.; ..^tjMEirt:^ >.'.'' 4'% I \f:s ^ a"confessicn of^faith! J. A. EDGERTON. I h;i.ve no creed. The Universe wheels on. I am but as an atom 'mid the worlds; And yet I feel the spirit of God within me, and lam sat- isfied •• I have no creed. Creeds are but words. Love is reality. Love Qlls the heart *•■ •- With charity, with p^ace, "With faith, with hope, with heaven- Love to the Father Love to Christ Love to our fellows — This I feel within and it shaH guide me. He who is ruled by loye— By spirit love, not lust, By love divine — He who is ruled by love Will not go wrong. I have no creed. Good is the only rule. For what elS4 live we? Fame?— It turns to ashes in the grasp. j^jclies?— They are wrung from the heart's blood of our fellows. Knowledge?— It is but a babble of words. But Good— Love— Truth -Beauty— These are the verities, These are eternal. I have no creed And yet I fear not death. Death is a shadow. Wrong— Hate— Error — All are but shadows. But I am eternal, Why should I fear the things that only seem? I seek for the eternals: And will muke my heart A precious storehouse for them So that they may abide with me forever. I have no creed. But I have in me that surpassing words. A faith in GJod as boundless as tiie bca; A love that takes in all the human race. 1 see good in^all creeds,, Good in all religions. Good in all men, Good in all living things. The only sin to me is selfishness: The only happiness the good wc do. O let us drop these empty sounds and forms, The letter that divides in warring sects.. And '"i, us fill our heart^with love, to m.en. 0 build a church as wide as hum.^n needs. Imbue it with the spirit, not the tas^, And henceforth leave the race unlettered, free •Tu iOUoAv out its impulses divine. For God is in us and will lead us on If we' leave out our hates and follow Him. 1 have no creed. <~>r, if a creed, but this, 1 love hum.ouity. My life and alTl am I freely give To better make the world, to help mankind. ^.^ My only creed is love — I know no more — ,' The Fatherhood of God. The Brotherhood of man. 'No one could tell raft wljore my Soul might bo. I searched for God but God eluded me. I sought my brother out, and found all three," ajid adds: "I tske my place in the lower classes. I renounce the title of gentleman because it has become intolerable to me. Dear Master. I uadorstand now why you, too, took your place, in the lower classes. And why you refused to be a gentleman." ^_ Wendell PhllHpn closed hia orationT'entitled 1 'Harper's Ferry" with the foUowinj; words: "Kight forever on the scaffold. Wrong forever on the throne; .But the scaffold sways the future, And behind the dim uubnown Btandeth God, within the shadow, Keopina; watch above His own." SOC!.kLISn"THE WORLD'S PURPOSE. IDWnf UAIiKBAM IN NIW YORK JOtJRNAl* Men say that Life's high liope is vain; That one force holds the heart— the hope «»ain. Are, then, the August Powers behind the veil vVearj' of watch and po-werless to prevail? Have they grown pai.sied with the creep of ag And do they burn no more with pallid rage? Are the shrine.«; empt;- and the altar.i cold. Where once the saints and heroes kaeit of old! Not so; the vast inbrothering of man — The plories of the universe — be-ran When first the Mother Darkness heard The Wiiifcper, and the ancient chaos stirred, And now the feet of Christ are in evonis. Briiijjiug tli<» seas, shakinsr the continents. His feel are heard in the historic march Under t4ie:,whirlwind, under the starry arch. Forever the Great Purpose p»esses on, From darkn«ss unto darkness, da^\n to dawnj Resolved to lay the rafter and the beam Uf JuEtice — the imperishable Dream. This is'the voice of Time asrainst the Hours; This is the witness of Cosmic Powers; This is the Music of the ages— this The song whose first note shook the first Abyss.] All that we plory in was once a dream; The world-will marches onward gleam gleam. N«v? voices speak, dead paths begin to stir; MaiD Is emerging from the sepulcher! Let no man dare To \»rite oii Time's preat way, "No Thorough- fare!'' ,,;•-;- GOD'S PRESENCE. BY O. W. CBOFTS. I never s:\w a radiant flower Bend lowly o'er tlie sod: I nuver saw a inountaiu tower Above the clouds in mijflity power That did not sueali of God. I never looked on ocean's blue When summer skies were fair; I never saw the inornl;r.''s liue Reflected in the trembliu? dew But God was preijeut there. I never felt a joy or pain. I never shed a tear: I never heard a sweat refrain Across fond memory's golden plain That God did not draw ne.ir. And so I know 'twill surely bo Wheu mortal life is o'er— , When far across ihe siionl sea The boatman pale has wafted me, Hell meet meat the shorel ncJl BluffB. c J L.-^ ^ A. f ^^TM i\ M E m-w ^m\n^ u RELllilOUS DENOMINATIONS WORLD: COMPRISING A GENERAL VIEW OF THE OIMGIN, HISTORY, AND CONDITION OF THB VARIOUS SECTS OF CHRISTIANS, THE JEWS, AND MAHOMETANS, AS WELL AS THE PAGAN FoltMS OF RELIGION EXISTING IN THE DIFFERENT COUNTRIES OF THE EARTH: ^kk\t$ 0f i^t iamhxs of iarious Idigious Btf:t&* FROM THE BEST AUTHORITIES. By VINCENT L. MILNE R A KEW AND IMPROVBD I.UITION. WITH AN APPENDIX BROUGHT UJ' TO THE PRESENT TIME. By J. NEWTON BROWN. D. D. EDITOR OF " ENCVULOPEDIA OF Ki;Mi:iOL'S KNOWI.KDOE." SOLD ONLY BY SUBSCRIPTION. IMlILADELl'HfA: BRADLEY & CO., 66 NOllTil FOURTH STREET. ASTIER, ADAMS & HIGGINS, No. 76 EAST MARKET ST., INDIANAL'OLIS, IND. 1868. Entered according t.i Act of CongitKS, in the year 1866, by BRADLEY i CO., In the Clerk's Office of the District Court ul tlie United States, in iuul lur the K:)stern District of Peniif-ylvania. PREFACE. The following view of the religious denominations of the world has been carefully compiled from the best authorities on the sub- ject. In order to render it as complete as the limits of the volume would permit, the method has been followed of present- ing summaries of the doctrines of each sect or religion without in general adducing the arguments by which they are sustained. The latter course would have led into too wide a field of contro- versy. In order to preserve the degree of impartiality which the reader is entitled to expect in a work of this kind, the com- piler has confined himself to authorities in which the doctrines of the several sects are drawn from the published works of their founders or leading writers. The subject is full of instruction. It forms a part of the his- tory of the human intellect, as it has been exercised in different a"es of the world, on topics the most interesting that can possibly claim the attention of mankind. In reviewing the various forms of faith and shades of opinion on religion which have prevailed (iii) IV PEEFACE. in different ages and various parts of the world, we may learn the influence of external circumstances on in textual belief; and that of speculative opinions on the actual conduct of life. We per- ceive also the first effect of freedom of religious inquiry, in multi- plying sects and dividing extensive religious organizations into uumerous branches. Above all, we may learn from this general survey of religious sects, the lesson of charity and forbearance tow- ard those who may entertain theological opinions different from our own. This volume will also show the gratifying truth, that while the first effect of religious freedom may be to multiply divisions, its final effect is to heal them. Some of the most scandalous divisions in all ages have grown out of the attempts of governments, civil and ecclesiastical, to stifle freedom of inquiry and suppress its manifestations ; and while such despotism continues, no restorative process is possible. Whereas, the natural growth of Christian feeling under free institutions, tends to bring together bodies long divided and alienated, whether in the Old World or in the New. This happy effect of perfect religious freedom is most manifest iu our own country at the present time. As in the beginning, Chris- tians were " of one heai't and of one soul," so it may be hoped, they will here become, through the unfettered study of the Scrip- tures and the influence of the same Spirit which then guided them into all truth : " for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord." Sects will disappear in the overflowing fulness of faith and love. Despotism in Church and State may produce hypocriti- cal Uniformity, but perfect religious freedom is the primary condi- tion of Christian Unity. A.LPHABETICAL INDEX. i VAQt ABYSSINIAN CHURCH 35C ADAMITES.. 2.57 AFRICAN METHODISTS 101 ACNOETAE 393 ALBANENSES 394 ALBIGENSES 362 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANS Ill ANABAPTISTS 341 ANTI-SABBATARIANS 446 ANTINOMIANS 344 ARIANS 228 ARMENIANS 230 ARMINIANS 231 ASSOCIATE PRESBYTERIANS 121 ASSOCIATE REFORMED 124 ATHEISTS 449 BAPTISTS 35 B ASILIDIANS 446 B AXTERI AN S 234 BEREANS 388 BR AMINS 471 BROWNISTS 188 B UDDIIISTS 474 CALVINISTS 329 CAMPBELLITE BAPTISTS 134 CARMATHITES 4J4 (V) VI ALPHABETICAL INDEX. CERINTHIANS 427 CHRISTIANS 152 CHRISTIANS OF ST. JOHN 447 CHRISTIANS OF ST. THOMAS 448 CIRCUMCELLIONS 442 COOCEIANS 386 COLLEGIANS 388 COLORED METHODIST EPISCOPAL 201 CONGREGATIONALISTS 169 CONGREGATIONAL METHODISTS 101 COPHTS 444 CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIANS 127 DANCEJIS 385 DAVIDISTS 385 DEISTS 413 DONATISTS 411 DUTCH REFORMED 53 EBIONITES 409 ENGLISH PRESBYTERIANS 110 BPHRATA BAPTISTS 147 EPISCOPALIANS 46 ER ASTI ANS 384 EUCHITES 408 EUNOMIANS 407 EUTYCHI ANS 315 EVANGELICAL ASSOCIATION 100 EVANGELICAL LUTHERANS 71 FIFTH MONARCHY MEN 318 FLAGELLANTS 337 FRATRICELLI 319 FREE-WILL BAPTISTS 132 FRENCH PROPHETS 440 GALILEANS 429 GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH 56 ALPHABETICAL INDEX. Vll < ; XOSTICS 241 GREEK CHURCH 263 G UEBRES 452 HOPKINSIANS 378 HUGUENOTS 206 HUSSITES 245 nUTCHINSONI ANS 378 ICONOCLASTES 253 INDEPENDENTS 191 JACOBITES 435 JANSENISTS 436 JESUITS 369 JEWS 296 JUMPERS 345 KIRK OP SCOTLAND 102 L AM AISTS 468 LATITUDINARIANS 395 LIBERTINES 403 LOLLARDS 367 LUCI ANISTS 427 LUCIFERI ANS 428 LUTHERANS 59 MAHOMETANS 267 MANICHiEANS 321 MAROIONITES 325 M ARONITES 326 MATERIALISTS 430 MELCHITES 426 MENNONITES 148 METHODISTS 76 METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH 95 METHODIST PROTESTANTS 99 METHODIST SOCIETY 98 MINOR DENOMINATIONS OF BAPTISTS 143 viii ALPHABETICAL INDEX. MOLINISTS 323 MONOPHYSITES 422 MONOTHBLITES 424 MONT ANISTS , 335 MORAVIANS . ... 130 MORMONS 180 MUGGLETONIANS MYSTICS 336 347 NECESSARIANS 364 NEONOMI ANS 199 NESTORIANS . 453 NONCONFORMISTS , ORIGENISTS 202 396 PAGANS 458 OP AFRICA 477 " CHINA " LAPLAND " MADAGASCAR " MEXICO " NORTH AMERICA " " PERU 460 463 498 481 504 .500 510 " " POLYNESIA 493 PANTHEISTS 354 P AULICIANS 401 PAULIANISTS 400 PELAGIANS 314 PETROBRUSSIANS PIETISTS 399 ... . 321 PURITANS 185 QUAKERS 213 REFORMED METHODISTS 98 RELLYA NISTS 118 42G X ALPHABETICAL INDEX. DUTCH EEFORMED CHURCH. . . . 536 EPISCOPALIANS 535 FREE CHURCH 540 FREE-WILL BAPTISTS : 542 GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH 536 GNOSTICS 544 GREEK CHURCH 548 KIRK OF SCOTLAND 539 LOLLARDS 553 LUTHERANS 536 MAHOMETANISM 548 MANICHAE ANS 549 METHODISTS 538 MORMONS 544 MONOPHYSITES 553 PAGANS 553 PAGANS OF AFRICA 554 PAGANS OF AMERICA 555 PAGANS OF CHINA 554 PAGANS OP JAPAN 554 PAGANS OF MADAGASCAR 554 PAGANS OF POLYNESIA 555 PAULICIANS 553 PETROBRUSSIANS 553 PROGRESSIVE FRIENDS 542 RATIONALISTS 544 ROMAN CATHOLICS. 555 SPIRITUALISTS 533 UNITED PRESBYTERIANS 540 UNITARIANS 543 UNIVERSALISTS 543 WALDENSES 558 WICKLIFFITES 546 WINEBRENNARIANS 542 INTRODUCTION. SECTION I. STATE OF THE WORLD IN GENERAL, AT THE BIRTH OW JESUS CHRIST. "When Jesus Christ made his appearance on earth, a great part of the world was subject to the Koman Empire. This empire was much the largest temporal monarchy that had ever existed, so that it was called all the world (Luke ii. 1). The time when the Romans first subjugated the land of Judea, was between sixty and seventy years before Christ was born j and soon after this the Roman Empire rose to its greatest extent and splendor. To this government the world continued subject till Christ came, and many hundred years afterwards. The remoter nations, that had submitted to the yoke of this mighty empire, were ruled either by Roman governors, invested with temporary commissions, or by their own princes and laws, in subordination to the republic, whose sovereignty was acknowledged, and to which the conquered kings, who were continued in their own dominions, owed their borrowed majesty. At the same time, the Roman people, and their venerable Senate, though they had not lost all shadow of liberty, were yet in reality reduced to a state of servile submission to Augustus Caesar, who, by artifice, per- fidy, and bloodshed, attained an enormous degree of power, and (xi) Xii INTRODUCTION. united in his own person the pompous titles of Emperor, Pon- tiff, Censor, Tribune of the People; in a word, all the great offices of the State. At this period, the Romans, according to Daniel's prophetic description, had trodden down the kingdoms, and by their ex- ceeding strength devoured the whole earth. However, by en- slaving the world, they civilized it; and whilst they oppressed mankind, they united them together. The same laws were everywhere established, and the same languages understood. Men approached nearer to one another in sentiments and man- ners ; and the intercourse between the most distant regions of the earth was rendered secure and agreeable. Hence, the benign influence of letters and philosophy was spread abroad in coun- tries which had been before enveloped in the darkest ignorance. Just before Christ was born, the Roman empire not only rose to its greatest height, but was also settled in peace. Augustus Caesar had been for many years establishing the state of the Roman Empire, and subduing his enemies, till the very year that Christ was born : then, all his enemies being reduced to subjection, his dominion over the world appeared to be settled in its greatest glory. This remarkable peace, after so many ages of tumult and war, was a fit prelude to the ushering of the glorious Prince of Peace into the world. The tranquillity which then reigned was necessary to enable the ministers of Christ to execute with success their sublime commission to the human race. In the situation into which the providence of God had brought the world, the gospel in a few years reached those remote corners of the earth into which it could not otherwise hav,e pene- trated for many ages. All the heathen nations, at the time of Christ's appearance on earth, worshipped a multiplicity of gods and demons, whose favor they courted by obscene and ridiculous ceremonies, and whose anger they endeavored to appease by the most abominable cruelties. Every nation had its respective gods, over which one, moro excellent than the rest, presided; yet in such a manner, that the supreme deity was himself controlled by the rigid decrees of INTRODUCTION. xiii fate, or by what the philosopliers called eternal necessity. The {iods of the East were diftorcnt from those of the Gauls, the Germans, and other northern nations. The Grecian divinities differed from those of the Egyptians, who deified plants, and a great variety of the productit>ns both of nature and art. Each people had also their peculiar manner of worshipping and ap- peasing its respective deities In process of time, however, the Greeks and llouians grew as ambitious in their religious preten- sions, as in their political claims. They maintained that their gods, though under different appellations, were the objects of religious worship in all nations; and therefore they gave the names of their deities to those of other countries. The deities of almost all nations were either ancient heroes, renowned for noble exploits and worthy deeds, or kings and geAerals, who had founded empires, or women who had become illustrious by remarkable actions or useful inventions. The merit of those eminent persons, contemplated by their posterity with enthusiastic gratitude, was the cause of their exaltation to celes- tial honors. The natural world furnished another kind of dei- ties; and as the sun, moon, and stars shine with a lustre superior to that of all other material beings, they received religious homage from almost all the nations of the world. From those beings of a nobler kind, idolatry descended into an enormous multiplication of inferior powers ; so that, in many countries, mountains, trees, and rivers, the earth, the sea, and wind, nay, even virtues, and vices, and diseases, had their shrines attended by devout and zealous worshippers. These deities were honored with rites and sacrifices of various kinds, according to their respective nature and offices. Most nations offered animals, and human sacrifices were universal in ancient times. They were in use among the Egyptians till the reign of Amasis. They were never so common among the Greeks and Romans ; yet they were practised by them on extraordinary occasions. Porphyry says " that the Greeks were wont to