was not so interesting in this respect as the second, or even as the fourth, yet the truth was not left without its wit- nesses. There were trees of righteousness on the earth, and they yielded much precious fruit. PEEIOD lY. FROM THE REVOLUTION UNDER CONSTANTINE TO THE FALL OF THE WESTERN ROMAN EMPIRE, A.D. 476. CHAPTER XX. EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH DURING THIS PERIOD. THE revolution under Constantine may be said to have com- menced with his accession to the government of his father, — in the year 306. He was at this time an idolater, but, like his father, had no part or sympathy with the persecutions which had been inflicted in other parts of the empire. He was soon engaged in war with Maxentius, one of his colleagues, who governed Italy and Africa. The two armies encountered each other at the Milvian Bridge, near Rome, in the year 312. Maxentius was defeated, and •was drowned in the Tiber. It was on his march to this engage- ment that Constantine saw the sign in the heavens, of which an account was given in a previous chapter. The vision made a great impression upon him ; and from this time he commenced carrying the Laharum — a standard with the sign of the cross upon it — in front of his armies. From this time he seems to have been intellectually convinced of the truth of the Christian rehgion, though not, perhaps, that it was the only true religion. His victory over Maxentius gave him entire command of the Western Roman Empire ; and in the year 313 he published an edict giving full tolerance not only to the Christian, but to all other religions. Constantine had still two colleagues in the East, — viz., Maximin and Licinius, — the first of whom was preparing to renew the per- secution of the Christians ; but, in a war with Licinius, he was defeated, and put an end to his life. The whole empire was now 656 EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 657 held by Licinius and Constantine ; but in the following year, 314, Constantine succeeded in wresting Greece, Macedon, Illyria, and several other provinces, from the government of his colleague, and annexing them to his own. For the next nine years, the two emperors reigned together ; and, although the objects of constant and mutual jealousy, they lived in peace. The two families were in fact connected ; Constantia, the sister of Constantine, being the wife oi Licinius. During this in- terval, the mind of Constantine became more decided towards the Christians ; and he published several edicts in their favor. The punishment of crucifixion was abolished ; labor on the sabbath was in part prohibited ; permission was given to masters to release their Christian slaves ; and men were allowed to bequeath property to the Church. But, while Constantine was thus showing favor to the Christians, Licinius oppressed them, and was manifesting in various ways his determination to renew the persecution. This, with other causes, led to an open war in the year 323, in which Licinius was defeated, and afterwards put to death. Having by this victory become sole master of the Roman Em- pire, Constantine was more than ever decided in his attachment to the Christian faith. He indemnified the churches for their losses in the previous persecutions ; built for them splendid temples ; en- deavored by all meafis to heal their divisions ; and bestowed high honors upon their ministers. He caused copies of the Scriptures to be written out for the use of the churches ; had daily prayers and the reading of the Scriptures in his palace ; and was respect- ful in his attendance upon public worship. He prescribed a form of prayer to be used by his soldiers ; delivered public addresses in favor of Christianity ; and enjoined upon the governors of prov- inces to do all in their power to further its progress. Still he pro- hibited a resort to force for the spread of the gospel, and tolerated all his subjects in the peaceable observance of their religious rites. We cite the following from one of his proclamations : " Lfet the followers of a false religion enjoy the liberty of sharing in the same peace and tranquillity with the faithful. The restoration of a com- mon and friendly intercourse among men may lead these people in the way of truth. Let no one molest his neighbor ; but let each act according to the inclination of his own soul. The well-disposed only will live in holiness and purity, and find rest in observ- ing God's holy laws. But let those who remain strangers to 42 658 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. them retain, since they wish it, the temples of falsehood. We have the resplendent house of truth, which God has given us in answer to our prayers. We could wish that they, too, might share with us the joy of a common fellowship ; yet let no one trouble his neighbor by that which is his own conviction. With the knowl- edge which he has gained, let him, if possible, profit liis neighbor; but, if this is not possible, he should allow his neighbor to go on in his own way : for it is one thing to enter voluntarily into the contest for eternal life, and quite another to force one to it against his will. I have entered thus far into an explanation of these mat- ters, because I was unwilling to keep concealed my own belief of the truth, and because certain persons are affirming that the temple- worship and the power of darkness are to be destroyed." Notwithstanding this manifesto, it appears, that, in some places, the heathen temples were destroyed, and the sacrifices abolished, during the remaining period of Constantine's reign ; but this was done generally, and perhaps always, on account of some disturbance . of the public peace, or because of gross and illegal impositions which were practised on the people by the priests. As to the means employed for the religious instruction and bene- fit of the emperor we are not particularly informed. His mother, Helena, was an earnest Christian, who built many churches, and spent much time and labor at Jerusalem in searching for the holy sepulchre and the true wood of the cross ;*but it is generally thought that she was converted though the influence of her son, and not that he was converted by her influence. It is stated by Zosimus, that, after the death of Licinius, a certain Egyptian came out of Spain to Rome, and was instrumental in the conversion of Constantine. This Egyptian was, undoubtedly, the venerable Hosius, bishop of Corduba, who from this time was held in high honor by the emperor. He became his chief counsellor in ecclesiastical affairs, and had much influence in the great Council of Nice. There is also a tradition, that when distressed for sin, and especially for the sin of blood-guiltiness, the emperor inquired of the pagan priests whether they knew of any way in which his sins could be expiated and his conscience relieved. They answered him in the negative ; but Hosius took the matter up, and pointed him to the blood of Christ, which cleanseth from all sin. This thought is said to have had much weight with the emperor, and to have attached him immovably to the faith of Christ. It is no evidence against the sincerity of Constantine that he EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 659 did not partake of the sacraments, and become formally a member of the Church of Christ, until near the close of life ; for so long as the o]3inion prevailed that baptism washed away all sin up to the time of its administration, and that sins committed after bap- tism were next to unpardonable, it was deemed a matter of pru- dence, especially among those who were much exposed to temp- tation, to defer their baptism as long as possible. This did many of those who were in public stations in the third and fourth centu- ries. This did Constantine ; and for the reason above stated. His baptism is thus described by one of the fathers : " Being clothed in a white garment, and laid upon his bed, he was baptized in a solemn manner by Eusebius of Nicomedia." If it be inquired here whether Constantine was a true Christian, a regenerated person, I frankly acknowledge that I cannot tell. That he was the subject of a great change of religious opinion, of feeling, and of conduct, during his life, there can be no doubt. That he heartily renounced the idolatry of his fathers, and became a sincere believer in Christianity, regarding it not only as a true religion, but ultimately as the only true religion, is unquestionable. That he desired the diffusion of this religion, sought its interests, and did all in his power to promote them as he understood them,' not only his words, but his acts, during the last half of his reign, abundantly declare. And yet his life was not altogether consist- ent with the rules of the gospel. Judged of according to our Pu- ritan standards, his character would be found in many respects defective. Perhaps — considering the circumstances of his educa- tion, the temptations with which he was surrounded, the moment- ous public interests intrusted to him, and the stormy period and course of life in which he was called to move — these defects were no greater than might reasonably be expected. God knows how to make allowance for them, if we do not ; and the question of his piety, which has been so often mooted, must be left to the judg- ment of Him to whom all hearts are open, and " by whom actions are Aveighed." I have said already that Constantine earnestly sought to advance the interests of religion accordmg to his understanding of them. That in some of his endeavors he made great mistakes there can be no doubt. Thus the honors which he heaped upon the ministers of religion, and more especially upon the bishops, tended to foster a spirit of worldly ambition', and disqualify them for the right per- formance of their holy duties. Of the same tendency was the care 660 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. which he took to build splendid eliurehes, to furnish them with costly ornaments, and endow them with almost unlimited wealth. Constantine thought in this way to show his regard for the new reUgion, and to advance its interests by maldng it respectable in the eyes of the world ; but a spirit of pride was by this means in- fused mto the body itself, and an injiuy was inflicted for which no outward embellishments could afford a compensation. It was under Constantine, too, that the Church entered upon its new experiment of bemg united with the State. Before, it had encoimtered the whole power of the State, and had -triumphed over it ; but now — with the design to protect it, and advance its interests — it was taken into the embrace of the State, and incor- porated with it. And the experience of fifteen hundred years has shown that the connection is an unnatural one, — damaging to both parties. Its influence upon the Church has been to stifle its energies, to corrupt its spmt, to induce a false dependence, and impregnate it with spuitual disease and death. By the building of Constantinople, and maldng it the capital of his empire, Constantine effected a great change in the outward . condition of the Chiu'ch : for the new imj^erial city must have a bishop ; and, in point of honor and authority, he must be equal to the bishop of Rome. And here commenced the strife between these two great prelates, — a strife which has continued for long centuries, and the results of which, in the separation of the Greek and Latin chiu'ches, remain to the present time. Constantine was the instrument, under God, of bringing the Chui-ch into a state of great outward prosperity and glory : but the experience of ages has shown that prosperity is more dan- gerous to the Church of God than adversity ; that it can better endiu-e a Diocletian persecution than a long-continued coiu'se of worldly favor and honor. The former, by the grace of God, tends to promote humility, spirituality, a weanedness from the world, and holy trust ; while the latter more commonl}- begets pride, self-sufficiency, forgetfulness of God, and thus prepares the way either for sore chastisements^^ or for speedy abandonment and ruin. Constantine died in the year 337, and was succeeded by his three sons, — Constantius, Constantine II., and Constans; the first governing in the East, and the other two in the AVest. Constan- tine also left two brothers who had sons ; but with the exception of two of the sons, Galliis and Julian, these were all put to death. EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 661 Constantine II. died in 340, only three years after his father ; and, ten years later, Constans fell in a war with Maxentius, a usurper. From this time, Constantius ruled the whole empire until the year 361, when he died. The sons of Constantine all pursued their father's purpose of abolishing the ancient superstitions of the Romans, and propagating Christianity throughout the empire, but not with their father's moderation and wisdom. They resorted to harsh edicts and persecuting force. They commanded that the heathen temples everywhere should be sliut up, and that no per- son should be allowed to visit them. All sacrifices, and consul- tation of the oracles and of soothsayers, were prohibited under penalty of confiscation and death. It is refreshing to know that some eminent Christian ministers protested against these measures, and predicted that no good could come of them.. Thus Athanasius remarks, " It is an evidence that men want confidence in their own faith when they use force, and constrain men against their wills. So Satan, because there is no truth in him, wherever he gains admittance, pays away with hatchet and sword : whereas the Saviour forces no one, but only knocks at the door ; and, if the door is opened, he goes in ; but, if any one is unwilling to open the door, he withdraws." • The harsh measures of Constantius had paved the way for a re-action ; and no sooner was he dead than reverses came. His successor was Julian, one of the spared nephews of Constantine, and a cousin of Constantius. He had been educated for the Chris- tian ministry, and consecrated as a reader in the Church ; but he had no taste or fitness for the sacred profession. There were many things to prejudice him against Christianity, not the least of which was the murder of his father and brothers that they might not stand in the way of the Constantine family. He had been secretly attached to the pagan rites for a considerable time before he came to the throne ; and no sooner did his reign commence than he threw off all disguise, and proclaimed his purpose to re-establish the old heathen worship. He ordered the temples to be opened, those that were decayed to be repaired, and new ones to be built. Altars were everywhere set up, and the whole machinery of paganism was again put in motion. His first act in the morning was to oifer sacrifice ; and by his presence and example he encouraged the same practice in others. He repealed the laws which had been enacted against idolatry, reformed its abuses, and did aU in his power to make it respectable 662 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. and useful. With great importunity, lie exhorted magistrates to correct the vices of men, and reHeve theii" miseries ; assuring them that the gods would reward them for all such endeavors. Priests, he said, should so live as to be an example to others ; and dissolute ones should be expelled from office. He established schools for the education of 3'outh, monasteries for devout persons, hospitals for the sick, and alms-houses for the relief of the poor and desti- tute. All these things he had learned from the Cluistians ; and he endeavored to ingraft them upon his reformed idolatry. Julian did not directly persecute Christianity. He was too politic to adopt such a measme, or rather he did not live long enough to attempt it with success ; but he pursued a course in regard to the Christians which had all the effect of persecution without its obloquy. He ridiculed them and theb divme Master ; shut them out from all places of honor and authority ; forbade them to be instructed in Gentile learning ; and used every artifice to draw them into a compliance with pagan superstitions. He wantonly plundered their churches and ministers. He wrote books against them himself, and encouraged others to do the same. He patron- ized the Jews just because of their enmity to the Christians, and vainly undertook to rebuild their city and temple. In this attempt, however, he was defetead. Balls of fire, issuing from the ground with a tremendous explosion, scattered both his materials and his workmen. The fact of such explosions is well attested ; but there is no reason to regard them as miracles. In removing the rubbish from the site of the old temple, phosphoric elements may have been encountered, or inflammable gases let loose in sufficient quantities to account for all the phenomena. Had Julian reigned as long as Constantine, he might have in- flicted incalculable injuries upon the Christian cause, and done much towards re-establishing idolatr}^ in the vast Roman Empu*e. But Providence had ordered otherwise respecting him. Soon after he came to the throne, he madly engaged in a war with the Per- sians. At the head of his armies he marched into the East, where he was mortally wounded, and died in the thirty-second year of his age, when he had reigned only twenty months. In his personal habits, Julian was grossly ascetic. He lived chiefly on vegetables, wore common clotlring, slept on the floor, suffered his beard and nails to grow like the anchorets of Egypt, and neglected the rules even of decency and cleanliness. In one of his publications he boasts of his cynic coarseness, and describes EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 663 with great complacence his long nails, his ink-stained hands, and his uncombed hair and beard, filled — horribile dictu! — with in- sects. To Julian succeeded Jovian ; an excellent prince, who seems to have been a true Christian. He did what he could to reform abuses, to restore Christian worship, and to discountenance the pagan rites, though he would not resort to persecution. He died at the end of seven months, much to the sorrow of all good men. Jovian was succeeded by two brothers, Valentinian and Valens. The former governed in the West, the latter in the East. Valen- tinian followed the plan of Jovian in the affairs of the Church ; earnestly encouraging the cause of the Christians, but refusing to persecute the Pagans. He prohibited, however, divination and enchantment, and appropriated the revenues of some of the heathen temples for the support of the government. Valens was a man of less capacity than his brother, and of far less principle. He fell in with the Arian party in religion ; and, instead of persecuting the pagans, he persecuted his brethren of the Nicene faith. He drove Athanasius from Alexandria for the fourth time"; and on one occasion no less than eighty Orthodox ministers were burned at sea with his connivance, if not by his order.