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THEOLOGICAL DICTIONARY;
CONTAINING DEFINITIONS OF ALL
_
Tfivliginun unit @rrlwiuztiml @lemm, 3‘
WITH AN
IMPARTIAL ACCOUNT OF THE PRINCIPAL DENCMINATICNS
WHICH HAVE SUBSISTED IN THE RELIGIOUS WORLD
FROM THE BIRTH-OF CHRIST TO THE PRESENT AGE.
BY THE LATE‘
REV. CHARLES EUCK.
51 32mm am) grmflq fémnrmmit dBhflinu.
BY
THE REV. E. HENDERSON, D.D., PH.D.
THEOLOGICAL TUTOR OF HIGHBURY COLLEGE.
LONDON:
WILLIAM TEGG AND CO.
85, QUEEN-STREET, CHEAPSIDE.
MDCCCLI. I 9 <9;

l‘gs'kaiia-w -& fr" Eel ‘ 53.5 ‘Mfr-#3111;
PREFACE.
THE Work, _a new edition of which is here presented to the public, formed
quite a desideratum at the time of its original publication. There had, in-
deed, long existed dictionaries, having for their object the explanation of the
various terms, doctrines, ordinances, customs, &c. which are found in the
sacred oracles, and their character was more or less in accordance with this
very important and laudable object. They were exclusively Biblical. But
the multifarious names, phrases, opinions, sects, parties, heresies, &c., which
have been introduced since the close of the sacred canon, and which properly
appertain to the department of Theological History, were either left un-
collected, or, at least, existed in such forms, and were exhibited on such a
plan, as were little, if at all calculated to facilitate the acquisition, or pro-
mote the extension of religious knowledge.
To supply this deficiency, the respected author applied himself with com—
mendable diligence and extensive research; incorporating into his Work
whatever he considered to be important in ecclesiastical history, good and
accurate in definition, valuable in theological science, interesting in the reli~
gious world, and likely to advance the piety, as well as to gratify the
‘curiosity of his readers. That he succeeded in no ordinary degree, may
fairly be concluded from the number of impressions through which the
dictionary has gone, and the great extent of its circulation. In the United
States of America upwards of 50,000 copies have been circulated.
Since the Work first appeared, other publications, constructed on a similar
principle, have been, more or less, brought into competition with it ; but
instead of displacing it from the position which it has deservedly held in the
libraries of the evangelical portion of the community, the demand for copies
has been constantly on the increase. Witha view to render it still more
extensively useful, the Proprietors have resolved to issue a new and improved
edition, in which any inaccuracies which might have escaped the author
should be corrected, such articles inserted as he had omitted, and the whole,
as much as possible, brought down to the present time. In endeavouring
to fulfil their Wishes, the present Editor has considerably altered several of
the original articles, especially such as related to foreign divinity ; the
circumstances connected with the different religious establishments in Christ-
endom ; the history, views, and usages of the different parties that have
seceded from these establishments; the literature of theology; and other
subjects of a kindred nature. Several that appeared to be of minor importance
he has omitted, in order to make room for the insertion of others, of higher
and more general interest. The number of additional articles in the present
edition amounts to nearly FIVE HUNDRED. \
One totally new feature of the Work, as it now appears, is its Biographical
department. Readers ‘who have not the command of biographical dictionaries,
are frequently at a loss in regard to dates, places, and other circumstances
connected with the history of divines and others, to whom reference is cur-
rently made, both in conversation and in books on religious subjects. Yet,
across
iv PREFACE.
to supply this want within areasonable compass has been found to be amatter
of no small difficulty. The selection has been regulated by a regard to the
prominent station, the literary eminence, or the celebrated character of the
individual; and those writers only have been made the subject of biographical
notice, who have exerted, to a considerable extent, a decided influence over
the religious opinions and practices of certain sections or communities, in the
age in which they lived, and in after times. See the articles, AUGUSTINE,
BARCLAY, CALVIN, EDWARDS, KNOX,SANDEMAN, WESLEY, WHITEFIELD, &c.
In preparing the additional articles, the Editor has availed himself of
various sources which were not in existence in Mr. Buck’s time, or to which
he could not obtain access ; and he flatters himself that the extent to which
he has carried the improvements will meet with the approbation of general
readers.
The volume will be found to contain a melancholy exhibition of the mul-
tiform corruptions of the Christian faith; of the unhappy influence which
pride of intellect, an unbridled imagination, vain speculation, and selfish
passions, have had in multiplying the diversity of religious opinion, and in
giving rise to interminable disputes. The wide distance at which the various
sections of the Christian family still stand from the simplicity and purity of
Biblical Christianity, is powerfully adapted to inspire the reader with a prac-
tical distrust of himself, an ever wakeful suspicion with respect to the exer-
cise of human authority in matters of religion, an unrelaxing application to
the study of the Holy Scriptures, as the only infallible source and standard
_ of Divine Truth, and a constant scriptural dependence on the promised in-
“ struction of that Sacred Teacher, one of whose offices it is to “guide into
all truth.” But while the Work necessarily presents error in almost all the
diversity of its modifications, it will also be found to furnish sound, consist-
ent, practical, and consolatory views of all the leading subjects of Revelation ;
views calculated to afford instruction to the ignorant, relief to the perplexed,
confirmation to the wavering, and conviction to gainsayers.
. E. H.
January 4th, 1833.

ADVERTISEMENT TO THE PRESENT EDITION.
IN this Edition a considerable number of new articles have been inserted;
some statements which had been made on incorrect data, have either been
rectified, or altogether withdrawn ; every point has been determined according
to the latest sources of information; and the entire work has been ren-
dered as complete as its object and extent would allow.
A
THEOLOGICAL DICTIONARY.

ABBA, a Syriac word, signifying Father. It
is used in the Syriac, Coptic, and Ethiopic
churches, as a title given to the bishops. The
bishops themselves bestowed the title Abba
more eminently on the bishop of Alexandria,
which occasioned the people to give him the
title of Baba, or Papa, that is, Grandfather:
a title which he bore before the bishop of
Rome. It is a Jewish title of honour given
to certain Rabbins called Tanaites; it is also
used by some writers of the middle age for
the superior of a monastery. St. Mark and
St. Paul use this word, Mark xiv. 36; Rom.
viii. 15; Gal. vi. 6, because it was then com-
monly known in the synagogues and the
primitive assemblies of the Christians. Sel-
den has brought a very pertinent quotation
from the Babylonian Gemara, to prove that
it was not allowed to slaves to use the title of
Abba in addressing the master of the family
to which they belonged, or the correspondent
title of Imma, “ Mother,” when speaking to
the mistress of it.—De Succ. in bona Defi
cap. 4.
Anna’, before the French Revolution, was
the title of all those Frenchmen who devoted
themselves to divinity, or had at least pur-
sued a course of study in a theological semi-
nary, in the hope that the king would confer
on them areal abbey, 2'. e. a certain part of the
revenues of a monastery. Ordained clergy-
men, were those only who devoted themselves
entirely to the performance of clerical duty;
the others were engaged in every kind of
literary occupation. There were so many of
them, poor and rich, men of quality and men of
low birth, that they formed a particular class
in society, and exerted an important influence
over its character. They were seen every-
where; at court, in the halls of justice, in the
theatres, the coffee-houses, 8w. In almost
every wealthy family was an abbé, occupying
the post of familiar friend and spiritual ad-
viser, and not seldom, that of the gallant of
the lady. They corresponded, in a certain
degree, to the philosophers who lived in the
,. houses of the wealthy Romans in the time of
the emperors.

ABBE's COBIMENDATAIRES.—_-—Th8 king of
France had formerly the right of appointing
abbots over 225 monasteries. These abbots
enjoyed a third part of the revenues of the
monastery, but had no authority over it, the
charge of superintendence being committed
to a prz'eur claustral. According to rule, every
abbot ought to receive ordination in the course
of a year; but the pope dispensed with the
rule, and the abbé spent his income (from 1200
to 150,000 French livres) wherever he pleased.
This shocking abuse excited the indignation
of the people, and was one of the causes of
the Revolution. The lower sinecures of this
kind, the abbayes des savans, were used as
pensions for learned men ; the richer to pro-
vide for the younger sons of the nobility.
ABBEss, the superior of an abbey or con-
vent of nuns. The abbess has the same rights
and authority over her nuns, that the abbots-
regular have over their monks. The sex,
indeed, does not allow her to perform the
spiritual functions annexed to the priesthood,
wherewith the abbot is usually invested; but
there are instances of some abbesses who
have a right, or rather a privilege, to com-
mission a priest to act for them. They have
even a kind of episcopal jurisdiction, as well
as some abbots, who are exempted from the
visitation of their diocesan.
ABBEY, a monastery, governed by a superior
under the title of Abbot or Abbess. Monasteries
were at first, nothing more than religious
houses, whither persons retired from the bustle
of the world, to spend their time in solitude and
devotion ; but they soon degenerated from their
original institution, and procured large privi-
leges, exemptions, and riches. They pre-
vailed greatly in Britain before the Reforma-
tion, particularly in England; and as they
increased in riches, so the state became poor,
for the lands which these regulars possessed
could never revert to the lords who gave
them. These places were wholly abolished
by Henry VIII. He first appointed visitors
to inspect into the lives of the monks and
nuns, which were found in some places very
disorderly; upon which the abbots, perceiving
n
ABB
2
ABB
their dissolution unavoidable, were induced to
resign their houses to the king, who by that
means became invested with the abbey lands:
these were afterwards granted to different
persons, whose descendants enjoy them at
this day; they were then valued at 2,853,000L
per annum, an immense sum in those days.
Though the suppression of these houses, con-
sidered in a religious and political light, was
a great benefit to the nation, yet it must be
owned that, at the time they flourished, they
were not entirely useless. Abbeys were then
the repositories as well as the seminaries of
learning: many valuable books and national
records have been preserved in their libraries,
the only places wherein they could have been
safely lodged in those turbulent times. In-
deed, the historians of this country are chiefly
beholden to the monks for the knowledge
they have of former national events. Thus
Providence overruled even the institutions of
superstition for good. See MoNAsTERY.
ABBOT, originally the name of every aged
monk; but, after the eighth century, it de-
notes the chief or head of a monastery. Since
the second council of Nice, (787,) abbots have
always been priests, and have enjoyed the
power of conferring the lower orders of
priesthood; but in essential points of juris—
diction, they were everywhere subject to the
diocesan bishop till the eleventh century,
when, in consequence of the wealth of their
monasteries, they were raised to the titles and
privileges of bishops, held a rank next to that
of bishop, and had a vote in the ecclesiastical
councils. Equal rights and privileges apper-
tained to the abbesscs as the superiors of the
nunneries, except that they have seldom been
allowed to vote in synods. As the result of
the favour, or the wants of kings, and other
causes, many of the most considerable con-
vents came, in the ninth and tenth centuries,
into the hands of secular masters, and their
spiritual supervision was devolved on inferior
abbots, deans, or priors. To the princes and
princesses of royal families, abbeys were pre-
sented to defray the expenses of their table,—
while the richest were retained by the kings
themselves. Nunneries were sometimes as-
signed to men, and monasteries to females.
In the tenth century, the convents under
royal patronage were frequently given in re-
ward for the services of the crown vassals in
war; the abbots thus became a kind of mili-
tary clergy, whose su eriors bore, in the
camp, the name of fie cl-abbots. In conse-
quence of a reform commenced at Cluny,
new monasteries arose without abbots, over
which the abbot of reformed Benedictines at
that place appointed priors or pro-abbates, or
even co-abbates, who remained dependent on
him. Besides the Benedictines. only the grey
monks of Vallombrosa, the Cistercians, Ber-
nardines, Trappists, Grand Montani, Prae—
monstratenses, and some bodies of regular
choristers, denominate their superiors abbots.
Besides the female branches of these orders,
the nuns of Fontrevaud, and the female se-
cular choristers, have abbesscs. These have
always remained under the jurisdiction of
their diocesan bishop; but the abbots of many
other convents shook off the authority of the
bishops, and acknowledged no master but the
pope. The mitred abbots enjoyed the right,
frequently conferred on the Benedictines in
the middle ages by the papal legate, of adopt-
ing the episcopal title and insignia. Only a
few, however, possessed the episcopal power
with dioceses of their own, of whom there
was not one in France. Before the period of
secularization, there were in Germany, but in
Germany only, princely abbots and princely
abbesscs. These abbeys were secularized in
1803, and became principalities. By rule, the
choice of abbots belongs to the chapters of
their convents. In the independent abbeys,
this is followed by the papal confirmation; ‘in
the dependent, by the episcopal; yet, for a
long time, many abbeys in Italy have‘ been
conferred by the pope, and in France by the
king, notwithstanding the concordat of 1516.
The secular clergy, who enjoy these benefices
without observing the rules of the order, are
termed secular abbots ,- on the other hand,
their vicars in the convents themselves, like
all abbots of the monkish order, are called re-
gular abbots. Younger sons of distinguished
families have often entered the ranks of the
secular clergy, in order to become secular
abbots, and to receive the income of an abbey
without being restricted by monastic rules.
As such expectants were called in France
abbe’s, this became a general appellation for
young secular clergy who were out of office.
(See ABBE’.) Since the Revolution, which
changed the abbeys into national property,
and took from those expectants the objects of
their exertions, this class has diminished in
young scholars are called abbots, merely from
having undergone the tonsure, though not in
orders. Napoleon led a whole army of Italian
abbots to Corsica, where they lived on re-
duced incomes till the restoration again scat-
tered them over Italy.
At the time of the Reformation. several
abbeys and convents were retained for the
benefit of the clergy, and the support of un-
married females. Some Protestant clergy-
men, therefore, still hear the name of abbot,
with which dignity the right of sitting in the
Diet of the states is united; as for example,
in the Wurtemburg Assembly. There are
also Protestant ladies who are called abbesses.
In Lower Saxony, indeed, this dignity was
abolished at the time of the confiscation of the
cloisters, &c., under the French Westphalian
government; but in some countries, as in the
kingdom of Hanover, it has been restored.
In the Greek church, the superiors of a

France, but it is yet numerous in Italy, where l
ABL
3 ABS
coilvent are called Hegounuznz', and the abbots-
general, Archimandrites.
Annms, a reputed disciple of Christ in
Babylon, to whom is ascribed abook purport-
ing to contain the lives of the Apostles, but
which is full of fabulous stories utterly un-
worthy of credit.
ABELIANS, ABELITEs, ABELONIANS, a sect
which arose about the year 360, near Hippo,
in Africa, and borrowed their name from
Abel, the son of Adam, because as they sup-
posed, he died unmarried and without chil-
dren. Though they did not abstain from
matrimony, yet they had no carnal know-
ledge of their wives, that they might not be
instrumental in propagating original sin. That
their numbers might be kept up, they adopted
the children of others, on whom they settled
their property, on condition that they would
adhere to the principles of the sect. It does
not appear to have continued long in existence,
but it has recently been revived among the
Shakers of America.
Anenans, or AGBARUS, a king of Edessa
in Mesopotamia, who, according to Eusebius,
wrote a letter to our Saviour, and received an
answer from him, both of which are preserved
by that historian, and may be seen also in
Lardner’s works, and Jones on the Canon.
Though their genuineness has been advocated
by Cave, Grabe, and others, they are gene-
rally considered to be spurious. The pre-
tended epistle of Christ, is by no means worthy
of him, and appears to be a mere piece of
patchwork, taken from several passages of
the Gospels. Nor is it likely that any thing
written by the Saviour’s own hand, could
have remained unknown to the rest of the
world till the time of Eusebius. The royal
epistle too, is not in the style of an oriental
prince.
ABJURATION, OATH or, an oath by which
an obligation was come under not to acknow-
ledge any right in the Pretender to the throne
of England. It is also used to signify an
oath, ordained by the 25th of Charles II., ab-
juring particular doctrines of the church of
Rome.
AnLU'rroN, a ceremony in use among the
ancients, and still practised in several parts of
the world. It consisted in washing the body,
which was always done before sacrificing, or
even entering their houses. Ablutions ap-
pear to be as old as any ceremonies, and
external worship itself. Moses enjoined them,
the heathens adopted them, and Mahomet and
his followers have continued them. The
Egyptians, the Greeks, the Romans, the Jews,
all had them. The ancient Christians had
their ablutions before communion, which the
Romish church still retain before their mass,
and sometimes after. The Syrians, Copts,
860., have their solemn washings on Good
Friday: the Turks also have their ablutions,
their Ghasl, their Wodou, Ste.

ABBAHAMITES.—I. A sect of heretics, so
called from their founder, who, towards the
end of the eighth century, revived at Antioch
his native place, that of the Paulicians, and
corrupted a great part of the Syrians; but
Cyriacus, the bishop of the Syrian church,
powerfully opposed him, and soon put an end
to his party.
II. An order of monks in the ninth cen-
, who were exterminated by Theophilus
for the idolatrous practices in which they
indulged.
III. A modern sect which sprang up in
Bohemia about the middle of the last century.
They take the name, because they profess to
be of the same religion that Abraham was
before he was circumcised. They reject this
rite, though some of them are circumcised,
having formerly been Jews: the rest have
either been Catholics or Protestants. They
believe in one God, the immortality of the
soul, and future rewards and punishments;
but they deny the divine legation of Moses,
and only receive the Ten Commandments and
the Lord’s Prayer. They reject the doctrine
of original sin, the Trinity, and other peculiar
doctrines of revelation. To avoid persecution,
they at first attended worship in the churches;
but on the publication of the edict of Joseph
II., establishing entire toleration throughout
his dominions, they avowed their sentiments,
and presented a petition to the emperor, who
declared that he would not violate their con-
sciences; but false to his promise, he only
allowed them till the 24th of March, 1783, to
incorporate themselves with one of the reli-
gions tolerated in the empire, and threatened
them with banishment if they did not comply.
Proving obstinate, the imperial menace was
carried into execution ; and they were trans-
ported to Transylvania and the Bannat of
Temeswar. There are still in Bohemia, num-
bers between whom and the Abrahamites
some connexion has been traced; but they
are not molested by the government. They
are known by the name of Deists and Nihil-
ists, because they believe in nothing—Gre-
goz're’s Hz'stoz're des Sectes, b. ix. ch. xi.
ABRASAX STONES, gems found in great
abundance in Spain, which represent a human
body, with the head of a cock and the feet of
a reptile. They have often the inscription
Abrasaa: or Abraa'as in Greek characters,
which is supposed, however, to be of Persian
or Egyptian origin. According to Bellerman,
they belonged to the religious sect of the
Basilidians, and were used, partly as means
for teaching secret doctrines, partly as symbols,
and partly as amulets or talismans. The
name is also given to those stones which bear
the emblems of Sabaeism. Dr. Neander, of
Berlin, has written an interesting dissertation
on the subject.
AnsoLn'rroN signifies acquittal. It is taken,
also, for that act whereby the priest declares
ABS
ABS
the sins of such as are penitent remitted. In
the earlier ages it was a judicial act, by
which the priest, in the name of the com-
munity, invoking the favour of Cod, an-
nounced to the penitent his remission from
ecclesiastical punishment, and readmission into
the bosom of the church. Private absolutlon
having in the course of time become preva-
lent, through priests acting in the name of the
bishop, the opinion was spread among the
people, that they had the pow er of absolvmg
by their own authority, and without the con-
sent of the church. The formula of absolu-
tion in the church of Rome, has been said to
be absolute ; in the Greek church, deprecatory;
and in Protestant churches, declaratory. The
Romanists hold absolution a part of the sacra-
ment of penance; and the council of Trent,
and that of Florence, declare the form or
essence of the sacrament to lie in the words
of absolution, “I absolve thee of thy sins.”
According to this, no one can receive abso-
lution without the privity, consent, and de-
claration of the priest; except, therefore the
priest be willing, God himself cannot pardon
any man. This is a doctrine as blasphemous
as it is ridiculous. The chief passage on
which they ground their power of absolu-
tion, is that in John xx. 23: “ Whosesoever
sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them,
and whosesoever sins ye retain, they are
retained.” But this is not to the purpose;
since this was a special commission to the
apostles themselves, and the first preachers of
the gospel, and most probably referred to the
power Christ gave them of discerning spirits.
By virtue of this power, Peter struck Ananias
and Sapphira dead, and Paul struck Elymas
blind. But supposing the passage in question
to apply to the successors of the apostles, and
to ministers in general, it can only import
that their ofiice is to preach pardon to the
penitent, assuring those who believe that their
sins are forgiven through the merits of Jesus
Christ; and that those who remain in unbe-
lief are in a state of condemnation. Any idea
of authority given to fallible, uninspired men
to absolve sinners, different from this, is un-
scriptural; nor is there any propriety in the
terms ministerial or declarative absolution, as
adopted by some divines, since absolution is
wholly the prerogative of God; and the terms
above mentioned, can, to say the least, have
no good influence on the minds of the ignorant
and superstitious.
The ancients reckoned up five kinds of
absolution. 1. That of Baptism. 2. That of
the Eucharist. 3. That of the word and doc-
trine. 4. That of imposition of hands, and
prayer. 5. That of reconcilement to the com-
munion of the church, by a relaxation of her
censures. The two first have been called sa-
cramental; the third, declaratory; the fourth,
deprecatory; and the fifth, judicial. The first
had no relation to penitential discipline, being

never given to persons who had once received
baptism. The second had some relation to
it, but did not solely belong to it; for it was
given to all baptized persons, who never fell
under penitential discipline, as well as those
who lapsed and were restored to communion
again: and in both respects it was called To
réhewv, the perfection or consummation of a
Christian. By the third, the minister made
public declaration to men of the terms of re-
conciliation and salvation. The fourth sort
was used as a concomitant of most other ab-
solutions; and by the fifth, penitents were
finally restored to the peace and full com-
munion of the church.
In the Liturgy of the Church of England,
there are three several forms of absolution.
The first is that at morning prayer, “ Al-
mighty God, &c. who hath given power, &c.
He pardoneth and absolveth,” &c. The se-
cond is used at the visitation of the sick,
“ OurpLord Jesus Christ, who hath left power
to his church, &c. by his authority committed
to me, I absolve thee,” &c. The third is in
the communion service, “ Almighty God, 80c.
who hath promised forgiveness of sins, &c.
have mercy upon you,” &c. These three dif-
ferent forms, says Bishop Sparrow, are, in
sense and virtue, the same,—-“ For as when
a prince hath granted a commission to any
servant of his, to release out of prison all
penitent oflenders whatever, it were all one,
in effect, as to the prisoner’s discharge, whe-
ther this servant says, by virtue of a com-
mission granted to me, under the prince's
hand and seal, I release this prisoner; or
thus, the prince, who hath given me this com-
mission, pardons you; or lastly, the prince
pardon and deliver you: so here,” 8w.
_ The form of absolution, which the pope
gives to crowned heads who have been ex-
communicated, is briefly this. The pope is
seated on a rich pontifical throne erected
before St. Peter’s church, attended by the
apostolical court. The ambassadors of the
excommunicated princes appear before this
assembly, and throw themselves at his holi-
ness’s feet, asking pardon in the name of their
masters, and desiring absolution. Then they
lay their hands on the mass-book, and swear,
by the Holy Gospels, and the Holy Crucifix,
obedience to the church. Then the pope, and
twelve cardinal-priests, sing the Mz'serere,
observing to strike the ambassadors on the
shoulder at the beginning of each verse. The
ceremony ends with prayers, and the imposi-
tion of a penance proportionable to the crime
of the person absolved.
ABSTEMII, a name given to such persons
as could not partake of the cup of the eu-
charist, on account of their natural aversion
to wine.
Ans'rrnnncn. See FAs'mNG.
ABSTINENTS, a set of heretics that ap-
peared in France and Spain about the end of
ACA
ACA
5
the third century. They are supposed to
have borrowed part of their opinions from
the Gnostics and Manicheeans, because they
opposed marriage, condemned the use of flesh
meat, and placed the Holy Ghost in the class
of created beings.
ABUNA, (ourfather,) the title of the Patri-
arch of Abyssmia, who is generally taken
from among the Coptic priests, as the Abys-
sinians and Copts keep up a communication
with each other at Cairo. He has under him
the Kamosats, or the chief priests of the se-
cular clergy, the learned theologians and
monks.
Anvssmmu CHURCH. See CHURCH, ABYs-
SINIAN.
ACACIANS, a set of heretics in the fourth
century; so named from Acacius, bishop of
Caesarea, who denied the Son to be of the
same substance with the Father, though some
of them allowed that he was of a similar sub-
stance. Also the name of another sect,
named after Acacius, patriarch of Constanti-
nople, in the fifth century, who favoured the
opinions of Eutychus. See EUTYCHIANS.
ACADEMICS, a denomination given to the
cultivators of a species of philosophy origin-
ally derived from Socrates, and afterwards
illustrated and enforced by Plato. The con-
tradictory systems which had been succes-
sively urged upon the world were become so
numerous, that from a view of the variety
and uncertainty of human opinions, many
were led to conclude that truth lay beyond
the reach of our comprehension. The con-
sequence of this conclusion was absolute scep-
ticism: hence the existence of God, the im-
mortality of the soul, the preferableness of
virtue to vice, were all held as uncertain.
This sect, with that of the Epicureans, were
the two chief that were in vogue at the time
of Christ’s appearance, and were embraced
and supported by persons of high rank and
wealth. A consideration of the principles of
these two sects [see EPICUREANS] will lead
us to form an idea of the deplorable state of
the world at the time of Christ’s birth; and
the necessity there was of some divine teacher
to convey to the mind true and certain prin-
ciples of religion and wisdom. Jesus Christ,
therefore, is with great propriety called the
Day-Spring from on high, the Sun of Right-
eousness, that arose upon a benighted world
to dispel the clouds of ignorance and error,
and discover to lost man the path of happi-
ness and heaven. But, as we do not mean to
enlarge much upon these and some other
sects, which belong rather to philosophy than
theology, we shall refer the reader to Bud-
deus’s Introduction to the History of Philoso-
phy,- Stanley’s Lives; Bruc/cer’s History of
Philosophy; or (which is more modern) En-
field’s Abridgment.
ACADEMY, a place in which the sciences
are taught, and in a more restricted theolo-
l gical sense, a house or establishment in which
young men are trained for the ministry. The
name is derived from the Athenian academy
belonging to a certain Academus, which was
a famous school for gymnastic exercises, and
a place where Plato taught. The first insti-
tution of antiquity which merits the name,
was that of Alexandria. Attracted by the
generosity of the Ptolemies, a numerous as-
sociation of scholars was collected in that
city, who were to have laboured for the per-
fection and extension of human knowledge,
but soon fell into idleness or the exercise of
grammatical subtleties. From Alexandria it
is supposed the Jews borrowed the custom of
founding academies, which were established
after the close of the first century, in the
cities on the Euphrates, Sora, Neharda, and
Punebedita. They had also a famous school
at Tiberias, which flourished for several cen-
turies. From them the Nestorians learned
in the sixth century to value science, and im-
parted the same spirit to the Arabs, whose
caliphs, Almansor, Harun-al-Rashid, and Al-
mamum, founded a number of academies,
which were extended from Cordova, in Spain,
to Bockara in the East, with the greatest
success. At the court too of Charlemagne
We find an academy founded by the emperor,
at the suggestion of his instructor, Alcuin, of
which he was himself a member. This use-
ful institution was broken up after the death
of Alcuin, and no academies, properly so
called, are found till the time of the conquest
of Constantinople by the Turks, when several
Greek scholars were compelled to flee to
Italy. Lorenzo de Medici then founded, at
Florence, the first Grecian academy, under
the care of Argyropylus, Theodore Gaza,
and Chalcondylas. Cosmo afterwards estab-
lished the Platonic academy, the object of
which was the study of the writings of Plato,
and the restoration of his philosophy—This
gave place to others of various names, which
with numbers of more recent origin, still
exist.
The term, in its theological acceptation, is
now almost exclusively applied to those col-
legiate seminaries in which candidates for the
work of the ministry among Dissenters are
conducted through the requisite preparatory
courses of instruction; an account of which
is contained in the following article.
ACADEMIES, D1ssENT1NG.—-The origin of
these institutions is to be traced to the ejec-
tion of many of the most learned ministers
of the Church of England, by the Act of Uni-
formity, the introduction of certain oaths as
prerequisites to admission into the Universi-
ties of Oxford and Cambridge, and the ne-
cessity of making provision for the due in“
struction of such as should be called to labour
in future among the nonconformist portion of
the community. The edict that deprived

those divines of their livings, could not des-
ACA.
6
ACA
poil them of their erudition. The treasures
of knowledge which they had acquired at the
university, eminently qualified them for un-
dertaking the tuition of youth; while the
straitened circumstances to which many of
them were reduced, obliged them to open
schools and establish academies, in which
they taught the classics, and read lectures on
different branches of theology and general
science. As might be expected, these rising
seminaries were viewed with fear and jea-
lousy, and harassing processes were instituted
in the Spiritual Court against those who pre-
sided over‘ them.
The first dissenting academy was opened
at the village of Rathmz'll, near Giggleswick,
in Yorkshire, in the year 1665, by Richard
Frankland, whom Cromwell had fixed upon
to preside over the college which he erected
for academical learning at Durham, but who
was driven from his situation when the insti-
tution was put down at the Restoration. In
this seclusion he educated not fewer than
three hundred young men. Much about the
same time similar institutions were estab-
lished at Newz'ngton Green, under Mr. Mor-
ton and Mr. Gale; at Sherzjfl'lrales, under Mr.
VVoodhouse; at Taunton, under Mr. vWarren;
at Shrewsbury, under Mr. Owen; at Here/ion,
under Mr. Spademan ; at Islington, under Mr.
Doolittle; at Sulby and Little Creator, under
Mr. Shuttlewood; at l/Vick/zam Brook, under
Mr. Cradock; at Tew/csbury, under Mr.
Jones, and subsequently at different places in
various counties, under the care of gifted and
zealous ministers. These schools, many of
which were continued by able tutors, after
the death of those who had founded them,
sent forth a noble race of ministers, whose
labours were eminently blessed, for promoting
the interests of true religion throughout the
country.
Subsequently academies were established in
other places,—among which that of North—
ampton, under Dr. Doddridge, ranked first,
and furnished, during the presidency of that
eminent servant of Christ, not fewer than one
hundred and twenty ministers.
The following are the institutions at pre-
sent in existence, in alphabetical order :—
AIRDALE COLLEGE, at Undercliffe, in the
vicinity of Bradford, Yorkshire. This col-
lege, formerly known by the name of Idle
Academy, was removed from Idle to the
above-mentioned place, in consequence of the
handsome donation of two estates in aid of
its object. About twenty students receive
their education in it. ‘
BRECON CoLLEcE, in South Wales, for-
merly established at Newtown. It is under
the superintendence of a committee, and is
supported partly by the congregational
churches in Wales, and partly by the Congre-
gational Fund Board.
CARMARTHEN ACADEMY, supported by the
Presbyterian Fund Board, ~ educates about
twelve students.
the Countess of Huntingdon at Talgarth in
Wales, but removed to its present locality in
1791. It contains twenty students, who are
left at liberty to pursue the ministry in
. any denomination to which they may choose
to attach themselves. The present Trustees
have liberally made provision for the edu-
cation of students designed for Missionary
service.
Cownm) CoLLEGE, so called in memory of
its founder. This institution was originally
located at Wymondly, Herts; but in 1832, the
trustees, determining to avail themselves of
the advantages to be derived from the Lon-
don University College, removed to Byng
Place, Torrington Square, where the students
reside, and‘the business is carried on, under
the superintendence of a resident theological
tutor, in a handsome building, purchased and
fitted up for the purpose.
students is sixteen. -
ExE'rEn, or WESTERN ACADEMY. This
establishment sprung out of a seminary suc—
cessively carried on at St. Mary Ottery, Brid-
port, Taunton and Axminster. It occupies a
comniodious building in the vicinity of ter, and accommodates fourteen students.
HACKNEY THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, pro-
jected by the Rev. John Eyre, ALM., an
English clergyman; and chiefly indebted for
its support to the munificent bequest of
£ 10,000 by Charles Townsend, Esq., to the
Village ltineracy Society, under the auspices
of which its business is prosecuted. The
students are from ten to fifteen in number.
HIGHBURY COLLEGE, in the parish of
Islington near London, is a continuation of
the Institution originally founded at Mile End
in 1783, but removed to Hox'roN in 1791.
From the latter locality it was again removed
in 1826, to its present site, which was hand-
somely presented by the Treasurer, Thomas
Wilson, Esq, of Highbury Place. It fur-
nishes accommodation for forty students.
HOMERTON CoLLEoE, in the vicinity of
London, consists of two foundations, one of
which dates as far back as 1690; and the
other, to which the property belongs, com-
menced in 1730. It accommodates twenty
students. -
LANCASHIRE INDEPENDENT COLLEGE, for-
merly BLACKBURN ACADEMY. This Institus
tion which sprung from the more private
seminary supported at Manchester, by Robert
Spear, Escp, and was conducted for nearly
thirty years at Blackburn, is now removed to
the former of these towns, where its business
is conducted in a building singularly elegant
and ornamental. ‘
'NEwroR'r PAGNEL EVANGELIC'AL INSTITU—
TION. This academy owes its origin to the
benevolent plans of the late excellent John

CHEsHUN'r CoLLEGE, Herts, founded by.
The number of '
ACA
ACC
Thornton, Esq., in connexion with the aid of
Cowper the poet, the Rev. John Newton, and
the Rev. J. Clayton, sen. It was established
in 1784, and educated suitable candidates for
the ministry irrespective of their particular
views in regard to Church government. The
number of students is eight.
ROTHERHAM COLLEGE, at Masborough,
near Rotherham, has recently been consider-
ably enlarged and improved, and accommo-
dates upwards of twenty students.
SPRING—HILL-COLLEGE, Birmingham. This
new establishment originated in the liberality
of the late George Storer Mansfield, Esq., and
his sisters, Mrs. Sarah Glover, and Miss Eliza-
beth Mansfield.
All the literary establishments above enu-
merated belong to dissenters of the Pwdo-
baptist persuasion. The Anti-Pccdo-baptists
have similar institutions, of which the prin-
cipal are :—
Bnrs'ror. ACADEMY, commenced in the
reign of George II., and has given education
to a considerable number of ministers who
have been an honour to the denomination.
The number of students is about twenty. Its
library in 1825 contained upwards of 7000
volmnes.
Bnanronn ACADEMY opened in 1806: fur-
nishes accommodation for twenty-two stu-
dents.
STEPNEY ACADEMY was founded in 1810.
It educates at present fourteen students, but
has ample room for more, if the funds of the
institution would allow.
ABERGAVENNY ACADEMY, founded in 1807
for the education of Welsh Anti-paado-baptist
ministers, educates at present only seven
students.
In all the academics of both persuasions, no
principles but those generally accounted or~
thodox are taught. Arian or Socinian aca-
demies have existed at Exeter, Hoxton, Vl’ar-
rington, Hackney, and Manchester; but
though enjoying the tuition of such eminent
literary characters as Drs. Taylor, Aikin,
Priestley, &c., they were not able to sustain
themselves, and gradually died away. The
only seminary which the Socinians now have
is that known by the name of Manchester
College. It was removed to York in 1803,
but was again removed from that city to
Manchester in 1839. The number of its stu-
dents has never exceeded twenty.
In Scotland the Presbyterian Dissenters
have what they term divinity halls, in which

their students are carried through different
courses on theology; and the Congregational-
ists have a theological academy at Glasgow,
where they enjoy the able tuition of the Rev.
Messrs. Ewing and Wardlaw, and possess,
besides, the privilege of attending the difierent
courses at the. university.
l
tinguished also for the number and efiicicncy
of her colleges. Most of these, however, dif-
fer essentially from our dissenting colleges.
Being designed to furnish tuition in all the
branches of ancient and modern literature,
and thereby to prepare youth for any depart-
ment which they may be called to fill, they
receive young men without discrimination as
to religious character. With their theological
seminarz'es it is otherwise. Into most of these
none are admitted who do not give satisfac-
tory evidence of piety and devotedness to the
sacred objects of the Christian ministry.
They are established at Andover, Princeton,
Bongor, Cambridge, Alleghany. Alexandria,
New Brunswick, Hartwick, Gettysburg, Car-
lisle, Maryville, and Rock Spring, &c. Of
these, that at Cambridge alone is heterodox,
being designed for the instruction of students
connected with the Socinian congregations.
Andover Institution was established in 1807.
It has a president and four professorships.
The course of study embraces three years; the
students coming well prepared from some of
the colleges, where they have gone through
the classics and the various courses on human
literature. 'The first year is devoted to sa-
cred literature, the second to Christian theo-
logy, and the third to sacred rhetoric. It
contains one hundred and twenty students.
Into the British dissenting academies, no
young man is received who does not bring
suflicient testimonials as to moral character,
piety, and talents, and who has not previously
submitted to a close and particular examina-
tion. These being satisfactory, the candidate
is admitted on three months’ probation, at the
expiration of which, if the report of the tutors
be favourable, he is fully received. The term
of study varies, but averages about four years.
The students are instructed in the Greek and
Latin classics ; Hebrew, Chaldee, Syriac ;
Mathematics, Natural History, Mental and
Moral Philosophy, Biblical Antiquities, Exe-
gesis and Hermeneutics, Systematic, Polemi-
cal, and Pastoral Theology; Ecclesiastical
History, Sac.
ACATHOLICI, those in general who do not
belong to the Catholic Church. In Roman
Catholic countries Protestants are distin-
guished by this name.
ACCENSORII, or Lighters, a name generally
given to the ancient acolouthi, because they
lighted the candles in the churches.
ACCLAMATIONS, ECCLESIASTICAL, were
shouts of joy which the people expressed by
way of approbation of their preachers. It
hardly seems credible to us that practices of
this kind should ever have found‘ their way
into the church, where all ought to be rever-
ence and ‘solemnity. Yet so it was in the
fourth century. The people were not only
permitted, but sometimes even exhorted, by
America, rising rapidly into importance ; the preacher himself, to approve his talents
and influence as a modern state, stands dis- by clapping of hands, and loud acclamations
ACC
ACC
8
of praise. The usual words they made use of
were, “Orthodox,” “ Third Apostle,” &c.
These acclamations being carried to excess,
and often misplaced, were frequently pro-
hibited by the ancient doctors, and at length
abrogated. Even as late, however, as the
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, we find
practices that were not very decorous; such
as loud humming, frequent groaning, strange
gestures of the body, 80c. See articles
DANCERS, SHAKERs.
ACCOMMODATION, the application of one
thing by analogy to another, in consequence
of a resemblance real or supposed between
them. To know a thing by accommodation
is to know it by the idea of a similar thing
referred to it.
In theology, the term accommodation is
applied to what may be called the indirect ful-
filment of prophecy; as when passages, that
originally related to one event, are quoted as
if they referred to another, in which some
resemblance may be traced. The method of
explaining Scripture on this principle of ac-
commodation, serves, it has been said, as a
key for solving some of the greatest difiicul-
ties relating to the prophecies. It has been
justly called a convenient principle; for if it
were once generally adopted, we should get
rid of the strongest proofs of the truth of
Christianity, which prophecy has hitherto
been supposed to furnish. It is not afiirmed,
that this is either the wish or the design of
some of the authors who have adopted and
defended the principle of accommodation;
but scarcely any of them, with the exception
perhaps of one or two German divines, have
pleaded for its unlimited application to the
Old Testament predictions. It is vain to
press even Michaelis into the service, as has
been lately attempted ; for both he and his no
less acute and learned commentator Marsh,
expressly avow, not merely their doubt of
the propriety of universally extending this
principle, but their conviction of the danger
with which it would be attended, and of the
inconclusive reasonings which its patrons
have brought forward in its defence. (Vida
Marsh’s lllz'chaelt's, vol. i. p. 200-214, and
Notes, p. 470—47 9.) The following view of
the subject is taken chiefly from their state-
ments.
This mode of interpreting the prophecies,
was .early introduced among theologians, pro-
bably by Origen, who employs it under the
name of Oirm/ojata, (which the Latin fathers
afterwards called dispensatia) in replying to
the objections of Celsus; and whose allegori-
cal disposition did such injury to the cause of
truth. They expressly affirmed that the
Apostles accommodated their quotations from
the Old Testament to the prejudices of the
Jews, without any regard to their original
import; an opinion the most unwarrantable
and dangerous ; for that those who were com-
missioned to publish the revelations of God to
mankind should have recourse to such an un-
justifiable artifice, is contrary to all the notions
which sound reason, the ultimate judge of the
truth of revelation, leads us to form respect-
ing the divine character and conduct. Dr.
Eckermann extends the doctrine of accom-
modation to every quotation in the New Tes-
tament, without exception ; proceeding on the
hypothesis that the Old Testament contains
no prophecy which literally and immediately
relates to the person of Jesus Christ. Dr.
Owen on the contrary, in his “ Modes of
Quotations,” sec. 5, entirely rejects the prin-
ciple of accommodation, to whose opinion
Michaelis is, in most cases, inclined to accede,
though with this essential difference, that he
admits only a grammatical and literal, whilst
Dr. Owen contends for a typical meaning of
particular passages.
With respect to the quotations from the
Jewish Scriptures, contained in the New Tes-
tament, it seems necessary to make an accu-
rate distinction between those which, being
merely borrowed, are used as the words of the
person who quotes them, and those which are
produced as proofs of a doctrine or the com-
pletion of a prophecy. In the one case, ac-
commodation may be allowed; for it is natural
to suppose that the writers of the New Tes-
tament, from their intimate acquaintance with
the Septuagint, might often allude to passages
and quote them from memory, as an illustra-
tion of what they were stating, without di-
rectly intending to bring them forward as
irresistible arguments. But in the other case,
‘there is no little difliculty, and even hazard,
in having recourse to this principle; for if it
once he admitted that the Evangelists and
Apostles, and even our Lord himself, employed
arguments, which, on this supposition, are
evidently no arguments at all, the inspiration
of the one, and the divine mission of the other,
must be extremely equivocal.
If it were true that the Old Testament was
falsely quoted in the New, when either doc-
trmes or prophecies are the subjects of dis-
cussion, it would be necessary to make the
following distinctions :——1. If such quotations
were discovered in a book, whose canonical
authority is doubted, they must be regarded
as human errors, and the inspiration of the
book itself be abandoned. 2; If they could
be found in those books which belong to the
duchoyovpeva, the inspiration of these books
also must be given up, though no inference
could be drawn that the Apostles were not
preachers of a divine religion. 3. But were
it possible to show that the very author of our
religion had made a wrong application of any
text of the Old Testament, it would follow
that he was not infallible, and that Christianity
itself was false.
_ It seems particularly obvious, that the prin-
clple of accommodation should not be hastily
A C C
9' Aco
adopted where the strong expressions are
used, “ This was done that it might be ful-
filled which was spoken by the prophet ;” or,
“ Then was fulfilled that which was spoken,”
8&0. A formula of this kind is never used in
quoting from a classic author: it is, therefore,
no argument in favour of accommodation in
these cases, to say with Nicholls, (Conference
with a Theist, P. iii. p. 11,) that no one would
object to a writer who should address the ,
Apostles in the words of Virgil’s invocation
of the sun and moon——
Vos, o clarissima mundi
Lumina.
Every one must perceive that these cases
are quite dissimilar, and that when the sacred
writers used the above expressions, they were
persuaded that the passages which they intro-
duced did directly refer to the events to which
they applied them. Wetstein (Note on Matt.
i. 22) alleges an example of similar latitude
of expression from Ephrem Syrus; and Dr.
Sykes (Introduction to the Hebrews, sec. 3)
appeals to other writers also. The authority
of Jerome, however, whom he quotes among
the rest, is of little weight, as that learned
father was an avowed allegorist. The exam-
ples of Wetstein, and those which Dr. Sykes
has quoted from Epiphanius and Olympiodo-
rus, are not much more conclusive, being
only similar to the language which we would
use in cautioning any one, “ Let not that be
fulfilled in thee ;” where the caution itself
implies, that the words to which we allude
are no prophecy.
Dr. Sykes indeed, aflirms, that if we were
better acquainted with the Jewish phraseo-
logy, we should less hesitate in admitting the
principle of accommodation. As to the par-
ticular term “fulfilled,” he says the Jewish
writers very often meant no more by it than
the happening .of a similar event, or an exact
agreement in particular circumstances of latter
things with the former; and that the masters
of the synagogue applied passages of the. Old
Testament in senses very remote from that of
the original author. But, not to insist on the
impropriety of putting the inspired writers of
the New Testament on a level with the Jewish
Rabbis, it must not be concealed that this
learned author has produced no examples
from the Talmud, or from any Jewish com-
mentator, where similar expressions are used
in cases of mere accommodation, and no asser-
tion can be admitted without authority. This
omission is the more. inexcusable, that the
very principle which he defends rests almost
entirely on the decision of the question,—Did
the Rabbis in quoting passages from the Old
Testament, with a formula of this kind, “ In
this the Scripture was fulfilled,” consider these
passages as directly referring to the events
to which they applied them? or did they
ground the quotation on a mere parity of cir-
cumstances ? It is no small presumption

against his assertions, that Surenhusius, who
has accurately examined this question in his
,Btflhog Ica'raMa-yng', (Amsterd, 1713,)‘ de-
cides ' t them. In his third thesis, “ De
formulis allegandi,” he compares the expres-
sion, tvrhnpwsn 1') wimpy, with the rabbinical
formulae; and referring to the Tanchuma, fol.
39, col. 3, where Dent. xvii. 7, is quoted with
the formula, “ ad confirmandum id quod scrip-
tum est,” observes, “ ex cujus loci applicatione
patet illam formulam, non solum alludendi
verum etiam demonstrandi vim habere,” that
,it is not merely allusive, but demonstrative.—
Encyclop. Edin.
ACCUBSED. See ANATHEMA.
ACEPHALI, such bishops as were exempt
from the discipline and jurisdiction of their
ordinary bishop or patriarch. It was also
the denomination of certain sects who refused
to acknowledge any ecclesiastical head :--1.
Of those who, in the affair of the council of
Ephesus, refused to follow either St. Cyril or
John of Antioch; 2. Of certain monophysite
monks and priests in Egypt, who did not
acknowledge the patriarch, Peter Mongus,
because he had not, at the adoption of the
Henoticon, in 483, expressly condemned the
council of Chalcedon. 3. Of the followers of
Severus of Antioch, and of all, in general,
who held out against the council of Chalce-
don; and, 4. Of the Flagellants, whom see.
ACOEMETE, or AcoEMETI, an order of
monks at Constantinople in the fifth century,
whom the writers of that and the following
ages called ,AKOLPQTGL; that is, Watchers, be-
cause they performed divine service day and
night without intermission. They divided
themselves into three classes, who alternately
succeeded one another, so that they kept up a
perpetual course of worship. This practice
they founded upon that passage—“ Pray
without ceasing.” 1 Thess. v. 17.
ACOLOUTHI, or ACOLITES, servants of the
church, who appeared in the Latin Church as
early as the third century; but in the Greek
not till the fifth. Their oflice was to light
the candles, thence they were called accen—
sores; to carry the tapers in the festal pro-
cessions, thence cerqferarii ,- to present the
wine and water at the supper, and in general
to assist the bishops and priests in the per-
formance of .the ceremonies. They belonged
to the clergy, and had a rank immediately
below the subdeacons. In the Roman Church
the consecration of an acolouthos is the
highest of the lower kinds of ordination. The
person ordained receives a_ candlestick and
chalice, in token of his ancient employment.
The duties, however, formerly belonging to
this oflice, have been performed since the
seventh century by menials and boys taken
from the laity, who are improperly called aco-
louthi in the books of Roman liturgy. The
modern Greek Church no longer retains even
the name.
ACT
ACT
‘10
Ac'r, CoNvEN'rIcLE, passed in 1664. It
enacted that only five persons above sixteen
years of age, besides the family, were to meet
for any worship, domestic or social. The first
offence on the part of him who officiated was
three months’ imprisonment, or five pounds
fine; the second, six months’ imprisonment,
or ten pounds; the third offence was trans-
portation for life, or a fine of one hundred
pounds. Those who permitted conventicles
to be held in their barns, houses, or out-
houses, were liable to the same forfeitures;
and married women taken at such meetings
were to be imprisoned for twelve months,
unless their husbands paid forty shillings for
their redemption. The power of enforcing
the act was lodged in the hands of a single
justice of the peace, who might proceed,
without the verdict of a jury, on the bare oath
of an informer. In consequence of this act,
houses were broken open, goods and cattle
distrained, persons arrested, and the gaols in
the different counties filled with those who
had been guilty of no other misdemeanour
but that of assembling together to worship
God, or listen to the exposition of his holy
word. ‘
Ac'r, ConronA'rIoN, a statute of 13 Charles
II., chap. i., in which, to the end that the suc-
cession in corporations might most probably
be perpetuated in the hands of persons well
affected to his Majesty, and the established
government, it was, among other things, en-
acted, “ That no person shall be chosen into
any oflice of ma gistracy, or other employment
relating to corporations, who shall not, within
one year next before such election, have taken
the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, according
to the rites of the Church of England.”
Ac'r, FIVE-MILE, or OXFORD, an act passed
in 1665, which imposed an oath on all non~
conformists, binding them to attempt no alter—
ation in either church or state; and provided
that all ministers, who did not take it, should
neither live in, nor come within five miles (ex-
cept in crossing the road) of any borough,
city, or corporate town; or within five miles
of any parish, town, or place in which they
had been, since the Act of Oblivion, parson,
vicar, or lecturer, under a penalty of forty
pounds, and being rendered incapable of
teaching any school, or taking any boarders
to be taught or instructed.
Ac'r, TEST, a statute, 25 Charles II. 2, for
preventing dangers that were apprehended
from Popish recusants, by which it was en-
acted, that every person who should be ad-
mitted into oflice or trust under his Majesty,
should, among other things therein required,
receive the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper,
according to the usage of the Church of Eng-
land, within three months after his admit-
tance into such oflice, under very severe pen-
alties. This, together with the Corporation
Act, has at last'been repealed, after a very
protracted struggle on the part of the dis-
senters.
I ACT or TOLERATION, the famous statute of
William and Mary, see. i., ch. 18, “ for ex-
empting their Majesties’ Protestant subjects
dissenting from the Church of England, from
the penalties of certain laws” enforcing con-
formity (except the Test Acts), and extend-
ing a free and full toleration to all dissen-
ters, excepting Papists and such as deny the
Trinity.
The preamble states,-—That forasmuch as
some ease to scrupulous consciences, in the
exercise of religion, may be an effectual
means to unite their Majesties’ Protestant
subjects in interest and affection, it enacts as
follows, viz.—
Sect. II. That neither the statute made
in the 23d of Elizabeth, intituled “ An Act to
retain the Queen’s Majesty’s subjects to their
due obedience ;” nor the statute made in the
twentieth year of the said Queen, “ for the
more speedy and due execution of certain
branches of the former act ;” nor that clause
of a statute made in the first year of the said
Queen, intituled “ An Act for the Uniformity
of Common Prayer,” 860.; whereby all per-
sons are required to resort to their parish
church or chapel, upon pain of punishment
by the censures of the church; and also upon
pain that every person so offending shall for-
feit, for every such offence, twelve pence;
nor the statute made in the third year of the
late King James, intituled “ An Act for the
better discovering and repressing Popish Re—
cusants ;” nor that other statute, intituled
“ An Act to prevent and avoid dangers which
may grow by Popish Recusants;” nor any
other law or statute of this realm made
against Papists or Popish Recusants, shall be
construed to extend to any person or persons
dissenting from the Church of England, that
shall take the oaths of allegiance and supre-
macy, and shall make and subscribe the de-
claration against Popery ; which oaths and
declaration the justices of peace at the general
sessions of the peace for the county or place
where such persons shall live, are hereby re-
quired to administer to such persons as shall
offer themselves to make and subscribe the
same, and thereof to keep a register; and,
likewise, none of the persons aforesaid shall
give or pay, as any fee or reward, to any
oflicer belonging to the court, above the sum
of sixpence for his entry of his taking the
said oaths, 800., nor above the further sum of
sixpence for any certificate of the same.
Sect. IV. That every person that shall take
the said oaths, and make and subscribe the
declaration aforesaid, shall not be liable to
any pains, penalties, or forfeitures, mentioned
in an act made in the 35th of the late Queen
Elizabeth, nor in an act made in the 22d of
Charles II., intituled “ An Act to prevent
and suppress Seditious Conventicles ,” nor
ACT
ACT
11
shall any of the said persons be prosecuted in
any eccl'esiatical court for their nonconform-
4 ing to the Church of England.
Sect. V. Provided that, if any assembly of
persons, dissenting from the Church of Eng-
land, shall be held in any place for religious
worship with the doors locked, barred, or
bolted, during any time of such meeting to-
gether, such persons shall not receive any
benefit from this law, but be liable to all the
pains and en‘alties of all the aforesaid laws.
Sect. V . Provided that nothing herein con-
tained shall be construed to exempt any of
the persons aforesaid from paying of tithes,
or other parochial duties ; nor from any pro-
secution in any ecclesiastical court, or._else-
where, for the same.
Sect. VII. That if any person dissenting,
&c., as aforesaid, shall hereafterhbe chosen
high constable, or petit constable, churchwar-
den, overseer of the poor, or any other paro-
chial or ward ofiicer, and such person shall
scruple to take upon him any of the said
ofiices, in regard of the oaths or any other
matter or thing required by the law to be
taken or done in respect of such ofiice, every
such person shall and may execute such ofiice
by a sufficient deputy, that shall comply with
the laws on this behalf.
Sect. VIII. That no person dissenting from
the ‘Church of England in holy orders, or pre—
tended holy orders, or pretending to holy orders,
nor any preacher or teacher of any congrega-
tier: of Dissenting Protestants, that shall make
and subscribe the declaration aforesaid, and
take the said oaths at the general or quarter
sessions of the peace, to be held for the
county, town, parts, or division where such
person lives, which court is hereby em-
powered to administer the same, and shall
also declare his approbation of, and subscribe
the articles of religion mentioned in the sta-
tute made in the 13th of Queen Elizabeth,
except the 34th, 35th, and 36th, and these
words in the 20th article; viz.-—“ the Church
hath power to decree rites or ceremonies, and
authority in controversies of faith,”——shall be
liable to any of the pains or penalties men-
tioned in former acts.
‘Sect. X. recites, That some dissenting Pro-
testants scruple the baptizing of infants; and
proceeds to enact,—-That every person in
pretended holy orders, &c., 850., that shall
subscribe the aforesaid articles of religion,
except before excepted, and also except part
of the 27th article, touching infant baptism,
and shall take the said oaths, &c., &c., shall
enjoy all the privileges, benefits, and advan-
tages which any other dissenting minister
might enjoy.
_ Sect. XI. That every teacher or preacher
in holy orders, or pretended holy orders, that
1s, a minister, preacher, or teacher of a con-
gregation, that shall take the oaths herein
required, and make and. subscribe the decla-
ration aforesaid, &c., &c.,- shall be exempted
from serving upon any jury, or from being
appointed to bear the ofiice of churchwarden,
overseer of the poor, or any other parochial
or ward offiee, or other office in any hundred
of any shire, city, town, parish, division, or
wapentake. '
Sect. XII. That every justice of the peace
may, at any time, require any person that
goes to any meeting for exercise of religion,
to make and subscribe the declaration afore-
said, and also to take the said oaths or de-
claration of fidelity hereinafter mentioned, in
case such person scruples the taking of an
oath; and upon‘iefusal, such justice of the
peace is required to commit such person to
prison, and to certify the name of such person
to the next general or quarter sessions of the
peace, &c.
Sect. XIII. recites, That there are certain
other Dissenters who scruple the taking of
any oath; and then proceeds to enact, That
every such person shall make and subscribe
the aforesaid declaration, and also this decla~
ration of fidelity following: viz. “ I, A. B.,
do sincerely promise and solemnly declare,
before God and the world, that I will be true
and faithful to King ‘William and Queen
Mary; and I do solemnly profess and de-
clare, that I do from my heart abhor, detest,
and renounce, as impious and heretical, that
damnable doctrine and position, That princes
excommunicated or deprived by the Pope, or
any authority of the see of Rome, may be
deposed or murthered by their subjects, or
any other whatsoever; and I do declare, That
no foreign prince, person, prelate, state, or
potentate, hath, or ought to have, any power,
jurisdiction, superiority, pre-eminence, or
authority, ecclesiastical or spiritual, within
this realm ;” and shall subscribe a profession
of their Christian belief in these words: “ I,
A. B., profess faith in God the Father, and in
Jesus Christ, his eternal Son, the true God,
and in the Holy Spirit, one God, blessed for
evermore; and do acknowledge the Holy
Scriptures of the Old and New Testament to
be given by divine inspiration :”——which de—
clarations and subscription shall be entered
on record at the General Quarter Sessions,
&c.; and every such person shall be exempted
from all the pains and penalties of all and
every the aftermentioned statutes, 8:0.
Sect. XVI. Provided, That all the laws
made and provided for the frequenting of
divine service on the Lord’s Day, commonly
called Sunday, shall be still in force, and exe-
cuted against all persons that ofiend against
the said laws, except such persons come to
some congregation or assembly of religious
worship, allowed or permitted by this act.
Sect. XVII. Provided, That neither this
act, nor any clause, article, or thing herein
contained, shall extend, or be construed to
extend, to give any case, benefit, or advan-
ACT'
ACT
12
tage to any Papist or Popish Recusant what-
soever, or any person that shall deny in his
preaching or writing the doctrine of the blessed
Trinity, as it is declared in the aforesaid
Articles of Religion.
Sect. XVIII. Provided, That if any person
or persons do and shall willingly, maliciously,
or contemptuously, come into any cathedral
or parish-church, chapel, or other congrega~
tion permitted by this act, and disquiet and
disturb the same, or misuse any preacher or
teacher, such person or persons, upon proof
thereof before any justice of the peace, by
two or more suflicient witnesses, shall find
two sureties, to be bound by recognizance in
the penal sum of 501., and, in default of such
sureties, shall be committed to prison, there
to remain till the next General or Quarter
Session; and, upon conviction of the said
ofi‘ence at the said General or Quarter Ses-
sions, shall suffer the pain and penalty of 201.,
to the use of the King’s and Queen’s Majes-
ties, their heirs and successors.
Sect. XIX. That no congregation or as-
sembly for religious worship shall be per-
mitted or allowed by this act until the place
of such meeting shall be certified to the
bishop of the diocese, or to the arehdeacon of
that archdeaconry, or to the justices of the
peace at the General or Quarter Sessions of
the peace for the county, city, or place in
which such meeting shall be held, and regis-
tered in the said bishop’s or archdeacon’s
court respectively, or recorded at the said
General or Quarter Sessions; the register or
clerk of the peace whereof respectively is
hereby required to register the same, and to
give certificate thereof to such person as shall
demand the same; for which there shall be
no greater fee or reward taken than the sum
of sixpence.
Lord Sidmouth attempted, in 1810, to in-
troduce a bill in the House of Lords, pro-
posing some amendment or explanation of
this famous act, in order to prevent abuses;
but, in reality, the prevention of the spread
of Dissent by means of itinerant preachers;
and to clog the exertions of those who wish
to instruct their neighbours. Vast numbers
of petitions from all parts of the country were
presented against the bill; so that when it
was brought forward on May 21, 1811, (after
a considerable discussion,) the question for a
second reading was put and negatived with-
out a division. The bill was, therefore,
thrown out. It is to be hoped that this will
be the last effort ever made to infringe the
Act of Toleration.
Ac'r 0F FAITH, (Auto da Fe,) in the R0-
mish church, is a solemn day held by the
Inquisition for the punishment of heretics,
and the absolution of the innocent accused.
They usually contrive the auto to fall on
some great festival, that the execution may
pass with the more awe; and it is always on
a Sunday. The Auto da Fe may be called
the last act of the inquisitorial tragedy: it is
a kind of gaol delivery, appointed as often as.
a competent number of prisoners in the In-
quisition are convicted of heresy, either by
their own voluntary or extorted confession,
or on the evidence of certain witnesses. The
process is this :—In the morning they are
brou<rht into a great hall, where they have
certain habits put on, which they are to wear
in the procession, and by which they know
their doom. The procession is led up by
Dominican friars, after which come the peni-
tents, being all in black coats without sleeves,-
and bare-footed, with a wax candle in their
hands. These are followed by the penitents
who have narrowly escaped being burnt, who
over their black coats have flames painted,
with their points turned downwards. Next
come the negative and relapsed, who are to
be burnt, having flames on their habits point-
ing upwards. After these come such as pro-
fess doctrines contrary to the faith of Rome,
who besides flames pointing upwards, have
their picture’ painted on their breasts, with
dogs, serpents, and devils, all open-mouthed,
about it. Each prisoner isv attended with a
familiar of the Inquisition: and those to be
burnt have also a Jesuit on each hand, who
are continually preaching to them to abjure.
After the prisoners, comes a troop of fami-
liars on horseback; and after them the In-
quisitors, and other oflicers of the court, on
mules : last of all, the Inquisitor-general on a
white horse, led by two men with black hats
and green hatbands. A scaffold is erected
big enough for two or three thousand people;
at one end of which are the prisoners, at the
other the mquisitors. After a sermon made
up of encomiums of the Inquisition, and in-
vectives against heretics, a priest ascends a
desk near the scafiold, and, having taken the
abjuration of the penitents, recites the final
sentence of those who are to be put to death,
and delivers them to the secular arm, ear-
nestly-beseeching at the same time the secu-
lar power not to touch their blood, or put their
lives in danger!!! The prisoners, being thus
in the hands of the civil magistrate, are pre-
sently loaded with chains, and carried first to
the secular gaol, and from thence, in an hour
or two, brought before the civil judge; who,
after asking in what religion they intend to
die, pronounces sentence on such as declare
they die in the communion of the church of
Iiome, that they shall be first strangled, and
then burnt to ashes: or such as die in any
other faith, that they be burnt alive. Both
are immediatel carried to the Ribera, the
place of execut1on, where there are as many
stakes set up as there are prisoners to be
burnt, with a quantity of dry furze about
them. The stakes of the professed, that is,
such as persist in the heresy, are about four
yards high, having a small board towards the
ACT
ACT
[3
top for the prisoner to be seated on. The
negative and relapsed being first strangled _
and burnt, the professed mount their stakes '
by a ladder, and- the Jesuits, after several re-
peated exhortations to be reconciled to the
church, part with them, telling them that they
leave them to the devil, who is standing at
their elbow, to receive their souls, and carry
them with him to the flames of hell. On this
a great shout is raised; and the cry is, “Let
the dogs’ beards be made!” which is done by
thrusting flaming furzes fastened to long poles
against their faces, till their faces are burnt
to a coal, which is accompanied with the
loudest acclamations of joy. At last, fire is
set to the furze at the bottom of the stake,
over which the professed are chained so high,
that the top of the flame seldom reaches
higher than the seat they sit on ; so that they
rather seem roasted than burnt. There can-
not be a more lamentable spectacle: the suf-
ferers continually cry out, while they are
able, ‘_‘ Pity, for the love of God 1” Yet it is
beheld by all sexes and ages with transports
of joy and satisfaction.-—O merciful God! is
this the benign, humane religion thou hast
given to men 1’ Surely not. If such were the
genius of Christianity, then it would be no
honour to be a Christian. Let us, however,
rejoice that the time is coming when the
demon of persecution shall be banished out
of this our world, and the true spirit of bene-
volence and candour pervade the universe;
when none shall hurt or destroy, but the
earth be filled with the knowledge of the
Lord, as the waters cover the seal See IN-
QUISITION.
ACT or Umronmrrv. 1. An act passed
in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, establishing
the Protestant religion as the religion of Eng-
land, binding all her subjects to be Protest-
, ants, and compelling them to use the liturgy,
&c., in such order and form as were prescribed
in the Book of Common Prayer, to the exclu-
sion of every other order and form, under the
severest penalties. It has been well remarked,
that in thus casting off the Popish antichrist
of Rome, a legal existence was given to the
Protestant antichrist of England. Nothing
could be more intolerant, or more hostile to
the spirit of Christianity, or the natural
rights of mankind. -
2. A statute enacted in the reign of Charles
IL, requiring all ministers of religion in Eng-
land to declare their unfeigned assent and
consent to all and every thing contained in
the Book of Common Prayer. This act
received the royal assent May 19, 1662, and
on Bartholomew day, August 24 following, it
took effect in the ejectment from their livings
of more than two thousand ministers, who
refused to violate their consciences in sub-
scribing to many things which they regarded
to_ be contrary to the word of God. The
principal agent in procuring this unrighteous
act was Archbishop Sheldon, who carried
this, and several other harsh and unjust mea—
sures, through the influence of Lord Claren-
don.
ACTION AND ACTION Salmon, an old Scot-
tish designation of the sermon preached im-
mediately before the administration of the
Lord’s Supper.
Ac'rs or THE APosTLEs, (Hpafiig 153v
'A'n'od'réhwtg) one of the books of the New
Testament, written in Greek by Luke, the
author of the gospel which bears his name.
It is addressed to Theophilus, of whom no-
thing is known, and is evidently intended as
a continuation of the gospel which the author
himself calls his “ First Book,” Acts i. 1. It
has been universally received, and is gene-
rally allowed to have been written between
A.D. 63 and 64, but in what place is doubtful :
Jerome says at Rome; Grotius and Lardner
think in Greece; Miehaelis, in Alexandria.
It embraces a period of about thirty years,
beginning immediately after the Resurrection,
and extending to the second year of Paul’s
imprisonment at Rome. Very little informa-
tion is given of any of the Apostles, excepting
Paul and Peter: and even the accounts of
them are partial and incomplete; it not being
the design of Luke to give us the whole of
their history. Thus that of Peter terminates
with the death of Herod, although that Apos-
tle is considered to have lived and preached
twenty-four years longer. The position of the
book is generally at the head of the Apostoli-
con, or before the Epistles; but in some MSS.
it is found after the thirteen Paulinic Epistles.
The style of this book, which was originally
composed in Greek, is purer than that of the
other books.
Ac'rs or PAUL AND THECLA, one of the
spurious documents of antiquity, falsely as-
cribed to ‘the Apostle. It was printed by Dr.
Grabe in his Spicilegium, from aGreek MS.
in the Bodleian; a translation of it is given by
Jones in his work on the Canon: and also in
Hone’s Apoc..New Testament. It is full of
legendary stories.
Ac'rs or PAUL AND SENECA, another of the
apocryphal writings of the New Testament,
containing epistles alleged to have passed
between the Apostle and Seneca the philoso-
pher. They were published by Sixtus Senen-
sis, and an English translation will be found
in Hone.
Ac'rs or PETER, of similar apocryphal cha-
racter, and abounding in the most trifling and
absurd stories.
Ac'rs or PILATE, a relation alleged to
have been sent by Pilate to the emperor Tibe-
rius, concerning Jesus Christ, his death, re-
surrection, ascension, and the crimes of which
he was convicted before him. It was a cus-
tom among the Romans, that the proconsuls
and governors of provinces should draw up
acts or memoirs of what happened in the
ADA
A D O
14-
course of their government, and sendtheni to
the emperor and senate.
were sent by him to Tiberius, who reported
them to the senate; but they were rejected,
it is said, by that assembly, because not im-
mediately addressed to them.—--Tertullian,‘
Apol. cap. 5, 20, 21.
The genuine acts, if they existed, are now
lost, and those that remain are manifestly
spurious—See Fabric. Cod. Apoe. New Tes-
tament, p. 298, Ap. 972.
Pearson, Mosheim, and Lardner, are in-
clined to think that considerable credit is due
to the account given by Justin Martyr and
Tertullian of these acts. Dupin and some
others consider the whole matter very doubt-
ful. Lardner discusses the subject with his
usual impartiality.— Works, 4to., vol. iii. p.
599—-—606.
Ac'rs or THE SAINTS, (Acta Sanetorum,) a
name given to all collections of accounts of an-
' cient martyrs and saints, both of the Greek and
Roman churches. It is used more particularly
as the title of a voluminous work comprising
all those accounts, which were commenced
at the instigation of the Jesuits, 1643, by John
Bolland, a Jesuit of Antwerp, and continued
after his death by others of the same order,
known by the name of Bollandists (which see)
to the year 17 94, but not yet finished, though
forming not fewer than fifty-three volumes in
folio. It is held in high esteem by the mem-
bers of the Roman communion; but contains
a sad mixture of truth and falsehood, super-
stition and fiction.
ADAMIC CoNs'rrrU'rIoN, the dispensation
originally established with Adam, as the pub-
lic head and representative of his posterity, in
virtue of which, had he continued obedient,
they would have been confirmed in holiness
and happiness, but because he sinned, are in-
volved with‘ him in all the consequences of
his rebellion. This constitution is specifically
laid as the basis of the Apostle’s reasoning,
(Rom. v. 12—21. 1 Cor. xv. 22,) in which
passages the connexion and analogy between
the representative characters sustained by
Adam and Christ are clearly set forth; in the
former for the purpose of illustrating the plan
of redemption, and in the latter for the pur-
pose of confirming the doctrine of the future
resurrection of believers. It has been com-
mon to designate the establishment given to
Adam a covenant ; and certainly, considering
the latitude in which this term is frequently
The acts of Pilate '

riage; maintaining that the conjugal union
would never have taken place upon earth had
sin been unknown. This obscure and ridi-
culous sect did not last long. It was, how-
ever, revived with additional absurdities in
the twelfth century. About the beginning of
the fifteenth century the name was revived,
and applied to a sect that spread in Germany
and Bohemia, and found also some partizans
in Poland, Holland, and England, which
arose about the same time with the Hussites,
whom they resembled in their hatred of the
Roman hierarchy; but the accounts that have
been handed down to us respecting the ap-
pearing of both sexes naked in their assem-
blies and various other outrageous customs,
are not to be relied on with any degree of
certainty, as they come originally from their
enemies, who appear to have given them this
ancient heretical appellation in order to hold
them up to exeeration.
ADESSENARIANS, a branch of the Sacra-
mentarians ; so called from the Latin Adesse,
to be present, because they believed the pre-
sence of Christ’s body in the eucharist,
though in a manner different from the R0-
manists.
Anmrnoms'rs, a term given in the six-
teenth century to Melancthon and the divines
of Wittenberg, who regarded as a matter of
indt'fl'erence the introduction into the Protest-
ant worship of altars, mass-vestments, ves-
pers, &c. This concession occasioned a vio-
lent dispute, called the Adz'aphorz'stic Contro-
versy, which was commenced by Flacius, a
theologian of Jena, in connexion'with the
clergy of Lower Saxony.
ADMISSION, a term in use amongst Presby-
terians, to denote the service and act by
which a minister is publicly introduced into
a new charge.
ADMISSION SERMON, the discourse which is
preached introductory to the admission of a
minister to a new charge.
AnMoNrrroN denotes a hint or advice given
to another, whereby we reprove him for his
fault, or remind him of his duty. Admoni-
tion was a part of the discipline much used in
the ancient church; it was the first act or
step towards the punishment or expulsion of
delinquents- In case of private offences it
was performed according to the evangelical
rule. privately; in case of public ' offence,
openly before the church. If either of these
sufficed for the recovery of the fallen person,
used in Scripture, it may not seem, at first‘ all further proceedings, in a way of censure,
sight, to be improper; but see under the word
COVENANT.
ceased; if they did not, recourse was had to
excommunication—Tit. iii. 10. l Thess. v.
ADAMITES, a sect that sprang up in the, 14. Eph. vi. 4.
second century. Epiphanius tells us that
they were called Adamites from their pre-
t
ADONAI, one of the Hebrew names exclus
sively given to God, and signifying “ The
tending to be re-established in the state of f Supreme Ruler or Judge.” It is literally “My
innocence, such as Adam was at the moment l Lords,” in the plural number, as “ Adoni” is
of his creation, whence they ought to imitate f “ My Lord” in the singular.
They ' detested mar- _ who either out of respect or superstition do
him in going naked.
The Jews,
ADO
ADO
15
‘not pronounce the name of Jehovah, read
Adonaz' instead of it in all the places in which _
it occurs in the Hebrew Bible. This vene-
ration for the Tetragrammaton is at least as
ancient as the time of Josephus, who de-
clares that it was not lawful for him to speak
of it.
ADONISTS, such divines and critics as
maintain that the Hebrew points ordinarily
annexed to the consonants of the word Jeho-
vah, are not the natural points belonging. to
that word, nor express the true pronuncia-
tion of it; but are the vowel oints belonging
to the words Adonaz' and Elghz'm, applied to
the consonants of the inefi'able name Jehovah,
to warn the readers, that instead of the ‘word
Jehovah, which the Jews were forbid to pro-
nounce, and the true pronunciation of which
had been long unknown to them, they are
always to read Adonaz'. They are opposed to
Jehovists, of whom the principal are Drusius,
Capellus, Buxtorf, Alting, and Reland.
Anorrmms'rs, the followers of Felix of
Urgil and Elipandus of Toledo, who, towards
the end of the eighth century, advanced the
notion that Jesus Christ, in his human nature,
is the Son of God, not by nature, but by
adoption. It was condemned by Charle-
magne at the Council of Ratisbon, and again
at the Synod of Francfort, 794, and at Rome
and Aix-la-Chapelle, 799, as a new modifica-
tion of the Nestorian heresy. Felix was dis-
missed from his office: and the whole con-
troversy ceased after the death of Elipandus.
ADOPTION, an act whereby any person re-
ceives another into his family, owns him for
his son, and appoints him his heir. 2. Spiri-
tual adoption is an act of God’s free grace,
whereby we are received into the munber,
and have a right to all the privileges of the
sons of God. 3. Glorious, is that in which
the saints being raised from the dead, are at
the Last Day solemnly owned to be the chil-
dren of God, and enter into the full posses-
sion of that inheritance provided for them.
Rom. viii. 19, 23. Adoption is a word taken
from the civil law, and was much in use
among the Romans in the Apostles’ time,
when it was a custom for persons who had no
children of their own, and were possessed of
an estate, to prevent its being divided, or de-
scending to strangers, tomake choice of such
who were agreeable to them, and beloved by
them, whom they took into this political rela-
tion of children ; obliging them to take their
name upon them, and to pay respect to them
as though they were their natural parents,
and engaging to deal with them as though
they had been so; and accordingly to give
them a right to their estates as an inherit-
mice. This new relation, founded in a mu-
tual consent, is a bond of afi‘ection; and the
privilege arising from thence is, that he who
1s_ in this sense a father takes care of and pro-
vides for the person whom he adopts, as
though he were his son by nature; and there-
fore civilians call it an act of legitimation,
imitating nature, or supplying the place of it.
It is easy, then, to conceive the propriety of
the term as used by the Apostle in reference
to this act, though it must be confessed there
is some difference between civil and spiritual
adoption. Civil adoption was allowed of and
provided for the relief and comfort of those
who had no children; but in spiritual adop-
tion this reason does not appear. The Al-
mighty was under no obligation to do this;
for he had innumerable spirits whom he had
created, besides his own Son, who had all the
perfections of the divine nature, who was the
object of his delight, and who is styled the
heir of all things. Heb. i. 3. When men
adopt, it is on account of some excellency in
the persons who are adopted; thus Pharaoh’s
daughter adopted Moses .because he was ex—
ceeding fair, Acts vii. 20, 21 ; and Mordecai
adopted Esther because she was his nncle’s
daughter, and exceeding fair, Est. ii. 7; but
man has nothing in him that merits this
divine act. Ezek. xvi. 5. In civil adoption,
though the name of a son be given, the
nature of a son may not: this relation may
not necessarily be attended with any change
of disposition or temper. But in spiritual
adoption we are made partakers of the divine
nature, and a temper or disposition given us
becoming the relationship we bear. Jer. iii.
19.
Much has been said as to the time of adop-
tion. Some place it before regeneration, be-
cause it is supposed that we must be in the
family before we can be partakers of the
blessings of it. But it is difiicult to conceive
of one before the other; for although adop-
tion may seem to precede regeneration in
order of nature, yet not of time; they may be
distinguished, but cannot be separated. “ As
many as received him, to them gave he power
to become the sons of God, even to them that
believe on his name.” John i. 12. There is
no adoption, says the great Charnock, with-
out regeneration. “ Adoption,” says the
same author, “is not a mere relation; the »
privilege and the image of the sons of God go
together. A state of adoption is never with-
out a separation from defilement.” 2 Cor. vi.
17, 18. The new name in adoption is never
given till the new creature be formed. “ As
many as are led by the Spirit of God, they
are the sons of God.” Rom. viii. 14. Yet
these are to be distinguished. Regeneration,
as a moral act, gives us a likeness to God in
our nature; adoption, as a legal act, gives us
a right to an inheritance. Regeneration
makes us formally his sons, by conveying a
principle, 1 Pet. i. 23; adoption makes us re- -
atively his sons, by conveying a power.
John i. 12. “ By the one, we are instated
in the divine afiection; by the other, we are
partakers of the divine nature.”
ADO
ADO
1'6
The privileges of adoption are every vway great
and extensive. 1. It implies great honour.—
’I‘hey have God’s name put upon them, and
are described as “his people, called by his
name.” 2 Cor. vi. 18. Eph. iii. 15. They.
are no longer slaves to sin and the world;
but emancipated from its dreadful bondage,
are raised to dignity and honour. Gal. iv.
7. 1 John iii. 1, 2. 2. Inexhaustible provision
and riches.--They inherit all things. Rev.
xxi. 7. All the blessings of a temporal kind
that are for their good shall be given them.
Psal. lxxxiv. 11. All the blessings of grace
are treasured up in Jesus Christ for them.
Eph. i. 3. All the blessings of glory shall
be enjoyed by them. Col. i. 27. “ All things
are yours,” says the Apostle, “ whether Paul,
or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life,
or death, or things present, or things to come,
all are yours.” 1 Cor. iii. 22. 3. Divine
protection.—“ In the fear of the Lord is strong
confidence, and his children shall have a place
of refuge.” Prov. xiv. 26. As the master
of [a family is engaged to defend and secure
all under his roof, and committed to his care,
so Jesus Christ is engaged to protect and
defend his people. “They shall dwell in’ a
peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings
and quiet resting places.” Isa. xxxii. 18.
Heb. i. 14. 4. Unspeakable felicity.—They
enjoy the most intimate communion with the
Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. They
have access to his throne at all times, and
under all circumstances. ‘They see divine
wisdom regulating every affair, and rendering
every thing subservient to their good. Heb.
xii. 6-11. The laws, the liberties, the pri-
vileges, the relations, the provisions, and the
security of this family, are all sources of hap-
piness; but especially the presence, the ap-
probation, and the goodness of God, as the
governor thereof, afford joy unspeakable and
full of glory. 1 Pet. i. 8. Prov. iii. 17. Heb.
iv. 16. 5. Eternal glory.—In some cases civil
adoption might be made null and void, as
among the Romans, when against the right of
the pontifex, and without the degree of the
college; but spiritual adoption, as it is divine
as to its origin, so it is perpetual as to its
duration. “ The Son abideth in- the house
for ever.” John viii. 35. “ The inheritance
of the saints is incorru tible, undefiled, and
never fadeth away.” 1 Pet. i. 4. “ Now are
we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear
what we shall be ; but we know that when he
shall appear we shall be like him, for we
shall see him as he is.” 1 John iii. 2. In the
present state, we are as children at school;
but in heaven we shall be as children at home,
where we shall always behold the face of our
heavenly Father, for ever celebrating his
praises, admiring his perfections, and enjoying
his presence.
Lord.” 1 Thess. iv. 17.
The evidences of adoption are, l. Renuncia-
“ So shall we be ever with the‘

tion of all former dependencics.—-When a child
is adopted, he relinquishes the object of his
past confidence, and submits himself to the
will and pleasure of the adopter; so they who
are brought into the family of God, will evi-
dence it by giving up every object, so far as
it interferes with the will and glory of their
heavenly Father. “ Ephraim shall say, What
have I to do any more with idols P” Hos. xiv.
8. “ Other lords have had dominion over us;
but by thee only will we make mention of thy
name.” Isa. xxvi. 13. Matt. xiii. 45, 46.
Phil. iii. 8. 2. Afl'ection.—This may not always
apply to civil adoption, but it always does to
spiritual. The children of God feel a regard
for him above every other object. His own
excellpncy, his unspeakable goodness to them,
his promises of future blessings, are all grounds
of the strongest love. “ Whom have I in
heaven but thee, and there is none upon earth
that I desire beside thee.” Psalm lxxiii. 25.
“ Thou art my portion, saith my soul, there-
fore will I hope in thee.” Lam. iii. 24. Luke
vii. 47. Psal.’ xviii. 1. 3. Access to Gbd with
a holy boldness—They who are children by
adoption are supposed to have the same liberty
of access as those who are children by nature;
so those who are partakers of the blessings of
spiritual adoption, will prove it by a reverential
yet familiar address to the Father of spirits:
they will confess their unworthiness, acknow-
ledge their dcpendence, and implore the mercy
and favour of God. “Because ye are sons,
God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into
your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.” Gal. iv.
6. “ Through Jesus Christ we have access
by one Spirit unto the Father.” Eph. ii. 18.
“ Having such a privilege, they come boldly
to the throne of grace, that they may obtain
mercy and find grace to help in time of need."
Heb. iv. 16. 4. Obedience—Those who are
adopted into a family must obey the laws of
that family; so believers prove themselves
‘adopted by their obedience to the word and
ordinances of God. “ Ye are my friends, if
ye do whatsoever I command you.” John
xv. 14. “Whoso keepeth his word, in him
verily is the love. of God perfected: hereby
know we that we are in him. He that saith
he abideth in him, ought himself also to walk
even as he walked.” 1 John ii. 4, 5. 5. Pa-
tient, getjogful expectation, of the» inheritance.
In civil adoption, indeed, an inheritance is
not always certain; but in spiritual adoption
it is. “ To them who, by patient continuance
in well-doing, seek for glory, and honour,
and immortality, eternal life.” Rom. ii. 7.
“ We look not at the things which are seen,
but at the things which are not seen; for the
things which are seen are temporal, but the
things which are not seen are eternal.” 2 Cor.
iv. 18. Rom. vi. 23. Heb. xi. 26, 27. From
the consideration of the whole of this doctrine,
we may learn that adoption is an act of free
grace through Jesus Christ. Eph. i. 5. Ap-
ADU
ADU
17
- great marks of respect and submission.
plied to believers by the Holy Spirit. Gal.
iv. 6. Rom. viii. 15, 16. A blessing of the
greatest importance, 1 John 1, and lays
us under an inviolable obligation of submis-
sion, Heb. xii. 9; imitation, Eph. v. 1; and
dependence, Matt. vi. 32. See Ridgley’s and
Gid’s Body of Div. art. Adoption; Charnack’s
Works, vol. p. 32-7 2 ; Flavel’s Works, vol.
ii. . 601; Brown’s System of Nat. and Rev.
Re igz'on, p. 442 ; Witsiz' (Econ. Ford. p. 165.
ADOBATION, the act of rendering divine
honours, including in it reverence, esteem,
and love: this is called supreme, or absolute.
The word is compounded of ad, “ to,” and os.
oris, “ mouth ;” and literally signifies to apply
the hand to the mouth, “ to kiss the hand ;”
this being, in the eastern countries, one of éhe
ee
Job xxxi. 26, 27. The ‘attitude of adoration,
however, we find has not been confined to
this mode; standing, kneeling, uncovering
the head, prostration, bowing, lifting up the
eyes to .heaven, or sometimes fixing them
upon the earth, with the body bending for-
ward; sitting with the under parts of the
thighs resting on the heels, have all been
used as expressive of veneration and esteem.
Whatever be the form, however, it must be
remembered that adoration, as an act of wor-
ship, is due to God alone. Matt. iv. 10. Acts
x. 25, 26. Rev. xix. 10. There is, 2. what
may be called human, or paying homage or_
respect to persons of great rank and dignity.
This has been performed by bowing, bending
the knee, falling on the face. The practice
of adoration may be said to be still subsisting
in England, in the ceremony of kissing the
king’s or queen’s hand, it being performed
kneeling on one knee. There is also, 3. ado-
ration relative, which consists in worship paid
to an object as belonging to or representative
of another. In this sense the Romanists pro-
fess to adore the cross, not simply or imme~
diately, but in respect of Jesus Christ, whom
they suppose to be on it. This is, however,
considered by Protestants as coming little
short of idolatry. See IDOLATRY.
ADULTERY, an unlawful commerce be-
tween one married person and another, or
between a married and unmarried person. 2.
It 'is also used in Scripture for idolatry, or
departing from the true God. .Jer. iii. 9. 3.
It is also used in ecclesiastical writers for a
person’s invading or intruding into a bishop-
rick during the former bishop’s life. 4. The
word is also used in ancient canons for the
punishment or fine imposed for that offence,
or the privilege of prosecuting for it. Al-
though adultery is prohibited by the law of
God, yet some have endeavoured to explain
away the moral turpitude of it; but it is evi-
dent, observes Paley, that, on the part of the
man who solicits the chastity of a married
woman, it certainly includes the crime of se-
duction. and is attended with mischief still'
more extensive and complicated; it creates
a new sufferer—the injured husband—upon
whose afl’ection is inflicted a wound the most
painful and incurable that human nature
knows. The infidelity of the‘ woman is ag-
gravated by cruelty to her children, who are
generally involved in their parents’ shame,
and always made unhappy by their quarrel.
The marriage vow is witnessed before God,
and accompanied with circumstances of so-
lemnity and religion, which approach to the
nature of an oath. The married ofi'ender,
therefore, incurs a crime little short of per-
jury ; and the seduction of a married woman
is little less than subornation of perjury. But
the strongest apology for adultery is, the
prior transgression of the other party; and
so far, indeed, as the bad effects of adultery
are anticipated by the conduct of the husband
or wife who offends first, the guilt of the
second offender is extenuated. But this can
never amount to a justification, unless it could
be shown that the obligation of the marriage
vow depends upon the condition of recipro-
cal fidelity; a construction which appears
founded neither in expediency nor in terms
of the vow, nor in the design of the legisla-
ture which prescribed the marriage rite. To
consider the offence upon the footing of pro-
vocation, therefore, can by no means vindicate
retaliation. “ Thou shalt not commit adul-
tery,” it must ever be remembered, was an
absolute interdict delivered by God himself.
Mankind, in all ages, and in all civilized
countries, have regarded the violation of the
marriage-bed with abhorrence. It has been
punished in various ways, and with different
degrees of severity, according to the general
manners and morals of the country; some-
times with extreme rigour, and in other in-
stances with capricious and ridiculous penal-
ties. By the divine law, given to the Jews,
it was punished with death in both parties,
where either the woman was married, or both.
Strabo says, the same was the case in Arabia
Felix. Among the ancient Egyptians, it was
not common; but when it did occur, a thou-
sand lashes were infiicted on the man, and
the woman was deprived of her nose, In
Greece, the laws against it were severe. The
rich, however, were sometimes allowed to re-
deem themselves by paying a fine, in which
case the woman’s father returned the dowry
which he had received from the husband.
Some suppose it was refunded by the adul-
terer. A frequent punishment there was
putting out the eyes. According to Homer,-
adulterers were stoned toe death. By the laws
of Draco and Solon, when caught in the act,-
they were at the mercy of the injured party.-
Adulteresses were prohibited, in Greece, from
appearing in fine garments, and entering the
temples. Some suppose that this offence was
made capital by Romulus, and again by the
twelve tables; others, that it was first made
0 ,
ADU
ADV
18
capital by Augustus; and othersanot till the
time of Constantine. The fact is,‘ that the
punishment was lefi to the discretion of the
husband and parents of the adulteress. The
most usual mode of taking revenge was by
mutilating, castrating, or cutting off the nose
or cars. The punishment assigned by the
Zea: Julia de adulleris, instituted by Augustus,
was banishment, or a heavy fine. _It was de-
creed by Antoninus, that to sustain a charge
of adultery against a wife, the husband who
brought it must be innocent himself. Under
Macrinus, adulterers were burnt at the stake.
Under Constantius and Constans, they were
burned, or sewed up in sacks and thrown into
the sea. But the punishment was mitigated,
under Leo and Marcian, to perpetual banish-
ment or cutting off the nose; and, under
Justinian, the wife was only to be scourged,
lose her dower, and be shut up in a monas-
tery; or, at the expiration of two years, the
husband might take her back again: if he
refused, she was shaven, and made a nun for
life. Theodosius instituted the shocking prac-
tice of public constupration, which, however,
he soon abolished. In Crete, adulterers were
covered with wool, as an emblem of their
effeminacy, and carried in that dress to the
magistrate’s house, where a fine was imposed
on them, and they were deprived of all their
privileges and their share in public business.
The punishment in use among the Mingre-
lians is the forfeiture of a hog, which is
usually eaten very amicably by the woman,
the gallant, and the cuckold. In some parts
of India, it is said that any woman may pro~
stitute herself for an elephant, and it is re-
puted no small glory to have been rated so
high. Adultery is stated to be extremely fre-
quent in Ceylon, although punishable with
death. Among the Japanese, and some other
nations, it is punishable only in the woman.
Among the Abyssinians, the crime of the
husband is punished on the innocent wife.
On the contrary, in the Marian Islands, the
woman is not punishable, but the _man is;
and the wife and her relations waste his
lands, burn him out of his house,~ 8w. Among
the Chinese, adultery is not capital: parents
will even make a contract with the future
husbands of their daughters, to allow them
the indulgence. In Portugal, an adulteress is
condemned .to the flames; but the sentence
is seldom executed. By the ancient laws of
France, this crime was punishable with death.
Before the revolution, the adulteress was
usually condemned to a convent, where the
husband could visit "her during two years, and
take her back if he saw fit. If he did not
choose to receive her again by the expiration
of this time, her hair was shaven, she took
the habit of the convent, and remained there
for Where the parties were poor, she
might be shut up in an hospital instead of a
convent. - The Code Napoleon does not allow
the husband to proceed against his wife in
case he has been condemned for the same
crime. The wife can bring an action against
the husband only in case he has introduced
his paramour into the house where she re-
sides. An adulteress can be imprisoned from
three months to two years; but the husband
may prevent the execution of the sentence by
taking her back. Her partner in guilt is
liable to the same punishment. Castration
was the punishment in Spain. In Poland,
previous to the establishment of Christianity,
the criminal was carried to the market-place,
and there fastened by the testicles with a
nail; a razor was laid within his reach, and
he had the option to execute justice on him-
self, or remain where he was and die. The
Saxons consigned the adulteress to the flames,
and over her ashes erected a gibbet, on which
her paramour was hanged. King Edmund
the Saxon ordered adultery to be punished in
the same manner as homicide; and Canute
the Dane ordered that the man should be
banished, and the woman have her ears and
nose cut off. In the time of Henry I., it was
punished with the loss of the eyes and geni-
tals. Adultery is in England considered as a
spiritual offence, cognizable by the spiritual
courts, where it is punished by fine and pen-
ance. The common law allows the party ag-
grieved only an action and damages. In the
United States, the punishment of adultery
has varied materially at different times. In
the State of Massachusetts, an adulterer or
adulteress may be set on the gallows for one
hour, be publicly whipped, and imprisoned or
fined. All or any of these punishments may
be inflicted, according to the circumstances
of the offence. Adultery is, moreover, very
seldom punished criminally in the United
States. The Mohammedan code pronounces
it a capital offence. It is one of the three
crimes which the prophet directs to be ex-
piated by the blood of a Mussulman—Eneyc. -
Amer.
AnvEN'r, a term commonly used in refer-
ence to the Incarnation, and also to the ap-
pearance of Christ to judge the world. The
one is called the First, and the other the Sc-
00nd Advent. It is, however, employed in
Scripture to denote any coming of the Lord,
especially that which has for its object, the
infliction of a particular judgment. In eccle-
siastical use, it signifies a festival which in-
cludes the four Sundays, or weeks, before
Christmas, which season the Roman Catho-
lics spend in fasting and humiliation. It is
first mentioned in this sense by Maximus
Laurinensis, in one of his homilies, written in
the middle of the fifth century. No nuptials
were allowed to be celebrated in Advent after
the council held at Lerida, in the sixth century.
ADVERSARY, one who sets himself in op-
position to another; one of the names of
Satan. See' SATAN.
ADV
[ER
19
Anvnnsrrr, a state which is opposite to our
wishes, and the cause of sorrow. It stands
opposed to prosperity. See AFFLICTION.
ADVOCATE, one who pleads or defends the
cause of another, or interposes on his behalf
with a judge. It is used,
1.‘ Of our Saviour, and never of any
created being in its biblical sense. 1 John
ii. 1.
2. Of a species of ofiicers appointed to
defend the rights and revenues of a church
or religious house. They were first ap-
pointed under the consulship of Stilico, and
were divided according to their several ofiices
into defensores, causidici, actores, pastores laz'ci,
line. These oflices were first entrusted to
canons, but afterwards were held even by
monarchs. The advocates set over single
churches administered justice in secular af-
fairs in the name of the bishops and abbots,
and had jurisdiction over their whole dio-
ceses. In case of necessity they defended the
property of the clergy by force of arms.
the courts of justice they pleaded the cause
of the churches with which they were con-
nected. They superintended the collection
of the tithes and other revenues of the church,
and enjoyed, on the part of the convents,
many benefices and considerable revenues.
After a time, these advocates and their assist-
ants becoming a burthen to the clergy, and
the people under their charge, who began
to suffer severely from their avarice, the
churches began to get rid of them. Urban
III. laboured to deliver the church from these
oppressors, but found, in 1186, the German
prelates, in connexion with the Emperor Fre-
deric I., opposed to it. Under the Emperor
Frederic 11., however, most of the German
churches succeeded in abolishing these ol’fices
by the grant of large sums of money and of
various immunities.
3. Of the advowee, or patron, who has the
right of presentation to a living in his own
name. Females having the same right were
called advocatisscc.
ADVOCATE, DnvIL’s, the person appointed
at Rome to raise doubts against the genuine-
ness of the miracles of a candidate for canoni-
zation, to expose any want of formality in
the investigation of the miracles, and to assail
the general merits of the candidate. After
every thing is said pro and con, and three
papal advocates of the consistory have found
the whole course of proceeding legal and
formal, the canonization follows. It is said
that in the beginning of the seventeenth cen-
tury the canonization of Cardinal Boromeo
was almost prevented by the accusations of
the devil’s advocate.
ADVOWEE, a term employed to denote the
ecclesiastical brders of advocates, and the
patrons of churches, 8:0.
ADVOWSON, in English law, a right of pre-
sentation to a vacant benefice, or, in other
words, a right of nominating a person to ofii-
ciate in a vacant church. The name is de-
rived from advocatz'o, because the right was
first obtained by such as were founders, bene-
factors, or strenuous defenders (advocates) of
the church. Those who have this right are
styled patrons. Advowsons are of three
kinds,—presentative, collative, and donative :—
presentative when the patron presents his
clerk to the bishop of the diocese to be insti-
tuted; collative when the bishop is the patron,
and institutes or collates his clerk by a single
act; and donative when a church is founded
by the king, and assigned to the patron with-
out being subject to the ordinary, so that the
patron confers the benefice on his clerk with-
out presentation, institution, or induction.
JEONS, (Ai'wvsg) ages. The Valentinians,
followers of the Gnostics, (who had corrupted
the simplicity of the Christian doctrine, by
mixing with it the fancies and conceits of the
Jewish Cabbalists, of the schools of Pytha-
goras and Plato, and of the Chaldean Philo-
sophy, more ancient than either,) invented a
kind of theogong/ or genealogy of gods, (not
unlike that of Hesiod,) whom they called by
several glorious names, and all by the general
appellation of ZEoNs; among which they rec-
koned Zen‘), Life, A6709. Word, Movo'yémjg,
Only-begotten, Hhnptfipa, Fulness; and many
other divine powers and emanations, amount-
ing in number to thirty, which they fancied
to be successively derived from one another,
and all from one self-originated deit , named
Bythus, i. e. profound, or mgfathomab e; whom
they ‘called likewise the most high and inefi'able
Father. See VALENTINIANS.
.ZERA, a fixed point of time, from which chro-
nologers reckon. .ZEras are either Christian.
Jewish, Heathen, or Mohammedan. Chris-
tian aeras ~are deduced either from the birth
of Christ, from the emperor Dioclesian, or
the beginning of the world. Chronologers
differ as to the true point of time in which
Christ was born: some place it two years,
others four, and some five, before the vulgar
acra, which by general consent is placed in
the year of the world 4000,—of the Julian
period, 4714. This aera is that in general use
among the Christians.
The‘ ancient Jews made use of several
aeras in their computations: sometimes they
reckoned from the deluge, sometimes from
the division of tongues, sometimes from their
departure out of Egypt, at other times from
the building of the temple, and sometimes from
their restoration after the Babylonish captivity;
but their vulgar mra from the creation of
the world, which falls in with the year of the
Julian Period 953 ; and consequently they
supposed the world created 249 years sooner
than according to our computations. But
when the Jews became subject to the Syro-
Macedonian kings, they were obliged ‘to make
use of the Era of the Seleucidte 111 all their
AFF
AFF.
20.
contracts, which from thence was called the
Era of Contracts. This aera begins with the
year of the world 3692; of the Julian period,
4403; before Christ, 308.
The Pagan .lEras, as having little or no
relation to matters of religion, we shall omit.
The Mohammedan .lEra is computed from
the Hegira, or flight of the false prophet
Mohammad from Mecca to Medina, and is
from thence called The Hegira. It began in
the year of the world 4622,—of the Julian
period, 5335,—and after Christ, 622.
' AERIANS, a branch of Arians in the reign of
Constantine, who held that there was no dif-
ference between bishops and priests; a doc-
trine maintained by many modern divines,
particularly of the presbyterian and reformed
churches, on account of which they have
been accused of Aerianism by the Catholics.
The sect received its denomination from
Ae‘rius, an Arian monk of Sebaste, in Arme-
nia, who founded his doctrine on 1 Tim. iv.
14, and besides, declared prayers and offer-
ings for the dead to be ineffectual and in-
jurious ;' rejected the ordinance of fasting;
and declared the practice of sacrificing a lamb
at Easter to be contrary to the spirit of the
Christian religion. Though guilty, in fact,
only of opposing the abuses of the hier-
archy, and the corruptions of superstition, the
Ae'rians were condemned as heretics. See
EPISCOPACY.
AETIANS, those who maintained that the
Son and Holy Ghost were in all things dissi-
milar to the Father. They received their
name from Aetius, one of the most zealous
defenders of Arianism, who was born in
Syria, and flourished about the year 336. Be-
sides the opinions which the Ae'tians held in
common with the Arians, they maintained
that faith without works was sutficient to sal—
vation; and that no sin, however griovous,
would be imputed to the faithful. Ae‘tius,
moreover, aflirmed that what God had con-
cealed from the Apostles, he had revealed to
him.
AFFECTION, in a philosophical sense, refers
to the manner in which we are afi'ectea‘ by
any thing for a continuance, whet-her painful
or pleasant; but in the most common sense,
it may be defined to be a settled bent of mind
towards a particular being or thing. It holds
‘a middle place between disposition on the one
hand, and passion on the other. It is distin-
guishable from disposition, which being a
branch of one’s nature originally, must exist
before there can be any opportunity to exert
it upon any particular object; whereas afi'ec-
tion can never be original, because, having a
special relation to a particular object, it can-
not exist till the object have once, at least,
been presented. It is also distinguishable
from passion, which, depending on the real
or ideal presence of its object, vanishes with
its object; whereas affection is a lasting con-
nexion, and, like other connexions, subsists
even when we do not think of the object.
[See DISPOSITION and PAssIorL]
The afi'ections, as they respect religion, de-
serve in this place some attention. They
may be defined to be the “ vigorous and sen-
sible exercises of the inclination and will of
the soul towards religious objects.” l/Vhat-
ever extremes Stoics or enthusiasts have run
into, it is evident that the exercise of the
affections is essential to the existence of true
religion. It is true indeed, “ that all affec-
tionate devotion is not wise and rational ; but
it is no less true, that all wise and rational
devotion must be afi'ectionate.” The affec-
tions are the springs of action; they belong
to our nature, so that with the highest per-
ceptions of truth and religion, we should be
inactive without them. They have consi-
derable influence on men in the common con-
cerns of life; how much more, then, should
they operate in those important objects that
relate to the Divine Being, the immortality
of the soul, and the happiness or misery of a.
future state! The religion of the most emi-
nent saints has always consisted in the exer-
cise of -holy affections. Jesus Christ himself
afi'ords us an example of the most lively and
vigorous affections; and we have every rea-
son to believe that the employment of heaven
consists in the exercise of them. In addition
to all which, the scriptures of truth teach us,-
that religion is nothing if it occupy not the
affections. Deut. vi. 4 and 5. Dent. xxx. 6.
Rom. xii. ll. 1 Cor. xiii. 13. Ps. xxvii. 14.
A distinction, however, must be made
between what may be merely natural, and
what is truly spiritual. The affections may
be excited in a natural way, under ordin-
ances, by a natural impression, Ezek. xxxiii.
32 ; by a natural sympathy, or by the natural
temperament of our constitution. It is no sign
that our affections are spiritual because they
are raised very high, produce great effects on
the body, excite us to be very zealous in ex-
ternals, to be always conversing about our-
selves, &c. These things are often found in
those who are only mere professors of reli-
gion. Matt. vii. 21, 22.
Now, in order to ascertain whether our
afl'ections are excited in a spiritual manner,
we must inquire whether that which moves
our affections be truly spiritual; whether our
consciences be alarmed, and our hearts im-
pressed; whether the judgment be enlighten-
ed, and we have a perception of the moral
excellency of divine things; and, lastly, whe-
ther our affections have a holy tendency, and
produce the happy effects of obedience to
God, humility in ourselves, and justice to our
fellow-creatures. As this is a subject worthy
of close attention, the reader may consult
Lord Kaims’s Elements of Criticism, vol. ii. p.
517; Edwards on the Aflections; Pihc and
.Hayward’s Cases of Conscience; Watts’s Use
AGA
AGN
'21
and Abuse of the Passions; M‘Laurz'n's
Essays, sec. 5 and 6, where this subject is
masterly handled; Jeremy Taylor’s Works,
vol. ii. pp. 114, 164.
AFFINITY, SPIRITUAL, in the church of
Rome,—~a relation contracted by the sacra-
ments of Baptism and Confirmation, accord-
ing to which a god-father may not marry his
god-daughter without a dispensation.
AFFIRMATION, the solemn declaration of
Quakers, and the members of some other
sects, in confirmation of their testimony in
courts of law, or of their statements on other
occasions, on which the sanction of an oath
is required of other persons. The English
laws did not permit afiirmations instead of
oaths, in criminal cases, until 1828. In the
United States, no difference has been made
between civil and criminal cases in this re-
spect, it being permitted both to Quakers and
other scrupulous persons to give testimony
on mere solemn affirmation. The same pri-
vilege is extended in Prussia to certain sects
whose principles do not allow them to make
oath.
AGAmE, or Low FEASTS, (from dymrq,
“ love,”) feasts of charity among the ancient
Christians, when liberal contributions were
made by the rich to the poor. It has been
supposed by many that the custom is sanc-
tioned by 1 Cor. xi. 20, 21 ; but the following
verse clearly shows that the apostle repro-
bates the idea of the Corinthian Christians
eating any other social meal in public but
that of the Lord’s Supper. Chrysostom gives
the following account of this feast, which he
derives from the apostolic practice. He says,
——-“ The first Christians had all things in
common, as we read in the Acts of the Apos-
tles; but when that equality of possessions
ceased. as it did even in the apostles’ time,
the Agape or love feast was substituted in the
room of it. Upon certain days, after par-
taking of the Lord’s Supper, they met at a
common feast, the rich bringing provisions,
and the poor, who had nothing, being in-
vited.” It was always attended with receiv-
ing the holy sacrament; but there is some
difference between the ancient and modern
interpreters as to the circumstance of time,—
viz., whether this feast was held before or
after the communion. Chrysostom is of the
latter opinion; the learned Dr. Cave of > the
former. These love feasts, during the first
three centuries, were held in the church
without scandal or offence; but in after-times
the heathens began to tax them with impu-
rity. This gave occasion toa reformation of
these Agapes. The kiss of charity, with
which the ceremony used to end, was no
longer given between different sexes; and it
was expressly forbidden to have any beds or
couches for the conveniency of those who
should be disposed to eatmore at their ease.
Notwithstanding these precautions, the abuses
committed in them became so notorious, that
the holding them (in. churches at least) was
solemnly condemned at the council of Car-
thage in the year 397. Attempts have been
made, of late years, to revive these feasts, but
in a different manner from the primitive
custom, and, perhaps, with little edification.
They are, however, not very general, being
confined almost entirely to the Sandemanians
and some of the stricter Antipadobaptists.
AGAPETA-z, a name given to certain virgins
and widows who, in the ancient church, asso-
ciated themselves with, and attended on, ec-
clesiastics, out of a motive of piety and
charity. See DEACONESSES.
AGEDA, SYNOD or, an assembly of Jewish
doctors, held A. D. 1650, and so denominated
from a plain on which they met, about thirty
leagues from Buda, in Hungary. More than
300 Rabbins, and many other Jews, of dif-
ferent nations, attended. The object was to
debate the question—Whether the Messiah
had appeared. The negative of the question
was carried, and it was agreed that his coming
was delayed on account of their sins and im-
penitence. They were of opinion that he
would be born of a virgin, come as a great
conqueror, deliver the Jews from every fo-
reign yoke, and alter nothing in the Mosaic
religion. Some ecclesiastics from Rome at—
tended this meeting, but the Jews would not
hear them. -
AGENDA, among divines and philosophers,
signifies the duties which a man lies under
an obligation to perform : thus we meet with
the agenda of a Christian, or the duties he
ought to perform, in opposition to the cre-
denda, or things he is to believe. It is also
applied to the service or oflice of the church,
and to church books compiled by public au-
thority, prescribing the order to be observed,
and amounts to the same as ritual, formulary,
directory, missal, 84c.
AGENT, that which acts: opposed to pa—
tient, or that which is acted upon.
AGENT, MoRAL. See MORAL AGENT.
AGNoETzE, (from dyvosto, “ to be ignorant
of,”) a sect, the followers of Meophronius, of
Cappadocia, which appeared about 370. They
called in question the omniscience of God,
alleging that he knew things past only by
memory, and things future only by an uncer-
tain prescience. There arose another sect of
the same name in the sixth centur , who fol-
lowed Themistius, deacon of lexandria.
They maintained that Christ was ignorant of
certain things, and particularly of the time of
the day of judgment. It is- supposed they
built their hypothesis on that passage in
Mark xiii. 32, “ Of that day and that hour
knoweth no man: no, not the angels which
are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Fa-
ther.” The meaning of which most probably
is, that this was not known to the Messiah
himself in his human nature, or by virtue of
A HR
AIN
‘22
his unction, as any part of the mysteries he
was to reveal; for, considering him as God,
he could not be ignorant of any thing.
AGNUS DEI, in the Church of Rome, a cake
of wax, stamped with the figure of a lamb
supporting the banner of the cross, with the
year and name of the pope. The name liter-
ally signifies “ Lamb of God.” These cakes,
being consecrated by the pope with great so-
lemnity, and distributed among the people,
are supposed to have great virtues. They
cover them with a piece of stuff, cut in the
' form of a heart, and carry them very de-
voutly in their processions. The Romish
priests and religious derive considerable pe-
cuniary advantage from selling them to some,
and presenting them to others.
Agnus Dei is also used as a prayer in the
Romish Liturgy, which begins with the words,
and is generally sung before the communion.
According to the regulation of Pope Sergius
I., in 688, it was also sung at the close of- the
mass.
Aooms'rrcr, a name given by Donatus to
such of his disciples as he sent to fairs, mar-
kets, and other public places, to propagate his
doctrine. They were called Agonistici, from
the Greek at am, “ combat,” because they
were sent, as it were, to fight and subdue the
people to their opinions. See DONATIST.
AGONYCLITE, a sect of Christians in the
seventh century, who prayed always standing,
as thinking it unlawful to kneel.
AGRICOLA, J OHN, the son of a tailor at
Eisleben, was born in 1492. He was one of
the most active among the theologians who
propagated the doctrines of Luther. He stu-
died at Wittemberg and Leipsic, was after-
wards rector and preacher in his native city,
and, in 1526, chaplain to the Elector John of
Saxony. He subsequently was made chap-
lain to Count Albert of Mansfeldt, and took
a part in the delivery of the Augsburg Con-
fession, and the signing of the articles of
Smalcald. When professor at Wittemberg,
whither he went in 1537, he stirred up the
Antinomian Controversy with Luther and
Melancthon. After a life of disputation, he
died at Berlin, in 1566. Besides his theolo-
gical works, he published one, the object of
which was to explain the common German
proverbs. Its patriotic spirit, strict morality,
and pithy style, place it among the first prose
German compositions of the time, at the side
of Luther’s translation of the Bible. In con-
junction with Julius Pflug and Michael Hel-
dingus, he composed the famous INTERIM,
which see.
AGYNIANI, a sect which appeared before
694. They condemned all use of flesh and
marriage as not instituted by God, but intro-
duced at the instigation of the devil.
AHRIMAN, according to the system of the
ancient magi, one of the two original princi-
ples, the cause of all evil, whose symbol was
darkness, and whose ‘influence was experi-
enced in all the ills of life.
Amswon'rn, HENRY, a celebrated noncon-
formist divine of the 16th and 17th centuries,
but both the time and place of his birth are
unknown.
In the year 1590, he greatly distinguished
himself among the sect called Brownists ; and
in early life gained very great reputation by his
knowledge of the learned languages, and par-
ticularly of Hebrew. The Brownists having
fallen into great discredit in England, Ains-
worth was involved in their difliculties and
troubles; and at length he was compelled to
quit his native land, and retire into Holland.
In conjunction with Johnson, be erected a
church at Amsterdam, and published a Con-
fession of Faith of the Brownists, in the year
1602, which caused much contention, and a
division between him and Mr. Johnson was
the result; the latter removing to Embden-
with half the congregation, and Ainsworth
remaining at Amsterdam; but Johnson soon
after died, and his congregation was dis-
solved. Ainsworth also left his people for a
short time, and went to Ireland, but returned
to Amsterdam, and continued there till the
time of his death. Nothing could persuade
him, however, to return home; and he died,
as he lived, in exile. This circumstance
was at that time very prejudicial to the Pro-
testant cause in general, and especially to
the Puritans; and it has ever been a matter
of regret, that this great and able man was
prevented from the public exercise of his
ministry in his native country. Very few
authors are more quoted than Ainsworth by
the literati of all countries; and not only at
a considerable distance of time, but by all
sects and parties. To his works the cele-
brated Bishop Hall paid much attention.
Ainsworth was a man of profound learning,
well versed in the Scriptures, and deeply read
in the works of the Rabbins. He published
several treatises, many of which excited great
interest, particularly that entitled “ A counter
Poison against Bernard and Crashaw.” Ains-
worth is, however, most celebrated for his
“ Annotations on several Books of the Bible.”
These were printed at various times and in
different sizes. In those on the Five Books
of Moses, Psalms, and the Canticles, the He-
brew words are compared with and explained
by the ancient Greek and Chaldee versions,
and other records and monuments of the
Hebrews.
Mr. Ainsworth’s death was sudden; and
suspicion of his having been poisoned was
raised by his having founda diamond of great
value, belonging to aJew, and his refusing to
return it to him till he had conferred with
some of his Rabbins on the prophecies of the
Old Testament, relating to the Messiah,
which was promised ; but the Jew not having
sufiicient interest to obtain one, it is thought
ALB
ALL
23
he was the instrument of his death. Mr.
Ainsworth was a great, a pious, and a learned
man; and his name will be justly handed
down to posterity, as worthy not only of
praise, but imitation. In addition to the
works referred to in this life, he was the au-
thor of “ A Treatise on the Communion of
Saints ;” “ A Treatise on the Fellowship that
the Faithful have with God, his ‘Angels, and
one with another in this present Life ;" and
“ An Arrow against Idolatry.”
ALASCANI, so called from John Alasco, a
Polish bishop, a sect of anti-Lutherans in
the sixteenth century, whose distinguishing
tenet, besides their denying baptism, is said
to be this. that the words, “ This is my
body,” in the institution of the eucharist, are
not to be understood of the bread, but of the
whole action or celebration of the supper.
ALBANENSES, a denomination which con;-
menced about the year 796. They held. with
the Gnosties and Manicheans, two principles,
the one of good, and the other of evil. They
denied the divinity and even the humanity
of Jesus Christ; asserting that he was not
truly man, did not suffer on the cross, die,
rise again, nor really ascend into heaven.
They rejected the doctrine of the resurrec-
tion, aflirmed that the general judgment was
past, and that hell torments were no other
than the evils we feel and suffer in this life.
They denied free will, did not admit original
sin, and never administered baptism to in-
fants. They held that a man can give the
Holy Spirit of himself, and that it is unlawful
for a Christian to take an oath.
This denomination derived their name from
the place where their spiritual ruler resided.
See MANICHEANS and CATHARIST.
ALBIGENSES, a party of reformers about
Toulouse and the Albigeois, in Languedoc,
who sprung up in the twelfth century, and
distinguished themselves by their opposition
to the Church of Rome. They were'charged
with many errors by the monks of those
days ; but from these charges they are gener-
ally acquitted by the Protestants, who con-
sider them only as the inventions of the R0-
mish Church to hlacken their character. The
Albigenses grew so formidable, that the Ca-
tholics agreed vupon a holy league or crusade
against them. Pope Innocent III., desirous
to put a stop to their progress, stirred up the
great men of the kingdom to make war upon
them. After suffering from their persecutors,
they dwindled by little and little, till the time
of the Reformation; when such of them as
were left, fell in with the Vaudois, and con-
formed to the doctrine of Zuinglius, and the
disciples of Geneva. The Albigenses have
been frequently confounded with .the Wal-
denses, from whom it is said they differ in
many respects, both as being prior to them in
point of time, as having their origin in a dif-
ferent country, and as being charged with
divers heresies, particularly Manicheism, from
which the Waldenses were exempt. See
WALDENSES.
ALEXANDRIAN Maxnscarr'r, a famous
copy of the Scriptures, in four volumes quarto.
It is written in uncial or capital letters, with-
out breathings or accents. It contains the
whole Bible in Greek, including the Old and
New Testament, with the Apocrypha, and
some smaller pieces, but not quite complete.
It is of the greatest importance to biblical
criticism, and is at present preserved in the
British Museum. It was sent as a present to
King Charles I., from Cyrillus Lucaris, patri-
arch of Constantinople, by Sir Thomas Rowe,
ambassador from England to the Grand Seig-
nior, about the year 1628. Cyrillus brought
it with him from Alexandria, where probably
it was written. In a schedule annexed to it
he gives this account :-—That it was written,
as tradition informed them, by Thecla, a
noble Egyptian lady, about 1300 years ago,
not long after the Council of Nice. But this
high antiquity, and the authority of the tra-
dition to which the patriarch refers, have
been disputed; nor are the most accurate
biblical writers agreed about its age. Grabe,
who follows it in his edition of the Old Testa-
ment, thinks that it might have been written
before the end of the fourth century; others
are of opinion that it was not written till near
the end of the fifth century, or somewhat
later. Dr. VVoide published the New Testa-
ment from ‘_ this copy with fac-simile types.
This edition is so perfect a resemblance of the
original, that it may supply its place. The
Old Testament has been published in a similar
style by the Rev. Mr. Baber.
ALEXANDRIAN VERSION. See ancient BI-
BLE VERSIONS, No. 9.
ALLAH, the name of God in Arabic, and
adopted into most other languages spoken by
Mohammedans. It signifies “ the Adorable,”
from the verb alalza, “ to venerate, adore.”
From the same root, the Hebrew forms Eloah
and Elohim are derived.
ALLEGORY, a mode of speech under which
something is understood different from what
is expressed. It differs from metaphor, in
that it is not confined to a word, but extends
to a whole thought, or, it may be, to several
thoughts. Allegory may be expressed by pie--
tures, Ezek. iv. 1; actions, Ezek. iv. v.,
Luke xxii. 36, or by any significant thing.
In interpreting allegories, their general de-
sign is to be ascertained, and then the pri-
mary word or words are to be sought for, and
their force expressed by a word or words that
are not figurative, and explained accordingly.
It must never be forgotten, that the compari-
son is not to be extended to all the circum-
stances of the allegory. Thus, in the parable
of the good Samaritan, the point to be illus-
trated is the extent of the duty of benevo-
lence. Most of the circumstances in the
ALL
ALL
24
parable merely go to make up the verisimi-
litude of the narration, so that it may give
pleasure to him who reads or hears it. But
how differently does the whole appear when
interpreted by an allegorizer of the mystic
school! According to him, the man going
from Jerusalem to Jericho, is Adam wander-
ing in the wilderness of this world; the
thieves are evil spirits; the priest is the hw
of Moses; the Levite is good works; the
good Samaritan is Christ; the twopence the
price of atonement; the oil and wine, grace,
&c. What may not a parable be made to
mean, if imagination is to supply the place of
reasoning and philology P And what riddle
or oracle of Delphos could be more equivocal,
or of more multifarious significancy than the
Bible, if such exegesis be admissible? It is
a miserable excuse which some interpreters
make, that they render the Scriptures more
edifying and significant by interpreting them
in this manner. Are the Scriptures, then, to
be made more significant than God has made
them? or to be amended by the skill of the
interpreter, so as to become more edifying
than the Holy Spirit has made them? If
there be a semblance of piety in such inter-
pretations, a semblance is all. Real piet and
humility appear to the best advantage In re-
ceiving the Scriptures as they are, and ex-
pounding them as simply and skilfully as the
rules of language will permit, rather than by
attempting to amend and improve the revela-
tion which God has given.—Stuart’s Ernesti.
ALLENITES, the followers of Henry Allen,
a man of natural good sense, but of a warm
imagination, who, about the year 1774, jour-
neyed through most parts of the province of
Nova Scotia, and, by his popular talents,
made many converts. He also published se-
veral treatises and sermons, in which he
maintains, that the souls of all the human
race are emanations, or rather parts, of the
one Great Spirit; but that originally they
had individually the powers of moral agents;
——-that they were all present with our first
parents in the garden of Eden, and were ac-
tually in the first transgression. He supposes
that our first parents in innocency were pure
spirits, without material bodies; that the ma-
terial world was not then made; but, in con-
sequence of the fall, mankind being out ofl'
from God, that they might not sink into imme-
diate destruction, the world was produced,
and they were clothed with hard bodies; and
that all the human race will in their turns, by
natural generation, be invested with such
bodies, and in them enjoy a state of probation
for ha piness of immortal duration. He
maintains, that the body of our Saviour was
never raised from the grave, and that none
of the bodies of men ever will be; but when
the original number of souls have had their
course on earth, they will all receive their
reward or punishment in their original un-
embodied state. He held baptism, the Lord’s
supper, and ordination, to be matters of in-
diflerence.
These are his most distinguishing tenets,
which he and his party endeavour to support,
by alleging that the Scriptures are not to be
understood in their literal sense, but have a
spiritual meaning. He had such influence
over his followers, that some of them pretend
to remember their being in the Garden of
Eden. Of the moment of their conversion
they are so well assured, that some of them
are said even to calculate the age of their
cattle by it. Allen died in 1783, after which
his party greatly declined—H. Adams’Alpha-
bet. Compend.
ALL-sUrrIcIENcY or G01), is that power or
attribute of his nature whereby he is able to
communicate as much blessedness to his crea-
tures as he is pleased to make them capable
of receiving. As his self-sufliciency is that
whereby he has enough in himself to deno-
minate him completely blessed, as a God of
infinite perfection; so his all-sufiiciency is
that by which he hath enough in himself to
satisfy the most enlarged desires of his crea-
tures, and to make them completely blessed.
We practically den this perfection, when we
are discontented with our present condition,
and desire more than God has allotted for us.
Gen. iii. 5. Prov. xix. 3. 2. When we seek
blessings of what kind soever, in an indirect
way, as though God were not able to bestow
them upon us in his own way, or in the use
of lawful means. Gen. xxvii. 35. 3. When
we use unlawful means to escape imminent
dangers. 1 Sam. xxi. l3. Gen. xx. and xxvi.
4. When we distrust his providence, though
we have had large experience of his appear-
ing for us in various instances. 1 Sam. xxvii.
1. Ps. lxviii. 19. 2 Chron. xvi. 2 Chron. xiv.
9, 31. Josh. vii. 7, 9. 5. When we doubt of
the truth or certain accomplishment of the
promises. Gen. xviii. 12. Ps. lxxvii. 8,9. Is.
xlix. l4. 6. When we decline great services,
though called to them by God, under a pre-
tence of our unfitness for them. J er. i. 6, 8.
The consideration of this doctrine should
lead us——1. To seek happiness in God alone,
and not in human things. Jer. ii. 13. 2. To
commit all our wants and trials to him. 1
Sam. xxx. 6. Heb. xi. 19. 2 Cor. xii. 8, 9.
3. To be courageous in the midst of dan er
and opposition. Ps. xxvii. l. 4. To be satisfied
with his dispensations. Rom. viii. 28. 5. To
persevere in the path of duty however dif-
ficult. Gen. xvii. l. Riclgley's Body of Div.
ques. 17 ; Saurin’s Scr. ser. 5. vol. i.; Bar-
row’s Works, vol. ii. ser. 11.
ALL-SAINTS, FEAST or.-~After the perse-
cutions against the Christians had ceased, in
the fourth century, the Sunday after Whit-
suntide was appointed to commemorate the
martyrs. Chrysostom’s 74th Homily was de-
livered on such an occasion, and shows how
ALM
ALM
25
far they were from being objects of adoration origin from Almaric, professor of logic and
in his day. This feast was introduced into
the Western Church in 610, by Boniface IV.
The Emperor Phocas had presented the Pan-
theon at Rome to this pope, who made a
church of it, and dedicated it as such, March
the 4th, to the honour of the Virgin and all
the martyrs. This church still exists under
the name of Rotunda. Greg. IV. in 835, ap-
pointed Nov. 1 for the celebration of this
feast, and consecrated it to all the saints and
angels. In order that it might be generally
celebrated, he solicited the Emperor Louis le
Debonnaire to confirm it. About 870 it was
introduced into England.
ALL-soULs.--A feast celebrated on the 2nd
of November, in commemoration of all the
faithful deceased. It was instituted in the
eleventh century.
ALLIANCE, HOLY, a misnomer used for—-
1. A confederation formed by Heldo, Vice-
Chancellor of the Emperor, in the year 1538,
to counteract the privileges derived by the
Protestants from the league of Smalcald, and
support and further the Catholic faith. It
was acceded to by the archbishops of Metz
and Salzburg, by William and Lewis, dukes
of Bavaria, George, duke of Saxony, and Eric
and Henry, dukes of Brunswick. It was to
have remained a profound secret, but the
rumour of it soon got abroad, the Protestants
were greatly alarmed; it was feared that
their rights and liberties would be suppressed;
and they concerted how to raise a sufiicient
force to defend themselves. But the conven-
tion of Francfort, in 1539, allayed their
fears, and efi‘ectually prevented the evils that
had been apprehended.
ALLIANCE, HoLY, The—A league entered
into by the Emperor Alexander of Russia,
the Emperor Francis of Austria, and Frederic
William King of Prussia, after the defeat of
Napoleon in 1815, consisting of a declaration
signed by them personally, that, in accord-
ance with the‘ precepts of the Gospel of Jesus
Christ, the principles of justice, charity, and
peace, should be the basis of the internal ad-
ministration of their empires, and of their
international relations; and that the happi-
ness and religious welfare of their subjects
should be the great objects they should ever
keep in view. It originated with Alexander,
who, it is said, imagined that it would intro-
duce a new era of Christian government;
but whatever may have been the original in-
tentions, it soon became, in the hands of the
wily Metternich, an instrument for the sup-
port of tyranny and oppression, and laid the
foundation of the Congressional system of
politics, which, while it professes to have for
its object the support of egitimacy, is a horrid
conspiracy against the rights and privileges
of the subject.
ALMARICIANS, a denomination that arose in
the thirteenth century.— They derived their

theology at Paris. His adversaries charged
him with having taught that every Christian
was obliged to believe himself a member of
Jesus Christ, and that without this belief
none could be saved. His followers asserted
that the power of the Father had continued
only during the Mosaic dispensation, that of
the Son twelve hundred years after his en-
trance upon earth; and that in the thirteenth
century the age of the Holy Spirit commen-
ced, in which the sacraments and all external
worship were to be abolished; and that every
one was to be saved by the internal opera-
tions of the Holy Spirit alone, without any
external act of religion.
ALMONER, in its primitive sense, denoted
an ofiicer of any religious establishment to
whom belonged the distribution of alms.
Every bishop was required to keep an al-
moner. The Great Almoner of France was
the highest ecclesiastical dignity in that king-
dom before the Revolution. Napoleon re-
stored the ofiice, and it has since been kept
up by the Bourbons. To this oflicer belonged
the superintendence of all hospitals and houses
of charity. The King received the sacra—
ment from him, and he said mass at all grand
solemnities. He still ofiiciates at the per-
formance of the mass called Vem' Spiritus,
before the Chamber of Deputies. The Lord
Almoner, or Lord High Almoner of England,
is an ecclesiastical oflicer, generally a bishop,
who formerly received all deodands and the
goods of every felo de se, which he was to
distribute among the poor. He had also the
power of giving the first dish from the king’s
table to whatever poor person he pleased.
The Emperors of Germany, too, and most of
the European monarchs, had their almoners ;
and at the papal court the almoner is one of
the highest ofiicers of state. The name has
by some writers been given to the chaplains
of ships, regiments, &c.
ALMS. Something given towards the relief
of the poor. In the primitive Christian
Church, the people gave alms to the poor at
their first entrance into the church; upon
which practice Chrysostom employs his rhe-
toric in the following manner. “ Our fore-
fathers appointed the poor to stand before
the doors of our churches, that the sight of
them might melt the most obdurate heart into
pity. And as, by law and custom, we have
fountains before our oratories, that they who
go in, in order to worship God, may wash their
hands before they lift them up in prayer: so
our ancestors, instead of fountains and cis-
terns, placed the poor before the doors of the
churches, that, as we wash our hands in
water, so we should first cleanse our souls by
beneficenee and charity, and then go in and
offer up our prayers.”
Again, “ You go into the church to obtain
mercy: first, show mercy. Make God your
ALT
AME
26
debtor, and then you may. ask of him, and
receive with usury. We are not heard barely
for the lifting up our hands. Stretch forth
your hands. not only to heaven, but to the
poor. If you stretch out your hands to the
poor, you touch the very height of heaven.
For he that sits there receives your alms.
But if you lift up barren hands, it profits
nothing.”
The alms of the primitive Christians were
divided into four parts ; three of which were
appropriated to the maintenance of the bishop,
the priests, and the deacons, and the fourth
was applied to the relief of the poor, and the
repair of the churches.
Paul describes the manner of collecting
alms among the Christians of his time. The
practice was borrowed from the Jewish syna-
gogue, where it still obtains. The Jews call
alms, Tsedahah, i. e. Justice. See Dr. Barrow’s
admirable sermon on Bounty to the Poor, which
took him up three hours and a half in preach-
ing; Saurin’s Ser. vol. iv.; Eng. Trans. ser.
9; Paley’s Mor. Phil. ch. 5. vol. i.
ALOGIANS, a sect of ancient heretics who
denied that Jesus Christ was the Logos, and
consequently rejected the Gospel of John.
The word is compounded of the privative (i
and hoyog; q. (1. without logos, or word. They
made their appearance towards the close of
the second century, under the direction of
Theodore of Byzantium, by trade a currier,
who apostatized in the time of the persecu-
tion under Severus.
ALPHA AND OMEGA, the first and last let-
ters of the Greek alphabet; in the Holy
Scripture signify the beginning and the end, or
the first and the last, i. e. before and after all
things. These two letters, corresponding to
the Aleph and Thau of the Hebrews, were
' used as a symbol of the eternity and perfec-
tion of the Divine Being; they are thus
claimed by our Saviour, Rev. xxii. 13; and
they were afterwards employed as the symbol
of Christianity, and engraved on the tombs
of the ancient Christians, to distinguish them
from those of idolaters.
ALPHABETICAL POETRY.
HEBREW.
ALTAR, a kind of table or raised place
whereon the ancient sacrifices were offered.
2. The table in national churches, where the
Lord’s supper is administered. Altars are,
doubtless, of great antiquity; some suppose
they were as early as Adam; but there is no
mention made of them till after the flood,
when Noah built one, and offered burnt-offer-
ings on it. The Jews had two altars in and
about their temple :—-1. The altar of burnt-
ofi‘erings. 2. The altar of incense. Some
also call the table for shew-bread an altar, but
improperly. Exod. xx. 24, 25. 1 Kings
xviii. 30. Exod. xxv.; xxvii.; xxx. Heb. ix.
Altars in the Romish Church are built of
Stone, to represent Christ, the foundation-
Sce PoE'rnY,
stone of the spiritual building, the Church.
Every altar has three steps going up toit,
covered with a carpet. It is decked with
natural and artificial flowers, according to the
season of the year; and no cost is spared in
adorning it with gold, silver, and jewels. The
tabernacle of the Holy Sacrament is placed
on the altar, on each side of which stand
tapers of white wax, ‘excepting at all oflices
for the dead, and during the last three days
of passion-week,‘ at which times they are of
yellow. A crucifix, neatly made in relieve,
is placed on the altar. There is also upon
every altar, a copy, written very fair and large,
of the Te z'gz't-ur, which is a prayer addressed
only to the first person of the Trinity; it is
also called the Secret Prayer. The altar is
furnished likewise with a little bell, which is
rung thrice, when the priest kneels down;
thrice, when. he elevates the Host; and thrice,
when he sets it down. They have also a
portable altar, or consecrated stone, with a
small cavity in the middle of the front side,
in which are put the relics of saints and mar-
tyrs, and scaled up by the bishop; should
the seal break, the altar loses its consecration.
The furniture of the altar consists further
of a chalice and paten, for the bread and wine,
both of gold or silver; a pyx, for holding the
holy sacrament, at least of silver gilt; a vail,
in form of a pavilion, of rich white stuff, to
cover the pyx; a thurible. of silver or pewter,
for the incense; a holy water-pot, of silver,
pewter, or tin; and many other utensils, as
corporals, palls, purificatories, &c., which it
would be tedious to mention.
AMAURITES, the followers of Amauri, a
clergyman of Bonne, in the thirteenth cen-
tury. He acknowledged the Divine three, to
whom be attributed the empire of the world.
But according to him, religion had three
epochas, which bore a similitude to the reign
of the three persons in the Trinity. The
reign of God had existed as long as the law
of Moses. The reign of the Son would not
always last. A time would come when the
sacraments should cease, and then the reli-
'gion of the Holy Ghost would begin, when
men would render a spiritual worship to the
Supreme Being. This reign Amauri thought
would succeed to the Christian religion, as
the Christian had succeeded to that of Moses.
AMBROSIAN OFFICE. A particular ritual
or form of worship, used in the church of
Milan, and so called because composed by
Ambrose, archbishop of that see, in the fourth
century. When the pope took upon him to
impose the Roman ofiice on all the western
churches, that of Milan sheltered itself under
the name and authority of Ambrose, since
which time his ritual has obtained, in contra~
distinction to the Roman ritual.
AMEDIANS, a congregation of religionists in
Italy; so called from their professing them-
selves amantes Deunz, “lovers of God ;” or
AMY 2
? ANA
rather amati Deo, “ beloved of God.” They
wore a grey habit and wooden shoes, had no
breeches, and girt themselves with a cord.
They had twenty-eight convents, and were
united by Pope Pius V., partly with the Bis-
tercian order, and partly with that of the Soo-
colanti, or wooden-shoe wearers.
AMEN, a Hebrew word, which when pre-
fixed to an assertion, signifies assuredly, cer-
tainly, or emphatically so it is; but when it
conclude a prayer, so be it, or so let it be, is its
manifest import. In the former case it is
assertive, or assures of a truth or a fact; and
is an asseveration; and properly translated,
verily, John iii. 3. In the latter case it is
petitionary, and, as it were, epitomises all the
requests with which it stands connected, Numb.
v. 25. Rev. xxii. 20. This emphatical term
was not used among the Hebrews by detached
individuals only, but on certain occasions, by
an assembly at large. Deut. xxvii. 14, 20. It
was adopted, also, in the public worship of
the primitive churches, as clearly appears by
that passage. 1 Cor. xiv. 16, and was continued
among the Christians in following times; and
Jerome informs us, that in his time, at the
conclusion of every public prayer, the united
amen of the people sounded like the fall of
water, or the noise of thunder. It is to be de—
sired that this primitive custom, which obtains
in some churches, and which might so easily
be introduced, were again universally to pre-
vail.
Armonrans, on MODERN PLATONISTS, a
sect which sprung up at Alexandria in the
second century, and which contributed greatly
to the early corruption of Christianity. The
founder of this sect was Ammonius Saccas.—-—
Mosheim de rebas, ii. 125—134.
AMSDORFIANS, a sect, in the sixteenth cen-
ury, who took their name from Amsdorf,
eir leader. They maintained that good
works were not only unprofitable, but obsta-
cles to salvation.
AMULET, a piece of stone, metal, or other
substance, marked with certain characters,
which people wear about them as a protection
against diseases and enchantments. The name,
as well as the thing itself, is derived from the
East: coming from the Arabic hamaz'l, a
locket, or any thing hung round the neck.
Amulets were much used by the Jews, who
attached the most superstitious notions to
them. Many of the Christians of the first
century wore them, marked with a fish, as a
symbol of the Redeemer. To Christian di-
vines the use of them was interdicted by the
Council of Laodicea, under penalty of dismis-
sion from ofiice. The small images of saints,
&c., which the Neapolitan seamen, and almost
all the Greeks, wear about them, are nothing
but amulets.
AMYRALDIS M, a name given by some writers
to the doctrine of universal grace, as explained
and asserted by Amyraldus, or Moses Amy-

rault, and others his followers, among the
reformed in France, towards the middle. of
the seventeenth century. This doctrine prin-
cipally consisted of the following particulars,
viz. that God desires the happiness of all men,
and none are excluded by a divine decree;
that none can obtain salvation without faith
in Christ; that God refuses to none the power
of believing, though he does not grant to a0
his assistance that they may improve this
power to saving purposes; and that they may
perish through their own fault. Those who
embraced this doctrine were called Universal-
ists; though it is evident they rendered grace
universal in words, but limited in reality. See
CAMERONITBS.
ANABAPTISTS, from dud, again, and Baa--
n'Zw, I baptize, a name commonly given to
those who reject infant baptism, because they
re-baptize such as join their communion.
In present usage, the term is more gene-
rally confined to a sect which sprang up in
Germany, immediately after the rise of the
Reformation. It originated with some oppo-
nents of infant baptism at Zwickau, in Saxony,
in the year 1521, who, by their lawless fana-
ticism, completely separated themselves from
the cause of the reformers ; and with the sub-
ject of adult baptism, connected principles
subversive of all religious and civil order.
The vast increase of their adherents from the
year 1524, especially among the common
people on the Rhine, in Westphalia, Holstein,
Switzerland, and the Netherlands, was soon
met by severe measures on the part of the
magistrates. Imperial and ecclesiastical de-
crees were issued against them, and many
were put to death, after being urged to recant.
Still new associations were perpetually formed
by itinerant prophets and teachers, whose
doctrines consisted of the following proposi-
tions: “ Impiety prevails every where. It is
therefore necessary that a new family of holy
persons should be founded, enjoying, without
distinction of sex, the gift of prophecy, and
skill to interpret divine revelations. Hence
they need no learning. For the internal
word is more than the outward expression.
No Christian must he suffered to engage in a
legal process, to hold a civil ofiice, to take an
oath, or to hold any private property; but all
things must be in common.”
With such sentiments, John Bockhold, or
Bockelson, a tailor, of Leyden, aged 26; and
John Matthias, or Matthiesen, a baker, of
Harlem, came, in 1533, to Miinster, in West-
phalia, a city which had adopted the doctrines
of the Reformation. Here they soon gained
over a portion of the excited populace, and
among the rest, Rothmann, a protestant clergy-
man, and the counsellor Knipperdolling. The
magistrates in vain excluded them from the
churches. They obtained possession of the
council-house by violence. Their numbers
daily increased, and towards the end of the
ANA
ANA ’
28
year, they extorted a treaty, securing the
religious liberty of both parties. Being
strengthened by the accession of the restless
spirits of the adjacent cities, they soon made
themselves masters of the town by force, and
expelled their adversaries. Matt-hiesen came
forward as their prophet, and persuaded the
people to devote their gold, and silver, and
moveable property to the common use, and
to burn all their books but the Bible. But in
a sally against the bishop of Miinster, who
had laid siege to the city, he lost his life. He
was succeeded in the prophetic oflice by
Bockhold and Knipperdolling. The churches
were destroyed, and twelve judges were set
over the tribes, as in Israel, but even this
form of government was soon abolished, and
Bockhold, under the name of John of Leyden,
raised himself to the dignity of King of New
Zion, (so the Anabaptists of Miinster styled
their kingdom,) and caused himself to be for-
mally crowned. From this period (1534)
Miinster was a theatre of all the excesses of
_ fanaticism, lust, and cruelty. The introduc-
tion of polygamy, and the neglect of civil
order, concealed from the infatuated people
the avarice and madness of their young tyrant,
and the daily increase of danger from abroad.
Bockhold lived in princely luxury and mag-
nificence; he sent out seditious proclamations
against neighbouring rulers,—against the Pope
and Luther; he threatened to destroy with
his mob, all who differed in opinion from him,
made himself an object of terror to his sub—
j ects by frequent executions, and while famine
and pestilence raged in the city, persuaded
the wretched, deluded inhabitants to a stub-
born resistance of their besiegers. The city
was at last taken, June 24th, 1535, by treach-
ery, though not without a brave defence, in
which Rothmann and others were killed, and
the kingdom of the Anabaptists destroyed, by
the execution of the chief men. Bockhold,
and two of his most active companions, Knip-
perdolling and Krechting, were tortured to
death with red hot pincers, and then hung up
in iron cages, on St. Lambert’s steeple, at
Munster, as a terror to all rebels. In the
mean time, some of the twenty-six apostles,
who were sent out by Bockhold to extend the
limits of his kingdom, had been successful in
various places : and many independent teachers,
who preached the same doctrines, continued
active in the work of founding a new empire
of _ pure Christians, and propagating their
visions and revelations In the countries
above mentioned. It is true that they rejected
the practice of polygamy, community of goods,
and intolerance towards those of different
opinions, which had prevailed in Munster;
but they enjoined upon their adherents thev
other doctrines of the early Anabaptists. and
certain heretical opinions in regard to the
humanity of Christ, occasioned by the con-
troversies of that day about the‘ sacrament.
The most celebrated of these Anabaptist pro-
phets were Melchior Hoffman and David J oris.
The former, afurrier from Swabia, first appear?
ed as a teacher in Kiel, in 1527 ; afterwards,
in 1529, in Emden; and finally in Strasburg,
where in 1540, he died in prison. He formed
chiefly by his magnificent promises of a future
elevation of himself and his disciples, a pecu-
liar sect, whose scattered members retained
the name of Hqfl'manists, in Germany, till
their remains were lost among the Anabap-
tists. They have never owned that Hofi‘man'
recanted before his death. David Joris, or
George,a glass-painter of Delft, born 1501, and
re-baptized in 1534, showed more depth of
mind and warmth of imagination in his various
works. Amidst the confusion of ideas which
prevails in them, they dazzle by their eleva-
tion and fervour. In his endeavours to unite
the discordant parties of the Anabaptists, he
collected a party of quiet adherents in the
country, who studied his works, (as the Gich-
telians did those of Bohme,) especially his
book of miracles, which appeared at Deventer
in 1542, and revered him as a kind of new
Messiah. Unsettled in his opinions, he tra-
velled a long time from place to place, till at
last to avoid persecution, in 1554, he became.
a citizen of Basle, under the name of John of
Bruges. In 1556, after an honourable life, he
died there among the Calvinists. In 1559, his
long concealed heresy was first made public.
He was accused, though without much reason,of
profligate doctrine and conduct, and the coun-
cil of Basle condemned him, and ordered his
body to be burnt. A friend of Joris was
Nicholas, the founder of the Familists, who
do not however belong to the Anabaptists.
After the disturbances at Munster, an
opinion slowly gained ground among the Pro-
testants, that no heretie could be punished
with death unless he was guilty of exciting
disturbances; hence these and similar par-
ties of separatists were permitted to remain
unmolested, provided they continued quiet.
But, till after the middle of the sixteenth cen—
tury, prophets were constantly rising up
among the Anabaptists, and subverting the
civil order. Of the heretics executed by Alva,
in the Spanish Netherlands, a large propor-v
tion were Anabaptists. In fact, they were
never worthy of toleration till quiet and good
order were introduced among them. The in-
stitutions of Menno were the first occasion of
this change. This judicious man, about the
middle of the sixteenth century, united them
in regular societies, which formed an inde-
pendent church, under the name of Menno-
nists, lllennists, or Anabaptists, as they are
still called in the north of Germany and in
Holland, imitating strictly the peculiarities
of the primitive Apostolical Church. But he
could not prevent the division. which took
place among them as early as ‘1554, in regard
to the degree of severity necessary in case of
ANA
ANA
29
excommunication. The stricter party pu-
nished every individual transgression against
morality and church order with excommuni-
cation, and carried‘ their severity so far, that
near relations, even husbands and wives,
were obliged to renounce all connexion with
one another, in case of such punishment.
The more moderate party resorted to excom-
munication only in cases of long—continued
disobedience to the commands of the Holy
Scriptures. Moreover they never inflicted
this punishment till after various kinds of
warnings and reproofs, (gradus admonitionz's,)
--and then it did not extend beyond the re-
lation of the individual excommunicated with
the church. As neither party would "yield,
and the strict often excluded the moderate
from their communion, the Anabaptists have
continued to this day divided into two par-
ties. The moderate party were called Water-
landers, because their earliest congregations
lived in the Waterland, on the Pampus, in the
north of Holland, and in Franeker. . By the
strict party they were styled the Gross, and
even the dung~carts, as a designation of their
inferior purity. This latter party, who con-
sisted of the Frieslanders in and about Em-
den, Flemish refugees (Flemingians), and
Germans, called themselves the Pure (Die
Feinen), i. e. the Blessed, the Strict.
Menno did not wholly adopt the excessive
rigour of the Pure, nor yet would he abandon
the Frieslanders, among whom he taught.
Immediately after his death, in 1565, a con-
test broke out among the Pure, and they di-
vided into three parties. Of these, the Flem-
ingians were more severe and fanatical than
the rest, and maintained the utmost severity
in regard to excommunication; the Frieslan-
ders did not, indeed, exercise this‘ discipline
on whole congregations, nor extend the curse,
in the case of individuals, to the destruction
of their family relations; the Germans were
distinguished from the Frieslanders only by
more carefully avoiding all luxury. To the
party of these Germans belonged those who
were settled in Holstein, Prussia, Dantzie, the
Palatinate of the Rhine, J uliers, Alsace, and
Switzerland, and the numerous Anabaptists
who inhabited Moravia till the thirty years’
war. In 1591, they were again united with
the Frieslanders ‘by means of the concept of
Cologne, so called, or articles of faith, chiefly
because their separation was injurious to com-
merce, in which the Anabaptists soon became -
much engaged.
With these two sects thus connected, after
many attempts towards reconciliation and
friendship, the strictest, Anabaptists at length
joined themselves, and certain articles of faith
were adopted by the whole body. But these
arrangements were insufiicient to check the
bitterness with’ which they persecuted one
another. Soon after the union of the Fries-
landers with the Germans, a large number of
' They were not numerous.

malecontents left the former, because they
were displeased with this connexion, and the
laxness of church discipline. Under Jan
Jacob, their teacher, they constituted a sepa-
rate church on the most rigid principles.
During the nego-
tiations of the Flemingians with the Frieslan-
ders, there appeared amon the former a
Friesland peasant, Uke Wallis, who held the
opinion that Judas and the high priests were
blessed, because in the murder of Jesus they
had executed the designs of God. In 1637,
he collected a party of individuals who adopted
this opinion, but still remained distinct from
the other Anabaptists, on account of their
aversion to the excessive strictness of the an-
cient Flemingians. The Uke Wallists, or
G'rb'm'ngenists, so called because the sect arose
in the territory of Groningen, received the
malecontents of the united parties, and there-
fore called themselves emphatically the an-
cient Flemingians, or the ancient Frieslanders;
but by their adversaries they were denomi-
nated the .Dompelers, i. e. Dz'ppers, because
some of their churches used, in baptism, the
three-fold immersion of the whole body. The
other Anabaptists, on the contrary. regarded
the sprinkling of the head as sufficient. Be-
yond Friesland, though not numerous, they
spread to Lithuania and Dantzic. The Ana-
baptists in Galicia, a part of the ancient Mora—
via, who were divided, on account of their
dress, into Buttoners, (those who buttoned
their clothes,) and Pinners, (those who used
wire pins instead of buttons, and wore long
beards,) and comprehended about twenty—four
families, of the simple country-people, agreed
with the Uke Wallists in maintaining the an-
cient doctrines and strict exercise of excom-
munication, and were distinguished for purity
of morals. The ancient Flemingians, or the
strictest sect of Anabaptists, persevere firmly
in the ancient doctrines and practices of the
sect. They reject the word person, in the
doctrine of the Trinity, and explain the purity
of the human nature in Christ, according to
Menno, by saying that he was created out of
nothing by God, in the womb of Mary, al—
though he was nourished by the blood of the
mother. They view the baptism of their
own party as alone valid, and practise the
washing of feet, as an act commanded by
Christ, not only towards travellers of their
own party, like the Pure, but even in religi-
ous assemblies. Like Anabaptists in general,
they view as improper, oaths, the discharge
of civil offices, and all defence of property,
liberty, or life, which requires violence against
their fellow men. Hence they were formerly
called, without distinction, the unarmed Chris-
tians. Only in this particular, and in church
discipline, are the ancient Flemingians more
strict than the other Anabaptists. Immo-
rality, the bearing of arms, marriage with a
person out of their church, extravagance in
ANA
ANA
30
dress or furniture, they punish by excom-
munication, without gradus admomtcoms, and
_ The confession of faith of the true Menno-
‘nites, composed by Cornelius Riss, one of
extend their discipline to domestic life. These _
of Dantzic excluded persons who had their }
portraits painted, as a punishment for their
vanity. In general they strive to imitate,
with the utmost exactness, the simplicity,
purity,v and government of the earliest apos-
tolic church, the restoration of which was
originally the object of every Anabiptist.
They appoint their teachers by a vote of the
whole church, forbid them to enjoy any pohti-
cal oflice, and place but little value on learning.
In modern times, it is true, they have gra-
dually remitted their severity, and given up,
in particular, the rebaptism of proselytes from
other Anabaptist sects; while Christians,
who have only been baptized in infancy, are
admitted into any sect of the Anabaptists
only after rebaptism. The Flemingians,
Frieslanders, and Germans, who had united,
1649, and at first belonged also to the Pure,
gradually sided with the moderate party,
with which they are now reckoned.
A division took place in the general church
of the united Waterlanders, Flemingians,
Frieslanders, and Germans, in 1664, on ac-
count of the favour with which a part of them
regarded the doctrines of the Remonstrants.
Galenus Abrahamssohn, of Haen, a learned
their teachers, and published in German; at
Hamburg, in 1776, corresponds, in almost
every point, with the doctrines of the Cal—
,évinist church. The Remonstrants have de-
’ parted the most widely from the faith and
order of the ancient Anabaptists. They re-
ject all symbolical books, and permit the

most unrestrained reading: hence they have
among them many Socinians. They tolerate,
in the bosom of the church, those of a dif—
ferent faith, and receive Christians of all
creeds, but only in a few congregations, with-
out rebaptism. They consider the Pure and
Mennonites as brethren; seldom exclude
members, except from the sacrament, and
this not so frequently ‘as the latter parties;
permit military service, and the discharge of
civil ofiices, and even an oath of testimony,
and prohibit only the oath of promise. They
allow of learning, and have erected a seminary
at Amsterdam for the education of ministers,
to which young men of the Mennonite party
are also admitted. In Holland, the Anabap-
tists obtained toleration under William I.,.
and complete religious liberty in 1626. There
are now in that country 131 churches, and
183 teachers of all the parties of Anabaptists,
‘ of whom the majority belong to the Remon-
physician and teacher of the Anabaptists, of ;
a gentle disposition, and distinguished talents, -
was the leader of this new party, which was
called, after him, the sect of the .Galenists. 1
He maintained that sound doctrine is'less de— 1 _ _
' and Lorraine, consider, themselves pure Men-
cisive of Christian worth than a pious life;
and, therefore, church communion should be
refused to no virtuous person believing in the
Scriptures. But he betrayed, by/ these opin-
ions, his Socinian views of Christ and the
Holy Ghost. Samuel Apostool (also a phy-
sician and teacher of the church), and the
orthodox party in it, declared themselves op-
posed to such innovations, and determined to
maintain their ancient faith and discipline-
Besides the branches of the ancient Flemin-
gians, or the proper Pure, described above,
there are now two leading parties of Anabap-
tists,-—the Apostoolians, who, from their at-
tachment to the ancient confessions, founded
on the doctrines of Menno, are called Menno-
nites, in a more limited use of that word; and
the Galenists, who are likewise styled Reman-
strants, and Arminian Baptists, after Armi-
nius, the founder of the Remons-trants.
The Mennonites, as they belong to the
moderate party, no longer maintain Menno’s
doctrine of the creation of Christ in the womb
of Mary; they rebaptize _no pro_selyte, and
punish none but gross crimes with excom-
munication, and that not without previous
warning. ‘They do not require the church;
members utterly to avoid the excommuni-
eated. They carefully prohibit oaths, mili-
tary service, and the holding of civil oflices.
strants, about one-third to the Mennonites,
and a few small congregations to the Pure.
The Anabaptists in Germany, where they
are most numerous, on the banks of the
Rhine, in East Prussia, Switzerland, Alsace,
nonites. In the religious worship of all,
there is but a trifling difference from the
Eforms of the Protestant service; but they
more nearly resemble the Calvinists than the
Lutherans. The Pure have elders or bishops
who administer the sacraments, ministers who
preach, and deacons or almoners. All these
oflicers are chosen by the vote of the churches.
The Mennonites have ministers or deacons,
of whom the former are the proper pastors,
and the latter only exhorters or preachers;
‘but both are chosen by the ecclesiastical

council or presbytery. The Remonstrants
pursue a similar course. In general, the
Anabaptists still deserve the praise formerly
bestowed upon them, of diligence, industry,
order, and purity of morals. Many of them,
however, have become so accustomed to
the manners of the world, that the peculiari-
ties of this sect have gradually worn away,
and the sect itself seems hastening to decay.
The Antipacdobaptists in England form a
distinct sect, without any connexion with the
successors of the ancient Anabaptists here
described.
ANALOG!’ or FAITH, is the proportion that
the doctrines of the Gospel bear to each other‘.
or the close connexion between the truths of
revealed religion. Rom. xii. 6. This is con-
ANA
ANA
31
he does in’ the works of nature.
sidered as a grand rule for understanding the
true sense of Scripture. It is evident that
the Almighty doth not act without a design
in the system of Christianity, any more than
Now this
design must be uniform; for as in the system
of the universe every part is proportioned to
the whole, and made subservient to it, so in
the system of the Gospel all the various truths,
doctrines, declarations, precepts, and pro-
m-ises, must correspond with and tend to the
end designed. For instance, supposing the
glory of God in the salvation of man by free
grace, be the grand design; then whatever
doctrine, assertion, or hypothesis, agrees not
with this, it is to be considered as ‘false.
Great care, however, must be taken, in mak-
ing use of this method, that the inquirer pre-
viously understand the whole scheme, and
that he harbour not a predilection only for a
part; without attention to this, we shall be
liable to error. If we come to the Scriptures
with any preconceived opinions, and are more
desirous to put that sense upon the text which
quadrates with our sentiments rather than
the truth, it becomes then the analogy of our
faith, rather than that of the whole system.
This was the source of the error of the Jews,
in our Saviour’s time. They searched the
Scriptures; but, such were their favourite
opinions, that they could not, or would not,
discover that the sacred volume testified of
Christ. And the reason was evident, for
their great rule of interpretation was what
they might call the analogy of faith, 2‘. e. the
system of the Pharisean scribes, the doctrine
then in vogue, and in the profound venera-
tion of which they had been educated. Per-
haps there are few who have not, more or
less, been guilty in this respect. It is, how-
ever, of great use to the serious and candid
‘inquirer; for, as some texts may seem to
contradict each other, and difiiculties present
themselves, by keeping the analogy of faith
in view, he will the more easily resolve those
difiiculties, and collect the true sense of the sa-
cred oracles. What “ the aphorisms of Hippo-
crates are to a physician, the axioms in geo-
metry to a mathematician, the adjudged cases
in law to a counsellor, or the maxims of war
to a general, such is the analogy of faith to a
Christian.” Of the analogy of religion to the
constitution and course of nature, we must
refer our readers to Bishop Butler’s excellent
treatise on that subject. See also Dr. Camp-
bell’s Prelim. Dissert. '
ANAGOGICAL, signifies mysterious, trans-
porting; and is used to express whatever
elevates the mind, not only to the knowledge
of divine things, but of divine things in the
next life. The word is seldom used, but with
regard to the difi‘erent senses of Scripture.
The anagogical sense is when the sacred text
18 explained with regard to eternal life, the
point which Christians should have in view;
for example, the rest of the sabbath, in the
anagogical sense, signifies the repose of ever-
lasting happiness.
ANAGOGY, the anagogical interpretation of
Scripture just described.
ANATHEMA (Gr.) signifies originally some-
thing set apart, separated, devoted, from
dwarifimu, sepono. Among the Jews, things
devoted to destruction 'could not be redeemed
at any rate, as might be done in the case of
things devoted to the service of God. If the
thing devoted had life, it was to be put to
death; if it had not, it was to be destroyed
by fire, or some other way. IVe meet with
many instances of these anathemas in the
Jewish history. All the cities of the Ca-
naanites, particularly Jericho, were devoted
to destruction. Achan fell under the same
curse, for having saved some of the plunder
of that city, which was to have been de-
stroyed. And Saul would have sacrificed his
own son Jonathan, for ignorantly incurring
the curse which he had laid upon those who
should eat or drink whilst he was in pursuit
of his victory.
It is also, in church history, one kind of
excommunicationfior cutting off, any person
from the communion or privileges of a so-
ciety. _
The anathema differs from simple excom-
municatz'on, in the circumstance of being at-
tended with execrations and curses. It sig-
nifies not only to cut off the living from the
church, but the dead from salvation. It was
practised, in the ancient church, against no-
torious offenders. The form of anathema,
such as that pronounced by Synesius against
one Andro ' us, is preserved to us, and is as
follows :-—“ et no church of God be open
to Andronicus and his accomplices; but let
every sacred temple and sanctuary be shut
against them. I admonish both private men
and magistrates neither to receive them un-
der their roof, nor to their table ; and priests
more especially, that they neither converse
with them living, nor attend their funerals
when dead.”- When any one was anathema-
tized, notice was given of it to the neighbour-
ing churches, and sometimes to the churches
all over the world, that all churches might
confirm and ratify this act of discipline, by
refusing to admit such an one to their com-
mumon.
The form of denouncing anathemas against
heresies and heretics is very ancient. But,
as zeal about opinions increased, and Chris-
tians began to set a greater value on trifies,
than on the weightier matters of the law, it
grew to be a common practice to add ana-
themas to every point in which men differed
from one another; which arrived at‘last to
such a pitch, that in the council of Trent, a
whole body of divinity was put into canons,
and an anathema aflixed to every one of them.
How important an instrument of spiritual
ANG
ANG
32
power the anathema was in the hands of the
popes in the middle ages, and how little it is
regarded in modern times, is matter of his-
tory. Yet every year the Pope publicly re-
peats the anathema against all heretics,
amongst whom Protestants, Lutherans, &c.
are specified. See MARANATHA, and EXCOM-
MUNICATION.
ANCHORETS, a sort of monks, so called
(c’z-iro roii auaxe'ipew) from their retiring from
society, and living in private cells in the wil-
derness. Such were Paul, and Anthony, and
Hilarion, the first founders of the monastic life
in Egypt and Palestine. Some of them lived
in caves, in o'n'nhatoi'g, as Chrysostom tells
us the monks of Mount Casius, near Antioch,
did; and others in little tents or cells, in
oilrt'o'lcolg. When many of those were placed
together in the same wilderness, at some dis-
tance from one another, they were all called
by one common name, Laura, which, as Eva-
grius informs us, differed from a Cwnobium,
or community, in this, that a Laura consisted
of many cells, divided from each other, where
every monk provided for himself; but a
Coenobium was but one habitation, where the
monks lived in society, and had all things
in common. See MONK, C(ENOBITE, and
LAURA. ,
ANGEL, a spiritual intelligent substance, the
first in rank and dignity among created beings.
The word angel (analog) is Greek, and signi-
fies a messenger. The Hebrew word ‘W519,
from the Arabic and Ethiopic laaka, to send
on any errand, to execute a commission, sig-
nifies the same. Angels, therefore, in the
proper signification of the word, do not im-
port the nature of any being, but only the
oflfce to which they are appointed, especially
by way of message or intercourse between
God and his creatures. Hence the word is
used difl'erently in various parts of the Scrip-
ture, and signifies, 1. Human messengers, or
agents for others, 2 Sam. ii. 5. “ David sent
messengers (Heb. angels) to J abesh Gilead.”
Prov. xiii. 17. Mark i. 2. James 25.——2.
Oflicers of the churches, whether prophets or
ordinary ministers, Hag. i. 13. Rev. i. 20.-—
3. Jesus Christ, Mal. iii. 1. Is. lxiii. 9.--4.
Some add the dispensations of God’s provi-
dence, either beneficial or calamitous. Gen.
xxiv. 7. Ps. xxxiv. 7. Acts xii. 23. 1 Sam.
xiv. 14; but I must confess, that, though I
do not at all see the impropriety of consider-
ing the providences of God as his angels or
messengers for good or for evil, yet the pas-
sages generally adduced under this head do
not prove to me that the providences of God
are meant in distinction from created an~
gels—5. Created intelligences, both good and
bad. Heb. i. 14. Jude vi. the subject of the
present article. As to the time when the an-
gels were created, much has been said by the
learned. Some wonder that Moses, in his
account of the creation, should pass over this

in silence. Others suppose that he did this
because of the proneness of the Gentile
world, and even the Jews, to idolatry : but a
better reason has been assigned by others, viz.
that this first history was purposely and prin-
cipally written for information concerning
the visible world; the invisible, of which we
know but in part, being reserved for a better
life. Some think that the idea of God’s not
creating them before this world was made, is
very contracted. To suppose, say they, that
no creatures whatever, neither angels nor
other worlds, had been created previous to
the creation of our world, is to suppose that a
Being of infinite“ power, wisdom, and good-
ness, had remained totally inactive from all
eternity, and had permitted the infinity of
space to continue a perfect vacuum till within
these 6000 years; that such an idea only
tends to discredit revelation, instead of serv-
ing it. On the other hand, it is alleged that
they must have been created within the six
days; because it is said, that within this space
God made heaven and earth, and all things
that are therein. It is, however, a needless
speculation, and we dare not indulge a spirit
of conjecture. It is our happiness to know
that they are all ministering spirits, sent
forth to minister to them who are heirs of
salvation.
As to the nature of these beings, we are
told that they are spirits; but whether pure
spirits divested of all matter, or united to
some thin bodies, or corporeal vehicles, has
been a controversy of long standing; the
more general opinion is, that they are sub-
stances entirely spiritual, though they can at
any time assume bodies, and appear in human
shape. Gen. xviii. and xix. Gen. xxxii.
Matt. xxviii. Luke i. &c. The Scriptures
represent them as endued with extraordinary
wisdom and power, 2 Sam. xiv. 20. Ps. ciii.
20; holy, and regular in their inclinations;
zealous in their employ, and completely happy
in their minds, Job xxxviii. 7. Heb. i. 7.
Matt. xviii. 10. Their number seems to be
great,‘ Ps. lxviii. 17. Heb. xii. 22 ; and per-
haps they have distinct orders, Col. i. 16, 17.
1 Pet. iii. 22. 1 Thess. iv. 16. Dan. x. 13.
They are delighted with the grand scheme of
redemption, and the conversion of sinners to
God. Luke ii. 12. 1 Pet. i. 12. Luke xv.
10. They not only worship God, and exe-
cute his commands at large, but are attendant
on the saints of God while here below, Ps.
xci. 11, 12. Heb. i. 13. Luke xvi. 22. Some
conjecture that every good man has his ar-
ticular guardian angel, Matt. xviii. 10. cts
xii. 15 ; but this is easier to be supposed than
to be proved; nor is it a matter of conse-
quence to know. “ What need we dispute,”
says Henry, “ whether every particular saint
has a guardian angel, when we are sure he
has a guard of an els about him?” They will
gather the elect 1n the last day, attend the
ANG
ANN
33
final judgment, Matt. xxv. 31. Rev. xiv. 18.
Matt. xiii. 39, and live for ever in the world
of lory. Luke xx. 36.
lthough the angels were originally created
perfect, yet they were mutable: some of
them sinned, and kept not their first estate;
and so, of the most blessed and glorious,
became the most vile and miserable of all
God’s creatures.
gions of light, and with heaven lost their hea-
venly disposition, and fell into a settled ran-
cour against God, and malice against men.
What their offence was is diflicult to deter-
mine, the Scripture being silent about it.
Some think envy, others unbelief; but most
suppose it was pride.
sixth day of the creation, because on that day
it issaid, “ God saw every thing that he had
made, and behold it was very good ;” but that
it was not long after, is very probable, as it
must have preceded the fall of our first pa-
rents. The number of the fallen angels seems
to be great, and, like the holy angels, perhaps
they have various orders among them. Matt.
xii. 24. Eph. ii. 2. Eph. vi. 12. C01. ii. 15.
Rev. xii. 7. Their constant employ is not
only doing evil themselves, but endeavouring
by all arts to seduce and pervert mankind.
1 Pet. v. 8. Job i. 6. It is supposed they
will be restrained during the millennium,
Rev. xx. 2, but afterwards again, for a short
time, deceive the nations, Rev. xx. 8, and
then be finally punished, Matt. xxv. 41. The
authors who have written on this subject have
been very numerous; we shall only refer to
a. few: Reynolds’ Inquiry into the State and
Economy of the Angelical World ,- Doddriclge’s
Lect. lect. 10. p. 210 to 214; Milton’s Paradise
Lost; Bp. Newton’s W'orks, vol. iii. p. 538,
568 ; Shepherd of Angels,- Gilpz'n on Tempta-
tion ; Casmanni Angelographia; Gill and Ridge-
ley’s Bodies of Divinity ,- Dwight.
ANcELrc Doc'ror». See AQUINAS.
ANGELICS, an ancient sect, supposed by
some to have got this appellation from their
excessive veneration of angels and by others
from maintaining that the wor d was created
by angels. The name is also denominative
of a congregation of nuns, founded at Milan in
1534, who observe the rule of St. Augustine.
ANGELITES. a sect in the reign of the Em-
peror Anastasius, about the year 494; so
called from Angelium, a place in the city of
Alexandria, where they held their first meet-
mgs. They were called likewise Severites,
from Severus, who was the head of their sect;
as also "Theodosians, from one Theodosius,
whom they made pope at Alexandria. They
held that the persons of the Trinity are not
the same; that none of them exists of him-
self, and of his own nature ; but that there is
a common God or Deity existing in them all,
and that each is God b a a ti ' t' f
this Deity. y p r clpa Ion o
They were expelled the re-

ANGER, a violent passion of the mind,
arising upon the receipt, or supposed receipt,
of any injury, with a present purpose of re-
venge.
was designed by the Author of our nature
‘ for self-defence ; nor is it altogether a selfish
' passion, since it is excited by injuries oifered
to others as well as ourselves, and sometimes
prompts us to reclaim offenders from sin and
danger, Eph. iv. 26; but it becomes sinful
when conceived upon trivial occasions or in-
adequate provocations; when it breaks forth
i into outrageous actions, vents itself in reviling
language, or is concealed in our thoughts to
I the degree of hatred—Paleys Mor. Phil. ch.
As to the time of their fall, we are certain it could not be before the '
7. vol. i. ; Fawcett’s excellent Treatise on An-
er; Seed’s Posth. Serm. ser. xi.; Jeremy Tay-
or’s Works, vol. p. 33, vol. iv. p. 244, vol.
v. p. 69.
ANGER or Gon, see WBATH.
ANGLO—CALVINISTS, a name given by some
writers to the members of the Church of Eng-
land, as agreeing with the other Calvinists in
most points, excepting church government.
ANGLO-SAXON VERSION, see BIBLE VEass.
ANNALS ECCLESIASTICAL, of Baronius, a
work on church history, from the birth of
Christ to the year 1198, published at Rome,
1588-1607, in twelve volumes, folio, which
was principally composed for the purpose of
confuting the Centuries of Magdeburg, and
to prove that the doctrines and constitution
of the Church had remained the same from
the beginning. These annals comprise a
rich collection of documents from the papal
archives, and are, therefore, of great use to
the student of ecclesiastical history; but they
contain many false statements and unauthentic
documents, and require to be consulted with
great caution. The air of sincerity which
breathes in them is calculated to give very
erroneous ideas of the state of things in the
Church of Rome. They were afterwards
continued by Raynaldi and Laderchi, and
brought down to the year 1671.
ANNATES, ayear’s income due to the Pope,
on the death of any bishop, abbot, or parish
priest, to be paid by his successor. The Con-
cordata Germaniw, in 1448, restored to the
Pope the right of raising the annates, which
had been forbidden by the Council of Basle,
in 1434. They were made perpetual by
Boniface IX. In France, they were finally
abolished in 1789. In England, they were
first paid to the Archbishop of Canterbury,
but afterwards appropriated to the popes. In
1532, the parliament gave them to the crown;
but Queen Anne restored them to the Church,
by applying them to the augmentation of poor
livings.
ANNIHILATION, the act of reducing any
created being into nothing. The sentiments
of mankind have differed widely as to the
possibility and impossibility of annihilation.
According to some, nothing is so difficult ; it
n .
All anger is by no means sinful; it~
ANO
ANT
34
requires the infinite power of God to effect
it: according to others, nothing so easy.
Existence, say they, is a state of violence; all things are continually endeavouring to return
to their primitive nothing: it requires no
power at all; it will do it itself; nay, more,
it requires an infinite power to prevent it.
With respect to human beings, it appears
probable from reason, but it is certain from
Scripture, that they will not be annihilated,
but exist in a future state, Matt. x. 28. Eco.
xii. 7. John v. 24. 1 Thess. v. 10. Matt.
xxv. 34, 41. Luke xvi. 22, 28. Luke xx.
37, 38. 1 Cor. xv. See p. 158, Sac. vol. i.
Massz'llon’s ser., Eng. Trans. ; No. 129, Guar-
dian ; Blair’s Serf. vol. i. p. 461 ; and articles
DESTRUCTIONISTS, RESURRECTION, SoUL.
ANNUNCIATION, a festival, celebrated on
the 25th March, in memory of the annuncia-
tion, or tidings, brought by the angel‘ Gabriel
to the Virgin Mary, of the incarnation of
Christ.
The feast of the annunciation appears to be
of very great antiquity. There is mention
made of it in a sermon, which goes under the
name of Athanasius. Others carry it up to
the time of Gregory Thaumaturgus, because
there is a sermon likewise attributed to him
upon the same subject; but the best critics
reject both these writings as spurious. How-
ever, it is certain this festival was observed ,
before the time of the Council of Trullo, in
which there is a canon forbidding the cele-
bration of all festivals in Lent, excepting the
Lord’s Day and the feast of the annunciation:
so that we may date its original from the se-
venth century.
On this festival, in the Romish Church, the
Pope performs the ceremony of marrying or
cloistering a certain number of maidens, who
are presented to the Pope in the church Della
Minerva, clothed in white serge from head to
foot, and so muflled up, that they have scarce
room to peep out. An officer stands on one
side, having in his hand a basin, wherein are
small bags, containing notes of fifty crowns
for those who make choice of marriage, and '
notes of a hundred for those who choose the
veil. The latter are distinguished, after their
choice, by garlands of white flowers. Misson,
who was present at this ceremony, tells us,
that of three hundred and fifty maidens, who
were presented to the Pope, thirty-two only
chose a religious life.
ANOINTING.——In the Catholic Church, the
custom of anointing priests is still continued.
The ordaining bishop anoints with the holy
oil called chrism, the palm of both hands, the
thumb,-and the forefinger of the person to be
ordained; and thus, according to the expression
in the ritual of ordination, the hands receive
power to bless, to consecrate, and to make
holy. If a clergyman is excommunicated,
these spots are rubbed off. This custom, like
many others, is an impious perversion of the
1 sacred ceremony by which the Jewish priests
' and kings were inducted into office.
ANoMosANs, the name by which the pure
Arians were called in the fourth century, in
contradistinction to the Semi-arians. The
word is formed from the Greek c’wouowg,
dzfierent. See ARIANS and SEMI-ARIANS.
ANoNYMUs GmEcUs, a name given to each
of the three additional Greek versions of the
Old Testament, otherwise known by the
names Edit-i0 quinta, seam and septima, which
Origen consulted, and inserted in the last
three columns of his great work. Their age
and authors were unknown. .
ANTEDILUVIANS, a general name for all
mankind who lived before the flood, including
the whole human race from the creation to
the deluge. For the history of the Antedilu-
vians, see Book qf Genesis, WV/ziston’s Jose—
phus, Cochburn’s Treatise on ‘the Deluge, and
article DELUGE.
ANTELUCANI, a name given to the primi-
tive Christians, because, in times of persecu-
tion, they frequently held their religious as-
semblies before daybreak.
ANTHEM, a church song performed in ca-
thedral service by choristers who sung alter-
nately. It was used to denote both psalms
and hymns, when performed in this manner;
but, at present, anthem is used in a more con-
I fined sense, being applied to certain passages
j taken out of the Scriptures and adapted to'a
particular solemnity. Anthems were first in-
troduced in the reformed service of the Eng-
lish church, in the beginning of the reign of
Queen Elizabeth.
ANTHOLOGIUM. [Gr.] In Latin, Florile-
' gium: the title of a book used in the Greek
, church, divided into twelve months, contain-
, ing the ofiices, sung throughout thev whole
1 year, on the festivals of our Saviour, the
blessed Virgin, and other remarkable saints.
1 It is in two volumes: the first contains six
}months, from the first day of September to
:the last day of February; the second com-
prehends the other six months. It is observ-
able, from this book, that the Greek church
celebrates Easter at the same time with the
Church of England, notwithstanding that
they differ from us in the lunar style.
ANTHONY, ST., THE ABBoT’s DAY, a festi—
val of the Romish church on the 17th of
January. On this day the pope, cardinals,
princes, and even private gentlemen, send
their horses and mules, together with their
harnesses, to be blessed and sprinkled by the
fathers of his order. They likewise apply to
this saint for the exorcising, and conjuring,
and delivering up to the devil, mice, grass-
hoppers, and other noxious animals.
ANTHONY, ST., or PADUA’s DAY, a festival
in the Romish church, on the 13th of June.
Ribadeinara, in his life of this saint, gives us
the following relation :--A certain Franciscan
novice, throwing off his habit, ran away from

A N T
ANT
35
the monastery in which the saint lived, and
carried away with him a psalm book, written
by St. Anthony’s own hand. The saint, per-
ceiving his book to be stolen, begged of God
to restore it to him. In the meantime the
thief‘, preparing to swim across a river, met
the devil, who commanded him to return to
the monastery, and restore the‘ book to St.
Anthony, threatening to kill him if he re-
fused; which so terrified the young novice,
that he immediately complied, and, returning
back, gave St. Anthony his book again, and
continued in a religious course ever after.
Hence St. Anthony is prayed to, in order to
recover stolen goods. It is related of him
likewise, that, having wearied himself with
labour, and being laid down to sleep, the
devil set upon him, and took him so fast by
the throat, that he almost choked him; but
the saint, invoking the Virgin Mary, and
beginning to sing the hymn, O gloriosa Do-
mina, his cell was immediately filled with a
celestial light, which the devil not being able
to endure, immediately departed.
- ANTHROPOMORPHISMS, instances in which
God is spoken of as having a human form, or
as possessing members of the human body, as
eyes, ears, &c.
ANTHROPOMORPHITES, a sect of ancient
heretics, who taking every thing spoken of
God in the Scriptures in a literal sense, par-
ticularly that passage in Genesis, in which
it is said, “ God made man after his own
image,” maintained that God had a human
shape.
ANTHROPOPATHY, a figure, expression, or
discourse, whereby some passion is attributed
to God which properly belongs only to man.
Anthropopathy is frequently used promiscu-
ously with anthropology; yet in strictness
they ought to be distinguished as the genus
from the species. Anthropology may be un-
derstood of any thing human attributed to
God, as eyes, hands, &c., but anthropopathy
only of human affections and passions, as‘ joy,
grief. We have frequent instances of the use
of these figures in holy Scripture.
ANTIBAPTISTS, a name which might be
supposed to include the Society of Friends,
but is restricted to those who maintain, that
baptism is merely a proselyting ordinance,
and is not to be administered to the descend-
ants, whether infant or adult, of any who have
been baptized. Several societies of this sect
enlist in Ireland. Encyclo. of Religious Know-
e ge.
An'rrnnnonnns, a numerous and respect-
able body of dissenters from the church of
Scotland, who difi'ered from the established
church chiefly in matters of church govern-
ment; and who difi‘ered also from the Bur-
gher Seceders, with whom they were originally
united, chiefly, if not solely, respecting the
lawfulness of taking the burgess oath. For
an account of their origin and principles, see
SECEDEBS, with whom they are again united
as one body.
ANTICHRIST, (c’wri and Xpw'rog) a name
which occurs only in the epistles of John, and
may signify either an opponent or adversary
of Christ; one who gives himself out to be
Christ, a false Messiah; or one who pretends
to the authority, and acts as the Vicar of
Christ. According to these three interpreta-
tions of the word, may be ranged the different
views which have been entertained on the
subject of the character thus denominated.
1. Those who regard it as denoting a pre-
tender to the Messiahship, are necessarily
confined by their interpretation to some noted
Jew, who shall, in some remarkable manner,
give himself out to be the Messiah. Several
‘such pretenders have appeared at different
times, such as Barchocheba, &c.
2. The great body of Protestant interpreters
understand the word in the last sense, and
apply it to the Pope of Rome, or the eccle-
siastical system of the papacy, carried on and
sustained under the different popes that have
filled the Roman See. With the early fathers,
and many of the Romanists themselves, they
agree to identify the Antichrist with the man
of sin, the little horn of Daniel’s fourth beast,
and the second beast, or false prophet of the
Apocalypse. They thus consider the term
to signify that corrupt and unscriptural system
of church polity, by which the authority of
Christ has been compromised by men profess-
edly his servants, and acting according to his
will, having set aside his mandates, to give place
to the doctrines and commandments of men ;
but they have improperly confined themselves
in the view they have taken of it to the church
of Rome ; it being notorious that the corrup-
tions and antichristian institutions of the
Eastern church fall little short of those which
have obtained in the \Vestern, while in the
different establishments which exist under the
name of Protestantism, the same system of
substitution in regard to human authority,
and religious rites and ordinances, prevails
according to the utmost extent that the cir-
cumstances of each particular community will
admit.
3. Several writers maintain that Antichrist
is to be taken in the sense which indicates
direct and positive hostility ,- and accordingly
some have found him in Nero, some in Cali-
gula, some in Simon Magus, while others look
'for him in a wicked infidel power, which is
yet to appear and attempt the complete anni-
hilation of the cause and name of Christ.
There have not been wanting those who regard
this great enemy to be Satan himself incarnate!
The grand characteristic of him who is pre-
eminently the Antichrist, is his denying the
Father and the Son; a mark, it is maintained,
which cannot apply to the popes, for they
confess both, and must therefore indicate an
individual, or a combination of individuals,
ANT
ANT
36
who shall reject the doctrine of the‘ Trinity,
and with it all the peculiar and distinguishing
tenets of Christianity. This view is taken by
Faber, who identifies him with the infidel king,
Daniel xi., by whom he understands a whole
kingdom or community of infidels; and the
“ Spirit of Antichrist,” mentioned by the apos-
tle, he holds to be the principles of unbelief
by which that kingdom or community is
animated.
ANTIDORON, a name given by the Greeks
to the consecrated bread; out of which the
middle part, marked with the cross, wherein
the consecration resides, being taken away by
the priest, the remainder is distributed after
mass to the poor.
ANTINOMIANS, those who maintain that the
law is of no use or obligation under the gospel
dispensation, or who hold doctrines that
clearly supersede the necessity of good works.
The Antinomians took their origin from John
Agricola, about the year 1538, who taught
that the law is no way necessary under the
gospel; that good works do not promote our
salvation, nor ill ones hinder it; that repent-
ance is not to be preached from the decalogue,
but only from the gospel. This sect sprang
up in England during the protectorate of
Cromwell, and extended their system of liber-
tinism much farther than Agricola did. Some
of them, it is said, maintained, that if they
should commit any kind of sin, it would do
them no hurt, nor in the least affect their
eternal state ; and that it is one of the distin-
guishing characters of the elect, that they
cannot do any thing displeasing to God. It
is necessary, however, to observe here, and
candour obliges us to confess, that there have
been others who have been styled Antino-
mians, who cannot, strictly speaking, be ranked
with these men : nevertheless, the unguarded
expressions they have advanced, the bold posi-
tions they have laid down, and the double
construction which might so easily be put
upon many of their sentences, have led some
to charge them with Antinomian principles.
For instance, when they have asserted justifi-
cation to be eternal, without distinguishing
between the secret determination of God in
eternity, and the execution of it in time;
\ when they have spoken lightly of good works,
or asserted that believers have nothing to do
with the law of God, without fully explaining
what they meant; when they assert that God
is not angry with his people for their sins,v
nor in any sense punishes them for them, with-
out distinguishing between'fatherly correc-
tions and vindictive punishment: these things,
whatever he the private sentiments of those
who advance them, have a tendency to injure
the minds of many. It has been alleged, that
the principal thing they have had in view,
was to counteract those legal doctrines which
have so much abounded among the self-right-
60118; but granting this to be true, there is
no occasion to run from one extreme to an-
other. Had many of those writers proceeded
with more caution, been less dogmatical, more
explicit in the explanation of their sentiments,
and possessed more candour towards those
who differed from them, they would have been
more serviceable to the cause of truth and reli-
gion. Some of the chief of those who have
been charged as favouring the above senti-
ments, areCrz'sp, Richardson, Saltmarsh, Hus-
sey, Eaton, Town, 80c. These have been
answered by Gataher, Sedgwz'ch, lVitsius, Bull,
Williams, Ridgeley, Beart, De Fleury, <%)c. See
also Bellamy/s Letters and Dialogues etween
Theron, Paulinus, and As asz'o ,- with his
Essay on the Nature and G cry of the Gospel;
Edwards’ C'flspiam'sm Unmasked.
ANTINOMIANISM is strictl enmity to the
divine law, hatred of its purity, opposition to
its justice, or suspicion of its benevolence.
Though, as put in this naked form, it is pro-
bable there is scarcely, under the profession
of religion, a single Antinomian in the world;
and the sanity of that individual would be
justly questionable who should maintain prin-
ciples so incompatible with the common sense
of mankind, and so obviously subversive of
the moral order of the universe ; it is never-
theless an undoubted fact, that many persons
have adopted views of the religion of Christ
which virtually imply a renunciation of regard
to the divine law, and tend to the entire sub-
version of its authority. If in their own
practice there is not aviolation of its precepts,
they are careful it should be understood that
their conduct is not indebted to the law for
regulation or purity, and that they deny its
claims to any authority over them. They
assert the freedom of believers in Christ from
the canon as well as from the curse of the
law; and that if they do what is required, it
is not because it is there enjoined, or because
there is any danger of its penalty, but because
grace secures provision for holiness, and makes
the believer complete in Christ.
These views are alleged to be essential to
the glory of the gospel, to exalt the grace of
Christ, and to be indispensably necessary to
Christian peace and comfort. Other sen-
timents are proscribed as legal, or anti-evan-
gelical, expressive of low views of the Saviour,
indicative of a state of bondage and servility
of spirit, and inconsistent with Christian con -
fidence and libert . The parties are thus at
issue on first principles. They occupy no
common ground. The Scriptures are in vain
appealed to, a large portion of them being
virtually abrogated, and a system of interpre-
tation adopted, which sets at defiance all rules,
and is destructive of all enlightened deduc-
tion-s.
High Calvinism, or Antinomianism, abso-
lutely withers and destroys the consciousness
of human responsibility. It confounds moral
with natural impotency, forgetting that the
ANT
ANT
37
former is a crime, the latter only a misfor-
tune; and thus treats the man dead in tres-
passes and sins, as if he were already in his
grave. It prophesies smooth things to the
sinner going on in his transgressions, and
soothes to slumber and the repose of death
the souls of such as are at ease in Zion. It
assumes that, because men can neither be-
lieve, repent, nor pray acceptably, unless
aided by the grace of God, it is useless to call
upon them to do so. It maintains that the
gospel is only intended for elect sinners, and
therefore it ought to be preached to none but
such. In defiance, therefore, of the command
of God, it refuses to preach the glad tidings
of mercy to every sinner. In opposition to
Scripture, and to every rational consideration,
it contends that it. is not man’s duty to believe
the truth of God—justifying the obvious in-
ference, that it is not a sin to reject it. In
short, its whole tendency is to produce an im-
pression on the sinner’s mind, that if he is
not saved, it is not his fault, but God’s; that
if he is condemned, it is more for the glory
of the Divine Sovereignty, than as the punish-
ment of his guilt.
So far from regarding the moral cure of
human nature as the great object and design
of the gospel, Antinomianism does not take
it in at all, but as it exists in Christ, and be-
comes ours by a'figure of speech. It regards
the grace and the pardon as every thing—the
spiritual design or effect as nothing. Hence
its opposition to progressive, and its zeal for
imputed sanctification: the former is intelligi-
ble and tangible, but the latter a mere figment
of the imagination. Hence its delight in ex-
patiating on the eternity of the divine de-
crees, which it does not understand, but
which serve to amuse and to deceive; and its
dislike to all the sober realities of God’s pre-
sent dealin s and commands. It exults in the
contemplation of a Christ who is a kind of
concretion of all the moral attributes of his
people; to the overlooking of that Christ
who is the Head of all that in heaven and on
earth hear his likeness, and while unconscious
of possessing it. It boasts in the doctrine of
the perseverance of the saints, while it be-
lieves in no saint but one, that is Jesus, and
neglects to persevere.—-—Orme’s Lzfe of Bax-
ter, vol. ii. p. 311.
An'rrrzsnonar'rrsrs (from o’wn “ against,”
and mug 'n'atdog, “ child,” and BCZ‘R’TLZU),
“ baptize,”) is a distinguishing denomination
given to those who object to the baptism of
infants. See B-APTISM.
Antipzedobaptists hold that believing adults
only are proper subjects, because Christ’s
commission to baptize appears to them to
restrict this ordinance to such only as are
taught, or made disciples; and that, conse-
quently, infants, who cannot be thus taught,
l
l

are to be excluded. It does not appear, say |
they, that the apostles, in executing Christ’s ; the week as the Sabbath, apprehending the
commission, ever baptized any but those who
were first instructed in the Christian faith,
and professed their belief of it. They con-
tend that infants can receive no benefit
from it, and are not capable of faith and re-
pentance, which are to be considered as pre—
requisites.
As to the mode.
They observe, that the meaning of the
word Baarn’Zw signifies immersion or dipping
only; that John baptized in Jordan; that he
chose a place where there was much water;
that Jesus came up out of the water; that
Philip and the eunuch went down both into
the water ; that the terms washing, purifying,
burying in baptism, so often mentioned in
Scripture, allude to this mode; that immer-
sion only was the practice of the apostles and
the first Christians; and that it was only laid
aside from the love of novelty, and the cold-
ness of our climate. These positions, they
think, are so clear from Scripture, and the
history of the church, that they stand in need
of but little argument to support them. Fur-
ther, they also insist that all positive institu-
tions depend entirely upon the will and de-
claration of the institutor, and that, therefore,
reasoning by analogy from previous abro-
gated rites, is to be rejected, and the express
command of Christ respecting baptism ought
to be our rule.
Although there were several among the
Albigenses, Waldenses, and the followers of
Wicklifl‘e, it does not appear that they were
formed into any stability until the time of
Menno, about the year 1536. See ANABAP-
wars and MENNONITES. About 1644, they
began to make a considerable figure in Eng-
land, and spread themselves into several se-
parate congregations. They separated from
the Independents about the year 1638, and
set up for themselves under the pastoral care
of Mr. Jesse; and, having renounced their
former baptism, they sent over one of their
number to be immersed by one of the Dutch
Anabaptists of Amsterdam, that he might be
qualified to baptize his friends in England
after the same manner.
They subsist under two denominations, viz.
the Particular or Calvinistz'c, and the General
or Arminian. Their modes of church govern-
ment and worship are the same as the Inde-
pendents; in the exercise of which they are
protected, in common with other dissenters,
by the act of toleration. Some of both deno-
minations allow of mixed communion; by
which it is understood that those who have
not been baptized by immersion, on the pro-
fession of their faith, may sit down at the
Lord’s table with those who have been thus
baptized. ()thers, however, disallow it, sup-
posing that such have not been actually bap-
, tized at all. See FREE COMMUNION.
Some of them observe the seventh day of
ANT
ANT
38
law that enjoined it not to have been repealed
by Christ.
Some of the General Baptists have gone
into Socinianism or Arianism; on account of
which, several of their ministers and churches,
who disapprove of those principles, have,
within the last forty years, formed themselves
into a distinct connexion, called the New
Association. The churches in this union
I keep up a friendly acquaintance, in some out-
ward things, with those from whom they
have separated; but in things more essential,
disclaim any connexion with them, particu-
larly as to changing ministers, and the ad-
mission of members. The General Baptists
have, in some of their churches, three distinct
orders separately ordained, viz. z—messen-
gers, elders, and deacons. Their general as-
sembly is held annually in VVorship-street,
London, on the Tuesday in the Whitsun
week.
They have two exhibitions for students
to be educated at one of the universities of
Scotland, given them by Dr. Ward, of Gres-
ham College. There is likewise an academy
at Bristol for students, generally known by
the name of the Bristol Education Society.
The Baptists in America, and in the East and
West Indies, are chiefly Calvinists, and hold
occasional fellowship with the Particular Bap-
tist churches in England. Those in Scotland,
having imbibed a considerable part of the
principles of Messrs. Glass and Sandeman,
have no communion with the other. They
have liberally contributed, however, towards
the translation of the Scriptures into the Ben-
galee language, which some of the Baptist
brethren have executed in the East. See
Rippon’s Baptist Re ister, vol. 1. p. 172-175 ;
Adam’s View of Religions, article Baptists;
Evans’ Sketch of Religious Denominations;
Gill, Gale, Robinson, Stennet, and Booth, on
Baptism.
.ANTIPHONY, alternate singing, as when a
congregation, divided into two parts, repeats
or sings a psalm or anthem, verse for verse,
one after the other. It is opposed to sym-
phony, which is singing jointly, or all toge-
ther. St. Austin carries the original of this
way of singing, in the western church, no
higher than the time of St. Ambrose, when
it was first introduced into the church of '
Milan, which example was soon followed by
the other western churches. What was the
original of it in the eastern church, is not so
certainly agreed upon by writers either an-
cient or modern. It was a method of singing
so taking and delightful, that it was often
used when only two or three were met toge-
ther for private devotion: and Socrates par-
ticularly remarks of the emperor Theodosius ‘
the younger, and his sisters, that they sung
alternate hymns together, every morning in
the royal palace. See PSALMODY.
ANTIroPEs, those who at difi'erent periods
have produced a schism in the Roman church
by opposing the pope, under the pretence that
they were themselves popes. This is the
catholic explanation, because it is evident the
Roman church cannot admit that there ever
existed two popes; but the fact is, that in
many cases both competitors, for the papal
chair (sometimes there have been even three)
were equally antipopes,—that is to say, their
claims were equally good. Each was fre-
quently supported by whole nations, and the
schism was nothing but the struggle of poli-
tical interests, which induced particular go-
vernments to support a pope against the pope
supported by other governments. These
quarrels always greatly lessened the belief in
the popeis sanctity and infallibility, shook
the whole fabric of the church, and contri-
buted much to pave the way for the great
reformation. Amadeus VIIL, duke of Savoy,
was the last Antipope. He was elected by
the council of Basle in 1439, in opposition to
Eugene IV. and Nicholas V., but he renounc-
ed his title in favour of the latter in 1449.
ANTIQUITIES, a term implying all testi-
monies or authentic accounts that have come
down to us of ancient nations. As the study
of antiquity may be useful both to the inquir- -
ing Christian as well as to those who are em—
ployed in or are candidates for the gospel
ministry, we shall here subjoin a list of those
which are esteemed the most valuable.——Fa-
bricii Biblio rap/iia Antiquaria; Spencer cle
Legibus Hog. Ritualibus; Godwyn’s Moses
and Aaron; Bingham’s Antiquities of the
Christian Church; Jennings’ Jewish Antiqui-
ties ,- Potter’s and Harwood's Greek, and Ken-
net’s and Adams’ Roman Antiquities; Preface
to the Prussian Testament, published by L’En-
fant and Beausobre; Prideaux . and Shiloh-
ford’s Connexions,- Jones’ Asiatic Researches,-
Maurice’s Indian Antiquities; S. Burder’s
Oriental Customs and Oriental Literature;
Horne’s Introduction, vol. iii. ; and John's Bi-
blical Antiquities.
ANTISABBATARIANS, a modern religious
sect, who deny the necessity of observing the
Sabbath day. Their chief arguments are,—
1. That the Jewish Sabbath was only of cere-
monial, not of moral obligation; and come—'-
quently, is abolished by the coming of Christ.
2. That'no other Sabbath was appointed to be
observed by Christ or his apostles. 3. That
there is not a word of Sabbath breaking in all
the New Testament. 4. That no command
was given to Adam or Noah to keep any
Sabbath. And, 5. That, therefore, although
Christians are commanded “not to forsake
the assembling of themselves together,” they
ought not to hold one day more holy than
another. See article SABBATH.
An'rrsnrnnna'rnmusrs. See ‘SUPERMA-
TURALISTS.
ANTITACTE, a branch of Gnostics, who
held that God was good and just, but that
APE
APO
39
a creature had created evil; and, conse-
quently, that it is our duty to oppose this
author of evil, in order to avenge God of his
adversary.
ANTITHESIS. See HEBREW POETRY.
ANTITRINITARIANS, those who deny the
Trinity, and teach that there are not three
persons in the Godhead.--See TRINITY.
ANTITYPE, a Greek word, properly signi-
fying a type or figure corresponding to some
other type.
The word antitype occurs twice in the
New Testament, viz. in the Epistle to the
Hebrews, chap. ix. 24; and in the l Epis-
tle of Peter, chap. iii. 21, where its genuine
import has been much controverted. The
former says, that Christ is not entered into
the holy places made with hands, which are
Glil'rt‘r'v'fl’tl, the figures or antitypes of the true
—-now to appear in the presence of God.
Now, rmrog signifies the pattern by which
another thing is made; and as Moses was
obliged to make the tabernacle, and all things
in it, according to the pattern shown him in
the Mount, the tabernacle so formed was the
antitype of what was shown to Moses; any-
thing, therefore, formed according to a model
or pattern, is an antitype. In the latter pas-
sage, the apostle, speaking of Noah’s flood,
and the deliverance only of eight persons in
the ark from it, says, 9 :cat miag av'ru'vvrov
vvv owZu 51171107102 Baptism being an anti-
type to that, now saves us; not the putting away
of the filth qf the flesh, but the answer of a good
conscience towards God, 85c. The meaning is,
that righteousness, or the answer of a good
conscience towards God, now saves us, by
means of the resurrection of Christ, as for-
merly righteousness saved these eight persons
by means of the ark during the flood. The
word antitype, therefore, here signifies a
general similitude of circumstances; and the
particle to, whereunto, refers not to the imme-
diate antecedent cdarog, water, but to all that
precedes.
ANTOSIANDRIANS, a sect of rigid Luther-
ans, who opposed the doctrine of ()siander
relating to justification. These are otherwise
denominated Osiandromastiges. The Anto-
siandrians deny that man is made just, with
that justice wherewith God himself is just;
that is, they assert that he is not made essen-
tially, but only imputatively just; or that he
is not really made just, but only pronounced
so.
ANT‘WERP POLYGLOTT. See BIBLE, Po-
LYGLOT'I‘, N o. 3.
‘AHAEJ AEPOMENON, hapax legomenon,
any word or phrase that occurs but once in
the Bible or any other book.
APELLEANS, so called from Apelles, in the
second century. They afiirmed that Christ,
when he came down from heaven, received a
body not from the substance of his mother,
but from the four elements, which at his
death he rendered back to the world, and so
ascended into heaven without a body.
APHTHARTODOCITES, a denomination in
the sixth century, so called from the Greek
agbfiaprog. incorruptible, and doicew, to judge,
because they held that the body of Jesus
Christ was incorruptible, and not subject to
death. They were a branch of the Euty-
chians.
APOCARITE, a denomination, in the third
century, which sprang from the Manicheans.
They held that the soul of man was of the
substance of God.
Arocmsunu, a description of papal agents
who rose into notice during the pontificate of
Gregory, and who acted as envoys or legates
at the court and see of Constantinople.
APOCRYPHA signifies concealed, obscure,
without authority. In reference to the Bible,
it is employed to designate such books as
‘claim a place in the sacred volume, but which
are not canonical; it is said to have been first
used by Melito, Bishop of Sardis.
An inquiry into this subject cannot be un-
interesting to the friends of the Bible, for it
behoves them to ascertain, on the best evi-
dence, what books belong to the sacred vo-
lume, and also on what grounds other books
are rejected from the canon. This subject
assumes a higher importance from the fact,
that Christians are much divided on this
point, for some receive, as of canonical autho-
rity, books which others reject as spurious,
or consider merely as human compositions.
On such a point every Christian should form
his opinion upon the best information which
he can obtain.
In controversy with the Romanists, this
subject meets us at the very threshold. It is
vain to dispute about particular doctrines of
Scripture, until it is determined what books
are to be received as Scripture.
It has also been recently found that this
was a point of great importance in the cir-
culation of the Bible. This book ought not
to be distributed, maimed of some of its parts;
nor should we circulate mere human compo-
sitions for the Word of God. The committee
of the British and Foreign Bible Society were
recently called upon to decide this question
in a case of great practical importance. The
whole subject was referred to a select and
learned sub-committee, who, after mature de-
liberation, brought in a report, which was
adopted, and led to the following wise resolu-
tion in the general committee: viz. “ That
the funds of the society he applied to the
printing and circulation of the canonical
books of Scripture, to the exclusion of those
books, and parts of books, which are termed
apocryphal; and that all copies printed, either
entirely or in part, at the expense of the so- ‘
ciety, and whether such copies consist of the
whole or of any one or more of such books,
be invariably issued bound, no other book
APO
APO‘
40
whatever being bound with them; and fur-
ther, that all money grants to societies or in-
dividuals be made only in conformity to the
principle of this regulation.
“ In the sacred volume, as it is to be here-
after distributed by the society, there is to be
nothing but divine truth, nothing but what is
acknowledged by all Christians to be such.
Of course, all may unite in the work of dis-
tribution, even should they regard the volume
as containing but part of the inspired writ-
ings; just as they might, in the circulation
of the Pentateuch, or the Book of Psalms,
or the Prophets, or the New Testament.
Such harmonious operation would not, how-
ever be possible, if the books of the Apocry-
pha were mingled or joined with the rest;
and, besides, those who have the strongest
objection to the Apocrypha are, ordinarily,
those who are most forward in active and
liberal efforts to send the Word of God to all
people.”
This judicious decision of the committee
of the British and Foreign Bible Society de-
pends for its correctness on the supposition
that the books of the Apocrypha are not
canonical; for whatever may be said about
circulating a part of the Bible, it was un-
doubtedly the original object of this society
to print and circulate the whole of the sacred
volume. Hence appears the practical impor-
tance of the inquiry which we have here in-
stituted, to ascertain whether these books
have any claim whatever to a place in the
sacred canon.
At a very early period of the Christian
church, great pains were taken to distinguish
between such books as were inspired and
canonical, and such as were written by unin-
spired men. It has never been doubted
among Christians that the canonical books
only were of divine authority, and furnished
an infallible rule of faith and practice; but it
has not been agreed what books ought to be
considered canonical and what apocryphal.
In regard to those which have already been
enumerated as belonging to the Old Testa—
ment, there is a pretty general consent of
Jews and Christians, of Romanists and Pro-
testants; but in regard to some other books
there is a wide difference of opinion.
The Council of Trent, in their fourth ses-
sion, gave a catalogue of the books of the Old
Testament, among which are included, T0-
bias, Judith, Wisdom, Ecclesiastz'eus, Baruch,
and Two boo/cs of the Maccabees. Besides,
they included, under the name of Esther and
Daniel, certain~ additional chapters which are
not found in the Hebrew copies. The book
of Esther is made to consist of sixteen chap-
ters: and prefixed to the book of Daniel is
the History of Susannah; the Song of the
Three Children is inserted in the th1rd chap-
ter; and the History of Bel and the Dra-
gun is added at the end of this hook. Other
books, which are found in the Greek or Latin
Bibles, they rejected, as apocryphal,—as the
third and fourth books of Esdras, the third
book of Maccabees, the Hundred and Fifty-
first Psalm, the Appendix to Job, and the
Preface to the Lamentations.
Both these classes of books all denomina-
tions of Protestants consider apocryphal ; but
as the English church, in her Liturgy, directs
that certain lessons shall be read from the
former for the instruction of the people, but
not for confirmation of doctrine, they are re-
tained in the larger copies of the English Bi-
ble, but are not mingled with the canonical
books, as in the Vulgate, but placed at the
end of the Old Testament, under the title of
Apocrypha. It is certainly to be regretted
that these books are permitted to be included
in the same volume which contains the lively
oracles,—the Word of God,--the Holy Scrip-
tures; all of which are given b inspiration:
but more to be regretted still, that they
should be read in the church, promiscuously
with the lessons taken from the canonical
books; especially as no notice is given to the
people that what is read from these books is
apocryphal; and as in the Prayer-book of the
Episcopal church the tables which refer to
the lessons to be read have this title prefixed,
--“ Tables of lessons of Holy Scripture to
be read at Morning and Evening Prayer
throughout the year.” Now, however good
and instructive these apocryphal lessons may
be, it never can be justified that they should
thus be put on a level with the Word of God.
But it is our object, at present, to show
that none of these books, eanonz'zed by the
Council of Trent, and inserted in our larger
English Bibles, are canonical.
1. The first argument by which it may be
proved that these books do not belong to the
canon of the Old Testament, is, that they are
not found in the Hebrew Bible. They are not
written in the Hebrew language, but in the
Greek, which was not known to the Jews
until long after inspiration had ceased, and
the canon of the Old Testament was closed.
It is rendered probable, indeed, that some of
them were written originally in the Chaldaic;
Jerome testifies this to be the fact in regard
to 1st Maccabees, and Ecelesz'asticus; and he
says, that he translated the book of Tobz't out
of Chaldee into Latin; but this book is now
found in the Greek, and there is good reason
for believing that it was written orginally in
this language. It is certain, however, that
none of these books were composed in the
pure Hebrew of the Old Testament.
Hottinger, indeed, informs us, that he had
seen the whole of the Apocrypha in pure
~Hebrew, among the J cws; but he entertains
no doubt that it was translated into that lan-
guage in modern times,—-just as the whole
New Testament has recently been translated
into pure Hebrew.
APO
APO
'41
It is the common opinion of the Jews and
of the Christian Fathers, that Malachi was the
last of the Old Testament prophets. Books
written by certain authors afterwards, have
no claim to be reckoned canonical; and there
is good reason for believing that those books
were written long after the time of Ezra
and Malachi; and some of them, perhaps,
later than the commencement of the Chris-
tian era.
2. These books, though probably written
by Jews, have never been received into the
canon by ‘that people. In this, the ancient and
modern Jews are of the same mind. Josephus
declares, “ That no more than twenty-two
books were received as inspired by his na-
tion.” Philo, who refers often to the Old
Testament in his writings, never makes the
least mention of them; nor are they re-
cognised in the Talmud as canonical. Not
only so, but the Jewish Rabbies expressly
reject them.
The Jews, in the time of Jerome, enter-
tained no'other opinion of these books than
those who came after them; for, in his Pre-
face to Daniel, he informs us, “ That he
had' heard one of the Jewish doctors derid-
ing the history of Susanna, who said, ‘it
was invented by some Greek, he knew
not whom.’ ”
The same is the opinion of the Jews re-
specting the other books which we call apo-
cryphal, as is manifest from all the copies of
the Hebrew Bible extant; for, undoubtedly,
if they believed that any of these books were
canonical, they would give them a place in
their sacred volume. But will any ask, what
is the opinion of the Jews to us? I answer,
much on this point. The oracles of God
were committed to them; and they preserved
them with a religious care until the advent of
the Messiah. Christ never censures them
for adding to the sacred scriptures, nor de-
tracting from them.‘ Since their nation has
been in dispersion, copies of the Old Testa-
ment, in Hebrew, have been scattered all over
the world, so that it was impossible to pro-
duce a universal alteration in the canon. But
it is needless to argue this point, for it is
agreed by all that these books never were re-
ceived by the Jewish nation.
3. The third argument against the cane-
nical authorit of these books, is derived
from the tota silence respecting them in the
New Testament. They are never quoted by
Christ and his apostles. This fact, however,
is disputed by the Romanists, and they even
attempt to establish their right to a place in
the canon, from the citations which they pre-
tend have been made-from these books by
the apostles. They refer to Rom. xi. and
I-Ieb. xi., where they allege that Paul has
"cited passages from the Book of Wisdom:
“ For who hath known the mind of the Lord,
or who hath been his counsellor ?”—-“ For
before his translation he had this testimony,
that he pleased God.” But both these pas-
sages are taken directly from the canonical
books of the Old Testament. The first is
nearly in the words of Isaiah; and the last
from the book of Genesis : their other exam-
ples are as wide of the mark as these, and
need not be set down.
4. The fourth argument is, that these books
were not received as canonical by the Christian
Fathers, but were expressly declared to be apo-
cryphal.
This is proved from passages in the writ-
ings of Justin Martyr, Origen, Athanasius,
Hilary, Gregory Nazianzen, Jerome, Epipha-
nius, Cyril of Jerusalem, Eusebius, Philas-
trius Chrysostom, Rufin, Gregory the First,
Augustine, Innocent the First, Anastasius,
Leontius, Gregory, who lived at the beginning
of the seventh century, Isidore, John Damas-
cene, &c.
5. A fifth argument to disprove the canoni-
cal authority of these books, is derived from
internal evidence. Books which contain mani-
fest falsehoods, or which abound in silly and
ridiculous stories, or contradict the plain and
uniform doctrine of acknowledged scripture,
cannot be canonical. Now, the books in dis-
pute are all, or most of them, condemned by
this rule.
6. Finally, it is manifest that these books
were not inspired, and therefore not canoni-
cal, because they were not written by pro-
phets, but by men who speak of their la-
bours in a way wholly incompatible with in-
spiration.
The Popish writers, to evade the force of
the arguments of their adversaries, pretend
that there was a. twofold canon: that some
of the books of scripture are protocanonical,
and others deuterocanonz'cal. If by this dis-
tinction they only meant that the word canon
was often used by the fathers with great lati-
tude, so as to include all books that were ever
read in the churches, or that were contained
in the volume of the Greek Bible, the distinc-
tion is correct, and signifies the same, as is
often expressed, by calling some books sacred
and canonical, and others ecclesiastical. But
these writers make it manifest, that they
mean much more than this. They wish to
put their deuterocanonical books on a level
with the old Jewish canon; and this distinc-
tion is intended to teach, that after the first
canon was constituted, other books were,
from time to time, added; but when these
books thus annexed to the canon have been
pronounced upon by the competent authority,
they are to be received as of equal authority
with the former. When this second canon
was constituted, is a matter concerning which
they are not agreed; some retend that in
the time of Shammai and Hi lel, two famous
rabbies, who lived before the advent of the
Saviour, these books were added to the canon.
APO
APO
42
But why then are they not included in the
Hebrew canon? Why does Josephus never
mention them? Why are they never quoted
or alluded to in the New Testament? And
why did all the earlier fathers omit to cite
them, or expressly reject them? The diffi-
culties of this theory being too prominent,
the most of the advocates of the Apocrypha
suppose that these books, after having re—
mained in doubt before, were received by the
supreme authority of the church, in the
fourth century. They allege that these books
were sanctioned by the council of Carthage,
which met A.D. 397. But the story of the
method pursued by the council of Nice, to
distinguish between canonical and spurious
books, is ‘fabulous and ridiculous. There is
nothing in the canons of that council relative
to these books; and certainly they cited no
authorities from them in confirmation of the
doctrines established by them. And as to
the third council of Carthage, it may be
asked, what authority had this provincial
synod to determine any thing for the whole
church, respecting the canon? But there is
no certainty that this council did determine
any thing on the subject; for in the same
canon there is mention made of Pope Boni-
face, as living at that time, whereas he did
not rise to this dignity until more than
twenty years afterwards, in which time three
other popes occupied the see of Rome; so
that this canon could not have been formed
by the third council of Carthage. And in
some copies it is inserted as the fourteenth of
the seventh council of Carthage. However
this may be, we may be confident that no
council of the fourth century had any autho-
rity to add to the canon of scripture, books
which were not only not received before, but
explicitly rejected as apocryphal, by most of
the fathers. Our opponents say, that these
books were uncertain before, but now re-
ceived confirmation. How could there be any
uncertainty in regard to these books, if the
church was as infallible in the first three ages
as in the fourth? These books were either
canonical before the fourth century, or they
were not; if the former, how came it to pass
they were not recognised by the apostles?
How came they to be overlooked and rejected
by the primitive fathers? But if they were
notv canonical before, they must have been
made canonical by the decree of some coun-
cil. That is, the church can make that an
inspired book which was never given by in-
spiration. This absurdity deserves mention,
because, however unreasonable it may be, it ;
‘5 the same volume as the canonical scriptures,
hurch, '
, rules for the direction of life and the regula-
forms the true, and almost the only (ground,
on which the doctrine of the Romish
in regard to these apocr phal books, rests.
This is, indeed, a part 0 the Pope’s supre-
macy. Some of their best writers, however,
deny this doctrine; and whatever others may
pretend, it is most certain that the fathers,
with one consent, believed that the canon of
sacred scripture was complete in their time:
they never dreamt of books, not then canoni-
cal, ‘becoming such by any authority upon
earth. Indeed, the idea of adding to the
canon what did not from the beginning be-
long to it, never seems to have entered the
mind of any person in former times. If this
doctrine were correct, we might still have
additions made to the canon, and that too
of books which have existed for hundreds
of years.
This question may be brought to a speedy
issue with all unprejudiced judges. These
books were either written by divine inspiration
for the guidance of the church in matters of
faith and practice, or they were not; if the
former, they always had a right to‘ a place in
the canon; if the latter, no act of a pope or
council could render that divine which was
not so before. It would be to change the
nature of a fact, than which nothing is more
impossible.
It is alleged, with much confidence, that
the Greek Bibles used by the fathers contained
these books; and therefore, whenever they
give their testimony to the sacred scriptures,
these are included. This argument proves
too much, for the third book of Esdras, and
the Prayer of Manasses, were contained in
these volumes, but these are rejected by the
Romanists. The truth however is, that these
books were not originally connected with the
Septuagint; they were probably introduced
into some of the latter Greek versions, which
were made by heretics. These versions, par-
ticularly that of Theodotion, came to be used
promiscuously with that of the Septuagint;
and to this day the common copies contain
the version of the book of Daniel, by Theodo-
tion, instead of that by the Seventy.
By some such means these apocryphal
books crept into the Greek Bible; but the
early fathers were careful to distinguish be-
tween them and the canonical scriptures, as
we have already seen.
That they were read in the churches is also
true; but not as scripture; not for the con-
firmation of doctrine; but for the edification
of the common people. ~
Some of the fathers, it is true, cited them as
authority, but very seldom; and the reason
which rendered it diflicult for them to dis-
tinguish accurately between ecclesiastial and
canonical books, has already been given.
These pious men were generally unacquainted
with Hebrew literature, and finding all these
books in Greek, and frequently bound up in
and observing that they contained excellent
tion of morals, they sometimes referred to
them, and cited passages from them, and per-
mitted them to be read in the church for the
instruction and edification of the people.
APO
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43
But the more learned of the fathers, who
examined into the authority of the sacred
books with unceasing diligence, clearly marked
the distinction between such books as were
canonical, and such as were merely human
compositions. And some of them even dis-
approved of the reading of these apocryphal
books by the people; and some councils
warned the churches against them. It was
with this single view that so many catalogues
of the canonical books were prepared and
published.
Notwithstanding that we have taken so
much pains to show that the books called
Apocrypha are not canonical, we wish to
avoid the opposite extreme of regarding them
as useless or injurious. Some of these books
are important for the historical information
they contain; and especially as the facts re-
corded in them are, in some instances, the
fulfilment of remarkable prophecies.
Others of them are replete with sacred,
moral, and prudential maxims, very useful to
aid in the regulation of life and manners; but
even with these, are interspersed sentiments,
which are not perfectly accordant with the
Word of God. In short, these books are of
very different value, but in the best of them
there is so much error and imperfection, as to
convince us that they are human productions,
and should be used as such; not as an infal-
lible rule, but as useful helps in the attainment
of knowledge, and in the practice of virtue.
Therefore, when we would exclude them from
a place in the Bible, we would not proscribe
them as unfit to read, but we would have them
published in a separate volume, and studied
much more carefully than they commonly
have been.
And while we would dissent from the prac-
tice of reading lessons from these books, as
scriptural lessons are read in the church, we
would cordially recommend the frequent peru-
sal, in private, of the first of Maccabees, the
Wisdom of Solomon, and above all, Eccle-
siasticus.
It is a dishonour to God, and a disparage-
ment of his Word, to place other books, in
any respect, on a level with the Divine Ora-
cles; but it is a privilege to be permitted to
have access to the writings of men eminent
for their wisdom and piety. And it is also a
matter of curious instruction to learn what
were the opinions of men in ages long past,
and in countries far remote—Alexander on
the Canon, and Henderson on Inspiration, Lect.
ix. p. 489.
Besides the Apocryphal books attached to
the Old Testament, there is also a considerable
number of spurious works, pretending to be-
long to the Nov. Test. They have been
collected by Fabricius, in his Codex Apocry-
phus New Testament. Of these, forty are
apocryphal gospels, a considerable number of
acts and epistl'cs, including the supposititious
p
l
correspondence between Paul and Seneca;
and twelve spurious Revelations.
APOLLINARIANS, heretics, who maintained
that the Logos holds in Christ the place of
the rational soul, and consequently, that in
him God was united with the human body
and the sensitive soul. Apollinaris, the author
of this opinion, was from A.D. 362, to at least
382, bishop of Laodicea, Syria, and a zealous
opposer of the Arians. As a man and a
scholar he was highly esteemed, and was
among the most popular authors of his time.
When the Emperor Julian forbade Christians
the use of schools and the study of the Greek
classics, Apollinaris, with his father of the
same name, a teacher of languages, and a
presbyter, composed imitations of them, for
the use of the Christians : for instance, heroic
poems and tragedies, from the historical mat-
ter of the Old Testament, and dialogues, in
imitation of Plato’s, from portions of the New.
None of these works are now extant.
The doctrine of Apollinaris was first broach-
ed in the year 371, and has since been con-
demned as heretical by various councils since
A.D. 375; among others, by the (Ecumenical
Council of Constantinople in 381. Apollina-
ris, however, formed a congregation of his
adherents at Antioch, and made Vitalis their
bishop. The Apollinarians or Vitalz'ans, as
their followers are called, soon spread their
sentiments. in Syria and the neighbouring
countries, established several societies, over
which he appointed bishops, and founded one
even in Constantinople itself; but after the
death of their leader, between the years 382
and 392, they separated into two parties, one
adhering to the doctrine of Apollinaris, and
the other, the Polemians, asserting that God
and the body of Christ became one substance,
and consequently paying divine honours to
the human nature; for which reason they
were called Sarcolatrce, and because they ad-
mitted the union of both natures in Christ,
rS'ynousians. They were forbidden, by imperial
edicts in 388 and 397, to hold religious assem-
blies, and in 428, to have pastors, or dwell in
cities. They were never numerous, and
afterwards disappeared, partly among the
orthodox, and partly among the Monothelites.
APOLOGY, a defence of any person or thing
that is accused. The word, which was used
in this sense by the profane Greek writers,
passed over to Christian authors, who having
before been orators or philosophers, borrowed
it as a technical term for the courts of justice.
They gave the name of apologies to the writ-
ings which were designed to defend Chris-
tianity against the attacks and accusations of
its enemies,~\particularly the Pagan philoso-
phers, and to justify its professors before the
emperors. Of this description were those of
Justin Martyr, Athenagoras, Tertullian, Ta-
tian, and others which were lost, written by
Quadratus, Aristides, Melito, Miltiades, and
APO
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44
Theophilus. To these might be added several
works of Origen, Clement of Alexandria, and
Eusebius ; and among the Latins, those of
Lactantius, Arnobius, Minucius Felix, and
Augustine, though they are published under
another title. In modern times, we have
Watson’s Apologies for the Bible, Christianity,
&c.; and the defence of particular sects, as
Barclay’s Apology for the Quakers.
APOSTASY, a forsaking or renouncing our
religion, either by an open declaration in
words, or a virtual declaration of it by our
actions. The primitive Christian church dis-
tinguished several kinds of apostasy ; the first
of those who went entirely from Christianity
to Judaism; the second, of those who com-
plied so far with the Jews, as to communicate
with them in many of their unlawful practices,
without making a formal profession of their
religion; thirdly, of those who mingled Ju-
daism and Christianity together; and fourthly,
of those who voluntarily relapsed into pagan-
ism. Apostasy‘ may be further considered as,
1. Original, in which we have all participated,
Rom. iii. 23 ;—2. National, when a kingdom
relinquishes the profession of Christianity ;—-—
3. Personal, when an individual backslides
from God, Heb. x. 38 ;—4. Final, when men
are given up to judicial hardness of heart, as
Judas. See BACKSLIDING, and Owen on
Apostasy.
APOSTATE, one who openly abandons the
true religion. The term is, in church his-
tory, applied by way of eminence to the Em-
peror Julian, who though he had only been
nominally a Christian, when he came to the
throne, fairly renounced the Christian religion,
and did every thing in his power to re-esta-
blish paganism in the empire. Severe penal
laws were anciently in force against apostates;
and even by the statutes 9 and 10 of William
III. e. 32, any person educated in, or having
made profession of the Christian religion, who
shall deny it to be true, shall be rendered
incapable of holding any ofiice, for the first
offence; and for the second, shall be made
incapable of bringing any action, of being
guardian, executor, legatee, or purchaser of
lands, and shall suffer three years’ imprison-
ment without bail. The punishment of the
first offence, however, is remissible on the de-
linquent’s publicly renouncing his error in open
court, within four months after conviction.
APOS'I‘LE, properly signifies a messenger or
person sent by another upon some business.
It is particularly applied to those whom our
Saviour commissioned to found his religion in
the world. It was essential to their oflice:
1. That they should personally have seen the
Son of God, John xv. 12; Acts i. 21, 22.
1 Cor. ix. 1 ; xv. 8. 2. That they should have‘
been immediately called and chosen by Christ
himself, Luke v1. 13. Acts ix. 6; xxiv. 16
——~18. Gal. i. l. 3. That they should have
been divinely inspired, so as to be secured
,against all mistakes in teaching divine truth,
and fully instructed in the mysteries of the
kingdom of heaven, John xvi. 13. 1 Cor.
xiv. 37._ 1 Thess. ii. 13. 4. That they
should have the power of working miracles
in attestation of their commission, and of the
truth of their doctrine. Their charge was
universal, and not restricted, like that of
bishops or pastors, to any particular church.
They had no successors in ofiice.--2. The
appellation was also given to the ordinary
travelling ministers of the church, Rom. xvi.
7. .Phil. ii. 25; though in our translation the
last is rendered messenger.-—3. Apostle, in
the Greek liturgy, is used for a book contain-
ing the epistles of St. Paul, printed in the
order wherein they are to be read in churches
through the course of the year.—4. It is like-
wise given to those persons who first planted
the Christian faith in any place. Thus Diony-
sius of Corinth is called the Apostle of France,
Xavier the Apostle of the Indies, 8tc.
APos'rLEs’ CREED. A formula, or summary,
of the Christian faith, drawn up, according
to Rufiinus, by the apostles themselves; who,
during their stay at Jerusalem, soon after our
Lord’s ascension, agreed upon this Creed, as a
rule of faith, and as a word of diSiinCtwIt, by
which they were to know friends from foes.
Baronius, and some other authors, conjecture
that they did not compose it till the second
year of the reign of Claudius, a little before
their dispersion. As to their manner of com-
posing it, some fancy that each apostle pro-
nounced his article, which is the reason of its
being called Symbolum Apostolicum, it being
made up of sentences jointly contributed after
the manner of persons paying each their club,
(symbolum,) or share of a reckoning.
But there is no reason to induce us to be-
lieve that the apostles ever composed any such
creed. For first, neither Luke, in the Acts,
nor any ecclesiastical writer before the fifth
century, makes any mention of an assembly
of the apostles in order to the composing of a
creed. Secondly, the fathers of the three first
centuries, in disputing- against the heretics,
endeavour to prove that the doctrine contained
in this creed was the same which the apostles
taught; but they never pretend that the apes‘
tles composed it. Thirdly, if the apostles had
made this creed, it would have been the same
in all churches and in all ages; and all authors
would have cited it after the same manner.
But the case is quite otherwise. In the second
and third ages of the church, there were as
many creeds as authors, and one and the same
author sets down the creed after a different
manner in several places of his works; which
is an evidence that there was not at that time
any creed, which was reputed to be the apes-
tles’. In the fourth century, Rufiinus com-
pares together the three ancient creeds of the
churches of Aquilcia, Rome, and the East,
which differ very considerable in the terms.
APO
APO
45
Besides, these creeds differed not only in the
terms and expressions, but even in the articles,
some of which were omitted in one or other
of them, such as those of the descent into Hell,
them by another and peculiar right, as being
the successors of St. Peter. The council of
Rheims, in 1049, declared that the pope was
the sole apostolical primate of the universal
the communion of saints, and the lzfiz everlasting. church. And hence a great number of apos-
From these reasons it may be gathered, that ; tohcals: apostolzcal see, apostolzcal nuncro,
though this creed may be said to be that of apostolical notary, apostolical brief, apostolical -
the apostles, in regard to the doctrines it con- l chamber, apostolical vicar, apostolzcal blessing. '
tains, yet is it not to be referred to them as l The king of Hungary is styled apostolical
the authors and first composers of it. Who 2 king, apostolical majesty. Pope Sylvester II.
was the true author of it, is not so easy to 5 bestowed this title on Stephen 1., duke of
determine; though its great antiquity may i
be inferred from hence, that the whole form, as it now stands in the English Liturgy, is to -
be found in "the works of Ambrose and Rufii-
nus, the former of whom flourished in the
third, and the latter in the fourth century.
Peter Gnapheus,'bishop of Antioch in the
fifth century, first ordered the constant repe-
tition of it in the church service.
APOSTOLATE, in a general sense, is used for
mission; but it more properly denotes the .
dignity or office of an apostle of Christ. It is
also used in ancient writers for the oflice of a
bishop. But as the title apostolicus has been
appropriated to the pope, so that of apostolate
became at length restrained to the sole dig- l
nity of the popedom.
APOSTOLIC, apostolical ; something that
relates to the apostles, or descends from them.
Thus we say, the apostolical age, apostolical
doctrine, apostolical character, constitutions,
traditions, 8m. . \
APOSTOLIC, an appellation anciently given
to all such churches as were supposed to have
been founded by the apostles; and even to
the bishops of those churches, as being the
reputed successors of the apostles. These were
confined to four, viz. Rome, Alexandria, An-
tioch, and Jerusalem. In after times, the
other churches assumed the same quality, on
account, principally,of the supposed conformity
of their doctrine with that of the churches
which were apostolical by foundation, and
because all bishops held themselves successors
of the apostles, or acted in their dioceses with
the authority of apostles.
The first time the term apostolical is attri-
buted to bishops, as such, is in a letter of
Clovis to the council of Orleans, held in ‘511,
though that king does not there expressly
denominate them apostolical, but apostolica !
sede dignz'ssimz', highly worthy of the apostoli- l
cal see. In 581, Guntram calls the bishops, '
met at the council of Macon, apostolical pon- ‘
tifi‘s, apostolici pontifices.
' In ‘progress of time, the bishop of Ro'me !

' Ignatius, Polycarp, and Hermas.
Hungary, A.D. 1000, because he not only
greatly promoted the faith in Hungary, but
also, in imitation of the apostles, preached
himself‘. Clement XIII renewed the memory
of this occurrence by giving the Empress-
queen, Maria Theresa, the title of apostolical
queen, in 1758. .
APos'roLIc FATHERS, an appellation usually
given to the writers of the first century, who
employed their pens in the cause of Chris-
tianity: their names are Clement, Barnabas,
Of these
writers, Cotelerius, and after him Le Clerc,
have published a collection in two volumes,
accompanied both with their own annotations,
and the remarks of other learned men. ,The
genuine epistles of the apostolic fathers, were
translated by Abp. W'ake, who also prefixed
to his translation a learned preliminary dis-
sertation. Lond. 1693, 8vo.
APOSTOLICAL CONSTITUTIONS, a collection
of regulations attributed to the apostles, and
supposed to have been collected by Clement,
whose name they likewise bear. It is the
general opinion, however, that they are spu-
rious, and that Clement had no hand in them.
They appeared first in the fourth century,
_ but have been much changed and corrupted-
since. There are so many things in them
different from and even contrary to the genius
and design of the New Testament writers, that
no wise man would believe, without the most
convincing and irresistible proof, that both
could come from the same hand. They were
published both in Greek and English, by Wil-
liam Whiston, who contended vehemently for
their Divine authority. See Whiston’s Primi-
tive Chn'stianity, Lond. 1711 ; Grabe’s An-
swer to Whiston ; Saurin’s Ser. vol. ii. p. 185 ;
Lardner’s Cred. vol. iii. p. 11. ch. ult.,- Dod-
drz'dge’s Lect. lecture 119.
APOSTOLICI, or APOSTOLICS; the name of
three sects who professed to imitate the man-
ners and practice of the apostles. 1. The first
flourished at the close of the second century. I
They had all things in common. Little else
growing in power above the rest, and the l isknown of their peculiar tenets. 2. Another
three patriarchates of Alexandria, Antioch, E existed in the twelfth century. It was com—
and Jerusalem, falling into the hands of the 3 posed of people of thelower classes. They were
Saracens, the title apostolical was restrained ‘ numerous; and their lives, as Bernard admits,
to the pope and his church alone; though = were exemplary. Their peculiarities were
some of the popes, and St. Gregory the Great, I as follows :——They held it to be _unlawful to
not contented to hold the title by this tenure, take oaths; they suffered their hair and beards
began at length to insist that it belonged to , to grow to an enormous length; they prefer-
APP
A Q U
46
red celibacy to wedlock, calling themselves
the chaste brethren and sisters,- each man,
however, had a spiritual sister, with whom he
lived in a domestic relation. 3. The third
sect was founded about 1260, by Gerhard
Sagarelli. They went bare-footed, begging,
preaching, and singing throughout Italy, Swit-
zerland, and France; announced the coming
of the kingdom of heaven and of purer times;
had females in their retinue, with whom they
were suspected of unlawful intimacy. This
society never received the papal confirmation :
on the contrary, it was abolished, AJ). 1286,
by Honorius IV. But though they were per—
secuted by the Inquisition, they continued in
existence, perpetually wandering about; and
when Sagarelli was burnt as a heretic in 1300,
another leader appeared—Dolcino, a learned
man of Milan, who encouraged the sect, now
increased to fourteen hundred men, with his
prophetic promises. To defend themselves
against persecution, they were compelled,
about the year 1304, to station themselves in
fortified places, whence they might resist
attacks. In the plundering habits which they
were forced to adopt, they wholly lost their
original character, and after having devastated
a large tract of country belonging to Milan,
they were subdued, in 1307, by the troops of
Bishop Raynerius, in their fortress Zebello,
in Vercelli, and almost all destroyed. Dolcino
was burnt. Their survivors afterwards ap-
peared in Lombardy, and in the south of
France, as late as 1368. Their heresy con-
sisted in their opposition to the corruptions of
the clergy, and the unfounded pretensions of
the pope of Rome.
APoTAcTITm, an ancient sect, who affected
to follow the example of the apostles, and
renounced all their effects and possessions.
It does not appear that they held any errors
at first; but afterwards they taught that the
renouncing of all riches was not only a matter
of counsel and advice, but of precept and
necessity.
APPELLANTS, a term specially applied to
those of the French clergy, and others. who
appealed from the Pope’s authority in the
matter of the Bull Unigenitus, to a general
. council.
APPROBATION, a state or disposition of the
mind, wherein we put a value upon, or be-
a come pleased with, some person or thing.
Moralists are divided on the principle of ap-
probation, or the motive which determines us
to approve or disapprove. The Epicureans
will have it to be only self-interest: accord-
ing to them, that which determines any agent
to approve his own action, _1s its apparent
tendency to his private happiness ;. and even
the approbation of another’s actlon, flows
from no other cause but an opinion of itsten-
dency to the happiness of the approver, either
immediately or remotely. Others resolve
approbation into a moral sense, or a principle
of benevolence, by which we are determined
to approve every kind affection either in our-
selves or others, and all publicly useful actions
which we imagine to flow from such affec-
tions, without any view therein to our own
private happiness. l
But may we not add,-that a true Christian’s
approbation arises from his perception of the
will of God? See OBLIGATION.
APPROPRIATION, the annexing a benefice
to the proper and perpetual use of some re-
ligious' house. It is a term also often used in
the religious world, as referring to that act of
the mind by which we apply the blessings of
the Gospel to ourselves. This appropriation is
real when we are enabled to believe in, feel,
and obey the truth; but merely nominal and
delusive when there are no fruits of righteous-
ness and true holiness. See ASSURANCE.
AQUARIANS, those who consecrated water
in the eucharist instead of wine, partly for
fear the smell of wine should discover them
to the heathens, and partly because they
deemed it unlawful to drink it. Another
branch of them approved of wine in the
sacrament, when received at the evening:
they likewise mixed water with the wine.
AQUILA. See BIBLE, ancient versions,
(Greek)
Aonnms, THOMAS, commonly called the
Angelic Doctor, a celebrated scholastic divine,
whose authority has always stood very high
with the Roman Catholics. He was descended
from the kings of Sicily and Arragon, and
born at the castle of Aquino, in Italy, about
the year 1244; received the rudiments of his
education at an early age, from the monks of
Mount Cassino; and, notwithstanding the
obstacles thrown in his way by his parents,
and the measures to which they had recourse
to prevent his associating with the Domini-
cans, he made rapid progress, under their
direction, in the theology of the day. Having
prosecuted his studies at Naples, Rome, and
Cologne, he proceeded to Paris, where he
read lectures with great applause on the Book
of Sentences, and was created doctor in
divinity in 1255.
order for the province of Rome; and after
teaching his divinity at most of the Italian
universities, finally settled at Naples, where
he exclusively addicted himself to study, the
delivery of lectures, and devotional exercises.
So free was'he from the influence of worldly
honours and wealth, that he refused to accept
the Neapolitan archbishoprick, when offered
him by Clement IV. He was a man of great
metaphysical acumen, subtilty in disputation,
zeal for the doctrines and corruptions of the
‘Church, and confessedly unrivalled among
‘the divines of that age. His works, amount-
ing to seventeen folio volumes, were first
published at Venice in 1490, and have been
frequently reprinted. They principally con-
About 1263, he returned -
to Italy, and was appointed definitor of his.
A R A
ARC
47
sist of commentaries on Scripture, the Works
of Aristotle, and the Books of Sentences; but
his most celebrated work is the “ Summa
Theologiaa,” which was almost universally
received, placed on an equality with Lom-
bard’s celebrated writings, and admitted as
the standardof truth, and the model accord-
ing to which it is to be studied and pro-
pounded: they gave rise to the sect of the
Tnoms'r‘s, which see. He died in 1274, and
was canonized by John XXIL, in 1323. Be-
sides the title .of angelic doctor, he received
those of the angel of the schools, the eagle of
divines, and the fifth doctor of the church.
ARABIC LANGUAGE, one of the principal of
the dialects commonly called Oriental, or
Semitic, and the most productive and im-
portant extraneous source from which to
elucidate and corroborate the philology of the
Hebrew language, with which it is closely
allied by the tie of cognate relationship. It
, is one of the richest and most cultivated lan-
guages in the world, and is rendered specially
remarkable by the extent of territory in which
it ‘is spoken, and the vast and valuable literary
treasures in which it abounds. Our acquaint-
ance with it begins at the time of the com—v
mencement of its literature, a little before the
time of Mohammed, by whom the northern
dialect, spoken about Mecca, was elevated to
be the medium of written as well as of col-
loquial communication. The Koran, which
is composed in this dialect, is regarded by the
Musselmans as inimitably sublime. The lan-
guage abounds in works of poetry, history,
geography, mathematics, philosophy, and
natural science. We also possess in it several
Jewish and Christian versions of the sacred
Scriptures; and several of the most eminent
of the rabbinical commentators were well
acquainted with it as their vernacular tongue,
and availed themselves of its aid in their in-
terpretations of the Hebrew text. The best
grammars are those of Rosenmiiller and De
Sacy, and the best lexicon is that of Golius,
in folio, a new and greatly improved edition
of which, in quarto, has just been published
by Freytag.
ARABICI, a sect that sprang up in the
former half of the third century in Arabia,
whose distinguishing tenet was, that the
human soul dies, decays, and rises again
at the same time with the body. Origen
refuted their error, and prevailed on them to
abandon it in the year 426. It originated in
an opinion then held by many, that the soul
is material.
ARAMJEAN, ARAMAIC', properly whatever
belongs to the people or language of Aram;
and as this term comprehends not only Syria,
but also Mesopotamia, and other adjacent
eastern regions, the adjective is used in works
of biblical criticism, to denote two cognate
Semitic dialects—the Western Ara-mcean, or
Syrlac; and the Eastern. Aramcean, or
Chaldee. The first intimation that we have
of the existence of any such dialect is in Gen.
xxxi. 47. It was the Eastern Aramaean which
the Jews learned during the exile in Babylon,
which they brought with them on their return
to Palestine, and in which certain portions of
the books of Ezra, and Daniel, and the Tar-
gums, are written. In the Western, or Syriac,
we possess a most venerable, and truly valu-
able and important version of the Old and
New Testament,‘ besides other versions of a
later date of the New Testament, or of single
portions of the sacred volume.
ARCHANGEL, one of those composing the
higher order of celestial spirits. It is used
indefinitely, l Thess. iv. 6; and with the
definite article of Michael, Jude 9, who is,
no doubt, the same that is spoken of, Dan.
xii. 1. The term implies superiority of rank
and authority over other angels, and quite
accords with the representations which are
made in various passages of the New Testa-
ment, respecting the different orders and sub-
ordination of the angelic hosts. The opinion
of Bishop Horsley and some others—that it
is exclusively characteristic of Christ, as the
champion and defender of his people—seems
more fanciful than founded in truth.
ARcHBIsHoP, a metropolitan prelate, having
several sufi'ragan bishops under him.
The bishops, in the primitive Church, were
all vested with the same ofiice and authority,
but as the profession of Christianity increased,
the episcopal power was enlarged. As be-
fore there was at least one bishop placed in
every city, so now, in every metropolis, as
the Romans called it, or mother city of every
province, wherein were courts of civil judica-
ture, there was a metropolitan, or Archbishop,
who had ecclesiastical jurisdiction over all
the bishops of that province. His jurisdiction
consisted in ordaining or ratifying the elec-
tions and ordinations of all other bishops;
and once a year he was to summon them all
to a synod, in which he presided, to inquire
into their conduct, to censure with suspension,
or deprivation, and to hear and determine
causes between contending bishops.
Dr. Bingham is of opinion, that arch-
bishop was originally but another name for
patriarch, though in process of time their
jurisdiction became distinct.
The first establishment of Archbishoprics
in England (if we may credit Bede, one of
the most ancient writers of the English
nation) was in the time of Lucius, said to be
the first Christian king of England; who,
after the conversion of his subjects, erected
three archbishoprics at London, York, and
Llandaff, then called Caerleon. The dignity of
archbishop continued in the see of London
one hundred and eighty years, till, in the
time of the Saxons, it was translated to Can-
terbury; where it has continued ever since.
York remains a metropolitan see to this day.
ARC
ARC
48
Augustin, the monk, who was sent by
Pope Gregory to convert the English nation,
in the reign of Ethelbert, King of Kent,
was the first Bishop of Canterbury; but
Theodore, the sixth in succession after him,
was the first archbishop of that see. The
archbishop of Canterbury had anciently
the primacy, not only over England, but
Ireland also, and all the bishops of the latter
were consecrated by him. He was styled by
Pope Urban II. Alterius Orbis Papa .~ he had
a perpetual legatine power annexed to his
archbishopric: he had some marks of royalty,
such as the power of coining money, &c.
Since the Reformation, he is styled Primate
and Metropolitan of all England. Archbishop
Cranmer was the first who bore this title.
As to precedency, there have been ancient
contests about it, as also about the oath of
canonical obedience, between the two archie—
piscopal sees. Some antiquarians will have
it, that the Archbishop of York was origi-
nally primate of the British church; for Lon-
don never was a Roman colony, or the seat
of the Roman emperors, as York was, where
both Severus and Constantius Chlorus lived
and died, and where Constantine the Great
was born; and from hence they infer, that,
where the Emperors resided was the most
likely place to have pre-eminence above the
rest. However it be, in the reign of Henry I.,
‘William Corbel, Archbishop of Canterbury,
obtained from the Pope the character of legate,
by which he secured to himself a superiority
over the see of York, which he visited jure
legationis. But after his death, the contest
still continued; for we find that, in the reign
of Henry II., a synod being called at West-
minster by the Pope’s legate, the Arch-
bishop of Canterbury coming first, seated him-
self at the right hand of the legate; but York,
coming afterwards, refused to take the seat
on the left hand, and demanded Canterbury’s
place, which the latter refusing, York sat
down in his lap. This occasioned the synod
to break up in disorder, and both parties ap-
pealing to the Pope, the contest was decided
in favour of the see of Canterbury, which
enjoys the precedency to this day.
The privileges of the Archbishop of Can-
terbury, are, among others, to crown the
Kings of England; to have prelates for his
'ofiicers—as the Bishop of London his pro-
vincial dean; the Bishop of Winchester his
chancellor; the Bishop of Lincoln his vice-
chancellor; the Bishop of Salisbury his pre-
centor; the Bishop of Worcester his chap-
lain; and the Bishop of Rochester his crosier-
bearer; which last oflice, since the times of
popery, has ceased. He is also the first peer
of England next to the royal family. ‘
The Archbishop of Canterbury bath the
supreme government of ecclesiastical matters
next under the king. Upon the death of any
sufi'ragan bishop, the custody of his see de-
volves upon the archbishop: he hath a power
of censuring any bishop in his province: he
hath an ancient right to preside in all pro-
vincial councils of his sufi'ragans, which for-
merly were held once a year, but have been
discontinued a long time; so that his power
of examining things throughout his province
is devolved to his courts, of which he holds
several,-—as the Court of Arches, Prerogative
Court, Court of Peculiars, &c., and he has the
probate of wills. ‘
As to the Archbishop of York, he is now
styled Primate and Metropolitan QfEngl'and,
and takes place of all peers, except the Arch-
bishop of Canterbury, and the Lord Chan-
cellor. He had originally the primacy, not
only over twelve English sees, but likewise
over all the bishoprics of Scotland. But
Scotland has disowned his prerogative many
years since, and the archbishopric itself hath
swallowed up several of the smaller and more
inconsiderable bishoprics; so that the whole
province is now reduced to four sees—Dur-
ham, Chester, Carlisle and Man.
Scotland, whilst episcopacy prevailed in
that country, had two archbishops—of St.
Andrews and Glasgow—the former of whom
was Primate of all Scotland.
Wales likewise anciently boasted of an
archbishop, whose see (as has been observed)
was established at Caerlcon, and was after-
wards translated to St. David’s. But the
plague raging very much in that country, the
arehiepiscopal see was again removed to Doll,
in Bretagne, where this dignity ended. Not-
withstanding which, in after ages, the Bri-
tons, or Welsh, commenced an action on that
account against the Archbishop of Canter-
bury, but were cast.
Ireland has four archbishops—of Armagh,
Dublin, Cashel, and Tuam—of whom the
Archbishop of Armagh is Primate of all
Ireland.
In the United States there is an archbishop
of the Roman Catholic church, whose see is
at Baltimore, and whose spiritual jurisdiction
extends over all the States. There is as yet
no archbishop of the Protestant Episcopal
church, though there are several bishops. In
the year 1828, Pope Leo XII. appointed, after
much delay, an archbishop in Columbia, whom
Bolivar had proposed. Perhaps the two most
important archbishops in history were those
of Cologne and Mentz. They were sove—
reigns of a considerable country, electors of
the German empire, and the two highest
officers under the emperor. Till Napoleon
dissolved the German empire, they played a
conspicuous part in the history of the con-
tinent. In France, there are now nine arch-
bishops; in Spain eight; in Portugal two;
in Hungary three; in Ital thirty-eight. See
Brsnor, Pn'rnmncn, and Tamers.
ARCHDEACON, an ecclesiastical ofiieer un- '
der the bishop. Though archdeacons, in
ARC
ARI
49'
these last ages of the church, have usually
been of the order of presbyters, or priests,
yet anciently they were no more than dea-
cons, as the name imports. But how the
archdeacon came by his honour, and after
what manner he was invested, is a matter of
some dispute among learned men. Salmasius,
and some others, are of opinion, that origin-
ally he was no more than the senior deacon.
Others think the dignity was always elective,
and in the breast of the bishop; but Jerome
plainly asserts that the office went not by
seniority but by election.
The oflice of archdeacon was always a
place of great honour and reputation; for
he was the bishop’s constant attendant and
assistant; by which means he commonly
gained such an interest, as to get himself
chosen, before the presbyters, to succeed the
bishop. His business was, 1. To attend the
bishop at the altar, and to administer the cup
when the bishop celebrated the eucharist. He
was to order all things relating to the inferior
clergy, such as to appoint readers, acolythists,
sub-deacons, &c. 2. He was to assist the
bishop in managing the church revenues,
assigning their several portions to the poor,
orphans, widows, 80c. Upon which account,
_Prudentius, describing the oflices of St. Lau-
rence, whom he makes to be archdeacon of
Rome, among other things assigns him the
keys of the church’s treasure, and the care
of dispensing the oblations of the people: and
he introduces the heathen persecutor demand-
ing of him those treasures; which he promis-
ing to do, in a short time brought before him
the poor, the lame, the blind, and the infirm,
telling him, those were the riches which he
had in his custody. 3. Another part of his
office was to assist the bishop in preaching,
and in ordaining the inferior clergy. 4. He
was also invested with the power of censuring
deacons, and the inferior clergy, but not pres- -
l
byters. 5. As to his jurisdiction, it will ad-
mit of a dispute, whether it originally ex-
. tended over the whole diocese, or was con-
fined to the city or mother-church. In the
middle ages of the church, there is no ques-
tion but his power extended over the whole
diocese. 6. Valesius observes, that the arch-
deacons were likewise called Cor-Episcopi.
This may seem at first only a corruption of
the Chorepiscopus, because, in later ages, the
power of the ancient Chorepiscopi dwindled
into that of the archdeacons. But when it is
considered that the deacons anciently were
mined the bishop’s eyes, ears, mouth, or heart,
it will appear very probable that the arch-
deacon was called, by way of eminence, Cor-
epz'scopi, i.e. the bishop’s heart. There are
sixty archdeacons in England, who visit
every two years in three, when they inquire
into the reparations and movables belonging
to churches; reform abuses; suspend; ex-
communicate; in some places prove wills;
9
and induct all clerks into benefices within
their respective jurisdictions.
Ancmmavnnrrn, in the Greek church, an
abbot, or general abbot, who has the super-
intendence of many abbots and convents;
because, in the ancient Greek church, the
abbots were called mandne. In Sicily, the
abbots are thus called, because their convents
were originally of Greek institution, and con-
form to the rules of St. Basil. The general-
abbots of the united Greeks in Poland, Gali-
cia, Transylvania, Hungary, and Venice, also
hear this title.
ARCHONTICS, a sect about the year 160 or
203. Among many other extravagant no-
tions, they held that the world was created
by archangels; they also denied the resur-
rection of the body.
Ancn-Pansnv'rnn, or Ancn-Pnms'r, a
priest established in some dioceses with a
superiority over the rest. He was anciently
chosen out of the college of presbyters, at the
pleasure of the bishop. The arch—presbyters
were much of the same nature with our deans
in cathedral churches.
ARGENTEUS, CODEX. See Mss. BIBLICAL.
ARIANS, followers of Arius, a presbyter of
the church of Alexandria, about 315, who
maintained that the Son of God was totally
and essentially distinct from the Father; that
he was the first and noblest of those beings
whom God had created, the instrument by
whose subordinate operation he formed the
universe; and, therefore, inferior to the Fa-
ther both in nature and dignity; also, that
the Holy Ghost was not God, but created by
the power of the Son. The Arians owned
that the Son was the Word; but denied that
Word to have been eternal. They held that
Christ had nothing of man in him but the
.flesh, to which the Aoyog, or Word, was

joined, which was the same as the soul in us.
The Arians were first condemned and ana-
thematised by a council at Alexandria, in
320, under Alexander, bishop of that city,
who accused Arius of impiety, and caused
him to be expelled from the communion of
the church; and afterwards by 380 fathers
in the general council of Nice, assembled by
Constantine, in 325. His doctrine, however,
was not extin 'shed; on the contrary, it
became the reigning religion, especially in
the East. Arius was recalled from banish-
ment by Constantine in two or three years
after the council of Nice, and the laws that
had been enacted against‘ him were repealed.
Notwithstanding this, Athanasius, then bi-
shop of Alexandria, refiised to admit him and
his followers to communion. This so enraged
them, that, by ‘their interest at court, they
procured that ‘prelate to be deposed and ba-
nished; but the church of Alexandria. still re-
fusing to admit Arius into their communion,
the emperor sent for him to Constantinople;
where, upon delivering in a fresh confession
E
A R I v 5
o ARI
of his faith 1n terms less offensive, the em-
peror commanded him to be received into
their communion; but that very evening, it
is said, Arius died, as his friends were con-
ducting him in triumph to the great church
of Constantinople. The Arian party, how-
ever, found a protector in Constantius, who
succeeded his father in the East. They un-
derwent various revolutions and prosecutions
under succeeding emperors; till at length
Theodosius the Great exerted every effort to
suppress them. Their doctrine was carried,
in the fifth century, into Africa, under the
Vandals; and into Asia, under the Goths.
Italy, Gaul, and Spain, were also deeply in-
fected with it; and towards the commence-
ment of the sixth century it was triumphant
in many parts of Asia, Africa, and Europe:
but it sunk almost at once, when the Vandals
were driven out of Africa, and the Goths out
of Italy, by the arms of Justinian. However,
it revived again in Italy, under the protec-
tion of the Lombards, in the seventh century,
and was not extinguished till about the end
of the eighth. Arianism was again revived
in the West by Servetus, in 1531, for which
he suffered death. After this, the doctrine
got footing in Geneva and in Poland; but at
length degenerated, in a great measure, into
Socinianism. '
If the reader wish to enter at length into
the history of Arianism from its rise to the
period of the Reformation, he will find ample
information in “ Mai-mbourg’s History of
Arianism, showing its influence upon civil af-
fairs, and the causes of the dissolution of the
Roman Empire,” translated into English by
Webster, London, 1728, 2 vols. 4to.; only it
is not always to he depended upon for its
accuracy. History of the Arians and the
Council of .Nice, translated from the French
of Sebastian de Tillemont, by Deacon, Lon-
don, 1721, 2 vols. 8vo., is chiefly a compila-
tion by the original authors, but throws con-
siderable light on many of the circumstances
in the period of about seventy years, which
it embraces. Whitaker’s Origin of Arianism.
ARIANISM, progress of; in England, and con-
troversg respecting—Although references are
frequently made by our ecclesiastical writers
to Arian sentiments, as held and propagated
by various individuals in England after the
Reformation, there is so much vagueness and
inaccuracy in the way in which they speak
about them, that little dependence can be
placed on most of the allegations. They
were probably held by individuals from time
to time, and had made an incipient progress
before they were much noticed or avowed;
but nothing of importance took place till the
beginning of the last century, when they
were 0 enly brought forward and defended
by William VVhiston, Professor of Mathe-
matics in the University of Cambridge. This
he did in his Primitive Christianity Revived,
London, 1711, 4 vols. 8vo., the last volume
of which contains an account of what he con-
sidered the primitive faith in the person of
Christ, and the doctrine of the Trinity, and
the first volume an historical account of the
proceedings of the University and Convoca-
tion 'nst him. His sentiments were de-
clared heretical, and he was ejected from his
chair at Cambridge. He still, however, went
on to write, and produced a fifth volume of his
Primitive Christianity Revived, in 1712; his
Council of Nice Vindicated from the Athana-
sian Heresy, in 1713 ; his Letter to the Earl
of Nottingham, on the Eternity of the Son of
God and the Holy Ghost, 1719 : to this Lord
Nottingham replied, in 1720, with consider-
able ability, and for which he received the
‘thanks of the Universities. Whiston rejoined
in a preface to his subsequent editions of this
Letter. Whiston went on to the end of his
life occasionally publishing on the subject;
but in the meantime it was taken up by a
man of more eminence, though not of more
honesty, in the church, Dr. Samuel Clarke,
who published, in 1712, The Scripture Doc—
trine of the Trinity, in which he endeavours
to show, in a commentary on forty texts of
Scripture, the subordination of the Son to the
Father. This created a great flame. Clarke
was replied to b Robert Nelson, in The
Doctrine of the Trmit Vindicated; by Bishop
Gastrel, in Some onsiderations on Dr.
Clarke’s Doctrine of the Trinity; and by.
various others. The Convocation fell upon
Dr. Clarke, also, who shufiled and retained
his living. He published, on the same side,
a reply to Nelson and to Gastrel, who wrote
anonymously; besides some other things
without his name.
The grand opponent of Dr. Clarke was
Waterland,_who published, at different times,
A Vindication of Christ’s Divinity,—A Se-
cond Vindication,——A Defence of the Divi-
nity of Christ, in Eight Sermons,-—The Case
of Arian Subscription considered,—A Critical
History of the Athanasian Creed, and The
Importance of the Doctrine of the Trinity
Asserted; making six volumes 8vo., besides
smaller pieces. On the other side, and in
answer to Waterland, Whitby wrote his Dis-
quisitiones Modestae, in Latin; his Reply to
Dr. Waterland’s objections against them, in
two parts, with an Appendix, 1720-21. An
anonymous country clergyman produced A
Reply to Dr. Waterland’s Defence of his
Queries, 1722, entering very largely into the
controversy. Dr. Sykes wrote several pam-
phlets on the subject. Bishop Hoadly, Sir
Isaac Newton, and some other eminent men
of that period, it is well known, leaned to the
. side of Arianism. >
The Arian controversy commenced about
the same time among the Dissenters, and
raged as fiercely, and more destructively
among them, than in the church. It began in

A R K 5
1
ARM
the west, with James Peirce, of Exeter, ‘who,
with his colleague, Joseph Hallet, were learned
Presbyterian ministers in Exeter. Being
suspected by some of their congregation, and-
asked to explain themselves on the doctrine
of the Trinity, they refused or evaded; in
consequence of which a separation took place.
The flame spread to London, and occasioned
the celebrated Salter’s Hall controversy, and
led to the most dismal effects on the Presby-
terian body. The books and pamphlets writ-
ten on the subject are innumerable. The
principal, on the Arian side, are the follow-
ing :——The Case of the Ejected Ministers of
Exon; Defence of ditto; The Western In-
quisition, by Peirce; The Case of Martin
Tombkins, 1719. The writings of Emlyn, a
Presbyterian minister in Dublin, contributed
to diffuse and carry on the controversy both
in Ireland and England. They are all col-
lected together in his works, published by his
son, with an account of the author’s treatment
for his sentiments, which was both unrighte-
ous and cruel; Works, London, 1746, 3vols.
8vo. On the other side, Dr. Calamy published
nineteen sermons concerning the Doctrine of
the Trinity, 1722; in which the controversy
is discussed with considerable ability and
learning. The doctrine of the Trinity Stated
and Defended, by some London Ministers;
viz. Long, Robinson, Smith and Reynolds.
The controversy was revived again in the
church by Dr. Clayton, Bishop of Clogher,
and for a while carried on with considerable
warmth. He published, in 1751, An Essay
on Spirit, in which the Doctrine of the Tri-
nity is considered, &c. This pamphlet was
not, in reality, the bishop’s, but the produc-
tion of a young clergyman, whose cause and
sentiments, however, be identified himself
with. It produced more than from ‘twenty to
thirty writers, in the way of attack or de-
fence. Among these, besides anonymous writ-
ers, were Kirkly, Knowles, Jones, Rudd, Scott,
Randolph, M‘Donoul, and Archdeacon Black-
burn. The ablest of the orthodox defenders
were William Jones, in his Full Answer to
the Essay on Spirit; and afterwards in his
Catholic Doctrine of the Trinity; and the
Vindication of the Doctrine of the Trinity,
by Dr. Randolph.
At the present day, Arianism has almost
become extinct in England, having merged
into one or other of the various grades of
Socinianism; and is onl to be found, in any-
thing like a systematic form, among the
Presbyterians in the North of Ireland, espe-
cially those of the Synod of Munster.
Ams'riaus, a distinguished officer at the
court of Ptolemy Philadelphus, King of
Egypt, whom that monarch is said to have
sent_ to Eliezer, the Jewish ' high priest, to
obtain a copy of the Hebrew Scriptures, and
whose name is celebrated ' in connexion with
the version of the Septuagint, which see.

ABISTOTELIANS, the followers of Aristotle.
They believed in the eternity of the world,
and represented the Deity as somewhat simi-
lar to a principle of power giving motion to a
machine; and as happy in the contemplation
of himself, but regardless of human affairs.
They were uncertain as to the immortality of
the soul. As this was rather a philosophi-
cal than a religious sect, we shall not enlarge
on it.
ARK, or NoAH’s ARK, a floating vessel
built by Noah for the preservation of his
family, and the several species of animals,
during the deluge. The form of the ark was
an oblong, with a flat bottom and a sloped
roof, raised to a cubit in the middle; it had
neither sails nor rudder; nor was it sharp at
the ends for cutting the water. This form
was admirably calculated to make it lie steady
on the water, without rolling, which might have
endangered the lives of the animals within.
The length of this ark was 300 cubits,
which, according to Dr. Arbuthnot’s calcula-
tion, amount to a little more than 547 feet;
its breadth, 5O cubits, or 91-2 feet; its height,
30 cubits, or 54-7 2 feet; and its solid contents,
2,730-782 solid feet, sufiicient for a carriage
of 81,062 tons. It consisted of three stories,
each of which, abating the thickness of the
floors, might be about 18 feet high, and no
doubt was partitioned into a great many
rooms or apartments. This vessel was doubt-
less so contrived as to admit the air and the
light on all, though the particular construc-
tion of the windows is not mentioned.
ARK on THE COVENANT, a small chest or
cofi‘er, three feet nine inches in length, two
feet three inches in breadth, and two feet
three inches in height, in which were con-
tained the golden pot that had manna, Aaron’s
rod, and the tables of the covenant. The ark
was reposited in the holiest place of the taber-
nacle. It was taken by the Philistines, and
detained twenty (some say forty) years at
Kirjath—jearim; but, the people being afliicted
with emerods on account of it, returned it
with divers presents. It was afterwards placed
in the temple.
The lid or covering of the ark was called
the propit-iatory or mercy-seat: over which
two figures were placed called cherubz'ms, with
expanded wings of a peculiar form. Here
the Shechinah rested both in the tabernacle
and temple, in a visible cloud: hence were
issued the Divine oracles by an audible voice;
and the high priest appeared before this mercy—
seat once every year on the great day of ex-
piation; and the Jews, wherever they wor-
shipped, turned their faces towards the place
where the ark stood.
In the second temple there was also an ark,
made of the same shape and dimensions with
the first, and put in the same place, but Wlfhmlt
any of its contents and peculiar honours. It
was used as' a representative of the former on
ARM
ARM
52
the day of expiation, and a repository of the
ori 'nal copy of the holy Scriptures, collected
by§lzra and the men of the great synagogue
after the captivity ; and, in imitation of this,
the Jews, to this day, have a kind of ark in
their synagogues, wherein their sacred books
are kept.
ARMENIANS, one of the most ancient people
of the civilized world, and who have main-
tained their cultivation amidst all those revo-
lutions which barbarism, despotism, and war
have occasioned in Western Asia, from the
days of Assyria, Greece, and Rome, down
to the period of Mongolian, Turkish, and
Persian dominion. During so many ages they
have faithfully preserved not only their his-
torical traditions, reaching back to the periods
of many parts of Hebrew history, but also
their national character, both in a physical
and moral point of view. The region around
mount Ararat, their original abode, is still
the centre of their religious and political
union. Commerce has scattered them, like
the Jews, among several of the nations of
Europe, and through most of those of Asia.
ARMENIAN CHURCH. See CHURCH, ARME-
NIAN.
ARMENIAN MONKS.-—-The religious of the
Armenian church are very numerous. Some
follow the order of St. Anthony, others that
of St. Basil. Those of St. Anthony live in
solitudes and deserts, where the austerities
they practise surpass those of all other reli-
gious orders in Europe; their monasteries are
very considerable: they eat no meat, nor
drink any wine, except on Easter-day; they
fast all the year, even on Sundays, and eat
but once a day: they live upon roots and
herbs, abstaining from fish, milk, and oil,
though they are permitted to eat olives: they
never go out of their monastery, nor speak a
word to any person whatever; and if a stran-
ger has any thing to say to one of these soli-
taries, he tells it to the porter, who communi-
cates it to the monk, and reports his answer:
they live in separate cells, employing them-
selves in some work, excepting at the hours
of prayer: they are all laymen, excepting five
or six, and sometimes eight priests in each
monastery: their oflice is very long; they
repeat every night in the choir, the 150
Psalms, leaning upon a kind of walking-stafi‘
or crutch. .
It is not known who first introduced the
order of St. Anthony into Armenia, but that
of St. Basil was first established in that coun-
try by the Patriarch Nierces Gheldes, who
died in the year 1173. The religious of this'
order are not such exact observers of their
rules as those of the order of St. Anthony,
who live in the deserts, for the monks of the‘
order of St. Basil often eat meat, and their
monasteries are situated in towns, and the
most frequented places. Their principal mo-
nastery is that of Etchmz'azz'n, which is as it i
were the centre of the Armenian religion, and
the rule of discipline to all the rest.
The habit of the Armenian monks consists
of a long vest or cassock, tied about with a
leathern girdle. Over this cassock they put
on a kind of gown, with very large sleeves,
and a cloak, both of black stufi' ; as also a
cowl of the same, which is sharp-pointed,
like that of the bare-footed Augustines, over
which they wear a turban. The difi‘erence
in the habits of the two orders of St. Anthony
and St. Basil consists in this: that the former,
who are solitaries, wear a coarser kind of
stuff, and a cossack with very strait sleeves;
and that their cloak is nearly like that of the
Minims. The religious of the order of St.
Anthony never quit their habit; but those of
the order of St. Basil quit it whenever they
please, by the toleration of their superiors;
but this is an abuse of their rules.
Some of the Armenian religious do not
reside in the monasteries, as those at Jerusalem,
who live by their labour, and by the alms they
receive from the pilgrims of their nation, who
come out of devotion to visit the holy sepul-
phre, and Calvary. These alms are very
large, amounting sometimes to a thousand
crowns. This makes them very rich, and
they employ the money in gaining the Turks,
and obtaining from them what they desire.
They gave at once eight thousand sequins to
the pasha and kadi of Jerusalem for leave to
place two lamps amongst those of the Latins,
which are at the stable of Bethlehem.
About the end of the last century, some
Armenians, of the order of St. Anthony, hav-
ing quitted the peculiar tenets of their church,
settled in the Morea, where the republic of
Venice gave them a monastery in the town of
Modon. These religious, besides the three
vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience,
make a fourth, which is, to obey those who
are deputed by their superiors to teach them
the truths of the Catholic religion. They live
upon alms, and conform to the abstinences
and fasts of the Romish church. Neverthe-
less, they follow the Armenian rite, and con-
secrate in unleaven bread. The habit is com-
posed of a black gown tied about with a lea-
thern girdle; a tunic or cassock shorter than‘
the gown, and open before; and a cloak and
cowl, both black. They likewise wear over
their habit, on the right side, a red cross. with
some characters. which signify the desire they
have to shed their blood for the faith of Jesus
Christ.
The principal establishment of those Arme-
nians who have submitted to the Roman see
is at Venice, where they occupy the celebrated
monastery of St. Lazarus, at which they have
printed editions of the Bible, and various
works of a high literary character.
ARMENIAN VERSION. See BIBLE VER-
SIONS.
ARMINIANS, persons who follow the doc-
I A R M
ARM
53
trines of Arminius; also called Remonstrants,
because, in 1611, they presented a remon-
strance to the States-general, wherein they
state their grievances and pray for relief.
The distinguishing tenets of the Arminians
may be comprised in the five following articles
relative to predestination, universal redemp-
tion, the corruption of man, conversion, and
perseverance, viz. :—
I. That God, from all eternity, determined
to bestow salvation on those who he foresaw
would persevere unto the end: and to inflict
everlasting punishments on those who should
continue in their unbelief, and resist his divine
succours ; so that election was conditional,
and reprobation in like manner the result of
foreseen infidelity and persevering wicked-
ness. '
II. That Jesus Christ, by his sufferings and
death, made an atonement for the sins of all
mankind in general, and of every individual
in particular; that, however, none but those
who believe in him can be partakers of divine
benefits.
III. That true faith cannot proceed from
the exercise of our natural faculties and
powers, nor from the force and operation of
free will; since man, in consequence of his
natural corruption, is incapable either of think-
ing or doing any good thing; and that there-
fore, it is necessary, in order to his conver-
sion and salvation, that he be regenerated
and renewed by the operation of the Holy
Ghost, which is the gift of God through Jesus
Christ.
IV. That this divine grace or energy of the
Holy Ghost begins and perfects every thing
that can be called good in man, and conse-
quently, all good works are to be attributed
to God alone; that, nevertheless, this grace
is ofi’ered to all, and does not force men to act
against their inclinations, but may be resisted
and rendered ineffectual by the perverse will
of the impenitent sinner. Some modern Ar-
minians interpret this and the last article with
a greater latitude.
V. That God gives to the truly faithful,
who are regenerated by his grace, the means
of preserving themselves in this state. The
first Arminians, indeed, had some doubt with
respect to the closing part of this article; but
their followers uniformly maintain “ that the
regenerate may lose true justifying faith,
fall from a state of grace, and die m their
sins.”
After the appointment of Arminius to the
theological chair at Leyden, he thought it 1118
duty to avow and vindicate the principles
which he had embraced; and the freedom
with which he published and defended them,
exposed him to the resentment of those that
adhered to the theological system of Geneva,
which then prevailed in Holland; but his
principal opponent was Gomar, his colleague.
The controversy which was thus begun be-
came more general after the death of Armi-
nius, in the year 1609, and threatened to
involve the United Provinces in civil discord.
The Arminian tenets gained ground under
the mild and favourable treatment of the ma-
gistrates of Holland, and were adopted by
several persons of merit and distinction. The
Calvinists, or Gomarists, as they were now
called, appealed to a national synod; accord-
ingly the synod of Dort was convened, by
order of the States-general, in 1618, and was
composed of ecclesiastic deputies from the
United Provinces, as well as from the reformed
churches of England, Hessia, Bremen, Swit-
zerland, 'and the Palatinate. The principal
advocate in favour of the Arminians was
Episcopius, who at that time was professor of
divinity at Leyden. It was first proposed to
discuss the principal subjects in dispute, that
the Arminians should be allowed to state and
vindicate the grounds on which their opinions
were founded; but some difference arising as
to the proper mode of conducting the debate,
the Arminians were excluded from the assem-
bly, their case was tried in their absence, and
they were pronounced guilty of pestilential
errors, and condemned as corrupters of the
true religion. A curious account of the pro-
ceedings of the above synod may be seen in
a series of letters written by Mr. John Hales,
who was present on the occasion.
In consequence of the above-mentioned
decision, the Arminians were considered as
enemies to their country and its established
religion, and were much persecuted. They
were treated with great severity, and deprived
of all their posts and employments; their
ministers were silenced, and their congrega-
tions were suppressed. The great Barneveldt
was beheaded on a scaffold; and the learned
Grotius, being condemned to perpetual im-
prisonment, tied, and took refuge in France.
After the death of Prince Maurice, who
had been a violent partizan in favour of the
Gomarists, in the year 1625, the Arminian
exiles were restored to their former reputation
and tranquillity ; and, under the toleration of
the state, they erected churches, and founded
a college at Amsterdam, appointing Episco-
pius the first theological professor. The
Arminian system has very much prevailed
in England since the time of Archbishop
Laud, and its votaries in other countries are
very numerous. It is generally allowed
that a majority of the clergy in both the
established churches of Great Britain favour
the Arminian system, notwithstanding their
articles are strictly Calvinistic.
For the early histo of Arminianism, the
reader may consult— eta Synodi Dordrectiti,
Lug. Bat. fol. 1620, which gives the Calvin-
istic account of it; and, Acta et Scripta.
Synodalz'a Dordrectitana, Werder, 1620, 4t0.
which gives the Arminian account; Scott:
Articles Qf the Synod qf Dart, L0nd.; and
I
ARM
ARN
54-
Nichols’s Calvinism and Arminianism Com-
pared, Lond., 1824, 2 vols. 8vo, a work
strangely put together, but which, apart from
the violence of the author, contains a great
deal of information.
Some of the principal writers on the side
of the Arminians have been Arminius, Epis-
copius, Vorstius, Grotius, Curcellaaus,Limborch,
Le Clerc, Wetstein, Goodwin, Whitby, Taylor,
Fletcher, 850.
Some of the principal writers on the other
side have been Polhill, in his Book on the
Decrees ,- John Edwards in his Veritas Redux;
Cole in his Sovereignty of God ; Edwards on
the Will, and Original Sin,- Dr. Owen in his
Display of Arminianism, and on Particular
Redemption; Gill in his Cause of God and
Truth ,- and Toplady in almost all his works.
ARMINIUS, JAMES, the founder of the sect
called Arminians, was born at Oude-water,
in Holland, in 1560. Having lost his father
when very young, a clergyman kindly under-
took his education, during the first few years
of his life, till he went to the universit at
Utrecht. There he staid till death depnved
him of his protector; and then he would
have been entirely friendless, had not another
gentleman kindly become his patron, and
took him to Marpurg, in 1575. He had
not arrived at that place long when he heard
that his country had been sacked by the
Spaniards. The circumstance deprived him
at once of a mother, brothers, and a sister,
besides the inhabitants, who had all fallen
victims. He was sent, in 1583, to Geneva,
to perfect himself in his various studies, and
there he applied himself chiefly to the lectures
of the distinguished Theodore Beza, who was
at that time explaining the Epistle to the
Romans. Being compelled to retire to
Basil, on account of his embracing the
doctrines of Ramus in public, he acquired
so great a reputation, that the faculty of
divinity ofi'ered him the degree of doctor,
without his incurring any expense, but which
he modestly refused. Arminius had a great
desire to visit Italy, and to hear the philo-
sophical lectures of the famous James Zaba-
rella, at Padua. That desire he gratified,
and spent six or seven months on the journey.
On his return to Geneva and Amsterdam,
he was much reprobated for going to Italy;
but this in time he overcame, and was or-
dained minister at Amsterdam in 1588, and
very soon distinguished himself by the
excellence of his sermons, which were re-
markable for their judgment and piety.
1-1 is ministry was much followed, and he was
greatly beloved. Martin Lydius, professor
of divinity at Franeker, thought him very
capable of refuting the contents of a work
wherein the doctrine of predestination had
been attacked by some ministers of Delft.
He accordingly undertook the task, but on
weighing the arguments on both sides, he
embraced the very opinions he meant to
confute. In 1603, he was called to the pro-
fessorship of Leyden, and began his lectures
with three elegant orations: the first, on the
object of theology; the second, on the author
and end of it; and the third, on the certainty
of it: and then proceeded to the exposition
of the prophet Jonah. In all his lectures he
was attended by a numerous audience, who
admired the strength of his arguments, and
were astonished at the great learning which
he displayed. This exposed him to the
envy of his brethren, who treated him with
harshness and cruelty. Disputes on the doc-
trines of grace were at that time kindling
into a flame in the university, and the states
of the province were obliged to appoint con-
ferences between Arminius and his adver-
saries. Gomarus was his greatest opponent.
In 1607, he, however, wrote a letter to the
ambassador of the Elector Palatine, to vindi-
cate his conduct with regard to the contests
he was engaged in. These controversies,
however, his continual labour, and his un~
easiness at seeing his reputation blasted by
aspersions and slanders, threw him into a fit
of illness, which terminated his life on the
19th of October, 1609. Arminius was an
energetic minister. His voice was firm, but
moderately low; and his conversation such
as became a Christian. While it was pious
and judicious, it was intermixed with that
politeness of conduct and elegance of manners
which delights the young, and insures the
approbation and esteem of the aged. His
enemies, indeed, endeavoured to represent
him in the most disadvantageous light; but
his memory has been sufficiently vindicated
by men of the greatest distinction and emi-
nence; and in spite of all the malevolence and
enmity of his antagonists, his character was
in very many points highly commendable.
and deserving of imitation.
ARNDT, JOHN, a Lutheran minister, of
distinguished piety, whose work, entitled
True Christianity, has been translated into
many languages, and obtained a most extensive
circulation. He was born at Ballenstedt in
Anhalt, in 1555, and died in 1621, at Zelle.
after having ofiiciated in various places, and
suffered persecution both from the Lutherans
and the Calvinists. A few hours before his
death, he preached from Ps. cxxvi. 5, “ They
that sow in tears shall reap in joy ;” and on
arriving at his house, he spoke of it as his
funeral sermon. The influence of his writings,
in fostering a spirit of seriousness in religion,
is perhaps unequalled.
ARNOBIUS, about an). 300, a teacher of
rhetoric at Sicca Veneria, in Numidia; and.
in 303, became a Christian. While yet a
catechumen, he wrote seven books, Adversus
Gentes, in which he defended the Christian
religion, and showed the folly and absurdity
of heathcnism, with great spirit and learning,
ART
ART
55
though his knowledge of the truth appears to
have been somewhat defective.
ARNOLDISTS, the followers of Arnold of
Brescia, in the twelfth century, who was a
great declaimer against the wealth and vices
of the clergy. He is also charged with
preaching against baptism and the eucharist.
He was burnt at Rome in 1155, and his ashes
cast into the Tiber.
ARRHABONARII, a sect who held that the
eucharist is neither the real flesh or blood
of Christ, nor yet the sign of them, but only
the pledge or earnest thereof‘.
ARTEMON, a heretic of the third century,
who denied the divinity of Christ, and de-
clared that he was nothing more than a mere
man. His adherents, chiefly at Rome, in
the diocese of which he lived, seem also to
have spread in Syria; but in the latter half
of the century they were confounded with
other opponents of the doctrine of the Tri-
nity. The name Artemonz'us was assumed, in
1726, by Samuel Crell, an antagonist of the
same doctrine, and one of the Polish Bre-
thren; but he retracted his errors before his
death.
ARTEMONITES, those who held the tenets
of Artemon, and sometimes those generally
who are Socinian in the views which they
entertain respecting the nature of Christ.
ARTICLE or FAITH, is a point of Christian
doctrine which we are obliged to believe as
having been revealed 'by God, and which is
generally allowed and established as such.
See CONFESSIONS.
ARTICLES, Frvn, or PERTH, to which
James I., by intrigues and threatenings, pro-
cured the sanction of the General Assembly
and the Scottish Parliament. They were,—
lst. Kneeling at the sacrament. 2d. Private
communion. 3d. Private baptism. 4th. Con-
firmation of children; and, 5th. The obser-
vation of holydays.
ARTICLES or SMALCALD, certain articles
drawn up at that place by Luther, on occa-
sion of the meeting of the electors, princes,
and states. They were principally designed
to show how far the Lutherans were disposed
to go in order to avoid a final rupture, and in
what sense they were willing to adopt the
doctrine of Christ’s presence in the eucharist.
The terms in which they are expressed are
somewhat dubious, and not so harsh and irri-
tatin as those employed in the Confession,
the pology, and the Form of Concord.
AnTIcLEs, LAMBETH.———The Lambeth arti-
cles were so called, because drawn up at
Lambeth palace, under the eye and with the
assistance of Archbishop Whitgift, Bishop
Bancroft, Bishop Vaughan, and other eminent
dignitaries of the church. That the reader
may judge how Calvinistic the clergy were
under the reign of ‘Queen Elizabeth, we shall
here insert them. . “ 1. God bath, from eter-
nity, predestinated certain persons to life, and
hath reprobated certain persons unto death.
2. The moving or eflicient cause of predesti-
nation unto life is not the foresight of faith, or
of perseverance, or of good works, or of any
thing that is in the persons predestinated;
but the alone will of God’s good pleasure.
3. The predestinati are a predetermined and
certain number, which can neither be lessened
nor increased. 4. Such as are not predesti-
nated to salvation shall inevitably be con-
demned on account of their sins. 5. The
true, lively, and justifying faith, and the
Spirit of God justifying, is not extinguished,
doth not utterly fail, doth not vanish away in
the elect, either finally or totally. 6. A true
believer, that is, one who is endued with jus-
tifying faith, is certified by the full assurance
of faith that his sins are forgiven, and that
he shall be everlastingly saved by Christ.
7. Saving grace is not allowed, is not im~
parted, is not granted to all men, by which
they may be saved if they will. 8. No man
is able to come to Christ, unless it be given
him, and unless the Father draw him; and
all men are not drawn by the Father, that
they may come to his Son. 9. It is not in
the will or power of every man to besaved.”
What gave occasion to the framing these
articles was this :—Some persons had distin~
guished themselves at the university of Cam~
bridge by opposing predestination. Alarmed
at the opinions that were vented, the above-
mentioned archbishop, with others, composed
these articles, to prevent the belief of a con-
trary doctrine. These, when completed, were
sent down to Cambridge, to which the scho-
lars were strictly enjoined to conform.
ARTICLES, SIx, an act which passed both
houses of parliament, and obtained the assent
of Henry VIII., by which the whole body of
popery was restored, and which consisted of
the following points :—That in the sacra-
ment of the altar, after the consecration, there
remaineth no substance of bread and wine,
but the natural body and blood of Christ;
that communion in both kinds is not neces-
sary; that priests, according to the law of
God, may not marry; that vows of chastity
ought to be observed; that private masses
ought to be continued; and that auricular
confession is expedient and necessary, and
ought to be retained in the church. Arch-
bishop Cranmer made a noble stand against
this act while it was vpassing the House of
Lords, and disputed every inch of ground,
but all his efforts were inefi‘ectual.
ARTICLES, THIRTY-virus, of the church of
England, were founded, for the most part,
upon a body of articles compiled and pub-
lished in the reign of Edward VI.- They
were first passed in the convocation, and
confirmed by royal authority in 1562. ‘They
were ratified anew in 1571, and asam by
Charles I. To these the law requires the
subscription of all persons ordained to be dea-
A S C
5
ASC
6
- 20th; and in the case of Anabaptists, except
- church was a stranger to the ridiculous pa-
cons or priests (l3 Eliz. cap. 12) ; of all cler-
gymen inducted to any ecclesiastical living
(by the same statute); of licensed lecturers
and curates (13 Eliz. cap. 12 and 13 ; and 14
Ch. II. cap. 4); of the heads of colleges, of
chancellors, ofiicials and commissaries, and
of schoolmasters. ' By stat. William III. cap.
10, dissenting teachers are to subscribe to all
except the 34th, 35th, 36th, and part of the
also part of the 27th. By the 19th Geo. 111.,
cap. 44, however, dissenting preachers need
only profess in writing to be Christians and
Protestants, and that they believe the Scrip-
tures to be the revealed will of God; and
schoolmasters need neither sign the articles
nor such professions.
ARTOTYBITES, a Christian sect in the pri-
mitive church, who celebrated the eucharist
with bread and cheese. The word is derived
from aprog, “ bread,” and 'rvpog, “ cheese.”
The Artotyrites admitted women to the
priesthood and episcopacy; and Epiphanius
tells us that it was a common thing to see
seven girls at once enter into their church,
robed in white, and holding a torch in their
hand; where they wept and bewailed. the
wretchedness of human nature, and the mi-
series of this life.
AscENsIoN DAY, a festival in memory of
Jesus Christ’s ascending up into heaven, after
his resurrection, in his human nature, and in
the presence of his disciples. The Cappado-
cian Christians called this festival by the;
name of Episozomene, perhaps because on that i
day our salvation was perfected, Jesus Christ ‘
having finished the business of his mission,
and returned back to heaven. The ancient

geantry mentioned by Hospinian to have been
used in some places, to represent Christ’s
ascension into heaven; namely, the drawing
up an image of Christ to the roof of the
church, and then .casting down the image of
Satan, in flames, to represent his falling as
lightning from heaven.
The ceremonies on the festival of the As-
cension, in the Romish church, are as fol-
low :-'—After the gospel, the paschal taper is
put out, to denote that on that day our Saviour
left the earth, and returned to heaven. The
altar is adorned with flowers, images, and re-
lies; upon which occasion the officiating
priest, and his attendants, are robed in their
white ornaments. The blessing which the
pope pronounces on that day is one of the
three solemn ones: anciently he used to ex-
communicate the heretics on this day, but
that ceremony is now confined to Holy
Thursday.
Eusebius relates, as a received tradition,
that near the place from whence our Saviour
ascended into heaven (which was the highest
part of the mount of Olives) there was a cave 4
in which our Lord communicated the most

hidden mysteries of his doctrine to his disci-
ples before his ascension.
The author of the treatise (under the name
of Jerome) on the places mentioned in the
Acts, afiirms that Jesus Christ, when he as-
cended up into heaven, left the print of his
feet on the ground, and that the marks con-
tinued ever after, notwithstanding that the
faithful every day carried away the earth of
that place to. preserve it out of devotion.
And Austin aflirms, that the Christians used
to travel into J udea, to adore the footsteps of
Jesus Christ, at the place from whence he
ascended into heaven.
To this pretended miracle another is added,
--which is, that the Empress Helena having
built the magnificent church of the Ascen-
sion, in the midst of which is this spot of
ground, when the workmen would have co-
vered it with a marble pavement like the
rest, they could not effect it, whatever they
laid upon the place immediately quitting it.
This festival was celebrated at Jerusalem
in the eighth century, with so. great a num-
ber of lights, in this church of the Ascension,
that it seemed as if the whole mount of Olives
was on fire. Bede, who relates this, adds,
that on this festival, there always came so
strong a wind after the mass, that it threw
down all who were at that time in the church.
What will not credulity believe?
AseE'rIcs, such as inured themselves to
greater degrees of abstinence and fasting than
other men; as those mentioned by Origen,
who abstained from flesh and living crea-
tures, in order to mortify and subdue their
passions. Such abstinence the apostolical
canons call dalcnatg, the exercise of an ascetic
life. So that all who abstained from flesh,
on account of mortification, not out of an
opinion of its uncleanness (as some heretics
did), were called Ascetics. The same appel-
lation was given to those, who were more
than ordinarily intent on the exercises of
prayer and devotion, Accordingly Cyril of
Jerusalem calls the prophetess Anna, who
departed not from the temple, but served
God night and day, 'Amcfirpza sz'lkaflw'rdrn,
the most religious ascetic. In short, every
kind of uncommon piety and virtue laid
claim to the name. Whence it appears that
the ascetics were not originally the same
with monks, as Baronius, and the generality
of the Romish writers pretend they were.
Ascetics had been long in the church; but
the monastic life was not known till towards
the fourth centur . The difference between
ascetics and mon s is this :—-1. The monks
were men who retired from the business and
‘ conversation of the world to some distant
mountain, or desert wilderness; but the first
ascetics were men of an active life, living in
, cities as other men, and difl'ering from them
only in the heights to which they carried
their virtue. 2. The monks were to be only
ASH
ASS
57
‘and presbyters at the
laymen; but the ascetics were indifi'erently
of any order. 3. The monks were tied up to
certain rules and laws of discipline; but the
ancient ascetics were governed by no laws
but those of the gospel. In short, though
every monk is an ascetic, every ascetic is not
a monk; the former appellation being of a
more general import than the latter.
A monastery has sometimes the name
Asceterium given it. The college of Under-
takers (Funerarii), founded by the emperor
Anastasius, in which eight monks, and three
acolythists, were employed in burying the
dead, was also called by this name; as ap-
pears from the confirmation of it by the em-
peror Justinian.
Asoonnoorrns, a denomination which arose
about the year 181. They brought into their
churches bags or skins filled with new wine,
to represent the new bottles filled with new
wine, mentioned by Christ. They danced
round these bags or skins, and, it is said, in-
toxicated themselves with the wine.
vAseoonnU'rEs, a sect, in the second cen-
tury, who rejected the use of all symbols and
sacraments on this principle, that incorporeal
things cannot be communicated by things
corporeal, nor divine mysteries by any thing
visible.
ASH-WEDNESDAY, the first day of Lent.
It is so calledv from the custom observed in
the ancient church, of penitents expressing
their humiliation at this time, by appearing
in sackcloth and ashes. But it is not certain
that this was always done precisely on Ash-
Wednesday, there being a perfect silence in
the most ancient writers about it. The disci-
pline used towards penitents in Lent, as de-
scribed by Gratian, differed from their treat-
ment at other times ; for on Ash-Wednesday
they were presented to the bishop, clothed in
sackcloth, and barefooted: then the seven
penitential psalms were sung; after which the
bishop laid his hands on them, sprinkled them
with holy water, and poured ashes upon their
heads; declaring to them that as Adam was
cast out of paradise, so they, for their sins,
were cast out of the church. Then the in-
ferior ministers expelled them out of the
doors of the church. In the end of Lent, on
the Thursday before Easter, they were again
presented for reconciliation by the deacons
ates of the church.
But this method of treating penitents in Lent
carries with it the marks of a more modern
practice ; for ‘there was no use of holy water
in the ancient discipline; nor seven peniten-
tial psalms in their service, but only one, viz.
the fifty-first. Neither was Ash-Wednesday
anciently the first day of Lent, till Gregory
the Great first added it to Lent, to make the
number of fasting days completely forty,
which before were but thirty-six. Nor does
It appear that anciently the time of imposing
penance was confined to the beginning of
Lent, but was granted at all times, whenever
the bishop thought the penitent qualified for
it. In Rome the spectacle on this occasion
is most ridiculous. After giving themselves
up to all kinds of gaiety and licentiousness,
during the carnival, till twelve o’clock on the
Tuesday night, the people go on Ash-Wed-
nesday morning into the churches, when the
ofliciating priests put ashes on their heads,
repeating the words, “ Dust thou art, and
unto dust thou shalt return.”
The want of this discipline in the English
church is at present supplied by reading pub-
licly, on Ash-Wednesday, the curses denoun-
ced in the holy Scriptures against several
sorts of sins, the people repeating, after each
curse, Amen.
ASMONZEAN DYNASTY, the family of the
Maccabees, who, after successfully opposing
the kings of Syria, established the indepen-
dence of their country; and, uniting in the
persons of their princes the pontifical and
kingly dignity, conducted the affairs of the
regenerated state for a period of a hundred
and twenty-six years. It lost its influence in
the year 39 13.0., when J udea was reduced by
the Romans to a military province.
ASSEMBLIES on THE CLEBGY are called
convocations, synods, councils.‘ The annual
meeting of the church of Scotland is called a
General Assembly. In this assembly his
Majesty is represented by his commissioner,
who dissolves one meeting and calls another
in the name of the king, while the moderator
does the same in the name of Jesus Christ.
See CONVOCATION, PRESBYTERIANS.
ASSEMBLY or Drvmns, a synod convoked
at Westminster on the first of July, 1643, by
an “ ordinance of the Lords and Commons in
Parliament ; .for settling the government and
liturgy of the church of England.” It con-
sisted of a hundred and twenty clergymen,
and sixty laymen, chosen from the most
learned and pious persons in the nation.
Commissioners were sent from the General
Assembly of the church of Scotland to co-
operate with them. There existing among
them great unanimity as to doctrinal senti-
ments, they agreed to publish the celebrated
Confession of Faith, and Larger and Shorter
Catechisms, which were ratified and adopted
by the kirk of Scotland, and continue to be
its standards to the present day. The latter
are also used for the instruction of children
by a large proportion of English Dissenters.
On subjects of church government and disci-
pline the members of the Assembly differed so
widely from each other, that they could agree
on no common system: some being Jure
divino prelatists, some solemn-leaguejand-
covenant presbyterians, some tolerating inde-
pendents, and some latitudinarian erastians.
It, therefore, broke up without accomplishing
the principal end for which it was convened.
AssEN'r, that act of the mind whereby it
A'SS
ASS
58
takes or acknowledges any proposition to be
true or false. There are three de rees of as-
sent :—conjecturc, opinion, and be iefi Con-
jecture is but a slight and weak inclination
to assent to the thing proposed, by reason of
the weighty‘ objections that lie against it.
Opinion is -a more steady and fixed assent,
when a man is almost certain, though yet
some fear of the contrary remains with him.
Belief is a more full and assured assent to the
truth. See BELIEF.
ASSIDEANS. See HASSDEANS.
ASSUMPTION, a festival in the Romish
church, in honour of the pretended miracul-
ous ascent of the Virgin, body and soul, into
heaven. It was established in the seventh
century, and fixed to the 15th of August.
The assumption of Mary was not always a
point of faith ; the ancient martyrologies
speak of it with very great reserve, as a thing
notfully ascertained; yet is it at present uni-
verally believed in the Romish church, and a
divine who should deny it would be obliged
to retract.
Some authors relate that the apostles, who
had separated in order to propagate the gos-
pel, met all together at the solemnity of the
Virgin’s funeral. The pretended Dionysius
Arcopagita gives us a list of all those who
were present. J uvenal, bishop of Jerusalem,
Andreas Cretensis, and John Damascene, be-
lieved that the apostles were wrapped in a
cloud and wafted through the air by an angel,
and set down at Gethsemane, the place of
her interment. After she had been buried
three days, Thomas, happening to come thi-
ther from Ethiopia, desired to see the Vir-
gin’s face one more; but, when the grave-
stone, to satisfy his curiosity, was removed,
they found nothing but clothes ; which made
them conclude that our Saviour had rescued
this holy body from the state of corruption,
and given it the privilege of immortality.
The Greek church celebrates the festival of
the Assumption on the 15th of August: con-
cerning the original of which festival, the
Greeks relate the following story.
Three days after the sleeping of the Mother
of God, (for the Greeks call this festival Dor-
mitio Deiparoa) the apostles being assembled
together, according to a custom established
among them from the day of their Lord’s
ascension, deposited a piece of bread on a
cushion, to distinguish both the dignity and
seat of their master. While they were assem-
bled together, the room on a sudden was filled
with an unusual light, and the Virgin appeared
to them, surrounded with rays of glory, and
attended by a numerous host of angels. At
her entrance, she paid her respects to the apos-
tles, and said to them, “ God be with you; I
will never leave you,‘ nor forsake you. ’ The
apostles, surprised and transported, replied,
“ 0, ever blessed Virgin-Mother of God, grant
us thy aid!” After that the Virgin vanished
out of their sight. The apostles thereupon
cried out, “ The Queen is ascended into heaven,
and there sits on the right hand of her Son!”
In commemoration of this event, the Greeks,
on this festival, deliver a loaf, three lighted
wax-tapers, some incense, and fire, into the
hands of the priest, who cuts off the crust
of the loaf in the form of a triangle, sets the
three wax tapers upon the crust, and then
thurifies, and blesses the bread. Afterwards
he delivers the bread to the youngest person
then present, who distributes it among the
whole congregation.
On this festival likewise, they perform the
ceremony of the benediction of their lands,
by virtue of a small bough, with three leaves
upon it, some gum, a little wax, and a sprig
of a strawberry herb, blessed by the priest,
and planted afterwards in the middle of their
grounds.
There was an apocryphal book, intituled
The Assumption of Moses. It was written in
Hebrew, and contains an account of the death
of Moses, and the conveyance of his soul to
paradise. It is believed that the particulars
of the angel Michael’s contention with the
devil about the body of Moses was taken from
this work.
There was also an apocryphal book, intituled
The Assumption of the Virgin, of which John
the Evangelist was said to be the author.
ASSURANCE is the firm persuasion we have
of the certainty of any thing, or a certain ex-
pectation of something future.
Assurance of the Understanding is a well-
grounded knowledge of divine things founded
on God’s word. Col. ii. 2.——Assurance of Faith
does not relate to our personal interest in
Christ, but consists in a firm belief of the
revelation that God has given us of Christ in
his word, with an entire dependence on him.
Heb. x. 22.—-Assurance of Hope is a firm ex-
pectation that God will grant us the complete
enjo ment of whathe has promised. Heb. vi. 11.
The doctrine of assurance, i. e. the belief
that we have a personal or actual interest in the
Divine favour, has afforded matter for dispute
among divines. Some have asserted that it is
not to be obtained in the present state, allow-
ing that persons may be in a hopeful way to
salvation, but that they have no real or abso-
lute assurance of it; but this is clearly refuted
by fact as well as by Scripture. That it is to
be obtained is evident, for we have reason to
believe many persons have actually obtained
it. Job xix. 25. Psal. xvii. 15. 2 Tim. i.
12. The Scriptures exhort us to obtain it.
2 Cor. xiii. 5. Heb. vi. 11. 1 Thess. v. 21.
The Holy Spirit is said to bear witness of it.
Rom. viii. 16. The exercise of the Christian
graces is considered as a proof of it. 1 John
ii. 3 ; iii. 14. We must, however, guard
against presumption; for a mere persuasion
that Christ is ours, is no proof that he is so.
We must have evidence before we can. have
ASS
ATH
59
genuine assurance. It is necessary to observe
also, that it is not a duty imposed upon all
mankind, so that every one, in whatsoever
state he may he, ought to be fully persuaded
of his salvation. “ We do not afiirm,” says
Saurin, “that Christians, of whose sincerity
there may be some doubt, have a right to
assurance; that backsliders, as such, ought to
persuade themselves that they shall be saved;
nor do we say that Christians who have ar-
rived to the highest degree of holiness can be
persuaded of the certainty of their salvation
in every period of their lives; nor, if left to
their own efforts, can they enjoy it; but be-
lievers, supported by the Divine aid, who
walk in all good conscience before him, these
only have ground to expect this privilege.”
Some divines have maintained that assur-
ance is included in the very essence of faith,
so that a man cannot have faith without assur-
ance; but we must distinguish between assur-
ance and justifying faith. The apostle, indeed,
speaks of the full assurance of faith; but then
this is a full and firm persuasion of what the
Gospel reveals ; whereas the assurance we
are speaking of relates to our personal inter-
est in Christ, and is an effect of this faith, and
not faith itself. Faith in Christ certainly in-
cludes some idea of assurance; for except we
be assured that he is the Saviour, we shall
never go to or rely upon him as such: but
faith in Christ does not imply an assurance of
our interest in him; for there may be faith
long before the assurance of personal interest
commences. The confounding of these ideas
has been the cause of presumption on the one
hand, and despair on the other. When men
have been taught that faith consists in believ-
in g that Christ died for them, and been assured
that if they can only believe so, all is well,
and that then they are immediately pardoned
and justified, the consequence has been, that
the bold and self-conceited have soon wrought
themselves up to such a persuasion, without
any ground for it, to their own deception;
whilst the dejected, humble, and poor in spirit,
not being able to work themselves to such a
pitch of confidence, have concluded that they
have not the faith of God’s elect, and must
inevitably be lost.
The means to attain assurance are not those
of an extraordinary kind, as some people
imagine ; such as visions, dreams, voices, &c.,
but such as are ordinary: self-examination,
humble and constant prayer, consulting the
sacred oracles, Christian communication, at-
tendance on the divine ordinances, and per-
severance in the path of duty ; without which
all our assurance is but presumption, and our
profession but hypocrisy.
Assurance may be lost for a season through
bodily diseases which depress the spirits, un-
watchfulness, falling into sin, manifold tempt-
ations, worldly cares, and neglect of private
duty. Let him, therefore, who would wish
to enjoy this privilege, cultivate communion
with God, exercise a watchful spirit against
his spiritual enemies, and give himself unre—
servedly to Him whose he is, and whom he
professes to serve. See Saurz'n’s Ser. vol. iii.
ser. 10, Eng. ed.; Case’s Sermons, ser. l3;
Lambert’s Ser. on John ix. 35; Hervey’s Tlze-
ron and Aspasio, dialogue 17 ; Howe’s W’orks,
vol. i. pp. 342, 348 ; Brooks, Burgess, Roberts,
Baxter, Ballet”, and Davy on Assurance; Home
801., vol. ii. p. 269; Wardlaw’s Essays on
Assurance and Pardon ,- Modem Fanatieism
Unveiled.
ASSURANCE, THE, 3. test fixed by the par-
liament in 1680, when it repealed the Act of
Supremacy in Scotland, and established pres-
bytery, by which all that should be elected to
fill any vacancy that should happen in parlia-
ment, were obliged to declare before God,
that they believed William and Mary to be
King and Queen de jure as well as de facto,
and engaged to defend their title as such.
The same, together with the oath of Allegiance,
was required to be signed by all in any public
trust or office, civil, military, or ecclesiastical.
ASYLUM, a place of refuge among the
ancients, such as the temples and statues of
the gods, from which it was deemed an act of
impiety forcibly to remove any who had fled
to it for protection. The custom passed over
into the professedly Christian world. Under
Constantine the Great, all the churches were
asylums for those who were pursued by the
ofiieers of justice or the violence of their ene-
mies. The younger Theodosius extended
the privilege to all courts, gardens, walks,
and houses belonging to the churches. The
Fragpks confirmed the privilege; and in 681
the Synod of Toledo extended the limits to
thirty paces from every church. This eccle-
siastical privilege has since prevailed in all
Catholic countries. It remained inviolate at
least in Italy, while the papal government
retained its independence ; but in modern
times it has been abolished in most countries.
The late Pope Leo X., however, on his acces- '
sion to the apostolical see, re-established the
asylums, which had been put down by his
predecessor, Pius VII.; the principal conse—
quence of which was, the affording to the
robbers in the papal dominions abetter oppor-
tunity to escape the pursuit of the Austrian
troops.
ATHANASIAN CREED. A formulary, or
confession of faith, said to have been drawn
up by Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria, in
the fourth century, to justify himself against
the calumnies of his Arian enemies. Gregory
Nazianzen calls it a royal gift, which he
presented to the emperor, received with great
veneration both in the East and T'Vest.
Most writers, before Vossius, took it for
granted that this creed was really Athanasius’s,
but that learned critic endeavoured to show
that it was not his; that it was originally a
A T H
ATH
60
_ which it now bears.
Latin composition, and by a Latin author;
that it cannot be carried higher than the year
600; and that the first time it was cited as
Athanasius’s was by the legates of Gregory
IX. at Constantinople, in the year 1233. But
the learned Usher contends, that it was cited
as Athanasius’s almost 400 years before the
time of Pope Gregory’s legates ; and he scru-
pled not to set the date of it higher than the
year 447. Paschasius Quesnel, an eminent
French divine, ascribes this creed to Vigilius
Tapsensis, the African, in the fifth century; 5
in which opinion he has almost drawn the
whole learned world after him. However it
be, and whoever was the author of it, that
this creed is of great antiquity appears from a
cloud of ancient testimonies.
As to its reception in the Christian churches,
we find that it obtained in France in the time
of Hincmar, or about 850; that it was re-
ceived in Spain about a hundred years later
than in France, and in Germany much about
the same time. As to our own country, we
have clear and positive proofs of its being
sung alternately in the churches in the tenth
century. It was in common use in some
parts of Italy, particularly in the diocese of
Verona, about the year 960, and was received
Greek and Oriental churches, it has been
questioned whether any of them received it
at all ; though some very considerable writers
are of a contrary persuasion.
Dr. Waterland, after endeavouring to show
that this creed must have been composed
earlier than the times of Nestorius, or the
Ephesine council of the year-431,-—'because,
among other reasons, it does not condemn
the Nestorian heresy in such full, direct,
and critical terms as the Catholics found to
be necessary against the wiles and subtleties
of those men,-—thinks none more likely to
compose such a creed, than Hilary, bishop
of Arles, a celebrated man of that time, and
of chief repute in the Gallican church. His
reasons are, 1. Because Hilary was made
bishop in Gaul about the year 429. 2. He
was aman of great parts and capacity. 3. Ho-
noratus of Marseilles, the writer of his life,
tells us that Hilary composed an Exposition
of the Creed ,- a more proper title for the
Athanasian, than that of Creed, simply,
4. Hilary was a great
admirer and follower of Austin; and the
whole composition of this creed is in a
manner upon Austin’s plan, both with res-
pect to the Trinity and incarnation. 5. It is
agreeable to the style of Hilary, as far as we
can judge from the little that is left of his
works. He concludes from these reasons;
that Hilary, bishop of Arles,'about the year
430, composed The Exposztz'on of Ruth,
which now bears the name of the Athanasian
Creed, for the use of the Gallican clergy, and
particularly those of the diocese of Arles:
that about the year 570, it became famous
enough to be commented upon; but that all
this while, and for several years lower, it
had not yet acquired the name of Athanasian,
but was simply styled The Catholib Faith;
that before 670, Athanasius’s admired name
came in to recommend and adorn it, being in
itself an excellent system of the Athanasian
principles of the Trinity and incarnation, in
opposition chiefly to the Arians, Macedonians,
and Apollinarians. '
ATHANASIUS, the reputed author of the
above creed, and the celebrated defender and
advocate of the orthodox doctrine of the
Trinity. He was born in Alexandria, about
the year 290, where he had a Christian edu-
cation, and came into the family of Alexander,
afterwards archbishop of Alexandria, who
appointed him to be his secretary. He
next went 'to St. Anthony, with whom he
led for some time an ascetic life, but at
length returned to Alexandria, where he
became a deacon. By Alexander he was
taken to the Council of Nice, where he ac-
quired the highest esteem of the fathers there
assembled, by the talents which he displayed in
the Arian controversy. He had a great hand
i in the decrees that were then passed, which
at Rome about the year 1014. As to the‘
circumstance brought on him the hatred of
the Arians. In the course of six months
he was appointed the successor of Alexander;
but the complaints and accusations of his
enemies induced the Emperor Constantine
to summon him, in 334, before the Councils
of Tyre and Jerusalem. Having brought
to light the iniquitous arts which had been
practised against him, he threw his judges,
who were likewise his enemies, into such
confusion, that the imperial deputies could,
with difliculty, rescue him from their anger.
But they could only formally suspend him
from his ofiice. He continued to perform its
duties till the emperor, deceived by new
falsehoods, banished him to Treves. The
death, however, of Constantine put an end
to this banishment, at the end of one year
and a few months. He was recalled by Con-
stantius, and his entrance into Alexandria
resembled a triumph. Having again been
condemned by an assembly of ninety Arian
bishops, assembled at Antioch, his cause was
taken up, and he was declared innocent by
a hundred orthodox bishops, who met at
Alexandria ;--a sentence which was con-
firmed by Pope Julius, in conjunction with
more than three hundred bishops, both of‘ the
east and the west, assembled at Sardis. In
the reign of Constans, he was condemned a
third time in the councils of Arles and Milan,
and obliged to flee into the remotest part of
the Egyptian deserts, where he addicted
himself to study, and composed most of his
writings. He returned again under Julian
the Apostate, who had given liberty to the
exiled orthodox bishops to return to their
ATH
ATH
61
dioceses; but was soon re-banished; was
brought back on the accession of Jovian, but
once more compelled to flee, in the reign of
Valens, when he concealed himself four months
in the tomb of his father, till, the influence of
the inhabitants of Alexandria at length pre-
vailing, he was permitted to return, and after
a life of perpetual vicissitude, to spend his
few remaining days in tranquillity. He died
in 373, after filling the episcopal office forty-
six years.
Athanasius was certainly one of the great-
est men of whom orthodoxy can boast. His
penetrating mind, his noble and generous
disposition, his invincible courage, hlS hvmg
faith, his unbounded benevolence, sincere
humility, lofty eloquence, and strictly virtuous
life, procured him the esteem and love of all,
excepting those whose bigoted attachment to
the tenets which he opposed prevented them
from perceiving or acknowledging his excel-
.ences. His writings are on polemical, his-
torical, and moral subjects. The polemical
treat chiefly of the doctrines of the Trinity,
the incarnation of Christ, and the divinity
of the Holy Spirit. His style is distinguished,
considering the age in which he wrote, by its
perspicuity and moderation. His Apology,
addressed to Constantine, is a masterpiece.
The best edition of his works is that of
Montfaucon, 3 vols. fol. Paris, 1698.
A'rnnrs'r, from the Greek a, privative,
and Geog, God, one who denies the existence
‘of God :—-this is called speculative atheism.
Professing to believe in ‘God, and yet- acting
contrary to ‘this belief, is called practical
atheism. Absurd and irrational as atheism
is, it has had its votaries and martyrs. In
the seventeenth century, Spinosa, a foreigner,
was its noted defender. Lucilio Vanini, a
native of Naples, also publicly taught atheism
in France; and being convicted of it at
Toulouse, was, in the spirit of the times,
condemned and executed in 1619. It has
been questioned, however, whether any man
ever seriously adopted such a principle. The
pretensions to it have been generally founded
on pride or afi‘ectation; and it has always
been found to prevail most in degenerate
times, as among the Greeks, after Pericles,
and among the Romans, after Augustus.
The open avowal of atheism too by several
of the leading members of the French Con-
vention, seems to have been an extraordinary
moral phenomenon, but may be traced to
similar causes. It was, however, too vague
and uncomfortable a principle to last long.
Archbishop Tillotson justly observes, that
speculative atheism is unreasonable upon five
accounts :—-1. Because it gives no tolerable
~ account of the existence of the world. 2. It
does not give any reasonable account of the
universal consent of mankind in this appre-
hension, that there is a God. 3. It requires
more evidence for things than they are
capable of giving. 4. The atheist pretends
to know that which no man can know. 5.
Atheism contradicts itself. Under the first
of these he thus argues :—“I appeal to any
man of reason whether any thing can be
more unreasonable than obstinately to impute
an effect to chance which carries in the very
face of it all the arguments and characters of
a wise design and contrivance? Was ever
any considerable work, in which there was
required a great variety of parts, and a
regular and orderly disposition of those
parts, done by chance P Will chance fit
means to ends, and that in ten thousand in-
stances, and not fail in any one? How often
might a man, after he had jumbled a set of
letters in a bag, fling them out upon the ground
before they would fall into an exact poem—-
yea, or so much as make a good discourse
in prose? and may not a little book be as
easily made by chance as the great volume
of the world P How long might a man
be in spr'mkling colours upon canvas with a
careless hand, before they would happen to
make the exact picture of a man? And is
a man easier made by chance than his pic-
ture P How long might twenty thousand
blind men, who should be sent out from
several remote parts of England, wander up
and down before they would all meet on
Salisbury Plain, and fall into rank and file
in the exact order of an army? And, yet,
this is much more easy to be imagined than
how the innumerable blind parts of matter
should rendezvous themselves into a world.
A man that sees Henry the Seventh’s Chapel
at Westminster, might with as good reason
maintain (yea, with much better, considering
the vast difference between that little structure
and the huge fabric of the world) that it was
never contrived or built by any means, but
that the stones did by chance grow into those
curious figures into which they seem to have
been cut and graven; and that upon a time
(as tales usually begin) the materials of that
building, the stone, mortar, timber, iron, lead,
and glass, happily met together, and very
fortunately ranged themselves into that deli-
cate order in which we see them now so
closely compacted, that it must be a very
great chance that parts them again. What
would the world think of a man that should
advance such an opinion as this, and write
a book for it? If they would do him right,
they ought to look upon him as mad; but
yet with a little more reason than any man
can have, to say that the world was made by
chance, or that the first men grew up out of
the earth as plants do now. For can any
thing be more ridiculous, and against all
reason, than to ascribe the production of men
to the first fruitfulness of the earth, without
so much as one instance or experiment, in
any age or history, to countenance so
monstrous a supposition? The thing is,
ATO
ad
(5
‘.3
ATO
at first sight, so gross and palpable, that no
discourse about it can make it more apparent.
And yet, these shameful beggars of principles
give this precarious account of the original
of things; assume to themselves to be the
men of reason, the great wits of the world,
the only cautious and wary persons that hate
to be imposed upon, that must have convincing
evidence for every thing, and can admit of
nothing without a clear demonstration of it!”
See EXISTENCE or Gon.
Some of the principal writers on the exist-
ence of a Deity have been Newton, Boyle,
Cheyne, Locke, Nieuwentyt, Derham, Bentley,
Ray, Cudworth, Samuel and John Clarke,
Abernethy, Balguy, Baxter, Fenelon, &c. 800.
See also the Bridgewater Treatises. Tillot-
son’s sermon on the subject, as quoted above,
has been considered as one of the best in the
English language. See Ser. i. vol. 1.
ATHos, a mountain in the province of
Salonica, in European Turkey, about 5000
feet in height, the sides of which are covered
with about twenty monasteries, and a vast
multitude of hermitages, which contain more
than six thousand monks, mostly Russian, of
the order of St. Basil. Here they live in a
state of complete abstraction from the world;
and so strict are their regulations, that they
do not tolerate any female being, not even of
the class of domestic animals, among them.
They are now chiefly occupied in carving
little images of the saints, which they send
down to the market-town of Kareis, where a
weekly market is held, and where purchases
are made for various parts, especially Russia;
but formerly they were occupied with the
nobler work of transcription. The holy
mountain (aytov cipog) is considered one of
the most- important seminaries for instruction
among the Greeks; and the libraries of the
monasteries are particularly rich in MSS.
and other literary treasures, partly procured
from Constantinople before its conquest by
the Turks, and partly copied by the labori-
ous monks. Many works have, of late years,
been purchased by travellers, and have thus
found their way into various libraries of
Europe. The monasteries and churches on
this mountain are the only ones in the Otto-
man empire that have bells.
ATONEMENT. The atonement made by the
death of Christ is an essential article in the
plan of redemption revealed in the Scriptures
-—an article that forms the grand peculiarity
of the gospel, and without which we cannot
understand the New Testament, or attain to
correct views, either of the ways of God, or
of the duties of man. To comprehend the
character, and see the importance of the
atonement of Christ, it is first necessary that
we should have distinct views of the nature
of sin, and the character in which Jehovah
demands and accepts of substitution. From
of the objections urged against the atonement,
as well as the absurd conclusions which the
doctrine has been supposed to afford. Sin
has been represented merely as a personal
insult to God; and the atonement, as 5a sufi‘er-
ing required before that offence could be for-
given. Such an idea seemsunworthy of the
Supreme Being. Others have considered sin
purely as a debt, and the atonement as the
payment of a sum equivalent to it, and by
which the prisoners are liberated; this of
necessity excludes the grace of pardon; and
since the pardon of sin is uniformly represented
in Scripture an act of free grace and infinite
mercy, a scheme that supersedes the grace of
pardon we must necessarily reject‘ as unscrip-
tural. Besides these and other partial views
of sin, Jehovah has been regarded merely as
an absolute sovereign, which has occasioned
much confusion, and naturally provoked such
objections as these: “ Why is not pardon
dispensed freely, unconditionally? What evil
consequences could ensue? Jehovah cannot’
be injured by any of his creatures; what need
of atonement?” To obviate these difliculties,
we are then particularly to consider,——1. That
sin is the transgression of a law, which like
all laws, in order to be supported and rendered
eflicient, must be strictly regarded in its
penalties; and 2. That Jehovah, in demand-
ing an atonement, acts not as an absolute
sovereign; but as a just governor, directed
not by sovereign will, but by the laws of the
constitution. From these views of sin, and
of the divine character, it appears, that the
atonement supports the dignity of the law,
and leaves it, though the criminal be pardoned,
as eflicient as if its utmost penalties were
inflicted, as honourable as if its precepts had
never been violated. From this view of the
nature of the atonement, we see its necessity.
Had sin, as already observed, been no other
than an insult or a debt to God, as the
absolute Lord of all, he might, as far as we
can judge, in the exercise of his infinite
mercy, pardon sin without an atonement. But
sin being a transgression of law, whatever
penalty this law threatens for its violation
must be inflicted, or the law itself be destroyed‘.
Let the penalties of a code be disregarded,
and the law is transgressed with impunity; it
is no longer of any service to the state, it
secures neither the throne of the sovereign,
nor the rights of the subject. The law which
man hath transgressed is the. moral law—the
law which embodies principles that must cha-
racterise the divine government of all intel-'
ligent beings throughout all worlds. To par-
don sin, therefore, without an atonement,
would destroy this law—would loose the
bands of this government; nothing but con-
fusion and ruin would reign through heaven,
earth, and hell. The language of every self-
willed creature would be, “let every crea-

the neglect of these points, have arisen most
ture’s will be the rule of his conduct. We
ATO
ATO
(i3
have a law to direct our conduct, but there is
no penalty to enforce obedience; whatis de-
scribed a penalty is only an empty threat;
death and misery are indeed denounced; man
has transgressed, yet he lives and is happy.”
The individual is spared, but the community is
sacrificed, and the whole system of moral
government subverted. Now, substitute the
atonement; let all that are subject to the
moral law consider well its enactments; let
them gaze with astonishment at the inflexible
justice of this “stern guardian of the public
wea .” Where is it best displayed? Not in
the sufferings of the criminal, but in the
death of the substitute—not in the sufferings
of guilty man, but in the death of the Son of
God! Surely, at this sight apostate angels
must feel their despair increase tenfold! See-
ing the law which they have violated spares
not the Son of God, must not holy angels,
and all intelligent, accountable beings, through
the universe of God, be struck with astonish-
ment at the unyielding strictness of the law,
and be deeply impressed with the conviction
that the law is inviolable and must be obeyed.
This is all that was necessary. Sovereign
grace may, yes, may pardon, for now there is
no compulsion; evil results will not follow,
for the exercise of grace is maintained; the
bands of moral government are strengthened
a hundredfold. Why is the condemned
criminal put to death? Not to pacify the
legislature; for, as an individual, there exists
no angry feeling towards him: not even to
guard against his future delinquency; this
might be done otherwise. Why then is he
led to execution P He suffers to preserve the
state from ruin. The well-being of the com-
munity is at stake, the penalty threatened by
the law must be inflicted, or the law is de-
stroyed—the bulwark of public protection is
demolished. Now it appears, that should a
substitute of equal rank in the kingdom volun-
tarily propose to die, and the legislature accept
his offer, in that case, the death of a substitute
(the criminal giving approved security for
future conduct) would answer all the ends
intended by the death of the criminal; for
the penalty threatened is inflicted, and the sub-
jects are taught that the law must be obeyed.
The illustration fails, however, in two points
——the substitute, in this case, being of equal
rank with the criminal, to satisfy the law, the
substitute must su er the VERY SAME penalty
that the criminal eserved : the law derives no
support from the infinite superiority of the
substitute; and also, man being no absolute
proprietor of his life, substitution would be
unlawful. The infinite superiority of the
" Redeemer, and the power he had to lay down
his life, need no proof, or the necessary con-
sequences therefrom resulting any explana-
tion. Hence (for further illustration) from
what partial and erroneous views proceeds I
“ God is too merciful to‘
the sentiment,
punish sinners eternally.” Upon the same
principle it might be said, “ There will be no
more criminals executed in England—his
Majesty is too compassionate.” Did it de-
pend on his Majesty’s compassion, we would
grant it; but his Majesty rules England, not
by his feelings, but by the laws of the con-
stitution. Jehovah, as a just governor, re-
garding with the strictest exactness, with
infinite concern, the laws of the constitution,
will, from love to justice, and for the security
and happiness of his government, inflict on
every criminal the utmost threatenings of the
law, except, as in the case of repenting sin~
ners, he be freely pardoned, through the
atoning merits of an approved substitute.
Hence it is evident, 1. The extent of the
atonementis unlimited. The atonement is not
something commensurate with the- crime,
neither more nor less—exactly measured by
the malignity and number of sins to be par-
doned; such is not its nature. Its design,
as above stated, is to enable the law, on
certain terms, to suspend its penalties: and
if the law can, on any terms, honourably
suspend its threatenings in one case, it can,
unquestionably, on the same terms, suspend
them in a thousand cases. The terms are
made known—there is no calculating of
crimes—the offer is, Return to the Lord, he
will have mercy; believe, and you are saved.
2. Salvation is of grace. The error that
limits the atonement, brings this consequence
necessarily in its train, that “ Salvation is
of debt.” Jehovah is conceived bound to
pardon, as an act of justice, to the full extent
of the atonement, which has led some im-
piously to say, “ The elect, by the death of
Christ, stand on higher grounds than God—-
the Lord is their debtor.” And such is the
necessary, the inevitable consequence of con-
sidering the atonement as a mere payment of
debt. But is it not so represented in Scrip-
ture P In this respect only. The debtor whose
account is paid is liberated from the conse-
quence of his debt; so is the pardoned sinner
from the consequence of his sins. There is
no PARDONING the debtor whose account is
paid—his liberation is a matter of right ; but
there is, and there must be, if saved, pardon
for the sinner, though an atonement is made.
The atonement removes the obstacles. Sove-
reign grace that would pardon, now runs un-
checked in its own channel, and mercy is as
amply displayed, as if an atonement had
never been made. 3._ Our unbelief cannot
cause Christ to have died in vain. The two
grand articles immediately connected with the
life and death of Christ—the honour of the
law, and the glory of the divine perfections,
are equally secured, whether we believe _or
disbelieve. If, through the death of_ Christ,
Jehovah displays his love and mercy 1n ofl‘er-
ing pardon to rebellious man, they are equally
conspicuous, whether the pardon be accepted
ATT
AUG
64
or not. The love and grace of God cannot
possibly be either lessened or magnified by
our conduct. In the death of the Saviour,
and the ofler of pardon, they are, indepen-
dently of our conduct, infinitely displayed
and infallibly established. Notwithstanding,
there is absolute certainty the Saviour shall
see of the travail of his soul; but the cer—
tainty is not in J ehovah’s being bound to par-
don, but in the infinity of his grace, and the
immutability of his counsels. Finally, We
must repent and believe or be lost. The atone-
ment, though complete, secures not the sal-
vation of one single impenitent, unbelieving
sinner. The nature of the atonement proves
this, and the uniform language of Scripture
is, “ He that believeth not is condemned
already, but whosoever believeth, and he
only, shall not perish but have life ever-
lasting.” Cong. Mag. June, 1828; Evans on
the Atonement,- Dr. Owen on the Satisfaction
of Christ,- West, Jerram, Magee, Dewar, Gil-
bert, and Jenhyn, on the Atonement; Dr. J. P.
Smz'th’s Discourses on the Sacrifice and Priest-
hood of Jesus Christ, and on Atonement and
Redemption.
ATTRIBUTES or G01) are the several quali-
ties or perfections of the Divine nature. Some
distinguish them into the negative, and posi-
tive or afiirmative. The negative are such
as remove from him whatever is imperfect
in creatures ;——such are infinity, immuta-
bility, immortality, 860. The positive are
such as assert some perfection in God, which
is in and of himself, and which in the crea-
tures, in any measure, is from him. This dis-
tinction is now mostly discarded. Some dis-
tinguish them into absolute and relative:
absolute ones are such as a ee with the
essence of God—as Jehovah, ah, &c.: rela-
tive ones are such as agree with him in time,
with some respect to his creatures, as Creator,
Governor, Preserver, Redeemer, &c. But
the more commonly-received distinction of
the attributes of God is into communicable and
incommunz'cable ones. The communicable ones
are those of which there is some resemblance
in men—as goodness, holiness, wisdom, &c.:
the incommunicable ones are such as there is
no appearance or shadow of in men—as inde-
pendence," immutability, immensity, and eter-
nity. See those different articles in this
work; and Bates, Charnock, Abernethy, Sau-
rz'n on the Divine Pewfections, II. F. Burder,
Dwight, and Dick.
A'r'rarrrox. The casuists of the church
of Rome have made a distinction between a
perfect and an imperfect contrition. The
latter they call attrition ; which is the lowest
degree of repentance, or a sorrow for ‘sin
arising from a sense of shame, or any tem-
poral inconvenience attending the commis-
sion of it, or merely from fear of the punish-
ment due to it, without any resolution to sin
no more. In consequence of which doctrine,
division arose between those who held by

they teach that, after a wicked and fiagitious
course of life, a man may be reconciled to
God, and his sins forgiven on his death—bed,
by confessing them to the priest, with this
imperfect degree of sorrow and repentance.
This distinction was settled by the" Council
of Trent. It might, however, be easily
shown that the mere sorrow for sin,_because
of its consequences, and not on account of its
evil nature, is no more acceptable to God
than h pocrisy itself can be.--Jeremy Tay-
lor’s orhs, vol. ix. pp. 237, 267; vol. x.
p. 190.
AUDIENTES, an order of catechumens in
the primitive Christian church. They were
so called from their being admitted to hear
sermons and the Scriptures read in the
church; but they were not allowed to be pre-
sent at the prayers.
AUGMENTATION, a term in Scotch ecclesi-
astical law, denoting a portion of the ancient
tithes, placed under the superintendenee of the
Court of Session, and granted by them to an
incumbent, as they shall see cause.
ordinary way of obtaining it is to raise a pro-
cess before the courts.
AUGSBURG CONFESSION, the celebrated
confession of faith, presented by the Protest-
ants, at the Diet of Augsburg, 1530, to the
Emperor and the diet, and being signed by
the Protestant states, was adopted as their
creed. The original draught of it was made
by Luther, at the command of John, Elector
of Saxony, at Torgau, and consisted of seven-
teen articles ; but as the style appeared to he
too violent, it was altered by Melancthon, by
order of the Elector, and in compliance with
the wishes of the body of the Protestant
princes and divines. Thus changed, it was
presented and read in the diet, June 25th.
The original document is still preserved in
the imperial archives of Austria; and from
this the edition of Wittemberg, 1531, was
printed. Melancthon further altered some of ‘
its articles afterwards, and a new edition.
with his changes, appeared in 1540, when a
the
original and those ‘who held by the altered
edition. The former is received by the
Lutherans, and the latter by the German re-
formed, who thereby secured to themselves,
at the religious peace of 1555, the privileges
which extended only to the adherents of the
Au sburg Confession.
UGUSTINE MONKS, a religious order in
the Church of Rome, who follow the pre-
tended rule of Augustine prescribed them by
Pope Alexander IV., in the year 1250.
There had arisen several religious orders in
the thirteenth century—as the Preaching
Brothers, founded by Dominic Guzman; the
Minims, by St. Francis Assissius; and others.
Innocent IV. formed a design of uniting
several of these orders into one; which de-
sign was executed by his successor, Alexan-
The,
A U G
AUG
65
der IV., who made one congregation of them,
under the name of Augustine Hermits.
At present, the order is divided into several
branches—as the Hermits of St. Paul, the
Ieronymitans, the Monks of St. Bridget, and
the Bare-footed Augustines, instituted by a
Portuguese in 1574, and confirmed-by Pope
Clement VIII. in 1600. As to the rule of
Augustine, which they pretended to follow,
it is briefly this. The Monks are to have all
things in common: the rich, who enter into
the order, are to sell their possessions, and
give them to the poor: nothing is to be re-
ceived, without leave of the superior: if ‘it
happens that the Monks are obliged, through
persecution, to retire, they are to betake
themselves immediately to the place whither
their superior is withdrawn : they are to em-
ploy the first part of the morning in labouring
with their hands, and the rest in reading:
they have Saturday allowed them to provide
themselves with necessaries, and are per-
mitted to drink wine on Sundays : when they
go abroad, they must always go two in a
company: they are never to eat but in their
monastery: they are forbidden to harbour the
least thought of women: they are to receive
no letters or presents in secret. These, with
several other precepts, relating to charity,
modesty, chastity, and‘ other Christian vir-
tues, constitute what they call the Rule of
Augustine, which is read in the presence of
the Monks once every week. The Augus-
tines are clothed in black. At Paris they
are known under the name of the Religious
of St. Genevieve, that abbey being the chief
of the order. There are nuns likewise of this
order. At the beginning of the eighteenth
century, the order numbered forty-two pro-
vinces; but their convents are now fewer.
They are found in Italy, Spain, Portugal,
Austria, and America. In 1817, Augustine
nuns again appeared in Paris. Their num-
ber is thirty-two: they support themselves
by their industry, educate two hundred poor
children, and possess no landed property.
AUGUSTINE, S'r., one of the most renowned
fathers of the Christian Church, was born at
Tagaste, a small city in Africa, Nov. 13, 354.
Patricius, his father, sent him to Madaura, to
learn the classics, and afterwards to Carthage,
to study rhetoric; but such were his idle and
dissolute- habits of life, that he greatly disap-
pointed his expectations, and almost broke
the heart of his pious mother, Monica, who
nevertheless. persevered in prayer for his
conversion to God. After making himself
master of the predicaments of Aristotle, and
obtaining considerable knowledge of the
h‘beral sciences, he began to teach rhetoric at
‘Carthage, and. met with great applause. Fall-
llilg‘ 1n with a book of Cicero’s, called Horten-
smf‘, he was led to study philosophy; but not
satisfied either with this or with himself, he
went over to the sect of the Manichees,
among whom he remained nine years, but
without finding tranquillity either of mind or
heart. Having abandoned this connexion, he
went to Rome, where he taught rhetoric, and
in 383 he was appointed public professor of
the art at Milan, where he had an opportu—
nity of becoming acquainted with, and hear—
ing, the celebrated Ambrose, bishop of that
city, whose eloquence made so deep an im—
pression upon him, that he publicly embraced
the Catholic faith, and experienced a partial
reformation of character. It was not, how-
ever, till in consequence of having his atten-
tion particularly drawn to a copy of the
Epistles of Paul, that a saving change of
heart was effected. The passage which first
struck him, and which appears from its appli-
cability to his past life, to have been the
means of his conversion, was Rom. xiii. 13,
14. Having renounced his professorship, he
returned to Africa, where, in the year 391,
he was ordained priest by Valerius, Bishop of
Hippo ; and, in 395, he was raised to be him—
self bishop of that see. He died in 430, in
the seventy-sixth year of his age.
The “ Confessions” of Augustine have long
been celebrated for the developements of
human nature which they contain; and his
“ City of God” is one of the greatest efforts
of genius and learning; but what has most
tended to give celebrity to his name, was his
opposition to Pelagius, whose opinions on the
subject of original sin and free will he consi-
dered to be subversive of the Scripture doc-
trines of salvation. In this controversy he
was led to take up, and treat at large, the
subjects of predestination, the depravity of
human nature, and the operation of divine
grace, respecting which his views are substan-
tially those called Calvinistic; and, according
to Pctavius, such has been his authority in
the Church, that not only all the fathers and
doctors who came after him, but even the
popes themselves, and the councils of other
bishops, have maintained his doctrine as cer-
tain and catholic, and have all been of opinion
that it was a sufficient proof of the truth of
any dogma that Augustine had taught it.
He was a man of great diligence in his
Christian profession, profound humility, sub-
lime genius, and extensive learning. Though
far ‘inferior to J erome. his contemporary
and correspondent, in his knowledge of Bib-
lical criticism, yet he was no contemptible
critic; and in his interpretation of Scripture
he frequently discovers a pertinency and
soundness of judgment which we seldom
meet with in that age. He was acquainted
with the Greek, in which language he studied
the Scriptures, and bestowed considerable
pains in endeavouring to procure a ‘better
translation into Latin, though, from his ignor-
ance of Hebrew, he was not capable of appre-
dating the true nature of the changes that
were required in the common version. i
F
AUT
.AUT
66
AURICULAR, what is spoken into the ear,
or privately—a term commonly applied to
the private confession made to a priest. See -
CoNFEssIoN.
AUSTIN (or AUGUSTINE), commonly called
the Apostle of the English, flourished at the
close of the sixth century, ‘and was sent, with
forty monks, by Gregory, to introduce the
Catholic faith into the Saxon kingdoms. He
was kindly received by Ethelbert, King of
Kent, whom he soon converted; and such is '
the astonishing success which he is reported ‘'
to have had, that he is said to have baptized
ten thousand persons in one day. He was
made Archbishop of Canterbury, in the
cathedral of which see his relics were long
preserved.
As the Bishop of Hippo and this mission-
ary are both referred to by the names of Au-
gustine or Austin, it is necessary that the
reader should guard against confounding
them.
AUTHENTICITY of the Scriptures, a term
employed in a more general and extended
sense, to denote that they really are what
they profess to be—a revelation from God;
but applied to the several books of which the
inspired volume is composed, it denotes that
these books were actually written by the per-
sons whose names they bear, or to whom they
are ascribed. In treating of the evidences,
the proofs of authenticity first claim to be re-
garded; and then the proofs of credibility, it
being perfectly obvious that a work may not
in any degree be entitled to our belief as it re-
gards its contents, which is furnished with the
‘most incontestable evidence that it is the
genuine production of the author. See EVI-
DENCES, and .Marsh’s Divin. Lect. xxiii. p. 2-5.
AUTHORITY, in matters religious and eccle-
siastical, an assumed right of dictation, attri-
buted to certain fathers, councils, or church
courts. On this subject Bishop Hoadley
writes-—-“ Authority is the greatest and most
irreconcileable enemy to truth and argument
that this world ever furnished. All the so-
phistry, all the colour of plausibility, all the
artifice and cunning of the subtlest disputer in
the world may be laid open and turned to the
advantage of that very truth which they are
designed to hide; but against authority there
is no defence.” He shows that it was autho-
rity which crushed the noble sentiments of
Socrates and others: and that by authority,
the Jews and heathens combated the truth of
the Gospel; and that, when Christians in-
creased into a majority, and came to think
the same method to be the only proper one
for the advantage of their cause which had
been the enemy and destroyer of it, then it
was the authority of Christians, which, by
degrees, not only laid waste the honour of
Christianity, but well nigh extinguished 1t
amongst men. It was authority which would
have prevented all reformation where it Is,
and which has put a barrier against it where-
ever it is not.
The remark of Charles II. is worthy of
. notice—That those of the established faith
- make much of the authority of the gChurch
;in their disputes with dissenters; but that
they take it all away when they deal with
papists.
AnTo DA FE. See AoT or FAITH.
AUTOCEPHALI (Gn), persons who have no
superior, or acknowledge no head. It is de-
rived from a'lJTbQ and :csgbdhn, sui ipsius
caput, his own head or chief‘. This denomi-
nation was given by the primitive Church to
such bishops as were exempted from the j uris—
diction of others. Before the setting up of pa-
triarchs, all metropolitans were az’rroicéqfiakot,
being accountable to no superior but a synod;
and, even after the advancement of patri-
archs, several metropolitans continued thus
independent—as the Archbishop of Cyprus,
who, by a general decree of the Council of
Ephesus, was freed from the jurisdiction of
the Patriarch of Antioch; as also the metro-
politans of Iberia and Armenia. This was
likewise a privilege of the ancient British
Church, before the coming of Austin the
Monk, when the seven British bishops, which
were all that then remained, paid obedience
to the Archbishop of Caer-Leon, and acknow-
ledged no superior in spirituals above him.
And Dinothus, the learned Abbot of Bangor,
told Austin, in the name of all the Britannic
churches, that they owed no other obedience
to the Pope than they did to every godly
Christian.
Besides these, there was another sort of
A1’1TOKé¢a>\0t; namely—such bishops as were
subject to no metropolitan, but only to the
patriarch of the diocese. There were thirty-
nine such bishops in the large patriarehate of
Constantinople, twenty-five in that of Jeru—
salem, and sixteen in that of Antioch; but at
what time this sort of independent bishopries
was first set up is uncertain. Valesius men-
tions another sort of At’lTolCt'EtpaAOt, which were
such bishops as were wholly independent of all
others, having neither sufl‘ragans under them,
nor metropolitans over them. Of these, the
Bishop of Tomis in Scythia is an instance,
who was the only bishop of all the cities of
that province; but instances of this sort are
very uncommon. Valesius, by mistake, and,
in contradiction to Jerome, reckons the bish-
ops of Jerusalem before they were advanced
to the patriarchal dignity, among this sort of
A'dTOKégbaAOt.
AUTOGRAPHS of the prophecies, gospels,
&c. the identical or original documents writ-
ten by the respective authors of the books of
Scripture. Copies taken from these are
termed apographs. None of these original
MSS. are now remaining, nor could their pre-
servation be expected, without the intervention
of a miracle, during the space of nearly eighteen
BAA
BAA
(i7
centuries. It seems exceedingly probable
that Divine Providence permitted them to be
early withdrawn from public inspection, lest,-
like other relics, they should become objects
of idolatrous veneration. It is even asserted
by Peter, Bishop of Alexandria, in the fourth
century, that an original of J ohn’s Gospel
was not only preserved, but worshipped, at
Ephesus.—Mz'chaelz's, Introd. i. p. 250.
AVATAR, in Indian mythology, an incarna-
tion of the Deity. According to the Hindoos,
innumerable incarnations have taken place;
but ten are particularly distinguished, and four
of them are the subjects of Puranas, _or
sacred poems: these ten are the incarnations
of Vishnu, the supreme god. The first was
in the form of a fish; the second in that of
a tortoise; the third in that of a boar;
the fourth in that of a monster-—half man,
half lion; the fifth in that of a dwarf; the
sixth as the son of Iarmadagni. All these
took place in the satya yuga, or golden age:
the others are more recent. The seventh is
the descent of Vishnu, to destroy a giant;
the eighth was to chastise other giants; the
ninth had a similar object; and the tenth,
which is yet to come, will take place at the
end of the kalz' yuga, or the iron age of the
world.
AVE-MARY or AVE—MARIA, (Hail Mary!)
the Angel Gabriel’s Salutation of the Virgin
Mary, when he brought her tidings of the
incarnation. It is become a prayer, or form
of devotion in the Romish Church. Their
chaplets and rosaries are divided into so
many Ave—Maries, and so many Pater Nos-
ters. The Papists ascribe a wonderful efii-
cacy to their Ave-Maries.
Dr. Bingham observes, that, among all the
short prayers used by the ancients before
their sermons, there is not the least mention
of an Ave-Mary; and that its original can be
carried no higher than the beginning of the
fifteenth century. Vincentius Ferrerius was
the first ecclesiastical writer that ever used it
before his sermons; from whose example (he
being a celebrated preacher in that age) it
gained such authority, as not only to be pre-
fixed to all their sermons, but to be joined with
the Lord’s-prayer, in the Roman Breviary.
AzYMI'rEs, Christians who administer the
eucharist, or holy communion with unleavened
bread. The word is derived from the Greek
a’Zvitog, sine fermento, which is compounded
of the privative & and Zz’ipq, fermentum. This
practice occasioned great disputes, and at
length a rupture, between the Latin and
Greek churches.
The learned Dr. Bingham is of opinion
that the use of wafers and unleavened bread
was not known in the church till the eleventh
or twelfth centuries, when the oblations of
common bread began to be left off by the
people; for so long as the people continued to
offer bread and wine, the elements, for the use
of the eucharist, were usually taken out of
them; and, consequently, so long the bread
was the common leavened bread, made use
of upon other occasions. And he tells the
following story in confirmation of this :—-As
Gregory the Great was administering the
bread to a certain woman, in the usual form,
The body of our Lord Jesus Christ, é’ycz, she
fell a laughing, and being asked the reason,
said it was because he called that the body of
Jesus Christ, which she knew to be bread
that she had made with her own hands. Be—
sides, the ancients say expressly, that their
bread was common bread, such as they made
for their own use upon other occasions; and
it is further observable, that neither Photius,
nor any other Greek writer, before Michael
Cerularius, An. 1051, ever objected to the use
of unleavened bread in the Romish Church;
which they would no doubt have done, had
that practice prevailed at the time they wrote.
But the schoolmen, who maintain that, du-
ring the first ages of the church, none but
unleavened bread was used in the eucharist,
say the primitive church did it in imitation of
our Saviour himself, who celebrated the last
supper with unleavened bread; but that, when
the Ebionites arose, who held that all the ob-
servances prescribed by the Mosaical law
were still in force, both the Eastern and
Western churches took up the use of leavened
bread, and, atter the extinction of that heresy-
the Western church returned to the azymus,
the Eastern obstinately adhering to the former
usage.
B.
BAAL (Heb. 51th,) the name originally given
to the tutelary god of the Phcenicians and
Syrians, but afterwards extended to the gods
of other nations, such as the Chaldeans, Ba-
bylonia'ns, &c. It occurs frequently in Scrip-
ture, from which it appears that the Hebrews
were peculiarly exposed to be seduced, and
actually were often led away, by the worship
of this idol. It is also preserved on Phdani-
clan monuments and medals, and in many

Punic names, as Hannibal, Hasdrubal, Ad—
herbal, 850. Some have supposed that Baal,
or Bel, was an extraordinary man, who found-
ed Babylon, caused the country about it
to be cultivated, and surrounded it with a
wall; and, according to tradition, his son
Ninus, the great conquerer, declared him a.
god after his death, and ordered divine honours
to be paid him. Others are of opinion that
the sun was worshipped under this name.
BAD
BAN
68
To this idol a vast number of temples and
altars were erected, and generally on emi—
nences; and numerous priests conducted the
worship, which consisted in part of human
victims.
BACCHUS, the name of a pagan deity, or
the god of wine, whose statue was set up, in
the reign of Julian the Apostate, in the great
church of Emessa in Palestine, and in that of
Epiphania; and the Chronicle of Alexandria
relates that Eustathius, bishop of the church
in that city, hearing the sound of instruments
employed in the worship of Bacchus, and
being told that they were played in his church,
instantly expired, after having prayed that he
might rather die than witness such abomi-
natlon.
BACKBITING.
DER.
BACKSLIDING, the act of turning from the
path of duty. It may be considered as par-
tial, when applied to true believers, who do
not baekslide with the whole bent of their will;
as voluntary, when applied to those who, after
professing to know. the truth, wilfully turn
from it, and live in the practice of sin; as
final, when the mind is given up to judicial
hardness, as in the case of Judas. Partial
bachsliding must be distinguished from hypo-
crisy, as the former may exist where there are
gracious intentions on the whole; but the lat—
ter is a studied profession of appearing to be
what we are not.
The causes of backsliding are—the cares of
the world; improper connexions; inattention
to secret or closet duties; self-conceit and
dependence; indulgence; listening to and
parleying with temptations. A bachslz'dz'ng
state is mamfested by indifference to prayer
and self-examination; trifling or unprofitable
conversation; neglect of public ordinances;
shunning the people of God; associating with
the world; thinking lightly of sin; neglect
of the Bible; and often by gross immorality.
The consequences of this awful state are—
loss of character; loss of comfort; loss of
usefulness; and, as long as any remain in this
state, a loss of a well-grounded hope of future
happiness. To avoid this state, or recover
from it, we should beware of the first appear-
ance of sin; be much in prayer; attend the
ordinances; and unite with the people of God.
We should consider the awful instances of
apostasy, as Saul, Judas, Demas, the; the
See DETRACTION and SLAN-
many warnings we have of it, Matt. xxiv. 13. '
Heb. x. 38. Luke ix. 62 ; how it grieves the
Holy Spirit; and how wretched it makes us;
above all things, our dependence should be on ‘
God, that we may always be directed by his
Spirit, and kept by his power. See APOSTASY.
BAD MEssIH,,(Pers.) the wind, or breath,
of the Messiah. So the Persians call the;
power which Jesus Christ had of working
miracles; for they say, that by his breath
alone he not only raised the dead, but gave
life to things inanimate. They have, in their
language, a book of the infancy of Jesus
Christ, (which was current likewise in the
first ages of the church among the Chris'-
tians,) in which it is said that Jesus Christ,
when a child, formed birds out of the earth,
and with his breath alone made them fly.
The Orientalists, and particularly the Mus-
sulmans, when they would extol the ability
of a physician, say he has the breath of the
Messiah; by which they would express, that
he is capable of raising the dead.
BAIRAM, the Mohammedan Easter, which
follows immediately after the Ramazan or
Lent, and lasts three days. Both feasts begin
as soon as the new moon is announced by
persons appointed for the purpose, and dur-
ing the course of thirty-three years, take
place in all the seasons and months of the
year—the Turks reckoning by lunar years.
It is the custom at this feast for inferiors to
make presents to their superiors. This cus-
tom extended formerly to Europeans, who
were obliged to make presents to men of
rank, to the pashas and oadis. The Grand
Seignor is also in the habit of distributing
favours at this time. Sixty days after this
first great festival, there is a second. called
the Little Bairam: these are the only two
feasts which the Mohammedan religion abso—
lutely prescribes to the faithful.
BALCI-IRISTY—PEOPLE, a small party of
strict Independents, formed in the village of
Balchristy in Scotland, by Mr. Smith, who.
with Mr. Ferrier, both regular clergymen of
the Scottish church, left the Establishment
about the time that the Glassites first ap_
peared. From the statistical accounts pub-
lished by Sir J. Sinclair, it would appear there
is still a church of this name in the town of
Perth. '
BANGORIAN CoNTRovERsY, so called from
Bangor, or the bishop thereof‘. Bishop Hoad-
ley, the bishop of that diocese, preaching
before George I., asserted, from the text, “ My
kingdom is not of this world,” the supreme
authority of Christ, as king in his own king-

dom; and that he had not delegated his
‘ power like temporal lawgivers during their
, absence from their kingdom, to any persons.
_‘ as his vieegerents or deputies. This import-
ant sermon may be seen reprinted in the
Liverpool Theological Repository, vol. v. p.
T 301. In 1717, he also published his Preser-
vative, in which he advanced some positions
I contrary to temporal and spiritual tyranny,
_ and in behalf of the civil and religious liber—
ties of mankind: upon which he was vice
lently opposed, accused, and persecuted by
the advocates for church power: but he was
defended and supported by the civil powers,
, and his abilities and meekness gained him the
' plaudits of many.
g BANKS or PIETY, or Monts de Piété, as
‘i the Italians call them, are common in Popish
BAP
BAP
69
the benefit of the poor, but really intended to
to the papal treasury. They were approved
countries. They are professedly designed for
promote the interests of the church. They
are in fact spiritual pawn-broking establish-
ments, conducted on the usual principles of
these institutions, but the profits of which go
by the fifth Lateran council.
BAPTISM, an ordinance of Christ consisting
in the application of water to a person, in the
name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy
Ghost, by which he is initiated into the
visible church. Baptism exhibits to us the
blessings of pardon, salvation through Jesus
Christ, union to, and communion with him,
the outpouring of the Spirit, regeneration,
and sanctification. From baptism results the
obligation of repentance, love to Christ, and
perpetual devotedness to his praise. Baptism
does not constitute a visible subject, but only
recognizes one. It is an ordinance binding
on all who have been given up to God in it;
and to be perpetuated to the end of the world.
It is not, however, essential to salvation ; for
more participation of ordinances cannot qua-
' iii. 11.


lify men for heaven: many have real grace,
consequently were in a saved state, before
they were baptized: besides, to suppose it
essential is to put it in the place of that which
it signifies.
Baptism has been supposed by many learned
persons to have had its origin from the
Jewish church; in which, they maintain, it
was the practice, long before Christ’s time, to
baptize proselytes or converts to their faith,
as part of the ceremony of their admission.
“ It is strange to me,” says Dr. Doddridge,
“ that any should doubt of this, when it is
plain, from express passages in the Jewish law,
that no Jew who had lived like a Gentile for
one day could be restored to the communion
of this church without it. Compare Num.
xix. 19 and 20, and many other precepts re-
lating to ceremonial pollutions, in which may
be seen that the Jews were rendered inca-
pable of appearing before God in the taber-
nacle or temple, till they were washed either
by bathing or sprinkling.” ‘Others, however,
insist, that the Jewish proselyte baptism is
not by far so ancient; and that John the
Baptist was the first administrator of baptism
among the Jews.
The baptism of John, and that of our
Saviour and his apostles, have been supposed
to be the same; because they agree, it is
said, in their subjects, form, and end. But it
must be observed, that though there be an
agreement in some particulars, yet there is
not in all. The immediate institutor of
John’s baptism was God the Father, John i.
33; but the immediate institutor of the Chris-v
tlan baptism was Christ, Matt. xxviii. 19.
John’s baptism was a preparatory rite, re-

ferring the subjects to Christ, who was about ‘
to confer on them 's’piritual blessings, Matt. '
John’s baptism was confined to the
Jews ; but the Christian was common to Jews
and Gentiles, Matt. iii. 5, 7 ; Matt. xxviii. 19.
It does not appear that John had any formula
of administration; but the Christian baptism
has, viz. “ In the name,” &c. The baptism
of John was the concluding scene of the legal
dispensation, and, in fact, part of it; and to
be considered as one of those “ divers wash-
ings” among the Jews: for he did not attempt
to make any alteration in the Jewish reli-
gion, nor did the persons he baptized cease
to be members of the Jewish church on ac-
count of their baptism ; but Christian baptism
is the regular entrance into, and is a part of,
the evangelical dispensation, Gal. iii. 27. It
does not appear from the inspired narrative
(however probable from inferential reason-
ing) that any but John himself was engaged
as operator in his baptism; whereas Christ
himself baptized none; but his disciples, by
his authority, and in his name, John iv. 2.
What clearly proves that the two baptisms
were not the same is the fact recorded, Acts
xix. 1—5, that certain persons, who had sub-
mitted to J ohn’s baptism, were afterwards, on
their being taught the Christian doctrine, bap-
tized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
BAPTISM or THE DEAD, a custom which
anciently prevailed among some people in
Africa, of giving baptism to the dead. The
third council of Carthage speaks of it as a
thing that ignorant Christians are fond of:
Gregory Nazianzen also takes notice of the
same superstitious opinion. The practice
seems to be grounded on a vain idea, that
when men had neglected to receive baptism
in their lifetime some compensation might
be made for this default by receiving it after
death.
BAPTISM ron THE DEAD, a practice for‘
merly in use, when a person dying without
baptism, another was baptized in his stead:
thus supposing that God would accept the
baptism of the proxy, as though it had been
administered to the principal. Chrysostom
says, this was practised among the Mareion-
ites with a great deal of ridiculous ceremony,
which he thus describes z—After any cate-
chumen was dead, they hid a living man
under the bed of the deceased; then coming
to the dead man, they asked him whether he
would receive baptism; and he making no
answer, the other answered for him, and said
he would be baptized in his stead; and so
they baptized the living for the dead. If it
can be proved (as some think it can) that
this practice was as early as the days of the
apostle Paul, it might probably form a solu-
tion of those remarkable words in 1 Cor. xv.
29 : “ If the dead rise not at all, what shall
they do who are baptized for the dead?” The
allusion of the apostle to this practice, how-
ever, is rejected by some, and especially by
Dr. Doddridge, who thinks it too early; he
BAR
BAR
70
thus paraphrases the passage : “ Such are our
views and hopes as Christians; else, if it were
not so, what should they do who are baptized
in token of their embracing the Christian
faith, in the room of the dead, who are just
fallen in the cause of Christ, but are yet sup-
ported by a succession of new converts, who
immediately ofi'er themselves to fill up their
places, as ranks of soldiers that advance to
the combat in the room of their companions
who have just been slain in their sight?”
BAPTISM, LAY, we find to have been per-
mitted by both the common prayer-books of
King Edward and Queen Elizabeth, when
an infant was in immediate danger of death,
and a lawful minister could not be had. This
was founded on a mistaken notion of the
impossibility of salvation without the sacra-
ment of baptism; but afterwards, when they
came to have clearer notions of the sacraments,
it was unanimously resolved, in a convocation
held in 1575, that even private baptism in a
case of necessity, was only to be administered
by a lawful minister.
BAPTISM, METAPHonrcAL. In Scripture
the term baptism is used as referring to the
work of the Spirit on the heart, Matt. iii. 11 ;
also to the sufferings of Christ, Matt. xx. 22 ;
and to so much of the Gospel as John the
Baptist taught his disciples, Acts xviii. 25.
BAPTISTS, a name assumed by those who
maintain that baptism is to be administered
to adults only, and that by immersion, and
not by sprinkling, but obviously allowed
them as a matter of courtesy by their oppo~
nents, who hold that they are baptists no less
than the former; and that their more appro-
priate designation is that of Antipaedobap-
tists, which see.
BARCLAY, ROBERT, the celebrated apologist
of the Quakers, was born in 1648, at Gordons—
town, in the shire of Moray, in Scotland, of
an ancient and honourable family. The
troubles of the country induced his father,
Colonel Barclay, to send him to Paris, to be
educated under the care of his uncle, who
was Principal of the Scotch College in that
city. Under his influence he was easily
induced to become a convert to the Roman
Catholic faith, on which his father sent for
him to return home, and soon after turning a
Quaker, young Robert followed his example.
Uniting all the advantages of a learned edu-
cation to great natural abilities, it was not
long ere be distinguished himself by his talents
and zeal, in support of his new opinions.
His first work, published in 1670, entitled,
Truth cleared of Calzmmies, &-c., was an
answer to an attack on the Quakers by a
Scotch minister of the name of Mitchel. It
is written with great spirit and vigour, and
tended greatly to remove from the body the
opprobrium under which they lay with go-
vernment. The book, however, which has
fixed his celebrity, is his Apology for the True
Christian Divinity, as the same is preached and
held forth by the people in scorn called Quakers.
It was originally published in Latin, and
soon reprinted at Amsterdam, and translated
into German, Dutch, French, and. Spanish,
and, by the author himself‘, into English. It
received many answers, but they are now
almost forgotten. The author ‘afterwards
accompanied William Penn through the
greater part of England, Holland, and Ger-
many, for the purpose of propagating their sen-
timents, and acquired great respect wherever
he went. He had however, after this, his
own share of persecution, and was more than
once imprisoned; but spent the latter part
of his life in the bosom of a large family, and
died in 1690, in the forty-second year of his
age.
BARDESANES, one of the ancient heretics.
He flourished about the year 170, and was a
native of Edessa, in Mesopotamia. According
to Eusebius, he was intimately acquainted
with the Chaldean philosophy, and is said
also to have been well skilled in the Greek
and Syrian languages. He wrote against
Marcion and other heretics, but afterwards
fell into some of the errors of the Valentinian
school. Yet though this was the case, it
would be unjust to class his tenets indiscrimi-
nately with those of Valentinus. He received
the whole of the Old Testament. He believed
that God, who was the Father of Jesus Christ,
was the creator of the world; and he even
held that the Word of God, or his Son, co-
operated in this creation. He held, however,
that the body of Jesus was a delusive image
which came down from heaven; in which
point, and that of the denial of the resurrection
of the body, he agreed with Valentinus. It
is also stated to have been one of his opinions,
that the devil was not created by God. He
appears to have lived to retract some of his
errors, and to abjure the doctrines of Valen-
tinus. The fullest account of his life and
doctrines is given by Beausobre, vol. ii. p. 128.
See also Dr. Burton on the Early Heresies,
note 13.
BARDESANISTS, those who held the opinions
of Bardesanes.
BARLAAMITES, the followers of Barlaam, in
the fourteenth century, who was a very zeal-
ous champion in behalf of the Greek against
the Latin church. It is said that he adopted
the sentiments and precepts of the Stoics, with
respect to the obligations of morality, and the
duties of life ; and digested them into a work.
of his, which is known by the title of Ethica
ex Ste-leis.
BAnNABAs’s EPISTLE. Barnabas, accord~
ing to J erom, wrote a letter full of edification
for the church. It is frequently cited by
Clement of Alexandria and Origen. Eusebius
and J erom reckon it among the apocryphal
or uncanonz'cal writings; but neither of them
deny that it belongs to‘s Barnabas. But he
BAR‘
BAS
71
could not be author of awork so full of forced
allegories, extravagant and unwarrantable
explications of scripture, together with stories
concerning beasts, and such like conceits, as
make up the first part of this epistle. It is
uncertain to whom this epistle was addressed,
because we have not the superscription: but
it seems to have been written to the converted
Jews, who were too zealously addicted to the
observance of the law of Moses.
into two parts. In the first he shows the
unprofitableness of the old law, and the neces-
sity of the incarnation and death of Jesus
Christ. He cites, and explains allegorically,
several passages relating to the ceremonies
and precepts of the law of Moses, applying
them to Jesus Christ and his law. The
second part is a moral instruction, handled
under the notion of two ways, the one of light,
the other of darkness, the one under the con-
duct of the angels of God, the other under the
guidance of the angels of Satan. The way of
ight is a summary of what a Christian is to
do, in order to obtain eternal happiness; and
the way of darkness is a representation of
those particular sins which exclude men from
the kingdom of God.
This epistle was first published in Greek,
from a copy of Father Hugh Menard, a Bene-
dictine monk. An ancient version of it was
found in a manuscript of the Abbey of Cor-
bey, near a thousand years old. Vossius
published it in the year 1656, together with
the epistles of Ignatius.
BAnNABAs’s GosrnL, an apocryphal work
ascribed to Barnabas, the apostle, wherein the
history of Jesus Christ is related in a manner
very different from the account given us by
the four evangelists. The Mohammedans
have this gospel in Arabic, and it corresponds
very well with those traditions which Mo-
hammed followed in his Koran. It was pro-
bably a forgery of some nominal Christians,
and afterwards altered and interpolated by
the Mohammedans, the better to serve their
purpose.
BARNABITES, a religious order, founded in
the sixteenth century, by three Italian gentle-
men, who had been advised, by a famous
preacher of those days, to read carefully the
Epistles of St. Paul. Hence they were called
clerhs qf'St. Paul ,- and Barnabites, because they
performed their first exercise in a church of
St. Barnabas at Milan. They dress in black,
like the secular clergy, and devote themselves
to missions, preaching, and the instruction of
youth ; and in Italy, where they taught theo-
log in the academies of Milan and Pavia,
1n . rance, Austria, and Spain, they had houses
which they called colleges. In France and
Austria, they were employed to convert the
Protestants. The order only exists at present
in Spam, and some parts of Italy.
BARTHoLomEw’s DAY, a feast held on the
24th of August, in honour of Bartholomew,
It is divided ‘
, but awfully memorable as the day of thehor-
rid slaughter of the Huguenots in France, in
i the year 1572, when, at midnight, not only
1 was a signal given to massacre all who were
' found in Paris, but orders were issued that
L the massacre should extend through the whole
2 kingdom; in consequence of which, in the
; space of thirty days, upwards of 30,000 victims
5 are calculated to have been slain. See Pran-
SECUTION, FRANCE.
BARTHOLOMITES, a religious order founded
at Genoa in 1307 ; but, the monks leading
irregular lives, it was suppressed in 1650, and
their effects confiscated. In the church of
the monastery of this order at Genoa, is pre-
served the image which, it is pretended, Christ
sent to king Abgarus.
Baaucn, THE PROPHECY or, one of the
apocryphal books of the Old Testament.
BASILIAN MONKS, religious of the order of
Basil, in the fourth century, who, having re-
tired into a desert in the province of Pontus,
founded a monastery, and drew up rules to
the amount of some hundreds, for his disci-
ples. This new society soon spread all over
the East; nor was it long before it passed into
the West. Some pretend that Basil saw him—
self the spiritual father of more than 90,000
monks in the East only ; but this order, which
flourished for more than three centuries, was
considerably diminished by heresy, schism,
and a change of empire; but the number is
still considerable, and some are found even in
America. The historians of this order say that
it has produced 14 popes, 1805 bishops, 3010
abbots, and 11,085 martyrs, besides an infinite
number of confessors and virgins. This order
likewise boasts of several emperors, kings,
and princes, .who have embraced its rule.
BASILICA, properly a royal palace; but in
the first centuries of Rome, the basilicas were
splendid public buildings, of an oblong shape,
and four-cornered, and commonly adorned
with Corinthian columns and statues, where
the citizens collected to consult for their com-
mon welfare, transact mercantile business, and
hear the young orators exercise themselves in
declamation. Some of them having been
given by Constantine to the Roman Christians
for their worship, the first buildings appro-
priated to this purpose obtained the name of
basilica, and afterwards, when new churches
were built, the shape of the ancient basilica
was retained.
BASILIDES, author of the heresy described
in the following article. Difi’erent opinions
have been entertained as to the time at which
he lived; but if he was a disciple of M enan-
der, who was a disciple of Simon Magus, he
must have lived about the beginning ‘of the
second century, and may have spread h1s doc-
trines in the reign of the Emperor Trajan.
He studied at Alexandria, and 1s said to have
been also in Persia; but whether he learned
his views of Gnosticism there is uncertain.