sacri- fice men when they went to war." He relates, also, <'that human eacrifices were offered at Rome till the reign of Adrian, who or- dered them to be abolished in most places." Xiy INTRODUCTION. Pontiffs, priests, and ministers, distributed into several classes, presided over the Pagan worship, and were appointed to prevent disorder in the performance of religious rites. The sacerdotal order, which was supposed to be distinguished by an immediate intercourse and friendship with the gods, abused its authority in the basest manner, to deceive an ignorant and wretched people. The religious worship of the Pagans was confined to certain times and places. The statues, and other representations of the gods, were placed in the temples, and supposed to be animated in an incomprehensible manner — for they carefully avoided the imputation of worshipping inanimate beings — and therefore pre- tended that the divinity, represented by the statue, was really present in it, if the dedication was truly and properly made. Besides the public worship of the gods, to which all, without exception, were admitted, there were certain religious rites cele- brated in secret by the Greeks, and several eastern countries, to which a small number was allowed access. These were called mysteries ; and persons who desired an initiation, were obliged previously to exhibit satisfactory proofs of their fidelity and patience, by passing through various trials and ceremonies of the most disagreeable kind. The secret of these mysteries was kept in the strictest manner, as the initiated could not reveal anything that passed in them, without exposing their lives to the most imminent danger. These secret doctrines were taught in the mysteries of Eleusis, and in those of Bacchus and other divinities. But the reigning religion was totally external. It held out no body of doctrines, no public instruction to participate on stated days in the esta- blished worship. The only faith required, was to believe that the gods exist, and reward virtue, either in this life or in that to come ; the only practice, to perform at intervals some religious acts, such as appearing in the solemn festivals, and sacrificing at the public altars. The spirit and geniui5 of the Pagan religion was not calculated to promote moral virtue. Stately temples, expensive sacrifices, pompous ceremonies, and magnificent festivals, were the objects INTRODUCTION. XV presented to Its votaries. But just notions of God, jbeJience to His moral laws, purity of heart, and sanctity of life, were not once mentioned as ingredients in religious service. No repent- ance of past crimes, and no future amendment of conduct, were ever prescribed by the Pagans, as proper means of appeasing their oflPended deities. Sacrifice a chosen victim, bow down before an hallowed image, be initiated in the sacred mysteries, and the wrath of the gods shall be averted, and the thunder shall drop from their hands. The gods and goddesses, to whom public worship was paid, exhibited to their adorers examples of egregious crimes, rather than of useful and illustrious virtues. It was permitted to con- sider Jupiter, the father of the gods, as an usurper, who expelled his father from the throne of the universe, and is, in his turn, to be one day driven from it by his son. The priests were little solicitous to animate the people to virtuous conduct, either by precept or example. They plainly enough declared, that all which was essential to the true worship of the gods, was con- tained in the rites and institutions which the people had received by tradition from their ancestors. Hence the wiser part of man- kind, about the time of Christ's birth, looked upon the whole system of religion as a just object of ridicule and contempt. The consequence of this state of theology was an universal corruption of manners, which discovered itself in the impunity of the most flagitious crimes. When the llomans had subdued the world, they lost their own liberty Many vices, engendered or nourished by prosperity, delivered them over to the vilest of tyrants that ever afflicted or disgraced human nature. Despotic power was accompanied with all the odious vices which are usually found in its train, and thej rapidly grew to an incredible pitch. The colors are not too strong which the apostle employs in drawing the character of that age, in Rom. i. 21, 22, etc., and in Eph. iv. 17-19. At the time of Christ's appearance on earth, the religion of the llomans, as well as their arms, had extended itself throu^rh- out a groat part of the world. Besides the religious rites, which XVI INTRODUCTION. . Numa and others had instituted for political views, the Romans added several Italian and Etrurian fictions to the Grrecian fables, and gave also to the Egyptian deities a place among their own. In the provinces subjected to the Roman government, there arose a new kind of religion, formed by a mixture of the ancient rites of the conquered nations with those of the Romans. Those rations, who, before their subjection, had their own gods, and their own particular religious institutions, were persuaded by degrees to admit into their worship a great variety of the sacred rites and customs of the conquerors. When, from the sacred rites of the ancient Romans, we pass to review the other religions which prevailed in the world, it will appear obvious, that the most remarkable may be properly divided into two classes — one of which will comprehend the religious systems which owe their existence to political views ; and the other, of those which seem to have been formed for military purposes. The religion of most of the eastern nations may be ranked in the former class, especially that of the Per- sians, Egyptians, and Indians, which appears to have been solely calculated for the preservation of the State, the support of the royal authority and grandeur, the maintenance of public peace, and the advancement of civil virtues. The religious system of the northern nations may be comprehendeci under the military class; since all the traditions among the Grermans, the Bretons, the Celts, and the Goths, concerning their divinities, have a manifest tendency to excite and nourish fortitude, ferocity, an insensibility of danger, and contempt of life. At this time Christianity broke forth from the east like a rising sun, and dispelled the universal religious darkness which obscured every part of the globe. " The noblest people," says Dr. Robertson, " that ever entered upon the stage of the world, pppear to have been only instruments in the Divine Hand, for the execution of wise purposes concealed from themselves. The Roman ambition and bravery paved the way, and prepared the world, for the reception of the Christian doctrine. They fought and conquered, that it might triumph with the greater ease (seo I — INTRODUCTION. XYll Isaiah x. 7). By means of their victories, the overruling pro- vidence of God established an empire, which really possesses that perpetuity and eternal duration which they vainly arrogated to their own. He erected a throne which shall continue forever, and of the "increase of that government there shall he no end:' It has been mentioned to the honor of Christianity, that it rose and flourished in a learned, inquiring, and discerning age; and made the most rapid and amazing progress through the im- mense empire of Rome, to its remotest limits, when the world was in its most civilized state, and in an age that was universally distin^'uished for science and erudition. SECTION II. STATE OF THE JEWISH NATION AT THE BIRTH OE JESUS CHRIST. The state of the Jews was not much better than that of other nations, at the time of Christ's appearance on earth. They were governed by Herod, who was himself tributary to the lloman people. His government was of the most vexatious and oppres- sive kind. By a cruel, suspicious, and overbearing temper, he drew upon himself the aversion of all, not excepting those who lived upon his bounty. Under his administration, and through his influence, the luxury of the Romans was introduced into Palestine, accompa- nied with the vices of that licentious people. In a word, Judca, governed by Herod, groaned under all the corruption which might be expected from the authority and example of a prince who, though a Jew in outward profession, was, in point of morals and practice, a contemner of all laws, human and divine. After the death of this tyrant, the Romans divided the go- vernment of Judea between his sons. In this division, one- half the kingdom was given to Archelaus, under the title of Exarch. Archelaus was so cormpt and wicked a prince, that at last both Jews and Samaritans joined in a petition against hiui 2* B Xviii IX T R OD U CTI ONi to Augustus, who banished him from his dominicns, about te-c years after the death of Herod the Great. Judea was by this sentence reduced to a Roman province, and ordered to be taxed. The governors whom the Romans appointed over Judea, were frequently changed, but seldom for the better. About the six- teenth year of Christ, Pontius Pilate was appointed governor, tlic whole of whose administration, according to Josephus, was one continual scene of venality, rapine, and of every kind of ravage cruelty. Such a governor was ill calculated to appease the ferments occasioned by the late tax. Indeed, Pilate was so far from attempting to appease, that he greatly inflamed them, by taking every occasion of introducing his standards, with images, pictures, and consecrated shields, into their cityj and at last by attempting to drain the treasury of the temple, under pretence of bringing an aqueduct into Jerusalem. The most remarkable transaction of his government, however, was his con- demnation of Jesus Christ; seven years after which he was removed from Judea. However severe was the authority which the Romans exercised over the Jews, yet it did not extend to the entire suppression of their civil and religious privileges. The Jews were, in some measure, governed by their own laws, and permitted the enjoy- ment of their religion. The administration of religious ceremo- nies was committed, as before, to the high priest, and to the Sanhedrim ; to the former of whom the order of priests and Levites was in the usual subordination; and the form of outward worship, except in a very few points, had suffered no visible change. But, on the other hand, it is impossible to express the disquietude and disgust, the calamities and vexations, which this unhappy nation suffered from the presence of the Romans, whom their religion obliged them to regard as a polluted and idolatrous people ; in a particular manner, from the avarice and cruelty of the praetors, and the frauds and extortions of the publicans. So that, all things considered, their condition, who lived under tho government of the other sons of Herod, was much more sup- portable than the state of those who were immediately subject to the Roman jurisdiction. I K T R 0 D U C T I 0 N. xix [t was not, however, from the Romans only, that the calami- tic. of this miserable people proceeded. Their own rulers mul- tiplied their vexations, and debarred them from enjoying any little comforts, which were left them by the Roman magistrates. The leaders of the people, and the chief priests, were, according to the account of Joseph us, profligate wretches, who had pur- chased their places by bribes, or by other acts of iniquity, and who maintained their ill-acquired authority by the most abomi- nable crimes. The inferior priests, and those who possessed any shadow of authority, were become dissolute and abandoned to the highest degree. The multitude, excited by these corrupt examples, ran headlong into every kind of iniquity; and by their endless seditions, robberies, and extortions, armed against them- selves both the justice of God and vengeance of man. About the time of Christ's appearance, the Jews of that age concluded the period pre-detcrmined by God to be then com- pleted, and that the promised Messiah would suddenly appear. Devout persons waited day and night for the consolation of Israel ; and the whole nation, groaning under the Roman yoke, and stimulated by the desire of liberty or of vengeance, expected their deliverer with the most anxious impatience. Nor were these expectations peculiar to the Jews. By their dispersion among so many nations; by their conversation with the learned men among the heathens; and by the translations of their inspired writings into a language almost universal, the principles of their religion were spread all over the East. It became the common belief, that a Prince would arise at that time in Judca, who would change the face of the world, and extend his .snpire from one end of the earth to the other. Two religions flourished at this time in Palestine; the Jewish and Samaritan. The Samaritans blended the errors of Paganism with the doctrines of the Jews. The whole body of the people looked for a powerful and warlike deliverer, who, they supposed, would free them from the Roman authority. All considered the whole of religion as consisting in the rites appointed by Moses, and in the performance of some external acts of duty. All were XX INTRODUCTION. iinanimous in excluding the other nations of the world from the hopes of eternal life. The learned among the Jews were divided into a great variety of sects. The Pharisees, the Sadducees, and Essenes, eclipsed the other denominations. The most celebrated of the Jewish sects was that of the Pharisees. It is supposed by some, that this denomination sub- sisted about a century and a half before the appearance of our Saviour. They separated themselves not only from Pagans, but from all such Jews as complied not with their peculiarities. Their separation consisted chiefly in certain distinctions respect- ing food and religious ceremonies. It does not appear to have interrupted the uniformity of religious worship, in which the Jews of every sect seem to have always united. This denomination, by their apparent sanctity of manners, had rendered themselves extremely popular. The multitude, for the most part, espoused their interests; and the great, who feared their artifice, were frequently obliged to coiu^t their favor. Hence they obtained the highest offices both in the State and priesthood, and had great weight both in public and private affairs. It appears from the frequent mention which is made by the evangelists of the Scribes and Pharisees in conjunction, that the greatest number of Jewish teachers or doctors of the law, (for those were expressions equivalent to scribe) were, at that time, of the Pharisaical sect. The principal doctrines of the Pharisees are as follows : That the oral law, which they suppose God delivered to Moses by au archangel on Mount Sinai, and which is preserved by tradition, is of equal authority, with the written law : That, by observing both these laws, a man may not only obtain justification with God, but perform meritorious works of supererogation : That fasting, alms-giving, ablutions, and confessions, are sufficient atonements for sin : That thoughts and desires are not sinful, unless they are carried into action. This denomination acknow- ledged the immortality of the soul, future rewards and punish- ments, the existence of good and evil angels, and the resurrec- tion of the body. They maintained both the freedom of the INTRODUCTION. XXI will and absolute predestination, and adopted the Pythagorean doctrine of the transuiigratiun of souls, excepting the notoriously wicked, whom they supposed consigned to eternal punishment. The peculiar manners of this sect are strongly marked in the writings of the evangelists, and confirmed by the testimony of th; Jewish authors. They fasted the second and fifth day of the week, and put thorns at the bottom of their robes, that they might prick their legs as they walked. They lay upon boards covered with flint stones, and tied thick cords about their waists. They paid tithes as the law prescribed, and gave the thirtieth and fiftieth part of their fruits, adding voluntary sacrifices to those which were commanded. They were very exact in per- forming their vows. The Talmudic books mention several distinct classes of Pharisees ; among whom were the Truncated Pharisee, who, that he might appear in profound meditation, as if destitute of feet, scarcely lifted them from the ground ; and the Mortar Pharisee, who, that his contemplations might not be disturbed, wore a deep cap in the shape of a mortar, which would only permit him to look upon the ground at his feet. Such expedients were used by this denomination to captivate the admiration of the vulgar; and under the appearance of singular piety, they disguised the most licentious manners. The sect of the Sadducees derived its origin and name from one Sadoc, who flourished in the reign of Ptolemy Philadelphus, about two hundred and sixty-three years before Christ. The chief heads of the Sadducean doctrine are as follows : All laws and traditions, not comprehended in