* A little before his death, Valens repented of his persecu- tions, and recalled the bishops whom he had sent into exile. He perished in a battle with the Goths in the year 378, having reigned .fourteen years. His brother Valentinian died three years before him. Gratian, the eldest son of Valentinian, succeeded him in the West ; and, after the death of Valens, Theodosius was appointed to the government of the East. G;-atian seems to have been not only an upright, conscientious ruler, but a truly pious man. From conscientious scruples he refused the title of Pontifex Maximus^ which had always belonged to the Roman emperors. He declared, that, as its whole nature was idolatrous, he could not, as a Christian, consent to assume it. At the very commencement of his reign, he wrote to the celebrated Ambrose, bishop of Milan, for instruction in divine things : " Come to me immediately, holy priest, that you may teach me the doctrine of salvation. I would not study for contention, but that the revelation of the Divinity may dwell more richly in my breast." Gratian labored assiduously, in connection * See Milner's Ecc. Hist., vol. ii. p. 159. 664 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. with Theodosius, for the suppression of idolatry and the propaga- tion of the truth, until the year 383, when, in attempting to quell a rebellion in Britain, he lost his life. He was succeeded by his younger brother, Valentinian II., who reigned in the West until the year 392. In the first part of his reign he was very much under the influence of his mother Justina, who was an Arian, and who persuaded him to persecute Ambrose and -other Orthodox men; but in the latter part of his life he became reconciled to Ambrose, and loved and honored him a^ a fathej.\ In the near prospect of death, he sent for Ambrose to baptize him ; and the venerable bishop of Milan pronounced his funeral oration, which is still extant. At this time, Theodosius, who had reigned for many years in the East, became sole emperor of Rome, He was one of the best of the Roman emperors, who, by the wisdom and energy of his gov- ernment, secured for himself the title of Theodosius the Q-reat. He exerted himself with great energy for the suppression of idola- try, particularly in Egypt and in the West. In the Temple of Se- rapis, at Alexandria, there was an image of the god, of which it had been affirmed, that, if any man touched it, the earth would open, the heavens be dissolved, and all things return to their origi- nal chaos. One of the soldiers of Theodosius was hardy enough to make the attempt. With his axe he cleft down the image ; when, lo ! a flock of mice ran out of it. The awful image had been converted into a mouse-nest, whence the little animals came forth, night by night, and feasted upon the sacrifices. As the course of Nature was not interrupted by the violence done to the image, its votaries gave out that the Nile would never overflow again. But here, again, they were disappointed. The Nile returned to its course at the proper time ; and its waters rose higher than usual. Coming to Rome in the latter part of his reign, Theodosius sternly prohibited a further observance of the pagan rites. Men should no longer frequent the altars, or offer sacrifices or incense, or consult the entrails of beasts. This was a fatal blow to pagan- ism, from which it never recovered. Theodosius expired at Milan, in the year 395, at the age of sixty ; having reigned sixteen years. He was succeeded in the empire by his two sons, Arcadius and Honorius ; the former ruling over the East, and the latter the West. Both of these were feeble but well- meaning men, distinguished rather for the pomp and splendor in EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 6Q5 which tliey lived than for the vigor or success of their administra- tions. Honorius was continually annoyed by incursions of the barba- rians, until, in the year 409, Rome was captured and pillaged by the Goths. At the same time, Gaul and Spain were overrun by the same people ; and Britain — being abandoned by the Romans — was left to take care of itself. The native Britons, being un- able to resist the incursions of the Picts and Scots, called over the Saxons to their assistance. The Saxons came, drove back the Picts and Scots, and the Britons with them, and established their government over the country. They annihilated the old British Church, and brought back paganism : so that England needed to be Christianized the second time, — a work which was not accom- plished until the seventh century. Honorius died in the year 423, after a turbulent but inglorious reign of twenty-eight years. He was succeeded by Valentinian ni., — a weak, debauched, and wicked man, who reigned rather by the sufferance of his enemies than by his own valor and strength. _At the instance of Leo, bishop of Rome, he enacted some laws which tended greatly to increase the power of the Roman pontiffs. He prohibited all bfshops from making any innovations without permission from the pope : he declared that the enactments of the ( see of Rome should be a law to all other bishops ; and that, if any bishop should disregard the summons of the bishop of Rome to appear before him, he should be compelled to do so by the governor of the province. These were important stepj)ing-stones towards that height of usurpation to which the popes of Rome at length attained. During the twenty years next following the death of Val- entinian HI." (which occurred in the year 455), no less than -eight persons claimed to be emperors of Western Rome ; of the most of whom we know nothing but their names. The last of them was Romulus, surnamed Augustus, but more commonly called, in contempt, Augustulus. He was dethroned by Odoacer, a Gothic chieftain, in the year 476 ; and the Western Roman Em- r pire came to an end. The changes in the East during the same period were not so frequent as in the West. While Arcadius lived, he Avas constantly distressed by invading barbarians, and was governed chiefly by his eunuchs and ministers. He died in the year 408, leaving the em- pire to his son, Theodosius II., who was only seven years of age. 66Q ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. Theodosius was of weak understanding, like his father, and far less respectable in point of character ; but he had a sister Pulche- ria, older than himself, who took the chief direction of public affairs, and managed them with energy and wisdom. He carried on a war successfully against the king of the Persians, and rescued many Christians from persecution and death. He also caused a revision of the Roman laws, and published what is called the " Theodosian Code," which continued in force many years, both in the East and the West. Theodosius died in the year 450, after a reign of forty-two years. In this time, Genseric, king of the Van- dals, had established himself in Africa ; and Attila, " the. scourge of God," had ravaged some of the fairest provinces of the Romans. After the death of Theodosius, his sister Pulcheria became the wife of Marcion, whom she constituted emperor in place of her brother. Marcion was a wise and virtuous prince, who loved reli- gion, and passed some very good laws in regard to it. He died after a reign of seven years ; and the Greek Church has honored his memory by a festival. Marcion was succeeded by Leo, who died in 474 ; and he by Zeno, who reigned almost to the end of the century. There was little persecution from the heathen in the period be- fore us, if we except one set on foot by the Persians in the fifth century. As the Persians and Romans were perpetual enemies, and as the Christians residing in Persia were suspected of being favorable to the Romans, they were constantly exposed to suffer for this cause. A vast number of Christians, we are told, perished in Persia in these troublous times. But though the Christians in the Roman Empire were not ex- posed, as formerly, to persecution from the heathen, the different sects were engaged often in annoying and persecuting one another. The Arians and Donatists persecuted the Orthodox ; and the Or- thodox persecuted them. Each party saw the wrong of it when practised upon themselves, while each stood ready to practise the same so soon as it had the power. It was a shame for those who had so recently come out of the fires of heathen persecution to be seen inflicting the same cruelties one upon another. The Christians also suffered dreadfully from the incursions of the barbarians, — the Goths, the Vandals, and more especially the Huns. The churches might, indeed, have been exterminated, but that the invaders after a time were induced to change their reli- gion, and become nominally Christian. Their principal motive EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 667 seems to have been, that they thought the God of the Christians more powerful than their own. But, notwithstanding tliese adverse circumstances, Christianity made some progress both in the East and in the West. Through the efforts of Constantine and his successors, churches were planted in Armenia and Abyssinia in the fourth century. Into Iberia (now Georgia) a captive Christian woman was the means of in- troducing Christianity. The king and queen were induced by her to send to Constantinople for teachers to instruct them and their people in the principles of the gospel. In the fifth century, the inhabitants of Mount Lebanon applied to Simeon the Stylite to know how they might be . delivered from the ravages of wild beasts. Simeon told them that their only remedy was to forsake the idolatry of their ancestors, and embrace the gospel. They listened to him, and became Christians ; and the beasts, we are told, departed from them. It was within the period under review, that Coelestine, bishop of Rome, sent Succathus, a Scotchman, on a mission to Ireland. He was very successful in his work ; and, having converted many of the Irish to the faith, he, in 472, established at Armagh the bishopric of Ireland. His name was now changed to Patricius (St. Patrick) ; and he is regarded to this day as the Apostle of Ireland. Though not altogether free from the superstitions of the times,'the veritable St. Patrick was an earnest, devoted Christian, — a very different person from what is generally supposed by Romanists at this day. CHAPTER XXI. CHURCH-ORGANIZATION, RELIGIOUS RITES AND TEACHERS, IN THIS PERIOD. ~YT"riTH the revolution under Constantine, the Church of V V Christ entered upon the new experiment of being united with the State. Though it had "been previously a power in the State, it had been separate from it, and opposed and persecuted by it ; but now it was formally taken up by the State, and con- nected, incorporated, with it. This change, it must be allowed, was attended with some advan- tages. The clergy were exempt, not only from persecution, but from public burthens, and in most instances were liberally sup- ported. Houses of worship were built, protected, and often en- dowed. Laws were enacted, too, for the observance of the Lord's day, which from this time began to be called dies solis, — Sunday. Numerous reforms were also effected in social and domestic life. Slavery, instead of being protected, was discountenanced ; eman- cipation was made more easy ; and legislation in general began to assume a more Christian aspect : but these advantages might have been as well secured without that close connection which was now established between Church and State, — a connection which has been continued, much to the injury of the Church, in most Christian countries, from the days of Constantine to the present time. When Constantine undertook the government of the Church, he retained to himself the control only of its external affairs ; leaving those of an internal nature to the direction of the bishops. But, as the distinction between external and internal was not in all cases obvious, he became virtually the head of the Church. He called councils, promulgated and enforced their decrees, deposed bishops, decided controversies, and did every thing, as occasion presented, which a temporal head could do ; and his successors CHURCH-ORGANIZATION, RELIGIOUS RITES, ETC. 6G9 continued to do the same down to the dissolution of the Western Empire. If there was any pope in the Church during this period, it must have been the emperor. The government of the Church was Episcopal when Constan- tino took it ; and so it continued to be afterwards. And yet its outward organization was somewhat modified, that it might the better conform to the civil divisions of the empire. As there were four prcetorian prefects^ so there must be four great prelates, called patriarchs^ presiding over the churches in each prefecture ; viz., those of Rome, Antioch, Alexandria, and Constantinople. Next to these were the exarchs^ corresponding to the civil exarchs. Then came the metropolitans^ who governed each a single province. After them were the archbishops, and then the bishops. Below these were ,the chorepiscopi, or rural bishops, the presbyters, deacons, and sub-deacons. The first among these ecclesiastics was undoubtedly the bishop of Rome ; and yet his primacy at this period was not one of order, but only of degree. He had no claim as yet, nor for centuries afterward, to that spiritual supremacy and authority which he at length assumed. Several reasons concurred at this time to give to the bishop of Rome a sort of primacy among his brethren. In the first place, his was an apostolic cliurcli^ nurtured by some one or more of the apostles, if not planted by them ; and there (as was commonly supposed) the apostles Peter and Paul were buried. Then the bishop of Rome exceeded all other bishops in the amplitude and splendor of his church, in the magnitude of his revenues and ^^os- sessions, in the number of his assistants or ministers, in the weight of his influence with the people at large, and in the sumptuousness and magnificence of his style of living. Also Valentinian III. had been induced to publish some decrees in his favor. He had pro- hibited all bishops from making any changes or innovations without his permission, and had decided that his enactments should be universally regarded. Still the bishop of Rome was no more than a primus inter pares, — a leader among his brethren, — subject, like all the bishops, to the control of the emperor, who, as I said, was the virtual head of the Church. The churches enjoyed at this period, as they had done from the beginning, the privilege of electing their own pastors ; but in the large churches these elections were in some instances ■ shamefully conducted. They were even carried by bribery and violence. 