'BAS
BAS
72
BASILIDIANS, those who adopted the prin-
ciples of Basilides, who, when overpowered
by the divine lustre of Christianity, had been
induced to enrol himself among the number
of its votaries, made it his study to bend and
interpret its principles in such a way as that
they might appear rather to support than
to militate against his philosophical tenets.
The cause of Christ’s advent he maintained
to be the defection of the founders and
gpvernors of this world from the Supreme
city, the contentions and wars among them-
selves, in which they were continually engaged,
and the consequent utter depravity and miser-
able situation of the whole human race. Those
eminently powerful genii, he asserted, who
both created and governed the world, being
endowed with the most perfect freedom of
will as to the choice of either good or evil,
inclined by degrees to the latter, and endea-
voured to root out and obliterate all knowledge
of the true God, with a view to get themselves
regarded and worshipped by mankind as gods
in his stead. They then engaged in wars
among themselves, each one striving to ex-
tend the sphere of his own power. The pre-
sident or ruler of the Jewish nation, in par-
ticular, the chief angel of the whole, aimed at
nothing short of universal sovereignty, his
efforts being directed to the entire subjuga-
tion of his associates, and the various regions
of the earth over which they respectively
presided. The consequences produced by
this perturbed state of things were, that the
true religion sunk into oblivion, men resigned
themselves whollyto the dominion of depraved
appetites and lusts, and every part of the
earth groaned under an accumulation of cala-
mities, crimes, and wretchedness. Touched
with compassion on beholding souls of a
divine origin involved in so much misery and
distress, the Supreme Deity directed his Son,
that is, Noos, the first of the seven JEons, be-
gotten of himself, to descend on earth for the
purpose of putting an end to the dominion of
these presiding angels, particularly that of
their superlatively proud and arrogant chief,
whom the Jewish nation had learnt to venerate
as a god. Having accomplished this, he was
to revive amongst men the long-lost know-
ledge of his Father, and teach them to subdue
the force of those turbulent and irregular
appetites which war against the soul. Taking
upon himself, therefore, the form and sem-
blance of a man, but without assuming a real
body, the Son made his appearance amongst
the Jews, and entered on the duties of the
function that had thus been assigned him by
his Father, confirming the truth of his doci-
trinc by miracles of the most stupendous
nature. Enraged at this invasion of his do-
minion, the god of the Jews caused Christ to
be apprehended, and condemned to suffer
death; but the latter not being clothed with
a real body of his own, adopted that of Simon
the Cyrenian, who had been compelled to hear
his cross, and transferred his form to Simon;
so that instead of Christ, it was Simon the
Cyrenian whom the Jews crucified. The
souls that paid obedience to the precepts and
injunctions thus communicated to them from
above, might expect, upon the dissolution of
the body, to regain their original seats in the
blissful mansions above; but those who neg-
lected availing themselves of the proffered
instruction, were destined to migrate into
other bodies, either of men or brute animals,
until their impurities should be wholly purged
away. As for the body, a mass of corrupt
and vitiated matter, no hope was to be enter-
tained of its being ever restored to life again.
Of the books of the Old Testament, which he
conceived to have been composed in part by
command of the prince of the Jewish nation,
and in part at the instance of the other angels,
Basilides could not, of course, have made any
great account. What the books of the New
Testament might be, of which he approved,
is not at present known.
He wrote a long explanatory comment,
indeed, on the gospel; but whether the gos-
pel which he thus took upon him to expound,
was one of those which we recognise as
genuine, or a different one, is not altogether
certain.
The moral discipline prescribed by Basi-
lides, although founded, in some degree, in
superstition, and supported rather by vain
and empty subtleties than any true or solid
principles, yet held out no encouragement to
the irregular appetites and vices of mankind.
The soul, he maintained, was possessed of a
suiiicient power or energy to overcome every
incitement to evil, internal as well as exter-
nal: and, consequently, that no man could
become wicked except through his own fault.
God, he asserted, would forgive no other
offences but those which had been unknow-
ingly and unwillingly committed, and consi-
dered even a propension or leaning towards
any sin, in one and the same light with the -
actual commission of such sin. All this is
so obviously repugnant to a licentious course
of life and action, that it is impossible for us
to place any faith in the accounts of those
ancient authors who represent Basilides as
having countenanced the utmost laxity o-
manners amongst his followers. The unfa-
vourable suspicions that were entertained by
many respecting the nature of his moral dis-
cipline, appear to have been excited in part
by the infamous lives led by some of his
disciples, and in part by the objectionable
opinions which he maintained in regard to
the lawfulness of concealing one’s religion, ot
denying Christ in times of peril, of partaking
of the flesh of victims offered to idols, of dis-
paraging the estimation and authority of the
martyrs, and peradventure as to various other
points. The Basilidian sect flourished for a
BAT
BAX
73
considerable time, and had not become, alto-
gether extinct so late as the fourth century.
~—Mosheim dc Rebus.
BASLE, Council. or, which commenced its
sittings, December 14, 1431, under the presi-
dency of the cardinal legate J uliano Ceesarini
of St. Angelo, and after holding not fewer
than forty-five, terminated its labours May
16, 1443. Its objects, which were partly
attained, were to extirpate heresies, limit the
power of the pope, effect a reformation of the
clergy, and consolidate the interests of the
church. Its decrees are not admitted into
any of the Roman collections, and are consi-
dered of no authority by the Roman lawyers.
They are, however, recognized in points of -,
canon law in France and Germany; andf
though some later concordats have modified the application of them, they have never been *
formally and entirely annulled.
BATANISTS, or ASSASSINS, a famous here-
tical sect of murderers among the Mohamme-
dans, who settled in Persia about 1090. Their
head and chief seems to have been Hassan
Sabah, who made fanatical slaves of his sub-
jeots. Their religion was a compound of
that of the Magi, the Jews, the Christians,
and the Mohammedans. They believed the
Holy Ghost resided in their chief; that his
orders proceeded from God himself‘, and were
real declarations of his will.
This chief, from his exalted residence on
Mount Lebanon, was called the old man of
the mountain; who, like a vindictive deity,
with the thunderbolt in his hand, sent inevi-
table death to all quarters, so that even kings
trembled at his sanguinary power. His sub-
jects would prostrate themselves at the foot
of his throne, requesting to die by his hand,
or order, as a favour by which they were
sure of passing into paradise. “ Are your
subjects,” said the old man of the mountain
to the son-in-law of Amoury, king of Jeru-
salem, “ as ready in their submission as
mine?” and without staying for an answer,
made a sign with his hand, when ten young
men in white, who were standing on an ad-
jacent tower, instantly threw themselves
down. To one of his guards he said, “ Draw
your dagger, and plunge it into your breast ;”
which was no sooner said than obeyed. At
the command of their chief, they made no
difiiculty of stabbing any prince, even on his
throne; and for that purpose conformed to
the dress and religion of the country, that
they might be less suspected. To animate
them in such attempts, the scheik previously
indulged them with a foretaste' of the delights
of paradise. Delicious soporific drinks were
given them; and while they lay asleep they
were _carried into beautiful gardens, where,
awaking as it were in paradise, and inflamed
with Vlews of perpetual enjoyments, they
sallled forth to perform assassinations of the
blackest dye.
It is said they once thought of embracing
I the Christian religion; and some have thought
Q the Druses a remnant of this singular race of
s barbarians.
BATH-COL. [Helm] The daughter of a
7 voice. After the death of Malachi, the spirit
' of prophecy ceasing among the Jews, they
' pretended to a new kind of revelation, which
they called Bath-col, the daughter of a voice,
because it succeeded the oracular voice, deli-
; vered from the Mercy-seat, when they con-
' sulted God by Urim and Thummim. They
pretended, that it was a voice from heaven ,
T and some tell us it was attended with a clap
' of thunder. To give an instance, out of the
Talmud, of this kind of oracle :—-Rabbi J o-
chanan, and Rabbi Simeon Ben Lachish, de-
siring to see the face of Rabbi Samuel, a
Babylonish doctor, said, Let us follow the
hearing of Bath-col. Travelling therefore
near a school, they heard the voice of a boy,
reading these words out of the first book of
Samuel,——And Samuel diea’. From hence
they inferred, that their friend Samuel was
dead; and accordingly so it happened; for
Samuel of Babylon was just then dead.
From hence it appears that the Bath-col
was a fantastical way of divination, invented
by the Jews themselves, not unlike the Series
Virgilianw of the heathens. For as, with
them,'the first words they happened to dip
into, in the works of that poet, were a kind
of oracle, whereby they predicted future
events; so with the Jews, when they ap-
peeled to Bath-col, the first words they heard
from any one’s month were looked upon as a
voice from heaven, directing them in the
matter they inquired about.
Bax'rnn, -RICHARD, was born at Rowton,
in Shropshire, November 12, 1615. He was
one of the great nonconformist divines; and
though he, in the early part of his life, la-
boured under many and great disadvantages,
owing to the irreligion and ignorance of those
under whose care he was placed, he was after-
wards one of the greatest men of the age in
which he lived. During the first few years
of his life he was much addicted to lying,
covetousness in play, fondness for romances,
&c.; but, fortunately for him, his father
directed his attention to the historical part of
the Bible, which much interested him, and
inspired him with a desire to peruse those
parts which were more doctrinal. In conse-
quence of such determination, by the perusal
of the Bible and other religious books, and
the conversations of his father, his mind
became illuminated, and his soul converted
to God. After. having been for some time
under the care of Mr. Jdhn Owen, school—
master of the free school at Wroxeter, his
parents accepted of a proposal for placing him
under the care of Mr. Richard Wicksteatl,
chaplain to the council of Ludlow. This

1 gentleman proved to‘be very incompetent to
BAX
BAX
74
his charge, being an indifferent scholar, and
taking no pains with his pupil. The only
benefit he obtained, while under his tuition,
was the liberal use of his library, which to
him was of great advantage. At this time
the mind of Mr. Baxter was considerably
alarmed by the fear of death, which produced
in him great seriousness, and a more earnest
attention to religion. Divinity became his
first and favourite pursuit. Zealous in his
attachment to the cause of truth, Mr. Baxter
entered into the work of the ministry, after
having been examined and ordained by
Bishop Thornborough. of Worcester. In 1633
he became master of the free school at Dud-
ley, in Worcestershire, where he delivered
his first sermon. In 1638 he applied to the
Bishop of Winchester for holy orders, which
he received, being at that time attached to the
Church of England. The Et-czntera oath was
his first inducement to examine into the
point; and though Mr. Baxter studied the
ablest works, he utterly rejected the oath. In
1640 he was requested to become pastor of
the church at Kidderminster, which he ac-
cepted, and continued there two years. At
this place he was eminently useful, and found
much encouragement. The state of the coun-
try at that period was peculiarly precarious;
since at that time the civil war, in the reign
of Cromwell, commenced, and Mr. Baxter
was a decided friend to the parliament, which
exposed him to many and great inconveni-
ences. Notwithstanding his attachment to
the parliament, he considered both parties
partially erroneous. He admitted that great
indiscretion, and even much sin, was dis-
played and committed in dishonouring the
king, and in the language used against the
bishops, liturgy, and the church ; but he con-
sidered that whoever was faulty, the liberties
of the people and public safety ought not to
be forfeited, and that the people were not
guilty of the faults of king or parliament,
when they defended them; and that if both
their causes had been bad, as against each
other, yet that the subjects should adhere to
that party which most secured the welfare of
the nation. When Mr. Baxter was at Kid-
derminster, he was considerably persecuted,
which obliged him to retire to Gloucester,
where he found a civil, courteous, and reli-
gious people. There he continued a month,
when many pamphlets were written on both
sides of the contending political parties, which
unhappily divided the nation preparatory to
a war. At that time contentions commenced
between the commission of array and the
parliament militia, At the earnest request
of the people, Mr. Baxter returned to Kidder-
minster, and remained with them fourteen
years; when he joined Colonel Whalley’s
regiment as chaplain, and was present at
several sieges. He confessed himself unwill-
ing to leave his studies and friends, but he
thought only of the public good. He was
however compelled to quit the army in 1657,
in consequence of a sudden and dangerous
illness, and returned to Worcester. i From
that place he went to London to have -’medical
advice. He was advised to visit. Tunbridge
Wells; and after continuing at that place
some time, and finding his health improved,
he visited London, just before the deposition
of Cromwell, and preached to the parliament
the day previous to its voting the restoration
of the king. He preached, occasionally,
about the city of London, having a license
from Bishop Sheldon. He was one of the
Tuesday lecturers at Pinners’ Hall; and also
had a Friday lecture at Fetter Lane. In
1662 he preached his farewell sermon at
Blackfriars, and afterwards retired to Acton,
in Middlesex. In 1676, he built a meeting-
house in Oxendon-street; and, when he had
but once preached there, the congregation
was disturbed, and Mr. Sedden, then preaching
for him, was sent to the Gatehouse, instead
of Mr. Baxter, where he continued three
months. In 1682, Mr. Baxter was seized, by
a warrant, for coming within five miles of a
corporation; and his goods and books were
sold, as a penalty, for five sermons he had
preached. Owing to the bad state of his
health, he was not at that time imprisoned,
through the kindness of Mr. Thomas Cox,
who went to five justices of the peace, and
made oath that Mr. Baxter was in a bad state
of health, and that such imprisonment would
most likely cause his death. In 1685 he was
sent to the King’s Bench, by a warrant from
the Lord Chief Justice Jeiferies, for some
passages in his Paraphrase on the New Testa-
ment; but having obtained from King James,
through the good ofiices of Lord Powis, a
pardon, he retired to Charter House Yard;
occasionally preached to large and devoted
congregations, and at length died, December
8, 1691, and was interred in Christ Church.
Mr. Baxter’s life was one continued scene
of discord and reproach, though of most con-
siderable piety and zeal. By multitudes he
was revered, whilst by many he was despised.
It has been stated that he was the author of
one hundred and forty-five distinct treatises,
most of which were polemical, and many
were distinguished for their learning and sim-
plicity. Some of the most popular of those
treatises are, “ The Saints’ Everlasting Rest;”
“ Aphorisms of Justification and the Cove-
nants ;” “Catholic Theology ;” “ A Treatise
on Universal Redemption ;” “A Call to the
Unconverted,” 20,000 copies of which sold in
one year. It was translated into Indian by
Elliot, and a young Indian prince was so
taken with it that he read it with tears, and
died with it in his hand. For a detailed ac-
count of this pious and excellent man, vide
“ Baxter’s Life,” quarto; " Calamy’s N oncon-
formists’ Memorial;” and especially, “Orme’s
BAX
BED
75
Life of Baxter,” a work of great merit.—
Jones’s Christ. Biog.
BAXTERIANISM, so called from the learned
and pious individual whose biography has
just been given. His design was to reconcile
Calvin and Arminius; for this purpose he
formed a middle scheme between their systems.
He taught that God had elected some, whom
he is determined to save, without any fore-
sight of their good works; and that others to
whom the gospel is preached, have common
grace, which if they improve, they shall ob-
tain saving grace, according to the doctrine of
Arminius. He owns with Calvin that the
merits of Christ’s death, are to be applied to
believers only; but he also asserts that all
men are in a state capable of salvation.
Mr. Baxter maintains that there may be a
certainty of perseverance here, and yet he
cannot tell whether a man may not have so ;
weak a degree of saving grace as to lose it
again.
In order to prove that the death of Christ ‘
has put all in a state capable of salvation, the
following arguments are alleged by this
learned author :--1. It was the nature of all
mankind which Christ assumed at his incar-
nation, and the sins of all mankind were the
occasion of his suffering. 2. It was to Adam,
as the common father of lapsed mankind, that
God made the promise (Gen. iii. 15.) The
conditional new covenant, does equally give
Christ, pardon, and life to all mankind on
condition ~ of acceptance. The conditional
grant is universal :—“ Whosoever believeth
shall be saved.” 3. It is not to the elect only,
but to all mankind, that Christ has command-
ed his ministers to proclaim his gospel, and
offer the benefits of his procuring.
There are, Mr. Baxter allows, certain fruits
of Christ’s death which are proper for the elect
only: 1. Grace eventually worketh in them
true faith, repentance, conversion, and union
with Christ as his living members. 2. The
actual forgiveness of sin as to the spiritual
and eternal punishment. 3. Our reconciliation
with God, and adoption and right to the hea-
venly inheritance. 4. The Spirit of Christ
to dwell in us, and sanctify us, by a habit of
divine love. Rom. viii. 9—13. Gal. v. 6.
5. Employment in holy, acceptable service,
and access in prayer, with a promise of being
heard through Christ. Heb. ii. 5, 6. John
xiv. 13. 6. Well~grounded hopes of salva-
tion, peace, of conscience, and spiritual com-
munion with the church mystical in heaven
and earth. Rom. v. 12. Heb. xii. 22. 7. A
special interest in Christ, and intercession
with the Father. Rom. viii. 32, 33. 8. Re-
surrection unto life, and justification in j udg-
ment; glorification of the soul at death, and
of the body at the resurrection. Phil. iii. 20, . _
. in the bishopric of Durham, 1n the year 673.
21. 2 Cor. v. l-—3.
Christ has made a conditional deed of gift‘
of these benefits to all mankind; but the elect
only accept and possess them. Hence he in-
fers, that though Christ never absolutely in-
tended or decreed that his death should even-
tually put all men in possession of those bene-
fits, yet he did intend and decree that all men
should have a conditional gift of them by his
death—Ca'lamy’s Life of Baxter; Baxter’s
Catholic Theology, pp. 51-53,- Baxter’s End of
Doctrinal Controversy, pp. 154, 155.
BAXTERIANS, such as generally adopt the
opinions of Baxter with respect to divine
grace and the extent of redemption; but
there has never existed any particular or sepa-
rate denomination of Christians, known by
his name.
BEATIFICATION, in the Roman Catholic
church ; an act by which the pope declares a
person beatified or blessed after death: it is the
first step to canonization, which see. N 0 per-
son can be beatified till fifty years after his
death. All certificates or attestations of vir-
tues and miracles, the necessary qualifications
for saintship, are examined by the congrega-
tion of rites. This examination often con-
tinues for several years; after which his holi-
ness decrees the beatification. The corpse
and relics of the future saint are thenceforth
exposed to the veneration of the superstitious ;
his image is crowned with rays, and a par-
ticular ofiice is set apart for him; but his
body and relies are not carried in procession;
Indulgences, likewise, and remissions of sin,
are granted on the day of his beatification;
which, though not so pompous as that of ca-
nonization, is, however, very splendid. Bea-
tification differs from canonization in this,
that the pope does act as a judge in determin—
ing the state of the beatified, but only grants
a privilege to certain persons to honour him
by a particular religious worship, without in-
curring the penalty of superstitious worship-
pers ; but in canonization, the pope speaks as
a judge, and determines ex cathedra upon the
state of the person canonized. Beatification
was introduced when it was thought proper
to delay the canonization of saints, for the
greater assurance of the truth of the steps
taken in the procedure. Some particular
orders of monks have assumed to themselves ‘
the power of beatification: thus, Octavia
Melchorica was beatified by the Dominicans,
—-E'ncyc. Amer.
BEATITUDE imports the highest degree of
happiness human nature can arrive to, the
fruition of God in a future life to all eternity.
It is also used when speaking of the theses
contained in Christ's sermon on the Mount,
whereby he pronounces the several characters
there mentioned blessed.
BEDE, (generally styled “ the Venerable
Bede,”) an eminent writer and an English
monk, was born at Wearmouth and Jarrow.
At the early age of six years he was sent to
the monastery of St. Peter, at Wearmouth.
BED
BEG
76
under the superintendence of Abbot Benedict,
by whom, and his successor Ceolfrid, he was
educated for twelve years. When he had
arrived at the age of nineteen, he was or- *
dained deacon by Bishop Beverley. In a
short time, by his diligence and application,
he became a proficient in general knowledge,
and in classical literature. He was so strongly
attached to a monastic life, that when Pope
Sergius wrote to Abbot Ceolfrid, in a very f
urgent manner, to send him to Rome to give
his opinion on some important points, Bede
would not accept it. Several years were
spent by him in making collections for his
celebrated work on ecclesiastical history, the
materials for which he collected from the
lives of eminent persons, annals in convents,
and such chronicles as were written before
his time. Nearly all the knowledge we
possess of the early state of Christianity in
this country is derived from this work. That
work was published in the year 731, when
he was fifty-nine years of age.
profound prelates conversed with him, and
solicited his advice on the most important;
subjects; particularly Egbert, bishop of York, ’
a man of very extensive learning; and to
whom he wrote a long, learned, and judicious
letter, which furnished the world with such
an account of the state of the church at that
time, as cannot be met with in any other;
history. He had then every symptom of
consumption, which at last proved to be the
case. This affliction he supported with in-
credible firmness of mind; and though this
lingering complaint was united with asthma,
he was never heard to complain, but was
always calm and resigned. Though his body
was much afliicted, his mind was buoyant and
active ; and he continued, with great assiduity,
to translate the Gospel of John into the Saxon
language, and also some passages which he
was then extracting from the works of Isidore.
He had just time to ‘finish his translation on
the day, and at the very hour, of his death.
He also took his usual interest in the edu-
cation and improvement of some monks whom
he was instructing. His piety and virtue,
united to his lengthened days, entitled him to
the appellation of venerable. England scarcely
ever produced a greater scholar or divine.
Bayle says, that “there is scarcely any thing
in all antiquity worthy to be read, which is
not to be found in Bede, though he travelled
not out of his own country ;” and that “if
he had lived in the times of St. Augustine,
St. Jerome, or Chrysostom, he would un-
doubtedly have equalled them, since, even in
the midst of a superstitious age, he wrote so
many excellent treatises.” Bede died at the
age of sixty-three, 11.1). 735. His remains
were interred, first in the church of his own
monastery, but afterwards removed to Dur-
ham, and placed in the same coflin with those
It gained '
him such universal applause, that the most '
of St. Cuthbert.
composed in honour of him, but none con-
sidered suitable to his virtues and talents.
As an author, he excelled in the purity and
elegance of his style; and, as a man‘, he was
eminent for those virtues and graces which
adorn human nature.
BEGHARDS, or BEGUARDS, a sect that arose
in Germany in the thirteenth century, and
I took St. Begghe for their patroness. They
: employed themselves in making linen cloth,
. each supporting himself by his labour, and
were united only by the bonds of charity,
without having any particular rule ; but when
; Pope Nicholas IV. had confirmed that of the
J third order of St. Francis, in 1289, they em-
? braced it the year following.
BEGUINES, a congregation of nuns, founded
either by St. Begghe or by Lambert le Begue.
They were established, first at Liege, and
afterwards at Neville, in 1207 ; and from this
1; last settlement sprang the great number of
Beguinages which are spread over all Flan-
ders, and have passed from Flanders into
Germany. In the latter country some of them
fell into extravagant errors, persuading them-
selves that it was possible, in the present life,
to arrive to the highest perfection, even to
impeccability, and a clear view of God; in
short, to so eminent a degree of contemplation,
1 that there was no necessity, after this, to sub-
‘ mit to the laws of mortal men, civil or eccle-
l siastical. The council of Vienna condemned
these errors; permitting, nevertheless, those
among them who continued in the true faith,
to live in charity and penitence, either with
or without vows. There still subsists, or at
least subsisted till lately, many communities
of them in Flanders. Their grand rule of
conduct was universal charity, and their only
motive the love of God.
BEHMEN, or BOEHME, JACOB, a celebrated
mystic writer, born in the year 1575, at Old
Seidenburgh, near Gorlitz, in Upper Lusatia;
he was a shoemaker by trade. He is de-
scribed as having been thoughtful and reli-
gious from his youth, taking peculiar pleasure
in frequenting public worship. At length
seriously considering within himself that
speech of our Saviour, My Father which is in
heaven will give the Holy Spirit to them that
in himself, and set forward to desire that
promised Comforter; and, continuing in .that
earnestness, he was at last, to use his own
expression, “surrounded with a divine light
for seven days, and stood in the highest con-
templation and kingdom of joys!” After
this, about the year 1600, he was again sur—
rounded by the divine light, and replenished
with the heavenly knowledge ; insomuch
ing the herbs and grass, by his inward light
he saw into their essences, use and properties,
which were discovered to him by their linea-

There were several epitaphs'
ash him. he was thereby thoroughly awakened -
that, going abroad into the fields, and view-"
BEH
‘J
7
ARN
' kingdom of hell.
ments, figures, and signatures. In the year
1610, he had a third special illumination,
wherein still further mysteries were revealed
to him. It was not till the year 1612 that
Behmen committed these revelations to writing.
His first treatise is entitled Aurora, which was
seized on and withheld from him by the se-
nate of Gorlitz (who persecuted him at the
instigation of the primate of that place) before
it was finished, and he never afterwards pro-
ceeded with it, further than by adding some
explanatory notes. The next production of
his pen is called The Three Principles. In
this work he more fully illustrates the subjects
treated of in the former, and supplies what is
wanting in that work. The contents of these
two treatises may be divided as follows:
1. How all things came from a working will
of the holy triune incomprehensible God,
manifesting himself as Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit, through an outward perceptible work-
ing triune power of fire, light, and spirit, in
the kingdom of heaven. 2. How and what
angels and men were in their creation; that
they are in and from God, his real offspring;
that their life began in and from this divine
fire, which is the Father of light, generating
a birth of light in their souls; from both
which proceeds the Holy Spirit, or breath of
divine love in the triune creature, as it does
in the triune Creator. 3. How some angels,
and all men, are fallen from God, and their
first state of a divine triune life in him ; what
they are in their fallen state, and the difference
between the fall of angels and that of man.
4. How the earth, stars, and elements were
created in consequence of the fallen angels.
5. Whenee there is good and evil in all this
temporal world, in all its creatures, animate
and inanimate; and what is meant by the
curse that dwells every where in it. 6. Of
the kingdom of Christ; how it is set in oppo-
sition to, and fights and strives against the
I 7. How man, through faith
in Christ, is able to overcome the kingdom
of hell, and triumph over it in the divine
power, and thereby obtain eternal salvation;
also how, through working in the hellish
quality or principle, he casts himself into
perdition. 8. How and why sin and misery,
wrath and death, shall only reign for a time,
till the love, the wisdom, and the power of 1
God shall in a supernatural way (the mys-
tery or‘ God made man) triumph over sin,
misery, and death; and make fallen man rise
to the glory of angels, and this material sys-
tem shake off its curse, and enter into an
everlasting union with that heaven from
whence it fell.
The year after he wrote his Three Princi-
Ple$,—-by which are to be understood, the dark
world, or hell, in which the devils live ;—-the
1}gbt World, or heaven, in which the angels
live ;—-the external and visible world, which
has proceeded from the internal and spiritual
worlds, in which man, as to his bodily life, lives,
--Behmen produced his Threefold Life of
Man according to the Three Principles. In this
work he treats more largely of the state of
man in this world: 1. That he has that im-
mortal spark of life which is common to
angels and devils. 2. That divine life of the
light and spirit of God, which makes the es-
sential difference between an angel and ‘a
devil, the last having extinguished this divine
life in himself; but that man can only attain
unto this heavenly life of the second principle
through the new birth in Christ Jesus. The
life of the third principle, or of this external
and visible world. Thus the life of the first
and third principles is common to all men;
but the life of the second principle only to a
true Christian or a child of God.
Behmen wrote several other treatises, be-
sides the three already enumerated; but these
three being, as it were, the basis of all his
other writings, it was thought proper to notice
them particularly. His conceptions are often
clothed under allegorical symbols ; and in his
latter works he has frequently adopted chemi-
cal and Latin phrases to express his ideas,
which phrases he borrowed from conversation
with learned men, the education he had re-
ceived being too illiterate to furnish him with
them: but as to the matter contained in his
writings, he disclaimed having borrowed it
either from men or books. He died in the
year 1624. His last words were—“ Now I
go hence into Paradise.”
Some of Behmen’s principles were adopted
by the late ingenious and pious William Law,
who has clothed them in a more modern dress
and in a less obscure style—See Behmen’s
Works; Oheley’s Memoirs of Behmen.
BELLARMINE, CARDINAL, a great Roman
Catholic oracle and Jesuit, born at Monte
Puleiano, in Tuscany, in 1542. He was most
assiduous in his opposition to the Protestants,
and was sent into the .Low Countries to arrest
their progress. The talent which he displayed
in his controversies, called forth the most able
men on the other side; and, for a number of
years, no eminent divine among the Reformers
failed to make his arguments a particular
subject of refutation. His principal work was
: A Body of Controversy, written in Latin, the
I st le of which is perspicuous and precise,
‘ without any pretension to purity and elegance.
: He displays very considerable acquaintance
* with the Scriptures, and is deeply versed in
the doctrine and practice of the church. He
was, on the points of predestination and efii-
cacious grace, more a disciple of Augustine
' than a Jesuit. As his book did not assert that
, the Popes had a direct power over temporal
; things, it was placed by Sixtus V. among the
; prohibited books; which, with the differences
' that were found among the Catholics them-
_ selves, gave the Protestants no small advan-
tage. At his death, the Cardinal bequeathed
BEL
BEL
78
one half of his soul to the Virgin Mary, and
the other to Jesus Christ.
BELIEF, in its general and natural sense,
denotes a persuasion or an assent of the mind
to the truth of any proposition. In this sense
belief has no relation to any particular kind
of means or arguments, but may be produced
by any means whatever: thus we are said to
believe our senses, to believe our reason, to
believe a witness. Belief, in its more restrained
sense, denotes that kind of assent which is
grounded only on the authority or testimony
of some person. In this sense belief stands
opposed to knowledge and science. We do
not say that we believe snow is white, but we
know it to be so. But when a thing is pro-
pounded to us, of which we ourselves have
no knowledge, but which appears to us to be
true from the testimony given to it by another,
this is what we call belief. See FAITH.
BELIEVERS, an appellation by which the
disciples of Christ were first called; but to-
ward the close of the first century, those
Christians were thus designated who had
been admitted into the church by baptism,
and instructed in all the mysteries of religion,
in contradistinction to the catechumens who
had not been baptized, and were debarred
from those privileges. Among us it is often
used synonymously with Christian. See
CHRISTIAN.
BEL AND THE DRAGON, HISTORY or, an
apocryphal and uneanonical book of Scrip-
ture. It was always rejected by the Jewish
church, and is extant neither in the Hebrew
nor the Chaldee language; nor is there any
proof that it ever was so. J erom gives it no
better title than “the fable of Bel and the
Dra on.”
Selden thinks this little history ought rather
to be considered as a sacred poem, or fiction,
than a true account. As to the Dragon, he
observes, that serpents (dracones) made a part
of the hidden mysteries of the Pagan religion;
as appears from Clemens Alexandrinus, Ju-
lius Firmicus, Justin Martyr, and others. And
Aristotle relates, that in Mesopotamia there
were serpents which would not hurt the
natives of the country, and infested only
strangers. Whence it is not improbable that
both the Mesopotamians themselves, and the
neighbouring people, might worship a serpent,
the former to avert the evil arising from those
reptiles, the latter out of a principle of grati-
tude. But of this there is no clear proof; nor
is it certain that the Babylonians worshipped
a dragon or serpent.
BELLs are not to be reckoned among the
ancient utensils of the Christian church, be-
cause they are known to be a modern inven-
tion. During the three first centuries, it is
certain the Christians did not meet in their
assemblies by the notice of any public signal;
nor can it be imagined that, in an age of per-
secution, when they met privately in the night,
they would as it were betray themselves by
- such notice to their enemies. Baronius, indeed,
supposes there was an order of men appointed
to give private notice of assembling to every
particular member of a Christian congrega-
tion ; but, for want of light, we can determine
nothing about it.
In the following ages, we find several in-
ventions before that of bells, for the calling
religious assemblies together. In Egypt they
seem to have used trumpets, after the manner
of the Jews. And the same custom prevailed
in the sixth century, in Palestine. But, in
some monasteries they took the ofiice by turns
of going about to every one’s cell, and calling
the monks to their devotions with the stroke
of a hammer; which instrument was from
thence termed the night-signal, and awakening-
mallet, éZmrmao'rr') 102/ o'gbvpi'vo. In the nun-
nery erected at Jerusalem by the famous
Paula, a Roman lady, the usual signal was
given by singing an Hallelujah. In the other
parts of the East they made use of sounding
instruments of wood, called Sacred Boards.
The use of bells was not known in the
eastern church till the year 865, when Ursus
Patrisiacus, duke of Venice, made a present
of some to Michael the Greek emperor, who
first built a tower to the church of Sancta
Sophia, to hang them in. Who first brought
bells into use in the Latin church, is a. thing
not yet determined; some ascribing them to
Pope Sabinianus, successor of St. Gregory, A.D.
604; and others to Paulinus, bishop of Nola,
contemporary with St. J erom. But the latter
opinion seems to be a vulgar error, and to
have no better foundation than Paulinus’s
being bishop of Nola in Campania, where it
is pretended bells were first invented, and
thence called Nolae and Campanae. Cardinal
Bona would have it thought that they began
to be used in the Latin church immediately
upon the conversion of the em erors to Chris-
tianity, because the tintinnahu , or lesser sort
of bells, had been used before by the heathens
to the like purpose: but there is no ancient
author that countenanees his conjecture.
The Turks, since they became masters of
the Greek empire. have prohibited the use of
bells among their Christian subjects ; for
which reason, “they hang by ropes, upon the
branches of trees, several bent plates of iron,
like those on our cart-wheels, of about half
an inch thick, and three or four inches broad,
with holes made in them lengthways. They '
chime upon these plates with little iron ham-
mers, to call the monks to church. They
have another sort of religious music, which
they endeavour to bring into concert with
these iron chimes. They hold a piece of
board about four or five inches broad in one
hand, and beat upon it with a wooden mallet
in the other.”
The Romish church has a great deal of
superstition in relation to the use of bells. In
BEL
BEL.
79
the Roman ritual, they are said to represent
the duration of the Gospel, the sound of which
has been carried through all the earth, be-
cause they make themselves be heard by the
faithful a great way off. They likewise re-
present the church exciting the faithful to
praise God, and the pastors of the Gospel
preaching the word of God. They have
several other mysterious significations, to be
found in the rituals. The Romanists believe
that the sound of bells keeps the powers of
the air at a distance; in this not much unlike
the ancient Lacedemonians, who thought the
sound of brass would drive away evil spirits:
for which reason, at the death of their kings,
they beat upon brass kettles.
The ceremony of the benediction, or bless-
ing, of bells, in the Romish church, is a very
remarkable piece of superstition. It is sup-
posed to consecrate them to God’s service,
to the end that he may bestow on them the
power, not of striking the ear, but of touch-
ing the heart. When a bell is to receive
benediction, it is hung up, and disposed in
such a manner, as to leave room to walk
round it. They prepare beforehand an holy-
water pot, another for salt, napkins, a vessel
of oil, incense, myrrh, cotton, a bason and
ewer, and a crum of bread. They then pro-
ceed to sanctify the bell in the following man-
ner :—-A procession is made from the vestry,
and the ofiiciating priest, having seated him-
self near the bell, instructs the people in the
holiness of the action he is going to perform,
and then sings the miserere. Next, he blesses
some salt and water, and puts up a prayer,
that the bell may acquire the virtue of guard-
ing Christians from the stratagems of Satan,
of driving away ghosts, of breaking the force
of tempests, and raising devotion in the heart,
800. He then mixes the salt and water, and
crossing them thrice, in the name of the
Father, the Son, and Holy Ghost, pronounces
over each of them, “ God be with you.”
This done he dips the aspergillum, or sprink-
ler, in the holy water, and with it washes
the bell; during which ablution psalms are
sung. After this a vessel, containing what
they call oil for the infirm, is opened by the
dean, into which the ofliciating priest dips
the thumb of his right hand, and applies it to
the middle of the bell, signing it with the
sign of the cross. The 28th Psalm being then
sung, the bell is marked with seven other
crosses, during which the priest honours the
hell with a sort of baptism, consecrating it in
the name of the Trinity, and naming some
particular saint, who stands godfather to the
bell, which from that time bears his name.
The bell, thus baptized, is perfumed with in-
cense and myrrh, which, in a prayer used on
that occasion, is called the dew of the Holy
Ghost.
The rituals tell us, that the consecration of
bells represents that of pastors; that the ablu-
tion, followed by auction, expresses the sanc-
tification acquired by baptism; the seven
crosses show that pastors should exceed the
rest of Christians in the graces of the Holy
Ghost; and that, as the smoke of the per-
fume rises in the bell, and fills it, so a pastor,
adorned with the fulness of God’s Spirit, re—
ceives the perfume of the vows and prayers
of the faithful
We likewise meet with, in a Catholic
author, a kind of religious anatomy of a bell,
and all its parts. The metal signifies the
strength of the preacher’s understanding, and
the clapper his tongue; the stroke of the
clapper, the tongue’s censure of vice; and
that, which holds the clapper, the moderation
of the tongue. The wood on which the bell
hangs denotes the wood of the cross; the
pieces, to which the wood is fixed, the oracles
of the prophets. The cramp-iron, fixing the
bell to the wood, represents the preacher’s
attachment to the cross of Christ. The bell-
rope likewise includes considerable mysteries:
the three cords, for instance, of which it is
made, are the three senses of the Scrip-
ture; viz. the historical, the moral, and the
allegorical.
This practice of consecrating and baptizing
bells is a very modern invention. Baronius
carries it no higher than the time of John
XIII. A.D. 968, who consecrated the great
bell of the Lateran church, and gave it the
name of John. Menardus and Cardinal Bona
carry it up a little higher, namely, to the
time of Charles the Great; and it is certain
the practice pravailed at that time, because
we find, in the capitulars of that prince, a
censure and prohibition of it,-—ut clocas non
baptisent. .
That bells were an early invention, is evi-
dent from their use in the days of Moses,
since it was enjoined on the high priest of the
Israelites, that the lower hem of the robe in
which he ofiiciated should be ornamented
with pomegranates and gold bells, set alter-
nately, in order that he might minister therein,
that his sound might be heard when he went
into the holy place before the Lord, and when
he came out, that he might not die. It seems
to have been ordained as a mark of respect,
that the high priest might give public notice
of his entering before the Lord; and, perhaps,
to prevent his being put to death by those
who watched the temple, that its sacred pre-
cincts might not be violated; none but the
high priest being permitted to enter into the
holy place.
Viewed in this light, there appears nothing
extraordinary in the use of bells, simply con-
sidered; but as sacred persons gave sanction,
in the minds of people prone to wander from
the simplicity of truth, to make everything
about them, and even their dress, POSSESS
some sacred function, so these ornaments
came to be held up to the people as some-
Q
BEL
BEL
80
thing more than mere bells and pomegra-
nates; and hence, Josephus informs us, that
while the latter signified lightning, the for-
mer denoted thunder: and long before the
days of Josephus, it appears that superstitious
notions were attached to bells, which, accord-
ing to the prophet Zecharias (ch. xiv. 20),
were used as amulets. In illustration of this
remark, accept the following extract from
Burder's Oriental Customs, vol. ii. p. 291 :—
“ Among the heathens of the East, the sun
was called Baal, or Bel, from his supposed
dominion over all things, whence the word
came at last to denote a lord or master in
general. He was considered as the author
of vibratory motion, the source of musical
sound; and such instruments as emit a sound
by percussion, were called bells, from Bell or
Bel, the name by which the sun was denoted
among the Druids. For the same reason, a
bell seems in very early times to have been
made a sign or symbol of victory or do-
minion. Thus, as horses were employed in
war, and are celebrated in the earliest anti-
quity, for their strength, stately port, and
undaunted courage, bells became a part of
their martial furniture.” There is a striking
proof of the antiquity of this custom among
the heathen, which may be found in the Tra-
vels of Sir It. K. Porter (vol. i. pp. 615, 616),
who, in describing the palace of the forty
pillars, which forms part of the ruins of Per-
sepolis, mentions, among the second group of
sculptured figures, “ an almost gigantic horse,
whose ardour his attendant seems to check
by the tightness with which he holds the
bridle,” as having round his neck a collar
and a bell; and in the next page, the figure
of a dromedary, so accurately sculptured, “ as
to give an appearance of almost actual move-
ment to the animal,” is similarly decorated;
and these fine specimens of the art are referred
by that enterprising traveller to a period con-
temporary with Cyrus. -
Possibly, bells were also used as music,
with equally superstitious notions. They are
mentioned 1 Chron. xv. 19; and perhaps the
sounding brass, coupled with the tinkling
cymbal, was a sort of hell. Among the hea-
then, the use of bells in their religious cere-
monies was common in ancient times. The
sounding brass, in some shape or other, was
struck in the sacred rites of the Dea Syria,
and in those of Hecate. It was thought to
be good for all kinds of expiation and puri-
fication. It had, moreover, some secret in-
fluence over the spirits of the departed. The
priests of Proserpine at Athens, called Hie-
rophants, rang a bell to call the people toge-
ther to sacrifice; and one indispensable cere-
mony in the Indian Pooja is the ringing of a
small bell by the officiating Brahmln. The
women of the Idol, or dancing girls of the
Pagoda, have little golden bells fastened. to
their feet, the soft harmonious tinkling of
I
which vibrates in unison with the exquisite
melody of their voices. Hence it appears
probable, that the Jews derived much of their
foolish notions respecting bells, as, well as
other things of more serious moment, from
the heathen nations.
The rage for amalgamating the supersti-
tions of the Pagan world with the outside of
Christianity, through the falsely called liber-
ality of persons pretending to be the abettors
of truth, but who were in reality the worst
enemies that Christianity ever had to contend
with, together with the desire of the heathen
themselves to uphold their old customs——
those who, like too many of the present day,
exerted all their influence in endeavouring to
unite principles that must ever remain sepa-
rated—this rage for mingling truth with
error in the early ages of the church, when
heathen usages could be made in any degree
to correspond, or when coincidence between
Pagan gods and goddesses, and Christian
saints could, however remotely, be brought
to hear, was the means of introducing a great
variety of dogmas, in every respect contrary
to that simplicity which becometh the gospel
of our Lord Jesus Christ; and among these,
the adoption of bells was not omitted. Hence
appears to have arisen the use of them in
churches, now so universal among us; and
had their use, without abuse, have served the
purpose to which they were, perhaps, origi—
nally applied, it would have been well: but
long before the Reformation in this country,
the clergy had found means to delude the
minds of themselves and their people with the
most superstitious opinions respecting them;
and, as if they felt anxious that their follies
should be carried to future ages they thought
right to inscribe the bells they erected with
those opinions. Of these a few specimens
will illustrate the subject. One set of bells in
a parish church in Cambridgeshire was thus
inscribed :—
Laudo deum verum.
Plebem voco.
Congrego clerum.
Defunctos ploro.
Pestem fugo.
Festa decoro.
I praise the true God.
I call the people.
I assemble the clergy.
I lament the dead.
I drive away infection.
I grace the festival.
Another-—
Funera plango. I bemoan the dead.
Fulgura frango. I abate the lightning.
Sabbata pango. I announce the sabbath.
I reuse the indolent.
I disperse the winds.
I appease the revengeful.
Excite lentos.
Dissipo ventos.
Paco cruentos.
Another——
Dulcis sisto melis I am called a sweet-toned
Campana vocor Ga- bell of the angel Ga-
brielis. briel.
At Lonsborough in Yorkshire—-
See Cwthberte ora pro nobis.
St. Cuthbert pray for us.
At Aldborough in Yorkshire——
SEe Jacobc ora pro nobis.
St. James pray for us.
13 E L
BEN
81
A buted to bells; and it is almost incredible, so
evil !”
countries under her influence ; and no longer
These specimens show the influences attri-
much had the notion of the sanctity of bells
prevailed, that the ordinance of baptism was
profanely applied to their consecration, by
washing them inside and out, with water set
apart, in the name of the Holy Trinity; the
bishop adding holy oil, crosses, and exorcisms,
the then usual forms of baptism ; and, withal,
appointing godfatbers and godmothers, who,
as they held the ropes, gave them their names,
and engaged to answer on their behalf such _
questions .as the bishop might ask the said
bells ; and besides all this, the bishop, whilst 1
he anointed them, i. e. the bells, “ prayed God to give his Holy Spirit to them, that they l
might become sanctified for the expelling of 5
all the power, snares, and illusions of the devil i
-for the souls of the dead; and especially for *
the chasing away of storms, thunder and tem~
pests.”
In further proof of what is here advanced .
regarding the superstitious ideas attached to
bells, the following two inscriptions, carefully
copied from two bells, in Christchurch, Hamp-
shire, are given; the church in which they
are placed is supposed to have been erected
in the reign of the successor of William, com-
monly called the Conqueror :—
vln'rvs ECAMPANE EIFACIAT E NOS 5
vlvsnn Esanniltsr'r inonis Eomnn 5
TOVZEYNS icvm 5 SIT E'rrnx inomnn 5
“May the virtue of the ‘bell make us live
welL—As thy name is Touzeyns [all saints,]
may it be to us a token of good!”
A8815 3 rns'rivvs 3 :ensras E PIVS 5
vr 3 sven'r 5 AGNVS annex 5 AVGVSTINVS 5
use §DVM E nnsona'r irnnco 5
MAGNVS.
“ 0 great Augustine! be kindly present
I pray thee, that while this bell is ringing,
the holy Lamb may speedily chase away all
These inscriptions appear direct and posi-
tive evidence of some of the mischiefs that
‘have arisen from attempts, alasl too success-
ful, to graft Christianity upon the old stock
of Paganism, by the Romish church. Nor is
improvement to be expected within her pale,
since the same superstition remains in the
ago than the year 1819, one of our country-
men travelling through Italy, observed it cus-
tomary to jingle the church bells whenever
there was a thunderstorm; and upon inquir-
mg of a peasant on one occasion the meaning
of such disturbance, he was answered, “ that
it was done to drive away the devil.” And a
bell. has, not long ago, been exhibited to the
‘Society of Antiquaries, called the Bell of St.
Caenon, (St. Kinnon.) of whose sanctity the‘
people of that part of Ireland whence it was
brought think so highly, as to imagine that;

the breach of an oath taken upon it, would be
followed by instant death I
If such be the sentiments infused into the
minds of the unlettered, by those who have
the care of souls, over so large a part of what
is called the Christian world, as the church of
Rome embraces within its dominion, how
thankful ought we, as Protestants, to be, that,
by the blessing of God, we are in some mea—
sure drawn from the atmosphere of its influ-
ence! How dreadful must be the situation
of those who, in matters of comparatively
2 small importance, teach such diabolical opini-
ons;—those who ought to watch over the
church of God for good and not for evil! Let
us take them as examples to avoid their prac-
tices, which are calculated to enslave the
mind in ignorance and idolatry, and to call
down the vengeance of Heaven on those who
follow their wicked devices.
BEMA, (Gr.) a tribunal; the name of the
bishop's throne, in the ancient church. This
seat, or throne, together with those of the
presbyters, were always fixed at the upper
end of the chancel, in a semicircle above the
altar. For anciently the seats of the bishops
and presbyters were joined together, and both
called thrones. The manner of their sitting
is related by Gregory ilazianzen, in his de-
scription of the church of Anastasia, where
he speaks of himself as bishop, sitting upon
the high throne, and the presbyters on lower
benches, on both sides about him. Some
learned men think this was done in imitation
of the Jewish synagogues, in which according
to Maimonides, at the upper end, looking
towards the holy land, the law was placed in
the wall, in an arch, and on each side were
seated the ‘elders in a semicircle.
St. Austin tells Maximus, the Donatist
bishop, that, “when bishops come to stand
before the tribunal of Christ, at the last judg-
ment, they will then have no tribunals, no
lofty seats, or covered chairs; though such
honours are granted them for a time in this
world, for the benefit and advantage of the
church.” See CHURCH.
The bishop’s throne was likewise called
series and cathedra ,- whence come our English
names cathedral and see, for achurch where
the bishop’s chair or seat is fixed. See CA—
THEDRAL and SEE.
The term Berna was given by the Mani-
,_ chees to their altar, and to the day on which
Manes was killed, because on that day they
adorned their bema or altar with great mag-
nificence.
- Bnnnnrc'rmns, an order embracing almost
all the monks in the West, from the sixth to
the tenth century. They were so called be-
cause they followed the rule of St. Benedict
of Norcia. The rules which the monasteries
in France and Spain had received from their
bishops, as well as that of St. Columba, were
essentially the same as those of Benedict. ‘ He
a
BEN
BEN
82
established himself in a monastery on Monte
Cassino, near Naples, in 529, in a grove of
Apollo, after the temple had been destroyed,
and this monastery became the model of all
the others. After this time the monks who
had worn different dresses, now wore black.
These monasteries were afterwards reformed
by the Cluniacs, a branch of the Benedictines,
who had their origin and name from the con-
vent of Clugny, in Burgundy, founded in the
year 910. In the twelfth century, the order
contained 2,000 monasteries. In the middle
ages, they were the asylums of literature and
science ; and in the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries, they had attached to them a con-
siderable number of abbeys and priories in
different parts of France. They are still
found in Italy, Sicily, Spain, Germany, and
Austria, but many of them are very lax in
their rules.
BENEDICTINE FATHERS, celebrated editions
of the writings of the Fathers, edited by some
of the most learned of the Benedictine monks
in France.
BENEDICTION, in a general sense, the act of
blessing, or giving praise to God, or returning
thanks for his favours. The Jews, it is said,
are obliged to rehearse ahundred benedictions
every day, of which eighty are to be spoken
in the morning. It is usual to give a bene—
diction to travellers on their taking leave, a
practice which is still preserved among the
monks. Benedictions were likewise given
among the ancient Jews as well as Christians,
by imposition of hands. And when at length
the primitive simplicity of the Christian wor-
ship began to give way to ceremony, they
added the sign of the cross, which was made
with the hand as before, only elevated or
extended. Hence benediction in the modern
Romish Church (b'enedz'ctio sacerdotalz's) is
used, in a more particular manner, to denote
the sign of the cross made by a bishop or pre-
late, as conferring some grace on the people.
The pope gives a solemn benediction three
times every year; viz. on Maunday Thursday,
on Easter, and on Ascension day. The term
is also employed to denote the blessing pro-
nounced by the priest at the death-bed of the
sick, when it is called benedictio beatz'ca.
Among Protestants, the word is commonly
applied to the blessing implored by the minis-
ter and congregation at the close of public
worship, only with this difi'erence, that con-
sistent Dissenters, instead of aping the Rom-
.uh priest, who really professes to impart the
blessing, use the form “ be with Us,” instead
of “ be with You.”
Benediction is also used for an ecclesiasa
tical ceremony, whereby a thing is rendered
sacred or venerable. In this sense benediction
differs from consecration, as in the latter, unc-
tion is applied, which is not in the former:
thus the chalice is consecrated, and the pix
blessed; as the former, not the latter is
anointed, though in the common usage these
two words are applied promiscuously. The
spirit of piety, or rather of superstition, has
introduced into the Romish church benedic-
tions for almost every thing: we read of forms
of benedictions for wax candles, for boughs,
for ashes, for church vessels, for ornaments,
for flags or ensigns, arms, first-fruits, houses,
ships, paschal eggs, cilicium, or the hair-cloth
of penitents, churchyards, &c. In general
these benedictions are performed by asper-
sions of holy water, signs of the cross, and
prayers suitable to the nature of the ceremony.
The forms of these benedictions are found in
the Roman pontifical, in the Roman missal, in
the book of ecclesiastical ceremonies, printed
in Pope Leo X.’s time, and in the rituals and
ceremonies of the different churches, which
are found collected in Father Martene’s work,
on the Bites and Discipline of the Church.
BENEFICE, in the ecclesiastical sense of the
word, means a church endowed with a revenue
for the performance of divine service, or the
revenue itself assigned to an ecclesiastical
person, by way of stipend for the service he
is to do that church.
As to the origin of the word, we find it as
follows, in Alet’s Ritual. “This word was
anciently appropriated to the lands which
kings used to bestow on those who had fought
valiantly in the wars, and was not used in
this particular signification but during the
time that the Goths and Lombards reigned
in Italy, under whom those fiefs were intro-
duced which were peculiarly termed Benefices,
and those who enjoyed them Beneficiarz'z' or
vassals; for though the Romans also bestowed
lands on their captains and soldiers, yet those
lands had not the name of Benefices appro-
priated to them, but the word Benefice was a
general term which included all kinds of gifts
or grants, according to the ancient significa-
tion of the Latin word. In imitation of the
new sense in which that word was taken with
regard to fiefs, it began to be employed in the
church, when her temporalities began to be di-
vided, and to be given to particular persons, by
taking them out of those of the bishops. This the
bishops themselves first introduced, purposely
to reward merit, and assist such ecclesiastics
as might be in necessity. However, this was
soon carried to greater lengths, and at last
became unlimited, as has since been manifest
in the clericate and the monasteries. A bene-
fice, therefore is not merely a right of receiving
part of the temporalities of the church, for
the service a person renders it; a right which
is founded upon the Gos el, andhas always sub-
sisted since the apostolic age; but it is that of
enjoying a part of the temporalities of the
church, assigned and determined in a special
form, so as that no other clergyman can lay
any claim or pretension to it. And in this
age it is not barely the right of enjoying
a part of the temporalities of the church, but
BEN
BEN
83
is likewise a fixed and permanent right, in
such a manner that it devolves on another
after the death of the incumbent, which an-
ciently was otherwise; for, at the rise of bene-
fices, they were indulged to clergymen only
for a stated time, or for life ; after which they
reverted to the church.
It is not easy to determine when the effects
of the church were first divided. It is cer-
tain, that in the fourth century, all the revenues
were in the hands of the bishops, who distri-
buted them by their (Economi or Stewards;
and they consisted chiefly in alms and volun-
tary contributions. When the church came
to have inheritances, part of them were as-
signed for the maintenance of the clergy, of
which we find some footsteps inthe fifth and
sixth centuries; but the allotment seems not
to have been a fixed thing, but to have been
absolutely discretional, till the twelfth century.
Benefices are divided, by the canonists, into
simple and sacerdotal. The first sort lays no
obligation, but to read prayers, sing, ,&c.
Such kind of Beneficiaries are canons, chap:
lains, chanters, Bee. The second is charged
with the cure of souls, the direction and
guidance of consciences, &c. Such are rec-
tories, vicarages, &c. The canonists likewise
specify three ways of vacating a Benefice; viz.
de jure, defacto, and by the sentence of a judge.
A Benefice is void de jure, when a person is
guilty of crimes for which he is disqualified by
law to hold a Benefice: such are heresy, simony,
&c. A Benefice is void both de facto and de
jure, by the natural death or resignation of
the incumbent. Lastly, a Benefice is vacated
by sentence of the judge, when the incumbent
is dispossessed of it, by way of punishment
for immorality, or any crime against the state?
The Romanists, again, distinguish Benefices
into regular and secular. Regular Benefices
are those held by a religious or monk of any
order, abbey, priory, or convent. Secular
Benefices are those conferred on the secular
priests, of which sort are most of their cures.
The church distinguishes between Dignitz'es
and Benefices. The former title is only appli—
cable to bishoprics, deaneries, archdeaconries,
and prebends: the latter comprehends all ec-
clesiastical preferments under those degrees;
as rectories and vicarages. It is essential
to these latter, that they be bestowed freely,
reserving nothing to the patron; that they be
given as a provision for the clerk, who is only
an usu-fructuary, and has no inheritance in
them ; and that all contracts concerning them
be in their own nature void. See PLURALI-
TIES, RESIDENCE, and SIMoNY.
BENEFICIARY, a beneficed person, or one
who receives and enjoys one or more benefices.
e 1s not, however, the proprietor of the re-
venues of his church; he has only the ad-
ministration of them, unaccountable for the
sameto any but God.
BENEFIT or CLEnGY, a privilege enjoyed
by those in holy orders, which originated in a
religious regard for the honour of the church
by which the clergy of Roman Catholic
countries were either partially or wholly ex-
empted from the jurisdiction of lay tribunals.
It extended, in England, only to cases of
felony; and though it was intended to apply
only to clerical felons or clerks, yet as every
one who could read, was, by the laws of Eng-
land, considered to be a clerk, when the
rudiments of learning came to be difi'used,
almost every man in the community came to
be entitled to this privilege. Peers were en-
titled to it, whether they could read or not;
and by the statutes of 3 and 4 William and
Mary, c. 9 ; and 4 and 5 William and Mary,
0. 24, it was extended to women. In the
earlier periods of the Catholic church in Eng—
land, the clerk. on being convicted of felony,
and claiming the benefit of clergy, was handed
over to the ecclesiastical tribunal for a new
trial or purgation, the pretty uniform result
of which was his acquittal. This pretended
trial of purgation gave rise to a great deal of
abuse and perjury, so that at length the secu-
lar judges, instead of handing over the culprit
to the ecclesiastics for purgation, ordered him
to be detained in prison until he should be
pardoned by the king. By the statute of 18
Eliz. c. 7, persons convicted of felony, and
entitled to benefit of clergy, were to be dis-
charged from prison, being first branded in
the thumb as laymen; it being left to the
discretion of the judge to detain them in
prison not exceeding one year; and by the
statute of 5 Anne, 0. 6, it was enacted, that it
should no longer be requisite that a person
should be able to read in order to be entitled
to the privilege ; so that from the passing of
this act, a felon was no more liable to be
hanged because of his deficiency in learning.
The statutes formerly made specific provisions,
that, in particular cases, the culprit should
not be entitled to benefit of clergy; but the
statute of 7 and 8 Geo. IV. 0. 28, provides,
that “benefit of clergy, with respect to per-
sons convicted of felony, shall be abolished.”
In North America, this privilege has been
formally abolished in some of the States, and
allowed only in one or two cases in others;
while in others, again, it does not appear to
have been known at all. By the Act of Con-
gress of April 30, 1790, it is enacted, that
“ benefit of clergy shall not be used or allowed,
upon conviction of any crime, for which, by
any statute of the United States, the punish-
ment is or shall be declared to be death.”—
Encgclo. Amer.
BENGEL, or BENGELIUS, JOHN ALBERT, a
distinguished pious German theologian, and
a celebrated biblical critic. He was born at
Winneden, in Wurtemberg, 1687, studied at
Stuttgart and Tiibingen, and in 1713 became
preacher and professor at Denkendorf. In
1741, he was made councillor and dean of the
BE it
BER
84
cloister Hcrbrechtingen ; and, in 1749, he
was created abbot or prelate of Alpirsbach,
where he died, November 2, 1752. His chief
studies were the New Testament and the
Fathers. He was the first Lutheran divine
who applied to the criticism of the New Tes-
tament a grasp of mind which embraced the
subject in its whole extent, and a patience 'of
investigation which the study required. YVhile
a student, he was much perplexed by the
various readings, which led him to form the
determination of making a text for himself,
which he executed in avery careful and scru-
pulous manner, according to very rational
and critical rules, excepting that he would not
admit any reading into the text which had
not been previously printed in some edition.
In the book of Revelations alone, he deviated
from this rule. His conscientious piety greatly
tended to allay the fears which had been
excited among the clergy with respect to
various readings; and to him belongs the
honour of having struck out that path which
has since been trod with so much eclat by
\Vetstein, Griesbach, and others.
Besides his Greek New Testament, printed
at Tiibingen, 1734 and 1763, 4to, Bengel pub-
lished a Gnomon which is highly esteemed,
and an exposition of the Apocalypse, which
laid the foundation of a prophetical school in
Germany, which exists at this day. Accord-‘
ing to his system, the end of the forty-two
months, and of the number of the beast, was
May 21, 1810 ; and the destruction of the beast
was to take place June 18, 1836.
BEREANS, a sect of Protestant dissenters
from the church of Scotland, who take their
title from, and profess to follow the example
of, the ancient Bereans, in building their sys-
‘ tem of faith and practice upon the Scriptures
alone, without regard to any human authority
whatever.
As to the origin of this sect, we find that
the Bereans first assembled as a separate so~
city of Christians, in the city of Edinburgh, in
the autumn of 1773, and soon after, in the
parish of Fettercairn. The opponents of the
Berean doctrines allege that this new system
of faith would never have been heard of had I
not Mr. Barclay, the founder of it, been dis-
appointed of a settlement in the church of
Scotland. But the Bereans, in answer to this , for a man to say,
charge, appeal not only to Mr. Barclay’s doc~ ‘ doubts,
trine, uniformly preached in the church of
Fettercairn, and many other places in that
neighbourhood, for fourteen years before that .
benefice became vacant, but likewise to two
different treatises, containing the same doc-
trines, published by him about ten or twelve
years before that period. They admit, m-
deed, that previous to May, 1773, when the
General Assembly, by sustaining the king’s
presentation in favour of Mr. Foote, ex~
eluded Mr. Barclay from succeeding to the
church of Fettercairn, (notwithstanding the
almost unanimous desire of the parishioners,)
the Bereans had not left the established church,
or attempted to erect themselves into a dis-
tinct society; but they add that this was by
no means necessary on their part, until, by the
Assembly’s decision, they were in danger of
being not only deprived of his instructions,
but of being scattered as sheep without a shep-
herd. And they add, that it was Mr. Barclay’s
open and public avowal, both from the pulpit
and the press, of those peculiar sentiments
which now distinguish the Bereans, that was
the first and principal, if not the only, cause
of the opposition set on foot against his set-
tlement in Fettercairn.
The Bereans agree with the great majority
of Christians respecting the doctrine of the
Trinity, which they hold as a fundamental
article ; and they also agree, in a great mea-
sure, with the professed principles of both our
established churches respecting predestination
and election, though they allege that these
doctrines are not consistently taught in either
church. But they differ from the majority of
_ all sects of Christians in various other import-
ant particulars, such as, 1. Respecting our
knowledge of the Deity. Upon this subject
they say, the majority of professed Christians
stumble at the very threshold of revelation;
and, by admitting the doctrine of natural re-
ligion, natural conscience, natural notices, 8:0.
not founded upon revelation, or derived from
it by tradition, they give up the cause of
Christianity at once to the infidels; who may
justly argue, as Mr. Paine in fact does, in his
Age of Reason, that there is no occasion for
any revelation or word of God, if man can
discover his nature and perfections from his
works alone. But this the Bereans argue is
beyond the powers of human reason ; and
therefore our knowledge of God is from revela-
tion alone; and that without revelation man
would never have entertained an idea of his
existence. 2. With regard to faith in Christ,
and assurance of salvation through his merits,
they differ from almost all other sects what-
soever. These they reckon inseparable, or
rather the same, because, say they, “ God hath
expressly declared, he that believeth shall be
saved; and therefore it is not only absurd, but
impious, and'in a manner calling God a liar,
I believe the gospel, but have
nevertheless, of my own salvation.”
} With regard to the various distinctions and
, definitions that have been given of different
kinds of faith, they argue that there is nothing
mcomprehensible or obscure in the meaning
; of this word as used in Scripture; but that as
.‘ faith, when applied to human testimony, sig-
nifies neither more nor less than the mere
; simple belief of that testimony as true, upon
E the authority of the testifier, so, when applied
, to the testimony of God, it signifies precisely
g “ the belief of his testimony, and resting upon
, his veracity alone, without any kind of collat-
BER
BER
85
oral support from concurrence of any other
evidence or testimony whatever.” And they
insist that, as this faith is the gift of God
alone, so the person to whom it is given 1s
as conscious of possessing it, as the bemg to
whom God gives life is of being alive; and
therefore he entertains no doubts either of his
faith or his consequent salvation through the
merits of Christ, who died and rose again for
that purpose. In a word, they argue that the
gospel would not be what it is held forth to
be—glad tidings of great joy—if it did not
bring full personal assurance of eternal salva-
tion to the believer: which assurance,_they
insist, is the present infallible privilege and
portion of every individual believer of the gos-
pel. 3. Consistently with the above definition
of faith, they say that the sin against the Holy
Ghost, which has alarmed and puzzled so many
in all ages, is nothing else but unbelief ; and
that the expression, “ it shall not be forgiven
neither in this world nor that which is to
come,” means only that a person dying in
infidelity would not be forgiven neither under
the former dispensation by Moses, (the then
present dispensation, kingdom, or government
of God,) nor under the gospel dispensation,
which, in respect of the Mosaic, was a kind
of future world, or kingdom to come. 4. The
Bereans interpret a great part of the Old
Testament prophecies, and, in particular, the
whole of the Psalms, excepting such as are
merely historical or laudatory, to be typical
or prophetical of Jesus Christ, his sufferings,
atonement, mediation, and kingdom ; and they
esteem it a gross perversion of these Psalms
and prophecies to apply them to the experi-
ences of private Christians. In proof of this
they not only urge the words of the apostle,
that no prophecy is of any private interpreta-
tion, but they insist that the whole of the
quotations from the ancient prophecies in the
New Testament, and particularly those from
the Psalms, are expressly applied to Christ.
In this opinion many other classes of Protest-
ants agree with them. 5. Of the absolute all-
superintending sovereignty of the Almighty
the Bereans entertain the highest idea, as well
as of the uninterrupted exertion thereof over
all his works, in heaven, earth, and hell, how-
ever unsearchable by his creatures. A God
without election, they argue, or choice in all
his works, is a God without existence, a mere
idol, a nonentity. And to deny God’s elec-
tion, purpose, and express will in all his works,
is to make him inferior to ourselves.
As to their practice and discipline, they con—
sider infant baptism as a divine ordinance,
instituted in the room of circumcision; and
think it absurd to suppose that infants, who,
all agree, are admissible to the kingdom of
God in heaven, should, nevertheless, be in-
capable of being admitted into his visible
church on earth. They commemorate the
Lord’s supper generally once a month ; but as
the words of the institution fix no particular
period, they sometimes celebrate it oftener,
and sometimes at more distant periods, as it
may suit their general convenience. They
meet every Lord’s day, for the purpose of
preaching, praying, and exhorting to love and
good works. With regard to admission and
exclusion of members, their method is very
simple: when any person, after hearing the
Berean doctrines, professes his belief and assur-
ance of the truths of the gospel, and desires
to be admitted into their communion, he is
cheerfully received upon his profession, what-
ever may have been his former manner of life.
But if such a one should afterwards draw back
from his good profession or practice, they first
admonish him, and if that has no effect, they
leave him to himself. They do not think that
they have any power to deliver a backsliding
brother to Satan; that text, and other similar
passages, such as, “ Whatsoever ye shall bind
on earth shall be bound in heaven,” &c., they
consider as restricted to the apostles, and to
the inspired testimony alone, and not to be
extended to any church on earth, or any
number of churches or of Christians, whether
decided by a majority of votes, or by unani-
mous voices. Neither do they think them-
selves authorised, as a Christian church, to
inquire into each other’s political opinions,
any more than to examine into each other’s
notions of philosophy. They both recommend
and practise, as a Christian duty, submission
to lawful authority; but they do not think that
a man by becoming a Christian, or joining
their society, is under any obligation, by the
rules of the. Gospel, to renounce his right of
private judgment upon matters of public or
pri ate importance. Upon all such subjects
they allow each other to think and act as each
may see it his duty; and they require nothing
more of the members than a uniform and
steady profession of the apostolic faith, and a
suitable walk and conversation.
It is said that their doctrine has found con-
verts in various places of Scotland, England,
and America; and that they have congrega-
tions in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Paisley, Stir-
ling, Criefi", Dundee, Arbroath, Montrose, Fet—
tercairn, Aberdeen, and other towns in Scot-
land, as well as in London, and various places
in England.
For further particulars of the doctrines of
this sect, see the works of Messrs. Barclay,
Mcol, Broo/zban/c, and BI ‘Rae. See also filr.
A. flI‘Lean’s Treatise on the Commission, first
edition, p. 88, in which Mr. Barclay’s notion
of assurance is combated.
Bnnnnoanmns, a denomination, in the
eleventh century, which adhered to the opi-
nions of Berengarius, Archdeacon of Anvers,
who asserted that the bread and wine in the
Lord’s Supper are not really and essentially,
but figuratively, changed into the body and
blood of Christ. His followers were divided
BEZ
BIB
86
in opinion as to the eucharist. Some allowed
them to be changed in effect; others admitted
a change in part ; and others an entire change,
with this restriction, that to those who com-
municated unworthily, the elements were
changed back again. The Catholics ranked
them among the most dangerous heretics.
BERNARDINES, an order of monks, founded
by Robert, Abbot of Molerne, and reformed
by St. Bernard, a celebrated Franciscan friar
of the fourteenth century. They wear a
white robe, with a black scapulary ; and when
they ofiiciate they are clothed with a large -_
gown, which is all white, and has great
sleeves, with a hood of the same colour.1
They differ very little from the Cistercians, .'
and had their origin towards the beginning
of the twelfth century.
BERYLLIANS, so called from Beryllus,'an
Arabian, bishop of Bozrah, who flourished in
the third century. He taught that Christ did ‘
not exist before Mary ; but that a spirit issu- I
ing from God himself, and therefore superior ,
to all human souls, as being a portion of the .
divine nature, was united to him at the time I
of his birth.
BETHESDA, to lie at the pool of, a gross ac-
commodation of a simple historical fact, in
which some preachers indulge when urging
sinners not to despair of salvation. There is
reason to fear that multitudes have, by this
abuse of Scripture, been deluded to their eter- ‘
nal ruin. In Germany the formula is used,
proverbially in speaking of theological candi-
dates who are waiting for a living.
BETHLEHEMITEs, a sect called also Star-
bearers, because they were distinguished by a '
red star having five rays, which they more I
on their breast, in memory of the star which
appeared to the wise men. Several authors ,
have mentioned this order, but none of them '
have told us their origin, nor where their,
convents were situated; if we except Mat—
thew Paris, who says that, in 1257, they ob-
tained a settlement in England, which was at
Cambridge, in Trumpington-street.
There still exists in the Spanish West In-
dies an order of Bethlehemites, who are
habited like capuchins, except that they wear
a leathern girdle instead of a cord, and on
their right side an escutcheon representing
the nativity of Christ.
BEZA, THEODORE, the celebrated reformer,
and biblical critic, was born at Vezelai, in
Burgundy, June 24, 1519. He was brought
up by his uncle, Nicholas de Beza, counsellor
of the parliament of Paris till December,
1528, when he was placed under the care of
Melchior Wolmar, at Orleans. With him he
lived seven years, made extraordinary pro-
gress in polite literature, and from him im-
bibed the principles of Protestantism. He
was intended for the bar, but the law not
suiting his dispositions, he pursued his Greek
and Latin studies; and in 1549, accepted the
Greek professorship at Lausanne. This situa-
tion he filled with great ability for nine or
ten years, when he went to Geneva, where he
settled as a Protestant minister, and became
the colleague of Calvin, both in the church and
the university. He assisted at the conference
of Poissi, where his singular ability procured
him great renown. He also attended several
synods, at which he manfully contended for
the true doctrines of Scripture. He died
October 13, 1605, after having published
several works, the most important of which
was his Greek New Testament, with the Vul-
gate, and a new Latin version of his own,
accompanied with valuable notes.
edition is that printed at Cambridge, 1642.
BIBLE, ,Bifillia (BIBLIA), the name applied
by Christians, by way of eminence, to the
collection of sacred writings of the Holy
Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments.
I. BIBLE, History ojI—It is thought that
Ezra published the Scriptures in the Chaldee
character; for, that language being generally
used among the Jews, he thought proper to
change the old Hebrew character for it, which
I hath since that time been retained only by the
Samaritans, among whom it is preserved to
this day. Prideaux is of opinion that Ezra
made additions in several parts of the Bible,
where any thing appeared necessary for illus-
trating, connecting, or completing the work ;
in which he appears to have been assisted by
the same Spirit in which they were first
written. Among such additions are to be
reckoned the last chapter of Deuteronomy,
wherein Moses seems to give an account of
his own death and burial, and the succession
of Joshua after him. To the same cause our
learned author thinks are to be attributed
many other interpolations in the Bible, which
created difiiculties and objections to the authen-
ticity of the sacred text, no ways to be solved
without allowing them. Ezra changed the
names of several places which were grown
obsolete, and, instead of them, put their new
names by which they were then called in the
text. Thus it is that Abraham is said to
have pursued the kings who carried Lot away
captive as far as Dan; whereas that place in
Moses’ time was called Laish, the name Dan
being unknown till the Danites, long after
i the death of Moses, possessed themselves of
it. The Jewish canon of Scripture was then
settled by Ezra, yet not so but that several
variations have been made in it. Malachi,
for instance, could not be put into the Bible by
him, since that prophet is allowed to have
lived after Ezra; nor could Nehemiah be
there, since that book mentions (chap. xii.
v. 22) Jaddua as high priest, and Darius
Codomanus as king of Persia, who were at
least a hundred years later than Ezra. It may
be added, that in the first book of Chronicles,
the genealogy of the sons of Zerubbabel is
carried down for so many generations as must
The best
BIB
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87
necessarily bring it to the time of Alexander;
and consequently this book, or at least this
part of it, could not be in the canon in Ezra’s
days. It is probable the two books of
Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, and
Malachi, were adopted into the Bible in‘ the
time of ‘Simon the Just, the last of the men
of the great synagogue.
II. BIBLE, ancient Divisions and Order of
Books.--After the return of the Jews from
the Babylonish captivity, Ezra collected as
many copies as he could of the sacred writ-
ings, and out of them all prepared a correct
edition, arranging the several books in " their
proper order. These books he divided into
three parts: I. The Law. II. The Prophets.
III. The Hagiographa—i. e. the holy writings.
I. The law, contains—1. Genesis; 2. Exodus;
3. Leviticus; 4. Numbers; 5. Deuteronomy.
II. The writings of the prophets are— 1.
Joshua; 2. Judges, with Ruth; 3. Samuel;
4. Kings; 5. Isaiah; 6 Jeremiah, with his
Lamentations; 7. Ezekiel; 8. Daniel; 9. The
twelve minor prophets; 10. Job; ll.-Ezra;
12. Nehemiah; 13. Esther. III. The Hagio-
grapha consists of—l. The Psalms; 2. The
Proverbs; 3. Ecclesiastes; 4. The Song of
Solomon. This division was made for the
sake of reducing the number of the sacred
books to the number of the letters in their
alphabet, which amount to twenty-two. After-
wards the Jews reckoned twenty-four books
in their canon of Scripture; in disposing of
which the law stood as in the former division,
and the prophets were distributed into former
and latter: the former prophets are Joshua,
Judges, Samuel, and Kings; the latter pro-
phets are Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the
twelve minor prophets; and the Hagiogra-
pha consists of the Psalms, the Proverbs,
Job, the Song of Solomon, Ruth, the Lament-
ations, Ecclesiastes, Esther, Daniel, Ezra,
the Chronicles. Under the name of Ezra
they comprehend Nehemiah : this order hath
not always been observed, but the variations
from it are of no moment. The five books
of the law are divided into fifty-four sections.
This division many of the Jews hold to have
been appointed by Moses himself; but others,
with more probability, ascribe it to Ezra.
The design of this division was, that one of
these sections might be read in their syna-
gogues every Sabbath-day: the number was
fifty-four, because, in their intercalated years,
a month being then added, there were fifty-
four sabbaths: in other years they reduced
them to’ fifty-two, by twice joining together
two short sections.
III. BIBLE, modern Divisions ofI—The di-
vision of the Scriptures into chapters, as we
at present have them, is of modern date.
Some attribute it to Stephen Langton, Arch-
bishop of Canterbury, in the reigns of John
and HenrylIL; but the true author of the
invention was Hugo dc Santo Caro, com-
monly called Hugo Cardinalis, because he
was the first Dominican that ever was raised
to the degree of cardinal. This Hugo flou-
rished about AJ). 1240 : he wrote a comment
on the Scriptures, and projected the first eon-
eordance, which is that of the vulgar Latin
Bible. The aim of this work being for the
more easy finding out any word or passage in
the Scriptures, he found it necessary to divide
the book into sections, and the sections into
subdivisions ; for till that time the vulgar
Latin Bibles were without any division at all.
These sections are the chapters into which
the Bible hath ever since been divided ; but the
subdivision of the chapters was not then into
verses, as it is now. Hugo's method of sub-
dividing them was by the letters A, B, C, D,
E, F, G, placed in the margin, at an equal
distance from each other, according to the
length of the chapters. The subdivision of
the chapters into verses, as they now stand in
our Bibles, had its original from a famous
Jewish rabbi named Mordecai Nathan, about
1445. This rabbi, in imitation of Hugo Car-
dinalis, drew up a concordance to the Hebrew
Bible, for the use of the Jews. But though
he followed Hugo in his division of the books
into chapters, he refined upon his inventions
as to the subdivision, and contrived that by
verses. This being found to be a much more
convenient method, it has been ever since
followed. And thus, as the Jews borrowed
the division of the books of the Holy Scrip-
tures into chapters from the Christians, in
like manner the Christians borrowed that of
the chapters into verses from the Jews. The
present order of the several books is almost
the same (the Apocrypha excepted) as that
made by the Council of Trent."
IV. BIBLE, MSS. qf.--Notwithstanding the
tendency of the art of piinting to supersede,
and even to occasion the total loss of written
copies of the Scriptures, numerous apographs
still exist, some of which are of great anti-
quity, and possess great authority in deter-
mining certain questions of biblical criticism.
Others of great value are known to have ex-
isted till within a late period, and served, ere
they disappeared, as exemplars from which
others were taken.
1. Hebrew MSS.—These are either rolls
designed for the use of the synagogue, or
square manuscripts designed for private use.
The former are all on parchment, and writ—
ten with the greatest care and accuracy : the
latter are either on vellum or paper, and are
of various sizes. The characters vary in
their appearance: the Spanish being perfectly
square and elegant; the German crooked and
rude; and the Italian holding a middle place
between both. A family relationship has
also been discovered between these three
classes. The Spanish are held in great esti-
mation among the Jews, on account of their
having been corrected after the Codex of
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Hillel—a MS. of the highest antiquity. ‘ The
German MSS. frequently vary from the Ma-
soretic text, and are greatly valued by bibli-
cal critics. The Italian differ from both these
classes, and form a separate family.
All the Hebrew manuscripts of note, known
to be extant, were written, according to Dr.
Kennicott, between the years 1000 and 1457
-——a circumstance which leads him to infer,
as Bishop Walton had done before him, that
some measures had been adopted by the Jews
for the general destruction of such as did not
agree with the corrected or genuine copies.
They have been collated by Kennicott and
De Rossi, and amount in all to 1109. One
of the most remarkable is the Codex Laudi-
anus, which contains not fewer than 14,000
variations from Van der Hooght’s edition of
the Hebrew Bible. ~
2. Samaritan MSS.—Of the Pentateuch,
written in the Samaritan character, seven-
teen manuscripts are known to be extant:
they are preserved in the Bodleian, the Bri-
tish. Museum, and the libraries at Leyden,
Paris, Milan, and Rome.
3. Greek MSS.—Of these, an immense
number are still in existence; some ‘of them
containing the books both of the Old and New
Testaments, and others only certain parts,
division-s, or books. Some are written in un—
cial or capital letters, others in cursive or
small letters; some without any division of
words, in what is called Scriptio ‘continua,-
some on vellum or parchment, and others on
paper. They are of various ages, from the 4th
to the 15th century. Some of them are what
is called Rescrz'ptz', or transcribed on parchment
which has since been used, the writing on
which having been obliterated to give place for
the more recent text. Some are Iii-lingual,
i. e. they exhibit, besides the Greek text, the
Latin version in the opposite page or column.
[1.] Greek MSS. of the Old Testament.—
The number of these extant has not yet been
ascertained; but Dr. Holmes collated one
hundred and thirty-five for his edition of the
LXX. The principal, which are in uncial
characters, are the Alexandrian, Vatican,
Cottonian, Sarravian, Colbertinian, Caesar-
. can, Ambrosian, Coislinian, Basiliano-Vati-
can, and Turinian.
[2]. Greek MSS. of the New Testament.—
Nearly five hundred of these were either wholly
or partially collated previous to the publica-
tion of the more recent critical editions of the
New Testament: in the execution of which,
Griesbach took a distinguished part, having
collated for his own edition not fewer than
three hundred and fiftg/five; but Professor
Scholz, who has since edited a critical edition,
is said to have consulted six hundred manu-
scripts that were totally unknown to Gries~
bach. It has been customary, since the time
of Bengel, to distinguish between certain fa-
milies, rattan-sions, or editions of the MSS., ac-
cording to their supposed afiinity or relation-
ship; and various systems of afiinity have
been constructed by Bengel, Semler, Gries-
bach, Michaelis, Hug, and Scholz. That of
Griesbach, according to which he classifies
them into the Alexandrian, Occidental, and
Byzantine, has been not unsuccessfully at-
tacked by Matthaei, Dr. Laurence, and Mr.
Nolan; while that of Hug has been greatly
modified by the results brought out by the
indefatigable researches of his pupil, Profes-
sor Scholz. Some of the principal uncial
MSS. are the Alexandrian of the fourth cen-
tury, now preserved in the British Museum ;
the Vatican, of the fifth; the Codex Bezae,
or Cantabrigiensis, of the fifth; Ephremi, a
rescript of the sixth or seventh; Clermont, of
the seventh or eighth. For a full account of
these, and most of the other MSS., see'the
Introductions of Michaelis and Horne.
V. PRINTED Enr'rrons of the Hebrew and
Greek. Texts.———Since the invention of print-
ing, nearly one hundred different editions of
the Hebrew Bible have been issued from the
press, and about three hundred and fifty editions
of the Greek New Testament. It is of course
impossible to describe all these editions in a-
work like the present; but the following list
will be found to contain the more important 1
(1.) HEBREW Brena—By a collation of the
different editions of the Hebrew Bible, it has
been ascertained that they admit of a distinct
classification.
[1.] The Soncz'nz'an Recension of 1488, the
first printed Hebrew Bible—The Pentateuch
was reprinted from the Bologna edition of
1482, and the other books were based ~~on
other earlier editions of the several parts of
the Bible. From this Bible were derived the
Brixian, of 1494; the Rabbinical Bibles of
Bomberg, 1518-21 ; the editions of Munster,
1534-35, and 1536; and Stephens, 1539—44.
[2.] The Complutensz'an Recension, in the
famous Polyglott, of 1514-1517.--The only
edition derived from this source is the He—
brew text of Bertram’s Triglott, 1586. .
[3.] The Bombergian Recension, in Bom-
berg’s Bible of 1525-1528.——The text of this:
edition was altered throughout, to make it
agree with the Masora. It was edited by
the celebrated rabbi, Jacob ben Ha'i'm, and
gave birth to the following: Bomberg’s, of
1528, in 4to., 1533, 1544, and his Rabbin.
Bible of 1547-1549 ; Stephen’s, 1544-1546;
Justinian’s, 1551, 1552, 1563, 1573; Elon’s,
of 1618; De Gava’s, 1566, 1568, 1582; Braga-
din’s, 1614,1615, 1619, 1628, 1707; Plantin’s,
1566; Hartman’s, 1595, 1598 ; and a Witten-
berg edition of 1586 or 1587. _
[4.] Editions containing a mixed text.
——1. The Antwerp Polyglott, 1569-1572;
from which sprang the Paris Polyglott, 1628-
1645; the London Polyglott, 1657 ; the
Leipsic Polyglott, 17 50 ; Arius Montanus’s
Bible, 1571 ;. Rcineceii,,1725, 1739,1756, and
BIB
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J
in 1793 by Doederlein and Meisner, with the j
Tatar.
various readings of Kennicott and De Rossi.
2. The Hutterian text, 1587 ; from this were ’
derived the texts of Wolder, 1596, and Nisse-
lius, 1662. 3. The Buxtorfian text, 1611 ;
Janson’s, 1639; Buxt. Rabbin. Bible, 1618,
1619; Amsterdam Rabbin. Bible, 1724. 4.
Text of Menasse Ben Israel, 1630, 1631, 1635.
5. The text of Joseph Athias, 1661, 1667;
from this text is taken that of Clodius, 1677,
1692, 1716; Jablonsky, 1699, 1712; Opitius,
1709; J. D. Michaelis, 1720; and the cele-
brated edition of Van der Hooght, 1705, of the
text of which the following are reprints :-—
Prop’s, 1724; Schmidius, 1740; Houbigant’s,
1753; Simons’s, 1752, et freq.; Kennicott’s,
1776, 1780 ; Jahn’s, 1806; Boothroyd’s, 180?;
Frey’s, 1812; and the stereotype editions now
printed by Mr. Duncan.
(ii) GREEK NEW TESTAMEN'L—The prin-
cipal editions of the Greek New Testament
may be divided into the more ancient and the
more modern: the former are of importance,
inasmuch as they are the sources from which
so many others have been derived; the latter
because they are the result of a more com-
plete collation of MSS. and editions, and have
been conducted on more matured principles
of biblical criticism.
(A.) More ancient editions—1. The Com-
platensian text, 1514, followed in the Ant-
werp and Paris Polyglotts, and in the editions
of Plantin and many others. 2. The editions
of Erasmus, 1516, 1519, 1522, 1527, 1535,
800. 3. Stephen’s, 1546,1549, 1550; London
Polyglott, 1657; Mill, 1707; Kuster, 1710;
Bagster’s Polyglotts. 4. Beza, 1565, 1576,
1582, 1589, 1598; ELZEVIR, 1624, &c.
(B.) More modern editions—J. Well’s Greek
and English New Testament, 1709, 1719.
2. Bengeh'us’s, 1734. 3. W’etstein’s, 1751,
1752. 4. Bowger’s, 1763; Harwood’s, 17 7 6,
1784; Mathcei's, Riga, 1782, 1788, 1803,
1804, 1807; Alter’s, 1786-, 1787 ; Griesbach’s,
1796; 1806, 1809, 1818; Knapp’s, 1797, 1813,
1824; Vater’s, 1824 ; Scholz, 1830—1836 ;
Lachmann’s, 1831 ; Bloomfield’s last, 1839.
(VI.) BIBLE, Versions oil—The number of
translations of the Scripture is now very
great. Some of them are derived from a com-
mon origin; some are made immediately from
the originals ; others are mediate, or versions
made from other versions. ~
(A.) Genealogy of Biblical Versions.
i. Versions made immediately from the
HEBREW.——-1. The Greek of the LXX. 2.
That of Aquila. 3. Theodotion. 4. Sym—
machus. 5th, 6th, and 7th, or the three
anonymous versions. 8. The version of -St.
Mark, Venice. 9. The Samaritan version.
10—17. The different Chaldee Targums. 18.
The Syriac. 19. The Arabic of Saadias.
‘20. That of Joshua in the Polyglott. 21.
That of Erpenius. 22. That of Ben Levi.
23.. Samaritan-Arabic. 24. Jewish-i/h'abic.
' Polyglotts.

25. Malay-Arabic. 26. Persic. 27. Jewish-
28. Jewish-Greek. 29. Jewish-Span-
ish. 30. Jewish-German. 31-—43. The Latin
versions of Jerome, (or the Vulgate,) Pag~
ninus, Montanus, Malvenda, Cajetan, Houbi-
gant, Munster, Leo Juda, Castalio, Junius
and Tremellius, S. Schmidt, Dathe, Schott
and Winzer. 44—46. German of Luther,
Michaelis, Augusti, and De Wette. 47 --50.
English, King James’s Bible of 1611, Purves’s,
Geddes’s, Boothroyd’s, with translations of
single books by Lowth, Blayney, Horsley,
Stock, Goode, and others. 51. Resen’s Dan-
ish version. 52. Swedish version of 1774.
53. Gaelic. 54. Dutch. 55. lllodern Russ.
56'. Carm'olan. 57. Italian of Brnccioli. 58.
French. 59. Polish of Radzivil.
ii. Versions made from the GREEK—1—
10. The Syriac of the Hexapla; the Philoxe—
nian; Figurata; those of Jacob of Edessa,
Mar Abba, Thomas of Heracles, Simeon of
Licinius, Ephraim Syrus, the Karkuphic, and
the Syriac Targum. 11—14. The Arabic .of
the Pentateuch in MS. ; of the Pentateuch in
the Parisian and London Polyglotts; of the Ha-
giographa and the version in use among the
Melchites. 15, 16. The Latin, the Itala and
Jerome’s corrected version. 17. Gothic. 18.
Armenian. 19. Sclavonic. 20. Georgian. 21.
Ethiopic. 22. Coptic. 23. Sahia'z'c. 24. Bash-
nzurz'e. 25. Anglo-American version by Thom p-
son. Besides these, with the exception of the
Samaritan and the mixed Jewish dialects, there
does not exist a language into which the Old
Testamenthasbeentranslatedfromthe Hebrew
which does not possess a translation of the
New Testament from the Greek.
iii. Versions made from the SYRIAC.——-1.
The Arabic‘ of Job, and the Chronicles in the
2. And various Psalters and
Pentateuchs.
iv. Versions derived from the LATIN.——1.
The Anglo-Saxon. 2. The English versions
of W'ickliffe and other early translators. 3.
That of Rheims. 4—6. The Arabic of Don
. Juan, Raphael Tuki, and the Propaganda. 7.
The German versions made before the Refor-
mation, and those of Eckius and Ulemberg.
8. The French of De Sacy. 9, 10. The Italian
of Malermi and Martini. " 11, 12. The Spa-
nish of 1478, and 1793-4. 13. The Hungarian
by Kaldi. 14. The Polish. 15. The Bohe-
man. 16. The Portuguese by Pereyra.
v. Versions from the GERMAN.—-—1. The
First Danish version. 2. Swedish. 3. Fin-
nish. 4. Icelandic. 5. Pomeranian. 6. Low
Saa'on. 7. First Dutch. 8. Greenlandic. 9.
Esquimaux.
vi. From the ENGLISH.—1. The Irish. 2.
The Welsh. 3. The Mohawk.
vii. From the Ermorra—The Amharic.
viii. From the COPTIC.——A11 Arabic ver-
. sion in the Maronite Monastery at Rome.
ix. From the ARMENIAN.—-—Th8 Armeno-
Turkish New Testament. '
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Y90
x. From the SLAvoNIa—The Tchuvashian,
Tchermisian, Mordvinian, Carelian, and Zir-
ianic Gospels.
In the absence of authentic accounts, res-
pccting the manner in which most of the more
recent versions have been executed, it is at
present impossible to determine whether they
have been done immediately from the origi- I
nals, or whether they claim as their parent I
one or other of the pro-existing translations.
(B.) History of Biblical versions. We have
already mentioned the first translation of the
Old Testament by the LXX. Both Old and
New Testaments were afterwards translated
into Latin by the primitive Christians; and
while the Roman empire subsisted in Europe,
the reading of the Scriptures in the Latin ‘
tongue, which was the universal language of
that empire, prevailed every where ; but since
the face of affairs in Europe has been changed,
and so many difierent monarchies erected
upon the ruins of the Roman empire, the La-
tin tongue has by degrees grown into disuse;
whence has arisen a necessity of translating
the Bible into the respective languages of each
people; and this has produced as many differ-
ent versions of the Scriptures in the modern
languages, as there are different nations pro-
fessing the Christian religion. Besides which,
many versions have recently been made by
the missionaries and others for. the benefit of
the heathen. Of most of these, as well as of
the ancient translations, and the earliest
printed editions, we shall now take notice in
their order.
I. THE ANCIENT VERsIoNs;
1. Anglo-Saxon versions of the Psalms were
made by Bishop Adhelm, about the year 706,
and by King Alfred, who died in the year
900. The whole Bible was translated by the
Venerable Bede, about the beginning of the
eighth century. The Heptateuch, translated
by Elfric towards the close of the tenth cen-
tury, was published at Oxford, 1699 ; and the
Gospels were printed, London, 1571, 1658;
Dordrecht and Amsterdam, 1665, 1684.
2. The Arabia—In this language there
exist numerous versions of different portions
of the Bible. Of these the more important
are the Pentateueh, by Saadias, made in the
tenth century, and published at Constantino-
ple in-1546. It is printed also in the Poly-
glotts, the text of the other books in which is
from unknown authors. The Arabic version
of the four Gospels was first published at
Rome in 1590-91; the New Testament by
Erpenius, at Leyden, in 1616, and another
under the editorship of Salomon Negri, in
London, in 1729. The whole Bible was
printed for the Propaganda at Rome, .1671, in
three vols. folio. ‘
The Armenian version was made towards
the close of the fourth century, by Miesrob
and Isaac, two of the most learned men of the
nation. It was first printed at Amsterdam,
1666, under the care of Uscan, an Armenian
archbishop, who has been charged with alter-
ing it after the Vulgate. It has since appeared
at Constantinople, 1705; Venice, 1805; and
Petersburg and Serampore, 1817. The edi-
tion of 1805 is highly critical. The New Tes-
; tament was first published separately in 1668. I
4. Of the Bashmuric, an Egyptian dialect,
fragments only have been published by Pastor
Engelbreth, Copenhagen, 1816. They exist
in the Borgian Museum, at Velitri.
5. The Coptic New Testament was pub-
lished by Wilkins, Oxford, 1716. The ver~
sion is of high antiquity, probably from the
fourth century, and is greatly esteemed by
critics.
6. The Ethiopic version is also supposed to
~ have been made in the fourth century. Sepa-
rate books of the Old Testament have been
published at different times, and in the Lon-
don Polyglott. The New Testament was first
printed in 1548-1549, but very incorrectly ;
and indeed the present text of this version,
which otherwise would he of great service in
biblical criticism, is altogether in such a state,
as to be comparatively of little value. That
of the Polyglott edition is still more incorrect
than the Roman.
7. The Georgian was made about the year
600, by natives qualified for the undertaking,
who had spent some time in Greece, and
made themselves well acquainted with sacred
literature. The first edition of the New Tes-
tament was printed at Tifiis about the begin-
ning of last century, and the whole Bible at
Moscow, in 1743.
8. The Gothic version was made by Ulphi-
las, bishop of the Maaso-Goths, about the
middle of the fourth century. It comprised
all the books of the Scripture, but with the
exception of the four Gospels, the Pauline
Epistles, and some fra ents of Ezra and
Nehemiah, they have either been lost, or re-
main undiscovered in some of the libraries of
Italy. The four Gospels are preserved in the
Codex Argenteus, or “Silver Book,” in the
university library at Upsala, in Sweden, and
were first published by J unius, at Dordrecht,
1665. The last edition, by Zahn, printed at
Weissenfels, 1805, is an elegant and complete
critical work.
9. Greek of the LXX. See SEPTUAGINT.
10. Latin. The Latin versions were nu-
merous, and some of them of high antiquity.
The most celebrated are, 1. The Vetus or Itala,
which appears to have been made about the
beginning of the second century. Few frag-
ments of it now remain, but such as have been
preserved were collected and published from
various sources by Blanchini, Rome, 1720,
and Sabatier, Rheims, 1743. 2. The Revised
Version of‘ Jerome. Owing to the great con-
fusion which had been introduced into the
ancient Vulgate, by the discrepancies existing
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between the different copies of the Ante-
Hexaplar Septuagint, from which it was made,
it was found necessary, towards the close of
the fourth century, to undertake a revision
of it, which task Pope Damasus devolved
upon Jerome, the first biblical scholar of that
age. Of this version only the Book of Job
and the Psalms have come down to our times.
3. The New Version of Jerome, now partly
contained in the modern Vulgate. This was
made from the original Hebrew, and closely
follows the Rabbinical interpretation at that
time current in Palestine, where Jerome made
himself thoroughly acquainted with the He-
brew language. It was violently opposed at
first, but gradually superseded the less cor-
rect translations, and, after the time of Gregory
the Great, was universally received in the
western church. In the Council of Trent, it
was declared to bethe only authentic text,
and the standard by which all disputations,
expositions, and sermons were to be tried.
It has undergone several revisions, the two
most remarkable of which are those made by
Popes Sixtus V. and Clement VIII. Though
the former of these pontiifs had affixed the
seal of infallibility to the edition published
under his auspices, it was ordered by his
successor to be suppressed, as swarming with
errors; and another equally infallible edition
was brought out, differing from the former in
upwards of two thousand instances!
11. The Persia version of the Pentateuch,
published in the Constantinopolitan Polyglott,
1546, was made by Jacob ben Joseph, a native
of Tus, in Persia, and is not more ancient
than the ninth century. It is barbarously
servile. The Gospels exist in two Persic
translations; that published in the London
Polyglott, and that published by Wheelor and
Pierson, 1652-1657. They are neither of
them very ancient.
12. The Sahidic version is supposed to
have been made in the second or third cen-
tury, and is considered of great value for
critical purposes. The most complete col-
lection of the fragments which we possess of
this version was prepared by Dr. Woide, and
published at Oxford, 1799.
13. The Samaritan version, made some
time between the second and eighth centuries.
It is done from the Samaritan text, but the
translator has made considerable use of the
Targum of Onkelos. It is found in the Paris
and London Polyglotts.
14. The‘ Syriac versions are four in num-
ber :-—1. The Peshz'to, or accurate version,
most probably made early in the second cen-
tury ; and, of all the translations now extant,
so far as the New Testament is concerned, the
most deserving to be thoroughly studied by
every biblical scholar. The text of the Old
Testament was first printed by Gabriel Sionita,
m the Paris Polyglott; and the editio prin-
ceps of the New Testament by Widmanstad,
Vienna, 1555. The most useful edition of
the Syriac New Testament is that published
by Schafi', with an excellent lexicon: the
most convenient and elegant edition is that
lately furnished by Mr. Bagster. 2. The
Philoxenian, made by Polycarp, the rural
bishop of Philoxenus, bishop of Hierapolis
or Mabug, in the government of Aleppo, Ann.
488-508. It is servile in the extreme, but is
of great use in determining certain readings
of the New Testament. It was published at
Oxford, 1778, 1779, accompanied with a Latin
translation. 3. The Hexaplar version, made
by Paul, bishop of Tela, in the years 616 and
617. Only the books of Joshua, Job, Proverbs,
Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, Isaiah, Jere-
miah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, and
the Twelve Minor Prophets, have been pub-
lished. As the name indicates, it was made
from the Septuagint text in Origen’s Hexapla.
4. The Jerusalem Syriac version, of which
some fragments have been discovered and
published by Professor Alder.
II. THE MODERN VERSIONS.
l. The Amharic version, undertaken by
M. Asselin, French consul at Cairo, is in the
royal dialect spoken at the court of Gondar,
in Abyssinia, and prevalent in the eastern
parts of Africa The four Gospels were pub-
lished by the Bible Society, in 1823.
2. The Assamese, in the language of the
kingdom of Assam, in the East Indies. The
New Testament in this language was printed
at Serampore, in 1819.
3. The Basque New Testament was first
printed at Rochelle, 1571.
4. The Bikancer New Testament has been
published by the Serampore missionaries for
the use of the natives who live to the south
of the Punjab.
5. The Bohemian. Of the Scriptures in
the Bohemian language, not fewer than four-
teen translations have come down to our times.
The oldest was made in 1400, and is still pre-
served in Dresden. The New Testament
was first published in 1474, and the whole
Bible in 1488. The Protestants have a
version made by eight of their learned men,
who were sent to Wirtemberg and Basle to
study the Oriental languages, and make them-
selves well acquainted with the principles on
which other translations had been conducted.
It was first published 1579-1593, in 6 vols.,
4to, at the expense of the baron John Zero-
timus.
6. The Brg'ja-Bhassa gospels have been
prepared by the Scrampore missionaries, and
that of Matthew was finished in 1816.
7. The Bullom version of the four gospels
and the Acts has recently been made by the
Rev. Mr. N lander, a missionary on the west
coast of ica, where that language is
spoken. The Gospel of Matthew was printed
in 1816.
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8. The Bulocha or Bul'oshee, another Se—
rampore version, made for the use of the
natives of Bulochistan, a province in the
north-west of India. V
9. The Bundelkundce, undertaken at the
same place.
10. The Burman New Testament was
translated by Felix Carey ; and separate parts
have since been prepared by Mr. Judson, the
American missionary in the Burman empire.
11. The Calmuc version of the New Testa-
ment has been prepared by Mr. Schmidt of
St. Petersburg, and part of it has been printed
by the. Russian Bible Society.
12. The Canarese New Testament, trans-
lated by the Rev. Mr. Hands, into the language
of the Carnatic, was printed in 1820. The
Old Testament is far advanced.
13. The Chinese. Two versions of the
entire Bible exist in the Chinese language;
the one executed by Dr. Marshman, 1814-1821,
the other by Drs. Morrison and Milne, 1812-
1823. Vast numbers of copies of the New
Testament, and separate books have been
circulated among the Chinese who live out
of China Proper, or who trade in the Eastern
Seas.
14. The Cingalese, originally prepared by
the Dutch for the inhabitants of Ceylon. The
four gospels were first printed at Columbo in
1739; the entire New Testament, with Genesis,
Exodus, and Leviticus, in 1783. A new
version has been undertaken by the mission-
aries resident on the island, and part of it
has already gone through more than one
edition.
15. The Creolese version, made for the use
of the negroes in the Danish ‘West India
Islands, was published at Copenhagen 1781,
at the expense of the King of Denmark.
Another for the use of the slaves in Surinam
has been published by the Bible Society.
16. The Croatian New Testament, by
Pastor Truber, was first published at Tubin-
gen, 1551. The whole Bible was first printed
at Wittemberg in 1584.
17. The Curdish version of the New Tes-
tament is proceeding under the auspices of
the Bible Society, but has not yet been com-
pleted.
18. The first Danish New Testament, by
Mikkelsen, was published in 1524. The
whole Bible in 1550. It is one of the best
of the European versions of the Scriptures.
19. The Dutch have three versions: the
first made from the version of Luther, and
published in 1560; the second, which is now
commonly in use, and is of high value, was
prepared, by order of the Synod of Dort, from
the original languages. It was first printed
in 1637. The third version comprises the
New Testament only, and was published for
the use of the Remonstrants, in 1680.
20. The Delaware version comprises only
the three epistles of John. It was prepared
by Mr. Dencke, a Moravian missionary, and.
printed at New York, 1818.
21. The English Bible. The first English
Bible we read of was that translated by J.
Wicklifi‘e, about the year 1360, but never
printed, though there are manuscript copies
of it in several of the public libraries. A
translation, however, of the New Testament
by 'Wicklifi'e, was printed by Mr. Lewis, in
1731. J. de Trevisa, who died about 1398,
is also said to have translated the whole
Bible; but whether any copies of it are re—
maining does not appear. The first printed
Bible in our language was that translated by
W. Tindal, assisted by Miles Coverdale, and
printed abroad in 1526; but most of the
copies were bought up and burnt by Bishop
Tunstal and Sir Thomas More. It only con-
tained the New Testament, and was revised
and republished by the same person in 1530.
The prologues and prefaccs added to it, re-
flect on the bishops and clergy; but this
edition was also suppressed, and the copies
burnt. In 1532, Tindal and his associates
finished the whole Bible, except the Apo-
crypha, and printed it abroad; but, while he
was afterwards preparing a second edition, he
was taken up and burnt for heresy in Flan-
ders. On Tindal’s death, his work was car-
ried on by Coverdale and John Rogers (su-
perintendent of an English church in Ger-
many, and the first martyr in the reign of
Queen Mary,) who translated the Apocrypha,
and revised [Tindal’s translation, comparing
2 it with the Hebrew, Greek. Latin, and Ger-
man, ‘and adding prefaccs and notes from
Luther’s Bible. He dedicated the whole to
Henry VIII. in 1537, under the borrowed
name of Thomas Matthews; whence this has
been usually called Matthews’ Bible. It was
printed at Hamburg, and license obtained
. for publishing it in England, by the favour
of Archbishop Cranmer, and the bishops
Latimer and Shaxton. The first Bible printed
by authority in England, and publicly set up
in churches, was the same Tindal’s version,
revised and compared with the Hebrew, and
in many places amended by Miles Coverdale,
afterwards bishop of Exeter; and examined
after him by Archbishop Cranmer, who added
a preface to it; whence this was called Cran-
mer’s Bible. It was printed by Grafton, of
the largest volume, and published in 1540;
and, by a royal proclamation, every parish
was obliged to set one of the copies in their
church, under the penalty of forty shillings
a month; yet, two years after, the Popish
bishops obtained its suppression by the king.
It was restored under Edward VI., suppressed
again under Queen Mary’s reign, and re-
stored again in the first year of Queen Eliza-
beth, and a new edition of it given in 1562'.
Some English exiles at Geneva, in Queen
Mary’s reign, viz., Coverdale, Goodman,
Gilbie, Sampson, Cole, Wittington, and
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Knox, made a new translation, printed there
in 1560, the New Testament having been
printed in 1557; hence called the Geneva
Bible, containing the variations of readings,
marginal annotations, &c., on account of which
it was much valued by the Puritan party in gr . o _
‘ prohiblted hlS further proceeding, as judging
that and the following reigns. Archbishop
Parker resolved on a new translation for the ‘
‘~ of England should be committed to the de-
public use of the church; and engaged the
bishops, and other learned men, to take each
a share or portion; these being afterwards
joined together and printed, with short anno-
tations, in 1568, in large folio, made what was
afterwards called the Great English Bible,
and commonly the Bishops’ Bible. In 1589, it
was also published in octavo, in a small, but
fine black letter; and here the chapters were
divided into verses, but without any breaks
for them, in which the method of the Geneva
Bible was followed, which was the first
English Bible where any distinction of verses
was made. It was afterwards printed in
large folio, with corrections, and several pro-
legomena, in 1572: this is called Matthew
Parker’s Bible. The initial letters of each
translator’s name were put at the end of his
part; c. gr. at the end of the Pentateuch,
\V. E., for William Exon, that is, Vi’illiam,
Bishop of Exeter, whose allotment ended
there; at the end of Samuel, R. M" for
Richard Menevensis, or Bishop of St. David’s,
to whom the second allotment fell; and the
like of the rest. The archbishop oversaw,
directed, examined, and finished the whole.
This vtranslation was used in the churches for
forty years, though the Geneva Bible was
more read in private houses, being printed
above twenty times in as many years. King
James bore it an inveterate hatred on account
of the notes, which, at the Hampton Court
conference, he charged as partial, untrue, sc-
ditious, &c. The Bishops’ Bible, too, had its
faults. The king frankly owned that he had
seen no good translation of the Bible in Eng-
lish; but he thought that of Geneva the
worst of all. After the translation of the
Bible by the Bishops, two other private ver—
sions were made of the New Testament;
the first by Laurence Thompson, from Beza’s
Latin edition, with the notes of Beza, pub-
lished in 1582, in quarto, and afterwards in
1589, varying very little from the Geneva
Bible; the second by the Papists at Rheims,
in 1584, called the Rhemish Bible, or .Rhe-
m-ish Translation. These, finding it impos-
sible to keep the people from having the Scrip-
tures in their vulgar tongue, resolved to give
a version of their own, as favourable to their
cause as might be. It was printed on a large
paper, with a fair letter and margin. One
complaint against it was, its retaining a mul~
t1tude of Hebrew and Greek words untrans~
lated, for want, as the editors express it, of
proper and adequate terms in the English to
render them by ; as the words azgmes, tunihe,

holocaust, prepuce, pasche, &0.: however,
many of the copies were seized by the queen’s
searchers, and confiscated; and Thomas
Cartwright was solicited, by Secretary Wal-
singham, to refute it; but, after good pro-
ess made therein, Archbishop Whitgift
it improper that the doctrine of the Church
fence of a Puritan; and appointed Dr. Fulke
in his place, who refuted the Rhemists with
great spirit and learning. Cartwright’s re-
futation was also afterwards published in
1618, under Archbishop Abbot. About
thirty years after their New Testament, the
Roman Catholics published a translation of
the Old at Douay, 1609 and 1610, from the
Vulgate, with annotations, so that the Eng~
lish Roman Catholics have now the whole
Bible in their mother-tongue; though, it is
to be observed, they are forbidden to read it
without a license from their superiors. The
last English Bible was that which proceeded
from the Hampton Court conference, in 1603,
where, many exceptions being made to the
Bishops’ Bible, King James gave order for a
new one; not, as the preface expresses it, for
a translation altogether new, nor yet to make
a good one better; or, of many good ones,
one best. Fifty-four learned men were ap-
pointed to this oflice by the king, as appears
by his letter to the archbishop, dated 1604,
which being three years before the transla~
tion was entered upon, it is probable seven of
them were either dead, or had declined the
task, since Fuller’s list of the translators
makes but forty-seven, who, being ranged
under six divisions, entered on their province
in 1607. ‘It was published in 1611, with a.
dedication to James, and a learned preface,
and is commonly called King J ames’s Bible.
After this, all the other versions dropped, and
fell into disuse, except the epistles and gos-
pels in the Common Prayer Book, which
were still continued according to the Bishops’
translation, till the alteration of the liturgy
in 1661, and the psahns and hymns, which
are to this day continued as in the old ver-
sion. The judicious Selden, in his Table-
Talk, speaking of the Bible, says, “ The
English translation of the Bible is the best
translation in the world, and renders the
sense of the original best, taking in for the
English translation the Bishops’ Bible, as
well as King James’s. The translators in
King James’s time took an excellent way.
That part of the Bible was given to him
who was most excellent in such a tongue
(as the Apocrypha to Andrew Downs :) and
then they met together, and one read the
translation, the rest holding in then‘ hands
some Bible, either of the learned tongues, or
French, Spanish, or Italian, _&c. If they
found any fault, they spoke; if not, he read
on.” King James’s Bible is that now read
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by authority in all the churches in Britain.
Notwithstanding, however, the excellency of
this translation, it must be acknowledged
that our increasing acquaintance with oriental
customs and manners, and the changes our
language has undergone since King James’s
time, are very powerful arguments for a new
revision. A very considerable change has
been unwarrantably introduced into the text
in the subsequent editions, by turning into
italics what did not thus appear in the editio
princeps and several which followed it; by
means of which, numerous passages are ren-
dered unavoidably perplexing to the mere
English reader. There have been various
English Bibles with marginal references, by
Canne, Hayes, Barker, Scattergood, Field,
Tennison, Lloyd, Blayney, Wilson, Scott,
and Bagster.
22. The Esquimaua: version of the New
Testament has been prepared at different
times by the Moravian missionaries, and
printed between the years 1809 and 1826.
23. The Esthonian New Testament was
first printed in 1685, and the whole Bible in
1689. -
24. The Faroese Gospel of Matthew was
printed at Copenhagen, 1823, for the use of
the inhabitants of the Faroe Islands.
25. The Finnish New Testament was first
printed at Stockholm, 1548, and the whole
Bible at the same place, 1642. It was exe-
cuted by certain professors and clergymen
well qualified for the task. '
26. The Formosan version of the Gospels
of Matthew and John, was prepared by Ro-
bert Junius, a Dutchman, and printed at
Amsterdam in 1661.
27. The French Bible—The‘ oldest French
Bible is the version of Peter de Vaux, chief
of the Waldenses, who lived about the year
1160. Raoul de Preste translated the Bible
into French in the reign of King Charles V.
of France, about A.D. 1383. Besides these,
there are several old French translations of
particular parts of the Scripture. The doctors
of Louvain published the Bible in French at
Louvain, by order of the Emperor Charles
V., in 1550. There is a version by Isaac le
Maitre de Sacy, published in 1672, with ex-
planations of the literal and spiritual meaning
of the text, which was received with won-
derful applause, and has often been reprinted.
Of the New Testaments in French, which
have been printed separately, one of the most
remarkable is that of F. Amelotte, of the
Oratory, composed by the direction of some
French prelates, and printed, with annota-
tions, in 1666, 1667, and 1670. The author
pretends he had searched all the libraries in
Europe, and collated the oldest manuscripts;
but, on examining his work it appears that he
has produced no considerable various read-
ings which had not before been taken notice
of either in the London Polyglott, or else-
where. The New Testament of Mons, printed
in 1665, with the archbishop of Cambray’s
permission, and the king of Spain’s license,
made great noise in the world. It was con~
demned by Pope Clement IX. in 1668, by
Pope Innocent XI. in 1669, and in several
bishoprics of France at several times. The
New Testament, published at Trevoux, in
1702, by M. Simon, with literal and critical
annotations upon diflicult passages, was con-
i demned by the bishops of Paris and Meaux
in 1702. F. Bohours, a Jesuit, with the
assistance of F. F. Michael Tellier and Peter
Bernier, Jesuits, likewise published a trans-
lation of the New Testament in 1697; but
this translation is for the most part harsh
and obscure, which was owing to the author’s
adhering too strictly to the Latin text. There
are likewise French translations published
by Protestant authors; one by Robert Peter
Olivetan, printed in 1535, and often reprinted
with the corrections of John Calvin and
others; another by Sebastian Castalio, re-
markable for particular ways of expression
never used by good judges of the language.
John Diodati likewise published a French
Bible at Geneva in 1644 ; but some find fault
with his method in that he rather paraphrases
the text than translates it. Faber Stapalensis
translated the New Testament into French,
which was revised and accommodated to the
use of ‘the reformed churches in Piedmont,
and printed in 1534. Lastly, John le Clerc
published a New Testament in French at
Amsterdam, in 1703, with annotations, taken
chiefly from Grotius and Hammond ; but the
use of this version was prohibited by order
of the States-general, as tending to revive
the errors of Sabellius and Socinus.
28. The Gaelic.--The New Testament in
this language was first published in 1765; and
the Old Testament, in three volumes, printed
atdifi‘erent times, in 1785, 1787, and 1801. The
translation has since been revised and im-
proved, and new editions have issued from the
press in 1807 and 1826.
29. The German versions—Of these there
exists a great number; but the most im-
portant are,-—1. The version of Luther, of
which the New Testament appeared in 1522,
and the entire Bible in 1530; the different
books appeared in the interval either sepa-
rately or coupled together, as they were got
ready. The edition of 1546 was printed-
under the Reformer’s immediate superintend-
ence; and, giving to it all the perfection in
his power, he was desirous that it should be
considered as the standard copy of this great
‘work. It was made immediately from the
Hebrew and Greek originals; but in order
to render it as correct as possible, he col-
lected a number of learned men, to revise
every sentence by a collation not only of the
version with the original text, but with the
Targums, the LXX, the Vulgate, and other
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versions. Of these, Melancthon appears to
have taken the most active part in the assist-
ance rendered to Luther. It is highly dis-
tinguished for its energy and perspicuity;
and the style is so pure and elegant, as to be
considered a model of the vernacular lan-
guage even in the present day. 2. The ver-
sion of Piscator, professor at Herborn, at
which place it appeared in 1602. It was de-
signed to give a closer rendering of the words
and phrases of the original, and appears to
have derived considerable colouring from the
Latin version of Tremellius and Junius. It
was in great repute among the members of the
Reformed Church. 3. The version of J. D.
Michaelz's, published between the years 1773
and 1791, and accompanied with notes for the
unlearned, is professedly an improved trans-
lation of the Scriptures, according to more
enlightened principles of criticism and inter-
pretation. In many respects it unquestion-
ably possesses great merit; but the unwar-
rantable liberties which the autho has not
unfrequently taken with the text, an the fond-
ness for conjecture which he has indulged,
detract from its claims on public confidence
and adoption. 4. The version of Augusti and
De Wette, 1809-1814, one of the last that
have appeared in the German language, is cer-
tainly one of the best translations ever pub-
lished in any language. Simple, close, yet
easy and elegant, it must be read with plea-
sure; and though one of the translators is
well known to occupy the first rank among
the neologians of the present day, it is a re-
markable circumstance that his peculiar dog-
matical views appear to have exerted no
influence on the version. Translations of
the Bible into German existed some time
before the Reformation; the oldest known
I was printed in the year 1466.
30. The modern Greek or Romai'c version
of the New Testament was made by Maximus
Calliergi, and printed at Geneva, 1638. A
translation of the Old Testament is now being
made in Greece, under the auspices of the
Bible Society.
31. The Greenlandz'sh New Testament exists
in two. translations; the one printed in 1799,
and the other in 1822.
32. The Grisonz'c.—The Bible in the lan-
guage or dialect of the Grisons, was published
in 1719.
33. The Guzeratee version of the entire
Scriptures has been made and printed for the
use of the inhabitants of the peninsula of
Guzerat.
34.v The Hebrew New Testament—Several
attempts have been made to furnish a good
translation of the books of the New Testa-
ment in the original language of the Old.
The first edition is that of Elias Hutter, pub-
lished in his Polyglott of 1599: the second
was published by Professor Robertson in
1661, but most of the copies perished in the
great fire of London: a third and greatly re-
vised text was published by the Jews’ Society
in 1821; but the best version is that lately
executed by the lamented Mr. Greenfield.
and published by Bagster in 1831.
35. The Helvetz'an.—-In this language there
are two versions: the former was executed by
Leo Juda, and published between the years
1525 and 1529: the latter, called, by way of
distinction, the New Zurich Bible, was made
by the learned orientalist, Hottinger, assisted
by several other biblical schcilars of acknow-
ledged ability. It was published at Zurich
in 1667.
36. The Hindee or Hindostanee New Tes-
tament, prepared in two different translations
by the Scrampore missionaries, and by the
Rev. Henry Martyn, is extensively in circu-
lation among the inhabitants of Hindostan.
37. The Hungarian—Besides a Popish
version made from the Vulgate, there exists
a Protestant version, executed with great
care by Casper Caroli, and first published
in 1589.
38. The Icelandic New Testament, done
by O. Gottschalkson, was printed in 1539, at
Copenhagen; and the whole Bible was pub-
lished at Holum, in 1584, under the superin-
tendence of Bishop Thorlakson, who liberally
contributed to defray the expense of the
undertaking.
39. The Irish version of the New Testa-
ment was executed by Dr. Daniel, archbishop
of Tuam; and that of the Old Testament by
Mr. King, but revised by Dr. Bedell, bishop
of Kilmore. The whole was printed in 1685,
at the expense of the Hon. Robert Boyle.
40. The Italian—The first Italian Bible
published by- the Romanists is that of Nicho-
las Malermi, a Benedictine monk, printed at
Venice in 1471. It was translated from the
Vulgate. The version of Anthony Bruccioli,
published at Venice in 1532, was prohibited
by the council of Trent. The Calvinists like-
wise have their Italian Bibles. There is one
of John Diodati, in 1607 and 1641 ; and
another of Maximus Theophilus, in 1551,
dedicated to Francis de Medicis, duke of
Tuscany. ‘
The latest version that appeared in
Ita7lian is that of Martini, printed in 17 69-—
17 9
41. The KareZz'an.—'—In this Finnish dialect
the gospel of Matthew was printed at Peters-
burg in 1820.
42-45. Into the Khassee, the Kashmeeree,
the Kanooj, and the Kunkuna dialects, ver-
sions of different portions of the Scriptures
have been prepared by the missionaries of
Serampore.
46. The Laponese New Testament was first
printed in 17 55, and the whole Bible at the
printing-ofiice of Dr. Nordin, bishop of Her-
mosand, in 1810.
47. The Lithuanian version of the Bible is
BIB
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said to have been first made by one Chylins~
bey, and printed in London, 1660; but it is
merely stated by Le Long, without giving his
authority. It was afterwards printed at
Koenigsberg, 1735. j
48. The Livonian or Lcttish, made by Ernest
Gli'ick, was published at Riga, 1689.
49. The Lusat-ian, in what is called the
Sorabic dialect of the \Vendish, printed at
Bautzen in 1728.
50. The Madagasse or Madagascar version
of the New Testament has recently been
completed by the missionaries belonging to
the London Missionary Society.
51. The Mahratta version of the New
Testament, and the historical books of the
Old, have been prepared and printed at ‘Se-
rampore. '
52. The Malling—Into this language the
entire Scriptures have been translated at dif-
ferent times by learned Dutchmen, connected
with the East India Company. The New
Testament was printed in 1668, and the whole
Bible in 1731, 1733, in Roman characters. It
was afterwards printed in Arabic characters
in 1758. '
53. The Malagalz'm language, spoken on
the coast of Malabar, has recently received a
translation of the Scriptures by the Rev. B.
Bailey, of the Church Missionary Society.
54. The Maltese, a remnant of the ancient
Punic. Into this dialect the New Testament
has been recently translated by a learned
native, under the superintendence of the Rev.
Mr. J owett; and a version of the Old Testa-
ment is in progress.
55. The Man/ts New Testament was first
printed in 1756—1760 ; and the whole Bible
at VVhitehaven, 1775.
56. The Mohawks have as yet only had the
Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and John, and a
few chapters of the Old Testament translated
into their language.
57. Into the Mohegan language the whole
of the New Testament, and several portions
of the Old, were translated by the Rev. Mr.
Freeman, but do not appear ever to have been
printed. '
58. The Mongolian gospels have been pre-
pared by Mr. J. Schmidt of St. Petersburg,
with the assistance of two native Mongolians;
. and the whole of g the Old Testament is being
executed in avery superior manner, by the Rev.
Messrs. Swan and Stallybrass, missionaries in
Siberia. The gospels were printed in 1 815, 18 l 6.
59. ‘The Mordwashian gospels, translated
and printed at St. Petersburg, 1821.
60. Into the Orz'ssa language, the whole
Bible has been translated by the Serampore
missionaries; and the New Testament has
already gone through two editions.
61. The Pali is the learned language of
Ceylon and the Burman empire, and is spoken
in South Bahar. The New Testament in this
language was undertaken by W. Tolfrey,
Esq. in 1813, and is being completed by the
missionaries Chater and Clough.
62. Besides the Persia, specified among the
ancient versions, there is a version of the
Four Gospels by Lieut. Col. Colebrooke,
printed at Calcutta, 1804; a version of the
New Testament, by the Rev. Henry Martyn,
printed at St. Petersburg in 1815; and two
distinct translations of the Old Testament
are at present in progress: the ‘one, by the
Rev. William Glen at Teheran; and the
other, by the Rev. T. Robinson, chaplain at
Poonah.
63. The Polish language possesses three
versions of the Scriptures; a Roman Catholic,
.a Protestant, and a Socinian version. The first
was printed at Cracow in 1561 ; the last under
the patronage, and at the expense of Prince
Radzivil, at Pincson, in 1563 ; and that of the
Calvinisti-c Protestants in .1596. A version
into the J udeo-Polish dialect has recently
been prepared, and is now circulating among
the Jews ' that country.
64. Th Pomeranian version, done from
Luther’s Bible, was printed in 1588. It is no
longer in use.
65. The Portuguese have two versions; the
one done by Protestants, and printed—the
New Testament at Amsterdam, 1681, and
the Old Testament at Batavia, 1748—1753;
and the other by Antonia Pereira, a Roman
Catholic, from the Vulgate; the New Testa-
ment was printed at Lisbon in 17 81, and the
Old Testament in 17 83.
66. The Pushtoo version of the New Tes-
tament, begun by Dr. Leyden, and finished
by individuals employed by the Serampore
missionaries, was printed in 1818. The ver-
sion of the Old Testament, in the same lan-
guage, is in progress.
67. The Punja‘bee or Sikh version of the
entire Biblehas been prepared and printed by
the same individuals.
68. The Russian versions—Into a Polish
dialect of the Russian, a translation of the
Pentateuch, and other parts of the Scriptures,
was made by Dr. F. Scorina, and published,
1517—1525. A version of the entire Bible
was made by Dean Gltick towards the close
of the seventeenth century, but the MS. was
destroyed at the siege of Marienburg, in 1702.
In consequence of the establishment of the
Russian Bible Society, a modern version has
been prepared by proper persons, selected for
the undertaking, of which the Four Gospels
appeared in 1819; the Gospels and Acts in
1820; and the entire New Testament in 1823.
A translation of the Psalms was printed in
1822, and the first eight books of the Old
Testament were printed in 1824, but have
never been published, in consequence of the
interference of those who are inimical to the
spread of the Scriptures. These last men~ ‘
tioned were made from the original Hebrew.
69. The Romanese version—4n the Chur-
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97
welsche dialect of this language, the Bible was
published in 1657 ; and in that of Ladz'njn
I719.
70. Into the Samogitian language a version
of the New Testament was made by a Roman
Catholic bishop, ‘at the request of the Russian
Bible Society, and printed in 1820.
71. The Sanscrit, or learned language of
India, possesses a version of the entire Scrip-
tures, executed by the Serampore missiona-
ries, and printed between the years 1808 and
1818. '
72. A Serbian version of the New Testa-
ment was prepared for the Russian Bible
Society, and printed in 1825.
73. The Spanish versions are various. The
earliest, done from the Vulgate, was printed at
Valencia, 1478. Pinel’s version of the Old
Testament, for the use of the Jews, was
printed at Ferrara in 1553. There are also
the versions of De Reyna, 1569; San Miguel,
1793, 1794; and Arnata, begun in 1823, and
not yet completed.
74. The Swedish versions are two ; that
made from Luther’s version, and published in
1541; and the revised version, undertaken
by order of the king in 1774. The latter
translation, though executed in accordance
with the more enlightened critical principles
of the period at which it was made, has never
gained the ‘approbation of the Swedish public,
and has not superseded the more early autho-
rised version.
75. The Tahitian version of the whole
Bible, executed by the London Society’s mis—
sionaries. '
76. The Ta-mul versions_are two in num-
her: that executed by the German mis-
sionaries, the New Testament of which was
printed at Tranquebar, 1715; and the Old
Testament at the same place, 1723-1728;
and another by Fabricius, also a German mis-
sionary, and printed at Madras, 1777.
77. The Tatar versions exist in different
dialects; but none of them contain more than
a single book or two, excepting that executed
by the Scotch missionaries at Karass, on the
north of the Caucasus, and that in the Oren-
burg-Tatar dialect, both of which comprise
the whole New Testament. The former was
printed at Karass in 1813, the latter at Astra-
can in 1820. "
78. The Teloogoo or Telinga New Testa-
ment, was translated by the Missionaries at
Serampore, where it was printed in 1818.
They also completed a translation of the Pen-
tateuch into the same language.
79. In the Turkish language, there exist
three versions of » the New Testament. The
first was executed by Dr. Lazarus'Seaman,
and printed in 1666. The second was made
by Albertus Bobovsky or Ali Bey, dragoman
P0 the Sultan Mohammed IV., and completed
in. the forementioned year; but it was not
printed till 1819, when it was carried through
the press at Paris, at the expense of the Bri—
tish and Foreign Bible Society. In conse-
quence, however, of egregious faults and im-
proprieties having been detected in the style,
and in many of the renderings, the committee
of that Society were ultimately obliged to
suppress the edition; and a new impression
purged from the objectionable matter, appeared
in 1827. An edition from a revised and cor-
rected copy of Bobovsky’s version of the Old
Testament also appeared at the same place in
1828. The third version of the Turkish
New Testament was undertaken by Mr.
Dickson one of the Scotch missionaries at
Astracan. It is partially based on the Karass
New Testament, and that of Bobovsky. A
considerable portion of the Old Testament
was also completed by the same translator;
but, owing to the change of biblical afi‘airs in
Russia, no part of either has been published.
80. The Urdu New Testament, by the
missionaries of the London Missionary So-
ciety at Benares.
81. The Virginian translation of the Scrip-
tures was executed by Elliot, the apostle of
the Indians. The New Testament was printed
at Cambridge, 1661, and the whole Bible in
1685.
82. The Wallachian New Testament was
first printed at Belgrade in 1648; the entire
Bible in 1668, at Bukharest.
83. The Welsh version was made in conse—
quence of an act of parliament passed in the
reign of Queen Elizabeth. The New Testa-
ment appeared in 1567, and the whole Bible
in 1588. It has since been revised and cor-
rected, and has gone through many editions.
84. The New Testament has been trans-
lated and printed in the Watch or Multanee
dialect, which is spoken on the eastern bank
of the Indus.
- VII. BIBLES, Polyglott—Bibles printed in
several languages, exhibiting, in general, the
text of the different versions on the same
page, or at least on the two open pages of the
volume, are called Polyglotts, from 1rohvg,
many, and the Attic yhw'rra, a language.
1. The earliest attempt of the kind was
made by Aldus, the celebrated Venetian
printer; but it contains only the first fifteen
verses of the first of Genesis. The Psalter,
by Justinian, Genoa, 1516, in Hebrew, Arabic,
Greek, Chaldee, and Latin, is the first Poly-
glott of any biblical book. His example was
followed by Potken, who, in 1518, published
the Psalter inv Hebrew, Greek, Ethiopic, and
Latin. .
2. The first Polyglott of the whole Bible
was the Complatensian, so called from its
having been printed at Complutum, _1n Spain,
1502-1517, and published in 1522, m 6 vols.
folio. It contains the Hebrew, Latin, Vul-
gate, and Greek, of the Old Testament, and
the Greek and Latin Vulgate of the New.
1x
BIB
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It was undertaken and superintended by Car-
dinal Ximenes, whom it cost about 50,000
ducats, though only six hundred copies were
printed. It contains the first printed, though
not the first published, edition of the Greek
New Testament.
3. The Royal Polyglott, printed at Antwerp,
1569-72, in 8 vols. fol. It was published at-
the expense of Philip II. of Spain, and edited
by Arius Montanus. In addition to the texts
in the Complutensian, this edition exhibits
part of the Targum, and the Syriac version
of the New Testament, with literal Latin
' translations.
4. The Parisian Polyglott, published by Le
.Jay, 1628-45, in 10 vols. large folio, adds to
the former the Samaritan Pentateuch and
version, the Syriac version of the Old Testa-
ment, and an Arabic translation both of the
Old and New. It also gives a Latin version
of each of the Oriental texts.
5. The London Polyglott, published 1657,
in 6 vols. folio, contains, besides the ‘texts of
all the former Polyglotts, the Psalms, Song
of Solomon, and the New Testament in Ethi-
opic, and the Gospels in Persic. It also con-
tains the Chaldee Paraphrase in a more com-
plete state than any of the preceding works.
It was edited by Brian Walton, afterwards
bishop of Chester, and generally has accom-
panying it the invaluable Heptaglott Lexicon
by Castell, a work which is indispensable to
those who would consult the Oriental texts to
advantage, since the Latin translations in the
Polyglott itself are not to be depended on.
To the first volume are prefixed important
prolegomena; and the last is entirely occu-
pied with various readings, and other critical
matters.
6. Reinnecz'i Polyglott, Leipsic, 1750, in 3
vols. folio, contains the Old Testament in
Hebrew, Greek, Seb. Schmidt’s Latin trans-
lation, and Luther’s German; and the New
Testament in ancient and modern Greek, the
Syriac, the same Latin and German versions.
It is very accurately printed, cheap, and con-
venient. .
7. Bagster’s Polyglotts.—-For elegance, ac~
curacy, and convenience, the productions ‘of
Mr. Bagster’s press far surpass all preceding
editions of Polyglott Bibles. They are so
printed that any selection of texts may be
had at the option of the purchaser. There
are, however, two principal works of this
description: the Quarto Polyglott, 1821, con-
taining the Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and Eng-
lish texts of the Old Testament; and the
Greek, Syriac, Latin, and English of the
New; and the Folio Polyglott, in 1831, one
of the most splendid volumes ever published,
containing the Bible in the Hebrew, Greek,
Syriac, Latin, English, French, German, and
Italian languages.
BIBLICAL CRITICISM is the science by
which we arrive at a satisfactory acquaint-
ance with the origin, history, and present
state of the original text of Scripture. In
the wide extent of its investigation, it em~
braces the languages, in which the Scriptures
were originally written, together with the
cognate or kindred dialects; the materials
used for writing; the composition, collection,
and preservation of the different books; the
age, character, and relationships of MSS.;
the ancient versions; the various readings ,-
the printed editions; and the various philo-
logical and historical means to be employed
in order to determine what the text was as it
proceeded from the original penmen. It has
been divided into two kinds: lower criticism,
which is more of a verbal and historical na-
ture, and is confined to the words, or the col-
location of the words, as they stand in the
manuscript or printed texts, the ancient ver-
sions, and other legitimate sources of appeal;
and higher cmz'cz'sm, which consists in the
exercise of the judgment in reference to the
text, on grounds taken from the nature, form,
method, subject, or arguments of the different
books ; the nature and connexion of the con-
text; the relation of passages to each other;
the known circumstances of the writers, and
those of the persons for whose immediate use
they wrote. Of the two, the former is ob-
viously the more important, as it presents a
firm basis on which to rest our investigations:
the latter, lying more open to conjecture and
variety of opinion, may easily be abused, and
has indeed been carried to a most unwarrant-
able length by many German critics.
The science of biblical criticism should be
assiduously cultivated by all who venture to
interpret the Bi 1e; for in attempting to ex-
pound a work of such high antiquity, which
has passed through a variety of copies, both
ancient and modern, written and printed, co-
pies which differ from each other in very
numerous instances, they should have some
reason to believe that the copy or edition
which they undertake to interpret, approaches
as nearly to the original, as it can be brought
by human industry or human judgment. Or,
to speak in the technical language of criti-
cism, before they expound the Bible, they
should procure the most correct text of the
Bible. This principle, which is justly deemed
important in reference to meré human pro-
ductions, must necessarily commend itself as
of paramount and indispensable importance
in its application to the Scriptures. Without
attending to it, we never can be satisfied that
what we interpret really is what it professes
to be—the word of God.
The object of this science is not to expose
the word of the Lord to the uncertainties of
human conjecture; (a charge which has
sometimes been brought against it ;) for there
is no principle which it more firmly resists
than conjectural emendation, or emendation
not founded on documentary evidence. Its
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99
object is not to weaken, much less to destroy
the edifice, which “for ages has been the
subject of just veneration,” but to show the
firmness of the foundation on which the sa-
cred edifice is built, and prove the genuine-
ness of the materials of which it is construct-
ed. See Marsh’s Lectures, pp. 24, 26.
BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION, the science of
teaching or expounding the meaning of the
Bible. Strictly speaking, it is either gram-
matical, when the meaning of words, phrases,
and sentences is made out from the usus to-
quench, and the context; or historical, when
the meaning is illustrated and confirmed by
historical arguments, which serve to evince
that no other sense can be put upon the pas-
sage, whether regard be had to the nature of
the subject, or the genius and manner of the
writer. It presupposes a knowledge of bib-
lical criticism, and an acquaintance with an-
cient geography, chronology, the civil, reli-
gious, and political history, the manners,
customs, &c., of the Jews and of the sur-
rounding nations, and especially with the
doctrinal and preceptive contents of the Bible
itself as a whole, and of its different parts in
particular. As the same method, and the
same principles of interpretation are common
both to the sacred volume, and to the produc-
tions of uninspired men, it follows, that the
signification of words in the Holy Scriptures
must be sought precisely in the same way in
which the meaning of words in other works
usually is, or ought to be sought. Hence
it also follows, that the method of investi-
gating the signification of words in the Bible
is no more arbitrary than it is in other books,
but is in like manner regulated by certain laws,
drawn from the nature of languages. And
since no text of Scripture has more than one
meaning, we must endeavour to find out that
one true sense precisely in the same manner
as we would investigate the sense of Homer,
or any other ancient writer; and in that sense,
when so ascertained, we'ought to acquiesce,
unless, by applying the just rules of interpre-
tation, it can be shown that the meaning of
the passage has been mistaken, and that
another is the only just, true, and critical sense
of the place. In order to assist in determining
what is this one meaning, the following rules
have been laid down: 1. Ascertain the usus
Zoquendz', or the notion afiixed to a word by the
persons in general by whom the language
either is now or formerly was spoken, and
especially in the particular connexion in which
such notion is affixed. 2. Retain the received
slgmfication of a word, unless weighty and
necessary reasons require that it should be
abandoned. 3. Where a word has several
' Slgnifications in common use, that must be
selected which best suits the passage in ques-
tlon, and which is consistent with an author’s
known character, sentiments, and situation,
and the known circumstances under which he
wrote. 4. Although the force of particular
words can only be derived from etymology,
yet too much confidence must not be placed in
that frequently uncertain science. 5. The
distinctions between words which are appar-
ently synonymous, should be carefully exam-
ined and considered. 6. The epithets intro-
duced by the sacred writers are also to be
carefully weighed and considered, as all of
these have either a declarative or explanatory
force, or serve to distinguish one thing from
another, or unite these two characters together.
7. General terms are used sometimes in their
whole extent, and sometimes in a restricted
sense; and whether they are to be understood
in the one way or in the other, must depend
on the scope, subject-matter, context, and
parallel passages. 8. The most simple and
obvious sense is always the true one. 9. Since
it is the design of interpretation to render in
our own language the same discourse which
the sacred authors originally wrote in Hebrew
or Greek, it is evident that an interpretation,
or version, to be correct, ought not to afiirm or
deny more than the inspired penmen afiirmed
or denied at the time they wrote; consequently
we must always take a sense from Scripture,
and not bring one to it. 10. No interpretation
can be just, which brings out of any passage
a sense that is repugnant to the ascertained
nature of things.
The subsidiary means for ascertaining the
sense of Scripture, are the usus loquendi, con-
text, scope, subject-matter, philological and
doctrinal parallelisms and analogies, historical
circumstances, quotations and exegetical com-
mentators.-——Stuart’s Ernesti ; Horne’s Introd.
to the Scriptures
BIBLIOMANCY, divination performed by
means of the Bible; also called sortes biblicce,
or sortes sanctorum. It consisted in taking
passages of Scripture at hazard, and thence
drawing indications respecting future events.
It was much used at the consecration of
bishops, and was a practice adopted from the
heathens, who drew the same kind of prognos-
tications from the works of Homer and Vir- '
gil. In 465, the council of Varmes condemned
all who practised it to be cast out of the
church, as did also those of Agde and Aux-
erre; but in the twelfth century it was em-
ployed as a mode of detecting heretics. In
the Gallican church, it was long practised at
the election of bishops; children being em-
ployed on behalf of each candidate, to draw
slips of paper with texts on them, and that
which was thought most favourable decided
the choice. A similar mode was pursued at
the installation of abbots, and the reception of
canons; and this custom is said to have con-
tinued in the cathedrals of Ypres, St. Omer,
and Boulogne, as late as the year 1744. In
the Greek church we read of the prevalence
of this custom as early as the consecration of
Athanasius, on whose behalf the presiding
BID
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100
prelate, Caracalla, archbishop of Nicomedia,
opened the gospels at the words, “For the
devil and his angels,” Matt. xxv. 41 ; but the
bishop of Nice, having observed them, adroitly
turned over the leaf to another verse, which
was instantly read aloud: “The birds of the
air came and lodged in the branches thereof,”
xiii. 32. But this passage appearing irrelevant
to the ceremony, the first became gradually
known, and caused great disturbance in the
church of Constantinople.
Some well-meaning people among Protest-
ants practise a kind of bibliomancy in order
to determine the state of their souls, or the
path of duty ; but it is an awful profanation of
the sacred volume, and a tempting of ' the
Almighty. It has generally been found, that
those who have employed it have been awfully
misguided, if not driven to absolute despair.
The word of God was never meant to operate
as a charm, nor to be employed as a lot-book.
No portion of it, however small, is to be de-
tached from its connexion. It can only truly
guide and edify, when rightly and consistently
understood.
BIDDELIANS, so called from John Biddle,
A. M., of the University of Cambridge, and
one of the first persons who publicly propa-
gated Socinianism in England. He taught
that Jesus Christ, to the intent that he might
be our brother, and have a fellow-feeling of our
infirmities, and so become the more ready to
‘ help us, hath no other than a human nature;
and therefore in this very nature is not only
a person, since none but a human person can
I be our brother, but also our Lord and God.
Biddle, as well as Socinus and others of
similar sentiments before and since, made 'no
scruple of calling Christ God, though he be-
lieved him to be a human creature only, on
account of the divine sovereignty with which
he was invested. Toulmin calls him the father
of the modern Unitarians. He was the author
of various small works in defence of his senti-
ments, which are now scarce. His “ Scrip-
ture Catechism” met with an able refutation
from the pen of Dr. Owen. See his Works,
vol. viii. ,
BIDDING PRAYER. It was part of the ofiice
of the deacons in the ancient church, to be
monitors and directors of the people in their
public devotions in the church. To this end
they made use of certain known forms of
words, to give notice when each part of the
service began. Agreeably to this ancient
practice is the form, “ Let us pray,” repeated
before several of the prayers in the English
liturgy. Bishop Burnet, in his “History of
the Reformation,” vol. ii. p. 20, has preserved
the form as it was in use before the Reforma-
tion, which was this: after the preacher had
named and opened his text, he called on the
people to go to their prayers, telling them
what they were to pray for: “ Ye shall pray,”
says he, “ for the king, the pope,” &c. After
which, all the people said their heads in a
general silence, and the minister kneeled down
likewise and said his: they were to say a.
Paternoster, ave maria, &c., and then the ser-
mon proceeded. . X
BIGOT, a person blindly, obstinately, and
perversely wedded to some opinion or practice,
particularly of a religious nature. Camden,
perhaps, has hit upon the true original of the
word. He relates, that when Rollo, duke of
Normandy, received Gisla, the daughter of
Charles the Foolish, in marriage, together
with the investiture of that dukedom, he would
not submit to kiss Charles’s foot; and when
his friends urged him by all means to comply
with that ceremony, he made answer in the
English tongue, “ Ne se, by God,” i. e. Not
so, b God. Upon which the king and 1118
courtiers deriding him, and corruptly repeat-
ing his answer, called him bigot; from whence
the Normans were called bigodi, or bigots.
There is a vast difference between a bigot
and a man zealous for the interests of true
religion. The object of the first is the form;
of the second, the power of godliness.
BIGOTRY consists in being obstinately and
perversely attached to our own opinions; or,
as some have defined it, “a tenacious adher—
ence to a system adopted without investiga-
tion, and defended without argument, accom-
panied with a malignant intolerant spirit to-
wards all who difi'er.” It must be distinguished
from love to truth, which influences a man to
embrace it, wherever he finds it; and from
true zeal, which is an ardour of mind exciting
its possessor to defend and propagate the
principles he maintains. Bigotry is a kind of
prejudice combined with a certain degree ‘of
malignity. It is thus exemplified and distin-
guished by a sensible writer: “When Jesus
preached, Prejudice cried, Can any good thin g
come out of Nazareth? Crucify him, crucify
him, said Bigotry. Why, what evil hath he
done? replied Candour.” Bigotry is mostly
prevalent with those who are ignorant; who
have taken up principles without due examin-
'ation; and who are naturally of a morose and
contracted disposition. It is often manifested
more in unimportant sentiments, or the eu-
cumstantials of religion, than the essentials of
it. Simple bigotry is the spirit of persecution
without the power; persecution is bigotry
armed with power, and carrying its will into
act. As it is the effect of ignorance, so it is
the nurse of it, because it precludes free in-
quiry, and is an enemy to truth : it cuts also
the very sinews of charity, and destroys mode-
ration and mutual good will. If we consider
the different makes of men’s minds, our own
ignorance, the liberty that all men have to
think for themselves, the admirable example
our Lord has set us of a contrary spirit, and
the baneful effects of this disposition, we must
at once be convinced of its impropriety. How
contradictory is it to sound reason, and how
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101
inimical to the peaceful religion we profess to
maintain as Christians! See PEBSECUTION,
and books under that article.
BILL, LORD SIDMoU'r-H’s, an act brought into
parliament by that nobleman, in the year 1810,
with a view to impose new restrictions upon
persons who wished to qualify as dissenting
teachers, and others, either by separate license,
or by some other method, thought to be ap-
propriate, on itinerant preaching. He also
proposed to deprive lay-preachers of certain
exemptions which had hitherto been granted.
Against these measures petitions were sent to
parliament from all parts of the kingdom ;
andthe bill, being opposed by Lords Grey,
Holland, Erskine, Liverpool, Moira, Stanhope,
by Dr. Manners Sutton, then archbishop of
Canterbury, and by Lord Chancellor Eldon,
was lost, May 21st, 1811, on the motion of
Lord Erskine, which was agreed to without a
division.
BISHOP, Gr. ’Enw:covrog,Episcopus, an over-
seer, superintendent or inspector. The English
word comes immediately from the Saxon,
bischop, which is only a derivative from the
Greek.
1. In the New Testament, those who were
the superintendents and teachers of Christian
churches, are called, on this ground, episcopoi.
That they were the same with the presbyters
'(n'pso'fivrspot) is now generally allowed by
learned interpreters of the New Testament, to
whatever communion they may belong, and
is, indeed, placed beyond dispute, by comparing
Acts xx. 17, with verse 28; and 1 Peter v.
1—4, and 1 Tim. iii. 1—7, with Titus i. 5—9.
2. In church history, a prelate, consecrated
for the spiritual government of a diocese,
having under him a diversity of inferior
clergy, who, with the stations and parishes
assigned to them, are subject to his jurisdic-
tion. At what particular period the term
came to be alienated from its original use
cannot exactly be determined; but it ap-
pears to have taken place gradually, and to
have arisen from the simple circumstance,
that when there happened to be several pres-
byters in the same church, one, from age or
peculiar aptitude for government, was se-
lected to preside at their meetings. Whatever
obscurity or uncertainty, however, may rest
on the point which relates to the time when
the distinction between bishop and presbyter
was introduced, it is incontrovertible that, on
its being introduced, and, indeed, during the
third century, the jurisdiction of the bishop
never extended beyond one émcknata, or con-
gregation. Nothing in the whole history of
the period is more obvious than the position,
that every church or congregation had its *
bishop, and every bishop but one church.
The bishop’s charge is, in the primitive
the singular number-—never churches or con—
gregations, 1n the plural.
When, however, the system of ecclesiastical
rule had gradually been matured, the almost
absolute authority which the bishops exercised
over the clergy of their diocese; their inter-
ference in the secular affairs of governments,
to which they soon rendered themselves ne-
cessary, by their superior information, and
their elevated rank; the administration of
church revenues; the maintenance of their
ecclesiastical prerogatives, and their exten—
sive ecclesiastical as well as criminal ju-
risdiction, occupied them too much to leave
them any time or inclination for the dis-
charge of the duties of teachers and spi-
ritual fathers. They, therefore, reserved
to- themselves only what were considered
the most important parts of their spi-
ritual ofiice, such as the ordination of the
clergy, the confirmation of youth, and the
preparation of the holy oil. In the middle
ages they attached themselves to particular
vicars, called sufi‘ragans, bishops in partibus,
or coadjutors for the performance even of
those functions which they had reserved for
themselves, and for the inspection of all that
concerned the church. Bishops, who have
themselves preached, have been rare since the
seventh century.
The episcopal oflice being of such a de-
scription, the nobility and even the sons of
princes and. kings strove to obtain a dignity
which was as honourable as it was profitable;
and which, moreover, allowed of festivals
and sensual enjoyments of every kind. These
applications, which were supported by rich
donations to the churches, and, in the case of
the German bishops, by the influence of the
emperor, gave to the bishops of Germany,
particularly, a high degree of dignity. They
even became princes of the empire, and the
influence which they exerted over all public
affairs was important. The Reformation,
however, lessened their number; and though
in some of the Protestant countries in the
north of Europe, the higher clergy have re-
tained the title of bishop, yet they have lost
the greater part of their former revenues and
privileges. The Swedish bishops constitute
one of the estates of the kingdom, like the
English, but have little power. The English
church has left to its bishops more authority
than the rest, and for this reason has re-
ceived the name of episcopal. In Protestant
Germany, bishoprics were abolished by the
Reformation, but they have been restored in
Prussia within the last ten years. The Church
of Rome early lost many bishoprics by the
conquests of the Mohammedans; hence the
great number of titular bishops, whose bishop-
rics lie in partibus infideZ-iu-m, i. e. in' coun-
tries in the possession of infidels. The Roman
. _ _ lsee, however, only honours with this title
writers, invariably denominated a church, in Y
ecclesiastics of a high rank.
In consequence of the cession of Several
German countries to France, twenty-three
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102
bishoprics were abolished; but, by particular
agreements or concordates with the Roman
court, they have been re-established in several
of the German states. .
In the church of Rome, the pope has the
chief right of electing bishops‘; and even
where sovereign princes have reserved to
themselves a right of nominating to bishop-
rics, the pope sends his approbation and bulls
to the new bishop.
When a person hears that the pope has
raised him to the episcopal dignity, be en-
larges his shaven crown, and dresses himself
in purple. Three months after his election,
he is consecrated in a solemn manner. The
altar is adorned with flowers, and a carpet
spread on the ground before it. The pontifi-
. cal ornaments are laid on the altar, and the
chrism, the vessel of holy-water, the chalice,
the pyx, the pontificial ring, the sandals, the
pastoral staff, the mitre, gloves, &c., on the
credences. There are likewise two little
barrels, filled with the best wine; two loaves,
one of them gilt with gold, the other with
silver, with the arms of the ofiiciating prelate
and the bishop engraven on them; and two
tapers, each weighing four pounds. The ofii-
ciating bishop sits on the episcopal seat, placed
about the middle of the altar, and the bishop
elect stands between the two assistant bishops.
Then one of the assistants addresses himself
to the ofilciating prelate, saying to him that
the Catholic church requires such an one
(naming him) to be raised to the dignity of a
bishop. Then the ofliciating prelate demands
of him the apostolical mandate; which being
read by the notary, the ofiiciating prelate
answers at the close of it, “ God be praised.”
This first ceremony concludes with the oath
of the candidate, which he takes on his knees;
by which he obliges himself to be faithful to
the see of Rome, and the Catholic church,
&c. We are told in one of the rubrics
of the pontifical, that all patriarchs, pri-
mates, archbishops, and bishops of Italy,
are obliged to renew this oath every three
years; those of France, Germany, Spain,
Flanders, the British islands, ‘Poland, 80c.
every four years; those of the extremities of
Europe and Africa, every five years; and,
lastly, those of Asia and America, every ten
years.
After the oath, the candidate, on his knees,
kisses the hand of the ofiiciating prelate. He
next receives the pontifical ornaments, and,
being full habited, reads the oflice of the mass
at the altar, the two assistant bishops standing
on each side of him. This done, he bows to
the ofliciating prelate, who repeats the fol-
lowing words to him, which include the
episcopal functions :-—“ The duty of a bishop
is to judge, interpret, consecrate, confer orders,
sacrifice, baptize, confirm.” After which
words, the candidate bishop prostrates himself,
and continues some time in that posture, du-
ring which the ofiiciating prelate with his
pastoral staff, signs himpwith the sign of the
cross. This done, the ofiiciating prelate and
the two assistants lay their hands on his head;
and the former, laying the book of ‘ the Gospels
on his shoulders, says, “ Receive the Holy
Ghost.” Then a napkin is put on the neck of
the bishop elect, and the officiating prelate
anoints his head with the chrism, as also the
palms of his hands: next he blesses the pas-
toral stafi‘, sprinkling it with holy water, and
presents it to the new bishop. The book of
the gospels, shut, is put into his hands, with
this exhortation: “Receive the Gospel, go,
and preach it to the people committed to your
charge.” After this exhortation the ofliciat-
ing prelate and the assisting bishops give
him the kiss of peace. These ceremonies end
with the mystical offerings of the new pre-
late, which are two lighted torches, two
loaves, and two ‘small casks of wine.
Then all present receive the communion;
after which the ofiiciating prelate blesses the
mitre, sprinkling it with holy water, and puts
on the head of the new bishop this helmet of
defence and salvation, the strings whereof,
like to the two horns of the two Testaments,
are to make him appear formidable to the
enemies of the truth. The gloves are next
given him; and they represent the purity of
the new man, which must enclose the hands
of the new prelate, and render him like
Jacob, who, having his hands covered with
goat-skin, artfully procured his father’s bless-
ing. Lastly, he is enthroned, or placed in
the pontifical seat, on which the officiating
prelate was before seated. After this the
assistants lead him up and down the church,
where he blesses the people. The whole cere-
mony concludes with an anthem.
There are some bishops in the church of
Rome, who have no diocese under their care,
and are merely titular bishops: these are
generally creatures of the court of Rome.
The earliest account we have of British
bishops is carried up no higher than the coun-
cil of Arles, assembled by the Emperor Con-
stantine, in the fourth century, at which were
present the Bishops of London, York, and
Caerleon. _
Before the Norman Conquest, bishops were
chosen by the chapters, whether monks or
prebendaries. From the Conqueror’s time, to
the reign of King John, it was the custom to
choose bishops at a public meeting of the
bishops and barons, the king himself being
present at the solemnity, who claimed a right
of investing the bishops, by delivering to
them the ring and pastoral staff. It is true,
the popes endeavoured to gain the election of
bishops to themselves; and this occasioned
great struggles and contests between the
Roman pontifi‘s and our kings. At length,
after various disputes between King John
and the pope, the former by his charter, 11.1‘).
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103
1215, granted the right of election to the ca-
thedral churches. A statute, in the reign of
Henry VIII., settles the election of bishops
as follows :--“ The king, upon the vacancy
of the see, was to send his congé d’eslire to
the dean and chapter, or prior and convent,
and, in case they delayed the election above
twelve days, the crown was empowered to
nominate the person by letters patent. And,
after the bishop thus elected had taken an
oath of fealty to the king, his majesty, by his
letters patent under the broad seal, signified
the election to the archbishop, with orders to
confirm it, and consecrate the elect. And,
lastly, if the persons assigned to elect and
consecrate deferred the performing their re-
spective offices twenty days, they were to
incur a praemunire.”
ward VI. made a change in the manner of
electing bishops, and transferred the choice
wholly from the deans and chapters to the
crown. The preamble, in the first place,
alleges the inconveniences of the former man-
ner of electing, from the circumstances of
delay and expense; after which it is said in
the preamble,—“ That the said elections are
in very deed no elections, but only by a writ
of congé d’eslz're have colours, shadows, and
pretences of election; that they serve to no
purpose, and seem derogatory and prejudicial
to the king’s prerogative royal, to whom
only appertains the collation and gift of all
archbishoprics and bishoprics, and sufi'ragan
bishops, within his highness’s dominions.”
This statute, therefore, enacts, that——“ for
the future, no congé d’eslire shall be granted,
nor any election be made by the dean and
chapter, but that the archbishopric or bi-
shopric shall be conferred by the king’s
nomination in his letters patent.” But this
alteration made by the statute of King Ed-
ward is no longer in force; and the cus-
tom of sending down the conge‘ d’eslz're is
restored.
Upon the vacancy of a bishop’s see, the
king grants a licence, or congé d’eslire, under
the great seal, to the dean and chapter, to
elect the person whom by his letters missive
he hath appointed; and they are to choose
no other. The dean and chapter, having
made their election accordingly, certify it
under their common seal to the king, and to
the archbishop of the province, and to the
bishop thus elected: then the king gives his
royal assent, under the great seal, directed to
the archbishop, commanding him to confirm
and consecrate the bishop thus elected. The
archbishop then subscribes his fiat confirmatio,
and grants a commission to the vicar-general
to perform all the acts requisite thereto; who,
thereupon, issues out a summons to all persons
who may object to the election, to appear,
&c.: which citation is aflixed on the door of
Bow Church. At the time and place ap-
pointed, the proctor, for the dean ‘and chap—
But a statute of Ed- .

ter, exhibits the royal assent, and the com-
mission of the archbishop, which are both
read, and accepted by the vicar-general.
Then the new bishop is presented by the
proctor to the vicar-general; and three pro-
clamations being made for the opposers of
the election to appear, and none appearing,
the vicar-general confirms and ratifies the
choice of the person elected, who takes the
oaths of supremacy, canonical obedience, and
that against simony.
Till this act of confirmation is performed,
the bishop elect may be rejected, because
there may be reasons assigned why he should
not be made a bishop; which is the reason
of the above-mentioned citations and procla-
mations.
After confirmation, the next thing to be
done is consecration; which the archbishop
performs by the imposition of hands and
prayer, according to the form laid down in
the Common Prayer Book. Which done, the
bishop is complete as well in relation to spiri-
tualities as temporalities. Justice Doderidge,
in his argument of Evans and Ascue’s case,
says, there is a spiritual marriage between the
bishop and his church, which is begun by
election, contracted by confirmation, and con-
summated by consecration.
A bishop of England is a peer of the realm,
and, as such, sits and votes in the House of
Lords. He is a baron in a three-fold manner,
viz.—feudal, in regard of the temporalities
annexed to his bishopric; by writ, as being
summoned by writ to Parliament; and by
patent and creation. Accordingly, he has
the precedence of all other barons, and votes
both as baron and bishop. But though their
peerage never was denied, it has been con—
tested, whether the bishops have a right to
vote in criminal matters. This right was dis-
puted as early as the reign of Henry II., and
we find this decision of the controversy :—
“ Archiepiscopi, Episcopi, &c. sicut cwteri ba-
rones,” &c. i. e. archbishops, bishops, &c., in
like manner as the rest of the barons, ought
to be present at the judgments in the king’s
courts, until it come to diminution of mem-
bers, or to death. The reason which the
canonists give, why bishops should not be
present in cases of blood, is, because they
contract an irregularity thereby, ex defectu
lenitatis. Yet Archbishop Cranmer, being
one of the Privy Council to Edward VI.,
signed the warrant for the execution of
Thomas Seymour, Lord High Admiral of
England; and the Archbishop of Canterbury
was the first in commission at the trial of
Mary Queen of Scots: and, in the Earl of
Strafi'ord’s case, in the reign of Charles I.,
when Vl’illiams, Archbishop of York, declared
his opinion, that the bishops ought not‘to be
present at the passing of the act of attainder,
it was looked upon as betraying a funda-
mental right of the whole order. At present,
BIS
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104
the bishops have their vote in the trial and
arraignment of a peer; but, before sentence
of death is passed, they withdraw, and vote
by their proxy.
The jurisdiction of a bishop, in England,
consists in collating to benefices; granting
institutions on the presentation of other pa-
trons; commanding induction; taking care
of the profits of vacant benefices for the use
of the successors; visiting his diocese once in
three years; in suspending, depriving, de-
grading, and excommunicating; in granting
administrations, and taking care of the pro-
bate of wills: these parts of his function
depend on the ecclesiastical law. By the
common law, he is to certify the judges
touching legitimate and illegitimate births,
and marriages. And to his jurisdiction, by
the statute law, belongs the licensing of
physicians, chirurgeons, and school-masters,
and the uniting small parishes; which last
privilege is now peculiar to the bishop of
Norwich.
The bisliops’ courts have this privilege
above the civil courts, that writs are issued
out from them in the name of the bishop him-
self, and not in the king’s name, as in other
I
|
The ecclesiastical government of Ireland
hath been from ancient times by bishops, con-
secrated either by the archbishop of Canter-
bury, or by one another. But in the year
1152, (as we find in Philip of Flattesbury,)
“ Christianus, bishop of Lismore, legat of all
Ireland, held a famous council at Meath,
where were present the bishops, abbots, kings,
dukes, and magistrates of Ireland ; and there,
by authority of the Pope, with advice of the
cardinals, and consent of the bishops, abbots,
and others there met together, four archbi-
shoprics were established in Ireland—Ar-
magh, Dublin, Cassil, and Tuam.”
The bishop of the Isle of Man is a baron of
the Isle. He has this peculiar ‘privilege,
that if any of his tenants be guilty of a capi-
tal crime, and is to be tried for his life, the
bishop’s steward may demand him from the
lord’s bar, and try him in the bishop’s court,
by a jury of his own tenants ; and in case of
conviction, his lands are forfeited to the
bishop. When the bishopric is vacant; the
lord of the Isle nominates a person, and pre-
sents him to the King of England for his royal
assent, and then to the archbishop of York to
be consecrated. After which, he becomes
courts. The judge of the bishop’s court is j subject to him as his metropolitan.
his chancellor, anciently called Ecclesiee Cau-
sz'dicus, the Church-lawyer.
The bishops of Scotland anciently exer-
cised their episcopal functions wherever they 3 Judazorum,
were, there being no distinct dioceses in that f they submitted
kingdom till the reign of Malcolm III. about
the year 1070. Whilst episcopacy prevailed
in that kingdom, the form of church govern~
ment stood thus. In every parish, the cogni-
zance of some offences belonged to the ses-
sion, a judicature where the minister presided
en: ofiicz'o. But if the case proved too intri-
cate, it was referred to the Presbytery, a
superior judicature, consisting of a certain
number of ministers, between twelve and
twenty. The moderator of this assembly was
named by the Bishop. Above all, was the
convocation, in which the archbishop of St.
Andrew’s presided. And, besides these, every
bishop, for the causes of testaments, 800. had
his ofiicial or commissary, who was judge of
that court within the diocese. The bishops
of that kingdom were likewise lords of
parliament.
In the reign of Henry II., A.D. 1177, the
Scotch bishops and abbots obliged themselves
by oath to own the archbishop of York for
their metropolitan, and consented that their
successors should repair to York for consecra-
tion. But in the reign of Edward IV., A. D.
1471, the Pope made the Church of Scotland
independent of the see of York, induced to it
by a complaint of Bishop Graham, that, when
England and Scotland were upon terms of
hostility, the Scotch bishops had no opportu—
nity of having recourse to their metropolitan,
and bringing appeals to him.
i
The Jews in England, under the first Nor-
man kings, had over them an oflicer, licensed
by the crown, under the name of episcopus
(bishop of the Jews,) to whom
to be judged and governed ac-
cording to their law. See ARCHBISHOP,
CHoREPIscoPI, DIOCESE, EPISCOPACY, ME-
‘TROPOLITAN, PATRIARCH, PRIMATE, SUF-
FRAGAN, TRANSLATION, &‘c.
BLASPHEMY, from BAaOTPfl/ua, accord-
ing to Dr. Campbell, properly denotes ca-
lumny, detraction, reproachful or abusive
language, against whomsoever it be vented.
It is in Scripture applied to reproaches not
aimed against God only, but man also. Rom.
iii. 8 ; xiv. 16 ; 1 Pet. iv. 4. Gr. It is, how-
ever, more peculiarly restrained to evil or
reproachful words offered to God. According
to Lindwood, blasphemy is an injury offered
to God, by denying that which is due and
belonging to him, or attributing to him what
is not agreeable to his nature. “ Three things,”
I says a divine, “ are essential to this crime:
1 1. God. must be the object. 2. The words
spoken or written, independently of conse-
quences which others may derive from them,
must be injurious in their nature. And, 3.
He who commits the crime must do it know-
ingly. This is real blasphemy; but there is
a re ative blasphemy, as when a man may be
guilty z'gnorantly, by propagating opinions
which dishonour God, the tendency of which
he does not perceive. A man may be guilty
of this constructively.- for if he speak freely
against received errors, it will be construed
into blasphemy.” By the English laws, blas-
pheqiies nfflod. as denying his being or pro~
BOA
B o H
10.’)
vidence, and all contumelious reproaches of
Jesus Christ, &c., are offences by the com-
mon law, and punishable by fine, imprison-
ment, and pillory; and by the statute of 9
and 10 William III. ch. 32, if any one shall
deny either of the Persons of the Trinity to be
God, or assert that there are more than one
God, or deny Christianity to be true, for the
first offence, is rendered incapable of any
office; for the second, adjudged incapable of
suing, being executor or guardian, receiving
any gift or legacy, and to be imprisoned for
years. According to the law of Scotland,
blasphemy is punished with death : these laws,
however, in the present age, are not enforced;
and by the statute of 53 George III. ch. 160,
the words in italics were omitted, the legisla-
‘ture thinking, perhaps, that spiritual offences
should be left to be punished by the Deity, and
not by human statutes.‘ Campbell’s Prel. Disa,
vol. i. p. 395; Robinson’s Script. Plea, p. 58.
BLASPHEMY AGAINST THE HOLY Gnosr.
See UNPARDONABLE SIN.
BLOOD, EATING or, is differently viewed
among Christians; some maintaining that
its prohibition, in the Scriptures, is to be
regarded as merely ceremonial and tempo-
rary; while others contend that it is unlaw-
ful under any circumstances, and that Chris-
tians are as much bound to abstain from it
now, as were the Jews under the Mosaic
economy. This they found on the facts,
that when animal food was originally granted
to man, there was _an express reservation in
the article of the blood; that this grant was
made to the new parents of the whole human
family after the flood, consequently the te-
nure by which any of mankind are permitted
to eat animals, is in every case accompanied
with this restriction; that there never was
any reversal of the prohibition; that most I
express injunctions were given on the point
in the Jewish code; and that in the New
Testament, instead of there being the least
hint intimating that we are freed from the
obligation, it is deserving of particular notice,
that at the very time when the Holy Spirit
declares by the Apostles (Acts xv.) that the
Gentiles are free from the yoke of circumci-
sion, abstinence from blood is explicitly en-
joined, and the action thus prohibited is
classed with idolatry and fornication. It was
one of the grounds alleged by the early
apologists against the calumnies of the cue-
mies of Christianity, that so far were they
from drinking human blood, it was unlawful for
them to drink the blood even of irrational ani-
mals. Numerous testimonies to the same effect
are found in- after ages. See under FOOD.
BOARDS, SACRED. Small pieces of board
struck together, for the purpose of assem-
bung the people to worship, before the in- 1
To. the present day, the ;
vention of bells.
Catholics use such boards in Passion-week
and Lent, because the noise of bells they con-
sider to be unsuitable to the solemnity of the
season. On the first day of Easter, the bells
ring again, to excite to cheerfulness and joy.
BODY or DIVIN'ITY. See THEOLOGY.
BOGOMILI, on. BOGARMITE, a sect which
arose about the year 1179. They held that
the Lord’s Supper, and all prayers except the
Lord’s Prayer, ought to be abolished; that
the baptism of Catholics is imperfect; that
the persons of the Trinity are unequal, and
that they often made themselves visible to
those of their sect.
BOHEMIAN BRETHREN. The name of a
Christian sect, which arose in, Bohemia,
about the middle of the fifteenth century,
from the remains of the Hussites. Dissatis-
fied with the advances made towards popery,
by which the Calixtines had made themselves
the ruling party in Bohemia, they refused to
receive the compacts, or articles of agreement,
between that party and the Council of Basle,
November 30, 1433; and began about 1457,
under the direction of a clergyman of the
name of Michael Bradatz, to form themselves
into separate parishes, to hold meetings of
their own, and to distinguish themselves from
the rest of the Hussites by the name of Bro-
thers, or Brothers’ Union; but they were
often confounded by their opponents with the
Waldenses and Picards, and, on account of
their seclusion, were called Cavern-hunters.
Amidst the hardships and sufferings which
they suffered from the Calixtines and the
Catholics, without offering any resistance,
their ' numbers increased so much, through
their constancy in belief, and the purity of
their morals,’ that in the year 1500, their pa-
rishes amounted to two hundred, most of
which had chapels belonging to them. The
peculiarities of their religious belief are ex-
hibited in their confessions of faith, especially
their opinions in regard to the Lord’s Supper.
They rejected the idea of transubstantiation,
and admitted only a mystical spiritual pre-
sence of Christ in the eucharist. On all
points they professed to take the Scriptures
as the ground of their doctrines, and for this,
but more especially for the constitution and
discipline of their churches, they received
the approbation of the Reformers of the 16th
century. This constitution they endeavoured
to model according to the accounts which
they could collect respecting the primitive
churches. They aimed at the restoration of
exclusion of the vicious from their commu-
mon; by the careful separation of the sexes ;

I and by the distribution of their members into
three classes—the beginners, the proficients,
and the perfect. Their strict system of su-
perintendence, extending even to the minute
details of domestic life, contributed much to-
5 wards promoting this object. To carry on
I ' .
their system, they had a multitude of ofiicers,
the use of churches, of the sacrament of '
the primitive purity of Christianity, by the ‘
BON
BOU
106
of different degrees, as bishops, seniors and
conseniors, presbyters or preachers, deacons,
aediles, and acolytes, among whom the ma-
nagement of the ecclesiastical, moral, and
civil affairs of the community was judiciously
distributed. Their first bishop received his
- ordination from a Waldensian bishop, though
their churches held no communion with the
Waldenses in Bohemia. They were destined,
however, to experience a like fate with that
oppressed sect. When, in conformity to their
principle not to perform military service, they
refused to take up arms in the Smalcaldic war
against the Protestants, Ferdinand took their
churches from them; and in 1548, one thou-
sand of their society retired into Poland and
Prussia, where they at first settled at Mari-
enwerder. The agreement which they en-
tered into at Sentomir, April 14th, 1570, with
the Polish Lutherans and Calvinistic churches,
and, still more, the Dissenters’ Peace Act of
the Polish Convention, 1572, obtained tolera:
tion for them in Poland, where they united
more closely with the Calvinists under the
persecutions of the Swedish Sigismund, and
have continued in this connexion to the pre-
sent day. Their brethren who remained in
Moravia and Bohemia recovered a certain
degree of liberty under Maximilian II., and
had their chief residence at Fulneck, in M0-
ravia, and hence have been called Moravian
Brethren. The issue of the Thirty Years’
War, which terminated so unfortunately for
the Protestants, occasioned the entire destruc'
tion of their churches, and their last bishop,
Comenius, who had rendered important ser-
vices in the education of youth, was obliged
to flee. From this time they made frequent
emigrations, the most important of which
took place in 1712, and occasioned the esta-
blishment of the New Brethren’s Church by
Count Zinzendorf.
Though the Old Bohemian Brethren must
be regarded as now extinct, this society de-
serves ever to be had in remembrance, as one
of the principal guardians of Christian truth
and piety, in times just emerging from the
barbarism of the dark ages; as a promoter of
a purity of discipline and morals, which the
Reformers of the sixteenth century failed to
establish in their churches; and as the parent
of the widely-extended association of the
United Brethren, whose constitution has been
modelled after theirs.
BOLLANISTS, a society of Jesuits in Ant-
werp, which published, under the title of
Acta Sanctorum, the traditions and legends of
the Saints. They received this name from
John Bolland, who first undertook to digest
the materials already accumulated by Heri--
bert Roswey.
BONZES, priests of the religions of F0, in
Eastern Asia, particularly in China, Birmah,
Tonkin, Cochin-China, and Japan. Living
together in monasteries, unmarried, they
greatly resemble the monks of corrupt Chris-
tian churches; the system of their hierarchy
also agrees, in many respects, with that of
the Catholics. They do penance, and pray
for the sins of the laity, who secure them
from want by endowments and alms. The
female Bonzes may be compared to the
Christian nuns, as the religion of F0 admits
of no priestesses, but allows of the social
union of pious virgins and widows, under
monastic vows, for the performance of re-
ligious exercises. The Bonzes are commonly
acquainted only with the external forms of
worship, and the idols, without understand-
ing the meaning of their religious symbols.
Boox or SPORTS. See Sron'rs.
BORRELLISTS, a Christian sect in Holland,
so named from their founder Borrel, a man of
great learning in the Hebrew, Greek, and
Latin tongues. They reject the use of the
sacraments, public prayer, and all other ex-
ternal acts of worship. They assert that all
the Christian churches of the world have de-
generated from the pure apostolic doctrines,
because they have sufi'ered the word of God,
which is infallible, to be expounded, or rather
corrupted, by doctors who are fallible. They
lead a very austere life, and employ a great
part of their goods in alms.
BOUNTY, QUEEN ANNE’s, the profits of the
first-fruits and tenths, which were anciently
given to the Pope, transferred in the reign of
Henry VIII. to the king, and restored to the
church by Queen Anne, who caused a perpe-
tual fund to be established from the revenue
thus raised, which was vested in trustees for
the augmentation of poor livings under 501.
a year. This has been further regulated by
subsequent statutes; but as the number of
livings under 50L was at the commencement
of it 5597, averaged at 231. per annum, its
operation is very slow.
BOURIGNONISTS, the followers of Antoin-
ette Bourignon, a lady in France, who pre-
tended to particular ‘inspirations. She was
born at Lisle, in 1616. At her birth she was
so deformed, that it was debated some days in
the family whether it was not proper to stifie
her as a monster; but, her deformit dimi-
nishing, she was spared. From her childhood
to her old age she had an extraordinary turn
of mind. She set up for a reformer, and pub-
lished a great number of books filled with
very singular notions; the most remarkable
of which are entitled, “ The Light of the
World,” and “ The Testimony of Truth.”
In her confession of faith, she professes her
belief in the Scriptures, the divinity and
atonement of Christ. She believed also that
man is perfectly free to resist or receive
divine grace; that there is no such ‘thing as
foreknowledge or election; that God is ever
unchangeable love towards all his creatures,
and does not inflict any arbitrary punishment;
but that the evils they suffer are the natural
BOY
BUY
107
consequence of sin; that religion consists not
in outward forms of worship nor systems of
faith, but in an entireresignation to the will
of God, and those inward feelings which arise
from ‘immediate communion with God. She
held many extravagant notions, among which,
it is said, she asserted that Adam, before the
fall, possessed the principles of both sexes;
that in an ecstasy, God represented Adam to
her mind in his original state; as also the
beauty of the first world, and how he had
drawn it from the chaos ; and that every thing
was bright, transparent, and darted forth life
and ineffable glory; that Christ has a twofold
manhood; one formed of Adam before the
creation of Eve, and another taken from the
Virgin Mary; that his human nature was
corrupted with a principle of rebellion against
God’s will: with anumber of other wild ideas.
She dressed like a hermit, and travelled
through France, Holland, England, and Scot-
land. She died at Franeker, in the province
of Frise, October 30, 1680. Her principal
patrons were Christian Bartholomew, a J an-
senist priest at Mechlin, and Peter Poinet,
who employed a surprising genius and no
uncommon sagacity to dress out the reveries
of fanaticism. In his “ Divine Economy,”
he reduced the substance of Bourignon’s
fancies to a regular form. Dr. Garden of
Aberdeen attempted to introduce them into
Scotland, and wrote an apology in their
favour, or at least laboured to spread it. He
was condemned and deposed by the General
Assembly, in 1701. If we may believe Dr.
Kippis, she had more disciples in Scotland
than in any other country perhaps in the world.
BOY BISHOP, THE. Anciently, on the 6th
of December, it being St. Nicholas’s Day, the
choir boys in cathedral churches chose one
of their number to maintain the state and
authority of a bishop, for which purpose the
boy was habit-ed in rich episcopal robes, wore
a mitre on his head, and bore a crosier in his
hand; and his fellows, for the time being,
assumed the character and dress of priests,
yielded him canonical obedience, took pos-
session of the church, and, except mass, per-
formed all the ecclesiastical ceremonies and
ofiices. Though the boy bishop’s election
was on the 6th of December, yet his ofiice
and authority lasted till the 28th, being In-
nocents’ Day. It appears from a printed
church book, containing the service of the
boy bishop set to music, that at Sarum, on
the eve of Innocents’ Day, the boy bishop
and his youthful clergy, in their copes, and
with burning tapers in their hands, went
1n solemn procession, chanting and singing
versicles as they walked into the choir by the
west door, in such order, that the dean and
canons went foremost, the chaplains next,
and the boy bishop with ‘his priests in the
last and highest place. He then took his
seat, and the rest of the children disposed
themselves on each side of the choir upon the
uppermost ascent, the canons resident bore
the incense and the book, and the petit-canons
the tapers, according to the Romish rubric.
Afterwards the boy bishop proceeded to the
altar of the Holy Trinity, and All Saints,
which he first censed, and next the image of
Holy Trinity, while his priests were singing.
Then they all chanted a service, with prayers
and responses, and the boy bishop taking his
seat, repeated salutations, prayers, and ver-
sicles, and in conclusion, gave his benediction
to the people, the chorus answering “ Deo
Gratias.” Having receivedhis crosier from
the cross-bearer, other ceremonies were per-
formed; he chanted the compline; turning
towards the choir, delivered an exhortation;
and last of all said, “Benedicat vos omnipo-
tens Deus, Pater, et Filius, et Spiritus Sanc-
tus.” By the statutes of the church of Sarum,
for the regulation of this extraordinary scene,
no one was to interrupt or press upon the boy
bishop and the other children during their
procession or service in the cathedral, upon
pain of anathema. It further appears that at
this cathedral the boy bishop held a kind of
visitation, and maintained a corresponding
state and prerogative; and is supposed to
have had power to dispose of prebends that
fell vacant during his episcopacy. If he died
within the month, he was buried like other
bishops in his episcopal ornaments, his ob-
sequies were solemnized with great pomp,
and a monument was erected to his memory,
with his episcopal efiigy. About one hun-
dred and fifty years ago, a stone monument
to one of these boy bishops was discovered in
Salisbury cathedral, under the seats near the
pulpit, from whence it was removed to the
north part 'of the nave between the pillars,
and covered over with a box of wood, to
the great admiration of those who, unac-
quainted with the anomalous character it de-
signed to commemorate, thought it “almost
impossible that a bishop should be so small in
person, or a child so great in clothes.” Mr.
Gregorie found the processional of the boy
bishop. He notices the same custom at York ;
and cites Molanus as saying, “that this bi-
shop in some places did red-itat census, et cas-
sones anno accz'pere,-receive rents, cassons,
8w. during his year.” He relates that a boy
bishop in the church of Cambray disposed of
a prebend, which fell void during his episco-
pal assumption, to his master; and he refers
to the denunciation of the boy bishop by the
council of Basil, which, at the time of the
holding of that council, was a well-known
custom. Mr. Gregorie, who was a prebend-
ary of Salisbury, describes the finding of the
boy bishop’s monument at that place,_ and ‘m-
serts a representation of it in his treatise. The
ceremony of the boy bishop 1s supposed to
have existed not only in collegiate churches,
but in almost every parish in England. He
BOY
BRE
108
and his companions walked the streets in
public procession. A statute of the collegiate
church of St. Mary Overy, in 1337, restrained
one of them to the limits of his own parish.
On December 7, 1229, the day after St. Ni-
cholas’s Day, a boy bishop in the chapel at
Heton, near Newcastle-upon-Tyne, said ves—
pers before Edward I. on his way to Scotland,
who made a considerable present to him and
the other boys who sang with him. In
the reign of King Edward III. a boy bishop
' received a present of nineteen shillings and
sixpence for singing before the king in his
private chamber on Innocents’ Day. Dean
Colet, in the statutes of St. Paul’s school,
which he founded in 1512, expressly ordains
that his scholars should, every Childermas'
(Innocents’) Day, “come to Paulis churche
and hear the chylde bishop’s sermon: and
after he at the hygh masse, and each of them
offer a penny to the chylde bishop: and with
them the maisters and surveyors of the scole.”
By a proclamation of Henry VIII. dated July
22nd, 1542, the show of the boy bishop was
abrogated; but in the reign of Mary it was
revived, with other Romish ceremonials. A
flattering song was sung before that queen by
a boy bishop, and printed. It was a pane-
gyric on her devotion, and compared her to
Judith, Esther, the queen of Sheba, and the
Virgin Mary. The accounts of St. Mary at
Hill, London, in the 10th Henry.VI., and for
1549, and 1550, contain charges for the boy
bishops of those years. At that period his
estimation in the church seems to have been
undiminished ; for on November 13, 1554, the
bishop of London issued an order to all the
clergy of his diocese to have boy bishops and
their processions ; and, in the same year,
these young sons of the old church paraded
St. Andrew’s, Holborn, and St. Nicholas of
Olaves, in Bread-street, and other parishes.
In 1556, Strype says, that the boy bishops
again went abroad singing in the old fashion,
and were received by many ignorant but well-
disposed persons into their houses, and had
much good cheer.
BoYLE’s LECTURES, a course of eight ser-
mons, preached annually; set on foot by the
Honourable R. Boyle, by a codicil annexed
to his will, in 1691, whose design, as express-
ed by the institutor, is to prove the truth of
the Christian religion against infidels, without
descending toany controversies among Chris-
tians, and to answer new difficulties, scruples,
&c. For the support of this lecture he as-
signed the rent of his house in Crooked Lane.
to some learned divine within the bills of
mortality, to be elected for a term not ex-
ceeding three years. But, the _fund proving
precarious, the salary was ill paid; to remedy
which inconvenience, Archbishop Tennison
procured a yearly stipend of 50!. for ever, to
be paid quarterly, charged on a farm in the
parish of Brill, in the county of Bucks. To
this appointment we are indebted for many
excellent defences of natural and revealed
religion.
BRANDENBURG, CoNrEssIoN or. ';'A formu-
lary or confession of faith, drawn up in the
city of Brandenburg by order of the elector,
with a view to reconcile the tenets of Luther
with those of Calvin, and to put an end to the
disputes occasioned by the Confession of
Augsburg. See AUGSBURG CoNFEssIoN.
BRETHREN, THE TWELvE. See IVIARROW-
MEN.
BRETHREN AND SISTERS on THE FREE
SPIRIT, an appellation assumed by a sect
which sprung up towards the close of the
thirteenth century, and gained many adhe-
rents in Italy, France, and Germany. They
took their denomination from the words of
St. Paul, Rom. viii. 2, 14, and maintained
that the true children of God were invested
with perfect freedom from the jurisdiction of
the law. They held that all things flowed by
emanation from God; that rational souls were
portions of the Deity ; that the universe was
God; and that by the power of contemplation
they were united to the Deity, and acquired
hereby a glorious and sublime liberty, both
from the sinful lusts and the common instincts
of nature, with a variety of other enthusias-
tic notions. Many edicts were published
against them; but they continued till about
the middle of the fifteenth century.
BRETHREN AND CLERKS or THE COMMON
LIFE, a denomination assumed by a religious
fraternity towards the end of the fifteenth
century. They lived under the rule of St.
Augustine, and were said to be eminently use-
ful in promoting the cause of religion and
learning.
BRETHREN, PLYMOUTH.
BRETHREN. ,
BRETHREN, WHITE, were the followers of
a priest from the Alps, about the beginning
of the fifteenth century. They and their
leader were arrayed in white garments. Their
leader carried about a cross like a standard.
His apparent sanctity and devotion drew to-
gether a number of followers. This deluded
enthusiast practised many acts of mortifica-
tion and penance, and endeavoured to per-
suade the Europeans to renew the holy war.
Boniface IX. ordered him to be apprehended,
and committed to the flames; upon which his
followers dispersed.
BRETHREN, UNITED. See MORAVIANS.
BREVIARY, a daily ofiice, or book of divine
service, in the Romish church. It is com-
posed of matins, lauds ; first, third, sixth, and
ninth vespers ; and the Compline or Post-com-
munio: z'. e. of seven different hours, on ac-
count of that saying of David: “ Seven times
a-day will I praise thee ;” whence some au-
thors call the breviar by the name of Horse
Canonicm—Canonica Hours.
The breviary of Rome is general, and may
See PLYMOUTH
BRO
BRO
109
be used in all places: but on the model of
this have been built various others, appro-
priated to each diocese, and each‘ order of re-
ligious; the most eminent of which are those
of the Benedictines, Bernardines, Carthusians,
Carmelites, Dominicans, and Jesuits; that of
Cluni, of the church of Lyons, of the church
of Milan, and the Mozarabic breviary used in
Spain. .
The breviary of the Greeks, which they
call by the name of ‘Qpwhéytov (horologzum)
Dial, is the same in almost all the churches
and monasteries that follow the Greek rites.
The Greeks divide the Psalter into twenty
parts, called KaQioytou-a (Sedz'lia) Seats, be-
cause they are a kind of pauses or rests. In
general, the Greek breviary consists of two
parts; the one containing the oflice for the
evening, called awom'mnov; the other that
of the morning, divided into matins, lands;
first, third, sixth, and ninth vespers, and the
compline.
The institution of the breviary not being
very ancient, there have been inserted in it
the Lives of the Saints, full of ridiculous and
ill-attested stories, which gave occasion to
several reformations of it by several councils,
particularly those of Trent and Cologne ; by
several popes, particularly Pius V., Clement
VIII., and Urban VIIL; as also by several
cardinals and bishops; each lopping ofi‘ some
extravagances, and bringing it nearer to the
simplicity of the primitive ofiices. ‘
Originally, every person was obliged to re-
cite the breviary every day; but by degrees
the obligation was reduced to the clergy only,
who are enjoined, under pain of mortal sin,
and ecclesiastical censures, to recite it at
home when they cannot attend in public.
BRIDGETINS, or Bnrerr'rnvs, an order
denominated from St. Bridgit, or Birgit, a
Swedish lady, in the fourteenth century.
Their rule is nearly that of Augustine. The
Brigittins profess great mortification, poverty,
and self-denial ; and they are not to possess
any thing they can call their own—not so
much as a halfpenny; nor even to touch
money on any account. This order spread
much through Sweden, Germany, and the
Netherlands. In England we read of but one
monastery of Brigittins, and this built by
Henry V. in 1415, opposite to Richmond,
now called Sion House; the ancient inhabit-
ants of which, since the dissolution, are set-
tled at‘ Lisbon.
BRIEFS, APOSTOLICAL, are letters which
the Pope dispatches to princes and other
magistrates concerning any public afi‘air.
Bno'rrmns, LAY, among the Romanists,
are illiterate persons, who devote themselves
in some convent to the service of the reli-
gious.
Bnowms'rs, a sect that arose among the
Puritans towards the close of the sixteenth
century ; so named from their leader, Robert
Brown. He was educated at Cambridge, and
was a man of good parts and some learning.
He began to inveigh openly against the cere-
monies of the church, at Norwich, in 1580;
but, being much opposed by the bishops, he,
with his congregation, left England, and
settled at Middlebnrgh, in Zealand, where
they obtained leave to worship God in their
own way, and form a church according to
their own model. They soon, however, began
to differ among themselves, so that Brown,
growing weary of his office, returned to Eng-
land in 1589, renounced - his principles of
separation, and was preferred to the rectory
of a church in Northamptonshire. He died
in prison in 1630. The revolt of Brown was
attended with the dissolution of the church at
Middleburgh; but the seeds of Brownism
which he had sown in England were so far
from being destroyed, that Sir YValter Raleigh,
in a speech in 1592, computes no less than
20,000 of this sect.
The articles of their faith seem to be nearly
the same as those of the church of England.
The occasion of their separation was not
therefore any fault they found with the faith,
but only with the discipline and form of
government of the churches in England.
They equally charged corruption on the
Episcopal and Presbyterian forms; nor would
they join with any other reformed church,
because they were not assured of the sanctity
and regeneration of the members that com»
posed it. They condemned the solemn cele-
bration of marriages in the church, maintain-
ing that matrimony, being a political con-
tract, the confirmation thereof ought to come
from-the civil magistrate; an opinion in which
they are not singular. They would not allow
the children of such as were not members of
the church to be baptized. They rejected all
forms of prayer, and held that the Lord’s
Prayer was not to be recited as a prayer,
being only given for a rule or model whereon
all our prayers are to be formed. Their form
of church government was nearly as follows:
--When a church was to be gathered, such
as desired to be members of it made a con-
fession of their faith in the presence of each
other, and signed a covenant, by which they
obliged themselves to walk together in the
order of the Gospel. The whole power of
admitting and excluding members, with the
decision of all controversies, was lodged in
the brotherhood. Their church officers were
chosen from among themselves, and separated
to their several ofiices by fasting, prayer, and
imposition of hands. But they did not allow
the priesthood to be any distinct order. _ {is
the vote of the brethren made a man a minis-
ter, so the same power could discharge him
from his ofiice, and reduce him to a mere lay-
man again; and as they maintained the
bounds of a church to be no greater than what
could meet together in one place, and join in
BUC
BUL
110
one communion, so the power of these ofiicers
was prescribed within the same limits. The
minister of one church could not administer
the Lord’s Supper to another, nor baptize the
children of any but those of his own society.
Any lay-brother was allowed the liberty of
giving a word of exhortation to the people;
and it was usual for some of them, after ser-
mon, to ask questions, and reason upon the
doctrines that had been preached. In a word,
every church on their model is a body cor-
porate, having full power to do every thing in
itself, without being accountable to any class,
synod, convocation, or other jurisdiction what-
ever. The reader will judge how near the
Independent churches are allied to this form
of government—See INDEPENDENTS. The
laws were executed with great severity on
the Brownists; their books were prohibited
by Queen Elizabeth; their persons imprisoned,
and some hanged. Brown himself declared
on his death-bed that he had been in thirty-
two different prisons, in some of which he
could not see his hand at noon-day. They
were so much persecuted that they resolved
at last to quit the country. Accordingly
many retired and settled at Amsterdam,
where they formed a church, and chose Mr.
Johnson their pastor, and after him Mr.
Ainsworth, author of the learned Commentary
on the Pentateuch. Their church flourished
near a hundred years. Among the Brownists,
too, were the famous John Robinson, a part
of whose congregation from Leyden, in Hol-
land, made the first permanent settlement in
North America; and the laborious Canne,
the author of the marginal references to the
Bible.
BUCHAN'ITES, a sect of enthusiasts who
sprang up at Irvine, in the west of Scotland,
about the year 1783. Mr. White, the minister
of a relief congregation in that town, having
been invited to preach in the neighbourhood
of Glasgow, a female named Elizabeth Buchan,
the wife of a painter, was captivated with his
eloquence, and, writing to him, announced
that he was the first that had spoken to her
heart, and requested permission to pay him a
visit at Irvine, that the work of her conver-
sion might be perfected. ‘On her arrival, she
was joyfully received by the members of the
congregation; engaged without intermission
in religious exercises; went from house to
house; conducted family worship; answered
questions, resolved doubts, explained the Scrip-
tures, and testified that the end of the world
was at hand, and that it was the duty of every
Christian to abandon the concerns of time,
and prepare for the reception of Christ. Mr.
White, favouring her and her views, was com-
plained of to the presbytery, by which he was
deposed from his ministry. Thus a distinct
party was formed, the meetings of which were
commonly held at night, and on these occa-
sions the new prophetess indulged in her
reveries, styling herself the woman of the
twelfth of Revelations, and Mr. White her
first-born. Such gross outrage on the com-
mon sense of the inhabitants, occasioned a
popular tumult, to save her from whose fury
the magistrates sent her under escort to some
distance ; after which, with her clerical friend
and about forty deluded followers, she wan-
dered up and down the country, singing, and
avowing that they were travellers for the
New Jerusalem, and the expectants of the
immediate coming of Christ. They had a
common fund on which they lived, and did not
consider it necessary to work, as they believed .
God would not suifer them to want. Mrs.
Buchan died in 1792, and the sect soon after
broke up.
BUDNEANS, a sect in Poland who disclaimed
the worship of Christ, and ran into many wild
hypotheses. Budnaeus, the founder, was pub-
licly excommunicated in 1584, with all his
disciples, but‘ afterwards he was admitted to
the communion of the Socinians.
BULL, a written letter despatched by order
of the Pope, from the Roman Chancery, and
sealed with lead. It is a kind of apostolical
rescrz'pt, or edict, and is chiefly in use in
matters of justice or grace. If the former be
the intention of the Bull, the lead is hung
by a hempen cord; if the latter, by a silken
thread. It is this pendent lead, or seal, which
is, properly speaking, the Bull, and which is
impressed on one side with the heads of St.
Peter and St. Paul, and on the other with the
name of the Pope, and the year of his ponti-
ficate. The Bull is written in an old round
Gothic letter, and is divided into five parts;
the narrative of the fact; the conception;
the clause; the date; and the Salutation, in
which the Pope styles himself Scrvus Servo-
rum, the Servant of Servants.
These instruments, besides the lead hang-
ing to them, have a cross, with some text of
Scripture, or religious motto, about it. Thus,
in those of Pope Lucius III., the device was
Adjuva nos Deus- Salutarz's noster; that of
Urban 111., Ad te Domine, levavi animam
meam; and that of Alexander 111., Vias tuas,
amine, demonstra mihz'.
Bulls are granted for the consecration of
bishops, the promotion to benefices, the cele-
bration of jubilees, 8w. Those brought into
France are limited by the laws and customs
of the land: nor are they admitted till they
have been examined, and found to contain
nothing contrary to the liberties of the Galli-
can church. After the death of a Pope, no
Bulls are dispatched during the vacancy of
the see. Therefore, to prevent any abuses,
as soon as the Pope is dead, the vice-chancel-
lor of the Roman church takes the seal off
the Bulls, and, in the presence of several
persons, orders the name of the deceased pon-
tifi‘ to be erased, and covers the other side,
on which are the faces of St. Peter and St.
BUN
BUN
111
Paul, with a linen cloth, sealing it with his
own seal. The word Bull is derived from
bullare, to seal letters; or from Bulla, a drop
or bubble. Some derive it from the Greek
Bovkfi, Council; Pezron from the Celtic Bail,
bubble. '
BULL IN C(ENA DOMINI is a particular Bull,
read every year, on the day of the Lord’s
supper, or Maunday Thursday, in the Pope’s
presence ; containing excommunications, and
anathemas against heretics, and all who dis-
turb or oppose the ecclesiastical jurisdiction
of the holy see. After the reading of the
Bull the Pope throws a burning torch into
the public place, to denote the thunder of this
anathema. The Council of Tours, in 1510,
declared the Bull'z'n coma Domini void‘ in re-
gard to France.
BUNYAN, JOHN, the celebrated author of
the.“ Pilgrim’s Progress,” was born at Elstow,
in Bedfordshire, in the year 1628. His father
was a tinker; and Bunyan only received in-
struction in reading and writing. From the
account which he gives of himself, in a work
written by him, entitled, “ Grace abounding
to the Chief of Sinners,” it appears that, in
his early days, his character was notoriously
vile; that he was addicted to the practice of
almost every vice; and that even the profii-
gate and profane regarded “ John Bunyan as
a great sinner.” For some time he followed
the trade of his father, till, when sixteen
years of age, he became a soldier in the Par-
liament’s army, and, in 1645, was present at
the siege of Leicester; where, being drawn
out to stand sentinel, another soldier of his
company desiring to take his place, he con-
sented, and thereby probably avoided being
shot through the head by a musket-ball,
which killed his comrade. It is impossible,
when reading the account of the first twenty
years of his life, as recorded in his “Grace
Abounding,” not to be forcibly impressed
with the truth of the doctrine, now generally
received by all Christians, of the special
Providence of God. His preservation from
drowning, from destruction by an adder, by
a musket-shot, and from death by various
ways, demonstrate such doctrine to be un-
questionably true; and the facts which he
has communicated, as to his conversion, ad-
ditionally confirm the veracity of that doc-
trine. For although some allowances are to
be made for his enthusiasm, and, therefore,
for the language which he frequently adopted,
yet . the facts which he records are unques-
tlonably true; and, if they be true, the infer_
ence appears to be obvious. He relates, “that
one day he was at play at the game of cat;
and, having struck it one blow from the hole,
N811 as he was about again to strike it, a voice
did suddenly dart from heaven into his soul,
which said, ‘ Wilt thou leave thy sins, and go
to heaven. or have thy sins, and go to hell?’
which put, him into such consternation, that,
leaving his cat on the ground, he looked up
to heaven, and was as if he had, with the
eyes of his understanding, seen the Lord
Jesus looking down upon him, and threaten-
ing him with some grievous punishment for
his ungodly practices.”
Bunyan, at an early age, married a young
woman, whose parents had educated her in
habits of respect for religion; and, from such
union, the mind of Bunyan was sometimes
roused to review his own character, and de-
plore his conduct. His heart was at that
time, however, unaffected, though his judg-
ment was convinced; and he attended regu-
larly, with superstitious feelings, at his parish
church. At length he was induced to set
about reading the Scriptures, by the accidental
conversation of a poor man, with whom he
conversed on the subject of religion. It ap-
pears, however, that he still continued unac-
quainted with the sinfulness of his nature,
and the necessity of faith in Christ, till he
met with four poor women at Bedford, “sit—
ting at a door in the sun, talking about the
things of God—about a new birth—about the
work of God in their hearts, as also how they-
were convinced of their miserable state by
nature—of the mercy of God in Jesus Christ
—of his word and promises—of the tempta-
tions of Satan—and of their wretchedness of
heart and unbelief.” Bunyan was so affected
with the conversation of these good women,
that he availed himself of every opportunity
to converse with them. His irreligious com-
panions perceived a difference in him, which
was to them offensive; and being unable to
disturb in him that steady purpose of his
mind, to seek for happiness in God alone, they
resigned his society. His mind was shortly
afterwards much distressed by thoughts, which
perpetually accompanied him, that he wanted
faith, and never could have any, because he
was not one of the elect. He says this put
him upon considering how to make trial of
this matter; and he resolved to attempt the
working of a miracle as the surest test of his
faith. Accordingly, as he was one day going
between Elstow and Bedford, he was about
to say to ‘some puddles that were in the horse-
path, “Be dry ;” but, just as he was about to
speak, his good sense prevailed with him, not
to put his faith upon that trial. After much
perplexity, however, his doubts were satisfied
by that passage of Scripture, Luke xiv. 22,
23: “ Compel them to come in, that my
house may be full; and yet there is room.”
As soon as Mr. Bunyan obtained a good
hope, that he was interested in the salvation
of Jesus Christ, he communicated the state of
his mind to Mr. Gifi'ord, a Baptist dissenting
minister, residing at Bedford; attended his
preaching, and obtained from it much advan-
tage; and, believing that baptism, by immer-
sion, on a personal profession of faith, was
most scriptural, he was so baptized, and
BUN
B U N
112
admitted a member of the church, A. D.
1653.
In 1656, Mr. Bunyan, conceiving that he
was called by God to become a preacher of
the gospel, delayed not to comply with that
call. The measure excited considerable no-
tice, and exposed him to great persecution.
For some years he continued to preach with
eminent success; though, during the period
large meeting-house at Bedford, and preached
constantly to great congregations. He also
annually visited London, where he was very
popular; and assemblies of twelve hundred
have been convened in Southwark to hear
him, on a dark winter’s morning, at seven
o’clock, even on week days. In the midst of
these and similar exertions, he closed his life;
| and, at the age of sixty, on the 31st of Au-
of the Commonwealth, he was indicted for gust, 1688, “he resigned his soul into the
holding an unlawful assembly at Eton, but 1 hands of his most merciful Redeemer.”
for which ofi‘ence it does not appear that he
was punished. At length, however, in the
month of November, 1660, in the reign of 1'
Charles 11., being about to preach at Samsell,
a small hamlet near Harlington, in Bedford-
shire, he was seized, by virtue of a warrant
from a justice of the peace. The Noncon-
formists, at that time, were unquestionably
the objects of bitter malice, and unwise and
severe persecution. Bunyan was one of the
first victims of the intolerant measures of
Charles II. After the usual examination be-
fore the justice, at which Bunyan displayed
much firmness and zeal, he was committed to
Bedford ‘jail, until the quarter sessions. At
those sessions, in January, 1661, an indict-
ment was preferred against him, for being an
upholder of unlawful meetings and conventi-
cles. His defence, though long, and, on the
whole, judicious, did not avail him; and he
was sentenced to perpetual banishment, and
committed to prison, where, though that sen-
tence was not executed, he was confined
twelve years and a half. In the same prison
were also confined about sixty dissenters,
taken at a religious meeting at Kaistoe, in
Bedfordshire. During that confinement, Mr.
Bunyan supported himself and his family by
making tagged laces. His spare time he em-
ployed in writing the first part of his “Pil-
grim’s Progress,” and in preaching to, and
praying with, his fellow-prisoners. The re-
spectability of his character, and the propriety
of his conduct, induced, in the mind of the
jailer, a feeling of respect for him. He fre-
quently permitted him to leave the prison,
and visit his friends. He once permitted him
to visit London, and he committed a great
share of the management of the prison to his
care. In the last year of his confinement, he
wrote his work, entitled, “A Defence of the
Doctrine of Justification.” At length, by
the exertions of Dr. Owen, his liberation was
obtained, in the year 1674; and having been
chosen co-pastor over the Baptist congrega-
tion at Bedford, he resumed the arduous du-
ties of a Nonconformist divine. After his
enlargement he travelled into several parts of
England, to visit the dissenting congregations,
which procured him the epithet of Bishop
Bunyan. In King James II.’s reign, when
that prince’s declaration in favour of liberty
of conscience came, Mr. Bunyan, by the vo-
luntary contributions of his followers, built a

He was interred in Bunhill Fields burying-
ground, and over his remains a handsome
tomb was erected. Of Bunyan it has been
said, and with seeming propriety, “that: he
appeared in countenance to be of a stern and
rough temper, but, in his conversation, mild
and affable; not given to loquacity or much
discourse in company, unless some urgent
occasion required it: observing never to boast
of himself or his parts,‘ but rather seem low
in his own eyes, and submit himself to the
judgment of others; abhorring lying and
swearing; being just, in all that lay in his
power, to his word; not seeming to revenge
injuries; loving to reconcile differences, and
making friendship with all. He had a sharp,
quick eye, accompanied with an excellent
discerning of persons, being of good judg-
ment and quick wit.” Dr. Towers has said
of him, “He was certainly a man of genius,
and might have made a great figure in the
literary world, if he had received the advan-
tages of a liberal education.” Mr. Scott, the
author of “The Force of Truth,” has said,
“he was certainly endued with extraordinary
natural talents; his understanding, discern-
ment, memory, invention, and imagination,
were remarkably sound and vigorous, so that
he made a very great proficiency in the
knowledge of scriptural divinity though
brought up in ignorance.”
Of the “ Pilgrim’s Progress,” but one opin-
ion seems to be entertained. Mr. Grainger
said, that the Pilgrim’s Progress was one of
the most ingenious books in the English lan-
guage; and in this opinion, he states, Mr.
Merrick and Dr. Roberts coincided. Dr.
Radcliffe termed it, “ a phoenix in a cage.”
Lord Kaimes said, “it was composed in a
style enlivened, like that of Homer, by a
proper mixture of the dramatic and narrative,
and upon that account has been translated
into most European languages.” Dr. Johnson
remarked, “that it had great merit, both for
invention, imagination, and the conduct of
the story: and it had the best evidence of its
merit—the general and continued approbation
of mankind. Few books,” he said, “had had
a more extensive sale; and that it was re-
markable that it began very much like the
poem of Dante, yet there was no translation of
Dante when Bunyan wrote.” Dr. Franklin
said, “ Honest John Bunyan is the first man
I know of who has mingled narrative and
BUR
BUT
"113
dialogue together, a mode of writing very en-
gaging to the reader, who, in the most inter—
esting passages, finds himself admitted, as 1t
were, into the company, and present at the
conversation.” Dean Swift declared that he
“had been better entertained and more in-
formed by a chapter in the Pilgrim’s Progress
than by a long discourse upon the will and
the intellect, and simple or complex ideas.”
And Cowper, (in his “ Miscellanies,”) has im-
mortalised him in some beautiful lines, of
which the length of this memoir precludes
the insertion.
In addition to his “ Pilgrim’s Progress,” he
wrote two other allegorical pieces: “ Solo-
mon’s Temple Spiritualized,” and “ The Holy
War ;” the latter of which has excited a de-
gree of attention nearly equal to that displayed
to his “ Pilgrim’s Progress.” His other'works
are principally controversial.
Vz'cle his own account of himself, entitled,
“ Grace Aboundz'ng,” &c. His works in folio,
and life prefixed ; “ Wilson’s History of Dis-
senting Churches ;” “Middleton’s Evangelical
Biography ,-” “ The Lg'fe of Mr. John Bung/an,
by Joseph Ivimey.”—-Jones’s Christ. Bz'og. -
BURIAL, the interment of a deceased person.
The rites of burial have been looked upon in
all countries as a debt so sacred, that such as
neglected to discharge them were thought
accursed. Among the Jews, the privilege of
burial was denied only to self-murderers, who
were thrown out to putrefy .upon the ground.
In the Christian church, though good men
always desired the privilege of interment, yet
they were not, like the heathens, so concerned
for their bodies as to think it any detriment to
them if either the barbarity of an enemy, or
some other accident, deprived them of this
privilege. The primitive church denied the
more solemn rites of burial only to unbaptized
persons, self-murderers, and excommunicated
persons, who continued obstinate and 1mpem-
tent, in manifest contempt of the church’s
censures. The place of burial among the Jews
was never particularly determined. We find
they had graves in the town and country, upon
the highways or gardens, and upon mountains.
Among the Greeks, the temples were made
repositories for the dead in the primitive ages ;
yet, in the latter ages, the Greeks as well_ as
the Romans buried the dead without the cities,
and chiefl by the highways. Among the
primitive ghristians, burying in cities was not
allowed for the first three hundred years, nor
in churches for many ages after; the dead
bodies being first deposited in the atrium, or
churchyard, and porches and porticocs of the
church: hereditary burying-places were for-
hidden till the twelfth century. See FUNERAL
RITEs.
As to burying in churches, we find a dif-
ference of opinion : some have thought it im-
proper that dead bodies should be interred in
the church- Sir Matthew Hale used to say,
that churches were for the living, and church-
yards for the dead. In the famous bishop
Hall’s will, we find this passage: after desir-
ing a private funeral, he says, “ I do not hold
God’s house a meet repository for the dead
bodies of the greatest saints.” Mr. Hervey,
on the contrary, defends it, and supposes that
it tends to render our assemblies more awful ;
and that as the bodies of the saints are the
Lord's property, they should be reposed in
his house.
BUTLER, J OSEPH, BISHOP, the celebrated
author of “ The Analogy of Religion, Natural
and Revealed, to the Constitution and Course
of Nature,” was the youngest of eight children
of Mr. Thomas Butler, residing at W'antage,
in Berkshire, and was born in that town in
the year 1692. He received his primary edu-
cation at the free grammar school of Wantage,
under the tuition of the Rev. Philip Barton.
At that school he received much sound in-
struction, and became as distinguished for his
steady, moral, serious character, as for his
genius and learning. His father was a dis-
senter, and Mr. Butler, having quitted the
grammar school, was sent to a Presbyterian
dissenting academy at Tewkesbury. Mr.
Butler, at that academy, received from Mr.
Jones, the principal tutor, who was a man of
extraordinary learning, the greatest attention,
and made a progress in the study of theology
which was truly surprising. His letters,
written at that time, to the celebrated Dr.
Samuel Clarke, containing his doubts as to the
tenable nature of some of the arguments made
use of by that divine, in demonstrating the
being and attributes of God, displayed a saga-
city and depth of thought which excited the
notice, and even respect, of Dr. Clarke. The
whole correspondence is now annexed to that
incomparable treatise. His mind, at that
time, was also much occupied in examining
the principles of nonconformity, andin endea-
vouring to satisfy himself whether he should
become a dissenting clergyman, or a minister
of the established church. The result of that
investigation appears to be, that he considered,
on the whole, episcopacy to be preferable ; and
accordingly, on the 17th of March, 1714, he
was admitted a commoner of Oriel College,
Oxford. With Mr. Edward Talbot, who was
the second son of Dr. Edward Talbot, he
formed at college a very intimate acquaint-
anceship ; and through the medium of Mr.
Talbot, many of Mr. Butler’s subsequent pre-
ferments may be traced. It was thus that, in
1718, he was appointed preacher at the Rolls,
by Sir Joseph J ekyl; and in 1721 he took the
degree of Bachelor of Laws. He continued
at the Rolls till 1726, in which year he pub-
lished, in one volume 8vo, Fifteen Sermons,
preached at that chapel. By the continued
friendship of Dr. Talbot, then blshop of Dur-
ham, he had presented Mr. Butler to the rec-
tory of Haughton, near Darhngton, and after-
I .
CAB
CAB
114
wards to that of Stanhope. At Stanhope he
afterwards much resided; and, during seven
years, he performed, with unremitting assi-
duity and piety, all the duties of a parish
priest. In 1733, he quitted the retirement of
Stanhope, to become chaplain to Lord Charles
Talbot. He at the same time was admitted at
Oxford to the degree of Doctor of Laws, and
was shortly afterwards presented by the chap-
lains with a prebend in the church of Roches-
ter. In 1736, Dr. Butler was appointed Clerk
of the Closet to Queen Caroline; and, in the
same year, presented a copy of the treatise for
which his name has been so long, so exten-
sively, and so justly celebrated. That work,
and his uniformly consistent conduct, ensured
him the respect and esteem of the Queen ; and
in 1738, he was consecrated to the bishopric
of Bristol. In 1740, King George II. pro-
moted him to the deanery of St. Paul’s, Lon-
don; but finding the demands of that dignity
to be incompatible with his parish duty at
Stanhope, where he had still resided SIX
months of the year, he immediately resigned
that rich benefice. In 1750, he was translated
to the see of Durham, in consequence of the
decease of Dr. Edward Chandler. In the fol-
lowing year, he distinguished himself by his
charge “ On the Importance of External Re-
ligion.” In consequence of that charge, Bishop
Butler has been accused of being addicted to
superstition, of being inclined to popery, and
of dying in the communion of the church of
Rome; but such calumnies have been long
since refuted by the evidence of facts. Rank
and talents, and usefulness and piety, present,
however, neither separate nor combined, any
impediments to the advances of death. For he
had been but a short time seated in his new
bishoprick, when his health declined; and
at Bath, on the 16th of July, 1752, he ex—
pired. His corpse was conveyed to Bristol,
and there, in the cathedral, was interred
all that was mortal of this learned prelate.
Of Bishop Butler’s Analogy but one opinion
has been entertained. It has always been
regarded as a work of very superior merit,
and as displaying a depth of thought and a
profundity of mind, acquired or possessed but
by few. It is a standard work on the evi-
dences of Christianity.
BYZANTINE CHURCH, comprehending all
the churches which acknowledge the supre-
macy of the (Ecumenical Patriarch of Con-
stantinople. Of the population included
within its pale, reduced as it now nearly is
to the limits of Turkey in Europe, Greece,
and Palestine, it is not easy to form a correct
estimate. The Greek population (properly
so called) of the Morea, the islands Livadia,
Epirus, Thessaly, and Macedonia, cannot be
estimated at more than a million and a half;
and those resident in the other provinces of
European Turkey, including the principali-
ties -of Moldavia and Wallachia, in Asiatic
Turkey and Egypt, would probably be over-
rated at the same number. Three millions,
we are inclined to think, would be afull allow-
ance for the subjects of the Universal Bishop
of the Eastern World.
BYZANTINE RECENSION, the text of the
Greek New Testament, as propagated within
the limits of the patriarchate of Constanti-
nople. The readings of the recension are
those which are most commonly found in the
ICOL'l/T) Endoatg, or common printed Greek
text, and are also most numerous in the exist-
ing manuscripts which correspond to it, a
very considerable additional number of which
have recently been discovered and collated
by Professor Scholz. The Byzantine text is
found in the Four Gospels of the Alexandrian
MS. ; it was the original from which the Sela-
vonic version was made, and was cited by
Chrysostom and by Theophylact, bishop of
Bulgaria.——Horne’s Introduction. '
C.
CABBALA. (I-Ieb.) Traditions. Among
the Jews, it principally means the mystical
interpretations of their Scriptures, handed
down by tradition. The manner in which
Maimonides explains the Cabbala, or tradi-
tions of the Jews, is as follows :—-“ God not
only delivered the law to Moses on Mount
Sinai, but the explanation of it likewise.
When Moses came down from the mount,
and entered into his tent, Aaron went to visit
him, and Moses acquainted Aaron with the
laws he had received from God, together
with the explanation of them. After this,
Aaron placed himself at the right hand of
Moses, and Eleazar and Ithamar, the sons of
Aaron, were admitted, to whom Moses re-

peated what he had just before told to Aaron.
These being seated, the one on the right, the
other on the left hand of Moses, the seventy
elders of Israel, who composed the Sanhe-
drim, came in. Moses again declared the
same laws to them, with the interpretations
of them, as he had done before to Aaron and
his sons. Lastly, all who pleased of the com-
mon people were invited to enter, and Moses
instructed them likewise in the same manner
as the rest. So that Aaron heard four times
what Moses had been taught by God upon
Mount Sinai; Elea‘zar and Ithamar three
times; the seventy elders twice; and the
people once. Moses afterwards reduced the
laws which he had received into writing, but
CAB
CAL
1 15
not the explanations of them: these he
thought it suflicient to trust to the memories
of the above-mentioned persons, who, being
perfectly instructed in them, delivered them
to their children, and these again to theirs,
from age to age.” '
The Cabbala, therefore, is properly the oral
law of the Jews, delivered down, by word
of mouth, from father to son; and it is to
these interpretations of the written law
our Saviour’s censure is applied, when
ne reproves the Jews for making the com-
mands of God of none effect through their
traditions.
Some of the Rabbins pretend that the‘
origin of the Cabbala is to be referred to the
Angels; that the angel Raziel instructed
Adam in it; that the angel J aphiel Shem;
the angel Zedekiel Abraham, fire. But the
truth is, these explications of the law are
only the several interpretations and deci-
sions of the Rabbins on the law of Moses; in
the framing of which they studied principally
the combinations of particular words, letters,
and numbers, and by that means pretended to
discover clearly the true sense of the difficult
passages of Scripture.
This is properly called the artificial Cab-
bala, to distinguish it from simple tradition;
and it is of three sorts. The first called Ge-
matria, consists in taking letters as figures,
and explaining words by the arithmetical
value of the letters of which they are com-
posed.- For instance, the Hebrew letters of
J abo-Schiloh (Shiloh shall come), make up
the same arithmetical number as Mashiach
(the Messiah), from whence they conclude
that Shiloh signifies the Messiah.
The second kind of artificial Cabbala,
which is called Notaricon, consists in taking
each particular letter of a word for an entire
diction. For example, of Bcrcschz'th, which is
the first word of Genesis, composed of the let-
ters B, R, A, S, C, H, J, T, they make—Bara-
Rakia-Arez—Schamaim-Yam-Tehomoth, 2'. e.
he created the firmament, the earth, the hea-
vens, the sea, and the deep; or in forming
one entire diction out of the initial letters of
many: thus, in Attah-Gibbor-Leolam-Adonai
(thou art strong for ever, O Lord), they put
the initial letters of this sentence together,
and form the word Agla, which signifies
either—I will reveal, or a drop of dew, and
is the Cabbalistic name of God.
The third kind, called Themura, consists
in changing and transposing the letters of a
word: thus of the word Bereschitlz (the first
of the book of Genesis), they make A-betisrz',
the first‘of the month Tisri, and infer from
thence that the world was created on the first
day of the month Tisri, which answers very
nearly to our September.
The Cabbala, according to the Jews, is a
noble and sublime science, conducting men
by an easy method to the profoundest truths.
‘Without it, the holy Scriptures could not be

distinguished from profane books, wherein
we find some miraculous events, and as pure
morality as that of the law, if we did not
penetrate into the truths locked up under the
external cover of the literal sense. As men
were grossly deceived, when, dwelling upon
the sensible object, they mistook-angels for
men; so also they fall into error or ignor-
ance, when they insist upon the surface of
letters or words, which change with custom,
and ascend not up to the ideas of God him-
self, which are infinitely more noble and
spiritual.
Some visionaries, among the Jews, believe
that Jesus Christ wrought his miracles by
virtue of the mysteries of the Cabbala. Some
learned men are of opinion that Pythagoras
and Plato learned the Cabbalistic art of the
Jews in Egypt: others, on the contrary, say
the philosophy of Pythagoras and Plato fur-
nished the Jews with the Cabbala. Most of
the heretics in the primitive Christian church
fell into the vain conceits of the Cabbala,
particularly the Gnostics, Valentinians, and
Basilidians.
CABBALISTS, those Jewish doctors who
pro-fess the study of the Cabbala. In the
opinion of these men, there is not a word,
letter, or accent in the law, without some
mystery in it. The first Cabbalistical author
that we know of is Simon the son of J oachai,
who is said to have lived a little before the
destruction of Jerusalem by Titus. His
book, intituled Zohar, is extant; but it is
agreed that many additions have been made
to it. The first part of this work is entitled
Zeniutha' or lllystery ,- the second, Idra Rabba,
or the Great Synod ,- the third, Idra Lata, or
the Little Synod ; which is the author’s adieu
to his disciples.
CAINITES, a sect that sprung up about the
year 130; so called because they esteemed
Cain worthy of the greatest honours. They
honoured those who carry in Scripture the
most visible marks of reprobation; as the
inhabitants of Sodom, Esau, Korah, Dathan,
and Abiram. They had in particular great
veneration for Judas, under the pretence that
the death of Christ had saved mankind.
CALENDAR, the order and series of the
months that make up a year: it comes from
the word Calendce, the name which the R0-
mans gave to the first days of the month.
The Roman calendar was composed by Bo-
mulus, founder of Rome, who being better
versed in martial afi‘airs than acquainted with
the stars, made a year of ten months, whereof
the first was March, then April, May, June,
Quintil, called afterwards Julius, and Sextil,
called also in process of time, August, Sep-
tember, October, November, December: he
gave March, May, Quintil, and October,
each 31 days, and but 30 each to the other
six; so that altogether made but 804 days.
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116
Numa Pompilius reformed this, and imitated
the Grecians, to allow the year twelve lunar
months, of 30 and 29 days each, one after the
other, which made 354 days; but because he
loved an uneven number, through a supersti-
tion that he held from the Egyptians, he made
his of 355 days, and gave it twelve months,
viz.: January, February, March, &c. J anu-
ary was of 29 days, February of 28, March,
May, July, and October, of 31, and the other
six of 29 each: it did not matter February’s
being an uneven number, because he designed
it for the sacrifices that were made for the
gods of hell, to which that number, because
unlucky, better belonged. Numa would have
the month of January, which he placed at the
winter solstice, to be the beginning of the
year, and not March, which Romulus placed
at the equinox of the spring. He also made
use of the intercalation of the Grecians, who
added a supernumerary month every second
year, which consisted successively of 22 and
23 days; and that to equal the civil year to
the motion of the sun, which makes its revo—
lution in 365 days, and about six hours, he
ordered the chief pontifi’s to show the people
the time and manner of inserting these
extraordinary months; but whether it was
through ignorance, superstition, or interest,
they confounded things so much, that the
feasts which should be kept according to this
institution at certain times, fell upon quite
different- seasons, as the feasts of autumn upon
the spring, &c. This disorder was so great,
that Julius Caesar, dictator and sovereign pon-
tiff, after he had won the battle of Pharsalia,
did not look upon the reformation of the ca-
lendar as a thing unworthy his care. He
sent for _the famous astrologer, Sosigines,
from Alexandria, who ordered the year ac-
cording to the course of the sun, and having
composed a calendar of 365 days, he left the
six hours to form a day at the end .of .every
fourth year, which day was to be inserted in
the month of February, afterthe 24th of that
month, which the'Romans, according to their
way of counting, called the sixth of the ca-
lends; and hence came the word Bissextile,
because they said twice Scxto Calendas, to
imply the ten days by which the solar year of
365 days surpassed Numa’s of 355; he added
two days to January, Sextil, and December,
which had before but 29 ; and added to April,
June, ‘September, and November, a day to
each, leaving the month of February but 28
days in the ordinary years, and 29 in the bis-
sextile. And as by the negligence of those
who were to order and distribute the intercae
lary-months, the beginning of the year was
found to be 17 days before the winter solstice,
and that it was then also a year of the inter-
calation of the month of 23 days, which in all
made 90; for this reason, I say, this year of
the correction of the calendar by Julius Cac-
sar was of 15 months, and of 445 days, and
was therefore called the year of confusion. [t
is of importance to observe, that this empe-
ror, willing to accommodate himself to the
humour of the Romans, who were used so
long to the lunar year, began the Julian year
upon a day of the new moon, which followed
the winter solstice, and which was at that
time eight days after it, and that was the
reason why the year began since eight days
after the solstice of Capricorn. It was not
hard for the Romans, who then commanded
most part of the earth, to make this correc-
tion of Julius Caesar to be received, and bring
it in use amongst the remotest nations. The
Grecians left off their lunar, and the interca-
lation of their 45 days every fourth year. The
Egyptians fixed their Thot, or the first day
of their year, which before changed from one
season to another ; the Hebrews did the like;
so that it became the calendar of all nations.
The primitive Christians kept the same name
of the months, the same number of days of
the months, and the intercalation of a day in
the bissextile year; but took out of the Julian
calendar the nundinal letters, which marked
the days of assembly, or feriaz, and put other
letters in their place to mark Sunday, and the
other days of the week; and instead of the
profane feasts, and the plays of the Romans,
they placed in order the feasts and ceremonies
of the true religion. About the beginning of
the sixth age, Dennis the abbot, surnamed the
Little, seeing the different customs of the East-
ern and 'Western Churches about the time of
cehebrating of Easter, he proposed a calendar
according to the Victorian period, composed
of cycles of the sun and moon, with reference
to the birth of Jesus Christ; for until then,
the greatest part of the Christians counted
their eras from the foundation of Rome, or
from the consuls and emperors, always keep-
ing to the custom of the Romans as to the
beginning of the year, fixed on the first of
January. This calendar of the ancient church
showed precisely enough the new moon, and
consequently the time of the feast of Easter;
but in succeeding ages it was discovered that
this calculation did not agree altogether with
the course of the sun and moon, and that the
feast of Easter was no more held upon the
full moon of the first month. And this error
in astronomy was of evil consequence, be-
cause the feast of Easter would have insensi-
bly fallen in winter, and then in autumn and
summer. To remedy this disorder, Pope
Gregory XIII. sent briefs to all Christian
princes, and to all famous universities, to de-
sire them to seek means to re-establish the
vernal equinox in its right place; and after
he had received the opinions of all the learn-
ed, he cut off ten days in the calendar, and
confirmed it with a Bull in 1581 ; so that the
day after St. Francis, which is the 4th of Oc-
tober, was called 15 instead of 5 : by this cor-
rection, what was before the 11th of October,
CAL
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117
became the 21st; and the equinox of spring,
which fell upon the 2d of March, was changed ,
to the 12th, as it was in the time of the coun- i
? guish it from that external or common call of
oil of Nice, in 325. The same pope found a
‘way to hinder the like disorder for the future,
in cutting ofi‘ one bissextile day every 100
years. This correction was received by all
those that are of the Church of Rome, but has
not been allowed of by the Protestants of
England, Germany, 800. And there were
several learned men that wrote against this
reformation; among others, Maestlinus, pro-
fessor of mathematics at Tubingen ; Scaliger,
and Georgius Germanus; and there was a
new modelled calendar made by Mr. Viete,
and presented to the pope, with his notes upon
the faults that he observed in the Gregorian.
This is also called the new and perpetual ca-
lendar, because the disposition of the epacts,
which are substituted for the golden number,
will make it of use in all times, whatever may
be discovered in the motion of the stars.—
Blonclel.
CALENDARS, books containing the memo-
rials of the days on which the martyrs suf-
fered. At first, the calendar contained the
mention of the martyrs only; but in the
course of time, the confessors, or those who,
without arriving at the glory of martyrdom,
had confessed their faith in Christ, by their
heroic virtues, were admitted to the same
honour. Thecalendars were preserved in the
churches. A calendar of the church of Rome
was published by Boucher, another by Alla—
tius, a third by Joannes Wanto, chancellor
of Paris. A most ancient calendar of the
church of Carthage was published by Mabil-
lon. But the principal work of this kind is
Joseph Assemann’s “ Calendar of the Univer-
sal Church, illustrated with Notes.”-But-
Zer’s Life of Alban Butler.
CALIXTINS, a branch of the Hussites in
Bohemia and Moravia, in the fifteenth cen-
tury. The principal point in which they dif-
fered from the church of Rome, was the use
of the chalice (calix), or communicating in
both kinds. Calixtins was also a name given
to those among the Lutherans who followed
the opinions of George Calixtus, a celebrated
divine in the seventeenth century, who en-
deavoured to unite the Romish, Lutheran,
and Calvinistic churches, in the bonds of
charity and mutual benevolence. He main—
tained, 1. That the fundamental doctrines of
Christianity, by which he meant those ele-
mentary principles whence all its truths flow,
were preserved pure in all three communions,
and were contained in that ancient form of
doctrine that is vulgarly known by the name
of the Apostles’ Creed. 2. That the tenets
and opinions which had been constantly re-
ceived by the ancient doctors during the first
five centuries, were to be considered as of
equal truth and authority with the express
declarations and doctrines of Scripture.

_ Calm, CALLING, generally denotes .God’s
1nv1tat10n to man to participate the blessings
of salvation: it is termed efi’ectual, to distin-
the light of nature, but especially of the gos-
pel, in which men are invited to come to God,
but which has no saving efi"ect upon the heart:
thus it is said, “ Many are called, but few
chosen.” Matt. xxii. 14. Efi’ectual calling
has been more particularly defined to be
“ the work of God’s Spirit, whereby convinc-
ing us of our sin and misery, enlightening
our minds with the knowledge of Christ, and
renewing our wills, he doth persuade and en—
able as to embrace J esus‘Christ, freely offered
to us in the gospel.” This may further be
considered as a call from darkness to light,
1 Pet. 9; from bondage to liberty, Gal. ii.
13; from the fellowship of the world to the
fellowship of Christ, 1 Cor. i. 9; from mi-
sery to happiness, 1 Cor. vii. 15; from sin to
holiness, 1 Thess. iv. 7 ; finally, from all cre-
ated good to the enjoyment of eternal felicity,
1 Pet. v. 10. It is considered in the Scripture
as an holy calling, 2 Tim. i. 9 ; an high calling,
Phil. iii. 14; an heavenly calling, Heb. iii. 1 ;and
without repentance, as God will never cast off
any who are once drawn to him, Rom. xi. 29.
It has been a matter of dispute whether the
Gospel call should be general, 2'. e. preached
to all men indiscriminately. Some suppose
that, as the elect only will be saved, it is to
be preached only to them; and, therefore,
cannot invite all to come to Christ. But to
this it is answered, that an unknown decree
can be no rule of action, Deut. xxix. 29 ; Prov.
ii. 13; that, as we know not who are the
elect, we cannot tell but he may succeed our
endeavours by enabling those who are ad-
dressed to comply with the call, and believe;
that it is the Christian minister’s commission
to preach the Gospel to every creature, Mark
xvi. 15; that the inspired writers never con—
fined themselves to preach to saints only, but
reasoned with and persuaded sinners, 2 Cor.
v. 11 :—and, lastly, that a general address to
men’s consciences has been greatly successful
in promoting their conversion. Acts 23, 41.
But it has been asked, if none but the elect
can believe, and no man‘ has any ability in
himself to comply with the call, and as the
Almighty knows that none but those to whom
he gives grace can be effectually called, of
what use is it to insist on a general and
external call? To this it is answered, that, by
the external call, gross enormous crimes are
often avoided; habits of vice have been partly
conquered; and much moral good at least has
been produced. It is also observed, that
though a man cannot convert himself, yet
he has a power to do some things that are
materially good, though not good 1n all those
circumstances that accompany or flow from
regeneration : such were Ahab’s humility,
1 Kings xxi. 29 ; Nineveh’s repentance,
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118
J er. iii. 5; and Herod’s hearing of John,
Mark vi. 20. On the whole, the design of
God in giving this common call in the Gospel
is the salvation of his people, the restraining
of many from wicked practices, and the
setting forth of the glorious work of re-
demption by Jesus Christ. See Gill and
Ridgley’s Body of Div. ; Witsius on the Gov. ,-
and Bennet’s Essay on the Gospel Dispensation.
CALOYERS, a general name given to the
monks of the Greek church. It is taken
from the Greek rahéyspot, which: signifies
ood old men. These Religious consider St.
Basil as their father and founder, and look
upon it as a crime to follow any other rule
than his. There are three degrees among
them—the novices, who are called Archari;
the ordinary professed, called Microchemi;
and the more perfect, called Megalochemi.
They are likewise divided into Coenobites,
Anchorets, and Recluses.
The Coenobites are employed in reciting
their oflice from midnight to sunset; and, as
it is impossible, in so long an exercise, they
should not be overtaken with sleep, there is
one monk appointed to wake them ; and they
are obliged to make three genuflexions at the
door of the choir, and, returning, to bow to
the right and left to their brethren. The
Anchorets retire from the conversation of the
world, and live in hermitages in the neigh-
bourhood of the monasteries. They cultivate
a little spot of ground, and never go out but
on Sundays and holidays, to perform their
devotions at the next monastery: the rest of
the week they employ in prayer and working
with their hands. As for the Recluses, they
shut themselves up in grottos and caverns on
the tops of mountains, which they never go
out of, abandoning themselves entirely to
Providence. They live on the alms sent
them by the neighbouring monasteries.
In the monasteries the Religious rise at
midnight, and repeat a particular oflice, called
from thence Mesonycticon, which takes up
the space of two hours; after which they
retire to their cells till five o’clock in the
morning, when they return to the church to
say matins. At nine o’clock they repeat the
Terce, Sexte, and Mass; after which they
repair to the refectory, where is a lecture
read till dinner. Before they leave the refec-
tory, the cook comes to the door, and, kneel-
ing down, demands their blessing. At four
o’clock in the afternoon they say Vespers;
and at six go to supper. After supper they
say an office, from thence called Apodipho;
and, at eight, each monk retires to his cham-
ber and bed till midnight. Every day, after
matins, they confess their faults on their
knees to their superior.
They have four Lents. The first and
greatest is that of the resurrection of our
Lord. They call it the Grand Quarantain,
and it lasts eight weeks. During this Lent,
the Religious drink no wine, and their absti-
nence is so great, that, if they are obliged, in
speaking, to name milk, butter, or cheese,
they always add this parenthesis, Timitz's
agias saracostis, i. e. saving the respect due to
the holy Lent. The second Lent is that of
the holy Apostles, which begins eight days
after Whit Sunday; its duration is not fixed,
it continuing sometimes three weeks, and at
other times longer. During this Lent, they
are allowed to drink wine. The third Lent
is that of the Assumption of the Virgin, it
lasts fourteen days; during which they ab-
stain from fish, excepting on Sundays, and
the day of the Transfiguration of our Lord.
The fourth Lent is that of Advent, which
they observe after the same manner as that
of the Apostles.
The Caloyers, besides the usual habit of
the monastic life, wear over their shoulders
a square piece of stuff, on which are repre-
sented the cross, and the other marks of the
passion of our Saviour, with these letters,
J C. XC. NC., i. e. Jesus C'hristus vincit.
All the monks 'are obliged to labour for
the benefit of their monastery, as long as
they continue in it. Some have the care of
the fruits, others of the grain, and others of
the cattle. The necessity the Caloyers are
under of cultivating their own lands, obliges
them to admit a great number of lay-brothers,
who are employed the whole day in working.
Over all these Caloyers there are visiters
or exarchs, who visit the convents under
their inspection, only to draw from them the
sums which the Patriarch demands of them.
Yet, notwithstanding the taxes these Reli—
gious are obliged to pay, both to their Pa-
triarch and to the Turks, their convents are
very rich.
The most considerable monastery of the
Greek Caloyers, in Asia, is that of mount
Sinai, which was founded by the Emperor _
Justinian, and endowed with sixty thousand
crowns revenue. The Abbot of this monas-
tery, who is also an archbishop, has under
him two hundred Religious. This con-
vent is a large square building, surrounded
with walls fifty feet high, and with but one
gate, which is blocked up to prevent the
entrance of the Arabs. On the eastern side
there is a window, through which those
within draw up the pilgrims in a basket,
which they let down by a pulley. Not many
miles beyond this they have another, dedi-
cated to St. Catherine. It is situated in the
place where Moses made the bitter waters
sweet. It has a garden, with a plantation of
more than ten thousand palm-trees, from
whence the monks draw a considerable re-
venue. There is another in Palestine, four
or five leagues from Jerusalem, situated in
the most barren place imaginable. The gate
of the convent is covered with the skins of
crocodiles to prevent the Arabs setting fire to
CAL
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119
it, or breaking it to pieces with stones. It
has a large tower, in which there is al-
ways a monk, who gives notice by a bell
of the approach of the Arabs, or any wild
beasts.
The Caloyers, or Greek monks, have a
great number of monasteries in Europe;
among which that of Penteli, a mountain of
Attica, near Athens, is remarkable for its
beautiful situation, and a very good library.
That of Calimachus, a principal town of the
' island of Chios, is remarkable for the occasion
of its foundation. It is called Niamogni, i. e.
The sole Virgin, its church having been built
in memory of an image'of the Holy Virgin,
miraculously found on a tree, being the only
one left of several which had been consumed
by fire. Constantin Monomachus, emperor
of Constantinople, being informed of this
miracle, made a vow to build a church in that
place, if he recovered his throne, from which
he had been driven; which he executed in
the year 1050. The convent is large, and
built in the manner of a castle. It consists
of about two hundred Religious, and its re-
venues amount to sixty thousand piastres, of -
which they pay five hundred yearly to the
Grand Seignor.
There is in Amourgo, one of the islands
of the Archipelago, called Sporades, a mo-
nastery of Greek Caloyers, dedicated to the
Virgin; it is a large and deep cavern, on the
top of a very high hill, and is entered by a
ladder of fifteen or twenty steps. The church,
refectory, and cells of the Religious who in-
habit this grotto, are dug out of the sides of
the rock with admirable artifice.
But the. most celebrated monasteries of
Greek Caloyers are those of mount Athos,
in Macedonia. They are- twenty-three in
number; and the Religious live in them so
regularly, that the Turks themselves have a
great esteem for them, and often recommend
themselves to their prayers. Every thing in
them is magnificent; and, notwithstanding
they have been under the Turks for so long a
time, they have lost nothing of their grandeur.
The principal of these monasteries are De la
Panagia, and Anna Laura. The Religious,
who aspire to the highest dignities, come
from all parts of the East, to perform here
their noviciate, and, after a stay of some years,
are received, upon their return into their own
couhtry, as Apostles.
The Caloyers of Mount Athos have a great
aversion to the Pope, and relate, that a Ro-
man Pontifi', having visited their monasteries,
had plundered and burned‘ some of them, be-
cause they would not adore him.
There are female Caloyers, or Greek Nuns,
who. likewise follow the rule of St. Basil. 3
Their nunneries are always dependent on§
some monastery. The Turks buy sashes of 2
their working, and they open their gates freely
to the Turks on this occasion. Those of Con-
stantinople are widows, some of whom have
had several husbands. They make no vow,
nor confine themselves within their convents.
The priests are forbidden, under severe penal-
ties, to visit these Religious.
CALVIN, JoHN, was born July 10, 1509, at
Noyon, in Picardy. His father, Gerard, was
neither distinguished by afiiuence nor learn-
ing; but by his judicious, prudent, and up-
right conduct, he obtained, as he merited, the
patronage of the Montmor family, in Picardy.
Calvin was educated, in early life, under
their roof ; and afterwards studied some
years at the college de la Marche, in Paris,
under the tuition of Maturin Cordier, for
whose learned and pious instructions he enter-
tained the most sincere and grateful recollec-
tion. From the college de la Marche, he pro—
ceeded to that of Montaign; and whilst he
advanced in the attainment of profound know-
ledge, he became increasingly pious. His
father, accurately estimating his talents, and
wisely attending to the peculiar habits of his
mind, obtained for him, when only twenty
years of age, the rectory of Pont L’Evéque,
at Noyon, and a benefice in the cathedral ‘
church. For some reason, however, which it
appears impossible accurately to ascertain,
Calvin afterwards directed the energies of his
mind to the study of the law, at Orleans, under
the direction of the celebrated civilian, Pierre
de l’Etoile, and attained a proficiency in the
science which astonished his contemporaries.
The death of his father compelled his return,
to Noyon, and for a short time retarded his
studies. But revisiting Paris, he again re-
newed them ; and, at the age of twenty-four,
published his Commentary on the celebrated
work of Seneca on Clemency. Calvin had
already discovered the absurdities of popery,
and freely written on them to his friends;
and by his intimacy with Nicholas Cop, who
about this time was summoned before the
French court, for having exposed the errors
of the national religion, had raised many
suspicions against him, and his flight to Basle
became necessary. The revival of letters,
and the exertions of Luther and Melancthon,
the two celebrated reformers, combined at
this era to encourage a disposition which pre-
vailed, to investigate the doctrines of the
church of Rome, and assisted in effecting a
reformation, which all wise men must applaud,
and at which all good men must rejoice.
From Paris, Calvin directed his footsteps to
Xaintonge, and in its retirement pursued his
studies in theology; composed some formu-
laries, to be used as homilies ; and, above all,
grew in personal holiness, and thus prepared
his mind for his future labours in the cause
of truth. Calvin then visited N erac; resided
some time with Jacques 1e Fevre d’Estaples,
who was formerly the instructor of the off-
spring of Francis the First; and then re-
visited Paris. In the succeeding year, Francis
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the First determined, if possible, to extin-
guish the spark of reformation in Paris;
directed not merely the torture, but the
death, of many eminent and pious individuals,
of both sexes, for their antipathy to a church
which they considered as idolatrous, and to
rites and ceremonies which they regarded as
superstitious. From such scenes the mind of
Calvin revolted. From such a church he was
determined to separate. He therefore pub-
lished “ La Psychopannyschie,” or a refuta-
tion of the doctrine, that the souls of the just
sleep till the general resurrection ;--and he
then fled the kingdom; He retired to Basle,
and devoted, with Simon Grinee, much time
to the study of Hebrew.
The apology made by Francis the First for
the persecution of the reformed, and which
was, that they were bad citizens, disobedient
subjects, and clamorous anabaptists, at this
time excited the holy displeasure of Calvin,
and he published his “ Christian Institutes,”
dedicating them to Francis. In Italy, about
the same period, the principles of the Re—
formation began to dawn; and the reformer,
beholding, with the purest satisfaction, the
first beams of a clearer light, hastened to that
country; and, aided by the wise and accom-
plished daughter of Louis XII., the Duchess
. de Farrare, he assisted in promoting the
spread of the Protestant faith. At the town
of Piedmont, he ventured publiclyto preach
the doctrines of the Reformation; but in the
commencement of the year 1536, he was com-
pelled to quit this scene of his labours. In
the autumn of the same. year he visited
Geneva; was prevailed on by Farel and
Pierre Viret, to settle there; and immediately
commenced the arduous duties of a reformed
Christian minister in the Consistory. In
Geneva the Protestant religion had much
spread, and that city had contracted a close
alliance with Bern; but the state of morals
was very low, and, therefore, while the talents
of Calvin commanded respect, his austerity
and sanctity were reprobated or ridiculed.
Calvin was accused of Arianism; but the
charge he refuted. He opposed the re-estab-
lishment of superstitious ceremonies and
feasts ; but himself and his two friends, Farel
and Viret, were hated by the Catholics, and
were ultimately banished from Geneva. At
Strasburg, however, he found a shelter from
the storm of persecution; and, aided by
Bucer, he was appointed professor of the—
ology, and pastor of a French church.
Though banished from Geneva, he cherished
for its inhabitants a Christian regard; he
frequently addressed . them by letters; he
wrote an admirable reply to a publication by
Cardinal Sadolet, which was calculated, by
g the falsity of its reasonings (though disguised
by ability and ingenuity) to shake the faith
of the reformed. He directed the energies of
his mind to the conversion of all schismatics;
and he republished his “ Christian Institutes.”
In 1540, he was invited to return to Geneva.
He at first declined; but, at length, solicited
by two councils, and by the ministers and in-
habitants of the city, he quitted Strasburg
in the spring of 1541, with an understanding
thathe should speedily return; and was re-
ceived with transport at Geneva. Active and
energetic, zealous and persevering, Calvin
instantly‘ commenced the work of reforma-
tion.'\ The ecclesiastical laws he assisted in
revising; the ordinances he altered; and be-
fore the year had closed, this work of usefuls
ness was, accomplished, and approved by a
general council. Those laws were as eflicient
and salutary, as they were wise and equitable.
At this time he wrote a catechism, which was
translated into various languages, and met
with general approbation. He also published
a “ Commentary on the Epistle to Titus,” and
dedicated it to his old 7 friends Viret and
Farel. His labours now rapidly increased.
He preached nearly every day; he lectured
very frequently in theology ; presided at
meetings ; instructed churches; and defended
the Protestant faith in works celebrated for
their perspicuity and genius. Nor was he less
active in his duties as a citizen than as a theo-
logian, or a minister of Jesus Christ. In 1543,
he composed a liturgy for the church at Ge-
neva. He also wrote a work on the necessity
of a reformation in the church, and exposed
the absurdities of a frivolous translation of
the Bible, by Castalio, in the compilation of
which fancy had been consulted at the ex—
pense of truth, and sound instead of sense.
The enemies to the reformation were numer-
ous and potent when combined, but singly
they were nothing. The truth of this remark
was felt by Calvin; and he, therefore, re-
futed the various works of their enemies as
they appeared. Thus he answered Albert
Pighius.
But his efforts were not all controversial.
He established, at Geneva, a seminary for the
education of pious young men in the Pro-
testant faith, who, by their future ministra-
tions, should extend the borders of the true
church ; and in that great work of usefulness
he was assisted by the celebrated Beza. At
that time also, the Waldenses, inhabiting Ca-
briers, and other places, who were persecuted
by order of the parliament of Aquitaine, and
who fled to Geneva, found in Calvin a sincere
and zealous friend. He vindicated in public
their cause, and in private relieved their ne-
cessities. In the year 1546 the efforts of
Calvin were various though painful. Charles
the Fifth, who was a determined enemy to
the Protestant religion, had alarmed some by
his threats, and corrupted others by-his pro-
mises. Calvin exerted himself to counteract
all his efforts. But this was not all. Whilst
some were lukewarm at Geneva, others were
additionally profligate. To convert and con-
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vince them, he laboured with incessant anx~
iety, though with but inadequate success. In
1547, whilstGermany was the scene of war,
and France the theatre of persecution, Calvin
wrote his “ L’Antidote,” being a controversial
work on the doctrine of the first seven sec—
tions of the Council of Trent, and also “a
Warning Letter to the Church of Rouen,”
against the doctrines of a monk who taught
the Gnostic and Antinomian heresies. In the
same year he also continued his pastoral du-
ties, and proceeded in the composition of his
“ Commentaries on Paul’s Epistles.” In 1548,
Beza retired to Geneva, and, with Calvin,
formed future plans of yet more extended and
important usefulness. Calvin, accompanied
by Farel, in the following year visited the
Swiss churches; and wrote two very able and
learned letters to Socinus, the founder of the
sect called Socinians. In 1550, he assisted
yet further in the work of reformation, by
obtaining the direction of the consistory at
Geneva, for the communication of private as
well as public religious instruction to its in-
habitants, and for a total disregard, by every
one, of all feast and saint days. The next
year was less favourable to the peace of Cal-
vin. A controversy on the doctrine of pre-
destination agitated the church; the enemies
of Calvin misrepresented his sentiments, and
endeavoured to excite a general antipathy,
not merely to his doctrines, but also to his
person. But Providence rendered their at-
tempts abortive. _
Calvin is accused of having, at this time,
acted with a tyrannical and persecuting spirit
towards the heretical Servetus. With him
Calvin was once intimate, and also corres-
pended. Servetus, by the impiety of his con-
duct and publications, especially by his “ Res-
titutio Christianismi,” attracted the attention
of the pope, and of the persecuting Cardinal
Tournon. It is stated, that Calvin declared,
“If that heretic (Servetus) came to Geneva,
he would take care that he should be capitally
punished.” But this statement his friends
confidently deny ; and reply, that he persuaded
Servetus not to visit Geneva; that he disap—
proved of all religious persecution; that he
could if he had thought proper, for three years
before Servetus was so punished, have exposed
him to his enemies, but which he would not
do; and that Calvin in his writings, declares,
that with his original imprisonment and pro-
secution he was not at all implicated. It can-
not, however, be denied, that it was at the
instigation of Calvin he was prosecuted, as
1118 secretary was his accuser at Geneva, and
exhibited articles against him. By the Conn-
011 of Geneva, Servetus was condemned to be
burned to death; and, on the 27th of October,
the punishment was inflicted. The impro-
pr1ety_ of that punishment is admitted by all
the friends of civil and religious liberty, and
the apologists for Calvin alike condemn it.
But they contend, and with seeming propriety,
that it was consonant with the spirit of the
age, with the laws of Geneva7 and with even
the opinions of many of the great, and even
good men, who then lived.
About this time Calvin was much affected
by the prosecution of his friend and fellow-
labourer, Farel, for having condemned the
immorality of the Genevese; and was almost
incessantly occupied in acts of kindness to
the persecuted Protestants, who, on the death
of Edward, king of England, had been com-
pelled to quit the country. He was also en-
gaged in writing his “ Commentary on the
Gospel of John.” Nor could the spirit of
bigotry and persecution, which prevailed in
England, fail of attracting his attention. He
communicated with the sufi‘erers, both in
England and France, and was indefatigable
in rooting up all heresies which then disturbed
the peace of the church. Towards the close
of the year, Calvin visited Frankfort, for the
purpose of terminating the controversy as to
the Lord’s Supper, which had been so long
agitated. He returned to Geneva much in-
disposed, but devoted his time to writing his
“ Commentary on the Psalms ;” and to active,
energetic, and successful exertions, through
the medium of German ambassadors, on be-
half of the Protestants at Paris, who, in that
year, (1555,) were unjustly and inhumanly
persecuted. At this time a sect called the
Tritheists, headed by Gentilis, who believed
that God consisted not merely of three distinct
persons, but also of three distinct essences,
was revived; and Calvin directed his attention
to a refutation of the system. In the succeed-
ing year, he proposed the establishment of a
college at Geneva, for the education of youth;
and in three years his wishes were accom-
plished, and himselfwas elected to the situation
of professor of divinity, jointly with Claudius
Pontus. This college afterwards became
eminently useful, and was much distinguished
for the learned and pious men who emanated
from it. In the same and the following year,
Calvin was presented with the freedom of the
city of Geneva; reprinted his “ Christian
Institutes,” as well in French as Latin; pre-
pared for the press his “ Commentary on
Isaiah ;” a‘nd combated, with success, a new
heresy which had arisen, as to the mediatorial
character of Christ. In 1561, Calvin was
summoned before the Council of Geneva, at
the desire of Charles IX., as being an enemy
to France and her king. But, on examination,
it appeared, that the only charge which could
be established against him, was that of having
sent Protestant missionaries to that kingdom.
Soon afterwards, he published his “ Commen-
tary on Daniel ;” and much interested himself
on behalf of the Protestants in France, who
were then persecuted by the Duke of Guise.
In 1562, his health rapidly declined; and he
was compelled to restrict his labours to Geneva
CAL
UAL
122
and his study. But in this and the following
car, he lectured on the doctrine of the
rinity; completed his “ Commentaries on
the Books of Moses and Joshua,” and pub-
lished his celebrated “ Answers to the Depu-
ties of the Synod of Lyons.” In the year
1564 his health became gradually worse; but
yet he insisted on performing as many of his
duties as his strength would possibly allow.
On the 24th of March he was present at the
assembly. On the 27th he was carried into
the council, and delivered, before the Seig-
neurs who were assembled, his farewell ad-
dress; and on the 2nd of April he appeared
at church, received from Beza the sacrament
of the Lord’s supper, and joined in the devo-
tions of the great congregation. To the
syndics, in the ensuing month, he delivered
an able and affecting oration; and to, the
ministers of the town and country, assembled
on an occasion in his room, he addressed a
pathetic and admirable discourse. This was
his last public labour. The remaining mo-
ments of his life were dedicated to acts of
devotion, until May the 24th, at eight P. M.,
when he expired, aged 54.
As an expositor of the Scriptures, Calvin
was sober, spiritual, penetrating. As a theo-
logian, he stands in the very foremost rank of
those of any age or country. His Institutes,
composed in his youth, amidst a pressure of
duties, and the rage and turbulence of the
times, invincible against every species of as-
sault, give him indisputably this preeminence.
As a civilian, even-though the law was a sub-
ject of subordinate attention, he had few
equals among his contemporaries. In short,
he exhibited, in strong and decided develope-
ment, all those moral and intellectual qualities
which marked him out for one who was com-
petent to guide the opinions, and control the
commotions, of inquiring and agitated nations.
Through the most trying and hazardous
period of the Reformation, he exhibited, in-
variably, a wisdom in counsel, a prudence of
zeal, and at the same time, a decision and
intrepidity of character, which were truly
astonishing. Nothing could for a moment
deter him from a faithful discharge of his
duty; nothing detrude him from the path of
rectitude. When the very foundations of the
world seemed to be shaking, he stood erect
and firm, the pillar of the truth. He took his
stand between two of the most powerful king-
doms of the age, resisted and assailed alter-
nately the whole force of the papal domination
—maintained the cause of truth and of God
against the intriguing Charles on the one hand,
anrl the courtly and bigoted Francis on the
other._ The pen was his most effectual wea-
pon; and this was beyond the restriction or
refutation of his royal antagonists. Indeed,
on the arena of theological controversy, he
was absolutely unconquerable by any power
or combination of powers, which his numer- _
ous opponents could bring against. him. He
not only refuted and repressed the various
errors, which sprang up so abundantly in
consequence of the commotion of the times,
and which threatened to defeat all the efforts
which were making for the moral illumination
of the world; but the publication of the In-
stitutes contributed, in a wonderful degree,
to give unity of religious belief to the friends
of the Reformation, and of course, to marshal
the strength, and combine and give success to
the efforts, of all contenders for the faith once
delivered to the saints.
But space will not allow of any thing like
a detail of the excellences of this illustrious
reformer’s character, or of the invaluable ser-
vices which he has rendered to society. He
was a great and good man. In the full import
of the phrase, he may be styled a benefactor
of the world. Most intensely and effectually
too, did he labour for the highest temporal,
and especially for the eternal interests of his
fellow men. He evidently brought to the
great enterprise of the age, a larger amount
of moral and intellectual power than did any
other of the reformers. Even the cautious
Scaliger pronounces him the'most exalted
character that has appeared since the days of
the apostles, and, at the age of twenty-two,
the most learned man in Europe. And the
immediate influence of his invincible mind is
still deeply felt through the masterly produc-
tions of his pen, and will continue to be felt
in the advancement of the pure interests of
the church, until the complete triumph of her
principles.
But notwithstanding the noble virtues of
Calvin’s character, and the imperishable bene-
fits which he has conferred upon the world,
perhaps there never has been a man whose
name has been the object of so frequent and
so gross slanderous imputations as his. Catho-
lie and Protestant, infidel and believer, have
often most cordially united in their endea-
vours to obscure the reputation of this illus-
trious man. Indeed, Calvin and Calvinism
are sounds at which many stand aghast with
a species of consternation, as expressions
which import something unutterably barbar-
ous and horrible. And it often happens that
those who are the warmest in their hatred
of him, and most plentiful in their reproachcs,
have never read a single line of his writings,
and know scarcely a fact of his life. Now
why it is that Calvin has been singled out
from the rest of the reformers, as a mark for
the poisoned shaft of obloquy, is very strange,
not to say altogether unaccountable. He was
plainly in advance of his contemporaries in
all those moral and intellectual qualities which
conspire to form a lovely and dignified cha-
racter. True, he had some of the harsh
features, the irritable and impetuous tempera-
ment, and inflexible spirit of the times. Well
for the world that he had! How could he
CAL
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123
have done the work assigned him, without
some of these severe ingredients in his con-
stitution? Where every thing around com-
bined to crush him down, or thrust him from
a . his.course-,_how could he have stood erect and
undaunted for the truth, without something
unbending and invincible in his principles
and feelings?
Calvin deserves the thanks, and not the
curses, of posterity.
teemed by all the good of his own time; and
he has since been, is now, and will continue
to be, esteemed, so long as high moral ex-
cellence, and the stern majesty of virtue
shall, to any extent, be‘ objects of human
approbation.
His works first appeared in a collected
form, at Geneva, in twelve vols. fol. 1578;
they were reprinted at the same place in
seven vols. fol. 1617 ; and in nine vols. fol. at
Amsterdam, in 1671. This last is the best
edition.——Vide Machenzie’s Life of Calvin;
Mosheim's Ecclesiast. Hist. Cent. xvi; De-
fense de Calvin, par Drelincourt; Narrative
of Calvin, by Beza; Histoire Lz'ttéraz're ale
Genéve, by M. J. Senebier; Jones’s Christ.
Biog., and Christ. Speet. for May, 1828.
CALVINISTS, those who embrace the doc-
trine and sentiments of Calvin.
The name of Calvinists seems to have
been given at first to those who embraced not
merely the doctrine, but the church govern-
ment and discipline established at Geneva,
and to distinguish them from the Lutherans.
But since the meeting of the synod of Dort,
the name has been chiefly applied to those
who embrace his leading views of the Gospel,
to distinguish them from the Arminians.
The leading principles taught by Calvin
were the same as those of Augustine. The
main doctrines, by which those who are called
after his name are distinguished from the
Arminians, are reduced to five articles: and
which, from their being the principal points
discussed at the synod of Dort, have since
been denominated the five points. These are,
predestination, particular redemption, total
depravity, efi‘ectual calling, and the certain
perseverance of the saints.
The following statement is taken princi-
pally from the writings of Calvin and the de-
cisions at Dort, compressed in as few words
as possible.
1. Calvinists maintain that God hath cho-
sen a certain number of the fallen race of
Adam in Christ, before the foundation of the
world, unto eternal glory, according to his
immutable purpose, and of his free grace and
love, without the least foresight of faith, good
works, 01‘ any conditions performed by the
creature; and that therest of mankind he
was pleased to pass by, and ordain to dishon-
our and ‘wrath, for their sins, to the praise of
his vindictive justice.
In proof of this they allege, among‘ man)’
He was ardently es-.
! other Scripture passages, the following:
——“ According as he hath chosen us in
;him before the foundation of the world,
1 that we should be holy, and without blame
‘ before him in love—For he saith to Moses,
I will have mercy on whom I will have
mercy, and I will have compassion on
whom I will have compassion. So, then,
it is not of him that willeth, nor of him
that runneth, but of God, that 'showeth
mercy. Thou wilt say, then, Why doth he
yet find fault; for who hath resisted his will?
Nay but, 0 man! who art thou that repliest
against God? Shall the thing formed say to
him that formed it, Why hast thou made me
thus? Hath not the potter power over the
clay, of the same lump to make one vessel
unto honour and another unto dishonour P—
Hath God cast away his people whom he
foreknew? Wot ye not what the Scripture
saith of Elias? Even so at this present time,
also, there is a remnant according to the
election of grace. And if by grace, then it


is no more of works. What then? Israel
hath not obtained that which he seeketh for,
but the election hath obtained it, and the rest
are blinded—Whom he did predestinate, them
he also called—We give thanks to God al-
ways for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord,
because God hath from the beginning chosen
you to salvation, through sanctification of the
Spirit and belief of the truth—As many as
were ordained to eternal life, believed.” Eph.
i. 4. Rom. ix. xi. 1--6; viii. 29, 30. 2 Thess.
ii. 13. Acts xiii. 48. They think also that
the greater part of these passages, being found
in the epistolary writings, after the pouring
out of the Holy Spirit, who was promised to
guide the apostles into all truth, is an argu-
ment in favour of the doctrine.
They do not consider predestination, how-
ever, as affecting the agency or accountable-
ness of creatures, or as being to them any
rule of conduct. On the contrary, they sup-
pose them to act as freely, and to be as much
the proper subjects of calls, warnings, exhor-
tations, promises, and threatenings, as if no
decree existed. The connexion inwhich the
doctrine is introduced by the divines at Dort,
is to account for one sinner’s believing and
being saved rather than another; and such,
the Calvinists say, is the connexion which it
occupies in the Scriptures.
With respect to the conditional predestina4
tion admitted by the Arminians, they say
that an election upon faith or good works
foreseen, is not that of the Scriptures; for
that election is there made the cause of faith '
and holiness, and cannot, for this reason, he
the effect of them. With regard to predesti-
nation to death, they say, if the question he,
‘Wherefore did God decree to punish those
who are punished? the answer is, On ac-
count of their sins. But if it be, Wherefore
(lid he decree to punish them rather than

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124
others? there is no other reason to be as-
signed, but that so it seemed good in his
sight. Eph. i. 3, 4. John vi. 37. Rom. viii.
29, 30. Acts xiii. 48. 1 Pet. i. 1. Rom. ix.
15,16; xi. 5,6.
2. They maintain that though the death of
Christ be a most perfect sacrifice, and satis-
faction for sins, of infinite value, abundantly
sufiicient to expiate the sins of the whole
world; and though on this ground the Gospel
is to be preached to all mankind indiscrimi-
nately, yet it was the will of God that Christ,
by the blood of the cross, should efiicaciously
redeem all those, and those only, who were
from eternity elected to salvation, and given
to him by the Father.
Calvin-does not appear to have written on
this subject as a controversy, but his com-
ments on Scripture agree with the above
statement. The following positions are con-
tained in the resolutions of the synod of Dort,
under this head of doctrine :——“ The death of
the Son of God is the only and most perfect
sacrifice and satisfaction for sins, of infinite
value and price, abundantly sufficient to ex—
piate the sins of the whole world—The pro-
mise of the Gospel is, that whosoever be—
lieveth in Christ crucified shall not perish,
but have everlasting life ;_ which promise,
together with the command to repent and
believe, ought promiscuously and indiscrimi-
nately to be published and proposed to all
people and individuals, to whom God in his
good pleasure sends the Gospel.—Whereas
many who are called by the Gospel do not
repent nor believe in Christ, but perish in
unbelief ; this proceeds not from any defect
or insufiiciency in the sacrifice of Christ of-
fered on the cross, but from their own fault.—
As many as truly believe, and are saved by
the death of Christ from their sins, and from
destruction, have to ascribe it to the mere
favour of God, which he owes to no one,
given them in Christ from eternity. For it
was the most free counsel, and gracious will
and intention of God the Father, that the
quickening and saving eflicacy of the most
precious death of his Son should exert itself
in all the elect, to give unto them only justi»
fying faith, and by it to conduct them infalli-'
bly to salvation: that is, it was the will of
God that Christ, by the blood of the cross,
whereby he confirmed the new covenant,
should eflicaciously redeem out of every
people, tribe, nation, and language, all those,
and those only, who were from eternity
elected to salvation, and given to him by the
Father.”
These positions they appear to have consi-
dered as not only a declaration of the truth,
but an answer to the arguments of the Remon-
strants. .
In proof of the doctrine, they allege, among
others, the following Scripture passages :—
“ Thou hast given him power over all flesh,
that he should give eternal life to: as many as
thou hast given him. The good shepherd
giveth his life for the sheep.——I lay down my
life for the sheep—He died not for that nation
only, but that he might gather together in one
the children of God that are scattered abroad.
-—He gave himself for us, that he might re-
deem us from all iniquity, and purify unto
himself a peculiar people, zealous of good
works—He loved the church, and gave him-
self for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse
it, and present it to himself, &c.—And they
sang a new song, saying, Thou art worthy ;

I for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to
God by thy blood, out of every kindred, and
tongue, and people, and nation.” John xvii. 2;
x. 11, 15; xi. 52. Tit. ii. 14. Eph. v. 25—27.
Rev. v. 9.
3. They maintain that mankind are totally
depraved, in consequence of the fall of the
first man, who, being their public head, his
sin involved the corruption of all his posterity,
and which corruption extends over the whole
soul, and renders itunable to turn to God, or
to do any thing truly good, and exposes it to
his righteous displeasure, both in this world
and in that which is to come.
The explanation of original sin, as given
by Calvin, is as follows :——-“ Original sin seems
to be the inheritable descending perverseness
and corruption of our nature, poured abroad
into all the parts of the soul, which first
maketh us deserving of God’s wrath, and
then also bringeth forth those works in us,
called, in Scripture, the works of the flesh.
These two things are distinctly to be noted,
that is, that, being thus in all parts of our
nature corrupted and perverted, we are now,
even for such corruption only, holden worthy
of damnation, and stand convicted before God,
to whom nothing is acceptable but righteous-
ness, innocence, and purity. And yet we are
not bound in respect of another’s fault; for,
where it is said that by the sin of Adam we
are made subject to the judgment of God,
Rom. v. 18, it is not so to be taken, as if _ we,
innocent and undeserving, did hear the blame
of his fault; but as, in consequence of his
ofl'ence, we are ultimately clothed with the
curse, therefore it is said that he hath bound
us. Nevertheless, from him not the punishe
ment only came upon us, but also the infection
distilled from him abideth in us, to the which
the punishment is justly due.”
The resolutions of the divines at Dort on
this head, contain the following positions :--
“ Such as man was after the fall, such children
did he beget—corruption, by the righteous
judgment of God, being derived from Adam
to his posterity—not by imitation, but by the
propagation of a vicious nature. \Vherefore,
all men are conceived in sin, and are born the
children of wrath, unfit for every good con~
nected with salvation, prone to evil, dead in
sins, and the servants of sin ; and without the
'CAL
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125
- Holy Spirit regenerating them, they neither
will nor can return to God, amend their
depraved natures, nor dispose themselves for
its amendment.”
In proof of this doctrine, the Calvinists
allege, among other Scripture passages, the
following :—-“ By one man sin entered into
the world, and death by sin; and so death
passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.
-—By one man’s disobedience many were made
sinners—I'was born in sin, and shapened in
iniquity.—God saw that the wickedness of
man was great upon the earth, and that every
imagination of his heart was only evil conti-
nually—God looked down from heaven upon
the children of men, to see if there were any
that did understand, that did seek God. Every
one of them is gone back ; they are altogether
become filthy; there is none that doeth good,
no not one.-—And you hath he quickened, who
were dead in trespasses and sins; wherein in
time past ye walked according to the course
of this world. Among whom also we all had
our conversation in times past, in the lust of
our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and
of the mind; and were by nature the children
of wrath, even as others.” Rom. v. 12—19.
Psal. ii. 5. Gen. vi. 5. Psal. liii. 2, 3. Rom.
iii. Eph. ii. 1—3.
4. They maintain that all whom God hath
predestinated unto life, he is pleased, in his
appointed time, effectually to call by his word
' and Spirit out of that state of sin and death
in which they are by nature, to grace and
salvation by Jesus Christ.
They admit that the Holy Spirit, as calling
men by the ministry of the gospel, may be
‘resisted ; and that where this is the case, “ the
fault is not in the gospel, nor in Christ ofi‘ered ‘
by the gospel, nor in God calling by the gos-
pel, and also conferring various gifts upon
them; but in the called themselves. They
contend, however, that where men come at
the divine call, and are converted, it is not to
be ascribed to themselves, as though by their
own free will they made themselves to differ,
but merely to him who delivers them from the
power of darkness, and translates them into
the kingdom of his dear Son, and whose
regenerating influence is certain and eflica-
cious.”
In proof of this doctrine, the Calvinists
allege, among others, the following Scripture
passages :_—-—“ Whom he did predestinate, them
he also called; and whom he called, them he
also glorified. That ye may know what is
the exceeding greatness of his power to us-
ward who believe, according tov the working
Of his mighty power, which he wrought in
Christ when he raised him from the dead.—
Not of works, lest any man should boast. For
we are his workmanship, created in Christ
JGSII§ unto good works—God, that commanded
_tl\e light to shine out of darkness, hath shined
into our hearts, &c.——I will take away the
stony heart out of their flesh, and will give
them hearts of flesh.” Rom. viii. 29. Eph.
1. 19, 20; 9, 10. 2 Cor. iv. 6. Back.
xxxvl. 26.
5. Lastly: They maintain that those whom
Gtod effectually called, and sanctified by
his Splrit, shall never finally fall from a state
of grace. They admit that true believers
may fall partially, and would fall totally and
finally, but for the mercy and faithfulness of
God, who keepeth the feet of his saints ; also,
that he who bestoweth the grace of perse-
verance, bestoweth it by means of reading
and hearing the word, meditation, exhorta-
tions, threatenings, and promises; but that
none of these things imply the possibility
of a believer’s falling from a state of justi-
fication.
In proof of this doctrine, they allege the
following among other Scripture passages :—--
“ I Wlll put my fear in their hearts, and they
shall_not depart from me.—-He that believeth,
and 1s baptized, shall be saved—The water
that I shall give him shall be in him awell of
water springing up into everlasting life—This
is the Father’s will, that of all which he hath
given me I should lose nothing—This is life
eternal, to know thee the only true God, and
Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent—Whoso-
ever 1s born of God doth not commit sin, for
his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin,
because he is born of God. They went out
from us, but they were not of us; for if they
had been of us, they would have continued
with us: but they went out, that they might
be made manifest that they were not all of
us.--Now unto him that is able to keep you
from falling, and to present you faultless be-
fore the presence of his glory with exceeding
Joy, to the only wise God our Saviour, be
glory and majesty, dominion and power, both
now and ever. Amen.” J er. xxxii. 40. Mark
nvi. 16; John iv. 14; vi. 40; xvii. 3; 1 John
iii. 9; 19. Jude 24, 25.
0 Such were the doctrines of the old Calvin-
1sts, and such in substance are those of the
present times. In this, however, as in every
other denomination, there are considerable
shades of difference.
Some think Calvin, though right in the
mam, yet carried things too far; these are
commonly known by the name of Moderate
Calvinists. Others think he did not go far
enough; and these are known by the name of
High Calvinists.
It is proper to add, that the Calvinistic sys-
tem includes in it the doctrine of three co-
ordinate persons in the Godhead, in one
nature; and of two natures in Jesus Christ,
forming one person. Justification by faith
alone, or justification by the imputed right-
eousness of Christ, forms also an essential
part of this system. They suppose that, on
the one hand, our sins are imputed to Christ,
and on the other, that we are justified by the
CAM
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126
imputation of Christ’s righteousness to us:
that is, Christ, the innocent, was treated by
God as if he were guilty,-that we, the guilty,
might, out of regard to what he did and suf-
fered, be treated as if we were innocent and
righteous.
Calvinism originally subsisted in its greatest
purity in the city of Geneva; from which
place it was first propagated into Germany,
France, the United Provinces, and Britain.
In France it was abolished by the revocation
of the Edict of Nantz. It has been the pre-
vailing religion in the United Provinces ever
since 1571. The theological system of Calvin
was adopted and made the public rule of faith
in England, under the reign of Edward VI.
The Church of Scotland also was modelled by
John Knox, agreeably to the doctrine, rites,
and form of ecclesiastical government esta—
blished at Geneva. In England, Calvinism
had been on the decline from the time of
Queen Elizabeth until about sixty years ago,
when it was again revived, and has been on
the increase ever since. The major part of
the clergy, indeed, are not Calvinists, though
the articles of the Church of England are
Calvinistical. It deserves to be remarked,
however, that Calvinism is preached in a con-
siderable number of the churches; only seve-
ral ‘of the evangelical clergy have adopted
ultra and exclusive views on the subject;
while it is also the distinguishing character-
istic of the discourses delivered by all the
congregational and Particular Baptist minis_
ters; by those of Lady Huntingdon’s con-
nexion, and by the powerful body of Welsh
Calvinistic Methodists. In Scotland its prin-
ciples are commonly taught in the establish-
ment, and with scarcely any exception among
dissenters. '
Calvin considered every church as a sepa-
rate and independent body, invested with the
power of legislation for itself‘. He proposed
that it should be governed by presbyteries
and synods, composed of clergy and laity,
without bishops, or anyclerical subordination ;
and maintained that the province of the civil
magistrate extended only to its protection
and outward accommodation. He acknow-
ledged a real, though spiritual, presence of
Christ in the eucharist; and he confined the
privilege of communion to pious and regene-
rate believers. These sentiments, however,
are not imbibed by all who are called Cal—
vinists.
See Calvin’s Institutes; Life of Calvin;
Brine’s T racts; Jonathan Edwards’s Works;
Gill’s Cause of God and Truth; Toplady’s
Historic Proof, and Works at large,- Assem-
bly’s Catechism ,- Fuller’s Calvinistic and So-
cinian Systems compared.
CAMALDOLITES, an order founded by St.
Romuald, an Italian fanatic, in the eleventh
century. The manner of life he enjoined his
disciples to observe was thisz—They dwelt
in separate cells, and met together only at
the time of prayer. Some of them, during
the two lents in the year, observed an invio-
lable silence, and others for the space of a
hundred days. On Sundays and Thursdays,
they fed on herbs, and the rest of the week
only on bread and water.
CAMBRIDGE MANUSCRIPT, a copy of the
Gospels and Acts of the Apostles, in Greek
and Latin. Beza found it in the monastery
of Irenaeus, at Lyons, in 1562, and gave it
to the university of Cambridge in 1582. It
is a quarto. and written on vellum ; sixty-six
leaves of it are much torn and mutilated;
and ten of these are supplied by a later
transcriber. It is written in the Scriptio
continua, and the Greek is in uncial charac-
ters. From this and the Clermont copy of
St. Paul’s epistles, Beza published his larger
annotations in 1582.—See Dr. Kipling’s edi-
tion of it.
CAMERONIANS, a sect in Scotland, who se-
parated from the Established Church in 1666,
and continued long to hold their religious
assemblies in the fields. They took their
name from Richard Cameron, a famous field
preacher, who, refusing to accept the indul-
gence to tender consciences, granted by king
Charles II., thinking such an acceptance an
acknowledgment of the king’s supremacy,
made a defection from his brethren, and even
headed a rebellion, in which he was killed.
The Cameronians adhere rigidly to the Pres-
byterian form of church government esta-
blished in 1648. There are not, it is said,
above fourteen or fifteen congregations among
them, and these not large.
CAMERONIANS, or CAMERONITES, the deno-
mination of a party of Calvinists in France,
who asserted that the will of man is only de-
termined by the practical judgment of the
mind; that the cause of men’s doing good or
evil proceeds from the knowledge which God
infuses into them; and that God does not
move the will physically, but only morally,
in virtue of its dependence on the judgment.
They had this name from John Cameron,
who was born at Glasgow in 1580, and who
was professor there, and afterwards at Bour-
deaux, Sedan, and Saumur. The synod of
Dort was severe upon them; yet it seems the
only difference was this :——The synod had
defined, that God not only ‘illuminates the
understanding, but gives motion to the will,
by making an internal change therein. Ca-
meron only admitted the illumination whereby
the mind is morally moved; and explained
the sentiment of the synod of Dort so as to
make the two opinions consistent.
CAMP-MEETINGS, religious festivals held
among the Methodists in some parts of Eng-
land, and the United States of America, and
also among the Presbyterians in the back
settlements of the latter country. In Ken~
tucky, and some adjacent parts, not fewer
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127
than fifteen or .twenty thousand people as-
semble on such occasions. They come in
wagons or on horseback from distant dis-
tricts, bring provisions with them, and erect-
ing booths under the dense shade of
forests, they devote a whole week to the reli-
gious exercises of the period. They have
prayer meetings, 800. in separate tents, or in
groups in the open air, morning and evening,
and four sermons daily, two in the earlier
and two in the latter part of the day, while
the festival lasts. The great day is the sab-
bath, when the vast population of the more
immediate neighbourhood assemble and swell
the numbers, and the ordinance of the Lord’s
Supper is administered. According to the
testimony of those who have been present,
nothing can exceed the effect produced by the
evening scene, when the otherwise impene-
trable gloom of the woods is lighted up into
one blaze by the numerous fires which are
kindled and kept burning; and the sound of
so many thousands of voices, causing the
immense groves to re-echo the praises of
the Most High. The general order and pro-
priety which prevail on such occasions,
evince the deep hold which religion has on
the minds of those who thus meet for the
purposes of spiritual edification and im-
provement.
‘ CANON. The word Kavv‘w had long been
in use among the early ecclesiastical writers,
and in very general acceptation, before it was
transferred to a collection of Holy Scriptures.
It meant no more, generally, than a “ book,”
and a “ catalogue ;” but in particular—1. A
.“ catalogue of things that belong to the
church ;” or, a “ book that serves for the use
of the church.” Hence a collection of hymns
which were to be sung on festivals, as also a
list, in which were introduced the names of
persons belonging to the church, acquired the
name of Kavwv. The word was used in a
sense yet more limited; of, 2. A “ publicly
approved catalogue of all the books that might
be read in public assemblies of Christians, for
instruction and edification.” Finally, but not
until very recent times, it has comprised im-
mediately, 3. A “ collection of divine and in-
spired writings.” The last signification most
modern scholars have adopted. They use,
therefore, canonical and inspired, (mm/mag
and Ozaénvsvarog) as perfectly synonymous.
I. CANON or THE OLD TESTAMENT.
Soon after the return of the Jews from the
Babylonian captivity, a collection was pre-
pared of all writings of the Hebrews then
extant, which, on account of their antiquity,
contents, authors, and the claims of divine
inspiration which they possessed, became re-
vered and holy in the view of all the mem-
bers of the new government. In the temple
was reposited a sacred library of these writ-
ings, which for a considerable time before
Christ—the particular year is unknown—
ceased to be further enlarged.
.After the period when this collection was
made, there arose among the Jews, authors
of a different kind, historians, philosophers,
poets, and theological romancers. Now they
had books, very unlike in value, and of va~
rious ages. The earlier were held, as produc-
tions ofprophets, to be holy ; the later were not,
because they were composed in times when
there was no longer an uninterrupted propheti-
cal succession. The ancient were preserved in
the temple; the modern were not. The ancient
were introduced into a public collection ; the
modern into none whatever, at least into none
of a public nature. And if the Alexandrian
Christians had not been such great admirers
of them, if they had not added them to the
manuscripts of the Septuagint—in the original,
if composed in the Greek language; and in a
Greek translation, if the autograph was He-
brew—who knows whether we might have a
single page remaining of all the modern J ew-
ish writers?
At a late period, a long time since the birth
of Christ, these two kinds of writings have
been distinguished by appropriate names,
derived chiefly from the use which was
made of the writings. The earlier were
called CANONICAL, the more recent, Aro-
CRYPHAL, Books. And the whole collec-
tion of the former was comprehended under
the appellation of Canon or THE OLD Tns-
TAMENT.
It has been pretty generally agreed, that
the forming of the present Canon of the Old
Testament should be attributed to Ezra. To
assist him in this work, the Jewish writers
inform us, that there existed in his time a
great synagogue, consisting of one hundred
and twenty men, including Daniel and his
three friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-
nego: the prophets Haggai and Zechariah;
and also Simon the Just. But it is very ab-
surd to suppose that all these lived at one
time, and formed one synagogue, as they are
pleased to represent it; for from the time of
Daniel to that of Simon the Just, no less than
two hundred and fifty years must have inter-
vened. '
It is, however, by no means improbable that
Ezra was assisted in this great work by many
learned and pious men who were contempo-
rary with him: and as prophets had always
been the superintendents, as well as writers
of the sacred volume, it is likely that the in-
spired men who lived at the same time as Ezra
would give attention to this work. But in ‘re-
gard to this great synagogue, the only thing
probable is, that the men who are said to have
belonged to it did not live in one age, but suc-
cessively, until the time of Simon the Just, who
was made high-priest about twenty-five years
after the death of Alexander the Great. This
opinion has its probability increased by the
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128
consideration, that the Canon of the Old Tes-
tament appears not to have been fully com-
pleted until about the time of Simon the Just.
Malachi seems to have lived after the time of
Ezra, and therefore his prophecy could not
have been added to the Canon by this eminent
scribe, unless we adopt the ‘opinion of the
Jews, who will have Malachi to be no other
than Ezra himself; maintaining, that while
Ezra was his proper name, he received that
of Malachi from the circumstance of his hav-
ing been sent to superintend the religious con-
cerns of the Jews, for the import of that name
is a messenger, or one sent.
But this is not all. In the book of Nehe-
miah mention is made of the high-priest
J addua, and of Darius Codomanus, king of
Persia, both of whom lived at least a hundred
years after the time of Ezra. In the third
chapter of the first book of Chronicles, the
genealogy of the sons of Zerubbabel is carried
down, at least, to the time of Alexander the
Great. This book, therefore, could not have
been put into the Canon by Ezra; nor much
earlier than the time of Simon the Just. The
book of Esther, also, was probably added
during this interval.
The probable conclusion, therefore, is, that
Ezra began this work, and collected and
arranged all the sacred books which belonged
to the Canon before his time, and that a suc-
cession of pious and learned men continued to
pay attention to the Canon, until the whole
was completed, about the time of Simon the
Just; after which, nothing was ever added to
the Canon of the Old Testament.
Most, however, are of opinion, that nothing
was added after the book of Malachi was
written, except a few names and notes; and
that all the books belonging to the Canon of
the Old Testament were collected and inserted
in the sacred volume by Ezra himself. And
this opinion seems to be the safest, and is by
no means incredible in itself. It accords,
also, with the uniform tradition of the Jews,
that Ezra completed the Canon of the Old
Testament ; and that after Malachi there arose
no prophet who added any thing to the sacred
volume.
Whether the books were now collected into
a single volume, or were bound up in several
codices, is a question of no importance; if we
can ascertain what books were received as
canonical, it matters not in what form they
were-preserved. It seems, probable, however,
that the sacred books were at this time distri-
buted into three volumes,——the law, the pro-
phets, and the hagiographa. This division
we know to be as ancient as the time of our
Saviour, for he says, “ These are the words
which I spake unto you, while I was yet with
you, that all things might be fulfilled, which
are written in the law, and in the prophets,
and in the psalms, concerning me.” Luke
xxiv. 44. Josephus, also, makes mention of
this division, and it is by the Jews; with one
consent, referred to Ezra as its author.
In establishing the Canon of the Old Tes‘-
tament, we might labour under considerable
uncertainty and embarrassment, in regard to
several books, were it not that the whole of
what are called the Scriptures, and which are
included in the threefold division mentioned
above, received the explicit sanction of our
Lord. He was not backward to reprove the
Jews for disobeying, misinterpreting, and
adding their traditions to the Scriptures ; but
he never drops a hint that they had been un-
faithful, or careless, in the preservation of the
sacred books.‘ So far from this, he refers to the
Scriptures as an infallible rule, which “ must
be fulfilled,” and “ could not be broken.”
We have, therefore, an important point
established with the utmost certainty, that the
volume of Scripture which existed in the
time of Christ and his apostles, was uncor-
rupted, and was esteemed by them as an in-
spired and infallible rule. Now, if we can
ascertain what books were then included in
the sacred volume, we shall be able to settle
the Canon of the Old Testament without un-
certainty.
To do this, it is necessary to resort to other
sources of information ; and happily the J ew-
ish historian, Josephus, furnishes us with the
very information which we want; not, indeed,
as explicitly as we could wish, but sufliciently
so to lead us to a very satisfactory conclusion.
He does not name the books of the Old Testa-
ment, but he numbers them, and so describes
» them, that there is scarcely room for any mis-
take. The important passage to which we
refer, is in his first book against Apion. “We
have,” says he, “only two-and-twenty books
which are to be believed as of Divine autho-
rity, of which five are the books of Moses.
From the death of Moses to the reign of Ar--
taxerxes, king of Persia, the prophets, who
were the successors of Moses, have written in
thirteen books. The remaining four books
contain hymns to God, and documents of life
for the use of men.” Now, the five books of
Moses are universally agreed to be Genesis,
Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deutero-
nomy. The thirteen books written by the
prophets will include Joshua, Judges, with
Ruth, Samuel, Kings, Isaiah, Jeremiah, with '
Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel ; the twelve
minor prophets, Job, Ezra, Esther, and Chro-
nicles. The four remaining books will be
Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song
of Solomon, which makes the whole number
twenty-two ; the canon then existing is proved
to be the same as that which we now possess.
It would appear, indeed, that these books
might more conveniently be reckoned twenty-
four, and this is the present method of num-
bering them by the modern Jews; but for-
merly the number was regulated by that of
the Hebrew alphabet, which consists of twenty-
CAN
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129
two letters; therefore they annexed the small
book of Ruth to Judges, and probably it is a :
continuation of this book by the same author.
They added, also, the Lamentations of J ere-
miah to his prophecy, and this was natural
enough. As to the minor prophets, which
form twelve separate books in our Bibles, they
were anciently always reckoned one book ; so
they are considered in all ancient-catalogues,
and in every quotation from them.
But we are able also to adduce other testi-
mony to prove the same thing. Some of the
early Christian fathers, who had been brought
up in paganism, when they embraced Christi-
anity were curious in their inquiries into the
canon of the Old Testament, and the result of
the researches of some of them still remain.
Melito, bishop of Sardis, travelled into Judea
for the very purpose of satisfying himself on
this point. And although his own writings
are lost, Eusebius has preserved his catalogue
of the books of the Old Testament, from which
it appears that the very same books were, in
his day, received into the canon, as are 'now
found in our Hebrew Bibles. And the interval
between Melito and Josephus is not a hundred
years, so that no alteration in the canon can
be reasonably supposed to have taken place in
this period. Very soon after Melito, Origen
furnishes us with a catalogue of the books of
the Old Testament, which perfectly accords
with our canon, except that he omits the minor
prophets; which omission must have been a
mere slip of the pen in him or his copyist, as
it is certain that he received this as a book of
Holy Scripture; and the number of the books
of the Old Testament, given by him in this
very place, cannot be completed without
reckoning the twelve minor prophets as one.
After Origen, we have catalogues, in suc-
cession, not only by men of the first authority
in the church, but by councils, consisting of
numerous bishops, all which are perfectly the
same as our own. It will be suflicient merely
to refer to these sources of information. Cata-
logues of the books of the Old Testament have
been given by Athanasius, by Cyril, by An-
gustine, by Jerome, by Rufin, by the Council
of Laodicea, in their LX. canon, and by the
Council of Carthage. There is also a catalogue
in the Talmud, which perfectly corresponds
with ours. And when it is considered that all
these catalogues exactly correspond with our
present canon of the Hebrew Bible, the evi-
dence must appear complete to every impartial
mind, that the canon of the Old Testament is
settled upon the clearest historical grounds.
There seems to be nothing to be wished for
further in confirmation of this point.
IL—CANON on THE NEW TESTAMENT.
Many persons who write and speak on the
subject ofthe New Testament Canon, appear
to entertain a wrong impression in regard to
it ; as if the books of the New Testament
could not be of authority until they were
sanctioned by some ecclesiastical council, or
by some publicly expressed opinion of the
fathers of the church ; and as if any portion of
their authority depended on their being col-
lected into one volume. But the truth is, that
every one of these books was of authority, as
far as known, from the moment of its publi-
cation; and its right to a place in the canon
is not derived from the sanction of any
church or council; but from the fact that it
was written by inspiration. And the appeal
to testimony is not to ‘prove that any council
of bishops, or others, gave sanction to the
book, but to show that it is indeed the genuine
work of Matthew, or John, or Peter, or Paul,
whom we know to have been inspired.
The books of the New Testament were,
therefore, of full authority before they were
collected into one volume; and it would have
made no difference if they had never been
included in one volume, but had retained
that separate form in which they were first
published. And it is by no means certain
that these books were, at a very early period,
bound in one volume. As far as we have
any testimony on the subject, the probability
is, that it was more customary to include
them in two volumes, one of which was called
the GosPnL, and the other the APos'rLEs.
Some of the oldest MSS. of the New Testa-
ment extant, appear to have been put up in
this form ; and the fathers often refer to the
Scriptures of the New Testament under these
two titles. The question—when was the
canon constituted ?—admits, therefore, of no
other proper answer than this, that as soon
as the last book of the New Testament was
written and published, the canon was com_
pleted. But if the question relates to the
time when these books were collected and
published in a single volume, or in two
volumes, it admits of no definite answer ; for
those churches which were situated nearest
to the place where any particular books were
published, would, of course, obtain copies
much earlier than churches in a remote part
of the world. For a considerable period, the
collection of these books in each church must
have been necessarily incomplete; for- it
would take some time to send to the church
or people with whom the autographs were
deposited, and to write off fair copies. This
necessary processwill also account for the
fact, that some of the smaller books were not
received by the churches so early nor so uni-
versally as the larger. The solicitude of the
churches to possess immediately the more
extensive books of the New Testament, would
doubtless induce them to make a great exer-
tion to acquire copies; but probably the
smaller would not be so much spoken of, nor
would there be so strong a desire to obtain
them without delay. Considering how diffi—
cult it is now, with all our improvements in
K
CAN
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130
the typographical art, to multiply copies of
the Scriptures with sufi‘icient rapidity, it is
truly wonderful how so many churches as
were founded during the first century, to say
nothing of individuals, could all be supplied
with copies of the New Testament, when
there was no speedier method of producing
them, than by writing every letter with the
pen! The pen of a ready writer must then,
indeed, have been of immense value. The
idea entertained by some, especially by Dod-
wcll, that these books lay for a long time
locked up in the coffers of the churches to-
which they were addressed, and totally un-
known to the rest of the world, is in itself
most improbable, and is repugnant to all the
testimony which exists on the subject. Even
as early as the time when Peter wrote his
second epistle, the writings of Paul were in
the hands of the churches, and were classed
with the other Scriptures. 2 Peter iii. 14,
15. And the citation from these books, by
the earliest Christian writers, living in dif-
ferent countries, demonstrates that from the
time of their publication, they were sought
after with avidity, and were widely dispersed.
How intense the interest which the first
Christians felt in the writings of the apostles,
can scarcely be conceived by us, who have
been familiar with these books from our car-
liest years. How solieitous would they be,
for example, who had never seen Paul, but
had heard of his wonderful conversion, and
extraordinary labours and gifts, to read his
writings? And probably they who had en-
joyed the high privilege of hearing this apos-
tle preach, would not be less desirous of
reading his Epistles! As we know, from the
nature of the case, as well as from testimony,
that many uncertain accounts of Christ’s dis-
courses and miracles had obtained circula-
tion, how greatly would the primitive Chris—
tians rejoice to obtain an authentic history,
from the pen of an apostle, or from one who
wrote precisely what was dictated by an apos-
tle? We need no longer wonder, therefore,
that every church should wish to possess a
collection of the writings of the apostles ; and
knowing them to be the productions of in-
spired men, they would want no farther sane-
tion to their authority. All that was requisite
was to be certain that the book was indeed
written by the apostle whose name it bore.
Hence some things in Paul’s Epistles, which
seem to common readers to be of no import-
ance, are of the utmost consequence, Such
as,——-I, T ertius, who wrote this Epistle, CS‘C.
The salutation with mine own hand. So I
write in every Epistle. Ye see how large a
letter I have written unto you with mine own
hand. The salutation hi the hand of me, Paul.
The salutation of Paul, with mine own hand,
which is the token in every Epistle. This
apostle commonly employed an amanuensis;
but that the churches to which he wrote
might have the assurance of the genuineness
of his Epistles, from seeing his own hand~
writing, he constantly wrote the SALUTATION
himself. So much care was tak'en to have
these sacred writings well authenticated on
their first publication. And on the same ac-
count it was that he and the other apostles
were so particular in giving the names and
the characters of those who were the bearers
of their Epistles. And it seems that they
were always committed to the care of men of
high estimation in the church; and com-
monly more than one appears to have been
intrusted with this important commission.
If it be inquired, what became of the auto-
graphs of these sacred books, and why they
were not preserved, since this would have
prevented all uncertainty respecting the true
reading, and would have relieved the biblica-
critic from a large share of labour? it is
suificient to answer, that nothing different
has occurred, in relation to these autographs,
from that which has happened to all other
ancient writings. No man can produce the
autograph of any book as old as the New
Testament, unless it has been preserved in
some extraordinary way, as in the case of the
manuscripts of Herculaneum; neither could
it be supposed, that in the midst of such vicis-
situdes, revolutions, and persecutions, as the
Christian church endured, this object could
have been secured by any thing short of a
miracle. And God knew, by a superintend—
ing providence over the sacred Scriptures,
they could be transmitted with sufiicient ac-
curacy, by means of apographs, to the most
distant generations. Indeed, there is reason
to believe that the Christians of early times
were so absorbed and impressed with the
glory of the truths revealed, that they gave
themselves little concern about the mere
vehicle by which they were communicated.
They had matters of such deep interest, and
so novel, before their eyes, that they had
neither time nor inclination for the minutiae
of criticism. It may he, therefore, that they
did not set so high a value on the possession
of the autograph of an inspired book as we
should, but considered a copy, made with
scrupulous fidelity, as equally valuable with
the original. And God may have suffered
these autographs of the sacred writings to
perish, lest, in process of time, they should
have become idolized, like the brazen ser-
pent; or lest men should he led supersti-'
tiously to venerate the mere parchment, and
ink, and form, and letters, employed by an
apostle. Certainly, the history of the church
is such as to render such an idea far from
being improbable.
The slightest attention to the works of the
fathers will convince any one that the writ-
ings of the apostles were held, from the be-
ginning, in‘ the highest estimation 1 that great
pains were taken to distinguish the genuine
CAN
CAN
131
productions of these inspired men from all
other books; that they were sought out with
uncommon diligence, and read with profound
attention and veneration, notonly in private,
but publicly in the churches; and that they
are cited and referred to universally as deci-
sive on every point of doctrine, and as autho-
ritative standards for the regulation of faith
and practice.
This being the state of the case when the
books of the New Testament were communi-
cated to the churches, we are enabled, in
regard to most of them, to produce testimony
of the most satisfactory kind, that they were
admitted into the Canon, and received as in-
spired, by the universal consent of Christians
in every part of the world. And as to those
few books, concerning which some persons I
i received by others; but Eusebius himself de-
entertain doubts, it can be shown, that, as
soon as their claims were fully and imparti- :
ally investigated, they also were received
with universal consent. And that other
books, however excellent as human compo-
sitions, were never put upon a level with the
canonical books of the New Testament; that
spurious writings, under the names of the
apostles. were promptly and decisively re—
jected, and that the churches were repeatedly
warned against such apocryphal books.
I. Catalogues.—-Here, as in the case of the
Old Testament, we find that, at a very early ,
period, catalogues of these books were pub-
lished, by most of the distinguished fathers
whose writings have come down to us; the
same has been done, also, by several councils,
whose decrees are still extant.
These catalogues are for the most part, per-
fectly harmonious. In a few of them, some
books now in the Canon are omitted, for
which omission a satisfactory reason can com-
monly be assigned.
The first regular catalogue of the books of
the New Testament, which we find on record,
is by Origen, who lived about one hundred
years after the death of the apostle John,
and whose extensive biblical knowledge high-
ly qualified him to judge correctly in this
case.
In this catalogue, he mentions, “ The Four
Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, Fourteen
Epistles of Paul, Two of Peter, Three of
John,” and “ The Book of Revelation.” This
enumeration includes all the present Canon,
except the Epistles of James and Jude, but
these were omitted by accident, not design;
for in other parts of his writings, he acknow-
ledges these Epistles as a part of the Canon.
And while Origen furnishes us with so full a
catalogue of the books now in the Canon, he
inserts no others, which proves that in his
time the Canon was well settled among the
learned; and that the distinction between
inspired writings and human compositions
was as clearly marked as at any subsequent
period.
2. The next catalogue of the books of the
New Testament, (to which I will refer,) is
that of Eusebius, the learned historian of the
church; to whose diligence and fidelity, in
collecting ecclesiastical facts, we are more
indebted than to the labours of all other men,
for that period which intervened between the
days of the apostles and his own times. Eu-
sebius may be considered as giving his testi-
mony about one hundred years after Origen.
His catalogue may be seen in his Ecclesiastical
History—Eusebius, Ecc. Hist. 1. iii. c. 25,
compared with c. 3. In it he enumerates
every book which we now have in the Canon,
and no others; but he mentions that the Epis-
tle of James, the Second of Peter, and Second
and Third of John, were doubted by some;
and that Revelation was rejected by some, and
clares it to be his opinion that it should be
received without doubt.
There is no single witness among the whole
number of ecclesiastical writers, who was more
competent to give accurate information on
this subject than Eusebius. He had spent a
great part of his life in searching into the
antiquities of the Christian church; and he
had an intimate acquaintance with all the
records relating to ecclesiastical affairs,
many of which are now lost; and almost the
only information which we have of them
has been transmitted to us by this diligent
compiler.
3. Athanasius, so well known for his writ-
ings and his sufferings in defence of the
divinity of our Saviour, in his Festal Epistle,
and in his Synopsis of Scripture, has left a
catalogue of the books of the New Testament,
which perfectly agrees with the Canon now in
use.
4. Cyril, in his Catechetical work, has also
given us a catalogue, perfectly agreeing with
ours, except that he omits the book of Reve-
lation. Why that book was so often left out
of the ancient catalogues and collections of
the Scriptures, shall be mentioned hereafter.
Athanasius and Cyril were contemporary
with Eusebius; the latter, however, may
more properly be considered as twenty or
thirty years later.
5. Then, a little after the middle of the
fourth century, we have the testimony of all
the bishops assembled in the Council of Lao—
dicea. The catalogue of ttu's council is con-
tained in the sixticth Canon, and is exactly
the same as ‘ours, except that the book of
Revelation is omitted. The decrees of this
council were in a short time received into
the Canons of the universal church; and
among the rest, this catalogue of the books of
the New Testament. Thus we find that as
early as the middle of the fourth century,
there was a universal consent, in all parts of
the world to which the Christian church ex-
tended, as to the books which constituted the
CAN
2 CAN
13
Canonof the New Testament, with the single
exception of the book of Revelation; and that
this book was also generally admitted to be
canonical, we shall take the opportunity of
proving in the sequel of this work.
6. But a few years elapsed from the meet-
ing of this council, before Epiphanius, bishop
of Salamis, in the island of Cyprus, published
his work On Heresies, in which he gives a
catalogue of the Canonical books of the New
Testament, ‘which in every respect, is the
same‘ as the Canon now received.
7. About the same time, Gregory Nazian-
.zen, bishop of Constantinople, in a poem,
“ On the True and Genuine Scriptures,”
mentions distinctly all the books now received,
except Revelation.
8. A few years later, we have a list of the
books of the New Testament in a work of
_P-hilastrius, bishop of Brixia, in Italy, which
corresponds, in all respects, with those now
received, except that he mentions no more
than thirteen of Paul’s Epistles. If the omis-
sion was designed, it probably relates to the
Epistle to the Hebrews.
9. ‘At the same time lived Jerome, who
translated the whole Bible into Latin. He
furnishes us with a catalogue answering to
our‘present Canon in all respects. He does,
however, speak doubt-fully about the Epistle
to the Hebrews, on account of the uncertainty
of its author. But in other parts of his writ-
ings, he shows that he received this book as
Canonical, as well as the rest—Epist. ad
Paulinum.
10. The catalogue of Rufin varies in nothing
from the Canon now received—Expos. in
Symbol. Apost.
1'1. Augustine, in his work on “Christian
Doctrine,” has inserted the names of the books
of the New Testament, which in all respects
are the same as ours.
12. The council of Carthage, at which Au-
gustine was present, have furnished a cata-
logue, which perfectly agrees with ours. At
this council, forty-four bishops attended. The
fist referred _to is found in their forty-eighth
Canon.
12. ‘The unknown author, who goes under
the name of Dionysius the Areopagite, so
describes the books of the New Testament as
to show that he received the very same as
are now in the Canon.
II. Another satisfactory source of evidence
in favour of the Canon of the New Testament,
as now received, is the fact that these books,
and these books alone were quoted as Sacred
Scripture, by all the fathers, living in parts
of the world the most remote from each other.
The truth of this assertion will fully appear
when we come to speak particularly of the
books which compose the Canon. Now, how
can it be accounted for, that these books, and
these alone, should be cited as authority in
Asia, Africa, and Europe? No other reason
can be assigned, than one of these two,-.-
either, they knew no other books which
claimed to be Canonical; or, if they did, they
did not esteem them of equal authority with
those which‘: they cited. On either of these
grounds the conclusion is the same,—-THAT
THE nooxs QUOTED AS SCRIPTURE ARE ALONE
THE CANONICAL Booxs. To apply this rule
to a particular case—The First Epistle of
Peter is Canonical, because it is continually
cited by the most ancient Christian writers in
every part of the world; but the book called
The Revelation of Peter is Apocryphal, be-
cause none of the early fathers have taken
any testimonies from it. The same is true of
the Acts of Peter, and The Gospel of Peter.
These writings were totally unknown to the
primitive church, and are therefore spurious.
This argument is perfectly conclusive, and its
force was perceived by the ancient defenders
of the Canon of the New Testament. Eusebius
repeatedly has recourse to it; and, therefore,
those persons who have aimed to unsettle our
present Canon, as Toland and Dodwell, have
attempted to prove that the early Christian
writers were in the habit of quoting indiffer-
ently, and promiscuously, the books which
we now receive, and others which are now
rejected as Apocryphal. But this is not cor-
rect, as has been shown by Nye, Richardson,
and others. The true method of determining
this matter is by a careful examination of all
the passages in the writings of the fathers,
where other books besides those now in the
Canon have been quoted. Some progress
was made in collectin the passages in the
writings of the fathers, In which any reference
is made to the Apocryphal books, by the
learned Jeremiah Jones, in his “ New Method
of Settling the Canon of the New Testament,”
but the work was left incomplete. This author,
however, positively denies that it is common
for the fathers to cite these books as Scripture,
and asserts that there are only a very few in-
stances in which any of them seem to have
fallen into this mistake.
III. A third proof of the genuineness of
the Canon of the New Testament may be
derived from the fact, that these books were
publicly read as Scripture in all the Christian
churches.
IV. A fourth argument, to prove that our
Canon of the New Testament is substantially
correct, may be derived from the early ver-
sions of this sacred book into other lan-
uages.
Although the Greek language was exten-
sively known through the Roman empire
when the apostlesv wrote, yet the Christian
church was in a short time extended into
regions where the common people, at least,
were not acquainted with it, nor with any
language except their own vernacular tongue.
_While the gift of tongues continued, the difli-
culty of making known the Gospel to such
CAN
CAN
133
people would, in some measure, be obviated;
but when these miraculous powers ceased,
the necessity of a version of the Gospels and
Epistles into the language of the people would
become manifest. As far, therefore, as we
may be permitted to reason from the nature of
the case, and the necessities of the churches,
it is exceedingly _ probable that versions of
the New Testament were made shortly after
the death of the apostles, if they were not
begun before. Can we suppose that the nu-
merous Christians in Syria, Mesopotamia, and
the various parts of Italy, would be long left
without having these precious books trans-
lated into a language which all the people
could understand? But we are not left to
our own reasonings on this subject. We
know that at a very early period there existed
Latin versions of the New Testament, which
had been so long in use before the time of
Jerome, as to have become considerably cor-
rupt, on which account he undertook a new
version, which soon superseded those that
were more ancient. Now, although nothing
remains of these ancient Latin versions, but
uncertain fragments, yet we have good evi-
dence that they contained the same books as
were inserted in J erome’s version, now deno-
minated the Vulgate.
But perhaps the old Syriac version of the
New Testament, called Peshito, furnishes the
strongest proof of the Canonical authority of
all the books which are contained in it. This
excellent version has a very high claim to
antiquity; and in the opinion of some of the
best Syriac scholars, who have profoundly
examined this subject, was made before the
close of the first century.
The arguments for so early an origin are
not, indeed, conclusive, but they possess much
probability, whether we consider the external
or internal evidence. The Syrian Christians
have always insisted that this version was
made by the apostle Thaddeus; but without
admitting this claim, which would put it on a
level with the Greek original, we may believe
that it ought not to be brought down lower
than the second century. It is universally
received by all the numerous sects of Syrian
Christians, and must be anterior to the exist-
ence of the oldest of them. Manes, who
lived in the second century, probably had
read the New Testament in the Syriac, which
was his native tongue; and Justin Martyr,
when he testifies that the Scriptures of the
New Testament were read in the assemblies
of Christians on every Sunday, probably re-
fers to Syrian Christians, as Syria was his
native place, where also he had his usual
residence. And Michaelis is of opinion that
Melito, who wrote about A. D. 170, has ex-
pressly declared that a Syrian version of the
Bible existed in his time. Jerome also testi—
fies explicitly that, when he wrote, the Syriac
Bible 'was publicly read in the churches; for,
says he, “ Ephrem the Syrian is held in such
veneration, that his writings are read in seve—
ral churches immediately after the Lessons
from the Bible.” It is also well known that
the Armenian version, which itself is ancient,
was made from the Syriac.
On the general evidence of the genuine_
ness of our Canon, I would subjoin the fol-.-
lowing remarks :—
1. The agreement among those who have
given catalogues of the books of the New
Testament, from the earliest times, is almost
complete. Of thirteen catalogues to which
we have referred, seven contain exactly the
same books as are now in the Canon. Three
of the others differ in nothing but the omission
of the book of Revelation, for which they
had a particular reason, consistent with their
belief of its Canonical authority; and in two
of the remaining catalogues, it can be proved
that the books omitted, or represented as
doubtful, were received as authentic by the
persons who have given the catalogues. It
may be asserted, therefore, that the consent
of the ancient church, as to what books bee-
longed to the Canon of the New Testament,
was complete. The sacred volume was as ac-
curately formed, and as clearly distinguished
from other books, in the third, fourth, and
fifth centuries, as it has ever been since.
2. Let it be considered, moreover, that the
earliest of these catalogues was given by
Origen, who lived within a hundred years of
the death of the apostle John, and who, by
his reading, travels, and long residence in
Palestine, had a full knowledge of all the
transactions and writings of the church, until
his own time. In connexion with this, let it
be remembered that these catalogues were
drawn up 'by the most learned, pious, and
distinguished men in the church, or by coun-
cils; and that the persons furnishing them
resided in different and remote parts of the
world; as, for example, in Jerusalem, Caesa-
rea, Carthage and Hippo, in Africa, Constan—
tinople, Cyprus, Alexandria in Egypt, Italy,
and Asia Minor. Thus it appears that the
Canon was early agreed upon, and that it
was every where the same; therefore we find
the fathers, in all their writings, appealing to
the same Scriptures; and none are charged
with rejecting any Canonical book, except
heretics.
3. It appears, from the testimony adduced,
that it was never considered necessary that
any council or bishop should give sanction to
these books, in any other way than as wit~
nesses, testifying to the churches that these
were indeed the genuine writings of the apos-
tles. These books, therefore, were never
considered as deriving their authority from
the church, or from councils, but were of
complete authority as soon as published; and
were delivered to the churches to be a guide
and standard in all things relating to faith‘ \-
CAN
CAN
134
and practice. The fathers would have consi~
dered it impious for any bishop or council to
pretend to add any thing to the authority of
inspired books, or to claim the right to add
other books to those handed down from the
apostles. The church is founded on the
apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ being the
chief corner-stone; but the sacred Scriptures
are not dependent for their authority on
any set of men who lived since they were
written.
4. We may remark, in the last place, the
benignant providence of God towards his
church, in causing these precious books to be
written, and in watching over their preserva-
tion in the midst of dangers and persecutions;
so that, notwithstanding the malignant de-
signs of the enemies of the church, they have
all come down to us unmutilated, in the ori-
ginal tongue in which they were penned by
the apostles.
Our liveliest gratitude is due to the great
Head of the church for this divine treasure,
from which we are permitted freely to draw
whatever is needful for our instruction and
consolation. And it is our duty to prize this
precious gift of divine revelation above all
price. On the law of the Lord we should
meditate (lay and night. It is a perfect rule ;
it shines with a clear light; it exercises a
salutary influence on the heart; it warns us
when we are in danger; reclaims us when we
go astray; and comforts us when in afiliction.
The word of the Lord is “ more to be desired
than gold, yea, than much fine gold, sweeter
also than honey, and the honey-comb." They
who are destitute of this inestimable volume
call for‘ our tenderest compassion, and our
exertions in circulating the Bible should
never be remitted until all are supplied with
this divine treasure; but they who possess
this sacred volume, and yet neglect to study
it, are still more to be pitied, for they are
perishing in the midst of plenty. In the
midst of light they walk in darkness. God
has sent to them the word of life, but they
have lightly esteemed the rich gift of his
love. Oh that their eyes were opened, that
they might behold wondrous things in the
law of the Lord l—Ps. cxix. 18. Alexander on
the Canon. See also Cosin’s Scholastical His-
tory of the Canon ; Du Pin’s Complete History
of the Canon and Writers of the Old and ZVew
Testament; Jer. Jones’ New and Full Method
of Settling the Canonical Authority of the New
Testament; Blair’s Lectures on the Canon of
the Old Testament ; Stosch Comment. Ifistor.
Crit. dc Lihh. .N. T. Canone ; Lardner’s Cre-
dibility,- Eiehhorn’s Introduct. to the Old Tes;
tament ; and Ifenclerson on Inspiration, Lect. ia'.
CANONS, ECCLESIASTICAL, statutes or rules
fixed by councils, and possessing the force of
ecclesiastical law. From the time of Con-
stantine the Great, the first Christian empe-
ror, many councils were held, and canons or
laws drawn up, for the government of the
church; they were collected into three vo-
lumes by Ivo, bishop of Chartres, in France,
about the fourteenth year of our King Henry
I., and are called the Decrees; they were
corrected about thirty—five years afterwards
by Gratian, a Benedictine monk, and are now
the most ancient volumes of the ecclesiastical
law. They were published in England in
the reign of King Stephen.
The next in order of time were the Deere-s
tals; they were letters of the Popes, for the
determination of some controversy; and of
these there are likewise three volumes. They
laid an obligation on the laity as well as the
clergy. The first volume of these decretals
was compiled by Raimund Barcinius, chap-
lain to Pope Gregory IX., and published
about the fourteenth year of our King Henry
III. It was appointed to be read in all schools,
and admitted as law in all the ecclesiastical
courts of England. About sixty years after-
wards, Simon, a monk of Walden, read these
laws in the University of Cambridge, and
the next year in that of Oxford. The second
volume was collected and methodized by
Pope Boniface VIII., and published about
the twenty-seventh year of our King Edward
I. The third volume was collected by Pope
Clement V., and published in the council of
Vienna, and likewise in England, in the se-
cond year of Edward II.; they took, from
that Pope, the name of Clementine. These
decretals were never received here, nor any
where but in the Pope’s dominions. John
Andreas, a famous canonist in the fourteenth
century, wrote a commentary on these decre-
tals, which be entitled “ Novellae,” from a
very beautiful daughter he had, named No-
vella, whom he bred a scholar. But these
foreign canons, even when the papal autho-
rity was at the highest in England, were of
no force where they were found to contradict
the prerogative of the king or the laws of the
land.
The ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Sec of
Rome, in England, was founded on the Canon
law; and this created quarrels between kings,
and several archbishops and prelates, who
adhered to those papal usurpations ; for such
foreign canons as were received here, had no
force from any papal legatine, or provincial
authority, but solely from the consent and
approbation of the king and people. '
Besides the foreign canons, there were
several laws and constitutions made here for
the government of the church; and all
these received their force from the royal
assent; and if, at any time, the ecclesiastical
courts did, by their sentences, endeavour to
enforce obedience to such canons, the courts
at common law, upon complaint made, would
grant prohibitions. These canons were all
collected and explained by Lyndwood, Dean
of the Arches. in the reign of Henry VI.
CAN
CAP
135
But, having been made in the times of papal
authority, they were revised, some time after
the Reformation, by commissioners appointed
for that purpose; among whom was Arch-
bishop Cranmer. The work is entitled “ Re-
formatio Legum Ecclesiasticarum, ex autho-
ritate Regis Hen. VIII. inchoata, et per Edw.
VI. provecta.” But the king’s death pre-
vented its being confirmed. This book was
put into elegant Latin by Dr. Hadden, Uni-
versity Orator at Cambridge, with the assist-
ance of Sir John Cheek, who vwas tutor to
King Edward VI.
The authority vested in the Church of
England, of making canons, was ascertained
by a statute of Henry VIII., commonly called
the Act of the Clergy’s Submission; by
which they acknowledged that the convoca-
tion had been always assembled by the king’s
writ; after which follows this enacting clause,
viz. :—“ That they I‘ shall not attempt, allege,
or claim, or put in use, any constitutions or
canons, without the king’s assent.” So that,
though the power of making canons resided
in the clergy, met in convocation, their force
was derived from the authority of the king
assenting to, and confirming them.
The old canons continued in force till the
reign of James I., when, the clergy being
lawfully assembled in convocation, that king
gave them leave, by his letters patent, to
treat, consult, and agree on canons; which
they did, and presented them to the king,
who gave his royal assent to them, and by
other letters patent, did for himself, his heirs,
and successors, ratify and confirm the same.
These canons were a collection out of the
several preceding canons and injunctions;
and, being authorised by the king’s commis-
sion, according to the form of the statute of
the 25 I-Ien. VIII., they were warranted by
act of parliament, and became part of the
law of the land, and as binding in ecclesias-
tical matters as any statute whatever in civil.
Some of the canons in 1603 are now obsolete,
as the 7 4th, which requires that the bencficed
clergy shall wear gowns with standing collars,
and square caps. .
In the reign of Charles 1., several canons
were passed by the clergy in convocation.
They were approved by the king and privy
council, the judges and other eminent persons
of the long robe being present; after which,
they were subscribed in the House of Lords
by the bishops, none refusing but the Bishop
of Gloucester, for which he was suspended
ab Qfiicio and beneficio by both houses. N ot~
withstanding which solemn approbation, these
canons gave great ofi‘ence. Some were dis-
pleased with the seventh, entitled “ a decla-
ration concerning rites and ceremonies.”
Rut the greatest clamour was against the
511m}, entitled “ an oath enjoined for the pre-
ventlng all innovations in doctrine and go—
vcrnment.” It was likewise objected to them
that they were not made pursuant to the
above-mentioned statute of the 25th of Hen.
VIIL, because they were made in convoca-
tion, after the parliament was dissolved. After
the Restoration, when the bishops were re-
stored by an act of parliament to their juris-
diction, there was a proviso in the act, that
it should not confirm the canons made in
1640. And thus the ecclesiastical laws were
left as they were before the year 1640.
CANON, a person who possesses a prebend
or revenue allotted for the performance of
divine service in a cathedral or collegiate
church. Canons are of no great antiquity.
Pasehier observes, that the name was not
known before Charlemagne; at least, the
first we hear of are in Gregory de Tours, who
mentions a college of canons instituted by
Baldwin XVL, archbishop of that city, in the
I time of Clotharius I. The common opinion
attributes the institution of this order to
Chrodegangus, bishop of Mentz, about the
middle of the eighth century.
CANONS, BOOK or, ordinances prepared for
Scotland by order of Charles I., and designed
completely to subvert the constitution of the
Scottish church. They declared the power
of the king in all matters spiritual to be abso-
lute and unlimited; and they pronounced
sentence of excommunication against all who
should declare the government of the church,
by bishops and archbishops, to be unscrip-
tural and unlawful.
CANONICAL HOURS are certain stated times
of the day assigned more especially by the
Romish church to the oifices of prayer and
devotion; such are matins, lauds, &c. In
England, the canonical hours are from eight
to twelve in the forenoon; before or after
which, marriage cannot be legally performed
in any church.
CANONICAL LETTERS, in the ancient church,
were testimonials of the orthodox faith which
the bishops and clergy sent each other to
keep up the Catholic communion, and distin-
guish orthodox Christians from heretics.
CANONICAL LIFE, the rule of living pre-
scribed by the ancient clergy who lived in
community. The canonical life was a kind
pf medium between the monastic and clerical
rves.
CANONICAL OBEDIENCE is that submission
which, by the ecclesiastical laws, the inferior
clergy are to pay to their bishops, and the
religious to their superiors. >
CAPUCHINS, religious of the order of St.
Francis. They owe their origin to Matthew
de Bassi, a Franciscan of the duchy of
Urbino; who, having seen St. Francis repre-
sented with a sharp pointed Capuche, or
cowl, began to wear the like in 1525, with
the permission of Pope Clement VII. His
example was soon followed by two other reli-
gious, named Lewis and Raphael de Fossem-
brun; and the Pope, by a brief, granted
CAP
CAP
136
_4
these three monks leave to retire to some
hermitage, and retain their new habit. The
retirement they chose was the hermitage of
the Camaldolites near Massacio where they
were very charitably received.
This innovation in the habit of the order
gave great ofl‘ence to the Franciscans, whose
provincial persecuted these poor monks, and
obliged them to fly from place to place. At
last, they took refuge in the palace of the
Duke de Camerino, by whose credit they
were received under the obedience of the
Conventuals, in the quality of Hermits Mi-
nors, in the year 1527. The next year, the
Pope approved this union, and confirmed to
them the privilege of wearing the square
capuche, and admitting among them all who
would take the habit. Thus the order of the
Capuchins, so called from wearing the capu-
che, began in the year 1528.
_Their first establishment was at Colmen-
zono, about a league from Camerino, in a
convent of the order of St. Jerome, which had
been abandoned. But theirnumbers increas-
ing, Lewis de Fossembrun built another small
convent at Montmelon, in the territory of
' Camerino. The great number of conversions
which the Capuchins made by their preach-
ing, and the assistance they gave the people
in a contagious distemper, with which Italy
was afflicted the same year, 1528, gained them
an universal esteem. '
In 1529, Lewis de Fossembrun built for
them two other convents; the one at Alva-
cina, in the territory of Fabriano, the other at
Fossembrun, in the duchy of Urbino. Mat-
thew de Bassi, being chosen their vicar-
general, drew up constitutions for the govern-
ment of this order. They enjoined, among
other things, that the Capuchins should per-
form divine service without singing ; that they
should say but one mass a day in their con-
vents: they directed the hours of mental
prayer, morning and evening, the days of
disciplining themselves, and those of silence:
they forbade the monks to hear the confessions
of seculars, and enjoined them always to travel
on foot: they recommended poverty in the
ornaments of their church, and prohibited in
them the use of gold, silver, and silk: the
pavilions of the altars were to be of stuff, and
the chalices of tin.
This order soon spread itself all over Italy,
and into Sicily.
manded of Pope Gregory XIII. to have the
order of Capuchins established in France,
which that Pope consented to ; and their first
settlement in that kingdom was in the little
town of Picpus, near Paris, which they soon
quitted, to settle at Meudon, from whence they
were introduced into the capital of the king-
dom. In 1606, Pope Paul V. gave them leave
to accept of an establishment which was offered
them in Spain They even passed the seas to
labour for the conversion of the infidels; and
In 1573, Charles IX. de-'
theirorder is become so considerable that it
is at present divided into more than sixty pro-
vinces, consisting of near 1600 convents, and
25,000 monks, besides the missions of Brazil,
Congo, Barbary, Greece, Syria, and Egypt.
Among those who have preferred the po-
verty and humility of the Capuchins to the
advantages of birth and fortune, was the
famous Alphonso d’Este, Duke of Modena
and Reggio, who, after the death of his wife
Isabella, took the habit of this order at Munich,
in the year 1626, under the name of Brother
John Baptist, and died in the convent of Cas-
telnuovo, in 1644. In France likewise, the
Duke de Joyeuse, after having distinguished
himself as a great general, became a Capuchin
in September, 1587.
Father Paul observes, that “the Capuchins
preserve their reputation, by reason of their
poverty; and that if they should suffer the
least change in their institution, they would
acquire no immoveable estates by it, but would
lose the alms they now receive.” He adds:
“It seems, therefore, as if here an absolute
period were put to all future acquisitions and
improvements in this gainful trade; for who-
ever should go about to institute a new order,
with a power of acquiring estates, such an
order would certainly find no credit‘ in the
world ; and if a profession of poverty were a
part of the institution, there could be no
acquisitions made whilst that lasted; nor
would there be any credit left when that was
broke.”
There is likewise an order of Capuchiu
Nuns, who follow the rule of St. Clara. Their
first establishment was at Naples, in 1538,
and their foundress was the venerable mot-her
Maria Laurentia Longa, of a noble family of
Catalonia, a lady of the most uncommon
piety and devotion. Some Capuchins coming
to settle at Naples, she obtained for them, by
her credit with the archbishop, the church of
St. Euphebia, without the city; soon after
which she built a monastery of virgins, under
the name of “Our Lady of Jerusalem,” into
which she retired in 1534, together with nine-
teen young women, who engaged themselves,
by solemn vows, to follow the third rule of
St. Francis. The Pope gave the government
of this monastery to the Capuchins; and, soon
after, the nuns quitted the third rule of St.
I Francis to embrace the more rigorous rule of
I St. Clara, from the austerity of which they
I had the name of “ Nuns of the Passion,” and
t that of “ Capuchines ” from the habit they
took, which was that of the Capuchins.
ll After the death of their foundress, another
l monastery of Capuchines was established at
} Rome, near the Quirinal palace, and was
called “ The Monastery of the Holy Sacra-
ment ;” and a third, in the same city, built by
Cardinal Baronius. These foundations were

approved, in the year 1600, by Pope Clement,
VIII., and confirmed by Gregory XV. There
CAR
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137
were afterwards several other establishments
of Capuchines : in particular one at Paris, in
1604, founded by the Duchess de Mercoeur,
who put crowns of thorns on the heads of the
young women whom she placed in her monas-
ter .
CAPUTIATI, a denomination which appeared
in the twelfth century, so called from a sin-
gular kind of cap which distinguished their
party. They wore upon their caps a leaden
image of the Virgin Mary, and declared pub-
licly that their purpose was to level all dis-
tinctions, to abrogate magistracy, and to re-
move all subordination among mankind, and
to restore that primitive liberty, that natural
equality, which were the iinestimable privilege
of the first mortals.
CARDINAL, an eminent dignity in the Roman
Church; among the Latins the word Cardi-
nalis signifies rincipal, and in this sense were
Venti Cardina es, four cardinal or chief winds ;
Princeps Cardinalis, a sovereign prince; M issa
Cardinalis, and Altare Cardinale, for the great
mass or great altar of a church. It was also
a name that was given to certain officers of
the Emperor Theodosius, as to generals of
armies; to the Praefecti in Asia and Africa,
because they possessed the chief ofiices in the
empire.
CARDINAL, ORIGIN on THE OFFICE. There
were two sorts of churches in towns; one sort
was as the parish churches of these times, and
were called titles; the others were hospitals
for the poor, and were called deaneries: the
first were served by priests, and the other
governed by deans; the other chapels in the
towns were called oratories, where mass was
celebrated without administering the sacra-
ments. The chaplains of these oratories were
called local priests, that is, priests that belonged
to some particular place. And to put a greater
distinction between these churches, the parish
churches were called cardinales, or cardinal
titles, and the priests that ofiiciated in them,
and administered the sacraments, were called
cardinals. This was chiefly used at Rome,
where the cardinals attended the pope whilst
he celebrated mass, and in the processions,
and therefore Leon IV. calls them Presbyteros
sui cardinis. In the council held at Rome in
853, the deacons who looked after the dean-
cries, had also the title of cardinals, either
because they were the chiefest deacons, or
because they assisted with the cardinals, i. e.
priests at the pope’s mass. The greatest
fimction of the Roman cardinals was to go to
the pope’s council, and to the synods, and to
give their opinions concerning ecclesiastical
afl‘airs. It was one of them that was generally
chosen pope; for it was rare that any bishop
was chosen in those days. It being recorded
in the Ecclesiastical History, that Pope Ste-
phen VII., chosen in 896, caused his prede-
cessor Formosus to be dug up again, and an—
nulled all his ordinances, alleging that he was
made pope against the disposition of the holy
decrees in the time that he was bishop of
Ostia. Finally, these cardinals have engrossed
to themselves the power of choosing a pope,
since the council celebrated at Rome, in 1059,
under Nicholas IL In process of time, the
name of cardinal, which was common to all
titulary priests or curates, was appropriated to
those of Rome, and afterwards to seven
bishops of the neighbourhood of Rome. All
these cardinals were divided under five patri-
archal churches, as St. John of Lateran, St.
Mary Major, St. Peter of the Vatican, St.
Paul’s, and St. Lawrence’s. In following
times the pope gave the title of cardinal to
other bishops besides those here mentioned;
and it is said the first that had this honour
conferred upon him was Conradus, Archbishop
of Mayence, who received it from Pope Alex-
ander III., who also conferred the same honour
on Gardin of Sale, Archbishop of Milan, in
1165, and since that time some bishops were
created Cardinal Priests of Rome, with one of
the titles thereof; so William Archbishop of
Rheims was made cardinal, with the title of
St. Sabine, by Pope Clement III., or, accord-
ing to others, by Alexander IIL And finally,
Clement V. and his successors gave the title
of cardinal priests to many other bishops,
which custom has been followed since. As
for the deacon cardinals, it must be observed,
that in the beginning there were seven in the
Church of Rome, and in the other churches;
this number was augmented, at Rome, to
fourteen, and at last they created eighteen,
who were called cardinal deacons, or princi—
pal, to distinguish them from others that had
not the care of deaneries. After were counted
twenty-four deaneries in the city of Rome;
and now there are fourteen afi‘ected to the
deacon cardinals. The priest cardinals are
to the number of fifty, which, with the six
cardinal bishops of Ostia, Porro, Sabina,
Palestrina, Frascati, and Albano, who have
no other titles but those of their bishoprics,
make generally the number of seventy. Inno-
cent IV. gave the cardinals the red cap in the
council of Lyons, held in 1243; Paul II. the red
gown in 1464. Gregory XIV. bestowed the red
cap upon the regular cardinals, who were but a
hat before. Urban VIII. gave them the title of
eminence, for they had before but that of most
illustrious. When the pope has a mind to create
any cardinals, he writes their names that he de—
' signs for this dignity, and gets them read .in
the consistory, after he’has told the cardinals
Fratres habetis, that is, “ You have for
brothers,” &c. The cardinal patron sends
for those that are at Rome, and conducts
them to his holiness to receive their red caps
from him; until then they are incognito, and
cannot come to the meeting; and as for those
that are absent, the pope dispatches one of his
chamber-men of honour to carry them their cap;
but they are obliged to receive the hat at his

CAR
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138
own hands. When they come to Rome they
are received in cavalcade. The cardinal’s
dress is a sattane, a rochet, a mantelet, or
short purple mantle over their rochet; the
mozette, and a papal cape over the rochet in
public and solemn actions. The colour of
their garment difi‘ers according to the times:
either it is red, or of the colour of dried
roses or violets. The regular cardinals wear
no silk, nor any other colour but that of their
order, but the red hat and cap are common to
them all. When cardinals are sent to princes’
courts, it is in quality of Legates a latere ; and
when they are sent to any town, their govern-
ment is called legation. There are five lega-
tions, viz. that of Avignon, of Ferrara, of
Bologna, of Ravenna, and of Perouse. Here
follows Fr. Maimbourg’s curious remarks
upon this subject :— When the cathedral
church was vacant, the popes sent one of the
neighbouring bishops to govern it, until an-
other bishop was chosen, who took possession
of it as of his proper church, and received its
title, which the administering bishop, or he
that took care of it during the vacancy, had
not. This was what they called a cardinal
bishop in those times, from the word cardo,
which signifies a hinge, showing by that, that
the titulary bishop was tied to his church to
exercise continually of his proper authority
all the functions of his bishopric. This is
what the word cardinal signifies in its natural
and true interpretation, as can be clearly seen
in many letters of St. Gregory the Great; for
this pope understanding that the church of
Aleria, in the isle of Corsica, was vacant, he
wrote to a bishop of Corsica, called Leo, to go
to govern it, and afterwards established Martin
there to be the cardinal bishop thereof; so
here is a succession of two bishops, whereof
the one was but visitor or administrator, and
the other titular. The same Gregory satis-
fied the clergy and nobility of Naples, that
he approved their desire of having Paul
bishop of Neri, and their visitor made their
cardinal bishop; whence it is easy to see, that
in this pope’s time, and before him, all titular
bishops, who by their ordination were tied to
their church, were all called cardinal bishops.
The same may be said of the priests and dea-
cons, to whom their bishops had given some
benefice or charge that tied them to any
church in their diocese; and also the arch-
deacons, and the other dignities, were cardi-
nals of the churches they governed. The
other priests and deacons that had no such
tic were not called cardinals. And it was for
this reason that those the popes sent into pro-
vinces, and the nuncios he sent to Constanti-
nople, were indeed deacons of the Roman
Church, but not cardinals. By this same
reason, all the curates tied by their titles to
the parishes wherein they administered the
sacraments, were cardinal priests.
He was also called a cardinal priest who plliciated 111
chief in any great man’s chapel or oratory;
so that there were deacon, priest, and bishop
cardinals in all the dioceses of the world.
And as for the Church of Rome, there was
no other cardinal bishop in Pope Gregory’s
time but he himself, who in quality of proper
bishop of the particular Church of Rome, was
tied there as to his title. The priest cardinals
were all the curates of Rome, and all the
other priests that served in any other chapel
or oratory. The deacons and cardinal arch-
deacons were such as had a title where to
exercise their functions. This is what the
cardinals of the Church of Rome were in St.
Gregory’s time, and near four hundred years
after him. But in the eleventh age, the popes,
whose grandeur was much increased, taking
crowns, which was begun the first time by
Pope Dalmasus II., in 1048 ; they began also
to settle a court, and a regular council of ear-
dinals, bishops, priests, and deacons, different
from those that had this title before. The car-
dinal bishops were they that were sufi‘ragans
of the pope as metropolitan. The priest and
cardinal deacons were chosen by the pope at
pleasure, in all the provinces of Christendom,
whether bishops, priests, abbots, princes, com-
manders, monks, or other religious, to whom
he gave the title of churches, without obliging
them to ofiiciate in them. And so as the
name of pope, which in the five or six first
ages was common to all bishops, was after-
wards appropriated to the Roman Pontifi‘ ; so
likewise the name of cardinal, which had been
common to all titulary bishops, .priests, and
deacons, in regard of the churches they were
linked to, as St. Gregory speaks, does now
belong only to the cardinals of the Church of
Rome, who are in the highest rank of that
church. Nevertheless it is observed, that
even since the establishment of this College
of Cardinals, the bishops maintaining their
pre-eminency, have had the first place in
assemblies and public meetings in the pope’s
own presence. This is seen in the Act of
the Dedication of the Church of Marmontier,
by Pope Urban II., in 1090, when he came
to France to keep the famous Council of
Clermont; for in that ceremony, Huges,
Archbishop of Lyons, was next the pope, and
after him followed the other archbishops and
bishops, followed by the priests and deacons
that were cardinals, and of the pope’s retinue.
In 7 69, the Council of Rome, held under Pope
Stephen IV., decreed, that none should be
chosen pope but a priest or deacon cardinal.
In 1130, the cardinals began to be masters of
the pope’s election under Innocent II., and
made themselves the sole choosers, to the ex-
clusion of the rest of the clergy of Rome
under Alexander 111., in 1160. So rising
more and more, it is at last come to this, that
though they be but priests and deacons, yet
the dignity of cardinal alone places them
above bishops.
can
CAR
139
. CARMELITES, or WHITE FRIARS. : Reli-
gious of the order of Our Lady of Mount
Carmel. They pretend to derive their origi-
nal from the prophets Elijah and Elisha; and
this occasioned a very warm controversy be-
tween this order and the Jesuits, about the
end of the seventeenth century, both parties
publishing several works, and petitioning the
Popes Innocent XI. and Innocent XII.; the
latter of whom silenced them both, by a brief
of the 20th of November, 1698.
What we know of their original is, that, in
the twelfth century, Aimerie, legate of the
Holy See in the East, and patriarch of An-
tioch, collected together several hermits in
Syria, who were exposed to the violence and
incursions of the barbarians, and placed them
on Mount Carmel, formerly the residence of
the prophets Elijah and Elisha; from which
mountain they took the name of Carmelites.
Albert, patriarch of Jerusalem, gave them
rules in 1205, which Pope Honorius III. con-
firmed in 1224.
The peace concluded by the Emperor Fre-
deric II. with the Saracens, in the year 1229,
so disadvantageous to Christendom, and so
beneficial to the infidels, occasioned the Car-
melites to quit the Holy Land, under Alan,
the fifth general of the order. He first sent
some of the religious to Cyprus, who landed
there in the year 1238, and founded a monas~
tery in the forest of Fortania. Some Sicili-
ans, at the same time, leaving Mount Carmel,
returned to their own country, where they
founded a monastery in the suburbs of Mes-
sina. Some English departed out of Syria, in
the year 1440, to found others in England.
Others of Provence, in the year 1244, founded
a monastery in the desert of Aigualates, a
league from Marseilles: and thus, the num-
ber of their monasteries increasing, they held
their first European general chapter in the
year 1245, at their monastery of Aylesford,
in England.
After the establishment of the Carmelites
in Europe, their rule was in some respects
altered: the first time, by Pope Innocent IV.,
who added to the first article a precept of
chastity, and relaxed the eleventh, which en-
joins abstinence at all times from flesh, per-
mitting them, when they travelled, to eat
boiled flesh. This pope likewise gave them
leave to eat in a common refectory, and to
keep asses or mules for their use. Their rule
was again mitigated by the Popes Eugenius
IV. and Pins II. Hence the order is divided
mto two branches, viz. the Carmelites of the
ancient observance, called the moderate or mi-
tzgated, and those of the strict observance, who
are the _barefooted Carmelites; a reform set
on foot, 111 1540, byS. Theresa, a nun of the
fifmjlentof Avila, in Castile: these last are
dlvlded into two congregations, that of Spain,
and that of Italy.
The habit of the Carmelites was at first
she made a great many proselytes.