the written law, are to be rejected as merely human inventions. Neither angels nor spirits have a distinct existence, separate from their corporeal vestment. The soul of man, therefore, expires with the body. There will be no resurrection of the dead, nor rewards and punishments after this life. Man is not subject to irresistible fate, but has the framing of his condition chiefly in his power. Polygamy ought to be practised. The practices of the Pharisees and Sadducees were both per- fectly suitable to their sentiments. The former were notorious hypocrites; the latter, scandalous libertines. XXll INTRODUCTION. Tlie Essenes were a Jewish sect. Some suppose tliey took their nse from that dispersion of their nation, which took place after the Babylonian captivity. They maintained that rewards and punishments extended to the soul alone, and considered the body as a mass of malignant matter, and the prison of the immor- tal spirit. The greatest part of this sect considered the laws of Moses as an allegorical system of spiritual and mysterious truth, and renounced all regard to the outward letter in its explanation. The leading traits in the character of this sect were, that they were sober, abstemious, peaceable lovers of retirement, and had a perfect community of goods. They paid the highest regard to'the moral precepts of the law, but neglected the ceremonial excepting what regarded personal cleanliness, the observation of the Sabbath, and making an annual present to the temple at Jerusalem. They commonly lived in a state of celibacy, and adopted the children of others, to educate them in their own principles and customs. Though they were, in general, averse to swearing, or to requiring an oath, they bound all whom they initiated by the most sacred vows, to observe the duties of piety, justice, fidelity, and modesty ; to conceal the secrets of the fra- ternity; to preserve the books of their instructors; and with great care to commemorate the names of the angels. Philo mentions two classes of Essenes; one of which followed a practical institution. The other professed a theoretical institu- tion. The latter, who were called Theraputa3, placed their whole felicity in the contemplation of the Divine nature. Detaching themselves entirely from secular affairs, they transferred their property to their relations and friends, and retired to solitary places, where they devoted themselves to an holy life. The principal society of this kind was formed near Alexandria, where they lived, not far from each other, in separate cottages, each of which had its own sacred apartments, to which the inhabitants retired for the purposes of devotion. Besides these eminent Jewish sects, there were several of inferior note, at the time of Christ's appearance : the Herodians, mentioned by the sacred writers; and the Gaulonites, by Josephus. INTRODUCTION. XXUl The Herodians derived their name from ITerod the Great. Their distinguishing tenet appears to be, that it is lawful, when constrained by superiors, to comply with idolatry and with a false religion. Ilerod seems to have formed this sect on pttrposc to justify himself in this practice, who, being an Idumean by nation, was indeed half a Jew and half a Pagan. He, during his long reign, studied every artifice to ingratiate himself with the emperor, and to secure the favor of the principal personages in the court of Rome. Jo.sephus informs us, that his ambition, and his entire devotion to Ca;sar and his court, induced him to depart from the usages of his country, and, in many instances, to violate its institutions. He built temples in the Greek taste, and erected statues for idolatrous worship, apologizing to the Jews that he was absolutely necessitated to this conduct by the superior powers. We find the Sadducccs, who denied a future state, readily embraced the tenets of this party : for the same persons, who, in one of the gospels, are called Herodians, are, in another called Sadducees. The Gaulonites were Galileans, who derived their name from one Judas Theudas, a native of Gaulon in Upper Galilee, who, in the tenth year of Jesus Christ, excited his countrymen, the Galileans, and many other Jews, to take arms, and venture upon all extremities, rather than pay tribute to the Romans. The principles he instilled into his party were, not only that they were a free nation, and ought not to be in subjection to any other; but that they were the elect of God; that he alone was their governor; and that, therefore, they ought not to submit to any ordinance of man. Though Theudas was unsuccessful, and his party, in their very first attempt, entirely routed and dis- persed, yet, so deeply had he infused his own enthusiasm into their hearts, that they never rested, till in their own destruction, they involved the city and temple. Many of the Jews were attached to the oriental philosophy concerning the origin of the world. From this source the doc- trine of the Cabala is supposed to be derived. That considerable nmnhers of the Jews had imbibed this system, appears evident both from the books of the New Testament, and from the ancient XXIV INTRODUCTION. history of the Christian church. It is also certain that many of the Gnostic sects were founded by Jews. Whilst the learned and sensible part of the Jewish nation was divided into a variety of sects, the multitude was sunk into the most deplorable ignorance of religion, and had no conception of any other method of rendering themselves acceptable to God than by sacrifices, washings^ and other external rites and cere- monies of the Mosaic law. Hence proceeded that dissoluteness ot manners which prevailed among the Jews during Christ's ministry on earth. Hence also the divine Saviour compares the people to sheep without a shepherd, and their doctors to men who, though deprived of sight, yet pretended to show the waj to others. In taking a view of the corruptions both in doctrine and prac- tice, which prevailed among the Jews at the time of Christ's appearance, we find that the external worship of God was dis- figured by human inventions. Many learned men have observed that a great variety of rites was introduced into the service of the temple, of which no traces are to be found in the sacred writings This was owing to those revolutions, which rendered the Jewv more conversant than they had formerly been, with the neigh.- boring nations. They were pleased with several of the ceremonier which the Greeks and Romans used in the worship of the i'agau deities, and did not hesitate to adopt them in the service of the true God, and add them as an ornament to the rites, which they had received by divine appointment. The Jews multiplied so prodigiously, that the narrow bounds of Palestine were no longer sufficient to contain them. The'y poured, therefore, their increasing numbers into the neighboring countries with sucb rapidity, that, at the time of Christ's birth, there was scarcely a province in the empire where they were not found carrying on commerce and exercising other lucrative arts. They were defended in foreign countries against injurious treat- ment by the special edicts of the magistrates. This was abso- lutely necessary ; since, in most places, the remarkable difference of their religion and manners from those of other nations, ex- posed them to the hatred and indignation of the ignorant and INTRODUCTION. XXV bigoted multitude. " All this," says Dr. Mosheim, " appears to have been most singularly and wisely directed by the adorable hand of an interposing Providence, to the end, that this people, v^i'.ich was the sole depository of tlie true religion, and of the knowledge of one supreme God, being spread abroad through the whole earth, might be everywhere, by their example, a reproach to superstition, contribute in some measure to check it, and thus prepare the way for that yet fuller discovery of divine truth, which was to shine upon the world from the ministry and gospel of the Son of God." SECTION III. AN ACCOUNT OF THE PHILOSOPHICAL SYSTEMS WHICH WERE IN VOGUE AT THE TIME OF CHRIST'S APPEARANCE. At the important era of Christ's appearance in the world, two kinds of philosophy prevailed among the civilized nations. One was the philosophy of the Greeks, adopted also by the Romans; and the other, that of the Orientals, which had a great number of votaries in Persia, Syria, Chaldea, Egypt, and even among the Jews. The former was distinguished by the simple title of philowplii/. The latter was honored by the more pompous appellation oi science or hnoidedge ; since those who adhered to the latter sect pretended to be the restorers of the knowledge of God, which was lost in the world. The followers of both these systems,- in consequence of vehement disputes and dissensions about several points, subdivided themselves into a variety of sects. It is, however, to be observed, that all the sects of the Oriental philosophy deduced their various tenets from one fundamental principle, which they held in common ; but the Greeks were much divided about the first principles of science. Amongst the Grecian sects there were some who declaimed openly against religion, and denied the immortality of the soul; and others, who acknowledged a Deity, and a state of future rewards and punishments. Of the former kind were the Epi- cureans and Academics; of the latter, the Platonistb and Stoics 3 .'XXVI INTRODUCTION. The Epicureans derived their name from Epicurus, who wag born in the hundred and ninth olympiad, 242 years before Christ. He accounted for the formation of the world in the following manner : A finite number of that infinite multitude of atoms, •vhich, with infinite space, constitutes the universe, falling for- tuitously into the region of the world, were, in consequence of their innate motion, collected into one rude and indigested mass All the various parts of nature were formed by those atoms, which were best fitted to produce them. The fiery particles formed themselves into air; and from those which subsided, the earth was produced. The mind or intellect was formed of par- ticles most subtle in their nature, and capable of the most rapid motion. The world is preserved by the same mechanical causes by which it was framed; and from the same causes it. will at last :e dissolved. Epicurus admitted that there were in the universe divine natures. But he asserted that these happy and divine beings did not encumber themselves with the government of the world : yet, on account of their excellent nature, they are proper objects of reverence and worship. The science of physics was, in the judgment of Epicurus, subordinate to that of ethics; and his whole doctrine concerning nature was professedly adapted to rescue men from the dominion of troublesome passions, and lay the foundation of a tranquil and happy life. He taught, that man is to do everything for his own sake ; that he is to make his own happiness his chief end, and do all in his power to secure and preserve it. He considered pleasure as the ultima^te good of mankind ; but asserts that he does not mean the pleasures of the luxurious, but principally tho freedom of the body from pain, and of the mind from anguish and perturbation. The virtue he prescribes is resolved ultimately into our private advantage without regard to the excellence of its own nature, or of its being commanded by the Supreme Being. The followers of Aristotle were another famous Grecian sect. That philosopher was born in the first year of the ninety-ninth olympiad, about 384 years before the birth of Christ. Aristotle supposed the universe to have existed from eternity INTRODUCTION. XXVU He admitted, however, the exitstenoe of a deity, -whom lie styled t\\o Jird mover, and whose nature, as explained by him, is some- thing like the princijile which gives motion to a machine. It is a nature wholly separated from matter, immutable, and far superior to all other intelligent natures. The celestial sphere, wliich is the region of his residence, is also immutable; and residing in his first sphere, he possesses neither immensity nor omnipresence. Happy in the contemplation of himself, he is entirely regardless of human affairs. In producing motion, the deity acts not voluntarily, but necessarily; not for the sake of other beings, but for his own pleasure. Nothing occurs in the writings of Aristotle which decisively determines whether he supposed the soul of man mortal or immortal. Respecting ethics, he taught that happiness consisted in the Tirtuous exercise of the mind, and that virtue consists in pre- serving that mean in all things which reason and prudence describe. It is the middle path between two extremes, one of which is vicious through excess, the other through defect. The Stoics were a sect of heathen philosophers, of which Zeno, who flourished about 350 years before Christ, was the original founder. They received their denomination from a place in which Zeno delivered his lectures, which was a portico at Athens. Their distinguishing tenets were as follows : That God is unde- rived, incorruptible, and eternal; possessed of intelligence and goodness ; the efficient cause of all the qualities and forms of things; and the constant preserver and governor of the world. That matter is also underived and eternal, and by the powerful energy of the Deity impressed with motion and form : That though God and matter subsisted from eternity, the present regular frame of nature had a beginning, and will have an end. That the element of fire will at last, by an universal conflagration, reduce the world to its pristine state. That at this period ail material forms are lost in one chaotic mass, all animated nature is reunited to the Deity, and matter returns to its original form. That from this chaotic state, however, it again emerges, by the energy of the efficient principle; and gods and men, and all XXVlll INTRODUCTION. forms of regulated nature, are renewed, to be dissolved and renewed in endless succession. That at the restoration of all things, the race of men will return to life. Some imagined that each individual would return to its former body; while others supposed that after the revolution of the great year, similar soula would be placed in similar bodies. Those among the Stoics who maintained the existence of the soul after death, supposed it to be removed into the celestial regions of the gods, where it remains, till, at the general confla- gration, all souls, both human and divine, shall be absorbed in the Deity. But many imagined, that before they were admitted among the divinities, they must purge away their inherent vices and imperfections by a temporary residence in the serial regions between the earth and the moon, or in the moon itself. It was supposed that depraved and ignoble souls are agitated after death in the lower region of the air till the fiery parts are separated from the grosser, and fise, by their natural levity, to the orbit of the moon, where they are still further purified and refined. According to the doctrine of the Stoics, all things are subject to an irresistible and irreversible fatality : and there is a necessary chain of causes and efi"ects, arising from the action of a power, which is itself a part of the machine it regulates, and which, equally with the machine, is subject to the immutable laws of necessity. The moral doctrine of the Stoics depends upon the preceding priticiples. They make virtue to consist in an acquiescence in the immutable laws of necessity, by which the world is governed. The resignation they prescribe appears to be part of their scheme to raise mankind to that liberty and self-sufficiency which it is the great end of their philosophy to procure. They assert that virtue is its own proper reward, and vice its own punishment; that all external things are indifferent; and that a wise man may be happy in the midst of tortures. The ultimate design of their pbilosophy was to divest human nature of all passions and affections; and they make the highest attainments and perfection of virtue to consist in a total apathy and insensibility of human evils. INTRODUCTION. XXIX The Platonic philosophy is denominated from Plato, who was born in the eighty-seventh olympiad, 426 years before tlie nativity of Jesus Christ. He founded the old academy on the opinions of Heraclitus, Pythagoras, and Socrates; and by adding the information he had acquired to their discoveries, he estab- lished a sect of philosophers, who were esteemed more perfect than those who had bef ire appeared in the world. The outlines of Plato's philosophical system were as follows : That there is one God, an eternal, immutable, and immaterial being, perfect in wisdom and goodness, omniscient and omnipre- sent. That this all-wise and perfect Being formed the universe out of a mass of pre-existing matter, to which he gave form and arrangement. That there is in matter a necessary, but blind and» refractory force, which refits the will of the Supreme Artificer, so that he cannot perfectly execute his designs; and this