670 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. Thus, at an election which took place at Rome in the year 366, when Damasus was created bishop, the contest issued in a bloody- warfare, in which much property was sacrificed, and many lost their lives. There had been synods or councils in the churches from about the middle of the second century ; but in this period the plan of councils was much extended, and there came to be held what were called (Ecumenical or Cfeneral Cou7icils. The first of these was assembled at Nice, in Bythinia, in the year 325. It was called by Constantine, chiefly with a view to settle the Arian controversy, and restore peace to the Church. It consisted, as is generally sup- posed, of three hundred and eighteen members, collected chiefly from the Eastern churches, besides a great many spectators, who were drawn together, either from motives of curiosity, or to in- crease their knowledge of divine things. The council assembled in a vast hall, with no presiding officer, unless it was the emperor. The members came in, took their places round the hall, and con- tinued standing until the emperor entered and took his place. When he was seated, the members of the council were seated also. An address was then delivered to him by some one of the bishops ; to which he responded, and bade the members proceed to business. A free discussion now followed. Individuals of different senti- ments offered their opinions ; while the emperor heard, remarked, commended, or disapproved, and so influenced the whole proceed- ing as to bring about a good degree of unanimity. Yet he did not act as dictator or judge, but left the bishops to decide all questions of faith and discipline for themselves. He regarded them as the divinely-constituted judges in such matters, and only wished them to come to an amicable agreement. How many sessions were held by this council we are not informed ; but, when the business was ended, the emperor gave to the members a sjDlendid banquet in his own palace. Of the result of this great council I shall have occasion to speak in another connection. The members were brought to the place of meeting, and returned, in public conveyances ; and were sup- ported, while together, at the public expense. Few councils in modern times have been so liberally provided for and entertained. This first experiment of a general council was so well approved, that others followed it in frequent succession. The second was called by Theodosius the Great, at Constantinople, in the year 381, and consisted of a hundred and fifty bishops. The principal object CHURCH-ORGANIZATION, RELIGIOUS RITES, ETC. 671 of this council was, still further to define and settle the doctrine of the Trinity, and guard it against the perversions of the Semi-Arians. The Nicene Creed was revised and enlarged ; and that which is now commonly published as the Nicene Creed is more properly the Creed of the Council of Constantinople. This council also anathema- tized all the heresies then known. It assigned to the bishop of Constantinople a rank next after the bishop of Rome, and made such other regulations as the interests of the Church seemed to require. The third general council .was assembled by Theodosius II., at Ephesus, in the year 431. The subject in dispute still was that of the Trinity and the person of Christ. It was by this council that Nestorius, bishop of Constantinople, was condemned, on the charge of holding that in Christ there are not only two natures, but two persons. The fourth general council, like the preceding, was assembled at Ephesus at the request of Eutyches, the chief promoter of the Monophysite heresy. The council was under the direction of Di- oscorus, bishop of Alexandria ; and came together in the year 449. In it Eutyches was acquitted of all error, and the Monophysite doctrine was confirmed. Such, however, was the violence with which every thing was carried in the council, that it has not im- properly been called an " Assembly of Robbers." The fifth general council was summoned by the emperor Marcion, and met at Chalcedon, in the year 451. At this, the decision of the " Assembly of Robbers " was revoked, and the Monophysite errors were condemned. And here we have the origin of the Monophysite heresy, which so long divided the Eastern Church, and which still divides it. The present Armenians, Copts, and Abyssinians are descendants of the ancient Monophysites, as the present Nestori- ans are of the ancient followers of Nestorius. There were other general councils besides those here described ; but they do not fall within the period under review. I have spoken before of the tendency early manifested to add to the ritual of the Christian Church, — to multiply outward forms and ceremonies. This tendency continued in the period before us, until the saying of Augustine was fully verified, that " the yoke once laid upon the Jews was more supportable than that borne by many Christians in his time." These new rites were mostly bor- rowed from the heathen temples, under the impression that the heathen would more readily embrace Christianity if they found 672 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. the rites handed down to them from their fathers still in use among the Christians, and saw Christ and the martyrs worshipped in the same manner as their gods had been in former times. From this period there was little difference between the external worship of the Christians and that of the Greeks and Romans. In both there were splendid robes, mitres, tiaras, wax tapers, crosiers, processions, lustrations, images, gold and silver vases, and many other like things.* Christian temples at this period were greatly multiplied and rich- ly adorned. A part of them were intended for public worship ; but others were monumental in their character. They were built at the tombs of the martyrs, and were called 3Iartyria. Both were fur- nished with pictures and images, and consecrated with rites bor- rowed from the heathen. As an inducement to opulent families to build churches, they were endowed with what was called the right of patronage : in other words, it was permitted to these families and their descendants to say who should occupy the churches built by them, and be entitled to their revenues. This right of patron- age has descended to our own times, and has been a constant source of corruption in the State churches of Europe. Another custom came from the heathen to the Christian temples in the period before us. They were used as an asylum for fugitive slaves and criminals, where they were protected for a time from their masters and from the officers of justice. This custom, which may have been benevolent in its origin, degenerated into one of intolerable abuse. The vilest criminals were harbored and pro- tected in the churches as servants of the priests, and were often employed by them for the basest purposes. The public worship of the Christians still consisted, as at the first, in hymns, prayers, reading the Scriptures, a discourse to the people, and the celebration of the Lord's Supper. But all congre- gations did not follow the same order or rule ; each bishop being left to prescribe to his flock such a form of worship as he judged expedient. The discourses at this period were not the simple ex- hortations of the first century, but had become artistic, and were better calculated, often, to win admiration than to impress the heart ; and the people were allowed to express their admiration by cheering, clapping, and other noisy demonstrations of applause. The first day of the week was observed as the weekly sabbath, * See Middleton's Letters from Rome. CHURCH-ORGANIZATION, RELIGIOUS RITES, ETC. 673 and was i)rotectecl by the laws. In most congregations, five annual festivals were also observed ; viz., those in honor of the Saviour's birth, of his sufferings and death, of his resurrection, of his ascen- sion, and of the descent of the Holy Spirit. The Eastern Chris- tians celebrated the Saviour's birth and baptism on the same day (the 6th of January), which was called the Epiphany ; but, by the Western Christians, the 25th of December was consecrated to the memor}^ of our Saviour's birth. This, however, was not fixed be- fore the fifth century. One circumstance which decided the West- ern Christians in favor of the 25th of December was, that the heathen had a festival at this time, called YiUe, to celebrate the- birth of the sun, or its beginning to return from the winter solstice. It was with them a time of great merriment and rejoicing. The Christian fathers hoped to conciliate the pagans by celebrating the birth of Christ on the same day. From this time, Christmas be- came, like Yule, a season of merriment; and " A merry Christmas ! " is still the first salutation of the day. For the more convenient administration of baptism, baptisteries were erected near the churches, and furnished with fonts and cis- terns. Some of these were spacious and elegant buildings, in which the catechumens were accustomed to assemble for instruction. The Lord's Supper was celebrated, not only in the churches, but at the tombs of the martyrs, and often at funerals. -Hence arose the custom of saying masses for the dead. Previous to distribu- tion, the bread and wine were elevated, so that they might be seen and reverenced by the people. From this practice originated what is called by Romanists the elevation and worship of the sacred symbols, — the host. In the latter part of the period before us, the love-feasts, which had long been observed in connection with the sacred supper, were abolished. They were so grossly perverted and abused, that it was no longer possible to continue them. Owing to the superior efficacy ascribed to fasting in repelling the assaults of evil spirits, the number of public fasts was in- creased. The most sacred of these fasts was that of Lent, al- though the number of days was not yet definitely fixed. In the sixth century, it was made to continue, as it does at present, for forty days. In these long fasts, however, the people did not abstain from food and drink, but only from wine and flesh. The church-fathers of the period under review were more dis- tinguished for talents and learning than those of any previous age. 43 674 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. Among the more eminent of them were Eusebius Pamphilus, the church -historian, and the particular friend and counsellor of Constantine ; Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria ; Basil, surnamed the Great ; Cyril, bishop of Jerusalem ; John Chrysostom, the most eloquent preacher in the ancient Church ; Gregory Nazianzen and Gregory Nyssa ; Ephraim the Syrian ; Hosius, bishop of Corduba ; Hilary of Poitiers ; Lactantius, who has been styled the Christian Cicero ; Ambrose, bishop of Milan ; Jerome, the learned monk of Palestine ; Augustine, bishop of Hippo ; Rufinus ; Leo the Great, bishop . of Rome ; and Paul Orosius, the historian. Of each of these I shall give a brief notice. To write fully re- specting them would require volumes. Eusebius^ surnamed Pamjjhilus, bishop of Csesarea in Palestine, is to be distinguished from Eusebius of Nicomedia, as being a far more learned and respectable man. He was born about the year 270, at Csesarea ; and here he resided ever afterwards. During the first half of his life, he was in great intimacy with the martyr Pamphilus, — a learned, wealthy, and devout inan of Csesarea, who established an extensive library, from which Eusebius drew his vast, stores of learning. In the persecution under Diocletian, Pamphilus was seized and cast into prison, Avhere he remained two years. Eusebius was constantly with him during his long confinement, endeavoring to console and strengthen him, and ministering to his wants. After the martyrdom of his friend, Eusebius fled, — first to Tyre, and afterwards into Egypt, where he remained till the close of the persecution. Upon his return to Csesarea, about the year 314, he was constituted bishop of his own city. In the year 325 he attended the great Council of Nice, where he was appointed to address the emperor on his entering the council, and had the honor to be seated at his right hand. The first draft of the Nicene Creed is said to have been written by him ; to which the term oiwaawv and the anathemas were after- wards added, and not without some scruples on the part of Eu- sebius. He has been denounced by his enemies as an Arian, but certainly without sufficient reason. He believed in the proper divinity of Christ ; regarding him as an eternal emanation from the Father, and consequently as in eternal subordination to him, — " God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God." If he was not a strict Trinitarian on the ground of the Bible, he was so in the philosophic sense of the age in which he lived. Still he was a liberal, moderate man ; belonged to a moderate party in CHURCH-ORGANIZATION, RELIGIOUS RITES, ETC. 675 the Church ; and could not go all lengths on either side. About the year ^30, he was offered the patriarchal chair at Antioch ; which he declined, on the ground that the ancient customs of the Church forbade the transfer of bishops from one see to another. He died about the year 340, — some three years after the death of his great patron and friend, Constantine. Eusebius wrote many books, the more important of which are the following : A chronological work, entitled " The Chronicon ; " his " Preparatio Evangelica," in fifteen books ; his " Demonstratio Evangelica," in twenty books ; his work against Hierocles, in defence of Christianity ; his " Life of Constantine ; " and his " Oration in Praise of Constantine." But the work by which he is chiefly known and valued is his " Ecclesiastical History." His was the first proper Christian history that was written after the Acts of the Apostles. He had access to the best helps for com- posing his history ; and it is a thesaurus of facts and documents respecting the early state of the Church, which, but for him, must in all probability have been lost.* Athanasius was born at Alexandria about the j'ear 298. He had a good education, and early displayed great strength of mind, and uncommon sagacity as a disputant and a man of business. He was ordained a deacon at the age of twenty-one. He became the confidant and chief counsellor of his bishop, Alexander, whom he accompanied to the Council of Nice in the year 325. In the business and discussions of the council he was very active, and acquired much reputation. Upon the death of Alexander, the fol- lowing year, Athanasius became bishop of Alexandi'ia when but twenty-eight years old. For half a century, he was the head of the Orthodox part}^ in the Arian controversy. This rendered him extremely odious to the Arians, and involved him in disputes and sufferings for the greater part of his life. False accusations were raised against him ; and a council Avas held at Ceesarea in the year 334, before which he was summoned, but did not appear. The next year, he was commanded by Constantine to appear before a council at Tyre, and answer to various charges against his moral character. As his trial proceeded, charge after charge was shown to be un- founded ; and the prosecution appeared evidently to be the result * The History of Eusebius comes down to the year 421. It was continued by Theodoret, bishop of Cyrus, to the year 427 ; by Socrates and Sozomen to 439 ; and by Evagrius to 694. 676 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. of malice. Socrates has recorded one article of charge which is too clearly characteristic of Arian management and iniquity to be omitted. Athanasius was said to have murdered a person by the name of Arsenius, to have cut off his hand, and to have preserved it for magical purposes. In proof of this, a box was produced, out of which a dead hand, dried and salted, was taken, and exhibited to the council. It providentially turned out that Arsenius, who had been profoundly secreted by the Arians, was discovered at Tyre just before this affair was introduced. He was taken imme- diately into the custody of Athanasius ; and no sooner had the hand of the murdered victim been exhibited, to the council, than the victim himself, with both his hands, was exhibited alive ! But, nothing daunted by this defeat, the enemies of Athanasius despatched commissioners into Egypt to hunt up new charges and witnesses against him. Fully satisfied that no justice was to be expected from such a tribunal, Athanasius now left it, and repaired directly to the emperor at Constantinople. The account which he gave of the transactions of the synod so excited the emperor's indignation, that he ordered the bishops to depart immediately from Tyre, and to appear before him. But a small portion of them, how- ever, dared to comply. Only Eusebius of Nicomedia and a few others came to the emj^eror ; but these, waiving all their former charges, endeavored to persuade the emperor that Athanasius had threatened to stop the fleet which brought corn from Alexandria to Constantinople. The credulous Constantine listened to the report : intrigue and falsehood prevailed, and Athanasius was ban- ished to Treves, in Gaul ; and here he remained in exile until the death of Constantine. Upon the death of the emperor, Athanasius returned to Alex- andria. He was again banished by a council at Antioch, in the year 341 ; his see was declared vacant ; and one Gregory, an Arian, was appointed to succeed him. He now fled to Rome, where he was fully justified and protected ; and the proceedings of the council at Antioch were annulled. In the year 347, through the influence of Constans, one of the sons of Constantine, he was permitted to return to his see : but, upon the death of Constans, Constantius, who was an Arian, instituted proceedings against him ; and, in 355, he was for the third time driven away. He now took refuge among the recluses of Egypt until the death of Constantius, — in the year 361. This seems to have been the most quiet and happy part of the good man's life. He was greatly beloved by the CHURCH-ORGANIZATION, RELIGIOUS RITES, ETC. 677 devout religionists among whom he dwelt, and spent his time in writing letters and some religious treatises, which are still extant. Upon the accession of Julian, Athanasius once more returned to his flock ; but his stay among them was short. Julian, though averse to persecution, was persuaded to send Athanasius away. He Avas in exile, however, only a few months, when Julius was slain in battle, and Jovian succeeded him. Jovian immediately took Athanasius under his protection, restored him to his flock, confirmed him in office, and made him his counsellor in religious things ; but Jovian died in less than a year, and Athanasius was again left to the fury of his enemies. The Roman Empire was now divided ; and Valens, a man of weak mind and of Arian prin- ciples, became the emperor of the East. Not long after his acces- sion, Athanasius was for the fifth time expelled ; and the governor of Alexandria undertook to drive him from the city. Bilt the ven- erable bishop had prudently retired ; and for several months he lay concealed in his own father's sepulchre. No wonder he should thus seem to desire and to anticipate the quiet of the tomb. Valens found it necessary at last, in order to appease the people, to recall their