white, and the cloak laced at the bottom with
several lists; but Pope Honorius IV. com-
manded them to change it for that of the
Minims. Their scapulary is a small woollen
habit, of a brown colour, thrown over their
shoulders. They wear no linen shirts, but
instead of them linsey-woolsey.
CARPOCRATIANS, heretics, who sprang up
in the second century; followers of Carpo-
crates, of the island of Cephalenia, according
to Epiphanius, or, according to Theodoret and
Clemens Alexandrinus, of the city of Alex-
andria. This Carpocrates was a man of the
worst morals, and addicted to magic. Euse-
bius says expressly, he was the father of the
heresy of the Gnostics; and it is true that all
the infamous things imputed to the Gnostics,
are ascribed likewise to the Carpocratians.
It is sufiicient ‘to mention two of their prin-
ciples: the one is, a community of wives;
the other, that a man cannot arrive at perfec-
tion, nor deliver himself from the power of
the princes of this world, as they expressed
it, without having passed through all sorts of
criminal actions; laying it down for a maxim,
that there is no action bad in itself, but only
from the opinion of men. This induced them
to establish a new kind of metempsychosis,
that those who have not passed through all
sorts of actions in the first life, may do it in
a second, and, if that be not sufiicient, in a
third, and so on, till they have discharged
this strange obligation. Accordingly, they
are charged with committing the most infam-
ous things in their Agapae, or love-feasts.
As to their theology, they attributed the
creation of the world to angels; they said that
Jesus Christ was born of Joseph and Mary in
a manner like other men ; that his soul alone
was received into heaven, his body remaining
on the earth; and, accordingly, they rejected
the resurrection of the body.
They marked their disciples at the bottom
of the right ear with a hot iron, or with a
razor.
They had images of Jesus Christ as well in
painting as in sculpture, which they said were
made by Pilate: they kept them in a little
box or chest. They had likewise the images
of Pythagoras, Plato, Aristotle, and other
philosophers. ‘ They put crowns on all these
images, and paid them the same superstitious
honours which the pagans did to their idols,
adoring them, and offering sacrifice to them.
A woman of this sect, named Marcellina, came
to Rome, in the pontificate of Anicetus, where
She wor-
shipped the images of Jesus Christ, Paul,
Homer, and Pythagoras, and offered incense
to them. _ .
Carpocrates had a son, named Epiphanius,
who, by means of the Platonic philosophy,
gave a greater extent to the fabulous opinions
of the Carpocratians. He died at seventeen
years of age, but in that short time had
CAR
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140
acquired so great a reputation among the dis-
ciples of his father, that, after his death, he
was revered by them as a god, insomuch that
they built a temple to him in the island of
Cephalenia, and the Cephalenians, every first
day of the month, solemnized the feast of his
apotheosis, ofi‘ering sacrifices to him, and sing-
ing hymns to his honour.
Epiphanius relates of himself, that in his
youth he accidentally fell into company with
some women of this sect, who revealed to him
the most horrible secrets of the Carpocratians.
They were armed with beauty sufiicient to
make an impression on a person of his age ;
but, by the grace of God, he says, he escaped
the snare which the devil had laid for him.—
See GNos'rIcs.
CARTHUSIANS, a religious order, founded in
the year 1080, by one Bruno, a very learned
man, of the bishopric of Cologne, and pro-
fessor of philosophy at Paris. The occasion
of its institution is related as follows: a friend
of Bruno’s, who had been looked upon as a
good liver, being dead, Bruno attended his
funeral. Whilst the service was performing
in the church, the dead man, who lay upon a
bier, raised himself up and said, “ By the just
judgment of God, I am accused.” The com-
pany being astonished at this unusual accident,
the burial was deferred to the next day, when
the concourse of people being much greater,
the dead man again raised himself up and said,
“ By the just judgment of God, I am damned.”
This miracle, it is pretended, wrought such
an effect on Bruno, and six more, that they
immediately retired to the desert of Chartreux,
in the diocese of Grenoble, in Dauphiné, where
Hugh, bishop of that diocese, assigned them
a spot of ground, and where Bruno built his
first monastery, under the following rigid in-
stitutes:
His monks were to wear a hair-cloth next
their body, a white cassock, and over it a
' black cloak: they were never to eat flesh; to
fast every Friday on bread and water; to eat
alone in their chambers, except upon certain
festivals ; and to observe an almost perpetual
silence: none were allowed to go out of the
monastery, except the prior and procurator,
and they only about the business of the house.
The Carthusians, so called from the place
of their first institution, are a very rigid order.
They are not to go out of their cells, except
to church, without leave of their superior.
They are not to speak to any person, even
their own brother, without leave. They may
not keep any part of their portion of meat or
drink till the next day, except herbs or fruit.
Their bed is of straw, covered with a felt‘ or
coarse cloth; their clothing, two hair-cloths,
two cowls, two pair of hose, a cloak, See. all
coarse. Every monk has two needles, some
thread, scissors, a comb, a razor, a hone, an
ink~horn, pens, chalk, two pumice—stones;
likewise two pots, two porringers, abasin, two
spoons, a knife, a drinking cup, a water-pot,
a salt, a dish, a towel; and, for fire, tinder,
flint, wood, and an axe. ,
In the refectory, they are to keep their eyes
on the meat, their hands on the table, their
attention on the reader, and their heart fixed
on God. When allowed to discourse, they are
to do it modestly, not to whisper, nor talk
aloud, nor to be contentious. They confess
to the prior every Saturday. Women are not
allowed to come into their churches, that the
monks may not see any thing which may pro-
voke them to lewdness.
It is computed there are a hundred and
seventy-two houses of Carthusians, whereof
five are of nuns, who practise the same aus-
terities as the monks. They are divided into
sixteen provinces, each of which has two
visitors. There have been several canonized
saints of this order; four cardinals, seventy
archbishops and bishops, and a great many
very learned writers.
The story of the motive of St. Bruno's re-
tirement into the desert was inserted in the
Roman Breviary, but was afterwards left out,
when that Breviary was reformed, by order
of Pope Urban VIII. ; and this gave occasion
to several learned men of the seventeenth
century to publish writings on that subject,
some to vindicate the truth of the story, and
others to invalidate it.
In the year 1170, Pope Alexander III. took
this order under the protection of the holy
see. In 1391, Boniface IX. exempted them
from the jurisdiction of the bishops. In 1420,
Martin V. exempted them from paying the
tenths of the lands belonging to them; and
Julius II., in 1508, ordered that all the houses
of the order, in whatever part of the world
they were situated, should obey the prior of
the Grand Chartreuse, and the general chapter
of the order. '
The convents of this order are generally
very beautiful and magnificent; that of Naples,
though but small, surpasses all the rest in
ornaments and riches. Nothing is to be seen
in the church and house but marble and
jasper. The apartments of the prior are
rather those of a prince, than a poor monk.
There are innumerable statues, has-reliefs,
paintings, 8zc., together with very fine gar-
dens; all which, joined with the holy and
exemplary life of the good religious, draws
the curiosity of all strangers who visit
Na les.
he Carthusians settled in England about
the year 1180. They had several monasteries
here, particularly at Witham in Somersetshire,
Hinton in the same county, Beauval in Not—
tinghamshire, Kingston-upon-Hull, Mount-
Grace in Yorkshire, Eppewort in Lincoln-
shire, Shene in Surrey, and one near Coventry.
In London they had a famous monastery,
since called. from the Carthusians who settled
there, the Charter-house.
C A S
CAT
141
' intended. See CONTINGENCY.
' served, that, though these remarks may ap-
CASUALTY, an event that is not foreseen or
Casurs'r, one that studies and settles cases
of conscience. The Jesuits Escobar, Sanchez,
Suarez, Busenbaum, and others, have acquired
notorious celebrity by their ingenuity in the
invention of such cases, and for the ambiguity
and singularity of their solutions. Escobar
made a collection of the opinions of all the
casuists before him. M. Le Feore, preceptor
of Louis XIIL, called the books of the casuists
the art of quibbling with God, which does not
seem far from truth, by reason of the multi-
tude of distinctions and subtleties with which
they abound. Mayer has published a biblio-
theca of casuists, containing an account of all '
the writers on cases of conscience, ranged i
under three heads; the first comprehending
the Lutheran, the second the Calvinist, and
the third the Romish casuists.
CASUISTRY, called by Kant the dialectics of
conscience, is the doctrine and science of con-
science and its cases, with the rules and prin-
ciples of resolving the same; drawn partly from
natural reason or equity, and partly from the
authority of Scripture, the canon law, councils,
fathers, &c. To casuistry belongs the decision
of all difliculties arising about what a man may
lawfully do or not do ; what is sin or not sin;
what things a man is obliged to do in order to
discharge his duty, and what he may let alone
without breach of it.
Some suppose that all books of casuistry
are as useless as they are tiresome. One who
is really anxious to do his duty must be very
weak, it is said, if he can imagine that he
has much occasion for them ; and with regard
to one who is negligent of it, the style of
those writings is not such as is likely to
awaken him to more attention. The frivol-
ous accuracy which casuists attempt to intro-
duce into subjects which do not admit of it,
almost necessarily betray them into danger-
ous errors; and at the same time render their
works dry and disagreeable, abounding in
abstruse and metaphysical distinctions, but '1
incapable of exciting in the heart any of those '
emotions which it is the principal use of books
of morality to produce.
On the other hand, I think it may be ob-
ply to some, they cannot apply to all books of
.casuistry. It must be acknowledged that
nice distinctions, metaphysical reasonings,
and abstruse terms, cannot be of much ser-
vice to the generality, because there are so
few who can enter into them; yet, when we
consider how much light is thrown upon a
Subject by the force of good reasoning, by
viewing acase in all its hearings, by properly
considering all the objections that may be
made to it, and by examining it in every point
of view: if we consider also how little some
men are accustomed to think, and yet at the

same time possess that tenderness of con-
science which makes them fcarful of doing
wrong; we must conclude that such works
as these, when properly executed, may cer-
tainly be of considerable advantage. The
reader may consult Ames’s Power and Cases
of Conscience; Bishop Taylor’s Ductor Dubi—
tantium ; Dr. Saunderson’s De Obligatione
Conscientice; Pike and Hayward’s Cases; and
Saurin’s Christian Casuistry, in the 4th vol.
of his Sermons, p. 265, English edition; and
Baxter’s Christian Directory.
CATAPHRYGIAN HERESY, the erroneous
system of Montanus, and so called, because
that heresiarch began to exercise his pre-
tended prophetical gifts in the lower or more
southerly part of Phrygia. See MONTANUS.
CATECHISING, instructing by asking ques-
tions and correcting the answers. Catechising
is an excellent mean of informing the mind,
‘engaging the attention, and affecting the
heart, and is an important duty incumbent on
all who have children under their care. Child-
ren should not he suffered to grow up with-
out instruction, under the pretence that the
choice of religion ought to be perfectly free,
and not biassed by the influence and autho-
rity of parents, or the power of education.
As they have capacities, and are more capa-
ble of knowledge by instruction than by the
exercise of their own reasoning powers, they
should certainly be taught. This agrees both
with the voice of nature and the dictates of
revelation. Deut. vi. 7; Prov. xxii. 6; Eph.
vi. 4. The propriety of this being granted,
it may next be observed, that, in order to fa-
cilitate their knowledge, short summaries of
religion, extracted from the Bible, in the way
of question and answer, may be of consider-
able use. 1. Hereby, says Dr. Watts, the
principles of Christianity are reduced into
short sentences, and easier to be understood
by children—2. Hereby, these principles are
not only thrown into a just and easy method,
but every part is naturally introduced by a
proper question; and the rehearsal of the
answer is made far easier to a child than it
would be, if the child were required to repeat
the whole scheme of religion.—3. This way
of teaching has something familiar and de-
lightful in it, because it looks more like con-
versation and dialogue—4. The very curio-
sity of the young mind is awakened by the
question to know what the answer will be;
and the child will take pleasure in learning
the answer by heart, to improve its own
knowledge. See next article.
CATECHISM, a form of instruction by means
of questions and answers. There have been
various catechisms published by diiferent au-
thors, but many of them have been but ill
suited to convey instruction to juvenile minds.
Catechisms for children should be so framed
as not to puzzle and confound, but to let the
beams of divine light into their minds by de-
grees. They should be accommodated as far
CAT
C A T
‘142
standings; for merely learning sentences by
rote, without comprehending the meaning,
will be of but little use. In this way, they
will know nothing but words: it will prpve a
laborious task, and not a pleasure; confirm
them in a bad habit of dealing in sounds in-
stead of ideas; and, after all, perhaps create
in them an aversion to religion itself. Dr.
Watts advises that different catechisms should
be composed for different ages and capacities;
the questions and answers should be short,
plain, and easy; scholastic terms, and logical
distinctions, should be avoided; the most
practical points of religion should be inserted,
and one or more well chosen texts of Scrip-
ture should be added to support almost every
answer, and to prove the several parts of it.
The Doctor has admirably exemplified his
own rules, in the catechism he has composed
for children at three or four years of age;
that for children at seven or eight; his As-
sembly’s catechism, proper for youth at twelve
or fourteen; his preservative from the sins
and follies of childhood; his catechism of
Scripture names ; and his historical catechism.
These are superior to any I know, and which
I cannot but ardently recommend to parents
and all those who have the care and instruc-
tion of children.
The catechism of the church of England is
drawn up by way of question and answer.
Originally, it consisted of no more than a re-
petition of the baptismal vow, the Creed, and
the Lord’s Prayer; but King James I. ordered
the bishops to add to it a short and plain ex-
planation of the sacraments, which was ac-
cordingly performed by Bishop Overal, then
Dean of St. Paul’s, and approved by the rest of
the bishops.
The times appointed for catechising are
Sundays and holidays. By the first book of
King Edward VI., it was not required to be
done above once in six weeks. But upon
Bucer’s objecting to the interval of time as
too long, the rubric was altered, but express-
ed, notwithstanding, in indefinite terms, leav-
ing it to be done as often as occasion requires.
Indeed, the fifty-ninth canon enjoins every
parson, vicar, or curate, upon every Sunday
and holiday, to teach and instruct the youth
and ignorant persons of his parish, in the ca-
techism set forth in the Book of Common
Prayer; and that under pain of a sharp re-
proof for the first omission, suspension for the
second, and excommunication for the third.—
See CATECHIST and CATECHISING. I
CATECHIST, one whose charge is to instruct
by questions, or to question the uninstructed
concerning religion.
The catechists of the ancient churches were
' usually ministers, and distinct from the bishops
and presbyters, and had their catechumena, or
auditories, apart. But they did not constitute
any distinct order of the clergy, being chosen
as possible to the weakness of their under-



out of any order. The bishop himself some‘
times performed the ofiice; at other times
presbyters, readers, or deacons. It was his
business to expose the folly "of the pagan
superstition; to remove prejudices, and an-
swer objections; to discourse on behalf of the
Christian doctrines; and to give instruction
to those who had not sufficient knowledge to
qualify them for baptism.
CATECHUMENS, the lowest order of Chris-
tians in the ancient church. They were
called Catechumens, from the Greek word
ica'rnxsw, which signifies to instruct 1n the
first rudiments of any art or science. They
had some title to the common name of Chris—
tian, being a degree above pagans and here-
tics, though not consummated by baptism.
They were admitted to the state of Catechu-
mens by imposition of hands, and the sign of
the cross. The children of believing parents
were admitted Catechumens as soon as ever
they were capable of instruction ; but at what
age those born of heathen parents might be
admitted, is not so clear. As to the time of
their continuance in this state, there was no
general rule fixed about it; but the practice
varied according to the difference of times
and places, and the readiness and proficiency
of the Catechumens themselves. The coun-
cil of Eliberis appointed two years’ proba-
tion for new converts ; and Justinian, in one
of his Novella, prescribes the same length of
time. The Apostolical Constitutions lengthen
the term to three years. Sometimes it was
limited to the forty days of Lent. Socrates
observes, that, in the conversion of the Bur-
gundians, the French bishop, who converted
them, took only seven days to catechise them,
and then baptized them. But in case of sick-
ness or imminent death, the Catechiunens
were immediately baptized with what they
called Clinic baptism.
There were four orders or degrees of Cate-
chumens. The first were the égweovusuot,
or those instructed privately without the
church, and kept at a distance from the pri-
vilege of entering into the church for some
time, to make them the more eager and desir-
ous of it. The next degree above these were
the dicpotbpevot, audientes. They were so
called from being admitted to hear sermons
and the Scriptures read in the church, but
were not allowed to partake of the prayers.
The third sort of Catechumens were the yo-
vvlcht'ovreg, genu-fiectentes; so called because
they received imposition of hands, kneeling
upon their knees. The fourth order was the
flarrrizousvoz, ¢wnZ6peuou the competentes
and electz', which denote the immediate candi-
dates of baptism, or such as were appointed
to be baptized the next approaching festival :
before which strict examination was made
into their proficiency under the several stages
of catechetical exercises. After examination,
they were exorcised for twenty days toge-
CAT
CEL
'143
ther, and were obliged to fasting and confes-
sion. They were to get the Creed and Lord’s
Prayer by heart, and to repeat them before
the bishop at their last examination.’ Some
days before baptism, they went veiled, or
with their faces covered; and it was custom-
ary to touch their ears, saying, Ephphatha,
“ be opened ;” as also to anoint their eyes
with clay; both ceremonies in imitation of
our Saviour’s practice, and intended to sha-
dow out to the Catechumens their condition
both before and after admission into the Chris-
tian church.
That part of divine service which preceded
the common prayers of the communicants at
the altar, that is, the psalmody, the reading
of the scriptures, the sermon, 850., was called
Missa Cateehumenorum; because the Cate-
chumens had the liberty of being present
only at this part of the service.
The ancients speak of the sacrament of
the Catechumens; and some modern writers,
by mistake, suppose that, though they were
not allowed to partake of the eucharist, they
had something like it, which they call _EuZo-
gice Panis, or Penis Benedictus. _ But it ap-
pears from St. Augustine, that this sacrament
was not the consecrated bread, but only a
little taste of salt; intimating to them by that
symbol, that they were to purge and cleanse
their souls from sin, salt being the emblem of
purity and incorruption. They called this a
sacrament, after the custom of the primitive
Christians, who gave that name to every
thing that was mysterious, or had a spiritual
signification in it. _
CATENA, a Greek word signifying a chain,
in biblical criticism is an exposition of a por-
tion of the Scriptures, formed from collections
from several authors. Thus we have Catence
of the Greek fathers on the Octateuch, by
Procopius; on the Book of Job, by Olympi-
odorus; and on the Octateuch, the Books of
Samuel and Kings, by Nicephorus. These
were Greek writers themselves. Beside them,
compilations of this sort were made from the
early fathers by many later authors, such as
Francis Zephyr, Lepomannus, Patrick, J u-
nius, Corderius, 85c. Pole’s Synopsis may
be regarded as a Catena of the modern inter-
pretations of the whole Scriptures, as Wolfius
is of a still more ancient class on the New
Testament.
CATHARISTS, a sect that spread much in
the Latin" church in the twelfth century.
Their religion resembled the doctrine of the
Manichaeans and Gnostics [see those arti-
cles] They supposed that matter was the
source of evil; that Christ was not clothed
with a real body; that baptism and the Lord’s
Supper were useless institutions; with a va-
riety of other strange notions. _
CATHEDRAL, the chief church of adiocese;
a church wherein is a bishop's see. The word
comes from icadedpa, “ chair :” the name
seems to have taken its rise from the manner
of sitting in the ancient churches or assem-
blies of private Christians. In these the 001m-
cil, z'. e. the elders and priests, were called
Presbyterium ; at their head was the bisho ,
who held the place of chairman, Cathedrallis
or Cathedraticus; and the presbyters, who
sat on either side, also called by the ancient
fathers Assesores Episcoporum. The episcopal
authority did not reside in the bishop alone,
but in all the presbyters, whereof the bishop
was president. A cathedral, therefore, ori-
ginally was different from what it is now;
the Christians, till the time of Constantine,
having no liberty to build any temple. By
their churches they only meant assemblies;
and by cathedrals, nothing more than consis—
tories.
CATHOLIC, denotes any thing that is uni-
versal or general. 1. The Epistles of James,
Peter, Jude, and John are called the seven
Catholic Epistles, either because they were
not written to any particular person, or
church, but to Christians in general, or to.
Christians of several countries; or because,
whatever doubts may at first have been en-
tertained respecting some of them, they were
all acknowledged by the Catholic, or universal
church, at the time this appellation was at-
tached to them, which we find to have been
common in the fourth century. 2. The rise
of heresies induced the primitive Christian
church to assume to itself the appellation of
catholic, being a characteristic to distinguish
itself from all sects, who, though they had
party names, sometimes sheltered themselves
under the name of Christians. The Romisli
church now distinguishes itself by catholic,
in opposition to all who have separated from
her communion, and whom she considers as
heretics and schismatics, and herself only as
the true and Christian church. In the strict
sense of the word, there is no catholic church
in being; that is, no universal Christian com-
munion. '
CELEs'rINs, a religious order, so called from
their founder, Peter de Meuron, afterwards
raised to the pontificate under the name of
Celestin V.
This Peter, who was born at Isernia, a
little town in the kingdom of Naples, in the
year 1215, of but mean parents, retired very
young to a solitary mountain, in order to de-
dicate himself wholly to prayer and mortifi-
cation. The fame of his piety brought several,
out of curiosity, to see him; some of whom,
charmed with his virtues, renounced the
world, to accompany him in his solitude.
\Vith these he formed a kind of community
in the year 1254; which was approved by
Pope Urban IV., in 1264, and erected into a
distinct order, called The Hermits of St.
Damien.
Peter de Meuron governed this order till
1286, when his love of solitude and retire-
i
CEL
CEL
144
ment induced him to quit the charge. In
July, 1294, the great reputation of his sanc-
tity raised him, though much against his will,
to the pontificate. He then took the name of
Celestin V., and his order that of Celestins.
from him. By his bull he approved their
constitutions, and confirmed all their monas—
teries, which were to the number of twenty.
But he sat too short a time in the chair of
St. Peter to do many great things for his
order; for, having governed the church five
months and a few days, aiid considering the
great burden he had taken upon him, to
which ‘he thought himself unequal, he so-
lemnly renounced the pontificate, in a con-
sistory held at Naples.
After his death, which happened in 1296,
his order made a great progress, not only in
Italy, but in France likewise; whither the
then General Peter of Tivoli sent twelve
religious, at the request of King Philip the
Fair, who gave them two monasteries; one
in the forest of Orleans, and the other in the
forest of Compeigne, at Mount Chartres.
This order likewise passed into several pro-
vinces of Germany. They have about ninety-
six convents in Italy, and twenty-one in
France, under the title of priories. The Ce-
lestins of the province of France have the
privilege, by a grant of the Popes Martin V.
and Clement VII., of making new statutes
whenever they think proper, for the regula-
tion of their order. By virtue of this power
they drew up new constitutions, which were
received in a provincial chapter in 1667.
They are divided into three parts :——the first
treats of the provincial chapters, and the
elections of superiors; the second contains
the regular observances; and the third the
visitation and correction of the monks.
The Celestins rise two hours after mid-
night, to say matins. They eat no flesh at
any time, except when they are sick. They
fast every Wednesday and Friday, from Eas-
ter to the feast of the exaltation of the holy
cross; and, from that feast to Easter, every
day. As to their habit, it consists of a white
gown, a capuche, and a black scapulary. In
the choir, and when they go out of the mo-
nastery, they wear a black cowl with the
capuche : their shirts are of serge.
Celestins, likewise, is the name given to
certain hermits, who, during the short ponti-
ficate of Celestin V., obtained of that pope
permission to quit the order of Friars Minors,
to which they belonged, and retire into soli-
tude, there to practise the rule of St. Francis
in its utmost strictness. The superiors, being
disgusted at this separation, took all methods
to reduce these hermits to the obedience of
the order; to avoid which persecution, they
retired into Greece, and continued some time
in an island of Achaia. But Pope Boniface
VI'IL, who succeeded Celestin, being impor-
tuned by the order of Friars Minors, revoked
the grant of his predecessor, and ordered the
Celestin hermits to return to the obedience of
their superiors. Accordingly, Thomas Sola,
lord of the island where they had fixed, drove
them out; and this he did in a tiine of famine,
by which these poor religious were exposed
to great misery and want in their journeys,
especially as they passed through the coun-
tries of the Latins, who looked upon them as
schismatics. They were something better
treated in the countries of the Greeks, among
whom they continued for two years unmo-
lested; but the Patriarch of Constantinople,
being returned from Venice, excommunicated
them twice, because they did not submit to
their superiors; nevertheless, these solitaries
did not want for protectors; and the Arch-
bishop of Patras particularly interested him-
self in their cause.
Brother James du Mont, one of these her-
mits, returning from Armenia, where he had
resided some time, without knowing what
had passed in relation to his brethren, came
into Italy, and made his submission to the
general, who soon after sent him on a mission
into the East. Being arrived at Negropont, and
hearing of the persecution raised against the
Celestin hermits, he endeavoured to accom-
modate matters, and managed the affair with
so much prudence, that the fathers of Ito-
mania consented that all these hermits should
acknowledge him as their superior, under
the dependence of the general. This the
general would not consent to ; which obliged
brother Liberatus and his companions to come.
into Italy, and represent to the pope that he
and his brethren had been always faithful to
the church, and that all the accusations against
them were more calumnies.
A chapter general, held at Toulouse, in
1307, obtained an order from Charles 11.,
King of Naples, to the inquisitor of that
state, to act against brother Liberatus and
his companions. Accordingly, the inquisitor
examined them, and declared them innocent;
at the same time advising them to retire to
Anciano, where he granted them his protection
against the pursuits of their enemies. But
afterwards, being gained over by their ene-
mies, he cited them a second time before him,
and found a pretence to condemn them as
heretics and schismatics. In consequence of
which sentence they were first imprisoned,
and then banished.
CELIBACY, the state of unmarried persons.
Celibate, or celibacy, is a word chiefly used
in speaking of the single life of the popish
clergy, or the obligation they are under to
abstain from marriage. The Church of Rome
‘imposes an universal celibacy on all her
clergy, from the pope to the lowest deacon
and subdeacon. The advocates for this usage
pretend that a vow of perpetual celibacy was
required in the ancient church as a condition
of ordination, even from the earliest apostolic
CEL
CEN
145
diction.
ages. But the contrary is evident from nu-
merous examples of bishops and archbishops,
who lived in a state of matrimony, without
any prejudice to their ordination or their
function. Neither our Lord nor his apostles
laid the least restraint upon the connubial union
—-on the contrary, the Scriptures speak of it
as honourable in all, without the least re-
striction as to persons.—Heb. 4. Matt.
xix. 10, 12. 1 Cor. vii. 2, 9. Paul even
assigns forbidding to marry as characteristic
of the apostasy of the latter times. 1 Tim.
iv. 3. The fathers, without making any dis-
tinction between clergy and laity, asserted the
lawfulness of the marriage of all Christians.
Marriage was not forbidden to bishops in
the Eastern Church till the close of the
seventh century. Celibacy was not imposed
on the Western clergy in general till the end
of the eleventh century, though attempts had
been made long before. Superstitious zeal
for a sanctimonious appearance in the clergy
seems to have promoted it at first; and crafty
policy, armed with power, no doubt riveted
I this clog on the sacerdotal order in later pe-
riods of the church. Pope Gregory ‘7 II.
appears in this business to have had a view
to separate the clergy as much as possible
from all other interests, and to bring them
into a total dependence upon his authority;
to the end that all temporal power might, in
a high degree, be subjected to the papal juris-
Forbidding to marry, therefore, has
evidently the mark of the beast upon it. See
MARRIAGE.
Games, a philosopher of the second cen-
tury, and of the Epicurean school, who
com osed a book against Christianity, to
whic he gave the title of ‘AMjOue hoyog,
which Origen, in his refutation of it, has, to
a considerable extent, rescued from oblivion.
It is invaluable, on account of the admissions
of the grand facts and doctrines of the gospel,
as preached by the apostles, and contained in
their writings, by an enemy, who lived little
more than one hundred and thirty years after
the ascension of our Lord. He has nearly
eighty quotations from the books of the New
Testament, which he not only appeals to as
existing, but as universally received by the
Christians of that age as credible and divine.
He is most minute in his references to the
circumstances of the life of Christ and his
apostles, which shows that he was well ac-
quainted with them, and that no one denied
them. He every where ridicules the idea of
our Lord’s divinity, contrasting with it that
of his poverty, sufferings, and death; which
proves not only that the Christians of that
early age avowed their belief in the doctrine,
“ but that Celsus himself, though an unbeliever,
found it in the documents to which he refers,
as the source of his acquaintance with the
Christian system. “Did your God, when
under punishment,” he asks, “ say any ‘thing
like this 2” “ You will have him to be God,”
he insists, “ who ended an infamous life, with
a miserable death.” “ If,” he proceeds, “he
thought fit to undergo such things; and if,
in obedience to the Father, he suffered death,
it is apparent they could not be painful and
grievous to him, he being a God, and con-
scnting to them,” &c. See LARDNER and
ORIGEN, con. Cels.
CEMETERY, a place set apart for the burial
of the dead. Anciently none were buried
in churches or churchyards ; it was even un-
lawful to inter in cities, and the cemeteries
were without the walls. Among the primi-
tive Christians these were held in great
veneration. It even appears from Eusebius
and Tertullian, that in the early ages they
assembled for divine worship in the ceme-
teries. Valerian seems to have confiscated
the cemeteries and other places of divine
worship; but they were restored again by
Gallienus. As the martyrs were buried in
these places, the Christians chose them for
building churches on, when Constantine esta—
blished their religion; and hence some derive
the rule, which still obtains in the Church of
Rome, never to consecrate an altar without
putting under it the relics of some saint.
CENSURE, the\ act of judging and blaming
others for their faults. Faithfulness in re-
proving another differs from censoriousness:
the former arises from love to truth, and
respect for the person; the latter is a dispo-
sition that loves to find fault. However just
censure may be where there is blame, yet a
censorious spirit or rash judging must be
avoided. - It is usurping the authority and
judgment of God. It is unjust, uncharitable,
mischievous, productive of unhappiness to
ourselves, and often the cause of disorder
and confusion in society. See RASH J UDGING.
CENTURIEs or MAGDEBURG, the first
comprehensive work of the Protestants on
church history, and so called because it was
divided into centuries, each volume containing
a hundred years, and was first written at
Magdeburg. Matthias Flaccius formed the
plan of it in 1552, in order to prove the
agreement of the Lutheran doctrine with that
of the primitive Christians, and the difference
between the latter and that of the Catholics.
John Wigand, Matth. Judex, Basil Faber,
Andrew Corvinus, and Thomas Holzhuter,
were after Flaccius, the chief writers and
editors. Some Lutheran princes and noblemen
patronized it, and many learned men assisted
in the work, which was drawn with great
care and fidelity, from the original sources,
compiled with sound judgment, and written
in Latin. It was continued by the centm'za-
tores, as the editors were called, only to the
year 1300; and was published at Basle, 1559-
1574, in thirteen volumes, folio. A modern
edition by Baumgarten and Semler, but
which reaches only to the year 500, appeared
L
CER
‘GER
1116
at Nuremburg, 1757-1765, in six volumes,
quarto. A good abridgment was prepared
by Lucas Osiander; the Tubingen edition of
which (1607-1608) comprehends the period
from the fourteenth to the sixteenth century.
The Catholics, finding themselves attacked
in this alarming way, and confuted by
matters of fact, Baronius wrote his Annals
in opposition to the Centuriaa—Ency. Amer.
Cnnnomnns, a sect in the first century,
so called from Cerdon, who flourished 140 or
141, and came to Rome from Syria. His
disciples espoused most of the opinions of
Simon Magus and the Manichaeans. They
asserted two principles, good and bad. The
first they called the Father of Jesus Christ;
the latter the Creator of the world. They
denied the incarnation and the resurrection,
and reject the books of the Old Testament.
CEREMONY, an assemblage of several
actions, forms, and circumstances, serving
to render a thing magnificent and solemn.
Applied to religious services, it signifies the
external rites and manner wherein the minis-
ters of religion perform their sacred functions.
In 1646, M. Ponce published a history of
ancient ceremonies, tracing the rise, growth,
and introduction of each rite into the church,
and its gradual advancement to superstition.
Many of them were borrowed from Judaism,
but more from paganism. Dr. Middleton
has given a fine discourse on the conformity
between the pagan and popish ceremonies,
which he exemplifies in the use of incense,
holy water, lamps and candles before the
shrines of saints, votive gifts round the
shrines of the deceased, &c. In fact, the
altars, images, crosses, processions, miracles,
and legends, nay, even the very hierarchy,
pontifieate, religious orders, &c., of the pre-
sent Romans, he shows, are all copied from
their heathen ancestors. An ample and mag-
nificent representation in figures of the re-
ligious ceremonies and customs of all nations
in the world, designed by Picart, is added,
with historical explanations, and many cu-
rious dissertations.
It (has been a question, whether we ought
to use such rites and ceremonies, which are
merely of human appointment. On one side
it has been observed that we ought not.
Christ alone is king in his church; he hath
instituted such ordinances and forms of wor-
ship as he hath judged fit and necessary ; and
to add to them seems, at least, to carry in it an
imputation on his wisdom and authority, and
hath this unanswerable objection to it, that
it opens the door to a thousand innovations
(as the history of the church of Rome hath
.sufiiciently shown,) which are not only indif-
ferent in themselves, but highly absurd, and
extremely detrimental to religion. That the
ceremonies were numerous under the Old
Testament dispensation is no argument; for,
say they, 1. We respect Jewish ceremonies,
because they were appointed of God; and we
reject human ceremonies because God hath
not appointed them. 2. The Jewish ceremo-
nies were established by the universal consent
of the nation; human ceremonies are not so.
3. The former were fit and proper for the
purposes for which they were appointed; but
the latter are often the contrary. 4. The insti-
tutor of the Jewish ceremonies provided for
the expense of it; but no provision is made
by God to support human ceremonies, or what
he has not appointed.
These arguments seem very powerful; but
on the other. side it has been observed, that
the desire of reducing religious worship to
the greatest possible simplicity, however ra-
tional it may appear in itself, and abstractedly
considered, will be considerably moderated in
such as bestow a moment’s attention upon the
imperfection and infirmities of human nature
in its present state. Mankind, generally
speaking, have too little elevation of mind to
be much affected with those forms and me-
thods of worship in which there is nothing
striking to the outward senses. The great
difficulty here lies in determining the length
which it is rudent to go in the accommoda-
tion of religious ceremonies to human infirmity ;
and the grand point is to fix a medium in
which due regard may be shown to the senses
and imagination, without violating the dictates
of right reason, or tarnishing the purity of
true religion. It has been said, that the
Romish church has gone too far in its con-
descension to the infirmities of mankind; and
this is what the ablest defenders of its motley
worship have alleged in its behalf. But this
observation is not just; the church of Home
has not so much accommodated itself to human
weakness, as it has abused that weakness, by
taking occasion from it to establish an endless
variety of ridiculous ceremonies, destructive
of true religion, and only adapted to promote
the riches and despotism of the clergy, and to
keep the multitude still hoodwinked in their
ignorance and superstition. How far a just
antipathy to the church puppet-shows of the
Papists has unjustly driven some Protestant
churches into the opposite extreme, is a mat-
ter that certainly deserves a serious consider-
ation. See Dr. Stennett’s Ser. on Conformity
to the World; Robinson’s Ser. on Ceremonies ,-
Booth’s Essay on the Kingdom of Christ ,- Mo-
sheim’s Ecclesiastical History, with Mac
Laine’s Notes, vol. i. p. 203, quarto edition.
Jones’s Worhs, vol. iv. p. 267.
_ CEmN'rnUs, one of the earliest heretics, by
birth a Jew, who afier having studied philoso-
phy in Egypt, went into Asia Minor, where
he disseminated his erroneous doctrines. Va-
rious opinions have obtained respecting the
time at which he flourished, but it is now
pretty generally. agreed, that it must have
been in the first century. Waterland, Mi-
chaelis, and others, are decided in their con-
CER
CHA
147
vie-tion, that the Apostle John wrote to con-
fute his heresy; and indeed, it seems impos-
sible to entertain a doubt on the subject, con-
sidering the direct bearing of many passages
of his writings on the principles of which it
consisted; and especially the express declara-
tion of Irenaeus, who was well acquainted
with Polycarp, that “ John wished, by the
publication of his Gospel, to remove the error
which had been sown in men’s minds by Ce-
rinthus.” Some have asserted that he was one
of the Judaizers referred to in the New Tes-
tament, but without sufficient foundation. He
was a gnostic in his notion of the creation of
the world, which he conceived to have been
formed by angels ; and his attachment to
that philosophy may explain what otherwise
seems inconsistent, that he retained some of
the Mosaic ceremonies, such as the observ-
ance of sabbaths and circumcision, though
like other gnostics, he ascribed the law and
the prophets to the angel who created the
world. \Vhat gave most eminence‘ to his
name was the fresh change which he intro-
duced in the notion concerning Christ, while
the gnostics had all of them been Docetae;
Cerinthus maintained that Jesus had a real
body, but that he was a mere man, the son of
Joseph and Mary. In other points he agreed
with the gnostics, and believed that Christ
was one of the cons who descended on Jesus
at his baptism. The notion of Jesus being
born of human parents was taught by him
with precision, and not without success. He
is also regarded as the first person who held
the doctrine of a mundane millennium, and is
said to have promised his followers the gross-
est pleasures, and the most sensual gratifica~
tions. It is likely that it is to this part of his
views that we are to ascribe the opinion
which he maintained, contrary to the gene-
rality of the gnostics, that Christ had not yet
risen, but that he would rise hereafter, viz.
at the period of the millennium. It is not
improbable that Paul is combating this very
heresy in the fifteenth chapter of 1st Corin-
thians. If he received any part of the New
Testament, it- is likely it was only the Gospel
of Matthew, and that not in its pure state, but
as it existed m9’ ‘llflpatovg.
According to Ireneeus, “there were some
who had heard Polycarp tell that John the
disciple of our Lord, being at Ephesus, and
going to bathe, and seeing Cerinthus in the
place, hurried out of the bath without bathing,
and added, Let us ‘flee, lest even the bath
should fall to pieces, while Cerinthus, the
enemy of truth, is in it.” Theodoret and
Epiphanius relate the same story, which has
nevertheless been questioned by Lampe and
()eder; but it is credited by Mosheim and
other eminent modems. Jerome is stated to
have added that, according to Irenaeus, the
bath actually fell, but no such passage is to
be found in the works of Jerome.
CHALDEE PARAPHRASE, in the rabbinical
style, is called Targum. There are three
Chaldee paraphrases in Walton’s Polyglott,
viz. l. of Onkelos; 2. of Jonathan, son of
Uziel; 3. of Jerusalem; but there are seven-
teen in all.
CHALICE, the cup used to administer the
wine in the sacrament, and by the Roman
Catholics in the mass. The use of the chalice,
or communicating in both kinds, is by the
church of Rome denied to the laity, who com-
municate only in one kind, the clergy alone
being allowed the privilege of communicating
in both kinds; in direct opposition to our
Saviour’s words,-—“Drink ye all of it.”
CHANCEL, a particular part of the fabric of
a church. Eusebius, describing that of Pauli.-
nus, says, “It was divided from the rest by
certain rails of wood, curiously and artificially
wrought in the form of net-work, to make it
inaccessible to the multitude.” These rails the
Latins call cancellz', whence comes the Bug
lish word chancel.
The chancel in England is the rector’s free-
hold, and part of his glebe ; and therefore he
is obliged to repair it; but where the rectory
is impropriate, the impropriator must do it.
CHANCELLOR, a lay officer under a bishop,
who is judge of his court. In the first ages
of the church the bishops had those officers,
who were called church lawyers, and were
bred up in the knowledge of the civil and
canon law: their business was to assist the
bishop in his diocese.
We read of no chancellors in England dur-
ing all the Saxon reigns, nor after the con-
quest, till the reign of Henry II., but that
king requiring the attendance of the bishops
in his councils of state, and other public
affairs, it was thought necessary to substitute
chancellors in their room for the despatch of
those causes which were proper for their
jurisdiction.
A bishop’s chancellor hath his authority
from the law ; and his jurisdiction is not, like
that of a commissary, limited to a certain
place, and certain causes, but extends through—
out the whole diocese, and to all ecclesiastical
matters; not only for reformation of manners,
in punishment of criminals, but in all causes
concerning marriages, last wills, administra-
tions, Sac.
CHANT is used for the vocal music of
churches. In church history we meet with
divers kinds of these: as 1. Chant Ambrosian,
established by St. Ambrose; 2. Chant Gre-
gorian, introduced by Pope Gregory the Great
who established schools of chanters, and cor-
rected the church music. This at first was
called the Roman song; afterwards the. plain
song, as the choir and people sing _1n umSOn.
CHANTRY, a little chapel, or particular altar,
in a cathedral church, built and endowed for
the maintenance of a priest to sing masses, in
order to release the soul of the donor out of
CHA
CHA
148
purgatory. There were many of these in
England before the Reformation; and any
man might build a chantry without the leave
of the bishop. In the 37th year of Henry
VIII. the chantries were given to_the king,
who had power to issue commissions to seize
those endowments; but that being the last
year of his reign, several chantries escaped
being seized by virtue of those commissions;
but they were afterwards vested in his suc-
cessor, Edward VI.
CHAPEL, a place of divine worship, so
called. The word is derived from the Latin
capella. In former times, when the kings of
France were engaged in war, they always
carried St. Martin’s hat into the field, which
was kept in a tent as a precious relic; from
whence the place was called capella, and the
priests, who had the custody of the tent,
cape‘llan’i. Afterwards the word capella be-
came applied to private oratories.
There are various kinds of chapels in Bri-
tain. 1. Domestic chapels, built by noblemen
or gentlemen for private worship in their
‘families. .2. Free chapels, such as are founded
‘by kings of England. They are free from all
episcopal ‘jurisdiction, and only to be visited
'by the ‘founder and ‘his successors, which is
done by the lord chancellor: yet the king
may license any subject to build and endow a
chapel,-and_by letters patent exempt it from
the ~visitation of the ordinary. 3. Chapels in
universities, belonging to particular universi-
ties. 4. Chapels of ease, built for the ease of
one or more parishioners that dwell too far
from the church, and are served by inferior
curates, provided for at the charge of the rec-
tor, or of. such as "have benefit by it, as the
composition or custom‘is. 5. Parochial cha-
gpels, which differ from _parish churches only
’in name; they are generally small, and the
inhabitants within the district few. If there
.be a presentation ad ecclesiam instead of cape!-
‘-'Za1n,.an'd an admission and institution upon it,
it is no longer a chapel, but a church for
themselves and families. 6. Chapels which
adjoin to and are part of the church; such
were formerly built ‘by ‘honourable persons as
burying places. 7. The places of worship
used by the Methodists and Protestant dissent-
ters, otherwise denominated meeting-houses,
are now almost universally called chapels;
with respect to which it is required bylaw,
that they shall be certified in the court of
quarter sessions, or to the bishop’s court,
when, on the payment of a small sum, the
registration takes place. The doors are not
permitted to be kept locked during the time
of worship; and, to ‘prevent the congregation
from being disturbed, whoever molests it, or
interrupts the worship, is, on conviction at
the sessions, to forfeit 201., by statute I. of
William and Mary.
CHAPELS, UNION, places of worship in
which the Church of England service is per-
formed' in the morning, and the usual dis-
senting mode of worship is used in the even-
ing. They were designed to unite, persons of
both parties: hence their name. 1
CHAPLAIN, a person who performs divine
service in a chapel, or is retained in the ser-
vice of some family to perform divine service.
The origin of the term is generally ex-
plained in the following manner :——Bishop
Martin is said to have worn a hood (capa),
which was regarded as possessing miraculous
powers, and was, therefore, preserved after
his death in a separate house, called, from
this hood, capella (chapel), and the person
stationed in the chapel to show it to supersti-.
tious spectators was termed chaplain. Charle-
magne is reported to have possessed St. Mar-
tin’s hood among the relics, and to have
erected a chapel, called by the name of St.
Martin, at the place in Germany where Ftirth
afterwards arose. He also built similar cha-
pels at Nuremberg and Altenfurth. Another
less probable derivation of the word deduces
it indeed from capella, but explains it to sig-
nify the box in which the Romish missionaries
carried the requisites for celebrating the mass,
who were thence denominated chaplains.
According to a statute of Henry VIII. the
persons vested with a power of retaining
chaplains, together with the number each is
allowed to qualify, are as follow :—-an arch-
bishop, eight; 9. duke, or bishop, six ; marquis
or earl, five; viscount, four ; baron, knight of
the garter, or lord chancellor, three: a duchess,
marchioness, countess, baroness, the treasurer
or comptroller of the king’s house, clerk of
the closet, the king’s secretary, dean of the
chapel, almoner, and master of the rolls, each
of them two; chief justice of the king’s
bench, and warden of the Cinque Ports, each
one. All these chaplains may purchase a
license or dispensation, and take two bene-
fices, with cure of souls. A chaplain must
be retained b letters testimonial under hand
and seal, for it is not sufficient that he serve
as chaplain in the family.
In England there are forty-eight chaplains
to the king, who wait four each month, preach
in the chapel, read the service to the family,
and to the king in his private oratory, and say
grace in the absence of the clerk of the closet.
While in waiting, they have a table and
attendance, but no salary. In Scotland, the
king has six chaplains, with a salary of 50L
each; three of them having, in addition, the
deanery of the chapel royal divided between
them, making up above 1001. to each. Their
only duty at present is to say prayers at the
election of peers for Scotland to sit in parlia-
ment.
CHAPLET, a certain instrument of monkish
piety, made use of by the Roman Catholics, ~
Greeks, Armenians, and other eastern com-
munions. It is a string of beads, by which
they measure, or count, the number of their
CHA
CHA
149
prayers. The invention of it is ascribed, by
the historians of the crusades, to Peter the
Hermit, who first taught those warriors to
pray by tale. St. Dominic, founder of the
Dominicans, greatly raised the credit of this
devout instrument, by giving out that the
blessed Virgin had brought him one from
heaven. If Peter the Hermit first taught it
the Roman Catholics, it is probable he himself
borrowed it from the Turks, who, to this day,
make use of a chaplet, or string of beads, in
their prayers; and the Turks seem to have
had it from the East Indians, who likewise
make use of a kind of chaplet. It is also
used by the Lamas.
CHAPTER, from the Latin caput, head, sig-
nifies,—-
1. One of the principal divisions of a book,
and, in reference to the Bible, one of the
larger sections into which its books are
divided. This division, as well as that con- '
sisting of verses, was introduced to facilitate
reference, and not to indicate any natural or
accurate division of the subjects treated in
the books. The invention has been by some
ascribed to Lanfranc, by others to Langton,
both archbishops of Canterbury; but it is now
pretty generally agreed that the real inventor
was Hugo de Sancto Caro, who lived in the
thirteenth century, and wrote a commentary
on the Scriptures, and first introduced it, when
preparing a concordance of the Latin vulgate.
2. A community of ecclesiastics belonging
to a. cathedral or collegiate church. The
chief or head of the chapter is the dean: the
body consists of canons or prebends. In
England, as elsewhere, the deans and chapters
had the right to choose the bishops; but
Henry VIII. assumed this right as a preroga-
tive of the crown. The chapter has now no
longer a place in the administration of the
diocese during the life of the bishop, but
succeeds to the whole episcopal jurisdiction
during the vacancy of the see. In Prussia,
Protestant bishops have been lately elected,
and still more recently an archbishop, with-
out the vote of a chapter, by a mere order of -
government.
CHAPTERS, THE THREE, an appellation
given in the sixth century to the following
productionsz—l. The writings of Theodore
of Mopsuestia. 2. The books which Theo-
doret of Cyrus wrote against the twelve
anathemas which Cyril had published against
the Nestorians. 3. The letter which Ibas of
Edessa had written concerning the council of
Ephesus, and the condemnation of Nestorius.
These writings being supposed to favour the
Ncstorian doctrine, Theodore, bishop of Cesa-
rea, who was a zealous Monophysite, prevailed
on the Emperor Justinian to publish an edict
m the year 544, in which they were ordered
to be condemned. This edict was opposed by
the African and Western bishops, especially,
by Vlglhus, the Roman pontiff; the conse-
quence of which. was that the pontifi' was
ordered to appear at Constantinople, where he
first rejected, and then retracted his rejection
of the chapters. They were afterwards con-
demned anew by Justinian.
CHARGE: l. A sermon preached by the
bishop to his clergy. 2. Among the Dissent-
ers, it is a sermon preached to a minister at
his ordination, generally by some aged or able
preacher, and containing a view of the Chris-
tian ministry in its nature, duties, trials, and
encouragements.
CHARITY, one of the three grand theological
graces, consisting in the love of God and our
neighbour, or the habit or disposition of loving
God with all our heart, and our neighbour as
ourselves. “ Charity,” says an able writer,
“consists not in speculative ideas of general
benevolence floating in the head, and leaving
the heart, as speculations often do, untouched
and cold; neither is it confined to that indo-
lent goodnature which makes us rest satisfied
with being free from inveterate malice, or ill
will to our fellow creatures, without prompt-
ing us to be of service to any. True charity
is an active principle. It is not properly a
single virtue; but a disposition residing in
the heart as a fountain; whence all the vir-
tues of benignity, candour, forbearance, gene-
rosity, compassion, and liberality flow as so
many native streams. From general good-
will to all, it extends its influence, particu-
larly to those with whom we stand in nearest
connexion, and who are directly within the
sphere of our good oflices. From the coun-
try or community to which we belong, it
descendsto the smaller associates of neigh-
bourhood, relations, and friends, and spreads
itself over the whole circle of social and
domestic life. I mean not that it imports a
promiscuous undistinguishing afi‘ection which
gives every man an equal title to our love.
Charity, if we should endeavour to carry it
so far, would be rendered an impracticable vir-
tue, and would resolve itself into mere words,
without affecting the heart. True charity
attempts not to shut our eyes to the distinc-
tion between good and bad men ; not to warm
our hearts equally to those who befriend and
those who injure us. It reserves our esteem
for good men, and our complacency for our
friends. Towards our enemies it inspires
forgiveness and humanity. It breathes uni-
versal candour and liberality of sentiment. It
forms gentleness of temper, and dictates afl‘a-
bility of manners. It prompts corresponding
sympathies with them who rejoice and them
who weep. It teaches us to slight and despise
no man. Charity is the comforter of the
afflicted, the protector of the oppressed, the
reconciler of differences, the intercessor for
offenders. It is faithfulness in the friend,
public spirit in the magistrate, equity and
patience in the judge, moderation in the
sovereign, and loyalty in the subject. In
CHA
CHE
150
ren, it is reverence and submission. In a
word, it is the soul of social hfe. It is the
sun that enlivens and cheers the abodes of
men ; not a meteor which occasionally glares,
but a luminary, which in its orderly and
regular course dispenses a benignant infiu~
ence.” See Barrow’s Works, vol. i. ser. 27,
28 ; Blair’s Ser., vol. iv. ser. 2 ; Scott‘s Ser.,
ser. 14; Tillotson’s Ser., ser. 158; Paley’s
Mor. Phz'L, vol. i. p. 231 ; and articles BENE-
voLENcE, LOVE.
CHARM, a kind of spell, supposed by the
ignorant to have an irresistible influence, by
means of the concurrence of some infernal
power, both on the minds, lives, and proper-
ties of those whom it has for its object.
“ Certain vain ceremonies,” says Dr. Dod-
dridge, “ which are commonly called charms,
and seem to have no efiicacy at all for pro-
ducing the effects proposed by them, are to
be avoided; seeing if there be indeed any
real efiicacy in them, it is generally probable
they owe it to some bad cause; for one can
hardly imaginethat God should permit good
angels in any extraordinary manner to inter-
pose, or should immediately exert his own
miraculous power on trifling occasions, and
upon the vperformance of such idle tricks as
are generally made the condition of receiving
such benefits.”
CHASIDIM, on “Pnrnsrs,” a Jewish sect,
which we must not confound with the party
who took the same name in the time of the
Maccabees, and rendered themselves famous
by the zeal with which they contended for
the national institutions. This sect dates its
origin no farther back than the year 1740,
when its doctrines were first broached by
Israel Baalsham, in the small country-town
of Flussty, in Poland. In the course of about
twenty years, his fame, as an exorcist, and
master of the cabbala, spread to such a de-
gree, that he obtained a great number of fol-
lowers in Poland, Moldavia, and Wallachia.
This Rabbi gave out, that he alone was pos-
sessed of the true mystery of the sacred name;
that his soul at certain times left the body, in
order to receive revelations in the world of
spirits; and that he was endowed with mi-
raculous powers, by which he was able to
control events, both in the physical and intel-
lectual world. His followers were taught to
look to him for the absolution of every crime
they might commit; to repress every thing like
reflection on the doctrines of religion ; to ex-
pect the immediate appearance of the Messiah;
and, in sickness, to abstain from the use of
medicine ; assured that their spiritual guides,‘
of whom several made their appearance on
the death of the founder, were possessed of
such merits as would procure for them in-
stant recovery. The accusations of gross
immorality brought against the members of
this sect by the Lithuanian Rabbi, Israel Loc-
parents, it is care, and attention; in child-4

be], have been called in question, and are
supposed rather to have originated in preju-
dice, than to have any foundation in truth;
but it is affirmed by one who has had the best
opportunities of investigating, that their mo-
rals are most obnoxious, and that the repre-
sentations that have been given of them are
by no means exaggerated. They are not only
at enmity with all the other Jews, but form
the bitterest and most bigoted enemies of the
Christian religion. They believe that the
Messiah, whom they are hourly expecting,
will be a mere man, but will come with such
an efl’ulgence of glory, as to produce a com-
plete regeneration in the heart of every Jew,
and deliver them thenceforth from every evil.
To their Rabbins, whom they honour with
the name of Zadihs, or “ Righteous,” they
pay almost divine homage.
gance of their gestures during their public
service entitles them to the appellation of the
“ Jewish Jumpers.” Working themselves up
into ecstasies, they break out into fits of
laughter, clap their hands, jump up and down
the synagogue in the most frantic manner;
and turning their faces towards heaven, they
clench their fists, and, as it were, dare the
Almighty to withhold from them the objects
of their requests. This sect has so increased of
late years, that in Russian Poland and Euro-
pean Turkey, it is reported to exceed in num-
ber that of the Rabbinists in these countries.
CHASTITY, purity from fleshly lust. In men
it is termed continence. See CONTINENCE.
There is a chastity of speech, behaviour, and
imagination, as well as of body. Grove gives
us the following rules for the conservation of
chastity—1. To keep ourselves fully employed
in labours either of the body or the mind:
idleness is frequently the introduction to sen-
suality.—-2. To guard the senses, and avoid
every thing which may be an incentive to
lust. Does the free use of some meats and
drinks make the body ungovernable? Does ,
reading certain books debauch the imagina-
tion and inflame the passions? D0 tempta-
tions often enter by the sight? Have public
plays, dancings, effeminate music, idle songs,
loose habits, and the like, the same effect?
He who resolves upon chastity cannot be
ignorant what his duty is in all these and
such like cases.--3. To implore the Divine
Spirit, which is a spirit of purity ; and by the
utmost regard to his presence and operations
to endeavour to retain him with us. Grove’s
Jlloral. Philos. p. 2. sec. 6.
CHAZINZARIANS, a sect which arose in
Armenia in the seventh century. They are
so called from the Armenian word chazus,
which signifies a cross, because they were
charged with adoring the cross.
CHEREM, (Heb. mart) the, second sort of
anathema among the Jews. The first (called
Niddui) is merely separation, or the lesser
excommunication. The second (Cherem), or
The extrava?
CHE
CH R
15l
the. greater excommunication, deprived the
excommunicated person of most of the ad-
vantages of civil society. He could have no
commerce with any one, could neither buy
nor sell,- except such things as were absolutely
necessary to life; nor resort to the schools,
nor enter into the synagogues; and no one
was permitted to eat and drink with him. The
sentence of Cherem was to be pronounced by
ten persons only, or at least in the presence
of ten persons. But the excommunicated
person might be absolved by three judges, or
even by one, provided he were a doctor. of
the law. The form of this excommunication
was loaded with a multitude of curses and
imprecations, taken from different places of
the scripture. See ANATHEMA. and EXCOM-
mUNIcATIoN.
CHERUBICAL HYMN. An hymn of great
note in the ancient Christian church. The
original form of it, as it stands in the Consti-
tutions, was in these words; “Holy, Holy,
Holy, Lord God of hosts; heaven and earth
are full of thy glory, who art blessed for ever.
Amen.” This thrice repeating the word
“ holy” was in imitation of the Seraphim in
the vision of Isaiah. Afterwards, the church
added some words to it, and sung it in this
form: iiytog 6 Geog, c'iytog a io'xvpog, ii-ytog
c’tfin'wa'rog, éhéno'ov r‘uu'ig. i. e. “ Holy God,
Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy
upon us.” This form is ascribed to Proclus,
Bishop of ' Constantinople, and Theodoslus the
younger, A. D. 446. The church used this
form to declare her faith in the Holy Trrmty,
applying the title of “ Holy God” to the
Father, “Holy Mighty” to the Son, and
“ Holy Immortal” to the Holy Ghost. Thus
it continued till the Emperor Anastasius, or,
as some say, Peter Gnapheus, Bishop of An-
tioch, caused the words 6 oravpcbQsrg 3t’ fipdg,
“ that was crucified for us,” to be added to it:
which was done with a view to introduce the
heresy of the Theopaschites, who asserted
that the divine nature itself sufi‘ered on the
cross. To avoid this inconvenience, Calandio,
Bishop-of Antioch in the time of the Empe-
ror Zeno, made another addition to it, of the
words “Christ our king,” reading it thus:
“Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal,
Christ our king, that was crucified for us,
have mercy on us.” These last additions oc—
casioned great confusions and tumults in the
Eastern church, whilst the Constantino politan
and Western churches stifliy rejected them, and
some, the better to maintain the old way of
applying it to the whole Trinity, instead of
the words, “crucified for us,” expressly said,
“ Holy Trinity, have mercy on us.”
This hymn was chiefly sung in the middle
of the communion service; as it is at this
day in the communion service of the Church
of England. It is likewise called by the
Greek name Trisagion, 2'. e. “thrice holy,”
from the trine'repetition of the word “ holy.”
CHOIR, that part of a church, or cathedral,
where the singers, or choristers, chant, or
sing divine service. The word, according to
Isidore, is derived d corom's circumstantium,
because, anciently, the choristers were dis-
posed round vthe altar. It is properly the
chancel.
In the first Common-Prayer Book of King
Edward VI. the rubric at the beginning of
morning prayer, ordered the priest, “ being in
the choir, to begin the Lord’s-praycr :” so that
it was the custom of the minister to perform
divine service at the upper end of the chancel
near the altar. Against this, Bucer, by the
direction of Calvin, made a great outcry, pre-
tending “it was an antichristian practice for
the priest to say prayers only in the choir, a
place peculiar to the clergy, and not in the
body of the church among the people, who
had as much right to divine worship as the
clergy.” This occasioned an alteration of
the rubric, when the Common-Prayer Book
was revised in the 5th year of King Edward,
and it was ordered, that prayers should be
said in such part of the church, “where the
people might best hear.” However, at the
accession of Queen Elizabeth to the throne,
the ancient practice was restored, with a dis-
pensing power left in the ordinary of deter-
mining it otherwise if he saw just cause.
Convenience at last-prevailed, and by degrees
introduced the custom of reading prayers in
the body of the church, so that now service
is no longer performed in the choir or chan-
cel, excepting in cathedrals.
CHOREPISCOPI (r179 Xwpag é'rrto'rco-rror,
bishops of the country.) In the ancient
church, when the dioceses became enlarged
by the conversions of pagans in the country
and villages at a great distance from the city
church, the bishops appointed themselves cer-
tain assistants whom they called C/zorepiscopi,
because by their ofiice they were bishops of
the country. There have been great disputes
among the learned concerning this order,
some thinking that they were mere presbyters;
others that there were two sorts, some that
had received episcopal ordination, and some
that were presbyters only; others think that
the were all bishops. See Campbell’s Lect.
on ccles. I~Iist. Lect. viii.
CHRISM, oil consecrated by the bishop, and
used in the Romish and Greek churches in
the administration of baptism, confirmation,
ordination, and extreme unction.
CHRIsoME, in the oflice of baptism, was a
white vesture which the priest put upon the
child, saying, “ Take this white vesture for a
token of innocency.”
Cnnrs'r, the Lord and Saviour of mankind.
He is called Christ, or Messiah, because he is
anointed, sent, and furnished by God to exe-
cute his mediatorial oflice. See J ESUS CHRIST.
CHRISTIAN, a term used in a more lax and
vague sense to denote one who professes the
CHR-
2 CH3.
15
religion of Christ, or who does not belong to i
any of the other divisions of mankind, such
as Jews, Mohammedans, Deists, Pagans and
Atheists ; or, in a more strict, scriptural, and
theological sense, one who really believes the
gospel, imbibes the spirit, is influenced by the
grace, and obedient to the will of Christ. The
former is merely political and conventional;
the latter is sacred and proper.
The disciples and followers of Christ, were
first denominated Christians at Antioch, A. :0.
42. They distinguished themselves in the
most remarkable manner, by their conduct
and their virtues. The faithful, whom the
preaching of St. Peter had converted, hear-
kened attentively to the exhortations of the
apostles, who failed not carefully to instruct
them as persons who were entering upon an
entire new life. They attended the temple
daily, doing nothing different from the other
Jews, because it was yet not time to separate
from them. But they made a still greater
progress in virtue; for they sold all that they
possessed, and distributed their goods to the
wants of their brethren. The primitive
Christians were not only remarkable for the
consistency of their conduct, but were also
very eminently distinguished by the many
miraculous gifts and graces bestowed by God
upon them.
The Jews were the first and the most inveterate
enemies the Christians bad. They put them
to death as often as they had it in their power;
and when they revolted against the Romans,
in the time of the emperor Adrian, Barcho-
chebas, who was at the head of that revolt,
employed against the Christians the most
rigorous punishments to compel them to blas-
pheme and renounce Jesus Christ. And we
find that even in the third century they en-
deavoured to get into their hands Christian
women, in order to scourge and stone them
in their synagogues. They cursed the Chris-
tians three times a day in their synagogues;
and their rabbins would not allow them to
converse with Christians upon any occasion ;
nor were they contented to hate and detest
them, but they despatched emissaries all over
the world to defame the Christians, and spread
all sorts of calumnies against them. They
accused them, among other things, of wor-
shipping the sun, and the head of an ass;
they reproached them with idleness, and being
a useless set of people. They charged them
with treason, and endeavouring to erect a new
monarchy against that of the Romans. They
aflirmed, that in celebrating their mysteries,
they used to kill a child, and eat his flesh.
They accused them of the most shocking 1n-
cests, and of intemperance in their feasts of
charity. But the lives and behaviour of the
first Christians were sufiicient to_ refute all
that was said against them, and evidently de-
monstrated that these accusations were mere
calumny, and the effect of inveterate malice.
Pliny the younger, who was governor of Pen-
tus and Bithynia between the years 103 and
105, ~gives a very particular account of the
Christians in that province, in a letter which
he wrote to the emperor Trajan, of which the
following is an extract: “ I take the liberty,
Sir, to give you an account of every difiiculty
. which arises to me: I had never been pre-
sent at the examinations of the Christians;
for which reason I know not what questions
have been put to them, nor in what manner
they have been punished. My behaviour to-
wards those who have been accused to me,
has been this: I have interrogated them, in
order to know whether they were really
Christians. When they have confessed it, I
have repeated the same question two or three
times, threatening them with death if they
did not renounce this religion. Those who
have persisted in their confession have been
by my order led to punishment. I have even
met with some Roman citizens guilty of this
frenzy, whom, in regard to their quality, I
have set apart from the rest, in order to send
them to Rome. These persons declare that
their whole crime, if they are guilty, consists
in this: that on certain days they assemble
before sunrise, to sing alternately the praises
of Christ, as of God; and to oblige them-
selves, by the performance of their religious
rites, not to be guilty of theft or adultery, to
observe inviolably their word, and to be true
to their trust. This disposition has obliged
me to endeavour to inform myself still further
of this matter, by putting to the torture two
of their women-servants whom they called
deaconesses; but I could learn nothing more
from them than that the superstition of these
people is as ridiculous as their attachment to
it is astonishing.”
It is easy to discover the cause of the many
persecutions to which the Christians were
exposed during the first three centuries. The
purity of the Christian morality, directly op-
posite to the corruption of the pagans, was
doubtless one of the most powerful motives
of the public aversion. To this may be added
the many calumnies unjustly spread about
concerning them by their enemies, particular-
ly the Jews; and this occasioned so strong
a prejudice against them, that the pagans con-
demned them without inquiring into their
doctrine, or permitting them to defend them-
selves. Besides, their worshipping Jesus
Christ as God, was contrary to one of the
most ancient laws of the Roman empire,
which expressly forbade the acknowledging
of any god which had not been approved of
b the senate. But, notwithstanding the
violent opposition made to the establishment
of the Christian religion, it gained ground
daily, and very soon made surprising progress
in the Roman empire. In the third century
there were Christians in the senate, in the
camp, in the palace; in short every where but
cHIt
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153
in the temple and the theatres; they filled
the towns, the country, and the islands.
Men and women of all ages and conditions,
and- even those of the first dignities, embraced
the faith; insomuch that the pagans com-
plained that the revenues of their temples
were ruined. They were in such great num-
bers in the empire, that (as Tertullian ex-
presses it) were they to have retired into
another country, they would have left the R0-
mans only a frightful solitude. For persecu—
tions of the Christians, see PERSECUTION.
Christians may be considered as nominal
and real. There are vast numbers who are
called Christians, not because they possess
any love for Christ, but because they happen
to be born in what is called .a Christian
country, educated by Christian parents, and
sometimes attend Christian worship. There
are also many whose minds are well informed
respecting the Christian system, who prefer
it to every other, and who may make an open
profession of it; and yet, after all, feel but
little of the real power of Christianity. A
real Christian is one whose understanding is
enlightened by the influences of divine grace,
who is convinced of the depravity of his
nature, who sees his own inabilit to help
himself, who is taught to behold od as the
chief good, the Lord ‘Jesus as the only way
to obtain felicity, and the Holy Spirit as the
grand agent in applying the blessings of the
Gospel to his soul. His heart is renovated,
and inclined to revere, honour, worship, trust
in, and live to God. His affections are elevated
above the world, and centre in God alone.
He embraces him as his portion, loves him
~ supremely, and is zealous in the defence and
support of his cause. ‘ His temper is regulated,
his powers roused to vigorous action, his
thoughts spiritual, and his general deportment
amiable and uniform. In fine, the true Chris-
tian character exceeds all others as much as
the blaze of the meridian sun outshines the
feeble light of the glowworm.
- Crmrs'rmns or ST. Tnonms, a sect of
Christians on the coast of Malabar, in the
East Indies, to which region the Apostle
Thomas is said to have carried the gospel.
They belong to those Christians who, in the
year 499, united to form a Syrian and Chal-
dean church, in central and eastern Asia,
and are, like them, Nestorians; but it is sup—
posed they existed much “ earlier, as they are
believed to be the Indian Christians from
whom a bishop came to the council at Nice
in 325. They have retained vrather more
strongly than the more western Nestorians,
the features of their descent from the earliest
Christian communities. They still celebrate
the agapcc; portion maidens from the pro-
perty of the church; and provide for the
poor. Their ideas respecting the Lord’s
Supper incline to those of the Protestants, but
in celebrating it they use bread with salt and
oil. At the time of baptism vney anoint the
body of the infant with oil. These two cere-
monies, with that of the consecration of priests,
are the only sacraments which they acknow-
ledge. Their priests are distinguished by the
tonsure, are allowed to marry, and were, till
the sixteenth century, under a Nestorian
patriarch at Babylon, now at Mosul, from
whom they receive their bishop, and upon
whom they are also dependent for the conse-
cration of their priests. Their churches con-
tain, except the cross, no symbols nor pic-
tures. Their liturgy is similar to the Syrian,
and is performed in the Syrian language.
When the Portuguese occupied the East
Indies, the Roman Catholic clergy endeavoured
to subject the Christians of St. Thomas to the
government of the Pope. The archbishop of
Goa succeeded, in 1599, in persuading them
to submit, and form part of his diocese; in
consequence of which they were obliged to
renounce the Nestorian faith, adopt a few
Catholic ceremonies, and obey a Jesuit, who
became their bishop. But after the Portuguese
were supplanted by the Dutch, on the coast of
Malabar, this union ceased, and they returned
to their ancient forms. At present their
number amounts to nearly 80,000.‘ They are,
under the British government, free from any
ecclesiastical restraint, and form among them-
selves a kind of spiritual republic, under a
bishop chosen by themselves, and in which the
priests and elders administer justice, using
excommunication as a means of punishment.
Col. Munro, the late Resident at Travaucore,
interested himself much for this people, and
erected a college at Chotim, for the education
both of priests and others, and he made an
endowment to support a number of teachers
and students. In their political relations to
the natives they belong to the class of the
Nairs, or nobility of the second rank, are
allowed to ride on elephants,_ and to carry on
commerce and agriculture, instead of practis—
ing mechanical trades, like the lower classes.
Travellers describe them as very ignorant,
but at the same time of very good morals. See
Monthly Mag. for 1804, p. 60, and Dr. Kerr’s
Report to Lord Bentinck, on the state of the
Christians inhabiting the kingdom of Cochin
and Travancore.——Evan. Mag. 1807, p. 473.
CHRISTIANITY, the religion of Christians.
I. CHRISTIANITY, foundation qfI—Most, if
not all, Christians, whatever their particular
tenets may be, acknowledge the Scriptures of
the Old and New Testaments as the sole
foundation of their faith and practice. But
as these books, or at least particular passages
in them, have, from the ambiguity of language,
been variously interpreted by diflierent com-
mentators, these diversities have given birth to
a multiplicity of different sects. These, how-
ever, or, at least, the greatest number of them,
appeal to the scriptures of the Old and New
Testaments as the ultimate standard—the only
CHR 1
4 CHR
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infallible rule of faith and manners. If asked
by what authority these books claim an absolute
right to determine the consciences and under-3
standings of men with regard to what they
should believe, and what they should do, they
answer, that all Scripture, whether for doc-
trine, correction, or reproof, was given by
immediate inspiration from God. If again
interrogated how those books which they call
Scriptures are authenticated, they reply, that
the Old and New Testaments are proved to
be the word of God, by evidences both ex-
ternal and internal. See § 2, and article
REVELATION.
II CHRISTIANITY, evidences of the truth of
——The external evidences of the authenticity
and divine authority of the Scriptures have
been divided into direct and collateral. The
direct evidences are such as arise from the‘
nature, consistency, and probability of the facts,
and from the simplicity, uniformity, competen~
cy, and fidelity of the testimonies by which they
are supported. The collateral evidences are
either the same occurrences supported by hea-
then testimonies, or others which concur with
and corroborate the history of Christianity.
Its internal evidences arise either from its exact
conformity with the character of God, from
its aptitude to the frame and circumstances of
man, or from those supernatural convictions
and assistances which are impressed on the
mind by the immediate operation of the Divine
Spirit. We shall here chiefly. follow Dr.
Doddridge,’ and endeavour to give some of
the chief evidences which have been brought
forward, and which every unprejudiced mind
must confess are unanswerable.
First. Taking the matter merely in theory,
it will appear highly probable that such a
system as the Gospel should be, indeed, a
divine revelation. 1. The ease of mankind is
naturally such as to need a divine revelation,
1 John v. 19; Rom. i.; Eph. iv. 2. There
is from the light of nature considerable en-
couragement to hope that God would favour
his creatures with so needful a blessing as a
revelation appears. 3. We may easily con-
clude, that if a revelation were given, it would
be introduced and transmitted in such a man-
ner as Christianity is said to have been. 4.
That the main doctrines of the gospel are of
such a nature as we might in general suppose
those of a divine revelation would be—
rational, practical, and sublime—Heb. xi. 6 ;
Mark xii. 20; I Tim. ii. 5; Matt. v. 48; x.
29, 30; Philippians iv. 8; Rom. ii. 6—10. _
- Secondly. It is, in fact, certainthat Chris-
tianity is, indeed, a divine revelation: for, ‘I.
The books of the New Testament, now in
our hands, were written by the first preachers
and publishers of Christian1ty._ In proof _of
this, observe, 1. That it is certain that Chris-
tianity is not a new religion, but that it was
maintained by great multitudes quickly after
the time in which Jesus is said to have
appeared. 2. That there was certainly
such a person as Jesus of Nazareth, who
was crucified at Jerusalem, when Pontius
Pilate was governor there. 3. The first
publishers of this religion wrote books which
contained an account of the life and doctrine
of Jesus their master, and which went by
the name of those that now make up our
New Testament. 4. That the books of the
New Testament have been preserved, in the
main, uncorrupted to the present time, in the
original language in which they were written.
5. That the translation of them now in our
hands may be depended upon as, in all things
most material, agreeable to the original. Now,
II. From allowing the New Testament to be
genuine, according to the above proof, it will
certainly follow that Christianity is a divine
revelation; for, in the first place, it is exceed-
ingly evident that the writers of the New
Testament certainly knew whether the facts
were true or false. John i. 3; xix. 27, 35;
Acts xxvii. 7—9. 2. That the character
of these writers, so far as we can judge by
their works, seems to render them worthy of
regard, and leaves no room to imagine they
intended to deceive us. The manner in which
they tell their story is most happily adapted
to gain our belief. There is no air of decla-
mation and harangue; nothing that looks
like artifice and design; no apologies, no
encomiums, no characters, no reflections, no
digressions ; but the facts are recounted with
great simplicity, just as they seem to have
happened; and those facts are left to speak
for themselves. Their integrity, likewise,
evidently appears in the freedom with which
they mention those circumstances which
might have exposed their Master and them-
selves to the greatest contempt amongst pre-
judiced and inconsiderate men, such as they
knew they must generally expect to meet
with. John i. 45, 46; vii. 52; Luke
ii. 4, 7; Mark vi. 3; Matt. viii. 20; John
vii. 48. It is certain that there are in their
writings the most genuine traces not only of
a plain and honest, but a most pious and de-
vout, a most benevolent and generous dispo-
sition, as every one must acknowledge who
reads their writings. 3. The apostles were
under no temptation to forge a story of ‘this
kind, or to publish it to the world, knowing
it to be false. 4. Had they done so, humanly
speaking, they must quickly have perished in
it, and their foolish cause must have died
with them, without ever gaining any credit
in the world. Reflect more particularly on
the nature of those grand facts,'the death,
resurrection, and exaltation of Christ, which
formed the great foundation of the Christian
scheme, as first exhibited by the apostles.
The resurrection of a dead man, and his as-
cension into an abode in the upper world,
were such strange things, that a thousand
objections would immediately have been
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155
raised against them ; and some extraordinary
proof would have been justly required asv a
balance to them. Consider the manner in
which the apostles undertook to prove the
truth of their testimony to these facts; and
it will evidently appear that, instead of con-
firming theirschemc, it must have been suffi-
cient utterly to have overthrown it, had it
been itself the most probable imposture that
the wit of man could ever have contrived.
See Acts iii., ix., xiv., xix., &c. They did
not merely assert that they had seen miracles
wrought by Jesus, but that he had endowed
them with a variety of miraculous powers ;
and these they undertook to display, not in
such idle and useless tricks as sleight of hand
might perform, but in such solid and impor-
tant works as appeared worthy of divine in-
terposition, and entirely superior to human
power. Nor were these things undertaken
in a corner, in a circle of friends or depend-
ents; nor were they said to be wrought, as
might be suspected, by any confederates in
the fraud: but they were done often in the
most public manner. Would impostors have
made such pretensions as these? or, if they
had, must they not immediately have been
exposed and ruined? Now, if the New Tes-
tament be genuine, then it is certain that the
apostles pretend to have wrought miracles in
the very presence of those to whom their
writings were addressed; nay, more, they
profess likewise to have conferred those mi-
raculous gifts in some considerable degrees
on others, even on the very persons to whom
they write, and they appeal to their con-
sciences as to the truth of it. And could
there possibly be room for delusion here?
5. It is likewise certain that the apostles did
gain early credit, and succeeded in a most
wonderful manner. This is abundantly proved
by the vast number of churches established
in early ages at Rome, Corinth, Ephesus, Co-
losse, &c. 85c. 6. That, admitting the facts
which they testified concerning Christ to be
true, then it was reasonable for their contem—
poraries, and is reasonable for us, to receive
the Gospel which they have transmitted to us
as a divine revelation. The great thing they
asserted was, that Jesus was the Christ, and
that he was proved to be so by prophecies
accomplished in him, and by miracles wrought
by him, and by others in his name. If we
attend to these, we shall find them to be no
contemptible arguments; but must be forced
to acknowledge that, the premises being es-
tablished, the conclusion most easily and ne
cessarily follows; and this conclusion, that
Jesus is theChrist, taken in all its extent, is
an abstract of the Gospel revelation, and
therefore is sometimes put for the whole of
It. Acts viii. 37; xvii. 18. (See articles
MIRACLE and Pnorrrncr.) 7. The truth
of. the Gospel has also received further and
very considerable confirmation from what.
has happened in the world since it was first
published. And here we must desire every
one to consider what God has been doing to
confirm the Gospel since its first publication,
and he will find it a further evidence of its
divine original. We might argue at large
from its surprising propagation in the world;
from the miraculous powers with which not
only the apostles, but succeeding preachers
of the Gospel, and other converts, were en—
dowed; from the accomplishment of prophe-
cies recorded in the New Testament; and
from the preservation of the Jews as a dis-
tinct people, notwithstanding the various dif-
ficulties and persecutions through which they
have passed. We must not, however, forget
to mention the confirmation it receives from
the methods which its enemies have taken to
destroy it; and these have generally been
either persecution or falsehood, or cavilling
at some particulars in Revelation, without
entering into the grand argument on which.
it is built, and fairly debating what is offered
in its defence. The cause has gained consi-
derably by the opposition made to it; the
more it has been tried, the more it has been
approved; and we are bold to say no honest
man, unfettered by prejudice, can examine
this system in all its parts, without being
convinced that its origin is divine.
III. CHRISTIANITY, general doctrines of—
“ It must be obvious,” says an ingenious au-
thor, “ to every reflecting mind, that, whether
we attempt to form the idea of any religion
(2 priorz', or contemplate those which have
already been exhibited, certain facts, princi-
ples, or data must be pre-established; from
whence will result a particular frame of mind,
and course of action suitable to the character
and dignity of that Being by whom the reli-
gion is enjoined, and adapted to the nature
and situation of those agents who are com-
manded to observe it. Hence Christianity
may be divided into credenda, or doctrines,
and agenda, or precepts. As the great foun—
dation of his religion, therefore, the Christian
believes the existence and government of one
eternal and infinite Essence, which for ever
retains in itself the cause of its own exist-
ence, and inherently possesses all those per-
fections which are compatible with its nature;
such are its almighty power, omniscient wis-
dom, infinite justice, boundless goodness, and
universal presence. In this indivisible essence
the Christian recognizes three distinct sub-
sistences, yet distinguished in such a manner
as not to be incompatible either with essentia.
unity, or simplicity of being, or with their
personal distinction; each of them possesses
the same nature and properties to the_same
extent. This infinite Being was gracrously
pleased to create a universe replete with in-
telligences, who might enjoy his glory, par-
ticipate his happiness, and Imitate hrs per--
fcctions. But as these beings were, not
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immutable, but left to the freedom of their
own will, degeneracy took place, and that in
arank of intelligence superior to man. But
guilt is never stationary. Impatient of itself,
and ciu'sed with its own feelings, it proceeds
from bad to worse, whilst the poignancy of
its torments increases with the number of its
perpetrations. Such was the situation of
Satan and his apostate angels. They at-
tempted to transfer their turpitude and misery
to man, and were, alas! but too successful.
Hence the heterogeneous and irreconcilable
principles which operate in his nature; hence
that inexplicable medley of wisdom and folly,
of rectitude and error, of benevolence and
malignity, of sincerity and fraud, exhibited
through his whole conduct; hence the dark-
ness of his understanding, the depravity of
his will, the pollution of his heart, the irregu-
larity of his affections, and the absolute sub-
version of his whole internal economy. The
seeds of perdition soon ripened into overt acts
of guilt and horror. All the hostilities of
nature were confronted, and the whole sub~
lunary creation became a theatre of disorder
and mischief. Here the Christian once more
appeals to fact and experience. If these things
are so—if man be the vassal of guilt, and the
victim of misery, he demands how this con—
stitution of things can be accounted for? how
can it be supposed that a being so wicked and
unhappy should be the production of an infi-
nitely good and infinitely perfect Creator?
He, therefore, insists that human nature
must have been disarranged and contaminated
by some violent shock, and that, of conse-
quence, without the light diffused over the
face of things by Christianity, all nature must
remain in inscrutable and inexplicable mys~
tery. To redress these evils, to re-establish
the empire of rectitude and happiness, to
restore the nature of man to its primitive
dignity, to satisfy the remonstrances of infi-
nite justice, to purify every original or con-
tracted stain, to expiate the guilt and destroy
the power of vice, the Son of God, from whom
Christianit takes its name, and to whom it
owes its origin, descended from the bosom of
his Father, assumed the human nature, be~
came the representative of man; endured a
. severe probation in that character; exhibited
a pattern of perfect righteousness, and at last
ratified his doctrine, and fully accomplished
all the ends of his mission, by a cruel, unme-
rited, and ignominious death. Before he left
the world, he delivered the doctrines of sal-
vation, and the rules of human conduct, to
his apostles, whom he empowered to instruct
the world in all that concerned their eternal
felicity, and whom he invested with miracu-
lous gifts to ascertain the reality of what they
taught. To them he likewise promised an-
other comforter, even the Divine Spirit, who
should remove the darkness, console the woes,
and purify the stains of human nature. Hav-
ing remained for a part of three days under‘
the power of death, he rose again from the
grave; appeared to his disciples, and many
others; conversed with them for some time,
then re-ascended to heaven ; from whence the
Christian expects him, according to his pro-
mise, to appear as the Sovereign Judge of the
living and the dead, from whose awards there
is no appeal, and by whose sentence the des-
tiny of the righteous and the wicked shall be
eternally fixed. Soon after his departure to
the right hand of his Father (where, in his
human nature, he sits supreme of all created
beings, and invested with the absolute ad-
ministration of heaven and earth,) the Spirit
of grace and consolation descended on his
apostles with visible signatures of divine power
and presence. Nor were his salutary opera-
tions confined to them, but extended to all
who did not by obstinate guilt repel his
influences. These, indeed, were less conspi-
cuous than at the glorious era when they were
visibly exhibited in the persons of the apostles.
But though his energy be less observable, it
is by no means less effectual to all the pur-
poses of grace and mercy. The Christian is
convinced that there is, and shall continue to
be, a society upon earth who worship God as
revealed in Jesus Christ, who believe his doc-
trines, who observe his precepts, and who
shall be saved by the merits of his death, in
the use of these external means of salvation
which he hath appointed. He also believes
that the sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s
Supper, the interpretation and application of
Scripture, the habitual exercise of public and
private devotion, are obviously calculated to
diffuse and promote the interests of truth and
religion, by superinducing the salutary habits
of faith, love, and repentance. He is firmly
persuaded that, at the consummation of all
things, when the purposes of Providence, in
the various revolutions of progressive nature
are accomplished, the whole human race‘ shall
once more issue from their graves; some to
immortal felicity in the actual perception and
enjoyment of their Creator’s presence, and
others to everlasting shame and misery.”
CHRISTIANITY, morality and superiority ——-It has been well observed, “ that- the two
grand principles of action, according to the
Christian, are the love of God, which is the
sovereign passion in every gracious mind,
and the love of man, which regulates our
actions according to the various relations in
which we stand, whether to communities or
individuals. This sacred connexion ought
never to be totally extinguished by any tem-
porary injury. It ought to subsist in some
degree even among enemies. It requires that
we should pardon the offences of others, as
we expect pardon for our own; and that we
should no further resist evil than is necessary
for the preservation of personal rights and
social happiness. ‘It dictates every relative
C H R
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157
and reciprocal duty between parents and chil-
dren, masters and servants, governors and sub-
jects, friends and friends, men and men; nor
does it merely enjoin the observation of equity,
but likewise inspires the most sublime and ex-
tensive charity—a boundless and disinterested
effusion of tenderness for the whole species,
which feels their distress, and operates for their
relief and improvement.”
“ Christianity,” it has also been observed,
(and with the greatest propriety,) “ is supe-
rior to all other religions. The disciple of
Jesus not only contends, that no system of
religion has ever yet been exhibited so con-
sistent with itself, so congruous to philosophy
and the common sense of mankind, as Chris-
tianity; he likewise avers that it”: infinitely
more productive of real consolation than all
other religious or philosophical tenets which
have ever entered into the soul, or been ap-
plied to the heart of man. For what is death
to that mind which considers eternity as the
career of its existence ? What are the frowns
of men to him who claims an eternal world as
his inheritance? What is the loss of friends
to that heart which feels, with more than
natural conviction, that it shall quickly rejoin
them in a more tender, intimate, and perma-
nent intercourse, than any of which the pre-
sent life is susceptible ? What are the vicis-
situdes of external things to a mind which
strongly and uniformly anticipates a state of
endless and immutable felicity? What are
mortifications, disappointments, and insults,
to a spirit which is conscious of being the
original offspring and adopted child of God;
which knows that its omnipotent Father will,
in proper time, effectually assert the dignity
and privileges of its nature? In a word, as
this earth is but a speck in the creation, as
time is not an instant in proportion to eter-
nity, such are the hopes and prospects of the
Christian in comparison of every sublunary
misfortune or difiiculty. It is, therefore, in
his judgment, the eternal wonder of angels,
and indelible opprobrium of man, that a re-
ligion so worthy of God, so suitable to the
frame and circumstances of our nature, so
consonant to all the dictates of reason, so
friendly to the dignity and improvement of
intelligent beings, so pregnant with genuine
comfort and delight, should be rejected and
despised by any of the human race.”
V. CHRISTIANITY, external propagation of:
—-—The first community of the followers of
Christ was formed at Jerusalem, soon after
the death and resurrection of their master.
.Anothcr at Antioch, in Syria, first assumed,
about the year 45, the name of Christians,
which had originally been given them by
their enemies, as a term of reproach; and
the travels and ministry of the apostles, and
other missionaries, soon spread Christianity
through the Roman empire. Palestine, Sy-
r1a,-Natolia, Greece, the islands of the Medi-
terranean, Italy, and the northern coast of
Africa, as early as the first century, contained
numerous societies of Christians. Their lives
were spiritual and holy, their ecclesiastical
practices simple, and conformable to the na-
ture of their religion, and the humble cir-
cumstances in which they were placed, and
they continued to acquire strength amidst all
kinds of persecution. At the end of the se-
cond century, Christians were to be found in
all the provinces; and at the end of the third
century almost half the inhabitants of the R0-
man empire, and of several neighbouring
countries, professed the faith of Christ. About
this time, endeavours to preserve a unity of
belief, and of church discipline, occasioned
numberless disputes among those of different
opinions, and led to the establishment of an
ecclesiastical tyranny, than which nothing is
more contrary to the spirit and design of
Christianity. At the beginning of the fourth
century, when the Christians obtained tolera-
tion by means of Constantine the Great, and
their religion became that of the empire, the
bishops assumed to themselves the power of
authoritatively deciding on matters of faith,
and making enactments relative to the govern—
ment of the church. Their views were promot-
ed by the favour of the emperors, (with slight
interruptions in the reign of Julian, and some
of his successors,) by the increased splen-
dour and various ceremonials of public wor-
ship; by the decline of classical learning; the
increasing superstition resulting from the in-
crease of ignorance; and by the establish-
ment of convents and monks. In this form.
appealing more to the senses than to the
understanding, Christianity, which had "been
introduced among the Goths in the fourth
century, was spread among the other Teutonic
nations in the west and north of Europe, and
subjected to its power, during the seventh and
eighth centuries, the rude warriors who founded
new kingdoms on the ruins of the Western
Empire, while it was losing ground in Asia
and Africa, before the encroachment of the
Saracens, by whose rigorous measures hun-
dreds of thousands of professed Christians
were converted to Mohammedanism; the he-
retical sects which had been disowned by the
orthodox church, being almost the only
Christians who maintained their profession
in the East.
During the progress of Mohammedanism,
which in Europe extended only to Spain and
Sicily, the Popes of Rome, who were advanc-
ing systematically to the ecclesiastical domi-
nation in the west, gained more in the north,
and soon after in theleast of this quarter of
the world, by the conversion of the Slavonic
and Scandinavian nations, than they had lost
in other regions. For the Mohammedans had
chiefly overrun the territory of the Eastern
Church, which had been since the fifth cen-
tury no longer one with the 'Western, and had
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158
by degrees become entirely separate from it.
In the tenth century that church received a
large accession of adherents, by the conversion
of the Russians, who have ever since continued
to be its principal supporters. But the crusa-
ders, who were led partly by religious enthusi-
asm, partly by the desire of conquest and
adventure, to attempt the recovery of the holy
sepulchre, gained the new kingdom of J eru-
salem, not for the Greek emperor, but for
themselves and the Papal hierarchy. The
confusion which this finally unsuccessful un—
dertaking introduced into the civil and do-
mestic affairs of the western nations, gave-the
Roman Church a favourable opportunity of
increasing its possessions, and asserting its
pretensions to universal monarchy. The inter-
course of nations, however, and the return of
the crusaders, combined with more liberal views
propagated by individuals of a more philoso—
phic turn of mind, and above all, the indig-
nation excited by the scandalous corruptions
and vices of the clergy, stood greatly in its
way. These kindled an opposition among all
the societies and sects against 'the hierarchy.
The foundation and multiplication of ecclesi-
astical orders, particularly the Franciscans
and Dominicans, professedly for the care of
souls and the instruction of the people, which
had been neglected by the secular priests, did
not remedy the evil, because they laboured, in
general, more actively to promote the interests
of the church and the papacy, than to remove
superstition and ignorance; and bold specu-
lations which would not yield to their per-
suasions, were less likely to be extirpated by
the power of the Inquisition, which armed
itself with fire and sword. The vast difference
of religion, as then taught and practised, from
the religion of Jesus Christ; the utter insufii-
ciency of what the church taught to satisfy
the mind and heart of men, in reference to
their religious wants, becameobvious to num-
bers, partly from their knowledge of Christi-
anity derived from the Bible, which now
began to be studied in secret, in spite of the
prohibitions of the church; and partly from
the bold eloquence and undaunted appeals of
individuals among those who were disgusted
with prevailing abuses. The ecclesiastical
, orders were also desirous of pursuing an 1n-
dependent course; ofiended princes forgot the
services of the papal power, in promoting the
civilization of barbarous nations, in the first
centuries of the middle ages; and the Popes
themselves made little effort to reform or con—
ceal the corruption of their court and of the
clergy. They even afforded the scandalous
spectacle of a schism in the church, which
was distracted for more than thirty years, by
the quarrels between her candidates, who both
asserted their right to the papal chair. Nor
could any thing settle this dispute but the
decrees of the council of Constance, (1414-—
1418,) which were very unfavourable to the
papal power. The doctrines of Wicklifi‘e had
already given rise to a party opposed to the
popedom; and the secession of the adherents
of the Bohemian reformer extorted ‘from the
council of Basle certain compacts, which being
firmly maintained, proved to the friends of
reformation what might be effected by a firm
and united opposition to the abuses of the
Roman Church.
At length Luther was raised up, who, in
conjunction with a noble band of witnesses for
the truth, exposed the unscriptural dogmas
and corrupt practice of the papal hierarchy,
translated the Scriptures into the vernacular
languages’ of the nations of Europe; pro—
nounced the authority of God, as expressed
in the Bible, to be the ultimate standard of
appeal, and opened and explained the divine
word in its various and important bearings on
the highest interests of man. A spirit of free
inquiry was thus awakened, which has not
ceased, to the present hour, to produce effects
favourable to the emancipation of the human
mind both from secular and spiritual tyranny;
and in proportion as its legitimate influence
has been felt, have been the advantages accru—
ing to the interests of genuine Christianity.
Not only has the light of the gospel dispelled
to a great extent the mists of ignorance and
superstition, in which the whole of Europe was
involved, but the religion of Christ, in its
purer forms, has been conveyed by the colon-
ists to America, where its benign influence is
extensively felt, and from which, there is reason
to believe, it will ere long be extended over
the southern regions of that vast continent,
where unexampled cruelties have for centuries
been exercised by the votaries vof Roman
superstition.
Notwithstanding the obstacles which have
been thrown in the way of Christianity, partly
by the abettors of infidelity, the apathy and
divisions of ‘Protestantism, the unscriptural
doctrines that have been taught by many of its
ministers, and the unholy effects which have
resulted from the connexion of church and
state, that divine system has been gradually
gaining ground, and is now making rapid pro-
gress towards universal conquest. By the
exertion of missionary, Bible, tract, and other
societies, the truth is not only being brought
prominently to light throughout Europe, but
in Africa, India, and the islands of the Pacific,
its power has been extensively felt; and the
period seems rapidly approaching when, in
fulfilment of ancient prophecy, the knowledge
of the Lord shall cover the earth, as the waters
do the sea. a
VI. CHRISTIANITY, success ojI—Despised
as Christianity has been .by many, yet it has
had an extensive progress through the world,
and still continues to be professed by great
numbers of mankind; thou h it is to be
lamented many are unacquainted with its
genuine influence. It was early and rapidly
R 10
9 CHR
propagated through the whole Roman empire,
which then contained almost the whole known
world; and herein we cannot but admire both
the wisdom and the power of God. “ Desti-
tute of all human advantages,” says a good
writer, “ protected by no authority, assisted by
no art; not recommended by the reputation
of its author, not enforced by eloquence in its
advocates, the word of God grew mightily,
and prevailed. Twelve men, poor,artless, and
illiterate, we behold triumphing over the
fiercest and most determined opposition; over
the tyranny of the magistrate, and the subtle- '
ties of the philosopher; over the prejudices of
the Gentile, and the bigotry of the Jew. They
established a religion which held forth high
and venerable mysteries, such as the pride of
man would induce him to suspect, because he
could not perfectly comprehend them ; which
preached doctrines pure and spiritual, such as
corrupt nature was prone to oppose, because
it shrunk from the severity of their discipline;
which required its followers to renounce
almost every opinion they had embraced as
sacred, and every interest they had pursued
as important; which even exposed them to
every species of danger and infamy ; to per-
secution unmerited and unpitied; to the gloom
of a prison, and to the pangs of death. Hope-
less as this prospect might appear to the view
of short-sighted man,the Gospel yet emerged
from the obscurity in which it was likely to
be overwhelmed by the complicated distresses
of its friends, and the unrelenting cruelty of
its foes. It succeeded in a peculiar degree,
and in a peculiar manner; it derived that
success from truth, and obtained it under cir-
cumstances where falsehood must have been
detected and crushed.”
“ Although,” says the elegant Porteus,
“ Christianity has not always been so well
understood, or so honestly practised, as it
ought to have been; although its spirit has
been often mistaken, and its precepts mis-
applied, yet, under all these disadvantages, it
has gradually produced a visible change in
those points which most materiall concern
the peace and quiet of the world. ts benefi-
cent spirit has spread itself through all the
different relations and modifications of life,
and communicated its kindly influence to
almost every public and private concern of
mankind. It has insensibly worked itself
into the inmost frame and constitution of civil
states. It has given a tinge to the complexion
of their governments, to the temper and’ ad-
ministration of their laws. It has restrained
the spirit of the prince and the madness of the
people. It has softened the rigour of despot-
ism, and tamed the insolence of conquest. It
has, in some degree, taken away the edge of
the sword, and thrown even over the horrors
of war a veil of mercy. It has descended
into families, has diminished the pressure of
private tyranny ; improved every domestic

cndearment; given tenderness to the parent,
humanity to the master, respect to superiors,
to inferiors, case; so that mankind are, upon
the whole, even in a temporal view, under
infinite obligations to the mild and pacific
temper of the Gospel, and have reaped from it
more substantial worldly benefits than from
any other institution upon earth. As one
proof of this, among many others, consider
only the shocking carnage made in the human
species by the exposure of infants, the gladi-
atorial shows, which sometimes cost Europe
twenty or thirty thousand lives in a month ;
and the exceedingly cruel usage of slaves,
allowed and practised by the ancient pagans.
These were not the accidental and temporary
excesses of a sudden fury, but were legal and
established, and constant methods of murder-
ing and tormenting mankind. Had Christi-
anity done nothing more than brought into
disuse, as it confessedly has done, the two
former of these inhuman customs entirely, and
the latter to a very great degree, it had justly
merited the title of the benevolent religion; but
this is far from being all. Throughout the
more enlightened parts of Christendom there
prevails a gentleness of manners widely
different from the ferocity of the most civil-
ized nations of antiquity; and that liberality
with which every species of distress is re-
lieved, is a virtue peculiar to the Christian
name.”
But we may ask further, what success has
it had on the mind of man, as it respects his
eternal welfare? How many thousands have
felt its power, rejoiced in its benign influence,
and under its dictates been constrained to
devote themselves to the glory and praise of
God? Burdened with guilt, incapable of find-
ing relief from human resources, the mind
has here found peace unspeakable, in behold~
ing that sacrifice which alone could atone
for transgression. Here the hard and im-
penitent heart has been softened, the impetu-
ous passions restrained, the ferocious temper
subdued, powerful prejudices conquered, ig-
norance dispelled, and the obstacles to real
happiness removed. Here the Christian,
looking round on the glories and blandish-
ments of this world, has been enabled, with a
noble contempt, to despise all. Here death
itself, the king of terrors, has lost its sting;
and the soul, with a holy magnanimity, has
borne up in the agonies of a dying hour,
Zlllid sweetly sung itself away to everlasting
ss. -
In respect to its future spread, we have
reason to believe that all nations shall feel its
happy effects. The prophecies are pregnant
with matter as to this belief. It seems that
not only a nation or a country, but the whole
habitable globe, shall become the kingdom of
our Lord and of his Christ : and who is there
that has ever known the excellency of this
system; who is there that has ever experi-
C H R
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160
enced its happy eflicacy; who is there that
has ever been convinced of its divine origin,
its delightful nature, and peaceful tendency,
but what must join the benevolent and royal
poet in saying, “ Let the whole earth be filled
with its glory, amen, and amen?”
See article CHRISTIANITY, in Enc. Bria,-
Paley’s. Evidences of Christianity; Lardner’s
and Macknight’s Credibility of the Gospel
History,- Lord Hailes on the Influenceof Gil)-
bon’s Five Causes; Fawcett’s Evidences of
Christianity; Doddridge’s ditto; Fell’s and
Hunter’s Lectures on ditto; Beattie’s Evi-
dences of the Christian Religion; Soame
Jenyns’s Evidences of ditto; White’s Sermons;
Bishop Porteus’s Sermons, vol. i. ser. 12, 13;
and his Essay on the Beneficial efl‘ects of
Christianity on the temporal Concerns of Man-
kind ,- Amer. Encyclop, art. CHRISTIANITY;
and Milman’s History of Christianity.
CHRISTIANS, pronounced Christians, the
name of a denomination in the United States
of America, adopted to express their renun-
ciation of all sectarianism. They sprang up
about the year 1800, and have become nu-
merous in all parts of the country, the number
of their churches being estimated at about
1000; that of their communicants from
‘75,000 to 100,000, and that of persons attend-
ing their ministry, nearly 300,000. Each
church is an independent body; they recog-
nize no creed, nor do they admit of any
authority in matters of doctrine; the scrip-
tures, which every individual must interpret
for himself, are their only rule ‘of faith:
admission into the church is obtained by a
simple profession of belief in Christianity,
accompanied by evidence of sincerity and
piety. In New England they separated prin-
cipally from the Calvinistic Baptists; in the
southern states, from the Methodists; and in
the western, from the Presbyterians. There
was, therefore, at first, a great diversity of
opinion and practice among them, each
church retaining some of the peculiarities of
the sect from which it seceded. In New
England, the churches ‘ were established on
the principle of close communion, which was
soon abandoned. In the south and west they
were Paedobaptists, but have since become
Baptists. Nearly all were originally Trini-
tarians; but the doctrine of the Trinity, and
other concomitant doctrines, they have now
abandoned. To maintain a connexion be-
tween the churches, one or more conferences
are formed in each state, consisting of mem-
bers delegated from each church. In 1833
there were thirty-two of these conferences,
which again form by delegation the United
States General Christian Conference. They
have several periodical works (“ Christian
Herald,” Portsmouth, New Hampshire; “ Gos-
pel Luminary,” New York; “ Christian Mes-
senger,” Kentucky,) but no theological semi-
nary, believing that whoever understands the
gospel may teach it. They consider Christ
to be the Son of God, miraculously con-
ceived, whose death was a ratification of the
new covenant, not a propitiatory sacrifice;
and the Holy Spirit as the power or energy
of God exerted in correcting the wicked and
strengthening the good. -
CHRISTMAS, the day on which the nativity
of our blessed Saviour is celebrated.
The first traces that we find of the obser-
vation of this day, are in the second century,
about the time of the Emperor Commodus.
The decretal epistles, indeed, carry it up a
little higher, and say that Telesphorus, who
lived in the reign of Antoninus Pius, ordered
divine service to be celebrated, and an ange—
lic hymn to be sung the night before the
nativity of our Saviour. That it was kept
before the time of Constantine we have a
melancholy proof; for whilst the persecution
raged under Dioclesian, who then kept his
court at Nicomedia, that tyrant, among other
acts of cruelty, finding multitudes of Chris-
tians assembled together to celebrate Christ’s
nativity, commanded the church doors where
they were met to be shut, and fire to be put
to it, which soon reduced them and the church
to ashes.
In the Roman Church three masses are
performed :—-one at midnight, one at day-
break, and one in the morning; and both in
the Greek and Roman Churches the Manger,
the Holy Family, &c., are sometimes repre-
sented at large. Some convents at Rome,
chiefly the Franciscans, are famous for at-
tracting the people by such theatrical exhi-
bitions.
This feast is also celebrated in the Church
of England, and in the Lutheran churches,
but is rejected by the Church of Scotland
and the Dissenters; though, in England,
some of the latter embrace the opportunity of
having preaching, it being‘ a day on which
little or no business is done; others object
to this as apparently symbolizing with human
inventions.
The custom of making presents on Christ-
mas-eve is derived from an old heathen
usage, practised among the northern nations,
at the feast of the birth of Sol, on the 25th
of December, to which it succeeded, and re-
tained the name of Yale or Iuul; i. e. the
“ Wheel” or revolution of the sun.
Whether this festival was‘ always observed
on the 25th of December, is a point which
has been greatly disputed. Dr. Cave is of
opinion, that it was at first kept by the East-
ern church in January, and confounded with
the Epiphany; till, receiving better infor-
mation from the Western churches, they-
changed it to that day. Chrysostom, in an
homily on ‘this very subject, afiirms, that it
was not above ten years since, in that church.
(that of Antioch), it began first to be observed
upon that day; and he offers several reasons
CHU'
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161
Clemens Alexandrinus reckons,
from the birth of Christ to the death of Com-
modus, exactly one hundred and ninety-four
years, one month, and thirteen days. These
years, being taken according to the Egyptian
account, and reduced to the‘ Julian style,
make the birth of Christ to fall on the 25th
or 26th of the month of December. Yet, not-
withstanding this, the same father tells us, in
the same place, that there were some who,
more curiously searching after the year and
day of ‘Christ’s nativity, affixed the latter to
the 25th of the month Pachon. Now, in that
year in which Christ was born, the month
Paehon commenced the 20th of April; so.
that, according to this computation, Christ
was born on the 16th of May. Hence we
‘may see how little certainty there is in this
matter, since, so soon after the event, the
‘learned were divided in opinion concerning it.
Mr. Selden, in his “ Table-Talk,” speak-
ing of this festival says, “ Christmas succeeds
the Saturnalia; the same time, the same
‘number of holydays ; then the master waited
upon the servant like the lord of misrule.
“ Our meats and our sports (much of them)
have relation to church-works. The coffin
of our Christmas pics, in shape long, is in
imitation of the cratch. Our choosing kings
and queens, on Twelfth-night, hath reference
to the three kings. So likewise our eating of
fritters, whipping of tops, roasting of her-
rings, jack of lents, &c., were all in imitation
of church-works, emblems of martyrdom.
Our tansies at Easter have reference to the
bitter herb, though, at the same time, it was
always the fashion for a man to have a
gammon of bacon, to show himself to be no
Jew.”
"CHRISTO SAGRUM, a society founded at
Delft, in Holland, in 1801, by Onder de Win-
garrd, an aged burgomaster of that city. Its
object is to reconcile all denominations who
admit the divinity of Jesus Christ, and re-
demption through the merits of his death. It
originally consisted of only four persons, but
is said to have increased to between two and
three thousand. Members are admitted from
all Christian communions, but no efforts are
used to make proselytes.
CHRONICLE, SAMARITAN, of Abul-Pha-
thach, a history of events, otherwise known
under the name of the “ Book of Joshua,” a
copy of which, now in the University of Ox-
ford, was procured by Huntington, from the
Samaritans at Naplose, and another was in
the possession of the learned Schnurrer. 'The
former extends from the creation of the world
to the year of our Lord 1492 ; the latter only
to the time of Mohammed.
CHURCH, Scottish Kirk, Danish, 81.0., Kirke,
German Kirche, is generally derived from the
Greek Kvptmto'il, what belongs, or is appro-
priated to the Lord (Kvptog); though some
.tp prove that to be the true day of Christ’s
‘nativity.

think it is from the German Karen, to elect,
choose out, and so corresponding to the Greek
émckno'ta, from ‘an out of, and makes: 1 call.
1. The Greek word 'Emckqma properly de-
notes an assembly met about business, whether
lawful or unlawful, Acts xix. 32, 39.—2. It is
understood of the collective body of Chris-
tians, or all those over the face of the earth
who profess to believe in Christ, and acknow-
ledge him to be the Saviour of mankind.
Eph._ iii. 21. 1 Tim. iii. 15. Eph. iv. 11, 12.--
3. By the word chm-ch, also, we are to under-
stand the whole body of God’s chosen people,
in every period of time. Those on earth are
also called the militant, and those in heaven
the triumphant church. Heb. xii. 23. Acts
xx. 28. Eph. i. 22. Matt. xvi. 28.—4. By a
particular church we understand an assembly
of Christians united together, and meeting in
one place for the solemn worship of ~‘God. To
this agrees the definition given by the com-
pilers of the thirty-nine articles of the Church
of England :— “A congregation of faithful
men, in which the true word of God is preach—
ed, and the sacraments duly administered, ac-
cording to Christ’s ordinances, in all those
things that of necessity are requisite to the
same.” Acts ix. '31. 'Gal. i. 2, 22. 1 Cor.
xiv. 34. Acts xx. 17. ‘Col. iv. 15.—5. The
word is now used also to denote any particular
denomination of Christians distinguished by
particular doctrines, ceremonies, 850.; as the
Romish Church, Greek Church, English
Church, &e. -——6. -The word church is also
improperly used to denote the building in
which the members of the Establishment meet
for public worship. The Christians 'of the
'first century worshipped in private houses, or
in the open air, in remote places, because they
were not acknowledged by the state, and were
often persecuted. It was not till the third
century that they could venture to give more
publicity to their service, and build places of
worship. After the fourth ‘century churches
became large, and, in many instances, mag
nificent edifices. Many heathen temples were
converted into churches; and, in the middle
ages, edifices were erected for the professed
worship of Him who “ dwelleth not in tem-
ples made with hands,” which in loftiness and
grandeur were never surpassed. Encepting
St. Paul’s in London, the Protestants have not
erected any very splendid church; and, in~
deed, their principal object in the construction
of their places of worship is, what it ever
ought to be, the accommodation of the hearers.
In the Roman Catholic and Greek Comma‘-
nions, on the contrary, the effect on the eye
is every thing.
CHURCHES, APos'roLIC, such Christian so-
cieties as were formed in the days and with
the sanction of the Apostles. It clearly ap-
pears that such churehes were not national;
they were not even provincial; for, though
there were many believers and professing
M ,
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Christians in Judea, in Galilee, in Samaria,
in Macedonia, in Galatia, and other provinces,
yet we never read of a provincial church in
any of those places. The particular societies
of Christians in these districts are mentioned
in the plural number. 2 Cor. viii. 1. Gal. i.
2. Acts ix. 31. No mention is made of die-
cesan churches in the New Testament. In
the days of the apostles, bishops were so far
from presiding over more churches than one,
that sometimes a plurality of bishops presided
over the same church. See Phil. i. 1. Nor
do we find any mention made of parochial
churches. Some of the inhabitants of a
parish may be InfidelsJdohammedans, or Jews ;
but the apostolic churches consisted of such
as made an open profession of their faith in
Christ, and subject-ion to the Gospel. Rom. i.
7. 1 Cor. xiv. 33. On these principles it is
maintained that the primitive churches of
Christ were properly congregational. The
first church at Jerusalem met together in one
place at the same time. Acts i. 14, 15. The
Church of Antioch did the same. Acts xiv.
27. The Church of Corinth the same. 1 Cor.
xiv. 23. The same did the church at Troas.
Acts xx. 7. There was a church at Cenchrea,
a port of Corinth, distinct from the church in
that city. Rom. xvi. He that was a mem-
ber of one church was not a member of an-
other. The Apostle Paul, writing to the
Colossian society, says :——“ Ep'aphras, who is
one of you, saluteth you.” Col. iv. 12.
Such a church is agbody distinguished from
the civil societies of the world by the spiritual
nature and design of its government; for
though Christ would have order kept in his
church, yet this is to be done solely by the
influence of his authority without any coer-
cive force ; a thing inconsistent with the very
nature of such a society, whose end is instruc-
tion, and a practice suitable to it, which can
never in the nature of things be accomplished
by penal laws or external coercion. Isa.
xxxiii. 22. Matt. xxiii. 8, 10. John xviii. 36.
Psa. ii. 6. 2 Cor. x. 4, 5. Zech. iv. 6, &c.
1. Church members are those who compose
or belong to such a church. As to the visible
church, it may be observed, that real saintship
is not the distinguishing criterion of the mem-
bers of it. None, indeed, can without it
honestly offer themselves to church fellow-
ship; but they cannot be refused admission
for the mere want of it; for, 1. God alone
can judge the heart. Deceivers may counter-
feit saintship—2. Many that were admitted
members in the churches of Judea, Corinth,
Philippi, Laodicea, Sardis, &c., afterwards.
proved that they were unregenerated. ‘Act's
v. l, 10. viii. 13, 23. 1 Cor. v. 11. Phil. 111.
18, 19. As to the real church, 1. The true
members of it are such as are born agam.
John iii. 3.--2. They come out from the
world. 1 Cor. vi. 17.--—3. They openly pro-
fess love to Christ. James ii. 14, 26. Mark
viii. 34, &c.—4. 'They walk in all the ordi-
nances of the Lord blameless. None but
such are proper members of the true church;
nor should any be admitted to anyI particular
church without scriptural evidence of these
characteristics,
2. Church Fellowship is the communion that
the members enjoy, one with another.
The ends of church fellowship are, l. The
maintenance and exhibition of a system of
sound principles. 2 Tim. i. 13. 1 Tim. vi. 3,
4. 1 Cor. viii. 5, 6. Heb. ii. 1. Eph. iv. 21.
—2. The support of the ordinances of Gospel
worship in their purity and simplicity. Rom.
xv. 6.—~The impartial exercise of church
government and discipline. Heb. xii. 15.
Gal. vi. 1. 2 Tim. ii. 24, 26. Tit. iii; 10.
1 Cor. v. James iii. 17.—-4. The promotion
of holiness in all manner of conversation.
Phil. i. 27; ii. 15, 16. 2 Pet. iii. 11. Phil. iv. 8.
The more particular duties are, l. Earnest
study to keep peace and unity. Eph. iv. 3.
Phil. ii. 2, 3; iii. 15, 16.—2. Bearing of one
another’s burdens. Gal. vi. 1, 2.-——3. Earnest
endeavours to prevent each other’s stumbling.
1 Cor. x. 2, 3. Heb. x. 24, 27. Item. xiv.
13.—4. Stedfast continuance in the faith and
worship of the Gospel. Acts ii. 42.——5. Pray-
ing for and sympathising with each other.
1 Sam. xii. 23. Eph. vi. 18.
The advantages are, 1. Peculiar incitements
to holiness. Heb. x. 25. 2. There are some
promises applicable to none but those who
attend the ordinances of God, and hold com-
munion with the saints. Psa. xcii. 13. Isa.
xxv. 6. Psa. cxxxii. 13, 16. Psa. xxxvi. 8.
J er. xxxi. 12.—3. Such are under the watch-
ful eye and care of their pastor. Heb. xiii.
7 .-—-4. Subject to the friendly reproof or kind
advice of the saints. 1 Cor. xii. 25.—5. Their
zeal and love are animated by reciprocal
conversation. Mal. iii. 16. Prov. xxvii. 17.—
6. They may restore each other if they
fall. Eccl. iv. 10. Gal. vi. 1.-~7. More easily
promote the cause, and spread the Gospel
elsewhere.
3. Church ordinances are, 1. Reading of the
Scriptures. Neh. ix. 3. Acts xvii. 11. Neh.
viii. 3, 4. Luke iv. 16.—2. Preaching and
expounding. 1 Tim. iii. 2. 2 Tim. ii. 24.
Eph. iv. 8. Rom. x. 15. Heb. v. 4.-—3.
Hearing. Isa. lv. 1. James i. 21. 1 Pet. 2
1 Tim. iv. 13.—4. Pra er. Ps. v. 1, 2; xcv.
6; cxxi. 1 ; xxviii. 2. cts xii. 12; i. 14.—-
5. Singing of psalms. Ps. xlvii. 1—6. Col.
iii. 16. 1 Cor. xiv. 15. Eph.v. 19.--6. Thanks-
giving. Ps. l. 14; c. James v. 13.---7. The
Lord’s Supper. 1 Cor. xi. 23, &c. Acts xx. 7.
Baptism is not properly a church ordinance,
since it ought to be administered before a
person is admitted into church fellowship.
See BAPTISM.
4. Church ofiicers are those appointed by
Christ for preaching the word, and the super-
intendence and management of church affairs;
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163
such as bishops and demons. See those
articles. -
5. As to church order and discipline, it may
be observed, that every Christian society
formed on the apostolic plan is- strictly inde-
pendent of all other religious societies. No
other church, however numerous or respect-
able ; no person or persons, however eminent
for authority, abilities, or influence, have any
right to assume arbitrary jurisdiction over
such a society. They have but one master,
who is Christ. See Matt. xviii. 15, 19.‘ Even
the officers which Christ has appointed in his
church have no power to give new laws to it;
but only, in conjunction with the other mem-
bers of the society, to execute the commands
of Christ. They have no dominion over any
man's faith, nor any compulsive power over
the consciences of any. Every particular
church has a right to judge of the fitness of
those who offer themselves as members.
Acts ix. 26. If they are found to be proper
persons, they must then be admitted; and
this should always be followed with prayer,
and with a solemn exhortation to the persons
received. If any member walk disorderly,
and continue to do so, the church is em-
powered to exclude him, 1 Cor. v. 7. 2 Thess.
iii. 6. Rom. xvi. 17, which should be done
with the greatest tenderness; but if evident
signs of repentance should be discovered,
such must be received again. Gal. vi. 1.
See Dr. Owen on the Nature of a Gospel
Church and its Government; lVatts’s Rational
Foundation of‘ a Christian Church; Turner’s
Compendium of Soc. Rel; Fawcett's Consti-
tution and Order of a Gospel Church ,- l/Vatts’s
VVor/zs, ser. 53, vol. i.; Goodwin’s Works, vol.
iv. ; Fuller’s Remarks on the Discipline of the
Primitive Churches; Haldane’s View of So-
cial Worship ; and Bryson’s Compendious
View.
CHURCH, Anrssmmmthat portion of the
professing church of Christ which exists in
Abyssinia, or the ancient Ethiopia. It is
properly a branch of the Coptic, and is go-
verned by a patriarch who is styled Abuna,
and chosen from among the Coptic priests,
subject to the Patriarch of Alexandria, whose
usual residence is at Cairo. The Abyssinians
admit of only one nature in Jesus Christ, and
thus belong to the Monophysites; but they
differ from the Eutychians in maintaining
that this single nature is composed of two,—
the divine and human. They have different
orders of priesthood; and the emperor him-
self receiving holy orders, exercises a kind
of supremacy in ecclesiastical affairs. The
clergy are maintained from the productions
of the country. They have monks and
canons. They practise circumcision on
females as well as males; abstain from the
meats prohibited by the Mosaic law; observe
both Saturday and the Lord's day as sabbaths;
and are bound by the levirate. They invoke
angels, pray for the dead; have numerous
legends, and fictitious miracles; and believe
in a kind of purgatory, or middle state, in
which the departed are being prepared for
bliss. They have no graven images, but
worship pictures. They do not believe in
transubstantiation, and have the communion
in both kinds.
Attempts have been made both on the part
of the Church of Rome, and on that of Pro-
testants, to effect a change‘in their views,
but with little success. See Bruce’s Travels
and Jones’s Diet, of Religious Opinions.
CHURCH, ARMENIAN. In the beginning of
the fourth century the Armenians embraced
the Christian faith. Their written language
owes its cultivation to the translation of the
Bible, shortly after that event. The most
flourishing period of their literature was in
the sixth century, at the time of their separa-
tion from the Greek Church, after the council
of Chaleedon.
Since that period Armenia has undergone
so many revolutions, that it must appearmore
remarkable that the Armenians should still
persevere in the Christian faith, than that
they should now deviate in many particu-
lars from the original doctrines of their
Church. Their history is very interesting,
and, according to Dr. Buchanan, of all the ~
Christians in Central Asia, they have pre-
served themselves most free from Moham-
medan and Papal corruptions.
The state of their Church underwent a
considerable change, early in the seventeenth
century, in consequence of the incursions of
Abbas the Great, King of Persia, into Ar-
menia. This prince, to prevent the Turks
from approaching to his frontier, laid waste
that part of Armenia that lay contiguous to
his dominions, and ordered the inhabitants
to retire into Persia; and, in the general
emigration that ensued, the more opulent
and better sort of the Armenians removed to
Ispahan, the capital of Persia, where the
generous monarch granted them a beautiful
suburb for their residence, with the free exer-
cise of their religion, and where they have a
considerable monastery, the seat of the bishop
at this day. During the whole of his reign,
these happy exiles experienced the most li-
beral treatment, and enjoyed the sweets of
liberty and abundance; but after his death
the scene changed: his successors were not
equally generous; persecution ensued, and
the Armenian church declined daily, both in
credit and numbers. The storm of persecu-
tion that arose upon them, shook their con-
stancy; many of them apostatized t0 the
Mohammedan religion : so that it was justly
to be feared that this branch of the Armenian
Church would gradually perish. On the
other hand, the state of religion in that Church
derived considerable advantages from the set-
tlement of a vast number of Armenians in
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164
different parts of Europe for the purposes of
commerce. These merchants, who had fixed
their residence, during this century, at London,
Amsterdam, Marseilles, and Venice, were not
unmindful of the interests of religion in their
native country ; and their situation furnished
them with favourable opportunities of exer-
cising their zeal in this good cause, and par-
ticularly of supplying their Asiatic brethren
with Armenian translations of the holy Scrip-
tures, and other theological books, from the
European presses, especially from those of
England and Holland. These pious and in—
structive productions, being dispersed among
the Armenians who lived under the Persian
and Turkish governments, contributed, no
doubt, to preserve that illiterate and super-
stitious people from falling into the most
consummate and deplorable ignorance.
The Armenian was considered as a branch
of the Greek Church, till nearly the middle
of the sixth century, when the heresy of the
Monophysites spread ‘far and wide through
Africa and Asia, comprehending the Arme-
nians also among its votaries. But, though
the members of this church still agree with
the other Monophysites in the main doctrines
of that sect, relating to the unity of the divine
and human nature in Christ, they differ from
them in so many points of faith, worship, and
discipline, that they do not hold communion
with that branch of the Monophysites who
are Jacobites in the more limited sense of
that term, nor with either the Copts or the
Abyssinian's.
Sir P. Ricaut gives the following statement
of the doctrines of their church:
They allow and accept the articles of faith
according to the Council of Nice; and are
also acquainted with the Apostles’ Creed,
which they have in use. As to the Trinity,
they accord with the Greeks, acknowledging
three Persons in one Divine nature, and that
the Holy Ghost proceeds only from the Father.
They believe that Christ descended into hell,
and that he freed the souls of all the damned
from thence, by the grace and favour of his
glorious presence ; not for ever, or by a plen-
ary pardon or remission, but only as reprieved
unto the end of the world, at which time they
shall again be returned unto eternal flames.
He denies that this church is attached to
the Eutychian or Monophysite heresy; and,
in support of this opinion, produces a trans-
lation of its Tavananh, or creed, containing
the sum of the Armenian faith, which they
teach ‘their children, and which is repeated
by them in the course of divine service, in
the same manner as the Apostles’ Creed by us.‘
But this instrument is far from being conclu-
sive, and, on this subject, Sir P. departs from
general opinion. .
They maintain that the souls. and bodies
of the prophet Elias and the Virgin Mary,
only. are in heaven. Yet, notwithstanding
their opinion that no other prophets or saints
shall be admitted into heaven until the day
of judgment, by a certain imitation of the
Greek and Latin Churches, they invoke them
with prayers; reverence and adore their pie-
tures or images, and burn lamps and candles
before them.
Their manner of worship is performed af-
ter the eastern fashion, by prostrating their
bodies, and kissing the ground three times,
(which the Turks likewise practise in their
prayers.) At their first entrance into church,
they uncover their heads, and cross them-
selves three times; but afterwards cover their
heads, and sit cross-legged on carpets, after
the manner of the Turks. The most part of
their public divine service they perform in
the morning, before day, which is very com—
mendable; and I have been greatly pleased
to meet hundreds of Armenians in a summer
morning, about sun-rising, returning from
their devotions at the church, wherein, per-
haps, they had spent two hours before, not
only on festival, but on ordinary days of work.
In like manner, they are very devout on vi—
gils to feasts, and Saturday evenings, when
they all go to church, and returning home,
perfume their houses with incense, and adorn
their little pictures with lamps. In their mo-
nasteries, the whole Psalter of David is read
over every twenty-four hours; but in the
cities and parochial churches it is otherwise
observed; for the Psalter is divided into
eight divisions, and every division into eight
parts ; at the end of every one of which is said
the Gloria Patrz', &c.
The Armenian is the language that is still
used in the services of this church; and in
her rites and ceremonies there is so great a
resemblance to those of the Greeks, that a
particular detail here might be superfluous.
Their liturgies also are either essentially the
same with those of the Greeks, or at least
ascribed to the same authors. And the fasts
which they observe annually are not only
more numerous, but kept with greater rigour
and mortification than is usual in any other
Christian community. ‘_
In addition to these fasts, they fast on Wed-
nesdays and Fridays throughout the year,
except in the weeks between Easter and As-
cension-day, and in that which follows the
feast of the Epiphany. Their seasons of fes-
tivity correspond, in general, with those of
other churches, except that they commemo-
rate our Lord’s nativity, not on the 25th of
December, but on the 6th of January, thereby
celebrating, in one festival, his birth, epipha-
ny, and baptism.
Their most favourite saints, who have each
of them a day in the calendar, are Surp Sa-
vorich, (or St. Gregory,) Surp Chevorich,
(or St. Demetrius,) Surp Nicolo, and Surp
Serchis, (or St. George.)
They practise the trine immersion, which
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165
they consider to be essential to baptism : and
“ after baptism, they apply the Zllyron, or
Chrism; anointing the forehead, eyes, ears,
breast, palms of the hands, and soles of the
feet, with consecrated oil, in form of a cross;
and then they administer unto the child the
holy eucharist, which they do only by rub-
bing the lips with it. Szu'p Usium, as they
call the holy eucharist, they celebrate only
on Sundays and festivals, though on other
days they perform the public services of the
church; whereby it appears that they have
other morning services besides that of the
communion. They put no water into the
wine, nor leaven into "the bread, as do the
Greeks; and their manner of distributing the
communion is by sopping the bread into the
wine, so that the communicant receives both
species together, which is different from the
form and custom of the Latin, Greek, and
Reformed Churches. They differ from the
Greeks in that they administer bread unlea-
vcned, made like a wafer; they differ from
the Romans in that they give both species
to the laity, which the priest doth by putting
his fingers into the chalice, out of which
he takes the wafer soaked in the wine and
delivers that unto the communicant.”
When the Armenians withdrew from the
communion of the Greek Church, they made
no change in their ancient episcopal form of
church government: they only claimed the
privilege of choosing their own spiritual rulers.
The name and oflice of Patriarch was conti-
nued; but three, or, according to Sir P. Ri-
caut, four prelates shared that dignity. The
chief of these resides in the monastery at
Etchmiazin, near Erivan, and at the foot of
Mount Ararat, in Turcomania. His jurisdic-
tion extends over Turcomania. or Armenia
Major; and he is said to number among his
sufi‘ragans eighteen bishops, besides those
who are priors of monasteries. His opulent
revenues of 600,000 crowns are considered as
a fund for his numerous charities; for though
elevated to the highest rank of ecclesiastical
power and preferment, he rejects all the splen-
did insignia of authority ; and in his ordinary
dress and mode of living, he is on a level
with the poorest monastic.
The second patriarch of the Armenians,
who is called The Catholic, and at present
acknowledges his subordination to the patri-
arch of Etchmiazin, resides at Cis, a city
near 'I‘ai‘sus, in Cilieia; he rules over the
churches established in Cappadocia, Cilicia,
Cyprus, and Syria; and hath twelve arch-
bishops under his jurisdiction.
The third and last in rank, of the Arme-
nian patriarchs, who has no more than eight
pr nine bishops under his dominion, resides
in the island of Aghtamar, or Aghtainan, on
the great lake of Van, or Varaspuracan.
‘ Besides theseprelates, who are patriarchs
m the true sense of that. term, the Armenians
would be cheered by her beams.

have other spiritual leaders, who are honoured
with the title of Patriarch; but this indeed is
no more than an empty title, unattended with
the authority and prerogatives of the patriar-
chal dignity. -
In the Armenian Church, as in the Greek,
a monastery is considered as the only proper
seminary for dignified ecclesiastics; for it
seems to be-a tenet of their church, that ab-
stinence in diet, and austerity of manners,
should increase with preferment. Hence,
though their priests are permitted to marry
once, their patriarchs and mas-tabets (or mar-
tabets) i. e. bishops, must remain in a state
of strict celibacy; atleast no married priest
can be promoted in their church until he shall
have become a widower. It is likewise ne~
cessary that their dignified clergy should have
assumed the sanctimonious air of an ascetic.
Their monastic discipline is extremely se-
vere. The religious neither eat flesh nor
drink wine; they sometimes continue in
prayer from midnight till three o’clock in the
afternoon, during which time they are re-
quired to read the Psalter through, besides
many other spiritual exercises.
The orders or regulations by which they
are governed, are those of St. Gregory, St.
Basil, and St. Dominic.
Of the Armenian clergy in general, the si-
tuation is truly deplorable, as the chief part
of their income arises from what we call sur-
plice fees. A principal function among them
is the reading of prayers over the graves of
the deceased, continued even for years; and
many of these poor priests are seen daily at
‘Constantinople .so occupied, especially in the
,Armenian cemetery of the Campo de Morti.
The Armenians are to be found in every
principal city of Asia: they are the general
merchants. of the East, and are in a state of
constant motion from Canton to Constanti-
noplc. Their general character is that of a
wealthy, industrious, and enterprising people.
Once in their lives, they generally perform a
pilgrimage to Jerusalem; and in 1819,v the
number of Armenian pilgrims was 1400, a
number nearly equal to the Greeks,
The Church of Armenia may be rendered
an important instrument in the work of evan-
gelizing the western parts of Asia. Divine
Providence has placed that ancient church in
a most important situation, and has preserved
it many centuries, in the midst of a. numer-
ous people, who are yet aliens from the Chris-
tian community, and strangers to. the hope of
the gospel.
The glory of this church has indeed long
since departed; but if, after sitting so many
ages in the, dust, she should at length arise
and shine as in former days, it would be like
life from the deadl All the regions of- W est?
ern Asia would behold her light, and fifty
millions of‘people, now sitting in darkness,
From Ar‘
CHU l
“6 C H' U
b
menia, the word of life would naturally ad-
vance into Persia, Mesopotamia, Syria, Pa-
lestine, and Asia Minor; and thus, without
a crusade, the Church of Christ might reco-
ver those long-lost regions, where the light of
divine truth first dawned upon the world,
where the Saviour was born, and where the
standard of the Cross was first planted.
See, on the subject of this article, Yeates’s
Indian Church History, p.47, &c.; Adams’s
Religious World; Sir Paul Ricaut’s Present
State of the Greek and Armenian Churches,
' Lond. 1679, 8vo.; Father Simon’s Crit. Hist.
o the Religions and Customs of the Eastern
ations, Lond. 1685, 8vo., and Henderson’s
Biblical Travels in Russia, 1826.
CHURCH or ENGLAND is the church esta-
blished by law in the southern division of
this kingdom, and in Ireland.
When and by whom Christianity was first
introduced into Britain, cannot perhaps be
exactly ascertained. Eusebius, indeed, posi-
tively declares that it was by the apostles and
their disciples. It is also said that numbers
of persons professed the Christian faith here
about the year 150; and according to Usher,
there was in the year 182 a school of learning,
to provide the British churches with proper
teachers. Popery, however, was established
in England by Austin the monk; and the
errors of it we find every where prevalent,
till Wicklifi‘e was raised up by Divine Provi-
dence to refute them. The Church of Eng-
land remained in subjection to the Pope until
the time of Henry VIII. Henry, indeed, in
early life and during the former part ‘of his
reign, was a bigoted papist. He burnt the
famous Tyndal, (who made one of the first
and best translations of the New Testamen-t,)
and wrote in defence of the seven sacraments
against Luther, for which the Pope gave him
the title of “ The Defender of the Faith ;”
but falling out with the Pope about his mar-
riage, he took the government of ecclesiasti-
cal affairs into his own hand; and having re-
formed many abuses, entitled himself supreme
head of the church. See Rnronnm'rrou.
The doctrines of the Church of England,
which are contained in the thirty-nine articles,
are certainly Calvinistical, though this has
been denied by some modern writers, espe-
cially b Dr. Kipling, in a tract entitled
“ The rticles of the Church of England
proved not to be Calvinistic.” These articles
were founded, for the most part, upon a body
of articles compiled and published in the
reign of Edward VI. They were first passed
in the Convocation, and confirmed by royal
authority in 1562. They were, afterwards
ratified anew in the year 1571, and again by
Charles I. The law requires a subscription
to these articles, of all persons who are ad»
mitted into holy orders. In the course of the
last century, disputes arose among the clerg .
respecting the propriety ofsubscribing to any i
human formulary of religious sentiments. An
application for its removal was made to par-
liament in 1772, by the petitioning clergy,
and received the most public discussion in the
House of Lords.
The government of the Church of England
is episcopal. The king is the supreme head.
There are two archbishops and twenty-four
bishops. The benefices of the bishops were
converted by William the Conqueror into
temporal baronies; so that every prelate has
a seat and a vote in the House of Peers. Dr.
Hoadley, however, in a sermon preached
from this text, “ My kingdom is not of this
world," insisted that the clergy had no pre-
tensions to temporal jurisdiction; which gave
rise to various publications. termed, by way
of eminence, the Bangorian Controversy,
because Hoadley was then Bishop of Bangor.
Dr. Wake, Archbishop of Canterbury, formed
a project of peace and union between the
English and Galliean churches, founded upon
this condition, that each of the two commu-
nities should retain the greatest part of their
respective and peculiar doctrines; but this
project came to nothing. In the Church of
England there are deans, archdeacons, rec-
tors, vicars, &c.; for an account of which,
see the respective articles.
The Church of England has a public form
1547, and has undergone several alterations,
the last of which was in 1661‘. Since that
time, several attempts have been made to
amend the liturgy, articles, and some other
things relating to the internal government,
but without effect. See LITURGY.
The greatest part of the inhabitants of
England are professedly members of this
church; but comparatively few either of
her ministers or members strictly adhere to
the articles in their true sense. See Illr.
Overton’s True Churchman; Bishop Jewel’s
Apology jbr the Church of England; Archbi-
shop Potter’s Treatise on Church Government ,-
Tucher’s ditto; H'ooher’s Ecclesiastical Polity ;,
Pearson on the Creed ,- Burnet-on the Thirty-
nine Articles; Bishop Pretyman’s Elements
of Theology; and Mrs. II. More’s Hints on
forming the Character of a Young Princess,
vol. ii. ch. 37. On the subject of the first
introduction of Christianity into Britain,
see the 1st vol. of Henry’s History of Great
Britain.
CHURCH, GALLICAN, the ci-divant church
of France, under the government of its re-
spective bishops and pastors. This church
always enjoyed certain franchises and immu~
nities, not as grants from popes, but as de~
rived to her from her first original, and
which she took care never to relinquish.
These liberties depended upon two maxims:
the first, that the pope had no right to order
any thing in which the temporalities. and

House of Commons, but was rejected in the ‘
read, called a Liturgy. It was. composed in '
CHU
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167
civil rights of. the kingdom were concerned: their estates, when they enter into religious‘
the second, that notwithstanding the pope’s orders, and are professed.
supremacy was admitted in cases purely spi-
ritual, yet in France, his power was limited
by the decrees of ancient councils received in
that realm.
The liberties, or privileges, of the Gallican
Church are founded upon these two maxims,
and the most considerable of them are as
follows :- v
l. The king of France has a right to con-
vene synods, or provincial and national coun-
cils, in which, amongst-other- important mat-
ters relating to the preservation of the state,
cases of ecclesiastical discipline are likewise
debated.
2. The pope’s legates d latere, who are em-
powered to reform abuses, and to exercise
the other parts of their legatine office, are
never admitted into France, unless at the de-
sire or with the- consent of the king; and
whatever the legates do there, is with the
approbation and allowance of the king.
3. The legate of Avignon cannot exercise
his commission in any of the king’s domi-
nions, till after he hath obtained his majesty’s
leave for that purpose.
4. The prelates of the Gallican Church,
being summoned by the pope, cannot depart
the realm upon any pretence whatever, with-
out the king’s permission.
5. The pope has no authority to levy any
tax or im osition upon the temporalities of
the ecclesiastical preferments, upon any pre-
tence, either of loan, vacancy, annates, tithes,
procurations, or otherwise, without the king’s
order, and the consent of the clergy.
6. The pope has no authority to depose the ‘
king, or grant away his dominions to any
person whatever. His holiness can neither
excommunicate the king, nor absolve his
subjects from their allegiance. ‘
7. The pope likewise has no authority to
excommunicate the king’s oflicers, for their
executing and discharging their respective
ofiices and functions.
8. The pope has no right to take cogni-
zance, either by himself or his delegates, of
any pre-eminences or privileges belonging to
the crown of France, the king being not
obliged to argue his prerogatives in any court
but his own.
9. Counts palatine, made by the pope, are
not acknowledged as such in France, nor
allowed to make use of their privileges and
powers, any more than those created by the
emperor.
10. It is not lawful for the pope to grant
licenses to churchmen, the king’s subjects, or
to any others holding benefices in the realm
of France, to bequeath the issues and profits
of their respective preferments, contrary to
any branch of the king’s laws, or the customs
of the realm; nor to hinder the relations of
the beneficed clergy, or monks, to succeed to

11. The pope cannot grant to any person‘
a dispensation to enjoy any estate or revenues
in France, without the king’s consent.
12. The pope cannot grant a license to
ecclesiastics to alienate church lands, situate
and lying in France, without the king’s con-
sent, upon any pretence whatever.
13. The king may punish his ecclesiastical
ofiicers for misbehaviour in their respective
charges, notwithstanding the privilege of their
orders.
14. No person has any right to hold any
benefice in France, unless he be either a na—
tive of the country, naturalized by the king,
or has a royal dispensation for that purpose.
15. The pope is not superior to an occu-
menical or general council.
16. The Gallican Church does not receive,
without distinction, all the canons, and all
the decretal epistles, but keeps principally to
that ancient collection, called Corpus Canoni-
cum, the same which Pope Adrian sent to
Charlemagne towards the end of the eighth
century, and which, in the year 860, under
the pontificate of Nicolas I., the French
bishops declared to be the only canon—law
they were obliged to acknowledge, maintain—
ing that in this body the liberties of the Gal-
lican Church consisted.
17. The pope has no power, for any cause
whatsoever, to dispense with the law of God,
the law of nature, or the decrees of the an-
cient canons.
18. The regulations of the apostolic cham-
ber, or court, are not obligatory to the Galli-
can Church, unless confirmed by the king’s-
edicts.
19. If the primates or metropolitans appeal
to the pope, his holiness is obliged to try the
cause, by commissioners or delegates, in the
same diocese from which the appeal was made.
20. When a Frenchman desires the pope
to give him a benefice lying in France, his
holiness is obliged to order him an instru-
ment, sealed under the faculty of his ofiice;
and, in case of refusal, it is lawful for the
person pretending to the benefice.- to apply to
the parliament of Paris, which court shall
send instructions to the bishop of the diocese
to give him institution, which institution shall
be of the same validity as if he had received
his title under the seals of the court of
Rome.
21. No mandates from the pope, enjoining
a bishop or other collator to present any per—
son to a benefice upon avacancy, are admitted
in France.
22. It is only by sufferance that the pope
has what they call a right of prevention. to:
collate to benefices which the ordinary has
not disposed of.
23. It is not lawful for the pope to- exempt
the ordinary of any monastery, or any other
C HU
Cl-lU
168
ecclesiastical corporation, from the jurisdic-
tion of their respective di'occsans, in order to
make the person so. exempted immediately
dependent on the holy see.
These liberties are esteemed inviolable;
and the French kings, at their coronation,
solemnly swear to preserve and maintain
them. The oath runs thus z—Promz'tto vobis
et pcrdono q-uod unicuz'que de vobz's ei eccZesi-is
;vobis conmrissis can-on-icum privi-Zcgium et debi-
tam Zegem argue justz'tiam servabo.
In the established church the Jansenists
were very numerous. The bishoprics and
prehends were entirely in the gift of the
king; and no. other Catholic state, except
Italy, had so numerous a clergy as France.
There were in this kingdom eighteen arch-
bishops, one hundred and eleven bishops, one
hundred and sixty-six thousand cl'ergymen,
and three thousand four hundred convents.
Since the repeal of the edict of Nantz, the
Protestants have sufi‘ered much from perse-
cution. A solemn law, which did much ho-
nour to Louis XVI, late king of France,
gave to his non—Roman Catholic subjects, as
they were called, all the civil advantages and
privileges of their Roman Catholic brethren.
The above statement was made previously
to the French revolution: great alterations
have taken place since that period. And it
may be interesting, to those who have not
the means of fuller information, to give a
sketch of ' the causes which gave rise to those '
important events.
About the middle of the last century, a
conspiracy was tbrmed to overthrow Christi-
anity, without distinction of worship, whether
Protestant or Catholic. Voltaire, D’Alem-
bert, Frederick 11., king of Prussia, and
Diderot, were at the head of this conspiracy.
Numerous other adepts and‘ secondary agents
were induced to join them. These pretended
philosophers used every artifice that impiety
could invent, by union and secret correspond-
ence, to attack, to debase, and annihilate
(‘,‘hristiani'ty. They not only acted in con-
cert, sparing no political or impious art to
effect the destruction of the Christian reli-
gion, but they were the instigators and con-
ductors of those secondary agents whom they
had seduced, and pursued their plan with all
the ardour and constancy which denotes the
most. finished conspirators.
The French clergy amounted to one hun—
dred and thirty thousand, the higher orders
of whom enjoyed immense revenues ; but the
cures, or great body of acting clergy, seldom
possessed more than twenty~eight pounds
sterling a year, and the vicars, about half the
sum. The clergy, as a body, independent of
their titles, possessed a revenue arising from
their- property in land, amounting to ‘five
millions sterling annually ; at the same time
they were exempt from taxation. Before the
lit-telling system had taken place, the. Clergy

signified to the commons the instructions of
‘their constituents, to contribute to the exi-
_: gencies of the state in equal proportion with
the other citizens. Not contented with this
offer, the tithes and revenues of the clergy
were taken away; in lieu of which, it was
proposed to grant a certain stipend to the
different ministers of religion, to be payable
by the nation. The possessions of the church
were then considered as national property by
a decree of the Constituent Assembly. The
religious orders, viz., the communities of
monks and nuns, possessed immense landed
estates; and, after having abolished the
orders, the Assembly seized the estates for
the use of the nation : the gates of the clois-
ters were now throw-n open. The next step
of the Assembly was to establish what is called
the civil constitution of the clergy. This, the
Roman Catholics assert, was in direct oppo—
sition to their religion. But though opposed
with energetic eloquence, the decree passed,
and was soon after followed by another,
obliging the clergy to swear to maintain their
civil constitution. Every artifice which cun-
ning, and every menace which cruelty could:
invent, were used to induce them to take
the oath; great numbers, however, refused,
(among whom were one hundred and thirty-
eight bishops and archbishops,) and were on
this account driven from their sees and pa~
rishes. Three hundred of the priests were
massacred in one day in one city. All the
other pastors who adhered to their religion
_were either sacrificed, or banished from their
country, seeking through a thousand dangers
a refuge among foreign nations. A perusal
.of the horrid massacres of the priests who
refused to take the oaths, and the various
forms of persecution employed by those who
were attached to the Catholic religion, must
deeply wound the feelings of humanity.
Those readers who are desirous of further
information are referred to Abbé Barruel’s
“ History of the Clergy.”
Some think that there was another cause of
the revolution, and which may be traced as far-
back at the least as the revocation of the edict
of Nantz in the seventeenth century, when the
great body of French Protestants, who were
men of principle, were either murdered on
banished, and the rest in a manner silenced.
The effect of this sanguinary- measure (say
they) must needs be the general prevalence
of infidelity. Let the religious part of the
nation be banished, and a general spread of
irreligion must necessarily follow: such were
the effects in France. Through the whole of
‘the eighteenth century infidelity was the
fashion, and that not only among the princes
and noblesse, but even among the greater-
part of ' the bishops and clergy. And as they
r had united their influence in banishing true
religion, and cherishing the monster which
succeeded it, so they were united in sustain--
CHU
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169
ing the calamitous efl'ects which_that monster
has produced. However unprincipled and
cruel the French revolutionists were, and
however much the sufferers, as fellow-crea-
tures, are entitled to our pity; yet, consider-
ing the event as the just retribution of _God,
we are constrained-to say, “ Thou art right-
eous, O Lord, who art, and wast, and shalt be,
because thou hast judged thus; for they have
shed the blood of saints and prophets, and
thou hast given them blood to drink; for they
are worthy.” .
The Catholic religion is now again estab-
lished, but with a toleration of the Protest-
ants, under some restriction—See the Con-
eordat, or religious establishment of the
French Republic, ratified September 10th,
1801.
CHURCH, GREEK, that portion of profess-
ing Christians who conform in their creed,
usages, and church government to the views
of Christianity introduced into the former
Greek empire, and matured, since the fifth
century, under the patriarchs of Constan-
tinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem.
A schism between the East and West might
early have been anticipated. The foundation
of a new Rome at Constantinople; the politi—
cal partition of the Roman empire into the
Oriental or Greek, and the Occidental or
Latin; the elevation of the bishop of Con-
stantinople to the place of second patriarch of
Christendom, inferior only to the patriarch
of Rome, effected in the councils of Constan-
tinople, A. D. 381, and of Clialcedon, 451 ; the
jealousy of the latter patriarch towards the
growing power of the formeiy—were circum-
stances which, together with the ambiguity
of the edict known under the name of the
Henoticon, (which see), granted by the Greek
emperor Zeno, A D. 482, produced a formal
schism in what till then had formed the
Catholic Church. Felix II., patriarch of
Rome, pronounced sentence of excommuni-
cation against the patriarchs of Constantino-
ple and Alexandria, who had been the lead—
ing agents in the Henot'icon, in a. D. 484, and
thus cut off all ecclesiastical fellowship with
the congregations of the East attached to these
patriarchs. The sentiments of the imperial
court being changed, the Roman patriarch,
Horinisdas, was able, indeed, to compel a
reunion of the Greek Church with the Latin,
in A. I). 519; but this. union, never seriously
intended, and looselyr compacted, was again
dissolved by the obstinacy of both parties, and
the Roman sentence of excommunication
against the Iconoclasts among the Greeks, in
733, and against Photius, the patriarch of Con-
stantinople, in 862. The augmentation of the
Greek church, by the addition of newly -con- I
verted nations, excited afresh, about this time,
the jealousy of ’ the Roman pontifi‘ ; and his
hearing towards the Greeks was the more
haughty in consequence of his having rc-
nounced his allegiance to the Greek emperor,
and had a sure protection against him in the
new Frankish-Roman empire. Photius, on
the other hand, charged the Latins with arbi-
trary conduct in inserting an unscriptural ad-
dition into the creed, respecting the procession
of the Holy Ghost, and in altering many of
the usages of the ancient orthodox church:
for example, in forbidding their priests to
marry, repeating the chrism, and fasting on
Saturday, as the Jewish sabbath. But he
complained, with justice, in particular, of the
assumptions of the pope, who‘ pretended to be
the sovereign of all Christendom, and treated.
the Greek patriarchs as his inferiors. The
deposition of this patriarch, twice effected by
the pope, did not terminate the dispute be“
tween the Greeks and Latins ; and when the
patriarch of Constantinople, Michael Ceru-
larius, added to the charges of Photius,
against the Latins, an accusation of heresy in
1054, on account of their use of unleavened
bread at their communion, and of the blood of
animals that had died by strangulation, as
well as on account of the immorality of the-
Latin clergy in general. Pope Leo IX.
having in retaliation excommunicated him in
the most insulting manner, a total separation
ensued of the Greek church from the Latin.
From this time pride, obstinacy, and selfish-
ness frustrated all the attempts which were
made to reunite the two churches, partly by
the popes, in order to annex the East to their
see, partly by the Greek emperors, in order
to secure the assistance of the princes of the
West against the Mohammedans. Neither
would yield to the other in respect to the con-
tested» points,—-while the Catholic religion
acquired a more complete and peculiar cha-
racter under Gregory VII.; and, in eonse~
quence of the scholastic theology, the Greek
church retained its creed as arranged by John
of Damascus in 730, and its ancient constitu-
tions. The conquest of Constantinople by
the French crusaders and the Venetians, A. D.
1204, and the cruel oppressions which the
Greeks had to endure from the Latins and
the papal l-egates, only increased their exas-
peration; and although the Greek emperor
Michael II. (Palseologus, who had re-con-
quered Constantinople in 1261) consented to
recognize the pope’s supremacy, and by his
envoys and some of the clergy who were de-
voted to him, abjured the points of separation,
at the assembly held at Lyons in 1274; and
though a joint synod was'held in Constanti-
nople in 1277, for the purpose of strengthen-
ing the union with the Latin church, the
great body of the Greek church was never-
theless opposed to this step ; and Pope Mar-
tin IV. having excommunicated the emperor
Michael in 1281, from political motives, the
councils held at Constantinople in 1283 and
1285 by the Greek bishops, restored their old
doctrines, and the separation from the Latins.
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170
The last attempt to unite the two churches
was made by the Greek emperor, John VIL,
when very hard pressed by the Turks, to-
gether with the patriarch Joseph, in the
councils held, first at Ferrara in 1438, and
the next year at Florence, Pope Eugene IV.
presiding; but the union there ‘concluded,
having the appearance of submission to the
Roman see, was altogether rejected by the
Greek clergy and the nation at large, so that
in fact the schism of the two churches con-
tinued. The efforts of the Greek emperors,
who had always had most interest in these
attempts at union, ceased with the overthrow
of their empire and the conquest of Constan-
tinople by the Turks in 1453; and the exer-
tions of the Roman Catholics to subject the
Greek church effected nothing but the ac-
knowledgment of some few Greek congrega—
tions in Italy, Hungary, Galicia, Poland, and
Lithuania, which congregations are now
known under the name of United Greeks.
In the seventh century, the territory of the
Greek church embraced, besides East Illyria,
Greece Proper, with the Morea and the
Archipelago, Asia Minor, Syria, with Pales-
tine, Arabia, Egypt, and numerous congrega-
tions in Mesopotamia and Persia; but the
conquests of Mohammed and his successors
have deprived it, since 630, of almost all its
provinces in Asia and Africa; and even in
Europe the number of its adherents was con-
siderably diminished by the Turks in the
fifteenth century. On the other hand, it was
increased by the accession of several Slavonic
nations, and especially of the Russians, who,
under the great Prince Vladimir, in the year
988, embraced the creed of the Greek Chris-
tians. To this nation the Greek church' is
indebted for the symbolical book, which, with
the canons of the first and second Nicene, of
the first, second, and third Constantinopolitan,
of the Ephesian, and Chalcedonian general
councils, and of the Trullan council, held at
Constantinople in 692, is the sole authority of
its members in matters of doctrine. After
the learned Cyrillus Lucaris, patriarch of
Constantinople, had suffered martyrdom for
his professed approbation of the principles of
Protestantism, A. D. 1629, an exposition of the
doctrines held by the Russians was drawn up
in the Greek language, by Peter Mogislaus,
bishop of Kiev, 1642, under the title of the
“Orthodox Confession of the Catholic and
Apostolic Church of Christ,” signed and
ratified 1643, by all the patriarchs of the
Greek church, to whom had been added, in
1589, the patriarch of Moscow. ‘It was
printed in Holland, in Greek and Latin, 1662;
with a preface by the patriarch N e'ctarius of ‘
Jerusalem. In 1696 it was published by the
last Russian patriarch; and in 1722, at the
command of Peter the Great, by the Holy
Synod; it having been previously declared
to be in all cases valid as the standard of the
Greek church, by a council held- at J crusa-
lem in 1672, and by the EcclesiasticalRule of
Peter the Great, drawn up in 1721,, by Theo-
phanes Procoviez.
Like the Roman Catholic, the Greek Church-
recognises two sources of doctrine, the Bible
and tradition, under which last it comprehends
not only those doctrines which were orally
delivered by the apostles, but also those which
have been approved of by the Greek fathers,
especially John of Damascus, as well as by
the seven above-named general councils. The
other councils, whose authority is valid in the
Latin communion, this church does not re-
cognise; nor does it allow the patriarchs or
synods to introduce new doctrines. It holds
its tenets to be so obligatory and necessary,
that they cannot be denied without the loss
of salvation. It is the only church which
holds that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the
Father only: thus difl'ering both from the
Catholics and Protestants, who agree in de-
riving the third person both from the Father
and the Son. Like the Latin Church, it has
‘seven sacraments: baptism, chrism, the eu-
charist, confession, penance, ordination, mar-
riage, and extreme unctioii; it is peculiar,
first, in holding that full purification from
original sin requires a trine immersion, or
aspei'sion, and in joining chrism with it as
the completion of baptism; secondly, in
adopting, as to the eucharist, the doctrine of
transubstantiation, but ordering the bread to
be leavened, the wine to be mixed with water,
and both elements to be distributed to the
laity, even to children, the communicant re-
ceiving the bread in a spoon filled with the
consecrated wine; thirdly, all the clergy, with
the exception of the monks, and of the higher
‘clergy chosen from among them, down to
the bishops inclusively, are allowed to marry
a virgin, but not a widow; nor are they al-
lowed to marry a second time ; and therefore
the widowed clergy are not permitted to re-
tain their livings, but go into a cloister, where
they are called hieromonachi.
Rarely is a widowed bishop allowed to pre-
serve his diocesc; and from the maxims that
marriage is not suitable for the higher clergy
in general, and that second marriage at least
is improper for the lower, there is no depar—
ture. The Greek Church does not regard the
marriage of the laity as iiidissoluble, and fre-
quently grants divorces; but is as strict as
the Roman church with respect to the for-
bidden degrees of relationship, especially of
the ecclesiastical relationship of god-parents:
nor does it allow the laity a fourth marriage.
It differs from the Catholic Church in anoint-
ing with the holy oil, not only the dying, but
the sick, for the restoration of their health,
the forgiveness of their sins, and the sanctifi-
cation of their souls. It rejects the doctrine
of purgatory, does not admit of predestine-
tion, denies works of supererogation, and dis.-
CHU
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'171
allows of indulgences and dispensations; only
a printed form is sometimes given to the dead,
at the request and for the comfort of the sur-
vivors. It allows no carved, sculptured. or
molten images of holy persons or things; but
the representations of Christ, of the Virgin
Mary", and the saints, which are objects of re-
ligious worship both in churches and private
houses, must be merely painted, and at most
inlaid with precious stones. In the invoca-
tion of the saints, and especially of the Vir-
in, the Greeks are as zealous as the Latins.
hey also hold relics, crosses, and graves to
be sacred; and crossing themselves in the
‘name of Jesus, they consider as having a
wonderful and blessed influence. Besides
fasting every Wednesday and Friday, they
have four general fasts annually.
The service of the Greek Church consists
almost entirely in outward forms. Preaching
and catechising constitute the least part of it :
indeed, in the seventeenth century, preaching
was strictly forbidden in Russia, under the
Tzar Alexis, to prevent the diffusion of novel
doctrines. In Turkey, it is confined almost
~exclusively to the higher clergy, because they
alone possess some degree of knowledge.
Each congregation has its own choir of
singers, instrumental music being altogether
excluded in the Greek Church. Besides the
mass, which is regarded as the chief part of
the service, the liturgy consists of passages of
Scripture, prayers and legends of the saints,
and in the recitation of the creed, or of sen-
tences which the priest begins, and the peo-
ple, officiating in a body, finish.
The convents, for the most part, conform to
the strict rule of St. Basil. The Greek abbot
is termed kz'gumenos; the abbess, higumene.
The abbot of a Greek convent, which has
several others under its inspection, is termed
archz'mandrite, and has a rank next to that of
a bishop. The lower clergy in the Greek
Church consist of readers, singers, deacons,
&c.,‘ and of priests, such as the popes and
protopopes or archpriests, who are the first
clergy in the cathedrals and metropolitan
churches. The members of the lower clergy
can never rise higher than protopopes; since
the bishops are chosen from among the monks;
and from among the bishops, the archbishops,
metropolitans, and patriarchs.
In Russia, there are thirty-one dioceses;
with which. of them the archiepiscopal dignity
shall be united, depends on the will of the
emperor. The seats of the four Russian
metropolitans are,—-Petersburgh, with the
jurisdiction of Novogorod; Kiev, with that
of Galicia; Kasan, with that of Svijaschk;
and Tobolsk, with that of all Siberia. The
patriarchal dignity of Moscow, which the pa-
triarch Nikon is said to have abused, Peter
the Great abolished by presenting himself
unexpectedly before the bishops, who were
assembled, in 1702,, to elect a new patriarch, ,
and declaring, “I am your patriarch ;” and,
in 1721, the whole ecclesiastical government
of’ the empire was intrusted to a college of
bishops and secular clergy, called the holy
synod, first at Moscow, now at Pctersburgh.
Under this-synod now stand. besides the
metropolitans, ll archbishops, 19 bishops,
12,500 parish churches, and 425 convents, 58
of which are connected with monastic schools
for the education of the clergy, for the
better effecting of which object, they are
aided by a large annual pension from the
state.
The Greek Church, under the Turkish do-
minion, remained, as far as was possible under
such circumstances, faithful to the original
constitution. The dignities of patriarch of
Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and J c-
rusalem, still exist. The first, however, pos-
sesses the ancient authority of the former
archbishop of Constantinople; takes the lead
as (ecumenical patriarch in the holy synod at
that place, composed of the four patriarchs, a
number of metropolitans and bishops, and
twelve secular Greeks; exercises the highest
ecclesiastical jurisdiction over the Greeks in
the whole Turkish empire ; and is recognised
as head of the Greek Church by the (not
united) Greeks in Galicia, in the Bukowina,
or Sclavonia, and in the Seven Islands. The
other three patriarchs, as almost all the peo-
ple in their dioceses are Mohammedans, have
but a small sphere of action, (the patriarch of
Alexandria has but two churches at Cairo,)
and live, for the most part, on the aid afforded
them by the patriarch of Constantinople.
This patriarch has a considerable income, but
is obliged to pay nearly half of it as a tribute
to the sultan. The Greeks, under the Turkish
government, are not allowed to build any new
churches—have to pay dearly for permission
to repair the old ones—are not allowed to
have steeples or bells to their churches, nor
even to wear the Turkish dress—generally
perform religious service by night—and are,
moreover, obliged to pay tolls, from which
the Turks are exempt ,- but the males also pay
to the sultan, after their fifteenth year, a
heavy poll-tax, under the name of exemption
from beheading.
The attachment of the Greek Church to
the old institutions has stood in the way of all
attempts at improvement: only in Russia, a
number of sects have sprung up, which the
government not only tolerates, but some of
which it supplies with consecration to their
clergy through the regular bishops. As
might be expected, true religion is at the
very lowest ebb in all the departments of this
communion; yet strong hopes may be enter-
tained of a revival, from the circumstance
that the free use of the holy Scriptures, in
the vernacular language, is not interdicted,
as in the Church of Rome.
CHURCH, HIGH. See HIGH CHURCHMEN.
CHU- l
72 CHU
CHURCH or IRELAND is the same as the
Church of England, and is governed by four
archbishops and eighteen bishops.
CHURCH, LATIN, or \Vns'rERN, compre-
hends all the churches of Italy, Portugal,
Spain, Africa, the north, and all other coun-
tries whither the Romans carried their lan-
guage. Great Britain, part of the Nether—
lands, of Germany, and of the north of Europe,
have been separated from it almost ever since '
the Reformation.
CHURCH, LUTHERAN. See LUTHERANISM.
CHURCH, REFORMED, comprehends the
whole Protestant churches in Europe and
America, whether Lutheran, Calvinistic, In-
dependent, Quaker, Baptist, or of any other
denomination who dissent from the Church
of Rome. The term reformed is now, how-
ever, employed on the continent of Europe,
to distinguish the Calvinists from the Lu-
therans.
CHnRcH or Home, or Return CATHOLIC
CHURCH. The Roman Catholics unanimously 5
own Peter as the founder of the Church of :
Rome, though it is disputed by some Protest-
ants, whether he ever was in that city.
Those who deny it, ground their opinion upon
the silence of Luke and Paul in this matter, 2
who, having‘ been both at Rome, would not
have failed, say they, to have mentioned.
Peter, and the Christians converted by him,
if he had ever preached the Gospel in that
city. They endeavour to confirm this opinion
by the chronological history of the Acts of
the Apostles, and likewise by the first Epistle
of Peter ; from the last of which they under-
take to prove, that he executed his commis-
sion in Asia, and died at Babylon.
To this it is answered, that the silence of
Luke is no good argument; for that evange-
list, in the Acts of the Apostles, takes no
notice of Paul’s journey into Arabia, and
of his return, first to Damascus, and then to
Jerusalem. As to the argument from chro-
nology, those who maintain the aflirmative,
set up another account of time, more agree-
able as they think to the best ecclesiastical
historians and chronologers, and exactly co-
inciding with the Acts of the Apostles, and
the Epistles of Peter and Paul. It is, in few
words, this :—
In the thirty-fifth year of Christ, Peter
and John went to Samaria, where having
preached the Gospel, Peter returned to J eru-
salem; whither Pan-l came, three years after I
his conversion, to visit him, in the year of
Christ, 39. The Church having rest, and
being unmolested by its enemies, Peter‘ now
took the opportunity to visit the several
churches already planted by the disciples, in
which progress he came to Antioch, the ca--
pital of the East; and here, being its first;
bishop, and having given necessary orders A
for the government of that church, he re-
turned into Judca, where he visited the towns ‘
of Lydda, Joppa, and Cesarea, in the years
40 and 41. After the conversion of the cen-
g turion Cornelius, he went to J ertisalem in the
year 42. At this time Barnabas and Paul
were sent to Antioch, where they preached
‘ the Gospel with great success in the year 43.
From thence they returned to Jerusalem,
where Peter then was, bringing with them
the contributions they had collected for the
support of the Christians of Judea, in the
year 44. In the mean time, Herod A grippa,
king of J udea, put the Apostle James, bro-
,ther of John, to death, just before Easter,
and soon after seized on Peter; who, being
, miraculously released by an angel, travelled
‘ through Antioch into Asia Minor, where he
planted new churches in Cappadocia, Galatia,
Pontus, and Bithynia; from whence he em-
. barked for Rome, where he arrived the latter
5 end of the year 44, which was the second of
'the Emperor Claudius. Here, having con—
' verted many Jews and Gen-tiles, be planted a
church, of which he himself was the first
bishop, in .the year 45. He continued to
govern this church till his martyrdom, which
I fell out in the year 69,, being the thirteenth
? of the Emperor Nero; upon which computa-
tion he was bishop of Rome twenty-five years ;
not that he was resident all that time in Rome.
for in the year 51, he was obliged to quit the
city, because of the Emperor Claudius’s edict,
which banished all the Jews, under which
name they included the Christians; nor was;
he returned to Rome when Paul was carried
prisoner thither, in the year 59, and this,
may account for the silence of Paul in this
matter. v
As to the epistle of Peter, dated from
Babylon to the Christians in Asia, it is an-
swered, that by Babylon, in that place, is
plainly meant the city of Rome; and Euse-
bius, Jerome, and- all the ancient writers,
assure us that this epistle was written at
Rome.
Lastly, that Peter was at Rome, may be
proved, say they, by the concurrent testi-
mony of all antiquity; this truth being as-
serted by Papias, a disciple of John the
I Evangelist, by Cains, contemporary with Ter-
tullian, by Clemens Alexandrinus, Origen,.
Eusebius, Athanasius, &c. among the Greeks ,
_ and by Irenaeus, Tertullian. Cyprian, Lactan~
j tins, 800. among the Latins, and is a fact that
1 never was called in question till the sixteenth
‘ century.
‘= Rome is the centre of the Popish, or
[Roman Catholic religion, and the pope, or
‘ bishop of the see of Rome, as successor of
St. Peter, claims the supremacy over the
‘I Universal ChristianChu-rch, This claim is
, founded on the words of our Saviour to St.
Peter: “ Thou art Peter, and upon this rock

l
l
l
l
i of the doctrines of that church, is the famous
creed of Pope Pius IV., which may be 0011-
will I build my Church.” The best summary ,
CHU
CH U
173
s'idered as a true and unquestionable body of
popery. It consists of twenty-four articles.
The twelve first are the articles of the Nicene
Creed, and need not be cited here. The
twelve last are the additional doctrines,‘
which the Church of Rome has superadded
to the original Catholic faith,—--they are as
follows :—
the apostolical and ecclesiastical traditions,
XXII. I do ailirm that the power of in~
dulgences was left by Christ in the Church,
and that the use of them is very beneficial to
Christian people.
XXIII. I do acknowledge the holy Catho-
lic and Apostolic Roman Church to be the
mother and mistress of all Churches; and I
i do promise and swear true obedience to the
XIII. I most firmly admit and embrace ;
Bishop of Rome, the successor of St. Peter,
1 the prince of the Apostles, and vicar of Jesus
and all other observations and constitutions 1
of the same church. ~
XIV. I do admit the Holy Scriptures in
the same sense that holy Mother Church
doth, whose business it is to judge of the true
sense and interpretation of them; and I will
interpret them according to the unanimous
sense of the Fathers.
XV. I ‘do profess and believe, that there
are seven ‘Sacraments of the law, truly and
properly so called, instituted by Jesus Christ
our Lord, and necessary to the salvation of
mankind, though not all of them to every
one, via—Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist,-
Penance, Extreme Unction, Orders, and Mar-
riage; and that they do confer grace; and
that, of these, Baptism, Confirmation, and
Orders, may not be repeated without sacri-
lege. I do also receive and admit the re-
ceived and approved rites of the Catholic
Church in her solemn administration of the
above-said sacraments.
XVI. I do embrace and receive all and
every thing, that hath been defined and de-
elared, by the holy Council of Trent, con-
cerning Original Sin, and Justification.
XVII. I do also profess, that in the Mass,
there is offered unto God a true, proper, and
propitiatory sacrifice for the quick and the
dead; and that in the most holy sacrament
of the Eucharist, there is truly, really, and
substantially, the body and blood, together
with the soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus
Christ; and that there is a conversion made
of the whole substance of the bread into the
body, and of the whole substance of the wine
into the blood, which conversion the Catholic
Church calls Transubstantiation.
XVIII. Iconfess that, under one kind only,
whole and entire, Christ, and a true sacra-
ment, is taken and received.
XIX. I do firmly believe that there is a
Purgatory, and that the souls kept prisoners
there do receive help by the suifrages of the
faithful.
XX. I do likewise believe that the Saints,
reigning together with Christ, are to be wor-
shipped and prayed to; and that they do
offer prayers unto God for us, and that their
relics are to be had in veneration.
_ XXI. I do most firmly assert that the
images of Christ, of the blessed Virgin, (the
mother of God,) and of other saints, ought to
‘he had and retained, and due honour and
veneration ought to be paid to them.

Christ.
XXIV. I do undoubtedly receive and pro-
fess all other things, which have been deli—
vered, defined, and declared, by the sacred
Canons, and (ecumenical Councils, and espe-
cially by the holy Synod of Trent; and all
other things contrary thereto, and all heresies,
condemned, rejected, and anathematized by
Church, I do likewise condemn, reject, and
anathematize.
The worship of this church is liturgical,
and, throughout the greatest part of its extent,
the Latin language is used in all public and
authorized religious worship, although that
language has for many ages ceased to be a
vulgar tongue. Her object in this practice
is, we are told, “ to preserve uniformity; to
avoid the changes to which living languages are
exposed, and thereby to prevent the novelties
which might be thus introduced; to facilitate
the commerce of different churches on reli-
gious matters; and to promote a spirit of
study and learning among the ministers ;”
nor does she admit that by this practice her
members sustain any injury or loss. She does
not, however, require as a condition of com-
munion, the adoption of the Latin language
and rite.
The liturgy, or order of the mass, almost
universally adopted, is that contained in the
Roman missal.
Masses are divided into solemn or high
mass, and plain or low mass; mass sung or
Said; public mass, or private mass.
A solemn mass is mass offered up with all
the due solemnities, by a bishop or priest,
attended by a deacon, subdeacon, and other
ministers, each ofiiciating in his part. Such
a mass is always sung; and hence a choir of
singers accompanies it, with an organ, if pos-
sible, and, at times, other instrumental music.
Mass, when divested of all these solemnities,
and in which only the priest ofiiciates, is a
plain or low mass. The priest, however, may
either sing the mass, attended by the choir,
or say it. Hence the difiercnce between mass
sung and said. Mass may be attended by a
crowd of people, or it may be said with few
or none present, except the clerk to attend
the oihciating priest. ‘Vhen the mass is
numerously attended, all or many of those
present may partake of the sacrifice by‘coni-
munion, or none may communicate but the
priest. These differences make the mass
public or private; and it has been remarked,
CHU
CHU
174
that private masses have become more com-
mon in latter ages.
The liturgy of the mass will be found in
the Roman Missal, which contains, besides
the calendar, the general rubrics or rites of
the mass, and such parts of it as are invaria-
bly the same.
After the prayers of the liturgy or missal,
those held in the greatest veneration by Bo-
man Catholics are the prayers contained in
the Church Ofiice, or Canonical Hours. This
office is a form of prayer and instruction
combined, consisting of the psalms, lessons,
hymns, prayers, anthems, versicles, &c. in an
established order, separated into different por-
tions, and to be said at different hours of,
the day.
These canonical hours of prayer are still
regularly observed by many religious orders,
but less regularly by the secular clergy, even
in the choir. When the ofiice is recited in
private, though the observance of regular
hours may he commendable, it is thought suf-
ficieut if the whole be gone through any time
in the twenty-four hours.
The church ofiice is contained in what is
of the Virgin Mary of Loretto, so called be-
cause used in the church of our Lady in
Loretto, which are the only two that have the
sanction of the church. ‘‘
In the public worship of this church every
thing is fixed and uniform. And as the
missal and breviary contain the prayers and
rites adopted in ordinary religious assemblies
for the purpose of sacrifice or prayer, so the
Pontifical and Ritual contain the forms and
prayers with which the sacraments are admi-
nistered: the blessing of ‘God invoked upon
his creatures; the power of evil spirits over
the souls and bodies of the faithful destroyed
I or restrained ; the method also of deprccating
the wrath of God in times of public calamity
* and of returning him thanks for signal public
called the Breviary; and those branches of ,
this church who have different liturgies from
the Roman, have also breviaries differing in
language, rite, and arrangement.
blessings; finally, directions how to afford
the comforts of religion to the sick and dying,
with the prayers to be made use of in the
Christian interment of the dead. Such of the
above functions as belong to the episcopal
character or ofiice are to be found in the Pon-
tifical; those which belong to simple priests,
or even the inferior clergy, are inserted in
the Ritual.
On the subject of the administration of the
' sacraments, our limits will not permit us to
Even in
the Latin church, several dioceses, and several _
religious bodies, have their particular Brevi- ‘
aries. The Roman Breviary is, however,
the most general in use. It is divided much
in the same manner as the missal, as to its
parts. The Psalms are so distributed, that
in the weekly ofiice (if the festivals of saints
did not interfere) the whole Psalter would be
gone over, though several psalms, viz. the
118th (alias 119th), are said every day. On
the festivals of saints, suitable psalms are
adopted. The lessons are taken partly out
of the Old and New Testament, and partly
out of the acts of the Saints and writings of
the holy fathers. The Lord’s Prayer, the
Hail Mary or Angelical Salutation, the Apo-
stles’ Creed, and the. Confiteor, are frequently
said. This last is a prayer by which they
acknowledge themselves sinners; beg .pardon
of God ; and the intercession, in their behalf,
of the angels, of the saints, and of their bre-
thren upon earth. N o prayers are more fre-
quently in the mouth of Roman Catholics
than these four; to which we may add the
Doxology, repeated in the oflice at the end
of every psalm, and in other places. In
'every canonical hour a hymn is also said,
composed by Prudentius or some other an-
cient father. \
The Roman Breviary contains also a small
ofiice in honour of the Blessed Virgin, and
likewise what is called the 'Office of .the
Dead. We there find besides, the penitential
and the gradual Psalms, as they are called,
together with the Litanies of the Saints and

descend to particulars.
Of the many benedictions used in this
church, some, besides those accompanying the
administration of their sacraments of confirm~
tion and holy orders, are reserved to bishops
exclusively, as the consecration of holy oil,
chrism, &c. Some are performed by priests
in their own right, and others by delegated
authority from the bishop.
In addition to such benedictions this church
blesses houses, ships, springs, fields, the nup-
tial bed, altars, chalices, sacerdotal vestments,
salt, water, oil, palms, &c., &c. It would be
ridiculous, even to recite the wonderful virtues
which her members attribute to their holy
water, and the many superstitious uses to
which they apply it. They seldom go into
or out of a church without sprinkling them-
selves with it. On solemn days the priest
passes down the middle aisle, to perform
that ofiice, using a brush; at other times
they serve themselves with it from a font
placed near the church door for that purpose.
Another of their ceremonies, connected with
this and most others, and used on most 00-‘
casions and in all places, is the sign of the
cross.
Roman Catholics maintain that God has left
with his church a power over unclean spirits,
in consequence of which they are cast out
from such persons or things as, by the per-
mission of God, they have been able to abuse;
or their power over them is at least restricted.
The forms of prayer which this church makes
use of for that purpose are called Exorcisms, _
and the persons who are authorised to use
them are called Exorcists. This function,
CHU
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175
however, according to modern. practice, is
seldom discharged by any but priests. . _
The prescribed forms for all benedictions,
exorcisms, and processions, &c., will be found
in the “ Roman Pontifical and Ritual.”
Those now enumerated are, properly speak-
ing, the only prayers which can be said to
have the sanction of the church ; yet her
members are ftu'nished with many forms for
private devotion- And “when, to acquire a
greater ease in the observance of the law of
God, a man makes use of certain means which
he is not obliged by any law to use, and which
others, who are not thought to neglect their
duty, do not in fact avail themselves of, he 1s
said by Roman Catholics to perform works of
supererogation.”
Of their numerous forms of private devotion,
the “ Chapter (or Rosary) of the BlessedVir-
gin,” and the “ Angelus Domini,” may be
noticed. The former was instituted, we are
told, by those who could not read, that they
might repeat the Lord’s Prayer, the Hail Mary,
and the Doxology, a certain number of times,
in lieu of every canonical hour; whilst at the
same time they commemorate the mysteries
of the life of Christ, and honour his Virgin
mother.
For above three centuries a practice has
prevailed in this church of commemorating
at morning, noon and night, the incarnat1on
‘of Christ, b a short form of prayer, which
from the W0 ds with which it begins in Latin,
is called the “ Angelus Domini.”
In conformity .with the Roman Catholic
practice of praying for the dead, “it is also
very customary to offer up for their repose, at
the first hour of the night, the Penitential
Psalms, with a prayer suited to that end.”
The government of the church of Rome is
hierarchical.
Besides those having jurisdiction, there are
bishops in partz'bus infidelz'um, as they are
called, or, more briefly, in partibus—i. e. per-
sons who, that they may enjoy the dignity
and honours of episcopacy, and thereby be
qualified to render some particular services to
the church in general, are named to sees “ in
infidel countries,” of which they cannot pos-
sibly take possession.
In Ireland, the succession of the hierarchy
never having been interrupted, the Roman
Catholic bishops there have their sees in the
country, as. before the Reformation, and enjoy
an ordinary jurisdiction; whereas those in
England and Scotland, where the succession
has failed, enjoy merely a delegated jurisdic-
tion, and are called vicars apostolic, from their
being delegates or vicars of the pope, who
occupies the apostolic see. He, of course, has
the right of nominating them, although, in
practice, the nomination takes place on the
recommendation of the other vicars, or of the
clergy who are interested. In England there
are four apostolic-vicars, and in Scotland two.
A metropolitan, or an archbishop, besides
the jurisdiction common to him with other
bishops in his own diocese, has also a juris-
diction, defined by the canon law, and cus-
toms, over all the bishops of his province,
who are his sufi'ragans; summons them every
third year to a provincial synod, and the con-
stitutions framed in it affect all the churches
in the province. In like manner, primates
and patriarchs have a jurisdiction over all the
metropolitans and other bishops of the king-
doms, or nations, where they hold their dig-
nified rank. The constitutions of the national
council convoked by the primate, bind all the
churches in that nation ; and the constitutions of
the patriarchal council bind all the patriarch-
ate. But these two titles are now, in fact, merely
honorary in most of those who enjoy them.
Above all these is the pope, who has the
power (in the opinion of all Roman Catholics,
jure divt'no) of feeding, ruling, and governing
the whole church; and exercises his jurisdic-
tion over all clergy as well as laity. This
power they say “is purely spiritual, entirely
unconnected with any temporal authority.”
His care and solicitude extends to all Ro-
man Catholic bishops in the world. He enacts
rules of discipline for the universal church,
dispenses with some of them when he sees
proper, punishes those who do not obey them,
passes sentences upon ecclesiastical causes
referred to him, (which ought to be the case
with all those of great importance,) and re-
ceives appeals from all Roman Catholic
bishops in the world.
It is he, we are told, who convokes general
councils; invites to them all the Roman Ca—
tholic bishops dispersed throughout the globe;
presides in them personally or by his legates;
and confirms their decrees. He constitutes
new bishopricks, and confirms the nomina-
tion of bishops: deprives bishops of their sees
for their crimes, and those unjustly deprived
of them he restores. The pope’s dominion
over his brother is, indeed, carried to such a
height, and so confirmed by the Council of
Trent, that they are become, in fact, little bet-
ter than his vicars. They swear obedience
to him in as strong terms as any subject can
use towards his sovereign, and in terms but
little consistent with their duty to their king
and country.
As all Roman Catholic churches had always
their senate, composed of priests and deacons,
whose counsel and assistance the bishop used
in the government of his diocese ; so the
pope had always his, composed of cardinals,
who assisted him in the government of the
universal church.
Thus all ‘-‘ Roman Catholics obey their
bishops—the bishops the metropolitans—the
metropolitans the primates and patriarchs—
and all of them their head, the pope; and of
all these is composed one church, having one
faith, under one head. ’
CHU ' l
C H ‘U
76
The discipline ‘of the Church 'of Rome is
now regulated by what is called the Canon
Law, which has taken place of the Canons of
the Apostles, th'e Apostolical Constitutions,
and all the ancient compilations on that sub-
ject. The Canon Law consists, 1. Of the
Decrees of Gratian; a compilation made up
of the decrees of different popes and councils,
and of several passages ‘of the holy fathers
and other reputable writers. 2. Of the De-
cretails, in five books. 3. Of the compilation,
known by the name of the Sixth Book of De-
cretals. 4. Of the Clementines. 5. Of the
decretals, known under the name of Extrava-
gantes. These, containing besides the decrees
of popes, and the canons of several councils,
constitute the body of the Canon Law.
It is, however, only in matters of faith that
she professes to admit of no diversity; her
discipline is not every where perfectly uni—
form ; nor does she consider some variety, _in
matters of worship or discipline, as subversive
of peace, or as breaking the bonds of commu-
mon.
The fast of Lent consists of forty days, in
imitation of our Saviour’s forty days’ fast in
the wilderness; and it is kept once a year “to
do penance for sin,” and as a preparation for
celebrating the great feast of Easter.
The Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays,
in one week of each of the four seasons of the
year, are annually fast days, called quatuor
tempora, or ember dag/s. Besides abstaining at
least from flesh meats, it is essential to a fast
day that only one full meal, and that not
before noon, be taken in the four-and-tw-enty
hours of the day. Every Friday in the year
is kept universally as a day of abstinence
from flesh; and in the Latin Church, Satur-
day, with a few exceptions; unless Christmas-
day falls upon them.
Another point of discipline in this Church
is clerical celibacy. Her members profess that
avow of perpetual celibacy was required in
the ancient church as a condition of ordina-
tion, even from the apostolic age. But pro-
testants insist that the contrary is evident,
from numerous examples of bishops and arch-
bishops, who lived in a state of matrimony
without any prejudice to their ordination or
their function.
“ The use of sacred vestments, as well as
of various ceremonies, has been universally
adopted by the Roman Catholic Church, pro-
fesscdly for the greater decency of her public
worship."
Besides the Lord’s day, Roman Catholics
universally keep a vast number of holidays.
There are several orders of monks in Catho»
lic countries, in every quarter of the globe, at
this day. They have Basilians, Benedictmes,
Augustinians, Dominicans, Franciscans, Can—
ons Regular, and others. All these different
orders take the solemn vows of poverty, chas-
tity, and obedience; and all firmly hold the
Roman Catholic faith, and only differ in their
rules of discipline, in their dress, in the parti-
cular privileges granted by the [pope to each
order, in their names, which they generally
take from that of their founder, and such like
distinctions pertaining merely to discipline.
In general, they are exempt from the juris-
diction of the bishop, and are immediately
under that of the pope.
Of nuns, as of the monks, there are differ“
ent orders, each following their own rules, and
wearing a peculiar habit. The solemn vows
of poverty, chastity, and obedience, are taken
by them also; and they are commonly under
the government of the bishops, but sometimes
are under the jurisdiction of regular clergy~
menof their own order. After their profession,
they are never allowed to go without the en-
closure of the convent, during life, without
the leave of the bishop, or some cogent rea-
son, such as a nunnery taking fire, &c. ; and
no man is allowed to enter it without a similar
permission, which may be granted for a ne-
cessar cause. Roman Catholics think that
the origin of nuns is to be found even in the
primitive church.
It is an article of the discipline of the Church
of Rome, not to put the Old or New Testa~
ment, in the vulgar tongue, into the hands of
the children or unlearned; and that, in conse‘
quence, “ no part whatever of the Bible in the
vulgar tongue is taught in the Roman Catholic
charity schools.”
The Roman Catholic religion is very exten-
sively diffused, and is more generally professed
than any other system of Christianity.
In Europe, it is the established and only
religion in Italy, Spain, and Portugal; in the
ci-devant Austrian and French Netherlands;
in Sicily, Sardinia, and the other Mediterra-
nean islands adjacent to Italy and Spain. In
France, perhaps ten to one of the inhabitants
are Roman Catholics. In Poland, and through-
out the hereditary dominions of the house of
Austria, the case is the same with the great
majority of the inhabitants, and probably with
almost one-half of the rest of the German
population. In Hungary alone they exceed
4,000,000; and about the same number are
[found within the dominions of Prussia. A
considerable number of her Britannic Majes-
~ ty’s European subjects profess the doctrine of
' the Church of Rome. In Ireland, the Roman
, Catholics are nearly three to one of all other
denominations; in England, their number is
nearly 250,000, and in Scotland about 50,000.
I The Roman Catholic religion is also estab-
l lished in seven of the Swiss cantons.- In
{ Holland, too, and in the Protestant cantons of
; Switzerland, and also in Russia. many of its
: members may be found. Sweden and Den.
; mark contain a few; and in the provinces of
European Turkey they are more numerous
,i than is generally supposed. In that extended
I country there are ltoman Catholic arch~

CHU
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177
bishops, bishops, chapters and monasteries,
and a numerous body of laity dwelling
together by thousands.
In Asia, many of the subjects of the Grand
Seignior are Roman Catholics. The Maron-
ites of Mount Libanus, with their patriarch
and bishops, are all of this communion. There
are besides many others throughout Syria,
Mesopotamia, and Armenia. Some Roman
Catholics are to be found in Persia. Through-
out Hindostan and the other southern parts
of Asia, Siam, Cochin China, Tonquin, and
the vast empire of China itself‘, the number of
Roman Catholics is very great. And in the
Philippine Isles, and others of the Eastern
Ocean, the Roman Catholic religion is very
generally established.
The mission to China is supplied by the
college of St. Joseph at Macao, which is now
under the direction of the priests of the Mis-
sionary Congregation. From the report of the '
state of the missions in 1810, it appears that
there were then in China, Tonquin, Cochin-
China, and Siam, 14 bishops, 7 apostolical
vicars, 43 European missionaries, 231 native
priests, and 585,000 Roman Catholic Chris-
tians.
The great body of Roman Catholics, from
the banks of the Chrishna to Cape Comorin, _
amounting to about 755,000, is intrusted to
the care of two titular archbishops, two titular
bishops, and three bishops in partibus, with
the title of vicars-apostolic.
In Africa, the Roman Catholic religion
prevails in many parts of its vast extent. Not
to mention Madeira, the Canary and Cape de
Verd Islands, the inhabitants of which are all
Roman Catholics, a great proportion of the
inhabitants of Loango, Congo, and Angola,
adhere to the doctrines of the Church of
Rome. The same holds true of several king-
doms on the eastern coast of that continent,
viz. Mocaranga, Mozambique, Zanguebar, and
Melinda. In Guinea, too, in the Mohammedan
states of the North, and in Egypt, not a few
Christians of the Church of Rome are to be
found.
America.—The whole of the southern con-
tinent of America, including the native abori-
gines, and the descendants of the European
colonists, profess to be members of the Church
of Rome, with the exception of most of the
Dutch at Surinam; and of afew wandering
tribes in the interior, towards the southern
promontory. The same religion is professed
throughout the Spanish settlements in North
America, and in the Spanish and ci-devant
French West Indies, as well as by three-
four-ths of the inhabitants of Canada, where it
is the established religion.
All the clergy and members of this church
throughout the United States were under the
supermtendence of the Bishop of Baltimore,
till the year 1809, when that town (the capital
of Maryland) was created a metropolitan see,
and four new dioceses were erected, viz. Bos-
ton, New York, Philadelphia, and Bard’s
Town, in the State of Kentucky. The bishops
of all these dioceses are suffragans to the arch-
bishop of Baltimore. And in addition to these,
two other dioceses have more lately been
erected, out of part of the archdiocese, viz.
Virginia, and the Carolinas and Georgia. The
bishop of Louisiana, now one of the United
States, whose residence is St. Louis, in the
new State of Missouri, is not a sutfragan of
the archbishop of Baltimore. -
The cathedral of Baltimore, which was
built in 1820, is said to be the finest church in
the United States, and to have cost upwards
of £50,000 sterling. In most of the dioceses
now specified, there is one or more colleges
or seminaries, under the direction of Roman
Catholic clergymen. The Jesuits also have a
thriving college at Georgetown in Maryland,
and the English Dominicans have one in Ken-
tucky. There are, besides, five or six semi-
naries for ladies in the United States; some
of these, however, are merely for the educa—
tion of females : but in others the members
are required and expected to take the vows of
poverty and continency. The Roman Catho-
lics are rapidly increasing in North America,
by emigration from Europe, and in other
ways. Their number, some years ago, was
estimated at 600,000. Large sums of money
are annually expended in the erection of
chapels, and the support of priests. The con-
tributions in Austria, made for the support of
Catholic missions in North America, amount/-
ed, in 1829 and 1830, to 49,382 florins.
According to the Roman Court Calendar of
1822, the number of living cardinals was
then 44, and the number of patriarchs, arch-
bishops, and bishops, scattered over the Chris-
tian world, amounted to 550, exclusive of
those in partz'bus infidel-ium. —— Broughton’s
Dictionary,- Aa'ams’s Religious World Dis-
play/ed. _
CHURCH, or KIRK or Seo'rLANn—The
word Kirk, signifying church, was used in
Scotland even before the Reformation, and is
still retained there, where it is chiefly con-
fined to the Establishment, and the Relief
Synod.
The principles of the Reformation were
first introduced into Scotland about the year
1527, when they excited the apprehensions of
the priesthood, who attempted to arrest their
progress by many acts of cruelty against
their professors. '
The sovereign and the priesthood combined
to preserve the dominion of error; whilst the
greater part of the nobility, to gain the ob-
jects which they fondly contemplated, es-
poused the interests of the people, and joined
in enlarging the sphere of civil and religious
liberty. Thus it happened that the hierarchy
came to be regardedin Scotland, by all who
were partial to the Protestant faith, as the
N
C H U
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178
ally .of despotism and the engine of perse-
cution.
It was not, therefore, to be expected, that
when the Protestants gained a decided as-
cendency, much inclination would be shown
to uphold a system of ecclesiastical polity,
associated with what they most abhorred;
and the celebrated Andrew Melville, on his
arrival in Scotland from Geneva, in 1574,
taking advantage of these feelings, and of
every political event that might facilitate his
design, was enabled to effect, in 1592, the in—
troduction of that Presbyterian polity which
he found established in Geneva, and which
has finally been fixed in Scotland.
James VL, to whom this form of church
government was most obnoxious, was desirous
that Episcopacy, as more consonant to mo-
narchy, should be restored. To effect this,
he made many efforts, even before his acces-
sion to the English throne; and after that
event he was enabled to accomplish his object.
His unfcn‘tunate son, Charles 1., formed the
scheme of assimilating, in all respects, the
Churches of England and Scotland. With
this view be determined to introduce a liturgy,
which in Scotland had never been regularly
used; and he insisted upon the reception of
a set of canons, abolishing the control over
ecclesiastical measures which the inferior
church judicatories had been permitted to
exercise. The violence with which all this
was resisted is known to every reader of the
history of Britain. The zeal of the multitude
was inflamed to fury; the clergy were in-
sulted, and Episcopacy was again contem-
plated as the engine of Popery and of des-
potism. The discontented in Scotland made
a common cause with those who were dis-
affected to prelacy in the southern part of
the island: they bound themselves by the
deed entitled The Solemn League and Cove-
nant, to exterminate prelacy as a corruption
of the Gospel; and they took an active part
in those measures which terminated in the
death of Charles and the erection of the
Commonwealth. Upon the restoration of
Charles 11., he re-established Episcopacy in
Scotland, under circumstances little calculated
to conciliate the affections, and to secure the
reverence of the people to that form of church
polity. The Presbyterians, undismayed, ad-
hered to their principles ; and, upon the abdi-
cation of James II., they looked forward with
confidence to the triumph of their cause.
And though the Prince of Orange was eager
to preserve in both parts of the island the
same form of ecclesiastical government, the
bishops conceived that they could not con;
scientiously transfer their allegiance to him,
whereby the way was opened for that estab-
lishment of Presbytery which some of his
most zealous adherents had pressed upon him,
and which was ratified by act of parliament
in 1690. Thus Scotland and England having
been separate kingdoms at the-time of the
Reformation, a difference of circumstances in
the two countries led to different sentiments
on the subject of religion, and at last to dif-
ferent religious establishments; and when
they were incorporated into one kingdom by
the Treaty of Union in 1707, both kingdoms
gave their assent to a declaration, that Epis-
copacy shall continue in England, and that _
the Presbyterian church government shall be
the only government of Christ’s church in
that part of Great Britain called Scotland.
The same establishment is also guaranteed
}y the fifth article of the Union with Ire-
and.
The only Confession which appears to have
been legally established before the Revolution
in 1688, is that which is published in the
“History of the Reformation in Scotland,”
attributed to John Knox. It consists of
twenty-five articles, and was the Confession
as well of the Episcopal as of the Presby-
terian church. The Cov-enanters, indeed,
during the Commonwealth, adopted The
Westminster Confession. And at the Revo—
lution this Confession was received as the
standard of the national faith; and the same
acts of parliament which settled Presbyterian
church government in Scotland ordain, “ That
no person be admitted or continued hereafter
to be a minister or preacher within this
church, unless that he subscribe the (i. e.
this) Confession of Faith, declaring the same
to be the confession of his faith.” By the
Act of Union in 1707, the same is required
of all “professors, principals, regents, mas-
ters, and others bearing ofiice” in any of the
four universities in Scotland.
The Westminster Confession of Faith,
then, and what are called the Larger and
Shorter Catechisms, which are generally
bound up with it, contain the public and
avowed doctrines of this church; and it is
well knownthat these formularies are strictly
and properly Calvinistical. -
In the Church of Scotland the public wor
ship is extremely simple, and but few cere-
monies are retained. There is no liturgy or
public form in use; and the minister’s only
guide is, “The Directory for the Public
Worship of God,” which prescribes rather
the matter than the words of our addresses
to God: nor is it thought necessary to adhere
strictly to it; for, as in several other respects,
what it enjoins with regard to reading the
holy Scriptures in public worship is, at this
dag but seldom practised.
y the ecclesiastical laws, “ the Sacrament
of the Lord’s Supper should be dispensed in
every parish four times in the year ;” but
this law is now seldom adhered to, unless in
most chapels of ease. In country parishes it
is often administered not above once a year,
and in towns generally only twice a year.
The people are prepared for that holy ordi-
CHU
CHU
179
nance by a fast ‘and public worship on some
day of the preceding week, generally on
Thursday, and by a sermon on the Saturday ;
and they meet again in the kirk on the Mon-
day morning for public thanksgiving, and
sermon.
They have no altars or chancels in the
kirks, and the communion tables are not
fixed, but introduced for the occasion; and
are sometimes two or more in number, and
of considerable length. At the first table,
the minister, immediately upon concluding
what they call the Consecration Prayer, usu-
ally proceeds to read the words of the insti-
tution, and, without adding more, to distribute
the elements, which he does only to the two
communicants who sit nearest him on each
hand. It is usual for the elders to administer
them to the rest. But before, or during the
services of the succeeding tables, addresses
at some length are made to the communicants
by the minister, or by one of the ministers,
(for there are generally two, three, 'or more
present,) standing at the head of the com-
munion-table.
In conducting public worship, this church
has little in common with the Church of
England. She has no festivals. Days of
public fasting and thanksgiving she does in-
deed sometimes observe, particularly those
commanded by his Majesty, together with
the fast previous to the celebration of the
holy communion, and the day of thanksgiving
after it; but she has no Lent Fast—no kneel-
ing at public prayer—no public worship of
God without a sermon, or public instruction
-—-no instrumental music—no consecration of
churches or of burying-groundsfino funeral
service or ceremony—no sign of the cross in
baptism—no regular use of the Lord’s Prayer
———and no administration of the holy com-
munion in private houses, not even to the-
sick or dying.
In singing, an old metrical version of the
Psalms is used; but besides the Psalms of
David, a collection of translations and para-
phrases in verse, of several passages of sacred
Scripture, together with some hymns, has
been introduced of late years, by permission
of the General Assembly, and a new version
of the Psalms in metre is now in progress.
For government and discipline, see Pans-
BYTERIANISM.
The General Assembly, in the present
state of the church, consists of the following
members, viz. :—
200 Ministers representing Presbyteries.
89 Elders, representing Presbyteries.
67 Elders, representing Royal Boron hs.
5 Ministers or Elders, representing ni-
versities.
w—---.
The connexion of what is called the Scots
Kirk at Campvere, in Holland, with the es-
tablishment in Scotland, which had been dis-
solved by the Batavian Republic, has lately
been restored; and congregations joined with
this church, and represented in the General
Assembly, have been established in the dif-
ferent presidencies of India.
In Scotland, and the islands of Scotland,
she contains within her bounds 893 parishes,
and about 1,500,000 members. The number
of ministers belonging to her, who enjoy
benefices, and possess ecclesiastical authority,
is 940. Of this number, 77 are placed in
collegiate charges, and the remaining 863
ministers are settled in single charges, each
of them having the superintendence of a
whole parish. In very populous parishes,
chapels of case are erected with consent of
the kirk, and are supported by voluntary
subscriptions; but the ministers who ofliciate
in them are not included in this number, as
they are not members of any ecclesiastical
courts.
The duties of the Scotch clergy are nume—
rous and laborious. They are required to
officiate regularly in the public worship of
God; and, in general, they must go through
this duty twice every Sunday, (exclusive of
other occasional appearances,) delivering
every Sunday a lecture and a sermon, with
prayers. It is also expected, throughout
Scotland, that the prayers and discourses
shall be of the minister’s own composition;
and the prayers in all cases, and the dis-
courses in most instances, are delivered with-
out the use of papers. They are expected to
perform the alternate duties of examining
their people from the Scriptures and cate-
chisms of the church, and of visiting them
from house to house, with prayers and ex-
hortations. The charge of the poor devolves,
in a very particular manner, on the clergy;
and in them also is vested the superintend~
ence of all schools within their bounds.
The provision which has been made, by
the law of Scotland, for the support of the
established clergy, consists in a stipend, pay-
able in victual or money, or partly in each;
a small glebe of land; and a manse (parson—
age-house) and ofiice-houses.
An act of parliament passed in 1810,
granting 10,0001. per annum for augmenting
the smaller parish stipends in Scotland. By
this act, the lowest stipend assigned to a
minister of the establishment is 1501. ster-
ling, with a small sum, generally 81. 6s. 8d.,
for communion elements. Stipends, where
the teinds are not exhausted, are, with the
exclusion of communion elements, wholly
paid in victual, generally oatmeal and barley,
in equal proportions; and the court frequently
allocates, as it is termed, to a minister from
sixteen to eighteen ehalders. If the stipend
exhaust the teind, it is sometimes paid in
CH U
CIR
180
money; and there are cases in which the
teind was originally set apart in money, and
not in victual. ,
The whole church establishment, as a bur-
den on land, may be stated in one view as
follows, viz., a glebe, of perhaps about six or
seven acres, out of nearly 21,000, and the
grass, where it is allowed; a stipend of about
9d. in the pound of the land rents; and
buildings and communion charges, amounting
to 4d. or 5d. more in the pound of these land
rents. All these, put together, constitute the
burdens of the Scottish Ecclesiastical Estab-
lishment, in so far as proprietors of land are
affected by them; and are not supposed to
exceed 300,000!. per annum.
Patronage was abolished in Scotland A.D.
1649; was revived at the Restoration; was
partly abrogated at the Revolution; and again
revived in 1712 ; and the ranks of dissenters
there have been thronged, perhaps, from no
other cause so much as the abuse of patron-
age; notwithstanding, this church, according
to Dr. Chalmers, has still a veto, and can set
aside any presentee, not merely on the ground
of his moral or literary qualifications, but
“ generally, on the principle that it is not for
the cause of edification that his presentation
should be sustainc .”
The internal state of the church of Scot-
land, it has been supposed by some, has been
of late years undergoing an improvement, by
the decided increase of the party usually
termed Evangelical. In the appointment of
ministers to vacant churches, both in town
and country, much greater attention is now
paid than formerly to the wishes of the peo-
ple; and popular candidates, as they are
called, are those whom the patrons of the
present day most frequently present to liv-
ings. If this party should go on increasing
in the same proportion, the reign of the M0-
(lerates, or Low-doctrine, but High-church-
men, must ere long terminate. It is, however,
greatly to be deplored, that along with this
increase in the number of evangelical minis-
ters, a spirit of intolerance and bigotry is
rapidly gaining ground. Individuals, for
instance, carry their jealousy so far as to'
dissuade their parishioners from hiring dis-
senting servants. Others, contrary to their
former practice, refuse to intimate from their
pulpits sermons to be preached on public oc-
casions for common objects, by dissenting
ministers; and there are others who stand
aloof from societies in which they would be
required to co-operate with brethren who do
not belong to the established church. To the
production of this spirit and state of feeling,
the cont-rovers relating to the British and
Foreign Bible ociet has greatly contributed.
~—Adams’ Religious Vorld Displayed; Edin.
T lzeol. Mag. Nov. 1830.
CHURCH, SYRIAN.
TIANs.
See SYRIAN Crisis-
CHURCH, FATHERS or THE. See FATnEns.
CHUncH, STATES or THE, the pppe’s do-
minions in Italy. They originatediwith the
grant of Pepin, king of the Franks, in 754,
who bestowed on Stephen IL, bishop of Rome, .
some districts which the Lombards, against
whom Stephen solicited Pepin’s assistance,
had taken from the exarchate. Charlemagne
confirmed this grant in 774, and in return
received the title of Roman Emperor, from
Leo III., in 800. During succeeding centuries
the popes sometimes gained accessions to their
temporal dominions; at other times encroach-
ments were made upon them. At present
the states of the church cover a surface of
17,185 square miles, with 2,460,000 inhabi-
tants, 90 towns, 212 market places, and 3500
villages. They are situated in the centre of
Italy, between Lombardy, Tuscany, and Na-
ples, and the Tuscan and Adriatic Seas. The
revenue is estimated at 12,000,000, and the
national debt at 200,000,000 of florins. There
is a standing army of 9000 men. The navy
consists of two frigates and a few small ves-
sels. In 1816 these states, with the excep-
tion of Rome, Tivoli, and Subjago, which are
under the immediate administration of the
pope, were divided into seventeen delegations,
which, when under the government of cardi-
nals, are called legations.
CHUncHwAnnENs, oflicers chosen yearly,
either by the consent of the minister, or of
the parishioners, or of both. Their business
is to look to the church, churchyard, and to
observe the behaviour of the parishioners; to
levy a shilling forfeiture on all such as do not
go to church on Sundays, and to keep persons
orderly in church-time, &c.
CHURCHYARD, a piece of ground adjoining
to the church, set apart for the interment of
the dead. In the Church of Rome, church-
yards are consecrated with great solemnity.
If a churchyard which has been thus conse-
crated shall afterwards he polluted by any in-
decent action, or profaned by the burial of an
heretic, an excommunicated or unbaptized
person, it must be reconciled; and the cere-
mony of the reconciliation is performed with
as much ceremony as that of the consecrationt
See CoNsEcnATroN.
CIRCUMCELLIANS, in Latin Circumcellz'ones,
a branch of the sect of the Donatists; they
abounded chiefly in Africa. They had no
fixed abode, but rambled up and down, beg-
ging, or rather exacting, a maintenance from
the country people. It was from this wan-
dering course of life they had their name.
They exercised all sorts of cruelty, and treated
every one they met in the most brutal man-
ner. They ran about like madmen, and
carried several kinds of arms. This rendered
them famous all over the world, and the dis-
grace of their sect; whence Theodoret speak-
ing of the Donatists, says scarce any thing
but what is true only of the Circumeellians.
CIS
C LA
181.
CInoUMcIsIoN, a custom prevailing among
several eastern nations, of cutting off the
prepuce of the virile member. It was en-
joined as a religious rite on Abraham and his
posterity. The Mohammedan circumcision is
probably an ancient Ishmaellte custom, which
was received from Abraham, the common
father of the Israelites and Ishmaelites. It
was not introduced into Arabia by the Koran
of Mohammed, but was already in use among
his nation, and was adopted, and has been _in-
troduced by his followers, as a sacred rite,
and one of the essential parts of Islamism,
into all countries where this religion has been
received, there is also a kind of circumcision
0r excision performed on the female sex. In
Egypt Mohammedan maidens are frequently
circumcised; and the Abyssimans circumcise
both sexes. _
Cmcumcrsrou, FEAST or THE, a festival
celebrated on the 1st of January, in comme-
moration of the circumcision of Christ. The
day was anciently kept as a fast, in opposition
to the custom of the pagans, who feasted on
it in honour of the god Janus.
CIs'rER'rIAN MONKS, a religious order,
founded in the eleventh century, by St. Ro-
bert, a Benedictine, and abbot of Moléme.
Robert, being ordered by the pope to resume
the government of the abbey of Moléme, was
succeeded in that of Citeaux, by Alberic;
and Pope Paschal, by a bull of the year 1100,-
took that monastery under his protection.
Alberic drew up the first statutes for the
monks of Citeaux, or Cistertians, in which
he enjoined the strict observance of the rule
of St. Benedict.
The habit of these religions of the monas-
tery of Citcaux was at first black, but they
pretend that the Holy Virgin, appearing to
St. Alberic, gave him a white habit, from
which time they changed them black habit
for a white one, only retaining the black
scapulary. In memory of th1s change they
keep a festival on the 5th of August, which
the call, “The descent of the blessed Virgin
at iteaux, and the miraculous changing from
black. to white.’
The number of those who embraced the
Cistertian order increasing, it was necessary
to build more monasteries. Accordmgly, 1n
1113, Stephen, abbot of Citeaux, built that of
La Ferte, in the diocese of Chalons. The
next year, he founded Pontigm, m the dro-
cese of Auxerre. Clairvaux, 1n the diocese
of Langres, was built in 1115. The ‘order
increased further in 1118, by the founding of
four other monasteries, which were Prully,
La Cour-Dieu, Trois Fontaines, and Bonne-
vaux ; and, in the following year, 1 1 19, Bouras,
Fontenay, Cadovin, and Maran, were founded.
Then Stephen formed all these monasteries
into one body,_and drew up the constitutions
of the order, which he called “ The Charter
of Charity,” containing, in five chapters, all
the necessary rules for the establishment and.
government of the order.
This order made a surprising progress.
Fifty years after its institution, it had 500
abbeys, and 1000 years afterwards, it boasted.
of 1800 abbeys, most of which had been
founded before the year 1200. This great
progress must be ascribed to the sanctity
of the Cistertians, of whom Cardinal De
Vitry, in his Western History, says, “ T he
whole Church of Christ was full of the high
reputation and opinion of their sanctity, as
it were with the odour of some divine bal-
sam; and that there was no country or pro-
vince wherein this vine, loaded with blessings,
had not spread forth its branches.” And,
describing their Observances, he says, “ They
neither wore skins nor shirts, nor ever ate
flesh, except in sickness, and abstained from.
fish, eggs, milk and cheese; they lay only
upon straw beds, in their tunics and cowls;
they rose at midnight, and sang praises to
God till break of day; they spent the day in
labour, reading, and prayer; and, in all their
exercises, they observed a strict and con-
tinual silence; they fasted from the Feast of
the Exaltation of the Holy Cross till Easter;
and they exercised hospitality towards the
poor, with extraordinary charity.”
The order of Cistertians became in time so
powerful, that it governed almost all Europe,
both in spirituals and temporals. It did also
great service to the church by means of the
eminent men it produced. These religious
were employed by the pope to convert the
Albigenses. Some authors say, there have
been six popes of this order: but it will be
difiicult to find any more than Eugenius III.
and Benedict XII. It boasts of about forty
cardinals, a great number of archbishops,
bishops, 850. 85c.
CLARENDON, CoNs'rrrU'rIoNs o-F, sixteen
articles formed at the council held at that
place, in the reign of Henry 11., hearing that
all differences relative to the right of patron-
age should be tried in the civil courts; that
no churches, which are fees of the crown,
can be disposed of in perpetual donation with- c
out the king’s consent; that all clergymen,
charged with crimes against the laws, shall
appear before the Lord Chief Justice, as well
as before the ecclesiastical courts, and none of
them, after conviction, be protected by the
church; that no clergyman shall go out of
the kingdom, without his Majesty’s consent,
and their giving proper security of their
doing nothing to the prejudice of him or his
subjects; that accusations of laymen, in eccle-
siastical courts, shall be proved by respectable
witnesses; that excommunicated persons
shall not be compelled to reside 1n any par-
ticular locality; that no person holding im-
mediately of the king, or any of his barons,
should be excommunicated, 8w, without first
aequainting the king or his chief justice;
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that none shall appeal from the archbishop’s
court without his Majesty’s consent; that
bishops and abbots must perform the services
annexed to their tenures when required, be
present at all trials, except when sentences of
blood, or of losing life or limb, are to be pro-
nounced; that the revenues of all vacant
bishoprics, abbeys, or priories of a royal
foundation, shall be paid into the king’s ex-
chequer; that the king shall have the power
of convening the electors of bishops, abbots,
and priors, and the electors must do homage
to him before the consecration; that he shall
punish every wrong done to the superior
clergy, and they shall prosecute such as m-
jure him; that no goods of forfeited persons
shall be protected from his seizure, in churches
or churchyards; that all pleas of debt shall
be tried in civil courts, &c. These articles
were designed to abridge and curb the power
of the clergy, which, under the presidency,
and owing to the ambition and influence of
Thomas a Becket, had grown to an into-
lerable height.
CLARISSES, an order of nuns, so called from
their founder, St. Clara. She was of the town
of Assisa, in Italy, and, having renounced the
world to dedicate herself to religion, gave
birth to this order in the year 1212; which
comprehends, not only those nuns who follow
the rule of St. Francis, according to the strict
letter, and without any mitigation, but those
likewise who follow the same rule, softened
and mitigated by several popes.
The reputation of St. Clara, being very
great, soon gained her a great number of fol-
lowers; for whom several monasteries began
to be erected in several parts of Italy. In the
year 1219, the order passed into Spain, and
presently after into France. In the year 1224,
St. Francis, at the request of St. Clara, pre-
scribed rules for the government of the
Clarisses, in which he forbade them to have
any possessions, and enjoined them silence
from the compline to the tierce of the follow-
ing day. He gave them for their habit three
tunics and a mantle. The rules of the Cla-
risses were approved by Gregory IX. and In-
nocent IV.
V The order of St. Clara, which had made a
great progress during the life of the founder,
made a still greater after her death, and is at
present one of the most flourishing orders of _
nuns in Europe. _
In Italy there are monasteries of Clarisses,
some of which take the name of “ Nuns of the
Strict Observance ;" others that of “ Solitaries
of the Institution of St. Peter of Alcantara.”
The former had for their foundress Frances
de Jesus-Maria, of the house of Farnese, who
built their first monastery at Albana, in the
car 1631. These nuns observe the rule of
.t. Clara in its utmost rigour. The other had v . _ . .
'StltlOIl of some, or the mfidehty of others.”
for their founder Cardinal Barberini, who
built their first monastery in the town of
Farsa. They were denominated from St.
Peter of Alcantara, because, in all things,
they imitated the rigorous and penitent life of
that saint.
After Ferdinand Cortez had conquered
Mexico for the king of Spain, Isabella of
Portugal, wife of the emperor Charles V.,
sent thither some nuns of the order of St.
Clara, who made several settlements there,
particularly at Zuchimilci, Tetzeuci, Quaus-
thitlani, Telmanaci, Tapeaca, Thevacana, and
in several other places. Near their monas-
teries were founded communities of Indian
young women, to be instructed by the Cla-
risses in religion, and such works as were
suitable to persons of their sex. These com-
munities of Indian girls are so considerable,
that they usually consist of no less than four
or five hundred.
CLARKE, Du. SAMUEL, a celebrated divine
of the sixteenth century, was born at Norwich,
on the 11th of October, 1675, his father being
an alderman of that city. He received his
first education in the free school in that place,
under the superintendence of the Rev. Mr.
Burton, but was, in a short time, removed to
Caius College, Cambridge. Whilst at that
university, he devoted much of his time to
the study of theology; and diligently culti-
vated a knowledge of the Old Testament in
the original Hebrew; the New, in the origi-
nal Greek; and the primitive Christian wri-
ters. Before he arrived at the age of twenty-
one, be largely contributed to the Newtonian
system; a study, the knowledge of which, by
application and industry, he made himself
master of. He translated Rohault’s Physics,
for the use of young students, which has
been considered the most concise and best
that has been written. In 1699, he published
“ Three practical Essays upon Baptism, Con-
firmation, and Repentance,” containing full
instructions for a holy life, with earnest ex-
- hortations to young persons, drawn from the
consideration of the severity of the discipline
of the primitive church; and in 1701, his
“ Paraphrase on the Four Gospels ” was put"
to press. In the year 1704, he delivered a
lecture on “ The Being and Attributes of
God ;” and in the following year, on the
“ Evidence of Natural and Revealed Reli-
gion,” in which he displayed a force of rea-
soning, a vein of piety, and an extent of
knowledge, that proved that his mind was at
once vast and comprehensive, and that he
~ was indeed no ordinary man. These sermons
he afterwards enlarged on, improved, and
published: and the work is a standard book
in the English language. Dr. Hoadley, bishop
of Winchester, when speaking of this work,
and of his writings, said, “He has in them
laid the foundation of true religion too deep
and strong to be shaken, either by the super-
In 1706, Dr. Clarke obtained the rectory of
ELI-C
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183
St. Bennet’s, Paul’s Wharf, in London, where
he executed the duties of his ministerial of-
fice with zeal and devotion. During this year
he translated Sir Isaac Newton’s Treatise on
Optics into Latin. He enjoyed the peculiar
patronage and friendship of this great man,
and it was at his request that that admirable
translation was accomplished His patron
was so well pleased with the performance,
that he presented him with the sum of 5001.
as a mark of his approbation and esteem. He
also introduced him to court, and procured
him the favour of Queen Anne, who ap-
pointed him one of her chaplains. She also
made him the presentation of the rectory of
St. J ames’s, Westminster, where he read lec-
tures on the Church Catechism for many
months in the year, on a Thursday evening;
and which have been since published, and re--
eeived, as they merited, very general appro-
bation. In 17 09, he took his degree of Doctor
in Divinity, at Cambridge; and soon after-
wards became engaged in a warm controversy
on the “Scripture Doctrine of the Trinity,”
which tended greatly to spread Arianism over
the country. He seems to have been led into
the erroneous views which he adopted, and
attempted to defend, by his metaphysical turn
of mind, and by pursuing improperly the lan-
guage of human c-reeds respecting the genera-
tion of the Son of God. About this time he
was presented by Mr. Lechmere, Chancellor
of the Duchy of Lancaster, to the Mastership
of Wigston’s Hospital, in Leicester; and in
17 27, the offer was made him of the place of
Master of the Mint, but this he refused.
His death was very sudden and painful.
On the morning of the day he preached be-
fore the judges at Serjeants’ Inn, he was
seized with a pain in his side, which, in the
evening, ascended to his head, and proved
fatal on the following morning, May the 17th,
17 29.
CLERGY, (from the Greek word, nknpog.
heritage,) in the general sense of the word,
as used by us, signifies the body of eccle-
siastics of the Christian church, in contradis-
tinetion to the laity ;. but, strictly speaking,
and according to Scripture, it means the
church. The New Testament writers apply
this term to the whole Christian church, 1 Pet.
v. 3. Thus it is the church distinguished
from the world, and not one part of the
church as distinguished from another part.
The word clergy, however, among us, always
refers to ecclesiastics. In North America it
is applied to- ministers of all denominations.
When a Catholic priest receives the tonsure,
he repeats a part of the sixteenth Psalm :—
“ The Lord is the ortion of mine inherit-
ance,” &c. According to the doctrine of the
Romish church, a clergyman‘ isend'owed, in
his spiritual character, with supernatural
powers, which distinguish him from the lay-
man, such as the power to forgive sins, and
to consecrate the bread, so as to convert it
into the real body of Christ, &c.
The clergy, after the apostolic age, con—
'sisted of bishops, priests and deacons; but in
the third century, many inferior orders were
appointed, such as sub-deacons, acoluthists,
readers, 8tc. The clergy of the church of
Rome are divided into regular and secular.—
The regular consists of those monks or reli-
gious who have taken upon them holy orders
of the priesthood in their respective monas-
teries. The secular clergy are those who are
not of any religious order, and have the care-
and direction of parishes. The Protestant
clergy are all secular. (For ARcHnIsHoPs,
BISHOPS, DEANS, &c., &c., see those articles.)
The clergy have large privileges allowed
them by our municipal laws, and had formerly
much greater, which were abridged at the
Reformation on account of the ill use which
the popish clergy had endeavoured to make
of them; for the laws having exempted
them from almost every personal duty, they
attempted a total exemption from every
secular tie. The personal exemptions, in-
deed, for the most part continue. A. clergy-
man cannot be compelled to serve on a
jury, nor to appear at a court leet, which
almost every other person is obliged to do;
but if a layman be summoned on a jury,
and before the trial takes orders, he shall,
notwithstanding, appear, and be sworn.
Neither can he be chosen to any temporal
office, as bailifi‘, reeve, constable, or the like,
in regard of his own continual attendance on
the sacred function, though the clergy are
now often found filling the office of justice of
the peace. During, his attendance on divine
service, he is privileged from arrests in civil-
suits. In cases of felony, also, a clerk in
orders shall have the benefit of clergy, with~
out being branded in the hand, and may like-
wise have it more than once; in both which
cases he is distinguished from a layman.
Benefit of Clergy, was a privilege whereby
a clergyman claimed to be delivered to his
ordinary to purge himself of felony, and
which anciently was allowed only to those
who were in orders ; but, by the statute of 18
Eliz., every man, to whom the benefit of clergy
is granted, though not in orders, is put to
read at the bar, after he is found guilty, and
convicted of ’ felony, and so burnt in the hand,
and set free for the first time, if the ordinary
or deputy standing by do say, Legz's at ele-
rz'cus: otherwise he shall suzli‘er death. As
the clergy have their privileges, so they have
also their disabilities, on account of their spi~
ritual avoeations. Clergymen are incapable
of sitting in the House of Commons ; and by
statute 21 Henry VIII. c. 13, are not in ge~
neral allowed to take any l‘fi‘nds or tenements
to farm, upon pain of 10C ‘peip'mmnth, and;
total avoidance of the. lease; nor upon like
pain to keep any taphouse or hrewhouse ; nor
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184
engage in any trade, nor sell any merchan-
dise, under forfeiture of the treble value;
Ivvhich prohibition is consonant to the canon
aw.
The number of clergy in England and
Wales amount, according to the best calcula-
tion, to 18,000. The revenues of the clergy
were formerly considerable, but since the
Reformation they are comparatively small, at
least those of the inferior clergy. See the
Bishop of Llandafi’s Valuation of the Church
and University Revenues; or, Cove on the Re-
venues of the Church, 1797, second edition;
Burnet’s Historyof his own Times, conclusion.
See MINISTER.
CLERK. 1. A word originally used to de-
note a learned man, or man of letters, but
now is the common appellation by which cler-
gyinen distinguish themselves in signing any
deed or instrument. 2. Also the person who
reads the responses of the congregation in the
church, or gives out the hymns at a meeting.
CLUNIAc MONKS, religious‘of the order of
Clugni. It is the first branch of the order of
St. Benedict.
St. Bernon, of the family of the Earls of
Burgundy, was the founder of this order. In
the year 910, he built a monastery for the re—
ception of Benedictine monks, in the‘ town of
Clugni, situated in the Masonnois, a little
province of France, on the river Garonne.
The monks of Clugni (or Cluni) were re-
markable for their sanctity. They every day
sang two solemn masses. They so strictly
observed silence, that they would rather have
died than break it before the hour of prime.
When they were at work, they recited psalms.
They fed eighteen poor persons every day,
and were so profuse of their charity in Lent,
that one year, at the beginning of Lent, they
distributed salt meat, and other alms, among
7000 poor.
The preparation they used for making the
bread, which was to serve for the Eucharist,
is worthy to be observed. They first chose
the wheat grain by grain, and washed it very
carefully. Then a servant carried it in a bag
to the mill, and washed the grindstones, and
covered them with curtains. The meal was
afterwards washed in clean water, and baked
in iron moulds.
The extraordinary discipline observed in
the monastery of Clugni soon spread its fame
in all parts. France, Germany, England,
Spain, and Italy, desired to have some of
these religious, for whom they built new mo-
nasteries. They also passed into the East;
and there was scarcely a place in Europe
where the order was not known.
The principal monasteries in which the
discipline and rules of Clugni were observed,
were those of .Tulles in the Limousin, Auril-
lac in Auverg-ne, Bourgdieu and Massay in
Berri, St. Bcnnet on the Loire in the O!‘-
lcanois, St. Peter le Vif at Sens, St. Allirc of
Clermont, St. Julian of Tours, Sarlat in Peri-
gord, and Roman-Mourier in the country of
Vaux. ' I p
This order was divided into ten "provinces,
being those of Dauphiné, Auvergne, Poitiers,
Saintonge, and Gascony, in France; Spain,
Italy,'Lombardy, Germany, and England.
At the general chapters, formerly held
yearly, and now every three years, two vi—
sitors are chosen for every province, and two
others for the monasteries of nuns of this
order, fifteen definitors, three auditors of
causes, and two auditors of excuses. There
were formerly five principal priories, called
the five first daughters of Clugni; but, since
the dissolution of the monasteries in England,
which involved that of St. Pancrace, at Lewes
in Sussex, there remain but four principal
priories, being those of La Charité sur Loire,
St. Martin des Champs at Paris, Souvigni,
and Souxillanges.
The Cluniac monks were first brought into
England by William, Earl of Warren, about
the year of our Lord 1077. These religious,
though they lived under the rule of St. Bene-
dict, and wore a black habit, yet, because
their discipline and observances differed in
many things from those of the Benedictines,
therefore they were not called Benedictines,
but Monks of the order of Clugni. In the
reign of Henry V., the Cluniac monasteries,
by reason of the war between England and
France, were ci1t off from the obedience of
the Abbot of Clugni, nor were they permitted
to have any intercourse with the monasteries
of their order out of England. The monas-
teries of Cluniac monks in England amounted
in number to thirty—eight. See BENEDIC—
TINES.
CoccE1ANs, a school which arose in the
seventeenth century, so called from John
Cocceius, professor of divinity in the univer-
sity of Leyden. He represented the whole
history of the Old Testament as a mirror,
which held forth an accurate view of the
transactions and events that were to happen
in the church under the dispensation of the
New Testament, and unto the end of the
world. He maintained that by far the great-
est part of the ancient prophecies foretold
Christ’s ministry and mediation, and the rise,
progress, and revolutions of the church, not
only under the figure of persons and transac~
tions, but in a literal manner, and by the very
sense of the words used in these predictions;
and laid it down as a fundamental rule of in-
terpretation, that the words and phrases of
Scripture are to be understood in every sense
of which they are susceptible, or, in other
words, that they signify in effect every thing,
that they can possibly signify.
Cocceius also taught, that the covenant
made between God and the Jewish nation,
by the ministry of Moses, was of the same
nature as the new covenant, obtained by the
COL
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185
mediation of Jesus Christ. In consequence
of this general principle, he maintained that
the ten commandments were promulgated by
Moses, not as a rule of obedience, but as a
representation of the covenant of grace—that _
‘ the first who established collects.
when the Jews had provoked the Deity by
their various transgressions, particularly by
the worship of the golden calf, the severe and
servile yoke of the ceremonial law was added
to the decalogue, as a punishment inflicted on
them by the Supreme Being in his righteous
displeasure—that this yoke, which was pain-
ful in itself, became doubly so on account of
its typical signification, since it admonished
the Israelites, from day to day, of the imper-
fection and uncertainty of their state, filled
them with anxiety, and was a perpetual proof
that they had merited the righteous displea-
sure of God, and could not expect, before the
coming of the Messiah, the entire remission
of their iniquities—that indeed good men,
even under the Mosaic dispensation, were,
immediately after death, made partakers of
everlasting glory; but that they were, ne-
vertheless, during the whole course of their
lives, far removed from that firm hope and
assurance of salvation which rejoices the
faithful under the dispensation of the Gospel
—-and that their anxiety flowed naturally
from this consideration, that their sins, though
they remained unpunished, were not pardoned,
because Christ had not as yet Qfi‘ered himself
up a sacrifice to the Father, to make an en-
tire atonement for them.
C(ELICOLZE, (worshippers of the heavens,)
an obscure sect of African heretics, who seem
to have mixed up some parts of Judaism and
Paganism with Christianity.
C(ENOBITE, one who lives in a convent, or
in a community, under a certain rule; in
opposition to ahermit, who lives in solitude.
Cassian makes this difi‘erence between a con-
vent and a monastery, that the latter may be
applied to the residence of a single religious
or recluse; whereas the convent implies
coenobites, or numbers of religious living in
common. Fleury speaks of three kinds of
monks in Egypt; anchorets, who live in
solitude; coenobites, who continue to live in
community; and sarabaites, who are a kind
of monks-errant, that stroll from place to
place. He refers the institution of ccenobites
to the time of the Apostles, and makes it a
kind of imitation of the ordinary lives of the
faithful at Jerusalem; though St. Pachomius
is ordinarily owned to be the institutor of the
coenobite life, as being the first who gave a
rule to any community.
COLLECT, a short prayer. In the liturgy
of the Church of England, and the mass of
the Romanists, it denotes a prayer accommo-
dated to any particular day, occasion, or the
like. In general, all the prayers in each
office are called collects, either because the
priest speaks in the name of the whole assem—
bly, whose sentiments and desires he sums up
by the word “Oremus,” “Let us pray,” or
because those prayers are offered when the
people are assembled together. The Popes
Gelasius and Gregory are said to have been
Dr. De-
spence, of Paris, wrote a treatise on collects,
their origin, antiquity, 866.
COLLEGIANS, or COLLEGIANTS, a sect
formed among the Arminians and Baptists in
Holland, about the beginning of the seven-
teenth century: so called because of their col-
leges or meetings twice every week, where
every one, females excepted, has the same
liberty of expounding the Scripture, praying,
&c. They are said to be all either Arians or
Socinians: they never communicate in the
college, but meet twice a year, from all parts of
Holland, at Rhinsbergh (whence they are also
called Rhinsbergers), a village two miles from
Leyden, where they communicate together;
admitting every one that presents himself,
professing his faith in the divinity of the Holy
Scriptures, and resolution to live suitably to
their precepts and doctrines, without re-
gard to his sect or opinion. They have
no particular ministers, but each ofiiciates
as he is disposed. They baptize by immer-
sion. '
COMMENDAM, the trust or administration of
the revenues of a vacant benefice, till it is
provided with a regular incumbent. The
practice, resorted to chiefly for the purpose
of making up the smaller incomes of some
of the bishops, has given occasion to great
abuses; the bishops procuring several bene~
fices, all of which they have held under this
pretext, without directly violating the canon
law. \Vhen a parson is made bishop, his
parsonage becomes vacant; but, if the king
give him power, he may still hold it in com-
mendam.
COMMENTARY, an exposition; book of an-
notations or remarks. There are some peo-
ple so wise in their own conceit, and think
humanhelps of so little worth, that they de~
spise commentaries on the Scriptures al-
together; but every student or preacher,
whose business is to explain the sacred ora-
cles, to make known the mind of God to others,
to settle cases of conscience, to oppose the
sophistry of sceptics, and to confound the
arguments of infidels, would do well to avail
himself of the most judicious, clear, copious,
critical, and sound commentaries on the Bible.
Nor can I suppose that commentaries can be
useless to the common people; for though a
spirit of serious inquiry, with a little good
sense, will go a great way in understanding
the Bible, yet as the language is often figura-
tive, as allusions are made to ancient customs,
and some parts require more investigation
than many common Christians have time for,
a plain exposition certainly must be useful,
Expositions of the Bible, however, may be
COM
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186
made a bad‘ use of. He who takes the ipse
dixit of a commentator, without ever examin-
ing whether the meaning given comport with
the text; he who gives himself no trouble to
investigate the Scripture for himself, but takes
occasion to be indolent because others have
laboured for him, surely does wrong. Nor
can it be said that those preachers use them
properly, who, in making their sermons, form
their plans from the commentator before they
have thought upon the text. The best way is
to employ our own talents; first, by prayer,
study, and attention to form our scheme, and
then to examine the opinions of others con-
cerning it. We shall here present the reader
with a view of some of those commentaries
which are the most generally approved. And,
1. Henry takes the lead for common utility.
The sprightly notes, the just inferences, the
original thoughts, and the warm applications
to the conscience, make this work justly
admired. Though making no pretensions to
criticism, he gives the results of deep critical
research. It is true thatthere are some ex-
pressions which do not agree with the evan-
gelic system ; but, as the late Mr. Ryland ob-
serves, “ ’Tis impossible for a person of piety
and taste to read him without wishing to be
shut out from all the world to read him
through without one moment’s interruption.”
Mr. Henry did not live to complete this work.
He went as far as the end of Acts. Romans
was done by Dr. Evans; the 1 Corinthians,
Sam. Brown; 2 Corinthians, Dr. Mayo -,
Galatians, Mr. Bayes; Ephesians, Mr. Bos-
well; Philippians, Mr. Harris; Colossians,
Mr. Harris; 1 and 2 Thessalonians, Mr.
Mayo; 1 and 2 Timothy, Mr. Atkinson;
Titus, Jer. Smith; Philemon, Mr. Motters-
head; Hebrews, Mr. Tong; James, Mr.
Wright; 1 Peter, Mr. Hill; 2 Peter, Mr.
Morril; 1, 2, and 3 John, Mr. Reynolds;
Jude, Mr. Billingsley; and Revelations, by
Mr. Tong.
2. “Poli Synopsis Criticorum,” five folio
volumes. This is a valuable work, and
ought to be in the possession of every stu-
dent: it is much esteemed abroad, three edi-
tions of it having been published on the con—
tinent.
3. Rosenmiiller’s Scholia on the Old and
New Testament contain a vast fund of bibli-
cal illustration, and should be in the library of
every theological student. It is only to be
regretted that the “Scholia” of the younger
Rosenmiiller, on the Old Testament, should
be strongly tinctured with neology.
4. Poole’s Annotations, a rich and useful
work. These were printed at London in 1685,
in two volumes, folio. Poole did not com-
plete this work himself. Mr. Jackson, of
Moulsey, is the author of the annotations on
the 59th and 60th chaps. of Isaiah. Dr. Col- -;
lings drew up the notes on the rest of Isaiah,
Jeremiah, and Lamentations, as also those on
the four Evangelists, the two Epistles to‘ the
Corinthians, and that to the Galatians. Those
to Timothy, Titus, Philemon, and the Reve-
lation, Ezekiel, and the minor Prophets, were
done by Mr. Hurst. ‘Daniel, by Mr. Cooper ;
the Acts, by Mr. Vincke; the Epistle to the‘
Romans, by Mr. Mayo; the Ephesians, Mr.
Veale; the Philippians and Colossians, Mr.-
Adams; the Hebrews, Mr. Obadiah Hughes ;.
the epistle of St. James, the two of St. Peter,
and that of Jude, by Mr. Veale; the three-
epistles of St. John, by Mr. Howe.
5. Dr. Gill’s in nine vols. quarto, is an im-
mense work: and though it contains a great
deal of repetition and extraneous matter, there
is certainly a vast fund of information in it,
especially on Hebraieal and Rabbinical sub-
jects.
6. Brow-n’s Self—interpreting Bible, in two
vols. quarto. Its chief excellences are the-
marginal references, which are exceedingly
useful to preachers ; and the close, plain, and
practical improvement to each chapter.
7. Scott’s Exposition is excellent, as it
abounds with practical remarks, and thelast
edition contains choice marginal references.
The improvements are also very useful for
families.
8. Dr. Adam Clarke’s Commentary, with
critical notes and marginal references, pos-
sesses considerable merit, and will be found a
valuable treasure for the biblical student.
9. Clericus in Vet. ct Nov. Test.
On the New Testament.
1. Burkitt contains many ingenious obser-
vations, fine turns, natural plans, and pun-
gent addresses to the conscience. There are
some expressions, however, that grate upon
the ear of the evangelical Christian.
2. Guyse’s Paraphrase is deservedly held
in high estimation for sound doctrine, fair
explication, and just sentiment.
3. Doddridge’s Family Expositor. The
criticisms in this work render it valuable. It
must be owned t at the Doctor laboured to
come as near as possible to the true sense of
the text.
4. Bezae Annotationes, in quibus ratio in—
terpretationis redditur; aceessit etiam J. Ca-
merarii in Novum Foedus commentarius, fol.
C'antab. 1642, contains, besides the old Latin
version, Beza’s own version; and in the side
margin is given a summary of the passage,
Land in the argumentative parts the con~
nexion. '
i 5. Wolfii Curse Philologieae et Criticte in
_ Omnes Libros Nov. Test. 5 vols. 4to. 1739.
: Hamb. Basil, 1741 This is in a great mea-
'; sure a compilation after the manner of Poole’s
i Synopsis, but interspersed with his own cri-
? tical animadversions.
6. Bengelii Gnomon Nov. Test. 4to. Tu-
ibingae, 1759, and Ulmae, 1763, contains an

I instructive preface, a perspicuous analysis of
COM
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each book, with short notes.
contrast to that of Wolfius.
7. Hammond’s Paraphrase and Annotations
upon all the books of the New ‘Testament,
folio.
8. Whitby’s Paraphrase and Commentary
on New Test, two vols. folio.
9. Wesley’s Explanatory Notes, 4to. or
three vols. l2mo. For different translations,
see article BIBLE. . Y
It is a perfect
Commentators on Select Parts.
‘1. Ainsworth on the Pentateuch, Psalms,
and Song of Solomon.
2. Patrick’s Commentaries on the Histori-
cal Parts of the Holy Scriptures. three vols.
3. Lightfoot’s Works, two vols. folio, con-
tain a chronicle of the times, and the order of
tle text of the Old Testament. The harmony,
chronicle, and order of the New Testament;
the harmony of the four Evangelists; a com-
mentary on the Acts; Horse Hebraicae, &c.;
on the four Evangelists, Acts, and 1 Corin-
thians.
4. Chrysostomi Opera, eight vols. folio,
contain expositions of various parts.
5. Calvini Opera Omnia, nine vols., contain
commentaries on the Pentateuch, Joshua, ho-
milies on Samuel, sermons on Job, commen-
taries on Psalms, Isaiah, Evangelists, Acts,
Paul’s epistles, and the other catholic epistles ;
and praelectiones on Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel,
and the Minor Prophets.
6. Preb. Lowth on the Prophets.
7. Pocock on some of the Minor Prophets.
8. Locke on Paul’s Epistles.
9. Hutcheson on the Smaller Prophets.
10. Newcome on Ezekiel and Minor Pro—
phets.
ll. Macknight’s Harmony of the Gospel,
and Literal Translation of all the Apostolical
Epistles, with Commentary and Notes.
‘ 12. Olshansen. One of the best German
commentaries of the modern evangelical
school.
‘ 13. Campbell’s Translation of the Gospels,
with Notes and Dissertations.
14. Bloomfield’s Critical Digest on all the
books of the New Testament, except the Apo-
calypse. It contains a vast quantity of im-
portant critical materials.
N 15. His Notes under the Text of his Greek
.T.~
- On Select Books.
On Genesis: Bush.
On Ruth: Macgowan, Lawson.
On Job : 1. Caryl, 2 vols. folio.—-2. Hut-
chinson, 1669, folio.-——3. Goode.—-4. Chappel-
low.—-5. Heath—6. Peter’s Critical Disserta-
tion. 7. Stock—8. Fry. -9. Lee—~10. We-
myss.——11. Umbreit.
On the Psalms : 1. Molleri Enarr. Psalm.
folio, 1619.—-2. Hammond’s Paraphrase—
3. Amesii Lectiones in Omnes Psalmos, Oct.
1636.—-4. Dickson. 5.—Horne’s Commentary-
—6. Dr. Morison. On Select Psalms: 1. Hil-
dersham's 152 Lectures on Psalm li.—-2. De~
coetlegon’s Sermon on Psalm li.—3. Greenham
on Psalm cxix.——4. Manton on Psalm cxix.
—5. Owen on Psalm cxxx.—-6. Luther on
the 15 Psalms of Degrees—7. Horton on
Psalms iv. xlii. li. and lxiii.
On Proverbs : Dr. Mayer, Taylor, Io. Trapp,
Geier, Case, Holden.
1a Ecclesiastes: Broughton, Jermyn, Ward~
w.
Canticles : Bp. Foliot, Mercier, Sanchez,
Bossuet, Cocceius, James, Ainsworth, Dur-
ham, Bishop Hall, Bishop Patrick, Dove,
Trapp, Jackson, Dr. Collings, Gill, Percy,
Harmer, Durell, Goode; but the most recent,
and perhaps the best, is \Villiams’s new trans-
lation, with commentary, 85c, where the
reader will find a list of other names who
have translated and written on parts of this
book.‘
Isaiah: Vitringa, Lowth, M‘Cnlloch, Ge-
senius, Hilzig, Barnes, Henderson.
Jeremiah : Blayney.
zekz'el: Greenhill, Newcome.
Daniel : VVillet’s Hexapla, folio, Sir Isaac
Newton, Wintle.
Hosea: Burroughs, Bishop Horsley’s trans-
lation, with explanatory notes.
Of the other Minor Prophets, see Commen-
taries on Select Parts.
Gospels : See above, and article Harmony.
Also Hildersham on John iv., folio; Burgess
on John xvii.; Manton on John xvii.; Lampe
on John. _
Acts :' Mayer, Trapp, Du Veil, Olshansen.
Romars: \Vilson, Parr, Turner, Tholuck,
Stuart, Hedge, Haldane.
Galatians : Luther,
Winer, Usteri.
Ephesians : Ferguson, Goodwin.
C'oloss-ians: Byfield, Davenant, Elton.
Titus: Thomas Taylor.
Hebrews : Owen, M‘Lean, Stuart.
James: Manton.
1 Peter : Leighton, N. 'Byfield on the first
three chapters, and Steiger.
2 Peter : Adam.
John : Hardy on 1 Epistle, and Hawkins on
the three Epistles of John. '
Jude .- Jenkins, Manton, Otes. _
Revelation: Mede, Daubuz, Brightman,
Peganius, Waple, Robertson, Vitringa, Pyle,
Goodwin, Lowman, Sir Isaac Newton, Dur-
ham, Cradock, Moore, Bishop Newton, Bryce
Johnston, Woodhouse, Jones.
As this article may be consulted for
the purpose of obtaining information as
to the best helps for understanding the
Scriptures, we may add to the above—Jacobi
Elsner, Observat. Sacrae, Alberti Observ.
Philolog; Lamberti Bos, Exercitat.Philolog. ;
Lambcrti Bos, Observat. Miscell. Fortuita
Sacra; and the Edinburgh Biblical Cabinet.
Fergusson, Perkins,
COM
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188
These, together with Wolfius and Raphelius,
before mentioned, says Dr. Doddridge, are
books which I cannot but recommend to my
young friends, as proper not only to ascertain
the sense of a variety of words and phrases
which occur in the apostolic writings, but
also to formthem to the most useful method
of studying the Greek classics—those great
masters of solid sense, elegant expression,
just and lively painting, and masculine elo-
quence, to the neglect of which I cannot but
ascribe that enervate, dissolnte, and puerile
manner of writing, which is growing so much
on the present age, and will probably con-
sign so many of its productions to speedy ob-
livion. See also books recommended under
the articles BIBLE, SCRIPTURES.
COMMISSARY, an ofiicer of the bishop, who
exercises spiritual jurisdiction in places of a
diocese so far from the episcopal see, that the
chancellor cannot call the people to the bi-
shop’s principal consistory court without great
inconvenience.
COMMUNICATING, a term made use of'to
denote the act of receiving the Lord’s Supper.
Those of the reformed and of the Greek
Church communicate under both kinds; those
of the Romish, only under one. The orien-
tal communicants receive the species of wine
by a spoon; and anciently they sucked it
through a pipe, as has been observed by
Beat. Rheanus on Tertullian.
CoMMUNIoN, in its strict and proper sense,
signifies doing something in common with
another, Acts ii. 42, where icowwvia properly
signifies the ordinance of common contribu-
tion to the necessities of the saints, which
was observed in the primitive church in con-
nexion with the breaking of bread. 2. In a
more general sense, it denotes conformity or
agreement, 2 Cor. vi. 14; Eph. v. 11. 3.
Communion is also used for the Lord’s Sup-
per, because we herein make a public profes-
sion of our conformity to Christ and his laws;
and of our agreement with other Christians
in the spirit and faith of the gospel. See
Lonn‘s SUPPER. '
The fourth Council of Lateran decrees,
that every believer shall receive the commu-
nion, at least, at Easter; which seems to
import a tacit desire that they should do it
oftener, as in effect they did it much oftener
in the primitive days. Gratian, and the
Master of the Sentences, prescribe it as a rule
for the laity to communicate three times a
year—at Easter, Whitsuntide, and Christmas;
but in the thirteenth century, the practice
prevailed of never approaching the eucharist
at Easter; and the council thought fit to en-
join it then by a law, lest their _coldness and
remissness should go farther still; and the
Council of Trent renewed the same injunc-
tion, and recommended frequent communion,
without enforcing it by an express decree.
In the ninth century, the communion was-
still received by the laity in both kinds, or
, rather the species of bread was dipped in the
wine, as is owned by the Romanists them-
selves. M. de Marca observes, that they re—
ceived it at first in their hands; and believes
the communion, under one kind alone, to
l have had its rise in the West, under Pope
. Urban II., in 1096, at the time of the con-
quest of the Holy Land. It was more so-
; lemnly enjoined by the Council of Constance,
_ in 1414. The twenty-eighth canon of the
Council of Clermont enjoins the communion
to be received under both kinds distinctly;
adding, however, two exceptions—the one
of necessity, the other of caution—the first
. in favour of the sick, and the second of the
abstemious, or those who had an aversion for
wine. It was formerly a kind of canonical
‘ punishment for clerks guilty of any crime, to
be reduced to lay communion—21c. only to
:receive it as'the laity did—viz. under one
I kind. They had another punishment of the
same nature, though under a different name,
called foreign communion, to which the canons
frequently condemned their bishops and other
clerks. This punishment was not any ex-
communication or deposition, but a kind of
suspension from the function of the order,
‘ and a degradation from the rank they held in
the church. It had its name because the com-
munion was onl ‘granted to the criminal on
the foot of a foreign clerk—216. being reduced
to the lowest of his order, he took his place
after all those of his rank, as all clerks, 85c.
did in the churches to which they did not be-
long. The second Council of Agda orders
every clerk that absents himself from the
church to _be reduced to foreign communion.
Church sinnmunz'on is fellowship with any
particular church. See CHURCH EnLLowsmr
It is sometimes applied to different churches
united in doctrine and discipline. The three
grand communions into which the Christian
Church is divided are those of the Church of
Rome, the Greek Church, and the Protestant
Church; but originally, all Christians were
in communion with each other, having one
faith and discipline.
Free Catholic communion, a term made use
of in relation to the Lord’s Supper, by which
it is understood that all those who have been
baptized, whether in infancy or adult age,
may, on a credible profession of their faith,
sit down at the Lord’s table with others of
different denominations. Some of the Anti~
paedobaptists object to free or mixed commu-
nion, and do not allow of persons who have
been baptized in their infancy to join in the
celebration of the Lord’s Supper with them;
because they look upon such as not having
been baptized at all, and, consequently, not
to be admitted to the table. Others, however,
suppose that this ought to be no objection;
and that those who believe themselves to be
really baptized, (though in infancy,) are par-
COM
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takers of grace, belong to the true Church of
Christ, and are truly devoted to God, ought
not to be rejected on account of ‘a difl'erent
opinion abouta mere ordinance.
When the kingdom of heaven was first set
up among men, there was only one name by
which its subjects were designated, but one
authority to which they all bowed, and one
fellowship to which they all belonged. A
primitive Christian could have formed no
idea of the character of a person, or the kind
of treatment to which he was entitled, whom
he was called to recognise as a believer, but
with whom he must not have communion in
the most sacred ordinance of the Gospel.
There were differences of opinion and prac-
tice then as well as now, but such a thing as
that just adverted to could neither have been
understood nor practised. Had Christianity
been left to maintain and extend itself in the
world by its own unaided power, and itsown
scriptural means, it is probable that this state
of things would have continued. But when
it was thought necessary to define it more
accurately than God himself had done; to
require men to submit to human expositions
of the faith, rather than the faith itself; and
to employ coercive measures to preserve and
enforce uniformity of opinion and practice,
the glorious unity of the Church of Christ
was invaded and destroyed by the very means
devised to preserve it.
The wretched state of division which still
subsists in the Christian Church, is chiefly
owing to the continuance of these causes.
Terms of communion, entirely of human‘
framing, continue to enclose and hedge up
the several parties into which the Christian
world is divided, and to keep them separate
from one another. God is not Sufficiently
trusted to take care of his own cause, and to
preserve his kingdom from ruin. Man must
devise his schemes of preservation and en-
largcment, must ‘interpose the use of his power, _
and the dictum of his authority to maintain
unity and peace.
It cannot be doubted, that if Christians
acted more according to their own feelings,
and less under the influence of authority,
custom, or interest, a different state of things
would soon appear. Did they consult the
Scriptures more, and human opinion less——-,
were it their sole object to ascertain facts"
and principles as the groundwork of their
own obedience, instead of looking for the
confirmation of hypotheses, or for arguments
to justify received systems; and did they, in
connexion with this conduct, determine to
hold fellowship with all whom they could re-
gard as holding the same head, substantial
unity in the Church of Christ would soon be
again restored. But if men will give up
nothing that they have been taught by tra-
dition or authority to receive—if a. difference
of opinion on some of the five points is deemed
incompatible with the acknowledgment of the
Christian character—if the ministry of a ser-
vant of Christ is considered invalid, unless he
has received it from episcopal or presbyterian
hands—if Christian communion is made de-
pendent on submission to a particular form
of baptism, or a particular mode of adminis-
tering the Lord’s Supper—if all churches
must be regarded as sectarian and schismatical
which are not established by human laws—
then, while these things are thus viewed and
maintained, it would be absurd to look for
love and union among the followers of Christ.
Killingworth, Booth, and Kinghorn, have
written against free communion; Robinson,
Hall, Mason, and others in defence of it.—
Orme’s Lzfe of Baxter.
COMMUNION, spiritual or divine, is that de-
lightful fellowship and intercourse which a
believer enjoys with God. It is founded upon
union with him, and consists in a communi-
cation of divine graces from him, and a re-
turn of devout affections to him. The believer
holds communion with God in his works, in
his word, and in his ordinances. There can
be no communion without likeness, nor with-
out Christ as the mediator. Some distinguish
communion with God from the sense and
feeling of it—that is, that we may hold com—
munion with him without raptures of joy; and
that a saint, even under desertion, may have
' communion with God as really, though not so
feelingly, as at any other time. This com-
munion cannot be interrupted by any local
mutations: it is far superior to all outward
services and ordinances whatsoever; it con-
cerns the whole soul, all the affections, facul-
ties, and motions of it being under its influ-
ence: it is only imperfect in this life, and
will be unspeakably enlarged in a better
world. In order to keep up communion with
God, we should inform ourselves of his will,
John v. 39 ; be often in prayer, Luke xviii. 1 ;
embrace opportunities of retirement, Ps. iv. 4;
contemplate the divine perfections, provi-
dences, and promises, Ps. civ. 34; watch
against a vain, trifling, and volatile spirit,
Eph. iv. 30; and be found in the use of all
the means of grace, Ps. xxvii. 4s The ad-
vantages of communion with God are, dead-
ness to the world, Phil. iii. 8; patience under
trouble, Job i. 22; fortitude in danger, Ps.
xxvii. 1; gratitude for mercies received, Ps.
ciii. 1; direction under difliculties, Prov. iii.
5, 6; happiness in death, Ps. xxiii. 4; and
an earnest desire for heaven and glory,
2 Tim. iv. 7, 8. See Shaw’s Immanuel ; Owen
and Henry on Communion,- and article FEL—
LOWSHIP.
CoMMuNIoN-SERvrcE, the ofiice in the
liturgy of the Church of England for the
administration of the eucharist, or sacrament
of the Lord’s Supper.
The compilers of the Common Prayer
Book extracted this oflice out of several
CON
CON
190
ancient liturgies—as those of St. Basil, _St.
Ambrose, and St. Gregory; but Bucer having
found great fault with it, it underwent several .
alterations. The oifice was originally designed
to be distinct, and, consequently, to be used
at a different time from morning prayer. A
custom which, Bishop Overall says, was ob- ,
served in his time, in York and Chichester;
and he‘ imputes it to the negligence of the -
ministers, and carelessness of the people,
that they are ever huddled together into one
ofiice.
By the last rubric after this oflice, part of
it is appointed to be read on every Sunday
and holiday, though there be no communi-
cants; and the reason seems to have been,
that the Church may show her readiness to
administer the sacrament upon those days,
and that it is not hers, but the people’s fault,
that it is not administered ; or it might be so
ordered, for the sake of reading the Decalogue,
or Ten Commandments, the collects, epistles,
and gospels, and the Nicene Creed; together
with the Ofi'ertory, or sentences of Scripture,
and the prayer for Christ’s Church.
This service, even when there is no com-
munion, is generally read at the communion
table, or altar; though in some places it is
performed in the reading desk.
COMPREHENSION, in English church history,
denotes a scheme proposed by Sir Orlando
Bridgman, in 1667~8, for relaxing the terms
of conformity on behalf of the Protestant
Dissenters, and admitting them into the com-
munion of the church. Abill for this purpose
was drawn up by Judge Hale, but disallowed.
The attempt was renewed by Tillotson and
Stillingfieet, in 1674, and the terms were
settled to the satisfaction of the non-conform-
ists; but the bishops refused their assent.
The scheme was likewise revived again im-
mediately after the Revolution. The king
and queen expressed their desire of an union:
however, the design failed, after two attempts,
and the Act of Toleration was obtained.
CONCEPTION, IMMACULATE, the opinion
entertained in the Roman and Greek Churches,
that the Virgin Mary was conceived without
the stain of original sin. St. Bernard in the
twelfth century, rejected this doctrine in
opposition to the canons of Lyons, and it
afterwards became a subject of vehement
controversy between the Scotists and the‘
Thomists. The Dominicans espoused the
opinion of Thomas, who impugned the dogma;
the Franciscans that of Scotus, who defended
it. Sixtus IV., himself a Franciscan, allowed
of toleration on the point. In the fifth session
of the Council of Trent, it was resolved that~
the doctrine of . the conception of all men in
original sin was not intended to include the
Virgin. The controversy was revived in
the university of Paris, towards the close of
the sixteenth century. During the pontificates
of Paul V. and Gregory XV ., such was the
dissension it occasioned in Spain, that both
Philip and his successor sent special embas~
sies to Rome in the vain hope that this con-
test might be terminated by a bull. The
dispute ran so high in that kingdom, that,
in the military orders of St. James, of the
Sword, of Calatrava, and of Alcantara, the
knights, on their admission, vowed to main-
tain the doctrine. In 1708, Clement XL
appointed a festival to be celebrated through-
out the church, in honour of the immaculate
conception. Since that time it has been re‘
ceived in the Church of Rome as an opinion,
but not as an article of faith. It is firmly
believed in the Greek church, in which the
feast is celebrated'under the name of the
Conception of St. Anne. Peter of Alva et
Astorga published more than forty huge vo-
lumes'on this subject.
CONCEPTION or OUR LADY, News or THE
ORDER or, a religious order, founded by’
Beatrix de Sylva, sister of James, first Count
of Poralegro in Portugal. This lady being
carried to the court of Castile, by Elizabeth,
daughter of Edward, King of Portugal, whom
the King of Castile had married, and the king
having fallen in love with her on account of
her great beauty, the jealous queen locked
her up in a chamber, where she left her with-
out meat or drink for three days. In this
condition she implored the assistance of the
Holy Virgin, who appeared to her, and com-
forted her, promising her a speedy release-
ment, which soon happened. But Beatrix,
fearing the further resentment of the queen,
privately withdrew from court, and fled to
Toledo; where arriving, she retired to a mo-
nastery of Dominican nuns, in which she
continued forty years, in the practice of all
sorts of austerities. Here the Virgin Mary
again appeared to her, and inspired her with
the design of founding an order in honour of
her own immaculate conception. To this
end, she obtained of the queen a grant of the
palace of Galliana, where was a chapel dedi-
cated to the honour of St. Faith. Beatrix,
accompanied ‘by twelve young maids .of the
Dominican monaster , took possession of it
in the year 1484. hese religious were ha-
bited in a white gown and scapulary, and a
blue mantle, and wore on their scapulary the
image of the blessed Virgin. Pope Innocent
VIII. confirmed the order in 1489, and grant-
ed them permission to follow the rule of the
Cistertians. The foundress died in the year
1490, at sixty-six years of age.
After the death of Beatrix, Cardinal Xi-
menes put the nuns of the Conception under
the direction of the Franciscans, as being the
most zealous defenders of the Immaculate
Conception: at the same time, he gave them
the rule of St. Clara to follow. The second
convent of the order was founded, in the year
1507, at Torrigo, in the diocese of Toledo.
which produced seven others; the first of
CON
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191
which was‘ at Madrid. This order passed
into Italy, and got footing in Rome and Mi-
lan. In the reign of Lewis ’XIV., King of
France, the Clarisses of the suburb of St.
Germain, at Paris, embraced the order of the
Conception. These religious, besides the
grand oflice of the Franciscans, recite on
Sundays and holida s a lesser ofiice, called
“ the ofiice of the Conception of the Holy
Virgin.” I
CONCLAVE, the assembly or meeting of the
cardinals, shut up for the election of a pope.
Conclave also signifies the place in which the
cardinals of the Romish Church meet for the
above-mentioned purpose. The conclave is
a range of small cells, ten feet square, made
of Wainscot : these are numbered, and drawn
by lot. They stand in a line along the gal-
leries and hall of the Vatican, with a small
space between each. Every cell has the arms
‘of the cardinal over it. The conclave is not
fixed to any one determinate place, for the
constitutions of the church allow the cardi~
nals to make choice of such a place for the
- conclave as they think most convenient; yet
it is generally held in the Vatican.
The following account of the formalities
which precede the opening of the Electoral
College, and of the organization of the as-
sembly, is given in a French paper :—-—As soon
as the pope dies, rooms or apartments are
prepared in the Vatican, equal in number to
the members of the sacred college. These
_ apartments, or cells, formed of wood-work
in the vast halls of the palace, are very mo-
destly furnished. They have no separate
fire-place, and the fathers must warm them-
selves at fires common to all. The chambers
for the cardinals and the officers of their
suite are very gloomy; the windows, with
the exception of the higher panes, being
walled in.
The clock of the capitol announces the
death of the pope, and the vacancy of the
see. It tolls for nine days and nine nights
without interruption. In the mean time, the
funeral ceremonies of the deceased are pre-
paring. On the ninth day, the body of the
last pope displaces, in the church of St. Pe-
ter, that of his predecessor. During the in-
_ terregnum, or the time that intervenes be-
tween the death of one, and the election of
another pontifi‘. the executive power of the
state is exercised by the cardinal great cham-
berlain. The legal term for the opening of
the conclave is the tenth day after the death
of the pope, but it rarely happens that the
necessary preparations can be completed by
that'time; thirteen or fourteen days are ge-
nerally allowed for the previous arrange-
ments, and for the arrival of the foreign car-
dinals in Home. If the assembly opens before,
it is only for the sake of form. They do no-
thing till the arrival of such fathers from
France, Spain, Austria, Poland. or other
Catholic countries, as wish to attend. The
preliminary operations are, therefore, trifling
and unimportant. When the members are
assembled, and the conclave proceeds seri-
ously to its task, three cardinals are elected
every day to be the delegates to the sacred
college, and to transact the affairs of the pa-
pacy with foreign ambassadors. These re-
presentatives of the Catholic powers deliver
their credential letters to the ephemeral com-
missioners of the sacred college at the grating
of their temporary prison. The time of deli-
beration is prolonged according to the num-
ber and power of the candidates, the difficulty -
of adjusting adverse pretensions, or the suc-
cess of diplomatic intrigues. Though appa—
rently cut off from all communication of the
external world, these ghostly fathers often
receive directions as to their choice, offers of
bribes, or information of the designs of their
rivals, through the grating of their cells, or
the only part of the window which the law
leaves open. A letter sometimes is trans-
mitted in the stufling of a fowl, or under the
crust of a pie.
CoNcoRD, form ojI—Form of concord, in
ecclesiastical history, a standard book among
the Lutherans, composed at Torgau, in 1576,
and thence called the Book of Torgau, and
reviewed at Berg, by six Lutheran doctors
of Germany, the principal of whom was
James Andreas. This book contains, in two
parts, a system of doctrine, the subscription
of which was a condition of communion, and
a formal and very severe condemnation of all
who differed from the compilers of it ; parti—
cularly with respect to the majesty and omni-
presence of Christ’s body, and the real man-
ducation of his flesh and blood in the euchar-
ist. It was first imposed upon the Saxons by
Augustine, and occasioned great opposition
and disturbance. The dispute about it was
revived in Switzerland ‘in 1718, when the
magistrates of Bern published an order for
adopting it as a rule of faith; the consequence
of which wasa contest that reduced its credit
and authority.
CONCORDANCE, a book containing the prin—
cipal words in the Holy Scriptures, in alpha~
betical order, with part of the connexion, and
a designation by chapter and verse of the
places in which they are to be found. This
class of books is of great importance to the
interpreter of the word of God. While the
Scriptures remained in manuscript, or were
not divided into sections and paragraphs, in‘
dices of their words and phrases could neither
be formed nor used. As soon as any regular
divisions began to be made, the importance
of concordances, or alphabetical indices, was
felt, and learned men devoted their labours
to form them. The following are the most
important works of this description in Hebrew,
Greek, Latin, and English :—
'CON
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192
I. HEBREW Conconmmcss.
The first Hebrew concordance was the
work of Rabbi Mordecai Nathan, which he
began in 1438, and finished in 1448, after ten ‘
years’ hard labour by himself and some as-
sistants. It was printed at Venice in 1523.
fol., by Dan. Bomberg. It is entirely Hebrew,
and entitled “ The Light of the Way.” It
was reprinted somewhat more correctly at
Basil, by Frobenius, in 1581, and translated
into Latin by Reuchlin, in 1556; but both
the Hebrew and Latin editions are full of
errors. These were. mostly corrected, and
other deficiencies supplied, by Marius de Ca-
lasio, a Franciscan friar, who published “ Con-
cordantize Sacrorum Bibliorum Hebraicorum,
ct Latinorum. Romeo, 1621, 4 vol. fol.”—
This large and splendid work retains the He-
brew text, and also the order and method of
Nathan’s Concordance. It contains also Reu-
chlin’s Latin Translation of Rabbi Nathan’s
Explanation of the Hebrew Roots, with en-
largements by Calasio; the Rabbinical, Chal-
dee, Syriac, and Arabic words derived from,
or agreeing with, the Hebrew roots in signi-
fication; a literal Version of the Hebrew
Text; the differences between the Vulgate
and Septuagint are marked in the margin;
proper names of persons, places, 85c. It is a
very complete, but exceedingly heavy work.
Calasio died in 1620.
“Concordantiae Bibliornm Ebraicaa, nova
et artificiosa methodo dispositae, &c. Basil,
1632, fol.”—This concordance is the work of
John Buxtorf, the father, but was published
by his son. The ground-work of it is the
concordance of Rabbi Nathan. It is much
better arranged, more correctly printed, the
roots more distinctly ascertained, and the
meaning more accurately given. Buxtorf
bestowed much labour and attention on it.
The references are made by Hebrew letters
to the chapters and verses of the different
books in the Hebrew Bible; and as so much
of the text is exhibited as is necessary to
show the connexipn in which any word is
used, it is decidedly by far the best work of
the kind extant. It only wants the particles
as given by Noldius, to render it complete.
'It was abridged by Christian Ravius, under
the title of “ Fons Zionis, sive Concordantia-
rum Hebraicarum et Chaldaicarum J o. Bux-
torfii Epitome. Berolini, 1677, 8vo.”--The
concordance of Calasio was re-published in
London, under the direction of William Ro-
maine, in 1747-1749, 4 vols, fol. It is more
accurate than its prototype; but it is a very
prolix work ; and as only a small edition was
published, it is become scarce. All the
crowned heads in Europe, his Holiness not
excepted, were subscribers to this work.
“ The Hebrew concordance, adapted to the
English Bible, disposed after the manner of
Buxtorf. By John Taylor, D.D. Lond. 1754.,
2 vols. fol.”—This is a very useful work of
the kind, especially to the English scholar.
It was the fruit of many years’ labour of the
industrious author, and was published under
the patronage of all the English and Irish
bishops.
“ Concordantiae Librorum Vet. Test. Sacro-
rum Hebraicac atque Chaldaicaa, &c., &c.,
auctore Julio Furstio. Lipsiaa 1837—1840,
fol.” This work is beautifully printed, and
apparently with great accurary; and will take
the place of Buxtorf’s, in which the author
remarks he has found more than nine thou-
sand mistakes in the references to the chap-
ters and verses of the Hebrew. It is a Lexicon
as well as a concordance, and contains the
results of very extensive and careful philolo-
gical research.
“ Concordantiae Partieularum Ebraso-Chal-
daicarum, in quibus partium indeclinabilium,
quae occurrunt in fontibus, et hactenus non
expositaa sunt in Lexicis aut Concordantiis,
natura et sensuum varietas ostenditur, &c.
Hafnise, 1675, fol. 1679, 4to.”—This concord—
ance, the work of Christian Noldius, professor
of theology at Copenhagen, where he died in
1683, supplied an important desideratum. It
contains the particles, or indeclinable words
omitted in former concordances. It investi-
gates their various significations; points out
the Greek particles which correspond with
the Hebrew and Chaldaic ones; and explains
the meaning of many passages of Scripture,
which depend on the force and connective
power of the indeclinable words. The best
edition of Noldius is that published at Jena,
in 1734, 4to, under the care of Tympius. It
contains as an appendix a Lexicon to the
Hebrew particles, by John Henry Michaelis,
and Christ. Roerber. It is an exceedingly
valuable work, and has been of great service
to all who have since been employed on the
critical examination of the Bible.
II. GREEK CONCORDANCES 'ro THE
SEPTUAGINT.
“ Conradi Kircheri Concordantiae Veteris
Testamenti Graecae Ebraeis vocibus respon-
dentes, 8cc. Francof. 1607, 2 vols. 4to.”—The
author of this work was a Lutheran minister
at Augsburg. It possesses considerable merit;
but rather inconsistently for a Greek concord-
ance, follows the order of the Hebrew words,
placing the corresponding Greek word after
it; in consequence of which it is more useful
in consulting the Hebrew than the Greek
Scriptures. _
“ Abrahami Trommii Concordantiae Griecsc
Versionis vulgo dictae LXX. Interpret, cujus
voces secundum ordinem elementorum ser-
monis Graeci digestae recensentur contra atque
in Opere Kircheriano factum fuerat. Amst.
1718, 2 vols. fol.”-—The author of this learned
and most laborious work was minister of
Groningen, and published the concordance in
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193
the 84th year of his age. He was born in
1633, and died in 1719. It is the most accu-
rate and complete index to the Septuagint
that has been, or is ever likely to be published.
It follows, as is stated in the title, the order of
the Greek words; of which it first gives a
Latin translation, and then the Hebrew word
or words for which the Greek term is used in
the Seventy. Then the different places in
which they occur in the Scriptures follow in
the order of the several books and chapters;
the whole branch of the sentence to which
they belong being inserted in the same man-
ner as in Cruden’s English Concordance.
When the word occurs in any of the ancient
Greek translators, Aquila, Symmachus, Theo-
dotian, the places where it is found are refer-
red to at the end, of the quotations from the
LXX. The words of the Apocrypha are
placed at the close of each enumeration.
There are two indices at the end of the work,
the one Hebrew and Chaldaic; by examining
which, the Greek term used in the Seventy
for any Hebrew or Chaldee word is at once
seen, with the Latin version, and the place
where his found in the concordance; so that
Tromm) serves tolerably well for a Hebrew
concordance. The other index contains a
Lexicon to the Hexapla of Origen, and com-
prehends the Greek words in the Fragments
of the old Greek translators published by
Montfaucon.
_“ I wish as earnestly,” says Michaelis, “ that
this concordance were in the hands of every
theologian, as that Pasor, and other works of
that nature, were banished from the schools.
By the help of it, we may discover at one
view not only the sense and construction of a
word in dispute, but likewise the Hebrew ex-
pression of which it is a translation, and thus
easily determine whether a phrase be a He-
braism or not. It is true the work is incom-
plete, the Septuagint version of Daniel is
totally wanting, being at that time unknown,
and several words in theremaining books are
omitted ; but these omissions are not so
numerous as might be expected in so many
thousand words.”
III. GREEK CONCORDANCES 'ro THE NEW
TESTAMENT.
“ Xysti Betuleii Concordantiaa Graecae Novi
Testamenti. Basil, 1546, fol.”——-This is the
first ‘Greek concordance to the New Testa-
ment, and is exceedingly rare. The author
was a German Lutheran ‘divine, who was
born in 1500, and died at Augsburg in 1554.
HIS proper name was Birck.
“ Concordantise Graeco-Latina-z Novi Testa-
menti ab Henrico Stephano concinnatm. Ge-
nev. 15:94, fol. Ac cum supplemento, 1600.
2da_editio, auctior, 1624.”-—This work was
projected, and partly executed by Robert
Stephens, and completed and published by
his son Henry. It is, however, so inaccurate,
that Schmidt, the compiler of the next con-
cordance, could scarcely admit that it was
the work of the Stephenses.
“ Erasmi Schmidii Novi Testamenti Jesu
Christi Graeci, hoe est, originalis Linguae,
ra/Lewv, &c. Vitemb. 1638, foL”——This is a
much more correct and valuable work than
that of the Stephenses. The author was a
Lutheran divine, and professor of the Greek
language in the university of Wittemberg,
where he died in 1637. Another edition of this
concordance, revised and corrected, was pub-
lished at Gotha, in 1717, with a preface by E. S.
Cyprian. Of this edition, a very beautiful
reprint, in 2 vols. 8vo. issued from the Glas-
gow university press in 1819 ; and an Abridg-
ment of it was published by Bagster, 1830,
32mo. edited by Mr. Greenfield.
“ Lexicon Anglo-Grznco-Latinum Novi
Testamenti, 8cc. ; or an alphabetical Con-
cordance of all the Greek Words contained
in the New Testament, both English, Greek,
and Latin, &c. By Andrew Symson. Lond.
1658, fol.”——This work partakes more of the
nature of a lexicon than of a concordance.
According to the author’s account, “By it
any word may be rendered into Greek and
Latin, English and Latin, and Greek and
English.” Parkhurst says, “ it is a perform;-
ance, which whilst it exhibits the prodigi~
ous labour of its author, can give one no
very high opinion of his genius or skill in the
art of instruction. If, indeed, the method and
ingenuity of this writer had been proportion-
able to his industry, one might, I think,
almost aflirm, that he would have rendered all
future Greek and English lexicons to the
New Testament in a great measure superflu-
ous; but by injudiciously making the Eng-
lish translation the basis of his work, and by
separating the etymological part of the Greek
from the explanatory, he has rendered his book
in a manner useless to the young scholar, and
in truth hardly manageable by any but a per-
son of uncommon application.”
“ A Concordance to the Greek Testament,
with the English Version to each Word, the
principal Hebrew roots corresponding to the
Greek ‘Words of the Septuagint, with short
critical Notes and an Index. By John Wil-
liams, LL.D. Lond, 1767, 4to.”—-This is a
very useful and convenient work; it is much
more portable than the larger concordances,
and is sufiicient for all common purposes, as
it is in general very accurate.
IV. CONCORDANCES TO THE LATIN
. VULGATE.
The compiler of the first concordance to
the Bible in any language was Hugo de St.
Caro, or Cardinal Hugo, a Dominican, who
died about 1362. He had engaged in writ~
ing a commentary on the Scriptures, and in
order to facilitate this work, projected a con-
cordance, in which he is said to have em-
0
CON
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194
ployed nearly five hundred of his brethren.
From this work have been derived all the
concordances to the Scriptures in the original
languages. It was improved by Conrad of
Halberstadt, who flourished about 1290, and
by John of Segovia in the following century.
The first printed concordance to the Vulgate
appeared under the following title :
“ Concordantiae Bibliorum et Canonum.
Bononiee, Hugonis de Colonia, 1479, folio.”
After the revision of the Latin Vulgate
by Sixtus V. a concordance to it appeared,
entitled :— ~
“ Concordantiaa Sacr. Bibliorum Vulgatae
editionis, Hugone Cardinali authore, &c.
Opera et studio Francisci Lucae Brugensis.
Antverpiae, 1617. Genevae, 1625. Parisiis,
1683.”-—The greater number of the concord-
ances to the Latin Vulgate are reprints of
this edition. The best is that printed at
Avignon, in 1786, in 2 vols. fol.
V. CONCORDANCES 'ro THE ENGLISH
BIBLE.
“ The Concordance of the New Testament
most necessary to be had in the hands of all
soche as desire the communication of any
place contained in the New Testament. Im—
printed by Mr. Thomas Gybson. Cum pri~
vilegz'o regaZi.”—-This is the first concordance
to any part of the English Scriptures. It has
no date, but must have been published before
1540. It is probable from the cpistle to the
reader, that it was the work of John Day,
assisted by Gybson the printer.
“ A Concordance, that is to saie, a worke,
wherein by the order of the letters of the
A, B, C, ye maie redely finde any worde con-
teigned in the whole Bible, so often as it is
there expressed ‘or mentioned. By Jhon
Marbeck. Lond. 1550, fol.”—-This is the
first English concordance to the entire Bible.
The account which the author gives of his
undertaking, when summoned before the
Bishops and condemned by them, is very in-
teresting. “ When Thomas Mathews’ Bible
came first out in print, Lwas much desirous
to-have one of them ; and being a poor man,
not able to buy one of them, determined with
myself to borrow one amongst my friends,
and to write it forthe. And when I had writ-
ten out the five books of Moses in fair great
paper, and entering into the book of Joshua,
my friend, Master Turner, chanced to steal
upon me unawares, and seeing me writing
out the Bible, asked me what I meant there-
by? And when I had told him the cause:
Tush! quoth he, thou goest about a vain and
tedious labour. But this were a profitable
work for thee, to set out a concordance in
English. A concordance, said I, what is
that? Then he told me it was a book to find
out any word in the whole Bible by the letter,
and that there was such a one in Latin al—
ready. Then I told him I had no learning
to go about such a thing, Enough, quoth
he, for that matter, for it requireth not so
much learning as diligence. And seeing thou
art so painful a man, and one that cannot be
unoccupied, it were a good exercise for thee.”
He accordingly borrowed a Latin concord-
ance, and had gone through the letter L,
when his papers were seized. When he was
set at liberty, as his papers were not restored
to him, he had his concordance to begin
again, which, when completed, he showed to
a friend, who promised to assist him in having
it presented to the king, in order to have it
published by his authority ; but Henry VIII.
died before that could be brought about. His
friend, however, to whom he could not say
nay, requested a copy of it, which he accord-
ingly transcribed for him. When Edward
VI. was settled on the throne, he renewed
his thoughts of publishing his work, and con-
sulted Grafton, the printer, concerning it;
“ who,” says he, in his introduction, “ seeing
the volume so houge and great, saied the
charges of imprinting thereof would not only
be importunate, but the bokes when finished
would hear so excessive a price, as few should
be able to attain unto them. Wherefore, by
his advice, I yet once again anewe writte out
the same in such sort, as the work now ap-
pereth.” (Townley’s Bib. Lit. vol. iii. p. 118.)
The diligence and labours ofv such a man
deserve to be recorded. The work is neces-
sarily imperfect, and refers to the chapters
only, not to verses. Subsequently to this, a
number of concordances, or indices to the
Bible, were published under various titles,
and possessing different degrees of merit.
The chief of these are the following:
“ Knight’s Concordance Axiomatical. Lond.
1610, fol—Clement Cotton’s Concordance.
Ibid. 1618, foL—Newman’s Large and Com-
plete Concordance._ Ibid. 1643, fol.—Ber-
nard’s Thesaurus Biblicus. Ibid. 1644, fol.
—Robert Wickens’s Concordance, complete
and perfect, with a dedication to Dr. Owen.
Ibid. 1655, 8vo.——Powell’s New and Useful
Concordance. Ibid. 1671, 8vo.-—The Cam-
bridge Concordance. Camb. 1689, fol—And
Butterworth’s Concordance, which followed
in 1767, 8vo.”-—All these are superseded by
the correct and invaluable work of Alexander
Cruden, entitled, “ A complete Concordance
to the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New
Testament.” 1737, 4to. The author pub-
lished three editions during his own life, and
several have been published since his death.
The London edition of 1810 is the most cor-
rect. The work is uncommonly complete,
the definitions of leading words remarkably
accurate, and the references exceedingly
correct. The work is in the hands of every
student, and requires no recommendation
from us. An edition in royal 8vo, very
beautifully printed, has lately been issued
by the Religious Tract Society.-—A new
CON
icoN
1 95
Concordance, on an improved plan, has
been published by the Rev. D. King of
Gias ow.
“ ‘ Concordance of Parallels collected
from Bibles and Commentaries, which have
been published in Hebrew, Latin, French,
Spanish, and other Languages, with the Au-
thorities of each. By the Rev. C. Crutwell.
Lond. 1790, 4to.”-—This is a work of im-
mense labour, and for occasional consultation
may be useful; but the references are often
so numerous under a single verse, that it is
scarcely possible to examine them all, or to
perceive the design of each. The margin of
Scott’s Bible is in general far preferable.
CONCORDATE, a convention between the‘
Pope of Rome, as the head of the Cathohcj
church, and any secular government, for the ‘
settling of ecclesiastical relations. Treaties
which the pope, as a secular sovereign, con-
cludes with other princes respecting political
concerns, are not called concordates. One of
the most important of the earlier concordates
is that of Worms, called also the Calixtinei
concordate, made in 1122, between Calixtus
II. and Henry V., in order to put an end to
the long contest on the subject of investiture;
and which has since been considered a fun-
damental ordinance in respect to the relations
between the Catholic church and the govern-
ment in Germany. Most of the concordates
have been extorted from the popes by the
different civil powers. This was done as
early as the fifteenth century; for when the
council of Constance urged a reformation of
the papal court, Martin V. saw himself ob-
liged, in 1418, to conclude concordates with
the Germans, and soon afterwards, also, with
other nations. The popes, however, suc-
ceeded, even in the fifteenth and sixteenth
centuries, in concluding concordates for their 1
own advantage. This was the case with
those of Ashafi‘enburg. That also which was
made by Leo X. and Francis I. of France
(1516), was chiefly to the advantage of the
pope. In later times, particularly towards
the end of the eighteenth century, the papal
court could no longer maintain a successful -
struggle with the spirit of the times, and with
the secular powers, and was obliged to resign
many privileges by concordates. Buona-
parte, when first consul of the French Re-
public, concluded a concordate with Pope
Pius VII... July 15, 1801, which went into
operation in April, 1802. It re-cstablished
the Catholic church in France, and has be-
come the basis of the present ecclesiastical
constitution of that country. The govern-
ment obtained by it the right of appointing
the clergy; the public treasury gained by
the_ diminution of the large number of metro-
pohtan and episcopal sees to sixty; the pope
was obliged to give up the plan of restoring '
the spiritual orders, and the influence which
be exercised by means of delegates, but re-

tained the right of the canonical investiture
of bishops, and the revenues connected with
this right. The interests of the papal reli-
gion suffered by this compact, inasmuch as
most of the dioceses became now too large
to be properly administered; and the lower
clergy, the very soul of the church, who
were in a poor condition before, were made
entirely dependent on the government. Louis
XVIII. concluded at Rome, with Pius VII.
(July 11, 1817,) a new concordate, by which
that of 1516, so injurious to the liberties of the
Gallican church, was again revived; the con-
cordate of 1801, and the articles organiques of
1802, were abolished; the nation subjected to
an enormous tax by the demand of endow-
ments for forty-two new metropolitan and
episcopal sees, with their chapters and semi-
naries ; and free scope afforded to the intole-
rance of the Roman court by the indefinite
language of article 10, which speaks of mea-
sures against the prevailing obstacles to reli-
gion and the laws of the church. This revival
of old abuses, this provision for the luxury of
numerous clerical dignitaries at the expense
of the nation, could please only the ultra-
royal nobility, who saw in it the means of
providing their sons with benefices. The
nation received the concordate with almost
universal disapprobation; voices of the great—
est weight were raised against it, and the new
ministers saw themselves obliged to withdraw
their proposition. The pope was more fortu-
nate in the concordate made with Naples
(Feb. 16, 1818) at Terracina, in which stipu-
lations were made for the exclusive establish-
ment of Catholicism in that kingdom; for the
independence of the theological seminaries on
the secular power; the free disposal of bene-
fices to the value of 12,000 ducats, in Naples,
in favour of Roman subjects ; the reversion of
ancient places to the church ; unlimited liberty
of appeal to the papal chair ; the abolition of
the royal permission, formerly necessary for
the pastoral letters of the bishops; the right
of censorship over books ; besides many other
highly important privileges. The king ob-
tained the right to appoint bishops, to tax the
clergy, to reduce the number of episcopal sees
and monasteries which existed before the time
of Murat. The quiet possession of the estates
of the church, which had been alienated, was
also secured to the proprietors. In the con-
cordate concluded with Bavaria, July 5, 1817,
two archbishoprics were established for the
2,400,000 Catholics in Bavaria. Seminaries,
moreover, were instituted and provided with
lands ; the nominations were left to the king,
with the reservation of the papal right of con-
firmation ; the limits of the civil and ecclesi-
astical jurisdiction were precisely settled, and
the erection of new monasteries was promised.
This concordate was published in May, 1818,
together with the new political constitution,
by which all apprehensions for the Protestant
.C U N
CON
lQli
church in Bavaria were allayed. The other
German princes have also formed a plan for
a common concordate with the pope.
loNcUnINAeE, the act of living with a
woman to whom the man is not legally mar-
ried. It is also used for a marriage with a
woman of inferior condition, (performed with
less solemnitythan the formal marriage) and
to whom the husband does not convey his
rank. As polygamy was sometimes practised
by the patriarchs, it'was a common thing to
see one, two, or many wives in a family; and
besides ‘these, several concubines. 2 Sam.
iii. 3, &c. 1 Kings xi. 3. 2 Chron. xi. 21.
But ever since the abrogation of polygamy by
Jesus Christ, and the reduction of marriage to
its primitive institution, concubinage has been
forbidden and condemned among Christians.
CoNnEsoENsIoN is that species of benevo-
lence which designedly waves the supposed
advantages of birth, title, or station, in order
to accommodate ourselves to the state of an
inferior, and diminish that restraint which the
apparent distance is calculated to produce in
him. It is enjoined ‘on the Christian, and is
peculiarly ornamental to the Christian cha-
racter. Rom. xii. 16. ‘The condescensz'on of
God appears every way great, when we con-
sider his infinite perfection, his absolute inde-
pendence of his creatures, his purposes of
mercy toward them, and his continual care
over them.
CoNnI'rIoN, the term of a bargain to be
performed. It has been debated whetherfaith
should he called the condition of our salvation.
If by it we mean a valuable equivalent for the
benefit received, or something to be performed
in our own strength, or that will be merito-
rious, it is certainly inapplicable; but if 1b it
he meant, that it is only a means without wlii'ch
we cannot be saved, in that sense it is not im-
proper. Yet as the term is often made use
of improperly by those who are mere legalists,
perhaps it would be as well to decline the use
of it.
CONFERENCE, the act of discoursing with
another, in order to treat upon some subject
or to settle some point of dispute. Conference
meetings, in a religious sense, are meetings
assembled for the purpose of relating experi-
ence, discoursing on some religious subject,
or for transacting religious business. “ Reli-
gious conference,” says a divine, “is one way
of teaching religion. We all have leisure
time, and it is well spent when it is employed
in set conferences on religion. There the
doubting man may open all his suspicions, and
confirmed Christians will strengthen his be-
lief; the-re the fearful may learn to be valiant
for the truth ; there the liberal may learn to
devise liberal things; there the tongue of the
stammerer may learn to speak plainly ; there
Paul may withstand P'ter to the face, because
he deserves to be blamed ; there the Gospel
may be communicated severally to them of
reputation; there, in one word, ye may all
prophesy one by one, that all may learn, and
all may be comforted. One hour in aweek
spent thus, will contribute much to our edifi-
cation, provided we abstain from the disorders
that have often disgraced, and sometimes de~
stroyed, this excellent Christian practice.
Time should be kept, order should be pre-
served, no idle questions should be asked,
freedom of inquiry should be nourished; im~
modest forwardness should be restrained;
practical, experimental, and substantial sub-
jects should be examined; charity, with all
its gentle train, should be there, for she open-
eth her mouth with wisdom, and in her tongue
is the law of kindness.”
MEE'I‘INGS.
CoNrERENcE, HAMPTON CoUn'r, a meeting
of the Puritans and their opponents, appointed
by James I. to be held at that place in January,
1604. Archbishop Whitgift, eight bishops,
and eight or ten other learned dignitaries,
were appointed to defend the cause of Con
formity, while only Reynolds, Chatterton, and
Knewstubbs, were allowed to maintain that
of the Puritans. James himself was moderator,
and his courtiers were the witnesses. Rey-
nolds, who was the principal speaker on the
side of the nonconformists, insisted that cer-
tain alterations should be made in the Thirty-
nine Articles; that confirmation should be
considered, plurality of benefices disallowed,
and preaching ministers everywhere settled;
that the reading of the Apocrypha in public
worship, the baptismal interrogation of infants,
the sign of the cross in baptism, the sacerdotal
vestments, the symbolical ring in marriage,
and the churching of women, should be abo-
lished, because they were relics of popery.
Bancroft stood forth as the champion of the
other party; and the king himself, having no
relish for puritanical notions, and proud of
his theological abilities, poured forth his royal
dicta, and threatened the Puritans with expa-
triation, if they did not conform.
CONFERENCE, METHODIST. See METHO-
DIST. -
CoNFEssIoN, the verbal acknowledgment
which a Christian makes of his sins. Among
the Jews, it was the custom, on the annual
feast of expiation, for the high priest to make
confession of sins to God, in the name of the
whole people; besides this general confession,
the Jews were enjoined, if their sins were a
breach of the first table of the law, to make
confession of them to God; but violations of
the second table were to be acknowledged to
their brethren. Among the modern Jews,
some of them scourge themselves at the con-
fession in the following manner: two of them.
perform the ceremony by turns on each other,
the patient lying along upon the ground, with
his face towards the north; he must ‘not lie
east and west, because that is the position of
the residence of God. The penitent receives
See EXPERIENCE -
CON
CON
197
thirty-nine strokes with a bull’s penis, during '
which he smiteshis breast; while the operator
repeats the 38th verse of the 78th Psalm,
giving a'stroke at every word'he pronounces.
The words of the verse, which are exactly
thirteen in number in the Hebrew text, re-
peated three times, make the number of strokes
thirty-nine. The penitent then rises, and pays
him who has disciplined him in the same coin.
Confession, according to Dr. Watts, is the
third part of prayer, and includes, 1. _ A. con-
fession of the meanness of our original, our
distance from God, our subjection to him, and
constant dependence on him. 2. A confession
of our sins, both original and actual, in
thought, life, omission, and commission. 3.
A confession of our desert of punishment, and
our unworthiness of mercy. 4. A confession
or humble representation of our wants and
sorrows of every kind.
Confession also may be considered as a re-
lative duty, or the acknowledgment of any
offence we have been guilty of against a
fellow-creature.
CoNrEssIoN, AURICULAR, in the Romish
and Greek Churches, is the disclosure of sins
to the priest at the confessional, with a view
to obtain absolut'ion from them. The father
confessor inquires of the person confessing
concerning the circumstances of the sins con-
fessed, and proportions his admonition, and
the severity of the penitence which he enjoins,
to the degree of the transgression. The per-
son confessing is allowed to conceal no sin of
consequence which he remembers to have
committed; and the father confessor is bound
to perpetual secrecy. The absolution granted
has, according to the doctrines of the Catho-
lic and Greek Churches, sacramental efiicacy.
'It was Pope Leo the Great, in 450, who altered
the public confession, or profession of repent~
ance, by such as had been guilty of scandalous
sins, into a secret one before the priest. The
fourth Lateran council (can. 21) ordains,
‘* That every one of the faithful, of both sexes,
on coming to years of discretion, shall, in pri-
vate, faithfully confess all their sins, at least
once a year, to their own pastor; and fulfil,
to the best of their power, the penance en-
joined them; receiving reverently, at least at
Easter, the sacrament of the Eucharist, imless,
by the advice of their pastor, for some reason-
able cause it be judged proper to abstain for a
time ; otherwise, they are to be excluded from
the chtu'ch while living, and when they die,
to be deprived of Christian buria .”
Confession obtains, also, in the Lutheran
Church, only with this difference, that while
the Catholic Church requires from the peni-
tent the avowal of his particular and single
crimes, the Lutheran requires only a general
acknowledgment, leaving it, however, at the
option _of its members to reveal their parti-
cularsms to the confessor, and to relieve the
conscience by such an avowal; for which
reason, Protestant clcrgymen, as well as the
Catholic priests, are bound to keep, under the
seal of secrecy, whatever may be intrusted to
them in the confessional. The history both
of nations and individuals, exhibits fearful
examples of the abuse of confidence thus re-
posed in priests. In political affairs, espe-
cially, it has been made the means of effecting
the basest intrigues, to the ruin of states,
and the disgrace of religion.
CONFESSION or Farrn, a list of the several
articles of the belief of any church. There
is some difi‘erence between creeds and con-
fessions. Creeds, in their commencement,
were simply expressions of faith in a few of
the leading and undisputed doctrines of the
gospel. Confessions were, on the contrary,
the result of many a hazardous and laborious
effort, at the dawn of reviving literature, to
recover these doctrines, and to separate them
from the enormous mass of erroneous and _
corrupted tenets, which the negligence or
ignorance of some, and the artifices of avarice
and ambition in others, had conduced to ac-
cumulate for a space of a thousand years,
under an implicit obedience to the arrogant
pretensions of an absolute and infallible au-
thority in the Church of Rome. Objections
have been formed against all creeds or. con-
fessions of faith, on the ground that they in-
fringe Christian liberty, supersede the Scrip-
tures, exclude such as ought not to be
excluded, and admit such as ought not to be
admitted ; are often too particular and long ;
are liable to be abused; tempt men. to hypo-
crisy; preclude improvement; and have been
employed as means of persecution. On the
other hand, the advocates for them observe,
that all the arts and sciences have been re-
duced to a system; and why should not the
truths of religion, which are of greater int»
portance P That a compendious view of the
chief and most necessary points of the Chris-
tian religion, which lie scattered up and down
in the Scripture, must be useful to inform the
mind, as well as to hold forth to the world
what are in general the sentiments of‘ such a
particular church or churches; they tend to
discover the common friends of the same
faith to one another, and to unite them; that
the Scriptures seem to authorize and counte-
nance them ; such as the moral law, the
Lord’s Prayer, the form of doctrine mentioned
by Paul, Rom. vi. 17 -, and again “the form
of sound words,” in 2 Tim. i. 13, &c; that
their becoming the occasion of hypocrisy, is
no fault of the- articles, but of those who Sub‘.-
scribe them; that persecution has been raised
more by the turbulent tempers of men, than
from the nature of confessions. Some think
that all articles and confessions of faith
should be expressed in the bare words of
Scripture; but it is replied, that this would
destroy all exposition and interpretation of
Scripture ;. that it would have a tendency to
CON
CON
198


tion; and that the sentiments of one man
could not be distinguished from another in
some points of importance. The following
are the confessions of the different churches.
1. That of the Greek Church, entitled
“The Confessions of the True and Genuine
Faith,” which was presented to Mohammed
II., in 1453, but which gave place to the
“ Orthodox Confession of the Catholic and
Apostolic Greek Church, composed by Mogila,
metropolitan of Kiev, in Russia, and ap-
proved in 1643, with great solemnity, by the
Patriarchs of Constantinople, Alexandria,
Antioch, and Jerusalem. It contains the
standard of the principles of the Russian
Greek Church. _
2. The Church of Rome, though she has
always received the Apostles’, Nicene, and
Athanasian Creeds, had no fixed public and
authoritative symbol, till the Council of Trent.
A summary of the doctrines contained in the
canons of that council is given in the creed
published by Pius IV. (1564,) in the form of
a bull. It is introduced by the Nicene Creed,
to which it adds twelve articles, comprising
those doctrines which the Church of Rome
finally adopted after her controversies with
' the Reformers.
3. The Lutherans call their standard books
of faith and discipline, “ Libri Symbolici Ec-
clesiae Evangelicac.” They contain the three
creeds above mentioned, the Augsburg con-
fession, the Apology for that confession by
Melancthon, the Articles of Smalcald, drawn
up by Luther, the Catechisms of Luther, and,
in man churches, the form of Concord, or
Book ofy Torgau. The best edition is that by
Titmann, Leipzic, 1817. The Saxon (com-
posed by Melancthon,) Wurtemburg, Suabian.
Pomeranian, Mansfeldtian, and Copenhagen
confessions, agree in general with the symbo-
lical books of the Lutherans, but are of au-
thority only in the countries from which they
are respectively called.
4. The Confessions of the Calvinistic
churches are numerous. The following are
the principal. (1.) The Helvetic confessions
are three—that of Basle, 1530; the Summary
and Confession of the Helvetic Churches,
1536 ; and the Expositio Simplex, &c., 1566,
ascribed to Bullinger. (2.) The Tetrapolitan
Confession, 1531, which derives its name from
the four cities of Strasburg, Constance, Mem-
mengen, and Lindau, by the deputies of which
it was signed, is attributed to Bucer. (3.)
The Palatineor Heidelberg Confession, framed
by order of the Elector Palatine, John Casi-
mer, 1575. (4.) The confession of the Gal-
lic Churches, accepted at the first synod of
the reformed, held at Paris, 1559. (5.) The
Confession of the Reformed Churches in Bel-
1561. (6.) The Confession of Faith of the
- make the ministry of the word useless; in a
a great measure cramp all religious conversa-

Kirk of Scotland, which was that composed
by the Assembly at Westminster, was received
as the standard of the national faith, in 1688.
(7.) The Savoy Confession, a declaration of
the faith and order of the independents, agreed
1 upon at a meeting of their elders and messen-'
gers at their meeting in the Savoy, 1658..
(8.) The Anglican Confession, or Thirty-t
nine Articles of the Church of England,
agreed on in the convocation held in London,
1552. They were drawn up in Latin; but
in 1571, they were revised and subscribed
both in Latin and English. They were
adopted by the Episcopal Church, in North
America, in 1801, with some alterations, and
the rejection of the Athanasian Creed.
See also Corpus et Syntagma coagfessionum
fidei, qua; in diversis regnz's et nationibus eccle-
siarum nomine, fuerunt authentice editce, which
exhibits a body of numerous confessions; A
Harmony of the Confessions of Faith of the
Christian and Reformed Churches; Watts’s
Rational Foundation of a Christian Church,
qu. 8 ; Graham on Establishments, p. 265, &c;
Bishop Cleaver’s Sermon on the Formation of
the Articles of the Church of England ,- Foley's
Phil, vol. ii. p. 321.
CONFESSIONAL, a cell in which the confes-
sor sits to hear confessions. It is erected in
a church or chapel, and built of joinery, with
a boarded back against the wall, or against a
pillar or pier, divided into three niches, or
small cells. The centre, which is for the re-
ception of the priest, is closed half way up by
a dwarf door, and has a seat within it. There
is a small grated aperture in each of the par-
titions between the priest and the side cells,
which are for those who come to confess, and
have no doors. The numerous confessionals
‘ in St. Peter’s at Rome, each with an inscrip-
i tion, setting forth in what language penitents
may confess within, show to what an awful
extent this traflic in the souls of men is
carried on.
CONFESSOR, a Christian who has made a
i solemn and resolute profession of the faith,
and has endured torments in its defence. A
mere saint is called a confessor, to distinguish
him from the roll of dignified saints, such as
apostles, martyrs, &c. In ecclesiastical his-
. tory, the word eonfessor is sometimes used for
martyr; in after times it was confined to
those who, after having been tormented by '
the tyrants, were permitted to live and die in
peace; and at last it was also used for those who,
after having lived a good life, died under an
opinion of sanctity. According to St. Cyprian,
he who presented himself to torture, or even to
j martyrdom, without being called to it, was not
‘ called a confessor, but a professor ; and if any
out of want of courage abandoned his coun-
' try, and became avoluntary exile for the sake
' . _ of the faith, he was called ea: terris.
gmm, drawn up in 1559, and approved in j
Confessor is also a priest in the Romish
Church, who has a power to hear sinners in
CON
CON
199 .
the sacrament of penance, and to give them
absolution. The confessors of the kings of
France, from the time of Henry IV., have
been constantly Jesuits ; before him, the Do-
minicans and Cordeliers shared the oflice
between them. The confessors of the house
of Austria have also ordinarily been Domini-
cans and Cordeliers, but the later emperors
have all taken Jesuits.
CONFIRMATION, the act of ' establishing any
thing or person.—-l. Divine confirmation is a
work of the Spirit of God, strengthening, com-
forting, and establishing believers in faith and
obedience. 1 Pet. v. 10. 1 Cor. i. 8.——2. Eccle-
siastical confimnation is a rite whereby a per-
son, arrived to years of discretion, undertakes
the performance of every part of the bap-
tismal vow made for him by his godfather-s
and godmothers. It is administered only by
bishops, and consists in the imposition of
hands on the head of the person confirmed.
In the ancient church it was done imme-
diately after baptism, if the bishop happened
to be present at the solemnity. Throughout
the East it still accompanies baptism; but the
Romanists make it a distinct independent
sacrament. Seven years is the stated time for
confirmation; however, it frequently takes
place after that age. The person to be con-
firmed has a godfather and godmother ap-
pointed him as in baptism. In the Church of
England, the age of the persons to be confirmed
is not fixed. Clarke’s Essay on Confirmation,-
Wood on ditto; Howe’sEpiscopacy, p. 167 , 174.
CONFLAGRATION, GENERAL, a term used to
denote that grand period or catastrophe of ,
our world, when the face of nature is to be
changed by fire, as formerly it was by water.
1. Scripture assures us in general, that this
earth in its present form will not be perpetual,
but shall come to an end.-—2. It further tells
us, that this dissolution of the world shall be
by a general confiagration, in which all things
upon the face of the earth shall be destroyed,
by which the atmosphere shall also be sensibly
affected, as in such a case it necessarily must
be, (2 Pet. iii. 5, 7, 10, 12,) where, from the
connexion of the words, the opposition between
the couflagration and the deluge, as well as
the most literal and apparent import of the
phrases themselves, it is plain they cannot, as
Dr. Hammond strangely supposes, refer to
the desolation brought on Judea when de~
stroyed‘by the Romans, but must refer to the
dissolution of the whole earth—3. The Scrip~
ture represents this great burning as a circum~
stance nearly connected with the day of judg-
ment. 2 Pet. iii. 7, compared with 2 Thess.
i. 7, s. Heb. x. 27. 1 Cor. iii. 12, 13; and
it is probable there maybe an allusion to this
in several passages of the Old Testament,
such as Psal. xi. 6 ; l. 3 ; xcvi. 3. Isa.
xxxiv. 4, s, 10; lxvi. 15. Dan. vii. 9, 10. 'j
Mal. iv. 1. Zeph. iii. 8. Deut. xxxii. 22, to
which many parallel expressions might be f

added, from the canonical and apocrypha.
books.—-4. It is not expressly declared how
this burning shall be kindled, nor how it shall
end; which has given occasion to various
conjectures about it, which see below.
The ancient Pythagoreans, Platonists, Epi-
cureans, and Stoics, appear to have had a
notion of the conflagration; though whence
they should derive it, unless from the sacred
books, is difiicult to conceive; except, perhaps,
from the Phenicians, who themselves had it
from the Jews. Mention of the conflagration
is made in the books of the Sibyls, Sophocles,
Hystaspes, Ovid, Lucan, &0. Dr. Burnet,
after J. Tachard and others, relates that the
Siamese believe that the earth will at last he
parched up with heat, the mountains melted
down, the earth’s whole surface reduced to a
level, and then consumed with fire. And the
Bramins of Siam do not only hold that the
world shall be destroyed by fire, but also that
a new earth shall be made out of the cinders
of the old.
Divines ordinarily account for the confia—
gration metaphysically, and will have it take
its rise from a miracle, as a fire from heaven.
Philosophers contend for its being produced
from natural causes, and will have it efi‘ected
according to the laws of mechanics. Some
think an eruption of the central fire suficient
for the purpose; and add, that this may be
occasioned several ways, viz., either by having
its intensity increased, which again may be
effected either by being driven into less space
by the encroachments of the superficial cold,
or by an increase of the inflammability of the
fuel whe'reon it is fed; or by having the re—
sistance of the imprisoning earth weakened,
which may happen either from the diminution
of its matter, by the consumption of its cen-
tral parts, or by weakening the cohesion of
‘the constituent parts of the mass by the ex-
cess of the defect of moisture. Others look
for the cause of the confiagration in the at~
mosphere, and suppose that some of the meteors
there engendered in unusual quantities, and
exploded with unusual vehemence,. from the
concurrence of various circumstances, may
effect it without seeking any farther. Lastly,
others have recourse to a still more effectual.-
and flaming machine, and conclude the world
is to undergo its conflagration from the near
approach of a comet in its return from the
' Sim.
Various opinions also are entertained as to
jthe renovation of the earth after the confin-
1 gration.——1. Some suppose that the earth will
f not be entirely consumed, but that the matter .
.of which it consists will be fixed, purified,
l and refined, which they say will be the natural
lconsequence of the action of fire upon it;
- thoough it- is hard to say what such a purifi-
cation can do towards fitting it for its intended
purpose, for it is certain a mass of crystal or
glass would very ill answer the following
CON
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200
parts of this hypothesis—2. They suppose
that from these materials thus refined, as from
a second chaos, there will, by the power of
God, arise a new creation; and then the face
of the earth, and likewise the atmosphere,
will be so restored as to resemble what
it originally was in the paradisaical state;
and consequently to render it a more desirable
abode for human creatures than it at present
is; and they urge for this purpose the follow-
ing texts, viz., 2 Pet. iii. 13. (Compare Isa.
lxv. 17; lxvi. 22.) _Matt. xix. 28, 29. (Com-
pare Mark x. 29, 30. Luke xviii. 29, 30.)
Psal. cii. 25, 26. Acts iii. 21. 1 Cor. vii. 31.
Rom. viii. 21; most of which, however, are
totally irrelevant to the subject—3.. They
agree in supposing‘that in this new state of
things there will be no sea, Rev. xxi. l.—
4. They suppose that the earth, thus beau-
tified and improved, will be inhabited by those
who shall inherit the first resurrection, and
shall here enjoy a very considerable degree of
happiness, though not equal to that which is
to succeed the general judgment; which judg-
ment shall, according to them, open when
those thousand years are expired, mentioned
in Rev. xx. 4, &c. ; 1 Thess. iv. 7, &c.; com-
pare ver. 15, which passage is thought by
some to contain an insinuation that Paul
expected to be alive at the appearance of
Christ, which must imply an expectation of
being thus raised from the dead before it;
but it is answered that the expression, we that
are alive, may only signify, “those of us that
are so,” speaking of all Christians as one?
body. 1 Cor. xv. 49—52. Dr. Hartley de-
clared it as his opinion, that the millennium
will consist of 1000 prophetical years, where
each day is a year, ale. 360,000; pleading.
that this is the language used in other parts
of the Revelation. But it seems an invincible
objection against this hypothesis, which places,
the millennium after the conflagration, that the
saints inhabiting the earth after the first resur-
rection are represented as distressed by the
invasion of some wicked enemies. Rev. xx.
7—-—9. Ezekiel xxxviii., xxxix. See MILLEN-
MUM.
After all, little can be said with certainty
as to this subject. It is probable that the
earth will survive its fiery trial, and become
the everlasting abode of righteousness, as part ,
of the holy empire of God; but, seeing the ,
language used in Scripture, and especially‘
in the book of Revelation, is often to be con- _
sidered as figurative rather than literal, it
becomes us to be cautious in our conclusions. -
L’m'uet’s T heoz'y of the Earth; Whztby on the‘
lllz'llenm'um ,- Hartley on Mon, vol. ii. p. 400;
Fleming on the First Resurrection ;. Ray’s Three
Discourses; Whz'sion’s Theory of the Earth;
and article DISSOLUTION in this work.
Con FUSION 0F Tone ons, a memorable event
which happened in the one hundred and first
year, according to the Hebrew chronology,
and the four hundred and first year by the‘
Samaritan, after the flood, at the ‘overthrow of
Babel. Gen. xi. Until this period there had.
been but one common language, which formed;
a bond of union that prevented the separation
of mankind into distinct nations. Writers
have difi'ered much as to the nature of this-
confusion, and the manner in which it was
effected. Some think that no new languages
were formed ; but that this event was accom-
plished by creating a misunderstanding and
variance among the builders, without any
immediate influence on their language; and
that a distinction is to be made between con-
foundingv a language and forming new ones.
Others account for this event by the privation
of all language, and by supposing that man-
kind were under a necessity of associating
together, and of imposing new names on
things by common consent. Some, again,
ascribe the confusion to such an indistinct
remembrance of the original language which
they spoke before, as made them speak it very
diiferently : but the most common opinion is,
that God caused the builders actually to forget
their former language, and each family to
speak a new language, whence originated the
various languages at present in the world. It
is, however, but of little consequence to know
precisely how this was effected, as the Scrip-
tures are silent as to the manner of it; and
after all that can be said, it is but conjecture
still. There are some truths, however, we
may learn from this part‘ of sacred writ.—
1. It teaches as God’s sovereignty and power,
by which he can easily blast the greatest
attempts of men to aggrandize themselves.
Gen. xi. 7, 8.—-2. God’s justice in punishing
those who, in idolizing their own fame, forget
him to whom praise is due, ver. 4.-3. God’s
wisdom in overruling evil for good: for by
this confusion be facilitated the dispersion of
mankind, in order to execute his own pur-
poses, ver. 8, 9.
Stillingfleet’s Orig. Sam, 1. iii. 0. v. § 2--4;
Shuc/g/brd’s Com, vol. i. p. 124-140 ; Vitrz'n-
ya’s 06s., vol. i. diss. 1. 0. ix. ; Le Clerc’s Diss,
No. vi. ; Hutchinson on the Confusion of
Tongues ,- Bishop Law’s Theory of Religion,
p. 66.
CONGREGATION, an assembly of people met
together for religious worship. The term has
been also used for assemblies of cardinals ap-
pointed by the pope for the discharge of cer-
tain functions, after the manner of our ofiices
' and courts; such as the congregation of the
inquisition, the congregation of rites, of alms,
8oe. It also signifies a company or society of
religious persons cantoned out of this or that


order, and making an inferior order, 8L0. _
Such are the congregations of the Oratory;
those of Cluny, 800. among the Benedic-
I tines.
F Conennea'rronamsrs, those who maintain
the independence of each congregation or
See Henry and Gill, in loc.; ‘
CON
CON
201
society of Christians, as to the right of elect-
ing pastors and other church officers, and de-
termining the different affairs of discipline,
&c. in which it may be concerned. See
Cannon.
Though the principles on which they act
may be more or less faintly recognized in
those bodies which, during the successive
ages of church history, have separated from
the corrupt church, and endeavoured to ap-
proximate to the apostolic model of ecclesias-
tical discipline, it was not till the end of the
sixteenth century that they began to consti-
tute a more tangible and established section
of the Christian world. In the year 1580,
Robert Brown, who was descended from an
ancient and honourable family in Rutland—
shire, began zealously to propagate the prin-
ciples of apostolic independency, in the city
of Norwich; but being persecuted, and an
opening presenting itself of removing to Hol-
land, he went to that country, where, in the
town of Middleburgh, in Zealand, he formed
the first congregational church. In the mean
time his principles were rapidly diffused at
home, and many persons of rank were not
ashamed to avow them. Other churches were
formed in Holland, over one of which pre-
sided the celebrated I-Iebraist, Henry Ains-
worth, who, in conjunction ‘with a Mr. J ohn-
son, published a confession of faith of the
people called Brownists. In 1592, the Inde-
pendents in London and its vicinity, formed
themselves into a church; but being hunted
by the spies of the high commission, they
were obliged frequently to change their place
of meeting, and were at last discovered wor-
shipping at the village of Islington, whence
they were carried to prison, where many of
them died in consequence of the cruelties they
endured, and two of them, Barrow and Green-
wood, were hanged at Tyburn.
Shortly after the cause of congregationalism
was revived in Holland, by Mr. John Robin-
son, who appears to have entertained stricter
views of the principles of Independency than
most of his brethren, on which account the
name of Independents has been more parti-
cularly given to him and his followers.
Having numerous difficulties to contend with,
the members of the church which he had
formed at Leyden, resolved, after fasting,
prayer, and much consultation, that the ju-
nior part should remove to America, a reso-
lution which was carried into effect; and the
young colony, settling at Plymouth in New
England, formed the nucleus of Congrega-
tionalism in that part of the world. In Eng-
land the Independents were still persecuted,
while in Holland they were allowed to as-
semble in the Dutch churches, after the hours .
of the national worship, and even to use the , .
attached, in which from 300 to 600 children
‘ receive Sunday instruction.
bells to summon the congregation together.
At length, however, their numbers so in—
creased, that it was found necessary to relax
in the severity with which they had been
treated, and they might have enjoyed the re-
pose which they desired, had it not been for
the Presbyterians, who laboured hard to esta-
blish their own mode of discipline, and were
determined to crush the Independents, whose
principles of church government, as well as
their views of religious liberty, they held in
utter abhorrence. During the Commonwealth,
however, they obtained a firmer footing. Some
of their principal divines were nominated by
the Protector to be his chaplains, aswell as to
fill the most important places at the univer—
sities. Dr. John Owen, Dr. Thomas Good-
win, Gale, Home, Charnock, Bridge, Nye,
Caryl, and Greenhill, were among their chief
men. The Act of Uniformity, which com-
pelled so many pious ministers to resign their
livings, occasioned a more extensive inquiry
into the principles of church order, warranted
by the New Testament; and vast numbers of
them, though primarily ejected, formed such
views of the Established Church that they
could not have gone back into her commu-
nion, even if she had been willing to re-
ceive them on terms of very extensive com-
prehension.
At the time of the revolution the Presby-
terians were still considerably more numerous
in England than the Congregationalists; but
the latter body continued gradually to increase
in numbers and efiiciency, till, at last, the
scale was completely turned in their favour,
by the blighting and desolating influence of
Arianism on the Presbyterian congregations.
Not a few‘ of these congregations, on the de-
misc or removal of Arian ministers, chose
Independent pastors, and adopted the Con-
gregational discipline. About the middle of
last century, this body appears to have felt
the influence of that universal indifference for
religion which prevailed in the nation; but it
was only partial in its operation, and limited
as to its continuance. In consequence of the
revival occasioned by the zealous labours of
Mr. \Vhitefield, numbers were gathered into
the Congregational churches, where they en-
joyed that regularity and consecutiveness in
the ministration of the word which a constant
change of preachers could not possibly supply.
Since then the body has been further greatly
increased by the establishment of Stmday-
schools, village preaching, and various other
means which have been employed for the in—
struction and salvation of the unconverted.
At present the number of Congregational
churches in England amounts to nearly thir-
teen hundred. Many of their chapels, espe-
cially in the metropolis and other large towns,
are elegant specimens of modern architecture,
containing from 1500 to 2500 hearers; and
to some of them spacious school-rooms are
From this body,
though it cannot boast of the “noble ” and
CON
CON
202
“ mighty” in the land, a very considerable
proportion of those sums are raised which
flow into the treasuries of the Bible, Tract,
and other benevolent societies. Indeed, the
London Missionary Society is almost exclu-
sively supported by its members, and by con-
tributions from Scotland and Ireland.
2. Though the visit of Cromwell’s army to
Scotland produced effects in that country fa-
vourable to Independency, it does not appear
that its principles were acted upon till the
time of John Glass, (1725,) who has been
honoured with the appellation of the father of
the Scotch Independents. In conjunction
with Robert Sandeman, who joined him some
time after he was expelled from the church of
Scotland, he founded churches in various parts
of the country, and a number of respectable
persons from various places joined them.
The system, however, as adopted by these
men and their followers, was of too exclusive
and repulsive a character to become popular ;
and, in consequence, their churches have
never made great progress, and in the pre-
sent day are on ‘the decline. Another con-
nexion of Independent churches was formed
during the same century, originated by
the Rev. Henry Davidson, of Galashiels;
Mr. Smith, of Newburn; and Mr. David
Dale, and differing but little from the Glas-
sites, except in seriousnesss and liberality of
spirit.
The modern Scotch congregationalists
sprang up about the beginning of the present
century, in consequence of the efi‘orts made
to difi‘use the Gospel throughout the country,
by Robert Haldane, Esq, who, on being foiled
in his attempt to proceed to India, where he
had proposed to devote the whole of his pro-
perty for the establishment and maintenance
of a Christian mission, had his attention turn-
ed to the ignorance which prevailed in many
parts of Scotland, and the deadness which
awfully characterised the state of religion at
the time. Having been joined by Messrs.
Ewing and Innes, both ministers of the estab-
lished church, and by his brother, James
Alexander Haldane, and Mr. Aikman, who
had studied for the ministry, but could‘ not
conscientiously join the Presbyterian Church,
that gentleman opened the Circus in Edin-
burgh, and afterwards erected the Tabernacle
near the same spot, capable of containing
3000 persons. Here, as well as in other
places, where he also erected places of wor-
ship, the ministers above mentioned laboured
with great success; and some of the most
popular of the English congregational minis-
ters, with Rowland Hill and others, were
brought down at Mr. Haldane’s expense; who,
after preaching a stated time at the Taber-
nacle, visited the principal towns in Scotland,
and preached the truth to immense congrega-
tions. By these means vast numbers of the
careless were led to consider their ways, and
were converted to God; a revival of genuine
religion took place among thepious, and a
spirit of greater attention was excited to the
authority and meaning of scripture, both as
to points of doctrine and discipline. Congre-
gational churches were formed in the different
places, where the gospel had been preached;
and an academy was instituted for the educa-
tion of young men of piety and talent, who
might take the oversight of them and itinerate
in the adjacent districts. Thus matters con-
tinued to proceed till a change took place in
the views of the Messrs. Haldane on the sub-
ject of baptism, which led to their separation
from the connexion, a circumstance which-
was attended with several serious inconveni-
ences at the time, but which was afterwards
more than compensated by that spirit of union
and co-operation which distinguished the
body : and notwithstanding the constant oppo-
sition with which it has had to contend, from
Presbyterian influence, both on the part of
the established sect, and on that of the dif-
ferent branches of seceders, it still continues.
to maintain its principles, and exert its influ—
ence over a considerable portion of the com-
munity. According to the latest census, the
number of congregational churches, in this
connexion in Scotland, amounts to eighty-
three.
3. In Ireland, the principles of congrega-
tional independency do not appear to have
obtained an early footing; and even at the
present time the number of churches, in-
eleven of the counties only, amounts to about
twenty.
4. With respect to America, it has already
been noticed that a school from this denomina-
tion was planted there at a very earl}r period
its history. Vast numbers soon followed,
driven by the cruel hand of persecution, or
voluntarily influenced by the prospects of
rational liberty and independence. In twenty-
seven years from the first plantation of the
North American colonies, forty-three churches
were formed ; and in an equal number of
succeeding years, eighty churches more rose
into existence ; from that time to the present
the number has continued rapidly to increase,
and according to the latest statistical tables, it
amounts to one thousand and fifty-nine. The
number of communicants is about one hun-
dred and twenty thousand.
5. Congregational churches have also been
formed in various parts of the heathen world,
and continue to increase in proportion to the
success accompanying the labours of the mis-
sionaries sent out by the London and Ameri-
can Missionary Societies.
CONGREGATIONALISTS, FAITH AND ORDER
OF, as presented at a meeting of the Congre-
gational Union, holden in London, May, 1832.
~ This declaration is not designed to be a scho\
lastic, critical, or authoritative confession of
faith, but is simply a statement of what is be.-
CON
CON
203
lieved and practised throughout the denomi-
nation.
Principles of Religion.
1. The Scriptures of the Old Testament, as
received by the Jews, and the books of the
New Testament, as received by the primitive
Christians from the Evangelists and the
Apostles, they believe to be divinely inspired,
and of supreme authority. These writings,
in the languages in which they were originally
composed, are to be consulted, b the aids of
sound criticism, as a final appeal in all contro-
versies; but the ordinary version of them into
the English language, published under civil
authority, they consider to be adequate for
the ordinary purposes of Christian instruction
and edification.
2. They believe in one God, essentially
holy, just, and good; infinite, eternal, and
immutable, in all natural and moral perfec-
tions; the Creator, Supporter, and Governor
of all beings, and of all things.
3. They believe that God has revealed him-
self to man in the Scriptures, under the three-
fold distinction of Father, Son, and Holy
Ghost; to each of which Divine Persons are
attributed the same infinite and immutable
properties, perfections, and prerogatives. The
mode of the divine existence, as a trinity in
unity, they profess not to understand: the
fact they cordially believe; but the mystery
of the Godhead they are content, in this life,
to reverence and adore.
4. They believe that Jehovah created man
in his own image, pure from evil bias, sinless,
and in his kind perfect.
5. They believe that the first man disobeyed
the divine command, fell from his state of
innocence, and involved himself and his pos-
terity in a state of guilt and depravity.
6. They believe that all mankind are born
in sin, and that a fatal inclination to moral
evil, utterly incurable by finite means, is in-
herent in every human being. \
7. They believe that God designed, before
the foundation of the world, to redeem fallen
man, and that he made very early disclosures
of his mercy toward this sinful race, which
were the grounds of faith and hope to many
among the antediluvian world.
8. They believe that God revealed more
fully toAbraham the covenant of his grace;
and having promised that out of his descend-
ants should arise the Deliverer and Redeemer
of mankind, he set him and his posterity
apart, as a race specially favoured of God,
and devoted to his service; and that hence a
church was formed and carefully preserved
in the world, under the divine sanction and
government, until the birth of the promised
Messiah.
'_ 9. They believe that, in the fulness of the
time, the Son of God was manifested in the
flesh, being born of the Virgin Mary, but
conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost;
and that our Lord Jesus Christ v as both the
Son of man, as partaking fully and truly of
sinless human nature, and the Son of God, as
being, in every sense, equal with the Father,
and “ the express image of his person.”
10. They believe that Jesus Christ, the Son
of God, revealed, either personally in his own
ministry, or by the Holy Spirit in the ministry
of his apostles, the whole mind of God for
our salvation; and that by his obedience
to the divine law while he lived, and by his
sufferings unto death, he meritoriously ‘* ob-
tained eternal redemption for us ;” having
thereby satisfied divine justice, “ magnified
the law,” and “ brought in everlasting right-
eousness.” »
11. They believe that, after his death and
resurrection, he ascended up into heaven as a
Mediator for us, and that he “ ever liveth to
make intercession for all that come unto God
by him.”
12. They believe that the Holy Spirit is
given in consequence of Christ’s mediation,
to quicken and renew the hearts of men; and
that his influence upon the human soul is in-
dispensably necessary to bring a sinner to
true repentance, to produce a saving faith, to
regenerate the heart, and to perfect our sanc-
tification.
13. They maintain that we are justified
through faith in Christ; and that not of our--
selves ; “it is the gift of God.” ,
14. They believe that all who will be finally
saved were the objects of G‘od’s eternal and
electing love, and were given by an act of
divine sovereignty to the Son of God; but
that this act of sovereignty in no way inter-
feres with the system of means, nor with the
grounds of human responsibility, being wholly
unrevealed as to its objects, and therefore in-
capable of becoming a rule of human duty.
15. They believe that the Scriptures teach
the final perseverance of all true believers to
a state of eternal blessedness; though not
irrespective of a constant faith in Christ, and
uniform obedience to his commands.
16. They believe that a virtuous life will
be the necessary effect of a true faith, and
that good works are the indispensable fruits
of a vital union to Christ.
17. They believe that the sanctification of
true Christians, or their growth in the graces
of the Spirit, and meetness for heaven, is
gradually carried on through the whole period,
during which it pleases God to keep them in
the present life; and that, at death, their souls
are perfectly freed from all remains of evil,
and are immediately received into the pre-
sence of Christ. - .
18. They believe in the perpetual obliga-
tion of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper; the ;
former to be administered to all converts to ‘
Christianity, and their children, by the appli-
cation of water to the subject ; and‘ the latter
CON
CON
204
to be publicly celebrated, by Christians, as a
token of faith in the Saviour, and of love to
each other.
19. They believe that Christ will finally
come to judge the whole human race; that
the bodies of all men will be raised again;
and that, as the Supreme Judge, he will divide
the righteous from the wicked, will receive
the righteous into life eternal, but send away
the wicked into everlasting punishment.
20. They believe that Jesus Christ designed
and directed his followers to live together in.
Christian fellowship, and to maintain the
communion of saints; and that, for this pur-
pose, they are jointly to observe all divine
ordinances, and maintain that church order
and discipline which is either expressly en-
joined by inspired institution, or sanctioned
by the undoubted example of the apostles and
of apostolic churches.
Principles of Church Order and Discipline.
1. They hold it to be the will of Christ
that true believers should voluntarily assem-
ble together to observe religious ordinances,
to promote mutual edification and holiness,
to perpetuate and propagate the gospel in the
world, and to advance the glory and worship
of God, through Jesus Christ; and that each
society, having these objects in view in its
formation, is properly a Christian church.
2. They believe that the New Testament
alone contains, either in the form of express
statute, or in the example and practice of
apostolic men and churches, all the articles of
faith necessary to be believed by a Christian,
and all the order and discipline requisite for
constituting and governing Christian socie-
ties; and that human traditions, fathers, and
councils, possess no authority over the faith
and practice of Christians.
3. They acknowledge Christ as the only
Head of the Church, and the ofiicers of each
church, under him, as ordained to administer
his laws impartially to all; and their only
appeal, in all questions touching their reli—
gious faith and practice, is to the sacred
Scriptures.
4. They believe that the New Testament
I authorizes every Christian church to elect its
own officers, to manage all its own affairs,
and to stand independent of, and irresponsible
to all authority, saving that only of the su-
preme and divine Head of the Church, the
Lord Jesus Christ.
5. They believe that the only ofi‘icers placed
by the apostles over individual churches, are
the bishops or pastors, and the deacons; the‘
number of these being dependent upon the
numbers of the church ; and that to these, as
the oflicers of the church, are committed re-
spectively the administration of its social
worship, its discipline, and its temporal con-
cerns; subject, however, to the approbation
ol' the church.
6. They believe that no persons should be
received as members "of Christian churches,
but such as make a credible profession of
Christianity, are living according to its pre-
cepts, and attest a willingness to be subject to
its discipline; and that none should be ex-
cluded from the fellowship of the church,
but such as deny the faith of Christ, violate
his laws, or refuse to submit themselves to
the discipline which the word of God en-
forces.
7. The power of admission into, and re-
jection from, any Christian church, they be-
lieve to be vested in the church itself, and, to
be exercised only through the medium of its
own ofiicers. '
8. They believe that Christian churches
should statedly meet for the celebration of
public worship, for the observance of the
Lord’s Supper, and for the sanctification of
the first day of the week.
9. They believe that the power of a Chris-
tian church is purely spiritual, and should in
no way be corrupted by union with temporal
or civil power.
10. They believe that it is the duty of
Christian churches to hold communion with
each other, to entertain an enlarged affection
for each other, as members of the same body,
and to co-operate for the promotion of the
Christian cause; but that no church, nor
union of churches, has any right or power to
interfere with the faith or discipline of any
other church, further than to disown and
separate from such as, in faith or practice,
depart from the gospel of Christ.
11. They believe it is the privilege and
duty of the church to call forth such of its
members as may appear to be qualified, and
indicated by the Holy Spirit, as suitable per-
sons to sustain the oflice of the ministry; and
that Christian churches unitedly ought to
consider the maintenance of the Christian
ministry, in an adequate degree of learning,
as one of its especial cares, that the cause of
the gospel may be both honourably sustained
and constantly promoted.
12. They believe that church ofiicers, whe-
ther bishops or deacons, should be chosen by
the free voice of the church, but that their
dedication to the duties of their oflice should
take place with especial prayer, and by so-
lemn designation, in the act of imposition of
hands by those already in ofiice. .
13. They believe that the fellowship of
every Christian church should be so liberal
as to admit to communion, in the Lord’s Sup-
per, all whose faith and godliness are, on the
whole, undoubted, though conscientiously dif-
fering in points of minor importance; and;
that this outward sign of fraternity in Christ
should be co-extensive with the fraternity
itself, though without involving any compli-
ances which conscience would deem to be
_ sinful
CON
5 CON
‘20
Connexion, Countess of Huntingdon’s.
See MnTnonrsTs, CALVINISTIC.
'CONNEXION, New. See Mn'rnoms'rs.
CONNEXION-S, WonLnLY, relations or asso-
ciations in which Christians are united with
men of thc’world; with respect to which it
is proper to distinguish between such as are
necessary, and such as are arbitrary, depend-
ing solely on the will of the Christian. Of
the first sort are all natural connexions with
parents, brothers, sisters, children, &c.; and
all civil connexions in government, trade, lite-
rature, &c. These connexions are not in
themselves sinful, but they may become so
through our own imprudence; Arbitrary
connexions with the world are, in their own
nature, criminal; they lie out of the path of
duty; they argue an identity and eongeniality
of heart; and they generally produce great
misery and scandaL—Robinson in Claude.
CONONITES, a denomination which appeared
in the sixth century. They derived their
name from Conon, bishop of Tarsus. He
taught that the body never lost its form; that
its matter alone was subject to corruption and
decay, and was to be restored when this mor-
tal shall put on immortality.
CONSCIENOE signifies ‘knowledge in con-
junction; that is, in conjunction with the
fact to which it is a witness, as the eye is to
the action done before it; or, as South ob-
serves, it is a double or joint knowledge, namely,
one of a divine law or rule, and the other of
a man’s own action. It may be defined to be
the judgment which a man passes on the
morality of his actipns as to their purity or
turpitude; or the secret testimony of the
soul, whereby it ap roves things that are
good, and condemns t ose that are evil. Some
object to its being called an act, habit, or
faculty. An act, say they, would be repre-
sented as an agent, whereas conscience is a
testimony. >To say it is a habit, is to speak
of it ‘as a disposition acting, which is scarcely
more accurate than ascribing one act to an-
other; and, besides, it would be strange lan-
guage to say that con-science itself is a habit.
Against defining it by the name of a power
or facult , it is objected, that it occasions a
false notion of it, as a distinct power from
reason.
The rules of conscience. We must distin-
guish between a rule that of itself and imme-
diately binds the conscience, and a rule that
is occasionally of use to direct and satisfy the
conscience. Now, in the first sense,'the will
of God is the only rule immediately binding
the conscience. No one has authority over
the conscience but God. All penal laws,
therefore, in matters of mere conscience, or
things that do not evidently affect the civil
state, are certainly unlawful; yet, secondly,
the commands of superiors, not only natural
parents, but civil, as magistrates or masters,
and every man’s private engagements, are
rules of conscience in things indifi'erent. 3.
The examples of wise and good men may
become rules of conscience ; but here it must
be observed, that no example or judgment is
of any authority against law : where the law
is doubtful, and even where there is no doubt,
the side of example cannot be taken till in-
quiry has been first made concerning what
the law directs.
Conscience has been considered as, 1. na-
tural, or that common principle which in-
structs men of all countries and religions in
the duties to which they are all alike obliged.
There seems to be something of this in the
minds of all men. Even in the darkest re-
gions of the earth, and among the rudest
tribes of men, a distinction has ever been
made between just and unjust, a duty and a
crime. '
2. A right conscience is that which decides
aright, or according to the only rule of recti-
tude, the law of God. This is also calleda
well-informed conscience, which in all its deci-
sions proceeds upon the most evident prin-
ciples of truth.
3. A probable conscience is that which, in
cases which admit of the brightest and fullest
light, contents itself with bare probabilities.
The consciences of many are of no higher
character; and though we must not say a
man cannot be saved with such a conscience,
yet such a conscience is not so perfect as it
might be. -
4. An ignorant conscience is that which
may declare right, but, as it were, by chance,
and without any just ground to build on.
5. An erroneous conscience is a conscience
mistaken in its decisions about the nature of
actions.
6. A doubting conscience is a conscience
unresolved about the nature of actions; on
account of the equal or nearly equal probabi-
lities which appear for and against each side
of the question.
7. Of an evil conscience there are several
kinds. Conscience, in regard to actions in
general, is evil when it has lost more or less
the sense it ought to have of the natural dis-
tinctions of moral good and evil: this is a
polluted or defiled conscience. Conscience is
evil in itself, when it gives either none or a
false testimony as to past actions; when re-
fleeting upon wickedness, it feels no pain, it
is evil, and said to be scared or hardened, 1
Tim. iv. 2. It is also evil when, during the
commission of sin, it lies quiet. In regard to
future actions, conscience is evil if it does
not startle at the proposal of sin, or connives
at the commission of it.
For the right management of conscience,
we should, 1. Endeavour to obtain acquaint-
ance with the law of God, and with our own
tempers and lives, and frequently compare
them together.
2. Furnish conscience with general prin-
CON
CON
206
ciples of the most extensive nature and strong-
est influence; such as the supreme love. of
God; love to our neighbours as ourselves;
and that the care of our souls is of the great-
est importance.
3. Preserve the purity of conscience.
4. Maintain the freedom of conscience,
particularly against interest, passion, temper,
example, and the authority of great names.
5. We should accustom ourselves to cool
reflection on our past actions. See Grove’s
and Paley’s Moral Philosophy; South’s Ser-
mons, vol. ii. sermon 12; and books under
CASUISTRY. -
CONSCIOUSNESS, the perception of what
passes in a man’s own mind. We must not
confound the terms consciousness and con-
science; for though the Latin be ignorant of
any such distinction, including both in the
word conscientz'a, yet there is a great deal of
difference between them in our language.
Consciousness is‘ confined to the actions of
the mind, being nothing else but that know-
ledge of itself, which is inseparable from
every thought and voluntary motion of the
soul. Conscience extends to all human ac-
tions, bodily as well as mental. Conscious-
ness is the knowledge of the existence, con-_
science, of the moral nature, of actions. Con-
sciousness is a province of metaphysics; con-
science, of morality.
CONSECRATION, a rite or ceremony of de-
dicating things or persons to the service of
God. It is used for the benediction of the
elements at the eucharist: the ordination of
bishops is also called consecration.
The Romanists have a great deal of fop-
pery in the ceremonies of consecration, which
they bestow on almost every thing; as bells,
candles, books, water, oil, ashes, palms,
swords, banners, pictures, crosses, agnus deis,
roses, &c. In England, churches have been
always consecrated with particular ceremo-
nies, the form of which was left to the dis-
cretion of the bishop. That observed by
Archbishop Land, in consecrating St. Ca-
therine Cree church, in London, gave great
offence, and well it might. It was enough,
as one observes, to have made even a popish
cardinal blush, and which no Protestant can
read but with indignant concern. ‘_‘ The bi-
shop came, attended with several of the high
commission, and some civilians. At his ap-
'WOELCh to the west door of the church, which
was shut, and guarded by halberdiers, some
:hat were appointed for that purpose, cried
with a loud voice, ‘Open, open, ye everlast-
ing doors, that the King of Glory may come
in!’ Presently the doors were opened. and
the bishop, with some doctors and principal
men, entered. As soon as they were within
the place, his lordship fell down upon his
knees, and, with eyes lifted up and his arms
spread abroad, said, ‘ This place 1s holy;
the ground is holy: in the name of the
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, I pronounce
it holy.’ Then, walking up the middle aisle
towards the chancel, he took up‘ some of the
dust, and threw it into the air several times.
When he approached near the rail of the com-
munion table, he bowed towards it five or six
times ; and, returning, went round the church,
with his attendants ‘in procession, saying
first the hundredth, and then the nineteenth
Psalm, as prescribed in the Roman Pontifi—
cal. He then read several collects, in one
of which he prays God to accept of that beau-
tiful building, and concludes thus :—-‘ We con-
secrate this church, and separate it unto thee
as holy ground, not to be profaned any
more to common use.’ In another, he prays,
‘ That ALL who should hereafter be buried
within the circuit of this holy and sacred
place, may rest in their sepulchres in peace,
till Christ’s coming to judgment, and may
then rise to eternal. life and happiness.’ Then
the bishop, sitting under a cloth of state in
the aisle of the chancel, near the communion
table, took a written book in his hand, and
pronounced curses upon those who should
hereafter profane that holy place by musters
of soldiers, or keeping profane law courts, or
carrying burdens through it; and at the end
of every curse he bowed to the east, and said,
‘ Let all the people say, Amen.’ When the
, curses were ended, which were about twenty,
he pronounced a' like number of blessings
upon all that had any hand in framing and
building that sacred and beautiful church;
and on those that had given, or should here-
after give, any chalices, plate, ornaments, or
other utensils; and at the end of every bless-
ing, he bowed to the east, and said, ‘ Let all
the people say, Amen.’ After this came the
sermon, then the sacrament, which the bishop
consecrated, and administered in the follow-
ing manner z—AS he approached the altar,
he made five or six low bows; and coming
up to the side of it, where the bread and wine
were covered, he bowed seven times. Then,
after reading many prayers, he came near
the bread, and gently lifting up the corner of
the napkin, beheld it; and immediately let-
ting fall the napkin, he retreated hastily a
step or two, and made three low obeisances:
his lordship then advanced, and, having un-
covered the bread, bowed three times as be-
fore. Then he laid his hand on the cup,
which was full of wine, with a cover upon
it; which having let go, he stepped back,
and bowed three times towards it; then he
came near again, and lifting up the cover of
the cup, looked in it, and seeing the wine;
let fall the cover again, retired back, and
bowed as before. Then the elements were
consecrated; and the bishop, having first re’.
ceived, gave it to some principal men in their
surplices, hoods, and tippets; after which,
- many prayers being said, the solemnity of
the consecration ended.”
CON
CCN
207
Cousrs'rnu'rns, a kind of penitents, who
were allowed to assist at prayers, but who could
not be admitted to receive the sacrament.
Consrs'roar, a word commonly used for a
council-house of ecclesiastical persons, or,
place of justice in the spiritual court ; a ses-
sion or assembly of prelates. Every arch-
bishop and bishop of every diocese has a con-
sistory court, held before his chancellor or
commissary, in his cathedral church, or other
convenient placqpf his diocese, for ecclesias-
tical causes. The bishop’s chancellor is the
judge of this court, supposed to be skilled in
the civil and canon law; and in places of
the diocese far remote from the bishop’s con-
sistory, the bishop appoints a commissary to
judge in all causes within a certain district,
and a register to enter his decrees, 80c. Con-
sistory at Rome, denotes the college of cardi-
nals, or the pope’s senate and council, before
whom judiciary causes are pleaded, and all
political affairs of importance, the election of
bishops, archbishops, 8w. are transacted.
There is the ordinary consistory, which the
pope assembles every week in the papal pa—
lace, and the extraordinary or secret consis-
tories, called together on special and import-
ant occasions. Consistory is also used among
the Lutherans for a council or assembly of
ministers and lawyers to regulate their afi'airs,
discipline, 850. They are the highest Pro-
testant ecclesiastical bodies on the continent.
CONSTANCE, COUNCIL on, 1414-1418. The
German emperor, the pope, 20 princes, 140
counts, more than 20 cardinals, 7 patriarchs,
20 archbishops, 91 bishops, 600 other clerical
dignitaries, and about 4000 priests, were pre-
sent at this celebrated ecclesiastical assembly,
which was occasioned by the divisions and
contests that had arisen about the affairs of
the church. From 1305-77, the popes had
resided at Avignon; but in 137 8, Gregory
XI. removed the papal seat back to Rome;
after his death, the French and Italian cardi-
nals could not agree upon a successor, and so
each party chose its own candidate. This led
to a schism which lasted forty years. Indeed,
when the Emperor Sigismund ascended the
throne, in 1411, there were three popes, each
of whom had anathematized the two others.
To put an end to these disorders, and to stop
the diffusion of the doctrines of Huss, Sigis-
mund went in person to Italy, France, Spain,
and England, and (as the Emperor Maximi-
lian I. used to say, in jest, performing the
part of the beadle of the Roman empire,)
summoned a general council. The pretended
heresies of Wicklitfe and Huss were here con-
demned, and the latter, notwithstanding the
assurances of safety given him by the empe-
ror, was burnt, July 6, 1415; and his friend
and companion, Jerome, of Prague, met with
the same fate, May 30, 1416. The three popes
were formally deposed, and Martin V. was
‘legally chosen to the chair of St. Peter; but
instead of furthering the emperor’s wishes for
a reformation in the affairs of the church, he
thwarted his plans, and nothing was done till
the council of Basle, which see.
CONSTANTINE, somnuusn THE GREAT, son
of the Emperor Constantine Chlorus, and of
his wife Helena, was born A. D. 274. On the
death of his father, he was chosen emperor
by the soldiery, in 306. Galerius, however,
would not allow him the title of Augustus,
and gave him that of Cesar only ; but having
taken possession of the countries which had
been subject to his father, viz. Gaul, Spain,
and Britain, and overcome the Franks, he
turned his arms against Maxentius, vanquish-
ed his army under the walls of Rome, and '
was declared by the senate Augustus and
Pontifex Maximus. It was in this campaign
in Italy that he is said to have seen a flaming
cross in the heavens, beneath the sun, bearing
this inscription, In hoc signo vz'nces,—z'. e. “ By
this sign thou shalt conquer ;” and on the
same authority it is stated that Christ himself
appeared to him the following night, and
ordered him to take for his standard an imi-
tation of the fiery cross which he had seen.
He accordingly caused a standard to be made
in this form, which was called the labarum. In
313, he published the memorable edict of
toleration in favour of the Christians. By
this, every one was allowed to embrace the
religion most agreeable to his own mode of
thinking; and all the property that had been
taken from the Christians during the perse-
cutions was restored to them. They were
also made eligible to public ofiices. This
edict has accordingly been regarded as mark-
ing the triumph of the cross, and the downfall
of paganism.
Having defeated Licinius, who showed a
mortal hatred to the Christians, Constantine
became sole head of the eastern and western
empires in 325, the year noted for the occu-
rnenical council which he convened at Nice
1n Bithynia, and which he attended in person,
for the purpose of settling the Arian contro-
versy. Towards the close of his life he
favoured the Ariaus, to which he was induced
by Eusebius, of Nicomedia; in consequence
of which he banished many orthodox bishops.
Though he professed Christianity, he was not
baptized till he fell sick in 337, in which year
he died in the vicinity of Nicomedia, after a
reign of 31 years.
Whatever may have been the true charac-
ter of Constantine’s conversion to the Christian
faith, its consequences were of vast importance
both to the empire and to the church of Christ.
It opened the way for the unobstructed pro-
pagation of the Gospel to a wider extent than
at any former period of its history. ‘All im-
pediments to an open profession of Christi-
anity were removed, and it became the estab-
lished religion of the empire. Numerous,
however, in various points of view, as were
C O N
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208
the advantages accruing to it from this
change, it soon began to suffer from being
brought into close contact with the fostering
influence of secular power. The simplicity
of the gospel was corrupted: pompous rites
and ceremonies were introduced; worldly
honours and emoluments were conferred on
the teachers of Christianity; and the kingdom
of Christ in a great measure converted into a
kingdom of this world.
CONSTITUTION, in the Roman Church, a
decree of the pope in matters of doctrine. In
France, however, this name has been applied,
by way of eminence, to the famous bull Uni-
genitus, which see.
CoNsTITuTIoNs, APOSTOLICAL. See Arcs-
TOLIC.
CoNsUBsTANTIAL, a term of like import
with co-essential, denoting something‘of the
same substance with another. Thus we say
that Christ is consubstantial with the Father.
The term .onoovo-tog, consubstantial, was first
adopted by the fathers of the councils of
Antioch and Nice, to express the orthodox
doctrine the more precisely, and to serve as a
barrier and precaution against the errors and
subtleties of the Arians, who owned every
thing except the consubstantiality.
The Arians allowed that the Word was God,
as having been made God; but they denied
that he was the same God, and of the same
substance with the Father: accordingly they
exerted themselves to the utmost to abolish
the use of the word. The Emperor Constan-
tine used all his authority with the bishops to -
have it expunged out of the symbols; but it
was retained, and is at this day, as it was
then, the distinguishing criterion between an
Athanasian and an Arian. See Articles ARIANS
and J ESUS CHRIST.
CONSUBSTANTIATION, a tenet of the Lu—
theran church, with regard to the manner of
the change made in the bread and wine in
the eucharist. The divines of that profession
maintain that, after consecration, the body and
blood of our Saviour are substantially present
together with the substance of the bread and
wine, which is called consubstantiation, or
impanation. See TRANSUBSTANTIATION.
CONTENTMENT is a disposition of mind in
which our desires are confined to what we
enjoy, without murmuring at our lot, or wish-
ing ardently for more. It stands opposed to
envy, James iii. 16 ; to avarice, Heb. xiii. 5;
to pride and ambition, Prov. xiii. 10 ; to
anxiety of mind, Matt. vi. 25, 34; to murmur-
ings and repinings, 1 Cor. x. 10. Content-
ment does not imply unconeem about our.
welfare, or that we should not have a sense of
any thing uneasy or distressing; nor does it
give any countenance to_ Idleness, or prevent
diligent endeavours to Improve our cIrcum-
stances. It implies, however, that our desires
of worldly good be moderate; that we do not
indulge unnecessary care, or use unlawful
. have been.

efforts to better ourselves; but that we ac‘
quiesce with, and make the best of our con-
dition, whatever it be. Contentment arises
not from a man’s outward condition, but from
his inward disposition, and is the genuine
offspring of humility, attended with a fixed
habitual sense of God’s particular providence,
the recollection of past mercies, and a just
estimate of the true nature of all earthly
things. Motives to contentment arise from
the consideration of the rectitude of the Divine
government, Ps. xcvii. 1, 2; the benignity of
the Divine providence, Ps. cxlv. ; the great-
ness of the Divine promises, 2 Pet. i. 4; our
own unworthiness, Gen. xxxii. 10; the pun-
ishments we deserve, Lam. iii. 39, 40; the
reward which contentment itself brings with
it, 1 Tim. vi. 6; the speedy termination of all
our troubles here, and the prospect of eternal '
felicity in afuture state, Rom. v. 2.-—-Barrow’s
Works, vol. iii. ser. 5—9 ; Burroughs on Con-
tentment,- Watson’s Art of ditto; Hale’s Com,
p. 59; Mason’s -Christian Morals, vol. i.
ser. 2.
CoNTINENcY is that moral virtue by which
we restrain concupiscence. There is this
distinction between chastity and continence:
chastity requires no effort, because it may
result from constitution; whereas continency
appears to be the consequence of a victory
gained over ourselves. The term is most
usually applied to men, as chastity is to
women. See CHASTITY.
CONTINGENT, any thing that happens with-
out a foreknown cause, commonly called ac~
cidental. An event not come to pass is said
to be contingent, which either may or may
not be ; what is already done, is said to have
been contingent, if it might or might not
What is contingent or casual to
us is not so with God. As efi'ects stand re-
lated to a second cause, they are many times
contingent: but as they stand related to the
first cause, they are acts of God’s counsel, and
directed by his wisdom.
CONTRITE: this word signifies beaten or
bruised, as with hard blows, or a heavy bur-
den; and so in Scripture language imports
one whose heart is broken and wounded for
sin, in opposition to the heart of stone. Isa.
lxvi. 2; Ps. li. 17; lvii. 15.
The evidences of a broken and contrite
spirit are, 1. Deep conviction of the evil of
sin. 2. Humiliation under a sense of it, Job
xliii. 5, 6. 3. Pungent sorrow for it, Zec. xii.
10. 4. Ingenuous confession of it, 1 John i.
9. 5. Prayer for deliverance from it, Ps. Ii.
10; Luke xviii. 13. 6. Susceptibility of good
impressions, Ezek. xi. 19.
CONTROVERSY, RELIGIOUS, is good or evil.
according to the principles which it upholds,
the purpose in which it originates, the object
to which it is applied, and the temper with
which it is‘ conducted. If it spring from a
mere spirit of contention ; from desire of vic-
CON
CON
209
tory, not love of truth; or from stubbornness
that will not be brought into captivity to the
obedience of Christ, Christianity will not ac-
knowledge it for her own. If it be employed
on questions unbefitting human disputation;
questions inaccessible to our finite under—
standings, unnecessary or unimportant ’ in
their issue, and only tending to perpetuate
strife, or to unsettle the minds of men, then
it is also unworthy of the Christian character.
Nor is it void of offence when, however sound
its principles, however important its subject,
however irrefragable its argument, it is made
the vehicle of personal malignity; when it is
carried on with a spirit that rends asunder the
social ties, and exasperates, instead of endea-
vouring to soften, the irritable feelings, which,
even in its mildest aspect, it is but too apt to
excite.
But those evil consequences, which flow
from the abuse of controversy, and from
causes by no means necessarily connected
with religious discussion, ought not to deter
us from its proper use, when truth requires
its aid. Controversy is worse than useless if
it have no better end in view than a display
of mental superiority, or the self-gratification
which, to minds of a certain cast, it appears
to afford. For, as in secular disputes, it is
the legitimate end of warfare to produce
peace, so, in religious polemics. the attain-
ment of unanimity ought to be the main ob-
ject. War is waged because peace cannot be
obtained without it. Religious controversy is
maintained because agreement in the truth is
not otherwise to be effected. When this ne-
cessity is laid upon us, we do but acquit our-
selves of an indispensable duty in defending
the charge committed to our care by the use
of those weapons with which the armoury of
the divine word supplies us.-— Van Mildert’s
Bampton Lect. ,
CoNvEN'r. See ABBEY, MONASTERY, MONK.
CONVENTICLE, a diminutive of convent, de-
noting properly a cabal, or secret assembly of
a part of the monks of a convent, to make a
party in the election of an abbot. The term
conventicle is said by some to have been first
applied in England to the schoolsof Wickliffe,
and has been since used in a way of reproach
for those assemblies which dissent from the
established church.
In 1664 what was called the conventicle act
was passed, decreeing that if any person above
sixteen years of age was present at any meet-
mg for worship, different from the Church of
England, where there should be five persons
more than the household, they should, for the
first ofl‘ence, suffer three months’ imprison-
ment,_or pay 51. ; for the second, the punish-
ment is doubled; and for the third, they were
to be banished to America, or pay 1001., and
if they returned, to suffer death. This act
hflvlng expired, it was revived in 1669, for by
22 Car. II. cap. 1, it is enacted, that if any
persons of the age of sixteen years, subjects of
this kingdom, shall be present at any-conven-
ticle where there are five or more assembled,
they shall be fined 5s. for the first offence, and
10s. for the second; and persons preaching
incur a penalty of 201. Also suffering a meet-
ing to be held in a house is 201. penalty : jus-
tices of peace have power to enter such houses,
and seize persons assembled; and if they neg—
lect their duty, they forfeit 1001. ; and 'fi' any
constable, &e., know of such proceedings, and
do not inform a justice of the peace or chief
magistrate, he shall forfeit 51. But the 1st of
William and Mary, cap. 18, ordains that Pro-
testant dissenters shall be exempted from these
penalties; though if they meet in a house
with the doors locked, barred, or bolted, such
dissenters shall have no benefit from the lst
of William and Mary. Oflicers of the govern-
ment, &c., present at any eonventicle at which
there shall be ten persons, if the royal family
be not prayed for in express words, shall for-
feit 401., and be disabled. Stat. 10 Anne,
cap. 2.
CONVERSION, a change which consists in
the renovation of the heart and life, or a turn-
ing from the power of sin and Satan unto
God, Acts xxvi. 18, and is produced by the
influence of Divine grace on the soul. Some-
times it is put for restoration, as in the case of
Peter, Luke xxii. 32. The instrumental cause
of conversion is usually the ministry of the
word; though sometimes it is produced by
reading, by serious and appropriate conversa-
tion, sanctified afflictions, 8:0. “ Conversion,”
says the. great Charnock, “is to be distin-
guished from regeneration thus z—Regenera-
tion is a spiritual change ; conversion is a
spiritual motion; in regeneration there is a
power conferred; conversion is the exercise
of this power; in regeneration there is given
us a principle to turn; conversion is our
actual turning. In the covenant, God’s put-
ting his Spirit into us is distinguished from
our walking in his statutes from the first step
we take in the way of God, and is set down
as the cause of our motion. Ezek. xxxvi. 27.
In renewing us, God gives us a power; in
converting us, he excites that power. Men
are naturally dead, and have a stone upon
them: regeneration is a rolling away the
stone from the heart, and a raising to new-
ness of life; and then conversion is as natural
to a regenerate man as motion is to a lively
body. A principle of activity will produce
action. In regeneration man is wholly pas-
sive; in conversion he is active. The first
reviving us is wholly the act of God, without
any concurrence of the creature: but after
we are revived we do actively and voluntarily
hve in his sight. Regeneration is the motion
of God in the creature; conversion is the
motion of the creature to God, by virtue of
that first principle: from this principle all
the acts of believing, repenting, mortifying,
r
ICON
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210
quickening, do spring. In all these a man is
active; in the other he is merely passive.”
Conversion evidences itself b ardent love to
God, Ps. lxxiii. 25; delight in is people, John
xiii. 35; attendance on his ordinances, Ps.
xxvii. 4; confidence in his promises, Ps. ix.
10; abhorrence of self, and renunciation of
the world, Job xliii. 5; James iv. 4; sub-
mission to his authority, and uniform obedi-
ence to his word, Matt. 20. See CALLING,
REGENERATION.
CONVERT, a person who is converted. In
a monastic sense, converts are lay friars, or
brothers admitted for the service of the house,
without orders, and not allowed to sing in
the choir.
CoNvrcTIoN, in general, is the assurance
of the truth of any proposition. In a reli-
gious sense, it is the first degree of repent-
ance, and implies an afi'ecting sense that we
are guilty before God: that we can do no-
thing of ourselves to gain his forfeited favour;
that we deserve and are exposed to the wrath
of God; that sin is very odious and hateful,
yea, the greatest of evils. There is a natural
conviction which arises from natural con-y
science, fear of punishment, moral suasion, f
or alarming providences, but which is not of '
a permanent nature.
a work of the Spirit, as the cause; though
the law, the conscience, the Gospel, or afiiic-
tion, may be the means. John xvi. 8, 9.
Convictions of sin differ very much in their
degree in different persons. It has been ob-
served that those who suffer the most ago-
nizing sensations are such as never before
Saving conviction is'
enjoyed the external call of the Gospel, orv
were not favoured with the tuition of reli--
gious parents, but have neglected or notori-
ously abused the means of grace. To these
conviction is often sudden, and produces that ,
horror and shame which are not soon over-
come ; whereas those who have sat under the
Gospel from their infancy have not had such
alarming convictions, because they have al-
ready some notion of these things, and have
so much acquaintance with the Gospel as
administers immediate comfort. As it is not,
therefore, the constant method of the Spirit
to convince in one way, it is improper for
any to distress themselves because they are
not, or have not been tormented almost to
despair: they should be rather thankful that
the Spirit of God has dealt tenderly with
them, and opened to them the source of con-
solation. It is necessary however to observe,
that, in order to repentance and conversion
to God, there must be real and lasting con-
viction, which, though it may not be the
same in degree, is the same in nature. Evan- _
gelical conviction differs from legal convic-
tion thus: legal arises from a consideration
of God’s justice, power, or omniscience;
evangelical from God’s goodness and holiness,
and from a disafi‘ection to sin: legal convic-

tion still conceits there is some remaining
good; but evangelical is sensible there is no’
good at all: legal wishes freedom from pain ;
evangelical from sin: legal hardens the heart;
evangelical softens it: legal is only tempor-
ary; evangelical lasting.
CONVOCATION, an assembly of persons for
the worship of God. Lev. xxiii. Numb.
xxviii. Exod. xii. 16. An assembly of the
clergy for consultation upon matters eccle-
siastical.
As the parliament consists of two distinct
houses, so does this convocation. The one
called the upper house, where the archbishops
and bishops sit severally by themselves; the
other, the lower house, where all the rest of
the clergy are represented by their deputies.
The inferior clergy are represented by their
proctors, consisting of all the deans and arch-
deacons; of one proctor for every chapter,
and two for the clergy, of every diocese—in
all, one hundred and forty-three divines, viz.
twenty-two deans, fifty-three archdeacons,
twenty-four prebendaries, and forty-four
proctors of the diocesan clergy. The lower
house chooses its prolocutor, who is to take
care that the members attend, to collect their
debates and votes, and to carry their resolu-
tions to the upper house. The convocation
is summoned by the king’s writ, directed to
the archbishop of each province, requiring
him to summon all bishops, deans, archdea—
cons, &c.
limited by a statute of Henry VIII. They
are not to make any canons, or ecclesiastical
laws, without the king’s licence; nor, when
permitted, can they put them in execution
but under several restrictions—They have
the examining and censuring all heretical
and schismatical books and persons, &c. ; but
there lies an appeal to the king in chancery,
or to his delegates. The clergy in convoca-
tion, and their servants, have the same pri-
vileges as members of parliament.
the convocation of the clergy gave up the
privilege of taxing themselves to the House
of Commons, in consideration of their being
allowed to vote at the election of members
for that house. Since that period they have
been seldom allowed to do any business: and
are generally prorogued from time to time
till dissolved, a new convocation being gener-
ally called along with a new parliament.
CoNvULsIoNIs'rs, a term originally applied
to such persons as were the subjects of con-
vulsive fits, of which they were said to be
cured by visiting the tomb of the Abbé Paris,
a celebrated zealot among the Jansen-ists;
and afterwards given to those in France
whose fanaticism or imposture caused them
to work themselves up into the strangest agi-
tations and convulsions, during which they-
received wonderful visions and revelations,
and abandoned themselves to the most extra-
vagant antics that ever were exhibited by
The power of the convocation is r
In 1665, _
COP
COR
211
idiot or madman. They threw themselves
into the most violent --'contortions of body,
rolled about on the ground, imitated birds,
beasts, and fishes, and at last when they had
completely spent themselves, went ofi‘ in a
swoon. The greater number were of the
female sex, who, like the dervishes, spun
themselves round on one heel, and frequently
presented themselves to the spectators in very
indecent attitudes. Pinault, an advocate, who
belonged to the convulsionists, maintained
that God had sent him a peculiar kind of fits
by which to humble his pride. During these
fits, he always barked like a dog. Though
it is now more than a century since these
disgusting scenes first came into notice in
France, they have more or less continued till
the present time. It is seldom, indeed, that
they have been exhibited in Paris since the
middle of last century; but in country places,
such as Forez, Pontoise, &c., they occasion-
ally occur, when the cunning priests know
how to make them tell on the credulity of the
vulgar, and thus render them subservient to
the interests of Roman superstition.
CoP'rI, a name given to the natives ofv
Egypt belonging to the Jacobite or Mono-
physite sect, and is a term of Arabic forma-
tion, manifestly a corruption of the Greek
At’yvwrog. The J acobites, who were of pure
Egyptian blood, and far more numerous than
their adversaries, the Melkites (Greeks in
faith as well as in origin), having been perse-
cuted as heretics by the Greek emperor, were
willing to submit to the arms of Amru-Ibn-
el-aas, the Arabian commander, who granted
to them immunities which they had not pre-
viously possessed, and protected their church
from the encroachments of the Constantino-
politan see. But the Copts soon found that
their privileges would be of little avail under
oppressive or fanatical princes. Their wealth,
numbers, and respectability rapidly declined;
and, though rarely intermarrying with their
conquerors, and preserving their features,
manners, and religion unaltered, they soon
lost their language, which had resisted the
influence of a Grecian court for so many
ages. Though studied and used as a learned
language till the present time, it appears to
have been little or at all spoken as early as
the tenth century.
In person and features, the Copts difi‘er
much from the other natives of Egypt, and
- are evidently a distinct race—an intermediate
_ in the chain which connects the negro
with the fairer tribes to the north and south
of the tropics, strongly resembling the Abys-
smlans, who, though extremely dark, are
much paler than the genuine negroes. Dark
eyes, aquihne noses, and curled hair, are the
usual characteristics of both nations; and the
mummies which have been examined show
the resemblance of the modern Copts to their
ancestors. At the highest calculation, they
do not at present amount to more than be-
tween 400,000 and 500,000 souls. They
have good capacities, and generally have
the Turkish taxes, finances, &c., in their
hands.
The Copts have a patriarch, who resides
at Cairo; but he takes his title from Alex-
andria. He has no archbishop under him,
but eleven or twelve bishops. The rest of
the clergy, whether secular or regular, are
composed of the orders of St. Anthony, St.
Paul, St. Macarius, who have each their
monasteries. Besides the orders of priests,
deacons, and subdeacons, the Copts have like-
wise archimandrites, or abbots, the dignity
whereof they confer with all the prayers and
ceremonies of a strict ordination. By a custom
of six hundred years’ standing, if a priest
elected bishop be not already archimandrite,
that dignity must be conferred on him before
episcopal ordination. The second person
among the clergy, after the patriarch, is the
titular patriarch of Jerusalem, who also re-
sides at Cairo. To him belongs the govern-
ment of the Coptic Church during the vacancy
of the patriarchal see. To be elected patri-
arch, it is necessary the person have lived
all his life in continence. To be elected
bishop, the person must be in the celibate; or,
if he have been married, it must not be above
once. The priests and inferior ministers are
allowed to be married before ordination; but
not forced to it, as some have observed.
They have a great number of deacons, and
even confer the dignity frequently on their
children.‘ None but the lowest rank among
the people commence ecclesiastics, whence
arises that excessive ignorance found among
them; yet the respect of the laity towards
the clergy is very extraordinary. The mo-
nastic life is in great esteem among them:
to be admitted into it, there is always re-
quired the consent of the bishop. The reli-
gious Copts, it is said, make a vow of per-
petual chastity; renounce the world, and live
with great austerity in deserts; they are ob-
liged to sleep in their clothes and their girdle,
on a mat stretched on the ground; and to
prostrate‘themselves every evening one hun-
dred and fifty times with their face and
breast on the ground. They are all, both
men and women, of the lowest class of the
people, and live on aims. The nunneries are
properly hospitals, and few enter but widows
reduced to beggary. .
Cor'rro VERSION. See BIBLE, Vnasrons.
CORBAN, in Jewish antiquity, were those
offerings which had life; in opposition to the
minchah, or those which had not. It is de-
rived from the word Izarab, which signifies
“ to approach ;” because the victims were
brought to the door of the tabernacle. The
corban were always looked upon as the most
sacred offerings. The Jews are reproached
with defeating, by means of the corban, the
con
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212
precept of the fifth commandment, which
enjoins the respect due to parents; for when
a child had no mind to relieve the wants of
his father or mother, he would say to them
-—“ It is a gift (corban) by whatsoever thou
mightest be profited by me ;” z‘. e. “I have
devoted that to God which you ask of me,
‘ and it is no longer mine to give.” Mark vii. 11.
CoRDELIEn, a Franciscan, or religious of
the order of St. Francis. The denomination
cordelier is said to have been given in the
war of St. Lewis against the infidels, wherein
the friars minor having repulsed the barbarians,
and that king having inquired their name, it
was answered they were people cordclz'ez,
“tied with ropes ;” alluding to the girdle of
rope or cord, tied with three knots, which
they wore as part of their habit.
CORDICOLES, a society of Roman Catholic
devotees that profess to worship “the sacred
heart of Jesus, and that of Mary, his Virgin
Mother.” They abound in Naples, Italy,
Spain, and Sardinia.
CORNARISTS, the disciples of Theodore
Cornhert, an enthusiastic secretary of the
States of Holland. He wrote, at the same
time, against the Catholics, Lutherans, and
Calvinists. He maintained that every reli—
.gious communion needed reformation; but
he added, that no person had a right to engage
in accomplishing it without a mission sup-
ported by miracles. He was also of opinion,
that a person might be a good Christian
without being a member of any visible
church.
Conrus CImIsTI, FEAST or; a particular
festival instituted in the Roman Church, in
honour of the consecrated host, and with a
“view to its adoration. It owes its origin to
the vision of a nun of Liege, named Juliana,
in 1230, who, while looking at the full moon,
saw-a gap in its orb; and, by a peculiar re-
velation from heaven, learned that the moon
represented the Christian Church, and the
gap the want of a certain festival,-—that of
the adoration of the body of Christ in the
consecrated .host,-—which she was to begin to
‘celebrate, and announce to the world. In
@1264, while a priest at Bolsena, who did not
believe in the change of the bread into the
:body of Christ, was going through the cere-
mony of benediction, drops of blood fell on
his surplice; and, when he endeavoured to
conceal them in the folds of his garment,
formed bloody images of the host. The
.bloody surplice is still .shown as a relic at
Civita Vecchia. Urban IV. published, in the
same year, a bull, in which he appointed the
Thursday of the week after Pentecost for
the celebration of the Corpus Christi feast
throughout Christendom, and promised ab-
solution for a period of from forty to one
‘hundred days to the penitent who took part
in it. Since then, the festival has been kept
as one of the greatest in the Roman Catholic
Church. Splendid processions form an es-
sential part of it. The children belonging
to the choir, with flags, and the priests, with
lighted tapers, move through the streets in
front of the priest, who carries the host in a
precious box, where it can be seen, under a
canopy held by four laymen of rank. A
crowd of the common people closes the pro~
cession. In Spain, it is customary for persons
of distinction to send their children, dressed
as angels, to join the procession; the different
fraternities carry their patron saints before
the host; astonishment and awe are produced,
as well as feelings of superstitious devotion,
by the splendour and magnificence of the
procession, by the brilliant appearance of
the streamers, by the clouds of smoke from
the incense, and the solemn sound of the
music. The festival is also a general holiday,
in which bull fights, games, dances, and other
amusements are not wanting. In Sicily, all the
liberties of a masquerade are allowed, and pas-
sages from Scripture history are theatrically
exhibited in the streets. The whole people are
in a state of the utmost excitement, and riot
in the gratification of their carnal passions
under the sanction of religious license.
CORRUPTICOLZE, see APHTHARTODOCITES.
CosMoeoNY (from the Greek xoaaog, the
world, and yovog, generation), according to
its etymology, should be defined—the origin
of the world; but the term has become, to a
great degree, associated with the numerous
theories of different nations and individuals
respecting this event. These hypotheses may
be divided into three classes :—
1. That which represents the world as
eternal in form as well as substance. Ocellus
Lucanus is one of the most ancient philo-
sophers who supposed the world to have
existed from eternity. Aristotle appears to
have embraced the same doctrine. His theory
is, that not only the heaven and earth, but
also animate and inanimate beings in general,
were without beginning. His opinion rested
on the belief, that the universe was necessarily
the eternal effect of a cause equally eternal,
such as the Divine Spirit, which, being at
once power and action, could not remain idle.
Yet he admitted that a spiritual substance was
the cause of the universe, of its motion, and
its form. He‘ says positively in his Meta-
physics, that God is an intelligent spirit
(wove), incorporeal, immovable, indivisible,
the mover of all things. According to him,
the universe is less a creation than an emana-
tion of the Deity. Plato says the universe
is an eternal image of the immutable Idea or
Type, united, from eternity, with changeable
matter. The followers of this philosopher
both developed and distorted this idea. Am-
monius, a disciple of Proclus, taught, in the
sixth century, at Alexandria, the co-eternity
of God and the universe. Several ancient
philosophers (as also moderns) have gone
COS
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213
further, and taught that the universe is one
with Deity. Of this opinion were Xenophanes,
Parmenides, Melissus, Zeno of Elea, and the
Megaric sect.
2. The theory which considers the matter
. of the universe eternal, but not its form, was
[the prevailing one among the ancients, who,
starting from the principle that out of nothing
nothing could be made, could not admit the
creation of matter, yet did not believe that
the world had always been in its present
state. The prior state of the world, subject
to a constant succession of uncertain move-
ments, which chance afterwards made regular,
they called chaos. The Phaanicians, Baby-
lonians, and also the Egyptians, seem to have
adhered to this theory. The ancient poets,
who have handed down to us the old mytho-
logical traditions, represent the universe as
springing from chaos without the assistance
of the Deity. Hesiod feigns that Chaos was
the parent of Erebus and Night, from whose
union sprang the Air (AZQnp) and the Day.
He further relates how the sky and the stars
were- separated from the earth, &c. The
system of atoms is much more famous. Leu-
cippus and Democritus of Abdera were its
inventors. The atoms, or indivisible particles,
said they, existed from eternity, moving at
hazard, and producing, by their constant
meeting, a variety of substances. After
having given rise to an immense variety of
combinations, they produced the present or-
ganization of bodies. This system of cos-
mogony was that of Epicurus, as described
by Lucretius. Democritus attributed to
atoms form and size; Epicurns added weight.
Many other systems have existed which must
be classed under this division. We only
mention that of the Stoics, who admitted two
principles, God and matter,-—in the abstract
both corporeal, for they did not admit spi—
ritual beings. The first was active, the second
passive.
3. The third theory of cosmogony makes
God the creator of the world out of nothing.
This is the doctrine of the sacred Scriptures,
in which it is taught with the greatest sim-
plicity and beauty. From its being more or
less held by the Etruscans, Magi, Druids, and
Bramins, it would seem to have found its way
as a tradition from the regions in which it
was possessed as a divine revelation. Anaxa-
goras was the first who taught it among the
Greeks ; a .d it was generally adopted by the
Romans, notwithstanding the efforts of Lu-
cretius to establish the doctrine of Epicurus.
“ The free-thinkers of our own and of former
ages have denied the possibility of creation,
as being a contradiction to reason; and of
consequence have taken the opportunity from
thence to discredit revelation. On the other
hand, many defenders of the sacred writings
have asserted that creation out of nothing, so .
far from being a contradiction to reason, is
not only probable, but demonstrably certain.
Nay, some have gone so far as to say, that
from the very inspection of the visible system
of Nature, we are able to infer that it was
once in a state of non-existence.” We cannot,
however, here enter into the inultiplicity of
the arguments on both sides ; it is enough for
us to know what God has been pleased to
reveal, both concerning himself and the works
of his hands. Men, and other animals that
inhabit the earth and the seas; all the im-
mense varieties of herbs and plants of which
the vegetable kingdom consists; the globe
of the earth; and the expanse of the ocean,
these we know to have been produced by his
power. Besides the terrestrial world, which
we inhabit, we see many other material bodies
disposed around it in the wide extent of space.
The moon, which is in a particular manner
connected with our earth, and even dependent
upon it; the sun and the other planets, with
their satellites, which, like the earth, circulate
round the sun, and appear to derive from him
light and heat; those bodies which we call
fixed stars, and consider as illuminating and
cherishing with heat each its peculiar system
of planets; and the comets which, at certain
periods, surprise us with their appearance,
and the nature of whose connexion with the
general system of Nature, or with any par-
ticular system of planets, we cannot pretend
to have fully discovered; these are so many
more of the Deity’s works, from the contem-
plation of which we cannot but conceive the
most awful ideas of his creative power.
“ Matter, however, whatever the varieties
of form under which it is made to appear, the
relative disposition of its parts, or the motions
communicated to it, is but an inferior part of
the works of creation. We believe ourselves
to be animated with a much higher principle
than brute matter; in viewing the manners
and economy of the lower animals, we can
scarce avoid acknowledging even them to
consist of something more than various modi-
fications of matter and motion. The other
planetary bodies, which seem to be in circum-
stances nearly analogous to those of our earth.
are surely, as well as it, destined for the habi-
tations of rational, intelligent beings. The
existence of intelligences of an higher order
than man, though infinitely below the Deity.
appears extremely probable. Of these spirit-
ual beings, called angels, we have express in-
timation in Scripture (see the article ANGEL.)
But the limits of the creation we must not
pretend to define. How far the regions of
space extend, or how they are filled, WC
know not. How the planetary worlds, the
sun, and the fixed stars are occupied, we do
not pretend to have ascertained. \Ve are
even ignorant how wide a diversity of forms,
what an infinity of living animated beings
may inhabit our own globe. So confined is
_ our knowledge of creation, yet so grand,_so_
COS
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214
awful, that part which our narrow under-
standings can comprehend.
“ Concerning the periods of time at which
the Deity executed his several works, it can-
not be pretended that mankind have had
opportunities of receiving very particular in-
formation. Many have been the conjectures,
and curious the fancies of learned men, re-
specting it; but, after all, we must be indebted
to the sacred writings for the best informa-
tion.” Different copies, indeed, give difi‘erent
dates. The Hebrew copy of the Bible, which
we Christians, for good reasons, consider as
the most authentic, dates the creation of the
world 3944 years before the Christian era.
The Samaritan Bible, again, fixes the era of
the creation ‘4305 years before the birth of
Christ. And the Greek translation, known
by the name of the Septuagint version of the
Bible, gives 5270 as the number of the years
which intervened between these two periods.
By comparing the various dates in the sacred
writings, examining how these have come to
disagree, and to be diversified in different
copies; endeavouring to reconcile the most
authentic profane with sacred chronology,
some ingenious men have formed schemes of
chronology, plausible, indeed, but not support-
ed by sufiicient authorities, which they would
gladly persuade us to receive in preference to
any of those above mentioned. Usher makes
out from the Hebrew Bible 4004 years as the
term between the creation and the birth of
Christ. Josephus, according to Dr. Wills and
Mr. Whiston, makes it 4658 years; and M.
Pezron, with the help of the Septuagint, ex-
tends it to 5872 years. Usher’s system is the
most generally received. But though these
different systems of chronology are so incon-
sistent, and so slenderly supported, yet the
differences among them are so inconsiderable
in comparison with those which arise before
us when we contemplate the chronology of
the Chinese, the Chaldeans, and the Egyp-
tians, and they agree so well with the general
information of authentic history, and with
the appearances Of nature and of society,
that they may be considered as nearly fixing
the true period of the creation of the earth.
Uncertain, however, as we may be as to the
exact time of the creation, we ‘may profitably
apply ourselves to the contemplation of this
immense fabric. Indeed, the beautiful and
multiform works around us must strike the
mind of every beholder with wonder and
admiration, unless he be enveloped in igno-
rance, and chained down to the earth with
sensuality. These works every way proclaim
the wisdom, the power, and the goodness of
the Creator. Creation is a book which the
nicest philosopher may study with the deepest
attention. Unlike the works of art, the more
it is examined, the more it opens to us sources
of admiration of its great Author; the more
it calls for our inspection, and the more It
demands our praise. Here every thing is
adjusted in the exactest order; all answering
the wisest ends, and acting according to the
appointed laws of Deity. Here the Christian
is led into the most delightful field of con-
templation. To him, every pebble becomes a
preacher, and every atom a step by which he
ascends to his Creator. Placed in this beau-
tiful temple, and looking around on all its
various parts, he cannot help joining with the
Psalmist in saying, “ O Lord, how manifold
are thy works; in wisdom hast thou made
them all!” See ETERNITY of God.
See Ray and Blachmore on the Creation;
art. CREATION, Enc. Brit.,- Derham’s Astro
and .Physz'co- Theology; Herveg’s Meditations;
La Pluche’s Nature Displayed; Sturm’s Re-
flections 0n the Works of God.
COUNCIL, an assembly of ecclesiastical per-
sons met together for the purpose of consult-
ation on ecclesiastical matters.
COUNCIL, Ecumenical or General, is an
assembly which has been supposed to repre-
sent the whole body of the Christian church.
It is obvious, however, that there is room for
considerable diversity of opinion as to what
constitutes a general council in the ecclesias-
tical sense of the expression; and it is no
less clear that, in the proper sense of the
phrase, such a council has never been held.
The Romanists reckon eighteen of them,
Bullinger six, Dr. Prideaux seven, and Bishop
Beveridge eight, which, he says, are all the
general councils which have ever been held
since the time of the first Christian emperor.
Adopting the number contended for by the
Romish writers, they must be all divided into
two classes, Eastern and Western; the former
called by the emperors, the latter by the
popes. The following is the Order :—
EIGHT EASTERN CoUNcILs.
1. At Nice, in Bithynia, in the year 325,
which sat about two months, and was occa-
sioned by the Arian heresy. Authors difi‘er
respecting the number of bishops that were
'assembled; Eusebius saying there were two
hundred and fifty, and Socrates that there
were three hundred and eighteen. The em-
peror himself honoured it with his presence ;
Hosius, Bishop of Cordova, in Spain—a man
of great piety and learning—presided. It
was at this council that the term tiuoovmog,
of the some substance, was applied to the Son,
to express the identity of his nature with that
of the Father. The profession of the faith,
called the Nicene Creed, was then drawn up,
and subscribed by all, except a small number
Of Arians.
2. Constantinople, (I.,) in 381, convened by
the Emperor Theodosius, in order to oppose
the heresies of Sabellius, Marcellus, Photinus, _
and Apollinaris, which were still more or less
priyately taught; and to settle still more de-
finitely some points of the. Nicene Creed
COU
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215
dency of Pope Innocent II.
against the Arians, especially by making ad-
ditions declaratory of belief in the divinity of
the Holy Spirit. At this council, a hundred
and fifty prelates were present.
3. Ephesus, 431, consisting of two hundred
bishops assembled to judge of the Nestorian
heresy, which they condemned by a solemn
sentence, confirmatory of the sentence pro-
nounced against N estorius, the year before,
by Pope Celestine I., in a synod held at Rome.
4. Chalcedon, 451, composed, according to
some, of six hundred, and, according to
others, of six hundred and fifty bishops. It
condemned the errors of Eutychus, who af-
firmed that there was but one nature in Christ.
5. Constantinople, (II.,) in 553, convoked
by Justinian, and consisting of a hundred
and sixty-five bishops. Its principal trans-
action was the condemnation of what is called
the “Three Chapters,” by which is meant
the writings of Theodore of Mopsuesta, The-
odoret of Cyr, and the Epistle of Ibas to
Maris the Persian. It also issued an ana-
thema against Origen, Arius, Macedonius,
and others.
6. Constantinople, (III.,) in 680, consisting
of somewhere about two hundred prelates,
renewed the condemnation of the Monothelite
heresy, which asserted that there was only
one will in Christ; a sentence which had
been pronounced against its abettors, in a
council held at Rome the preceding year.
7. Moe, 787. This council, commonly
called the Second Nicene, assembled at Con-
stantinople the year before, but was so dis-
turbed by the violence of the Iconoclasts,
that the members were obliged to adjourn
and meet elsewhere. There were present
three hundred and fifty bishops, besides many
monks and priests, who came to the con-
clusion, on the subject of image-worship, that
it was relatively lawful; the effect of which
was its confirmation and prevalence.
8. Constantinople, (IV.,) in 869; the prin-
cipal business of which was the deposition of
Photius, who had intruded into the see of
Constantinople, and the restoration of Igna-
tius, who had been unjustly expelled.
TEN WESTERN COUNCILS.
1. Lateran, (I.,) in the year 1123. It was
convened by Pope Calixtus II., who presided
in person, and consisted of three hundred
bishops. It decreed that investiture to eccle-
siastical dignities was the exclusive right of
the church; and that the practice of secular
princes giving such investiture was an usurp-
ation. The celibacy of the clergy was also
decreed.
2. Lateran, (II.,) in 1139, composed of
nearly a thousand bishops, under the presi~
_ It decided on
the due election of this pope, and condemned
the errors of Peter de Bruys, and Arnold of
Brescia.
3. Lateran, (III.,) in 1179. At this coun-
cil, with Pope Alexander III. at their head,
three hundred and two bishops condemned
what they were pleased to call the “errors
and impieties” of the Waldenses and Albi-
genses.
4. Lateran, (IV.,) in 1215, composed of
four hundred and twelve bishops, under {In-
nocent 111., had for its objects the recovery
of the Holy Land, reformation of abuses, and:
the extirpation of heresy.
5. Lyons, (L) in 1245, consisting of a
hundred and forty bishops, and convened for
the purpose of promoting the crusades, re-
storing ecclesiastical discipline, and dethron-
ing Frederick IL, Emperor of Germany. It
was also decreed at this coimcil that cardinals
should wear red hats.
6. Lyons, (IL,) in 1274. There were five
hundred bishops and about a thousand inferior
clergy present. Its principal object was the
re-union of the Greek and Latin Churches.
7. Vz'enne, in Gaul, 1311, consisting of
three hundred bishops, who'were convoked
to suppress the Knights Templars; condemn
those who were accused of heresy, and assist
the Christians in Palestine.
8. Florence, 1439—42. It was composed
of one hundred and forty-one bishops, the
patriarch of Constantinople, and the legates
of the patriarchs of Alexandria, Antioch, and
Jerusalem. It effected a renunciation of
schism on the part of the Greeks, and an
abjuration of heresy on the part of the Ar-
menians.
9. Lateran, (V.,) in 1512, convened by
Pope Julius IL, to oppose another held by
nine cardinals of high rank the year before
at Piza, with a view to bridle his wild ani-
mosity, turbulence, and contumacy. It de—
clared that council schismatic, abolished the
pragmatic sanction, and strengthened the
power of the Roman See.
10. Trent, convoked and opened by Paul
III. in 1545; continued under Julius III.,
and, after numerous interruptions, brought to
a close in 1563, under the pontificate of Pius
IV. Its object was professedly to reform
ecclesiastical abuses, but really to counteract
and crush the reformation. It arrived at the
following conclusions, which we're enacted
under the pain of anathema :—
[1.] All the books of Scripture, canonical
and apocryphal, not excluding that of Baruch,
though wanting in the old catalogues, which
are contained in the Latin church version,
commonly called the Vulgate, are possessed
of the same divine authority.
[2.] Tradition, whether it regards matters
of faith or practice, must be received with
the same veneration, forasmuch as it is the
unwritten word of God.‘ _
[3.] The Holy Scriptures are only to be
read and interpreted in and according to the
Vulgate, which is the only authentic version.
COU
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216
‘denominated transubstantiation.
[4.] No person shall presume, in reliance
on his own insight and wisdom, to pervert
the Holy Scriptures, to make them favour his
views of faith and morals, and contrary to
the sense which the church has received, and
still receives, which alone can determine what
is the true meaning and interpretation ; or to
explain them contrary to the universal con-
sent of the Fathers.
[5.] Faith is the commencement, founda-
tion, and root of justification, but not alto-
gether exclusive of good works; for persons
who are j ustified increase in the righteousness
which they acquire through Christ, by means
of their observance of the commandments of
God, and the rules of the church. Justifi-
cation does not consist merely in the for-
giveness of sins, but also in the renovation
and sanctification of the inner man through
grace.
[6.] In the sacrament of the Lord’s Sup-
per, after the consecration of the bread and
wine, the God-man, Jesus Christ, is really
and substantially present under the form of
bread and wine, which contains no contra-
diction; for though, in accordance with his
natural existence, he is always in heaven, yet
sacramentaliter he is present in many other
places in regard to his substance. The other
sacraments have only the virtue of sanctifi-
cation when they are used; but that of the
Lord’s Supper possesses it previous to the
use; for the apostles had not yet received the
supper from the hands of the Lord Jesus
Christ, when he assured them, that it was his
body that he communicated to them; and it
has always been the faith of the church, that
immediately on the consecration, the true
body and the true blood of our Lord Jesus
Christ are together with his soul and his di-
vine nature present under the form of the
breadand wine. This takes place in virtue
of that natural union and concomitancy ac-
cording to which the flesh and blood of our
risen Lord are constantly united, so that
under either of the forms as much is con-
tained as, under both. By the consecration
of the bread and wine, a conversion of the
Substance of both into the substance of the
body and blood of Christ is effected; which
conversion the church hath very properly
It is on this
'account that the bread and wine are to have
(latrz'cc cultus) divine worship paid to them.
On the subject of the General Councils,
see L’Abbé Baronius, Nat. Alexander, Berti,
F leury, Du Pin, Mosheim, J ortin, and Grier.
Whatever may be said in favour of general
councils, their utility has been doubted by
some of the wisest men. Dr. Jortin says,
“they have been too much extolled by Pa-
pists, and by some Protestants. They were
a collection of men who were frail and falli-
ble. Some of those councils were not assem-
blies of pious and learned divines, but cabals,
the majority of which were quarrelsome, fa-
natical, domineering, dishonest prelates, who
wanted to compel men to approve all their
opinions, of which they themselves had no
clear conceptions, and to anathematize and
oppress those who would not implicitl sub-
mit to their determinations.”—Jortin’s orks,
vol. vii., charge 2.
COUNCILS, Provincial or Occasional, have
been numerous. At Aix 1a Chapelle, A.D.
816, a council was held for regulating the
canons of cathedral ‘churches. The council
of Savonnieries, in 859, was the first which
gave the title of Most Christian King to the
King of France; but it did not become the pe-
culiar appellation of that sovereign till 1469.
Of Troyes, in 887, to decide the disputes
about the imperial dignity. The second
council of Troyes, 1107, restrains the clergy
from marrying. The council of Clermont,
in 1095. The first crusade was determined
in this council. The bishops had yet the
precedency of cardinals. In this assembly
the name of Pope was for the first time
given to the head of the church, exclusively
of the bishops, who used to assume that title.
Here also, Hugh, archbishop of Lyons, ob-
tained of the Pope a confirmation of the
primacy of his see over that of Sens. The
council of Rheims, summoned by Eugenius
III. in 1148, called an assembly of Cisastrian
Gaul, in which advowses, or patrons of
churches, are prohibited from taking more
than ancient fees, upon pain of deprivation
and ecclesiastical burial. Bishops, deacons,
sub-deacons, monks, and nuns, are restrained
from marrying. In this council the doctrine
of the Trinity was decided; but upon sepa-
ration the Pope called a congregation, In
which the cardinals pretended they had no
right to judge of doctrinal points; that this
was the privilege peculiar to the Pope. The
council of Sutrium, in 1046, wherein three
popes who had assumed the chair were de-
posed. The council of Clarendon in Eng-
land, against Becket, held in 1164. The
council of Lombez, in the country of Albi-
geois, in 1200, occasioned by some distur-
bances on account of the Albigenses; a cru-
sade was formed on this account, and an
army sent to extirpate them. Innocent III.
spirited up this barbarous war. Dominic was
the apostle, the Count of Toulouse the victim,
and Simon, Countof Montfort, the conductor
or chief. The council of Paris in 1210, in
which Aristotle’s metaphysics were con-
demned to the flames, lest the refinements of
that philosopher should have a bad tendency
on men’s minds, by applying these subjects
to religion. The council of Piza, begun
March the 2d, 1409, in which Benedict XIII.
and Gregory XII. were deposed. Another
council, sometimes called general, held at‘
Piza in 1505. Lewis XII. of France, assem-
bled a national council at Tours (being highly
COU
GOV
21.7
present the cardinal De Gurce, deputed by
the emperor; and it was then agreed to con-
vene a general council at Pi'za. Murray’s
Hist. Relig. .
COURAGE is that quality of the mind that
enables men to encounter difficulties and dan-
gers. Natural courage is that which arises
chiefly from constitution; moral or spiritual
is that which is produced from principle, or
a'sense of duty. Courage and Fortitude are
often used as synonymous, but they may be
distinguished thus: fortitude is firmness of
mind that supports pain; courage is active
fortitude, that meets dangers, and attempts to
repel them. See FORTITUDE. Courage, says
Addison, that grows from constitution, very
often forsakes aman when he has occasion
for it; and when it is only a kind of instinct
in the soul, it breaks out on all occasions,
without judgment or discretion; but that
courage which arises from a sense of duty,
and from a fear of offending Him that made
us, always acts in a uniform manner, and
according to the dictates of right reason.
COURTS, CHURCH, among the Presbyterians,
those ecclesiastical associations of ministers
and elders, consisting of sessions, presby-
teries, synods, and the general assembly,
which in Scotland are considered as forming
the perfection of church government and dis-
cipline. Each subordinate court takes cogni-
zanee of ecclesiastical matters within its own
bounds; and from each there is an appeal to
that which is above it in order, till the matter
is carried before the General Assembly,
which is the supreme court, and the decision
of which is final.
COURT, SPIRITUAL, a seat of ecclesiastical
judgment for the administration of justice
in ecclesiastical matters. In England there
are six spiritual courts.
1. The Archdeacon’s Court, which is the
lowest, and is held in such places where the
Archdeacon, either by prescription or com-
position, has jurisdiction in spiritual or eccle-
siastical causes within his archdeaconry.
The Judge of this court is called the oflicial
of the archdeaconry. "
. 2. The Consistory Courts of the archbishops
and bishops of every diocese, held in their
cathedral churches, for trial of all ecclesiasti-
cal causes within the diocese. The bishop’s
chancellor or commissary is the judge.
3. The Prerogative Court, held at Doctors’
Commons, in London, in which all testaments
and last wills are proved, and administrations
upon the estates of intestates granted, where
the party dies beyond seas or within his pro—
vince, leaving bona notabilz'a.
4. The Arches Court (so called because
anciently held in the arched church of St.
Mary, in Cheapside, London), is that which
has jurisdiction upon appeal in all ecclesiasti-
cal causes, except what belong to the Prero-
‘ disgusted with the Pope), 1510, where was

gative Court. The judge is the ofiicial prin-
cipal of the archbishop.
5. The Court of Peeuliars, of the Arch-
bishop of Canterbury, subservient to, and in
connexion with, that of the Arches.
6. The Court of Delegates, so called be-
cause the judges are delegated and set in
virtue of the King’s commission, under the
Great Seal, pro hac vice, upon appeals to the
King on ecclesiastical matters.
These courts proceed according to the
civil and canon laws, by citation libel or arti-
cles, answer upon oath, proofs by witnesses
and presumptions, definitive sentence without
a jury, and by excommunication for contempt,
of sentence. In times of intolerance many
acts of the most cruel enormity were com-
mitted in these courts.
COVENANT, in ordinary life, a contract or
agreement between two or more parties on
certain terms. In theology, it is used either
in the scriptural, or in a systematic and po-
pular acceptation.
1. In the Scriptures, when employed to
designate a transaction between God and man,
it uniformly denotes an arrangement, dispo—
sition, or institution, according to which the
divine favour is _ dispensed to those with
whom it is made. It is represented, not as
a contract or bargain, in virtue of which, on
the ground of something done by man, its
blessings are to be communicated; but as a
free and voluntary constitution on the part of
Jehovah, consisting of a deed or grant of
blessings, and the particular mode or tenure
of their conveyance. Besides minor arrange-
ments of this description, the Bible exhibits
two primary covenants or dispensations, Gal.
v. 24—26, which it denominates the first and
second, Heb. viii. 7, and the old and new co-
venants, verse 13. Of these, the first or old
covenantis expressly stated to be that which
God made with the children of Israel, when
he took them to be a peculiar people to him-
self, and is the same that is commonly called
the Mosaic or Sinaitie Covenant, because
given to Moses on Mount Sinai. It was a
covenant of peculiarity, by which the whole
of the Israelites became what no other nation
of this world, before or since, has been—the
peculiar people of God, or a kingdom go-
verned immediately by God, and whose
visible rulers and judges were to have no
legislative power, but were to act merely as
vicegerents of Jehovah, and execute his laws.
The great moral code, which is binding on all
mankind, at all times, and under all circum-
stances, and the specific enactments of which
are only so many expressions of that love to
God and man which is essential to the well-
being of creation, was laid as the basis of
this constitution, and on this account. it is
frequently called the law: regular forms of
divine worship were appointed; a regular
priesthood separated for its performance; and
COV
GOV"
218
the requisite civil and political institutes ‘I or-
dained. The whole, while admirably adapted
to answer every purpose of existing legisla-
tion and government, had a prospective or
prefigurative reference to a future and su—
perior dispensation; or the second and new
covenant, which was instituted by the Lord
Jesus Christ, ratified by the shedding of his
blood, and is the gracious charter or instru-
ment according to which God has revealed
it to be his pleasure to dispense the sovereign
blessings of his mercy to sinners of all nations
under heaven. Between these two dispen-
sations there are several striking and im-
portant points of contrast. The former was
national: the latter does not regard any nation
more than another. The former was typical;
the latter is antitypical. The former was
temporary; the latter is eternal. The former
could only secure the enjoyment of Canaan;
the latter secures the heavenly inheritance.
The former could not bestow justification or
eternal life: this the latter was specially in—
stituted to do. The former did not preserve
from apostasy, or render obedience certain;
the latter does. See Heb. viii. 6—13.
But though the Christian economy may be
termed the second or new covenant, in rela-
tion to the posteriority of its establishment to
that of the first and old covenant, it has
nevertheless a retrospective bearing and in-
fluence, not only on those who lived under
the Mosaic institution, but even to the very
period of the fall; and according to the plan
of its constitution, formed in the divine mind
from eternity, and gradually developed in
promises and figures, sinners who believed
the testimony of God, and confided in his
mercy, were absolved from guilt, and ad-
mitted to the enjoyment of the divine
favour. Gal. 15—17; Rom. iii. 25, 26;
Heb. ix. l5.
2. Besides this view, which the Scriptures
furnish of the covenants, there is another
which has been taken by systematic divines,
though they are not altogether agreed with
respect to it. Some speak of- two, and others
of three covenants. The latter position, which
is most extensivel propagated, holds forth
-—-1. A covenant 0 works, which it is main-
tained was made with Adam on his creation,
in virtue of which he was constituted the
federal head of the human race, and which,
as the law of Nature, was to be binding on
all his posterity. Of this covenant, that made
at Sinai is considered to have been merely a
republication. 2. A covenant of redemption,
or a covenant-engagement entered into by
the Father and the Son from eternity, with a
view to the redemption of the elect, agree- \
ably to which the Father constituted the
Son their Head and Redeemer; and-the Son
voluntarily undertook their redemption, and
became their sponsor or surety. 3. A cove-
nant of grace, which is a compact or agree-p
ment between God and elect sinners, in
which God, on his part, declares his free
good-will concerning eternal salvation, and
every thing relative thereto, freely to be given
to those in covenant, by and for the sake of
the Mediator Christ; and man, on his part,
consenting to that goodness by a sincere faith.
See Witsz'us, Boston, and Strong, on the Cove-
nants ,- and Russel’s Familiar Survey of the
Old and New Covenants.
COVENANT, in ecclesiastical history, de-
notes a contract or convention agreed to by
the Scotch, in the year 1638, for maintaining
their religion free from innovation. In 1581,
the general assembly drew up a confession of
faith, or national covenant, condemning epis-
copal government, which was signed by
James I., and which he enjoined on all his
subjects. It was again subscribed in 1590
and 1596. The subscription was renewed in
1638, and the subscribers engaged by oath to
maintain religion in the same state as it was
in 1580, and to reject all innovations intro-
duced since that time. This oath annexed to
the confession of faith, received the name of
the Covenant.
COVENANT, Solemn League and, a compact
established in the year 1643, which formed a
bond of union between Scotland and Eng-
land. It was sworn and subscribed by many
in both nations, who hereby solemnly abjured
popery and prelacy, and combined together
for their mutual defence against the imposi-
tion of these evils. It was approved by the
parliament and assembly at Westminster, and
ratified by the general assembly of the Kirk
of Scotland, in 1645. King Charles I. dis-
approved of it when he surrendered himself
to the Scotch army, in 1646; but in 1650,
Charles II. declared his approbation both of
this and the national covenant by a solemn
oath; and in August of the same year made
a further declaration at Dunfermline to the
same purpose, which was also renewed at
Scone, in 1651. The League was ratified by
parliament in this year, and subscription to
it required by every member, without which
the constitution of the parliament was de-
clared null and void. It produced a serious
distraction in the subsequent history of that
country, and was voted illegal by parliament
and provision made against it. Encyc. Brit.
COVENANTERS, those who subscribed to
the covenant of 1638. The name is still
usually given in Ireland to the Cameronians,
which see.
COVENANTING, personal, a solemn transac-
tion by which many pious and devoted Chris-
tians have dedicated themselves to the service
of God. Such bonds or covenants, written
and subscribed with their own hands, have
been found among their papers after their
death, and it cannot be denied, that most of
them are exceedingly edifying; but instances
have also been known of persons abusing this
CRE. 2
CRE
19
custom for purposes of superstition and self-
righteousness, and of some who have gone so
far as to write and sign such a document with
their own blood.
COVETOUSNESS, an unreasonable desire after
that we have not, with a dissatisfaction with
what we have. It may further be considered
as consisting in, 1. An anxious carking care
about the things of this world. 2. A rapacity
in getting. 3. Too frequently includes sinis~
ter and illegal ways of obtaining wealth. 4.
A tenaciousness in keeping. It is a vice
which marvellously prevails upon and insinu-
ates into the heart of man, and- for these rea-
sons: it often bears a near resemblance to
virtue; brings with it many plausible rea-
sons; and raises a man to a state of reputa-
tion on account of his riches. “ There can-
not be,” as one observes, “ a more unreason-
able sin than this. It is unjust; only to covet,
is to wish to be unjust. It is cruel; the co-
vetous must harden themselves against a
thousand plaintive voices. It is ungrateful;
such forget their former obligations and their
present supporters. It is foolish; it destroys
reputation, breaks the rest, unfits for the per-
formance of duty, and is a contempt of God
himself : it is unprecedented in all our exam-
ples of virtue mentioned in the Scripture.
One, indeed, spoke unadvisedly with his lips;
another cursed and swore; a third was in a
passion; and a fourth committed adultery;
but which of the saints ever lived in a habit
of covetousness? Lastly, it is idolatry, Col.
iii. 5, the idolatry of the heart; where, as in
a temple, the miserable wretch excludes God,
sets up gold instead of him, and places that
confidence in it which belongs to the Great
Supreme alone.” Let those who live in the
habitual practice of it consider the judgments
that have been inflicted on such characters,
Josh. vii. 21 ; Acts v.; the misery with
which it is attended; the curse such persons
are to society; the denunciations and cautions
respecting it in the Holy Scripture; and
how efl'ectually it bars men from God, from
happiness, and from heaven. Scott’s Essays,
72, 73 ; Sonth’s Serm., vol. iv. ser. 1 ; Robin-
son’s Mor. Exercises, ex. iv. : Saurin’s Semz.,
vol. v. ser. 12; Eng. Trans.
Cnna'rron. See CosMoeoNY.
CnEnnLrrY, the belief of any proposition
without. sufiicient evidence of its truth.
CREED, a form of words in which the arti-
cles of faith are comprehended. It is derived
from the Latin credo (I believe), with which
the apostles’ creed begins. In the Eastern
Church a summary of this sort was called
naGqua (the lesson), because it was learned
by the catechumens; 'ypa¢1) (the writing),
or Icawov (the rule). But the most common
name in the Greek Church was ova/Johan, or
symbol, which term has also passed into the
West. Hence creeds and confessions are com-
monly called symbolic-a1 books.
The most ancient form of creeds is that
which goes under the name of the Apostles’
Creed (see below); besides this, there are
several other ancient forms and scattered
remains of creeds to be met with in the pri-
mitive records of the church; as, 1. The
form of apostolical doctrine collected by Ori-
gen.——2. A fr ent of a creed preserved
by Tertullian.-—3. A remnant of a creed in
the works of Cyprian.——4. A creed composed
by Gregory Thaumaturgus for the use of his
own church—5. The creed of Lucian, the
martyr.-—6. The creed of the apostolical con—
stitutions. Besides these scattered remains
of the ancient creeds, there are extant some
perfect forms, as those of Jerusalem, Cesarea,
Antioch, 82c.
CREED, APos'rLns’, is a formula or sum-
mary of the Christian faith, drawn up, accord-
ing to Rufiinus, by the apostles themselves;
who, during their stay at Jerusalem, soon
after our Lord’s ascension, agreed upon this
creed as a rule of faith. Baronius and others
conjecture that they did not compose it till
the second year of Claudius, a little before
their dispersion; but there are many reasons
which induce us to question whether the
apostles composed any such creed. For, 1.
Neither St. Luke, nor any other writer before
the fifth century, makes any mention of an
assembly of the apostles for composing a
creed—2. The fathers of the first three cen-
turies, in disputing against the heretics, en-
deavour to prove that the doctrine contained
in this creed was the same which the apos-
tles taught; but they never pretend that the
apostles composed it.——3. If the apostles had
made this creed, it would have been the same
in all churches and in all ages; and all authors
would have cited it after the same manner.
But the case is quite otherwise. In the
second and third ages of the church there
were as may creeds as authors; and the same
author sets down the creed after a different
manner in several places of his works; which
is an evidence that there was not, at that
time, any creed reputed to be the apostles’.
In the fourth century, Rufiinus compares
together the three ancient creeds of the
churches of Aquileia, Rome, and the East,
which differ very considerably. Besides,
these creeds differed not only in the terms
and expressions, but even in the articles,
some of which were omitted in one or other
of them ; such as those of the descent into hell,
the communion of the saints, and the l-{fe ever-
lasting. From all which it may be gathered,
that though this creed may be said to be that
of the apostles, in regard to the doctrines
contained therein, yet it cannot be referred
to them as the authors of it. Its great anti-
quity, however, may be inferred from hence,
that the whole form, as it now stands in the
English liturgy, is to be found in the works
of Ambrose and 'Rufiinus; the former of
CRE
GRO
‘220
whom flourished in the third, and the latter
in the fourth century., The primitive Chris-
tians did not publicly recite the creed, ex—
cept at baptisms, which, unless in cases of
necessity, were only at Easter and Whitsun-
tide. The constant repeating‘ of it was not
introduced into the church till the end of the
fifth century; about which time Peter Gna—
phius, bishop of Antioch, prescribed the re-
cital of it every time divine service was per-
formed. See King’s History of the Apostles’
Creed; and Barrow’s Exposition of it in his
Works, vol. ii.
CREED, ATHANASIAN, a formulary or con-
fession of faith, long supposed to have been
drawn up by Athanasius, bishop of Alexan-
dria, in the fourth century, to justify himself
against the calumnies of his Arian enemies;
but it is now generally allowed not to have
been his. Dr. Waterland ascribes it to Hilary,
bishop of Arles. This creed obtained in
France about A.D. 850, and was received in
Spain and Germany about 180 years later.
As to our own country, we have clear proofs
of its being sung alternately in our churches
in the tenth century. It was in common use
in some parts of Italy in 960, and was re-
ceived at Rome about 1014. As to the Greek
and Oriental Churches, it has been questioned
whether they have‘ ever received it, though
some writers are of a contrary persuasion.
The episcopal churches of America have re-
jected it. As to the matter of it, it is given
as a summary of the true orthodox faith.
Unhappily, however, it has proved a fruitful
source of unprofitable controversy. See Dr.
Waterland’s Critical History of it.
CREED, NICENE, a formulary of Christian
faith; so called, because it is a paraphrase of
that creed which was made at the first general
council of Nice. This latter was drawn up
by the second general council of Constanti-
nople, A.D. 381, and therefore might be more
properly styled the Constantinopolitan Creed.
The creed was carried by a majority, and
admitted into the church as a barrier against
Arius and his followers.
The three creeds above mentioned are used
in the public oflices of the Church of Eng-
land, and subscription to them is required of
all the established clergy; Subscription to
these was also required of the dissenting
teachers by the toleration act; but from
which they are now relieved by 19 Geo. III.
CRIME, a voluntary breach of any known
law. Faults result from human weakness,
being transgressions of the rules of duty.
Crimes proceed from the wickedness of the
heart, being actions against the rules of na-
ture. See PUNISHMENT and SIN.
CRISP, DR., a divine of the seventeenth
century. He was fond of expressions which
alarm, and paradoxes which astonish; and
perplexed himself much about the divine
purposes. He did not distinguish, as he
ought, between God’s secret will in his de-
crees, and his revealed will infhis covenant
and promises. The root of his error seems
to be this :-—he viewed the union between
Christ and the believer to be of such a kind
as actually to make a saviour of the sinner,
and a sinner of the Saviour. He speaks as
if God considered the sinner as doing and
suffering what Christ did and suffered; and
Christ as having committed their sins, and as’
being actually guilty of them. See ANTINo~
MIANS and NEONOMIANS. Crisp’s Sermons,
edited by Dr. Gill; Bogue and Bennett's His-
tory of Dissenters, vol. i., p. 400.
CRITICISM. See BIBLICAL CRITICISM.
CRosIER, a tall staff of silver or gold,
curved at the upper end, which is carried
before bishops, abbots, and abbesses, as an
ensign expressive of their dignity, while they
are exercising the functions of their office;
and the figure of which is also borne in their
coat of arms. When bestowing the blessing
upon the people, they take the staff into their
own hands.
crook, the bishops being regarded as the pas-
tors of their ‘dioceses. By degrees the hum-
ble emblem became highly adorned, and was
made of costly materials. Artists like Ben-
venuto Cellini and Giovanni de Bologna were
employed to make it. The investiture of the
bishop is indicated by the delivery of the
crosier. Some say that the crosier was ori-
ginally only a simple ‘staff, which, from the
earliest times, has been given as an emblem
of authority to judges, kings, &c. In con-
formity to this explanation, _St. Isidore says
that bishops bear the staff because they have
the right to correct the erring, and the duty
to support the weak. The excess of splen-
dour lavished in later times upon this instru-
ment gave occasion to the following satirical
lines :—
“ In ancient times, as I have been told,
The crosier was wood, and the bishop was gold ;
But now I perceive, without being told,
The bishop is wood, and the cIosieI is gold."
CRoIsIERs, a religious‘ order, founded in
honour of the invention or discovery of the
cross by the Empress Helena. They were,
till of late, dispersed in several parts of Eu-
rope, particularly in the Low Countries,
France, and Bohemia; those of Italy were
suppressed even before the late revolutions.
These religious follow the rule of St. Augus-
tine. The had in England the name of
Crouched riars. * -
CRoss, one straight‘body laid at any angle
upon another; the ensign or. emblem of the
Christian religion, as being a representation
of the instrument of punishment on which
Jesus Christ suffered death from the Jews;
the form in which many churches and cathe-
drals ‘are built. The cross of the ancients
was simply a piece of wood, fastened across
a tree or upright‘ post, on which were exe-
It was originally a shepherd’s'
C R O
CRO
221
~ings of nobles.
outed criminals of the yery worst class. After
the crucifixion of Jesus, and the extension of
the Christian religion, the cross was assumed
as the ensign of his followers. The cross
was used emblematically before the Christian
era. Upon a multitude of medals and ancient
monuments are to be found crosses placed in
the hands of statues of Victory, and of figures
of emperors. It was also placed upon a globe,
which, ever since the days of Augustus, has
been the sign of the empire of the world, and
the image of Victory. The shields, the cui-
rasses, the helmets, the imperial cap, were all
thus decorated. The cross has also been often
stamped upon the reverses of ‘money, as is
proved by the old English game, cross and
pile. The coins struck at Constantinople,
and those of the Franks from the time of
Clovis, were also thus marked. Examples of
these are given in the dissertation by Du-
cange, “Sur les Medailles Byzantines,” and
in the treatise by Le Blane, “ Sur les Mon-
naies de France.” The cross is now the uni-
versal Christian emblem, being used upon
the arms and banners of the soldier, the vest-
ments of the priest, and in the armorial hear-
The forms of cathedrals,
and often the patterns of their pavements,
are adapted to the representation of the cross,
which is also sculptured and elevated upon
tombs and sepulchres. Sculptured crosses of
various descriptions, elevated upon handsome
pedestals, were formerly erected in cemeteries
and market-places, to designate peculiar
events; as the queen’s crosses at Northamp-
ton, Waltham, Sac. Very fine ones are still
to be seen in many parts of Great Britain,
and particularly in Ireland. In order to un-
.derstand the meaning of the sign of the cross
among the first Christians, it must be kept in
mind, that the cross was in their time an
instrument of infamous punishment, like the
gallows at present, and that they assumed
this sign to show that they gloried in being
the followers of Christ, notwithstanding the
infamy which had been attempted to be
thrown upon him by the manner of his exe-
cution. The custom of making the sign of
the cross in memory of Jesus, may be traced
to the third century of our era. Constantine
the Great had crosses erected in public places,
in ‘palaces and churches. This emperor is
‘ generally supposed to have been the first who
ordered the cross to be used as the sign or
emblem under which he would fight and con-
quer, in remembrance of the miraculous ap-
pearance of a cross in the heavens. A certain
legend relates that, before his battle with
Maxentius, a cross appeared to him,‘ bearing
the words Tov'rq) vucc'l, (Under this thou shalt
conquer, In hoe signo vincea) in consequence
of_ which he had a standard made bearing
this image, and called Zabarum. It was-cus-
tomary, in his time, to paint a cross at the
entrance of a house, to denote that it belonged
- to a Christian.