is the cause of the mixture of good and evil which is found in the material world. That the soul of man was derived by emanation from God ; but that this emanation was not immediate, but through the intervention of the soul of the world, which was itself debased by some material admixture. That the relation which the human soul, in its original constitution, bears to matter, is the source of moral evil. That when God formed the universe, he separated from the soul of the world inferior soul3, equal in number to the stars, and assigned to each its proper celestial abode. That these souls were sent down to earth to be imprisoned in mortal bodies ; hence proceed the depravity and misery to which human nature is liable. That the soul is immortal; and by disengaging itself from all animal passions, and rising above sensible objects to the contemplation of the world of intelligence, it may be prepared to return to its original habitation. That matter never suffered annihilation, but that she world will remain forever; but that by the action of its animating principle, accomplishes certain periods, within which everything returns to its ancient place and state. This periodical revolution of nature is called the Platonic or great year. The Platonic system makes the perfection of morality to con- sist in living in conformity to the will of God, the only author XXX INTRODUCTION. of true felicity; and teaches that our highest good consists in the contemplation and knowledge of the Supreme Being, whom he emphatically styles -tavyadov, the good. The end of this knowledge is to make men resemble the Deity as much as ia compatible with human nature. This likeness consists in the possession and practice of all the moral virtues. After the death of Plato, many of his disciples deviated from his doctrines. His school was then divided into the old. the middle, and the new academy. The old academy strictly adhered to his tenets. The middle academy receded from his system without entirely deserting it. The new academy, founded by Carneades, an African by birth, almost entirely relinquished the original doctrines of Plato, and verged towards the sentiments which were taught by the Skeptic philosophy. The Skeptic or Pyrrhonic sect of philosophers derive their name from Pyrrho, a Grecian philosopher, who flourished at Peloponnesus, in the hundred and ninth olympiad. This deno- mination was in little esteem till the time of the Roman empe- rors; then it began to increase, and made a considerable figure. Every advance which Pyrrho made in the study of philosophy involved him in fresh uncertainty. Hence he left the school of the dogmatists, and established a school of his own on the principles of universal skepticism. On account of the similarity of the opinions of this sect and those of the Platonic school in the middle and new academy, many of the real followers of Pyrrho chose to screen themselves from the reproach of universal skepticism by calling themselves Academics. Pyrrho and his followers rather endeavored to demolish every other philosophical structure than to erect one of their own. They asserted nothing, but proposed positions merely by way of enunciation, without deciding on which side, in any disputed question, the truth lay, or even presuming to assert that one proposition was more probable than another. On the subject of morals the Skeptics suspended their judgment concerning the ground of the distinction admitted by the Stoics and others, between things in their nature good, evil, or indifferent. INTRODUCTION. XXXI The chief points of difference between the Pyrrhonists and cVcademics are these: The Academics laid it down as an axiom, that nothinii; can be known with certainty ; the Pyrrhonists maintained that even this ought not to be positively asserted. The Academics admitted the real existence of good and evil ; the Pyrrhonists suspended their judgment on this point. The Academics, especially the followers of Cavneadcs, allowed different degrees of probability in opinion; but the Skeptics rejected all speculative conclusions, drawn cither from the testimony of the senses, or from reasoning; and concluded that we can have no good ground for affirming or denying any proposition, or em- bracing any one opinion rather than another. The Eclectic philosophy was in a flourishing state at Alexandria when our Saviour was upon earth. Its founders formed the design of selecting from the doctrines of all former philosophers such opinions as seemed to approach nearest the truth, and of combining them into one system. They held Plato in the highest esteem ; but they did not scruple to join with his doctrines whatever they thought conformable to reason in the tenets of other philosophers. Potamo, a Platonist, appears to have been the first projector of this plan. The Eclectic system was brought to perfection by Ammonias Saccas, who blended Christianity with the tenets of philosophy. The moral doctrine of the Alexandrian school was as follows : The mind of man, originally a portion of the Divine Being, having fallen into a state of darkness and defilement by its union with the bod}', is to be gradually emancipated from the chain of matter, and rise by contemplation to the knowledge and vision of God. The end of pliilosophy, therefore, is the liberation of the soul from its corporeal imprisonment. For this purpose the Eclectic philosophy recoinmends abstinence, with other voluntary mortifications and religious exercises. In the infancy of the Alexandrian school, not a few of the professors of Christianity were led, by the pretensions of the Eclectic sect, to imagine that a coalition might, with great advantage, be formed between its system and that of Christianity. This union appeared the more desirable, as several philoso] hi^rs XXXU INTRODUCTION. of this sect became converts to the Christian faith. The conse- quence was, that Pagan ideas and opinions were by degrees mixed with the pure and simple doctrines of the gospel. The Oriental philosophy was popular in several nations at the time of Christ's appearance. Before the commencement of the Christian era it was taught in the East, whence it gradually spread through the Alexandrian, Jewish, and Christian schools. The Oriental philosophers endeavored to explain the nature and origin of all things by the principle of emanation from an eternal fountain of being. The forming of the leading doctrines of this philosophy into a regular system has been attributed to Zoroaster, an ancient Persian philosopher. He adopted the principle generally held by the ancients, that from nothing, nothing can be produced. He supposed spirit and matter, light and darkness, to be emanations from one eternal source. The active, and passive principles he conceived to be perpetually at variance ; the former tending to produce good ; the latter, evil ; but that, through the intervention of the Supreme Being, the contest would at last terminate in favor of the good principle. According to Zoroaster, various orders of spiritual beings, gods, or demons, have proceeded from the Deity, which are more or less perfect, as they are at a greater or less distance in the course of emanation from the eternal fountain of intelligence, among which the human soul is a particle of divine light, which will return to its source and partake of its immortality ; and matter is the last or most distant emanation from the first source of being, which, on account of its distance from the fountain of light, becomes opaque and inert, and whilst it remains in that state, is the cause of evil; but, being gradually refined, it will at length return to the fountain from whence it flowed. Those who professed to believe the Oriental philosophy were divided into three leading sects, which were subdivided into various factions. Some imagined two eternal principles, from whence all things proceeded ; the one presiding over light, the other over matter, and, by their perpetual conflict, explaining the mixture of good and evil that appears in the universe. Others maintained that the being which presided over matter INTRODUCTION. XXxiii was not an eternal principle, but a subordinate intelligence, one of those whom the supreme God produced from himself. They supposed that this being was moved by a sudden impulse to reduce to order the rude mass of matter which lay excluded from the mansions of the Deity, and also to create the human race. A third sect entertained the idea of a triumvirate of beings, in which the supreme deity was distinguished both from the material evil principle, and from the Creator of this sub- lunary world. That these divisions did really subsist, is evident from the history of the Christian sects which embraced this philosophy. From blending the doctrines of the Oriental philosophy with Christianity, the Gnostic sects, which wei'e so numerous in the first centuries, derive their origin. Other denominations arose, which aimed to unite Judaism with Christianity. Many of the Pagan philosophers, who were converted to the Christian religion, exerted all their art and ingenuity to accommodate the doctrines of the gospel to their own schemes of philosophy. In each age of the church new systems were introduced, till, in process of time, we find the Christian world divided into that prodigious variety of sentiment which is exhibited in the following pages.* * For the above introduction, we are indebted to Miss Hannah Adama* " Vi'>w of Religions."— Ed. HISTORY OF llELIGIONS. BAPTISTS. The members of this denomination are distinguished from all other professing Christians, by their opinions re- specting the ordinance of Christian Baptism. Conceiving that positive institutions cannot be established by analogi- cal reasoning, but depend on the will of the Saviour, re- vealed in express p^'ecejHs, and that apostolical example illustrative of this is the rule of duty, they differ from their Christian brethren with regard both to the subjects and the mode of baptism. With respect to the subjects^ from the command which Christ gave after his resurrection, and in which baptism is mentioned as consequent to faith in tiie gospel, they con- ceive them to be those, and those only, who believe what the apostles were then enjoiiied to preach. With respect to the mode, they affirm that, instead of sprinkling or pouring, the person ought to be immersed in the water, referring to the primitive practice, and observ- ing that the baptizer as well as the baptized having gone doion into the water, the latter is baptized in it, and both come up out of it. They say that John ba[)tized in the Jordan, and that Jesus, after being baptized, came up out (35) B6 BAPTISTS. of it. Believers are also said to be buried with Christ hy baptism into death, wherein also they are raised with him : a doctrinal allusion, incompatible with any other mode. Eom. vi. 4, Col. ii, 12. For baptism here appears as an appointed and expressive emblem of the death of Christ, throuo'h which our sins are remitted or washed awav, and of the resurrection of Christ, through which the Holy Spirit confers upon us a new spiritual life, in which every true believer enters into fellowship with him. In other words, Christian baptism is a figurative representation of that, which the Gospel of Christ is in testimony. To this, therefore, the mind of the baptized believer is naturally led, and every spectator in like manner is impressed with the gospel, not only as truth, but life, derived by faith fi-om the crucified and glorified Eedeemer. The Baptists, therefore, think that none ought to be baptized, but such as with all their heart believe the gospel, and that immer- sion is not properly a mode of baptism, but baptism itself. Holding convictions ^^t once so clear and sacred, drawn from the very fountain of truth, the Baptists, while differ- ing from other Christians, disclaim the. spirit of schism. Feeling the authority of the Great Commission, which re- mains unchanged to the end of the world, they aim to carry out all its parts in the prescribed order, with the fidelity of a good conscience, as under law to Christ, and responsible alone to Him, on whose promised presence and aid they humbly rely. Matt, xxviii: 19,20. They pro fess to love all Christians as brethren ; but they own no other Master than Christ ; no other law in religion than his word ; no baptism but that which is hallowed by faith ; no church, but that which is the living body of Christ, per- vaded and animated by his Spirit. Neither birth, nor age, nor sex, nor nation, nor condition, in their view, can qualify for Christian ordinances, but the faith that worketh by love, BAPTISTS. 37 and which naturally unfolds in obedience to all iJiinjs whatsoever Christ has commanded. As to Church organization and government, Baptists believe in the spiritual Unity of the Clmrch, the collective body of believers, of which Clirist is the head. This unity it is a duty to preserve and cherish, by subjection to Him in all things. Local churches, composed of believers in a particular place, who, being duly baptized, are em- bodied by mutual consent, under the law of Christ, for extending his kingdom, are the first scriptural means of manifesting this spiritual unity. The government of these churches is congregational ; that is to say, being immediately dependent on Christ, they are severally in- dependent of all other authority as churches ; though as citizens, individually subject to the civil power, and loyal in its support. Bach church is completely competent to manage its internal affairs, such as the choice of of&cers, reception, dismission, or discipline of members. Here is the onh^ tribunal in which Chri^it presides, ratifying in heaven what is done according to his will on earth. But this principle of local church independence is not held by Baptists as a law of isolation, for it is balanced by the principle of intercommunion between the churches, which binds them into one. This intercommunion is the highest form of visible unity, and is never without necessity to be interrupted. On this principle, Baptist churches associate for the accomplishment of all common ends, and especially for diffusing the gospel throughout the world. Councils also are called to advise and assist in the formation of churches, the ordination of ministers, and the settlement of any serious difficulties ; but these councils are strictly such, having no judicial or appellate powers. They are composed of both ministers and laymen ; between whom there is no distinction, but that of office. Ministers aro 4 38 BAPTISTS. ordained, both as evangelists and pastors, and deacons also, after due examination, by prayer and tlie laying on of hands in solemn benediction. There are no higher officers recognized than these — no prelacy, no hierarchy — ■ all pastors are equally bishops, in their sacred charge of the flock of Christ. The Baptists are zealous friends of ministerial educa- tion, as their numerous Colleges and Theological Semina- ries show ; but they do not regard such education as in- dispensable to the Christian ministry, Avhere all the scrip- tural qualifications are found ; as in John Bunj^an and Andrew Fuller, who are among their brightest ornaments. Dr. Sprague's volume on the "Baptist Pulpit," is a monument of their eminent men, from the foundation of this country. Dr. Baird, also, in his great work on "Religion in America," has said: " The ministry of the Baptists comprehends a body of men, who in point of talent, learning, and eloquence, as well as in devoted piety, have no superiors in the country." Through their labors, accompanied by the Divine blessing, the Baptists are now, with a single exception, the largest denomination of Christians in the United States, being spread through every State and Territory, and growing at a rate which outstrips the rapid growth of population. ' This fact is the more remarkable, as they are less indebted to emigration from Europe than naost other denominations ; discard on principle infant baptisn^ and birth-right membership, as incompatible with the genius of Christianity, and depend on the powe?. of truth and the Holy Spirit alone for the vital increase of their churches. It is the more remarkable still, because on all sides they are reproached for their strictness of practice on Church communion ; as they think, reproached wrongfully. A few words there- fore may be necessary on this point. BAPTISTS. 