bishop ; nor could any exertions of the Arians in- duce him to disturb Athanasius more. After the continued changes and sufferings through which he had passed, the good old man was allowed to spend the remainder of^his weary life in peace. The many storms which had beat upon him were blown over ; and the sun of prosperity shone forth to gild the evening of his days. He was spared to his people for several years to enlighten them by his wisdom, benefit them by his experience, and confirm them by his holy and upright example. He died in the year 373, at the age of seventy-five ; having been a bishop forty-six years. His works are chiefiy controversial, consisting of numerous letters, discourses, and tracts, several of which are still extant. Many spurious works have been ascribed to him, one of which is the so-called Athana- sian Creed. I have dwelt so long upon the checkered life of Athanasius, that I shall be under the necessity of proceeding more summarily with the remaining fathers of this period. Basil, surnamed the Great, was born at Csesarea, in Cappadocia, about the year 329. He had a thorough education, and was em- ployed several years as a teacher of rhetoric in his native place. He then retired to a monastery for thirteen years, and, from that period onward, was a rigid ascetic and monk. In the year 363 he 678 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. was called to Csesarea, and ordained presbyter ; and in 370 he was created archbishop of the province. He still dressed and lived like a monk, but was a most active and efficient bishop. He cor- rected the morals of the clergy, established discipline in the churches, promoted orthodoxy and harmony in that jarring age, and built hospitals for the sick and the poor. His works that re^ main are very numerous. He died triumphantly, on the 1st of January, 379. Cyril of Jerusalem was -born there about the year 315, and was constituted bishop of Jerusalem near the middle of the century. He was thrice deposed and expelled by the Arians ; but was re- stored to his charge by Theodosius, and continued in it till his death in the year 386. His "Catechetical Lectures" are highly valued ; being the most complete system of theology, and the most circumstantial account of the rites of the Church, which have come down to us from so early a period. John Chrysostom^ the eloquent bishop of Constantinople, was born at Antioch, in Syria, about the year 354. He lost his father in early life, and is one of those distinguished men who owe almost every thing to their mothers. His mother, Arethusa, was his guide and instructor in religion ; and she secured for him the best literary education which the age afforded. He became pious in early life ; and, following an example which then prevailed, he spent six years as a recluse in the deserts and mountains. Worn out by his austerities, he returned to Antioch, and was ordained presbyter in 386. During the next twelve years, he wrote and delivered many discourses ; and his reputation as a preacher was very high. In the year 398, he was made patriarch of Constantinople ; but liis life was too austere, his preaching too pungent, and his disci- pline too strict, for that corrupt metropolis. He soon raised up enemies, — at the head of whom was the wicked empress Eudoxia, — who were intent upon his destruction. They procured his ban- ishment in the year 404 ; and in three years afterwards he died. His works are contained in thirteen folio volumes. Crregory Nazianzen and Gregory Nyssd had a high reputation among the theologians and controversialists of this age. Their works are numerous both in poetry and prose. They were at- tached to Origen, as most of the monks were ; and their eloquence, though admired at the time, is too wordy and grandiloquent for modern ears. Epliraim the Syrian was of Nisibis, in Northern Syria, where he CHURCH-ORGANIZATION, RELIGIOUS RITES, ETC. 679 spent the most of liis life. To avoid being made bishop of the place, he feigned himself crazy, and absconded. He was a great promoter of monkery, but a man of genius and a prolific writer. It is said that his hymns and prayers are still used in the Syrian churches. ITosius, bishop of Corduba in Spain, was born about the middle of the third century, and hved to be more than a hmidred years old. He is thought to have been chiefly instrumental in the con- version of Constantine, and had great influence with him so long as he lived. Hosius assisted in many councils ; and would have left an untarnished reputation, but that he was over-persuaded by the Arians, in extreme old age, to sign an artfully-written Arian creed. Little or nothing of his writing remains to us. Among the Latin writers in this period, Augustine of ITippo, in Northern Africa, stands pre-eminent. He was the great luminary of the age in which he lived ; and his influence is felt even to our own times. Augustinp was born at Tagaste, an obscure village in Numidia, A.D. 354. His father remained a Pagan till near the •close of hfe ; but his mother was an eminently devoted Christian. He is to be classed, therefore, with many other excellent Chris- tians who have owed not only their usefulness, but their salvation, to the influence of a pious mother. Augustine's advantages of education were good, and his talents of the highest order ; but his early life was one of continued de- bauchery and wickedness. Li philosophy he was a Manichee, and by profession a teacher of rhetoric and oratory. In the exercise of his profession, after visiting several other cities, he came to Milan ; and here, under the searching ministry of Ambrose, his heart was touched, and he was brought to consideration and re- pentance. His convictions of sin were deep, painful, — I had almost said terrible, — and abiding. His conversion was eminently satisfactory, — very like to those which sometimes occur in our best modern revivals. Old things passed away with him ; all things became spiritually new ; and he was prepared at once to renounce his flattering worldly prospects, and devote his cultivated and bril- liant powers to the service of God in the gospel of his Son. Augustine was thirty-three years of age at the time of his con- version. Subsequent to this, he lived more than forty years, and was, as I have said, the great luminary of the Church. He was specially instrumental in reviving and diffusing spiritual, evangeh- cal religion. His contro^rsy with Pelagius was no other than a 680 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. struggle for evangelical truth against one who impugned it and was laboring to subvert it. Augustine lived to see Northern Africa overrun, and his beloved Hippo besieged, by the ruthless Vandals. In the prospect of approaching trials and sufferings, it was his daily prayer, either that God would deliver the city, or that he would give to his ser- vants grace to endure all that might be inflicted, or that he might himself be taken out of the world. In the last particular certainly, — we hope in the second, — his prayer was heard. In the third month of the siege, which lasted fourteen months in all, Augustine was seized with a fever, which terminated his life. He died in the year 429, in the seventy-sixth year of his age and in the fortieth of his ministry. He was engaged in most of the controversies of the times, — against the Manichees, the Arians, the Origenists, the Donatists, and the Pelagians. His works are published in eleven folio volumes ; the more important of which are his " Confessions," and, his great work " De Civitate Dei." Perhaps no man has lived since the days of the apostle Paul, the influence of whose writings upon the religious world has been so great, so enduring, and, on* the whole, so happy, as those of the renowned bishop of Hippo. Hilary^ bishop of Poitiers in France, was a native of that coun- try, and had a thorough literary education. He was consecrated bishop about the year 350. He was the great opponent of Arian- ism in the West, as Athanasius was in the East. He was banished by Constantine, but was afterwards restored. His principal work is on the Trinity, in twelve books. Lactantius, the Christian Cicero, was a native of Italy ; was never a bishop, but was the private tutor of Crispus, the eldest son of Constantine the Great. His principal work is entitled " Divine Institutions." It maybe called a guide to true religion; being designed to enlighten the pagans, remove their prejudices, and bring them to the knowledge of the truth. Ambrose was nobly born, was liberally educated, and for several years was governor at Milan. In the year 374, the bishop of Milan died ; and there was much contention between the Arians and Orthodox as to a successor. In the Church, the two parties became tumultuous, and Governor Ambrose came in to quell the disorder. A little child, seeing him, spoke out, as if by inspiration, " Let Ambrose be bishop ! " The crowd caught it, and repeated the cry; and Ambrose was chosen by acclamation. He felt constrained to submit to what seemed to him to be a ^all from God, gave up his ^ CHURCH-ORGANIZATION, RELIGIOUS RITES, ETC. 681 property and his worldly honors, received baptism, and became a laborious and self-denying bishop. It was under his instructions that the great Augustine was brought to repentance. He had much controversy with the Arians, and was frequently employed in the service of the emperors after he became a bishop. He was strict and impartial m his discipline, and had the courage to debar Theodosius the Great from Christian ordinances for what he deemed his excessive cruelty in punishing the Thessalonians. His genuine works are not numerous ; but many spurious productions are ascribed to him. Jerome was born about the year 331, of Christian parents, who gave him the best advantages for education. During the first half of his life, he was a laborious student, and a great traveller ; having visited nearly every part of the Roman Empire. He was at this time very fond of classical studies, from which he was weaned by a vision of the Saviour, who sharply reproved him, and gave him a terrible flagellation. He now addicted himself to monkery, and had the faculty of inspiring others with the like spirit. In the year 382, he came to Rome, and infused this spirit into some noble Roman ladies. Paula and her daughter were induced to accom- pany him to the East. In the year 386, they came to Bethlehem, where Paula erected four monasteries, — one for monks, and three for nuns. In the first of these, Jerome passed the remainder of his days, in reading, composing books, and contending with all who presumed to differ from him. He was the greatest biblical scholar of the age ; was familiarly acquainted with the Latin, Greek, and Hebrew languages ; and did much to promote a correct knowledge of the Bible. The Latin Vulgate is but an amended copy of Jerome's translation. His greatest fault was his choleric temper, which scorned all restraint, and rendered him one of the most caustic and abusive controversial writers that ever bore the Chris- tian name. He has been proverbially called " the foul-mouthed Jerome." His works have been published by the Benedictines in five folio volumes. Rufinus is chiefly known from his translations of Origen and other Greek fathers into Latin, and from his bitter contests with Jerome. Leo the Great was bishop of Rome from the year 440 to the year 461. He was a good writer, an indefatigable bishop, and very successful in promoting the usurpations of Rome. He has been said to have possessed every virtue that was compatible with an 682 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. unbounded ambition. His works are published in two volumes folio. Oroshis was a Spanish presbyter, who came into Africa in the year 413, and was ever after the particular friend of Augustine. It was Augustine who put him upon writing his history in refuta- tion of the pagans, who charged all the calamities of the Roman Empire upon the decline of idolatry, and the consequent anger of the gods. Augustine himself had the same object m view in writ- ing his great work entitled "• The City of God." Prosper of Aquitaine was not a clergyman, though he was a learned theologian. He was a great admirer and an able defender of the doctrines of Augustine respecting original sin, predestina- tion, and grace. His writings were chiefly in opposition to Cassian, the author of the semi-Pelagian heresy. CHAPTER XXII. DOCTRINES, HERESIES, AND CONTROVERSIES. STATE OF RELIGION. IN treating of the doctrines and errors of tliis period, let us first consider those errors which crept into the Church itseK, and became incorporated with it ; and, secondly, those which led to schisms and separations, and were regarded as heresies. The doctrine of the Trinity, though firmly held and manfully contended for in tliis period, was not held in precisely the sense of the apostles. The emanation doctrine, which prevailed in both the Gnostic and Platonic philosophies, and with which the Eastern world was filled, had crept into th^ theology of the Church, and appeared even in the Nicene Council. The fathers of that council believed in the eonsuhstantial divinity of Christ, and condemned Arius, who denied it ; but the Christ in whom they believed was "God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God," — an eternal emanation from the Father, essentially subordinate to the Father, and dependent on him, as light is dependent on the sun, or the stream on the fountain. Clearly, this view or explanation of the Trinity was not derived from the Scriptures, but fi^om the philosophies of the times. Another doctrine which had been corrupted was that of justifi- cation hy faith alone. This was incontestably the doctrine of Paul. Thrusting aside the works of the ceremonial law, on which, in liis youth, he had rested and gloried, he came to see that the blood of Christ, and that alone, was the foundation of the pinner's hope, and that this could be appropriated only by faith. But, in the age of which we speak, — an age of multiplied rites and forms, and of abounding superstitions, — a system of formalism grew up, wliich was as fatal to the true doctrine of justification as was that of the Judaizing teachers. Men macerated their bodies, and went on pilgrimages, and made costly sacrifices, and hunted and worshipped relics, and toiled through a burthensome round of rites and forms, 683 68-4 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. and then trusted to what they had done, and gloried in it,, as the foundation of their hope. This, to be sure, cannot be said of all who lived in the period before us. Doubtless there were many true and faitliful Christians ; but such were the tendencies of the times, and such the current of superstition, which was rolling in like a flood to ingulf the great doctrine of salvation by Christ. An undue efficacy began early to be ascribed to the Cluistian sacraments ; and this tendency increased with years, until they were regarded as of a saving nature. Baptism, instead of being the siyear 1813. But, almost immediately, the course of events was changed; and Popery revived again. Napoleon's defeats in Russia and at Water- loo, and the consequent successes of the allies, inspired the pontiff with new hopes ; and in May, 1814, he returned to Rome. It was the three anti-Catholic powers of Europe — Russia, Prussia, and _ England — which restored him. Almost immediately after his return, he re-established the order of the Jesuits, and claimed to exercise the power of his predecessors. This, however, was not granted him. He met with resistance in 1036 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. France, in Spain, and in other Catholic countries. In the revolution of 1848, Pius IX. was obliged to flee in disguise from Rome. In 1829 occurred what has been called the Catholic emancipa- tion in England. The disabilities under which the English Catho- lics had remained from the accession of William and Mary, in 1688, were removed ; and they were placed, in respect to civil priv- ileges, on a level with other dissenters. On the whole, the fortunes of the Papacy from the beginning of the eighteenth century to the middle of the nineteenth have been various. From a state of quiet and prosperity, the Church ran down, stage after stage, until, at the close of the last century, it had reached its utmost degradation. It could go no lower. It seemed as though it could never revive ; and it never would, but for the intervention of the anti-Catholic powers. But, from the ' early part of the present century, Poperj^ has been gradually recov- .