Subsequently, the churches
were, for the greater part, built in the form
of this instrument. But it did not become
an object of adoration until the Empress
Helena (Constantine’s mother) found a cross
in Palestine, which was believed to be the
one on which Christ suffered, and conveyed
a part of it to Constantinople. This is the
origin of the festival of ‘the finding of the
cross, which the Catholic Church celebrates
on the 3rd of May. Standards and weapons
were now ornamented with it; and the Em-
peror Heraclius thought he had recovered
the palladium of his empire, when he gained
possession of a piece of the true cross in 628,
which had fallen into the hands of the Per-
sians in 616. In memory of this event, the
festival of the exaltation of the cross was in-
stituted, Heraclius having caused the cross to
be erected at Jerusalem, on Mount Calvary.
This festival is celebrated on the 14th of
September. It is’ remarkable how this holy
relic became multiplied. N umberless churches
possessed some part of it, the miraculous
power of which was said to have been proved
by the most astonishing facts; and many
persons actually believed that it could be in-
finitely divided without decreasing. It was
in vain that the Iconoclasts, who condemned
the worship of images, attempted to over-
throw the adoration of the cross. The cru-
cifix was considered as a principal object of
worship, in preference to the images of the
saints, and in compliance with the teachings
of John of Damascus, was adored, during
the seventh century, in all the churches of
the East. That the West also ascribed a mys-
terious power to this symbol, is evident from
the use which was made of it in the trials
“by the judgment of God” in the middle
ages. There never has existed any sign
which has been so often repeated in works of
art as the cross. This may be ascribed, in
part, to its form being applicable to many
more purposes than those of other emblems;
such, for instance, as the crescent. The (lis-
. . . +
tinguishing cypher of the Jesuits is IHS,
which signifies In hac cruce salus, or Jesus,
in Greek letters, and abbreviated. 4 Crosses
have been the badge of numberless orders,
military and civil. To make the sign of the
cross is thought by many people, in Catholic
countries, a defence against evil spirits, evil
influences, &c. The Greeks make this sign
constantly, hardly taking a glass of raky
without signing the cross over it. In Russia,
the common people never commit any act of
gross wickedness without doing the same.
Catholic bishops, archbishops, abbots, and
abbesses wear a small golden cross. The
Catholic benediction is generally performed
by making the sign of the cross over the
object. There are different kinds of crosses,
as the common cross, 'I', St. Andrew’s cross,
CRU
2 CRU
22
X, &c. Two sorts of crosses are usedfor
the forms of churches, the Greek and the
Latin. The Greek cross has its arms at right
angles, and all of equal length; whereas the
Latin cross has one of its limbs much longer
than the other three. Bramante originally
designed St. Peter’s for a Latin cross; Mi-
chael Angelo reduced it to the proportions of
“the Greek cross; but Carlo Maderno again
elongated it to the original dimensions of
Bramante. The cathedral of St. Paul’s, Lon-
don, is a Latin cross, with its base spread by
a sort of second transept, which increases
the breadth of the western front.
CRoss, in baptism; in the administration
of the ordinance of baptism, the practice of
making the sign of the cross on the forehead
of the person baptized, was adopted at an
early period, though not enjoined by any
command, or sanctioned by any example, in
Scripture. The use of the cross, indeed, was
very frequent in the primitive ages of Chris;
tianity. Such was the respect paid to it,
that it formed, in one mode or another, a
distinguishing part of the civil and religious
ceremonies of those times. The first Chrise
tian writer who mentions it, in connexion
with baptism, is Tertullian, who wrote after
the middle of the second century. This
writer says, (De Cov. Mil. c. 2,) that “ at
every setting out or entry upon business,
whenever we come in or go out from any
place, when we dress for a journey, when we
go into a bath, when we go to meat, when
the candles are brought in, when we lie down
or sit down, and whatever business we have,
we make on our foreheads the sign of the
cross ;” and speaking of baptism, in his trea-
tise De Cam. Resun, he says, “the flesh is
signed that the soul may be fortified.”
CROSS-BEARER, (porte-croz'x, crucz'ger,) in
the Roman Catholic church, the chaplain of
an archbishop, or a primate, who bears a
cross before him on solemn occasions. The
pope has the cross borne before him every
where; a patriarch any where out of Rome;
and primates, metropolitans, and those who
have a right to the pallium, throughout their
respective jurisdictions. Gregory XI. for-
bade all patriarchs and prelates to have it
borne in the presence of cardinals. A prelate
wears a single cross, a patriarch a double
cross, and the pope a triple one on his arms.
Cnnorrrx, a cross, upon which the body
of Christ is fastened in efiigy, used by the
Roman Catholics, to excite in their minds a
strong idea of our Saviour’s passion. \
CRUCIFIXION, the death or punishment of
the cross, which was the most dreadful of all
others, both for the shame and pain of it;
and so scandalous, that it was inflicted as the
last mark of detestation upon the vilest of
the people. It was the punishment of rob-
bers and murderers, provided that they were
slaves too; but otherwise, if they were free,
and had the privilege of the city of Rome,
this was then thought a prostitution of that
honour, and too infamous a punishment for
such a one, let his crimes be what they would.
The form of a cross being such as has been
already described, (see Cnoss,) the body of
the criminal was fastened to the upright piece
by nailing the feet to it, and on the other
transverse piece generally by nailing the
hands on each side. Now, because‘ these
parts of the body, being the instruments of
action and motion, are provided by nature
with a much greater quantity of nerves than
others have occasion for; and because all sen-
sation is performed by the spirit contained in
the nerves; itwill follow, as Stanhope observes,
that wherever they abound, the sense of pain
must needs in proportion be more quick and
tender. The Jews confess, indeed, that they
crucified people in their nation, but deny that
they inflicted this punishment upon any one
alive. They first put them to death, and then
fastened them to the cross, either by the hands
or neck. But there are indisputable proofs
of their crucifying men frequently alive. The
worshippers of Baal-peor, and the king of Ai,
were hung up alive; as were also the descend-
ants of Saul, who were put into the hands of
the Gibeonites. 2 Sam. xxi. 9.
Before crucifixion, the criminal was gene-
rally scourged with cords; sometimes little
bones, or pieces of bones, were tied to these
scourges, so that the condemned person might
suffer more severely. It was also a custom,
that he who was to be crucified should bear
his own cross to the place of execution. Af-
ter this manner, we find Christ was compelled
to hear his cross; and as he sunk under the
burden, Simon the Cyrenian was constrained
to bear it after him and with him.‘ But
whereas it is generally supposed that our
Lord bore the whole cross, 2'. e. the long and
transverse part both, this seems to be a thing
impossible; and therefore Lipsius, (in his
treatise De Supplz'cz'o Crucz's,) has set the
matter in a true light, when he tells us that
Jesus only carried the transverse'beam, be—
cause the long beam, or the body of the cross.
was either fixed in the ground before, or
made ready to be set up as soon as the pri—
soner came ; and from hence be observes,
that painters are very much mistaken in the
description of our Saviour’s carrying the
whole cross. There were several ways of
crucifying; sometimes the criminal was fast-
ened with cords to a tree, sometimes he was
crucified with his- head downwards. This
way, it is said, Peter chose, out of respect to
his master, Jesus Christ, not thinking him-
self worthy to be crucified like him; though
the common way of crucify-ing was by fasten-
ing the criminal with nails, one through
each hand, and one through both feet, or one
through each of them; for this was not al-
ways performed in the same manner. The
can
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ancients sometimes represent Jesus Christ
crucified with four nails, and sometimes with
three. The criminal was fixed to the cross
quite naked; and in all probability the Sa-
viour of sinners was not used with any greater
tenderness than others uponw-hom this pu-
nishment was inflicted. ’ The text of the
gospel shows clearly that Jesus Christ was
fastened to the cross with nails; and the
Psalmist (Ps. xxii. 16,) had foretold long be-
fore, that they should pierce his hands and
his feet; but there are great disputes concern-
ing the number of these nails. The Greeks
represent our Saviour as fastened to the cross
with four nails; in which particular, GreJ
gory of Tours agrees with them, one on each
hand and foot. But several are of opinion
that our Saviour’s hands and feet were pierced
with three nails only, viz. one' on each hand,
and one through both his feet ; and the cus-
tom of the Latins is rather for this last opi-
nion ; for the generality of the old crucifixes
made in the Latin church have only three
nails. Nonnus thinks that our Saviour’s arms
were besides bound fast to the cross with
chains; and St. Hilary speaks of the cords
wherewith he was tied to it. Sometimes they
who were fastened upon the cross lived a
good while in that condition. St. Andrew is
believed to have continued three days alive
upon it. Eusebius speaks of certain martyrs
in Egypt who were kept upon the cross till
they were starved to death. Pilate was
amazed at Jesus Christ’s dying so soon, be-
cause naturally he must have lived longer, if
it had not been in his power to have laid down
his life, and to take it up again. The thighs
of the two thieves, who were crucified with
our Saviour, were broken, in order to hasten
their death, that their bodies might not re-
main upon the cross on the Sabbath day,
John xix. 31, 33; and to comply with the
law of Moses, which forbids the bodies to be
left there after sunset. But among other na-
tions, they were sufi‘ered to remain upon the
cross a long time. Sometimes they were de-
voured alive by birds and beasts of prey.
Guards were appointed, to observe that none
of their friends or relations should take them
down and bury them. The Roman soldiers,
who had crucified Jesus Christ and the two
thieves, continued near the crosses tillthe bo-
dies were taken down and buried.
CRUDEN, ALEXANDER, compiler of the
Concordance to the Holy Scriptures, was
born at Aberdeen, in 1704, and educated at
the Marischal College in that city, where he
took his degrees, but declined to enter upon
the ministry because of the patronage act,
which set aside the power of popular elections.
He came to London in 1722, and was em-
ployed at Ware, in Herts, as a classical tutor
to some young persons ; after which, he went
to the Isle of Man, in a similar capacity. In
1732, he took up his stated residence in Lon-
don, and engaged as a corrector of the press,
blending with this occupation the trade of a
bookseller, which he carried on in a shop un-
der the Royal Exchange. Here his literary
attainments, indefatigable industry, and strict
integrity, procured him the esteem of several
persons eminent for their wealth and influ-
ence, through whose interference he obtained
the appointment of bookseller to the queen,
vacant by the death of Mr. Matthews. His
Concordance first made its appearance in 1 7 37,
and was dedicated to her Majesty, Queen Ca~
roline, consort of George 11., who graciously
accepted a copy of the work at the hand of the
author, expressed her great satisfaction there-
with, and declared her intention of remember-
ing him, but lived only sixteen days after the
presentation. Her death precluded the perform-
ance of her promise, and was a sore disappoint-
ment to poor Cruden, who became embarrassed
in pecuniary difliculties, which compelled him
to dispose of his stock in trade, abandon his
shop, and he was eventually confined in an
asylum for insane persons, at Bethnal Green.
Recovering the use of his mental faculties, he
returned to his former occupation of correct-
ing the press; and was now usefully employed
by printers, publishers, and authors, in seeing
their works through the press. Under his
inspection, several editions of the Greek and
Roman classics were published with great
accuracy. His manners were invariably sim-
ple and inoffensive; he was always to be
trusted, and he performed his engagements
with the strictest fidelity. In this way he
passed fifteen years of his life, when he was
again placed, for a short time, viz. from the
12th to the 29th of September, 1753, under
restraint, in a house at Chelsea. Though
liberated after a confinement of only seventeen
days, his conduct was for some time marked
by great eccentricity, which, though it abun_
dantly characterised the 'moral and benevolent
cast of his mind, it is nevertheless painful to
narrate. In 1761 he published the second
edition of his Concordance, which is unques-
tionably the best book of the kind extant in
our language; and he soon after procured a
pardon for an unhappy fellow-creature who
had been condemned to death for the forgery
of a seaman’s will. He was a member of the
congregational church in Great St. Helen’s,
under the pastoral care of Dr. Guyse, whom
he styled his “faithful and beloved pastor.”
He lived to see a third edition of his valuable
Concordance published in 1769; after which
he visited Aberdeen, his native place, where
he continued about a year, and then returned
to London, where he closed his days, at his
lodgings in’Camden Street, Islington, on the
1st of November, 1770, aged 70, being found
dead in a praying posture. Among the many
excellences of his character, his liberality
was none of the least; and the proceeds of
the second and third editions of his Concord-
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224
ance, (amounting to eight hundred pounds,)
enabled him to gratify it to a considerable
extent. “ Notwithstanding his natural in-
firmities,” says Mr. Alexander Chalmers, “we
cannot but venerate his character; he was a
man whom neither infirmity nor neglect could
debase; who sought consolation where alone
it could be found; whose sorrows served to
instruct him in the distresses of others; and
who employed his prosperity to relieve those
who, in every sense, were ready to perish.”—
Gen. Biog. Dict.
. CRUSADE may be applied to any war under-
taken on pretence of defending the cause of
religion, but has been chiefly used for the ex-
peditions of the Christians against the infidels
for the conquest of Palestine.
These expeditions commenced A. 1). 1096.
The foundation of them was a superstitious
veneration for thoseplaces where our Saviour
I performed his miracles, and accomplished the
work of man’s redemption. Jerusalem had
been taken and Palestine conquered by Omar.
This proved a considerable interruption to
the pilgrims, who flocked from all quarters
to perform their devotions at the holy sepul-
chre. They had, however, still been allowed
this liberty, on paying a small tribute to the
Saracen caliphs, who were not much inclined
to molest them. But, in 1064, this city changed
its masters. The Turks took it from the
Saracens; and, being much more fierce and
barbarous, the pilgrims now found they could
no longer perform their devotions with the
same safety. An opinion was about this time
also prevalent in Europe, which made these
pilgrimages much more frequent than for-
merly: it was imagined that the 1000 years
mentioned in Rev. xx. were fulfilled: that
Christ was soon to make his appearance in
‘ Palestine to judge the world; and conse-
quently, that journeys to that country were
in the highest degree meritorious, and even
absolutely necessary. The multitudes of pil-
grims who now flocked to Palestine, meeting
with a very rough reception from the Turks,
filled all Europe with complaints against those
infidels, who profaned the holy city, and de-
rided the sacred mysteries of Christianity even
in the place where they were fulfilled. Pope
Gregory VII. had formed a design of uniting
all the’ princes of Christendom against the
Mohammedans; but his exorbitant encroach-
ments upon the civil powers of princes had
created him so many enemies, and rendered
his schemes so suspicious, that he was not
able to make great progress in his undertak-
ing. The work was reserved for a meaner
instrument. Peter, commonly called the Her-
mit, a native of Amiens in Picardy, had made
the pilgrimage to Jerusalem; and, being deeply
affected with the dangers to which that act of '
piety now exposed the pilgrims, as well as
with the oppression under which the eastern
Christians now laboured, formed the bold,
and, in all appearance, impracticable design
of leading into Asia, from the farthest ex~
tremities of the West, armies sufficient to
subdue those potent and warlike nations that
now held the holy land in slavery.
posed his scheme to Pope Martin II., who,
prudently resolving not to interpose his au-
thority till he saw a probability of success,
summoned at Placentia a council of 4000
ecclesiastics and 30,000 seculars. As no hall
could be found large enough to contain such a
multitude, the assembly was held in a plain.
Here the pope himself, as well as Peter,
harangued the people, representing the dismal
situation of their brethren in the East, and
the indignity offered to the Christian name in
allowing the holy city to remain in the hands
of the infidels. These speeches were so agree~
able to those who heard them, that the whole
multitude suddenly and violently declared for
the war, and solemnly devoted themselves to
perform this service, which they believed to be
meritorious in the sight of God. But though
Italy seemed to have embraced the design
with ardour, Martin thought it necessary, in
order to obtain perfect success, to engage the
greater and more warlike nations in the same
enterprise. Having, therefore, exhorted Peter
to visit the chief cities and sovereigns of
Christendom, he summoned another council
at Clermont in Auvergne. The fame of this
great and pious design being now universally
diffused, procured the attendance of the great-
est prelates, nobles, and princes; and when
the pope and the hermit renewed their pathetic
exhortations, the whole assembly, as if im~
polled by immediate inspiration, exclaimed
with one voice, “ It is the will of God!”
These words were deemed so much the effect
of a divine impulse, that they were employed
as the signal of rendezvous and battle in all
future exploits of these adventurers. Men of
all ranks now flew to arms with the utmost
ardour, and a cross was affixed to their right
shoulder by all who enlisted in this holy
enterprise. At this time Europe was sunk in
the most profound ignorance and superstition.
The ecclesiastics had gained the greatest
ascendant over the human mind; and the
people, who committed the most horrid crimes
and disorders, knew of no other expiation than
the observances imposed on them by their
spiritual pastors. But amidst the abject su-
perstition which now prevailed, the military
spirit had also universally difi‘used itself; and,
though not supported by art or discipline,
was become the general passion of the nations
governed by the feudal law. All the great lords
possessed the right of peace and war. They
were engaged in continual hostilities with one
another. The open country was become a
scene of outrage and disorder; the cities, still
mean and poor, were neither guarded by walls
nor protected by privileges. Every man was
obliged to depend for safety on his own force
He pro- .
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‘or his private alliances; and valour was the
only excellence which was held in esteem, or
gave one man the pre-eminence above another.
When all the particular superstitions, there-
fore, were here united in one great object, the
ardour for private hostilities took the same
direction ; “ and all Europe,” as the Princess
Anna Comnena expresses it, “ torn from its
foundations, seemed ready to precipitate itself '
in one united body upon Asia.”
All ranks of men now deeming the crusades
the only road to heaven,were impatient to open
the way with their swords to the holy city. N o-
bles, artisans, peasants, even priests, enrolled
their names; and those who declined this ser-
vice, were branded with the reproach of im-
piety or cowardice. The nobles were moved,
by the romantic spirit of the age, to hope for
opulent establishments in the East, the chief
seat of arts and commerce at that time. In
pursuit of these chimerical projects, they sold
at low prices their ancient castles and inherit-
ances, which had now lost all value in their
eyes. The infirm and aged contributed to the
expedition by presents and money, and many
of them attended it in person, being deter-
mined, if possible, to breathe their last in sight
of that city where their Saviour died for them.
Even women, concealing their sex under the
disguise of armour, attended the camp, and often
forgot their duty still more by prostituting
themselves to the army. The greatest criminals
were forward in a service which they consider-
ed as an cxpiation for all crimes ; and the most
enormous disorders were, during the course
of these, expeditions, committed by men inured
to wickedness, encouraged by example, and
impelled by necessity. The adventurers were
at last so numerous, that their sagacious
leaders became apprehensive lest the greatness
of the armament would be the cause of its own
disappointment. For this reason they per-
mitted an undisciplined multitude, computed
at 300,000 men, to go before them under the
command of Peter the Hermit, and Gautier or
Walter, surn amed the moneyless, from his being
a soldier of fortune. These took the road
towards Constantinople, through Hungary
' and Bulgaria; and, trusting that Heaven, by
supernatural assistance, would supply all their
necessities, they made no provision for sub-
sistence in their march. They soon found
themselves obliged to obtain by plunder what
they vainly expected from miracles; and the
‘enraged inhabitants of the countries through
which they passed, attacked the disorderly
multitude, and slaughtered them without re-
sistance. The more, disciplined armies fol-
lowed after; and, passing the straits of Con-
stantmople, were mustered in the plains of
Asia, and amounted in the whole to 700,000
men. The princes engaged in this first crusade
were, Hugo, Count of Vermandois, brother to
Philip 1., King of France; Robert, Duke of
" Normandy; Robert, Earl of Flanders; Raie.
mond, Earl of Toulouse and St. Giles; the
celebrated Godfrey of Bouillon, Duke of Lor-
rain, with his brothers Baldwin and Eustace ;
Stephen, Earl of Chartres and Blois; Hugo,
Count of St. Paul; with many other lords.
The general rendezvous was at Constantin-
ople. In this expedition Godfrey besieged
and took the city of Nice. Jerusalem was
taken by the confederated army, and Godfrey
chosen king. The Christians gained the
famous battle of Ascalon against the Sultan
of Egypt, which put an end to the first cru-
sade, but not to the spirit of crusading. The
rage continued for near two centuries. The
second crusade, in 1144, was headed by the
Emperor Conrad III., and Louis VII., king
of France. The emperor’s army was either
destroyed by the enemy, or perished through
the treachery of Manuel the Greek Emperor;
and the second army, through the unfaithful-
ness of the Christians of Syria, was forced to
break up the siege of Damascus. The third
crusade, in 1188, immediately followed the
taking of Jerusalem by Saladin, the Sultan of
Egypt. The princes engaged in this expedi~
tion were, the Emperor Frederic Barbarossa;
Frederic, Duke of Suabia, his second son ;
Leopold, Duke of Austria; Berthold, Duke of
Moravia; Herman, Marquess of Baden; the
Counts of Nassau, Thuringia, Missen, and
Holland; and above sixty other princes of the
empire ; with the Bishops of Besaneon, Cam-
bray, Munster, Osnaburg, Missen, Passau,
Visburg, and several others. In this expedi-
tion the Emperor Frederic defeated the Sultan
of Icon‘ium: his son Frederic, joined by Guy
Lusignan, King of Jerusalem, in vain endea-
voured to take Acre or Ptolemais. During
these transactions, Philip Augustus, King of
France, and Richard 1., King of England,
joined the crusade, by which means the Chris-
tian army consisted of 300,000 fighting men ;
but great disputes happening between the
kings of France and England, the former
quitted the Holy Land, and Richard concluded
a peace with Saladin. The fourth crusade
was undertaken in 1195, by the Emperor
Henry VI., after Saladin’s death. In this ex-
pedition the Christians gained several battles
against the infidels, took a great many towns,
and were in the way of success, when the
death of the emperor obliged them to quit the
Holy Land, and return into Germany. The
fifth crusade was published by Pope Innocent
III., in 1198. Those engaged in it made
fruitless efforts for the recovery of the Holy
Land ; for, though John de N eule, who com—
manded the fleet equipped in Flanders, arrived
at Ptolemais a little after Simon of Montfort,
Renard of Dampierre, and others, yet the
plague destroying many of them, and the rest,
either returning .or engaging 111 the petty
quarrels of the Christian princes, nothing was
done; so that the Sultan of Aleppo easily de-
feated their troops in 1204. The sixth cru-
Q
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surrender it again.
sade began in 1228, in which the Christians
took the town of Damietta, but were forced to
In 1229 the Emperor
Frederic made peace with .the Sultan for ten
years. About 1240, Richard, Earl of Corn-
wall, brother to Henry 111., King of England,
arrived in Palestine, at the head of the Eng-
11 sh crusade; but finding it most advantageous
to conclude a peace, he re-embarked, and
steered towards Italy. In 1244, the Karas-
mians, being driven out of Turkey by the
Tartars, broke into Palestine, and gave the
Christians a general defeat near Gaza. The
seventh crusade was headed, in 1249, by St.
Lewis, who took the town of Damietta; but
a sickness happening in the Christian army,
the king endeavoured to retreat, in which,
being pursued by the infidels, most of his
army were miserably butchered, and himself
and the nobility taken prisoners. A truce
was agreed upon for ten years, and the king
and lords set at liberty. The eighth crusade,
in 1279, was headed by the same prince, who
made himself master of the port and castle of
Carthage in Africa; but dying a short time
after, he left his army in a very ill condition.
Soon after, the King of Sicily coming up with
a good fleet, and joining Philip the Bold, son
and successor of Lewis, the King of Tunis,
after several engagements with the Christians,
in which he was always worsted, desired
peace, which was granted upon conditions
advantageous to the Christians; after which
both princes embarked to their own king-
doms. Prince Edward of England, who
arrived at Tunis at the time of this treaty,
sailed towards Ptolemais, where he landed a
small body of 300 English and French, and
hindered Bendochar from laying siege to
Ptolemais ; but being obliged to return to
take possession of the crown of England, this
crusade ended without contributing any thing
to the recovery of the Holy Land. In 1291,
the town of..Acre or Ptolemais was taken and
plundered by the Sultan of Egypt, and the
Christians quite driven out of Syria. There
has been no crusade since that period, though
several Popes have attempted to stir up the
Christians to such an undertaking; particu—
larly Nicholas IV., in 1292, and Clement V.,
in 1311.
Though these crusades were effects of the
most absurd superstition, they tended greatly
to promote the good of Europe. Multitudes,
indeed, were destroyed. M. Voltaire computes
the people who perished in the different expe-
ditions, at upwards of two millions. Many
there were, however, who returned ; and these
having conversed so long with people who
‘lived in a much more magnificent way than
themselves, began to entertain some taste for
a refined and polished way of life. Thus the
barbarism in which Europe had been so long
immersed, began to wear off soon after. The
princes, also, who remained at home found
means to avail themselves of the frenzy of the
people. By the absence of such numbers of
restless and martial adventurers, peace was
established in their dominions. They also
took the opportunity of annexing to their
crowns many considerable fiefs, either by pur-
chase or the extinction of heirs ; and thus the
mischiefs which must always attend feudal
governments were considerably lessened.—
With regard to the had success of the crusa-
ders, it was scarcely possible that any other
thing could happen to them. The Emperors
of Constantinople, instead of assisting, did all
in their power to disconcert their schemes;
they were jealous, and not without reason, of '
such an inundation of barbarians. Yet, had
they considered their true interests, they
would rather have assisted them, or at least
stood neuter, than enter into alliances with
the Turks. They followed the latter method,
however, and were often of very great dis-
service to the western adventurers, which at
last occasioned the loss of their city. But the
worst enemies the crusaders had were their
own internal feuds and dissensions. They
neither could agree while marching together
in armies with a view to conquest, nor could
they unite their conquests under one govern~
ment after they had made them. They set
up three small states, one at Jerusalem, one
at Antioch, and another at Edessa,. These
states, instead of assisting, made war upon
each other, and on the Greek Emperors, and-
thus became an easy prey to the common
enemy. The horrid cruelties they committed,
too, must have inspired the Turks with the
most invincible hatred against them, and made
them resist with the greatest obstinacy. They
were such as could have been committed only
by barbarians inflamed with the most bigoted
enthusiasm. When Jerusalem was taken,
not only the numerous garrisons were put to
the sword, but the inhabitants were massacred
without mercy and without distinction. No
age or sex was spared; not even sucking
children. According to Voltaire, some Chris-
tians, who had been suffered by the Turks to
live in that city, led the conquerors into the
most private caves, where women had con-
cealed themselves with their children, and not -
one of them was sufi‘ered to escape. What
eminently shows the enthusiasm by which
these conquerors were animated, is their be-
haviour after this terrible slaughter. They
marched over heaps of dead bodies towards
the holy sepulchre, and, while their hands
were polluted with the blood of so many inno-
cent persons, sung anthems to the common
Saviour of mankind! Nay, so far did their
religious enthusiasm overcome their fury, that
‘these ferocious conquerors now burst into
tears. If the absurdity and wickedness of
their conduct can be exceeded by any thing,
it must be by what follows. In 1204, the
frenzy of crusading seized the children, who
CUL
CUR
227
are ever ready to imitate what they see their
parents engaged in. Their childish folly was
encouraged by the monks and schoolmasters,
and thousands of these innocents were con-
ducted from the houses of their parents, on
the superstitious interpretation of these words :
“ Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings
hast thou perfected praise.” Their base con-
ductors sold a part of them to the Turks, and
the rest perished miserably.-—Hume’s Hist. of
England, vol. i. p. 292, 8cc.; and vol. ii. p.
280 ; Enc. Brit. ,- and Mosheim’s Ecc. Hist.
‘CRYP'ro-CaLvmIsTs, a name given, some
time after the Reformation, to the favourers
of Calvinism in Saxony, Denmark, Sweden,
&c., on account of their secret attachment to
the Genevan doctrine and discipline.
CULDEEs, the members of a very ancient
religious fraternity, whose principal seat was
the Island of Iona, or Icolumkil, one of the
western islands of Scotland, but whose laborious
missionary exertions were extended over con-
siderable portions of Scotland, England,Wales,
and Ireland, and in whose constitution we
discover a simplicity of views and habits
which necessarily lead us to associate them
with the men of more primitive times. They
owe their establishment to Columba, a native
of Ireland, who, after proceeding to Scotland,
and succeeding in the conversion of the
northern Picts to Christianity, landed at Hii,
‘or Iona, in the year 563, and received the
island from the king of that people for the
purpose of founding a monastery. Here he
erected a seminary, in which he taught his
disciples the Holy Scriptures, to the study of
which he was himself devotedly attached;
and when they were duly prepared, he sent
them forth, with the holy book in their hand,
to evangelize the dark and benighted regions
which extended in every direction. They
held no fellowship with the Church of Rome,
and for many centuries maintained their
ground against the attempted encroachments
of that see. They rejected auricular confes-
sion, penance, and absolution; knew nothing
of the chrism in baptism, or the rite of con-
firmation; and opposed the doctrine of the
real presence, the worship of saints and angels,
and the celibacy of the clergy, and works of
supererogation. In the twelfth century their
influence beganto be overpowered by the
force of popish superstition; but they resisted
to the very last every effort that was made to
incorporate their secluded establishment with
the dominant hierarchy.
Their form of government was essentially
Presbyterian. To the members of their synod,
or assembly, was given the name of sem'm'es,
or elders, to whom, in their collective capacity,_
belonged the right of appointing and ordain-
ing those who engaged in the ministerial or
missionary ofiice. To these, when settled in
any particular place, was given the designa—
tion of bishop—a dignity which does not ap-
‘pear to have been in any respect difi'erent
from that of presbyter or pastor. These
bishops, to how great soever a distance the
resided from Iona, were subject to the disci-
pline of the college, with which they kept up
a regular correspondence.
It is not known in what precise year the
Culdees became extinct, but there is reason to
believe, that, in the west of Scotland, they
continued to exhibit a testimony on behalf of
primitive truth in opposition to the corrup-
tion of Rome, till very near the period when
the light of the Reformation was introduced
into those northern parts of our island.
CURATE, the lowest degree in the Church
of England; he who represents the incum—
bent of a church, parson, or vicar, and oflici~
ates in his stead: he is to be licensed and ad:
mitted by the bishop of the diocese, or by an
ordinary having episcopal jurisdiction; and
when a curate hath the approbation of the
bishop, he usually appoints the salary too;
and in such case, if he be not paid, the curate
hath a proper remedy in the ecclesiastical
court, by a sequestration of the profits of the
benefice ; but if the curate be not licensed by
the bishop, he is put to his remedy at common
law, where he must prove the agreement, &c.
A curate, having no fixed estate in his curacy,
not being instituted and inducted, may be
removed at pleasure by the bishop, or incum—
bent. But there are perpetual curates as well
as temporary, who are appointed where tithes
are impropriate, and no'vicarage endowed;
these are not removable, and the impropriators
are obliged to find them ; some whereof have
certain portions of the tithes settled on them.
Curates must subscribe the declaration accord-
ing to the Act of Uniformity, or are liable to
imprisonment. Though the condition of cu-
rates be somewhat ameliorated by a late act,
it must be confessed that they are still, in
many respects, exposed to hardships: their
salaries are not equal to many dissenting
ministers, who have nothing to depend on but
the liberality of their people. Can there be
a greater reproach to the dignified ecclesias-
tics of this country, than the comparatively
miserable pittance allowed to curates, who do
all the labour?
CURIA, PAPAL, is a collective appellation
of all the authorities in Rome, which exercise
the rights and privileges enjoyed by the Pope,
as first bishop, superintendent, and pastor of
the Roman Catholic Church. The right to
grant or confirm ecclesiastical appointments
is exercised by the Dataria, or papal chan-
cery, which has its name from the common
subscription, Datum apud Sanctum Petrum.
This body receives petitions, draws up an-
swers, and collects the revenues of the pope,
for the pallia, spolia, benefices, annates, &c.
It is a lucrative branch of the papal govern-
ment, and part of the receipts goes to the
apostolic chamber. In formert'imes, the car-
CUR
GUS
228
penitenzierz'a, had a very great influence. He
still issues all dispensations and absolutions
in respect to vows, penances, fasts, &c.; in
regard to which the Pope has reserved to
himself the dispensing power: also with re-
spect to marriages within the degrees prohi-
bited to Catholics. Besides these authorities,
whose powers extend over all Catholic Chris-
tendom, there are in Rome several others occu-
pied only with the government ‘of the Roman
state; as the Sagra Consulta, or chief criminal
court, in which the cardinal secretary of state
presides; the signatura di guistz'zia, a court for
civil cases, consistin of twelve prelates, over
which the cardina provvedz'tore, or papal
minister of justice, presides, and with which
the signatura di grazz'a concurs; the apostolic
chamber in which twelve prelates are em-
ployed under the cardinale earner-lingo, ad-
ministering the property of the church and
the papal domains, and receiving the revenue
which belongs to the Pope as temporal and
spiritual sovereign of the Roman state, and
also that which he derives from other coun-
tries, which stand immediately under him, and
are his fiefs. Besides these, there is a num-
ber of governors, prefects, procuratori, &c., in
the different branches of the administration.
The drawing up of bulls, answers, and decrees,
which are issued by the Pope himself, or by
these authorities, is done by the papal chan-
cery, consisting of a vice-chancellor and
twelve abbreviatori, assisted by several hun-
dred secretaries: the breves only are excepted,
and are drawn up by a particular cardinal.
All these ofiices are filled by clergymen; and
many of them are so lucrative, that consider-
able sums are paid for them, somewhat in the
same manner as commissions are purchased
in the English army. At the death of Sixtus
V. there existed 4000 venal oflices of this
kind; _but this number has since been dimin-
ished, and many abuses have been abolished.
The highest council of the Pope, corre-
sponding in some measure to the privy council
of a monarch, is the college of the cardinals,
convened whenever the Pope thinks fit. The
sessions of this senate, which presides over
all the other authorities in Rome, are called
consistories. They are of three different
kinds. The secret consistory is held generally
twice a month, after the Pope has given pri-
vate audience to every cardinal. In these
sessions bishops are elected, pallia granted,
ecclesiastical and political affairs of import-
ance transacted, and resolutions adopted on
the reports of the congregations delegated by
the consistory. Beatifications and canoni-
zations also originate in this body. Different
from the secret are the semi-secret consisto—
ries, the deliberations of which relate princi-
pally to political affairs, and the results of
them are communicated to the ambassadors
of foreign powers. The public consistories
.di‘nal grand penitentiary, as president of the

are seldom held, and are principally ceremo-
nial assemblies: in‘ these the Pope receives
ambassadors, and makes known important
resolutions, canonizations, establishments of
orders, &c. According to rule, all cardinals
residing in Rome should take part in the con-
sistories; but, in point of fact, no one appears
without being specially summoned by the
Pope; who, if able to do so, always presides
in person, and the cardinal secretary of state
(who is minister of the interior and for foreign
affairs) is always present, as are likewise the
cardinals presidents of the authorities.
At present there are twenty-two congregations
of cardinals at Rome: 1. The holy Roman,
and general inquisition, or holy oflice (santo
oflicio.) 2. Visita Apostoh'ca. 3. Consistori-
ale. 4. ‘ Vescovz' regolarz'. 5. .De Concilz'o
(Tridentina) 6. Residenza di vescovi. 7.
Immunita ccclesz'astz'ca. 8. Propaganda. 9.
Indici (of prohibited books.) 10. Sagrz' ritz'.
11. Ceremoniale. 12. Disciplina regolare
(orders of monks.) 13. Indulgenze e sagre
relz'quie. 14. Esame dcz' vescovi. 15. Corre-
zz'om' dei Zibri della chiesa Orientale. 16. Fab-
brz'ca di S. Pietro. l7. Consulta. 18. Buon-
governo. 19. Loretta. 20. Hydraulic works
and the Pontiac marshes. 21. Economica. 22.-
Extraordz'narg/ ecclesiastical afi'az'rs. F ew,
however, of these congregations are fully
supplied with oflicers.
‘CURSE, the action of wishing any tremen-
dous evil to another. In Scripture language
it signifies the just and awful sentence of
God’s law, condemning sinners to suffer the full
punishment of their sin, or the punishment in-
flicted on account of transgression, Gal. iii. 10.
CURSING AND SWEARING. See SWEARING.
CUs'roM, a very comprehensive term, des
noting the manners, ceremonies, and fashions
of a people, which, having turned into habit,
and passed into use, obtain the force of laws.
Custom and habit are often confounded. By
custom, we mean a frequent reiteration of the
same act; and by habit, the effect that custom
has on the mind or the body. See HABIT.
“ Viewing man,” says Lord Kaimes, “ as a
sensitive being, and perceiving the influence
of novelty upon him, would one suspect that
custom has an equal influence? and yet our
nature is equally susceptible of both; not
only in different objects, but frequently in the
same. When an object is new, it is enchant~
ing; familiarity renders it indifferent; and
custom, after a longer familiarity, makes ‘it
again desirable. Human nature, diversified
with many and various springs of action, is
wonderful, and, indulging the expression, in-
tricately constructed. Custom hath such
influence upon many of our feelings, by
‘warping and varying them, that we must at-
tend to its operations, if we ‘would be ac-
quainted with human nature. A walk upon
the quarter-deck, though intolerably confined,
becomes, however, so agreeable by custom,
‘D A T
DAV
229
that a" sailor, in. his walk on shore, confines
himself commonly within the same bounds.
I knew a man who had relinquished the sea
for a country life: in the corner of his gar-
den he reared an artificial mount, with a level
summit, resembling, most accurately, a quar-
ter-deck, not only in shape, but in size ; and
here was his choice walk.” Such we find is
often the power of custom.
Cn'r'rY-s'rooL, the stool or seat of repent-
ance in the Scotch kirks, placed near the
roof, and painted black, on which offenders
against chastity sit during service, professing
repentance, and receiving the minister’s re-
bukes. It is somewhat remarkable that a
breach of the seventh commandment should
be the only sin which subjects the offender
' to this lash of ecclesiastical discipline; drunk-
enness, lying, sabbath-breaking, &c., being
suffered to pass with impunity.
D.
DALEITES, a name sometimes given to a
class of Scotch Independents, of whom the
late David Dale, Esq. was an elder. They
have lately coalesced with the INGHAMITE-S,
which see.
DAMIANISTS, a denomination‘ in the sixth
century, so called from Damian, bishop of
Alexandria. Their opinions were the same
as the ANGELITES, which see.
DAMNATION, condemnation. This word is
used to denote the final loss of the soul; but
it is not always to be undersood in this sense
in the sacred Scripture. Thus it is said in
Rom. xiii. 2, “ They that resist shall receive
to themselves damnation,” z'. e. condemnation,
“ from the rulers, who are not a terror to good
works. but to the evil.” Again in 1 Cor. xi.
29, “ He that eateth and drinketh unworthily,
eateth and drinketh damnation to himse ;”
i. e. condemnation; exposes himself to severe
temporal judgments from God, and to the
judgment and censure of the wise and good.
Again, Rom. xiv. 23, “ He that doubteth is
damned if he eat ;” i. e. is condemned both
‘by his own conscience and the word of God,
because he is far from being satisfied that he
is right in so doing.
DANCERS, a sect which sprung up about
1373, in Flanders, and places about. It was
their custom all of a sudden to fall a dancing,
and holding each other’s hands, to continue
thereat, till being suffocated with the extra-
ordinary violence, they fell down breathless
together. During these intervals of vehement
agitation they pretended to be favoured with
wonderful visions. Like the Whippers, they
roved from place to place, begging their vic-
tuals, holding their secret assemblies, and
treating the priesthood and worship of the
church with the utmost contempt. Thus we
find, as Dr. Haweis observes, that the French
Convulsionists and the Welsh Jumpers have
.had predecessors of the same stamp. There
is nothing new under the sun. Haweis, and
Zlfoshcim’s Church Hist. Cent. 14.
DATARY, an ofiicer in the Pope’s court.
He is always a prelate, and sometimes a car-
dinal,‘ deputed by his holiness to receive such
petitions as are presented to him, touching
the provision of benefices. By his post the
Datary is empowered to grant, without ac-

quainting his holiness therewith, all benefices
that do not produce upwards of twenty-four
ducats annually; but for such as amount to
more, he is obliged to get the provisions signed
by the Pope, who admits him to audience
every day. If there be several candidates
for the same benefice, he has the liberty of
bestowing it on which of them he thinks
proper, provided he has the requisite qualifi-
cations. The Datary has a yearly salary of
two thousand crowns, exclusive of the per-
quisites, which he receives from those who
apply to him for any benefice. This officer
has a substitute, named the Sub-Datary, who
is likewise a prelate, and has a yearly pension
of a thousand crowns; but he is not allowed to
confer any benefice, without acquainting the
Datary therewith. When a person has ob-
tained the Pope’s consent for a benefice, the
Datary subscribes his petition with an annuit
sanctissimus, z'. e. “ the most holy Father con-
sents to it.” The Pope’s consent is subscribed
in these words: Fiat ut petitur, 2'. e. “be it
according to the petition.” After the petition
has passed the proper ofiices, and is registered,
it is carried to the Datary, who dates it, and
writes these words, Datum Romae apud, <§~c.,
“ given at Rome in the pontifical palace,” &c.
Afterwards the Pope’s bull, granting the bene-
fice, is despatched by the Datary, and passes
through the hands of more than a thousand
persons, belonging to fifteen different ofiices,
who have all their stated fees. The reader
may from hence judge how expensive it is to
procure the Pope’s bull for a benefice, and
what large sums go into the ofiice of the
Datary, especially when the provisions, issued
from thence, are for bishoprics, and other
rich benefices. .
DAVIDISTS, the adherents of David George,
a native of Delft, who, in 1525, began to
preach a new doctrine, publishing himself to
be the true Messiah ; and that he was sent of
God to fill heaven, which was quite empty for
want of people to deserve it. He is likewise
said to have denied the existence of angels
good and evil, and to have disbelieved the
doctrine of a future judgment. He rejected
marriage, with the Adamites; held with
Manes, that the soul was not defiled by sin;
and laughed at the self-denial ‘so much recom-
DEA
DEA
230
mended by Jesus Christ. Such were his prin=
cipal errors. He made his escape from‘ Delft,
and retired first into Friesland, and then to
Basil, where he changed his name, assuming
that of John Bruck, and died in 1556. He
left some disciples behind him, to whom he
promised that he would rise again at the end
of three year. Nor was he altogether afalse
prophet herein : for the magistrates of that city
being informed, at the three years’ end, of
what he had taught, ordered him to be dug
up and burnt, together with his writings, by
the common hangman.
DEAooN, Ataxovog, a servant, a minister.
1. In the New Testament the word is used
for any one that ministers in the service of
God: bishops or presbyters are also styled
deacons; but moreparticularly and generally
it is understood of the secondary order of
ministering servants in the church. 1 Cor.
iii. 5; Col. i. 23, 25 ; Phil. i. 1 ; 1 Tim. iii.
The primitive deacons took care of the se-
cular afl‘airs of the church, received and dis-
bursed monies, kept the church’s accounts,
and provided every thing necessary for its
temporal good. Thus, while the bishop at-
tended to the souls, the deacons attended to
the bodies of the people: the pastor to the
spiritual, and the deacons the temporal inte-
rests of the church. Acts vi.
2. In ecclesiastical polity, the lowest of the
different orders of the clergy. In the Roman
Catholic church he served at the altar, in the
celebration of what are called the holy mys-
teries. He is also allowed to baptize and
preach, with the permission of the bishop.
Formerly deacons were allowed to marry,
but this was prohibited to them very early;
and at present the Pope dispenses with this
prohibition only for very important reasons.
In such cases they re-enter the condition of
laymen. There are eighteen Cardinal-deacons
in Rome, who have the charge of the tem-
poral interests and the revenues of the church.
A person, to be consecrated deacon, must be
twenty-three years of age. In the English
church, deacons are also ecclesiastics, who
can perform all the oflices of a priest, except
the consecration of the sacramental elements,
and the pronouncing of the absolution. In
German protestant churches the assistant mi-
nisters are generally called deacons. If there
be two assistants, the first of them is called
Archdeacon. In the Presbyterian churches,
the deacon’s office is generally merged in that
of ruling elder ; but in some it is distinct, and
simply embraces the distribution of alms.
Among Congregationalists the deacons, besides
attending to the temporal concerns of the
church, assist the minister with their advice,
take the lead at prayer-meetings when he is
absent, and preach occasionally to smaller
congregations in the contiguous villages.
DEAcoNEss, a female deacon. It is gene-
rally allowed, that in the primitive church
there were deaconesses, i. e. pious women,
whose particular business it was to assist in
the entertainment and care of the itinerant
preachers, visit the sick and imprisoned, in-
struct female catechumens, and assist at their
baptism; then more particularly necessary,
from the peculiar customs of those countries,
the persecuted state of the church, and the
speedier spreading of the gospel. Such a one
it is reasonable to think Phebe was, Rom. xvi.
1, who is expressly called duucovov, a deacon-
ess, or stated servant, as Dcddridge renders it.
They were usually widows, and, to prevent
scandal, generally in years, 1 Tim. v. 9. See
also Spanheim. Hist. Christ. Seoul. 1. p. 554.
The apostolic constitutions, as they are called,
mention the ordination of a deaconess, and
the form of prayer used on that occasion,
(lib. viii. ch. 19, 20.) Pliny also, in his cele-
brated epistle to Trajan (xcvii.) is thought to
refer to them, when speaking of two female
Christians whom he put to the torture, he
says, quce ministrcc dicebantur, i. e. “who
were called deaconesses.” But as the primi~
tive Christians seem to have been led to this
practice from the peculiarity of their circum-
stances, and the Scripture is entirely silent as
to any appointment to this supposed ofiice, or
any rules about it, it is very justly laid aside,
at least as an office.
DEAN, an ecclesiastical dignitary, next un-
der the bishop in cathedral churches, and head
of the chapter. The Latin word is decanus,
derived from the Greek dam, ten, because
the dean presides over at least ten canons, or
prebendaries. A dean and chapter are the
bishop’s council, to assist him in the affairs of
religion.
DEATH, is generally defined to be the sepa-
ration of the soul from the body. It is styled,
in scripture language, a departure out of this
world to another, 2 Tim. iv. 7 ; a dissolving of
the earthly house of this tabernacle, 2 Cor. v.
1 ; a going the way of all the earth, Josh. xxiii.
14; a returning to the dust, Ecc. xiii. 7; a
sleep, John xi. 11. Death may be considered
as the effect of sin, Rom. v. 12; yet, as our
existence is from God, no man has a right to
take away his own life, or the life of another,
Gen. ix. 6. Satan is said to have the power of -
death, Heb. ii. 14 ; not that he can at his plea-
sure inflict death on mankind, but as he was
the instrument of first bringing death into the
world, John viii. 44; and as he may be the
executioner of God’s wrath on impenitent
sinners, when God permits him. Death is but
once, Heb. ix. 27 ; certain, Job xiv. 1, 2 ;
powerful and terrific, called the king of ter-
rors, Job xviii. 14 ; uncertain as to the time,
Prov. xxviii. 1; universal, Gen. v. ; neces-
sary, that God’s justice may be displayed, and
his mercy manifested: desirable to the right-
eous, Luke ii. 28—30. The fear of death is
a source of uneasiness to the generality, and
to a guilty conscience it may indeed be terri-
DEG
DEC
231
blc ; but to a good man it should be obviated
by the consideration that death is the termi-
nation of every trouble; that it puts him be-
yond the reach of sin and temptation; that
God has promised to be with the righteous,
even to the end, Heb. xiii. 5 ; that Jesus Christ
‘has taken away the sting, 1 Cor. xv. 54; and
that it introduces him to a state ‘of endless fe-
licity, 2 Cor. v. 8.
Preparation for Death. This does not con-
sist in bare morality; in an external reforma-
tion from gross sins; in attention to a round
of duties in our own strength; in acts of cha-
rity; in a zealous profession; in possessing
eminent gifts :—~but in reconciliation to God ;
repentance of sin; faith in Christ ;‘ obedience
to his word; and all as the efl'ect of regenera-
tion by the Spirit, John iii. 3 ; 1 Cor. xii. 3 ;
Tit. iii. 5. Bates’s four last things; Ho kins,
Drelincourt, Sherlock, and Fellowes, on eath;
Bp. Porteus’s Poem on Death; Grove’s admira-
ble Sermon on the fear of Death; Watts’s World
to Come.
Spiritual Death is that awful state of igno-
rance, insensibility. and disobedience, which
mankind are in by nature, and which excludes
them from the favour and enjoyment of God,
Luke i. 79. See SIN.
Brothers of Death, a denomination usually
given to the religious of the order of St.
Paul, the first hermit. They are called bro-
thers of death, on account of the figure of a
death’s head which they were always to have
with them, in order to keep perpetually before
them the thoughts of death. The" order was
probably suppressed by Pope Urban VIII.
DECALOGUE, the ten commandments given
by God to Moses.
The ten commandments were engraved by
God on two tables of stone. The Jews, by
way of eminence, called these commandments
the ten words, from whence they had after-
wards the name of decalogue; but they join-
~ ed the first and second into one, and divided
the last into two. 'They understand that
against stealing to relate to the stealing of
men, or kidnapping; alleging that the stealing
one another’s goods or property is forbidden
in the last commandment. The Church of
Rome has struck the second commandment
quite out of the decalogue; and to make their
number complete, has split the tenth into two.
The reason is obvious.
DECEIT consists in passing any thing upon
a person for what it is not, as when falsehood
is made to pass for truth. See HYPOCRISY.
DECEPTION, SELF. See SELF-DECEPTION.
DECLAMATION on THE PULPIT. “ The
dignity and sanctity of the place, and the im-
portance of the subject, require the preacher
to exert the utmost powers of his voice, to
produce a pronunciation that is perfectly dis-
tinct and harmonious, and that he observe a
deportment and action which is expressive
and graceful. The preacher should not roar
like a common crier, and rend the air with a
voice like thunder; for such kind of decla-
mation is not only without meaning and
without persuasion, but highly incongruous
with the meek and gentle spirit of the Gospel.
He should likewise take particular care to
avoid a monotony; his voice should rise from
the beginning, as it were, by degrees, and its
greatest strength should be exerted in the
application. Each inflection of the voice
should be adapted to the phrase and to the
meaning of the words; and each remarkable
expression should have its peculiar inflexion.
The dogmatic requires a plain uniform tone
of voice only, and the menaces of God’s word
demand a greater force than its promises and‘
rewards; but the latter should not be pro-
nounced in the soft tone of a flute, nor the
former with the loud sound of a trumpet.
The voice should still retain its natural tone
in all its various inflexions. Happy is that
preacher who has a voice that is at once
strong, flexible, and harmonious. An air of
complacency and benevolence, as well as de--
votion, should be constantly visible in the‘
countenance of the preacher; but every ap
pearance of afl‘ectation must be carefully
avoided; for nothing is so disgustful to an‘
audience as even‘ the semblance of dissimula-
tion. Eyes constantly rolling, turned towards-
heaven, and streaming with tears, rather de~
note a hypocrite than a man possessed of the
real spirit of religion, and who feels the true
import of what he preaches. An air of af-
fected devotion infallibly destroys the eflicacy
of all that the preacher can say, however just
and important it may be. On the other
hand, he must avoid every appearance of '
mirth or raillery, or of that cold unfeeling
manner which is so apt to freeze the heart of
his hearers. The body should in general be
erect, and in a natural and easy attitude.
The perpetual movement or contortion of the
body has a ridiculous effect in the pulpit, and
makes the figure of a preacher and a har-
lequin too similar; on the other hand, he
ought not to remain constantly upright and
motionless, like a speaking statue. The mo-
tions of the hands give a strong expression to
a discourse ; but they should be decent, grave,
noble, and expressive. The preacher who is
incessantly in action, who is perpetually clasp-
ing his hands, or who menaees with a clenched
fist, or counts his arguments on his fingers,
will only‘excite mirth among his auditory.
In a word, declamation is an art that the
sacred orator should study with assiduity.
The design of a sermon is to convince, to
affect, and to persuade. The voice, the coun-
tenance. and the action, which are to produce
the triple effect, are therefore objects to which
the preacher should particularly apply him-
self.” See SERMON.
DEGREES or G01), are his settled purposes,
whereby he foreordains whatsoever comes
D E C ' 232
DED
to pass. Dan. iv. 24. Acts xv. 18. Eph. i. 11.
This ‘doctrine is the subject of one of the
most perplexing controversies that has oc-
curred among mankind; it is not, however,
as some think, a novel doctrine. The opinion,
that whatever occurs in the world at large, or
in the lot of private individuals, is the result
of a previous and unalterable arrangement by
thatsupreme power which presides over na-
ture, has always been held by many of the
vulgar, and has been believed by speculative
men. The ancient stoics, Zeno and Chry-
sippus, whom the Jewish Essenes seem to
have followed, asserted the existence of a
deity, that, acting wisely but necessarily,
contrived the general system of the world;
from which, by a series of causes, whatever
is now done in it unavoidably results. Moham-
med introduced into his Koran the doctrine of
absolute predestination of the course of human
affairs. He represented life and death, pros-
perity and adversity, and every event that
befals a man in this world, as the result of a
previous determination of the one God who
rules over all. Augustine, and the whole of
the earliest reformers, but especially Calvin,
favoured this doctrine. It was generally as;
serted, and publicly owned, in most of the
confessions of faith of the reformed churches,
and particularly in the Church of England;
and to this we may add, that it was main-
tained by a great number, of divines in the
last two centuries.
As to the nature of these decrees, it must
be observed that they are not the result of
deliberation, or the Almighty’s debating mat-
ters within himself, reasoning in his own
mind about the expediency or inexpediency
of things, as creatures do; nor are they
merely ideas of things future, but settled de-
terminations founded on his sovereign will
and pleasure. Is. x1. 14. They are to be con-
sidered as eternal: this is evident; for if God
be eternal, consequently his purposes must be
of equal duration with himself; to suppose
otherwise, would be to suppose that there was
a time when he was undetermined and muta-
ble; whereas no new determinations or after
thoughts can arise in his mind. Job xxiii.
13, 14.—2. They are free, without any com-
pulsion, and not excited by any motive out of
himself. Rom. ix. 15.—~3. They are infinitely
wise, displaying his glory, and promoting the
general good. Rom. xi. 33.—4. They are im-
mutable, for this is the result of his being in-
finitely perfect; for if there were the least
change in God’s understanding, it would be
an instance of imperfection. Mal. iii. 6.—
5. They are extensive or universal, relating
to all creatures and things in heaven, earth,
and hell. Eph. i. 11. Prov. xvi. 4.--6. They
are secret, or at least cannot be known till he
be pleased to discover them. It is therefore
presumption for any to attempt to enter into
or judge of his secret purpose, or to decide

upon what he has not revealed. Deut. xxix.
29. Nor is an unknown or supposed decree
at any time to be the rule of our conduct.
His revealed will alone must be considered as
the rule by which we are to judge of the
event of things, as well as of our conduct at
large. Rom. xi. 34.——-7. Lastly, they’ are ef-
fectual; for as he is infinitely wise to plan,
so he is infinitely powerful to perform: his
counsel shall stand, and he will do all his
pleasure. Is. xlvi. 10.
This doctrine should teach us--1. Admira-
tion. “ He is the rock, his work is perfect,
for all his ways are judgment; a God of
truth, and without iniquity; just and right is
he.” Deut. xxxii. 4.—-2. Reverence. “ Who
would not fear thee, 0 king of nations? for
to thee doth it appertain.” J er. x. 7 .—3. Hu—
mility. “ O the depth of the riches, both of
the wisdom and knowledge of God! how un-
searchable are his judgments, and his ways
past finding out!” Rom. xi. 33.—4. Sub-
mission. “For he doeth according to his
will in the armies of heaven, and among the
inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay
his hand, or say unto him—What doest
thou?” Dan. iv. 35.—5. Desire for heaven.
“What I do, thou knowest not now; but
thou shalt know hereafter.” John xiii. 7. See
NECESSITY, Pnnnns'rma'rron.
DEGREES or CoUNcILs, are the laws made
by them to-regulate the doctrine and policy
of the church.
DEcRn'mL, a letter of a pope, determining
some point of question in the ecclesiastical
law. The decretals compose the second part
of the canon law. The first genuine one, ac-
knowledged by all the learned as such, is at‘
letter of Pope Siricius, written in the year
385, to Himerus, bishop of Tarragona, in
Spain, concerning some disorders which had
crept into the churches of Spain. The oldest
collection of decretals was made by Isidore,
of Seville, (who died 636,) and is yet extant
in manuscript. Gratian published a collection
of decretals, containing all the ordinances
made by the popes till the year 1150. Gre-
gory IX., in 1227, following the example of
Theodosius and Justinian, formed a consti-
tution of his own, collecting into one body all‘
the decisions and all the causes which served
to advance the papal power; which collection
of decretals was called the Pentateuch, be-
cause it contained five books.
DEDICATION, a religious ceremony, where-
by any person or thing is solemnly conse-
crated, or set apart to the service of God and
the purposes of religion.
The use of dedications is very ancient, both
among the worshippers of the true God, and
among the heathen. ' In the Scripture, we
meet with dedications of the tabernacle, al-
tars, 8tc. Under Christianity, dedication is
only applied to a church, and is properly the
consecration thereof. See CONSECRATION.
DEI
DEI
233
DEFENCE. See SELF—DEFENCE.
DEFENDER or THE FAITH, (Fidei Defen-
sor,) a peculiar title belonging to the king of
England; as Catholicus, to the king of Spain;
Christianissimus, to the king of France; and
Apostolz'eus, to the king of Hungary, &c
These titles were given by the popes of Rome.
That of Fidei Defensor was conferred by Leo
X. on King Henry VIII. for writing against
- Martin Luther; and the bull for it bears date
quinto z'dus, October, 1521. It was afterwards
confirmed by Clement VII. But the Pope,
on Henry’s suppressing the houses of reli-
gion, at the time of the Reformation, not only
deprived him of his title, but deposed him of
his crown also ; though, in the thirty-fifth
year of his reign, his title, 860. was confirmed
by parliament, and has continued to be used
by all his successors. Chamberlayne says,
the title belonged to the kings of England be-
fore that time, and for proof hereof appeals
to several charters granted to the University
of Oxford: so that Pope Leo’s hull was only
a renovation of an ancient right.
DEGRADATION, ECCLESIASTICAL, is the de-
privation of a priest of his dignity. We have
an instance of it in the eighth century, at
Constantinople, in the person of the patriarch
Constantine, who was made to go out of the
church backwards, stripped of his pallium,
and anathematized. In our own country,
Cranmer was degraded by order of the bloody
queen Mary. They dressed him in episcopal
'robes, made only of canvas; put the mitre on
his head, and the pastoral staff in his hand,
and in this attire showed him to the people,
and then stripped him piece by piece.
DEIs'rs, a class whose distinguishing cha-
racter it is, not to profess any particular form
or system of religion, but only to acknowledge
the existence of a God, and to follow the light
of nature, rejecting revelation and opposing
Christianity. The name of deists seems to
have been first assumed, as the denomination
of a party, about the middle of the sixteenth
century, by some gentlemen in France and
Italy, who were desirous of thus disguising
their opposition to Christianity by a more
honourable appellation than that of atheists.
Viret, an eminent reformer, mentions certain
persons in his epistle dedicatory, prefixed to
the second volume of his “ Instruction Chré-
tienne,” published in 1653, who called them-
selves by a new name, that of deists. These,
he tells us, professed to believe 'in God, but
showed no regard to Jesus Christ, and con-
sidered the doctrine of the apostles and evan-
gelists as fables and dreams. He adds, that
they laughed at all religion, though they cut-
wardly conformed to the religion of those
with whom they lived, or whom they wished
to please, or feared to offend. Some, he ob-
served, professed to believe the immortality
of the soul; others denied both this doctrine
and that of providence. Many of them were
‘
considered as persons of acute and subtile
genius, and took pains in disseminating their
notions. The deists hold, that, considering
the multiplicity of religions, the numerous
pretences to revelation, and the precarious
arguments generally advanced in proof there-
of, the best and surest way is to return to the
simplicity of nature, and the belief of one
God; which is the only truth agreed to by
all nations. They complain, that the free-
dom of thinking and reasoning is oppressed
under the yoke of religion, and that the minds
of men are tyrannized over, by the necessity
imposed on them of believing inconceivable
mysteries; and contend that nothing should
be required to be assented to or believed, but
what their reason clearly conceives. The
distinguishing character of modern deists is,
that they discard all pretences to revelation
as the effects of imposture or enthusiasm.
They profess a regard for natural religion,
though they are far from being agreed in
their notions concerning it.
They are classed, by some of their own
writers, into mortal and immortal deists; the
latter acknowledging a future state, and the
former denying it, or representing it as very
uncertain. Dr. Clarke distinguishes four sorts
of deists. 1. Those who pretend to believe
the existence of an eternal, infinite, indepen-
dent, intelligent Being, who made the world,
without concerning himself in the government
of it.——2. Those who believe the being and
natural providence of God, but deny the dif-
ference of actions as morally good or evil,
resolving it into the arbitrary constitution of
human laws; and therefore they suppose that
God takes no notice of them. With respect
to both these classes, he observes, that their
opinions can consistently terminate in nothing
but downright atheism.--3. Those who, hav-
ing right apprehensions concerning the na-
ture, attributes, and all-governing providence
of God, seem also to have some notion of his
moral perfections; though they consider
them as transcendant, and such in nature and
degree, that we can form no true judgment,
nor argue with any certainty concerning
them: but they deny the immortality of hu-
man souls; alleging that men perish at death,
and that the present life is the whole of hu~
man existence—4. Those who believe the
existence, perfections, and providence of God,
the obligations of natural religion, and ' a
state of future retribution, on the evidence of
the light of nature, without a divine revela-
tion: such as these, he says, are the only
true deists: but their principles, he appre-
hends, should lead them to embrace Christi-
anity ; and therefore he concludes that there
is now no consistent scheme of deism in the
world. The first deistical writer of any note
that appeared in this country, was Herbert,
baron of Cherbury. He lived and wrote in
the seventeenth century. His book “ De
_ *DE L
DEL
This, together with his book “ De Causis
Errorum,” and his treatise “ De Religione
Laici,” were afterwards published in London.
His celebrated work “De Religione Genti-
lium,” was published at Amsterdam in 1663,
in 4to., and in 1700 in 8vo. ; and an English
translation of it was published at London in
1705. As he was one of the first that formed
deism into a system, and asserted the sufli-
ciency, universality, and absolute perfection
- of natural religion, with a view to discard all
extraordinary revelation as useless and need-
less, we shall subjoin the five fundamental
articles of this universal religion. They are
these :—1. There is one supreme God—2.
That he is chiefly to be worshipped—3. That
piety and virtue are the principal part of his
worship—4. That we must repent of our
sins; and if we do so, God will pardon them.
—-5. That there are rewards for good men,
and punishments for bad men, both‘here and
hereafter. A number of advocates have ap-
peared in the same cause; and however they
may have differed among themselves, they
have agreed in their attempts to invalidate
the evidence and authority of divine revela-
tion. We might mention Hobbes, Blount,
Toland, Collins, Woolston, Tindal, Morgan,
Chubb, Lord Bolingbroke, Hume, Gibbon,
Paine, and some add Lord Shaftesbury to
the number. Among foreigners, Voltaire,
Rousseau, Condorcet, and many other cele-
brated French authors, have rendered them-
selves conspicuous by their deistical writings.
“But,” as one observes, “ the friends of
Christianity have no reason to regret the free
and unreserved discussion which their reli-
gion has undergone. Objections have been
stated and urged in their full force, and as
fully answered; arguments and raillery have
been repelled; and the controversy between
Christians and Deists has called forth a great
number of excellent writers, who have illus-
trated both the doctrines and evidences of
Christianity in a manner that will ever re-
flect honour on their names, and be of lasting
service to the cause of genuine religion, and
the best interests of mankind.” See articles
CHRISTIANITY, INFIDELITY, INsrInA'rIoN,
and SCRIPTURE, in this work. Leland’s View
of Deistical Writers ; Sermons at Boyle’s Lec-
ture ; Halyburton’s Natural Religion insufli-
cient ; Leslie’s Short Method with the Deists;
Bishop Watson’s Apology for the Bible; Ful-
ler’s Gospel of Christ its own Witness,- Bi-
shop Porteus’s Charge to the Clergy for 1794 ;
and his Summary of the Evidences of Christi-
anitg.
DEITY or CHRIST. See J ESUS CHRIST.
DELUGE, the flood which overflowed and
destroyed the earth. This flood makes one
of the most considerable epochas in chrono-
logy. Its history is given by Moses, Gen. vi.
and vii. Its time is fixed by the best chro-
234
Veritate,” was first published at Paris in 1624.

nologers to the year from the creation 1656,
answering to the year before Christ 2293.
From this flood, the state of the world is di-
vided into diluvian and antediluvian.
Men who have not paid that regard to sa-
cred history which it deserves, have cavilled at
the account given of an universal deluge.
Their objections principally turn upon three
points :—1. The want of any direct history
of that event by the profane writers of anti-
quity.-—2. The apparent impossibility of ac-
counting for the quantity of water necessary
to overflow the whole earth to such a depth
as it is said to have been.—And, 3. There
appearing no necessity for an universal de—
luge, as the same end might have been ac-
complished by a partial one.
To the above arguments we oppose the plain
declarations of Scripture. God declared to
Noah that he was resolved to destroy every
thing that had breath under heaven, or had
life on the earth, by a flood of waters; such
was the threatening, such was the execution.
The waters, Moses assures us, covered the
whole earth, buried all the mountains ; every
thing perished therein that had life, excepting
Noah and those with him in the ark. Can an
universal deluge be more clearly expressed P
If the deluge had only been partial, there had
been no necessity to spend an hundred years
in the building of an ark, and shutting up all
sorts of animals therein, in order to re-stock
the world; they had been easily and readily
brought from those parts of the world not
overflowed into those that were; at least all
the birds would never have been destroyed,
as Moses says they were, so long as they had
wings to hear them to those parts where the
flood did not reach. If the waters had only
overflowed the neighbourhood of the Euphra-
tes and the Tigris, they could not be fifteen
cubits above the highest mountains; there was
no rising that height but they must spread
themselves, by the laws of gravity, over the
rest of the earth; unless, perhaps, they had
been retained there by a miracle : in that case
Moses, no doubt, would have related the mira-
cle, as he did that of the waters of the Red
Sea, &c. It may also be observed, that in the
regions far remote from the Euphrates and
Tigris, viz., Italy, France, Switzerland, Ger-
many, England, &c., there are frequently
found in places many scores of leagues from
the sea, and even in the tops of high moun»
tains, whole trees sunk deep under ground,
as also teeth and bones of animals, fishes en-
tire, sea shells, ears of corn, &c., petrified,
which the best naturalists are agreed could
never have come there but by the deluge.
That the Greeks ‘and western nations had
some knowledge of the flood, has never been
denied; and the Africans, Chinese, and Ame-
ricans, have traditions of the deluge. The
ingenious Mr. Bryant, in his Mythology, has
pretty clearly proved that the deluge,,so far
O
* 'DEM
" DEM
235
from being unknown to the heathen world at
large, is‘ in reality conspicuous throughout
every one of their acts of religious worship.
In India, also, Sir WiHiam Jones has disco-
vered, that in the oldest mythological books
of that country, there is such an account of
the deluge as corresponds sufiiciently with
that of Moses.
Various have been the conjectures of learn-
ed men as to the natural causes of the deluge.
Some have supposed that a quantity of water
was created on purpose, and at a proper time
annihilated by divine power. Dr. Burnet sup-
poses the primitive earth to have been no more
than a crust investing the water contained in
the ocean, and in the central abyss which he
and others suppose to exist in the bowels of the
earth; at the time of the flood, this outward
crust broke in a thousand pieces, and sunk
down among the water, which thus spouted
up in vast cataracts and overflowed the whole
surface. Others, supposing a suflicient fund
of water in the sea or abyss, think that the
shifting of the earth’s centre of gravity drew
after it the water out of the channel, and over-
whelmed the several parts of the earth suc-
cessively. Others ascribe it to the shock of a
comet; and Mr. King supposed it to arise
from subterraneous fires bursting forth with
great violence under the sea. But are not
most, if not all these hypotheses quite arbi-
trary, and without foundation from the words
of Moses? It is, perhaps, in vain to attempt
accounting for this event by natural causes, it
being altogether miraculous and supernatural,
as a punishment to men for the corruption then
in the world. Let us be satisfied with the
sources which Moses gives us, namely, the
fountains of the great deep broken up, and
the windows of heaven opened; that is, the
waters rushed out from the hidden abyss of
the bowels of the earth, and the clouds poured
down their rain incessantly. Let it sufiice
us to know, that all the elements are under
v(Jlod’s power; that he can do with them as
he pleases, and frequently in ways we are ig-
norant of, in order to accomplish his own
purposes.
The principal writers on this subject have
been l/Voodyard, C'Ockburn, Bryant, Burnet.
U’histon, Stillz'ngfleet, King, Catcoti, and
Tytler.
DEMONS (Greek datum) and doupomov), a
name given in the New Testament to fallen
angels, or, morally evil and impure spirits,
and in some instances, such as Acts xvi. 18 ;
1 Cor. x. 20,‘ 21 ; 1 Tim. iv. 1 ; Rev. ix. 20,
to heathen gods, human spirits whom the
heathen deified and worshipped, and the ca-
nomzed saints of corrupt churches. Accord-
1ng_to the heathen philosophers, demons held
a middle rank between the celestial gods and
men upon earth, and carried on all intercourse
between them; conveying the addresses of
men to the gods, and the divine benefits to
men. They also believed that some of them
were employed in executing the vengeance of
the gods on the impious. Agreeably to this
view, they divided their demons into two
kinds : ayaeodatpwv, svdatpwv, a good de-
mon, or tutelary genius, whom they assigned
to every one at his birth, to watch over his
character, fortunes, &c. ; and Icalcodatpwv, a
malignant demon, who thwarts, vexes, and
injures any one.
DEMONIAC, one possessed or affected by a
demon or demons. The subject of demo-
niacal possession, since the time of J os. Mede,
has given rise to much discussion. One class
of writers have supposed that the demoniacs
were merely madmen; others that the bodies
of human beings were actually possessed,
controlled, governed, and inhabited by wicked
and impure spirits. Among the supporters of
the former opinion are Heinsius, Mede, Sykes,
Mead, Farmer, Lardner, and, almost without
exception, modern Socinian and Rationalist
writers. On the other side of the question may
be placed the uniform interpretation of the pas-
sages in the New Testament, in which the sub-
ject is spoken of, in their literal sense, by the
ancient church, the best commentators, and
those generally bearing the name of orthodox in
every age, and among all sects coming under
this denomination. The following is a brief
summary of the respective arguments on both
sides, beginning with those which have been
advanced against actual possession. 1. The
word demon properly signifies the soul of a
dead person, which it cannot be supposed is
referred to where speeches and actions are im-_
puted to the imaginary demoniac. In reply to
this, it has been deemed sufiicient to maintain
that the word does not uniformly denote the
spirits of the departed—2. Among the hea-
thens lunacy and epilepsy were ascribed to the
operation of certain demons, who were there-
fore called larvati and cerrz'ti. To this it has
been answered, that it is not impossible but
that the heathens were right; but that, at all
events, their opinion, whether right or wrong,
is no proof that the Jews were in error ,- for
the demoniacs of Scripture are represented as
difi‘ering from insane and epileptic persons.
Compare Matt. iv. 24, where the 5atpozw9oae—
vovg are opposed to the o'ehnmalopwovg, the
wapahvrucovg, and the 7TOUfl>\al§ 'IIOO'OLQ, mu
Baum/org lo'vvsxoasvovg. And in chap. x. l,
the power to cast out demons is expressly dis-
tinguished from the power of healing all man-
ner of sickness, and all manner of disease.
See also Luke iv. 33—36 : compare especially
ver. 41 with ver. 40, where the contrast is
most striking—3. It is argued that the Jews
had the same idea of these diseases, and the
instance of Saul’s madness, and Matt. xvii.
14,15; John vii. 20; viii. 48, 52; x. 20; are
adduced to prove the assertion. These pas-
sages certainly prove that lunatics, epileptics,
and demoniacs are sometimes synonymous
D E M
‘DEM
236
' the immaterial principle in man.
terms; but this admission will only go to show
that they were occasionally identified; while
the argument deduced from the contrast be-
tween lunatics and demoniacs in the passages
quoted above will not be destroyed—4. Christ
is said to have adopted the common language
‘of the people, which it was not necessary to
change. He was not sent to correct the mis-
takes which existed in the popular philosophy
of the day in which he lived._ This argument
takes for granted the very point to be proved.
But is such an accommodation as it supposes
for a moment to be reconciled with the cha-
racter of such a teacher as Jesus? If the de-
mons were simply natural diseases, was it not
of the highest importance for him to have un-
deceived his contemporaries on these points,
and to have corrected the false and pernicious
philosophy of the age? Were we to follow
out this principle of accommodation, we
might explain away most of our Lord’s doc-
trines, and regard them as mere Jewish no-
tions, which indeed has been done by the So-
cinians and Rationalists of Germany.~5. No
reason can be given why there should be de—
moniacal possessions in our Lord’s time, and
not at present, when we have no grounds to
suppose that any instances of this nature any-
where occur. In reply to this objection, it
vmay be observed, that these possessions were
then permitted in order to give to the devil’s
hostility to man an ocular perceptibility; to
place in a clear light the power and benevo-
lence of the Lord Jesus in defeating the bane-
ful purposes of this ancient enemy of the hu-
man race, and to confute the error so preva-
lent among the Sadducees, who atfirmed that
there was neither angel nor spirit.
In addition to the arguments just produced
in refutation of the anti-demonianists, the
following positions may be laid down in sup-
port of real possession :—
1. The doctrine of demoniacal possessions
is consistent with the whole tenor of Scrip-
ture. Evil is there represented as having
been introduced by abeing of this description,
who in some wonderful manner influenced
The con-
tinuance of evil in the world is frequently
imputed to the continued agency of the same
being. His delight is in every possible way
to harass and injure mankind, both as to mind
and outward estate. See Job passim.
2. The doctrine is consistent with the die-
tates of reason. If one man may cause evil
to another, a thing which is done in thousands
of instances every day, is it not possible that
evils of a different kind might be produced
by means of other beings, while the moral
government of God remained ummpeached?
3. The supposition that the demoniacs
spoken of in Scripture were lunatics, is fraught
with numerous and insuperable difliculties.
The facts recorded of them demonstrate that
they were not merely such. Insane persons
either reason rightly on wrong grounds, or
wrongly on right grounds, or blend right and
wrong’ together. But these demoniacs rea-
soned rightly on right grounds. They uttered
propositions undeniably true, and such as were
always ' perfectly adapted to the occasions.
They excelled in the accuracy of their know-
ledge the disciples themselves; at least we
never find any of these applying to our Lord
the epithet of “ the Holy One of God.” They
were alike consistent in their knowledge
and their language. Their bodies were agi-
tated and convulsed. The powers of their
minds were controlled in such a manner, that
their actions were unreasonable; yet they ad-
dressed our Lord in a consistent and rational,
though in an appalling and mysterious man-
ner. Our Lord answered them, not by appeal-
ing to the individuals whose actions had been
so irrational, but‘to something distinct from
them, which he requires and commands to
leave them: that is, to evil spirits, whose
mode of continuing evil in such instances
had been so fearfully displayed. These evil
spirits answer him by an intimate knowledge
of his person and character, which was hidden
from the wise and prudent of the nation. Be-
fore him, astheir future judge, they believed
and trembled, saying, “ Art thou come to tor-
ment us before the time?”
It is an admirable observation of J ortin on
this point, that where any circumstances are
added concerning the demoniacs, they are
generally such as show that there was some-
thing preternatural in the case; for these
afiiicted persons unanimously joined in doing
homage to Christ and his apostles: they all
knew him, and united in confessing his divinity.
If, on the contrary, they had been lunatics,
some would have worshipped, and some would
have reviled him, according to the various
ways in which the disease had affected their
minds.
4. The other facts recorded of the de-
moniacs'are such as render it impossible, on
any fair principles of interpretation, to con-
clude that they were merely insane. The
principal of these is that most extraordinary
event of the possession of the herd of swine,
by the same demons which had formerly
shown their malignity in the human form.
This extraordinary event cannot be accounted
for, except upon the commonly received literal
interpretation of the evangelic narrative in
which it is recorded. Nothing can be more
absurd and trifling than the attempts that
have been _made to explain it on _ other
grounds.
Whatever difficulties may seem to attach
to the commonpsimple, and ancient interpre-
tation of the difl‘erent cases of possession, it
must be regarded as most probably correct,
for this very satisfactory reason, that the dif—
ficulties of the new interpretation are always
greater. On one side we have the wonderful
DEN
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237
doctrine, that it pleased the Almighty to per-
mit invisible and evil beings to possess them—
selves, in some incomprehensible manner, of
the bodies and souls of men. On the other,
we have Christ the revealer of truth, estab-
lishing falsehood, sanctioning error, or en-
couraging deception. We have ‘the evan-
gelists inconsistent with themselves, and a
narrative, which is acknowledged to be m-
spired, and to be intended for the unlearned,
unintelligible and false. Between ‘such difii-
culties I prefer the former; and if I cannot
comprehend how such things could be, I sub-
mit to the infinite wisdom and power of the
Supreme, and surrender my reason to. the
guidance of Divine Revelation. _The differ-
ence between Christianity and philosophy, or
the mode of speculating which assumes that
title, may be said to consist in this. ‘In mat-
ters of philosophy, the vulgar may be m error,
and the speculatists may be_ rlght; but 1n
Christianity, the popular oplmon is generally
right. The philosopher who would fashion
the statements of Scripture according to his
own notions of truth and falsehood, is sure to
conclude with error. _
DENOMINATIONS, THE THREE, the desig-
nation given to an association of Dissenting
ministers residing in and about London, he-
longing to the Presbyterian, Independent,_and
Baptist denominations, and usually described
as—“ The General Body of Protestant Dis-
senting Ministers of London and Westmin-
ster.” The origin of this association 1s 11}-
volved in some obscurity; for while it IS
certain the Dissenting ministers of London
associated to present addresses to Charles 11.,
James II., and William and Mary, it never--
theless appears, from Calamy’s Life, that 1t
was only on the accession of Queen Anne,
that those of the three denominations united
in an address at court. This body was not
organized till 1727, in which year it wasde-
termined that “ no persons be allowed to Join
the Association of Protestant Dissentmg
Ministers, but such as are approved by one or
other of the Three Denominations.” _Each
denomination has, therefore, its own distinct
board of approved ministers, which is entirely
self-constituted, not being in any way elected
or supported by the churches; and 1t 1s through
such.board that ministers become members of
the general body. _ _
The first meetings of the ministers were
held in the Dissenting Meeting-houses; but
after the erection of Dr. Williams’s Library
in Red Cross Street, permission was obtained
from its trustees to meet there; which per-
mission has ever since been renewed by an
annual vote, so that the body of assoc1ated
ministers has no connexion with the funds or
trust of the library, as many have erroneously
supposed.
No explicit avowal has ever been made of
the objects of this association; but it appears,
beyond dispute, that its earlier proceedings
were not confined to political discussions or
loyal addresses to the throne. Dr. Calamy
has recorded, that he “ preached, in October,
1731, the first sermon to ministers in Dr. Wil-
liams’s Library ;” and his editor adds, in a
note, “ a comic ad clerum continued for some
years.” At that period the members of the
body were so far united in religious senti-
ment, that they could join together in acts of
Christian worship; but the existence and
spread of Arianism and Socinianism in the
Presbyterian and Baptist boards has for a
long time, compelled them to confine their
proceedings to matters connected with the
political rights and circumstances of Dissent-
ers, and other topics of national interest, in
reference to which they wish to express their
OPlIllOn.
This body is very attentive to etiquette,
being observant of the births, marriages,
deaths, &c., of the members of the royal family.
They accordingly vote dutiful and loyal ad-
dresses either of congratulation or condolence,
as the case may require. On the accession of
the sovereign, they enjoy the privilege of ad-
dressing the king on the throne, when the
whole body are introduced, and have the
honour of kissing hands. On other occasions,
they present their addresses by a deputation
of about twenty, who are received in the royal
closet.
The General Body probably includes one
hundred and fifty members, about one half of
which are of the Independent or Congrega-
tional board. The Socinians form a very
small minority of the whole body.
DEPRAVITY, corruption, a change from
perfection to imperfection. See FALL, SIN.
DEPnEoAjroRY, a term applied to the man-
ner of performing some ceremonies in the
form of prayer. The form of absolution in
the Greek Church is deprecative, thus ex-
pressed—“ May God absolve you ;” whereas
in the Latin Church it is declarative—“ I ah-
solve you.”
DEPUTIES, a committee of gentlemen an-
nually chosen by the several congregations of
Protestant Dissenters of London and its vicin-
1ty, for the purpose of protecting their civil
rlghts. It originated at a general meeting
held on the 9th of November, 1732, in the
meeting-house, Silver Street, London, to con-
sider of an application to the legislature for
the repeal of the Corporation and Test Acts,
when a committee of twenty-one persons was
appointed to mature the measure. At a sub-
sequent meeting, on the 29th of the same
month, it was resolved,—that every congre_
gation of the three denominations of Protest-
ant Dissenters, Presbyterian, Independents,
and Baptists, in and within twelve miles of
London, should be recommended to appoint
two deputies. This appointment accordingly
took place; and the idea being suggested that
DER
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238
it would be very advantageous to Dissenters
to have a permanent body to superintend
their civil concerns, it was finally resolved that
the appointment should be annual ; and the
first meeting of deputies, elected in pursuance
of these resolutions, was held at Salter’s Hall,
January 12, 1736-1737. Since that time the
election has regularly taken place, and the
committee have unremittingly watched over
bills brought into parliament in any way
affecting Dissenters,—kept alive an interest
in behalf of the repeal of the Test and Cor-
poration Acts,—-supported every measure
which promised to be beneficial in extending
and consolidating religious liberty,——and suc-
cessfully exerted themselves in protecting in-
dividual ministers and congregations against
those molestations to which they have been
exposed on the part of bigoted and persecut-
ing churchmen.
DERVISH, derived from two Turkish words,
der, “ a door,” and vish, “ extended,” be-
cause the wandering poor often laid them-
selves down before the doors of the wealthy
—is applied to him who voluntarily embraces
poverty, and adheres to it as a religious pro-
fession. Like fakz'r, in the Arabic, it signifies
originally one who has neither fire nor fixed
place of abode. The first founders of the
order had considerable difliculty in effecting
the innovation into Mohammedanism; they
were restrained by the popular prohibition,
—-no monkery in Islamism! Hence they
took care to leave out vows of chastity, and
of living in community; nor did they exact a
too severe obligation to fast and pray. Like
all enthusiasts, they doubtless wished to dis-
cover some way of worshipping that should
more efiicaciously obtain the favour of Hea-
ven. But in false religion there are always
as many knaves as enthusiasts; perhaps, in-
deed, the two characters are oftener com-
bined in the same person than we suspect.
Hence the first dervishes aimed at astonish-
ing the multitude as much as propitiating the
Divine favour, by their violent and whimsical
exercises—by their austerities and macera-
tions. In the latter respect, they have left
Christian monks far behind. Yet, with all
their foolery,—and, we may safely add, their
roguery,—-the doctrines which they taught
were remarkable for their morality, and,
above all, for inculcating a constant com-
munion with God.
The Turkish dervishes pretend that their
origin may be traced to Ali, and even to
Abubekr—the first of the four immediate
successors of Mohammed. But Ali, the fourth
of those caliphs, was no dervish. He insti-
tuted no order: he was merely the first Mus-
sulman who renounced riches, which be dis-
tributed to the poor. His example was imi-
tated by others after him; so that, insensibly,
a class of persons arose, who, like the Sisters
of Mercy, devoted themselves to the service
of the indigent and the helpless, and reduced
themselves to voluntary poverty. But things
soon changed. The legacies left by the faith-
ful for the use of the poor were intrusted to
the distribution of these zealous men, and
thus the order became inscnsibly'possessed of
great riches. Besides, men so pious must
necessarily have interest in heaven: hence
their prayers must be purchased—a fruitful
source of income. But human avarice is in-
satiable; and our dervishes, like their bre-
thren of a purer faith, hit on another expe-
dient: they manufactured and sold amulets,
as the latter did relics, to which their knavery
assigned miraculous virtues. Thus they ac-
quired great consideration, and their order
daily augmented by votaries, not from the
lowest only, but from the highest ranks in
society.
When one order was established, nothing
could be easier than to establish others; for
knavery is always fertile in invention. Of
these, no fewer than thirty-two successively.
appeared, each endeavouring to outdo the
other in address of discipline and extrava-
gance of manner. Of course, all this was in-
tended to have its effect on spectators; and
that effect it assuredly produced. No man
will act the mountebank for nothing: super-
stition has its jack-puddings as well as Bar-
tholomew fair; and the object of both is in
many cases the same. The dervishes grew
rich and respected. They can say what
they like with perfect impunity, even to
the highest. They follow the army to the
field, and, with the Koran in hand, animate
the warriors of the faith (so are Mussulman
soldiers called) against all infidels and mis-
believers.
The dervishes who live in community, and
who constitute by far the greater number,
have their superior or sheikh, and are subject
to a noviciate and religious practices, inde-
pendent of the prayers which every Mussul-
man is bound to repeat. As celibacy is not
strictly enjoined, though the observance of
it is encouraged, many are married. These
do not, however, live in community: they
have all their separate establishments; but all
are expected to pass the night preceding any
public exhibition, in the religious retirement
to which they belong. Besides these, there
are the travelling dervishes, who are con-
tinually rambling from one part' of the Mo-
hammedan world to the other,—some to
preach, some on pilgrimage, many to beg and
plunder.
Of the numerous order of dervishes for-
merly subsisting in Turkey, three only are
deserving the notice of the reader,——the Mev-
levy, the Bedevy, and the Rufai; and even
of these the Mevlevy are the only ones who
are held in any degree of repute, at least
among the higher classes.
I. The Mevlevy had for their founder
" n E u
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239
Mevlana-Jelaleddin-Hoomy-Muhammed,who
was surnamed Sultan-ul-Ulema, or Sovereign
of the Learned. He was born at Balk, in
Chorasan, A. H. 604. His descent was noble:
his parental grandfather had married the
daughter of Alaeddin (Aladdin), one of the
kings of Chorasan ; besides, that grandfather
himself was descended, on the paternal side,
from the Caliph Abubekr, and had for his
mother a princess of the country.
J elaleddin taught publicly in Conia (Ico-
nium) just like the ancient philosophers.
The whole city was eager to profit by his
instructions.
Shemseddin arrived from Tauris, and pro-
duced a great change in the habits of Jela-
leddin. This Shemseddin was also descended
from Abubekr, and was himself sheikh of an
order of dervishes. His severer principles
would not permit him to see, without pain, so
eminent a doctor as Jelaleddin so much at-
tached to the things of the world. He pre-
vailed on the latter to suspend all teaching,
and to pass several successive weeks with
him in his retirement. This dissatisfied the
disciples of J elaleddin, who conspired against
the life of the obnoxious dervish. The latter,
however, saved himself by a timely flight;
and the other was so disconsolate for the loss
of ' his friend, that he renounced the world,
and in 643 founded the order of the Mevlevy
Dervishes. He composed a work called
“ Mesnevy,” which contains some of the most
popular poetry in the East—so popular, in-
deed, that many of his moral distichs have
long been proverbial; and the chanting of
his odes constitutes the chief occupation of
his followers.
Jelaleddin died in 672, after bestowing
such lustre on his order that it was recog-
nised as superior to all the rest. The pre-
sent sheikh of that order is Cheleby-Efi‘endy,
whose residence isalso at Conia. As the
successor of Jelaleddin, he has the right of
nominating the sheikhs of each religious
house, and he has the still more envied pre-
rogative of girding every newly-made sultan
with the sword of Othman.
The candidate for the honoured profession
of Mevlevy must renounce the vanities of the
world, and perform the meanest ofiices in the
kitchen during his noviciate of a thousand
and one days; nor is he permitted to go out-
side the inclosnre before the expiration of
that period. The sheikh then assigns him an
apartment among his brethren, and admits
him to all ‘the religious ceremonies of the
order.
Two days every week,—on Tuesdays and
Fridays—these dervishes perform their pub-
he exercises in an octangular hall, which they
term their oratory; it has two galleries, and
is dedicated to that purpose alone. That hall
has no other ornament than the name of the
founder, in large letters of gold. Just below
But in A. H. 642, a man named‘

the name is the place of the sheikh, indicated
by a sheepskin spread on the floor. Opposite
to this is what may be termed the orchestra,
where several of the brethren sit and play on
musical instruments. There is also a grated
place for the sultan, who is sometimes present
on these occasions.
At twelve o’clock, the doors of the oratory
are opened; the curious enter in great num-
bers, and occupy the galleries. Soon some
of the dervishes arrive, salute the name of
their founder, and kneel round the hall. They
then prostrate their foreheads to the ground,
raise themselves, and sit on their heels. The
sheikh enters in his turn, salutes the same
revered name, takes his place, and begins the
prayer called Fat-ha. After the dervishes
in the orchestra sing a Persian ode, which
they accompany with music.
In the mean time, the remaining brethren
have arrived, and taken their places, after the
necessary Salutation and prostration. When
all are assembled, the orchestra of little kettle-
drums, and fifes made of Indian reed, strikes
up an air, which at first is very measured;
but suddenly it becomes animated, when all
the dervishes rise, and, with the sheikh at
their head, slowly pace the room three times.
The third turn being made, the superior
stands still: every brother passes, makes him
a low bow, seizes his hand, lifts it to his lips
and forehead, and begins to turn round.
Now begins the real entertainment, in
which every punch exhibits his part. Every
one turns round, at first leisurely, but as the
music from the orchestra becomes more ani-
mated, with increased velocity, until the eye
can scarcely follow the rapidity of the gym--
tions. The music is accompanied by the
chanting of an ode, which describes the
duties and praises the profession of the-
dervish. The number of those who are at
one time occupied in this whirligig foolery,
varies from nine to thirteen,-—the time from
five to seven minutes. They are then relieved
by an equal number, but each band resumes
the exercise three or four times during the
exhibition. While these harlequins are thus
occupied, the Simazen-Bashy, or Master of
the Dance,—an old fellow with a cunning
eye,——-observes them very closely, that each
one may preserve the exact circle of his gyra-
tion. ‘When all this is past, and the wor-
shippers completely exhausted with the ac-
tivity of their devotion, the sheikh prays for
the prosperity of the empire and the health
of the sultan. All then leave the place, the
chief closing the rear.
II. In extravagance, the Bedevy, the mem-
bers of which are called Howlers by Europeans,
greatly exceed that of the one we have just
dismissed. The have a religious establish-
ment at St. Dmltry, a village near Constan-
tinople. The place in which they exhibit
themselves is a rectangular room, the walls
DER
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240
of which are liberally covered with short
extracts from the Koran, except where cer-
tain musical instruments are suspended. At
the angle pointing towards the holy city, is
a niche called‘ Mihrab, where the Koran is
carefully preserved. Immediately below is a
bundle of sharp instruments. The name of
the founder occupies one of the most conspi-
cuous parts of the wall. Their religious
exercise is as follows :—
Their ofiice commences with prayer (namez),
repeated by the sheikh. All sit round him,
after prostrating themselves to the earth, and
chant in concert some verses from the Koran,
all the time moving their bodies to right and
left. This prelude continues about half an
hour. Then all rise and gravely seat them-
selves on their heels in the centre of the room,
so as to form right lines. Other prayers are
recited, accompanied by a similar motion of
the body. At a signal from the sheikh, all
rise a second time, advance one foot forward,
and fall back to their former position. This
exercise they continue in exact concert. They
recite all the attributes of God, and in words
resembling the litanies of the Latin Church.
They would appear to have reached their
highest pitch of enthusiasm whenever they
pronounce the word Allah! which they do at
least twenty times a minute: their voice is
then raised to great loudness. The oldest
dervish assists the sheikh, at whose right
hand he is placed in quality of regulator: he
animates his brethren both by voice and
gesture, and thereby gives new vigour to
their howlings. Now each of the dervishes
adopts a peculiar bodily motion; sometimes
from right to left, and at others backwards
and forwards. This emblematic motion is,
according to the founder, intended to repre-
sent the rolling and pitching of a ship when
agitated with the waves: as the ocean may
be said to have no bound, bottom, or shore,
it is considered a feeble symbol of God’s ime
mensity. Now nothing is heard beyond stifled
sounds issuing from the palpitatmg bosoms
of the dervishes; the sweat falls from their
foreheads,-——their lips are covered with foam,
—the veins of their necks are so swelled that
they appear ready to burst. Some fall down,
as if suddenly seized with epilepsy: they
struggle in the arms of their brethren, still
vociferating Allah! Some make a feint of
swooning, and are instantly carried away.
Others appear exhausted with fatigue; and
at the very moment one would think they
were going to die, they revive, and re-com-
mence their howlings with more fury than
ever. Soon, as if in a delirium, they seize
the sharp instruments that blood may be
added to their bellowings.
But enthusiasm, however ardent, is not
always willing to sustain much bodily pain,
and knavery will carefully avoid it. These
. exhibitors take care to scratch the skin only ;
if a few drops of blood besmear the visage,
their purpose is answered just as much as if
they were to let their veins dry. Sometimes,
indeed, some of the tribe may be found whose
faces exhibit doleful marks; but , these are
no better than bunglers, and are doubtless
the laughing-stock of their more adroit
brethren.
The exercises we have described are called
by the dervishes themselves Muchabelé (ex-
altation of the glory of God), and Tewhid
(celebration of the unity of God).
III. Seid-Ahmed-Rufai', who, in A.H. 578,
died in a wood between Bagdad and Bassora,
founded the order which bears his name.
This class of dervishes has great resem-
blance to the Bedevy, like whom they make
devotion to consist in calling on the name of
God in a tone so loud as to spend their breath.
Their religious exercise, or office, is divided
into five parts. The first consists of the
namaz, recited in common, under the direc-
tion of the sheikh, to whom they testify the
signs of respect which are due to his character.
This prayer being ended, all stand upright,
and in right line, occupying the centre of the
room: all begin to chant verses from the
Koran, moving their bodies at the same time
in concert from right to left, but without
changing their position ; gradually they
raise their voices, and accelerate their mo-
tions, according to the direction of their
leader, who beats time with his hands. This
second part of the service is ended by repeat-
ing the attributes of God: this they do with
their eyes shut, and so long that their voice
fails them. A few instants of repose succeed
to such violent exertion. During the neces-
sary suspension, one of the dervishes 'occu-
pying the centre of the line, furnishes himself
with a pair of cymbals, the leader with a
kettle-drum, and a third with a sort of tam-
borine. These instruments are struck up so
as to produce a most discordant sound: this
is the signal for the commencement of the
third portion of service. The music serves
as an accompaniment to the Hamdey-Muham-
medy, or hymns in honour of Mohammed,
which the leader chants, while the others
join in a sort of chorus, consisting of the
words Ya Allah! and Ya H00! These ex-
clamations are terminated by howlings, which
appear like a struggle, or trial, on the part of
the dervishes, to compete with the barbarous
music, that increases in- discordance every
moment. At the fourth division of the ex-
ercises, the sheikh orders the instruments to
be laid aside, and the vocal part of the worship
to be renewed. The Ilahis are then chanted,
——Persian hymns composed by certain saintly
dervishes. The motion of the body, which on
the former occasion was from right to left, is
now changed into a see-saw backwards and
forwards: during this motion all cry Allah!
and H00! with a quickness perpetually in-
D [i S
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241
creasing, and with greater loudness than
before. At this part of the performance,
sharp swords, red hot, are brought into action,
and delivered by the sheikh to the most dex-
terous of the hand. These brandish the for-
midable weapon, and feign to apply it occa-
sionally to their cheeks, or some other part of
the body, and at the same time they describe
innumerable circles with it. When this feat is
performed with velocity and dexterity, who
does not see that the eyes of the spectators
may be deceived—that the sword never comes
in contact with the bare skin? Lastly, to
conclude the jugglery, some prayers are
repeated by the sheikh, and a little spittle
applied to cure a wound which was never
inflicted.
Dnsa'rrn, a lately discovered collection of
sixteen sacred books, consisting of the fifteen
old Persian prophets, together with a book
of Zoroaster. This, at least, is what the book
itself pretends to be.
anywhere, and equally different from the
‘Zend, the Pehlvi, and the modern Persian.
The last of the fifteen prophets, Sasan, who
lived at the time of .the downfall of the Sas-
sanides, when the Arabians conquered the
country, made a literal translation of the
Desatir, which he accompanied with com-
mentaries. This work was afterwards, until
the seventeenth century, one of the chief
sources of the ‘ancient Persian religious doc-
trines, interwoven with astrology and demon-
ology; and, after having been forgotten for-
about a century and a half, was discovered
by a learned Parsée at Ispahan. His son,
Mollah Firuz, was induced, by the Marquess
of Hastings, to publish an edition of it at
Bombay, in 1820, to which Erskine added an
English translation. The translator, however,
considers the collection as spurious; and
Sylvester de Saey (Journal des Savants, Feb.
1821) believes that the Desatir is the work
of a Parsée in the fourth year of the Hegirah,
who, as he thinks, invented the language in
order to give to the collection, which is itself
a collection of old traditions and significant
mysteries, an air of genuineness. Joseph
von Hammer, however, another very eminent
orientalist, is said to consider it to be genuine.
At all events, it is interesting to learn, from
this work, with greater accuracy, an old re-
ligious system of the East, in which are to be
found, with Pandemonium and the metemp-
sychosis, the elements of the worship of the
stars, of astrology, the theurgy, the doctrine
of_ amu'lets, as well as the elements of the
Hmdoo religion, particularly the system of
castes. Yet no trace of any connexion with
the Zendavesta and the magic of the Parsées
I has been found in the Desatir.
_ DESCENT of Christ into hell. See HELL.
DESERTION, a term made use of to denote
The collection is‘
.written in a language not spoken at present

sensible influences of the divine favour being
withdrawn. Some of the best men in all ages
have suffered a temporary suspension of di-
vine enjoyments, Job xxix. 2; Ps. li.; Isa.
xlix. l4; Lam. iii. 1 '; Isaiah i. 10. The
causes of this must not be attributed to the
Almighty, since he is always the same, but
must arise from ourselves. Neglect of duty,
improper views of Providence, self-confidence,
a worldly spirit, lukewarmness of mind, inat-
tention to the means of grace, or open trans-
gre'ssion, may be considered as leading to this
state. The contrary opinion, which has been
called the “ Sovereignty of Desert/ions,” is
liable to many objections, and has been aw-
fully employed to lull the conscience to sleep,
and render it content to remain in a state of
spiritual darkness, instead of its being excited
to self-examination, repentance, and applica-
tion to the only source of pardon, purification,
and peace. As all things, however, are under
the divine control, so even desertion, or, as it
is sometimes expressed, “ the hidings of God’s
face,” may be useful to excite humility, exer-
cise faith and patience, detach us from the
world, prompt to more vigorous action, bring
us to look more to God as the fountain of
happiness, conform us to his word, ad in—
crease our desires for that state of blessedness
which is to come—Hervey’s. Ther. and Asp,
dial. xix. ; lVatts’s M'edz't. on Job xxiii. 3 ;
Lambert’s Sema, vol. i. ser. 16; Flavel’s
Works, vol. i. p. 167, folio.
DESTRUCTIONiSTS, those who believe that
the final punishment threatened in the Gospel
to the wicked and impenitent, consists not in
an eternal preservation in misery and tor-
ment, but in a total extinction of being, and
that the sentence of annihilation shall be exe-
cuted with more or less torment, preceding
_or attending the final period, in proportion to
the greater or less guilt of the criminal.
The name assumed by this denomination,
like those of many others, takes for granted
the question in dispute, viz., that the Scripture
word destruction means annihilation : in strict
propriety of speech, they should be called
Annihilationists. The doctrine is largely main-
tained in the sermons of Mr. Samuel Bourn,
of Birmingham; it was held also by Mr. J.
N. Scott, Dr. J ohn Taylor, of Norwich, Mr.
Marsom, and many others. _
In defence of the system, Mr. Bourn argues
as follows :—-There are many passages of
Scripture in which the ultimate punishment
to which wicked men shall be adjudged is de-
fined, in the most precise and intelligible
terms, to be an everlasting destruction from
the power of God, which is equally able to
destroy as to preserve. So when our Saviour
is fortifying the minds of his disciples against
the power of men, and the punishment of his
justice, he expresseth himself thus :-—‘f Fear
not them that kill the body, and after that
in unhappy state of mind, occasioned by the i have no more that they can do; fear him
it
D E S
DES
242
_ fear.
who is able to destroy both soul and body in
hell.” Here he plainly proposes the destruc-
tion of the soul (not its endless pain and
misery) as the ultimate object of the divine
displeasure, and the greatest object of our
And when he says, “These shall go
away into everlasting punishment, but the
righteous into life eternal,” it appears evident
that by that eternal punishment, which is set
in opposition to eternal life, is not meant any
kind of life, however miserable, but the same
which the apostle expresses by everlasting
destruction from the presence and power of
the Lord. The very term, death, is most fre-
quently made use of to signify the end of
wicked men in another world, or the final
effect of divine justice in their punishment.
The wages of sin (saith the apostle) is death;
but eternal life is the gift of God, through
Christ Jesus our Lord. See also Rom. viii. 6.
To imagine that by the term death is meant
an eternal life, though in a condition of ex-
treme misery, seems, according to him, to be
confounding all propriety and meaning of
words. Death, when applied to the end of
wicked men in a future state, he says, pro-
perly denotes a total extinction of life and
being. It may contribute, he adds, to fix this
meaning, if we observe that the state to which
temporal death reduces men is usually termed
by our Saviour and his apostles sleep; because
from this death the soul shall be raised to life
again : but from the other, which is fully and
properly death, and of which the former is
but an image or shadow, there is no recovery;
it is an eternal death, an everlasting destruc-
tion from the presence of the Lord, and the
glory of his power.
He next proceeds to the figures by which
the eternal punishment of wicked men is de-
scribed, and finds them perfectly agreeing to
establish the same doctrine. One figure of
comparison, often used, is that of combustible
materials thrown into a fire, which will con-
sequently be entirely consumed, if the fire be
not quenched. “ Depart from me, ye cursed,
into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil
and his angels.” The meaning is a total irre—
vocable destruction; for, as the tree that
bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down
and cast into the fire, and is destroyed; as the
useless chafi‘, when separated from the good
grain, is set on ‘fire, and, if the fire be not
quenched, is consumed: so, he thinks, it
plainly appears, that the image of unquench-
able or everlasting fire is not intended to sig-
nify the degree or duration of torment, but
the absolute certainty of destruction, beyond
all possibility of recovery. So the cities of
'Sodom and Gomorrah are said to have suf-
fered the vengeance of an eternal fire; that
is, they were so effectually consumed, or de-
stroyed, that they could never be rebuilt; the
phrase, eternal fire, signifying the irrevocable
destruction of those cities, not the degree or
duration of the misery of the inhabitants who
perished. .
The images of the worm that dieth not,
and the fire that is not quenched. used in
Mark ix. 43, are set in opposition ,to entering
into life, and intended to denote "a period of
life and existence.
Our Saviour expressly assigns difi'erent de-
grees of future misery, in proportion to men’s
respective degrees of guilt, Luke xii. 47, 48.
But if all wicked men shall sufi‘er torments
without end, how can any of them be said to
suffer but a few stripes? All degrees and
distinctions of punishment seem swallowed
up in the notion of never-ending or infinite
misery.
Finally, death and eternal destruction, or
annihilation, is properly styled, in the New
Testament, an everlasting punishment, as it
is irrevocable and unalterable for ever; and
it is most strictly and literally styled an ever-
lasting destruction from the presence of the
Lord, and from the glory of his power.
Dr. Edwards, in his answer to Dr. Chaun-
cey, on the salvation of all men, says that
this scheme was provisionally retained by
Dr. Chauncey, 2'. e. in case the scheme of uni-
versal salvation should fail him: and there—
fore Dr. Edwards, in hisexamination of that
work, appropriates a chapter to the considera-
tion of it. Among other reasonings against
it are the following :—
1. The different degrees of punishment
which the wicked will suffer according to
their works, proves that it does not consist
in annihilation, which admits of no degrees.
2. If it be said that the punishment of the
wicked, though it will end in annihilation,
yet shall be preceded by torment, and that
this will be of different degrees, according to
the degrees of sin; it may be replied, this is
making it to be compounded partly of tor-
ment, and partly of annihilation. The latter
also appears to be but a small part of future
punishment, for that alone will be inflicted
on the least sinner, and on account of the
least sin ; and that all punishment which will
be inflicted on any person above that which
is due to the least sin, is to consist in torment.
Nay, if we can form any idea in the present
state of what would be dreadful or desirable
in another, instead of its being any punish-
ment to be annihilated after a long series of
torment, it must be a deliverance, to which
the sinner would look forward with anxious
desire. And is it credible that this was the
termination of torment that our Lord held up
to his disciples as an object of. dread? Can
this be the destruction of body and soul in
hell? Is it credible that everlasting destruc-
tion from the presence of the Lord, and from
the glory of his power, should constitute only
a part, and a small part, of future punish-
ment; and such too as, after a series of tor-
ment, must, next to being made happy, be
DET-
DEU
243
the most acceptable thing that could befall
them '? Can this be the object threatened by
such language, as recompensing tribulation,
and taking vengeance in flaming fire? 2
Thess. i. ' Is it possible that God should
threaten them with putting an end to their
miseries? Moreover, this destruction is not
described as the conclusion of a succession of
torments, but as taking place immediately
after the ‘last judgment. When Christ shall
come to be glorified in his saints, then shall
the wicked be destroyed. .
3. Everlasting destruction from the pre-
sence of the Lord, and from the glory of his
power, cannot mean annihilation; for that
would be no exertion of divine power, but
merely the suspension of it; for let the up—
holding power of God be withheld for one
moment, and the whole creation would sink
into nothing.
4. The punishment of wicked men will be
the same as that-of wicked angels, Matt. xxv.
41. “ Depart, ye cursed, into everlasting fire,
prepared for the devil and his angels.” But the
punishment of wicked angels consists not in
annihilation, but torment. Such is their pre-
sent punishment in a degree, and such, in a
greater degree, will be their punishment here-
after. They are “ cast down to hell ;” they
“ believe and tremble ;” they are reserved in
chains under darkness, to the judgment of
the great day; they cried, saying, “ What
have we to do with thee? Art thou come to
torment us before our time P” Could the de-
vils but persuade themselves they should be
annihilated, they would believe and be at
ease rather than tremble.
5. The Scriptures explain their own mean-
ing in the use of such terms as death, destruc-
tion, &c. The second death is expressly said
to consist in being cast into the lake of fire
and brimstone, and as having a part in that
lake, Rev. xx. 14; xxi. 8; which does not
describe annihilation, nor can it be made to
consist with it. The phrase, “ cut him asun-
der,” Matt. xxiv. 51, is as strong as those of
death or destruction; yet that is made to con-
sist of having their portion with hypocrites,
where shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
6. The happiness of the righteous does not
consist in eternal being, but eternal well-be-
ing; and as the punishment of the wicked
stands every where opposed to it, it must
consist, not in the loss of being, but of well-
being, and in suffering the contrary.
The great Dr. Watts may be considered, in
some measure, a destructionist; since it was
h1s opmion that the children of ungodly pa-
rents who die in'infancy are annihilated. See
ANNIHILATION', HELL; Bourn’s Semzons;
Dr: Edwards on the Salvation of all Men
strzctlg/ examined ; Adams’s View of Religions.
Dn'rnac'rrox, in the native importance of
the word, signifies the withdrawing or taking
Off from a thing; and as it is applied to the
‘they might be set aside at pleasure.

reputation, it denotes the impairing or les-
sening a man in point of fame, rendering him
less valued and’ esteemed by others. Dr.
Barrow observes, (Works, vol. i. ser. 19,)
that it differs from slander, which involves
an imputation of falsehood; from reviling,
which includes bitter and foul language ; and
from eensuring, which is of a moreegeneral
purport, extending indifi‘erently to all kinds
of persons, qualities, and actions; but de-
traction especially respects worthy persons,
good qualities, and laudable actions, the re-
putation of which it aimeth to destroy. It is
a fault opposed to candour.
Nothing can be more incongruous with the
spirit of the Gospel, the example of Christ,
t e command of God, and the love of man-
kind, than a spirit of detraction; and yet
there are many who never seem happy but
when they are employed in this work: they
feed and live upon the supposed infirmities
of others; they allow excellence to none;
they depreciate every thing that is praise-
worthy ; and, possessed of no good themselves,
they think all others are like them. “ O
my soul! come-thou not into their secret;
unto their assembly, mine honour, be not
thou united.”
DEUTEBOCANONICAL, in the school theo-
logy, an appellation given to certain books
of holy Scripture, which were added to the
canon after the rest, either by reason they
were not written till after the compilation of
the canon, or by reason of some dispute as to
their canonicity. The word is Greek, being
compounded of dsvrspog, second; and [car/021-
ucog, canonical. ‘
The Jews, it is certain, acknowledged se-
veral books in their canon, which were put
there later than the rest. They say that, un-
der Esdras, a great assembly of their doctors,
which they call, by way of eminence, the
“great synagogue,” made the collection of
the sacred books which we now have in the
Hebrew Old Testament; and they agree that
they put books therein which had not been so
before the Babylonish captivity; such as
those of Daniel, Ezekiel, Haggai, 8.20.; and
those of Esdras and Nehemiah. And the Ro-
mish Church has since added others to the
canon, that were not, and could not be, in
the canon of the Jews, by reason some of
them were not composed till after—such as
the book of Ecclesiasticus, with several of the
apocryphal books, as the Maccabees, Wis-
dom, &c. Others were added still later, by
reason their canonicity had not been yet ex-
amined ; and till such examen and judgmlegnt,
ut
since that church has pronounced as to the
canonicity of those books, there is no more
room now for her members to doubt of them,
than there was for the Jews to doubt of those
'of the canon of Esdras. And the deutero-
canonical books are with them as canonical as
DEV
DIA
244
the protocanonical; the only difference be-
tween them consisting in this—that the ca-
nonicity of the one was not generally known,
examined. and settled, as soon as that of the
others. The deuterocanonical books in the
modern canon are, the book of Esther, either
the whole, or at least the seven last chapters
thereof ; the epistle to the Hebrews; that of
James, and that of Jude; the second of Pe-
ter, the second and third of John, and the
Revelation. The deuterocanonical parts of
books are, the Hymn of the Three Children;
the Prayer of Azariah ; the Histories of Su-
sannah, of Bel and the Dragon; the last
chapter of Mark; the bloody sweat; and the
appearance of the angel, related in Luke, ch.
xxii., and the history of the adulterous wo-
man in John, ch. viii. See CANON.
DEVIL, the leader of the fallen angels, and
the arch-foe of God and man. The name,
like the French diable, German teafl'el, Latin
diuholus, is only a modified form of the Greek
word durfiohog, which, from dzaflakhsw, to
ealumniate. properly signifies calumniator,
detractor, false accuser, Sac. In the Syriac
language, he is called achelhartzo, “ the de-
vourer of calumny,” which most emphatically
_ expresses the delight which he takes in every
attempt that is made to blast the character of
good and holy men. It deserves to be particu-
larly noticed, that though the term “ devils,”
in the plural, occurs frequently in the Eng-
lish version, in application to fallen spirits,
the original word is not, in such instances,
duz/Bohoa, but daqawvsg. 01‘ dalpoma. ‘When
used in the plural, dtaBoXog never refers to
fallen angels, but to human beings. See 1
Tim. iii. 11 ; 2 Tim. iii. 43; Titus ii. 3. There
is, therefore, according to the strict propri-
ety of Scripture language, only one devil,
who is otherwise characterised by the epi-
thets, the god and prince of this world; the
prince of darkness; the prince of the power
of the air; the accuser; Belial; the temptcr ;
an adversary, deceiver, liar, 85c. His power,
though infinitely short of omnipotence, is re-
presented as great and extensive; and his
influence, exerted either immediately by him-
self, or through the agency of the innumer-
able multitude of wicked spirits who are en-
listed in his service, is set forth as fearful in
the extreme. Yet truly appalling as are the
power and influence of this malignant demon,
it is nevertheless a fact, substantiated no less
by the testimony of Scripture than by the ex—
perience of mankind, that they may success-
fully be resisted by the weakest moral agent
who shall avail himself of the means placed
at his disposal for this end by his benevolent
and merciful Creator. Nothing, therefore,
can possibly be more absurd than for sinners
to attempt to exculpate themselves by throw-
ing the blame of I their wicked actions on the
devil. Tempt them, he may; and his me-
thods of seduction are various. and well adapt-
ed to compass his ends; but force them to
the commission of one sin, he cannot. “ Re—
sist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
“ Whom resist steadfast in the faith.” James
iv. 7 ; 1 Peter v. 9. The position. attempted
to be maintained by the Socinians, that by
Satan we are merely to understand “ a sym-
bolical person,” “ the principle of evil per-
sonified,” “ a fictitious personage,” _“ an evil
disposition,” &c., cannot be reconciled with
any rational or consistent principles of Scrip-
ture interpretation, and deserves to be classed
with the hypothesis, that our Saviour him-
self had no real existence, but, as described
by the evangelists, is only a personification
of virtue or moral excellence.
DEVOTEE, in the primary sense of the
word, means a person wholly given up to acts
of piety and devotion; but it is usually under-
stood, in a bad sense, to denote a bigot or su-
perstitious person—one addicted to excessive
and self-imposed religious exercises.
DEVOTION, a religious and fervent exercise
of some public act of religion, or a temper
and disposition of the mind rightly affected with
such exercises. It is also taken for certain
religious practices which a person makes it a
rule to discharge regularly. Wherever the
vital and unadulterated spirit of Christian de-
votion prevails, its immediate objects will be
to adore the perfections of God ; to entertain
with reverence and complacency the various
intimations of his pleasure, especially those
contained in holy writ; to acknowledge our
absolute dependence on, and infinite obliga—
tions to him; to confess and lament the dis-
orders of our nature, and the transgressions
of our lives; to implore his grace and mercy
through Jesus Christ; to intercedc for our
brethren of mankind; to pray for the propa-
gation and establishment of truth, righteous-
ness, and peace, on earth; in fine, to long for
a more entire conformity to the will of God,
and to breathe after the everlasting enjoyment
of his friendship. The effects of such a spirit
habitually cherished, and feelingly expressed
before him, must surely be important and
happy. Among these may be reckoned a
profound humility in the sight of God, a high
veneration for his presence and attributes, an
ardent zeal for his worship and honour, a con-
stant imitation of our Saviour’s divine exam-
ple. a diffusive charity for men of all denomi-
nations, a generous and unwearied self-denial,
a total resignation to Providence, an increas-
ing esteem for the gospel, with clearer and
firmer hopes of that immortal life which it
has brought to light.
DIARY, a private register in which are re-
corded the views and experience of indivi-
duals, and their observations on passing events.
The practice of keeping such a record it would
be obviously wrong to inculcate strenuously
on all Christians. Thousands have not the
education or capacity which it requires. Many
DIA
DIE
45
to whom it might not be otherwise impracti-
cable, are so situated in- providence, that they
cannot command the necessary leisure. In
some instances, it has been performed in so
unguarded a manner, or such injudicious uses
have been made of the document by surviving
relatives or friends, that among all who felt
an interest either in the posthumous reputa-
tion of the parties, or in the advancement of
practical religion, it has excited only senti-
ments of sincere regret. Owing_to the pro-
found treachery and depravity of the human
heart, the keeping of a diary, it has been
alleged, has sometimes manifestly originated
in a legal or an ostentatious disposition, and
has merely supplied fuel for spiritual pride.
The idea that the record will sooner or later
meet the eyes of men, and recommend the
writer to their esteem and admiration as a
person of eminent piety, is apt, at least, to
mingle itself with purer views, and even un-
consciously to exercise a considerable influ-
ence on the statements, and the expressions
employed. These and similar considerations
have determined some of the most excellent
ministers and private Christians to forbear
the practice in question. With whatever
vigilance they may inwardly have regarded
the Lord’s procedure towards them, and the
varied workings of their own hearts, and with
whatever zeal and activity they have aspired
after proficiency in the divine life, it has been
their decided purpose to record little or no~
thing on such subjects. Others, after writing
a diary for years, have committed the whole,
or the greater part of it, to the flames. In
some cases, good men, on the verge of eter—
nity, have been induced by a sense of duty, or
by the importunity of friends, to prepare a suc-
cinct narrative of their life and experience, for
the satisfaction and benefit of a private circle, if
not for the advantage of the religious public.
The published journals, however, of some
exemplary Christians have been so judiciously
written, and have proved so highly useful for
the direction and encouragement of others in
the service of God, that it is a cause of lively
gratitude that ever they existed, and that they
were ever given to the world. Who will say
that it is wrong in any Christian, possessing
the requisite ability and leisure, provided he
observe the dictates of modesty and prudence,
and strive in dependence on divine grace, to
be actuated only by pious and honourable mo-
tives, to record from time to time a few no-
tices of what is most material in his own ex-
perience? Thereview of such memoranda,
after months and years have passed away, may
call to his recollection facts in his history im-
portant to himself‘, which without such help,
he would have utterly forgotten ; and may
serve ‘not only to awaken fresh sentiments of
humility and gratitude, but to incite to renew-
ed ardour and eircumspection in the path of
righteousness.
To ministers of the gospel, whose ofiicial
character obliges them to bestow much atten-
tion on the spiritual interests of others. the
keeping of a diary has been recommended as
an excellent means of preventing them from
overlooking or neglecting their own.
DIET is the name given to an Assembly of
the States of Germany. The following is a
short notice of the principal diets which were
held in reference to the affairs of the Reform-
ation. They are inserted in the order of
time in which they were held.
1. THE DIET or \Vonms, in 1521, where
Alexander, the pope’s nuncio, having charged
Luther with heresy, the Duke of Saxony said,
that Luther ought to be heard ; which the
emperor granted, and sent a pass to him, pro-
vided he would not preach in his journey.
Luther being at ‘Worms, protested that he
would not recant, except they should show
his errors by the word of God alone, and not
by that of men. Therefore the emperor or-
dered him to go out of Worms, and a month
after, by an edict published the 26th of May,
before all the princes of Germany, outlawed
him.
2. DIET or NUREMBERG, in 1523, where
Francis Cheregat, Pope Adrian VIth’s nuncio,
demanded the execution of Leo Xth’s bull,
and of Charles Vth’s edict published at Worms
against Luther. But it was answered that it
was necessary to call a council in Germany,
to satisfy the nation about its grievances,
which were reduced to a hundred articles,
some whereof aimed at the destruction of the
Pope’s authority, and the discipline of the
Roman Church. They added, that in the in-
terim, the Lutherans should he commanded
not to write against the Roman Catholics, &c.
All these things were brought into the form of
an edict published in the emperor’s name.
3. DIET or NUREMBERG, in 1524. Cardi-
nal Campege, Pope Clement VIIth’s legate,
entered incognito into the town, for fear of
exasperating the people. There the Luther-
ans having the advantage, it was decreed that,
with the emperor’s consent, the pope should
call a council in Germany ; but in the interim
an assembly should be held at Spire, to deter-
mine what was to be believed and practised;
and that, to obey the emperor, the princes
ought to order the observation of the edict of
Worms as strictly as they could. Charles V.
being angry at this, commanded the edict of
Worms to be observed very strictly, and pro—
hibited the assembly at Spire.
4._D1ET or SmnE, in 1526. Charles V.
being in Spain, named his brother, the Arch-
duke Ferdinand, to preside over that Assem—
bly, where the Duke of Saxony and the Land-
grave of Hesse demanded at first a free exer-
cise of the Lutheran religion, so that the Lu-
therans preached there publicly against the
Pope ; and the Lutheran princes’ servants had
these five capital letters, V. D. ill. I. {Ea em—

DIE
DIE
246
broidered on their sleeves, signifying Verbum
Domini manet in fEternum, to show publicly
that they would follow nothing else but the
pure word of God. The arehduke not daring
to oppose those courses, proposed two things :
the first, concerning the ancient religion which
was to be obtained in observing the edict of
Worms; and the second, concerning the help
demanded by Lewis King of Hungary against
the Turks. About the first, the Lutherans
prevailing, it was decreed that the emperor
should be desired to call a general or national
council in Germany within a year, and that,
in the interim, every one was to have liberty
of conscience. And whilst they were deli-
berating in vain about the second, the valiant
King Lewis was defeated and killed at the
battle of Mohats.
5. DIET or SPIRE, in 1529. There it was
decreed, “ That in all places where the
edict of Worms against the Lutherans was
received, it should be lawful to nobody to
change his opinions; but in the countries
where the new religion was received, it should
be lawful to continue in it till the next coun-
cil, if the ancient religion could not be re-esta-
blished there without sedition; nevertheless
the mass was not to be abolished there, and no
Roman Catholic was to be allowed to turn Lu-
theran; that the Sacramentarians should be
banished out of the empire, and the Anabap-
tists put to death; and that preachers should
nowhere preach against the doctrine of the
church.” This decree destroying that of the
first diet, six Lutheran princes, viz., the Elec-
tor of Saxony, the Marquess of Brandenburg,
the two Dukes of Lunenburg, the Landgrave
of Hesse, and the Prince of Anhalt, with the
deputies of fourteen imperial towns, protested '
in writing two days after in the assembly
against that decree, which they would not
obey, it being contrary to the gospel; and ap-
pealed to the general or national council, to
the emperor, and to any other unsuspected
judge. From that solemn protestation came
that famous name of Protestants, which the
Lutherans took presently, and the Calvinists,
and other reformed Christians, afterwards.
They also protested that they would contri-
bute nothing towards the war against the Turks
till the exercise of their religion was free in
all Germany. This protestation being pre-
sented to the emperor, he said that he would
settle the affairs of Germany as soon as he
had regulated those of Italy. The next year
after, he called the famous diet of Augsburgh
spoken of before.
6. DIET or Ancsnnncn, in the year 1530.
It was called by the Emperor Charles V. to
re-unite the princes about some matters of re-
ligion, and to join them all together against
the Turks. The emperor appeared there
with the greatest magnificence that was ever
seen in Germany; because so many electors
and princes never met together before. There
the Elector of Saxony, followed by many
princes, presented the Confession of Faith,
called the Confession of Augsburgh. The
conference about matters of faith and disci—
pline being concluded, the emperor ended the
diet by a decree, that nothing should be al-
tered in the doctrine and ceremonies of the
Roman Church, till a council should order it
otherwise.
7. DIET or RATISBON, in 1541, for reunit-
ing the Protestants with the Roman Catho~
lies. The pope’s legate having altered the
twenty-two articles drawn by some learned
doctors, the emperor proposed to choose some
learned divines that might agree peaceably
upon the articles; and being desired by the-
diet to choose them himself, he named three
Roman Catholics, viz. Julius Phlugius, John
Gropperus, and John Ekius ; and three Pro-
testants, viz. Philip Melancthon, Martin
Bucer, and John Pistorius; but after an ex~
amination and disputation of a whole month,
these divines could never agree about more
than five or six articles, wherein the diet
found some diificulties still. Therefore the
emperor, to end those controversies, ordered
by an edict, that the decisions of the doctors
should be referred to a general council, or to
the national council of all Germany, or to the
next diet eighteen months after; and that, in
the meanwhile, the Protestants should keep
the articles agreed upon, forbidding them to
solicit any body to change the ancient reli-
gion, &c. But to please the Protestants, he
gave them leave by patent to keep their reli-
gion, notwithstanding the edict.
8. DIET or Rx'rrsnon, in 1546, where none
of the Protestant confederate princes ap-
peared; nevertheless, it was decreed by the
plurality of votes, that the council of Trent
was to be followed, which the Protestant de-
puties opposed; and thus caused a war against
them.
9. DIET or AUcsnUncH, in 1547, about
matters of religion ; the electors being divided
concerning the decisions of the council of
Trent, the emperor demanded that the man-
agement of this affair should be left to him,
and it was resolved that every one should
conform to the council’s decisions.
10. DIET or AUGSBURGH, in 1548, where
the commissioners named to examine some
memoirs about a confession of faith, not
agreeing together, the emperor named three
divines, who drew the design of that famous
Interim, so well known in Germany and
elsewhere.
11. DIET or Aucsnnncrr, in 1550, where
the emperor complained that the Interim was
not observed, and demanded that all should
submit to the council which they were going
to renew at Trent; but Duke Maurice’s de-
puties protested that their master did submit
to the council on this condition, that the di—
vines of the confession of Augsburgh, not
DIR
DIS
24 7
only should be heard there, but should vote
also like the Roman Catholic bishops, and
that the pope should not preside. But by the
plurality of votes the submission to the coun-
oil was resolved upon.
12. DIET or Rx'rrsnon, in 1557. The as-
sembly demanded a conference between some
famous doctors of both parties; which con-
ference, held at Worms in September, be-
tween twelve Roman Catholic divines and
twelve Lutheran, was soon dissolved by the
Lutherans dividing among themselves.
DIET is also used, in the Scotch Church,
to denote the public service which any minis-
ter has to perform. Thus, if he has to preach
three times on any given Sabbath, it is said
he has three diets.
Drccnus, a denomination which sprung up
in Germany in the fifteenth century ; so called
because they dug holes for their assemblies
under ground in caves and forests. They de-
rided the church, its‘ ministers and sacraments.
DILIGENCE, CHRISTIAN, is constancy in
the performance of all those duties enjoined
us in God’s sacred word. It includes activity
and vigour—watchfulness against intruding
objects—firmness and resolution—patience
and perseverance. The shortness of our time;
the importance of our work; the pleasure
which arises from discharging duty; the un-
certainty of the time of our dissolution; the
consciousness we do not labour in vain; toge-
ther with the example of Christ and all good
men, should excite us to the most unwearied
diligence in the cause of God, of truth, and
our own souls.
Dnussomr LETTER, a letter given by a
bishop to a candidate for holy orders, having
a title in his diocese, directed to some other
bishop, and giving leave for the bearerto be
ordained by him. _ _ _
Drocnsn (Greek dtohcno-tg, admzmstratzon),
an ecclesiastical division, which orignated in
the arrangement made by Constantine in the
fourth century, when Christianity was made
the religion of the state. This took place in
accordance with the new division of the em-
pire into 120 provinces, governed by twelve
vicars or sub-prefccts. Among the Romanists
it signifies the territory over which the juris-
diction of an archbishop or bishop extends.
With the Protestants in Germany, it signifies
all the parishes that are under the inspection
of one superintendent. In England, the pro-
vince of Canterbury contains twenty-one
dioceses, and the province of York three;
each diocese is divided into archdeaconries,
each archdeaconry into rural deaneries, and
each deanery into parishes.
Drunc'ronr, a kind of regulation for the
performance of religious worship, drawn up
by the assembly of divines in England, at the
instance of the parliament, in 1644. It was
designed to supply the place of the Liturgy,
or Book of Common Prayer, the use of

which they had abolished. It consisted of
some general heads, which were to be‘man-
aged and filled up at discretion; for it pre-
scribed no form of prayer, or circumstances
of external worship, nor obliged the people
to any responses, excepting Amen. The sub-
stance of it is as follows :-—It forbids all salu-
tations and civil ceremony in the churches;
——the reading the Scriptures in the congre—
gation is declared to be part of the pastoral
ofl‘ice;--all the canonical books of the Old
and New Testament (but not of the Apocry-
pha) are to be publicly read in the vulgar
tongue: how large a portion is to be read at
once, is left to the minister, who has likewise
the liberty of expounding, when he judges it
necessary. It prescribes heads for the prayer
before sermon; it delivers rules for preaching
the word; the introduction to the text must
be short and clear, drawn from words or con-
text, or some parallel place of Scripture. In
dividing the text, the minister is to regard
the order of the matter more than that of the
words: he is not to burden the memory of his
audience with too many divisions, nor per-
plex their understanding with logical phrases
and terms of art; he is not to start unneces-
sary objections; and he is to be very sparing
in citations from ecclesiastical or other human
writers, ancient or modern, &c. The Direc—
tory recommends the use of the Lord’s Prayer
as the most perfect model of devotion; it
forbids private or lay persons to administer
baptism, and enjoins it to be performed in
the face of the congregation. It orders the
communion table at the Lord’s Supper to be
so placed, that the communicants may sit
about it. It also orders that the Sabbath be
kept with the greatest strictness, both pub-
licly and privately; that marriage be solemn-
ized by a lawful minister of the word, who is
to give counsel to, and pray for the parties;
that the sick be visited by the minister under
whose charge they are ; the dead to be buried
without any prayers or religious ceremonies ;
that days of fasting are to be observed when
the judgments of God are abroad, or when
some important blessings are desired: that
days of thanksgiving for mercies received be
also observed; and, also, that singing of psalms
together in the congregation is the duty of
Christians. In an appendix to this Directory
it is ordered, that all festivals, vulgarly called
holydays, are to be abolished; that no day is
to be kept but the Lord’s Day; and that as
no place is capable of any holiness under the
pretence of consecration, so neither is it sub—
ject to pollution by any superstition formerly
used; and therefore it is held requisite, that
the places of public worship now used should
still be continued and employed. Should the
reader be desirous of perusing this Directory
at large, he may findit at the end of Nealc’s
History of the Puritans.
ljnscrrmc, a scholar, or one who attends
DIS
IJlS
248
the lectures, and professes the tenets of an-
other. A disciple of Christ is one who be-
lieves his doctrines, imbibes his spirit, and
follows his example. See CHRISTIAN.
DISCIPLES or CHRIST, (CAMPBELLITES, or
Rnromunns) a sect which recently sprang
up in America, chiefly owing to the efforts
of Alexander Campbell, who with his father,
Thomas Campbell, renounced Presbyterian-
ism, and became a keen immersionist. They
amount in number to at least 100,000. Re-
garding all the sects and parties in the Chris-
tian world as having more or less departed
from the primitive faith and practice, chiefly
owing to the influence of metaphysics, creeds,
synods, &c., they profess to avoid entirely
the artificial and technical language of theo-
logy, and to teach the household of faith to
use no dialect but that of Scripture. Regard-
ing Calvinism, Arminianism, Trin-itarianism,
and Antitrinitarianisin, 800., as extremes pro-
duced by each other, they reject them all,
and build their faith on the simple doctrines
of the Bible. Immersion they consider to be
a pledge of the actual remission of all past
sins, and of adoption into the family of God.
In most points of belief and discipline, they
seem to come pretty near the Sandemanian
Baptists.
DISCIPLINARIANS, those in Baxter’s time,
who advocated the cause of pure communion.
“ Those that pleaded for discipline were
called by the new name of diseiplinarians ; as
if it had been a kind of heresy to desire disci-
pline in the church."
DISCIPLINE, CHURCH, the application in a
Christian church of those principles and rules,
derived from divine authority, which regard
the purity, order, peace, and useful efii-ciency
of its members. Discipline is to a church,
what order and regularity are to a family; or
the maintaining of government and the ad-
ministration of law to a nation. \Vith re-
spect to its object, it must carefully be ob-
served, that it is not to pander to human
domination, or to subserve the political in-
terests of any party; to coerce the judgment
and conscience of men; or to avenge any
public or private injury ; but it is designed to
effect the observance of those means by which
the. holiness, comfort, and usefulness of
Christians may be preserved and improved;
to exhibit the influence of the Christian reli-
gion in producing all that is excellent, ami-
able, and beneficial; to secure the fulfilment
of all the relative obligations of church union;
to attract into such union persons whose
minds and characters are governed by evan-
gelical truth, and un-dissembled piety ; and to
remove from the visible ranks of the faithful
such as prove themselves to be unworthy of a
place among the followers of Christ: Matt.
xviii. 1'5—18 ; 1 Cor. v.; 2 Thess. iii. ti; and
Tit. iii. 10,. 11 ; and other passages in the
New Testament clearly recognise, or posi-
tively or authoritatively enforce, the exercise
of discipline in the church of Christ; and it
becomes all who bow to his spiritual rule, to
hear what the Spirit saith on this point to the
i churches. See Lib. of Ecol. Know, _and Hal-
dane’s Social Worship.
DISCIPLINE, BOOK or, in the History of
the Church of Scotland, is a common order
drawn up by the assembly of ministers, in
1650, for the reformation and uniformity to
be observed in the discipline and policy of the
church. In this book, the government of the
church by prelates is set aside ; kirk sessions
are established; the superstitious observation
of fast days and saints’ days is condemned,
and other regulations for the government of
the church are determined. This book was
approved by the privy council, and is, called
the first book of discipline.
DISPENSATION, a particular form of the
divine administration of the church, and of
the world in relation to the church. In this-
view of the matter, there have been several
dispensations or forms of the revealed admi-
nistration of Heaven, all adapted to the pur-
pose of God for the time, and all tending to
the same great end. The present dispensa-
tion supposes that there may have been one
or more past dispensations, and that there
may be a dispensation yet to come. It may
be in itself complete, or it may bear some re-
lation both to a former and a future economy.
It may be the conclusion or completion of
that which has passed away, and the prepa-
ration for something that is to come. We
cannot, therefore, arrive at correct views of
its nature, without forming some correct esti-
mate of what preceded it, and having some
general notion of what is to follow it.
That changes of dispensation,‘ in the sense
in which the expression has been explained,
have already occurred, and that one more
is yet to follow, cannot for a moment be
doubted by any one who is even superficially
acquainted with the Scriptures. Such changes,
however, by no means imply any fickleness
or actual change on the part of God. It is
not, indeed, so much change as progress we
are called to mark. The gradual develop,-
ment of the successive parts of a great plan,
so far from evincing alteration of purpose on
the part of - the contriver, is often a proof of
the contrary; affords evidence of the pene-
trating wisdom and forethought which fore-
sees future contingencies, and effectually
provides against defeating the original design.
The light of the early dawn, by whose me-
dium we imperfectly see surrounding ‘objects,
and often mistake their nature, is of the same
character, and proceeds from the same source,
with that meridian brightness which converts
objects of terror or disgust into a scene of
surpassing and ravishing splendour. So it is
with the dispensations of God. The morning
star, which threw a faint and twinkling ray
DIS
DIS
249
on the once fair but then gloomy scenes of
paradise, was the harbinger of the brighter
and steadier light of a distant period. The
light which then dawned, though occasionally
dimmed, and sometimes seemingly over-
powered by the dark atmosphere through
which it had to penetrate, was never after-
wards entirely withdrawn. On the contrary,
it gradually, though slowly, increased, dif-
fusing through many ages a pale but celestial
radiance, till at last it burst forth upon an
astonished world, in the peerless splendour of
the Sun of righteousness.
The first of the divine dispensations was
adapted to man in a state of primeval inno-
cence and purity. It placed him on the
ground of equitable right and treatment. Its
object was to make trial of the moral inte-
grity and fidelity of a creature, formed holy
and happy, but entirely dependent on God
Nothing occurred but what had been foreseen,
and for the consequences of which full pre-
paration had not been made. The creature’s
fall, though deeply mysterious, did not frus-
trate the Divine intention, or necessarily in-
volve any change on the part of God, except
in the revealed method of treatment. Mercy
rejoiced against judgment—a new view was
presented of the character of the Most High,
and the boundless resources. of his wisdom
and benevolence were discovered to the intel-
ligent universe. Then began the reign or
the dispensation of grace; by which, to the
angels, principalities, and powers, in hea-
verily places, Jehovah has been manifesting,
in his conduct to the church, his manifold
wisdom.
The destruction of the old world, and its
renovation by the waters of the deluge,
brought a new discovery of God’s future in-
tentions, and placed the earth and its inhabit-
ants under another covenant or dispensation,
the benefits of which all human creatures en-
joy, and some of the provisions of which are
‘to last till the earth shall be destroyed and
‘purified by a deluge of fire.
The selection of Abraham and his seed
was a further manifestation of the divine de-
signs, and brought along with it fresh disco-
veries of that future blessing which all the
nations of the earth are ultimately to inherit.
The choice of Abraham was an exercise and
display of sovereign mercy; his justification
by faith in the divine promise was designed
as the pattern of the justification of all be-
lievers; the influence of his faith on his cha-
racter was intended to illustrate the operation
of that powerful principle ; while in the pre-
servation ‘and treatment of the Abrahamic
family, God at once illustrated various parts
of his own character—established the truth of
former discoveries, and prepared the way for
the accomplishment of future designs of mercy.
So perfect is the correspondence between the
dispensation of Abraham and that of Jesus,
that all the children of faith are declared to
be the children of Abraham, and blessed with
him.- If we be Christ’s, we are assured that
we are then Abraham’s seed, and heirs ac-
cording to the promise; heirs of that world
which was promised to the father of the faith-
ful, through the righteousness of faith, and
which is insured to all believers, by the en-
gagements of God’s covenant.
But the present dispensation stands in a
peculiar relation to the covenant made with
Israel at Sinai, which it has entirely super-
seded, and with which it is often contrasted
in Scripture. So important is a right under-
standing of the Mosaic covenant to a correct
knowledge and due appreciation of the bless-
ings of the present covenant, that I believe I
hazard no mistaken observation when I say,
that nine-tenths of the mistakes which have
beclouded and injured Christianity, have
arisen from the introduction into it of Jewish
principles, practices, and errors. This was
the early bane of the primitive churches, the
evil against which the apostles had to strug-
gle and to protest; which was the fruitful
parent of the numerous sects and heresies
into which Christianity became early divided,
and which accounts for a large proportion of
the difference of opinion that still prevails
among Christians. I am altogether in error,
if this is not the root of many of the mistaken
views of the future state of the kingdom of
Christ, which are entertained by those who
consider that they have obtained more than
common insight into the secret things of God,
and who are as familiar with the visions of
the apocalypse as with the first principles of
the gospel.
What, then, was the dispensation of Moses ?
This is a question to which it is by no means
easy to return an answer, not so much from
the difficulty which attaches to the subject, as
from the narrow limits of a single discourse.
It was a peculiar form of administering the
aifairs of the church of God while it was in
a state of pupilage and servitude, and by
which both the church and the world were
prepared for the establishment of a better
and more enduring economy. In it, God ap-
peared chiefly in the character of a lawgiver,
and the system of his administration was a
species of tutorage and discipline adapted to
the condition of a weak, carnal, and worldly
people. Under that form of God’s covenant,
men- became members of his kingdom by
birth and parentage,—entitled to its privileges
by external conformity to its prescribed ritual,
——and enjoyed, under a theocracy, peculiar
immunities, while they were subject to special
and severe penalties. The law of Moses, or
the system of rites which may be thus desig-
nated, was fieshly, and suited to the character
and circumstances of a carnal people. The
washings of water tended only to the purify-
ing of the flesh; the blood of bulls and of
DIS 2
0 DIS
calves, and the ashes of a heifer, could extend
their influence no farther; meats, and drinks,
and days, could not establish the heart with
grace, and often profited not those who were
occupied therein. The sanctions of the law,
whether in the form of promise or of penalty,
were of the same earthly description, being
limited, in a great measure, to the life that
now is; all that belonged to that which is to
come arising from a different system from
that of Moses. In its general features, that
system was harsh, pompous, and inflexible;
mainly calculated to operate on the principle
of fear, and admirably fitted to gender a spirit
of bondage. Attractive, in some of its fea-
tures, to the worldly eye, and accommodated
to those who could not bear a more spiritual
institute; but repulsive and unaccommodating
to the spiritual mind, and little fitted to pro-
duce childlike confidence and heavenly joy.
The schoolmaster with his rod, the lawgiver
with his unbending rule, the judge with his
unmitigable sentence, stood over the disciples
of Moses to coerce them into obedience, or
to punish them for the violations of his law.
In perfect keeping with the circumstances in
which it was delivered, it spake in thunder,
in lightning, and in tempest, causing those
who heard its voice, like those who witnessed
its proclamation, exceedingly to fear and quake.
“ The law made nothing perfect, being in-
tended only as the introduction of a better
hope.” Its sacrifices, and the priesthood
which was founded on them, were only
shadows, and not even the images of the good
things which were to come. The tabernacle
and vessels of the ministry—the temple and
all its glory—the land of Canaan, and the
Jerusalem that was on earth—were but figures
to the time then being of the great transactions
of the world to come, of which we speak.
Uufitted by its very nature and enactments
to be an universal and permanent dispensa-
tion, the seeds of dissolution were implanted
in its constitution, and preparation was made
for its abrogation long before it took place.
Adapted to the locality of Palestine, and never
designed to extend far beyond it, the spirit of
propagation and enterprise was neither recom-
mended by its author, nor congenial with its
institutions. Limited to place, temporary in
- duration, and preparatory in its whole design,
it gradually decayed and waxed old, and was
ready to vanish away, even without a positive
act of dissolution—when He, whose voice
shook Sinai to its foundation, once more
shook, not the earth only, but also heaven;
removing, by one sweeping blow, the things
that were shaken, and establishing in their
place the kingdom which cannot be moved.~
This is the kingdom which we have re-
ceived—the dispensation to which we belong
—-whieh the apostle enjoins us to hold fast,
that thus we may have grace to serve God
acceptably, with reverence and godly fear.

In contrast, therefore, with the old dispen-
sation, its character may be summed up in
three W01‘(1S,—SPIRITUAL, UNIVERSAL, PER‘-
PETUAL. It is spiritual in its nature, uni—
versal in its adaptation and design, and des-
tined for no temporary or subordinate purpose,
but to last while the world itself shall endure;
till the suffering kingdom on earth be ex-
changed for God’s unsuffering kingdom in
heaven.
DISPENSATIONS or Paovrmancn are any
particular or unusual modes of visible treat-
ment to which, under the divine government,
mankind are subjected. They are either
merciful, or in judgment; though what fre-
vquently appear to belong to the latter class
are only blessings in disguise.
DISPERSION of mankind was occasioned by
the confusion of tongues at the overthrow of
Babel, Gen. xi. 9. As to the manner of the
dispersion of the posterity of Noah from the
plain of Shinar, it was undoubtedly conducted
with the utmost regularity and order. The
sacred historian informs us, that they were
divided in their lands; every one according
to his tongue, according to his family, and
according to his nation, Gen. x. 5, 20, 31.
The ends of this dispersion were to populate
the earth, to prevent idolatry, and to display
the divine wisdom and power. See CON-
FUSION OF Toneuns.
Drssnu'rnns, those who separate from, or
refuse to have any fellowship with the estab-
lished church. Their origin may be traced
as far back as the times of Wickliffe ; but it
was the year 1662 which formed the famous
era of nonconformity, and laid the foundation
of that more prominent and marked sepa-
ration which was afterwards effected, and
has continued ever since. At that period,
and for some time after, the Presbyterians
were the most numerous and influential
section of the dissenting body in England;
but for a century past their interest has been
gradually declining, owing to the introduction
among them of Arian and Socinian leaven;
and, at the present day, with the exception of
some fifty or sixty orthodox congregations
in the north of England, they are all Socinian.
Their number amounts to little more than
200; and most of them consist only of a few
individuals. During that century, and espe-
cially during what has passed of the present,
the congregational churches have greatly
multiplied, so that according to a statistic sum-
mary made in 1829, their number amounted
to 1289. The number of ‘Baptist congre—
gations, at the same time, amounted to 888.
Add to which numerous other congregations
of dissenters, though not connected with the
bodies just mentioned, and it may safely be
estimated, that the total number of orthodox
dissenting congregations in England amounts
nearly to 2500; containing an aggregate of
between 800,000 and 900,000 hearers.
DIS
DIV
251
The Methodists, though they do not allow
‘themselves to be called dissenters, are also
111 a state of separation from the Church of
‘England, and have nearly 3000 places of
worship, and little short of 1,000,000 hearers.
Dissenters object to the Church of England
on the following, among other grounds. 1.
That the church, as by law established and
governed, is the mere creature of the state, as
much as the army, the navy, the courts of
justice, or the boards of customs and excise.
2. That she professes and asserts that the church
hath power to decree'rites and ceremonies, and
authority in matters of faith. 3. That she
has a multiplicity of oflices and dignities
which are utterly at variance with the sim-
plicity of the apostolic and primitive times.
'4. That the repetitions in her liturgy are
numberless and vain; that, in many respects,
it abounds in antiquated references and al—
lusions, and, in others, is miserably deficient.
5. That the Apocrypha is read as a part of
the public service. 6. That the creeds which
she acknowledges and repeats, contain un-
warrantable metaphysical representations and
speculations relative to the doctrine of the
Trinity. 7. That every one who is baptized
is considered to be thereby regenerated and
really received into the family of God. 8.
That this rite, together with confirmation,
the visitation of the sick, and the burial
service, have a most manifest tendency to
deceive and ruin the souls of men. Lastly,
and more urgently than any other, that no
distinction is made between the holy and
the profane; the ordinances of religion being
administered, without discrimination, to all
who present themselves to receive them. The
church and the world are thus completely
amalgamated; and, as far as the system can
be carried out, the nation is the church, and
the church the nation.
The Scotch dissenters are chiefly Presby-
terians, who object to the Established Pres-
byterian Church on the ground of the exer-
cise of patronage, and other encroachments
on the rights and consciences of the people.
They are a numerous and influential body.
A considerable congregational interest has
also sprung up within the last thirty years,
which at present numbers eighty-four
churches, and'has been the means of effecting
much good in different parts of the country.
DISSIDENTS, a term sometimes applied to
dissenters from the Church of England, but
more commonly and particularly used of
those in Poland, who, since the year 1736, are
allowed the free exercise of their respective
modes of worship, including Lutherans, Cal-
vinists, Greeks, and Arminians, but excluding
Anabaptists, Socinians, and Quakers. As
early as the time of Luther the Reformation
was introduced into Poland. During the
reign of Sigismund Augustus (1548-72) great
numbers of the people, and even half of the
members of the diet, and more than half of the
nobility, were Lutherans or Calvinists. The
convention of Sandomir, concluded in 1570,
united the Lutherans, Calvinists, and Bohe-
mian brethren into one church—a union
which had also a political tendency, and
whose members obtained the same rights with
the Catholics by the religious peace (pan;
dissidentium) sworn by the king in 157-3.
But the great mistake in not settling the
mutual relations of the two religious parties,
gave rise to bloody contests. Although the
rights of the dissidents were afterwards re-
peatedly confirmed, they were gradually
repealed, particularly in 1717 and 1718, in
the reign of Augustus IL, when they were
deprived of the right of voting in the diet.
They lost still more some years afterwards
(1733) under Augustus UL; and, in the diet
of pacification, as it was called, in 1736, an
old statute, requiring every Polish king to be
of the Catholic Church, was revived. After
the succession of the last king, Stanislaus
Poniatovsky, the dissidents brought their
grievances before the diet held in 1766. and
were supported in their claims by Russia,
Denmark, Prussia, and England. Russia,
in particular, profited by the occasion to
extend her influence in the afi‘airs of Poland,
supported them strongly by her mediation, in
bringing about a new convention in 1767, by
which they were again placed on an equal
footing with the Catholics. The diet of 1768
repealed the decrees which had been formerly
passed against them. The war against the
confederates breaking out, however, and the
kingdom being dismembered, nothing was
accomplished until the year 1775, when the
dissidents regained all their privileges, ex-
cepting the right of being elected senators or
ministers of state. Later events in Poland
have again placed them precisely on a level
with the Catholics.
DISSOLUTION, death, or the separation of
the body and soul. The “dissolution of the
world” is an awful event which we have rea-
son to believe, both from the Old Testament
and the New, will certainly take place. 1. It
is not an incredible thing, since nothing of a
material nature is formed for perpetual dura-
tion.-—2. It will doubtless be under the direc-
tion of the Supreme Being, asits creation
was—3. The soul of man will remain unhurt
amidst this general desolation—4. It will be
an introduction to a greater and nobler system
in the government of God, 2 Pet. iii. 13.—5.
The consideration of it ought to have a great
influence on us while in the present state, 2
Pet. iii‘. 11, 12. See CONFLAGRATION.
DIVINATION is a conjecture or surmise
formed concerning some future event from
something which is supposed to be a presagc
of it; but between which there is no real con-
nexion, only what the imagination of the di-
viner is pleased to assign in order to deceive.
DIV
DOC
252
Divination of all kinds being the offspring
of credulity, nursed by imposture, and strength-
ened by superstition, was necessarily an occult
science, retained in the hands of the priests
and priestesses, the magi, the soothsayers, the
augurs, the visionaries, the priests of the
oracles, the false prophets, and other like pro-
fessors, till the coming of Jesus Christ, when
the light of the Gospel dissipated much of
this darkness. The vogue for these pretended
sciences and arts is nearly past, at least in the
enlightened parts of the world. There are
nine different kinds of divination mentioned
in Scripture. These are, 1. Those whom
Moses calls Meonen, from Anan, a cloud,
Deut. xviii. 10.—2. Those whom the prophet
calls in the same place, Menacheseh, which
the Vulgate and generality of interpreters
render Augur.-—3. T hose who in the same
place are called Mecascheph, which the Sep-
tuagint and Vulgate translate, “ a man given
to ill practices.”——4. Those whom in the same
chapter, ver. 11, he calls Hhober.—5. Those
who consult the spirits, called Python—6.
Witches, or magicians, called J udeoni.—7.
Necromancers, who consult the dead—8. Such
as consult staves, Hosea iv. 12; called by
some Rhabdoniancy.—9. Hepatoscopy, or the
consideration of the liver.
Different kinds of divination which have
passed for sciences—“Te have had, 1. Aero-
maney, divining by the air.—2. Astrology, by
the heavens—3. Augury, by the flight and
singing of birds, 800.—4. Chiromancy, by
inspecting the hand—5. Geomancy, by ob—
serving of cracks or clefts in the earth—6.
l-Iaruspicy, by inspecting the bowels of ani-
mals—7. l-Ioroscopy, a branch of astrology,
marking the position of the heavens when a
man is born—8. Hydromancy, by water.--9. '
Physiognomy, by the countenance. (This,
however, is considered by some as of a differ-
ent nature, and~worthy of being rescued from
the rubbish of superstition, and placed among
the useful sciences. Lavater has written a
celebrated treatise on it.)—-10. Py'i'omancy, a
divination made by fire. Thus we see what
arts have been practised to deceive, and how
designing men have made use of all the four
elements to impose upon weak minds.
DIVINE, something relating to God. The
word is also used figuratively for any thing
that is excellent, extraordinary, and that seems
to go beyond the power of nature and the
capacity of man. It also signifies a minister
or clergyman.
DIVINITY, the science of theology. See
T 1-1 EOLOGY.
DIVISIONS, ECCLESIASTICAL. See SCHISM.
DivoRcE is the dissolution of marriage, or
separation of man and wife.
et thoro, 2'. e. from bed and board ; in this case
the wife has a suitable maintenance allowed
her out of her husband’s efi'ects. Divorce (1.
vincu/o malrimonii, i. c. from the bonds of.
Divorce 0. mensa '*

matrimony, is strictly and properly divorce.
This happens either in consequence of crimi-
nality, as in the case of adultery, or through
some essential impediment; as consanguinity,
or aflinity within the degrees forbidden, pre-
contract, impotency, &e., of which impedi-
ments the canon law allows no less than four-
teen. In these cases the woman receives
again only what she brought. Sentences
which release the parties a vinculo matrimonii,
on account of impuberty, frigidity, consan-
guinity within the prohibited degrees, prior
marriage, or want of the requisite consent of
parents or guardians, are not properly disso-
lutions of the marriage contract, but judicial
declarations that there never was any mar-
riage; such impediment subsisting at the time
as rendered the celebration of the marriage
rite a mere nullity. And the rite itself con-
tains an exception to these impediments.
The law of Moses, says Dr. Paley, for rea-
sons of local expediency, permitted the Jewish
husband to put away his wife; but whether
for every cause, or for what cause, appears
to have been controverted amongst the inter-
preters of those times. Christ, the precepts
of whose religion were calculated for more
general use and observation, revokes his per-
mission as given to the Jews for their hard-
ness of heart, and promulges a law which
was thenceforward to confine divorces to the
single cause of adultery in the wife. Matt.
xix. 9. Inferior causes may justify the sepa-
ration of husband and wife, although they will
not authorize such a dissolution of the mar-
riage contract as would leave either at liberty
to marry again; for it is that liberty in which
the danger and mischief of divorces principally
consist. The law of this country, in con-
formity to our Saviour’s injunction, confines
the dissolution of the marriage contract to the
single case of adultery in the wife; and a
divorce even in that case can only be brought
about by an act of parliament, founded upon
a previous sentence in the spiritual court, and
a verdict against the adulterer at common
law; which proceedings, taken together, com-
pose as complete an investigation of the com-
plaint as a cause can receive. See Paley/s
Mar. and Po]. Philosophy, p. 273 ; Doddridge's
Lectures, lect. 73.
DOCETJE, a branch of the Gnostics, who
derived their name from the Greek word
doicew, to seem, imagine, because they held
that Jesus existed only in appearance, not in
reality. They were divided into two parties.-
Some said that the body of Jesus was altoge—
ther an illusion; and that he only appeared
to perform the functions of life, like the angels '
who were entertained by Abraham. The
others taught that Christ had a real and tan-
gible body, but that it was formed of a celes-
tial substance, which was resolved again into
the same ethereal elements when he returned
to the I’leroma. This heresy seems to have
DOD
DOI),
253
sprung up at a very early period. According
to Ignatius, they did not meet to celebrate the
Lord’s supper: nor could they have done so
with ‘any degree of consistency, as nothing
would have been more irrational than to take
the bread and wine as symbols of that which
had no real existence. The Docetae struck
at the very root and foundation of the Gospel:
they held that Christ did not die, and conse-
quently that we are not redeemed by his blood
—in express contradiction of every expres-
sion used by the apostles respecting his death.
DOCTRINE, the principles or positions of
any sect or master. As the doctrines of the
Bible are the first principles and the founda-
tion of religion, they should be carefully ex-
amined and well understood. The Scriptures
present us with a copious fund of evangelie
truth, which, though it has not the form of a
regular system, yet its parts are such, that,
when united, make the most complete body of
doctrine that we can possibly have. Every
Christian, but divines especially, should make
this their study, because all the various doc-
trines should he insisted on in public, and ex-
plained to the people. It is not, however, as
some suppose, to fill up every part of a minis-
ter’s sermon, but considered as the basis upon
which the practical part is to be built. Some
of the divines in the last century overcharged
their discourses with doctrine, especially Dr.
Owen and Dr. Goodwin. It was common in
that day to make thirty or forty remarks be-
fore the immediate consideration of the text,
each‘ of which was just introduced, and which,
if enlarged on, would have afforded matter
enough for a whole sermon. A wise preacher
will join doctrine and practice together.
Doctrines, though abused by some, yet, pro-
perly considered, will influence the heart and
life. Thus the idea of God’s sovereignty ex-
cites submission; his power and justice pro-
mote fear; his holiness, humility, and purity ;
his goodness, a ground of hope; his love ex—
cites joy ; the obscurity of his providence re—
quires patience; his faithfulness, confidence,
Ste.
Donnnrnon, PHILIP, the celebrated author
of “ The Family Expositor,” was born in
London, June 26, 1702. His father, Daniel
Doddridge, was an oilman, resident in Lon-
don, and the son of one of the ministers eject-
ed by the Act of Uniformity. His mother
was the daughter of the Rev. John Bauman,
of Prague, in Bohemia, who was compelled
to forsake his native country, in consequence
of the persecutions which threatened to sue-
ceed the expulsion of Frederic, Elector Pala-
tine. Dr. Doddridge was the twentieth and
youngest child; all the rest, except one
daughter, having died in infancy. It is not a
little singular, that, when Doddridge was born,
he was laid aside as a dead child : but a per-
son in the room observing some motion in
him, took that care of him upon which the
flame of life depended. His parents were
eminently pious, and his earliest years were
by them consecrated to the acquisition of re—
ligious knowledge. The history of the Old
and New Testament his mother taught him
before he could read, by means of some Dutch
tiles in the chimney corner of the room in
which they resided. He was first sent to
school to a Mr. Stott, who instructed him in
the rudiments of Greek and Latin; but from
this seminary he was removed, when ten years
of age, to' a free school at Kingston-upon-
Thames, of which his grandfather Bauman
had been formerly the master. He remained
at that school three years, and was distin-
guished for his piety and diligence. In 1715,
he was deprived by death of his father, and
not long afterwards, of his excellent mother,
of both of whom he always spoke in terms of
the greatest respect and affection. In the
same year he was sent to the school of Mr.
Nathaniel \Vood, of St. Albans, where he
commenced his acquaintance with the learned
and excellent Mr. Samuel Clark, who not only
became to him a wise counsellor, and an at‘-
fectionate minister, but a disinterested, gene—
rous, and liberal friend and benefactor.—At
that school he greatly improved himself in
the knowledge of the learned languages ; be-
came perfect master of his native tongue;
and accustomed himself not only to form
ideas, but with propriety and elegance to ex~
press them. He devoted much time to read—
ing; cultivated a taste for polite literature;
diligently studied history, both civil and ec-
clesiastical; and spent agreat part of his time
in the study of theology. His piety now be-
came more habitual and evident; and on Feb—
ruary 1, 1718, he was admitted a member of
the church, under the pastoral care of Mr.
Clark. In that year he quitted the school at
St. Albans, and retired to the house of his
sister, there to determine on his future plans. .
From the Duchess of Bedford he received an
offer to be educated in either of the universi-
ties, as a clergyman of the Church of Eng-
land; but whilst the proposal inspired him
with gratitude, he respectfully declined it,
because he could not conform to a church
from which he conscientiously dissented. I‘l'e
applied to Dr. Calamy for advice as to the
profession he should fellow, who dissuaded
him from becoming a minister; and, in con-
sequence, he for some time reluctantly deter-
mined to follow the profession of the law, till
at length a liberal offer of assistance and ad-
vice, which he received from Mr. Clark, al-
tered those determinations, and he resolved
immediately to prosecute his studies prepara_~
‘tory to becoming a dissenting minister.
In
October, 1719, Mr. Clark placed him in the
academy of the learned and pious Dr. J en-
nings, who resided at Kibworth, in Leicester-
shi-re. There Dr. Doddridge greatly improv-
ed in everyibranch of literature; and, besides
DOD
DOD
254
attending to all his academical studies, he, in
one half year, read sixty books, consisting
principally of theology, and that not in a hasty
and careless manner, but with great seriousness
and advantage. Though young, cheerful, and
devoted to the attainment of knowledge, he
did not, however, forget the more important
concerns of his own personal religion. He
formed some admirable rules for the regula-
tion of his conduct and the improvement of
his time ; which‘ he did not merely form, but
cheerfully and inviolably performed. In 1723
his tutor, Dr. Jennings, died, having not long
removed from Kibworth to Hinckley. Soon
after his death, Dr. Doddridge preached his
first sermon at Hinckley, from the words, “ If
any man love not the Lord Jesus, let him be
anathema, maranatha ;” and “ two persons as-
cribed their conversion to the blessing of God
on that sermon.” For more than a year he
continued to preach at Hinckley and the neigh-
bouring places ; when, having received an in-
vitation from the congregation at Kibworth,
he accepted their offer, and was there settled
in June, 1723. In that retired and obscure
village there were no external objects to divert
his attention from the pursuit of his studies;
and his favourite authors, Baxter, Howe, and
Tillotson, he read with frequency and atten-
tion. To his pastoral duties he was not, how-
ever, inattentive; but in religious conversa-
tion, and visits of mercy, he spent a suitable
portion of his valuable time. His preaching
was plain and practical; and whilst his mind
was richly stored with knowledge, and his
imagination was lively, he made all his talents
subservient to the moral and religious im-
provement of the people committed to his
care. During the whole year he accustomed
himself to rise every morning at five o’clock;
and thus, as he would sometimes say, he had
ten years more than he otherwise would have
had. In 1725 he removed to Harborough,
though he continued to be minister of the
congregation at Kibworth. With Mr. Some,
the dissenting minister at I-Iarborough, he be-
came acquainted; and from his prudence and
piety derived many benefits. In 1728 he re—
ceived invitations to- settle at Nottingham;
but fearful that they would interfere with his
spiritual welfare, he declined, and continued at
I-Iarborough; and in 1729 he was chosen as-
sistant to Mr. Some. In the same year, Dr.
Doddridge, in conjunction with Dr. Watts,
ltev. Mr. Saunders, Rev. Mr. Some, and others,
established an academy for preparing young
men for the work of the ministry among dis-
senters ; and to that institution he was ap-
pointed tutor. No man was better qualified
than Dr. Doddridge for that situation, and‘the
institution soon acquired a just and wide-
spread celebrity. The students be instructed
in every department of science and learning,
and connected with all their studies their reli-
gious improvement. Towards the close of
the year, he received an invitation to settle at
Northampton, in consequence of the removal
of Mr. Tingey, the dissenting minister, to
London; and, urged by Mr. Some and Mr.
Clark to accept the call, he quitted Harborough
December 24, and immediately entered on his
more arduous and important duties. Soon
after his settlement he became seriously ill;
but on his recovery, in March, 1730, he was
set apart to the pastoral ofiice. In this year
he published a tract, entitled “ Free Thoughts
on the most probable means of reviving the
Dissenting interest, occasioned by the late In-
quiry into the causes of its Decay, addressed to
the Author of that Inquiry.” That tract was, on
the whole, favourably received ; and for its spi-
rit and temper deserves much praise. He per-
formed the various duties of a dissenting pas-
tor with exemplary diligence and affection.
His sermons were well studied, and delivered
with zeal and affection. He watched over
his flock like one who had to give an account.
He prayed with and for them. He visited the
sick; attended to the wants of the poor ;
admonished those who erred; cautioned those
who wavered ; confirmed those who were
undecided; and, in every respect, attended
to the doctrines, discipline, and practice of
his church and congregation. In 1732, he
published some admirable “ Sermons on the
Education of Children.” In 1735 he yet
further manifested his affectionate concern
for the rising generation, by his publication
of “ Sermons to Young People ;” and in 17 34,
by his “ Principles of the Christian Religion,”
in verse. In 1736 he published “ Ten Ser-
mons on the Power and Grace of Christ, and
the Evidences of the Gospel,” the three last
of which, on the “ Evidences of Christianity,”
have been since repeatedly printed separately,
and have received great and well-merited
praise. In 1741 he published some “ Practi-
cal Discourses on Regeneration,” which were
well received, and by many have been greatly
admired. In 1745 he published, in conjunc-
tion with Dr. Watts, “ The Rise and Progress
of Religion in the Soul.” It has been trans—
lated into Dutch, German, Danish, and French.
But the work for which Dr. Doddridge has
been so long and deservedly celebrated, is
“ The Family Expositor,” containing a ver-
sion and paraphrase of the New Testament,
with critical notes, and the practical improve-
ment of each section. Of the doctrinal opi-
nions contained in his Expositor, the learned
and pious have, of course, entertained various
sentiments, according to their various tenets;
but critics and scholars, and Christians of
every sect and party, have eulogised it with a
_eandour which did honour to themselves, and
conferred yet greater renown on the name of
Dr. Doddridge. In addition to the foregoing
works, he published “ Two Sermons on Salva-
tion by Grace ;” a Tract, entitled, “ A Plain
i and Serious Address to the Master of a Fa-

D O G
DOM
255
mily ;” the “ Memoirs of Colonel Gardiner ;”
“ A short Account of the Life of Mr. Thomas
Staffe ;” and prepared “ A Proper and New
Translation of the Minor Prophets, with a
Commentary on them :” but this, with other
pieces similarly prepared, have never been
published. In 1748, he revised the expo-
sitory, and other works of Archbishop Leigh-
ton ; and translated his Latin Prelections,
consisting of two volumes, published at Edin-
burgh. At the age of twenty-eight, Dr.
Doddridge married a prudent, kind, and reli-
gious woman, to whom he was greatly attach-
ed, and by whom he had several children. To
their education he paid great attention ; and
their moral and religious characters he en-
deavoured to form and improve, as well by
example as precept. In December, 1750, Mr.
Samuel Clark having died, Doddridge visited
St. Albans, to preach his funeral sermon, and
there unhappily contracted a cold, which con-
tinued to afliict him during the remainder of the
winter. Though his health gradually declined,
he continued to attend to all his ministerial
duties, till, unable any longer to pursue them,
he was obliged, in the autumn of that year, to
visit Bristol; but from that journey he. received
no benefit, and was recommended to take a
voyage to Lisbon. That advice he followed.
On September 30th, he set sail for that place;
and on October 13th he landed at Lisbon.
From the voyage he derived some benefit, and
hopes were entertained of his recovery; but
on October 26, 17 51, he expired. His remains
were interred in the burial ground belonging
to the British factory at Lisbon, and their
chaplain, the succeeding Sunday, preached his
funeral sermon. In England, the intelligence
excited deep and general regret; and the con-
gregation at Northampton erected a handsome
monument at the chapel, to express their
affection and regret; and his friend, Gilbert
West, wrote a suitable and elegant inscription.
Dr. Doddridge sustained all the relation-
ships of life with honour to himself and advan-
tage to his family and the world; so that, as
he approached nearer to the eternal world, his
path, indeed, resembled that of the just, which
is as the shining light, that shineth more and
more unto the perfect day. For a further
account of this eminent scholar and Christian,
see Dr. Doddridge’s works; his Life, written
lliiy Job Orton ; and also by Dr. Andrew
1p 15.
DldGMA, (Greek doyjua, from dolcsw, to seem,
think, he of opinion) an opinion, tenet, prin-
ciple, or article of belief; what is propounded
for belief, or established as a fixed and indu-
bitable doctrine.
DOGMAS, Hrs'ronv or, a branch of theolo-
gical science, particularly attended to in Ger-
many, the object of which is, to exhibit his-
torically the origin and changes of the various
Christian systems, showing what opinions
were received by the various sects in different
ages of the church, the sources of the different
creeds, the arguments by which they were
attacked and supported, what degrees of im-
portance were attached to them in different
ages, the circumstances by which they were
affected, and the mode in which the dogmas
were combined into systems. The sources of
this branch of history are the public creeds,
the acts of councils, and other ecclesiastical
assemblies, letters and decrees of the heads of
churches, liturgies and books of rituals, the
works of the fathers, and of later ecclesiastical
writers, as well as the statements of contem-
porary historians. It is easily seen how im-
portant and interesting a study this is, teach-
ing, as it does, modesty and forbearance in the
support of particular opinions, by showing the
vast variety of ‘those which have afl‘orcled
subjects of bitter controversy at particular
periods, and have then passed away into
oblivion; and how much learning, industry,
and critical acuteness are often required, in
order to a thorough investigation of contested
points of doctrine. The distinction between
this branch of history and ecclesiastical his-
tory is obvious. It is the same as exists be-
tween political history and the history of
politics. Lectures on this subject are de—
livered in all the German universities.
DOGMATICS, a systematic arrangement of
the dogmas or articles of the Christian faith,
with respect to which a distinction is made
between biblical dogmatics,-—tl1e study of
which goes to examine closely the doctrinal
passages of the Holy Scriptures, and to derive
the system of doctrines exclusively from the
Bible,——-and ecclesiastical dogmatics, which
consist in the systematic exhibition of doe~
trines considered to be biblical by particular
churches. The first attempt to furnish a
complete and coherent system of Christian-
dogmas was made by Origen in the third
century; he was succeeded by Augustine in
the fourth, by Isidore of Seville in the sixth,
and by John of Damascus in the eighth. In
the middle ages, ingenious examinations of
the doctrines were made by the schoolmen;
but agitating, as they did, subtle questions of
little or no practical importance, they loaded
the science with useless refinements. Among
the Protestants, Melancthon was the first who
wrote a Compendium of Christian Doctrine,
which is still justly esteemed.
DOMINICAN MONKS, the religious order of
Dominic, otherwise called Preaching Friars,
in England Black Friars, and in France J aco-
bins. Their founder, Dominic de Gasman,
was born in the year 1170, at Calaruega, a
small town of the diocese of Osma, in Old
Castile. His mother, being with child of him,
dreamed she was delivered of a little dog,
which gave light to all the world, with a
fiambeau in his month. At six years of age
he began to study humanity, under the direc_
tion of his uncle, who was arch-priest of the
DOM
DOM ’
256
church of Gumyel dc Ystan. The time he
had to spare from his studies was spent in
assisting at divine ofiices, singing in the
churches, and adorning the altars. At thir-
teen years of age he was sent to the university
of Palencia, in the kingdom of Leon, where
he spent six years in the study of philosophy
afi divinity. From that time he devoted
himself to all manner of religious austerities ;
and he employed his time successfully in the
conversion of sinners and heretics. This
raised his reputation so high, that the Bishop
of Osma, resolving to reform the canons of
his church, cast his eyes on Dominic for that
purpose, whom he invited to take upon him
the habit of a canon in the church of Osma.
Accordingly Dominic astonished and edified
the canons of Osrna by his extraordinary
humility, mortification, and other virtues.
Some time after, Dominic was ordained priest
by the Bishop of Osma, and was made sub-
prior of the chapter. That prelate, making a
scruple of confining so great a treasure to his
own church, sent Dominic out, to exercise the
ministry of an evangelical preacher. Accord-
ingly, he went through several provinces—
as Galicia, Castile, and Arragon, converting
many; till, in the year 1204, the Bishop of
Osma, being sent ambassador into France,
took Dominic with him. In their passage
through Languedoc, they were witnesses of
the desolation occasioned by the Albigenses,
and obtained leave of Pope Innocent III. to
stay some time in that country, and labour on
the conversion of these heretics. Here it was
that he resolved to put in execution the design
he had long formed of instituting a religious
order, whose principal employ should be,
preaching the gospel, converting heretics,
defending the faith, and propagating Chris—
tianity. By degrees he collected together
several persons inspired with the same zeal,
whose number soon increased to sixteen. Pope
Innocent III. confirmed this institution, at the
request of Dominic, who went to Rome for
that purpose. Then they agreed to embrace
the rule of St. Augustine, to which they added
statutes and constitutions, which had formerly
been observed, either by the Carthusians or
the Premonstratenses. The principal articles
enjoined perpetual silence, abstinence from
flesh at all times, wearing of woollen, rigorous
poverty, and several other austerities.
The first monastery of _this order was es-
tablished at Toulouse, by the bounty of the
Bishop of Toulouse, and Simon, Earl of
Montfort. From thence Dominic sent out
some of the community to several parts, to
labour in preaching, which was the main de-
sign of his institute. In the year 1218, he
founded the convent of the Dominicans at
Paris in the Rue St. Jaques, or St. James’s
Street, from whence they had the name of
J acobins. At Metz, in Germany, he founded
another monastery of his order; and another
soon after at Venice. _At Rome, he obtained
of Pope Honorius III. the church of St.
Sabina, where he and his companions took the
habit which they pretended the Virgin showed
to the holy Renaud, of Orleans, being a white
garment and scapular; to which they added
a black mantle and hood, ending in a point.
In 1221, the order had sixty monasteries,
being divided into eight provinces ;——tliose of
Spain, Toulouse, France, Lombardy, Rome,
Provence, Germany, and England. Dominic,
having thus settled and enlarged his order,
died at Bologna, August 4, 1221, and was ca-
nonized by Pope Gregory IX., July 13,
1234.
The order of the Dominicans, after the
death of their founder, made a very con-
siderable progress in Europe, and elsewhere.
They therefore erected four new provinces, viz.
-—those of Greece, Poland, Denmark, and the
Holy Land. Afterwards the number of mo-
nasteries increased to such a degree that the
order is now divided into forty-five provinces,
having spread itself into all parts of the world.
It has produced a great number of mar-
tyrs, confessors, bishops, and nuns. There
are reckoned of this order three popes,
sixty cardinals, a hundred and fifty arch-
bishops, eight hundred bishops, besides the
masters of the sacred palace, who have always
been Dominicans.
There are nuns of this order, who owe
their foundation to Dominic himself, who,
whilst he was labouring on the conversion of
the Albigenses, was so much concerned to see _
that some gentlemen of Guienne, not having
wherewith to maintain their daughters, either
sold or gave them to be brought up by here-
tics, that, with the assistance of the archbishop
of N arbonne, and other charitable persons, he
laid the foundation of a monastery at Prouille,
where these poor maids might be brought up,
and supplied with all necessaries for their
subsistence. The habit of these religious
was a white robe, a tawny mantle, and a
black veil. Their founder obliged them to
work at certain hours of the day, and par-
ticularly to spin yarn and flax, to make their
own linen. The nuns of this order have
above a hundred and thirty houses in Italy,
forty-five in France, fifty in Spain, fifteen in
Portugal, forty in Germany, and many in
Poland, Russia, and other countries. They
never eat flesh, excepting in sickness; they
wear no linen, and lie on straw beds; but
many monasteries have mitigated this aus-
terity. \
In the year 1221, Dominic sent Gilbert du
Fresney, with twelve brothers into England;
where they founded their first house at Ox-
ford, the same year, and soon after another in
London. In the year 1276, the mayor and
aldermen of the city of London gave them
two streets by the river Thames, where they
had a very commodious monastery; whence
DON
DON
257
that place is still called Black-Friars. They
had monasteries likewise at Warwick, Can-
terbury, Stamford, Chelmsford, Dunwich,
Ipswich, Norwich, Thetford, Exeter, Breck-
nock, Langley, and Guilford.
The Dominicans, being fortified with an au-
thority from the court of Rome, to preach and
take confessions, made great encroachments
on the English bishops and the parochial cler-
gy, insisting on a liberty of preaching where-
ever they thought fit. And many persons of
quality, especially women, deserted from the
parochial clergy, and confessed to the Domi-
nicans; insomuch that the character of the
secular clergy was greatly sunk thereby.
This innovation made way for a dissoluteness
of manners; for the people, being under no
necessity of confessing to their parish priest,
broke through their duty with less reluctancy,
in hopes of meeting with a Dominican con-
fessor; those friars being generally in a
travelling motion, making no stay where they
came, and strangers to their penitents.
They found dangerous rivals in the Fran-
eiscans, and engaged in contests with them;
the heat and bitterness of which were perpet-
uated by the hostilities of the Thomists and
Scotists, and have continued even to modern
times. These two orders divided the honour
of ruling in church and state till the sixteenth
century, when the Jesuits gradually super-
seded them in the schools and courts, and
they fell back again to their original destina—
tion. They obtained new importance, how-
ever, by the censorship of books, which was
committed, in 1620, to the master of the
sacred palace at Rome, who is always a Do-
minican. What the Reformation took from
them in Europe, the activity of their missions
in South America and the East Indies restored.
In the eighteenth century the order comprised
more than a thousand monasteries, divided
into forty-five provinces, and twelve congre-
gations. The Dominican order is now flourish-
ing only in Spain, Portugal, Sicfly, and Ame-
rica ; but they have hopes of a revival in Italy.
DONATISTS, ancient schismatics in Africa,
so denominated from their leader Donatus.
They had their origin in the year 311, when,
in the room of Mensurius, who died in that
year, on his return to Rome, Cecilian was
' elected bishop of Carthage, and consecrated,
without the concurrence of the Numidian
bishops, by those of Africa alone, whom the
people refused to acknowledge, and to whom
they opposed Majorinus, who accordingly was
ordained by Donatus, bishop of Cases Nigrse.
They were condemned, in a council held at
Rome, two years after their separation; and
afterwards in another at Arles, the year
following; and again at Milan, before Con‘.
stantine the Great, in 316, who deprived
them of their churches, and sent their se-
ditious bishops into banishment, and pun-
lshed some of them with death.- Their cause
was espoused by another Donatus, called the
Great, the principal bishop of that sect, who
with numbers of his followers, was exiled by
order of Constans. Many of them were
punished with great severity. See CIRCUM-
CELLIONES. However, after the accession of
Julian to the throne in 362, they were ‘fir-
mitted to return, and restored to their former
liberty, Gratian published several edicts
against them, and, in 377, deprived them of
their churches, and prohibited all their assem-
blies. But, notwithstanding the severities
they suffered, it appears that they had a very
considerable number of churches, towards the
close of this century; but at this time they
began to decline on account of a schism among
themselves, occasioned by the election of two
bishops, in the room of Parmenian, the suc-
cessor of Donatus. One party elected Pri-
mian, and were called Prz'miam'sts : and another
Maximian, and were called Maximianists.
Their decline was also precipitated by the
zealous opposition of St. Augustine, and by
the violent measures which were pursued
against them by order of the Emperor Hono-
rius, at the solicitation of two councils held
at Carthage—the one in 404, and the other in
411. Many of them were fined, their bishops
banished, and some put to death. This sect
revived and multiplied, under the protection
of the Vandals, who invaded Africa in 427,
and took possession of this province; but it
sunk again under new severities, when their
empire was overturned, in 534. Nevertheless,
they remained in a separate body till the close
of this century, when Gregory, the Roman
pontifi’, used various methods for suppressing
them: his zeal succeeded, and there are few
traces to be found of the Donatists after this
period They were distinguished by other
appellations, as Circumcelliones, .Mbnienses,
or Mountaineers, C'ampetes, Rupetes, 80c. They
held three councils—that of Cita in Numidia,
and two at Carthage.
The Donatists, it is said, held that baptism
conferred out of the church, that is, out of
their sect, was null; and accordingly they re
baptized those who joined their party from
other churches; they also re—ordained their
mmisters. Donatus seems likewise to have
embraced the doctrine of the Arians ; though
St. Augustine afiirms that the Donatists in this
point kept clear of the errors of their leader.
DONATIVE, in the ecclesiastical sense of
the word, is a benefiee given by the patron to
a priest, without presentation to the ordinary,
and without institution and induction. As to
the origin of donatives, it was one of these
two ways. First, by royal license. Thus Sir
Edward Coke says, the king may not only
found a church or free chapel donative, but
may license any subject to do the same Se-
condly, donatives may be grounded upon
peculiar privilege; as, when alord of a manor,
in a great parish, at a remote distance from his
s
nox
DRU-
258
church there, provided it shall belong entirely
to him and his family, to put in what incum-
bent they shall think fit, the bishops, to en-
courage such a work, may have permitted them
to enjoy this liberty ; which, being continued
time out of mind, is turned into a prescription.
DORT, SYNOD or, a national synod, sum-
moned by authority of the States-general, the
provinces of Holland, Utrecht, and Overyssel
excepted, and held at Dort, 1618. The most
eminent divines of the United Provinces, and
deputies from the churches of England, Scot-
land, Switzerland, Bremen, Hessia, and the
Palatinate, assembled on this occasion, in
order to decide the controversy between the
Calvinists and Arminians. The synod had
hardly commenced its deliberations before a
dispute on the mode of proceeding drove the
Arminian party from the assembly. The
Arminians insisted upon beginning with a
refutation of the Calvinistic doctrines, espe-
cially that of reprobation; whilst the synod
determined, that as the remonstrants were
accused of departing from the reformed faith,
they ought first to justify themselves by scrip-
tural proof of their own opinions. All means
to persuade the Arminians to submit to this
procedure having failed, they were banished
the synod for their refusal. The synod, how—
ever, proceeded in their examination of the
Arminian tenets, condemned their opinions,
and excommunicated their persons; whether
justly or unjustly, let the reader determine.
But it is impossible, on any principles of
Scripture or civil liberty, to justify the perse-
cution which followed, and which drove these
men from their churches and country into
exile and poverty. The authority of this
synod was far from being universally acknow-
ledged, either in Holland or in England. The
provinces of Friesland, Zealand, Utrecht,
Guelderland, and Groningen, could not be
persuaded to adopt their decisions; and they
were opposed by King James I. and Arch-
bishop Laud in England.
Dosrrnnans, an ancient sect among the
Samaritans, in the first century of the Chris-
tian era; so called from Dositheus, who en-
deavoured to persuade the Samaritans that he
was the Messiah foretold by Moses. He had
.many followers, and his sect was still subsist-
ing at Alexandria in the time of the patriarch
Eulogius, as appears from a decree of that
patriarch published by Photius. In that de-
cree, Eulogius accuses Dositheus of inj uriously
treating the ancient patriarchs and prophets,
and attributing to himself the spirit of pro~
phccy. He makes him contemporary with
Simon Magus; and accuses him of corrupting
the Pentateueh, ‘ and of composing several
books directly contrar to the law of God.
DoxoLooY, (from 020: praise, and )toyog
word.) A hymn used in the service of the
ancient Christians. It was only a single sen-
parish church, offers to build and endow a

tence, without a response, running in these
words, “ Glory be to the Father, and to the
Son, and to the Holy Ghost, world without
end, Amen.” Part of the latter clause, “ As
it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall
be,” was inserted some time after the first
composition. The fourth council of Toledo,
an. 633, added the word honour to it, and
read it, “ Glory and honour be to the Father,”
&c., because the prophet David says, “ Bring
glory and honour to the Lord.” It is not
easy to say at what time the latter clause was
inserted. Some ascribe it to the council at
Nice, and pretend it was added in opposition
to the Arians. But the first express mention
made of it is in the second council of Vaison,
11.1). 529, above two centuries later.
There was another small difference in the
use of this ancient hymn; some reading it,
“ Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, with
the Holy Ghost ;” others, “Glory be to the
Father, in or by the Son, and by the Holy
Ghost.” This difference of expression occa-
sioned no dispute in the church, till the rise
of the Arian heresy ; but when the followers
of Arius began to make use of the latter, and
made it a distinguishing character of their
party, it was entirely laid aside by the Catho-
lics, and the use of it was enough to bring
any one under suspicion of heterodoxy.
This hymn was of most general use, and
was a doxology, or giving of praise to God, at
the close of every solemn ofiice. The Western
church repeated it at the end of every psalm, and
the Eastern church at the end of the last psalm.
Many of their prayers were also concluded
with it, particularly the solemn thanksgiving,
or consecration prayer at the Eucharist. It was
also the ordinary conclusion of their sermons.
There was likewise another hymn, of great
note in the ancient church, called the Great
Doxology, or Angelical Hymn, beginning
with those words, which the angels sung at
our Saviour’s birth, “ Glory be to God on
high,” &c. This was chiefly used in the com-
munion service. It was also used daily in
private devotions. In the Mozarabic liturgy,
it is appointed to be sung before the lessons
on Christmas-day. Chrysostom often men-
tions it, and observes, that the Ascetics, or
Christians who had retired from the world,
met together daily to sing this hymn. Who
first composed it, adding the remaining part
to the words sung by the angels, is uncertain.
Some suppose it to be as ancient as the time
of Lucian, about the beginning of the second
century. Others take it for the “ Gloria
Patri;” which is a dispute as difiicult to be
determined, as it is to find out the first author
and original of this hymn.
Both these doxologies have a place in the
liturgy of the Church of England, the former
‘being repeated after every psalm, the latter
used in the communion service.
DRUIDS, the priests or ministers of religion
DRU 259
DRU
among the ancient Gauls, Britons, and Ger-
mans, who resembled, in many respects, the
Bramins of India. They were chosen out of
the best families; and the honours of their
birth, joined with those of their function, pro-
cured them the highest veneration among the
people. They were versed in astrology, geo-
metry, natural philosophy, politics, and geo-
graphy; they were the interpreters of religion,
and the judges of all affairs indifi'erently.
Whoever refused obedience to them was de-
clared impious and accursed. We know but
little as to their peculiar doctrines, only that
they believed the immortality of the soul, and,
as is generally also supposed, the transmigra—
tion of it to other bodies ; though a late author
makes it appear highly probable they did not
believe this last, at least not in the sense of
the Pythagoreans. The chief settlement of
the Druids in Britain was in the isle of An-
glesey, the ancient Mona, which they might
choose for this purpose, as it is well stored
with spacious groves of their favourite oak.
They were divided into several classes or
branches, such as the priests, the poets, the
augurs, the civil judges and instructors of youth.
Strabo, however, does not comprehend all
these different orders under the denomination
of Druids. He only distinguishes three kinds:
Bardi, poets; the Vates, priests and naturalists ;
and the Druids, who, besides the study of na-
ture, applied themselves likewise to morality.
Their garments were remarkably long, and
when employed in religious ceremonies, they
likewise wore a white surplice. They gene-
rally carried a wand in their hands, and wore
a kind of ornament, enchased with gold, about
their necks, called the druid’s egg. They
had one chief, or arch-druid, in every nation,
who acted as high priest, or pontg'fex maximus.
He had absolute authority over the rest, and
commanded, decreed, and punished at pleasure.
They worshipped the Supreme Being under
the name of Esus or Hesus, and the s mbol
of the oak; and had no other temple t an a
wood or a grove, where all their religious
rites were performed. Nor was any person
permitted to enter that sacred recess unless
he carried with him a chain, in token of his
absolute dependence on the Deity. Indeed
their ‘whole religion originally consisted in
acknowledging that the Supreme Being, who
made his abode in these sacred groves, go-
verned the universe ; and that every creature
ought to obey his laws, and pay him divine
homage. They considered the oak as the
emblem, or rather the peculiar residence of
the Almighty; and accordingly chaplets of
it were worn, both by the Druids and people,
In their religious ceremonies; the altars were
strewed with its leaves, and encircled with its
branches. The fruit of it, especially the
n'flsletoe, was thought to contain a divine
“rule, and to be the peculiar gift of Heaven.
It was, therefore, sought for on the sixth day

of the moon with the greatest earnestness and
anxiety; and when found, was hailed with
such rapture of joy, as almost exceeds imagina-
tion to conceive. As soon as the Druids were
informed of the fortunate discovery, they pre-
pared every thing ready for the sacrifice under
the oak, to which they fastened two white
bulls by the horns; then the Arch-druid, at-
tended by a prodigious number of people,
ascended the tree, dressed in white; and with
a consecrated golden knife, or pruning hook,
cropped the mistletoe, which he received in
his robe, amidst the rapturous exclamations of
the people. Having secured this sacred plantu
he descended the tree, the bulls were sacri-
ficed, and the Deity invoked to bless his own
gift, and render it eflicacious in those distem-
pers in which it should be administered.
DRUSES, a remarkable people and sect, in-
habiting different parts of Libanus and Anti-
Libanus, and certain other regions of Syria
and Palestine, but whose principal seat is Kes-
roan, a district on Mount Lebanon, towards
the Mediterranean sea. Till about the middle
of last century they were subject to seven
petty princes or emirs ; but the numerous
quarrels which obtained among these leaders,
reduced them to such a degree, that in order
to preserve their national liberty, they called
an extraordinary assembly, in which it was
determined that the supreme authority should
be lodged in the hands of a superior or Great
Emir, whose residence was fixed at Deir el
Kamer, in the mountainous district to the
north of Saida. They are almost entirely
independent of the Porte, being only obliged
to pay an optional tribute. Some have traced
them to the Drusiae of Herodotus; and others,
especially French historians, to the brave
Count de Dreux, who, with a handful of men,
retreated into those parts from Jerusalem,
about the year 1187; but unfortunately for
this latter hypothesis, they are mentioned by
Benjamin of Tudela, who visited them in
1173. Their true origin has been found in
Elmacin’s History of the Saracens. In the
year 408 of the Hejira, (an). 1017,) an im-
postor named Mohammed Ebu Ismal, or Al-
drusz', appeared at the court of Hakem, khalif
of Egypt, by whom he was well received, and
whom he endeavoured to persuade the people
was the only true God, the creator of the
world. Having been killed by a Turk, his
place was supplied by another impostor,
named Hamah Ebu Ahmed Al—hadi, in con-
sequence of whose efforts the Khalif, and in
the course of a few years, not fewer than 16,0(_)0
people, enrolled their names as believers in
the new doctrine, to the neglect of Islamism,
and the actual establishment of a new sect.
Expelled, however, in the course of time from
Egypt, they settled along the coast of Syria,
especially in the fastnesses of the mountains,
where they have ever since been more or less
able to defend themseives against their ene-
TDR U
DUA
26.0
*rnies. 'Man of their- emirs are distinguished
on the historic page for their bravery and gene-
ral talent ; and the present emir, Beshir, whose
‘dynasty has been upwards of a hundred
years in power, is described 'as an amiable
man, and a great friend of the English.
The Druses are divided into two classes :—
'l. The Djahals, ignorant or uninitiated, who
compose the greater part, and even the emir
himself, who is not permitted to interfere in
any way in matters of religion. They appear
hto have no definite religion whatever, but con-
form to that which happens to predominate,
in order to conceal the fact that they belong
to any particular sect. They make no dis-
tinction of meats, drink wine, marry wives
from among those who are not Druses, and
wear a variegated dress. 2. The Akkals, “ in-
telligent, initiated,” form a sacred, or aristocra-
tic order, who perform the ceremonies of their
religion in their oratories, but under circum-
stances of such profound secrecy, that their
character or nature has never been discovered.
Should any of the uninitiated happen to witness
any part of their religious service, he is instant-
ly put to death. They are excessively rigid
as it regards their religion; live temperately
on food peculiar to themselves ; eat not with
strangers; marry wives of their own order;
and never take an oath, but confirm their de-
clarations by the words, “ I have said it.”
From them the spiritual or ecclesiastical head,
the Imam of the Druses, is chosen, whom both
the initiated and uninitiated regard with pro-
found veneration.
According to Malte Brun, the number of
the Druses amounts to 120,000; but Mr. Con-
nor, late a missionary in those parts, rates
them at 70,000 ; of whom 10,000 compose the
Aklzals, or sacred order.
With respect to their religious belief, they
profess themselves to be Muttewahedin, or
Unitarians, who believe in Hakem, to whom
they give the characters, “the creator of hea-
ven and earth ; the only adorable God in hea-
ven, and the only Lord on earth; the one,
the solitary, who is without wife and children ;
who begets not, and is not begotten; who acts
according to his sovereign pleasure; who says
to all things, be, and they are; the beginning
and the end of all things; the powerful, the
excellent, the victorious. I am, he says, the
foundation of the new religion, the Lord, the
‘way, the written book, the inhabited house;
I am he who knowsall things of himself; the
Lord of the resurrection and the new life;
I .am he who animates the creatures, the water
of life, the author of prosperity ; I give laws
and annul them; I cause men to die, and de-
clare martyrdom to be nothing; I am a 0011-‘
suming fire that consumes the proud,” &c.
They acknowledge seven lawgivers: Adam,
Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Mohammed,
and Said. The first being that follows in
rank to I-lakem, is Hamsah. who appeared in
the time of Adam. by the name of Shatnil;
in that of Noah, by that of Fitagurus; in
Abraham’s time by that of David ; under
Moses he was called 'Shoaib'; in the time of
Jesus his name was Lazarus; in that of Mo-
hammed, Soliman; and in that of Said, Za~
lech. These seven lawgivers were inhabited
by the same soul, which went from body to
body, according to the rules of the metemp-
sychosis. Though Hamsah might have pre-
vented Jesus from carrying his plan into exe~
cution, he permitted him to establish his reli-
gion, partly in order that it might be the
means of overthrowing the Jewish polity,
and partly that there might be another pre~
dominant religion,. under which he and his
Unitarians might live concealed. He attempt-
ed to teach Christ; but on his rejecting the
proffered tuition, he stirred up the Jews against
him, and they killed him. Christ was the
false, Hamsah the true Messiah. It is of
Hamsah the four evangelists write, so that
the Christians are completely deceived, and
can only be delivered from error and all evil
by becoming Unitarians.
Of Mohammed they entertain aworse opin-
ion ; maintaining that he was an evil demon,
a son of whoredom, and accursed. The M0-
hammedans are the flood which has deluged the
world. The Druses do not practise circum-
cision.
According to their catechism, Hakem first
became visible in the year of the Hejirah
400, but did not reveal his divinity; in the
year 408'his divine nature was manifested,
and continued visible for eight years; in the
ninth he disappeared, and will not again be
revealed till the day of judgment, the time of
which is unknown, but its sign is when the
Christians have subdued the Mohammedans.
Judgment will be held on the four classes of
men: Christians, Jews, Apostates, and Uni-
tarians. To the Jews are reckoned the Mo-
hammedans, and the Apostates are those who
desert the faith of Hakem. At the judgment
the Unitarians shall be rewarded with empire
and dominion, treasures of gold and silver,
and shall be promoted to be emirs, pashas,
and sultans. The torments of the Apostates
shall be dreadfully severe; those of the Jews
and Christians more lenient. They believe in
ten incarnations of Hakem; and seven reve-
lations of Hamsah.
The Druses receive the four Gospels, only
apply what is said of Christ to Hamsah; and
they profess to receive the Koran, but only as
a cloak to screen them from the Mohamme-
dans. Owing, most probably, to their living
among the Maronites, several appear of late
to have embraced the outward form of Chris~
tianity. The present Emir, Beshir Shehab.
and a portion of his family, have embraced
the doctrines of the Maronites.
DUALIST, a name given to those who held
the two original and opposite principles of
DUN
DU'N
26 l
good and evil, from which all things have
sprung.
DUCHOBORTZI, on “ WRESTLERS WITH THE
SPIRIT,” asect of Russian dissenters, inhabit-
ing the right bank of the river Moloshnaia,
near the sea of Azof. Their number, in the
year 1818, amounted to 1153 souls. They
have been called the Russian Quakers; and
much as the more enlightened members of the
Society of Friends would find to object to
among them, it cannot be denied that in many
points they resemble them. Their name in-
dicates the strong bearing which their system
has on mystical exercises, in which they place
the whole of religion, to the exclusion of all
external rites and ceremonies. All their know-
ledge, they pretend, is traditionary. They
profess to have the Bible in their hearts; the
light within is suflicient, they need nothing
more. Every thing with them is mystical.
They speak of Christ, and his death; but they
explain both his person and sufferings mysti-
cally, and build their hopes entirely on them~
selves. They make no distinction of days or
meats ; and marriage, so far from being a sa-
crament with them, as in the Greek church,
is scarcely viewed as a civil institution.
DULCINISTS, the followers of Dulcinus, a
layman of Novara, in Lombardy, about the
beginning of the fourteenth century. He
taught that the law of the .Father, which had
continued till Moses, was a law of grace and
wisdom; but that the law of the Holy Ghost,
which began with himself, in 1307, was a law
entirely of love, which would last to the end
of the world.
DUNKERS, a denomination of Seventh-day
baptists, which took its rise in the year 1724.
It was founded by Conrad Beissel, a German,
who received a regular education at Halle,
and took orders as a minister; but being per-
secuted for his opinions on some points in
theology, he left Europe, and retired to an
agreeable solitude within fifty miles of l’hila-
delphia, for the more free exercise of religious
contemplation. Curiosity attracted followers,
and his simple and engaging manners made
them proselytes. They soon settled a little
colony, called Euphrate, in allusion to the
Hebrews, who used to sing psalms on the bor-
ders of the river Euphrates. This denomina-
tion seem to have obtained their name from
their baptizing their new converts by plung-
ing. They are also called Tumblers, from
the manner in which they performed baptism,
which is by putting the person, while kneeling,
head first imder water, so as to resemble
the motion of the body in the action of tum-
bling. They use the trine immersion, with
laying on the hands and prayer, even when
the person baptized is in the water.
Their habit seems to be peculiar to them-
selves, consisting of a long tunic, or coat,
reaching down to their heels, with a sash or
girdle round the waist, and a cap, or hood,
hanging from the shoulders, like the dress of"

the Dominican friars. The men do not shave
the head or beard. The men and women-
have separate habitations, and distinct go-
vernments. For these purposes, they have
erected two large wooden buildings, one of
which is occupied by the brethren, the other
by the sisters of the society; and in each of.
them there is a banquetingeroom, and an
apartment for public worship; for the bre-
thren and sisters do not meet together, even.
at their devotions. They used to ‘live-chiefly
upon roots and other vegetables, the rules of
their society not allowing them flesh, except.
on particular occasions, when they hold what
they call a love feast; at which time the
brethren and sisters dine together in a large
apartment, and eat mutton, but no other
meat. In each of their little cells they have-
a bench fixed, to serve the purpose of a bed,‘
and a small block of wood for a pillow. They
allow of marriage, and aid their poorer bre-
thren who enter the matrimonial state; but
they nevertheless consider celibacy as a vir-
tue. The principal tenets of the Dunkers
appear to be these: that future happiness is
only to be attained by penance and outwards
mortification in this life; and that as Jesus
Christ, by his meritorious sufferings, became
the Redeemer of mankind in general, so each
individual of the human race, by a life of ab-
stinence and restraint, may work out his own
salvation. Nay, they go so far as to admit
of works of supererogation, and declare that
a man may do much more than he is in jus-
tice or equity obliged to do, and that his su-
perabundant works may therefore be applied
to the salvation of others. This denomina-
tion deny the eternity of future punishments,
and believe that the dead have the gospel
preached to them by our Saviour, and that
the souls of the just are employed to preach
the gospel to those who have had no reve—
lation in this life. They suppose the Jewish
sabbath, sabbatical year and year of jubilee,
are typical of certain periods, after the gene-
ral judgment, in which the souls of those
who are not then admitted into happiness are~
purified from their corruption. If any within
these smaller periods are so far humbled as.
to acknowledge the perfections of God, and‘
to own Christ as their only Saviour, they are
received to felicity; while those who conti-
nue obstinate are reserved in torments until-
the grand period typified by the jubilee ar—
rives, in which all shall be made happy in
the endless fruition of the Deity. They also
deny the imputation of Adam’s sin to his pos-
terity. They disclaim violence even in cases
of self-defence, and suffer themselves to be
defrauded or wronged rather than go to law.
Their church government and discipline
are the same with the English Antipacdobap-
tists, except that every brother is allowed to
speak in the congregation; and their best
DWI
D W-I
262
speaker is usually ordained to be their mi-
nister. They have deacons and deaconesses.
from among their ancient widows and ex-
horters, who are all licensed to use their gifts
statedly. The members of the society are
now much dispersed, and the members in the
adjacent country differ in no respect from
their neighbours in dress or manners; though
they maintain the faith of their fathers, and
are remarked for their exemplary lives and
dcportment.
DUTY, any action, or course of actions,
which flow from the relations we stand in to
God or man; that which a man is bound to
perform by any natural or legal obligation.
The various moral, relative, and spiritual
duties are considered in their places in this
work.
DWIGHT, TIMOTHY, 111)., president of Yale
College, America, was born at Northampton,
in the county of Hampshire, and state of Mas-
sachusetts, on the 4th of May, 17 52. His father
was a respectable and opulent merchant; a
man of sincere and unaffected piety, of excel-
lent understanding, and unexceptionable cha-
racter. His mother was the third daughter of
the celebrated Jonathan Edwards, president of
Nassau Hall; and possessed a vigorous and
discriminating mind, and a cultivated under—
standing. She early began to be the instruc-
tress of her son, and so great was his eager-
ness for knowledge, that he learned the al—
phabet at one lesson, and at the age of four
read the Holy Scriptures with ease and cor-
rectness. “ With his father’s example before
him, enforced and recommended by the pre-
cepts of his mother, he was sedulously in-
structed in the doctrines of religion, as well
as in the whole circle of moral duties. She
taught him, from the dawn of reason, to fear
God and keep his commandments; to be
conscientiously just, kind, and affectionate,
charitable, and forgiving; to preserve on all
occasions, and under all circumstances, the
most sacred regard to truth; to relieve the
distresses, and supply the wants of the poor
and unfortunate. She also aimed, at a very
early period, to enlighten his conscience, to
make him afraid to sin, and to teach him to
hope for pardon through Christ. The im-
pressions thus made upon his mind in infancy
were never erased.” At the age of six years
he was sent to school, where he diligently
studied, and made such rapid and extraordi-
nary advances in every kind of knowledge,
that at a very early age he was well acquainted
with the Greek and Roman classics, history,
geography, and astronomy; and whilst he
was greatly pleased with the beauties of Ho-
mer and Virgil, he entered into the abstract
reasonings of Locke and Newton. His con-
duct and character were at this time highly
consistent and moral. At the age of thirteen,
he was admitted a member of Yale College.
After far outstripping his rivals in the career
of literature, he was called to become a tutor
in Yale College, at the age of nineteen. This
office he filled with advantage to the institu- _
tion, and credit to himself. Soon after this
appointment, his father, however, died, and
he was compelled to resign the situation, and
to take charge of his mother and a large fa-
mily. Thus he passed five years of his life,
during which he twice consented to serve the
town, as their representative, in the state le-
gislature. In May, 1795, he was elected
president of Yale College. This was a situa-
tion eminently adapted to him, and one in
which he was enabled to advance the interests
of learning and religion. When Dr. Dwight
entered upon his arduous duties, the students
were infected with infidelity; but in conse-
quence of the efforts of his wisdom, prudence,
zeal, and learning, alike firm and well-prin—
cipled, he succeeded to a great degree in ex-
terminating opinions so inimical to the best
interests of society. He soon afterwards he-
came a preacher at Greenfield, and notwith-
standing the variety of his college engage—
ments, he found time regularly to compose
two sermons every week. Afllicted by a dis-
order in his eyes, he was compelled in after
years to employ an amanuensis to pen from
his lips his sermons. As a preacher, he was
distinguished by the originality and copious-
ness of his ideas; the simplicity, fulness, and
force of his language, and the dignity, pro-
priety, and seriousness of his manner. As a
professor ‘of theology, he was equally emi-
nent. He was well read in the most eminent
fathers and theologians, ancient and modern;
he was a good biblical critic; and his ser-
mons, consisting of five volumes, octavo.,
should he possessed by every student in divi-
nity. He also wrote “ Travels in New Eng-
land and New York,” four volumes, octavo;
“ The Conquest of Canaan,” a poem, one vol.
duodecimo; and a pamphlet on “ The Dan-
gers of the Infidel Philosophy.” Dr. Dwight
continued to discharge the duties of his sta~
tion, both as a minister and president of the
college, to the age of sixty-five; when, after
a long and painful illness, he expired on J a-
nuary the 11th, 1817. He was endowed by
nature with uncommon talents; and these,
enriched by industry and research, and united
to amiability and consistency in) his private
life, unquestionably entitle Dr. Dwight to a
rank among the first men of this age. Two
additional volumes of Dr. Dwight’s sermons
have recently been reprinted in London, oc-
tavo, 1828.
EBI
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263‘
E.
EASTER, the ecclesiastical festival com-
memorative of the resurrection of Christ.
The Greek a-ao-xa, and the Latin pascha,
from which come the French ptiques, the
Italian _ pasqua, and the name of the same
festival in several other languages, originated
in the circumstance that Christ was typified
by the paschal lamb, ordained by Moses to
be slain at the feast of the passover; the
feast being considered as a continuation, in
its fulfilment, of the Jewish festival. The
English name Easter, and the German Ostern,
are derived from the name of the Teutonic
goddess Ostera (Anglo-Saxon Eostre), whose
festival was'celebrated by the ancient Saxons
V with peculiar solemnities, in the month of
April, and for which, as in many other
instances, the first missionaries in these parts
substituted the paschal feast. As early as
the second century there were keen disputes
respecting the day on which this feast should
be kept: the Eastern church persisting in
observing it on the same day with the Jews;
while the Western celebrated it on Sunday,
as the day of Christ’s resurrection. The
dispute was finally settled at the council of
Nice, in 325, which ordained that it should
be kept always on a Sunday: only as it was
a moveable feast, no small difliculty long
continued to be felt as to its adjustment.
EBIoN, the reputed founder of the sect of
i the Ebionites, but with respect to whom it
has often been disputed whether such a person
ever really existed, or whether this sect did
not derive its name from the Hebrew word
‘WIN, signifying poor. It is certain that the
Ebionites did take credit to themselves for
being named after the first believers, who made
themselves poor; and their opponents reproach-
ed them with this name as being expressive of
the poverty of their doctrines, and of the mean
opinion which they entertained of Christ.
But, notwithstanding these verbal allusions,
Dr. Burton is of opinion, that it is by no means
improbable that there was such a person as
Ebion; andthat if not a disciple of Cerinthus,
he was at least contemporary with him.
Whether he published his doctrines in Rome
and Cyprus, as is said by Epiphanius, may
perhaps be doubted; but that he disseminated
them in Asia, and in the neighbourhood of
Ephesus, can hardly admit of a dispute.
Though he and Cerinthus are named as the
leaders of two distinct sects, it does not appear
that there was any great difference of opinion
between them.
. EBIONITES, ancient heretics, forming a
modification of the Gnostics, who rose in the .
very " first age of the church, and formed
themselves into a sect in the second century, _

denying the divinity of Jesus Christ. It has
been supposed, with some plausibility, that
' this sect was originally formed among the
Essenes; and indeed Epiphanius tells us that
they resembled the Ossmi in their doctrina.
Now, according to this writer, the Ossaei were
the same as the Osseni (Esseni), whom he.
describes as a Jewish sect.
They altered and corrupted, in many things,
the purity of the faith held among the first
adherents to Christianity. For this reason,
Origen distinguishes two kinds of Ebionites
in his answer to Celsus; the one believed that
Jesus Christ was born of a virgin; and the
other that he was born after the manner of
other men. The first were orthodox in every
thing, except that to the Christian doctrine
they joined the ceremonies of the Jewish law,
as did the Jews, Samaritans, and Nazarenes;
together with the traditions of the Pharisees.
They differed from the Nazarenes in several
things, chiefly as to what regards the autho-
rity of the sacred writings; for the Nazarenes
received all for scripture contained in the
Jewish canon; whereas the Ebionites rejected
all the prophets, and held the very names of
David, Solomon, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel,
in abhorrence. They also rejected all Paul’s
epistles, whom they treated with the utmost
disrespect. They received nothing of the
Old Testament but the Pentateuch. They
agreed with the Nazarenes, in using the
Hebrew Gospel of Matthew, otherwise called
the Gospel of the twelve apostles; but they
corrupted ‘their copy in numerous places; and
particularly left out the genealogy of our
Saviour, which was preserved entire in that
of the Nazarenes, and even in those used by
the Cerinthians. Besides the Hebrew Gospel
of Matthew, the Ebionites had adopted several
other books under the titles of James, John,
and the other apostles; they also made use
of the travels of Peter, which are supposed
to have been written by Clement; but had
altered them so, that there was scarcely any
thing of truth left in them. They even made
that father tell a number of falsehoods, the
better to authorize their own practices.
ECCLESIASTIC‘AL, an appellation given to»
whatever belongs to the church: thus we say
ecclesiastical polity, jurisdiction, history, 850.
ECCLESIASTICAL Hrs'rour, a narration of
the transactions, revolutions, and events that
relate to the church. As to the utility of
church history, Dr. J ortin, who was an acute
writer on this subject, shall here speak for
us: he observes, 1. That it will show us the
amazing progress of Christianity through the
Roman empire, through the East and West,
although the powers of the world cruelly
ECG
ECL
264
opposed it. 2. Connected with Jewish and
Pagan history, it will show us the total de-
struction of Jerusalem, the overthrow of the
Jewish church and state; and the continuance
of that unhappy nation for 17 00 years, though
dispersed over the face of the earth, and
oppressed at different times by Pagans,
Christians, and Mohammedans. 3. It shows
us that the increase of Christianity produced,
in the countries where it was received, the
overthrow and extinction of paganism, which,
after a feeble resistance, perished about the
sixth century. 4. It shows us how Christ-
ianity hath been continued and delivered
down from the apostolical to the present age.
5. It shows us the various opinions which
prevailed at different times amongst the
fathers and other Christians, and how they
departed, more or less, from the simplicity of
the Gospel. 6. It will enable us to form a
true judgment of the merit of the fathers, and
of the use which is to be made of them. 7. It
will show us the evil of imposing unreasonable
terms of communion, and requiring Christians
to profess doctrines not propounded in Scrip-
tural words, but inferred as consequences
from passages of Scripture, which one may
call systems of consequential divinity. 8. It
will show us the origin and progress of popery;
and, lastly, it will show us, 9. The origin and
progress of the Reformation.
Ecclesiastical history is a very important
branch of study, but one which is attended
with many ditliculties. The widel -spread
and diversified circumstances of the hristian
Church, even from the earliest period, render
it diflicult to arrive at satisfactory views of
many events in which it was concerned.
Those events were seldom recorded at the
time, or by the persons who lived on the spot.
The early writers who undertook to give the
history of the church, were not well skilled
in the laws of historic truth and evidence,
nor always well fitted to apply those laws.
Opinions and statements scattered over the
pages of the fathers and their successors, are
often vague, discordant, and unsatisfactory,
presenting almost endless perplexity, or
matter of debate. While these and other
causes contribute to render ecclesiastical
history very diflicult, they who have devoted
themselves to it in modern times, look at the
subjects of their investigation through me-
diums which tend to colour or distort most of
the facts passing under their review. Their
associations and habits of thinking lead them
unconsciously to attach modern ideas to
ancient terms and usages. The word church,
for instance, almost invariably suggests the
idea of a body allied to the state, and holdmg
the orthodox creed. The heretics of church
history are generally regarded as men of
erroneous principles and immoral lives.
Councils are bodies representative, and clothed
with something approaching to infallible an-
thority. Bishops are not regarded as pastors
of particular congregations, but ecclesiastical
rulers of provinces. All these things tend
greatly to bewilder and perplex an inquirer
into the true state of the profession of Chris-
tianity during a long succession of ages ; and
from their distracting influence, even the
strongest minds can scarcely be protected.
Impartiality is commonly professed, and, in
most instances, honestly intended, but very
rarely exercised.
See Dr. Jortin’s Charge on the Use and
Importance of Ecclesiastical History, in his
Works, vol. vii. ch. 2.
For ecclesiastical historians, see Eusebius’s
Eccl. Hist. with Valesius’s Notes; Barom'i
Annales EccL; S‘ ondani Annales Sacri;
Parei Universalis ist. Eccl.,- Lampe, Dupin,
Spanhei-m, and Mosheim’s Eccl. Hist., Dr.
Muroch’s Translation, New Haven, 1832,
3 vols. 8vo. (The common translation of
Maclaine cannot be depended on.) Gieseler’s
Text Book ,- Weissmanni Hist. Ecel. ; Fuller’s
and Warner’s Eccl. Hist. of England ,- Jortin’s
Remarks on Ecel. Hist. ; Millar's Propagation
of Christianity ,- Gillies’s Historical Collections;
Dr. Ershine’s Sketches, and Robinson’s Re-
searches. The most recent are, Dr. Campbell’s,
Gregory’s, llfilner’s, and Haweis’s; Schroeh’s,
Neander’s, Waddington’s, and Jones’s, all of
which have their excellences. See also
Bogue and Bennett’s History of the Dissenters;
Bennett’s Hist. of Dissenters from 1808 to
1838; and Ilanbury’s Historical Memorials
of the Independents. For the History of the
Church under the Old Testament, the reader
may consult Millar’s History of the Church;
Przdeaux and Shuc/(ford’s Connexions; Dr.
Watts’s Scripture History; Fleury’s History
of the Israelites, and especially Ja/m’s History
of the Hebrew Commonwealth.
ECLECTICS, a name given to some ancient
philosophers, who, without attaching them-
selves to any particular sect, took what they
judged good and solid from each. One Pota-
mon, of Alexandria, who lived under Augus-
tus and Tiberius, and was weary of doubting
of all things, with the Sceptics and Pyrrho-
nians, was the person who formed this sect.
ECLECTICS, or modern Platonics, a sect
which arose in the Christian Church towards
the close of the second century. They pro~
fessed to make truth the only object of their
inquiry, and to be ready to adopt from all the
different systems and sects such tenets as
they thought agreeable to it. They preferred
Plato to the other philosophers, and looked
upon his opinions concerning God, the human
soul, and things invisible, as conformable to
the spirit and genius -of the Christian doc-
trine. One of the principal patrons of this
system was Ammonius Saccas, who at this
time laid the foundation of that sect, after-
wards distinguished by the name of the New
Platonics in the Alexandrian school.
EDW
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265
ECSTACY, or EXSTASY, a transport of the
mind, which suspends the functions of the
senses b the intense contemplation of some
extraordinary object.
ECTHESIS, a confession of faith, the form
of an edict, published in the year 639, by the
Emperor Heraclius, with a view to pacify the
troubles occasioned by the Eutychian heresy
in the Eastern Church. However, the same
prince revoked it, on being informed that
Pope Severinus had condemned it, as favour-
ing the Monothelites; declaring, at the same
time, that Sergius, patriarch of Constantinople,
was the author of it. See EUTYCHIANS.
EDIFICATION. This word signifies a build-
ing up. Hence we call a building an edifice.
Applied to spiritual things, it signifies the
improving. adorning, and comforting the
mind; and a Christian may be said to be
edified when he is encouraged and animated
in the ways and works of the Lord. The
means to promote our own edification are,‘
prayer,’ self-examination, reading the Scrip-
tures, hearing the Gospel, meditation, attend-
ance on all appointed ordinances. To edify
others, there should be love, spiritual conver-
sation, forbearance, faithfulness, benevolent
exertions, and uniformity of conduct.
EDWARDS, JONATHAN (usually styled PRE-
srnnu'r EDWARDS) was descended from an
ancient family in North America. He was
born at Windsor, in the province of Connec-
ticut, on the 5th of October, 1703. His
father was a pious and faithful minister at
Windsor; and his mother was a daughter of
the celebrated Rev. Solomon Stoddard, of
Northampton, and as remarkable for her
mental, as for her personal attractions. J ona-
than was their only son, though they had a
numerous family. At the age of twelve years
he had developed great penetration and deep
thought. He was then admitted into Yale
College, and, at the age of seventeen, received
the degree of Bachelor of Arts.
He remained at college seven years; and,
at the expiration of that period, being duly
prepared, entered into the important work of
the ministry, and delivered his first sermon
at New York, in 1722, where he continued for
ei ht months. In 1723 he took his degree of
aster of Arts, and was tutor of Yale Col-
lege; but, in the course of two years, re-
signed his oflice for the purpose of assisting
his aged grandfather, who much required his
assistance; and, at the age of ‘twenty-three,
became the colleague with that revered rela-
tive at Northampton, where he continued for
upwards of two years. While there, he
generally spent between thirteen and four-
teen hours of every day in his study. Shortly
after leaving Northampton, he united him-
self to a female in every respect worthy of
him, and by whom he had a large family. To
the education of his children he was particu-
larly attentive, and made the care of their
souls his first consideration ; instructed them
himself in the first elements of Christianity,
and rendered his instructions leasing, by his
happy method of communicating knowledge.
These instructions afterwards proved to them
the value of being trained up in the ways of
piety and religion. By many he might have
been considered not to have paid sufiicient
attention to the spiritual interests of his con-
gregation, as it was not his custom to visit
them; but he considered visits of that kind
to be unprofitable, both to himself and his
friends; though, in consequence, he was, by
strangers, considered reserved and haughty.
But Edwards was humble and diflident. “ He
was,” says his biographer, “ a skilful guide
to souls under spiritual difiiculties, and was
therefore applied to, not only by his own
people, but by many who lived at a consider--
able distance. As a minister, he was ex-
ceedingly useful to hundreds, and was the
instrument of turning many from darkness to
light, and from the power of Satan unto God.”
In the year 1734, his ministrations were
eminently useful, and an account of which
has been written by him, entitled, “ A Faith-
ful Narrative of the surprising Work of God,
in the conversion of many hundred souls in
Northampton ;” and which gave rise to other
works “ On the Distinguishing Marks of a
Work of the Spirit of God ;” his “ Thoughts
concerning the present Revival of Religion
in New England ;” and his “ Treatise on Re-
ligious Afi’ections.” Seeds of discontent were,
however, sown among his people; an evil
which the best and most laborious of men
have never been able to prevent.
On the 22nd of June, 1750, he received his
dismissal from them, after having been their
pastor for above twenty-four years. This
was a severe trial to Mr. Edwards, thus to
leave a people who had expressed so much
attachment to him, and to whom he had been
so permanently useful. He, however, bore
the separation with calmness, meekness, and
humility, and took up his cross with the
spirit of a Christian. Mr. Edwards was not,
however, long disengaged as a preacher.
About that time, the Rev. Mr. Scrgent died,
and left vacant the Indian mission at Stock—
bridge, a. town about sixty miles from North-
ampton: and, on the application of the com-
missioners for Indian affairs, he accepted the
invitation, and there settled as missionary,
on the 8th of August, 1751. Mr. Edwards
was not so extensively useful at Stockbridge
as was expected, though he benefited the
world during the five years he remained
there, more than the whole time he spent at
Northampton, by publishing his celebrated
treatises on “ The Freedom of the Will,” and
on " Original Sin.” These works induced
the trustees of New Jersey College to request
him to become their president, on the death
of Mr. Burr. That honourable station, after
EFF
ELD
266
'many objections and doubts, as to his abilities
,for so dignified an ofiice, he accepted; and
when the corporation met, he was placed in
the president’s chair. He also at this time
preached with great success, to large and
attentive congregations. President Edwards,
however, was not long to enjoy the honour
thus conferred on him. The small-pox raged
in the country; the good man was inocu-
lated; he received it very favourably; but a
fever succeeded, and was attended by pustules
in the throat, and he expired, in the fifty;
fifth year of his age, in 1758. As a minister,
a husband, a father, an author, and a scholar,
he was greatly distinguished, revered, and
beloved. The name of President Edwards
can never die. He was pious yet cheerful,
frugal yet generous, and learned without
being a pedant. In the pulpit and the parlour
he was equally beloved and respected; and
at his death thousands were ready to speak
his praises, and eulogize a character so wise,
so good, and so benevolent, as that of Presi-
dent Edwards. As a philosopher, as well as
a divine, he has had few equals, and he had
no superior among his contemporaries. His
works, which have been collected and pub-
lished in eight volumes, royal 8vo, by the
Rev. Dr. Williams, and the Rev. Mr. Parsons,
of Leeds, will live as long as powerful rea-
soning, genuine religion, and thescience of
the human mind continue to be objects of
respect. Dr. Erskine, an excellent judge of
men and books, who patronized both him and
his writings, declared that he did not think
our age had produced a divine of equal judg-
ment or genius. “ The History of Redemp-
tion” shows the author’s intimate acquaint-
ance with the plan of Heaven, and how well
he could illustrate its progressive develop-
ment. The “Treatise on Religious Affec-
tions” discovers his profound acquaintance
with the nature of genuine religion, and with
all the deceitful workings of the human heart.
The “ Inquiry into the Freedom of the Hu- ;
man Will,” displays the talents of the author '
as a metaphysician, and his accurate know-
ledge of the Arminian and Calvinistic con-
troversy. His Defence of the Doctrine of
Original Sin, designed partly as an answer ‘
to a work on that subject by Dr. John Tay-
lor, of Norwich, discovers the same high
qualities which belong to his former works,
with a greater portion of excellent critical
interpretation of the Scriptures.
it is to be regretted, repels many from the
examination of his writings ; but a little per-
severance and attention will render it familiar
to a diligent student, and the effect of his
close and convincing reasoning will prove‘
eminently beneficial to the understanding.
Errnon'rns, a sect of heretics, in 1534, who
scraped their forehead with a knife till it bled,
and then poured oil into the wound. This
ceremony served them instead of baptism.
His style, '
They are likewise said to have denied the
divinity of the Holy Spirit.
Elen'rna, a denomination in the year 680,
who aflirmed that, in order to make prayer
acceptable to God, it should be performed
dancing.
EICHHORN, JOHN Gonrnnr, one of the most
distinguished German scholars in Oriental
literature, biblical criticism, and literary and
general history. He was born at Dorrenzim-
men, in 1752 ; in 1772 he was appointed pro-
fessor at Jena; and, in 1788, he was made pro-
fessor at Gottingen, where he remained till
his death, in 1831. At Gottingen he devoted
himself chiefly to biblical studies. The re-
sults of his inquiries were published in his
Universal Library of Biblical Literature, his
Repertory qf' Biblical and Oriental Literature,
and his Introduction to the Old and New Tes-
tamcnts-—-works which contain much important
and valuable information, and sound criticism,
but also much of the grossest and most offen-
sive specimens of German neology. His
writings have had a great influence on the
views of continental divines.
EJACULATION, a short prayer, in which the
mind is directed to God, on any emergency.
See PRAYER.
ELDER ('II‘pEO'IS'éTEpOQ) an overseer, ruler,
leader.
Elders, or seniors, in ancient Jewish polity,
were persons the most considerable for age,
experience, and wisdom. Of this sort were
the seventy men whom Moses associated with
himself in the government: such likewise
afterwards were those who held the first rank
in the synagogue as presidents—Elders, in
church history, were originally those who held
the first place in the assemblies of the primi-
tive Christians. The word presbyter is often
used in the N ewTestament in this signification,
and as interchangeable with episcopos; hence
the first meetings of Christian ministers were
i called Presbyteria, or assemblies of Elders.—
Elders, in the Presbyterian discipline, are ofii-
cers who, in conjunction with the ministers
and deacons, compose the kirk sessions, who
formerly used to take cognizance not only of
all grosser immoralities, such as swearing,
drunkenness, lewdness, fighting, scolding, dis-
obedience to parents, absence from public
worship, &c., but also what are termed the
levities and amusements of life—as dancing,
racing, card-playing, and the like. They were
authorized, on some occasions, to carry their
jurisdiction into the bosoms .of families and
individuals , to disarm private resentments,
and to arbitrate in cases of domestic variance.
Their principal business now is to take care
of the poor’s funds. They are chosen from
among the people, and are received publicly
with some degree of ceremony. In Scotland
there is an indefinite number of elders in each
parish, generally about twelve. See PnEsnY-
TERIANS. - ‘
ELE
I E-L n
267
It has long been a matter of dispute, whe-
wish to bring the doctrine into contempt; but
ther there are any such .ofiicers as lay elders
mentioned in Scripture. On the one side, it
is observed, that these officers are nowhere his own glory.
l
I
1
it is not true. The ultimate object for which
God created all men, is the advancement of
He will punish multitudes of
mentioned as being alone or single, but always , the human race “ with everlasting destruction
as being many in every congregation.
are also mentioned separately from the breth-
ren. Their ofiice, more than once, is describ-
ed as being distinct from that of preaching,
not only in Rom. xii., where he that ruleth is
expressly distinguished from him that exhort-
eth or teacheth, but also in that passage, 1
Tim. v. 17. On the other side it is said, that,
fromthe above-mentioned passages, nothing
can be collected with certainty to establish
this opinion; neither can it be inferred from
any other passage, that churches should be
furnished with such ofiicers, though, perhaps,
. prudence, in some circumstances, may make
them expedient. “ I incline to think,” says
Dr. Guyse, on the passage, 1 Tim. v. 17 , “ that
the apostle intends only preaching elders, when
he directs double, honour to be paid to the
elders that rule well, especially those who la-
bour in the word and doctrine; and that the
distinction lies not in the order of ofiicers,
but in the degree of their diligence, faithful~
ness, and eminence in laboriously fulfilling
their ministerial work; and so the emphasis
is to be laid on the word labour in the word
and doctrine which has an especially annexed
to it.” Those’who “ ruled well” were such as
remained at home, and diligently attended to ‘
the oversight of the flock, the conducting of
discipline, &'0., as well as teaching; those who
“laboured in word and doctrine,” such as in
addition to their other pastoral duties, spent
their time in laborious exertions to spread the
gospel in the surrounding regions.
ELECTION. This word has different mean-
rugs.
They I from his presence ;” but he did not bring them
‘ into being merely for the sake of punishing

1. It signifies God’s taking a whole
nation, community, or body of men, into ex~ ‘
ternal covenant with himself, by giving them j
the advantage ‘ of revelation as the rule of
their belief and practice, when other nations
are without it. Deut. vii. 6. 2. A temporary
designation of some person or persons to the
filling up of some particular station in the
visible church, or ofiice in civil life. John vi.
70; 1 Sam. x. 24. 3. The gracious and al-
mighty act of the Divine Spirit, whereby God
actually. and visibly separates his people from
the world by effectual calling. John xv. 19.
. 4. That eternal, sovereign, unconditional, par-
ticular, and immutable act of God, whereby
he selected'some from among all mankind,
and of every nation under heaven, to be re-
deemed and everlastingly saved by Christ.
Eph. i. 4; 2 Thess. ii. 13. See DEGREE and
PREDESTINATION.
_ With respect to this subject it is to be ob-
served,“

1. That it is no part of the doctrine of Elec- .
tion, that God created a part of mankind merely
to damn them. This is often said by those who
them. “ God is love.” There is not one ma-
levolent emotion rankling in his bosom. It is
one of the foulest stains that was ever cast
upon his spotless character, to admit the
thought that he brought creatures into being
merely for the purpose‘ of making them for
ever miserable. In itself, he desires the sal-
vation of every living man. We have his
oath, “ that he has no pleasure in the death of
him that dieth.” If he destroys the wicked,
it is because their perdition is inseparable from
the promotion of his'own glory, and the high-
est good of his kingdom, and not because it is
well pleasing to his benevolent mind, or the
ultimate object of their creation.
2. His no part of the doctrine of Election, '
that Christ died exclusively for the Elect. Such
a representation is an unjustifiable perversion
of the doctrine, and exposes it to unanswer—
able objections. Though there would have
been no atonement but for God’s design to
save the elect, and though there could have
been no designs of~mercy toward the elect
without an atonement; yet the doctrine of
atonement and election are two distinct things.
Much idle breath and illiberal crimination
might have been spared, by giving them that
place in the Christian system which they hold
in the word of God. It has never yet been
proved that Christ died exclusively for the
elect. If language has any meaning, we are
bound to believe that “ he tasted death for
every man.” One would imagine that if the
apostle had intended to put this question for
ever at rest, he could not have said more than
he has in these memorable words :—“ and he
is the propitiation for our sins; and not for our
sins only, but also for the sins of the whole
world.”
3. It is no part of the doctrine of Election,
that the Elect shall be saved let them do what
they will. The immutable law of the divine
kingdom has made personal holiness essential
to eternal life. It is not less certain that “no
man will see the Lord without holiness,”—
than that no man will see the Lord unless he
be of the “ election of grace.” The elect
cannot be saved unless they possess supreme
love to God, sincere contrition for all their
sins, and faith unfeigned in the Lord Jesus
Christ. The elect can no more enter heaven
without being prepared for it than the non-
elect. If a man continues stupid and secure,
——-if he never reads the Scriptures,—-if he
never attends upon the word and ordinances,
——if he is never anxious for the salvation of
his soul,—-if he never repents and believes the
gospel,~*if he never becomes a follower of the
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meek and lowly Jesus; he may rest assured
there is nothing in the doctrine of election
that will save him. “ Except ye repent, ye
shall all likewise perish.”
4. It is no part of Election, that the non-elect
will not be saved they do as well as they can.
If they would “ repent and believe the gospel,”
there is nothing in the doctrine of election
that would destroy them. If they would be-
come reconciled to God, he would regard them
with favour. If they would “ come to Christ,”
they should “in nowise be cast out.” Let
the non-elect do their duty, and they will be
saved. Nay, let them possess one holy desire,
and they will be saved. And if they will not
do this, it does not become them to wrest the
doctrine of election, and say it is an essential
part of it, that, do what they will, they must
be lost. Not one of the non-elect will be lost,
unless he persist in impenitence, reject the
ofi'ers of mercy to the last, and die in his sins.
5. It is no art of the doctrine of Election,
' that the non-e ect cannot comply with the terms
of the gospel. The efl'orts to vindicate the
doctrine of election without separating it
from this unscriptural notion, have not only
proved futile, but done harm. There is but
one thing that prevents the non-elect from
accepting the offers of mercy, and that is their
cherished enmit against God. We are well
aware that the criptures represent it to be
impossible for men to do what they are un-
willing to do. Hence says our Saviour,—
“ No man can come to me, except the Father
which hath sent me draw him.” His idea
doubtless is, that men cannot come to him
because they are unwilling to come; for he
had just said, in the course of the same ad-
dress, “and ye will not come unto me, that
ye might have life.” He supposes that mere
unwillingness renders it impossible for them
to come. This mode of speaking not only
runs through the Bible, but is agreeable to
the plainest dictates of reason and common
sense. All the inability of the non-elect,
therefore, to comply with the terms of the
gospel, arises from their unwillingness to
comply. Their inability is of a moral, and
not a physical nature. It is a criminal impo-
tence. It consists in nothing but their own
voluntary wickedness. While, therefore, it
is proper to say, that men cannot do what
they are unwilling to do,--—1t is also proper to
say, that they can do what they are willing to
do. It is no perversion of language to say
that a knave can be honest, or that a drunk-
ard can be temperate; for every one knows "
that they could be if they would. Hence it is
no perversion to say, that a sinful man can
become holy, or that the non-elect can com-' ‘
ply with the terms of the gospel. Their un-
willingness lays them under no natural inabil-
ity, and may at any time be removed by their
being willing. The non-elect are just as able
to repent and believe the gospel as the elect,
if they were but disposed to do so. They are
as capable of doing right as of doing wrong.
The doctrine of election leaves them in full
possession of all their powers as moral agents,
and all possible liberty to choose or refuse
the offers of mercy. But for his voluntary
wickedness, Judas was as able to accept the
gospel as Paul. The non-elect are able to
comply with the terms of the gospel, if they
choose to do it. It is therefore their own
choice, and not the decree of election, that
shuts them out of the kingdom of heaven.
All representations of the doctrine of election,
therefore, that deny the non-elect natural
power to comply with the overtures of mercy,
form no part of that doctrine as it is exhibited
in the Bible.
But if none of these things belong to the ‘
doctrine of election, what is it? For the sake
of a clear understanding of the subject, several
things must be particularly observed.
1. All mankind are by nature in a state of
sin and condemnation. They are “estranged
from the womb.” The “imagination of man’s
heart is evil from his youth.” By the apos-
tasy of their first parents, sin and the curse
are the birth-right of all their natural descend-
ants, from generation to generation; so that
by their ofl'ence, all their posterity come into
the world with a corrupt nature, and under
the wrath of God.
2. Notwithstanding the native corruption
of the human heart, and the lost condition of
all mankind by nature, God has provided a
full and complete atonement for all their sins.
The atonement was made, not for the elect or
non-elect, as such, but all men as sinners.
“God so loved the world, that he gave his
only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth
on him might not perish, but have everlasting
life.” The atonement of Christ is suflicient
for all, adapted to all, offered to all, and irre-
spective of the divine purpose as to its efi'ec-
tual application, made as much for one man
as another.
3. Notwithstanding the unlimited provision
of the gospel, all with one consent, reject the
overtures of mercy, and will not come unto
Christ that they might have life. Left to
himself, every individual of the human race
will reject the Saviour, and plunge into per-
dition. No sense of guilt and danger, no
consciousness of obligation and duty, no pres-
sure of motives, will constrain a living man
to lay down the arms of rebellion and be
reconciled to God. If the Spirit of God does
not appear in the glory of his grace to wrest
the weapons of revolt from his hands, and
make the sinner willing in the day of his
power, all are lost, and Christ is dead in vain.
4. This sad result God has determined to
prevent. It is not his will that all mankind
shall finally perish. He does not intend that
they shall rob him of his glory, nor his‘Son-
of the reward of his death. Some he saves.
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There is a part he rescues from themselves
and from perdition. This number is defi-
nitc. His'eye is upon them. When in the
gall of bitterness and bonds of iniquity, he
sends his Spirit to convince them of their lost
condition—to show them their need of mercy
--to make his word quick and powerful—to
create them anew in Christ Jesus, and to
make them meet for the inheritance of the
saints in light. He begins, carries on, and
completes the work, and receives them at last
to “ the glory which is to be revealed.”
5. God does this from design. Who are
saved and who lost, is not with him a mat-
ter of indifference. He has not committed
the destiny of souls to the obscure omni-
potency of chance. He formed a purpose
to renew, and sanctify, and justify, and glo-
rify a certain part of our fallen race. He
formed this purpose from eternity. This de-
sign is an eternal design; this determination
an eternal, irrevocable decree.
6. In ,doing this, it is important to remark
that God is governed by a wise regard to. his
own good pleasure. He does not sanctify and
save one part of mankind rather than another,
because one part is better than another. The
elect are no more worthy of being made the
objects of regenerating and redeeming grace,
than the non-elect. When the design of sav-
ing them was formed, they were not in being,
and “ had done neither good nor evil.” Dur-
ing the whole of their unregenerate state,
they were opposing God and contemning the
Son of his love. The moment before their
regeneration, they were his determined ene-
mies. It could not, therefore, have been from
regard to any thing in them, that they were
taken and others left, but from a regard to the
mere good pleasure of God. It was a sove-
reign purpose. It was that all the glory
might redound to God’s great and holy
name.
7. Nor is it less important to subjoin, that
this sovereign and eternal purpose was formed
in view of the atonement of Christ. In its
practical influence, it regarded men as already
fallen by their iniquity, and beyond the pos-
sibility of deliverance, except by atonement.
When God determined to save a part of man-
kind, he had it in prospect to provide such an
expiation for the sins of the world, as to jus-
tify him‘ in the unlimited offer of pardon, and
in the full and complete justification of all who
accept it. He owed it to himself, in forming
the purpose to save, to devise a consistent
method of salvation. It would have been a
violation of the rights of moral government,
to have received rebels into favour “ without
the shedding of blood.” Hence the elect are
said to be “ chosen in Christ.” In other
places they are said to be “ Christ’s seed.” In
others, they are represented “ as given to him”
by ,his Father. When, in the covenant of
Peace, be engaged to lay down his life for the
sins of the world, a stipulated number was
“ given him” as his reward. In view of man~
kind, as already plunged in guilt and ruin,
and of Christ as making an adequate atone-
ment, God “ chose them to salvation, through
sanctification of the Spirit, and belief of the
truth.
This is what we suppose the Scriptures
mean by the doctrine of election. The apos-
tle represents himself and the Christians at
Ephesus to be “ chosen”-—“ chosen in Christ”
—~“ chosen in him before the foundation of
the world ;” and that not upon condition they
would be holy, not because of any foreseen
holiness, but “that they should be holy and
without blame before him in love, having pre-
destinated them unto the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ unto himself, according to the
good pleasure of his will.”
The truth of this doctrine may be evinced,—
1. From the divine immutability.
God is unchangeable. “ He is in one mind,
and who can turn him?” But if God is un-
changeable, then every thing that has been,
or will be, was unalterably fixed and deter-
mined in the divine mind from eternity.
Hence it is written, “ the counsel of the Lord
standeth for ever,—the thoughts of his heart
to all generations.” Hence God himself claims
this exalted character: “ I am God, and there
is none else; I am God, and there is none
like me ; declaring the end from the beginning,
and from ancient times, the things that are
not yet done; saying, My counsel shall stand,
and I will do all my pleasure.” If we could
suppose the Deity to be wiser, and better, and
mightier at some times than at others, we
might suppose, that with every accession of
knowledge‘, goodness, and power, he would
form some new design. But he is always
the same. And as his character never alters,
so his purposes never alter. Hence the divine
immutability secures the doctrine of election.
If the divine mind has formed any new pur-
pose with regard to the salvation of men, then
he has altered his plans and is mutable; but
if he has always been of the same mind, then,
unless he actually saves the whole, he must
have formed the purpose of saving a certain
part. Every individual he saves, he must
have “ always meant to save,”—~he must have
always chosen and determined to save. But
this is nothing more nor less than the doctrine
of election. All the objections, therefore,
that are made against the doctrine of election,
are levelled equally against the divine immu-
tability.
2. The doctrine of election may be con-
clusively argued from the Divine foreknow-
ledge.
The mere light of nature is enough to teach
us, that God knows all things, present, past,
and to come. It is impossible that a Being
of infinite wisdom should commence a system
of operations without knowing what he is about
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270
to do. If God does not know all events before
they actually take place, then his know-
ledge may increase, and he may be wiser to-
morrow than he is to-day. In short, if he
does not foreknow all things, he may not only
from day to day discover things that are new,
but he may deduce new results from them,
may misjudge in his arrangements, and be
frustrated in his purposes. But the Bible puts
this question beyond a doubt. “ Known unto
God are all his works from the beginning of
the world.” It is a settled point, then, that
God knew from all eternity every thing that
would take place.
' God, therefore, knows who will at last he
saved. In the ages of eternity, he beheld the
long tract of time from the fall of Adam to the
general judgment, and fixed his eye on every
individual of the human family that would at
last enter into his kingdom. He knew the
exact number, and he knew with absolute
certainty. I say he knew with certainty ; for
there is nothing else that deserves the name
of knowledge except that which is certain.
God did not know how many, and who would
probably be saved, but how many would cer-
tainly he saved. Absolutely to foreknow a
mere contingency, is impossible. To know
who might be saved, and who might not be
saved, is to know nothing about it. Certainly
to know that a thing will be, and yet certainly
to know that it may not be, is the same thing
as certainly to know and not certainly to know
at the same time; which is palpable contra-
diction. It must be conceded, therefore, that
God must have known with absolute certainty
the exact number of those who would be saved.
But how could this be known unless it were
a determined event? If it were undetermined,
it was uncertain ; and if uncertain, it could
not certainly be known. Let any man but an
atheist look at this with an unprejudiced mind,
and he must receive the doctrine of election.
How could God know from eternity how
many would be saved, unless he had from
eternity determined to save precisely this
number? In eternity, there was no being but
God himself. There was no heavens and no
earth, no angels and no men. God existed
alone. And when he existed alone, he cer-
tainly knew how many intelligent beings
would exist, and how many would be saved.
But where did he obtain this knowledge? Not
from any other being beside himself, for there
was no other; and not from himself‘, unless
he had formed the determination to save them;
for if he had not formed the determination to
save them, he could not have known'that they
would be saved. It is just as certain, there-
fore, that God determined from eternity who
would be saved, as that he knew from eternity
who would be saved. “ For whom he did
foreknow, he also did predestinate.” But this
is nothing more nor less than the doctrine of
election. All the objections which lie against
the doctrine of election, ‘lie with equal force
against the Divine prescienee.
3. In proof of this doctrine, we shall make
our appeal to the holy Scriptures. We con-
sider the doctrine unanswerably demonstrated
from the preceding considerations; but “to
the law and the testimony.” The Scriptures
are the word of God, and the infallible rule of
faith and practice. Here we have a standard
to which every thing must bow. From this
oracle there is no appeal. Let us go, then, to
the Bible; and let us go—not to alter, not to
expunge, not to supply, not to wrest from its
plain and obvious meaning a single word; but
simply to inquire what the Lord hath spoken,
and to yield our preconceived opinions to the
paramount authority of eternal truth. Here,
if we are not deceived, we find the doctrine
of election revealed as plainly as language can
reveal it.
Let the reader carefully consult the follow-
ing passages, and interpret them according to
just and fair principles of exegesis,_and we
leave it to his own judgment to determine
whether they do not teach the- doctrine of a
special‘ election of particular persons to eternal
life : Matt. xxiv. 22,24; Acts xiii. 48 ; Rom.
viii. 28—30; ix. 23; xi. 5, 7 ; Eph. i. 4, 5 ;
l Thess. i. 4; v. 9 ; 2 Thess. ii. 13; 2 Tim.-
1. 9 ; ii. 10; 1 Pet. i. 2. -The'construction
which some would force upon these passages,
agreeably to which they understand merely
the election or designation of nations or bodies
of people to external religious privileges, can-
not be maintained without unsettling the
whole of the New Testament scheme of per-
sonal and individual salvation; and, however
favourable such an idea may be to certain
dogmas relative to the efiicacy of a standing '
in what has been called the visible church, and
the opus operatum of its sacraments, it cannot
but‘ prove highly prejudicial to the interests of
genuine piety, and is, indeed, found to flourish
only in regions where that piety has little or
no influence. '
ELLERIANS, on Ronsnonrmns. This sect
arose, about the'year 1726, in the duchy of
Berg, and spread through the neighbourhood.
Its founder was Elias Eller, who was born
about 1690, near Elberfeld,-at Ronsdorf, which,
at that time, was little more than a farm.
Eller, who claimed descent from Judah, mar-
ried successively three wives; the first, on
account of her piety ; the second, for her
youth; the third, for her money. The latter,
Ann ofBuchel, was the daughter of a pastry-
cook of Elberfeld. These two consorts asserted '
that they were the two witnesses mentioned
in the eleventh chapter of Revelation. Eller,
the “ Father of Sion,” conversed familiarly
with God, as a friend with ‘ his friend, the
church having fallen into decay- God, who
resided in him, sent him to form a new church,
in which work his wife, the “ Mother of Sion,”
was to co-operate, and to her all the secrets 0.
ELX
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271
predestination were revealed. He published
his reveries in a German work, entitled, “ The
Shepherd’s Bag,” in allusion to. that of David,
which contained five stones to attack Goliath.
Eller collected his adherents from among
the reformists of Elberfeld, who had become
enthusiasts. With them he quitted that town
in 1728, predicting. that it would be destroyed
by fire, like Sodom. The day on WhlCll this
catastrophe wasv to happen being fixed, they
all departed early in the mormng to ascend
Mount Ronsdorf, whence they expected to see
the conflagration which was to consume the
town, and they waited in vain till evenlng the
fulfilment of the prediction. This miscalcu-
lation deadened their zeal, without undeceiv-
ing them. They erected houses at Ronsdorf,
which were so situated that they could all be
seen from that of their patron. Eller, first the
despot, and then the tyrant of this little king-
dom, was a cunning ambitious man, who em-
ployed spies in the government of 1118 httle
sect ; for espionage is inseparable from despot-
ism. He loved long repasts and orgies, per-
haps less from a taste for scenes of debauchery,
than to gain the secrets which mlght be ut-
tered in seasons of intoxication; for he had
sufficient precaution to confide his doctrme to
adepts only, one of its chief articles being to
deny every thing in case of necessity.
In 17 50, a synod of reformers, held at Wal-
deck, condemned Eller and his followers, who
were also condemned by the theological faculty
at Marpurg, and afterwards excommunicated
in another synod of reformers. The death
of Eller, in 1750, cooled the enthusiasm, and
undeceived the credulity of a multitude _of
people whom he had seduced. The reveries
of this sect are amply described by Knevels.
Ronsdorf is now a pretty, populous, and
industrious town. _
ELOQUENCE, PULPIT. “ The chief charac-
teristics of the eloquence suited to the pulpit
are these two,—-gravity and warmth._ The
serious nature of the subjects belonging to
the pulpit requires gravity; their importance
to mankind requires warmth. It 1s far from
being either easy or common to unite these
characters of eloquence. The grave, when it
is predominant, is apt to run into .a dull uni-
form solemnity. The warm, when it wants
gravity, borders on the theatrical and light.
The union ‘of the two must be studied by all
preachers, as of the utmost consequence, both
in the composition of their discourses, and
at in their manner of delivery. Gravity and
warmth united, form that character of preach-
ing which the French call auction; the affect-
ing, penetrating, interestmg manner, fiowmg
from a strong sensibility of heart 1n the
preacher, the importance of those . truths
which he delivers, and an earnest desire that
they may make full impression on the hearts
of his hearers.” See‘DEcLAMA'rIoN, Simmons.
ELXAITES, ancient heretics, who made their
appearance in the reign of the emperor Tra-
jan, and took their name from their leader,
Elxai. They kept a mean between the Jews,
Christians, and Pagans : they worshipped but
one God, observed theJewish sabbath, circum-
cision, and the other ceremonies of the law;
yet they rejected the Pentateuch and the pro-.
phets; nor had they any more respect for the
writings of the apostles. Some are of opinion
that Elxai ultimately joined the sect of the
Ebionites.
EMANATION, (from the Latin emarare, to‘
issue, flow out,) a term used in reference to
the theosophical doctrine of the East, accord-
ing to . which, all created things emanated
from the Supreme Being by an eternal efliux,
and not by a spontaneous creation. It is found
in the Indian mythology, as it is in the old‘
Persian, or Bactro-Median system of Zoroas-
ter. It had a powerful influence on the Greek
philosophy, as may be seen in Pythagoras.
EMULATION, a generous ardour kindled by
the praiseworthy examples of others ; which
impels us to imitate, to rival, and, if possible,
to excel them. This passion involves in it
esteem of the person whose attainments or
conduct we emulate, of the qualities and
actions in which we emulate him, and a desire‘
of resemblance, together with a joy springing
from the hope of success. The word comes
originally from the Greek CllJ.L>\>\a, contest ;
whence the Latin (emulus, and thence our emu-
lation. Plato makes emulation the daughter of
envy; if so, there is a great difference between
the mother and the offspring; the one being
a virtue, and the other a vice. Emulation
admires great actions, and strives to imitate
them ; envy refuses them the praises that are
their due; emulation is generous, and only
thinks of equalling or surpassing a rival ; envy
is low, and only seeks to lessen him. It
would, therefore, be more proper to suppose
emulation the daughter of admiration; admi-
ration being a principal ingredient in the
composition of it.
ENCRATITES, a sect in the second century,
who abstained from marriage, wine, and
animal food.
ENDOWMENT, ECCLESIASTICAL, a term used
to denote the settlement of a pension upon a
minister, or the building of a church, or the
severing a sufiicient portion of tithes for a
vicar, when the benefice is appropriated.
Among the Dissenters, endowments are
benefactions left to their place or congrega-
tion, for the support of their ministers. Where
the congregation is poor or small, these have
been found beneficial ; but in many cases they
have been detrimental. Too often has it
tended to relax the exertions of the people;
and when such a fund has fallen into the
hands of an unsuitable minister, it has, pre -
vented his removal; when, had he derived no
support from the people, necessity would have
caused him to depart, and make room for one
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272
more worthy. Scarcely has it been found
that any congregation has turned Arian or
Socinian, but such as enjoyed such endow-
ments.
ENERGICI, a denomination in the sixteenth
century; so called because they held that the
eucharist was the energy and virtue of Jesus
Christ; not his body, nor a representation
thereof.
ENERGUMENS, persons supposed to be pos-
sessed with the devil, concerning whom there
were many regulations among the primitive
Christians. They were denied baptism and
the eucharist; at least this was the practice
of some churches ; and though they were
under _the care of exorcists, yet it was thought
a becoming act of charity to let them have the
public prayers of the church, at which they
were permitted to be present.
ENTHUSIASM. To obtain just definitions of
words which are promiscuously used, it must
be confessed, is no small difliculty. This
word, it seems, is used both in a good and a
bad sense. In its best sense it signifies a
divine aflilatus or inspiration. It is also taken
for that noble ardour of mind which leads us
to imagine any thing sublime, grand, or sur-
prising. In its worst sense it signifies any
impression on the fancy, or agitation of the
passions, of which a man can give no rational
account.
characters, and is said to be derived (a'n'o rum
in Guam; uawoueuwv) from the wild ges-
tures and speeches of ancient religionists,
pretending to more than ordinary and more
than true communications with the gods, and
particularly in Qwtatg, in the act or at the
time of sacrificing. In this sense, then, it sig-
nifies that impulse of the mind which leads a
man to suppose he has some remarkable in-
tercourse with the Deity, while at the same
time it is nothing more than the effects of a
heated imagination, or a sanguine constitution.
That the Divine Being permits his people
to enjoy fellowship with him, and that he can
work upon the minds of his creatures when
and how he pleases, cannot be denied. But,
then, what is the criterion by which we are
to judge, in order to distinguish it from en-
thusiasm? It is necessary there should be
some rule, for without it the greatest extra-
vagances would be committed, the most noto—
rious impostors countenanced, and the most
enormous evils ensue. Now, this criterion
is the word of God; from which we learn,
that we are to expect no new revelations,
no extraordinary gifts, as in the apostles’
time; that whatever-opinions, feelings, views,
or impressions we may have, if they are in-
consistent with reason, if they do not tend to
humble us, if they do not influence our tem-
per, regulate our lives, and make us just, pious,
honest, and uniform, they cannot come from
God, but are evidently the effusions of an
enthusiastic brain. On the other hand, if the
It is generally applied to religious ‘

mind be enlightened, if the will which was
perverse be renovated, detached from evil,
and inclined to good; if the powers be reused
to exertion for the promotion of the Divine
glory, and the good of men; if the natural
corruptions of the heart be suppressed; if
peace and joy arise from a view of the good-
ness of God, attended with a spiritual frame
of mind, a heart devoted to God, and a holy,
useful life,——however this may be branded
with the name of enthusiasm, it certainly is
from God, because bare human efforts, unas-
sisted by him, could never produce such
effects as these. Theol. Misa, vol. ii. p. 43 ;
Locke on Underst., vol. ii. ch. 19 ; Spect, No.
201, vol. iii.; Wesley’s Serm. on Enthusiasm;
Mrs. H More’s Hints towards forming the
Character of a young Princess, vol. ii. p. 246 ;
Natural History ofEnthusiasm, by Taylor.
ENVY, a sensation of uneasiness and dis-
quiet, arising from the advantages which
others are supposed to possess above us, ac-
companied with malignity towards those who
possess them. “This,” says a good writer,
“is universally admitted to be one of the
blackest passions in the human heart. No
one, indeed, is to be condemned for defending
his rights, and showing displeasure against a
malicious enemy; but to conceive ill-will at
one who has attacked none of our rights, nor
done us any injury, solely because he is more
prosperous than we are, is a disposition alto-
gether unnatural. Hence the character of an
envious man is universally odious. All dis-
claim it, and they who feel themselves under
the influence of this passion, carefully conceal
it. The chief grounds of envy may be reduced
to three: accomplishments of mind; advan-
tages of birth, rank, and fortune; and superior
success in worldly pursuits. To subdue this
odious disposition, let us consider its sinful
and criminal nature; the misehiefs it occa-
sions to the world, the unhappiness it pro-
duces to him who possesses it ; the evil causes
that nourish it, such as pride and indolenee :
let us, moreover, bring often into view those
religious considerations which regard us as
Christians ; how unworthy we are in the
sight of God; how much the blessings we
enjoy are above what we deserve. Let us
learn reverence and submission to that Divine
government which has appointed to every one
such a condition as is fittest for him to possess :
let us consider how opposite the Christian
spirit is to envy ; above all, let us offer up our
prayers to the Almighty, that he would purify
our hearts from a passion which is so base
and so crimina .” .
EONIANS, the followers of Eon, a wild fana-
tic, of the province of Bretagne, in the twelfth
century ; he concluded, from the resemblance
between cum, in the form for exercising ma-
lignant spirits. viz. “per eum qui ventures
est judicare vivos et mortuos,” and his own
name Eon, that he was the Son of God, and
EPI
EPI
273
ordained to judge the quick and dead. Eon
was, however, solemnly condemned by the
council at Rheims, in 1148, and ended his
days in a prison. He left behind him a num-
ber of followers, whom persecution and death,
so weakly and cruelly employed, could not
persuade to abandon his cause, or to renounce
an absurdity which, says Mosheim, one would
think could never have gained credit but in
such a place as Bedlam.
EOQUINIANS, a denomination in the six-
teenth century ; so called from one Eoquinus,
their master, who taught that Christ did not
die for the wicked, but for the faithful only.
EPARCHY, in the Greek Church, the juris-
diction of a bishop, or other high ecclesiastical
ruler.
EPICUREANS, the disciples of Epicurus, a
Greek philosopher, who flourished about Ann.
3700. This sect maintained that the world
was formed not by God, nor with any design,
but by the fortuitous concourse of atoms.
They denied that God governs the world, or
in the least condescends to interfere with
creatures below ; they denied the immortality
of the soul, and the existence of angels ; they
maintained that happiness consisted in plea-
sure; but some of them placed this pleasure
in the tranquillity and joy of the mind arising
from the practice of moral virtue, and which
is thought by some to have been the true
principle of Epicurus ; others understood him
in the gross sense, and placed all their happi-
ness in corporeal pleasure. His system found
many followers in Rome, among whom Cel-
sus, Pliny the elder, and Lucretius, were the
most eminent. When Paul was at Athens, he
had conferences with the Epicurean philo-
sophers, Acts xvii. 18. The word Epicurean
is used at present for an indolent, effeminate,
and voluptuous person, who only consults his
private and particular pleasure, and particu~
larly one who is devoted to the enjoyments of
the table. See Acnnnmcs.
EPIPHANY, afestival, otherwise called the
manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles, ob-
served on the 6th of January, in honour of the
appearance of our Saviour to the three magi,
or wise men, who came to adore and bring
him presents. In Germany, this feast is
called the day of the holy three kings. The
greeks term it Theophany, or appearance of
0d.
Errscorncv, that form of church govern-
ment in which diocesan bishops are esta-
blished as distinct from and superior to priests
or presbyters.
The controversy respecting Episcopacy
commenced soon after the Reformation, and
has been agitated with great warmth, be-
tween the Episcopalians on the one side, and
the Presbyterians and Independents on the
other. Among the Protestant churches abroad,
those which were reformed by Luther and
his associates are in general episcopal; whilst
such as follow the doctrines of Calvin, have
for the most part thrown off the order of
bishops, as one of the corruptions of popery.
In England, however, the controversy has
been considered as of greater importance
than on the continent. It has been strenu-
ously maintained by one party, that the epis-
copal order is essential to the constitution of
the church; and by others, that it is a per-
nicious encroachment on the rights of men,
for which there is no authority in Scripture.
We will just briefly state their arguments.
I. Episcopaey, arguments for. 1. Some
argue that the nature of the oflice which the
apostles bore was such, that the edification
of the church would require they should
have some successors in those ministrations
which are not common to gospel~ministers.——
2. That Timothy and Titus were bishops of
Ephesus and Crete, whose business it was to
exercise such extraordinary acts of jurisdic-
tion as are now claimed by diocesan bishops,
1 Tim. i. 3; 1 Tim. iii. 19, 22; 2 Tim. ii. 2;
Tit. i. 5, 850. ; Tit. iii. 10.—3. Some have ar-
gued from the mention of angels, i. e. as they
understand it, of diocesan bishops, in the
seven churches of Asia, particularly the an~
gel of Ephesus, though there were many mi-
nisters employed in it long before the date of
that epistle, Acts xx. 17, 18.—4. It is urged,
that some of the churches which were formed
in large cities during the lives of the apostles,
and especially that of Jerusalem, consisted of
such vast numbers as could not possibly assem-
ble at one place—5. That in the writers who
succeeded the inspired penmen, there is a
multiplied and concurring evidence to prove
the apostolic institution of episcopacy.
II. Episcopacy, arguments against. 1. To
the above it is answered, that as the ofiiee of
the apostles was such as to require extraordi-
nary and miraculous endowments for the dis-
charge of many parts of it, it is impossible
that they can have any successors in those
services, who are not empowered for the ex-
ecution of them as the apostles themselves
were; and it is maintained, that so far as
ordination, confirmation, and excommtmica-
tion, may be performed without miraculous
gifts, there is nothing in them but what seems
to suit the pastoral ofiice in general.
2. That Timothy and Titus had not a
stated residence in these churches, but only
visited them for a time, 2 Tim. iv. 9, 13;
Tit. iii. 12. It also appears from other places
in which the journeys of Timothy and Titus
are mentioned, that they were a kind of itin-
erant officers, called evangelists, who were
assistants to the apostles; for there is great
reason to believe the first epistle to Timothy
was written prior to those from Rome in the
time of Paul’s imprisonment, as some tlnnk the
second was also. To which we may add,
that it seems probable at least that they
had very extraordinary gifts to furnish them
'1‘
EPI
EPI
274
for their superior ofiices, 1 Tim. iv. 14 ; Eph.
iv. 11 ; 2 Tim. iv. 5. And though Timothy
was with Paul when he took his leave of the
elders of Ephesus, (Acts xx.) the apostle
gives not the least hint of any extraordinary
power with which he was invested, nor says
one word to engage their obedience to him;
which is a very strong presumption that no
such relation did subsist, or was to take
place.
3. As to the angels of the seven churches
in Asia, it is certain that, for any thing which
appears. in our Lord’s epistles to them (Rev.
ii. and iii.), they might be no more than the
pastors of single congregations with their
proper assistants.
4. To the fourth argument it is answered,
1. That the- word uvptadsg may only signify
‘great numbers, and may not be intended to
express that there were several times ten
thousand, in an exact and literal sense : com-
pare Luke, ch. xii. ver. 1. (Greek.)-—2. That
no sufiicient proof is brought from Scripture
of there being such numbers of people in any
particular place as this supposes; for the my-
riads of believing Jews spoken of in the pre-
ceding text, as well as the numbers mention-
ed, Acts ii. 41 ; Acts iv. 4, might very pro-
bably be those who were gathered together
at those great feasts from distant places, of
which few might have their stated residence
in that city. See Acts, ch. vii. ver. 1~—3.———3.
If the number were so great as the objection
supposes, there might be, for any thing which
appears in Scripture, several bishops in the
same city, as there are, among those who do
not allow of diocesan episcopacy, several co-
ordinate pastors, overseers, or bishops: and
though Eusebius does indeed pretend to give ‘
us a catalogue of the bishops of Jerusalem, it
is to be remembered how the Christians had
been dispersed from thence for a considerable
time, at and after the Roman war, and re-
moved into other parts, which must necessa~
rily very much increase the uncertainty
which Eusebius himself owns there was, as
to the succession of bishops in most of the
ancient secs.
5. As to the ancient writers, it is observed,
that though Clemens Romanus recommends
to the Corinthians the example of the Jewish
church, where the high priest, ordinary
priest, and Levites, knew and observed their
respective oflices, yet he never mentions pres-
byters and bishops as distinct, nor refers the
contending Corinthians to any one ecclesias-
tical head as the centre of unity, which he
would probably have done if there had been
any diocesan bishops among them; nay, he
seems evidently to speak of presbyters as ex-
ercising the episcopal ofiice. See sec. xxxix.
of his epistle—2. As for Irenaeus, it does
not appear that he made any distinction be-
tween bishops and presbyters. He does in-
deed mention the succession of bishops from
the apostles, which is reconcileable with the
supposition of their being parochial, nor al-
together irreconcilcable with the supposition
of joint pastors in those churches—3. It is
allowed that Ignatius, in many places, distin-
guishes between bishops and presbyters, and
requires obedience to bishops from the whole
church; but as he often supposes each of the
churches to which he wrote to meet in one
place, and represents them as breaking one
loaf, and surrounding one altar, and charges
the bishop to know all his flock by name, it
is most evident that he must speak of a paro-
chial, and not a diocesan bishop—4. Poly-
carp exhorts the Christians at Philippi to be
subject to the presbyters and deacons, but
says not one word about any bishop—5. J us-
tin Martyr speaks of the president, but then
he represents him as being present at every
administration of the eucharist, which he
also mentions as always making a part of
their public worship; so that the bishop here
must have only been the pastor of one con—
gregation.-6. Tertullian speaks of approved
elders; but there is nothing said of them that
proves a diocesan, since all he says might be
applied to a parochial bishop—7. Though
Clemens Alexandrinus speaks of bishops,
priests, and deacons, yet it cannot be inferred
from hence that the bishops of whom he
speaks were any thing more than parochial.
~8. Origen speaks distinctly of bishops and
presbyters, but unites them both, as it seems,
under the common name of priests, saying
nothing of the‘power of bishops as extending
beyond one congregation, and rather insinu-
ates the .contrary, when he speaks of offen-
ders as brought before the whole church to
be judged by it.-—-9. The Apostolic Constitu-
tions frequently distinguish between bishops
and presbyters; but these Constitutions can-
not be depended on, as they are supposed to
beta forgery of the fourth century.——10. It is
allowed that, in succeeding ages, the differ-
ence between bishops and presbyters came
to be more and more magnified, and various
churches came under the care of the same
bishop: nevertheless, Jerome does expressly
speak of bishops and presbyters as of the
same order; and Gregory Nazianzen speaks
of the great and affecting distinction made
between ministers in prerogative of place,
and other tyrannical privileges (as he calls
them) as a lamentable and destructive thing.
III. Episcopacy, how introduced. It is
easy to apprehend how Episcopacy, as it was
in the primitive church, with those alterations
which it afterwards received, might be gra-
dually introduced. The apostles seem to
have taught chiefly in large cities; they
settled ministers there, who, preaching in
country villages, or smaller towns, increased
the number of converts: it would have been
most reasonable that those new converts,
which lay at a considerable distance from
EQU
ERA
275
the large towns, should, when they grew
numerous, have formed themselves into dis-
tinct churches, under the care of their proper
pastors or bishops, independently of any of
their neighbours; but the reverence which
would naturally be paid to men who had
conversed with the apostles, and perhaps
some desire of influence and dominion, from
which the hearts of very good men might
not be entirely free, and which early began
to work, (3 John 9; 2 Thess. 7,) might
easily lay a foundation for such a subordina-
tion in the ministers of new erected churches
to those which were more ancient; and much
more easily might the superiority of a pastor
to his assistant presbyters increase, till it at
length came to that great difference which
we own was early made, and probably soon
carried to an excess. And if there were that
degree of degeneracy in the church, and de-
fection from the purity and vigour of religion,
which the learned Vitringa supposes to have
happened between the time of Nero and
Trajan, it would be less surprising that those
evil principles, which occasioned episcopal, and
at length the papal usurpation, should before
that time exert some considerable influence.
IV. Episcopacy reduced, plan of. Arch-
bishop Usher projected a plan for the reduc-
tion of Episcopacy, by which he would have
moderated it in such a manner as to have
brought it very near the Presbyterian govern-
ment of the Scotch church,--the weekly
parochial vestry answering to their church
session; the monthly synod to be held by the
Chorepiscopi, answering to their presbyteries;
the diocesan synod to their provincial, and
the national to their general assembly. The
meeting of the dean and chapter, practised in
the Church of England, is but a faint shadow
of the second, the ecclesiastical court of the
third, and the convocation of the fourth.
Bingham’s Origines Ecclcsiasticce; Stillz'ng-
flcet’s Origines Sacraa; Boyse and Howe on
Epis; Benson’s Dissertation concerning the
first Set. of the Christ. Church; King’s Con-
stit. of the Church ,- Doddridge’s Lectures, lec.
196; Clarhson and Dr. Maurice on Episco-
pacy; Enc. Bria; Dr. Campbell on Church
Hist; and see the article Brsnor.
EPISCOPALIAN, one who prefers the episco-
pal government and discipline to all others.
See last article.
EPISTLES or B-ARNABAS. See BARNABAS.
EQUITY is that exact rule of righteousness
or justice which is to be observed between
man and man. Our Lord beautifully and
comprehensively expresses it in these words :
“ All things whatsoever ye would that men
should do unto you, do ye even so to them,
for this is the law and the prophets.” Matt.
v11. 12. This golden rule, says Dr. ‘Watts,
has many excellent properties in it. 1. It is
a rule that is easy to be understood, and easy
to be applled by the meanest and weakest un~
derstanding, Isa. xxxv. 8.--2. It is a very
short rule, and easy to be remembered: the
weakest memory can retain it; and the
meanest of mankind may carry this about
with them, and have it ready upon all occa-
sions—3. This excellent precept carries
greater evidence to the conscience, and a
stronger degree of conviction in it, than any
other rule of moral virtue—4. It is particu-
larly fitted for practice, because it includes in
it a powerful motive to stir us up to do what
it enjoins—45. It is such a rule as, if well ap-
plied, will almost always secure our neigh-
bour from injury, and secure us from guilt if
we should chance to hurt him.—-6. It is a
rule as much fitted to awaken us to sincere
repentance, upon the transgression of it, as
it is to direct us to our present duty.—7. It
is a most extensive rule, with regard to all
the stations, ranks, and characters of man-
kind, for it is perfectly suited to them all.—
8. It is a most comprehensive rule with
regard to all the actions and duties that con-
cern our neighbours. It teaches us to regu-
late our temper and behaviour, and promote
tenderness, benevolence, gentleness, &c.——9.
It is also a rule of the highest prudence with
regard to ourselves, and promotes our own
interest in the best manner.--10. This rule is
fitted to make the whole world as happy as
the present state of things will admit. See
Watts’s Sermons, ser. 33, vol. i.; Evans’s
Sen, ser. 28 ; Morning Exercises at Cripple-
gate, ser. 10.
EQUIVOCATION, the using a term or expres-
sion that has a double meaning. Equivoca-
tions are said to be expedients to save telling
the truth, and yet without telling a falsity;
but if an intention to deceive constitute the
essence of a lie, which in general it does, I
cannot conceive how it can be done without
incurring guilt, as it is certainly an intention
to deceive.
ERASMUS, (Dnsmnarua) was born at Rot-
terdam, October 28th, 1467. His father's
name was Gerard. At the age of four he was
sent to school; and as he excelled in singing,
he was chosen chorister of Utrecht cathedral.
At the age of nine he was placed under the
tuition of Alexander Hegius of Deventer.
Erasmus developed in his youth great capa-
cities, and excited the notice of men of emi-
nence. In 1480 he was deprived, by death,
of both his father and mother; the former
placing him, together with his brother, under
the care of three guardians. Those guar-
dians were all of them, however, unworthy
men; and, determining to spoliate the pro-
perty of these children, they agreed to devote
them to a religious life. Erasmus they sent
to a convent of friars at Bolduc, where he
wasted three years of his life; and he was
next sent to that of Sion, near Delft; and in
1486, when wearied with that seclusion, they
sent him to a third, Stein, near Tergou.
ERA
ERA
276 '
.church of Rome.
From the last of these houses he however
got discharged; and discarding the name of
Gerard, went by that of Erasmus. In 1490
he lived with Henry a Bergis, archbishop of
Cambray. His knowledge was at this time
very considerable. He was a scholar and a
divine, and determined on rendering himself
useful in his day and generation. In 1492 he
was ordained priest by the Bishop of Utrecht,
and continued to cultivate his mind, and to
collect stores of useful knowledge. In 1493
he wrote his celebrated tract “ De Scribendis
Epistolis.” In 1495 he removed to Paris, and
kept a seminary for the education of young
noblemen of England and France. Lord
William Mountjoy was among their number.
He now wrote his book “ De Ratione con-
scribendi Epistolas, de Copia Verborum,”
&c.; and in the year 1497 he left Paris, and
resided in the__Low Countries, in the castle of
Tornenheus; visited London and Oxford, and
became acquainted with many English pre-
lates of distinguished piety and learning. At
Oxford he continued to reside: studied in St.
Mary’s College; and formed many connex-
ions and acquaintaneeships, which were after-
wards of great use to him. From England
Erasmus returned to Paris, where he again
supported himself by pupils. In 1498 he
prepared his “ Adages,” and applied himself
very sedulously to the study of Greek; and
he again visited England, but soon returned
to Paris, where he reprinted his “ De Ra-
tione,” 85c. Erasmus wrote a jesting letter,
this year, to the poet laureat of France,
which did not, however, tend to raise his re-
putation. Towards the end of the year Eras-
mus visited Orleans, and was in great danger,
during that journey, of robbery and murder.
In 1500 he studied the works of St. Jerome;
of most of the fathers; and printed his
“ Adages,” for the first time. In 1503, the
last year of the Pope Alexander, Erasmus
published several of his works, and after-
wards went to Paris. In 1504 his mind was
deeply fixed on religious studies, to which
he intended to devote the remainder of his
days. In the same year he published his
“ Enchiridion,” which is a book of devotion,
and designedto expose the follies of the
In 1506 he was in Eng-
land; dedicated the Translation of Lucian’s
Timon to Dr. Ruthall; published a Trans-
lation of other Dialogues of Lucian; visited
Cambridge, and excited the universal atten-
tion of the learned. In 1508 he took his
Doctor’s degree at Turin, resided at Florence,
and published a third edition of his “ Adages.”
He was also at this time tutor to the Arch-‘
bishop of St. Andrew’s. In 1509 he received
a letter from the Prince of Wales, visited
Italy, and was well received by the Cardinal
of St. George. At Home he wrote his “ Que-
rela Pacis,” of which, when Julius II. was
informed, he sent for Erasmus to dispute with

him; but though that pontiff was imperious
and violent, he merely reprimanded him for
meddling with the affairs of princes. To-
wards the close of this year, Erasmus jour-
neyed to England. There he translated the
Hecuba of Euripides into Latin verse, and
adding to it some other poems, published the
volume, and dedicated it to Warham. He at
this time resided with the celebrated Thomas
More; and there wrote, in a week, his
“ Praise of Folly.” Erasmus at this time was
very poor; and the academics at Cambridge,
where he resided, were as poor as himself.
In 1511 he sent the Saturnalia of Lucian,
translated into Latin also, to Warham. War-
ham was a great canonist, an able statesman,
a dexterous courtier, a favourer of the learn-
ed, and a hater of Cardinal Wolsey. In 1513
he wrote an elegant letter to the Abbot of
St. Bertin, against the rage of going to war,
which then possessed the French and Eng-
lish. Erasmus had been long engaged in
translating a new edition of the New Testa-
ment, and which, when completed, be pre—
sented to the almoner of Henry VIII. On that
work he bestowed great pains, and it reflects
great honour on his name. Warham now
presented him with the rectory of Aldington,
Kent, and an annuity of 20L In 1514 Eras-
mus travelled to Flanders; wrote there the
Abridgment of his Life, and the celebrated Let-
ter to Father Servatius. In that letter he ex-
posed the evils which existed in the religious
houses; and yet, at the same time, boldly
stood forward in defence of true Christianity.
In 1515 he was engaged in reprinting or re-
vising his various works. In 1516 he re-
ceived an invitation to France, from Francis
I. In that year, the New Testament, Greek
and Latin, with his notes, was published by
him at Basle, and the works of Saint Jerome,
which he dedicated to Warham.
This edition of the entire New Testament
in the original Greek, is the first that was
printed and published separately. The New
Testament had been printed in the Complu-
tensian Polyglott, in 1514, but it was not
published till 1522. Both in this and the
second edition, the disputed passage, 1 John
v. 7, is omitted; but he introduced it into the
three following, on the authority of only one
manuscript, the Montfortian, which has been
ascertained to be of recent date. I-lis Latin
translation is better than the Vulgate, and
more conformable to the Greek text. He re-
tains, however, more of the old ecclesiastical
words and phrases than the Protestant trans-
lators. His annotations, in the opinion of
Erncsti, prepared the way, and laid the foun-
dation for all who have since excelled in in-
terpreting the Scriptures, though he often errs
through his ignorance of Hebrew. _
Erasmus had now attained to wondrous
eminence. His correspondents were the most
learned men of all countries. His opinions
ERA
E RA
277
were canvassed as those of an oracle, and his
epistles and correspondence were published.
Faber, at this time, however, wrote against
his Commentary on Paul’s epistles; and
Edward Lee wrote generally against his theo-
logical sentiments. The first edition of his
“ New Testament” had so rapid a sale, that
in the autumn of this year he was busy in re-
vising it. In the struggles which took place
between the Reformed and the Romanists in
1518, Erasmus took a great deal of interest.
The indulgences of Pope Leo X. he opposed;
Luther he respected for his magnanimous
opposition to their sale; and for such conduct
he was hated by those who had formerly es-
teemed him. It was now that the opposition
to his New Testament became more violent;
but whilst Erasmus was kind and amiable, he
was firm and decided. In 1519 Erasmus re-
ceived from Melancthon a letter, expressing
his approbation of his New Testament and
Paraphrases, and the good wishes of Luther.
To it he kindly replied, and said of Luther, “All
the world agree in commending his moral cha-
racter, but of his doctrines there are various -
sentiments. I have not as yet read his works; >
he hath given us good advice on certain
points; and God grant that his success may
be equal to the liberty he hath taken 1” In
this year Latomus attacked the sentiments of .
Erasmus, and stated, “that a great part of i
true theology consists in a pious disposition
of heart ;” but Erasmus soon vanquished his ~
opponent. He also at this time received a i
letter from Luther, and replied to it, thanking l
him for his services, exhorting him to mode- |
ration, and wishing him success. The religi-
ous tenets of Erasmus were, in 1529, again
attacked, but with no success; and his piety,
faith in Christ, and holiness of life, best
proved to the candid and considerate, that his '

- religion could not but be right. With the
celebrated Budmus and Vives he was at this
time intimately acquainted. In the same
year he dedicated to Cardinal Pucei an edition
of “ Cyprian ;” and to J acobus Tutor,
“ Cicero’s Offices,” “Old Age,” “Friendship,”
and “ Paradoxes.” He also published “ The
Life of Jerome.” In 1520, he published his
“Paraphrase of the Epistle to the Ephesians,”
which is held by the learned and critical in
high estimation. He was also engaged in en- .
deavouring to promote the peace of Christen-
dom; and for this purpose wrote to Campegius,
Wolsey, and Henry VIII. For Luther he felt f
a greater regard in proportion as his perse- I
eution increased; but he ever advised modera-
tion, which Luther well knew would be unsuc-
cessful; but Erasmus was afraid that Luther’s
attempted reformation would have ill success,
and therefore, for himself, thought it improper ‘
to engage in it. It must, indeed, be admitted that _
Erasmus was not suflicientlys decided ; and '
therefore it was that the Reformed could not i
rely on him, and the Romanists hated him.
In 1521 the celebrated Diet of Worms
was held, and Luther confined in prison.
Erasmus sympathised with him, and for such
conduct be incurred the anger of the monks,
who hated him as sincerely as they did Luther.
In 1521 he published the works of St. Hilary,
and also his celebrated Colloquies in Latin,
which he wrote partly that young persons
might have a book to teach them the Latin
tongue, and religion and morals at the same
time: and partly to cure the bigoted world,
if he could, of that superstitious devotion,
which the monks inculeated more sedulously
than true Christian piety. On them the Fa-
culty of Theology, at Paris, passed a general
censure ; and a provincial council at Cologne,
in 1549, also condemned them. In this year
Adrian VI. invited Erasmus to Rome, but he
declined to attend, though, at his request, he
suggested the best means of suppressing Lu-
theranism. It appears to be generally ad-
mitted, as well by Erasmus as his friends, and
by all historians, that he differed with Luther
in his opinions as to free will, and at the
same time perceived the errors of the Catho—
lic Church. .Conciliating, and even timid, he
desired that such errors should be only at-
tacked by argument, and did not therefore
encourage Luther, and yet he wished him
success so far as his sentiments were inde-
pendent of his notions on free will. Thus
hampered and perplexed, his conduct in this
matter was not consistent; for while at one
time he was in theory a Lutheran, he at other
times took great pains to undeceive the pub-
lic, and satisfy his friends that he was not.
Erasmus had stated the necessity of reforma-
tion, and had proposed it; but he hesitated
.' whether it was not better to suffer such refor-
, matron to be retarded than to disturb Christ-
endom by such a zeal and spirit as were
manifested by Luther. In 1523, Adrian
' dying, was succeeded by Clement II. who in-
vited Erasmus to Rome; but the invitation
he declined, since the object intended was
evidently to detain him at Rome, because he
had taken too decided a part in favour of the
Reformation. In 1524 Luther wrote to Eras-
mus on the subject of an opposition which he
expected him to make in the cause of the Re—
formation, which was spirited and nervous;
, to it Erasmus replied, but the letter is not
extant. In 1525 he published his “ Diatribe
dc hbero Arbitrio,” against Luther, and to
which the latter wrote a spirited reply. Eras-
mus also wrote a letter to (Ecolampadius. He I‘
received this year from Beda, some notes on
_his Paraphrase on St. Luke, for which he
thanked him, and requested the same on the
other paraphrases; but Beda having attacked
him with too much acrimony, these compli-.
ments were afterwards exchanged into warm
reproaches, and Beda represented as a cobbler
who went beyond his last. At this time he
published his “ Lingua,” on the good and bad
nan
ESS
278
uses of the tongue, and dedicated it to the
Chancellor of Poland. (Ecolampadius replied
to his attack on him, but Erasmus never un-
dertook to confute him. In 1526 his attention,
however, was greatly occupied by that contro-
versy, in which Vives and other celebrated
men interfered. In this year he published
some tracts of Chrysostom, with a dedication
to John Claymond, which is not among his
Epistles. In 1527 he wrote to Polydore Vir-
gil, on the subject of the difference which
existed between them, and the endeavours of
Virgil to reconcile them. His New Testament
and Colloquies were this year attacked in
London, and he defended them in a long
epistle to Aldridge; he also published the
works of St. Ambrose. His second Hyper-
aspistes against Luther made its appearance
soon afterwards. In this year he was greatly
opposed by the Spanish monks, though such
opposition he did not regard. Thus the
Catholic divines were as little favourable to
Erasmus as to the Reformers; and had the
votes of both parties been collected concern-
ing him, he would have been judged not great-
ly attached to the Romish faith. This was
the effect of his pacific scheme of reformation
which ended in offending the papists, without
obtaining from them even the smallest change,
or the shadow of a compliance.
In 1528 Erasmus received a polite letter
from Melancthon, who confessed that he did
not approve Luther’s violent measures, but
yet reproved Erasmus for his great antipathies.
He now published two treatises in dialogue:
one “ On the Pronunciation of the Greek and
Latin Languages,” and another, entitled “ The
Cicero Nianus;” in the latter of which he
rallied some Italian papists, who scrupled to
use any word or phrase not to be found in
Cicero. This work created him some ene-
mies. In 1529 Erasmus departed from Basle,
and went to Friburg. He published some
pieces of Chrysostom in Greek, a treatise of
Georgius Agricola, and a book of Lactantius.
He dedicated to the Duke of Cleves two
treatises of St. Ambrose, which had not before
been published; and he also published St.
Augustine, for which the Dominicans censur-
ed him. In this year the reformed in Germany
obtained the name of Protestants. In 1530
he was busied in translating various treatises
of St. Chrysostom; in writing his life; in su-
perintending the publication of a work of Al-
gerus, a Benedictine monk, who wrote on the
sacrament; and in publishing his “Christian
Widow,” which he dedicated to the Queen
dcwager of Hungary. In 1531 he printed the
works of Aristotle, and dedicated them to Sir
Thomas More. He also published his useful
and entertaining collection of Apophthegms,
addressed to the divines of Louvaine; a de-
fence of his Colloquies a ainst the charge of
false doctrine; and sentl ervaginus a collec-
tion of his Epistles. In 1532 he published St.
Basil, in Greek; and dedicated Terence to
two young gentlemen of Poland. In 1533 he
dedicated to Fettichius the Geography of
Ptolomy; and to Emstedius, a commentary on
the Psalms, written by Haimon. He also pub-
lished an Exposition of the Apostles’ Creed ;
of the Decalogue; and of the Lord’s Prayer,
in the form of a catechism. In 1535 he re‘
turned to Basle, to try if he could recover his
health, where he continued till the time of his
death. In 1536 he published his Commentary
on Psalm the fourteenth, which has been much
praised. His health now progressively de—
clined; and on July the 12th, in the 69th
year of his age, after the illness of a month,
he expired, and was buried in the cathedral
church of Basle. In Erasmus we behold a
man who, in his youth lying under no small
disadvantages of birth and education, depress-
ed by poverty, friendless, and ill supported,
overcame all these obstacles, and became not
only one of the most considerable scholars of
his age, but acquired the favour and protec-
tion of princes, nobles, and prelates of the
greatest names in church and state. He has
been accused of Arminianism ; but when liv-
ing he denied the charge, and his works gene-
rally support such denial. His style of writ-
ing was unaffected, easy, copious, fluent, and
clear, but not always classical. It is to be
feared, however, that his fame rests more on
his literary attainments and labours, than up-
on the decision or propriety of his religious
character. '
ERASTIANS, so called from Erastus, a Ger-
man divine of the sixteenth century. The
pastoral oflice, according to him, was only per-
suasive, like a professor of science over his
students, without any power of the keys an-
nexed. The Lord’s Supper, and other ordi-
nancles of the gospel, were to be free and open
to a l.
vicious and unqualified from the communion;
but might not refuse it, or inflict any kind of
censure; the punishment of all offences, either
of a civil or religious nature, being referred to
the civil magistrate.
Ennon, a mistake of our judgment, giving
assent to that which is not true. Mr. Locke
reduces the causes of error to four. 1. Want
of proofs. 2. Want of ability to use them.
3. Want of will to use them. 4. Wrong mea-
sures of probability. In amoral and scrip-
tural sense, it signifies sin. See SIN.
Essnnns, a very ancient sect, that was
spread abroad through Syria, Egypt, and the
neighbouring countries. They maintained
that religion consisted wholly in ‘contempla-
tion and silence. Some of them passed their
lives in astate of celibacy; others embraced
the state of matrimony, which they consider-
ed as lawful, when entered into with the sole
design of propagating the species, and not to
satisfy the demand of lust. Some of them
held the possibility of appeasing the Deity by
The minister might dissuade the‘
EST
ES'l
279
' and in China, the emperor is sovereign pon-
sacrifices, though difi'erent from that of the
Jews; and others maintained that no offering
was acceptable to God but that of a serene
and composed mind, addicted to the contem-
plation of divine things. They looked upon
the law of Moses as an allegorical system of
spiritual and mysterious truths, and renounced,
in its explication, all regard to the outward
letter. The. principal ancient writers who
give an account of this sect, are Josephus,
Philo, and Pliny.
ESTABLISHMENTS, RELIGIOUS. By a reli-
gious establishment is generally understood
such an intimate connexion between religion
and civil government as is supposed to secure
the best interests, and great end of both. This
article, like many others, has afforded matter
of considerable dispute. In order that the
reader may judge for himself, we shall take
a view of both sides of the question.
The partisans for religious establishments
observe, that they have prevailed universally
in every age and nation. The ancient pa-
triarchs formed no extensive nor permanent
associations, but such as arose from the rela-
tionships of nature. Every father governed
his own family, and their offspring submitted
to his jurisdiction. He presided in their edu-
cation and discipline, in their religious wor-
ship, and in their general government. His
knowledge and experience handed down to
them their laws and their customs, both civil
and religious; and his authority enforced
them. The ofiices of prophet, priest, and
king, were thus united in the same patri-
arch. Gen. xviii. l9; xvii. and xxi.; xiv.
18. The Jews enjoyed a religious establish-
ment dictated and ordained by God. In turn-
ing our attention to the heathen nations, we
shall find the same incorporation of religious :
with civil government. Gen. xlvii. 22; 2;
Kings xvii. 27, 29. Every one who is at all ‘
acquainted with the history of Greece and!
Rome, knows that religion was altogether,l
blended with the policy of the state. The?
Koran may be considered as the religious?
creed and civil code of all the Mohammedan
tribes. Among the Celtes, or the original iii-
habitants of Europe, the druids were both
their priests and their judges, and their judg-
ment was final. Among the Hindoos, the
priests and sovereigns are of different tribes ,
or castes, but the priests are superior in rank;
tiff, and presides in all public acts of religion. -
Again, it is said, that, although there is no ,
form of church government absolutely pre- f
scribed in the New Testament, yet from the as- '
sociating law, on which the gospel lays so much
stress, by the respect for civil government it
so earnestly enjoins, and by the practice which
followed, and finally prevailed, Christians
cannot be said to disapprove, but to favour
religious establishments.
Religious establishments, also, it is observ—
ed, are founded in the nature of man, and in-
terwoven with all the constituent principles of
human society ; the knowledge and profession
of Christianity cannot be upheld without a
clergy ; a clergy cannot be supported without
a legal provision; and a legal provision for
the clergy cannot be constituted without the
preference of one sect of Christians to the
rest. An established church is most likely to
maintain clerical respectability and usefulness,
by holding out a suitable encouragement to
young men to devote themselves early to the
service of the church; and likewise enables
them to obtain such knowledge as shall qualify
them for the important work.
They who reason on the contrary side ob-
serve, that the patriarchs sustaining civil as
well as religious ofiices, is no proof at all that
religion was incorporated with the civil go—
vernment, in the sense above referred to ; nor
is there the least hint of it in the sacred Scrip-
tures. That the case of the Jews can never be
considered in point, as they were under a theo-
cracy, and a ceremonial dispensation that was to
pass away, and consequently not designed to be
a model for Christian nations. That whatever
was the practice of heathens in this respect,
this forms no argument in favour of that sys-
tem, which is the very opposite to paganism.
The church of Christ is of a spiritual nature,
and ought not, yea, cannot, in fact, be incor-
porated with the state without sustaining
material injury. In the three first and purest
ages of Christianity, the church was a stranger
to any alliance with temporal powers; and,
so far from needing their aid, religion never
flourished so much as while they were com-
bined to suppress it. As to the suppoit
which Christianity, when united to civil
government, yields to the peace and good
order of society, it is observed, that this
benefit will be derived from it, at least, in as
great a degree without an establishment as
with it. Religion, if it have any power,
operates on the conscience of men; and, rest—
ing solely on the belief of invisible realities,
it can derive no weight or solemnity from
human sanctions. Human establishments, it
is said, have been, and are, productive of the
greatest evils; for in this case it is requisite
to give the preference to some particular
system; and, as the magistrate is no better
‘ judge of religion than others, the chances are
as great of his lending his sanction to the
false as the true. The thousands that have
been persecuted and sufl‘ered in consequence
of establishments, will always form an argu-
ment against them. Under establishments
also, it is said, corruption cannot be avoided.
Emoluinent must be attached to the national
church, which may be a strong inducement
to its ministers to defend it, be it ever so
remote from the truth. Thus, also, error
becomes permanent; and- that set of opinions
which happens to prevail when the establish—
ETE 280 ETE
ment is formed, continues, in spite of superior dust in the globe of the earth, and those mut-
light and improvement, to be handed down tiplied to the highest reach of number—all
without alteration from age to age. Hence these are nothing to eternity. They do not
the disagreement between the public creed bear the least imaginable proportion to it, for
of the church and the private sentiments of these will come to an end as certainly as aday;
its ministers. As to the provision made for but eternity will never, never, never, come to
the clergy, this may be done without an , an end! It is a line without an end! it is an
establishment, as matter of fact shows in hun- ! ocean without a shore! Alas! what shall I
dreds of instances. Dissenting ministers, or i say of it? it is an infinite, unknown something,
those who do not hold in establishments, it is i that neither human thought can grasp, nor
observed, are not without means of obtaining j human language describe !” Orton on Eter—
knowledge; but, on the contrary, many of nity; Shower on ditto; Davies’s Sermons, ser.
them are equal to their brethren in the esta- 11 ; Saurin’s Sermons, vol. iii. p. 370.
blishment for erudition and sound learning. ETERNITY or G01) is the perpetual con-
It is not to be dissembled neither, that among tinuance of his being, without beginning, end,
those who, in general, cannot agree with or succession. That he is without beginning,
human establishments, there are as pious says Dr. Gill, may be proved from, 1. His
and as useful members of society as others. ; necessary self-existence, Exod. iii. 14. 2,
Finally, though all Christians should pay From his attributes, several of which are said
respect to civil magistrates as such, and all ; to be eternal, Rom. i. 20. Acts xv. 18. Psal.
magistrates ought to encourage the church, ’ ciii. 17. Jer. xxxi. 3. 3. From his purposes,
yet no civil magistrates have any power to which are also said to be from eternity, Isa.
establish any particular form of religion bind- i xxv. 1. Eph. iii. 11. Rom. ix. 11. Eph. i. 4.
ing upon the consciences of the subject; nor ' 4. From the covenant of grace, which is
are magistrates even represented in Scripture
as oflicers or rulers of the church. As Mr.
Coleridge states, the Christian church is not
a kingdom, realm, or state of the world ; nor
is it an estate of any such kingdom, realm, or
state ; but it is the appointed opposite to them
all collectively :—-—the sustaining, correcting,
befriending opposite of the world !——the com-
pensating counterforee to the inherent and]
inevitable evils and defects of the state as a
state, and without reference to its better or
worse construction as a particular state: while,
whatever is beneficent and humanizing in the
aims, tendencies, and proper objects of the
state, it collects in itself as in a focus, to
radiate them back in a higher quality; or,
to change the metaphor, it completes and
strengthens the edifice of the state, without
interference or commixture, in the mere act
of laying and securing its own foundations.
And for these services the church of Christ
asks of the state neither wages nor dignities ;
she asks only protection, and to be let alone.
These, indeed, she demands; but even these
only on the ground that there is nothing in
her constitution, nor in her discipline, incon-
sistent with the interests of the state; nothing
resistant or impedimental to the state in the
exercise of i ts rightful powers, in the fulfilment
of its appropriate duties, or in the effectuation
of its legitimate objects.
ETERNITY, with respect to God, is a duration
without beginning or end. As it is the at-
tribute of human nature, it is a duration that
has a beginning, but will never have an end.
“ It is a duration,” says a lively writer, “that
excludes all number and computation; days,
and months, and years, yea, and ages, are
lost in it, like drops’ in the ocean! Millions
of millions of years; as many years as there
are sands on the sea-shore, or particles of
. eternal, 2 Sam. xxiii. 5. Mic. v. 2.
That he is without end, may be proved from,
1. His spirituality and simplicity, Rom. i. 23.
2. From his independency, Rom. ix. 5. 3.
From his immutability, 2 Pet. i. 24, 25. Mal.
' iii. 6. Psal. iii. 26, 27. 4. From his dominion
and government, said never to end, J er. x. 10.
i Psal. x. 16. Dan. iv. 3.
That he is without succession, or any dis-
1 tinctions of time succeeding one to another,
as moments, minutes, &c. may be proved from,
1. His existence before such were in being,
Isa. xliii. 13. 2. The distinctions and differ-
ences of time are together ascribed to him,
and not as succeeding one another: he is the
same yesterday, to-day, and for ever, Heb.
xiii. 8. Rev. i. 4. 3. If his duration were
successive, or proceeded by moments, days,
and years, then there must have been some
first moment, day, and year, when he began
to exist, which is incompatible with the idea
of his eternity; and, besides, one day would
be but one day with him, and not a thousand,
contrary to the express language of Scripture,
2 Pet. iii. 8. 4. He would not be immense,
immutable, and perfect, if this were the case;
for he would be older one minute than he was
before, which cannot be said of him. 5. His
knowledge proves him without successive du-
ration, for he knows all things, past, present,
and to come: “he sees the present without a
medium, the past without recollection, and
the future without foresight. To him all
truths are but one idea, all places but one
point, and all times but'one moment.” Gill’s
Body of Divinity,- Paley’s Nat. Theol. p. 480;
Charnoch on the Divine Perfections ; Clarke
on ditto; lValts’s Ontology, chap. 4.
ETERNITY on THE WonLn. It was the
opinion of Aristotle and others that the world
was eternal. But that the present system of

EUC
EUL
281
things had a beginning, seems evident, if we
consider the following things :—1. We may
not only conceive of many possible alterations
which might be made in the form of it, but
we see it incessantly changing; whereas an
eternal being, forasmuch as it is self-existent,
is always the same. 2. We have no credible
history of transactions more remote than six
thousand years from the present time ; for as
to the pretence that some nations have made to
histories of greater antiquity, as the Egyptians,
Chaldeans, Phaanicians, Chinese, 8tc. they are
evidently convicted of falsehood in the works
referred to at the bottom of this article. 3. We
can trace the invention of the most useful
arts and sciences; which had probably been
carried farther, and invented sooner, had the
world been eternal. 4. The origin of the
most considerable nations of the earth may
be traced, 2'. e. the time when they first in-
habited the countries where they now dwell ;
and it appears that most of the western nations
came from the east. 5. If the world be eternal,
it is hard to account for the tradition of its
beginning, which has almost everywhere pre-
vailed, though under different forms, among
both polite and barbarous nations. 6. We
have a most ancient and credible history of
the beginning of the world—I mean the
history of Moses, with which no book in the
world, in point of antiquity, can contend.
Stillingfieet’s Orig. Sacrce, p. 15, 106 ; Winder’s
Hist. qf Knowledge, vol. ii. passim; Pearson
on the Creed, p 58; Doddridge’s Lectures, i.
24; Tillotson’s Sermons, ser. 1; Clarke at
Boyle’s Lectures, pp. 22, 23; Dr. Collger’s
Scripture Facts, ser. 2.
Err-nos, the doctrine of manners, or the
science of moral philosophy. The word is
formed from nQog, mores, “ manners,” by
reason the scope or object thereof is to form
the manners. See MORALS.
ETHNOPHRONES, a sect of heretics in the
seventh century, who made a profession of
Christianity, but joined thereto all the cere—
monies and follies of paganism, as judicial
astrology, sortileges, auguries, and other di-
vinations.
EUCHARIST, the name frequently given to
the Lord’s Supper. The Greek aiXapw-rta,
properly signifies giving thanks. As to the
manner of celebrating the eucharist among
the ancient Christians, after the customary
oblations were made, the deacon brought
water to the bishops or presbyters standing
round the table, to wash their hands; accord-
ing to that passage of the Psalmist, “I will
wash my hands in innocency, and so will I
compass thy altar, O Lord.” Then the dea-
con cried out aloud, “ Mutually embrace and
kiss each other :” which being done, the
whole congregation prayed for the universal
peace and welfare of the church, for the tran-
quillity and repose of the world, for the pro-
sperity of the age, for wholesome weather,
and for all ranks and degrees of men. After
this followed mutual salutations of the minis-
ter and people ; and then the bishop or pres-
byter, having sanctified the elements by a
solemn benediction, broke the bread, and de-
livered it to the deacon, who distributed it tc
the communicants, and after that the cup.
The sacramental wine was usually diluted or
mixed with water. During the time of ad-
ministration, they sang hymns and psalms;
and having concluded with pray er and thanks-
giving, the people saluted each other with a
kiss of peace, and so the assembly broke up.
EUCHITES, or EUCHITJE, a sect of ancient
heretics, who were first formed into a reli-
gious body towards the end of the fourth cen-
tury, though their doctrine and discipline
subsisted in Syria, Egypt, and other eastern
countries, before the birth of Christ. They
were thus called, because they prayed with-
out ceasing, imagining that prayer alone was
suflicient to save them. They were a sort of
mystics, who believed, according to the ori-
ental notion, that two souls resided in man——
the one good, and the other evil; and who
were zealous in expelling the evil soul or de-
mon, and hastening the return of the good
Spirit of God, by contemplation, prayer, and
singing of hymns. They also embraced opi-
nions nearly resembling the Manichean doc-
trine, and which they derived from the te—
nets of the oriental philosophy. The same
denomination was used in the twelfth century
to denote certain fanatics who infested the
Greek and Eastern churches, and who were
charged with believing a double trinity, re-
jecting wedlock, abstaining from flesh, treat-
ing with contempt the sacraments of Baptism
and the Lord’s Supper, and the various
branches of external worship, and placing
the essence of religion solely in external
prayer; and maintaining the efficacy of per-
petual supplications to the Supreme Being for
expelling an evil being or genius, which dwelt
in the breast of every mortal. This sect is
said to have been founded by a person called
Leucopetrus, whose chief disciple was named
Tychiczw. By degrees, it became a general and
invidious appellation for persons of eminent
piety and zeal for genuine Christianity, who
opposed the vicious practices and insolent ty-
ranny of the priesthood, much in the same
manner as the Latins comprehended all the
adversaries of the Roman Pontifi‘, under the
general terms of Albigenses and Waldenses.
EUDOXIANS, a sect in the fourth century ;
so called from their leader, Eudoxius, patri-
arch of Antioch and Constantinople, a great
defender of the Arian doctrine. The Eu-
doxians believed that the Son was created
out of nothing; that he had a will distinct
and difi‘erent from that of the Father, 84c.
They held many other tenets of the Arians
and Eunomians.
EULooY, eulogia, a term made use of in re-
EUN
EUS
282
f erence to the consecrated bread. When the
Greeks have cut a loaf or piece of bread, to
consecrate it, they break the rest into little
bits, and distribute it among the persons who
have not yet communicated, or send it to per-
sons that are absent; and these pieces of
bread are what they call eulogies. The word
is Greek, E'UAO‘YUZ, formed of sv, bene, “ well,”
and Myw, dico, “ I say, speak ;” q. d. bene-
dictum, “ blessed.” 1"
The Latin Church has had something like
eulogies for a great many ages; and thence
arose the use of their holy bread. The name
eulogy was likewise given to loaves or cakes
brought to church by the faithful, to have them
blessed. Lastly, the use of the term passed
hence to mere presents made to a person with-
out any benediction.
EUNOMIANS, a sect in the fourth century.
They were a branch of Arians, and took
their name from Eunomius, bishop of Cyzi-
eus. lave, in his “ Historia Literaria,” vol.
1. p. 223, gives the following account of their
faith :-——“ There is one God, uncreated and
without beginning; who has nothing existing
before him, for nothing can exist before
what is uncreated; nor with him, for what
IS uncreated must be one; nor in him, for
God is a simple and uncompounded being.
This one simple and eternal being is God, the
creator and ordainer of all things; first, in-
deed, and principally, of his only begotten
Son ; and then through him of all other things.
For God begat, created, and made the Son
only by his direct operation and power, be-
fore all things, and every other creature;
not producing, however, any being like him-
self, or imparting any of his own proper sub-
stance to the Son ; for God is immortal, uni-
form, indivisible, and therefore cannot com-
municate any part of his own proper substance
to another. He alone is unbegotten; and it
is impossible that any other being should be
formed of an unbegotten substance. He did
not use his own substance in begetting the
Son, but his will only ; nor did he beget him
in the likeness of his substance, but accord-
ing to his own good pleasure ; he then created
the Holy Spirit, the first and greatest of all
spirits, by his own power, in deed and opera-
tion mediately; yet by the immediate power
and operation of the Son. After the Holy
Spirit, he created all other things, in heaven
and in earth, visible and invisible, corporeal
and incorporeal, mediately by himself, by
the power and operation of the Son,” &c.
The reader will evidently see how near these
tenets are to those of Arianism. See ARIANS.
EUNUCHS, in a religious sense, persons
who, from mistaken views of human nature,
imagine, that by submitting to tho revolting
sacrifice of castration, they shall eradicate
their impure propensities, and qualify them-
selves for performing, in a more holy and
acceptable manner, the duties of religion
The celebrated Origen was the subject of
this miserable delusion ; and individuals have
been found, in most ages of the church, who,
for want of better instruction, have been
duped by the idea; but it is at the present
day most prevalent in Russia, where there are
many hundreds of eunuchs, especially in the
army and navy. In St. Petersburgh, there
is a row of silversmiths’ shops, the occupiers
of which belong to this denomination. They
are so far connived at, as to be allowed to
hold their own religious assemblies ; but every
prudent measure is adopted by government to
prevent their increase.
EUSEBIANS, a denomination given to the
Arians, on account of the favour and coun-
tenance which Eusebius, bishop of Caesarea,
showed and procured for them at their first
rise.
EUSEBIUS, surnamed Pamphilius, the fa-
ther of ecclesiastical history, born at Caasa~
rea, in Palestine, about 121.1). 270, and died
about 340, was the most learned man of his
time. He was a presbyter, and in 314 was
appointed bishop in his native city. He was
at first opposed to the Arians, but afterwards
became their advocate, and with them con-
demned the doctrines of Athanasius.
Ecclesiastical History, written, like his other
works, in Greek, is contained in ten books,
and extends from the birth of Christ to the
year 324. Of his Chronicon, with the excep-
tion of some fragments of the original, we
have only an Armenian version and the La-
tin version of Jerome. Besides these, there
are still extant fifteen books of his Prepara-
tio Evangelica, which is particularly valuable
for the extracts which it contains from lost
philosophical works. Of the twenty books
of his Demonstratio Evangelina, in which he
shows the superiority of Christianity to Ju—
daism, we have only ten imperfectly pre-
served: and finally a life, or rather eulogium,
of Constantine.
EUSTATHIANS, a name given to the Catho-
lies of Antioch, in the fourth century, on
occasion of their refusing to acknowledge any
other bishop beside St. Eustathius, deposed
by the Arians;
EUSTATHIANS, a sect in the fourth cen-
tury, so denominated from their founder,
Eustathius, a monk so foolishly fond of his
own profession, that he condemned all other
conditions of life. Whether this Eustathius
were the same with the bishop of Sebastia,
and chief of the Semi-arians, is not easy to
determine. He excluded married people from
salvation, prohibited his followers from pray-
ing in their houses, and obliged them to quit
all they had, as incompatible with the hopes
of heaven. He drew them out of the other
assemblies of Christians, to hold secret ones
with him, and made them wear a particular
habit: he appointed them to fast on Sundays,
and taught them that the ordinary fasts‘ of
His '
EVA
EVI
283
the church were needless after they had at-
tained to a, certain degree of purity,which he
pretended to. He showed great horror for
chapels built in honour of martyrs, and the
assemblies held therein. He was condemned
at the council of Gangra, in Paphlagonia,
held between the years 326 and 341.
EUTVUCHITES, a denomination in the third
century; so called from the Greek evrvxew,
which signifies, to live without pain, or in
pleasure. Among other sentiments, they held
that our souls are placed in our bodies only
to honour the angels who created them ; and
that we ought to rejoice equally in all events,
because to grieve would be to dishonour the
angels, their creators.
EUTYCHIANS, ancient heretics, who denied
the duplicity of natures in Christ; thus deno-
minated from Eutyches, the archimandrite,
or abbot of a monastery at Constantinople,
who began to propagate his opinions about
A. D. 448. He did not, however, seem quite
steady and consistent in his sentiments; for
he appeared to allow of two natures, even
before the union, which was apparently a
consequence he drew from the principles of
the Platonic philosophy, which supposes a
pre-existence of souls: accordingly, he be-
lieved that the soul of Jesus Christ had been
united to the Divinity before the incarnation;
but then he allowed no distinction of natures
in Jesus Christ since his incarnation. This
heresy was first condemned in a synod held
at Constantinople, by Flavian, in 448; ap-
proved by the council of Ephesus, called
conventus latronum, in. 449; and re-examined
and fulminated in the general council of
Chalcedon, in 451. The Eutychians were
divided into several branches, as the Agnoetce,
Theodosians, Severz'ans, &c. &c. 850. Euty-
chians was also the name of a sect, half
Arian and half Eunomian, which arose at
Constantinople in the fourth century.
EVANGELICAL, agreeable to the doctrines
of the gospel. The term is frequently applied
to those who do not rely upon moral duties
as to their acceptance with God; but are
influenced to action from a sense of the love
of God, and depend upon the merits of Christ
for their everlasting salvation.
In the public documents in Prussia, the
word evangelical is vanow substituted in the
room 'of Lutheran and Calvinist; it having
been the aim of the king for some time past
to unite the two denominations into one body.
There is, in fact, little difi'erence in the reli-
gious belief of the two parties: many of the
Calvinists, or the Refiirmed, not holding pre-
destination and other Calvinistic points, and
many of the Lutherans do not adhere‘ to the
doctrine of consubstantiation.
. EVANGELIST, one who publishes glad tid—
mgs ; a messenger, or preacher of good news.
The ersons denominated evangelists were
next m order to the apostles, and were sent
by them, not to settle in any particular place,
but to travel among the infant churches, and
ordain ordinary oflicers, and finish what the
apostles had begun. Of this kind were Philip
the deacon, Mark, Silas, Sac. Acts xxi. 8.
The oflice of a modern missionary, in some
~ respects, answers to that of a primitive evan—
gelist. The title is more particularly given
to the four inspired writers of our Saviour’s
life.
EVIDENCE is that perception of truth which
arises either from the testimony of the senses,
or from an induction of reason. The evi-
dences of revelation, both as it respects the
authenticity and the credibility, are divided
into internal and external. That is called
internal evidence which is drawn from the
consideration of those declarations and doc-
trines which are contained in it: and that is
called external which arises from some other
circumstances referring to it—such as pre-
dictions concerning it, miracles wrought by
those who teach it, its success in the world,
850. See Evidences of Christ, art. CHRIS-
TIANITY.
ZIIoral evidence is that which, though it
does not exclude a mere abstract possibility
of things being otherwise, yet shuts out every
reasonable ground of suspecting that they
are so.
Evidences of grace are those dispositions
and acts which prove a person to be in a con-
verted state; such as an enlightened under-
standing; love to God and his people; a de-
light in .God’s word; worship and dependence
on him; spirituality of mind; devotedness
of life to the service of God, &c. Seed’s Post.
Sen, ser. 2 ; Ditton on the Resurrection,- Bel-
lamy on Religion, p. 184; Gambear's Intro-
duction to the Study of ' Moral Evidence, 163.
EVIL is distinguished into natural or moral.
Natural evil is whatever destroys or any way
disturbs the perfection of natural beings;
such as blindness, diseases, death, &c. Moral
evil is the disagreement between the actions
of a moral agent, and the rule of those ac-
tions, whatever it is. Applied to a choice, or
acting contrary to the moral or revealed laws
of the Deity, it is termed wickedness or sin.
Applied to acting contrary to the mere rule
of fitness, a fault. See article SIN.
EVIL SPEAKING, the using language either
reproachful or untrue‘ respecting others, and
thereby injuring them. It is an express com-
mand of Scripture, “ to speak evil of no
man.” Titus iii.'2; James iv. 11. By which,
however, we are not to understand that there
are no occasions on which we are at liberty
to speak of‘ others that which may be 001181-
dered as evil. 1. Persons in the administra~
tion of justice may speak words which in
private intercourse would be reproachful. 2.
God’s ministers may inveigh against vice
with sharpness and severity, both privately
and publicly. Is. lviii. l. Tit. i. 13. 3. ‘Pri-
EXA
EXA
284
cause.
vate persons may reprove others when they
commit sin. Lev. xix. 17. 4. Some vehe-
mence of speech may be used in defence of
truth, and impugning errors of bad conse-
quence. Jude 3. 5. It may be necessary,
upon some emergent occasions, with some
heat of language, to express disapprobation
of notorious wickedness. Acts viii. 23. Yet,
in all these, the greatest equity, moderation,
and candour should be used ; and we should
take care, 1. Never to speak in severe terms
without reasonable warrant or apparent just
2. Nor beyond measure. 3. Nor out
of bad principles or wrong ends; from ill will,
contempt, revenge, envy, to compass our own
ends; from wantonness or negligence, but
from pure charity for the good of those to
whom or of whom we speak.
This is an evil, however, which greatly
abounds, and which is not sufiiciently watched
against; for it is not when we openly speak
evil of others only that we are guilty, but
even in speaking what is true, we are in
danger of speaking evil of others. There
is sometimes a malignant pleasure mani-
fested; a studious recollection of every thing
that can be brought forward; a delight in
hearing any thing spoken against others; a
secret rejoicing in knowing that another’s
fall will be an occasion of our rise. All this
is base to an extreme. '
The impropriety and sinfulness of evil
speaking will appear, if we consider, 1. That
it is entirely opposite to the whole tenor of
the Christian religion. 2. Expressly con-
demned and prohibited as evil. Ps. lxiv. 3.
James iv. 11. 3. No practice hath more
severe punishments denounced against it. 1
Cor. v. 11; vi. 10. 4. It is an evidence
of a weak and distempered mind. 5. It
is even indicative of ill breeding and bad
manners. 6. It is the abhorrence of all wise
and good men. Ps. xv. 2. 7. It is exceed-
ingly injurious to society, and inconsistent
with the relation we bear to each other as
Christians. James iii. 6. 8. It is branded
with the epithet of folly. Prov. xviii. 6, 7.
9. It is perverting the design of speech. 10.
It is opposite to the example of Christ, whom
we profess to follow. See SLANDER. Bar-
row’s Works, vol. i. ser. 16; Tillotson’s Ser.
ser. 42 ; Jack’s Scr. on Evil Speaking.
EXALTATION or CHRIST consisted in his
rising again from the dead on the third day,
in ascending up into heaven; in sitting at
the right hand of God the Father, and in
coming to judge the world at the last day.
See articles ASCENSION, INTERCESSION, J UDG-
MENT-DAY, and RESURRECTION.
EXAMINATION, SELF. See SELF-EXAMINA-
TION.
EXAMPLE, a copy or pattern. In a moral
sense, is either taken for a'type, instance, or
precedent for our admonition, that we may
be cautioned against the faults or crimes
which others have committed, by the bad
consequences which have ensued from them ;
or example is taken for a pattern for our imi7
tation, or a model for us to copy after. '
That good examples have a peculiar power
above naked precepts to dispose us to the
practice of virtue and holiness, may appear
by considering, “ 1. That they most clearly
express to us the nature of our duties in their
subjects and sensible effects. General pre-
cepts form abstract ideas of virtue, but in
examples, virtues are most visible in all their
circumstances.——2. Precepts instruct us in
what things are our duty, but examples assure
us that they are possible—3. Examples, by
secret and lively incentive, urge us to imita-
tion. We are touched in another manner by
the visible practice of good men, which re-
proaches our defects, and obliges us to the
same zeal, which laws, though wise and good,
will not effect.”
The life of Jesus Christ forms the most
beautiful example the Christian can imitate.
Unlike all others, it was absolutely perfect
and uniform, and every way accommodated to
our present state. In him we behold all light
without a shade, all beauty without a spot, all
the purity of the law, and the excellency of
the gospel. Here we see piety without super-
stition, and morality without ostentation ;
humility without meanness, and fortitude
without temerity; patience without apathy,
and compassion without weakness ; zeal with-
out rashness, and beneficence without prodi-
gality. The obligation we are under to imi-
tate this example, arises from duty, relation-
ship, engagement, interest, and gratitude. See
article JESUS CHRIST.
Those who set bad examples, should con-
sider, 1. That they are the ministers of the
devil’s designs to destroy souls. 2. That they
are acting in direct opposition to Christ, who
came to save, and not to destroy. 3. That
they are adding to the misery and calamities
which are already in the world. 4. That the
effects of their example may be incalculable
on society to the end of time, and perhaps in
eternity; for who can tell what may be the
consequence of one sin on a family, a nation,
or posterity? 5. They are acting contrary
to the Divine command, and thus exposing
themselves to final ruinv Massz'llon’s Sen, vol.
ii. ser. 9, Eng. Trans. ; Clarke’s Looking-glass,
ch. 48; Tillotson’s Sen, ser. 189, 190; Bar-
row’s iVorks, vol. iii. ser. 2 and 3; Flavel’s
Works, vol. i. pp. 29, 3O ; Mason’s Sewn, vol.
ii. ser. 17.
EXARCH, an officer in the Greek Church,
‘whose business it is to visit the provinces
allotted to him, in order to inform himself of
the lives and manners of the clergy ; take
cognizance of ecclesiastical causes; the man-
ner of celebrating divine service ; the admin-
istration of the sacraments, particularly con-
fcssion ; the observance of the canons ; monas-
EXC
EXC
285
tic discipline; affairs of marriages, divorces,
&c. ; but, above all, to take an account of the '
several revenues which the patriarch receives
from several churches, and particularly as to
what regards collecting the same. The ex~
arch, after having enriched himself in his
post, frequently rises to the patriarchate him~
self. Exarch is also used, in the Eastern church
antiquity, for a general or superior over seve-
ral monasteries, the same that we call archi-
mandrite; being exempted by the patriarch
of Constantinople from the jurisdiction of the
bishop.-
EXCISION, the cutting ofi‘ a person from
fellowship with the community to which he
belongs, by way of punishment for some sin
committed. The Jews, Selden informs us,
reckon up thirty-six crimes, to which they
pretend this punishment is due. The rabbins
reckon three kinds of excision; one, which
destroys only the body; another, which de-
stroys the soul only ; and a third, which
destroys both body and soul. The first kind
of excision they pretend is untimely death;
the second is an utter extinction of the soul;
and the third a compound of the two former:
thus making the soul mortal or immortal, says
Selden, according to the degree of misbeha-
viour and wickedness of the people. See Ex-
COMMUNICATION.
EXCLUSION, BILL or, a bill proposed about
the close of the reign of Charles II., for ex-
cluding the Duke of York, the King’s brother,
from the throne, on account of his being a
papist.
EXCOMMUNICATION, a penalty, or censure,
whereby persons who are guilty of any noto-
rious crime or offence are separated from the
communion of the church, and deprived of all
spiritual advantages.
Excommunication is founded upon a natural
right which all societies have of excluding
out of their body such as violate the laws
thereof, and it was originally instituted for
preserving the purity of the church ; but am-
bitious ecclesiastics converted it by degrees
into an engine for promoting their own power,
and inflicted it on the most frivolous occa-
810118.
The power of excommunication was lodged
in the hands of the clergy, who distinguished
it into the greater and less. The less consisted
in excluding persons from the participation of
the eucharist and the prayers of the faithful;
but they were not expelled the church. The
greater excommunication consisted in absolute
and entire seclusion from the church, and the
participation of all its rights; notice of which
was given by circular letter to the most emi-
‘nent churches all over the world, that they
might all confirm this act of discipline, by
refusing to admit the delinquent to their com-
rnunion. The consequences were very terrible.
The person so excommunicated was avoided
in all civil commerce and outward conversa-
tion. No one was to receive him into his
house, nor eat at the same table with him;
and, when dead, he was denied the solemn
rites of burial.
The Jews expelled from their synagogue
such as had committed any grievous crime.
See John ix. 22 ; xii. 42 ; xvi. 2 ; and Joseph.
Antiq. Jud. lib. ix. cap. 22, and lib. xvi. cap.
2. Godwyn, in his “ Moses and Aaron,” dis-
tinguishes three degrees or kinds of excom-
munication among the Jews. The first he
finds intimated in John ix. 22 ; the second in
1 Cor. v. 5 ; and the third in 1 Cor. xvi. 22.
The Romish pontifical takes notice of three
kinds of excommunication. 1. The minor,
incurred by those who have any correspond-
ence with an excommunicated person. 2.
The major, which falls upon those who disobey
the commands of the holy see, or refuse to
submit to certain points of discipline ; in con-
sequence of which they are excommunicated
from the church militant and triumphant, and
delivered over to the devil and his angels. 3.
Anathema, which is properly that pronounced
by the Pope against heretical princes and
countries. In former“ ages, these papal fulmi-
nations were most terrible things; but lat~
terly they were formidable to none but a few
petty states of Italy. The latest instance of
the excommunication of a sovereign was that
of Napoleon, by Pius VII., in 1809. _
Excommunication, in the Greek church,
cuts off the offender from all communion with
the three hundred and eighteen fathers of the
first council of Nice, and with the saints;
consigns him over to the devil and the traitor
Judas, and condemns his body to remain after
death as hard as a flint or piece of steel, un-
less he humble himself, and make atonement
for his sins by a sincere repentance. The
form abounds with dreadful imprecations ;
and the Greeks assert, that if a person dies
excommunicated, the devil enters into the
lifeless corpse ; and therefore, in order to pre-
vent it, the relations of the deceased cut his
body in pieces, and boil them in wine. It is
a custom with the patriarch of Jerusalem
annually to excommunicate the Pope and the
Church of Rome; on which occasion, toge-
ther with a great deal of idle ceremony, he
drives a nail into the ground with a hammer,
as a mark of malediction. ,
The form of excommunication in the
Church of England anciently ran thus : “ By
the authority of God the Father Almighty,
the Son, and Holy Ghost, and of Mary, the
blessed mother of God, we excommunicate,
anathematize, and sequester from the holy
mother church,” 860. The causes of excom-
munication in England are, contempt of the
bishops’ court, heresy, neglect of pubhc wor-
ship and the sacraments, incontinency, adul-
tery, simony, See. It is.described to be two-
fold: the less is an ecclesiastical censure, ex-
cluding the party from the participation of the
EXC
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286
sacrament; the greater proceeds farther, and
excludes him not only from these, but from
the company of all Christians ; but if the
judge of any spiritual court cxcommunicates
a man for a cause of which he has not the
legal cognizance, the party may have an action
against him at common law, and he is also
liable to be indicted at the suit of the king.
Excommunication in the Church of Scot-
land consists only in an exclusion of openly
profane and immoral persons from Baptism
and the Lord’s Supper; but is seldom publicly
denounced, as, indeed, such persons generally
exclude themselves from the latter ordinance
at least; but it is attended with no civil inca-
pacity whatever.
Among the Independents and Baptists,
the persons who are or should be excommu-
nicated. are such as are quarrelsome and liti-
gious, Gal. v. 12 ; such as desert their privi-
leges, withdraw themselves from the ordi-
nances of God, and forsake his people, Jude
19 ; such as are irregular and immoral in their
lives, railers, drunkards, extortioners, fornica-
tors, and covetous, Eph. v. 5; 1 Cor. v. 11.
“ The exclusion of a person from any
Christian church does not affect his temporal
estate and civil affairs ; it does not subject
him to fines or imprisonments; it interferes
not with the business of a civil magistrate ; it
makes no change in the natural and civil
relations between husbands and wives, pa-
rents and children, masters and servants ;
neither does it deprive a man of the liberty of
attending public worship; it removes him,
however, from the communion of the church,
and the privileges dependent on it; this is
done that he may be ashamed of his sin, and
be brought to repentance; that the honour of
Christ may be vindicated, and that stumbling
blocks may be removed out of the way.”
Though the act of exclusion be not perform-
ed exactly in the same manner iii every church,
yet (according to the congregational plan) the
power of excision lies in the church itself.
The oflicers take the sense of the members
assembled together; and after the matter has
been properly investigated, and all necessary
steps taken to reclaim the ofi'ender, the church
proceeds to the actual exclusion of the person
from among them, by signifying their judg-
ment or opinion that the person is unworthy
of a place in God’s house. In the conclusion
of this article, however, we must add, that too
grmt caution cannot be observed in procedures
of this kind; every thing should be done with
the greatest meekness, deliberation, prayer,
and a deep sense of our own unworthiness;
with a compassion for the ofi‘ender, and a fixed
design of ,embracing every opportunity of do-
ing him good, by reproving, instructing, and,
if possible, restoring him to the enjoyment of
the privileges he has forfeited by his conduct.
See Cmmcn.
Bxeusa'rr, a term formerly used to denote
slaves, who, flying to any,church for sane-
tuary, were excused and. pardoned by their
masters. >
Exnonsrs, the practical part of- the science
of Hermeneutics, or the art of carrying its
principles and rules into execution. See HER—
MENEUTICS.
EXHORTATION, the act of laying such mo-
tives before a person as may excite-him to the
performance of any duty; it differs only from
suasz'en in that the latter principally endea—
vours to convince the understanding, and the
former to work on the affections. It is con-
sidered as a great branch of preaching, though
not confined to that, as a man may exhort,
though he do not preach ; though aman can
hardly be said to preach if he do not exhort.
There are some, who, believing the inability
of man to do any thing good, cannot reconcile
the idea of exhorting men to duty, it being,
as they suppose, a contradiction to address
men who have no power to act of themselves.
But they forget—l. That the Great Author
of our being has appointed this as a means
for inclining the will to himself. Isa. lv. 6,
7 ; Luke xiv. 17, 23. 2. That they who thus
address men, do not suppose that there is any
virtue in the exhortation itself, but that its
energy depends on God alone, 1 Cor. xv. 10.
3. That the Scripture enjoins ministers to ex—
hort men, that is, to rouse them to duty, by
proposing suitable motives, Isa. lviii. 1; 1 Tim.
vi. 2 ; Heb. iii. 13 ; Rom. xii. 8. 4. That
it was the constant practice of prophets,
apostles, and Christ himself, Isa. i. 17 ; Jer.
iv. 14; Ezek. xxxvii; Luke xiii. 3 ; Luke iii.
18 ; Acts xi. 23. “ The express words,” says
a good divine, “of scriptural invitations, ex—
hortations, and promises, prove more effectual
to encourage those who are ready to give up
their hopes, than all the consolatory topics
that can possibly be substituted in their place.
It is, therefore, much to be lamented that pious
men, by adhering to a supposed systematical
exactness of expression. should clog their ad—
dresses to sinners with exceptions and limita-
tions, which the Spirit of God did not see good
to insert. They will not say that the omission
was an oversight in the inspired writers; or
admit the thought for a moment, that they can
improve on their plan ; why then cannot they
be satisfied to ‘ speak according to the oracles
of God,’ without affecting a more entire con-
sistency P Great mischief has thus been done
by very different descriptions. of men, who
undesignedly concur in giving Satan an occa-
sion of suggesting to the trembling inquirer,
that perhaps he may persevere in asking, seek—
ing, and knocking, with the greatest earnest-
ness and importunity, and yet finally be cast
away.” -
EXISTENCE or G01). The methods usually
followed in proving the existence of God are
two: the first called argumentum Zz prion‘,
which beginning with the cause descends to
'EXI
7 EXI
28
the effect; the other argumentum a‘: posteriorz',
which from a consideration of the effect, as-
cends to the cause. The former of these hath
been particularly laboured by Dr. Samuel
Clarke ; but after all he has said, the possibility
of any one’s being convinced by it hath been
questioned. The most general proofs are the
following :—-1. “ All nations, Heathens, Jews,
Mohammedans, and Christians, harmoniously
consent that there is a God who created, pre-
serves, and governs all things. To this it has
been objected, that there have been, at diffe-
rent times and places, men who were atheists,
and deniers of a God. But these have been
so few, and by their opinions have shown that
they rather denied the particular providence
than the existence of God, that it can hardly
be said to be an exception to the argument
stated. And even if men were bold enough
to assert it, it would not be an absolute proof
that they really believed what they said, since
it might proceed from a wish that there were
no God to whom they must be accountable for
their sin, rather than a belief of it, Ps. xiv. 1.
It has also been objected, that whole nations
have been found in Africa and America that
have no notion of a Deity: but this is what
has never been proved; on the contrary, upon
accurate inspection, even the most stupid Hot-
tentots, Saldanians, Grecnlanders, Kamtschat-
kans, and savage Americans, are found to have
some idea of a God.
2. “ It is argued from the law and light of
nature, or from the general impression of
Deity on the mind of every man, i. e. an in-
distinct idea of a Being of infinite perfection,
and a readiness to acquiesce in the truth of
his existence, whenever they understand the
terms in which it is expressed. Whence could
this proceed, even in the minds of such whose
affections and carnal interests dispose them
to believe the contrary, if there were no im-
pression naturally in their hearts P It has
been observed by some writers, that there are
no innate ideas in the minds of men, and par-
ticularly concerning God; but this is not so
easily proved, since an inspired apostle assures
us that even the Gentiles, destitute of the law
of Moses, have the ‘ work of the law written
in their hearts,’ Rom. ii. 15.
3. “ The works of creation plainly demon-
strate the existence of a God. The innume-
rable alterations and manifest dependence,
every where observable in the world, prove
that the things which exist in it neither are,
nor could be, from eternity. It is self-evident
that they never could form themselves out of
nothing, or in any of their respective forms;
and that chance, being nothing but the want
of design, never did nor could form or put into
order any thing; far less such a marvellous
and well connected system as our world is.
Though we should absurdly fancy matter to be
eternal, yet it could not change its own form, or
produce life 0; reason. Moreover, when we
consider the diversified and wonderful forms
of creatures in the world, and how exactly
those forms and stations correspond with their
respective ends and uses; when we consider
the marvellous and exact machinery, form
and motions of our own bodies; and espe-
cially when we consider the powers of our
soul, its desires after an infinite good, and its
close union with, and incomprehensible ope-
rations on our bodies, we are obliged to admit
a Creator of infinite wisdom, power, and good-
ness.
4. “It is argued from the support and go-
vernment of the world. Who can consider
the motions of the heavenly luminaries,
exactly calculated for the greatest advantage
to our earth and its inhabitants; the exact
balancing and regulating of the meteors,
winds, rain, snow, hail, vapour, thunder, and
the like; the regular and never—failing return
of summer and winter, seed-time and harvest,
day and night; the astonishing and diversi-
fied formation of vegetables; the propagation
of herbs, almost every where, that are most
effectual to heal the distempers of animal bo-
dies in that place ; the almost infinite diversi-
fication of animals and vegetables, and their
pertinents, that notwithstanding an amazing
similarity, not any two are exactly alike, but
every form, member, or even feather or hair
of animals, and every pile of grass, stalk of
corn, herb, leaf, tree, berry, or other fruit,
hath something peculiar to itself ; the making
of animals so sagaciously to prepare their
lodgings, defend themselves, provide for their
health, produce, protect, and procure food
for their young; the direction of fishes and
fowls to and in such marvellous and long pere-
grinations at such seasons, and to such places,
as best correspond with their own preserva-
tion and the benefit of mankind; the station-
ing of brute animals by sea or land, at less or
greater distances, as are most suited to the
safety, subsistence, or comfort of mankind,
and preventing the increase of prolific animals,
and making the less fruitful ones, which are
used, exceedingly to abound; the so diversi-
fying the countenances, voices, and hand-
writings of men, as best secures and promotes
their social advantages; the holding of so
equal a balance between males and females,
while the number of males, whose lives are
peculiarly endangered in war, navigation, &c.,
are generally greatest; the prolonging of men’s
lives, when the world needed to be peopled,
and now shortening them when that necessity
hath ceased to exist; the almost universal pro-
vision of food, raiment, medicine, fuel, &e.,
answerable to the nature of particular places,
cold or hot, moist or dry; the management of
human affairs relative to societies, government,
peace, war, trade, &c., in a manner different
from, and contrary to, the carnal policy of
those concerned; and especially the strangely
similar but diversified erection, preservation
EXI
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288
and government of the Jewish and Christian
churches; who, I say, can consider all these
things, and not acknowledge the existence of
a wise, merciful, and good God, who governs
the world, and every thing in it?
5. “ It is proved from the miraculous
events which have happened in the world;
such as the overflowing of the earth by a
flood ; the confusion of languages ; the burn-
ing of Sodom and the cities about by fire
from heaven; the plagues of Egypt; the di-
viding of the Red Sea; raining manna from
heaven, and bringing streams of water from
fiinty rocks; the stopping of the course of
the sun, &c. &c.
6. “His existence no less clearly appears
from the exact fulfilment of so many and so
particularly circumstantiated predictions, pub-
lished long before the event took place. It
is impossible that these predictions, which
were so exactly fulfilled in their respective
periods, and of the fulfilment of which there
are at present thousands of demonstrative
and sensible documents in the world, could
proceed from any but an all-seeing and infi-
nitely wise God.
7. “ The existence of God further appears
from the fearful punishments which have
been inflicted upon persons, and especially
upon nations, when their immoralities became
excessive, and that by very unexpected means
and instruments; as in the drowning of the
old world; destruction of Sodom and Go-
morrah; plagues of Pharaoh and his ser-
vants; overthrow of Sennacherib and his
army; miseries and ruin of the Canaanites,
Jews, Syrians, Assyrians, Chaldeans, Per—
sians, Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Saracens,
Tartars, and others.
8. “Lastly, the existence of God may be
argued from the terror and dread which
wound the consciences of men, when guilty
of crimes which other men do not know, or
are not able to punish or restrain, as in the
case of Caligula, Nero, and Domitian, the
Roman emperors; and this while they ear-
nestly labour to persuade themselves or others
that there is no God. Hence their being
afraid of thunder, or to be left alone in the
dark,” 80c.
Moses began his writings by supposing the
being of a God; he did not attempt to explain
it. Although many of the inspired writers
asserted his existence, and, to discountenance
idolatry, pleaded for his perfections, yet no
one of them ever pretended to explain the
manner of his being. Our duty is clear.
We are not commanded nor expected to un-
derstand it. All that is required is this :—
“ He that cometh to God must believe that
he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that
diligently seek him.” Heb. xi. 6. See Gill’s
Body of Diu, b. i.; Ckarnock’s Works, vol.
i.; Ridgley’s Div. ques. 2.; Brown’s Sys. of
Dim,- Pierre’s Studies of Nature; Sturm’s
Reflections; Spect. de la .Nat. ; Bonnet’s Phi-p
losophz'cal Researches; and writers enumerated
under the article ATHEISM.
EXORCISM, the expelling of devils from
persons possessed, by means of conjurations
and prayers. The Jews made great pretences
to this power. Josephus tells several won-
derful tales of the great success of several
exorcists. One Eleazer, a Jew, cured many
demoniacs, he says, by means of a root set in
a ring. This root, with the ring, was held
under the patient’s nose, and the devil was
forthwith evacuated. The most part of con—
jurors of this class were impostors, each pre-
tending to a secret nostrum or charm which
was an overmatch for the devil. Our Saviour
communicated to his disciples a real power
over demons, or at least over the diseases
said to be occasioned by demons. See DE-
MONIAC.
Exorcism makes a considerable part of the
superstition of the Church of Rome, the
ritual of which forbids the exorcising any
person without the bishop’s leave. The cere-
mony is performed at the lower end of the
church, towards the door. The exorcist first
signs the possessed person with the sign of
the cross, makes him kneel, and sprinkles
him with holy water. Then follow the lita-
nies, psalms, and prayer; after which the
exorcist asks the devil his name, and adjures
him, by the mysteries of the Christian reli-
gion, not to afflict the person any more; then,
laying his right hand on the demoniac’s head,
he repeats the form of exorcism, which is
this : “ I exorcise thee, unclean spirit, in the
name of Jesus Christ; tremble, O Satan, thou
enemy of the faith, thou foe of mankind, who
hast brought death into the world; who hast
deprived men of life, and hast rebelled against
justice; thou seducer of mankind, thou root
of all evil, thou source of avarice, discord,
and envy.” The Romanists likewise exorcise
houses and other places supposed to be
haunted by unclean spirits; and the cere-
mony is much the same with that for a per-
son possessed.
EXORDIUM. See SERMON.
ExPEnrENcY, the fitness or propriety of a
mean -to the attainment of an end. See
OBLIGATION.
EXPERIENCE, knowledge acquired by long
use without a teacher. It consists in the
ideas of things we have seen or read, which
the judgment has reflected on, to form for
itself a rule or method.
Christian experience is that religious know-
ledge which is acquired by any exercises, en-
‘joyments, or sufferings, either of body or
mind. Nothing’ is more common than to
ridicule and despise what is called religious
experience as mere enthusiasm. But if reli—
gion consist in feeling, we would ask how it
can possibly exist without experience? We
are convinced of, and admit the propriety of
EXP
EXP
289
the term, when applied to those branches of
science which are not founded on speculation
or conjecture, but on sensible trial. Why,
then, should it be rejected when applied to
religion? It is evident, that however beauti-
ful religion may be in name, its excelleuey
and energy are only truly known and dis-
played as experienced. A system believed,
or a mind merely informed, will produce
little good except the heart be afi‘ec'ted, and
we feel its influence. To experience, then,
the religion of Christ, we must not only be
acquainted with its theory, but enjoy its
power; subduing our corruptions, animating
our affections, and exciting’ as to duty.
Hence the Scripture calls experience tasting,
Ps. xxxiv. 8, feeling, &c., 1 Thess. ii. 13, &c.
That our experience is always absolutely
pure in the present state cannot be expected.
“The best experience,” says a good writer,
“may be mixed with natural affections and
passions, impressions on the imagination,
self-righteousness, or spiritual pride; but
this is no reason that all experience is to be
rejected; for, upon this ground, nothing could
be received, since nothing is absolutely per-
feet. It is, however, to be lamented, that
while the best of men have a mixture in their
experience, there are others whose experience
(so called) is entirely counterfeit. They have
been alarmed, have changed the ground of
their confidence, have had their imaginations
heated and delighted by impressions and
visionary representations; they have recol-
lccted the promises of the gospel, as if spoken
to them with peculiar appropriation, to certify
them that their sins were forgiven; and hav-
ing seen and heard such wonderful things,
they think they must doubt no more of their
adoption into the family of God. They. have
also frequently heard all experience profanely
ridiculed as enthusiasm -; and this betrays
them into the opposite extreme, so that the)r
are emboldened to despise every caution as
the result of enmity to internal religion, and
to act as if there were no delusive or coun-
terfeit experience. But the event too plainly
shows their awful mistake, and that they
grounded their expectations upon the account
given of the extraordinary operations of the
Holy Spirit on the mind of prophets, rather
than on the promises of his renewing influ-
ences in the hearts ‘of ‘believers. When,
therefore, they lose the impressions with
which they once were elated, they relapse
nearly ‘into their old course of life, their
creed and confidence alone excepted.”
Christian experience may be considered as
genuine—1. When it accords with the reve-
lation of God’s mind and will, or what he has
revealed in his word Any thing contrary to
this, however pleasing, cannot be sound, or
produced by divine agency. 2. When its
tendency is to promote humility in us: that
experience by which we learn our own weak-
ness, and subdues pride, must be good. 3.
When it teaches us to bear with others, and
to do them good. 4. When it operates so as
to excite us to be ardent in our devotion, and
sincere in our regard to God. A powerful
experience of the divine favour will lead us
to acknowledge the same, and to manifest
our gratitude both by constant praise and
genuine piety.
Christian experience, however, may be
abused. There are some good people who
certainly have felt and enjoyed the power of
religion, and yet have not always acted with
prudence as to their experience. 1. Some
boast of their experiences, or talk of them as
if they were very extraordinary; whereas,
were they acquainted with others, they would
find it not so. That a man may make men-
tion of his experience is no way improper,
but often useful ; but to hear persons always
talking of themselves seems to indicate a
spirit of pride, and that their experience can-
not be very deep. 2. Another abuse of ex—
perience is, dependence on it. \Ve ought
certainly to take encouragement from past
circumstances, if we can; but if we are so
dependent on past experience as to preclude
present exertions, or always expect to have
exactly the same assistance in every state,
trial, or ordinance, we shall be disappointed.
God has wisely ordered it, that though he
never will leave his people, yet he will sus-
pend or bestow comfort in his own time; for
this very reason, that we may rely on him,
and not on the circumstance or ordinance.
3. It is an abuse of experience, when intro-
duced at improper times, and before improper
persons. It is true, we ought never to be
ashamed of our profession; but to be always
talking to irreligious people respecting expe-
rience, which they know nothing of, is, as
our Saviour says, casting pearls before swine.
Bung/an’s Pilgrim’s Progress; Buch’s Trea tise
on Experience ,- Gurnall’s Christian Armour;
Dr. Owen on Psalm cxxx.; Edwards on the
Aflbctions, and his Thoughts on the Revival of
Religion in New England ,- Dorney’sContem-
plations.
EXPERIENCE MEETINGS are assemblies of
religious persons who meet for the purpose
of relating their experience to each other.
It has been doubted by some, whether these
meetings are of any great utility; and whe-
ther they do not, in some measure, force
people to say more than is true, and puff up
those with pride who are able to communicate
their ideas with facility; but to this it has
been answered, 1. That the abuse of a thing
is no proof of the evil of it. 2. That the most
eminent saints of old did not neglect this
practice, Ps. lxvi. 16; Mal. iii. 16. 3._That
by a wise and prudent relation of experience,
the Christian is led to see that others have
participated in the same joys and sorrows
with himself; he is excited to love and serve
n
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290
God; and animated to perseverance in duty,
by finding that others, of like passions with
himself, are zealous, active, and diligent. 4.
That the Scriptures seem to enjoin the fre-
quent intercourse of Christians for the purpose
of strengthening eachother in religious ser-
vices, Heb. x. 24, 25; Col. iii. 16; Matt. xviii.
20. See CONFERENCE.
EXPIATION, a religious act by which satis-
faction or atonement is made for some crime,
the guilt removed, and the obligation to
punishment cancelled, Lev. xvi. See PROPI—
TIATION.
ExPosITIoN, the opening up and interpret-
ing larger portions of Scripture in public dis-
courses. In Scotland, where the practice has
long obtained, and still extensively prevails,
it is called lecturing. While the selection of
striking and insulated texts, which furnish
abundant matter for sermons, are calculated,
when judiciously treated, to rouse and fix at-
tention, and the discourses founded on them
may be more useful to general hearers, espe-
cially the careless and unconverted, expository
discourses furnish peculiar advantages as it
regards the enlargement of the Christian’s
views of divine truth, and his consequent
advancement in the ways of God. By judi-
ciously expounding the Scriptures, a minister
may hope to give a clearer exhibition of the
great principles of religion in their mutual
connexions and diversified bearings, than
could otherwise be done. He will have a
better opportunity of unfolding the true
meaning of those parts of the Bible which
are difiicult—of bringing a vast variety of
topics before his hearers which may be of
the utmost importance to them, but which
he could not so conveniently have treated in
preaching from, detached texts—of exhibiting
the doctrines and duties of Christianity in
their relative positions—of successfully coun-
teracting and arresting the progress of dan—
gerous errors—and of storing the minds of his
people with correct and influential views of
‘ divine things.
Such a mode of public instruction cannot
‘but prove of great use to a minister’s own
mind, by rousing his energies, habituating
him to close and accurate research, and saving
him much of that indecision in the choice of
texts which is so much lamented. Unfortu-
nately there exists a strong prejudice against
the introduction of expository discourses into
the pulpit; but where it has been effected
with judgment and prudence, it has almost in—
variably been found that the great bulk of
hearers have soon become decidedly favour-
able to it.
EXTORTION, the act or practice of gaining or
acquiring any thing by force. Extortioners are
included in the list of those who are excluded
from the kingdom of heaven. 1 Cor. x. 6.
EXTREME UNCTION, one of the sacraments
of the Romish Church, the fifth in order, ad-
ministered to people dangerously sick, by
anointing them with holy oil, and praying
over them.
F.
FAITH is credit given to a declaration or
assertion on the authority of the person who
makes it, whether that assertion be directly
expressed, or only implied. When our Lord
said to the nobleman of Capernaum, “ Thy
son liveth; the man believed the word that
Jesus had spoken, and went his way,” confi-
dent that he would find his son alive and well,
John iv. 50. When Jesus said to the blind
man, “ Go, wash in the pool of Siloam,” the
man believed the assurance implied in our
Lord’s injunction, that he would by this means
receive his sight; “ therefore he went his way
and washed, and came again seeing,” John
ix. 7. The term faith is used in the same sense
in common language. Inquiring the road,
I am told that the right hand path is the safest
and easiest. On the faith of this information,
that is, giving credit to my informant, I take
the road recommended to me. A friend sends
me a message, requesting me to meet him at
a certain place; on the faith of his implied
promise that he will meet me there, I repair
to the place appointed. A known impos-
tor assures me that, by following his direc-
tion, and paying him well for his advice, I

shall enjoy long life and prosperity; I have
no faith in such assurance ; that is, I give
no credit to such declarations, therefore I pay
no regard to them.
The greater part of our knowledgeis derived
from the information of others, and depends
on the credit we give to their testimony.
Hence, to believe and to know are sometimes
used indiscriminately (see John iii. 36-—com-
pare with John xvii. 3,) not as though know-
ledge and faith were synonymous terms, but
because knowledge founded on testimony sup-
poses credit given to testimony.
Faith is distinguished from sight or obser-
vation. It is one way in which we become
acquainted with things “not seen,” Heb. xi.
1._ The testimony of another, received and
credited‘, is the means by which we obtain the
knowledge of things which are not the sub-
ject of our own observation. Hence be-
lievers are said to “walk by faith, not by
sight.”
Faith is distinguished from presumption,
which is confidence without suflicient warrant.
When the Israelites travelled through the
channel of the Red Sea, they believed the
F A I
FAI
, 291
divine promise, that they would obtain a safe
passage, Exod. xiv. 16. But the Egyptians
had no such promise given them: they had
no declaration to credit, therefore it was not
faith, but presumption that influenced them
in adventuring to follow the Israelites through
the same route, Heb. xi. 9. While the Israel-
ites believed the divine promise of protection
and success, they went boldly on against their
enemies. But when they ceased to believe
the Lord (Numb. xiv. 11) their courage failed
them, Numb. xiv. 3. And when the divine
promise was withdrawn, on account of their
unbelief and disobedience, (Numb. xiv. 42,) it
was no longer faith, for they had now no de-
claration to credit, but presumption, that in-
duced them to go against their enemies,
Numb. xiv. 44.
Faith in God is the belief of God’s declara-
tion. This may refer to any thing revealed
or asserted on divine authority; whether re-
lating to the past, Heb. xi. 3, to the present,
Heb. xi. 6, or to the future, Heb. xi. 7. Faith
in those divine declarations which contain a
promise of future good, is the same with trust
in God. '
Faith in Jesus Christ is the belief of those -
declarations of Scripture, which respect the
person, oflices, and promises of Christ as the
Saviour of sinners.
Any thing declared or asserted, becomes
the object of faith, when it is believed on the
authority of the declarant. An assertion,
though false, becomes the object of faith, if it
be credited. Men, through ignorance, or per- '
verseness, or “ strong delusion,” may “ believe
a lie.” So the false assertion of the father
of lies, “ Ye shall not surely die,” became an
object of faith to our first parents. The ob-
jects of saving faith, are the divine declarations .
contained in Scripture, concerning the way of '
salvation through Jesus Christ as the Re-
deemer of sinners.
If the thin-g declared and proposed to our
faith he a matter of no importance, and fitted
to excite no interest, the belief of it will pro-
duce no sensible effect, and will admit of no
direct evidence. An observer cannot discover
whether the thing reported meets with credit
or not. But if the matter asserted appear
to be of importance, it will, when believed,
excite emotion, and perhaps prompt to action.
If not believed, whatever be its importance,
it will produce neither action nor emotion.
The unequivocal expression of the emotions,
accompanying the belief of an interesting de-
claration, or the action prompted by such
belief, is the outward evidence of faith. An
example of faith, accompanied by correspond—
mg emotion, and that emotion expressed in
appropriate language, occurs in Acts ii. 36,
37. Peter had protested to the people of Je-
rusalem, “Let all the house of Israel know
assuredly, that God hath made that same
Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and

Christ.” When the multitude heard this de-
claration, believing its truth, they were
“ pricked in their hea .” This was the emo-
tion that accompanied their belief, and they
cried out, “ Men and brethren, what shall we
do ?” Here was the expression of their emo‘
tion, and the evidence of their faith. Again,
Heb. xi. 7, Noah being warned by God of his
determination to punish the wickedness of
mankind, and instructed to build an ark,
which God assured him would prove the
means of preserving himself and his family,
believed these divine declarations, and, “being
moved with fear” of God’s judgments,-—-here
was the emotion accompanying his faith,--he
prepared an ark, 850. Here was the action
consequent upon his faith; and both the emo-
tion and the action corresponded to the object
of his belief, and evidenced the reality of his
faith. A similar instance of faith, and its
evidence, we have in the case of the Nine-
vites, Jonah iii. 5, &c.
The want of faith, or unbelief, is proved
by the want of the emotion or action corre-
sponding to the object which is proposed to
our belief. Thus, Gen. xix. 14, when Lot
warned his sons-in-law of the impending de-
struction of their city, and urged them to
consult their safety by a timely departure,
they believed him not; therefore they felt no
fear of the approaching calamity, nor used
any means to escape it. ‘Ve have a striking
example, both of faith and of unbelief, in the
same circumstances, evidenced by correspond-
ing, but opposite consequences, in the conduct
of the Egyptians, Exod. ix. 20, 21. When
Moses had told them that the Lord would
send a grievous storm of hail, which would
destroy every creature on whom it should
fall, and warned them to gather in their ser-
vants and cattle from the field, we read that
“ he that feared the word of the Lord,” because
he believed Moses’s declaration, “ made his
cattle and servants flee into the houses ;”
whereas, he that did not credit Moses’s de-
claration, and, therefore, “regarded not the
word of the Lord, left his servants and cattle
in the field.”
As God’s word is true, and his promises
sure, whoever believes his word, and trusts
his promises, will not be disappointed. Hence
there is a constant connexion between faith
and success. Of many instances of this kind
referred to in Heb. xi. 32—34, we shall notice
only one. Gideon was encouraged by an as-
surance of success against the enemies of his
coimtryz “ Go in this thy might, and thou
shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midian-
ites; have not I sent thee ?” And after-
wards by a more special promise: “By the
three hundred men that lapped, will Isave
you, and deliver the Midianites into your
hand.” Gideon, confiding in the divine pro-
mise, attacked and discomfited his enemies.
He believed God, and, according to his faith,
FAI
FAL
292
he acted, and he succeeded, Judges vi. and
W1.
A similar connexion subsists between unbe-
lief and failure. The Israelites had a divine
promise of conquering and possessing the
land of Canaan. Had they uniformly believed
this promise, and advanced boldly against the
inhabitants, as Joshua and Caleb urged them,
(Numb. xiv.) they would infallibly have pros-
pered. But when they doubted the word of '
the Lord, and kept back through fear, the
consequence was, that they did not attack or
‘expel the Canaanites, nor get possession of
their territory. Thus the apostle accounts
for their failure: “ So we see that they could
not enter in, because of unbelief,” Heb. iii. 19.
. They who believed God’sv promise of tem-
poral blessings, and ventured on it, obtained
their object, Heb. xi. 33, 34. So they who
believe the doctrines and promises of the gos-
pel, and trust their souls in the Redeemer’s
hands, shall obtain eternal life, John iii. 14
—16.
Faith in Christ, in respect of its reality and
eflicacy, may be called living faith; whereas
its counterfeit, which can have no eflicacy, is
properly called dead faith, James ii. 17. This
dead or unproductive faith is not a different
kind of faith from the true; it is, strictly
speaking, not faith at all, even as a counterfeit
piece of money is not money, or as a dead
man is no man. Faith in Christ, in respect
of the blessings connected with it, is called
justifying, or saving faith, Rom. v. 1; Eph.
ii. 8. In respect of its effects on the heart
and dispositions, it is purifying or sanctifying
faith, Acts xv. 9. In respect of its object, it
is “the faith of the Son of God,” or, “the
faith of Christ,” GaL ii. 16, 20. In respect of
its author, “it is the .gift of God,” Eph. ii. 8.
To “live by faith,” or “ walk by faith,” is to
have the life regulated by an habitual prevail-
ing regard to those doctrines, and invisible
realities which are revealed to us in Scripture. |
A person may be said to live a life of faith,
when the influence of spiritual invisible ob—
jects prevails in regulating his judgment, his
affections, and his conduct.
There cannot be a more direct proof of the
inveterate blindness and hardness of the hu'
man heart than this,—-that we do not believe
'many things which God declares, even when
we are convinced that it is He that speaks.
Yet that this is the fact, we are assured by
Him who knows what is in man, and who
cannot lie, 1 Cor. ii. 14; John iii. 11, 12;
Eph. ii. 8.; iv. 18. One cannot conceive more
audacious impiety than thus to discredit the
God of truth, and, in efl'ect, to “make him a
liar,” 1 John v. 10. . . .
Though there is muchguilt and depravity
in unbelief, it does not follow that there is
merit in faith. A man cannot claim reward
for simply believing that to be true which he
knows God has aflirmed. So that when our
justification is made to depend on our believ-
,ing the truth, nothing can more expressly
preclude every plea of merit on our part,
Rom. iv. 16. ~
FAITH, ARTICLE OF. See ARTICLE.
FAITH, CoNrEssIoN or. See Conrnssrom.
I FAITH, FATHERS oF'TIIE, an ecclesiastical
. order founded by Paccanari, a Tyrolese enthu-
isiast, and formerly a soldier of the Pope,
under the patronage of the Archduchess
Mariana. It was composed mostly of Jesuits,
and put in operation at Rome, as a new form
of the Society of Jesus ; but they were never
recognised by the secret superiors of the an-
cient Jesuits as their brethren.
FAITH, IMPLIcIT. See IMPLICIT FAITH.
FAITHFULNESS. See FIDELITY.
FAITHFULNESS, MINISTERIAL.
TOR.
FAITHFULNESS OF G01), is ‘that perfection
of his nature whereby he infallibly fulfils his
designs, or performs his word. It appears,
says Dr. Gill, in the performance of what he
has said with respect to the world in general,
that it shall not be destroyed by a flood, as it
once was, and for a token of it has set his
bow in .the clouds; that the ordinances of
heaven should keep their due course, which
they have done for almost 6000 years, exactly
and punctually; that all his creatures should
be supported and provided for, and the ele-
ments all made subservient to that end, which
we find to do-so according to his sovereign
pleasure, Gen. ix.; Isa. liv. 9; Ps. cxlv.;
Deut. xi. 14, 15; 2 Pet. iii.
2. It appears in the fulfilment of what he
has said with respect to Christ. Whoever
will take the pains to compare the predictions
of the birth, poverty, life, sufferings, death,
resurrection, and ascension of Christ, with the
accomplishment of the same, will find a strik-
ing demonstration of the faithfulness of God.
3. It appears in the performance of the
promises which he has made to his people. In
respect to temporal blessings, 1 Tim. iv. 8;
Ps. lxxxiv. 11; Is. xxxiii. 16. 2. To spi-
ritual, 1 Cor. i. 9. In supporting them in
temptation, 1 Cor. x. 13. Encouraging them
under persecution, 1 Pet. iv. 12, 13; lsa. xli.
1'0. Sanctifying afflictions, Heb. xii. 4 to 12.
Directing them in difficulties, 1 Thess. v. 24.
Enabling them to persevere, Jer. xxxi. 40.
Bringing them to glory, 1 John ii. 25.
4. It appears in the fulfilling of his threat-
enings. The curse came upon Adam accord-
ing as it was threatened. He fulfilled his
threatening to the old world in destroying it.
He declared that the Israelites should be
subject to his awful displeasure, if they walked
not in his ways; it was accordingly fulfilled,
Deut. xxviii. See IMMUTABILITY.
FALAsIIAs, an independent government of
Jews, which has long existed in the west of
.Abyssinia. The name signifies exiles, and
the state is called Falasian. They have their
See PAS-

FAL
FAM
293 ’
own government, which is allowed by_ the Na-
gush of Abyssinia, on condition of their pay-
ing a certain tribute. Bruce found there a
Jewish king, Gideon,-—and a queen, Judith,
and about 100,000 efi‘ective men. They have
lost all knowledge of the Hebrew, and use the
Old Testament as furnished them in the Gheez
language.
FALL OF MAN, the loss of those perfections
and that happiness which his Maker bestowed
on him at his'creation, through transgression
of a positive command, given for a trial of
man’s obedience, and as a token of his holding
every thing of God as Lord paramount of the
creation, with the use of every thing in it,
exclusive of the fruit‘of one tree. This posi-
tive law he broke by eating the forbidden fruit;
first the woman, then the man. The woman
was enticed by Satan, under the semblance of
a serpent, as appears from its reasoning the
woman into the transgression of the law, of
which a brute beast is incapable. Hence he
is called a murderer and aliar from the begin-
ning, John viii. 44 ; Rom. v. 12: the ,old ser-
pent, Rev. xii. 9; xx. 2. Moses relates this
history from what appeared ~externally to
sense; both, therefore, are to be conjoined,—
the serpent as the instrument, and the devil as
the primary cause. Man sufi'ered himself to
be seduced by perverse and confused notions
of good and evil, prompted by a desire of a
greater degree of perfection, and swayed by
his sensual appetite, in contradiction to his
reason, Gen. 6. And thus it appears pos-
sible, how, notwithstanding the divine image
with which man is adorned, he might fall ; for,
though including in it knowledge, it did
not exclude from it confused notions, which
are those arising from sense and imagination,
especially when off our guard and inattentive,
blindly ' following the present impression.
From this one sin arose another, and then
another, from the connexion of causes and
effects, till this repetition brought on a habit
of sin, consequently a state of moral slavery,
called by divines a death in sin, a spiritual
death, a defect of moral power to act accord-
ing to the law, and from the motive of the di-
vine perfections, as death in general is a de-
fect of power of action ; and this defect or in-
ability, with all its consequences, man entailed
on his posterity, remaining upon them, till one
greater man remove this, and reinstate them
in all they forfeited in Adam. I
In the fall of man we may observe—1. Th
greatest infidelity. 2. Prodigious pride. 3.
Horrid ingratitude. 4. Visible contempt of
God’s majesty and justice. 5. Unaccountable
folly. 6. A cruelty to himself and to all his
posterity. Infidels, however, have treated the
account of the fall and its effects with con-
tempt, and considered the whole as absurd;
but their objections to the manner have been
ably answered by a variety of authors; and
as to the effects, one would hardly think any

body could deny. For that man is a fallen
creature, is evident, if we consider his misery
as an inhabitant of the natural world ; the dis-
orders of the globe we inhabit, and the dread-
ful scourges with which it is visited ; the de-
plorable and shocking circumstances of our
birth; the painful and dangerous travail of
women; our natural uncleanliness, helpless—
ness, ignorance, and nakedness ; the gross
darkness in which we naturally are, both with
respect to God and a future state ; the general
rebellion of the brute creation against us ; the
various poisons that lurk in the animal, vege-
table, and mineral world, ready to destroy us ;
the heavy curse of toil and sweat to which we
are liable; the innumerable calamities of life,
and the pangs of death. Again, it is evident,
if we consider him as a citizen of the moral
world,—-his commission of sin, his omission
of duty, the'triumph of sensual appetites over
his intellectual faculties, the corruption of his
mental powers, the understanding, imagina-
tion, memory, and reason; the depravity of
the moral powers, the will, conscience, and
affections; his manifest alienation from God ;
his amazing disregard even of his nearest re-
latives ; his unaccountable unconcern about
himself; his detestable tempers; the general
outbreaking of human corruption in all indi-
viduals ; the universal overflowing of it in all
nations. Some striking proofs of this depra-
vity may be seen in the general propensity of
mankind to vain, irrational, or cruel diversions;
in the universality of the most ridiculous, im-
pious, inhuman, and diabolical sins; in the
aggravating circumstances attending the dis-
play‘ of this corruption; in the many inefi'ec-
tual endeavours to stem its torrent; in the ob-
stinate resistance it makes to divine grace in
the unconverted; the amazing struggles of
good men with it; the testimony of the hea-
thens concerning it ; and the preposterous
conceit which the unconverted have of their
own goodness. Diet. of the Bible; F letclzer’s
Appeal to ZlIa-tters of Fact,- Berrg/ Street Lec-
tures, vol. i. 180, 189 ; South’s Sermons, vol. i.
124, 150; Bates‘s Harmony Qf'Div. Att. p. 98 -,
Boston’s Fomzfold State, part i.
FALSEHOOD, untruth, deceit. See LYING..
FALSE CHRIs'rs. See MEssIAH.
FAMILIARS on THE Inoursrrron, persons
who assist in apprehending such as are ac-
cused, and carrying them to prison. They
are assistants to the inquisitor, and called fa.-
miliars, because they belong to his family. In
some provinces of Italy they are called cross-
bearers; and in others the scholars of St. Peter
the Martyr ,- and wear a cross before them on
the outside garment. They are properly bai-
lifi’s of the inquisition; and the vile office 15
esteemed so honourable, that noblemen 1n the
kingdom of Portugal have been ambitions of
belonging to it. Nor is this surprising, when
it is considered that Innocent III. granted
very large indulgences and privileges to these
FA'S
FAS
294
gence is granted by the pope to every single
exercise of this ofiice, as was granted by the
Lateran council to those who succoured the
Holy Land. When several persons are to be
taken up at the same time, these familiars are
commanded to order matters that they may
know nothing of one another’s being appre-
hended; and it is related, that a father and his
three sons and three daughters, who lived to—
gether in the same house, were carried pri-
soners to the inquisition, without knowing
any thing of one another’s being there till
seven years afterwards, when they that were
alive were released by an act of faith. See
art. Act‘ or FAITH.
FAMILY PRAYER. See PRAYER.
FAMILY or Love, or FAMILISTS.
LovE.
FANATICS, wild enthusiasts, visionary per-
sons,who pretend to revelation and inspiration.
The ancients called those fanatici who passed
their time in temples (fana), and being often
seized with a kind of enthusiasm, as if in-
spired by the divinity, showed wild and antic
estures, cutting and slashing their arms with
nives, shaking the head, &c. Hence the word
was applied among us to the Anabaptists,
Quakers, &c. at their first rise, and is now an
epithet given to modern prophets, enthusiasts,
&c.; but unjustly to those who possess a con-
siderable degree of zeal and fervency of devo-
tion. .
FARNOVIANS, a sect of Socinians, so called
from Stanislaus Farnovius, who separated from
the other Unitarians in the year 1568. He
asserted that Christ had been engendered or
produced out of nothing by the Supreme Be-
ing, before the creation of this terrestrial
globe, and warned his disciples against paying
religious worship to the Divine Spirit. This
sect did not last long; for having lost their
chief, who died in 1615, it was scattered and
reduced to nothing.
FASTING, abstinence from food, more parti-
cularly that abstinence which is used on a re-
ligious account.
The Jews had every year a stated and so-
lemn fast on the 10th day of the month Tisrz',
which generally answered to the close of our
September. The solemnity was a day of strict
rest and fasting to the Israelites.
them spent the day before in prayer, and such
like penitential exercises. On the day itself,
at least in later times, they made a tenfold con-
fession of their sins, and were careful to end
all their mutual broils. See Lev. xvi. ; Numb.
xxix. 7, 12 ; Lev. xxiii. 23, 32. Individuals
also fasted on any extraordinary distress.
Thus David fasted during the sickness of his
adulterous child, 2 Sam. xii. 21. Ahab, when
he was threatened with ruin, 1 Kings xii. 27 .
Daniel, when he understood that the Jewish
captivity drew to an end ; 9th and 10th chap-
ters of Nehemiah, &c.
See
familiars; and that the same plenary indul~
Many of

Howeverlightly some think of religious fast-
ing, it seems it has been practised by most
nations from the remotest antiquity. The
Egyptians, Phtenicians, and Assyrians, had
their fasts as well as the Jews. Porphyry
aflirms that the Egyptians, before their stated
sacrifices, always fasted a great many days;
sometimes for six weeks. The Greeks ob-
served their fasts much in the same manner.
At Rome, kings and emperors themselves
fasted. Numa Pompilius, Julius Caesar, Au~
gustus, Vespasian, and others, we are told, had
their stated fast days ; and Julian the apostate
was so exact in this observation, that be out--
did the priests themselves. The Pythagoreans
frequently fasted rigidly for a long time; and
Pythagoras, their master, continued his fast,
it is said, for forty days together. The Brah-
i‘nins, and the Chinese, have also their stated
asts.
Every one knows how much fasting has
been considered an important rite in the
Church of Rome, and the extremes they have
run into in this respect. The Church of
England also has particular seasons for fast~
ing, especially that of Lent, which is to be
observed as a time of humiliation before Eas~
ter, the general festival of our Saviour’s
resurrection. Fast days are also appointed
by the legislature upon any extraordinary
occasions of calamity, war, &c. See art.
LENT, ROGATION.
Religious fasting consists, 1. “In abstinence
from every animal indulgence, and from food,
as far as health and circumstances will admit.
-—2. In the humble confession of our sins to
God, with contrition or sorrow for them.—
3. An earnest deprecation of God’s displea~
sure, and humble supplication that he would
avert his judgments—4. An intercession
with God for such spiritual and temporal
blessings upon ourselves and others as are
needful.” It does not appear that our Saviour
instituted any particular fast, but left it 0p-
tional. Any state of calamity and sorrow,
however, naturally suggests this. The pro-
priety of it may appear, 1. From many exam-
ples recorded in Scripture—2. By plain and
undeniable inferences from Scripture. Matt.
vi. 16.—3. From divine commands given on
some occasions, though there are no com-
mands which prescribe it as a constant duty.
—4. It may be argued from its utility. The
end or uses of it, are these:- 1. A na-
tural expression of our sorrow—2. A help
to devotional exercises—~13. Keeping the
body in subjection—4. It may be rendered
subservient to charity. How far or how long
a person should abstain from food, depends on
circumstances. The great end to be kept in
view is, humiliation jbr, and abstinence from
sin. “ If,” says Marshall, “ abstinence divert
our minds, by reason of a gnawing appetite,
' then you had better eat sparingly, as Daniel
in his greatest fast.” Dan. x. 2, 3. They, how-
FAT 2
-5 FEA
ever, who in times of public distress, when
the judgments of God are in the earth, and
when his providence seems to call for humilia-
tion, will not relinquish any of their sensual
enjoyments, nor deny themselves in the least,
cannot 'be justified; since good men in all
ages, more or less, have humbled themselves
on such occasions; and reason as well as
Scripture evidently prove it to be our duty.
It appears manifest from Acts xiv. 21, that it
ought to be observed at the ordination of
ministers. Matt. ix. 15. 1 Cor. vii. 5. Ben-
nett’s Christ. Oran, v01. ii. pp. 18, 25; Tz'llot-
son’s Sermons, ser. 39; Simpson’s Essay on
Fasting,- fllarskall on Sana, pp. 273, 274.
FATE (fatum) denotes an inevitable neces-
sity depending upon a superior cause. The
word is formed dfando, “from speaking,” and
primarily implies the same with qfl'atum, viz.
a word or decree pronounced by God, or a ,
fixed sentence whereby the Deity has pre-
scribed the order of things, and allotted to
every person what shall befall him. The
Greeks called it swap/awn, as it were a chain
or necessary series of things indissolubly
linked together. It is also used to express a
certain unavoidable designation of things, by ,
which all agents, both necessary and volun—
tary, are swayed and directed to their ends.
Fate is divided into physical and divine.
1. Physical‘ fate is an order and series of
natural causes appropriated to their effects;
as, that 'fire warms; bodies communicate
motion to each other, 866. ; and the effects of
it are all the events and phenomena of nature.
—2. Divine fate is what is more usually called
providence. See Pnovrnnnen, NECESSITY.
FATHERS, a term applied to ancient authors,
who have preserved in their writings tradi-
tions of the church. Thus, St. Chrysostom,
St. Basil, &c., are called Greek fathers, and
St. Augustine and St. Ambrose, Latin fathers.
No author who wrote later than the twelfth
century is dignified with the title of fat/ter.
Some suppose that the study of the fathers
is barren and unimproving; that though there
are some excellent things interspersed in their
writings, yet the instruction to be derived from
them will hardly repay the toil of breaking
up the ground; that a lifetime would hardly
sufiice to read them with care, and digest them
completely. Others have such a high opinion
of the fathers, as to be almost afraid of inter-
preting Scripture against their decision. They
suppose, that as some of them were compa-
1110118, disciples, or successively followers of
the apostles, it is highly probable that they
must have been well informed, that their sen-
timents must be strongly illustrative of the
doctrines of the New Testament; and that as
controversies have increased, and dogmas re-
ceived since their time, they must be much
less entangled with decisions merely human
than more recent commentators. Perhaps it
is best to steer between these two opinions.
, they are under God. _
v in God that is not in him, or that he will break

‘If a person have ability, inclination, and op-
. portlmity to wade through them, let him; but
if not, referring to them occasionally may
suflice. One caution, however, is necessary,
which is this; that the judgment of antiquity
in some disputable points certainly may be
useful, yet we ought never to put them on the
same footing as the Scriptures. In many
cases they‘ may be considered as competent
witnesses; but we must not confide in their
verdict as judges. Jortin’s Works, vol. vii. chap.
2; Kett’s Serm. at Bampton Lecture, ser. 1 ;
Warburton’s Julian; Simpson’s strictures on
Religious Opinions, latter end ; Daillé’s Use of
theFathers, p. 167 ; Law’s Theory; Dr. Clarke’s
View of the Succession of Sacred Literature,
p. 312 ; Isaac Taylor on the Fathers.
FAVOUR or G01). See GRACE.
FEAR, is that uneasiness of mind which
arises from an apprehension of danger, at-
tended with a desire of avoiding it. “ Fear,”
says Dr. Watts, “shows itself by paleness of
the cheek, sinking of the spirits, trembling of
the limbs, hurry and confusion of the mind
and thoughts, agonies of nature, and fainting.
Many a person has died with fear. Sometimes
it ronses all nature to exert itself in speedy
flight, or other methods to avoid the approach_
ing evil; sudden terror has performed some
things of this kind almost incredible.”
Fear is of different kinds: 1. There is an
' idolatrous and superstitious fear, which is call-
ed duo'tdatluoma, a fear of demons, which the
city of Athens was greatly addicted to. “ I
perceive,” says the Apostle Paul, “ that in all
things ye are too superstitious,” or given to
the fear and worship of false deities. 2. There
is an external fear of God, an outward show
and profession of it, which is taught by the
precepts of men: as in the men of Samaria,
who pretended to fear the Lord, as the priest
instructed them, and yet served their own
gods: and such an external fear of God, J ob’s
friends supposed was all that he had, and that
even he had cast that off. 3. There is an by-
pocritical fear, when men make a profession
of religion; but only serve him for some sin-
ister end and selfish view, which Satan insinu-
ated ‘was Job’s case. “ Doth Job fear God
for nought?” Job i. 9. 4.. There is a servile
fear which they possess who serve God from
fear of punishment, and not from love to him.
5. There is a filial fear, such as that of a son
to his father.
Fear is sinful when—1. It proceeds from
unbelief or distrust of God. 2. When it as-
cribes more to the creature than is due; or
when we fear our enemies without considering
3. When we fear that
his promise, &e. 4. When our fear is immo-
derate, so as to distract us in our duty. See
next article.
FEAR or Goo, is that holy disposition or
gracious habit formed in the soul- by the Holy
FEA
FE T
296
Spirit, whereby we are inclined to obey all
God’s commands; and evidences itself—l. By
a dread of his displeasure. 2. Desire of his
favour. 3. Regard for his excellences. 4.
Submission to his will. 5. Gratitude for his
benefits. 6. Sincerity in his worship. 7. Con-
scientious obedience to his commands, Prov.
viii. 13. Job xxviii. 28. Bates’s Works, p.
913. Gill’s Body of Divinity, vol.‘ iii. book 1.
FEAR or DEATH. See DEATH.
FEAsT,in a religious sense, is a ceremony
of feasting and thanksgiving.
The principal feasts of the Jews were the
feasts of trumpets, of expiation, of taberna-
cles, of the dedication, of the passover, of Pen-
tecost, and that of purification. Feasts, and
the ceremonies thereof, have made great part
of the religion of almost all nations and sects;
hence the Greeks, the Romans, Mohammedans,
and professing Christians, have not been with-
out them.
Feasts are either immovable or moveable.
lmmovable feasts are those constantly cele-
brated on the same day of the year. The
principal of these are Christmas-day, Circum-
cision, Epiphany, Candlemas, or Purification;
Lady-day, or the Annunciation, called also the
incarnation or conception; All Saints and All
Souls ; besides the days of the several apostles,
as St. Thomas, St. Paul. Moveahle feasts are
those which are not confined to the same day
of the year. Of these the principal is Easter,
which gives law to all the rest, all of them
following and keeping their proper distances
from it. Such are Palm Sunday, Good Fri-
day, Ash Wednesday, Sexagesima, Ascension-
day, Pentecost, and Trinity Sunday.
Besides these feasts, which are general, and
enjoined by the church, there are others local
and occasional, enjoined by the magistrate,
or voluntarily set on foot by the people; such
are the days of thanksgiving for delivery from
war, plagues, &c. such also are the vigils or
wakes in commemoration of the dedication of
particular churches.
The prodigious increase of feast days com-
menced towards the close of the fourth cen-
tury, occasioned by the discovery that was
made of the- remains of martyrs, and other
holy men, for the commemoration of whom
they were established. These, instead of
being set apart for pious exercises, were
abused in indolence, voluptuousness, and
criminal practices. Many of them were in-
stituted on a pagan model, and perverted to
similar purposes. See HoLv DAY.
FEAST or AssEs. This was a festival in
the Romish church, and was celebrated at
Beauvais. They chose a young woman, the
handsomest in the town; made her ride on
an ass richly harnessed, and placed in her
arms a pretty infant. In this state, followed
by the bishop and clergy. she marched in
procession from the cathedral to the church
of St. Stephen; entered into the sanctuary,
placed herself near the altar, and then cele—
brated mass; not forgetting to explain the
fine qualities of the animahand exhorung
him to make a devout genuflexion, with a
variety of other fooleries. _
FEELINGS, RELIcIoUs, are those sensations
or emotions of the mind produced by the
views we have of religion. While some en-
thusiasts boast of, depend on, and talk much
of their feelings, there are others who are led
to discard the term,r and almost to abandon
the idea of religious feeling; but it is evident,
that however many have been misguided and
deceived by their feelings, yet there 15 no
such thing as religion without them. For
instance, religion consists in contrition, re-
pentance, and devotion; now what is con-
trition but a feeling of sorrow for sin; what
is repentance but a feeling of hatred to it,
with a relinquishing of it? what is devotion
but a feeling of love to God and his ways?
Who can separate the idea of feeling from
any of these acts? The fact is this, religious
feelings, like every thing else, have been
abused; and men, to avoid the imputation of
fanaticism, have run into the opposite evib
of lukewarmness, and been content with a
system without feeling its energy. See AF-
rEcTIoN, ENTHUsIAsM, ExrEnIENeE.
FELLowsHIP, joint interest, or the having
one common stock. The fellowship of the
saints is twofold :——1. With God. 1 John i. 3.
1 Cor. i. 9; xiii. 14.—2. With one another.
1 John i. 7. A
Fellowship with God consists in knowledge
of his will. Job xxii. 21. John xvii. 3.
Agreement. Amos iii. 2. Strength of affec-
tion. Rom. viii. 38, 39. Enjoyment of his
presence. Ps. iv. 6. Conformity to his
image. 1 John ii. 6 ; i. 6. -
Fellowship of the Saints may be consi-
dered as a fellowship of duties. Rom. xii. 6.
1 Cor. xii. 1. 1 Thess. v. 17, 18. James v.
16. Of ordinances. Heb. x. 24. ‘ Acts ii.'46.
Of graces, love, joy, &c. Heb. x. 24. Mal.
iii. 16. 2 Cor. viii. 4. Of interest spiritual,
and sometimes temporal. Rom. xii. 4, 13.
Heb. xiii. 16. Of sufferings. Rom. xv. 1,
2. Gal. vi. 1, 2. Rom. xii. 15. Of eternal-
glory. Rev. vii. 9. See CoMMUNIoN.
FENCING TABLES, the designation of a sacra-
mental rite among the Scotch Presbyterians,
which takes place almost immediately before
the distribution of the elements, and consists
in the minister’s pointing _out the character
of those who have, and of those who have
not a right to sit down at the table. This
address is followed up by the reading of
several passages of Scripture, descriptive of
the character of saints and sinners.
FETISH, an idol. This word, now fre-
quentiy met with in the French and German
languages, was first brought into use by De
Brosses, in his work Dru. C'ulte des .Dieux
.Ii‘etiekes (1.7 60), and is derived either from
FlF
FIR
297
the Portuguese fetisso, a block adored as an
idol, or, according to Winterbottom, from
fetiezeira, an enchantress. The Portuguese
gave this name to the idols of the negroes, on
the Senegal, and afterwards the word received
a more extensive meaning. The general
signification now given to fetish seems to be
an object worshipped, not representing any
living figure. Hence stones, arms, vessels,
&c. are fetishes. The negroes of Guinea sup-
pose a fetish to preside over every canton or
district, and one also over every family, and
each individual, which the individual wor—
ships on the anniversary of his birth-day.
Those of the better sort have, besides this,
weekly festivals, on which they kill a cock or
sheep. They believe the material substances
which they worship, to be endowed with in-
tellig'ence, and the power of doing them good
or evil; and also‘ that the fetishere, or priest,
being of their council, is privy to all that
those divinities know, and thence acquainted
with the most secret thoughts and actions of
men. The household, or family fetish, nar-
rowly inspects the conduct of every indivi-
dual in the house, and rewards or punishes
each according to his deserts. The rewards
consist in the multiplication of the slaves and
wives of the worshipper, and the punishment
in their diminution; but the most terrible
punishment is death. At Cape Coast there
is a public guardian fetish, supreme in power '
and dignity. This 18 a rock which projects
into the sea from the bottom of the cliff on
which the castle is built. To this rock an-
nual sacrifices are presented, and the re-
sponses given through the priests are re-
warded by the blinded devotees.
FEUILLANTINES, a reformed order of Cis-
tertian monks, who went barefoot, lived only
on herbs, and practised astonishing austeri-
ties. Their congregation was afterwards
divided into two by Pope Urban VIII. in
1630, who separated the French from the
Italians, and gave them two generals. ‘
FIFTH MONARCI-IY MEN. were a set of en-
thusiasts, in the time of Cromwell, who ex-
pected the sudden appearance of Christ to
establish on earth a new monarchy or king-
dom. In consequence of this illusion, some
of them aimed at the subversion of all human
government. In ancient history, we read. of
four great monarchies, the Assyrian, Persian,
Grecian, and the Roman; and these men,
believing that this new spiritual kingdom of
Christ was to be the fifth, came to bear the
name by which they were called. 'I‘heir leader
was Thomas Venner, a wine-cooper, who,
m his little conventicle in Coleman—street,
warmed his admirers with passionate expect-
ations of a fifth universal monarchy, under
the personal reign of King Jesus upon earth,
and that the saints were to take the king-
dom to- themselves. To introduce this ima-
Emery kingdom, they marched out of their
meeting-house, towards St. Paul’s Church-
yard, on Sunday, Jan. 6th, 1660, to the num-
ber of about fifty men, well armed, and with a
resolution to subvert the present government,
or to die in the attempt. They published a
declaration of the design of their rising, and
placed sentinels at proper places. The lord
mayor sent the trained bands to disperse
them, whom they quickly routed, but in the
evening retired to Caen \Vood, between
Highgate and Hampstead. On Wednesday
morning they returned, and dispersed a party
of the king’s soldiers in Threadneedle-street.
In Wood-street they repelled the trained
bands, and some of the horse guards; but
Venner himself was knocked down, and some
of his company slain; from hence the re—
mainder retreated to Cripplegate, and took
possession of a house, which they threatened
to defend with a desperate resolution; but
nobody appearing to countenance their frenzy,
they surrendered after they had lost about
half their number. Venner and one of his
officers were hanged before their meeting-
house door in Coleman-street, Jan. 19th; and
a few days after nine more were executed in
divers parts of the city.
FILIAL PIETY, is the affectionate attach-
ment of children to their parents, including
in it love, reverence, obedience, and relief.
J ustly has it been observed, that these great
duties are prompted equally by nature and
by gratitude, independent of the injunctions of
religion; for where shall we find the person
who hath received from anyone benefits so
great, or so many, as children from their
parents? And it may be truly said, that if
persons are undutiful to their parents, they
seldom prove good in any other relation. See-
article CHILDREN. _
Frnra'rron on THE SON or Gon. See SON
Gon.
FILIOQUE, a term signifying “ and from
the Son,” which the Greeks accuse the Latin
church of introducing into the ancient creed
relative to the procession of the Holy Spirit :-
the former maintaining that his procession is
from the Father only. At what time this
introduction took place cannot be ascertained,
but Augustine has the expression, procedere
ab utroque ,- and the synod of Toledo, in 589,
declares every one to be a heretic, who does
not believe, a patre filz'oque procedere Spiriium
Sanctum. Every attempt to reconcile the two
churches, with respect to this point, has
proved abortive, so that it continues to be a
mark of distinction between them.
FIRE PHILOSOPHERS. See Tnnosornrs'rs.
FIRST FRUITS, among the Hebrews, were
oblations of part of the fruits of the harvest,
offered to God as an acknowledgment of his
sovereign dominion. There was another sort
of first fruits which was paid to God. When-
bread was kneaded in a family, a portion of
it was set apart, and given to the priest or
OF
FLA
FLA
298'
Levite who dwelt in the place. If there were
no priest or Levite there, it was cast into the
oven, and consumed by the fire. These
offerings made a considerable part of the
revenues of the priesthood. Lev. xxiii.;
Exod. xxii. 29 ; Chron. xxiii. 19 ; Numb. xv.
19, 20.
The first fruits of the Spirit are such com-
munications of his grace on earth, as fully
assure us of the full enjoyment of God in hea-
ven. Rom. viii. 23. Christ is called the first
fruits of them that slept; for as the first
fruits were earnests to the Jews of the suc-
ceeding harvest, so Christ is the first fruits
of the resurrection, or the earnest of a future
resurrection; that as he rose, so shall belie-
vers also rise to happiness and life. 1 Cor.
xv. 20.
First fruits are mentioned in ancient wri-
ters as one part of the church revenue.
First fruits, in the Church of England, are
the profits of every spiritual benefice for the
first year, according to the valuation thereof
in the king's book.
FIVE Pom'rs, are the five doctrines con-
troverted between the Arminians and Cal-
vinists. See CALVINISTS.
FLACIANS, the followers of Matthias Fla-
cius Illyricus, who flourished in the sixteenth
century. He taught that original sin is the
very substance of human nature; and that
the fall of man was an event which extin-
guished in the human mind every virtuous
tendency, every noble faculty, and left no-
thing behind it but universal darkness and
corruption.
FLAGELLANTS, (from the Latin flagellare,
to beat,) the name of a sect in the thirteenth
century, who thought that they could best
expiate their sins by the severe discipline of
the scourge. Rainer, a hermit of Perugia,
is said to have been its founder, in 1260. He
Soon found followers in nearly all parts of
Italy. Old and young, great and small, ran
through the cities, scourging themselves, and
exhorting to repentance. Their number soon
amounted to 10,000, who went about, led by
priests, bearing banners and crosses. They
went in thousands from country to country,
begging alms. In 1261, they broke over the
Alps in crowds into Germany, showed them-
selves in Alsatia, Bavaria, Bohemia, and
Poland; and found there many imitators.
In 1296, a small band of Flagellants appeared
in Strasburg, who, with covered faces, whip-
ped themselves through the city, and at every
church. The princes and higher clergy were
little pleased with this new fraternity, al-
though it was favoured by the people. The
shameful public exposure of the person by the
Flagcllants offended good manners; their tra-
velling in such numbers afforded opportunity
for seditious commotions, and irregularities
of all sorts; and their extortion of alms was
a tax upon the peaceful citizen. On this ac-
count, both in Germany and in Italy, several
princes forbade these expedicnts of the Fla—
gellants. The kings of Poland and Bohemia
expelled them with violence from their states,
and the bishops strenously opposed them. In
spite of this, the society continued under
another form in the" fraternities of the Beg-
hards, in Germany and France, and in the
beginning of the fifteenth century, among the
Brothers of the Cross, so numerous in Thur-
ingia, (so called from wearing on their clothes
a cross on the breast and on the back,) of
whom ninety-one were burnt at once at
Sangershausen, in 1414. The council assem-
bled at Constance, between 1414 and 1.418,
was obliged-to take decisive measures against
them. Since this time nothing more has
been heard of a fraternity of this sort.
FLAGELLATION has almost always been
used for the punishment of crimes. Its ap-
plication as a means of religious penance is
an old oriental custom admitted into corrupt
churches, partly because self-torment was
considered salutary as the mortifying of the-
fiesh, and partly because both Christ and
the apostles underwent scourging. From
the first century of Christianity, religious
persons sought to atone for their sins, and to-
move an impartial Judge to compassion and
pardon, by voluntary bodily torture. Like
the Abbot Regine, at Prum, in the tenth cen-'
tury, many chose to share in the sufferings
of Christ, in order to make themselves the
more certain of forgiveness through him. It
became general in the eleventh century,
when Peter Damiani of Ravenna, abbot of the
Benedictine monastery near Gubbio, after-
wards cardinal bishop of Ostia, zealously re-
commended scourging as an atonement for
sin, to Christians generally, and in particular
to the monks. His own example, and the
fame of his sanctity, rendered his exhortations
effective. Clergy and laity, men and women,
began to torture themselves with rods and
thongs and chains. They fixed certain times
for the infliction of this discipline upon them-
selves. Princes caused themsclves to be
scourged naked by their father confessors.
Louis IX. constantly carried with him, for
this purpose, an ivory box, containing five
small iron chains, and exhorted his father
confessor to scourge him severely. He like-
wise gave similar boxes to the princes and
princesses of his house, and to‘other pious.
friends, as marks of his peculiar favour. The
wild expectation of being purified from sin by
fiagellati'on prevailed throughout Europe in
the last half of the thirteenth century. But
these penances soon degenerated into noisy
fanaticism, and a sort of trade.
council of Constance (1414-18), both clergy
and laity by degrees became disgusted with
the scourge. The Cordeliers observed the
practice longest. It was considered as equi-
valent to every sort of expiation for past sins.
After the .
F O H
FOH
299
3000 strokes, and the chanting of thirty
penitential psalms, were deemed suflicient to
cancel the sinsof a year; 30,000 strokes
the sins of ten years, 800. An Italian widow,
in the eleventh century, boasted that she had
made expiation by voluntary scourging for
100 years, for which, as the requisite number,
she had inflicted on herself no fewer than
300,000 stripes. The opinion was prevalent,
likewise, that, however great the guilt, hell
might be escaped by self-inflicted pain, and
the honour of peculiar holiness acquired. By
this means, flagellation obtained a charm in
the sight of the guilty and ambitious, which
raised them above the dread both of sinning
and sufi‘ering, till the vain deceits of hypo-
crisy vanished 'before the clearer light of
civilization and knowledge.
FLAMINES, an order or class of priests
among the ancient \ Romans, instituted, ac-
cording to Plutarch, by Romulus, and ac-
cording to Livy, by Numa. They were cho-
sen by the people, and their inauguration ‘was
performed by the sovereign pontifi'. Their
number was originally three, but was after-
wards increased to fifteen, the three first of
whom, being taken from the senate, were
called Flamines Majores; and the twelve
others, taken from the people, Flamines Mi-
nores. When the emperors were deified, they
also had fiamens, as flamen Augusta‘. Their
ordinary duties were to see that the ancient
and customary honours were paid to the pub-
licly acknowledged deities, and that all due
respect was paid to the religion of the state;
but, in the opinion of the superstitious, they
were invested with interest and influence
with the gods, which enabled them to main-
tain and exercise a powerful dominion over
the minds of the vulgar..
FLATTERY, a servile and fawning beha-
viour, attended with servile compliances and
obsequiousness, in order to gain a person’s
favour.
FLEMINGIANS, or FLANDRIANS, a sect of
rigid Anabaptists, who acquired this name in
the sixteenth century, because most of them
were natives of Flanders, by way of distinc-
tion from the Waterlandians. See WATER-
LANDIANS.
Fo, Fon, Form, is revered in China as the
founder of a religion, which was introduced
into China in the first century of the Chris-
tian era. According to tradition he was born
in Cashmere, about the year B. c. 1027. While
his mother was in travail, the stars were dark-
ened, and nine dragons descended from heaven.
He was born from her right side, and imme-
diately after the birth she died. At the mo-
ment of his entrance into the world, he stood
upright on his feet, stepped forward seven
paces, and pointing one hand to heaven, and
the other to the earth, spoke distinctly these
words _:—“ None in heaven or earth deserves
adoration besides me.” In his seventeenth
year he married three wives, and became the
father of a son ; but in his nineteenth year he
left his family, and went with four wise men
into the wilderness. When thirty, he was dei-
fied; and, confirming his doctrines by pre-
tended miracles, collected an immense number
of disciples round him, and spread his doc-
trines throughout the East. His priests and
disciples were called in China Seng, in Tartary
Lamas, in Siam T alapoins, and in Europe
Homes. In the 79th year of his age, perceiv-
ing that his end was approaching, F0 declared
to his disciples, “ That hitherto he had spoken
only in enigmatical and figurative language;
but that now being about to take leave of
them, he would unveil to them the mysteries
of his doctrine. Know, then,” said he, “ that
there is no other principle of all things but
the void and nothing; that from nothing all
things have sprung, and to nothing all must
return; and there all our hopes must end.”
This final declaration of F0 divided his disci-
ples into three sects. Some founded on it an
atheistical sect; the greater part adhered to
his ancient doctrines ; while others made a
distinction between an esoteric and an esoteric
doctrine, which they endeavoured to bring
into harmony. The exoteric doctrine of F0
contains his system of morality. It distin-
guishes between good and evil: he who has
done good during his life will be rewarded
after death; and he who has done evil will be
punished. He gave his followers only these
five precepts :-—Not to kill any living creature;
not to take the property of another; to avoid
impurity and unchastity ; not to speak falsely ;
and to abstain from wine. They are taught
the practice of charity; the merit accruing
from the building of temples and convents;
and the punishment of their souls entering
into the bodies of the vilest and most unclean
animals if they commit sin. The principal
esoteric or secret doctrines, into which but few
are initiated, are the following :—The origin
and end of all things is the void and nothing.
The first human beings have sprung from no-
thing, and are returned to nothing. The void
constitutes our being. All things, living and
inanimate, constitute one whole; difi‘ering
from each other not in essence, but only in
form and qualities. The original essence of
all things is pure, unchangeable, highly subtle,
and simple, and, because it is simple, the per-
fection of all other beings. It is perfect, and
therefore exists in uninterrupted quiet, without
possessing virtue, power, or intelligence; nay,
its very essence consists in the absence of in-
telligence, activity, and want or desire. Who-
ever desires to be happy, must constantly en-~
deavour to conquer themselves, and become
like the original essence. To accomplish this,
he must accustom himself not to act, desire,
feel, nor think. The great precept was—endea-
vour to annihilate thyself; for, as Soon as thou
ceasest to be thyself, thou becomest one with
FOO
P00
300
God, andreturnest into his being. The other
followers of F0 adopt the doctrine of the void
and nothing, and the transmigration of souls ;
but teach that they enter ultimately the class
of Samanaaans, and finally appear in the ho-
dies of perfect Samanueans, who have no more
crimes to expiate, and need no longer to re—
vere the gods, who are only the servants of
the Supreme God of the universe. This Su-
preme unoriginated Being cannot be repre-
sented by any image; neither can he be wor-
shipped, because he is elevated above all wor-
ship; but his attributes may be represented,
adored, and worshipped. Hence the source
of the worship of images by the natives of
India, and of the multitude of particular tute-
lary deities in China. All the elements, the
changes of the weather, &c. have each its par-
ticular genius ; and all these gods are servants
or oflicers of the Supreme God, Seng-wang-
Man. The public worship of F0, which be-
came a national religion, is called, in India,
Brahmanism.
FOOD. Questions concerning meats and
drinks have occasioned much angry and bitter
contention, both in the Jewish and Christian
churches. Undue importance has often, no
doubt, been attached to certain distinctions in
these matters, and many have been scrupu-
lously nice about what they might eat and
drink, while they seem to have forgotten that
the kingdom of heaven consisted of righteous—
ness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
Others, how ever, have erred on the other
hand, by despising all attention to such things,
as too trifling to deserve regard. But it must
certainly be admitted, that the food by which
man is supported and nourished, is not in it-
self of small importance. He who made all
things for the use of man, best knows what
is good for food, and what is fitted to serve
other purposes. He has an undoubted right
to grant or to withhold the use of his creatures,
and if he has interfered in this matter, it be-
comes us to bow with deference to his autho-
rity. That particular kinds of food may be
productive of certain physical and moral ef~
fects on the human constitution, is not to be
denied; in this. point of view, therefore, the
importance of divine enactments respecting
their use may be shown. And if distinctions
in the use of animals were connected with im-
portant religious institutions, and intended to
illustrate some interesting doctrines of mo-
rality, their propriety may be still further de-
fended. That laws and regulations have
been given by the Almighty to guide man-
kind in this affair, must be obvious to every
man who looks into the Bible; and an inves-
tigation of the nature of these laws will be
found interesting both to the philosopher and
the Christian.
To enter into minute details on this subject
would swell this article beyond all due bounds ;
but we shall endcavoiu' to take a general view
of the law respecting food, during the Adamic,
Noahic, Jewish, and Christian dispensations,
in which we shall endeavour to ascertain the
nature of the liberty enjoyed, and the restric-
tions which were imposed during these several
periods.
That we may have the whole subject before
us at once, it may be proper to place, under
its proper head, the several grants or laws
which have been made on these matters at the
different times.
Grant to Adam.
“ Behold, I have given you every herb hear--
ing seed which is on the face of all the earth;
and every tree, in which is the fruit of a tree
yielding seed—to you it shall be for meat,
Gen. i. 29. Of every tree in the garden thou
shalt freely eat; but of the tree of the know-
ledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat,” ch.
11. 16.
Grant to Noah.
“ Every moving thing that moveth shall be
meat for you; even as the green herb have I
given on all things. But flesh, with the life
thereof, which is the blood thereof‘, shall you
not eat.” Gen. ix. 3, 4. '
Jewish Law.
“ And whatsoever man there be of the house
of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn
among you, that eateth any manner of blood,
I will even set my face against that soul that
eateth blood, and I will cut him off from
among his people. For the life of the flesh is
in the blood; and I have given it to you upon
the altar, to make an atonement for your souls ;
for it is the blood that maketh an atonement
for the soul,” Lev. xvii. 10, 11.
Christian Law.
“ For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost,
and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden
than these necessary things; that ye abstain
from meats offered to idols, and from blood,
and from things strangled, and from fornica-
tion; from which, if ye keep yourselves, ye
shall do well,” Acts xv. 28, 29;.
Jewish Restrictions.
“ Whatsoeverparteth the hoof, and is clo-
ven-footed, and cheweth the end, among the
beasts, that shall ye eat, &c. , Whatsoever
hath fins and scales in the waters, in the seas,
and in the rivers, that shall ye eat. .And all
that have not fins and scales shall be an abo-
mination unto you. And these are they which
ye shall have in abomination among the fowls;
they shall not be eaten—they are an abomina-
tion: the eagle,” and nineteen others. “ All
fowls that creep, going upon all four, shall be
an abomination unto you. These also shall
be unclean among the creeping things that
creep upon the earth—the weasel,” and seven
others. “ Whatsoever goeth upon the belly,
and whatsoever goeth upon all four, or what.-
FOO
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301
soever hath more feet, and all creeping thin gs,
them ye shall not eat; for they are an abomina-
tion. This is the law of the beasts, and of the
fowl, and of every living creature that moveth
in the waters, and of every creature that creep-
eth upon. the earth; to make a difl'erence be-
tween the unclean and the clean, and between
the beast that may be eaten and the beast that
may not be eaten,” Lev. xi. passim.
Christian Liberty.
“ Peter fell into a trance, and saw heaven
opened, and a certain vessel descending to
him; wherein were all manner of four-footed
beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and
creeping things, and fowls of the air. And
there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill
and eat. What God hath cleansed, that call
not thou common, Acts x. 9, 15. \Vhatsoever
is sold in the shambles, that eat, asking no
question for conscience sake; for the earth is
the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof, 1 Cor. x.
25, 26. Every creature of God is good, and
nothing to be refused, if it be received with
thanksgiving; for it is sanctified by the word
of God and prayer.” 1 Tim. iv. 4, 5.