39 Baptists believe that, according to the scriptures, the Holy Supper is a church ordinance, intended to express their common fellowship with Christ, as the source and support of spiritual life; and that each church must therefore judge for itself on its responsibility to Christ, of the scriptural qualifications of all who apply for admission. In requiring baptism and church fellowship among these qualifications, they agree with almost all Christians in every age and country ; they differ only in their views of baptism. If their views of baptism are correct, they are bound to apply them impartially to all who apply for admission to communion. The very fact that it is the Lord's table, and not their own, forbids them, even if they would, from changing at their pleasure the divine laws of approaching it. All who agree with them are wel- come to come ; those who do not, and cannot with a good conscience, are at perfect liberty to join elsewhere. Hard cases may arise with individuals, but the churches are not responsible. The right of private judgment is sacred, but it is equally so on both sides ; and the conscience of the individual cannot over-ride the conscience of the church ; for the fellowship of the Spirit cannot be forced. These views, so far from being narrow and bigoted, as some suppose, the Baptists believe to present the only true solution of this question of conscience, when viewed in its broadest aspect, and in the spirit of brotherly love. The strictest Baptists therefore claim, that their commu- nion, in any proper use of the term, is/ree. A laxer and less consistent view obtains to some extent among Bap- tists in England ; but as it rests on no scriptural precept or practice, it is regarded by Baptists in the United States as a perilous anomaly, to be avoided rather than imitated. Not one of their twelve thousand churches indorses it ; not because they do not love and esteem other Christians, 40 BAPTISTS. but because love to tbeir brethren must be regulated in its manifestations by the word of God. By this we know that we love the children of Ood^ when we love God and keep his commnndments. 1 John v. 2. It is this clear conviction of the truth and equity of their principles, that has made the Baptists the pioneers of re- ligious liberty in its full extent, both in the Old World and in the New. Before William Penn, before Lord Baltimore, before Jeremy Taylor, Milton, or Locke, even before William I. of Orange, in the sixteenth century, their clear testimony is on record. And theirs is the high honor of establishing in the little colony of Ehode Island, in 1636, the first civil government in modern times which declared that conscience should be free ; in which noble declaration, fifty years later, they were followed by the Friends, of Pennsylvania ; and since the Eevolution of 1776, by all the United States. This honor history now awards them. But how few know what toils and sacrifices, what vigilance, patience, prayers, tears and blood, it cost the Baptists to win this boon of freedom for all mankind. As will be evident from the above exposition of their principles, the Baptists claim their origin from the minis- try of Christ and his Apostles. They further claim, that all the Christian churches of the first two centuries after Christ, were founded and built up upon these principles ; in proof of which they appeal to the highest authorities in church history, such as Mosheim and Neander. Amid the growing defection of later times, thfey claim to be able to trace their history in a succession of pure churches, under various names, down to the Reformation of the six- teenth century. From the fifth and sixth centuries, these churches became the objects of relentless persecution ; but though persecuted, they were not forsaken ; though scattered, not destroyed : a bush forever burning, but un- BAPTISTS. 41 consumed. Tlie seeds of their principles had long been sown throughout Europe ; the Waldenses had held them fast ; the Paterines suffered for them ; the Lollards dif- fused them ; Wickliffe embraced them. At the first dawn of the Eeformation, they emerged on all sides, and after fifty years of unparalleled sufiering, from Eomanists and Protestants alike, at last found protection under the Prince of Orange, the founder of the Dutch Eepublic. They were called indiscriminately Anabaptists, (or Re- baptizers,) but they of course disowned the name, as in- compatible with their principles, and still more, as dis- graced by a small party of fanatics in Munster, with whom they had not the slightest identity or connection, What the main body really were, and how they bore their terrible sufferings, let Cardinal Hosius, President of the Council of Trent, testify : " If you behold their cheer- fulness in suffering persecution, the Anabaptists run before all the heretics, {i. e. Protestants.) If you have re- gard to the number, it is likely that they Avould swarm above all others, if they were not grievousl}'- plagued and cut off by the knife of persecution. If you have an eye to the outward appearance of godliness, both the Luthe- rans and the Zuinglians must needs grant that they far pass them. If you will be moved by the boasting of the word of God, these be no less bold than Calvin to preach ; and their doctrine must stand aloft above all the glory of the world, must stand invincible above all power, because it is not their word, but the word of the living God." If there be a tinge of irony in the last sentence, there is certainly none in the honorable testimony to the an- tiquity of the Baptists, in the following passage from the " History of the Reformed Church of the Netherlands.'' by Drs. Ypeig and Dermout, clergymen of the high- est standing in that church, and published in Breda, 4* 42 BAPTISTS. in 1819. " We have now seen that the Baptists, who were formerly called Anabaptists, and in later times Mennonites, were the original VYaldenses, and have long, in the history of the charch received the honor of that origin. On this account the Baptists may be considered as the only Chris- tian community which has stood since the days of the Apostles ; and as a Christian society which has preserved pure the doctrines of the Gospel through all ages." In regard to the value of religious forms, this body of Christians seem to hold a middle place between the Eo- man Catholics, who multiply them at will, and magnify their efficacy to salvation, and the Friends, or Quakers, who discard them altogether as inconsistent with a spirit- ual religion. In opposition to the first view, the Baptists hold that no forms but those of scriptural institution are valid, thus repudiating all traditions of men ; and in refer- ence to those of Divhie institution, the sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper, that they have no inhe- rent virtue, or saving efficacy of the Holy Spirit, inde- pendent of the receiver's faith. In opposition to the Quaker view, the Baptists hold that the reception of the Holy Spirit, though essential to spiritual religion,, does not make void the authority of Baptism and the Lord's Supper, or supersede their value as the appointed expres- sions and auxiliaries of faith ; and they particularly point to the conversion of the Gentiles in the house of Cornelius, at Cesarea, in proof; where Peter, full of the Holy Ghost himself, said, Can any man forbid water, that these should not he baptized, who have received the Holy Ghost as well as we ? And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. (Acts x. 47, 48.) Instead of magnifying the efficacy of Baptism and making it a saving ordinance, the Baptists affirm that they make less of it than most religious denominations ; BAPTISTS. 43 for tlie_y believe that infants are saved without it; in proof of \vhieh, they adduce tlie fact that Christ blessed little children, without baptizing them. Baptism (mean- ing immersion) is in their view but tlie s)'nibol of faitli, and it saves us, as Peter says, only in a figure, or so far only as it is tlie answer of a good conscience inward God. In their doctrine, the Baj)tists are in a high degree evangelical, holding the views commonly called Calvinis- tic, as set forth in the writings of Bunyan, Gill, and Fuller. The Confessions of 16i3,1689, 1742, and 1833, are all in harmony, differing only in the choice of lan- guage and fulness of exposition. These Confessions are never regarded as binding creeds. There is a close affinity between the Baptists and the Congregationalists, and they are divided only on the point of baptism. The late Dr. Woods, of Andover, Mass., in 1854, thus expresses his views of this afiiuity : " For my- self, I entertain feelings of the most cordial esteem, love and confidence, toward the Baptists as a denomination. I have had the freest intercourse and the sincerest friend- ship with Baptist ministers, theological students, and pri- vate Christians. And I have wished that our denomina- tion Avas as free from erratic speculations, and as well grounded in the doctrines and experimental principles of the Puritans as the Baptists. It seems to me that they are the Christians who are likely to maintain pure Chris- tianity, and to hold fast the form of sound words ; while many of our denomination are rather loose in their opinions, and are trying to introduce innovations into the system of evangelical doctrines. And I think that Congregationalists in general regard the Baptists much as I do, though it may be that my better acquaintance Avith them has led me to esteem them more highly than some of my brethren do." See Congregationalists. _-, 44: BAPTISTS. The Baptist "Missionary Union," from its origin in Dr. Judsou's change of views on baptism, as well as from the common aim of its endeavors, is in cor- dial sympathy with the "American Board of Commis- sioners for Foreign Missions" established by the Congre- gationalists in 1810. The following comparative table of their successful operations, drawn up from the reports of the two societies in 1866, will be found of great value and interest. It should be observed that the fiafures of the American Board, except in the item of schools and scholars, include the returns from the Sandwich Islands, and the figui-es of the Missionary Union include all their European missions, from which no schools are reported. American Board. Date of organization June, ISIO.... Income the past year $446,942 44 Expenditures 440,275 47 Missions now maintained Stations and out-stations Missionaries, male and female. Native helpers Churches Members added last year Total present members... Schools of all kinds Total number of scholars Printinor establishments 20 526 312 815 194 1119 23,240 428 10,901 2 Missionary Union. ....May, 1814. $175,354 32 173,484 57 19 1700 84 700 487 2672 36,000 157 3295 1 4.375,950 Pages printed last year 13,659,826 The strength of the American Board in its resources, its missionary force, its vigorous schools, of which sixteen are theological and training schools, and its multiplica- tion of books, is very manifest from this table. The Mis- sionary Union's more exclusive attention to simple evan- gelization, with much less income and fewer missionaries, is also evident in its appropriate fruits. God's blessing has rested richly upon both. A like blessing has at- BAPTISTS. 45 tended their labors in Home Missions, as might be shown if the figures were at hand. The Baptists have indeed spread far more widely, and gathered converts more rap- idlj^ ; from a mueh smaller beginning, now outnumbering the Congregationalists in this country fourfold. But, on the other hand, the Congregationalists, with a narrower field, have cultivated it more richly. At present there is a sort of interchange in the character of their home labors, the Baptists devoting themselves to a higher cul- ture, and their Congregational brethren to a more ener- getic efibrt of expansion. Their history, too, both in England and in this country, has flowed on in parallel streams, and the waters have often intermingled. Tlie great names that adorn them are alike dear to both, and it may be hoped time will cement and perfect the union. The unity of the Baptist denomination, which is almost equally spread over all the United States, does not consist in any external bond of authority distinct from the Bible, but in the internal fellowship of the churches and mem- bers in " one Lord, one faith, and one baptism." (Eph. iv. 6.) It was formerly expressed also by free co-opera- tion in the same general missionary and benevolent socie- ties. This was gradually interrupted, as in other de- nominations, by the different position of the North and the South on the questions of slavery and of secession, which culminated in the civil war of 1861. As early as 18-i5, the Southern Baptists, partly from the wish to avoid agitation, and partly from the desire to engage their members more fully in the missionary enterprise by con- centrated action, withdrew, and organized separate gen- eral societies for the South, which still continue in opera- tion, though greatly crippled by the war. The general societies for benevolent effort at the North were never so energetic, so well sustained, or so successful, as at the 46 EPISCOPALIANS. present. Since secession and slavery have now passed away, it is to be lioped that time will restore a more per- fect internal fellowship than before, on the New Testa- ment principles of equity, loyalty, and love. The changes created by the war in the Southern States make it impossible to obtain complete returns of Baptist communicants. But the Baptist Almanac gives the total North and South for 1865, as 605 Associations, 1267 Churches ; 6,039 ordained ministers ; 70,920 baptized within the year ; and 1,043,641, communicants. Grand total for North America, including the British colonies, 1,123,143. If the minor sects of Baptists, of all sorts, are added, the whole amounts to 1,662,631. Population about 7,000,000. Baptist Colleges 32 ; Theological Semi- naries, 14 ; Academies and high schools for both sexes, about 100 ; periodical organs, 47. EPISCOPALIANS; OS, PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH. The denomination of Christians called the Protestant Episcopal Church had its origin in England, where it is called the Church of England. The king is the supreme head; by this authority he convenes and prorogues the convocations of the clergy. The church is governed by two archbishops and twenty- five bishops. The Archbishop of Canterbury is styled the Primate . of all England, and to himbelongs theprivilege of crown ing the kings and queens of England. The province of ^yy&LO/^fVQ WiH]DT(E,Pa(fl) EPISCOPALIANS. 47 Canterbury comprehcncls twenty-one bishoprics. In the province of the Archbishop of York, who is called the Primate of England^ there are four bishoprics. Archbishops and bishops are appointed by the kintr, by whut is called a conge d'elire, or leave to elect, which is sent to the dean and chapter, naming the person to be chosen. The bishop of London, as presiding over the capital, has the precedence of all the others. The Bishop of Dur- ham has certain prerogatives, as presiding over a see that constitutes a county palatine ; the Bishop of Winchester is third in dignity ; the others take rank according to seniority of consecration. The archbishops and bishops (except the Bishop of Sodor and Man) have seats in the House of Lords, and are styled the spiritual lords. The archbishops have the title of grace, and most reve- rend father in God, hy divine providence ; bishops are addressed by the title of lord, and right revere^id father in God, by divine permission. The former are said to be enthroned, the latter installed. To every cathedral belong several prebendaries and a dean, who form the dean and chapter, or council of the bishop. The next order of the clergy is that of arch- deacons ; their number is sixty ; their office is to reform abuses, and to induct into benefices. The most numerous and laborious order of the clergy are the deacons, curates, vicars, and rectors. The office of the deacon is confined to baptism, reading in the jhurch, and assisting the priest at the communion. A parson is one who has full possession of all the rights of a parish church ; if the great tithes are impropriated, the priest is called a vicar ; if not, a rector : a curate is one who is not instituted to the cure of souls, but exercises the spiritual office in a parish under a rector or vicar. 