- ering. It has had some rebuffs, particularly in the loss of its tem-^ . poral dominions, and in the recent crippling of Austria, and the revolution in Spain : still it retains something of its former vigor ; and how much longer it is to remain to scourge and afflict the guilty nations, God only knows. II. — THE GREEK CHURCH, ETC. Of the Greek and Oriental churches during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, very little of interest can be said. Through the eighteenth century and the first quarter of the nineteenth, they were sorely oppressed, and often persecuted, by the Turks. For the last thirty years, the Turkish government has been more liberal. It is, however, a wretched government, under which noth- ing can prosper ; and all its subjects are more or less oppressed. The political event of more interest to the Greek Church tlian any other in the period under review was the independence of Greece. This was achieved after a long and bloody conflict, and was ac- knowledged in the year 1828. In Russia, belonging to the Greek Church, there was an effort made to give the Bible to the people near the commencement of the present century, under the patronage of Alexander I. The Scriptures were circulated, and missions were established in dif- ferent parts of Asiatic Russia ; but, when Nicholas came to the throne, these works of mercy were, in general, suppressed. The present monarch, Alexander II., has shown himself the THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 1037 . friend,. not only of civil liberty, but of the Bible. He has liberated milUons of serfs. He has procured a new translation of the Scrip- tures, and is laboring to circulate them through his vast empire. The brightest hope for the Greek and other Oriental churches — for those especially lying out of Russia — rests now on the mis- sions established within their borders, bringing to the benighted people education, the Bible, a. Christian literature, and a preached gospel. III. —THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. The Lutherans celebrated in peace and prosperity the two-hun- dredth anniversary of their church in 1717, and that of the Augs- burg Confession' in 1730. The Pietistic revival commenced in the seventeenth century, but continued to exert its happy mlluence through the first half of the eighteenth. The University of Halle was founded by the Pietists, and was for many years a fountain of good influences to Germany and to the world. Here those ex- cellent missionaries were educated — Zeigenbalg, Swartz, and oth- ers — who were sent by the king of Denmark to Tranquebar in the East Indies, and the fruits of whose faithful labors -remain to this day. The Moravians commenced their establishment at Hernhut, in Germany, about the year 1730. To be sure, they were not Luther- ans ; but tl^ey were taken under the patronage of Lutherans, and were protected by them. They were, in their early days, and have continued to be, a pious, devoted class of Christians. The mis- sionary spirit never burned purer or stronger among any people than it did among the Moravians during the first thirty years of their existence as a church. In spirit they were all missionaries, and were ready and waiting to become such in reality. They were willing to go anywhere, — to Labrador, Greenland, Iceland, among the Hottentots, West-India slaves, and American Indians, — any- where, to any people, wherever the Lord their God should call. Though few in numbers, and feeble in resources, they soon had their missionaries in almost every part of the heathen world. The Lutheran religion was preserved in a good degree of doctri- nal purity down to the middle of the eighteenth century ; but, in the latter part of the century, it was sadly corrupted, not to say subverted, by the inroads of Rationalism, Pantheism, and other forms of infidelity. Among the causes which led to this disastrous 1038 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. result were the writings of the English and French infidels, which were translated, and widely circulated. Frederic the Great, who reigned ovar Prussia from 1740 to 1786. was an infidel, the fi'iend of Voltaire, who ihd all he could to discredit serious rehgion, and mate his subjects as unbeheving as himself. Another cause which led to the rehgious revolurion in Germany was the prevalence of dangerous Sf/sfems of' philosophy. The Leib- nitzian philosophT, as interpreted by Wolfe, had a strong tendency in this direction. But much stronger and more cUsastrous was the influence of the transcendental philosophy, as inculcated by Kant and his successoi"s. Kant himself was no better than an infidel ; but Fichte. Schelling. Hegel, and others of the same school, have pushed out theu* speculations, until they have left, not only Chiis- tiauity and truth, bur common sense and reason, far behind them: They have corrupted" and (_so far as they could) subverted the religion of then- coimtrv. The fii"st of the sarionahstic theologians was Semler. He com- menced his career as a theological teacher in 1752. He was a man of varied and extensive learning, but employed all his learn- ing to imsettle the faith of his countrymen in the tUvine authority and inspu"ation of the Bible, and in the most essential rehgious truths. Semler was educated at Halle : and it was through his in- fluence that this noble university, which was founded by the Pie- tists, and had long been used by them as an instrument for the pro- motion of Christ's kingdom, was one of the first and njost deeply corrupted. The moral condition of the students at Halle, and even of the theological students in the latter part of the eighteenth century, Tholuck tells us, was deplorable. Those of them who resided in Dr. Semler's house were frequently seen abroad in a state of nudity. Bahrdt, who called himself a theologian, kept a coft'ee-house of his own, where he received his boon companions, and where, says Tholuck. " the waiting-maid took the place which belonged to the wife." He died in early life of a vile disease, the lesult of his debaucheries. Next to Semler. Lessing bore an important part in corrupting the Lutheran churches of Germany. While in chai-ge of the great Ducal library at Wolfenbattel, he published certain " Fragments,'* so called, pretending to have foimd them in manuscript in the library. It is now known that they were written by Prof, Rei- mjlrus, and set forth the principles of the English deists. The leading thought of the book is, that the convictions of Christians THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. 1039 as to the truth of their religion care of no more vahie than those of the Mohammedans or Hindoos as to the truth of theirs. This neology, or new divinity, as its promoters called it^ was for a time immensely popular in Germany. It spread from place to place, from one university to another, until nearly all were cor- rupted. The University of Berlin was scarcely less infidel than that at Halle. " A Berlin theologue and an infidel," Tholuck tells us, " were regarded as quite synonymous terms." It would be endless to mention all the theologians (so called) who helped to carry on this miserable crusade against the Bible and religion. After Semler, some of the more considerable were the following, — Henke, Wegseheider, Bretschneider, Gesenius, Eichhorn, De Wette, Gabler, Gruner, Eberhard, and Steinbart. The Rationalists of Germany, properly so called, were distin- guished for the loosest, wildest schemes of biblical criticism and interpretation. They amused themselves, and startled others, by the strangest methods of explaining away the miracles and other plain representations of Scripture. This course of things at length received a check, and from a source where it might least have been expected. I refer to the publication of Strauss's " Life of Jesus " in 1835. Strauss ridicules the efforts of his brethren to explain away the miracles of Christ ; proposes to let them stand as they are recorded; and then turns them all into myth and fable. It was never intended that the sacred record should be understood literally, but parabolically, conveying truth under a fictitious garb. The publication of this infidel book produced a great shock in Germany. It was attacked by theologians of different classes, and produced a re-action, wliich was, on the whole, favorable to evan- gelical truth. Since the year 1820, there certainly has been a reviving of evan- gelical religion in Germany under the influence of such men as Tholuck, Neander, Hengstenberg, Krummacher, Olshausen, and many others. Previous to this, the evil had gone so far in differ- ent directions, that some of its abetters became frightened at them- selves. They started back from the vortex to which they were nearing, and in which all their institutions of Church and State were likely to be whelmed together. That the tendency of things in the Lutheraij Church is now, and for some years has been, upward, I rejoice to believe. Still, most of the German theologians, even the best of them", hold some of the essential truths of the gospel very loosely ; and, until thev 1040 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. break away from the trammels of their transcendental philosophy, I have little hope that they will emerge into the clear and holy light of the gospel. I only add, that the Lutheran Church has greatly extended itself within the last centuiy by emigrations to the United States of America. I am not able to state the precise number of their churches in this country ; but it is known that they, are very numerous. They constitute one of our largest denominations of Christians. IV. — EEFORMED CHURCHES, AND OTHER SECTS. The course of things in the reformed churches of Continental Europe during the eighteenth century was uniformly downward, — first a moderate dead Calvinism, then Arminianism, then Arian- ism, then Socinianism. So it was in Geneva, the home of Calvin ; so it was in Holland. Arminianism, condemned in the Synod of Dort, soon spread itself secretly through the churches, rooting out serious, evangelical religion, and preparing the way for greater defections. So it was with the reformed churches in Germany, They slid down with the Lutherans into rationalism and infidelity, and with them, we hope, are now returning to the faith and spirit of the gospel. A strong effort was made by the king of Prussia, about forty years ago, to unite the Lutheran and Reformed churches in his dominions, and bring them all into one body ; but the union has encountered a violent opposition, particularly on the part of the ultra Lutherans ; and what the result may ultimately be, it is impossible to say. Though the articles of the Church of England are Calvinistic, the prevailing theology had come to be Arminian previous to the commencement of the eighteenth century. In some instances, it was even worse than that. In the year 1772, between two and three hundred clergymen of the English Church — among whom where Archdeacon Blackburn and Bishop Law — petitioned Parlia- ment for relief from the necessity of subscribing the Thirty-nine Articles, on the ground, mainly, that they did not believe them, or at least some of them. The truth is, they were Unitarians. Their petition, however, was not granted ; and yet (with a single excep- tion) they all compounded the matter with their consciences, and clung to their livings in the Church. There have been frequent discussions in the Church of Eng- REFORMED CHURCHES, AND OTHER SECTS. 1041 land, wkhin the period under review, as to the divine right and authority of Episcopacy. The old founders of the English Church — Ckanmer, Jewett, Ridley, Latimer — were all of them what would now be called Low Churchmen. They preferred Episco- pacy to any other form of government, but had no thought that it _was of divine institution, and, as such, binding upon all the church- es of Christ. The doctrine of divine right was first advocated in England by Bishops Bancroft and Laud in the first part of the seventeenth century ; and from that time to this the question has been a contested one. In the first part of the eighteenth century, Bishop Hoadly appeared as the advocate of Low-Church principles, and was soon involved in a violent controversy, which (as Hoadly was bishop of Bangor) is commonly called the Bangorian contro- versy. In our own times, Dr. Pusey has distinguished himself as the advocate of extreme High-Church principles ; in following out which, many of his party have dropped the name of Protestant, and adopted most of the Popish rites. Some have gone over by profession to the Romish Church. During the greater part of the eighteenth century, the state of religion in the Church of England was low. Many of the clergy were a disgrace to their profession ; and dead formalism generally prevailed. But, witli the opening of the present century, a better state of things was introduced. A powerful evangelical party has -risen up in the Church, the influence of which is everywhere happy. The gospel is preached, the Bible is circulated, the cause of missions is promoted ; and the Church itself seems quickened, animated, by a new and living spirit. At the same time, a disposition is manifesting itself — we hope but temporarily, and on a small scale — to relapse into the latitu- dinarian principles and interpretations of Germany. Unless the efforts of certain prominent individuals * in this direction are effectually checked, the Church of England may hi\ve occasion to lament over an apostasy such as she has never before experi- enced. Tlie dissenters of England have had no occasion to complain of palpable persecution since the accession of William and Mary in 1689. Queen Anne did not favor them ; yet she never revoked the toleration which had been granted by William. Under the house of Hanover, they have been generally favored, and have * The authors of the celebrated Essays and Reviews. 66 1042 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. prospered. They have increased and multiplied, until they probably •outnumber the Establishment. At the beginning of the eighteenth century, the most consid- erable body of dissenters in England was the Presbyterians ; but Arianism sprang up among them in 1720, and most of their churches fell into Unitarianism, and almost to nothing. Of late, there has been a reviving among them. They are far exceeded, however, in point of numbers, by the Independents and Baptists, who, as a general thing, have held fast their integrity, and been greatly prospered. The old English Deists commenced their publications in the seventeenth century, and continued them far into the eighteenth. Among their later writers were Tindall, Chubb, Mandeville, Mor- gan, Lord Bolingbroke, David Hume, and Thomas Paine. The poison of their infidelity extended into France, and led on to French atheism and the French Revolution. It extended into Germany, and prepared the way for those forms of infidelity of which I have just spoken. Wicked men, when they enter upon their courses of error and sin, little think what immense evils may grow out of them. In our own country, the religion of the first settlers continued to prevail through the seventeenth century, and through the first half of the eighteenth ; though, as early as 1730, there were fre- quent complaints of laxity in doctrine, and of a tendency to Arminianism. But, in 1735, the great revival under President Edwards, Whitefield, the Tennents, and their co-adjutors, com- menced, and continued for about twenty years. It reached nearly all the settled parts of New England, and far into the Middle and Southern States. It prevailed at the same time in England and ScotLand ; and hundreds and thousands were hopefully converted. This revival was an inestimable blessing to the countries where it was enjoyed. , It rekindled the holy fires of the sanctuary when they seemed fast going out. It revived and strengthened the things that remained which were ready to die. Closely connected with it, both in England and in this country, were the labors of the Wesleys, and the commencement of that widely-extended connection, the Wesleyan Methodists, which has since grown up. The Wesleys and Whitefield were students together at Oxford. They were converted and commenced their labors together ; and together would they have continued to labor, but that they differed in regard to some of the high points of Cal- REFORMED CHURCHES, AND OTHER SECTS. 1013 vinisra. The Wesleys were Arminians in doctrine ; and so has their connection continued to be to the present time. Their Arminianism, however, is not of the cold, unevangeHcal stamp ; it is full of warmth, vigor, and life : and they have carried ' the salvation of the gospel to thousands and millions who might other- wise have perished in their sins. The followers of Whitefield, like those of Wesley, in many places formed separate churches ; but these, for the most part, have disappeared, being merged in other denominations. In Scotland, during the period under review, Presbyterianism has been almost the only form of church government. There were a few Episcopal churches in the eighteenth century, as there are now, which are generally of the High-Church, exclusive stamp. There have been frequent secessions, also, from the estab- lished Presbyterian Church, as the Glassites, the Burghers and Antiburghers, the Sandemanians, &c. ; but the greatest secession Avas that of the Free Church, which took place almost in our own times. Believing that their religious liberties had been invaded by the civil power, and would be again, the better part of the Church of Scotland, under the lead of the great Chalmers, seceded from the -Establishment, and set up public worship by themselves. This secession has thus far been greatly prospered ; while their example has exerted a favorable influence upon the church which they left behind. Among the sects which have sprung up in the period under review are the Swedenborgians, the Shakers, and the Universalists. ' Swedenborg died in 1772 ; and his New-Jerusalem Church was .organized soon after. He has a few followers in Sweden, Ger- many, France, England, and in this country. The Shakers commenced their establishment in 1774. They are the followers of Anne Lee, and, with all their strange notions and practices, are the only successful communitists of modern times. They are an industrious, economical people ; and some of their establishments are wealthy and flourishing. The first congregation of Universalists Avas founded in England, in 1760, by James Relly. He was soon joined by Murray and Winchester ; and from England the doctrine spread into this country. It has prevailed here much more extensively than in England. The Universalists have changed their ground of reason- ing several times ; but all agree in the grand conclusion, that the whole human race will finally be saved. 