In these passages we have a general view
of the law of Scripture on the subject’ of
meats, from the earliest period to the present
time. It is evident there has been a consi-
derable difference in it during the several
clispensations. At first, the grant of food was
very limited; it afterwards was greatly ex-
tended; by the Mosaic law it was restricted
in a peculiar manner, and now again we enjoy
a high degree of liberty.
On the grant to Adam we would observe,—
1. That neither man nor beasts seem to
have been intended to live upon ani-
mals. Man was allowed vegetables andfruit;
‘peasts were restricted to the use of the green
:erb.
2. Whatever is not mentioned in the grant,
must be considered as excluded from it; for
Adam could have no experience of the fitness
or unfitness of any thing for food but what
he was told by God. He would, therefore,
j udge every thing improper or unlawful which
‘he was not expressly permitted to use.
3. To the general use of fruits there was
one particular exception ;-—the fruit of the
tree of knowledge, which was intended to
answer certain important moral purposes.
4. The first grant, we have no doubt, was
fully adequate to all the wants of the first
race of men; and sufficient to nourish
them under a genial climate, and with the
sm all degree of labour which they had to un-
dergo.
5. The slaughtering of animals would have
been inconsistent with a state of innocence.
The sorrows and death of the brute creation
are connected with a state of sin, as well as
our own. Even the heathen excluded the use
of animals from their golden agea “ During,
the reign of Saturn, that is, the golden age,’
says Dicmarchus, quoted by Jerome, “ when
the ground poured forth in abundance, no
flesh was eaten, but all lived on vegetables
and fruits which the earth brought forth spon-
taneously.” So Ovid :-- _
At vetus illa aetas, eni fecimns aurea nomen,
Fuatibus arboreis, et quas humus educat herbis
Fortunate. fuit, nee polluit ora cruore.--L. xv.
And Plato tells us “ men all then lived from
the earth, for they had abundance of trees and
fruits; the soil being so fruitful that it sup-
plied those fruits of its own accord, without
the labour of agriculture.”- Gale, C. G. p. i.
336.
6. It is impossible to ‘say from Scripture
whether the antediluvians used animal food
or not. It is by no means improbable they
transgressed this as well as other divine pre-
cepts; that they had not received permission
so to do is evident, both from this and also
from the grant to Noah; on which we now
observe,-—
1. That this is the first revealed grant of
animals for food. They had already been
slain in sacrifice, but not for meat. The rea-
sons assigned by Bochart and Grotius for
being of a different opinion have little weight,
and have been repeatedly answered.
2. There is in the second grant a plain
allusion to the first, which is quite inexplica—
ble on the ground of any previous permission
to use animal food. “Even as the green
herb have I given you all things.” Had ani-
mal food been allowed in the grant to Adam,
would not a grant to Noah have been unne—
cessary P
3. The grant of animal food was now pro-
bably given on account of the physical changes
produced both on the world and the human
constitution by the flood. Men are now sub—
jected to a greater degree of bodily labour;
they of course require more nourishing aliment
than vegetables; and perhaps the vegetable
productions themselves are less nutritious than
they were before; and in many parts of the
earth a sufliciency of vegetable food could
not be procured; such are all the cold northern
and southern regions of the globe. By hav-
ing a choice of food we are enabled to suit it
to our health and circumstances, and to resist
the debilitating efi‘ects of changeable and un-
friendly atmospheres. Merciful are all the
appointments of God.
4. As in the first, so also in the second
grant is there an exception, or limitation :—
“ Flesh with the life thereof, which is the
blood thereof, shall ye not eat.” This limi-
tation I understand to contain two things;
first, it prohibits eating the flesh of a living
animal; and, next, the blood of a creature by
itself; for this plain reason, that the blood
was the life of the animal. The first will
generally be granted, because the practice is
FOO
FOO
302
repugnant to our feelings and to humanity;
the latter, however, is a subject of dispute.
Referring to the article BLOOD, as to the law-
fulness of blood eating, at present we only
remark, that it is natural to expect some limi-
tation of the universal grant of animal food,
and we submit whether the most natural inter-
pretation of the restriction is not this :—
“ Though I give you the flesh, I do not give
you the blood with it, because the blood is the
life.” Again, eating of blood was expressly
forbidden to the stranger in Israel, as well as
to Israelites, and for the same reason as is
here adduced, its being the life of the animal,
Lev. xvii. 10, 11. As we have no right to
use any thing for food which is not expressly
granted, and as blood here is evidently not
included in the grant, it must be inferred that
it was the design of Heaven that it should be
used. One of the obvious reasons of this re-
striction was the prevention of cruelty to ani-
mals. Although they are granted for food, it
is not lawful to exercise any unnecessary
cruelty towards them. Their life is in their
blood; it must therefore be taken from them
before they are used; and to excite an aver-
sion to blood, a horror at cruelty, it is improper
to use it in any way as food. '
0n Noah, and in him on all mankind,
The charter was conferred, by which we hold
The flesh of animals in fee, and claim
O’er all we feed a power of life and death.
But read the instrument, and mark it well;
Th’ oppression of a tyrannous control
Can find no warrant there. Feed, then, and yield
Thanks for thy food. Carnivorous, through sin,
Feed on the slain, but spare the living brute.
Cowman.
In this grant we discover both the bounty
and the severity of Jehovah. It is becoming
to be grateful for the benefit bestowed, and to
acquiesce in the appointed restriction.
Jewish and Christian Law.
On the Jewish and Christian Law upon
this subject, it appears that they both unite in
prohibiting the same thing—blood, whether
in or out of the animal—for things strangled
seem to relate to things strangled for the sake
of keeping the blood in them.
By the Jewish law blood was prohibited for
an additional reason—Because it made atone-
mentfor the soul. This may be considered as
peculiar to that economy in which blood was
so constantly offered on the altar. It was ne-
cessary, therefore, that it should be considered
a sacred thing. But it deserves to be con-
sidered whether, though that dispensation be
abolished, the reason does not still remain.
Our great High Priest continues to ofiiciate
in the heavenly holy place with his own blood‘
in his hands ; and though this is unseen, it is
not the less real and certain. His blood we
know has made atonement ; and though sacri-
fices be done away, blood is a sacred thing, as
an emblem of that life which was given for a
ransom. It is prohibited by the Jewish law
under a peculiar penalty—death. This was
suitable to the constitution of Israel, and the
theocracy under which they were placed. Of
course. with all other temporal punishments,
it is now done away.
It deserves to be noticed, that the Christian
prohibition is absolute. The decree assigns
neither one reason nor another. Its language
is as pointed with regard to blood as to forni-
cation ; and no man has any right to add
reasons limiting the prohibition to particular
times or circumstances, where the Holy Spirit
has been silent. That which had never before
been granted, this decree undoubtedly does
not sanction.
The Christian law prohibits also “ meats
offered to idols,” or “ pollutions of idols.”
“ Meats were polluted by idolatrous worship
when the whole- had been previously offered
in sacrifice, and a part afterwards converted
into a feast, or when a part was taken from
table and put into the fire, with an invocation
of the idol. Now, as meats are ‘ sanctified by
the word of God and prayer,’ 1 Tim. iv. 3, 5 ;
‘so meats are polluted by the name ‘of idols
and prayer to them. From the first epistle to
the Corinthians, ch. viii. 10, it appears that
the Gentile brethren were not always very
willing to admit this truth, but were sometimes
inclined to feast with their heathen neigh-
bours, not only in private houses, but even in
the temples of idols. It was necessary, there-
fore, to write unto them to abstain from those
pollutions. This prohibition is inculcated
and defended by Paul, at great length, in the
passages just mentioned of his epistle to the
Corinthians, which afford an excellent illus-
tration of this clause in the decree, and of the
manner in which Christians are bound to ob-
serve it. Some have thought that Paul departs
from the strict letter of this injunction, be-
cause, in ch. viii., he argues merely from the
effect of example. But his doctrine, when
fully examined, will be found exactly the
same with that of James. It still amounts to
a prohibition; for, although he allows all
meats to be indifi‘erent in themselves, he ex-
pressly condemns the practice of eating meats
offered to idols, especially in ch. x., where he
shows it to be inconsistent with fellowship
at the table of the Lord, with regard for the
conscience of other men, and with the duty
of a Christian, whether he eats or drinks, or
whatever he does, to do all to the glory of
God. Wherever meats, therefore, are polluted
by idolatrous worship, Christians, when they
know the fact, are to testify their abhorrence
of idolat by abstaining from such meats.”—
Ewing’s ect. on Acts xv.
Preservation from idolatry was, no doubt,
one of the principal reasons of the strict pro-
hibition of blood and some other kinds of
food to the Jews. “Eating of blood, or rather
drinking it, was quite customary among the
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pagan nations of Asia, in their sacrifices to
idols, and in the taking of oaths. This,
indeed, was so much an Asiatic, and, in a
particular manner, a Phoenician usage, that
we find the Roman writers takingnotice of it,
as something outlandish at Rome, and peculiar
to these nations ; and as in the Roman perse-
cutions the Christians were compelled to burn
incense, so were they in the Persian to eat
blood. In the west the one, and in the east
the other, was regarded as expressive of con-
version to heathenism ; because both were
idolatrous practices. But for this very reason,
because it was an idolatrous usage among the
neighbouring nations, were the Israelites in
the greater danger of being led, by eating
blood, into idolatry, from their great pro-
pensity to ~that universally prevalent crime,
and not from mere fondness for blood as a
desirable article of food.”—-Michaelis Com. on
Laws of Moses, vol. iii. 250, 251.
It is not unworthy of observation, that Mo-
hammed prohibits his followers from eating the
same things which are forbidden by the J ewish
and Christian laws. .
FooL, one who has not the use of reason or
judgment. In Scripture, wicked persons are
often called fools, or foolish, because such act
contrary to reason, trust to their own hearts,
violate the laws of God, and prefer things vile,
trifling, and temporal, to such as are important,
divine, and eternal.
FOOLISH SPEAKING, such kind of conver-
sation as includes folly, and can no ways be
profitable and interesting, Eph. v. 4. Face-
tiousness, indeed, is allowable, when it ministers
to harmless divertisement, and delight to con-
versation; when it is used for the purpose of
exposing things which are base and vile;
when it has for its aim the reformation of
others: when used by way of defence under
unjust reproach. But all such kind of speak-
ing as includes profane jesting, loose, wanton,
scurrilous, injurious, unseasonable, vain-glo-
rious talk, is strictly forbidden. See Barrow’s
excellent Sermon on this subject, in his W'or/as,
v01. i. ser. 14.
FooLs, FEAST 0F. Festivals under this
name were regularly celebrated from the 5th
to the 16th century, in several countries of
Europe, by the clergy and laity, with the
most absurd ceremonies, and form one of the
strangest phenomena in the history of man-
kind. They were an imitation of the Saturn-
alia, or heat-hen festivals, and like this was
celebrated in December. The chief celebra-
tion fell on New Year, or Innocents’ Day;
but the feast continued from Christmas to the
last Sunday of Epiphany. At first only the
boys of the choir, and young sacristans, played
the principal part in them; but afterwards all
the inferior servants. of the church, whilst the
bIFhOP, 01' highest clergymen of the place,
'-1th the canons, formed the audience. The
‘lung People, who played the chief parts,
chose from their own number a bishop or
archbishop of fools, as he was called, and con-
secrated him, with many ridiculous ceremonies,
in the principal church of the place. This
officer then took the usual seat of the bishop,
and caused high mass to be said, unless he
preferred to read it himself’, and to give the
people his blessing. During this time the
rest of the performers, dressed in different
kinds of masks and disguises, engaged in in~
decent songs and dances, and practised all
possible follies in the church. These incon-
gruous practices were condemned by popes
and councils, and forbidden by the Sorbonne
in 1444; but they continued to be stoutly de-
fended till the time of the Reformation.
FORBEARANCE is the act of patiently en-
during provocation or offence. The following
may be considered as the most powerful in-
centives to the exercise of this disposition :—
1. The consideration that we ourselves often
stand in need of it from others. Gal. vi. 1.——
2. The express command of Scripture. Eph.
iv. 2. Col. iii. 13.—3. The felicity of this
disposition. It is sure to bring happiness at
last, while resentment only increases our own
misery.-—4. That it is one of the strongest
evidences we can give of the reality of our
religion. John xiii. 35.—5. The beautiful ex-
ample of Christ. Heb. xii. 3. 1 Pet. ii. 21-—23.
G FORBEARANCE or G01). See PATIENCE or
on.
FOREKNOWLEDGE or C01) is his foresight
or knowledge of every thing that is to come
to pass, Acts 23. This foreknowledge, says
Charnock, was from eternity. Seeing he
knows things possible in his power, and
things future in his will, if his power and re-
solves were from eternity, his knowledge
must be so too; or else we must make him
ignorant of his own power, and ignorant of
his own will from eternity, and consequently
not from eternity blessed and perfect. His
knowledge of possible things must run pa-
' rallel with his will. If he willed from eternity,
he knew from eternity what he willed; but
that he did will from eternity we must grant,
unless we would render him changeable, and
conceive him to be made in time of not will-
ing, willing. The knowledge God hath in
time was always one and the same, because
his understanding is his proper essence, as
perfect as his essence, and of an immutable
nature. -
“ To deny this is, says Saurin, to degrade
the Almighty ; for what, pray, is a God who
created beings, and who could not foresee
what would result from their existence? A
God who formed spirits united to bodies by
certain laws, and who did not know how to
combine these laws so as to foresee the efi‘eets
they would produce? A God forced to sus-
pend his judgment? A God who every day
, learns something new, and who doth not know
to-day what will happen to-morrow? A God
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who cannot tell whether peace will be con-
cluded, or war continue to ravage the world;
whether religion will be received in a certain
kingdom, or whether it will be banished;
whether the right heir will succeed to the
crown, or whether the crown will be set on
the head of an usurper? For according to
the different determinations of the wills of
men, of king, or people, the prince will make
peace or declare war ; religion will be banished
or admitted; the tyrant or the lawful king
will occupy the throne: for if God cannot
foresee how the volitions of men will be deter-
mined, he cannot foresee any of these events.
What is this but to degrade God from his
Deity, and to make the most perfect of all
intelligences a being involved in darkness
and uncertainty like ourselves.” See OMNI-
scIENcE.
FORGIVENESS, the pardon of any offence
committed against us. This is avirtue which
our Lord expressly inculcates, not as extending
to our friends only, but to our enemies. “ Ye
have heard,” saith he, “thou shalt love thy
neighbour, and hate thine enemy; but I say
unto you, love your enemies,” &c. “ This,”
says an ingenious writer, “was a lesson so
new and utterly unknown, till taught by his
doctrines and enforced by his example, that
the wisest moralists of the wisest nations and
ages represented the desire of revenge as a
mark of a noble mind; but how much more
magnanimous, how much more beneficial to
mankind, is forgiveness! It is more magna-
nimous, because every generous and exalted
disposition of the human mind is requisite to
the practice of it; and it is the most beneficial,
because it puts an end to an eternal succession
of injuries and retaliations.” Let us, there-
fore, learn to cherish this noble disposition;
let the bitterest enemy we have be softened
by its ‘efl'ects; let us consider, also, how friendly
it is to our own happiness, and how much it
prevents the unhappiness of others. “ The
feuds and animosities in families, and between
neighbours, which disturb the intercourse of
human life, and collectively compose half the
misery of it, have their foundation in the want
of a forgiving temper, and can never cease
but by the exercise of this virtue on one side,
or on both.” Paley’s Mor. Phil. vol. i. p. 271 ;
Soame Jenyns’s Int. Evid. pp. 67, 68 ; Clarhe’s
Sean, ser. ii. vol. 11.; Tillotson’s Seiz, vol. viii.-
p. 254.
FORGIVENESS or SINs.
MERcY.
FoRMALIsT, one who places his dependence
on the outward ceremonies of religion, or
who is more tenacious of the form of religion
than the power of it.
FoRMs or PRAYER. See PRAYER.
FoRNIcATIoN, whoredom, or the act of in-
continency between single persons ; for if
either of the parties be married, it is adultery.
While the Scriptures give no sanction to
See PARDoN,
those austerities which have been imposed
on men under the idea of religion, so, on the‘
other hand, they give no liberty for the in-
dulgence of any propensity that would either
militate against our own interest or that of
others. It is in vain to argue the innocency
of fornication from the natural passions im-
planted in us, since “ marriage is honourable
in all,” and wisely appointed for the preven-
tion of those evils which would otherwise
ensue; and, besides the existence of any na-
tural propensit in us, is no proof that it is to
be gratified without any restriction. That
fornication is both unlawful and unreason-
able, may be easily inferred, if we consider,
1. That our Saviour expressly declares this
to be a crime, Mark vii. 21, 23. 2. That the
Scriptures declare that fornicators cannot
inherit the kingdom of God, 1 Cor. vi. 9;
Heb. xii. 16; Gal. v. 19-22. 3. Fornication
sinks into a mere brutal commerce, a gratifi-
cation which was designed to be the cement
of a sacred, generous, and tender friendship.
4. It leaves the maintenance and education of
children, as to the father, at least, utterly un-
secured. 5. It strongly tempts the guilty
mother to guard herself from infamy by
methods of procuring abortion, which not
only destroys the child, but often the mother.
6. It disqualifies the deluded creatures to be
either good wives or mothers, in any future
marriage, ruining that modesty which is the
guardian of nuptial happiness. 7. It abso—
lutely disqualifies a man for the best satisfac-
tions,—-those of truth, virtue, innocent gra-
tifications, tender and generous friendship.
8. It often perpetuates a disease which may
be accounted one of the sorest maladies of
human nature, and the effects of which are
said to visit the constitution of even distant
generations.
FoRTITUDE is a virtue or quality ‘of the
mind generally considered the same with
courage; though, in a more accurate sense,
they seem to be distinguishable. Courage re-
sists danger,—-fortitude supports pain. Cour-
age may be a virtue or vice, according to the
circumstances; fortitude is always a virtue:
we speak of desperate courage, but not of
desperate fortitude. A contempt or neglect
of dangers may be called courage ; but forti-
tude is the virtue of a rational and con-
siderate mind, and is founded in a sense of
honour, and a regard to duty.
Christian fortitude may be defined that
state of mind which arises from trust and
confidence in God; enables us to stand col-
lected and undisturbed in the time of diffi-
culty and danger; and is at an equal dis-
‘tance from rashness on the one handy and
pusillanimity on the other. Fortitude takes
different names, according as it acts in oppo-
sition to different evils; but some of those
names are applied with considerable latitude.
With respect to danger in general, fortitude
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has been called intrepidity; with respect to
the dangers of war, valour; with respect to
pain of body, or distress of mind-,pa'tience ;
with respect to labour, activity; with respect
to injury, forbearance; with respect to our
condition in general, magnanimity.
Christian fortitude is neccwsary to vigil-
ance, patience, self-denial, and perseverance;
and is requisite under afliiction, temptation,
persecution, desertion, and death. The
noble cause in which the Christian is en-
gaged, the glorious Master whom he serves,
the provision that is made for his security,
the illustrious examples set before him, the
approbation of a good conscience, and the
grand prospect he has in view, are all power-
ful motives to the exercise of this grace.
Watts’s Ser., ser. 31; Evans’s Sen, ser. 19,
vol. i.; Sfeele’s Christian Hero; Zllason’s Sen,
vol. i. ser. 5.
FRAME. This word is used to denote any
state of mind a man may be in; and, in a
religious sense, is often connected with the
word feeling, or used synonymously with it.
See FEELING.
“ If our frames are comfortable,” says one,
“ we may make them the matter of our
praise, but not of our pride; we may make
them our pleasure, but not our portion; we
may make them the matter of our encourage—
ment, but not the ground of our security.
Are our frames dark and uncomfortable? they
should humble us, but not discourage us;
they should quicken us, but not obstruct us
in our application for necessary and suitable
grace; they should make us see our own
emptiness, but not make us suspect the ful-
ness of Christ; they should make us see our
own unworthincss, but not make us suspect
the willingness of Christ; they should make
us see our own weakness, but not cause us to
suspect the strength of Christ; they should
make us suspect our own hearts, but not the
firmness and freeness of the promises.”
FRANKE, AUGUSTUS HERMANN, founder of
the Orphan House at Halle, and of several
institutions connected with it, distinguished
in the annals of Christian philanthropy and
zeal. He was born at Lubeck, March 23,
1663, and studied so assiduously that, in his
fourteenth year, he was ready to enter the
university. He studied theology and the
languages at Erfurt, Kiel, and Leipsic. In
1681, he began to lecture at the latter uni—
versity, on the practical interpretation of the
Scriptures, and, by the Divine blessing, met
with so much success, that the enemies of
genuine and spiritual religion were roused
against him, and attacked him' on all sides;
butv he was defended by the celebrated Tho-
masius, then residing at Leipsic. Franke
then accepted an invitation to preach at
Erfurt, where his sermons attracted such
numbers, among whom were many Catholics,
that the elector of Mentz, to whose jurisdic-
tion Erfurt then belonged, ordered him to
leave the city within twenty-four hours. On
this he went to Halle, as professor in the new
university, at first of the oriental languages,
and afterwards of theology. At the same
time he became pastor of Glaucha, a suburb
of Halle, the inhabitants of which he found
sunk in the deepest ignorance and wretched—
ness, and for whose benefit he immediately
began to devise schemes of usefulness. He
first instructed destitute children in his own
house, and gave them alms: he then took
into his house some orphans, the number of
whom rapidly increased. In this charitable
work he was aided by some benevolent citi-
zens of Halle; and his charitable institutions
increased from year to year. In 1698 was
laid the first stone of the buildings which
now form two rows, 800 feet long. Sums of
money poured in to him from all quarters;
and frequently, when reduced to the utmost
embarrassment in meeting the expense, the
providence of God, in which he implicitly
trusted, appeared for his relief. A chemist
whom he visited on his death bed, left him
the recipe for compounding several medi-
cines, which afterwards yielded an annual
income of from 20,000 to 30,000 dollars, by
which he was enabled to prosecute his bene-
volent undertakings without any assistance
from government. What is commonly called
“ Franke’s Institution,” comprises, 1. An
Orphan Asylum. 2. The Royal Pcedagogium.
3. The Latin School. 4. The German School.
5. The Canstein Bible Press, founded. by
Baron Canstein, a pious friend of Franke’s,
from which, upwards of 2,000,000 copies of
the whole Bible, and 1,000,000 of the New
Testament have been issued, at low prices.
6. A library, and collections of natural history
and philosophy.
The whole establishment forms one of the
proudest monuments of Christian faith, bene-
volence, and zeal; and the philological and
exegetical labours of Franke are gratefully
acknowledged by biblical scholars of the pree
sent day, whose views of the doctrines of
revelation widely differ from his. In his
“ Collegia Biblica,” or “ Biblical Lectures
delivered at Halle,” there was a return from
human forms and systems to the Sacred Scrip-
tures, as the pure and only source of faith,
and the substitution of practical religion for
scholastic subtleties and unfruitful specula-
tions. Thus Scripture interpretation again
became, as among the first reformers, the
basis of theological study. After a life of
eminent usefulness, this excellent man died,
June 8, 1727, at the age of 64 years.
FRANCISCANS, or Mmonrrns, (fratres mi-
nores, as they were called by their founder, in
token of humility,) are the members of the
reli ious order established by St. Francis, of
Assisi, in 1208, by collecting followers near
the church of Porticella, or Portiuncula, at
x
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Assisi, in Naples. He was the son of a mer-
chant, who having led a dissolute life, was
reclaimed by a fit of sickness, and afterwards
fell into an extravagant devotion, which more
resembled alienation of mind than religion.
The order was distinguished by vows of abso-
lute poverty, and a renunciation of all the plea-
sures of the world, and was intended to serve
the church, by the care of the religious state of
the people, so neglected by the secular clergy
of the time. Learning and intellectual ac-
complishments its members were not to aim
at. They were strictly prohibited from pos-
sessing any property whatever. The rule of
the order sanctioned by the Pope in 1210 and
1223, destined them to beg and preach. They
had granted to them extensive privileges,
which soon became equally burdensome to
the clergy and laity, particularly as they were
subject to no authority but that of the Pope.
They often encroaehed on the rights of the
lawful pastors. Indulgences were granted to
them more frequently than to any other order :
hence the phrase portiuncula. indulgence. The
order soon comprised thousands of monas-
teries, all established by alms and contribu-
tions. The rule of poverty, so strictly enjoin-
ed by the founder, was somewhat relaxed, and
the monasteries were allowed to hold property ;
a change which was not effected without divi-
sions within the order itself. Learning, also,
did not long remain excluded from their mo-
nasteries, and distinguished scholars, as Bona-
ventura, Alexander de Hale, Duns Scotus,
Roger Bacon, and others, obtained a celebrity
which justified the admission of the Minor--
ltes to the chairs of the universities. They
defended the immaculate conception of the
Virgin Mary, against the Dominicans, the
animosity against whom was perpetuated in
the disputes between the Scotists and the
Thomists. With these, their rivals, they
were from the thirteenth to the sixteenth cen-
tury, the confessors of princes and the rulers
of the Christian world. They were then su-
perseded by the Jesuits, but by a prudent coin-
promise with them, they contrived to retain
more power than the Dominicans. Several
Franciscans have risen to the highest honours
in the church; the Popes Nicholas IV., Alex~
ander V., Sextus IV. and V., and Clement XIV.
were from this order. Some of its members
declared this to be an unpardonable departure
from the rules, and therefore formed particu-
lar fraternities, such as the Caesarinians and
the Celestines in the thirteenth, and the Spiri-
tuals in the fourteenth century. In 1363,
they were united by St. Paul, in the fraternity
of the Soccolanti. or sandal wearers. In 1415,,
they were constituted by the Pope a separate
branch of the Franciscans, under the name of -
()bservantines, which, in 1517, when Leo X.
effected an accommodation between the diffe-
rent parties, retained the ascendency. Since
that time the general of the Observantines
‘Franciscans in France.

has been the general minister of the whole
order. The Cordeliers are a branch of the
The Reformati in
Italy, and the Recollects, formerly numerous
in France, belong to the brethren of the Oh-
servance. The strictest are the Alcantarines,
who follow the reforms introduced by Peter of
Alcantara, and go with their feet entirely bare.
They are numerous in Spain and Portugal,
but not in Italy. The branches of the Oh-
servants, under their common general, form
two families: the Cismontane, who have sixty-
six provinces, now generally in a feeble state,
in Italy and Upper Germany, in Hungary,
Poland, Palestine, and Syria: and the Ultra-
montane, with eighty-one provinces, in Spain,
Portugal, Asia, Africa, America, and the Is-
lands. That portion of the Franciscans who
wear shoes, or the conventuals, are much less
numerous. Before the French revolution they
had thirty provinces, with one hundred con-
vents, and 15,000 monks. They are now
found only here and there in the south of Ger-
many, in Switzerland, and Italy, where they
have given up begging, and serve as profes-
sors in the colleges. A coarse woollen frock,
with a cord round the waist, to which a rope
with a knotted scourge is suspended, is the
common dress of all the Franciscans. In
1528, Matthew, of Bassi, founded the order of
the Capuchins, a branch of the Minorites,
still more strict than the Observantines, who
have had a separate general since 16l9, and
in the eighteenth century they numbered
1700 convents, and 25,000 members.
St. Francis himself collected nuns in the
year 1209, who were sometimes called Da-
miantines, from their first church at St. Da-
mian, in Assisi. St. Clare was their first prior-
ess ; hence they were also called Nuns of St.
Clare. These nuns were also divided into
branches, according to the severity of their
rules. In the eighteenth century there were
28,000 Franciscan nuns in six hundred con-
vents. They were formerly supported by the
alms collected by the monks; they now live
on the revenues of their convents. Several
smaller orders, or sub-orders, were formed,
among whom the Tertiarians were the most
numerous in the thirteenth century. The
whole number of Franciscans and Capuchins,
in the eighteenth century, amounted to
115,000 monks, in 7000 convents. At present
it is probably not one—third so great, as they
have been suppressed in most countries. The
order flourishes in America.
FRATERNITY, in the Roman Catholic coun-
tries, signifies a society for the improvement
of devotion. Of these there are several sorts,
as—l. The fraternity of the Rosary, founded
by St. Dominic. It is divided into two branches
called the common rosary, and the perpetual
rosary; the former of whom are obliged to
confess and communicate every first Sunday in
the month, and the latter to repeat the rosary
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continually. 2. The fraternity of the Scapu-
lary, whom it is pretended, according to the
Sabbatine hull of Pope John XXII. the Bless-
ed Virgin has promised to deliver out of hell
the first Sunday after their death. 3. The
fraternity of St. Francis’s girdle are clothed
with a sack of a grey colour, which they tie
with a cord; and in processions walk bare-
footed, carrying in their hands a wooden cross.
4. That of St. Austin’s leathern girdle com-
prehends a great many devotees. Italy, Spain,
and Portugal are the countries where are seen
the greatest number of these fraternities, some
of which assume the name of arch-fraternity.‘
Pope Clement VII. instituted the arch-frater-
nity of charity, which distributes bread every
Sunday among the poor, and givesportions to
forty poor girls on the feast of St. Jerome,
their patron. The fraternity of death buries
such dead as are abandoned by their relations,
and causes masses to be celebrated for them.
FRATRICELLI, an enthusiastic sect of Fran-
ciscans, which rose in Italy, and particularly
in the marquisate of Ancona, about the year
1294. The word is an Italian diminutive, sig-
niiyingfraterculi, or “little brothers,” and was
here used as a term of derision, as they were
most of them apostate monks, whom the Ita-
lians call fratelli, or frati'icelli. For this rea-
son, the term fratricelli, as a nickname, was
given to many other sects, as the Catharists,
the Waldenses, 800., however different in their
opinions and their conduct. But this deno-
mination, applied to the austere part of the
Franciscans, was considered‘ as honourable.
See Fnanorscnus.
The founders of this sect were P. Maurato
and P. de Fossombroni, who having obtained
of Pope Celestin V. a permission to live in
solitude, after the manner of hermits, and to
observe the rule of St. Francis in all its rigour,
several idle vagabond monks joined them, who.
living after their own fancies, and making all
perfection to consist in poverty, were soon
condemned by Pope Boniface VIII. and his
successor, and the inquisitors ordered to pro-
ceed against them as heretics, which commis-
sion they executed with their usual barbarity.
Upon this, retiring into Sicily, Peter John
Qliva de Serignan had no sooner published
hlS comment on the Apocalypse, than they
adopted his tenets. They held the Romish
church to be Babylon, and proposed to esta-
blish another-far more perfect one ; they main-
tained that the rule of St. Francis was the
Evangelical rule observed by Jesus Christ and
lns apostles. They foretold the reformation
of the church, and the restoration of the true
gospel of Christ by the genuine followers of
St. Francis; and declared their assent to almost
all the doctrines which were published under
the name of the Abbot Joachim, in the “ In-
troduction to the everlasting gospel,” a book
published in 1250, and explained by one of
the splritual friars, whose name was Gerhard-
Among other errors inculcated in this book,
it is pretended that St. Francis was the angel
mentioned in Rev. xiv. 6, and had promul-
gated to the world the true and everlasting
gospel; that the gospel of Christ was to be
abrogated in 1260, and to give place to this
new and everlasting gospel, which was to be
substituted in its room; and that the minis—
ters of this great reformation were to be hum-
ble and barefooted friars, destitute of all
worldly employments. Some say they even
elected a pope of their church; at least they
appointed a general with superiors, and built
monasteries, &c. Besides the opinions of
Olive, they held that the sacraments of the
church were invalid, because those who ad-
ministered them had no longer any power or
jurisdiction. They were condemned again by
Pope John XXIL, in consequence of whose
cruelty they regarded him as the true anti-
christ; but several of them returning into
Germany, were sheltered by Lewis, duke of
Bavaria, the emperor.
There are authentic records, from which it
appears, that no less than 2000 persons were
burnt by the inquisition, from the year 1318
to the time of Innocent VI. for their inflexible
attachment to the order of St. Francis. The
severities against them were again revived,
towards the close of the fifteenth century, by
Pope Nicholas V. and his successors. How-
ever, all the persecutions which this sect en-
dured were not sufiicient to extinguish it ; for
it subsisted until the times of the reformation
in Germany, when its remaining votaries
adopted the cause and embraced the doctrine
and discipline of Luther.
Fnnuns, PIOUS, artifices and falsehoods
made use of in propagating the truth, and en-
deavouring to promote the spiritual interests
of mankind. These have been more particu—
larly practised in the church of Rome, and
considered not only as innocent, but com-
mendable. Neither the term nor the thing
signified, however, can be justified. The
terms pious and fraud, form a solecism; and
the practice of doing evil that good may come,
is directly opposite to the injunction of the
Sacred Scriptures. Rom. iii. 8.
In order to give the reader a view of the
pious frauds which have been carried on in
the Church of Rome, we here insert the fol-
lowing specimen :—
The Franciscans maintained that the Virgin
Mary was born without the blemish of original
sin; the Dominicans asserted the contrary.
The doctrine of the Franciscans, in an age
of darkness and superstition, could not but
be popular; and hence the Dominicans lost
ground from day to day. To support the
credit of their order, they resolved, at a chap-
ter held at Vimpsen, in the year 1504, to have
recourse to fictitious visions and dreams, in
which the people at that time had an easy
faith; and they determined to make Bern the
FHA
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308
scene of their operations. A person named
Jetzer, who was extremely simple, and much
‘inclined to austerities, and who had taken
‘their habit as a lay brother, was chosen as the
instrument of the'delusions they were con-
triving. One of the four Dominicans, who
had undertaken the management of this plot,
conveyed himself secretly into Jetzer’s cell,
and about midnight appeared to him in a hor-
rid figure, surrounded with howling dogs, and
seemed to blow fire from his nostrils, by the
means of a box of combustibles which he held
near his mouth. In this frightful form he
approached J etzer’s bed, told him that he was
the ghost of a Dominican, who had been killed
at Paris, as a judgment of Heaven, for laying
‘aside his monastic habit; that he was con-
demned to purgatory for this crime; adding
at the same time, that by his means he might
be rescued fi'om his misery, which was be-
yond expression. This story, accompanied
with horrible cries and howlings, frighted
poor Jetzer out of the little wits he had,
and engaged him to promise to do all that
was in his power to deliver the. Dominican
from his torment. Upon this the impostor
told him, that nothing but the most extraor-
dinary mortifications, such as the discipline of
the whip, performed during eight days by the
whole monastery, and J etzer’s lying prostrate
in the form of one crucified in the chapel
during mass, could contribute to his deliver-
ance, He added, that the performance of
these mortifications would draw down upon
Jetzer the peculiar protection of the Blessed
Virgin; and concluded by saying, that he
would appear to him again, accompanied with
two other spirits. Morning was no sooner
come than J etzer gave an account of this ap-
parition to the rest of the convent, who all
unanimously advised him to undergo the dis-
cipline that was enjoined him, and every one
consented to hear his share of the task imposed.
The deluded simpleton obeyed, and was ad-
mired as a saint by the multitudes that crowded
about the convent; while the four friars that
managed the imposture, magnified in the
most pompous manner, the miracle of this ap-
parition in their sermons, and in their dis-
courses. The night after, the apparition was
renewed, with the addition of two impostors,
dressed like devils, and Jetzer’s faith was
augmented by hearing from the spectre all
the secrets of his life and thoughts, which the
impostors had learned from his confessor. In
this and some subsequent scenes (the detail
of whose enormities, for the sake of brevity,
we shall here omit) the impostortalked much-
to Jetzer of the Dominican order, which he
said was peculiarly dear to the Blessed Virgin :
he added, that the Virgin knew herself to be
conceived in original sin ; that the doctors
who taught the contrary were in purgatory;
that the Blessed Virgin abhorred the Francis-
cans for making her equal with her Son; and
that the town of Bern would be destroyed for
harbouring such plagues within her walls.
In one of these apparitions Jetzer imagined
that the voice of the spectre resembled that of
the prior of the convent, and he was not mis-
taken; but, not suspecting a fraud, he gave
httle attention to this. The prior appeared
in various forms, sometimes in that of St.
Barbara, at others in that of St. Bernard:
at length he assumed that of the Virgin
Mary, and for that purpose, clothed him-
self in the habits that were employed to
adorn the statue of the Virgin in the great
festivals. The little images, that on these
‘days are set on the altars, were made use of
for angels, which, being tied to a cord that
passed through a pulley over Jetzer’s head,
rose up and down, and danced about the pre-
tended Virgin to increase the delusion. The
Virgin, thus equipped, addressed a long dis-
course to J etzer, in which, among other things,
she told him that she was conceived in origi-
nal sin, though she had remained but a short
time under that blemish. She gave him, as a
miraculous proof of her presence, a host, or
consecrated wafer, which turned from white
to red in a moment; and after various visits,
in which the greatest enormities were trans-
acted, the Virgin-prior told J etzer, that she
would give him the most affecting and un-
doubted marks of her Son's love, by imprinting
on him the five wounds that pierced Jesus on
the cross, as she had done before to St. Lucia
and St. Catharine. Accordingly she took his
hand by force, and struck a large nail through
it, which threw the poor dupe into the great-
est torment. The next night this masculine
virgin brought, as he pretended, some of the
linen in which Christ had been buried, to
soften the wound; and gave J etzer a soporific
draught, which had in it the blood of an un-
baptized child, some grains of incense and of
consecrated salt, some quicksilver, the hairs
of the eye-brows of a child; all which with
some stupifying and poisonous ingredients,
were mingled together by the prior‘ with
magic ceremonies, and a solemn dedication of
himself to the devii in hope of his succour.
The draught threw the poor wretch into a
sort of lethargy, during which, the monks
imprinted on his body the other four wounds
of Christ in such a manner that he felt no
pain. When he awakened, he found to his
unspeakable joy, those impressions on his
body, and came at last to fancy .himself a re-
presentative of Christ in the various parts of
his passion. He was, in this state, exposed to
the admiring multitude on the principal altar
"of the convent. to the great mortification of
the Franciscans. The Dominicans gave him
some other draughts, that threw him into con-
vulsions; which were followed by putting. a
pipe into the mouths of two images, one of
Mary, and another of the child Jesus, the
former of which had tears. painted upon its
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FRE
309
checks in a lively manner. The little Jesus
asked his mother, by means of this voice
(which was that of the prior) why she wept?
and she answered, that her tears were owing
to the impious manner in which the Francis-
cans attributed to her the honour‘ that was due
to him, in saying that she was conceived and
born without sin.
The apparitions, false prodigies, and abomi- -
nable stratagems of these Dominicans were ‘
repeated every night; and the matter was at
length so grossly overacted, that, simple as
J etzer was, he at last discovered it, and had
almost killed the prior, who appeared to him
one night in the form of the Virgin with a
crown on her head. The Dominicans, fearing,
by this discovery, to lose the fruits of their
imposture, thought the best method would be to
own the whole matter to J etzer, and to engage
him, by the most, seducing promises of opu-
lence and glory, to carry on the cheat. J et-
zer was persuaded, or at least appeared to be
so. But the Dominicans, suspecting that he
was not entirely gained over, resolved to poison
him; but his constitution was so vigorous,
that though they gave him poison five several
times, he was not destroyed by it. One day
they sent him a loaf prepared with some
spices, which growing green in a day or two,
he threw a piece of it to a wolf’s whelps that
were in the monastery, and it killed them im-
mediately. At another time they poisoned
the host, or consecrated wafer; but as he
vomited it up soon after he had swallowed it,
he escaped once more. In short, there were
no means of securing him, which the most
detestable impiety and barbarity could invent,
that they did not put in practice; till finding,
at last, an opportunity of getting out of the
convent, he threw himself into the hands of
‘ the magistrates, to whom he made a full dis-
covery of this infernal plot. The affair being
brought to Rome, commissaries were sent
from thence to examine the matter; and the
whole cheat being fully proved, the four friars
were solemnly degraded from their priesthood,
and were burnt alive on the last day of May,
1509. Jetzer died-some time after at Con-
stance, having poisoned himself, as was be-
lieved by some. Had his life been taken
away before he had found an opportunity of
making the discovery already mentioned, this
execrable and horrid plot, which in many of
its circumstances was conducted with art,
would have been handed down to posterity as
a stupendous miracle.
FREE AGENCY is the power of following
one’s inclination, or whatever the soul does,
with the full bent of preference and desire.
Many and long have been the disputes on this
subject; not that man has been denied to be a
free agent, but the dispute has been in what
it consists. See articles LIBERTY and WILL.
A distinction is made by writers between free
agency and what is called the Arminian notion
of free will. The one consists merely in the
power of following our prevailing inclination;
the other in a supposed power of acting con-
trary to it, or at least of changing it. The
one predicates freedom of the man; the other,
of a faculty in man, which Mr. Locke, though
an anti-necessarian, explodes as an absurdity.
The one goes merely to render us accountable
beings; the other arrogantly claims a part,
yea, the very turning point of salvation.
According to the latter, we need only certain
helps or assistances, granted to men in com-
mon, to enable us to choose the path of life;
but, according to the former, our hearts being
by nature wholly depraved, we need an al-
mighty and invincible Power to renew them.
See NECESSITY.
FREETHINKER, a person who rejects reve-
lation; a deist. The term originated in the
18th century, and contains a sneer at believers,
like the French esprit fort, and the German-
rationalist. Freetlzinking first appeared in
England in the reigns of James II. and.
\Villiam III. In 1718 a weekly paper, en~
titled the “ Freethinker,” was published.
Collins, Toland, T indal, IlIorgan, rank among
the champions of the sect; but Bolingbroke
and Hume are the most distinguished. In
France, Voltaire, D’Alembert, Diderot, and
Helvetius, led the opposition against revealed
religion. In Germany the same spirit be-
came fashionable in the reign of Frederic the
Great, and obtained a most extensive influence
through the medium of the press, the univer—
sities, and even of the pulpit.
FREE-WILL BAPTISTS, in North America,
a denomination first founded in 1780, but
which has since spread into various parts of
the country, and has churches in twelve of
the States, and in the Canadas. They have
about 700 churches ; 560 preachers ; and
30,500 communicants. They have quarterly
and annual meetings, to which delegates are
sent, and where difiicult points are settled.
They reject the Calvinistic doctrine regard-
ing the Five Points ; and some have imbibed
Arian notions. ~
FRENCH CHURCH. See CHURCH, GALLICAN.
FRENCH PROPHETS. They first appeared
in Dauphiny and Vivarais. In the year 1688,
five or six hundred Protestants, of both sexes,
gave themselves out to be-prophets, and in-
spired of the Holy Ghost. They soon became
so numerous, that there were many thousands
of them inspired. They were people of all
ages and sexes without distinction, though
the greatest part of them were from six or
seven to twenty-five years of age. They had
strange fits, which came upon‘ them with
tremblings and faintings, as in a swoon,
which made them stretch out their arms and
legs, and stagger several times before they
dropped down. They struck themselves with
their hands, they fell on their backs, shut
their eyes, and heaved with their breasts.
ran
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310
out of them with twitchings, uttered all which
came in their mouths. They said they saw
the heavens open, the angels,'paradise, and
hell. Those who were just on the point of
receiving the spirit of prophecy, dropped
down, not only in the assemblies, crying out
mercy, but in the fields, and in their own
houses. The least of their assemblies made
up 400 or 500, and some of them amounted to
even 3000 or 4000 persons. When the pro-
phets had for a while been under agitations
of body, they began to prophesy. The burden
of their prophecies was, “ Amend your lives ;
repent ye: the end of all things draws nigh !”
The hills resounded with their loud cries for
mercy, and imprecations against the priests,
the church, the pope, and against the anti-
christian dominion, with predictions of the
approaching fall of popery. All they said at
these times was heard and received with re-
verence and awe.
In the year 1706, three or four of these
prophets came over into England, and brought
their prophetic spirit along with them, which
discovered itself in the same ways and
manners, by ecstacies, and agitations, and
inspirations under them, as it had done in
France; and they propagated the like spirit
to others, so that before the year was out
there were 200 or 300 of these prophets in
and about London, of both sexes, of all ages ;
men, women, and children: and they had
delivered, under inspiration, 400 or 500 pro-
phetic warnings.
The great things they pretended by their
spirit was, to give warning of the “near
approach of the kingdom of God, the happy
times of the church, the millennium state.”
Their message was, (and they were to pro-
claim it as heralds to the Jews, and every
nation under heaven, beginning in England,)
that the grand jubilee, the acceptable year of
the Lord, the accomplishment of those nu-
merous Scriptures concerning the “ new heaven
and the new earth,” the “kingdom of the
Messiah,” the “marriage of the Lamb,” the
“first resurrection,” or “the New Jerusalem
descending from above,” were now even at
the door; that this great operation was to be
wrought on the part of man by spiritual arms
only, proceeding from the mouths of those
who should, by inspiration, or the mighty
' gift of the Spirit, be sent forth in great num-
bers to labour in the vineyard; that this
mission of his servants should be witnessed
to by signs and wonders from heaven, by a
deluge of judgments on the wicked universally
throughout the world, as famine, pestilence,
earthquakes, &c.; that the extermmatmg
angels shall root out the tares, and there
shall remain upon earth only good corn; and
the works of men being thrown down, there
shall be but one Lord, one faith, one heart,
one voice among mankind. They declared
They remained a while in trances. and, coming ?

that all the great thin gs they spoke of would
be manifest over the whole earth within the
term of three years.
These prophets also pretended'to the gift
of languages, of discerning the secrets of the
heart, the gift of ministration of the same
spirit to others by the laying on of hands,
and the gift of healing. To prove they were
really inspired by the Holy Ghost, they alleged
the complete joy and satisfaction they experi-
enced, the spirit of prayer which was poured
forth upon them, and the answer of their
prayer by God.
FRIAR, or BROTHER, a term common to
the monks of all orders. In a more peculiar
sense, it is restrained to such monks as are
not priests: for those in orders are usually
dignified with the appellation of father.
FRIENDSHIP, a mutual attachment subsist-
ing between two persons, and arising not
merely from the general principle of benevo-
lence, from emotions of gratitude for favours
received, from views of interest, nor from
instinctive affection or animal passion; but
from an opinion entertained by each of them
that the other is adorned with some amiable
or respectable qualities. Various have been
the opinions respecting friendship. Some
have asserted that there is no such thing in
the world; others have excluded it from the‘
list of Christian virtues; while others, believ-
ing the possibility of its existence, suppose
that it is very rare. To the two former re-
marks we may reply, that there is every
reason to believe that there has been, and is
such a thing as friendship. The Scriptures
present us both with examples of, and pre-
cepts concerning it. David and Jonathan,
Paul and Timothy, our Lord and Lazarus, as
well as John, are striking instances of friend-
ship. Solomon exhorts us in language so
energetic, as at once shows it to be our duty
to cultivate it. “Thine own friend and thy
father’s friend forsake not.” “Make sure of
~thy friend, for faithful are the wounds of a
friend,” &c. The genius and injunctions of
the Christian religion seem also to inculcate
this virtue; for it not only commands uni-
versal benevolence to men, but promotes the
strongest love and friendship between those
whose minds are enlightened by divine grace,
and who behold in each otherthe image of
their Divine Master. As friendship, however,
is not enjoyed by every one, and as the want
of it arises often from ourselves, we shall here
subj oin, from an eminent writer, a few remarks,
by way of advice respecting it. 1. We must
not expect perfection in any with whom we
contract fellowship—2. ‘We must not be hurt
by differences of opinion arising in intercourse
with our friends—3. It is material to the
preservation of friendship, that openness of
temper and obliging manners on both hands
he cultivated—4. We must not listen rashly
to evil reports against our friends.-5. We
FUL
l‘UL
311
must not desert our friends in danger or dis-
tress. Blair’s Serm., ser. 17, vol. iv. ; Bp.
Porteus’s Sewn, vol. i. ser. 15 ; W Illelmoth‘s
Translation of Cicero’s Lrelius, in a Note.
FRIENDS, SOCIETY or. See QUAKERS.
FULLER, ANDREW, long Secretary to the
Baptist Missionary Society, was born at
Wicken, in Cambridgeshire, on the 6th of
February, 1754. His father occupied a small
farm at that place, and was the parent of
three sons, of whom Andrew was the young-
est. He received the common rudiments of
an English education at the free school of
Soham; and till the age of twenty, was en-
gaged in husbandry. Although his parents
were dissenters of the Calvinistic persuasion,
and were eminently pious, yet his youthful
days were spent in sin and vanity, and he
indulged in all the vices of the world. When
about sixteen years of age, his mind became
enlightened: he sincerely repented of his past
transgressions; he forsook his former evil
ways; and from that time he continued to
make an honourable and consistent profession
of Christianity. In the month of April, 1770,
he was publicly immersed, on a profession of
repentance and faith, and endured the revil-
ings of his former associates for this conduct
with meekness and resignation. For the two
succeeding years he occasionally preached at
Soham; and in January, 1774, he received,
in consequence of the resignation of their
pastor, Mr. Diver, a unanimous invitation
from that congregation to become their pastor.
In the spring of 1775, after the probation of
more than twelve months, he accepted the
call of the church, and was ordained in the
month of May in that year. For some time
he was engaged in the study of the Calvinistic
controversy, though it appears that he read
but few of the works written on the Arminian
side of the question. In December, 1776, Mr.
Fuller married Miss Gardiner, who was a
member of the church at Soham—an amiable,
diflident, and retired woman, by whom he had
a numerous family. The income of Mr. Ful-
ler being very small, he opened a seminary in
17 79, but which in the succeeding year, he
relinquished; and not being able comfortably
to provide for his increasing family, and the
conduct of some of the members of the church
at Soham being lukewarm and unsatisfactory
to him, he accepted an invitation from a Bap-
tist congregation at Kettering, to become their
pastor; and ‘after having for twelve months
preached to them on probation, in October,
1783, he was publicly set apart.
Mr. Fuller’s removal to Kettering formed a
new era in his life. It brought him into con-
tact with a number of ministers of his own
denomination, to whom he was greatly at—
tached, and who were equally ardent with
himself in the investigation of truth. Here
hlS labours took a wider range, and were de-
termined towards a more definite object. The
prevailing system of doctrine among the Bap-
tist churches, at this period, was that of the
ultra-calvinism of Drs. Crisp and Gill, Messrs.
Hussey, Brine, &c.——-a system which denies
true faith to be the duty of every one to whom
the Gospel comes; and which, consequently,
must paralyse the efforts of ministers to “ go
into all the world, and preach the gospel to
every creature ;” “ commanding all men every
where to repent and believe,” at the peril of
their souls. Mr. Fuller saw the baneful ef-
fects of this unscriptural system, and set him-
self to oppose and refute it with all his might.
With this view he drew up and published a
small volume. entitled, “ The Gospel of Christ
worthy of all Acceptation; or, the Obliga-
tions of men, fully to credit, and cordially to
approve whatever God makes known ; wherein
is considered the Nature of Faith in Christ,
and the Duty of those where the Gospel comes
in that Matter.” This valuable treatise ope-
rated powerfully, and set thousands upon ex-
amining their received principles. A host of
opponents presently rose up to oppose this
new doctrine, as it was termed; and our
author had to defend himself on ‘every side,
which he did with no ordinary dexterity.
In August, 1790, Providence deprived him
of his excellent wife; and though he sustained
the loss with becoming fortitude, it deeply
afiected him. To relieve the sufferings of his
mind, he composed his “Dialogues and.Let—
ters on the Fundamental Principles of the
Gospel ;” and a celebrated work “ On the Cal-
vinistic and Socinian Systems, Examined and
Compared as to their Moral Tendency.” This
work deservedly ranks among the ablest and
most useful of Mr. Fuller’s literary produc-
tions; having done more to stem the torrent
of Socinianism in this country, than any one
book of late years. It consists of a series of
letters, each occupying a particular subject,
and the whole forming an octavo volume.
The book was well received by the public,
and will long maintain its ground.
Towards the close of 1796, another Baptist
congregation at Kettering, over which, to
that period, Mr. Satchel had presided, re-
quested to be incorporated with the church
under Mr. Fuller’s care, and such union be-
came mutually satisfactory and advantageous.
The writings of Mr. Fuller having circulated
in America, and having been generally ap-
proved, the college at New Jersey conferred
on him the title of Doctor of Divinity; but
which, supposing it to be incompatible with.
the simplicity of the Christian character, he
declined to use. In 1792, the Baptist Mis-
sionary Society was first establishedat Ketter-
ing, by Mr. Fuller and a few of his friends,
among whom was Mr. W. Carey of Ileicester,
who volunteered his services as a missionary.
India was selected as the country which they
should visit; and, in the spring of ‘1793, Mr.
Carey and other missionaries set sail for Ben-
FUL
FUN‘
312
gal, where they arrived in the succeeding
October. In the establishment of that society,
Mr. Fuller had taken the liveliest interest,
and he was appointed to the situation of se-
cretary. , The society, ever afterwards, was
inseparable from his mind, ‘and depended,
under God, mainly on his exertions. The
consultations which he held, the correspond-
ence he maintained, the personal solicitations
which he employed, the contributions he col-
lected, the management of these and other
funds, the selection, probation, and improve-
ment of intended missionaries; the works
which he composed and compiled on these
subjects, the discourses he delivered, and the
journeys he accomplished, to extend the know-
ledge, and to promote the welfare of the mis-
sion, required energy almost unequalled. In
17 99 he made a tour through Scotland for the
benefit of the society; and on his return
home, he found that he had travelled nine
hundred miles, and collected full 900l. In
1804 he visited the Baptist congregations
throughout Ireland, and collected a consider-
able sumafor the mission. The state of the
Baptist congregations gave him, however,
great uneasiness ; and he afterwards published
“ Remarks on the State of the Baptist Churches
in Ireland.” In July, 1805, he made another
tour through Scotland, to collect for the print~
ing of the Scriptures in the Eastern languages,
and travelled one thousand eight hundred
miles in one month, preached every day, and
collected 18001. In 1807 he drew up a state-
ment of the proceedings of the society; and
in fine, the history of the last twenty-three
years of his life was completely identified
with that of the mission. Besides the pub-
lications already mentioned, Mr. Fuller was
the author of a great number of treatises on
various subjects, which, since his decease,
have been collected and printed in eight
volumes, octavo ; among which we may par-
ticularly mention, “ Expository Discourses on
the Books of Genesis and the Apocalypse,”
two vols. 8vo.; “ Sermons on Various Sub-
jects ;” “ The Gospel its own Witness ;” “ Me-
moirs of Mr. Samuel Pearce, of Birmingham ;”
“ Apology for Christian Missions to the Hea~
then ;” with many other smaller pieces, which
will be found in his works. All his writings
discover a clear, solid, and profound judgment,
great strength of mind, acuteness of discrimi-
nation, and a decided attachment to the doc-
trine of rich, free, and sovereign grace; add
to which, that he was animated by fervent
zeal in behalf of the best interests of mankind,
in promoting which he was indeed “in labours
more abundant.”
Notwithstanding the general excellence of
the health of Mr. Fuller, he was subject to an
affection of the liver, which gradually impaired
his health and injured his constitution. In
September, 1814, he was attacked by an in-
flammation of that organ ; and from such
attack he did not completely recover. In the
month of December he visited London, but
by the journey his complaint was increased;
and during the spring of 1815, his disorder
gradually progressed. At length, on the 7th
of May, 1815, in the sixty-second year of his
age, this zealous, intelligent, benevolent, and
pious Christian minister expired; his heart
being devoted to God, and his soul resting
on Christ alone for salvation and eternal hap-
piness.
For more complete details of the life of Mr.
Fuller, vide Marris’s Life of Fuller; Ryland’s
Lg'fe of Fuller; and Jones’s Christ. Biog.
FUNERAL RITEs, ceremonies accompanying
the interment or burial of any person.
The first people who seem to have paid any
attention to their dead were the Egyptians.
They took great care in embalming their
bodies, and building proper repositories for
them. This gave birth to those wonders of
the world, the Egyptian pyramids. On the
death of any person among them, the parents
and friends put on mournful habits, and ab—
stained from all banquets and entertainments.
This mourning lasted from forty to seventy
days, during which time they embalmed the
body. Before the dead were allowed to be
deposited in the tomb, they underwent a
solemn judgment. If any one stepped forth,
accused them, and proved that the deceased
had led an evil life, the judges pronounced
sentence, and the body was precluded from
burial. Even their sovereigns underwent this
judicature ; and Diodorus Siculus asserts, that
many kings had been deprived of the'honours
of burial, and that the terrors of such a fate had
a salutary influence on the virtue of their kings.
The funeral rites among the Hebrews were
solemn and magnificent. The relations and
friends rent their clothes ; and it was usual to
bend the dead person’s thumb into the hand,
and fasten it in that posture with a string, be-
cause the thumb then having the figure of the
name of God, they thought the devil would
not approach it. They made a funeral oration
at the grave, after which they prayed; then,
turning the face of the deceased towards hea-
ven, they said, “ Go in peace.”
The Greeks used to put a piece of money
into the mouth of the deceased, which was
thought to be the fare over the infernal river;
they abstained from banquets; tore, cut, or
shaved their hair ; sometimes throwing them-
selves on the ground, and rolling in the dust;
‘beating their breasts, and even tearing their
flesh with their nails. '
The funeral rites among the Romans were
_very numerous. They kept the deceased
seven days, and washed him every day with
hot water, and sometimes with oil, if possibly
he might be revived, in case he were only in
a slumber ; and every now and then his friends
meeting, made a horrible shout with the same
view; but if they found he did not revive, he
FUT
F U T
313
“was dressed and embalmed with a performance
of a variety of singular ceremonies, and at
last brought to the funeral pile, and burnt;
after which his ashes were gathered, inclosed
in an urn, and deposited in the sepulchre or
tomb.
The ancient Christians testified their abhor-
rence of the pagan custom of burning their
dead, and always deposited the body entire in
the ground; and it was usual to bestow the
honour of embalming upon the martyrs, at
least, if not upon others. They prepared the
body for burial by washing it with water,
and dressing it in funeral attire. This was
performed by near relations, or persons of
such dignity as the circumstances of the de-
ceased required. Psalmody, or singing of
psalms, was the great ceremony used in all
funeral processions among the ancient Christ-
mm.
In the Romish church, when a person is
dead, they wash the body, and put a crucifix
in his hand. At the feet stands a vessel of
holy water, and a sprinkler, that they who
come in may sprinkle both themselves and
the deceased. In the meantime some priest
stands by the corpse, and prays for the de-
ceased till it is laid in the earth. In the
funeral procession the exorcist walks first, car-
rying the holy water: next the cross bearer;
afterwards the rest of the clergy ; and, last of
all, the ofliciating priest. They all sing the
miserere, and some other psalms; and at the
end of each psalm a requiem. It is said that
the faces of deceased laymen must be turned
towards the altar when they are placed in
the church, and those of the clergy towards
the people. The corpse is placed in the
church, surrounded with lighted tapers.
After the ofiice for the dead, mass is said;
then the officiating priest sprinkles the corpse
thrice with holy water, and as often throws
incense on it. The body being laid in the
grave, the friends and the relations of the
deceased sprinkle the grave with holy water.
The funeral ceremonies of the Greek
church are much the same with those of the
Latin. It needs only to be observed, that,
after the funeral service, they kiss the cru-
cifix, and salute the mouth and forehead of
the deceased; after which, each of the com-
pany eats a bit of bread, and drinks a glass of
wine in the church, wishing the soul a good
repose, and, the afiiicted family all consola-
tion. Bin ham’s Antiq., b. 2; E120. Brit,-
Buxtmf’s ynag. p. 502.
FUTURE STATE, a term made use of in re-
lation to the existence of the soul after death.
That there is such a state of existence, we
have every reason to believe; “ for if we
suppose,” says a good writer, “ the events of
this life to have no reference to another, the
whole state of man becomes not only inex-
plicable, but contradictory and inconsistent.
The powers of the inferior animals are per-
fectly suited to their station. They know
nothing higher than their present condition.
In gratifying their appetites, they fulfil their
destiny, and pass away.—Man, alone, comes
forth to act a part which carries no meaning,
and tends to no end. Endowed with capa-
cities which extend far beyond his present
sphere, fitted by his rational nature for run-
ning the race of immortality, he is stopped
short in the very entrance of his course. He
squanders his activity on pursuits which he
discerns to be vain. He languishes for know-
ledge which is placed beyond his reach. He
thirsts after a happiness which he is doomed
never to enjoy. He sees and laments the
disasters of his state, and yet, upon this sup-
position, ean find nothing to remedy them.
Has the eternal God any pleasure in sporting
himself with such a scene of misery and folly
as this life (if it had no connexion with an-
other) must exhibit to his eye? Did he call
into existence this magnificent universe, adorn
it with so much beauty and splendour, and
surround it with those glorious luminaries
which we behold in the heavens, only that
some generations of mortal men might arise
to behold these wonders, and then disappear
for ever? How unsuitable in this case were
the habitation to the wretched inhabitant!
How inconsistent the commencement of his
being, and the mighty preparation of his
powers and faculties, with his despicable end!
How contradictory, in fine, were every thing
which concerns the state of man, to the wis-
dom and perfection of his Maker!”
But that there is such a state is clear from
many passages of the New Testament:
John v. 24; Acts vii. 9; Rom. viii. 10, 11;
2 Cor. v. 1, 2; Phil. i. 21; 1 Thess. iv. 14;
1 Thess.‘ v. 10; Luke xvi. 22, fire. But though
these texts prove the point, yet some have
doubted whether there be any where in the
Old Testament any reference to a future state
at all. The case, it is said, appears to be
this: the Mosaic covenant contained no pro-
mises directly relating to a future state; pro-
bably, as Dr. VVarburton asserts, and argues
at large, because Moses was secure of an
equal providence, and therefore needed not
subsidiary sanctions taken from a future state,
without the belief of which the doctrine of
an universal providence cannot ordinarily be
vindicated, nor the general sanctions of reli-
gion secured. But, in opposition to this sen-
timent, as Doddridge observes, “ it is evident
that good men, even before Moses, were ani-
mated by views of a future state, Heb. xi. 13,
16, as he himself plainly was, 24th to 26th
verse; and that the promises of heavenly
felicity were contained even in the cove-
nant made with Abraham, which the Mosaic
could not disannul. Succeeding providenees
also confirmed the natural arguments in its
favour, as every remarkable interposition
would do; and when general promises were
GAL
GEN
314
made to the obedient, and an equal provi-
deuce relating to the nation established on
national conformity to the Mosaic institution,
and not merely to the general precepts of
virtue; as such an equal providence would
necessarily involve many of the best men in
national ruin, at a time when, by preserving
their integrity in the midst of general apos-
tasy. their virtue was most conspicuous ; such
good men, in such a state, would have vast
additional reasons for expecting future re-
wards, beyond what could arise from princi-
ples common to the rest of mankind; so that
we cannot wonder that we find in the writ-
ings of the prophets many strong expressions
of such an expectation, particularly Gen.
xlix. 18; Ps. xvi. 9 to 11; Ps. xvii. last
verse; Ps. lxxiii. 17. 27; Eccl. iii. 15, 16,
&c.; Eccl. vii. 12. 15; Is. iii. 10, 11 ; Ezek.
xviii. 19. 21; Job xix. 23. 37; Dan. xii. 2;
Is. xxxv. 8 ; xxvi. 19. The same thing may
also be inferred from the particular pro-
mises made to Daniel, Dan. xii. 13; to Zerub-
babel, Hag. ii. 23; and to Joshua, the high
priest, Zech. iii. 7; as well as from those
historical facts recorded in the Old Testa-
ment of the murder of Abel, the translation
of Enoch and Elijahtthe death of Moses, and
the story of the witch of Endor, and from
what is said of the appearance of angels to,
and their converse with, good men.” See
articles INTERMEDIATE STATE, RESURREC-
TION, and 801m; also Doddridge’s Lectures,
lect. 216; Warhurton’s Divine Legation of
Moses, vol. ii. p. 553-568; Dr. Addington’s
Dissertations on the Religious Knowledge of
the ancient Jews and Patriarchs, containing an
inquiry into the evidences if their belief and
expectation of a future state; Blair’s Sermons,
ser. 15, vol. i.; Robinson’s Claude, vol. i. p.
132; W. Jones’s Works, vol. vi. ser. 12; Lo-
gan’s Sermons, vol. ii. p. 413.
G’.
GAIANITE, a denomination which derived
its name from Gaian, a bishop of Alexandria,
in the sixth century, who denied that Jesus
Christ, after the hypostatical union, was
subject to any of the infirmities of human
nature.
GALILEAN, a name of reproach first given
to our Saviour and his disciples by the Jews,
and afterwards liberally used by the pagans.
Julian the Apostate constantly employed it,
and wished to have it established as the legal
name by which the Christians should be de-
signated. The Redeemer he called “ the
Galilean God,” and with his dying breath thus
gave vent to his rage, while forced to acknow-
' led e his power: vevucmcag Paluhats: “ 0
Ga ilean, thou hast overcome!”
GALILEANS, a sect of the Jews which arose
in J udea some years after the birth of our
Saviour. They sprang from one Judas, a
native of Gaulam, in Upper Galilee, upon the
occasion of Augustus appointing the people
to be mustered, which they looked upon as
an instance of servitude which all true Israel-
ites ought to oppose. They pretended that
God alone should be owned as master and
lord, and in other respects were of the opinion
of the Pharisees; but as they judged it un-
lawful to pray for infidel princes, they sepa-
rated themselves from the rest of the Jews,
and performed their sacrifices apart. As our
Saviour and his apostles were of Galilee,
they were suspected to be of the sect of the
Galilcans; and it was on this principle, as
St. Jerome observes, that the Pharisees laid
a snare for him, askin , Whether it were
lawful to give tribute to aesar? that in case
he denied it, they might have an occasion of
accusing him.
'begotten Son, John iii. 16.

GALLICAN. See Cannon, GALLIC'AN.
GAURS. See GUEBRES.
GAZARES, a denomination which appeared
about 1197 at Gazare, a town of Dalmatia.
They held almost the same opinions with the
Albigenses; but their distinguishing tenet
was, that no human power had a right to
sentence men to death for any crime what--
ever.
GEMARA. See TALMUD.
GENERAL CALL. See CALLING.
GENERATION, ETERNAL, is a term used as
descriptive of the Father’s communicating the
Divine Nature to the Son. The Father is
said by some divines to have produced the
Word, or Son, from all eternity, by way of
generation; on which occasion the word gene—
ration raises a peculiar idea: that procession
which is really efi'ected in the way of under-
standing, is called generation, because, in
virtue thereof, the Word becomes like to Him
from whom he takes the original; or, as St.
Paul expresses it, the figure or image of his
substance ; i.e. of his being and nature. And
hence it is, they say, that the second person
is called the Son; and that in such a way
and manner as never any other was, is, or
can be, because of his own divine nature, he
being the true, proper, and natural Son of God,
begotten by him before all worlds. Thus, he
is called his own Son, Rom. viii. 3, his only
Many have at-
tempted to explain the-manner of this gene-
ration by different similitudes; but as they
throw little or no light upon the subject, we
shall not trouble the reader with them. Most
modern divines believe that the term Son of
God refers to Christ as mediator; and that
his sonship does not lie in his divine or human
GEN
GEN
315
nature separately considered, but in the
union of both in one person. See Luke i. 35;
Matt. iv. 3 ; John i. 49 ; Matt. xvi. 16; Acts
ix. 20. 22; Rom. i. 4. It is observed, that
it is impossible that a nature properly divine
should be begotten, since begetting, whatever
idea is annexed to it, must signify some kind
of production, derivation, and inferiority; con-
sequently, that whatever is produced must
have a beginning, and whatever had a be-
ginning was not from eternity, as Christ is
said to be, Col. i. 16, 17 . That the sonship
of Christ respects him as mediator, will be
evident, if we compare John x. 30, with John
xiv. 28. In the former it is said, “ I and my
Father are one ;” in the latter, “ My Father
is greater than I.” These declarations, how-
ever opposite they seem, equally respect him
as he is the Son; but if his sonship primarily
and properly signify the. generation of his
divine nature, it will be difiicult, if not im-
possible, according to that scheme, to make
them harmonize. Considered as a distinct
person in the Godhead, without respect to his
otliee as mediator, it is impossible that, in the
same view, he should be both equal and in-
ferz'or to his Father. Again, he expressly
tells us himself, that.“ the Son can do no-
thing of himself; that the Father showeth
him all things that he doth; and that he
giveth him to have life in himself.” John v.
19, 20. 26. Which expressions, if applied to
him as God, not as mediator, will reduce us
to the disagreeable necessity of subscribing
either to the creed of Arius, and maintain
him to be God of an inferior nature, and thus
a plurality of Gods, or of embracing the doc—
trine of Socinus, who allows him only to be a
God by office. But if this title belong to
him as mediator, every difficulty is removed.
And, lastly, it is observed, that though Jesus
be God, and the attributes of eternal existence
_ ascribed to him, yet the two attributes, eternal
and son, are not once expressed in the same
text as referring to eternal generation. This
dogma, held by systematic divines, according
to which our Lord was the Son of God, with
respect to his divine nature, by communica-
tion from the Father, who on this account is'
called r1171) 9eo'rn'rog, the Fountain of Deity,
is of considerable antiquity. 'It was cus-
tomary for the fathers, after the council of
Nice, to speak of the Father as c’t'yevvnrog,
and to ascribe to him what they termed gene-
ratio activa; and of the Son as 'yewln'rog, to
whom they attributed generat-io passiva. Ac-
cording to them it was the essential property
of the Father eternally to have the divine
nature of or from himself, so that, with re-
spect to him, it was underived; whereas it
was the property of the Son to be eternally
begotten of the Father, and thus to derive his
essence from him. To this mode of repre-
senting the relations of these two persons of
the Trinity, as it respects their essence, it has
justly been objected, that it necessarily goes
to subvert the supreme and eternal Deity of
the Son, and to represent him as essentially
derived and inferior; a doctrine nowhere
taught in the Scriptures. Some prefer say—
ing that it was not the divine nature that
was communicated to the Son, but only dis-
tinct personality; but this can scarcely be
said to relieve the difliculty. In regard to
this and all similar subjects, the safest way
is to abstain from all metaphysical subtleties,
and rest satisfied with the biblical mode of
representation. That Christ is the Son of
God in a sense perfectly unique, and that he
was from eternity God, are truths which the
Scripture clearly teach, but wherein, in that
sense, his filiation consisted, is a subject on
which they are entirely silent. Every at-
tempt to explain it has only furnished a fresh
instance of darkening counsel by words with-
out knowledge. See article SoN or G01) ;
Owen on the Person of .Christ; Pearson on
the Creed ,- Ridgleys Body of Divinity, p. 73.
76, 3d edition; Gill’s Ditto, p. 205, vol. i. 8vo
edition; Lambert’s Sermons, ser. 13, text
John xi. 35; Hodson’s Essay on the Eternal
Filiation of the Son of God ; Waits’s Works,
vol. v. p. 77. See also Dr. A. Clarke, Rich.
Watson, Kidd, Stuart, Drew, and Trefi'ry
on the subject.
GENEROSITY, the disposition which prompts
us to bestow favours which are not the pur-
chase of any particular merit. It is different
from humanity. Humanity is that exquisite
feeling we possess in relation to others, so as
to grieve for their sufferings, resent their in-
juries, or rejoice at their prosperity; and as
it arises from sympathy, it requires no great
self-denial, or self-command; but generosity
is that by which we are led to prefer some
other person to ourselves, and to sacrifice
any interest of our own to the interest of
another. Generosity is peculiarly amiable
when it is spontaneous and unsolicited——
when it is disinterested—and when, in the
distribution of its benefits, it consults
the best season and manner of conferring
them. .
GENIUS, a good or evil spirit or demon,
who, the ancients supposed, was set over each
person to direct his birth, accompany him in
his life, and to be his guard.
GENTILE, in matters of religion, a Pagan,
or worshipper of false gods. The origin of
this word is deduced from the Jews, who
called all those who were not of their name
can gojim, i. e. gentes, which in the Greek
translations of the Old Testament is rendered
ra £92m, in which sense it frequently occurs
in the New Testament; as in Matt. vi. 32,
“ All these things the nations or Gentiles
seek.” l/Vhence the Latin church also used
gentes in the same sense as our Gentiles, espe-
cially in the New Testament. But the word
gentes soon got another signification, and ~ nu
GEN
GES .
316
longer meant all such as were not Jews, but
those only who were neither Jews nor Chris-
tians, but followed the superstitions of the
Greeks and Romans, &c. In this sense it
continued among the Christian writers, till
their manner of speech, together with their
religion, was publicly, and by authority, re-
ceived in the empire, when gentilcs, from
gentes, came into use; and the both words
had two significations; viz. in treatises or
laws concerning religion, they signified Pa~
gans, neither Jews nor _ Christians; and
in civil afi‘airs they are used for all such
as were not Romans. See HEATHEN, PA—
GANISM.
GENTLENESS, softness or mildness of dis-
position and behaviour. Little as this dispo-
sition is thought of by many, we find it con-
sidered in Scripture as a characteristic of the
true Christian. “ The wisdom that is from
above,” saith St. James, “is gentle,” chap. iii.
17. “ This gentleness, indeed, is to be dis-
tinguished from passive tameness of spirit,
and from unlimited compliance with the man-
ners of others. That passive tameness, which
submits without a struggle to every encroach-
ment of the violent and assuming, forms no
part of Christian duty; but, on the contrary,
is destructive of general happiness and order.
That unlimited complaisance, which on every
occasion falls in with the opinions and man-
ners of others, is so far from being a virtue,
that it is itself a vice, and the parent of many
vices. It overthrows all steadiness of princi-
ple, and produces that sinful conformity with
the world which taints the whole character.
In the present corrupted state of human man-
ners, always to assent and to comply is the
very worst maxim we can adopt. True gen-
tleness, therefore, is to be carefully distin—
guished from the mean spirit of cowards and
the fawning assent of sycophants. It re-
nounces no just right from fear; it gives up
no important truth from flattery; it is, in-
deed, not only consistent with a firm mind,
but it necessarily requires a manly spirit and
fixed principle, in order to give it any real
value. It stands opposed to harshness and
severity, to pride and arrogance, to violence
and oppression: it is properly that part of
charity which makes us unwilling to give
pain to any of our brethren. Compassion
prompts us to relieve their wants; forbear-
ance prevents us from retaliating their inju-
ries ; nieekness restrains our angry passions;
candour our severe judgments; but gentle-
ness corrects whatever is offensive in our
manner, and, by a constant train of humane
attentions, studies to alleviate the burden of
common misery.”
GENUFLEXION, the act of bowing or bend-
ing the knee, or rather of kneeling down.
The Jesuit Rosweyd, in his Onomasticon,
shows that genuflexion, or kneeling, has been
a very ancient custom in the church, and
even under the Old Testament dispensation;
and that this practice was observed through-
out all the year, excepting on Sundays, and
during the time from Easter to Whitsuntide,
when kneeling was forbidden by the council
of Nice. Others have shown that the custom
of not kneeling on Sundays had obtained
from the time of the apostles, as appears from
St. Irenaeus and Tertullian; and the Ethiopic
church, scrupulously attached to‘ the ancient
ceremonies, still retains that of not kneeling
at divine service. The Russians esteem it an
indecent posture to worship God on the knees.
The Jews usually prayed standing. Baronius
is of opinion that genufiexion was not estab—
lished in the year of Christ 58, from that
passage in Acts xx. 36, where St. Paul is ex-
pressly mentioned to kneel down at prayer;
but Saurin shows that nothing can be thence
concluded. The same author remarks, also,
that the primitive Christians carried the prac—
tice of genuflexion so far, that some of them
had worn cavities in the floor where they
prayed; and St. Jerome relates of St. James,
that he had contracted a hardness on his
knees equal to that of camels.
GESENIUS, WILLIAM, a celebrated oriental-
ist and biblical critic, was born 1786, at
Nordhausen, where his father, who was
known as a respectable medical writer, was
engaged in the practice of his profession.
He was educated at the gymnasium of his
native town, and at the universities of Helm-
stiidt and Giittingen. His attention, however,
was almost exclusively devoted to the study
of the Oriental languages; and the necessity
which he soon perceived of a better grammar
and lexicon of the Hebrew language, led him
to devote himself entirely to this, and to the
study of the Old Testament. This he did
during a three years’ residence at Gottingen,
as Magister legcns and lecturer on theology,
from 1806 to 1809, when he made prepara—
tions for his Hebrew lexicon. In 1809 he
was appointed by the government of West-
phalia, professor of ancient literature in the
Catholic and Protestant gymnasium at Heili-
genstadt; afterwards, in 1810, extraordinary,
and in 1811, ordinary professor of theology
at Halle. Here he attracted particular atten-
tion to the study of the Old Testament; and
remaining after the restoration of the uni-
versity in 1814, as Doctor of Theology, he
wrote his Commentary on the origin, charac-
ter, and authority of the Samaritan Penta-
teuch, which will always be regarded as a
model in investigations of such a nature. In
the summer of 1820, he made a scientific tour
to Paris and Oxford, where he prepared col-
lections in the Semitic languages, for lexico-
graphical purposes, and also took a copy of
the Ethiopian book of Enoch, with a view to
future publication. In 1810 and 1812 ap-
peared his Hebrew and German Lexicon, in
two volumes; and in 1815 an abridgment of
GIC
GIL
the same, a translation of which, by Mr.
Gibbs, of Andover, has been published, both
in America and England. The chief peculi-
arities of these valuable works are a just esti-
mation of, and thorough examination of, all
the sources of lexicography, a correct appre-
hension of the relation between the Hebrew
and its cognate languages, a complete state-
ment and explanation of the constructions
and phrases which are derived from each
word; a clear distinction between what be-
longs to the province of the lexicon, the
grammar, and the exegetical commentary re-
spectively, and attention to the various kinds
of diction. Some excellent remarks, which
have had no small efi‘ect in the dissemination
of right views upon these subjects, are to be
found in the prefaces to the lexicon. His
version of Isaiah, with a commentary, is one
of the ablest critical works that have ever
appeared, but unfortunately the neological
views of the author have deeply tinged many
parts of his exposition, especially such as re-
late to the prophecies respecting the Messiah.
The last twenty-six chapters of the book he
considers to have been written, not by Isaiah,
but by some later author, an hypothesis which
has been refuted by several writers, but by
none more ably than by Hengstenberg, in his
Old Testament Christology. Making deduc-
tions for these serious faults, it may never-
theless be asserted, that more philological,
historical, and antiquarian research is to be
found in this work than in any other com-
mentary on the Scriptures. The celebrity
which Gesenius acquired by these labours has
attracted a vast number of students to Halle,
where he and Wegscheider take the lead of
the supernaturalist party, and have for a time
given eclat and currency to their principles;
but of late their popularity as theologians has
begun to decline, and the students are taught
to discriminate between the speculating un-
believing philologist, and the profound, con-
sistent, and pious divine.
GICHTEL, JoHN GECRCE, a mystic and fa-
natic, born at Ratisbon in 1638. In his six-
teenth year he pretended to have divine
visions and revelations; he afterwards went
to Holland, where he attended to certain reli-
gious exercises, with a view to fit himself for
the duties of a missionary in America. After
enduring several persecutions in Germany,
the result of the disturbances created by his
doctrines, and suffering considerable oppo-
sition from a number of his followers, who
withdrew from him that support for which he
was entirely dependent on them, he died at
Amsterdam in 1710. He wrote several works,
which were published by himself or his dis-
clples, who called themselves the Angelic
Brethren. These works have recently been
drawn forth from oblivion, and are held in
great esteem by the present mystics of Ger-
many. '

Guos'r, HoLr. See HOLY GHos'r.
GIFT or ToNouEs, an ability given to the
apostles of readily and intelligibly speaking
a variety of languages which they had never
learnt. This was a most glorious and import-
ant attestation of the Gospel, as well as a
suitable, and, indeed, in their circumstances,
a necessary furniture for the mission for
which the apostles and their assistants were
designed. Nor is there any reason, with Dr.
Middleton, to understand it as merely an
occasional gift, so that a person might speak
a language most fluently one hour, and be
entirely ignorant of it in the next; which
neither agrees with what is said of the abuse
of it, nor would have been sufiicient to an-
swer the end proposed. See Acts ii. See
Gill and Henry in loo. ; Jm‘tin’s Remarks, vol.
i. p. 15—21; Essay on the Gift of Tongues;
Middleton’s Miscel. lVorks, vol. ii. p. 379;
Doddridge’s Lect. lect. 141 ; Henderson’s Lec—
tures on Inspiration, pp. 215-233.
GILBERTINES, a religious order; thus called
from St. Gilbert, of Sempringham, in the
county of Lincoln, who founded the same
about the year 1148; the monks of which
observed the rule of St. Augustine, and were
accounted canons, and the nuns that of St.
Benedict. The founder of this order erected
a double monastery, or rather two different
ones, contiguous to each other; the one for
men, the other for women, but parted by a
very high wall. St. Gilbert himself founded
thirteen monasteries of this order: viz. four
for men alone, and nine for men and women
together, which had in them 700 brethren,
and 1500 sisters. At the dissolution, there
were about twenty-five houses of this order in
England and Wales.
GILL, J OHN, D.D., was born the 23rd of No-
vember, 1697, at Kettering, in Northampton-
shire, where his father was deacon of the Bap-
tist church. He made rapid advances in classi-
cal learning at a neighbouring grammar school,
in which he was placed while very young; and
even then he resorted so frequently to a book-
seller’s, for the purpose of reading, that it became
proverbial to say that a thing was as certain as
that John Gill was in the bookseller’s shop.
Being driven from the grammar school, by the
bigotry of the clergyman who presided over
it, his friends endeavoured to procure him ad-
mission into a seminary for the ministry, by
sending specimens of his advancement in dif-
ferent branches of literature. These, how-
ever, defeated their object, for they produced
the following answer: “ He is too young‘, and
should he continue, as it might be expected
he would, to make such rapid advances, he
would go through the common circle before
he would be capable of taking careof himself,
or of being employed in any public service.”
It is to be hoped that this reply was accom-
panied with some explanation, which made it
appear more justifiable than in its present de-
GIL
GIL
318
tached state ; or it would seem that the guar-
dians of this seminary felt but little solicitude
to see the finest talents consecrated to the no-
blest of causes. Not discouraged by this re-
pulse, young Gill pursued his studies with so
much ardour, that before he was nineteen, he
had read the principal Greek and Latin class-
ics ; had gone through a course of logic, rhe-
toric, natural and moral philosophy; and ac-
quired a considerable knowledge of the He-
brew tongue. But it is supremely gratifying
to find that religion was still dearer to him
than learning; for, instead of resembling those
sciolists who suppose it a proof of genius to
disdain the study of their Maker’s will, he
imitated him who, in early youth, resorted to
the temple as his father’s house, and there em-
ployed in sacred researches that understand-
ing at which all were astonished. The Bap-
tist church in his native town first received
this extraordinary youth as a member, and
then called him forth into the ministry. For
this work he went to study under Mr. Davies,
at Higham Ferrers; butwas soon invited to
preach to the Baptist congregation in Horsley-
down near London, over which he was or-
dained in 1719, when he was in his twenty-
second year. He now applied with intense
ardour to oriental literature ; and having con-
tracted an acquaintance with one of the most
learned of the Jewish rabbies, he read the
Targums, the Talmud, and every book of rab-
binical lore which he could procure. In this
line, it is said that he had but few equals, and
that he was not excelled by any whose name
is recorded in the annals of literature. Hav-
ing published, in 1748, “ A Commentary on
the New Testament,” in three folio volumes,
the immense reading and'learning which it
displayed induced the University of Aberdeen
to send him the diploma of Doctor of Divinity,
with the following compliment: “ On account
of his knowledge of the Scriptures, of the
oriental languages, and of Jewish antiquities;
of his learned defence of the Scriptures against
deists and infidels, and the reputation gained
by his other works, the university had, with-
out his privity, unanimously agreed to confer
on him the degree of Doctor in Divinity.”
He published also “ A Commentary on the
Old Testament,” which, together with that of
the New, forms an immense mass of nine
folio volumes, in which, however, the sacred
text is frequently completely travestied by his
spiritualization of the history; and his sys-
tematic views of theology are given in their
length and breadth under every remarkable
text. There is not perhaps, within the whole
compass of theological literature, a work so
awfully calculated to vitiate the scripture taste
of a student, and unfit him for ministering.
with profit in the church of God. Its almost
only recommendation is the quantity of Jew-
ish, and especially of Rabbinical, learning with
which it is stored; from which a flower may
now and then be culled to illustrate the mean-
ing of the sacred writers. At the close of this
Herculean labour, he was so far from rest-in g
satisfied, that he said, “ I considered with my-
self what would be next best to engage in,
for the further instruction of the people under
my care, and my thoughts led me to enter up-
on a scheme of doctrinal and practical divini-
ty;” this he executed in three quarto volumes.
Amidst these labours of the study, added to
those of the pulpit, he lived to a good old age,
and departed to his rest in the year 1771, when
he was far advanced in his 74th year. He
was married, and had a numerous family, but
his wife died seven years before him ; and he
‘was survived by only two of his children.
Besides the works already mentioned, he main-
tained the five points of Calvinism in his
“ Cause of God and Truth,” with much tem-
per and learning. He published also “ A Dis-
sertation on the Hebrew Language ;” “ Dis-
courses on the Canticles,” ‘to which consider-
able objections have been made; and many
sermons, as well as smaller controversial pieces.
His private character was so excellent, that it
has been said, “ his learning and labours were
exceeded only by the invariable sanctity of _'
his life and conversation. From his childhood
to his entrance on the ministry, and from his
entrance on the ministry to the moment of his
dissolution, not one of his most inveterate op-
posers was ever able to charge him with the
least shadow of immorality. Those who had
‘the honour and happiness of being admitted
into the number of his friends can say, they
know that his moral demeanour was, from
first to last, more .than blameless, it was exem-
plary.” As a divine, he was a supralapsarian
Calvinist; but in his Body of Divinity, he is
so far from condemning sublapsarian senti-
ments as heretical, or Arminianised, that he
attempts to show how the two systems coa-
lesce. He discovered, however, an anxiety to
support his high scheme at every opportunity,
and often betrayed his weakness, by catching
at the shadows of arguments for its defence.
He read much, and wrote tolerably well on
every subject: however, it cannot be denied,
that while he possessed knowledge, his learn-
ing was not inspired by genius; and while his
works impress the judicious reader with esteem
for the purity of his intentions, and admiration
for the magnitude of his labours, they excite
regret that they had not been prepared with
greater delicacy of taste, and revised with more
accurate judgment. It is, above all, to be la~
mented, that they have difi'used a taste for ex-
travagant Calvinism, which has induced many,
who were devoid of his sanctity, to profane
his name, in order to sanction their errors or
their lusts. Dr. Gill was, nevertheless, a great
and good man; and his character is highly
esteemed by every well-informed Christian.
gide Zlfemoirs of Dr. Gill, Jones’s Christ.
zog.
GLA
GLA
319
dency, and founder of a denomination which
is called after him——though in England better
known by the term Sandemanians~was born
on the 21st of September, 1695, in the parish
of Auchtermuchty, in the county of Fife,
North Britain. His father, Alexander Glas,
was a minister of the Kirk of Scotland, as
were also his grandfather, and great-grand-
father; the latter having been appointed the
first Presbyterian minister at Dunkeld, about
the time of the Reformation. John Glas, the
subject of this memoir, acquired the knowledge
of Latin and Greek at the grammar school of
Perth ; and his parents, intending him for the
clerical profession, afterwards sent him to St.
Andrew’s and Edinburgh, where he perfected
his studies in philosophy and theology. Hav-
ing gone through the preliminary course of
trial prescribed to candidates for the ministry
in the Church of Scotland, he was licensed
to preach, by the presbytery of Perth ; and in
1719, ordained minister of the parish of Teal-
ing, near Dundee.
Mr. Glas had studied, with great diligence
and care, the doctrinal systems of Calvin and
Arminius; and being decidedly fixed in the
former, he held forth the doctrine of rich,
free, and sovereign grace, with extraordinary
ability, from the pulpit; and his fame as a
preacher soon spread abroad, and drew num-
bers to hear him. When he had been a few
years engaged in the work of the ministry,
he found his labours blessed to the profit of
many ; and several, who had received the truth
in the love of it, began to feel the necessity of
a closer union, in order to attain the ends of
mutual edification, than the discipline and
communion of a national church afforded.
These persons accordingly formed themselves
into a small society, in connexion with Mr.
Glas, in 17 25, thus constituting a church with
in a church; a mode of proceeding which,
however opposite to the New Testament, evan-
gelical ministers in national churches have
often found it expedient to resort unto. In
this way Mr. Glas and his friends roceeded
for two years; when an extraordinary stir
being made in Scotland, about the duty of
covenanting, Mr. Glas was put upon the task
of investigating this subject, and of bringing it
to the touchstone of the New Testament. The
result of his inquiries was the publication of a
small volume, which made its first ‘appearance
in 1729, under the title of “The Testimony
of the King of Martyrs concerning his King-
dom ;” being an explanation and illustration of
Christ’s good confession before Pontius Pilate.
John xviii. 36, 37 . He was now brought to
this point; that, as the kingdom of Christ is
not of this world, it must be distinguished from
all those kingdoms which are of it, by some
fundamental principles and characteristic qua-
hties : in short, that if it were not of this
world, it must be spiritual in its nature,. and
GLAs, JOHN, the father of Scotch indepen- '

heavenly in its origin—its laws and institu-
tions, its object and end must, consequently,
all be totally different from what pertains to
worldly kingdoms; and that every attempt to
incorporate it with civil polity, or support it
by acts of parliament, or the sword of the ma-
gistrate, could be nothing less than a vile cor-
ruption of a divine institute. The adoption
of this principle gave an entire new turn to
many of his religious sentiments; and con-
vinced him that he could no longer ofliciate,
with a good conscience, as a clergyman of the
national establishment. The avowal and pro-
pagation of his sentiments, both from the pul-
pit and the press, occasioned his being cited
before the synod of Angus ‘and Mearns, by
which he was speedily deposed ; and the sen-
tence being afterwards confirmed by the Ge—
neral Assembly of the Church of Scotland,
he became the first dissenter in Scotland, upon
independent and scriptural principles.
Mr. Glas now took up his residence in
Dundee, where he was the means of collect-
ing a church, which was formed on congrega-
tional principles, and of which he was chosen
a presbyter, in conjunction with Mr. Francis
Archibald, who had left the Church of Scot-
land at the same time as himself. From this
period Mr. Glas was busily engaged for
several years in maintaining his principles
against a host of opponents who rose up in
rapid succession to defend those of the Na-
tional Establishment. By the spirit of in-
quiry thus set on foot, the profession spread
rapidly throughout Scotland, and the form-
ation of churches in the various towns of
Dunkeld, Perth, Edinburgh, Glasgow, &c. 8:0.
found abundant employment for Mr. Glas for
a number of years. He removed his residence
from Dundee to Edinburgh, where he offi-
ciated several years as the pastor of a church
which had been collected there; and when
his labours were no longer required there, he
removed to Perth, where. he laboured with
assiduity till the year 1787 ; when, having
established the profession in that city, he
again returned to Dundee, where he continued
his labours in his Master’s vineyard to the
termination of his useful life, November the
2nd, 1773, at the advanced age of seventy-
eight. He had fifteen children, all by the
same mother, whom he lost in 1749 ; and it is
remarkable that he survived all his children.
Besides his “ Testimony of the King of Mar-
tyrs,” he published a great number of differ-
ent treatises, of which a uniform edition was
printed in five volumes octavo, Perth, 1782.
Some of them are exceedingly valuable,‘ on
account of the rich savour of evangelical
doctrine with which they are imbued; par-
ticularly a “Treatise on the Lord’s Supper”
-—“ A Plea for pure and undefiled Religion”
-—“ A view of the Heresy of ZErius,” &c. &c.
As a preacher, Mr. Glas is said to have greatly
r excelled, which cannot, however, be truly
GNO
GNO
320
said of him as an author; for his style is un-
usually heavy, involved, and, were it not for
the general excellency of his sentiments,
would scarcely be endured in the present age
of refinement. He confesses himself to have
been considerably indebted to Dr. John Owen;
and he admits Calvin to have been “ a great
divine and excellent writer, no way equalled
by those who show the greatest contempt of
him in comparison of the ancients.”-—-Jones’s
Christ. Biog.
GLASSITES. See SANDEMANIANS.
GLORY, praise or honour, attributed to God,
in adoration, or worship. The state of feli—
city prepared for the righteous. See HEAVEN.
The glory of God is the manifestation of
the divine perfections in creation, providence,
and grace. We may be said to give glory to
God when we confess our sins, when we love
him supremely, when we commit ourselves to
him, are zealous in his service, improve our
talents, walk humbly, thankfully, and cheer-
fully before him, and recommend, proclaim,
or set forth his excellences.,tp others. J os. vii.
19; Gal. ii. 20; John xv. "8; Ps. l. 23; Matt.
v. 16.
GLOSSARIUM, in biblical literature, is a
book or writing comprehending glosses or
short explanations of dark and difiicult words
or phrases in the inspired writings or the
Greek authors. Among the Greeks yhwo'o'a
meant either an idiomatic word, peculiar to a
certain dialect only, and unknown in others,
an obsolete word, or an obscure one. A glos-
sary, of course, extends only to a few of the
words and phrases of an author. It is not to
be used as a lexicon, but as a comment on
particular passages. Its value depends on
its antiquity, or on the learning of its author.
The principal ancient glossaries published are
these: Hesychius, Suidas, Phavorinus, Cyrill,
Photius, Etymologicon Magnum.
GNOSIMACHI, a name which distinguished
those in the seventh century who were pro-
fessed enemies to the Gnosis; z'. e. the studied
knowledge or science of Christianity, which
they rested wholly on good works, calling it
a useless labour to seek for knowledge in the
Scripture. In short, they contended for the
practice of morality in all simplicity, and
blamed those who aimed at improving and
perfecting it by a deeper knowledge and in-
sight into the doctrines and mysteries of reli-
gion. The Gnosimachi were the very reverse
of the Gnostics.
GNos'rIcs (from 'yvwo'tg, knowledge,) an-
cient heretics, famous from the first rise of
Christianity, principally in the East. It ap-
pears, from several passages of Scripture,
particularly 1 John ii. 18; 1 Tim. vi. 20; C01.
ii. 8, that many persons were infected with
the Gnostic heresy in the firstcentury, though
the sect did not render itself conspicuous,
either for numbers or reputation, before the
time of Adrian, when some writers errone-
ously date its rise. The name was adopted
by this sect, on the presumption that they
were the only persons who had the true
knowledge of Christianity. Accordingly they
looked on all other Christians as simple, igno-
rant, and barbarous persons, who explained
and interpreted the sacred writings in a low,
literal, and unedifyiug signification. At first,
the gnostics were the only philosophers-of
those times, who formed for themselves a
peculiar system of theology, agreeable to the
philosophy of Pythagoras and Plato; to which
they accommodated all their interpretations
of Scripture. But gnostics afterwards became
a generical name, comprehending divers sects
and parties of heretics, who rose in the first
centuries; and who, though they differed
among themselves as to circumstances, yet all
agreed on some common principles. They
corrupted the doctrine of the gospel by a
profane mixture of the tenets of the oriental
philosophy, concerning the origin of evil and
the creation of the world, with its divine
truths. Such were the Valentinians, Simo-
nians, Carpocratians, Nicolaitans, &c.
Gnostics sometimes also occurs in a good
sense, in the ancient ecclesiastical writers, par-
ticularly Clemens Alexandrinus, who, in the
person of his gnostic, describes the characters
and qualities of a perfect Christian. This
point he labours in the seventh Book of his
“ Stromata,” where he shows that none but
the gnostic, or learned person, has any true
religion. He affirms that, were it possible for
the knowledge of God to be separated from
eternal salvation, the gnostic would make no
scruple to choose the knowledge ; and that if
God would promise him impunity in doing of
any thing he has once spoken against, or
ofi‘er him heaven on those terms, he would
never alter a whit of his measures. In this
sense the father uses gnostics, in opposition to
the heretics of the same name; affirming, that
the true gnostic is grown old in the study of
the holy Scriptures, and that he preserves the
orthodox doctrine of the apostles and of the
church; whereas the false gnostic abandons
all the apostolical traditions, as imagining
himself wiser than the apostles.
Gnostics was sometimes also more parti-
cularly used for the successors of the Nicolai-
tans and Carpocratians, in the second century,
upon their laying aside the names of the first
authors. Such as would be thoroughly ac~
quainted with all their doctrines, reveries,
and visions, may consult Irenceus, T er-
tullian, Clemens Alexandrinus, Origen, and
Epiphanius; particularly the first of these
writers, who relates their sentiments at large,
and confutes them. Indeed he dwells more
on the Valentinians than any other sect
of gnostics; but he shows 'the general prin-
ciples whereon all their mistaken opinions
were founded, and the method they follow-

ked 1n explaining scripture. He accuses
GNO' 3
l G O D
0
d
them of introducing into religion certain vain
and ridiculous genealogies, i. e. a kind of
divine processions or emanations, which had
no other foundation but in their own wild
imagination. The gnostics confessed that
these ceons or emanations were nowhere ex-
pressly delivered in the sacred writings ; but -
insisted that Jesus Christ had intimated them *
in parables to such as could understand them.
They
gospels and the epistles of St. Paul, but also
on the law of Moses and the prophets. These
last were peculiarly serviceable to them, on
account of the allegories and allusions with
which they abound, which are capable of
different interpretations; though their doc-
trine concerning the creation of the world by
one or more inferior beings of an evil or im-
perfect nature, led them to deny the divine
authority of the books of the Old Testament,
which contradicted this idle fiction, and filled
them with an abhorrence of Moses and the
religion he taught; alleging that he was
actuated by the malignant author of this
world, who consulted his own glory and au-
thority, and not the real advantage of men.
Their persuasion that evil resided in matter,
as its centre and source, made them treat the
body with contempt, discourage marriage,
and reject the doctrine of the resurrection of
the body, and its reunion with the immortal
spirit. Their notion, that malevolent genii
presided in nature, and occasioned diseases
and calamities, wars and desolations, induced
them to apply themselves to the study of
magic, in order to weaken the powers, or
suspend the influence of these malignant
agents. The gnostics considered Jesus Christ
as the Son of God, and inferior to the Father,
who came into the world for the rescue and
happiness of miserable mortals, oppressed by
matter and evil beings ; but they rejected our
Lord’s humanity, on the principle that every
thing corporeal is essentially and intrinsically
evil; and therefore the greatest part of them
denied the reality of his sufferings. They set
a great value on the beginning of the Gospel
of St. John, where they fancied they saw a
great deal of their 690728, or emanations, under
the terms the word, the life, the light, &c.
They divided all nature into three kinds of
beings, viz. hylic, or material; psychic, or
animal; and pneumatic, or spiritual. On the
like principle, they also distinguished three
sorts of men; material, animal, and spiritual.
The first, who were material, and incapable of
knowledge, inevitably perished, both soul and
body; the third, such as the gnostics them-
selves pretended to be, were all certainly saved;
the psychic, or animal, who were the middle
between the other two, were capable either
of being saved or damned, according to their
good or evil actions. With regard to their
moral doctrines and conduct, they were much
divided. The greatest part of this sect adopted
built their theology not only on the I

'-_—-___r
very austere rules of life, recommended rigor-
ous abstinence, and prescribed severe bodily
mortifications, with a view of purifying and
exalting the mind However, some main-
tained that there was no moral difference in
human actions; and thus confounding right
with wrong, they gave a loose rein to all
the passions, and asserted the innocence of
following blindly all their motions, and of
living by their tumultuous dictates. They
supported their opinions and practice by
various authorities: some referred to fictitious
and apocryphal writings of Adam, Abraham,
Zoroaster, Christ, and his apostles; others
boasted that they had deduced their senti-
ments from secret doctrines of Christ, con-
cealed from the vulgar; others aflirmed that
they arrived at superior degrees of wisdom
by an innate vigour of mind; and others
asserted that they were instructed in these
mysterious parts of theological science by
Theudas, a disciplglof Paul, and by Matthias,
one of the frien our Lord. The tenets
of the ancient gno'stics were revived in Spain,
in the fourth century, by a sect called the
Priscillianists. At length the name gnostic,
which originally was glorious, became infa-
mous, by the idle opinions and dissolute lives
of the persons who bore it.
G01), the self‘existent, infinitely perfect,
and infinitely good Being who created and
preserves all things that have existence. The
name is derived from the Icelandic Godz',
which signifies the Supreme Magistrate, and
is thus strikingly characteristic of Jehovah as
the moral Governor of the universe. As the
Divine Being possesses a nature far beyond
the comprehension of any of his creatures, of
course that nature is inexplicable. “ All our
knowledge of invisible objects is obtained by
analogy; that is, by the resemblance which
they bear to visible objects; but as there is
in nature no exact resemblance of the nature
of God, an attempt to explain the divine na-
ture is absurd and impracticable. All simili-
tudes, therefore, which are used in attempting
to explain it, must be rejected.” Yet, though
we cannot full understand his nature, there
is something 0 him we may know. He hath
been pleased to discover his perfections, in a
measure, by the works of creation and the
Scriptures of truth; these, therefore, we ought
to study, in order that we may obtain the
most becoming thoughts of him. For an ac-
count of the various attributes or perfections
of God, the reader is referred to those articles
in this work.
There are various names given to the Al-
mighty in the Scriptures, though, properly
speaking, he can have no name; for as he is
incomprehensible, he is not nommable; and
being but one, he has no need of a name to
distinguish him; nevertheless, as names are
given him in Scripture, to assist our ideas of
his greatness and perfection, they are worthy
GOD
GOO
322
of our consideration. These names are E],
which denotes him the strong and powerful
God, Gen. xvii. 1 ; Eloah and Elohim, which
represent him as the only proper object of -
worship, Psal. xlv. 6, 7 ; Shaddaz', which de-
notes him to be all-sufiicient and all-mighty,
Exod. vi. 3 ; Elg/on, which represents his
incomparable excellency, absolute supremacy
over all, and his peculiar residence in the
highest heavens, Psal. l. 11; Adonaz','which
marks him as the great lord, and judge of all
creatures, Psal. ex. 1 ; Jah, which denotes his
self-existence, and giving of being to his
creatures, Exod. xv. 2 ; Ehjeh, I am, or I will
be, denotes his self-existence, absolute inde-
pendency, immutable eternity, and all-sufli-
ciency to his people, Exod. iii. 14; Jehovah,
which denotes his self-existence, absolute
independence, unsuccessive eternity, and his
effectual and marvellous giving of being
to his creatures, and fulfilling his promises,
Gen. ii. 4, &c.
In the New Tcstamengggod is called Kurios,
or Lord, which denotes his" self-existence, and
his establishment of, and authority over, all
things; and Times, which represents him as
the maker, pervader, and governing observer
of the universe.
GODFATHERS AND GODMOTHERS, among
Catholics and Episcopalians, persons who, at
the baptism of infants, answer for their future
conduct, and solemnly promise that they will
renounce the devil and all his works, and
follow a life of piety and virtue; and by these
means lay themselves under an indispensable
obligation to instruct them, and watch over
their conduct. In the Catholic Church, the
number of Godfathers and Godmothers is
reduced to two; in the Church of England, to
three : formerly the number was not limited.
GoDLINEss, strictly taken, is right worship
or devotion; but in general it imports the
whole of practical religion, 1 Tim. iv. 8. 2 Pet.
i. 6. It is diflicult, as Saurin observes, to
include an adequate idea of it in what is called
a definition. “ It supposes knowledge, vene-
ration, afi'ection, dependence, submission, gra-
titude, and obedience; or it ‘may be reduced
to these four ideas; knowledge in the mind,
by which it is distinguished from the visions
of the superstitious; rectitude in the conscience,
that distinguishes it from hypocrisy ; sacrifice
in the life, or renunciation of the world, by
which it is distinguished from the unmeaning
obedience of him who goes as a happy con-
stitution leads him; and, lastly, zeal in the
heart, which difi'ers from the languishing
emotions of the lukewarm." The advantages
of this disposition are honour, peace, safety,
usefulness, support in death, and prospect of
glory ; or, as the apostle sums up all in a few
words, “It is profitable unto all things, having
the promise of the life that now is, and of that
which is to come.”1 Tim. iv. 8. Saw-in’s
Serm, vol. v. ser. 3, Engl. trans: Barrow’s Ps. xxxvi. 6; cxlv.
Works, vol. i. p. 9; Scott’s Christian Lzfe;
Scougal’s Lg'fe of God in the Soul of Man.
GOEL (Heb. 5N2), among the Hebrews, one
whose right and duty it was to avenge the
blood of his relation, but who was not allowed
to break in upon the security of an asylum or
city of refuge.
Goa AND Macoe, symbolical names, sup-
posed to apply to the heathen nations of
northern Asia, more particularly the Tartars
and Mongolians, which the Arabic and other
oriental writers term Yajuj and Majuj. They
occur in Ezek. xxxviii. and xxxix., and in
Rev. xx.
Goon, in general, is whatever increases
pleasure, or diminishes pain in us; or, which
amounts to the same, whatever is able to pro—
cure or preserve to us the possession of
agreeable sensations, and remove those of an
opposite nature. Moral good denotes the
right conduct of the several senses and pas—
sions, or their just proportion and accommo—
dation to their respective objects and relations.
Physical good is that which has either
generally, or for any particular end, such
qualities as are expected or desired.
Goon FRIDAY, a fast kept by many in me
mory of the sufferings and death of Jesus
Christ. It is observed on the Friday in Pas-
sion Week, and it is called, by way of emi-
nence, good; because of the good effects of
our Saviour’s sufferings. Among the Saxons
it was called Long Friday; but for what
reason does not appear, except on account of
the long oflices then used. The Protestants
on the continent consider this day as the
most solemn in the whole year; by the Ca-
tholics, however, it is only celebrated as a
half holiday.
GooDNEss 0F Gon relates to the absolute
perfection of his own nature, and his kind-
ness manifested to his creatures. Goodness,
says Dr. Gill, is essential to God, without
which he would not be God, Exod. xxxiii
19, xxxiv. 6, 7. Goodness belongs only to
God, he is solely good, Matt. xix. 17 ; and all
the goodness found in creatures is only an
emanation of the divine goodness. He is the
chief good; the sum and substance of all fe-
licity, Ps. cxliv. 12, 15; lxiii. 25; iv. 6, 7.
There is nothing but- goodness in God,
and nothing but goodness comes from
him, 1 John i. 5; James i. 13, 14. He is
infinitely good; finite minds cannot compre-
hend his goodness, Rom. xi. 35, 36. He is
immutably and unchangeably good, Zeph. iii.
17. The goodness of. God is communicative
and diffusive, Ps. cxix. 68 ; xxxiii. 5. With
respect to the objects of it, it may be consi-
dered as general and special. His general
goodness is seen in all his creatures: yea, in
the inanimate creation, the sun, the earth,
and all his works; and in the government,
support, and protection of the world at large,
His special goodness
cos
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323
relates to angels and saints. To angels, in
creating, confirming, and making them what
they are. To saints, in election, calling, jus~
tification, adoption, sanctification, persever~
ance, and eternal glorification. Gill’s Body
0 Dim, vol. i. p. 133, 8vo. ed.; Charnoch’s
orks, vol. i. p. 574 ; Paleg’s Nat. Theol, ch.
26 ; South’s admirable Sermon, on this subject,
vol. viii. ser. 3; Tillotson’s Serm. ser. 143—
146 ; Abernethg’s Serm., vol. i. No. 2.
GosPEL, the revelation of the grace of God
to fallen man through the Mediator. It is
taken also for the history of the life, actions,
death, resurrection, ascension, and doctrine
of Jesus Christ. The word is compounded
of the two Saxon words— god, “good,” and
spell, a “message,” or “tidings,” and thus
corresponds to the Greek mian/shoal, which
signifies a joyful message, or good news. It
is called the Gospel of his grace, because it
flows from his free love, Acts xx. 24. The
Gospel of the kingdom, as it treats of the
kingdom of grace and glory. The Gospel of
Christ, because he is the author and subject of
it, Rom. i. 16. The Gospel of peace and sal-
vation, as it promotes our present comfort,
and leads to eternal glory, Eph. i. 13; vi. 15.
The glorious Gospel, as in it the glorious per-
fections of Jehovah are displayed, 2 Cor. iv.
4. The everlasting Gospel, as it was de-
signed from eternity, is permanent in time,
and the effects of it are eternal, Rev. xiv. 6.
There are about thirty or forty apocryphal
Gospels—as the Gospel of St. Peter, of St.
Andrew, of St. Barnabas, the eternal Gospel,
&e. &c. &c.; but they were never received by
the Christian Church, being evidently fabu-
lous and trifling. See CHRISTIANITY.
GOSPEL, A LAW. It has been disputed
whether the Gospel consists merely of pro-
mises, or whether it can in any sense be
called a law. The answer plainly depends
upon adjusting the meaning of the words
Gospel and law : if the Gospel be taken for
the declaration God has made to men by
Christ, concerning the manner in which he
will treat them, and the conduct he expects
from them, it is plain that this includes com-
mands, and even threatenings, as well as pro-
mises ; but to define the Gospel so, as only to
express the favourable part of that declara-
tion, is indeed taking the question for granted,
and confining the word to a sense much less
extensive than it often has in Scripture : com-
pare Rom. ii. 16 ; 2 Thess. i. 8; 1 Tim. i. 10,
ll ; and it is certain, that, if the Gospel be
put for all the parts of the dispensation taken
in connexion one with another, it may well
be called, on the whole, a good message. In
like manner the question, whether the Gospel
be a_law or not, is to be determined by the
definition of the law and of the Gospel, as
above- If la-wxsignifies, as it generally does,
J
ing what he requires of those under his go-
the discovery of the will of a superior, teach-_

vernment, with the intimation of his intention
of dispensing rewards and punishments, as
this rule of their conduct is observed or neg-
lected; in this latitude of expression it is
plain, from the proposition, that the Gospel,
taken for the declaration made to men by
Christ, is a law, as in Scripture it is some-
times called, James i. 25; Rom. iv. 15 ; Rom.
viii. 2. But if lawrbe taken, in the greatest
rigour of the expression, for such a disco-
very of the will of God, and our duty, as
to contain in it no intimation of our obtaining
the Divine favour otherwise than by a perfect
and universal conformity to it, in that sense
the Gospel is not a law. See NEONOMIANS.
Witsius on Cov. vol. iii. ch. 1; Doddrz'zlge’s
Lectures, leet. 172; Watts’s Orthodoxy and
Charity, essay 2.
GOSPEL CALL. See CALLING.
GOVERNMENT or Goi) is the disposal of
his creatures, and all events, relative to
them, according to his infinite justice, power,
and wisdom. His moral government is his
rendering to every man according to his ac-
tions, considered as good or evil. See DoMI-
NION and SOVEREIGNTY.
GRACE. There are various senses in which
this word is used in Scripture; but the gene-
ral idea of it, as it relates to God, is his free
favour and love. As it respects men, it im-
plies the happy state of reconciliation and
favour with God wherein they stand, and the
holy endowments, qualities, or habits of faith,
hope, love, 850., which they possess. Divines
have distinguished grace into common or gene-
ral, special or particular. Common grace, if it
may be so called, is what all men have; as
the light of nature and reason, convictions of
conscience, &c., Rom. ii. 4; 1 Tim. iv. 10.
Special grace is that which is peculiar to
some people only—such as electing, redeem-
ing, justifying, pardoning, adopting, establish-
ing, and sanctifying grace, Rom. viii. 30.
This special grace is by some distinguished
into imputed and inherent. Imputed grace
consists in the holiness, obedience, and right-
eousness of Christ, imputed to us for our
justification; inherent grace is what is wrought
in the heart by the Spirit of God in regenera-
tion. Grace is also said to be irresistible, e17?-
cacious, and victorious; not but that there are
in human nature, in the first moments of
conviction, some struggles, opposition, or
conflict; but by these terms we are to under-
stand, that, in the end, victory declares for
the grace of the Gospel. There have been
many other distinctions of grace ; but as they
are of too frivolous a nature, and are now
obsolete, they need not a place here. Groigth
in grace is the progress we make in the divine
life. It discovers itself by an increase of
spiritual light and knowledge; by our re-
nouiicing self, and depending more upon
Christ; by growing more spiritual in duties ;
by being more humble, submissive, and
GRA
G R E
324
thankful; by rising superior to the corrup-
tions of our nature, and finding the power of
sin-more weakened in us; by being less at—
tached to the world, and possessing more of
a heavenly disposition. M ‘Laurin’s Essays,
essay 3; Gill’s Body qf Div. vol. i. p. 118;
Dodclridge’s Lect. part viii. prop. 139; Pike
and Hayward’s Cases of Conscience; Saurin
on 1 Cor. ix. 26, 27, vol. iv.; Booth’s Reign
of Grace.
GRACE A'r MEALS, a short prayer, implor-
ing the Divine blessing on our food, and ex-
pressive of gratitude to God for supplying
our necessities. The propriety of this act is
evident from the Divine command, 1 Thess.
v. 18; 1 Cor. x. 31; 1 Tim. iv. 5. From
the conduct of Christ, Mark viii. 6, 7. From
reason itself; not to mention that it is a cus-
tom practised by most nations, and even not
neglected by heathens themselves. The
English, however, seem to be very deficient
in this duty.
As to the manner in which it ought to be
performed, as Dr. Watts— observes, we ought
to have a due regard tothe occasion, and the
persons present; the neglect of which hath
been attended with indecencies and indiscre-
tions. Some have used themselves to mutter
a few words with so low a voice, as though by
some secret charm they were to consecrate
the food alone, and there was no need of the
rest to join with them in the petitions. Others
have broke out into so violent a sound, as
though they were bound to make a thousand
people hear them. Some perform this part of
worship with so slight and familiar an air, as
though they had no sense of the great God
110 whom they speak: others have put on an
unnatural solemnity, and changed their natu-
ral voice ‘into so different and awkward a tone,
not without some distortions of countenance,
‘that have tempted strangers to ridicule.
:It is the custom of some to hurry over a
single sentence or two, and they have done,
"before half .the company are prepared to lift
up a thought to heaven. And some have
been just heard to bespeak a blessing on the
church and the king, but seem to have forgot
they were asking God to bless their food, or
giving thanks for the food they have received.
‘Others, again, make a long prayer, and,
among a multitude of other petitions, do not
utter one that relates to the table before
~ .them.
The general rules of prudence, together
with a due observation of ‘the custom of the
place where we live, would correct all these
disorders, and teach us that a few sentences‘-
suited to the occasion, spoken with an audible
and proper voice, are suflicient for this pur-
pose, especially if any strangers are present.
It does not appear from Scripture, ‘that it was
customary to give thanks after meals. This
is always spoken of as having been done be-
fore them. Watts’s Works, oct. edition, vol.
iv. p. 160 ; Law’s Serious Call, p. 60; Seed’:
Post. Sen, p. 174.
GRATITUDE is that pleasant affection of the
mind which arises from a sense of favours re-
ceived, and by which the possessor is excited
to make all the returns of love and service in
his power. “ Gratitude,” says Mr. Cogan. (in
his Treatise on the Passions,) “ is the power-
ful re-action of a well-disposed mind upon‘
whom benevolence has conferred some im-
portant good. It is mostly connected with an
impressive sense of the amiable disposition of
the person by whom the benefit is conferred,
and it immediately produces a personal affec-
tion towards him. We shall not wonder at
the peculiar strength and energy _of this afi‘ec-
tion, when we consider that it is compounded
of love placed upon the good communicated,
ttfl‘ectz'on for the donor, and joy at the recep-
tion. Thus it has goodness for its object, and
the most pleasing, perhaps unexpected, ex-
ertions of goodness for its immediate cause.
Thankfulness refers to verbal expressions of
gratitude.” See THANKFULNESS.
GREATNESS or G01) is the infinite glory
and cxcellency of all his perfections. is
greatness appears by the attributes he pos-
sesses, Deut. xxxii. 3, 4; the works he hath
made, Ps. xix. l; by the awful and benign
providences he displays, Ps. xcvii. 1, 2; the
great effects he produces by his word, Gen. i.;
the constant energy he manifests in the exist—
ence and support of all his creatures, Ps.
cxlv. ; and the everlasting provision of glory
made for his people, 1 Thess. iv. 17. This
greatness is of himself, and not derived, Ps.
xxi. 13 ; it is infinite, Ps. cxlv. 3 ; not dimin-
ished by exertion, but will always remain the
same, Mal. iii. 6. The considerations of his
greatness should excite veneration, Ps.
lxxxix. 7 ; admiration, J er. ix. 6, 7 ; humility,
Job xlii. 5, 6; dependence, Is. xxvi. 4; sub
mission, Job i. 22; obedience, Deut. iv. 39,
40. See ATTRIBUTES, and books under that
article. '
‘ GREEK on THE NEW TESTAMENT. The
character of the New Testament diction, al-
though pretty definitcly marked, was for a
long time mistaken, or was only imperfectly
and partially understood by biblical philoloe
gists, and has been the subject of much dis-
pute. From the time of Henry Stephens
(1576), down to the middle of last century,
two parties existed among the interpreters of
the, New Testament; the one .of which la-
boured to show that the .diction of the New
Testament is in all respects conformed to the
style of the Attic Greek writers; while the
other maintained, on the contrary, and sup-
posed themselves able to prove, from every
verse, that the style was altogether mixed
with Hebraisms, and came very far short of
the ancient classic Greek in respect to purity.
Though latterly the former of these positions
has been shown to be inadmissible, yet it was
GRO
GRO
325
not till quite lately that the imperfect notions
of those who maintained the latter began to
be felt, and the spirit of the New-Testament
diction came to be more deeply investigated.
In the age which succeeded that of Alex-
ander the Great, the Greek language under-
went an internal change of a double nature.
In part a prosaic language of books was formed
(1'7 sown dtahe'crog), which was built on the
Attic dialect, but was intermixed with not a
few provincialisms ; and partly a language of
popular intercourse was formed, in which the
various dialects of the different Grecian tribes,
heretofore separate, were more or less min-
gled together; while the Macedonian dialect
was peculiarly prominent. The latter lan-
guage constitutes the basis of the diction em-
ployed by the LXX, the writers of the Apo-
crypha, and the New Testament. This
popular Greek dialect was not spoken and
written by the Jews, without some foreign
intermixtures. They particularly introduced
many idioms, and the general complexion of
their vernacular ~language. Hence arose a
J udaizing Greek dialect. The basis of this
dialect consists of the peculiarities of the later
Greek, but in the use of all the parts of speech,
the Hebrew idioms and modes of construction
are combined with them.
GREEK CHURCH. See CHURCH, GREEK.
GREEKS, UNITED, certain Greek congrega-
tions in Italy, Hungary, Gallicia, Poland, and
Lithuania, which have acknowledged the su-
premacy of the pope, and are in communion
with the Church of Rome. Many of these
again separated in the year 1839, and are now
in communion with the Greek Church. They
are also to be found in some other parts of
the East, but in comparatively small numbers.
GROTIUS, HUGO. This eminent and learned
man was born on the 10th of April, in the
year 1583, at Delft, in Holland. From his
infancy his disposition was mild and amiable;
and nature bestowed on him the inestimable
blessing of a sound judgment, united to a
wonderful memory. At the very early age
of eight years, he composed some elegiac
verses. His father and mother, wishing to
make him a good rather than a great man.
instilled into his young and tender mind those
precepts of piety and wisdom for which, in
maturer years, he never ceased to love and
thank them. They gave him an excellent
education, andi'placed him under the care of
a clever and judicious preceptor, of the name
of Im'sson. The death of this good man was
a circumstance much and deservedly lamented
by Grotius, who possessed a mind and heart
capable of estimating true virtue and piety.
He was next placed under the care of a cele-
brated clergyman, who resided at the Hague,
13111 he was twelve years of age, when his pa-
rents sent him to the famous University of
Peyden, to perfect himself in his studies.
There he continued three years with the
learned Francis Junius, who was so kind as
to superintend his behaviour; and the famous
Joseph Scaliger, then the ornament of the
university, was so delighted with the talents
which he discovered Grotius to possess, that
he took upon himself the pleasing task of di-
recting his studies. In 1597 he maintained
public theses in mathematics, philosophy, and
law, with the highest applause. The reputa-
tion of young Grotius spread everywhere, and
the learned spoke of him as a prodigy. So
early as the year 1597, Isaac Pontanus spoke
of him as a young man of the greatest hopes;
and Meursius, in 1599, declared he had never
seen his equaL At a very early age, Grotius
formed plans which required great learning
and study, and he executed them to such per~
fection, that the republic of letters was struck
with astonishment. In 1598, Grotius went
to France, when M. de Buzanval, who had
been ambassador in Holland, introduced him
to the king ; and after having spent a twelve-
month in Paris, he returned to Holland. The
celebrated M. de Thou, at that time the most
learned man in France, took great notice of
him, and a close and long correspondence en-
sued. In 1600, Grotius sent him the “Epi-
thalamium” he had written on the marriage
of King Henry IV. with Mary of Medicis,
with which M. de Thou was much delighted,
and considered the young author as one of
the greatest men of the age. Grotius, who.
had resolved to follow the bar, pleaded his
first cause at Delft, in the year 1599, on his
return from France. The study of law and
poetry employed one part of his time, while
he spent the other in preparing his works for
the press. John Grotius had put into his
son’s hands a manuscript of Capella. Hugo
showed it to Scaliger, and this learned man
advised him to study that author, and publish
a new edition of him. Though Grotius was
but then fourteen, the difliculty of the under-
taking did not discourage him; he read for it,
and at length acquitted himself of the task
enjoined on him, with such ability and suc~
cess, that the literati of the age were astonish-
ed. In the following year, Grotius published
a work, which is known by the name of
“ The Phaenomena of Aratus,” which is a
most learned work, containing the Phaeno-
mena of Aratus, in Greek, with Cicero’s Latin
interpretation; the places. where Cicero’s
translation is wanting being supplied. This
learned work he dedicated to the States of
Holland and West Friesland. Scaliger, M.
de Thou, and Lipsius, speak of this edition
with the highest praise. Lipsius, in thanking
Grotius for his Aratus, says, that notwith~
standing his childhood, he looks on him as
his friend; and congratulated him that,
though so very young, he had, by force of
genius and labour, accomplished what few
could do in the flower of their age.
In 1603, Grotius was made Advocate-Ge»
GRO
GRO
326
neral, which office he did not at all like,
though he did infinite honour to it. His
brilliant success at the bar, however, procured
him a very considerable promotion. In July,
1608, he married Mary Reigesberg, whose
highest encomium was, that she was worthy
of Grotius for her husband. The most per-
fect harmony subsisted between them, and
Grotius held her in the highest esteem. Gro-
tius at that time began to enter into the af-
fairs of the republic; and, by his anxiety to
become serviceable to his country, he heaped
coals of fire upon his own head. In the year
1608, while the truce between the Spaniards
and the United Provinces was negociating,
Arminius and Gomarus were at issue on some
doctrinal points. The doctrine of Arminius
was directly contrary to that of Calvin, and
he was accused before the Synod of Rotter-
dam, in which the party of Gomarus prevailed.
Arminius presented a petition to the States
of Holland, requesting that the grand council
would take cognizance of this dispute. His
adversaries declared that a theological contest
ought to be decided by a church judicature.
Arminius’s petition was, however, granted,
and the magistrates promised to have the af-
fair discussed in a synod. The dispute con-
tinued, and became daily more warm. Ar-
minius, however, dying, Grotius wrote an
eulogium in verse, and by that means offend-
ed Gomarus, though he did not enter into
the nature of their disputes. The partisans
of Arminius drew up a remonstrance, which
they addressed to the state; and from that
time were styled Remonstrants. This re-
monstrance not satisfying the Gomarists, they
opposed to it a contra-remonstrance, which
gained them the appellation of Contra-remon-
strants. The disputes between the Armi-
nians and the Gomarists were very vehement.
Hence arose a grand contest, who ought to
be judge in these matters. The Arminians
declared for the civil magistrate, and the
Gomarists for the power to be invested in the
hands of the clergy. They accordingly se-
parated from the Remonstrants; took pos-
session of the churches by force; stirred up
sedition; wrote libels; and deposed the Ar-
minian ministers. It was at this time of con—
fusion Grotius was nominated pensionary of
Rotterdam, and was ordered to go to Eng-
land- It was supposed he had instructions to
get the king to favour the Arminians. On
that subject he had several conferences with
his majesty. On his return to Holland, he
found the disturbances increased, and he was
appointed to draw up an edict. This edict~
gave great offence. The Gomarists com-
plained that it was too much in favour of the
Arminians. The riots increased, and Grotius
proposed to the States of Holland, that the
magistrates should be empowered to raise
troops for the security of the town. This
step was the ruin of Grotius; and, after much
more dispute, he, with some others, were
arrested by the Prince of Orange, and were
treated most cruelly. His wife drew up two
petitions, to be allowed to reside with him,
which, even though he was ill, was refused;
and when he asked for some paper to make
his defence, only half a sheet was allowed
him. On the 18th of May, sentence was pro-
nounced against him by the commissioners.
In consequence of this sentence, the States-
General ordered him to be carried from the
Hague, to the fortress of Louvestein. His
father asked permission to see him, but was
denied; and his wife was only allowed to go
to him, on condition that she never left him.
Exile andcaptivity, far from being irksome
to Grotius, was a pleasure. Study became
his business and consolation. His time passed
fast and pleasantly. He wrote much, and he
always wrote well. He there composed, in
Dutch verse, his most admirable treatise “ On
the Truth of the Christian Religion.”
When Grotius had been confined eighteen
months, his wife effected his escape by a
chest: which, under pretence of carrying
books, conveyed him to Gorcum, to the house
of David Dazelaers, a friend of Grotius,
where the chest was opened, and its captive,
dressed like a mason, stepped into a boat,
which carried him to Valvic, in Brabant,
; where he arrived on the 22d of March, in the
year 1621.





His wife, during his absence,
gave out that he was confined to his bed;
but as soon as she heard that he was safe,
she told the guards “ that the bird had flown.”
They then confined her more closely; but,
presenting a petition to the commandant, she
was discharged. In 1621, Grotius arrived at
Paris, where he wrote his “ Apology,” which
he finished in 1622; and it was soon after
translated into Latin. After having lived a
year in that vicious metropolis, he retired to
a seat of President dc Memes, at Balagni,
where he began his greatest work, which
would alone be sufiicient to immortalize his
name, entitled a “ Treatise of the Rights of
War and Peace.” In the year 1630 he
finished the “ Phoenissae of Euripides,” and
dedicated it to the President de Memes. In
May, 1634, Grotius arrived at Frankfort, and
was received with great politeness by the
high chancellor; who, after taking him to
Mentz, proclaimed him counsellor to the
queen of Sweden, and her ambassador at the
court of France. Hugo Grotius died on the
28th of August, 1645. On his death, two
medals were struck, one containing this just
inscription, that he was “ the Phoenix of his
country, the oracle of Delft, the great, genius,
the light which enlighteneth the earth.” Gro-
tius was master of all that is worth knowing
in sacred and profane literature. There was
no art or science with which he was‘not ac-
quainted. He possessed a clear head, an ex
cellent judgment, universal learning, immense
HAB
HAB.
327
- the acuteness of his critical tact.
reading, and a sincere and unwavering love
of truth and Christianity. In his annotations
on the Old and New Testament he discovers
his amazing store of classical erudition, and
He adheres
rigidly to the literal sense throughout, objects
to the double sense of prophecy, is rather
hostile to the application of the Old Testa—
ment revelation to the Messiah, and attaches
too little importance to the peculiar doctrines
of Christianity, many of which, indeed, he
appears grossly to have misapprehend'ed. It
has been remarked by Professor Gaussen,
that while no commentators deserve to be
preferred to Erasmus and Grotius, whoever
makes use of their writings should be aware
that “ he is treading on fire overspread with
faithless ashes.” His Socinian perversions
were ably exposed by Dr. Owen, in his “ Vin-
diciae Evangelicae,” and by Calovius, in his
“ Biblia Illustrate.” Vide M de Burigng’s
Lifeof Grotius ,- Jones’s Christ. Biog.
GRoWTH IN GRACE. See GRACE.
GUARDIAN ANGEL. “ Some,” says Dr. Dod_
dridge, “ have thought, that not only every re—
gion but every man has some particular angel
assigned him as a guardian, whose business it
is generally to watch over that country or
person; for this opinion they urge Matt.
xviii. 10; Acts xii. 15. But the argument
from both these places is evidently precari-
ous; and it seems difficult to reconcile the
supposition of such a continued attendance
with what is said of the stated residence of
these angels in heaven, and with Heb. i. 14,
where all the angels are represented as mini-
stering to the heirs of salvation: though, as
there is great reason to believe the number of
heavenly spirits is vastly superior to that of
men upon earth, it is not improbable that
they may, as it were, relieve each other, and
in their turns perform these condescending
services to those whom the Lord of Angels
has been pleased to redeem with his own
blood; but we must confess that our know-
ledge of the laws and orders of those celestial
beings is very limited, and consequently that
it is the part of humility to avoid dogmatical
determinations on such heads as these. See
ANGEL; and Doddridge’s Lectures, lcct. 212.
HABADIM, a subdivision of the Jewish sect
of Chasidim, foimded by Rabbi Solomon, in
the government of Mohilef. [The name (Ha-
badim) by which they are distinguished, is
composed of the initial letters of the three
Hebrew words,‘n:0‘i, mm, T‘IDDH, “wisdom, in—
telligence, and knowledge.” They may not
Improperly be termed the “ Jewish Quietists,”
as their distinguishing peculiarity consists in
the rejection of external forms and the com-
GUEBRES, or Gauss (i. e. infidels,) the
name given to the fire-worshippers in Persia,
who in India are called Parsees. They de-
signate themselves Behendz'e, or followers of
the true faith, and live chiefly in the deserts
of Caramania, towards the Persian Gulf.
and in the province of Yezd Keram, but are
also found at Bombay, at Bachu on the west-
ern shore of the Caspian, and at Astrachan.
They are but little known, but appear to be
mild in their manners, temperate in their ha-
bits, and laborious cultivators of the ground.
They are not prohibited the use of wine, and
eat all kinds of meat. Divorce and poly-
gamy are forbidden; only if a wife remain
barren during the first nine years of marriage,
the husband may take a second wife. They
worship one Supreme Being, whom they call
Yezd, or the Eternal Spirit. The sun, moon,
and planets, they believe to be peopled with
intelligent beings; they acknowledge light
as the primitive cause of good, and regard
darkness as that of evil; on which account
they worship fire, though they themselves
maintain that they do not render the worship
to the material element itself, but to the pure
and incomprehensible God, of whom it is the
brightest and most appropriate image. 'With
a view to the performance of this service,
they keep a fire uninterruptedly burning on-
their holy places, the original of which, they
maintain, was kindled by Zoroaster 4000
years ago. Their religious book is the Zencla-
vesta, which see. One of the peculiarities of .
the ‘Guebres is, that they do not bury their
dead, but expose the bodies upon the towers
of their temples, where they are devoured by
birds. They observe which part the birds
eat first, from which they judge of the fate of
the deceased.
GUILT, the state of a person justly charged
with a crime; a consciousness of having done
amiss; liability to punishment. It is in this
last acceptation the term is used in reference
to original sin. ‘We cannot be chargeable with
the crime as Adam was, because we have not
actually or personally committed it, as he did;
but we are rendered liable to death in conse-
quence of our connexion with him as our
representative. -
H.
plete abandonment of the mind to abstraction
and contemplation. Instead of the baptisms
customary among the Jews, they go through
the signs without the use of the element, and
consider it their duty to disengage themselves
as much as possible from matter, because of
its tendency to clog the mind in its ascent to
the supreme source of intelligence.’ In prayer
they make no use of words, but simply place
themselves in the attitude of supplication,
HAD
HJER
328
and exercise themselves in mental ejacula-
tions.
Y any given'instance they did apply it in this
,‘ sense,‘ it was only designating a part for the
HABIT, a powerand ability of doing any ‘ whole. It was the state in which the aged
thing, acquired by frequent repetition of the ‘
same action. It is distinguished from custom. ‘
Custom respects the action; habit the actor.
patriarch expected to meet his deceased son,
Gen. xxxvii. 35; into which the fathers had
entered, and whither their posterity were re-
By custom we mean a frequent reiteration of ' moved at death‘to join their society. “Gen.
the same act; and by habit the effect that xxv. 8; xxxv. 29; xlix. 29. Deut. xxxii. 50.
custom has on the mind or body. “ Man,” as
one observes, “is a bundle of habits.
are habits of industry, attention, vigilance,
In all these passages, the being “ gathered to
There one’s people,” is spoken of as something dis-
tinct from mere burial; and, indeed, in the
advertency; of a prompt obedience to the . cases of Abraham and Moses, it is obvious,
judgment occurring, or of yielding to the first i that, in such a sense, no phrase can be more
impulse of passion; of apprehending, method-
izing, reasoning; of vanity, melancholy, fret-
fuluess, suspicion, covetousness, &c. In a
word, there is not a quality or function, either
of body or mind, which does not feel the influ-
ence of this great law of animated nature.”
To cure evil habits, we should be as early as
we can in our application, principiis obsta;
to cross and mortify the inclination by a fre-
quent and obstinate practice of the contrary
virtue. To form good habits, we should get
our minds well stored with knowledge; asso-
ciate with the wisest and best men; reflect
much on the pleasure good habits are pro-
ductive of; and, above all, supplicate the
Divine Being for direction and assistance.
Kaimes’s El. of Crit. ch. xiv. vol. 1 ; Grove’s
Mor. Phil. vol. i. p. 143; Paley’s Mor. Phil.
vol. i. p. 46 ; Jortin on Bad Habits, ser. 1. vol.
iii. ; Reid on the Active powers, p. 117 ; Cogan
on the Passions, p. 235.
HADES, ‘Adng, from d privative, and idsw
to see, signifying the invisible state, or the
place of the departed, without reference either
to their misery or bliss. The corresponding
term in Hebrew is ‘new Sheol, which is by
many derived from the root 51m? to demand,
inquire; and either signifies the place with
respect to which it may be asked, “ Ma'n giveth
up the ghost, and where is he?” Job xiv. 10 ;
or the insatiable receptacle which crieth, Give,
give, and never saith, It is enough, Prov. xxx.
15, 16. Both words are used to express the
state of the dead, in its most comprehensive
point of view; comprising the grave as the
invisible residence of the body, and the world
of spirits as the invisible abode of the soul.
At other times they are used, either of the one
or the other, taken separately. They are
often very improperly rendered hell in our
common version; the instances being com-
paratively few in which the words have the
signification of the place of punishment. In
other passages the term grave is too limited a
rendering. The reader must judge from the
context, and all the circumstances of the case,
in which acceptation the words are to be taken.
That the Hebrews ordinarily understood
something beyond the grave by the term 'Jittw
Sheol, is evident from the circumstance, that
the common name for that receptacle of the
human body is ‘up Keber; so that when in

incongruous, since the former had no people
in the cave of Machpelah, Sarah being the
only individual who as yet had been buried in
it ; and of the grave of the latter, the children
of Israel were profoundly ignorant. To his
people he certainly was not gathered, if by
the phrase he meant that his body was de-
posited in his family grave. It has justly
been observed that rich; g, and the corresponding
Hebrew word Sheol are always singular in
meaning as well as in form. The word for
grave is often plural. The former never
admits the possessive pronouns, being the re-
ceptacle of all the dead, and therefore incapable
of appropriation to individuals; the latter fre-
quently does. Where the disposal of the body
or corpse is spoken of, raqiog, or some equiva-
lent term, is the name of its repository. When
mention is made of the spirit after death, its
abode is db‘ng.
With respect to the situation of Hades, it
was conceived of by the Hebrews as well as
the Pagans, as in the lower or interior parts of
the earth, and answering in depth to the visible
heavens in height. Hence the phrases,—deep
as hades ; to descend to hades, &c. For fur-
ther information on this subject, see Campbell’s
Dissert. No. vi.
HADGEE, the title of a Mohammedan who
performs a pilgrimage to Mecca; a religious act
which every orthodox Mussulman is directed
to do once in his life. It is also the name of
the celebration which takes place on the arrival
of the caravan of pilgrims at Mecca.
HAGIOGRAPHA, (Gr. dytog, holy, and ypa 17,
a writing,) the name given to the third division
of the Jewish Scriptures, which comprises the
book of Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Daniel, Ezra,
Nehemiah, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes,
the Song of Solomon, Esther, and the Chroni-
cles. In Hebrew this division is called mun-in,
Kethubim, the “ writings.” These books ap-
pear to have received the name of “ Sacred
Writings,” to intimate that, though they were
not written by Moses, nor by any of the pro-
phets, strictly so called, they were nevertheless
to be received as of the same divine authority,
having been written or added to the canon,
under the influence of that Holy Spirit by
whose inspiration the other books were com-
posed.
Hinun'rico COMBURENDO, a writ which
HAL 3
9 HAL
anciently lay against a heretic, who having
once been convicted of heresy by his bishop,
and having abjured it, afterwards .falling into
it again, or into some other, is thereupon com-
mitted to the secular power. This writ is
thought by some to be as ancient as the
common law itself; however, the convic-
tion of heresy by the common law was not
in any petty ecclesiastical court, but before
the archbishop himself, in a provincial synod,
and the delinquent was delivered up to the
king, to do with him as he pleased; so that the
crown had a control over the spiritual power;
but by 2 Henry IV. cap. 15, the diocesan
alone, without the intervention of a synod,
might convict of heretical tenets; and unless
the convict abjured his opinions, or if after
abjuration he relapsed, the sheriff was bound
at ofiicio, if required by the bishop, to commit
the unhappy victim to the flames without wait-
ing for the consent of the crown. This writ
remained in force, and was actually executed
on two Anabaptists, in the seventh of Eliza-
beth, and on two Arians in the ninth of James
I. Sir Edward Coke was of opinion that this
writ did not lie in his time, but it was now
formally taken away by statute 29 Car. II.
cap. 9. But this statute does not extend to
take away or abridge the jurisdiction of Pro-
testant archbishops, or bishops, or any other
judges of any ecclesiastical courts, in cases of
atheism, blasphemy, heresy, or schism; but
they may prove and punish the same, accord—
ing to his Majesty’s ecclesiastical laws, by ex-
communication, deprivation, degradation, and
other ecclesiastical censures, not extending to
death, in such sort and no other, as they
might have done before the making of this
act.
HALF-WAY COVENANT, a scheme adopted
by the Congregational ‘Churches of New
England, in 1657-1662, in order to' extend the
privileges of church membership and infant
baptism beyond the pale of actual communion
at the Lord’s Supper. It justly caused a
great agitation in the New England Colonies;
for, according to its arrangements, persons
who confessedly had not given their hearts
to God, were encouraged to present their
children for baptism, at which time they
made the most solemn of all public profes-
sions. The consequence of its adoption was,
that, in many places, the churches came to
consist of unregenerate persons. It is, how-
ever, now universally abandoned by the
Evangelical or Orthodox Churches, and is
only found among the Unitarians.
HALLELUJAH, Hebrew 719-17757‘! “ Praise ye
the Lord.” In Greek ’A>\2\17>\015‘ia. The
ancient writers of the Christian church make
frequent mention of singing the Allelujah,
by which they sometimes mean the repeti-
tion of that single word, which they did, in
1m1tation of the heavenly host, singing and
repeating Allelujah, Rev. xix. Sometimes

they mean one of those Psalms which are
called Alleluatic Psalms, because they had
the word Allelujah prefixed to them; such
as the cxlv. and those that follow, to the end.
The singing Allelujah was a sort of invita-
tory, or call to each other, to praise the Lord.
Anciently there was no dispute about the
lawfulness of using the hymn itself, but there
was some difference about the times of using
it. St. Austin tells us, that in some churches
it was sung only on Easter-day, and the fifty
days of Pentecost. But in other churches it
was used at other times also. Sozomen as-
sures us that, in the Roman church, it was
sung only on Easter-day; and that from
thence it was the common form of an oath
among the Romans, as they hoped to live to
sing Allelujah on that day. But even in
those churches, where it was most in use, there
were some exceptions in point of time and
season; for, according to St. Austin, it was
never used in the time of Lent. The fourth
Council of Toledo forbids the singing it, not
only during Lent, but on other days of fasting.
In the same council the Allelujah is men-
tioned under the name of Laudes, and ap-
pointed to be sung after the reading of the
Gospel. It was also sung at funerals, as St.
Jerome acquaints us in his epitaph of Fabiola,
where he speaks of the whole multitude sing’
ing psalms together, and making the golden
roof of the church shake with echoing forth
the Allelujah. In the second Council of
Tours, it is appointed to be sung immediately
after the Psalms, both at Matins and Vespers.
St. Jerome says, it was used even in private
devotion, and that the ploughman at his labour
sung Allelujahs. It was likewise the signal,
or call, among the monks, to their ecclesiasti-
cal assemblies. The ancient church always
preserved the Hebrew word; and so did the
Church of England in her first Liturgy, though
now they say, “Praise ye the Lord,” with a
response of the people, “ The Lord’s name be
praised.” .
The word as occurring in the Psalms, has
been retained in many versions, and is often
employed in hymns, probably on account of
its full and fine sound, which, together with
its simple and solemn meaning, so proper for
public religious services, has rendered it a
favourite of musical composers. Its vowels
are very favourable for a singer.
The Jews call the Psalms cxiii. to cxvii. the
Great Hallel, because they celebrate the pecu-
liar mercies of God towards the Jews, and
' they are sung at the feast of the Passover,
and that of Tabernacles.
' HALYBURTON, Tnorras, Professor of Di~
vinity in the University of St. Andrew’s, was
born at Duplin, in the parish of Aberdalgy,
near Perth, December the 25th, 1674. His
father. formerly minister of that parish, was
ejected, with about three hundred others, for
nouconformity. Both his parents were emi-
HAL
HAL
330
nently pious. In 1682 his father died, in the
fifty-fifth year of his age ; and the care of the
son’s morals and education devolved on his
excellent mother. Never was the importance
of the union of piety and literature in the ma-
ternal character more fully developed than in
this instance. But for this the world might
never have heard, nor the church have felt,
the benefit of the talents and Christian virtues
of an Halyburton. This excellent woman was
the mother of eleven children, out of which
number she followed nine to the grave at a
very early age. In addition to her othertrials,
she was driven, by the rage of persecution, to
seek an asylum in Holland, for herself and,
children, two of which only were now left to
her—the subject of the present sketch, and
her eldest daughter, who was married. While
on his voyage to Holland, he speaks in his
Memoirs, of various convictions arising in his
mind, in times of real or apprehended danger,
but acknowledges, at the same time, that he
knew nothing of acceptance and communion
with God ; and attributes his concern of mind
to a mixture of natural fear, and a selfish de-
sire of preservation from supposed danger. He
made resolutions in the storm, which subsided
with the winds; and corruption, that had been
dammed in for a little, having forced down
the temporary mounds which were raised
against it, broke its way with increased violence
and force. Having reached land, and fixed
at Rotterdam, he was, by the care of his mother,
placed within reach of the most valuable in-
structions of one of the suffering ministers.
In the month of February, 1687, King J amcs
issued his proclamations for indulgence; when
most of those who had fled returned home,
and his mother and family amongst them.
During the voyage, they were in imminent dan-
ger of shipwreck, but providentially escaped.
This danger, being sudden, left little impres-
sion on Halyburton’s mind. He took up his
abode with his mother, at Perth, till 1690 or
1691. Being placed under good scholastic
discipline, he made considerable proficiency.
But religion as yet had made no effective im-
pression on his mind, till towards the close of
J ames’s reign, when the fear of a massacre, or
some sudden stroke from the papists, revived
his concern for his eternal welfare. This was
aided by evangelical instruction, increased
knowledge, the seasons of sickness; and more
especially by the state of public affairs. His
fear of the daggers of the papists having ceased,
through the battle of Killicrankie, fought June
the 27th, 1689, his remaining difiiculty was
only with his convictions, which he could by
no means effect for any considerable length of
time together. He began to be perplexed
respecting the evidences of revealed religion,
till after having experienced some mental
relief from Robert Bruce’s “ Fulfilling of the
Scriptures,” he received further relief from
Mr. Donaldson, an excellent old minister, who
came to preach at Perth, and paid a visit to
his mother. He inquired of his young friend,
if he sought a blessing from God on his learn-
ing; remarking ‘at the same time, with an
austere look, “ Sirrah, unsanctified learning
has done much mischief to the kirk of God.”
This led him to seek divine direction in extra-
ordinary difiiculties; but this exercise, he ac-
knowledges, left him still afar off from God.‘
In 1690 or 1691, his mother removed to Edin-
burgh, and placed him at Mr. Gavin Weir’s
school, where he remained (a short interval ex-
cepted) till November 1692, when he entered
the college, under Mr. Alexander Cunning-
ham. Here his convictions increased, chiefly
through the means of sermons from the pulpit,
and the private perusal of Shepherd’s “Sincere
Convert.” His formal attention to the duties
of the closet increased, but no solid peace was
yet attained, till about this time, meeting with
Clark’s Martyrology, and being naturally fond
of history, he read it with eager attention,
and received many valuable impressions,
which never left him. In May, 1693, he was
advised, on his mother’s account as well as his
own, to seek a change of air, and he went to
St. Andrew’s, where he entered college. He
was placed under the care of Mr. Thomas
Taylor, a man of learning, and who was ex-
ceedingly kind to him. At St. Andrew’s his
regard for religion increased; and under the
ministry of _Mr. Thomas Forrester, he began
to discover the more secret evils of his heart.
He formed many good resolutions, and thought
he had found peace; but it was a ‘structure,
which had for its foundation vows made, and
sometimes fulfilled with apparent success, ra-v
ther than the atonement of Christ. Having
applied himself closely three years to the
study of philosophy, he had thought of going
abroad, in search of further improvement; but
fear of the sea on the one hand, and the pressing
solicitations of friends on the other, prevailed
with him to engage as domestic chaplain in a
nobleman’s family. Accordingly, in August,
1696, he went to the Wemyes. Here he met
with considerable difiiculties, arising out of his
prominent situation, and more especially from
the debates into which he was drawn on the
truth of religion.
In resorting to the works of Deists, with a
view to meet their arguments, his own mind
was much perplexed: but the valuable fruit
of his study, in reference to others, may be
seen in his admirable “ Treatise on Deism,”
which most triumphantly refutes the princi-
ples of Lord Herbert, and other Deists, and
will ever remain a standard work on the sub-
ject. Nor, in the issue, could he regret a re~
search which taught him an humble submis-
sion to the dictates of divine revelation, not-
withstanding at present he was the subject of
the most distressing doubts. He represents
1118 state of depression, during this conflict, as
of a nature too grave to have been long sus~
‘HAL
HAP
331
. heart.
tained. But about the close of January, or
beginning of February, 1698, he obtained
from the Scriptures that salutaryrelief, which
was no less necessary to his earthly exist-
ence, than to his spiritual peace. New light
broke in upon his mind. v From the doc-
trine of the cross he derived that consolation
which he had in vain sought elsewhere, and
that purity, which is connected, as a principle,
with the religion of Christ. His heart was
expanded towards others, and for many days
together, he says, he seemed admitted into the
very “secret of the divine pavilion.” The
most overwhelming sense of his own worth-
lcssness pervaded his mind, and his feelings
of reverence for God were unusually exalted;
his joy he states to have been “truly unspeak—
able, and full of glory.” ' So much was he
raised above earth, that he could scarcely bend
his mind to the perusal of any works but
those of a devotional, cast. His views of the
enormity of sin, he says, grew clearer as he
advanced in holiness; his contrition under it
became more pungent, and his desire after
freedom from its influence more ardent. “All
his former doubts, respecting the being of a
God, vanished in the clear light of an evange—
lical faith; and he had a witness to the exist-
ence of a Being of infinite love and purity in
the internal satisfaction and holiness of his
The bulky arguments, that appeared
as mountains, shook at the presence of the
Lord, and were carried into the midst of the
sea.” The authenticity of the Scriptures,
which he ‘had previously disputed, and which
could be removed neither by personal inves-
tigation nor by reading the works of others,
now received sufiicient proof in the discoveries
which they had enabled him to make of his
own guilt—of the being, attributes, and pur-
poses of God—and the transforming, quicken-
in g, supporting, and reviving influences which
they had conveyed to his own mind. In short,
reason now became entirely the disciple of
revelation, and the thoughts of entering the
ministry, which he had previously laid aside,
on account of the wavering state of his mind,
now returned, and in April or May, 1698,
two ministers, from the presbytery of Kirkal-
dy, visited him, and pressed him to enter on
trial for the ministry. He objected his want
of reading, of a knowledge of language, &e.,
but after repeated solicitations he complied,
and was licensed by them to preach, June the
22nd, 1699. He was appointed minister of
Cens parish, May the 1st, 1700. Within a
few years after his settlement at Cens, his
health began to fail; and at length his indis-
position so much increased, that with great
difliculty he went through the labours incident
to so_ large a parish. In April, 1710, he was
appomted, by patent from Queen Anne, pro-
fessor of divinity in the-newr college of St.v
Andrew’s, through the mediation of the Synod
of Fife, and delivered his inaugural oration in
confutation of an atheistical pamphlet, entitled
“ Epistola Archimedis ad Regem Gelonenem.”
In April, 1711, he was seized with a danger-
ous pleurisy. This disease was removed, but
he never fully recovered his former strength;
and, on the 23rd of September, 1712,11edepart—
ed triumphantly to his eternal rest. His last
words are among the richest treasures which
piety ever bequeathed to the church ; and the
letters which he dictated on his dying bed, are
specimens of his unparalleled devotion and con-
cern for the welfare of others. He was sin-
gularly fitted for the schools; he spoke ele-
gant Latin with fluency; he was well skilled
in the‘Greek, but his sickness prevented‘ the
execution of his design to learn the oriental
languages. Few lives have been more useful
and distinguished by general piety; his death
was a loss to Scotland and the world at large.
His works, in addition to those already men-
tioned, consist of—“ The great Concern of
Salvation; in three parts, viz., A Discovery of
Man’s Natural State ; or, the Guilty Sinner
Convicted: Man’s Recovery by Faith in
Christ; or, the convinced Sinner’s Case and
Cure: The Christian’s Duty, with respect to
both personal and family Religion.” Glas-
gow, octavo, 1770.——Ten Sermons, preached
before and after the celebration of the Sacra-
ment of the Lord’s Supper; to which are add-
ed, Two Sermons, preached upon the occasion
of the death of a friend. To these discourses
is prefixed an excellent preface by Dr. ‘Watts,
highly expressive both of their own worth, \
and of their author’s. There is also another,
to the same purpose, by Mr. Thomas Black.
Vide Lzfe, written by himself. Jones’s Christ.
Biog.
HAPPINESS, absolutely taken, denotes the
durable possession of perfect good, without
any mixture of evil; or the enjoyment of pure
pleasure unalloyed with pain, or a state in
which all our wishes are satisfied; in which
senses, happiness is only known by name on
this earth. The word happy, when applied to
any state or condition of human life, will ad-
mit of no positive definition, but is merely a
relative term; that is, when we call a. man
happy, we mean that he is happier than some
others with whom we compare him; or than the
generality of others; or than he himself was
in some other situation. Moralists justly ob-
serve, that happiness does not consist in the
pleasures of sense; as eating, drinking, music,
painting, theatrical exhibitions, 8w. 8.20., for
these pleasures continue but a little while, by
repetition lose their relish, and by high 0X-
pectation often bring disappointment. Nor
does happiness consist in an exemptlon from
labour, care, business, &c.; such a state bemg
usually attended with depression of spirits,
imaginary anxieties, and the whole train of
hypochondriacal affections. Nor 1s it to be
found in greatness, rank, or elevated stations,
as matter of fact abundantly testifies; but
HAT
HEA
332
happiness consists in the enjoyment of the
Divine favour, a good conscience, and uniform
conduct. In subordination to these, human
happiness may be greatly promoted by the ex-
ercise of the social affections; the pursuit of ‘
some engaging end, the prudent constitution
of the habits, and the enjoyment of our health.
Bolton and Lucas on Happiness; Henry’s Plea-
santness of a Religious Life,- Grove and Pa-
ley’s Mor. Phil. ,- Barrow’s Ser. ser. 1 ; Young’s
Centaur, 41 to 160; Wollaston’s Religion of
Nature, sec. 2.
HARMONY OF THE GosPELs, a term made
use of to denote the concurrence or agreement
of the writings of the four Evangelists ; or
the history of the four Evangelists digested
into one continued series. By this means each
story or discourse is exhibited with all its con-
current circumstances; frequent repetitions
are prevented, and a multitude of seeming
oppositions reconciled. Among some of the
most valuable harmonies, are those of Cradoch,
Le Clerc, Docldriclge, Machnight, Newcome,
and Townson’s able Harmony on the concluding
Part of the Gospels; Thompson’s Diatessaron.
To the theological student Griesbach’s Synop-
sis of the first three Gospels, in Greek, with
the various readings, is invaluable. The term
harmony is also used in reference to the agree-
ment which the Gospel bears to natural reli-
gion, the Old Testament, the history of other
nations, and the works of God at large.
. HASSIDEANS, or ASSIDEANS, those Jews who
resorted to Mattathias, to fight for the laws of
God and the liberties of their country. They
were men of great valour and zeal, having vo—
luntarily devoted themselves to a more strict
observation of the law than other men. For,
after the return of the Jews from the Baby-
lonish captivity, there were two sorts of men
in their church—those who contented them-
selves with that obedience only which was
prescribed by the law of Moses, and who were
called Zadihi'm, i. e. the righteous; and those
who, over and above the laws, superadded the
constitutions and traditions of the elders, and
other rigorous Observances: these latter were
called the Chasidim, i. e. the pious. From the
former sprang the Sadducees and Caraites :
from the latter, the Pharisees and the Essenes,
which see.
HATRED is the aversion of the will to any
object considered by us as evil, or to any
person or thing we suppose can do us harm.
See ANTIPATHY. Hatred is ascribed to God,
but is not to be considered as apassion in him
as in man ; nor can he hate any of the creai
tures he has made, as his creatures. Yet he
is said to hate the wicked, Psa. v. ; and indi -
nation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, will
be upon every soul of man that does evil. See
WRATH or G01).
HA'I'TEMISTS, in ecclesiastical history, the
name of a modern Dutch sect; so called from
Pontian Van Hattem, a minister in the pro-
vince of Zealand,towards the close of the last
century, who, being addicted to the sentiments
of Spinosa, was on that account degraded from
his pastoral oflice. The Verschoris'ts and
Hattemists resemble each other in their reli—
gious systems, thoughthey never so entirely
agreed as to form one communion. ‘ The
founders of these sects deduced from the doc-
trine of absolute decrees a system of fatal and
uncontrollable necessity; they denied the dif-
ference between moral good and evil, ‘and the
corruption of human nature; from whence
‘they further concluded, that mankind were
under no sort of obligation to correct their
manners, to improve their minds, or to obey
the divine laws; that the whole of religion
consisted not in acting, but in suffering; and
that all the precepts of Jesus Christ are re-
ducible to this one,—that we bear with cheer-
fulness and patience the events that happen to
us through the divine will, and make it our
constant and only study to maintain a perfect
tranquillity of mind. Thus far they agreed :
but the Hattemists further affirmed, that Christ
made no expiation for the sins of men by his
death: but had only suggested to us, by his
mediation, that there was nothing in us that
could offend the Deity: this, they say, was
Christ’s manner of justifying his servants, and
presenting them blameless before the tribunal
of God. It was one of their distinguishing
tenets, that God does not punish men for their
sins, but by their sins. These two sects, says
Mosheim, still subsist, though they no longer
bear the names of their founders.
HEARING THE WORD or G01), is an ordi-
nance of divine appointment, Rom. x. 17 ;
Prov. viii. 4, 5 ; Mark iv. 24.
Public reading of the Scriptures was a part
of synagogue worship, Acts xiii. 15 ; xv.
21, and was the practice of the Christians
in primitive times. Under the former dis-
pensation there was a public hearing of the
law at stated seasons, Deut. xxxi. 10, 13 ;
Neh. viii. 2, 3. It seems, therefore, that it is
a duty incumbent on us to hear, and, if sensi-
ble of our ignorance, we shall also consider it
our privilege. As to the manner of hearing,
it should be constantly, Prov. viii. 34; Jam. 1.
24, 25. Attentively, Luke xxi. 48; Acts x.
33; Luke iv. 20, 22. With reverence, Ps.
lxxxix. 7. With faith, Heb. iv. 2. With an
endeavour to retain what we hear, Heb. ii. 1 ;
Psa. cxix. 11. With an humble, docile dispo-
sition, Luke x. 42. With prayer, Luke xviii.
The advantages of hearing are information,
2 Tim. iii. 16. Conviction, 1 Cor. xiv. 24, 25;
Acts ii. Conversion, Ps. xi. 7 ; Acts iv. 4.
Confirmation, Acts xiv. 22; xvi. 5. Consola-
tion, Phil. i. 25; Isa. X1. 1, 2; xxxv. 3, 4.
Stennett’s Parable of the Sower ; Massillon’s
Serm. vol. ii. pp. 131, Eng. trans]. ; Gill’s
Body of Div. vol. iii. p. 340, oct. ed.
HEART is used for the soul, and all the
powers thereof --- as the understanding, cou-
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science, will, affections, and memory. The
heart of man is naturally, constantly, univer-
sally, inexpressibly, openly, and evidently
depraved, and inclined to evil, Jer. xvii. 9.
It requires a divine power to renovate it, and
render it susceptible of right impressions,
J er. xxiv. 7. When thus renovated the effects
will be seen in the temper, conversation, and
conduct at large. See FAITH, HOPE, &c.
Hardness of heart is that state in which a sin-
ner is inclined to, and actually goes on in
rebellion against God. This state evidences
itself by light views of the evil of sin; partial
acknowledgment and confession of it; pride
and conceit; ingratitude; unconcern about
the word and ordinances of God; inattention
to divine providences; stifling convictions of
conscience; shunning reproof ; presumption,
and general ignorance of divine things. We
must distinguish, however, between that
hardness of heart which even a good man
complains of, and that of a judicial nature.
1. Judicial hardness is very seldom perceived,
and never lamented: a broken and contrite
heart is the last thing such desire; but it is
otherwise with believers, for the hardness
they feel is always a matter of grief to them,
Rom. vii. 24. 2. Judicial hardness is per-
petual; or, if ever there be any remorse or
relenting, it is only at such times when the
sinner is under some outward afflictions, or,
filled with the dread of the wrath of God;
but as this wears off, or abates, his stupidity
returns as much as, or more than ever, Exod.
ix. 27: but true believers, when no adverse
dispensations trouble them, are often dis-
tressed because their hearts are no more af-
fected in holy duties, or inflamed with love to
God, Rom. vii. 15. 3. Judicial hardness is
attended with a total neglect of duties, espe-
cially those that are secret; but that hardness
of heart which a believer complains of. though
it occasions his going uncomfortably in duty,
yet does not keep him from it, Job xxiii. 2, 3.
4. When a person is judicially hardened,
he makes use of indirect and unwarrantable
methods to maintain that false peace which
he thinks himself happy in the enjoyment of ;
but a believer, when complaining of the hard-
ness of his heart, cannot be satisfied with
any thing short of Christ, Ps. ci. 2,. 5. Judi-
cial hardness generally opposes the interest of
truth and godliness; but a good man consi-
ders this as a cause nearest his heart; and
although he have to repent his lukewarm-
ness, yet he constantly desires .to promote it,
Ps. lxxii. 19.
Keeping the heart, is a duty enjoined in the
Sacred Scriptures. It consists, says Mr.
_Flavel, in the diligent and constant use and
improvement of all holy means and duties to
preserve the soul from sin, and maintain com-
munion with God ;' and this, he properly ob-
seryes, supposes a previous work of sanctifi-
cation, which hath set the heart right by giving
it a new bent and inclination. 1. It includes
frequent observation of the frame of the
heart, Ps. lxxvii. 6. 2. Deep humiliation for
heart evils and disorders, 2 Chron. 26.
3. Earnest supplication for heart purifying
and rectifying grace, Ps. xix. 12. 4. A con-
stant holy jealousy over our hearts, Prov.
xxvii. 14. 5. It includes the realizing of
God’s presence with us, and setting him before
us, Ps. xvi. 8. Gen. xvii. 1. This is, 1. The
hardest work; heart work is hard work, in-
deed. 2. Constant work, Exod. xvii. 12. 3.
The most important work, Prov. xxiii. 26.
This is a duty which should be attended to,
if we consider it in connexion with, 1. The
honour of God, Is. lxvi. 3. 2. The sincerity
of our profession, 2 Kings x. 31; Ezek. xxxiii.
31, 32. 3. The beauty of our conversation,
Prov. xii. 26; Ps. xlv. 1. 4. The comfort of
our souls, 2 Cor. xiii. 5. 5. The improve-
ment of our graces, Ps. lxiii. 5, 6. 6. The
stability of our souls in the hour of tempta-
tion, 1 Cor. xvi. 13. The seasons inwhich
we should more particularly keep our hearts
are, 1. The time of prosperity, Deut. vi. 10,
12. 2. Under afflictions, Heb. vii. 5, 6. 3.
The time of Sion’s troubles, Ps. xlvi. 1, 4.
4. In the time of great and threatening dan-
gers, Is. xxvi. 20, 21. 5. Under great wants,
Phil. iv. 6, 7. 6. In the time of duty, Lev.
x. 3. 7. Under injuries received, Rom. xii.
17, &c. 8. In the critical hour of temptation,
Matt. xxvi. 41. 9. Under dark and doubting
seasons, Heb. xii. 8; Is. 1. 10. 10. In time
of opposition and suffering, 1 Pet. iv. 12, 13.
11_. The time of sickness and death, J er.
xlix. 11. The means to be made use of to
keep our hearts are, 1. Watchfulness, Mark
xni. 37. 2. Examination, Prov. iv. 26. 3.
Prayer, Luke xviii. 1. 4. Reading God’s
word, John v. 39. 5. Dependence on divine
grace, Ps. lxxxvi. 11. See Flavel on Keeping
the Heart,- Jamieson’s Sermons on the Heart;
W'righton Self-possession ,- Ridgley’s Div. qu. 29.
HEATHEN (from heath, barren, uncultivat-
ed,) pagans who worship false gods, and are
not acquainted either with the doctrines of
the Old Testament or the Christian dispen-
sation. For many ages before Christ, the
nations at large were destitute of the true
religion, and gave themselves up to the grossest
ignorance, the most absurd idolatry, and the
greatest crimes. Even the most learned men
among the heathens were in general incon‘
sistent, and complied with or promoted the
vain customs they found among their coun-
trymen. It was, however, divinely foretold,
that in Abraham’s seed all nations should be
blessed; that the heathen should be gathered
to the Saviour, and become his people, Gen.
l8; Gen. xlix. 10; Ps. 8; Is. xlii.
6, 7 ; Ps. lxxii.; Is. lx. In order that these
promises might be accomplished, vast num-
bers of the Jews, after the Chaldean cap.
tivity, were left scattered among the heathen.
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The Old Testament was translated into
Greek, the most common language of the
heathen; and a rumour of the Saviour’s
appearance in the flesh was spread far and
wide among them. When Christ came, he
preached chiefly in Galilee, where there were
multitudes of Gentiles. He assured the Greeks
that vast numbers of the heathen should be
brought into the church, Matt. iv. 23 ; John
xii. 20, 24. For 1700 years past the Jews
have been generally rejected, and the church
of God has been composed of the Gentiles.
- Upwards of 800 miilions, however, are sup-
posed to be yet in pagan darkness. Zealous
attempts have been made of late years for the
enlightening of the heathen; and great good
has been done. From the aspect of Scripture
prophecy, we are led to expect that the king-
doms of the heathen at large shall be brought
to the light of the Gospel, Matt. xxiv. 14; Is.
lx. ; Ps. xxii. 28, 29 ; Ps. ii. 7, 8.
HEAVEN, a place in some remote part of
infinite space, in which the omnipresent Deity
affords a nearer and more immediate view of
himself, and a more sensible manifestation of
his glory, than in the other parts of the uni-
verse.
That there is a state of future happiness,
both reason and Scripture indicate; a general
notion of happiness after death has obtained
among the wiser sort of heathens, who have
, only had the light of nature to guide them.
If we examine the human mind, it is also
evident that there is a natural desire after
happiness in all men; and, which is equally
evident, is not attained in this life. It is no
less observable, that in the present state there
is an unequal distribution of things, which
makes the providences of God very intricate,
and which cannot be solved without suppos-
ing a future state. Revelation, however,
puts it beyond all doubt. The Divine Being
' hath promised it, 1 John ii. 25; v. 11;
James i. 12; hath given us some intimation .
of its glory, 1 Pet. iii. 4, 22; Rev. iii. 4; de-
clares Christ hath taken possession of it for
us, John xiv. 2, 3; and informs us of some
already there, both as to their bodies and
souls, Gen. v. 24; 2 Kings ii.-
Heaven is to be considered as a place as well
as a state; it is expressly so termed in Scrip-
ture, John xiv. 2, 3 ; and the existence of the
body of Christ, and those of Enoch and Eli-
jah, is a further proof of it. For if it be not
a place, where can these bodies be? and
where will the bodies of the saints exist after
the resurrection? Where this place is, how-
ever, cannot be determined. Some have
thought it to be beyond the starry firmament;
and some of the ancients imagined that their
dwelling would be in the sun. Others sup-
pose the air to be the seat of the blessed.
Others think that the saints will dwell upon
earth when it shall be restored to its paradi-
saical state; but these suppositions are more
curious than edifying, and it becomes us to
be silent where divine revelation is so.
Heaven, however, we are assured, is a place
of inexpressible felicity. The names given to
it are proofs of this: it is called “ paradise,”
Luke xxiii. 43; “light,” Rev. xxi. 23; “a
building and mansion of God,” 2 Cor. v. 1 ;
John xiv. 2; “a city,” Heb. xi. 10, 16; “a
better country,” Heb. xi. 16; “an inherit-
ance,” Acts xx. 32; “a kingdom,” Matt.
xxv. 34; “ a crown,” 2 Tim. iv. 8 ; “glory,”
Ps. lxxxiv. 11; 2 Cor. iv. 17; “peace, rest,
and joy of the Lord,” Isa. lvii. 2 ; Heb. iv. 9 ;
Matt. xxv. 21, 23. The felicity of heaven
will consist in freedom from evil, both of soul
and body, Rev. vii. 17 ; in the enjoyment of
God as the chief good; in the company of
angels and saints; in perfect holiness, and
extensive knowledge.
It has been disputed whether there are degrees
of glory in heaven. The arguments against
degrees are, that all the people of God are
loved by him with the same love, all chosen
together in Christ, equally interested in the
same covenant of grace, equally redeemed
with the same price, and all predestinated to
the same adoption of children; to suppose
the contrary, it is said, is to eclipse the glory
of divine grace, and carries with it the legal
idea of being rewarded for our works. On
the other side it is observed, that if the above
reasoning would prove any thing, it would
prove too much, viz. that we should all be
upon an equality in the present world as well
as that which is to come ; for we are now as
much the objects of the same love, purchased
by the same blood, &c., as we shall be here-
after. That rewards contain nothing incon-
sistent with the doctrine of grace, because
those very works which it pleaseth God to
honour are the effects of his own operation.
That all rewards to a guilty creature have
respect to the mediation of Christ. That
God’s graciously connecting blessings with
the obedience of his people, serves to show not
only his love to Christ and to them, but his
regard to righteousness. That the Scriptures
; expressly declare for degrees, Dan. xii. 3;
1 Matt. x. 41, 42; xix. 28, 29; Luke xix. 16,
19; Rom. ii. 6; 1 C01‘. iii. 8; xv. 41, 42; 2
Cor. v. 10; Gal. vi. 9.
Another question has sometimes been pro-
posed, viz., Whether the saints shall know each
* other in heaven?
“ The arguments,” says Dr. Ridgley,

“ which are generally brought in defence of
it, are taken from those instances recorded in
Scripture, in which persons, who have never
seen one another before, have immediately
known each other in this world, by a special,
immediate divine revelation given to them, in
‘ like manner that Adam knew that Eve was
taken out of him; and therefore says, ‘ This
is now bone of my bone, and flesh of my
flesh ; she shall be called woman, because she
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' was'taken out of man,’ Gen. ii. 23.
He was
‘ cast into a deep sleep, when God took out one
of his ribs, and so formed the woman,’ as we
read in the foregoing words; yet the know-
ledge hereof was communicated to him by
God. Moreover, we read that Peter, James,
and John knew Moses and Elias, Matt. xvii.,
as appears from Peter’s making a particular
mention of them: ‘ Let us make three taber-
nacles ; one for thee, one for Moses, and one
for Elias,’ 4th ver., though he'had never seen
them before. Again, our Saviour, in the pa-
rable, represents the ‘rich man’ as seeing
‘ Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom,’
Luke xvi. 23, and speaks of him as address-
ing his discourse to him. From such like
arguments, some conclude that it may be in-
ferred that the saints shall know one ‘another
in heaven, when joined together in the same
assembly.
“ Moreover, some think that this may be
proved from the apostle’s words, in 1 Thess.
ii. 19, 20, ‘ 'What is our hope, or joy, or crown
of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the pre-
sence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming ?
for ye are our glory and joy :’ which seems
to argue that he apprehended their happiness
in heaven should contribute, or be an addition
to his, as he was made an instrument to bring
them thither; even so, by a parity of reason,
every one who has been instrumental in the
conversion and building up others in their
holy faith, as the apostle Paul was with re-
spect to them, these shall tend to enhance their
praise, and give them occasion to glorify God
on their behalf. Therefore it follows that
they shall know one another; and conse-
quently they who have walked together in
the ways of God, and have been useful to one
another as relations and intimate friends, in
what respects more especially their spiritual
concern, shall bless God‘ for the ‘mutual ad-
vantages which they have received, and
consequently shall know one another. Again,
some prove this from that expression of our
Saviour, in Luke xvi. 9, ‘ Make to yourselves
friends of the mammon of unrighteousness,
that, when yefail, they may receive you into
everlasting habitations ;’ especially if by
these ‘ everlasting habitations’ he meant hea-
ven, as many suppose it is; and then the
meaning is, that they whom you have relieved,
and shown kindness to in this world, shall
express a particular joy upon your being ad-
mitted into heaven; and consequently they
shall know you, and bless God for your hav-
ing been so useful and beneficial to them.
“ To this it is objected, that if the saints
shall know one another in heaven, they shall
know that several of those who were their
intimate friends here on earth, whom they
loved with very great affection, are not there;
and fills will have a tendency to give them
some uneasiness, and a diminution of their
joy- and happiness.
“To this it may he replied, that if it be
allowed that the saints shall know that some
whom they loved on earth are not in heaven,
this will give them no uneasiness : since that
afi'ection which took its rise principally from
the relation which we stood in to persons on
earth, or the intimacy that we have contracted
with them, will cease in another world, or
rather run in another channel, and be excited
by superior motives: namely, their relation
to Christ; that perfect holiness which they
are adorned with; their being joined in the
same blessed society, and engaged in the
same employment : together with their former
usefulness one to another in promoting their
spiritual welfare, as made subservient to the
happiness they enjoy there. And as for
others, who are excluded from their society,
they will think themselves obliged, out of a
due regard to the justice and holiness of God,
to acquiesce in his righteous judgments.
Thus, the inhabitants of heaven are repre—
sented as adoring the divine perfections,
when the vials of God’s wrath were poured
out upon his enemies, and saying, ‘ Thou art
righteous, O Lord, because thou hast judged
thus : true and righteous are thy judgments,’
Rom. xvi. 5, 7.”
The happiness of heaven will be eternal.
Whether it will be progressive or not, and
that the saints shall always be increasing in
their knowledge, joy, &c., is not so clear.
Some suppose that this indicates an imperfec-
tion in the felicity of the saints for any addi-
tion to be made; but others think it quite
analogous to ‘the dealings of God with us
here; and that, from the nature of the mind
itself, it may be concluded. But however
this be, it is certain that our happiness will
be complete. 1 Pet. v. 10 ; v. 4; Heb. xi. 10.
lVatts’s Death and Heaven; Gill’s Body of
Divinity, vol. ii. p. 495; Saurin’s Serm., vol.
iii. p. 321 ; Toplady’s Works, vol. iii. p. 471 ;
Bates’s Works ,- Ridgley’s Body of Divinity,
question 90. = ‘
HEBREWS. See JEws.
HEBREW BIBLE. See BIBLE.
HEBREW LANGUAGE, one of the branches
of an extensive‘ linguistical family, which,
besides Palestine, originally comprehended
Syria, Phoenicia, Mesopotamia, Babylon, Ara-
bia, and Ethiopia, and extending even to Car-
:thage and other places along the Mediter-
ranean Sea. It is confessedly one of the
oldest of the Oriental or Semitic dialects, and
is deserving of particular regard, not only as
containing the most ancient written docu-
ments in existence, some of which are up-
wards of 3280 years old, but as bemgthe
depository of the ancient divine revelations
to mankind. Proofs that the Hebrew was the
primitive language, have been drawn from
the names of individuals, nations and places;
from the names of the heathen gods; from
the traces of it in all languages; and from its
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great purity and simplicity. Its principal
characteristics, which apply, however, more
or less to the kindred Semitic dialects, are
stated by Gesenius to be the following. 1. It
is fond of gutturals, which appear to have
been pronounced with considerable force, but
which our organs cannot enunciate. 2. The
roots, from which other words are derived,
generally consist of two syllables, and are
more frequently verbs than nouns. 3. The
verb has only two temporal forms, the past
and the future. 4. The oblique cases of the
pronouns are always afiixed to the verb, the
substantive, or the particle, with which they
stand connected. 5. The genders are only
two,-—masculine and feminine. 6. The only
way of distinguishing the cases is by prepo-
sitions, only the genitive is formed by a noun
being placed in construction with another
noun, by which it is governed. 7. The com-
parative and superlative have distinct or
separate forms. 8. The language exhibits few
compounds, except in proper names. 9. The
svntax is extremely simple, and the diction is
in the highest degree unperiodical.
The Hebrew language is found in its
greatest purity in the writings of Moses. It
was in a very flourishing state in the time of
David and Solomon; but towards the reign
of Hezekiah it began to decline, was sub-
jected to an intermixture of foreign words,
principally Aramaean, and gradually deterio-
rated till the captivity, during which it be-
came in a great measure forgotten, the Jews
adopting the eastern Aramacan in Babylon;
and on their return to their native land they
spoke a mixed dialect, composed principally
of the dialects just mentioned, and otherwise
made up of Syriacisms, or western Aramaean
materials. Some knowledge, however, of the
ancient language continued to exist among
the learned of the nation: but they no longer
spoke it in purity, and mixed it up with a
number of Persic, Greek, and Latin words,
and thus formed the Talmudic dialect, which
exhibits the language as preserved in the
Talmud. The Rabbinical Hebrew, which is
that of a still later age, contains a further mix-
ture from the different languages with which
the Rabbins were conversant.
Hnnnnw PHILOLOGY. In no department
of sacred learning have the wild vagaries of
a playful imagination, or stubborn hardihood
of preconceived opinions, and favourite theo-
logical theories, produced greater confusion,
and thrown more formidable bugbears in the
way of the youthful student, than that of .
Hebrew philology. The very facts, that some
of the documents comprised in the sacred
volume are upwards of 3000 years old, and
were penned several centuries before the
Greeks became acquainted with the use of
letters; and that a period of not fewer than
twelve centuries intervened between the com-
position of the earliest and the most recent of
its records, together with the wide difference
which is known to exist between the forms
and structure of the oriental languages and
those of western Europe, present considera-
tions which are of themselves sufiiciently in~
timidating, and calculated to make a beginner
despair of ever acquiring a satisfactory know-
ledge of the language in which it is written:
but when in addition to these facts, we reflect
on the various conflicting systems of Hebrew
grammar and lexicography, the high-pre-
tending, but contradictory hypotheses of di-
vines eminent for their erudition and piety,
and the circumstance that few years elapse
without some production of novel and original
claims being obtruded on the attention of the
theological world in reference to this subject,
it cannot be matter of surprise, that numbers,
even of those whose sacred engagements
would naturally lead them to cultivate the
study of Hebrew, are induced to abandon it
as altogether unprofitable and vain.
Such as have never particularly directed
their attention to the subject, can scarcely
form any idea of the widely -diversified views
that have been entertained respecting the
only proper and legitimate methods by which
to determine the true meaning of the words
constituting the ancient language of the He-
brews. We shall, therefore, here attempt a
brief sketch of the different schools of Hebrew
philology.
1. The Rabbinical. This school, which is
properly indigenous among the Jews, derives
its acquaintance with the Hebrew from the
tradition of the synagogue ; from the Chaldee
Targums ; from the Talmud; from the Ara-
bic, which was the language of some of the
most learned Rabbins; and from conjectural
interpretation. In this school, at one of its
earlier periods, Jerome acquired his know-
ledge of the language; and on the revival of
learning, our first Christian Hebraists in the
west were also educated in it, having had
none but Rabbins for their teachers. In con-
sequence of this, the Jewish system of inter-
pretation was introduced into the Christian
church by Reuchlin, Sebastian Munster,
Sanctes Pagninus, and the elder Buxtorf;
and its principles still continue to exert a
powerful and extensive influence through
the medium of the grammatical and lexico-
graphical works of the last-mentioned author,
and the tinge which they gave to many parts
of the biblical translations executed imme-
diatel after the Reformation.
2. he Forsterian 'school, founded about
the middle of the sixteenth century, by John
Forster, a scholar of Reuchlin’s, and pro-
fessor in Tubingen and Wittenberg. This
author entirely rejected the authority of the
Rabbins ; and, not being aware of the use to
be made of the versions and cognate dialects,
laid it down as an incontrovertible principle
of Hebrew philology, that a perfect knowledge
H l“. B
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337
of the language is to be derived from the
sacred text alone, by consulting the connex-
ion, comparing the parallel passages, and
transposing and changing the Hebrew letters,
especially such as are similar in figure. His
system was either wholly adopted and ex-
tended, or, in part, followed by Bohl, Gusset,
Dr'iesse‘n, Stock, and others, whose lexicons
all proceed on this self-interpreting principle;
but its insu-fiiciency has been shown by J. D.
Michaelis, in his “ Investigation of the Means
to be employed in order to attain to a Know-
ledge of the dead Language of the Hebrews,”
and by Bauer, in his “ Hermeneut. V. T.”
3. The Avenarz'an school, which proceeds
on the principle that the Hebrew, being the
primitive language from which all others
have been derived, may be explained by aid
of the Greek, Latin, German, English, &e.
Its founder, John Avenarius, professor at
Wittenbcrg, has had but few followers; but
among these we may reckon the eccentric
,Hermann van der Hardt, who attempted to
derive the Hebrew from the Greek, which be
regarded as the most ancient of all tongues.
4. The Hieroglyphic, or cabalistic system,
long in vogue among the Jews, but first in‘-
‘troduced into Christendom by Caspar Neu-
rnann, professor at Breslau. It consists in
attaching certain mystical and hieroglyphical
powers to the different letters of the Hebrew
alphabet, ‘and determining the signification of
the words according to the position occupied
by each letter. This ridiculously absurd hy»
pothesis was ably refuted by the learned
Christ. Bened. Michaelis, in a Dissertation
printed at Halle, 1709-, in 4to., and has
scarcely had any abettors: but recently it has
been revived by aFrench academician, whose
work on the subject exhibits a perfect anos
maly in modern literature. Its title is, “ La
Langue Hébra'ique R'estituée, et le veritable
sens des mots Hébreux rétabli et prouvé par
leur analyse radicale. Par Fabre D’Olivet,
a Paris, 1815.” 4to. According to this au~
thor, N is the sign of power and stability ; 1
of paternity and virility: J of organic or
material development; ‘l of divisible or di-
vided nature; 1 a most mysterious sign, ex-
pressive of the connexion between being and
nonentity, &'c. The following specimens of
M. D’Olivet’s own English version, taken at
random from the second volume, will fill the
reader with astonishment at the perversion
they display, no less of the powers of the
human mind, than of the true principles of
language, and of the Scriptures of truth».
“ Gen. ii. 8. Andie—appointed, IHOHA,
HE-the-Gods, an-inclosure (an organical
boundary) in - the — temporal - and - sensible -
sphere, extracted - from ~ the - boundless - and -
foregoing (time), and-he-laid-up there that5
same-Adam, whom he-had~framed-forever.
_ “ 10. And-a-fiowing-effiuence (an emana~
tion) was - running from - this - temporal - and
sensible-place, for-be~dewing that-same_orga~
nic-enclosure; and-thence it-was-dividing in-
order - to - be - henceforth~suitable to-the-four-
fold-generative power. ‘
“ 22. And-he-restored (in its former state)
IHOHA, He-the Being-of-beings, the-self-
sameness of - the-sheltering—windings which-
he-had-broken from-Adam (the collective
man) for (shaping) Az'shah (the intellectual
woman, man’s faculty of volition), -and-he=-
brought-her to-Adam.
“ vi. 9. Those-are the symbolical-pro'genies
of-Noah; Noah, intellectual-principle, righta
proving-of-universal-accom plishments was he,
in-the-periods-hishown-z together with-him-
the~Gods, he-applied-himself-to walk, Noah.
“ x. 30. And-such-was the-restoring-place-
of-them, from-harvest—spiritual-fruits, by-dint
ofsspiritual-cont-riving, to the-height of-pris-
tineetime.” _ ’
Having perused these delectable portions of‘
the translation, which no language but the
English was found capable of expressing, our
readers will be fully prepared to do justice to
the assertions of M. D’Olivet, “ that the He-
brew language (which he considers to be the
ancient Egyptian) has long been lost; that the
Bible we possess is far from being an exact
translation of the Sepher of Moses; that the
greater part of the vulgar translations are
false‘; and that to restore the language of
‘Moses to its proper grammar, we shall be
obliged violently to shock those scientific and
religious prejudices, which habit, pride, irr-
terest, and respect for ancient errors, have
combined to consecrate, confirm, and guard.”
5. The Hu'tchinsonian school, founded by
John Hutchinson, originally steward to the
Duke of Somerset, and afterwards master of
the horse to George I., who maintained, that
the Hebrew Scriptures contain the true prin=
ciples of philosophy and natural history; and
that, as natural objects are representative of
such as are spiritual and invisible, the He's
brew words are to be explained in reference
to these sublime objects. His principles per-
vade the lexicons of Bates and Parkhurst; but
though they have been embraced by several
learned men in this country, they are now ge-
nerally scouted, and have never been adopted,-
as far as we know, by any of the continental
philologists. The disciples of this school are
violent anti-punctists».
6. The Comeian, or polydunamic hypo:
thesis, according to which the Hebrew words
are to be interpreted in every way consistent
with their etymological import, or, as It has
been expressed, in every sense of which they
are capable. Its author, John Qoccelllst 3
Dutch divine, regarded every thing In the
Old Testament as typical of ChILSta' 01‘ of 1118
church and her enemies; and the lengths to
which he carried his views on this subject,
considerabl influenced the interpretations
given in his Hebrew Lexicon, which is, ne-
z
HEB
HEB
338
vertheless, a work of no ordinary merit.
This system has been recently followed by
Mr. Von Meyer, of Frankfort, in his im-
proved version of the Holy Scriptures, with
short notes.
7. The Schultensian school, by which, to a
certain extent, a new epoch was formed in
Hebrew philology. Albert Schultens, pro-
fessor of the oriental languages at Leyden,
was enabled, by his profound knowledge of
Arabic, to throw light on many obscure pas-
safl‘es of Scripture, especially on the book of
Jo ; but, carrying his theory so far as to
maintain, that the only sure method of fixing
the primitive significations of the Hebrew
words is to determine what are the radical
ideas attaching to the same words, or words
made up of the same letters in Arabic, and
then to transfer the meaning from the latter
to the former, a wide door was opened for
speculative and fanciful interpretation; and
the greater number of the derivations pro-
posed by this celebrated philologist and his
admirers, have been rejected as altogether
untenable, by the first Hebrew scholars, both
in our own country and the continent. The
great faults of the system consisted in the
disproportionate use of the Arabic, to the
neglect of the other cognate dialects, espe-
cially the Syriac, which, being the most
closely related, ought to have the primary
place allotted to it; want of due attention to
the context; an inordinate fondness for em-
phases; and far-fetched etymological hypo-
theses and combinations.
8. The last school of Hebrew philology is
that of Halle, so called from the German
‘university of this name, where most of the
Hebrew scholars have received their edu-
cation, or resided, by whom its distinguishing
principles have been originated, and brought
to their present advanced state of maturity.
Its foundation was laid by J. H. and Ch. B.
Michaelis, and the superstructure has been
carried up by J. D. Michaelis, Simon Eichhorn,
Dindorf, Schnurrer, Rosenmiiller, and Gese-
nius, who is allowed to be one of the first
Hebraists of the present day.
The grand object of this school is to com-
bine all the different methods by which it is
possible to arrive at a correct and indubitable
knowledge of the Hebrew language, as con-
tained in the Scriptures of the Old Testa-
mentz—allotting to each of the subsidiary
means its relative value and authority, and
proceeding, in the application of the whole,
according to sober and well-matured principles
of interpretation.
The first of these means is the study of the
language itself, as contained in the books of
the Old Testament. Though by some carried
to an unwarrantable length, it cannot admit
of a doubt, that this must ever form the grand
basis of Scripture interpretation. Difiiculties
maybe encountered at the commencement;
but when, as we proceed, we find from the
subject-matter, from the design of the speaker
or writer, and from other adjuncts, that the
sense we have been taught to afiix to the
words must be the true one, we feel ourselves
possessed of a key, which, as far as it goes,
we may safely and confidently apply to unlock
the sacred writings. When, however, the
signification of a word cannot be determined
by the simple study of the original Hebrew,
recourse must then be had to the ancient
versions, the authors of most of which, living
near the time when the language was spoken
in its purity, and being necessarily familiar
with oriental scenes and customs, must be
regarded as having furnished us with the
most important and valuable of all the sub-
sidiary means by which to ascertain the sense
in cases of timing mama, words or phrases
of rare occurrence, or connexions which throw
no light on the meaning. Yet, in the use of
these versions, care must be taken not to
employ them exclusively, nor merely to con-
sult one or two of them to the neglect of the
rest. It must also be ascertained, that their text
is critically correct in so far as the passage
to be consulted is concerned; and the biblical
student must not be satisfied with simply
guessing at their meaning, or supposing that
they either confirm or desert what he may
have been led to regard as the sense of the
original; but must be practically acquainted
with the established usage obtaining in each
version, and the particular character of their
difl‘erent renderings.
The Rabbinical Lexicons and Commentaries
furnish the next source of Hebrew interpreta-
tion. Not that this source is to be admitted
as a princzjpium cognoscendz', or an infallible
criterion, by which to judge of the true sig-
nification of Hebrew words ; but, considering
that the Rabbins ' of the tenth, eleventh, and
twelfth centuries, whose works alone are here
taken into account, possessed a knowledge of
the Arabic as their vernacular language, or
in which, at least, they were well versed ;
that they were familiar with the traditional
interpretation of the synagogue, as contained
in the Talmud and other ancient Jewish
writings, or transmitted through the medium
of oral communication ; and, that they were
mostly men of great learning, who rose supe-
rior to the trammels of tradition, and did not
scruple to give their own views respecting
the meaning of certain words and phrases in
opposition to the voice of antiquity; it must
be conceded, that no small degree of philo-
logical aid may reasonably be expected from
their writings.
The last means consists in a proper use of
the cognate dialects. These are the Chaldee,
Syriac, Arabic, 'Ethiopic, Samaritan, Phoeni-
cian, and the Tahnudical Hebrew. All these
dialects possess, to a great extent, in common
with the Hebrew, the same radical words, the
HE'L
H'EL
389
same derivatives, the same mode-of derivation,
the same forms, the same grammatical struc-
ture, the same phrases, or modes vof expression,
and the same, or nearly the same, signification
of words. They chiefly difi‘er in regard to
.acccntuation, the use of the vowels, the trans—
mutation of consonants of the same class, the
extent of signification in which certain words
are used, and the peculiar appropriation of
certain words, significations, ‘and modes of
speech, which are exhibited in one dialect to
the exclusion of the rest.
These languages, when judiciously applied
to the illustration ‘of the Hebrew Scriptures,
:are useful in many ways. They confirm the
precise signification 'of ,words, both radicals
and derivatives, already ascertained and
adopted from other sources. T hey discover
many roots or primitives, the derivatives only
of which occur in ‘the Hebrew Bible. ‘They
:are of eminent service in helping to a know-
‘.ledge of such words as ‘occur but once, or at
least but seldom, in the sacred writings, and
they throw much light on the meaning of
phrases, or idiomatical combinations of words
—-such combinations being natural to them
:all, as branches of the same stock, or to some
of them in common, in consequence of certain
more remote .affinities.
The best Hebrew Grammars are those of
Water, Wekherlin, J alm, Gesenius, and Ewald,
in ‘German ; and those of Marcus, Stuart, and
Lee, in English. '
HEcA'BoMB,:(éIca1-bv 506g, a hundred oa'en,)
the sacrifice of a hundred oxen, or, in a large
sense, of a hundred animals of any sort.
Such sacrifices were offered by the ancient
heathen on extraordinary occasions.
HEGIRAH, an Arabic word, signifying flight,
:and specially used to mark the flight of Mo-
hammed from Mecca to Medina. As from
that event, which took place AJ). 622., the
Mohammedans date their computations, the
term is employed to denote their .era or
period.
HEIDELBERG 'CATECHISM, a work of great
celebrity in the history of the Reformation.
Frederic III.,' Elector of the Palatinate,belong-
ing to the Calvinistic church, caused it to be
written, for the purpose of having an uniform
rule of faith. The principal contributors were
Ursinus, professor of theology at Heidelberg,v
and Olevianus, minister'and public teacher
at the same place. The catechism was first
published in 1563, under the title of “Cate-
chism, or Short System of Christian Faith, as
it is taught in the Churches and Schools in
the Palatinate.” '-It has :been translated into
many languages.
HELL, (Anglo-Saxon and Icelandic, Hele,
He , a cavern, concealed place, the mansion
of the dead,) in the language of theology, the
place of divine punishment after death. As
allrehgrons have supposed a future state of
existence after this life, .so .all have their hell,
or place of torment, in which the wicked are
to be punished. Even the heathens had their
Tartarus; and the Mohammedans, we find,
believe the eternity of rewards and punish-
ments; it is not. therefore, a sentiment pecu-
liar to Christianity.
There have been many curious and useless
conjectures respecting the piace of the damned;
the ancients generally supposed it was a region
of fire near the centre of the earth. Mr.
Swinden endeavoured to prove that it is
seated in the sun. Mr. Whiston advanced a
new and strange hypothesis : according to
him, the comets are so many hells, appointed
in their orbits alternately to carry the damned
to the confines of the sun, there to be scorched
~- by its violent heat; and then to return with
them beyond theorb of Saturn, there to starve
them in those cold and dismal regions. But,
as Dr. Doddridge observes, we must here
confess our ignorance; and shall be much
better employed in studying how we may
avoid this place of horror; than in labouring
to discover where it is. . _
Of the nature of this punishment we may
form some idea from the expressions made
use of in Scripture. It is called a place of
torment, Luke xvi. 21; the bottomless pit,
Rev. xx. 3—6; a prison, 1 Pet. iii. 19;
darkness, Matt. viii. 12, Jude 13; fire, Matt.
xiii. 42, 50;; a worm that never dies, Mark
ix. 44, 48 ; the second death, Rev. xxi. 8 .; the
wrath of God, Rom. ii. 5. It has been debated
whether there will be a material fire in helz.
On the afiirmative side it is'observed, that
fire and brimstone are reprmented as the
ingredients of the torment of the wicked,
Rev. xiv. 10, 11 ; xx. 10. That as the body
is to be raised, and the whole man to be con-
demned, it is reasonable to believe there will
be some corporeal punishment provided, and,
therefore, probably material fire. On the
negative side it is alleged, that the terms
above mentioned are metaphorical, and signify
no more than raging desire or acute pain;
and that the Divine Being can sufiiciently
punish the wicked, by immediately acting
on their minds, or rather leaving them to the
guilt and stings of their own conscience. Ac-
cording to several passages, it seems there
will be d‘zfl‘erent degrees of punishment in hell,
Luke xii. ‘47. Rom. ii. 12. Matt. x. 20, 21 ;
xii. 25, 32. Heb. x. 28, 29. -
As to its duration, it has been asserted that
it cannot be eternal, because there is no pro-
portion between temporary crimes and eternal
punishments; that the word everlasting is
not to be taken in its utmost extent ;_and that
it signifies no more than a long time, or a
time whose precise boundary is unknown.
But in answer to this, it is maintained, that
the ‘same word is .used, and that sometimes in
the very same place, to express the eternity of
the happiness of the righteous, and the eternity
.ofthe misery of the wicked; and that there
HEL-
llifill
3H)
is no reason to believe that the words express 1 pp. 351, 37 7 ; Ridgley’s Body of Div. p. 308.
two such different ideas, as standing in the
same connexion. Besides, it is not true, it is
observed, that temporary crimes do not de-
serve eternal punishments, because the infinite
majesty of an offended God adds a kind of
infinite evil to sin, and therefore exposes the
sinner to infinite punishment ; and that here-
by God vindicates his injured majesty, and
glorifies his justice. See articles,DEs'rnUc-
'ruonrs'rs and UNIVERSALISTS. Berry-st. Lec.
vol. ii. p. 559, 562; Dawes on Hell, ser. x.;
W his-ton on ditto; Swindcn, Drearelius, and
Edwards on ditto; Fuller’s Letters to Vidler ;
and Stuart’s Essays on the Words relating to
Future Punishment. A late popular writer has
observed, that in the thirty-fifth sermon of
Tillotson, every thing is said upon the eternity
of hell torments that can be known with any
certainty.
HELL, Christ’s descent into. That Christ
locally descended into hell, is a doctrine be-
lieved not only by the papists, but by many
among the reformed. 1. The text chiefly
brought forward in support of this doctrine
is 1 Pet. iii. 19: “By which he went and
preached to the spirits in prison ;” but it evi-
dently appears, that the “ spirit” there men-
tioned, was not Christ’s human soul, but a
divine nature, or rather the Holy Spirit (by
which he was quickened and raised from the ,
dead); and by the inspiration of which,
granted to Noah, he preached to those noto-
rious sinners who are now in the prison of
hell for their disobedience. 2. Christ, when
on the cross, promised the penitent thief his
presence that day in paradise; and accord—
ingly, when he died, he committed his soul
into his heavenly Father’s hand: in heaven,
therefore, and not in hell, we are to seek the
separate spirit of our Redeemer in this period,
Luke xxiii. 43, 46. 3. Had our Lord de-
scended to preach to the damned, there is no
supposable reason why the unbelievers in
Noah’s time only should be mentioned, rather
than those of Sodom, and the unhappy mul-
titudes that died in sin. But it may be said,
do not both the Old and New Testaments in-
timate this? Ps. xvi. 10; Acts ii. 34. But
it. may be answered, that the words, “ Thou
wilt not leave my soul in hell,” may be ex-
plained (as is the manner of the Hebrew
poets) in the following words: “ Neither wilt
thou suffer thine holy one to see corruption.”
So the same words are used, Ps. lxxxix. 48,
“ What man is he that liveth, and shall not
see death? shall he deliver his soul from the
hand of the grave?” In the Hebrew (51th:!)
the word commonly rendered hell, properly
signifies “ the invisible state,” as our word
hell originally did; and the other word (was)
signifies not always the immortal soul, but
the animal frame in general, either living or
dead. Bishop Pearson and Dr. Barrow on the
Creed ,- Edwards’s Hist. of Redemption, notes,

3rd edit. ; Doddridge and Guyse on 1 Pet. iii. 19.
HELLENISTS, a term occurring in the Greek
text of the New Testament, and which, in the
English version, is rendered Grecians, Acts
vi. 1. The critics are divided as to the sig-
nification of the word. Some observe, that
it is not to be understood as signifying those
of the religion of the Greeks, but those who
spoke Greek. The authors of the Vulgate
version render it like our Grreci, but Mes-
sieurs Du Port Royal, more accurately, Juifs
Grecs, Greek or Grecian Jews, it being the
Jews who spoke Greek that are here treated
of, and are hereby distinguished from the
Jews called Hebrews—that is, who spoke the
Hebrew tongue of that time.
The Hellenists, or Grecian Jews, were
those who lived in Egypt, and other parts
where the Greek tongue prevailed. These
Hellenists first settled in Egypt about six
hundred years before Christ. Their number
was increased by the numerous colonies of
Jews planted there by Alexander the Great,
no. 336, and still later by Ptolemy Lagos.
Under the reign of Augustus, they amounted
to nearly a million. The mixture of the
Jewish and Egyptian national characters,
and the influence of the Greek language and
philosophy, which were adopted by these
Jews, laid the foundation of a new epoch of
1 Graeco-Jewish literature, which, from its pre-
vail'mg character, received the name of the
Hellenistic. The systems of Pythagoras and
Plato were strangely combined with those
Oriental phantasies, which had been reduced
to a system in Egypt, and with which the
mystical doctrines of the Gnostics were im-
bued. The most noted of the Jewish Hellen-
istic philosophers was Philo of Alexandria;
and the principal of the learned labours of the
Alexandrian Jews was the Greek translation
of the Old Testament.
Salmasius and Vossius are of a different
sentiment with respect to the Hellenists: the
latter will only have them to be those who
adhered to the Grecian interests. Scaliger is
represented in the Scaligerana‘as asserting
the Hellenists to be the Jews who lived in
Greece and other places, and who read the
Greek Bible in their synagogues, and used
the Greek language in sacris: and thus they
were opposed to the Hebrew Jews, who per-
formed their public worship in the Hebrew
tongue; and in this sense St. Paul speaks of
himself as a Hebrew of 'the Hebrews, Phil. iii.
5, 6—2'. e., a Hebrew both by nation and lan-
gauge. The Hellenists are thus properly dis-
tinguished from the Hellenes, or Greeks, men-
tioned John xii. 20, who were Greeks by
birth and nation, and yet proselytes to the
Jewish religion. The term Hellenists is also
given to those who maintained the classical
purity of the New Testament Greek. Their
opponents were called Hebraists.
HEN
HEN
34-1
HEMEROBAPTISTS, a sect among the ancient
Jews, thus called from their washing and
bathing every day in all seasons; and per-
forming this custom with the greatest so-
lemnity, as a religious rite necessary to sal-
vation. '
Epiphanius, who mentions this as the fourth
heresy among the Jews, observes, that in
other points these heretics had much the
same opinion as the Scribes and Pharisees;
only that they denied the resurrection of the
dead, in common with the Sadducees, and re-
tained a few other of the improprieties of
these last.
The sect who pass in the East under the
denomination of Sabians, calling themselves
Zllendai Jahz'a, or the disciples of St. John,
and whom Europeans‘ entitle the Christians
of St. John, because they yet retain some
knowledge of the gospel, is probably of J ew-
ish origin, and seems to have been derived
from the ancient Hemerobaptists; at least it
is certain that John, whom they consider as
the founder of their sect, bears no sort of si-
militude to John the Baptist, but rather re-
sembles the person of that name whom the
ancient writers represent as the chief of the
Jewish Hemerobaptists. These ambiguous
Christians dwell in Persia and Arabia, and
principally at Bassora; and their religion
consists in bodily washings, performed fre~
quently and with great solemnity, and at-
tended with certain ceremonies which the
priests mingle with this superstitious service.
HENOTICON (Gr. évwrucov, uniting into 0110,)
a famous edict or decree of the Greek Empe-
ror Zeno, issued in the year 4.82, with a view
to reconcile all the difi'erent parties in reli-
gion to the profession of one faith. It is ge-
nerally agreed . that Peter, the false patriarch
of Alexandria, and Acacius, patriarch of Con-
stantinople, were the authors of this decree,
and that their design was to compliment the
emperor with the right of prescribing regula-
-tions in matters of faith. Zeno was caught
by their flattery, and the Henoticon was
drawn up. It soon appeared that the empe-
ror, by this decree, arrogated to himself the
right of being head of the church, and that
it covertly favoured the Eut-ychian heretics,
who approved the councilof Chalcedon. Ac-
cordingly, Pope Sim-plicius condemned it in
the year 483, “and cited Acacius, who had
been the chief promoter of it, to appear before
him at Rome. But it was nottill the year
518 that it was entirely suppressed, when, in
the reign of Justinian, and the pontificate of
Hormisdas, the name of Zeno was struck out
of the diptychs, or sacred registers, of such
deceased persons for whom particular prayers
were offered up.
_ Hnnnromns, a sect so called from Henry,
rts founder, who, though a monk and hermit,
undertook to reform the superstition and
uses of the clergy. For this purpose be left
Lausanne, in Switzerland, and removing from
different places, at length settled at Thoulouse,
in the year 1147, and there exercised his mi-
nisterial function; till, being overcome by
the opposition of Bernard, abbot of Clairval,
and condemned by Pope Eugenius III. at a
council assembled at Rheims, he was com-
mitted to a close prison in 1148, where he
soon ended his days. This reformer rejected
the baptism of infants, severely censured the
corrupt manners of the clergy, treated the
festivals and ceremonies of the church with
the utmost contempt, and held private as-
semblies for inculcating his peculiar doc-
trines.
HENRY, MATTHEW, author of the celebrated
“ Commentary” bearing his name, was born
on the 18th of October, 1662, at Broad Oak,
in Flintshire. He was the son of the cele—
brated Philip Henry. Matthew, like many
other eminent persons, was a child of infirm
health, and early displayed a mind too vigor-
ous and active for the frame which it inspired.
At the early age of ten years he was deeply
affected by convictions of the evil of sin, in
consequence of hearing his father preach on
Psalm li. verse 7 : ,“ Purge me with hyssop,
and I shall be clean ; wash me, and I shall be
whiter than snow.” When he was thirteen
years of age, he wrote in his diary, “ It is to-
day thirteen years since I was born; and
though I was sickly, the Lord hath preserved
me ever since. Lord Jesus, I bless thee for
thy word, for good parents, that I was taken
into covenant betimes in baptism, that I have
had a good education, that I am thine.” That
the child of Philip Henry should early love
to imitate preaching, and wish to be a minis-
ter, is not surprising; but of those who ob-
served his puerile essays, some .wondered at
the wisdom and gravity which they displayed,
and many expressed their fears lest he should
be too forward. But the father replied, “ Let
him go on: he fears God, and designs well;
find I hope God will keep him, and bless
1m.’
In the year 1680, he sent his son to Lon-
don, and placed him under the care of the
celebrated Thomas Doolittle, from whom he
received much knowledge, and who formed
in him many excellent habits and principles
to guide him in after life. After having been
at the seminary of Mr. Thomas Doolittle,
young Mr. Henry was induced, by the influ-
ence of friends, to remove to Gray‘s Inn» in
order to study the law. But, true to his ori-
ginal purpose, keeping, his eye on the ad-
vancement of Christianity as his P0111!‘ _$ti_l>1‘,
he quickly returned to. the work of the minis-
try. His first public services were at his,
. father’s residence, where he received thenrost
- pleasing testimonies of 1115. usefulness. Being
afterwards invited to spend a few days with a
friend at Nantwich, in Cheshire, he preached
* on the words of J ob, “ With God is terrible
HEN
H ER
342 '
majesty.” which produced the most striking
and delightful effects. He was now invited
to Chester, where he preached at the house
of Mr. Hen-thorne, a sugar baker, which laid
the foundation- of the church of which he was
many years the faithful and beloved pastor.
But having been called back to London, he
found that the king was issuing out licences
to empower Nonconform-ists to preach; on
which he wrote to his father, that Mr. Faldo,
an Independent minister, had preached pub-
licly at the meeting-house in Moorfields, both
morning and afternoon, to many hundreds of
people, who were delighted at the reviving of
the work. This led him to prepare seriously
for his future ofiice; and in a private paper,
entitled “ Serious Self-Examination before
Ordination,” he expresses his determination
to be zealous and faithful in the discharge of
his ministerial duties.
It seems that it had been suggested to him,
that he might possibly obtain episcopal ordi-
nation, without submitting to the oaths and
declarations to which Dissenters objected;
but after having examined the question with
great seriousness, he determined rather to be
ordained by Presbyters ;. and as the ministers
to whom he applied were very aged and cau-
tious, he was ordained with great privacy, on
the 9th of May, 1687. Mr. Henry was well
received at Chester, and was successful in
raising a large congregation. Of his ministry
it may be truly said‘, that, like the apostle,
he was in labours more abundant; for his
constant work, on the Lord’s-day, was to-
pray six times'in public, to expound twice,
and preach twice. His two public services
seem to have been fully equal to three in the
present day. He'went through the whole
Bible, by way of exposition, more than once.
The list of subjects on which he preached is
in print, and displays a comprehensive mind,
anxious to declare the whole counsel of God;
but, in his private’ notes, he says, “ I find
myself most in- my element when preaching
Christ, and him crucified; for the more I
think and speak of him, the more I love
him.” Eager to seize every, opportunity of
usefulness, he diligently visited the prisoners
in the Castle of Chester, where‘his benevolent
compassion and zeal introduced him to some
very affecting scenes. But he never confined
his labours to Chester, for he was the life of
the Dissenting communion through all that
county, and constantly preached in the ad-
joining towns and villages every week. Af-
ter having refused several invitations from
churches in London, he at length consented
to leave Chester, in order to take the pastoral
charge of a congregation at Hackney, first
collected by Dr. Bates. He has left on record
his reasons for quitting the first scene of his
labours, where he had preached nearly five-
and-twenty years, where he had three hun-
dred and fifty communicants, and probably a
thousand hearers ; a people, of whom he said‘,
with a heavy heart at parting, “ They love
me too well.” His determinations were, un-
questionably, not premature, and proved to be‘
cogent. He commenced the l-8th day of May,
in the year 1:712, his pastoral care at Hack-
ney, expounding the first chapter of Genesis
in the morning, and in- the afternoon, the first
of Matthew, as if beginning life anew. That
he removed to the vicinity of London to en-
joy, not ease, but labour, wasevident ; for his
unexhausted zeal blazed forth with. greater
ardour, to fill his new and enlarged sphere.
He devised additional modes of usefulness '.
preaching not only at Hackney, but in Lon-e
don also, early and late on the same Sabbath.
He often preached lectures every evening in
the week, and sometimes two or three on the
same day; so that his biographer says, “ If
ever any minister, in our days, erred in ex-
cess of labours, he was the person.” But one
of the principal motives which led him to
London, was to be able to print the remain-
ing volumes of his “Exposition.” He now
drew near to the goal for which he panted.
Having alleviated the‘ pains of separation
from his friends at Chester, by promising to-
visit them every year, he made his last jour—
ney to them in the month of June, 1714. On
his return, he was taken ill at Nantwich,
where he said to his friend Mr. lllidge, “ You
have been used to take notice of the sayings
of dying men, this is mine a That a life
spent in the service of God, and communion-
with him, is the most pleasant life that any
one can live inthis world.” And on the 22nd:
of June, 1714, he expired, in the fifty-second
year of his age. The death of Henry was-
universally lamented; even those who loved
not the communion to which he belonged,
owned that it had lost its brightest ornament.
He has left behind him, in his works, a li-
brary of divinity, which supersedes all eulo-
gium on his character. His mind was not,
indeed, formed for metaphysical abstraction,-
or elegant sublimity; nor was his pen cele-
brated for those splendid ornaments which
~feast the fancy, nor those vigorous strokes _
which thrill through the soul; but he pos-
‘ sessed a peculiar faculty, which may be called
a religious aa’t'veté, which introduced well-
known sentiments in an enchanting air of
novel simplicity, while his style abounded
with anti-theses which Attic taste would some-
times refuse, but which human nature will.
ever feel and admireT The mere plans of his
sermons and expositions contain more vivid
lucid instruction, and less deserve the name-
of skeletons, than the finished discourses of
many other divines.
HERACLEONITES, a sect of Christians, the
' followers of Heracleon, who refined upon the
Gnostic divinity, and maintained that the
world was not the immediate production of

~ the Son of God,~ but that he was only the em»
H E R
HER
343
casional cause of its being created by the de-
miurgus. The Heracleonites denied the au-
thority of the prophecies of the Old Testament;
maintain ed thatthey were mere random sounds
in the air ; and that John the Baptist was the
only true voice that directed to the Messiah.
HERESIARCH, one who introduces or founds
any particular heresy: a leader in any body
of heretics.
HERESY, a term borrowed from the Greek
word a'ipwtg, which in its primary significa-
tion, implies a choice or election, whether of
good or evil. It seems to have been prin-
cipally applied to what we would call moral
choice, or the adoption of one opinion in pre_
ference to another. Philosophy was in Greece
the great object which divided the opinions
and judgments of men; and hence the term
a't'pscng (heresy) being most frequently ap-
plied to the adoption of this or that particular
dogma, came, by an easy transition, to signify
the sect or school in which that dogma was
maintained. Thus, though the heresy of the
Academy, or of Epicurus, would sound strange
to our ears, and though the expression was
not common with the early Greek writers,
yet in later times it became familiar, and we
find Cicero speaking of the heresy to which
Cato belonged, when he described him as a
perfect Stoic. The Hellenistic Jews made
use of the same term to express the leading
sects which divided their countrymen. Thus
Josephus speaks of the three heresies of the
Pharisees, Sadducees, and Essenes; and since
he was himself a Pharisee, he could only have
used the term as equivalent to. sect or party.
Luke also, in the Acts of the Apostles, (v. 17,
xv. 5.) speaks of the heresy of the Pharisees
and Sadducees; and we learn from the same
book, (xxiv. 5, 14,) that the Christians were
called by the Jews the heresy of the Nazarenes.
With this opprobrious addition, the term was
undoubtedly used as one of insult and con-
tempt; and the Jews were more likely than
the Greeks to speak reproachfully of those
who differed from them, particularly in mat-
ters of religion. The three Jewish sects al-
ready mentioned, were of long standing, and
none of them were considered to be at vari-
ance with the national creed; but the Chris-
tians differed from all of them; and in every
sense of the word, whether ancient or modern,
they formed a distinct heresy. The‘ apostles
would be likely to use the term with a mix-
ture of Jewish and Gentile feelings; but there
was one obvious reason why they should em-
ploy it in a new sense, and why at length it
should acquire a signification invariably ex-
pressive of reproach. The Jews, as we have
seen, allowed of three, or perhaps more, he-
l‘es_le_s among their countrymen. In Greece
opinions were much more divided; and twelve
different sects have been enumerated, which,
by divisions and subdivisions, might be mul-
tiplied into many more. The shades of dif- ,
‘ ference between these diverging sects were
often extremely small; and there were many
bonds of union, which kept them together, as
members of the same family, or links of the
same chain. In addition to which, we must
remember, that these differences were not al-
ways or necessarily connected with religion.
Persons might dispute concerning the sammum
bonum, and yet they might worship, or at
least profess to worship, the same God. But
the doctrine of the Gospel was distinct, un-
compromising, and of such a nature that a
person must believe the whole of it, and to
the very letter, or he could not be admitted to
be a Christian. There is one body, and one
Spirit, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, &c.,
Eph. iv. 4, 5; which words, if rightly under-
stood, evidently mean, that the faith of the
Gospel is one and undivided. Hence arose
the distinction between orthodox and hetero-
dox. He who believed the Gospel, as the
apostles preached it, was orthodox; he who
did not so believe it, was heterodox. He em-
braced an opinion—it mattered not whether
his own, or that of another, but he made it
his own choice, and in the strict sense of the
term, he was an heretic. It was no longer
necessary to qualify the term by the addition
of the sect or party which he chose : he was
not a true Christian, and therefore he was an
heretic. It was in this sense that it was ap-
plied by the early fathers. If a man admitted
a part, or even the whole of Christianity, and
added to it something of his own; or if he
rejected the whole of it, he was equally de-
signated as an heretic. Thus, by degrees, it
came to be restricted to those who professed
Christianity, but professed it erroneously;
and in later times, the doctrine of the Trinity,
as defined by the council of Nice, was almost
the only test which decided the orthodoxy or
the heresy of a Christian. Difi‘erences upon
minor points were then described by the
milder term of schism; and the distinction
seems to have been, that unity of faith might
be maintained, though schism ex'mted ; but if
the unity of faith was violated, the violator of
it was an heretic: a distinction which appears
hardly to have been observed in the apostolic
age; and Paul has been thought to use the
term heresy, where later writers would hav
spoken of schisms. -
According to the laws of this kingdom,
heresy consists in a denial of some of the es-
sential doctrines of Christianity, publicly and
obstinately avowed. It is now beginning,
i however, to be generally acknowledged that
particular modes of belief or unbelief, not
tending to sap the foundations of ‘morality,
are by no means the object of_coercion by the
civil magistrate. What doctrines shallbe ad-
judged heresy, was left by our old constitution
to the determination of the ecclesiastical Judge,
who had herein a most arbitrary latitude al~
lowed him; for the general definition of an
HER
HER
s44
heretic, given by Lindewode, extends to the
smallest deviations from the doctrines of the
holy church : Hceretieus est qui dubitat de fide
ca tholica, et qui negligit servare ea unce Romana
ecclesia statuit, seu servare decreverat?’ or, as
the statute 2 Hen. IV. cap. 15, expresses it in
English, “teachers of erroneous opinions,
contrary to the faith and blessed determina-
tions of the holy church.” Very contrary
this to the usage of the first general councils,
which defined all heretical doctrines with the
utmost precision and exactness ;. and what
ought to have alleviated the punishment, the
uncertainty of the crime, seems to have en--
hanced it in those days of blind zeal and pious
cruelty. The sanctimonious hopocrisy of the
Canonists, indeed, went at first no further than
enjoining penance, excommunication, and ec~
clesiastical deprivation, for heresy ; but after-
wards they proceeded boldly to imprisonment
> by the ordinary, and confiscation of goods
in pios usus. But in the mean time they had
prevailed upon the weakness of bigoted
princes to. make the civil power subservient
to their purposes, by making heresy not only
a temporal, but even a capital.- oifence; the
Romish ecclesiastics determining, without ap-
peal. whatever they pleased to be heresy, and
shifting off to the secular arm the odium and
drudgery of executions, with which they pres
tended to be too tender and delicate to inter?
meddle, Nay, they affected to interced‘e on
behalf of the convicted heretic. well knowing
that at the same time they were delivering the
unhappy victim to certain death. See ACT OF
FAITH. Hence the capital punishments in-,
flicted on the ancient Donatists and Mania
cheeans by the emperors Theodosius and J us-.
tinian :, hence, also, the constitution of the
Emperor Frederic, mentioned by Lydewode,
adjudging all persons, without distinction, to
be burnt with fire, who were convicted of
heresy by the ecclesiastical judge. The same
emperor,~ in anotherv constitution, ordained,
that if any temporal lord, when admonished
by- the church, should neglect to clear his ter-
ritories of heretics within a year, it should be
lawful for good Catholics to seize and occupy
the lands, and utterly to exterminate the here-
tical possessors. And upon this foundation
was built that arbitrary power, so long claimed,
and so fatally exerted by the Pope, of dispos-
ing: even; of the kingdoms of refractory rinces
to, more dutiful sons of the church. The im-
mediate event of this constitution serves to
illustrate at once the gratitude of the holy see,
for, upon the authority of this very constitu-
tion, the Pope afterwards. expelled this very
Emperor Frederic from his kingdom of Sicily,
and gave it to Charles. of Anjou, Christianity
being thus deformed by the daemon of perse-
cution upon the continent, our- own island
could not escape its scourge. Accordingly we
q‘, nd a writ (1e haretico comb-weirdo, i., e., of burn,-
ing the heretic. See that'article. But the
king might pardon‘ the convict by issuing no
process against him :, the writ de hccretico com-
burendo being not a writ of course, but issuing
only by the special direction of the king in
council. In the reign of Henry IV., when the
eyes of the Christian world began to open,
and the seeds. of the Protestant religion (un~
der the opprobrious name of Lollardy) took
root in this kingdom, the clergy, taking ad-
vantage of the king’s dubious title to demand
an increase of their own power, obtained an
act of parliament which sharpened the edge
of persecution to its utmost keenness. See
HERETICO COMBURENDO. By statute 2 Henry
‘Re. 7, Lollardy was also made a temporal
offence, and indictable in the King’s courts;
which did not thereby gain an exclusive,
but only a concurrent, jurisdiction with the
bishop’s consistory. Afterwards, when the
Reformation began to advance, the power of
the ecclesiastics was somewhat moderated; for
though what heresy is was not then precisely
defined, yet we are told in some oints what
it is not; the statute 25 Henry III. c. 14,
declaring that offences against the see of Rome
are not heresy ; and the ordinary being there-
by restrained from proceeding in any can:
upon mere suspicion; i. e. unless the partybe
accused by two credible witnesses, or an 1n-
dictment of heresy be first previously found
in the king’s courts of common law. And yet
the spirit of persecution was not abated, but
only diverted into a lay channel; for in six
years afterwards, by stat. 31 Henry VIII. c.
14, the bloody law of the six articles was
made, which were “ determined and resolved
by the most godly pain, study, and travail of
his Majesty ; for which his most humble and
obedient subjects, the lords spiritual and tem-
poral, and the commons in parliament assem-.
bled, did render and give unto his highness
their most high and hearty thanks 1,” 'Lhe
same statute established a mixed jurisdiction
of clergy and laity for the trial and conviction
of heretics; Henry being equally intent on
destroying the supremacy of the bishops of
Rome, and establishing all their other corrup-
tions of the Christian religion. Without re-
capitulating the various repeals and revivals of"
these sanguinary laws in the two succeeding
reigns, we proceed to the reign of Queen Eli-.
aabeth, when the Reformation was finally estaq
blished, and the ecclesiastical laws considers
ably modified. By stat. 1 Eliz. c. 1, all for-.
_ o - mer statutes. relating to heresy are repealed ;
and the Just punishment of the royal blgot ;‘I
which leaves the jurisdiction of heresyas it
stood at common law, viz., as to the infliction
of common censures in the ecclesiastical courts, _
and in case of burning the heretic, in the pro~
vincial synod only. Sir Matthew Hale is,
indeed, of a difi'ere'nt opinion, and holds that.
such power resided in the diocesan also '. though
he agrees that in either case the writ dc haera.
' tico comburendo was not dcmandable ‘of com...
HER
HER
345
mon right, but grantable or otherwise merely article, and Lardner’s History qf the Heretics
at the king’s discretion. But the principal
point now gained was, that by this statute a
boundary was for the first time set to. what
should be accounted heresy; nothing for the
future being to be so determined, but only such
tenets which have been heretofore so declar-
ed,—1. By the words of the canonical Scrip-
tures. 2. By ‘the first four general councils,
or such others as have only used the words of
the Holy Scriptures. Or, 3. Which shall
hereafter be so declared by the parliament,
with the assent of the clergy in convocation.
Thus was heresy reduced to a greater cer-
tainty than before, though it might not have
been the worse to have defined it in terms still
more precise and particular; as a man con-
tinued still liable to be burnt for what, per-
haps, he did not understand to be heresy, till
the ecclesiastical judge so interpreted the words
of the canonical Scriptures. For the writ de
Izceretico comburendo remained still in force,
till it was totally abolished, and heresy again
subjected only to ecclesiastical correction pro
salute animce, by stat. 29 Car. II. c. 9 ; when,
in one and the same reign, our lands were de-
livered from the slavery of military tenures,
our bodies from arbitrary imprisonment by
the habeas corpus act, and our minds from the
tyranny of superstitious bigotry, by demo-
lishing this last badge of persecution in the
English law. Every thing is now less excep-
tionable, with respect to the spiritual cogni-
zance and spiritual punishment of heresy ;
unless, .erha s, that the crime ought to be
more strictly efined, and no. prosecution per-
mitted, even in the ecclesiastical courts, till
the tenets in question are by proper authority
previously declared to be heretical. Under
these restrictions, some think it necessary, for
the support of the national religion, that the
ofiicers of the church should have power to
censure heretics ; yet not to harass them with
temporal penalties, much less to exterminate
or destroy them. The legislature has, indeed,
thought it proper that the civil magistrate
should interpose with regard to one species of
heresy; for by stat. 9 and 10 William III. e.
32,. if any person, educated in the Christian
religion, or professing the same, shall, by
.Wl‘ltll'lg, printing, teaching, or advised speak-
ing, deny any one of the persons in the Holy
Trinity to be God, or maintain that there are
more Gods than one, he shall undergo the some
penalties and incapacities which were inflicted
on apostasy by the same statute. Enc. Brit;
Dr. Foster and Stebbiug on Heresy; Hallet’s
DZSCOMTSQS, vol, iii. No. 9, p. 358, 408; Dr.
Campbcll’s Prel. .Dz'ssert. ‘to the Gospels; Dr.
Burton on the Heresies of the Apost. Age, p. 8.
.Hnnn'rrc, a general name for all such per-
sons under any religion, but especially the
Chrlstlfln, as profess or teach opinions con-
trary to the established faith, or to what is
made the standard of orthodoxy. See last
i
l
of the first two Centuries. ,
HERMENEUTICS, from the Greek épunvu’rw,
to interpret, the science or theory of interpre-
tation, comprising and exhibiting the princi-
ples and rules according to which the meaning
of an author may be judiciously and accurate-
ly ascertained. It consists of two parts : ,the
theoretical, which includes the general princi-
ples which respect the meaning of words and
the kinds of them ; and the preceptive, which
embraces the rules. founded on these princi-
ples, by which we are to be guided in our
philological inquiries, and all our attempts to
investigate the meaning of any writer. Sa—
cred hermeneutics comprise the principles and
rules of this science as made to bear on the
interpretation of the Holy Scriptures.
RMIANI, a sect in the second century;
so called from their leader Hermias. One of
their distinguishing tenets was, that God is
corporeal; another, that Jesus Christ did not
ascend into heaven with his body, but left it
in the sun.
HERMIT, a person who retires into solitude
for the purpose of devotion. Who were the
first hermits cannot easily be known ; though
Paul, surnamed the hermit, is generally
reckoned the first. The persecutions of De~
cius and Valerian were supposed to have oc-
casioned their first rise.
HERMOGENIANS, a set of ancient heretics;
denominated from their leader Hermogenes,
who ‘lived towards the close of the second
century. Hermogenes established matter as.
his first principle;- and regarding matter as
the. fountain of all evil, he maintained, that
the world, and every thing contained in it, as
also the souls of men and other spirits, were
formed by the. Deity from an uncreated mass
of corrupt matter. The opinions of Hermo-
genes with regard to the origin of the world,
and the nature of the soul, were warmly op-
posed by Tertullian.
HERNHUTTERS. See MORAVIANS.
HERODIANS, a sect among the Jews at the
time of our Saviour, Matt. xxii. 16; Mark iii.
6. The critics and commentators are very
much divided with regard to the Herodians.
St. Jerome, in his dialogue against the Luci-
ferians. takes the name to have been given to
such as owned Herod for the Messiah;
and Tertullian and Epiphanius are of the
same opinion. But the same Jerome, in
his comment on Matthew, treats this opinion
as ridiculous; and maintains that the Pha_
risees gave this appellation by way of_rid1-
cule, to Herod’s soldiers, who paid tribute
to the Romans; agreeable to which the
Syrian inter reters render the word by the
domestics of erod, 2'. e. “- his courtiers.” M.
Simon in his notes on the 22nd‘chapter of
Matthew, advances a more probable opinion ;
the name Herodian he imagines to have been
given to such as adhered to Herod’s party and:
HER
HE'F
34 6‘
interest, and were for preserving the govern-
ment in his family,|about which were great
divisions-among the Jews. F. Hardouin will
have the Herodians and Sadducees to have
been the same. Dr. Prideaux is of opinion
that they derived their name from Herod the
Great; and that they were distinguished from
the other Jews by their concurrence with He-
rod’s scheme of subjecting himselfand his do-
minions to the Romans, and likewise by com-
plying with many of their heathen usages and
customs. This symbolizing with idolatry upon
views of interest and worldly policy, was
probably that leaven of Herod, against which
our Saviour cautioned his disciples. It is
further probable that they were chiefly of
the sect of the Sadducees: because thc leaven
of Herod is also denominated the leaven of
the Sadducees.
HERVEY, JAMES, M.A., the distinguished
author of “ Meditations,” bearing his name,
was born at Hardingstone, near Northampton,
on. February the 26th, 1713. His father was
a clergyman, then residing at Collingtree;
and Mr. Hervey received from him, and his
excellent mother, his early education. At the
age of seven they sent him to the grammar
school of Northampton, where he remained
till he was seventeen. He there acquired a
knowledge of the Greek and Latin languages,
and attained a considerable proficiency in
various branches of general literature. At
the age of eighteen he was sent to the Uni-
versity of Oxford; and there, becoming ae—
quainted with the distinguished John Wesley,
he devoted himself‘, with great zeal, to various
studies, and became seriously impressed with
the importance of religion. For some years
afterwards he felt a peculiar attachment to
the doctrinal sentiments of Mr. Wesley; but
subsequently conceiving such sentiments to
be erroneous, he attached himself to the Cal-
vinists.
During the continuance of Mr. Hervey at
Lincoln College, he attained great proficiency
in the knowledge of the classics, and was
justly celebrated for the decorousness of his
conduct. At the age of twenty-two his
father appointed him to the situation of curate
of ‘Weston Fav el, and he discharged the
duties of his oflice with piety and integrity.
In a few years he was curate at Bideford,
and several other places in the west of Eng-
land; and, during that time, he wrote his
celebrated “ Meditations and Contemplations,”
which. he published in 1746, and which have
been universally read, and very generally ad-
mired. In 1'750, on the death of his father,
he succeeded to the livings of Weston and
Collingtree, and he devoted most of his time
and attention to the duties of his profession.
In 1753 he published “Remarks on Lord
Bolingbroke’s letters on the Study and Use of
History, so far as they relate to the History
of the Old Testament, &c.; in a letter to a

Lady of Quality ;” and- a recommcndatory
Preface to Burnham’s Pious Memorials. ‘11,17
1755 he‘ published his “Theron and Aspasro,
which is- regarded as decidedly the best efiort
of his genius; but it was attacked by Mr.
Robert Sandeman; of Edinburgh, with extra-
ordinary ability, on the nature of'justifymg
faith, and other points connected with it, in a
work, entitled, “Letters on Theron and As-
pasio,” two volumes. (See the article SAN-
DEMAN.) This attack threw Mr. Hervey into
the arms of Mr. W. Cudworth, a dissenting
minister in London, in whom he found a
powerful coadjutor ; but Mr. Hervey does not
appear to have understood Cudworth’s sys-
tem, which, in some important points, was
very different from his own, though they were
agreed in making appropriation essential to
the nature of true faith.
The health of Mr. Hervey was generally
imperfect; and for many years he was the
subject of affliction; till, at length, on De-
cember the 25th, 17 58, his labours were ter-
minated by death, and his spirit, emancipated
from the burdens of mortality, was conducted
to regions of purity and peace, Mr. Hervey s
writings have had an extensive circulation -.
for many years the press could hardly supply
the demand for them. Yet his style has been
severely censured by Dr. Blair and others for
its turgid and bombastic qualities; render—
ing it the very opposite of the chaste and
elegant diction of Addison and our best prose
writers. They are now, however, less in
repute, and less in demand than formerly.
Of his character but one opinion prevails :_
he was eminently pious, though not deeply
learned; habitually spiritually minded; zeal-
ous for the doctrines of divine grace; ani-
mated with ardent love to the Saviour; and
his humility, meekness, submission to the
will of God, and patience under his afflicting
hand, exemplified the Christian character and
adorned his profession. ‘
HESYCASTS, certain eastern monks, so called
from the Greek word i'yo'vxazw, which sig'
nifies to be quiet. Their distinguishing tenet
was that of the Messalians, who maintained
that, abandoning all labour, we should give
ourselves wholly to religious exercises, espe-
cially to contemplation. They appeared about
Constantinople in the year 1340; and because
they fixed their eyes upon their belly, while
engaged in prayer, regarding the navel as the
seat of the soul, the were likewise called
Omphal‘opsychi or Um il'icz'. They were joined
by Gregory Palamas, archbishop of Thessalo-
nica, who was attacked by the monk Barlaam,
and the order was condemned in a synod held
at Constantinople in the year 1342.
Hn'rnnonox, something that is contrary to
the faith or doctrine established in what has
been accounted the true church. See On'rnoe
nox.
Hn'rnnousmns, a branch of the Arians,
HEX
0
P
HIE
47
and so called because they held, not that the
Son of God was of a substance like to that of
the Father, which was the doctrine of another
branch of the Arians, thence called Homoi-
ousians, but that he was of another substance,
different from that of the Father.
‘ HExAPLA, a Bible disposed in six columns,
containing the text, and divers versions
thereof, compiled and published by Origen,
with a view to secure the sacred text from
future corruptions, and to correct those that
had been already introduced. Eusebius relates
that Origen, after his returnfrom Rome under ‘
Caracalla, applied himself to learn Hebrew,
and began to collect the several versions that
had been made of the sacred writings, and of ,
these to compose his Tetrapla and Hexapla; '
others, however, will not allow him to have ;
begun till the time of Alexander, after he‘ had
retired into Palestine, about the year 231.
To conceive what this Hexapla was, it must
be observed, that, besides the translation of
the sacred writings, called the Septuagint,
made under Ptolemy Philadelphus, above 280
years before Christ, the Scripture had been
since translated into Greek by other inter-
preters. The first of these versions, or (reckon-
ing the Septuagint) the second, was that of ,
Aquila, a proselyte Jew, the first edition of
which he published in the 12th year of the
emperor Adrian, or about the year of Christ
128 ; the third was that of Symmachus, pub-
lished, as is commonly supposed, under Marcus
Aurelius, but as some. say, under Septimius
Severus, about the year 200 ; the fourth was
that of Theodotion, prior to that of Symma-
ehus, under Commodus, or about the year
175. These Greek versions, says Dr. Kenni-
cott, were made by the Jews from their cor-
rupted copies of the Hebrew, and were de-
signed to stand in the place of the Seventy,
against which they were prejudiced, because
it seemed to favour the Christians. The
fifth was found at Jericho, in the reign of
Caracalla, about the year 217 ; and the sixth
was discovered at Nicopolis, in the reign of
Alexander Severus, about the year 228 ; lastly,
Origen himself recovered part of a seventh,
containing only the Psalms. Now, Origen,
who had held frequent disputations with the
Jews in Egypt and Palestine, observing that
they always objected to those passages of
Scripture quoted against them, appealed to
the Hebrew text, the better to vindicate those
passages, and confound the Jews, by showing
that the Seventy had given the sense of the
Hebrew; or rather to show, by a number of
different versions, what the real sense of the
Hebrew was, undertook to reduce all these
several versions into a body, along with the
Hebrew text, so as they might be easily con-
fronted, and afi’ord a mutual light to each
other. He _made the Hebrew text his standard;
and allowing that corruptions might have
happened, and that the old Hebrew copies

might and did read differently, he contented
himself with marking such words or sentences
as were not in the Hebrew text, nor the later
Greek versions, and adding such words or
sentences as were omitted in the Seventy,
prefixing an asterisk to the additions, and an
obelisk to the others. In order to this, he
made choice of eight columns ; in the first he-
placed the Hebrew text, in Hebrew characters ;
in the second, the same text in Greek cha-
racters; the rest were filled with the several
versions above mentioned; all the columns
answering verse for verse, and phrase for
phrase ; and in the Psalms there was a ninth
column for the seventh version. This work
Origen called ‘Egan-ha, Hexapla, q. d. ser-
tuple, or work of six columns, as only regard-
ing the first six Greek versions. St. Epipha—
nius, taking in likewise the two columns of
the text, calls the work Octapla, as consisting
of eight columns. This celiebrated work,
which Montfaucon imagines consisted of sixty
large volumes, perished long ago; probably
with the library at Casarea, where it was
preserved in the year 653; though several
of the ancient writers have preserved us pieces
thereofi, particularly St. Chrysostom on the
Psalms, Phileponus in his Hexameron, 850.
Some modern writers have earnestly endea-
voured to collect fragments of the Hexapla,
particularly Flaminius, Nobilius, Drusius, and
F. Montfaucon, in two folio volumes, printed
at Paris in 1713. An edition was also pub~
lished by Bahrdt in two volumes 8vo, which
is convenient for reference.
Hrnnacrrns, heretics in the third century,
so called from their leader Hierax, a philoso-
pher of Egypt, who taught that Melchisedec
was the Holy Ghost, denied the resurrection,
and condemned marriage.
HIERARCHY, an ecclesiastical establishment,
or a church governed by priests, from iepa,
sacred, and dip x17, government. Though elders,
called presbyters and bishops, stood at the
head of the primitive churches, yet their con—
stitution was democratic, each of the members-
having a share in all the concerns of the
association, and voting in the election of
ofiice-bearers, the admission of new members,
and the expulsion of offenders. Soon, how-
'ever, the government was transferred into»
the hands of the officers, or, more properly
speaking, was assumed by them; and, in the-
second century,- some of their number, arm--
gating to themselves exclusively the title of
bishops acquired a superiority over the other
presbyters, though these, and, in many cases,
1 the members of the churches, retained.
some share in the government. The bishops
residing in the capitals of prov1nces,_soom
acquired a superiority over the provincial
bishops, and were called men'opoletans. They,_
in their turn, became subject to a still higher
order, termed patriarchs ,- and thus a complete
aristocratic constitution was formed, which
HIG
"H O H
348
- continues in the Greek church to this day; but
in the Latin it was speedily transformed into
a monarchy, centring in the person of the pope.
Besides thus designating the internal go-
vernment'of the church, the term hierarchy
is sometimes used to denote the dominion of
the church over the state. In the first cen-
turies the church had no connexion with the
state, and was for the most part persecuted by
it. After its amalgamation with it, under
Constantine the Great, it obtained protection,
but was dependent on the temporal ruler, who
asserted the right of convoking general coun-
cils, and nominating the metropolitans, and
otherwise frequently interfered in the internal
affairs of the church. It was the same in
the Gothic, Lombard, and Frankish states.
The hierarchical power, however, was in-
cessantly at work; Gregory VII. especially,
exerted himself to enforce its claims. It was
greatly promoted by the crusades; and thus,
from the end of the eleventh to the middle
of the thirteenth century, the hierarchical
influence was rendered predominant. The
church became an institution elevated above
the state, and stood,_in public opinion, above
all secular princes. The papal tiara was the
sun; the imperial crown the moon. From
the fourteenth century the hierarchy began
gradually to decline ;, it was shaken almost to
its foundation by the attacks of the Reformers;
and the remains of its principles, as still exist-
ing in the different Protestant establishments,
as well as in the Roman, are becoming daily
more and more weakened by the influence‘
of public opinion, and a firm determination,
on the part of the people, to obtain the full
enjoyment of those civil and religious rights
which have been arrogantly and wantonly
wrested from them. The word is also used in
reference to the subordination some suppose
there is among the angels ; but whether they
are to be considered as having a government
or hierarchy among themselves, so that one is
superior in oflice and dignity to others; or
whether they have a kind of dominion over
one another; or whether some are made
partakers of privileges others are deprived of,
cannot be determined, since Scripture is silent
as to this matter.
I'IIERONYMITES, hermits of the order of St.
Jerome, established in 1373,‘ which wears a
white habit with a black scapulary. In the
Netherlands, and in Spain, where it was de—
voted to a contemplative life, and possessed
among other convents the splendid one of St.
Laurence in the Escu-rial, the sepulchre of the
kings, this order became one of the most opulent‘
and considerable. In Sicily, the West Indies,
and Spanish America, it possesses convents.
HIGH CHURCHMEN, the term first given to
the non-jurors, who refused to acknowledge
William III. as their lawful king, and who
had very proud notions of church power; but
it is now commonly used in a more extensive
signification, and is applied to all those, who
though far from being non-jurors, yet form
pompous and ambitious conceptions of the
authority and jurisdiction of the church. It
has generally been found, that both in the
Episcopal and Presbyterian establishments,
those who have been most violent in their
efforts to uphold and vindicate hierarchical
power, and the exclusive claims of the church,
have been the most indifferent to the interests
of evangelical truth, and the practice of scrip-
tural piety; but within these few years, many
of those who are in repute as the advocates of
gospel doctrine, have gradually been contract-
ing in their liberality, and assuming an air
and tone of high churchmanship, approximat-
ing to those of the party by which they them-
selves are regarded as a kind of halfdissenters
_ or schismatics.
HIGH Mass is that mass which is read be-
fore the high altar on Sundays, feast days,
and particular occasions, such as the celebra-
tion of a victory, &c. '
HILLEL, a famous Jewish rabbi, who lived a
little before the time of Christ. He was born at
Babylon, and was the disciple of Shamma'i. At
the age of forty, he went to Jerusalem, where
he applied himself to the study of the law, and
at the age of fourscore was' made head of the
Sanhedrim. Differing in opinion from his mas-
ter Shamma'i, their disciples engaged in the
quarrel, and several persons were killed on ‘both
sides. By the Jews, Hillel is extolled to the
skies, and is said to have educated upwards of
athousand pupils in the knowledge of the law,
among whom were thirty who were worthy
that the Spirit of God should have rested on
them as he did on Moses; thirty who, like
Joshua, were worthy to stop the sun in his
course; and twenty, little inferior to the first,
and superior to the second. Rabbi I-Iillel was
the grandfather of Gamaliel, Paul’s master.
HISTORY, ECCLESIASTICAL. See EccLEsI-
ASTICAL Hrs'ronr. >
HOFFMANISTS, those who espoused the sen-
timents of Daniel Hoffman, professor in the
university of Helmstadt, who in the year 1598.
taught that the light of reason, even as it ap»
pears in the writings of Plato and Aristotle,
is adverse to religion ;, and that the more the
human understanding is cultivated by philo-
sophical study, the more perfectly is the ene—
my supplied with weapons of defence.
HOHENLOHE, PRINCE, the eighteenth son of
Charles Albert, the, Crown Prince, who was
disqualified for taking the reins of govern~
ment by mental derangement. At the wish
of his mother, he determined to study for the
clerical profession, and an ex-Jesuit was his
first instructor. He studied in Vienna and
Berne, and finished his studies at Ellwangen,
under the care of his uncle, the sufi‘ragan
bishop, and was ordained deacon by the Chap-
ter of Olmutz. At this time he was fond of
. conversing with such as believed in: wonders;
HOL
HOL
349
and after visiting Rome, where he lived in
a Jesuits’ College, he returned to Germany,
where he was considered by his colleagues as
devoted to the interests of Jesuitism, and the
inveterate enemy of knowledge. In 1820 he
wrote a pamphlet, dedicated to the emperors
Francis and Alexander, and the king of Prus-
sia, in which he attempts to prove that none
but a true Christian, by which he means a
Roman Catholic, can be a faithful subject of
government. Having become acquained with
a Baden peasant, Martin Michel, who for
several years had the repute of working mi-
raculous cures, he was persuaded by this pre-
tended thaumaturgist, that being a priest, it
would be much easier for him- to perform
miracles! The experiment was made. The
Princess Matilda of Schwartzenberg, who had
been grievously afflicted with a distortion of
the spine, from which she had been partially
cured by a skilful physician, was called on by
the priest and the peasant to walk, and she
succeeded. He now tried his powers alone,
and multitudes flocked to him for cures. Many
were in fact benefited; many believed that
they were; and many went away in despair
because they could not believe. His attempts
in the hospitals of YViirtzburg and Bamberg
failed, and the police were ordered not to
allow him to try his experiments, except in’
their presence. A prince of Hildburghausen
called in his aid; but his suffering eyes soon
became worse in consequence of his exchang-
ing the use of medicine for faith in the miracu- I
lous energies of Hohenlohe. In 1821 he laid f
a statement of his miracles before the Pope, ?
the answer to which is not known ; only it is
doubt respecting them, and hints were received
from Rome, that the process should no longer i
be called the working of miracles, but priestly ;
prayers for healing. Since then he has pre- '
tended to cure persons at a distance, and
cases have been published of cures performed,
in one instance at Marseilles, and in another
in Ireland, and several others by appointing
an hour in which the individuals should unite
their prayers with his. Much has been done
by Mr. Hornthal, an officer of Bamberg, to-
wards checking the progress of this delusion.
The prince is a person of fine exterior, gentle :
manners, a most insinuating voice, and good i
pulpit talents.
HOLINESS, freedom from sin, or the con- ,
formity of the heart to God. It does not con- I
slst in knowledge, talents, nor outward cere-
mon1es of religion, but hath its seat in the
heart, and is the effect of a principle of grace
implanted by the Holy Spirit. Eph. ii. 8, 10;
John Ill: 5; Rom. vi. 22. It is the essence
of happiness and the basis of true dignity.
Prov. 111. 17 ; iv. 8. It will manifest itself by f
the propriety of our conversation, regularity
of .0111‘ “311112613 and uniformity of our lives. '
It 1s a principle progressive in its operation.
Prov. iv. 18, and absolutely essential to the
enjoyment of God here and hereafter. Heb.
xii. 14. See SANCTIFICATION, WORKS.
HOLINESS OF G01) is the purity and recti-
tude of his nature. It is an essential attribute
of God, and the glory, lustre, and harmony of
all his other perfections. Psal. xxvii. 4 ;
Exod. xv. 11. He could not be God without
it. Deut. xxxii. 4. It is infinite and un-
bounded; it cannot be increased or diminished.
Immutable and invariable. Mal. iii. 6. God
is originally holy ; he is so of‘ and in himself,
and the author and promoter of all holiness
among his creatures. The holiness of God is
visible by his works ; he made all things holy.
Gen. i. 31. By his providences, all of which
are intended to promote holiness in the end.
Heb. xii. 10. By his grace, which influences
the subjects of it to be holy. Tit. ii. 10, 12.
By his word, which commands it. 1 Pet. i. 15.
By his ordinances, which he hath appointed
for that end. J er. xliv. 4, 5. By the punish-
ment of sin in the death of Christ, (Is. liii.,)
and by the eternal punishment of it in wicked
men. Matt. xxv. last verse. See ATTRIBUTES.
HOLOCAUST, formed from (Shag, “ whole,”
and rcatw, “ I consume with fire ;” a kind of
sacrifice wherein the whole burnt-offering was
burnt or consumed by fire, as an acknowledg~
ment that God the Creator, Preserver, and
Lord of all, was worthy of all honour and
worship, and as a token of men’s giving them—
selves entirely up to him. It is called in
Scripture a burnt-offering. Sacrifices of this
sort are often mentioned by the Heathens as
well as Jews. They appear to have been in
f, use long before the institution of the other
rumoured that his holiness expressed much?
Jewish sacrifices by the law of Moses. Job
i. 5; xlii. 8. Gen. xxii. 13; viii. 20. On
this account, the Jews, who would not allow
the Gentiles to offer on their altar any other
sacrifices peculiarly enjoined by the law of
Moses, admitted them by the Jewish priests
to offer holocausts, because these were a sort
of sacrifices prior to the law, and common to
all nations. During their subjection to the
Romans, it was no uncommon thing for those
Gentiles to offer sacrifies to the God of Israel
at J crusalem. Holocausts were deemed by
the Jews the most excellent of all their sa~
orifices. See SACRIFICE.
HOLY ALLIANCE. See ALLIANCE.
HOLY DAY, a day set apart by the church
for the commemoration of some saint, or
some remarkable particular in the life of
Christ. It has been a question agitated by
divines, whether it be proper to appoint or
keep any holy days (the sabbath excepted.)
The advocates for holy days suppose that
they have a tendency to impress the minds of
the people with a greater sense of rehgion;
that if the acquisitions and victories of men
1 be celebrated with the highest joy, how much
more those events which relate to the salva-
tion of man, such as the birth’, death, and re-
HOL
HOM
U
on Christmas Day,
surreetion of Christ, &c. On the other side
it is observed, that if holy days had been
necessary under the present dispensation,
Jesus Christ would have ordained something
respecting them, whereas he was silent about
them; that it is bringing us again into that
bondage to ceremonial laws from which
Christ freed us; that it is a tacit reflection on
the Head of the church in not appointing
them; that such days, on the whole, are
more pernicious than useful to society, as
they open a door for indolence and profane-
ness ; yea, that Scripture speaks against such
:days. Gal. iv. 9—-11. Cave’s Prim. Christ.;
Nelson’s Fasts and Feasts; Robinson’s History
and Mystery of Good Friday, and Lectures on
Non-conformity,- a Country Vicar’s Sermon
1753; Brownis Nat. and
Rev. Rel. p. 535; Neal’s Hist. of the Puritans,
vol. ii. p. 116, qu.
HOLY GHosT, the third person in the
Trinity.
1. The Holy Ghost is a real and distinct
person in the Godhead. 1. Personal powers
of rational understanding and will are as-
cribed to him, 1 Cor. ii. 10, 11 ; xii. 11; Eph.
iv. 3. 2. He is joined with the other two
divine persons, as the object of divine wor-
ship and fountain of blessings, Matt. xxviii.
19; 2 Cor. xiii. 14. 3. In the Greek, a mas-
culine article or epithet is joined to his name
Pneuma, which is naturally of the neuter
gender, John xiv. 26; xv. 26; xvi. 13 ; Eph.
i. 13. 4. He appeared under the emblem of
a dove, and of cloven tongues of fire, Matt.
iii. ; Acts ii. 5. Personal oflices of an inter-
cessor belong to him, Rom. viii. 26. 6. He is
represented as performing a multitude of per- '
sonal acts,—as teaching, speaking, witness-
ing, &c., Mark xiii. 11 ; Acts xx. 23; Rom.
viii. 15, 16; 1 Cor. vi. 19; Acts xv. 28; xvi.
6, 7, &c. &c.
II. It is no less evident that the Holy
Ghost is a divine person, equal in power and
glory with the Father and Son. 1. Names
proper only to the Most High 'God are as-
cribed to him; as Jehovah, Acts xxviiil 25,
with Is. vi. 9, and Hebrews iii. 7, 9, with
Exod. xvii. 7 ; Jer. xxxi. 31, 34; Heb. x. 15,
16; God, Acts v. 3, 4. Lord, 2 Cor. iii. 17 ,
.19. “ The Lord, the Spirit.” 2. Attributes
proper only to the Most High God are as-
.cribed to him; as \Omn'iscience, -1 Cor. ii. 10,
11; ‘Is. x1. 13, 14. Omnipresence, Ps. cxxxix.
7; Eph. ii. 17, 18; Rom. viii. 26, 27. Omni-
potence, Luke i. 35. Eternity, Heb. ix. 14.
3. Divine works are evidently ascribed to
‘him, Gen. ii. 2; Job xxvi. 13; Ps. xxxii. 6 ;,
'civ. 30. 4. Worship, proper only to God, is
required and ascribed to him, Is. vi. 3; Acts
xxviii. 25; Rom. ix. 1; Rev. i. 4; 2 Cor.
xiii. 14; Matt. xxviii. 19.
III. The agency or work of the Holy
Ghost is divided by some into extraordinary
and ordinary. The former by immediate.-

inspiration, making men prophets; the latter
by his regenerating and sanctifying influ-
ences, making men saints. It is only the
latter which is now to be expected. This is
more particularly displayed in—-1. Conviction
of sin, John xvi. 8, 9. 2. Conversion, 1 Cor.
xii.; Eph. i. 17, 18; 1 Cor. ii. 10, 12; John
iii. 5, 6. 3. Sanctification, 2 Thess. ii. 13; 1
Cor. vi. 11; Rom. xv. 16. 4. Consolation,
John xiv. 16, 26. 5. Direction,'John xiv. 17 ;
Rom. viii. 14. 6. Confirmation,' Rom. viii.
16, 26; 1 John ii. 24; Eph. i. 13, 14. As to
the gift of the Holy Spirit, says a good writer,
it is not expected to be bestowed in answer
to our prayers, to inform us immediately, as
by a whisper, when either awake or asleep,
that we are the children of God; or in any
other way than by enabling us to exercise
repentance and faith and love to God and our
neighbour. 2. We are not to suppose that
he reveals any thing contrary to the written
word, or more than is contained in it, or
through any other medium. 3. We are not
so led by, or operated upon by the Spirit, as
to neglect the means of grace. 4. The Holy
Spirit is not promised nor given to render us
infallible. 5. Nor is the Holy Spirit given
in order that we may do any thing, which
was not before our duty. See TRINITY, and
Scott’s Four Sermons on Repentance, the Evil
of Sin, Love to God, and the Promise of the
Holy Spirit, pp. 86—89 ; _Hawher‘s Sermons
on the Holy Ghost; Pearson on the Creed, 8th
article; Dr. Owen on the Spirit,- Hurrion’s
Sixteen Sermons on the Spirit.
HOLY GHOST, PROCESSION or.
CESSION.
HOLY WATER, in the Greek and Roman
Catholic churches, water which has been
consecrated. by prayer, exorcism, and other
ceremonies, for the purpose of sprinkling the
faithful, and things used in the church. It is
placed, in vases, at the doors of churches,
and also within them at certain places, from
which the Catholics sprinkle themselves be-
fore prayer. Holy water is also often found
in their chambers, and is used before prayer,
particularly before going to bed. The Ro-
manists consider it an effectual exorcism. In
Rome, animals are also sprinkled, on a cer-
tain feast, with holy water, to keep them
healthy and thriving. The same thing is
done at Moscow, where there is a particular
church, to which the horses are annually
driven on purpose. It does not appear that
vessels were placed at the doors of churches,
See Pno -
'for washing the hands, till .the fourth century,
or that the water was blessed or consecrated
till the sixth.
HOMILY, oat/Ma, a sermon or discourse
upon some point of religion delivered in a
plain manner, so as to be easily understood
by the common people. The Greek, says
M. Fleury, signifies a familiar discourse, like
the Latin sermo, and discourses delivered in
HOM 3
l
5
HOP
the church took these denominations, to inti-
mate that they were not harangues, or mat-
ters of ostentation and flourish, like those of
profane orators, but familiar and useful dis-
courses, as of a master to his disciples, or a
father to his children. All the homilies of
the Greek and Latin fathers are composed by
bishops. We have none of Tertullian, Cle-
mens Alexandrinus, and many other learned
persons, because in the early ages none but
bishops were admitted to preach. The pri-
vilege was not ordinarily allowed to priests
till toward the fifth century. St. Chrysostom
was the first presbyter that preached statedly.
Origen and Augustine also preached, but it
was by a peculiar license or privilege.
Photius distinguishes homily from sermon,
in that the homily was performed in a more
familiar manner; the prelate interrogating
and talking to the people, and they in their
turn answering and interrogating him, so that
it was properly a conversation; whereas the
sermon was delivered with more form, and in
the pulpit, after the manner of the orators.
The practice of compiling homilies which
were to be committed to memory, and recited
by ignorant or indolent priests, commenced
towards the close of the eighth century; when
Charlemagne ordered Paul the deacon, and
Alcuin, to form homilies or discourses upon
‘the Gospels and Epistles from the ancient
doctors of the church. This gave rise to that
famous collection entitled the “ Homiliarium
of Charlemagne ;” and which, being followed
as a model by many productions of the same
kind, composed by private persons, from a
principle of pious zeal, contributed much
( says Mosheim) to nourish the indolence and
to perpetuate the ignorance of a worthless
clergy. There are still extant several fine
homilies composed by the ancient fathers,
particularly St. Chrysostom and St. Gregory.
The “ Clementine Homilies” are nineteen
homilies in Greek, published by Cotelerius,
with two letters prefixed; one of them writ-
ten in the name of Peter, the other in the
name of Clement, to James, bishop of Jeru-
salem; in which last letter they are entitled
“ Clcment’s Epitome of the Preaching and
Travels of Peter.” According to Le Clerc,
these homilies were composed by an Ebionite,
in the second century, but Montfaucon sup-
poses that they were forged long after the
age of St. Athanasius. Dr. Lardner appre-
hends that the Clementine homilies were the
original, or first edition of the “ Recogni-
tions ;” and that they are the same with the
work censured by Eusebius under the title of
“ Dialogues of Peter and A ppion.”
Homi'hes of the Church of England, are
those which were composed at the Reforma-
tlOl‘l, to be read in churches, in order to sup-
ply‘the defect of sermons. See the quarto
edition of the Homilies, with notes, by a di--
time of the church of England.
' HOMOIOUSIANS, a branch of the high
Arians, who maintain, that the nature of the
Son, though not the same, was similar to that
of the Father.
HOMOOUSIANS, a name applied to the
Athanasians, who held the Son to be of the
same nature as the Father.
HONOUR, a testimony of esteem or submis-
sion, expressed by words and an exterior be-
haviour, by which we make known the vene-
ration and respect we entertain for any one,
on account of his dignity or merit. The word
is also used in general for the esteem due to
virtue, glory, reputation, and prohity ; as also,
for an exactness in performing whatever we
have promised; and in this last sense we use
the term, a man of honour. It is also applied
to two different kinds of virtue; bravery in
men, and chastity in women. In every situa-
tion of life, religion only forms the true honour
and happiness of man. “ It cannot,” as one
observes, “arise from riches, dignity of rank
or oflice, nor from what are often called
splendid actions of heroes, or civil accomplish-
ments; these may be found among men of
no real integrity, and may create considerable
fame,- but a distinction must be made be-
tween fame and true honour. The former is
a loud and noisy applause: the latter is a
more silent and internal homage. Fame floats
on the breath of the multitude; honour rests
on the judgment of the thinking. In order,
then, to discern where true honour lies, we
must not look to any adventitious circum-
stance, not to any single sparkling quality, but
to the whole of what forms a man; in aword,
we must look to the soul. It will discover it-
self by a mind superior to fear, to selfish in-
terest, and corruption; by an ardent love to
the Supreme Being, and by a principle of
uniform rectitude. It will make us neither
afraid nor ashamed to discharge our duty, as
it relates both to God and man. It will in-
fluence us to be magnanimous without being
proud; humble without being mean; just
without being harsh ; simple in our manners,
but manly in our feelings. This honour, thus
formed by religion, or the love of God, is
more independent, and more complete, than
what can be acquired by any other means.
It is productive of higher felicity, and will be
commensurate with eternity itself ; while that
honour, so called, which arises from any
other principle, will resemble the feeble and
twinkling flame .of a taper, which is often
clouded by the smoke it sends forth, but is
always wasting and soon dies totally away.”
Barrow’s W'or/rs, vol. i. ser. 4; Blair’s Ser-
mons, vol. iii. ser. 1 ; VVatts’s Sermons, ser. 30,
vol. ii.; Ryland's Cont. vol. i. p. 343; Jortz'n’s
Sermons, vol. iii. ser. 6.
HOPE, is the desire of some good, attended
with the possibility, at least, of obtaining it;
t and is enlivened with joy greater or less, ac-
{ cording to the probability there is of possess»
HOP
HOP
352
ing the object of our hope. Scarce any passion
seems to be more natural ‘to man than hope;
and, considering the many troubles he is en-
compassed with, none is more necessary; for
life, void of all hope, would be a heavy and
spiritless thing, very little desirable, perhaps
hardly to be borne; whereas hope infuses
strength into the mind, and, by so doing, les-
sens the burdens of life. If our condition be
not the best in the world, yet we hope it will
be better, and this helps us to support it with
patience. The hope of the Christian is an
‘expectation of all necessary good both in time
and eternity, founded on the promises, rela-
tions, and perfect-ions of God, and on the
ofiices, righteousness, and intercession of
Christ. It is a compound of desire, expec-
tation, patience, and joy, Rom. viii. 24, 25.
It may be considered, 1. As pure, 1 John iii.
2, 3, as it is resident in that heart which is
cleansed from sin. 2. As good, 2 Thess. ii.
16, (in distinction from the hope of the hypo-
crite.) as deriving its origin from God, and
centring in him. 3. It is called lively, 1 Pet.
i. 3, as it proceeds from spiritual life, and ren-
ders one active and lively in good works. 4.
It is courageous, Rom. v. 5; 1 Thess. v. 8;
because it excites fortitude in all the troubles
of life, and yields a support in the hour of
death, Prov. xiv. 32. 5. Sure, Heb. vi. 19,
because it will not disappoint us, and is fixed
on a sure foundation. 6. Joyful, Rom. v. 2,
as it produces the greatest felicity in the anti~
cipation of complete deliverance from all evil.
Grove’s Moral Phz'L, vol. i. p. 381 ; Gill’s Body
of Dia, p. 82. vol. iii.; No. 471, Spect.; Jag/s
Sermons, vol. ii. ser. 2.
HOPKINSIANS, so called from the Rev. Sam~
uel Hopkins, D.D., an American divine, who,
in his sermons and tracts, has made several
additions to the sentiments first advanced by
the celebrated Jonathan Edwards, late presi-
dent of New Jersey College. Dr. Hopkins
was born at \Vaterbury, in Connecticut, 1721,
and graduated at Yale College, in 1741. Soon
after. he engaged in theological studies, at
Northampton, Massachusetts, under the su-
perintendence of Jonathan Edwards, and, in
1743, was ordained at Honsatonic, now Great
Barrington, Massachusetts, where he continu—
ed till he removed to Newport, Rhode Island,
in consequence of the diminution of his con-
gregation, and his want of support. When
he had resided some time in this place, the
people became dissatisfied with his sentiments, ,
and resolved, at a meeting, to intimate to~him ,
their disinclination to his continuance among
them.
ing and impressive, that they besought him to
remain, which he did till his death, in 1803.
He was a pious and zealous man. of consider-
able talents, and almost incredible powers of
application. He is said to have been some-
times engagcd during eighteen hours in his
On the ensuing sabbath, he preached ,
his farewell discourse, which was so mterest- I
studies. His doctrinal views are contained in
his “System of Divinity,” published in a se-
cond edition at Boston, in 1811, in two vols.
8vo.
The following is a summary of the distin-
guishing tenets of the Hopkinsians, together
with a view of the reasons they bring forward
in support of their sentiments.
I. That all true virtue, or real holiness,
consists in disinterested benevolence. The
object of benevolence is universal being, in-
cluding God and all intelligent creatures. It
wishes and seeks the good of every individual,
so far as is consistent with the greatest good
of the whole, which is comprised in the glory
of God and the perfection and happiness of
his kingdom. The law of God is the standard
of all moral rectitude or holiness. This is
reduced into love to God, and our neighbour
as ourselves; and universal good-will com-
prehends all the love to God, our neighbour,
and ourselves, required in the divine law, and
therefore must be the whole of holy obedience.
Let any serious person think what are the par-
ticular branches of true piety; when he has
viewed each one by itself, he will find that dis-
interested friendly affection is its distinguish»-
ing characteristic. ' For instance, all the holi-
ness in pious fear, which distinguishes it from
the fear of the wicked, consists in love. Again,
holy gratitude is nothing but good-will to God
and our neighbour, in which we ourselves are
included; and correspondent affection, excited
by a view of the good—will and kindness of
God. Universal good-will also implies the
whole of the duty we owe to our neighbour,
for justice, truth, and faithfulness, are com-
prised in universal benevolence; so are tem~
perance and chastity. For an undue indul-
gence of our appetites and passions is contrary
to benevolence, as tending to hurt ourselves
or others ; and so opposite to the general good,
and the divine command, in which all the
crime of such indulgence consists. In short,
all virtue is nothing but benevolence acted
out in its proper nature and perfection ;-or love
to God and our neighbour, made perfect in ail
its genuine exercises and expressions.
II. That all sin consists in selfishness. By
this is meant an interested, selfish affection,
by which a person sets himself up as supreme,
and the only object of regard: and nothing is
good or lovely in his view, unless suited to
promote his own private interest. This self-
love is, in its whole nature, and .every degree
of it, enmity against God : it is not subject to
the law of God, and is theonly affection that
can oppose it. It is the foundation of all
spiritual blindness, and therefore the source
of all the open idolatry in the heathen world,
and false religion under the light of the Gos-
‘ pel; all this is agreeable to that self-love which
opposes God’s true character. Under the in-
fluence of this principle, men depart from
truth ; it being itself the greatest practical lie
HOP
HOP
353
in nature, as it sets up that which is compar. -
tively nothing above universal existence. Self-
love is the source of all profaneness and im-
piety in the world, and of all pride and ambi-
tion among men, which is nothing but selfish-
ness, acted out in this particular way. This
is the foundation of all covetousness and sen-
suality, as it blinds people’s eyes, contracts
their hearts, and sinks them down, so that they
look upon earthly enjoyments as the greatest
good. This is the source of all falsehood, in-
justice, and oppression, as it excites mankind
by undue methods to invade the property of
others. Self-love produces all the violent pas-
sions—envy wrath, clamour, and evil-speak-
ing: and every thing contrary to the divine _
law is briefly comprehended in this fruitful
source of all iniquity—self-love.
III. That there are no promises of regene-
rating grace made to the doings of the unre-
generate. For as far as men act from self-
love, they act from a bad end; for those who
have no true love to God, really do no duty
when they attend on the externals of religion.
And as the unregenerate act from a selfish
principle, they do nothing which is command-
ed: their impenitent doings are wholly op-
posed to repentance and conversion; there-
fore not implied in the command to repent,
860. : so far from this, they are altogether dis-
obedient to the command. Hence it appears
that there are no promises of salvation to the
doings of the unregenerate.
IV. That the impotency of sinners, with
respect to believing in Christ, is not natural,
but moral; for it is a plain dictate of common
sense, that natural impossibility excludes all
blame. But an unwilling mind is universally
considered as a crime, and not as an excuse,
and is the very thing wherein our wickedness
consists. That the impotence of the sinner
is owing to a disafi‘ection of heart, is evi-
dent from the promises of the gospel. ‘When
any object of good is proposed and promised
to us upon asking, it clearly evinces that there
can be no impotence in us with respect to ob-
taining it, beside the disapprobation of the
will ; and that inability, which consists in dis-
inclination, never renders any thing impro-
perly the subject of precept or command.
V. That, in order to faith in Christ, a sin-
ner must approve in his heart of the divine
conduct, even though God should cast him ofi‘
for ever ; which, however, neither implies love
of misery, nor hatred of happiness. For if
the law is good, death is due to those who have
broken it. The Judge of all the earth cannot
but do right. It would bring everlasting re-
preach upon his government to spare us, con-
sidered merely as in ourselves. When this is
felt in our hearts, and not till then, we shall
be prepared to look to the free grace of God,
through .the redemption which is in Christ,
and to exercise faith in his blood, who is set
forth to be a propitiation to declare God’s
righteousness, that he might be just, and
yet be the justifier of him who believeth in
Jesus.
VI. That the infinitely wise and holy God
has exerted his omnipotent power in such a
manner as he purposed should be followed
with the existence and entrance of moral evil
into the system. For it must be admitted on
all hands, that God has a perfect knowledge,
foresight, and view of all possible existences
and events. If that system and scene of ope-
ration, in which moral evil should never have
existed, was actually preferred in the divine
mind, certainly the Deity is infinitely disap-
pointed in the issue of his own operations.
Nothing can be more dishonourable to God
than to imagine that the system which is ac-
tually formed by the divine hand, and which
was made for his pleasure and glory, is yet not
the fruit of wise contrivance and design.
VII. That the introduction of sin is, upon
the whole, for the general good. For the wis-
dom and power of the Deity are displayed
in carrying on designs of the greatest good;
and the existence of moral evil has undoubt-
edly occasioned a more full, perfect, and glo-
rious discovery of the infinite perfections of
the divine nature than could otherwise have
been made to the view of creatures. If the
extensive manifestation of the pure and holy
nature of God, and his infinite aversion to
sin, and all his inherent perfections, in their
genuine fruits and effects, is either itself the
greatest good, or necessarily contains it, it
must necessarily follow that the introduction
of sin is for the greatest good.
VIII. That repentance is before faith in
Christ. By this is not intended, that repen-
tance is before a speculative belief of the be-
ing and perfections of God, and of the per-
son and character of Christ; but only that true
repentance is previous to a saving faith in
Christ, in which the believer is united to
Christ, and entitled to the benefits of his me-
diation and atonement. That repentance is
before faith in this sense, appears from several
considerations. 1. As repentance and faith
respect different objects, so they are distinct
exercises of the heart; and therefore one not
only may, but must be prior to the other
2. There may be genuine repentance of sin
without faith in Christ, but there cannot be
true faith in Christ without repentance of sin.
and since repentance is necessary in order to
faith in Christ, it must necessarily be prior to
faith in Christ. 3. John the Baptist, Christ
and his apostles, taught that repentance is_ be-
fore faith. John cried, “Repeat, for the lung-
dom of heaven is at hand ;” intimating‘, that
true repentance was necessary in order to em-
brace the gospel of the kingdom. Christ com-
manded, “ Repent ye, and believe the gospel."
And Paul preached “ repentance toward God.
and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.”
IX. That though men became sinneis by
A A
HOR
HOR
354
Adam, according to a divine constitution, yet
they have, and are accountable for no sins but
personal; for—1. Adam’s act, in eating the
forbidden fruit, was not the act of his posterity:
therefore they did not sin at the same time he
did. 2. The sinfulness of that act could not
be transferred to them afterwards, because the
sinfulness of an act can no more be trans-
ferred from one person to another than an
act itself‘. 3. Therefore Adam’s act, in eating
the forbidden fruit, was not the cause, but only
the occasion of his posterity’s being sinners.
God was pleased to make a constitution, that,
if Adam remained holy through his state of
trial, his posterity should in consequence be
holy also ; but if he sinned, his posterity should
in consequence be sinners likewise. Adam sin-
ned, and now God brings his posterity into the
world sinners. By Adam’s sin we are become
sinners, not for it; his sin being only the
occasion, not the cause of our committing sins.
X. That though believers are justified
through Christ’s righteousness, yet his right-
cousness is not transferred to them. For—l.
Personal righteousness can no more be trans-
ferred from one person to another, than per-
sonal sin. 2. If Christ’s personal righteous-
ness were transferred to believers, they would
be as perfectly holy as Christ; and so stand
in no need of forgiveness. 3. But believers
are not conscious of having Christ’s personal
righteousness, but feel and bewail much in-
dwelling sin and corruption. 4. The Scrip-
ture represents believers as receiving only the
benefits of Christ’s righteousness in justifica-
tion, or their being pardoned and accepted for
Christ’s righteousness’ sake, and this is the
proper Scripture notion of imputation. Jo-
nathan’s righteousness was imputed to Me-
phibosheth when David showed kindness to
him for his father J onathan’s sake.
The Hopkinsians warmly contend for the
doctrine of the divine decrees, that of parti-
cular election, total depravity, the special in-
fiuences of the Spirit of God in regeneration,
justification by faith alone, the final perse-
verance of the saints, and the consistency be-
tween entire freedom and absolute dependence;
and therefore claim it as their just due, since
the world will make distinctions, to be called
Hopkinsian Calvinists. Adams’s View of Re-
liyions; Hopkins on Holiness; Edwards on the
PVill, p. 234. 282 ; Edwards on Virtue; l/Vest’s
Essay on Moral Agency, p. 170, 181 ; Spring’s
Nature of Duty, p. 23; Moral Disquisitions,
p. 40.
Honnou, a passion excited by an object
which causes a high degree of fear and detes-
tation. It is a compound of wonder and fear.
Sometimes it has a mixture of pleasure, from
which, if predominant, it is denominated a
pleasing horror. Such a horror seizes us at
the view of vast and hanging precipices, a
tempestuous ocean, or wild and solitary places.
This passion is the original of superstition,
as a wise and well-tempered awe is of religion.
Horror and terror seem almost to be synony-
mous; but the former refers more to what dis-
gusts; the latter to that which alarms us.
HORSLEY, SAMUEL, a learned dignitary of
the church of England. His father, who was
a clergyman, held the curacy of St. Martin’s
in the Fields, London; in which parish the
son was born, in October, 1733. He was edu-
cated at Westminster School, and Trinity Hall,
Cambridge, where he took the degree of LL. B.
in 1758. The same year, having been or-
dained, he became curate to his father, then
rector of Newington Butts, which benefice he
resigned to his son, in 1759, who retained it
till his promotion to the see of Rochester. In
1767 he was chosen a fellow of the Royal So-
ciety ; and the same year he published an ela-
borate treatise, entitled, “The Power of God,
deduced from the computable instantaneous
production of it in the Solar System.” 8vo.
In 1768 he went to Christchurch, Oxford, as
private tutor to Lord Guernsey, eldest son of
the Earl of Aylesford; and at that university
he took the degree of LL.D. In 1770 was
printed at the Clarendon press, his earliest
mathematical publication, “ Apollonii Pergaei
Inclinationum, libri ii.” In November, 1773,
he was elected secretary to the Royal Society;
and not long after the Earl of Aylesford pre-
sented him to the rectory of Albury, in Sur-
rey, which he held by dispensation, together
with that of Newington. In 1774 he publish-
ed “ Remarks on the Observations made in
the last voyage towards the North Pole, for
discovering the Acceleration of the Pendulum,
in lat. 79 deg. 50 min. in a letter to the Hon-
ourable C. J. Phipps,” quarto. In 1776 he
published proposals for a new edition of the
works of Sir Isaac Newton, which was gra-
dually completed in five volumes, quarto.
His great diligence and proficiency in various
sciences now procured him the patronage of
Bishop Lowth, who made him his chaplain,
and collated him to a prebend in St. Paul’s
Cathedral. In 1779 he resigned Albury, and
the next year obtained the living of Thorley.
He was appointed arehdeacon of St. Alban’s
in 1781, and early in 1782 vicar of South
Weald, in Essex; on which he resigned both
Thorley and N ewington. I-Ie engaged warmly
in the contest carried on in 1783 and 1784
with Sir Joseph Banks, respecting his con-
duct as president of the Royal Society; and
delivered several very eloquent speeches on
the occasion, printed with others in “ An Au—
thentic Narrative of the Dissensions of the
Royal Society,” 1784.
Dr. Horsley withdrew from the Society in
consequence of a certain high appointment
taking place, of which he did not approve.
His concluding words, on retiring, were, “ I
quit that temple where philosophy once pre-
sided, and where Newton was her ofiiciating
minister.” About the same period he eom~
HOR
HOS
355
~ Asaph’s.
menced a literary controversy with the great
champion of Unitarianism, Dr. Priestley.
His labours in the cause of orthodoxy, on this
occasion, procured him the friendly patronage
of the Lord Chancellor Thurlow, who charac-
teristically remarked, that “ those who de-
fended the church ought to be supported by
the church ;” and accordingly presented him
to a prebe'ndal stall in the cathedral of Glou-
cester; and, in 1788, he was, through the
same interest, made bishop of St. David’s.
In his episcopal character, he supported
the reputation for learning and ability which
he had previously acquired. His first charge
to the clergy, delivered in 1790, attracted
great approbation; as did also his speech in
the House of Lords, on the catholic bill, May
31st, 1791. On these, as well as on other
occasions, he showed himself the strenuous
advocate for the existing state of things, in
religion and politics; and the merit of his
conduct will, accordingly, be differently ap-
preciated with reference to the various opin-
ions of different persons; but none can deny
the ability with which he advocated the cause
he had adopted. His zeal did not go unre-
warded. He was promoted to the see of
Rochester in 1793, and made Dean of West-
minster; and in 1802 he was translated to St.
He died at Brighton, October 4th,
1806, and was interred at Newington Butts.
Bishop Horsley, at one period, became quite
an alarmist; and some incautious and perhaps
intemperate speeches, which he uttered in the
House of Peers, during the discussion of
Lord Grenville’s bill, 80c. exposed him to a
good deal of censure; but he may, at least,
claim the praise of consistency of conduct, as
an enemy of innovation ; and he was probably
honest and sincere, if not wholly disin-
terested, in his denunciations against reli-
gious and political heresy and heretics. Be-
sides the works noticed, he was the author of
“ Critical Disquisitions on the Eighteenth
Chapter of Isaiah,” 4to.; “ Hosea, a new
Translation, with Notes," 4to.; a “ Transla~
tion of the Psalms,” 2 vols. ; “ Biblical Criti-
cisms,” 4 vols. 8vo. all of which contain
abundant proofs that he was one ‘of the most
adventurous critics of his age. Sermons;
Charges; elementary Treatises on the Ma-
thematics, on the Prosodies of the Greek and
Latin Languages; and papers in the Philoso-
phical Transactions.—-Mchols’s Lit. Anec.
Dr. Horsley has been, not inaptly, described
as the last of the race of episcopal giants of
the Warburtonian school. He was a man of
an original and powerful mind, of very ex-
tensive learning, and profoundly versed in
the article of ecclesiastical history, of which
he gave ample evidence in his controversy
with Dr. Priestley, while archdeacon of St.
Albans. His sermons and critical disquisi-
tlons frequently display a rich fund of theo-
logical acumen, and of successful illustration
of the sacred writings; but his temper did
not exhibit much of the meekness and gentle-
ness of his Divine Master; and he was too
fond of meddling in political discussions, for
which he did not escape the censure of Mr.
Pitt—Jones’s Christ. Biog.
HOSANNA, in the Hebrew ceremonies, a
prayer which they rehearsed on the several
days of the feast of tabernaclcs. The Heb.
arnwwin Hoshiah-na, signifies, “ save now ;”
or, “ save we pray.” There are divers of
these hosannas; the Jews call them hoschan-
noth, i. e. hosannahs. Some are rehearsed on
the first day, others on the second, &c. which
they call hosanna of the first day, hosanna
of the second day, &c. Hosanna Rabba, or
Grand Hosanna, is a name they give to their
feast of tabernacles, which lasts eight days;
because, during the course thereof; they are
frequently calling for the assistance of God,
the forgiveness of their sins, and his blessing
on the new year; and to that purpose they
make great use of the prayers above men-
tioned. The Jews also apply the terms
hosanna rabba in a more peculiar manner to
the seventh day of the feast of tabernacles,
because they apply themselves more imme-
diately on that day to invoke the divine
blessing, &c.
HOSPITALITY, kindness exercised in the
entertainment of strangers. This virtue, we
find, is explicitly commanded by, and makes
a part of the morality of the New Testament.
Indeed, that religion which breathes nothing
but charity, and whose tendency is to expand
the heart, and call forth the benevolent exer-
tions of mankind, must evidently embrace the
practice. If it be asked, of whom is this re-
quired? it is answered, that the principle is
required of all, though the duty itself can only
be practised by those whose circumstances
will admit of it. Dr. Stennett, in his discourse
on this subject (Domestic Duties, ser. 10.)
justly observes, that hospitality is a species
of charity to which every one is not com-
petent. But the temper from which it pro-
ceeds, I mean a humane, generous, benevo-
lent temper, that ought to prevail in every
breast. Some are miserably poor, and it is
not to be expected that their doors should be
thrown open to entertain strangers; yet the
cottage of the peasant may exhibit noble
specimens of hospitality. Here distress has
often met with pity, and the persecuted an
asylum. Nor is there a man who has a house
to sleep in, but may be benevolent to stran-
gers. But there are persons of certain cha-
meters and stations who are more especially
obliged to it; as, particularly, magistrates and
others in civil ofiices, who would. forfelt the
esteem of the public, and greatly mJure their
usefulness, were they not to observe the rites
of hospitality. Ministers also, and . such
Christians as are qualified by their particular
oflices in the church, and their afliuent cir-
HOS 3
HUG
56
cumstances, may be eminently useful in this
way. The two grand virtues which ought to
be studied by every one, in order that he
may have it in his power to be hospitable,
are industry and economy. But it may be
asked again, to whom is this duty to be prac-
tised? The answer is, to strangers: but here
it is necessary to observe, that the term
strangers hath two acceptations. It is to be
understood of travellers, or persons who come
from a distance, and with whom we have
little or no acquaintance; and more generally
of all who are not of our house,—strangers,
as opposed to domestics. Hospitality is espe-
cially to be practised to the poor; they who _
have no houses of their own, or possess few
of the conveniences of life, should occasion-
ally he invited to our houses, and refreshed
at our tables. Luke xiv. 13, 14. Hospitality
also may be practised to those who are of the
same character and of the same community
with ourselves. As to the various ofiices of
hospitality, and the manner in which they
should be rendered, it must be observed, that
the entertainments should be plentiful, frugal,
and cordial. Gen. xviii. 6, 8. John xii. 3.
Luke xv. 17. The obligations to this duty
arise from the fitness and reasonableness of
it; it brings its own reward. Acts xx. 3.’.
It is expressly commanded by God, Lev. xxv.
38; Luke xvi. 19; xiv. 13, 14; Rom. xii.
Heb. xiii. 1, 2 ; 1 Pet. iv. 9. We have many
striking examples of hospitality on divine
record: Abraham, Gen. xviii. 1, 8. Lot, Gen.
xix. 1. 3; Job xxxi. 17. 22. The Shunamite,
2 Kings iv. 8. 13. The hospitable man men-
tioned in Judges xix. 16, 21. David, 2 Sam.
vi. l9. Obadiah, 1 Kings xviii. 4. Nehe-
miah, Neh. v. 17 , 18. Martha, Luke x. 38.
Mary, Matt. xxvi. 6. 13. The primitive
Christians, Acts ii. .45, 46. Priscilla and
Aquila, Acts xviii. 26. Lydia, Acts xvi. 15,
85c. 8cc. Lastly, what should have a power-
ful effect on our minds, is the consideration
of divine hospitality. God is good to all,
and his tender mercies are over all his works.
His sun shines and his rain falls on the evil
as well as the good. His very enemies share
of his bounty. He gives liberally to all men,
and upbraids not; but especially we should
remember the exceeding riches of his grace,
in his kindness towards us through Christ
Jesus. Let us lay all these considerations
together, and then ask ourselves whether we
can find it in our hearts to be selfish, parsi-
monious, and inhospitable? *
HosT, (from the Latin Hostia, a victim or
sacral/ice, in the Church of Rome,) a name
given to the elements used in the eucharist,
or rather to the consecrated wafer, which
they pretend to offer up every day, as a new
host or sacrifice for the sins of mankind.
They pay adoration to the host upon a false
presumption that the elements are no longer
bread and wine, but transubstantiated into
the real body and blood of Christ. See
TRANSUBSTANTIA’I‘ION. Pope Gregory IX.
first decreed a bell to be rung, as a signal for
the people to betake themselves to the adora-
tion of the host. The vessel wherein the
hosts are kept is called the cibory, being a
large kind of covered chalice. _
HUGUENOTS, a term of uncertain origin,
which was given, by way of contempt, to the
French Protestants. Though Francis I. used
every effort to prevent the principles of the
Reformation from spreading in France, and
persecuted the Calvinists, by whom they were
most zealously propagated ; yet they took
root, in the same proportion as they were at-
tempted to be suppressed. The persecutions
of such as professed them, were frequently
most cruel and bloody; owing to the cupidity
of certain parties at court, who thought to
enrich themselves by seizing on the estates of
the heretics. Under Francis II. the Hugue-
nots were made a hand-ball to gratify the
political intriguers of the day. They were
dreadfully harassed by the princes of the
house of Guise, through whose influence a
chamber of parliament was established, called
the burning chamber, the duty of which was
to convict and burn heretics. Still they suf-
fered in a most exemplary manner ; and
would not have thought of a rebellion had
they not been encouraged to it, in 1560, by a
prince of the blood, Lou-is of Condé, to whom
they leagued themselves, having previously
consulted lawyers and theologians, both in
France and Germany, as to the legality of
such a measure. In pursuance of their plan,
it was determined, that on an appointed day,
a certain number of Calvinists should appear
before the king at Blois, to present a petition
for the free exercise of their religion; and in
case this request was denied, as it was foreseen
it would he, a chosen hand of armed Protest-
ants were to make themselves masters of the
city of Blois, seize the Guises, and compel the
king to name the Prince of Condé regent of
the realm. The plot, however, was betrayed,
and most of the armed conspirators were exe-
cuted or imprisoned. The contest between
the two parties became yet more violent, in
the reign of Charles IX., but from motives of
policy, the Protestants were allowed the pri-
vilege of toleration, chiefly owing to the influ-
ence of the Queen Mother ; but her instability
and intrigues, at last, only renderedthcir case
the more deplorable, and produced the horrible
St. Bartholomew massacre, in 1572. See BAR-
Tr-roLoMEw’s DAY. After many struggles,
they had their civil rights secured to them by
the edict of Nants, in 1598, which gave them
equal claims with the Catholics to all oflices
and dignities, and left them in possession of
the fortresses which had been ceded to them.
In the reign of Louis XIIL, they were again
molested, again took to arms, but were again
worsted, and ultimately obliged to surrender
HUM
HUM
357
all their strong holds. They were now left
to the mercy of the monarch; but were not
disturbed till Louis XIV., led on by his con-
fessor and Madame de Maintenon, was in-
duced to persecute them, with a view to bring
them back to the true church. In 1681, be
deprived them of most of their civil rights,
and sent large bodies of dragoons into the pro-
vinces to compel them to renounce their prin-
ciples. Though the frontiers were vigilantly
guarded, upwards of 500,000 Huguenots made
their escape to Switzerland, Germany, .Hol-
land, and England. Supposing them either
to be extirpated or converted to Catholicism,
Louis revoked the edict of Nantes in 1685.
Since that time, at which there were still half
a million of them in France, they have alter-
nately enjoyed repose, and been the subjects
of alarm and persecution. In 1746 they ven-
tured to appear publicly in Languedoc and
Dauphiny; and as the principles of toleration
and general liberty matured, they gradually
recovered their place in society, till at last the
revolution placed them on the same footing
with their fellow-citizens. The troubles, at-
tended with bloodshed, which occurred at‘
Nismes, soon after the restoration, were merely
accidental, and were suppressed by the judi-
c10us measures of government.
HUMANITARIANS, those who believe in the
simple humanity of Christ, or that he was
nothing more than a mere man, born accord-
1ng to the usual course of nature, and who
lived and died according to the ordinary cir-
cumstances of‘ mankind. See Socmrans.
HUMANITY, the exercise of the social and
benevolent virtues; a fellow-feeling for the
distresses of another. It is properly called
humanity, because there is little or nothing of
1t in brutes. The social affections are conceived
by all to be more refined than the selfish.
Sympathy and humanity are universally es-
teemed the finest temper of mind; and for
that reason the prevalence of the social affec-
tions in the progress of society is held to be a
refinement of our nature. Kaims’s El. of Grit,
p. 104, vol. i.; Robinson’s Sermon on. Chris-
tianity a System of Humanity,- Pratt’s Poem
on Hwnam'ty.
HUMANITY or CHRIST is his possessing a
true human body, and a true human soul,
which he assumed for the purpose of render-
ing his mediation effectual to our salvation.
See JESUS CHRIST.
HUMANITY, SINFUL, a term recently intro-
duced by Mr. Irving, late of the Scotch
Church, London, in reference to the human
‘nature of our Lord; respecting which he
maintains, in opposition to the express state~
ments of Scripture, that it possessed sinful
Properties, dispositions, and inclinations, till
the per1od of his resurrection; when, having
condemned sin in his flesh, he entered into
glory 1n flesh free from sin, and consequently
free from death and corruption.
i'IUMILIXfTQN or (,‘nnis'r is that state of
meanness and distress to which he voluntarily
descended for the purpose of executing his
mediatorial work. This appears, 1. In his
birth. He was born of a woman—a sinful
woman; though he was without sin, Gal. iv.
4. A poor woman, Luke ii. 7, 24. In a poor
country village, John i. 46. In a stable, an
abject place. Of a nature subject to infirmities,
Heb. 9 ; hunger, thirst, weariness, pain, Ste.
2. In his circumstances ;--laid in a manger
when he was born ; lived in obscurity for a long
time; probably worked at the trade of a car-
penter ; had not a place where to lay his head;
and was oppressed with poverty while he went
about preaching the gospel. 3. It appeared
in h1s reputation :-—-he was loaded with the
most abusive railing and calumny, Isa. liii.;
the most false accusations, Matt. xxvi. 59, 67 ;
and the most ignominious ridicule, Psal. xxii.
6; Matt. xxii. 68; John vii. 35. 4. In his
soul he was often tempted, Matt. iv. 1, &c.;
Heb. ii. 17, 18 ; Heb. iv. 15 ; grieved with the
reproaches cast on himself, and with the sins
and miseries of others, Heb. xii. 3 ; \Iatt. xi.
19 ; John xi. 35 ; was burdened with the hid-
ings of his Father’s face, and the fears and
impressions of his wrath, Psal. xxii. 1 ; Luke
xxii. 43; Heb. v. 7. 5. In his death :—
scourged, crowned with thorns, received gal]
and vinegar to drink, and was crucified be-
tween two thieves, Luke xxiii.; John xix.;
Mark xv. 24, 25. 6. In his burial :——not only
was he born ‘in another man’s house, but he
was buried in another man’s tomb; for he had
no tomb of his own, or family vault to be
interred in, Isa. liii. 10, &c.; Matt. xiii. 46.
The humiliation of Christ was necessary, 1.
To execute the purpose of God, and covenant
engagements of Christ, Acts ii. 23, 24; Psal.
x1. 6—8. 2. To fulfil the manifold types and
predictions of the Old Testament. 3. To
satisfy the broken law of God, and procure
eternal redemption for us, Isa. liii.; Heb. ix.
I2, 15. 4. To leave us an unspotted pattern
of holiness and patience under suffering.
Gill’s Body of Div., p. 66, vol. ii.; Brown’s
Nat. and Rev. Religion, p. 357; Ridgley’s
Body of Diet, qu. 48.
HUMILITY, a disposition of mind wherein a
person has a low opinion of himself and his
advantages. It is a branch of internal wor-
ship, or of experimental religion and godliness.
It is the effect of divine grace operating on
the soul, and always characteriscs the true
Christian. The heathen philosophers were
so little acquainted with this virtue. that they
had no name for it: what they meant by the
word we use, was meanness and baseness of
mind. To consider this grace a little more
particularly, it may be observed, 1. That hu-
mility does not oblige a man to wrong the
truth or himself by entertaming a meaner or
worse opinion of himself than he deserves.
2. Nor does it oblige a man, right or wrong,
HUN 3
8 HUN
0
to give every body else the preference to
himself‘. A wise man cannot believe himself
inferior to the ignorant multitude; nor the
virtuous man that he is not so good as those
whose lives are vicious. 3. Nor does it oblige
a man to treat himself with contempt in his
words or actions: it looks more like afi‘ectation
than humility, when a man says such things
m his own dispraise as others know, or he
himself believes to be false; and it is plain
also, that this is often done merely as a bait
to catch the praises of others. Humility con-
sists, 1. In not attributing to ourselves any
excellence or good which we have not. 2. In
not over-rating any thing we do. 3. In not
taking an immoderate delight in ourselves.
4. In not assuming more of the praise of a
quality or action than belongs to us. 5: In
an inward sense of our ‘many imperfections
and sins. 6. In ascribing all we have and
are to the grace of God. True humility will
express itself, 1. By the modesty of our ap-
pearance. The humble man will consider his
age, abilities, character, function, &c., and act
accordingly. 2. By the modesty of our pur-
suits. We shall not aim at any thing above
our strength, but prefer a good to a great
name. 3. It will express itself by the modesty
of our conversation and behaviour: we shall
not be loquacious, obstinate, forward, envious,
discontented, or ambitious. The advantages
of humility are numerous ;——1. It is well-
pleasing to God, 1 Pet. iii. 4. 2. It has great
influence on us in the performance of all other
duties, praying, hearing, converse, &c. It
indicates that more grace shall be given,
James iv. 6; Psal. xxv. 9. 4. It preserves
the soul in great tranquillity and contentment,
Psal. lxix. 32, 33. 5. It makes us patient and
resigned under afiiictions, Job 'i. 2.2. 6. It
enables us to exercise moderation in every
thing. To obtain this excellent spirit, we
should remember, 1. The example of Christ,
Phil. ii. 6-—8. 2. That heaven is a place of
humility, Rev. v. 8. 3. That our sins ‘are
numerous, and deserve the greatest punish-
ment, Lam. iii. 39. 4. That humility is the
way to honour, Prov. xvi. 18. 5. That the
greatest promises of good are made to the
humble, Isa. lvii. 15 ; lvi. 2 ; 1 Pet. v. 5 ;_ Psal.
cxlvii. 6 ; Matt. v. 5. Grove’s Mor. Phil, vol.
ii. p. 286; Evans’s Christian Temper, vol. i.
ser. 1 ; Watts on Humility,- Baxter’s Christian
Directory, v. i. p. 496; Hale’s Cont, p 110;
Gill’s Body of Div., p. 151, V01. iiin, Walher’s
Sermons, vol. iv. ser. 3.
I-Iusnann, DUTIES or.
STATE.
I-luNTmenoN, COUNTESS or, the founder of
the denomination of Christians hearing her
name, was the daughter of Washington, earl
of Ferrets, and was born August 24, 1707.
When very young, her mind was impressed
with the importance of religlon, and she_fre-
oucntly retired to her chamber to supplicate
See MARRIAGE
the favour and blessing of God. - At the age
of twenty-one she was married to Theophilus,
earl of Huntingdon, and was thus connected
with a family distinguished alike for piety and
respectability. She attended on the ministry
of the celebrated George Whitefield; and al-
though Lord Huntingdon entertained different
opinions, he did not oppose such attendance,
deeming the rights of conscience as sacred
and unalienable. To Mr. Whitefield she was
particularly attached, and warmly supported
the erection of chapels, and the diffusion of
those principles and opinions which he pro-
fessed and inculcated. Lady Huntingdon, after
the death of Lord H., devoted a great part of
her large property to the building of ‘ chapels
in London and throughout Wales; and for the
supply of which she first confined herself to the
ministers of the Established Church, as her
preachers, many of whom accepted her invi-
tation, and laboured in the places which she
had opened; but finding that the ministers,_
who before laboured for her, were unequal to
the task, she determined on erecting a col~
lege in South Wales, for the purpose of pro-
viding, successively, able and pious teachers.
That college, and an accompanying chapel,
in the parish of Talgarth, in Brecknockshire,
was erected in the year 1768. From that
seminary many students emanated, not indeed
celebrated for their learning, but many of
them for their piety and devotedness to God.
They were itinerant—moved from congrega-
tion to congregation, in an established rota-
tion; and she alone maintained a correspond-
ence with them, by which she regulated and
provided a constant supply. In 1769 she
erected a chapel at Tunbridge Wells; and a
large building at Spafields, London, called the
Pantheon, which had been erected for the en-
tertainment of parties of pleasure, especially
on the Sabbath day, she purchased for reli-
gious worship, and it was first opened in
1777. In that chapel, the Rev. Herbert
Jones, and William Taylor, ofiiciated as cler-
gymen; and as some alterations had‘ been
made by the Countess in the liturgy, although
the episcopalian mode of worship was used,
a suit was instituted against them, by the
minister of the parish of Clerkenwell, in the
consistorial court of the Bishop of London.
That court determined, that if they proceeded
in preaching there any longer, they should be
expelled from the church. The threatened
expulsion did not intimidate them ; and they,
with several other clergymen, seceded from
the establishment, and put themselves under
the protection of the Toleration Act. Those
clergymen drew up, and subscribed the Con-
fession of Faith, which was afterwards signed
by all the ministers of her ladyship’s con-
nexion, and by candidates for ordination.
The first six were ordained in Spa Fields
Chapel, in 1783. Some years afterwards, she
purchased another large place in Whitechapel
HUS
HUS
359
which had been intended for a theatre, but
which, with a few alterations, she converted
into a place of worship, and which 13 now
called Sion Chapel. The companions of Lady
Huntingdon, for many years, were Miss Scutt,
and Lady Ann Erskine, who co-operated with
her for several years in all her exertions.
Notwithstanding the prodigious efforts of this
lady, she lived to the age of eighty-four, and
died at her house in Spa Fields, on June l7,
1791: her body was buried in the_family
vault, at Ashby-de-la-Zouch, in Leicester-
shire. The seminary in Wales ceased at her
death, the lease being just expired; but a new
college has been erected at Cheshunt, in
I-lertfordshire, in which a number of students
are yearly educated. The temper _of Lady
Huntingdon was warm and sanguine; her
predilections and prejudices were too hastily
adopted, and she therefore frequently formed
conclusions not correspondent with truth and
wisdom. Notwithstanding such failings, she
'was distinguished for a fervent zeal to propa-
gate the gospel of Jesus Christ; and multi-
tudes have, doubtless, through her instru
HUNTINGTON, WILLIAM, S. S. (Sinner
Saved,) a notorious Antinomian preacher in
London, towards the end of the eighteenth
century. He was the son of a farmer’s la-
bourer in Kent, and passed the early part of
his life in menial service, and in the occupa-
tion of a coal-beaver. Having been reclaimed
from dissipated and irreligious courses, he be-
came a zealous preacher; and, though a man
of little education, he possessed considerable
natural talent, and soon succeeded in drawing
together a large body of followers; to whom,
in the most familiar and popular—but fre-
quently in the most absurd, eccentric and un-
warrantable manner ~— he expounded the
Scriptures; crying down all other ministers
as unsound in the faith, and exalting his own
system as the paragon of gospel divinity.
Travelling throughout the country, he col-
lected disciples wherever he went; and there
still exist a considerable number of chapels,
especially in Sussex, in which his Antinomian
tenets continue to be taught. After having
lost his first wife by death, Mr. H. married
the wealthy relict of Sir James Saunderson, a
London alderman, and passed the latter part
of his life in afiluence. His publications are
ver numerous, and some of them contain
curious details relative to his personal history
and experience.
H USS, JOHN, the celebrated Bohemian re-
former, was born near Prague, in Bohemia,
about the year 1376, at a village called Hus-
sinez, upon the borders of the Black Forest,
His parents were not afiiuent, but his father
paid great attention to his education, which
be improved by his strong mental capacities,
and by close application to his studies in the
University of Prague, where he obtained the
' mentality, been converted.
in 1417.

degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1393, Master
of Arts in 1395, and Bachelor in Divinity in
1408. During the course of his university
honours, he also obtained a b‘enefice. John
Mulheym, a person of large fortune in
Prague, erected a chapel, which he called
Bethlehem; and, having amply endowed it,
appointed Huss as minister. Huss was at
this time aCatholic. The opinions of Wick-
liffe, though then extending, had not reached
Bohemia. Having, about the year 1382, pe-
rused, through the medium of a young
Bohemian nobleman, the writings of Wick-
liife, his mind was greatly impressed by them ;
and he would call him an angel sent from
heaven to enlighten mankind. He would
mention, among his friends, his meeting with
the works of that reformer, as the most for—
tunate circumstance of his life. From this
time, both in the schools and in the pulpit, he
would inveigh with great warmth against
ecclesiastical abuses ; point out the bad
government of the church, and the bad lives
of the clergy; and lament the state of the
people who were under the government of
the one, and the influence of the other. The
state of religion in Bohemia was, indeed, at
that time very low; it was the subject of bar-
ter, and the clergy were the most corrupt;
Huss, therefore, attracted not only notice, but
attention. The followers of Huss became
numerous; many members of the university
followed him. The works of \Vickliffe were
translated into' the Sclavonian tongue, and
read with great attention in every part of
Bohemia; and as soon as Pope Alexander V.
was seated in the chair, observing the diffusion
of Protestant principles and writings, he
issued a bull, directed to the archbishop of
Prague, ordering him to collect the writings
of Wicklifi‘e, and to apprehend and imprison
his followers. By virtue of that bull, the
archbishop condemned the writings of Wick-
lifi‘e, proceeded against four doctors who
had not delivered up their copies of his
writings, and prohibited them from again _
preaching. Huss, with some other members
of that university, protested against those
measures; and on the 25th of June, 1410,
entered a new appeal from the sentences of
the archbishop. This affair was carried
before Pope John XXIII., in consequence of
the previous death of Alexander; and John
granted a commission to cite Huss personally
to appear at Rome, to answer the accusations
made against him. Huss requested to be
excused from attending personally. Three
proctors subsequently appeared for him be-
fore Cardinal Colonna, who was elected pope
The proctors apologized for the ab-
sence of Huss, but expressed their willingness
to answer in his behalf; but Cardinal Colonna
‘declared Huss coiitnmacious, and excommu-
nicated him accordingly. The proctors then
appealed to the pope: be appointed certain
HUS
I-IUS-
360
cardinals to draw up a process of the whole
matter, and they not only confirmed the sen-
tence of Colonna, but carrying it further,
excommunicated not only Huss, but all his
friends and disciples.
This treatment had no tendency to lessen
the popularity of Huss. His sufferings in-
creased his infiuence; and multitudes of all
ranks, either impelled by gratitude or by
compassion, hastened to enlist themselves in
his cause. Thus supported, he did not de-
spond; and, although he was prohibited from
preaching, he continued to discharge every
other branch of the pastoral oflice; and, among
other plans adopted by him, he gave out
questions, which he encouraged the people to
discuss in private, and to come to him with
their difiiculties. Thus disappointed and
chagrined in his attempts to suppress the
reformed, the new archbishop convened a
council of doctors, who drew up and published
some articles against Huss and his adherents.
But to them he wrote a spirited and judicious
reply. Soon after this performance, Huss
published another piece against the usurp-
ations of the court of Rome -, and to this the
archbishop and council replied. But with
writing alone they were dissatisfied, and
therefore applied to the pope for assistance,
who merely recommended the subject to the
king of Bohemia. The letters which Huss
wrote at this time are very numerous. He
justified Wicklifi‘e’s book on the Trinity, and
defended the character of that reformer against
a charge brought by a man of the name of
Stokes, and others, who accused him of disobe-
dience. He also wrote many discourses against
the peculiar doctrines of the Catholic Church.
About this time Peter of Dresden was
obliged to fly from Saxony, and seek a refuge
at Prague, where he encouraged a priest of
St. Michael’s chapel to preach up the esta-
blishment of the communion under the species
of wine. Huss embraced these sentiments,
and for which he was exposed to persecution;
but eventually the Hussites were permitted
to continue their sermons, and their senti-
ments became general. In 1412, Huss left
his retirement, and returned to Prague. Pope
John XXIII. at this time published his bulls
against the king of Naples, ordering a crusade
against him, and granting indulgences to all
who engaged in that war. Huss declaimed
against such bulls, crusades, and indulgences.
The populace espoused the opinions of Huss:
the magistrates imprisoned and persecuted
them, and a massacre ensued; but through
the whole affair he displayed a true Christian
spirit. Immediately after that melancholy
afi‘air, Huss retired to his native place, where
he lived protected by the principal persons
of the country. Thither some of the most
eminent men of every country resorted, to
obtain his directions, his assistance, and his
advice. During his retreat at Hussinez, he
spent much of his time in writing. There he
wrote his treatise “ Upon the Church ;” his
paper entitled “ The Six Errors,” levelled
against indulgences, simony, excommunica-
tion, 800. These treatises were much opposed,
and Huss defended them. Huss, soon after,
once more returned to Prague, and engaged
in other controversies. At Constance, at this
time, the famous council was held, at which
it was determined that a reformation was
necessary; and Pope John was deposed and
imprisoned. But against Huss and his fol-
lowers, it also directed its thunderbolts.
Wickli-fi‘e was now dead ; but they reviled his
memory—burnt his books—-—and even ordered
his bones to be dug up and consumed to ashes.
To Constance Huss travelled, there determined
to defend his principles, and support the cause '
of truth. On his journey he was received
with acclamations, and in three weeks arrived
at that place. He was nominally examined
before the pope and the cardinals ; and, after
remaining there some time, he was one day
suddenly seized by a party of guards, in the
gallery of the council, although the pope had
assured him of liberty and protection. At
such perfidy the assembly was surprised; and
the pope confounded and alarmed, could only
say that it was the act of the cardinals.
In a lonely monastery on the banks of the
Rhine, belonging to the Franciscans, who as
an order, were bitterly opposed to him, Huss
was now confined. Yet even there he com—
posed some interesting tracts, among which
was one entitled, “ A Comment upon the
Commandments ;” another, “ Upon the Lord’s
Prayer ;” a third, “ On the Knowledge and
Love of God ;” and a fourth, “ On the Three
great Enemies of Mankind.” For a long time
Huss remained in prison. Catholics of more
liberal principles interceded for his acquittal,
but in vain. Many sessions elapsed prior to
the exhibition of articles against him; but
on the 5th and 6th of June, 1515, after a
previous examination, he was tried for main-
taining the doctrines afterwards professed in
the Reformed Church, and was advised to
abjure his books and recent. But he magna-
nimously refused: and on the 7 th of July, the
council censured him for being obstinate and
incorrigible, and ordered “ that he should be
degraded from the priesthood, his books pub-
licly burnt, and himself delivered to the secu-
lar power.” That sentence he heard without
emotion. He immediately supplicated the
pardon of his enemies; and the bishops ap—
pointed by the council stripped him of his
priestly garments, and put a mitre of paper on
his head, on which devils were painted, with
this inscription,—-“A Ringleader of Heretics.”
The bishops delivered him to the emperor,
and he delivered him to the Duke of Bavaria.
His books were burnt at the gate of the
church, and he was led to the suburbs to be
burnt alive. Prior to his execution, he made
HUT
HUT
361
a solemn public appeal to God, from the judg-
ment of the pope and council, which was fer-
vent and energetic. He was then surrounded
with fagots, his mind all the while composed
and happy. The flames were then applied
to the fagots; when the martyr sang a hymn,
with so loud and cheerful a voice, that he was
distinctly heard through all the noise of the
combustibles and of the multitude. At last
he uttered, “ Jesus Christ, thou Son of the
‘living God, have mercy upon me l” and he
was consumed; after which, his ashes were
carefully collected and cast into the Rhine.
Huss was a true ecclesiastic, and a real Chris-
tian. Gentle and condescending to the opi-
nions of others, this amiable pattern of virtue
was strict only in his principles. His great
contest was with vice. His piety was calm,
rational, and manly; his fortitude was un-
daunted. “From his infancy,” said the
University of Prague, “he was of such excel-
lent morals, that during his stay here, we
may venture to challenge any one to produce
a single fault against him.” ‘His writings
were simple, pious, affectionate, and intelli-
gent. Luther said he was the most rational
expounder of Scripture he ever met with.
Hussrrns, the followers of John Huss.
See Tanonrrns.
HUTCHINSONIANS, the followers of John
Hutchinson, who was born in Yorkshire in
1674. In the early part of his life he served
the Duke of Somerset in the capacity of
steward; and in the course of his travels
from place to place employed himself in col-
lecting fossils. We are told that the large
and noble collection bequeathed by Dr. VVood—
ward to the University of Cambridge was
actually made by him, and even unfairly
obtained from him. In 1724, he published
the first part of his curious book, called
“ Moses’ Principia,” in which he ridiculed
Dr. Woodward’s Natural History of the Earth,
and exploded the doctrine of gravitation esta-
blished in Newton’s Principia. In 1727, he
published a second part of “Moses’ Principia,”_
containing the principles of the Scripture
philosophy. From this time to his death he
published a volume every year or two, which,
with the manuscripts he left behind, were
published in l748, in twelve volumes 8vo.
()n the Monday before his death, Dr. Mead
urged him to be bled; saying, pleasantly, “ I
will soon send you to Moses,” meaning his
studies ; but Mr. Hutchinson, taking it in the
literal sense, answered in a muttering tone,
“I believe, doctor, you will ;” and was so
displeased, that he dismissed him for another
physician; but he died in a few days after,
August 28, 1737.
It appears to be a leading sentiment of his
disciples, that all our ideas of divinity are
formed from the ideas in nature,-—that nature
is a standing picture, and Scripture an appli-
cation of the several parts of the picture, to
draw out to us the great things of God, in
order to reform our mental conceptions. To
prove this point, they allege, that the Scrip-
tures declare the invisible things of God from
the formation of the world are clearly seen,
being understood by the things which are
made; even his eternal power and Godhead.
Rom. i. 20. The heavens must declare God’s
righteousness and truth in the congregation
of the saints. Ps. lxxxix. 5. And, in short,
the whole system of nature, in one voice of
analogy, declares and gives us ideas of his
glory, and shows us his handy-work. \Ve
cannot have any ideas of invisible things till
they are pointed out to us by revelation: and
as we cannot know them immediately, such
as they are in themselves, after the manner
in which we know sensible objects, they must
be communicated to us by the mediation of
such things as we already comprehend. For
this reason the Scripture is found to have a
language of its own, which does not consist
of words, but of signs or figures taken fron1~
visible things: in consequence of which the
world which we now see becomes a sort of
commentary on the mind of God, and ex plains
the word in which we believe. The doctrines
of the Christian faith are attested by the whole
natural world; they are recorded in a lan-
guage which has never been confounded;
they are written in a text which shall never
be corrupted.
The Hutehinsonians maintain that the
great mystery of the Trinity is conveyed to
our understandings by ideas of sense; and
that the created substance of the air, or hea—
ven, in its threefold agency of fire, light, and
spirit, is the enigma of the one essence or
one Jehovah in three persons. The unity of
essence is exhibited by its unity of substance;
the trinity of conditions, fire, light, and spirit.
Thus the one substance of the air, or heaven
in its three conditions, shows the unity in
trinity; and its three conditions in or of one
substance, the trinity in unity. For (says this
denomination) if we consult the writings of
the Old and New Testament, we shall find
the persons of the Deity represented under
the names and characters of the three ma-
terial agents, fire, light, and spirit, and their
actions expressed by the actions of these their
emblems. The Father is called a consum-
ing fire: and his judicial proceedings are
spoken of in words which denote the several
actions of fire, Jehovah is a consuming fire-—
Our God is a consmning fire, Deut. iv. 24;
Heb. xii. 29. The Son has the name of light,
and his purifying actions and offices are de-
scribed by words which denote the actions
and ofiiees of light. He is the true light,
which lighteth every man that cometh into
the world, John i. 9; Mal. iv. 2. The Com-
forter has the name of Spirit; and his ani-
mating and sustaining ofiices are described
by words, for the actions and ofiiccs of the
HUT
HYP
362
material spirit. His actions in the spiritual
economy are agreeable to his type in the
natural economy; such as inspiring, im-
pelling, driving, leading. Matt. ii. 1. The
philosophic system of the Hutchinsonians is
derived from their views of the Hebrew Scrip-
tures. It rests on these suppositions: 1.
That the Hebrew language was formed under
divine inspiration, either all at once, or at
different times, as occasion required; and
that the Divine Being had a view, in con-
structing it, to the various revelations which
he in all succeeding times should make in
that language: consequently, that its words
must be the most proper and determinate to
convey such truths as the Deity, during the
Old Testament dispensation, thought fit to
make known to the sons of men. Farther
than this: that the inspired penmen of those
ages at least were under the guidance of Hea-
ven in the choice of words for recording what
was revealed to them; therefore that the
Old Testament, if the language be rightly
understood, is the most determinate in its
meaning of any other book under heaven.—
2. That whatever is recorded in the Old
Testament is strictly and literally true, allow-
ing only for a few common figures of rhe-
toric; that nothing contrary to truth is ac-
commodated to vulgar apprehensions.
In proof of this the Hutehinsonians argue
in this manner.
design of revelation is indeed to teach men
divinity; but in subserviency to that, geo-
graphy, history, and chronology, are occa-
sionally introduced; all which are allowed
to be just and authentic. There are also in-
numerable references to things of nature, and
descriptions of them. If, then, the former
are just, and to be depended on, for the same
reason the latter ought to be esteemed philo-
sophically true. Farther: they think it not
unworthy of God, that he should make it a
secondary end of his revelation to unfold the
secrets of his works; as the primary was to
make known the mysteries of his nature, and
the designs of his grace, that men might
thereby be led to admire and adore the wis-
dom and goodness which the great Author of
the universe has displayed throughout all his
works. And as our minds are often referred
to natural things for ideas of spiritual truths,
it is of great importance, in order to conceive
aright of divine matters, that our ideas of the
natural things referred to be strictly just and
true. ‘
Mr. Hutchinson imagined he found that
the Hebrew Scriptures had some capital
words, which he thought had not been duly
considered and understood; and which, he
has endeavoured to prove, contain in their
radical meaning the greatest and most com-
fortable truths. The cherubim he explains to
be a hieroglyphic of divine construction, or a
sacred image, to describe, as far as figures
The primary and ultimate .