48 EPISCOPALIANS. The convocation of the clergy, which is the highest ecclesiastical court, has not been permitted by government to do any business since 1717, and is merely convened as a matter of form. The doctrines of the Church of England are contained in the thirty-nine articles ; the form of wor- ship is directed by a liturgy. The first steps to the establishment of the English Church were slow. It retained at first many of the fea- tures of the Roman Church, both in regard to doctrine and rites. After the parliament had declared Henry VIII. the only supreme head of the Church, and the convocation of the clergy had voted that the Bishop of Rome had no more jurisdiction in England than any other foreign bishop, the articles of faith of the new Church were declared to con- sist in the Scriptures and the three creeds, the Apostolic, the Nicene, and the Athanasian ; the real presence, the use of images, the invocation of saints, &c., were still maintained. Under Edward the new liturgy was composed in English, and took the place of the old mass ; the doctrines were also stated in forty-two articles. With the reign of Mary, the old religion was re-established; and it was not till that of Elizabeth that the Church of England was finally insti- tuted. As no change was made in the episcopal form of government, and some rites and ceremonies were retained which many of the Reformed considered as superstitious, this circumstance gave rise to many future dissensions. The controversy concerning the ceremonial part of divine worship commenced with those exiles who, in 1554, fled from the persecutions of Queen Mary, and took refuge in Germany. On the accession of Elizabeth they returned, and renewed the contest at home which had begun abroad. ( — " ' ~ EPISCOPALIANS. • 49 These were calLid Puritans, and at one time comprised many distinguished members of the English clergy. On the accession of James, the Puritans hoped for some relief; but an Episcopal hierarchy was more favorable to his views than the Presbyterian form of government, and he publicly adopted the maxim, " No bishop, no king." When the English divines returned from the Synod of Dort, the king and the majority of the Episcopal clergy discovered an inclination to the sentiments of Arminius, Avhich have since prevailed over Calvinism among the English clergy. Under Charles I., the attempts made, through the in- strumentality of Laud, to reduce all the cimrches of Great Britain under the jurisdiction of bishops, and the suppres- sion of the opinions and institutions that were peculiar to Calvinism, cost the Archbishop of Canterbury his head, and had no little effect in imbittering the civil contest between the throne and the parliament. After the death of Laud, the parliament abolished the Episcopal govern- ment, and condemned everything in the ecclesiastical esta- blishment that was contrary to the doctrine, worship, and discipline of the Church of Geneva. As soon as Charles II. was restored to the throne, the ancient forms of ecclesiastical government and public wor- ship were restored; and, in 1662, a public law, entitled the act of uniformity, was enacted, by which all who re- fused to observe the rites and subscribe the doctrines of the Church of England, were entirely excluded from its dominion. In the reign of William III., and particularly in 1680, the divisions among the friends of Episcopacy gave rise to the two parties called the high-churchmen, or 7wn- jurors, and low-churclcmen. The former maintained the docU'ine of passive obedience, or non-resistance to the 5 D 50 EPISCOPALIANS. sovereign under any circumstance whatever ; tliat the hereditary succession to the throne is of divine institution, and cannot he interrupted : that the Church is subject to the jurisdiction of God alone ; and, consequently, that certain bishops deposed by King William remained, not- withstanding, true bishops ; and that those who had been appointed in their places were rebels and schismatics, and all who held communion with them were guilty of rebellion and schism. The gradual progress of civil and religious liberty during the last one hundred and fifty years, has settled practically many such controversies. The great increase of the dis- senters in recent times (they are estimated to be more numerous than the members of the established Church) has led to new concessions in their favor ; the repeal of the corporation and test acts, and the Catholic emancipa- tion, as it is called, are among the important events of the late reign. We have said that the doctrines of the Church of Eng- land are contained in the thirty-nine articles ; we are not ignorant that the most eminent English divines have doubted whether they are Calvinistic or Lutheran, that some have denominated them articles of peace, and that not a few have written in direct opposition to them. But they are the established confession of the English Church, and, as such, deserve a short analysis. The five first arti- cles contain a profession of faith in the Trinity ; the incar- nation of Jesus Christ, his descent to hell, and his resur- rection; the divinity of the Holy Ghost. The three following relate to the canon of the Scripture. The eighth article declares a belief in the Apostles', Nicene, and Athanasian creeds. The ninth and following articles con- tain the doctrines of original sin, of justification by faith alone, of piedestination, &c. The nineteenth, twentieth, EPISCOPALIANS. 51 and twenty-first declare the Church to be the assembly of the faithful; that it can decide nothing except by the Scriptures. The tAventy-second rejects the doctrine of purgatory, indulgences, the adoration of images, and the invocation of saints. The twenty-third decides that only those lawfully called shall preach or administer the sacra- ments. The twenty-fourth requires the liturgy to be in English. The twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth declare the sacraments efiectual signs of grace (though administered by evil men), by which God excites and confirms our faith. They are two ; baptism and the Lord's Supper. Baptism, according to the twenty-seventh article, is a sign of regene- ration, the seal of our adoption, by which faith is con- firmed and grace increased. In the Lord's Supper, ac- cording to article twenty-eighth, the bread is the commu- nion of the body of Christ, the wine the communion of his blood, but only through faith (art. twenty-ninth) ; and the communion must be administered in both kinds (art. thirty). The twenty-eighth article condemns the doctrine of transubstantiation, and the elevation and adoration of the host ; the thirty-first rejects the sacrifice of the mass as blasphemous ; the thirty-second permits the marriage of the clergy ; the thirty-third maintains the efficacy of excommunication. The remaining articles relate to the supremacy of the king, the condemnation of Anabap- tists, &c. . In the United States, the members of the Church of England, or Episcopalians, form a large and respectable denomination. When the Revolutionary War began, there were only about eighty parochial clergymen of this Church to the northward and eastward of Maryland ; and they derived the greater part of their subsistence from the English Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts. In Maryland and Virginia, the Episcopal .-ii- 52 EPISCOPALIANS. Clnircli was mucb more numerous, and had legal establisli- ments for its support. The inconvenience of depending on the mother Church for ordination, and the want of an internal Episcopacy, Avas long severely felt by the Ameri- can Episcopalians. But their petitions for an Episcopate of their own were long resisted by their superiors in Eng- land; and their opponents in the United States objected to the measure from an apprehension that bishops from England would bring with them an authority which would interfere with the civil institutions of this country, and be prejudicial to the members of other communions. After the United States had become independent of Great Britain, a new diflBculty arose on the part of the English bishops : they could not consistently depart from their own stated forms of ordination, and these contained politi- cal tests improper for American citizens to subscribe. Dr. li -'b, then Bishop of London, obtained an act of Parliaincut allowing him to dispense with these, political requisitions. Before this act was p.issed. Dr. Seabury was consecrated at Aberdeen by the noii-juring bishops of Scotland ; and, not lon^ after, Dr. W. White, of Philadel- phia. Dr. Provoost, of Newlork, and Dr. James Madison, of Virginia, were consecrated by the English archbishops. In 1792 there were four bishops and about 200 clergy. In 1832 there Avere fifteen bishops and 583 clergy. In 1855 the number of bishops had increased to thirty-eight, and the clergy to 1714, while the communicants were re- ported to be 105,350. In 1859 there were 1422 churches, with accommodations for 625,213 persons. The total value of church property was §11,261,970. Some changes in the liturgy of the Au#erican branch of the Episcopal Church were early made, in accommoda- tion to the American clergy, and the diiference in the political condition of the two countries. DUTCH REFORMED CHURCH. 53 The three orders of bishops, priests, and deacons, are retained. The cluirches choose their pastors, but their instaUation or induction requires the consent of the bishop of the diocese. The churchwardens are chosen by the communicants, the vestry by tlie parish. E:ich diocese holds an Annual Convention, composed of clergy and lay delegates elected by the people, in which the bishop presides. Every three years a General Convention is held, com- posed of the bishops, who form the House of Bishops ; and clerical and hiy delegates from each diocese, who form the House of Delegates : and the Episcopal Church through- out the United States is governed by the canons of the General Convention. DUTCH REFORMED CHURCH. The colony of New Amsterdam, now New York, was settled in 1612 by the Dutch. ^Missionaries and pious immigrants arrived here in the very beginning of the colony, but it is nnt known at what time a church was first organized. The Collegiate Church is supposed to have been"^ormed in 1619. The Dutch Reformed Church is by many years earlier tlian any other Presbyterian church in this country. It differs but slightly from the other Ameri- can Presbyterian churches. Unfortunately, the names used for its officers and ecclesiastical bodies, and the name of the church itself, do not impart to the English reader a clear view of the things represented. It should be re- membered, then, that the Dutch Reformed Church is no longer a Dutch church. Its services are all performed in 5* 54 DUTCH REFORMED CHURCH. English, and all its modes of action are naturalized to our country ; so that no church among us is more perfectly American, or better adapted to make an effectual niove- ment in the propagation of religion among our varied population. If its name were changed, and its dominie were called a minister, its consistory a session, its classis a presbytery, and its general synod a general assembly, there would be little remaining to distinguish it from the American Pres- byterian Church. From the commencement of the Dutch Reformed Church in this country, it was subordinate to the classis of Am- sterdam till 1737. In this year a movement was made to throw off dependence on the parent classis. This occa- sioned a violent contest, which was not terminated till 1771 ; when the Rev. Dr. Livingston, having previously convinced the classis of Amsterdam of the desirableness of the measure, and having prepared the way by concili- ating wise men of both parties, induced the consistory of his church to call a convention. The convention met in New York in October, and resulted in a harmonious ar- rangement for a complete organization of the Dutch Re- formed Church in this country as an independent body. It receives the confession of faith, as adopted by the na- tional synod of the Council of Dort in the years 1618 and 1619, with the Heidelberg Catechism, the Compend of the Christian religion, and the canons of the Council of Dort on the famous five points. It is strictly Calvinistic. The Dutch Reformed Church has a limited liturgy, which is allowed to be used by those who, through a defec- tive education or inexperience, need such helps. The only part which is enjoined is the reading of the Ten Com- mandments in the opening of the morning service, the form of baptism, the short prayer before the vows taken DUTCH REFORMED CHURCH. 55 by parents in the baptism of infants, and the formula of the holy communion of the Lord's Supper. This last is read by the minister, while all the members carefully and devoutly follow him, with the book open before them. There is a single point in which their government differs from other branches of the Presbyterian Church. The ruling elders, instead of being elected for life, are appointed for two years. If acceptable to the church, they may be appointed again after having been out of office for one year. The government of the Dutch Reformed Church is Presbyterian. It is fully described in the article on Presbyterians. They only use a different nomenclature, in some respects, in speaking of ecclesiastical affairs. The consistory, or session, is composed of the minister, or bishop, ruling elders, and deacons. The pastor and ciders meet as a spiritual court to transact the spiritual concerns, such as the admission of members, and the exercise of dis- cipline. The deacons are charged with the care of the poor. The consistory, including the deacons, meet as a board of trustees, for the transaction of the secular busi- ness of the church. On great occasions, such as the call- ing of a minister, what is termed the grand consistory is called together. This is composed of the acting session, and all who have previously belonged to that body. The next court is the classis, or presbytery ; the next, the par- ticular synod, which, like the classis, is a representative body. It consists of two ministers and two elders from each classis within its bounds. The highest court, from which there is no appeal, is the general synod. This is composed of three ministers and three elders from each classis of the whole church. It holds its sessions annu- ally, and conducts its affairs much in the same method with the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church. 56 GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. The college and theological seminary at New Brunswick, N. J., are an honor to the Dutch Church. Amply en- dowed, and furnished with able professors, they exert then' full share of influence in raising up a learned and able ministry. This church reports in the Minutes of the Gen- eral Synod for 1847 — particular synods, 2; classes, 24; ministers, 289; churches, 276; communicants, 32,840, members of congregations, 110,977. In the American Almanac for 1859, the Dutch Re- formed Church is stated to have 324, churches, accommo- dations for 181,986 worshippers, and church property to the amount of $4,096,730. GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. The German Reformed Church in the United States dates its origin in about 1740, and was formed by immi- grants from Germany and Switzerland. It commenced its existence in this country in the eastern portion of Penn- sylvania, and is almost entirely confined to the German population. At an early period, however, congregations were formed in Virginia, the Carolinas, Maryland, New Jersey, and New York. The German Reformed Church consists, at this time, of two independent synods. They are slightly bound toge- ther by a triennial convention. But this convention is not a court of appeal, and possesses none of the power of a general synod. lu 1810 or 1812, the Rev. Jacob William Dechaut was sent ( ut as a missionary to the State of Ohio. He was stationed at Miamisburg, Montgomery County. The Rev. Messrs. Winters and Weis joined him ; and their GERMAN REFQKMEb CHURCH. 57 labors were attended with so mi;ch success that a classis was organized in 1819 ; and in 1823 or 1824 the majority of the chasses separated from the parent body, and became an independent judicatory, calling themselves the Synod of Ohio. In 1836 the classis of Western Pennsylvania obtained permission to unite with the Synod of Ohio, which now bore the title of " The Synod of Ohio and the adjoining States ;" and by a late act, this synod, which had previously been subdivided into three district synods, received a new organization agreeably to the plan of the constitution of the eastern church. The western church is now divided into classes, and its synod is a delegated body composed of the representatives of the classes. The government of the German Reformed Church is strictly Presbyterian. Having no general synod, appeals cannot be carried so far by one court as in the Dutch Re- formed and American Presbyterian churches. For an explanation of the terms consistory, classis, etc., see the preceding article. An appeal can be taken from the consistory to the classis, and from the classis to the synod, whose decision is final. The German Reformed Church in this country is now spread over the whole of Pennsylvania and Ohio, and over portions of Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Xew York. There is a church in the city of New Orleans ; others formerly sub- sisted in New Jersey, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Ken- tucky; and some members are still scattered over the several States of the Union. The eastern portion of the church is the original and parent body ; and its synod, existing before the other, bears the title of " The Synod of the German Reformed _J 58 GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH. Church- in the TTnited States." Its ferritory extends in Pennsylvania -westward to the Alleghany Mountains ; northward it includes portions of New York ; and on the south, Maryland, Virginia, and Carolina. It has under it? jurisdiction ten classes, viz. : Philadelphia, Goshenhoppen, East Pennsylvania, Lebanon, Susquehanna, Zion, Mercers- burg, Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina. The doctrines of this church are Calvinistic ; that is to say, the Heidelberg Catechism is their symbol, though a large portion of the laity lean to Arminian doctrines touching the subject of predestination. They practise the rite of confirmation ; which is, however, little else than a ceremony admitting candidates, who give evidence of rege- neration, to full communion. They have a theological seminary founded in 1825, and a college established in 1836; both are located in Pennsylvania, and are in a flourishing state. They have a Board of Foreign Missions, and sustain one missionary station at Broosa, in Asia Minor. Their foreign missionary transactions are all made through the American Board of Commissioners for For- eign Missions, with which body a connection has been formed for that purpose. According to the published Minutes of 1845, the Eastern Synod then comprised 10 classes, 155 ministers, 471 congregations, and 31,170 communicants. The Western Synod contained 6 classes, 72 ministers, 236 congregations, and 7,885 communicants. A summary of the whole force of the German Reformed Church in this country, then, was — 2 synods, containing 16 classes, 227 ministers, 707 churches, and 39,055 com- municants. It is remarkable that such a disproportion should exist between the number of ministers and churches. This arises from a peculiar usage of intrusting several congregations to the charge of a singJe minister. LUTHERANS. 