1044 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. I have spoken of the great revival in this country which occurred about the middle of the last century. This was followed by a long season of coldness and worldliness. From the year 1760 to 1790, . there were few revivals, and the spirit of religion greatly declined. The political troubles of the country, resulting in the war of the Revolution and in the establishment of American independence, engrossed the minds and hearts even of good people, and tended to smother the spirit of religion. It was during this season of declension that a foundation was laid for Unitarian and Universalist errors, which crept in unawares, and have carried away many of the sons and the churches of the Pilgrims. Uuiversalism began to be preached here, and societies to be formed, as early as 1770. The general convention of Univer- salists was organized at Oxford, Mass., in 1785. Unitarianism was embraced by some of our ministers quite as early; but it was held in secrecy and silence. No one would acknowledge himself a Unitarian. It was not till the spring of 1815 that the mask of concealment was fairly taken off, and American Unitarianism stood confessed to the world. The season of declension of which I have spoken continued till near the close of the last century ; when the cloud seemed to pass away, and a new era to open upon our evangelical churches. While true religion was reviving among the decayed Protestants of Europe, it revived still more conspicuously and gloriously in this country. Seasons of spiritual refreshing were multiplied; and with them new systems of effort were inaugurated, having for their object the spread of the gospel througliout the earth. Of these various efforts for the diffusion of religious knowledge, and the spread of Christ's kingdom, I shall speak in my next and con- cluding chapter. The two great things for which our age, in a religious view, is distinguished, are revivals of religion and the spread of ike gospel^ — kindred objects, which always must proceed together. Let these be kept uppermost, as they should be, in the minds of Christians, and go on harmoniously and vigorously together, and the day cannot be distant when the knowledge of the Lord shall fin the earth as the waters fill the channels of the deep. CHAPTER LI. BENEVOLENT OPERATIONS IN THE PRESENT CENTURY. A T the close of the last chapter, I spoke of a revived state of -^ religion in some parts of Europe and in this country near the commencement of the present century. An era of revivals seems then to have commenced, which has continued, without much interruption, to the present time. In these revivals, the tone of religious thought and feeling has been elevated ; new churches have been gathered, and old ones strengthened ; multitudes of young and active Christians have been brought into the fold of Christ ; and a vast machinery of effort has been put in operation for the diffusion of religious knowledge, and the spread of the gospel throughout the earth. My present object is to give a condensed account of some of these efforts ; showing where and how they commenced, how they have prospered, and what their present condition and results. It will appear to my readers, I am sure, as it does to me, that they constitute one of the signs of the present time, and ought not to be omitted in a general history of the Church of Christ. I begin with some notice of efforts to translate and circulate the Bible. In the course of the eighteenth century, several societies were formed in Great Britain, having for their object, in part, the dissem- ination of the Scriptures. But no concentrated effort was made for this purpose until the year 1804, when the British and Foreign Bi- , ble Society was organized. The particular circumstance which led to the formation of this society was the great scarcity of Bibles in the principality of "Wales. In the year 1802, a Welsh clergyman inquired of a little girl belonging to his meeting if she could repeat the text from which he had preached the preceding sabbath. In- stead of answering him, she wept, and remained silent. At length she told her minister that her custom had been to travel seven miles, over the hills, to get sight of a Welsh Bible in which to 1046 10-4:6 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. study and commit the text, but that the bad weather during the week had prevented her going. The remark struck her minister with great force. It revealed " a famine of the Word " of which he had no conception. He lost no time in taking measures for the better circulation of the Scriptures, and, at the end of two years, had the satisfaction of assisting in the formation of a society for this noble purpose. Such was the origin of the British and Foreign Bible Society, — a society, which, for the extent and importance of its operations, may challenge comparison with any other on the globe. The society received at once the approbation of a number of the prel- ates of the English Church, of several synods of the Scottish es- tablishment, and of various bodies of dissenters. It was fortunate in securing for its first president the excellent Lord Teignmouth. . Still the society encountered for a while a strong opposition, par- ticularly from the unevangelical part of the Church of England. Its friends were divided, too, on the question of publishing, in con- nection with the Bible, the apocryphal books of the Old Testa- ment. This question was finally settled ; and the apocrypha was excluded about the year 1826. From that time the society has gone forward and prospered, and has accomplished an immense work for Christ and his kingdom. Besides supplying Britain with English Bibles, it had, twenty years ago, published the Scriptures in a hundred and forty-four different languages and dialects, in the most of which the Scriptures had never been printed. It is supported by not less than four thousand . auxiliaries. It has already expended millions of pounds sterling ; and its operations and usefulness were never greater than at the present time. Following this great Bible establishment in England, similar societies sprang up in rapid succession in different parts of Europe and in India. It would be needless to mention all of them. The following are some of the more important societies, together with the date of their establishment : The Prussian Bible Society was instituted in 1805 ; the Swedish, in 1809 ; the Russian, in 1813 ; the Danish, in 1814 ; the Calcutta Bible Society, m 1811 ; the Protestant Bible Societ}^ at Paris, in 1818 ; and the Bombay and Madras Bible Societies, in 1820. Meanwhile, the same work has been undertaken, with great vigor and success, on our side of the Atlantic. From the begin- ning-of the century, several local^ societies had been established in BENEVOLENT OPERATIONS. 1047 this country for the cUsse mi nation of the Scriptures ; but there was a loud call for a more extended plan of oj)eration. The subject .was talked of for several years, when in 181.") a proposal ^vas issued by the New-Jersey Bible Society for the formation of a national institution. A convention was held for this purpose in New York on the 11th of May, 1816 ; when the American Bible Society was formed. A member of the convention thus describes the meeting : " We came together," says he, '- in great weakness, humility, and prayer ; fully sensible of the difficulty of combining all denomina- tions ; and feeling, each one, the necessity of keeping his own heart and tongue, lest, a spark of unhallowed fire falling on the train, it should explode. We felt that the place where we stood was holy ; that God was there : and none of our fears were realized ; but our hopes were surpassed, so perfect and cordial was our unity.'' The principal agent in bringing about this noble organization was the lamented Samuel J. Mills. The first president of the society was tlie Hon. Elias Boudinot, ex-governor of the State of New Jersey. The local societies which were already in existence soon connected themselves with the na- tional society as auxiliaries. Almost a hundred of these smaller societies were thus annexed in the first year. These auxiliaries have constantly increased to the present time : they number already .about fifteen hundred, and are located in nearly all the States and Territories of the Union. Besides circulating the Scriptures among all classes of our population, — in prisons and hospitals, among sea- men and boatmen, in the army and navy, among the colored peo- ple of the South, and Indians in the West, — the American Bible Society has contributed largely to their distribution in the Roman- Catholic countries of Europe, in South America, and Mexico ; also in China, India, Ce3-lon, Africa, and the Pacific islands. Numer- ous editions have been published in foreign languages, — some of them barbarous languages, which have been reduced to writing for this very purpose. Probably not less that twentj^ millions of Bibles and Testaments have been already circulated. The annual receipts of the society for several years have been more than half a million of dollars. For the first twenty years of the society's existence, it embraced Christians of all denominations in the United States. But, in 1836, .the greater part of the Baptist denomination withdrew, that so they might circulate foreign versions favoring their particular views as to the mode of baptism. They organized at once a society of 1048 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. their own, called the American and Foreign Bible Society, which has since been an efficient helper in disseminating the Scriptures. I have thus sketched, as briefly as possible, wliat has been done in the present century for the general circulation of the Bible, and chiefly through the instrumentality of two great societies, — the British and Foreign and the American Bible Societies. We hope nothing may occur to check the progress and growth of these noble institutions until the Bible shall be translated into every lan- guage under heaven, shall be carried to every land, and be laid at the door of every human being.* We turn now to contemplate another branch of the great work of the age in which we live, — the missionary tvorlz. I have spoken already of the revivals which commenced near the beginning of the present century, and which have continued, with little inter- ruption, to the present time. Now, the spirit of religion and the spirit of missions are the same ; and hence, when the former is re- vived, the latter must be. And -so it has proved in the present • instance. We do not say that there were no successful modern missions pre-, vious to the commencement of the present century. There cer- tainly Ixave been such missions, and those, too, of great value. Wit- ness the Danish niission at Tranquebar, and the missions of the United Brethren, both of which were commenced and successfully prosecuted in the last century. But there is this peculiarity about the missions of our own time, especially the foreign missions, — tliey look to the conversion of the ^vhole world to Christ. Previous missionary - efforts have aimed at the conversion of a single province or people ; but those now in progress have a wider aim. With them, " the field is the world ; " and they are looking to its entire evangehza- tion. The honor of commencing these new missionary efforts belongs to the Baptists of England. The movement originated with the f^- Rev. William Carey, in which he was assisted by Drs. Fuller, Ryland, and several other Baptist ministers. Their society was formed in 1792 ; and, in the following year, their first two missiona- ries, Messrs. Carey and Thomas, commenced their mission to India. The first station permanently occupied by them was Serampore, * Since the establishment of the British and Foreign Bible Society, it has issued more than fifty-seven million copies of the Holy Scriptures. The American Bible Society has issued twenty-five millions, and other Bible societies twenty-five millions moire ; making more than a hundred millions in all. ■BENEVOLENT OPERATIONS. 1049 about twelve miles north of Calcutta. Here, having been joined by other missionaries, they set up schools, and a large printing es- tablishment for supplying the natives with tlie Scriptures and tracts in their own hinguage. This oldest of the modern missionary socie- ties has stations in different parts of India, in Western Africa, in Jamaica, and other West-India islands. In proportion to the means at its disposal, its success has been very great. Closely following the effort above noticed was the establishment of the London Missionary Society, which is sustained chiefly by the Independents, or Congregationalists. The immediate occasion of the formation of this society was an " Appeal " publislied by ^Rev. David Bogue in 1794. The society was organized the fol- lowing year ; and a large company of missionaries, with their wives -. and children, were sent to the Society Islands in 179G. These brethren went out under the most promising circumstances ; were favorably received at first, but were destined to meet with great . discouragements. After laboring seventeen years, instead of hav- ing made any converts from heathenism, one of their own number had relapsed into heathenism, and had taken a heathen wife. In consequence of desolating wars, they were driven from Tahiti, and obliged to take refuge in the neighboring islands. Very soon, how- ever, a revolution took place : King Pomaree became a convert, and Avas restored, a general revival of religion followed, and most of the natives professed to be Christians. The prosperity of the mission . was afterwards much hindered by an invasion of the French, who took possession of the islands, and endeavored to bring over the natives to the Roman-Catholic faith. The most of them, however, adhered to their original profession; and they have become a Christian people. In 1806, the London Missionary Society commenced a mission to China. The celebrated Dr. Morrison was their first missionary, who succeeded in preparing a Chinese grammar and lexicon, and translating the whole Bible into that difficult language. The soci- ety early established missions in India, at JSIadagascar, the Cape of Good Hope, and the West-India islands. It has long been, and still is, one of the most efficient organizations for the spread of the gospel. The Church ^lissionary Society is next in order among the estab- lishments of Britain for the propagation of the gospel. It originat- ed in a revival of religion in the evangelical portion of the Church of England near the beginning of the present century. Among 1050 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. its earliest friends were Simeon, Cecil, the Venns, and William Wilberforce. The society was formed in 1801, and had its first missionary station on the western coast of Africa. It has missions also in Ea^ern Africa, in Austi-alia, at New Zealand, in different parts of India an4 China, in Greece, and among the Indians of British America. This is one of the strongest missionary organiza- tions in the world. For many years, its annual income has been more than half a million of dollars. Another of the great British establishments for the spread of the gospel is the General Wesleyan Missionary Society. Under / the direction of Dr. Coke and others, the Wesleyans had estab- lished missions in the West Indies and in British America before the close of the last century. Coke died, while on his way with a company of missionaries to the East Indies, in 1813. Two years later, the General Wesleyan Missionary Society was formed. The present missions of this society are in Ireland, Germany, France, Switzerland, Spain, India, China, New Zealand, Australasia, Poly- nesia, South and West Africa, the West Indies, and in British America. It will be seen that they have spread themselves over no inconsiderable part of the world. The success of these missions has been very great. Their annual income is even larger than that of the Church Missionary Society. In Scotland as well as England, the revival of evangelical religion, near the close of the last century, was fallowed by a revival of the missionary spirit. In 1796, under the presidency of the venerable Dr. Erskine, a missionary society was instituted in Edinburgh and v. Glasgow. An overture was transmitted to the General Assembly with a view to interest that great body in the work, and to secure, through them, a general collection in the churches to aid in propa- gating the gospel among the heathen. But the moderates had then a majority in the assembly ; and the proposition was rejected. After thirty years, another effort was made, and with better suc- cess. A board of missions was instituted, collections were taken up, and the work of spreading the gospel was commenced. The celebrated Dr. Duff was their first missionary, and the first that had ever been sent out by a Protestant church in its corporate capacity. Those which preceded him had all been commissioned by voluntary societies. In the subsequent disruption of the Scot- tish Church, the Free Church carried with it almost all the mis- - sionaries, and most of the missionary spirit, of Scotland. The seat of most of the Scottish missions is in India. BENEVOLENT OPERATIONS. 