could go, the humanity united to Deity: and
so he treats of several other words of similar
import. From all which he concluded, that
the rites and ceremonies of the Jewish dis-
pensation were so many delineations of Christ,
in what he was to be, to do, and to suffer;
that the early Jews knew them to be types
of his actions and sufferings; and, by per-
forming them as such, were so far Christians
both in faith and practice.
The Hutchinsonians, how fanciful soever
many of their views of philosophy. and how
utterly untenable their system of Hebrew
philology, have, for the most part, been men
of devout minds, zealous in the cause of
Christianity, and untainted with heterodox
opinions, which have so often divided the
church of Christ. The names of Romaine,
Bishop Horne, Parkhurst, and others of this
denomination, will be long esteemed, both
for the piety they possessed, and the good
they have been_the instruments of promoting
amongst mankind. Should the reader wish
to know more of the philosophical and theo-
logical opinions of Mr. Hutchinson, he may
consult a work, entitled “ An Abstract of the
Works of John Hutchinson, Es . Edinburgh,
17 53.” See also Joncs’s Life of islzop Horne,
2d edit. ; Joncs’s War/cs ,- Speurman’s Inquiry,
pp. 260. 273.
I-IYMN. a song or ode in honour of the -
Divine Being. St. Hilary, bishop of Poietiers,
15 said to have been the first who composed
hymns to be sung in churches, and was fol—
lowed by St. Ambrose. Most of those in the
Roman breviary were composed by Pruden-
tius. The hymns or odes of the ancients
generally consisted of three sorts of stanzas,
one of which was sung by the band as they
walked from east to west; another was per-
formed as they returned from west to east;
the third part was sung before the altar. The
Jewish hymns were accompanied with trum—
pets, drums, and cymbals, to assist the voices
of the Levites and the people. We have had
a considerable number of hymns composed in
our own country. The most esteemed are
those of Watts, Doddridge, and Newton. As
to selections, few are superior to Dr. Rip-
pon’s and Dr. Williams’s. See PSALMODY.
HYPOCRISY is a seeming or professing to
be what in truth and reality we are not. It
consists in assuming a character which we
are conscious does not belong to us, and by
which we intentionally impose upon the judg-
ment and opinion of mankind concerning
us. The name is borrowed from the Greek
tongue, in which it primarily signifies the
profession of a stage-player, which is to ex-
press m speech, habit, and action, not his own
person and manners, but his whom he under-
takes to represent. And so it is; for the
very essence of hypocrisy lies in apt imita-
tion and deceit; in acting the part of a mem~
ber of Christ without any saving grace. The
ICO
ICO
363
hypocrite is a double person ; he has one per-
son, which is natural; another, which is arti-
ficial: the first he keeps to himself; the
other he puts on as he doth his clothes, to
make his appearance in before men. It was
ingeniously said by Basil, “ that the hypo-
crite has not put off the old man, but put on
the new upon it.” Hypocrites have been
divided into four sorts: 1. The worldly hy-
pocrite, who makes a profession of religion,
and pretends to be religious, merely from
worldl considerations, Matt. xxiii. 5.—2.
The Izgal hypocrite, who relinquishes his
vicious practices, in order thereby to merit
heaven, while at the same time he has no
real love to God. Rom. x. 3.--3. The evan-
gelical hypocrite, whose religion is nothing
more than a bare conviction of sin; who re-
joices under the idea that Christ died for
him, and yet has no desire to live a holy life.
Matt. xiii. 20; 2 Pet. ii. 20.——~4. The enthu-
siastic hypocrite, who has an imaginary sight
of his sin, and of Christ; talks of remarkable
impulses and high feelings; and thinks him-
self very wise and good while he lives in the
most scandalous practices. Matt. xiii. 39 ; 2
Cor. xi. 14. Crack on Hypocrisy,- Decoetle-
gon’s Sermon on Ps. 1i. 6 ; Grove’s ZlIor. PhiL,
vol. ii. p. 253; South’s Ser. on Job viii. 13.
vol. x.; Bellamy’s Relz'g. Del. p. 166.
HYPOSTASIS, a term literally signifying
substance or subsistence, or that which is put
and stands under another thing, and supports
it, being its base, ground, or foundation. Thus
IBERIANS, a denomination of eastern Chris-
tians, who derive their name from Iberia, a
province of Asia, now called Georgia : hence
they are also called Georgians. Their tenets
are nearly the same with those of the Greek
church; which see.
ICHTHUS, (Gr. i’XOvg, a fish,) a word found
on many seals, rings, lamps, urns, and tomb-
stones, belonging to the earliest Christian
times. Each character forms an initial letter
in the following Greek words: ‘Inaoiig Xpwrbg
9am’) Tibg Elm-zip; i. 0. Jesus Christ, the Son
of God, the Saviour. The picture of a fish
is sometimes engraved on similar objects,
bearing doubtless the same mystical meaning.
By whom, on what occasion, and for what
particular purpose this symbol was introduced,
has never been determined.
ICONOCLASTES, or ICONOCLASTJE, breakers
of images i a name which the Church of Rome
gives to all who reject the use of images in
religious matters. The word is Greek, formed
from time», an image, and shale), to break.
In this sense not only the reformed, but some
of the eastern churches, are called Iconoclas-
tes, and esteemed by them heretics, as oppos-
faith is the substantial foundation of things
hoped for. Heb. xi. 1. The word is Greek,
z‘nroo'rao'tg, compounded of z'nro, sub, under,
and tempt, sto, I stand, I exist. q. d. subsis-
tentia. It likewise signifies confidence, sta-
bility, firmness. 2 Cor. ix. 4. It is also used
for person. Heb. i. 3. Thus we hold that
there is but one nature or essence in God, but
three hypostases or persons. The word occa-
sioned great dissensions in the ancient church,
first amongst the Greeks, and afterwards
among the Latins; but an end was put to
them by a synod held at Alexandria about the
year 362, at which St. Athanasius assisted;
from which time the Latins made no great
scruple of saying three hypostases, nor the
Greeks three persons. The hypostatical union
is the union of the human nature of Christ
with the divine: constituting two natures in
one person, not two persons in one nature, as
the Nestorians believe. See JESUS CHRIST.
HYPSISTARII (formed from zitbto'rog, high-
est,) a sect of heretics in the fourth century ;
thus called from the profession they made of
worshipping the Most High God.
The doctrine of the Hypsistarians was an
assemblage of Paganism, Judaism, and Chris-
tianity. They adored the Most High God
with the Christians; but they also revered
fire and lamps with the heathens, and ob-
served the sabbath, and the distinction of
clean and unclean things with the Jews. The
Hypsistarii bore a near resemblance to the
Euchites, or Messalians.
I.
ing the worship of the images of God and the
saints, and breaking their figures and repre-
sentations in churches.
The opposition to images began in Greece,
under the reign of Bardanes, who was created
emperor of the Greeks a little after the com-
mencement of the eighth century, when the
worship of them became common. See IMAGE.
But the tumults occasioned by it were quelled
by a revolution, which, in 713, deprived Bar-
danes of the imperial throne. The dispute
however, broke out with redoubled fury under
Leo the Isaurian, who issued an edict in the
year 726, abrogatiiig, as some say, the wor-
ship of images; and ordering all the images,
except that of Christ’s crucifixion, to be re-
moved out of the churches ; but according to
others, this edict only prohibited the paying
to them any kind of adoration or worship.
This edict .occasioned a civil war, which
broke out in the islands of the Archipelago,
and, by the suggestions of the priests and
monks, ravaged a part of Asia, and afterwards
reached Italy. The civil commotions and
insurrections in Italy were chiefly promoted
by the Roman pontiifs, Gregory I. and II.
ICO
lCO
364
Leo was excommunicated; and his subjects
in the Italian provinces violated their allegi-
ance, and rising in arms, either massacred or
banished all the emperor’s deputies and offi-
ccrs. In consequence of these proceedings,
Leo assembled a council at Constantinople
in 730, which degraded Germanus, bishop of
that city, who was a patron of images; and
he ordered all the images to be publicly burnt,
and inflicted a variety of severe punishments
upon such as were attached to that idolatrous
' worship. Hence arose two factions, one of
which adopted the adoration and worship of
images, and on that account were called iconoe
duli, or z'conolatrcc; and the other maintained
that such worship was unlawful, and that
nothing was more worthy the zeal of Chris
tians than to demolish and destroy those
statues and pictures which were the occasion
of this gross idolatry; and hence they were
distinguished by the titles of z'cono-machz',
(from eitcwil, image, and uaxw, I contend)
and iconoclasta'. The zeal of Gregory II. in
favour of image worship was not only imitated,
but even surpassed by his successor Gregory
III.: in consequence of which the Italian
provinces were torn from the Grecian empire.
Constantine, called Copronymus, in 754, con-
vened a council at Constantinople, regarded
by the Greeks as the seventh oecumenical
council, which solemnly condemned the wor-
ship and use of images. Those who, not-
withstanding this decree of the council, raised
commotions in the state, were severely punish-
ed, and new laws were enacted to set bounds
to the violence of monastic rage. Leo. IV.,
who was declared emperor in 775, pursued the
same measures, and had recourse to the coer-
civc influence of penal laws, in order to extir-
pate idolatry out of the Christian church.
lrene, the wife of Leo, poisoned her husband
in 780; assumed the reins of the empire dur-
ing the minority of her son Constantine ; and
in 786 summoned a council at Nice, in Bithy-
nia, known by the name of the Second Nicene
Council, which abrogated the laws and dc-
erees against the new idolatry, restored the
worship of images and of the cross, and de-
nounced severe punishments against those
who maintained that God was the only ob-
ject of religious adoration. In this contest,
the Britons, Normans, and Gauls, were of
opinion that images might be lawfully con-
tinued in churches; but they considered the
worship of them as highly injurious and
offensive to the Supreme Being. Charle-
magne distinguished himself as a mediator in
this controversy: he ordered four books con-
cerning images to be composed, refuting the
reasons urged by the Nicene bishops to justify
the worship of images, which he sent to Adrian,
the Roman pontiff, in 790, in order to engage
him to withdraw his approbation of the de-
crees of the last council of Nice. Adrian
wrote an answer; and in 794, a council of
300 bishops assembled by Charlemagne, at
Frankfort on the Maine, confirmed the opinion
contained in the four books, and solemnly
condemned the worship of images.
In the Greek church, after the banishment
of Irene, the controversy concerning images
broke out anew, and was carried on by the
contending parties, during the half of the
ninth century, with various and uncertain
success. The Emperor Nicephorus appears,
upon the whole, to have been an enemy to
this idolatrous worship. His successor, Mi-
chael Curopalatcs, surnamed Rhangabe, pa-
tronised and encouraged it. But the scene
changed on the accession of Leo, the Arme-
nian, to the empire, who assembled a council
at Constantinople, in 812, that abolished the
decrees of the Nicene council. His successor,
Michael, surnamed Balbus, disapproved of the
worship of images; and his son Theophilus
treated them with great severity. However,
the Empress Theodora, after his death, and
during the minority of her son, assembled a
council at Constantinople in 842, which rein-
stated the decrees of the second Nicene coun-
cil, and encouraged image worship by a law.
The council held at the same place under
Photius, in 879, and reckoned by the Greeks
the eighth general council, confirmed and
renewed the Nicene decrees. In commemo-
ration of this council, a festival was instituted
by the superstitious Greeks, called the Feast
of Orthodoxy. The Latins were generally
of opinion, that images might be suffered,
as the means of aiding the memory of the
faithful, and of calling to their remembrance
the pious exploits and virtuous actions of the
persons whom they represented; but they
detested all thoughts of paying them the least
marks of religious homage or adoration. The
council of Paris, assembled in 824 by Louis
the Meek. resolved to allow the use of images
in the churches, but severel prohibited ren-
dering them religious worship : nevertheless,
towards the conclusion of this century, the
Gallican clergy began to pay a kind of reli-
gious homage to the images of saints, arid
their example was followed by the Germans
and other nations. However, the lconoclastes
still had their adherents among the Latins;
the most eminent of whom was Claudius,
‘bishop of- Turin, who, in 823, ordered all
images, and even the cross, to be cast out of
the churches, and committed to the flames;
and he wrote a treatise, in which he declared
both against the use and worship of them.
He condemned relics, pilgrimages to the Holy
Land, and all voyages to the tombs of saints ;
and to his writings and labours it was owing,
that the city of Turin, and the adjacent
country, was, for a long time after his death,
much less infected with superstition than the
other parts of Europe. The controversy con-
cerning the sanctity of images was again re—
vived by Leo, bishop of Chalcedon, in the lltfi
IDL
ll) ()
365
century, on occasion of the .Emperor Alexius’s
converting the figures of silver that adorned
the portals of the churches into money, in
order to supply the exigencies of the state.
The bishop obstinately maintained that he
had been guilty of sacrilege, and published a
treatise, in which he affirmed, that in these
images there resided an inherent sanctity,
and that the adoration of Christians ought not
to be confined to the persons represented by
these images, but extend to the images them-
selves. The emperor assembled a council
at Constantinople, which determined that the
images of Christ, and of the saints, were to
be honoured only with a relative worship;
and that the invocation and worship were to
be addressed to the saints only, as the servants
of Christ, and on account of their relation to
him as their master. Leo, dissatisfied with
these absurd and superstitious decisions, was
sent into banishment. In the Western church,
the worship of images was disapproved, and
opposed by several considerable Parties, as
the Petrobussians, Albigenses, Waldenses,
&c.; till at length this idolatrous practice
was abolished in many parts of the Christian
world by the Reformation. See IMAGE.
ICONOLATRY (from throw, an image, and
harpta, worship), the worship or adoration
of images. Hence image-worshippers are
called Jconolatrre, or [cone-letters.
IDLENESS, a reluctancy to be employed in
any kind of work. The idle man is in every
view both foolish and criminal. “ He neither
lives to God, to the world, nor to himself.
He does not live to G0(l, for he answers not
the end for which he was brought into being.
Existence is a sacred trust; but he who mis-
employs and squander-s it away, thus becomes
treacherous to its Author. Those powers
which should be employed in his service, and
for the promotion of his glory, lie dormant.
The time which should be sacred to Jehovah
is lost; and thus he enjoys no fellowship with
‘God, nor an way devotes himself to his
praise. He iues not to the world, nor for the
benefit of his fellow-creatures around him.
While all creation is full of life and activity,
and nothing stands still in the universe, he
remains idle, forgetting that mankind are
connected by various relations and mutual
dependencies, and that the order of the world
cannot be maintained without perpetual cir-
culation of active duties. He lives not to him-
self. Though he imagines that he leaves to
others the drudgery of life, and beta'kes him-
self to enjoyment and ease, yet, in fact, he
has no true pleasure. While he is a blank in
society, he is no less a torment to himself;
for he who knows not what it is to labour,
knows not what it isto enjoy. He shuts the
door against improvement of every kind, whe-
ther o mind, body, or fortune. Sloth enfee~
bles equally the bodily and the mental powers.
iis character falls into contempt. Disorder,
and embarrassment, mark his
ldleness is the inlet to a
variety of other vices. It undermines every
virtue in the soul. Violent passions, like
rapid torrents, run their course; but after
having overflowed their banks, their impetu-
osity subsides: but sloth, especially when it
is habitual, is like the slowly-flowing putrid
stream, which stagnates in the marsh, breeds
venomous animals, and poisonous plants, and
infects with pestilential vapours the whole
country round it. Having once tainted the
soul, it leaves no part of it sound; and at the
same time gives not those alarms to con-
science which the eruptions of holder and
fiercer emotions often occasion.” Logun’s
Sermons, vol. i. ser. 4 ; Blair’s Sermons, vol. iii.
ser. 4; Idler, vol. i. p. 5. Ni, 172; Cowper’s
Poems, 228, vol. i. duod. ; Jo/mson’s Rambler,
vol. ii. pp. 162, 163.
IDOLATRY (Gr. eidwkov, an idol, and Aarpta,
worship), the worship of idols, or the act of
ascribing to things and persons, properties
which are peculiar to God alone. The prin-
cipal sources of idolatry seem to be the ex—
travagant veneration for creatures and beings
from which benefits accrue to men. Dr.
Jortin says, that idolatry had four privileges
to boast of. The first was a venerable anti-
quity, more ancient than the Jewish religion;
and idolaters might have said to the Israel-
ites, “ \Vhere was your religion before Moses
and Abraham? Go, and inquire in Chaldea,
and there you will find that your fathers
served other gods.” 2. It was wider spread
than the Jewish religion. It was the religion
of the greatest, the wisest, and the politest
nations of the Chaldeans, Egyptians, and
Phtenicians—the parents of civil government,
and of arts and sciences. 3. It was more
adapted to the bent which men have towards
visible and sensible objects. Men want gods
who shall go before them, and be among
them. God, who is every where in power,
and no where in appearance, is hard to be
conceived. 4. It favoured human passions;
it required no morality; its religious ritual
consisted of splendid ceremonies, revelling,
dancing, nocturnal assemblies, impure and
scandalous mysteries, debauched priests, and
gods, who were both slaves and patrons to all
sorts of vices. - ,
“ All the more remarkable false religions
that have been‘ or are in the world, recom-
mend themselves by one or other of these four
privileges and characters.”
The first objects of idolatrous worship are
confusion,
whole situation.
thought to have been the sun, moon, andv
stars. Others think that angels were first
worshipped. Soon after the flood, we find
idolatry greatly prevailing in the world.
Abraham’s father’s family served other gods
beyond the river Euphrates; and Laban had
idols which Rachel brought along with her.
In process of time, noted patriots, or kings
I G. N
ILL
366
deceased, animals of various kinds, plants,
stones, and, in fine, whatever people took a
fancy to, they idolized. The Egyptians,
though high pretenders to wisdom, wor-
shipped pied bulls, snipes, leeks, onions, &c.
The Greeks had about 30,000 gods. The
Gomerians deified their ancient kings; nor
were the Chaldeans, Romans, Chinese, &c.
a whit less absurd. Some violated the most
natural affections by murdering multitudes
of their neighbours and children, under pre-
tence of sacrificing them to their god. Some
nations of Germany, Scandinavia, and Tar-
tary, imagined that violent death in war, or
by self-murder, was the proper method of
access to the future enjoyment of their gods.
In far later times, about 64,000 persons were
sacrificed at the dedication of one idolatrous
temple in the space of four days in America.
The Hebrews never had any idols of their
own, but they adopted those of the nations
around. The veneration which the Papists
pay to the Virgin Mary and other saints and
angels, and to the bread in the sacrament,
the cross, relics, and images, lays a founda-
tion for the Protestants to charge them with
idolatry, though they deny the charge. It
is evident that they worship them, and that
they justify the worship, but deny the idola-
try of it, by distinguishing subordinate from
supreme worship: the one they call latrz'a, the
other dulia ,- but this distinction is thought by
many of the Protestants to be vain, futile,
and nugatory.
Idolatry has been divided into metaphorical
and proper. By metaphorical idolatry is
meant that inordinate love of riches, honours,
and bodily pleasures, whereby the passions
and appetites of men are made superior to
the will of God; man, by so doing, making a
god of himself and his sensual temper. Pro-
per idolatry is giving the divine honour to
another. The objects or idols of that honour
which are given, are either personal, 2'. e. the
idolatrous themselves, who become their own
statues ; or internal, as false ideas, which are
set up in the fancy instead of God, such as
fancying God to be a light, flame, matter,
&c.; only here, the scene being internal, the
scandal of the sin is thereby abated; or ex-
tcrnal, as worshipping an els, the sun, stars,
animals, &c. Tenison on dolatry; A. Young
on Idolatrous Corruptions; Ridglcy’s Body of
Dia, qu. 106; Fcll’s Idolatry of Greece and
Rome,- Stz'llingflect’s Idolatry ofthe Church of,
Rome,- Jortz'n’s Serm. vol. vi. ser. 18.
IGNORANCE, the want of knowledge or in-
struction. It is often used to denote illi-
teracy. Mr. Locke observes, that the causes
of ignorance are chiefly three: 1. Want of
ideas. 2. Want of a discoverable connexion
between the ideas we have. 3. Want of ‘trac-
ing and examining our ideas. As it respects
religion, ignorance has been distinguished
into three sorts: 1. An invincible ignorance, in
which the will has no part. It is an insult
upon justice to suppose it will punish men
because they were ignorant of things which
they were physically incapable of knowing.
2. There is wilful and obstinate ignorance;
such an ignorance, far from exculpating, ag~
gravates a man’s crimes. 3. A sort of ignor-
ance which is neither entirely wilful, nor en‘
tirely invincible; as when a man has the
means of knowledge, and does not use them.
See KNOWLEDGE; and Locke on the Und.,
vol. ii. p. 178; Grove’s Mor. Phz'L, vol. pp.
26, 29, 64; Watts on the Mind.
ILLUMINATI, a term anciently applied to
such as had received baptism. The name was
occasioned by a ceremony in the baptism of
adults, which consisted in putting a lighted
taper in the hand of the person baptized, as a
symbol of the faith and grace he had received
in the sacrament.
ILLUMINATI was also the name of ‘a sect
which appeared in Spain about the year 1575.
They were charged with maintaining that
mental prayer and contemplation had so inti-
mately united them to God, that they were
arrived to such a state of perfection, as to
stand in no need of good works, or the sacra-
ments of the church, and that they might
commit the grossest crimes without sin.
After the suppression of the illuminati in
Spain, there appeared a denomination in
France which took the same name. They
maintained that one Anthony Buckuet had a
system of belief and practice revealed to him,
which exceeded every thing‘Christ-ianity had
yet been acquainted with: that by this me-
thod persons might in a short time arrive at
the same degrees of perfection and glory to
which the saints and the Blessed Virgin have
attained; and this improvement might be car-
ried on till our actions became divine, and our
minds wholly given up to the influence of the
Almighty. They said further, that none of
the doctors of the church knew any thing of
religion ; that Paul and Peter were well-mean—
ing men, but knew nothing of devotion ; that
the whole church lay in darkness and unbe-
lief; that every one was at liberty to follow
the suggestions of his conscience; that God
regarded nothing but himself; and that within
ten years their doctrine would be received all
over the world; then there would be no more
occasion for priests, monks, and such other
religious distinctions.
ILLUMINATI, a name assumed by a secret
society, founded on the 1st of May, 17 7 6, by
Dr. Adam Weishaupt, professor of canon law
in the university of Ingoldstadt. The avowed
object of this order was, "“ to diffuse from se-
cret societies, as from so many centres, the
light of science over the world; to propagate
the purest principles of virtue, and to reinstate
mankind in the happiness which they enjoyed
during the golden age fabled by the poets.”
Such a philanthropic object was doubtless well,
ILL
ILL
367
adapted to make a deep impression on the
minds of ingenuous young men ; and to such
alone did Dr. Weishaupt at first address him-
self. But “the real object,” we are assured
by Professor Robison and Abbé Barruel, “ was,
by clandestine arts, to overturn every govern-
ment and every religion ; to bring the sciences
of civil life into contempt ; and to reduce
mankind to that imaginary state of nature,
when they lived independent of each other on
the spontaneous productions of the earth.”
Freemasonry being in high reputation all over
Europe when Weishaupt first formed the plan
of his society, he availed himself of its se-
crecy to introduce his new order; of which he
constituted himselfg'eneral, after initiating some
of his pupils, whom he styled Areopagites,
into its mysteries. And when report spread
the news throughout Germany of the institu-
tion of the Order of Illuminées, it was gene-
rally considered as a mere college lodge, which
could interest the students no longer than
during the period of their studies. Weishaupt’s
character, too, which at this time was respect-
able for morality as well as erudition, prevented
all suspicion of his harbouring any such dark
, designs as have since come to light. But it
would far exceed the limits to which this work
is restricted, to give even an outline of the
nature and constitution of this extraordinary
society—of its secrets and mysteries—of the
deep dissimulation, consummate hypocrisy,
and shocking impiet of its founder and his
associates—of their esuitical art in conceal-
ing their real objects, and their incredible in
dustry and astonishing exertions in making
converts—of the absolute despotism and com-
plete system of espionage established through-
out the order-—-of its different degrees of No-
vices, M inervals, Minor and Major Illuminées,
Epopts, or Priests, Regents, Magi, and .Man-
ki'Iigs—of the Recruiters, or Insinuatoi-s, with
their various subtle methods of insinuating
into all characters and companies—of the
blind obedience exacted of the Novices, and
the absolute power of life and death assumed
by the order, and conceded by the Novices——
of the dictionary, geography, calendar, and
cipher of the order-‘—of the new names assum-
ed by the members, such as Spartacus by
Weishaupt, because he pretended to wage war
against oppressors; Cato by Zwack; Ajax
by Massenhausen, &c.—-of the Minerval Aca-
demy and Library—of the questions proposed
to the candidates for degrees, and the various
ceremonies of admission to each--and of the
pretended morality, real blasphemies, and ab-
solute atheism, of the founder and his tried
friends. Such of our readers as wish to be
fully informed of these matters, we must refer
to the Abbe Barruel’s works, and to Professor
Robison’s Proofs of a Conspiracy against all
the Religions‘ and Governments of Europe. But
while credit may be given to the general facts
related in these works, some doubts respecting
the ultimate object of Dr. Weishaupt, and his
associates in this conspiracy, may be express-
ed, as,-—that men of their principles should
secretly conspire to overthrow all the reli-
gions and governments at present in Europe,
is by no means incredible; that they should
even prevail on many well-meaning philan-
thropists, who are no enemies to rational re-
ligion or good government to join them, is
also very credible ;-—-but that a set of men
of learning and abilities, such as Weishaupt
and his associates are allowed to he, should
form a conspiracy to overturn, and with more
than Gothic rage utterly abolish the arts and
sciences, and to restore the supposed original
savage state of man, appears to us a phenome-
non in the history of the human heart totally
unaccountable. That “the heart of man is
deceitful above all things, and desperately
wicked,” is a melancholy truth, which not
Scripture alone, but the history of mankind
in all ages and nations afi'ords full proof ‘of, as
well as the shocking history of the Hluminati;
but while pride and vanity have a place in
the human heart, to say nothing of our other
passions, which are more or less interested in
the preservation of the discoveries and im-
provements in arts, sciences, and their insepa-
rable concomitant luxury, we are persuaded
no man, or body of men, who have enjoyed
the sweets of civilized life, ever formed a
serious wish for the total abolition of the arts
and sciences. In the fury and rage of war,
Goths, Vandals, and Turks, may burn and
destroy monuments of art and repositories of
science; but when the wars are over, instead
of returning to the savage state, the barbar-
ous conquerors mix and amalgamate with the
conquered, and become themselves more or
less civilized. Dr. Weishaupt is allowed to
have been influenced by a high degree of
vanity; as an evidence of which he commu-
nicated as the last secret to his most favoured
adepts, that the mysteries of ILLUMINIsM,
which, in going through the inferior degrees,
had been successively attributed to the most
ancient patriarchs and philosophers, and even
to Christ himself, owed its origin to no other
than Adam Weishaupt, known in the order
by the name of Spartacus. The same vanity
which led the doctor to take this traditional
method, while secrecy is deemed necessary, of
securing to himself the honour of having found-
ed the society, would lead him, were the illu-
minati actually victorious over all religions and
governments, to wish to have his memory ‘re-
corded in a more durable manner by writing
or printing. But if these and all the other
arts were to perish in a mass, then the memory
of the doctor, and the important services he
had done to the order and to savagzsm, must,
within a century at the utmost, perish along
with them. But if, in fact, the total annihila-
tion of the arts and sciences, as well as of all
religion and government, had been really the
[MA
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368
object of \Veishaupt and his Illuminées, then
we may agree with the celebrated Mandeville,
that “human nature is the true Libyan desert,
daily producing new monsters,” and that of
these monsters the doctor and his associates
were beyond a doubt the most extraordinary.
Professor Robison informs us, that the order
of the Illuminati was abolished in 1786 by the
elector of Bavaria, but revived immediately
after, under another name, and in a different ‘
form, all over Germany. It was again de-
tected, and seemingly broken up; but it had '
by this time taken so deep 2. root, that it still
subsists in some degree in different countries
of Europe.
IMAGE, in a religious sense, is an artificial
representation of some person or thing used '
as an object of adoration; in which sense it.
is used synonymously with idol. The use and ,
adoration of images have been long contro-'
verted. It is plain, from the practice of the
primitive church, recorded by the earlier
fathers, that Christians, during the first three
centuries, and the greater part of the fourth,
neither worshipped images, nor used them in
their worship. However, the generality of
the popish divines maintain that the use and
worship of images are as ancient as the Chris-
tian religion itself; to prove this, they allege
a decree, said to have been made in a council
held by the apostles at Antioch, commanding
the faithful, that they may not err about the
object of their worship, to make images of
Christ, and worship them. Baron. ad Ann.
102. But no notice is taken of this decree
till seven hundred years after the apostolic
times, after the dispute about images had
commenced. The first instance that occurs,
in any credible author, of images among
Christians, is that recorded by Tertullian, (de
Puclicit. c. 10,) of certain cups or chalices, as
Bellarmine pretends, on which was repre-
sented the parable of the good shepherd carry-
ing the lost sheep on his shoulders: but this
instance only proves that the church, at that
time, did not think emblematical fi'gures un-
lawful ornaments of chalices. Another in-
stance is taken from Eusebius, (Hist. EccL,
lib. vii. cap. 18,) who says, that in his time
there were to be seen two brass statues in the
city of Paneas, or Caesarea Philippi; the one
of a woman on her knees, with her arms
stretched out; the other of a man over against
her, with his hand extended to receive her:
these statues were said to be the images of our
Saviour and the woman whom he cured of an
issue of blood. From the foot of the statue‘
representing our Saviour, says the historian,
sprung up an exotic plant, which, as soon as
it grew to touch the border of his garment,
was said to cure all sorts of distempers. Euse- -
bius, however, vouches none of these things ;
nay, he supposes that the woman who erected
this statue of our Saviour was a pagan, and
ascribes it to a pagan custom. Philostorgius
(Eccl. Hist, lib. vii. c. . ,) expressly says, that
this statue was carefully preserved by the
Christians, but that they paid no kind of wor~
ship to it, because it is not lawful for Chris-
tians to worship brass or any other matter.
The primitive Christians abstained from the
worship of images, not, as the papists pretend,
from tenderness to heathen idolaters, but
because they thought it unlawful in itself to
make any images of the Deity. Tertullian,
Clemens Alexandrinus, and Origen, were of
opinion, that, by the second commandment,
painting and engraving were unlawful to a
Christian, st ling them evil and wicked arts.
Tert. cle Id ., cap. 3. Clem. Alex. Admon. ad
Gent. p. 41. Oe‘z'gen contra Celsum, lib. vi.
p. 182. The use of images in churches as
ornaments, was first introduced by some
Christians in Spain in the beginning of the
fourth century; but the practice was con~
demned as a dangerous innovation, in a coun-
cil held at Eliberis in 305. Epiphanius, in
a letter preserved by Jerome, tom. ii. ep. 6,
bears strong testimony against images; and
he may be considered as one of the first
iconoclasts. The custom of admitting pictures
of saints and martyrs into churches (for this
was the first source of image worship) was
rare in the end of the fourth century, but
became common in the fifth. But they were
still considered only as ornaments, and, even
in this view, they met with very considerable
opposition. In the following century, the
custom of thus adorning churches became
almost universal, both in the East and West.
Petavius expressly says, (de Incan, lib. xv.
cap. 14,) that no statues were yet allowed in
the churches, because they bore too near
a resemblance to the idols of the gentiles.
Towards the close of the fourth, or beginning
of the fifth century, images, which were in-
troduced by way of ornament, and then used
as an aid to devotion, began to be actually
worshipped. However, it continued to be
the doctrine of the church in the sixth and in
the beginning of the seventh century, that
images were to be used only as helps to
devotion, and not as objects of worship. The
worship of them was condemned in the
strongest terms by Gregory the Great, as
appears by two of his letters written in 601.
From this time to the beginning of the eighth
century, there occurs no instance of any wor-
ship given, or allowed to be given, to any
images, by any council or assembly of bishops
whatever. But they were commonly wor-
shipped by the monks and populace in the
beginning of the eighth century; insomuch,
that in 726, when Leo published his famous
edict, it had already spread into all the pro-
vinces subject to, the empire. The Lutherans
condemn the Calvinists for breaking the
images in the churches of the Catholics, look-
ing on it as a kind of sacrilege ; and yet they
condemn the Romanists (who are professed
IMM’
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369
so often, can equal.
image-worshippers) as idolaters; nor can
these last keep pace with the Greeks, ‘who go
far beyond them in this point, which has
occasioned abundance of disputes among
them. See IcoNocLAs'rEs. The Jews abso-
lutely condemn all images, and do not so
much as suffer any statues or figures in their
houses, much less in their synagogues or
places of worship. The Mohammedans have
an equal aversion to images ; which led them
to destroy most of the beautiful monuments
of antiquity, both sacred and profane, at Con-
stantinople. Bing/zam’s Orig. Ecol. b. viii.
c. 8; Middleton’s Letters from Rome, p. 21 ;
Burnet on the Art, p. 209, 219 ; Doddridge’s
Lect., lect. 193; Tenison on Idolatry, p. 269,
2'7 5 ; Ridgley’s Body of Diet, qu. 110.
IMAGINATION is a power or faculty of the
mind, whereby it conceives and forms ideas
of things communicated to it by the outward
organs of sense; or it is the power of ‘recol-
lecting and assembling images, and of painting
forcibly those images on our minds, or on the
minds of others. The cause of the pleasures
of the imagination in whatever is great, un-
common, or beautiful, is this: that God has
annexed a secret pleasure to the idea of any
thing that is new or rare, that he might en-
courage and stimulate us in the eager and
keen pursuits after knowledge, and inliame
our best passions to search into the wonders
of creation and revelation; for every new
idea brings such a pleasure along with it, as
rewards any pains we have taken in its acqui-
sition, and consequently serves as a striking
and powerful motive to put us upon fresh
. discoveries in learning and science, as well
as in the word and works of God. See Rev.
W Jones’s l/Vor/as, vol. vi. ser. 17; Ryland’s
Contemplations, vol. i. p. 64; Akensz'de’s Plea-
sures of Imagination,- Addison’s beautiful
Papers on the Imagination, vol. vi. Spect.
p. 64, &c.; Grove’s M02‘. PhiL, vol. i. pp. 354,
355, 410.
IMAM, a Mohammedan priest, or minister,
who superintends the service and concerns
of the mosques, reads prayers, and instructs
the people. The term is also given, by way
of eminence, to the chiefs or founders of the
principal sects among the Mohammedans,
and this dignity, or what is commonly called
the Imamate, is hereditary, and possessed by
the chief members of particular families in
succession.
IMMATERIALISM, the belief that the soul is
a spiritual substance distinct from the body.
See MA'rnuIaLrsm and Son.
IMMENSITY, unbounded or incomprehensible
greatness ; an unlimited extension, which no
finite and determinate space, repeated ever
See INFINITY or G01).
IMMQRALITY, an action inconsistent with
our duty towards men, and consequently a
6111 against God, who hath commanded us to
do justly, and love mercy. See lVIORALITY.
IMMORTALITY, a state which has no end;
the impossibility of dying. It is applied to
God, who is absolutely immortal, 1 Tim. i. 17 ;
and to the human soul, which is only hypo-
thetically immortal; as God, who at first gave
it, can, if he pleases, deprive us of our exist~
ence. See SouL.
IMMUTABILITY or Gon, is his unchange-
ableness. He is immutable in his essence,
James i. 17. In his attributes, Ps. cii. 27.
In his purposes, Isa. xxv. 1. Ps. xxxiii. 11.
In his promises, Mal. iii. 6. 2 Tim. ii. 12
And in ‘his threatenings, Matt. xxv. 41.
“ This is a perfection,” says Dr. Blair, “ which,
perhaps, more than any other, distinguishes
the divine nature from the human, gives
complete energy to all its attributes, and
entitles it to the highest adoration. From
hence are derived the regular order of nature,
and the stedfastness of the universe. Hence
flows the unchanging tenor of those laws
which from age to age regulate the conduct
of mankind. Hence the uniformity of that
government, and the certainty of those pro-
mises, which are the ground of our trust and
security. An objection, however, may be
raised against this doctrine from the com—
mands given us to prayer, and other religious
exercises. To what purpose, it may be urged,
is homage addressed to a Being whose plan
is unalterably fixed? This objection would
have weight, if our religious addresses were
designed to work any alteration in God, either
by giving him information of what he did
not know, or by exciting affections which he
did not possess ; or by inducing him to change
measures which he had previously formed:
but they are only crude and imperfect notions
of religion which can suggest such ideas. The
change which our devotions are intended to
make are upon- ourselves, not upon the Al-
mighty. By pouring out our sentiments and
desires before God; by adoring his perfections,
and confessing our unworthiness ; by express-
ing our dependence on his aid, our gratitude
for his past favours, our submission to his
present will, and our trust in his future mercy;
we cultivate such affections as suit our place
and station in the universe, and are to be ex—
ercised by us as men and as Christians. The
contemplation of the divine perfection should
raise in our minds admiration; should teach
us to imitate, as far as our frailty will permit,
that constancy and stedfastness which we
adore, 2 Cor. iii. 18 ; and, lastly, should excite
trust and confidence in the Divine Being,
amidst all the revolutions of this uncertain
world.” Blair’s Sermons, ser. 4, vol. ii.;
Charnock’s “for/cs, vol. i. p. 203; Gill’s Body
of Div., vol. i. p. 50; Lambert’s Sermons, 591‘-
on Mal. iii. 6.
IMPANATION, a term used by divines to
signify the opinion of the Lutherans with
regard to the eucharist. who beheve that the
species of bread and wine remain together
B B
IMP
IMP
370
with the body of our Saviour after consecra-
tion.
IMPECCABILES, a name given to those he-
retics who boasted that they were impeccable,
and that there was no need of repentance;
such were the Gnosties, Priscillianists, &c.
IMPECCABILITY, the state of a person who
cannot sin ; or agrace, privilege, or principle,
which puts him out of a possibility of sinning.
Divines have distinguished several kinds of
impeceability; that of God belongs to him by
nature; that of Jesus Christ, considered as
a man, belongs to him by the hypostatical
union; that of the blessed, in consequence of
their condition, &c.
IMrLIorr FAITH, is that by which we take
up any system or opinion of another, without
examination. This has been one of the chief
sources of ignorance and error in the church
of Rome. The divines of that community
teach, “ That we are to observe, not how the
church proves any thing, but what she says:
that the will of God is, that we should believe
and confide in his ministers in the same man-
ner as himself.” Cardinal Toletus, in his
instructions for priests, asserts, “That if a
rustic believes his bishop proposing an here-
tical tenet for an article of faith, such belief
is meritorious.” Cardinal Cusanus tells us,
“ That irrational obedience is the most con-
summate and perfect obedience, when we
obey without attending to reason, as a beast
obeys his driver.” In an epistle to the Bohe-
mians he has these words: “I assert that
there are no precepts of Christ but those
which are received as such by the church
(meaning the church of Rome.) When the
church changes her judgment, God changes
his judgment likewise.” What madness!
What blasphemy! For a church to demand
belief of what she teaches, and a submission
to what she enjoins, merely upon her assumed
authority, must appear, to unprejudiced minds,
the height of unreasonableness and‘ spiritual
despotism. We could wish this doctrine had
been confined to this church; but, alas! it
has been too prevalent in other communities.
A theological system, says Dr. Jortin, is too
often no more than a temple consecrated to
implicit faith; and he who enters in there to
worship, instead of leaving his shoes, after
the eastern manner, must leave his under-
standing at the door; and it will be well if he
find it when he comes out again.
IMPOBITION or HANDS, an ecclesiastical
action, by which a bishop lays his hand on the
head of a person, in ordination, confirmation,
or in utteringa blessing. This practice is also
usually observed by the Dissenters at the ordi-
nation of their preachers; when the,ministers
present place their hands on the head of him
whom they are ordaining, while one of them
prays for a blessing on him, and on his future
labours. They are not agreed, however, as
to the propriety of this ceremony. Some
suppose it to be confined to those who received
extraordinary gifts in the primitive times;
others think it ought to be retained, as it was
an ancient practice used where no extraordi-
nary gifts were conveyed, Gen. xlviii. 14;
Matt. xix. 15. They do not suppose it to be
of such an important and essential nature,
that the validity and usefulness of a man’s
future ministry depend upon it in any degree.
Imposition of hands was a Jewish ceremony,
introduced not by any divine authority, but
by custom ; it being the practice among those
people, whenever they pray to God for any
person, to lay their hands on his head. Our
Saviour observed ‘the same custom, both when
he conferred his blessing on children, and
when he healed the sick, adding prayer to the
ceremony. The apostles, likewise, laid hands
on those upon whom they bestowed the Holy
Ghost. The priests observed the same cus-
tom when any one was received into their
body. And the apostles themselves under-
went the imposition of hands afresh every
time they entered upon any new design, Acts
xiii. 3. In the ancient church, imposition of
hands was even practised on persons when
they married, which custom the Abyssinians
still observe. Maurice’s Dial. 0n Soc. Relay,
pp. 163, 168 ; Watts’s Rational Foundation of
a Christian Ch., p. 31; Turner on Ch. Gov.,
p. 70; King’s Primitive Christian Ch., p. 49.
IMPOSTORS, RELIGIOUS, are such as pretend
to an extraordinary commission from Hea-
ven, and who terrify the people with false
denunciations of judgments. Many of these
have abounded in almost all ages. They are
punishable in the temporal courts with fine,
imprisonment, and corporeal punishment. See
FALSE Mnssmns.
IMPROPRIATION, a parsonage or ecclesias-
tical living, the profits of which are in the
hands of a layman; in which case it stands
distinguished from appropriation, which is
where the profits of a benefice are in the
hands of a bishop, college, &c., though the
terms are now used promiscuously. There are
computed to be, in England, 3845 impropriet-
tions, which, on the dissolution of the monas-
teries, were granted by the king’s letters
patent to lay persons.
IMPULSE, an influence, idea, or motive acting
upon the mind; We must be careful how
we are guided by impulses in religion.
“There are many,” as one observes, “ who
frequently feel singular impressions upon their
minds, and are inclined to pay a very strict re-
gard unto them. Yea, some carry this point
so far, as to make it almost the only rule of
their judgment, and will not determine any
thing, until they find it in their hearts to do it,
as their phrase is. Others take it for granted,
that the divine mind is notified to them by
sweet or powerful impressions of some pas~
sages of sacred writ. There are others who
are determined by visionary manifestations,
IMP
IMP
371
or by the impressions made in dreams, and
the interpretations they put upon them. All
these things being of the same general nature,
may very justly be considered together; and
it is a matter of doubt with many, how far
these things are to be regarded, or attended to
by us; and how we may distinguish any di-
vine impressions of this kind from the delu-
sions of the tempter, or of our own evil
hearts. But, whoever makes any of these
things his rule and standard, he forsakes the
divine word; and nothing tends more to make
persons unhappy in themselves, and unsteady
in their conduct, or more dangerously deluded
in their practice, than paying a random re-
gard to these impulses, as notifications of the
divine will.” See ENTHUSIASM, PROVIDENCE.
IMPURITY, want of that regard to decency,
chastity, or holiness, which our duty requires.
Impurity, in the law of Moses, is any legal
defilement. Of these there were several
sorts: some were voluntary, as the touching
a dead body, or any animal that had died of
itself; or any creature that was esteemed un-
clean; or touching things holy by one who
was not clean, or was not a priest; the touch-
ing one who had a leprosy, one who had a
gonorrhcea, or who was polluted by a dead
carcase, &c. Sometimes these impurities
were involuntary; as when any one inad—
vertently touched bones, or a sepulchre, or
any thing polluted; or fell into such diseases
as pollute, as the leprosy, &c.
The beds, clothes, and moveables which
had touched any thing unclean, contracted
also a kind of impurity, and in some cases
communicated it to others.
These legal pollutions were generally re-
moved by bathing, and lasted no longer than
the evening. The person polluted plunged
over head in the water, and either had his
clothes on when he did so, or washed himself
and his clothes separately. Other pollutions
continued seven days ; as that which was
contracted ‘by touching a dead body. Some
impurities lasted forty or fifty days ; as that
of women who were lately delivered, who
were unclean for forty days after the birth of
a boy, and fifty after the birth of a girl.
Others, again, lasted till the person was cured.
Many of these pollutions were expiated by
sacrifices, and others by a certain water or
lye, made with the ashes of ared heifer, sacri-
ficed on the great day of expiation. en
the leper was cured, he went to the temple.
and ofi‘cred a sacrifice of two birds, one of
which was killed, and the other set at liberty.
He who hadtouched a dead body, or had been
present at a funeral, was to be purified with
the water of expiation, and this upon pain of
death. The woman who had been delivered,
ofi‘ered a turtle and a lamb for her expiation ;
or it‘ she was poor, two turtles, or two young
p1 eons. .
hese impurities, which the law of Moses
has expressed with the greatest accuracy and
care, were only figures of other more impor-
tant impurities, such as the sins and iniquities
committed against God, or faults committed
against our neighbour. The saints and pro-
phets of the Old Testament were sensible of
this: and our Saviour, in the Gospel, has
strongly inculcated—that they are not out- '
ward and corporeal pollutions which render
us unacceptable to God, but such inward
pollutions as infect the soul, and are viola-
tions of justice, truth, and charity.
[MPUTATION is the attributing of any matter,
quality, or character, whether good or evil, to
any person as his own; or the treating of
him according to the character which he thus
sustains. It may refer to what was originally
his, antecedently to such imputation; or to
what was not antecedently his, but becomes so
by virtue of such imputation only. 2 Sam. xix.
19 ; Ps. cvi. 31. The imputation that respects
our justification before God is of the latter
kind, and may be defined thus: it is God’s
gracious reckoning of the righteousness of
Christ to believers, and his acceptance of
their persons as righteous on the account
thereof Their sins being imputed to him,
and his obedience being imputed to them,
they are, in virtue hereof, both acquitted
from guilt, and accepted as righteous before
God. Rom. iv. 6, .7; v. 18, 19; 2 Cor. v. 21.
When we speak of sin being imputed to
Christ, it is not meant that there was such a
transfer of it as actually to constitute him a
sinner—such an idea being at once infinitely
derogatory to the holy character which the
Redeemer is ever represented as sustaining,
and utterly repugnant to the moral prin-
ciples of the divine government; but the
meaning is, that sin was charged to his
account, as a voluntary responsible agent,
acting in the room of the guilty, in order that,
in virtue of his expiating its guilt, such of
them as should be led to avail themselves of
his atonement might be freed from their lia-
bility to suffer in their own persons the pun-
ishment they had merited. In like manner,
the imputation of the righteousness of Christ
does not consist in a transfer of his personal
acts and sufferings in such a sense as would
imply that they were really the acts and
sufi‘erings of those to whom they are imputed,
but in a dealing with them on the ground of
that righteousness, so as that they shall reap
all the benefits resulting from it. Neither sin
nor righteousness can ever be imputed so. as
to become the act and deed of ‘any but the in-
dividual by whom it was performed. AS our
sins never were, nor ever could become
Christ’s sins, so his righteousness, strictly
speaking, always continues his own, and can
only be said to be ours in the sense of our
enjoying its benefits or efl‘ects; a mode of
speech, however, which recciyes no counte-
nance from Scripture. He .h-zmself is spoken
INA
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372
of as “ our righteousness,” and we are said to
be made “the righteousness of God” in him ;
but these forms do not warrant the use of the
phraseology to which we have adverted. See
RIGHTEOUSNESS, SIN; Dickinson’s Letters, p
156; Hervey’s Theron and Aspasio, vol. ii. p.
43 ; Doddridge’s I'Vorks, vol. iv. p. 562 ;
Watts’s Works, vol. iii. p. 532.
INABILITY, want of power sufficient for the
performance of any particular action or de-
sign. It has been divided into natural and
moral. We are said to be naturally unable to
do a thing when we cannot do it if we wish,
because of some impeding defect or obstacle
that is extrinsic to the will, either in the un-
derstanding, constitution of the body or ex-
ternal objects. Moral inability consists not
in any of these things, but either in the want
of inclination, or the strength of a contrary
inclination ; or the want of sufficient motives
in view to induce and excite the act of the
will, or the strength of apparent motives to
the contrary.
Infants and idiots are under a natural in-
capacity of knowledge ; and every one of
weak mental powers, though he should be
neither infant nor idiot, yet in proportion
to that weakness, is the subject of a natural
inability. The same may be said of a defect
of bodily powers; and awant of opportunities
or external advantages constitutes the same
thing. A man, for instance, in the perfect pos-
session of all his faculties, may be cast upon
an island where there may be no Bible, nor
any of the means of grace to be obtained: in
which case he will be under a natural incapa-
city to read and hear God’s word, just as
much as if he were blind and deaf. In this
point of view, that part of the heathen world
who never heard the gospel are under a na-
tural inability to believe it. By a moral ability
to do good, is meant a disposition to use our
natural ability to right purposes. It consists
in a heart to know and love God, to devote
all the powers of our souls and members of
our bodies to be instruments of righteousness
to serve him, to improve every opportunity
that offers to glorify his name. Every wicked
man is destitute of this, and consequently
under the dominion of a moral inability.
Natural inability, so far as it prevails, ex-
cuses from all obligation and blame. It may
be, and often is, an efl'ect of sin; but it is not
sin itself‘. But moral inability is so far from
excusing men from blame, that it is itself
that in which blame consists. Whatever good
thing any person could do, not being hindered
by any natural impediment, but will not, the
common sense of mankind criminates him for
not performing it.
It has been questioned whether the term
inability, in the moral view of it, should be
used at all, since it has been so fearfully
abused to the lulling of sinners asleep in car-
nal security, and the preventing of them from
viewing and feeling the responsibility under
which they lie, as God’s rational creatures, if
they do not render an immediate and unre—
served compliance with his will. The substi-
tution of the word indisposition is certainly
to be approved, and there is reason to hope
that the time is not distant when preachers
and theological writers will entirely banish
from their vocabulary every phrase which in
the smallest degree goes to diminish the sin-
ner’s criminality, and abate his sense of obli-
gation. See Fuller’s Gospel worthy of all
acceptation; and Hinton on the l/Vorh of the
Spirit in Conversion.
INCARNATION, the act whereby the Son of
God assumed the human nature; or the mys-
tery vby which Jesus Christ, the Eternal
Word, was made man, in order to accomplish
the work of our salvation. See NATIVITY,
and Meldrum on the Incarnation.
harm, the crime of criminal and unna-
tural commerce with a person within the de-
grees forbidden by the law. By the rules of
the church, incest was formerly very absurdly
extended even to the seventh degree; but it
is now restricted to the third or fourth. Most
nations look on incest with horror, Persia and
Egypt excepted. In the history of the an-
cient kings of those countries we meet with
instances of brothers marrying their own
sisters, because they thought it too mean to
join in alliance with their own subjects, and
still more so to marry into any foreign family.
Vortigern, king of South Britain, equalled, or
rather excelled them in wickedness, by mar-
rying his own daughter. The queen of Por—
tugal was married to her uncle; and the
prince of Brazil, the son of that incestuous
marriage, is wedded to his aunt. But they had
dispensations for these unnatural marriages
from his holiness. “ In order,” says one,
“to preserve chastity in families, and between
persons of different sexes, brought up and
living together in a state of unreserved inti-
macy, it is necessary, by every method possi-
ble, to inculcate an abhorrence of incestuous
conjunctions; which abhorrence can only be
upheld by the absolute reprobation of all _com-
merce of the sexes between near relations.
Upon this principle the marriage, as well as
other cohabitation of brothers and sisters of
lineal kindred, and of all who usually live in
the same family, may be said to be forbidden
by the law of nature. Restrictions which ex-
tend to remoter degrees of kindred than what
this reason makes it necessary to prohibit
from intermarriage, are founded in the autho-
rity of the positive law which ordains them,
and can only be justified by their tendency
to diffuse wealth, to connect families, or to
promote some political advantage.
“ The Levitical law, which is received in
this country, and from which the rule of
the Roman law differs very little, prohibits
marriage between relations within three de-
INC
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373
grees of kindred; computing the generations
not from, but through the common ancestor,
and accounting affinity the same as consan-
guinity. The issue, however, of such mar-
riages are not bastardized, unless the parents
be divorced during their lifetime.” Paley’s
Mor. Phil., vol. i. p. 316.
INCEST, SPIRITUAL, an ideal crime, com-
mitted between two persons who have a spi-
ritual alliance, by means of baptism or con-
firmation. This ridiculous fancy was made
use of as an instrument of great tyranny in
times when the power of the pope was unli-
mited, even queens being sometimes divorced
upon this pretence. Incest Spiritual is also
understood of a vicar or other beneficiary,
who enjoys both the mother and the daugh-
ter; that is, holds two benefices, one whereof
depends upon the collation of the other. Such
spiritual incest renders both the one and the
other of these benefices vacant.
INCLINATION is the disposition or propensity
of the mind to any particular object or action;
or a kind of bias upon nature, by the force
of which it is carried towards certain actions
previously to the exercise of thought and
reasoning about the nature and consequences
of them. Inclinations are of two kinds——
natural or acquired. 1. Natural are such
as we often see in children, who from their
earliest years differ in their tempers and dis-
positions. In one you see the dawnings of a
liberal, diffusive soul; another gives us cause
to fear he will be altogether as narrow and
sordid. Of one we may say he is naturally
revengeful ; of another, that he is patient and
forgiving. 2. Acquired inclinations are such
as are superinduced by custom, which are
called habits; and these are either good or
evil. See HABIT. -
IN C(ENA DOMINI, the most remarkable of
all the papal bulls, on account of the proofs
which it furnishes of the arrogance of the
popes, and their pretensions as absolute rulers
of the church, and the authority which they
claimed over temporal princes. It is founded
on more ancient papal decrees, which declared
all heretics, and favourers of heretics, without
distinction, and those who imposed taxes on
the clergy to supply the wants of the state,
solemnly excommunicated. After the four-
teenth century, it was modified and extended
by several popes, and received its latest form
from Urban VIII. in 1627. This pope, in
behalf of God, and by virtue of the power
committed to ‘the apostles Peter and Paul,
and himself, excommunicated and anathema-
tized all Hussites, Wicklifiites, Lutherans,
Z_uinglians, Calvinists, Huguenots, Anabap-
tists, &c.—all who had apostatized from the
Catholic faith—all who trusted, received, fa-
voured, or defended them—all who read
heretical books without permission from the
pope—all who possessed or printed such books,
or defended them in any way, either in public
or private, or on any’ pretence whatever; and,
finally, all schismatics who obstinately avoided
communion with the Roman Church. It also
goes on to denounce all who in any way shall
injure the temporal possession or rights of the
pope, the clergy, papal ambassadors, &c. This
awful anathema the pope alone can remove,
and that only at the hour of death, when the
excommunicated person has satisfied the
claims of the church. The hull was publicly
posted up at Rome; and. once a year, or
oftener, every bishop was to read it to the
assembled people. This was done till the
middle of the eighteenth century, every
Maundy Thursday, in all the principal
churches.
INCOMPREHENSIBILITY or G01). This is a
relative term, and indicates a relation between
an object and a faculty; between God and a
created understanding; so that the meaning
of it is this, that no created understanding
can comprehend God ; that is, have a perfect
and exact knowledge of him, such a know-
ledge as is adequate to the perfection of the
object, Job xi. 7. Isa. xl. God is incompre-
hensible, 1. As to the nature of his essence.
2. The excellency of his attributes. 3. The
depth of his counsels. 4. The works of his
providence. 5. The dispensation of his
grace, Eph. iii. 8. Job xxxvii.25. Rom. xi.
The incomprehensibility of God follows, 1.
From his being a spirit endued with per-
fections greatly superior to our own. 2. There
may be (for any thing we certainly know)
attributes and perfections in God of which we
have not the least idea. 3. In those perfections
of the divine nature of which we have some
idea, there are many things to us inexplicable,
and with which, the more deeply and atten-
tively we think of them, the more we find
our thoughts swallowed up : such as his self-
existence, eternity, omnipresence, &c. This
should teach us, therefore, 1. To admire and
reverence the Divine Being, Zech. ix. 17.
Neh. ix. 5. 2. To be humble and modest,
Ps. viii. 1, 4. Ecol. v. 2, 3. Job xxxvii. 19.
3. To be serious in our addresses, and sincere
in our behaviour towards him. Caryl on Job,
xxvii. 25; Tillotson’s Sermons, sermon 156;
Abernethy’s Sermons, vol. Nos. 6, 7 ; Dod-
dridge’s Lest, lect. 59.
Inoon'rmnncr, not abstaining from unlaw—
ful desires. See CoNTINENoY.
INCORPOREALITY or C01) is his being
without a body. That God is incorporeal is
evident; for, I. ll'Iateriality is incompatible
with self-existence, and God being self-ex-
istent, must be incorporeal. 2. If God were
corporeal, he could not be present in any part
of the world where body is ; yet his presence
is necessary for the support and motion of
body. 3. A body cannot be in two places at
the same time; yet he is every where, and fills
heaven and earth. 4. A body is to be seen
and felt, but God is invisible and impalpable,
IND
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374
John i. 18. Charnoch’s Works, vol. i. p. 117 ;
Doddridge’s Lect., lect. 47 ; Gill's Body ofDw.,
vol. i. p. 45, 8vo.
INCORRUPTIBLES, or INCORRUPTIBILES, the
name of a sect which sprang out of the Euty-
ehians. Their distinguishing tenet was,_that
the body of Jesus Christ was’ mcorruptible;
by which they meant, that, after and from
the time wherein he was formed in the womb
of his mother, he was not susceptible of any
change or alteration -, not even- of any natural
or innocent passion, as of hunger, thirst, &c:;
so that he ate without occasion before his
death, as well as after his resurrection.
INCREDULITY, the withholding our assent
to any proposition, notwithstanding arguments
sufficient to demand assent. See Duncan
Forbes’s piece, entitled, Reflections on the
Sources of Incredulity. with Regard to Religion,
and Casaubon on Credulity and Incredulity.
IueuMBEN'r, a clergyman holding a living;
and so called, because he does, or at least
ought to, bend his whole study to discharge
the cure of his church.
Innnrnunnucv or Gon is his existence in
and of himself, without depending on any
other. “ His being and perfections,” as Dr.
Ridgley observes (Body of Div. qu. 7), “ are
underived, and not communicated to him, as
all finite perfections are by him to the creature.
This attribute of independency belongs to‘ all
his perfections. 1. He is independent as to
his knowledge. He doth not receive ideas
from any object out of himself, as intelhgent
creatures do. This is elegantly described by
the prophet, Isa. 1x. 13, 14. 2._ He is inde-
pendent in power. As he receives strength
from no one, so he doth not act dependently
on the will of the creature, Job xxxvi. .23.
3. He is independent as to his holinessnhating
sin necessarily, and not barely depending ‘on
some reasons out of himself inducing him
thereto; for it is essential to the divine nature
to be infinitely opposite to sin, and, therefore,
to be independently holy. a. He is inde-
pendent as to his bounty and goodness. _He
communicates blessings, not by constraint,
but according to his sovereign will. Thus he
gave being to the world, and all things therein,
which was the first instance of bounty and
goodness ; and this not by constraint, but by
his free will; ‘for his pleasure they are and
were created.’ In like manner; whatever
instances of mercy he extends to miserable
creatures, he acts independently, and not by
force. He shows mercy, because it is his
pleasure to do so, Rom. ix. l-‘8. That God
is independent, let it farthenbe considered,
1. That all things depend on his power, which
brought them into and preserves them in
being. If, therefore, all things depend on
God, then it would be absurdity ‘to say that
God depends on any thing, for this would be
to suppose the cause and the efiect to be
mutually dependent on,and derived from each-
j conduct of another.

other, which infers a contradiction. 2. If
God be infinitely above the highest creatures,
he cannot depend on any of them, for depend-
ence argues inferiority. Isa. X1. 15, 17. 3. If
God depend on any creature, he does not
exist necessarily; and if so, then he might
not have been; for the same will by which
he is supposed to exist, might have determined
that he should not have existed, which is
altogether inconsistent with the idea of a God.
From God’s being independent, we infer, 1.
That we ought to conclude that the creature
cannot lay any obligation on hima'or do any
thing that may tend to make him more happy
than he is in himself, Rom. xi. 35. Job xxii.
2, 3. 2. If independency he a divine per-—
fection, then let it not in any instance, or by
any consequence, be attributed to the creature‘;
let us conclude that all our springs are in
him; and that all we enjoy and hope for is
from him, who is the author and finisher of our
faith, and the fountain of all our blessedness.”
INDEPENDENTS. See CONGREGATIONALISTS.
INDEX, EXPURGATORY, a catalogue of pro-
hibited books in the Church of Rome. The
first catalogues of this kind were made by the
inquisitors, and these were afterwards ap—
proved‘ of by the Council of Trent, after some
alteration was made in them by way of re--
trcnchment or addition. Thus an index of
heretical books being formed, it was con-
firmed by a hull of Clement VIII. in 1595,
and printed with several introductory rules;
by the fourth of which, the use of the Scrip-
tures in the vulgar tongue is forbidden to all
persons without a particular license; and; by
the tenth rule it is ordained, that no book
shall be printed at Rome without the appro-
bation of the pope’s vicar, or some person-
delegated by the pope; nor in any other
places, unless allowed by the bishop of the
diocese, or some person deputed by him, or
by the inquisitor of heretical pravity. The
Trent Index being thus published, Philip II.
of Spain ordered another to be printed at
Antwerp in 1571', with considerable enlarge-
ments. Another index was published in
Spain, in 1584, a copy of which was snatched
‘out of the, fire when the English plundered
Cadiz. Afterwards there were several ex-
purgatory indexes printed at Rome and
. Naples, and particularly in. Spain.
INDIGNATION, a strong disapprobation of
mind, excited by something fiagitious in the
It does not, as Mr.
Cogan observes, always suppose that excess
of depravity which alone is capable of com- <
mitting deeds of horror. Indignation always
refers. to culpability of conduct, and cannot,
’like the passion of horror, be extended to
distress either of ‘body or mind. It is pro-
;duced by acts of treachery, abuse of confi—
=dence, base mgratitude, &c., which we can‘-
i, not contemplate without being provoked ta
anger, and feeling, a generous resentment.
IND
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375
INDUCTION, the act of giving a clergyman
formal possession of his church, to which he
has been appointed by institution; which see.
It is performed by the archdeacon, or some
person appointed by him for the purpose, who
takes the clergyman to be inducted by the
hand, lays it upon the key of the church, the
ring of the door, the latch of the church gate,
or on the church wall, and pronounces these
words ;-—-“ By virtue of this commission, I
induct you into the real and actual possession
of the rectory of ,” 8m. He then opens
the church door, and puts the parson in pos-
session of it, who commonly tolls a bell to
give notice to the people that he has taken
possession. Induction may likewise be made
by simply delivering a clod or turf of the glebe.
INDULGENCES, in the Romish Church, are
a remission of the punishment due to sin,
granted by the church, and supposed to save
the sinner from purgatory.
According to the doctrine of the Romish
Church, all the good works of the saints,
over and above those which were necessary
towards their own justification, are deposited,
together with the infinite merits of Jesus
Christ, in one inexhaustible treasury. The
keys of this were committed to St. Peter, and
to his successors, the popes, who may open
it at pleasure; and, by transferring a portion
of this superabundant merit to any particular
person for a sum of money, may convey to
him either the pardon of his own sins, or a

- release for any one in whom he is interested,
from the pains of purgatory. Such indul-
gences were first invented in the eleventh '
century, by Urban IL, as a recompense for
those who went in person upon the glorious
enterprise of conquering the Holy Land.
They were afterwards granted to those who
hired a soldier for that purpose; and in pro-
cess of time were bestowed on such as gave
money for accomplishing any pious work en-
joined by the pope. The power of granting
indulgences has been greatly abused in the
Church of Rome. Pope Leo X., in order to
carry on the magnificent structure of St.
Peter’s, at Rome, published indulgences and
a plenary remission to all such as should con-
tribute money towards it. Finding the pro-
ject take, he granted to Albert, elector of
Mentz, and archbishop of Magdeburg, the
benefit of the indulgences of Saxony, and the
neighbouring parts, and farmed out those of
other countries to the highest bidders; who,
to make the best of their bargain, procured
the ablest preachers to cry up the value of
the ware. The form of these indulgences
was_ as follows :-—“ May our Lord Jesus
Christ have mercy upon thee, and absolve
thee by the merits of his most holy passion.
And I, b{)lllS authority, that of his blessed
apostles, eter and Paul, and of the most
hm)’ Pope, granted and committed to me in
these Part$> ‘10 absolve thee, first from all
ecclesiastical censures, in whatever manner
they have been incurred; then from all thy
sins, transgressions, and excesses, how enor-
mous soever they may be: even from such
as are reserved for the cognizance of the holy
see, and as far as the keys of the holy church
extend. I remit to you all punishment which
you deserve in purgatory on their account;
and I restore you to the holy sacraments of
the church, to the unity of the faithful, and
to that innocence and purity which you pos-
sessed at baptism : so that when you die, the
gates of punishment shall be shut, and the
gates of the paradise of delights shall be
opened; and if you shall not die at present,
this grace shall remain in full force when
you are at the point of death. In the name
of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.”
1 According to a book, called the “ Tax of the
‘ sacred Roman Chancery,” in which are con~
tained the exact sums to be levied for the
pardon of each particular sin, we find some of
the fees to be thus :—
s. d.
For procuring abortion . . . 7 6
For simony . . . . 10 6
For sacrilege . . . 10 6
For taking a false oath in a criminal
case . . . . 9 O
For robbing . . . . l2 0
For burning a neighbour’s house . '12 0
For defiling a virgin . . 9 a 0
For lying with a mother, sister, 8:0. 7 6
For murdering a layman . . 7 6
For keeping a concubine . . 10 6
For laying violent hands on a clergy-
man . = . 10 6
And so on.
The terms in which the retailers of indul- ..
gences described their benefits, and the neces—
sity of purchasing them, were so extravagant,
that they appearalmost incredible. If any man,
said they, purchase letters of indulgence, his
soul may rest secure with respect to its salva-
tion. The souls confined in purgatory, for
whose redemption indulgences are purchased,
as soon as the money tinkles in the chest, in-
stantly escape from that place of torment,
and ascend into heaven. That the efiicacy
of indulgences was so great, that the most
heinous sins, even if one should violate (which
was impossible) the Mother of God, would
be remitted and expiated by them, and the
person be freed both from punishment and
guilt. That this was the unspeakable gift of
God, in order to reconcile man to himself.
That the cross erected by the preachers 0f
indulgences was equally efiieacious with the
cross of Christ itself. “4 Lo,” said they, “ the
heavens are open: if you enter not now, when
5 will you enter? For twelvepence you may
redeem the soul of your father out of purga_
tory; and are you so. ungrateful that youwill
not rescue the soul of your parent from to». I
INF
INF
3'76
ment? If you had but one coat, you ought
to strip yourself instantly and sell it, in order
to purchase such benefit,” &c. It was this
great abuse of indulgences that contributed
not a little to the reformation of religion in
Germany, where Martin Luther began first
to declaim against the preachers of indul-
gences, and afterwards against indulgences
themselves. Since that time the popes have
been more sparing in the exercise of this
power ; although it is said they still carry on
a great trade with them to the Indies, where
they are purchased at two rials apiece, and
sometimes more. We are told, also, that a
gentleman not long since being at Naples, in
order that he might be fully ascertained re-
specting indulgences, went to the oflice, and
for two sequins purchased a plenary remis-
sion of all sins for himself’ and any two other
persons of his friends or relations, whose
names he was empowered to insert. Hawez's’s
Church Hist, vol. iii. p. 147 ; Smith’s Errors
of the Church of Rome,- Watson’s Theol.
Tracts, v. p. 274 ; lllosheim's Eccl. Hist, vol.
i. p. 594, 4w.
INDUSTRY, diligence, constant application
of the mind, or exercise of the body. See
DILIGENCE, and IDLENESS. '
INDWELLING SCHEME, a scheme which
derives its name from that passage in C01. ii.
9,—-“ In him dwelleth all the fulness of the
Godhead bodily ;” which, according to some,
asserts the doctrine of Christ’s consisting of
two beings; one the self—existent Creator,
and the other a creature, made into one per-
son by an inefi‘able union and indwelling,
which renders the same attributes and honours
equally applicable to both. See PRE-EXIST—
ENCE. Dr. Owen's Glory of Christ, pp. 368,
369, Lond. ed., 1679; a Sermon entitled, The
true Christ of God above the false Christ of
Men, Ipswich, 1799; Watts’s Glory of Christ,
p. 6-203 ; Adct'ms’s View of Religions, p. 267.
INFALLIBILITY, the quality of not being
able to be deceived or mistaken.
The infallibility of the Church of Rome
has been one of the great controversies be-
tween the Protestants and Papists. By this
infallibility, it is understood, that she cannot
at any time cease to be orthodox in her doc-
trine, or fall into any pernicious errors; but
that she is constituted, by divine authority,
the judge of all controversies of religion, and
that all Christians are obliged to acquiesce in
her decisions. This is the chain which keeps
its members fast bound to its communion;
the charm which retains them within its
, magic circle ; the opiate which lays asleep all
their doubts and difiiculties: it is likewise
the magnet which attracts the desultory and
unstable in other persuasious within the sphere
of popery, the foundation of its whole super—
structure, the cement of all its parts, and its
fence and fortress against all inroads and
attacks.
1
I
)

Under the idea of this infallibility, the
Church of Rome claims, 1. To determine-
what books are and what are not canonical,
and to oblige all Christians to receive or
reject them accordingly. 2. To communicate
authority to the Scripture; or, in other words,
that the Scripture (quoad nos), as to us, re—
ceives its authority from her. 3. To assign
and fix the sense of Scripture, which all
Christians are submissively to receive. 4. To
decree as necessary to salvation whatever she
judges so, although not contained in Scrip-
ture. 5. To decide all controversies respect-
ing matters of faith. These are the claims
to which the Church of Rome pretends, but
which we shall not here attempt to refute,
because any man with the Bible in his hand,
and a little common sense, will easily see that
they are all founded upon ignorance, super-
stition, and error. It is not a little remark-
able, however, that the Roman Catholics‘
themselves are much divided as to the seat of
this infallibility, and which, indeed, may be
considered as a satisfactory proof that no
such privilege exists in the church. For is
it consistent with reason to think that God
would have imparted so extraordinary a gift
to prevent errors and dissensions in the
church, and yet have left an additional cause
of error and dissension, viz. the uncertainty
of the place of its abode? No, surely.——-Some
place this infallibility in the pope or bishop
of Rome; some in a general council; others
in neither pope nor council separately, but in
both conjointly ; whilst others are said to
place it in the church diffusive, or in all
churches throughout the world. But- that it
could not be deposited in the pope, is evident,
for many popes have been heretics, and on
that account censured and deposed, and
therefore could not have been infallible.
That it could not be placed in a general
council, is as evident; for general councils-
have actually erred. Neither could it be
placed in the pope and council conjointly;
for two fallibles could not make one infallible,
any more than two ciphers could make an
integer. To say that it is lodged in the
church universal or diffusive, is equally as
erroneous; for this would be useless and in-
significant, because it could never be exer-
cised. The whole church could not meet to
make decrees, or to choose representatives, or
to deliver their sentiments on any question
started; and, less than all would not be the
whole church, and so could not claim that
privilege.
The most general opinion, however, it is
said, is that of its being seated in a pope and
general council. The advocates for this
opinion consider the pope as the vicar of
Christ, head of the church, and centre of
unity; and therefore conclude that his con~
currence with and approbation of the decrees
of a general council are necessary, and sufii-
INF
INF
377
cient to afford it an indispensable sanction
and plenary authority. A general ‘council
they regard as the church representatlve, and
suppose that nothing can be wanting to ascer-
tain the truth of any controversial point,
when the pretended head of the church and
its members, assembled in their supposed re-
presentatives, mutually concur and coincide
in judicial definitions and decrees, but that
infallibility attends their coalition and con-
junction in all their determinations. .
Every impartial person who considers th1s
subject with the least degree of attention,
must clearly perceive that neither any indi-
vidual nor body of Christians have any
ground, from- reason or Scripture, for pre-
tending to infallibility. It is evidently the
attribute of the Supreme Being alone, which
we have all the foundation imaginable to
conclude he has not communicated to any
mortal, or associations of mortals. The
human being who challenges infallibility,
seems to imitate the pride and presumption
of Lucifer, when he said,—-“ I will ascend,
and will be like the Most High.” A claim
to it was unheard of in the primitive and
purest ages of the church ; but became, after
that period, the arrogant pretension of papal
ambition. History plainly informs us that
the bishops of Rome, on the declension of the
western Roman empire, began to put in their
claim of being the supreme and infallible
heads of the Christian Church, which they at
length established by their deep policy and
unremitting efi‘orts; by the concurrence of
fortunate circumstances; by the advantages
which they reaped from the necessities of
some princes, and the superstition of others;
and by the general and excessive credulity of
the people. However, when they had grossly
abused this absurd pretension, and committed
various acts of injustice, tyranny, and cruelty;
when the blind veneration for the papal dig-
nity had been greatly diminished by the long
and scandalous schisin occasioned by con-
tending popes; when these had been for a
considerable time roaming about Europe,
fawning on princes, squeezing their adherents,
and cursing their rivals; and when the coun-
cils of Constance and Basil had challenged
and exercised the right of deposing and elect-
ing the bishops of Rome, then their preten-
sions to infallibility were called in question,
and the world discovered that councils were
a jurisdiction superior to that of the towering
pontitl‘s. Then it was that this infallibility
was transferred by many divines from popes
to general councils, and the opinion of the
superior authority of a council above that of
a pope spread vastly, especially under the
profligate pontificate of Alexander VI., and
the martial one of Julius II. The popes
were thought by numbers to he too unworthy
possessors of so rich a jewel; at the same
tune it appeared to be of too great a value,
and of too extensive consequence, to be parted
with entirely. It was, therefore, by the
major part of the Roman Church, deposited
with, or made the property of general coun-
cils, either solely or conjointly with the pope.
See Smith’s Errors of the Church of Rome de-
tected; and a list of writers under article
POPERY.
INFANT BAPTISM. See BAPTISM, PEDO-
BAPTISM. ""
INFANT COMMUNION, the admission of in-
fants to the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper.
It has been debated by some, whether or not
infants should be admitted to this ordinance.
_ One of the greatest advocates for this prac-
tice was Mr. Pierce. He pleads the use of
it even unto this day among the Greeks, and
in the Bohemian churches till near the time
of the Reformation; but especially from the
custom of the ancient churches, as it appears
from many passages in Photius, Augustine,
and Cyprian. But Dr. Doddridge observes,
that Mr. Pierce’s proof from the more an-
cient fathers is very defective. His argu-
ments from Scripture chiefly depend upon
this general medium; that Christians suc-
ceeding to the Jews as God’s people, and
being grafted upon that stock, their infants
have a right to all the privileges of which
they are capable, till forfeited by some immo-
ralities; and consequently have a right to
partake of this ordinance, as the Jewish child-
ren had to eat of the passover, and other
sacrifices: besides this, he pleads those texts
which speak of the Lord’s Supper as received
by all Christians. ‘
The most obvious answer to all this, is
that which is taken from the incapacity of
infants to examine themselves, and discern
the Lord’s body; but he answers that this
precept is only given to persons capable of
understanding and complying with it, as
those which require faith in order to baptism
are interpreted by the Paedobaptists. As
for his argument from the Jewish children
eating the sacrifice, it is to be considered that
this was not required as circumcision was;
the males were not necessarily brought to
the temple till they were twelve years old.
Luke ii. 42, and the sacrifices they ate of
were chiefly peace ofl'erz'ngs, which became
the common food to all that were clean in
the family, and were not looked upon as acts
of devotion to such a degree as our eucharist
is : though, indeed, they were a token of their
acknowledging the divinity of that God to
whom they had been offered. 1 Cor. x. l8 ;
and even the passover was a commemoration
of a temporal deliverance; nor is there any
reason to believe that its reference to the
Messiah was generally understood by the
Jews.
On the whole, it is certain there would be
more danger of a contempt arising to the
Lord’s Supper from the admission of infants‘,
I N F
INF
378-
and of. confusion and trouble to other com-
municants; so that not being required in
Scripture, it is much the best to omit it.
When children are grown up to a capacity
of behaving decently, they may soon be in-
structed‘ in the nature and design of the
ordinance; and if they appear to understand
it, and behave for some competent time of‘
trial in a manner suitable to that profession,
it would probably be advisable to admit them
to communion, though very young; which,
by the way, might be a good security against
many of the snares to which youth are exposed.
-—Doddridge’s Lectures, lect. 207 ; .Pierce’s
Essay on the Eucharist. p. 76, &c.; Witsius
on Cov. b. 4. c. 17. § 30, 32; J. Frid. Mayer,
Diss. tle Eucharistia Infantum; Zornias, Hist.
Eucharist. Infantum, p. 18 ; Thiol. and Bib.
Mag. Jan. and April, 1806.
INFANTS, SALVATION or. “ Various opini-
ons,” says an acute writer, “ concerning the
future state of infants have been adopted.
Some think, all dying in infancy are annihi-
lated; for, say they, infants being incapable
of moral good or evil, are not proper objects
of reward or punishment. Others think that
they share a fate similar to adults; a part
saved and a part perish. Others afiirm all
are saved because all are immortal, and all
are innocent. Others, perplexed with these
divers sentiments, think best to leave the sub-
ject untouched ;—-cold comfort to parents who
bury their families in infancy! The most
probable opinion seems to be that they are all '
saved, through the merits of the Mediator,
with an everlasting salvation. This has no-
thing in it contrary to the perfections of God,
or to any declaration of the Holy Scriptures;
and it is highly agreeable to all those passages
which affirm where sin hath abounded, grace
hath much more abonnded. On these prin-
ciples, the death of Christ saves more than
the fall of Adam lost.” If the reader be de-
sirous of examining the subject, we refer him
to p. 415, vol. ii. Robinson’s Claude; Gillard
and l/Villiams’s Essay on Infant Salvation;
An Attempt to elucidate Rom. v. 12, by an
anonymous writer; Watts’s Rain and Reco-
very, pp. 324, 327; Edwards on Original Sin,
pp. 431, 434; Doddrzidge’s Lect. lect. 168;
Ridgley’s Body of Div. v. i. p. 330 to 336 ;
Harris and Russell on the Salvation of Infants.
INFIDELITY, want of faith in God, or the
disbelief of the truths of revelation, and the
great principles of religion. If we inquire
into the rise of infidelity, we shall find it does
not take its origin from the result of sober
inquiry, close investigation, or full conviction;
but it is rather, as one observes, “ the slow
production of a careless and irreligious life,
operating together with prejudices and erro-
neous conceptions concerning the nature of
the leadin g doctrines of Christianity. It may
therefore, be laid down as an axiom, that
‘infidelity is, in general, a disease of the heart
4
more than of the understanding ;’ for we‘
always find that infidelity increases in pro-
portion as the general morals decline. If we
consider the nature and effect of this principle,
we shall find that it subverts the whole foun-
dation of morals ; it tends directly to the de-
struction of a taste for moral excellence, and‘
promotes the growth of those vices which are
the most hostile to social happiness, especially
vanity, ferocity, and unbridled sensuality.
As to the progress of it, it is certain, that of
late years, it has made rapid strides. Lord
Herbert did not, indeed, so much impugn the
doctrine or the morality of the Scriptures, as
to attempt to supersede their‘ necessity, by
endeavouring to show that the great princi-
ples of the unity of God, a moral government,
and a future world, are taught with sufficient
clearness by the light of nature. Boling-
broke, and others of his successors, advanced
much further, and attempted to invalidate
the proofs of the moral character of the Deity,
and consequently, all expectation of rewards
and punishments, leaving the Supreme Being
no other perfections than those which belong
to a first cause, or Almighty contriver. After
him, at a considerable distance, followed
Hume, the most subtle of all, who boldly
aimed to introduce an universal scepticism,
and to pour a more than Egyptian darkness
into the whole region of morals. Since his
time, sceptical writers have sprung up in
abundance, and infidelity has allured multi-
tudes to its standard; the young and super-
ficial, by its dexterous sophistry; the vain,
by the literary fame of its champion ; and the
profligate, by the lieentiousness of its princi-
ples.” But let us ask, what will be its end?
Is there any thing in the genius of this prin-
ciple that will lead us to suppose it will reign
triumphant? So far from it, we have reason
to believe that it will be banished from the
earth. Its inconsistency with reason; its in-
congruity with the nature of man; its cloudy
and obscure prospects; its unsatisfying na-
ture; its opposition to the dictates of con-
science; its pernicious tendency to eradicate
every just principle from the breast of man,
and to lead the way for every species of vice
and immorality, shows us that it cannot flou-
rish, but must finally fall. And, as Mr. Hall
justly observes, “ We have nothing to fear;
for to an attentive observer of the signs of
the times, it will appear one of the most ex-
traordinary phenomena of this eventful crisis,
that amidst the ravages of atheism and infi-
delity real religion is on the increase; for while
infidelity is marking its progress by devasta-
tion and ruin, by the prostration of thrones
and concussion of kingdoms, thus appalling
the inhabitants of ‘the world, and compelling
them to take refuge in the church of God, the
true sanctuary; the stream of divine know~
ledge, unobserved, is flowing in new channels ;
winding its course among humble valleys,
INF
ING
379
' infirmity.
- being perfect in itself‘, or capable of receiving
refreshing thirsty deserts, and enriching,
with far other and higher blessings than
those of commerce, the most distant climes
and nations; until, agreeably to the predic-
tion of prophecy, the knowledge of the Lord
shall fill and cover the whole earth.” See
Hall’s admirable Ser. on Infidelity; Fuller’s
Gospel of Christ its own Witness; Bishop Wat-
son’s Apology for the Bible; Wilbcrforce’s Prac-
tical View, sect. 3, chap. 7 ; Bp. Horne’s Let-
ters on Infidelity,- Van Mildert’s Bampton
Lectures; and books under article DEIsM.
INFIRMITY, applied to the mind, denotes
frailty, weakness. It has been a question
what may properly be denominated sins of
1. Nothing, it is said, can be excused under
that name which at the time of its commission
is known to be a sin—2. Nothing can be
called a sin of infirmity which is contrary to
the express letter of any of the command-
ments.-'—-3. Nothing will admit of a just and
sufiicient excuse upon the account of infirmity
which a man beforehand considers and deli-
berates with himself, whether it be a sin or
not. A sin of infirmity is, 1. Such a failing
as proceeds from excusable ignorance. 2. Or
unavoidable surprise. 3. Or want of courage
and strength. Rom. xv. 1.
By infirmity also we understand the cor-
ruptions that are still left in the heart, (not-
withstanding a person may be sanctified in
part,) and which sometimes break out. These
may be permitted to humble us; to animate
our vigilance; perhaps that newly convinced
sinners might not be discouraged by a sight
of such perfection they might despair of ever
attaining to; to keep us prayerful and de-
pendent; to prevent those honours which
some would be ready to give to human nature
rather than to God; and, lastly, to excite in
us a continual desire for heaven. Let us be
cautious and watchful, however, against sin
in all its forms: for it argues a deplorable
state of mind when men love to practise sin,
and then lay it upon constitution, the infirmity
of nature, the decree of God, the influence of
Satan, and thus attempt to excuse themselves
by saying they could not avoid it. Clarke’s
Serm. ser.. 12, vol. ix. ; Massz'llon’s Senn. vol.
ii. p. 213, Eng. Trans.
INFINITE, without bounds or limits. Many
have objected to the common opinion that sin
is an infinite evil, but without suflicient
grounds, since every sin is committed against |
a God of infinite excellence, in violation of 1
infinite obligations, and in its natural results, leads to the perpetuation of innumerable, f
inconceivable and interminable miseries.
INFINITY. Infinity is taken in two senses
entirely different, 2'. c. in a positive and a
negative one. Positive infinity is a quality
no addition. Negative is the quality of being
boundless, unlimited, or endless. That God
is infinite is evident; for as Doddridge ob-
serves, 1. If he be limited, it must either be
by himself, or by another; but no wise being
would abridge himself, and there could be no
other being to limit God—2. Infinity follows
from self-existence; for a necessity that is
not universal must depend on some external
cause, which a self-existent Being does not.
-—3. Creation is so great an act of power, that
we can imagine nothing impossible to that
Being who has performed it, but must there-
fore ascribe to him infinite powen—t. It is
more honourable to the Divine Being to con-
ceive of him as infinite than finite—5. The
Scriptures represent all his attributes as infi-
nite. His understanding is infinite. Psal.
c-xlvii. 5. His. knowledge and wisdom. Rom.
xi. 33. His power. Rom. i. 20; Heb. xi. 3.
His goodness. PsaL xvi. 2. His purity, holi-
ness, and justice. Job iv. 17, 18 ; Isa. vi. 2, 3.
—-6. His omnipotence and eternity prove
his infinity; for were he not infinite, he
would be bounded by space and by time, which
he is not—Doddridge’s Lect, lect 49 ; Watts-‘s
Ontology, ch. 17 ; Locke on Under-st, vol. i. ch.
17; Howe’s Works, vol. i. pp. 63, 64, 67.
INFLUENCES, DIvINE, a term made use of
to denote the operations of the Divine Being
upon the mind. This doctrine of divine in-
fluences has been much called in question of
late; but we may ask, 1. What doctrine can
be more reasonable? “ The operations which
the power of God carries on in the natural
world are no less mysterious than those which
the Spirit performs in the moral world. It‘
men, by their counsels. and suggestions, can
influence the minds of one another, must not
divine suggestions produce a much greater
effect? Surely the Father of spirits, by a
thousand ways, has access to the spirits he
has made, so ‘as to give them what deter-
mination, or impart to them what assistance
he thinks proper, without injuring their
frame or disturbing their rational powers.”
We may observe, 2. Nothing can be more
scriptural. Eminent men from the patriarchal
age down to St. John, the latest writer, be-
lieved in this doctrine, and ascribed their reli-
gious feelings to this source. Our Lord strongly
and repeatedly inculcated this truth ; and that
he did not mean miraculous, but moral in-
fluences of the Spirit, is evident. John iii. 3 ;
Matt. vii. 22, 23; John vi. 44, 46. See also
John xii. 32, 40; Rom. viii. 9; 1 Cor. ii. 14.
3. And we may add, nothing can be more
necessary, if we consider the natural depravity
of the heart, and the insufficiency of all hu»
man means to render ourselves either holy or
happy without a supernatural power. See
Williams’s Historic Defence of Ewpcl‘imcntaf
Religion; ll’z'lliams’s Answer to Belslm-m, lot.
13; Hurrz'on's Sermons on the Spirit,- Owen
on the Spirit.
INGHAM, BENJAMIN, Eso., was born at 05--
sett, in the parish of Dewsbury, and West
ING
ING
380
riding of the county of York, on the 11th of
June, 1712. He received a liberal education,
first at Batley School, and afterwards at Queen’s
College, Oxford, where, in 1733, he became
acquainted with Messrs. Charles and John
‘Nesley, the founders of Methodism, and,
for a time, was somewhat attached to them,
partly from witnessing their exemplary moral
conduct and zeal to do good, and partly from
a spirit of sympathy which he felt towards
them, on hearing them ridiculed and reproach-
ed for what, he thought, merited commenda-
tion. In 1734 he returned home, and, having
lost his father, began to have meetings for re-
ligious purposes in his mother’s house, every
evening, at which he read and expounded the
Scriptures with prayer and praise. This ap-
pears to have been attended with good effects,
the neighbourhood having previously been in
a dark and benighted state, and the first reli-
gious society was at this time formed at Ossett.
Mr. Ingham returned to Oxford in 1735, and
received episcopal ordination, on the first of
June, at the hands of Dr. Potter, then bishop,
and on the same day preached his first sermon,
which was to the prisoners in Oxford Castle.
On the 4th he quitted Oxford and proceeded
to London, accompanied by Mr. John Gam—
bold, which introduced him to the acquaintance
of many religious people. He had not been
long in town when he received a pressing
invitation from Mr. John Wesley to accom-
pany him across the Atlantic, which he ac-
cepted, and they embarked for Georgia, in
October, 1735. During the voyage, Mr. Ing-
ham became acquainted with some Moravians
who happened to be passengers in the ship,
and on their way to one of their settlements in
America. A violent storm had arisen, which
threatened the loss of life to all on board, and
the people in general were greatly alarmed and
terrified, while the Moravians “in patience
possessed their souls,” calmly singing hymns
and praises to God! A spectacle so singular
arrested the attention of Mr. Ingham, who
now made it his business to inquire into the
principles of these people, the nature of their
profession, with the ground of their confidence,
and cheerful submission to the will of God.
He remained in Georgia about two years,
visited Carolina and Pennsylvania, and then
returned to England, where, on his arrival, he
began to preach, in the Established Church, the
doctrines of the gospel, according to the best
light he then had into them. Numbers flocked
to hear him; the clergy became jealous and
took the alarm, and in about two years, he
found himself entirely excluded from their
pulpits, which drove him into the fields, where
he often had large congregations. _ a
When the schism took place between Messrs.
Whitefield and Wesley, Mr. Ingham stood aloof
from both, and was inclined rather to unite
with the Moravians, who about this period
began to form their establishment at Fulneck,
near Leeds. He had but little insight at this
time into the nature of Christ’s kingdom, or
the instituted order and worship of his churches _
in a state of separation from the world; and
therefore confined himself to the preaching of
the gospel in the remote parts of Yorkshire,
Lancashire, Craven, and Westmoreland, leav-
ing it to the Moravians to collect them into
societies, and form them into church order.
In process of time, however, his mind began
to be better informed about these matters—he
perceived extravagances and arbitrary pro-
ceedings among that people, which excited
his disgust, and he broke off all connexion
with them.
In November, 1741, Mr. Ingham married
the Right Honourable Lady Margaret Hast-
ings, sister to the Earl of Huntingdon; on
which he removed his residence from Ossett
to Abberford, where he continued to reside
till his death. After forming this connexion,
he was so far from relaxing in his exertions to
preach the gospel, that he greatly extended
the sphere of his operations, and, in process of
time, may be said to have evangelized all the
surrounding country. Ministers rose up to
co-operate with him—many societies were
collected; and, though amidst much opposi-
tion from the high church party, the cause
went forward, and “the little one became a
thousand.” About the year 1760, Mr. Ing-
ham, having perused Mr. Glas’s Testimony of
the King of Martyrs, and obtained much in-
formation from it concerning the nature of
Christ’s kingdom, the order of gospel churches,
and the peculiar laws, precepts, and institu-
tions thereof, prevailed on two of his friends,
Batty and Allen, to take a journey into Scot-
land, for the purpose of visiting Mr. Glas.
and making themselves better acquainted with
the order of the churches in his connexion.
They accordingly went, and were highly gra—
tified with the reception they met with both
from Glas and Sandeman. On their return
they reported to Mr. Ingham all they had seen
and heard; and, in October, 1761, a general
conference was convened at Thinoaks, con-
sisting of all the preachers connected with Mr.
Ingham, when they resolved on constituting
their churches on the model of those they had
seen in Scotland. Two years afterwards, Mr.
Ingham published his “ Treatise on the Faith
and Hope of the Gospe ,” in which these im-
portant subjects are discussed with much sim-
plicity and regard to the New Testament.
Mr. Ingham died in the year 1772, leaving
behind him an only son, who seems to have
disappointed the wishes and expectations of
his parents; for, after receiving an education
in some measure suitable to his rank in life,
he formed a connexion by marriage which
frustrated their views, and eventually proved
a source of trial and grief to his parents. The
churches formerly in connexion with Mr.
Ingham, and commonly known by the appel~
INJ
INQ
381
‘lation of Inghamites, have lately united with
the second class of Scotch Independents, known
by the name of Dalez'tes, after the late Mr.
David Dale, of Glasgow, who was an elder
among them. Mr. Ingham’s character and
conduct were highly exemplary, and in all
respects becoming the gospel of Christ, and
at his death he left behind him “ a good name,”
which is better than precious ointment—See
New Evang. Mag. 1819 ; Jones’s Ch. Biog.
INGHAMITES. See the preceding article.
INGRATITUDE, the vice of being insensible
to favours received, without any endeavour to
acknowledge and repay them. It is some-
times applied to the act of returning evil for
good. Ingratitudc, it is said, is no passion:
for the God of nature has appointed no mo-
tion of the spirit whereby it might be ex-
cited; it is, therefore, a mere vice, arising from
pride, stupidity, or narrowness of soul.
INIQUITY. See SIN.
INJURY, a violation of the rights of an-
other. Some, says Grove, distinguish between
injustz'tz'a and injurz'a. Injustice. is opposed to
justice in general, whether negative or posi-
tive ; an injury to negative justice alone. See
JUSTICE. An injury is, wilfully doing to an-
other what ought not to be done. This is in-
justice, too, but not the whole idea of it; for
it is injustice, also, to refuse or neglect doing
what ought to be done. An injury must be
wilfully committed; whereas it is enough to
make a thing unjust, that it happens through
a culpable negligence. 1. ‘We may injure a
person in his soul, by misleading his judgment;
by corrupting the imagination ; perverting the
will, and wounding the soul with grief. Per-
secutors who succeed in their compulsive mea-
sures, though they cannot alter the real senti-
ments by external violence, yet sometimes in-
jure the soul by making the man a hypocrite.
2. We may injure another in his body, by ho-
micide, murder, preventing life, dismembering
the body by wounds, blows, slavery, and im-
prisonment, or any unjust restraint upon its
liberty; by robbing it of its chastity, or pre—
judicing its health—3. ‘We may injure another
in his name and character, by our own false
and rash judgments of him ,- by false witness;
by charging a man to his face with a crime
which either we ourselves have forged, or
which we know to have been forged by some
other person; by detraction or backbiting;
by reproach, or exposing another for some
natural imbecility either in body or mind ; or
for some calamity into which he is fallen, or
some miscarriage of which he has been guilty;
by innuendos, or indirect accusations that are
not true. Now if we consider the value of
character, the resentment which the injurious
person has of such treatment when it comes to
his own turn to suffer it, the consequence of
a‘man’s losing his good name, and finally, the
dlfiiculty of making reparation, we must at
once see the injustice of lessening another’s
good character. There are these two consider-
ations which should sometimes restrain us
from speaking the whole truth of our neigh-
bour, when it is to his disadvantage. (1.) That
he may possibly live to see his folly, and re-
pent and grow better. (2.) Admitting that we
speak the truth, yet it is a thousand to one but,
when it is handed about for some time, it will
contract a deal of falsehood—4. We may in-
jure a person in his relations and dependen-
cies. In his servants, by corrupting them;
in his children, by drawing them into evil
courses; in his wife, by sowing strife, attempt-
ing to alienate her affections—5. We may be
guilty of injuring another in his worldly goods
or possessions. (1.) By doing him a mischief,
without any advantage to ourselves, through
envy and malice. (2.) By taking'what is an-
other’s, which is theft. See Grove’s illor. Phil.
ch. 8, p. 2; lVatts’s Sermons, vol. ii. ser. 33;
Tillotson’s Sermons, ser. 42.
INJURIES, FORGIVENESS or. See FORGIVE-
NESS.
INJUSTICE. See INJURY.
INNOCENCE, acting in perfect consonance
to the law, without incurring guilt or conse-
quent punishment. See MAN.
INQUISITION, in the church of Rome, a tri-
bunal in several Roman Catholic countries,
erected by the popes for the examination and
punishment of heretics. This court was
founded in the twelfth century, under the
patronage of Pope Innocent, who issued out
orders to excite the Catholic princes and
people to extirpate heretics, to search into
their number and quality, and to transmit a
faithful account thereof to Rome. Hence
they were called inquisitors, and gave birth
to this formidable tribunal, called the Inqui-
sition. That nothing might be wanting to
render this ‘spiritual court formidable and
tremendous, the Roman pontifl's persuaded
the European princes, and more especially
the Emperor Frederick II. and Louis IX.,
King of France, not only to enact the most
barbarous laws against heretics, and to commit
to the flames, by the ministry of public justice,
those who were pronounced such by the in-
quisitors ; but also to maintain the inquisitors
in their office, and grant them their protection
in the most open and solemn manner. The
edicts to this purpose issued out by Frederick
II. are well known; edicts sufiicient to have
excited the greatest horror, and which ren-
dered the most illustrious piety and virtue
incapable of saving from the cruclest death
such as had the misfortune to be disagreeable
to the inquisitors. These abominable laws
were not, however, suflicient to restrain the
just indignation of the people against those
inhuman judges whose barbarity was accom-
panied with superstition and arrogance, with
a spirit of suspicion and perfidy; nay, even
with temerity and imprudence. Accordingly,
they were insulted by the multitude in many
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places, were driven in an ignominious manner
out of some cities, and were put to death in
others; and Conrad, of Marpurg, the first
German inquisitor who derived his commis-
sion from Gregory IX., was one of the many
victims that were sacrificed on this occasion
to the vengeance of the public, which his
incredible barbarities had raised to a dreadful
degree of vehemence and fury.
This diabolical tribunal takes cognizance of
heresy, Judaism, Mohammedanism, sodomy,
and polygamy; and the people stand in so
much fear of it, that parents deliver up their
children, husbands their wives, and masters
their servants, to its ofiicers, without daring
in the least to murmur. The prisoners are
kept for a long time, till they themselves turn
their own accusers, and declare the cause of
their imprisonment, for which they are neither
told their crime, nor confronted with witnesses.
As soon as they are imprisoned, their friends
go into mourning, and speak of them as dead,
not daring to solicit their pardon, lest they
should be brought in as accomplices. When
there is no shadow of proof against the pre-
tended criminal, he is discharged, after sufi‘er-
ing the most cruel tortures, a tedious and
dreadful imprisonment, and the loss of the
greatest part of his effects. The sentence
against prisoners is pronounced publicly, and
with extraordinary solemnity. In Portugal
they erect a theatre capable of holding three
thousand persons, in which they place a rich
altar, and raise seats on each side, in the form
of an amphitheatre. There the prisoners are
placed, and over against them is a high chair,
whither they are called one by one to hear
their doom from one of the inquisitors. These
unhappy persons know what they are to suffer
by the clothes they wear that day ; those who
appear in their own clothes are discharged on
paying a fine ; those who have a santo henito,
or strait yellow coat without sleeves, charged
with St. Andrew’s cross, have their lives, but
forfeit all their effects; those who have the
resemblance of flames made of red serge sewed
upon their santo henito, without any cross, are
pardoned, but threatened to be burnt if ever
they relapse; but those who, besides those
flames, have on their santo benito their own
picture surrounded with devils, are condemned
to expire in the flames. The inquisitors, who
are ecclesiastics, do not pronounce the sentence
of death, but form and read an act, in which
they say, that the criminal, being convicted
of such a crime, by his own confession, is
with much reluctance delivered to the secular
power, to be punished according to his de-
merits ; and this writing they give to the
seven judges, who attend at the right side of
the altar, and immediately pass sentence. For
the conclusion of this horrid scene, see ACT
or FAITH.
According to Llorente, the number of vic-
tims of the Spanish Inquisition, from 1481 to
1808, amounted to 341,021. Of these 31,912
were burnt; 17,659 burnt in efiigy; and
291,456 were subjected to severe penance.
It was put down by Napoleon in 1808, but
re-established by Ferdinand VII. in 1814;
and it was again abolished by the Cortes in
1820; but there is reason to believe is again
secretly in operation.
The Inquisition was restored at Rome by
Pius VII. In 1826 it condemned to death
Cashiur, a pupil of the Propaganda, who was
appointed patriarch of Memphis, but not
accepted by the viceroy of Egypt. His crime
is unknown; but the pope commuted his
punishment into imprisonment for life. Works
on the Inquisition have been published by
Baker, Limborch, Geddes, Lavalle, Llorente,
and Puigblanehe. The Records of the Inqui-
sition, from the original MSS. taken from the
inquisitorial palace at Barcelona, when it was
stormed by the insurrectionists in 1819, were
published at Boston, North America, in 1828.
INSPIRATION, the conveying of certain
extraordinary and supernatural notions or
motions into the soul; or it denotes any super-
natural influence of God upon the mind of a
rational creature, whereby he is formed to
any degree of intellectual improvement, to
which he could not, or would not, in fact,
have attained in his present circumstances in
a natural way. Thus the prophets are said
to have spoken by divine inspiration. _ 1. An
inspiration of superintendency, in WhlCh God
does so influence and direct the mind of any
person as to keep him more secure from error
in some various and complex discourse, than
he would havebeen merely by the use of his
natural faculties. 2. Plenary superintendent
inspiration, which excludes any mixture of
error at all from the performance so superin-
tended. 3. Inspiration of elevation, where
the faculties act in a regular, or common
manner, yet are raised to an extraordinary
degree, so that the composure shall, upon the
whole, have more of the true sublime or
pathetic than natural genius could have given.
4. Inspiration of suggestion, where God does,
as it were, speak directly to the mind, making
such discoveries to it as it could not otherwise
have obtained, and frequently dictating the
' very words in which such discoveries are to
be communicated, if they are designed as a
message to others. _
It is generally allowed that the Scriptures
were written by divine inspiration. The
matter of them, the spirituality and elevation
of their design, the majesty and simplicity of
their style, the agreement of their various
parts; their wonderful eflicacy on mankind;
the candour, ‘disinterestedness, and upright—
ness of the penmen; their astonishing pre-
servation; the multitude of miracles wrought
in confirmation of the doctrines they contain,
and the exact fulfilment of their predictions,
prove this. It has been disputed, how-ever,
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whether this inspiration is, in the most abso-
lute sense, plenary. As this is a subject of
importance, and ought to be carefully studied
by every Christian, in order that he may
render a reason of the hope that is in him, I
shall here subjoin the remarks of an able
writer, who, though he may differ from some
others, as to the terms made use of above,
yet I am persuaded his arguments will be
found weighty and powerful. “ There are
many things in the Scriptures,” says Mr. Dick,
“ which the writers might have known, and
probably did know, by ordinary means. As .
persons possessed of memory, judgment, and
other intellectual faculties which are common
to men, they were able to relate certain events
in which they had been personally concerned,
and ‘to make such occasional reflections as
were suggested by particular subjects and
occurrences. In these cases no supernatural
influence was necessary to invigorate their
minds; it was only necessary that they should
be infallibly preserved from error. It is with
respect to such passages of Scripture alone,
as did not exceed the natural ability of the
writers to compose, that I would admit the
notion of superintendence, if it should be ad-
mitted at all. Perhaps this word, though of
established use and almost undisputed au-
thority, should be entirely laid aside, as in-
suflicient to express even the lowest degree
of inspiration. In the passages of Scripture
which we are now considering, I conceive the
writers to have been not merely superintended,
that they might commit no error, but likewise
to have been moved or excited by the Holy
Ghost to record particular events, and set
down particular observations. The passages
written in consequence of the direction and
under the care of the Divine Spirit, may be
said, in an inferior sense, to be inspired;
whereas if the men had written them at the
suggestion of their own spirit, they would not
have possessed any more authority, though
they had been free from error, than those
parts of profane writings which are agreeable
to truth.
2. “ There are other parts of the Scriptures
in which the faculties of the writers were
supernaturally invigorated and elevated. It
is impossible for us, and perhaps it was not
possible for the inspired person himself, to
determine where nature ended, and inspiration
began. It is enough to know, that there are
many parts of Scripture in which, though the
unassisted mind might have proceeded some
steps, a divine impulse was necessary to en-
able it to advance. I think, for example,
that the evangelists could not have written
the history of Christ if they had not enjoyed
miraculous aid. Two of them, Matthew and
John, accompanied our Saviour during the
space of three years and a half. At the
close of this period, or rather several years
after it, when they wrote their Gospels, we
may be certain that they had forgotten many
of his discourses and miracles; that they
recollected others indistinctly; and that they
would have been in danger of producing an
inaccurate and unfair account, by confounding
one thing with another. Besides, from so
large a mass of particulars, men of unculti-
vated minds, who were not in the habit of
distinguishing and classifying, could not have
made a proper selection; nor would persons
unskilled in the art of composition have been
able to express themselves in such terms as
should insure a faithful representation of
doctrines and facts, and with such dignity as
the nature of the subject required. A divine
influence, therefore, must have been exerted
on their minds, by which their memories and
judgments were strengthened, and they were
enabled to relate the doctrines and miracles
of their Master, in a manner the best fitted
to impress the readers of their histories. The
promise of the Holy Ghost to bring to_their
remembrance all things whatsoever Christ
had said to them, proves that, in writing
their histories, their mental powers were en-
dowed, by his agency, with more than usual
vigour.
“ Further, it must be allowed that in
several passages of Scripture there is found
such elevation of thought and of style, as
clearly shows that the powers of the writers
were raised above their ordinary pitch. If a
person of moderate talents should give as
elevated a description of the majesty and
attributes of God, or reason as profoundly on
the mysterious doctrines of religion, as a man
of the most exalted genius and extensive
learning, we could not fail to be convinced
that he was supernaturally assisted; and the
conviction would be still stronger, if his com-
position should far transcend the highest
efforts of the human mind. Some of the
sacred writers were taken from the lowest
ranks of life; and yet sentiments so dignified,
’ and representations of divine things so grand
and majestic, occur in their writings, that the
noblest flights of human genius, when com-
pared with them, appear cold and insipid.
3. “ It is manifest, with respect to many
passages of Scripture, that the subjects of
which they treat must have been directly re-
vealed to the writers. They could not have
been known by any natural means, nor was
the knowledge of them attainable by a simple
elevation of the faculties. With the faculties-
of an angel we could not discover the pur-
poses of the divine mind. This degree of
inspiration we attribute to those who were
empowered to reveal heavenly mystenes.
‘ which eye had not seen, and car ,had not
heard,’ to those who were sent with particular
messages from God to his people. and to
those who were employed to predict future
events. The plan of redemption being an
effect of the sovereign councils of Heaven, it
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could not have been known but by a commu-
nication from the Father of lights.
“ This kind of inspiration has been called
the inspiration of suggestion. It is needless
to dispute about a word; but suggestion
seeming to express an operation on the mind,
by which ideas are excited in it, is of too
limited signification to denote the various
modes in which the prophets and apostles
were made acquainted with supernatural
truths. God revealed himself to them not
only by suggestion, but by dreams, visions,
voices, and the ministry of angels. This
degree of inspiration, in strict propriety of
speech, should be called revelation; a word
preferable to suggestion, because it is expres-
sive of all the ways in which God communi-
cated new ideas to the minds of his servants.
It is a word, too, chosen by the Holy Ghost
himself, to signify the discovery of truths
formerly unknown to the apostles. The last
book of the New Testament, which is a col-
lection of prophecies, is called the Revelation
of Jesus Christ. Paul says, that he received
the Gospel by revelation; that ‘ by revela-
tion the mystery was made known to him,
which in other ages was not made known
unto the sons of men, as it was then revealed
unto his holy apostles and prophets by the
Spirit ;’ and, in another place, having ob-
served that ‘ eye had not seen, nor ear heard,
neither had entered into the heart of man the
things which God had prepared for them
that love him,’ he adds, ‘ But God hath re-
vealed them unto us by his Spirit,’ Rev. i. 1;
Gal. i. 12; Eph. 5; 1 Cor. ii. 9, 10.
“ I have not names to designate the other
two kinds of inspiration. The names used
by Doddridge, and others, superintendence,
Elevation, and ‘Suggestion, do not convey
the ideas stated in the three preceding par-
ticulars, and are liable to other objections,
besides those which have been mentioned.
This account of the inspiration of the Scrip-
tures has, I think, these two recommenda-
tions; that there is no part of Scripture which
does not fall under one or other of the fore-
going heads; and that the different degrees
of the agency of the Divine Spirit on the
minds of the different writers are carefully
discriminated.
“ Some men have adopted very strange
and dangerous notions respecting the inspira-
tion of the Scriptures. Dr. Priestley denies
that they were written by a particular divine
inspiration; and asserts that the writers,
though men of the greatest probity, were
fallible, and have actually committed mis-
takes in their narrations and their reasonings.
But this man and his followers find it their
interest to weaken and set aside the authority
of the Scriptures, as they have adopted a
system of religion from which all the distin-
guishing doctrines of revelation are excluded.
Others consider the Scriptures as inspired in
those places where they profess to deliver the
word of God; but in other places, especially
in the historical parts, they ascribe to them
only the same authority which is due to the
writings of well-informed and upright men.
But as this distinction is perfectly arbitrary,
having no foundation in any thing said by
the sacred writers themselves, so it is liable
to very material objections. It represents
our Lord and his apostles, when they speak
of the Old Testament, as having attested,
without any exception or limitation, a num-
ber of books as divinely inspired, while some
of them were partly, and some were almost
entirely, human compositions: it supposes
the writers of both Testaments to have pro-
fanely mixed their own productions with the
dictates of the Spirit, and to have passed the
unhallowed compound on the world as
genuine. In fact, by denying that they were
constantly under infallible guidance, it leaves
us utterly at a loss to know when we should
or should not believe them. If they could
blend their own stories with the revelations
made to them, how can I be certain that they
have not, on some occasions, published, in the
name of God, sentiments of their own, to
which they were desirous to gain credit and
authority? Who will assure me of their per-
fect fidelity in drawing a line of distinction
between the divine and the human parts of
their writings? The denial of the plenary
inspiration of the Scripture tends to unsettle
the foundations of our faith, involves us in
doubt and perplexity, and leaves us no other
method of ascertaining how much we should
believe, but by an appeal to reason. But
when reason is invested with the authority of
a judge, not only is revelation dishonoured,
and its Author insulted, but the end for which
it was given is completely defeated.
“ A question of very great importance de-
mands our attention, while we are endea-
vouring to settle, with precision, the notion
of the inspiration of the Scriptures : it relates
to the words in which the sacred writers have
expressed their ideas. Some think, that in
the choice of words they were left to their
own discretion, and that the language is
human, though the matter be divine; while
others believe, that in their expressions, as
well as in their sentiments, they were under
the infallible direction of the Spirit. The
last opinion has been supported by the fol-
lowing reasoning.
“ Every man, who bath attended to the
operations of his own mind, knows that we
think in words, or that, when we form a train
or combination of ideas, we clothe them with
words; and that the ideas which are not thus
clothed, are‘ indistinct and confused. Let a
man try to think upon any subject, moral or
religious, without the aid of language, and
he will either experience a total cessation. of
thought, or, as this seems impossible, at least
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while we are awake, he will feel himself con-
strained, notwithstanding his utmost endea-
vours, to have recourse to words as the in-
strument of his mental operations. As a great
part of the Scriptures was suggested or re-
vealed to the writers; as the thoughts or
sentiments, which were perfectly new to
them, were conveyed into their minds by the
Spirit, it is plain that they must have been
accompanied with words proper to express
them; and, consequently, that the words
were dictated by the same influences on the
mind which communicated the ideas. The
ideas could not have come without the words,
because without them they could not have
been conceived. A notion of the form and
qualities of a material object may be pro-
duced by subjecting it to our senses; but
there is no conceivable method of making us
acquainted with new abstract truths, or with
things which do not lie within the sphere of
sensation, but by conveying to the mind, in
some way or other, the words significant of
them. In all those passages of Scripture,
therefore, which were written by revelation,
it is manifest that the words were inspired;
and this is still more evident with respect to
those passages which the writers themselves
did not understand. N 0 man could write an
intelligible discourse on a subject which he
does not understand, unless he were furnished
with the words as well as the sentiments;
and that the penmen of the Scriptures did
not always understand what they wrote,
might be safely inferred from the comparative
darkness of the dispensation under which
some of them lived; and is intimated by
Peter, when he says, that the prophets ‘ in—
quired and searched diligently what, and what
manner of time the Spirit of Christ which
was in them did signify, when it testificd
beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the
glory that should follow.’ 1 Pet. i. 10, 11.
“ In other passages of Scripture, those not
excepted in which the writers relate such
things as had fallen within the compass of
their own knowledge, we shall be disposed to
believe that the words are inspired, if we
calmly and seriously weigh the following con-
siderations. If Christ promised to his disci-
ples, that, when they were brought before
kings and governors for his sake, ‘ it should
be given them in that same hour what they
should speak, and that the spirit of their
Father should speak in them,’ Matt. x. 19,
20; Luke xii. 11, 12,—a promise which can-
not be reasonably understood to signify less
than that both words and sentiments should
be dictated to them,-—it is fully as credible
that they should be assisted in the same man-.
ner when they wrote, especially as the record
was to last through all ages, and to be a rule
of faith to all the nations of the earth. Paul
allirms, that he and the other apostles spoke ‘ not
m the words which man’s wisdom teacheth,
but which the Holy Ghost taught,’—l Cor.
ii. 13, and this general assertion may be
applied to their writings as well as to their
sermons. Besides, every person who hath
reflected upon the subject, is aware of the
importance of a proper selection of words in
expressing our sentiments; and knows how
easy it is for a heedless or unskilful person
not only to injure the beauty and weaken the
efiicacy of a discourse by the impropriety of
his language, but, by substituting one word
for another, to which it seems to be equiva
lent, to alter the meaning, and perhaps render
it totally different. If, then, the sacred writ-
ers had not been directed in the choice of
words, how could we have been assured that
those which they have chosen were the most
proper? Is it not possible, nay, is it not
certain, that they would have sometimes
expressed themselves inaccurately, and, as
many of them were illiterate, by consequence,
would have obscured and misrepresented the
truth? In this case, how could our faith have
securely rested on their testimony? \Vould
not the suspicion of error in their writings
have rendered it necessary, before we re-
ceived them, to try them by the standard of
reason? and would not the authority and
the design of revelation have thus been over-
thrown? 7We must conclude, therefore, that
the words of Scripture are from God, as well
as the matter; or we shall charge him with
a want of wisdom in transmitting his truths
through a channel by which they might
have been, and most probably have been,
polluted.
“ To the inspiration of the words, the dif-
ference in the style of the sacred writers
seems to be an objection ; because if the Holy
Ghost were the author of the words, the style
might be expected to be uniformly the same.
But in answer to this objection it may be
observed, that the Divine Spirit, whose oper-
ations are various, might act differently on
different persons, according to the natural
turn of their minds. He might enable one
man, for instance, to write more sublimely
than another, because he was naturally of a
more exalted genius than the other, and the
subject assigned to him demanded more ele-
vated language: or he might produce a dif-
ference in the style of the same man, b
raising, at one time, his faculties above their
ordinary state, and by leaving them, at an-
other, to act according to their native energy,
under his inspection and control. \Ve should
not suppose that inspiration, even in its
higher degrees, deprived those who were the
subjects of it of the use of their faculties.
They were, indeed, the organs of the Spirit,
but they were conscious, intelligent organs.
They were dependent, but distinct agents;
and the operation of their mental powers,
though elevated and directed by superior in-
fluence, was analogous to their ordinary mode
0 c
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of procedure. It is easy, therefore, to con-
ceive that the style of the writers of the
Scriptures should differ, just as it would have
differed if they had not been inspired.
perfect uniformity of style could not have
taken place, unless they had all been inspired
in the same degree, and by inspiration their
faculties had been completely suspended, so
that divine truths were conveyed by them in
the same passive manner in which a pipe
affords a passage to water, or a trumpet to the
breath.” A more serious objection to plenary
verbal inspiration is founded on the indispu-
table fact, that there are numerous passages
of Scripture containing a repetition or new
representation of what is found in other pas-
sages, between which there are many verbal
discrepancies, though it be expressly stated
before each, that the Lord made the commu-
nications in these words. As the words were
spoken only once, it is obvious they could
not be communicated under both the forms
in which they now appear, or, at least, the
words now exhibited in the original text are
not, in every respect, the identical words
spoken on the occasion. See Dich’s Essay
on the Inspiration of the Scriptures; Hawker on
Plenary Inspiration; Appendix to 3rd vol. of
Doddridge’s Expositor; .Calamy and Bennett
on Ins iration; Dr. Stennett on the Authority
and se of Scripture; Parry’s Inquiry into
the Nature and Extent of the Inspiration of
the Apostles; Brown’s Nat. and Rev. Relig.
p. 78; Dr. W'oods on Inspiration; IIenderson’s
Lectures on Inspiration; and articles CHnIs-
TIANITY and SCRIPTURE, in this work.
INSTINCT, that power which acts on and im-
pels any creature to any particular manner of
conduct, not by a view of the beneficial con-
sequences, but merely from a strong impulse
supposed necessary in its effects, and to be
given them to supply the place of reason.
INSTITUTE, INsTITnTIoN, an established
custom or law; a precept, maxim, or prin-
ciple. Institutions may be considered as posi-
tive, moral, and human. 1. Those are called
positive institutions or precepts which are not
founded upon any reasons known to those to
whom they are given, or discoverable by them,
but which are observed merely because some
Superior has commanded them. 2. Moral are
those, the reasons of which we see, and the
duties of which arise out of the nature of the
case itself, prior to external command. 3. Hu-
man, are generally applied to those inventions
of men, or means of honouring God, which
are not appointed by him, and which are nu-
merous in the Church of Rome, and too many
of them in Protestant churches. Butler’s
Analogy, p. 214; Doddridye’s Lect., lect. 158;
Robinson’s Claude, 217, vol. i., and 258, vol. ii. ;
Burrough’s two Dis. on Positive Institutions;
Bp. Hoadley’s Plain Account, p. 3.
INsTITU'rIoN, an act in the Church of Eng-
land, by which a clergyman is approved as a
fit person for a living, and is preparatory to
his induction into it. The former renders
him complete as to spiritual rights : the latter
gives him a.right to the temporalities. The
words used by the bishop on the occasion are,
“ I institute you rector of such a church, with
cure of souls, and receive your care and
mine.”
INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC, music produced by
instruments, in contradistinction from vocal
music. See MUSIC.
INTEGRITY, purity of mind, free from any
undue bias or principle, Prov. xi. 3. Many
hold, that .a certain artful sagacity, founded
upon knowledge of the world, is the best con-
ductor of every one who would be a successful
adventurer in life, and that a strict attention
to integrity would lead them into danger and
distress. But, in answer to this, it is justly
observed, 1. That the guidance of integrity is
the safest under which we can be placed; that
the road in which it leads us is, upon the whole,
the freest from dangers, Prov. iii. 2], &c.
2'. It is unquestionably the most honourable;
for integrity is the foundation of all that is
high in character among mankind, Prov. 1v. 8.
3. It is most conducive to felicity, Phil. iv. 6,
7 ; Prov. iii. 17. 4. Such a character can look
forward to eternity without dismay, Rom. i1. 7.
INTEMPERANCE, excess in eating or drink-
ing. This is the general idea of it; but we
may observe, that whatever indulgence under-
mines the health, impairs the senses, inflames
the passions, clouds and sullies the reason,
perverts the judgment, enslaves the will, or in
any way disorders or debilitates the faculties,
may be ranked under this vice. See article
TEMPERANCE.
INTERCESSION or CHRIST, his interposing
for sinners by virtue of the satisfaction he
made to divine justice. 1. As to the fact it-
self, it is evident, from many places of Scrip-
ture, that Christ pleads with God in favour of
his people, Rom. viii. 34 ; Heb. vii. 25; 1 John
ii. 1. 2. As to the manner of it : the appear-
ance of the high-priest among the Jews, in
the presence of God, on the day of atonement,
when he offered before him the lood of th
sin-offering, is at large referred to by St. Paul,
as illustrating the intercession of Christ, I-Ieb.
ix. ll, 14, 22, 26; x. 19, 21. Christ ap-
pears before God with his own body ; but whe-
ther he intercedes vocally or not cannot be
known, though it is most probable that he
does not; however, it is certain that he does
not inter-cede in like manner as when on earth,
with prostration of body, cries and tears, which
would be quite inconsistent with his state of
exaltation and glory; nor as supplicating an
angry judge, for peace is made by the blood of
the cross ; nor as litigating a point in a court
of judicature; but his intercession is carried
on by showing himself as having done, as
their surety, all that law and justice could rc-
qun'e, by representing his blood and sacrifice
INT~
INT
387
as the ground of his people’s acceptance with
the Father, Rey. v. 6; John xvii. 24. 3. The
end of Christ’s intercession is not to remind
the Divine Being of any thing which he would
otherwise forget, nor to persuade him to any
thing which he is not disposed to do; but it
may serve to illustrate the holiness and ma-
j esty of the Father, and the wisdom and grace
of the Son; not to say that it may have other
unknown uses with respect to the inhabitants
of the invisible world. He is represented,
also, as ofiering up the prayers and praises of
his people, which become acceptable to God
through him, Rev. viii. 3, 4; Heb. xiii. l5;
1 Pet. ii. 5. He there pleads for the conver-
sion of his unconverted ones; and for the con-
solation, preservation, and glorification of his
people, John xvii. ; 1 John ii. 1, 2. 4. Of the
properties of Christ’s intercession, we may
observe, 1. That it is authoritative: he in-
t'ercedes not without right, John xvii. 24; Ps.
ii. 8. 2. Wise: he understands the nature of
his work, and the wants of his people, John ii.
25. 3. Righteous ; for it is founded upon
justice and truth, 1 John iii. 5 ; Heb. vii. 26.
4. Compassionate, Heb. ii. 17; v. 8 ; Is. lxiii.
9. 5. He is the sole advocate, 1 Tim. ii. 5.
6. It is perpetual, Heb. vii. 25. 7. Eflieacious,
1 John ii. 1, 2.-—5. The use we should make
of Christ’s intercession is this :—1. We may
learn the wonderful love of God to man, Rom.
v. 10. 2. The durability and safety of the
church, Luke xxii. 31,32; Is. xvii. 24. 3. The
ground we have for comfort, Heb. ix. 24 ;
Rom. viii. 34. 4. It should excite us to offer
up prayers to God, as they are acceptable
through him, Rev. viii. 3, 4. See C'lzarnock’s
VVor/cs, vol. ii. p. 1109 ; Flavel’s l'Vorks, vol. i.
p. 72; Dodclridge’s Lect. vol. ii. p. 294, 8vo.;
Gill's Body of Div. vol. ii. p. 162, 8V0. edit;
Brown’s Nut. and Rev. Rel. p. 348; Berry
Street LecL, No. 18; Rz'riglcy’s Body of Div.
ques. 55.
INTERDICT, an ecclesiastical censure, by
which the Church of Rome forbids the per-
formance of divine service in a kingdom, pro-
vince, town, &c. This censure has been fre-
quently executed in France, Italy, and Ger-
many ; and in the year 1170, Pope Alexander
III. put all England under an interdict, for-
bidding the clergy to perform any part of di-
vine service, except baptizing infants, taking
confessions, and giving absolution to dying
penitents; but this censure being liable to ill
consequences, of promoting libertinism and a
neglect of religion, the succeeding popes have
very seldom made use of it. There was also
an interdict of persons, who were deprived of
the benefit of attending on divine service.
Particular persons were also anciently inter-
dicted of fire and water, which signifies a ba-
nishment for some particular offence : by this _
peror was so severe against those who refused
censure, no person was permitted to receive
them, or allow them fire or water; and being
thus wholly deprived of the two necessary
elements of life, they were, doubtless, under
a kind of civil death.
INTEREST IN CHRIST, a term often made
use of in the religious world, and implies an
actual participation in the blessings of salva-
tion. In one sense, every human being has
an interest in the mediation of our Redeemer,
forasmuch as it is only through that mediation
that his eternal well-being can be secured,
and eternal blessedness is thus proclaimed to
all ; but it is not till a sinner receives the di-
vine testimony respecting the way of salva-
tion, that he becomes possessed of a real per-
sonal interest in Christ.
INTERIM, the name of a formulary, or con-
fession of faith, obtruded upon the Protestants,
after the death of Luther, by the Emperor
Charles V. when he had defeated their forces.
It was so called, because it was only to take
place in the interim, till a general council
should decide all the points in question be-
tween the Protestants and Catholics. The
occasion of it was this :—-The emperor had
made choice of three divines, viz., Julius
Phlug, Bishop of Naumberg; Michael Held-
ing, titular Bishop of Sidon; and John Agri-
cola, preacher to the Elector of Brandenburgh;
who drew up a project, consisting of twenty-
six articles, concerning the points of religion
in dispute between the Catholics and Protest-
ants. The controverted points were, the state
of Adam before and after his fall ; the redemp-
tion of mankind by Jesus Christ; the justifi-
cation of sinners; charity and good works;
the confidence we ought to have in God; that
our sins are remitted; the church and its true
marks, its power, its authority, and ministers;
the pope and bishops; the sacraments; the
mass ; the commemoration of saints ; their
intercession, and prayers for the dead.
The emperor sent this project to the pope
for his approbation, which he refused: where-
upon Charles V. published the imperial con-
stitution, called the “Interim,” wherein he
declared, that “it was his will, that all his
Catholic dominions should, for the future, in-
violably observe the customs, statutes, and
ordinances of the universal church ; and that
those who had separated themselves from it,
should either reunite themselves to it, or at
least conform to this constitution ; and that all
should quietly expect the decisions of the ge-
neral council.” This ordinance was published
in the diet of Augsburgh, May 15, 1548 ; but
this device neither pleased the Pope nor the
Protestants: the Lutheran preachers openly
declared they would not receive it, alleging
that it re-established popery : some chose
rather to quit their chairs and livings than
to subscribe it ; nor would the Duke of Sax’
ony receive it. Calvin and several others
wrote against it. On the other side, the em-
to accept it, that he disfranchisedthe cities of
Magdeburg and Constance for their opposition.
\
INT
'INV
388
INTERMEDIATE STATE, a term made use of
to denote the state of the soul between death
and the resurrection. From the Scriptures
speaking frequently of the dead as sleeping
in their graves, many have supposed that the
soul sleeps till the resurrection, i. e. is in a
state of entire insensibility. But against this
opinion, and that the soul, after death, enters
immediately into a state of reward or punish»
ment, the following passages seem to be con-
elusive, Matt. xvii. 3; Luke xxiii. 42 ; 2 Cor.
v. 6; Phil. i. 21; Luke xvi. 22, 23; Rev. vi. 9.
See articles RESURRECTION, Sean, and FU~
TUBE STATE; Bishop Law’s Appendix to his
Theory of Religion; Search’s Light of .Nature
Pursued ; Bennet’s Olam Ifaneshamoth, or
View of the Intermediate State; Archibald
Campbell’s View of the Middle State; Arch-
deacon Blachburnc’s Historical View of the
Controversy concerning an Intermediate State,
and the separate Existence of the Soul between
Death and the general Resurrection ,- in which
last the reader will find a large account of the
writings on this subject, from the beginning
of the Reformation, to almost the present
time. See also Doddridge’s Lectures, lect. 219.
INTERNUNTIUS, the messenger or represent-
ative of the pope, sent to small foreign courts
and republics. The papal ambassador sent to
emperors and kings is called nuntius.
INTERPRETING or TONGUES, a gift bestowed
on the apostles and primitive Christians, so
that in a mixed assembly, consisting of per~
sons of different nations, if one spoke in a
language understood by one part, another
could repeat and translate what he said into
the different languages understood b others,
1 Cor. xii. 10; xiv. 5, 6, 13. Hen erson on
Inspiration, p. 233.
INTOLERANCE is a word chiefly used in
reference to those persons, churches, or so-
cieties who do not allow men to think for
themselves, but impose on them articles,
creeds, ceremonies, 850. of their own devising.
—See TOLERATION. Nothing is more abhor-
rent from the genius of the Christian religion
than an intolerant spirit, or an intolerant
church.
savage ferocity ; has plunged the fatal dagger
into innocent blood; depopulated towns and
kingdoms; overthrown states and empires,
and brought down the righteous vengeance
of Heaven upon a guilty world. The pretence
of superior knowledge, sanctity, and authori-
ty for its support, is the disgrace of reason,
the
folly. To fetter the conscience, is injustice;
to ensnare it, is an act of saerilege; but to
torture it by an attempt to force its feelings,
is horrible intolerance; it is the most aban-
doned violation of all the maxims of religion
and morality. Jesus Christ formed a king-
dom purel spiritual, the apostles exercised
only a spiritual authority under the direction
of Jesus Christ; particular churches were
united only by faith and love; in all civil
afl‘airs they submitted to civil magistracy ;
and in religious concerns they were governed
by the reasoning, advice, and exhortations
of their own ofiicers: their censures were only
honest reproofs, and their exeommunieations
were only declarations that such ofl’enders,
being incorrigible, were no longer accounted
members of their communities.” Let it ever
be remembered, therefore, that no man or men
have any authority whatever from Christ over
the consciences of others, or to persecute the
persons of any whose religious principles
agree not with their own. See Lowell’s Ser-
mons, ser. 6; Robinson’s Claude, vol. ii. pp.
227, 229; Saurin’s Sen, 3rd vol. p. 30, preface;
Locke on Government and Toleration.

INTREPIDITY, a disposition of mind unaf-
feeted with fear at the approach of danger.
Resolution either banishes fear or surmounts
it, and is firm on all occasions. Courage is
impatient to attack, undertakes boldly, and
is not lessened by difiiculty. Valour acts
with vigour, gives no way to resistance, but
pursues an enterprise in spite of opposition.
Bravery knows no fear, it runs nobly into

“ It has inspired its votaries with a !
grief of wisdom, and the paroxysm of
danger, and prefers honour to life itself‘. In-
trepidity encounters the greatest perils with
the utmost coolness, and dares even present
death. See COURAGE, FoRTITUnE.
INTROIBO, part of the 5th verse of the
42nd Psalm, with which the Catholic priest, at
the foot of the altar, after having made the
sign of the cross, begins the mass; on which
the servitor answers with the rest of the
I verse. The whole psalm is then recited al—
ternately by the priest and the servitor. In
I masses for the dead, and during passion-week,
i the psalm is not pronounced.
INVESTITURE, in ecclesiastical policy, is the
' act of conferring any benefice on another. It
I was customary for princes to make investi-
ture of ecclesiastical benefices, by delivering
'I to the person they had chosen a pastoral staff
, and a ring. The account of this ceremony
; may be seen at large in Mosheim’s Ecclesias-
tical History, cent. xi. part ii. chap. 2.
. INVISIBLES, a name of distinction given
1 to the disciples of Osiander, Flacius, Illyri-
l cus, Swenkfeld, &c., because they denied the
perpetual visibility of the church.
INVOCATION, a calling upon God in prayer.
It is generally considered as the first part of
i that necessary duty, and includes, 1. A making
mention of one or more of the names or titles
‘ of God, indicative of the object to whom we
Ipra . 2. A declaration of our desire and
design to worship him. And, 3. A desire of
i his assistance and acceptance, under a sense
of our own unworthiness. In the Church of
1 Rome, invocation also signifies adoration of,
. and prayers to, the saints. The council of
1 Trent expressly teaches, that the saints who
' reign with Jesus Christ are employed as the
intcreessors of men, and ofl’er up their prayers
IRV
ISL
389
to God, and contemn those who maintain the
contrary doctrine. The Protestants censure
and reject this opinion, as contrary to Scrip-
ture; deny the truth of the fact; and think
it highly unreasonable to suppose that a li-
mited,finite being should be in a manner omni-
present, and, at one and the same time, hear
and attend to the prayers that are offered up
to him in England, China, and Peru; and from
hence infer, that if the saints cannot hear
their request, it is inconsistent with common
sense to address any kind of prayer tothem.
" IRRESISTIBLE GRACE. See GRACE.
IRVINGITES, so called from the Rev. Ed-
ward Irving, a clergyman of the Church‘of
Scotland, who had acquired great popularity
in London, but whose imagination overpower-
ing his judgment, seduced him into the adop-
tion of wild and fanciful notions on the
subject of prophecy, the bodily reign of
Christ upon the earth, the restoration of mi-
raculous gifts, &c. In 1830, pretensions to
such gifts, especially that of speaking in an
unknown tongue, were advanced at Fernicarry
on the Gareloch, and at Port Glasgow, in the
west of Scotland, whence they were speedily
transferred to Mr. Irving’s church. At this
juncture, utterances broke forth, partly of an
unknown and inexplicable description, and
partly in English, of which the latter were
regarded as prophetic announcements, to be
implicitly received and obeyed. They were
first confined to private meetings, but in 1831,
they made their appearance in the public
congregation, and continued to convey what
were conceived to be warnings of divine
judgments, and predictions of a complete
restoration of the apostolic office, with all the
accompanying supernatural endowments. The
expulsion of Mr. Irving from the Church of
Scotland, by a solemn act of the General
Assembly, and consequently from the exer-
cise of his ministerial duties in the kirk in
which he officiated, was the signal for the
formation of a new constitution of things;
ministries of apostles, angels, pillars, prophets,
elders, and evangelists were successively es-
tablished, presenting antitypes of the ancient
Jewish church, and all its appurtenances, each
member answering in some respect or other,
to something belonging to that dispensation.
In doctrine, the Irvingites seem to have
swerved greatly from the simplicity of the
Gospel, substituting the imaginary immediate
workings of the Spirit within them, for the
apostolic foundation of the atonement, which,
like the modern Oxonian divines, they keep
in the back ground. Though they set very
light by the written word, the natural conse-
quence of their views respecting extraordinary
spiritual agency, they likewise resemble them
in their high notions of sacramental efiicacy,
believing in baptismal regeneration, and using
a form of absolution equal in grossness to
that employed by popish priests.
They still continue to meet to the number
of three or four hundred, in a room in N ew-
man—street; and in difl‘erent parts of the country
they have societies more or less organized.
ISBRANIKI, a denomination which appeared
in Russia about the year 1666, and assumed
this name, which signifies the multitude of the
elect. But they were called by their adversa-
ries Raskolniki, or the seditious faction. They
professed a rigorous zeal for the letter of the
holy Scriptures. They maintained that there
is no subordination of rank among the faith-
ful, and that a Christian may kill himself for
the love of Christ.
ISHMAELITES, or ISMALIANS, a Mohamme-
dan sect which originally formed part of the
Shiites, the adherents of Ali. In the first
century of the Hegirah, the Iman Giaffar-el
Sadec, a descendant of Ali, on the death of
his eldest son Ishmael, having transferred the
succession to his youngest son, Mousa, to the
prejudice of the children of Ishmael, a party
refused to acknowledge Mensa, and considered
Ishmael’s posterity as the legitimate Imams.
From the eighth to the twelfth century they
were powerful in the East. Under the name
of Carmatians, they devastated Irak and
Syria. In Persia, which they also overran
about this time, they were called llrleladehs,
i. e. impious. One dynasty of the Ishmaelites
conquered Egypt about 910, and another
branch founded a kingdom in Syria, in 1090,
under Hassan, who, with his seven successors,
is known in the East under the name of the
Old Man of the lllountaz'n, whose warriors
issuing forth from their fastnesses on preda-
tory expeditions, committed extensive mur-
ders; hence the name assassins, given to them
in the ‘Nest, and afterwards adopted as a
common name. for murderers. At the close of
the twelfth century they were subdued by the
Mongols; and from that time only a small
remnant of them has survived in Persia; and
in Syria, in Mount Lebanon. They adore
the prophet Ali, as the Deity incarnate, and
believe in supernatural communications made
by the Imams; and in the transmigration of
souls ; but deny aparadise and a hell; do not
observe the purifications and fasts of the wor-
thodox ; and perform their Pilgrimages not to
Mecca, but to Meschid, the place of Ali’s in:
terment, four days’ journey from Bagdad.
They have no public temples, and their rites
are simpler than those of the other Moham-
medans. They term themselves Seid, 2'. e.
descendants of the family of Mohammed,
and wear the green turban in token of their
pretended nobility.
ISLAMISM, the orthodox religion of the fol-
lowers of Mohammed. See MOHAMMEDAN-i
ISM. The word signifies an entire submission
or devotion to the will of another, and espe-
cially of God, and thence the security, peace,
and prosperity which those who submit them-
selves enjoy. The profession of faith in the
JAC
JAN
390
unity of God, and the divine apostleship of
Mohammed, is called aslama; and every one
who makes such a profession, receives the
name of Moslem, i. e. one who has entirely
embraced the true faith, and surrendered
himself to the will of God. The plural of
this would be Muslim ,-_ but the dual number,
Muslimani, being commonly substituted for
the singular by the Persians and Turks, the
word Mussulman, or Musselman, has in these,
as well as in the European languages, nearly
superseded the shorter and more correct term.
ISRAELITES, the descendants of Israel, who
were at first called Hebrews, by reason of
Abraham, who came from the other side of
the Euphrates; and afterwards Israelites,
from Israel, the father of the twelve patri-
archs; and, lastly, Jews, particularly after
their return from the captivity of Babylon,
because the tribe of Judah was then much‘
stronger and more numerous than the other
tribes, and foreigners had scarcely any know-
ledge of this tribe. For the history of this
people, see article Jnws.
ITALA. See ANcIENT BIBLE VERSIONS, un-
der the article BIBLE, No. 10.
ITINERANT Pnnacnnns, those who are not
settled over any particular congregation, but
go from place to place for the purpose of
preaching to, and instructing the ignorant.
A great deal has been said against persons of
this description; and it must be acknow-
ledged, that there would not be so much
necessity for them, were every minister to do
his duty. But the sad declension of morals
in many places, the awful ignorance that pre-
vails as to God and real religion, the little or
no exertion of those who are the guides of the
people ; “ villages made up of a train of idle,
profiigate, and miserable poor, and where the
barbarous rhymes in their churchyards in-
form us that they are all either gone or going
to heaven ;” these things, with a variety of
others, form a sufiicient reason for every able
and benevolent person to step forward, and
to do all that he can to enlighten the minds,
lessen the miseries, and promote the welfare
of his fellow-creatures. A clergyman of the
Church of England, of respectable talents,
very judiciously observes, that, “ Notwith-
standing the prejudices of mankind, and the
indiscretions of some individuals, an itinerant
teacher is one of the most honourable and
useful characters that can be found upon
earth; and there needs no other proof than
the experience of the church in all ages, that,
when this work is done properly and’ with
perseverance, it forms the grand method of
spreading wide, and rendering efficacious re-
ligious knowledge, for great reformations and
revivals of religion have uniformly been thus
efi'ected; and it is especially sanctioned by
the example of Christ and his apostles, and
recommended as the divine method of spread-
ing the gospel through the nations of the
earth, itinerant preaching having almost al-
ways preceded and made way for the solid
ministry of regular pastors. But it is a work
which requires peculiar talents and disposi-
tions, and a peculiar call in God’s providence;
and is not rashly and hastily to be ventured
upon by every novice who has learned to
speak about the gospel, and has more zeal
than knowledge, prudence, humility, or ex-
perience. An unblemished character, a dis—
interested spirit, an exemplary deadness to
the world, unaffected humility, deep acquaint-
ance with. the human heart, and preparation
for enduring the cross not only with bold-
ness, but with meekness, patience, and sweet-
ness of temper, are indispensably necessary
for such a service.” The name has now, in
a‘ great measure, given place to that of Home
Missionary.
J.
1. J ACOBITES, a sect of Christians in Syria
and Mesopotamia; so called, either from
Jacob, a Syrian, who lived in the reign of
the Emperor Mauritius, or from one Jacob, a.
monk, who flourished in the year 550.
The Jacobites are of two sects, some fol~
lowing the rites of the Latin Church, and
others continuing separated from the Church
of Rome. There is also a division among the
latter, who have two rival patriarchs, and con-
sist of about 30,000 or 40,000 families, living
in Syria and Mesopotamia. As, to their be-
lief, they hold but one nature in Jesus Christ:
with respect to purgatory, and prayers for
the dead, they are of the same opinion with
the Greeks and other eastern Christians.
They consecratc unleavened bread at the

eucharist, and are against confession, be-
lieving that it is not of divine institution.
They also practise circumcision before bap-
tlsm.
2. The name of Jacobites is also applied
to the adherents of James 11., particularly to
the non-jurors who separated from the high
episcopal church, simply because they would
not take the oath of allegiance to the new
king, and who in their public services prayed
for the Stuart family. They were most nu-
merous in Scotland, but were very much
lessened by the defeat of the Pretender in
1745 ; and at his death in 1788, they began to
‘pm for George III.
_ ANSENISTS, a sect of the Roman Catholics
In France, who followed the opinions of J an-
J A N
JAN
391
senius (bishop of Ypres, and doctor of divi-
nity of the universities of Louvain and Douay)
in relation to grace and predestination.
In the year 1640, the two universities just
mentioned, and particularly Father’ Molina
and Father Leonard Celsus, thought fit to
condemn the opinions of the Jesuits on grace
and free-will. This having set the contro-
versy on foot, J ansenius opposed to the doc-
trine of the Jesuits the sentiments of St.
Augustine, and wrote a treatise on grace
which he entitled “ Augustinus.” This trea-
tise was attacked by the Jesuits, who accused
J ansenius of maintaining dangerous and
heretical opinions; and afterwards, in 1642,
obtained of Pope Urban VIII. a formal
condemnation of the treatise written by
Jansenius; when the partisans of Jansenius
gave out that this hull was spurious, and com-
posed by a person entirely devoted to the
Jesuits. After the death of Urban VIIL, the
afi‘air of J ansenism began to be more warmly
controverted, and gave birth to a great num-
ber of polemical writings concerning grace;
,and what occasioned some mirth, were the
titles which each party gave to their writ-
ings : one writer published the “ Torch of St.
Augustine ;” another found “ Snufl'ers of St. Au-
gustine’s Torch ;” and Father Vernon formed
“ A Gag for the J ansenists,” See. In the year
1650, sixty-eight bishops of France subscribed
a letter to Pope Innocent X., to obtain an
inquiry into and condemnation of the five
following propositions, extracted from Jan-
senius’ “ Augustinus :” 1. Some of God’s
commandments are impossible to be observed
by the. righteous, even though they endeavour
with all their power to accomplish them.—
2. In the ‘state of corrupted nature, we are
incapable of resisting inward grace—3. Merit
and demerit, in a state of corrupted nature,
do not depend on a liberty which excludes
necessity, but on a liberty which excludes
constraint—4. The Semi-Pelagians admitted
the necessity of an inward preventing grace
for the performance of each particular act,
even for the beginning of faith; but they
were heretics in maintaining that this grace
was of such a nature that the will of man
was able either to resist or obey lit.-- 5. It is
Semi- Pelagianism to say, that Jesus Christ died
or shed his blood, for all mankind in general.
In the year 1652, the pope appointed a
congregation for examining into the dispute
_ relative to grace. In this congregation J an-
senius was condemned; and the hull of con-
demnation published in May, 1653, filled all
the pulpits in Paris with violent outcries and
alarms against the Jansenists. In the year
1656, Pope Alexander VII. issued out an-
other in which he condemned the five
propositions of J ansenius. However, the
Jansenlsts aflirmed that these propositions
were npt to be found in this book; but that
some or his enemies having caused them to
be printed on a sheet, inserted them in the
book, and thereby deceived the pope. At
last Clement XI. put an end to the dispute
by his constitution of July 17, 1705, in which,
after having recited the constitutions of his
predecessors in relation to this affair, he de-
clared, “ That, in order to pay a proper
obedience to the papal constitutions concern-
ing the present question, it is necessary to
receive them with a respectful silence.” The
clergy of Paris, the same year, approved and
accepted this bull, and none dared to oppose
it. This is the famous bull Unz'genitus, so
called from its beginning with the words
Um'genitus Dei Filius, &c., which has occa-
sioned so much confusion in France.
It was not only on account of their em-
bracing the doctrines of Augustine, that the
Jesuits were so imbittered against them : but
that which ofi'ended the Jesuits, and the‘
other creatures of the Roman pontiff, was
their strict piety, and severe moral disci-
pline. The Jansenists cried out against the
corruptions of the Church of Rome, and com-
plained that neither its doctrines nor morals
retained any traces of their former purity
They reproached the clergy with an univer-
sal depravation of sentiments and manners,
and an entire forgetfulness of the dignity of
their character and the duties of their voca-
tion; they censured the licentiousness of the
monastic orders, and insisted upon the neces-
sity of reforming their discipline according
to the rules of sanctity, abstinence, and self
denial, that were originally prescribed by
their respective‘founders. They maintained,
also, that the people ought to be carefully
instructed in all the doctrines and precepts of
Christianity; and that, for this purpose, the
Holy Scriptures and public liturgies should
be offered to their perusal in their mother
tongue; and, finally, they looked upon it as
a matter of the highest moment to persuade
all Christians that true piety did not consist
in the observance of pompous rites, or in the
performance of external acts of devotion, but
in inward holiness and divine love.
Notwithstanding the above-mentioned sen-
timents, the J ansenists have been accused of
superstition and fanaticism; and, on account
of their severe discipline and practice, have
been denominated Rigom'sts. It is said that
they made repentance consist chiefly in those
voluntary sufferings which the transgressor in-
flicted upon himself, in proportion to the na-
ture of his crimes and the degree of his guilt.
They tortured and macerated their bodies by
painful labour, excessive abstinence, continual
prayer, and contemplation; nay, they carried
these austerities, it is said, to so high a pitch,
as to place merit in them, and to consider those
as the sacred victims of repentance who had
gradually put an end to their days by their ex-
cessive abstinence and labour. Dr. Haweis,
however, in his Church History (vol. iii. p. 46),
JEH
JER
392
seems to form a more favourable opinion of
them. “ I do not.” says he, “readily receive
the accusations that Papists or Protestants
have. objected to them, as over-rigorous and
fanatic in their devotion; but I will admit
many things might be blameable: a tincture
of popery might drive them to push monkish
austerities too far, and secretly to place some
merit in mortification, which they in general
disclaimed; yet, with all that can be said,
surely the root of the matter was in them.
When I read J ansenius, or his disciples Pascal
or Quesnel, I bow before such distinguished
excellences, and confess them my brethren;
shall I say, my fathers? Their principles are
pure and evangelical ,- their morals formed up-
on the apostles and prophets; and their zeal
to amend and convert, blessed with eminent
success.”
JASHER, BOOK or, a modern apocryphal
- work, intended to impose on the credulous and
ignorant, to sap the credit of the books of
Moses, and to blacken the character of Moses
himself. It pretends to be a translation of
the ancient record, mentioned Josh. x. 13, and
2 Sam. i. 18, but is one of the most clumsy
and impudent forgeries that ever were at—
tempted to be palmed on the public. It was
first published by Jacob Ilive, a printer, in
1751, in 4to, who worked it off secretly by
night, at a private press.
J EALOUSY is that particular uneasiness which
arises from the fear that some rival may rob
us of the affection of one whom we greatly
love, or suspicion that he has already done it.
The first sort of jealousy is inseparable from
love, before it is in possession of its object;
the latter is unjust, generally mischievous, and
always troublesome.
JEHOVAH, one of the Scripture names of
God, and peculiar to him, signifying the Be-
ing who is self-existent, and gives existence
to others. The name is also given to Christ,
Is. x1. 3, and is a proof of his godhead, Matt.
iii. 3 ; Is. vi.; John xii. 4-1. The Jews had so
great a veneration for this name, that they left
off the custom of pronouncing it, and substi-
tuted the word Adonai in its stead, whereby
its _true pronunciation was forgotten. They
believe that whoever knows the true pronun-
ciation of it cannot fail to be heard of God.
It is commonly called the Tetragrammaton
(rerpaypaluparom) or name of four letters,
mm; and, containing in itself the past and
future tenses, as well as the present participle,
signifies IIe who WAS, 15, and SHALL BE, or the
Eternal, Unchangeable, and Faithful. This
incommunicable name seems to have been
known among the Phcenicians, since San-
choniathon is said to have received his accounts
from a priest of the God Jevo; and to it doubt~
less is to be traced the lac and Jove of the
Greeks. The Egyptians also seem to have
had some acquaintance with its meaning, for
in the temple of Isis was the following in-
scription :-—" I am whatever is, was, and will
be, and no mortal has ever raised my veil.”
JERoME, one of the most learned and pro—
ductive authors of the early Latin Church,
was born about 331, in Dalmatia, of wealthy
parents, educated with care in literary studies,
and made familiar with the Roman and Greek
classics, under the grammarian Donatus, at
Rome. He did not escape the contaminating
licentiousness of the capital, but had his feel-
ings excited by the catacombs and tombs of
the martyrs ; and becoming inclined towards
the Christian faith, he became acquainted with
several of its preachers in Gaul, and on the
Rhine, and was baptized before his fortieth
year at Rome. Having formed a high idea of
the ascetic life, he retired, in 374, into the de-
serts of Chalcis, where for four years he prac-
tised the severest mortifications, and applied
himself to the most laborious studies. He
now obtained ordination as a presbyter of An-
tioch; went soon after to enjoy the instruction
of Gregory N azianzen at Constantinople ; and
at length proceeded to Rome, where his pub-
lic exposition of the Scriptures procured him
great favour, especially among the ladies, some
of whom, matrons of rank in the fashionable
world, together with their daughters, complied
with his exhortations, and became nuns. Mar-
cella and Paula are celebrated for the epistles
which he wrote to them; and the latter ac-
companied him to Palestine in 386, where he
founded a convent at Bethlehem, with her
funds, and in her society, and where he died
in 420. His biblical labours are highly valu-
able ; his Latin version of the Old Testament
from the original Hebrew is the foundation of
the Vulgate, and his commentaries contain
much useful matter. He was the only one of
the fathers who seems to have thoroughly
studied the Hebrew, which he did, with the
assistance of learned rabbins in Palestine. He
engaged much in controversy, on which occa-
sions he frequently displayed great acerbity.
He had neither the philosophical genius, nor
the scriptural views of his celebrated contem-
porary Augustine; but he possessed a more
extensive knowledge of the languages, and a
glowing and lively imagination, which gave
attractions to his style, and rendered him the
most distinguished writer of his time.
J EROME' or PRAGUE, the celebrated lay-
reformer, was born at Prague, about the year
1370. Very little is extant relative to the early
part of his life; but he was very eager in the
pursuit of knowledge, and spent his youth in
the universities of Prague, Paris, Heidel-
burgh, Cologne, and Oxford. At the latter
university he became acquainted with the
works of Wieklifl‘e; translated them into his
native language; professed himself, on his re-
turn to Prague, to be an open favourer of him,
and attached himself to the reformed in Bo—
hemia, over whom Huss presided. Before the
council of Constance, Jerome was cited on the
JER
JER
393
. ed it.”
17th of April, 1415, when Huss was confined
at that place. On his arrival, he found that
he could not render any assistance to Huss,
and therefore thought it prudent to retire ; and,
on behalf of Huss, he wrote to the emperor.
At Kirsaw, Jerome was seized by an ofiicer
of the Duke of Sullybach, who immediately
wrote to the council concerning him, and they
directed him to send his prisoner to Constance.
On his arrival at that place, he was imme-
diately brought before the council, accused of
his attachment to Protestant principles, and
was remanded from the assembly into a dun-
geon. As he was there sitting, ruminating
on his approaching fate, he heard a voice call-
ing out in these words, “ Fear not, Jerome, to
die in the cause of that truth which, during
thy life, thou hast defended.” It was the
voice of Madderwitz, who had contributed to
the comfort of Huss ; but, in consequence of
it, Jerome was conveyed to a strong tower,
and exposed to torture and want.
This conduct brought on him a dangerous
illness, and attempts were then made to induce
him to retract his principles, but he remained
immoveable. Unhappily, however, for his
subsequent peace of mind, he was at length
induced to retract, and acknowledged the
errors of Wickliffe and Huss; assented to the
condemnation of the latter ; and declared him-
self a firm believer in the Church of Rome.
But the conscience of Jerome would not allow
him to suffer that retraction to remain; and
he accordingly recanted, and demanded a se_
cond trial. Accordingly, in the month of
May, 1416, Jerome was again called before the
council; and charged with his adherence to
the errors of "Wicklilfe: his having had a pic-
ture of him in his chamber ; his denial of tran-
substantiation; with other matters of a. simi-
lar description. On these articles he answer-
ed with equal spirit. Through the whole ora-
tion he manifested an amazing strength of me-
mory. His voice was sweet, distinct, and full.
Firm and intrepid he stood before the council;
collected in himself, and not only despising.
but seeming even desirous of death. His
speech did not, however, excite pity; and he
was delivered over to the civil power for mar-
tyrdom. When surrounded by blazing fag~
gots, he cried out, “ O Lord God, have mercy
upon me!” and a little afterwards, “ Thou
knowest how I have loved thy truth.”" \Vith
cheerful countenance he met his fate; and ob-
serving the executioner about to set fire to the
wood behind his back, he cried out, “ Bring
thy torch hither : perform thy ofiice before my
face. Had I feared death, I might have avoid-
As the wood began to blaze, he sang
a hymn, which the violence of the flames did
not interrupt. Jerome was, unquestionably,
an excellent man. His Christianity must have
been sincere thus to have supported him; and
the uniform tenor of his aged and virtuous
life corroborated the truth of that opinion.
His temper was mild and affable, and the rela-
tions of life he supported with great piety and
benevolence. He was a light set upon a hill ;
and though for a few moments it was obscured
and darkened, yet it again burst forth, and con--
tinued to shine with splendour and advantage.
Vz'de Life of Jerome; Gilpin’s Lives of the
Reformers ; and a letter from Poggio of
glorence to Leonard Aretin.-—-Jones’s Christ.
zog.
JERUSALEM (D’Bwi‘t’, the Abode of Peace,
corrupted in the Greek, Hierosolyma, the sa-
cred Solyma,) the celebrated capital of Pales-
tine, originally the royal residence of Melchi-
sedec, then the possession of the J ebusites,
and ultimately the sacred metropolis of the
Hebrews, situated on the boundary line of the
tribes of Judah and Benjamin. It was suc-
cessively taken and plundered by the Egypt-
ians, Arabians, and Syrians, and razed to the
ground by the Chaldeans, at the time of the
captivity. After having been rebuilt, it was
again taken by Antiochns the Great, and was
completely destroyed by the Romans, 21.1). 70 ;
since which time it has never recovered its
former appearance, and has been subject to
numerous vicissitudes from the Persians, Sara-
cens, Crusaders, Turks, and Egyptians.
Jerusalem is at present subject to the juris-
diction of the Pacha of Egypt. Its environs
are barren and mountainous. The city lies
on the western declivity of a hill of basalt,
surrounded with rocks and deep valleys, with
a much colder climate than might be expected
from its geographical situation. It is now
only about two miles in circuit. It is irregu-
larly built, has pretty high walls, and six gates,
which still bear Hebrew names. The houses
are of sandstone, three stories high, and with-
out windows in the lower story. This lifeless
uniformity is- only diversified, here and there,
by the spires of the mosques, the towers of
the churches, and a few cypresses. Of 25,000
inhabitants, 13,000 are Mohammedans and
4000 Jews. Christians and Jews wear a blue
turban to distinguish them. The women in
their close veils, and white dresses, look like
walking corpses. The streets are unpaved,
and filled either with clouds of dust or with
mire. Nothing is to be seen but veiled figures
in white, insolent Turks, melancholy Jews,
and superstitious Christians. Weavers and
slipper-makers are the only artizans. A mul-
titude of relics are sold to the credulous pil—
grims, who are always a chief source of sup-
port to the inhabitants: at Easter, they often
amount to 5000; but few of them are Euro-
peans. Jerusalem has a governor, a cadi or
supreme judge, and a mufti, to preside over
religious matters. There are still many places
and buildings designated by sacred names.
The citadel, which is pretended to be the city
of David, is a Gothic building throughout, and
is called the Pisan Tower, probably because it
was built by the Pisans during the crusades.
JES
JES
394
All the pilgrims are maintained for a month
gratuitously at the Franciscan monastery, be-
sides which there are 61 Christian convents
in Jerusalem; of these the Armenian is the
largest, They are supported by voluntary
contributions, principally from Europe. The
church of the Holy Sepulchre has been for
1500 years the most sacred place in Jerusalem.
It is composed of several churches united, and
is said to be erected on Golgotha, Here is
shown, in a large subterraneous apartment,
richly ornamented, the pretended grave of the
Saviour, with a sarcophagus of white marble.
This church is reported to have been founded
by the empress Helena, in the fourth century,
after she had found the true cross. The Jews
live in great wretchedness, and are confined
to a small part of the city. The temple of the
Mohammedans, which is regarded as one of
their greatest sanctuaries, is magnificent. It
consists of two large buildings, of which the
one is adorned with a splendid dome and bean-
tiful gilding. The other is octangular, and is
called El Sahara. Here the Mohammedans
show the footsteps of their prophet, surround—
ed with a golden grate, and a copy of the K0-
ran, four feet long and two and a half broad.
Every thing that meets the eye of the travel-
ler furnishes him with an illustration of that
prophecy,—-“ Jerusalem shall be trodden down
of the Gentiles.”
JESUITS, or the Society of Jesus; a famous
religious order of the Romish church, founded
by Ignatius Loyola, a Spanish knight, in the
sixteenth century. The plan which this fa-
natic formed of its constitution and laws, was
suggested, as he gave out, by theimmediate
inspiration of Heaven. But, notwithstanding
this high pretension, his design met at first
with violent opposition. The pope, to whom
Loyola had- applied for the sanction of his
authority to confirm the institution, referred
his petition to a committee of cardinals. They
represented the establishment to be unneces-
sary as well as dangerous, and Paul refused
to grant his approbation of it. At last, Loyola
removed all his scruples, by an offer which it
was impossible for any pope to resist. He
proposed, that besides the three vows of po-
verty, of chastity, and of monastic obedience,
which are common to all the orders of regu-
lars, the members of his society should take a
fourth vow of obedience to the pope, binding
themselves to go whithersoever he should
command for the service of religion, and
without requiring any thing from the holy see
for their support. At a time when the papal
authority had received such a shock by the
revolt of so many nations from the Romish
church, at a time when every. part of the
popish system was attacked _wi_th so much
violence and success, the acquisition of a body
of men, thus peculiarly devoted to the see of
Rome, and whom it might set in opposition to
all its enemies, was an object of the highest
consequence. Paul, instantly perceiving this,
confirmed the institution of the Jesuits by his
bull; granted the most ample privileges to
the members of the society, and appointed
Loyola to be the first general of ‘the order.
The event fully justified Paul’s discernment
in expecting such beneficial consequences to
the see of Rome from this institution. In less
than half a century the society obtained esta-
blishments in every country that adhered to
the Roman Catholic Church; its power and
wealth increased amazingly; the number of
its members became great; their character
as well as accomplishments were still greater;
and the Jesuits were celebrated by the friends
and dreaded by the enemies of the Romish
faith, as the most able and enterprising order
in the church. -
2. Jesuits, object of the order qfi—The pri-
mary object of almost all the monastic orders
is to separate men from the world, and from
any concern in its affairs. In the solitude and
silence of the cloister, the monk is called to
work out his salvation by extraordinary acts
of mortification and piety. He is dead to the
world, and ought not to mingle in its transac-
tions. He can be of no benefit to mankind
but by his example and by his prayers. On
the contrary, the Jesuits are taught to consi-
der themselves as formed for action. They
are chosen soldiers, bound to exert themselves
continually in the service of God, and of the
pope, his vicar on earth. Whatever tends to
instruct the ignorant, whatever can be of use
to reclaim or oppose the enemies of the holy
see, is their proper object. That they may
have full leisure for this active service, they
are totally exempted from those functions,
the performance of which is the chief busi-
ness of other monks. Thef;r appear in no
processions; they practise no rigorous auste-
rities ; they do not consume one half of their
time in the repetition of tedious ofiices; but
they are required to attend to all the transac-
tions of the world on account of the influence
which these may have upon religion; they are
directed to study the dispositions of persons
in high rank, and to cultivate their friend-
ship; and, by the very constitution and ge-
nius of the order, a spirit of action and intrigue
is infused into all its members.
3. Jesuits, peculiarities of their policy and
government—Other orders are to be considered
as voluntary associations, in which, whatever
affects the whole body, is regulated by the
common suffrage of all its members. But
Loyola, full of the ideas of implicit obedience,
which he had derived from his military pro-
fession, appointed that the government of his
order should be purely monarchical. A ge-
neral chosen for life, by deputies from the
.several provinces, possessed power that was
supreme and independent, extending to every
person and to every case. To his commands
they were required to yield not only outward
JES
JES
395
obedience, but to resign up to him the inclina-
tions of their own wills, and the sentiments
of their own understandings. Such a singular
form of policy could not fail to impress its
character on all the members of the order,
and to give a peculiar force to all its opera-
tions. There has not been, perhaps, in the
annals of mankind, any example‘ of such a
perfect despotism exercised, not over monks
shut up in the cells of a convent, but over
men dispersed among all the nations of the
earth. As the constitutions of the order vest
in the general such absolute dominion over
all its members, they carefully provide for his .
being perfectly informed with respect to the ;
character and abilities of his subjects. Every
novice who offers himself as a candidate for
entering into the order, is obliged to manifest
his conscience to the superior, or a person
appointed by him; and is required to confess
not only his sins and defects, but to discover
the inclinations, the passions, and the bent of
the soul. This manifestation must be renewed
every six months. Each member is directed
to observe the words and actions of the no-
vices, and is bound to disclose every thing of
importance concerning them to the superior.
In order that this scrutiny into their character
may be as complete as possible, a long novi-
tiate must expire, during which they pass
through the several gradations of rank in the
society; and they must have attained the full
age of thirty-three years before they can be
admitted to take the final vows by which
they become professed members. By these
various methods, the superiors, under whose
immediate inspection the novices are placed,
acquire a thorough knowledge, of their dispo-
sitions and talents; and the general, by ex—
amining the registers kept for this purpose,
is enabled to choose the instruments which
his absolute power can employ in any service
for which he thinks meet to destine them.
4. Jesuits, progress of the power and influ-
ence qf.—-As it was the professed intention of
this order to labour with unwearied zeal in
promoting the salvation of men, this engaged
them, of course, in many active functions.
From their first institution, they considered
the education of youth as their peculiar pro-
vince: they aimed at being spiritual guides
and confessors ; they preached frequently, in
order to instruct the people; they set out as
missionaries to convert unbel-ieving nations.
Before the ‘expiration of the sixteenth century,
they had obtained the chief direction of the
education of youth in every Catholic country
in Europe. . They had become the confessors
of almost all its monarchs; a function of no
small importance in any reign, but, under
a weak prince, superior to that of minister.
They were the spiritual guides of almost every
person eminent for rank or power; they pos—
sessed the highest degree of confidence and
interest with the papal court, as the most
zealous and able champions for’ its authority;
they possessed, at different periods, the di-
rection of the most considerable courts in
I Europe; they mingled in all affairs, and
l
l

took part in every intrigue and revolution.
But while they thus advanced in power, they
:1 increased also in wealth; various expedients
’ were devised for eluding the obligation of the
vow of poverty. Besides the sources of wealth
= common to all the regular clergy, the Jesuits
1 possessed one which was peculiar to them-
{ selves—Under the pretext of promoting the
3 success of their missions, and of facilitating
‘ the support of their missionaries, they obtain-
ed a special license from the court of Rome
‘ to trade with the nations which they laboured
to convert: in consequence of this, they en-
gaged in an extensive and lucrative commerce,
both in the East and West Indies; they opened
warehouses in difi'erent parts of Europe, in
which they vended their commodities. Not
satisfied with trade alone, they imitated the
example of other commercial societies, and
aimed at obtaining settlements. They acquired
possession accordingly, of the large and fertile
province of Paraguay, which stretches across
the southern continent of America, from the
bottom of the mountains of Potosi to the con-
fines of the Spanish and Portuguese settle-
ments on the banks of the river de la Plata.
Here, indeed, it must he confessed, they were
of service; they found the inhabitants in a
state little difi‘erent from that which takes
place among men when they first begin to
unite together; strangers to the arts; subsist-
ing precariously by hunting or fishing; and
hardly acquainted with the first principles of
subordination and government—The Jesuits
set themselves to instruct and civilize these
savages: they taught them to cultivate the
ground, build houses, and brought them to
live together in villages, &c. They made
them taste the sweets of society, and trained
them to arts and manufactures. Such was
their power over them, that a few Jesuits pre-
sided over some hundred thousand Indians.
But even in this meritorious effort of the
Jesuits for the good of mankind, the genius
and spirit of their order was discernible: they
plainly aimed at establishing in Paraguay an
independent empire, subject to 'the society
alone, and which, by the superior excellence
of its constitution and police, could scarcely
have failed to extend its dominion over all
the southern continent of America. With
this view, in order to prevent the Spaniards
I
subject to the society, the Jesuits endeavoured‘
to inspire the Indians with hatred and con—
tempt of these nations; they cut ofi‘ all inten-
course between their subjects and the Spanish
or Portuguese settlements. When they were
obliged to admitauy person in a public cha-

or Portuguese in the adjacent settlements _
from acquiring any dangerous influence over _~
the people within the limits of the province
JES
JES
395
racter from the neighbouring governments,
they did not permit him to have any conver-
sation with their subjects; and no Indian was
allowed even to enter the house where these
strangers resided, unless in the presence of a
Jesuit. In order to render any communication
between them as diflicult as possible, they indus-
triously avoided giving the Indians any know-
ledge of the Spanish or of any other European
language ; but encouraged the different tribes
which they had civilized to acquire a certain
dialect of the Indian tongue, and laboured to
make that the universal language throughout
their dominions. As allthese precautions with-
out military force, would have been insufii-
cient to have rendered their empire secure and
permanent, they instructed their subjects in
the European art of war, and formed them into
bodies completely armed, and well disciplined.
5. Jesuits, pernicious efi‘ects of this order in
civil society—Though it must he confessed
that the Jesuits cultivated the study of ancient
literature, and contributed much towards the
progress of polite learning; though they have
produced eminent masters in every branch of
science, and can boast of a number of inge-
nious authors; yet, unhappily for mankind,
their vast influence has been often exerted
with the most fatal effects. Such was the
tendency of that discipline observed by the
society in forming its members, and such the
fundamental maxims in its constitution, that
every Jesuit was taught to regard the interest
of ‘the order as the capital object to which
every consideration was to be sacrificed. As
the prosperity of the order was intimately
connected with the preservation of the papal
authority, the Jesuits, influenced by the same
principle of attachment to the interest of their
society, have been the most zealous patrons
of those doctrines which tend to exalt eccle-
siastical power on the ruins of civil govern-
ment. They have attributed to the court of
Rome a jurisdiction as extensive and absolute
as was claimed by the most presumptuous
pontitfs in the dark ages. They have con-
tended for the entire independence of ecclesi-
asties on the civil magistrates. They have
published such tenets concerning the duty
of opposing princes who were enemies of the
Catholic faith, as countenanced the most
atrocious crimes, and tended to dissolve all
the ties which connect subjects with their
rulers. As the order derived both reputation
and authority from the zeal with which it
stood forth in defence of the Romish Church
against the attacks of the Reformers, its
members, proud of this distinction, have con-
sidered it as their peculiar function to combat
the opinions, and to check the progress of the
Protestants. .They have made use of every
art, and have employed every weapon against
them. They have set themselves in opposi-
tion to every gentle or tolerating measure in
their favour. They have incessantly stirred
up against them all the rage of ecclesiastical
and civil persecution. Whoever recollects
the events which have happened in Europe
during two centuries, will find thatthe Jesuits
may justly be ‘considered as responsible for
most of the pernicious effects arising from
that corrupt and dangerous casuistry, from
those extravagant tenets concerning ecclesi~
astical power, and from that intolerant spirit,
which have been the disgrace of the Church
of Rome throughout that period, and which
have brought so man calamities upon society.
6. Jesuits, downfagi in Europe.—~—Such were
the laws. the policy, and the genius of this
formidable order; of which, however, a per~
fect knowledge has only been attainable of
late. Europe had observed, for two centuries,
the ambition and power of the order ; but
while it felt many fatal effects of these, it could
not fully discern the causes to which they
were to be imputed. It was unacquainted
with many of the singular regulations in the
political constitution or government of the
Jesuits, which formed the enterprising spirit
of intrigue that distinguished its members,
and elevated the body itself to such a height
of power. It was a fundamental maxim with
the Jesuits, from their first institution, not to
publish the rules of their order; these they
kept concealed as an impenetrable mystery.
They never communicated them to strangers,
nor even to the greater part of their own
members : they refused to produce them when
required by courts of justice; and by a strange
solecism in policy, the civil power in different
countries authorised or connived at the estab-
lishment of an order of men, whose consti-
tution and laws were concealed with a solici_
tude, which alone, was a good reason for hav-
ing excluded them. During the prosecutions
which have been carried on against them in
Portugal and France, the Jesuits have been
so inconsiderate as to produce the mysterious
volumes of their institute. By the aid of
these authentic records, the principles of their
government may be delineated, and the sources
of their power investigated, with a degree of
certainty and precision, which, previous to
that event, it was impossible to attain.
The pernicious effects of the spirit and con-
stitution of this order rendered it early ob-
noxious to some of the principal powers in
Europe, and gradually brought on its downfall.
There is a remarkable passage in a sermon
preached at Dublin, by Archbishop Brown, so
longago as the year .1551, and which may be
considered almost as prophetic. It is as fol-
lows :——“ But there are a new fraternity of late
sprung up who call themselves Jesuits, which
will deceive many, much after the Scribes and
Pharisees’ manner. Amongst the Jews they
‘shall strive to abolish the truth, and shall
come very near to do it. For these sorts will
turn themselves into several forms ; with
the heathen, a heathenist; with the atheists,
JES
J E S
397
an atheist; with the Jews, a Jew; with the
‘ reformers, a reformade, purposely to know
your intentions, your minds, your hearts, and
your inclinations, and thereby bring you, at
last, to be like the fool that said in his heart,
there was no God. These shall be spread
over the whole world, shall be admitted into
the councils of princes, and they ‘never the
wiser; charming of them, yea, making your
princes reveal their hearts, and the secrets
therein, and yet they not perceive it; which
will‘ happen from falling from the law of God,
by neglect of fulfilling the law of God, and by
winking at their sins; yet in the end, God, to
justify his law, shall suddenly cut off this
society, even by the hands of those who have
most succoured them, and made use of them;
so that at the end they shall become odious
to all nations. They shall be worse than
Jews, having no resting-place upon earth;
and then shall a Jew have more favour than a
Jesuit.”
accomplished. The Emperor Charles V. saw
it expedient to check their progress in his
dominions: they were expelled vEngland by
proclamation, 2 James I., in 1604; Venice,
in 1606; Portugal, in 1759 ; France, in 1764;
Spain and Sicily, in 1767; and totally sup-
pressed and abolished by Pope Clement XIV.,
in 1773; they were finally banished from
Russia in 1820. The number of Jesuits at
present in Europe and America amounts to
upwards of 2000. Their general resides at
Rome. In Italy, including Sicily, there are
700, who possess eighteen colleges for the
instruction of youth. The number in France
is not exactly known. At the time of the
dissolution of the society, it amounted to
22,000.—Enc. Brit; Mosheim’s Eco. Hist;
Harleian Misa, vol. v. p. 566; Broughton’s
Diet. ; New York Evangelist, for 1831.
JEsUs CHRIST, the Lord and Saviour of
mankind. He is called Christ, (anointed,)
because he is anointed, furnished, and sent
by God to execute his mediatorial ofiice; and
Jesus, (Saviour,) because he came to save
his people from their sins. For an account
of his nativity, oflices, death, resurrection, 850.,
the reader is referred to those articles in this
work. We shall here more particularly con-
sider his divinity, humanity, and character.
The divinity of Jesus Christ seems evident,
if we consider,-—1. The language of the New
Testament, and compare it with the state of
the Pagan world at the time of its publication.
If Jesus Christ were not God, the writers of the
New Testament discovered great injudicious-
ness in the-choice of their words, and adopted
a very incautious and dangerous style. The
whole world, except the small kingdom of
J udea, worshipped idols at the time of Jesus
Christ’s appearance. Jesus Christ, the evan-
gelists who wrote his history, and the apes-
tles who wrote epistles to various classes of
men, proposed to destroy idolatry, and to
This singular passage seems to be
their inspiration.

establish the worship of one only living and
true God. ' To effect this purpose, it was ab-
solutely necessary for these founders of Chris-
tianity to avoid confusion and obscurity of
language, and to express their ideas in a cool
and cautious style. The least expression that
would tend to deify a creature, or countenance
idolatry, would have been a source of the
greatest error. Hence Paul and I Barnabas
rent their clothes at the very idea of the mul-
titude’s confounding the creature with V the
Creator, Acts xiv. The writers of the New
Testament knew that, in speaking of Jesus
Christ, extraordinary caution was necessary ;
yet when we take up the New Testament, we
find such expressions as these: “The word was
God,” John i. 1. “ God was manifest in the
flesh,” 1 Tim. iii. 16. “ God with us,” Mat-t. i.
23. “ The Jews crucified the Lord of glory,”
1 Cor. 8. “Jesus Christ is Lord of all,”
Acts x. 36. “ Christ is over all, God blessed
for ever,” Rom. ix. 5. These are a few of
many propositions, which the New Testament
writers lay down relative to Jesus Christ.
If the writers intended to afiirm the divinity
of Jesus Christ, these are words of truth and
soberness; if not, the language is incautious
and unwarrantable ; and to address it to men
prone to idolatry, for the purpose of destroy-
ing idolatry, is a strong presumption against
' It is remarkable also, that
the richest words in the Greek language are
made use of to describe Jesus Christ. This
language, which is very copious, would have
afforded lower terms to express an inferior
nature; but it could have afforded none higher
to express the nature of the Supreme God.
It is worthy of observation, too, that these
writers addressed their writings, not to philo-
sophers and scholars, but to the common peo-
ple, and consequently used words in their plain,
popular signification. The common people, it
seems, understood the words in our sense of
them; for in the Dioclesian persecution, when
the Roman soldiers burnt a Phrygian city
inhabited by Christians, men, women, and
children submitted to their fate, “ calling upon
Christ, the God over all.”—2. Compare the
style of the New Testament with the state of
the Jews at the time of its publication. In
the time of Jesus Christ, the Jews were zeal-
ous defenders of the unity of God, and of that
idea of his perfections which the Scriptures
excited. Jesus Christ and his apostles pro-
fessed the highest regard for the Jewish
Scriptures; yet the writers of the New Tes-
tament described Jesus Christ by the very
names and titles by which the writers of the
Old Testament had described the supreme
God. Compare Exod. iii. 14, with John viii.
58; Isa. xliv. 6, with Rev. i. 11, 17; Dent.
x. 17, with Rev. xvii. 14 ; Psal. xxiv. 10,
with 1 Cor. ii. 8; Hos. i. 7, with Luke ii. 11 ;
Dan. v. 23, with 1 Cor. xv. 47 ; 1 Chron.
xxix. 11, with C01. ii. 10. If they who de-
JES
JES
398
scribed Jesus Christ to the Jews by these
sacred names and titles intended to convey
an idea of his deity, the description is just
and the application safe ; but if they intended :
to describe a mere man, they were surely of ‘
all men the most preposterous. They chose
a method of recommending Jesus to the Jews
the most likely to alarm and enrage them.
Whatever they meant, the Jews understood
them in our sense, and took Jesus for a blas-
phemer, John x. 33.--3. Compare the per-
fections which are ascribed to Jesus Christ in
the Scriptures, with those which are ascribed
to God. Jesus Christ declares, “ All things
that the Father hath are mine,” John xvi.
15 ; a very dangerous proposition, if he were
not God. The writers of revelation ascribe
to him the same perfections which they as-
cribe to God. Compare Jer. x. 10, with Isa.
ix. 6; Exod. xv. 133, with Heb. i. 8 ; Jer.
xxxii. 19, with Isa. ix. 6; Psa. cii. 24, 27,
with Heb. xiii. 8 ; J er. xxiii. 24, with Eph. i.
20, 23; 1 Sam. ii. 5, with John xiv. 30; J er.
xvii. 10, with Rev. ii. 18, 23. If Jesus Christ
be God, the ascription of the perfections of
God to him is proper ; if he be not, the apos-
tles are chargeable with weakness or wicked-
ness, and either would destroy their claim to
inspiration—4. Consider the works that are
ascribed to Jesus Christ, and compare them
with the claims of Jehovah. Is creation a
work of God? “ By Jesus Christ were
all things created,” Col. i. 16. Is preservation
a work of God? “ Jesus Christ upholds all
things by the word of his power,” Heb. i. 3.
Is the mission of the prophets a work of God?
Jesus Christ is the Lord God of the holy pro-
phets; and it was the Spirit of Christ which
testified to them beforehand the sufferings of
Christ, and the glory that should follow,
Neh. ix. 30; Rev. xxii. 6, 16; 1 Pet. i. 11.
Is the salvation of sinners a work of God?
Christ is the Saviour of all that believe, John
iv. 42; Heb. v. 9. Is the forgiveness of sin
a work of God? The Son of Man hath power
to forgive sins, Matt. ix. 6. The same might
be said of the illumination of the mind; the
sanctification of the heart; the resurrection of
the dead; the judging of the world; the glorifi~
cation of the righteous ; the eternal punishment
of the wicked: all which works, in one part of
Scripture, are ascribed to God; and allwhich, in
another part of Scripture, are ascribed to Jesus
Christ. Now, if Jesus Christ be not God,
into what contradictions must these writers
have fallen! They contradict one another:
they contradict themselves. Either Jesus
Christ is God, or their conduct is unaccount-
ablc.--5. Consider that divine worship which
the Scriptures, claim for Jesus Christ. It is a
command of God, “Thou shalt worship the
Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve,”
Matt. iv. 20. Yet the Scriptures command
“all the angels of God to worship Christ,”
Heb. i. 6. Twenty times, in the New Testa-

ment, grace, mercy, and peace, are implored
of Christ, together with the Father. Baptism
is an act of worship performed‘ in his name,
Matt. xxviii. l9. Swearing is an act of wor-
ship: a solemn appeal in important cases to
the omniscient God; and this appeal is made
to Christ, Rom. ix. 1. The committing of the
soul to God at death is a sacred act of wor-
ship: in the performance of this act, Stephen
died, saying, “ Lord Jesus, receive my spirit,”
Acts vii. 59. The whole host of heaven wor-
ship him that sitteth upon the throne, and
the Lamb, for ever and ever, Rev. v. 14, 15.
—6. Observe the application of Old Testa-
ment passages which belong to Jehovah, to
Jesus in the New Testament, and try whether
you can acquit the writers of the New Testa-
ment of misrepresentation, on supposition
that Jesus is not God. Paul says, “ We shall
all stand before the judgment-seat of Christ.”
That we shall all be judged, we allow; but
how do you prove that Christ shall be our
Judge? Because, adds the apostle, it is writ-
ten, “As I live, saith the Lord, every knee
shall bow to me, and every tongue shall con-
fess to God,” Rom. xiv. 10, 11, with Isa. xlv.
20, &c. What sort of reasoning is this ?
How does this apply to Christ, if Christ be
not God? And how dare a man quote one
of the most guarded passages in the Old Tes-
tament for such a purpose? John the Baptist
is he who was spoken of by the prophet
Esaias, saying, “Prepare ye the way,” Matt.
iii. 1, 3. Isaiah saith, “Prepare ye the way
of the Lord; make straight a highway for
our God,” Isa. xi. 3, &c. But what has John
the Baptist to do with all this description if
'Jesus Christ be only a messenger of Jehovah,
and not Jehovah himself? for Isaiah saith,
“ Prepare ye the way of Jehovah.” Compare
also Zech. xii. 10, with John xix. 34, 37 ; Isa.
vi. with John xii. 39; Isa. viii. 13, 14, with
1 Pet. ii. 8. Allow Jesus Christ to be God,
and all these applications are proper. If we
deny it, the New Testament, we must own, is
one of the most unaccountable compositions
in the world, calculated to make easy things
hard to be understood—7. Examine whether
events have justified that notion of Christian-
ity which the prophets gave their countrymen
of it, if Jesus Christ be not God. The calling
of the Gentiles from the worship of idols to
the worship of the one living and true God is
one event which, the prophets said, the coming
of the Messiah should bring to pass. If Jesus
Christ be God, the event answers the pro-
phecy ; if not, the event is not come to pass,
for Christians in general worship Jesus,
which is idolatry, if he be not God, Isa. ii.
iii. and iv.; Zech. ii. 11 ; Zech. xiv. 9. The
primitive Christians certainly worshipped him
as God. Pliny, who was appointed governor
of the province of Bithynia by the emperor
Trajan, in the year 103, examined and punished
several Christians for their nonconformity
JES
JES
' 399
to the established religion of the empire. In
a letter to the emperor, giving an account of
his conduct, he declares, “they affirmed the
whole of their guilt, or their error, was, that
they met on a certain stated day, before it
was light, and addressed themselves in a form
of prayer to Christ as to some god.” Thus
Pliny meant to inform the ‘emperor that
Christians worshipped. Christ. Justin Martyr,
who lived about 150 years after Christ, asserts
that the Christians worshipped the Father,
the Son, and the Spirit. Besides his testi-
mony, there are numberless passages in the
fathers that attest the truth in question; espe-
cially in Tertullian, Hippolytus, Felix, &c.
Mohammed, who lived in the sixth century,
considers Christians in the light of infidels
and idolaters throughout the Koran ; and,
indeed, had not Christians worshipped Christ,
he could have had no shadow of a pretence
to reform their religion, and to bring them
back to the worship of one God. That the
far greater part of Christians have continued
to worship Jesus will not be doubted; now
if Christ be not God, ‘then the Christians
have been guilty of idolatry; and if they
have been guilty of idolatry, then it must ap-
pear remarkable that the apostles, who fore-
told the corruptions of Christianity, 2 Tim.
iii., should never have foreseen nor warned
us against worshipping Christ. In no part of
the Scripture is there the least intimation of
Christians falling into idolatry in this respect.
Surely if this had been an error which was to
be so universally prevalent, those Scriptures
which are able to make us wise unto salvation,
would have left us warning on so important a
topic. Lastly, consider what numberless pas-
sages of Scripture have no sense, or a very
absurd one, if Jesus Christ be a mere man.
See Rom. i. 3; .1 Tim. iii. 16; John xiv. 9;
xvii. 5; Phil. ii. 6; Ps. ex. 1. 4; 1 Tim. i. 2;
Acts xxii. 12, and ix. 17.
But though Jesus Christ be God, yet for
our sakes, and for our salvation, he took upon
him human nature; this is, therefore, called
his humanity. Marcion, Apelles, Valentinus,
and many other heretics, denied Christ’s hu-
manity, as some have done since. But that
Christ had a true human body, and not a
mere human shape, or a body that was not
real flesh, is very evident from the sacred
Scriptures, Isa. vii. 12 ; Luke xxiv. 39; Heb.
ii. 14; Luke i. 42; Phil. ii. 7, 8; John i. 14.
Besides, he ate, drank, slept, walked, worked,
and was weary. He groaned, bled, and died
upon the cross. It was necessary that he
should thus be human, in order to fulfil the
divine designs and prophecies respecting the
shedding of his blood for our salvation, which
could not have been done had he not possessed
a real body. It is also as evident that he as-
sumed our whole nature, soul as well as body.
If he had not, he could not have been capable
of that sore amazement and sorrow unto

death, and all those other acts of grieving,
feeling, rejoicing, &c., ascribed to him. It
was not, however, our sinful nature he as-
sumed, but the likeness of it, Rom. viii. 2, for
he was without sin, and did no iniquity. His
human nature must not be confounded with
his divine; for though there be an union of
natures in Christ, yet there is not a mixture
or confusion of them or their properties. His
humanity is not changed into his deity, nor
his deity into humanity; but the two natures
are distinct in one person. How this union
exists is above our comprehension; and, in-
deed, if we cannot explain how our own bodies
and souls are united, it is not to be supposed
we can explain this astonishing mystery of
God manifest in the flesh. See MEmA'ron.
We now proceed to the character of Jesus
Christ, which, while it affords us the most pleas-
ing subject for meditation, exhibits to us an
example of the most perfect and delightful
kind. “ Here,” as an elegant writer observes,
“ every grace that can recommend religion,
and every virtue that can adorn humanity,
are so blended as to excite our admiration,
and engage our love. In abstaining from
licentious pleasures, he was equally free from
ostentatious singularity and churlish sullen-
ness. When he complied with the established
ceremonies of his countrymen, that compli-
ance was not accompanied by any marks of
bigotry or superstition; when he opposed
their rooted prepossessions, his opposition was
perfectly exempt from the captious petulance
of a controversialist, and the undistinguishing
zeal of an innovator. His courage was active
in encountering the dangers to which he was
exposed, and passive under the aggravated
calamities which the malice of his foes heaped
upon him; his fortitude was remote from
every appearance of rashness, and his patience
was equally exempt from abject pusillanimity:
he was firm without obstinacy, and humble
without meanness. Though possessed of the
most unbounded power, we behold him living
continually in a state of voluntary humiliation
and poverty: we see him daily exposed to
almost every species of want and distress;
afliicted without a comforter, persecuted with-
out a protector, and wandering about, accord-
ing to his own pathetic complaint, because
‘he had not where to lay his head.’ Though
regardless of the pleasures, and sometimes
destitute of the comforts of life, he never pro-
vokes our disgust by the sourness of the mis—
anthrope, or our contempt by the inactivity
of the’recluse. His attention to the welfare
of mankind was evidenced not only by his
salutary injunctions, but by his readiness to
embrace every opportunity of relieving their
distress and administering to their wants. In
every period and circumstance of his life, we
behold dignity and elevation blended with
love and pity; something which, though it
awakens our admiration, yet attracts our con-
JES
JES
400 '
fidence. We see power, but it is power which
is rather our security than our dread; a power
softened with tenderness, and soothing while
it awes. With all the gentleness of a meek
and lowly mind, we behold an heroic firmness
which no terrors could restrain. In the pri-
vate scenes of life, and in the public occupa-
tions of his ministry,—-whether the object of
admiration or ridicule, of love or of persecu-
tion,——whether welcomed with hosannas, or
insulted with anathemas, we still see him pur-
suing, with unwearied constancy, the same
end, and preserving the same integrity of life
and manners.”-— Wlzite’s Sermons, ser. 5. '
Considering him as a moral teacher, we
must be struck with the greatest admiration.
As Dr. Paley observes, “ he preferred solid
to popular virtues ; a character which is com—
monly despised, to a character universally
extolled; he placed, on our licentious vices,
the check in the right place, viz., upon the
thoughts: he collected human duty into two
well-devised rules; he repeated these rules,
and laid great stress upon them, and thereby
fixed the sentiments of his followers : he ex-
cluded all regard to reputation in our devo-
tion and alms; and, by parity of reason, in
our other virtues : his instructions were deli-
vered in a form calculated for impression;
they were illustrated by parables, the choice
and structure of which would have been ad-
mired in any composition whatever: he was
free from the usual symptoms of enthusiasm,
heat, and vehenience in devotion, austerity in
institutions, and a wild particularity in the
description of a future state: he was free,
also, from the depravities of his age and
country; without superstition among the
most superstitious of men; yet not decrying
positive distinctions or external observances,
but soberly recalling them to the principle of
their establishment, and to their place in the
scale of human duties: there was nothing of
sophistry or trifling, though amidst teachers
remarkable for nothing so much as frivolous
subtilties and quibbling expositions: he was
candid and liberal in his judgment of the rest
of mankind, although belonging to a people
who affected a separate claim to divine favour,
and, in consequence of that opinion, prone to
uncharitableness, partiality, and restriction:
in his religion there was no scheme of build-
ing up a hierarchy, or of ministering to the
views of human governments: in a word,
there was everything so grand in doctrine,
and so delightful in manner, that the people
might well exclaim,—-‘ Surely never man
spake like this man l’”
As to his example, Bishop Newcome ob-
serves, “it was of the most perfect piety to
God, and of the most extensive benevolence
and the most tender compassion to men. He
does not merely exhibit a life of strict justice,
but of overflowing benignity. His temper-
ance has not the dark shades of austerity ; his

meekness does not degenerate into apathy;
his humility is signal, amidst a splendour of
qualities more than human; his fortitude is
eminent and exemplary in enduring the most
formidable external evils, and the sharpest
actual sufferings. His patience is invincible:
his resignation entire and absolute. Truth
and sincerity shine throughout his whole con-
duct. Though of heavenly descent, he shows
obedience and affection to his earthly parents;
he approves, loves, and attaches himself to
amiable qualities in the human race; he re-
spects authority, religious and civil; and he
evidences regard for his country by promot-
ing its most essential good in a painful mini-
stry dedicated to its service, by deploring its
calamities, and by laying down his hfe for
its benefit. Every one of his eminent virtues
is regulated by consummate prudence; and he
both wins the love of his friends, and extorts
the approbation and wonder of his enemies.
Never was a character at the same time so
commanding and natural, so resplendent and
pleasing, so amiable and venerable. There
is a peculiar contrast in it between an awful
greatness, dignity, and majesty, and the most
conciliating loveliness, tenderness and softness.
He now converses with prophets, lawgivers,
and angels; and the next instant he meekly
endures the dulness of his disciples, and the
blasphemies and rage of the multitude. He
now calls himself greater than Solomon ; one
who can command legions of angels; and
giver of life to whomsoever he pleaseth; the
Son of God, and who shall sit on his glorious
throne to judge the world: at other times
we find him embracing young children; not
lifting up his voice in the streets, nor quench-
ing the smoking flax; calling his disciples,
not servants, but friends and brethren, and
comforting them with an exuberant and
parental affection. Let us pause an instant, and
fill our minds with the idea of one who knew
all things, heavenly and earthly; searched
and laid open the inmost recesses of the
heart; ‘ rectified every prejudice, and removed
every mistake of a moral and religious kind;
by a word exercised a sovereignty over all
nature, penetrated the hidden events of futu—
rity, gave promises of admission into a happy
immortality, had the keys of life and death,
claimed an union with the Father; and yet
was pious, mild, gentle, humble, afl'able, social,
benevolent, friendly, and affectionate. Such
a character is fairer than the morning star.
Each separate virtue is made stronger by op-
position and contrast; and the union of so
many virtues forms a brightness which fitly
represents the glory of that God "‘ who inha-
biteth light inaccessible.”’ See Robinson’s
Plea for the Divinityof Christ, from which
many of the above remarks are taken ; Bishop
Bull’s Judgment of the Catholic Church; Ab-
badie, Waterland, Iilawher, Hey, J. Pg/e Smith,
and l/Vardlaw, on the Divinity of Christ
. JEW
JEW
Christ ,- Dr. Jamieson’s View of the Doctrine
of Scripture, and the Primitive Faith concern-
ing the Deity of Christ; Owen on the Glory of
Christ’s Person; Hurrion’s Christ Crucifiecl ;
Bishop Newcome’s Observations (in our Lord’s
Conduct ,- and Paley’s Evidences of Christianity.
JEW, THE WANDERING, a fictitious person,
who, according to popular tradition, was a
Jew that drove our Saviour away with curses,
when, oppressed with the weight of his cross,
he wished to rest on a stone before his house.
The calm reply of Jesus was,——“ Thou shalt
wander on the earth till I return.” The as-
tounded Jew did not come to himself till the
crowd had passed, and the streets were empty;
since which time, driven by fear and remorse,
he has been obliged to wander from place to
place, and has never yet been able to find a
grave. Numerous Jews have been suspected
and even persecuted as the unhappy wan-
derer: and doubtless the fable has been re-
alized by many thousands of that hapless
race; but it was most likely invented to
characterise their condition from the time of
the destruction of Jerusalem to the present
period, and their rejection of the Saviour as
the cause of their wanderings.
JEws, a name derived from the patriarch
Judah, and given to the descendants of Abra-
ham by his eldest son Isaac. We shall here
present the reader with as comprehensive a
view of this singular people as we can.
1. Jews, History of the—The Almighty
promised Abraham that he would render his
seed extremely numerous: this promise began
to be fulfilled in Jacob’s twelve sons. In
about two hundred and fifteen years, they
increased in Egypt from seventeen to between
two and three millions, men, women, and
children. ‘Nhile Joseph lived, they were
kindly used by the Egyptian monarchs; but
soon after, from a suspicion that they would
become too strong for the natives, they were
condemned to slavery; but the more they
were oppressed, the more they grew. The
midwives and others, were therefore ordered
to murder every male infant at the time of
its birth; but they shifting the horrible task,
every body was then ordered to destroy the
male children wherever they found them.
After they had been thus oppressed for about
two hundred years, and on the very day that
finished the four hundred and thirtieth year
from God’s first promise of a seed to Abra-
ham, and about four hundred years after the
birth of Isaac, God, by terrible plagues on
the Egyptians, obliged them to liberate the
Hebrews under the direction of Moses and
Aaron. Pharaoh pursued them with a mighty
army; but the Lord opened a passage for
tllem through the Red Sea; and the Egyp-
‘5111115, in attempting to follow them, were
drowned. After this, we find them in a, dry
and barren desert, without any provision for
401
Reader, Stachhouse, and D’ Oyley’s Lives qf
l from heaven.

their journey; but God supplied them with
water from a rock, and manna and quails
A little after, they routed the
Amalekites, who fell on their rear. In the
wilderness, God delivered them the law, and
confirmed the authority of Moses. Three
thousand of them were cut off for worshipping
the golden calf; and for loathing the manna,
they were punished with a month's eating of
flesh, till a plague brake out among them;
and for their rash belief of the ten wicked
spies, and their contempt of the promised
land, God had entirely destroyed them, had
not Moses’s prayers prevented. They were
condemned, however, to wander in the desert
till the end of forty years, till that whole
generation, except Caleb and Joshua, should
be cut ofl“ by death. Here they were often
punished for their rebellion, idolatry, whore-
dom, &c. God’s marvellous favours, how-
ever, were still continued in conducting and
supplying them with meat; and the streams
issuing from the rock of Meribah followed
their camp about thirty-nine years, and their
clothes never waxed old. On their entrance
into Canaan, God ordered them to cut off
every idolatrous Canaanite; but they spared
vast numbers of them, who enticed them to
wickedness, and were sometimes God’s rod to
punish them. For many ages they had en-
joyed little prosperity, and often relapsed
into awful idolatry, worshipping Baalim and
Ashtaroth. Micah and the Danites intro-
duced it not long after J oshua’s death. About
this time the lewdness of the men of Gibeah
occasioned a war of the eleven tribes against
their brethren of Benjamin : they were twice
rented by the Benjamites, and forty thousand
of them were slain. In the third, however,
all the Benjamites were slain, except six
hundred. Vexed for the loss of a tribe, the
other Hebrews provided wives for these six
hundred, at the expense of slaying most of
the inhabitants of J abesh Gilead. Their re-
lapses into idolatry also brought on them re-
peated turns of slavery from the heathen
among or around them. See books of Judges
and Samuel.
Having been governed by judges for about
three hundred and forty years, after the death
of Joshua they took a fancy to have a king.
Saul was their first sovereign, under whose
reign they had perpetual struggles with the
Ammonites, Moabites, and Philistines. After
about seven years’ struggling between the
eleven tribes that clave to Ishbosheth the son
of Saul, and the tribe of Judah, which erected
themselves into a kingdom under David,
David became sole monarch. Under him
they subdued their neighbours, the Philistines,
Edomites, and others ; and took possession of
the whole dominion which had been promised
them, from the border of Egypt to the banks
of the Euphrates. Under Solomon they had
little war: when he died, ten of the Hebrew
D D
JEW
2 JEW
4O
tribes formed the kingdom of Israel, or Ephra-
im, for themselves, under J eroboam, the son of
Ncbat, in opposition to the kingdom of Judah
and Benjamin, ruled by the family of David.
The kingdom of Israel, Ephraim. or the ten
tribes, had never so much as one pious king :
idolatry was alwa s their established religion;
The kingdom of udah had pious and wicked
sovereigns by turns, though they often re-
lapsed into idolatry, which brought great
distress upon them. See books of Samuel,
Kings, and Chronicles. Not only the kingdom
of Israel, but that of Judah, was brought to
the very brink of ruin after the death of
J ehoshaphat. After various changes, some-
times for the better, and sometimes for the
worse, the kingdom of Israel was ruined, two
hundred and fifty-four years after its erection,
by So, king of Egypt, and Halmanaser, king
of Assyria, who invaded it, and destroyed
most of the people. Judah was invaded by
Sennacherib ; but Hezekiah’s piety, and
Isaiah’s prayer, were the means of their pre-
servation; but under Manasseh, the Jews
abandoned themselves to horrid impiety; for
which they were punished by Esarhaddon,
king of Assyria, who invaded and reduced
the kingdom, and carried Manasseh prisoner
to Babylon.
Lord brought him back to his kingdom, where
he promoted the reformation; but his son
Amon defaced all. Josiah, however, again
promoted it, and carried it to a higher pitch
than in the reigns of David and Solomon.
After Josiah was slain by Pharaoh Necho,
king of Egypt, the people returned to idola-
try, and God gave them up to servitude to the
Egyptians and the Chaldeans. The fate of
their kings J ehoaz, J ehoiakim, J ehoiachin, and
Zedekiah, was unhappy. Provoked by Ze-
dekiah’s treachery, Nebuchadnezzar invaded
the kingdom, murdered vast-numbers, and
reduced them to captivity. Thus the king-
dom of Judah was ruined, a. M. 3416, about
three hundred and eighty-eight years after its
division from that of the ten tribes. In the
seventicth year from the begun captivity, the
Jews, according to the edict of Cyrus, king
of Persia, who had overturned the empire of
Chaldea, returned to their own country. See
Nehemiah, Ezra. Vast numbers of them,
who had agreeable settlements, remained in
Babylon. After their return they rebuilt the
temple and city of Jerusalem, put away their
strange, wives, and renewed their covenant
with God.
About 3490, or 3546, they escaped the
ruin designed them by Haman. About
3653, Darius Ochus, king of Persia, ravaged
part of Judea, and carried off a great many
prisoners. When Alexander was in Canaan,
about 3670, he confirmed to them all their
privileges; and, having built Alexandria,
e settled vast numbers of them there.
About fourteen years after, Ptolemy Lagus,
Manasseh repented, and the-

the Greek king of Egypt, ravaged J udea, and
carried one hundred thousand prisoners to
Egypt, but used them kindly, and assigned
them many places of trust. About eight years
after, he transported another multitude of
Jews to Egypt, and gave them considerable
privileges. About the same time, Seloucus
Nicator, having built about thirty new cities
in Asia, settled in them as many Jews as he
could; and Ptolemy Philadelphus, of Egypt,
about 3720, bought the freedom of all the
Jew slaves in Egypt. Antiochus Epiphanes,
about 3834, enraged with them for rejoicing
at the report of his death, and for the pecu-
liar form of their worship, in his return from
Egypt, forced his way into Jerusalem, and
murdered forty thousand of them ; and about
two years after he ordered his troops to pil-
lage the cities of J udea, and murder the men,
and sell the women and children for slaves.
Multitudes were killed, and ten thousand
prisoners carried off : the temple was ‘dedi-
cated to Olympius, an idol of Greece, and
the Jews exposed to the basest treatment.
Mattathias, the priest, with his sons, chiefly
Judas, Jonathan, and Simon, who were called
Maccabees, bravely fought for their religion
and liberties. Judas, who succeeded his father
about 3840, gave Nicanor and the king’s
troops a terrible defeat, regained the temple,
and dedicated it anew, restored the daily
worship, and repaired Jerusalem, which was
almost in a ruinous heap. After his death,
Jonathan and Simon, his brethren, suc-
cessively succeeded him; and both wisely and
bravely promoted the welfare of the church
and state.
Hircanus, who subdued Idumea, and reduced
the Samaritans. In 3899 he was succeeded
by his son Janneus, who reduced the Philis-
tines, the country of Moab, Ammon, Gilead,
and part of Arabia. Under these three
reigns alone the Jewish nation was indepen-
dent after the captivity. After the death of
the widow of Janneus, who governed nine
years, the nation was almost ruined with civil
broils. In 3939, Aristobulus invited the R0-
mans to assist him against Hircanus, his elder
brother. The country was quickly reduced,
and Jerusalem taken by force ; and Pompey,
and a number of his officers pushed their way
into the sanctuary, if not into the Holy of
Holies, to view the furniture thereof. Nine
years after, Crassus, the Roman general, pil-
laged the temple of its valuables. After J udea
had for more than thirty years been a scene of
ravage and blood, during twenty-four of which
it had been oppressed by Herod the Great,
Herod got himself installed into the kingdom.
About twenty years before our Saviour’s birth
he, with the J ews’ consent, began to build the
temple. About this time the J cws had hopes
of the Messiah ; and about A. M. 4000, Christv
actually came, whom Herod (instigated by.
the fear of losing his throne) sought to mur-
Simon was succeeded by his son ‘
JEW
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403 _
der. The Jews, however, a few excepted,
rejected the Messiah, and put him to death.
The sceptre was now wholly departed from
Judah ; and J udea, about twenty-seven years
before, reduced to a province. At the de-
struction of Jerusalem about 1,100,000 Jews
perished, and since that disastrous event
they have been scattered, contemned, perse-
cuted, and enslaved among all nations, not
mixed with any in the common manner, but
have remained as a body distinct by them-
selves.
2. Jews, sentiments qfi—A summary of the
Jewish creed was drawn up by Moses Mai-
monides, otherwise called the Great Rambam,
(i. e. Rabbi Moses Ben Maimom) an Egyp-
tian Rabbi of the eleventh century, which is
still acknowledged as their confession of faith.
It consists of thirteen articles, and, reads as
follows :—
I. I believe, with a perfect faith, that the
Creator, blessed be his name! is the governor
and creator of all the creatures, and that it is
He who made, maketh, and will make all
things.
II. I believe, with a perfect faith, that the
Creator, blessed be his name! is one, and that
no unity is like his, and He alone, our God,
was, is, and shall be.
III. I believe, with a perfect faith, that the
Creator, blessed be his name! is incorporeal;
that he is not to be comprehended by those
faculties which comprehend corporeal objects ;
and that there is no resemblance to him what-
ever.
IV. I believe, with a perfect faith, that the
Creator, blessed be his name! is the first and
the last.
V. I believe, with a perfect faith, that the
Creator, blessed be his name! is alone worthy
of adoration; and that none besides him is
worthy of adoration.
- VI. I believe, with a perfect faith, that all
the oracles of the prophets are true.
VII. I believe, with a perfect faith, that
the prophecies of Moses, our master, on whom
be peace, are true; and that he is the father
of all the wise men who were before him, and
who came after him.
VIII. I believe, with a perfect faith, that
the whole law of commandments which we
now have in our hands, was given to Moses,
our master, on whom be peace.
IX. I believe, with a perfect faith, that
this law will not be changed, and that there
will not be any other law from the Creator,
blessed be his name! .
X. I believe, with a perfect faith, that the
Creator, blessed be his name! knows all the
actions of the children of men, and all their
thoughts; as it is said—“ Who frameth all
their hearts ; who understandeth all their
actions.”
XI. I believe, with a perfect faith, that the
Creator, blessed be his name! will recompense

good to him who observeth his command-
ments, and that he will punish him that
transgresseth them.
XII. I believe, with a perfect faith, in the
advent of Messiah, and though he should tarry,
yet I will patiently wait for him every day
till he come.
XIII. I believe, with a perfect faith, that
there will be a revivification of the dead, at
the period when it shall please the Creator,
blessed be his name! and let his remembrance
be exalted for ever and ever! i
The modern Jews adhere still as closely to
the Mosaic dispensation as their dispersed and
despised condition will permit them. Their
service consists chiefly in reading the law in
their synagogues, together with a variety of
prayers. They use no sacrifices since the
destruction of the Temple. They repeat
blessings and particular praises to God, not
only in their prayers, but on all accidental
occasions, and in almost all their actions.
They go to prayers three times a day in their
synagogues. Their sermons are not made in
Hebrew, which few of them now perfectly
understand, but in the language of the country
where they reside. They are forbidden all
vain swearing, and pronouncing any of the
names of God without necessity. They ab-
stain from meats prohibited by the Levitical
law; for which reason, whatever they eat
must be dressed by Jews, and after a manner
peculiar to themselves. As soon as a child
can speak, they teach him to read the Bible
in the original Hebrew, but without under-
standing the meaning of the words. In general
they observe the same ceremonies which were
practised by their ancestors in the celebration
of the passover. They acknowledge a twofold
law of God, a written and an unwritten one,
the former‘is contained in the Pentateuch, or
five books of Moses; the latter, they pretend.
was delivered by God to Moses, and handed
down from him by oral tradition, and now to
be received as of equal authority with the
former. They assert the perpetuity of their
law, together with its perfection. They deny
the accomplishment of the prophecies in the
person of Christ; alleging that the Messiah
is not yet come, and that he will make his
appearance with the greatest worldly pomp
and grandeur, subduing all nations before him,
and subjecting them to the house of Judah.
Since the prophets have predicted his mean
‘condition and sufi'erings, they confidently talk
of two Messiahs ; one Ben-Ephraim, whom
they‘ grant to be a person of a mean and
afiiicted condition in this world; and the
other, Ben-David, who shall be a victorious
and powerful prince.
The Jews pray for the souls of the dead,
because they suppose there is a paradise for
the souls of good men, where they enjoy glory
in the presence of God. They believe that
the souls of the wicked are tormented in hell
JEW
JEW
404
with fire and other punishments; that some
are condemned to be punished in this manner
for ever, while others continue only for a
limited time; and this they call purgatory,
which is not different from hell in respect of
the place, but of the duration. They suppose
no Jew, unless guilty of heresy, or certain
crimes specified by the rabbins, shall continue
in purgatory above a twelvemonth; and that
there are but few who suffer eternal punish-
ment.
Almost all the modern Jews are Pharisees,
and are as much attached to tradition as their
ancestors were ; and assert, that whoever
rejects the oral law deserves death. Hence
they entertain an implacable hatred to the
Karaites, who adhere to the text of Moses,
rejecting the rabbinistical interpretation. See
KARAITES.
There are still some of the Sadducees in
Africa, and in several other places ; but they
are few in number—at least there are but
very few who declare openly for these
opinions.
There are to this day some remains of the
ancient sect of the Samaritans, who are zealous
for the law of Moses, but are despised by the
Jews, because they receive only the Penta-
teuch, and observe different ceremonies from
theirs. They declare they are no Sadducees,
but acknowledge the spirituality and immor-
tality of the soul. There are numbers of this
sect at Gaza, Damascus, Grand Cairo, and in
some other places of the East; but especially
at Sichem, now called Naplouse, which is
risen out of the ruins of the ancient Samaria,
where they sacrificed not many years ago,
having a place for this purpose on Mount
Gerizim.
David Levi, a learned Jew, who in 1796
published “ Dissertations on the Prophecies
of the Old Testament,” observes in that work,
that deism and infidelity have made such
large strides in the world, that they have at
length reached even to the Jewish nation;
many of whom are at this time so greatly in-
fected with scepticism by reading Bolingbroke,
Hume, Voltaire, &c., that they scarcely believe
in a revelation, much less have they any hope
in their future restoration. -
3. Jews, calamities ojI—All history cannot
furnish us with a parallel to the calamities
and miseries of the J ews—rapine and murder,
famine and pestilence, within; fire and sword,
and all the terrors of war, without. Our
Saviour wept at the foresight of these cala-
mities; and it is almost impossible for persons
of any humanity to read the account without
being affected. The predictions concerning
them were remarkable, and the calamities
that came upon them were the greatest the
world ever saw, Deut.. xxviii., xxix. Matt.
xxiv. Now, what heinous sin was it that
could be the cause of such heavy judgments?
Can any other be assigned than what the
Scripture assigns? l Thess. ii. 15,16. “They
both killed the Lord Jesus and their 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 suffer-
ings, and not conclude the Jews’ own impre-
cation to be singularly fulfilled upon them,
Matt. xxvii. 25, “ His blood be on us and our
children.” At Caesarea 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
neighbours to assist them against their bre-
thren, and then murdered thirteen thousand
of these inhabitants. At Alexandria the
Jews murdered multitudes of the heathens,
and were murdered in their turn to about
fifty thousand. The Romans under Vespa-
sian invaded the country, and took the cities
of Galilee, Chorazin, Bethsaida, 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 within 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 unburied carcases corrupted
the air, and produced a pestilence. The people
fed on one another; and even ladies, 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
J ews' 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, was razed to the ground, and the
foundations of the temple and other places
were ploughed up. Soon after the forts of
Herodian and Macheron were taken, the gar-
rison of Massada murdered themselves rather
than surrender. At Jerusalem alone, it is
Said one million one hundred thousand perish-
ed by sword, famine, and pestilence. In other
places we hear of two hundred and fifty thou-
sand that were cut off, besides vast numbers
sent into Egypt to labour as slaves. ‘About
fifty years after, the Jews murdered about five
hundred thousand of the Roman subjects, for
which they were severely punished by Trajan.
About 130, one Barchocab pretended that he
was the Messiah, 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.
JEW
JE W’
405
in this war, it is said, about sixty thousand
Jews were slain, and perished. Adrian built
a city on Mount Calvary, and erected amarble
statue of swine over the gate that led to Beth-
lehem. No Jew was allowed to enter the city,
or to look to it at a distance, under pain of
death. In 360 they began to rebuild their
city and temple; but a terrible earthquake
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 rubbish t0 bewail it,
without bribing the guards. In the third,
fourth, and fifth centuries, there were many
of them furiously harassed and murdered. In
the sixth century, twenty thousand of them
were slain, and as many taken and sold for
slaves. In 602 they were severely punished
for their horrible massacre of the Christians
at Antioch. In Spain, in 700, they were or-
dered 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 perse-
cuted in Egypt. Besides what they suffered
in the East by the Turkish and sacred war,
it is shocking to think what multitudes of
them the eight crusades murdered in Ger-
many, Hungary, Lesser Asia, and elsewhere.
In France multitudes were burnt. In Eng-
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 five hundred of
them were burnt in the palace in the city of
York, which they set fire to themselves, after
killing their wives and children. In‘the thir-
teenth and fourteenth centuries their condi-
tion was no better. In Egypt, Canaan, and
Syria, the crusaders still harassed them. Pro-
voked with their mad running after pretended
Messiahs, Khalif Nasser scarcely left any of
them alive in his dominions of Mesopotamia.
In Persia, the Tartars murdered them in mul-
titudes. In Spain, Ferdinand persecuted them
furiously. About 1249, the terrible massacre
of them at Toledo forced many to murder
themselves, or change their religion. 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 hundred that
were murdered on another occasion. In 1358
they were totally banished from France, since
which few of them have entered that country.
In 129 1 King Edward expelled them from Eng-
land, to the number of one hundred and sixty
thousand. In the fifteenth, sixteenth, and
seventeenth centuries, their misery continued.
In Persia they have been terribly used: from
1663 to 1666, the murder of them was so um-
versal, 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 pe-
rished by hard usage ; and many of their car-
casses lay in the fields till the wild beasts
devoured them. In Germany they have en-
dured many hardships. They have been
banished from Bohemia, Bavaria, Cologne,
Nuremberg, Augsburg, 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 Hamburgh, they have their
liberty. They have repeatedly, but in vain,
attempted to obtain a naturalization in Eng-
land, and other nations among whom they are
scattered.
4. Jews, preservation qf.-“ The preserva-
tion of the Jews,” says Basnage, “in the
midst of the miseries which they have under-
gone during seventeen hundred years, is the
greatest prodigy that can be imagined. e-
ligions depend on temporal prosperity; they
triumph under the protection of a conqueror:
they languish and sink with sinking mo-
narchies. Paganism, which once covered the
earth, is extinct. The Christian Church,
glorious in its martyrs, yet was considerably
diminished by the persecutions 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 hated and per-
secuted for seventeen hundred ages, 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 multitudes, by murders and massa-
cres, have committed outrages against it still
more violent and tragical. Princes and people,
Pagans, Mohammedans, Christians, disagree-
ing in so manythings, have united in the design
of exterminating it, and have not been able
to succeed. The bush of Moses, surrounded
with flames, ever burns, and is never con-
sumed. The Jews have been expelled, in
different times, from every part of the world,
which 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,
whilst 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 essential to their
religion can no more be observed: the ritual -
law, which cast a splendour on the national
worship, and struck the Pagans so much, that
‘ they sent their presents and their victims to
JEW
'JOA
406
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 aword,
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 in this mountain.
A Jewish writer hath affirmed, that it is long
since any Jew has been seen settled near J eru-
salem: scarcely can they purchase there six
feet of land for a burying-place.
“ In all this there is no exaggeration: I am
only pointing out known facts; and, far from
having the least design to raise an odium
against the nation from its miseries, I con-
clude that it ought to be looked upon as one
of those prodigies which we admire without
comprehending : since, in spite of evils so
durable, and a patience so long exercised,
it is preserved by 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. Jews, number and dispersion ojI—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 Constanti-
nople 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 in middle Asia, and
some discovered in the inner parts of America,
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 arace
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 providential rea-
sons 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 and every
nation with the strongest arguments for ‘the
Christian faith; not only as these very par-
ticulars are foretold of them, but as they them-
selves are the depositaries of these and all
other prophecies which tend to their own
confusion, and the establishment of Chris-
tianity. Their number furnishes us with a
sufiicient cloud of witnesses that attest the
truth of the Bible, and their dispersion
spreads these witnesses through all parts of
the world.
6. Jews, iestoration qfI—From the declara-
tions of Scripture we have reason to suppose
the Jews should be called to a participation of
the blessings of the gospel, Rom. xi.; 2 Cor.
iii. 16; Hos. i. 11 ; and some suppose shall re-
turn to their own land, Hos. iii. 5 ; Is. lxv. 17,
&c.; Ezek. xxxvi. As to the time, some think
about 1866 or 2016; but this, perhaps, is not
so easy to determine altogether, though it is
probable it will not be before the fall of Anti-
christ and the Ottoman empire. Let us, how-
ever, avoid putting stumbling-blocks in their
Way. If we attempt any thing for their con-
version, 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
accomplishment 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. Josephus’s
Hist. of the Jews; Spect. No. 495, vol. iv.;
Levi’s Ceremonies of the Jewish Religion; Burc-
torf dc Synagoga- Judaica; Spencer de Legibus,
Heb. Bit,- Newton on Proph; W'arburton’s
Address to the Jews, in the Dedication of the
second volume of his Legation; Sermons preach-
ed to the Jews at Berry Street, by Dr. Haweis
and others; Basnage’s and Ochley’s Hist. 0f
the Jews ; Shaw’s Philosophy of Judaism ,- Hart-
ley on Man, vol. ii. prop. 8; vol. iii. p. 455,
487 ; Bicheno’s Restoration of the Jews ,- Jor-
tin’s Rem. on E00. Hist. vol. iii. p. 427, 447 ;
Dr.HJachs0n’s IVorhs, vol. i. p. 153 ; Neale’s
Hist. of the Jews ; Pirie’s Posth. lVor/ts, vol. i. ;
F uller‘s Ser. on the Messiah.
JEZIRAH, a cabalistic term, denoting the
third world, or the world of thinking sub-
stances. It is also the name of a book on
cabalistic theology, containing six chapters,
and treating of the world, of motion, of time,
and of the soul. It is extremely obscure ;
every thing in it is expressed in numbers and
letters. It is mentioned in the Mishna, and
therefore must have existed before the Talmud.
J OACHIMITES, the disciples of Joachim, ab-
bot of Flora, in Calabria. Joachim was a
Cistercian monk, and a great pretender to in-
spiration. He relates of himself, that, being
very young, he went to Jerusalem in the dress
of a hermit to visit the holy places ; and that,
while he was in prayer to God in the church
of that ‘city, God communicated to him, by
infusion, the knowledge of divine mysteries,
and of the Holy Scriptures. He wrote against
Lombard, the master of the sentences, who
had maintained that there was but one essence
in God, though there were three persons; and
JOS
J O Y
40%
he pretended, that, since there were three per-
sons, there must be three essences. This dis-
pute was in the year 1195. J oachim’s writings
were condemned by the fourth Lateran council.
His followers, the J oachimites, were parti-
cularly fond of certain ternaries. The Father,
they said, operated from the beginning until
the coming of the Son ; the Son from that
time to theirs, viz., the year 1260; and the
Holy Spirit then took it up, and was to operate
in his turn. They likewise divided every
thing relating to men, doctrine, and manner
of living into three classes, according to the
three persons of the Trinity. The first ter-
nary was that of men ; of whom the first
class was that of married men, which had
lasted during the whole period of the Father;
the second was that of clerks, which lasted
during the time of the Son ; and the last was
that of monks, wherein was to be an uncom-
mon effusion of grace by the Holy Spirit.
The second ternary was that of doctrine, viz.,
the Old Testament, the New, and the ever-
lasting Gospel: the first they ascribed to the
Father, the second to the Son, and the third to
the Holy Spirit. A third ternary consisted in
the manner of living, viz., under the Father,
men lived according to the flesh; under the
Son, they lived according to the flesh and the
spirit; and under the Holy Ghost, they were
to live according to the spirit only.
J onn, S'r., Christians of. See Cnnrs'rmns.
JONES, JEREMIAH, a learned English dis-
senting minister, was born, as is supposed, of '
parents in opulent circumstances, in the north
of England, in 1693. He was educated by
the Rev. Samuel Jones, of Tewkesbury, who
was also the tutor of Chandler, Butler, Seeker,
and many other distinguished divines. After
finishing his education, he became minister of
a congregation of Protestant dissenters, near
Nailsworth, in Gloucestershire, where he also
kept an academy. He died in 1724, at the
early age of thirty-one. His works are, a
“ Vindication of the former Part of the Gos-
pel by Matthew, from Mr. Whiston’s charge
of Dislocation,” 800. Also, a “ New and full
Method of settling the Canonical Authority
of the New Testament,” in three volumes oc-
tavo.
servedly esteemed by the learned, has been
lately republished by the conductors of the
Clarendon Press, of Oxford.
J OSEPHUS, FLAVIUS, born thirty-seven years
after Christ, at Jerusalem, of the sect of the
Pharisees, and, for a long time, the governor
of Galilee. He afterwards obtained the com-
mand of the Jewish army, and supported with
skill, courage, and resolution. a siege of seven
weeks, the fortified town of J otapha, where he
was attacked by Vespasian and Titus. The
town was betrayed to the enemy; 40,000 of
the inhabitants were cut to pieces, and 1200
made prisoners. Josephus was discovered in
a cave 1n which he had concealed himself, and
l
; joy rise high, it may be called glory.
This work, which is highly and de- '

was given up to the Roman general, who was
about to send him to Nero, when, as it is 're-
lated, he predicted that Vespasian would one
day enjoy the imperial dignity, and thereupon
obtained both freedom and favour. This in-
duced him, when he went with Titus to J eru-
salem, to advise his countrymen to submission.
After the conquest of Jerusalem he went with
Titus to Rome, and wrote his “ History of the
Jewish War,” of which he had been an eye-
witness, in seven books, both in the Hebrew
and Greek languages—a work which resem-
bles the writings of Livy more than any other -
history. His “ Jewish Antiquities,” in twenty
books, is likewise an excellent work. It con-
tains the history of the Jews from the earliest
times till near the end of the reign of Nero.
His two books on the “Antiquity of the J ew-
ish People” contain valuable extracts from old
historians, and are written against Apion, an
Alexandrian grammarian, and adeclared ene-
my of the Jews. The best edition of his
works is that of Havercamp, Amst. 1729, in
two vols. folio, Gr. and Lat. The last edition
by Oberthur, Leipsic, 1781-85, is in octavo.
JoY, a delight of the mind arising from the
consideration of a present or assured approach-
ing possession of a future good. en it is
moderate, it is called gladness; when raised
on a sudden to the highest degree, it is then
exultation, or transport; when we limit our
desires by our possessions, it is contentment;
I when our desires are raised high, and yet ac-
complished, this is called satisfaction; when
our joy is derived from some comical occasion
or amusement, it is mirth: if it arise from
considerable opposition that is vanquished in
the pursuit of the good we desire, it is then
called triumph; when joy has so long possessed
the mind that it is settled into a temper, we
call it cheerfulness; when we rejoice upon the
account of any good which others obtain, it
may be called sympathy, or congratulation.
This is natural joy ; but there is—2. A moral
. jo , which is a self-approbation, or that which
arises from the performance of any good ac-
tions ; this is called peace, or serenity of con-
science: if the action be honourable, and the
3. There
is also a spiritual joy, which the Scripture calls
a “fruit of the Spirit,” Gal. v. 22, “the joy
of faith,” Phil. i. 25, and “the rejoicing of
hope,” Heb. iii. 6. The objects of it are-—
1. God himself, Ps. xliii. 4; Is. lxi. 10.—2.
Christ, Phil. iii. 3; 1 Pet. i. 8.——-3. T be pro-
mises, Ps. cxix. 162.—-4. The administration
of the Gospel, and Gospel ordinances, Ps.
lxxxix. 15.—5. The prosperity of the interest
of Christ, Acts xv. 3; Rev. xi. 15, 17---
6. The happiness of a future state, Rom. v. 2;
Matt. xxv. The nature and properties of this
joy : 1. It is, or should be, constant, Phil. iv.
4.—2. It is unknown to the men of the world,
1 Cor. ii. 14.—3. It is unspeakable, 1 Pet. i.
8.-—-4. It is permanent, John xvi. 22. Watts
JUB
JUD
408
on Pass, sect. 11. ; Gill’s Body of Div. vol. iii.
p. 111, 8vo edit. ; Grove’s .Mor. Phil. vol. i.
p. 356.
JoY or Gon relates, 1. To the delight and
complacency he has in himself, his own nature,
and perfections—2. He rejoices in his own
works, Ps. civ. 31.—3. In his Son Christ Je-
sus, Matt. iii. 17.—4. In the work of redemp-
tion, John iii. 15.—5. In the subjects of his
grace, Ps.cxlvii.11 ; Zeph. iii. 17 ; Ps. cxlix. 4.
J UBILEE, a public festivity.—Among the
Jews it was held every 49th or 50th year. It
- was proclaimed with the sound of rams’ horns ;
no servile work was done on it; the land lay
untilled; what grew of itself belonged to the
poor and needy ; whatever debts the Hebrews
owed to one another were wholly remitted;
hired as well as bond servants of the Hebrew
race obtained their liberty; inheritances re-
verted to their original proprietors. See 25th
chap. Leviticus. Jubilee, in a more modern
sense, denotes a grand church solemnity or
ceremony celebrated at Rome, wherein the
pope grants a plenary indulgence to all sinners ;
at least to as many as visit the churches of St.
Peter and St. Paul at Rome. The jubilee was
first established by Boniface VIII. in 1300,
which was only to return every hundred years;
but the first celebration brought in such store
of wealth, that Clement VI., in 1343, reduced
it to the period of fifty years. Urban VI., in
1389, appointed it to be held every thirty-five
years, that being the age of our Saviour; and
Paul II. and Sixtus IV., in 147 5, brought it down
to every twenty-five, that every person might
have the benefit of it once in his life. Boniface
IX. granted the privilege of holding jubilees to
several princes and monasteries; for instance,
to monks of Canterbury, who had a jubilee
every fifty years, when people flocked from all
parts to visit the tomb of Thomas-a-Becket.
Afterwards jubilees became more frequent:
there is generally one at the inauguration of
a new pope ; and the pope grants them as often
as the church or himself have occasion for
them. To be entitled to the privileges of the
jubilee, the bull enjoins fasting, alms, and
prayers. It gives the priests a full power to
absolve in all cases, even those otherwise re-
served to the pope: to make commutations of
vows, &c., in which it difiers from a plenary
indulgence. During the time of jubilee, all
other indulgences are suspended. One of our
kings, viz. Edward 111., caused his birth-day
to be observed in the manner of a jubilee,
when he became fifty years of age, in 1362,
but never before nor after. This he did by re-
leasing prisoners, pardoning all offences except
treason, making good laws, and granting many
privileges to the people. In 1640, the Jesuits
celebrated a solemn jubilee at Rome, that be-
ing the centenary, or hundredth year from
their institution; and the same ceremony was
observed in all their houses throughout the
world.
J UDAISING CHRISTIANS. The first rise of
this denomination is placed under the reign
of Adrian: for when this emperor had at
length razed Jerusalem, entirely destroyed
its very foundations, and enacted laws of the
severest kind against the whole body of the
Jewish people, the greatest part of the Chris-
tians who lived in Palestine, to prevent their
being confounded with the Jews, abandoned
entirely the Mosaic rites, and chose a bishop,
namely, Mark, a foreigner by nation, and an
alien from the commonwealth of Israel. _Those
who were strongly attached to the Mosaic rites
separated from their brethren, and founded at
Pera, a country of Palestine, and in the neigh-
bouring parts, particular assemblies, 111. which
the law of Moses maintained its primitive
dignity, authority, and lustre. The body of
J udaising Christians, which set Moses and
Christ upon an equal footing in point of
authority, were afterwards divided into two
sects, extremely different both in their rites
and opinions, and distinguished by the names
of Nazarenes and Ebionites; which see.
J UDAISM, the religious doctrines and rites
of the Jews, the descendants of Abraham.
Judaism was but a temporary dispensation,
and was to give way, at least the ceremonial
part of it, at the coming of the Messiah. The
principal sects among the Jews were the
Pharisees, who placed religion in external
ceremony ; the Sadducees who were remark-
able for their incredulity; and the Essenes,
who were distinguished for their austere sanc-
tity. At present the Jews have two sects;
the Karaites, who admit no rule of religion
but the law of Moses; and the Rabbinists, who
add to the law the traditions of the Talmud.
See those articles, and books recommended
under article J EWS, in this work.
J UDGING, RASH, the act of carelessly, pre-
cipitately, wantonly, or maliciously censuring
others. This is an evil which abounds too
much among almost all classes of men. “ Not
contented with being in the right ourselves,
we must find all others in the wrong. We
claim an exclusive possession of goodness and
wisdom; and from approving warmly of those who join us, we proceed to condemn, with "
much acrimony, not only the principles, but
the characters of those from whom we differ.
We raslily extend to every individual the
severe opinion which we have unwarrantably
conceived of a whole body. This man is of
a party whose principles we reckon slavish;
and therefore his whole sentiments are cor-
rupted. That man belongs _to a religious sect,
which we are accustomed 'to deem bigoted,
and therefore he is incapable of any generous
and liberal thought. Another is connected
with a sect, which we have been taught to-
account relaxed, and therefore he can have
no sanctity. We should do well to consider,
1. That this practice of rash judging is ab-
solutely forbidden in the sacred Scriptures.
JUD
JUD
409
evidences our pride, envy, and bigotry.——4. It
argues a want of charity, the distinguishing
feature of the Christian religion—5. They
who are most forward in censuring others
are often most defective themselves. Barrow’s
Works, vol. i. ser. 20 ; Blair’s Sen, vol. ii. ser.
10; Saurin’s Sen, vol. v. ser. 4.
JUDGMENT is that act of the mind whereby
one thing is affirmed or denied of another; or
that power of the soul which passes sentence
on things proposed to its examination, and
determines what is right or wrong; and
thus it approves or disapproves of an action,
or an object considered as true or false, fit or
unfit, good or evil. Dr. Watts gives us the
following directions to assist us in judging
right. 1. We should examine all our old
opinions afresh, and inquire what was the
ground of them, and whether our assent were
built on just- evidence; and then we should
cast ofl’ all those judgments which were formed
heretofore without due examination. 2. All
our ideas of objects concerning which we pass
judgment, should be clear, distinct, complete,
~comprehensive, extensive, and orderly. 3.
When we have obtained as clear ideas as we
can, both of the subject and predicate of a
proposition, then we must compare those ideas
of the subject and predicate together with the
utmost attention, and observe how far they
agree, and wherein they differ. 4. We must
search for evidence of truth with diligence
and honesty, and be heartily ready to receive
evidence, whether for the agreement or dis~
agreement of ideas. 5. We must suspend our
judgment, and neither afiirm nor deny until
this evidence appear. 6. We must judge of
every proposition by those proper and peculiar
means or mediums whereby the evidence of
it is to be obtained, whether it be sense, con-
sciousness, intelligence, reason, or testimony.
7. It is very useful to have some general
principles of truth settled in the mind, whose
evidence is great and obvious, that they may
be always ready at hand to assist us in judg-
ing of the great variety of things which occur.
8. Let the degrees of our assent to every pro-
position bear an exact proportion to the dif-
ferent degrees of evidence. 9. We should
keep our minds always open to receive truth,
and never set limits to our own improvements.
Watts’s Logic, ch. iv. p. 231: Locke on the
Understanding, vol. i. pp. 222, 256; vol. ii.
pp. 271, 278; Duncan’s Logic, p. 145; Reid
on the Intellectual Powers, p. 497, 8:0.
JUDGMENT, Las'r, the sentence that will be
passed on our actions at the last day.
I. The proofs of a general judgment are
these :——1. The justice of God requires it; for
it is evident that this attribute is not clearly
displayed in the dispensation of things in the
present state, 2 Thess. i. 6, 7; Luke xiv. 26.
2. The accusations of natural conscience are I
Matt. vii. l.-—2. We thereby authorise others i
to requite us in the same kind—3. It often 1
be concluded, from the relation men stand in

testimonies in favour of this belief, Rom. ii.
15 ; Dan. v. 5, 6; Acts xxiv. 25. 3. It may
to God, as creatures to a Creator. He has
a right to give them a law, and to make them
accountable for the breach of it, Rom. xiv. 12.
4. The resurrection of Christ is a certain
proof of it. See Acts xvii. 31 ; Rom. xiv. 9.
5. The Scripture, in a variety of places, sets
it beyond all doubt, Jude 14, 15; 2 Cor. v.
10; Matt. xxv.; Rom. xiv. 10, 11; 2 Thess.
i. 7, 10; l Thess. iv. 16, 17.
II. As to the Judge :—--The Bible declares
that God will judge the world by Jesus Christ,
Acts xvii. 31. The triune God will be the
Judge, as to original authority, power, and
right of judgment ; but according to the
economy settled between the three divine
persons, the work is assigned to the Son, Rom.
xiv. 9, 10, who will appear in his human
nature, John v. 27 ; Acts xvii. 31, with great
power and glory, 1 Thess. iv. 16, 17 ; visible
to every eye, Rev. i. 7; penetrating every
heart, 1 Cor. iv. 5; Rom. 16 ; with full
authority over all, Matt. xxviii. 18 ; and act-
ing with strict justice, 2 Tim. iv. 8. As for
the concern of others in the judgment, angels
will be no otherwise concerned than as attend-
ants, gathering the elect, raising the dead, &c.,
but not as advising or judging. Saints are
said to judge the world, not as co-judges with
Christ, but as approvers of his sentence, and
as their holy lives and conversations will rise
up in judgment against their wicked neigh-
bours.
III. As to the persons that will be judged ;
these will be men and devils. The righteous
probably will be tried first, as represented
in Matt. xxv. They will be raised first,
though perhaps not a thousand years before
the rest,‘ as Dr. Gill supposes ; since the resur-
rection of allthe bodies of the saints is spoken
of as in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye,
at the last trump, in order to their meeting
the Lord in the air, and being with him, not
on earth, but for ever in heaven, 1 Cor. xv.
52; 1 Thess. iv. 16, 17.
Here we may take notice of a difficult ques-
tion which is proposed by some, viz. : Whe—
ther the sins of God’s people shall be published
in the great day, though it is certain they
shall not be alleged against them to" their
condemnation? “ This,” says Dr. Ridgley,
“is one of the secret things which belong to
God, which he has not so fully or clearly
revealed to us in his word ; and therefore we
can say little more than what is matter of con~
jecture about it. Some have thought that the
sins of the godly, though forgiven, shall be
made manifest, that so the glory of that grace
which has pardoned them may appear more
illustrious, and their obligation to God for
this farther enhanced. They also think, that
the justice of the proceedings of that day re-
quires it, since it is presumed and known by
JUD
JUD
410
the whole world that they were prone to sin,
as well as others; and before conversion, as
great sinners as any, and after it their sins
had a peculiar aggravation.
should not they be made public, as a glory
due to the justice and holiness of God, whose
nature is opposite to all sin? And this they
further suppose to be necessary, that so the
impartiality» of divine justice may appear.
Moreover, since God, by recording the sins of
his saints in Scripture, has perpetuated the
knowledge thereof; and if it is to their honour
that the sins there mentioned were repented
of, as well as forgiven, why may it not be
supposed that the sins of believers shall be
made known in the great day? And, besides,
this seems agreeable to those expressions of
every word, and every action, as being to be
brought into judgment, whether it be good or
whether it be bad.
“ But it is supposed by others, that though
the making known of sin that is subdued and
forgiven, tends to the advancement of divine
grace, yet it is sufficient to answer this end,
as far as God designs it shall be answered,
that the sins which have been subdued and
forgiven, should be known to themselves, and
thus forgiveness afford matter of praise to
God. Again,—-the expressions of Scripture,
whereby forgiveness of sin is set forth, are
such as seem to argue that those sins which
were forgiven shall not be made manifest:
thus they are said to be blotted out, Isa. xliii.
25 ; covered, Psal. xxxii. 1 ; subdued and cast
into the depths of the sea, Micah vii. 19 ; and
remembered no more, &c., Jer. xxxi. 34.
Besides Christ being a judge doth not divest
him of the character of an advocate, whose
part is rather to conceal the crimes of those
whose cause he pleads, than to divulge them ;
and to this we may add, that the law which
requires duty, and forbids the contrary sins,
is not the rule by which they who are in
Christ are to be proceeded against, for then
they could not stand in judgment; but they
are dealt with according to the tenor of the
gospel, which forgives and covers all sin.
And, further, it is argued that the public de-
- claring of all their sins before the whole world,
notwithstanding their interest in forgiving
grace, would fill them with such shame as is
hardly consistent with a state of perfect bless-
edness. And, lastly, the principal argument
insisted on is, that our Saviour, in Matt. xxv.,
in which he gives a particular account of the
proceedings of that day, makes no mention of
the sins, but only commends the graces of his
saints.”
As to the wicked, they shall be judged, and
all their thoughts, words, and deeds be brought
into judgment, Eccl. xii. 14. The fallen
angels also are said to be reserved unto the
judgment of the great day, Jude 6. They shall
receive their final sentence, and be shut up in
the prison of hell, Rev. xx. 10; Matt. viii. 29.
Therefore, why ,

IV. As to the rule of judgnientr-we are
informed the books will be opened. Rev. xx.
12. l. The book of divine omniscience, Mal.
iii. 5; or remembrance, Mal. iii. 15. 2. The
book of conscience, Rom. i. 16. 3. The book
of Providence, Rom. ii. 4, 5. 4. ‘The book
of the Scriptures, law, and gospel, John xii.
48; Rom. ii. 16; ii. 12. 5. The book. of life,
Luke x. 20 ; Rev. iii. 5 ; xx. l2, 15.
V. As to the time of judgment,——the soul
will be either happy or miserable immediately
after death, but the general judgment will not
be till after the resurrection, Heb. ix. 27.
There is a day appointed, Acts xvii. 31, but
it is unknown to men. ‘
VI. As to the place :-—this also is uncertain.
Some suppose it will be in the air, because
the judge will come in the clouds of heaven,
and the living saints will then be changed,
and the dead saints raised, and both be caught
up to meet the Lord in the air, 1 Thess. iv.
16, 17. Others think it will be on the earth,
on the new earth, on which they will descend
from the air with Christ. The place where,
however, is of no consequence, when com-
pared with the state in which we shall appear.
And as the Scriptures represent it as certain,
Eccl. xi. 9; universal, 2 Cor. v. 11; right-
eous, Rom. ii. 5; decisive, 1 Cor. xv. 52; and
eternal as to its consequences, Heb. vi. 2 ; let
us be concerned for the welfare of our immor~
tal interests, flee to the refuge set before us,
improve our precious time, depend on the
merits of the Redeemer, and adhere to the
dictates of the vdivine word, that we may be
found of him in peace. Bates’s IVorhs, p. 449 ;
Bishop Hopkins and Stoddard on the Last
Judgment; Gill’s Body of Divinity, vol. ii. p.
467, 8vo.; Boston’s Fourfold State; Hervey’s
l/Vorhs, new edition, vol. i. pp. 72, 75; vol.
iii. pp. 28, 223 ; vol. iv. p. 155. '
JUDGMEN'rs or Goi), are the punishments
inflicted by him for particular crimes‘. The
Scriptures give us many awful instances of
the display of divine justice in the punishment
of nations, families, and individuals, for their
iniquities. See Gen. vii.; xix. 25 ; Exod.
xv.; Judges i. 6, 7; Acts xii. 23; Esther v.
14, with chap. vii. 10; 2 Kings xi.; Lev. x.
l, 2; Acts v. 1—10; Isa. xxx. 1—-5 ; 1 Sam.
x-v. 9; 1 Kings xii. 25, 33. It becomes us,
however, to be exceedingly cautious how we
interpret the severe and aiilictive dispensations
of Providence. Dr. J ortin justly observes,
that there is usually much rashncss and pre-
sumption in pronouncing that the calamities
of sinners are particular judgments of God:
yet, saith he, if from sacred and profane, from
ancient and modern historians, a collection
were made of all the cruel, persecuting tyrants,
who delighted in tormenting their fellow crea~
tures, and who died not the common death of
all men, nor were visited after the visitation
of all men, but whose plagues were horrible
and strange, even a sceptic would be moved
JUD
JUD
411
at the evidence, and would be apt to suspect
that it was 96662» n, that the hand of God was
in it. As Dr. Jortin was no enthusiast, and
one who would not overstrain the point, we
shall here principally follow him in his enu-
meration of some of the most remarkable
instances. _
Herod the Great was the first persecutor of
Christianity. He attempted to destroy Jesus
Christ himself, while he was yet but a child,
and for that wicked purpose slew all the male
children that were in and about Bethlehem.
What was the consequence? Josephus hath
told us : he had long and grievous sufferings,
a burning fever, a voracious appetite, a dilfi-
culty of breathing, swellings of his limbs,
loathsome ulcers within and without, breed-
ing vermin, violent torments and convulsions,
so that he endeavoured to kill himself, but
was restrained by his friends. The Jews
thought these evils to be divine judgments
upon him for his wickedness. And what is
still more remarkable in his case, is, he left a
numerous family of children and grandchil-
dren, though he had put some to death ; and
yet, in about the space of one hundred years,
the whole family was extinct.
Herod Antipas, who beheaded John the
Baptist, and treated Christ contemptuously
when he was brought before him, was defeated
by Aretas, an Arabian king, and afterwards
had his dominions taken from him, and was
sent into banishment along with his infamous
wife, Herodias, by the Emperor Cains.
Herod Agrippa killed James the brother of
John, and put Peter in prison. ~The angel of
the Lord soon after smote him, and he was
eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost.
Judas that betrayed our Lord died, by his
own hands, the most ignominious of all deaths.
Pontius Pilate, who condemned our blessed
Saviour to death, was not long afterwards
deposed from his ofiice, banished from his coun-
try, and died by his own hands; the divine
vengeance overtaking him soon after his crime.
The high priest Caiaphas was deposed by
Vitellius, three years after the death of Christ.
Thus this wicked man, who condemned
‘Christ for fear of disobliging the Romans,
was ignominiously turned out of his office by
the Roman governor, whom he had sought to
oblige.
Abnanias, the high priest, persecuted Paul,
and insolently ordered the bystanders to
smite him on the mouth. Upon which the
apostle said, “ God shall smite thee, thou
whited wall.” Whether he spake this pro-
phetically or not, may be difiicult to say;
but certain it is, that some time after he was
slain, together with his brother, by his own son.
Ananus, the high priest, slew James the
Less; for which and other outrages he was
deposed by King Agrippa the younger, and
probably perished in the last destruction of
Jerusalem. ‘
Nero, in the year 64, turned his rage upon
the Christians, and put to death Peter and
Paul, with many others. Four years after,
in his great distress, he attempted to kill
himself; but being as mean-spirited and
dastardly as he was wicked and cruel, he
had not the resolution to do that piece of
justice to the world, and was forced to beg
assistance.
Domitian persecuted the Christians also.
It is said he threw John into a caldron of
boiling oil, and afterwards banished him into
the isle of Patmos. In the following year
this monster of wickedness was murdered by
~his own people.
The Jewish nation persecuted, rejected,
and crucified the Lord of Glory. Within a
few years after, their nation was destroyed,
and the Lord made their plagues wonderful.
Flaccus was governor of Egypt near the
time of our Saviour’s death, and a violent per-
secutor of the Jews. The wrath of God, how-
ever, ere long overtook him, and he died by
the hands of violence.
Catullus was governor of Libya, about the
year 73. He was also a cruel persecutor of
the Jews, and he died miserably. For though
he was only turned out of his ofiice by the
Romans, yet he fell into a complicated and
incurable disease, being sorely tormented both
in body and mind. He was dreadfully terrified,
and continually crying out that he was haunted
by the ghosts of those whom he had murdered;
and, not being able to contain himself, he leaped
out of his bed, as if he were tortured with fire
and put to the rack. His distemper increased
till his entrails were all corrupted, and came
out of his body; and thus he perished, as
signal an example as ever was known of the
divine justice rendering to the wicked ac-
cording to their deeds.
Caius, the Roman Emperor, was a great
persecutor of the Jews and Christians, and a
blasphemer of the God of heaven. Soon after
his atrocities, however, he was murdered by
one of his own people.
Severus, Emperor of Rome, was a violent
and cruel persecutor of the followers of
Christ. He also, and all his family, perished
miserably, about the year 200 after our
Saviour. _
About the same time, Saturninus, governor
of Africa, persecuted the Christians, and‘ put
several of them to death. Soon after, he
went blind.
Heliogabalus, the Emperor, brought a new
.god to Rome, and would needs compel all his
Subjects to worship him. This was sure _to
have ended in a persecution of the ChI‘IS?
tians. But, soon after, this vile monster
was slain by his own soldiers, about the
year 222. I
Claudius Herminianus was a cruel perse-
cutor of the Christians in the second century,
and he was eaten of worms while he lived-
JUD
JUD
412
Decius persecuted the church about the
year-‘250: he was soon after killed in battle.
Gallus succeeded, and continued the per-
secution. He, too, was killed the year fol-
lowing.
Valerian, the Emperor, had many good
qualities; but yet he was an implacable
enemy to the Lord Jesus Christ and his Gos-
pel. Some time after he came to the throne,
he was taken prisoner by Sapor, King of
Persia, and used like a slave and a dog; for
the Persian monarch, from time to time,
obliged this unhappy emperor to bow himself
down, and offer him his back, on which to
set his foot, in order to mount his chariot or
his horse. He died in this miserable state of
captivity.
.lEmilian, governor of Egypt, about 263,
was a virulent persecutor of the church of
Christ. He was soon after strangled by order
of the emperor.
Aurelian, the Emperor, just intending to
begin a persecution against the followers of
Christ, was killed in the year 274.
Maximinus was a persecutor of the church.
He reigned only three years, and then fell
under the hands of violence.
About the year 300 was the greatest possi-
ble contest between Christ and the Roman
emperors, which should have the dominion.
These illustrious wretches seemed determined
to blot out the Christian race and name from
under heaven. The persecution was far more
fierce and brutal than it had ever been. It
was time, therefore, for the Lord Jesus
Christ, the great head of the church, to arise
and plead his own cause; and so, indeed, he
did. The examples we have mentioned are
dreadful: those that follow are not less as-
tonishing, and they are all delivered upon the
best authorities.
Dioclesian persecuted the church in 303.
After this nothing ever prospered with him.
He underwent many troubles’: his senses be-
came impaired; and he quitted the empire.
Severus, another persecuting emperor, was
overthrown and put to death inthe year 307.
About the same time Urbanus, governor
of Palestine, who had signalized himself by
tormenting and destroying the disciples of
Jesus, met with his due reward; for almost
immediately after the cruelties committed.
the divine vengeance overtook him. He was
unexpectedly degraded and deprived of all
his honours; and, dejected, dispirited, and
meanly begging for mercy, was put to death
by the same hand that raised him.
Firmilianus, another persecuting governor,
met with the same fate.
Maximianus Herculius, another of, the
wretched persecuting emperors, was compelled
to hang himself, in the year 310.
‘ Maximianus Galerius, of all the tyrants of
his time the most cruel, was seized with a
grievous and horrible disease, and tormented
with worms and ulcers to such a degree, that
they who were ordered to attend him could
not bear the stench. Worms proceeded from
his body in a most fearful manner; and
several of his physicians were put to death
because they could not endure the smell,
and others because they could not cure him.
This happened in the year of our Lord 31 1.
Maxentiu‘s, another of the inhuman mon-
sters, was overthrown in battle by Constan-
tine; and in his flight he fell into the Tiber,
and was drowned in the year 312.
Maximinus put out the eyes of many thou-
sands of Christians. Soon after the commis-
sion of his cruelties, a disease arose among
his own people, which greatly affected their
eyes, and took away their sight. He himself
died miserably, and upon the rack, his eyes
starting out of his head through the violence
of his distemper, in the year 313. All his
family likewise were destroyed, his wife and
children put to death, together with most of
his friends and dependents, who had been the
instruments of his cruelty. .
A Roman ofiicer, to oblige this Maximinus,
greatly oppressed the church at Damascus:
not long after, he destroyed himself.
Licinius, the last of these persecuting em~
perors before Constantine, was conquered
and put to death in the year 323. He was
equally an enemy to religion, liberty, and
learning.
Cyril the deacon, was murdered by some
pagans, at Heliopolis, for his opposition to
their images. They ripped open his belly,
and ate his liver: the divine vengeance, how-
ever, pursued all those who had been guilty
of this crime; their teeth came out, their
tongues rotted, and they lost their sight.
Valens was made emperor in 364; and
though a Christian himself, he is said to have
caused fourscore presbyters, who differed
from him in opinion, to be put to sea, and
burnt alive in a ship. Afterwards, in a
battle with the Goths, he was defeated and
wounded, and fled to a cottage, where he was
burnt alive, as most historians relate: all
agree that he perished.
The last Pagan prince who was a formid-
able enemy to Christianity, was Radagaisus,
a king of the Goths. He invaded the Roman
empire with an army of 400,000 men, about
the year 405, and vowed to sacrifice all the
Romans to his gods. The Romans, however,
fought him, and obtained a complete victory,
taking him and his sons prisoners, whom they
put to death. 5
Hunneric, the Vandal, though a Christian,
was a most cruel persecutor of those who
differed from him in opinion, about the year
of our Lord 484. He spared not even those
of his own persuasion, neither his friends nor
his kindred. He reigned, however, not quite
eight years, and died with all the marks of
divine indignation upon him.
JUD
JUG
413
Julian the apostate greatly oppressed the
Christians ; and he perished soon after, in his
rash expedition against the Persians.
Several of those who were employed or per-
mitted by Julian to persecute the Christians,
are said to have perished miserably and re-
markably. I will here relate the fate of a few
of those unhappy wretches in the words of
Tillemont, who faithfully collected the account
from the ancients. We have observed, says
that learned man, that Count Julian, with
Felix, superintendent of the finances, and
Elpidius, treasurer to the emperor, apostates
all three, had received orders to go and seize
the effects of the church at Antioch, and
carry them to the treasury. They did it on
the day of the martyrdom of St. Theodoret,
and drew up an account of what they had
seized. But Count Julian was not content
with taking away the sacred vessels of the
church, and profaning them by his impure
hands; carrying to greater lengths the out-
rage he was doing to Jesus Christ, he over-
turned and flung them down on the ground,
and sat upon them in a most criminal manner;
adding to this all the banters and blasphemies
that he could devise against Christ, and against
the Christians, who, he said, were abandoned
of God.
Felix, the superintendent, signalized him-
self also by another impiety; for as he was
viewing the rich and magnificent vessels‘
which the emperors Constantine and Con-
stantius had given to the church, “ Behold,"
said he “ with what plate the son of Mary is 1
served!” It is said, too, that Count Julian
and he made it the subject of banter, that
God should let them thus profane his temple,
without interposin g by visible miracles.
But these impieties remained not long un-
punished, and Julian had no sooner profaned
the sacred utensils than he felt the efiects of
divine vengeance. He fell into a grievous
and unknown disease; and his inward parts
being corrupted, he cast out his liver and his
excrements, not from the ordinary passages,
but from his miserable mouth which had
uttered so many blasphemies. His secret
parts, and all the flesh round about them, cor-
rupted also, and bredworms; and to show
that it was a divine punishment, all the art of
physicians could give him no relief. In this
condition he continued forty days, without
speech or sense, preyed on by worms. At
length he came to himself again. The
imposthumes, however, all over his body, and
the worms which gnawed him continually, re-
duced him to the utmost extremity. He threw
‘them up, without ceasing, the last three days
of his life, with a stench which he himself
' could not hear.
The disease with which God visited Felix
was not so long. He burst suddenly in the
middle of his body, and died of an efl'usion of
blood in the course of one day.

Elpidius was stripped of his effects in 366,
and shut up in prison, where after having
continued for some time, he died without
reputation and honour, cursed of all the
world, and surnamed the Apostate.
To these instances many more might be
added nearer our own times, did our room
permit. These, however, are sufiicient to
show us what a fearful thing it is to fall into
the hands of the living God, and how fruitless
and awful it is to oppose his designs, and to
attempt to stop the progress of his Gospel.
“ Why do the heathen rage, and the people
imagine a vain thing? He that sitteth in the
heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall have
them in derision. Thou shalt break them
with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them to
pieces as a potter’s vessel. Be wise, now,
therefore, 0 ye kings; be instructed, ye judges
of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and
rejoice with trembling.” Psa. Jortz'n’s Re-
marks on Ecclesiastical History, vol. iii. p. 246,
860.; Simpson’s Key to the Prophecies, 29;
Newton on the Prophecies, diss. 24; Bryant’s
Observations on the Plagues of Egypt,- Tille-
mont, H istoire des Emp.
J UDICIUM DEI, or Judgment of God, was a
term anciently applied to all extraordinary
trials of secret crimes ; as those by arms and
single combat; and the ordeals, or those by
fire, or red hot ploughshares, by plunging the
arm in boiling water, or the whole body in‘
cold water, in hopes that God would work a
miracle, rather than sufi'er truth and innocence
to perish. These customs were a long time
kept up even among Christians, and they
are still in use in some nations. Trials of
this sort were usually held in churches, in the
presence of the bishop, priest, and secular
1 judges, after three days’ fasting, confession,
communion, and many adjurations and cere-
monies, described at large by Du Cange.
J UGGERNAUT, or J AGANATH (2'. e. the Lord
of the Woe-1d,) the most celebrated and sacred
temple in Hindostan, in the district of Cut-
tack, on the coast of Orissa. It stands near
the shore, not far from the Chilka lake, in a
waste, sandy tract, and appears like a huge
shapeless mass of stone. The idol is a carved
block of wood, with a hideous face, painted
black, and a distended, blood-red mouth. On
festival days the throne of the idol is placed
on a tower sixty feet high, moving on wheels,
accompanied by two other idols, that likewise
sit on their separate thrones. Six long ropes
are attached to the tower, by which the people
draw it along. The priests and their attend-
ants stand round the throne on the tower, and
occasionally turn to the worshippers with in-
. decent and disgusting songs and gestures.

car are also covered with obscene images in
large durable sculpture.
moves along, numbers of devout. worshippers
' throw themselves on the ground 111 order to be
The walls of the temple and the sides of the '
While the tower
JUL
JUS
414
crushed by the wheels; and the multitude
shout in approbation of the act, as a pleasing
sacrifice to the idol. In the temple itself, a
‘number of prostitutes are kept for the pilgrims
who frequent it, the number of which latter,
it is calculated, amounts to at least 1,200,000
annually, of whom it is said, nine out of ten
die on the road of famine and sickness; at
any rate, it is a well known fact, that the
country for miles round the sacred place is
covered with human bones. Not far from the
temple is a place called by Europeans Golgotha,
where the corpses are thrown, and dogs and
vultures are always feeding on the carrion.
The whole scene presents one of the most re-
volting and harrowing spectacles of the cruel-
ties and abominations of idolatry to be met
with on the face of the globe: yet, from the
contributions of the poor deluded pilgrims,
the East India Company receive an annual
revenue of 12,000l., deducting the expenses of
the temple, repairs of roads, &c. Since 1810,
a road has been made to the place from Cal-
outta, to which a wealthy Hindoo, Rajah Suk-
moy Roy, contributed 16,000l., on condition
of its being called by his name.
JULIAN THE APOSTATE, a Roman empe-
ror, son of Julius Constans, (brother of Con-
stantine the Great,) born at Constantinople in
the year 331. \Vith his younger brother
Gallus he was intrusted for his education to
Eusebius of Nicomedia, who gave them Mar~
donius for their tutor. They were brought
up in the Christian religion, and compelled
“to enter the order of priests, which appears
to have disgusted Julian, who at the age of
twenty-four repaired to Athens, where he
enjoyed the instruction of some renowned,
heathen philosophers, and. embraced their
religion. On his coming to the throne, he
sought to restore the pagan worship in all its
splendour; opposed the Christians; took from
the churches their riches, which were often
very great ; and after failing in the attempt
to induce the Christians, by flattery, to re-
nounce their faith, he did all in his power to
make their situation disagreeable, forbidding
them to plead before a court of justice, or to
receive ofilces under the state. He did not
even permit them publiclyto profess their
religion; and to falsify the prophecy of Christ
with regard to the temple at Jerusalem, he
encouraged the Jews to rebuild it, about
300 years after its destruction. In this,
however, he was completely foiled, for flames
of fire belching forth from subterraneous
caverns slew many of the workmen, and
caused the undertaking to be entirely aban-
doned. Julian died in 365, in the thirty-
fourth year of his age. His character was
full of contradictions; while, on the one
hand, he was learned, magnanimous, mode-
rate, temperate, and humane, he was, on the
other, fickle, inconsistent, eccentric, fanatical
and superstitious in the highest degree; and
'; at the bottom of all these features of his
I character there appears to have lain a sar-
castic, sophistic coldness and dissimulation.
J UMPERS, persons so called from the prac-
tice of jumping during the time allotted for
religious worship. This singular practice
began, it is said, in the western part of Wales,
about the year 1760. It was soon after de-
fended by Mr. William Williams (the Welsh
poet, as he is sometimes called) in apamphlet,
which was patronised by the abettors of
jumping in religious assemblies. Several of
the more zealous itinerant preachers encou-
raged the people to cry out gogoniant (the
Welsh word for glory,) amen, &c. &c.; to
put themselves in violent agitations; and,
finally, to jump until they were quite ex-
hausted, so as often to be obliged to fall down
on the floor or the field, where this kind of
worship was held.
JUSTICE consists in an exact and scrupulous
regard to the rights of others, with a delibe-
rate purpose to preserve them on all occasions
sacred and inviolate. It is often divided into
commutative and distributive justice. The
former consists in an equal exchange of bene-
fits; the latter in an equal distribution of re-
wards and punishments. Dr. Watts gives the
following rules respecting justice—“1. It is
just that we honour, reverence and respect
those who are superiors in any kind, Eph. vi.
1, 3; 1 Peter ii. 17; 1 Tim. v. 17.—2. That
we show particular kindness to near relations,
Prov. xvii. 17.—3. That we love those who
love us, and show gratitude to those who
have done us good, Gal. iv. 15.—4. That we
pay the full due to those whom we bargain or
deal with, Rom. xiii.; Deut. xxiv. 14.—5.
That we help our fellow-creatures in cases of
great necessity, Ex. xxii. 4.—6. Reparation
to those whom we have wilfully injured.”
Watts’s Serm. ser. 24, 26, vol. ; Berry Street
Lect., ser. iv. ; Grove’s .Zllor. PhiL, p. 332, vol.
ii. ; 'VVoZlaston’s Relig. of Nature, pp. 137, 141;
Jay’s Serm., vol. ii. p. 1-31.
JUSTICE or G01) is that perfection whereby
he is infinitely righteous and just, both in
himself and in all his proceedings with his
creatures. Mr. Ryland defines it thus: “_ The
ardent inclination of his will to prescribe
equal laws as the supreme governor, and
to dispense equal rewards and punishments
as the supreme judge.” Rev. xvi. 5; Psal.
cxlv. 7 ; xcvii. l, 2. It is distinguished into
remunerative and punitive justice. Remu—
l nerative justice is a distribution of rewards,
, the rule of which is not the merit of the
l creature, but his own gracious promise, James
l i. 12; 2 Tim. iv. 8. Punitive or vindictive
! justice, is the infliction of punishment for any
\ sin committed by men, 2 Thess. i. 6. That
- God will not let sin go unpunished is evi-
dent,~—1. From the word of God, Ex. xxxiv.
. 6, 7 ; Numb. xiv. 18; Neh. i. 3.——2. From
the nature of God, Isa. i. 13, 14; Psal. v. 5,

J U S ‘ll
5 J U S
'ners, Ps. ix. 17.—2. We should' highly appre-
I ,--5. We should derive comfort from the con-
6 ; Heb. xii. 29.-—3. From sin'being punished
in Christ, the surety of his people, 1 Pet. in.
18.—4. From all the various natural evils
which men bear in the present state. The
use we should make of this doctrine is this:
——1. We should learn the'dreadful nature of
sin, and the inevitable ruin‘of impenitent sin-
ciate the Lord Jesus Christ, in whom justice
is satisfied, 1 Pet. iii. 18.—3. We should imi-
tate the justice of God, by cherishing an
ardent regard to the rights of God, and to the
rights of mankind—4. We should abhor all
sin, as it strikes directly at the justice of God.
sideration that the Judge of all the earth will
do right, as it regards ourselves, the church,
and the world at large, Psal. xcvii. 1, 2. By—
land’s Contemp, vol. ii. p. 439; Witsius’s
Economy, lib. 11. ch. 8. 11; Dr. Owen on
the Justice of God; Gill’s Body of Divinity,
vol. i. p. 155, 8vo.; Elisha Cole on the Right-
eousness of God.
JUSTIFICATION, a forensic term, which
signifies the declaring or the pronouncing
of a person righteous according to law._ it
stands opposed to condemnation; and this _Is
the idea of the word whenever it is used in
an evangelical sense, Rom. v. 18; Deut. xxv.
l ; Prov. xvii. 15 ; Matt. xii. 37. It does not
signify to make men holy, but the holding
and declaring them to be free from punish-
ment. It is defined by the Assembly thus:
“ An act of God’s free grace. in which he
pardoneth all our sins, and accepteth us as
righteous in his sight only for the ‘righteous-
ness of Christ imputed to us, and received by
faith alone.” -
The doctrine of justification, says Mr.
Booth, makes a very distinguished figure in
that religion which is from above, and 1s a
capital article of that faith which was once
delivered to the saints. Far from being a
merely speculative point, it spreads its ‘in-
fluence through the whole body of divinity,
runs through all Christian experience, and
operates in every part of practical godliness.
Such is its grand importance, that a mistake
about it has a malignant eiiicacy, and is at-
tended with a long train of dangerous conse-
quences. Nor can this appear strange, when
it is considered, that the doctrine of justifica-
tion is no other than the way of a'sinner’s ac-
ceptance with God. Being of such peculiar
moment, it is inseparably connected with
many other evangelical truths, the harmony
and beauty of which we cannot behold while
this is misunderstood. It is, if any thing
may be so called, an essential article, and
certainly requires our most serious consi-
deration.
J ustification, in a theological sense, is either .
legal or evangelical. If any person could be
fcundthat had never broken the divine law,
he might be justified by it in a manner‘

strictly legal. But in this way none of the
human race can be justified, or stand ac-
quitted before God. For all have sinned;
there is none righteous; no not one, Rom. iii.
As sinners, they are under the sentence of
death by his righteous law, and excluded
from all hope and mercy. That justification,
therefore, about which the Scriptures princi-
pally treat, and which reaches the case of a
sinner, is not by a personal, but an imputed
righteousness; ~ a righteousness without the
law, Rom. iii. 21, provided by grace and re-
vealed in the Gospel ; for which reason, that
obedience by which a sinner is justified, and
his justification itself, are called evangelical.
In this affair there is the most wonderful
display of divine justice and boundless grace.
Of divine justice. if we regard the meritorious
cause and ground on which the J ustifier pro-
ceeds in absolving the condemned sinner, and
in pronouncing him righteous. Of boundless
grace, if we consider the state and character
of those persons to whom the blessing is
granted. Justification may be further dis-
tinguished as being either at the bar of God,
and in the court of conscience; or in the
sight of the world, and before our fellow-
creatures. The former is by mere grace
through faith ; and the latter is by works.
To justify, is evidently a divine preroga-
tive. It is God that justifieth, Rom. 33.
That sovereign Being, against whom we have
so greatly offended, whose law we have bro-
ken by ten thousand acts of rebellion against
him, has, in the way of his own appointment,
the sole right of acquitting the guilty, and of
pronouncing them righteous. He appoints
the way, provides the means, and imputes the
righteousness; and all in perfect agreement
with the demands of his offended law, and
the rights of his violated justice. But al-
though this act is in some places of the in-
fallible word more particularly appropriated
personally to the Father, yet it is manifest
that all the Three Persons are concerned in
this grand afi‘air, and each performs a distinct
part in this particular, as also in the whole
economy of salvation. The eternal Father is
represented as appointing the way, and as
giving his own Son to perform the conditions
of our acceptance before him, Rom. viii. 32 ;
the divine Son as engaged to sustain the curse
and make the atonement; to fulfil the terms,
and provide the righteousness by which we
are justified, Tit. ii. 14; and the Holy Spirit
as revealing to sinners the perfection, suita-
bleness, and freeness of the Saviour’s work,
enabling them to receive it as exhibited in
the Gospel of sovereign grace ; and testifying
to their consciences complete justification by
it in the court of heaven, John xvi. 8, 14.
As to the objects of justification, the Scrip-
ture says, they are sinners, and ungodly.
For thus runs the divine declaration: To
him that workcth is the reward of justifica-J
JUS
JUS
416
_ righteousness without works.
tion, and of eternal life as connected with it,
not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to
him that worketh not, but believeth on Him
that justifieth—whom? the righteous? the
holy? the eminently pious? nay, verily, but-—
the ungodly; his faith, or that in which he
believes, is counted unto him for righteous-
ness, Rom. iv. 4, 5; Gal. ii. 17. Here, then,
we learn, that the subjects of justification,
considered in themselves, are not. only desti-
tute of a perfect righteousness, but have per-
formed no good works at all. They are de-
nominated and considered as the ungodly,
when the blessing is bestowed upon them.
Not that we are to understand that such
remain ungodly. “ All,” says Dr. Owen,
“ that are justified, were before ungodly : but
all that are justified, are at the same instant
made godly.” That the mere sinner, how-
ever, is the subject of justification appears
from hence. The Spirit of God, speaking in
the Scripture, repeatedly declares that we are
justified by grace. But grace stands in direct
opposition to works. \Vhoever, therefore, is
justified by grace is considered as absolutely
unworthy in that very instant when the
blessing is vouchsafed to him, Rom. iii. 24.
The person, therefore, that is justified, is ac-
ceptedwithout any cause in himself. Hence
it appears, that if we regard the persons who
are justified, and their state prior to the en-
joyment of the immensely glorious privilege,‘
divine grace appears, and reigns in all its
glory.
As to the way and manner in which sin-
ners are justified, it may be observed that the
Divine Being can acquit none without a com-
plete righteousness. Justification, as before
observed, is evidently a forensic term, and
the thing intended by it a judicial act. So
that, were a person to be justified without a
righteousness, the judgment would not be
according to truth; it would be a false and
unrighteous sentence. That righteousness
by which we are justified must be equal to
the demands of that law according to which
the Sovereign Judge proceeds in our justifi-
cation. Many persons talk of conditions of
justification (see article CONDITION); but the
only condition is that of perfect righteous-
ness: this the law requires, nor does the
Gospel substitute another. But where shall
we find, or how shall we obtain a justifying
righteousness? Shall we flee to the law for
relief? Shall we apply with diligence and
zeal to the performance of duty, in order to
attain the desired end? The apostle posi-
tively affirms, that there is no acceptance
with God by the works of the law; and the
reasons are evident. Our righteousness is
imperfect, and consequently cannot justify.
If justification were by the works of men, it
could not be by grace: it would not be a
There would
be no need of the righteousness of Christ;
and, lastly, if justification were by the law,
then boasting would be encouraged ; whereas
God’s design, in the whole scheme of salva-
tion, is to exclude it, Rom. iii. 27 ; Eph. ii.
8, 9. Nor is faith itself our righteousness, or
that for the sake of which we are justified;
for, though believers are said to be justified
by faith, yet not for faith ; faith can only be
considered as the instrument, and not the
cause. That faith is not our righteousness,
is evident from the following considerations:
No man’s faith is perfect; and, if' it were, it
would not be equal to the demands of the
divine law. It could not, therefore, without
an error in judgment, be accounted a com-
plete righteousness. But the judgment of
God, as before proved, is according to truth,
and according to the rights of the law. That _
obedience by which a sinner is justified is
called the righteousness of faith, righteous-
ness by faith, and is represented as revealed
to faith; consequently it cannot be faith itself.
Faith, in the business of justification, stands
opposed to all works; to him that worketh
not, but believeth. Now, if it were our justi-
fying righteousness. to consider it in such a
light would be highly improper. For in such
a connexion it falls under the consideration
of a work; a condition, on the performance
of which our acceptance with God is mani-
festly suspended. If faith itself be that on
account of which we are accepted, then some
believers are justified by a more, and some by
a less perfect righteousness, in exact propor-
tion to the strength or weakness of their faith.
That which is the end of the law. is our
righteousness, which certainly is not faith,
but the obedience of our exalted Substitute,
Rom. x. 4. Were faith itself our justifying
righteousness, we might depend upon it
before God, and rejoice in it. So that ac-
cording to this hypothesis, not Christ, but
faith is the capital thing; the object to which
we must look, which is absurd. When the
apostle says, “ faith was imputed to him for
righteousness,” his main design was to prove
that the eternal Sovereign justifies freely,
without any cause in the creature.
Nor is man’s obedience to the Gospel, as to
a new and milder law, the matter of his jus-
tification before God. It was a notion that
some years ago obtained, that a relaxation of
the law, and the severities of it, has been
obtained by Christ; and a new law, a reme-
dial law, a law of milder terms, has been in-
troduced by him, which is the Gospel; the
terms of which are faith, repentance, and
obedience; and though these‘ are imperfect,
yet, being sincere, they are accepted of by
God in the room of. a perfect righteousness.
But every part of this scheme is wrong, for
the law is not relaxed, nor any of its severities
abated; there is no alteration made in it, ei-
ther with respect to its precepts or penalty;
besides, the scheme is absurd, for it supposes
JU'S
JUS
417
that the law which a man is now under re-
quires only an imperfect obedience; but an
imperfect righteousness cannot answer its
demands ; for every law requires perfect obe-
dience to its own precepts and prohibitions.
Nor is a profession of religion, nor sin-
cerity, nor good works, at all the ground of
our acceptance with God, for all our righte-
ousness is imperfect, and must therefore be
entirely excluded. By grace, saith the apostle,
ye are saved, not of works, lest any man
should boast, Eph. ii. 8, '9. Besides, the
works of sanctification and justification are
two distinct things: the one is a work of
grace within men; the other an act of grace
for or towards men; the one is imperfect, the
other complete; the one carried on gradually,
the other done at once. See SANCTIFICATION-
If, then, we cannot possibly be justified by
any of our own performances, nor by faith
itself‘, nor even by the graces of the Holy
Spirit, where then shall we find a righteous-
ness by which we can be justified? The
Scripture furnishes us with an answer--“ By
Jesus Christ all that believe are justified from
all things from which they could not be jus-
tified by the law of Moses,” Acts xiii. 38, 39.
“He was delivered for our oifences, and
raised again for our justification,” Rom. iv.
25. “ Being justified by his blood, we shall
be saved from wrath through him,” Rom. v.
9. The spotless obedience, therefore, the
bitter sufferings, and the accursed death of
our heavenly Surety, constitute that very
righteousness by which sinners are justified
before God. That this righteousness is im-
puted to us, and that we are not justified by
a personal righteousness, appears from the
Scriptures, with superior evidence. “ By the
obedience of one shall many he made right-
eous,” Rom. v.19. “ He hath made him to
be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might
be made the righteousness of God in him,”
2 Cor. v. 21. “ And be found in him, not
having mine own righteousness which is of
the law, but that which is through the faith
of Christ; the righteousness which is of God
by faith,” Phil. iii. 8. See also Jer. xxiii. 6;
Dan. ix. 24; the whole of chap. ii. of Gala-
tians. See articles RECONCILIATION, RIGHT-
EOUSNESS.
As to the properties of justification: 1. It
is an act of God’s free grace, without any
merit whatever in the creature, Rom. iii. 24.
—-2. It is an act of justice as well as grace :
the law being perfectly fulfilled in Christ, and
divine justice satisfied, Rom. iii. 26; Ps.
lxxxv. 10.4—3. It is an individual and instan-
taneous act, done at once, admitting of no
degrees, John xix. 30.--4. It is irreversible,
and an unalterable act, Mal. iii. 6.
As to the time of justification, divines are
not agreed. Some have distinguished it into
——decretive, virtual, and actual. l. Decre~
tive, is God’s eternal purpose to justify sin-
ners in time by Jesus Christ. 2. Virtual
justification has a reference to the satisfaction
made by Christ. 3. Actual, is when we are
enabled to believe in Christ, and by faith are
united to him. Others say that it is eternal,
because his purpose respecting it was from
everlasting: and that, as the Almighty
viewed his people in Christ, they were, of
consequence, justified in his sight. But the
principle on which the advocates for this doc-
trine have proceeded is most absurd. They
have confounded the design with the execu—
tion; for if this distinction be not kept up,
the utmost perplexity will follow the consi-
deration of every subject which relates to the
decrees of God; nor shall we be able to form
any clear ideas of his moral government
whatever. To say, as one does, that the
eternal will of God to justify men is the jus-
tification of them, is not to the purpose ; for
upon the same ground, we might as well say
that the eternal will of God to convert and
glorify his people is the real conversion and
glorification of them. That it was eternally
determined that there should be a people who
should believe in Christ, and that his righte-
ousness should be imputed to them, is not to
be disputed; but to say that these things were
really done from eternity, (which we must
say if we believe eternal justificatiom) this
would be absurd. It is more consistent to
believe, that God from eternity laid the plan
of justificaiion; that this plan was executed
by the life and death of Christ; and that the
blessing is only manifested, received, and en-
joyed, when we are regenerated; so that no
man can say, or has anyreason to conclude,
he is justified, until he believes in Christ,
Rom. v. 1.
The effects or blessings’ of justification, are,
1. An entire freedom from all penal evils in
this life, and that which is to come, 1 Cor.
iii. 22.—2. Peace with God, Rom. v.1.—
3. Access to God, through Christ, Eph. iii. 12.
—-4. Acceptance with God, Eph. v. 27.—
5. Holy confidence and security under all the
difficulties and troubles of the present state,
2 Tim. i. 1, 12.-*6. Finally, eternal salvation,
Rom. viii. 30; v. 18.
Thus we have given as comprehensive a
view of the Doctrine of Justification as the
nature of this work will admit; a doctrine
which is founded upon the sacred Scriptures,
and which so far from leading to licentious-
ness, as some suppose, is of all others the
most replete with motives to love, dependence,
and obedience, Rom. vi. 1, 2. A doctrine
which the primitive Christians held as con—
stituting the very essence of their system;
which our reformers considered as the most
important point; which our venerable mar-
tyrs gloried in, and sealed with their blood;
and which, as the Church of England ob-
serves, is a“very wholesome doctrine and
full of comfort.” Sec Dr. Owen on Justi _
I‘) l‘)
KAR
KEN
418
cation; Rawlz'nson on Justification ,- Edwards’s
Sermons on ditto; Lime Street Lectures, p.
350; Hervey's Theron and Aspasz'o, and
Eleven Letters,- lVit/zcrspoon’s Connexion be-
tween Justzlficatz'on and Holiness,- Gill and
Ridyley‘s Div. ,- Dr. Bennett’s Defence of the
doctrine against Mr. JVewman of Oxford ;
but especially Booth’s Reign of Grace, to
which I am indebted for great part of the
above article.
K.
KAABA, originally a temple at Mecca, in
great esteem among the heathen Arabs, who,
before they embraced Mohammedanism, called
a small building of stone in the same temple
kaaba, which has in its turn become an object
of the highest reverence with the Mohamme-
dans. They say it was built by Abraham and
Ishmael. On the side of it is a black stone,
surrounded with silver, called braktan, set in
the wall, about four feet from the ground.
This stone has served, since the second year
of the Hegira, as the kibla, or point towards
which the Mohammedan turns his face during
prayer. The hadjis, or pilgrims, touch and
kiss this stone seven times, after which they
enter the kaaba, and offer up their prayers.
At first the Mohammedans turned their face
towards Jerusalem, until their leader ordered
the present direction. It appears from Burk-
hardt, that this same holy kaaba is the scene
of such indecencies as cannot with propriety
be particularised: indecencies which are prac-
tised not only with impunity, but publicly
and without a blush.
KARAITES, Heb. camp, Karaim, i.e. Scrip-
turists, a Jewish sect residing chiefly in P0-
land and the Crimea, but to be found also
in different parts of Lithuania, Austria, the
Caucasus, Turkey, Egypt, Abyssinia, India,
and the Holy Land. They principally differ
from the Rabbinists in their rejection of the
oral law, and their rigid appeal to the text of
Scripture as the exclusive source and test of
religious truth. It is on this account that
they are called Scripturists. Not that they
never consult the Talmud, but they will not
allow that it has any binding authority over
their consciences. They also difi‘er from
them in the interpretation of Scripture itself.
While the Talmudist chiefly applies the ca-
balistical art to bring out recondite and mys-
terious meanings from the sacred text, the
Karaite maintains that the Scripture is its
‘own interpreter, and that the sense of a pas-
sage is to be determined by the grammatical
meaning of the words, the scope and connec-
tion, and a comparison of parallel passages.
They are very strict in their adherence to the
letter of the law, are free from man of the
superstitions common among the ews in
general, correct and exemplary in their do-
mestic habits and arrangements, and charac-
terized in their dealings by probity and inte-
grity. They are scarcely ever known to be
embroiled in a lawsuit, or to become the sub-
ject of legal prosecution.
'1691.
This sect claims a very high antiquity, and
seems originally to have been the same with
that of the Sadducees, from whom, however,
it is supposed they separated when the latter
adopted the errors by which they were dis-
tinguished in the time of our Lord. They
were afterwards reformed by Rabbi Anan,
about the middle of the eighth century. Ac-
cording to accounts current among them, the
first place where a Karaite synagogue was
established after the destruction of Jerusalem
was Grand Cairo, where they exist to this
day. The number of the Karaites is not
great, probably not much above 8000. Those
in the south of Russia possess a translation of
the Hebrew Bible in the Tartar language,
which is vernacular among them. See Hen-
derson’s Biblical Researches, and Travels in
Russia.
KEITHIANS, a party which separated from
the Quakers in Pennsylvania in the year
They were headed by the famous
George Keith, from whom they derived their
name. Those who persisted in their separa-
tion, after their leader deserted them, practised
baptism, and received the Lord’s supper.
This party were also called Quaker Baptists,
because they retained the language, dress,
and manner of the Quakers.
KENNICOTT, BENJAMIN, D. D., well known
in the literary world for his elaborate edition
of the Hebrew Bible. and other publications,
was born at Totnes, in Devonshire, AJ). 1718.
His early display of talents recommended him
to some gentlemen, who sent him to Oxford.
and there supported him while he went
through his academical studies. He had not
been long at Oxford before be distinguished
himself by the publication of two disserta-
tions,-—one on the Tree of Life, the other on
the Oblations of Cain and Abel,--on account
of which the degree of Batchelor of Arts was
conferred upon him gratis a year before the
statutable time. He soon after acquired ad-
ditional fame by the publication of several
occasional sermons, which were well received.
In the year 1753 he laid the foundation of his
great work, and spent a long time in search-
ing out and examining Hebrew manuscripts,
with a view to the elucidation of his subjects.
He appealed to the Jews themselves regard-
in g the state of the Hebrew text, and gave a
compendious history of it from the close of
the Hebrew canon to the time of the inven-
tion of printing, with an account of one hun-
dred and three Hebrew manuscripts. In
KEY
KIS
419
. Hebraicum, cum Variis Lectionibus.”
1760 he published his proposals for collecting
all the Hebrew MSS. prior to the invention
of the art of printing, that could be found in
Great Britain; and, at the same time, for pro-
curing as many collations of foreign MSS. as
his time and money would permit.
The utility of the proposed collation being
very generally admitted, a subscription was
made to defray the expense of it, amounting
to nearly 10,0001. Various persons were em-
ployed, both at home and abroad; but of the
foreign literati the principal was Professor
Bruns, of the University of Helmstadt, who
not only collated Hebrew MSS. in Germany,
but went for that purpose into Switzerland
and Italy. In consequence of these efforts,
more than six hundred Hebrew MSS. and
sixteen MSS. of the Samaritan Pentateuch
were discovered in different libraries in Eng-
land, and on the Continent; many of which
were wholly collated, and others consulted in
important passages.
During the progress of his work he was
rewarded with the canonry of Christ Church.
His first volume was published in 177 6, and
the whole was completed in 1780, at Oxford,
in two vols. folio, en titled, “VetusTestani Cnyiil‘lm
he
text of Van der Hooght was adopted; but it
was printed without the points. The poetical
portions are divided into stanzas, according
to the nature of the poetry ; and the various
readings are printed at the bottom of the page.
When we contemplate his diligence and
learning, it must he confessed that Hebrew
literature and sacred criticism are more in-
debted to him than to any scholar of the age
in which he lived. He was a good and con-
scientious man; and, in the decline of life,
resigned a valuable living, because he was
unable to discharge the duties which it im-
posed upon him. He died at Oxford in 1783,
and, at the time of his death, was employed in
printing remarks on sundry passages of the
Old Testament, which were afterwards pub-~
lished from his papers. Dr. Kennicott was
also keeper of the Radcliffe Library, and
maintained a correspondence for several years
with some of the most eminent literary men
in Europe, particularly the celebrated Pro—
fessor Michaelis, to whom he addressed a
Latin epistle, in 1777, in defence of his eat
work. W'utt’s Bib. Brit,- Jones’s C rist.
Biog.-,- and Bp. Marsh’s Lect, lect. 11.
KEYS, power of the, a term made use of in
reference to ecclesiastical jurisdiction, denot—
mg the power of excommunicating and ab-
solving. The Romanists say that the pope
has the power of the keys, and can open and
shut‘paradise as he pleases; grounding their
opinion on that expression of Jesus Christ to
Peter, “ I will give thee the keys of the king-
dom of heaven,” Matt. xvi. 19. But every one
must see that this is an absolute perversion of
Scripture; for the keys of the kingdom of
heaven most probably refer to the Gospel dis-
pensation, and denote the power and authority
of every faithful minister to preach the Gos-
pel, administer the sacraments, and exercise
government, that men may be admitted to or
excluded from the church, as is proper. See
ABSOLUTION.
In St. Gregory we read that it was the cus-
tom for the popes to send a golden key to
princes, wherein they inclosed a little of the
filings of St. Peter’s chain, kept with such
devotion at Rome ; and that these keys were
worn in the bosom, as being supposed to con—
tain some wonderful virtues. Such has been
the superstition of past ages!
KINDNESS, civil behaviour, favourable treat-
ment, or a constant and habitual practice of
friendly oflices and benevolent actions. See
CHARITY, GENTLENESS.
KIRK SESSIONS, the name of a petty eccle-
siastical judicatory in Scotland. Each parish,
according to its extent, is divided into several
particular districts, every one of which has its
own elders and deacons to oversee it. A con-
sistory of the minister, elders, and deacon of a
parish form a kirk session. These meet once
a week, the minister being their moderator, '
but without a negative voice. It regulates
matters relative to public worship, elections,
catechising, visitations, &c. It judges in mat-
ters of less scandal; but greater, as adultery,
are left to the presbytery, and in all cases an
appeal lies from it to the presbytery. Kirk
sessions have likewise the care of the poor,
and poor’s funds. See PRESBYTERIANS.
KISS, a demonstration of affection among
all nations, but varying in the mode according
to custom and circumstance. It is also used
as a token of civil and religious respect. In
ancient times, kissing one’s own hand to idols
was customary, Job xxxi. 26. Catholics kiss
the bishop’s hand, or rather the ring which he
wears, in virtue of his episcopal ofiice. Kiss-
ing the foot or toe has been required by the
popes as a sign of respect from the secular
power since the eighth century. The first who
received this honour was pope Constantine I.
It was paid him by the Emperor Justinian II.
on his entry into Constantinople, in 710. Va—
lentine I., about 827, required every one to
kiss his foot ; and, from that time, this mark
of reverence appears to have been expected by
all popes. When the ceremony takes place,
the pope wears a slipper with a cross, which is
kissed. In more recent times, Protestants
have not been obliged to kiss the pope’s foot,
but merely to bend the knee slightly. In the
Catholic church, the clergyman sometimes
kisses the woman immediately after marriage ;
and among Protestants, the minister some-
times kisses the child after baptism.
The kiss of peace forms part of one of the
Catholic rites. It is given immediately before
the communion; the clergyman w ho celebrates
mass kissing the altar, and embracing the dea-
KNO
KNO
420
con, saving, “ Pam tibi, flatter, et ecclusia?
sanc't(e1)ei;” the deacon does the same to the
sub-deacon, saying “Pan: tecum ,-” the latter
salutes the other clergy.
The kiss of charity, which still obtains
among certain sects as an ordinance to be ob-
served in public, is only the same custom un-
der a different form. That such a practice ob-
tained in the church at a very early period
cannot be denied, as it is mentioned by Justin,
Tertullian, and other fathers, when referring
to the agapce, but it is without any warrant
from Scripture; the Salutation there called the
“holy kiss,” and the “kiss of charity,” not
being enjoin'ed as a public rite, or church ob-
servance, but simply an occasional greeting,
as circumstances of meeting afforded an op-
portunity.
KNIPPERDOLINGS, a denomination in the
sixteenth century; so called from Bertrand
Knipperdoling, who taught that the righteous
before the day of judgment shall have a mon-
archy on earth, and the wicked be destroyed;
that men are not justified by their faith in
Christ Jesus; that there is no original sin;
that infants ought not to be baptized, and that
immersion is the only mode of baptism; that
every one has authority to preach and adminis-
ter the sacraments ; that men are not obliged
to pay respect to magistrates ; that all things
ought to be in common, and that it is lawful
to marry many wives.
KNOWLEDGE is defined by Mr. Locke to be
the perception of the connexion and agree-
ment, or disagreement and repugnancy of our
ideas. It also denotes learning, or the improve-
ment of our faculties by reading; experience,
or the acquiring new ideas or truths, by seeing
a variety of objects, and making observations
upon them in our own minds. No man, says
the admirable Dr. Watts, is obliged to learn
and know every thing; this can neither be
sought nor acquired, for it is utterly impossible :
yet all persons are under some obligation to
improve their own understanding, otherwise it
will be a barren desert, or a forest overgrown
with weeds and brambles. Universal ignor-
ance, or infinite error, will overspread the mind
which is utterly neglected and 'lies without any
cultivation. The following rules, therefore,
should be attended to for the improvement of
knowledge :--l. Deeply possess your mind
with the vast importance of a good judgment,
and the rich and inestimable advantage of right
reasoning—2. Consider the weaknesses, fail-
ings, and mistakes of human nature in gene-
ral.——-3. Be not satisfied with a slight view of
_things, but take a wide survey now and then
of the vast and unlimited regions of learning,
the variety of questions and difiiculties be—
longing to every science—4. Presume not too
much upon a bright genius, a ready wit, and
good- parts; for this, without study, will never
make a man of knowledge—{3. Do not ima-
gine that large and laborious reading, and a
strong memory, can denominate you truly
wise, without meditation and studious thought.
i -—6. Be not so weak as to imagine that a life of


learning is a life of laziness—7. Let the hope
of new discoveries, as well as the satisfaction
and pleasure of known truths, animate your
daily industry.—-8. Do not hover always on
the surface of things, nor take up suddenly
with mere appearances—9. Once a day, espe-
cially in the early years of life and study, call
yourselves to an account what new ideas you
have gained—~10. Maintain a constant watch,
at all times, against a dogmatical spirit—11.
Be humble and courageous enough to retract
any mistake, and confess an error.——12. Be-
ware of a fanciful temper of mind, and a hu-
morous conduct—13. Have a care of trifling
with things important and momentous, or of
sporting with things awful and sacred—~14.
Ever maintain a virtuous and pious frame of
spirit—15. Watch against the pride of your
own reason, and a vain conceit of your own
intellectual powers, with the neglect of divine
aid and blessing—16. Offer up, therefore,
your daily requests to God, the Father of
Lights, that he would bless all your attempts
and labours in reading, study, and conversa-
tion. T'Vatts on the Mind, chap. i.; Dr. John
Edwards’s Uncertainty, Deficiency, and Cor-
ruption of Human Knowledge,- Reid’s Intellec-
tual Powers of Man ,- Stennez‘t’s Sermon on
Acts xxvi. 24, 25.
KNOWLEDGE or GoD is often taken for the
, fear of God, and the whole of religion. There
is, indeed, a speculative knowledge, which
consists only in the belief of his existence,
and the acknowledgment of his perfections,
but has no influence on the heart and conduct.
A spiritual saving knowledge consists in vene-
ration for the Divine Being, Ps. lxxxix. 7 ;
love to him as an object of beauty and good-
ness, Zech. ix. l7 ; humble confidence in his
mercy and promise, Ps. ix. 10; and sincere,
uniform, and persevering obedience to his
word, 1 John ii. 3. It may further be consi-
dered as a knowledge of God, the Father; of
his love, faithfulness, power, &c. Of the Son,
as it relates to the dignity of his nature, 1
John v. 20 ; the suitability of his oflices, Heb.
ix. ; the perfection of his work, Ps. lxviii. 18 ;
the brightness of his example, Acts x. 38 ; and
the prevalency of his intercession, Heb. vii.
25. Of the Holy Ghost, as equal with the
Father and the Son; of his agency as an en-
lightener and comforter; as also in his work
of witnessing, sanctifying, and directing his
people, John xv., xvi. "2 Cor. iii. 17 , 18. John
iii. 5, 6. Rom. viii. 16. This knowledge may
be considered as experimental, 2 Tim. i. 12;
fiducial, Job xiii. 15, 16 ; affectionate, 1 John
iii. 19; influential, Ps. ix. 16; Matt. v. 16;
humiliating, Is. vi. ; Job xlii. 5, 6; satisfying,
Psal. xxxvi. 7; Prov. iii. 17 ; and superior to
all other knowledge, Phil. iii. 8. The advan-
tages of religious knowledge are very great.
K NO
KNO
421
It forms the basis of true honour and felicity.
Not all the lustre of a noble birth, not all the
influence of wealth, not all the pomp of titles,
not all the splendour of power, can give dignity
to the soul that is destitute of inward improve-
ment. By this we are allied to angels, and
are capable of rising for ever in the scale of
being. Such is its inherent worth, that it hath
always been represented under the most pleas-
ing images. In particular, it hath been com-
pared to light, the most valuable and reviving
part of nature’s works, and to that glorious
luminary which is the most beautiful and trans-
porting object our eyes behold. If we enter-
tain any doubts concerning the intrinsic value
of religious knowledge, let us look around us
and we shall be convinced how desirable it is
to be acquainted with God, with spiritual, with
eternal things. Observe the difference between
a cultivated and a barren country. ‘Vhile the
former is a lovely, cheerful, and delightful
sight, the other administers a spectacle of hor-
ror. There is an equal difference between the
nations among whom the principles of piety
prevail, and the nations that are overrun with
idolatry, superstition, and error. Knowledge,
also, is of great importance to our personal
and private felicity: it furnishes a pleasure
that cannot be met with in the possession of
inferior enjoyments : a fine entertainment,
which adds a relish to prosperity; and alle-
viates the hour of distress. It throws a lus-
tre upon greatness, and reflects an honour
upon poverty. Knowledge will also instruct
us how to ‘apply our several talents for the
benefit of mankind. It will make us capable
of advising and regulating others. Hence we
may become the lights of the world, and dif-
fuse those munificent beams around us, which
shall shine on benighted travellers, and disco-
ver the path of rectitude and bliss. This
knowledge, also. tends to destroy bigotry and
enthusiasm. To this we are indebted for the
important change which hath been made since
the beginning of the Reformation. To this
we are indebted for the general cultivation
and refinement of the understandings of men.
It is owing to this that even arbitrary govern-
ments seem to have lost something of their
original ferocity, and that there is a source of
improvement in Europe which will, we hope,
in future times, shed the most delightful in-
fluences on society, and unite its members in
harmony, peace, and love. But the advantages
of knowledge ‘are still greater, ‘for it points
out to us an eternal felicity. The several
branches of human science are intended only
to bless and adorn our present existence ; but
religious knowledge bids us provide for an im-
mortal being, sets the path of salvation before
us, and is our inseparable companion in the
road to glory. As it instructs in the way to
endless bliss, so it will survive that mighty
day when all worldly literature and accom-
plishments shall for ever cease. At that so-
lemn period, in which the records and regis-
ters of men shall be destroyed, the systems of
human policy be dissolved, and the grandest
works of genius die, the wisdom which is
spiritual and heavenly shall not only subsist,
but be increased to an extent that human na-
ture cannot in this life admit. Our views of
things, at present, are obscure, imperfect, par-
tial, and liable to error ; but when we arrive
at the realms of everlasting light, the clouds
that shadowed our understanding will be re-
moved ; we shall behold, with amazing clear-
ness, the attributes, ways, and works of God ;
shall perceive more distinctly the design of his
dispensations; shall trace with rapture the
wonders of nature and grace, and become ac-
quainted with a thousand glorious objects, of
which the imagination can as yet have no con-
ception.
In order to increase in the knowledge of
God, there must be dependence on Him from
whom all light proceeds, Jas. i. 6; attention
to his revealed will, John v. 39 ; a watchful
spirit against corrupt affections, Luke xxi.
34; a humble frame of mind, Ps. xxv. 9;
frequent. meditation, Ps. civ. 34; a perse-
vering design of conformity to the divine
image, Hos. vi. 3.—C'harnock’s W’or/zs, vol. ii.
p. 381 ; Saurin’s Serm, vol. i. ser. 1 ; Gill’s
Body of Dita, vol. iii. p. 12. 8V0; T illotson’s
Serna, ser-.>113; W'atts’s W'orks, vol. i. ser. 45 ;
Hall’s Sermon on the Advantages of Knowledge
to the Lower Classes.
KNOWLEDGE or Gon. See OMNISCIENCE.
Knox, JOHN, the celebrated Scottish re-
former, was born in the year 1505. The
place of his nativity has been disputed.
That he was born at Gifford, a village in
East Lothian, has been the most prevailing
opinion; but some late writers, relying on
popular tradition, have fixed his birth-place
at Haddington, the principal town of the
county. In his youth he was put to the
grammar-school at Haddington; and, after
he had acquired the principles of the Latin
language there, his father sent him, about the
year 1524, to the University of St. Andrew’s,
at that time the most distinguished seminary
in the kingdom. Knox acquired the Greek
language before he arrived at middle age;
but we find him acknowledging, as late as
the year 1550, that he was ignorant of He-
brew, a defect in his education which be ex-
ceedingly lamented, and which he afterwards
got supplied during his exile on the conti-
nent. Knox, and Buchanan, his fellow col—
legian, soon became disgusted with such stu-
dies as were at that time prosecuted in- the
university, and began to seek entertainment
more gratifying to their ardent and inquisitive
minds. Having set out in search of know-
ledge, they released themselves from the tra.m-
mels, and overleaped the boundaries prescribed
to them by their timid conductor. But we
must not suppose that Knox was able, at once,
KNC
KNO
422
to divest himself of the prejudices of his
education, and of the times; for he con~
tinued for some time captivated with these
studies, and prosecuted them with great suc—
cess. After he was created Master of Arts,
he taught philosophy, most probably as a re-
gent in one of the colleges of the university.
His class became celebrated, and he was con-
sidered as equalling, if not excelling, his master,
in the subtleties of the dialectic art. About the
same time, although he had no interest but
what was procured by his own merit, he was
advanced to clerical orders, and ordained a
priest before he reached the age fixed by the
canons of the church. This must have taken
place previous to the year 1530, at which
time he had arrived at ‘his twenty-fifth year,
the canonical age for receiving ordination.
At this time, the fathers of the Christian
church, Jerome and Augustine, attracted his
particular attention. By the writings of the
former, he was led to the Scriptures as the
only pure fountain of divine truth, and in-
structed in the‘ utility of studying them in the
original languages. In the works of the
latter, he found religious sentiments very
opposite to those taught in the Romish
Church, who, while she retained his name as
a saint in her calendar, had banished his doc-
trine as heretical from her pulpits. From
this time he renounced the study of scholastic
theology; and, although not yet completely
emancipated from superstition, his mind was
fitted for improving the means which Provi-
dence had given for leading him to a fuller
and more comprehensive view of the system
of evangelical religion. It was about the
year 1535, when this favourable change com-
menced; but it does not appear that be pro-
fessed himself a Protestant before the year
1542. The necessity for a reformation in
Scotland at that time is generally admitted;
and Knox now commenced the arduous du-
ties of a reformer. The reformed doctrine
had made considerable progress in Scotland
before it was embraced by Knox. Patrick
Hamilton, a youth of royal lineage, obtained
the honour, not conferred upon many of his
rank, of first announcing its glad tidings to
his countrymen, and of sealing them with his
blood. During the two last years of the
reign of James V., the number of the re-
formed rapidly increased. Twice did the
clergy attempt to cut them ofi by a desperate
blow. They presented to the king 2. list
containing the names of some hundreds, pos-
sessed of property and wealth, whom they
denounced as heretics; and endeavoured to
procure his consent to their condemnation,
by flattering him with the immense riches
which would accrue to him from the forfeiture
of their estates. While this fermentation of
opinion was spreading through the nation,
Knox, from the state in which his mind was,
could not remain unaffected. The reformed
doctrine had been imbibed by several persons
of his acquaintance, and it was the topic of
common conversation and dispute among the
learned and inquisitive at the university. At
this time Knox preached a. severe sermon
against the errors of the Popish Church.
This sermon, delivered with a considerable
portion of that popular eloquence for which
Knox was afterwards so celebrated, made a
great noise, and excited much speculation
among all classes. His labours were so suc-
cessful during the few months that he
preached at St. Andrew’s, that, besides ‘the
garrison in the castle, a great number of the
inhabitants of the town renounced popery,
and made profession of the Protestant faith,
by participating in the Lord’s Supper.
In the end of July, 1547, a French fleet,
with a considerable body of land forces, under
the command of Leo Strozzi, appeared before
St. Andrew’s, to assist the governor in the
reduction of \the castle. It was invested both
by sea and land; and, being disappointed of
the expected aid from England, the besieged,
after a brave and vigorous resistance, were
under the necessity of capitulating to the
French commander, on the last day of July.
The terms of the capitulation were honour_
able} the lives of all that were in the castle
were to be spared, they were to be trans-
ported to France; and, if they did not choose
to enter into the service of the French king,
were to be conveyed to any country which
they might prefer, except Scotland. Knox,
with some others, was confined on board the
galleys, bound with chains, and, in addition
to the rigours of ordinary captivity, exposed
to all the indignities with which Papists were
accustomed to treat those whom they regarded
as heretics. From Rouen they sailed to
Nantz, and lay upon the Loire during the
following winter. Solicitations, threatenings,
and violence, were all employed to induce
the prisoners to change their religion, or at
least to countenance the Popish worship. In
the summer, 1548, the galleys in which they
were confined returned to Scotland, and con-
tinued for a considerable time on the east
coast, watching for English vessels. Knox’s
health was now greatly impaired by the se-
verity of his confinement, and he was seized
with a fever, during which his life was des-
paired of by all in the ship. But even in
this state, his fortitude of mind remained un-
subdued, and he comforted his fellow-pri-
soners with hopes of release. When free
from fever, he relieved ‘the tedious hours of
captivity by committing to writing a con-
fession of his faith, containing the substance
of what he had taught at St. Andrew’s, with
a particular account of the disputation which
he had maintained at St. Leonard’s Yards.
At length, after enduring a tedious and severe
imprisonment of nineteen months, Knox ob-
tained his liberty in the month of February,
KNO
KN 0
423
'the powerful prejudices of education and
1549, on which he immediately repaired to ‘
England. On the 4th of April, 1550, a large
assembly being convened in Newcastle, among
whom were the members of the council, the
bishop of Durham, and the learned men of
his cathedral, Knox delivered, in their pre-
sence, an ample defence of his doctrine. After
an appropriate exordium, in which he stated
to the audience the occasion and design of
his appearance, and cautioned them against
custom, in favour of erroneous opinions and
corrupt practices in religion, he proceeded
to establish the doctrine which he had
taught. This defence had the effect of
extending Knox’s fame through the north
of England, while it completely silenced
Tonstal, who opposed him, and his learned
assistants.
In consequence of a charge exhibited
against him to the council, Knox was sum-
moned to repair immediately to London, and
answer for his conduct. On his arrival, he
found that his enemies had been uncommonly
industrious in their endeavours to excite pre-
judices against him. But the council, after
hearing his defence, were convinced of the
malice of his accusers, and gave him an
honourable ac uittal. In the month of Fe-
bruary, 1552, rchbishop Cranmer had been _
directed by the council to present him to the
vacant living of All-hallows, in the city. He '
remained in London until the 19th of July,
when Mary was proclaimed queen only nine days after the same ceremony had been per-
formed in that city for the amiable and un- :
fortunate Lady Jane Grey. To induce the ?
Protestants to submit peaceably to her autho-
rity, Mary amused them for some time with ,
proclamations, in which she promised not to E
do violence to their consciences. Though;
aware of the bigotry of the queen, and the '
spirit of the religion to which she was devoted, i
the Protestant ministers reckoned it theiri
duty to improve this respite.
The enemies of Knox, who had been de- 1
feated in their attempts to ruin him under the’
former government, had now access to rulers
sufiiciently disposed to listen to their inform-
ation. They were not dilatory in improving
the opportunity. In the end of December,
1553, or beginning of January, 1554, his
servant was seized as he carried letters to
him from his wife and mother-in-law, and
the letters were taken in hopes of finding
some matters of accusation against the writer, I
but they contained merely religious advices
and exhortations to constancy in the Pro-
testant faith (which he was prepared to avow
before any court to which he might be
called). To clude the pursuit of his enemies
if he remained in England, he procured a
vessel, which landed him safely -at Dieppe, a
port of Normandy, in France, on the 28th of
January, 1554. No sooner did he reach a

i him concerning Knox’s character.
foreign shore, than he began to regret the
course which he had been induced to take.
When he thought upon his fellow-creatures,
whom he had left behind him immured in
dungeons, and the people lately under his
charge, now scattered abroad as sheep with-
out a shepherd, he felt an indescribable pang,
and an almost irresistible desire to return and
share in their hazardous but honourable con-
duct. On the last day of February, 1554, he
set out from Dieppe, like the Hebrew patri-
arch of old, “ not knowing whither he went,”
and, committing his way to God, travelled
through France, and came to Switzerland.
In the beginning of May, he returned to
Dieppe, to receive information from Eng-
land, a journey which he repeated atintervals
as long as he remained on the continent.
But it is likely that his friends, in their
letters, dissuaded him from it; and, after
cool consideration, he resolved to postpone
an attempt by which he must have risked
his life, without the prospect of doing any
ood.
g In the following year, Knox was accused
of high treason against the Emperor of Ger—
1 many, his son Philip, and Mary of England,
for putting into their hands a copy of a book
which he had lately published. The magi-
strates, in consequence of this accusation,
’ sent for \Vhittingham, a respectable member
of the English congregation, and interrogated
He told
them “that he was a learned, grave, and
godly man.” They then acquainted him with
a serious accusation, which had been lodged
against him by some of his countrymen; and
giving him the book, charged him, sub paena
pacis, to bring them an exact Latin transla-
tion of the passages which were marked.
This being done, they commanded Knox to
desist from preaching until their pleasure
should be known. Setting out from Geneva,
in the month of August, 1555, he came to
Dieppe; and, sailing from that port, landed
on the east coast, near the boundaries be-
tween Scotland and England About the end
of harvest he repaired to Berwick, where he
had the satisfaction of finding his wife, and
her mother, in comfortable circumstances,
and enjoying the happiness of religious so—
ciety, with several individuals in that city,
who, like themselves, “ had not bowed the
knee to the established idolatry, nor con-
‘sented to receive the mark of antichrist.”
The dangers to which Knox and his friends
1were accustomed, taught them to conduct
matters with such secrecy, that he had
preached for a considerable time, and in dif-
ferent places, before the clergy knew that
he was in the kingdom. Concealment was,
however, impracticable, after his audience
beca numerous. His preaching at Ayr
was reported to the court, and formed the
topic of conversation in the presence of the
KNO
KNO
42-l
queen regent. After his last journey to
Angus, the friars flocked from all quarters to
the bishops, and instigated them to adopt
speedy and decided measures for checking
the alarming effects of his preaching. In
consequence of this, Knox was summoned to
appear before a convention of the clergy, in
the church of the Blackfriars, at Edinburgh,
on the 15th of May. On the day on which
he should have appeared as a culprit. Knox
preached in the Bishop of Dunkeld’s large
lodging, to a far greater audience than had
before attended him in Edinburgh. While
he was thus employed in Scotland, he re_
ceived letters from the English congregation
at Geneva, stating that they had made choice
of him as their minister, and urging him to
come and take the inspection of them. He
judged it his duty to comply with this invi-
tation, and began immediately to prepare for
the journey. Accordingly, in the month of
July, 1556, he left Scotland; and, having
joined his wife and her mother at Dieppe,
proceeded with them to Geneva.
Knox reached Geneva before the end of
harvest, and took upon him the charge of the
English congregation there, among whom he
laboured during the two following years.
But neither the enjoyment of personal ac-
commodations, nor the pleasures of literary
society, nor the endearments of domestic hap-
piness, could subdue our rcformer’s ruling
passion, or unfix his determination to revisit
Scotland, as soon as an opportunity should
offer for advancing the reformation amonghis
countrymen. Having settled his other aifairs,
he took an affectionate leave of his friends at
Geneva, and went to Dieppe in the month of
October. Being disappointed in his expecta-
tion of letters from Scotland, Knox deter-
mined to relinquish his journey, and returned
to Geneva. This resolution does not accord
with the usual firmness of our reformer, and
is not sufiiciently accounted for in the com-
mon histories. Knox returned to Geneva in
the year 1558. During that year he was en-
gaged, along with several learned men of
his con ,regation, in making a new translation
of the ible into English; which, from the
place where it was compiled and first printed,
has obtained the name of “ The Geneva
Bible.” But the most singular treatise pub-
lished this year by Knox, and that which
made the greatest noise, was, “The first
Blast of the Trumpet against the monstrous
Government of Women ;” in which he at-
tacked the practice of admitting females to
the government of nations.
In the month of January, 1559, our re-
former took his final leave of Geneva; in
addition to former marks of respect, the re-
public, bcfore his departure, conferred on
him the freedom of the city. He ft his
wife and family behind him, until could
ascertain if they could live in safety in Sect-
land. He sailed from Dieppe on the 22nd of
April, and landed safely at Leith on the 2nd
of May, 1559. Knox now found matters in
a most critical state in Scotland. His arrival
was not long concealed from the clergy. On
the morning after he arrived at Leith, one
came to the monastery of the Grey Friars,
where the provincial council was then sitting,
and informed them, that John Knox was
come from France, and slept last night in
Edinburgh. The clergy were panic-struck
with the intelligence; and foreboding the
ruin of all the plans which they had formed
with so much care, they dismissed the coun-
oil in great haste and confusion; a messenger
was instantly despatched by them with the
information to the queen regent, who was at
Glasgow; and within a few days Knox was
proclaimed an outlaw and a rebel, in virtue of
the sentence formally pronounced against
him by the clergy.
Although his own cause was prejudged,
and he knew that he was liable to be appre-
hended as a condemned hcretic, he did not
hesitate a moment in resolving to present
himself voluntarily at Stirling, to assist his
brethren in their defence, and share in their
danger. The providential arrival of such an
able champion of the cause, at this crisis,
must have been very encouraging to the
assembly; and the liberty of accompanying
them, which he requested, was readily granted.
Our reformer was along with the forces of
the Congregation when they faced the army
of the regent in Cupar Moor; he accom-
panied them on their expedition to Perth;
and, in the end of June, arrived with them at
Edinburgh. On the same day he preached
in St. Giles’s, and next day in the abbey
church. On the 7th of July the inhabitants
of the metropolis met in the Tolbooth, and
made choice of him as their minister. On
retiring from Edinburgh, Knox undertook a
tour of preaching through the kingdom.
Within less than two months he travelled
over the greater part of Scotland ; he visited
Kelso, Jedburgh, Dumfries, Ayr, Stirling,
Perth, and Montrose, and returned to St. An-
drew’s. This itinerancy had great influence
in diffusing the knowledge of the truth, and
in strengthening the Protestant interest. In
the mean time his zeal and activity in the
cause of the Congregation exposed him to the
deadly resentment of the queen regent, and
the papists. A reward was publicly offered
to any one who should apprehend or kill him ;
and not a few, actuated by hatred or avarice,
lay in wait _to seize his person. But this did
not deter him from appearing in public, nor
from travelling through the country in the
discharge of his duty: his exertions at this
period were incredibly great.
In the beginning of the year 1560, Knox
ofliciated as minister of St. Andrew’s; but, in
the end of April, he returned to the capital,
KNO
KNO
425
where he preached during the siege of Leith.
The first general assembly of the Reformed
Church of Scotland met at Edinburgh, on the
20th of December in this year : it consisted of
forty members, only six of whom were minisv
ters, and Knox was one of that number. In
the close of this year he suffered a severe do-
mestic loss, in the death of his valuable wife,
who left him with the charge of two young
children. In the following year, Queen Mary
visited Scotland, in the month of September;
a few days after her arrival, she sent for Knox
to the palace, and held a long conversation
with him. To the charges which she then
brought against him, he manfully and wisely
replied, and vindicated the cause of truth. In
the beginningof the year 1562, he went to
Angus, to preside in the election and admis-
sion of John Erskine, of Dun, as superin-
tendent of Angus and Mearns; and in the
month of May, had another interview with
the queen. Knox had now, for a long time,
preached twice every Sabbath, and thrice on
other days, and attended to all his other eccle-
siastical duties; but as his labours much
increased, the General Assembly appointed
John Craig, minister of Canongate, to assist
him. In controversies with abbots and priests,
who vindicated the Roman Catholic faith,
and who courted discussion, he was now
deeply engaged, and evinced much knowledge
and piety.
In 1564, Knox contracted a second mar-
riage with Margaret Stewart, daughter of
Lord Ochiltree, and she continued, to his
death, to discharge the duties of a wife to
him, with pious and affectionate assiduity. In
August, he went, by appointment of the Ge-
neral Assembly, as visiter of the churches, to
Aberdeen and the north, where he continued
six or seven weeks. In this year Knox also
renewed his friendship with the Earl of
Murray; and, in consequence, was now ac-
cused of having assisted in the insurrection
under Murray, and the other lords who op-
posed the queen’s marriage. To avoid, how-
ever, such imputation, and also to silence the
suspicion of his alienation from the reformed
religion, he preached on the 19th of August,
from Isaiah xxvi. 13, 14. The king having
heard of that sermon, and imagining that
some passages referred to himself, in the very
afternoon of that day, had him taken from
bed, and carried before the privy council. He
was there required to desist from preaching,
but he refused so to do, and maintained the
truth of the sentiments he had delivered. It
does not appear, however, that he continued
any time suspended from preaching; for the
king and queen left Edinburgh before the
next Sabbath, and the prohibition only ex-
tended to the time of their residence in the
city. When the queen returned to Edin-
burgh, after the assassination of Rizzio, Knox
left it, and retired to Kyle. Being banished
from his flock, he judged this a favourable
opportunity of paying a visit to England, for
the purpose of conducting money matters
connected with the Reformation, and of visit-
ing his two sons. Knox returned to his
charge at the time that the queen fied with
Bothwell to Dunbar. On the 29th of July,
1567, the reformer preached the sermon at
the coronation of James VI., in the parish
church of Stirling. On the 15th of Decem-
ber, Knox preached at the opening of the
parliament, and exhorted them to begin with
the affairs of religion. In the act, ratifying
the jurisdiction of the church, Knox was ap-
pointed one of the commissioners for drawing
out the particular points which pertained to
ecclesiastical jurisdiction, to be presented to
the next meeting of parliament. In October,
1570, Knox was seized with a stroke of apo-
plexy, which affected his speech to a great
degree. His situation became very critical;
in April, 1571, when Kirkaldy received the
Hamiltons, with their forces, into the castle
of St. Andrew’s, their inveteracy against him
was so great, that his friends were obliged to
watch his house during the night. On the
5th of May, 1571, he left Edinburgh, and
crossing the Firth at Leith, travelled by short
stages to St. Andrew’s, which he had chosen
as the place of his retreat; but although free
from personal danger, Knox did not find St.
Andrew’s that peaceful retreat which he had
expected. During his stay at St. Andrew’s,
he published a vindication of the reformed
religion, in answer to a lettenwritten by a
Scotch Jesuit. Upon the rapid decline of
Knox’s health, it appeared probable he would
end his days at St. Andrew’s; but in conse-
quence of a cessation of arms in July, between
the king and the adherents of the queen, and
the consequent peace of the city of Edinburgh,
he returned to that place. In the month of
September, he began to preach in the Tel-
booth church, which was now fitted up for
him.
On the 11th of November following, Knox
was seized with a severe cough, and his life
rapidly drew to a close; and, on the 24th of
that month, he expired, in the sixty-seventh
year of his age, not so much oppressed with
years, as worn out and exhausted by his most
extraordinary labours of body, and anxiety
of mind. On the 26th of November, he was
interred in the churchyard of St. Giles; his
funeral was attended by the newly-elected
regent Morton, by all the nobility who were
in the city, and a great concourse of people.
When his body was laid in the grave, the
regent emphatically pronounced his eulogium,
in the well-known words, “There lies he
who never feared the face of man.”
Knox has been styled the intrepid reformer;
and that character he unquestionably deserves.
In personal intrepidity, and popular eloquence,
he resembled Luther. His doctrinal senti-
KO R 4-
KOR
26
ments were those of Calvin; and like Zuin-
glius, he felt an attachment to the principles
of religious liberty. He effected much in
the great work of the Reformation, but his
manners were so severe, and his temper so
acricl, that whilst he may be equally re-
spected with Luther and Melancthon, he is
not equally beloved. Knox was, however,
known and beloved by the principal persons
among the reformed in France, Switzerland,
and Germany; and the affectionate vene-
ration in which his memory was held in
Scotland after his death, evinced that the
influence he possessed among his countrymen,
during his life, was not constrained, but
founded on the high opinion which they
entertained. “ In contemplating,” says Dr.
M‘Orie, “such a character as that of Knox,
it is not the man so much as the reformer that
ought to engage our attention. The talents
which are suited to one age and station would
be altogether unsuitable to another; and the
wisdom displayed by Providence, in raising
up persons endowed with qualities singularly
adapted, to the work which they had to per-
form for the benefit of mankind, demands
particular consideration.” Banatyne has thus
drawn his character, and it is unquestionably
entitled to consideration :-—“ In this manner
(says he) departed this man of God; the light
of Scotland, the comfort of the church within
the same, the mirror of godliness, and pat-
tern and example to all true ministers, in
purity of life, soundness of doctrine, and bold-
ness in reproving of wickedness; one that
cared not for the favour of men, how great
soever they were. What dexterity in teach-
ing, boldness in reproving, and hatred of
wickedness, was in him, my ignorant dul-
ness is not able to declare, which, if I should
prois to set out, it were as one could light
a candle to let men see the sun; seeing all
his virtues are better known and notified to
the world a thousand fold than I am able to
express.”
KORAN, or, with the article, AL—KORAN,
(Alcoran), 2'. e. the Koran, which originally
means the reading, or that which is to be read,
is the Bible, or religious code of the Moham-
medans, written in Arabic by Mohammed.
It is also called Al-Forkan, either from its
division into distinct portions, or because it
is regarded as that which divides right from
wrong; Al-Moshaj, the volume; and Al-Kitab,
the book.
1. Koran, divisions of Uta—The Koran is
divided into 114 larger portions of very un-
equal length, which we call chapters, but the
Arabians Sowar, in the singular Sara,- a
word rarely used on any other occasion, and
properly signifying a row, or a regular series,
as a course of bricks in building, or a rank
of soldiers in an army, and is the same in use
and import with the Sum, or Tom, of the
Jews, who also call the fifty-three sections of
the Pentateuch Scdarz'm, a word of the same
signification. These chapters are not, in the
manuscript copies, distinguished by their nu-
merical order, but by particular titles, which
are taken sometimes from a peculiar subject
treated of, or person mentioned therein;
usually from the first word of note, exactly
in the same manner as the Jews have named
their Sedarim; though the word from which
some chapters are denominated be very distant,
towards the middle, or perhaps the end, of the
chapter, which seems ridiculous. But the
occasion of this appears to have been, that
the verse or passage wherein such word
occurs, was, in point of time, revealed and
committed to writing before the other verses
of the same chapter, which precede it in order;
and the title being given to the chapter before
it was completed, or the passages reduced to
their present order, the verse from whence
such title was taken did not always happen to
begin the chapter. Some chapters have two
or more titles, occasioned by the difference of
the copies. Some of them being pretended to
have been revealed at Mecca, and others at
Medina, the noting this difference makes a
part of the title. Every chapter is divided
into smaller portions of very unequal length
also, which we customarily call verses,- but
the Arabic word is Ayat, the same with the
Hebrew Othoth, and signifies signs or wonders;
such as the secrets of God, his attributes, works,
judgments, and ordinances, delivered in these
verses; many of which have their particular
titles, also, imposed in the same manner as
those of the chapters. Besides these unequal
divisions, the Mohammedans have also divided
their Koran into sixty equal portions, which
they call Anzab, in the singular Hizb, each
subdivided into four equal parts; which is
likewise an imitation of the Jews, who have
an ancient division of their Mishna into sixty
portions, called Massz'ototh. But the Koran
is more usually divided into thirty sections
only, named Ajaza, from the singular Joz,
each of twice the length of the former, and
in like manner subdivided into four parts.
These divisions are for the use of the readers
of the Koran in the royal temples, or in the
adjoining chapels where the emperors and
great men are interred; of whom there are
thirty belonging to every chapel, and each
reads his section every day; so that the whole
Koran is read over once a day. Next after
the title, at the name of every chapter except
only the ninth, is prefixed the following solemn
form, by the Mohammedans, called the Bis-
mzllah :—“ In the name of the most merciful
God ;” which form they constantly place at
the beginning of all their books and writings
in general, as a peculiar mark and distinguish-
ing characteristic of their religion, it being
accounted a sort of impiet to omit it. The
Jews, and eastern Christians, for the same
purpose, make use of similar forms. But
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Mohammed probably took this form from the
Persian Magi, who began their books in these
words‘z—Benam Yezclam bakshaishger dadar ,-
that is, “ In the name of the most merciful,
just God.” There are twenty-nine chapters
of the Koran which have this peculiarity,
that they begin with certain letters of the
alphabet, some with single ones, others with
more. These letters the Mohammedans believe
to be the peculiar marks of the Koran, and to
conceal several profound mysteries; the cer-
tain understanding of which, the more intel-
ligent confess, has not been communicated to
any mortal, their prophet only excepted: 'not-
withstanding which, some take the liberty of
guessing at their meaning by that species of
cabala called by the Jews Notarikin.
2. Koran, general design of the—The general
design of the Koran was to unite the professors
of the three difi‘erent religions, then followed
in the populous country of Arabia (who, for
the most part, wandered without guides, the
far greater number being idolaters, and the
rest Jews and Christians, mostly of erroneous
opinion), in the knowledge and worship of one
God, under the sanction of certain laws and
ceremonies, partly of ancient, and partly of
novel institution, enforced by the consideration
of rewards and punishments both temporal and
eternal; and to bring them all to the obedience
of Mohammed, as the prophet and ambassador
of God ; who, after the repeated admonitions,
promises, and threats of former ages, was sent
at last to establish and propagate God’s reli-
gion on earth, and to be acknowledged chief
pontiff in spiritual matters, as well as supreme
prince in temporal. The great doctrine, then,
of the Koran is the unity of God; to restore
which, Mohammed pretended, was the chief
end of his mission ; it being laid down by him
as a fundamental truth, that there never was,
nor ever can be, more than one true, orthodox
religion: that, though the particular laws or
ceremonies are only temporary, and subject
to alteration, according to the divine direction;
yet the substance of it, being eternal truth, is
not liable to change, but continues immutably
the same; and that, whenever this religion
became neglected or corrupted in essentials,
God had the goodness to rednform and re-
admonish mankind thereof by several prophets,
of whom Moses and Jesus were the most dis~
tinguished, till the appearance of Mohammed,
who is their seal, and no other to be expected '
after him. The more efl‘ectually to engage
people to hearken to him, great part of the
Koran is employed in relating examples of
dreadful punishments formerly inflicted by
God on those who rejected and abused his
messengers; several of which stories, or some
circumstances of them, are taken from the Old
and New Testaments, but many more from the
apocryphal books and traditions of the Jews
and Christians of those ages, set up in the
koran as truths, in opposition to the Scrip-
tures, which the Jews and Christians are
charged with having altered; and, indeed, few
or none of the relations of circumstances in
the Koran were invented by Mohammed, as
is generally supposed; it being easy to trace
the greatest part‘ of them much higher, as the
rest might he, were more of these books extant,
and were it worth while to make the inquiry.
The rest of the Koran is taken up in pre-
scribing necessary laws and directions, fre-
quent admonitions to moral and divine virtues,
the worship and reverence of the Supreme
Being, and resignation to his will. One of
their most learned commentators distinguishes
the contents of the Koran into allegorical and
literal: under the former are comprehended
all the obscure, parabolical, and enigmatical
passages, with such laws as are repealed or
abrogated; the latter, such as are clear and
in full force. The most excellent moral in
the whole Koran, interpreters say, is that in
the chapter AZ alrafl viz. “ Show mercy, do
good to all, and dispute not with the ignorant ;”
or, as Mr. Sale renders it, “Use indulgence,
command that which is just, and withdraw far
from the ignorant.” Mohammed, according
to the authors of the Keschaf, having begged
of the angel Gabriel a more ample explication
of this passage, received it in the following
terms: “ Seek him who turns thee out, give
to him who takes from thee, pardon him who
injures thee; for God will have you plant in
your souls the roots of his chief perfections.”
It is easy to see that this commentary is bor-
rowed from the Gospel. In reality, the neces-
sity of forgiving enemies, though frequently
inculcated in the Koran, is of a later date
among the Mohammedans than among the
Christians ; among those later than among
the heathens; and to be traced originally
among the Jews. (See Exodus xxxiii. 4, 5.)
But it matters not so much who had it at first,
as who observes it best. The Caliph Hassan,
son of Hali, being at table, a slave let fall a
dish of meat reeking hot, which scalded him
severely. The slave fell on his knees, rehears-
ing these words of the Koran,-“ Paradise is
for those who restrain ‘their anger.” “ I am
not angry with thee,” answered the caliph.
“ And for those who forgive offences against
them,” continues the slave. “ I forgive thee
thine,” replies the caliph. “But, above all,
for those who return good for evil,” adds the
slave. “I set thee at liberty,” rejoined the
caliph; “and I give thee ten dinars.” There
are also a great number of occasional passages
in the Koran relating only to particular emer-
gencies. For this advantage Mohammed had
by his piecemeal method of receiving and
delivering his revelations, that, whenever he
happened to be perplexed with any thing, he
had a certain resource in some new morsel of
revelation. It was an admirable contrivance
to bring down the whole Koran only to the
lowest heaven, not to earth; since, had the
KOR
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428
whole been published at once, innumerable
objections would have been made, which it
would have been impossible for him to have
solved; but as he received it by parcels, as
God saw fit they should be published for the
conversion and instruction of the people, he
had a sure way to answer all emergencies,
and to extricate himself with honour from
any difliculty which might occur.
3. Kora-n, history of the—It is the common
opinion, that Mohammed, assisted _by one
Sergius, a monk, composed this book; but
the Mussulmans believe it as an article of their
faith, that the prophet, who, they say, was an
illiterate man, had no concern in inditing it;
but that it was given him by God, who, to
that end, made use of the ministry of the
angel Gabriel; that, however, it was com-
municated to him by little and little, a verse
at a time, and in different places, during the
course of twenty-three years; “ and hence,”
say they, “ proceed that disorder and confusion
visible in the work ;” which, in truth, are so
great, that all their doctors have never been
able to adjust them; for Mohammed, or rather
his copyist, having put all the loose verses
promiscuously in a book together, it was im-
possible ever to retrieve the order wherein
they were delivered. These twenty-three
years which the angel employed in conveying
the Koran to Mohammed, are of wonderful
service to his followers; inasmuch as they
furnish them with an answer to such as tax
them with those glaring contradictions of
which the book is full, and which they piously
father upon God himself; alleging that, in
the course of so long a time, he repealed and
altered several doctrines and precepts which
the prophet had before received of him. M.
D’Herbelot thinks it probable that when the
heresies of the Nestorians, Eutychians, &c.,
had been condemned by (ecumenical councils,
many bishops, priests, monks, &c., being driven
into the deserts of Arabia and Egypt, furnished
the impostor with passages, and crude, ill-
conceived doctrines, out of the Scriptures; and
that it was hence that the Koran became so
full of the wild and erroneous opinions of
those heretics. The Jews also, who were very
numerous in Arabia, furnished materials for
the Koran ; nor is it without some reason that
they boast twelve of their chief doctors to
have been the authors of this work. The
Koran, while Mohammed lived, was only kept
in loose sheets: his successor, Abubekcr, first
collected them into a volume, and committed
the keeping of it to Haphsa, the widow of
Mohammed, in order to be consulted as an
original; and there being a good deal of di-
versity between the several copies already
dispersed throughout the provinces, Ottoman,
successor of Abubekcr, procured a great num-
ber of copies to be taken from that of Haphsa,
at the same time suppressing all the others not
conformable to the original. The chief differ-
ences in the present copies of this book con-
sist in the points, which were not in use in
the time of Mohammed and his immediate
successors; but were added since, to ascertain
the reading, after the example » of the Masse-
retes, who added the like points to the Hebrew
texts of Scripture. There are seven principal
editions of the Koran, two at Medina, one at
Mecca, one at Cufa, one at Bassora, one in
Syria, and the common, or vulgar edition.
The first contains 6000 verses, the others
surpassing this number by 200 or 236 verses;
but the number of words and letters is the
same in all; viz. 77,639 words, and 323,015
letters. The number of commentaries on the
Koran is so large, that the bare titles would
make a huge volume. Ben Oschar has writ-
ten the history of them, entitled Tarihh Ben
Oschair. The principal among them are,
Reidhari, Thaalebi, Zamalchschari, and Bacai.
The Mohammedans have a positive theology
built on the Koran and tradition, as well as
a scholastic one built on reason. They have
likewise their casuists, and a kind of canon
law, wherein they distinguish what is of
divine and what of positive right. They
have their beneficiaries, too, chaplains, al-
moners, and canons, who read a chapter every
day out of the Koran in their mosques, and
have prehends annexed to their office. The
hatz'b of the mosque is what we call the parson
of the parish; and the scheihs are the preachers,
who take their texts out of the Koran.
4. Koran, Mohammedan faith concerning.—
It is the general belief among the Moham—
medans that the Koran is of divine original ;
nay, that it is eternal and uncreated; remain-
ing, as some express it, in the very essence
of God; and the first transcript has been
from everlasting, by God’s throne, written on
a table of vast bigness, called the preserved
table, in which are also recorded the divine
decrees, past and future; that a copy from
this table, in one volume upon paper, was, by
the ministry of the angel Gabriel, sent down
“ to the lowest heaven, in the month of Rama-
dan, on the night of power, from whence
Gabriel revealed it to Mohammed in parcels,
some at Mecca, and some at Medina, at dif-
ferent times, during the space of twenty-three
years, as the exigency of afl‘airs required;
giving him, however, the consolation to show -
him the whole (which they tell us was bound
in silk, and adorned with gold and precious
stones of paradise) once a year; but in the
last year of his life he had the favour to see
it twice. They say, that only ten chapters
were delivered entire, the rest being revealed
piecemeal, and written down from time to
time by the prophet’s amanuensies, in such a
part of such and such a chapter, till they were
completed, according to the directions of the
angel. The first parcel that was revealed is
generally agreed to have been the first five
verses of the ninety-sixth chapter. In fine,
KOR
KOR
429
the book of the Koran is held in the highest imagination in its unbounded flight, it became
esteem and reverence among the Mussulmans. l in the hands of Mohammed an irresistible
They dare not so much as touch the
without being first washed, or legally purified ;
to prevent which, an inscription is put on the
cover or label,-—“ Let none touch but they
who are clean.” It is read with great care
and respect, being never held below the girdle.
They swear by it; take omens from it on all
weighty occasions; carry it with them to war;
write sentences of it on their banners: adorn
it with gold and precious stones ; and know-
ingly suffer it not to be in‘ the possession of
any of a different religion. Some say, that it
is punishable even with death, in a Christian,
even to touch it; others, that the veneration
of the Mussulmans leads them to condemn the
translating it into any other language as a
profanation: but these seem to be exaggera-
tions. The Mohammedans have taken care
to have their Scripture translated into the
Persian, the Javan, the Malayan, and other
languages ; though, out of respect to the ori-
ginal, these versions are generally, if not
always interlineated. -'
5. Koran, success of the, accounted for.—
The author of the “ View of Christianity and
Mohammedanism,” observes, that, “by the
advocates of Mohammedanism, the Koran has
always been held forth as the greatest of
miracles, and equally stupendous with the act
of raising the dead. The miracles of Moses
and Jesus, they say, were transient and tem-
porary; but that of the Koran is permanent
and perpetual, and therefore far surpasses all
the miraculous events of preceding ages. \Ve
will not detract from the real merits of the
Koran; we allow it to be generally elegant
and often sublime; but at the same time we
reject with disdain its arrogant pretence to
any thing supernatural, all the real excellence
of the work being easily referable to natural
and visible causes. In the language of Arabia,
a language extremely loved and diligently
cultivated by the people to whom it was ver-
nacular, Mohammed found advantages which
were never enjoyed by any former or succeed—
ing impostor. It requires not the eye of a phi-
losopher to discover in every soil and country
a principle of national pride ; and if we look
back for many ages on the history of the
Arabians, we shall easily perceive that pride
among them invariabl to have consisted in
the knowledge and nnprovement of their
native language. The Arabic, which has
been justly esteemed the most copious of the
eastern tongues, which had existed from the
remotest antiquity, which had been embel-
lished by numberless poets, and refined by
the constant exercise of the natives, was the
most successful instrument which Mohammed
employed in planting his new religion among
them. Admirably adapted by its unrivalled
haFmPnY, and by its endless variety, to add
painting to expression, and to pursue the
i
l
|
l
Koran charm to blind the judgment and to captivate
. the fancy of his followers. Of that description
l of men who first composed the adherents of
Mohammed, and to whom the Koran was
. addressed, few, probably, were able to pass a
i very accurate judgment on the propriety of
,- the sentiments, or on the beauty of the diction;
I. but all could judge of the military abilities of
1 their leader; and in the midst of their admir—
T ation, it is not difiicult to conceive that they
would ascribe to his compositions every ima—
lginary beauty of inspired language. The
shepherd and the soldier, though awake to
r the charms of these wild but beautiful com-
positions in which were celebrated their fa-
vourite occupations of love or war, were yet
little able to criticise any other works than
those which were addressed to their imagina-
tion or their heart. To abstract reasonings
on the attributes and the dispensations of the
Deity, to the comparative excellences of
rival religions, to the consistency of any one
religious system in all its parts, and to the
force of its various proofs, they were quite
inattentive. In such a situation, the appear-
ance of a work which possessed something
like wisdom and consistence; which prescribed
the rules and illustrated the duties of life;
and. which contained the principles of a new
and comparatively sublime theology, inde-
pendently of its real and permanent merit,
was likely to excite their astonishment, and
to become the standard of future composition.
In the first periods of the literature of every
country, something of this kind has happened.
The father of Grecian poetry very obviously
influenced the taste and imitation of his coun-
try. The modern nations of Europe all possess
some original author, who rising from the
darkness of former ages, has begun the career
of composition, and tinctured with- the cha-
racter of his own imagination the stream
which has flowed through his posterity. But
the prophet of Arabia had in this respect ad-
vantages peculiar to himself. His composi-
tions were not to his followers the works of
man, but the genuine language of Heaven
which had sent him. They were not con-
fined, therefore, to that admiration which is
so liberally bestowed on the earliest produc-
tions of genius, or to that fond attachment
with which men every where regard the ori-
ginal compositions of their country ; but with
their admiration they blended their piety. To
know and to feel the beauties of the Koran,
was in some respect to share in the temper of
Heaven; and he who was most affected with
admiration in the perusal of its beauties,
seemed fitly the object of that mercy which
had given it to ignorant man. The Koran,
therefore, became naturally and necessarily


the standard of taste.‘ With a language thus
I hallowed in their imaginations, they were too
KOR
KOlt
430
well satisfied either to dispute its elegance, or
improve its structure. In succeeding ages
the additional sanction of antiquity or pre-
scription was given to these compositions
which their fathers had admired: and while
the belief of its divine original continues, that
admiration which has thus become the test
and the duty of the faithful can neither be
altered nor diminished. When, therefore, we
consider these peculiar advantages of the
Koran, we have no reason to be surprised at
the admiration in which it is held. But if,
descending to a more minute investigation of
it, we consider its perpetual inconsistence and
absurdity, we shall indeed have cause for
astonishment at that weakness of humanity,
which could ever have received such com-
positions as the work of the Deity.
6. Koran, the style and merits of the, ex-
amined.——“ The first praise of all the pro-
ductions of genius (continues this author) is
invention; that quality of the mind, which,
by the extent and quickness of its views, is
capable of the largest conceptions, and of
forming new combinations of objects the
most distant and unusual. But the Koran
bears little impression of this transcendent
character. Its materials are wholly borrowed
from the Jewish and Christian Scriptures,
from the Talmudical legends and apochry-
phal gospels then current in the East, and
from the traditions and fables which abounded
in Arabia. The materials collected from these
several sources are here heaped together with
perpetual and needless repetitions, without
any settled principle or visible connexion.
When a great part of the life of Mohammed
had been spent in preparatory meditation on
the system he was about to establish, its chap-
ters were dealt out slowly and separately during
the long period of twenty-three years. Yet,
thus defective in its structure, and no less
objectionable in his doctrines, was the work
which Mohammed delivered to his followers
as the oracles of God. The most prominent
feature of the Koran, that point of excellence
in which the partiality of its admirers has
ever delighted to view it, is the sublime
notion it generally impresses of the nature
and attributes of God. If its author had
really derived these just conceptions from the
inspiration of that Being whom they attempt
to describe, they would not have been sur-
rounded as they now are, on every side, with
error and absurdity. But it might be easily
proved, that whatever it justly defines of the
divine attributes was borrowed from our Holy
Scripture; which even from its first promul-
gation, but especially from the completion of
the New Testament, has extended the views
and enlightened the understandings of man-
kind; and thus furnished them with arms
which have too often been effectually turned
against itself by its ungenerous enemies. In
this instance, particularly, the copy is far below
the great original, both in the propriety of its
images and the force of its descriptions.”
7. Koran, the sublimity of the, contrasted.—
“ Our Holy Scriptures are the only compo—
sitions that can enable the dim sight of mor~
tality to penetrate into the invisible world,
and to behold a glimpse of the divine per-
fections. Accordingly, when they would re-
present to us the happiness of heaven, they
describe it, not by any thing minute and par-
ticular, but by something general and great ;
something that, without descending to any
determinate object, may at once by its beauty
and immensity excite our wishes, and elevate
our affections, though, in the prophetical and
evangelical writings, the joys that shall attend
us in a divine state, are often mentioned with
ardent admiration, they are expressed rather
by allusion than by similittide; rather by in-
definite and figurative terms, than by any thing
fixed and determinate. ‘ Eye hath not seen,
nor ear heard, neither have entered into the
heart of man, the things which God hath pre~
pared for them that love him,’ 1 Cor. ii. 9.
What a reverence and astonishment does this
passage excite in every bearer of taste and
piety? What energy, and at the same time
what simplicity in the expression! How
sublime, and at the same time how obscure is
the imagery! Different was the conduct of
Mohammed in his descriptions of heaven and
paradise. Unassisted by the necessary influ-
ence of virtuous intentions and divine inspi-
ration, he was neither desirous, nor indeed
able, to exalt the minds of men to sublime
conceptions, or to rational expectations. By
attempting to explain what is inconceivable,
to describe what is inefiable, and to material~
ize what in itself is spiritual, he absurdly and
impiously aimed to sensualize the purity of
the divine essence. Thus he fabricated a
system of incoherence, a religion of depravity,
totally repugnant to the nature of that Being,
who, as he pretended, was its object; but
therefore more likely to accord with the appe-
tites and conceptions of a corrupt and sensual
age. That we may not appear to exalt our
Scriptures thus far above the Koran by an
unreasonable preference, we shall produce a
part of the second chapter of the latter, which
is deservedly admired by the Mohammedans,
who wear it engraved on their ornaments, and
recite it in their prayers. ‘ God! there is no
God but he; the living, the self-subsisting:
neither slumber nor sleep seizeth him: to him
belongeth whatsoever is in heaven, and on
earth. Who is he that can intercede with him
but through his good pleasure? He knoweth
that which is past, and that which is to come.
His throne is extended over heaven and
earth, and the reservation of both is to him
no burden. I e is the high, the mighty.’
Salc’s Koran, v. ii. p. 30. To this description
who can refuse the praise of magnificence?
Part of that magnificence, however, is to be
KOR
KOR
431
referred to that verse of the Psalmist whence it
is borrowed: ‘ He that keepeth Israel shall
neither slumber nor sleep,’ Psalm cxxi. 1.
But if we compare it with that other passage
of the inspired Psalmist (Psalm cii. 24-—27)
all its boasted grandeur is at once obscured and ,
lost in the blaze of a greater light l ‘ O my God,
take me not away in the midst of my days;
thy years are throughout all generations. Of
old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth;
and the heavens are the work of thy hands.
They shall perish, but thou shalt endure ; yea,
all of them shall wax old like a garment; as
a vesture shalt thou change them, and they
shall be changed. But thou art the same, and
thy years shall have no end.’
therefore, upon a fair examination, far from
supporting its arro ant claim to a supernatu-
ral work, sinks below the level of many com-
positions confessedly of human original! and
still lower does it fall in our estimation, when
compared with that pure and perfect pattern
which we justly admire in the Scriptures of
truth. It is, therefore, abundantly apparent,
.hat no miracle was either externally per-
formed for the support, or is internally in-
volved in the composition of the Mohammedan
revelation.” See Sale’s Koran ; Prideaux’s
Life of Mahomet ; W/zite’s Sermons at Bamp-
ton Lectures; and article MOI-IAMMEDANISM.
KORNTHAL, SOCIETY or, a religious com-
munity in the kingdom of Wurtemberg,
which originated in the following circum-
stances :—In the year 1818, Theophilus W'il—
liam Holfmann, a notary-public, and burgo-
master of Leonberg, perceiving that a
difference of religious belief led a great
number of the inhabitants of 'Wurtemberg to
The Koran, '
other but the house of God, and this is the
gate of heaven.” Its subsequent consecration
attracted the attention of the whole neigh-
bourhood; and whether from curiosity or
devotion, many afterwards came from a dis-
tance of six or eight leagues to worship
within its walls. Their mode of worship
nearly resembles that of the Protestant
churches, from which they are legally sepa-
rated, although they adopt the tenets and
teach the catechism of Luther, and have a
liturgy similar, not to that introduced into cer-
tain Lutheran churches in the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries, but to that of 1582. It
will be seen from what follows that their disci-
pline resembles that of the Moravian brethren.
They object to being designated a sect. as they
lay claim to being an apostolic church, founded
' on the principles laid down in the Acts of
the Apostles, and unfolded by Schmidt in his
“Abridged History of the Christian Reli-
gion.” Their service consists of a succession
of hymns, prayers, and Scripture-reading;
the Lord’s Supper is administered every
fourth week, eight days previous to which,
separate meetings are held of married men
' and widowers, married women and widows,
bachelors, and spinsters. Besides the Sun-
,days, they celebrate the festivals of Jesus
Christ, the Apostles, St. Stephen, the New
I Year, Epiphany, Holy Thursday, Good Fri-
day, Easter, Ascension, Pentecost, St. John
.Baptist, Annunciation, and Purification of
the Virgin Mary. They have also, once a
month, a day of fasting and prayer. Their
clergy consist of readers, elders, and a pre-
‘sident, called bishop, who in public service
I
Russia and America, thought it would be an
eflicacious means of preventing other dis-
senters from following their example, if they
were removed from under the jurisdiction of
the Lutheran consistory, and obtained tolera-
tion for the exercise of their religious wor-
ship. A royal decree, of the 22nd of Au-
gust, 1819, sanctioned their separation from
the Lutheran church, and gave its approbation
to regulations, formed by themselves, for
their organization as a religious body, and
for their relation to the state. They con-
sisted, at that time, of about forty families;
but their numbers rapidly increased. They
purchased the lordship of Kornthal, a baili-
wick of Leonberg, two leagues from Stutgard,
containing a thousand acres of arable and
woody land, with some houses, for a hundred
and fifteen thousand tlorins. One of their
first cares was to erect a commodions place
of worship, capable of holding two thousand
persons. The laying of the first stone of this
edifice was conducted with great solemnity;
1n the course of which Brother Hotfmann,
paraphrasing the mysterious vision of J acob’s
ladder, applied to the new erection the text,
“How dreadful is this placel this is none

appear in white robes. A secular president
administers their temporal affairs, who like
' all their civil and ecclesiastical oflicers, is
elected by the community, whose sufi‘rage is
also requisite in the admission of members.
A community of goods is not held by them 1
any member, on quitting the society, may
carry away his moveables; but he can only
sell his fixtures to another member, or, in
default of a purchaser, to the community.
The two sexes have separate burial places.
Feasts at baptisms and funerals are abolished ;
also salutations on the New Year. Mourning
is never worn. Oaths are forbidden. Bene-
volence towards persons of other communions
is commanded. Begging is prohibited, and
care is taken of the poor and aged. A por-
tion of the money collected for charitable
uses, is applied to carrying the knowledge of
the Gospel to heathen lands. They have
schools for each sex, in which they are
mainly solicitous to inculcate piety and virtue.
No member may marry without the advice
of the presidents, especially out of the society.
Every one must have some trade. For every
thing there is a fixed price. No brother may
borrow money but from the common chest.
No member may lodge a foreigner, or take a
LA B
LAB
432
erted over the late Emperor Alexander.
foreign servant, without informing the pre-
sident. The various branches of agriculture,
and-the mechanical arts, form the habitual
employment of this colony. Since 1821, a
kind of journal has, at indefinite periods,
presented to the public a view of the civil
and religious state of this society, whose
prosperity will augment while it shall retain
its primitive zeal, its purity of manners, and
its love of labour.
KnUnENEn, MADAME, a religious enthu-
siast, noted for the influence which she éax-
he
was born about 1766, in Riga. Her father,
Baron Vietinghoff, one of the richest landed
proprietors in Courland, gave her a good
education: but while young, she accom-
panied her parents to Paris, where her wit,
beauty and cheerfulness were admired by
men of talent and fashion who frequented
the house. In her fourteenth year she was
married to Baron Krudener, a Livonian,
about thirty. Accompanying him to Copen-
hagen and Venice, where he was ambassador,
as also at Petersburgh, she formed one of the
most brilliant ornaments of the first circles;
but amidst the crowd of admiring flatterers
she was unhappy, and being led into levities
by the allurements of the world, she was di-
vorced by her husband in 1791. She now
lived sometimes at Riga, and alternately in
Petersburgh and Paris, where her love of
dissipation involved her in difliculties. Having
been attached to the person of the queen of
Prussia at the time the disasters of that
country arrived, and participating in her
affliction, she turned her mind from the
pleasures of the world to religion, though, as
is often the case, little change may have been
produced in the essentials of her character.
Ambition, a lively sensibility, and love of
excitement, seem to have remained‘the great
springs of action. She was now attracted
by the Moravians, and returning to Paris,
gained a number of disciples. About 1813
she became acquainted with the celebrated
mystic, Yung of Carlsruhe, after which she
L.
LABADISTS were so called from their
founder, John Labadie, a native of France.
He was originally in the Romish communion ;
but leaving that, he became a member of the
reformed church, and performed with re-
putation the ministerial functions in France,
Switzerland, and Holland. He at length
erected a new community, which resided‘
successively at Middleburg, in Zealand, Am-
sterdam, Hervorden, and at Altona, where he
died about 1674. After his death, his fol-
lowers removed their wandering community
to Wiewert, in the district of North Holland,
believed herself called upon personally to
preach, which she commenced by addressing
the prisoners at Heidelberg. In 1814 she
again visited Paris, where she became ac-
quainted with Alexander, emperor of Russia,
who paid her great deference, and was greatly
influenced by the conversations which she
had with him: it being generally believed
that they originated the idea of the Holy
Alliance, which she afterwards held up as
a kind of New Covenant. She now held
prayer-meetings, attended by distinguished
personages, where she was seen in the back-
ground of a suite of rooms, in the dress of a
priestess, kneeling in prayer. In 1815 she
went to Basle, where she was joined by a
young clergyman of the name of Empetaz,
who preached at her meetings. Bad reports
having come into circulation respecting the
moral character of these meetings, she was
denounced, and obliged to leave the city,
which treatment she also experienced in other
places; and when ultimately driven from her
residence near Basle, she travelled about,
preaching in the open air, often surrounded
by 3000 people, and distributing largely to the
poor. At last she was obliged to take refuge
in the dominions of her friend the emperor
of Russia. In Petersburgh she held private
meetings, which were attended by persons of
rank and influence, some of whom being
members of the Bible Society, tended greatly
to involve that institution, the interests of
which had nothing in common with the fa-
natic, in the odium in which she stood with
the orthodox members of the church.
Yielding to the force of political motives,
the emperor consented to her being removed
from the capital, but made arrangements for
her comfortable settlement in the Crimea,
where it is likely she would have collected a
very numerous sect; but she died at Kara-
subazar in 1824, before she had time to bring
any thing to maturity.
KTISTOLATRJE, a branch of the Monophy-
sites, which maintained that the body of
Christ before his resurrection was corruptible
where it soon fell into oblivion. If we are
to judge of the Lab-adists by their own ac-
count, they did not differ from the reformed
church so much in their tenets and doctrines
as in their manners and rules of discipline;
yet it seems that Labadie had some strange
notions. Among other things he maintained
that God might and did, on certain occasions,
deceive men; that the faithful ought to have
all things in common; that there is no sub-
ordination, or distinction of rank in the true
church ; that in reading the Scriptures greater
attention should be paid to the internal in-
L A M
LAM
433
spiration of the Holy Spirit, than to the
words of the text; that the observation of
Sunday was a matter of indifference; that
the contemplative life is a state of grace and
union with God, and the very height of per-
fection.
LABARUM, the name given to the imperial
banner, upon which Constantine, after his
conversion, blazoned the monogram of Christ.
LAITY, the people, as distinguished from
the clergy. See CLERGY.
LAMA, GRAND (Dalai Lama), a name given
to the sovereign pontifl' or high priest of the
Tibetian Tartars, who resides at Patoli,‘ a
large monastery on a mountain near the §
banks of Barampooter, about seven miles
from Lassa, in Tibet. The foot of this moun-
tain is inhabited by twenty thousand lamas,
or priests, who have their separate apartments
round about the mountain, and according to
their respective quality are placed nearer or
at a greater distance from the sovereign pon-
tifi'. He is not only worshipped by the Tibe-
tians, but also is the great object of adoration
for the various tribes of heathen Tartars who :
roam through the vast tract of continent _
which stretches from the banks of the \Volga f
to Corea, on the sea of Japan. He is not
only the sovereign pontifi‘, the vicegerent of
the Deity on earth, but the more remote
Tartars are said to absolutely regard him as p
the Deity himself, and call him God the ever- l
lasting Father of heaven. They believe him i
to be immortal, and endowed with all know- ',
ledge and virtue. Every year they come up
from different parts to worship and make rich :
offerings at his shrine: even the emperor of '
China, who is a Manchou Tartar, does not '
fail in acknowledgments to him in his reli- l
gious capacity; and actually entertains at a 1
great expense, in the palace of Pckin, an in- ,
ferior lama, deputed as his nuncio from Tibet. ‘
The grand lama, it has been said, is never;
to be seen but in a secret place of his palace, ‘
amidst a great number of lamps, sitting cross- '
legged on a cushion, and decked all over with
gold and precious stones, where at a distance i
the people prostrate themselves before him, it not being lawful for any so much as to kiss l
his feet. He returns not the least sign of
respect, nor ever speaks even to the greatest princes; but only lays his hand upon their ,


heads, and they are fully persuaded they re- i"
ceive from thence a full forgiveness of all'
their sins.
The Sunniasses, or Indian pilgrims, often I
visit Tibet as a holy place; and the lama,
always entertains a body of two or three hun- '
dred in his pay. Besides his religious in-
fluence and authority, the grand lama is
possessed of unlimited power throughout his
dominions, which are very extensive. The
mferlor lamas, who form the most numerous
as well as the most powerful body in the
state, have the priesthood entirely in their
hands; and besides fill up many monastic
orders which are held in great veneration
among them. The whole country, like Italy,
abounds with priests; and they entirely sub-
£181; on the great number of rich presents
which are sent them from the utmost extent
of Tartary, from the empire of China, and
from almost all parts of the Indies. At Lassa
alone there are 3000 monasteries.
The opinion of those who are reputed the
most orthodox among the Tibetians is, that
when the grand lama seems to die, either of
old age or infirmity, his soul, in fact, only
quits a crazy habitation to look for another
younger or better; and is discovered again in
the body of some child by certain tokens,
known only to the lamas or priests, in which
order he always appears.
Almost all nations of the East, except the
Mohammedans, believe the metempsychosis
as the most important article of their faith;
especially the inhabitants of Tibet and Ava,
the Peguans, Siamese, the greatest part of
lthe Chinese and Japanese, and the Moguls
and Kalmucks, who changed the religion of
Schamanism for the worship of the grand
lama. According to the doctrine of this
metempsychosis, the soul is always in action,
and never at rest; for no sooner does she
leave her old habitation, than she enters a
new one. The Dalai Lama, being a divine
person, can find no better lodging than the
body of his successor; or the Foe, residing in
the Dalai Lama, which passes to his succes-
sor: and this being :1 gr d, to whom all things
are known, the Dalai Lama is therefore ac
quainted with every thing which happened
during his residence in his former body.
This religion is said to have been of three
thousand years’ standing; and neither time
nor the influence of men has had the power
of shaking the authority of the grand lama.
This theocracy extends as fully to temporal
as to spiritual concerns.
Though, in the grand sovereignty of the
lamas, the temporal power has been occasion-
ally separated from the spiritual by slight
revolutions, they have always been united
again after a time ; so that in Tibet the whole
constitution rests on the imperial pontificate
in a manner elsewhere unknown. For as the
Tibetians suppose that the grand lama is
animated by the good Shaka, or Foe, who at
“the decease of one lama transmigrates into
the next, and consecrates him an image of
the divinity, the descending chain of lamas is
continued down from him in fixed degrees of
sanctity; so that a more firmly established
sacerdotal government, in doctrine, customs,
and institutions, than actually reigns over
this country, cannot be conceived. The su_
preme manager of temporal aifairs is no more
than the viceroy of the sovereign priest, who,
conformable to the dictates of his religion,
dwells in divine tranquillity in a building that
r 1‘
LAN
LAT
434
is both temple and palace. If some of his
votaries in modern times have dispensed with
the adoration of his person, still certain real
modifications of the Shaka religion is the
only faith they follow. The state of sanctity
which that religion inculcates, consists in
monastic continence, absence of thought, and
the perfect repose of nonentity.
It has been observed that the religion of
Tibet is the counterpart of the Roman Catho- ,
lic, since the inhabitants of that country use
holy water and a singing service; they also
offer alms, prayers, and sacrifices for the
dead. They have a vast number of convents
filled with monks and friars, amounting to
thirty thousand; who, besides the three vows
of poverty, obedience, and charity, make
several others. They have their confessors,
who are chosen by their superiors, and have
licences from‘ their lamas, without which
they cannot hear confessions or impose pen-
ances. They make use of beads. They
wear the mitre and cap like the bishops : and
their Dalai Lama is nearly the same among
them as the sovereign pontifl' is among the
Romanists.
LAMAISM, the religion of the adherents of
the Dalai Lama.
LAMBETH ARTICLES. See ARTICLES.
LAMPETIANS, a denomination in the seven-
teenth century, the followers of Lampetius, a
Syrian monk. He pretended that as man is
born free, a Christian, in order to please God,
ought to do nothing by necessity; and that
it is, therefore, unlawful to make vows, even
those of obedience. To this system he added
the doctrines of the Arians, Carpocratians,
and other denominations. ,
LANGUAGE in general, denotes those arti-
culate sounds by which men express their
thoughts. Much has been said respecting
the invention of language. On the one side,
it is observed, that it is altogether a human
invention, and that the progress of the mind,
in the invention and improvement of lan~
guage, is, by certain natural gradations,
plainly discernible in the composition of
words. But on the other side it is alleged,
that we are indebted to divine revelation for i
the origin of it. Without supposing this, we
see not how our first parents could so early
hold converse with God, or the man with
his wife. Admitting, however, that it is of
divine original, we cannot suppose that a per-
fect system of it was all at once given to
man. It is much more natural to think that
God taught our first parents only such Ian-
guage as suited their present occasion, leaving
them, as he did in other things, to enlarge
and improve it, as their future necessities
should require. Without attempting, how-
ever, to decide this controversy, we may con-
sider language as one of the greatest blessings
belonging to mankind. Destitute of this, we
should make but small advancements in;
science, be lost to all social enjoyments, and
religion itself would feel the want of such
a power. Our wise Creator, therefore, has
conferred upon us this inestimable privilege:
let us then be cautious that our tongues be
not the vehicle of vain and useless matter,
but used for the great end of glorifying‘ him,
and doing good to mankind. What was the
first language taught man, is matter of d1s~
pute among the learned, but most think it
iwas the Hebrew. But as this subject, and
I the article in general, belongs more to philo-
llogy than divinity, we refer the reader to
1 Dr. Adam Smith’s Dissertation on the Forma-
i tion of Languages; Harris’s Hermes,- IVar-
' burton’s Divine Legation of Moses, vol. i1i.;
Traité de la Formation .Mécanz'que des Lan-
gues, par le President de Brosses; Blair’s Rhe-
toric, vol. i. lect. vi.; Gregory’s Essays, ess.
6 ; Lord Monboddo on the Origin and Progress
of Language.
LATIMER, HUGH, was descended of mean
but honest parents, at Thurcaston, near Mount
Sorrel, in Leicestershire, where his father
‘ lived in good reputation. He was born in the
year 1470; and, at an early age, was put to
a grammar-school at Thurcaston, and after-
wards at Leicester, where he made such rapid
improvement, that it was determined to bring
him up to the church. With this view, as
'soon as he was prepared, he was sent to
Cambridge in 1484, when, at the usual time,
he took his degrees in arts; and, entering
into priest’s orders, behaved with remarkable
zeal and warmth in defence of popery, his
religion, against the reformed opinions which
had lately discovered themselves in England.
He heard these new teachers with high indig-
nation, and inveighed, publicly and privately,
against the reformers. He looked upon them
in so bad a light, that he declared he was of
opinion, the last times, the day of judgment,
and the end of the world, were approaching.
“Impiety,” he said, “was gaining ground
apace; and what lengths may not men be ex-
pected to run, when they begin to question
even the infallibility of the pope.” If any
inclined to the Reformation, and particularly
when Mr. Stafford, divinity lecturer in Cam-
bridge, read lectures in the schools, Mr.
Latimer was sure to be there, to drive out
the scholars. Such was the enmity of Mr.
Latimer to those principles he afterwards felt
it his highest honour to support. Among
those who favoured the Reformation, Mr.
Thomas Bilney was one of the most consi-
derable. With this good man it was Mr.
vLatimer’s happiness to become acquainted,
‘ who had likewise. conceived very favourable
sentiments of him. He had known Latimer’s
life, while in the university, to be a life strictly
moral and devout; he ascribed his failings to
the genius of his religion; and he appeared
; so candid and unprejudiced by any sinister
views, that he could not but be open to any



L A '1‘
LAT
435
truths that should be set properly before him,
which gave Mr. Bihiey great hopes of his
reformation. Induced by these favourable
appearances, he failed not, as opportunities
offered, to suggest many things to him about
corruptions in religion in general, whence he
used frequently to drop a hint concerning
some in the Romish Church in particular.
By the influence and exertions of Mr. Bilney,
Latimer was obliged to renounce his papisti-
cal doctrines, and, at the age of fifty-three,
became a decided Protestant, and was as active
in supporting and propagating the reformed
doctrine, and as assiduous to make converts,
as he was before in destroying the enemies of
the pope. A behaviour of this kind was im-
mediately noticed. Cambridge, no less than
the rest of this kingdom, was entirely popish;
every new opinion was watched with the
strictest jealousy, and Mr. Latimer soon per-
ceived how obnoxious he had made himself.
Latimer had, by this time, through his daily
and indefatigable searching of the Scriptures
of the Old and New Testaments, made himself a
complete master‘ of all the scriptural arguments
proper to confute the reigning errors of the
Church of Rome. He now became a preacher
of great eminence, and displayed a remarkable
address in adapting himself to the capacities
of the people.
Dr. Buckingham, prior of the Blaekfriars,
who appeared in the pulpit against him, with
great pomp and prolixity; he particularly
inveighed against the Scriptures in English;
and, on the following Sunday, Mr. Latimer
rose to refute the opinions of this deceiver of
himself and others. Accordingly, on the
following Sabbath, the whole university as-
sembled to hear the opponent of the former
minister, who made one of the audience.
Mr. Latimer, with great gravity, recapitulated
the learned doctor’s arguments, placed them
in the strongest light, and then rallied them
with so much flow of wit and good humour,
that he placed his adversary in the most ridi-
culous light, and sent him away ashamed of
his opinions and himself. These things
greatly alarmed the popish clergy. Mr. La-
timer continued to preach, and heresy (as
they called it) to spread. The heads of the
popish party applied to the Bishop of Ely,
as their diocesan; but that prelate was not
a man for their purpose; though he was a
papist, he was moderate; and did nothing
more than silence Mr. Latimer, and that only
for a short time. Dr. Barnes, of the Austin
Friars, whose monastery was exempt from
episcopal jurisdiction, being a great admirer
of Mr. Latimer, boldly licensed him to preach
there. The credit to the Protestant cause,
which our preacher had thus gained in the
fillpltr he maintained by a holy life out of it.
r. Bilney and he gave daily instances of
goodness, which malice could not seandalize,
nor envy misinterpret. They visited the pri~
He was openly opposed by =
l
l
5
i
I
I
!
soners, relieved the poor, and fed the hungry
Cambridge was full of their good. works;
their charities to the poor, and friendly visits
to the sick, were constant topics of discourse.
About that time, Latimer, with eighteen
bishops, drew up and signed a declaration
against the pope’s ecclesiastical jurisdiction,
which concludes with these words :—“ That
the people ought to be instructed ; that Christ
did expressly forbid his apostles, or their suc-
cessors, to take to themselves the power of
the sword, or the authority of kings; and
that if the Bishop of Rome, or any other
bishop, assumed such power, he was a tyrant,
and a usurper of other men’s rights, and a
subverter of the kingdom of Christ.” In the
' same year, also, the priory of Great Malverne,
in 'Worcestershire, was suppressed. At the
suppression, Latimer, with an earnest desire,
recommended to Cromwell, who was the
king’s vicar-general, that that house might
stand, not in monkery, but so as to be con-
verted to preaching, study, and prayer. In
this year passed the famous act, as it was
called, of the Six Articles, which, when pub-
lished, gave great alarm to all favourers of
the Reformation; and as the Bishop of Wor-
cester could not give his vote for the act, he
thought it wrong to hold any oflice in a
church where such terms of communion were
required: he therefore resigned his bishop-
rick, and retired into the country, where he
resided during the heat of that persecution
which followed upon this act, and intended
there to pass the remainder of his days. But,
in the midst of his security, an accident car-
ried him into the tempestuous weather that
was abroad. He received a bruise from the
fall of a tree, and the contusion was so great,
that he was obliged to repair to London,
where he saw the fall of his patron, the Lord
Cromwell; a loss which he was soon made
sensible of. Gardiner’s emissaries found him
out in his concealment, and as some one had
heard him speak against the Six Articles, he
was sent to the Tower, and, through one pre-
tence or another, imprisoned for six years,
with the Bishop of Chichester. -
On the change of government, under King
Edward VI., Latimer, with many others, was
released; and he accepted an invitation from
his friend, Archbishop Cranmer, and took up
his residence at Lambeth, where he led a very
retired life, being chiefly employed in hearing
the complaints, and redressing the injuries,
'_ of poor people. But though he was thus
.fusefully employed, a slander passed upon
1' him, which is this—that after the ‘Lord High
E Admiral’s attainder and execution, which
. happened about this time, he publicly de-
ifended his death, in a sermon, before the
i king; that he respected his character; and
that he did it merely to pay a servile compli-
' ment to the Protector. The first part of this
is true, but the second and third are false.