59 In the American Almanac for 1859, the German Re- formed Church is stated to have 327 churches, accommo- dations for 156,932 worshippers, and church property to the amount of $965,880. LUTPIERANS. The Lutherans derive their name from Martin Luther, the celebrated reformer, who, in the beginning of the six- teenth century, opposed the Church of Rome with such great zeal and success. The system of faith embraced by the Lutherans was drawn up by Luther and Melancthon, and presented to the Emperor Charles V., in 1530, at the diet of Augusta or Auffsburff, and hence called the Au^justan or Aufi-sburfi; Confession. It is divided into two parts, of Avhich the former, containing twenty-one articles, was designed to represent, with truth and perspicuity, the religious opinions of the reformers ; and the latter, containing seven articles, is employed in pointing out and confuting the seven capi- tal errors which occasioned their separation from the Church of Rome : these were, communion in one kind, the forced celibacy of the clergy, private masses, auricular confession, legendary traditions, monastic vows, and the excessive power of the church. From the time of Luther to the present day, no change has been introduced into the doctrine and discipline received in this church. The method, however, of illustrating, enforcing, and defending the doctrines of Christianity, has undergone several changes in the Lutheran Church ; and though the confessions continue the same, yet some of the doctrinea 60 LUTHERANS. whicli were warmly maintained by Luther have been, of late, wholly abandoned by his followers. The Lutherans are far from allowing that good works are in any wise meritorious with regard to salvation. They acknowledge, generally, that Christ died for all Avho were partakers of Adam's transgression ; but that those only who should be- lieve in him, and persevere in that faith to theii' lives' end, should be saved. The foreknowledge of God from all eternity of this faith is made by them the basis, or foun- dation, of the election or predestination of the faithful. They view election in the very same light as they do justi- fication. If the instrumental cause of the latter be faith, God's foreknowledge of that faith of the faithful is their election. As to free will, the Lutherans deny its power before the conversion of a sinner, and maintain that none are converted but by the prevailing efficacy of grace alone. The Luthei'ans acknowledge but two sacraments, that is to say, baptism and the Lord's Supper. They deny tran- substantiation, the mass, the elevation and adoration of the host, the ceremonies, and all that external worship which the Church of Rome observes with respect to the body and blood of Jesus Christ ; but they believe that the real pre- sence of the humanity of Jesus Christ is with, in, and under the elements of bread and wine in the holy commu- nion, and maintain, in vindication of their ubiquity, that all the perfections of Christ's divinity were communicated to his humanity. They reject the adoration of saints and relics. Although it be our bounden duty, they say, to imitate the saints, and set them before our eyes as great examples, yet we ought not to invoke them, nor imagine that there are any latent virtues in their relics, etc. They condemn all acts of penance and human expiations, such as solemn vows, pilgrimages, nine days' devotions, macerations, and LUTHERANS. 61 other works of supererogation ; that is to say, such morti- fications as, by the laws of Christianity, are no ways im- posed upon us, etc. They reject all distinction of meats, and the observance of Lent, all monastic vows and con- vents, the celibacy of the clergy, and the performance of divine service in an unknown tongue ; and, in short, all the ceremonies practised in the Romish Church. Their pastors, with their several congregations, either meet at the parsonage, or at some conveiiient place near the church intended to be consecrated, and afterwards march in procession two and two, once at least, and some- times thrice, all round it, singing certain divine hymns or canticles all the way. As soon as this previous act of de- votion is over, they enter the church, where the service is opened with singing again ; after which some portion of the sacred Scriptures is read to them, and a sermon preached on the solemnity of the day. If the income, or revenue, of the church will admit of it', or the congrega- tion are able and willing to defray the expense, the super- intendent of their metropolis is requested to assist at the ceremony, to give his benediction to the church, and con- secrate it with some proper discourse of his own compos- ing ; Avhich favor is acknowledged, not only by a handsome gratuity, but an elegant entertainment. Two divines are generally appointed for the purpose of ordination, who not only inquire into the real merit and natural qualifications of the candidates — such, for instance, as a proper stature, a musical voice, health and strength, but also into their knowledge of the learned languages, and their abilities to argue, on both sides, all controversial questions. They inquire likewise into the religious prin- ciples and particular tenets of the respective candidates. It is highly requisite and just that they should be sound and orthodox, that is to say, be in all respects conformable 6 62 LUTHERANS. to the doctrines which they are intended to maintain and teach, and ^Yhich the church they are to serve professes ; and that they should be fixed and unalterable during their establishment in that sacred function. After such due inquiries have been made, the candidate is ordered to preach before his examiners on some particular text of their own choosing. Upon the report of his being duly qualified, a church may be ofi"ered him ; however, accord- ing to the Saxon discipline, he is obliged, before he is ab- solutely declared minister of any congregation, to preach several times before them ; and the opinion of the people must afterwards be consulted, and their approbation and consent procured. The day of ordination being fixed, the candidate repairs to the church, where he is to be ordained in the presence of several ministers, ecclesiastical judges, and a numerous congregation of the faithful. He there makes a confession of his faith, either before or some time during the sermon. In the prayer after the sermon, the candidate is particu- larly taken notice of, and prayed for by name. -As soon as the minister withdraws from the pulpit, the Vent Spi- ritiis Sancte is immediately sung, and during the perform- ance the superintendent, who is primate of the Lutheran clergy, repairs to the altar, accompanied by six colleagues or coadjutors, and followed by the candidate, who falls down on his knees before him. Here the superintendent, addressing himself to his six colleagues, having first com- municated the candidate's request, invites them to join with him in prayer on his behalf; in the next place he reads the formulary of election, which is accompanied with another prayer ; and after that, directs his discourse to his six coadjutors, saying, " Dearly beloved brethren in our Lord Jesus, I exhort you to lay your hands on this candi- date, who presents himself here before us in order to be LUTHERANS. 63 admitted a minister of the church of God, according to the ancient apostolical institution, and to concur with me in investing him with that sacred office." After this for- mal address, he lays his hands directly on the head of the candidate, and says to him. Sis maneasque consecratus Deo, which literally construed is, Be tJiou, and so remain to be, devoted to the service of Crod. The six colleagues repeat, after the superintendents, the ceremony of imposi- tion of hands, and make use of the same form of words ; after which the superintendent addresses himself to the person thus ordained in the terms following : " Being as- sembled here with the aid and assistance of tlie Holy Ghost, we have made our humble supplications to God for you, and hope that he will vouchsafe to hear our prayers. Wherefore, I ordain, confirm, and establish you, in the name of the Lorcf, pastor and spiritual instructor of the saints belonging to the church, etc. ; govern it in the fear of the Lord, and have a watchful eye over it, as a faithful shepherd over his flock," etc. These words are, properly speaking, the very essence of ordination. The superin- tendent, after he has pronounced this exhortation, with- draws from the altar, and the stated minister of the place approaches it, dressed in his sacerdotal vestments, to read the communion service, and to consecrate the bread and wine, which he administers to the new pastor, who receives it upon his knees. Some few hymns, or canticles, and the usual benediction, conclude the ceremony. At their first entrance into the church, both men and women put up an ejaculatory prayer, the former holdmg their hats and the latter their fans before their faces. The same ceremony is observed as soon as divine service is over. The prayer generally made use of on these occa- sions is the Lord's Prayer. When the congregation of the faithful are met in order to apply themselves to any exer- 64 LUTHERANS. cise of devotion, whether it be preaching, or reading the Scriptures only, or praying, it is always introduced by the singing of some psalms or spiritual hymns suitable to the occasion. They have two sermons at least every Sunday, especially if it be a solemn festival, that is to say, one in the morn- ing and another in the afternoon. There is a catechetical lecture besides, at which their probationers are always examined. Their burials are frequently put off, likewise, till Sunday, for the benefit of a prayer, or, at least, a funeral sermon, which the Lutherans always preach upon the decease of any of their members, whether young or old, rich or poor. Their texts are very seldom taken out of those books which the Lutherans and the Protestiants call apocryphal. The last thing which we shall take notice of in relation to their sermons, is that of their circular predications, which is the term they make use of to dis- tinguish those sermons which their pastors are obliged to preach at particular times in the metropolitan church, in presence of the superintendent, in order that he himself may form a just judgment of their method, and the pro- gress they make in the ministerial office; also that he may examine their principles, and prevent them deviating from the orthodox faith. After the sermon, the service concludes with some select prayers or supplications to Almighty God, thanksgivings, and publications. In the first, all sick persons, all women laboring of child or in child-bed, all that travel by land or by water, all persons any way afflicted or distressed m mind, body, or estate, are recommended to God as proper objects of his succor, comfort, and assistance. In Den- mark, all those who are drawing near to the time appointed for the consummation of their marriage, are likewise re- commended to God in the prayers of the church. In their LUTHERANS. 65 thanksgivings, those particular persons who had received great mercies desire to return their grateful acknowledge- ments to Almiglity God for the same. In their publica- tions, timely notice was given of such matters as particu- larly related to the church ; that is to say, of some extra- ordinary acts of devotion, such as the obsei'vance of an ensuing solemn festival, or fast, or the like, etc. In some places, the public orders of the civil magistrate are read in the pulpit. The Lutherans retain the use of the altar for the cele- bration of the holy communion. They likewise make use of lighted tapei'S in their churches, of incense, and a crucifix on the altar, of the sign of the ci'oss, and of ima- ges, etc. Several of their doctors acknowledge that such materials add a lustre and majesty to divine worship, and fix at the same time the attention of the people. The Lutherans retain the observance of several solemn festivals after their reformation. They keep three solemn days of festivity at Christmas. In some Lutheran coun- tries, the people go to church on the night of the nativity of our blessed Saviour, with lighted candles or wax tapers in their hands ; and the faithful, who meet in the church, spend the whole night there in singing, and saying their prayers by the light of them. Sometimes they burn sucti a large quantity of incense that the smoke of it ascends like a whirlwind, and their devotees may properly enougii be said to be wrapped up in it. It is customary likewise in Germany to give entertainments at such times to friends and relations, and to send presents to each other, espe-- cially to the young people, whom they amuse with very idle and romantic stories, telling them that our blessetl Saviour descends from heaven on tlie night of his nativity, and brings with him all kinds of playthings. They have three holidays at Easter, and three at Whit- 6* E 66 LUTHERANS. sunticle, as well as those before mentioned at Christmas. These festivals have nothing peculiar in them with respect to the ceremonies observed at those times ; but with regard to some particular superstitions, they are remarkable enough ; as, for instance, that cf the Paschal water, which is looked on as a sovereign remedy for sore eyes, and very serviceable in uniting broken limbs. This Paschal water is nothing more than common river water, taken up on Easter-day, before the rising of the sun. They have an- other superstitious notion with respect to their horses ; they imagine that the swimming them in the river on Easter-day, before the sun rises, preserves them from lameness. The other festivals observed by the Lutherans are New- Year's day, or fhe Circumcision, a festival not near so ancient as the four above mentioned ; the festival of the Three Kings, or, otherwise, . the Epiphany ; the Purifica- tion of the Blessed Virgin, or Candlemass ; and Lady-day, or the Annunciation. There is no public Avork or service devoted to the Blessed Virgin, nor are there any proces- sions or other ceremonies which are observed by the Roman Catholics on the two latter festivals. The festival of the Sacred Trinity is solemnized on the Sunday after Whit-Sunday ; that of St. John Baptist on the 24th of June ; and that of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin on the 2d of July, as it is by the Roman Catholics. To conclude, the festival of St. Michael the Archangel, or rather the ceremonies observed by the Lutherans on that day, are the remains only of an ancient custom, which has been preserved among them, although somewhat extraor- dinary, as the members of their communion retain no manner of veneration for angels. In 1523, Luther drew up a formulary of the mass and communion for the particular service of the church of Wit- LUTHKRANS. 67 temberg. Witliout attempting to particularize the various parts of it, it may bo observed that all the churches where Lutheranism prevailed were obliged entirely to conform to it. However, those orders were never punctually obeyed. Some Lutheran countries have one ritual, and some an- other. There is a difference, likewise, in their liturgies, though, as to the fundamentvore the greatest the world ever saw. Deut. xxviii., xxix. ; ^latt. xxlv. Now, what heinous sin was it that could be the cause of such heavy judgments ? Can any ot^r be assigned than what the Scripture assigns ? 1 TheslM. 