1051 We have not time to speak particularly of other Protestant mis- sionary societies in Europe, as those of France, Switzerland, Swe- den, Norway, the Netherlands, and Germany. They are earnest, active, useful bodies, doing what they can to promote the great work of the Church in these latter days ; but their means and their influence are comparatively limited. I spoke in the last chapter of the missions of the Moravians, or V United Brethren, and of the zeal and success with which their work was prosecuted. It has continued now for more than a^ hun- dred years ; and, though the ardor of their first love may have somewhat abated, they have never ceased to be a missionary people. . The}'' have stations in various countries, — Labrador, Greenland, Iceland, South Africa, and the West Indies, — where their brethren and sisters are patiently laboring and suffering, and gathering fruit unto eternal life. What Christian would not deem it an honor and a privilege to cast in his lot with such a people ? But it is time that we turn to contemplate the missionary work . in our own country. Several local missionary establishments were commenced in this country as early as 1801, designed chiefly to carry the gospel to our new settlements and to the American Indians. In 1809, some of the students of the Theological Seminary at An- dover — Messrs. Mills, Judson, Newell, and Nott — projected a mis- sion to the heathen in some foreign land. They laid their plans before the General Association of Massachusetts ; and, in the fol- ^ lowing year, the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions was duly organized. This is the largest, as well as the oldest, of all our foreign missionary establishments. In 1812, their first missionaries — four in number — sailed for Calcutta, not knowing exactly where they should find an open field in which to labor. From these small beginnings, the American Board has been pressing onwards for more than half a century, occupying new fields, and multiplying laborers, until their missions are now found in every quarter of the globe. Their earliest establishments were in Bombay and Ceylon ; but they now occupy a considerable part of Southern India. They have their stations in China, in Persia, in Turkey, Syria, and Greece, in Soathern and Western Africa, in the Pacific islands, and among various tribes of American Indians. ' Through the instrumentality of this board, the Sandwich-Islanders have been raised from the condition of mere savages and idolaters to that of a civilized and Christian people. They are already send- ing out missionaries of their own to plant Christianity in the islands 1052 ■ ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. around tliem. The annual receipts of the American Board for several of the last years have been nearly half a million of dollars. The Calvinistic Baptists of this country conduct their foreign missions through the American Baptist Missionary Union. Tlie immediate occasion of the formation of this society was the con- version of two of the first missionaries of the American Board — Messrs. Judson and Rice — to the particular views of the Baptists. These brethren changed their sentiments soon after tlieir arrival . in India ; and a society was immediately formed by the Baptists of this country for their support. The society was first called the General Missionary Convention ; but in 1846 it assumed the name of the American Baptist Missionary Union. Its first mission was formed by Dr. Judson at Rangoon, in the Burman Empire ; but its principal success has been among the Karens in that vicinity. It has 'Stations also in Assam, in Cliina, in Western Africa, and in France, Germany, and Greece. Its annual receipts for several years have been about a hundred thous'and dollars. The Presbj'-terians in this country, and the Protestant-Episcopal Church, conduct their missions by means of ecclesiastical boards. The Presbyterian Board have missions in Northern India, in Cliina, in Western Africa, and among the American Indians. The Epis- copal Board have missions in Liberia, in Cliina, in Greece, and at Constantinople. Both are efiicient bodies, and are doing much for the general diffusion, of the gospel. The energy with which the Methodist-Episcopal Church, from its first planting in this country, has prosecuted the work of domes- tic missions, will account in part for the lateness of its efforts for the salvation of the heathen. The Methodist-Episcopal Missionary. Society was formed in 1836. It has missions in Liberia, in South America, in China, and among various tribes of American Indians. . The American INIissionary Association was formed in 1816. It has been, from the first, of a decidedly antislavery character, and grew out of a difference of opinion among some of the supporters of the American Board in reference to that subject. It has mis- sions in Western Africa, in Siam, in Jamaica, and among the American Indians ; but, since the close of the late war, its efforts have been chiefly directed to the freedmen in the Southern States. Its income is large at present ; and it is doing a great and good work. The American and Foreign Christian Union was formed in 1849. It labors chiefly for the conversion of RomaiTLQatholics ; and its BENEVOLENT OPERATIONS. 1053 stations are found in most of the Catholic countries of Europe and America, not forgetting the numerous Catholic emigrants to the United States. It occupies a wide and important field. We only- wish that its receipts were increased, that so it might occupy it more efficiently. There are several smaller foreign-missionary associations in the United States, of which I will mention only that of the Freewill .baptists. It was founded in 1837. Its principal mission is at Orissa, in the East Indies. The work of home missions in this country was commenced earlier than that of foreign missions. Several local societies were in active operation previous to the commencement of the present century. These continued to multiply until the year 1826, when the American Home Missionary Society was formed ; and most of the societies already in existence became auxiliary to it. Formerly the Presbyterians were connecte(i with this society ; but they have left it, and are conducting their domestic missions through their - ecclesiastical boards. At present, therefore, the American Home Missionary Society is confined to the Congregationalists. Its re- ceipts are large ; and it is doing a vastly important work. Its mis- sions are found in nearly all parts of the countr}^, from Eastern Maine to the Pacific Ocean. Inhabiting so vast a country as we do, and the most of it a new country, the home-missionary work assumes an importance here which it can present nowhere else. Evangelical Christians of every class enter heartily into it, and are exciting one another to love and good works. It would be needless to mention particular- ly all the various home-missionary organizations. Next to the Con- gregationalists and Presbyterians, those of £he Methodists and Bap- tists are the most numerous and efficient. The Lord prosper every well-directed effort to send the gospel into all parts of this broad land until the whole of it shall be given to Christ ! The Christians of Europe have not the same inducements with us to engage in the work of domestic missions. The field has been long occupied, and is a comparatively contracted one. Still they are doing something for this ol)ject, particularly in Great Britain and among the Protestants of France. It would be interesting to speak of their different organizations ; but we have not time. It remains that we refer briefly to some other important benevo- lent efforts which characterize the age in Avhich we live. One of them is to seek out and educate pious and promising young men, 1054 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. and prepare tliem to become pastors and missionaries. And much of this work is doing, and has been done. The establishment of theological seiTiinaries in this country dates back to the early part of the present century. There were no such institutions here at an earlier period. And the origin of education societies is even more recent than that of seminaries. The American Education , Society was formed in Boston in the year 1816 (more than half a century ago), and has been in constant and efficient operation ever since. It has aided in sending two thousand young ministers into the great field of the world, of whom about two hundred have been foreign missionaries. Other societies and educational boards have accomplished nearly as much. The circulation of religious books and tracts has also been under- taken both in this country and in England, and has been carried to a vast extent. The London Tract Society was formed in 1799, chiefly through the instrumentaUty of Rev. George Burder. It was aided by Christians of different denominations, and was pledged to publish nothing to offend any class of serious, evan- gelical Christians. At the end of fifty years, its receipts had been almost six millions of dollars ; and the number of publications issued was five hundred millions. It must have published as many more since that time. Religious tract societies have also been established in France, in Holland, in Germany, and even in Russia. The American Tract Society at Boston was formed in 1811, and, after a fruitful and prosperous course of about ten years, was united with the larger society at New York. Owing to a difference of opinion as to the propriety of circulating antislavery publications, the two societies separated several years ago, and have not as yet become united. They have accomplished the same great work in this country which the London society has performed in England. Their issues of tracts and books in different languages amount to millions, while their annual receipts have been not less than three hundred thousand dollars. We shall not enter at large into the history of the Sabbath-school enterprise. It commenced in England, under the direction of Robert Raikes of Gloucester, and William Fox of London ; and was at \ first intended only for the children of the poor. The English Sabbath-school Union was established in 1803 ; and its ~! influence is felt in every part of the British islands. The Sunday schools in this country are of later origin ; but their extension and BENEVOLENT OPERATIONS. 1055 usefulness have been immense. In the year 1824, most of the existing Sabbath-school societies were merged in the American ^ Sunday-school Union at Philadelphia, in'tended to unite the several evangelical denominations in establishing and sustaining schools throughout the country. From that day to this, the work of the union has been vigorously prosecuted in sending out agents to establisli schools in destitute regions, and supplying their schools with libraries and books. The Methodists, and some other denom- inations, have preferred not to unite with the Union, but to prose- cute their Sabbath-school operations by themselves. In addition to this vast array of benevolent operations, all look- ing directly or indirectly to the same end, — the sjiread of Christ's kingdom throughout the earth, — much has been done in various ^ways to abolish unchristian practices, and promote a moral refor- mation. j\Iy space will allow me to speak of only two of these ; viz., the temperance reformation^ and the overthrow of slavery. There was a steady increase of intemperance in the United States in the early part of the present centurj^, which awakened the greatest solicitude among all good men. The evil was vigorously assailed, in the pulpit and out of it, by such men as Dr. Rush of Philadelphia, and Drs. Beecher, Humphreys, Hewit, and Justin Edwards; and -a deep and general impression was made. Temper- ance societies began to be formed as early as 1813; and these have been steadily increasing in numbers and efficiency, and have been improving their methods of operation, to the present time. The I result has been an entire change in the habits of the community, from the promiscuous sale and use of alcoholic liquors to an almost entire abstinence. In several of the States, the sale of such liquors is sternly prohibited ; while, in all, a jpublic sentiment has been created, which renders their sale and use unpopular, and even -v scandalous. The gain to morality and religion which tins refor- mation has accomplished is incalculable. We wish tliat it had made as much progress in other countries as in our own. One hundred years ago, not only slavery, but the African slave- trade, was in full blast ; and the enormity of it was scarcely suspected. Good men participated in it without compunction or restraint. The evil seemed to be past removal ; but God opened the eyes of individuals in England and in this country to see the enormity of it, and stirred them up to expose and attack it. The ^slave-trade was first assailed in the British Parliament by such men as Wilberforce, Sharp, and Clarkson ; and, after a long and severe 1056 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. struggle, was abolished in 1807. Next followed the emancipation of slaves in the British West Indies in 18o3 ; and, ten years later, the abolition of slavery in the British possessions in the East. And, within the last few years, not only the slave-trade, but slavery, has been abolished in our own country. At the same time, the emperor of Russia has emancipated millions of serfs or slaves in his dominions. In view of these rapid and surprising changes, involving a loss, to the owners of slaves, of untold millions, we can - only look on with wonder, and exclaim, " What hath God wrought ! " The world could never have been evangelized while the curse of slavery was upon it : and, to the admiration and gratitude of all good men, God has suddenly interposed ; and the insuperable obstacle is taken out of the, way. In concluding this hasty sketch of what has been accomplished for Christ and his kingdom since the commencement of the present century, is it not obvious that we are living in a most remarkable period of the world ? Through the entire track of ages over which we have passed in this history, from the beginning to the present time, ' where shall we find another such period, or any thing approaching to it or resembling it ? And what do these great and glorious events which our own eyes see occurring around us — what do they mean ? What do they j)ortend ? Can we, or cani we not, discern the signs of the times? Remembering the predic- tions of the holy prophets, that a day is to come when " the knowledge of the Lord shall fill the earth as the waters fill the channels of the deep ; " when " the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High," — can we avoid •the conckision, that the latter-day glory of the Church is near at - hand, and that the great movements which we have contemplated are preparing the way for it ? For myself, I acknowledge that I can put no other interpretation upon them. I tvould ^wt no other. I see the hand of God in all the changes which have been wrought, and the great things which have been accomplished, — the same God who inspired the utterances of the holy prophets ; and I cannot resist the conclusion, that these utterances are already in the progress of fulfilment, and that the day is approaching when they shall be to the letter fulfilled. I knoAV that there is a great deal of wickedness yet in the world ; alas! a great deal. There is ignorance to be removed, and prejudice to be subdued, and oppo- BENEVOLENT OPERATIONS. 1057 sition to be broken down, and sin to be extirpated; but the God of all the promises is on the throne, and he is able to fulfil them. It IS not his wont to begin a great work, and then abandon it. He who has already accomplished so much as we have seen, and all m the same direction, will assuredly carry it on to a glorious com- |>letion. Let us, then, patiently wait, and fervently pray, and earnestly labor, for Christ and his kingdom, and be ready to meet him at his coming. INDEX. Aaron meets Moses, 228. dies, 266. Abel, when slain, 127. in heaven, 128. Abelard, 764. Abraham and his time, 165-192. when born, 165. his removals, 166. in Egj-pt, 167. parts from Lot, 168. engaged in war, 169. his covenant, 172, 174. a church in his family, 175. in Beersheba, 182. required to sacrifice his son, 182. marries Keturah, 187. his sons by Keturah, 187. dies, 188. our example, 191. Adam and Eve on probation, 104. Adrian, 599. Ahab, 339. Albigenses, 782. Alexander the Great bom, 398. invades the Persians, 399. spares Jerusalem, 399. punishes the Samaritans, 400. defeats the Persians, 401. his death, 402. his empire divided, 403. Alexander Janneus, 444. Alexandria built, 401. Alexandrian library, 405. . Alva, duke of, 998. his cruelty, 999, 1000, 1006. returns to Spain, 1001. Ambrose, 680. Anabaptists, 909, 1017. Andrew, life of, 526. Anselm, 763. Antinomianism in the fii'st centurj', 594. Antiochus Epiphanes, 414-424. Antipater, father of Herod, 448. Antoninus Pius, 600. Apologies for Christianity, 602. Aquinas, Thomas, 764. Arabic learning, 788. Ararat, 150. Aristotelianism prevails, 717, 813. Arius and Arianism, 685-688, 731. Ark among the Philistines, 306. Arminius and Arminianism, 1029. Art of printing, 812. Artaxerxes Longimanus, 384-395. Asa's reign, 337-340. Athanasius, 075. Augsburg Confession, 947. Augustine of Hippo, 679. Aurelius, Marcus, 601. Babel built, 158. Babylon, history of, 362-373. taken by Cyrus, 370. Balaam sent for, 268. slain, 271. Baptism and regeneration, 618. Barbarians, 666.- Barnabas, 562. Baronius' Annals, 38. Beaton, Cardinal, a bitter persecutor, 970. slain, 971. Bede's History, 37. Beguinre, 809. Belgium separated from Holland, 1002. Benedictine monks, 721. Bernard, abbot of Clairval, 763. Bible societies, 1048. Bishop of Rome in the fourth century, 669. Bishops of Rome and Constantinople, 692, 719, 771. Bishops distinct from presbyters, 608. Bloody sacrifices early instituted, 126. 