L A T
LAW
436
Upon the revolution, which happened at perhaps, the most valuable.”——Southey’s Book
court, after the death of the Duke of Somer-
set, Latimer retired into the country, and.
resumed his preaching in those places he.
thought might be most serviceable. But as
soon as the introduction of popery was re-
solved on, the first step towards it was the
prohibition of all preaching throughout the
kingdom. Many were taken into custody;
and the Bishop of Winchester, then prime
minister, having proscribed him from the
first, sent a message to cite him before the
council. He had notice of this some time
before the messenger’s arrival, but made no
use of the intelligence. The messenger found
him equipped, and ready for his journey; at
which, expressing his surprise, Latimer told
him he was as ready to attend him to London,
thus called upon to answer for his faith, as he
ever was to take any journey in his life ,- and
that he doubted not but 'that God, who had
enabled him to stand before two princes,
would enable him to stand before a third,
either to his comfort or discomfort eternally.
The messenger then told- him, he had only a
letter to deliver, and retired.
Mr. Latimer, on opening the letter, found
it to be only a citation from the coun'cil, and
be resolved to obey it. He therefore set out
immediately, and, as he passed through Smith-
field, where heretics were usually burned, he
said, cheerfully,—-“ Smithfield hath long
groaned for me.” The next morning he wait-
ed on the council, who sent him to the Tower.
Sentence was passed on him in the beginning
of October, and he and Ridley were executed
on the 16th. \Vhen they came to the stake,
he lifted up his eyes and said,—-“Fz'delis est
Deus,-” i. e. God is faithful, who will not
sufl'er us to be tempted above what we are able
to bear. He then prepared himself, saying to
the Bishop of London, “We shall this day,
brother, light such a candle in England, as
shall never be put out.” Such was the death
of Hugh Latimer, Bishop of \Vorcester. He
had a happy temper, improved by the best
principles; and such was his cheerfulness,
that none of the circumstances of life were
seen to discompose him: such was his Chris-
tian fortitude, that not even the severest trials
could unman him. Indeed, for Latimer, no
eulogy is wanting, when it is recollected that
he was one of the leaders of that noble army
of martyrs who introduced the Reformation
into England.
“ He, more than any other man, promoted
the Reformation by his preaching. The
straight-forward honesty of his remarks, the
liveliness of his illustrations, his homely wit,
his racy manner, his manly freedom, the play-
fulness of his temper, the simplicity of his
heart, the sincerity of his understanding, gave
life and vigour to his sermons when they were
delivered, and render them now the most
amusing productions of that age, and to us,
4
~
i
I
l
l


of the Church.
LATITUDINARIANS, persons who, disregard-
ing fixed, determinate, or exclusive views of
doctrine or worship, maintain that men will
be saved, independently of any particular
persuasion which they entertain. The term
was given “to More, Hales, Chillingworth,
Wilkins, Cudworth, Whitchcot, Gale, Tillot~
son, and others, mostly Cambridge men, who
endeavoured to examine all the principles of
morality and religion on philosophical prin-
ciples, and to maintain them by the reason of
things. They declared against superstition
on the one hand, and enthusiasm on the other.
They were attached to the constitution and
forms of the church; but moderate in their
opposition to those who dissented from it.
They were mostly Arminians of the Dutch
school, but admitted of a considerable latitude
of sentiment, both in philosophy and theology,
on which account they were denominated Lati-
tudz'narz'ans. In conjunction with other clergy-
men of that period, they introduced a very
ineflicient mode of preaching into the Esta-
blished Church ; learnedly defending the
truth of Christianity as a system, but modify-
ing the statements of the Gospel, obscuring
the glory of divine grace, and thus neutral-
izing its influence on the heart of man. They
were, in fact, low churchmen, of Arminian
principles: moderate in piety, in sentiment
and in zeal; though some of them gradually
became ‘ fierce for moderation.’ ”
LAURA, in church history, a name given to
a collection of little cells at some distance from
each other, in which the hermits of ancient
times lived together in a wilderness. These
hermits did not live in community, but each
monk provided for himself in his distinct cell.
'The most celebrated lauras mentioned in ec-
clesiastical history were in Palestine ; as the
laura of St. Euthymus, St. Saba, the laura of
the towers, &c.
LAUREATE, as a passive verb, to be crowned
with the prize, as a successful theological
candidate, in ancient times, at the Scotch
universities.
LAW, a rule of action; a precept or com-
mand coming from a superior authority, which
an inferior is bound to obey. The manner in
which God governs rational creatures is by a
law, as the rule of their obedience to him, and
which is what we call God‘s moral government
of the world. He gave a law to angels, which
some of them have kept, and have been con_
firmed in a state of obedience to it; but which
others broke, and thereby plunged themselves
into destruction and misery. ‘He gave also a
law to Adam, which was in the form of a cove—
nant, and in which Adam stood as a covenant
head to all his posterity, Rom. v. Gen. But
our first parents soon violated that law, and fell
from a state of innocence to a state of sin and
misery. Hos. vi. 7. Gen. iii. See FALL.
LAW
LEA
437
' magistrate, and never, except in things relative
Positive laws are precepts which are not ,
founded upon any reasons known to those to :-
whom they are given. Thus in the state of ‘
innocence God gave the law of the sabbath;
of abstinence from the fruit of the tree of
knowledge, 80c. .
Law of nature is the will of God relating to
human actions, grounded in the moral differ-
ences of things, and, because discoverable by
natural light, obligatory upon all mankind,
Rom. i. 20; ii. 14, 15. This law is coeval
with the human race, binding all over the
globe, and at all times; yet, through the cor-
ruption of reason, it is insufficient to lead us
to happiness, and utterly unable to acquaint us
how sin is to be forgiven, without the assist-
ance of revelation.
Ceremonial law is that which prescribes the
rites of worship used under the Old Testament.
These rites were typical of Christ, and were
obligatory only till Christ had finished his
work, and began to erect his Gospel church.
Heb. vii. 9, 11 ; x. 1. Eph. ii. 16. C01. ii. 14.
Gal. v. 2, 3.
Judicial law was that which directed the
policy of the Jewish nation, as under the
peculiar dominion of God as their supreme
to moral equity, was binding on any but the
Hebrew nation.
Moral law is that declaration of God’s will
which directs and binds all men, in every age
and place, to their whole duty to him. It. was
most solemnly proclaimed by God himself at
Sinai, to confirm the original law of nature,
and correct men’s mistakes concerning the
demands of it. It is denominated perfect,
Psalm xix. 7 ; perpetual, Matt. v. 17, 18 ; holy,
Rom. vii. 12; good, Rom. vii. 12 ; spiritual,
Rom. vii. 14; exceeding broad, Psa. cxix. 96.
Some deny that it is a rule of conduct to be-
lievers under the Gospel dispensation; but it
is easy to see the futility of such an idea; for
as a transcript of the mind of God, it must be
the criterion of moral good and evil. It is
also given for that very purpose, that we may
see our duty, and abstain from every thing
derogatory to the divine glory. It affords us
grand ideas of the holiness and purity of God;
without attention to it, we can have no know-
ledge of sin. Christ himself came not to de-
stroy, but to fulfil it; and though we cannot
do as he did, yet we are commanded to follow
his example. Love to God is the end of the
moral law, as well as the end of the Gospel.
By the law, also, we are led to see the nature
of holiness, and our own depravity, and learn
to be humbled under a sense of our imper-
fection. We are not under it, however, as a
covenant of works, Gal. iii. 13 ; or as a source
of terror, Rom. viii. 1; although we must abide
by it, together with the whole preceptive word
of God, as the rule of our conduct, Rom. iii.
81 ; v11. ~
Laws, penal, such as have some penalty to
enforce them. All the laws of God are and can-
not but be penal, because every breach of his
law is sin, and meritorious of punishment.
Laws, directive, are laws without any
punishment annexed to them.
Law of honour is a system of rules con-
structed by people of fashion, and calculated
to facilitate their intercourse with one another,
and for no other purpose. Consequently
nothing is adverted to by the law of honour
but what tends to incommode this intercourse.
Hence this law only prescribes and regulates
the duties betwixt equals, omitting such as
relate to the Supreme Being, as well as those
which we owe to our inferiors, and, in most
instances is favourable to the licentious in-
dulgence of the natural passions. Thus it
allows of fornication, adultery, drunkenness,
prodigality, duelling, and of revenge in the
extreme, and lays no stress upon the virtues
opposite to these.
Law, remedial, a fancied law, which some
believe in, who hold that God, in mercy to
mankind, has abolished that rigorous consti-
tution or law that they were under originally,
and instead of it has introduced a more mild
constitution, and put us under a new law,
which requires no more than imperfect sincere
obedience, in compliance with our poor, infirm,
impotent circumstances since the fall. I call
this a fancied law, because it exists nowhere
except in the imagination of those who hold
it. See NEONOMIANS, and JUSTIFICATION.
Laws of nations are those rules which by a
tacit consent are agreed upon among all com-
munities, at least among those who are reckon-
ed the polite and humanized part of mankind.
Gz'll’s Body of D2'v.,vol. i. p. 454, 8V0, vol. iii. _
425, ditto; Paley’s filer. PhiL, vol. i. p. 2;
Camberland’s Law of Nature ,- Grove’s 11101‘.
Phz'l.,vol. ii. p. 117; Booth’s Death of Legal
Hope ; Inglish and Burder’s Pieces on the
llloral Law ,- Watts’s T'Vorhs, vol. i. ser. 49,
Svo edition, and vol. ii. p. 443, &c.; Scott’s
Essays.
LAY-BROTHERS, among the Romanists, illi-
terate persons, who devote themselves at some
convent to the service of the religious. They
wear a different habit from that of the reli-
gious, but never enter into the choir, nor are
present at the chapters; nor do they make
any other vow than that of constancy and
obedience.
LAYMAN, one who follows a secular em-
ployment, and is not in orders ; opposed to a
clergyman. The distinction is purely eccle_
siastical; and being founded on misinterpre—
tation and misapplication of the word of God,
is most preposterously adopted by some (118-
senters, whose professed principles are totally
at variance with the unscriptural idea which
it is calculated to foster. See CLERGY.
LEADLYANS, the followers of Jane Leadley,
an English lady, who, about the beginning of
the eighteenth century, pretended to visions,
LEA
L E A
438
and insisted that if all who hear the Christian ,
name, regardless of external doctrines and;
discipline, would commit their souls to the
care of the internal guide, the church would i
speedily become a glorious scene of charity, '
concord, and happiness. Her disciples she ,
formed into a body, to whom she gave the 5
name of the Philadelphian Society. She pre- '
dicted a period when all intellectual beings
should be finally restored to perfection and
happiness. She had two principal associates, Bromely and Pordage, the former of whom
had nothing to renommend him but his mys- i
tical piety: and the latter surpassed Jacob
Behmen himself in obscurity and nonsense;
and could only excite in his hearers a stupid
awe, by the sonorous jingle of his words.
LEAGUE, SMALCALDIC, a solemn alliance
first formed at Smalcald, in 1530, and after—
wards at Frankfort, by the Elector of Saxony, i
and those princes who were confederate with I
him, with a view to defend, with the utmost ,
vigour, their religion and liberties against1
the dangers and encroachments with which
they were menaced by the edict which had
just. been framed at the diet of Augsburg.
Into this confederacy they invited the kings of England, France, and Denmark, with '
several other states and republics, and left
no means unemployed that might tend to
corroborate and cement it. Mosh. Church
Hist, iv. p. 98.
LEAGUE AND COVENANT, SoLEMN.
COVENANT.
LEARNING, skill in any science, or that im-
provement of the mind which we gain by
study, instruction, observation, &c. An at-
tentive examination of ecclesiastical history‘
will lead us to see how greatly learning is in-
debted to Christianity, and that Christianity,
in its turn, has been much served by learning.
“ All the useful learning,” says Dr. Jortin,
“which is now to be found in the world, is in
a great measure owing to the Gospel. The
Christians, who had a great veneration for the
Old Testament, have contributed more than
the Jews themselves to secure and explain
those books. The Christians, in ancient times,
collected and preserved the Greek versions
of the Scriptures, particularly the Septuagint,
and translated the originals into Latin. To
Christians were due the old Hexapla; and
in later times Christians have published the
Polyglots and the Samaritan Pentateuch. It
was the study of the Holy Scriptures which
excited Christians from early times to study
chronology, sacred and secular; and here
much knowledge of history, and some skill in
astronomy, were needful. The NewTesta-
ment, being written in Greek, caused Chris—~
tians to apply themselves also to the study of
that language. As the Christians were op-
posed by the Pagans and the Jews, they were
excited to the study of Pagan and Jewish

See

literature, in order to expose the absurdities
of the Jewish traditions, the weakness of Pa-
ganism, and the imperfections and insuifi-
ciency of philosophy. - The first fathers, till
the third century, were generally Greek
writers. In the third century the Latin lan-
guage was much upon the decline, but the
Christians preserved it from sinking into ab-
solute barbarism. Monkery, indeed, produced
many sad effects; but Providence here also
brought good out of evil; for the monks were
employed in the transcribing of books, and
many valuable authors would have perished
if it had not been for the monasteries. In the
ninth century, the Saracens were very stu-
dious, and contributed much to the restoration
of letters. But, whatever was good in the
Mohammedan religion, it is in no small mea-
sure indebted to Christianity for it, since
Mohammedanism is made up for the most
part of Judaism and Christianity. If Chris-
tianity had been suppressed at its first appear-
ance, it is extremely probable that the Latin
and Greek tongues would have been lost in
the revolutions of empires, and the irruptions
of barbarians in the east and in the west ; for
the old inhabitants would have had no con-
scientious and religious motives to keep up
their language; and then, together with the
Latin and Greek tongues, the knowledge of
antiquities and the ancient writers would have
been destroyed. To whom, then, are we in-
debted for the knowledge of antiquity, for
every thing that is called philosophy, or the
literce hwnaniores?—to Christians. T o whom,
for grammars and dictionaries of the learned
languages ?—-to Christians. To whom for
chronology, and the continuation of history
through many centuries ?—to Christians. To
whom for rational systems of morality, and
improvements in natural philosophy, and for
the application of these discoveries to religious
purposes ?—to Christians. To whom for me-
taphysical researches, carried as far as the
subject will permit ?—to Christians. To whom
for the moral rules to be observed by nations
in war and peace ?—to Christians. To whom
for jurisprudence, and for political knowledge,
and for settling the rights of subjects, both
civil and religious, upon a proper foundation?
-—to Christians. To whom for the Reforma-
tion ?——to Christians. -
“ As religion hath been the chief preserver
of erudition, so erudition hath not been un-
grateful to her patroness, but hath contributed
largely to the support of religion. The useful
expositions of the Scriptures, the sober and
sensible defences of revelation, the faithful
representations of pure and undefiled Chris—
tianity; these have been the works of learned,
judicious, and industrious men. Nothing,
however, is more common than to hear the
ignorant decry all human learning as entirely
useless in religion; and what is still more
remarkable, even some, who call themselves
preachers, entertain the same sentiments.
LEC
LEC
439
But to such we can only say what a judicious
preacher observed upon a public occasion,
that if all men had been as unlearned as
themselves, they never would have had a text
on which to have displayed their ignorance.”
Dr. Jortin’s Sermons, vol. vii. Charge 1.;
Mrs. H. More’s Hints to a Young Princess,
vol. i. p. 64 ; Cook’s Miss. Ser. on illatt. vi. 3;
Dr. Stennett’s Ser. on Acts xxvi. 24, 25.
LECTURES, BAMPTON, a course of eight
sermons preached annually at the university
of Oxford, set on foot by the Reverend John
Bampton, canon of Salisbury. According to
the directions in his will, they are to be
preached upon either of the following sub-
jectsz—To confirm and establish the Chris-
tian faith, and to confute all heretics and
schismatics ; upon the divine authority of the
holy Scriptures; upon the authority of the
writings of the primitive fathers, as to the
faith and practice of the primitive church;
upon the divinity of our Lord and Saviour
Jesus Christ; upon the divinity of the Holy
Ghost; upon the articles of the Christian
faith, as comprehended in the Apostles’ and
Nicene creeds. For the support of this lec-
ture, he bequeathed. his lands and estates to
the chancellor, masters, and scholars of the
university of Oxford for ever, upon trust that
the vice-chancellor for the time being take
and receive all the rents and profits thereof;
and, after all taxes, reparations, and necessary
deductions made, to pay all the remainder to
the endowment of these divinity lecture ser-
mons. He also directs in his will, that .no
person shall be qualified to preach these lec-
tures unless he have taken the degree of
master of arts, at least, in one of the two uni-
versities of Oxford or Cambridge, and that
the same person shall never preach the same
sermon twice. A number of excellent ser-
mons preached at this lecture are now before
the public. A more enlarged account of this
lecture may be seen in the Christian Observer
for May, 1809.
LECTURES, BoYLE’s.
TUREs.
LECTURE, CONGREGATIONAL, alecture esta-
blished by a committee of Congregationalists,
in the year 1833, and delivered at the Con-
gregational Library, Blomfield-street. The
volumes hitherto published relate chiefly to
Christian doctrine and ethics, and subjects con-
nected with the divine authority of Scripture.
LECTURE, MERCHANTS’, a lecture set up in
the year 1672, by the Presbyterians and In-
dependents, to show their agreement among
themselves, as well as to support the doctrines
of the Reformation against the prevailing
errors of popery, Socinianism, and infidelity.
The principal ministers for learning and po-
pularity were chosen as lecturers; such as
Dr. Bates, Dr. Manton, Dr. Owen, Mr. Bax-
tel‘, Mr. Collins, Jenkins, Mead, and after-
wards Mr. Alsop, Howe, Cole, and others. It
See BoYLE’s LEC-
was encouraged and supported by some of
the principal merchants and tradesmen of the
city. Some misunderstanding taking place,
the Presbyterians removed to Salter’s-hall,
and the Independents remained at Pinner’s-
hall, and each party filled up their numbers
out of their respective denominations. This
lecture is kept up to the present day, and is
now held at Broad-street Meeting every Tues-
day morning. '
LECTURE, MONTHLY. A lecture preached
monthly by the congregational ministers of
London in their difierent chapels, in rotation.
These lectures have of late been systemati-
cally arranged, so as to form a connected
course of one or more years. A valuable vo-
lume on the evidences of Revelation, pub—
lished in 1827, is one of the fruits of these
monthly exercises.
LECTURES, MORNING. Certain casuistical
lectures, which were preached by some of the
most able divines in London. The occasion
of these lectures seems to be this: During
the troublesome times of Charles I., most of
the citizens having some near relation or
friend in the army of the earl of Essex, so
many bills were sent up to the pulpit every
Lord’s Day for their preservation, that the
minister had neither time to read them, nor
to recommend their cases to God in prayer;
it was, therefore, agreed by some London
divines to separate an hour for this purpose
every morning, one half to be spent in prayer,
and the other in a suitable exhortation to the
people. \Vhen the heat of the war was over,
it became a casuistical lecture, and was car-
ried on till the restoration of Charles II.
These sermons were afterwards published in
several volumes quarto, under the title of the
Morning Exercises. The authors were the
most eminent preachers of the day; Mr.
(afterwards archbishop) Tillotson was one of
them. It appears that these lectures were
held every morning for one month only; and
from the preface to the volume, dated 1689,
the time was afterwards contracted to a fort-
night. Most of these were delivered at Crip-
plegate church, some at St. Giles’s, and a
volume against popery in Southwark. Mr.
Neale observes, that this lecture was after-
wards revived in a different form, and con-
tinued in his day. It was kept up long after-
wards at several places in the summer, a
week at each place ; but latterly the time was
exchanged for the evening.
LECTURES, MoYER’s, a course of eight
sermons preached annually, set on foot by
the beneficence of Lady Meyer, about 1720,
who left by will a rich legacy, as a founda-
tion for the same. A great number of Eng-
lish writers having endeavoured, in a variety
of ways, to invalidate the doctrine of the
Trinity, this opulent and orthodox lady was
influenced to think of an institution which
should produce to posterity an ample collec-
LEG
LEG
440
tion of productions in defence of this branch
of the Christian faith. The first course of
these lectures was preached by Dr. Water-
land, on the Divinity of Christ, and are well
worthy of perusal.
LECTURES, RELIGIOUS, are discourses or
sermons delivered by ministers on any sub-
~iect in theology. Beside lectures on the sab-
bath-day, many think proper to preach on
week-days; sometimes at five in the morning,
before people go to work, and at seven in the ~
evening, after they have done. In London
there is preaching almost every forenoon and
evening in the week, at some place or other.
It may be objected, however, against week-
day preaching, that it has a tendency to take
people from their business, and that the
number of places open on a sabbath-day su-
persedes the necessity of it. But in answer
to this may it not be 0bserved,——1. That
people stand in need at all times of religious
instruction, exhortation, and comfort ?-—2.
That there is a probability of converting
sinners then as well as at other times ?—-3.
That ministers are commanded to be instant
in season and out of season ?—-And, 4. It gives
ministers an opportunity of hearing one an—
other, which is of great utility. After all, it
must be remarked, that he who can hear
the truth on a sabbath-day does not act cone
sistently to neglect his family or business to
be always present at week-day lectures; nor is
he altogether wise who has an opportunity of
receiving instruction, yet altogether neglects it.
LECTURE, WARBURTONIAN, a lecture
founded by Bishop \Varburton to prove the
truth of revealed religion in general, and the
Christian in particular, from the completion
of the prophecies in the Old and New Testa-
ment which relate to the Christian church,
especially to the apostacy of papal Rome.
To this foundation we owe the admirable
discourses of Hurd, Halifax, Bagot, and many
others.
LECTURERS, in the Church of England,
are an order of preachers distinct from the
rector, vicar, and curate. They are chosen
by the vestry, or chief inhabitants of the
parish, supported by voluntary subscriptions
and legacies, and are usually the afternoon
preachers, and sometimes ofiiciate on some
stated day in the week. Where there are
lectures founded by the donations of pious
persons, the lecturers are appointed by the
founders, without any interposition or con-
sent of the rectors of churches, &c. though
with the leave and approbation of the bishop;
such as that of Lady Meyer at St. Paul’s.
But the lecturer is not entitled to the pulpit
without the consent of the rector or vicar,~
who is possessed of the freehold of the
church.
LEGAL, or MOSAIC, DISPENSATION.
DISPENSATION.
LEGALIST, strictly speaking, is one who
See
acts according to or consistent with the law;
but in general the term is made use of to
denote one who expects salvation by his own
works. We may further consider a legalist
as one who has no proper conviction of the
evil of sin; who, although he pretends to
abide by the law, yet has not a just idea of
its spirituality and demands. He is ignorant
of the grand scheme of salvation by free
grace: proud of his own fancied righteous-
ness, he submits not to the righteousness of
God; he derogates from the honour of Christ,
by mixing his own works with hisyand in
fact denies the necessity of the work of the
Spirit, by supposing that he has ability in
himself to perform all those duties which
God has required. Such is the character of
the legalist; a character diametrically oppo-
site to that of the true Christian, whose sen-
timent corresponds with that of the apostle,
“ By grace are ye saved, through faith, and
that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.
Not of works, lest any man should boast.”
Eph. ii. 8, 9.
LEGATE, a cardinal, or bishop whom the
pope sends as his ambassador to sovereign
princes.
LEGEND (legenda), originally a book, in the
Romish church, containing the lessons that
were to be read in divine service: from
hence the word was applied to the histories of
the lives of saints, because chapters were read
out of them at matins: but as the golden
legend, compiled by James de Varase, about
the year 1290, contained in it several ridi“
culous and romantic stories, the word is now
used by Protestants to signify any incredible
or inauthentic narrative. Hence, as Dr. J or—
tin observes, we have false legends concerning
the miracles of Christ, of his apostles, and of
ancient Christians; and the writers of these
fables had, in all probability, as good natural
abilities as the disciples of Christ, and some of
them wanted neither learning nor craft; and
yet they betray themselves by faults against
chronology, against history, against manners
and customs, against morality, and against
probability. A liar of this kind can never
pass undiscovered; but an honest relater of
truth and matter of fact is safe: he wants no
artifice, and fears no examination.
LEGION, THEBEAN, a name given, in the
time of Dioclesian, to a whole legion of Chris-
tians, consisting of more than six thousand
men, who were said to have suffered martyr-
dom by the order of Maximian. Though
this story hath, never wanted patrons, yet it
is disbelieved by many. Dr. Jortin, in his
usual facetious way, says, that it stands upon
the authority of one Eucherius, bishop of
Lyons, and a writer of the fifth century, who
had it from T heodorus, another bishop, who‘
-had the honour and felicity to find the relics
of these martyrs by revelation, and perhaps
by the smell of the bones .'
LEL
LEN
441
LEGION, THUNDERING, a name given to
those Christians who served in the Roman
army of Marcus Antoninus, in the second cen-
tury. The occasion of it was this :—When
that emperor was at war with the Marco—
manni, his army was inclosed by the enemy,
and reduced to the most deplorable condition
by the thirst under which they languished in
a parched desert. Just at this time they
were remarkably relieved by a sudden and
unexpected rain. This event was attributed
to the Christians, who were supposed to have
effected this by their prayers; and the name
of the thundering legion was given to them, on
account of the thunder and lightning that
destroyed the enemy, while the shower re-
vived the fainting Romans. ‘Whether this
was really miraculous or not, has been dis-
puted among learned men. Those who wish
to see what has been said on both sides, may
consult l/Vz'tsius Dissertat. tle Legione Fulmi-
natrice, which is subjoined to his Egyptiaca,
in defence of this miracle; as also what is
alleged against it by Dan. Lauroque, in a dis-
course upon that subject, subjoined -to the
Adversaria Sacra of Matt. Lauroque, his
father. The controversy between Sir Peter
King and Mr. Moyle upon this subject is also
worthy of attention.
LELAND, JoHN, a learned dissenting mi-
nister, well known by his writings in defence
of Christianity, was born at W'igan, in Lan-
cashire, 1691, of eminently pious and virtuous
parents. They took the earliest care to im-
bue his mind with virtuous principles; but
in his sixth year, the small-pox deprived him
of his understanding and memory, obliterating
from the tablet of his mind all his former
ideas. In this deplorable state he continued
nearly a year, when his faculties seemed to
spring up anew, and though he did not retain
the least trace of any impressions made _on
him prior to his disorder, yet he now disco-
vered a quick apprehension and strong me-
mory. In a few years after his parents settled
at Dublin, which situation gave him an early
introduction to learning and the sciences.
When properly qualified by years and study,
he was called to the pastoral office, in a con-
gregation of protestant dissenters in thatcity.
He was an able and acceptable preacher, but
his labours were not confined to the pulpit.
The numerous attacks that, at that period,
were made upon Christianity, and some of
them by writers of no contemptible ability,
determined him to consider the subject with
the exactest care and most faithful examina-
tion. The result was a firm conviction of the
divine authority, as well as the importance
and excellency of Christianity, which he now
set himself to defend against a host of assail-
ants. He was indeed a master in this con»
trpversy, and his history of it, entitled “ A
View of the Deistical-Writers that have ap-
peared in England, in the last and present
Century,” is greatly and deservedly esteemed.-
His cool and dispassionate manner of treating
his opponents, and his solid confutation of their
objections and reasonings, contributed more
to depress the cause 3f atheism and infidelity,
than the angry zeal of warm disputants. In
the decline of life, he published another labo-
rious work, entitled “ The Advantages and.
Necessity of the Christian Revelation, shown
from the state of Religion in the Ancient
Heathen \Vorld, especially with respect to
the Knowledge and Worship of the One true
God; a Rule of Moral Duty, and a State of
Rewards and Punishments; to which is pre-
fixed, a long preliminary Discourse on Na-
tural and Revealed Religion,” two volumes
quarto. This noble and extensive subject,
the several parts of which have been slightly
and occasionally handled by other writers,
Leland has treated at large with superior
ability. The work has been subsequently re-
printed, in two volumes, octavo. In 1739,
the University of Aberdeen conferred upon
him the honorary degree of doctor in divi-
nity. Dr. Leland died on the 16th of Janu-
ary, 1766, in the seventy—fifth year of his
age, highly respected for his learning and
talents. After his death, his Sermons were
published, in four volumes, octavo, with a
Preface, giving some account of the Life,
Character, and Writings of the Author, by
the Rev. Dr. Isaac Weld; London, 17 69.—
Jones‘s Christ. Biog.
LENT, a Teutonic word,—in German, Lenz,
the spring,-—a time of fasting in the Church,
observed as a period of humiliation before
Easter. The Romish Church, and some of
the Protestant communion, maintain, that it
was always a fast of forty days, and, as such,
of apostolical institution. Others think that
it was of ecclesiastical institution, and that it
was variously observed in different churches,
and grew by degrees from a fast of forty
hours to a fast of forty days. This is the
sentiment of Morton, Bishop Taylor, Du
Moulin, Daille, and others. Anciently, the
manner of observing Lent among those who
were piously disposed, was to abstain from
food till evening: their only refreshment was
a supper, and it was indifferent whether it
was flesh or any other food, provided it was
used with sobriety and moderation. Lent
was thought the proper time for exercising
more abundantly every species of charity:
thus what they spared of their own bodies by
abridging them of a meal, was usually given
to the poor: they employed their vacant
hours in visiting the sick and those that were
in prison; in entertaining strangers,_and re-
conciling differences. The imperial. laws
forbade all prosecution of men 1n crimmal
actions, that might bring them to corporal
punishment and torture, during the whole
season. This was a time of more than ordi-
nary strictness and devotion; and, therefore,
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442
in many of the great churches, they had reli-
gious assemblies for prayer and preaching
every day. All public games and stage plays
were prohibited at this season, and also the
celebration of all festivals, birth-days, and
marriages. The Christians of the Greek
Church observe four Lents; the first com-
mences on the 15th of November; the second
is the same with our Lent; the third begins
the week after Whitsuntide, and continues
till the festival of St. Peter and St. Paul ; and
the fourth commences on the 1st of August,
and lasts no longer than till the 15th. These
Lents are observed with great strictness and
austerity, but on Saturdays and Sundays they
indulge themselves in drinking wine and
using oil, which are prohibited on other
days.
LESSONS, among ecclesiastical writers, are
portions of the holy Scriptures read in
churches at the time of divine service. In
the ancient church, reading the Scripture was
one part of the service of the catechumen, at
which all persons were allowed to be present
in order to obtain instruction. The Church
of England, in the choice of lessons, proceeds
as follows :—for all the first lessons on or-
dinary days, she directs to begin at the be-
ginning of the year with Genesis, and so con-
tinue till the books of the Old Testament are
read over, only omitting Chronicles, which
are for the most part the same with the books
of Samuel and Kings; and other particular
chapters in other books, either'because they
contain the ‘names of persons, places, or other
matters less profitable to ordinary readers.
The course of the first lessons for Sundays
is regulated after a different manner: from
Advent to Septuagesima Sunday, some parti-
cular chapters of Isaiah are appointed to be
read, because that book contains the clearest
prophecies concerning Christ. Upon Septua-
gesima Sunday, Genesis is begun: because
that book, which treats of the fall of man, and
the severe judgment of God inflicted on the
world for sin, best suits with a time of repent-
ance and mortification. After Genesis follow
chapters out of the books of the Old Testa-
ment, as they lie in order; only on festival
Sundays, such as Easter, Whitsunday, &c.,
the particular history relating to that day is
appointed to be read ; and on the saints’ days
the Church appoints lessons out of the moral
books, such as Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, &c.,
as containing excellent instructions for the
conduct of life. As to the second lessons,
the Church observes the same course both on
Sundays and week-days ; reading the Gospel
and Acts of the Apostles in the morning, and
the Epistles in the evening, in the order they
stand in the New Testament; excepting on
saints’ days and holy days, when such les-'
sons are appointed as either explain the mys-
tery, relate the history or apply the example
to us.
LEUCOPETRIANS, the name of a fanatical
sect which sprung up in the Greek and Eas-
tern Churches towards the close of the twelfth
century; they professed to believe in a
double trinity, rejected wedlock, abstained
from flesh, treated with the utmost contempt
the sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s
Supper, and all the various branches of ex-
ternal worship; placed the essence of religion
in internal prayer alone; and maintained, as
it is said, that an evil being or genius dwelt
in the breast of every mortal, and could be
expelled from thence by no other method
than by perpetual supplication to the Supreme
Being. The founder of this sect is'said to
have been a person called Leucopetrus, and
his chief disciple, Tychicus, who corrupted
by fanatical interpretations several books of
Scripture, and particularly the Gospel of
Matthew.
LEVIRATE, a Hebrew law, in obedience to
which, when a man died without issue, his
brother was obliged to marry his widow,
with the view of raising up a first-born
son to succeed to the inheritance. The
term is derived from the word Levz'r, which,
though not of classical authority, is found in
the Vulgate and the Pandects, and is ex-
plained by Festus to signify a husband’s bro-
then-flfz'chaeh's on the Laws of Moses, arti-
cle xcviii.
LEVITES, MILITARY, a name given to such
ministers in the time of the Commonwealth,
as filled the office of chaplain to the regi-
ments of the Parliamentary army.
LEvITY, lightness of spirit, in opposition to
gravity. Nothing can be more proper than‘
for a Christian to wear an air of cheerfulness,
and to watch against a morose and gloomy
disposition. But though it be his privilege
to rejoice, yet he must be cautious of that
volatility of spirit which characterises the
unthinking, and marks the vain professor.
To be cheerful without levity, and grave
without austerity, form both a happy and
dignified character.
LIBATION, the act of pouring wine on the
ground in divine worship. Sometimes other
liquids have been used, as oil, milk, water,
honey, but mostly wine. Amongst the
Greeks and Romans it was an essential part
of solemn sacrifices. Libations were also in
use among the Hebrews, who poured a bin of
wine on the victim after it was killed, and
the several pieces of the sacrifice were laid
on the altar ready to be consumed in the
flames. ‘
LIBERALITY, bounty; a generous disposition
of mind, exerting itself in giving largely. It
is thus distinguished from generosity and
bounty :-—Liberality implies acts of mere
giving or spending; generosity, acts of great-
ness; bounty, acts of kindness. Liberality is
a natural disposition; generosity proceeds
from elevation of sentiment; bounty from
L I B
LIB
443
religious motives. Liberality denotes freedom
of spirit; generosity, greatness of soul; bounty,
openness of heart.
LIBERALITY or‘ SENTIMENT, a generous
disposition a man feels towards another who
is of ‘a different opinion from himself; or as
one defines it, “that generous expansion of
mind which enables it to look beyond all petty
distinctions of party and system, and, in the
estimate of men and things, to rise superior to
narrow prejudices.” As liberality of senti-
ment is often a cover for error and scepticism
on the one hand, and as it is too little attended
to by the ignorant and bigoted on the other,
we shall here lay before our readers a view of
it by a masterly writer. “ A man of liberal
sentiments must be distinguished from him
who hath no religious sentiments at all. He
is one who hath seriously and effectually in—
vestigated, both in his Bible and on his knees,
in public assemblies and in private conversa-
tions, the important articles of religion. He
hath laid down principles, he hath inferred
consequences; in a word, he hath adopted
sentiments of his own.
“ He must be distinguished, also, from that
tame, undiscerning domestic among good
people, who, though he has sentiments of his
own, yet has not judgment to estimate the
worth and value of one sentiment beyond
another.
“ Now, a generous believer of the Christian‘
religion is one who will never allow himself
to try to propagate his sentiments by the com-
mission of sin. No collusion, no bitterness,
no wrath, no undue influence of any kind, will
he apply to make his sentiments receivable;
and no living thing will be less happy for his
being a Christian. He will exercise his liber-
ality by allowing those who differ from him
as much virtue and integrity as he possibly
can.
“There are, among a multitude of argu-
ments to enforce such a disposition, the fol-
lowing worthy our attention:
“ First, We should exercise liberality in
union with sentiment, because of the difi‘erent
capacities, advantages, and tasks of mankind.
Religion employs the capacities of mankind
just as the air employs their lungs and their
organs of speech. The fancy of one is lively,
of another dull. The judgment of one is
elastic; of another feeble, a damaged spring.
The memory of one is retentive; that of
another is treacherous as the wind. The pas-
sions of this man are lofty, vigorous, rapid;
those of that man crawl, and hum, and buzz,
and, when on the wing, sail only round the
circumference of a tulip. Is it conceivable
that capability, so difi‘erent in every thing
else, should be all alike in religion? The ad-
vantages of mankind difl‘er. How should he
who hath no parents, no books, no tutor, no
companions, equal him whom Providence
hat-h gratified with. them all ; who, when he
looks over the treasures of his own know-
ledge, can say, this I had of a Greek, that I
learned of a Roman; this information I ac-
quired of my tutor, that was a present of my
father; a friend gave me this branch 0.
knowledge, an acquaintance bequeathed me
that? The tasks of mankind differ ; so I call
the employments and exercises of life. In
my opinion, circumstances make great men;
and if we have no Caesars in ‘the state. and
Pauls in the church, it is because neither
church nor state are in the circumstances in
which they were in the days of those great
men. Push a dull man into a river, and en-
danger his life, and suddenly he will discover
invention, and make efforts beyond himself.
The world is a fine school of instruction.
Poverty, sickness, pain, loss of children,
treachery of friends, malice of enemies, and a
thousand other things, drive the man of sen-
timent to his Bible, and, so to speak, bring
him home to a repast with his benefactor,
God. Is it conceivable that he whose young
and tender heart is yet 'unpractised in trials
of this kind, can have ascertained and tasted
so many religious truths as the sufferer has?
“ We should believe the Christian religion
with liberality, in the second place, because
every part of the Christian religion inculcates
generosity. Christianity gives us a character
of God; but what a character does it give!
G01) 1s LovE. Christianity teaches the doc-
trine of Providence; but what a providence!
Upon whom doth not its light arise? Is
there an animalcule so little, or a wretch so
forlorn, as to be forsaken and forgotten of his
God? Christianity teaches the doctrine or
redemption; but the redemption of whom ?—
of all tongues, kindred, nations, and people;
of the infant of a span, and the sinner of a
hundred years old: a redemption generous in
its principle, generous in its price, generous
in its effects ; fixed sentiments of divine mu-
nificence, and revealed with a liberality for
which we have no name. In a word, the illi—
beral Christian always acts contrary to the
spirit of his religion: the liberal man alone
thoroughly understands it.
“ Thirdly, We should be liberal, because
no other spirit is exemplified in the infallible
guides whom we profess to follow. I set one
Paul against a whole army of uninspired
men: ‘ Some preach Christ of good-will, and
some of envy and strife. What then? Christ
is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and
will rejoice. One eateth all things, another
eateth herbs: but why dost THOU judge thy
brother? We shall all stand before the judg-
ment seat of Christ.’ We often inquire, What
was the doctrine of Christ, and what was the
practice of Christ? Suppose we were to in~
stitute a third question, Of what TEmrER was
Christ? -
“Once more: We should be liberal as well
as orthodox, because truths, especially the
LIB
LIB
444-
truths of Christianity, do not want any sup-
port from our illiberality. Let the little bee
guard its little honey with its little sting;
perhaps its little life may depend a little while -
on that little nourishment. Let the fierce bull’
shake his head, and nod his horn, and threaten
his enemy, who seeks to eat his flesh, and
wear his coat, and live by his death: poor
fellow! his life is in danger; I forgive his
bellowing and his rage. But the Christian
religion,—is that in danger? and what human
efforts can render that true which is false, that
odious which is lovely? Christianity is in
no danger, and therefore it gives its professors
life ‘and breath, and all things except a power
of injuring others.
“ In fine, liberality in the profession of reli-
gion is a wise and innocent policy. The
bigot lives~ at home ; a reptile he crawled into
existence, and there in his hole he lurks a
reptile still. A generous Christian goes out
of his own party, associates with others, and
gains improvement by all. It is a Persian
proverb, ‘A liberal hand is better than a
strong arm.’ The dignity of Christianity is
better supported by acts of liberality than by
accuracy of reasoning; but when both go to-
gether, when a man of sentiment can clearly
state, and ably defend, his religious principles,
and when his heart is as generous as his prin-
ciples are inflexible, he possesses strength and
beauty in an eminent degree.” See Theol.
Misc. vol. i. p. 39. '
LIBERTINE, one who acts without restraint,
and pays no regard to the precepts of reli-
gion.
LIBERTINES, 1. According to some, were
such Jews as were free citizens of Rome:
they had a separate synagogue at Jerusalem,
and sundry of them concurred in the perse-
cution of Stephen. Acts vi. 9. Dr. Guyse
supposes that those who had obtained this
privilege by gift were called libcrti (free men),
and those who had obtained it by purchase,
libertini (made free), in distinction from origi-
nal native free men. Dr. Doddridge thinks
that they were called Libertines as having
been the children of freed men, that is, of
emancipated captives or slaves. See Doddridge
and Guyse on Acts vi. 9.
2. A religious sect which arose in the year
1525, whose principal tenets were, that the
Deity was the sole operating cause in the
mind of man, and the immediate author of all
human actions; that, consequently, the dis-
tinctions of good and evil, which had been
established with regard to those actions, were
false and groundless, and that men could not,
properly speaking, commit sin; that religion
consisted in the union of the spirit, or rational
soul, with the Supreme Being; that all those
who had attained this happy union, by sublime
contemplation and elevation of mind, were
then allowed to indulge, without exception or
restraint, their appetites or passions ; that all
their actions and pursuits were then perfectly
innocent; and that, after the death of the
body, they were to be united with the Deity.
They likewise said that Jesus Christ was no-
thing but a mere je ne scai quoi, composed of
the spirit of God and the opinion of men.
These maxims occasioned their being called
Libertines, and the word has been used in an
ill sense ever since. This sect spread princi-
pally in Holland and Brabant. Their leaders
were one Quintin, a Pickard, Pockesius, Rufi‘us,
and another, called Chopin, who joined with
Quintin, and became his disciples. They ob-
tained footing in France, through the favour _
and protection of Margaret, Queen of Navarre,
and sister to Francis 1., and found patrons in
several of the reformed churches.
3. Libertines of Geneva were a cabal of
rakes rather than of fanatics; for they made
no pretence to any religious system, but
pleaded only for the liberty of leading volup-
tuous and immoral lives. This cabal was
composed of a certain number of licentious
citizens, who could not bear the severe dis-
cipline of Calvin. There were also among
them several who were not only notorious for
their dissolute and scandalous manner of liv-
ing, but also for their atheistical impiety, and
contempt of all religion. To this odious class
belonged one Gruet, who denied the divinity
of the Christian religion, the immortality of
the soul, the difference between moral good
and evil, and rejected with disdain the doc-
trines that are held most sacred among Chris-
tians; for which impieties he was at last
brought before the civil tribunal, in the year
1550, and condemned to death.
LIBERTY denotes a state of freedom, in
contradistinction to slavery or restraint.—-l.
Natural liberty, or liberty of choice, is that in
which our volitions are not determined by
any foreign cause or consideration whatever
offered to it, but by its own pleasure—2.
External liberty, or liberty of action, is opposed
to a constraint laid on the executive powers ;
and consists in a power of render'ug our vo-
litions effectual.-—3. Philosophical iberty con-
sists in a prevailing disposition to act accord-
ing to the dictates of reason, i. c. in such a
manner as shall, all things considered, most
effectually promote our happiness—4. Moral
liberty is said to be that in which there is no
interposition of the will of a superior being to
prohibit or determine our actions in any par-
ticular under consideration. See NECESSITY,
‘WILL—5. Liberty of conscience is freedom from
restraint in our choice of, and judgment about
matters of religion—6. Spiritual liberty con—
sists in freedom from the curse of the moral
law; from the servitude of the ritual; from
the love, power, and guilt of sin; from the
dominion of Satan; from the corruptions
of the world; from the fear of death, and
the wrath to come. Rom. vi. 14; viii. 1.
Gal. iii. 13. John viii. 36. Rom. viii. 21.
LIG
LIM
445
Gal. v. 1. IThess. i. 10. See articles MATE-
RIALISTS, PREDESTINATION, and Doddridge’s
Lect, vol. i. p. 50, oct.; Watts’s Phil, sect. v.
p. 288; Jon. Edwards on the Will; Locke on
UncL; Grave's Mar. PhiL, sect. 18, 19; J.
Palmer on Liberty of Man ; Martin’s Queries
and Remarks on Human Liberty ,- Charnock’s
Works, vol. ii. p. 175, 860.; Saurz'n’s Serm,
vol. iii. ser. 4.
LIE. See LYING.
LIFE. a state of active existence—1. Hu-
man Zzfiz is the continuance or duration of our
present state, and which the Scriptures repre-
sent as short and vain. Job xiv. 1, 2. James
iv. 14.-—2. Spiritual life consists in our being in
the favour of God, influenced by a principle
of grace, and living dependent on him. It is
considered as of divine origin, Col. iii. 4 ;
hidden, Col. iii. 3; peaceful, Rom. viii. 6;
secure, John x. 28.—3. Eternal lg'f'e is that
never-ending state of existence which the
saints shall enjoy in heaven, and is glorious.
Col. iii. 4; holy, Rev. xxi. 27 ; and blissful,
1 Pet. i. 4; 2 Cor. iv. 17. See HEAVEN.
LIFTERS and ANTI-LIFTERS, two congrega-
tions at Kilmarnock, in the West of Scotland,
which, besides other causes of difference, were
opposed to each other relative to the manner
in which the bread and wine were to be ex-
hibited before distribution ; the one party
maintaining that it was essential for the mi-
nister to elevate them before the congrega-
tion; the other regarding it as a matter of no
moment. This dispute took place about the
year 1713.
LIGHT or NATURE. See NATURE.
LIGHT, DIVINE. See KNOWLEDGE, RELI-
GION.
LIGHTFOOT, J OHN, a most learned English
divine, was the son of a minister, and born on
the 29th of March, 1602, at Stoke-upon-Trent,
in Stafi'ordshire. After having finished his stu-
dies at a school onlMorton-green, nearLough-
ton, in Cheshire, he was removed, in 1617, to
Cambridge, and put under the tuition of Mr.
‘William Chappel, then fellow of Christ’s Col-
lege, and afterwards bishop of Cork, in Ire-
land. At college he applied himself to elo-
quence, and succeeded so well in it as to be
thought the best orator of the under-gra-
duates in the university. He also made an
extraordinary proficiency in Latin and Greek.
When he took the degree of bachelor of arts
he left the university, and became assistant
to a school at Repton, in Derbyshire. After
he had supplied this place a year or two, he
entered into orders, and became curate of
Norton-under-Hales, in Shropshire. He now
began to study the Hebrew language, per-
suaded that no man could be well versed in
the Scriptures but an Hebraist. At Hales,
Norton he did not reside long, but determined
to travel ; and went, with that intention, down
Into Stafl‘ordshirc, to take leave of his father
and mother. Passing through Stone, he
found the place destitute of a minister; and
the pressing entreaty of the parishioners in-
duced him to undertake that cure, and resign
his intention of going abroad; and, uniting
himself to a young lady resident in that place,
he considered himself settled; but his thirst
after rabbinical learning would not suffer him
to continue there; he removed to Hornsey,
where he wrote his Emblems, or Miscellanies,
Christian and J udaical, in 1629. He was then
only twenty years of age, and yet was well
acquainted with the Latin and the Greek
fathers, as well as the ancient heathen writ-
ers. He, at that time, satisfied himself in
clearing up many of the abstrusest passages
in the Bible: and therein had provided the
chief materials, as well as formed the plan, of
his “ Harmony ;” and an opportunity of in-
specting it at the press, was an additional
motive for his going to London, where he had
not long been, before he was chosen minister
of St. Bartholomew’s, behind the Royal Ex-
change. The great assembly of divines meet-
ing in 1643, our author gave his attendance
there, and made a distinguished figure in their
debates; where he used great freedom, and
gave signal proofs of his courage as well as
learning, in opposing many of those tenets
which the divines were endeavouring to esta-
blish. In 1653 he was presented to the living
of Much Munden, in Hertfordshire. In 1655
he entered upon the ofiice of vice-chancellor of
Cambridge, to which he was chosen that year,
having taken the degree of doctor in divinity,
in 1652. As to his learning in the rabbinical
way, he was excelled by none, and had few
equals. Dr. Lightfoot was twice married, and
lived several years in the most perfect har-
mony with both his wives. The year of Dr.
Lightfoot’s decease is not exactly known. He
was a true Christian. In the discharge of his
clerical duties, he was zealous and active. A
firm and sincere friend, an affectionate- hus—
band, and a tender father, characterize Dr.
John Lightfoot, whose works were published,
first, in 1684, in two volumes, folio; and, at
the end of this edition, there is a list of such
pieces as he left unfinished. Mr. Strype, in
1700, published another collection, under the
title of “ Some genuine Remains of the late
pious and learned Dr. John Lightfoot.” But
the most complete edition of the works of
this learned author is that edited by Pitman,
comprised in thirteen volumes, octave; Lon-
don, 1825.—Jones’s Christ. Biog.
LIMBO, in Roman Catholic divinity, signi-
fies a place on the borders of hell, where the
patriarchs remained until the advent of Christ,
who,before his resurrection, appeared to them,
and opened for them the doors of heaven. It
is commonly called limbus patrum; besides
which, some adopt alimbus infantum, to which
these infants go who die without having been
baptized. '
Lrmr'rnn, limitour, an itinerant and begging
Ll'l‘
LlT
446
friar, employed by the convent to collect its
dues, and promote its temporal interests, within
certain limits, though under the direction of
the brotherhood who employed him: he was
occasionally a person of considerable import-
ance. Chaucer humorously describes him as
an M.A.; a preacher of charity sermons; a
confessor granting easy terms of absolution;
a facetious story-teller; who could sing a
good song, or play skilfully on an instrument;
could dissemble, gloss, pray, and profess ex-
traordinary sanctity; be violent or cautious,
merry and wanton, or solemn and devout, as
the occasion required; in a word, a very po-
pular ecclesiastic, and a great favourite with
the ladies of his day. Russell’s Notes; Works
of the English and Scottish Reformers, vol. ii.
pp. 536, 542.
LITANY, a general supplication used in
public worship to appease the wrath of the
Deity, and to request those blessings a person
wants. The word comes from the Greek
Riv-avatar, “supplication,” of Aurora», “1 be-
seech.” At first, the use of litanies was not
fixed to any stated time, but were only em—
ployed as exigencies required. They were
observed, in imitation of the Ninevites, with
ardent supplications and fastings, to avert the
threatened judgments of fire, earthquake, in-
undations, or hostile invasions. About the year
400, litanies began to be used in processions,
the people walking barefoot, and repeating
them with great devotion ; and it is pretended
that by this means several countries were de-
livered from great calamities. The days on
"which they were used were called Rogation
days; these were appointed by the canons of
difi'erent councils, till it was decreed by the
council of Toledo, that they should be used
every month throughout the year; and thus,
by degrees, they came to be used weekly on
‘Wednesdays and Fridays, the ancient sta-
tionary days for fasting. To these days the
rubric of the Church of England has added
Sundays, as being the greatest day for assem-
bling at divine service. Before the last review
of the “Common Prayer,” the litany was a
distinct service by itself, and used sometimes
after the morning prayer was over; at present,
it is made one ofiice with the morning service,
being ordered to be read after the third collect
for grace, instead of the intercessional prayers
in the daily service. ,
Almost every saint in the Roman calendar
has his litany in which the people respond,
Ora pro nobz's. Litanies are found in the old
Lutheran hymn-books; but they are no longer
used by German Protestants.
LITURGY denotes all the ceremonies in ge-
neral belonging to divine service. The word
comes from the Greek AGLTOUP‘YLG, “service,
public ministry,” formed of Mu-og, “public,”
and epyov, “ work.” In a more restrained
signification, liturgy is used among the R0-
manists to signify the mass, and among us
the common prayer. All who have written
on liturgies agree, that in primitive days, di-
vine service was exceedingly simple, clogged
with a very few ceremonies, and consisted of
but a small number of prayers; but, by de-
grees, they increased the number of ceremo—
nies, and added new prayers, to make the
ofiice look more awful and venerable to the
people. At length, things were carried to
such a pitch, that a regulation became neces-
sary ; and it was found necessary to put the
service and the manner of performing it into
writing, and this was what they called a li-
turgy. Liturgies have been different at dif-
ferent times and in different countries. The
Armenians have their Liturgy in the old Ar-
menian tongue, which, they say, was com-
posed by one of their patriarchs named John,
who lived some time after the Council of
Chalcedon. It was printed at Rome in 1642,
with theLatin translation, but the Romish cen-
sors have corrupted it in several places. The
liturgy of the Copti, or Christians of Egypt,
is written in the Coptic, or Egyptian, which
is now scarcely understood by any person,
wherefore, in the manuscript copies of this
liturgy, there is an Arabic version added, out
of which it has been translated into Latin by
Victor Scialic, a Maronite of Mount Libanus,
and is found in the Bibliotheca Patrum, attri--
buted to Basil, Gregory, and Cyril. The
Ethiopic liturgy is written in the old Ethio-
pian language, notwithstanding that the
Ethiopians, as well as the Syrians, call their
liturgies Chaldaic. Some Ethiopic liturgies
were printed at Rome in 1548, wherein, be-
sides two others, is also that, whose title is
Canon Universalz's Ecclesirc Ethiopum, which
was also printed there the year following in
Latin, and afterwards re-printed in the Bib-
liotheca Patrum. That liturgy which the
Ethiopians attribute to Dioscorus, patriarch
of Alexandria, was printed in Ethiopic and
Latin at London, in 1661, at the end of the
Ethiopic Dictionary of Ludolphus. This last
liturgy is very short, whereas that which is
called Canon Ecclesz'ce Ethz'opum is long enough.
The Greeks have four liturgies, via—that of
James, Mark, John Chrysostom, and Basil;
but they ordinarily use only the two latter,
the liturgy of James being only read at J eru-
salem, and that of Mark in the city of Alex-
andria. Most of the eastern Christians be-
lieve that these liturgies were composed by
those whose names they bear. Leo Allatius
himself, and Cardinal Bona assure us, that
the liturgy attributed to James was really his,
that it is the original of all other liturgies,
and that it has only in process of time been
enlarged; but the contrary may be proved
from an answer of Theodorus Balsamon, set
down in the fifthvbook of the Jus Grazco-
.Romcmum. Some had “demanded of Balsa-
mon, by letters, whether the liturgies that
went under the names of James and Mark
Ll'l‘
LIV
447
were really theirs; to which he answers,
“That neither the Holy Scripture, nor any
council, had ever attributed to Mark the li-
turgy that bears his name, and that the thirty-
second canon of the Council General in Trullo,
had indeed attributed to James the liturgy
that went under his name; but that the
eighty-fifth canon of the Apostles, and the
fifty-ninth of the Council of Laodicea, in their
reckoning up of the books of holy writ, which
were composed by the apostles, and which
are to be used in the church, made no men-
tion of the liturgies of James or Mark.” As
for the liturgies of John Chrysostom and
Basil, the authority of Proclus, Archbishop of
Constantinople, is commonly made use of,
who asserts, that James was the first author
of the Greek liturgy, which being afterwards,
in process of time, much enlarged, was
abridged by John Chrysostom and Basil, for
which reason these two liturgies also hear
their names.' There are many more Syriac
liturgies than there are Greek. Father Simon
observes, in his “ Supplement to the Jewish
Ceremonies,” that the Jacobites also reckon
up forty different liturgies, all under different
names, and all in manuscript. The Maronites
have printed at Rome, in 1592, their missal,
under the title of Missale Chaldaicum juxta
Ritum Ecclesiaz Nationis Maronitarum, which
contains twelve liturgies, under the names of
Xystus Pope, John Chrysostom, John the
Evangelist, Peter, Chief of the Apostles,
Denys, Cyril, Matthew the Pastor, John
Patriarch, surnamed Susan, Eustathius, Ma-
ruta, Metropolitan of Tagrit, James the
Apostle, and brother of our Lord, Mark the
Evangelist, and a second of Peter.
The Nestorians also have their liturgies
written in Syriac, which they make use of in
their public service. Father Simon tells us,
in his remarks upon Gabriel of Philadelphia,
that he had a manuscript copy of these litur-
gies, which belonged to a Chaldee priest, of
the Nestorian rite, whose name was Elias.
This manuscript contained only three litur-
gies, via—that of the Twelve Apostles, that
of Theodorus, surnamed the Interpreter, i. e.
of Theodorus of Mopsuesta; and the third
under the name of Nestorius. The Indian
Christians, called the Christians of Thomas,
who are of the sect of the Nestorians, make
use of this Syriac missal, which they read at
Goa. Cochin, Angamala, and in other places
of the Indies, where these Christians of The-
mas inhabit. ~
The liturgy of the Roman church consists
of the Breviary, containing the matins, lauds,
the. ; the Missal, or volume employed in say-
mg mass, and containing the calendar, the
general rubrics, or rites of that mass; the
Ceremonial, containing the oflices peculiar to
the P?Pe,_ such as consecration, benediction,
cflnomzatwn. &c.; the Pontificale, which de-
scribes the functions of bishops at ordinations,
consecration of churches, &c.; and the Ritual.
containing the services as performed by the
simple priests both in public worship and in
private. The whole of this liturgy is per-
formed in Latin.
The liturgy of the church of England was
composed in the year 1547, and established in
the second year of King Edward VI. In the
fifth year of this king it was reviewed, be-
cause some things were contained in that
liturgy which showed a compliance with the
superstition of those times, and some excep-
tions were taken against it by some learned
men at home, and by Calvin abroad. Some
alterations were made in it, which consisted
in adding the general confession and absolu-
tion, and the communion to begin with the
ten commandments. The use of oil in con-
firmation and extreme unction was left out,
and also prayers for souls departed, and what
related to a belief of Christ’s real presence in
the eucharist. This liturgy, so reformed, was
established by the acts of the fifth and sixth
Edward VI. cap. 1. However, it was abolished
by Queen Mary, who enacted, that the ser-
vice should stand as it was most commonly
used in the last year of the reign of King
Henry VIII. That of Edward VI. was re-
established, with some alterations, by Eliza-
beth. Some further alterations were intro-
duced, in consequence of the review of the
Common Prayer Book, by order of King
James, in the first year of his reign, particu-
larly in the office of private baptism, in several
rubrics, and other passages, with the addition
of five or six new prayers and thanksgivings,
and all that part of the catechism which con-
tains the doctrine of the sacraments. The
book of Common Prayer, so altered, remained
in force from the first year of King James
to the fourteenth of Charles II. The last
review of the liturgy was in the year 1661.
Many supplications have been since made for
a review, but without success. The Common
Prayer Book of the Protestant episcopal
church in the United States, which was
adopted in 1789, omits the Athanasian Creed,
and leaves to the ofliciating minister the dis-
cretionary power to substitute for the article
“he descended into hell,” the words “he
went into the place of departed spirits.”
Bingham’s Orig. Eccl. b. 13; Broughton’s
Dict.,- Bennett, Robinson, and Clarhson, on
Litur. passz'm; A Letter to a Dissenting 111i-
nister on the Expediency of Forms, and Brehell's
Answer; Rogers’s Lectures on the Liturgy of
the Church of England ,- Biddulph’s Essays on
the Liturgy; Orton’s Letters, vol. i. pp. 16, 24.
LIVERPOOL LITURGY, a liturgy so called
from its first publication at Liverpopl. It was
composed by some of the Presbyterians, who,
growing weary of extempore prayer, thought
a form more desirable. It made its appear-
ance in 1752. Mr. Orton says of it, “ It is
scarcely a Christian liturgy. In the collect
LOG
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448
the name of Christ is hardly mentioned ; and
the Spirit is quite banished from it.” It was
little better than a deistical composition.
Orton’s Letters, vol. i. pp. 80, 81 ; Bognc and
Bennett’s Hist. of Diss. vol. iii. p. 342.
Locos, Gr. 6 Aoyog, THE WORD, a term
employed by the evangelist John to designate
the mediatorial character of our Redeemer,
with special reference to his revelation of the
character and will of the Father. It appears
to be used as an abstract for the concrete, just
as‘ we find the'same writer employing light for
enlightener, life for life-giver, 800.; so that it
properly signifies the speaker or interpreter,
than which nothing can more exactly accord
with the statement made, John i. 18, “No
man hath seen God at any time; the only-
begotten, who is in the bosom of the Father,
hath declared him,” i. e. communicated to us
the true knowledge of his mind and character.
That the term is merely expressive of a divine
attribute, a position which has been long and
variously maintained by Socinians, though
abandoned as untenable by some of their best
authorities, is in total repugnance to all the
circumstances of the context, which distinctly
and expressly require personal subsistence‘ in
the subject which it describes. He whom
John styles the Logos, has the creation of all
things ascribed to him; is set forth as posses-
sing the country and people of the Jews; as
the only-begotten (Son) of the Father; as
assuming the human nature, and displaying
in it the attributes of grace and truth, &c.
Such things could never, with the least de-
gree of propriety, be said of any mere attri-
bute or quality. _Nor is the hypothesis of a
personification to be reconciled with the uni-
versally admitted fact, that the style of John
is the most simply historical, and the furthest
removed from that species of composition to
which such a figure of speech properly be—
longs. To the Logos the apostle attributes
eternal existence, distinct personality, and
strict and proper Deity—characters which he
also ascribes to him in his first epistle—be—
sides the possession and exercise of perfec-
. tions which absolutely exclude the idea of
derived or created being. .
With respect to the origin of the term, a
diversity of opinion has obtained among in-
terpreters. Some consider it as taken from
the system of the Gnostics; others as derived
from the Platonic philosophy, especially as
amalgamated with Jewish theology by Philo,
the Alexandrian Jew, in whose writings some
very remarkable passages occur on the subject
of the Logos; a third class suppose it to have
been suggested to the mind of the apostle by
certain passages of the Old Testament, such
as Psalm xxxiii. 6; but the hypothesis most
generally adopted is that according to which
the term is borrowed from the Chaldee Para-
phrases, in which the phrase Wt motto, memra
d’Adonai, “the “lord of the Lord,” is appa- I
rently used in a hypostatical or personal
sense. For though it is undeniably employed
in these ancient Jewish writings to signify
the operative energy of the Divine nature, or
that nature itself, yet in innumerable places
we find such personal characteristics attri-
buted to it, as to lead us to the conclusion, that
it was also used to point out distinct person-
ality; and taking a view of the passages se-
riatim in which it is thus employed, we must
be satisfied that it describes Him whose go-
ings forth were from the most ancient times,
who created the world, appeared unto the
patriarchs, accompanied the children of Israel
through the wilderness, and was seen by
Moses, Isaiah, &c. In these passages, and in
the'Memra or Logos which they exhibit, we
recognize the character of the redeeming and
covenant Angel, in whom was the divine
name; in other words, who was possessed of
all the holy perfections or properties which
constitute the nature of Deity. See Dr. Lan-
'rence’s Dissertation on the Logos ,- J. J. Gurney’s
Biblical Notes,- and Dr. J. P. Smith on the
Person of Christ.
LOLLARDS, a religious sect, differing in
many points from the Church of Rome, which
arose in Germany about the beginning of the
fourteenth century ; so called, as many writ-
ers have imagined, from Walter Lollard, who
began to dogmatize in 1315, and was burnt at
Cologne; though others think that Lollard
was no surname, but merely a term of re-
proach applied to all heretics who concealed
the poison of error under the appearance of
piety.
The monk of Canterbury derives the origin
of the word lollard among us from lolium, “ a
. tare,” as if the Lollards were the tares sown
in Christ’s vineyard. Abelley says, that the
word signifies ~“ praising God,” from the Ger-
man loben, “ to'praise,” and herr, “ lord ;” be-
cause the Lollards employed themselves in
travelling about from place to place, singing
psalms and hymns. Others, much to the
"same purpose, derive lollhard, lullhard, or
lollert, lullert, as it was written by the ancient
Germans, from the old German word lullen,
lollen, or lallen, and the termination hard, with
which many of the high Dutch words end.
Lollen signifies, “to sing with a low voice,”
and therefore lollard is a singer, or one who
frequently sings ; and in the vulgar tongue of '
the Germans it denotes a person who is con-
tinually praising God with a song, or singing
hymns to his honour.
The Alexians or Cellites were called Lol-
lards, because they were public singers, who
made it their business to inter the bodies of
those who died of the plague, and sang adirge
over them in a mournful and indistinct tone,
as they carried them to the grave. The
name was afterwards assumed. by, persons
that dishonoured it; for we find among those
Lollards who made extraordinary pretences
LCM
LOR
449
to religion, and spent the greatest part of their
time in meditation, prayer, and such acts of
piety, there were many abominable hypocrites,
who entertained the most ridiculous opinions,
and concealed the most enormous vices under
the specious mask of this extraordinary profes-
sion. Many injurious aspersions were there-
fore‘ propagated against those who assumed
this name by the priests and monks ; so that,
by degrees, any person who covered heresies
or crimes under the appearance of piety was
called a Lollard. Thus the name was not
used to denote any one particular sect, but
was formerly common to all persons or
sects who were supposed to be guilty of im-
piety towards God or the church, under an
external profession of great piety. However,
many societies, consisting both of men and
women, under the name of Lollards, were
formed in most parts of Germany and Flan-
ders, and were supported partly by their
manual labours, and partly by the charitable
‘donations of pious persons. The magistrates
and inhabitants of the towns where these
brethren and sisters resided gave them parti-
cular marks of favour and protection, on ac-
count of their great usefulness to the sick and
needy. They were thus supported against
their malignant rivals, and obtained many
papal constitutions, by which their institute
was confirmed, their persons exempted from
the cognizance of the inquisitor, and subjected
entirely to the jurisdiction of the bishops; but
as these measures were insufiicient to secure
them from molestation, Charles duke of Bur-
gundy, in the year 1472, obtained a solemn
bull from Pope Sextus IV., ordering that the
Cellites, or Lollards, should be ranked among
the religious orders, and delivered from
the jurisdiction of the bishops. And Pope
Julius II. granted them still greater privi-
leges, in the year 1506. Mosheim informs
us, that many societies of this kind are still
subsisting at Cologne, and in the cities of
Flanders, though they have evidently de-
parted from their ancient rules.
Lollard and his followers rejected the
sacrifice of the mass, extreme auction, and‘
penances for sin; arguing that Christ’s sufi‘er-
ings were sufiicient. He is likewise said to.
have set aside baptism, as athing of no efi‘eet; ’
and repentance, as not absolutely necessary, ,
&c. In England, the followers of Wicklifi‘e
were called, by way of reproach, Lollards,
from the supposition that there was some affi- ‘
nity between some .of their tenets; though
others were of opinion that the English
Lollards came from Germany. See WICK—
_LIFrI'rEs.
‘ LOMBARID, PETER, otherwise known by the
title of master of the sentences, the father of
§Ch0lilStlC theology. He was born at Novara,
in Lombardy, and died archbishop of Paris,
in 1164. His work on the sentences is divided
into four books, and has been largely com-i
merited upon. He also left commentaries on
the Psalms and Paul’s Epistles.
LONG SUFFERING or Gozo. See PATIENCE
OF Gon.
Loan, a term properly denoting one who
has dominion, applied to God, the supreme
governor and disposer of all things. When
printed with capitals in the English Bible, it
stands for the Hebrew mrv Jehovah, or time
Adonai, names exclusively given to the Divine
Being. See G01).
Loan’s DAY. See SABBATH.
LoR-n’s NAME TAKEN in VAIN, consists,
first, in using it lightly or rashly, in excla-
mations, adjurations, ad appeals in common
conversation—2. Hypocritically in our prayers,
thanksgivings, &c.—-3.Superstitiously, as when
the Israelites carried the ark to the field of
battle, to render them successful against the
Philistines, 1 Sam. iv. 3, 4.—4. VVantonly, in
swearing by him, or creatures in his stead,
Matt. v. 34, 37.—5. Angrily, or sportfully,
cursing, and devoting ourselves or others to
mischief and damnation—6. Perjuring our-
selves, attesting that which is false, Mal. iii.
5.—7. Blasphemously reviling God, or causing
others to do so, Rom. ii. 24. Perhaps there
is no sin more common as to the practice,
and less thought of as to the guilt of it, than
this. Nor is it thus common with the vulgar
only, but with those who call themselves
wise, humane, and moral. They tremble at
the idea of murder, theft, adultery, &c., while
they forget that the same law which prohibits
the commission of these crimes, does, with
equal force, forbid that of prefaning his name.
No man, therefore, whatever his sense, abili-
ties, or profession may be, can be held guilt-
less, or be exonerated from the charge of
being a wicked man, while he lives in the
habitual violation of this part of God’s sacred
law. A very celebrated female writer, justly
observes, that “ It is utterly inexcusable; it
has none of the palliatives of temptation
which other vices plead, and in that respect
stands distinguished from all others, both in
its nature and degree of guilt. Like many
other sins, however, it is at once cause and
efiect; it proceeds from want of love and re-
verence to the best of Beings, and causes the
want of that love both in themselves and
others. This species of profaneness is not
only swearing, but, perhaps, in some respects,
swearing of the worst sort; as it is a direct
breach of an express command, and ofi'ends
against the very letter of that law, which
says, in so many words, ‘ Thou shalt not
take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.’
; It offends against politeness and good breed-
ing, for those who commit it little think of
the pain they are inflicting on the_sober mind,
which is deeply wounded when It bears. the
holy name it loves dishonoured ; and it Is as
contrary to good breeding‘to give pain, as it
is to true piety to be profane. It is astonish-
G G
L O R 4
50 L O R
ing that the refined and elegantshould not
reprobate this practice for its coarseness and
vulgarity, as much as the pious abhor it for
its sinfulness. _
“ I would endeavour. to give some faint
idea of the grossness of this oifence by ‘an
analogy, (0! how inadequate!) with which
the feeling heart, even though not seasoned
with religion, may yet be touched. To such
I would earnestly says—Suppose you had
some beloved friend,——to put the case still
more strongly, a departed friend,—-a revered
parent, perhaps,—-whose image never occurs
without awakening in your bosom sentiments
of tender love and lively gratitude; how
would you feel if you heard this honoured
name bandied about with unfeeling famili-
arity and indecent levity; or, at best, thrust
into every pause of speech as a vulgar exple-
tive? Does not your afl'ectionate heart recoil
at the thought? And yet the hallowed name
of your truest Benefactor, your heavenly
Father, your best Friend, to whom you are
indebted for all you enjoy; who gives you
those very friends in whom you so much
delight, those very talents with which you
dishonour him, those very organs of speech
with which you blaspheme him, is treated
with an irreverence, a contempt, a wanton-
ness, with which you cannot bear the very
thought or mention of treating a human
friend. His name is impiously, is unfeelingly,
is ungratefully singled out as the object of
decided irreverence, of systematic contempt,
of thoughtless levity. His sacred name is
used indiscriminately to express anger, joy,
surprise, impatience, and, what is almost still
more unpardonable than all, it is wantonly
used as a mere unmeaning expletive, which,
being excited by no temptation, can have
nothing to extenuate it; which causing no
emotion, can have nothing to recommend it,
unless it be the pleasure of the sin.” Mrs.
More on Education, vol. ii. p. 87 ; Gill’s Body
of DiIL, vol. iii. p. 427; Brown’s System of
Relig., p. 526.
LoaD’s PRAYER is that which our Lord
gave to his disciples on the Mount. Accord-
ing to what is said in the sixth chapter of
Matthew, it was given as a directory; but
from Luke xi. 1, some argue that it was given
as a form. Some have urged that the second
and fourth petition of that prayer could be
intended only for temporary use; but it is
answered, that such a sense may be put upon
those petitions asrshall suit all Christians in
all ages; for it is always our duty to pray
that Christ’s kingdom may be advanced in
the world, and to profess our daily depend-
ence on God’s providential care. Neverthe-
less, there is no reason to believe that Christ
meant that his people should. always use this
as ‘a set form; for, if that had been the case,
it would not have. been varied as it is by the
two evangelists, Matt. vi.; Luke xi. It is
‘ true, indeed, that they both agree in the main,
as to the sense, yet not in the express words ,
and the doxology which Matthew gives at
large, is wholly left out in Luke. And; be-
sides, we do not find that the disciples ever
used it as a form. It is, however, a most
excellent summary of prayer, for its brevity,
order and matter; and it is very lawful and
laudable to make use of any single petition,
or the whole of it, provided a formal and su-
perstitious use of it be avoided. That great
zeal, as one observes, which is to be found in
some Christians either for or z “ainst it, is to
be lamented as a weakness; and it will be-
come us to do all that we can to promote on
each side more moderate sentiments concern-
ing the use of it. See Doddridge’s Lectures,
lect. 194; Barrow’s Works, vol. i. p. 48;
Archbishop Leighton’s Explanation of it; West
on the Lord’s Prayer; Gill’s Body of Din,
vol. iii. p. 362, 8vo.; Fordg/ce on Edzficatz'on
by Public Instruction, pp. 11, 12; Mendam’s
Expo. of the Lord ’s Prayer.
Lonn’s SUPPER, the ordinance which our
Saviour instituted as a commemoration of his
death and sufferings. 1. It is commonly
called a sacrament, that is, a sign and an
oath. An outward and visible sign of an
inward and spiritual grace ; an oath by which
we bind our souls with a bond unto the Lord.
Some, however, justly reject this term as not
being scriptural; as likewise the idea of
swearing or vowing to the Lord. See Vow.
—2. It is called the Lord’s Supper, because
it was first instituted in the evening, and at
the close of the Passover supper; and be-
cause we therein feed upon Christ, the bread
of life, Rom. iii. 20; 1 Cor. xi.—-3. It is called
the communion, as herein we have com-
munion with Christ, and with his people, 1
Cor. xii. 13; x. 17.—4. It is called the eucha-
rist, a thanksgiving, because Christ, in the
institution of it, gave thanks, 1 Cor. xi. 24;
and because we, in the participation of it,
must give thanks likewise—5. It is called a
feast, and by some a feast upon a sacrifice
(though not a sacrifice itself), in allusion to
the custom of the Jews feasting upon their
sacrifices, 1 Cor. x. 18.
As to the nature of this ordinance, we may
observe, that, in participating of the bread
and wine, we do not consider it as expiatory,
but, 1. As a commemorating ordinance. We
are here to remember the person, love, and
death of Christ, 1 Cor. xi. 24.—2. A con-
fessing ordinance. We hereby profess our
esteem for Christ, and dependence upon him.
—-3. A communicating ordinance; blessings of
grace are here communicated to us.—-4. A
covenanting ordinance. God, in and by this
ordinance, as it were, declares that he is ours,
and we by it declare ourselves to be his.-—5.
A standing ordinance, for it is to be observed
to the end of time, 1 Cor. xi. 26. It seems
to be quite an indifferent thing what bread is

LOB.
LOT
451
used in this ordinance, or what coloured wine,
for Christ took that which was readiest. The
eating of the bread and drinking of the wine
being always connected in Christ’s example,
they ought never to be separated; whenever
one is given, the other should not be with~
held. This bread and wine are not changed
into the real body and blood of Christ, but
are only emblems thereof. See TRANSUB-
STANTIATION.
The subjects of this ordinance should be
such as make a credible profession of the
gospel; the ignorant, and those whose lives
are immoral, have no right to it; nor should
it be ever administered as a test of civil
‘obedience, for this is perverting the design
of it. None but true believers can approach
it with profit; yet we cannot exclude any
who make a credible profession; for God is
the judge of the heart, while we can only act
according to outward appearances.
Much has been said respecting the time of
administering it. Some plead for the morn-
ing, others the afternoon, and some for the
evening; which latter, indeed, was the time
of the first celebration of it, and is most suit~
able to a supper. How often it is to be ob-
served has been disputed. Some have been
for keeping it every day in the week ; others
four times a week; some every Lord’s day,
which many think is nearest the apostolic
practice, Acts xx. 7; a practice which was
long kept up in Christian antiquity, and only
deviated from when the love of the Christians
began to wax cold. Others keep it three times
a year, and some once a year; but the most
common is once a month. It evidently ap-
pears, however, both from Scripture, 1 Cor.
xi. 26, and from the nature of the ordinance,
that it ought to be frequent.
As to the posture :——Dr. Doddridge justly
observes, that it is greatly to be lamented
that Christians have perverted an ordinance,
intended as a pledge and means of their
mutual union, into an occasion of discord and
contention, by laying such a disproportionate
stress on the manner in which it is to be ad-
ministered, and the posture in which it is to
be received. As to the latter, a table posture
seems most eligible, as having been used by
Christ and his apostles, and being peculiarly
suitable to the notion of a sacred feast; and
kneeling, which was never introduced into
'the church till transubstantiation was re-
ceived, may prove an occasion of superstition.
Nevertheless, provided it be not absolutely
imposed as a term of communion, it will be
the .part of Christian candoru' to acquiesce in
.the use of it in others by whom it is pre-
ferred. It appears that standing was at least
frequently used in the Christian church, viz.
always on the Lord’s day, and between Easter
and Whitsun-tide. The manner in which this
ordinance is administered, both in the Church
of England, and among Protestant Dissen-
ters, is so well known, that we need say
nothing of it here.
Vie will only subjoin a few directions in
what frame of mind we should attend upon
this ordinance. It should be with sorrow
for our past sins, and easiness and calmness
of affection, free from the disorders and
ruffles of passion; with a holy awe and re-
verence of the Divine Majesty, yet with a
gracious confidence and earnest desires to-
wards God; with raised expectations; prayer,
joy, and thanksgiving, and love to all men.
When coming from it, we should admire the
condescensions of divine grace; watch against
the snares of Satan, and the allurements of
the world; rejoice in the finished work of
Christ; depend upon the gracious influence
of the Spirit; that we may keep up a sense of
the divine favour; and be longing for heaven,
where we hope at last to join the general as-
sembly of the first-born.
The advantages arising from the partici-
pation of the Lord’s Supper are numerous.
1. It is a mean of strengthening our faith in
the Lord Jesus Christ. 2. It affords great
consolation and joy. 3. It increases love. 4.
'It has a tendency to enlighten our minds in
the mystery of godliness. 5. It gives us an
utter aversion to all kinds of sin, and occa-
sions a hearty grief for it. 6. It has a ten-
dency to excite and strengthen all holy
desires in us. 7. It renews our obligations
to our Lord and Master. 8. It binds the
souls of Christians one to another. See Case’s
Sen, ser. 7 ; and Henry Earle, Doolittle, Grove,
and Robertson, on the Lord's Supper; Dr.
Owen’s, Clzarnock’s, Dr. Cudworth’s, Mr. Wil-
let’s, Dr. TVorthz'ngton’s, Dr. Watts’s, Bishop
lVarburton's, 'Bishop Cleaver’s, Dr. Bell’s
Pieces on the Subject,- Orme‘s Discourses on
the Lord’s Supper, and Erskine and Il/[ason on
Frequency of Communion. A variety of other
treatises, explanatory of the nature and design
of the Lord’s Supper, may be seen‘ in almost
any catalogue.
Lo'r is a mutual agreement to determine an
uncertain event, no other ways determinable,
by an appeal to the providence of God, on
casting or throwing something. This is a
decisory lot, Prov. xvi. 33; xviii. 18. The
matter. therefore, to be determined, in order
to avoid guilt, should be important, and
no other possible way left to determine it;
and the manner of making the appeal solemn
and grave, if we would escape the guilt of
taking the name of God in vain. Wantonly,
without necessity, and in a ludicrous manner,
to make this appeal, must be therefore highly
blameable. And if thus the _decisory lot,
when wantonly and unnecessarily employed,
be criminal, equally, if not more s0,_m118t tile
divinatory lot be, which is employed for d1s~
covering the will of God; this, being no
mean of God’s appointment, must be super-
stitious, and the height of presumption. The
LOV
LOV
452
Moravian Brethren employ the appeal to lot
in the case of marriage and other appoint-
ments in their community.
LovE consists in approbation of, and in-
clination towards an “ object that appears to
us as good. It has been distinguished into,
1. Love of esteem, which arises from the
mere consideration of some cxcellency in an
object, and belongs either to persons or
things. 2. Love of benevolence, which is an
inclination to seek the happiness and welfare
of any thing. 3. Love of complaisance, which
arises from the consideration of any object
agreeable to us, and calculated to afford us
pleasure.
LOVE, BROTHERLY, is affection to our neigh-
bours, and especially to the saints, prompting
us to every act of kindness towards them.
It does not indeed consist merely in pity to
and relief of others, 1 Cor. xiii.; in love to
our benefactors only, and those who are re-
lated to us, Matt. v. 46, 47: it must flow
from love to God, and extend to all mankind;
yea, we are required by the highest authority
to love even our enemies, Matt. v. 44; not
so as to countenance them in their evil actions,
but to forgive the injuries they have done to
us. Love to good men, also, must be parti-
cularly cultivated, for it is the command of
Christ, John xiii. 34; they belong to the
same Father and family, Gal. vi. 10; we
hereby give proof of our discipleship, John
xiii. 35 ; the example of Christ should allure
us to it, 1 John iii. 16; it is creative of a3
variety of pleasing sensations, and prevents
a thousand evils: it is the greatest of all
graces, 1 Cor. xiii. 13; it answers the end of
the law, 1 Tim. i. '5; resembles the inhabit-
ants of a better world, and without it every
other attainment is of no avail, 1 Cor. xiii.;
this love should show itself by praying for
our brethren, Eph. vi. 18; hearing one an-
other’s burdens, by assisting and relieving.
each other, Gal. yi. 2; by forbearing with
one another, Col. iii. 13; by reproving and
admonishing in the spirit of meekness, Prov.
xxvii. 5, 6 ; by establishing each other in the
truth, by ‘conversation, exhortation, and stir-
ring up one another to the several duties of
religion, both public and private, Jude 20,
21 ; Heb. x. 24, 25. See CHARITY.
LOVE, FAMILY or. A sect that arose in
Holland, in the sixteenth century, founded
by Henry Nicholas, a Westphalian.
gion consisted in the feelings of divine love;
that all other theological tenets, whether they
related to objects of faith or modes of worship,
were of no sort of moment: and, conse-
quently, that it was a matter of the most
perfect indifference what opinions Christians
entertained concerning the divine nature,
provided their hearts burned with the pure
and sacred flame of piety and love.
He-
maintained that he had a commission from .
heaven to teach men that the essence'of reli- '
LOVE FEASTS. See AGAfiiE.
LovE OF G01), is either his natural delight
in that which is good, Is. lxi. 8; or that
especial affection he bears to his people, 1
John iv. 19. Not that he possesses the pas-
sion- of love as we do; but it implies his
absolute purpose and will to deliver, bless,
and save his people. The love of God to his
people appears in his all-wise designs and
plans for their happiness, Eph. iii. 10.—2. In
the choice of them, and determination to
sanctify and glorify them, 2 Thess. ii. 13.—
3. In the gift of his Son to die for them, and
redeem them from sin, death, and hell, Rom.
v. 9; John iii. 16.—4. In the revelation of
his will, and the declaration of his promises
to them, 2 Peter i. 4.-—5. In the awful punish-
ment of their enemies, Ex. xix. 4.—6. In his
actual conduct towards them; in supporting
them in life, blessing them in death, and
bringing them to glory, Rom. viii. 30, &c.;
vi. 23. The properties of this love may
be considered as, 1. Everlasting, Jer. xxxi.
3; Eph. i. 4.—2. Immutable, Mal. iii. 6;
Zeph. iii. 17 .—3. Free; neither the sufferings
l of Christ nor the merits of men are the cause,
i but his own good pleasure, John iii. 16.—4.
Great and unspeakable, Eph. ii. 4, 6; iii. 19;
' Psa. xxxvi. 7.-
LOVE TO G01) is a divine principle im-
‘ planted in the mind by the Holy Spirit,
5 whereby we reverence, esteem, desire, and de-
light in Him as the chief good. It includes
a knowledge of his natural excellences, Psa.
viii. 1; and a consideration of his goodness
to us, 1 John iv. 19. Nor can these two ideas,
I think, be well separated; for, however some
may argue that genuine love to God should
arise only from a sense of his amiableness, yet
I think it will be diflicult to conceive how it
can exist, abstracted from the idea of his rela—
tive goodness. The passage last referred to
is to the point, and the representations given
us of the praises of the saints in heaven
accord with the same sentiment: “ Thou art
worthy, for thou hast redeemed us by thy
blood, Rev. v. 9. See SELF-LOVE. “ Love
to God is a subject,” says Bishop Porteus,
“ which it concerns us to inquire carefully
into the true nature of. And it concerns us
,the more, because it has been unhappily
brought into disrepute by the extravagant
conceits of a few devout enthusiasts concern-
ing it. Of these, some have treated‘the love
of God in so refined a way, and carried it to
such heights of seraphic ecstasy and rapture,
that common minds must for ever despair of
either following or understanding them; whilst
others have described it in such warm and
indelicate terms as are much better suited to
the grossness of earthly passion than the
purity of spiritual affection.
“ But the accidental excesses of this holy
sentiment can be no just argument against
2 its general excellence and utility. ' '

LOW
LOW
453
“ We know that even friendship itself has
sometimes been abused to the most unworthy
purposes, and led men to the commission of
the most atrocious crimes. Shall we, there-
fore, utterly- discard that generous passion,
and consider it as nothing more than the un-
natural fervour of a romantic imaginatlon?
Every heart revolts against so wild a thought!
And why, then, must we suffer the love of
God to be banished out of the world, because
it has been sometimes improperly represented,
or indiscreetly exercised? It is not either from
the visionary mystic, the sensual fanatic, or the
frantic zealot, but from the plain word of God,
that we are to take our ideas of this divine sen-
timent. There we find it described in all its
native purity and simplicity. The marks by
which it is there distinguished contain nothing
enthusiastic or extravagant.” It may be con~
sidered, 1. As sincere, Matt. xxii. 36, 38.—
2. Constant, Rom. viii.—-3. Universal of all
his attributes, commandments, ordinances,
&c.—4. Progressive, 1 Thess. v. 12 ; 2 Thess.
i. 3; Eph. iii. 19.—5. Superlative, Lam. iii.
24.—6. Eternal, Rom. viii. This love mani-
fests itself, 1. In a desire to be like God.
—2. In making his glory the supreme end of
our actions, 1 Cor. xi. 31.—3. In delighting
in communion with him, 1 John i. 3.——4. In
grief under the hidings of his face, Job
xxiii. 2.-—5. In relinquishing all that stands in
opposition to his will, Phil. iii. 8.—6. In re-
gard to his house, worship, and ordinances,
Ps. lxxxiv.——7. In love for his truth and peo-
ple, Ps. cxix.; John xiii. 35.--8. By confi-
dence in his promises, Psa. lxxi. 1.—And,
lastly, by obedience to his word,fJohn xiv.
15; 1 John ii. 3. Gill’s Body of Div. vol. iii.
p. 94, 8vo; Watts’s Discourses on Love to
God ,- Scott’s Ser. ser. 14; Bellamy on Reli-
gion, p. 2, and Signs of Counterfeit Love, p.
82; Bishop Porteus’s Serm. vol. 1. ser. 1.
LOVE OF THE WORLD. See WORLD.
Low CHURCHMEN, those who disapproved
of the schism made in the church by the
non-jurors, and who distinguished themselves
by their moderation towards Dissenters, and
were less ardent in extending the limits of
ecclesiastical authority. See HIGH CHUROH-
MEN.
LOWTH, WILLIAM, a distinguished divine,
the son of William Lowth, apothecary and
citizen of London, and born in the parish of
St. Martin’s Ludgate, the 11th of September,
1661. He was educated at the Merchant
Tailors School, whence he Waselected, in
1675, into St. John’s College, Oxford; where,
in 1683, he graduated master of arts, and
proceeded to bachelor of divinity in 1683,
His studies were strictly confined within
his own province, and applied solely to the
duties of his function; yet, that he might
acquit himself the better, he acquired an
uncommon share of critical learning. There
was scarcely any ancient author—Greek or
Latin, profane or ecclesiastical, especially the
latter—that he had not read with care and
attention, constantly accompanying his read-
ing with critical and philological remarks.
Of his collections in this way, he was upon
all occasions very communicative. Hence
his notes on “ Clemens Alexandrinus,” which
are not to be met with in Potter’s edition of
that father. Hence, his remarks on “ J O-
sephus,” communicated to Hudson for his
edition. Hence, also, those larger and more
numerous annotations on the “ Ecclesiastical
Historians,” inserted in Reading’s edition of
them at Cambridge. Chandler, Bishop of
Durham, while engaged in his defence of
Christianity, against Collins, held a constant
correspondence with him, and consulted him
upon many difliculties that occurred in the
course of that work. But the most valuable
part of his character was that which least
appeared in the eyes of the world. His piety,
diligence, hospitality, and beneficence, ren-
_ dered his life highly exemplary, and greatly
enforced his public exhortations. He had
three daughters and two sons, one of whom
was the learned Dr. Robert Lowth, Bishop
of London, and one of the greatest orna—
ments of his time. He died in 1732, and
was buried, by his own orders, in the church-
yard of Buriton. The professional works of
this learned divine are,-“ A Vindication of
the Divine Authority and Inspiration of the
Old and New Testament;” “Directions for
the profitable reading of the Holy Scriptures;”
“ A Commentary on the Prophetical Books
of the Old Testament,” which generally ac-
companies Patrick and ‘Vhitby.
LOWTH, ROBERT, son of the preceding, a
distinguished English prelate, born at Bu-
riton, the 27th of November, 1710. He re-
ceived his education at vWinchester school,
whence he was elected, in 1730, to New Col-
lege, Oxford, of which he was chosen a fel-
low in 1734. In 1737, he graduated master
of arts, and, in 1741, was elected professor
of poetry in the University of Oxford. The
first preferment which he obtained in the
church, was the rectory of Ovington, in
Hampshire, in 1744; and four years after-
wards he accompanied Mr. Legge, afterwards
chancellor of the exchequer, to Berlin. He
was, about this time, appointed tutor to the
sons of the Duke of Devonshire, during their
travels on the continent. On his return, he
was appointed Archdeacon of Winchester,
by Bishop Hoadley, who, three years afier,
resented him with the rectory of East
oodhay. In 17 53, he published his valuable
work, “De Sacra Poesi Hebraeorum, Praclec-
tiones Academicae,” quarto. Of this .work,
to which the duties of the author’s professor-
ship gave occasion, all the best critics speak
in unqualified praise. In 1754 he received
the degree of doctor in divinity, from the
University of Oxford, by diploma; and in
LUC.
LUK
454-
1755 went to Ireland, as chaplain to the Mar-
quis of Harrington, then appointed lord-
lieutenant, who nominated him Bishop of
Limerick, a preferment which he exchanged
for a prebend of Durham, and the rectory‘ of
Sedgefield. In the year 1758 he preached a
sermon in favour of free inquiry in matters
of religion, which has been often'reprinted,
and has been much admired. In the same
year he published his “Life of William of
VVykeham,” octavo, and in 1762, “A Short
Introduction to English Grammar ”—a pro-
duction that has gone through a great number
of editions, and may be considered the pre-
cursor of that attention to grammatical accu-
racy and precision which has since distin—
guished the best writers of English prose.
In 1766, Dr. Lowth was appointed Bishop
of St. David’s, whence, in a few years after-
wards, he was translated to the see of Ox-
ford. In 1777 he succeeded Dr. Terrick in
the diocese of London ; and, in the following
year, published the last of his literary labours,
namely, “ Isaiah; a new Translation, with a
Preliminary Dissertation, and Notes.” This
elegant and beautiful version of the evan-
gelical prophet, of which learned men in
every part of Europe have been unanimous
in their eulogiums, is alone suflicient to trans-
mit his name to posterity, though it is deeply
to be deplored that the bishop in many in-
stances altered the text without any authority,
merely in the exercise of conjecture, in
which he was too prone to indulge. On the
death of Archbishop Cornwallis, the primacy
was offered to Dr. Lowth, a dignity which he
declined on account of his advanced age and
family afiiictions. In 17 68 he lost his eldest
daughter; and in 1783, his second daughter
suddenly expired while presiding at the tea-
table; his eldest son was also cut off in the
prime of life. This amiable prelate died on
the third of November, 17 87, at his palace of
Fulham, in the seventy-seventh year of his
a e.
gLUcIANIs'rs, or LUCANISTS, a sect so called
from Lucianus or Lucanus, a heretic of the
second century, being a disciple of Mar-
cion, whose errors he followed, adding some
new ones to them. Epiphanius says he
abandoned Marcion, teaching that people
ought not to marry, for fear of enriching the
Creator; and yet other authors mention that
he held this error in common with Marcion
and other Gnostics. He denied the immor-
tality of the soul, asserting it to be material.
There was another sect of Lucianists, who
appeared some time after the Arians. They
taught that the Father had been a Father
always, and that he had the name even before
he begot the Son, as having in him the power
and faculty of generation; and in this man—
ner they accounted for the eternity of the
Son.
Lncirnmaxs, a sect who adhered to the
schism of Lucifer, Bishop of Cagliari, in the
fourth century, who was banished by the
emperor Constantius, for having defended the
Nicene doctrine concerning the three persons
in the Godhead. It is said, also, that they
believed the soul to be corporeal, and to be
transmitted from the father to the children.
The Luciferians were numerous in Gaul,
Spain, Egypt, &c. The occasion of this
schism was, that Lucifer would not allow any
acts he had done to be abolished. There
were but two Luciferian bishops, but a great
number of priests and deacons. The Luci-
ferians bore a great aversion to the Arians.
Lucrrucre, or LIGHT-HATERS, a name of
reproach given to the early Christians, be-
cause, in times of persecution, they frequently
held their religious assemblies at night, or
before the break of day.
LUKEWARMNESS, applied to the affections,
indifference, or want of ardour. In respect
to religion, hardly any thing can be more
culpable than this spirit—If there be a God
possessed of unspeakable rectitude in his own
nature, and unbounded goodness towards his
creatures, what can be more inconsistent and
unbecoming than to be frigid and indifferent
in our devotions to him? Atheism, in some
respects, cannot be worse than lukewarmness.
The atheist disbelieves the existence of a God,
and, therefore, cannot worship him at all;
the lukewarm own-s the existence, sovereignty,
and goodness of the Supreme Being, but de-
nies him that fervour of affection, that devot-
edness of heart, and activity of service, which
the excellency of his nature demands, and the
authority of his word requires. Such a cha-
racter, therefore, is represented as absolutely
loathsome to God, and obnoxious to his wrath,
Rev. iii. 15, 16.
The general signs of a lukewarm spirit are
such as these :-—~Neglect of private prayer ; a
preference of worldly to religious company;
a lax attendance on public ordinances; omis-
sion or careless perusal of God’s word; a zeal
for ‘some appendages of religion, while languid
about religion itself; a backwardness to pro-
mote the cause of God in the world, and a
rashness of spirit in censuring those who are
desirous to be useful.
If we inquire the causes of such a spirit, we
shall find them to be-—worldly prosperity;
the influence of carnal relatives and acquaint-
ances; indulgence of secret sins; the fear of
man ; and sitting under an unfaithful ministry.
The inconsistency of it appears if we con-
sider, that it is highly unreasonable; dishon—
ourable to God ; incompatible with the genius -
of the gospel; a barrier to improvement; a
death-blow to usefulness; a direct opposition
to the commands of Scripture; and tends to
the greatest misery.
To overcome such a state of mind, we
should consider how offensive it is to God;
how incongruous with the very idea and us.-
L U T
LUT
455
' his industry. He was a local magistrate—a I _ _
‘ been satisfied with the current doctrines, and
ture of true religion; how injurious to peace
and felicity of mind; how ungrateful to Jesus
Christ, whose whole life was labour for us
and our salvation; how grievous to the Holy
Spirit; how dreadful an example to those
who have no religion; how unlike the saints
of old, and even to our enemies in the worst
of causes; how dangerous to our immortal
souls, since it is indicative of our want of love -'
to God, and exposes us to just condemnatlon, l
Amos vi. 1.
LUTHER, MARTIN, the celebrated reformer, ‘
was born the 10th of November, 1483, at the
town of Eisleben, in the electorate of Saxony. His father, John Luther, was remarkable for 5
man of respectability, and good character. 5
His mother, Margaret Lindeman, was a wo- 1
man of eminent piety ; and Luther was much _
benefited by her maternal instructions. At ;
an early age, he was placed under the tuition of George Omilius, who instructed him in the 5
elements of knowledge, and from whom he
was early removed, to be placed in a superior ,
school at Magdeburg. At the age of fifteen, i
he was sent to a distinguished seminary in i
Eisenach; his master’s name was John Tre- ,
bonius, and the school was conducted by
Franciscans. Here was laid the foundation
of his future eminence; and he soon composed
Latin verses, which alike surprised and grati—
fied his instructors. At the age of nineteen,
he repaired to the seminary of Erfurt, where
he diligently studied logic and Latin, and
most probably Greek; and attained so much
proficiency, that, when only twenty years of
age, he took the degree of M.A.
Luther at this time was in an unregenerate .
state ; ‘but in the following year, 1504, walk- »‘
ing out one day with a friend named Alexius, they were overtaken by a thunder—storm, and i
his friend was struck dead by his side. Per-
ceiving the vanity of all terrestrial good, he .
then determined on ending his days in a
monastery; and notwithstanding the contrary
advice of his friends, and the pleasure he de— rived from social intercourse, in 1505 he en- ,
tered the Augustinian monastery at Erfurt. i
()n embracing the monastic profession, he
was very imperfectly acquainted with the!
It was in 1507 (2d
routine of the discipline.
of May), and in Luther’s twenty-fourth year,
that he entered into orders, and celebrated his
first mass. This date is the more remarkable,
because he discovered, about the same time, a
Latin copy of the Bible, lying in the library
of the monastery: he eagerly laid hold of this
neglected book, and persevered in studying it
with so much diligence, that he was able, in
a short time, to refer with ease and prompti-
tude to any particular passage. In the zealous
prosecution of his studies, he had little oppor-
tunity of deriving assistance from the labours
of others. _The writings of the fathers, with
the exception of those of Augustine, were
wholly unknown to .him. ‘His knowledge of
Greek was very imperfect, and with Hebrew
he was entirely unacquainted. Besides, the
only copy of the Scriptures as yet in his posses-
sion was the Latin Vulgate. Erasmus had not
then published his edition of the New Testa-
ment; and since the days of Jerome, no very
eminent example had been given of the appli-
cation of sound criticism to the sacred canon.
Deprived thus of information, from the re-
searches of others, Luther would often spend
a whole day in meditating on a few particular
passages._ To this he was prompted equally
by a thirst for information, and the disquieted
state of his mind. Before his acquaintance
with the Bible, he had, like other persons,
had never thought of examining a subject in
which he suspected no error. Now, however,
he was sufficiently advanced to perceive that
his early creed must be abandoned, without
having gone far enough to find another in its
place. His former melancholy returned, and
continued to do so at intervals, until his views
of divine truth acquired clearness and con-
sistency. During this state of uncertainty,
when reflecting on the wrath of God, and on
the extraordinary examples of punishment ,
recorded in Scripture, he was sometimes
struck with such terror as almost to faint
away. He has been so much agitated by
eagerness of temper, when engaged in a dis-
pute on doctrine, as to find it necessary to
throw himself on a bed in‘ an adjoining cham-
ber, where he would fall down in prayer, and
frequently repeat these words, “ He hath con-
cl uded all in unbelief, that he might have
mercy upon all.” In those agitations of mind,
Luther’s resort was to the works of Augustine,
who was, in his eyes, an oracle of equal price,
as Jerome in those of Erasmus. Luther, ab—
sorbed in study, and averse to consume time
in the uninstructive routine of Romish cere-
monies, became unmindful of the forms. of the
monastery ; he would read and write‘with
such ardour, for days together, as to overlook
the hours prescribed for divine service by the
canons; he was, on the other hand, rigid in
the observance of the penance enjoined to his
profession. At a diet held at Worms, in
1495, it had been agreed among the electors,
that each should become the founder of a
university. Luther’ s sovereign, Frederick,
elector of Saxony, surnamed the Sage, was
fully alive to the advantages of erecting such
an establishment in his territory. In 1508
Luther was appointed to an academical chair
in the university of Wittemberg, at the early
age of twenty-five. He now felt the necessity
of acquiring a knowledge of Hebrew. Luther
was, in many respects, not only a slncere but
a zealous Catholic. In addition to the duty
of teaching his class and preaching, Luther
occasionally heard confessions. In the exer~
else of this function, in the year 1517, some
LUT
LUT
456
persons came to him to confess, and though
guilty of serious crimes, refused to undergo
the penance prescribed by him, because they
had already received remission in the shape of
an indulgence. Luther, revolting at this eva-
sion, flatly refused them the absolution for
which they applied. As he persisted in this
negative determination, the persons in ques-
tion, considering themselves aggrieved, en-
tered a serious complaint against him with
Tetzel, who was at that time in the neighbour-
hood of the town of Interbock. In an evil
hour for the papacy, Tetzel became violently
incensed against Luther; and being one of the
holy commission charged with the extirpation
of heresy, he threatened to subject Luther,
and those who might adhere to him, to the
horrors of the Inquisition. The manner in
which Luther proceeded, affords a convincing
proof that he acted with no deliberate hostility
to the church. Conformably to the custom
of the age, in the case of doubtful points, he
came to the determination of stating his ideas
in a series of propositions, with a view to a
public disputation. Accordingly, on the 31st
of October, 1517, he published ninety-five,
discussing copiously the doctrines of peni-
tence, charity, indulgences, purgatory, &c.
Having affixed the propositions to the church
adjacent to the castle of Wittemberg, an invi-
tation to a public disputation on them was
subjoined, accompanied with a request, that
those who were necessarily absent would
transmit him their observations in writing.
A long and tedious contest ensued between
Tetzel and Luther; they wrote much and
violently; and, resolute as was his character,
a considerable time elapsed before he came to
an open rupture with the court of Rome.
Towards the end of the year 1519, Luther
began to express, without reserve, his dissent
from the Church of Rome, on the subject of
the sacrament.
In the year 1521, Luther published his
celebrated essay, “ De Captivitate Babylonica
Ecclesiac.” He here examined into the nature
and use of the sacraments, which, as is well
known, are, according to the Romanists, seven
in number. From this enumeration Luther
dissented; and denied the name of sacrament
to confirmation, holy orders, marriage, or ex-
treme unction. But he continued to include
penance in the list, as well as baptism and
the Lord’s supper. The universities of
Cologne and Louvain having openly burned
Luther’s books, and a similar example having
been given at Rome, the reformer now deter-
mined to retaliate. He caused public notice
to be given at “Wittemberg, that he purposed
burning the antiehristian decretals, on Mons
day the 10th of December. So novel a scene
excited great interest, and the concourse, ac-
cordingly, was immense. The people assem-
bled at nine o’cloek in the morning, and
proceeded, in regular divisions, to the spot
in the neighbourhood where the ceremony
was to be performed. Having there partaken
of a slight repast, an eminent member of the
university erected a kind of funeral pile, and
set it on fire ; after which, Luther took Gra—
tian’s Abridgment of the Canon Law, the
Letters commonly called Decretals‘of the
Pontifi‘s, the Clementines and Extravagants,
and, last of all, the Bull of Leo X. All these
he threw into the fire, and exclaimed with a
loud voice, “ Because ye have troubled the
saints of the Lord, therefore let eternal fire
trouble you.” Having remained to witness
their consumption, he returned into the city,
accompanied by the same multitude, without
the occurrence of the slightest disorder. Lu-
ther, according to his usual practice, replied
with great spirit to the condemning sentence
of the universities of Cologne and Louvain.
The adherents of the court of Rome were
much disappointed at the inefficient operation
of the bull against Luther; and the conduct
of that court in this business has been sub-
jected to those charges of impolicy which are
generally applied to unsuccessful counsels.
It has been said by many persons, that the
hull was too long delayed; by others, that its
language was too violent and arbitrary. The
term granted to Luther having expired, a
new bull made its appearance on the 3rd of
January, 1521, confirming the preceding in
all its extent, with the serious addition of
Luther’s excommunication. But this edict
made very little impression, and its reception
tended only to show the diminished efiicaey
of papal fulminations against the progress
of opinion. The time had now arrived for
holding Charles’s first diet. The city of
Nuremberg being infested with the plague,
the place of meeting was fixed. at Worms.
The diet assembled in January, and the
agents of the court of Rome were indefatigable
in their efforts to get a summons for Luther
speedily issued. Frederick, apprised of all
their machinations, gave Luther information.
through the medium of Spalatin, of what was
likely to happen, and caused him to be asked
what course he would pursue in the event of
his being summoned by the emperor to ap-
pear before the diet ?—-a step which, in con-
sequence of the urgency of the pope’s agents,
he thought very probable. Luther’s answer
was conveyed in a very spirited and well—
written letter to Spalatin. When drawing
towards the close of his journey, Luther re-
ceived an invitation from Glassio, the em-
peror’s confessor, to meet him at the resi-
dence of one of Luther’s friends, at some dis-
tance from the road. But Luther, whether
suspicious of Glassio, or, as is more likely,
afraid of exceeding the limited term of
twenty-one days, replied, “ that he was de-
termined to go whither he had been ordered.
by the emperor.” Accordingly, he reached
\Vorms on the 16th of April, attired in his.
LU’I"
LUT'
457
friar’s cowl, seated in an open chariot, pre-
ceded by the emperor’s herald on horseback,
in his oflicial dress. Next day, the 17th of
April, notice was sent from the emperor to
Luther, that his presence was required at the
diet in the afternoon. Even the roofs are
said to have been covered with spectators.
An intimation having been privately given
to Luther not to speak, except in reply, the
proceedings commenced on the part of one
John Eckius, qfiicial, as it is termed, of the
Archbishop of Treves, and equally hostile to
Luther as his namesake, the disputant. This
orator, in an audible voice first in Latin, and
next in German, proposed two questions,—
“ Whether Luther avowed himself the author
of the books bearing his name?” to a collec-
tion of which he then pointed; and “Whether
he was disposed to retract, or persist in their
contents?” Luther instantly acknowledged
himself the author of these works; but, in
regard to the second question, he asked, no
doubt by the suggestion of his counsel, that
“ time might be given him to consider his
answer.” On entering the diet next day,
Eckius recapitulated, with great form, the
proceedings of the day before, and asked
Luther once more whether he retracted or
persisted? Luther delivered an answer at
great length, first in German, and afterwards
in Latin. Notwithstanding the awe of the
assembly, and the excessive heat from the
great numbers present, he spoke in a tone of
elearness and confidence. Eckius, who had
discovered symptoms of impatience during
the delivery of the defence, declared, as soon
as it was ended, that Luther had not answered
to the point, and ought not to express doubts
about things that had been already defined
and condemned by so many councrlsgand
Luther replied. The emperor being, 1n a
great measure, unacquainted with the mode
of conducting the affairs of Germany, and
impatient at the continuance of the contro-
versy, allowed himself to be persuadedthat
the fittest course would be to excommumcate
Luther at once. This took place, accord-
ingly, next day, the 19th of April ; but, being
done without the assent of the princes, the
eflicacy of the decree was very different from
what would have attended a concurrent reso-
lution of the diet. Many persons of distinc-
tion continued to visit Luther, and the multi-
tude gave evident signs of their interest in
his cause. The subsequent proceedings of
the diet were such as to show the expediency
of this step, extraordinary as it was. After
some delay, incurred, probably, for the pur-
pose of taking advantage of the departure of
Luther’s principal friends from the diet, an
imperial edict was issued, which declared
him a schismatic and heretic, and put him
under the ban of the empire. This edict was
not published until the 26th of May, although
dated, for the sake of appearing the act of the-
diet at large, so far back as the 5th of May.
Luther was now confined in the castle of
Wittemberg; but though secluded from in-
tercourse with the world, he was incapable of
passing his time in inactivity or indifference.
The first essay which Luther found means to
publish from his retreat, was a short treatise,
in German, “ On the Abuse of Auricular
Confession.” His next publication was a
short practical work, consisting of “ Notes
on the Evangelists,” the merit of which was
acknowledged, even by his adversaries. He
carried on, likewise, a controversy with
James Latomus, a divine of Louvain, already
known to the public by his disputes with
Reuchlin and Erasmus, and who had under-
taken the defence of the decision given by
his university in Luther’s cause. In 1521,
he‘ also composed his celebrated work on
“ Monastic Vows.”
Luther was now to encounter an adversary
of a new kind. Henry VIII. of England,
having, in the early part of life, paid some
attention to the study of scholastic theology,
was flattered by his courtiers into the belief
of being able to obtain an easy triumph over
the arguments of Luther. Henry’s book,
considering the badness of his cause, and the
wretched system of learning then in vogue,
is not destitute of merit. But Luther was
not to be discouraged, either by high-sound-
ing encomiums, or by the rank of his assail-
ant. He made a prompt reply, and had no
scruple in describing the king by the most
abusive epithets. Luther having, after a
short absence, returned from the castle of
\Vittemberg, began, in 1522, to devote him-
self to a labour of great importance,—the
translation of the Scriptures into German.
The magnitude of the design was in corres-
pondence with his ardent and enterprising
cast of mind; and the seclusion of his pre-
sent residence was favourable to the com-
mencement of its execution. The Church of?
Rome was well aware of the danger to her
superstitious legends and extravagant assump—
tions, from a good translation of the Bible.
Her defenders have, therefore, directed many
attacks against Luther’s labour, and have
presumed to accuse it of frequently vitiating
the sense of the original. Meanwhile the
civil authorities in Germany continued their
efforts to crush the Lutheran doctrine.
In the same year-Luther returned to Wit-
temberg, which gave occasion to lively de-
monstrations of joy; the learned and un-
learned partaking equally in the general exul~
tation. It was about this time that Luther
had occasion to write to the Bohemians’. They
were beginning, he heard, to waver in their
favourable dispositions towards the new creed,~
in consequence of the divisions arising among
its followers. He argued strongly, that to.
return to the Church of Rome was not. the:
way to escape the evils Of discussions, Since.
LUT'
LUT
458
no communion was more distracted by mul-
tiplicity of schisms. Indefatigable in his
labours against the papacy, he soon after pub-
lished a work, entitled, “ Adversus falso
nominatum ordinem Episcoporum.” The next
of his numerous publications was a small
treatise, entitled, “ De Doctrinis Hominum
Vitandis.” This may be considered an abridg-
ment of his former book on “ Monastic
Vows.” It is now time to direct our attention
to the proceedings of the court of Rome.
The virtuous but inexperienced Adrian had
paid the debt of nature on the 14th of Sep-
tember, 1523. His death gave occasion, as
usual, to strong contentions of interest in the
conelave. At last, Julius of Medicis was
elected in the end of November, and assume
the name of Clement VII. The chief difii-
culty which he apprehended, in regard to the
Reformation, arose from the extraordinary
admissions made by his predecessor. He
deemed it expedient, therefore, to negotiate '
as if Adrian had taken no active part in these
unpleasant proceedings.
bad governments, to the real cause of public
in particular circumstances and events, for
that which they should have sought in the
general diffusion of information. On the 7th
of December, therefore, Clement addressed a
letter to the Elector Frederick, alluding, in
general terms, to the disturbances existing in
Germany, and expressing a confident belief
that the elector would advocate the cause of
the church. This letter, in imitation of the
example of his predecessors, was intended to
pave the way for the farther progress of ‘
Campeggio’s negotiation. Accordingly, on
the 15th of January, 1524, that legate being
about to repair to the diet assembled at Nu-
remberg, the pope wrote another letter to
Frederick, still expressed in general terms,
but in a style of studied complaisance, and
intimating a wish that the elector would con-
sult with the legate, in regard to the best
means of restoring peace and tranquillity to
the empire.
swer from the wary Frederick. The publi-
cation of “ The Recess of the Diet,” took
place on the 18th of April. It was divided
into two general heads; the first regarding
Luther and his doctrine, the second treating
of the dangers which threatened Germany.
Luther having speedily obtained a copy of
the “ Recess” published by the diet, was
strongly agitated by the conduct of the
princes of Germany. "With that disregard of
consequences which so frequently marked his
conduct, he instantly republished the Edict of
Worms, of May 8th, 1521, and contrasting it
with that of Nuremberg, had no hesitation to
call the princes “ miserable, infatuated men,
set over the people by God in I118 anger.”
l-lis views in other respects began to expand,
Blind, like most; .
| Towards the end of 1525, an attempt, it
discontent, Clement and his advisers looked, ‘
Ably as this letter was penned, -
it does not appear to have extracted any an- i
and heventured on the 9th of October, 1524,.
to lay aside his monastic habit, and to assume
the dress of a professor or preacher. A part
of this year was passed by Luther in a man-
ner much more profitable than controversy.
He translated the Psalms into German verse,
for the use of the common people ; and added
sacred hymns of his own composition. Lu-
ther now determieed to settle himself in mar-
riage. This step, remarkable in itself, on
the part of one who had sworn celibacy, was
rendered still more so by the existence of a
similar obligation on the part of her whom
he espoused. The advocates of the church
of Rome poured out the most vehement de-
clarations against Luther, on the occasion of
his marriage with a nun. Some affirmed that
he was mad, or possessed with an evil spirit.
The elector, John, now consented to take
1 steps to make the Lutheran the predominant
religion in his dominions. Though the ma-
jority of his subjects were favourably inclined
1 to it, the change was too great to be effected
otherwise than by degrees.
was said, was intended to be made to out off
Luther by poison. In consequence of the
suspicion of some of Luther’s friends, a Jew
and several other persons were arrested at
Wittemberg; but, on their examination,
nothing could be discovered, and Luther in~
terceded that they might not be put to the
torture. They were accordingly set at liberty.
Hitherto Luther had been not only the origin,
1 but the mainspring, of the opposition to the
,papacy: but the range which it now em-
braced, was too wide to be directed by the
exertions of an individual. The farther pro-
gress of this opposition belongs, therefore, to
general history, and would be wholly mis-
placed in a biographical relation. In direct-
ing the translation of the Bible, Luther now
devoted much time. He had divided this stu-
pendous labour into three parts,--the Books
of Moses; the subsequent History of the
Jews; and, lastly, the Prophctical and other
Books of the Old Testament. The version of
the prophets did not begin to appear till 1527 -,
and, in completing this part of his task, Lu—
ther received benefit from the assistance of
some Jews of the city of ‘Worms. The book
of Isaiah was printed in 1528. Daniel fol-
lowed soon after; and, in 1530, the whole
was completed. I-Iis chief coadjutors in this
noble undertaking were Bugenhagen, better
known by the name of Pomeranus, Justus
Jonas, Melancthon, and Matthew, surnamed
Aurogallus. The year 1526 was the first,
since 1517, that Luther allowed to pass with-
out publishing a book against the Catholics.
In the course of the year, however, he pub-
lished his “ Commentaries on Jonah and Ha-
bakkuk,” along with some lesser pieces of
Scripture criticism. The imperial diet, at
Inidsui'nnlcr, was held at the city of Spires,

LUT
LUT
459
and the pressure of business was such as to
require the attendance of the elector John,
during several months. Luther continued
occupied in plans for the progress of the Re-
formation, which were to be submitted to the
elector, as soon as more urgent business per-
mitted him to give them his attention. Next
year, 1528, Luther published his “ Commen-
tary on Genesis and Zechariah,” as well as a
Letter to the Bishop of Misnia, respecting the
eucharist. Luther, while residing at C0-
bourg, suffered several attacks of ill health,
but nothing could relax his application to his
studies. He employed his time in the trans-
lation of the Books of the Prophets, and in
composing his “Commentary on the Psalms.”
From the fatigue of these graver employ-
ments, he sought relaxation in composing an
Admonition to the Clergy assembled at Augs-
burg, which he thought proper to send to that
city to be printed. It was entitled, “ Ad-
monitio ad Ecclesiastici ordinis Congrega-
tiones in Comitiis Augustanis.” During the
following year, 1532, Luther published Com-
mentaries on different portions of Scripture.
It was now that he was destined to lose a
valuable friend and protector, in the person of
John, elector of Saxony, who expired of apo-
plexy, on the 16th of August, being cut off,
like his brother Frederick, in his sixty-third
year. The year 1536 was remarkable for the
death of the great Erasmus. It is much to
be lamented, that his dispute with Luther was
revived two years before, with a great share
of mutual asperity; Luther having gone so
far as to bring the charge of atheism against
his antagonist. Improperly as Erasmus acted
in his latter years, he deserves to be regarded
as one of the principal founders of the Refor-
mation. Luther’s last controversy with Eras-
mus was followed by one with very different
opponents, the Anabaptists. In the begin-
ning of 1537, Luther was affiicted with a
stranguary, and s mptoms were so severe,
that both he and his friends began to despair
of his life. During this alarming illness,
much anxiety was manifested for his reco-
very, as well by his friends as by the public
characters who favourcd the Reformation.
His recovery appears to have been complete,
and he was able to resume his labours in the
cause of religion. I-Ie prepared for the press
two editions of his great work, the transla-
tion of the Bible, and published them succes-
sively in 1541 and 1545. It was in 1545, in
Luther’s sixty-second year, that his constitu-
tion began to exhibit strong symptoms of de-
cline. But bodily infirmity was not the only
misfortune of Luther. That constitutional
ardour which enabled him to brave the threats
of ecclesiastical and temporal rulers, was con-
nected with a temper productive, in several
respects, of much uneasy sensation to its pos-
sessor. It happened, also very unfortunately,
that U10 evening of Luther’s day was clouded
by an altercation with the lawyers on the
subject of clandestine marriages. So strong
was the effect of this accumulation of chagrin,
that Luther lost his attachment to his fa—
vourite city, Wittemberg, and left it in the
month of July, 1545, apparently determined
never to return. Nothing could be more in-
dicative of Luther’s ardour of mind, than
thus undertaking a journey, in the month of
January, 1546, under such a pressure of
bodily infirmities.
The river Issel having overfiowed its
banks, he was five days on the road. His
companions were his three sons, John, Mar-
tin, and Paul, and his steady friend, Justus
Jonas. His health now, however, rapidly
declined; and on the 17th of February, he
seemed dangerously ill. In the early part of
the evening, he began to complain of an op-
pression at his breast, and had it rubbed with
a linen cloth; this afforded him some case.
After supper he again complained of the op-
pression at his breast, and asked for a warm
linen cloth. At one in the morning, he
awoke Ambrose and Jonas, and desired that
one of the adjoining rooms might be warmed,
which was done. He then said, “ 0 Jonas,
how ill I am! I feel an oppressive weight at
my breast, and ‘shall certainly die at Eisel-
ben.” Ambrose made haste, and led him,
after he got up, into the adjoining room. He
got thither without any other assistance ; and
in passing the threshold, said aloud, “Into
thy hands I commit my spirit.” Luther now
prayed, saying, “0 my heavenly Father,
eternal and merciful God, thou hast revealed
to me thy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ! I
have preached him, I have confessed him, I
love him, and I worship him as my dearest
Saviour and Redeemer; him whom the
wicked persecute, accuse, and blaspheme.”
He then repeated three times the words of
the psalm, “ Into thy hands I commit my
spirit—God of truth, thou hast redeemed me?‘
Whilst the physicians and his attendants ap-
plied medicines, he began to lose his voice,
and became faint; nor did he answer them,
though they called aloud and moved him.
He expired between two and three o'clock.
Luther was no ordinary man. In all his
proceedings, various as they were, in his
preachings, his treatises, and disputations, we
discern no step taken for the gratification of
personal advantage; all is disinterested and
zealous; all is prompted by an anxiety to
understand and promulgate the word of God.
In considering Luther as an author, we are
struck with the extent and variety of his la-
bours. They consist of controversial tracts,
of commentaries on Scripture, of sermons,
of letters, and ‘of narratives of the chief
events of his life.
his controversial writings is an unvaried con-
fidence of the goodness of his arguments,
His compositions of all kinds, including ser.
The leading feature of v
LUT
L U T
460
mons and epistolary disquisitions, are calcu-
lated by his distinguished biographer, Seek-
endorfi', at the extraordinary number of
eleven hundred and thirty-seven. Where the
mass of writing was so large, we must expect
little polish of style. Luther’s imagination
was vigorous, but the cultivation of _taste
engaged no part of his attention. His mele-
gance of style has been chiefly remarked in
his Latin publications. His theological sys-
tem he professed to found altogether on the
authority of Scripture. Warm as he was 1n
temper, and unaccustomed to yield to autho-
ritative demands, he yet possessed much of
the milk of human kindness. His frankness
of disposition was apparent at the first inter-
view, and his communicative turn, joined to
the richness of his stores, rendered his con-
versation remarkably interesting. The visitor
of Luther’s domestic circle was assured of
witnessing a pleasing union of religious ‘ser-
vice with conjugal and paternal affectron.
The diffusion of religious knowledge being
always foremost in Luther’s mind, he was
fond, when along with his friends, of turning
the conversation in that direction. Nor was
there any objection on the part of his asso-
ciates. As a preacher he was justly cele-
brated. He mounted the pulpit full of his
subject, and eager to diffuse a portion of his
stores among his audience. The hearer’s
attention was aroused by the boldness and no-
velty of the ideas; it was kept up by the
ardour with which he saw the preacher _ln-
spired. In the discourse there wasnotlnng
of the stiffness of laboured composition; in
the speaker no affectation in voice or gesture.
Luther’s sole ‘object was to bring the truth
fully and forcibly before his congregation.
His delivery was aided by a clear elocution,
and his diction had all the copiousness of a
fervent imagination; and, in fine, few men
have conferred on posterity so many benefits
as this learned, pious, and zealous reformer.
LUTHERANISM, the system of Protestant-
ism adopted by the followers of _ Luther. _ It
has undergone some alterations smce the time
of its founder. Luther rejected the epistle
of St. James as inconsistent with the doctrine
of St. Paul in relation to justification ; he also set
aside the Apocalypse, both of which are now
received as canonical in the Lutheran Church.
Luther reduced the number of sacraments
to two, viz., baptism and the eucharist ; but he
believed the impanation or consubstantiation ;
that is, that the matter of the bread and wine
remain with the body and blood of Christ ; and it
is in this article that the main difference between
the Lutheran and the English churches consists.
Luther maintained the mass to be no sa-
crifice; exploding the adoration of the host,
auricular confession, meritorious works, in‘-
dulgences, purgatory, the worshipof images,
&c., which had been introduced in the cor-
rupt times of the Romish Church. He also,
opposed the doctrine of free will, maintained
predestination, and asserted our justification-
to be solely by the imputation of the merits
and satisfaction of Christ. He also opposed
the fastings of the Romish Church, monas-
tical vows, the celibate of the clergy, &c.
The Lutherans, however, of all Protestants,
are said to differ least from the Romish
Church; as they afiirm that the body and
blood of Christ are materially present in the
sacrament of the Lord’s supper, though in an
incomprehensible manner; and likewise re-
tain some religious rites and institutions, the
distinguishing vestments of the clergy, the
private confession of sins, the use of wafers
in the administration of the Lord’s Supper,
the form of exorcism in the celebration of
baptism, and other ceremonies of the like na-
ture, as tolerable, and some of them as useful.
The Lutherans maintain, with regard to the
divine decrees, that they respect the salvation
or misery of men, in consequence of a pre-
vious knowledge of their sentiments and
characters, and not as free and unconditional,
and as founded on the mere will 'of God.
Towards the close of the seventeenth cen-
tury, the Lutherans began to entertain a
greater liberality of sentiment than they had
before adopted; though in many places they
persevered longer in severe and despotic prin-
ciples than other Protestant churches. Their
public teachers now enjoy an unbounded
liberty of dissenting from the decisions of
those symbols or creeds which were once
deemed almost infallible rules of faith and
practice, and of declaring their dissent in the
manner they judge the most expedient.
Mosheim attributes this change in their sen-
timents to the maxim which they generally
adopted, that Christians were accountable to
God alone for their religious opinions; and
that no individual could be justly punished
by the magistrate for his erroneous opinions,
while he conducted himself like avirtuous
and obedient subject, and made no attempts
to disturb the peace and order of civil society.
In Sweden, the Lutheran church is episcopal;
in Norway, the same. In Denmark, the
episcopal authority is retained, and the name
of bishop re-adopted instead of that of super-
intendent, which still obtains in most parts of
Germany, though the superior power is vested
in a consistory, over which there is a president,
with a distinction of rank and privileges, and
a subordination of inferior clergy to their
superiors, different from the parity of Pres-
byterianism. Mosheim’s Eccles. History;
Life of Luther,- Hawez's’s Ch. Hist, vol. ii.
p. 454; Enc. Brit,- Ro'bertson’s'Hz'sfory of
Charles V., vol. ii. p. 42 ; Luther on Galatians.
In the United States of America are about
800 churches of Lutherans, and about 50,000
communicants. They have several theolo-
gical seminaries, the principal of which is at
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
MAC
MAC
461
LUxUnY, a disposition of mind addicted to ‘ miracles, are species of lies. 5. Lies of the
pleasure, riot, and superfiuities. Luxury
implies a giving one’s self up to pleasure;
voluptuousness, an indulgence 1n the same
to excess. Luxury may be further consi-
dered as consisting in, 1. Vain and useless
expenses. 2. In a parade beyond what
people can afford. 3. In affecting to be
above our own rank. 4. In living in asplen-
dour that does not agree with the public
good. In order to avoid it, we should consi-
der thatit is ridiculous, troublesome, sinful,
and ruinous. Robinson’s Claude, vol. i. p.
382; .F‘ergusonv on Society, part vi. sect. 2.
LYING, speaking falsehoods wilful-1y, with
an intent to deceive. Thus, by Grove, “ A
lie is an affirmation or denial by words, or
any other signs to which a certain deter-
minate meaning is affixed, of something con-
trary to our real thoughts and intentions.”
Thus, by Paley, “ A lie is a breach of pro-
mise; for whoever seriously addresses his
discourse to another, tacitly promises to speak
the truth, because he'knows that the truth is
expected.” There are various kinds of lies.
1. The pernicious lie, uttered for the hurt or
disadvantage of our neighbour. 2. The 0&-
-cious lie, uttered for our own, or our neigh-
bour’s advantage. 3. The ludicrous and jo-
cose lie, uttered by way of jest, and only for
mirth’s sake in common converse. 4. Pious
frauds, as they are improperly called, pre-
tended inspirations, forged books, counterfeit

conduct, for a lie may be told in gestures as
well as in words; as when a tradesman shuts
up his windows to induce his creditors to be-
lieve that he is abroad. 6. Lies of omission,
as when an author wilfully omits what ought
to be related; and may we not add,-—-7. That
all equivocation and mental reservation
come under the guilt of lying? The evil and
injustice of lying appear, 1. From its being
a breach of the natural and universal right of
mankind to truth in the intercourse of speech.
2. From its being a violation of God’s sacred
law, Phil. iv. 8 ; Lev. xix. ll ; Col. iii. 9.
3. The faculty of speech was bestowed as an
instrument of knowledge, not of deceit; to
communicate our thoughts, not to hide them.
4. It is esteemed a reproach of so heinous
and hateful a nature for a man to be called a
liar, that sometimes the life and blood of the
slanderer have paid for it. 5. It hasa ten-
dency to dissolve all society, and to indispose
the mind to religious impressions. 6. The
punishment of it is considerable: the loss of
credit, the hatred of those whom we have de-
ceived, and an eternal separation from God
in the world to come. Rev. xxi. 8 ; xxii.
15; Psalm ci. 7. See Eourvoca'rros. Grove’s
Zlloral PhiL, vol. i. ch. 11 ; Paley’s Moral
Phz'L, vol. i. ch. 15; Doddridge’s Lect., lect. 68 ;
lVatts’s Sema, vol. i. ser. 22; Evans’s Serm,
vol. ii. ser. 13; South’s Serm., vol. i. ser. 12;
Dr. Lamont’s Serm, vol. i. ser. 11 and 12.
M.
Macanraus, the followers of Macarius, an
Egyptian monk, who was distinguished, to-
wards the close of the fourth century, for his
sanctity and virtue. In his writings there are
some superstitious tenets, and also certain
opinions that seem tainted with Origenisnu
The name has been also applied to those who
adopted the sentiments of Macarius, a native ~
of Ireland, who, about the close of the ninth
century, propagated in France the tenet after-
wards maintained by Averrhoes, that one in-
dividual intelligence or soul performed the
spiritual and rational functions in all the hu-
man race.
MACCABEES, two apocryphal books of the
Old Testament, which contain the history of
Judas, surnamed Maccabeus, and his brothers,
and the wars which they maintained against
the kings of Syria, in defence of the Jewish
religion, and the independence of their coun-
try. The author and age of these books are
uncertain. The .first is a valuable historical
document, supplying important information
respecting thev Jewish affairs at the time to
which it refers. The second contains a con-
. siderable quantity of spurious matter, and re-
quires to be read with caution.

There are a third and fourth book of Mac—
cabees, but they are of no authority whatever.
They are found in some MSS. and Edd. of
the LXX, but have never been admitted into
the Latin Bible.
MACEDONIANS, the followers of Macedonius,
Bishop of Constantinople, who, through the
influence of the Eunomians, was deposed by
the Council of Constantinople, in 360, and
sent into exile. He considered the Holy
Ghost as a divine energy diffused throughout
the universe, and not as a person distinct
from the Father and the Son. The sect of
the Macedonians was crushed before it had
arrived at its full maturity, by the council
assembled by Theodosius, in 381, at Con-
stantinopla. See Snmmnraus.
MACHIAVELIANISM, the doctrine or prin-
ciples of Machiavel, as laid down in his trea-
tise entitled “ The Prince,” and which consists
in doing any thing to compass a design, With—
out any regard to the peace or welfare of
subjects, the dictates of honesty and honour,
or the precepts of religion. This work has
been translated into many languages, and
wrote against by many authors, though the
world is not agreed as to the motives of
M AG
MAG
462
the writer; some thinking he meant to re-
commend tyrannical maxims; others, that
he only delineated them to excite abhor-
rence.
MAGDALEN, RELIGIOUS or ST., a denomi-
nation given to divers communities of nuns,
consisting generally of penitent courtezans;
sometimes also called Magdalenettes. They
were established at Mentz, in 1542; at Paris,
in 1492; at Naples, in 1324; at Rouen and
Bordeaux, in 1618. In each of these monas-
teries there were three kinds of persons and
congregations : the first consisted of those
who were admitted to make vows, and those
bear the name of St. Magdalen; the congre-
gation of St. Martha was the second, and was
composed of those whom it was not thought
proper to admit to vows finally; the congre-
gation of St. Lazarus was composed of such
as were detained by force. The religious of
St. Magdalen at Rome were established by
Pope Leo X. Clement VIII. settled a revenue
on them; and further appointed, that the
effects of all public-prostitutes dying intestate
should fall to them; and that the testaments
of the rest should be invalid, unless they be-
queathed a portion of their effects, which was
to be at least a fifth part of them. The term
originated in the mistaken notion, that Mary
Magdalen, of whom we read in the Gospel,
was a woman of bad character—a notion
which is still very prevalent, notwithstanding
the increased attention which has been ex-
cited to the interpretation of Holy Scripture.
MAGI, or MAGIANS, from may, or mag, which
signifies a priest, in the Pehlvi language, an
ancient caste of priests with the Persians and
Medians, who, abominating the adoration of
images, worshipped God only by fire, in which
‘ they were directly opposite to the Sabians.
See SABIANS. The Magi believed that there
were two principles, one the cause of all
good, and the other the cause of all evil; in
which opinion they were followed by the sect
of the Manichees. See MANICHEES. They
called the good principle Jezden, and Ormuzd;
and the evil principle Alzrimon, or Aherman.
The former was by the Greeks called Ora-
masdes, and the latter Arimam'us. The reason
of their worshipping fire was, because they
looked upon it as the truest symbol of Or-
muzd, or the good god; as darkness was of
Ahriman, or the evil god. In all their temples
they had fire continually burning upon their
altars, and in their own private houses.
The religion of the Magi fell into disgrace
on the death of the ringleaders, who had
usurped the sovereignty after the death of
Cambyses ; and the slaughter that was made
the famous impostor Zoroaster, some ages
after, undertook to revive and reform it.
The chief reformation this pretended pro-
phet made in the Magian religion was in the
first principle of it; for he introduced a god
superior both to Ormuzd and Ahriman. Dr.
Prideaux is of opinion that Zoroaster took the
hint of this alteration in their theology from‘
the prophet Isaiah, who brings in God, saying
to Cyrus, King of Persia, .“ I am the Lord,
and there is none else: I form the light, and
create darkness; I make peace, and create
evil,” ch. xlv. 7. In short, Zoroaster held that ‘
there was one supreme independent Being,
and under him two principles, or angels—one
the angel of light, or good, and the other the
angel of evil, or darkness; that there is a
perpetual struggle between them, which shall
last to the end of the world; that then the
angel of darkness and his disciples shall go
into a world of their own, where they shall
be punished in everlasting darkness ; and the
angel of light and his disciples shall go into a
world of their own, where they shall be re-
warded in everlasting light.
Zoroaster was the first who built fire-tem~
ples; the Magians before his time performing
their devotions on the tops of hills, and in the
open air, by which means they were exposed
to the inconvenience of rain and tempests,
which often extinguished their sacred fires.
To procure the greater veneration for these
sacred fires, he pretended to have received
fire from heaven, which he placed on the
altar of the first fire-temple he erected, which
was that of Xis, in Media, from whence they
say it was propagated to all the rest. The
Magian priests kept their sacred fire with
the greatest diligence, watching it day'and
night, and never suffering it to be extin-
guished. They fed it only with wood strip-
ped of the bark, and they never blowed it
with their breath or with bellows, for fear of
polluting it; to do either of these was death
by their law. The Magian religion, as re-
formed by Zoroaster, seems in many things
to be built upon the plan of the Jewish. The
Jews had their sacred fire which came down
from heaven upon the altar of burnt-offerings,
which they never suffered to go out, and with
which all their sacrifices and oblations were
made. Zoroaster, in like manner, pretended
to have brought his holy fire from heaven;
and as the Jews had a Shekinah of the divine
presence among them, resting over the mercy-
' seat in the Holy of Holies, Zoroaster likewise
told his Magians to look upon the sacred fire
in their temples as a Shekinah, in which God
especially dwelt—From these and some other
of the chief men among them sunk it so low, : instances of analogy between the Jewish and
that Sabianism everywhere prevailed against i Magian religion, Prideaux infers that Zoroas-
it, Darius and most of his followers on that ter had been first educated and brought up in
occasion going over to it. But the affection j the Jewish religion.
which the people had for the religion of their 5
The priests of the Magi were the most skil-
t'orefathers not being easily to be rooted out, ful mathematicians and philosophers of the
MAG
MAN
463
age in- which they lived, insomuch that a
learned man and a magian became equivalent-
.terms. This proceeded so far, that the vulgar,
looking on their knowledge to be more than
natural, imagined they were inspired by some
supernatural power. And hence those who
practised wicked and diabolical arts, taking
upon themselves the name of Magians, drew
on it that ill signification which the word
magician now bears among us.
The Magian priests were all of one tribe;
as among the Jews, none but the son of a
priest was capable of bearing that ofiice
among them. The royal family among the
Persians, as long as this sect subsisted, was
always of the sacerdotal tribe. They were
divided into three orders :—the inferior clergy,
the superintendents, or bishops, and the archi-
magus, or arch-priest. _
Zoroaster had the address to bring over
Darius to his new reformed religion, notwith-
standing the strongest opposition of the
Sabians; and from that time it became the
national religion of all that country, and so
continued for many ages after, till it was
supplanted by that of Mohammed. Zoroaster
composed a book containing the principles
of the Magian religion. It is called Zenda-
t-csla, and by contraction Zend. See ZEND.
MAGIC, a term originally conveying a good
or laudable meaning, being used purely to
signify the study of wisdom, and the more
sublime parts of knowledge, as taught by the
Magi ; but as some of them engaged in astro-_
logy, divination, sorcery, 850., it became
odious, and was, in length of time, only used
to signify an unlawful and diabolical kind of
science, supposed to depend on the influence
of the devil and departed spirits. Magic has
been divided into natural, which consists in
the application of natural active causes to
passive subjects, by means of which many
surprising, but yet simply natural effects are
produced; celestial, which attributes to spirits
a kind of rule or dominion over the planets,
and to these an influence over the affairs of
men; and diabolical, which consists in the
invocation of demons, the entering into com-
pact with the devil, &c., with a view to pro-
duce efl‘ects seemingly surpassing the powers
of nature. All indulgence in such arts was
strictly prohibited by the law of Moses, under
pain of death.
MAGIcIANs, persons pretending to a super-
natural acquaintance with, and control over
the powers of 'nature. They abounded in
Egypt, as they still do in the present day;
and, according to the earliest accounts which
we have of them in the book of Exodus, they
appear to have possessed great dexterity; but
how great soever their sleight of hand, so
that they seemed to work miracles equally
great with those recorded in these accounts,
they were themselves obliged to acknowledge
the limitation of their power as it respected
the production of lice from the dust, in imita-
tion of the miracle performed by Moses.
lllIAGISTER DISCIPLINE, or MAs'rER or
DISCIPLINE, the appellation of a certain eccle-
siastical officer in the ancient church. It was
a custom in some places, particularly in
Spain, in the time of the Gothic kings, about
the end of the fifth century, for parents to
dedicate their children very young to the
service of the church. For this purpose they
were taken into the bishop’s family, and edu-
cated under him by some grave and discreet
person whom the bishop deputed for that
purpose, and set over them, by the name of
Presbyter. or Magister Disciplinoe, whose
chief business it was to inspect their beha-
viour, and instruct them in the rules and dis-
cipline of the church.
MAGNANIMITY, greatness of soul; a dispo-
sition of mind exerted in contemning dangers
and difliculties, in scorning temptations, and
despising earthly pomp and splendour. Cic.
de Oflia, lect. i. ch. 20; Grove’s Moral Phil.
vol. ii. p. 268. See articles CoURAGE, Fon—
TITUDE, in this work; Steele’s Christian Hero;
Watts on Self—Murder.
MAJORISTS, those who held with Major in
the controversy, about the time of the In-
terim, relative to good works ; it being main-
tain ed by those so called, that they were ne-
cessary to salvation; whereas their opponents
were of opinion that such a position only
swelled the errors of popery, already coun-
tenanced by some of the reformers ; and one
of them went so far as to avow, that good
works were hurtful to salvation.
MALEvoLENcE is that disposition of mind
which inclines us to wish ill to any person.
It discovers itself in frowns and a lowering
countenance; in uncharitableness, in evil sen-
timents ; hard speeches to or of its object ; in
cursing and reviling; and doing mischief
either with open violence or secret spite, as
far as there is power.
MALICE is a settled or deliberate deter-
mination to revenge or do hurt to another.
It more frequently denotes the disposition of
inferior minds to execute every purpose 0
mischief within the more limited circle of
their abilities. It is a most hateful temper in
the sight of God, strictly forbidden in his
holy word, Col. iii. 8—12, disgraceful to ra-
tional creatures, and every way inimical to
the spirit of Christianity, Matt. v. 44. See
CHARITY, LovE.
MALIGNITY, a disposition obstinately bad
or malicious. Malignancy and malignity are
words nearly synonymous. In some connex-
ions, malignity seems rather more pertinently
applied to a radical depravity of nature ; and
malignancy to indications of this depravity in
temper and conduct in particular instances.
MAN, a being, consisting of a rational soul
and organical body. By some he is defined
thus :—“ He is the head of the animal crea-
M A N
MAN
464
tion ; a being who feels, reflects, thinks, con-
trives, and acts; who has the power of chang-
ing his place upon the earth at pleasure ; who
possesses the faculty of communicating his
thoughts by means of speech, and who has
dominion over all other creatures on the face
of the earth.” We shall here present the
reader with a brief account of his formation,
species, and different state. 1. His formation.
Man was made last of all the creatures, being
the chief and master-piece of the whole crea-
tion on earth. He is a compendium of the
creation, and therefore is sometimes called a
microcosm, a little world, the world in minia-
ture: something of the vegetable, animal,
and rational world meet in him; spirit and
matter; yea, heaven and earth centre in him;
he is the bond that connects them both to-
gether. The constituent and essential parts
of man created by God are two,-body and
soul. The one was made out of the dust;
the other was breathed into him. The body
is formed with the greatest precision and ex-
actness: every muscle, vein, artery,-—yea, the
least fibre, in its proper place; all in just
proportion and symmetry, in subserviency to
the use of each other, and for the good of the
whole, Psal. cxxxix. 14. It is also made
erect, to distinguish it from the four-footed
animals, who look downward to the earth.
Man was made to look upward to the heavens,
to contemplate them, and the glory of God
displayed in them; to look up to God, to
worship and adore him. In the Greek lan-
guage, man has his name, c’ia/Qpwwog, from
turning and looking upwards. The soul is
the other part of man, which is a substance or
subsistence: it is not an accident or quality
inherent in a subject, but capable of sub-
sisting without the body. It is a spiritual
substance, immaterial, immortal. See Soon
2. Man, dzfi’erent species of—According
to Linnaeus and Bufl‘on, there are six different
species among mankind. The first are those
under the polar regions, and comprehend the
Laplanders, the Esquimaux Indians, the Sa-
moied Tartars, the inhabitants of Nova Z8111-
bla, Borandians, the Greenlanders, and the
people of Kamtschatka. The visage of men
in these countries is large and broad, the nose
flat and short, the eyes of a yellowish brown,
inclining to blackness; the cheek bones ex-
tremely high, the mouth large; the lips thick,
and turning outwards; the voice thin and
squeaking; and the skin a dark grey colour.
They are short in stature, the generality
being about four feet high, and the tallest not
more than five. They are ignorant, stupid,
and superstitious. 2. The second are the
Tartar race, comprehending- the Chinese and
the Japanese. Their countcnances are broad
and wrinkled, even in youth; their noses
short and flat, their eyes little, cheek bones
high, teeth large, complexions olive, and the
hair black. 3. The third are the southern
Asiatics, or inhabitants of India. These are
of a slender shape, long, straight, black hair,
and generally Roman noses. They are sloth-
ful, submissive, cowardly, andeffeminate. 4.
The negroes of Africa constitute the fourth
striking variety in the human species. They
are of a black colour, having downy soft
hair, short and black; their beards often
turn grey, and sometimes white; their noses
are flat and short; their lips thick, and
their teeth of an ivory whiteness. These
have been till of late the unhappy wretches
who have been torn from their families,
friends, and native lands, and consigned for
life to misery, toil, and bondage; and that by
the wise, polished, and the Christian inhabit—
ants of Europe, and, above all, by the mon~
sters of England! 5. The natives of America
are the fifth race of men; they are of a cop-
per colour, with black, thick, straight hair,
flat noses, high cheek-bones, and small eyes.
6. The Europeans may be considered as the
sixth and last variety of the human kind,
whose features we need not describe. The
English are considered as the fairest. '
3. Alan, dtflferent states ojI—The state of
man has been divided into fourfold: his
primitive state, fallen state, gracious state,
and future state. i. His state of innocence.
God, it is said, made man upright, Eccl. vii.
29, without any imperfection, corruption,
or principle of corruption in his body or
soul; with light in his understanding,
holiness in his will, and purity in his afl’ec-
tions. This constituted his original righte-
ousness, which was universal, both with re-
spect to the subject of it, the whole man, and
the object of it, vthe whole law. Being thus
in a state of holiness he was necessarily in a
state of happiness. He was a very glorious
creature, the favourite of heaven, the lord of
the world, possessing perfect tranquillity in his
own breast, and immortal. Yet he was not
without law ; for to the law of nature, which
was impressed on his heart, God superadded
a positive law, not to eat of the forbidden
fruit, Gen. ii. 17 , under the penalty of death
natural, spiritual, and eternal. Had he obey ed
this ‘law, he might have had reason to expect
that he would not only have had the continu-
ance of his natural and spiritual life, but
have been transported to the upper paradise.
ii. IIis fall. Man’s righteousness, however,
though universal, was not immutable, as the
event has proved. How long he lived in a
state of innocence cannot easily be ascer-
tained, yet most suppose it was but a short
time. The positive law which God gave him
he broke, by eating the forbidden fruit. The
consequence of this evil act was, that man
lost the chief good: his nature was corrupted,
his powers depraved, his body subject to cor-
ruption, his soul exposed to misery, his pos~
terity all involved in ruin, subject to eternal
condemnation, and for ever incapable to re-
MAN
MAN
465
store themselves to the favour of God. to obey his commands perfectly, and to satisfy his
Gal. iii.; Rom. v.; Gen. iii.; Eph.
justice. ‘
See FALL. in. His
ii. ; Rom. iii. passz'm.
recovery]. Although man has fallen by his
iniquity, yet he is not left finally to perish.
'The Divine Being, foreseeing the fall, 1n in-
finite love and mercy made provision for his
relief. Jesus ‘Christ, according to the divine
purpose, came in the fulness of time to be his
Saviour; and, by virtue of his sufferings, all
who believe are justified from the curse of
the law. By the influences of the Holy Spirit,
he is regenerated, united to Christ by faith,
and sanctified. True believers, therefore,
live a life of dependence on the promises; of
regularity and obedience to God’s word; of
holy joy and peace; and have a hope full of
immortality. iv. His future state. As it re-
spects the impenitent, it is a state of separation
from God, and eternal punishment, Matt.
xxv. 46. But the righteous shall rise to
‘glory, honour, and everlasting joy. To the
former, death will be the introduction to
misery; to the latter, it will be the admission
to felicity. ,All will be tried in the judgment
day, and sentence pronounced accordingly.
'The wicked will be driven away in his
wickedness, and the righteous be saved with
an’ everlasting salvation. But as these sub-
jects are treated on elsewhere, we refer the
reader to the articles ‘GRACE, HEAVEN, HELL,
SIN. IrTartleg/s Observations on llfan; Good’s
Book of Nature; Boston’s Fourfold State;
Kaz'mes’s Sketches of the History of Man,-
Locke on the Understanding; Reid on the
Active and Intellectual Powers of Man ,- lVol-
iaston’s Religion of Nature; Harris’s Philoso-
p/zz'cal Arrangements.
MANES, or MANICHIEUS, the founder of the
sect of Manichees, flourished about the year
270. He was a native of Persia, but not born
in a condition of slavery, as some have main-
tained. He is represented to have been a man
of considerable learning, and to have been,
while yet young, ordained a Christian priest;
but afterwards falling into heresy, he was
expelled from the church, and favourably re-
ceived at the court of Sapor, king of Persia.
That prince listened to Manes so far as the
doctrine of the two principles is concerned;
but when he proceeded to introduce his pecu-
‘liar notions of Christianity into the religion
of his country, he lost the favour of the
monarch, and was obliged to retire into
Turkistan. On the death of Sapor, in 271 or
272, he again returned to court, and was well
received by Hormisdas, the new monarch.
This reign only lasted two years; and though
his son Varanes was inclined at first to favour
Manes, he was compelled to give way to the
calumnies andjealousies which existed against
him ; and, after a public conference, in which,
as might have ‘been supposed, Manes was de-
featcd, he was put to death, either by cruci—
fixion or, excoriation, in 277. The charge
that he impiously pretended to he himself the
Messiah, or the Holy Ghost. is now regarded
as an unfounded calumny v; indeed, it is more
than probable that the circumstance of his
name, signifying comforter, alone gave rise to
the latter part of the accusation.
Mamcmnaus, Mamcnnns, those who
adopted the opinions of Manes, just described.
The doctrine of Manes was a motley mixture
of the tenets of Christanity with the ancient
philosophy of the Persians, in which he had
been instructed during his youth. He com-
bined these two systems, and applied and
accommodated to Jesus Christ the characters
and actions which the Persians attributed to
the god Mithras.
He established two principles, viz. a good
and an evil one: the first a most pure and
subtle matter, which he called light, did
nothing but good; and the second, a gross
and corrupt substance, which he called dark-
ness, nothing 'but evil. This philosophy is
very ancient; and Plutarch treats of it at
large in his Isis and Osiris.
Our souls, according to Manes, were made
by the good principle, and our bodies by the
evil one; these two principles being, accord-
ing to him, co-eternal and independent of
each other. Each of these is subject to the
dominion of a superintendent Being, whose
existence is from all eternity. The Being
who presides over the light is called God; he
that rules the land of darkness bears the title
of hyle or demon. The ruler of the light is
supremely happy, and, in consequence thereof,
benevolent and good; the prince of darkness
is unhappy in himself, and desirous of ren-
dering others partakers of his misery; and
is evil and malignant. These two beings
have produced an immense multitude of crea~
tures resembling themselves, and distributed
them through their respective provinces.
After a contest between the ruler of light and
the prince of darkness, in which the latter
was defeated, this prince of darkness pro-
duced the first parents of the human race.
The beings engendered from this original
stock consist of a body formed out of the cor-
rupt matter of the kingdom of darkness, and
of two souls: one of which is sensitive and
lustful, and owes its existence to the evil
principle; the other rational and immortal,
a particle of that divine light which had been
carried away in the contest by the army of
darkness, and immersed into the mass of
malignant matter. The earth was created
by God out of this corrupt mass of matter, in
order to be a dwelling for the human race,
that their captive souls might by degrees be
delivered from their corporeal prisons, and the
celestial elements extricated from the gross
substance in which they were involved. With
this view God produced two beings from his
own substance, viz. Christ and the Holy
n u _
MAN
MAN
466
Ghost; for the Manicheans held a consub-
stantial trinity. Christ, or the glorious in-
telligence, called by the Persians Zlfithras,
subsisting in and by himself, and residing in
the sun, appeared in due time among the
Jews clothed with the shadowy form of a
human body, to disengage the rational soul
from the corrupt body, and to conquer the
violence of malignant matter. The Jews, in-
cited by the prince of darkness, put him to an
ignominious death, which he suffered not in
reality, but only in appearance, and according
to the opinion of men. when the purposes
of Christ were accomplished, he returned to
‘his throne in the sun, appointing apostles to
propagate his religion, and leaving his fol-
lowers the promise of the paraclete or com-
forter. Those souls who believe Jesus Christ
to be the Son of God, renounce the worship
of the god of the Jews, who is the prince of
darkness, and obey the laws delivered by
Christ, and illustrated by Manes, are gradu-
ally purified from the contagion of matter:
and their purification being completed, after
having passed through two states of trial, by
water and fire, first in the moon, and then
in the, sun, their bodies return to the original
mass (for the Manicheans derided the res-ur-
rection of bodies), and their souls ascend to
the regions of light. But the souls of those
who have neglected the salutary work of
purification, pass after death into the bodies
of other animals and natures, where they
remain till they have accomplished their pro-
bation. Some, however, more perverse and
obstinate, are consigned to a severer course
of trial, being delivered over for a time to the
power of malignant aerial spirits, who tor-
ment them in various ways. After this, a
fire shall break forth and consume the frame
of the world; and the prince and powers of
darkness shall return to their primitive seats
of anguish and misery, in which they shall
dwell for ever. These mansions shall be sur-
rounded by an invincible guard, to prevent their
ever renewing a war in the regions of light.
Manes borrowed many things from the
ancient Gnostics; on which account many
authors consider the Manicheans as a branch
of the Gnostics.
In truth, the Manichean doctrine was a
system of philosophy rather than of religion.
They made use of amulets, in imitation of the
Basilidians; and are said to have made profes-
sion of astronomy and astrology. They de-
nied that Jesus Christ, who was only God,
assumed a true human body, and maintained
it was only imaginary; and therefore they
denied his incarnation, death, &c. They pre~
tended that the law of Moses did not come
from God, or the good principle, but from the
evil one ; and that for this reason it was abro-
gated. They rejected almost all the sacred
books in which Christians look for the sub
lime. truths of their holy religion. They
aflirmed that the Old Testament was not the
work of God, but of the prince of darkness,
who was substituted by the Jews in the place
of the true God. They abstained entirely
from eating the flesh of any animal, following
herein the doctrine of the ancient Pythago-
reans: they also condemned marriage. The
rest of their errors may be seen in Epiphanius
and Augustine, which last, having been of
their sect, may be presumed to have been
thoroughly acquainted with them.
Though the Manichees professed to receive
the books of the New Testament, yet in effect
they only took so much of them as suited
with theirown opinions. They first formed
to themselves a certain idea or scheme of
Christianity; and to this adjusted the writings
of the apostles, pretending that whatever was
inconsistent with this had been foisted into
the New Testament by the later writers, who
were half Jews. On the other hand, they
made fables and apocryphal books pass for
apostolical writings; and even are suspected
to have forged several others, the better to
maintain their errors. Epiphanius gives a
catalogue of several pieces published by
Manes, and adds extracts out of some of
them. These are the Mysteries, Chapters,
Gospel, and Treasury.
The rule of life and manners which Manes
prescribed to his followers was most extra-
vagantly rigorous and severe. However, he
divided his disciples into two classes: one of
which comprehended the perfect Christian,
under the name of the elect; and the other the
imperfect and feeble, under the title of audi-
tors or hearers. The elect were obliged to
rigorous and entire abstinence from flesh,
eggs, milk, fish, wine, all intoxicating drink,
wedlock, and all amorous gratifications; and
to live in a state of the severest penury,
nourishing their emaciated bodies with bread,
herbs, pulse, and melons, and depriving them-
selves of all the comforts that arise from the
moderate indulgence of natural passions, and
also from a variety of innocent and agreeable
pursuits. The auditors were allowed to pos-
sess houses, lands, and wealth; to feed on
flesh, to enter into the bonds of conjugal ten-
derness; but this liberty was granted them
with many limitations, and under the strictest
conditions of moderation and temperance.
The general assembly‘ of Manicheans was
headed by a president, who represented Jesus
Christ. There were joined to him twelve
rulers or masters, who were designed to re-
present the twelve apostles; and these were
followed by seventy-two bishops, the images
of the seventy-two disciples of our Lord.
These bishops had presbyters or deacons under
them, and all the members of these religious
orders were chosen out of the class of the
elect. Their worship was simple and plain,
and consisted of prayers, reading the Scrip-
tures, and hearing public discourses. at which
MAR
MAR
467
both the auditors and elect were allowed to be
present. They also observed the Christian
appointment of baptism and the eucharist.
They kept the Lord’s day, observing it as a
fast; and they likewise kept Easter and the
Pentecost.
Towards the fourth century the Manicheans
concealed themselves under various names,
which they successively adopted, and changed
in proportion as they were discovered by
them. Thus they assumed the names of En-
cratites, Apotactics, Saecophori, Hydropara-
states, Solitaries, and several others, under
which they lay concealed for acertain time,
but could not, however, long escape the vigi-
lance of their enemies. About the close of
the sixth century, this sect gained a very con-
siderable influence, particularly among the
Persians.
Towards the middle of the twelfth century,
the sect of Manichees took a new face, on
account of one Constantine, an Armenian,
and an adherer to it, who took upon him to
suppress the reading of all other books he-
sides the evangelists and the epistles of St.
Paul, which he explained in such a manner
as to make them contain a new system of
Manicheism. He entirely discarded all the
writings of his predecessors; rejecting the
chimeras of the Valentinians and their thirty
aeons; the fable of Manes, with regard to the
origin of rain, and other dreams ; but still re-
tained the impurities of Basilides. In this
manner he reformed Manicheism, insomuch
that his followers made no scruple of anathe-
matizing Scythian and Buddas, called also
Addas ,and Terehinth, the contemporaries
and disciples, as some say, and according to
others, the predecessors and masters of Manes,
and even Manes himself; Constantine being
now their great apostle. After he had se-
duced an infinite number of people, he was at
last stoned by order of the emperor.
This sect are reported to have prevailed in
Bosnia, and the adjacent provinces, about the
close of the fifteenth century; and to have
propagated their doctrine with confidence, and
held their religious assemblies with impunity:
but there is reason to believe the name was
given to those who dissented from the domi-
nant church, in order to bring them into dis-
credit.
MARCELLANS, a‘ sect of ancient heretics,
towards the close of the second century; so
called from Marcellus of Ancyra, their leader,
who was accused of reviving the errors of
Sabellius. Some, however, are of opinion.
that Marcellus was orthodox, and that they
were his enemies, the Arians, who fathered
their errors upon him. St. Epiphanius ob-
serves, that there was a great deal of dispute
with regard to the real tenets of Marcellus;
but as to his followers, it is evident that they
did not own the three hypostases; for Mar-
cellus considered the Son and Holy Ghost
as two emanations from the divine nature,
which, after performing their respective
ofl‘ices, were to return again into the sub-
stance of the Father; and this opinion is alto-
gether incompatible with the belief of three
distinct persons in the Godhead.
MARCIONITES, or MARCIONISTS, Marcion-
z'stee, a very ancient and popular sect of here-
tics, who, in the time of Epiphanius, were
spread over Italy, Egypt, Palestine, Syria,
Arabia, Persia, and other countries; they
were thus denominated from their author
Marcion. Marcion was of Pontus, the son
of a bishop, and at first made profession of
the monastieal life; but he was excommuni-
cated by his own father, who would never
admit him again into communion with the
church, not even on his repentance. On this
he abandoned his own country, and retired to
Rome, where he began to breach his doc-
trines.
He flourished between the years 130 and
160, and was one of the most distinguished
and influential heretics of the second century.
He was the second person before Manes who
mixed the eastern doctrines with Christianity.
His celebrity arose, not so much from his in-
trodueing any new doctrines, as from his
enlarging upon those which had been taught
before him, which he did in a work which he
entitled Antitheses, which was celebrated by
the ancients, and regarded by his followers as
a symbolical book.
He laid down two principles, the one good,
the other evil; between these he imagined an
intermediate kind of Deity, of a mixed nature,
who was the Creator of this inferior world,
and the god and legislator of the Jewish na-
tion: the other nations, who worshipped a
variety of gods, were supposed to be under
the empire of the evil principle. These two
conflicting powers exercised oppressions upon
rational and immortal souls; and therefore
the supreme God, to deliver them from bond_
age, sent to the Jews a being more like unto
himself‘, even his Son Jesus Christ, clothed
with a certain shadowy resemblance of a
body: this celestial messenger was attacked
by the prince of darkness, and by the god of
the Jews, but without efi‘ect. Those who
follow the directions of this celestial con-
ductor, mortify the body by fastings and
austerities, and renounce the precepts of the
god of the Jews and of the prince of darkness,
shall after death ascend to the mansions of
felicity and perfection. The rule of manners
which Marcion prescribed to his followers
was excessively austere, containing an express
prohibition of wedlock, wine, flesh, and all the
external comforts of life.
Marcion denied the real birth, incarnation,
and passion of Jesus Christ, and held them to
be apparent only. He denied the resurrection
of the body, and allowed none to be baptized
but those who preserved their continence‘
MAR
MAR
468
‘but these he granted might be baptized three
times. In many things he ‘followed the sen—
timents of the heretic Gordon, and rejected
the law and the prophets, or, according to
Theodoret, the whole of the Old Testament.
He pretended the Gospels had been corrupted,
and received only one, which has been sup-
posed to be that of Luke; but this is a posi-
tion which has been taken for granted, with-
out any the least proof. It has, indeed, much
matter in common with the canonical Gospel;
but still they are in other respects so very
different, that the most distinguished modern
critics are decidedly of opinion that Marcion’s
was merely an apocryphal Gospel, and not a
mutilated or garbled copy of Lukefs, as some
of the fathers alleged on conjecture. He re-
jected the two epistles to Timothy, that to
Titus. and the Hebrews, and the Apocalypse.
He also arranged the other books in an order
totally different from that which was generally
followed. WVhoever would wish to investigate
the history of this heretic, can hardly avoid
studying the five books written expressly
against him by Tertullian, but they must be
read with some allowance for invective. D1‘.
Burton on the Early Heresics, Note 13.
MAReITEs, B'IARCITJE, a sect of heretics in ‘
the second century, who also called them-
selves the perfecti, and made profession of
doing every thing with a great deal of liberty,
and without fear. This doctrine they bor-
rowed from Simon Magus, who, however, was
not their chief; for they were called Marcites,
from one Marcus, who conferred the priest-
hood, and the administration of the sacra-
ments, on women.
Mxncosrans, or COLOBARSIANS, an ancient
sect in the church, making a branch of the
Yalentinians.
St. Irenaeus speaks at large of the leader of
this sect, Marcus, who, it seems, was reputed
a great magician. The Marcosians had a
great number of apocryphal books which they
held for canonical, and of the same authority
with ours. Out of these they picked several
idle fables touching the infancy of Jesus
Christ, which they put off for true histories.
Many of these fables are still in use and credit
among the Greek monks.
MARONITEs, in ecclesiastical history, a sect
of eastern Christians who followed the Syrian
rite, and are subject to the pope; their prin-
cipal habitation beigg on Mount Libanus.
Mosheim informs us, that the doctrine of
the Monothelites, condemned and exploded
by the council of Constantinople, found a
place of refuge among the Mardaites, a people
who inhabited the Mounts Libanus and Anti-
libanus, and who, about the conclusion of the
seventh century, were called Maronites, after
Maro, their first bishop, a name which they
still retain. None (he says) of the ancient
writers give any account of the first person
who instructed these mountaineers in the
doctrine of the Monothelites; it is probable,
however, from several circumtances, that it
was John Maro, whose name they adopted;
and that this ecclesiastic received the name
of Maro, from his having lived in the charac-
ter of a monk in the famous convent of St.
Maro, upon the borders of the Orontes, before
his settlement among the Mardaites of Mount
Libanus. One thing is certain, from the tes-
timony of Tyrius, and other unexceptionable
witnesses, as also from the most authentic re-
cords, viz., that the Maronites retained the
opinions of the Monothelites until the twelfth
century, when, abandoning and renouncing
the doctrine of one will in Christ, they were
re-admitted, in the year 1182, to the com-
munion of the Roman Church. The most
learned of the modern Maronites have left no
method unemployed to defend their church
against this accusation; they have laboured
to prove, by a variety of testimonies, that
their ancestors always persevered in the Ca-
tholic faith, in their attachment to'the Roman
pontiff, without ever adopting the doctrine of
the Monophysites, or Monothelites. But all
their efforts are insuflicient to prove the truth
of these assertions to such as have any ac-
quaintance with the history of the church,
and the records of ancient times; for to all
such, the testimonies they allege will appear
absolutely fictitious and destitute of autho-
rity.
Faustus Nairon, a Maronite settled at Rome,
has published an apology for Marc and the
rest of his nation. His tenet is, that they
really took their name from the Maro who
lived about the year 409, and of whom mention
is made 1n Chrysostom, Theodoret, and the
Menologium of the Greeks. He adds, that
the disciples of this Maro spread themselves
throughout all Syria; that they built several
monasteries, and, among others, one that bore
the name of their leader; that all the Syrians
who were not tainted with heresy took refuge
among them; ‘and that for this reason the
heretics of those times called them Maronites.
Mosheim observes, that the subjection of
the Maronites to the spiritual jurisdiction of
the Roman pontiff was agreed to with this
express condition, that neither the popes nor
their emissaries should pretend to change or
abolish any thing that related to the ancient
rites, moral precepts, or religious opinions of
this people; so that in reality there is nothing
to be found among the Maronites that savours
of popery, if we except their attachment to
the Roman pontiff, who is obliged to pay very
dear for their friendship. For as the Marion-
ites live in the utmost distress of poverty, un-
der the tyrannical yoke of the Mohammedans,
the bishop of Rome is under the necessity of
furnishing them with such subsidies as may
appease their oppressors, procure a subsist-
ence for their bishop and clergy, provide all
things requisite for the support of their
M A R
MAR
469
churches, and the uninterrupted exercise of
public worship, and contribute in general to
lessen their miseries. It is certain that there
are Maronites in Syria who still behold the
church of Rome with the greatest aversion
and abhorrence; nay, what is still more re-
markable, great numbers of that nation reside
ing in Italy, even ‘under the eye of the pontifi’,
opposed his authority, during the last century,
and threw the court of Rome into great per-
plexity. One body of these nonconforming
Maronites retired into the valleys of Pied-
mont, where they joined the Waldenses;
another, above six hundred in number, with
a bishop and several ecclesiastics at their
head, fled into Corsica, and implored the pro-
tection of the Republic of Genoa against the
violence of the inquisitors.
The Maronites have a patriarch who re-
sides in the monastery of Canobin, on Mount
Libanus, and assumes the title of patriarch of
Antioch, and the name of Peter, as'if he
seemed desirous of being considered as the
successor of that apostle. He is elected by
the clergy and the people, according to the
ancient custom ; but, since their reunion with
the Church of Rome, he is obliged to have a
hull of confirmation from the pope. He keeps
a perpetual celibacy, as well as the rest of the
bishops his sufi'ragans; as to the rest of the
ecclesiastics, they are allowed to marry before
ordination; and yet the monastic life is in
great esteem among them. Their monks are
' of the order of St. Anthony, and live in the
most obscure places in the mountains, far
from the commerce of the world.
As to their faith, they agree in the main
with the rest of the Eastern church Their
priests do not say mass singly, but all say it
together, standing round the altar. They
communicate in unleavened bread; and the
laity have hitherto partaken in both kinds,
though the practice of communicating in one
has of late been gaining ground, having been
introduced by little and little. In Lent they
eat nothing, unless it be two or three hours
before sun-rising: their other fastings are
very numerous. ~
MARRIAGE, a covenant between a man and
a woman, in which they mutually promise
cohabitation, and a continual care to promote
the comfort and happiness of each other. By
Grove thus : “ A society formed between two
persons of different sexes, chiefly for the pro-
creation and education of children.” This
union is very near and strict, and indeed in-
dissoluble but by death, excepting in one
case z—unfaithfulness in the one to the other '
by adultery or fornication, Romans vii. 2.
Matt. v. 32. It is to be entered into with de—
liberation, at a proper age, and with mutual
consent, as well as with the consent of parents
and guardians, under whose care single per-
sons may be. It is a very honourable state,
Heb xiii. 4, being an institution of God, and
that in Paradise, Gen. ii. Christ honoured
marriage by his presence, and at such a so-
lemnity wrought his first miracle, John ii.
Moreover, it is honourable, as families are
formed and built up, the world peopled with
inhabitants; it prevents incontinence and for-
nication, and, where the various duties of it
are attended to, renders life a blessing.
The laws of revelation, as well as most ci-
vilized countries, have made several excep-
tions of persons marrying who are nearly
related by blood. The marriage of parents
and children appears, at first view, contrary
to nature, not merely on account of the dis-
parity of age, but of the confusion which it
introduces into natural relations, and its oblig-
ing to inconsistent duties; such as reverence
to a. son, and the daughter to be equal with
the father. Nor can the son or daughter ac-
quit themselves of such inconsistent duties as
would arise from this unnatural union. The
marriage of brothers and sisters, and of some
other near relations, is likewise disapproved
by reason on various accounts, It frustrates
one design of marriage, which is to enlarge
benevolence and friendship, by cementing
various families in a close alliance. And,
further, were it allowed, young persons, in—
stead of entering into marriage upon mature
consideration, with a settled esteem and friend-
ship, and a proper concern and provision for
the support and education of children, would
be in danger (through the intimacy and afi‘ec-
tion produced by their near relation, and being
bred together) of sliding in their inconsi-
derate years into'those criminal familiarities
which are most destructive of the great ends
of marriage. Most nations have agreed to
brand such marriages as highly criminal, who
cannot be supposed to have derived their
judgment from Moses and the Israelites. It
is probable God expressly prohibited these
marriages in the beginning of mankind, and
from the first heads of families, the prohibi-
tion might be transmitted as a most sacred
law to their descendants. See IxcEs'r.
Some ‘have supposed from those passages,
'1 Tim. iii. 2; Tit. i. 6, that bishops or pastors
ought never to marry a second wife. But
‘such a prohibition would be contrary to na-
tural right, and the design of the law itself;
neither of which was ever intended to be set
aside by the Gospel dispensation. It is more
probably designed to guard against polygamy,
and against divorce on frivolous occasions;
both of which were frequent among the Jews,
but condemned by our Lord, Matt. xix. 3—9-
The duties of this state are, on the part of
the husband, love superior to any shown to
any other person: a love of complacency and
delight, Prov. v. 18, 19. Chaste and single.
Provision for the temporal good of the wife
and family, I Tim. v. 3. Protection from
abuse and injuries. Ruth iii. 9', 1 Sam. xxx.
5, 18. Doing every thing that may contribute’
MAR
MAR
470
' Mor. PhiL, vol. ii. p. 470; Paley's Mor. Phz'L,
to thepleasure, peace, and comfort of the wife,
1 Cor. vii. 33. Seeking her spiritual welfare,
and every thing that shall promote her edifi-
cation and felicity. The duties on the part
of the wife are, reverence, subjection, obedi-
ence, assistance, sympathy, assuming no
authority, and continuance with him, Eph. v.
32, 33; Tit. ii. 5 ; 1 Tim. v. 11, 12; Ruth i.
16. See articles DIVORCE, PARENT. Grove’s
1
vol. i. ch. viii. p. 339; Bean’s Christian Mini-
ster’s Advice to a New-man'ied Couple; Guide
to Domestic Happiness,- Advantages and Dis—
advantages Qf the Marriage State; Stennett on
Domestic Duties,- Jay’s Essay on Marriage,-
Doddrz'dge’s Lect. vol. i. pp. 225, 234, 265,
8vo. ed.
MARRIAGE CEREMONY, a service performed
by a clergyman, in which the two parties to
be married are publicly united in connexion
with the celebration of certain acts of reli-
gious worship. It is impossible to trace this
rite to its origin. The Scriptures enjoin no-
thing of the kind; and though there is reason
to believe that some ceremony has constituted
the public celebration of marriage among the
Jews from the time of our Lord, if not from
an earlier period, yet nothing can be more
certain than the fact, that in the first ages of
the Christian Church, it was not regarded as
essential, but was merely considered to be
proper and becoming Christian men. For a
considerable time it fell into desuetude, to re-
medy which certain laws, enforcing it, were
enacted in the eighth century. The cere-
mony differs in different places. In Scot-
land, like all other religious services of that
country, it is extremely simple, and is per-
formed in the session-house, the residence
of the minister, or the private house of some
friend of one of the parties. In Lutheran
countries, it is generally celebrated in private
houses. In the Church of England it is admi-
n‘istered at the altar, before which, in the
body of the church, the parties are placed,
after having mutually joined hands, and
pledged their mutual troth, according to a set
form of words, which they say after the
minister ; the man gives a ring to the woman,
then lays it on the book, with the accus-
tomed duty to the priest and clerk. The
priest then takes the ring, and delivers it to
the man, whom he instructs to put it on the
fourth finger of the woman’s left hand, and,
holding it there, to repeat the words :~—“ With
this ring I thee wed, with my body I thee
worship, and with all my worldly goods Ithee
endow. In the name of the Father and ofi
the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.”
The minister next joins their right hands
together, and after prayers and blessings, dur- ‘
ing certain parts of which the man and woman ‘
kneel before the altar, they are dismissed with
the reading of a part of the Prayer—book,l
which points out the duties of the marriageI

state. These forms are chiefly taken from
the service-books of the Church of Rome,
and have been imposed, at a later period, on
the inhabitants of England. In earlier times,
marriage was completed here without any
intervention of the clergy; and, by a recent
act of the legislature, parties may be married
by diasenting ministers in chapels duly regis-
tered, as also by the same persons in the otfice
of the Registrar of marriages, and by the Re-
gistrar himself if so required.
MARRIAGE, CHRISTIAN. The importance
of regulating the nuptial alliance, was, accord-
ing to the record of the Old Testament, prac-
tically recognized at a very early period.
The intermixture, by marriage, of the pro-
fessed servants and worshippers of God, with
those by whom his authority was disowned,
was positively forbidden by divine authority,
—-denounced as an evil the results of which
were most injurious to the interests of reli~
gion, and which exposed those who fell into
it to the condign and awful displeasure of the
Most High. When the people of Israel were
on the. borders of the promised land, they
were thus addressed by their legislator :~-—
‘~ \Vhen the Lord thy God shall bring thee
into the land whither thou goest to possess it,
and hath cast out many nations before thee—-
nations greater and mightier than thou; and
when the Lord thy God shall deliver them
before thee, thou shalt make no covenant
with them, nor show mercy unto them : nei-
ther shalt thou make marriages with them:
thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son,
nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy
son. For they will turn away thy son from
following me, that they may serve other gods;
so will the anger of the Lord be kindled
against you, and destroy thee suddenly.” By
Joshua, they were solemnly cautioned again.
“ If ye do in any wise go back, and cleave
unto the remnant of these nations, even these
that remain amongst you, and shall make
marriages with them, and go in unto them,
and they to you: know for a certainty that -
the Lord your God will no more drive out
any of these nations from before you; but
they shall be snares and traps unto you, and
scourges in your sides, and thorns in your
eyes, until you perish from off this good land
which the Lord your God hath given you.”
It was mentioned to Ezra, as the crying sin
of the people after their return from capti-
vity,—-“ The people of Israel, the priests, and
the Levites, have not separated themselves.
_ from the people of the land; for they have
taken of their daughters for themselves and
for their sons; so that the holy seed have
mingled themselves with the people of these
lands.” For that sin it was, he sat down
mourning and astonished, and would be
satisfied with nothing less than the putting
away of the strange wives, while the names
of many of ‘the transgrcssors were handed
MAR
MAR
471
down in ignominions distinction to posterity.
Now, although there were some circumstances
attending the marriages in this manner de-
nounced, which do not directly apply to the
state of society in our own country, (especially
the circumstance that the people with whom
such intercourse was forbidden, were idolaters,)
yet there is much, as must be evident to every
pious observer, that illustrates the sin and
danger of forming permanent union in life
with the people of the ungodly world. The
general fact is hence clearly deducible, that
there is an influence in marriage strongly
affecting the character, which demands from
those who are anxious for moral- rectitude
and improvement, much of caution as to the
manner in which their affections are fixed; '
and that unequal alliances—alliances where
the parties are actuated by different spiritual
habits and desires, and where good is made to
meet and combine with bad, encountering
most imminently the danger of seduction and
pollution—are guilty, unnatural, and mon-
strous. The expression of the divine autho-
rity,’ in application to the Jews, is to be re-
garded as comprehending the principle of his
people in all ages, that here they ought not to
walk in the counsel of the ungodly, nor to
stand in the way of sinners.
What we thus are enabled to conclude from
the Old Testament, will be still more dis-
tinctly exemplified from the New. The
evangelical writings do not indeed frequently
ofl‘er directions expressly on the subject of
marriage; the point appearing rather to be
assumed than argued, that in Christian mar-
riage, the husband and wife ought both, in
the emphatic terms of the apostle Peter, to
be “heirs together of the grace of life.”
Where directions do occur, they are, how-
ever, unequivocal in their import: two ex-
amples are commended to attention. _
In the first epistle to the Corinthians,_the
Apostle Paul applies himself to a question,
which seems at that time to have been agi-
tated—whether Christians, who previous to
their conversion had contracted marriages
with unbelievers, ought not to be actually di-
vorced from the wives or husbands remaining
in unbelief, because of the evil and peril at-
tending the continuance of the alliance.
Such an extreme, advocated by some, 'he con-
siders as uncalled for ; giving his decision as
follows :—-“ If any brother hath a wife that
believeth not, and she be pleased to dwell
with him, let him not put her away. And
the woman which hath an husband that be-
lieveth not, if he be pleased to dwell with
her, let her not leave him. But if the unbe-
lieving depart, let him depart.
a sister is not under bondage in such cases;
but God hath called us unto peace.”
excited with the hope of being instrumental
in saving the wife or husband believing not. _
A brother or ,-
_I is requested to ponder a truth, which is as
And the husband or wife believing, is told to live f
' in violation of the institute of their religion,
But respecting the formation of a new ma-
trimonial connexion by a believer, (the case
taken being that of abelieving widow, though
the rule of course extends to all,) this is the
direction :—“ She is at liberty to be married
to whom she will, only in the Lord.” Here
is a simple proclamation, the force of which
is permanent, and in submission to which
Christians, in every period, should act. They
are to marry “ only in the Lord.” They
being themselves “ in the Lord,”-—united to
the Lord Jesus by the Divine Spirit, and pos-
sessing an interest in the redeeming blessings
he has purchased, are to marry only such as
are thus “in the Lord” also—believer with
believer, and with none else. This is the ob-
vious meaning of the passage, which no so-
phism can evade or fritter away ; and we he-
sitate not to say, that to violate it under any
excuse, and from any motive whatever, is
a shameful rebellion against the purpose of
the Christian calling, and the express testi-
mony of God.
The other example is contained in a well-
known exhortation, the just application of
which is not to be questioned, and the
power of which is not to be strengthened by
a comment. “ Be ye not unequally yoked to-
gether with unbelievers; for what fellowship
hath righteousness with unrighteousness?
and what communion hath light with dark-
ness? and what concord hath Christ with
Belial? or what part hath he that believeth
with an infidel? and what agreement hath
the temple of God with idols P for ye are the
temple of the living God; as God hath said,
I will dwell in them and walk in them: and
will be their God, and they shall be my peo~
ple. Wherefore come out from among them
and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch
not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,
and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall
be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord
Almighty.” How a Christian can venture,
in the face of such a warning as this, to form,
with one not a child of God, a union of the
closest and most permanent order earth can
witness, it is indeed dilficult to comprehend.
It would be easy to employ the attention
further, on the general statements contained
in the word of God, respecting the character
of separation from the world, which ought to
be sustained by his church, the ends f or which
it is called, and the objects it is bound to per-
form ; statements which all bear on the prin-
ciple as to marriage ; operating to enforce
and to confirm it. But, without amplifying
here, and satisfied that this principle receives,
from the testimony already quoted, a con—
vincing and solemn establishment, the reader
indubitable as it ought to be impressive;
namely, that marriages formed by Christians,
are connected with evils many and calamitous,
MA R
MAR
472
most earnestly to be deprecated, and most
cautiously to be avoided. Is it indeed to be
expected on the ground of religion, that an
act can be committed against the expressed
will of the Most High God, without exposing
the transgressor to the scourge of his chas-
tisement? Is it to be expected, on the ground
of reason, that an alliance can be formed be-
tween individuals whose moral attributes and
desires are essentially incompatible, without
creating the elements of uneasiness, discord,
and disappointment? Excited imagination
and passion may delude with the belief of
innocence and hope of escape; but religion
and reason speak the language of unchange-
able veracity, and are ever justified in the
fulfilments of experience, and of fact.
The operation of the evil results whose
origin is thus deduced, is of course susceptible
of modifications from several circumstances
in domestic and social life; and, for many
reasons, the degrees of public exhibition and
of personal pressure may vary. Yet it may
be remarked uniformly respecting these re-
sults,—-—they are such as deeply affect the cha-
racter. A reference has already been made
to the moral influence of marriage, and as
the marriages forbidden and punished under
the Jewish dispensation, were obnoxious on
account of the contamination into which they
led the professed people of God, so are the
marriages of Christians with worldlings in
this age, the objects of censure and depre-
cation, because of the baneful effect they
exert on those who are numbered among the
redeemed of the Lord. Such marriages as
these present constant and insinuating temp-
tations to seduce Christians to worldly dis-
positions and pursuits; they enfeeble their
spiritual energies‘; interfere with their com-
munion with God; hinder their growth in
the attainments of divine life; check and
oppose their performance of duty, and their
pursuit of usefulness, in the family, the church,
and the world. The writer of this article
has never known or heard of (what he feels
justified in terming) a forbidden marriage,
which, if its original character were continued,
did not pollute and injure. Some instances
have been most palpable and painful; nor
can it be considered but as a truth unques-
tionable and notorious, that whoever will so
transgress, invokes a very blighting of the
soul‘. It may be remarked respecting these
results, again, they are such as deeply a‘fl'ect
the happiness. Christian character and.
Christian happiness are closely connected '. it
the one be hurt, the other will not remain
untouched. And who sees not in the unbal-
lowed alliance a gathering of the elements
of sorrow? Are there not ample materials
for secret and pungent accusations of con-
science, that agitate the heart with the untold
pangs of self~condemnation and remorse?
is there not reason for the bitterness of dis-
appointment, and the sadness of foreboding.
_ fear, because the best intercourse is unknown
-—the purest affection is impossible—the
{noblest union is wanting—and the being on
whom the spirit would repose, is, to all that
is the sweetest and most stiblime in human-
sympathies, human joys, and human pros-
peets, an alien and a stranger? And what
must be the horror of that anticipation
which sets forth the event of a final separa-
tion at the bar of God, when, while the hope
of personal salvation may be preserved, the
partner of the bosom is seen as one to be
condemned by the Judge, and banished with
everlasting. destruction from his presence, and
the glory of his power! 0 the infatuation
of the folly which leads us to unite, where
are created evils like these, rather than
where God will sanction, and where time and
eternity will both combine to bless!
That much injury has arisen to the public
interests of the Church of Christ from this
transgression cannot be doubted. Injury
done to individual character, is injury done
to the community to which the individual is
attached. It has always been a fact, that
whoever sins in the household of faith, sins
not only against himself, but against others;
and that this transgression is one peculiarly
extended -in its influence—operating more
than, perhaps, any one else which can be
named, to bring religion from its vantage
ground, to clog its rogress, and to retard its
triumph. Cong. 1Vag., May, 1831.
MARROW-MEN, otherwise called the Twelve
Brethren, and the Represcnters, those minis-
ters of the Scotch Church who, about the be-
ginning of last century, advocated the evan-
gelieal views contained in a book called the
“ Marrow of Modern Divinity,” which at that
time had been re-published, and widely cir-
culated in Scotland, and paved the way for
the Secession which afterwards followed.
This book having been condemned by an act
of the General Assembly, a representation was
drawn up and signed by the following twelve
mini-sters :—James Hogg, Thomas Boston,
John Bonnar, James Kid, Gabriel Wilson,
Ebenezer Erskine, Ralph Erskine, James
Wardl'aw, James Bathgate, Henry Davidson,
William Hunter, and John Williamson. This
representation they gave in to the Assembly ;_
but after a great deal of vexation and opposi-
tion, they were dismissed from its bar with
a rebuke and admonition. The Representers
were not only accurate and able divines, and
several of them learned men, but ministers of
the most enlightened and tender consciences,
enemies in doctrine and practice to all licen-
tiousness, and shining examples of true holi-
ness in all manner of conversation. They
were at the same time zealous adherents to
the Confession of Faith and the Catechisms.
. The term JlIarrow-men and A nti-Marrowmen

2 now became deuominative of evangelical and
MAR
MAR
473
‘\iegal preachers; and from this time may be
dated the commencement of an extensive and
remarkable revival of religion in Scotland.
MARTYR is one who lays down his life or
suffers death for the sake of his religion. The
word is Greek, aprvp, and properly-signifies
a “witness.” is applied by way of emi~
nence to those who suffer in witness of the
truth of the Gospel.
The Christian Church has abounded with
martyrs, and history is filled with surprising
accounts of their singular constancy and for-
titude under the cruelest torments human
nature was capable of suffering. The primi-
tive Christians were accused by their enemies
of paying a sort of divine worship to martyrs.
Of this we have an instance in the answer of
the Church of Smyrna to the suggestion of the
Jews, who, at the martyrdom of Polycarp,
desired the heathen judge not to suffer the
Christians to carry ofi‘ his body, lest they
should leave their crucified master, and wor-
ship him in his stead. To which they an-
swered, “ We can neither forsake Christ, nor
worship any other; for we worship him as
the Son of God; but love the martyrs as the
disciples and followers of the Lord, for the
great affection they have shown to their King
and Master.” A like answer was given at
the martyrdom of Fructuosus in Spain; for
when the judge asked Eulogius, his deacon,
whether he would not worship Fructuosus, as
thinking that, though he refused to worship
the heathen idols, he might yet be inclined to
worship a Christian martyr, Eulogius replied,
“ I do not worship Fructuosus, but Him whom
Fructuosus worships.” The primitive Chris-
tians believed that the martyrs enjoyed very
singular privileges; that upon their death
they were immediately admitted to the beatific
vision, while other souls waited for the ‘com-
pletion of their happiness till the day of judg-
ment; and that God would grant to their
prayers the hastening of his kingdom, and
shortening the times of persecution. Perhaps
this consideration might excite many to court
martyrdom, as we believe many did. It must
be recollected, however, that martyrdom in
itself is no proof of the goodness of our cause,
only that we ourselves are persuaded that it
is so. “ It is not the blood, but the cause, that
makes the martyr.” (Mead) Yet we may
consider the number and fortitude of those
who have suffered for Christianity as a colla-
teral proof at least of its excellency; for the
thing for which they suffered was not a point
of speculation, but a plain matter of fact, in
which (had it been false) they could not have
been mistaken. The marty rdo us, therefore, of so
many wise and good men, taken with a view of
the whole system of Christianity, will certainly
afford something considerable in its favour.
The churches built over the graves of the
martyrs, and called by their names, in order
l
to preserve the memory of their sufferings, ,
were distinguished by the title warty/rum con-
‘ fessio, or memoria.
The festivals of the martyrs are of very
ancient date in the Christian church, and
may be carried back at least to the time of
Polycarp, who sufi'ered martyrdom about the
year of Christ 168. On these days the Chris-
tians met at the graves of the martyrs, and
offered prayers and thanksgivings to God for
the example they had afforded them ; they
celebrated the eucharist, and gave aims to the
poor; which, together with a panegyrical ora-
tion or sermon, and reading the acts of the
martyrs, were the spiritual exercises of these
anniversaries.
Of the sayings, sufi‘erings, and deaths of
the martyrs, though preserved with great
care for the above purpose, and to serve as
models to future ages, we have but very little
left, the greatest part of them having been
destroyed during that dreadful persecution
which Dioclesian carried on for ten years with
fresh fury against the Christians; for a dili-
gent search was then made after all their
books and papers ; and all of them that were
found were committed to the flames. Euse-
bius, indeed, composed a martyrology, but it
never reached down to us; and those since
compiled are extremely suspected. From the
eighth century downwards, several Greek and
Latin authors endeavoured to make up the
loss, by compiling, with vast labour, accounts
of the lives and actions of the ancient mar-
tyrs, but which consist of little else than a
series of fables: nor are those records that
pass under the name of martyrology worthy of
superior credit, since they bear the most evi-
dent marks both of ignorance and falsehood.
MARTYnoLocY, a catalogue or list of mar-
tyrs, including the history of their lives and
sufferings for the sake of religion. The term
comes from aaprvp, “witnesses,” and Maya),
dico, or heyw, eolligo.
The martyrologies draw their materials
from the calendars of particular churches, in
which the several festivals dedicated to them
are marked; and which seem to be derived
from the practice of the ancient Romans, who
inserted the names of heroes and great men
in their fasti, or public registers.
The martyrologies are very numerous, and
contain many ridiculous, and even contradic-
tory narratives; which is easily accounted for,
if we consider how many forged and spurious-
accounts of the lives of saints and martyrs
appeared in the first ages of the church, which
the legendary writers afterwards adopted,
without examining into the truth of them.
However, some good critics, of late years,
have gone a great way towards clearing the
lives of the saints and martyrs from the mon‘
strous heap of fiction they laboured under.
Sec Article LEGEND.
The martyrology of Eusebius of Caesarea
was the most celebrated in the ancient church.-
MAS
MAS
474
It was translated into Latin by St.Jerome;
but the learned agree that it is not now extant.
'l‘hat attributed to Bede, in the eighth cen-
tury, is of very doubtful authority; the names
of several saints being there found who did
not live till after the time of Bede. The ninth
century was very fertile in martyrologies:
then appeared that of Florus, subdeacon of
the church at Lyons; who, however, only
filled up the chasms in Bede. This was pub-
lished about the year 830, and was followed
by that of Waldenburtus, monk of the diocese
of Treves, written in verse, about the year
848; and this by that of Usard, a French
monk, and written by the command of Charles
the Bald, in 875, which last is the martyrology
now ordinarily used in the Romish Church.
That of Rabanus Maurus is an improvement
on Bede and Florus, written about the year
845; that of Noker, monk of St. Gal, was
written about the year 894. The martyrology
of Ado, monk of Ferriers, in the diocese of
Treves, afterwards Archbishop of Vienne, is
a descendant of the Roman, if we may so call
it; for Du Sollier gives its genealogy thus :—
The martyrology of St. ,Jerome is the great
Roman martyrology; from this was made the
little Roman one printed by Rosweyd: of this
little Roman martyrology was formed that of
Bede, augmented by Florus. Ado compiled
his in the year 858. The martyrology of
Nevelon, monk of Corbie, written about ther
year 1089, is little more than an abridgment
of that of Ado: father Kircher also makes
mention of a Coptic martyrology, preserved
by the Maronites at Rome.
We have also several Protestant martyro-
logies, containing the sufferings of the re-
formed under the Papists, viz. an English
martyrology, by J. Fox; with others by Clark,
Bray, &c. See PERSECUTION.
Martyrology is also used in the Romish
Church for a roll or register kept in the ves-
try of each church, containing the names of
all the saints and martyrs both of the univer-
sal church, and of the particular ones of that
city or monastery.
Martyrology is also applied to the painted
or written catalogues in the Roman churches,
containing the foundations, obits, prayers, and
masses, to be said each day.
MASORA, a term, in the Jewish theology,
signifying a work on the Bible, performed by
several learned rabbins, to secure it from any
alterations which might otherwise happen.
Their work regards merely the letter of
the Hebrew text, in which they have first
fixed the true reading by vowels and accents;
they have, secondly, numbered not only the
chapters and sections, but the verses, words,
and letters of the text; and they find in the
Pentateuch 5245 verses, and in the whole
Bible 23,206. The Masora is called by the
Jews the “ hedge or fence of the law,” be-
cause this enumeration of the verses, &c. is a
means of preserving it from being corrupted
and altered. They have, thirdly, marked
whatever irregularities occur in any of the
letters of the Hebrew text; such as the dif-
ferent size of the letters, their various posi-
tions and inversions, &c.; and they have
been fruitful in finding out reasons for these
mysteries and irregularities in them. They
are, fourthly, supposed to be the authors of
the Keri and Chetibh, or the marginal cor-
rections of the text in our Hebrew Bibles.
The text of the sacred books, it is to be
observed, was originally written without any
breaks or divisions into chapters or verses,
or even into words; so that a whole book,
in the ancient manner, was but one continued
word: of this kind we have still several an-
cient manuscripts, both Greek and Latin. In
this regard, therefore, the sacred writings had
undergone an infinite number of alterations ;
whence various readings had arisen, and the
original having become much mangled and
disguised, the Jews had recourse to a canon,
which they judged infallible, to fix and ascer-
tain the reading of the Hebrew text; and
this rule they call masora, “ tradition,” from
‘107:, tradit, as if this critique were nothing
but a tradition which they had received from
their forefathers. Accordingly they say, that,
when God gave the law to Moses at Mount
Sinai, he taught him first the true reading of
it; and, secondly, its true interpretation; and
that both these were handed down by oral
tradition from generation to generation, till
at length they were committed to writing.
The former of these, viz. the true reading, is
the subject of the Masora; the latter, or true
interpretation, that of the Mishnaand Gemara.
According to Elias Levita, they were the
Jews of a famous school at Tiberias, about
five hundred years after Christ, who com-
posed, or at least began, the Masora; whence
they are called Masorites, and Masoretic
doctors. Aben Ezra makes them the authors
of the points and accents in the Hebrew text,
as we now find it, and which serve for vowels.
The age of the Masoretes has been much
disputed. Archbishop Usher places them
before Jerome: Capel at the end of the fifth
century ; father Morin in the tenth century.
Basnage says that they were not a society,
but a succession of men; and that the Masora
was the work of‘ many grammarians, who,
without associating and communicating their
notions, composed this collection of criticisms
on the Hebrew text. It is urged, that there
were Masoretes from the time of Ezra and
the men of the great synagogue, to about the
year of Christ 1030; and that Ben Asher and
Ben Naphtali, who were the best of the pro-
fession, and who, according to Basnage, were
the inventors of the Masora, flourished at this
time. Each of these published a copy of the
whole Hebrew text, as correct, says Dr. Pri-
;deaux, as they could make it. The eastern
MAS
MAS
475
Jews have followed that of Ben Naphtali,
and the western that of Ben Asher: and all
that has been done since is to copy after
them, without making any more corrections
or masoretical criticisms.
_ The Arabs have done the same thing by
their Koran that the Masoretes have done by
the Bible; nor do the Jews deny their having
borrowed this expedient from the Arabs,who
first put it in practice in the seventh century.
There is a great and little Masora printed
at Venice and at Basil, with the Hebrew text
in a different character. Buxtorf has written
a work on the Masorites, which he calls
Tiberz'as.
Mass, Missa, in the church of Rome, the
ofiice or prayers used at the celebration of the
eucharist; or, in other words, consecrating
the bread and wine into the body and blood
of Christ, and offering them, so transubstan-
tiated, as an expiatory sacrifice for the quick
and the dead.
As the mass is in general believed to be a
representation of the passion of our blessed
Saviour, so every action of the priest, and
every particular part of the service, is sup-
posed to allude to the particular circumstances
of his passion and death.
Nicol, after Baronius, observes, that the
word comes from the Hebrew missach (obla-
tum); or from the Latin missa, missorum; be-
cause in the former times the catechumens
and excommunicated were sent out of the
church when the deacons said I te, missa est,
after sermon and reading of the epistle and
gospel, they not being allowed to assist at
the consecration. Menage derives the word
from missio, “ dismissing ;” others from missa,
“ missing, sending ;” because in the mass
the prayers of men on earth are sent up to
heaven. _
The general division of masses consists in
high and low. The first is that sung by the
choristers, and celebrated with the assistance
of a deacon and sub-deacon : low masses are
those in which the prayers are barely re-
hearsed without singing.
There is a great number of difi‘erent or oc-
casional masses in the Romish Church, many
of which have nothing peculiar but the name:
such are the masses of the saints: that of St.
Mary of the Snow, celebrated on the 5th of
August; that of St, Margaret, patroness of
lying-in women; that at the feast of St. John
the Baptist, at which are said three masses;
that of the Innocents, at which the gloria in
excelsis and hallelujah are omitted, and, it
being a day of mourning, the altar is of a
violet colour. As to ordinary masses, some
are for the dead, and, as is supposed, contri—
butc to fetch the soul out of purgatory. At
these masses the altar is put in mourning, and
the only decorations are a cross in the middle
of six yellow wax lights; the dress of the
celebrant, and the very mass-book, are black; I
many parts of the oflice are omitted, and the
people are dismissed without the benediction.
Ifthe mass be said for a person distinguished
by his rank or virtues, it is followed with a
funeral oration : they erect a chapelle arrlente,
that is, a representation of the deceased, with
branches and tapers of yellow wax either in
the middle of the church, or near the de-
ceased’s tomb, where the priest pronounces a
solemn absolution of the deceased. There
are likewise private masses said for stolen or
strayed goods or cattle, for health, for travel-
lers, 8cc., which go under the name of votive
masses. There is still a. further distinction of
masses, denominated from the countries in
which they were used: thus the Gothic mass,
or missa Mosarabum, is that used among the
Goths when they were masters of Spain, and
which is still kept up at Toledo and Sala-
manca; the Ambrosian mass is that com-
posed by St. Ambrose, and used only at Milan,
of which city he was bishop; the Gallic
mass, used by the ancient Gauls; and the
Roman mass, used by almost all the churches
in the Romish communion.
Mass of the presanctified (missa prazsancti-
fieatorum,) is a mass peculiar to the Greek
Church, in which there is no consecration of
the elements; but, after singing some hymns,
they receive the bread and wine which were
before consecrated. The mass is performed
alf Lent, except on Saturdays, Sundays, and
jthe Annunciation. The priest counts upon
l his fingers the days of the ensuing week on
‘ which it is to be celebrated, and cuts ofi‘ as
many pieces of bread at the altar as he is to
say masses; and after having consecrated
them, steeps them in wine, and puts them in
a box, out of which, upon every occasion, he
takes some of it with a spoon, and putting it
on a dish, sets it on the altar.
MAssaLulNs, or MEssALIANs, a sect which
sprung up about the year 361, in the reign of
the Emperor Constantius, who maintained
that men have two souls, a celestial and a
diabolical; and that the latter is driven out
by prayer. From those words of our Lord,
“ Labour not for the meat that perisheth,” it
is said, that they concluded they ought not to
do any work to get their bread. We may
suppose, says Dr. J ortin, that this sect did not
last long; that these sluggards were soon
starved out of the world; or rather, that cold
and hunger sharpened their wits, and taught
them to be better interpreters of Scripture.
MASTER, a person who has servants under
him; a ruler or instructor. The duties of
masters relate to the civil concerns of the
family. To arrange the several businesses
required of servants; to give particular in-
structions for what is to be done, and how
it is to be done; to take care that no
more is required of servants than they
are equal to; to be gentle in our deport-
ment towards them; to reprove them “here
MAT
MAT
476
they do wrong, to commend them when
they do right; to make them an adequate re-
compense for their services, as to protection,
maintenance, wages, and character. 2. As to
the morals of servants. Masters must look
well to their servants’ characters before they
hire them; instruct them in the principles
and confirm them in the habits of virtue;
watch over their morals, and set them good
examples. 3. As to their religious interests.
They should instruct them in the knowledge
of divine things, Gen. xiv. 14; xviii. 19.
Pray with them and for them, Joshua xxiv.
15 ; allow them time and leisure for religious
services, &c., Eph. vi. 9. See Stennett on
Domestic Duties, ser. 8; Paley’s Moral Phi-
losophy, vol. i. pp. 233, 235; Beattie’s Ele-
ments of llloral Science, vol. i. pp. 150, 153;
Docldrz'dge’s Lectures, vol. ii. p. 266.
MATEnIALIs'rs, a sect in the ancient
church, composed of persons who, being pre-
possessed with that maxim in philosophy,
“ ex nihilo nihil fit,” out of nothing, nothing
can arise, had recourse to an eternal matter,
on which they supposed God wrought in the
creation, instead of admitting Him alone as
the sole cause of the existence of all things.
Tertullian vigorously opposed them in his
treatise against Hermogenes, who was one of
their number.
Materialists are also those who maintain
that the soul of man is material, or that e
principle of perception and thought is not a ‘
substance distinct from the body, but the re— .
sult of corporeal organization. There are
others called by this name, who have main-
tained that there is nothing but matter in the
universe.
The followers of the late Dr. Priestley are
considered as Materialists, or philosophical
Necessarians. According to the doctor’s
writings, he believed,—
1. That man is no more than what we
now see of him; his being commences at the
time of his conception, or perhaps at an ear-
lier period. The corporeal and mental fa-
culties, inhering in the same substance, grow,
ripen, and decay together ; and whenever the
system is dissolved, it continues in a state of
dissolution till it shall please that Almighty
Being who called it into existence, to restore
it to life again. For if the mental principle

were, in its own nature, immaterial and im-
mortal, all its peculiar faculties would beso
too; whereas we see that every faculty of l
the mind, without exception, is liable to be ‘;
impaired, and even to become wholly extinct -
before death. Since, therefore, all the facul-
ties of the mind, separately taken, appear to
be mortal, the substance, or principle, in which
they exist, must be pronounced mortal too.
mortal, from observing that all the separate
senses and limbs were liable to decay and
perish.
This system gives a real value to the doc~
trine of the resurrection of the dead, which
is peculiar to revelation ; on which alone the
sacred writers build all our hope of future
life; and it explains the uniform language
of the Scriptures, which speak of one day of
judgment for all mankind -, and rep-resent all
the rewards of virtue, and all the punish—
ments of vice, as taking place at that awful
day, and not before. In the Scriptures, the
heathens are represented as without hope, and
all mankind as perishing at death, if there be
no resurrection of the dead.
The apostle Paul asserts, in 1 Cor. xv. 16,
that “if the dead rise not, then is not Christ
risen ; and if Christ be not raised, your faith
is vain; ye are yet in your sins: then they
also who are fallen asleep in Christ are pe-
rished.” And again, ver. 32, “If the dead
rise not, let us eat and drink, for to-morrow
we die.” In the whole discourse, he does not
even mention the doctrine of happiness or
misery without the body.
If we search the Scriptures for passages
expressive of the state of man at death, we
find such declarations as expressly exclude
any trace of sense, thought, or enjoyment.
See Ps. v. 5. Job xiv. 7, &c.
2. That there is some fixed law of nature
respecting the will, as well as the other powers
of the mind, and every thing else in the con-
stitution of nature; and, consequently, that
it is never determined without some real or
apparent cause foreign to itself ; z'. e. without
some motive of choice; or that motives
influence us in some definite and invariable
manner, so that every volition, or choice, is
constantly regulated and determined by what
precedes it; and this constant determination
of mind, according to the motives presented
to it, is what is meant by its necessary deter-
mination. This being admitted to be fact,
there will be a necessary connexion between
all things past, present, and to come, in the
way of proper cause and efi°ect, as much in the
intellectual as in the natural world; so that,
according to the established laws of nature.
no event could have been otherwise than it
has been, or is to be, and therefore all things
past, present, and to come, are precisely what
the Author of Nature really intended them
to be, and has made provision for.
To establish this conclusion, nothing is
necessary but that throughout all nature the
same consequences should invariably result
from the same- circumstances. For if this be
admitted, it will necessarily follow, that at
the commencement of any system, since the
several parts of it and their respective situa-
tions were appointed by the Deity, the first
1 change would take place according to a cer-
Thus we might conclude that the body was .
tain rule established by himself, the result of
winch would be a new situation ; after which,
the same laws continuing, another change
, would succeed, according to the same rules,
MAT
7 MBA
47
and so on for ever; every new situation
invariably leading to another, and every event,
from the commencement to the termination
of the system, being strictly connected; so
that, unless the fundamental laws of _the
system were changed, it would be impossible
that any event should have been otherwise
than it was. In all these cases, the circum-
stances preceding any change, are called the
causes of that change; and since a determi-
native event, or effect, constantly follows cer-
tain circumstances or causes, the connexion
between cause and effect is concluded to be
invariable, and therefore necessary.
It is universally acknowledged, that there
can be no effect without an adequate cause.
This is even the foundation on which the
only proper argument for the being of a God
rests. And the necessarian asserts, that if,
in any given state of mind, with respect both
to dispositions and motives, two different de-
terminations or volitions be possible, it can
be on no other principle than that one of
them should come under the description of an
effect without a cause; just as if the beam of
a balance might incline either way, though
loaded with equal weights. And if any thing
whatever, even a thought in the mind of
man, could arise without an adequate cause,
any thing else, the mind itself,_or the whole
universe, might likewise exist without an ade~
quate cause. . .
This scheme of philosophical necessity im-
plies a chain of causes and effects established
by infinite wisdom, and terminating in the
greatest good of the whole universe; evils
of all kinds, natural and moral, being ad-
mitted, as far as they contribute to that end,
or are in the nature of things inseparable
from it. Vice is productive not of good, but
of evil to us, both here and hereafter, though
good may result from it to the whole system;
and according to the fixed laws of nature,
our present and future happiness necessarily
depend on our cultivating good dispositions.
This scheme of philosophical necessity the
Doctor distinguishes from the Calvinistic doc-
trine of predestination in the following par-
ticulars :—
1. No necessarian supposes that any of
the human race will sufi‘er eternally ; but that
future punishments will answer the same pur-
pose as temporal ones are found to do; all of
which tend to good, and are evidently ad-
mitted for that purpose. Upon the doctrine
of necessity, also, the most indifferent actions
of men are equally necessary with the most
important; since every volition, like any
other efi‘ect, must have an adequate cause
depending upon the previous state of the mind,
and the influence to which it is exposed.
2. The necessarian believes that his own
‘dispositions and actions are the necessary and
‘sole means of ‘his present and future happi-
ness ; so that, in the most proper sense of the
words, it depends entirely on himself whether
he be virtuous or vicious, happy or miserable.
3. The Calvinistic system entirely excludes
the popular notion of free will, viz , the liberty
or power of doing what we please, virtuous
or vicious, as belonging to every person, in
every situation; which is perfectly consistent
with the doctrine of philosophical necessity,
and indeed results from it.
4. The necessarian believes nothing of the
posterity of Adam’s sinning in him, and of
their being liable to the wrath of God on
that account; or the necessity of an infinite
Being making atonement for them by suffer-
ing in their stead, and thus making the Deity
propitious to them. He believes nothing of
all the actions of any man being necessarily
sinful; but, on the contrary, thinks that the
very worst of men are capable of benevolent
intentions in many things that they do ; and
likewise, that very good men are capable of
falling from virtue, and consequently of sink-
ing into final perdition. Upon the principles
of the necessarian, also, all late repentance,
and especially after long and confirmed habits
of vice, is altogether and necessarily ineffec-
tual; there not being sufficient time left to
produce a change of disposition and character,
which can only be done by a change of con—
duct of proportionably long continuance.
In short, the three doctrines of Materialism,
Philosophical Necessity, and Socinianism, are
considered as equally parts of one system.
The scheme of Necessity is the immediate
result of the materiality of man; for mechan-
ism is the undoubted consequence of materi-
alism; and that man is wholly material, is
eminently subservient to the proper or mere
humanity of Christ. For if no man have a
soul distinct from his body, Christ, who in all
other respects appeared as a man, could not
have a soul which had existed before his
body: and the whole doctrine of the pro-exist-
ence of souls, of which the opinion of the pre-
existence of Christ is a branch, will be efi'ec-
tually overturned. See NECESSITY, PRE-EX-
ISTENCE, SPINOSISM, SoUL, SOCINIAN, and
books under those articles.
lllnaivs or GRACE denote those duties we
perform for the purpose of improving our
minds, affecting our hearts, and of obtaining
spiritual blessings; such as hearing the Gos-
pel, reading the Scriptures, self-examination,
meditation, prayer, praise, Christian conversa-
tion, &c. The means are to be used without
any reference to merit, solely with a depend-
ence on the Divine Being; nor can we ever
expect happiness in ourselves, nor be good
exemplars to others, while we live in the
neglect of them. It is in vain to argue that
the divine decree supersedes the necessity of
them, since God has as certainly appointed
the means as the end. Besides, he himself
generally works by them; and the more
means he thinks proper to use, the more he
MED
MED
478
displays his glorious perfections. Jesus Christ,
when on earth, used means; he prayed, he
exhorted, and did good, by going from place
to place. Indeed, the systems of nature, pro-
vidence, and grace, are all carried on by
means. The Scriptures abound with exhorta-
tions to them, Matt. v. Rom. xii., and none but
enthusiasts or immoral characters ever refuse
to use them.
MEDIATOR, a person that intervenes be-
tween two parties at variance, in order to
reconcile them. Thus Jesus Christ is the
Mediator between an ofi'ended God and sinful
man, 1 Tim. ii. 5. Both Jews and Gentiles
have a notion of a Mediator: the Jews call
the Messiah mums, the Mediator or Middle
One. The Persians call their God Mithras,
naming, a Mediator; and the demons, with
the heathens, seem to be, according ‘to them,
mediators between the superior gods and men.
Indeed, the whole religion of Paganism was a
system of mediation and intercession. The
idea, therefore, of salvation by a Mediator is
not so novel or restricted as some imagine;
and the Scriptures of truth inform us, that it
is only by this way human beings can arrive
to eternal felicity, Acts iv. 12. John xiv. 6.
Man, in his state of innocence, was in friend-
ship with God; but, by sinning against him,
he exposed himself to his just displeasure;
his powers became enfeebled, and his heart
filled with enmity against him, Rom. viii. 6:
he was driven out of his paradisaical Eden,
and totally incapable of returning to God, and
making satisfaction to his justice. Jesus
Christ, therefore, was the appointed Mediator
to bring about reconciliation, Gen. iii. 12.
Col. i.‘ 21 ; and in the fulness of time he came
into this world, obeyed the law, satisfied j us-
tice, and brought his people into a state of
grace and favour; yea, into a more exalted
state of friendship with God than was lost by
the fall, Eph. ii. 18. Now, in order to the
accomplishing of this work, it was necessary
that the Mediator should be God and man in
one person. It was necessary that he should
be man,——1. That he might be related to
those he was a Mediator and Redeemer of.-—
2. That sin might be satisfied for, and recon-
ciliation~ be made for it, in the same nature
which sinned—3. It was proper that the Me-
diator should be capable of obeying the law
broken by the sin of man, as a divine person
could not be subject to the law, and yield
obedience to it, Gal. iv. 4. Rom. v. 1~9.—-4. It
was meet that the Mediator should be man,
that he might be capable of suffering death ;
for, as God, he could not die, and without
shedding of blood there was no remission,
Heb. ii. 10, 15; viii. 3.-—5. It was fit he should
be man, that he might be a faithful high
priest, to sympathise with his people under all
their trials, temptations, &c. Heb. ii. 17, 18;
iv. 15.—6. It was fit that he should be a holy
and righteous man, free from all sin, original
and actual, that he might offer himself with-
out spot to God, take away the sins of men,
and be an advocate for them, Heb. vii. 26;
ix. 14. 1 John iii. 5. But it was not enough
to be truly man, and an innocent person; he
must be more than a man: it was requisite
that he should be God also; for, 1. No mere
man could have entered into a covenant with
God to mediate between him and sinful men.
-2. He must be God, to give virtue and
value to his obedience and sufferings ; for the
sufferings of men or angels would not have
been sufiicient—3. Being thus Godéman, we
are encouraged to hope in him. In the per-
son of Jesus Christ the object of trust is
brought nearer to ourselves; and those well-
known tender affections which are only figur-
atively ascribed to the Deity, are in our great
Mediator thoroughly realized. Further, were
he God, and not man, we should approach
him with fear and dread; were he man, and
not God, we should be guilty ofidolatry to
worship and trust him at all, J er. xvii. 5.
The plan of salvation, therefore, by such a
Mediator, is the most suitable to human be-
ings that possibly could be ; for here “ Mercy
and truth meet together, righteousness and
peace kiss each other,” Psa. lxxxv. 10. The
properties of Christ as Mediator are these :—'
1. He is the only Mediator, 1 Tim. ii. 4.
Praying, therefore, to saints and angels is an
error of the Church of Rome, and has no
countenance from the Scripture—2. Christ
is a Mediator of men only, not of angels;
good angels need not any; and as for evil
angels, none is provided nor admitted—3. He
is the Mediator both for Jews and Gentiles,
Eph. ii. 18. 1 John ii. 2.—4. He‘ is Mediator
both for Old and New Testament saints—5.
He is a suitable, constant, willing, and preva-
lent Mediator; his mediation always suc-
ceeds, and is infallible. Gill’s Body of Din,
vol. i. oct. p. 336; Witsiz' Q'Icon. Fwd. lib. c. 4; Fuller’s Gospel its own Witness, ch. iv.
p. 2; Hurrz'on’s 'C/zrz'st Crucified, p. 103, &c.;
Dr. Owen on the Person of Christ ,- Dr. Good-
win’s Works, b. iii. , '
- MEDITATION is an ac? by which we consi-
der any thing closely, or wherein the soul is
employed in the search or consideration of
any truth. In religion it is used to signify
the serious exercise of the understanding,
whereby our thoughts are fixed on the obser-
vation of spiritual things, in order to practice.
Mystic divines make a great difference be—
tween meditation and contemplation: the
former consists in discursive acts of the soul,
considering methodically and with attention
the mysteries of faith and the precepts of mo-
rality ;. and is performed by reflections and
reasonings which leave behind them manifest
impressions on the brain. The purely contem-
plative, they say, have no need of meditation, as
seeing all thmgs in God at a glance, and with—
I out any reflection. SeeBEGUINs andQUm'rIs'rs.
MEE
MEL
479
1. Meditation is a duty which ought to be
attended to by all who wish well to their spi-
ritual interests. It ought to be deliberate,
close, and perpetual, Psa. cxix. 97; i. 2. 2.
The subjects which ought more especially to
enga e the Christian mind are the works of
creation, Psa. xix.; the perfections of God,
Deut. xxxii. 4; the excellences, oflices, cha-
racters, and works of Christ, Heb. xii. 2, 3;
the offices and operations of the Holy Spirit,
John xv. and xvi.; the various dispensations
of Providence, Psa. xcvii. 1, 2; the precepts,
declarations, promises, 8cc., of God’s word,
Psa. cxix.; the value, powers, and immorta-
lity of the soul, Mark viii. 36; the noble,
beautiful, and benevolent plan of the Gospel,
1 Tim. i. 11; the necessity of our personal in-
terest in and experience of its power, John iii.
3 ; the depravity of our nature, and the free-
dom of divine grace in choosing, adopting,
justifying, and sanctifying us, 1 Cor. vi. 11;
the shortness, worth, and swiftness of time,
.James iv. 14; the certainty of death, Heb. ix.
27; the resurrection and judgment to come,
1 Cor. xv. 50, &c.; and the future state of
eternal rewards and punishments, Matt. xxv.
. These are some of the most important subjects
on which we should meditate. 3. To per-
form this duty aright, we should be much in
prayer, Luke xviii. 1; avoid a worldly spirit,
1 John ii. 15; beware of sloth, Heb. vi. 11 ;
take heed of sensual pleasures, James iv. 4;
watch against the devices of Satan, 1 Pet. v.
8; he often in retirement, Psa. iv. 4 ; embrace
the most favourable opportunities—the calm-
ness of the morning, Psa. v. 1, 3; the solem-
nity of the evening, Gen. xxiv. 63; Sabbath
days, Psa. cxviii. 24 ; sacramental occasions,
&c., 1 Cor. xi. 28. 4. The advantages result-
ing from this are, improvement of the faculties
of the soul, Prov. xvi. 22; the afl’ections are
raised to God, Psa. xxxix. l, 4; an enjoyment
of divine peace and felicity, Phil. iv. 6, 7;
holiness of life is promoted, Psa. cxix. 59, 60;
and we thereby experience a foretaste of
eternal glory, Psa. lxxiii. 25, 26. 2 Cor. v. 1,
850. '
MEEKNESS, a temper of mind not easily
provoked to resentment. In the Greek lan-
guage, it is 'n'paog, quasi pdog, facilis, easiness
of spirit, and thus it may be justly called; for
it accommodates the soul to every occurrence,
and so makes a man easy to himself, and to
all about him. The Latins call a meek man
mansuetus, qu. mama assuetus, used to the
hand; which alludes to the taming and re-_
claiming of creatures wild by nature, and
bringing them to be tractable and familiar,
James iii. 7, 8: so where the grace of meek-
ness reigns it subdues the impetuous dispo-
sition, and teaches it submission and forgive-
ness. It teaches us to govern our own anger
whenever we are at any time provoked, and
patiently to bear the anger of others, that it
may not be a provocation to us.
The former I
is its oflice, especially in superiors; the latter
in inferiors, and both in equals, James iii. 13.
The excellency of such a spirit appears, if we
consider that it enables us to gain a victory
over corrupt nature, Prov. xvi. 32; that it is
a beauty and an ornament to human beings,
1 Pet. iii. 4; that it is obedience to God’s
word, and conformity to the best patterns,
Eph. v. 1, 2. Phil. iv. 8. It is productive of
the highest peace to the possessor, Luke xxi.
19. Matt. xi. 28, 29. It fits us for any duty,
instruction, relation, condition, or persecu-
tion, Phil. iv. 11, 12. To obtain this spirit,
consider that it is a divine injunction, Zeph.
3; Col. iii. 12; 1 Tim. vi. 11. Observe
the many examples of it: Jesus Christ, Matt.
xi. 28; Abraham, Gen. xiii; xvi. 5, 6; Moses,
Numb. 3; David, Zech. xii. 8; 2 Sam.
xvi. 10, 12; Ps. cxxxi. 2; Paul, 1 Cor. ix.
19. How lovely a spirit it is in itself‘, and
how it secures us from a variety of evils.
That peculiar promises are made to such,
Matt. v. 5; Isaiah lxvi. 2. That such‘ give
evidence of their being under the influence of
divine grace, and shall enjoy the divine bless-
ing, Isaiah lvii. 15. See Henry on Meekness ,-
Dunlop’s Serm, vol. ii. p. 434; Evans’s Ser-
mons on the Christ. Temper, ser. 29; Tillotson
on 1 Pet. 21 ; and on Matt. v. 44; Logan’s
Sermons, vol. i. ser. 10; and Jortz'n’s Sermons,
vol. iii. ser. 11.
MEETING-HOUSE, a place appropriated by
Dissenters for the purpose of public worship.
Since the act of uniformity passed, 1662, by
which so many hundreds of ministers were
ejected from their livings, meeting-houses
have become very numerous. For a consi-
derable time, indeed, they were prohibited by
the conventicle act; but, at last, toleration
being granted to Dissenters, they enjoyed the
privilege of meeting and worshipping God
according to the dictates of their own con-
sciences, and which they still possess to
this day. The number of meeting-houses in
London may, perhaps, amount to about one
hundred and fifty, though some reckon up-
wards of two hundred. In all the respec-
table towns, and even in many villages of
England, there are meetingahouses; and,
within a few years, they have greatly in-
creased.
MELANCHOLY, sadness or gloom; arising
either from habit of body, or the state of the
mind. To remove it, the following remedies
may be applied. 1. Early rising. 2. Plain,
nourishing food. 3. Exercise in the open air.
Or if it arises particularly from the mind, 1.
Associate with the cheerful. 2. Study the
Scriptures. 3. Consider the amiable charac-
ter of God. 4. Avoid sin. 5. Be much in
pra er. See Burton, Baxter, and Rogers an
ill e ancltoly.
MELANCTHON, PHILIP, Luther’s fellow-
labourer in the Reformation, was born Fe-
bruary 26, 1497, at Bretten, in the palatinate
ME L
MEL
480
of the Rhine. His father, George Schwartzerd,
was keeper of the armoury of the Count
Palatine, and died in 1507 ; and his mother,
Barbara, was a near relative of Reuchlin. He
was distinguished, at an early age, by his
intellectual endowments. His rapid progress
in the ancient languages, during his boyhood,
made him a peculiar favourite with Reuchlin.
At his advice he changed his name, according
to the custom of the learned at that time,
from Schwartzerd (Black earth) into the
Greek name Melancthon, of the same signifi-
cation; and, in 1510, went to the university
of Heidelberg. Here he was pre-eminent in
philological and philosophical studies, so that
the following year he was deemed qualified
for the degree of bachelor of philosophy, and
was made the instructor of several young
counts. But as this university denied him
the dignity of Magister, on account of his
youth, he went to Tubingenrin 1512, where,
in addition to his former studies, he devoted
himself particularly to theology; and, in
1514, after obtaining the degree of master,
delivered lectures on the Greek and Latin
authors. In 1518, he received from the great
Erasmus the praise of uncommon research,
correct knowledge of classical antiquity, and
of an eloquent style. On Reuehlin’s recom-
mendation, he was appointed, in his 22nd year,
to be professor of the Greek language and
literature, at the university of Wittemberg,
where he was brought into contact with Lu-
’ ther; and, by his enlightened mind, ripened
judgment, philosophical and critical acumen,
the uncommon distinctness and order of his
ideas, his extraordinary caution, yet stedfast
zeal, contributed greatly to the progress and
success of the Reformation, in connexion with
the activity, spirit, and enterprise of Luther.
His superiority as a scholar, his mild, amiable
character, and the moderation and candour
with which he treated the opposite party, ren-
dered him peculiarly suitable to be a mediator.
No one knew better than he how to soften
the rigour of Luther, and to recommend the
new doctrines to those who were prepossessed
against them. His “ Loci T heologici,” which
first appeared in 1521, opened the path to an
exposition of the Christian creed, at once
scientific and intelligible, and became the
model to all Protestant writers on dogmatics.
He urged decidedly, in 1529, the protest
against the resolutions of the diet of Spire,
which gave his party its name. In 1530, he
drew up the celebrated Confession of Augs-
burg. This and the Apology for it, which
he composed soon after, carried the reputation
of his name through all Europe. Francis I.
invited him to France, in 1535, with the view
to a pacific conference with the doctors of
the Sorbonne; and he soon after received a
similar invitation to England, but political
reasons prevented his accepting either of the
invitations. He went to Worms, in 1541, and
soon after to Ratisbon, to defend the cause of
the Protestants; but failing by his wisdom
and moderation to produce the peace which
he so earnestly desired, he was reproached by
his own party for the steps which he had
taken, which they considered as leading to an
unworthy compromise with the Catholics.
The same happened to him at Bonn, in 1543;
but neither Luther nor any of his friends,
how much soever they disapproved of his mea-
sures, ever entertained a doubt of the purity
of his intentions, or his fidelity to the cause
of Gospel truth. Much as Melancthon had
to sufi‘er from Luther’s vehemence, the
friendship of these two noble-spirited men,
agreeing in their religious belief, remained
unbroken till Luther’s death, when Me-
lancthon lamented for him with the feelings
of a son.
A great part of the confidence which Lu-
ther enjoyed, was now transferred to his sur-
viving friend. Germany had already called
him her teacher, and Wittemberg revered in
him its only support, and the restorer of its
university after the Smalcaldic war. The
new Elector, Maurice, treated him with dis-
tinction, and did nothing in religious matters
without his advice. But some theologians,
who would fain have been the sole inheritors
of Luther’s glory, attacked his dogmas, and
‘raised suspicions of his orthodoxy. The ap-
proximation of his views, on the subject of
the Lord’s Supper, to those of the Swiss re-
formers, occasioned him much censure, as
did still more his acquiescence in the intro-
duction of the Augsburg Interim into Saxony,
in 1549. Flacius and Osiander greatly an-
noyed him : the former on the subject of reli-
gious ceremonies, and the latter on that of
justification; but the investigation of his ortho-
doxy, which was instituted at Naumberg, in
1554, resulted in his entire justification. The
unity of the church, to promote which he
made another attempt at ‘Worms, in 1557,
was his last wish. He did at Wittemberg,
April 19, 1560, aged sixty-three years. A
more amiable, benevolent, open, and unsus-
picious character never ornamented the‘
Christian name. His endeavours to promote
education are never to be forgotten ; _ and
while the history of the Reformation continues
to be a subject of interest, Melancthon will
command respect and esteem. ‘
MELCHITES, the name given to the Syriac,
Egyptian, and other Christians of the Levant.
The Melchites, excepting some few points of
little or no importance, which relate only to
ceremonies, and ecclesiastical discipline, are,
in every respect, professed Greeks; but they ' '
are governed by a particular patriarch, who
assumes the title of Patriarch of Antioch.
The name of M elchz'tes, or Royalz'sts, was given
to them because they agreed with the Greeks
who submitted to the Council of Chalcedon,
and was designed by their enemies to brand
MEM
MEN
481.
them with the reproach of having done so
merely in conformity to the religion of the
emperor. They celebrate mass in the Arabic
language. The religious among the Mel-
chites follow the rule of St. Basil, the com-
mon rule of all the Greek monks.
MELCHIZEDECIANS, a denomination which
arose about the beginning of the third cen-
tury. They aflirmed that Melchizedeck was
not a man, but a heavenly power, superior to
Jesus Christ; for Melchizedeck, they said,
was the intercessor and mediator of the an-
gels; and Jesus Christ was only so for man,
and his priesthood only a copy of that of
Melchizedeck.
MELETIANS, the name of a considerable
party who adhered‘ to the cause of Meletius,
bishop of Lycopolis, in Upper Egypt, after he
was deposed, about the year 306, by Peter,
Bishop of Alexandria, under the charge of
his having sacrificed to the gods, and having-
been guilty of other heinous crimes ; though
Epiphanius makes his only failing to have
been an excessive severity against the lapsed.
This dispute, which was at first a personal
difi‘erence between Meletius and Peter, be-
came a religious controversy; and the Me-
letian party subsisted in the fifth century,
but was condemned by the first council of
Nice.’ They joined with the Arians against
the orthodox party of Athanasius, without,
however, adopting their heresy.
Schismatics, of the same “name, arose at
Antioch, in 360, when Meletius, of Melitene,
in Armenia, was chosen bishop by the Arians,
and was afterwards driven out, on account
of his orthodoxy. The Roman and Greek
churches reckon this Meletius among their
saints.
MELITONI, so called from one Melito, who
_ taught that not the soul, but the body of man
was made after God’s image.
MEMORY, a faculty of the mind, which
presents to us ideas or notions of things that
are past, accompanied with a persuasion that
the things themselves were formerly real
and present. When we remember with
little or no efi‘ort, it is called remembrance
simply, or memory, and sometimes passive
memory. When we endeavour to remem-
ber what does not immediately, and of itself
occur, it is called active memory, or recol-
lection. A good memory has these several
qualifications: 1. It is ready to receive and
admit with great ease the various ideas,
both of words and things, which are
learned or taught—2. It is large and co-
pious to treasure up these ideas in great
number and variety.——3. It is strong and
durable to retain, for a considerable time,
those words or thoughts which are com-
mitted to it.-—4. It is faithful and active to
suggest and recollect, upon every proper oc-
casion, all those words or thoughts which it
hath treasured up. As this faculty may be
injured by neglect and slothfulness, we will
here subjoin a few of the best rules which
have been given for the improvement of it.
1. We should form a clear and distinct ap-
prehension of the things which we commit to
memory.—2. Beware of every sort of intem-
perance, for that greatly impairs the faculties.
—3. If it be weak, we must not overload it.
but charge it only with the most useful and
solid notions—4. We should take every op-
portunity of uttering our best thoughts in
conversation, as this will deeply imprint them.
—5. We should join to the idea we wish to
remember, some other idea that is more fa-
miliar to us, which bears some similitude to
it, either in its nature, or in the sound of the
word—6. We should think of it before we go
to sleep at night, and the first thing in the
morning, when the faculties are fresh.—
7. Method and regularity in the things we
commit to the memory are necessary.—
8. Often thinking, writing, or talking, on the
subjects we wish to remember.—-9. Fervent
and frequent prayer. See Watts on the Mind,
chap. 17 ; Greg/s Zllemoria Teclmica ,- Rogers’s
Pleasures of Memory ; Reid’s Intell. Powers of
Zlfan, pp. 303, 3,10, 338, 356.
MENANDRIANS, the most ancient branch of
Gnostics: thus called from Menander their
chief, said by some, without sufiicient found-
ation, to have been a disciple of Simon Ma-
gus, and himself a reputed magician.
He taught that no person could be saved
unless he were baptized in his name ; and he
conferred a peculiar sort of baptism, which
would render those who received it immortal
in the next world; exhibiting himself to the
world with the frenzy of a lunatic, more than
the founder of a sect as a promised Saviour ;
for it appears by the testimonies of Irenacus,
Justin, and Tertullian, that he pretended to
be one of the aeons sent from the pleroma,
or celestial regions, to succour the souls
that lay groaning under bodily oppression
and servitude ; and to maintain them against
the violence and stratagems of the demons
that vhold the reins of empire in this sublunary
world. ‘As this doctrine was built upon the
same foundation with that of Simon Magus,
the ancient writers looked upon him as the
instructor of Menander. See SIMONIANS.
MENDEANS, MENDICANTS, or BEGGING
FRIARS, several orders of religious in popish
countries, who having no settled revenues,
are supported by the charitable contributions
they receive from others.
This sort of society began in the thirteenth
century, and the members of it, by the tenor
of their institution, were to remain entirely
destitute of all fixed revenues and possessions;
though in process of time their number he-
came a heavy tax upon the people. In-
nocent III. was the first of the popes who
perceived the necessity of instituting such an
order; and, accordingly he gave such mo-
I 1
MEN
MEN
482
nastic societies as made a profession of po-
verty the most distinguishing marks of his
protection and favour. They were also en-
couraged and patronized by the succeeding
pontifi‘s, when experience had demonstrated
their public and extensive usefulness. But
when it became generally known that they
had such a peculiar place in the esteem and
protection of the rulers of the church, their
number grew to such an enormous and un--
wieldy multitude, that they became a burden,
not only to the people, but to the church it-
self. The great inconvenience that arose from
the excessive multiplication of the Mendicant
orders was remedied by Gregory X., in a
general council, which he assembled at Lyons
in 1272; for here all the religious orders
that had sprung up after the council held at
Rome in 1215, under the pontificate of Inno-
cent III., were suppressed; and the extra-
vagant multitude of Mendicants, as Gregory
called them, were reduced to a smaller num-
ber, and confined to the four following so-
cieties or denominations, viz., the Dominicans,
the Franciscans, the Carmelites, and the Au-
gustins, or hermits of St. Augustin.
As the pontifi‘s allowed these four Mendi-
cant orders the liberty of travelling wherever
they thought proper, of conversing with
person of every rank, of instructing the
youth and multitude wherever they went;
and as those monks exhibited in their out-
ward appearance and manner of life, more
striking marks of gravity and holiness than
were observable in the other monastic socie-
ties, they rose all at once to the very summit
of fame, and were regarded with the utmost
esteem and veneration through all the coun-
tries of Europe. The enthusiastic attach-
ment to these sanctimonious beggars went so
far, that, as we learn from the most authentic
records, several cities were divided or can-
toned out into four parts, with aview to these
four orders: the first part being assigned to
the Dominicans, the second to the Franciscans,
the third to the Carmelites, and the fourth to
the Augustins. The people were unwilling
to receive the sacraments from any other
hands than those of the Mendicants, to whose
churches they crowded to perform their de-
votions while living, and were extremely de-
sirous to deposit there also their remains after
death. Nor did the influence and credit of
the Mendicants end here ; for we find in the
history of this and of the succeeding ages,
that they were employed not only in spiritual
matters, but also in temporal and political
affairs of the greatest consequence, in com-
posing the differences of princes, concluding
treaties of peace, concerting alliances, pre-
siding in cabinet councils, governing courts,
levying taxes, and other occupations, not
only remote from, but absolutely inconsistent
with the monastic character and profession.
However,v the power of thc Dominicans and
Franciscans greatly surpassed that of the
other two orders, insomuch that these two
orders were, before the Reformation, what the
Jesuits have been since that happy and glo-
rious period; the very soul of the hierarchy,
the engines of the state, the secret springs of
all the motions of the one and the ‘other, and
the authors and directors of every greatand
important event, both in the religious and
political world. By very quick progression
their pride and confidence arrived at such a
pitch, that they had the presumption to de-
clare publicly, that they had a divine impulse
and commission to illustrate and maintain the
religion of Jesus. They treated with the
utmost insolence and contempt all the dif-
ferent orders of the priesthood; they aflirmed,
without a blush, that the true method of ob-
taining salvation was revealed to them alone; .
proclaimed with ostentation the superior efli-
cacy and virtue of their indulgences; and
vaunted beyond measure their interest at the
court of Heaven, and their familiar connexions
with the Supreme Being, the Virgin Mary,
and the saints in glory. ‘By these impious
wiles they so deluded and captivated the
miserable, and blinded the multitude, that they
would not intrust any other but the Mendi-
cants with the care of their souls. They re»-
tained their credit and influence to such a
degree towards the close of the'fourteenth
century, that great numbers of both sexes,
some in health, others in a state of infirmity,
others at the point of death, earnestly desired
to be admitted into the Mendicant order,
which they looked upon as a sure and infal-
lible method of rendering Heaven propitious.
—-Many made it an essential part of their
last wills, that their bodies after death should
be wrapped in'old ragged Dominican or
Franciscan habits, and interred among the
Mendicants. For such was the barbarous
superstition and wretched ignorance of this
age, that people universally believed they
should readily obtain mercy from Christ at
the day of judgment, if they appeared before
his tribunal'associated with the Mendicant
friars.
About this time, however, they fell under
an universal odium; but, being resolutely
protected against all opposition, whether open
or secret, by the popes, who regarded them as
their best friends and most effectual supports,
they suffered little or nothing from the efi’orts
of their numerous adversaries. In the fifteenth
century, besides their arrogance, which was
excessive, a quarrelsome and litigious spirit
prevailed among them, and drew upon them
justly the displeasure and indignation of
many. By afiording refuge at this time to
the Beguins in their order, they became offen~
sive to the bishops, and were herebyinvolved
in difficulties and perplcxities of various kinds.
They lost their credit in the sixteenth cen-
tury by their rustic impudence, their ridicu-
M E N
MEN
483
lous superstitions, their ignorance, cruelty,
and brutish manners. They discovered the
most- barbarous aversion to the arts and
sciences, and expressed a like abhorrence of
certain eminent and learned men, who endea-
voured to open the paths of science to the
pursuits of the studious youth, recommended
the culture of the mind, and attacked the bar-
barism of the age in their writings and dis-
courses. Their general character, together
with other circumstances, concurred to render
a reformation desirable, and to accomplish
this happy event.
Among the number of Mendicants are also
ranked the Capuchins, Recolle'ts, Minims, and
others, who are branches or derivations from
the former.
Buchanan tells us, the Mendicants in Scot-
land, under an appearance of beggary, lived
a very luxurious life: whence one wittily
called them not Mendz'cant, but Manducant
friars.
MEN OF ‘UNDERSTANDING. This title dis-
tinguished a denomination which appeared in
Flanders and Brussels in the year 1511.
They owed their origin to an illiterate man,
whose name was Egidius Cantor, and to ‘Nil-
liam of Hildenison, a Carmelite monk. They
pretended to be honoured with celestial vi-
sions, denied that any could arrive at perfect
knowledge of the Holy Scriptures without
the extraordinary succours of a divine illumi-
nation, and declared the approach of a new
revelation from heaven, more perfect than
the Gospel of Christ. They said that the re-
surrection was accomplished in the person of
Jesus, and no other was to be expected; that
the inward man was not defiled by the out-
ward actions, whatever they were; that the
pains of hell were to have an end; and not
only all mankind, but even the devils them-
selves, were to return to God, and be made
partakers of eternal felicity. They also
taught among other things, that Christ alone
had merited eternal life and felicity for the
human race; and that therefore men could
not acquire this inestimable privilege by their
own actions alone—that the priests, to whom
the people confessed their transgressions, had
not the power of absolving them, but this au-
thority was vested in Christ alone—that vo-
luntary penance and mortification was not
necessary to salvation.
This denomination appears to have been a
branch of the Brethren and Sisters of the
Free Spirit.
MENNONITES, a sect in the United Provin-
ces, in most respects the same with those in
other places called Anabaptists. They had
their rise in 1536, when Menno Simon, a
native of Friesland, who had been a Romish
priest, and a notorious profiigate, resigned
his rank and ofiice in the Romish Church,
and publicly embraced the communion of the
Anabaptists.
Menno was born at Witmarsum, a village
in the neighbourhood of Bolswe'rt, in Fries-
land, in the year 1505, and died in 1561, in
the duchy of Holstein, at the country-seat of
a certain nobleman not far from the city of
Oldesloe, who, moved with compassion by
the view of the perils to which Menno was
exposed, and the snares that were daily laid
for his ruin, took him, with certain of his
associates, into his protection, and gave him
an asylum. The writings of Menno, which
are almost all composed in the Dutch lan-
guage, were published in folio, at Amster-
dam, in the year 1651. About the year 1537,
Menno was earnestly solicited by many of the
sect with which he connected himself, to
assume among them the rank-and functions
of a public teacher; and as he looked upon
the persons who made this proposal to be
exempt from the fanatical phrensy of their
brethren at Munster, (though, according to
other accounts, they were originally of the
same stamp, only rendered somewhat wiser
by their sufi'erings.) he yielded to their en-
treaties. From this period to the end of his
life he travelled from one country to another
with his wife and children, exercising his
ministry, under pressures and calamities of
various kinds, that succeeded each other with-
out interruption, and constantly exposed to
the danger of falling a victim to the severity
of the laws. East and \Vest Friesland, toge-
ther with the province of Groningen, were
first visited by this zealous apostle of the
Anabaptists; from whence he directed his
course into Holland, Guelderland, Brabant,
and \Vestphalia; continued it through the
German provinces that lie on the coast of the
Baltic Sea, and penetrated so far as Livonia.
In all these places his ministerial labours were
attended with remarkable success, and added
to his sect a prodigious number of followers.
Hence he is deservedly considered as the
common chief of almost all the Anabaptists,
and the parent of the sect that still subsists
under that denomination. Menno was a man
of genius, though not of a very sound judg-
ment. He possessed a natural and persuasive
eloquence, and such a degree of learning as
made him pass for an oracle in the estimation
of the multitude. He appears, moreover, to
have been a man of probity, of a meek and
tractable spirit, gentle in his manners, pliable
and obsequious in ‘his commerce with persons
of all ranks and characters, and extremely
zealous in promoting practical religion and
virtue, which he recommended by his exam-
ple as well as by his precepts. The plan of
doctrine and discipline drawn up by Menno
was of a much more mild and moderate nature
than that of the furious and fanatical Ana-
baptists, (whose tumultuous proceedings have
been recited under that article,) but somewhat
more severe, though more clear and consist-
ent than the doctrine of the wiser branches of
MEN
MEN
484
that sect, who aimed at nothing more than
the restoration of the Christian church to its
primitive purity. Accordingly, he condemned
the plan of ecclesiastical discipline that was
founded on the prospect of a new kingdom,
to be miraculously established by Jesus Christ
on the ruins of civil government, and the de-
struction of human rulers, and which had
been the fatal and pestilential source of such
dreadful commotions, such exccrable rebel-
lions, and such enormous crimes. He de-
clared publicly his dislike of that doctrine
which pointed out the approach of a marvel-
lous reformation in the church by the means
- of a new and extraordinary effusion of the
Holy Spirit. He expressed his abhorrence of
the licentious tenets which several of the
Anabaptists had maintained with respect to
the lawfulness of polygamy and divorce; and,
finally, considered as unworthy of toleration
those fanatics who were of opinion, that the
Holy Ghost continued to descend into the
minds of many chosen belivers, in as extra-
ordinary a manner as he did at the first estab-
lishment of the Christian church, and that he
testified his peculiar presence to several of
the faithful, by miracles, predictions, dreams,
and visions of various kinds. He retained‘,
indeed, the doctrines commonly received
among the Anabaptists, in relation to the
baptism of infants; the millennium, or one
thousand years’ reign of Christ upon earth;
the exclusion of magistrates from the Chris-
tian church, the abolition of war; and the
prohibition of oaths enjoined by our Saviour;
and the vanity, as well as the pernicious
effects, of human science. But while Menno
retained those doctrines in a general sense,
he explained and modified them in such a
manner as made them resemble the religious
tenets that were universally received in the
Protestant churches ; and this rendered them
agreeable to many, and made them appear
inofl‘ensive even to numbers who had no in-
clination to embrace them. It, however, so
happened, that the nature of the doctrines con-
sidered in themselves, the eloquence of Menno,
which set them off to such advantage, and
the circumstances of the times, gave a high
degree of credit to the religious system of this
famous teacher among the Anabaptists, so
that it made a rapid progress in that sect.
And thus it was in consequence of the minis-
try of Menno, that the different sorts of
Anabaptists agreed together in excluding
from their communiqn the fanatics that dis-
honoured it, and in renouncing all tenets
that were detrimental to the authority of civil
government, and by an unexpected coalition
formed themselves into one community.
Though the Mennonites usually pass for a
sect of Anabaptists, yet M. Herman Schyn, a
Mennonite minister, who has published their
history and apology, maintains that they are
not Anabaptists, either by principle or by
origin. However, nothing can be more cer-
tain than this fact, viz., that the first Mennonite
congregations were composed of the different
sorts of Anabaptists; of those who had been
always inoffensive and upright, and of those
who, before their conversion by the ministry
of Menno, had been seditious fanatics; besides,
it is alleged, that the Mennonites ‘do actually
retain at this day some of those opinions and
doctrines which led the seditious and turbulent
Anabaptists of old to the commission of so
many and such enormous crimes; such parti-
cularly is the doctrine concerningthe nature
of Christ’s kingdom, or of the church of the
New Testament, though modified in such a
manner as to have lost its noxious qualities,
and to be no longer pernicious in its influence.
" The Mennonites are subdividedinto several
sects, whereof the two principal are the
Flandrz'ans, or Flemingians, and the Water-
Zandz'ans. The opinions, says Mosheim, that
are held in common by the Mennonites, seem
to be all derived from this fundamental prin-
eiple,——that the kingdom which Christ esta-
blished upon earth is a visible church, or
community, into which the holy and just
alone are to be admitted; and which is con-
sequently exempt from all those institutions
and rules of discipline that have been invented
by human wisdom for the correction and re—
formation of the wicked. This principle, in-
deed, was avowed by the ancient Mennonites,
but it is now almost wholly renounced;
nevertheless, from this ancient doctrine many
of the religious opinions that distinguish the
Mennonites from all other Christian commu-
nities seem to be derived.- In consequence of
this doctrine, they admit none to the sacra-
ment of baptism but persons that are come to
the full use of their reason ; they neither admit
civil rulers into their communion, nor allow
any of their members to perform the functions
of magistracy; they deny the lawfulness of
repelling force by force; and consider war,
in all its shapes, as unchristian and unjust:
they entertain the utmost aversion to the exe-
cution of justice, and more especially to capital
punishments: and they also refuse to confirm
their testimony by an oath. The particular
sentiments that divided the more considerable
societies of the Mennonites are the following:
—the rigid Mennonites, called the Flemingi-
ans, maintain,with various degrees of rigour,
the opinions of their founder Menno, as to
the human nature of Christ, alleging that it
was produced in the womb of the Virgin by
the creating power of the Holy Ghost; the
obligation that binds us to wash the feet of
strangers, in consequence of our Saviour’s
command; the necessity of excommunicating
and avoiding, as one would do the plague,
not only avowed sinners, but also all those
who depart, even in some slight instances per-
taining to dress, &c., from the simplicity of
their ancestors; the contempt due to human
MER
MER
485
learning; and other matters of less moment.
However, this austere system declines, and
the rigid Mennonites are gradually approach-
ing towards the opinions and discipline of the
more moderate, or Waterlandians.
The first settlement of the Mennonites in the
UnitedProvinces was granted them byWilliam,
Prince of Orange, towards the close of the six-
teenth century ; but it was not before the follow-
ing century that their liberty and tranquillity
were fixed upon solid foundations, when, by a
confession of faith published in the year 1626,
they cleared themselves from the imputations
of those pernicious and detestable errors that
had been laid to their charge. In order to
appease their intestine discords, a considerable
part of the Anabaptists of Flanders, Germany,
and Friesland, concluded their debates in a
conference held at Amsterdam in the year
1630, and entered into the bonds of fraternal
communion, each reserving to themselves
a liberty of retaining certain opinions. This
association was renewed and confirmed by
new resolutions in the year 1649; in conse-
quence of which the rigorous laws of Menno
and his successors were, in various respects,
mitigated and corrected.
There is a colony of Mennonites, about 8000
in number, on the left bank of the river Mo-
loshnaia, near the sea of Azof, who emigrated ‘
from East Prussia in 1805, because they would
not submit to be enrolled in the new conscrip-
tion. Their views of doctrine are perfectly
in accordance with those expressed in the
confessions of the reformed churches. They
do not administer baptism by immersion, but
by pouring. They are close communionists,
admitting none into their fellowship who
have not previously been baptized in adult
age. They practise feet-washing as a reli-
gions ordinance; only it is done in private.
Their elders and deacons are elected from
among themselves by an unanimous vote, and
they are installed into their ofiice by prayer.
MENoLooInM, (from uni/1;, the moon, and
koyog, a discourse, See.) in the Greek Church,
nearly corresponds to the martyrologium of
the Roman Church. It is a book in which the
festivals of every month are recorded, with the
names and biographies of the saints and mar-
tyrs, in the order in which they are read in
the masses, &c.
MERCY, that particular species or modifica-
the moral government of Jehovah; and which
is exercised in such a way, and to such an
extent, as the end and rectitude of that go-
vernment require. It is not the simple act of
pity which one individual in private life may
display towards another individual, or a num-
ber of individuals, but it is a commiseration
which, though infinite with respect to its
source, and unlimited in its nature, abstract-
edly considered, is nevertheless combined in
its exercise with the due influence of every
consideration arising out of the public and
official station which is occupied by God as
the Rector of an universe‘ of intelligent beings,
whose interests as a whole cannot in justice
be left out of view in the treatment of indivi-
duals. That a due regard is ever to be had
to the good of the whole in every thing that
is done for the benefit of any of the parts, is
one of the firmest and most undoubted princi-
ples of all enlightened and equitable legisla-
tion. Mercy, in the sense in which it is too
commonly taken, as exercised without any
rational end or inducement, besides the bare
impulse of the affections towards an isolated
object, and consequently without the guidance
and direction of an intelligent mind properly
attentive to all conceivable results, would be
no proof of moral excellence, but a blind and
undistinguishing act, which in numberless
instances would be productive of infinitely
greater misery than it actually relieved, and
thus deserve the name of cruelty rather than
that of mercy.
In Jehovah, this attribute is ever regulated
by the highest intelligence; its exercise is
invariably accompanied with suitable displays
of the divine purity; and its consequences
combine with the relief and eternal felicity of
its objects, the maintenance of the claims of
divine moral government, and the advance-
ment of the divine glory. That mercy is ex-
tended to any of the guilty children of men,
| is to be ascribed to the pure benevolence of
l
the Deity; that it is not extended to all miser—
able offenders must be attributed to the same
benevolence, in the character of the love of
rectitude, or a just regard to the claims which
are put forth by the vast community of intelli-
gent existences over which he presides; and
that it is shown to one sinner rather than
another, is to be resolved into his holy, all
wise, and benevolent sovereignty: “He will
tion of goodness which has for its objects 1 have mercy on whom he will have mercy.”
beings who are in circumstances of misery
W'hat completely establishes these views of
and distress, and which consists in commiser- . the mercy of God, is the consideration of the
ating and pitying them under their sulferings,
peculiar and exclusive medium through which
and in affording them such relief as can be he has chosen to dispense it--the atonement
extended to them consistently with the re-
lative situation of him by whom the disposi-
tion is felt. Divine mercy is that attribute
which compassionates the family of man, con-
sidered as miserable in consequence of the
guilt which they have contracted by their
voluntary and unprovoked rebellion against
3
l
l
-
A
i
i
i
made by the infinitely precious blood of his
Son when he died as the substitute of sinners.
While every feature in this wondrous trans-
action is calculated to afford the most illus-
trious comment on the declaration, “ He de-
lighteth in mercy,” the whole plan is most
obviously designed to secure and uphold the
MES
MES
486
pillars of the divine government, and to unite
in its grand results the glory of God and the
happiness of his obedient creatures.
According to the circumstances and wants
of those who are its objects, the divine mercy
may be regarded as forgiving, relieving. com-
forting, and strengthening. It is rich, effi-
cient, unmerited, absolutely free, immutable,
and eternal.
MERIT signifies desert, or that which is
earned; originally the word was applied to
soldiers and other military persons, who, by
their labours in the field, and by the various
hardships they underwent during the course
of a campaign, as also by other services they
might occasionally render to the common-
wealth, were said, merere slzpendia, to merit,
or earn their pay; which they might pro-
perly be said to do, because they yielded in
real service an equivalent to the state for the
stipend they received, which was therefore
due to them in justice. Here, then, we come
at the true meaning of the word merit; from
which it is very clearly to be seen that there
can be no such thing as merit in our best:
obedience. One man may merit of another,
but all mankind together cannot merit from
the hand of God. This evidently appears, if
we consider the imperfections of all our ser-
vices, and the express declaration of the divine
word. Eph. ii. 8, 9; Rom. xi. 5, 6; Tit. iii.
5; Rom. x. 1, 4. The Doctrine of M'erz't
stated, vol. iii. ser. 1; South’s Serm.; Top-
lady/s l/Vorlzs, vol. iii. p. 471 ; Hervey’s Eleven
Letters to lVesley; Robinson’s Claude, vol. ii.
. 218.
p Mnnrrs or CHRIST, a term used to denote
the influence or moral consideration resulting _
from the obedience of Christ; all that he'
wrought and all that he suffered for the sal-
vation of mankind. See articles AToNE-
MEN'I‘, IMPUTATION, RIGHTEOUSNESS or
Crrnrs'r. i
MEssIAH signifies Anointed, the title given
by way of eminence to our Saviour; meaning
the same in Hebrew as Christ in Greek, and
alludes to the authority he had to assume the
characters of prophet, priest, and king, and
that of Saviour of the world. The ancient
Jews had just notions of the Messiah, which
came gradually to be corrupted, by expecting '
a temporal monarch and conqueror; and '-
finding Jesus Christ to be poor, humble, and I
of an unpromising appearance, they rejected l
him. Most of the modern rabbins, according .
to Buxtorf, believe that the Messiah is come,
but that he lies concealed because of the sins
of the Jews. Others believe he is not yet
come, fixing different times for his appear-


to a twofold Messiah; one in a state of
poverty and suffering, the other of splendour
and glory. The first, they say, is to proceed
from the tribe of Ephraim, who is to fight
against Gog, and to be slain by Armillus,
Zech. xii. 10; the second is to be of the tribe
of Judah and lineage of David, who is to con-
ouer and kill Armillus; to bring the first
Messiah to life again, to assemble all Israel,
and rule over the whole world. ’
That Jesus Christ is the true Messiah, and
actually come in the flesh, is evident, if we
consider (as Mr. Fuller observes) that it is
intimated that whenever he should come, the
sacrifices and ceremonies of the Mosaic law
were to be superseded by him, Ps. x]. 6—8;
1 Sam. xv. 22; Dan. ix. 27; Jer. xxxi. 31,
34; Heb. viii. 13. Now sacrifice and oblation
have ceased. They virtually ceased when
Jesus oifered himself a sacrifice, and in a few
years after, they actually ceased. A few of
the ancient ceremonies are indeed adhered to,
but as one of the Jewish writers acknow-
ledges, “ The sacrifices of the Holy Temple
have ceased.” Let every Jew therefore ask
‘himself this question: Should Messiah the
Prince come at some future period, how are
the sacrifice and oblation to cease on his ap-
pearance, when they have already ceased near
1800 years?
Again, it is suggested in the Scripture,
that the great body of sacred prophecy should
be accomplished in him: Gen. iii. 16 ;‘xxii.
18; Is. xlix. 10; liii. 1. The time when he
was to come is clearly marked out in pro-
phecy: Is. xlix. 10; Hag. ii. 6—9 ; Dan. ix.’
24. He actually came according to that
' time—2. The place where Messiah should be
born, and where he should principally impart
his doctrine, is determined: Mic. v. 2; Is. ix.
2; and was literally fulfilled in Jesus—3.
The house or family from whom he should
descend is clearly ascertained. So much is
' said of his descending from David, that we
need not refer to particular proofs; and the
rather as no Jew will deny it. The genealo-
gies of Matthew and Luke, whatever varieties
there are between them, agree in tracing his
pedigree to David. And though in both it is
traced in the name of Joseph, yet this ap-
pears to he only in conformity to the Jewish
custom of tracing no pedigree in the name of
a female. The father of Joseph, as mentioned
by Luke, seems to have been his father by
marriage only; so that it was, in reality,
Mary’s pedigree that is traced by Luke,
though under her husband’s name: and this
| being the natural line of descent, and that of
Matthew the legal one, by which, as a king,
ance, many of which are elapsed; and, being he would have inherited the crown, there is
thus balfled, have pronounced an anathema . no inconsistency between t11em.—4. The kind
against those who shall pretend to calculate of miracles that Messiah should perform is
the time of his coming. To reconcile the pro- specified; Is. xxxv 5, 6. He actually per-
phecies concerning the Messiah that seemed formed the miracles there predicted, his ene~
to be contradictory, some have had recourse I mics themselves being judges—5. It was
M E S
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487
prophesied that he should as a King be
distinguished by his lowliness ,- entering into
Jerusalem, not in a chariot of state, but in a
much humbler style, Zech. ix. 9; this was
really the case, Matt. xxi.—6. It was pre-
dicted that he should suffer and die by the
hands of wicked men; Is. xlix. 7; liii. 9;
Dan. ix. 26. _ Nothing could be a more strik-
ing-fulfilment of prophecy than the treatment
the Messiah met with in almost every parti-
cular circumstance—7. It was foretold that
he should rise from the dead; Is. liii. 11 ; Ps.
lxviii. 18; xvi. 10; his resurrection is proved
by indubitable evidence—8. It was foretold
that the great body of the Jewish nation
would not believe in him, and that he would
set up his kingdom among the Gentiles; Is.
liii. 1; xlix. 4—6; vi. 9—12. Never was a
prophecy more completely fulfilled than this,
as facts evidently prove. ' '
Lastly, It is declared that when the Mes-
siah should come, the will of God would be
perfectly fulfilled by him. Is. Xlii. 1; xlix; 3
——5. And what was his whole life but per-
fect conformity to him? He finished the*
work the Father gave him to do; never was
there such a character seen among men.
Well, therefore, may we say, Truly this was
the Son of God. See article CHRISTIANITY,
JESUS CHRIST.
There have been numerous false Messiahs
which have arisen at different times. Of these
the Saviour predicted, h’Iatt. xxiv. 14. Some
have reckoned as many as twenty-four, of
whom we shall here give an account.
1. Cazib‘a was the first of any note who
made a noise in the world. Being dissatisfied
with the state of things under Adrian, he set
himself up at the head of the Jewish nation,
and proclaimed himself their long-expected
Messiah. He was one of those banditti that
infested Judea, and committed all kinds of
violence against the Romans; and had be-
come so powerful, that he was chosen king of
the Jews, and by them acknowledged their
Messiah. However, to facilitate the success
of this bold enterprise, he changed his name
from Caziba, which it was at first, to that of
Barchocheba, alluding to the star foretold by
Balaam ; for he pretended to be the star sent
from heaven to restore his nation to its‘
ancient liberty and glory. He chose a fore-
runner, raised an army, was anointed king,
coined money inscribed with his own name,
and proclaimed himself Messiah and prince
of the Jewish nation. Adrian raised an army,
and sent it against him. He retired into a
town called Bither, where he was besieged.
Barchocheba was killed in the siege, the city
was taken, and a dreadful havoc succeeded.
The Jews themselves allow, that, during this
short war against the Romans in defence of
this false Messiah, they lost five or six hun-
dred thousand souls. This was in the former
part of the second century.
‘ carry.

t
"2. In the reign of Theodosius the younger,
in the year of our Lord 434, another impostor
arose, called Moses Cretensis. He pretended
to be a second ,Moses, sent to deliver the
vJews who dwelt in Crete, and proinised to
divide the sea, and give them a safe passage
through it. Their delusion proved so strong
and universal, that they neglected their lands,
houses, and all other concerns, and took only
so much with them as they could conveniently
And on the day appointed, this false
Moses, having led them to the top of a rock,
men, women, and children threw themselves
headlong down'into the sea, without the least
hesitation or reluctance, till so great a number
of them were drowned, as opened the eyes of
the rest, and made them sensible of the cheat.
They then began to look out for their pre-
tended leader, but he disappeared, and escaped
out of their hand.
3. In the reign of Justin, about 520, another
impostor appeared, who called himself the son
of Moses. His name was Dunaan. He en-
tered into a city of Arabia Felix, and there
he greatly oppressed the Christians; but he
was taken prisoner, and put to death by Eles-
ban, an Ethiopian general.
4. In the year 529 the Jews and Samaritans
rebelled against the Emperor Justinian, and
set up one Julian for their king, and accounted
him the Messiah. The emperor sent an army
against them, killed great numbers of them,
took their pretended Messiah prisoner, and
immediately put him to death.
5. In the year 571 was born Mohammed,
in Arabia. At first he professed himself to
be the Messiah who was promised to the
Jews. By this means he drew many of that
unhappy people after him. In some sense,
therefore, he may be considered in the
number of false Messiahs. See .h’IOHAMMED-
ANISM.
» 6. About the year 721, in the time of Leo
Isaurus, arose another false Messiah in Spain;
his name was Serenus. He drew great num-
bers after him, to their no small loss and dis-
appointment, but all his pretensions came to
nothing.
7. The twelfth century was fruitful in false
Messiahs; for about the year 1137, there ap-
peared one in France. who was put to death,
with many of those who followed him.
8. In the year 1138 the Persians were dis-
turbed with a Jew, who called himself the
Messiah. He collected together a vast army.
But he, too, was put to death, and his follow-
ers treated with great inhumanity.
9. In the year 1157, a false Messiah stirred
up the Jews at Corduba, in Spain. The wiser
and better sort looked upon him as a madman,
but the great body of the Jews in that nation
believed in him. On this occasion almost all
the Jews in Spain were destroyed.
10. In the year 1167. another false Messiah
arose in the kingdom of Fez, which brought
M ‘E S
MES
488
\
great troubles and persecution upon the Jews
that were scattered through that country.
11. In the same year an Arabian set up
there for the Messiah, and pretended to work
miracles. When search was made for him,
his followers fled, and he was brought before
the Arabian king. Being questioned by him,
he replied, that he was a prophet sent from
God. The king then asked him what sign
he could show to confirm his mission? “ Cut
off my head,” said he, “ and I will return to
life again.” The king took him at his word,
promising to believe him if his prediction
came to pass. The poor wretch, however,
never returned to life again, and the cheat was
sufiiciently discovered. Those who had been
deluded by him were grievously punished,
and the nation condemned to a very heavy
fine.
12. Not long after this, a Jew who dwelt
beyond Euphrates, called himself the Messiah,
and drew vast multitudes of people after him.
He gave this for a sign of it—that he had
been leprous, and was cured in the course of
one night. He, like the rest, perished in the
attempt, and brought great persecution on
his countrymen.
13. In the year 1174, a magician and false
Christ arose in Persia, who was called David
Almusser. He pretended that he could make
himself invisible; but he was soon taken, and
put to death, and a heavy fine laid upon his
brethren the Jews.
14. In the year 1176. another of these im-
postors arose in Moravia, who made similar
pretensions; but his frauds being detected,
and not being able to clude the efforts that
were made to secure him, he was likewise put
to death.
15. In the year 1199, a famous cheat and
rebel exerted himself in Persia, called David
el David. He was a man of learning, a great
magician, and pretended to be the Messiah.
He raised an army against the king, but was
taken and imprisoned; and, having made his
escape, was afterwards seized again, and be-
headed. Vast numbers of the Jews were
butchered for taking part with this impostor.
16. We are told of another false Christ in
this same century by Maimonides and Solo-
mon; but they take no notice either of his
name, country, or good or ill success.
Here we may observe, that no less than ten
false Christs arose in the twelfth century,
and brought prodigious calamities and de-
struction upon the Jews in various quarters
of the world.
17. In the year 1497, we find another false
Christ, whose name was Ismael Sophus, who
deluded the Jews in Spain. He also perished,
and as many as believed in him were dis-
persed.
18. In the year 1500, Rabbi Lemlem, a
German Jew of Austria, declared himself a
forerunner of the Messiah, and pulled down
his own oven, promising his brethren that
they should bake their bread in the Holy
Land next year.
19. In the year 1509, one whose name was
Pfefi‘erkorn, a Jew of Cologne, pretended to
be the Messiah. He afterwards affected, how-
ever, to turn Christian.
20. In the year 1534, Rabbi Salomo Mal-
cho, giving out that he was the Messiah, was
burnt to death by Charles V. of Spain.
21. In the year 1615, a false Christ arose
in the East Indies, and was greatly followed
by the Portuguese Jews, who were scattered
over that country.
22. In the year 1624, another in the Low
Countries pretended to be the Messiah, of the
family of David, and of the line of Nathan.
He promised to destroy Rome, and to over-
throw the kingdom of Antichrist, and the
Turkish empire.
23. In the year 1666 appeared the false
Messiah Sabatai Sevi, who made so great a
noise, and gained such a number of proselytes.
He was born at Aleppo, imposed on the Jews
for a considerable time ; but afterwards, with
a view of saving his life, turned Mohamme-
dan, and was at last beheaded. As the history
of this impostor is more entertaining than
that of those we have already mentioned, I
will give it at some length.
The year 1666 was a year of great expecta-
tion, and some wonderful thing was looked
for by many. This was a fit time for an
impostor to set up; and, accordingly, lying
reports were carried about. It was said, that
great multitudes marched from unknown parts
to the remote deserts of Arabia, and they
were supposed to be the ten tribes of Israel,
who had been dispersed for many ages ; that
a ship was arrived in the north part of Scot-
land with sails and eordage of silk ; that the
.mariners spake nothing but Hebrew; that on
the sails was this motto, “ The Twelve Tribes
of Israel.” Thus were credulous men posses-
sed at that time.
Then it was that Sabatai Sevi appeared at
Smyrna, and professed himself to be the
Messias. He promised the Jews deliverance
and a prosperous kingdom. This which he
promised they firmly believed. The Jews
now attended to no business, discoursed of
nothing but their return, and believed Sabatai
to be the Messias as firmly as we Christians
believe any article of faith. A right reverend
person, then in Turkey, meeting with a Jew
of his acquaintance at Aleppo, he asked him
what he thought of Sabatai? The Jew re-
plied, that he believed him to be the Messias:
and that he was so far of that belief; that, if
he should prove an impostor, he would then
turn Christian. It is fit we should be parti-
cular in this relation, because the history is
so very surprising and remarkable; and we
have the account of it from those who were
in Turkey. “
MES
MES
489
Sabatai Sevi was the son of Mordecai Sevi,
a mean Jew of Smyrna. Sabatai was very
bookish, and arrived to great skill in the
Hebrew learning. He was the author of a
new doctrine, and for it was expelled the
city. He went thence to Salonichi, of old
called Thessalonica, where he married a very
handsome woman, and was divorced from
her. Then he travelled into the Morea, then
to Tripoli, Gaza, and Jerusalem. By the
way he picked up a third wife. At Jerusalem
he began, to reform the Jews’ constitutions,
and abolish one of their solemn fasts, and
communicated his designs of professing him-
self the Messias to one Nathan. He was
pleased with it, and set up for his Elias, or
forerunner, and took upon him to abolish all
the Jewish fasts, as not beseeming, when the
bridegroom was now come. Nathan prophe-
sied that the‘ Messias should appear before
the Grand Seignior in less than two years,
and take from him his crown, and lead him
in chains.
At Gaza, Sabatai preached repentance, to-
gether with a faith in himself, so effectually,
that the people gave themselves up to their
devotions and aims. The noise of this Mes-
sias began to fill all places. Sabatai now re-
solves for Smyrna, and then for Constanti-
nople. Nathan writes to him from Damascus,
and thus he begins his letter :—-“ To the
king, our king, lord of lords, who gathers the
dispersed of Israel, who redeems our cap-
tivity, the man elevated to the height of all
sublimity, the Messias of the God of Jacob,
the true Messias, the celestial Lion, Sabatai
Sevi.”
And now throughout Turkey, the Jews
were in great expectation of glorious times.
They now were devout and penitent, that
they might not obstruct the good which they
hoped for.
Some fasted so long, that they were fa-
mished to death ; others buried themselves in
the earth till their limbs grew stiff; some
would endure melting wax dropped on their
flesh ; some rolled in snow ; others, in a cold
season, would put themselves into cold water;
and many buried themselves. Business was
laid aside ; superfluities of household utensils
were sold; the poor were provided for by
immense contributions. Sabatai comes to
Smyrna, where he was adored by the people,
though the Chacham contradicted him, for
which he was removed from his ofiice. There
he in writing styles himself the only and first-
born Son of God, the Messias, the Saviour of
Israel. And though he met with some oppo-
sition, yet he prevailed there at last to that
degree, that some of his followers prophesied,
and fell into strange ecstasies: four hundred
men and women prophesied of his growing
kingdom; and young infants, who could
hardly speak, would plainly pronounce Saba-
tai, Messias, and the Son of God. The people
were for a time possessed, and voices heard
from their bowels: some fell into trances,
foamed at the mouth, recounted their future
prosperity, their visions of the Lion of Judah,
and the triumphs of Sabatai. All which,
says the relater, were certainly true, being
effects of diabolical delusions, as the Jews
themselves have since confessed.
Now the impostor swells and assumes.
Whereas the Jews, in their synagogues were
wont to pray for the Grand Seignior, he
orders those prayers to be forborne for the
future, thinking it an indecent thing to pray
for him who was shortly to be his captive;
and instead of praying for the Turkish em-
peror, he appoints prayers for himself. He
also elected princes to govern the Jews in
their march towards the Holy Land, and to
administer justice to them when they should
be possessed of it. These princes were men
well known in the city of Smyrna at that
time. The people were now pressing to see
some miracle to‘ confirm their faith, and to
convince the Gentiles. Here the impostor
was puzzled, though any juggling trick would
have served their turn. But the credulous
people supplied this defect. When Sabatai was
before the Cadi (or justice of peace,) some
affirmed they saw a pillar of fire between him
and the Cadi; and after some had afiirmed it,
others were ready to swear it, and did swear
it also; and this was presently believed by
the Jews of that city. He that did not now
believe-him to be the Messias, was to be
shunned as an excommunicated person. The
impostor now declares that he was called of
God to see Constantinople, where he had
much to do. He ships himself, to that end,
in a Turkish saick, in January, v1666. He
had a long and troublesome voyage; he had
not power over the sea and winds. The
Vizier, upon the news, sends for him, and
confines him in a loathsome prison. The
Jews pay him their visits; and they of this
city are as infatuated as those in Smyrna.
They forbid traffic, and refuse to pay their
debts. Some of our English merchants, not
knowing-how to recover their debts from the
Jews, took this occasion to visit Sabatai, and
make their complaints to him against his
subjects; whereupon he wrote the following
letter to the Jews:
“ To you of the nation of the Jews, who
expect the appearance of the Messias, and
the salvation of Israel, peace without end.
Whereas we are informed that you are in-
debted to several of the English nation, it
seemeth right unto us to order you to make
satisfaction to these your just debts; which,
if you refuse to do, and not obey us herein,
know you that then you are not to enter with
us into our joys and dominions.”
Sabatai remained a prisoner in Constanti—
nople for the space of two months. The
Grand Vizier, designing for Candia, thought
MES
MES
ago
it not safe to leave him in the city during the
Grand Scignior’s absence and his own. He,
therefore, removed him to the Dardanelles, a
better air, indeed, but yet out of the way, and
consequently importing less danger to the
city ; which occasioned the Jews to conclude
that the Turks could not, or durst not, take
away his life; which had, they concluded,
been the surest way to have removed all jeal-
ousy. The Jews flocked in great numbers to
the castle where he was a prisoner; not only
those that were near, but from Poland, Ger—
many, Leghorn, Venice, and other places;
they received Sabatai’s blessing, and pro-
mises of advancement. The Turks made use
of this confluence; they raised the price of
their lodgings and provisions, and put their
price upon those who desired to see Sabatai
for their admittance. This profit stopped
their mouths, and no complaints were for this
cause sent to Adrianople.
Sabatai, in his confinement, appoints the
manner of celebrating his own nativity. He
commands the Jews to keep it on the ninth
day of the month Ab, and to-make it a day
of great joy, to celebrate it with pleasing
meats and drinks, with illuminations and
music. He obligeth them to acknowledge
the love of God, in giving them that day of‘
consolation for the birth of their King Mes-
sias, Sabatai Sevi, his servant and first-born
Son in love.
We may observe by the way, the insolence
of this impostor. This day was a solemn day
of fasting among the Jews, formerly in me-
mory of the burning of the temple by the
Chaldees : several other sad things happened
in this month, as the Jews observe; that
then, and upon the same day, the second
temple was destroyed; and that in this month
it was decreed in the wilderness that the
Israelites should not enter into Canaan, &c.
Sabatai was born on this day; and, therefore,
the fast must be turned into a feast: whereas,
in truth, it had been well for the J ews had
he not been born at all; and much better for
himself, as will appear from what follows.
The Jews of that city paid Sabatai Sevi
great respect.
gogues with S. S. in letters of gold, and made
for him in the wall a crown : they attributed
the same titles and prophecies to him which
we apply to our Saviour. He was also, dur-
ing this imprisonment, visited by pilgrims
from all parts, that had heard his story.
Among whom Nehemiah Cohen, from P0-
land, was one—a man of great learning in
the Kabbala and eastern tongues; who desired
a conference with Sabatai, and at the con-
ference maintained, that, according to the
Scripture, there ought to be a twofold Mes-
sias; one the son of Ephraim, a poor and
despised teacher of the law, the other the son
of David, to be a conqueror. Nehemiah was
content to be the former, the son of Ephraim,
They decked their syna»

and to leave the glory and dignity of the
latter to Sabatai. Sabatai, for what appears,
did not dislike this. But here lay the ground.
of the quarrel: Nehemiah taught that the
son of Ephraim ought to be the forerunner of
the son of David, and to usher him in; and
Nehemiah accused Sabatai of too great for-
wardness in appearing as the son of David,
before the son of Ephraim had led him the
way. Sabatai could not brook this doctrine;
for he might fear that the son of Ephraim,
who was to lead the way, might pretend to
be the son of David, and so leave him in the
lurch; and, therefore, he excluded him from
any part or share in this matter ; which was
the occasion of the ruin of Sabatai, and all
his glorious designs. Nehemiah, being dis-
appointed, goes to Adrianople, and informs
the great ministers of state against Sabatai,
as a lewd and dangerous person to the govern-
ment, and that it was necessary to take him
out of the way. The Grand Seignior, being
informed of this, sends for Sabatai, who, much
dejected, appears before him. The Grand
Seignior requires a miracle, and chooses one
himself; and it was this: that Sabatai should
. be stripped naked, and set as a mark for his
archers to shoot at; and if the arrows did not
pierce his flesh, he would own him to be the
Messias. Sabatai had not faith enough to bear
up under so great a trial, The Grand Seig-
nior let him know that he would forthwith
impale him, and that the stake was prepared
for him, unless he would turn Turk. Upon
which he consented to turn Mohammedan, to
the great confusion of the Jews. And yet
some of the Jews were so vain as to afi‘irm
that it was not Sabatai himself, but his sha-
dow, that professed his religion, and was seen
in the habit of a Turk: so great was their
obstinacy and infidelity, as if it were a thing
impossible to convince these deluded and in—
fatuated wretches. '
After all this, several of the Jews continued
to use the forms, in their public worship, pre-
scribed by this Mohammedan Messias, which
obliged the principal Jews of Constantinople to
send to the synagogue of Smyrna to forbid this
practice. During these things, the Jews in-
stead of minding their trade and traflic, filled
their letters with news of Sabatai their Mes-
sias, and his wonderfulworks. They reported
that, when the Grand Seignior sent to take
him, he caused all the messengers that were
sent to die ; and when other J anizaries were
sent, they all fell dead by a word from his
mouth; and, being requested to do it, he
caused them to revive again. They added,
that though the prison where Sabatai lay was
barred and fastened with strong iron locks,
yet he was seen to walk through the streets
with a numerous train; that the shackles
which were upon his neck and feet did not
fall off, but were turned into gold, with which
Sabatai gratified his followers. Upon the
MET
MET
491
fame of these things, the Jews of Italy sent
legates to Smyrna, to inquire into the truth of
these matters. When the legates arrived at
Smyrna, they heard of the news that Sabatai
was turned Turk, to their very great confu-
sion; but, going to visit the brother of Sa-
batai, he endeavoured to persuade them that
Sabatai was still the true Messias; that it was
not Sabatai that went about in the habit of a
Turk, but his angel or spirit; that his body
was taken into heaven, and should be sent.
down again when God should think it a fit
season. He added, that Nathan, his fore-
runner, who had wrought many miracles,
would soon be at Smyrna; that he would re--
veal hidden things to them, and confirm
them. But this Elias was not 'sufi'ered to
come into Smyrna, and although the legates
saw him elsewhere, they received no satis~
faction at all. -
24. The last false Christ that made any
considerable number of converts was one
Rabbi Mordecai, a Jew of Germany: he ap-
peared in the year 1632. It was not long
before he was found out to be an impostor,
and was obliged to fly from Italy to Poland,
to save his life. ‘What became of him after-
wards does not seem to be recorded.
This may be considered as true and exact
an account of the false Christs that have
arisen since the crucifixion of our blessed
Saviour, as can well be given. See Johannes
d Lent’s Hist. of False lllessiahs; Jortz'n’s
Rem. on Bed. Hist. vol. iii. p. 330; Kidtler’s
Demonstrations of the I'Jcssias; Harris’s Ser-
mons on the ll/Lzssiah; The Eleventh Volume of
the Modern Part of the Universal History;
Simpson’s Key to the Prophecies, sec. 9 ; Mac-
laurz'n on the Prophecies relating to the files-
siah,- Fuller’s Jesus the true Jlfessiah.
lVIESS-JOHNS, a name given upwards of a
century ago to chaplains kept by the nobility
‘ and others in high life; whose situation in
the family appears to have been any thing
but agreeable. 'They were generally ex-
pected to rise from table after the second
course; and if they ever attempted to sit the
dinner out, it generally cost them their place.
At an annual dinner given at that time, on
St. Stephen’s Day, by the Archbishop of
Canterbury, the chaplain used to come in
and say grace, and retired immediately, till
wanted to bless after dinner.
METHODIST, a term frequently applied by
the world to a person who becomes religious,
without reference to any particular sect or
party, and to such members of the Church of.
England as are evangelical and zealous in
their preaching.
METI-roDIsTs, DIALECTIC, those popish
doctors who arose in France about the middle
of the seventeenth century, in opposition to
the Huguenots, or Protestants. These Me-
thodists, from their different manner of treat-
ing the controversy with their opponents, may 4
be divided into two classes. The one come
prehends those doctors whose method of dis-
puting with the Protestants was disingenuous
and unreasonable, and who followed the ex-
ample of those military chiefs who shut up
their troops in entrenchments and strongholds,
in order to cover them from the attacks of
the enemy. Of this number were the J esuit
Veron, who required the Protestants to
prove the tenets of their church by plain
passages of Scripture, without being allowed
the liberty of Illustrating those passages, rea-
soning upon them, or drawing any conclusions
from them; Nihusius, an apostate from the
Protestant religion; the two VVallenburgs,
and others, who confined themselves to the
business of answering objections; and Car-
dinal Richlieu, who confined the whole con-
troversy to the single article of the divine
institution and authority of the church. The
Methodists of the second class were of opi—
nion that the most expedient manner of re—
ducing‘ the Protestants to silence, was not to
attack them by piecemeal, but to overwhelm
them at once by the weight of some general
principle, or presumption, or some universal
argument, which comprehended or might be
applied to all the points contested between
the two churches ; ‘thus imitating the conduct
of those military leaders, who, instead of
spending their time and strength in sieges
and skirmishes, endeavoured to put an end
to the war by a general and decisive action.
Some of these polemics rested the defence of
Popery upon prescription; others upon the
wicked lives of Protestant princes who had
left the Church of ‘Rome; others, the crime
of religious schism; the variety of opinions
among Protestants with regard to doctrine
and discipline, and the uniformity of the te—
nets and worship of the Church of Rome;
and thus, by urging their respective argu-
ments, they thought they should stop the
mouths of their adversaries at once.
METHoDIsTs, PROTESTANT, origin qfi—It
is not generally known that the name of Me-
thodist had been given long before to a reli-
gious sect‘ in England, or at least to a party
in religion which was distinguished by some
of the same marks as are supposed to apply
to the Methodists. John Spence, who was
librarian of Sion College in 1657, in a book
which he published, says, “ Where are now
our Anabaptists and plain pikestaif Metho-
dists, who esteem all flowers of rhetoric in
sermons no better than stinking weeds?”
But the denomination to which we here refer,
was founded, in the year 1729. by one Mr.
Morgan, and Mr. John Wesley. In the
month of November in that year, the latter
being then fellow of Lincoln College, began
to spend some evenings in reading the Greek
Testament, with Charles \Vesley, student;
Mr. Morgan, commoner of Christ Church;
and Mr. Kirkham, of Merton College. Not
MET
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long afterwards, two or three of the pupils of
Mr. John \Vesley obtained leave to attend
these meetings. They then began to visit
the sick in different parts of the town, and
the prisoners also who were confined in the
castle. Two years after they were joined
by Mr. Ingham of Queen’s College, Mr.
Broughton, and Mr. Hervey; and. in 1735,
by the celebrated Mr. Whitefield, then in hlS
eighteenth year. At this time their number
in Oxford amounted to about fourteen.
They obtained their name from the exact
regularity of their lives, whiclrgave occasion
to a young gentleman of Christ Churclr to
say, “Here is a new sect of Methodists
sprung up ;” alluding to a sect of _ancient
physicians, who were called Methodists, be-
cause they reduced the whole healing art to
a few common principles, and brought it into
some method and order.
At the time that this society was formed, it
is said that the whole kingdom of England was ,
tending fast to infidelity. “ It is come,” says
Bishop Butler, “ I know not how, to be taken
for granted by many persons, that Christianity
is not so much as a subject of inquiry ; but
that it is now at length discovered to be fic—
titious; and accordingly they treat it as if, in
the present age, this were an agreement
among all people of discernment, and nothing
remained but to set it up as a principal sub-
ject of mirth and ridicule, as it were, by way
of reprisals for its having so long interrupted
the pleasures of the world.” There is every
reason to believe that the Methodists were
the instruments of stemming this torrent.
The sick and the poor also tasted the fruits
of their labours and benevolence. Mr.
Wesley abridged himself of all his super-
fluities, and proposed afund for the relief
of the indigent; and so prosperous was the
scheme, that they quickly increased their
fund to eighty pounds per annum. This,
which one should have thought would have
been attended with praise instead of censure,
quickly drew upon them a kind of. perse-
cution ; some of the seniors of the university
lwgan to interfere, and it was reported “that
the college censors were going to blow up the
_qotliyi lab.” They found themselves, however,
patronized and encouraged by 801110 men
eminent for their learning and virtue, so
that their society still continued, though
they had suffered a severe loss, in 1730, by
the death of Mr. Morgan, who, it is said, was
the founder of it. In October, 1735, John
and Charles Wesley, Mr. Ingham, and Mr.
Delamotte, son of a merchant in ‘London,
embarked for Georgia, in order to preach the
gospel to the Indians. After their arrival
they were at first favourably received, but in
a short time lost the affection of the people ;
and, on account of some difference with the
storekeeper, Mr. Wesley was obliged to return
to England.
4 succeeded by Mr. Whitefield, whose repeated-

Mr. Wesley, however, wassoon .
labours in that part of the world are well known.
II. Methodists—divisions, tenets, and govern-
ment of After Mr. Whitefield returned from
America in 1741, he declared his full assent
to the doctrines of Calvin. Mr. Wesley, on
the contrary. professed the Arminian doctrine,
and had printed in favour of perfection and
universal redemption, and very strongly
against election; a doctrine which Mr. White-
field believed to be scriptural. The differ-
ence, therefore, of sentiments between these
two great men caused a separation. Mr.
Wesley preached in a place called the Foun—
dery, where Mr. Whitefield preached but once,
and no more. Mr. Whitefield then preached
to very large congregations out of doors,
and soon after, in connexion with Mr. Cen-
nick, and one orv two more, began a new
house, in Kingswood, Gloucestershire, and
established a school that favoured Calvinistical
preachers. The Methodists, therefore, were
now divided ; one part following Mr. Wesley,
and the other Mr. Whitefield, and distinguished
by the names of Arminian and Calvinistic
Methodists.
[1.] ARMINIAN Mn'rnoms'rs.
1. Original ll’esZcyans.——These constitute
the great body of the Arminian Methodists,
who hold the chapels, schools, &c., built or
founded by the great father of Methodism,
and consider themselves as representatives to
the present generation of what that system
was when originally established.
The doctrines of the Wesleyan Methodists,
according to their own account, are the same
as the Church of England, as set forth in her \
liturgy, articles, and homilies. This, however,
has been disputed. Mr. Wesley, in his appeal
to men of reason and religion, thus declares
his sentiments :——“ All I teach,” he observes,
“respects either the nature and condition of
justification, the nature and condition of sal-
vation, the nature of justifying and saving
faith, or the Author of faith and salvation.
That justification whereof our articles and
homilies speak, signifies present forgiveness,
and consequently acceptance with God: I bé-
lieve the condition of this is faith: I mean not
only that without faith we cannot be justified,
but also that, as soon as any one has true
faith, in that moment he is justified. Good
works follow this faith, but cannot go before
it; much less can sanctification, which implies
a continued course of good works, springing
from holiness of heart. But it is allowed that
sanctification goes before our justification at
the last day, Heb. xii. 14. Repentance, and
fruits meet for repentance, go before faith.
Repentance absolutely must go before faith;
fruits meet for it, if there he opportunity.
By repentance I mean conviction of sin, pro-
ducing real desires and sincere resolutions of
amendment; by salvation I mean not barely
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493
deliverance from hell, but a present deliver-
ance from'sin. Faith, in general, is a divine
supernatural evidence, or conviction of things
not seen, not discoverable by our bodily
senses : justifying faith implies not only a
divine evidence or conviction that God was
in Christ reconciling the world unto himself,
but a sure trust and confidence that Christ
died for my sins, that he loved me, and gave
himself for-me. And the moment a penitent
sinner believes this, God pardons and absolves
him ; and as soon ashis ' pardon or justifica-
tion is witnessed to him by the Holy Ghost,
he is saved. From that time (unless he make
shipwreck of the faith) salvation gradually
increases in his soul.
“ The Author of faith and salvation is God
alone. There is no more of power than of
merit in man; but as all merit is in the Son
of God, in what he has done and suffered for
us, so all power is in the Spirit of God. And,
therefore, every man, in order to believe unto
salvation, must receive the Holy Ghost.”
So far Mr. Wesley. Respecting original sin,
free will, the j ustification of men, good works,
and works done before justification, he refers
us to what is said on these subjects in the
former part of the ninth, the tenth, the ele-
venth, the twelfth, and thirteenth articles of
the Church of England. One of Mr. Wesley’s
preachers bears this testimony of him and his
sentiments: “The Gospel, considered as a
general plan of salvation, he viewed as a dis-
play of the divine perfections, in a way agree-
able to the nature of God; in which all the
divine attributes harmonize, and shine forth
with peculiar lustre—The Gospel, considered
as a means to attain an end, appeared to him
to discover as great fitness in the means to
the end as can possibly be discovered in the
structure of natural bodies, or in the various
operations of nature, from a view of which
we draw our arguments for the existence of
God—Man he viewed as blind, ignorant,
wandering out of the way, with his mind
estranged from God—He considered the
Gospel as a dispensation of mercy to men,
holding forth pardon, a free pardon of sin to
all who repent and believe in Christ Jesus.
The Gospel, he believed, inculcates universal
holiness, both in heart and in the conduct of
life—He showed a mind well instructed in
the oracles of God, and well acquainted with
human nature. He contended, that the first
step to be a Christian is to repent; and that,
till a man is convinced of the evil of sin, and
is determined to depart from it; till he is
convinced that there is a beauty in holiness,
and something truly desirable in being recon-
ciled to God, he is not prepared to receive
Christ. The second important and necessary
step, he believed to be faith, agreeable to the
order of the apostle, ‘ Repentance toward
' God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.’
Acts xx. 20, 21. In explaining sanctification,
be accurately distinguished it from justifica-
tion, or the pardon of sin. J ustification ad-
mits us into a state of grace and favour with
God, and lays the foundation of sanctification,
or Christian holiness, in all its extent. There
has been a great clamour raised against him
because he called his view of sanctification by
the word perfection,- but he often explained
what he meant by this term. He meant by the
word perfection, such a degree of the love of
God, and the love of man; such a degree of the
love of justice, truth, holiness, and purity, as
will remove from the heart every contrary
disposition towards God or man; and that
this should be our state of mind in every
situation and in every circumstance of life.—
He maintained that God is a God of love, not
to a part_of his creatures only, but to all;
that He who is the Father of all, who made
all, who stands in the same relation to all his
creatures, loves them all; that he loved the
world, and gave his Son a ransom for all,
without distinction of persons. It appeared
to him, that to represent God as partial, as
confining his love to a few, was unworthy our
notions of the Deity. He maintained that
Christ died for all men; that he is to be
offered to all; that all are to be invited to
come to him; and that whosoever comes in
the way which God has appointed may par-
take of his blessings. He supposed that sufii-
cient grace is given to all, in that way and
manner which is best adapted to influence
the mind. He did not believe salvation was
by works. So far was he from putting works
in the place of the blood of Christ, that he
only gave them their just value: he consi-
dered them as the fruits of a living operative
faith, and as the measure of our future re-
ward; for every man will be rewarded not
for his works, but according to the measure
of them. He gave the whole glory of salva-
tion to God, from first to last. He believed
that man would never turn to God, if God did
not begin the work: he often said that the
first approaches of grace to the mind are irre-
sistible; that is, that a man cannot avoid
being convinced that he is a sinner; that
God, by various means, awakens his con-
science; and, whether the man will or no,
these convictions approach him.” In order
that we may form still clearer ideas respecting
Mr. Wesley’s opinions, we shall here quote
a few questions and answers as laid down in
the Minutes of Conference :—“ Q. In what
sense is Adam’s sin imputed to all mankind?
A. In Adam all died, 2'. e. 1. Our bodies then
became mortal—2. Our souls died, 2'. e. were
disunited from God. And hence,-3. l/Ve are
are all born with a. sinful, devilish nature ; by
reason whereoL—é. We are children of wrath,
liable to death eternal, Rom. v. 18; Eph. ii. 3.
Q, In what sense is the righteousness of Christ
imputed to all mankind, or to believers? A.
We do not find it expressly aflirmed in Scrip-
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ture that God imputes the righteousness of
Christ to any, although we do find that faith
is imputed for righteousness. That text, ‘ As
by one man’s disobedience all men were made
sinners, so by the obedience of one all were
made righteous,’ we conceive, means by the
merits of Christ all men are cleared from the
guilt of Adam’s actual sin. Q. Can faith he
lost but through disobedience? A. It cannot.
A believer first inwardly disobeys; inclines
to sin with his heart; then his intercourse
with God is cut off, i. e. his faith is lost; and
after this he may fall into outward sin, being
now weak, and like another man. Q. What
is implied in being a perfect Christian? A.
The loving the Lord our God'with all our
heart, and with all our mind, and soul, and
strength. Q. Does this imply that all inward
sin is taken away? A. Without doubt; or
how could we be said to be saved from all
our uncleannesses? Ezek. xxxvi. 29. Q. How
much is allowed by our brethren who differ
from us with regard to entire sanctification ?
A. They grant, 1. That every one must be
entirely sanctified in the article of death—2.
That till then a believer daily grows in grace,
comes nearer and nearer to perfection—3.
That we ought to be continuallypressing
after this, and to exhort all others to do so.
Q. What do we allow them? A. \Ve grant,
1. That many of those who have died in the
faith, yea, the greater part of those we have
known, were not sanctified throughout, not
made perfect in love, till a little before death.
—-2. That the term sanctified is continually
applied by St. Paul to all that were justified,
that were true believers—3. That by this
term alone he rarely (if ever) means saved
from all sin.—-4. That consequently it is not
proper to use it in this sense, without adding
the word ‘ wholly, entirely,’ or the like.—--5.
That the inspired, writers almost continually
speak of or to those who were justified, but
very rarely either of or to those who were
sanctified—6. That consequently it behoves
us to speak in public almost continually of
the state of justification; but more rarely in
full and explicit terms concerning entire sanc-
tification. Q. What, then, is the point
wherein we divide? A. It is this: Whether
we should expect to be saved from all sin
before the article of death. Q. Is there any
clear Scripture promise of this, that God will
save us from all sin? A. There is. Psal.
cxxx. 8: ‘ He shall redeem Israel from all
his iniquities.’ This is more largely expressed
in Ezek. xxxvi. 25, 29 ; 2 Cor. vii. 1 ; Deut.
xxx. 6; 1 John iii. 8; Eph. v. 25, 27 ; John
xvii. 20, 23 ; 1 John iv. 17.”
Thus I have endeavoured to give a view of
the tenets of the Wesleyan Methodists; and
this I have chosen to do in their own words,
in order to prevent misrepresentation.
Mr. Wesley having formed numerous so-
cieties in different parts he, with his brother

Charles, drew up certain rules, by which they
were, and it seems in many respects still are,
governed.‘ They state the nature and de-
sign of a Methodist society in the following
words : ~
“ Such a society is no other than a com—
pany of men having the form and seeking
the power of godliness; united in order to
pray together, to receive the word of exhor-
tation, and to watch’over one another in love,
that they may help each other to work out
their salvation.
“ That it may the more‘ easily be discerned
whether they are indeed working out their
own salvation, each society is divided into
smaller companies, called classes, according
to their respective places of abode. There
are about twelve persons (sometimes fifteen,
twenty, or even more) in each class; one of
whom is styled the leader. It is his business,
1. To see each person in his class once a.
week, at least, in order to inquire how their
souls prosper; to advise, reprove, comfort, or
exhort, as occasion may require; to receive
what they are willing to give to the poor, or
towards the Gospel. 2. To meet the minister
and the stewards of the society once a week,
in order to inform the minister of any that
are sick, or of any that walk disorderly, and
will not be reproved; to pay to the stewards
what they have received of their several
classes in the week preceding; and to show __
their account of what each person has con-
tributed.
“ There is only one condition previously
required of those who desire admission into
these societies, namely,—a desire to flee from
the wrath to come; to be saved from their
sins: but wherever this is really fixed in the
soul, it will be shown by its fruits. It is,
therefore, expected of all who continue there-
in, that they should continue to evidence their
desire of salvation.
“ First, By doing no harm; by avoiding
evil in every kind; especially that which is
most generally practised, such as the taking
the name of God in vain; the profaning the
day of the Lord, either by doing ordinary
work thereon, or by buying or selling;
drunkenness; buying or selling spirituous
liquors, or drinking them, unless in cases of
extreme necessity ; fighting, quarrelling, braw-
ling; brother going to law with brother; re-
turning evil for evil,,or railing for railing;
the using many words in buying or selling;
the buying or selling uncustomed goods; the
giving or taking things on usury; z‘. e. unlaw-
ful interest.
“ Uncharitable or unprofitable conversa-
tion; particularly speaking evil of magis-
trates or of ministers.
“ Doing to others as we would not they
should do unto us.
“ Doing what we know is not for the glory
of God; as the putting on gold or costly ap-
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parel; the taking such diversions as cannot
be used in the name of the Lord Jesus.
“ The singing those songs, or reading those
books, which do not tend to the knowledge
or love of God; softness, and needless self-
indulgence; laying up treasure upon earth;
borrowing without a probability of paying;
or taking up goods without a probability of
paying for them. -
“ It is expected of all who continue in these
societies that they should continue to evidence
their desire of salvation,
“‘ Secondly, By dieing good; by being in
every kind merciful after their power, as they
have opportunity: doing good of ' every pos-
sible sort, and as far as possible to-all men;
to their bodies, of the ability which God
giveth, by giving food to the hungry, by
clothing the naked, by visiting or helping
them that are sick, or in prison; to their
souls, by instructing, reproving, or exhorting
all we have any intercourse with; trampling
under foot that enthusiastic doctrine of devils,
that ‘ We are not to do good, unless our
hearts be free to it.’
“ By doing good, especially to them that
are of the household of faith, or groaning so
to be; employing them preferably to others;
buying one of another; helping each other
in business; and so much the more, because
the world will love its own, and them only;
by all possible diligence and frugality, that
the gospel be not blamed; by running with
patience the race set before them, denying
themselves, and taking up their cross daily;
submitting to bear the reproach of Christ;
to be as the filth and ofi‘scouring of the world,
and looking that men should say all manner
of evil of them falsely for the Lord’s sake.
“ It is expected of all who desire to con-
tinue in these societies, that they should con»
tinue to evidence their desire of salvation,
“ Thirdly, By attending on all the ordin-
ances of God : such are,——The public worship
of God; the ministry of the word, either read
or expounded; the supper of the Lord; family
and private prayer; searching the Scriptures;
and fasting and abstinence.
“ These are the general rules of our socie-
ties, all which we are taught of God to ob-
serve, even in his written word: the only
rule, and the sufiicient rule, both of our faith
and practice; and all these we know his
Spirit writes on every truly awakened heart.
If there be any among us who observe them
not, who habitually break any of them, let it
be made known unto them who watch over
that soul, as the who must give an account.
We will admonish him of the error of his
ways; we will bear with him for a season;
but then, if he repent not, he hath no more
place among us : we have delivered our own
souls.
J omv ‘VESLEY.
May 1’ 1743'_ CHARLES WnsLnY.”
In Mr. Wesley’s connexion, they have cir-
cuits and conferences, which we find were
thus formed :-—VVhcn the preachers at first
went out to exhort and preach, it was by Mr.
Wesley’s permission and direction ; some
from one part of the kingdom, and some from
another; and though frequently strangers to
each other, and those to whom they were
sent, yet on his credit and sanction alone they
were received and provided for as friends, by
the societies wherever they came. But, hav-
in g little or no communication or intercourse
with one another, nor any subordination
among themselves, they must have been un-
der the necessity of recurring to Mr. W'esley
for directions how and where they were to
labour. To remedy this inconvenience, he
conceived the design of calling them together
to an annual conference; by this means he
brought them into closer union with each
other, and made them sensible of the utility
of acting in concert and harmony. He soon
found it necessary, also, to bring their itiner-
ancy under certain regulations, and reduce it
to some fixed order, both to prevent confu-
sion, and for his own case ; he therefore took
fifteen or twenty societies, more or less, which
lay round some principal society in those
parts, and which were so situated, that the
greatest distance from one to the other was
not much more than twenty miles, and united
them into what was called a circuit. At the
yearly conference he appointed two, three, or
four preachers to one of those circuits, ac-
cording to its extent, which at first was often
very considerable, sometimes taking in a part
of three or four counties. Here, and here
only, were they to labour for one year, that
is, until the next conference. One of the
preachers on every circuit was called the
assistant, because he assisted Mr. Wesley in
supcrintending the societies, and other preach-
ers; he took charge of the societies within
the limits assigned him; he enforced the
rules everywhere, and directed the labours of
the preachers associated with him. Having
received a list of the societies forming his
circuit, he took his own station in it, gave to
the other preachers a plan of it, and pointed
out the day when each should be at the place
fixed for him, to begin a progressive motion
round it, in such order as the plan directed.
They now followed one another through all
the societies belonging to that circuit, at
stated distances of time, all being governed
by the same rules, and undergoing the same
labour. By this plan, every preacher’s daily
work was appointed beforehand; each knew,
every day, where the‘ others were, and each
society when to expect the preacher, and how
long he would stay with them. It may be
observed, however, that Mr. W esley’s design
in calling the preachers together annually,
was not merely for the regulation of the
circuits, but also for the review of their doc-
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496
trines and discipline, and for the examina-
tion of their moral conduct; that those who
were to administer with him in holy things
might be throughly furnished for every good
> work.
The first conference was held in June,
1744, at which Mr. \Vesley met his brother,‘
two or three other clergymen, and a few of
the preachers whom he had appointed to
come from various parts, to confer with them
on the affairs of the societies.
“ Monday, June 25,” observes Mr. Wesley,
“and the five following days, we spent in
conference with our preachers, seriously con-
sidering by what means we might the most
effectually save our own souls, and them that
heard us; and the result of our consultations
we set down to be the rule of our practice.”
Since that time a conference has been
held annually, Mr. Wesley himself having
presided at forty-seven. The subjects of
their deliberations were proposed in the
form of questions, which were amply
discussed; and the questions, with the an-
swers agreed upon, were afterwards printed
under. the title of “Minutes of several Con-
versations between the Rev. Mr. Wesley and
others, commonly called Minutes of Con-
ference.” .
As to their preachers, the following extract
from the above-mentioned Minutes of Con-
ference will show us in what manner they are
chosen and designated: “Q, How shall we
try those who think they are moved by the
Holy Ghost to preach? A. Inquire, 1. Do
they know God as a pardoning God? Have
they the love of God abiding in them? Do
they desire and seek nothing but God? And
are they holy in all manner of conversation?
2. Have they gifts as well as grace, for the
work ? Have they, in some tolerable degree,
a clear, sound understanding? Have they a
right judgment in the things of God? Have
they a just conception of salvation by faith?
And has God given them any degree of
utterance? Do they speak justly, readily,
clearly? 3. Have they fruit? Are any
truly convinced of sin, and converted to God,
by their preaching ?
“As long as these three marks concur in
any one, we believe he is called of God to
preach. These we receive as sufiicient proof
that he is moved thereto by the Holy Ghost.
“ Q. What method may we use in receiving
a new helper? A. A proper time for doing
this is at a conference, after solemn fasting
and prayer. Every person proposed is then
to be present, and each of them may be
asked,—
“ Have you faith in Christ? Are you going
on to perfection? Do you expect to be per-
fected in love in this life ? Are you groaning
after it? Are you resolved to devote yourself
wholly to God and to his work? Have you
considered the rules of a helper? ‘Will you
keep them for conscience’ sake? Are you
determined to employ all your time in the
work of God? Will you preach every
morning and evening? Will you diligently
instruct the children in every place? Will
you visit them from house to house? Will
you recommend fasting both by precept and
example?
“We then may receive him as a proba-
tioner, by giving him the Minutes of the
Conference, inscribed thus :--‘ To A. B. You
think it your duty to call sinners to repent-
ance. Make full proof’hereof, and we shall
rejoice to receive you as afellow-labourer.’
Let him then read and carefully weigh what
is contained therein, that if he has any doubt
it may be removed.”
“To the above it may be useful to add,”
says Mr. Benson, “ a few remarks on the me—
thod pursued in the choice of the itinerant
preachers, as many have formed the most
erroneous ideas on the subject, imagining
they are employed with hardly any prior
preparation. 1. They are received as private
members of the society on trial. 2. After a
quarter of a year, if they are found deserving,
they are admitted as proper members. 3.
When their grace and abilities are sufficiently
manifest, they are appointed leaders of classes.
4. If they then discover talents for more im-
portant services, they are employed to exhort
occasionally in the smaller congregations,
when the preachers cannot attend. 5. If ap-
proved in this line of duty, they are allowed
to preach. 6. Out of these men, who are
called local preachers, are selected the itin-
erant preachers, who are first proposed at a
quarterly meeting of the stewards, and local
preachers of the circuit; then at a meeting
of the travelling preachers of the district;
and, lastly, in the conference; and, if ac-
cepted, are nominated for a circuit. 7. Their
characters and conduct are examined annually
in the conference; and, if they continue
faithful for four years of trial, they are re-
ceived into full connexion. At these confer-
ences, also, strict inquiry is made into the
conduct and success of every preacher, and
those who are found deficient in abilities are
no longer employed as itinerants ; while those
whose conduct has not been agreeable to the
Gospel, are expelled, and thereby deprived of
all the privileges even of private members of
the society.”
The following extract from “The Larger
Minutes,” will show what are considered
to be the ofice and duty of a Methodist
preacher :-—“ Q. What is the office of a
Christian minister? A. To watch over
souls, as he that must give an account. To
feed and guide the flock. Q. How shall
he be fully qualified for his great work? A.
By walking closely with God, and having
his ‘work greatly at heart; by understanding
and loving every branch of our discipline;
MET
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497
the twelve rules of a helper; viz.-1. Be di-
ligent; never be unemployed; never be tri-
flingly employed; never WHILE away time,
nor spend more time at any place than is
strictly necessary. 2. Be serious; let your
motto be, holiness to the Lord; avoid all light-
ness, jesting, and foolish talking. 3. Con~
verse sparingly and cautiously w1th women,
particularly with young women. 4. Take no
step towards marriage without solemn prayer
to God, and consulting with your brethren.
5. Believe evilqf as one, unless fully proved
take heed how you credit it: put the best
construction you can on every thing,--you
know the judge is always supposed to be on
the prisoner’s side. 6. Speak evil of no one,
else your word especially would eat as doth a
canker; keep your thoughts within your own
breast, till you come to the person concerned.
7. Tell every one what you think wrong in
him, lovingly and plainly, and as soon as
may be, else it will fester in your own heart;
make all haste to cast the fire out of your
bosom. 8. Do not affect the gentleman; a
preacher of the Gospel is the servant of all.
9. Be ashamed ofv nothing but sin, no, not of
cleaning your own shoes when necessary.
10. Be punctual; do every thing exactly at
the time; and do not mend our rules, but
keep them, and that for conscience’ sake. 11.
You have nothing to do but to save souls; and
therefore spend and be spent in this work;
and go always, not only to those who want
you, but to those who want you most. 12.
Act in all things, not according to your own
will, but as a son in the gospel, and in union
with your brethren. As such, it is your part
to employ your time as our rules direct;
partly in preaching and visiting from house
to house ; partly in reading, ‘meditatiomand
prayer. Above all, if you labour with us in
our Lord’s vineyard, it is needful that you
should do that part of the work which the con-
ference shall advise, at those times and places
which they shall judge most for his glory.”
"‘ Observe :—It is not your business to
preach so many times, and to take care merely
of this and that society : but to save as many
souls as you can; to bring as many sinners as
you possibly can to repentance ; and with all
your power to build them up in that holiness
without which they cannot see the Lord; and,
remember, a Methodist preacher is to mind
every oz'nt, great and small, in the Methodist
discip ine; therefore you will need all the
grace and all the sense you have, and to have
all your wits about you.”
The discipline of the Methodists is rigidly
uniform. No deviation whatever from pre-
scribed rules is permitted. Every preacher,
and indeed every member, is to render un-
qualified obedience to the dictates of the con-
ference; the legal number of the preachers
constituting which is one hundred, though it
and by carefully and constantly observing-

is often attended by about three hundred and
fifty ministers. From the minutes of the
conference held in 1840, it appears that the
number of persons in the societies were as
follows :——In Great Britain, 323,178; in Ire-
land, 27,047 ; and in foreign stations, 78,504.
Their regular preachers were 1,078 in Great
Britain; 159 in Ireland; and 345, including
assistant Missionaries, in foreign stations.
2. New Connexion—Since Mr. Wesley’s
death, his people have been divided; but this
division, it seems,‘ respects discipline more
than sentiment. Mr. Wesley professed a
strong attachment to the established church
of England, and exhorted the societies under
his care to attend her service, and receive the
Lord’s supper from the regular clergy. But
in the latter part of his time he thought pro-
per to ordain some bishops and priests for
America and Scotland; but as one or two of
the bishops have never been out of England
since their appointment to the oifice, it is pro-
bable that he intended a regular ordination
should take place when the state of the con-
nexion might render it necessary. During
his life, some of the societies petitioned to
have preaching in their own chapels, in
church hours, and the Lord’s supper admini-
stered by the travelling preachers. This re-
quest he generally refused; and, where it
could be conveniently done, sent some of the
clergymen who ofiiciated at the New Chapel
in London, to perform these solemn services.
At the first conference after his death, which
was held at Manchester, the preachers pub—
lished a declaration, in which they said that
they would “ take the plan as Mr. Wesley
had left it.” This was by no means satisfac—
tory to many of the preachers and people,
who thought that religious liberty ought to
be extended to all the societies which desired
it. In order to favour this cause, so agreeable
to the spirit of Christianity and the rights
of Englishmen, several respectable preachers
came forward; and by the writings which
they circulated through the connexion, paved
the way for a plan of pacification, by which
it was stipulated, that in every society where
a threefold majority of classleaders, stewards,
and trustees desired it, the people should have
preaching in church hours, and the sacra-
ments of baptism and the Lord’s supper ad-
ministered to them. The spirit of inquiry
being roused, did not stop here; for it ap-
peared agreeable both to reason and the cus-
toms of the primitive church, that the people
should have a voice in the temporal concerns
of the societies, vote in the election of church
ofiicers, and give their sufi‘rages in spiritual
concerns. This subject produced a variety of
arguments on both sides of the question:
many of the preachers and people thought
that an annual delegation of the general ste-
' wards of the circuits, to sit either in the con-
ference or the district meetings, in order to
K K.
M ET
MET
498
assist in the disbursement of the yearly col-
lection, the Kingswood School collection, and
the preachers’ fund, and in making new or
revising old laws, would be a bond of union
between the conference and connexion at
large, and do away the very idea of arbitrary
power among the travelling preachers. In
order to facilitate this good work, many socie-
ties, in various parts of the kingdom, sent
delegates to the conference held at Leeds, in
1797: they were instructed to request, that
the people might have a voice in the forma-
tion of their own laws, the choice of their own
officers, and the distribution of their own
property. The preachers proceeded to dis—
cuss two motions :—Shall delegates from the
societies be admitted into the conference?
Shall circuit stewards be admitted into the
district meetings? Both motions were nega-
tived, and consequently all hopes of accom-
modation between the parties were given up.
Several friends of religious liberty proposed
a plan for a new itinerancy. In order that
it might be carried into immediate effect,
they formed themselves into a regular meet-
ing, in Ebenezer Chapel,—Mr. \Villiam Thom
being chosen president, and Mr. Alexander
Kilham, secretary. The meeting proceeded
to arrange the plan for supplying the circuits
of the New Connexion with preachers; and
desired the president and secretary to draw
up the rules of church government, in order
that they might be circulated through the
societies for their approbation. Accordingly,
a form of church government, suited to an
itinerant ministry, was printed by these two
brethren, under the title of “ Outlines of a
Constitution proposed for the Examination,
Amendment, and Acceptance, of the mem-
bers of the Methodist Itinerancy.” The plan
was examined by select committees in the
different circuits of the connexion, and, with
a few alterations, was accepted by the con-
ference of preachers, and delegates. The
preachers and people are incorporated in all
meetings for business, not by temporary con-
cession, but by the essential principles of their
constitution ; for the private members choose
the-class leaders; the leaders’ meeting nomi-
nates the stewards ; and the society confirms
or rejects the nomination. The quarterly
meetings are composed of the general ste-
wards and representatives chosen by the dif-
ferent societies of the circuits, and the fourth
quarterly meeting of the year appoints the
preacher and delegate of every circuit that
shall attend the general conference. For a
further account of their principles and dis-
cipline, we must refer the reader to the
“General Rules of the United Societies of
Methodists in the New Connexion.”
In 1840, the New Connexion Methodists
had 303 chapels, 53 circuits, and 969 tra-
velling and local preachers. Their numbers
amounted to 21,735.
3. Primitive Zllethodz'sts, the, or Ranters,
who are in general very illiterate, and ex.
tremely noisy in their public demeanour,
(proceeding, for instance, through the streets
singing hymns,) broke off from the grand
body of the Methodists, some years ago, on
the ground that the original spirit of Metho-
dism was not kept up among its members.
They allow females to preach in promiscuous
assemblies; a practice condemned by the
conference. They have 403 chapels; the
number of their preachers, chiefly local, is
2,700 ; and that of their members 33,720.
4. Independent Methodists, and.
5. Wesleyan Protestant Methodists, are two
minor bodies that have recently separated, in
consequence of what they deemed acts of
arbitrary and unconstitutional power on the
part of the conference, and the claiming of an
authority which they conceived to be unwar-
ranted by the New Testament. One of the
latter body goes so far as to say, that the
power which has hitherto been exercised by
the Methodist conference, agrees in all things
with that of the princes of this world, who
rule over men only for their own honour and
advantage; but is utterly incompatible with
the power of moral suasion, and the power of
Christian charity. The “ Independents” have
upwards of an hundred lay-preachers, and
about 4,000 members; the “ Protestants,”
who reside chiefly in and about Leeds, are
rapidly on the increase, and their cause has
been warmly espoused by many in London,
who were weary of the yoke imposed upon
them by the conference. What gave rise to
the Independent branch was, we understand,
a refusal on the part of the conference to
admit lay-members to a share in the admini-
stration of the discipline and other affairs of
the society. These bodies have recently
merged in the Wesleyan Methodist associa-
tion, which contains 27,384 members.
6. Bryanz'tes, so called from a Mr. Bryan,
one of their preachers, have about 13,000
members. hey differ very little from Ran—
ters.
7. Episcopal Methodist Church in the United‘
States. This community, arising out of the
labours of Mr. Wesley and some early
preachers, was regularly formed in .1784,
when Dr. Coke, a presbyter of the Church of
England, having been ordained, was sent out
in the capacity of superintendent of the Me-
thodist societies in America. It recognizes
three orders of ministers :——bishops, elders,
and deacons, whose duties are partly station-
ary and partly of a travelling character; he-
sides whom, they employ local preachers,
who preach generally on the Lord’s day, and
occasionally during the week. The number
in this connexion, in 1833, were as follows:
—-489,983 whites, 74,447 people of colour,
21,338 Indians; 2,230 travelling preachers;
123 superintendents; and 5 bishops.
M E T
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499
[2.] CALVINISTIC METHODISTS.
Under this term are generally comprised
three distinct connexions.
1. The Tabernacle Connexion, or that formed
by Mr. Whitefield, and so called from the
name given to several of his places of worship
in London, Bristol, &c. In some of the cha-
pels in this connexion the service of the
Church of England is read; in others the’
worship is conducted much in the same way
as among the Congregationalists; while, in
all, the system of supply is more or less kept
up, consisting in the employment, for a month
or six weeks, of ministers from difi'erent parts
of the country, who either take the whole
duty, or assist the resident minister. Some
of the congregations consist of several thou-
sand hearers ; and, by the blessing of God on
the rousing and faithful sermons which are
usually delivered to them, very extensive
good is effected in the way of conversion.
Most of the ministers now employed ‘as sup-
plies in this connexion, are of the Congrega-
tional order, to which, of late years, there ap-
pears to be a gradual approximation; and it
is not improbable that ere long both bodies
will coalesce.
2. Lady Huntingdon’s Connexion—For an
account of the origin of this section of Cal-
vinistic Methodists, see the article HUNTING—
DON, CoUN'rEss on—The number of chapels
belonging to this body, at the present time, is
about sixty, in all of which the liturgy of
the Church of England is read, and most of
her forms scrupulously kept up. The mini-
sters, who used formerly to supply at differ-
ent chapels in the course of the year, are now
become more stationary, and have assumed
more of the pastoral character. They have
a respectable college at Cheshunt, in I-Iert-
fordshire.
3. The Welsh Calvz'nz'stic [Wet/zodisz‘s—This
body, which is now very numerous, takes its
date from the year 17 35, much about the time
that Methodism began in England; and is to
be traced to the zealous labours ‘of Howel
Harris, Esq. of Trevecca, in Brecknockshire,
who had intended to take orders in the
Church of England, but was so shocked at
the impiety which he witnessed among the
students at Oxford, that he abandoned his
purpose; and, returning to his native place,
began to exert himself for the salvation of
sinners, both in his own parish and in those
which adjoined it. great revival was the
result; and it being found necessary to have
private conversations with such as were under
concern about their souls, beyond what Mr.
Harris could attend to, he formed societies in
which they could be carried on by experi-
enced individuals appointed for the purpose.
Notwithstanding the opposition that he met
with, he was so successful in his exertions,
that in the course of four years, not fewer
than three hundred societies were formed in
South Wales. It was not long before this
zealous servant of Christ was joined by several
ministers who left the established church, who
became itinerants, and diffused the knowledge
of the Gospel very widely in the principality.
The first association was held about the
year 1743, since which time associations have
been held quarterly ; and the connexion con-
tin ued to receive fresh accessions, both from
among the ministers and members of the
establishment, till the year 1785, when it was
joined by the Rev. Thomas Charles, A. B. of
Bala, who, in addition to other zealous labours
in the gospel, set himself to organize the
body, according to a more regular plan; so
that to him its members now look as the
principal instrument in reducing them to their
present order.
Their constitution consists of the following
combinations :-—1. Private Societies. 'These
include such, and such only, as discover some
concern about their souls, their need of Christ,
a diligent attendance on the means of grace,
freedom from doctrinal errors, and an un-
blameable walk and conversation, together
with their children ; and who meet once every
week privately, under the superintendence of
two or more leaders. These societies are
subject, as it regards subordination and go—
vernment, to—2. The Monthly Societies, the
members of which are exclusively preachers,
or leaders of private societies within the
county, and such of the ofiicers from neigh-
bouring counties as may conveniently attend.
These take cognizance of the state of all the
private societies within their bounds, particu-
larly that there be nothing, either in doctrine
or discipline, contrary to the word of God, or
dissonant from the rules of the connexion.
3. The Quarterly Societies, or Associations,
which are convened once every quarter of a
year, both in South and North WVales. At
every such association the whole connexion is
supposed to be present, through its represen-
tatives, the preachers and leaders; and ac-
cordingly the decisions of this meeting are
deemed of authority on every subject relating
to the body through all its branches.
The number of Calvinistic Methodists in
‘Vales is very great, and is increasing from
year to year. Their chapels more than treble
the churches. In almost every village neat
stone buildings, built expressly for places of
dissenting worship, are to be met with, and
most of these belong to this body : and had it
not been for their exertions and those of the
Independents, 8tc., the inhabitants of most
parts of the principality must have remained
in the grossest state of ignorance; the gospel
being very seldom preached in the pulpits of
the establishment.
They are high in their Calvinistic senti-
ments, taking the strictly commercial view of
the atonement of Christ, and regarding the

lwork of redemption as possessing no aspect
MIC
MIL
500
or bearing but what regards the elect. See
History of lllethodz'sm; Gillies’s Life of lVhz'te-
field, and Works; Cohe’s Life of llVesley; Blac-
gowan’s Shaver ,- l'Ves-ley’s Wbrhs; Benson’s
Vindication and Apology for the M'ethodisls;
Fletcher’s l’VOT/tS; Bogue and Bermctt‘s Ifis-
tory of the Dissenters, vol. iii.; l'VaZ/ter’s Ad-
dress to the .Zllethodists ; The History, Constitu—
tion, Rules of Discipline, and Confession of
Faith of the Calvinistic lllethodists in Wales.
METnoPoLrrAN, a bishop of a mother-
church, or of the chief church in the chief
city. See articles Brsnor, EPISCOPACY.
MICHAELIS, JOHN HENRY, a learned divine
and oriental scholar, was born at Kettenberg,
in Germany, in 1668. He studied at the
‘University of Leipsic, and afterwards at Halle,
where he became professor of Greek litera-
ture in 1699. He subsequently obtained the
ofiice of librarian to the university, and at
length was appointed to the chair of divinity
and the oriental languages. In 1720 he pub-
lished, at Halle, a valuable edition of the
Hebrew Bible, with various readings from
manuscripts and printed editions, and the
masoretic commentary and annotations of the
Rabbins. A kind of appendix to this work
at the same time appeared under the title
of “ Annotationes Pliilologico-Exegeticae in
Hagiographiis,” Halle, 1720, in three vols.
4to. He was also the author of a Hebrew
Grammar, and other works. He died in
1738.
MICHAELIS, Sm Jonn DAVID, son of
Christian Benedict, and nephew of John
Henry Michaelis, was born at Halle in 1717.
He was educated at the university of his
native place, and devoted himself to the
clerical profession. Having visited England,
he became acquainted with Bishop Lowth,
and other learned men, and for a while oflici-
ated as minister at the German Chapel, St.
J ames’s Palace. Returning to Germany, he
was made professor of theology and oriental
literature at the University of Gottingen, of
which he was also librarian. He was ap-
pointed director of the Royal Society of Got-
tingen; and by his writings and lectures be
contributed greatly to the celebrity of that
university as a school of theological litera-
ture. The Order of the Polar Star was con-
ferred upon Professor Michaelis in 1775, by
the king of Sweden; and in 1786 he was
made an aulic counsellor of Hanover. He
died in 1791, at the age of seventy-five. His
works are very numerous, amounting to about
fifty different publications, mostly relating to
Scripture criticism, and the oriental languages
and literature. Among the most valued are
his “ Introduction to the New Testament,”
which has been translated into English by
Bishop Marsh; his “Commentaries on the
Law of Moses,” of which there is an English
version by Dr. Smith, a clergyman of the
Church of Scotland; his “ Spicilegium Geo-
graphite Hebrznorum ;” his “ Supplementa ad
Lexica Hebraica;” his “ Biblical and Oriental
Library ;” and his “ Translation of the Bible,
with Notes, for the Unlearned.”
The adherence of Michaelis to the estab-
lished system of Lutheranism, and his out-
ward respect for the Christian 'religion, have
principally been attributed to the impressions
made upon his mind by the intercourse of
the Pietists, and especially by the education
which he received from his excellent father.
Too light-minded, as he himself acknow-
ledges, to adopt their tone of pious feeling,
he nevertheless retained a certain‘ conviction
of the truth of Christianity; endeavoured, by
new and singularly ingenious theories, to
remove objections to it; and, much to the
surprise of his younger contemporaries, whose
rationalistic views were ripening apace, he
held, to the last, many parts of the older
system, which they had either modified or
thrown aside. The melancholy consequences,
however, of this merely natural persuasion,
are abundantly manifest. Destitute of that
conviction which can alone give a compre-
hensive insight into the real character of re-
velation, and the harmonious relation of its
several parts, he had no guide to enable him
to perceive what might be safely admitted
without detriment to the system itself; be
consequently, according to the usual custom
of persons taking only a partial view of sub-
jects, frequently opposed the objection, in-
stead .of the principle on which the objection
was founded; endeavoured to remove it by
theories in conformity with more human
systems, and strengthened it equally by his
concessions and by his own inadequate and
arbitrary defences. Possessed of no settled
principles, every minute difficulty presented
itself with intrinsic force and perplexity to
his mind; his belief was a reed ready to be
shaken by every fresh breeze; all that he
had previously gained seemed again staked
on the issue of each petty skirmish; and, in
the very descriptive comparison of Lessin ~,
he was like the timid soldier who loses his
life before an outpost, without once seeing
the country of which he would gain posses-
sion. The theological opinions of this cele-
brated man are never to be trusted; and,
indeed, the serious student cannot but be dis-
gusted with the levity which too frequently
appears in his writings, and the gross ob—
scenity which occasionally defiles them, (as it
did much more offensively his oral lectures ;)
the result of his intemperate habits and low
moral character.
MILITANT, from militans, fighting; a term
applied to the Church on earth, as engaged
in a warfare with the world, sin, and the
devil; ,in distinction from the church tri-
um hant in heaven.
ILLENARIANS, or CHILIASTS, a name
given to those who believe that the saints will
MIL
MIL
501
reign on earth with Christ 21 thousand years.
See next article.
MILLENNIUM, “a thousand years ;” gene-
rally employed to denote the thousand years
under which, according to an ancient tradition
in the church, grounded on some doubtful
texts in the Apocalypse and other Scriptures,
our blessed Saviour shall reign with the faith-
ful upon earth after the first resurrection, be-
fore the final completion of beatitude.
Though there has been no age of the church
in which such views of the millennium were
not admitted by individual divines, it is yet
evident, from the writings of Eusebius, Ire-
naeus, Origen, and others, among the ancients,
as well as from the histories of Dupin, Moe
sheim, and all the moderns, that they were
never adopted by the whole church, or made
an article of the established creed in any
nation. ‘
About the middle of the fourth century,
the millenarians held the following tenets :—
1. That the city of Jerusalem should be
rebuilt, and that the land of Judea should be
the habitation of those who were to reign on
the earth a thousand years.
2. That the first resurrection was not to be
confined to the martyrs, but that, after the
fall of Antichrist, all the just were to rise,
and all that were on the earth were to con-
tinue for that space of time.
3. That Christ shall then come down from I
heaven, and be seen on earth, and reign there ‘
with his servants.
4. That the saints, during this period, shall
enjoy all the delights of a terrestrial paradise.
These opinions were derived from several '
passages in Scripture, which the millenarians,
among the fathers, understood in no other
than a literal sense ; but which the moderns,
who hold that opinion, consider as partly
literal and partly metaphorical. Of these
passages, that upon which the greatest stress
has been laid. we believe to be the following:
-——“ And I saw an angel come down from
heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit,
and a great chain in his hand; and he laid
hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is
the devil and Satan, and bound him a thou-
sand years, and cast him into the bottomless
pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him,
that he should deceive the nations no more,
till the thousand years should be fulfilled;
and after that. he must be loosed a little sea- -
son. And I saw thrones, and they sat upon
them, and judgment was given unto them:
and I saw the souls of them that were be- !
headed for the witness of Jesus, and for the
word of God, and which had not worshipped .
the beast, neither his image, neither had re- 5
ceived his mark upon their foreheads, nor in :
their hands; and they lived and reigned with l
Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the 1'
dead lived not again till the thousand years :
were finished. This is the first resurrection.”

l
Rev. xx. 1—6. This passage all the'ancicnt
millenarians took in a sense grossly literal,
and taught that, during the millennium, the
saints on earth were to enjoy every bodily
delight. The modems, on the other hand,
consider the power and pleasures of this king-
dom as wholly spiritual; and they represent
them as not to commence till after the confia-
gration of the present earth. But that this
last supposition is a mistake, the very next
verse but one assures us; for we are there told,
that, “ when the thousand years are expired,
Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, and
shall go out to deceive the nations which are
in the four quarters of the earth ;” and we
have no reason to believe that he will have
such power or such liberty in “ the new hea-
vens and new earth, wherein dwelleth right-
eousness.”
These views were recently revived in this
country by Mr. Irving, and a party who
arrogated to themselves the exclusive epithet
of “ The Students of Prophecy ;” and, partly
in consequence of the wild and fanatical man-
ner in which they were propounded,-—partly
owing to the absurd notions and practices,
such as the gift of tongues, the working of
miracles, &c., which were connected with
them, they produced a considerable impres-
sion, principally on clergymen and lay-
men of the Church of England. The very
few Dissenters that were led away by them,
were such as originally attended Mr. Irving’s
ministry.
\Ve may observe the following things re-
, specting the millennium :-—1. That the Scrip-
tures afford us ground to believe that the
church will arrive to a state of prosperity
which it never has yet enjoyed, Rev. xx. 4,
7; Psal. lxxii. 11; Isa. ii. 2, 4; xi. 9; xlix.
23; 1x.; Dan. vii. 27.——2. That this will con-
tinue at least a thousand years, or a consider-
able space of time, in which the work of
salvation may be fully accomplished in the
utmost extent and glory of it. In this time,
in which the world will soon be filled with
real Christians, and continue full by constant
propagation to supply the place of those who
leave the world, there will be many thousands
born and live on the earth, to each one that
has been born and lived in the preceding six
thousand years; so that, if they who shall be
born in that thousand years shall be all, or
most of them saved (as they will be,) there
will, on thewhole, be many thousands of
mankind saved to one that shall be lost—3.
This will be a state of great happiness and
glory. The Jews shall be converted, genuine
Christianity be ditfused through all nations,
and Christ shall reign, by his spiritual pre-
sence, in a glorious manner. It will be a time
of eminent holiness, clear light and know-
ledge, love, peace, and friendship, agreement
in doctrine and worship. Human life, per-
haps, will rarely be endangered by the poisons
MIL
MIL
502
lately instituted for the benevolent purpose
of the mineral, vegetable, and animal king-
doms. Beasts of prey, perhaps, will be extir-
pated or tamed by the power of man. The
inhabitants of every place will rest secure
from fear of robbery and murder. War shall
be entirely ended. Capital crimes and punish-
ments be heard of no more. Governments
placed on fair, just, and humane foundations.
The torch of civil discord will be extinguished.
Perhaps Pagans, Turks, Deists, and Jews,
will be as few in number as Christians are
now. Kings, nobles, magistrates, and rulers
in churches, shall act with principle, and be
forward to promote the best interests of men :
tyranny, oppression, persecution, bigotry, and
cruelty, shall cease. Business will be attended
to without contention, dishonesty, and covet-
ousness. Trades and manufactures will be
carried on with a design to promote the gene-
ral good of mankind, and not with selfish
interests, as now. Merchandise between dis-
tant countries will be conducted without fear
of an enemy; and works of ornament and
beauty, perhaps, shall not be wanting in those
days. Learning, which has always flourished
in proportion as religion has spread, shall
then greatly increase, and be employed for
the best of purposes. Astronomy, geography,
natural history, metaphysics, and all the use-
ful sciences, will be better understood, and
consecrated to the service of God; and by the I
improvements which have been made, and
are making, in ship-building, navigation, elec— 1
tricity, medicine, &c., “ the tempest will lose,‘
half its force, the lightning lose half its ter-
rors,” and the human frame not be nearly so
much exposed to danger. Above all, the .
Bible will be more highly appreciated, its
harmony perceived, its superiority owned,
and its energy felt by millions of human beings.
In fact’, the earth shall be filled with the
knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover
the sea—The time when the millennium will
commence cannot be fully ascertained; but
the common idea is, that it will be in the seven }
l

thousandth year of the world. It will most
probably come on by degrees, and be in ai
manner introduced years before that time. 5
And who knows but the present convulsions ,
among different nations, the overthrow which
popery has had in places where it has been ‘
so dominant for hundreds of years, the fulfil-
ment of prophecy respecting infidels, and the
falling away of many in the last times; and .
yet in the midst of all, the number of mis-
sionaries sent into different parts of the world,
together with the increase of gospel ministers;
the thousands of ignorant children, that have
been taught to read the Bible, and the vast
number of different societies that have been
of informing the minds and impressing the
hearts of the ignorant; who knows but that
these things are the forerunners of events of
the most delightful nature, and which may‘

usher in the happy morn of that bright and
glorious day when the whole world shall be
filled with his glory, and all the ends of the
earth see the salvation of our God ? See
Hopkins on the Millennium; VV/iitby’s Treatise
on it, at the end of the second vol. of his Annota-
tions on the New Testament; Robert Gray’s Dis-
courses, dis. 10; Bishop Newton’s Twenty-fifth
Discourse on the Prophecies ; Bellamy’s Treatise
on the Millennium. There are four admirable
papers of Mr. Shrubsole’s on the subject, in
the 6th vol. of the Theol. Misc.; Lardner’s
Cred; 4th, 5th, 7th, and 9th vol. ;‘ Mosheim’s '
Ecclesiastical History, cent. 3, p..."11, ch. 12;
T ay'lor’s Sermons on the Millennium; Illustra—
tions ofProp/zecy, ch. 31 ; Bogue on the .Millen-
nium ; Wardlaw’s Sermon on the Millennium.
MILLENARIANS, GERMAN, in Georgia, sett-
lers consisting principally of emigrants from
Wurtemberg, Baden, and the country of the
Upper Rhine. They left Germany in the
years 1816 and 1817, and went by way of the
Danube and the Black Sea to Odessa, where
they were joined by many other Germans,
who had for many years been settled in the
vicinity of that town, but now went with the
new colonists to Georgia, for the sake of en-
joying their society, and with a view to the
spiritual advantage of themselves and their
children. They expect the descent of Christ
somewhere in those regions, where they be-
lieve they shall be provided with a town
called Solyma, where they shall be defended
against the last attacks of Antichrist.
MIND, a thinking, intelligent being; other-
wise called spirit, or soul. Sec SOUL. Dr.
\Vatts has given us some admirable thoughts
as to the improvement of the mind. “ There
are five eminent means or methods,” he ob-
serves, “whereby the mind is improved in
the knowledge of things; and these are, ob-
servation, reading, instruction by lectures,
conversation, and meditation; which last, in
a most peculiar manner, is called study.” See
Watts on the Mind; a book which no student
should be without.
MINIMS, a religious order in the Church of
Rome, founded by St. Francis de Paula, to-
wards the end of the fifteenth century. Their
habit is a coarse black woollen stufi“, with a
woollen girdle of the same colour, tied in five
knots. They are not permitted to quit their
habit and girdle night nor day. Formerly
they went barefooted, but are now allowed
the use of shoes.
MINISTER, a name applied to those who
are pastors of a congregation, or preachers of
God’s word. They are also called divines,
and may be distinguished into polemic, or
those who possess controversial talents; casu-
istic, or those who resolve cases of conscience;
experimental, those who address themselves
to the feelings, cases, and circumstances of
their hearers: and lastly, practical, those who
insist upon the performance of all those duties
MIN 5
MIN
03
which the word of God enjoins. An able
minister will have something of all these
united in him, though he may not excel in
all; and it becomes every one who is a can—
didate for the ministry to get a clear idea of
each, that he may not be deficient in the
discharge of that work which is the most
important that can be sustained by mortal
beings. Many volumes have been written
on this subject, but we must be content in
this place to offer only a few remarks rela-
tive to it. ‘In the first place, then, it must be
observed, that ministers of the Gospel ought
to be sound as to their principles. They must
be men whose hearts are renovated by divine
grace, and whose sentiments are derived
from the sacred oracles of divine truth. A
minister without principles will never do any
good; and he who professes to believe in a
system, should see to it that it accords with
the word of God. His mind should clearly
perceive the beauty, harmony, and utility of
the doctrines, while his heart should be deeply
impressed with a sense of their value and
importance—2. They should be mild and afiit-
ble as to their dispositions and department. A
haughty, imperious spirit is a disgrace to the
ministerial character, and generally brings
contempt. They should learn to bear in-
juries with patience, and be ready to do good
to every one; be courteous to all without
cringing to any; be affable without levity,
and humble without pusillanimity ; concili-
ating the affections without violating the
truth; connecting a suavity of manners with
a dignity of character; obliging without flat—
tery; and throwing ofi' all reserve, without
running into the opposite extreme of volu-
bility and trifling—3. They should be superior
as to their knowledge and talents. Though
many have been useful without what is called
learning, yet none have been so without some
portion of knowledge and wisdom. Nor has
God Almighty ever sanctified ignorance, or
consecrated it to his service; since it is the
effect of the fall, and the consequence of our
departure from the fountain of intelligence.
Ministers, therefore, especially, should endea-
vour to break these shackles, get their minds
enlarged, and stored with all useful know-
ledge. The Bible should be well studied,
and that, especially, in the original languages.
The scheme of salvation by Jesus Christ
should be well understood, with all the vari-
ous topics connected with it. And in the
present day, a knowledge of history, natural
and mental philosophy, logic, mathematics,
and rhetoric, are peculiarly requisite. A
clear judgment, also, with a retentive me-
mory, inventive faculty, and a facility of
communication, should be obtained—4. They
should be diligent as to their studies. Their
time especially should be improved, and not
lost by too much sleep, formal visits, indo-
lence, reading useless books, studying useless
subjects. Every day should have its work,
and every subject its due attention. Some
advise a chapter in the Hebrew Bible, and
another in the Greek Testament, to be read
every day. A well-chosen system of divinity
should be accurately ‘studied. The best defi-
nitions should be obtained, and a constant
regard paid to all those studies which savour
of religion, and have some tendency to public
work—5. lllinisters should be extensive as to
their benevolence and candour. A contracted,
bigoted spirit ill becomes those who preach
a Gospel which breathes the purest benevo-
lence to mankind. This spirit has done more
harm among all parties than many imagine;
and is one of the most powerful engines the
devil makes use of to oppose the best interests
of mankind; and it is lamentable to observe
.how sects and parties have all, in their turns,
anathematized each other. Now, while mi-
nisters ought to contend earnestly for the
faith once delivered to the saints, they must
remember that men more or less think dif—
ferently from each other; that prejudice of
education has great influence; that difference
of opinion as to things nonessential is not of
such importance as to be a ground of dislike.
Let the ministers of Christ, then, pity the
weak, forgive the ignorant, bear with the sin-
cere though mistaken zealot, and love all who
love the Lord Jesus Christ—6. Ministers
should be zealous and faithful in their public
worh. The sick must be visited; children
must be catechised ; the ordinances adminis-
tered; and the word of God preached.
These things must be taken up, not as a
matter of duty only, but of pleasure, and exe-
cuted with faithfulness; and, as they are of
the utmost importance, ministers should
attend to them with all that sincerity, earnest-
ness, and zeal which that importance de-
mands. An idle, frigid, indifl'erent minister
is a pest to society, a disgrace to his profes-
sion, an injury to the church, and offensive
to God himself—7. Lastly, ministers should
be consistent as to their conduct. No bright-
ness of talent, no superiority of intellect, no
extent of knowledge, will ever be a substitute
for this. They should not only possess a. lu-
minous mind, but set a good example. This
will procure dignity to themselves, give
energy to what they say, and prove a blessing
to the circle in which they move. In fine,
they should be men of prudence and prayer,
light and love, zeal and knowledge, courage
and humility, humanity and religion. See
DECLAMATION, ELOQUENCE, PREACHING, and
SERMONS, in this work; Dr. Smith’s Lect. on
the Sacred Oflice; Gerard’s Pastoral Care ,-
Macgill’s Address to Young Clergymen ,- Chry-
sostom on the Priesthood; Baxter’s Reformed
Pastor; Burnet’s Pastoral Care; l/Vatts’s Hum-
ble Attempt,- Dr Edwards’s Preacher; llIason’s
Student and Pastor; Gz'bbon’s Christian lVlz'nis-
ter; M'ather s Student and Preacher,- Oster-
t\llN
MIR
504
V and indolent elergymen.
vald‘s Lectures on the Sacred Zlfi'nistry; Robin-
son’s Claude; Doddridge’s Lectures on Preach-
ing and the Jifinisterial Ofiice ; Bridges’ Chris-
tian Ministry.
MINISTERIAL CALL, a term used to denote
that right or authority which a person re-
ceives to preach the Gospel. This call is
considered as twofold, divine and ecclesiastical.
The following things seem essential to a
divine call : 1. A holy, blameless life—2. An
ardent and constant inclination and zeal to do
good—3. Abilities suited to the work: such
as knowledge, aptness to teach, courage, &c.
——4. An opportunit. afforded in Providence to
be useful. An ecc esiastical call consists in
the election which is made of any person to
be a pastor. But here the Episcopalian and
the Dissenter differ; the former believing that
the choice and call of a minister rest with the
superior clergy, or those who have the gift of
an ecclesiastical benefice; the latter supposes
that it should rest on the suffrage of the people
to whom he is to minister. ’ The Churchman
reasons thus: “Though the people may be
competent judges of the abilities of their
tradesmen, they cannot be allowed to have an
equal discernment in matters of science and
erudition.
us how injudiciously preferment would be
distributed by popular elections. The mo-
desty of genius would stand little chance of
being distinguished by an ignorant multitude.
The most illiterate, the most impudent, those
who could most dexterously play the hypo-
crite, who could best adapt their preaching to
the fanaticism of the vulgar, would be the
only successful candidates for public favour.
Thus moderation and literature would soon
be banished, and a scene of corruption, con-
fusion, and madness, would prevail.” But
specious as these arguments seem, they have
but little force on the mind of the Congrega-
tionalist, who thus reasons: “The church
being a voluntary society, none imposed upon
her members by men can be related to them
as their pastor without their own consent.
None can so well judge what gifts are best
suited to their spiritual edification as Chris»
tians themselves. The Scriptures allow the
election of pastors in ordinary cases to adult
Christians, and to none else, Acts i. 15—26 ;
vi. 1—6; xiv. 23. Christ requires his people
to try the spirits, which supposeth their ability
to do so, and their power to choose such only
as they find most proper to edify their souls,
and to refuse others, 1 John iv. 1. The in-
troduction of ministers into their office by
patronage, of whatever form, hath its origin
from popery, tends to establish a tyranny over
men’s consciences, which and whom Christ
hath made free, and to fill pulpits with wicked
Whoever will at-
tentively examine the history of the primitive
times, will find that all ecclesiastical officers
for the first three hundred years were elected
Daily experience may convince ‘

by the people.” \Ve must refer the reader for
more on this subject to the articles CHURCH,
Errscorncr, and CONGREGA'I‘IONALISTS.
MINISTRY, GosPnL, an ordinance appointed
for the purpose of instructing men in the
principles and knowledge of the Gospel, Eph.
iv. 8, ll. Rom. x. 15. Heb. v. 4. That the
I Gospel ministry is of divine origin, and in~
tended to be kept up in the church, will evi-
dently appear, if we consider the promises
that in the last and best times of the New
Testament dispensation there would be an
instituted and regular ministryin her, Eph.
iv. 8, ll. Tit. i. 5. 1 Pet. v.‘ 1 Tim. 1.; also
from the names of office peculiar to some
members in the church, and not common to\
all, Eph. iv. 8, 11; from the duties which are
represented as reciprocally binding on minis-
ters and people, Heb. xiii. 7, 17. 1Pet. v. 2,
3, 4; from the promises of assistance which
were given to the first ministers of the new
dispensation, Matt. xxviii. 20; and from the
importance of a Gospel ministry, which is
represented in the Scripture as a very great
blessing to them who enjoy it, and the re—
moval of it as one of the greatest calamities
which can befall any people, Rev. ii. and iii.
See books under article MlNISTER.
MIRACLE, in its original sense, is a word
of the same import with wonder; but, in its
usual and more appropriate signification, it
denotes “ an effect contrary to the established
constitution and course of things, or asensible
deviation from the known laws of nature.”
That the visible world, says Dr. Gleig, is
governed by stated general rules, or that there
is an order of causes and effects established
in every part of the system of nature which
falls under our observation, is a fact which
cannot be controverted. If the Supreme
Being, as some have supposed, be the only
real agent in the universe, we have the evi-
dence of experience, that in the particular
system to which we belong he acts by stated
rules. If he employs inferior agents to con-
duct the various motions from which the phe-
nomena result, we have the same evidence
that he has subjected those agents to certain
fixed laws, commonly called the laws of na-
ture. On either hypothesis, effects which are
produced by the regular operation of these
laws, or which are conformable to the esta-
blished course of events, are properly called
natural ,- and every deviation from this con;
stitution of the natural system, and the corres-
pondent course of events in it, is called amiracle.
If this definition of a miracle be just, no
event can be deemed miraculous merely be-
cause it is strange, or even to us unaccount-
able; since it may be nothing more than a
regular effect of some unknown law of nature.
In this country earthquakes are rare; and for
monstrous births, perhaps, no particular and
satisfactory account can be given: yet an
earthquake is as regular an effect of the esta-
M I ll
MIR
505
blished laws of nature as any of those with
which we are most intimately acquainted;
and, under circumstances in which there
would always be the same kind of production,
the monster is nature’s genuine issue. It is,
therefore, necessary, before we can pronounce
any effect to be a true miracle, that the cir-
cumstances under which it is produced be
known, and that the common course of nature
be in some degree understood; for in all those
cases in which we are totally ignorant of
nature, it is impossible to determine what is,
or what is not, a deviation from its course.
Miracles, therefore, are not, as some have
represented them, appeals to our ignorance.
‘They suppose some antecedent knowledge of
the course of nature, without which no proper
judgment can be formed concerning them;
though with it their reality may be so appa—
rent as to prevent all possibility of a dispute.
Thus, were a physician to cure a blind
man of a cataract, by anointing his eyes with
a chemical preparation which we had never
before seen, and to the nature and effects of
which we are absolute strangers, the cure
would undoubtedly be wonderful, but we
could not pronounce it to be miraculous, be-
cause, for any thing known to us, it might
be the natural effect of the operation of the
unguent on the eye. But were he to recover
his patient merely by commanding him to
see, or by anointing his eyes with spittle, we
should, with the utmost confidence, pronounce
the cure to be a miracle; because we know
perfectly that neither the human voice nor
human spittle have, by the established con-
stitution of things, any such power over the
diseases of the eye.
If miracles be efi‘ects deviating from the
established constitution of things, we are cer-
tain that they will never be performed on
trivial occasions. The constitution of things
was established by the Creator and Governor
of the universe, and is undoubtedly the 01f-
spring of infinite wisdom, pursuing a plan for
the best of purposes. From this plan no de-
viation can be made but by God himself, or
by some powerful being acting with his per;
mission. The plans devised by wisdom are
steady in proportion to their perfection, and
the plans of infinite wisdom must be abso-
lutely perfect. From this consideration, some
men have ventured to conclude that no mira-
cle was ever wrought, or can rationally be
expected; but maturer reflection must soon
satisfy us that all such conclusions are hasty.
Man is unquestionably the principal crea-
ture in this world, and apparently the only
one in it who is capable of being made ac-
quainted with the relation in which he stands
to his Creator. We cannot, tnerefore, doubt,
but that such of the laws of nature as extend
not their operation beyond the limits of this
earth were established chiefly, if not solely,
for the good of mankind ; and if, in any par-
ticular circumstances, that good can be more
effectually promoted by an occasional deviation‘
from those laws, such a deviation may be
reasonably expected.
We know from history, that almost all
mankind were once sunk into the grossest
ignorance of the most important truths ; that
they knew not the Being by whom they were
created and supported; that they paid divine
adoration to stocks, stones, and the vilest rep-
tiles! and that they were slaves to the most
impious, cruel, and degrading superstitions.
From this depraved state it was surely not
unworthy of the Divine Being to rescue his
helpless creatures, to enlighten their under-
standings, that they might perceive what is
right, and to present to them motives of Sufi-
cient force to engage them in the practice of
it. But the understandings of ignorant bar-
barians cannot be enlightened by arguments;
because of the force of such arguments as re-
gard moral science they are not qualified to
judge. The philosophers of Athens and
Rome inculcated, indeed, many excellent
moral precepts, and they sometimes ventured
to expose the absurdities of the reigning su-
perstition; but their lectures had no influence
upon the multitude ; and they had themselves
imbibed such erroneous notions respecting
the attributes of the Supreme Being, and the
nature of the human soul, and converted those
notions into first principles, of which they
would not permit an examination, that even
among them a thorough reformation was not
to be expected from the powers of reasoning.
It is likewise to be observed, that there are
many truths of the utmost importance to man-
kind, which unassisted reason could never have
discovered. Amongst these, we may confi-
dently reckon the immortality of the soul, the
terms upon which God will save sinners, and
the manner in which that all-perfect Being
may he acceptably worshipped; about all of
which philosophers were in such uncertainty,
that, according to Plato, “ \Vhatever is set
right, and as it should be, in the present evil
state of the world, can be so only by the parti-
cular interposition of God.”
An immediate revelation from heaven,
therefore, was the only method by which
infinite Wisdom and perfect Goodness
could reform a bewildered and vicious race.
But this revelation, at whatever time we
suppose it ' given, must have been made
directly either to some chosen individuals
commissioned to instruct others, or to every
man and woman for whose benefit it was ulti-
mately intended. Were every person in-
structed in the knowledge of his duty by im-
mediate inspiration, and were the motives to
practise it brought home to his mind by God
himself, human nature would be wholly
changed: men would not be moral agents, nor
by consequence be capable either of reward
or of punishment. It remains, therefore,
MIR
MIR
506
- that if God- has been graciously pleased to
enlighten and reform mankind, without de-
stroying that moral nature which man pos—
sesses, he can have done it only by revealing
his truth to certain chosen instruments, who
were the immediate instructors of their con-
temporaries, and through them have been the
instructors of succeeding ages.
Let us suppose this to have been actually
the case, and consider how those inspired
teachers could communicate to others every
truth which had been revealed to themselves.
They might easily, if it were part of their
duty, deliver a sublime system of natural
and moral science, and establish it upon the
common basis of experiment and demon-
stration; but what foundation could they lay
for those truths which unassisted reason
cannot discover, and which when they are
revealed, appear to have no necessary relation
to any thing previously known? To a bare
afiirmation that they had been immediately
received from God, no rational being could
be expected to assent. The teachers might
be men of known veracity, whose simple as-
sertion would be admitted as sufiicient evi-
dence for any fact in conformity with the
laws of nature; but as every man has the
evidence of his own consciousness and ex-
perience that revelations from heaven are
deviations from these laws, an assertion so
apparently extravagant would be rejected as
false, unless supported by some better proof
than the mere affirmation of the teacher. In
this state of things, we can conceive no evi-
dence sufiicient to make such doctrines be
received as the truths of God, but the power
of working miracles committed to him who
taught them. This would, indeed, be fully
adequate to the purpose; for if there were
nothing in the doctrines themselves impious,
immoral, or contrary to truths already known,
the only thing which could render the teach-
er’s assertion incredible would be its implying
such an intimate communion with God as is
contrary to the established course of things,
by which men are left to acquire all their
knowledge by the exercise of their own fa-
culties. Let us now suppose one of those
inspired preachers to tell his countrymen,
that he did not desire them, on his ipse (limit,
to believe that he had any preternatural com-
munion with the Deity, but that, for the truth
of his assertion, he would give them the evi-
dence of their own senses; and after this
declaration, let us suppose him immediately
to raise a person from the dead in their pre-
sence, merely by calling upon him to come
out of his grave. Would not the only pos-
sible objection to the man’s veracity be re-
moved by this miracle? and his assertion that
he had received such and such doctrines from
God be as fully credited as if it related to
the most common occurrence? Undoubtedly
it would; for when so much preternatural
power was visibly communicated to this per-
son, no one could have reason to question
his having received an equal portion of pre-
ternatural knowledge. A palpable deviation
from the known laws of nature in one in-
stance, is a sensible proof that such a devi-
ation is possible in another; and in such a
case as this, it is the witness of God to the
truth of a man.
Miracles, then, under which we include
prophecy, are the only direct evidence which
can be given of divine inspiration. When a
religion, or any religious truth, is to be re-
vealed from heaven, they appear to be abso-
lutely necessary to enforce its reception among
men; and this is the only case in which we
can suppose them necessary, or believe for a
moment that they ever have been or will be
performed.
The history of almost every religion
abounds with relations of prodigies and won-
ders, and ot the intercourse of men with the
gods; but we know of no religious system,
those of the Jews and Christians excepted,
which appealed to miracles as the sole evi-
dence of its truth and divinity. The pre-
tended miracles mentioned by Pagan‘ his--
torians and poets, are not said to have been
publicly wrought to enforce the truth of a
new religion, contrary to the reigning idolatry.
Many of them may be clearly shown to have
been mere natural events; others of them
are represented as having been performed in
secret on the most trivial occasions, and in
obscure and fabulous ages long prior to the
era of the writers by whom they are recorded;
and such of them as at first view appear to
be best attested, are evidently tricks con-
trived for interested ~ purposes, to flatter
power, or to promote the prevailing super-
stitions. For these reasons, as well as on ac-
count of the immoral character of the divinities
by whom they are said to have been wrought,
they are altogether unworthy of examination,
and carry in the very nature of them the com-
pletest proofs of falsehood and imposture.
But the miracles recorded of Moses and of
Christ bear avery different character. None
of them are represented as wrought on trivial
occasions. The writers who mention them
were eye-witnesses of the facts, which they
afiirm to have been performed publicly, in
attestation of the truth of their respective
systems. They are, indeed, so incorporated with
these systems, that the miracles cannot be se-
parated from the doctrines; and if the miracles
be not really performed, the doctrines cannot
possibly be true. Besides all this, they were
wrought in support of revelations, which op-
posed all the religious systems, superstitions,
and prejudices of the age in which they were
given; a circumstance which of itself sets
them, in point of authority, infinitely above
the Pagan prodigies, as well as the lying
wonders of the Romish Church.
MIR
MIR
507
It is indeed, we believe, universally ad-
mitted, that the miracles mentioned in the
Book of Exodus, and in the four Gospels,
might, to those who saw them performed, be
sufficient evidence of the divine inspiration of
Moses and of Christ; but to us it may be
thought that they are no evidence whatever,
as we must believe in the miracles them-
selves, if we believe in them at all, upon the
bare authority of human "testimony. Why,
it has been sometimes asked, are not miracles
wrought in all ages and countries? If the
_ religion of Christ was to be of perpetual du-
ration, every generation of men ought to
have complete evidence of its truth and di-
vinity.
To the performance of miracles in every
age and in every country, perhaps the same
objections lie, as to the immediate inspiration
of every individual. Were those miracles
universally received as such, men would be
so overwhelmed with the number rather than
with the jbrce of their authority, as hardly to
remain masters of their own conduct; and
in that case the very end of all miracles
would be defeated by their frequency. The
truth, however, seems to be, that miracles so
frequently repeated would not be received as
such, and of course would have no authority ;
because it would be diflicult, and, in many
cases impossible, to distinguish them from
natural events. If they recurred regularly
at certain intervals, we could not prove them
to be deviations from the known laws of na-
ture, because we should have the same expe-
rience for one series of events as for the
other; for the regular succession of preter-
natural effects, as for the established consti-
tution and course of things.
Be this, however, as it may, we shall take
the liberty to affirm, that for the reality of
the Gospel miracles we have evidence as
convincing to the reflecting mind, though
not so striking to vulgar apprehension, as
those had who were contemporary with
Christ and his Apostles, and who actually
saw the mighty works which he performed.
Mr. Hume, indeed, endeavoured to prove,
that “no testimony is sufiicient to establish
a miracle ;” and the reasoning employed for
this purpose is, that “a miracle being a vio-
lation of the laws of nature, which a firm
and unalterable experience has established,
the proof against a miracle, from the very
nature of the fact, is as entire as any argu-
ment from‘ experience can be; whereas our
experience of human veracity, which (ac-
cording to him) is the sole foundation of the
evidence of testimony, is far from being uni-
form, and can therefore never preponderate
against that experience which admits of no
exception.” This boasted and plausible ar-
gument has, with equal candour and acute-
ness, been examined by Dr. Campbell, in
his Dissertation on Miracles, who justly
observes, that so far is experience from
being the sole foundation of the evidence
of testimony, that, on the contrary, testi-
mony is the sole foundation of by far the
greater part of what Mr. Hume calls _firm
and unalterable experience; and that if, in
certain circumstances, we did not give an
implicit faith to testimony, our knowledge
of events would be confined to those which
had fallen under the immediate observation
of our own senses.
‘We need not waste time here in proving
that the miracles, as they are presented in
the writings of the New Testament, were of
such a nature, and performed before so many
witnesses, that no imposition could possibly
be practised on the senses of those who aflirm
that they were present. From every page of
the Gospels this is so evident, that the philo-
sophical adversaries of the Christian faith
never suppose the apostles to have been them-
selves deceived, but boldly accuse them of
bearing false witness. But if this accusation
be well-founded, their testimony itself is as
great a miracle as any which they record of
themselves, or of their Master. For if they
sat down to fabricate their pretended revela-
tion, and to contrive a series of miracles to
which they were unanimously to appeal for
its truth, it is plain, since they proved suc-
cessful in their daring enterprise, that they
must have clearly foreseen every possible cir~
cumstance in which they could be placed, and
have prepared consistent answers to every
question that could be put to them by their
most inveterate and most enlightened ene-
mies; by the statesman, the lawyer, the philo—
sopher and the priest. That such foreknow-
ledge as this would have been miraculous,
will not surely be denied; since it forms the
very attribute which we find it most difiicult
to allow even to God himself. It is not, how-
ever, the only miracle which this supposition
would compel us to swallow. The very reso-
lution of the apostles to propagate the belief
of false miracles in support of such a religion
as that which is taught in the New Testa-
ment, is as great a miracle as human imagina-
tion can easily conceive.
When they formed this design, either they
must have hoped to succeed, or they must
have foreseen that they should fail in their
undertaking; and, in either case, they “ chose
evil for its own sake.” They could not, if
they foresaw that they should fail, look for
any thing but that contempt, disgrace, and
persecution, which were then the inevitable
consequences of an unsuccessful endeavour to
overthrow the established religion. Nor could
their prospects be brighter upon the supposi-
tion of their success. As they knew them~
selves to be false witnesses, and impious de-
ceivers, they could have no hopes beyond the
grave ; and by determining to oppose all the
religious systems, superstitions, and preju-
MIR
MIR
508
dices of the age in which they lived, they wil-
_fully exposed themselves to inevitable misery
1n the present life, to insult and imprison-
ment, to stripes and death. Nor can it be
said that they might look forward to power
and alfiuence, when they should, through suf-
ferings, have converted their countrymen;
for so desirous were they of obtaining nothing
but misery, as the end of their mission, that
they made their own persecution a test of the
truth of their doctrines. They introduced
the Master from whom they pretended to
have received these doctrines, as telling them,
that “they were sent forth as sheep in the
midst of wolves; that they should be deli-
vered up to councils, and scourged in syna-
gogues; that they should be hated of all men
for his name’s sake; that the brother should
deliver up the brother to death, and the father
the child; and that he who took not up his
cross, and followed after him, was not worthy
of him.” The very system of religion, there-
fore, which they invented, and resolved to
impose upon mankind, was so contrived,
that the worldly prosperity of its first preach-
ers, and even their exemption from persecu-
tion, was incompatible with its success. Had
these clear predictions of the Author of that
religion under whom the apostles acted only
as ministers, not been verified, all mankind
must have instantly perceived that their pre-
tence to inspiration was false, and that Chris-
tianity was a scandalous and impudent im-
posture. All this the apostles could not but
foresee when they formed their plan for de-
luding the world. VVhenee it follows, that
when they resolved to support their pretended
revelation by an appeal to forged miracles,
they wilfully, and with their eyes open, ex-
“ posed themselves to inevitable misery, whe-
ther they should succeed or fail in their
enterprise; and that they concerted their
measures so as not to admit of a possibility
of recompense to themselves, either in this
life or'that which is to come. But if there
be a law of nature, for the reality of which
we have better evidence than we have for
others, it is, that “ no man can choose misery
for its own sake,” or make the acquisition of
it the ultimate end of his pursuit. The exist-
ence of other laws of nature we know by
testimony, and our own observation of the
regularity of their effects. The existence of
this law is made known to us not only by
these means, but also by the still clearer and
more conclusive evidence of our own con-
sciousness. ‘
Thus, then, do miracles force themselves
upon our assent in every possible view which
we can take of this interesting subject. If
the testimony of the first preachers of Chris-
tianity were true, the miracles recorded in
the Gospel were certainly performed, and the
doctrines of our religion are derived from
heaven. On the other hand, if that testimony
were false, either God must have miracu-
lously efi‘aeed from the minds of those by
whom it was given, all the associations formed
between their sensible ideas and the words of
language, or he must have endowed those
men with the gifts of prescience, and have
impelled them to fabricate a pretended reve-
lation for the purpose of deceiving the world,
and involving themselves in certain and fore-
seen destruction.
The power necessary to perform the one
series of those miracles may, for any thing
known to us, be as great as that which would
be requisite for the performance of the other;
and, considered merely as exertions of pre-
ternatural power, they may seem to balance
each other, and to hold the mind in a state
of suspense; but when we take into consi-
deration the different purposes for which
these opposite and contending miracles were
wrought, the balance is instantly destroyed.
The miracles recorded in the Gospels, if real,
were wrought in support of a revelation
which, in the opinion of all by whom it is re-
ceived, has brought to light many important
truths. which could not otherwise have been
made known to men ; and which, by the con-
fession of its adversaries, contains the purest
moral precepts by which the conduct of man-
kind was ever directed. The opposite series
of miracles, if real, was performed to enable,
and even to compel, a company of Jews, of
the lowest rank and of the narrowest educa-
tion, to fabricate, with the view of inevitable
destruction to themselves, a consistent scheme
of falsehood, and by an appeal to forged mira-
cles to impose it upon the world as a revela-
tion from heaven. The object of the former
miracles is worthy of a God of infinite wis-
dom, goodness, and power; the object of the
latter is absolutely inconsistent with wisdom
and goodness, which are demonstrably attri-
butes of that Being by whom alone miracles
can be performed. Whence it follows, that
the supposition of the apostles bearing false
testimony to the miracles of their Master, im-
plies a series' of deviations from the laws of
nature infinitely less probable in themselves
than those miracles: and therefore, by Mr.
Hume’s maxim, we must necessarily reject
the supposition of falsehood in the testimony,
and admit the reality of the miracles. So
true it is, that for the reality of the Gospel
miracles we have evidence as convincing to
the reflecting mind as these had who were
contemporary with Christ and his apostles,
and were actual witnesses to their mighty
works.
The power of working miracles is supposed
by some to have been continued no longer
than the apostles’ days. Others think that it
was continued long after. It seems pretty
clear, however, that miracles ceased as those
persons passed off the stage who had the
power of working them conferred upon them
M I R 5
09 M18
by the apostles. As for what Augustine
says of those wrought at the tombs‘ of. the
martyrs, and some other places, in his time,
the evidence is not such as we desire in facts
of importance. The controversy concerning
the time when miraculous powers ceased was
carried on by Dr. Middleton, in his Free
Inquiry into the Miraculous Powers, 8cc.;
by Mr. Yate, Mr. Toll, and others, who sup-
pose that miracles ceased w1th the apostles.
On the contrary side appeared Dr. Stebbmg,
Dr. Chapman, Mr. Parker, Mr. Brooke, and
others.
As to the miracles of the Romish Church,
it is evident, as Doddridge observes, that
many of them were ridiculous tales, according
to their own historians ; others were performed
without any credible witnesses, or in circum-
stances where the performer had the greatest
opportunity for juggling: and it is particu-
larly remarkable, that they were hardly ever
wrought where they seem most necessary,
2'. e. in countries where those doctrines are
renounced which that church esteems of the
highest importance. See Fleetwood, Clarapede,
Conybeare, Campbell, Lardner, Farmer, A dams,
and Weston, on Miracles,- article Miracle,
Encyclop. Brit; Doddridge’s Lea, lec. 101
and 135 ; Leland’s View of Deistical l/Vrz'ters,
letters 3, 4, 7 ; Hurrion on the Spirit, p. 299,
&c.
On the subject of the cessation of miracles,
and the fictitious miracles of the modern
Millenarians, see Modern Fanaticism Un-
veiled.
MInAcULoUs CONCEPTION, the production
of the human nature of our Lord, out of the
ordinary course of generation, by the imme-
diate operation of the Holy Ghost on the
Womb of the Virgin Mary. This dogma is
clearly taught in Matt. i. 18—25, and Duke i.
35, in the former of which it is expressly de-
clared to be a fulfilment of the celebrated
prediction, Isaiah vii. 14. To evade the force
of these passages, which are felt to be de-
structive to their system, our modern Soci-
nians have attempted to invalidate the gen-
uineness of the chapters in which they occur,
and have actually, without the slightest critical
authority, printed them in italics in their late
version of the New Testament, as if they
formed no part of the inspired text. To what
shifts will not men suffer themselves to be
reduced when they are desirous of carrying
a favourite point! The importance of the
doctrine is thus expressed by Bishop Hors-
ley :—
“ It were not difiicult to show that the mi-
raculous conception, once admitted, naturally
brings after it the great doctrines of the
atonement and the incarnation. The miracu-
lous conception of our Lord evidently implies
some higher purpose of his coming than the
mere business of a teacher. The business of
a teacher might have been performed by a
mere man, enlightened by the prophetic spirit.
For whatever instruction men have the capa-
city to receive, a man might have been made
the instrument to convey. Had teaching,
therefore, been the sole purpose of our Savi-
our’s coming, a mere man might have done
the whole business, and the supernatural con-
ception had been an unnecessary miracle. He,
therefore, who came in this miraculous way,
came upon some higher business, to which a
mere man was unequal. He came to be made
a sin ofiering for us, that we might be made
the righteousness of God in him.”
MIRTH, joy, gaiety, merriment. It is dis-
tinguished from cheerfulness thus: Mirth is
considered as an act; cheerfulness an habit
of the mind. Mirth is short and transient;
cheerfulness fixed and permanent. “Those
are often raised into the greatest transports
of mirth, who are subject to the greatest de-
pressions of melancholy: on the contrary,
cheerfulness, though it does not give such an
exquisite gladness, prevents us from falling
into any depths of sorrow. Mirth is like a
flash of lightning, that breaks through a gloom
of clouds, and glitters for a moment; cheer-
fulness keeps up a kind of daylight in the
mind, and fills it with a steady and perpetual
serenity.” Mirth is sinful, 1. \Vhen men re-
joice in that which is evil. 2. When unrea-
sonable. 3. When tending to commit sin.
4. When a hinderance to duty. 5. When it
is blasphemous and profane.
MIsAN'rI-Ltnorrs'r, ,uw'a1'0p07r0g, a hater of
mankind; one that abandons society from a
principle of discontent. The consideration
of the depravity of human nature is certainly
enough to raise emotions of sorrow in the
breast of every man of the least sensibility;
yet it is our duty to bear with the follies of
mankind: to exercise a degree of candour
consistent with truth; to lessen, if possible,
by our exertions, the sum of moral and natural
evil; and by connecting ourselves with so-
ciety, to add at least something to the general
interests of mankind. The misanthropist,
therefore, is an ungenerous and dishonour-
able character. Disgusted with life, he seeks
aretreat from it: like a coward, he flees from
the scene of action, while he increases his
own misery by his natural discontent, and
leaves others to do what they can for them-
selves.
The following is his character more at
large :—
“He is a man,” says Saurin, “who avoids
society only to free himself from the trouble
of being useful to it. He is a man, who con-
siders his neighbours only on the side of their
defects, not knowing the art of combining their
virtue with their vices, and of rendering the
imperfections of other people tolerable by
reflecting on his own. He is a man more
employed in finding out and inflicting punish-
ments on the guilty than in devising means