15, 16. " They both killed the Lord Jesus and tlieir own prophets, and persecuted the apostles : and so filled up their sins, and wrath came upon them to the uttermost." It is hardly possible to consider the nature and extent of their sufferings, and not conclude the Jews' own impreca- tion to be singularly fulfilled upon them. Matt, xxvii. 25. " His blood be on us and our children." At Ccsarca twenty thousand of the Jews were killed by the Syrians in their mutual broils. At Damascus 'ten thousand unarmed Jews were killed ; and at Bethshan the heathen inhabitants caused their Jewish neighbors to assist them o gainst their brethren, and then murdered thirty thousand of these in- - ' habitants. At Alexandria the Jews murdered multitudes of the heathens, and were murdered in their turn to about fifty thousand. The Romans under Vespasian invaded the country, and took the cities of Galilee, Chorazen, Beth- - 1 ^&4iida, Capernaum, &c., where Christ had been especially rejected, and murdered numbers of the inhabitants. At Jerusalem the scene was most wretched of all. At the passover, when there might be two or three millions of people in the city, the Romans surrounded it with troops, trenches, and walls, that none might escape. The three different factions wuthin murdered one another. Titus, one of the most merciful generals that ever breathed, did all in his power to persuade them to an advantageous surrender, but they scorned every proposal. The multitudes of un- buried carcases corrupted the air, and ^u-oduoed a pesti- lence. The people fed on one another ; and even ladies, 26* ■ U 306 JEWS. it is said, broiled their sucking infants, and ate them. After a siege of six months, the city was taken. They murdered almost every Jew they met with. Titus was bent to save the Temple, but could not : there were six thousand JeAvs who had taken shelter in it, all burnt or murdered ! The outcries of the Jews, when they saw it, were most dreadful : the whole city, except three towers and a small part of the wall, were razed to the ground, and the foun- dations of the temple and other places were ploughed up. Soon after the forts of Herodian and Macheron were taken, the garrison of Massada murdered themselves rather than surrender. At Jerusalem alone, it is said, one million one hundred thousand perished by sword, famine, and pesti- lence. In other places we hear of two hundred and fifty thousand that were cut oflF, besides vast numbers sent to Egypt to labor as slaves. About fifty years after, the Jews murdered about five hundred thousand of the Roman sub- jects, for which they were severely punished by Trajan. About 130, one Barocaba pretended that he was the Mes- siah, and raised a Jewish army of two hundred thousand, who murdered all the heathens and Christians who came in their way ; but he was defeated by Adrian's forces. In this war, it is said, about sixty thousand Jews were slain and perished. Adrian built a city on Mount Calvary, and erected a mai-ble statue of swine over the gate that led to Bethlehem. No Jew was allowed to enter the city, or to. look to it at a distance, under pain of death. In 360, the;J[ began to rebuild their city and temple ; but a terrible earth- quake and flames of fire issuing from the earth, killed the workmen, and scattered their materials. Nor till the seventh century durst they so much as creep over the rub- bish to bewail it, without bribing the guards. In the third, fourth, and fifth jenturies, there were many of them furi- ously harassed and murdered. In the sixth century, twenty JEWS. 307 thousand of tlicm were slain, and as many taken and sold for slaves. In G02, they were severely punislied for their horrible massacre of the Christians at Antioch. In Spain, in 700, they were ordered to be enslaved. In the eighth and ninth centuries, they were greatly derided and abused : in some places they were made to wear leathern girdles, and ride without stirrups on asses and mules. In France and Spain they were much insulted. In the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth centuries, their miseries rather increased : they were greatly persecuted in Egypt. Besides what they suf- fered in the East by the Turkish and sacred war, it is shocking to think what multitudes of them the eight cru- sades murdered in Germany, Hungary, Lesser Asia, and elsewhere. In France, multitudes were burnt. In Ens- land, in 1020, they were banished ; and at the coronation of Richard I. the mob fell upon them, and murdered a great many of them. About one thousand and five hundred of them were burnt in the palace in the city of York, which :hey set fire to themselves, after killing their wives and children. In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries their condition was no better. In Egypt, Canaan, and Syria, the crusaders still harassed them. Provoked with their mad running after pretended Messiahs, Caliph Nasser ocarce left any of them alive in his dominions of Mesopo- tamia. In Persia, the Tartars murdered them in multi- tudes. In Spain, Ferdinand persecuted them furiously. About 1349, the terrible massacre of them at Toledo forced many of them to murder themselves, or change their reli- gion. About 1253, many were murdered, and others ban- ished from France, but in 1275 recalled. In 1320 and 1330, the crusades of the fanatic shepherds, who wasted the south of France, massacred them ; besides fifteen hun- dred that were murdered on another occasion. In 1358, they were totally banished from France, since which few 308 JEWS. of them liave entered that country. In 1291, king Edward expelled them from England, to the number of one hundred and sixty thousand. In the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seven- teenth centuries, their miseries continued. In Persia they have been terribly used : from 1663 to 1666, the murder of them was so universal, that but a few escaped to Turkey. In Portugal and Spain, they have been miserably handled. About 1392, six or eight hundred thousand were banished from Spain. Some were drowned in their passage to Africa, some died by hard usage, and many of their carcasses lay in the fields till the wild beasts devoured them. In Germany they have endured many hardships. They have been ban- ished from Bohemia, Bavaria, Cologne, Nuremberg, Augs- burgh, and Vienna : they have been terribly massacred in Moravia, and plundered in Bonn and Bamberg. Except in Portugal and Spain, their present condition is generally tolerable. In Holland, Poland, and at Frankfort and Ham- burgh, they have their liberty. They have repeatedly, but till lately in vain, attempted to obtain a naturalization in England, and other nations among whom they are scattered. 4. Preservation of the Jews. — '' The preservation of the Jews," says Basnage, "in the midst of the miseries which they have undergone during 1700 years, is the greaj^ prodigy that can be imagined. Religions depend on ^m poral prosperity ; they triumph under the protection of a conqueror : they languish and sink with sirdcing monarchies. Pa'^anism, which once covered the earth, is extinct. The Christian church, glorious in its martyrs, yet was considera- bly diminished by the persecations to which it was exposed ; nor was it easy to repair the breaches in it made by those acts of violence. But here we behold a church hatedand per- secuted for 1700 years, and yet sustaining itself, and widely extended. Kings have often employed the severity of edicts and the hand of executioners to ruin it. The seditious mul- J i: w s . 809 titudes, by murders and massacres, have committed out- rages against it still more violent and tragical. Princes and people, Pagans, Mahometans, Christians, disagreeing in so many things, have united in the design of extermi- nating it, and have not been able to succeed. The bush of 31oses, surrounded with flames, ever burns, and is never consumed. The Jews have been expelled, in difTerent times, from every part of the -world, wliich hath only served to spread them in all regions. From age to age they have been exposed to misery and persecution ; yet still they subsist, in spite of the ignominy and the hatred which hath pursued them in all places, Avhilst the greatest monarchies are fallen, and nothing remains of them besides the name. " The judgments which God has exercised upon this people are terrible, extending to the men, the religion, and the very land in which they dwelt. The ceremonies essen- tial to their religion can no more be observed ; the ritual law, which cast a splendor on the national W'Orship, and struck the pagans so much that they sent their presents and their victims to Jerusalem, is absolutely fallen, for they have no temple, no altar, no sacrifices. Their land itself seems to lie under a never-ceasing curse. Pagans, Christians, Mohammedans, in a word, almost all nations, have by turns seized and held Jerusalem. To the Jew only hath God refused the possession of this small tract of ground, so supremely necessary for him, since he ought to worship on this mountain. A Jewish writer hath af- firmed that it is long since any Jew has been seen settled near Jerusalem ; scarcely can they purchase there six feet of land for a buryiug-place. " In all this there is no exaggeration : I am only point- ing out known facts ; and, far from having the least design to raise an odium against the nation from its miseries, I conclude that it ought to be looked upon as one of those 310 JEWS. prodigies which we admire without comprehending ; since, in spite of evils sc durable, and a patience so long exer- cised, it is preserved bj a particular providence. The Jew ought to be weary of expecting a Messiah who so unkindly disappoints his vain hopes ; and the Christian ought to have his attention and his regard excited towards men whom God preserves, for so great a length of time, under calamities which would have been the total ruin of any other people." 5. Numher and Dispersion of the Jews. — They are looked upon to be as numerous at present as they were formerly in the land of Canaan. Some have rated them at three millions, and others more than double that number. Their dispersion is a remarkable particular in this people. They swarm all over the east, and are settled, it is said, in the remotest parts of China. The Turkish empire abounds with them. There are more of them at Constantinople and Salonichi than in any other place. They are spread through most of the nations of Europe and Africa, and many families of them are established in the West Indies; not to mention whole nations bordering on Prestei«g|h's country, and some discovered in the inner parts o^SKne- rica, if we may give any credit to their own writers. Their being always in rebellions (as Addison observes) while they had the Holy Temple in view, has excited most nations to banish them. Besides, the whole people are now a race of such merchants as are wanderers by profes- sion ; and at the same time are in most, if not in all places, incapable of holding either lands or offices, that might engage them to make any part of the world their home. In addition to this, we may consider what provi- dential reasons may be assigned for their numbers and dispersion. Their firm adherence to their religion, and being dispersed all over the earth, has furnished every age JEWS. 311 and every nation with the strongest arguments for the Christian faith ; not only as these very particulars are foretold of them, hut as they themselves are the deposita- ries of these and all other prophecies which tend to their own confusion and the establishment of Christianity. Their number furnishes us with a sufficient cloud of wit- nesses that attest the truth of the Bible, and their disper- sion spreads these witnesses through all parts of the world. 6. Restoration of Jews. — From the declarations of Scripture, we have reason to suppose the Jews shall bo called to a participation of the blessings of the gospel (Rom. xi. ; 2 Cor. iii. 16; IIos. i. 11); and some suppose shall return to their own land (IIos. iii. 5 ; Is. Ixv. 17, etc. ; Ezek. xxxvi). As to the time, some think about 1866 or 2016 ; but this, perhaps, is not so easy to deter- mine altogether, though it is probable it will not be before the fall of Antichrist and the Ottoman empire. Let us, however, avoid putting stumbling-blocks in their way. If we attempt anything for their conversion, let it be with peace and love. Let us, says one, propose Christianity to them, as Christ proposed it to them. Let us lay before them their own prophecies. Let us show them their ac- complishment in Jesus. Let us applaud their hatred of idolatry. Let us show them the morality of Jesus in our lives and tempers. Let us never abridge their civil liberty, nor ever try to force their consciences. 812 UNITED BRETHREN IN CHRIST. UNITED BRETHREN IN CHRIST. This large and respectable society is frequently rnistakeu for the Moravians, but is entirely distinct from them, being founded in 1775, at Lancaster, Pa., by Rev. Wm. Otterbein, a learned minister of the German Reformed Church. Mr. Otterbein was born in Germany, but came to this country in 1752. Not long afterward, impressed by the study of the scriptures with the need of the New Birth, taught by Christ as the source of all spiritual life, he first sought that blessing for himself; and, having found it, began earnestly to enforce its necessity upon others, however familiar they might be, as he had been, with the religion of forms and .education. Numbers of professing Christians were soon roused from apathy and lUlse security, to an active interest in spiritual things. Meetings were appointed on week evenings, not (i^^for preaching, but for prayer and religious converJH^a — things common now, but then counted "strange things," among his denomination. Otterbein also adopted and spread- the new idea that all true Christians, of whatever name, should unite at the Lord's table. For these innova- tions on established order, the Synod called him to account, tried him, and cast him off'.. Every pulpit was now shut against him. Though sorel}'' pained at these proceedings, Mr. Otter- bein was not silenced or dismayed. He resorted to the fields and private houses ; even the barn was welcome as a place to preach the Gospel. He travelled extensively, and success attended his labors. Many joined him from other denominations, and such was the concord between them, that they agreed to take the name they now bear, of " United Brethren in Christ." UNITED BRETHREN IN CHRIST. 813 ^[r. Asbury, sent out to this countiy by "Mr. Wesley to form churches, labored in company Avith them for some- time, they preaching in Gorman, and he in English. Plence they were called "German !^[cthodists," though they preferred an organization of their own. Some steps were taken to this end in 1789, but nothing effectual was done until 1800, when an organization was formed in Baltimore, and Otterbein and Martin Boehui were chosen the first superintendents or Bishops. The society throve rapidly, both in preachers and people, tliough not as rapidly as the Methodist Episcopal Church, being confined until lately to the German popu- lation. Their "Discipline" was adopted in their General Conference at Mount Pleasant, Pa., in 1815. They are distinguished by no new doctrines, but by an organization in which the ministers and people have an equal pro- portion of power, and the rulers hold of&ce only by the authority and consent of the governed. In this freedom they are chiefly distinguished from their Methodist Epis- copal brethren. Their ecclesiastical courts consist, like theirs, of Quar- terly, Annual, and General Conferences ; and their officers, of ordained elders, who alone exercise the functions of the ministry ; class leaders ; stewards, who attend to the pecuniary wants of the ministers ; preachers in charge, who must have the oversight of one circuit ; presiding elders; and bishops, who have the general superintendence of the whole Church. Tiieir ministry is earnest, quiet, and perseveringly devoted to the salvation of souls. Thev allow, but do not enjoin, the washing of feet. They oppose all secret societies, intemperance, and slavery, and are zealous in supporting Home Missi Mani entirely rejected the authority of the Old Testa- ment, which he had said was the word of the god of dark- ness, whom the Jews had worshipped in the place of the god of light. He asserted that the books of the New Testament had been grossly interpolated ; and that they were not all written by the persons whose names they bear. The doctrines of ih-e sect were contained in four works, said to have been written by Mani himself, which were entitled respectively " Mysteries," " Chapters," " Gospel," and "Treasury;" but we know little or nothing of their contents. Bower, in the second volume of his " History of the Popes," has attempted to prove that the Manichaeans were addicted to immoral practices ; but this opinion has been ably controverted by Beausobre and Lardner, who have shown that they were, on the contrary, exceedingly ri