1069 1060 INDEX. Boniface, Apostle of Germany, 712. Boniface VIII., 793. Bossuet's History, 39. Bradwardine, 798. Brethren of the Free Spirit, 807. r Briconnet, bishop of Meaux, 617. Bushmen of South Africa, 116. Cain and Abel, 125-133. Cain's posterity, 128. wife, 130. Calvin, his birth and education, 925. studies law, 926. his conversion, 927. publishes his Institutes, 928. arrives at Geneva, 929, 1014, 1016. banished from Geneva, 985. recalled, 986. his death, 986. Canaan, the conquest of, 255-287. Cardinals, 752. Carlstadt, 895. Catechetical school at Alexandria, 648. Cathari, 782. Cellites, 809. Celsus, 603. Centuriators, their history, 37. Charlemagne, 716, 738. Charles V. chosen emperor, 853. invades Italy, 944. abdicates, 995. Christ's birth, 475. state of the world, 471-474. Christ, his life, 475-508. carried into Egypt, 477. resides at N.azareth, 477. his baptism, 479. his ministry, its duration, 480. his transfiguration, 486. raises Lazarus, 491. purges the temple, 493. his journeys, 494. his last passover, 496. institutes the Lord's Supper, 497. is crucified, 500. rises from the dead, 502. his risen body, 505. his ascension, 507. Christian dispensation, when commenced, 510. Church, who its first members, 512. Christianity widely diff"used, 584-587. Christians, character of, at first, 596. Chronology of the Old Testament, 68-79. Hebrew and Septuagint, 68. Chinese, 72. Egyptian, 72. Chaldsean, 78. Chronology of the Hindoos, 73. Hebrew, preferred, 77. ^ Chrysostom, 678. Church of God one body, 509, 572. and State united, 668. Churches at first congregational, 573, 580. their powers and rights, 574. independent, 575. in fellowship, 577. Church historians, 34. officers, 577-580. Circumcision instituted, 175. Claudius of Turin, 761. Clement of Alexandria, 616. Clement of Rome, 567. Clergy, character of, in the middle ages, '758, 814, 824. Cobham, his martyrdom, 955. Colenso, Bishop, his objections, 239. ■ Columba, 724. Commodus, 602. Consequences of the apostasy, 112. Constantine the Great, 633, 656-660, 668. Constantinople taken by the Turks, 792. Controversy, the first, 590. with Gnostics, 592-594. in the Romish Church, 1010, 1023. in the Lutheran Church, 1013. Council of Constance, 794. of Trent opened, 950. broken up, 951. re-assembles, 952, 1009. of Nice, 670. Councils, CEcumenical, 670. Cranmer, Archbishop, 957. Creation, what, 80. incalculably remote, 82. six days' work, 83-85. Creed, Nicene, 689. Cromwell, Oliver, 1028. Crusades, 743-748. Culdees, 711, 968. Curses after the Fall, 109. Cyprian, 645. Cyrillus Lucaris, 1024. Dancers, 808. Daniel carried to Babylon, 365. under Darius and Cjt.-us, 374-376. Dante, 818. Darius Hystaspis, 378-381. David, his early historj'-, 319. kills Goliath, 313. made king, 322. his wars, 323-326. his fall, 325. his death, 329. INDEX. 1061 D'Aubign^'s History, 44. Days of creation, literal, 85-89. Deacons appointed, 518. Death threatened (Gen. ii. 17), what, 105. temporal, what, 105. terminates probation, 111. Decius a persecutor, 629. Deluge, 133-154. time of it, 135. its universality, 136. traditions of it, 139-144. and geology, 145. ^ objections, 147-154. its lessons, 153. Depravity, 28, 112, 121. Diet at Worms, 803.' Nuremberg, 885, 890. Spire, 943, 945. Augsburg, 947. Diffusion of the race, 118. Dioceses, how formed, 608. Diocletian persecution, 631-633. Dispersion of mankind, 160. Doctrines of apostolical fothers, 588-590. in the second century, 618-625. Dominicans, 760, 806. Donatists, 693; Dorcas raised, 522. Dort, Synod of, 1029. Duns Scotus, 798. Du Pin's History, 39. Ebioxites, 629. Eck, 850, 855, 911. Eden, where, 96. Edward VI. of England, 961. his death, 963. Egypt, its plagues, 220-237. Egyptians, their learning and arts, 224. Elijah the Tishbite, 339. Elisha, 341. Elizabeth, Queen, 965. restores Protestantism, 966. persecutes the Puritans, 966. her character, 967. Elohistic and Jehovistic, 59. Emser's Testament, 880. England in fifth period, 710. sixth, 737. the seventeenth centuiy, 1030. English infidels, 1032, 1042. Enoch's translation, 132. Episcopacy in the third century, 637. Erasmus, his opinion of Luther, 861. Esau and Jacob born, 192. sells his birthright, 192. Esther, 385-3S7. Eusebius of C?esarea, 674. Eusebius' History, 35. Evagrius' History, 36. J£zra sent to .lerusalcm, 385. liis work at Jerusalem, 387. Fall of man possible, 117. Famine in Egypt described, 206. in Canaan, 207. Fare], 915. Fathers of New England, 1029. Flagellants, 7G9, 807. Fleury's History, 38. France, civil wars, 989, 991, 993. the murders of St. Hartholomew's, 990. Francis I., king of France, 918. taken prisoner, 919. liberated, 921. his death, 925. Franciscans, 760, 806. Frederic the Wise, 822. his dream, 841. his death, 899. French Revolution, 1034. Garden of Eden, where, 96. Geneva, reformation in, 983. Calvin settles there, 984. Genghis Khan, 742. Geology and Scripture, 91. and the Deluge, 145. German rationalism, 1038. Giesler and Ncander, 42. Gnosticism, 621, 623. Gnostics, 58. Gospel sent to the Gentiles, 523. Gottschalk, 762, 773. Greek Church, 1011. Gregory the Great, 725. Vn., 753. Guises, brothers in France, 987. Ham, where settled, 162. Hamilton, Patrick, martyr, 970. Hannib.al, 412. Hebrew vowel-points, 388. Henke's History, 42. Henry IV. of France, 992. gives the Edict of Nantes, 992. Henry VIII. of England, 955. seeks a divorce, 955. man-ies Anne Boleyn, 957. excommunicated, 957. head of the English Church, 957. permits the Bible to be read, 960. his death, 961. Hennas, 570. 1062 INDEX. Herod begins to reign, 454. makes peace with Augustus, 457. rebuilds the temple, 459. his death, 461. his descendants, 462. Hezekiah, 349-352. Hierocles, 635. History, pre-Adamite, 27. Christ in it, 31. ecclesiastical benefits of, 467-476. Hobbes, 58. Hutten, 820. Idolatry early practised, 166. in Jacob's family, 203. in the camp of Israel, 270. Ignorance of the clergy, 813. Image of God, what, 104. Image- worship, 734, 771. Independence of churches lost, 609. Indulgences, 768, 812, 830, 893. Infidelity in France, 1034. Inquisition, 939. Inspiration, 56. Interim, 951. Interpretation, allegorical, 619. Interpreters classified, 729; 786. lona, 724. Irenseus, 614. Isaac born, 181. his marriage, 187. his death, 196. Ishmael born, 173. in Arabia, 181. Israel, the kingdom of, destroyed, 347. Israelites, how long in Egypt, 221. leave Egypt, 237. number who came out, 238. pass through the sea, 243. journey to Sinai, 244-249. their previous government, 249. worship the calf, 253. leave Sinai, 259. arrive at Kadesh, 261. sent back into the desert, 262. their residence there, 265. bitten with serpents, 267. conquer Sihon and Og, 268. Jacob and Esau bom, 192. obtains the blessing, 195. flees to Padau Aram, 196. in Padan Aram, 199. his return to Canaan, 200. wrestles and prevails, 201. in Canaan, 202. meets his father, 203. Jacob and his famil}^ go into Egypt, 214. his death, 216. Jael and Ehud, 303. James the Elder put to death, 524, 528. James the Less, 535. Jchoshaphat, 340. Jehovistic and Elohistic, 59. Jehu made king, 343. Jephthah and his daughter, 294. Jeroboam, 335. Jerome, 681. Jerome of Prague, 795. Jerusalem destroyed, 356. « rebuilt, 391. Jesuits, 1008. suppressed, 1034. Jesus, son of Sirach, 440. Jewish temple in Egypt, 436. Jews under the Babylonians, 362-373. iinder the Medo-Persians, 374-399. return to their land, 376. under the kings of Syria and Egypt, 405- 418. persecuted, 811. Job, his histoiy, 226. • the book written by Moses, 226. John Baptist, 478. imprisoned, 481. put to death, 484. John Hyrcanus, 438. John the apostle, 536-539. John of Damascus, 730. John, king of England, 759. John Huss, 795. John, elector of Saxony, 899. his death, 949. John Frederic becomes elector, 949. Jonathan MaccabKus, 435. his death, 437. succeeded by Simon, 437. Joseph sold into Egypt, 205. his promotion, 20G. made known to his brethren, 211. his death, 218. Joshua, first mention of, 247. his early history, 283. author of the book, 284. contents of the book, 285. lessons from it, 289-292. his death, 287. Josiah, 353. Jotham, 348. Judas Slaccabceus, his victories, 420-434. purifies the temple, 422. ^ his death, 434. his character, 434. Jude the apostle, 533. INDEX. 1063 Judges, author of the book, 293. its contents, 297-303. who were the judges, 284. the number of them, 284. how long they i-uled, 295. lessons from the book, 305. .Julian the Apostate, 6C1. Julius Cfcsar fovors the Jews, 451. Justin Martyr, 611-614. Justinian, 709. Kempis, Thomas a, 800. Kings and Chronicles compared, 356-361. Knights of St. John, 748, Templars, 748. Teutonic, 748. Knox, John, 971. returns to Scotland, 974. his death, 979. Korah destroj-ed, 264. Language confounded, 158. what the original, 159. Learning, history of, 786-788. Le Clerc, 918. Le F6vre, 916. Lollards, 809. Lombard, Peter, 764. Louis XIV., king of France, 993. revokes the Edict of Nantes, 994. ' persecutor, dragonades, 994. Luke, 35, 561. Luther, his birth and early life, 827. graduates at Erfurt, 828. studies law, 829. enters a convent, 829. distressed for sin, 830. his conversion, 831. professor at Wittenberg, 832. goes to Rome, 833. his theses on free-will and grace, 836. attacks indulgences, 841. summoned to Rome, 846. his trial before Ctijetan, 847. meets Miltitz, 849. disputes with Eck at Leipsic, 850. excommunicated, 855. burns tlie bull, 858. protected by the elector, 860, before the Diet at Worms, 864-871. shut up in the Wartburg, 873, returns to Wittenberg, 877. encounters the fanatics, 879. publishes his New Testament, 880, his reply to Henry VIIL, 882. is married, 900. his death, 950. Lutheran Church, 1011, 1025, 1037. Maccabees, 419-454. Machpelah, 185. Magicians, their miracles, 230. Malachi, 394. Manasseh, 352. Manes and his heresy, 649. Manna, 245. Jhtrgarct, Queen of Navarre, 917, 986. Mariolatry, 778. Mark the ev.angelist, 560. Mark, John, 561. ^hirpurg conference, 913, 945. Martyrs in the third century, 627. first of the Reformation, 888. Marj', Queen of England, 903. restores the Catholic religion, 963. puts many to death, 964. her death, 965. Mary, Queen of Scots, 970. educated in France, 971. marries the king of France, 972. returns to Scotland, 977. imprisoned and beheaded, 978. Matthew the apostle, 530. his Gospel, 532. Matthias, father of the Maccabees, 420. JIatthias the apostle, 535. JIaurice betrays the Protestants, 951. defeats the emperor, 952. JIaximilian, 822. Melancthon converted, 851. publishes his Theology, 880. Melchisedek, 170. Jlen not savages at first, 125. Mendicants, 759. Millenarianism in tenth century, 595. Milman's History, 44. Milner's Church Historj', 44. Miltitz, 848, 855. Miracles, 52. cease, 606. Miriam dies, 266. Missionary societies, 1048-1053. Mohammed, 714. Monasteries in England suppressed, 958. Monasticism, 619, 703, 770. Monks, character of, 758. Monophysites, 691, 731, 780. Monothelites, 733. Montanus, 624. Moravians, 1037. Moses, first church historian, 34. author of Pentateuch, 60-65. and his times, 221-282. his birth, exposure, and rescue, 223. his education in Eg}-pt, 224. his residence in Midian, 226. 1064 INDEX. Moses commissioned to deliver Israel, 227. before Pharaoh, 228-235. in the mount 252-255. his last address to his people, 273. his death and burial, 275. his character, 276-280. lessons from his history, 280-282. Mosheim's History, 40. Nathanael the apostle, 530. Neander and Gieseler compared, 42. Nebuchadnezzar, 365-368. Nehemiah sent to Jerusalem, 390. his administration, 390-395. his character, 394. Neo-Platonic philosophy, 647. Nestorius and Nestorians, 690, 712, 731, 742, 780, 792. Nineveh, history of, 362-365. destr(»yed, 365. Noah after the Deluge, 71, 156. his offering, 155. Norman pirates, 750. Novatians, 652. Okigen, 640-644, 647, 653, 701. Paisic about the end of the world in tenth cen- tury, 770^ Papess Joanna, 757. Passover instituted, 236. Patriarchal government, 21. Patriarchs, 669, 720. Patrick, St., 667. Paul the apostle, 540-559. his conversion, 541. in Arabia, 541. his first mission, 543. his second mission, 546. at Ephesus, 550. imprisoned at Ctesarea, 553. carried to Rome, 554. after enlargement, 556. his martyrdom, 557. his character, 558. Paulicians, 780. Peace of Augsburg, 953. Pelagius and Pelagianism, 695-699. Pentateuch, author of, 58-66. Pentecost, when occurred, 515. its great events, 514-517. Pepin, 716. Persecutions at Rome, 583. in first century, 581. in second century, 598-601. in third century, 627-634. in Spain, 891, 997. in France, 920-925, 988. Peter the apostle, life of, 524. Petrarch, 818. Pharaoh, his cruelty, 222. how God hardened him, 242. God's dealings with him vindicated, 233. Pharisees, 441. Philip the apostle, 529. landgi'ave of Hesse, 891. Philip II. succeeds his father, 995. his character, 995. Philosophy of history, 26-33. transcendental, 22-26. Pietists, 1026. Plagues of Egypt, their design, 235. Polycarp, 569. Pompey captures Jerusalem, 449. Pontiffs, how chosen, 1007. their characters, 757. Pope of Rome, his temporal power, 716. defends images, 736. his high claims, 751-753. his contests with sovereigns, 753-757. Leo X. dies, 834. Popedom removed to France, 793. Popery and forgery, 752. PorphjTy, 634. Pre-Adamite men, none, 89. Priscillianists, 700. Progress of Christianity in second century, 603- 606. Prophecy fulfilled, 424-430. Protestant, origin of the title, 945. Protestants form an alliance, 948. form a treaty with Charles, 949. defeated at Ingolstadt, 951. secure a lasting peace, 953. Puritans, origin of, 966. Pyramids, 70. Quakers, 1031. Quietists, 808. Realists and Nominalists, 776, 813. Reformation, preparation for it, 817-824. attempts for it, 825. its influence on literature, 883, 893. established in Zurich, 903. established in Berne, 912. in France, 916-929. in Denmark and Sweden, 930. in the Netherlands, 931, 995. in Bohemia and Moravia, 933. in Italy, 934-939. in Spain, 939-942. in England, 954-967. in Scotland, 968-980. in Ireland, 980. INDEX. 1065 Reformation in Switzerland, 902-915, 982-986. Reformed clmrclies, 1014, 1027, 1040. Refonners disagree, 894. Relioboani, 335. Renata, dnchcss of Fen-ara, 987. Richelieu, Cardinal, 993. Rites connected with baptism, 639. multiplied, 010, 638, 671, 722, 778, 811. Romanists engage in missions, 1008, 1021. Romish persecutions, 1022. Church in the eighteenth ceuturj', 1033. Sabbath, 672. Sabellius, 652. Sacred history, peculiarities of, 47-56. Sadducees, 409. Salvation, how sought in the fifth period, 728. Samaria, a revival there, 520. Samuel and Saul, 306. anoints David, 311. his death, 313. his character and works, 314-318. Saracens, 749, 792. Sarah dies, 184. Saul made king, 309. his treatment of David, 313-320. his death, 315. Saul of Tarsus, his conversion, 521. Savonarola, 800. Saxons converted by Charlemagne, 713. Schaff 's History, 45. Schism of the West, 794. School at Antioch, 684. Schools of the prophets, 314. sabbath, 1054. Scotists, 806. Scotland becomes Popish, 968. state of, before the Reformation, 969. reformed religion established in, 976. Semi-Arianism, 689. Semi-Pelagianism, 699. Semler's rationalism, 42, Septuagint translation, 406. Sermon on the Mount, 482. Serpent, what, 106. Shakers, 1043. Shedd's Historj- of Doctrines, 44. Shera, where settled, 162. Shinar, where, 157. Signs of the times, 1056. Simon the Just, 404. the sorcerer, 520. Zelotes, 532. the Stylite, 667. Slavery and Christianity, 665. overthrown, 1055. Socinians, 1019. Sociology, 22. « Socrates the historian, 36. Sodom destroyed, 178. Solomon born, 325. made king, 325. builds the temple, 331. his fall, 322. his death, 333. lessons from his history, 333. Sozomen's History, 30. Spies sent into Canaan, 261. Spinoza, 58, 1032. Spirits, evil, their influence, 30. Spurious writings, 649. State of religion in second century, 625. in period third, 654. • in period fourth, 702. in period fifth, 736. in period sixth, 788, 790. in period seventh, 814, 816. of Europe in period fifth, 707. in period sixth, 738-740. Stephen put to de.ith, 519. Superstitions in period sixth, 768-771. Synagogues established, 388-392. Synods commence, 609. T.\BERNACLE buUt, 254. Talmud, 389. Tamerl.ane, 792. Temperance reformation, 1055. Temple, Bishop, 24. Temple rebuilt, 377-379. on Mount Gerizim, 394 Tertullian, 616. Tetzel, 836-839, 843. Theocracy, what, 250. when instituted, 250. Theodoret's History, 36. Theodosius the Great, 664. Theologians, how divided, 648, 729, 805. Thomas a Kempis, 800. Thomas the apostle, 532. Thomists, 805. Timothy, 563-566. Titus, 566. Tract societies, 1054. Trajan, 598. Transubstantiation, 714. Tree of life, 99-102. Trinity corrupted, 683. Turks, 749. TjT)es and symbols, 52. Unitaeianism in New England, 1044. United Brethren, 934. Unity of the human race, 114-124. 1066 INDEX. Unity important, 124. ' Universalists, 1043. Universities, 787, 812. Waldenses, 783, 810, 815, 923, 1027. Waldo, Peter, 784. War not encouraged in Josliua, 288. of the peasants, 896-898. of the Anabaptists, 950. between the Protestants and emperor, 951. Thirty -Years', 1022. Water from the rock, 247, 266. Wesleyan Metliodists, 1042. White brethren, 808. Wickliffe, John, 801, 804, 954. William, prmce of Orange, 997. slain, 1002. William, prince of Orange, his character, 1003. Wishart, George, 971. Witch of Endor, 316. Wolsey, Cardinal, 955. Xavier, Feaxcts, 1008. Xenophon's Anabasis, 397. Xerxes, 381-383. Zechariah and Elizabeth bom, 446. Zoroaster, 380. Zwlngle, his birth and education, 902. settled at Zurich, 903. his theses, 904. is married, 907. slain in war, 914. compared with Luther, 914, 1014. DATE DUE PRINTED INU.S A.