MIS
MIS
510
to reform them. He is a man, who talks of
nothing but banishing and executing, and
who, because he thinks his talents are not
sufficiently valued and employed by his fel-
low-citizens, or rather because they know
his foibles, and do not choose to be subject
to his caprice, talks of quitting cities, towns
and societies, and of living in dens or de-
serts.”
MIsER, a term fbrmerly used in reference
to a person in wretchedness or calamity ; but
it now denotes a parsimonious person, or one
who is covetous to extremity; who denies
himself even the comforts of life to accumulate
wealth. Avarice, says Saurin, may be con-
sidered in two different points of light. It
may be considered in those men, or rather
those public bloodsuckers, or as the officers
of the Roman Emperor Vespasian were called,
those sponges of society, who, infatuated with
this passion, seek after riches as the supreme
good, determine to acquire it by any methods,
and consider the ways that lead to wealth,
legal or illegal, as the only road for them to
travel.
Avarice, however, must be considered in a
second point of light. It not only consists in
committing bold crimes, but in entertaining
mean ideas and practising low methods, in-
compatible with such magnanimityas our
condition ought to inspire. It consists not
only in omitting to serve God, but in trying
to associate the service of God with that of
mammon.
How many forms doth avarice take to dis-
guise itself from the man who is guilty of it,
and who will be drenched in the guilt of it
till the day he dies 1 Sometimes it is prudence,
which requires him to provide not only for
his present wants, but for such as he may
have in future. Sometimes it is charity,
which requires him not to give society exam-
ples of prodigality and parade. Sometimes it
is parental love, obliging him to save some—
thing for his children. Sometimes it is cir-
cumspection, which requires him not to supply
people who make an ill use of what they get.
Sometimes it is necessity, which obliges him
to repel artifice by artifice. Sometimes it is
conscience, which convinces him, good man,
that he hath already exceeded in compassion
and alms-giving, and done too much. Some-
times it is equity, for justice requires that
every one should enjoy the fruit of his own
labours, and those of his ancestors. Such, alas!
are the awful pretexts and subterfuges of the
miser. Saurin’s Ser., vol. v. ser. 12. See
AVARICE, COVETOUSNESS.
MIsHNAr-I (from rnw, iteravit,) a part of the
Jewish Talmud.
The Mishnah contains the text; and the
Gemara, which is the second part of the
Talmud, contains the commentaries: so that
the Gemara is, as it were, a glossary on the
Mishnah.
The Mishnah consists of various traditions
of the Jews, and of explanations of several
passages of Scripture : these traditions serving
as an explication of the written law, and sup-
plements to it, are said to have been delivered
to Moses during the time of his abode on the
Mount: which he afterwards communicated
to Aaron, Eleazar, and his servant Joshua.
By these they were transmitted to the seventy
elders ;' by them to the prophets, who com-
municated them to the men of the great san-
hedrim, from whom the wise men of Jerusalem
and Babylon received them. According to
Prideaux’s account. they passed from Jere-
miah to-Baruch, from him to Ezra, and from
Ezra to the men of the great synagogue, the
last of whom was Simon the Just, who deli~
vered them to Antigonus of Socho: and from
him they came down in regular succession to
Simeon, who took our Saviour in his arms;
to Gamaliel, at whose feet Paul was educated;
and last of all, to Rabbi Judah the Holy, who
committed them to writing in the Mishnah.
But Dr. Prideaux, rejecting the Jewish fiction,
observes, that after the death of Simeon the
Just, about 299 years before Christ, the Mish-
nical doctors arose, who, by their comments
and conclusions added to the number of those
traditions which had been received and allowed
by Ezra and the men of the great synagogue;
so that towards the middle of the second cen-
tury after Christ, under the empire of Auto-
ninus Pius, it was found necessary to commit
these traditions to writing; more especially
as their country had considerably suffered
under Adrian, and many of their schools had
been dissolved, and their learned men out off ;
and therefore the usual method of preserving
their traditions had failed. Rabbi Judah on
this occasion being rector of the school at
Tiberias, and president of the sanhedrim in
that place, undertook the work, and compiled
it in six books, each consisting of several
tracts, which altogether make up the number
of sixty-three. Prid. Connatz, vol. ii. p. 468,
&c., ed. 9. This learned author computes,
that the Mishnah was composed about the
150th year of our Lord; but Dr. Lightfoot
says, that Rabbi Judah compiled the Mishnah
about the year of Christ 190, in the latter end
of the reign of Commodus ; or as some com-
pute, in the year of Christ 220. Dr. Lardner
is of opinion that this work could not have
been finished before the year 190, or later.
Thus the book called the Mishnah was formed ;
a book which the Jews have generally re-
ceived with the greatest veneration. The
original has been published with a Latin trans-
lation by Surenhusius, with notes of his own
and others from the learned Maimonides, &c.,
in six volumes. fol. Amster. A.D. 1698—1703.
See TALMUD. It is written in a much purer
style, and is not nearly so full of dreams and
visions as the Gemara.
MISREPRESENTATION, the act of wilfully
MIS
M15
511
representing a thing otherwise than it is.
“ This,” as an elegant writer observes, “is
one of the greatest mischiefs of conversation.
Self-love is continually at work to give to all
we say a bias in our own favour. How often
in society, otherwise respectable, are we pained
with narrations in which prejudice warps, and
self-love blinds!—-How often do we see that
withholding part of a truth answers the worst
ends of a falsehood! How often regret the
unfair turn given to a cause by placing a
sentiment in one point of view, which the
speaker had used in another! the letter of
truth preserved, where its spirit is violated!
a superstitious exactness scrupulously main-
tained in the underparts of a detail, in order
to impress such an idea of integrity as shall
gain credit for the misrepresenter, while he is
designedly mistaking the leading principle!
How may we observe a new character given
to a fact by a different look, tone, or emphasis,
which alters it as much as words could have
done! the false impression of a sermon con-
veyed, when we do not like the preacher, or
when through him we wish to make religion
itself ridiculous ; the care to avoid literal un-
truths, while the mischief is better effected
by the unfair quotation of a passage divested
of its context! the bringing together detached
portions of a subject, and making those parts
ludicrous, when connected, which were serious
in their distinct position! the insidious use
made of a sentiment by representing it as the
opinion of him who had only brought it for-
ward in order to expose it! the relating opi-
nions which had merely been put hypotheti~
cally, as if they were the avowed principles
of him we would discredit! that subtle false-
hood which is so made to incorporate with a
certain quantity of truth, that the most skilful
moral chemist cannot analyse or separate
them! for a good misrepresenter knows that a
successful lie must have a certain infusion of
truth, or it will not go down. And this
amalgamation is the test of his skill; as too
much ‘ truth would defeat the end of his mis“
chief‘, and too little would destroy the belief of
the bearer. All that indefinable ambiguity
and equivocation; all that prudent deceit,
which is rather implied than expressed ; those
more delicate artifices of the school of Loyola
and of Chesterfield, which allow us, when we
dare not deny a truth, yet so to disguise and
discolour it, that the truth we relate shall not
resemble the truth we heard; these, and all
the thousand shades of simulation and dissi-
m ulation, will be carefully guarded against in
the conversation of vigilant Christians.” H.
More on Education, vol. ii. p. 91.
MIssAL, the Romish mass-book, containing
the several masses to be said on particular
days. It is derived from the Latin word
missa, which, in the ancient Christian church,
signified every part of divine service. It was
formed by collecting the separate liturgical
books formerly used in the religious services,
particularly the Oratorz'um, Lectz'onarium,
Evangeliarum, Antiponarz'um, the Canon, &c.,
for the convenience of the priest. Some of
these prayers and ceremonies are very an-
cient. Pius V. required, in 1570, that the
missal which had been revised under his
direction, should be adopted by the whole
Catholic Church; and this form has been
retained till the present time; the changes
introduced by Clement VIII and Urban VIII.
being little more than the ‘alteration of a few
sentences, and the addition of some new
masses to those already in use.
MISSIONARY SOCIETY, an establishment
composed of persons zealous for the glory of
God and the salvation of souls, for the pur-
pose of spreading the gospel in heathen and
Mohammedan countries. No man possessed
of the least degree of feeling or compassion
for the human race can deny the necessity
and utility of Christian missions. Whoever
considers that by far the major part of the
world is enveloped in the grossest darkness,
bound with the chains of savage barbarity,
and immersed in the awful chaos of brutal
ignorance, must, if he be not destitute of
every principle of religion and humanity,
concur with the design and applaud the prin-
ciples of those who engage in so benevolent a
work. \Ve shall not, however, in this place,
enter into a defence of missions, but shall pre-
sent the reader with a short view of those
that have been established.
In the sixteenth century, the Romish Church
particularly exerted herself for the propaga-
tion of her religion. The Portuguese and
Spaniards pretend to have done mighty ex-
ploits in the spread of the Christian faith in
Asia, Africa, and America; but, when we
consider the superstitions they imposed on
some, and the dreadful cruelties they inflicted
on others, it more than counterbalances any
good that was done. For a time, the Domi-
nicans, Franciscans, and other religious or-
ders, were very zealous in the conversion of
the heathen ; but the Jesuits outdid them all
in their attempts in the conversion of African,
Asian, and American infidels. Xavier spread
some hints of the Romish religion through
the Portuguese settlements in the East Indies,
through most of the Indian continent, and of
Ceylon. In 1549 he sailed to Japan, and laid
the foundation of a church there, which at
one time was said to have consisted of about
600,000 Christians. After him, others pene-
trated into China, and founded a church,
which continued vabout 170 years. About
1580, others penetrated into Chili and Peru,
in South America, and converted the natives.
Others bestirred themselves to convert the
Greeks, Nestorians, Monophysites, Abyssi—
nians, and the Egyptian Copta. “ It is, how-
ever,” as one observes, “a matter of doubt
whether the disciples of a Xavier, or the con-
MIS
MIS
512
verts of a Loyola and Dominic, with their
partisans of the Romish Church, should be
admitted among the number of Christians, or
their labours be thought to have contributed
to the promotion or to the hinderance of the
religion of Christ.
methods these men pursued tended much more
to make disciples to themselves and the pon-
tifi‘s of Rome, than to form the mind to the
reception of evangelical truth.” With ardent
zeal, however, and unwearied industry, these
apostles laboured in this work. In 1622 we
find the pope established a congregation of I
cardinals, de propaganda fide, and endowed it
with ample revenues, and every thing which
could forward the missions was liberally sup-
plied. In 1627, also, Urban added the college
for the propagation of the faith; in which mis-
sionaries were taught the languages of the
countries to which they were to be sent.
France copied the example of Rome, and
formed an establishment for the same pur-
poses. The Jesuits claimed the first rank, as
due to their zeal, learning, and devotedness to
the holy see. The Dominicans, Franciscans,
and others, disputed the palm with them. The
new world and the Asiatic regions were the
chief field of their labours. They penetrated
into the uncultivated recesses of America.
They visited the untried regions of Siam,
Tonquin, and Cochin-China. They entered
the vast empire of China itself, and numbered
millions among their converts. They dared
to front the dangers of the tyrannical govern-
ment of Japan. In India they assumed the
garb and austerities of the Brahmins, and
boasted on the coasts of Malabar of a thou-
sand‘ converts baptized in one year by a single
missionary. Their sufferings, however, were
very great; and in China and Japan they were
exposed to the most dreadful persecutions,
and many thousands were cut ofi, with, at
last, a final expulsion from the empires. In
Africa the Capuchins were chiefly employed,
though it does not appear that they had any
considerable success. And in America their
laborious exertions have had but little influ-
ence, we fear, to promote the real conversion
of the natives to the truth.
In the year 1621, the Dutch opened a
church in the city of Batavia, and from hence
ministers were sent to Amboyna. At Ley-
den, ministers and assistants were educated
for the purpose of missions under the famous
Walaeus, and sent into the East, where thou-
sands embraced the Christian religion at For-
mosa, Columba, Java, Malabar, &c. ; and
though the work declined in some places, yet
there are still churches in Ceylon, Sumatra,
Amboyna, &c.
About 1705, Frederick IV., of Denmark,
applied to the university of Halle, in Ger-
many, for missionaries to preach the gospel
on the coast of Malabar, in the East Indies;
and Messrs. Ziegcnbalg and Plutsche were
Certain it is, that the i
. Susquehannah and Delaware Indians.
the .first employed on this important mis-
sion; to them others were soon added, who
laboured with considerable success. It is
said that upwards of 18,000 Gentoos have
, been brought up to the profession of Chris-
tianity.
A great work has been carried on among
1 the Indian nations in North America. One
I of the first and most eminent instruments in
{ this work was. the excellent Mr. Elliot, com-
;the time of his going to New England, in
1631, to his death, in 1690, devoted himself
to this great work by his lips and pen, trans-
lating the Bible and other books into the
, native dialect. Some years after this, Thomas
Mayhew, Esq., governor and patentee of the
islands of Martha’s Vineyard, and some
neighbouring islands, greatly exerted himself
é in the attempt to convert the Indians in that
5 part of America. His son John gathered and
founded an Indian church, which, after his
death, not being able to pay a minister, the
old gentleman himself, at seventy years of
age, became their instructor for more than
twenty years; and his grandson and great-
gran-dson both succeeded him in the same
work. Mr. D. Brainerd was also a truly
pious and successful missionary among the
His
journal contains instances of very extraor-
dinary conversions.
But the Moravians have exceeded all in
their missionary exertions. They have vari-
ous missions ; and, by their persevering zeal,
it is said, upwards of 23,000 of the most des-
titute of mankind, in different regions of the
earth, have been brought to the knowledge
of the truth. Vast numbers in the Danish
islands of St. Thomas, St. J an, and St. Croix,
and the English islands of Jamaica, Antigua,
Nevis, Barbadoes, St. Kitts, and Tobago,
ship God in spirit and in truth. In the inhos—
pitable climes of Greenland and Labrador,
they have met with wonderful success, after
undergoing the most astonishing dangers and
difiiculties. The Arrowaek Indians, and the
negroes‘ of Surinam and Berbice, have been
collected into bodies of faithful people by
them. Canada and the United States of
North America have, by their instrumenta-
lity, afforded happy evidences of the power
of the gospel. Even those esteemed the last
of human beings, for brutishness and ignor-
ance, the Hottentots, have been formed into
their societies; and upwards- of seven hun-
dred are said to be worshipping God at
Bavians Cloof, near the Cape of Good Hope.
We might also mention their efforts to illu-
mine the distant East, the coast of Coroman-
del, and the Nicobar islands; their attempts
to penetrate into Abyssinia, to carry the gos-
pel to Persia and Egypt, and to ascend the
mountains of Caucasus. In fact, where shall

monly called the Indian apostle, who, from‘
have, by their ministry, been called to work
MIS
MIT
513
places the labours of its devoted agents have
- twenty, on which idolatry has been entirely
the Established Church.
we find the men who have laboured as these
have? Their invincible patience, their well-
regulated zeal, their self-denial, their constant
prudence, deserve the meed of highest appro-
bation. Nor are they wearied in so honour-
able a service‘; for they have numerous mis-
sionaries still employed in different parts of
the world. See MORAVIANS.
Good has been also done by the Wesleyan
Methodists, who are certainly not the least in
missionary work. They have several mis-
sionaries in the British dominions in America,
and in the West Indies. They have some
thousands of members in their societies in
those parts. See Mn'rnoms'rs.
In 1791, a society was instituted among
the Baptists, called “ The Particular Baptist
Society for propagating the Gospel among
the Heathen ;” under the‘ auspices of which
missionaries were sent to India, where they
have had considerable success, particularly
in the translation of the Scriptures into many
of the Indian languages and dialects. They
have also missionaries in the West Indies,
where their efforts have been signally blessed
in the conversion of the poor negroes.
In the year 1795, the London Missionary
Society was formed. According to its con-
stitution, it is 'not confined to one body of
people, but consists of Episcopalians, Presby-
terians,_and Independents. who hold an an-
nual meeting in London in May. Missions
have been established by this society in the
South Seas, the West Indies, South Africa,
India, China, and Siberia, in most of which
been remarkably blessed, especially in the
islands of the Pacific, where are upwards of
abolished, several Christian churches have
been formed, and some thousands of the
natives give satisfactory evidence of genuine
conversion. According to the report. for
1840, the society had 116 stations, with 173
European missionaries, besides 66 printers,
schoolmasters, &c., and native teachers,
amounting altogether to nearly 400. About
20,000 children and adults receive instruction
in the schools. The annual expenditure now
amounts to upwards of 80,0001.
Besides the above-mentioned societies,
others have been formed, in connexion with
In 1699, a society
was instituted in England for Promoting
Christian Knowledge. In 17 01, another was
formed for the Propagation of the Gospel in
Foreign Parts. In Scotland, about the year
1700, a society was instituted for the Propa-
gation of Christian Knowledge. In 1800, the
Church Missionary Society was formed. Its
stations are 56 in numberf—in India, West
Africa, Australia, the Mediterranean, the
‘Nest Indies, and British America. Its ex-
pendit'ure for 1831, was 44,266l. 13s. 9d.
Societies for spreading the Gospel also have ,
been instituted in various other places, espe-
cially in the United States, where there exists
a most active society, called the “ Board of
Foreign Missions,” the missionaries of which
are labouring in the Sandwich islands, Pales-
tine, Armenia, the Greek islands, and India.
From the whole, it seems evident that the
light and knowledge of the glorious gospel
will be more difl'used than ever throughout
the earth. And who is there that has any .
concern for the souls of men, any love for
truth and religion, but what must rejoice at-
the formation, number, and success of those
institutions, which have not the mere tem-
poral concerns of men, but their everlasting
welfare, as their object? My heart overflows
with joy, and mine eyes with tears, when I
consider the happy and extensive effects which
are likely to take place. The untutored mind
will receive the peaceful principles of reli—
gion and virtue; the savage barbarian will
rejoice in the copious blessings, and feel the
benign effects of civilization; the ignorant
idolator will be directed to oflfer up his prayers
and praises to the true God, and learn the way
of salvation through Jesus Christ. The habi-
tations of cruelty will become the abodes of
peace and security, while ignorance and super-
stition shall give way to the celestial blessings
of intelligence, purity, and joy. Happy men,
who are employed as instruments in this
cause; who forego your personal comforts,
relinquish your native country, and volun-
tarily devote yourselves to the most noble
and honourable of services! Peace and pros-
perity be with you! Miller’s History of the
Propagation of Christ,- 'Kennett’s ditto; Gil-
lz'es’s Historical Collection,- Cary’s Enquiry
respecting llfissions ; Loshiell’s History of the
.M'oravian lllz'ssions ; Crantz’s History of
Greenland ,- Horne’s Letters on illz'ssz'ons; Ser-
mons and R arts of the London Blissz'onm'y So-
ciety ; Chou e's Origin and History ofllfissions.
T'Vz'lliams’ and Edwards’ llfz'ssionary Gazetteers.
MITRE, a sacerdotal ornament worn on the
head by bishops and certain abbots, on solemn
occasions, being a sort of cap, pointed and
cleft at the top. His holiness the pope uses
four different mitres, which are more or less
richly adorned, according to the nature of the
festivals on which they are assumed. The
mitre is frequently met with in early Chris-
tian manuscripts, in illuminated missals, and
upon the oldest ecclesiastical monuments. A
statue of St. Peter, erected in the seventh
century, bears this mark of distinction in the
shape of a round, high, and pyramidal mitre,
such as those which the popes have since
worn, and offers, perhaps, one of the earliest
instances of its usage in churches.
IVI‘LEAN, ABCHIBALD, an eminent Baptist
writer, was born on the lst of May, 1733,
O. S., at East Kilbride, a small village about
eight miles south of Glasgow. His father
was a native of the Highlands, where he
- L L
M‘LE
M‘LE
514
arithmetic, and the Latin language.
passed his youth. He was the third in des-
cent from Brolus, eldest son of Duart, the
chief of the clan of the M‘Leans. His father
was a farmer, but his agricultural pursuits,
however, proved unsuccessful; and in the
course of a few years, the family became re-
duced to considerable straits and difficulties.
But as adversity rarely produces much alter-
ation in the breast of a true Highlander, se-
veral of the friends of his youth continued to
visit him, whenever they had occasion to pass
through that part of the country where he
resided. Among these was a Highland
laird, who took notice of young Archibald,
and requested his parents would let him go
with him to the Highlands as a companion to
his own son, a youth, about the same age.
This request was complied with, and he pro-
ceeded to the Isle of Mull, where he continued
about six months, and learned to speak and
read the Gaelic tongue. On his return from
the Highlands he was sent to school, and in
a few years acquired a competent knowledge
of the elementary branches of education,—
the reading and writing his mother-tonlgue,
n a
subsequent period of his life, he also became
sufliciently conversant with the Greek and
Hebrew, to read the word of God in the ori-
ginal; but this was the fruit of his own in-
dustry and application, acquired, too, without
the aid of a teacher. When he had attained
the age of fourteen, his parents were desirous
that he should fix upon some profession, with
a view to his future plan of life; and his
fondness for books naturally directed his at-
tention to the printing business. Accordingly,
in 17 46, he was articled as an apprentice to a
printer in Glasgow, by whom he was highly
prized and esteemed. This was an employ-
ment every way congenial to his disposition.
The variety of works which were constantly
passing through his hands, proved at the same
time a source of amusement and information ;
and he soon made himself perfectly acquainted
with every branch of the printing business.
His leisure hours were devoted to the study
of the languages in which the Scriptures
were originally written : and to facilitate his
acquaintance with them he constructed se-
veral grammars for his own use, some of
which are still in the possession of the family.
During the term of his apprenticeship, he
also applied himself to a course of general
reading, and to the particular study of some
branches of science connected with theology,
which laid the foundation of that extensive
acquaintance with the Scriptures which he
ultimately attained. After the expiration of
his apprenticeship, he continued at the
printing business, and having acquired con-
siderable respect, as well as eminence in his
profession, he was often consulted by authors,
on the subject of their manuscripts, as a per-
son of correct taste and judgment.
Mr. M‘Lean’s parents were members of the
Presbyterian church of Scotland, and trained
up their son in a veneration for that national
establishment of religion. He was brought
to a saving acquaintance with the truth as it
is in Jesus, under the preaching of Mr. Mac-
laurin, a minister of the established church;
he consequently entered into the communion
of that church, and continued several years a
very zealous member of it. He regularly
attended the fellowship or prayer-meetings,
and strictly conformed to all the institutions
of the Presbyterian plan of Church govern-
ment. He was afterwards, however, led to
call in question the propriety of all national
establishments of Christianity, by reading Mr.
John Glas’s Testimony of the King of Mar-
tyrs; and, in consequence of this change in
his view of things, he, in 17 62, withdrew
from the communion of the national church,
and united with a small society of Glasites,
who at that time were the only independents
in Glasgow. His continuance with them,
however, was of short duration; for, in the
following year, he left them on a case of dis-
cipline, in which he could not agree with the
church. In 1765, Mr. M‘Lean became a Bap-
tist, and was baptized by Mr. Carmichael, in
Edinburgh. In 17 67 , having gone to London,
he continued there, at his printing business,
till the month of December, when, having
been applied to to become overseer of the
extensive printing concern of Messrs. Do-
naldson and Co. in Edinburgh, he acceded to
the proposal, and, quitting the metropolis,
settled there with his family. He now sta-
tedly assembled with the small church in
Edinburgh, in the capacity of a private
member; but, in June, 1768, he was chosen
colleague to Mr. Carmichael.
Soon after Mr. M‘Lean had been baptized,
and previous to his leaving Glasgow, he was
strongly solicited by his brethren at Edin-
burgh to write an answer to Mr. Glas’s Dis-
sertation on Infant Baptism; and yielding to
the urgent request of his brethren, in the
yfiar 17 66, he wrote his Letters to Mr. John
as.
The church in Edinburgh now increased
considerably, ‘and the Baptist profession began
to extend to Glasgow, Dundee, Montrose,
and other towns of Scotland. In the year
17 69, several persons went from Glasgow to
Edinburgh, and were baptized.
In the year 1777, he published, “A De-
fence of Believers’ Baptism,” in answer to a
pamphlet which had recently made its appear-
ance in Glasgow, in behalf of infant baptism.
This drew the attention of many persons to
the subject; the controversy got access into
a paedobaptist congregation at Edinburgh;
and soon afterwards six of their number em-
braced Baptist views, and were added to the
church. Mr. M‘Lean continued to superin-
tend the extensive concerns of Donaldson’s
M‘LE
M‘LE
515
printing oflice for eighteen years, namely,
from 1767 to 1785, which had been a period
of extraordinary exertion.
‘In March, 1778, Mr. William Braidwood,
who had been the elder of an independent
society at Edinburgh, embraced the Baptist
profession, joined the church under M‘Lean’s
ministry, and in the following year was chosen
joint elder with him. Thus the church pos-
sessed a presbytery, and became increasingly
prosperous.
In January, 1778, the distinguishing sen-
timent of the Baptists got access into an in-
dependent church in Glasgow, under the pas-
toral care of Mr. Robert Moncrieff, and him-
self with nine of his brethren, applied to
Mr. M‘Lean to baptize them, which he ac-
cordingly did, regulated the discipline of the
church, and appointed Mr. Moncriefi‘ the
pastor. _
About the year 1785, in consequence of the
has been greatly praised, even by those who,
on other subjects, differed materially from
him. Mr. M‘Lean was considerably engaged
about this period, in visiting various places in
Scotland and England, where the principles
of the Scotch baptists had gained access, and
in forming societies and aiding the regulation
of their affairs. In 1791 he published two
sermons, under the title of “The Belief of
the Gospel Saving Faith.” The two sermons
were, however, cast into one, and an appendix
suhjoined, containing a refutation of certain
principles, advanced by a Mr. Barnard on the
subject. This pamphlet has since been re-
printed in a detached form. In 17 97 he pub-
lished a new and enlarged edition‘of his Illus-
tration of Christ’s Commission. In 1799 he
published “ A Dissertation on the Influences
; of the Holy Spirit: with a Defence of the
Doctrine of Original Sin, and a Paraphrase,
; with Notes, on Rom. v. 12, to the end of the
varied exertions of Mr. M‘Lean, his health was much affected. The spread of the Bap— ;
‘the Gospel, worthy of all acceptation; par-
tist profession, in various parts of Scotland,
and the discriminating principles of the
churches formed upon the plan of those of
the Scotch Baptists, having extended also to
various parts of England, occasioned nume-
rous applications at this period, to him, not
only for information, by letter, on points of
difliculty that arose among them, but also for
visits, to set societies in order, and ordain
elders over them. As his engagements in
Mr. Donaldson’s printing oflice precluded the
possibility of a compliance with the greater
part of these applications, and as the church
of Edinburgh was now respectable in point
of number, they urged it upon him to give
up his secular employ, and accept such a sa-
lary as their ability enabled them to raise
him. He complied with that request; con-
sented to accept a salary from the church,
of sixty guineas per annum, at which sum it
continued for several years; and though,
when an extraordinary rise in all the neces-
saries of life took place, it was graduallly
augmented, yet it never exceeded a hundred
and twenty pounds, which was the sum he was
in the receipt of at the time of his decease.
In 1786 he published his treatise, entitled,
“The Commission given by Jesus Christ to
his Apostles, illustrated.” This work has
been much read and greatly admired for its
simple and scriptural statements, even by
many who do not follow with the Scotch
Baptists. About this time also, Mr. M‘Lean
drew up an “Essay on the Calls and Invita-
tions of the Gospel,” which was inserted in
the Missionary Magazine. In 1788 he pub-
lished “A Letter on the Sonship of Christ,
originally addressed to some of the Members
of the Baptist church in Edinburgh; to
which is added, A Review of Dr. Walker’s
Defence of the Doctrine of the Trinity, and
Eternal Sonship of Christ.” This work also

chapter.” In 1802, he published “A Reply
to Mr. Fuller’s Appendix to his Book, ‘on
ticularly to his Doctrine of Antecedent
Holiness, and the Nature and Object of
J ustifying Faith.” In 1807 he published his
“ Review of Mr. ‘Vardlaw’s Lectures on the
Abrahamic Covenant, and its supposed Con—
nexion with Infant Baptism.” In 1810 the
only remaining controversial piece of Mr.
M‘Lean’s was published, entitled “ Strictures
on the Sentiments of Dr. James \Vatt and
others, respecting a Christian Church, the
Pastoral Ofiice, and the Right of private
Brethren to administer the Lord’s Supper.”
About the year 1805, Mr. M‘Lean, having ar—
rived at the age of seventy, was strongly
urged by some of his friends, who were
aware that they could not now reasonably
expect his continuance with them many-
years, to publish a uniform edition of his
works, to which he consented, intending to
add to those already before the public. several
other treatises which were either prepared or
projected, and particularly a Commentary on
the Epistle to the Hebrews. This last-men-
tioned undertaking had, for a number of
years, occupied a leading place in his inten-
tions. He had bestowed much time and
pains upon it in his studies—two or three
distinct courses of lectures had been delivered
on that important portion of the sacred
writings to the church under his pastoral
care, which had excited the strongest prepos-
sessions in its favour, throughout the circle
of his acquaintance, whenever it should make
its appearance—and in order to confer upon
the work all the accuracy and perfection of
which he was capable, he revised and rewrote
the copy three different times.
The Baptist Mission to India was an un-
dertaking which, at this time, engaged much -
of Mr. M‘Lean’s attentionnand in furthering
.it he took a very lively interest. Hitherto
'MOD
MOH
'516
the cause was in its infancy in England, and
no individual in Scotland had been stirred up
to take any active measures in its behalf.
But towards the close of the year 1795, Mr.
M‘Lean delivered a discourse to the church
and congregation among whom he laboured,
founded upon Psalm xxii. 27, 28 : “ All the
ends of the earth shall remember and turn
unto the Lord; and all the kindreds of the
nations shall worship before thee; for the
kingdom is the Lord’s, and he is the governor
among the nations.” The effects of this ser-
men were very considerable, and as the
preaching and publication of it was followed
up by “ An Address to the people of God, in
Scotland, on the Duty of using Means for the
universal spread of the Gospel of Christ,”
our author’s zeal happily stimulated all classes
of his countrymen to co-operate in promoting
the interest of the Baptist Mission to India.
About the middle of November, 1812, he
was seized with a dimness in one of his eyes.
Electricity was applied, but without any per-
ceptible effect. He nevertheless continued
his labours in the church, and preached as
usual on the Lord’s day, December the 6th.
His health, however, daily became worse, and
at length, on December the 21st, 1812, he
expired, in the eightieth year of his age. As
a minister, a Christian, and an author, he was
alike distinguished. An opinion has, indeed,
very generally prevailed among the dissenters
throughout England, that Mr. M‘Lean, and
those with whom he walked in church fel-
lowship, differed from the Sandcmanians in
scarcely any thing but the subject of baptism :
but this opinion is totally unfounded. A hand-
some edition of his works was published, in
seven volumes, octavo, London, 1823, with a
Memoir of his Life, ($0., by W'. Jones.
M‘MILLANITES. See SYNoD, REFORMED
PRESBYTER.
MODERATE, to moderate a call, in the Church
of Scotland, is, under the presidency of one of
the clergy, to publicly announce and give in
an invitation to a minister or licentiate to
take the charge of a parish ; which announce-
ment or invitation, thus given in the hearing
of the assembled parishioners, is regarded as
the first legal step towards a settlement.
MoDERATIoN, the state of keeping a due
mean between extremes: cahnness, temper’
ance, or cquanimity. It is sometimes used
with reference to our opinions, Rom. xii. 3;
but in general it respects our conduct in that
state which comes under the description of
ease or prosperity; and ought to take place in
our wishes, pursuits, expectations, pleasures,
and passions. See Bishop Hall on Modera-
tion, ser. 16 ; Blair’s Sermons, vol. iii. ser. 12 ;
Toplady’s Wbrks, vol. iii. ser. 10.
Monnnn'ron, a clergyman presiding in the
General Assembly of the Church of Scotland,
or in any of the subordinate courts of that
church; and likewise the minister acting as
chairman or president of any of the church
courts among Presbyterian Dissenters.
Monns'rr is sometimes used to denote hu-
mility, and sometimes to express chastity.
The Greek word zcootttogmoclestus, signifies
neat or clean. Modesty, therefore, consists in
purity of sentiment and manners, inclining us
to abhor the least appearance of vice and in-
decency, and to fear doing any thing which
will incur censure. An excess of modesty
may be called bashfulness, and the want of it
impertinence. There is a false or vicious
modesty which influences a man to do any
thing that is ill or indiscreet; such as, through
fear of offending his companions, he runs into
their follies or excesses; or it is a false mo-
desty which restrains a man from doing what
is good or laudable; such as being ashamed
to speak of religion, and to be seen in the ex-
ercises of piety and devotion.
~M0HAMMED was born in the reign of
Anushirwan the Just, Emperor of Persia,
about the end of the sixth century of the
Christian era. He came into the world under
some disadvantages. His father, Abd’allah,
was a younger son of Abd’almotalleb, and
dying very young, and in his father’s lifetime,
left his widow and infant son in very mean
circumstances, his whole subsistence consist-
ing but of five camels and one Ethiopian she
slave. Abd’almotalleb was therefore obliged
to take care of his grandchild Mohammed;
which he not only did during his life, but at
his death enjoined his eldest son, Abu Taleb,
who was brother to Abd’allah by the same
mother, to provide for him for the future;
which he very affectionately did, and in-
structed him in the business of a merchant,
which he followed; and to‘that end he took
him into Syria, when he was but thirteen.
He afterwards recommended him to Khadi-
jah, a noble and rich widow, for her factor;
in whose service he behaved himself so well,
that by making him her husband, she soon
raised him to an equality with the richest in
Mecca.
After he began, by this advantageous match,
to live at his case, it was that he formed the
scheme of establishing a new religion, or, as
he expressed it, of replanting the only true
and ancient one professed by Adam, Noah,
Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and all the prophets,
by destroying the gross idolatry into which
the generality of his countrymen had fallen,
and weeding out the corruptions and super-
stitions which the latter J cws and Christians
had, as he thought, introduced into their‘reli-
gion, and reducing it to its original purity,
véhiph consisted chiefly in the worship of one
o .
Before he made any attempt abroad, he
rightly judged that it was necessary for him
to begin with the conversion of his own
household. Having, therefore, retired with his
family as he had done several times before,
MQH
MOH
517
to a cave in Mount Hara, he there 0 ened the
secret of his mission to his wife hadijah;
and acquainted her that the angel Gabriel
had just before appeared to him, and told him
that he was appointed the apostle of God: he
also repeated to her a passage which he pre-
tended had been revealed to him by the
ministry of the angel, with those other cir-
cumstances of this first appearance which are
related by the Mohammedan writers. Khadi-
jah received the news with great joy, swearing
by Him in whose hands her soul was, that she
trusted he would be the prophet of his nation;
and immediately communicated what she had
heard to her cousin Warakah- Ebn Nawfal,
who, being a Christian, could write in the
Hebrew character, and was tolerably well
versed in the Scriptures; and he readily came
into her opinion, assuring her that the same
angel who had formerly appeared unto Moses
was now sent to Mohammed. The first over-
ture the prophet made was in the month of
Ramadan, in the fortieth year of his age,
which is therefore usually called the year of
his mission. ~
Encouraged by so good a beginning, he re-
solved to proceed, and try for some time what
he could do by private persuasion, not daring
to hazard the whole affair by exposing it too
suddenly to the public. He soon made prose-
lytes of those under his own roof, viz., his
wife Khadijah, his servant Zeid Ebn Haretha,
to whom he gave his freedom on that occa-
sion, (which afterwards became a rule to his
followers,) and his cousin and pupil Ali, the
son of Abu Taleb, though then very young:
but this last, making no account of the other
two, used to style himselfthe firstqf believers.
The next person Mohammed applied to was
Abd’allah Ebn Abi Kohafa, surnamed Abu
Beer, a man of great authority among the
Koreish, and one whose interest he well knew
would be of great service to him,—-as it soon
appeared; for Abu Beer, being gained over,
prevailed also on Othman Ebn Afi'an, Abd’-
alraham Ebn Awf, Saad Ebn Abbi Wakkus,
Al Zobeir, Al Awam, and Telha Ebn Obeid’-
allah, all principal men of Mecca, to follow
his example. These men were six chief
companions, who, with a few more, were
converted in the space of three years: at the
end of which, Mohammed having, as he
hoped, a suflicient interest to support him,
made his mission no longer a secret, but gave
out that God had commanded him to admonish
his near relations; and in order to do it with
more convenience and prospect of success, he
directed Ali to prepare an entertainment, and
invited the sons and descendants of Abd’-
almotalleb, intending then to open his mind
to thcm.——This was done, and about forty of
them came ; but Abu Laheb, one of his
uncles, making the company break up before
Mohammed had an opportunity of speaking,
obliged him to give them a second invitation
next day; and when they were come, he
made them the following speech :—“ I know
no man in all Arabia who can offer his
kindred a more excellent thing than I now
do to you; I offer you happiness both in this
life and in that which is to come: God Al-
mighty hath commanded me to call you unto
him. 'Who, therefore, among you will be
assistant to me herein, and become my brother
and my vicegerent ?” All of them hesitating
and declining the matter, Ali at length rose
up, and declared that he would be his assist-
ant, and vehemently threatened those who
should oppose him. Mohammed upon this
embraced Ali with great demonstrations of
affection, and desired all who were present to
hearken to and obey him as his deputy: at
which the company broke out into a great
laughter, telling Abu Taleb that he must now
pay obedience to his son.
This repulse, however, was so far from dis-
couraging Mohammed, that he began to
preach in public to the people, who heard him
with some patience, till he came to upbraid
them with the idolatry, obstinac y, and perverse-
ness of themselves and their fathers; which
so highly provoked them, that they declared
themselves his enemies; and would soon have
procured his ruin, had he not been protected
by Abu Taleb. The chief of the Koreish
warmly solicited this person to desert his ne-
phew, making frequent remonstrances against
the innovations he was attempting; which
proving ineffectual, they at length threatened
him with an open rupture if he did not pre-
vail on Mohammed to desist. At this Abu
Taleb was so far moved, that he earnestly
dissuaded his nephew from pursuing the affair
any farther, representing the great danger
that he and his friends must otherwise run.
But Mohammed was not to be intimidated,
telling his uncle plainly, “ That if they set
the sun against him on his right hand, and
the moon on his left, he would not leave his
enterprise :” and Abu Taleb, seeing him so
firmly resolved to proceed, used no further
arguments, but promised to stand by him
against all his enemies.
The Koreish, finding they could prevail
neither by fair ‘words nor menaces, tried what
they could do by force and ill treatment;
using Mohammed’s followers so very inju-
riously, that it was not safe for them to con-
tinue at Mecca any longer; whereupon Mo-
hammed gave leave to such of them as had
no friends to protect them to seek for refuge
elsewhere. And accordingly, in the fifth year
of the prophet’s mission, sixteen of them, four
of whom were women, fled into Ethiopia; and
among them Othman Ebn Afi‘an, and his wife
Rakiah, Mohammed’s daughter. This was
the first flight, but afterwards several others
followed them, retiring one after another, to
the number of eighty—three men and eighteen
women, besides children. These refugees
MOH
MOH
51s
were kindly received by the Nagush, or King
of Ethiopia, who refused to deliver them up
to those whom the Koreish sent to demand
them, and as the Arab writers unanimously
attest, even professed the Mohammedan reli-
ion. .
g In the sixth year of his mission, Moham-
med had the pleasure of seeing his party
strengthened by the conversion of his uncle
Hamza, aman of great valour and merit; and
of Omar Ebn al Kattab, a person highly es-
teemed, and once a violent opposer of the
prophet. As persecution generally advances
rather than obstructs the spreading of a reli-
gion, Islamism made so great a progress
among the Arab tribes, that the Koreish, to
suppress it effectually, if possible, in the seventh
year of Mohammed’s mission, made a solemn
league or covenant against the Hashemites,
and the family of Abdfahnotalleb, engaging
themselves to contract no marriages with any
of them, and to have no communication with
them ; and to give it the greater‘ sanction,
reduced it into writing, and laid it up in the
Caaba. Upon this the tribe became divided
into two factions; and the family of Hashem
all repaired to Abu Taleb as their head; ex—
cept only Abd’al Uzza, surnamed Abu Lelzeb,
who, out of inveterate hatred to his nephew
and his doctrine, went over to the opposite
party, whose chief was Abu Sossian Ebn Harb,
of the family of Ommeya.
The families continued thus at variance for
three years; but in the tenth year of his mis-
sion Mohammed told his uncle Abu Taleb
that God had manifestly showed his disappro-
bation of the league which the Koreish had
made against them, by sending a worm to eat
out every word of the instrument except the
name of God. Of this accident Mohammed
had probably some private notice; for Abu
Taleb went immediately to the Koreish, and
acquainted them with it; offering, if it proved
false, to deliver his nephew up to them; but,
in case it were true, he insisted that they
ought to lay aside their animosity, and annul
the league they had made against the Has-
emites. To this they acquiesced; and, going
to inspect the writing, to their_ great astonish-
ment found it to be as Abu Taleb had said;
and the league was thereupon declared void.
In the same year Abu Taleb died at the
age of above fourscore ; and it is the general
opinion that he died an infidel; though others
say that when he was at the point of death
he embraced Mohammedanism, and produce
‘some passages out of his poetical compositions
to confirm their assertion. About a month, or
as some write, three days after the death of
this great benefactor and patron, Mohammed
hadthe additional mortification to lose his
wife Khadijah, who had so generously made
his fortune. For which reason this year is
called “ the year of mourning.”v
On the death of these two persons, the K0-
reish began to be more troublesome than ever
to their prophet, and especially some who had
formerly been his intimate friends; insomuch
that he found himself obliged to seek for shel-
ter elsewhere, and first pitched upon Tayef,
about sixty miles east from Mecca, for the
place of his retreat. Thither, therefore, he
went, accompanied by his servant Zeid, and
applied himself to two of the chief of the tribe
of Thakif, who were the inhabitants of that
place; but they received him very coldly.
However, he stayed there a mouth; and some
of the more considerate and better sort of men
treated him with little respect ; but the slaves
and inferior people at length rose against
him; and bringing him to the wall of the city
obliged him to depart, and return to Mecca,
while he put himself under the protection of
Al Motaam Ebn Adi.
This repulse greatly discouraged his fol-
lowers. However, Mohammed was not want-
ing to himself; but boldly continued to preach
to the public assemblies at the pilgrimage, and
gained several proselytes; and among them
six of the inhabitants of Yathreb, of the Jewish
tribe of Khazraj ; who on their return home,
failed not to speak much in recommendation
of their new religion, and exhorted their fel-
low-citizens to embrace the same.
In the twelfth year of his mission it was
that Mohammed gave out that he had made
his night journey from Mecca to Jerusa-
lem, and thence to heaven, so much spoken
of by all that write of him. Dr. Prideaux
thinks he invented it either to answer the
expectations of those who demanded some
miracle as a proof of his mission; or else, by
pretending to have conversed with God, to
establish the authority of whatever he should
think fit to leave behind by way of oral tra-
dition, and make his sayings to serve the
same purpose as the oral laws of the Jews.
‘But it does not appear that Mohammed him—
self ever expected so great a regard should
be paid to his sayings as his followers have
since done; and seeing he all along disclaimed
any power of performing miracles, it seems
rather to have been a fetch of policy to raise
his reputation, by pretending to have actually
conversed with God in heaven, as Moses had
heretofore done in the Mount, and to ‘have
received several institutions immediately from
him; whereas, before, he contented himself
with persuading them that he had all by the
ministry of Gabriel.
However, this story seemed so absurd and
incredible, that several of his followers left
him upon it; and had probably ruined the
whole design, had not Abu Beer vouched for
its veracity, and declared, that, if Mohammed
afiirmed it to be true, he verily believed the
whole; which happy incident not only rc-
trieved the prophet’s credit, but increased it
to such a degree, that he was secure of being
able to make his disciples swallow whatever
MOH
MOH
519
he pleased to impose on them for the future.
And this fiction, notwithstanding its extrava-
gance, was one of the most artful contrivances
Mohammed ever put in practice, and what
chiefly contributed to the raising of his repu-
tation to that great height to which it after-
I wards arrived.
In this year, called by the Mohammedans
the accepted year,‘ twelve men of Yathreb or
Medina, of whom ten were of the tribe of
Khazraj, and the other two of that of Aws,
came to Mecca, and took an oath of fidelity to
Mohammed at Al Akaba, a hill on the north
of that city. This oath was called the woman’s
oath; not that any women were present at
this time, ‘but because a man was not thereby
obliged to take up arms in defence of Moham-
med or his religion; it being the same oath
that was afterwards exacted of the women,
the form of which we have in the Koran, and
is to this effect, viz. That they should re-
nounce all idolatry; and that they should not
steal, nor commit fornication, nor kill their
children, (as the pagan Arabs used to do
when they apprehended they should not be
able to maintain them,) nor forge calumnies;
and that they should obey the prophet in all
things that were reasonable. When they
had solemnly engaged to do all this, [Moham-
med sent one of his disciples, named Masab
Ebn Omair, home with them, to instruct them
more fully in the grounds and ceremonies of
his new religion. _
Masab, being arrived at Medina, by the
assistance of those who had been formerly
converted, gained several proselytes, particu-
larly Osed Ebn Hodeira, a chief man of the
city, and Saad Ebn Moadh, prince of the tribe
of Aws; Mohammedanism spreading so fast,
that there was scarcely a house wherein there
were not some who had embraced it.
The next year, being the thirteenth of
Mohammed’s mission, Masab returned to
Mecca, accompanied by seventy-three men,
and two women of Medina, who had professed
Islamism, besides some others who were as
yet unbelievers. On their arrival they imme-
diately sent to Mohammed, and offered him
their assistance, of which he was now in
great need; for his adversaries were by this
time grown so powerful in Mecca, that he
could not stay there much longer without
imminent danger. Wherefore he accepted
their proposal, and met them one night, by
appointment, at Al Akaba above-mentioned,
attended by his uncle, Al Abbas ; who, though
he was not then abeliever, wished his nephew
well, and made a speech to those of Medina,
wherein he told them, that, as Mohammed
was obliged to quit his native city, and seek
an asylum elsewhere, and they had ofi'ered
him their protection, they would do well not
' to deceive him: that if they were not firmly
resolved to defend, and not betray him, they
had better declare their minds, and let him
provide for his safety in some other manner
Upon their protesting their sincerity, Mo-
hammed swore to be faithful to them, on con-
dition that they should protect him against
all insults as heartily as they would their own
wives and families. They then asked him
what recompense they were to expect if they
should happen to be killed in his quarrel? he
answered, Paradise. Whereupon they pledged
their faith to him, and so returned home, after
Mohammed had chosen twelve out of their
number, who were to have the same authority
among them as the twelve apostles of Christ
had among his disciples.
Hitherto Mohammed had propagated his
religion by fair means; so that the whole
success of his enterprise, before his flight to
Medina, must be attributed to persuasion only,
and not to compulsion. For before this second
oath of fealty or inauguration at Akaba, he
had no permission to use any force at all;
and in several places of the Koran, which he
pretended were revealed during his stay at
Mecca, he declares his business was only to
preach and admonish ; that he had no autho-
rity to compel any person to embrace his
religion ; and that, whether people did or not,
was none of his concern, but belonged solely
unto God. And he was so far from allowing
his followers to use force, that he exhorted
them to bear patiently those injuries which
were offered them on account of their faith;
and, when persecuted himself, chose rather
to quit the place of his birth, and retire to
Medina, than to make any resistance. But
this great passiveness and moderation seem
entirely owing to his want of power, and the
great superiority of his opposers, for the first
twelve years of his mission; for no sooner
was he enabled, by the assistance of those of
Medina, to make head against his enemies,
than he gave out, that God had allowed him
and his followers to defend themselves against
the infidels; and at length, as his forces in-
creased, he pretended to have the Divine leave
even to attack them, and destroy idolatry,
and set up the true faith by the sword; find-
ing, by experience, that his designs would
otherwise proceed very slowly, if they were
not utterly overthrown; and knowing, on the
other hand, that innovators, when they de-
pend solely on their own strength, and can
compel, seldom run any risk; from whence,
says Machiavel, it follows, that all the armed
prophets have succeeded, and the unarmed
ones have failed. Moses, Cyrus, Theseus,
and Romulus, would not have been able to
establish the observance of their institutions
for any length of time, had they not been
armed. The first passage of the Koran which
gave Mohammed the permission of defending
himself by arms, is said to have been that
in the twenty-second chapter; after which
a great number to the same purpose were
revealed.
MOH 5
0 MOH
Mohammed, having provided for the secu-
rity of his companions, as well as his own, by
the league offensive and defensive which he
had now concluded with those of Medina,
directed them to repair thither, which they
accordingly did; but himself, with Abu Beer
and Ali, stayed behind, having not yet re-
ceived the Divine permission, as he pretended.
to leave Mecca. The Koreish, fearing the
consequence of this new alliance, began to
think it absolutely necessary to prevent Mo-
hammed’s escape to Medina; and having held
a council thereon, after several milder expe-
dients had been rejected, they came to a reso-
lution that he should be killed; and agreed
that a man should be chosen out of every
tribe for the execution of this design; and
that each man should have a blow at him
with his sword, that the guilt of his blood
might fall equally on all the tribes, to whose
united power the Hashemites were much in-
ferior, and, therefore, durst not attempt to
revenge their kinsman’s death.
This conspiracy was scarce formed. when,
‘ by some means or other, it came to Moham-
med’s knowledge; and he gave out that it
was revealed to him by the angel Gabriel,
who had now ordered him to retire to Medina.
Whereupon, to amuse his enemies, he di-
rected Ali to lie down in his place, and wrap
himself up in his green cloak, which he did;
and Mohammed escaped miraculously, as they
pretend, to Abu Becr’s house, unperceived
by the conspirators, who had already as-
sembled at the prophet’s door. They, in the
mean time, looking through the crevice, and
seeing Ali, whom they took to be Moham-
med himself, asleep, continued watching there
till morning, when Ali arose, and they found
themselves deceived.
From Abu Becr’s house Mohammed and
he went to a cave in Mount Thur, to the
south-east of Mecca, accompanied only by
Anior Ebn Foheira, Abu Bccr’s servant, and
Abd’allah Ebn Oreitah, an idolator whom they
had hired for a guide. In this cave they lay
hid three days, to avoid the search of their
enemies; which they very narrowly escaped,
and not without the assistance of more mira-
cles than one ; for some say that the Koreish
were struck with blindness, so that they could
not find the cave; others, that after Moham-
med and his companions were got in, two
pi eons laid their eggs at the entrance, and a
spider covered the mouth of the cave with
her web, which made them look no further.
Abu Beer, seeing the prophet in such immi-
nent danger, became very sorrowful; where-
upon Mohammed comforted him with these
words, recorded in the Koran :—~—“ Be not
grieved, for God is with us.” Their enemies
havin retired, they left the cave, and set out
for edina by a by-road; and having for-
tunately, or, as the Mohammedans tell us,
miraculously, escaped some who were sent to

pursue them, arrived safely at that city i
whither Ali followed them in three days,
after he had settled some affairs at Mecca.
Mohammed, being secure-1y settled at Me—
dina, and able not only to defend himself
against the insults of his enemies, but to attack
them, began to send out small parties to make
reprisals on the Koreish ; the first party con~
sisting of no more than nine men, who inter-
cepted and plundered a caravan belonging to
that tribe, and in the action took two prison-
ers. But what established his affairs very
much, and was the foundation on which he
built all his succeeding greatness, was the
gaining of the battle of Bedr, which was
fought in the second year of the Hegira,
and is so famous in the Mohammedan his-
tory. Some reckon no less than twenty-seven
expeditions, wherein Mohammed was person-
ally present, in nine of which he gave battle,
besides several other expeditions in which he
was not present. His forces he maintained
partly by the contributions of his followers
for this purpose, which he called by the name
of zacat, or alms, and the paying of which he
very artfully made one main article of his
religion; and partly by ordering a fifth part
of the plunder to be brought into the public
treasury for that purpose; in which matter
he likewise pretended to act by the Divine
direction.
In a few years, by the success of his arms,
notwithstanding he sometimes came off with
the worst, he considerably raised his credit
and power. In the sixth year of the Hegira
he set out with 1400 men to visit the temple
of Mecca, not with any intent of committing
hostilities, out in a peaceable manner. How-
ever, when he came to Al H'odeibiya, which
is situated partly within, and partly without
the sacred territory, the Koreish sent to let
him know that they would not permit him
to enter Mecca, unless he forced his way;
whereupon he called his troops about him,
and they all took a solemn oath of fealty or
homage to him, and he resolved to attack the
city; but those of Mecca sending Arwa Ebn
Masun, prince of the tribe of Thakif, as their
ambassador, to desire peace, a truce was con~
cluded between them for ten years, by which
any person was allowed to enter into league
either with Mohammed, or with the Koreish,
as he thought fit.
In the seventh year of the Hegira, Mo-
hammed began to think of propagating his
religion beyond the bounds of Arabia, and
sent messengers to the neighbouring princes,
with letters to invite them to Mohammed-
anism. Nor was this project without some
success: Khosru Parviz, then King of Per-
sia, received his letter with great disdain, and
tore it in a passion, sending away the messen-
ger very abruptly; which, when Mohammed
heard, he said, “ God shall tear his king_
dom.” And soon after a messenger came to
MOH 5
1 MOH
4)
And
Mohammed from Badhan, King of Yaman,
who was a dependent on the Persians, to ac-
quaint him that he had received orders to
send him to Khosru. Mohammed put off his
answer till the next morning, and then told
the messenger it had been revealed to him
that night that Khosru was slain by his son
Shiruyeh: adding, that he was well assured
his new religion and empire should rise to as
great a height as that of Khosru ; and, there~
fore, bid him advise his master to embrace
Mohammedanism. The messenger being re-
turned, Badhan in a few days received a letter
from Shiruyeh, informing him of his father’s
death, and ordering him to give the prophet
no further disturbance. Whereupon Badhan,
and the Persians with him, turned Moham-
medans.
The Emperor Heraclius, as the Arabian
historians assure us, received ,Mohammed’s
letter with great respect, laying it on his
pillow, and dismissed the bearer honourably.
And some pretend that he would have pro-
fessed this new faith, had he not been afraid
of losing his crown.
Mohammed wrote to the same effect to the
King of Ethiopia, though he had been con-
verted before, according to the Arab writers ;
and to Mokawkas, governor of Egypt, who
gave the messenger a very favourable recep-
tion, and sent several valuable presents to
Mohammed, and among the rest, two girls;
one of which, named Mary, became a great
favourite with him. He also sent letters of
the like purport to several Arab princes; par-
ticularly one to Al Hareth Ebn Abi Shamer,
King of Ghassan, who returning for answer
that he would go to Mohammed himself, the
_ prophet said, “ May his kingdom perish ;”
another to Hawdha Ebn Ali, King of Ya-
mama, who was a Christian, and having some ,
time before professed Islamism, had lately,
returned to his former faith: this prince
sent back a very rough answer, upon which :
Mohammed cursing him, he died soon after ;
and a third to Al Mondar Ebn Sawa, King *
of Bahrein, who embraced Mohammedanism,
and all the Arabs of ‘that country followed
his example.
The eighth year of the Hegira was a very
fortunate year ‘to Mohammed. In the be-
ginning of it Khaled Ebn al \Valid and Amru
Ebn al As, both excellent soldiers, the first of
whom afterwards conquered Syria and other
countries, and the latter Egypt, became prose-
lytes to Mohammedanism. And soon after the
prophet sent 3000 men against the Grecian
forces to revenge the death of one of his am-
bassadors, who, being sent to the governor of
Bosra, on the same errand as those who went
to the above mentioned princes, was slain by
an Arab of the tribe of Ghassan, at Muta, a
town in the territory of Balka, in Syria, about
three days’ journey eastward from Jerusalem,
near which town they encountered. The
Grecians being vastly superior in number
(for, including the auxiliary Arabs, they had
an army of 100,000 men,) the Mohammedans
were repulsed in the first attack, and lost
successively three of their generals, viz. Zeid
Ebn Haretha, Mohammed’s freedman; Jaa-
sar, the son of Abu Taleb; and 'Abdaliah
Ebn Rawalia: but Khalid Ebn a1 Walid, suc-
ceeding to the command, overthrew the
Greeks with great slaughter, and brought
away abundance of rich spoil: on occasion
of which action Mohammed gave him the
title of Seg'f min soyuf Allah—“ One of the
swords of God.”
In this year also, Mohammed took the city
of Mecca, the inhabitants whereof had broken
the truce concluded on two years before; for
the tribe of Beer, who were confederates with
the Koreish, attacking those of Kozaah, who
were allies of Mohammed, killed several of
them, being supported in the action by a party
of the Koreish themselves. The consequence
of this violation was soon apprehended, and
Abu Sosian himself made a journey to Me-
dina on purpose to heal the breach and renew
the truce, but in vain; for Mohammed, glad
of this opportunity, refused to see him:
whereupon he applied to Abu Beer and Ali;
but they giving him no answer, he was ob-
liged to return to Mecca as he came.
Mohammed immediately gave orders for
preparations to be made that he might sur-
prise the Meecans while they were unpro-
vided to receive him: in a little time he began
his march thither; and by the time he came
near the city, his forces were increased to
10,000 men. Those of Mecca not being in a
condition to defend themselves against so
formidable an army, surrendered at discre-
tion, and Abu Sosian saved his life by turning
Mohammedan. About twenty-eight of the
idolators were killed by a party under the
‘ command of Khaled ; but this happened con-
trary to Mohammed’s orders, who, when he
entered the town, pardoned all the Koreish
on their submission, except only six men
‘ and four women, who were more obnoxious
' than ordinary (some of them having aposta-
\ tized), and were solemnly proscribed by the
prophet himself; but of these no more than
, one man and one woman were put to death,
{ the rest obtaining pardon on their embracing
! Mohammedanism, and one of the women
l making her escape.
The remainder of this year Mohammed
employed in destroying the idols in and
round Mecca, sending several of the generals
on expeditions for that purpose, and to invite
! the Arabs to Islamism; wherein it is no won-
i der if they now met with success.
| The next year, being the ninth of the He-
' gira, the Mohammedans call the year of em-
bassz'es; for the Arabs had been hitherto ex-
‘ pecting the issue of the war between Moham-
imed and the Koreish; but as soon as that

M O H
MOH
522
tribe, the principal of the whole nation, and
the genuine descendants of Ishmael, whose
prerogatives none offered to dispute, had sub-
mitted, they were satisfied that it was not in
their power to oppose Mohammed; and,
therefore, began to come in to him in great
numbers, and to send embassies to make their
submissions to him, both to Mecca, while he
stayed there, and also to Medina, whither he
returned this year. Among the rest, five
kings of the tribe of Hamyer professed Mo-
hammedanism, and sent ambassadors to notify
the same.
In the tenth year, Ali was sent into Yaman
to propagate the Mohammedan faith there;
and, as it is said, converted the whole tribe or
Hamdan in one day. Their example was
quickly followed by all the inhabitants of
that province, except only those of Najran,
who, being Christians, chose rather to pay
tribute.
Thus was Mohammedanism established,
and idolatry rooted out, even in Mohammed’s
lifetime, (for he died the next year,) through-
out all Arabia, except only Yamama, where
Moseilama, who set up also as a prophet as
Mohammed’s competitor, had a great party,
and was not reduced till the kalifat of Abu
Beer; and the Arabs being then united in
one faith, and under one prince, found them-
selves in a condition of making those con-
quests which extended the Mohammedan faith
over so great a part of the world.
MOHAMMEDANISM, the system of religion
. founded and propagated by Mohammed, and
still adhered to by his followers. It is pro-
fessed by the Turks and Persians, and by
several nations in Africa and Eastern Asia.
It is divided by its adherents into two general
parts : Faith and Practice.
I. Religious Bcliefi
1. That they believe both Mohammed, and
those among his followers who are reckoned
orthodox, had, and continue to have, just and
true notions of God and his attributes, ap-
pears so plain from the Koran itself, and all
the Mohammedan divines, that it would be
loss of time to refute those who suppose the
God of Mohammed to be different from the
true God, and only a fictitious deity or idol of
his own creation.
2. The existence of angels and their pu-
rity, are absolutely required to be believed in
the Koran; and he is reckoned an infidel
who denies there are such beings, or hates
any of them, -or asserts any distinction of
sexes among them. They believe them to
have pure and subtle bodies created of fire,
that they neither eat nor drink, nor propa-
gate their species; that they have various
forms and oflices some adoring God in dif-
ferent postures, ot ICI‘S singing praises to him,
or interoeding for mankind. They hold,
that some of them are employed in writing
down the actions of men, others in carrying
the throne of God, and other services.
3. As to the Scriptures, the Mohammedans
are taught by the Koran, that God, in divers
ages of the world, gave revelations of his will in
writing to several prophets, the whole and every
one of which it is absolutely necessary for a
good Moslem to believe. The number of
these sacred books were, according to them,
one hundred and four; of which ten were
given to Adam, fifty to Seth, thirty to Edris,
or Enoch, ten to Abraham; and the other
four, being the Pentateueh, the Psalms, the
Gospel, and the Koran, were sucoessively'de-
livered to Moses, David, Jesus, and Moham-
med, which last being the seal of the prophets,
those revelations are now closed, and no more
are to be expected. All these divine books,
except the four last, they agree to be now
entirely lost, and their contents unknown;
though the Sabians have several books which
they attribute to some of the antediluvian
prophets. And of those four. the Pentateueh,
Psalms and Gospel, they say, have undergone
so many alterations and corruptions, that,
though there may possibly be some part
of the true word of God therein, yet no
credit is to be given to the present copies in
the hands of the Jews and Christians.
4. The number of the prophets which have
been from time to time sent by God into the
world, amounts to no less than 224,000, ac-
cording to one Mohammedan tradition ; or to
124,000, according to another; among whom
313 were apostles, sent with special com-
missions to reclaim mankind from infidelity
and superstition; and six of them brought
new laws or dispensations which successively
abrogated the preceding: these were Adam,
Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Moham-
med. All the prophets in general, the M0—
hammedans believe to have been free from
great sins and errors of consequence, and
professors of one and the same religion, that
is, Islamism, notwithstanding the different
laws and institutions which they observed.
They allow of degrees among them, and hold
some of them to be more excellent and ho-
nourable than others. The first place they
give to the revealers, and establishers of new
dispensations, and the next to the apostles‘:
In this great number of prophets they not
only reckon divers patriarchs and persons
named in Scripture, but not recorded to have
been prophets, (wherein the Jewish and
Christian writers have sometimes led the
way,) as Adam, Seth, Lot, Ishmael, Nun,
Joshua, &c., and introduced some of them ,
under different names, as Enoch, Heber, and
Jethro, who are called in the Koran, Edris,
Hud, and Shoaib; but several others whose
very names do not appear in Scripture,
(though they endeavour to find some persons
there to fix them on,) as Saleh, Khedr,
Dhu’lkefl, &c. ~
M O H 5
23 MOH
5. The belief of a general resurrection
and a future judgment.
The time of the resurrection the Moham~
medans allow to be a perfect secret to all but
God alone; the angel Gabriel himself ac-
knowledging his ignorance in this point, when
Mohammed asked him about it. However,
they say, the approach of that day may be
known from certain signs which are to pre-
cede it.
After examination is past, (the account of
which is too long and tedious for this place,)
and every one’s works weighed in a just ba-
lance, they say that mutual retaliation will
follow, according to which every creature
will take vengeance one of another, or have
satisfaction made them for the injuries which
they have suffered. And, since there will
then be no other way of returning like for
like, the manner of giving this satisfaction
will be by taking away a proportional part
of the good works of him who offered the
injury, and adding it to those of him
who suffered it. Which being done, if the
angels (by whose ministry this is to be
performed) say, “Lord, we have given to
every one his due, and there remaineth of
this person’s good works so much as equalleth
the weight of an ant,” God will, of his mercy,
cause it to be doubled unto him, that he may
be admitted into Paradise; but if, on the
contrary, his good works be exhausted, and
there remain evil works only, and there be
any who have not yet received satisfaction
from him, God will order that an equal weight
‘of their sins be added unto his, that he may
be punished for them in their stead, and he
will be sent to hell laden with both. This
will be the method of God’s dealing with
mankind. As to brutes, after they shall have
likewise taken vengeance of one another, he
will command them to be changed into dust ;
wicked men being reserved to more grievous
punishment, so that they shall cry out, on hear-
ing the sentence passed on the brutes, “ Would
to God that we were dust also!” As to the
genii, many Mohammedans are of opinion
that such of them as are true believers, will
undergo the same fate as the irrational ani-
mals, and have no other reward than the fa-
vour of being converted into dust; and for
this they quote the authority of their pro-
het.
p The trials being over, and the assembly
dissolved, the Mohammedans hold, that those
‘who are to be admitted into Paradise will
take the right hand way, and those who are
destined into hell-fire will take the left;
but both of them must first pass the bridge
called in Arabic Al Sirat, which, they say,
is laid over the midst of hell, and describe to
be finer than a hair, and sharper than the
edge of a sword ; so that it seems very diffi—
’cult to conceive how anyone shall be able
to stand upon it; for which reason most of
the sect of the Motazalites reject it as a
fable; though the orthodox think it a
sufficient proof of the truth of this article,
that it was seriously aflirmed by him who
never asserted a falsehood, meaning their
prophet; who, to add to the difficulty of the
passage, has likewise declared that this bridge
is beset on each side with briers and hooked
thorns, which will, however, be no impediment
to the good; for they shall pass with won-
derful ease and swiftness, like lightning, or
the wind, Mohammed and his Moslems lead-
ing the way; whereas the wicked, what with
the slipperiness and extreme narrowness of
the path, the entangling of the thorns, and
the extinction of the light which directed the
former to Paradise, will soon miss their foot-
ing, and fall headlong into hell, which is gaping
beneath them.
As to the punishment of the wicked, the
Mohammedans are taught that hell is divided
into seven stories or apartments, one below
another, designed for the reception of as
many distinct classes of the damned.
The first, which they call Jelzenan, they
say, will be the receptacle of those who ac-
knowledged one God, that is, the wicked
Mohammedans; who, after having been pu-
nished according to their demerits, will at
length be released; the second, named Lad/1a,
‘they assign to the Jews ; the third, named al
Hotama, to the Christians; the fourth, named
a1 Saz'r, to the Sabians; the fifth, named
Sa/tar, to the Magians; the sixth, named al
Jahz'n, to the idolaters; and the seventh,
which is the lowest and worst of all, and is
called al Hawyat, to the hypocrites, or those
who outwardlyr professed some religion, but
in their hearts were of none. Over each of
these apartments they believe there will be
set a guard of angels, nineteen in number;
to whom the damned will confess the just
judgment of God, and beg them to intercede
with him for some alleviation of their pain,
or that they may be delivered by being an-
nihilated.
Mohammed has, in his Koran and tradi-
tions, been very exact in describing the va-
rious torments of hell, which, according to
him, the wicked will suffer both from intense
heat and excessive cold. We shall, however,
enter into no detail of them here; but only
observe, that the degrees of these pains will
also vary in proportion to the crimes of the
sufferer, ‘and the apartment he is condemned
to; and that he who is punished the most
lightly of all will be shod with shoes of fire,
the fervour of which will cause his skull to
boil like a cauldron. The condition of these
unhappy wretches, as the same prophet
teaches, cannot be properly called either hfe
or death; and their misery will be greatly
increased by their despair of being ever de~
livered from that place, since, according to
that frequent expression in the Koran, “they

MOH
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52%
must remain'therein for ever.” It must be
remarked, however, that the infidels alone
will be liable to eternity of damnation; for
the Moslems, or those who have embraced
the true religion, and have been guilty of
heinous sins, will be delivered thence after
they shall have expiated their crimes by
their sufferings. The time which these be-
lievers shall be detained there, according to
a tradition handed down from their prophet,
will not be less than nine hundred years, nor
more than seven thousand. And, as to the
manner of their delivery, they say that they
shall be distinguished by the marks of pros-
tration on those parts of their bodies with
which they used to touch the ground in
prayer, and over which the fire will there-
fore have no power, and that being known
by this characteristic, they will be released
by the mercy of God, at the ‘intercession of
Mohammed and the blessed; whereupon
those who shall have been dead will be re-
stored to life, as has been said; and those
whose bodies shall have contracted any soot-
iness or filth from the flames and smoke of
hell, will be immersed in one of the rivers
of Paradise, called the River of Life, which
will wash them whiter than pearls.
The righteous, as the Mohammedans are
taught to believe, having surmounted the
difiiculties, and passed the sharp bridge above-
mentioned, before they enter Paradise, will
be refreshed by drinking at the pond of their
prophet, who describes it to be an exact
square, of a month’s journey in compass; its
water, which is supplied by two pipes from
al Cawtlzay, one of the rivers of Paradise,
being whiter than milk or silver, and more
odoriferous than musk, with as many cups
set round it as there are stars in the firma—
ment; of which water whoever drinks‘ will
thirst no more for ever. This is the first taste
which the blessed will have of their future,
and now near approaching, felicity.
Though Paradise be so very frequently
mentioned in the Koran, yet it is a dispute
among the Mohammedans, whether it be al-
ready created, or to be created hereafter; the
Motazalites and some other sectaries assert—
ing, that there is not at present any such
place in nature, and that the Paradise which
the righteous will inhabit in the next life will
be different from that from which Adam was
expelled. However, the orthodox profess the
contrary, maintaining that it was created
even before the world, and describe it, from
their prophet’s traditions, in the following
manner :— _
They say it is situated above the seven
heavens or in the seventh heaven), and next
' under the throne of God ; and to express the
amenity of the place, tell us, that the earth of
it is of the finest wheatflour, or of the purest
musk, or, as others will have it, of safi'ron';
that its stones are pearls and jacinths, the
I
walls of its buildings enriched with gold and
silver, and the trunks of all its trees are of
gold; among which the most remarkable is
the tree called tuba, or the tree of happiness.
Concerning this tree, they fable, that it stands
in the palace of Mohammed, though a branch
of it will reach to the house of every true be-
liev er: that it will be laden with pomegranates,
grapes, dates, and other fruits, of surprising
bigness, and of tastes unknown to mortals.
So that if a man desire to eat of any particular
.kind of fruit, it will immediately be presented
him; or, if he choose flesh, birds ready dressed
will be set before him, according to his wish.
They add, that the boughs of this tree will
spontaneously bend down to the hand of the
person who would gather of its fruits, and
that it will supply the blessed not only with
food, but also with silken garments, and
beasts to ride on ready saddled and bridled,
and adorned with rich trappings, which will
burst forth from its fruits; and that this tree
is so large, that a person mounted on the
fleetest horse, would not be able to gallop
from one end of its shade to the other in one
hundred years.
As plenty of water is one of the greatest
additions to the pleasantness of any place, the
Koran often speaks of the rivers of Paradise
as a principal ornament thereof; some of
these rivers, they say, flow with water, some
with milk, some with wine, and others with
honey; all taking their rise from the root of
the tree tuba.
But all these glories will be eclipsed by the
resplendent and ravishing girls of Paradise,
called, from their large black eyes, 1120' al
oyun, the enjoyment of whose company will
be a principal felicity of the faithful. These,
they say, are created not of clay, as mortal
women are, but of pure musk; being, as their
prophet often afiirms in his Koran, free from
all natural impurities, defects, and incon-
veniences incident to the sex; of the strictest
modesty, and secluded from public view in
pavilions of hollow pearls, so large, that, as
some traditions have it, one of them will be
no less than four parasangs (or, as others say,
sixty miles) long, and as many broad.
' The name which the Mohammedans
usually give to this happy mansion is al
Jannat, or “the Garden ;” and sometimes
they call it, with an addition, Jannat al Fer-
a'aws, “ the Garden of Paradise ;” Jannet
Adan, “ the Garden of Eden” (though they
generally interpret the word Eden not ac-
cording to its acceptation in Hebrew, but ac-
cording to its meaning in their own tongue,
wherein it signifies “ a settled or perpetual
habitation ;”) Jannat al Mawa, “ the Garden
of Abode ;” Jannat al Naz'm, “the Garden of
Pleasure,” and the like; by which several
appellations some understand so many differ-
ent gardens, or at least places of different de-
grees of felicity (for they reckon no less than
MOH
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525
one hundred such in all), the very meanest
whereof will afl'ord its inhabitants so many
pleasures and delights, that one would con-
clude they must even sink under them, had
not Mohammed declared that, in order to
qualify the blessed for a full enjoyment of
them, God will give to every one the abilities
of one hundred men.
6. God’s absolute decree and predestination
both of good and evil. The orthodox doc-
trine is, that whatever hath or shall come to
pass in this world, whether it be good or
whether it be bad, proceedeth entirely from
the divine will, and is irrevocably fixed and
recorded from all eternity in the preserved
table; God having secretly predetermined
not only the adverse and prosperous fortune
of every person in this world, in the most
minute particulars, but also his faith or infi-
delity, his obedience or disobedience, and
consequently his everlasting happiness or
misery after death ; which fate or predestina-
tion it is not possible by any foresight or
wisdom to avoid.
II. Religious practice.
1. The first point is prayer, under which
are also comprehended those legal washings
or purifications which are necessary prepara-
tions thereto.
For the regular performance of the duty of
prayer among the Mohammedans, it is requi- -
site, while they pray, to turn their faces
towards the temple of Mecca; the quarter
where the same is situated being, for that
reason, pointed out within their mosques by
a niche, which they call al Mehrab; and with-
out by the situation of the doors opening into
the galleries of the steeples: there are also
tables calculated for the ready finding out
their Keblah, or part towards which they
ought to pray, in places where they have no
other direction.
2. Alms are of two sorts, legal and volun-
tary. The legal alms are of indispensable
obligation, being commanded by the law,
which directs and determines both the portion
which is to be given, and of what things it
ought to consist; but ‘the voluntary alms are
left to every one’s liberty, to give more or
less, as he shall see fit. The former kind of
alms some think to be properly called meat,
and the latter sadakat, though this name be
also frequently given to the legal alms. They
are called zacat, either because they increase
a man’s store by drawing down a blessing
thereon, and produce in his soul the virtue of
liberality ; or because they purify the remain-
ing part of one’s substance from pollution,
and the soul from the filth of avarice; and
sgdakat, because they are a proof of a man’s
sincerity in the worship of God. Some wri—
~ ters have called the legal alms tithes,- but
'improperly, since in some cases they fall
short, and in others exceed that proportion.
3. Fasting is a duty of so great moment,
that Mohammed used to say it was “ the
gate of religion ;” and that the “ odour of the
mouth of him who fasteth is more grateful to
God than that of musk ;” and Al Ghazali
reckons fasting one-fourth part of the faith.
According to the Mohammedan divines, there
are three degrees of fasting. 1. The restrain-
ing of the belly and other parts of the body
from satisfying their lusts—2. The restrain-
ing the ears, eyes, tongue, hands, feet, and
other members, from sin—3. The fasting of
the heart from worldly cares, and restraining
the thought from every thing besides God.
4. The pilgrimage to Mecca is so necessary
a point of practice, that, according to a tra-
dition of Mohammed, he who dies without
performing it, may as well die a Jew or a
Christian; and the same is expressly com-
manded in the Koran. See PILGBIMAGE.
III. Mohammedanism, causes of the success of:
The rapid success which attended the pro- '
pagation of this new religion was owing to
causes that are plain and evident, and must
remove, or rather prevent our surprise, when
they are attentively considered. The terror
of Mohammed’s arms, and the repeated vic-
tories which were gained by him and his
successors, were no doubt, the irresistible
arguments that persuaded such multitudes to
embrace his religion, and submit to his do~
minion. Besides, his law was artfully and
marvellously adapted to the corrupt nature of
man; and, in a most particular manner, to
the manners and opinions of the Eastern
nations, and the vices to which they were
naturally addicted: for the articles of the
faith which it proposed were few in number,
and extremely simple; and the duties it re~
quired were neither many nor difiicult, nor
such as were incompatible with the empire of
appetites and passions. It is to be observed
further, that the gross ignorance under which
the Arabians, Syrians, Persians, and the
greatest part of the Eastern nations, laboured
at this time, rendered many an easy prey to
the artifice and eloquence of this bold adven-
turer. To these causes of the progress of
Mohammedanism we may add the bitter dis-
sensions and cruel animosities that reigned .
among the Christian sects, particularly the
Greeks, Nestorians, Eutychians, and Mono-
physites; dissensions that filled a great part
of the East with carnage, assassinations, and
such detestable enormities, as rendered the
very name of Christianity odious to many.
\Ve might add here, that the Monophysites
and Nestorians, full of resentment against
the Greeks, from whom they had suffered the
bitterest and most injurious treatment, assisted
the Arabians in the conquest of several pro-
vinces, into which, of consequence. the reli-
gion of Mohammed was afterwards intro-
duced. Other causes of the sudden progress
MOM
MON
526
of that religion will naturally occur to such
as consider attentively its spirit and genius,
and the state of the world at this time. For
the two preceding articles, see Prideaurv’s Life
of lilahomet; Moshcim’s Eccl. Hist. cent. vii.
.ch. 2 ; Salc’s Preliminary Discourse, prefixed
to his English Translation of the Koran;
Simpson’s Key to Proph., sect. 19 ; Bishop
Newton, Merle, and Gill, on Rev. ix.; Millcr’s
Propag. of Christianity, vol. i. ch. 1 ; White’s,
Sermons at Bampton Lea,- Enc. Brit. ,- M ill’s
1V1 ohammcdanism. ‘ .
MOLINISTS, a sect in the Romish Church
who follow the doctrine and sentiments of the
Jesuit Molina, relating to sufiioient and effica—
cious grace. He taught that the operations
of divine grace were entirely consistent with
the freedom of the human will; and intro-
duced a new kind of hypothesis to remove
the difiiculties attending the doctrines of pre-
destination and liberty, and to reconcile the
jarring opinions of Augustines, Thomists,
Semi-Pelagians, and other contentious divines.
He afiirmed that the decree of predestination
to eternal glory was founded upon a previous
knowledge and consideration of the merits of
the elect; that the grace, from whose opera-
tion these merits are derived, is not eflicacious
by its own intrinsic power only, but also by
the consent of our own will, and because it is
administered in those circumstances in which
the Deity, by that branch of his knowledge
which is called scicntia media, foresees that it
will be efficacious. The kind of prescience,
denominated in the schools scientia media, is
that foreknowledge of future contingents that
arises from an acquaintance with the nature
and faculties of rational beings, of the circum-
stances in which they shall be placed, of the
objects that shall be presented to them, and of
the influence which their circumstances and
objects must have on their actions.
MoLLAH, a spiritual and judicial ofiicer
among the Turks, who has civil and criminal
jurisdiction over towns, or whole districts,
and is therefore a superior judge, under whom
are the cadis, or inferior judges.
MoLoKANs, a numerous sect in Russia, so
called from their use of milk or milk diet on
the Russian fasts. These fasts they entirely
reject, but keep Saturday as a fast day. They
are more enlightened than the generality of
the members of the Greek Church, and doubt-
less many truly pious people are to be found
among them; but they greatly need to be
taught the way of God more perfectly.
Mommas, a Protestant sect, of recent ori-
gin, in Geneva, and some other parts of
Switzerland, founded by Empeytaz, a student
of divinity, and follower of the Baroness Von
Krudener, Mr. Malan, and others who sepa-
rated from the Genevese Church. The name
(from momerie, mummery) was given them
by way of contempt. Their principles, which
they regard as exclusively orthodox, are by
no means settled; and many of them are
founded on distorted and extravagant views
of Scripture, such as an absolute personal
assurance of salvation in every believer, the
actual descent of Christ into the place of tor-
ment, &c.
MoNARcHIANs, a name given to those who
seceded from the ancient- orthodox faith, be-
cause they insisted upon the Divine unity,
which they considered to be infringed by the
common doctrine, which taught that there
are three eternal persons in the Divine na-
ture. Monarchiam tenemus was their frequent
assertion when comparing themselves with
the orthodox fathers. This general class,
however, comprehended many who differed
more from each other than they did even
from those reputed orthodox, and who, in-
deed, had nothing in common but a great zeal
for monotheism, and a fear lest the unity of
God should be endangered by the hypostases
of the Alexandrine fathers. Thus Theodotus,
Artemon, and Paul of Samosata, were placed
by the side of Praxeus, Noetus, Beryllus of
Bostra, and Sabellius, between whom and
themselves, on every essential point of Chris-
tian doctrine, there was- a total opposition.
They agreed only in denying that the
prophoric Logos, whom they admitted as a
power or manifestation of the Deity, existed
before his incarnation as a distinct person;
while, with regard to the manner of his
being in Christ, they difi'ered as widely as
possible. Theodotus, and his followers, sup-
posed this divine energy to be in Christ
merely as influence exerted upon him, in the
same way as upon the ancient prophets,
though in a higher degree. Praxeus, on the
contrary, and those of his school, supposed
that this divine, though impersonal energy,
was God himself, on which account they
were charged with teaching that the Father
himself suffered, &c. Hence they were called
05077'610'XLTG1, patripassiani. See the article
PATRIPASSIANS.
MONASTERY, a convent or house built for

abbey, priory, nunnery, or the like.
Monastery is only properly applied to the
houses of monks, mendicant friars, and nuns:
the rest are more properly called religious

houses. For the origin of monasteries, see
Monas'rrc and Monx.
The houses belonging to the several reli-
‘ gious orders which obtained in England and
Wales, were cathedrals, colleges, abbeys, pri-
, ories, preceptories, commanderies, hospitals,
‘ friaries, hermitages, chantries, and free cha-
i pels.-—-These were under the direction and
\ management of various ofiicers. The disso-
lution of houses of this kind began so early
i as the year 1312, when the Templars were
l suppressed; and in 1323,their lands, churches,
' advowsons, and liberties, here in England,
‘ were given by 17 Edward II.; stat. 3, to the
the reception of religious; whether it be-
MON
MON
527
prior and brethren of the hospital of St. John
of Jerusalem. In the years 1390, 1437, 1441,
1459, 1497, 1505, 1508, and 1515, several
other houses were dissolved, and their reve-
nues settled on different colleges in Oxford
and Cambridge. Soon after the last period,
Cardinal Wolsey, by licence of the king and
pope, obtained a dissolution of above thirty
religious houses for the founding and endow—
ing his colleges at Oxford and Ipswich. About
the same time, a hull was granted by the same
pope to Cardinal Wolsey to suppress monas-
teries, where there were not above six monks,
to the value of eight thousand ducats a year,
for endowing Windsor and King’s College in
Cambridge; and two other bulls were granted
to Cardinals Wolsey and Campeius, where
there were less than twelve monks, and to
anex them to the greater monasteries; and
another bull to the same cardinals to inquire
about abbeys to be suppressed in order to be
made cathedrals. Although nothing appears
to have been done in consequence of these
bulls, the motive which induced IrVolsey and
many others to suppress these houses, was
the desire of promoting learning; and Arch-
bishop Cranmer engaged in it with a view of
carrying on the Reformation. There were
other causes that concurred to bring on their
ruin: many of the religious were loose and
vicious ; the monks were generally thought to
be in their hearts attached to the pope’s su-
premacy: their revenues were not employed
according to the intent of the donors; many
cheats in images, feigned miracles, and coun-
terfeit relics, had been discovered, which
brought the monks into disgrace; the Oh-
servant friars had opposed the king’s divorce
from Queen Catharine; and these circum-
stances operated, in concurrence with the
king’s want of a supply, and the people’s
desire to save their money, to forward a mo-
tion in parliament, that, in order to support
the king’s state, and supply his wants, all the
religious houses might be conferred upon the
crown, which were not able to spend above
2001. a-year; and an act was passed for that
purpose, 27 Henry VIII. 0. 28. By this act,
about three hundred and eighty houses were
dissolved, and a revenue of 30,0001. or 32,0001.
a-year came to the crown; besides about
100,000L in plate and jewels. The suppres-
sion of these houses occasioned discontent,
and at length an open rebellion: when this
was appeased,'the king resolved to suppress
the rest of the monasteries, and appointed a
new visitation, which caused the greater ab-
beys to be surrendered apace; and it was
enacted by 31 Henry VIII. c. 13, that all
monasteries which have been surrendered
since the 4th of February, in the twenty-
seventh year of his majesty’s reign, and which
hereafter shall be surrendered, shall be vested
in the king. The knights of St. John of
Jerusalem were also suppressed by the 32nd
Henry VIII. c. 24. The suppression of these
greater houses by these two acts produced a
revenue to the king of above 100,000l. a-year,
besides a large sum in plate and jewels. The
last act of dissolution in this king’s reign was
the act of 37 Henry VIII. 0. 4, for dissolving
colleges, free chapels, chantries, &c., which
act was farther enforced by 1 Edw. VI. 0. 14.
By this act were suppressed 90 colleges, 110
hospitals, and 2374 chantries and free cha-
pels. The number of houses and places sup-
pressed from first to last, so far as any calcu-
lations appear to have been made, seems to be
as follows :—
Of lesser monasteries, of which we

have the valuation . 374
Of greater monasteries 186
Belonging to the hospitallers 48
Colleges . . . 90
Hospitals . . . l 10
Chantries and free chapels . 2374
Total 3182
Besides the friars’ houses, and those sup-
pressed by Wolsey, and many small houses
of which we have no particular account.
The sum total of the clear yearly revenue
of the several houses at the time of their dis—
solution, of which we have any account, seems
to be as follows:—
Of the greater monaste-
ries . . . £104,919 13 39?;
Of all those of the lesser
monasteries, of which
we have the valuation . 29,702 l 105-
Knights, hos pitallers, head
house in London . 2,385 12 8
We have the valuation of
only 28 of their houses
in the country . 3,026 9 5
Friars’ houses, of which
we have the valuation . 751 2 0%

Total £140,784 19 3%
If proper allowances are made for the lesser
monasteries and houses not included in this
estimate, and for the plate, 820., which came
into the hands of the king by the dissolution,
and for the value of money at that time, which
was at least six times as much as at present,
and also consider that the estimate of the
lands was generally supposed to be much
under the real worth, we must conclude their
whole revenues to have been immense.
It does not appear that any computation
hath been made of the number of persons
contained in the religious houses.
Those of the lesser monasteries dis-
solved by 27 Hen. VIII. were
reckoned at about .
. 10,000
If we suppose the colleges and hes-
MON
MON_
528
pitals to have contained a proper-
tionable number, these will make
about . . . . . .
If we reckon the number in the
greater monasteries according to
the proportion of their revenues,
they will be about 35,000; but as,
probably, they had larger allow—
ences in proportion to their num-
ber than those of the lesser monas-
teries, if w e abate upon that account
5000, they will then be
One for each chantry and free
chapel . . . . .
5,347
30,000
2,374

Total 47,721
But as there was probably more than one per-
son to ofliciate in several of the free chapels,
and there were other houses which are not
included within this calculation, perhaps they
may be computed in one general estimate at
about 50,000. As there were pensions paid
to almost all those of the greater monasteries,
the king did not immediately come into the
full enjoyment of their whole revenues; how-
ever, by means of what he did receive, he
founded six new bishoprics, viz. those of
Westminster (which was changed by Queen
Elizabeth into a deanery, with twelve pre-\
bends and a school,) Peterborough, Chester,
Gloucester, Bristol, and Oxford. And in
eight other sees he founded deaneries and
chapters, by converting the priors and monks
into deans and prebendaries, viz. Canterbury,
Winchester, Durham, Worcester, Rochester,
Norwich, Ely, and Carlisle. He founded also
the colleges of Christ Church in Oxford, and
Trinity in Cambridge, and finished King’s
College there. He likewise founded profes-
sorships of divinity, law, physio, and of the
Hebrew and Greek tongues in both the said
universities. He gave the house of Grey
Friars and St. Bartholomew’s Hospital to the
city of London, and a perpetual pension to
the poor knights of Windsor, and laid out
great sums in building and fortifying many
ports in the channel. It is observable, upon
the whole, that the dissolution of these houses
was an act not of the church, but of the state,
in the period preceding the Reformation, by
a king and parliament of the Roman Catholic
communion in all points, except the king’s
supremacy; to which the pope himself, by
his bulls and licences, had led the way.
As to the merits of these institutions, authors
are much divided. While some have consi-
dered them as beneficial to learning, piety,
and benevolence, others have thought them
very injurious. We may form some idea of
them from the following remarks of Mr. Gil-
in.
p He is speaking of Glastonbury Abbey,
which possessed the amplest revenues of any
religious house in England. “ Its fraternity,”
says he, “ is said to have consisted of five
~ they lodged as their own.
vellers, with their horses, have been lodged'

hundred established monks, besides nearly as
many retainers on the abbey. Above four ‘
hundred children were not only educated in
it, but entirely maintained. Strangers from
all parts of Europe were liberally received,
classed according to their sex and nation, and
might consider the hospitable roof under which
Five hundred tra-
at once within its walls ; while the poor from
every side of the country, waiting the ringing
of the alms-bell, when they flocked in crowds,
young and old, to the gate of the monastery,
where they received every morning a plentiful
provision for themselves and their families:
—all this appears great and noble. ,
“ On the other hand, when we consider five
hundred persons, bred up in indolence, and
lost to the commonwealth—when we consider
that these houses were the great nurseries of
superstition, bigotry, and ignorance ; the stews
of sloth, stupidity, and perhaps intemperance
-—when we consider that the education re-
ceived in them had not the least tincture of
useful learning, good manners, or true reli-
gion, but tended rather to vilify and disgrace
the human mind—when we consider that the
pilgrims and strangers who resorted thither
were idle vagabonds, who got nothing abroad
that was equivalent to the occupations they
left at home; and when we consider, lastly,
that indiscriminate alms-giving is not real
charity, but an avocation from labour and
industry, checking every idea of exertion, and
filling the mind with abject notions, we are
led to acquiesce in the fate of these founda-
tions, and view their ruins, not only with a
picturesque eye, but with moral and religious
satisfaction. Gilpz'n’s Observations on the
Western parts of England, pp. 138, 139 ; Big-
land’s Letters on Hist, p. 313.
Monas'rrc, something belonging to monks,
or the monkish life. The monastic profession
is a kind of civil death, which in all worldly
matters has the same effect with the natural
death. The Council of Trent, &c., fix sixteen
years as the age at which a person may be
admitted into the monastical state.
St. Anthony is the person who, in the fourth
century, first instituted the monastic life ; as
St. Fachomius, in the same century, is said to
have set on foot the coenobitic life,——z'. e. regu-
lar communities of religious. In a short time
the deserts of Egypt became inhabited by a
set of solitaries, who took upon them the
monastic profession. St. Basil carried the
monkish humour into the East, where he
composed a rule which afterwards obtained
through a great part of the West.
In the eleventh century, the monastic disci-
pline was grown very remiss. St. Oddo first
began to retrieve it in the monastery of Cluny :
that monastery, by the conditions of its erec-
tion, was put under the immediate protection
of the holy see; with a prohibition to all
MON
M O N
529
powers both secular and ecclesiastical, to dis-
turb the monks in the possession of ‘their
effects, or the election of their abbot. In
virtue hereof, they pleaded an exemption
from the jurisdiction of the bishop, and ex-
tended this privilege to all the houses dependent
on Cluny. This made the first ‘congregation
of several houses under one chief immediately
subject to the pope, so as to constitute one
body, or as they now call it, one religious
order. Till then, each monastery was inde-
pendent, and subject to the bishops. See
MONK.
MONK, anciently denoted “ a person who
retired from the world to give himself wholly
to God, and to live in solitude and abstinence.”
The word is derived from the Latin monachus,
and that from the Greek uovaxog, “solitary ;”
of Itovog, solus, “alone.”
The original of monks seems to have been
this :——T he persecutions which attended the
first ages of the gospel, forced some Chris-
tians to retire from the world, and live in
deserts and places most private and unfre-
quented, in hopes of finding that peace and
comfort among beasts, which were denied
them among men ; and this being the case of
some very extraordinary persons, their ex;
ample gave such reputation to retirement, that
the practice was continued when the reason
of its commencement ceased. After the
empire became Christian, instances of this
kind were numerous; and those whose se-
curity had obliged them to live separately and
apart, became afterwards united into societies.
We may also add, that the mystic theology.
which gained ground towards the close of
the third century, contributed to produce the
same effect, and to drive men into solitude
for the purposes of devotion.
The monks, at least the ancient ones,
were distinguished into solitaries, coenobz'tes,
and scrub-lites.
The solitaries are those who live alone, in
places remote from all towns and habitations
of men, as do still some of the hermits. The
coenobites are those who live in community
with several others in the same house, and
under the same superiors. The sarabites
were strolling monks, having no fixed rule
or residence.
The houses of monks, again, were of two
kinds, viz., monasteries and aurre.
Those who are now called monks are 003—
nobites, who live together in a convent or
monastery, who make vows of living accord-
ing to a certain rule established by the founder,
and wear a habit which distinguishes their
order. ‘
Those that are endowed, or have a fixed
revenue, are most properly called monks,
monachi; as the Chartreux, Benedictines,
Bernardines, 850. The Mendicants, or those
that beg—as the Capuchins and Franciscans
.———are more properly called religious and
friars, though the names are frequently con-
founded. ‘ '
The first monks were those of St. Anthony,
who, towards the close of the fourth century,
formed them into a regular body, engaged
them to live in society with each other, and
prescribed to them fixed rules for the direc-
tion of their conduct. These regulations,
which Anthony had made in Egypt, were
soon introduced into Palestine and Syria, by
his disciple Hilarion. Almost about the same
time, Aones, or Eugenius, with their com-
panions Gaddanas vand Azyras, instituted the
monastic order in Mesopotamia, and the ad-
jacent countries; and their example was fol-
lowed with such rapid success, that in a short
time the whole East was filled with a lazy
set of mortals, who, abandoning all human
connexions, advantages, pleasures, and con-
cerns, wore out "a languishing and miserable
existence, amidst the hardships of want, and
various kinds of suffering, in order to arrive
at a more close and rapturous communication
with God and angels.
From the East, this gloomy disposition
passed into the West, and first into Italy and
its neighbouring islands; though it is uncer-
tain who transplanted it thither. St. Martin,
the celebrated bishop of Tours, erected the
first monasteries in Gaul, and recommended
this religious solitude with such power and
efficacy, both by his instructions and his ex-
ample, that his funeral is said to have been
attended by no less than two thousand monks.
From hence the monastic discipline extended
gradually its progress through the other pro-
vinces and countries of Europe. There were,
besides the monks of St. Basil, (called in the
East Calogeri, from Kahog 'yspwv, “a good
old man,”) and those of St. Jerome, the her-
mits of St. Augustine, and afterwards those
of St. Benedict and St. Bernard: at length
came those of St. Francis and St. Dominic,
with a legion of others; all of which see
under their proper heads.
Towards the close of the fifth century, the
monks who had formerly lived only for
themselves in solitary retreats, and had never
thought of assuming any rank among the
sacerdotal order, were now gradually distin-
guished from the populace, and endowed
with such opulence and honourable privileges,
that they found themselves in a condition to
claim an eminent station among the pillars
and supporters of the Christian community.
The fame of their piety and sanctity was so
great, that bishops and presbyters were often
chosen out of their order; and the passion
of erecting edifices and convents, in which
the monks and holy virgins might serve God
in the most commodiousmanner, was at that
time carried beyond all bounds. However,
their licentiousness, even in this century, was
become a proverb ; and they are said to have
excited the most dreadful tumults and sedi-
M M
MON 5
0 ' MON
tions in various places. The monastic orders
were at first under the immediate jurisdiction
of the bishops, from which they were ex-
empted by the Roman pontiff‘ about the end
of the seventh century; and the monks, in
return, devoted themselves wholly to advance
the interest and to maintain the dignity of
the bishop of Rome. This immunity which
they obtained was a fruitful source of licen-
tiousness and disorder, and occasioned the
greatest part of the vices with which they
were afterwards so justly charged. In the
eighth century, the monastic discipline was
extremely relaxed, both in the eastern and
western provinces, and all efforts to restore it
were ineffectual. Nevertheless, this kind of
institution was in the highest esteem; and
nothing could equal the veneration that was
paid, about the close of the ninth century, to
such as devoted themselves to the sacred
gloom and indolence of a convent. This ve—
neration caused several kings and emperors
to call them to their courts, and to employ
them in civil affairs of the greatest moment.
Their reformation was attempted by Louis
the Meek, but the effect was of short dura-
tion. In the eleventh century, they were
exempted by the popes from the authority
established; insomuch, that in the Council
of Lateran, that was held in the year 1215, a
decree was passed, by the advice of Innocent
III., to prevent any new monastic institutions;
and several were entirely suppressed. In
the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, it ap-
pears, from the testimony of the best writers,
that the monks were generally lazy, illiterate,
profligate and licentious epicures, whose views
in life were confined to opulence, idleness,
and pleasure. However, the Reformation
had a manifest influence in restraining their
excesses, and rendering them more circum-
spect and cautious in their external conduct.
Monks are distinguished, by the colour of
their habits, into black, white, grey, &c.
Among the monks, some are called monhs Qf
the choir. others professed monks, and others
‘lay monhs; which last are destined for the
service of the convent, and have neither cle-
rieate nor literature.
Cloistercd monks are those who actually
reside in the house, in opposition to extra
monks, who have benefices. depending on the
monastery. \
Monks are also distinguished into reformed,
whom the civil and ecclesiastical authority
have made masters of ancient convents, and
put in their power to retrieve the ancient
discipline which had been relaxed; and an-
cient, who remain in the convent, to live in it
according to its establishment at the time
when they made their vows, without obliging
themselves to any new reform.
Anciently the monks were all laymen, and
were only distinguished from the rest of the
people by a peculiar habit, and an extraor-

dinary devotion. Not only the monks were
prohibited the priesthood, but even priests
were expressly prohibited from becoming
monks, as appears from the letters of St. Gre-
gory. Pope Siricius was the first who called
them to the clericate, on occasion of some
great scarcity of priests that the church was
then supposed to labour under; and since
that time the priesthood has been usually
united to the monastical profession. Ency.
Brit; British M'onachism, or Manners and
Customs of Monks and Nuns of England ,- lilo-
sheim’s Ecc. Hist.
MONOPHYSITES, (from poi/cg, solus, and
(twig, natura,) a general name given to all
those sectaries in the Levant, who only own
one nature in Jesus Christ; and who main-
tain that the divine and human nature of
Jesus Christ were so united as to form only
one nature, yet without any change, confu-
sion, or mixture of the two natures.
The Monophysites, however, properly so
called, are the followers of Severus, a learned
monk of Palestine, who was created patriarch
of Antioch in 513, and Petrus Fullensis.
The Monophysites were encouraged by the
emperor Anastasius, but suppressed by Justin
and succeeding emperors. However, this sect
was restored by Jacob Baradaeus, an obscure
monk; insomuch that when he died bishop
of Edessa, A.D. 588, he left it in a most
flourishing state in Syria, ‘Mesopotamia, Ar-
menia, Egypt, Nubia, Abyssinia, and other
countries. The laborious efforts of Jacob
were seconded in Egypt and the adjacent
countries by Theodosius, bishop of Alexan-
dria; and he became so famous, that all the
Monophysites of the East considered him as
their second parent and founder, and are to
this day called Jacobites, in honour of their
new chief. The Monophysites are divided
into two sects or parties, the one African and
the other Asiatic; at the head of the latter
is the patriarch of Antioch, who resides for
the most part in the monastery of St. Atha-
nias, near the city of Merdin: the former are
under the jurisdiction of the patriarch of
Alexandria, who generally resides at Grand
Cairo, and are subdivided into Copts and
Abyssinians. From the ‘fifteenth century
downwards, all the patriarchs of the Mono-
physites have taken the name of Ignatius, in
order to show that they are the lineal succes-
sors of Ignatius, who was bishop of Antioch
in the first century, and consequently the
lawful patriarch of Antioch. In the seven-
teenth century, a small body of Monophysites,
in Asia, abandoned for some time the doc-
trine and institution of their ancestors, and
embraced the communion of Rome; but the
African Monophysites, notwithstanding that
poverty and ignorance which exposed them
to the seductions of sophistry and gain, stood
firm in their principles, and made an obsti-
nate resistance to the promises, presents, and
MON
MON
531
2. The Coptic Church.
,which, as acknowledging the supre-
attempts employed by the papal missionaries
to bring them under the Roman yoke; and
in the eighteenth century, those of Asia and
Africa have persisted in their refusal to enter
into the communion of the Romish Church,
notwithstanding the earnest entreaties and
alluring offers that have been made from time
to time by the pope’s legates, to conquer their
inflexible constancy.
In the present day, the Monophysite
churches are,—-1. The Syrian Jacobite Church.
3. The Abyssinian
macylof‘tlielJacobite patriarch of Alexandria,
may be considered as a branch of the Coptic.
4. The Nestorian-Chaldean Church, the head
of which is the patriarch of Babylon, residing
at Mosoul. 5. The Armenian Church; and,
6. The Indo-Syrian Church, under the Me-
tropolitan of Malabar, who acknowledges,
however, the supremacy of the patriarch of
Antioch.
Mono'rnnrsiu, the belief in and worship of
one only God, in opposition to polytheism,
which acknowledges a plurality of gods. All
the different mythologies have, among the
host of gods with which they people heaven
and earth, some superior or supreme deity,
more or less defined, but in every case distin-
guished above the others; and in the history
of all the different nations where polytheism
has obtained, we may trace a period when
the idea of one God was more or less preva-
lent. The most ancient traditions concur
with the testimony of sacred Scripture in re-
presenting this as the primary and uncor-
rupted religion of mankind.
MONO'I‘HELITES (compounded of uovog,
“ single,” and (is/Mum, 90w), volo, “ I will,”)
an ancient sect, which sprung out of the
Eutychians; thus called, as only allowing of
one will in Jesus Christ. _
The opinion of the Monothelites had its
rise in 630, and had the emperor Heraclius
for an adherent _: it was the same with that of
the acephalous Severians. They allowed of
two wills in Christ, considered with regard to
the two natures; but reduced them to one, by
reason of the union of the two natures, think-
ing it absurd that there should be two free
wills in one and the same person. They were
condemned ‘by the sixth general council in
680, as being supposed to destroy the perfec-
tion of the humanity of J esus' Christ, de-
priving it of will and operation. Their sen-
timents were afterwards embraced by the
Maronites.
Mon'rams'rs, a sect which sprung up about
the year 171, in the reign of the emperor
Marcus Aurelius. They were so called from
their leader Montanus, a Phrygian by birth ;
whence they are sometimes called Plzrygians
and Cataplnygians.
Montanus, it is said, embraced Christianity,
in hopes "of rising to the dignities of the
church. He pretended to inspiration; and gave
out that the Holy Ghost had instructed him
in several points which had not been revealed
to the apostles. Priscilla and Maximilla, two
enthusiastic women of Phrygia, presently
became his disciples, and in a short time he
had a great number of followers. The bi-
shops of Asia, being assembled together, con-
, demned his prophecies, and excommunicated
those that dispersed them. Afterwards they .
wrote an account of what had passed to the
western churches, where the pretended pro-
phecies of Montanus and his followers were
likewise condemned. -
The Montanists, finding themselves ex-
posed to the censure of the whole church,
formed a schism, and set up a distinct society
under the direction of those who called them-
selves prop/zets. Montanus, in conjunction
with Priscilla and Maximilla, were at the
head of this sect.
These sectaries made no alteration in the
creed. They only held that the Holy Spirit
made Montanus his organ for delivering a
more perfect form of discipline than what was
delivered by his apostles. They refused com-
munion for ever to those who were guilty of
notorious crimes, and believed that the bi-
shops had no authority to reconcile them.
They held it unlawful to fly in time of perse-
cution. They condemned second marriages,
allowed the dissolution of marriage, and ob-
served three lents.
Mox'rn-Nncnmns, the inhabitants of an
arid mountainous district, called Monte-Ne-
gro, in Albania. They profess to be Greek
Christians, and hate the pope as they do the
Turks. They reject images, crucifixes, and
pictures, and will not admit a Catholic, witl -
out rebuptizing him. They are said, perhaps
unjustly, to be very depraved in their morals;
very ignorant in religion, and very supersti—
tious. They have their own patriarch, and
are about 60,000 in number.
MORAL, relating to the actions or conduct
of life, or that which determines an action
to be good or virtuous—2. A moral agent is a
being that is capable of those actions that
have a moral quality, and which can properly
be denominated good or evil in a moral sense.
—3. A moral certainly is a very strong pro~
bability, and is used in eontradistinction to ma-
thematical probability.--4. M'oral fitness is the
agreement of the actions of any intelligent
being with the nature, circumstances, and re-
lation of things—5. A moral improbabzliiy is a
very great or insupcrable difiiculty; opposed
to a natural impossibility. See INABILITY.—
6. Moral obligation is the necessity of doing
or omitting any action in order to be happy
and good. See OBLIGATIorL—T. llloral phi—
losop/zy' is the science of manners, the know-
ledge of our duty and felicity. See Prune-
soPHY.——8. ilforal sense, that whereby we per-
ceive what is good, virtuous, and beautiful in
MOR
MOB
532
actions, manners, and characters; or it is a
kind of satisfaction in the mind arising from
the contemplation of those actions of ra~
tional agents which we call good or virtuous:
some call this natural conscience, others in—
tuitive perception of right and wrong, 850.
See article SENSE.-——9. Moral law. See Law,
EVIDENCE.
Monam'rrns, allegorical plays, so termed
because they consisted of moral discourses in
praise of virtue and condemnation of vice.
They succeeded the Mysteries, which see.
The dialogues were carried on by such charac-
ters as Good Doctrine, Charity, Faith, Pru~
dence, Discretion, Death, 860. whose dis-
courses were of a serious cast ; while the pro-
vince of making merriment for the spectators
was devolved upon Vice, Iniquity, or some bad
quality, which was personified and acted its
part. Moralities were exhibited as late as the
reign of Henry V 111., and after various modi—
fications, assumed the form of the Mask,which
became a favourite entertainment at the court
of Elizabeth and her successors. '
MORALITY is that relation or proportion
which actions bear to a given rule. It is
generally used in reference to a good life.
Morality is distinguished from religion thus :
“ Morality is a studious conformity of our
actions to the relations in which we stand to
each other in civil society. Morality com-
prehends only a part of religion ; but religion
comprehends the whole of morality. Morality
finds all ‘her motives here below; religion
fetches all her motives from above. The
highest principle in morals is a just regard to
the rights of men; the first principle in reli-
gion is the love of God.” The various duties
of morality are considered in their respective
places in this work. See Bishop Horsley’s
Charge, 1790; Paley’s and Grove’s Moral
Philosophy; Beattie’s Elements of‘ Moral
Science,- Evans’s Sermons on Christian Tem-
per ; l/Vatfs’s Sermons on Christian Morals ;
jl/Iason’s Christian Morals; H. More’s Hints,
vol. ii. p. 245; Gisborne’s Sermons designed to
illustrate and enforce Christian Morality.
MORAVIANS, a sect generally said to have
arisen under Nicholas Lewis, count of Zinzen-
dorf, a German nobleman of the last century,
and thus called because the first converts to
their system were some Moravian families.
According to the society's own account, how-
ever, they derive their origin from the Greek
church in the ninth century, when, by the
instrumentality of Methodius and Cyrillus,
two Greek monks, the kings of Bulgaria and
Moravia being converted to the faith, were,
together with their subjects, united in com-
munion with the Greek church. Methodius
was their first bishop, and for their use Cy-
rillus translated the Scriptures into the Sela-
vonian language.
The antipathy of the Greek and Roman
churches is well known, and by much the]
greater part of the Brethren were in process
of time compelled, after many struggles, to
submit to the see of Rome. A few, however,
adhering to the rites of their mother church,
united themselves, in 1170, to the Waldenses,
and sent missionaries into many countries.
In 1547, they were called Fratres legz's
Christi, or Brethren of the Law of Christ;
because, about that period, they had thrown
off all reverence for human compilations of
the faith, professing simply to follow the
doctrines and precepts contained in the word
of God. _ '
There being at this time no bishops in the
Bohemian church who had not submitted to
the papal jurisdiction, three priests of the
society of United Brethren were, about the
year 1467, consecrated by Stephen, bishop of
the Waldenses, in Austria; [see WALDENSES ;]
and these prelates on their return to their own
country, consecrated ten co-bishops, or co-
seniors, from among the rest of the presby-
ters. In 1528. the United Brethren com-
menced a friendly correspondence, first with
Luther, and afterwards with Calvin and other
leaders among the reformers. A persecution,
which was brought upon them on this ac-
count, and some religious disputes which took
place among themselves, threatened for a
while the society with ruin; but the disputes
were, in 1570, put an end to by a synod,
which decreed that differences about non-
essentials should not destroy their union ; and
the persecution ceased in 1575, when the
United Brethren obtained an edict for the
public exercise of their religion. This tolera—
tion was renewed in 1609, and liberty granted
them to erect new churches. But a civil war,
which, in 1612, broke out in Bohemia, and a
violent persecution which followed it in 1621,
occasioned the dispersion of their ministers,
and brought great distress upon the Brethren
in general. Some of them fled to England,
others to Saxony and Brandenburg; whilst
many, overcome by the severity of the perse—
cution, conformed to the rites of the Church
of Home. One colony of these, who retained
in purity their original principles and prac-
tice, was, in 1722, conducted by a brother,
named Christian David, from Fulneck, in
Moravia, to Upper Lusatia, where they put
themselves under the protection of Nicholas
Lewis, count of Zinzendorf, and built a village
on his estate at the foot of a hill, called Hut-
berg, or wWatch Hill. The count, who, soon
after their arrival, removed from Dresden to
his estate in the country, showed every mark
of kindness to the poor emigrants; but being
a zealous member of the church established
by law, he endeavoured for some time to pre—
vail upon them to unite themselves with it,
by adopting the Lutheran faith and discipline.
This they declined; and the count, on a more
minute inquiry into their ancient history and
distinguishing tenets, not only desistctl from
MO R 5
MCR
33
his first purpose, but became himself a con-
vert to the faith and discipline of the United
Brethren.
The synod, which, in 1570, put an end to
the disputes which then tore the church of
the Brethren into factions, had considered as
non-essentials the distinguishing tenets of
their own society, of the Lutherans, and of
the Calvinists. In consequence of this, many
of the reformers of both these sects had fol-
lowed the Brethren to Herrnhut, and been
received by them into communion; but not
being endued withthe peaceable spirit of the
church which they had joined, they started
disputes among themselves, which threatened
the destruction of the whole establishment.
By the indefatigable exertions of Count Zin-
zcndorf, these disputes were allayed; and sta—
tutes being, in 1727, drawn up and agreed to
for the regulation both of the internal and
of the external concerns of the congregation,
brotherly love and union was again esta-
blished; and no schism whatever, in point of
doctrine, has since that period disturbed the
church of the United Brethren.
In 1735, the count, who, under God, had
been the instrument of renewing the Breth-
ren’s church, was consecrated one of their
bishops, having the year before been examined
and received into the clerical order by the
Theological Faculty of Tubingen. Dr. Potter,
then archbishop of Canterbury, congratu-
lated him upon this event, and promised his
assistance to a church of confessors, of whom
he wrote in terms of the highest respect, for
their having maintained the pure and primi-
tive faith and discipline in the midst of the
most tedious and cruel persecutions. That
his grace, who had studied the various con-
troversies about church government with
uncommon success, admitted the Moravian
episcopal succession, we know from the most
unquestionable authority; for he communi-
cated -his sentiments on the subject to Dr.
Seeker, while bishop of Oxford. In confor-
mity with these sentiments of the archbishop,
we are assured that the parliament of Great
Britain, after mature investigation, acknow-
ledged the Unitas Fratrum to be a Protestant
episcopal church; and in 1794 an act was
certainly passed in their favour.
This sect, like many others, has been
shamefully misrepresented, and things laid to
their charge of which they never were guilty.
It must, however be acknowledged that some
of their converts having previously imbibed
extravagant notions, propagated them with
zeal among their new friends in a phraseology
extremel reprehensible; and that Count Zin-
zendorf himself frequently adopted the very
improper language of those fanatics, whom he
wished to reclaim from their errors to the
soberness of truth; but much of the extrava-
gance and absurdity which has been attributed
to the count is not to be charged to him, but
to those persons who, writing his el'tempore
sermons in short hand, printed and published
them without his knowledge or consent.
This eminent benefactor to the United
Brethren died in 1760, and it is with reason
that they honour his memory, as having been
the instrument by which God restored and
built up their church. But they do not regard
him as their head, nor take his writings, nor
the writings of any other man, as the standard
of their doctrines, which they profess to de-
rive immediately from the word of God.
It has been already observed, that the church
of the United Brethren is episcopal; but
though they consider episcopal ordination as
necessary to qualify the servants of the church
for their respective functions, they allow to
their bishops no elevation of rank or pre-
eminent authority; their church having from
its first establishment been governed by
synods, consisting of deputies from all the
congregations, and by other subordinate
bodies, which they call Conferences. The
synods, which are generally held once in
seven years, are called together by the elders
who were in the former synod appointed to
superintend the whole unity. In the first sit-
ting a president is chosen, and these elders
lay down their ofiice; but they do not with_
draw from the assembly; for they, together
with all bishops, seniores civiles, or lay elders,
and those ministers who have the general
care or inspection of several congregations in
one province, have seats in the synod without
any particular election. The other members
are, one or more deputies sent by each con-
gregation, and such ministers or missionaries
as are particularly called to attend. Women,
approved by the congregations, are also ad-
mitted as hearers, and are called upon to give
their advice in what relates to the ministerial
labour among their sex; but they have no
decisive vote in the synod. The votes of all
the other members are equal. '
In questions of importance, or of which
the consequences cannot be foreseen, neither
the majority of votes, nor the unanimous con~
sent of all present, can decide; but recourse
is had to the lot. For adopting this unusual
mode of deciding-in ecclesiastical affairs, the
Brethren allege as reasons the practices of
the ancient Jews and the apostles; the insufii-
ciency of the human understanding, amidst
the best and purest intentions, to decide for
itself in what concerns the administration of
Christ’s kingdom; and their own confident
reliance on the comfortable promises that the
Lord Jesus will approve himself the head and
ruler of his church. The lot is never made
use of but after mature deliberation and fer-
vent prayer; nor is any thing submitted to
its decision which does not, after being tho-
roughly weighed, appear to the assembly eli-
gible in itself.
In every synod the inward and outward
MOR
MO R
53-1
state of the unity, and the concerns of the
congregations and missions, are taken into
consideration. If errors in doctrine, or devi-
ations in practice, have crept in, the synod
endeavours not only to remove them, but, by
salutary regulations, to prevent them for the
future. It considers how many bishops are
to be consecrated to fill up the vacancies oc-
casioned by death; and every member of the
synod gives his vote for such of the clergy as
he thinks best qualified. Those who have the
majority of votes are taken into the lot, and
they who are approved are consecrated ac~
cordingly; but, by consecration, they are
vested with no superiority over their breth-
ren, since it behoves him who is the greatest
to be the servant of all.
Towards the conclusion of every synod, a
kind of executive board is chosen, and called
The Elders’ Conference of the Unity. At pre-
sent it consists of thirteen elders, and is divided
into four committees, or departments—1. The
Missions’ department, which superintends all
the concerns" of the missions into heathen
countries—2. The Helpers’ department, which
watches over the purity of doctrine, and the
moral conduct of the different congregations.
--3. The Servants’ department, to which the
economical concerns of the unity are commit-
ted—4. The Overseers’ department, of which
the business is to see that the constitution
and discipline of the brethren be every where
maintained. No resolution, however, of any
of these departments has the smallest force
till it be laid before the assembly of the whole
Elders’ Conference, and have the approbation
of that body. The powers of the Elders’ Con-
ference are, indeed, very extensive; besides
the general care which it is commissioned by
the synods to take of all the congregations
and missions, it appoints and removes every
servant in the unity, as circumstances may
require ; authorises the bishops to ordain pres-
byters or deacons, and to consecrate other
bishops ; and in a word, though it cannot
abrogate any of the constitutions of the synod,
or enact new ones itself, it is possessed of the
supreme executive power over the whole body
of the United Brethren.
Besides this general conference of elders,
which superintends the affairs of the whole
unity, there is another conference of elders
belonging to each congregation, which directs
its affairs, and to which the bishops and all
other ministers, as well as the lay members
of the congregation, are subject. This body,
which is called the elders’ conference of the
congregations, consists, 1. Of the minister, as
president, to whom the ordinary care of the
congregation is committed, except when it is
very numerous, and then the general inspec-
tion of it is intrusted to a separate person,
called the congregational helper.——2. Of the
warden, whose oflice it is to superintend, with
the aid of his council, all outward concerns of
the congregation, and to assist every individual
with his advice.—3. Of a married pair, who
care particularly for the spiritual welfare of
the married people.—4. Of a single clergy-
man, to whose care the young men are more
particularly committed—And 5. Of those
women who assist in caring for the spiritual
and temporal welfare of their own sex, and
who, in this conference, have equal votes
with men. As the elders’ conference of each
Congregation is answerable for its proceed-
ings to the elders’ conference of the unity,
visitations from the latter to the ‘former are
held from time to time, that the affairs of each
congregation, and the conduct of its imme-
diate governors, may be intimately known
to the supreme executive government of the
whole church.
In their opinion, episcopal consecration does
not confer any power to preside over one or
more congregations; and a bishop can dis-
charge no oflice but by the appointment of a
synod, or of the elders’ conference of the
unity. Presbyters among them can perform
every function of the bishop, except ordina-
tion. Deacons are assistants to the presby-
ters, much in the same way as in the Church
of England ; and in the Brethren’s churches,
deaconesses are retained for the purpose of
privately admonishing their own sex, and
visiting them in their sickness; but though
they are solemnly blessed to this oflice, they
are not permitted to teach in public, and far
less to administer the sacraments. They have
likewise seniores civiles, or lay elders, in con~
tradistinction to spiritual elders, or bishops,
who are appointed to watch over the consti-
tution and discipline of the unity of the bre-
thren, over the observance of the laws of the
country in which congregations or missions
are established,and over the privileges granted
to the brethren by the governments under
which they live. They have economies, or
choir houses, where they live together in com-
munity; thesingle men and single women,
widows and widowers, apart, each under the
superintendence of elderly persons of their
own class. In these houses, every person who
is able, and has not an independent support,
labours in their own occupation, and contri-
butes a stipulated sum for their maintenance.
Their children are educated with peculiar
care; their subjection to their superiors and
elders is singular, and appears particularly
striking in their missions and marriages. In
the former, those who have offered themselves
on the service, and are approved as candidates,
wait their several calls, referring themselves
entirely to the decision of the lot; and it is
said, never hesitate when that hath decided
the place of their destination. (See above.)
In marriage, they may only form a con-
nexion with those of their own communion.
The brother who marries out of the congre-
gations is immediately cut off from church
MOR
MOR
535
fellowship. Sometimes a sister, by express
license from the Elders’ Conference, is per-
mitted to marry a person of approved piety
in another communion, yet still to join in
their church ordinances as before. A brother
may make his own choice of a partner in the
society; but as all intercourse between the
different sexes is carefully avoided, very few
opportunities of forming particular attach-
ments are found, and they usually rather refer
their choice to the church than decide' for them-
selves. And as the lot must be cast to sanc-
tion their union, each receives his partner as
a divine appointment; and however strange
this method may appear to those who consult
only their passions or their interest, it is ob-
servable, that nowhere fewer unhappy mar-
riages are found than among the Brethren.
But what characterises the Moravians most,
and holds them up to the attention of others,
is their missionary zeal. In this they are
superior to any other body of people in the
world. “ Their ' missionaries,” as one ob-
serves, “ are all of them volunteers; for it is
an inviolable maxim with them to persuade
no man to engage in missions. They are all
of one mind as to the doctrines they teach,
and seldom make an attempt where there are
not half a dozen of them in the mission. Their
zeal is calm, steady, persevering. They would
reform the world, but are careful how they
quarrel with it. They carry their point by
address, and the insinuations of modesty and
mildness, which commend them to all men,
and give offence to none. The habits of
silence, quietness, and decent reserve, mark
their character. If any of their missionaries are
carried off by sickness or causality, men of the
same stamp are ready to supply their place.”
As they stand first on the list of those who
have engaged in missionary exertion, I shall
here insert a further account of them and
their missions, with which I have been fa-
voured by a most respectable clergyman of
their denomination:—“ When brethren or
sisters find themselves disposed to serve God
among the heathen, they communicate their
wishesand views to the committee appointed
by the synods of the brethren to superintend
the missions, in a confidential letter. If, on
particular inquiry into their circumstances
and connexions, no objection is found, they
are considered as candidates. As to mental
qualifications, much erudition is not required
by the brethren. To be well versed in the
sacred Scriptures, and to have an experimental
knowledge of the truths they contain, is
judged indispensably necessary. And it has
been found by experience, that a good under-
standing joined to a friendly disposition, and
above all, a heart filled with the love of God,
are the best and the only essential qualifica-
tions of a missionary. Nor are in general the
habits of a student so well calculated to form
his body for a laborious life as those of a me-
chanic. Yet men of learning are not excluded,
and their gifts have been made useful inv
various ways. When vacancies occcur, or
new missions are to be begun, the list of can-
didates is examined; and those who appear
suitable are called upon, and accept or decline
the call as they find themselves disposed.”
The following are the names of the settle-
ments of the United Brethren in heathen
countries :—
“ Begun in 1732, in the Danish ‘Vest India
Islands. In St. Thomas; New Herrnhut,
Nisky. In St. Croix; Friedensberg. Frie-
densthal. In St. Jan; Bethany, Emmaus.
In 1733 : in Greenland; New Herrnhut,
Litchenfels, Lichtenau. In 1734 : in North
America; Fairfield in Upper Canada, Goshen
on the river Muskingum. In 1736: at the
Cape of Good Hope; Bavians Kloof (renewed
in 1792.) In 1738 : in South America; among
the negro slaves at Paramaribo and Som-
melsdyk; among the free negroes at Bambey,
on the Sarameca; among the native Indians
at Hope, on the river Corentyn. It 17 54: in
Jamaica; two settlements in St. Elizabeth's
parish. In 1756 : in Antigua; at St. John’s,
Grace Hill, Grace Bay. In 1760: near Tran-
quebar, in the East Indies ; Brethren’s Garden.
In 1764: on the Coast of Labrador; Nain,
Okkak, Hopedale. In 1765: in Barbadoes,
Sharon, near Bridgetown. In 1765: in the
Russian part of Asia; Sarepta. In 1775: in
St. Kitt’s ; at Basseterre. In 1789: in Tobago ;
Signal Hill (renewed in 1798.)
“ The Brethren had three flourishing set-
tlements on the river Muskingum,—Salem,
Gnadenhuetten, and Schoenbrunn, before the
late American war, during which these places
were destroyed, and the inhabitants partly
murdered, and partly dispersed. The settle-
ment Fairfield, in Canada, was made by those
of the Indian converts who were again col-
lected by the missionaries. In 1798 a colony
of Christian Indians went from thence to
take possession of their former settlements
on the Muskingum, which have been given
to them by an act of congress, and built a
new town, called Goshen. Part of the Indian
congregation will remain at Fairfield in Ca—
nada, as a good seed; our missionaries en-
tertaining hopes that the gospel may yet find
entrance among the wild Chippeway tribe
inhabiting those parts.
“ The mission among the Hottentots at the
Cape of Good Hope was begun in 1736, by
George Schmidt, a man of remarkable zeal
and courage, who laboured successfully among
these people, till he had formed a small congre-
gation of believers, whom he left to the care of
a pious man, and went to Europe with a view
to represent the promising state of the mis-
sion, and to return with assistants. But to
his inexpressible grief and disappointment,
he was not permitted by the Dutch East India
Company to resume his labours; some igno-
MOR
MO R
536-
rant people having insinuated that the pro-
pagation of Christianity among the Hotten-
tots would injure the interests of the colony.
Since that time to the year 1792, the Brethren
did not cease to make application to the
Dutch Government for leave to send mission-
aries to the Cape, especially as they heard
that the small Hottentot congregation had
kept together for some time, in earnest ex—
pectation of the return of their beloved
teacher. He had taught some of them to
read, and had left a Dutch Bible with them,
which they used to read together for their
edification. At length, in 1792, by the mercy
of God and the kind interference of friends in
the Dutch government, the opposition of evil-
minded people was overruled, and leave
granted to send out three missionaries, who,
on their arrival, were willing, at the desire of
the governor, to go first to Bavians Kloof,
about one hundred and sixty miles east from
Cape Town, and there to commence their
labours on the spot where George Schmidt
had resided. Their instructions from the
government in Holland granted them leave
to choose the place of their residence, wher-
ever they might find it most convenient; but
the circumstances of‘ the colony at that time
would not admit of it. Since the English
have made themselves masters of that coun-
try, they have built a new chapel; and from
the favour and protection which the British
government has uniformly granted to the
Brethren’s missions, we have the best hopes
that they will remain undisturbed and pro-
tected in their civil and religious liberty.
The late Dutch government at the Cape de-
serve also our warmest thanks for the kind
manner in which they received and protected
the missionaries, promoting the views of the
mission to the utmostof their power.
“\Vhen the missionaries first arrived at
Bavians Kloof, in 17 92, it was a barren, un-
inhabited place. There are at present (1811)
twelve missionaries residing there and in the
neighbourhood, and about 1000 Hottentots.
“ The settlement, near Tranquebar, on the
coast of Coromanclel, was made in the year
1760, at the desire of the Danish government,
chiefl with a view to bring the gospel to the
inhabitants of the Nicobar islands. After a
persevering but fruitless attempt to form an
establishment at Nancawery, one of the Ni-
cobar islands, for that purpose, the whole
plan was defeated by the following circum-
stances z—Thc Danish government, finding
the advantage gained by their settlement on
these islands not to answer the great expense
attending it, withdrew their people, who had
already suffered greatly by the unwhole-
someness of the climate; and the Brethren
residing there being left alone, and all com;
munication cut off between Tranquebar and
the Nicobar Islands, it became necessary to
purchase a vessel to convey provisions and
other necessaries to the missionaries. This
was done at great expense and hazard for
some years, when in the American war, the
vessel was taken by a French cruiser, though
belonging to a neutral state. No redress
could be obtained from the French; and the
Brethren at Tranquebar were obliged imme-
diately to procure another vessel, lest the
missionaries in N ancawery should be left
destitute. The enormous expense and loss
incurred by these events, and the sickly state
of the missionaries, made it necessaryto re-
call them; and thus, not only the mission in
these islands, but the first aim of the Breth-
ren’s settling in the East Indies was frustrated.
Since that time, no success has attended the
mission near. Tanquebar. Some Brethren,
indeed, went to Serampore and Patna, where
they resided for a time, watching an oppor-
tunity to serve the cause of God in those
places; but various circumstances occasioned
both these settlements to be relinquished. By
a late resolution, the East India mission will
be suspended for the present, the expenses
attending it having of late years far exceeded
our ability.
“ Sarepta, near Tzarizin, on the Wolga, in
Russian Asia, was built chiefly with a view
to bring the gospel to the Calmuck Tartars,
and other heathen tribes in those vast regions,
among whom an opening might be found.
Hitherto, but httle success has attended the
Brethren’s labours. Some of the Brethren re-
sided for a considerable time among the Cal-
mucks, conforming to their manner of livingin
tents, and accompanying them wherever they
moved their camp in the Steppes, (immense
plains covered with long grass.) They‘
omitted no opportunity of preaching unto
them Jesus, and directing them from their
numberless idols, and wretched superstition s,
to the only true God, and the only way of life
and happiness ; but though they were heard and
treated with civility, little impression could be
made upon the hearts of these heathen. Four
Kirgess Tartar girls, who had been ransomed
and educated by the Brethren, have been
baptized. These, and one Calmuck woman,
have, as yet, been all the fruits of this mission.
The greatest part of the Calmucks have
quitted those parts. The Brethren, however,
have been visited by the German colonists
living on the Wolga; and, through God’s
blessing, societies have been formed, and mi-
nisters of the gospel provided for many of
the colonies by their instrumentality.
“ The most flourishing missions at present
are those in Greenland, Antigua, St. Kitt’s,
the Danish West India Islands, and the Cape
of Good Hope. A new awakeninghas ap-
peared of late among the Arawacks and free
negroes in South America, the Esquimaux
on the coast of Labrador, and in Barbadoes ;
and the latest accounts give us the most
pleasing hopes of success in those parts. In
‘MOR
MOR'
537'
Jamaica, the progress of the missions has
been but slow. However, of late, some of
the most considerable planters in that island,
being convinced of the utility of the mission,
generously undertook to provide for the sup-
port of more missionaries, and measures have
been adopted accordingly, to which we hum-
bly trust, the Lord will give success in due
time. Several attempts to carry the gospel
into other parts of the earth, made by the
Brethren, have not succeeded. In 1735, mis-
sionaries were sent to the Laplanders and
Samojedes; in 1737, and again in 1768, to
the coast of Guinea; in 1738, to the negroes
in Georgia; in 1739, to the slaves in Algiers ;
in 1740, to Ceylon; in 1747, to Persia; in
1752, to Egypt; of which we omit any parti-
cular account, for brevity’s sake. In Upper
Egypt there was a prospect of their being
useful among the Copts, who were visited for
many years.
“ A society for the furtherance of the gos-
pel among the heathen was instituted by the
Brethren in London as early as the year 17 51,
for the more effectual co-operation with and-
assistance of the said missions’ department,
in caring for‘ those missionaries who might
pass through London to their several ‘posts.
The society was, after some interruption in
their meetings, renewed in 1766, and took
the whole charge of the mission on the coast
of Labrador upon themselves: besides con-‘
tinuing to assist the other missions as much
as lay in their power, especially those in the
British dominions. As no regular commu-
nication was kept up with the coast of La-
brador by government, a small vessel was
employed to convey the necessaries of life
to the missionaries once a year; and here we
cannot help observing, with thanks to God,
that upwards of twenty years have now
elapsed, during which, by ‘his gracious pre-
servation, no disaster has befallen the vessel,
so as to interrupt a regular annual commu-
nication, though the coast is very rocky and
full of ice, and the whole navigation of the
most dangerous kind.
“ In Amsterdam a similar society was
established by the Brethren in 1746, and re-
newed in 1793, at Zeist, near Utrecht. This
society took particular charge of the mission
at the Cape of Good Hope; but the late trou-
bles in Holland have rendered them unable
to lend much assistance for the present. The
Brethren in North America established a
society for propagating the gospel among the
heathen in the year 1787, which was incor-
porated by the State of Pennsylvania, and has
been very active in assisting the missions
among the Indians. These three societies
do all in their power, to help to support the
great and accumulated burthens of the above-
mentioned missions’ department, and God has
laid a blessing upon their exertions. But they
have no power to begin new missions, or to
send out missionaries, which, by the synods
of the Brethren’s church, is vested solely in
the Elders’ Conference of the Unity.”
The number of converts and persons under
instruction in the different missions, amount
to about 55,150, and the number of mission-
aries to about 163.
As to the tenets of the Moravians, though
they acknowledge no other standard of truth
than the sacred Scriptures, they adhere to
the Augsburg Confession (see that article.)
They profess to believe that the kingdom of
Christ is not confined to any particular party,
community, or church; and they consider
themselves, though united in one joined body,
or visible church, as spiritually in the bond
of Christian love to all who are taught of
God, and belong to the universal Church of
Christ, however much they may difi'er in
forms, which they deem non-essentials.
The Morav ians are called Herrnhuters, from
Herrnhut, the name of the village where they
were first settled. They also go by the name of
Unitas Fratrum, or United Brethren. If the
reader wish to have a fuller account of this
society, he may consult Crantz’s Ancient and
Modern History of the Church of the United
Brethren, 1780; Spangenberg’s Exposition of
the Christian Doctrine, 1784; Dr. Ifaweis’s
Church History, vol. iii. p. 184, &e.; Crantz’s
History of their Mission in Greenland; The
Periodical Accounts of their Missions; Los-
kiel’s History of the North American Indian
Missions; Oldendoip’s History 0 the Bre-
thren’s .Missions in the Danish Vest Indian
Islands.
Monmonrrns, believers in the doctrines of
the “ Book of Mormon,” a production which
they regard as a second Bible, and which is
said to be a translation from certain brass
plates, found by one Joseph Smith, in the
town of Palmyra (N. Y.) in 1826. They
were enclosed in a box, which had to all ap-
pearance been used for holding common sized
window glass. Smith pretended to interpret
them, with a, stone in his hat, and his hat
over his face, while one Martin Harris was
employed to write down the contents at his
dictation. Some disagreement arising be-
tween the parties, Harris went away, and
Oliver Cowdry came and wrote for Smith,
while he interpreted as above described till
the “ Book of Mormon” was completed.
Smith than gave out that it was a revelation
from heaven, and that he himself was a pro-
phet; and thus collected around him a num-
ber of simple and credulous people, whom he
persuaded to dispose of their property, and
follow him to the New Zion, which he was
commissioned to establish in Missouri, west
of the Mississippi river, “ in the centre of the
world.” They accordingly settled in J aekson
county, in that state; and there, under the
guidance of the new prophet, established
a new society, from which they send out
MOS
MOU
.. 538
lytes. A weekly periodical has also been
established, through which new revelations‘
are from time to time circulated among the
community. _
The contents of the book are a series of
puerile eastern romances, with abundance of
names, but no dates, localities, or connexion
of any sort with sober history. Its style
affects an imitation of Scripture, which, with
the ignorant, gives it an air of sacredness,
like that of a revelation from heaven. Cross
and Baptist Journal, 1834.
MORNING LECTURES. See LECTURE.
‘ MORTALITY,‘ subjection to death. It is a-
term also used to signify a contagious disease
which destroys great numbers of either men
or beasts. Bills of Mortality are accounts or
registers specifying the numbers born, mar-
ried, and buried, in any parish, town, or dis-
trict. In general they contain only these
numbers, and even when thus limited are of
_ great use, by showing the degrees of healthi-
ness and prolificness and the progress of po-
pulation in the place where they are kept.
NIORTIFICATION, any severe penance ob-
served on a religious account. The mortifi-
cation of sin in believers is a duty enjoined in.
the sacred Scriptures, Rom. viii. 13; C01. iii.
5. It consists in breaking the league with
sin; declaration of open hostility against it;
and strong resistance of it, Eph. vi. 10, &c.;
Gal. v. 24; Rom. viii. 13. The means to be
used in this work are, not macerating the
body, seclusion from society, our own resolu-
tions; but the Holy Spirit is the chief agent,
Rom. viii. 13; while faith, prayer and de-
pendence are subordinate means to this end.
The evidences of mortification are, not the
cessation from one sin, for that may be only
exchanged for another; or it may be renounced
because it is a gross sin; or there may not be
an occasion to practise it: but if sin be morti-
fied, we shall not yield to temptation; our
minds will be more spiritual; we shall find
more happiness in spiritual services, and
bring forth the fruits of the Spirit. Dr.
Owen on Mortification and on the Holy Spirit,
ch. viii. book 4; Ckarnock’s Works, vol. ii.
p. 1313; Bryson’s Sermons on Rom. viii. p.
97, &c.
MOSAIC Drsrnnsa'rron, inferiority of the, to
the Gospel dispensation. See DISPENSATION.
MOSAIC LAW, or the law of Moses, is the
most ancient that we know of in the world,
and is of three kinds; the moral law, the
ceremonial law, and the judicial law. See
Law. Some observe, that the different man-
ner in which each of these laws was delivered
may suggest to us a right idea of their dif-
ferent natures. The moral law, or ten com-
mandments, for instance, was delivered on
the top of the mountain, in the face of the
whole world, as being of universal influence,
and obligatory on all mankind. The cere-
‘preachers in all directions to collect prose-
i
i
l





monial was received by Moses in private in
the tabernacle, as being of peculiar concern,
belonging to the Jews only, and destined to
cease when the tabernacle was down, and the
veil of the temple rent. As to the judicial
law, it was neither so publicly nor so audibly
given as the moral law, nor yet so privately
as the ceremonial; this kind of law being of
an indifferent nature, to be observed or not
observed, as its rites suit with the place and
government under which we live. The five
books of Moses, called the Pentateueh, are
frequently styled, by way of emphasis, the
law. This was held by the Jews in such
veneration, that they would not allow it to be
laid upon the bed of any sick person, lest it
should be polluted by touching the dead.
See Law. '
MOSQUE (Arab. Mesjed), a temple or place
of religious worship among the Mohamme-
dans. All mosques are square buildings,
generally constructed of stone. Before the
chief gate there is a square court paved with
white marble, and low galleries round it,
whose roof is supported by marble pillars.
In these galleries the Turks wash themselves
before they go into mosque. In each mosque
there is a great number of lamps; and be-
tween these hang many crystal rings, ostrich’s
eggs, and other curiosities, which, when the
lamps are lighted, make a fine show. As it
is not lawful to enter the mosque with stock-
ings or shoes on, the pavements are covered
with pieces of stuff sewed together, each being
wide enough to hold a row of men kneeling,
sitting, or prostrate. The women are not
allowed to enter the mosque, but stay in the
porches without. ' About every mosque there
are six high towers, called minarets, each of
which has three little open galleries, one
above another: these towers as well as the
mosques, are covered with lead, and adorned
with gilding and other ornaments : and from
thence, instead of a bell, the people are called
to prayers by certain ofiicers appointed for
that purpose. Most of the mosques have a
kind of ‘hospital, in which travellers of what
religion soever are entertained three days.
Each mosque has also a place called tarbe,
which is the burying-place of its founders;
within which is a tomb six or seven feet long,
covered with green velvet or satin; at the
ends of which are two tapers, and round it
several seats for those who read the Koran,
and pray for the souls of the deceased.
Mo'rrvn, that which moves, excites, or
invites the mind to volition. It may be one
thing singly, or many things conjunctly.
Some call it a faculty of the mind, by which
we pursue good and avoid evil. See WILL;
Edwards on the Will, pp. 7, 8, 124, 259, 384 ;
Toplady’s Works, vol. ii. pp. 41, 42.
MoUN'rAIN-MEN. See SYNOD, Rnromunn
PRESBYTERIAN. .
MOURNING, sorrow, grief. See Sonnow
MUF
MUS
539
MOURNING, a particular dress or habit
worn to signify grief on some melancholy
occasion, particularly the death of friends, or
of great public characters. The ,modes of
mourning are various in various countries;
as also are the colours that obtain for that
end. In Europe, the ordinary colour for
mourning is black; in China, it is white;
in Turkey, blue or violet; in Egypt, yellow;
in Ethiopia, brown. Each people pretend to
have their reasons for the particular colour
of their mourning. White is supposed to
denote purity; yellow, that death is the end
of human hopes, as leaves when they fall,
and flowers when they fade, become yellow ;
brown denotes the earth, whither the dead
return; black, the privation of life, as being‘
the privation of light; blue expresses the
happiness which it is hoped the deceased en-
joys ; and purple or violet, sorrow on the one
side, and hope on the other, as being a mix-
ture of black and blue. For an account of
the mourning of the Hebrews, see Lev. xix.
and xxi.; Jer. xvi. 6; Numbers xx.; Deu-
teronomy xxxiv. 8.
MUFTI, the chief of the ecclesiastical order,
or primate of the Mussulman religion.
Ottoman empire; for even the sultan him-
self, if he will preserve any appearance of
religion, cannot, without first hearing his
opinion, put any person to death, or so much
as inflict any corporal punishment. In all
actions. and especially criminal ones, his
opinion is required by giving him a writing
in which the case is stated under feigned
names, which be subscribes with the words
Olur, or Olmaz, i. e. he shall or shall not be
punished.
Such outward honour is paid to the mufti,
that the grand seignior himself rises up to
him, and advances seven steps towards him
when he comes into his presence. He alone
has the honour of kissing the sultan’s left
shoulder, whilst the prime vizier kisses only
the hem of his garment.
When the grand seignior addresses any
writing to the mufti, he gives him the fol-
lowing titles :—“ To the esad, the wisest of
the wise; instructed in all knowledge; the
most excellent of excellents; abstaining from
things unlawful; the spring of virtue and
true science ; heir of the prophetic doctrines;
resolver of the problems of faith; revealer
of the orthodox articles; key of the trea-
sures of truth; the light to doubtful allego-
ries; strengthened with the grace of the Sn-
pieme Legislator of Mankind. May the
ost High God perpetuate thy favours.”
The election of the mufti is solely in the
grand seignior, who presents him with a vest
of rich sables, and allows him a sa.ary o- a
thousand aspers a day, which is about five
pounds sterling. Besides this, he has the
disposal of certain benefices belonging to the
The ,
authority of the mufti is very great in the 5

mosques, which he makes no scruple of selling
to the best advantage; and, on his admission
to his oflice, he is complimented by the
agents of the bashas, who make him the usual
presents, which generally amount to a very
considerable sum.
Whatever regard was formerly paid to the
mufti, it is now become very little more than
form. If he interprets the law, or gives
sentence contrary to the sultan’s pleasure, he
is immediately displaced, and a more pliant
person put in his room. If he is convicted
of treason, or any very great crime, he is put
into a mortar kept for that purpose in the
seven towers of Constantinople, and pounded
to death.
MUGGLE'roNIANs, the followers of Ludovic
Muggleton, a journeyman tailor, who, with
his companion Reeves, (a person of equal
obscurity,) set up for great prophets in the
time of Cromwell, They pretended to ab-
solve or condemn whom they pleased; and
gave out that they were the two last witnesses
spoken of in the Revelation, who were to ap-
pear previous to the final destruction of the
world. They aflirmed that there was no devil
at all without the body of man or woman;
that the devil is man’s spirit of unclean rea-
son and cursed imagination; that the mi-
nistry in this world, whether prophetical or
ministerial, is all a lie and abomination to the
Lord; with a variety of other vain and in-
consistent tenets.
MURDER, the act of wilfully and feloniously
killing a person upon. malice or forethought.
Heart murder is the secret wishing or de-
signing the death of any man; Yea, the
Scripture saith, “ whosoever hateth his bro—
ther is a murderer,” 1 John iii. 15. ‘Ve have
instances of this kind of murder in Ahab,
1 Kings xxii. 9; Jezebel, 2 Kings xix. 2;
the Jews, Mark xi. 18; David, 1 Samuel xxv.
21, 22; Jonah, ch. iv. 1,4. Murder is con-
trary to the authority of God, the sovereign
disposer of life, Deut. xxxii. 39; to the
goodness of God, who gives it, Job x. 12;
to the law of nature, Acts xvi. 28; to the
love a man owes to himself, his neighbour,
and society at large. Not but that life may
be taken away as in lawful war. 1 Chron. v.
22; by the hand of the civil magistrate for
capital crimes, Deut. xvii. 8, 10'; and in self-
defence. See SELF—DEFENCE.
According to the divine law, murder is to
be punished with death, Deut. xix. 11, 12; 1
Kings, ii. 28, 29. It is remarkable that God
often gives up murderers to the terrors of a
guilty conscience, Gen. iv. 13, 15, 23, 24.
Such are followed with many instances of
divine vengeance, 2 Sam. xii. 9, 10; their
lives are often shortened, Psalm lv. 23; and
judgments for their sin are oftentimes trans-
mitted to posterity, Gen. xlix. 7; 2 Sam.
xxi. 1.
MUsIc, the harmonious combination of
MYS 5
MYS
4O
sounds. an art of great antiquity, and early
employed as a medium of religious worship.
Both prophets and priests among the Jews
appear to have cultivated it, and it was greatly
promoted by the royal and “sweet singer of
Israel.” According to Josephus, there were
not fewer than 200,000 musicians at the de~
dication of Solomon’s Temple. As practised
in public worship among both Jews and
Christians, it is of two kinds :—
1. Vocal music:— This species, which is
the most natural, may be considered to have
existed before any other. It was continued
by the Jews, and it is the only kind that is
permitted in the Greek and Scotch churches,
'or in dissenting congregations, except a few
that have departed from the general practice
of the body, and of their fathers, who used
it before the present innovation was intro-
duced. The vocal music of the imperial
choristers in St. Petersburgh incomparably
surpasses in sweetness and effect, the sounds
produced by the combined power of the most
exquisite musical instruments.
2. Instrumental music is made of very an~
cient date, its invention being ascribed to
Tubal, the sixth descendant from Cain. The
Jews appear to have used the harp, the na-
blum or psaltery, the organ, the reed or flute,
the trumpet, the tabret, and the cymbal. That
instrumental music was not practised by the
primitive Christians, but was the innovation
of later times, is evident from church history.
The organ was first introduced into the church
service by Marianus Sanutus, in the year
1290; and the first that was known in the
west, was one sent to Pepin, by Constantinus
Copronymus, about the middle of the eighth
century.
MUSSULMAN. See ISLAMISM.
MYSTERY, ;wo'rnptov, secret (from ,uvsw 'ro
arena, to shut the mouth.) It is taken,—
1. For a truth revealed by God which is
above the power of our natural reason, or
which we could not have discovered without
revelation; such as the call of the Gentiles,
Eph. i. 9 ; the transforming of some without
dying, &c., 1 Cor. xv. 51.—2. The word is
also used in reference to things which remain
in part incomprehensible after they are re-
vealed; such as the incarnation of Christ,
the resurrection of the dead, &c. Some cri-
tics, however, observe that the word in the
Scripture does not import what is incapable
in its own nature of being understood, but
barely a secret, any thing not disclosed or
published in the world.
In respect to the mysteries of religion,
divines have run into two extremes. Some,
as one observes, have given up all that was
mysterious, thinking that they were not called
to believe any thing but what they could
comprehend. But if it can be proved that
mysteries make a part of a religion coming
from God, it can be .no part of piety to dis-
card them, as if we were wiser than he. And
besides, upon this principle, a man must be-
lieve nothing: the various works of nature,
the growth of plants, instincts of brutes,
union of body and soul, properties of matter,
the nature of spirit, and a thousand other
things, are all replete with mysteries. If so
in the common works of nature, we can
hardly suppose that those things which more
immediately relate to the Divine Being him-
self, can be without mystery. The other
extreme lies in an attempt to explain the
mysteries of revelation so as to free them
from all obscurity. To defend religion in
this manner is to expose it to contempt.
The following maxim points out the proper
way of defence, by which both extremes are
avoided. Where the truth of a doctrine de-
pends not on the evidence of the things
themselves, but on the authority of him' who
reveals it, there the only way to prove the
doctrine to be true is to prove the testimony
of him that revealed it to be infallible. Dr.
South observes, that the mysteriousness of
those parts of the Gospel called the credenda,
or matters of our faith, is most subservient to
the great and important ends of religion, and
that upon these aceounts:—First, because
religion in the prime institution of it was de-
signed to make impressions of awe and re-
verential fear upon men’s minds. 2. To
humble the pride and haughtiness of man’s
reason. 3. To engage us in a closer and
more diligent search into them. 4. That the
full and entire knowledge of divine things
may be one principal part of our felicity
hereafter. Robinson’s Claude, vol. i. pp. 118,
119, 304, 305; Ca-mpbell’s Preliminary Dis-
sertation to the Gospels, vol. i. p. 383 ; Stilling-
fleet’s Origines Sacrce, vol. ii. 0. 8 ; Ridgley’s
Div., qu. ll ; C'almet’s Diet,- C'ruden’s Con-
cordance ,- South’s Serm. ser. vi. vol. iii.
MYSTERIES, a term used to denote the se-
cret rites of the Pagan superstition, which
were carefully concealed from the knowledge
of the vulgar,
The learned bishop Warburton supposed
that the mysteries of the Pagan religion were
the invention of legislators and other great
personages, whom fortune or their own merit
had placed at the head of those civil societies
which were formed in the earliest ages in
different parts of the world. '
Mosheim was of opinion that the mysteries
were entirely commemorative: that they
were instituted with a view to preserve the
remembrance of heroes and great men, who
had been deified in consideration of their
martial exploits, useful inventions, public vir-
tues, and especially in consequence of the
benefits by them conferred on their contem-
porarles.
Others, however, suppose that the mys-
teries were the ofi‘spring of . bigotry and
priestcraft, and that they originated in Egypt,
MYS'
M YS
54l
'a veil of allegory and mysticism.
'pensity, no doubt, conspired with avarice
' day of judgment.
the native land of idolatry. In that country
the priesthood ruled predominant. The
kings were engrafted into their body before
they could ascend the throne. They were
possessed of a third part of the land of all
Egypt. The sacerdotal function was con-
fined to one tribe, and was transmitted from
father to son. All the Orientals, but more
especially the Egyptians, delighted in mys-
terious and allegorical doctrines—Every
maxim of morality. every tenet of theology,
every dogma of philosophy, was wrapt up in
This pro-
and ambition to dispose them to a_dark and
mysterious system of religion. Besides, the
. Egyptians were a gloomy race of men ; they
delighted in darkness and solitude—Their
sacred rites were generally celebrated with
melancholy airs, weeping, and lamentation.
This gloomy and unsocial bias of mind must
have stimulated them to a congenial mode of
worship.
MYs'rnRnss, or, as they were also called,
Miracles, a kind of rude drama, which was a
favourite spectacle in the middle ages, repre-
sented at solemn festivals. The subjects were
~of a religious character, and the ecclesiastics -.
were at first the authors and performers.
They received the above name because they
professedly taught the mysterious doctrines
of Christianity, and represented the miracles
of the saints and martyrs. The first play of
this sort, mentioned by name, appears to
have been St. Catherine, written according
to Matthew Paris, by Geoffrey, a Norman,
about 1110. They sometimes lasted several
days. One which lasted eight days contained
a great part of the Scripture History. The
Corpus Christi, or famous Coventry mystery,
begins with the creation, and ends with the
The slaughter of the chil-
dren at Bethlehem, the sutferings of Christ,
860. were represented.
MYsTIcs, a sect distinguished by their pro-
fessing pure, sublime, and perfect devotion,
with an entire disinterested love of God, free
from all selfish considerations. The authors
of this mystic science, which sprung up to-
wards the close of the third century, are not
known ; but the principles from which it was
formed are manifest. Its first promoters pro-
ceeded from the known doctrine of the Pla-
tonic school, which was also adopted by
Origen and his disciples, that the divine
nature was diffused through all human souls;
or that the faculty of reason, from which pro-
ceed the health and vigour of the mind, was
an emanation from God into the human soul,
and comprehended in it the principles and
elements of all truth, human and- divine.
They denied that men could, by labour or
study, excite this celestial flame in their
breasts; and therefore they disapproved
highly of the attempts of those who, by
definitions, abstract theorems, and profound
speculations, endeavoured to form distinct
notions of truth, and to discover its hidden
nature. On the contrary, they maintained
that silence, tranquillity, repose, and solitude,
accompanied with such acts as might tend to
extenuate and exhaust the body, were the
means by which the hidden and internal
word was excited to produce its latent vir-
tues, and to instruct them in the knowledge
of divine things. For thus they reasoned:
Those who behold with a noble contempt all
human affairs; who turn away their eyes
from terrestrial vanities, and shut all the
avenues of the outward senses against the
contagious influences of a material world,
must necessarily return to God when the
spirit is thus disengaged from the impedi-
ments that prevented that happy union ; and
in this blessed frame they not only enjoy inex-
pressible raptures from their communion with
the Supreme Being, but are also invested
with the inestimable privilege of contemplat—
ing truth undisguised and uncorrupted in its
native purity, while others behold it in a
vitiated and delusive form.
The number of the Mystics increased in
the fourth century, under the influence of the
Grecian fanatic, who gave himself out for
Dionysius the Arcopagite, disciple of St. Paul,
and probably lived about this period; and by
pretending to higher degrees of perfection
than other Christians, and practising greater
austerity, their cause gained ground, especi-
ally in the eastern provinces, in the fifth cen-
tury. A copy of the pretended works of
Diouysius was sent by Balbus to Lewis the
Meek, in the year 824, which kindled the
holy flame of mysticism in the western pro—
vinces, and filled the Latins with the most
enthusiastic admiration of this new religion.
In the twelfth century, these Mystics took
the lead in their method of expounding the
Scriptures. In the thirteenth century they
were the most formidable antagonists of the
schoolmen; and, towards the close of the
fourteenth, many of them resided and propa-
gated their tenets almost in every part of
Europe. They had, in the fifteenth century,
many persons of distinguished merit in their
number; and in the sixteenth century, pre-
vious to the reformation, if any spark of real
piety subsisted under the despotic empire of
superstition, they were only to be found
among the Mystics. The celebrated Madame
Bourignon, and the amiable Fenelon, arch-
bishop of Cambray, were of this sect. Dr.
Haweis, in speaking of; the Mystics, Church
History, vol. iii. p. 47, thus observes :—
“ Among those called Mystics, I am persuaded
some were found who loved God out of a
pure heart fervently; and though they were
ridiculed and reviled for proposing a disin-
terestedness of love without other motives,
and as professing to feel in the enjoyment of
NAS
NAT
542
the temper itself an abundant reward, their
holy and heavenly conversation will carry a
stamp of real religion upon it.”
As the late Reverend W'illiam Law, who
was born in 1687, makes a distinguished
figure among the modern Mystics, a brief
account of the outlines of his system may
perhaps be entertaining to some readers. He
supposed that the material world was the very
region which originally belonged to the fallen
angels. At length the light and spirit of God
entered into the chaos, and turned the angels’
ruined kingdom into a Paradise on earth.
God then created man, and placed him there.
He was made in the image of the Triune
God, a living mirror of the divine nature
formed to enjoy communion with Father,
Son, and Holy Ghost, and live on earth as the
angels do in heaven. He was endowed with
immortality, so that the elements of this out-
ward world could not have any power of
acting on his body; but by his fall he changed
the light, life, and Spirit of God, for the light,
life, and spirit of the world. He died the
very day of his transgression to all the influ-
ences and operations of the Spirit of God upon
him, as we die to the influences of this world
when the soul leaves the body; and all the
influences and operations of the elements of
this life were open in him, as they were in
any animal, at his birth into this world; he
became an earthly creature, subject to the
dominion of this outwardworld, and stood
only in the highest rank of animals. But the
goodness of God would not leave man in this
condition; redemption from it was immedi-
ately granted, and the bruiser of the serpent
brought the light, life, and spirit of heaven
once more into the human nature. All men,
in consequence of the redemption of Christ,
have in them the first spark, or seed, of the
divine life, as a treasure hid in the centre of
our souls, to bring forth, by degrees, a new
birth of that life which was lost in Paradise.
No son of Adam can be lost, only by turning
away from the Saviour within him. The
only religion which can save us, must be that
which can raise the light, life, and spirit of
God in our souls. Nothing can enter into the
vegetable kingdom till it have the vegetable
life in it, or be a member of the animal king-
dom till it have the animal life. Thus all
nature joins with the Gospel in afiirming that
no man can enter into the kingdom of heaven
till the heavenly life is born in him. Nothing
can be our righteousness or recovery but the
divine nature of Jesus Christ derived to our
souls. Law’s Life,- Law’s Spirit of Prayer
and Appeal; Law’s Spirit of Love, and on
Regeneration.
MYTHOLOGY, in its original import, signi-
fies any kind of fabulous doctrine. In ,its
t more appropriated sense, it means those fa-
bulous details concerning the objects of wor-
ship, which were invented and propagated by
men who lived in the early ages of the world,
and by them transmitted to succeeding gene-
rations, either by written records, or by oral
tradition. See articles HEATHEN, PAGANISM,
and Gale’s Court of the Gentiles, a work cal—
culated to show that the pagan philosophers
derived their most sublime sentiments from
the Scriptures. Bryant’s System of Ancient
Mythology.
N.
NAME or G01). By this term we are to
understand,—1. God himself, Ps. xx. 1. 2.
His titles peculiar to himself, Exod. iii. 13,
14. 3. His word, Ps. v. 11 ; Acts ix. l5. 4.
His works, Ps. viii. 1. 5. His worship, Exod.
xx. 24. 6. His perfections and excellences,
Exod. xxxiv. 6; John xvii. 26. The pro-
perties or qualities of this name are these :—-
1. A glorious name, Ps. lxxii. l7. 2. Trans-
cendent and incomparable, Rev. xix. 16. 3.
Powerful, Phil. ii. 10. 4. Holy and reverend,
Ps. cxi. 9. 5. Awful to the wicked. 6. Per-
petual, Is. lv. 13. Cruden’s Concordance;
Hannam’s Anal. Comp., p. 20. -
NASSARIANS, on Nosarnr, a Mohammedan
sect of the Shiite party, formed in the 270th
year of the Hegira, received its name from
Nasar, in the environs of Koufa, the birth-
place of its founder. They occupy a strip of
Mount Lebanon, and are tributary to the
Turks. They have about 300 villages, and
their chief town is Sasita, eight leagues from
Tripoli. Here their scheik resides. Their

manners are rude, and corrupted by remnants
of heathenish customs, which remind us of
the Lingam worship. Although polygamy is
not allowed, yet on certain festival days they
permit the promiscuous intercourse of the
sexes, and are divided, after the manner of
the Hindoos, into numerous castes, which
oppress one another. They profess to .be
worshippers of Ali, believe in the transmi—
gration of souls, but not in a heaven or hell.
They are friendly to Christians, and observe
some of their festivals and ceremonies, but
without understanding their meaning. A
spiritual head, scheik khalil, directs their
religious concerns, and travels about among
them as a prophet.
The opinion formerly current, that this
sect/were Syrian Sabiaus, or disciples of St.
John, has been completely exploded by Nic-
buhr, and the accounts of Rousseau, the
French consul at Aleppo. _
NATIVITY or CHRIST. The birth of our
Saviour was exactly as predicted by the pro-
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'Luke ii. 25 to 38.
phecies of the Old Testament, Isa. vii.‘ 14;
Jer. xxxi. 22. He was born of a virgin of
the house of David,.and of the tribe of Judah,
Matt. i.; Luke i. 27. His coming mto the
world was after the manner of other men,
though his generation and conception were
extraordinary. The place ofnhis birth was
Bethlehem, Mic. v. 2; Matt. 11. 4, 6; where
his parents were wonderfully conducted by
Providence, Luke ii. 1, 7. The time of his
birth was foretold by the prophets to be
before the sceptre or civil government de-
parted from Judah, Genrxlix. 10; Mal. m.
l; Hag. ii. 6, 7, 9; Dan. 1x. 24; but the
exact year of his birth is not agreed on by
chronologers, but it was about the four thou--
sandth year of the world; nor cap the ‘season
of the year, the month, and day 1n which he
was born, be ascertained. The Egyptians
placed it in January; Wagenseil, in Febru-
ary; Bochart, in March; some, mentioned by
Clement of Alexandria, in April; others in
May; Epiphanius speaks of some who placed
it in June, and of others who supposed it
to have been in July; Wagenseil, who was
not sure of February, fixed it probably in
August; Lightfoot, on the 15th of Septem-
ber; Scaliger, Casaubon, and Calvisius, in
October; others in November ; and the Latm
Church, in December. It does not, however,
appear probable that the vulgar account is
right; the circumstance of_ the shepherds
watching their flocks by night, agrees not
with the winter season. Dr. Gill thinks it
was more likely in autumn, in the month of
September, at the feast of tabernacles, to
which there seems some reference in John
i. 14. The Scripture, however, assures
us that it was in the “fulness of time,”
Gal. iv. 4; and, indeed, the wisdom of
God is evidently displayed as to the time
when, as well as the end for which Christ
came. '
It was in a time when the world stood in
need of such a Saviour, and was best pre-
pared for receiving him. About the time of
Christ’s appearance, says Dr. Robertson,
there prevailed a general opinion that the
Almighty would send forth some eminent
messenger to communicate a more perfect
discovery of his will to mankind. The dig-
nity of Christ, the virtues of his character,
the glory of his kingdom, and the signs of his
coming, were described by the ‘ancient pro-
phets with the utmost perspicuity. Guided
by the sure word of prophecy, the Jews of
that age concluded the period predetermined
by God to be then completed, and that the
promised Messiah would suddenly appear,
Nor were these expecta-
tions peculiar to the Jews. By their disper-
sion among so many nations, by their con-
versation with the learned men among the
heathens, and-the translation of their inspired
writings into a language almost universal, the
principles of their religion were spread all
over the East; and it became the common
belief that a Prince would arise at that time
in J udea, who should change the face of the
world,‘*and extend his empire from one end
of the earth to the other. Now had Christ
been manifested at a more early period, the
world would not have been prepared to meet
him with the same fondness and zeal: had
his appearance been put off for any con-
siderable time, men’s expectations would have
begun to languish, and the warmth of desire,
from a delay of gratification, might have
cooled and died away.
The birth of Christ was also in the fulness
of time, if we consider the then political state
of the world. The world, in the most early
ages, was divided into small independent
states, differing from each other in language,
manners, laws, and religion. The shock of
so many opposite interests, the interfering of
so many contrary views, occasioned the most
violent convulsions and disorders; perpetual
discord subsisted between these rival states,
and hostility and bloodshed never ceased.
Commerce had not hitherto united mankind,
and opened the communication of one nation
with another: voyages into remote countries
were very rare; men moved in a narrow cir-
cle, little acquainted with any thing beyond 1
the limits of their own small territory. At
last the Roman ambition undertook the ardu-
ous enterprise of conquering the world. They
trod down the kingdoms, according to Daniel’s
prophetic description, by their exceeding
strength they devoured the whole earth, Dan.
vii. 7, 23. However, by enslaving the world,
they\civilized it, and while they oppressed
mankind, they united them together: the
same laws were every where established, and
the same languages understood; men ap-
proached nearer to one another in sentiments
and ‘manners, and the intercourse between
the most distant corners of the earth was ren-
dered secure and agreeable. Satiated with
victory, the first emperors abandoned all
thoughts of new conquests; peace, an un-
known blessing, was enjoyed through all that
vast empire; or if a slight war was waged on
an outlying and barbarous frontier, far from
disturbing the tranquillity, it scarcely drew
the attention, of mankind. The disciples of
Christ, thus favoured by the union and peace
of the Roman empire, executed their com-
mission with great advantage. The success
and rapidity with which they difi‘used the
knowledge of his name over the world are
astonishing Nations were now accessible
which formerly had been unknown. Under
this situation, into which the providence of
God had brought the world, the joyful sound
in a few years reached those remote corners
of the earth, into which it could not otherwise
have penetrated for many ages. Thus the
Roman ambition and bravery paved the way,
NAT
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544
' superstitious.’
and prepared the world for the reception of
the Christian doctrine.
If we consider the state of the world with
regard to morals, it evidently appears that
the coming of Christ was at the most appro-
priate time. The Romans, continues our
author, by subduing the world, lost their own
liberty. Many vices, engendered or nourished
by prosperity, delivered them over to the
vilest race of tyrants that ever afllicted or
disgraced human nature. The colours are
not too strong which the apostle employs in
drawing the character of that age. See Eph.
iv. 17, 19. In this time of universal corrup-
tion did the wisdom of God manifest the
Christian revelation to the world. What the
wisdom of men could do for the encourage-
ment of virtue in a corrupt world had been
tried during several ages, and all human de-
vices were found by experience to he of very
small avail; so that no juncture could be
more' proper for publishing a religion. which,
independent of human laws and institutions.
explains the principles of morals with admir-
able perspicuity, and enforces the practice of
them by most persuasive arguments.
The wisdom of God will still further appear
in the time of Christ’s coming, if we consider
the world with regard to its religious state.
The Jews seem to have been deeply tinc-
tured with superstition. Delighted with the
ceremonial prescriptions of the law, they
utterly neglected the moral. While the Pha-
risees undermined religion, on the one hand,
by their vain traditions and wretched inter-
pretations of the law, the Sadducees denied
the immortality of the soul, and overturned
the doctrine of future rewards and punish-
ments; so that between them the knowledge
and power of true religion were entirely de-
stroyed. But the deplorable situation of the
heathen world called still more loudly for an
immediate interposal of the divine .hand.
The characters of their heathen deities were
infamous, and their religious worship con-
sisted frequently in the vilest and most
shameful rites. According to the apostle’s
observation, they ‘ were in all things too
Stately temples, expensive
sacrifices, pompous ceremonies, magnificent
festivals, with all the other circumstances of
show and splendour, were the objects which
false religion presented to its votaries; but
just notions of God, obedience to his moral
laws, purity of heart, and sanctity of life, were
not once mentioned as ingredients in reli-
gious service. Rome adopted the gods of
almost every nation whom she had conquered,
and opened her temples to the grossest super-
stitions of the most barbarous people. Her
foolish heart being darkened, she changed
the glory of the incorruptible God into an
image made like to corruptible man, and to
birds and four—footed beasts, and creeping
things, Rom. i. 21, 23. No period, therefore,
can be mentioned when, instructions would
have been more seasonable and necessary ;
and no wonder that those who were looking for
salvation should joyfully exclaim, “ Blessed
be the Lord God of Israel, for he hath visited
and redeemed his people.”
The nativity of Christ is celebrated among
us on the 25th day of December, and divine
service is performed in the church, and in
_many places of worship among dissenters;
but alas! the day is more generally profaned
than improved. Instead of being a season of
real devotion, it is a season of great diver-
sion. The luxury, extravagance, intemper-
ance, obscene pleasures, and drunkenness,
that abound, are striking proofs of the immo-
ralities of the age. It is a matter of just com-
plaint, says a divine, that such irregular and
extravagant things are at this time commonly
done by many who call themselves Christians ;
as if, because the Son of God was at this time
made man, it were fit for men to make them-
selves beasts. Manne’s Dissertation on the
Birth of Christ; Lardner’s Cred., vol. ii. p. i.
pp. 796, 963 ; Gill’s Body of Divinity, on In-
carnation; Bishop Law’s Theory of Religion ;
Dr. Robertson’s admirable Sermon on the Si-
tuation of the World at Christ’s Appearance,-
Edwards’s Redemption, pp. 313, 316 ; Robin-
son’s Claude, vol. i. pp. 276, 317 ; John Ed-
wards’s Survey of all the Dispensations and
Methods of Religion, vol. i. chap.'13.
NATURE, the essential properties of athing,
or that by which it is distinguished from all
others. It is used also for the system of the
world, and the Creator of it; the aggregate
powers of the human body and common
sense, Rom. i; 26, 27 ; 1 Cor. xi. 14. The word
is also used in reference to a variety of other
objects which we shall here enumerate. 1.
The Divine nature is not any external form
or shape, but his glory, cxcellency, and per-
fections, peculiar to himself. 2. Human na-
ture signifies the state, properties, and pecu-
liarities of man. 3. Good-nature is a dispo-
sition to please, and is compounded of kind-
ness, forbearance, forgiveness, and self-denial.
4. The law of nature is the will of God, re-
lating to human actions, grounded in the
moral differences of things. Some under-
stand it in a more comprehensive sense, as
signifying those stated orders by which all
the, parts in the material world are governed
in their several motions and operations. 5.
The light of nature does not consist merely
in those ideas which heathens have actually
attained, but those which are presented to
men by the works of creation, and which, by
the exertion of reason, they may obtain, if
they be desirous of retaining God in their
mind. See RELIGION. 6. By the dictates of
nature, with regard to right and wrong, we
understand those things which appear to the
mind to be natural, fit, and reasonable. 7.
The state of nature is that in which men have
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not by mutual engagements, implicit or ex-
press, entered into communities. 8. De~
praved nature is that corrupt state in which
all mankind are born, and which inclines
them to evil.
NAZARENES, Christians converted from J u-
daism, whose chief error consisted in defend-
ing the necessity or expediency of the works
of the law, and who obstinately adhered to the
practice of the Jewish ceremonies. The
name of Nazarenes, at first, had nothing
odious in it, and it was often given to the first
Christians. The fathers frequently mention
the gospel of the Nazarenes, which differs
nothing from that of St. Matthew, which was
either in Hebrew or Syriac, for the use of the
first converts, but was afterwards corrupted
by the Ebionites. These Nazarenes pre-
served their first gospel in its primitive pu-
rity. Some of them were still in being in
the time of Jerome, who does not reproach
them with any gross, errors. They were
very zealous observers of the law of Moses,
but held the traditions of the Pharisees in
very great contempt.
Some have considered the Nazarenes and
the Ebionites to have been identical ; but this
cannot be proved to be fact; and nothing can
be more fallacious than the Socinian argu-
ment, which is founded on the mere assump-
tion of this identity, and according to which,
the Nazarenes, being orthodox Judaizing
Christians, held that Jesus was a mere man.
See Bishop Horsley’s Reply to Dr. Priestley,
and Burton’s Early Heresies. '
The name Nazarene was given to Jesus
Christ and his disciples; and is commonly
taken in a sense of derision and contempt in
such authors as have written against Chris-
tianity.
NAZARITES, those under the ancient law
who made a vow of observing a more than
ordinary degree of purity, as Samson and
John the Baptist. The N azarites engaged by
a vow to abstain from wine and all intoxi-
cating liquors, to let their hair grow without
cutting or shaving; not to enter into any
house that was polluted, by having a dead
corpse in it, nor to be present at any funeral.
And if by chance any one should have died in
their presence, they began again the whole ce—
remony of their consecration and Nazariteship.
This ceremony generally lasted eight days,
sometimes a month, and sometimes their
whole lives. When the time of their Naza-
riteship was accomplished, the priest brought
the person to the door of the temple, who
there offered to the Lord a he—lamb for a burnt
ofi‘ering, a she-lamb for an expiatory sacri-
fice, and a ram for a peace-offering. They
offered likewise loaves and cakes, with wine
necessary for the libations. After all this
was sacrificed, and offered to the Lord, the
priest or some other person shaved the head
of the Nazarite at the door of the tabernacle,
and burnt his hair, throwing it upon the fire
of the altar. Then the priest put into the
hand of the Nazarite the shoulder of the ram,
roasted, with a loaf and a cake, which the
Nazarite returning into the hands of the
priest, he offered them to the Lord, lifting
them in the presence of the Nazarite. And
from this time he might again drink wine,
his Nazariteship being now accomplished.
Numbers vi.; Amos ii. 11, 12.
Those that made a vow of Nazariteship
out of Palestine, and could not come to the
temple when their vow was expired, con-
tented themselves with observing the absti-
nence required by the law, and after that,
cutting their hair in the place where they
were; as to the offerings and sacrifices pre-
scribed by- Moses, which were to be offered
at the temple by themselves, or by others
for them, they deferred this till they could
have a convenient opportunity. Hence it
was that Paul, being at Corinth, and having
made a vow of a Nazarite, had his hair
cut off at Cenchrea, and put off fulfilling
the rest of his vow till he should arrive
at Jerusalem, Acts xviii. 18. WVhen a per-
son found that he was not in a condition to
make a vow of Nazariteship, or had not lei-
sure to perform the ceremonies belonging to
it, he contented himself by contributing to
the expense of the sacrifice and offerings of
those that had made and fulfilled this vow;
and by this means he became a partaker in
the merit of such Nazariteship. When Paul
came to Jerusalem, in the year of Christ 53,
the apostle St. James the Less, with the other
brethren, said to him (Acts xxi. 23, 24,) that
to quiet the minds of the converted Jews,
who had been informed that he every where
preached up the entire abolition of the law
of Moses, he ought to join himself to four of
the faithful, who had a vow of Nazariteship
upon them, and contribute to the charge of
the ceremony at the_ shaving of their heads;
by which the new converts would perceive
that he continued to keep the law, and that
what they had heard of him was not true.
Nncnssnnmns, an appellation which may
be given to all who maintain that moral
agents act from necessity. See next article,
and MATEnIALIs'rs.
NECESSITY, whatever is done by a cause
or power that is irresistible, in which sense it
is opposed to freedom. Man is a necessary
agent, if all his actions be so determined by
the causes preceding each action, that not
one past action could possibly not have come
to pass, or have been otherwise than it hath
been, nor one future action can possibly not
come to pass, or be otherwise than it shall be.
On the other hand it is asserted, that he is a
free agent, if he be able at any time, under
the causes and circumstances he then is in,
to do different things; or, in other words, if
he be not unavoidably determined in every
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point of time by the circumstances he is in,
and the causes he is under, to do any one
thing he does, and not possibly to do any
other thing. Whether man is a necessary
agent, is a question which has been debated by
writers of the first eminence. Hobbes, Collins,
Hume, Leibnitz, Kaims, Hartley, Priestley,
Edwards, Crombie, Toplady, and Belsham,
have written on the side of necessity ; while
Clarke, King, Law, Reid, Butler, Price, Bry-
ant, Wollaston. Horsley, Beattie, Gregory,
and Butterworth, have written against it. To
state all their arguments in this place would
take up too much room; sufiice it to say, that
the anti-necessarians suppose that the doc-
trine of necessity charges God as the author
of sin; that it takes away the freedom of the
will, renders man unaccountable, makes sin
to be no evil, and morality or virtue to be no
good; precludes the use of means, and is of
the most gloomy tendency. The Necessa-
rians deny these to be legitimate consequences,
and observe that the Deity acts no more im-
morally in decreeing vicious actions, than in
permitting all those irregularities which he
could so easily have prevented. The diffi-
culty is the same on each hypothesis. All
necessity, say they, doth not take away free-
dom. The actions of a man may be at one
and the same time free and necessary too.
It was infallibly certain that Judas would be-
tray Christ, yet he did it voluntarily. Jesus
Christ necessarily became man, and died, yet
he acted freely. A good man doth naturally
and necessarily love his children, yet volun-
tarily. It is part of the happiness of the
blessed to love God unchangeably, yet freely,
for it would not be their happiness if done by
compulsion. Nor does it, says the Neces-
sarian, render man unaccountable, since the
Divine Being does no injury to his rational
faculties; and man, as his creature, is an—
swerable to him; besides, he has a right to
do what he will with his own. That neces-
sity doth not render actions less morally good,
is evident; for if necessary virtue be neither
moral nor praiseworthy, it will follow that‘
God himself is not a moral being, because he
is a necessary one; and the obedience of
Christ cannot be good, because it was neces-
sary. Further, say they, necessity does not
preclude the use of means; for means are no
less appointed than the end. It was ordained
that Christ should be delivered up to death ;
but he could not have been betrayed without
a betrayer, nor crucified without crucifiers.
That it is not a gloomy doctrine, they allege,
because nothing can be more consolatory than
to believe that all things are under the direc-
tion of an all-wise Being; that his kingdom
ruleth over all, and that he doth all things
well. So far from its being inimical to hap-
piness, they suppose there can be no solid
true happiness without the belief of it; that it
inspires gratitude. excites confidence, teaches
resignation, produces humility, and draws the
soul to God. It is also observed, that to deny
necessity is to deny the foreknowledge of
God, and to wrest the sceptre from the hand
of the Creator, and to place that capricious
and undefinable principle—the self-deter-
mining power of man, upon the throne of
the universe. Beside, say they, the Scripture
places the doctrine beyond all doubt, Job
xxiii. 13, 14; xxxiv. 29; Prov. xvi. 4; Is.
xlv. 7 ; Acts xiii. 48; Eph. i. 11 ; 1 Thess.
iii. 3; Matt. X. 29, 30 ; xviii. 7 ; ‘Luke xxiv.
26: John vi. 37. See the works of the
above-mentioned writers on the subject ; Isaac
Taylor’s Introductory Essay to Edwards on
the Will; and articles MATERIALISTS, and
PREDESTINATION.
NECROLOGY, formed of vucpog, dead, and
Xoyog, discourse, or enumeration; a book
anciently kept in churches and monasteries,
wherein were registered the benefactors of
the same, the time of their deaths, and the
days of their commemoration; as also the
deaths of the priors, abbots, religious canons,
&c. This was otherwise called calendar and
obituary.
NECROMANCY, the art of revealing future
events, by conversing with the dead. See
DIVINATION.
NEOLOGY, from veog, new, and hoyog, doc-
trine; a term now currently in use, in appli-
cation to the principles of Socinianism, as
held and taught on the continent, especially
in Germany. It is synonymous with Ratio-
nalism, and comprehends all those various
opinions which have been broached to the
disparagemen-t of the Scriptures as a strictly
divine revelation, and in opposition to the
peculiar doctrines of the Jewish and Chris-
tian dispensations. Many of the Neologists
are mere Materialists, Deists, or Pantheists,
who regard all revelation as nothing but a
mass of superstition, imposture, and delusion.
Others admit the principal facts contained in
the Scriptures, but endeavour to account for
many of them from natural causes. They
deny every thing supernatural or miraculous,
and regard our Saviour merely as a Divine
Messenger, sent, like Plato, Socrates, Luther,
&c., to teach and improve mankind. The
design vof Christianity, according to them,
was the introduction of a system of religion
comprehensible by human reason, and cor,
roborative of its principles as already exist~
ing. They treat the Bible precisely as they
would any other book of antiquity, not be-
lievingin its divine inspiration and authority,
and rejecting its books at pleasure. The
doctrines of Christ and his apostles they
consider as strongly tinctured with Jewish
prejudices; and they attribute the extraor-
dinary displays of knowledge and wisdom
in our Saviour to the precocity of his under-
standing. Some of them deny that he ac-
tually died ; and others maintain that he never
'NEO 5
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ascended up into heaven, but continued on
earth, made himself known to Saul of Tarsus,
800. They ascribe the great change that
took place in the disciple of ‘Gamaliel to
mortified pride: his Jewish brethren having
turned their backs upon him on account of
his acceptance of the privilege of Roman
citizenship. To be revenged upon them, he
set himself strenuously to oppose their nar-
row and contracted notions, (particularz'smus,)
and establish an universal religion, to which
he found the doctrines of Christ were favour-
able. .
These principles of unbelief have, under
various modifications, been propagated by
means of systems of philosophy, new versions
of the Scriptures, commentaries, introductions,
works on biblical criticism and interpretation,
grammars, lexicons, lectures, sermons, cate-
chisms, tracts, reviews, newspapers, and in
short through almost every possible vehicle
of communication. Their advocates have
been found in the professor at the university,
the preacher in the pulpit, the village school-
master, and even the mother, and the nursery-
maid Sometimes they have been propounded
with all the gravity of a philosopher, and at
other times taught with all the flippancy and
levity of a buffoon. With such instruments
and such efforts, Christianity has now had to
struggle for more than half a century; and
awful have been the examples of religious
shipwreck which that period of time has
presented. At length, however, a powerful
reaction has taken place. The high places
of literature and influence are no longer ex-
clusively held by men inimical to the truth as
it is in Jesus, but are, many of them, occupied
by individuals of acknowledged literary and
scientific merit, who are bending all their
energies to undeceive the public with respect
to the unsatisfactory, untenable, and self-
contradictory theories of rationalism, falsely
so called. Aspirit of piety is rapidly spread-
ing among those who are destined to be the
future instructors of the people; the Scrip-
tures and evangelical tracts are being exten-
sively circulated; and some able periodicals
have recently been set on foot, under the
editorial superintendence of men of orthodox
principles and high literary attainments.
It has been justly observed, that no men
ever undertook to deny the divine origin of
Christianity, or to explain away‘ its principal
facts and doctrines, under circumstances so
favourable for the experiment, as those of
the Neologists of Germany. The hand of
power, instead of being against them, was
most frequently with them. They had pos-
session of the seats of learning, commanded
a vast band of journals which kept any thing
of the kind in the shape of orthodoxy en-
tirely out ofthe market. They had all the
advantages which facilities in literature could
give; they had numbers, and wealth, and}
clamour on their side; they had, in a word,
ample room and verge enough to work their
will, if that will could have been effected.
And yet, in spite of all that metaphysical
and mythological researches could effect to
get rid of the divine authority of the Bible ;
in spite of all that sophistry and ridicule could
effect to introduce the misnamed religion of
reason, it remains precisely where it was;
and the religion of reason is being overthrown
and rejected. The Bible has laughed its ene-
mics and all their efforts to scorn. “The
word of our God shall stand for ever.”
NEONOMIANS, so called from the Greek
vsog, new, and vopog, law,- signifying a new
law, the condition whereof is imperfect, though
sincere and persevering obedience.
Neonomianism seems to be an essential part
of the Arminian system. “ The new cove-
nant of grace which, through the medium of
Christ’s death, the Father made with men,
consists, according to this system, not in our
being justified by faith, as it apprehends the
righteousness of Christ; but in this, that
God, abrogating the exaction of perfect legal
obedience, reputes or accepts of faith itself,
and the imperfect obedience of faith, instead
of the perfect obedience of the law, and gra-
ciously accounts them worthy of the reward
of eternal life.”—This opinion was examined
at the synod of Dort, and has been canvassed
between the Calvinists and Arminians on
various occasions.
Towards the close of the seventeenth cen-
tury, a controversy was agitated amongst the
English dissenters, in which the one side,
who were partial to the writings of Dr. Crisp,
were charged with Antinomianism, and the
other, who favoured Mr. Baxter, were accused
of Neonomianism. Dr. Daniel \Villiams, who
was a principal writer on what was called the
Neonomian side, after many things had been
said, gives the following as a summary of his
faith in reference to those subjects :——“ 1.
God has eternally elected a certain definite
number of men whom he will infallibly save
by Christ in that way prescribed by the Gos-
pel.——2. These very elect are not personally
justified until they receive Christ, and yield
up themselves to him, but they remain con—
demned whilst unconverted to Christ—3. By
the ministry of the Gospel there is a serious
ofi'er of pardon and glory, upon the terms of
the Gospel, to all that hear it; and God
thereby requires them to comply with the said
terms—4. Ministers ought to use these and
other Gospel benefits as motives, assuring
men that if they believe they shall be justi-
fied ; if they turn to God, they shall live; if
they repent, their sins shall be blotted out;
and whilst they neglect these duties, they can-
not have a personal interest in these respec-
tive benefits—5. It is by the power of the
Spirit of Christ freely exerted, and not by the
power of free-will, that the Gospel becomes
NEO
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_548
effectual for the conversion of any soul to
the obedience of faith—6. When a man be-
lieves, yet is not that very faith, and much
less any other work, the matter of that right-
eousness fpr which a sinner is justified, i. e.
entitled to pardon, acceptance, and eternal
glory, as righteous before God; and it is the
imputed righteousness of Christ alone, for
which the Gospel gives the believer a right
to these and all saving blessings, who in this
respect is justified by Christ’s righteousness
alone. By both this and the fifth head it ap-
pears that all boasting is excluded, and we
are saved by free grace—7. Faith alone re-
ceives the Lord Jesus and his righteousness,
and the subject of this faith is a convinced,
penitent soul,- hence we are justified by faith
alone, and yet the impenitent are not forgiven.
-—8. God has freely promised that all whom
he predestinated to salvation shall not only
savingly believe, but that he by his power
shall preserve them from a total or a final
apostasy—9. Yet the believer, whilst he lives
in this world, is to pass the time of his so—
jouring here with fear, because his warfare is
not accomplished, and that it is true, that if
he draw back, God will have no pleasure in
him. WVhich with'the like cautions God
blesseth as means to the saints’ perseverance,
and these by ministers should be so urged.—
10. The law of innocence, or moral law, is so
in force still, as that every precept thereof
constitutes duty, even to the believer; every
breach thereof is a sin deserving of death:
this law binds death by its curse on every
unbeliever, and the righteousness for or by
which we are - j ustified before God, is a right-
eousness (at least.) adequate to that law, which
is Christ’s alone righteousness; and this so
imputed to the believer as that God deals
judicially with him according thereto-11.
Yet such is the grace of .the Gospel, that it
promiseth in and by Christ a freedom from
the curse, forgiveness of sin, and eternal life,
to every sincere believer; which promise
God will certainly perform, notwithstanding
the threatening of the law.”
Dr. Williams maintains the conditionality
of the covenant of grace; but admits, with
Dr. Owen, who also uses the term condition,
that “ Christ undertook that those who were
to be taken into this covenant should receive
grace enabling them to comply with the terms
of it, fulfil its conditions, and yield the obedi-
ence which .God requirecl' therein.”
On this subject Dr. Williams further says,
“ The question is not whether the first (viz.
regenerating) grace, by which we are en-
abled to perform the condition, be absolutely
given. This I aflirm, though that be dis»
pensed ordinarily in a due use of means,
and in a way discountenancing idleness,
and vfit encouragement given to ‘the use of -
means.”
The following objection, among others, was
made by several ministers in 1692. against
Dr. Williams’s “ Gospel Truth Stated,” &c. .
-~“ To supply the room of the moral law,
vacated by him, he turns the Gospel into a
new law, in keeping of which we shall be
justified for the sake of Christ’s righteous-
ness, making qualifications and acts of ours a '
disposing subordinate righteousness, whereby
we become capable of being justified by
Christ’s righteousness.”
To this among other things he answers,
“ The difference is not, 1. Whether the Gos-
pel be a new law in the Socinian, Popish, or
Arminian sense. This I deny. Nor, 2. Is
faith, or any other grace or act of ours, any
atonement for sin, satisfaction to justice, me-
riting qualification, or any part of that right-
eousness for which we are justified at God
our Creator’s bar. This I deny in places
innumerable. Nor, 3. Whether the Gospel
be a law more new than is implied in the
first promise to fallen Adam, proposed to
Cain, and obeyed by Abel, to the difi'erencing
him from his unbelieving brother. This I
deny. 4. Nor whether the Gospel be a law
that allows sin, when it accepts such graces
as true, though short of perfection, to be the
conditions of our personal interest in the
benefits purchased 'by Christ. This I deny.
5. Nor whether the Gospel be a law, the pro-
mises whereof entitle the performers of its
conditions to the benefits as of debt. This I
den '.
“ The difference is, 1. Is the Gospel. a law
in this sense? viz. God in Christ thereby
commandeth sinners to repent of sin, and
receive Christ by a true operative faith, pro-
mising that thereupon they shall be united to -
him, justified by his righteousness, pardoned,
and adopted; and that, persevering in faith
and true holiness, they shall be finally saved;
also threatening that if any shall die impeni-
tent, unbelieving, ungodly, rejecters of his
grace, they shall perish without relief, and
endure sorer punishments than if these'ofi'ers
had not been made to them ?—2. Hath the
Gospel a sanction, i. e. doth Christ therein
enforce his commands of faith, repentance,
and perseverance, by the aforesaid promises
and threatenings, as motives of our obedi-'
ence? Both these I afiirm, and they deny;
say-ing the Gospel in the largest sense is an
absolute promise without precepts and condi-
tions, and a Gospel threat is a bull.—3. Do
the Gospel promises of benefits to certain
graces, and its threats that those benefits
shall be withheld and the contrary evils in-
flicted for the neglect of such graces, render
those graces the condition of ‘our personal
title to those benefits ?—-This they deny, and
I atfirm,” &c.
It does not appear to have been a. question
in this controversy, whether God in his word
commands sinners to repent and believe in
Christ, nor whether he promises life to be-
NES 549
NES
lievers, and threatens death to unbelievers;
but whether it be the Gospel under the form
of a new law that thus commands or threatens,
or the moral law on its behalf, and whether
its promises to believing render such believing
a condition of the things promised. In an-
other controversy, however, which arose
about forty years afterwards among the same
description of people, it became a question
whether God did by his word (call ‘it law or
Gospel) command unregenerate sinners to
repent and believe in Christ, or'to do any
thing which is spiritually good. Of those
who took the affirmative side of this question,
one party attempted to maintain it on the
ground of the Gospel being a new law,‘con-
sisting of commands, promises, and threaten-
ings, the terms or conditions of which were
repentance, faith, and sincere obedience. But
those who first engaged in the controversy,
though they allowed the encouragement to
repent and believe to arise merely from the
grace of the Gospel, yet considered the formal
obligation to do so as arising merely from
the moral law, which, requiring supreme love
to God, requires acquiescence in any reve-
~ lation which he shall at any time make
known. Witsius’s Irenicum ,- Edwards on the
Will, p. 220; Williams’s Gospel Truth ,- Ecl-
warcls’s Crispianism Unmasked ,- Chauncey’s
N'eonomianism Unmasked ; Adams’s View of
Religions.
NEOPHYTE (from rsog, new, and gb'u’rog, a
plant) in the Eleusinian and other mysteries,
a person recently initiated; among the pri-
mitive Christians, a new convert from Ju-
daism or Paganism; in the monasteries, a
novice, or candidate of either sex for a reli-
gions order.
Nns'ronmns, the followers of Nestorius,
the bishop of Constantinople, who lived in
the fifth century. They believed that in
Christ there were not only two natures, but
two persons, or 'b'n'oo'ro'to'stg; of which the
one was divine, even the Eternal Word; and
the other, which was human, was the man
Jesus: that these two persons had only one
aspect ,- that the union between the Son of
God and the son of man was formed in the
moment of the Virgin’s conception, and was
never to be dissolved: that it was not, how-
ever, an union of nature or of person, but
only of will and affection (Nestorius, however,
it is said, denied the last position): that
Christ was therefore to be carefully distin-
guished from God, who dwelt in him as in
his temple; and that Mary was to be called
the mother of Christ, and not the mother of
God. One of the chief promoters of the Nes-
torian cause was Barsumas, created bishop of
Nisibis, A. D. 435. Such was his zeal and
success, that the Nestorians who still remain
in Chaldea, Persia, Assyria, and the adjacent
countries, consider him alone as their parent
and founder. By him, Pherozes, the Persian

monarch, was persuaded to expel those Chris-
tians who adopted the opinions of the Greeks,
and to admit the Nestorians in their place,
putting them in possession of the principal
seat of ecclesiastical authority in Persia, the
see of Seleucia, which the patriarch of the
Nestorians has always filled even down to
our time. ‘Barsumas also erected a school at
Nisibis, from which proceeded those Nes-
torian doctors who, in the fifth and sixth cen-
turies, spread abroad their tenets through
Egypt, Syria, Arabia, India, Tartary, and
ma.
In the tenth century, the Nestorians in
Chaldea, whence they are sometimes called
Chaldeans, extended their spiritual conquests
beyond Mount Imaus, and introduced the
Christian religion into Tartary, properly so
called, and especially into that country called
Karit, bordering on the northern part of
China. The prince of that country, whom
the Nestorians converted to the Christian
faith, assumed, according to the vulgar tradi-
tion, the name of John after his baptism, to
which he added the surname of Presbyter,
from a principle of modesty; whence, it is
said, his successors were each of them called-
Prester John until the time of Gingis Khan.
But Mosheim observes, that the famous Pres-
ter John did not begin to reign in that part
of Asia before the conclusion of the eleventh
century. The Nestorians formed so consi_
derable a body of Christians, that the mis-
sionaries of Home were industrious in their
endeavours to reduce them under the papal
yoke. Innocent IV. in 1246, and Nicholas
IV. in 1278, used their utmost efforts for this
purpose, but without success. Till the time
of Pope Julius III. the Nestorians acknow-
ledged but one patriarch, who resided first at
Bagdad, and afterwards at Mousul; but a
division arising among them, in 1551 the
patriarchate became divided, at least for a
time, and a new patriarch was consecrated
by that pope, whose successors fixed their re-
sidence in the city of Ormus, in the moun-
tainous parts of Persia, where they still con-
tinue, distinguished by the name of Simeon ,-
and so far down as the seventeenth century,
these patriarchs persevered in their com-
munion with the church of Rome, but seem
at present to have withdrawn themselves from
it. The great Nestorian pontiifs, who form
the opposite party, and look with a hostile
eye on this little patriarch, have, since the
year 1559, been distinguished by the general
denomination of Elias, and reside constantly
in the city of .Mousul. Their spiritual domi-
nion is very extensive, takes in a great part
of Asia, and comprehends also. within its cir-
cuit the Arabian Nestorians, and also the
Christians of St. Thomas, who dwell along
the coast of Malabar. It is observed, to the
lasting honour of the Nestorians, that of all
the Christian societies established in the East,
NEW
NEW
550
they have been the most careful and successful
in avoiding a multitude of superstitious opin-
ions and practices that have infested the
Greek and Latin churches. About the middle
of the seventeenth century, the Romish mis-
sionaries gained over to their communion a
small number of Nestorians, whom they
formed into a congregation or church; the
patriarchs or bishops of which reside in the
city of Amida, or Diarbeker, and all assume
the denomination of Joseph. Nevertheless,
the Nestorians in general persevere, to our
own times, in their refusal to enter into the
communion of the Romish church, notwith-
standing the earnest entreaties and alluring
offers that have been made by the pope’s
legate to conquer their inflexible constancy.
New JERUSALEM CHURCH. See SWEDEN-
BORGIANS.
Nnw PLATONICS, or AMMONIANS, so called
from Ammonius Saccas, who taught with the
highest applause in the Alexandrian school,
about the conclusion of the second century.
This learned man attempted a general recon-
ciliation of all sects, whether philosophical or
religious. He maintained that the great prin-
ciples of all philosophical and religious truth
were to be found equally in all sects, and that
they differed from each other only in their
method of expressing them, in some opinions
of little or no importance; and that by a
proper interpretation of their respective sen-
timents they might easily be united in one
body.
Ammonius supposed that true philosophy
derived its origin and its consistence from the
eastern nations, that it was taught to the
Egyptians by Hermes, that it was brought
from them to the Greeks, and preserved in
its original purity by Plato, who was the best
interpreter of Hermes and the other oriental
sages. He maintained that all the different
religions which prevailed in the world were,
in their original integrity, conformable to this
ancient philosophy ; but it unfortunately hap-
pened, that the symbols and fictions under
which, according to the ancient manner, the
ancients delivered their precepts and doc-
trines, were in process of time erroneously
understood, both by priests and people, in a
literal sense; that in consequence of this, the
invisible beings and demons whom the Su-
preme Deity had placed in the different parts
of the universe as the ministers of his provi-
dence, were by the suggestions of superstition
converted into gods, and worshipped with a
multiplicity of vain ceremonies. He therefore
insisted that all the religions of all nations
should be restored to their primitive standard:
viz. The ancient philosophy of the east: and
he asserted that his project was agreeable to
the intentions of Jesus Christ, whom he
acknowledged to be a most excellent man,
the friend of God: and aflirmed that his sole
view in descending on earth, was to setv
bounds to the reigning superstition, to re-
move the errors which had crept into the
religion of all nations, but not to abolish
the ancient theology from which they were.
derived.
Taking these principles for granted, Am-
monius associated the sentiments of the
Egyptians with the doctrines of Plato; and
to finish this conciliatory scheme, he so in-
terpreted the doctrines of the‘ other philoso-
phical and religious sects, by art, ‘invention,
and allegory, that they seemed to bear some
semblance to the Egyptian and Platonic
systems.
With regard to moral discipline, Ammonius
permitted the people to live according to the
law of their country, and the dictates of
nature; but a more sublime rule was laid
down for the wise. They were to raise above
all terrestrial things, by the towering efforts
of holy contemplation, those souls whose
origin was celestial and divine. They were
ordered to extenuate by hunger, thirst, and
other mortifications, the sluggish body, which
restrains the liberty of the immortal spirit,
that in this life they might enjoy communion
with the Supreme Being, and ascend after
death, active and unencumbered, to the
universal Parent, to live in his presence for
ever.
NEW TESTAMENT. See INSPIRATION, and
SCRIPTURE.
NEWTON, JoHN, rector of St. Mary Wool-
noth, and St. Mary Woolchurch Haw, was
born in London, on the 24th of July, 1722,v
o. s. His parents, though not wealthy, were
respectable. His father was for many years
master of a ship in the Mediterranean trade.
His mother was a dissenter, a pious woman,
and a member of the late Dr. Jennings’s
church, but, unfortunately, she died before
he had attained the age of seven years. When
he was four years old, he could read well,
repeat the Assembly’s Shorter Catechism,
with the proofs, all Dr. Watts’s smaller eate-
chisms, and his Children’s Hymns. He was
never at school longer than two years, from
his eighth to his tenth year; it was a board'-
ing-school at Stratford, in Essex. When he
was eleven years of age, he made five voy-
ages with his father to the Mediterranean;
during his last voyage, he left him with a
friend at Alicant, in Spain. 'In 1742, his
father left the sea, and he afterwards made
one voyage to Venice, before the mast, and
on his return, was impressed on board the
Harwich. Becoming, in process of time,
master of a vessel employed in the slave
trade, he made several voyages to the coast
of Africa, for the purpose of carrying on that
abominable trafiic, during which time he con—
tracted habits of dissipation and vice, which
the brutalizing scenes he witnessed tended to
originate and confirm. After spending se-
veral years in this disgusting employment,
NlC
NON
his heart grew sick of it; and the compunc-
tions visitings of conscience, seconded and
enforced by the word of God, determined him
to abandon it. He grew serious and fond of
study, and having relinquished the occupa-
tion of a mariner, he, in 1775, obtained the
oflice of tide surveyor of the port of Liver-
pool. When he had been about three years
in that situation he turned his attention to-
wards the profession of a clergyman in the
Established Church, and made an unsuccessful‘
effort to obtain episcopal ordination from the
archbishop of York, having been compli-
mented with a title to a curacy by a friend.
Disappointed, however, in his hopes, he began
to exercise himself in the way of exhorting
or expounding the Scriptures at Liverpool,
wherever Providence opened a door to him,
we suppose, among the dissenters. In this
way he appears to have passed seven or eight
years of his life; until, in 1764, having an
offer made him of the curacy of Olney, in
Bucks, he renewed his application for ordina-
tion, and, on the 29th of April, obtained it
from the hands of Dr. Green, bishop of Lin-
coln, at the palace of Buckden. During a
residence of fifteen years at that place, he
formed an intimate friendship with the poet
Cowper, whence originated a volume of
hymns, well known under the title of “ Olney
Hymns,” their joint composition. In 177 9
Mr. Newton removed to London, having been
presented, by the late Mr. John Thornton, with
the rectory of the united parishes of St. Mary
Woolnoth and St. Mary Woolchurch Haw, in
Lombard—street. Here a new and wide field of
usefulness opened before him, which he con-
tinued to fill for about twenty-seven years, until
the 21st of December, 1807, when he departed
at the advanced age of eighty-five; but, for the
last ten or twelve years of his life, his mental
powers were greatly impaired. His doctrinal
sentiments were Calvinistic, and his writings
have been collected, and frequently printed,
in six volumes octavo, or twelve volumes duo-
decimo. Few theologians of the last century
contributed more to the recommendation and
advancement of experimental religion. Jones’s
Clm'st. Biog.
N ICENE CREED. See CREED.
NICOLAITANS, heretics who assumed this
name from Nicholas of Antioch ; who, being
a Gentile by birth, first embraced Judaism
and then Christianity; when his zeal and de-
votion recommended him to the church of J e-
rusalem, by whom he was chosen one of‘the
first deacons. Many of the primitive writers
believed that Nicholas was rather the occasion
than the author of the infamous practices of
those who assumed his name, who were ex-
pressly condemned. by the Spirit of God him—-
self, Rev. ii. 6. And, indeed, their opinions
and ‘actions were highly extravagant and
criminal. They allowed a community of
Wives, and made no distinction between ordi-

nary meats and those offered to idols. Ac-
cording to Eusebius, they subsisted but a
short time; but Tertullian says that they only
changed their name, and that their heresies
passed into the sect of the Cainites.
N OETIANS, Christian heretics in the third
century, followers of Noetius, a philosopher
of Ephesus, who pretended that he was an-
other Moses, sent by God, and that his bro-
ther was a new Aaron. His heresy consisted
in afiirming that there was but one person in
the Godhead; and that the Word and the
Holy Spirit were but external denominations
given to God in consequence of different
operations; that, as Creator, he is called
Father; as incarnate, Son; and as descending
on the apostles, Holy Ghost.
NOMINALISTS. See REALISTS.
NONCONFORMISTS, those who refuse to join
the Established Church. The word is gene-
rally used in reference to those ministers who
were ejected from their livings by the Act of
Uniformity, in 1662. The number of these
was about two thousand. The act required
that every clergyman should be reordained,
if he had not before received episcopal ordina-
tion ; should declare his assent to every thing
contained in the book of Common Prayer;
take the oath of canonical obedience ; abj ure
the solemn league and covenant ; and renounce
the principle of taking arms against the king.
All the royal promises of toleration and in—
dulgence to tender consciences were thus
eluded and broken.
However, some afi‘ect to treat these men
with indifference, and suppose that their con-
sciences were more tender than they need be ;
it must be remembered, that they were men
of as extensive learning, great abilities, and
pious conduct, as ever appeared. Mr. Locke,
if his opinion have any weight, calls them
“ worthy, learned, pious, orthodox divines,
who did not throw themselves out of service,
but were forcibly ejected.” Dr. Bogue thus
draws their character: “ As to their public
ministration,” he says, “they were orthodox,
experimental, serious, affectionate, regular,
faithful, able, and popular preachers. As to
their moral qualities, they were devout and
holy; faithful to Christ and the souls of men;
wise and prudent; of great liberality and
kindness ; and strenuous advocates for liberty,
civil and religious. As to their intellectual
qualities, they were learned, eminent, and
laborious.” These men were driven from
their houses, from the society of their friends,
and exposed to the greatest difliculties. Their
burdens were greatly increased by the Con-
venticle Act, whereby they were prohibited
from meeting for any exercise of religion
(above five in number) in any other manner
than allowed by the liturgy or practice of the
Church of England. For the first offence the
penalty was three months’ imprisonment, or
pay five pounds; for the second offence, six
NON
NON
552
months’ imprisonment, or ten pounds; and
for the third offence, to be banished to some
of the American plantations for seven years,
or pay one hundred pounds; and in case they
returned, to suffer death without benefit of
clergy. By virtue of this act, the gaols were
quickly filled with dissenting Protestants, and
the trade of an informer was very gainful.
So great was the severity of these times, says
Neale, that they were afraid to pray in their .
families, if above four of their acquaintance,
who came only to visit them, were present;
some families scrupled asking a blessing on
their meat, if five strangers were at table.
But this was not all : to say nothing of the
Test Act, in 1665, an act was brought into
the House to banish them from their friends,
commonly called the Oxford Five Mile Act,
by which all dissenting ministers, on the
penalty of forty pounds, who would not take
an oath (that it was not lawful, upon any
pretence whatever, to take arms against the
king, &c.,) were prohibited from coming
within five miles of any city, town corporate,
or borough, or any place where they had exer-
cised their ministry, and from teaching any
school. Some few took the oath; others could
not, and consequently sufi‘ered the penalty.
In 1673, “the mouths of the high church
pulpitcers were encouraged to open as loud as
possible. One, in his sermon before the
House of Commons, told them, that the Non-
conformists ought not be tolerated, but to be
cured by vengeance. He urged them to set
fire to the faggot, and to teach them by
scourges or scorpions, and open their eyes
with gall.”
Such were the dreadful consequences of
this intolerant spirit,that it is supposed nearly
eight thousand died in prison in the reign of
Charles II. It is said that Mr. Jeremiah
White had carefully collected a list of those
who had suffered between Charles II. and
the Revolution, which amounted to sixty
thousand. The same persecutions were car-
ried on in Scotland; and there as well as in
England, many, to avoid persecution, fled
from their country.
But, notwithstanding all'these dreadful and
furious attacks upon the Dissenters, they were
not extirpated. Their very persecution was
in their favour. The infamous characters of
their informers and persecutors; their piety,
zeal, and fortitude, no doubt, bad influence on
considerate minds; and, indeed, they had ad-
ditions from the Established Church, which
“several clergymen in this reign deserted as
a persecuting church, and took their lot
among them.” See Bogue’s Charge at Mr.
Knight’s Ordination; Neale’s History of the
Puritans,- De Laune’s Plea for the Noncon-
formists ; Palmer’s Nonconformists‘ Mern;
Martin’s Letters on Nonconformity; Robin-
son’s Lectures; Cornish’s History of lvoncon-
formity,- Dr. Calamy’s Life of Barter,- ,
Pierce's Vindication of the Dissenters; Bogue
and Bennett’s Hist. 0f the Dissenters ,- Conder,
J. Fletcher, and Dobson on A’onconfornzity,
and Price’s History of Nonconformity.
NONCONFORMITY, a relative term, which
supposes some previously existing system of
observances, established either by political
authority, or general consent, and denotes a.
practical secession or non-communion, on
grounds conceived by the parties to require
and justify it. Like the term Protestantism,
it is general and comprehensive. It applies to
various grounds of secession from the national
establishment of religion, and includes differ-
ent systems of ecclesiastical polity. No wise
man would choose to differ from those around
him, in reference to matters either civil or
religious, unless, in his own estimation, he
had good reasons for that difference; and in
such cases it is the obvious dictate of duty to
investigate the questions at issue, with calm-
ness and deliberation; that conviction and
not caprice, principle and not passion, may
regulate the inquiry and form the decision.
Many regard the Nonconformist contro-
versy as a very unattractive subject,-—a mere
debate about words and names, and questions
which gender strife rather than godly edify—
ing. Assuming either that there is no autho-
rity or standard in such matters, or that the
authority of certain ecclesiastical superiors
ought to be submitted to without murmuring
or disputing, they pronounce their disappro-
bation on all discussions of such subjects, and
on the parties who engage in them. High-
churchmen are offended that the doctrine of
conformity should be called in question at all.
Those who profess high spirituality, look on
the subject as unworthy of their regard, and
as fit for such as mind the carnal things of
the kingdom of God. Dissenters as well as
others frequently speak of it as being among
non-essential matters, and scarcely deserving
of profound consideration, and while they
luxuriate in the privileges which their fore-
fathers purchased for them at so dear a rate,
almost pity and condemn the measures which
procured them.
It is impossible for any one to form a cor-
rect view of English history for nearly three
hundred years, without an acquaintance with
this controversy, and with the characters and
principles of the men who engaged in it. It
is almost coeval with the English reforma-
tion; and the great questions then started
cannot be considered as yet finally settled.
The Puritans, under the Tudors, became
Nonconformists under the Stuarts, and Dis-
senters under the family of Hanover. They
have been men of the same principles sub-
stantially throughout. In maintaining the
rights of conscience they have contributed
more than any other class of persons to set
limits to the power of the. Crown, to define
the ‘rights of the subjects, and to secure the
NON 5
3 NOV
5
liberties of Britain. They have wrested a
rod of iron from the hand of despotism, and
substituted in its place a sceptre of righteous-
ness and mercy. They have converted the
divine right of kings into the principles of a
constitutional government, in which the pri-
vileges of the subject are secured by the same
charter which guards the throne. The his-
tory of the principles of such a body ought
not, therefore, to be regarded as unimportant
by any friends of British freedom.
The Nonconformist controversy contri—
buted greatly to ascertain the distinct pro-
vinces of divine and human legislation; to
establish the paramount and exclusive autho-
rity of God, and of the revelation of his will,
over the conscience of man; and to define the
undoubted claims of civil government to the
obedience of its subjects in all matters purely
civil. To the same controversy we are in-
dcbt'ed for the correct and scriptural senti-
ments which are now extensively entertained
respecting the unsecular nature of the king-
dom of Christ. The intermixture of hea-
venly and earthly things does indeed still
prevail, and its pernicious tendency is yet
imperfectly estimated by many; but consi-
derable progress has been made towards the
full discovery of the entire spirituality of
Messiah’s kingdom. Its independence of se—
cular support and defence; its resources both
of propagation and maintenance; its uncon-
geniality with the principles, spirit, and
practice of earth-born men, are now much
more generally admitted than they once were.
In fact the ablest defenders of ecclesiastico-
civil establishments have now entirely aban-
doned the doctrine of divine right, and
boldly avow that they are no part of Christi-
anity, but only a human expedient for its
propagation. Orme’s Life of Barter, vol. ii.
. 254.
p NONJURORS, those who refuse to take the
oaths to government, and who were in con-
sequence under certain incapacities, and liable
to certain severe penalties. It can scarcely
be said that there are any Nonjurors now in
the kingdom; and it is well known that all
penalties have been removed both from Pa—
pists and Protestants, formerly of that deno-
mination, as well in Scotland as in England.
The members of the episcopal church of
Scotland have long been denominated Non-
jurors; but perhaps they are now called so
improperly, as the ground of their difference
from the Establishment is more on account of
ecclesiastical than political principles.
NON-RESIDENCE, the act of not residing on
an ecclesiastical benefice. Nothing can re»
fleet greater disgrace on a clergyman of a
parish, than to receive the emoluments with-
out ever visiting his parishioners, and being
unconcerned for the welfare of their souls;
yet this has been a reigning evil in our land,
and proves that there are too many who care
little about the flock, so that they may but
live at ease. Let such remember what an
awful account they will have to give of talents
misapplied, time wasted, souls neglected, and
a sacred ofiice abused.
No'rEs or THE CHURCH, certain marks or
characteristics to which the Roman Catholics
appeal in support of their pretensions, that
the Church of Rome is the only true church.
Their writers generally mention four: viz.—
unity, holiness, catholicity, and apostolicity;
but Bellarmine lays down the following as
more fully determining the point :—-Catholi-
city, antiquity, duration, amplitude, episcopal
succession, apostolical agreement, unity, sanc-
tity of doctrine, eflicacy of doctrine, holiness
of life, miracles, prophecy, admissions of ad-
versaries, unhappy end of enemies, temporal
felicity. It may be fairly left with the reader
to compare the history of the Church of Rome
in reference to these points, with the primi-
tive Apostolic Church, as depicted in the
New Testament, in order to his satisfactorily
deciding on the validity of the claims in
question.
NOVATIANS, Novatiani, a sect of ancient
heretics that arose towards the close of the
third century; so called from Novatian, a.
priest of Rome. They were called also Ca-
thari, from naQapog, pure, q. d. Puritans.
Novatian first separated from the com-
munion of pope Cornelius, on pretence of his
being too easy in admitting to repentance
those who had fallen off in times of persecu-
tion. He indulged his inclination to severity
so far, as to deny that such as had fallen into
gross sins, especially those who had aposta-
tized from the faith under the persecution
set on foot by Decius, were to be again re-
ceived into the bosom of the church; ground-
ing his opinion on that of St. Paul: “ It is
impossible for those who were once enlight-
ened, and have, tasted of the heavenly gift,
See. if they shall fall away, to renew them
again unto repentance.” Heb. vi. 4—6.
The Novatians did not deny but a person
falling into any sin, how grievous soever,
might obtain pardon by repentance; for they
themselves recommended repentance in the
strongest terms; but their doctrine was, that
the church had it not in its power to receive
sinners into its communion, as having no way
of remitting sins but by baptism ; which, once
received, could not be repeated.
In process of time the Novatians softened
and moderated the rigour of their master’s
doctrine, and only refused absolution to very
great sinners.
The two leaders, Novatian and Novatus,
were proscribed, and declared heretics, not
for excluding penitents from communion, but
for denying that the church had the power
of remitting sins.
NOVICE. See Nsornv'rn.
Novrrm'rn, a year of probation appointed
OA‘T
OAT
554
for the trial of religious, whether or no they
have a vocation, and the necessary qualities
for living up to the rule, the observation
whereof they are to bind themselves to by
vow. ,_ The novitiate lasts a year at least; in
some houses more. It is esteemed the bed of
the civil death of a novice, who expires to the
world by profession.
NUN, a woman, in several Christian coun-
tries, who devotes herself, in a cloister or
nunnery, to a religious life. See article
MONK.
There were women, in the ancient Chris-
tian church, who made public profession of
virginity before the monastic life was known
in the world, as appears from the writings of
Cyprian and Tertullian. These, for distinc-
tion’s sake, are sometimes called ecclesiastical
virgins, and were commonly enrolled in the
canon, or matricula of the church. They
differed from the monastic virgins chiefly in
this, that they lived privately in their fathers’
houses, whereas the others lived in commu-
nities; but their profession of virginity was
not so strict as to make it criminal for them
to marry afterwards, if they thought fit. As
to the consecration of virgins, it had some
things peculiar in it: it was usually per-
formed publicly in the church by the bishop.
The virgin made a public profession of her
resolution, and then the bishop put upon her
the accustomed habit of sacred virgins. One
part of this habit was a veil, called the sacrum
velamen; another was a kind of mitre or coro-
net worn upon the head. At present, when
a woman is to be made a nun, the habit, veil,
and ring of the candidate are carried to the
altar; and she herself, accompanied by her
nearest relations, is conducted to the bishop,
who, after mass and an anthem (the subject
of which is, “ that she ought to have her
lamp lighted, because the bridegroom is com-
ing to meet her,”) pronounces the benedic-
tion: then she rises up, and the bishop con-
secrates the new habit, sprinkling it with
holy water. When the candidate has put on
her religious habit, she presents herself before
the bishop, and sings on her knees Aneilla
Christi sum, &c.; then she receives the veil,
and afterwards the ring, by which she is
married to Christ; and, lastly, the crown of
virginity. When she is crowned, an anathema
is denounced against all who shall attempt to
make her break her vows. In some few in-
stances, perhaps, it may have-happened that
nunneries, monasteries, &c., may have been
useful as well to morality and religion as to
literature; in the gross, however, they have
been highly prejudicial; and however well
they might be supposed to do when viewed
in theory, in fact they are unnatural and im~
pious. It was surely far from the intention
of Providence to seclude youth and beauty
in a cloister, or to deny them the innocent
enjoyment of their years and sex. See
MONASTERY.
NUNC‘IOS, persons sent by the pope' on
foreign missions relative to ecclesiastical
afi‘airs. They were dispatched to provincial
synods and foreign courts when subjects of
great importance were to be agitated; they
presided at the synods they convoked, and
gave decisions in the most important ecclesi-
astical affairs. England freed herself from
this intrusion in the twelfth century, by hav~
ing the Archbishop of Canterbury declared
perpetual legate. At the time of the Reforma-
tion, four permanent nunciaturee were forced
upon the Germans; and, in spite of the strug-
gles and opposition of the clergy, Pope
Pius VI. established one at Munich as late as
1785.
O.
OATH, a solemn aflirmation, wherein we
appeal to God as awitness of the truth of
what we say, and with an imprecation of his
vengeance, or a renunciation of his favour,
if what we afiirm be false, or what we promise
be not performed.
“ The forms of oaths,” says Dr. Paley,
“like other religious ceremonies, have in all
ages been various; consisting, however, for
the most part, of some bodily action, and of a
prescribed form of words. Amongst the Jews,
the juror held up his right hand towards
heaven, Psa. cxliv. 8. Rev. x. 5. (The same
form is retained in Scotland still.) Amongst
the Jews, also, an oath of fidelity was taken
by the servant’s putting his hand under the
thigh of his lord, Gen. xxiv. 2. Amongst
the Greeks and Romans, the form varied

with the subject and occasion of the oath:
in private contracts, the parties took hold of
each other’s hand, whilst they swore to the
performance; or they touched the altar of
the god by whose divinity they swore. Upon
more solemn occasions it was the custom to
slay a victim, and the beast being struck
down, with certain ceremonies and invoca-
tions, gave birth to the expressions, TEfl/UELV
opxov, ferire, pacium; and to our English
phrase, translated from these, of ‘striking a
bargain.’ The forms of oaths in Christian
countries are also very different; but in no
country in the world worse contrived, either
to convey the meaning, or impress the obli-
gation of an oath, than in our own. The
juror with us, after repeating the promise or
‘aflirmation which the oath is intended to
OAT
OBE
555
confirm, adds ‘So help me God ;’ or more
frequently the substance of the oath is repeat»
ed to the juror by the magistrate, who adds
in the conclusion, "So help you God.’ The
energy of the sentence resides in the particle
so; so, that is, lzac lege, upon condition of my
speaking the truth, or performing this pro-
mise, and not otherwise, may God help me.
The juror, whilst he hears or repeats the
words of the oath, holds his right hand upon
the Bible,-or other book containing the four
Gospels, and at the conclusion kisses the
book. This obscure and elliptical form,
together with the levity and frequency with
which it is administered, has brought about
a general inadvertency to the obligation of
oaths, which, both in a religious and political
view, is much to be lamented: and it merits
public consideration,” continues Dr. Paley,
“ whether the requiring of oaths on so many
frivolous occasions, especially in the customs,
and in the qualification for petty oflices, has
any other effect than to make them cheap
in the minds of the people. A pound of tea
cannot travel regularly from the ship to the
consumer without costing half a dozen oaths
at least; and the same security for the due
discharge of their ofiice, namely, that of an
oath, is required from a churchwarden and
an archbishop, from a petty constable and
the chief justice of England. Oaths, how-
ever, are lawful; and, whatever he the form,
the signification is the same.” It is evident
that so far as atheism prevails, oaths can be
of no use. “ Remove God once out of heaven,
and there will never be any gods upon earth.
If man’s nature had not something of sub-
jection in it to a Supreme Being, and inherent
principles, obliging him how to behave him-
self toward God and toward the rest of the
world, government could never have been
introduced nor thought of. Nor can there be
the least mutual security between governors
and governed, where no God is admitted.
For it is acknowledging of God in his su-/
preme judgment over the world, that is the
ground of an oath, and upon which the va-
lidity of all human engagements depends.”
Historians have justly remarked, that when
the reverence for an oath began to be dimi-
nished among the Romans, and the loose
Epicurean system, which discarded the belief
of Providence, was introduced, the Roman
honour and prosperity, from that period,
began to decline. “ The Quakers refuse to
swear upon any occasion, founding their
scruples concerning the lawfulness of oaths
upon our Saviour’s prohibition, ‘ Swear not
at all,’ Matt. v. 3.4. But it seems our Lord
there referred to the vicious, wanton, and
unauthorised swearing in common discourse,
and not to judicial oaths; for he himself
answered, when interrogated upon oath, Matt.
xxvi. 63, 64. Mark xiv. 61. The apostle Paul
also makes use of expressions which contain
the nature of oaths, Rom. i. 9. 1 Cor. xv.
31. 2 C01‘. i. 18. Gal. i. 20. Heb. vi. 13, 17.
Oaths are nugatory, that is, carry with them
no proper force or obligation, unless we be-
lieve that God will punish false swearing with
more severity than a simple lie or breach of
promise; for which belief there are the fol-
lowing reasons :-—1. Perjury is a sin of
greater deliberation—2. It violates a supe-
rior confidence—3. God directed the Israel-
ites to swear by his name, Deut. vi. 13; x. 20,
and was pleased to confirm his covenant with
that people by an oath; neither of which, it
is probable, he would have done, had he not
intended to represent oaths as having some
meaning and effect beyond the obligation of
a bare promise.
“ Promissory oaths are not binding where
the promise itself would not be so. See
Pnomsns. As oaths are designed for the
security of the imposer, it is manifest that
they must be interpreted and performed in
the sense in which the imposer intends
them.” Oaths, also, must never be taken but
in matters of importance, nor irreverently, and
without godly fear. Paley’s Mor. PhiL, vol.
i. ch. 16; Grot. de Jure, i. 11. c. 13,§ 21;
Barrow’s Works, vol. i. ser. l5 ; Burnet’s
Exposition of the 39th Article of the Church
of England; Herport‘s Essay on Truths of
Importance, and Doctrine of Oaths; Dad-
dridge’s Lectures, lect. 189; Tillotson’s 22nd
Sermon; and Wolsely’s Unreasonableness of
Atheism, p. 152. .
Oath of allegiance is as follows :—“ I, A. B.,
do sincerely promise and swear, that I will
be faithful, and bear true allegiance to her
Majesty, Queen Victoria. So help me God.”
This is taken by Protestant dissenting minis-
ters, when licensed by the civil magistrate;
as is also the following
Oath of supremacy :—“ I, A. B., do swear,
that I do from- my heart abhor, detest, and
abjure as impious and heretical, that damnable
doctrine and position, that princes excommu-
nicated or deprived by the pope, or any
authority of the see of Rome, may be deposed
or murdered by their subjects, or any other
whatsoever. And I do declare, that no fo-
reign prince, person, prelate, state, or poten-
tate, hath, or ought to have, any jurisdiction,
power, pre-eminence, or authority, ecclesias-
tical, or spiritual, within this realm. So help
me God."
OBEAH, a species of witchcraft practised
among the negroes, the apprehension. of
which, operating upon their superstitious
fears, is frequently attended with disease and
death.
OBEDIENCE, the performance of the com-
mands of a superior. Obedience to God may
be considered, 1. As virtual, which consists
in a belief of the Gospel, of the holiness and
equity of its precepts, of the truth of its pro-
mises, and a true repentance of all our sins.
OBE
OBL
556
---2. Actual obedience, which is the practice
and exercise of the several graces and duties
of Christianity.--3. Perfect obedience, which
is the exact conformity of our hearts and
lives to the law of God, without the least
imperfection. This last is only peculiar to a
glorified state. The obligation we are under
to obedience arises, 1. From the relation we
stand in to God as creatures, Psalm xcv. 6.—
2. From the law he hath revealed to us in
his word, Psalm cxix. 3. 2 Peter i. 5, 7.—
3. From the blessings of his providence we
are constantly receiving, Acts xiv. 17. Psalm
cxlv.—4. From the love and goodness of God
in the grand work of redemption, 1 Cor. vi. 20.
As to the nature of this obedience, it must be,
1. Active, not only avoiding what is prohi-
bited, but performing what is commanded,
Col. iii. 8, 10.—2. Personal, for though Christ
has obeyed the law for us as a covenant of
works, yet he hath not abrogated it as a rule
of life, Rom. vii. 22; iii. 31.—3. Sincere,
Psalm 1i. 6. 1 Tim. i. 5.—4. Afl‘ectionate,
springing from love and not from terror,
1 John v. 19; ii. 5. 2 Cor. v. 14.—5. Dili-
gent, not slothfully, Gal. i. 16. Psalm xviii.
44. Rom. xii. 11.—6. Conspicuous and open,
Phil. ii. 15. Matt. v. 16.—7. Universal; not
one duty, but all, must be performed, 2 Pet.
i. 5, 10.—8. Perpetual, at all times, places,
and occasions, Rom. 7. Gal. vi. 9. The
advantages of obedience are these :--1. It
adorns the Gospel, Tit. ii. 10.—2. It is evi-
dential of grace, 2 Cor. v. 17.—3. It rejoices
the hearts of the ministers and people of God,
3 John 2. 2 Thess. i. 19, 20.—4. It silences
gainsayers, 2 Pet. i. 11, 12.—5. Encourages
the saints, while it reproves the lukewarm,
Matt. v. 16.—6. Affords peace to the subject
of it, Psalm xxv. 12, 13. Acts xxiv. 16.—
7. It powerfully recommends religion, as
that which is both delightful and practicable,
Col. i. 10.—8. It is the forerunner and evi-
dence of eternal glory, Rom. vi. 22. Rev.
xxii. 14. See HOLINESS, SANCTIFICATION;
Charnoclz’s Works, vol. xi. p. 1212; Tillotson’s
Sermons. ser. 122, 123; Saurin’s Sermons, vol.
1. ser. 4 ; Ridgley’s Body of Divinity, qu. 92.
OBEDIENCE or Cnms'r is generally divided
into active and passive. His active obedi-
ence implies what he did; his passive what
he suffered. Some divines distinguish these.
They refer our pardon to his passive, and our
title to glory to his active obedience: though,
Dr. Owen observes, that it cannot be clearly
evinced that there is any such thing, in pro-
priety of speech, as passive obedience: obey-
ing is doing, to which passion or suffering
doth not belong. Of the active obedience of
Christ, the Scriptures assure us that he took
upon him the form of a servant, and really
became one, Is. xlix. 3; Phil. ii. 5 ; Heb. viii.
He was subject to the law of God. “He was
made under the law;” the judicial or civil
law of the J cws; the ceremonial law, and the
l
l
moral law, Matt. xvii. 24, 27 ; Luke ii. 22;
Psalm x1. 7, 8; He was obedient to the law
of nature ; he was in a state of subjection to
his parents; and he fulfilled the commands
of his heavenly Father as it respected the first
and second table. His obedience, 1. Was
voluntary, Psalm xl. 6.——2. Complete, 1 Peter
ii. 22.—3. Wrought out in the room and
stead of his people, Rom. x. 4; v. 19.—4.
‘Well pleasing and acceptable in the" sight of
God. See A'roNEMENT; Death and Sufl'er—
ings of Christ.
OBLATI, secular persons who devoted them—
selves and their estates to some monastery,
into which they were admitted as a kind of
lay-brothers. The form of their admission
was putting the bell—ropes of the church
round their necks, as a mark of servitude.
They wore a religious habit, but different
from that of the monks.
OBLIGATION is that by which we are bound
to the performance of any actiom—l. Ra-
tional obligation is that which arises from
reason, abstractedly taken, to do or forbear
certain actions.—2. Authoritative obligation
is that which arises from the commands of a
superior, or one who has a right or authority
to prescribe rules to others—3. Moral obli-
gation is that by which we are bound to per-
form that which is right, and to avoid that
which is wrong. It is a moral necessity of
doing actions or forbearing them; that is,
such a necessity as whoever breaks through
it is, ipsofacto, worthy of blame for so doing.
Various, however, have been the opinions
concerning the ground of moral obligation, or
what it arises from. One says, from the moral
fitness of things ; another, because it is con-
formable to reason and nature; another, be-
cause it is conformable to truth; ‘and another,
because it is expedient, and promotes the pub-
lic good. A late writer has defined obligation
to be “ a state of mind perceiving the reasons
for acting, or forbearing to act.” But I con-
fess this has a difficulty in it to me ; because
it carries with it an idea that if a man should
by his habitual practice of iniquity be so har-
dened as to lose a sense of duty, and not per-
ceive the reasons why he should act morally,
then.he is under no obligation. And thus a
depraved man might say he is under no ob-
ligation to obey the laws of the land, because,
through his desire of living a licentious life,
he is led to suppose that there should. be none.
In my opinion, a difference should be made
between obligation and a sense _of it. Moral
obligation, I think, arises from the will of
God, as revealed in the light and law of
nature, and in his word. This is binding
upon all men, because there is no situation in
which mankind have not either one or the
other of these. We find, however, that the
generality of men are so far sunk in depra-
vity, that a sense of obligation is nearly or
quite lost. Still, however, their losing the
(ECO
(ECO
557
sense does not render the obligationv less
strong. “ Obligation to virtue is eternal and
immutable, but the sense of it is lost by
sin.” See Warburton’s Legation, vol. i. pp.
38, 46, 8:0. ; Paley’s Mar. Phz'L, vol_.i. p. 54;
Robinson’s Preface to the Fourth Volume of
Saurz'n’s Sermons; Mason's Christian Morals,
vol. ii. ser. 23, p. 256; Doddridge’s Lcct, lec.
>52 ; Grovc’s Phz'L, vol. ii. p. 66.
OBSERVATION. See MIND.
CECOLAMPADIUS, JOHN. This German re-
former was born at \Vinsperg, in Franconia,
in the year 1482, according to Bayle. His
parents were of a good family, and in very
competent circumstances. His father being
a merchant, designed him for his own pro-
fession ; but his mother was desirous of mak-
ing him a scholar, and prevailed on her hus-
band to send him to the college of Heilbrun.
He was soon removed to the University of
Heidelberg, where he received the degree
of bachelor, at fourteen years of age. From
Heidelberg he was sent to Boulogne, where
he studied thecivil law six months; and then
returned to Heidelberg, where he applied
himself to the study of divinity. His parents
perceiving that his mind was altogether set
on that study, and having no other child but
him, made use of those means which God had
blessed them with, in order to procure a priest-
hood for him, in the town where he was born.
Unto this place he was called; but finding
himself, after a fortnight’s trial, unable to
undergo so laborious an ofiice, he desired
leave to return again to Heidelberg, that he
might acquire a greater measure ofknowledge,
and return from thence better qualified to
discharge the important duties of that sacred
function. Having obtained leave, he changed
his resolution, and steered his course towards
Tubingen, and from thence to Stutgard, where
Reuchlin lived, a man famous for his excellent
knowledge in the languages. Here he stayed
for a short space, during which time he re—
ceived from Reuchlin some light concerning
the Greek; in which, by daily study and
practice, he so profited, that, upon his return
to Heidelberg, he published a Greek gram-
mar; here he also learned the Hebrew from
a Spanish teacher. In 1515, (Ecolampadius
received a call to the pastoral ofiice; and
after he had preached with great applause for
about a twelvemonth, he was honoured, in
the same academy, with the title of doctor
in divinity. About the same time Erasmus
came to Basil, to publish his Annotations on
the New Testament, in which (Ecolampadius
assisted. When that work was finished,
(Ecolampadius left Basil, and went to Augs-
burg, and entered into the monastery of St.
Bridget, situate without the city of Augsburg.
After a few months he was so well pleased,
that he purposed to spend the rest of his days
in this lazy manner of life; but it pleased
‘God to call him out again, and for that end
stirred up his friends, and especially Capito,
who seriously persuaded, and earnestly ex~
horted him to give over that monastical life;
to whose entreaties he yielded, and purposed
to betake himself again to the labours of his
calling. (Ecolampadius, in 1517, wrote a
letter to Erasmus full of friendship and re-
spect. In 1521 (Ecolampadius began to go
over to the reformers. He had corrected the
first edition of the New Testament, published
by Erasmus, who describes him as a person
that approved the state of life into which he
had entered, and performed his duty. How-
ever, (Ecolampadius soon altered his judg-
ment, and left his monastery in 1522. He
retired to Basil, in Switzerland, where he was
made curate and preacher of the church of
St. Martin; and he soon introduced the doc-
trine of Luther. Here he was again advanced
by the senate to the pastoral office; and now
he boldly discovered to his auditors those
errors which, by continuance, had got firm
footing in the church—he opened to them the
perfection and sufficiency of Christ—he de-
clared to them ‘the true nature of faith, and
explained to them the true doctrine of charity;
insomuch that they began to waver in their
minds about the authority of the popish reli-
gion. Luther, at this time, was introducing
the Reformation into Germany, while Zuing-
lius began to introduce it into Switzerland, by
publicly preaching against the corruptions of
the Roman Church. (Ecolampadius assisted
Zuinglius, which made Erasmus speak ill of
them both, in 1524, and inveigh violently
against the morals both of the reformed, who
then began to make a party, and of the Lu-
therans. Gicolampadius and Zuinglius had
declared, openly enough, that they followed not
the sentiments of Lntherin all things. Yet they
spake of Luther with respect, and those differ-
ences were not concerning things essential
and fundamental. .VVhilst Lutheranism was
settling in Germany, the doctrine of a new
sect, founded in Switzerland, by Zuinglius,
was called “ Evangelical Truth ;” and Zuing—
lius boldly opposed the errors of the Church
of Rome. Upon this foundation he continued
preaching from the beginning of the year
1519, not only against indulgences, but also
against the intercession and invocation of
saints, the sacrifice of the mass, the eccle-
siastical vows, the celibacy of priests, and the
abstinence from meats. However, he at-
tempted no alteration in the outward and
public worship of God, till 1523, when he
found the magistrates and citizens of Zurich
disposed to cast off the Romish doctrine, and
receive the reformed. ‘While the German
princes were crushing the rebellion of the
peasants, there happened great disputes, in
Germany and Switzerland, between the Rom-
ish priests and the reformers; as also between
the Lutherans, Zuinglians, and Anabaptists.
' Luther declared himself against the doctrine of
(ECO
(ECO
558
Zuinglius concerning the Lord’s Supper ; but
(Ecolampadius concurred with Zuinglius, and
taught the same doctrine at Basil. OEcolam-
padius agreed with Zuinglius in the nature of
the doctrine, but he gave a different sense of
our Lord’s words. Zuinglius placed the figure
of these words, “ This is my body,” in the verb
“is,” which he held to be taken for “ sig—
nifies.” (Ecolampadius laid it upon the noun
“ body ;” and aflirmed that the bread is called
“ the body” by a metonymy, which allows the
name of the thing signified to be given to the
sign. (Ecolampadius and Zuinglius were
obliged to defend themselves against Luther,
who answered them, and wrote a book on
purpose upon the Eucharist, in the German
tongue, in which he attempted to prove the
ubiquity of the body of Jesus Christ by this
argument-“ That in all places where the
divinity of our Saviour is, there his humanity
ought also to be present.” (Ecolampadius
and Zuinglius immediately replied ; and
(Ecolampadius and Bucer confuted the large
confession of Luther.
A conference between the Zuinglians,
Lutherans, and Papists, was held at Bern, on
the 7th of January, 1528. This disputation
was particularly on the proposition of the
Sacrament; and (Ecolampadius, together with
Zuinglius,Bucer, Capito, Blauretus, and several
other sacramentarians, maintained it against
the Papists and Lutherans. It ended in the
abolition of the superstitious ceremonies of
the Romish Church, throughout the canton
of Bern. The cities of Constance and Geneva
immediately followed the example; but it was
not effected in the cities of Basil and Stras-
burg till 1529. The troubles of Germany in-
creased, and the Emperor Charles the Fifth
was obliged to call a diet at Spires, in March,
1529 ; in the first place, to require the assist-
ance of the princes of the empire against
Solyman, who had taken Buda, and threat-
ened to conquer all Hungary; and, in the
next place, to find out some way to allay the
disputes about religion. The Catholics la-
boured all they could to divide the Lutherans
and Sacramentarians, and had accomplished
their design, if the Landgrave of Hesse had
not prevented their divisions from breaking
out. The Lutheran princes protested against
the edict published at the diet of Spires, and
for that reason were called Protestants. The
article of the protestation, which concerned
the doctrine of the sacramentarians, was par-
ticularly worded, that the princes might take
away the differences between the Lutherans
and the Zuinglians without approving the
doctrine of the Sacramentarians. (Ecolam-
padius complained, in a letter written to
Melancthon, that Faber, bishop of Vienna,
attempted to procure the condemnation of
their opinions, and he desired Melancthon to
declare ‘on his side. Melancthon answered
him, that'he could not approve their opinion,
as (‘he found no suflicient reason to depart from
the literal sense of the words. He desired
(Ecolampadius to consider the importance of
the question in debate; and adds, it would be
convenient that some good men should confer
together on that head. (Ecolampadius replied
to this letter of Melancthon, and yielded to
the necessity of some conferences; but ob-
served, that the persons to be appointed should
be men free from passion, and not of conten-
tious spirits; otherwise they would be unable
to discover the truth, and only increase their
eninity. The Landgrave of Hesse, in pursu-
ance of these propositions, invited Zuinglius
and Luther to a friendly conference at Mar-
purg, in October following. Both parties
were unwilling to accept the proposal; but
(Ecolampadius prevailed on Zuinglius, Bucer,
and Hedio, to embrace it, and repair to Mar-
purg, where they were followed by Luther,
Melancthon, Justus Jonas, Andreas, Osiander,
Brentius, and Agricola. Bucer endeavoured
to reconcile the Lutherans and Zuinglians at
the diet of Augsburg, but (Ecolampadius dis-
approved of his articles, and his labours to
procure a union were ineffectual.
After such varied and important exertions,
at home and abroad, (Ecolampadius returned
to Basil, where he spent the remainder of his
life in preaching, reading, writing, publish-
ing, visiting the sick; and, also, the care of
certain adjacent churches, till 1531, when it
pleased God to visit him with sickness, that
soon confined him to his bed, with the greatest
appearance of a speedy dissolution. He sur-
rendered his spirit to his Creator, most will-
ingly and cheerfully, on the 1st of December,
1531, and in the forty-ninth year of his age;
and was buried with every mark of respect
and concern in the same city. He was of a
meek and quiet disposition; in the undertak-
ing of any business he was very circumspect;
nor was there any thing more pleasing to
him, than to, spend his time in reading and
commenting‘.
His publications are numerous, consisting
chiefly of Annotations on the Holy Scriptures.
-——J0nes’s Christ. Biog.
(ECONOMISTS, a sect of philosophers in
France, who have made a great noise in
Europe, and are generally supposed to have
been unfriendly to religion. The founder
of this sect was Dr. Duquesnoi, who had so
well insinuated himself into the favour of
"Louis XV. that the king used to call him his
Thinker. The sect was called (Economists,
because the (economy and order to be intro-
duced into the finances, and other means
of alleviating the distressess of the people,
were perpetually in their mouths. The Abbé
Barruel admits that there may have been
some few of them who directed their specula-
tions to no other object; but he brings very
sufiicient proof that the aim of the majority
of the sect was to distribute the writings of
OMN
ORA
559
Voltaire, Diderot, and others, and thus to
eradicate from the minds of the people all
reverence for divine revelation. See PHILO-
SOPHISTS.
(EcoNoMY. See DISPENSATION.
_ OFFERING, or OBLATION, denotes whatever
is sacrificed or consumed in the worship of
God. For an account of the various offerings
under the law, the reader is referred to the
book of Leviticus. See also SACRIFICE.
OFFICERS, CHURCH. See CHURCH, DEA~
coN, ELDER.
OFFICES OF CHRIST are generally consi-
dered as threefold. l. A prophet, to enlighten
and instruct, John vi. 14. John iii. 2.——2. A
priest, to make atonement for his people,
Isaiah liii. Heb. vii—3. A king, to reign in,
and rule over them, Zech. xi. 9. Psa. ii. 6.
See articles INTERCESSION, MEDIA'ron, 85c.
_ OnIEN is a word which, in its proper sense,
signifies a sign, or indication of some future
event, especially of an alarming nature.
Against the belief of omens it is observed,
that it is contrary to every principle of sound
philosophy ; and whoever has studied the
writings of Paul must be convinced that it is
inconsistent with the spirit of genuine Chris-
tianity. We cannot pretend to discuss the‘
subject here, but will present the reader with
a quotation on the other side of the question.
“ Though it be, true,” says Mr. Toplady,
‘j that all omens are not worthy of observa~
tion, and though they should never be so
regarded as to shock our fortitude, or diminish
our confidence in God, still they are not to be
constantly despised. Small incidents have
sometimes been prelusive to great events; nor
is there any superstition in noticing these ap-
parent prognostications, though there may be
much superstition in being either too indiscri-
minately or too deeply swayed by them.--
Toplady’s Works, vol. iv. p. 192.
OMNIPOTENCE 0F G01), is his almighty
power. This is essential to his nature as an
infinite, independent, and perfect being. The
power of God is divided into absolute, and or-
dinate or actual. Absolute is that whereby
God is able to do that which he will not do,
but is possible to be done. ordinate is that
whereby he doeth that which he hath decreed
to do. The power of God may be more espe-
,cially seen, 1. In creation, Rom. i. 20. Gen. i.
-—-2. In the preservation of his creatures, Heb.
i. 3. Col. i. 16, 17. Job xxvi.—3. In the re-
demption of men by Christ, Luke i. 35, 37.
Eph. i. 19.-—4. In the conversion of sinners,
Psa. ex. 3. 2 Cor. iv. 7. Rom. i. 16.—5. In
the continuation and success of the Gospel in
the world, Matt. xii. 31, 32.-—6. In the final
perseverance of the saints, 1 Pet. i. 5.—7. In
the resurrection of the dead, 1 Cor. xv.—8. In
making the righteous happy for ever, and
punishing the wicked, Phil. iii. 21 ; Matt. xxv.
34, 800. See Gill’s Bod of Din, vol. i. oct.
edit. p. 7 7 ; Charnock’s Var/is, vol. i. p. 423;
Saurin’s Sermons, vol. i. p. 157; Tillotson’s
Sermons, ser. 152.
OMNIPREBENCE oF Goi), is his ubiquity, or
his being present in every place. This
may be argued from his infinity, Ps. cxxxix. ;
his power, which is every where, Heb. i. 3 ;
his providence, Acts xvii. 27, 28, which sup-
plies all. As he is a Spirit, he is so omni-
present as not to be mixed with the creature,
or divided, part in one place, and part in an-
other; nor is be multiplied or extended, but
is essentially present every where. From
the consideration of this attribute we should
learn to fear and reverence God, PsaL lxxxix.
7. To derive consolation in the hour of dis-
tress, Is. xlii. 2; Ps. xlvi. 1. To be active
and diligent in hol services, Psal. cxix. 168.
See Charnoc/c’s I orks, vol. i. p. 240; Aber-
nethy‘s Sermons, ser. 7 ; Howe’s lVorlzs, vol. i.
pp. 108, 110 ; Saurin’s Sermons, vol. i. ser. 3;
Gill’s Body of Divinity, b. i.; Spectator,
vol. viii. Nos. 565, 571; T illotson’s Sermons,
ser. 154.
OMN'ISCIENCE oF G01), is that perfection by
which he knows all things, and is, 1. Infinite
knowledge, Ps. cxlvii. 5.—2. Eternal, gene-
rally called foreknowledge, Acts xv. 18 ; Isa.
xlvi. 10; Eph. i. 4; Acts ii. 23.—3. Uni-
versal, extending to all persons, times, places,
and things, Heb. iv. 13; Psalm 1. 10, &c.—
4. Perfect, relating to what is past, present,
and to come. He knows all by his own es-
sence, and not derived from any other; not
successively, as we do, but independently, dis-
tinctly, infallibly, and perpetually, Jer. x. 6,
7; Rom. xi. 33.—5. This knowledge is pe-
culiar to himself, Mark xiii. 32; Job xxxvi.
4, and not communicable to any creature.—
6. It is incomprehensible to us how God
knows all things, yet it is evident that he
does; for to suppose otherwise is to sup-
pose him an imperfect being, and directly
contrary to the revelation he has given
of himself, 1 John iii. 20; Job xxviii. 24;
xxi. 22. See C/zarnock’s IVor/ts, vol. i. p.
271 ; Abemethy’sSermons, v01. i. pp. 290, 306 ;
Howe‘s Works, vol. i. pp. 102, 103; Gill’s
Div., vol. i. p. 85, oct.
OPHITES. See sERBENTINIANS.
OPINION is that judgment which the mind
forms of any proposition, for the truth or
falsehood of which there is not sufficient evi-
dence to produce absolute belief.
ORACLE, among the Heathens, was the an-
swer which the gods were supposed to give
to those who consulted them upon any affair
of importance. It is also used for the god
who was thought to give the answer, and for
the place where it was given. Learned men
are much divided as to the source of these
oracles. Some suppose that they were only
the invention of priests; while others con-
ceive that there was a diabolical agency em-
ployed in the business. There are, as one
observes, several circumstances leading to the
0 It A
5
ORA
60
former hypothesis; such as the gloomy so-
lemnity with which many of them were de-
livered in caves and subterraneous caverns;
the numerous and disagreeable ceremonies
enjoined, as sometimes sleeping in the skins
of beasts, bathing, and expensive sacrifices;
the ambiguous and unsatisfactory answers
frequently returned: these look very much
like the contrivances ‘of artful priests to dis-
guise their villany; the medium of priests,
speaking images, vocal groves, &c., seem‘
much to confirm it.
Respecting the cessation of these oracles,
there has been a variety of opinions. It has
been generally held, indeed, that oracles
ceased at the birth of Jesus Christ; yet some
have. endeavoured to maintain the contrary,
by showing that they were in being in the
days of Julian, commonly called the apostate,
and that this emperor himself consulted them ;
nay, further, say they, history makes mention
of several laws published by the Christian
emperors, Theodosius, Gratian, and Valen-
tinian, to punish persons who interrogated
them even in their days; and that the Epicu-
reans were the first who made a jest of this
superstition, and exposed the roguery of its
priests to the people.
But on the other side it is observed,
1. That the question, properly stated, is not,
WVhether oracles became extinct immediately
upon the birth of- Christ, or from the very mo-
ment he was born; but, Whether they fell
gradually into disesteem, and ceased as Christ
and his gospel became known to mankind?
And that they did so is most certain, from the
concurrent testimonies of the fathers, which,
whoever would endeavour to invalidate, may
equally give up the most respectable traditions
and relations of every kind.
2ndly. But did not Julian the Apostate
consult these oracles? We answer in the ne-
gative: he had, indeed, recourse to magical
operations, but it was because oracles had
already ceased; for he bewailed the loss of
them, and assigned pitiful reasons for it;
which St. Cyril has vigorously refuted, saying,
That he never could have oflfered such but
from an unwillingness to acknowledge, that,
when the world had received the light of
Christ, the dominion of the devil was at an
end.
3rcIly. The Christian emperors do, indeed,
seem to condemn the superstition and idol-
atry of those who were still for consulting
oracles; but the edicts of those princes do
not prove that oracles actually existed in their
times, any more than that they ceased in
consequence of their laws. It ‘IS certain
that they were for the most part extinct before
the conversion of Constantine. _
4thly. Some Epicureans might mahe a Jest
of this superstition; however, the Epicurean
philosopher, Celsus, in the second century of
the church, was for crying up the excellency
' of several oracles, as appears at large from
Origen’s seventh book against him.
Among the Jews there were several sorts
of real oracles. They had, first, oracles that
2 were delivered viva voce; as when God spake
=to Moses face to face, and as one friend
; speaks to another, Numb. xii. 8. Secondly,
@Prophetical dreams sent by God; as the
i dreams which God sent to Joseph, and which
I foretold his future greatness, Gen. xxvii. 5, 6.
Thirdly, visions; as when a prophet-in an
ecstacy, being neither properly asleep nor
awake, had supernatural revelations, Gen.
xv. 1; xlvi. 2. Fourthly, The oracle of the
Urim and Thummim, which was accom—
panied with the ephod, or the pectoral worn
by the high priest, and which God had en-
dued with the gift of foretelling things to
come, Num. xii. 6; Joel ii. 28. This manner
of inquiring of the Lord was often made use
of, from J oshua’s time to the erection of the
temple at Jerusalem. Fifthly, After the
building of the temple, they generally con-
sulted the prophets, who were frequent in the
kingdoms of Judah and Israel. From Hag-
gai, Zechariah, and Malachi, who were the
last of the prophets that have any of their
writings remaining, the Jews pretend that
God gave them what they call Bath/col, the
Daughter of the Voice, which was a super-
natural manifestation of the will of God,
which was performed either bya strong in-
sible and external voice, which was heard
by a number of persons sufiicient to bear
testimony of it. For example, such was
the voice that was heard at the baptism of
Jesus Christ, saying, “This is my beloved
Son,” &-c. Matt. iii. 17.
The Scripture affords us examples likewise
of profane oracles. Balaam, at the instiga—
tion of his own spirit, and. urged on by his
avarice, fearing to lose the recompense that
he was promised by Balak, king of the Moab-
ites, suggests a diabolical expedient to this
prince of making the Israelites fall into idol-
atry and fornication (Numb. xxiv. l4; xxxi.
16,) by which he assures him of a certain
victory, or at least of a considerable advan-
tage against the people of God.
Micaiah, the son of Imlah, a prophet of the
Lord, says, (1 Kings xxii. 20, 8w.) that he
saw the Almighty sitting upon his throne,
and all the host of heaven round about him ;
and the Lord said, “ Who shall tempt Ahab,
king of Israel, that he may go to war with
Ramoth Gilead, and fall in the battle? One
answered after one manner, and another in
another. At the same time an evil spirit
presented himself before the Lord, and said,
I will seduce him. And the Lord asked him,
How? To which Satan answered, I will go
and be a lying spirit in the mouth of his pro-
phets. And the Lord said, Go, and thou
shalt prevail. This dialogue clearly proves

spiration or internal voice, or else by a sen- '
ORA
ORD
561
these two things; first, that the devil could
do nothing by his own power; and, secondly,
that, with the permission of God, he could
inspire the false. prophets, sorcerers, and ma-
gicians, and make them deliver false oracles.
See Vandale and Fontenelle’s Hist. de Orac;
Potter’s Greek Antiquities, vol. i. b. 2, ch. 7 ;
Edwards’s Hist. of Red, p. 408; Farmer on
Min, pp. 281, 285; Enc. Brit. ,- article
ORACLE.
ORAL, delivered by the mouth, not written.
See TRADITION. '
ORANGEMEN, the name given by the Irish
Catholics to their Protestant countrymen, on
account of their adherence to the house of
Orange.
ORATORY, a name given by Christians to
certain places of religious worship.
In ecclesiastical antiquity, the term OLKOL
£UlCT71pL0l, houses of prayer, or oratories, is
frequently given to churches in general, of
which there are innumerable instances in an-
cient Christian writers. But in some canons
the name oratory seems confined to private
chapels or places of worship set up for the
convenience of private families, yet still de-
pending on the parochial churches, and dif-
fering from them in this, that they were only
places of prayer, but not for celebrating the
communion; for if that were at any time
allowed to private families, yet at least upon
the great and solemn festivals, they were to
resort for communion to the parish churches.
Oratory is used among the Romanists for
a closet, or little apartment near a bedcham-
ber, furnished with a little altar, crucifix, &c.
for private devotion.
Oan'ronv, PRIESTS or THE. There were
two congregations of religious—one in Italy,
the other in France, which were called by
this name. -
The Priests of the Orato in Italy had for
their founder St. Philip de eri, a native of
Florence, who, in the year 1548, founded at
Rome the Confraternity of the Holy Trinity.
This society originally consisted of but fifteen
poor persons, who assembled in the church of
St. Saviour in campo, every first Sunday in
the month, to practise the exercises of piety
described by the holy founder. Afterwards
their number increasing by the addition of
several persons of distinction to the society,
St. Philip proceeded to establish an hospital
for the reception of poor pilgrims, who, com-
ing to Rome to visit the tombs of St. Peter
and St. Paul, were obliged, for want of a
lodging, to lie in the streets and at the doors
of churches. For this charitable purpose,
Pope Paul IV. gave to the society the paro-
chial church of St. Benedict, close by which
was built an. hospital so large, that in the
Jubilee year 1600, it received 444,500 men,
and 25,500 women, who came in pilgrimage
to Rome.
The Priests of the Oratory in France were
established on the model of those in Italy,
and owe their rise to Cardinal Berulle, 'a
native of Champagne, who resolved upon this
foundation in order to revive the splendour
of the ecclesiastical state, which was greatly
sunk through the miseries of the civil wars,
the increase of heresies, and a general corrup-
tion of manners. To this end he assembled
a community of ecclesiastics, in 1611, in the
suburb of St. James. They obtained the
king’s letter patent for their establishment;
and, in 1613, Pope Paul V. approved this
congregation, under the title of the Oratory
of Jesus.
This congregation consisted of two sorts of
persons; the one, as it were, incorporated;
the other only associates: the former governed
the houses of this institute; the latter were
only employed in forming themselves to the
life and manners of ecclesiastics. And this
was the true spirit of this congregation,‘ in
which they taught neither human learning
nor theology, but only the virtues of the
ecclesiastical life. It nevertheless contained
the philosopher Malebranche, the orientalist
Morin, and the celebrated critic, Richard
Simon.
ORDER, method; the established manner of
performing a thing. Nothing can be more
beautiful in religion and morals than order.
The neglect of it exposes us to the inroads of
vice, and often brings upon us the most per~
plexing events. \Vhe'ther we consider it in
reference to ourselves, our families, or the
church, it is of the greatest importance. As
to the first, order should be attended to as it
respects our principles, Heb. xiii. 9; James
i. 8; our tempers, Prov. xvii. 14; Eph. iv.
31; our conversation, Col. iv. 6; our busi-
ness, Prov. xxii. 29; our time, Ps. xc. 12;
Eccles. iii. 1 ; our recreations and our general
conduct, Phil. i. 27 ; 2 Pet. i. 5, 8.50. 2. As
it regards our families, there should be order;
as to the economy or management of its con-
cerns, Matt. xii. 25; as to devotion, and the
time of it, J os. xxiv. 15 ; as to the instruction
thereof, Eph. vi. 1 ; Gen. xviii. 19 ; 2 Tim. i.
5. 3. In respect to the church, order should
be observed as to the admission of members,
2 Cor. vi. 15 ; as to the administration of its
ordinances, 1 Cor. xiv. 33, 40; as to the at-
tendance on its worship, Psalm xxvii. 4 ; as to
our behavour therein, Col. i. 10 ; Matt. v. 16.
To excite us to the practice of this duty, we
should consider that God is a God of order,
1 Cor. xiv. 33; his works are all in the ex-
actest order, Eph. i. 11 ; Psalm civ. 25; Eccl.
iii. 11; heaven is a place of order, Rev. vii.
9. Jesus Christ was a most beautiful exam-
ple of regularity. The advantages of order
are numerous. “ The observance of it,” says
Dr. Blair, “ serves to correct that negligence
which makes us omit some duties, and that
hurry and precipit-ancy which makes us per-~
form others imperfectly. Our attention is
o 0
0RD
0RD
562
thereby directed to its proper objects. We
follow the straight path which Providence
has pointed out to us ; in the course of which
all the different business of life presents itself
regularly to us on every side.” Ser. vol. ii.
p. 23.
ORDERS, by way of eminency, or holy
orders, denote a character peculiar to eccle-
siastics, whereby they are set apart for the
ministry. This the Romanists make their
sixth sacrament. In no reformed church are
there more than three orders, viz., bishops,
priests, and deacons. In the Romish Church
there are seven, exclusive of the episcopate;
all which the Council of Trent enjoins to be
received and believed on pain of anathema.
They are distinguished into petty or secular
orders, and major or sacred orders. Orders,
the petty or minor, are four, viz., those of
door-keepers, exorcist, reader, and acolyth.
Sacred, or major, are deacon, priest, and
bishop.
ORDERS, RELIGIOUS, are congregations or
societies of monasteries, living under the
same superior, in the same manner, and
wearing the same habit. Religious orders
may be reduced to five kinds, viz., monks,
canons, knights, mendicants, and regular
clerks. White order denotes the order ofre-
gular canons of St. Augustine. Black order
denotes the order of St. Benedict. Orders,
religious military, are those instituted in de-
fence of the faith, and privileged to say mass,
and who are prohibited marriage, &c. Of this
kind, are the knights of Malta, or of St. John
of Jerusalem. Such also were the knights
templars, the knights of Calatrave, of St.
Lazarus, Teutonic knights, &c.
ORDINANCES OF THE GOSPEL, are institu-
tions of divine authority relating to the wor-
ship of God; such as baptism, Matt. xxviii.
19. 2. The Lord’s Supper, 1 Cor. xi. 24, &c.
3. Public ministry, or preaching and reading
the word, Rom. x. 15; Eph. iv. 13; Mark
xvi. 15. 4. Hearing the Gospel, Mark iv.
24; Rom. x. 17. 5. Public prayer, 1 Cor.
xiv. 15, 19; Matt. vi. 6; Psalm v. 1, 7. 6.
Singing of psalms, Col. iii. 16; Eph. v. 19.
7. Fasting, James iv. 9; Matt. ix. 15; Joel
ii. 12. 8. Solemn thanksgiving, Psalm 1. 14;
1 Thess. v. 18. See these different articles;
also MEANS or GRACE.
ORDINARY, in the common and canon law,
one who has ordinary or immediate jurisdic-
tion in ecclesiastical matters. In England, the
bishop of the diocese is commonly the ordinary.
The ordinary of assizes and sessions was for~
merly a deputy of the bishop, appointed to
give malefactors the neckverse-~i. e. the verse
which was read by a party to entitle him to
the benefit of clergy. The ordinary of New-
gate is a clergyman who attends on condemned
culprits, and, as it is commonly expressed,
prepares them for death. '
ORDINA'I‘ION, the act of conferring holy
orders ; of initiating a person into the Chris-
tian ministry, or of publicly recognizing the
relation which has been entered into, by
mutual agreement, between a minister and a
church. ,
1. In the Church of England, ordination
has always been esteemed the principal pre—
rogative of bishops, and they still retain the
function as a mark of their spiritual sove-
reignty in their diocese. ‘Without ordination,
no person can receive any benefice, parson~
age, vicarage, &c. A person must be twenty-
three years of age before he can be ordained
deacon, or have any share in the ministry;
and full twenty-four before he can be ordained
priest, and by that means be permitted to
administer the holy communion. A bishop,
on the ordination of clergymen, 1s to examine
them in the presence of the ministers, who in
the ordination of priests, but not of deacons,
assist him at the imposition of hands; but
this is only done as a mark of assent, not be~
cause it is thought necessary. In case any
crime. as drunkenness, perjury, forgery, &c.,
is alleged against any one that is to be or-
dained either priest or deacon, the bishop
ought to desist from ordaining him. The
person to be ordained is to bringatestimonial
of his life and doctrine to the bishop, and to
give account of his faith in Latin; and both
priests and deacons are obliged to subscribe
to the thirty-nine articles. In the ancient
discipline there was no such thing as a vague
and absolute ordination; but every one was
to have a church, whereof he was to be or-
dained clerk or priest. In the twelfth century
they grew more remiss, and ordained without
any title or benefice. The Council of Trent,
however, restored the ancient discipline, and
appointed that none should be ordained but
those who were provided with a benefice";
which practice still obtains in England. The
times of ordination are the four Sundays im-
mediately following the Ember weeks: being
the second Sunday in Lent, Trinity Sunday,
and the Sundays following the first Wednes-
day after September 14, and December 13.
These are the stated times; but ordination
may take place at any other time, according
to the discretion of the bishop, or circum-
stances of the case.
2. Among Seceders or Dissenters, ordina-
tions vary. In the establishment of Scotland,
where there are no bishops, the power of or-
dination is lodged in the presbytery. Among
the Calvinistic Methodists, ordination is per-
formed by the sanction and assistance of their
own ministers. Among the Independents
and Antipaedobaptists, the power of ordina-
tion lies in the suffrage of the people. The
qualifications of the candidate are first known,
tried, and approved by the church; After
which trial, the church proceeds to give him a
call to be their minister; which he accepting,
the public acknowledgment‘ thereof is sig-
ORD
ORD
563
nified by ordination, the mode of which is so
well known, as not to need recital here.
3. Though the Dissenters practise ordina-
tion, we find they are not agreed respecting
it. Some contend for the power of ordination
as belonging to the people; the exercise of
which right by them constitutes a minister,
and confers validity on his public ministra-
tions. Others suppose it belongs to those
who are already in oflice. We shall here
give an outline of the arguments on both
sides. According to the former opinion, it is
argued that the word ordain was originally
equal to choose or appoint; so that if twenty
Christians nominated a man to instruct them
once, the man was appointed or ordained a
preacher for the time. The essence of ordi-
nation lies in the voluntary choice and call of
the people, and in the voluntary acceptance
of that call by the person chosen and called;
for this affair must be by mutual consent and
agreement, which joins them together as
pastor and people. And this is to be done
among themselves ; and public ordination, so
called, is no other than a declaration of that.
Election and ordination are spoken of as the
same; the latter is expressed and explained
by the former. It is said of Christ, that he
ordained twelve, Mark iii. 14; that is, he
chose them to the ofiice of apostleship, as he
himself explains it, John vi. 70. Paul and
Barnabas are said to ordain elders in every
church, (Acts xiv. 23,) or to choose them;
that is, they gave orders and directions to
every church as to the choice of elders over
them: for sometimes persons are said to do
that which they give orders and directions
for doing; as Moses and Solomon, with re-
spect to building the tabernacle and temple,
though done by others ; and Moses particularly
is said to choose the judges, Exod. xviii. 25 ;
the choice being made under his direction and
guidance. The word that is used in Acts xiv.
23, is translated chosen in 2 Cor. viii. 19, where
the apostle speaks of a brother, Xstporovndsig,
who was chosen of the churches to travel
with us, and is so rendered when ascribed to
God, Acts x. 41. This choice and ordination,
in primitive times, was made two ways; by
casting lots and giving votes, signified by
stretching out the hands. Matthias was
chosen and ordained to be an apostle in the
room of Judas by casting lots: that, being an
extraordinary otfice, required an immediate
interposition of the Divine Being, a lot being
nothing more nor less than an appeal to God
for the decision of an affair. But ordinary
oflicers, as elders and pastors of churches,
were chosen and ordained by the votes of the
people, expressed by stretching out their
hands; thus it is said of the apostles, Acts
xiv. 23, “When they had ordained them
elders in ever church,” xstporov-r'ycavreg, by
taking the su rages and votes of the members
of the churches, shown by the stretching out
their hands, as the word signifies; and which
they directed them to, and upon it declared
the elders duly elected and ordained.
Some, however, on this side of the question,
do not go so far as to say, that the essence
of ordination lies in the choice of the people,
but in the solemn and public separation to
office by prayer: still, however, they think
that ordination by either bishops, presbyters,
or any superior character, cannot be neces-
sary to make a minister or ordain a pastor in
any particular church; for Jesus Christ, say
they, would never leave the subsistence of
his churches, or the efiicacy of his word and
sacraments, to depend on the uninterrupted
succession of any office or oflicer; for then
it would be impossible for any church to know
whether they ever have had any authentic
minister; for we could never be assured
that such ordinations had been rightly trans-
mitted through 1700 years. A whole nation
might be corrupted, and every bishop and
elder therein might have apostatised from the
faith, as it was in England, in the days of
popery. To say, therefore, that the right of
ordaining lies in men who are already in
office, would drive us to hold the above-men-
tioned untenable position of uninterrupted
succession.
On the other side it is observed, that, al-
though Christians have the liberty of choos-
ing their own pastor, yet they have no power
or right to confer the office itself. Scripture
represents ordination to be the setting apart
of a person to the holy ministry, by the
authority of Jesus himself acting by the
medium of men in ofiice; and this solemn
investing act is necessary to his being law-
fully accounted to be a minister of Christ. The
original word (Acts vi. 3) is :carao-rw’qo'wasv,
which, according to Scapula, and the best
writers on the sacred language, signifies to
put one in rule, or to give him authority.
Now did this power lodge in the people, how
happens it that in all the epistles not a single
word is to be found giving them any direc-
tions about constituting ministers? On the
other hand, in the epistles to Timothy and
Titus, who were persons in ofiice, we find
particular instruction given them to lay hands
suddenly on no man, to examine his qualifi~
cations before they ordain him, and to take
care that,they commit the oflice only to faith’
ful men, who shall be able to teach others
also, Titus i. 5 ; 2 Tim. iv. 14; Acts xiv. 23.
Besides, it is said, the primitive Christians
evidently viewed this matter in the same
light. There is scarcely a single ecclesiasti-
cal writer that does not expressly mention
ordination as the work of the elders, and as
being regarded as a distinct thing from the
choice of the people, and subsequent to it.
Most of the foregoing remarks apply chiefly
to the supposition that a person cannot be
ordained in any other way than as a pastor
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564
over a church. But here also, we find a dif-
ference of opinion. On the one side it is
said, that there is no Scripture authority
whatever for a person being ordained without
being chosen or nominated to the otfice of a
minister by a church. Elders and bishops
were ordained in every church, not without
any church. To ordain a man originally,
says Dr. Campbell, was nothing else but in a
solemn manner to assign him a pastoral
charge. To give him no charge, and not to
ordain him, were perfectly identical. On the
other side it is contended, that from these
words, “ Go ye into all the world, and preach
the gospel to every creature; and lo, I am
with you always, even unto the end of the
world,” it is evident that missionaries and
itinerants must be employed in the important
work of the ministry; that as such cannot be
ordained over any particular church, there
cannot be the least impropriety in ordaining
them-for the church universal. Allowing
that they'have all those talents, gifts, and
grace, that- constitute a minister in the sight
of God, who will dare say they should not be
designated by their brethren for the admiuis~
tration of those ordinances Christ has ap~
pointed in the church? Without allowing
this, how many thousands would be destitute
of these ordinances? Besides, these are the
very men whom God in general honours as
the first-instruments in raising churches, over
which "stated pastors are afterwards fixed.
The separation of Saul and Barnabas, say
they, was an ordination to missionary work,
including the administration of sacraments to
the converted heathen, as well as public in-
struction, Acts xiii. 1, 3. So Timothy was
ordained, 1 Tim. iv. 14; Acts xvi. 3; and
there is equal reason, by analogy, to suppose
that Titus and other companions of Paul were
similarly ordained, without any of them hav-
ing a particular church to take under his
pastoral care. 80 that they appear to have
been ordained to the work of the Christian
ministry at large.
On-the supposition, however, that they are
instrumental in forming a Christian church,
they have no right to assume the pastoral
office without the consent of the members;
and in order to their sustaining .that office ‘
scripturally, they must be publicly recognised
and designated to it. Their originaldesigna-
tion did not, and could not invest them with
any such oflice. It merely recognised their
appointment to the missionary work generally.
YVhen the pastor of a church resigns his
charge, his pastoral relation and character to
all intents and purposes ceases. He cannot
with the smallest ‘degree of reason or consist-
ency go to any other church, and claim to
exercise the pastoral functions among them,
on the ground that he had been publicly or-
dained to the ofiice over the church which he
had left. The case is quite parallel with that
of the matrimonial connexion. Because a
man has been once married, he is not on this
ground to imagine that he may lawfully co-
habit with another woman, without previously
having the marriage relationship between
them recognised. The notion of an indelible
official character derived from ordination to
the pastoral functions, is a relic of that cor-
ruption of primitive truth and simplicity,
which for ages overspread the Christian
world, and from which we still are far from
being delivered by the Protestant Reforma-
tion, and the light which has been thrown on
such subjects since that important epoch. See
articles EPISCOPACY, IMPosI'rIoN or HANDS,
INDEPENDENTS, andMINISTERIALCALL, in this
work; James Owcn’s Plea for Scripture Orclt-
nation; Doddridge’s Tracts, vol. ii. pp. 253—_
257; Dr. Owen’s True Nature of a Gospel
Church, pp, 78, 83; Brchell’s Essay on Ordi-
nation; Watts’s Rational Foundation of a
Christian Church, sec. 3; Dr. Campbell’s Lec-
tures on Ecclesiastical History. vol. i. p. 345;
Gill’s Body of Divinity, vol. iii. p. 246 ; 8vo.
edit.; Theological Magazine for 1802, pp. 33,
90, 167 ; Ewing’s Remarks on Dich’s Sermon,
preached before the Edinburgh Missionary
Society, in 1801 ; Chaplin’s Serm. 1816.
ORGAN, when first introduced into Chris-
tian worship, see MUSIC, 2. Instrumental.
Onrennrs'rs, a denomination which ap-
peared in the third century, who derived
their opinions from the writings of Origen, a
presbyter of Alexandria, and a man of vast
and uncommon abilities, who interpreted the
divine truths of religion according to the tenor
of the Platonic philosophy. He alleged, that
the source of many evils lies in adhering to
the literal and external part of Scripture ; and
that the true meaning of the sacred writers
was to be sought in a mysterious and hidden
sense, arising from the nature of things
themselves.
The principal tenets ascribed to Origen,
, together with a few of the reasons made use
i of in their defence, are comprehended in the
following summary :—
1. That there is a pro-existent state of
human souls. For the nature of the soul is
such as to make her capable of existing eter-
nally, backward as well as forward, because
her spiritual essence, as such, makes it im-
possible that she should, either through age
or violence,.be dissolved; so that nothing is
wanting to her existence but the good plea-
sure of him from whom all things proceed.
I And if, according to the Platonic scheme, we
assign the production of all things to the
exuberant fulness of life in the Deity, which,
through the blessed necessity of his commu-
nicative nature, empties itself into all possibi-
lities of being, as into so many capable recep-
tacles, we must suppose her existence in a
sense necessary, and in a degree co-eternal
with God. .

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565
2. That souls were condemned to animate
mortal bodies, in order to expiate faults they
had committed in a pro-existent state; for we
may be assured, from the infinite goodness of
their Creator, that they were at first joined to
the purest matter, and placed in those regions
of the universe which were most suitable to
the purity of essence they then possessed.
For that the souls of men are an order of
essentially incorporate spirits, their deep im-
mersion into terrestrial matter, the modi-
fication of all their operations by it, and the
heavenly body promised in the gospel, as
the highest perfection of our renewed nature,
clearly evince. Therefore, if our souls existed
before they appeared inhabitants of the earth,
they were placed in a purer element, and en-
joyed far greater degrees of happiness. And
certainly he whose overflowing goodness
brought them into existence, would not de-
prive them of their felicity, till by their muta-
bility they rendered themselves less pure in
the whole extent of their powers, and became
disposed for the susception of such a degree
of corporeal life as was exactly answerable to
their present disposition of spirit. Hence it
was necessary that they should become ter-
restrial men.
3. That the soul of Christ was united to
the Word before the incarnation; for the
Scriptures teach us that the soul of the Messiah
was created before the beginning of the world,
Phil. ii. 5, 7. This text must be understood
of Christ’s human soul, because it is unusual
to propound the Deity as an example of hu-
mility in Scripture. Though the humanity
of Christ was so God-like, he emptied himself
of this fulness of life and glory, to take upon
him the form of a servant. It was this Mes-
siah who converscd with the patriarchs under
a human form: it was he who appeared to
Moses on the Holy Mount; it was he who
spoke to the prophets under a visible ap-
pearance; and it is he who will at last
come in triumph upon the clouds to restore
the universe to its primitive splendour and
felicity.
4. That at the resurrection of the dead, we
shall be clothed with ethereal bodies. For
the elements of our terrestrial compositions
are such as almost fatally entangle us in
vice, passion, and misery. The purer the
vehicle the soul is united with, the more per-
feet is her life and operations. Besides, the
Supreme Goodness who made all things as-
sures us he made all things best at first, and
therefore his recovery of us to our lost hap-
piness (which is the design of the gospel)
must restore us to our better bodies and
happier habitations, which is evident from
1 Cor. xv. 49 ; 2 Cor. v. 1 ; and other texts of
Scripture.
5. That, after long periods of time, the
damned shall be released from their torments,
and restored to a new state of probation. For
the Deity has such reserves in his gracious
providence, as will vindicate his sovereign
goodness and wisdom from all disparagement.
Expiatory pains are a part of his adorable
plan; for this sharper kind of favour has a
righteous place in such creatures as are by
nature mutable. Though sin has extinguished
or silenced the divine life, yet it has not de-
stroyed the faculties of reason and under-
standing, consideration and memory, which
will serve .the life which is most powerful.
If, therefore, the vigorous attraction of the
sensual nature be abated by a ceaseless pain,
these powers may resume the seeds of a better
life and nature. As in the material system
there is a gravitation of the less bodies to-
wards the greater, there must of necessity be
something analogous to this in the intellectual
system; and since the spirits created by God
are emanations and streams from his own
abyss of being, and as self-existent power
must needs subject all beings to itself, the
Deity could not but impress upon her inti-
mate natures and substances a central tend-
ency towards himself; an essential principle
of re-union to their great original.
6. That the earth, after its conflagration,
shall become habitable again, and be the man-
sion of men and animals, and that in eternal
vicissitudes. For it is thus expressed in
Isaiah : “ Behold, I make new heavens and a
new earth,” &c.; and in Hebrews i. 10, 12,
“ Thou, Lord, in the beginning, hast laid the
foundations of the earth; as a vesture shalt
thou change them, and they shall be changed,”
&0. \Vhere there is only a change, the sub-
stance is not destroyed, this change being only
as that of a garment worn out and decaying.
The fashion of the world passes away like a
turning scene, to exhibit a fresh and new re-
presentation of things; and if only the present
dress and appearance of things go ofi‘, the
substance is supposed to remain entire.
ORIGIN or ‘EVIL. See SIN.
ORIGINAL SIN. See FALL, SIN.
Omuuzn, the good principle of the Magi,
whose symbol was light, and who was the
author of all good. See MAGI.
OBTHODOXY, (from opting, right, and doifa,
opinion,) soundness of doctrine or opinion in
matters of religion. The doctrines which are
generally considered as orthodox among us,
are such as were generally professed at the
time of the Reformation, viz. the fall of man,
regeneration, atonement, repentance, justifica-
tion by free grace, &c.
Some have thought that, in order to keep
error out of the church, there should be some
human form as a standard of orthodoxy,
wherein certain disputed doctrines shall be
expressed in such determinate phrases as
may be directly levelled against such errors
as shall prevail from time to time, requiring
those especially who are to be public teachers
in the church to subscribe or virtually to de»
OSI
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566
clare their assent to such formularies._ But;
as Dr. Doddridge observes, 1. Had this been
requisite, it is probable that the Scriptures
would have given us some such formularies
as these, or some directions as to the manner
in which they should be drawn up, proposed,
and received. 2. It is impossible that weak
and passionate men, who have perhaps been
heated in the very controversy thus decided,
should express themselves with greaterpro—
priety than the apostles did. 3. It is plain, in
fact, that this practice has been the cause of
great contention in the Christian church, and
such formularies have been the grand engine
of dividing it, in proportion to the degree 1n
which they have been multiplied and urged.
4. This is laying a great temptation 1n the
way of such as desire to undertake the ofiice
of teachers in the church, and will be most
likely to deter and afl'lict those who have the
greatest tenderness of conscience, and there-
fore (ccet. par.) best deserve encouragement.
5. It is not likely to answer the end proposed,
viz. the preserving an uniformity of opinion;
since persons of little integrity may satisfy
their consciences, in subscribing what they do
not at all believe as articles of peace, or in
putting the most unnatural sense on the
words. And whereas, in answer to all these
inconveniences, it is pleaded that such forms
are necessary to keep the church from heresy,
and it is better there should be some hypo-
crites under such forms of orthodoxy, than
that a freedom of debate and opinion should be
allowed to all teachers; the answer is plain,
that when any one begins to preach doctrines
which appear to those who attend upon him
dangerous and subversive of Christianity, it
will be time enough to proceed to such ani-
madversion as the nature of his error in their
apprehension will require, and his relation to
them will admit. See ESTABLISHMENT and
SUBSCRIPTION; Doddridge’s Lectures, lec. 174;
Watts’s Orthodoxy and Charity United.
OsIANDRIANs, a denomination among the
Lutherans, which was founded in the year
1550, by Andrew Osiander, a celebrated
German divine, whose doctrine amounted to
the following propositions :—
1. That Christ, considered in his human
nature only, could not, by his obedience to
the divine law, obtain justification and pardon
for sinners; neither can we be justified before
God by embracing and applying to ourselves,
through faith, the righteousness and obedience
of the man Christ. It is only through that
eternal and essential righteousness which
dwells in Christ, considered as God, and
which resides in his divine nature, united to
the human, that mankind can obtain complete
justification.
2. That a man becomes a partaker of this
divine righteousness by faith, since it is In
consequence of this uniting principle that
Christ dwells in the heart of man with his
divine righteousness. Now, wherever this
divine righteousness dwells, there God can
behold no sin; therefore, when it is present
with Christ in the hearts of the regenerate,
they are, on its account, considered by the
Deity as righteous, although they be sinners.
Moreover, this divine and justifying right-
eousness of Christ excites the faithful to the
pursuit of holiness, and to the practice of
virtue.
OSSENIANS, a denomination, in the first
century, which taught that faith may and
ought to be dissembled.
OWEN, JoHN, D.D. From the last family
of the five regal tribes of Wales, Lewis Owen,
Esq., of Llywn, near Dolgelly, was descended,
and from him sprang Henry Owen, who was
for some time minister of Stadham, in Oxford-
shire. This clergyman, who was reckoned a
strict puritan, was blessed, while at Stadham,
in the year 1616, with a second son, whom
he named John, who was destined to prove
a divine of such eminence, as to eclipse all
the regal honours of this ancient house. An
early proficiency in elementary studies ad-
mitted John Owen to the university when
only twelve years of age. Here he pursued
his academical labours with unquenchable
ardour, allowing himself only four hours’
sleep in a night; though, alas! no holy oil
fed his lamp; for he afterwards confessed,
that his sole stimulus to mental exertion was
the ambitious hope of rising to some distin-
guished station in church or state. How
often has the eye of Omniscience seen this
odious mildew sprinkled‘ over the academic
laurels of those who have shone with envied
lustre in the world! Mr. Owen would,
doubtless, have carried his point, had not
God, in mercy, convinced him of the sin of
aiming at his own glory, called him ofl‘ from
his former pursuits, and induced him to con-
secrate his future life, with all his mighty
talents, to the honour of God and the im-
provement of his church. This rendered
him averse to the superstitious rites which
Laud was then introducing into the univer-
sity; and thus alienated from him all his
former friends, who fled from him as one
infected with puritanism; a disease, in their
eyes, more dreadful than the plague; so that
he was at length obliged to leave the college.
He was thus thrown into the hands of the
parliamentary party, which so incensed his
uncle, who had supported him at the univer-
sity, that he for ever abandoned him, and
settled his estate upon another person. Mr.
Owen, now cast upon the providence of God,
went to live with a gentleman as his chaplain;
but he, though the friend of this puritan,
being a zealous royalist, went into the king’s
army, and thus left his chaplain once more
to seek a maintenance. He went to London,
where he was a perfect stranger, and had to
struggle through his temporal difiiculties with
OWE
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567
the additional burden of a troubled spirit.
After he first discovered the evil of sin, this
towering genius, who had been the admira~
tion of the university, was so broken down
that, for three months, he could hardly speak
a word to any one; and, for five years, the
anguish of his mind embittered his life.
Under this burden, he went, one Lord’s day,
to hear the Rev. Mr. Calamy, at Alderman-
bury church: but, after waiting some time,
a country minister, of whom he could never
afterwards receive the least information,
ascended the pulpit, and preached from
Matthew viii. 26, “ \rVhy are ye fearful, 0 ye
of little faith?” which happily removed all
his doubts, and introduced him to the enjoy-
ment of that sacred peace which, without
interruption, blessed all his future days. “A
merry heart doth good like medicine,” says
the royal preacher; and Mr. Owen now
found his peace of conscience diffuse health
through his debilitated frame, and restore the
former tone of his mind, so that he soon
wrote his “ Display of Arminianism,” which
introduced him to notice and esteem. In-
duced by the merits of this performance, the
committee for ejecting scandalous ministers
presented him to the living of Fordham, in
Essex, where he laboured for a year and a
half to the great satisfaction and advantage
of the parishioners. But the patron of the
living removed him from it, which gave the
inhabitants of Coggeshall, about five miles
distant, an opportunity to invite him to be-
come their minister; and as the Earl of
Warwick, the patron, gave him the living,
he consented, and preached to a very judi-
cious congregation of two thousand persons,
with great success? Here his researches into
the Scriptures induced him to abandon the
Presbyterian system of church government,
and to adopt the principles of the Independ-
ents; so that he not only formed a Congre-
gational Church, upon the plan which appear-
ed to him to be dictated by Christ, in the New
Testament, but became the most able vindi-
cator of those sentiments which so much
prevailed among Dissenters. His name, like
a rich perfume, could not be concealed, so
that he was now called to preach before the
parliament; and on the 29th of April, 1646,
delivered to them a discourse on Acts xxvi. 2;
“ A vision appeared to Paul in the night:
there stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed
him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and
help us.” It was a bold and energetic appeal
to the wisdom and benevolence of the legis-
lature, in behalf of those parts of the empire
which were destitute of the light of evan-
gelical instruction. Those who are only
acquainted with the general strain of Dr.
Owen’s writings, would not suppose him
capable of pouring forth that flood of lucid,
glowing, popular eloquence, which is dis-
played in this sermon.
.prudence, during five years.

The day after the death of Charles 1., he
was called to the difficult task of preaching
before the parliament again ; when he chose
for his text, J er. xv. 19, 20. Instead of court-
ing the favour of the ruling powers, by ap-
plauding the execution vof Charles, he faith-
fully warned his country against imagining
that a mere change of governors, or forms
of government, would remedy the evils intro-
duced by sin; and charged the parliament to
seek the genuine eternal interests of the people
over whom they ruled. Wisdom and fidelity
joined to compose this discourse. Mr. Owen
shortly after attended Cromwell to Ireland,
where he presided in the college, and preached
in Dublin upwards of a year and a half. He
returned to his charge at Coggeshall, but was
soon called to preach again at Whitehall, and
afterwards to go into Scotland. The House of
Commons at length presented him to the dean -
cry of Christchurch, Oxford, and soon after he
was made Doctor in Divinity, and chosen vice-
chancellor in the University, which honour-
able post he filled, with singular wisdom and
Thus, in the
short space of ten years, we are called to wit-
ness the most complete revolution in his
a-fi'airs ; and after having seen him persecuted
for his conscientious dissent from the church
of his fathers, shunned by his former friends,
disowned by his relations, disappointed of a
good estate, driven from his college, cast
upon the wide world, called to struggle with
adversity, under the depression of a wounded
conscience, which consumed his mental and
corporeal vigour, we behold him in the en-
joyment of a peace “ which passeth all under-
standing,” exulting in the return of elasticity
of mind, with health of body, filling the
kingdom with the fame of his literary and
religious eminence, introduced to the esteem
of the highest characters and authorities in
his country, and exalted to the first post
which the church of England then knew, by
presiding over that university from which he
had separated. History has seldom furnished
a more effectual antidote against despondency
in adverse circumstances, or a more animated
exhortation to follow conscience and prin-
ciple, wherever they may appear to lead.
Six Latin orations delivered at Oxford, while
he presided over that university, are printed
at the end of the volume, with his sermons
and tracts, and sufficiently display the doctor’s
talents and learning, as well as the discern-
ment of those who selected him for this post
of distinguished honour. He ruled with mild
firmness, and was so far from obtruding his
sentiments, as an independent, on the univer-
sity, that he gave several vacant livings to
presbyterians, and would never suffer a con-
gregation 0:’ episcopalians, who met opposite
to his own door, in order to read the pro-
scribed liturgy, to receive the least disturl»
ance. Here he wrote his learned treatise on
OWE
0 W
568
“ The Perseverance of Saints,” and other ex-
cellent works, and redeemed time for the
labours of the pulpit. When Oliver Crom-
well resigned the ofiice of chancellor of Ox-
ford to his son Richard, Dr. Owen delivered
a congratulatory oration to the new head of
that learned body; and by delicate, yet dig-
nified praises, reminded him of what he ought
to be. Shortly after, Dr. Conant being elected
vice-chancellor,-Dr. Owen took his leave of
the university, with an address, which pre-
sents a singularly beautiful combination of
the jealousy which a learned and laborious
man feels for his honest fame, with the humi-
lity of a Christian, absorbed in the honour
and interests of his God. The fortunes and
prospects of the university, when first it fell
into the hands of the parliament party, are
finely depicted, while the improvements which
had been made during the five years of ‘his
chancellorship are hinted at with much deli-
cacy. Owen lays down the academic fasces
with a generous grace, bidding his successor
welcome to the seat which he vacated, and
congratulating the university on the felicity
of obtaining a new vice-chancellor, who rose
to the honour, not by intrigues, but by modest
merit, and who would amply supply the de-
fects of his predecessor. Not the slightest
intimation is given that he felt any resent-
ment at being superseded in his oflice, nor the
shadow of evidence furnished, that the doctor
was opposed to Richard Cromwell, or took
any share in his deposition; and though Mr.
Baxter says, in his life, that Dr. Owen and
his assistants did the main work of pulling
down Richard, the doctor himself positively
denies it, and challenges all the world to prove
that he ever pulled down or set up any poliv
tical party.
He now retired to his own private estate at
Stadham, his birth-place; but the persecution,
which followed the Restoration, compelled
him to take refuge in London, where he pub—
lished his “ Animadversions on a Popish
Book, entitled Fiat Lux ;” which recom-
mended him to the esteem of Chancellor
Hyde. This celebrated man informed the
doctor, that “he had deserved the best of
any English protestant of late years, and that
the church was bound to own and advance
him,” at the same time offering him advance-
ment if he would accept it; expressing his
surprise that a man of such talents and litera-
ture should adopt the novel opinion of inde-
pendency. Owen offered to prove that the
Christian church knew no other system of
ecclesiastical polity, for several ages after
Christ, against any bishop whom his lordship
should appoint to argue the question with
him. This learned man, however, not find-
ing himself comfortable in England, was
about to accept the invitation from the Inde-
pendents in New England, to preside over
the college they were establishing, but he was
stopped by particular orders from the king;
and when he was invited 'to fill the chair of
Professor of Divinity in the United Pro-
vinces, love for his country induced him to
wave the honour. He set up a lecture in
London, as soon as King Charles’s indul-
gence rendered it practicable; and while
many eminent citizens resorted to his oral
instructions, the books which be from time to
time published, gained him the admiration
and esteem of the learned and the great.
among whom are particularly mentioned the
Earls of Orrery and Anglesey, Lords Wil-
loughby, Wharton, and Berkeley, and Sir
John Trevor. The Duke of York and King
Charles II. sent for him, and conversed with
him concerning the dissenters and liberty of
conscience, which the King declared was
right; and, as a testimony of his sense of the
injustice done to the persecuted, gave the
doctor a thousand guineas to be distributed
among the sufferers. When he applied to his
tutor, Dr. Barlow, Bishop of Lincoln, in be-
half of good John Bunyan, who was enduring
a long and cruel imprisonment, the bishop
declined releasing the baptist, though he had
given the independent an assurance, “that he
would deny him nothing that he could legally
do.” His learned labours procured him the
acquaintance and esteem of many eminent
foreigners; some of whom, according to the
fashion of former times, took a voyage to
England to converse with this distinguished
Briton; while others, having read his Latin
treatises, learned our language, that they might
be able to read the rest of his works; which,
indeed, are sufiiciently‘valuable to repay the
labour of acquiring the most difiicult language
which has been spoken since the confusion of
tongues.
When, exhausted by his excessive exertions
of body and mind, he was unable to preach,
he retired to Kensington, near London; but
even here he was incessantly writing, when-
ever he was able to sit u . He afterwards
removed to a house of his own at Ealing;
where, employing his thoughts on the glories
which were now opening upon his view, he
composed his “ Meditations on the Glory of
Christ.” Writing to a friend, at this time,
he says, “ I am going to him whom my soul
has loved, or rather who has loved me with
an everlasting love, which is the whole
ground of all my consolation. The passage
is very irksome and wearisome, through strong
pains of various sorts, which are all issued in
an intermitting fever. All things were pro-
vided to carry me to London today, accord-
ing to the advice of my physicians; but we
are all disappointed by my utter inability to
undertake the journey. I am leaving the
ship of the church in a storm, but whilst the
great Pilot is in it, the loss of a poor‘v under-
rower will be inconsiderable. Live and pray,
and wait and hope patiently, and do not
OWE
OWE
569
despond; the promise stands invincible, that
ire-will never leave us nor forsake us.” He
died on Bartholomew day, 24th of August,
1683, in the sixty-seventh year of his age.
He is described as tall in his person, with
a grave, majestic, and comely aspect, and the
air and deportment of a gentleman. He has
been accused of excessive finery in his dress;
but it is presumed, that those who deplored
the vandalism. which is said to have reigned
in the seats of the Muses during the times of
the Commonwealth, will not attribute it to
Dr. Owen, as a fault, that when he held the
high rank of vice-chancellor of Oxford, he
appeared in full dress on solemn occasions.
He is said to have been very pleasant and
cheerful in his social intercourse, having a
great command of his passions, especially
that of anger ; but in his writings, the irrita-
tion of those contentious days sometimes ap-
pears. After rising to the highest distinction,
by the learning his ambition urged him to
acquire, he turned it all into religion, by
humbly laying it at the feet of the despised
Nazarene; so that the languages, which were
consecrated by being inscribed on the cross,
were again employed only to proclaim the
glory of him that was crucified. Even An-
thony Wood was compelled to acknowledge,
tha “ he was a person well skilled in the
tongues, rabbinical learning, and Jewish rites;
that he had a great command of his English
pen, and was one of the fairest and genteelest
writers that appeared against the Church of
England.” His knowledge of ecclesiastical
history and polemical theology was vast and
profound; so that when the ancient heresies
were revived, under the modern names of
Arminianism and Socinianism, he grasped and
strangled the snakes with more than Hercu-
lean powers. The acumen with which he de-
tected the most specious, and the force with
which he crushed the most formidable here-
siarch, were, if possible, still surpassed by the
accuracy with which he stated and explained
the most profound discoveries of Revelation,
and the sanctity with which he directed every
truth to the purification of the heart, and the
regulation of the life. In his “ Exposition
of the Hundred and Thirtieth Psalm,” he
has developed the wise and benevolent pur-
pose of God, in the mental conflicts which the
author endured, and proved himself qualified
thereby to guide the trembling steps of the
returning sinner to the God of pardon: while
his treatises “ On the Mortification of Sin in
Believers,” “ On Spiritual Mindedness,” and
“ On the Glory of Christ,” prove him equally
fitted to guide the Christian in his more ad—
vanced stages, and to show him how “ to
finish his course with joy, so as to obtain an
abundant entrance into the everlasting king-
dom of our Lord Jesus Christ.” But his
grand work, which forms the colossal pedestal
to his immortal fame, is his “ Exposition of
the Epistle to the Hebrews.” To this, the
studies of his life were more or less directed;
and, though this epistle may safely be pro-
nounced the most difiicult of all the didactic-
books of Scripture, no part of the sacred writ-
ings has received so perfect an elucidation in
the English or perhaps in any other lan-
guage : for the celebrated Commentary on
Isaiah, written in Latin by the learned and
pious Vitringa, has far more of system and of
fancy, with somewhat less of satisfactory solu-
tion, even in the didactic parts, than Owen’s
on the Hebrews.
This extraordinary man was as much be-
yond his age in political as in theological
science; for he not only defended the doc-
trine of toleration, while it was most cruelly
violated by the Stuarts ; but when the pres-
byterians were in the plenitude of their power,
he addressed to the parliament a discourse in
favour of this truly Christian and divine doc-
trine; in which, says Mr. Orton, he went on
as large and generous principles as Mr. Locke
afterwards did. He has triumphantly proved
that the Moloch, which had shed the blood
of so many myriads of saints, founds its
boasted rights upon a cloud. In him, the in-
‘ dependents claim, as their own, the man who
led the way for Locke to promulgate the be-
neficent principle of toleration, which is des-
tined to bless the latter, wiser, better days
of the world; whilst he proved, by his nu-
merous, unanswered defences of independent
churches, that ‘the most liberal allowance of
other men’s religion may be associated with
the nicest sense of truth, and the most vigo-
rous exertions in her defence.
But that which crowns the statue of Owen
with most resplendent imperishable ho-
nours, is, that possessing a handsome estate,
and labouring in the noblest employments of
a literary life, he did not feel himself exempt
from the duty of preaching the Gospel
amidst the dangers and inconvenience of
persecution ; but delivered, with a simple,
engaging eloquence, those divine truths from
which he derived the solace of his days, and
which he adorned by an unblemished life.
His works in folio are—“ The Exposition
of the Epistle to the Hebrews,” in four vo-
lumes;—“ The Perseverance of Saints ;”—~
“ A Treatise on the Holy Spirit ;” and a v0-
lume of Sermons and Tracts. Twenty-one
publications in quarto, devoted either to the
vindication of the Christian doctrines, or to
the defence of independent churches. In
octave, there are thirty pieces, some of them
of considerable extent, and several of very
distinguished excellence. The whole have
lately been reprinted in twenty -eight volumes
octavo. See Orme’s L412; of Owen,- Bogue
and Bcnnett’s History of the Dissenters; and
Jones’s (L'Iu-ist. Bing.
OWENITES, sec SOCIALISTS.
PAC 5'"
0 PrED
P.
PACIFICATION, EDICTS or, were decrees,
granted by the kings of France to the Pro-
testants, for appeasing the troubles occasioned
by their persecution. The first Edict of.
Pacification was granted by Charles IX. in
January, 1562, permitting the free exercise
of the reformed religion near all the cities
and towns of the realm. March 19, 1563,
the same king granted a second Edict of
Pacification, at Amboise, permitting the free
exercise of the reformed religion in the houses
of gentlemen and lords high justiciaries, (or
those that had the power of life and death,)
to their families and dependents only; and
allowing other Protestants to have their ser-
mons in such towns as they had them in be-
fore the 7 th of March; obliging them withal
to quit the churches they had possessed them-
selves of during the troubles. Another,
called the Edict of Lonjumeau, ordering the
execution of that of Amboise, was published
March 27, 1568, after a treaty of peace.
This pacification was but of short continu-
ance ; for Charles, perceiving a general insur-
rection of the Huguenots, revoked the said
edicts in September, 1568, forbidding the ex-
ercise of the Protestant religion, and com-
manding all the ministers to depart the king-
dom in fifteen days. But on the 8th of Au-
gust, 1570, he made peace with them again,
and published an edict on the 11th, allowing
the lords high justiciaries to have sermons
in their houses for all comers, and granting
other Protestants two public exercises in
each government. He likewise gave them
four cautionary towns, viz., Rochelle, Mon-
tauban, Cognal, and La Charité, to be places
of security for them during the space of two
years.
Nevertheless, in August, 1572, he autho-
rized the Bartholomew massacre, and at the
same time issued a declaration forbidding the
exercise of the Protestant religion.
Henry III., in April, 1576, made peace
with the Protestants; and the Edict of Paci-
fication was published in parliament, May
14, permitting them to build churches and
have sermons where they pleased. The
Guisian faction, enraged at this general li-
berty, began the famous league, for the de-
fence of the Catholic religion, which became
so formidable, that it obliged the king to as-
semble the states of the kingdom at Blois, in
December, 1576, where it was enacted that
there should be but one religion in France,
and that the Protestant ministers should be
all banished. In 1577, the‘ king, to pacify
the troubles, published an edict in parliament,
October 8th, granting the same liberty to the
reformed which they had before. However,

in July, 1585, the league obliged him to
publish another edict, revoking all former
edicts granted to the Protestants, and order-
ing them to depart the kingdom in six months,
or turn Papists. This edict was followed by
more to the same purpose.
Henry IV., coming to the crown, published
a declaration, July 4, 1591, abolishing the
edicts against the Protestants. This edict
was verified in the parliament of Chalons;
but the troubles prevented the verification of
it in the parliaments of the other provinces;
so that the Protestants had not the free exer~
cise of their religion in any place but where
they were masters, and .had banished the
Romish religion. In April, 1598, the king
published a new Edict of Pacification at
N antz, granting the Protestants the free ex-
ercise of their religion in all places where
they had the same in 1596 and 1597, and one
exercise in each bailiwick.
This Edict of Nantz was confirmed by
Lewis XIIL, in 1610, and by Lewis XIV.
1652. But this latter abolished it entirely
in 1685. See HUGUENOTS and PERsEcU—
TION.
PIEDOBAPTISM. It is maintained by some,
that all children whatever, at least in Chris-
tian countries, are proper subjects of baptism,
irrespective of the religious profession or
character of their parents, and condemning
the practice of those who baptize only the
children of believers as partial and unscrip-
tural.
The question necessarily resolves itself
into two or three points :-—does the right to
baptism belong to the child, as it stands re-
lated to the kingdom of Christ, or as a pri-
vilege belonging to the parent, and commu~
nicated to the child by virtue of that relation-
ship? If so, is it necessary that the parents
should be possessed of any distinctive cha-
racter to entitle him to that privilege; and by
what means is this to be ascertained? Does
the administration of this ordinance impose
upon him any duties or obligations in regard
to his child; and are there proper grounds
for supposing that he understands those du-
ties, and will perform those obligations?
Now, in the first place, if it be allowed
that baptism has come in the place of cir-
cumcision, it is evident that that rite did not
belong to all male children as such, under
the law, but only to those whose parents were
members of the visible church, and standing
in covenant with God. It would have been
unlawful for the priest to have circumcised the
infant of any idolatrous gentile till he had
first renounced his idol-worship and professed
his faith in the true God, andhis subjection to
P/ED
P1131)
571
the institutions of the Mosaic law. At the
same time the Israelite might have been
allowed to hope that even this child, dying in
infancy, might be saved, notwithstanding that
it'never enjoyed the seal of the covenant.
In other words, it was not the general relation
of such. child to the invisible kingdom of
heaven that constituted its right to circum-
cision, but its connexion with a believing
parent, who himself had been admitted into
covenant with God. And so, with regard to
baptism, we may be allowed in charity to
hope that all young persons dying in infancy
shall be saved, whatever he the character of
their parents, and yet we may consistently
confine the seal of the covenant to visible
believers and their infant offspring. Few
will plead that we are authorised to go to a
heathen country and baptize every child that
may be presented to us, whether its parents
believe or not; because, for any thing we
know, these children, instead of being trained
up in the doctrines of Christianity, might be
initiated into all the impure and impious
rites of idolatry, and thus the badge of dis-
cipleship might be applied to those who should
afterwards embrace the doctrines of devils.
But does not this prove that this Christian
ordinance does not belong to children, simply
as such, but only to those concerning whom
there is a moral certainty that they shall be
brought up “in the nurture and admonition
of the Lord?” Now does not this suppose
that their parents or guardians are such as
are able to perform this important duty, and
consequently, that it is as they stand related
to them that the children are entitled to bap—
tism? for what difference is. there, so far as
true religion is concerned, whether the parents
he called heathens or Christians, if they
equally walk according to the course of this
world, and prove, by their. conduct, that they
are enemies to the cross of Christ? By
withholding the ordinance of baptism from
the children of unbelievers, we deprive them
of no right to hear the gospel or to attend on
the means of grace. It is not so much to
them as to their parents that the privilege is
denied. ‘Vere we to consider baptism as
essential to salvation, and to maintain with
the Church of Rome, that no unbaptized per-
son can enter the kingdom of heaven, then it
might have the appearance of intolerance or
cruelty to refuse to admit any child, in any
circumstances, to this ordinance. But there
is no necessity for holding this opinion. We
believe that the Judge of all the earth will
do right; and that, in the case of those dying
in infancy unbaptizcd, he will not impute the
want of baptism to the child as a ground of
condemnation, whether this has been owing
to the mistake or ‘to the immorality of the
parent. And where, from these causes, young
persons are allowed to grow up unbaptized,
the door of the church is still open to them as
well as to others, and the people of God may
still press upon them the duty of attending to
this and all other institutions of Christ, and
exhort them to take on themselves those vows
which their parents neglected to take in their
behalf.
In the case of children, then, the ordinance
of baptism belongs to them in virtue of their
relation to their parents, as is further evident
from the fact that when Jesus received the
infants brought to him and blessed them, it
must be allowed they were presented by their
parents, who by this very act testified their
faith in him as the promised Messiah. So,
when he commanded his disciples to make
disciples of all nations, and to baptize them as
such, the commission must have been under-
stood as limiting the rite of baptism to those
concerning whom there was reason to believe
they would be instructed in all things as he
had commanded; and when Peter announced
to the Jews on the day of Pentecost that the
promise of the Spirit was to them and to their
children, it was on the supposition that they
themselves should “ repent and be baptized
in the name of the Lord Jesus.” This enables
us to answer another question in relation to
this controversy. Is it necessary that the
parents should he possessed of any distinctive
character to entitle their children to the or-
dinance of baptism? Now, we think this is
easily proved by referring to what the Scrip-
tures say concerning Abraham, in whose
family the covenant of grace was established.
“ I know Abraham,” says God, “ that he will
command his children and his household after
him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, .
to do justice and judgment, that the Lord
may bring upon Abraham that which he hath
spoken of him ;” Gen. xviii. 19. Such was
the character of him in whose family the. or-
dinance of circumcision was first instituted;
and can we suppose that an inferior standard
is recognised under the more spiritual dis-
pensation of the gospel? So, in Deut. xxx.
6, the Lord promises that he “ will circumcise
the heart of his people, and the heart of their
seed, to love him with all their heart and
soul,” where the faith of the parent is sup-
posed to be connected with the salvation of
his offspring. In the same manner, in Jer
xxxii. 39, he promises to give them “ one
heart and one way, that they may fear Him
for ever, for the good of them and of their chil-
dren after them.” Agreeably to this rule of
the Divine economy—that Jehovah will be a
God to his people and to their seed after
them, the apostles administered the ordi-
nance of baptism only to believers and ‘to
their families. Thus in the case of Lydia,
her heart was first opened to attend to the
word spoken by Paul, and then she and her
household were baptized. So in address-
ing the Philippian jailer, the apostle said,
“' Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou
PIED
PJED
572
shalt be saved, and thy house _; and thesame
night he and all his household were baptized.”
Acts xvi. 15, 33. And in writing to the Co-
rinthians he says, “ The unbelieving husband
is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving
wife is sanctified by the husband; else were
our children unclean, but now they are
oly.” 1 Cor. vii. 14. Now, if this relative
holiness refers, as is generally allowed, to the
baptism of these children, does not the apos-
tle’s reasoning imply that one parent, at least,
must be a believer to entitle the child to this
privilege? in short, there is no evidence
that the apostles baptized the household of
any individual till he had first professed hlS
faith in Christ, and his subjection to the laws
of his kingdom. ' _
Allowing, then, that a credible profession
of Christianity on the part of the parent IS
necessary to entitle his children to baptism,
another question occurs, as hinted before, how
is this to be ascertained? Some speak ‘as if
it were impossible to determine what degree
of faith is necessary to constitute this right.
But it may be asked, do they recognise a
profession of faith as indispensable to the en-
joyment of full communion in ‘the church;
and would they hesitate to admit indiscrimi-
nately all persons to the Lord’s supper P. How,
then, do they draw the line of dlstlnctlon
in this case ? Do they not judge of the
sincerity of the profession by the general con-
duct of the individual? and if so in the one
instance, where is the great difficulty in the
other? Are not certain rules laid down in
the New Testament, by which we may dis-
tinguish the followers of Christ from his
enemies? Does he not say, “ By their fruits
ye shall know them?” Do not such minis-
ters recognise this distinction in their sermons,
in their prayers, and in their daily intercourse
with society ?—-and why can they not apply
the same rule in the case of parents presenting
their children for baptism? A
If we ask again—Does the ordinance of bap-
tism impose any particular duties and obliga-
tions on the part of the parent towards the child?
It must certainly be allowed (without going
into the question of vows) that he voluntarily
obliges himself to instruct his child in the
doctrines of Christianity, and to train it up in
the discipline and admonition of the Lord.
But how can he do this if he himself he ig-
norant of these doctrines and neglectful of
these duties? How can he be expected to
walk before his house in the fear of the Lord,
if he never prays with, or for, his children P
-—-if he seldom or never brings them to the
house of God—if he habitually profanes the
day of rest—if he ‘indulges in profane con-
versation—if he never examines his children
respecting their views of divine truth, or ex-
horts them to attend to those things which
belong to their everlasting peace? All this,
on any rational view of the ordinance of bap-
tism, he virtually engages to do, and without
this the ordinance itself is a mere mockery,
or rather a solemn profanation of the Chris-
tian name. “ To the wicked, God saith, What
hast thou to do to declare my statutes, and
that thou shouldest take my covenant in thy
mouth, seeing thou hatest instruction, and
castest my words behind thee?” Psal. l. 16,
17. It is admitted that in presenting an infant
to be baptized, the parent professes a belief
in the truth of Christianity, and a desire that
his children should be brought up in itsprin-
ciples ; but it belongs to the administrator to
judge of the reality of this profession, and the
sincerity of this desire. He says, that in the
case of ungodly parents, such occasions afford
a favourable opportunity of remonstrating
with them on the sinfulness .of their conduct :
and so say I; but I would not merely exhort
them to repent, and then perform the rite—'—
I would call on them to bring forth fruits
meet for repentance before I baptized their
children; and I would warn them that by
taking the vows of God upon them, in their
present state of mind, they would only in-
crease their guilt and enhance their condem-
nation.
It is argued, that if it be the duty of godly
parents to baptize their children, it must be
the duty of ungodly parents to do the same, for
their impiety cannot discharge them from
their duty to their Creator. But this is to
confound two things perfectly distinct, viz.
duty and privilege; or rather the obligation-
to duty with the performance of it. Thus it
is the duty of all men to believe the Gospel,
but no one will say that they all comply with-
this command; it is the duty of all to love
God, but the carnal mind is enmity against
God. Again, when any privilege is conferred
as the result of obedience, it is necessarily
supposed that the obedience be rendered, in
order to prove our right to the privilege; and
that baptism is such a privilege we have en-
deavoured to show. It is the duty of all men
to obey the dying command of Christ, but
only those who have faith to discern the
Lord’s body have a scriptural warrant to ob-
serve the Lord’s supper. And so of all other
duties.
It is fhrther argued, that, by resting the
right of baptism on the visible profession of
the parents, we build on a very precarious
foundation; for it is possible that the parent
may, in a short time, apostatise from the faith,
and then the baptism of the child becomes
null and void. But we are not accountable
for events which we cannot foresee ; all that
we require is, satisfactory evidence of faith at
the time, and if proper care were taken to as-
certain the sincerity of such profession, before
admitting the individual to church .privileges,
such instances would be comparatively rare.
The child, indeed, loses the benefits of domes-
tic instruction, by the apostacy of his parent,
PIED
13.-ED
573
but we do not see why the ordinance itself
should prove a mere nullity; for, although the
parent be excluded from the communion of the
church, that society may still exercise a watch-
ful care over the children, and supply, by other
means, the want of family inspection; and the
children themselves may be reminded of the
obligation resting on them to devote them-
selves to the Lord, and may be very properly
warned not to imitate the conduct of their
parents, lest they also fall through the same
example of unbelief. The same thing may
happen, when the ordinance of baptism is ad-
ministered to adults, on a personal profession
of faith. They, too, may apostatise from the
truth, but this does not render their baptism
invalid; for, on their giving evidence of re-
pentance, they are again restored to the com-
munion of the church, without being required
to submit to the ordinance a second time. In
either case, if the individuals baptized have
the thing signified, their baptism is not in-
validated by the incidental irregularity in the
administration of the outward sign. The
same remark applies to the case of persons
who have been refused baptism in their in-
fancy, on the ground of the ignorance or im-
morality of their parents, being afterwards
admitted into paedobaptist churches without
any inquiry whether their parents were he-
lievers or not at the time of their baptism.
The reason is, that these churches recognise
the rite of baptism as valid when administered
in any Protestant church, although they may
disapprove of the indiscriminate manner iu
which it is observed. They see no warrant
for repeating the ordinance when once ad-
ministered according to the words of the ori-
ginal institution; this would virtually be to
unchurch all other communions but their
own; but this is no reason for their volun-
tarily admitting the same irregularities into
their own practice.
There are other serious objections to the
principle of indiscriminate baptism: in the
first place, in almost all Christian communi-
ties, British and foreign, where paedobaptism
is observed, it is administered on the assump-
tion that one or both parents are members of
the church. This fundamental principle is
recognised by all, however much particular
churches, from laxity of discipline, may de-
viate from it in practice.
But, 2ndly, By the practice alluded to, a
distinction is recognised between the ordi-
nance of baptism and the ordinance of the
supper, which the Scriptures do not authorise.
When a parent brings his child for baptism
to a minister, he is either a member of the
church or he is not. If he be in fellowship
with any other denomination, why does he
not seek his religious privileges in the church
to which be belongs ? If he be in connexion
with no visible society, why should he seek
baptism for his child while he himself is living
in the neglect of the Lord’s supper? Is the
one ordinance more binding than the other
or do they require a different standard of
Christianity? Is not such a practice calcu-
lated to make them attach a superstitious
reverence to the ordinance of the supper,
which they think they honour by abstaining
from altogether? Does it not countenance a
glaring inconsistency in their profession, and
help to foster that popular prejudice respect-
ing baptism, as if it were merely a ceremony
to be observed in giving a child a name? I
can conceive of only one or two cases where
such a practice can be at all sanctioned. A
parent may be situated in a part of the coun-
try where he has no opportunity of holding
fellowship with any church whose principles
he can approve. In that case he may apply
to a minister at a distance to baptize his child,
who, if satisfied of his Christian character,
might lawfully comply with his request; or a
Christian parent may be unjustly expelled
from the communion of a church by the in-
fluence of a faction raised against him, with-
out any fault of his own. In this case his
children might still be baptized by a neigh-
bouring minister; for his excommunication,
under such circumstances, is a mere nullity.
There is only another case which I can sup-
pose likely to happen. A parent may be
conscientiously attached to the Established
Church, but he may disapprove of the cha-
racter or doctrine of his own clergyman, or
he may object to some ceremony practised in
administering the ordinance in his own church
-—as, for instance, to the sign of the cross in
the Church of England; and he may prefer,
on these accounts, having his child baptized
by a dissenting minister; but even in that
case the minister enjoys a favourable oppor-
tunity of setting before him the inconsistency
of remaining in a church where such abuses
are tolerated, and of pressing upon him the
duty of consistent separation from the world.
Should he fail to convince him, he might then
administer the ordinance, if satisfied with re-
gard to the personal piety of the individual.
To all others I would say, “How long halt
ye between two opinions? If Christ be Lord,
follow him.”
3rdly. By baptizing the children of those
who give no evidence of sincere faith, we
countenance the indiscriminate admission of
all characters to communion, and lay our-
selves open to the charge of temporizing
with the world for the sake of secular advan-
t we.
4thly. By the practice alluded to, the pee-
dobaptists furnish the opponents of infant-
baptism with their most plausible and effective
arguments. They tell us, we are inconsistent
in baptizing only some children, and not all;
that there is the same security for the religious
character of the children of the ungodly as
for that of the children of believers; i. e. none
PfED
PJED
574
at all; and they would ask nothing more than
the admission of this fact to prove the unscrip-
tural nature of the practice. And we can only
meet them successfully, by denying the al-
leged fact—by showing that there are special
privileges and promises belonging to the chil-
dren of believers as such; and that, in the
ordinary course of things, if we “ train up a.
child in the way he should go, when he is old
he will not depart from it.” On this ground
we admit the children of believers to baptism,
because there is a moral certainty that they
shall be instructed to “keep the way of the
Lord, to do justice and judgment.” With
regard to others, we have no such security,
and, therefore, we consistently withhold from
them the privilege in question.
It may be thought that, by acting on this
principle of discrimination, we should drive
many from our places of worship, and greatly
thin the number of our hearers; and the per-
sons thus dealt with might be induced to
abandon the means of grace altogether, or to
join unscriptural communions. Even allow-
ing that these consequences would follow, the
question we have to consider is,--Are we
acting agreeably to the will of God? Does
the Scripture authorise this distinction? Then,
whatever injury it may cause to our temporal
interest, it-is our duty and our privilege, as
conscientious Dissenters, patiently and cheer-
fully to submit to it. But there is no fear
that any such evils would ensue. We may
indeed offend some individuals, by withholding
a privilege to which they have been formerly
admitted; but, if they be candid persons,
they will learn to respect our conscientious
scruples; they may be led to examine the
defects in their own character and profession,
and to act more decidedly; they will be in-
duced to investigate the grounds of dissent
more thoroughly, and, if satisfied that they
are agreeable to the word of God, as we be-
lieve them to be, they will be led at once to
give them their support; and thus the cause
of dissent, instead of being a loser, will be
materially strengthened by the adherence of
those who, on the present system, occupy a
sort of border territory. Churches would be-
come more efiicient and independent by the
withdrawment of those who, without any set-
tled principles, interfere with the management
of their affairs, and act as a moral incubus
upon them; and the reasons of separation
would be rendered more palpable to the world,
by the increased purity which the churches
would exhibit, when freed from all foreign
admixtures. Nor would the attendance at
our places of worship be ultimately lessened;
the people will continue to attend where the
Gospel is most faithfully preached; if they
can no longer act as a component part of the
body, they will be satisfied to seek religious
privileges in their own church, and, among
the Dissenters, be content to rank simply as
hearers; and they will see that, in confining
these privileges to those who are strictlyun
our own communion, we only act on a prin-
ciple which is recognised throughout all the
departments of the Christian church. Nor 1s
there much danger that such persons will be
driven from the means of grace; having ac-
quired the habit of attending a place of wor-
ship, they will feel the necessity of attending
somewhere: and if they cannot hear the Gos-
pel in their own church, they will soon find
their way back to the meeting-house, where
they know they will at least enjoy that privi-
lege, if the should be denied every other.—
Evangelica Magazine.
Pmnonar'rrs'rs, those who baptize children;
from watg, a child, and Baa-rim, to baptize.
Under the word Baptist, will be found a ge-
neral statement of the argument, in support
of the exclusive baptism of adults. Under
this article, we shall state the leading argu-
ments in support of infant baptism. The
controversy is almost boundless in the range
which it has taken, and would seem to be in-
terminable. On both the subject and the
mode, psedobaptists difi‘er totally with those
of the opposite persuasion. As to the subject,
they believe that qualified adults, who have
not been'baptized before, are certainly proper
subjects ; but, then, they think also that the in-
fants of such are not to be excluded. They be-
lieve that, as the Abrahamic and the Christian
covenants are the same, Gen. xvii. 7; Gal.
iii. 17 ; that as children were admitted under
the former; and that as baptism is now a
seal, sign, or confirmation of this covenant,
infants have as great a right to it as the
children had a right to the seal of circum-
cision under the law, Acts ii. 39; Rom. iv.
11. That if children are not to be baptized
because there is no positive command for it,
for the same reason women should not
come to the Lord’s supper; we should not
keep the first day of the week, nor attend
public worship, for none of these are ex-
pressly commanded; that if infant baptism
had been a human invention, how would it
have been so universal in the first 300 years,
and yet no record left when it was introduced,
nor any dispute or controversy about it?
Some bring it to these two ideas: 1. That
God did constitute in his church the mem-
bership of the infants of professed believers,
and admitted them to it by a religious ordi-
nance, Gen. xvii.; Gal. iii. 14, 17.—2. That
this right of infants to church membership
was never taken away. This being the case,
infants must be received, because God has
instituted it; and, since infants must be re--
ceived, it must be either without baptism, or
with it; but none must be received without
baptism, therefore infants must of necessity
be baptized. Hence it is clear that, under
the Gospel, infants are still continued exactly
in the same relation to God and his church,
P ZE-D
PZED
575
in which they were originally placed under
the former dispensation. _
That the infants of such as profess the faith
' are to be received into the church, and as
such baptized, is also inferred from the fol-
lowing passages of Scripture : Gen. xvii.; Is.
xliv. 3; Matt. xix. 13; Luke ix. 47, 48;
Mark- ix. 14; Acts ii. 38, 39; Rom. xi. 17,
21 ; 1 Cor. vii. 14.
Though there are no express examples in
the New Testament of Christ and his apostles
baptizing infants, yet this is no proof that
they were excluded. Jesus Christ actually
blessed little children; and it would be hard
to believe that such received his blessing, and
yet were not to be members of the Gospel
church. If Christ received them, and would
have us receive them in his name, how can it
be reconciled to keep them out of the visible
church? Besides, if children were not to be
baptized, it would have been expressly for-
bidden. None of the Jews had any appre-
hension of the rejection of infants, which they
must have had, if infants had been rejected.
As whole households were baptized, it is pro-
bable there were children among them. From
the year 400 to 1150, no society of men, in
all that period of 750 years, ever pretended to
say it was unlawful to baptize infants: and-
still nearer the time of our Saviour there ap-
pears to have been scarcely any one that so
much as advised the delay of infant baptism.
Irenaeus, who lived in the second century,
and was well acquainted with Polycarp, who
was John’s disciple, declares expressly that
the church learned from the apostles to bap-
tize children. Origen, in the third century,
atlirmed that the custom of baptizing infants
was received from Christ and his apostles.
Cyprian, and a council of ministers (held
about the year 254), no less than sixty-six in
number, unanimously agreed that children
might be baptized as soon as they were born.
Ambrose, who wrote about 274 years from
the apostles, declares that the baptism of in-
fants had been the practice of the apostles
themselves, and of the church,'till that time.
The catholic church everywhere declared,
says Chrysostom, in the fifth century, that
infants should be baptized; and Augustin
afiirmed that he never heard nor read of any
Christian, catholic or sectarian, but who
always held that infants were to be baptized.
They further believe, that there needed no
mention in the New Testament of receiving
be rejected. So far from confining it to
adults, it must be remembered that there is
not a ‘single instance recorded in the New
Testament, or in any ancient document, in
which the descendants of Christian parents
were baptized in adult years.
That infants are not proper subjects for
baptism, because they cannot profess faith and
repentance, they deny. This objection falls
with as much weight upon the institution of
circumcision as infant-baptism; since they
are as capable, or are as fit subjects for the
one as the other. It is generally acknow-
ledged, that, if infants die (and a great part
of the human race do die in infancy), they
are saved: if this be the case, then, why
refuse them the sign in infancy, if they are
capable of enjoying the thing signified?
“ Why,” says Dr. Owen, “ is it the will of
God that unbelievers should not be baptized?
It is because, not granting them the grace, he
will not grant them the sign. If God, there-
fore, denies the sign to the infant seed of
believers, it must be because he denies them
the grace of it; and then all the children of
believing parents (upon these principles) dy-
ing in their infancy, must, without hope, be
eternally damned. I do not say that all must
be so who are not baptized: but all must be
so whom God would not have baptized.”
Something is said of baptism, it is observed,
that cannot agree to infants: faith goes before
baptism; and, as none but adults are capable
of believing, so no others are capable of bap-
tism; but it is replied, if infants must not be
baptized because something is said of baptism
that does not agree to infants, Mark xvi. 16,
then infants must not be saved, because some-
thing is said of salvation that does not agree
to infants, Mark xvi. 16. As none but adults
are capable of believing, so, by the argument
of the Baptists, none but adults are capable
of salvation: for he that believeth not shall
be damned. But Christ, it is said, set an
example of adult baptism. True; but he was
baptized in honour to J ohn’s ministry, and to
conform himself to what he appointed to his
followers ; for which last reason he drank of
the sacramental cup: but this is rather an
argument for the Paedobaptists than against
them: since it plainly shows, as Doddridge
observes, that baptism may be administered
to those who are not capable of all the pur-
poses for which it was designed; since Jesus
Christ, not being a sinner, could not be ca-
infants into the church, as it had been, once pable of that faith and repentance which are
appointed, and never repealed. The dictates
of nature, also, in parental feelings; the ver-
dict of reason in favour of privileges; the evi-
dence in favour of children being sharcrs of
the seals of grace, in common with their
parents, for the space of 4000 years; and
especially the language of prophecy, in re‘
ference to the children of the Gospel church,
make it very probable that they were not to
.i
said to be necessary to this ordinance.
As to the mode.
They believe that the word Bdrrrw signi-
fies to dip or to plunge; but that the term
Brt'rrTiZw, which is only a derivative of Bc'mrw,
is ever used in the New Testament to express
plunging, cannot be proved. As the word
Ba'n'rt'Zw is used for the various ablutions
PJED
‘Pain
576
866. Heb. ix. 10; for the custom of washing
before meals, and the washing of household
furniture, pots, 820.; it is evident that it does
not express the manner of doing, whether by
immersion or afl‘usion, but only the thing
done; that is washing, or the application of
water in one form or other. Dr. Owen ob-
serves, that it no where signifies to dip, but
as denoting a mode of, and in order to wash-
ing or cleansing; and, according to others,
the mode of use is only the ceremonial part
of a positive institute; just aspin the supper
of the Lord, the time of the day, the number
and posture of communicants, the quality and
quantity of bread and wine, are circumstances
not accounted essential by any party of Chris-
tians. As to the Hebrew word Taval, it is
a generic term; its radical, primary, and pro-
per meaning is, to tinge, to dye, to wet, wash,
or the like; which primary design is effected
by difl‘erent modes of application. If in bap-
tism also there is an expressive emblem of
the descending influence of the Spirit, pouring
must be the mode of administration; for that
is the Scriptural term most commonly and
properly used for the communication of divine
influences. There is no object whatever in
all the New Testament so frequently and so
explicitly signified by baptism as these divine
influences. Matt. iii. 11 ; Mark i. 8. 10;
Luke iii. 16 to 22 ; John i. 33 ; Acts i. 5; ii.
38, 39; viii. 12, 17; xi. 15, 16. The term
sprinkling, also, is made use of in reference
to the act of purifying, Is. lii. 15; Heb. ix.
13, 14; Ezek. xxxvi. 25, and therefore can-
not be inapplicable to baptismal purification.
But it is objected that John baptized in J or-
dan: to this it is replied, to infer always a
plunging of the whole body in water from
this word, would, in manyinstances, be false
and absurd: the same Greek preposition an
is used when it is said they should be baptized
with fire; while few will assert that they
should be plunged into it. The apostle,
speaking of Christ, says, he came not (av) by
water only, but (an) by water and blood.
There the same word w is translated by, and
with justice and propriety, for we know no
good sense in which we could say he came in
water. And certainly, if any weight were
to be attached to this passage, as indicating
that our Lord was introduced to his ministry
by immersion in water, it would equally fol-
low, that it was terminated by an immersion
in blood; which is contrary to fact. It has
been remarked, that w is more than a hun-
dred times, in the New Testament, rendered
at, and in a hundred and fifty others it is
translated with. If it be rendered so here,
“ John baptized at Jordan,” or with the water
of Jordan, there is no proof from thence that
he plunged his disciples in it. ‘
It is urged that John’s choosing a place
where there was much water is-a certain proof
‘among the Jews, such as sprinkling, pouring,


of immersion. To which it is answered, that
as there went out to him Jerusalem, and all
J udea, and all the region round about Jordan,
that by choosing a place where there were
many streams or rivulets» it would be much
more expeditiously performed by pouring;
and that it. seems in the nature of things
highly improbable that John should have
baptized this vast multitude by immersion, to
say nothing of the indecency of both. sexes
being baptized together. "
It is a striking fact, that though the Sabians,
or disciples of John the Baptist, who exist to
this day in the East, go down into the river to
receive the rite, it is not administered by im-
mersion, but by pouring; and they aflirm that
the mode in which they baptize is precisely
that which was used by John. See the article
SABIANS.
Jesus, it is said, came up out of the water;
but this is said to be no proof of his being
immersed, as the Greek term a'n'o often signi-
fies from; for instance, “ Who hath warned
you to flee from, not out of, the wrath to
come ;” with many others which might be
mentioned.
Again: it is said that Philip and the eunuch
went down both into the water. To this it is
answered, that here is no proof of immersion,-
for if the expression of their going down into
the water ‘ necessarily includes dipping, then
Philip was dipped as well as the eunuch.
The preposition (stg), translated into, often
signifies no more than to or unto. See Matt.
xv. 24; Rom. x. 10; Acts xxviii. 14; Matt.
xvii. 27; iii. 11. So that, from .all these
circumstances, it cannot be concluded that
there was a single person of all the baptized
who went into the water ancle deep. As to
the apostle’s expression, “ buried with him
in baptism,” they think it has no_force; and
that it does not allude to any custom of dipp-
ing, any more than our baptismal crucifixion
and death has any such reference. It is not
the sign but the thing signified that is here
alluded to. As Christ was buried and rose
again to a heavenly ‘life, so we by baptism
signify that we are cut off from the life of sin,
that we may rise again to a new life of faith
and love.
To conclude this article, it is observed
against the mode of immersion, that, as it
carries with it too much of the appearance of
a burdensome rite for the gospel dispensa-
tion; that as it is too indecent for so solemn
an ordinance; as it has a tendency to agitate
the spirits, often rendering the subject unfit
for the exercise of proper thoughts and afi‘ec-
tions, and indeed utterly incapable of them;
as in many cases the immersion of the body
would. in all probability be instant death; as
in other situations it would be impracticable
for want of a suflicient quantity of water,
it cannot be considered as necessary to the
ordinance of baptism. To which may be
PAG
PAL
577
added the positive want of physical’ strength
on the part of some ministers to plunge per-
sons huge in size. See Wall, Henry,B1dd-
bury, Bostwa'ck, Towgoocl, Addington, Williams,
Edwards, Miller, Evans, Pirie, Tyerman,
Wood, Thorn, Munro, and Wardlaw on' Bap-
tism. '
PAGANISM, the religious worship and dis-
cipline of pagans, or the adoration of idols
and false gods. The theology of the pagans,
according to themselves, as Scacvola and
Varro, was of three sorts.‘ The first of these
may well be called fabulous, as treating of
the theology and genealogy of their deities,
in which they say such things as are unwor-
thy of deity; ascribing to them thefts, mur-
ders, adulteries, and all manner of crimes;
and therefore this kind of theology is con-
demned by the wiser sort of heathens as
nugatory and scandalous: the writers of this
sort of theology were Sanchoniatho, the Phae-
nician; and of the Grecians, Orpheus, Hesiod,
Pherecyde, &c. The second sort, called phy-
sic, or natural, was studied and taught by the
philosophers, who rejecting the multiplicity
of gods, introduced by the poets, brought
their theology to a more natural and rational
form, and supposed that there was but one
Supreme God, which they commonly make
to be the sun; at least, an emblem of him, but
at too great a distance to mind the affairs of
the world, and therefore devised certain de-
mons, which they considered as mediators
' between the Supreme God and man ; and the
doctrines of these demons, to which the apes-
tle is thought to allude in 1 Tim. iv. 1, were
what the philosophers had a concern with,
and who treat of their nature, office, and re-
gard to men; as did Thales, Pythagoras,
Plato, and the Stoics. The third part, called
politic, or civil, was instituted by legislators,
statesmen, and politicians: the first among
the Romans was Numa Pompilius: this
chiefly respected their gods, temples, altars,
sacrifices, and rites of worship, and was pro-
perly their idolatry, the care of which be-
longed to the priests; and this was enjoined
the common people, to keep them in obedi-
ence to the civil state. Thus things con-
tinued in the Gentile world until the light of
the gospel was sent among them: the times
before were times of ignorance, as the apostle
calls them: they were ignorant of the true
God, and of the worship of him; and of the
Messiah, and salvation by him. Their state
is truly described, Eph. ii. 12, that they were
then “ without Christ; aliens from the com-
monwealth of Israel; strangers from the
covenants of promise; having no hope, and
without God in the world ;” and, conse-
quently, their theology was insufficient for
their salvation. The reader will find some
admirable reflections on the growth of
heathenism among modern Christians, 1n
the third volume of the Rev. W. J ones’s
i Sir Walter Mildmay.

Works. See HEATHENS, IDOLATRY, POLY- '
THEIsM.
PAGANS; ‘the heathens, so called by the
early Christians, because, when Constantine
and his successors forbade the worship of hea—
then deities in the cities, its adherents retired
to the villages (page, hence pagani, villagers
or countrymen,) where they could practise
their rites in security.
PAGoDA, or Pacon, a name given by the
East Indians to their temples, where they
worship their gods.
PALEY, DR. WILLIAM. This celebrated
divine was born at Peterborough, in the month
of July, 1743. He was descended from a re-
spectable family in the west riding of York-
shire. He was the eldest of four children,
and was educated under the judicious care of
a clever father, who was then head master of
Giggleswick SchooL Paley, being of a strong
and active mind, soon, by application and
study, became the head boy in the school.
His mind was naturally inquisitive, and ar-
dent in the pursuit of every species of know-
ledge, particularly in mechanism; and he
would frequently converse with any work~
man he met with. He was held in the highest
estimation by his schoolfellows, as possessing
many very excellent qualities. Soon after he
had completed his fifteenth year, his father_
accompanied him to Cambridge, for the pur-
pose of admission into Christ’s College; he
was accordingly admited as sizar, November
16, 1758. He paid particular attention to
cases of law, and on mentioning them, was
fluent and nervous. In October, 1759, he
became a resident member of Christ’s Col-
lege, at the early age of sixteen. On the
fifth of December he was appointed to one of
the scholarships founded by Mr. Carr, and
appropriated to a student of Giggleswick
School; on the following day, he was elected
a scholar on the foundation of his college,
and appointed to the exhibition founded by
Being left much to
himself‘, he applied assiduously to his studies,
and in which, during his stay at college, he
made great proficiency, and excelled in what-
ever he undertook. Soon after taking his
batchelor’s degree, Mr. Paley was engaged,
on the recommendation of Mr. Shepherd, as
assistant in a- large academy, at Greenwich,
kept by Mr. Bracken, and chiefly designed
for young men intended for the army and
navy. In 1765, Mr. Paley became a candi-
date for one of the prizes given annually by
the representatives of the University of Cam-
bridge, to senior bachelors. The subject pro-
posed was a comparison between the Stoic
and Epicurean philosophy, with respect to
the influence of each on the morals of a peo-
ple. Mr. Paley took the Epicurean side of
the question. His essay evinced extensive
reading, and a maturity of reflection; and,
though it underwent the examination of the
P A l.
PAL
578
vice-chancellor, and heads of colleges, the
rize was, for that essay, allotted to him.
e was, at the proper age, ordained a deacon,
and engaged himself as curate to Dr. Hinch-
clifl‘e, then vicar of Greenwich, and afterwards
bishop of Peterborough.
On the foundation of Christ’s college, June
24, 17 66, Mr. Paley was elected a fellow, an
appointment worth about 1001. a year at that
time: he then returned to his residence in
the university, took his degree of master of‘
arts, and engaged in private tuition. He
soon afterwards became a public tutor at his
college; and, at the general ordination for
the diocese of London, held at St. James’s
Chapel, December 21, 1767, was ordained a
priest by Bishop Terrick; in the year 177 5, the
bishop of Carlisle presented Mr. Paley to the
rectory of Musgrove, in Westmoreland. To-
wards the close of this year, he solicited the
hand of Miss Jane Hewitt in marriage; his
offer was accepted, and they were united on
vthe 6th of June, and retired into the diocese
of Carlisle. Towards the termination of the
following year, by the liberality of his former
benefactor, the bishop of Carhsle, he was in-
ducted into the vicarage of Dalston in Cum-
berland. In July, 17 7 7, Mr. Paley preached,
at the visitation of the bishop, in' the cathe—
dral church of Carlisle. On his resignation
of the rectory of Musgrove, which took place
on the 5th of September, he was introduced
to the more valuable vicarage of Appleby,
estimated at about 2001. a year. Between
this place and Dalston he now divided his
time. On the 16th of June, 1780, he was
installed a prebendary of the fourth stall, in
the cathedral of Carlisle, worth 4001. a year.
In consequence of his friend Mr. Law’s pro-
motion to an Irish bishopric, he was appointed
archdeacon of Carlisle, on the 5th of August,
1782 ; and in the year 1785, on the death of
Dr. Burn, he was appointed chancellor of the
diocese of Carlisle.
In 1785 he published his “ Principles of
Moral and Political Philosophy,”- in two
volumes, octavo, with a highly liberal dedica-
tion to his episcopal patron. This work is
said to stand unrivalled for its simplicity, and
the pertinency of its illustrations, as well as
for the vigour and discrimination by which it
is characterized; and though exceptions have
justly been made to certain definitions and
principles therein laid down, it could not fail
to establish his reputation as an author of the
first class.
In 1790, Mr. Paley published his “ Horae
Paulinae, or the truth of the Scripture his-
tory of St. Paul evinced by a Comparison of“
the Epistles which bear his name, with the
Acts of the Apostles, and with one another ;”
which he dedicated to Dr. Law, then bishop
of Killala. It furnishes a line of argument of
the highest importance on the subject of the
evidences of Christianity. He was a great
friend to the abolition of the slave trade; and
in 1789, when the first great discussion in
the House of Commons was expected, he
drew up a short, but appropriate and judicious
treatise, entitled, “ Comments against the
Unjust Pretensions of ‘Slave Dealers and
Holders to be indemnified by pecuniary Al-
lowances at the Public Expense, in case the
Slave Trade should be Abolished;” and sent
it to the committee. The bishop of Durham,
entertaining great respect for him, presented
him with the valuable rectory of " Bishop~
Wearmouth, worth 12001. a year. Afer read-
ing himself in as a prebend of St. Paul’s, on
the 8th of March, he proceeded to Bishop-
Wearmouth, and took possession of his valu-
able cure, and, at this time, assumed the title
of Doctor.
In 1794, he published his “View of the
Evidences of Christianity,” in three volumes,
duodecimo, which contains an able, popular
view of the historical argument for the truth
of the Christian religion. It is drawn up with
his usual perspicuity and dialectic skill, and is
now generally regarded as the most complete
summary on the subject that has ever ap-
peared. .
In 1800 Dr. Paley was attacked by a vio-
lent nephralgic complaint. During the period
of this excruciating disorder, he finished his
celebrated work entitled, “ Natural Theology,
or Evidences of the Existence and Attributes
of the Deity, collected from the Appearances
of Nature ;” a work highly celebrated for the
justness of its reflections, and the benevolence,
good sense, and piety which it breathes. But
he was frequently interrupted by severe acces-
sions of that painful disorder. When he was
so far recovered as to bear the fatigues of
travelling, he was induced to try the Buxton
waters, which effected a partial restoration of
his health; and, after an absence of two
months, he returned to Bishop~Wearmouth.
He still entered into society with his wonted
zest, and his conversation was lively and ani-
mated, pious and devout.~ In December, 1804,
his friends perceived his valuable life drawing
to a rapid close. He died on the 25th of
May, 1805. Amongst his friends, no man
was more highly, or more justly esteemed,
than Dr. Paley: and his literary attainments
were exceeded only by his many amiable traits
of frankness and good humour. In private
life, he appears to have exhibited very little
of the gravityof the philosopher, being fond
of company and amusement. As a writer,
Dr. Paleywas less solicitous to delight the
ear than to inform the understanding; yet few
authors have written so pleasingly on similar
subjects; and there is, both in his conceptions
and language, a peculiarity of manner which
marks the native vigour of his mind. After
his death, a volume of his sermons was pub~
lished 1n octavo, and his entire works have
been repeatedly published in various forms,
PAN
5
79
PAR
in four, five, or six volumes. Life by Medley; _
Jones’s Christian Biography.
PALM SUNDAY, the Sunday next before
Easter, so called from palm branches being
strewed on the road by the multitude, when
our Saviour made his triumphal entry into
Jerusalem. Formerly, a wooden ass, with the
figure of Christ upon it, was drawn in proces-
sion on rollers, because Christ entered J eru-
salem on that animal.
PANDEcTs, properly a juridical term signi-
fying a complete collection or digest of laws.
It was used, however, by Papias, as a deno-
mination of the Old and New Testaments.
PANTHEISM, (from row, or re new, the whole,
and Geog, God,) a philosophical species of idol-
atry, leading to atheism, in which the universe
was considered as the Supreme God. Who
was the inventor of this absurd system is
perhaps not known, but it was of early origin,
and differently modified by different philoso-
phers. Some held the universe to be one
immense animal, of which the incorporeal
soul was properly their god, and the heavens
and the earth the body of that god; whilst
others held but one substance, partly active,
and partly passive, and therefore looked upon
the visible universe as the only Numen. The
earliest Grecian pantheist of whom we read
was Orpheus, who called the world the body
of God, and its several parts his members,
making the whole universe one divine animal.
According to Cudworth, Orpheus and his fol-
lowers believed in the immaterial soul of the
world; therein agreeing with Aristotle, who
certainly held that God and matter are co-
eternal; and that there is some such union
between them as subsists between the souls
and bodies of men. Bruno and Spinoza were
pantheists; and an institution, imbibing sen-
timents nearly of this kind, was set on foot
upwards of a hundred years ago, in this king-
dom, by a society of philosophical idolaters,
who called themselves Pant/wists, because they
professed the worship of all Nature as their
deity. They had Mr. John Toland for their
secretary and chaplain. Their liturgy was 1n
Latin: an English translation was published
in 1751, from which the following sentiments
are extracted :—-“ The ethereal fire environs all
things, and is therefore supreme. The other
is a reviving fire ; it rules all things,——it dis-
poses all things. In it is soul, mind, prudence.
This fire is Horace’s particle of divine breath,
and Virgil’s inwardly nourishing spirit. All
things are comprised in an intelligent nature.”
This-force they call the soul of the world; as
also, a mind of perfect wisdom, and, conse-
quently, God. Vanini, the Italian philosopher,
was nearly of this opinion: hlS god was na-
ture. Some very learned and excellent re-
marks are made on this error by Mr. Boyle,
in his discourse on the vulgarly received
notion of nature. See Jones of Nayland’s
Works, vol. ix. p. 50; and article SPINOSISM.
Paras, (the ancient Greek wacrrrag, papa,
father,) the name at present given to the
priests of the Greek church: in Russia they
are called popes. In the third and fourth cen-
turies, the name was given to all the bishops;
but in the ninth, it was appropriated exclu-
sively to the four eastern patriarchs. In the
west, however, the bishop of Rome determined
to have the exclusive use of the title; but it
required the iron hand of Gregory VIL to
carry the plan into effect. He assembled
some Italian bishops at Rome, in 1073, and
formed them into a council, which excom-
municated the emperor Henry, and declared
that no one had any right to the title of pope
but the Roman pontiff;
PAPIST, one who adheres to the communion
of the pope and church of Rome. See POPE
and POPERY.
PARABLE, a fable or allegorical instruction,
founded on something real or apparent in
nature or history, from which a moral is
drawn, by comparing it with something in
which the people are more immediately con-
cerned: such are the parables of Dives and
Lazarus, of the prodigal son, of the ten vir-
gins, &c. Dr. Blair observes, that “of parables,
which form a part of allegory, the prophetical
writings are full; and if to us they sometimes
appear obscure, we must remember, that, in
those early times, it was universally the mode
throughout all the eastern nations, to convey
sacred truths under some mysterious figures
and representations.”
PARACLETE, an advocate or comforter; ge-
nerally applied to the third person in the
Trinity. John xv. 26.
PARADISE, a Persic or Armenian word,
signifying a garden. It is commonly used
when speaking of the garden of Eden, in
“ which Adam and Eve were placed. It is also
used to denote heaven, Luke xxiii. 44. As to
the terrestrial Paradise, there have been many
inquiries about its situation. It has been
placed in the third heaven, in the orb of the
moon, in the moon itself‘, in the middle region
of the air, above the earth, under the earth, in
the place possessed by the Caspian sea, and
under the arctic pole. The learned Huetius
places it upon the river that is produced by
the conjunction of the Tigris and Euphrates,
now called the river of the Arabs, between
this conjunction and the division made by the
same river before it falls into the Persian sea.
Other geographers, with much greater proba-
bility, have placed it in Armenia, between
the sources of the Tigris, the Euphrates, the
Araxes, and the Phasis,~which they suppose
to be the four rivers described by Moses. But
concerning the exact place, we must neces-
sarily be very uncertain, if, indeed, it can be
thought at all to exist at present, considering
the many changes which have taken place on-
the surface of the earth since the creation.
See MAN.
PAR
l‘ A R
580
tPARAPI-IRASE, an explanation of some text
:in clearer and more ample terms, wherein
more regard is had to an author’s meaning
than his words. See COMMENTARY.
' PARDON, the act of forgiving an offender,
or removing the guilt of sin, that the punish-
.ment due to it may not be inflicted. Of the
nature of pardon, it may be observed, that the
Scripture represents it by various phrases:
a lifting up, or taking away, Psa. xxxii. 1; a
covering of it, Psa. lxxxv. 2; a non-imputa—
tion off it, Psa. xxxii. 2; a blotting it out,
Psa. xliii. 25; a non-remembrance of it, Heb.
viii. 12. Isa. xliii. v25. It is an act of free
grace, Psa. 1i. 1. Isa. xliii. 25. 2. A point of
justice, God having received satisfaction by
the blood of Christ, 1John i. 9. 3. A com-
,plete act, a forgiveness of all the sins of his
people, 1 John i. 7. Psa. ciii, 2, 3. 4. An act
that will never be repealed, Mic. vii. 19. The
author or cause of oardon is not any creature,
angel, or man ; but God. Ministers preach
and declare that there is remission of sins in
Christ; but to pretend to absolve men is the
height of blasphemy. 1 Thess. ii. 4. Rev. xiii.
5, 6. See ABSOLUTIODLINDULGENCES. There
.is nothing that man has, or can do, by which
pardon can be procured: wealth cannot buy
pardon, Prov. xi. 4 ; human works or'righte-
ousness cannot merit it, Rom. xi. 6 : nor can
water baptism wash away sin. It is the pre-
rogative of God alone to forgive, Mark ii. 7 ;
the first cause of which is his own sovereign
grace and mercy, Eph. i. 7.. The meritorious
cause is the blood of Christ, Heb. ix. 14.
1 John i. 7. Pardon of sin and justification
are considered by some as the same thing;
and it must be confessed that there is a close
connexion; in many parts they agree, and it
.is without doubt that every sinner who shall
.be found pardoned at the great day, will like-
wise .be justified ; yet they have been distin-
guished thus :——1. An innocent person, when
falsely accused and acquitted, is justified, but
not pardoned; and a criminal may be par-
doned, though he cannot be justified or de-
clared innocent. Pardon is of men that
are sinners, and who remain such, though
pardoned sinners; but justification is a pro-
nouncing persons righteous, as if they had
never sinned. 2. Pardon frees from punish-
ment, but does not entitle to everlasting life;
but justification does, Rom. v. If we were
only pardoned, we should, indeed, escape thev
pains of hell, but could have no claim to the
joys of heaven; for these are more than the
most perfect works of man could merit; there-
fore they must be what the Scripture declares
——“ the gift of God.”
After all, however, though these two may
be distinguished, yet they cannot be sepa-
rated; and, in reality, one is not prior to the
other: for he that is pardoned by the death
of Christ, is at the same time justified by his
life, Rom. v. 10. Acts xiii. 38, 39. See GRACE,
MERCY. C'lmrnock’s l-Vorks, vol. ii. p. 101;
Gill’s Body qf1)iv., article PARDON; Owen on
Psalm cxxx. ; Hervey’s Works, vol. ii. p. 352.
PARENTS, a name appropriated to imme-
diate progenitors, as father and mother. The
duties of parents to children relate to their
health, their maintenance, their education,
and morals. Many rules have been deli-
vered respecting the health of children, which
cannot be inserted here; yet we shall just
observe, that, if a parent wishes to see his
progeny healthy, he must not indulge them in
every thing their little appetites desire; not
give them too much sleep, nor ever give them
strong liquors. He must accustom them to
industry and moderate exercise. Their food
and clothing should be rather light. They
should go to rest soon, and rise early; and.
above all, should, if possible, be inspired with
a love of cleanliness. As to their maintenance,
it is the parent’s duty to provide every thing
for them that is necessary until they be capable
of providing for themselves. They, therefore,
who live in habits of idleness, desert their
families, or by their negligent conduct reduce
them to a state of indigence and distress, are
violating the law of nature and of revelation,
1 Tim. v. 8. In respect to their education
and morals, great care should be taken. As
it relates to the present life, habits of courage,
application, trade, prudence, labour, justice,
contentment, temperance, truth, benevolence,
850., should be formed. Their capacities, age,
temper, strength, inclination, should be con-
sulted, and advice given suitable to these. As
it relates to a future life, their minds should
be informed as to the being of God, his per-
fections. glory, and the mode of salvation by
Jesus Christ. They should be catechised;
allured to a cheerful attendance on divine
‘worship; instructedv in the Scriptures; kept
from bad company, prayed with and for; and,
above all, a good example set them, Prov.
xxii. 6. Eph. vi. 1, 2. Nothing can be more
criminal than the conduct of some parents in
the inferior classes of the community, who
never restrain the desires and passions of
their children, sufl‘er them to live in idleness,
dishonesty, and profanation of the Lord’s day,
the consequence of which is often an ignomi-
nious end. So, among the great, permitting
their children to spend their time and their
money as they please, indulging them in per-
petual public diversions, and setting before
them awful examples of gambling, indolence,
blasphemy, drinking, and almost every other
vice. ‘What is this but ruining their children,
and “ bequeathing to posterity a nuisance?”
But, while we would call upon parents to ex-
ercise their authority, it must not be under-
stood that children are to be entirely at their
disposal under all circumstances, especially
when they begin to think for themselves.
Though a parent has a right over his children,
yet he is not to be a domestic tyrant, consult~
PAS
PAS
581
ing his own will and passions in preference
to their interest. In fact, his right over them
is at an end when he goes beyond his duty to
them. “ For parents,” as Dr. Paley observes,
“ have no natural right over the lives of their
children, as was absurdly allowed to Roman
fathers; nor any to exercise unprofitable
severities; nor to command the commission
of crimes; for these rights can never he
wanted for the purposes of a parent’s duty.
Nor have parents any right to sell their
children into slavery; to shut up daughters
and younger sons in nunneries and monas-
teries, in order to preserve entire the estate
and dignity of the family ; or to use any arts,
either of kindness or unkindness, to induce
them to make choice of this way of life them-
selves; or in countries where the clergy are
prohibited from marriage, to put sons into the
church for the same end, who are never likely
to do or receive any good in it suflicient to
compensate for this sacrifice; nor to urge
children to marriages from which they are
averse, with the view of exalting or enriching
the family, or for the sake of connecting
estates, parties, or interests; nor to oppose a
marriage in which the child would probably
find his happiness, from a motive of pride or
avarice, of family hostility or personal pique.”
.Paley’s Moral Philosophy, vol. i. p. 345 to 370 ;
Stennctt’s Discourses on Domestic Duties, dis. 5 ;
Bcattz'e’s Elements of Moral Science, vol. ii.
pp. 139, 148; Doddridge’s Lectures, lect. 74;
Saurz'n’s Sermons; Robinson’s Translation.
vol. v. ser. 1; Scarle’s Christian Parent.
PARSEES. Sec GUEBRES.
PARSIMONY, covetousness. See CovE'roUs-
NESS.
PARSON (persona ecclesz'ta) one that hath
full possession of all the rights of a parochial
church. He is called parson (persona) be-
cause by his person the church, which is an
invisible body, is represented, and he is in
himself a body corporate, in order to protect
and defend the rights of the church, which
he personates. There are three ranks of
clergymen below that of a dignitary, viz. par-
son, vicar, and curate. Parson is the first,
meaning a rector, or he who receives the
great tithes of a benefice. Clergyman may
imply any person ordained to serve at the
altar. Parsons are always priests, whereas
clergymen are only deacons. See CLEBGY,
Cuna'rn.
PASAGINIANS, a denomination which arose
in the twelfth century, known also by the
name of the Circumeised. Their distinguish—
ing tenets were thesc,—-1. That the observation
of the law of Moses in every thing except the
ofi'ering of sacrifices was obligatory on Chris-
tians. In consequence of which, they circum-
cised their followers, abstained from those
meats the use of which was prohibited under
the Mosaic economy, and celebrated the
J cwish sabbath. 2. That Christ was no more
than the first and purest creature of God-
This denomination had the utmost aversion
to the doctrine and discipline of the Church
of Rome.
PASSALORYNCHITES, a branch of the Men-
tanists. They held that, in order to be saved,
it was necessary to‘ observe a perpetual si-
lence; wherefore they kept their finger con-
stantly on their mouth, and dared not open
it, even to say their pra ers. Their name is-
derived from the Gree , rmaoahog, a nail,
and par, a nostril, because, when they put
their finger to their mouth they touched their
nose.
PASSION, in its general import, signifies
every feeling of the mind occasioned by an
extrinsic cause. It is used to describe a vio-
lent commotion or agitation of the mind;
emotion, zeal, ardour, or of ease wherein a
man can conquer his desires, or hold them in
subjection. 1. As to the number of the passions,
Le Brun makes them about twenty. 1. At-
tention; 2. admiration; 3. astonishment; 4».
veneration; 5. rapture; 6. joy, with tran-
quillity; 7.desire; 8. laughter; 9. acute pain;-
10. pains, simply bodily; 11. sadness; 12:
weeping; 13. compassion; 14. scorn; 15. hor-
ror; 16. terror or fright; 17. anger; l8..ha-
tred: 19. jealousy; 20. despair. All these
may be represented on canvass by the pencil.
Some make their number greater, adding
aversion, love, emulation, Sac. &c.; these,
however, may be considered as included in
the above list. They are divided by some
into public and private; proper and impro-
per; social and selfish passions. 2. The on’-
ginal of the passions are from impressions on
the senses: from the operations of reason, by
which good or evil is foreseen; and from
the recollections of memory. 3. The objects
of the passions are mostly things sensible, on
account of their near alliance to the body;
but objects of a spiritual natiu'c also, though
invisible, have a tendency to excite the pas-
sions; such as the love of God, heaven, hell,
eternity, &c. 4. As to the innocency of the
passions: in themselves they are neither
good nor evil, but according to the good or
ill use that is made of them, and the degrees
to which they rise. 5. The usefulness. of the
passions is considerable, and were given us.
for a kmd of spring or elasticity to correct the-
natural sluggishness of the corporeal part.
They give birth to poetry, science, painting,
music, and all the polite arts, which minister
to pleasure; nor are they less serviceable in.
the cause of religion and truth. “ They,”
says Dr. W'atts, “ when sanctified, set the-
powers of the understanding at work in the
search of divine truth and religious duty; they
keep the soul fixed to divine things; render
‘ the duties of holiness much easier, and temp-
tations to sin much weaker; and render us
more like Christ, and fitter for his presence
and enjoyment in heaven.” 6. As to the
PAS
PAS
582
regulation of the passions: to know whether
they are under due restraints, and directed to
proper objects, we must- inquire whether they
influence our opinions ; run before the under-
standing; engaged in trifling, and neglectful
of important objects; express themselves in
an indecent manner; and whether they dis-
order our conduct. If this be the case, they
are out of their due bounds, and will become
sources of trial rather than instruments of
good. To have them properly regulated, we
should possess knowledge of our duty, take
God’s word for our rule, be much in prayer
and dependence on the Divine Being. 7.
Lastly, we should study the passions. To
examine them accurately, indeed, requires
much skill, patience, observation, and judg-
ment; but to form any proper idea of the
human mind, and its various operations; to
detect the errors that arise from heated tem-
perament and intellectual excess; to know
how to touch their various strings, and to
direct and-employ them in the best of all
services; I say, to accomplish these ends,
the study of the passions is of the greatest
consequence.
“ Amidst the numerous branches of know-
ledge,” says Mr. Cogan, “which claim the
attention of the human mind, no one can be
more important than this. Whatever most
intimately concerns ourselves must be of the
first moment. An attention, therefore, to the
workings of our own minds; tracing the
power which external objects have over us;
discovering the nature of our emotions and
affections; and comprehending the reason of
our being affected in a particular manner,
must have a direct influence upon our pur-
suits, our characters, and our happiness. It
may with justice be advanced, that the happi-
ness of ourselves in this department is of
much greater utility than abstruser specula-
tions concerning the nature of the human
soul, or even the most accurate knowledge of
its intellectual powers: for it is according as
the passions and affections are excited and
directed towards the objects investigated by
our intellectual natures, that we become use-
ful to ourselves and others; that we rise into
respectability, or sink into contempt; that
we diffuse or enjoy happiness, diffuse or suffer
misery. An accurate analysis of these pas-
sions and afl'ections, therefore, is to the moral-
ist what the science of anatomy is to the sur-
geon. It constitutes the first principles of
rational practice; it is, in a moral view, the
anatomy of the heart; it discovers why it
beats, and how it beats ; indicates appearances
in a sound and healthy state ; detects diseases
with their causes, and it is infinitely more
fortunate in the power it communicates of
applying suitable remedies.”
See Hutclzeson, Watts, Le Bram, C0 an,
and Dawn on the Passions,- Grove’s 1V oral
Philosophy, vol. i. ch. 7 ; Reid’s Active
Powers of Man,- Fordzce’s Elements of Dior.
Phil,- Bw‘ke on the gublime and Beautiful,
. 50.
p PASSIVE OBEDIENCE or CHRIST. See OBE-
mmvon, and SUFFERINGS or CHRIST.
PASSIVE Pownn, a phrase employed to
denote a power of producing change, not ac-
tively, but negatively. Dr. Williams, who
has revived the use of it in theology, under-
stands by it what some philosophers have de-
nominated malum metaphysicum, by which is
meant the immediate cause of defectibility,
mutability, or limitation in creatures. Every
created being and property must necessarily
be limited. Limitation is as essentially an
attribute of a creature, as infinity is of the
Creator. This limitedness implies defectibi-
lity, fallibleness, and mutability. It is to this
principle, which is entirely of a negative
character, that evil is ultimately to be re-
ferred. It is not communicated to the crea-
ture by his Maker, nor could any act of will
or power prevent its connexion with any
created nature, any more than such an act of
will or power could change the very essence
of creatureship, or cause an uncaused being.
And, as the principle itself is not communi-
cated, or caused by the Creator, so neither are
its results. They can be traced no higher
than to the being in whom they are de-
veloped. To himself alone must every one
ascribe them; to himself as a creature, in
relation to the principle; but to himself as
sinful in relation to the moral results. Gil-
bert's Life of Dr. Williams, note C.
PASSIVE PRAYER, among the mystic di-
vines, is a total suspension or ligature of the
intellectual faculties, in virtue whereof the
soul remains of itself, and, as to its own
power, impotent with regard to the producing
of any effects. The passive state, according
to Fenelon, is only passive in the same sense
as contemplation; i. e. it does not exclude
peaceable, disinterested acts, but only unquiet
ones, or such as tend to our own interest. In
the passive state the soul has not properly
any activity, any sensation of its own. It is
.a mere flexibility of the soul, to which the
feeblest impulse of grace gives motion. See
MYSTIC.
PASSOVER, Hebrew 7105, Pesach, Greek
1rao'xa, Pascha, a solemn festival of the Jews,
instituted in commemoration of their coming
out of Egypt; because the night before their
departure, the destroying angel, who put to
death the first-born of the Egyptians, passed
over the houses of the Hebrews, without en-
tering therein ; because they were marked
with the blood of the lamb, which was killed
the evening before, and which, for this reason,
was called the paschal lamb. See Exod. xii.;
Bz'own’s Diet, article FEAST; and. [Vlac Ewen
on the ll‘ypes, p. 127.
PASTOR, literally a shepherd; figuratively
a stated minister appointed to watch over and
PAS
P A T
533
instruct a congregation. On the qualifications
of ministers we have already made some re-
marks under that article; but the following,
taken from the works of a spiritual and useful
writer, we hope, will not be found superflu-
ous. Jesus Christ’s description of an evan-
gelical pastor, Matt. xxiv. 45, includes two
things, faithfulness and prudence. “ If a
minister be faithful, he deceives not others;
and if he be prudent, he is not apt to deceive
himself. His prudence suffers not deceivers
easily to impose upon him; and his faithful-
ness will not suffer him knowingly to impose
upon his people. His prudence will enable
him to discern, and his faithfulness oblige
him to distribute wholesome food to his flock.
But more particularly,
“ 1. Ministerial faithfulness includes pure
and spiritual aims and intentions for God,
Phil. ii. 20, 21.--2. Personal sincerity, or in-
tegrity of heart, Neh. ix. 8; 1 Cor. ii. 12.——
3. Diligence in the discharge of duty, Matt.
xxv. 21 ; 1 Tim. iv. 2.——4. Impartiality in the
administrations of Christ’s house, 1 Tim. v.
21.-—5. An unshaken constancy and perse-
verance to the end, Rev. ii. 10. But the
Lord’s servants must not only be faithful, but
prudent, discreet, and wise. Fidelity and
honesty make a good Christian; but the ad-
dition of prudence to fidelity makes a good
steward. Faithfulness will fix the eye upon
the right end; but it is prudence must direct
to the proper means of attaining it. The use
of prudence to a minister is unspeakably
great; it not only gives clearness and perspi-
cacity to the mind, by freeing it from passions
and corporeal impressions, enabling it thereby
to apprehend what is best to be done, but en-
ables it in its deliberations about the means
to make choice of the most apt and proper;
and directs the application of them in the
fittest season, without precipitation by too
much haste, or hazard by too tedious delay.
“ 1. Prudence will direct us to lay a good
foundation of knowledge in our people’s souls
by catechising and instructing them in the
principles of Christianity, without which we
labour in vain.—-2. Ministerial prudence dis-
covers itself in the choice of such subjects as
the need of our people’s souls do most require
and call fora—3. It will not only direct us in
the choice of our subjects, but of the lan-
guage, too, in which we dress and deliver
them to our people—4. It will show us of
what great use our own affections are for the
moving of others: and will therefore advise
us, that, if ever we expect the truths we
preach should‘ operate upon the hearts of
others, we must first have them impressed
on our own hearts, Phil. iii. 18.—5. It will
direct us to be careful, by the strictness and
gravity of our deportment, to maintain our
esteem in the consciences of our people—6.
It will excite us'to seek a blessing from God
upon our studies and labours, as knowing all
our ministerial success entirely depends there-
upon.” 1 Cor. iii. 7. See Flavel’s Charac—
ter of an Evangelical Pastor, in the second
volume of his works, p. 763, fol. ed.; and
books under article MINIsTnY.
PASTORAL THEOLOGY, that department of
theological science which relates to the prac-
tical duties of the ministerial office. Lectures
on the subject are delivered at the Dissenting
colleges ; and it has been treated more or less
at large in Burnet’s and Gerard’s Pastoral
Care, Baxter’s Reformed Pastor, Mather’s
Student and Pastor, Bridge’s Christian Zlfinis-
try, and Mz'ller’s Clerical Duties.
PATERNOSTER, 1. the Latin for Our Father,
or the Lord’s Prayer. 2. Every tenth large
bead in the rosary which Catholics use at
their devotions: at this they repeat the
Lord’s Prayer; but at the intervening small
ones, only an Ave Maria. 3. The rosary
itself.
PATIENCE, that calm and unruflied temper
with which a good man bears the evils of life.
“ Patience,” says an eminent writer, “ is apt
to be ranked by many among the more hum-
ble and obscure virtues, belonging chiefly to
those who groan on a sick-bed, or who lan-
guish in a prison; but in every circumstance
of life, no virtue is more important both to
duty and to happiness. It is not confined to
a situation of continued adversity : it princi-
pally, indeed, regards the disagreeable cir-
cumstances which are apt to occur: but pros-
perity cannot be enjoyed, any more than ad-
versity supported, without it. It must enter
into the temper, and form the habit of the
soul, if we would pass through the world with
tranquillity and honour.” “ Christian pa-
tience,” says Mason, “ is essentially different
from iusensibility, whether natural, artificial,
or acquired. This, indeed, sometimes passes
for patience, though it be in reality quite an-
other thing; for patience signifies suffering.
Now if you inflict ever so much pain on the
body of another, if he is not sensible of it, it
is no pain to him; he suffers nothing; con-
sequently calmness under it is no patience.
This insensibility is sometimes natural.
Some, in the native temperament of their
mind and body, are much less susceptible of
pain than others are. There are different de-
grees of insensibility in men, both in their
animal and mental frame; so that the same
event may be a great exercise of patience to
one man, which is none at all to another; as
the latter feels little or no pain from that
wound inflicted on the body or mind which
gives the most exquisite anguish to the for—
mer. Again; there is an artificial insensi-
bility, such as is procured by opiates, which
blunt the edge of pain; and there is an ac-
quired insensi'bility, or that which is attained
by the force of principles strongly inculcated,
or by long custom. Such was the apathy of
the Stoics, who obstinately maintained that
PAT
PAT
584
pain was no evil, and therefore bore it with I quire it. What provocations had Joseph re-
aiiiazing firmness, which, however, was very
different from the virtue of Christian patience,
as appears from the principles from which
they respectively proceeded; the one spring-
ing from pride, the other from humility.”
Christian patience, then, is something dif-
ferent from all these. “ It is not a careless
indolence, a stupid insensibility, mechanical
bravery, constitutional fortitude, a daring
stoutness of spirit, resulting from fatalism,
philosophy, or pride :——it is derived from a
divine agency, nourished by heavenly truth,
and guided by Scriptural rules.”
“ Patience,” says Mr. Jay, “ must be dis-
played under provocations. Our opinions, re-
putations, connexions, oflices, business, ren-
der us widely vulnerable. The characters of
men are various; their pursuits and their
interests perpetually clash: some try us by
their ignorance; some by their folly; some
by their perverseness ; some by their malice.
Here, then, is an opportunity for the triumph
of patience—"we are very susceptive of irri-
tation; anger is eloquent; revenge is sweet:
but to stand calm and collected; to suspend
the blow which passion was urgent to strike;
to drive the reasons of clemency as far as
they will go; to bring forward fairly in view
the circumstances of mitigation; to distin-
guish between surprise and deliberation, in-
firmity and crime ; or if infliction be deemed
necessary, to leave God to be both the judge
and the executioner: this a Christian should
labour after: his peace requires it. People
love to sting the passionate: they who are
easily provoked, commit their repose to the
keeping of their enemies; they lie down at
their feet and invite them to strike. The man
of temper places himself beyond vexatious
interruption. ‘ He that hath no rule over his
own spirit is like a city that is broken down,
and without walls,’ into which enter, over the
ruins, serpents, vagrants, thieves, enemies;
while the man who in patience possesses his
soul, has the command of himself, places a
defence all around him, and forbids the en-
trance of such unwelcome company to offend
or discompose. His wisdom requires it. ‘ He
that is slow to anger is of great understand-
ing; but he that is hasty of spirit, exalteth
folly.’ Wisdom gives us large, various, com-
prehensive views of things ; the very exercise
operates as a diversion, affords the mind time
to cool, and furnishes nuniberless circum-
stances tending to soften severity. His dig-
nity requires it. ‘ It is the glory of a man to
pass by a transgression.’ The man provoked
to revenge is con uered, and loses the glory
of the struggle; w ile he who forbears comes
off victor, crowned with no common laurels.
A flood assails a rock, and rolls off unable to
make an impression; while straws and
boughs are borne off in triumph, carried down
the stream, driven and tossed. Examples re-



ceived from his brethren? but he scarcely
mentions the crime, so eager is he to an-
nounce the pardon. David says, ‘ They re-
warded me evil for good; but as for me,
when they were sick, my clothing was sack-
cloth.’ Stephen, dying under a shower of
stones, prays for his enemies , ‘ Lord, lay not
this sin to their charge.’ But a greater than
Joseph, or David, or Stephen, is here. Go
to the foot of the cross, and behold Jesus, suf-
fering for us. Every thing conspired to ren-
der the provocation heinous; the nature of
the ofience, the meanness and obligation of
the offenders, the righteousness of his cause,
the grandeur of his person; and all these
seemed to call for vengeance. The creatures
were eager to punish. Peter drew his sword;
the sun resolved to shine on such criminals
no longer; the rocks asked to crush them;
the earth trembles under the sinful load; the
very dead cannot remain in their graves. He
suffers them all to testify their sympathy, but
forbids their revenge; and, lest the Judge of
all should pour forth his fury, he cries, ‘ Fa-
ther, forgive them, for they know not what
they do 1’ 2. Patience is to be displayed in
suffering afiiiction. This is another field in
which patience gathers glory. Afliiction
comes to exercise our patience, and to distin-
guish it. ‘ The trial of your faith worketh
patience,’ not only in consequence of the di-
vine blessing, but by the natural operation of
things; use makes perfect; the yoke is ren-
dered easy by being worn, and those parts of
the body which are most in action are the
most strong and solid; and, therefore, we are
not to excuse improper dispositions under
affliction, by saying, ‘ It was so trying, who
could help it P’ This is to jusify impatience
by what God sends on purpose to make you
patient. 8. Patience is to be exercised under
delays. We as naturally pursue a desired
good, as we shun an apprehended evil: the
want of such a good is as grievous as the
pressure of such an evil; and an ability to
bear the one is as needful a qualification as
the fortitude by which we endure the other.
It therefore equally belongs to patience to
wait, as to suffer. God does not always im-
mediately indulge us with an answer to our
prayers. He hears, indeed, as soon as we
knock; but he does not open the door: to
stand there resolved not to go without abless-
ing, requires patience; and patience cries,
‘ Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and
he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say,
on the Lord.”’
We have, however, the most powerful mo-
tives to excite us to the attainment of this
grace. 1. God is a God of patience, Rom.
xv. 5. 2. It is enjoined by the Gospel, Rom.
xii. 12; Luke xxi. 19. 3. The present state
of man renders the practice of it absolutely
necessary, Heb. x. 36. 4. The manifold in—
PAT
PAT
585
convenience of impatience is a strong motive,
John iv. ; Psal. cvi. 5. Eminent examples of
it, Heb. xii. 2 ; vi. 12; Job i. 22. 6. Reflect
that all our trials will terminate in triumph,
James v. 7, 8; Rom. 7. Barrow’s Works,
vol. iii. ser. 10; Jag/s Sermons, vol. i. ser. 2;
Mason’s Christian Morals, vol. i. ser. 3;
Blair’s Sermons, vol. iii. sermon 11; Bishop
.Horne’s Discourses, vol. ii. ser. 10; Bishop
Hopkirs’s Death Disarmed, pp. 1, 120.
PATIENCE OF G01) is his longsuifering or
forbearance. He is called the God of patience,
not only because he is the author and object
of the grace of patience, but because he is
patient or longsufi‘ering in himself, and to-
wards his creatures. It is not, indeed, to be
considered as a quality, accident, passion, or
affection in God as in creatures, but belongs
‘ to the very nature and essence of God, and
springs from his goodness and mercy, Rom.
ii. 4. It is said to be exercised towards his
chosen people, 2 Pet. iii. 9; Rom. iii. 25;
Isa. xxx. 18; 1 Tim. i. 16; and towards the
ungodly, Rom. ii. 4; Eccl. viii. 11. The end
of his forbearance to the wicked, is, that they
may be without excuse; to make his power
and goodness visible : and partly for the sake
of his own people, Gen. xviii. 32; Rev. vi.
11 ; 2 Pet. iii. 9. His patience is manifested
by giving warnings of judgments before he
executes them, Hos. vi. 5 ; Amos i. 1 ; 2 Pet.
5. In long delaying his judgments, Eccl.
viii. 11. In often mixing mercy with them.
There are many instances of his patience re-
corded in the Scriptures; with the old world,
Gen. vi. 3; the inhabitants of Sodom, Gen.
xviii.; in Pharaoh, Exod. v.; in the people
of Israel in the wilderness, Acts xiii. 18 ; in
the Amorites and Canaanites, Gen. xv. l5;
Lev. xviii. 28; in the Gentile world, Acts
xvii. 30 ; in fruitless professors, Luke xiii. 6,
9; in Antichrist, Rev. 21; xiii. 6; xviii.
8. See Clzarnoclc’s Works, vol. i. p. 780;
Gill’s Body of Divinity, vol. i. p. 130; Sau-
rin’s Sermons, vol. i. ser. 10 and 11, pp. 148,
149 ; Tillotson’s Sermons.
Pxcrnmncns, (from the Greek 'Tl’aTpLa, fa-
mily, and apxwil, head, or ruler,) heads of
families; a name applied chiefly to those who
lived before Moses, who were both priests
and princes, without peculiar places fitted for
worship, Acts ii. 29; vii. 8, 9; Heb. vii. 4.
Patriarchs, in church history, are ecclesi-
astical dignitaries, or bishops, so called from
their paternal authority in the church. It
obtained first among the Jews, as the title of
the presidents of the Sanhedrim, which exer-
cised a general authority over the Jews of
Syria and Persia, after the destruction of J c-
rusalem. The patriarchate of Tiberias, for
the Western Jews, subsisted till the year 415;
that of Babylon, for the Eastern Jews, till 1038.
When introduced into the Christian Church,
the power of patriarchs was not the same in
all, but differed according to the different
customs of countries, or the pleasure of kings
and councils. Thus the patriarch of Constan-
tinoplc grew to be a patriarch over the patri-
archs of Ephesus and Caesarea, and was called
the Ecumenical and Universal Patriarch; and
the patriarch of Alexandria had some prero-
gatives which no other patriarch but himself
enjoyed; such as the right of consecrating
and approving of every single bishop under
his jurisdiction. The Patriarchate has ever
been esteemed the supreme dignity in the
church: the bishop had only under him the
territory of the city of which he was bishop ;
the metropolitan superintended a province,
and had for sufl'ragans the bishops of his pro-
vince ; the primate was the chief of what was
then called a diocese, and had several metro-
politans under him; and the patriarch had
under him several dioceses, composing one
exarchate, and the primates themselves were
under him. Usher, Pagi, De Marca, and
Morinus, attribute the establishment of the
grand patriarchates to the apostles them-
selves, who, in their opinion, according to
the description of the world then given by
geographers, pitched on three principal cities
in the three parts of the known world, viz.
Rome in Europe, Antioch in Asia, and Alex-
andria in Africa; and thus formed a trinity
of patriarchs. Others maintain that the
name patriarch was unknown at the time of
the Council of Nice; and that for a long time
afterwards patriarchs and primates were con-
founded together, as being all equally chiefs
of dioceses, and equally superior to metropo—
litans, who were only chiefs of provinces.
Hence Socrates gives the title patriarch to all
the chiefs of dioceses, and reckons ten of
them. Indeed, it does not appear that the
dignity of patriarch was appropriated to the
five grand sees of Rome, Constantinople,
Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem, till after
the Council of Chalcedon, in 451 ; for when
the Council of Nice regulated the limits and
prerogatives of the three patriarchs of Rome,
Antioch, and Alexandria, it did not give
them the title of patriarchs, though it allowed
them the pre'eminence and privileges thereof :
thus when the Council of Constantinople ad-
judged the second place to the bishop of
Constantinople, who, till then, was only a
sufi‘ragan of Heraclea, it said nothing of the
Patriarchate. Nor is the term patriarch found
in the decree of the Council of Chalcedon,
whereby the fifth place is assigned to the
bishop of Jerusalem ; nor did these five patri-
archs govern all the churches.
There were besides many independent
chiefs of dioceses, who, far from owning the
jurisdiction of the grand patriarchs, called
themselves patriarchs, such as that of Aqui-
leia; nor was Carthage ever subject to the
patriarch of Alexandria. Mosheim (Eccles.
Hist, vol. i. p. 284) imagines that the bishops
who enjoyed a certain degree of pro-eminence
PAT
PAT
586
over the rest of their order, were distinguished | the patriarch, on some trifling dispute, has
by the Jewish title of patriarchs in the fourth i been obliged to purchase his confirmation in
century. The authority of the patriarchs
gradually increased till about the close of the
fifth century: all affairs of moment within
the compass of their patriarchates come be-
fore them, either at first hand, or by appeals
from the metropolitans. They consecrated
bishops; assembled yearly in council the
clergy of their respective districts; pro-
nounced a decisive judgment on those cases
where accusations were brought against
bishops; and appointed vicars or deputies,
clothed with their authority, for the preser-
vation of order and tranquillity in the remoter
provinces. In short, nothing was done with-
out consulting them, and their decrees were
executed with the same regularity and respect
as those of the princes.
It deserves to be remarked, however, that
the authority of the patriarchs was not ac-
knowledged through all the provinces without
exception. Several districts both in the
eastern and western empires, were exempted
from their jurisdiction. The Latin Church
had no patriarchs till the sixth century; and
the churches of Gaul, Britain, &c., were
never subject to the authority of the patri-
arch of Rome, whose authority only ex-
tended to the suburbicary provinces. There
was no primacy, no exarchate, nor patri-
archate, owned here; but the bishops, with
the metropolitans, governed the church in
common. Indeed, after the name patriarch
became frequent in the West, it was attributed
to the bishop of Bourges and Lyons; but it
was only in the first signification, viz., as
heads of dioceses. Du Cange says, there
have been some abbots who have borne the
title of patriarchs. The archbishops of Lisbon
and Venice have still the title. The former is
primate of Portugal, but the latter has no
authority over other archbishops.
At present, the Greek Church is overned
by four patriarchs, viz., those of onstantzl
nople, Jerusalem, Antioch, and Alexandria.
The last three are equal and independent,
but they acknowledge the superiority of the
other, and his authority, in so far that nothing
important can be undertaken in the regulation
of spiritual affairs without his consent.
The patriarch of Constantinople is elected,
by plurality of votes, by the metropolitan
and neighbouring bishops, and presented to
the sultan for institution. This favour is
seldom refused, if he bring with him the usual
presents, which have varied, according to the
varieties of wealth or avarice, from 20,000 to
30,000 dollars. But having conceded this
formality in the election, the sultan retains the
unmitigated power of deposition, banishment,
or execution; and it is needless to add, that
even the paltry exaction on institution is mo-
tive suflicient for the frequent exertion of that
power: and it has sometimes happened, that

oflice. He possesses the privilege (in name,
perhaps, rather than reality) of nominating
his brother patriarchs: and, after their sub-
sequent election by the bishops of their re-
spective patriarchates, of confirming the
election; but the barat of the sultan is still
necessary to give authority both to themselves
and even to every bishop whom they may
eventually appoint in the execution of their
oflice. The election of the other patriarchs,
as they are further removed from the centre
of oppression, is less restrained, and their de—
position less frequcnt. But this comparative
security is attended by little power or conse-
quence; and two at least of the three are be-
lieved to number very few subjects who re-
main faithful to the orthodox church. The
patriarch of Antioch has two rivals who as-
sume the same title and dignity—the one as
the head of the Syrian Jacobite Church, the
other as the Maronite patriarch, or head of
the Syrian Catholics. The patriarch of
Alexandria, who resides generally at Cairo,
has also his Coptic rival; and the few who
are subject to him are chiefly found in the
villages or capital of Lower Egypt. The pa~
triarchs of Antioch and Jerusalem reside
chiefly at Constantinople, and enjoy very
slender and precarious revenues. Eclee. Rev.
July, 1831.
PATRICIANS, ancient sectaries who dis-
turbed the peace of the church in the begin-
ning of the third century; thus called from
their founder, Patricius, preceptor of a Mar-
cionite called Symmachus. His distinguish-
ing tenet was, that the substance of the flesh
is not the work of God, but that of the devil;
on which account his adherents bore an im-
placable hatred to their own flesh, which
sometimes carried them so far as to kill them-
selves.
PATRIPASSIANS, a sect that appeared about
the latter end of the second century ; so called
from their ascribing the passion or sufferings
of Christ to the Father; for they asserted the
unity of God in such a manner as to destroy
all distinction of persons, and to make the
Father and Son precisely the same; in which
they were followed by the Sabellians and
others. The author and head of the Patri-
passians was Praxeas, a philosopher of Phry-
gia, in Asia.
PATRISTICS, Theologia Patristica, that
branch of historical theology which treats
particularly of the lives and doctrines of the
fathers of the church. It is at present studied
with unusual zeal in Germany, where, at Tii-
bingen, a cheap “ Bibliotheca Patrum Latin-
orum ” was published in 1827.
PATRONAGE, or AnvowsoN, a .sort of in-
corporeal hereditament, consisting in the right
of presentation to a church or ecclesiastical
benefice. Advowson signifies the taking into
PAU
PEA
587
protection, and therefore is synonymous with
patronage; and he who has the right of ad-
vowson is called the patron of the church.
PAULIANISTS, a sect so called from their
founder Paulus Samosatenus, a native of Sa-
mosata, elected bishop of Antioch, in 262.
His doctrine seems to have amounted to this:
that the Son and the Holy Ghost exist in
God in the same manner as the faculties of
reason and activity do in man; that Christ
was born a mere man; but that the reason
or wisdom of the Father descended into him,
and by him wrought miracles upon earth,
and instructed the nations; and finally, that
on account of this union of the Divine Word
with the man Jesus, Christ might, though
improperly, be called God. It is also said
that he did not baptize in the name of;
the Father and the Son, &c.; for which
reason the Council of Nice ordered thosej
baptized by him to be re-baptized. Being
condemned by Dionysius Alexandrinus in
a council, he abjured his errors to avoid
deposition; but soon after he resumed them,
and was actually deposed by another coun-
cil in 269. He may be considered as the
father of the modern Socinians ; and his er-
rors are severely condemned by the Council .
of Nice, whose creed differs a little from that
now used under the same name in the Church
of England. The creed agreed upon by the
Nicene Fathers, with a view to the errors of
Paulus Samosatenus, concludes thus :—“ But
those who say there was a time when he was
not, and that he was not before he was born,
the Catholic and apostolic church anathema-
tizes.”
PAULICIANS, so called from their founder,
one Paulus, an Armenian, in the seventh
century, who, with his brother John, formed
this sect; though others are of opinion that
they were thus called from another Paul, an
Armenian by birth, who lived under the reign
of Justinian II. In the seventh century, one
Constantine revived this drooping party,
which had suffered much from the violence
of its adversaries, and was ready to expire
under the severity of the imperial edicts, and
that zeal with which they were carried into
execution. The Paulicians, however, by their
number, and the countenance of the emperor
Nicephorus, became formidable to all the
East. But the cruel rage of persecution,
which had for some years been suspended,
broke forth with redoubled violence under
the reigns of Michael Curopalates, and Leo
the Armenian, who inflicted capital punish-
ment on such of the Paulicians as refused to
return into the bosom of the church. The
empress Theodora, tutoress of the emperor
Michael, in 845, would oblige them either to
be converted, or to quit the empire; upon
which several of them were put to death, and
more retired among the Saracens; but they
were neither all exterminated nor banished.
' In France they were called Albigenses.

Upon this, they entered into a league with
the Saracens, and choosing for their chief an
ofiicer of the. greatest resolution and valour,
whose name was Carbeus, they declared
against the Greeks a war which was carried
on for fifty years with the greatest vehe-
mence and fury. During these commotions,
some Paulicians, towards the conclusion of
this century, spread abroad their doctrines
among the Bulgarians: many of them, either
from a principle of zeal for the propagation
of their opinions, or from a natural desire of
flying from the persecution which they suf-
fered under the Grecian yoke, retired about
the close of the eleventh century from Bul-
garia and Thrace, and formed settlements in
other countries. Their first migration was
into Italy, whence, in process of time, they
sent colonies into almost all the other provinces
of Europe, and formed gradually aconsiderable
number of religious assemblies, who adhered
; to their doctrine, and who were afterwards
I persecuted with the utmost vehemence by the
9 Roman pontiffs.
, Patarim', from a certain place called Patarz'a,
; being a part of the city of Milan, where they
In Italy they were called
held their assemblies; and Gathan', or Ga-
zari, from Gazaria, or the Lesser Tartary.
The
first religious assembly the Paulicians had
formed in Europe, is said to have been dis-
covered at Orleans in 1017, under the reign
of Robert, when many of them were con-
demned to be burned alive. They have been
accused of Manichaeism; but there is reason
to believe this was only a slanderous report
raised against them by their enemies; and
that, bating some extravagances in their
views, they were, for the most part, men who
were disgusted with the doctrines and cere-
monies of human invention, and desirous of
returning to the apostolic doctrine and prac-
tice. They refused to worship the Virgin
Mary and the Cross, which was sufiicient in
those ages to procure for them the name of
atheists; and they also refused to partake of
the sacraments in the Greek and Roman
churches, which will account for the allega-
tion that they rejected them altogether,
thou h it is also possible that they may, like
the guakers and some other sects, actually
have discarded them, as outward ordinances.
See Mosheim’s Church History, vol. ii. p. 363.
PEACE, that state of mind in which persons
are exposed to no open violence to interrupt
their tranquillity. 1. Social peace is mutual
agreement one with another, whereby we for-
bear injuring one another, Ps. xxxiv. l4;
cxxxii.—-2. Ecclesiastical peace is freedom
from contentious, and rest from persecutions,
Isa. xi. 13 ; xxx-ii. 17 ; Rev. xii. 14.—3. Spiri-
tual peace is deliverance from sin, by which
we were at enmity with God, Rom. v. 1 ; the
result of which is peace in the conscience,
lleb. x. 22. This peace is the gift of God
PEL
PEL
588
' born in 1612.
through Jesus Christ, 2 Thess. iii. 16. It is
a blessing of great importance, Psalm cxix.
l65. It is denominated perfect, Isaiah xxvi.
3; inexpressible, Phil. iv. 7; permanent, Job
xxxiv. 29; John xvi. 22; eternal, Isaiah lvii.
2 ; Heb. iv. 9. See HAPPINESS.
Pnacn, RELIGIOUS, a name given to two
famous treaties, both in the time of the Re-
formation : one concluded July 22, 1532, and
called the Religious Peace of Mu‘embefg; the
other, concluded September 26, 1555, and
called the Religious Peace of Augsburg.
PEARSON, JOHN, bishop of Chester, a
learned and pious prelate of the seventeenth
century, was the son of an English divine,
rector of Snoring, Norfolk, where he was
He was educated at Eton,
from whence he proceeded to King’s College,
Cambridge, and was ordained in 1639, in
Salisbury Cathedral. He now became chap-
lain to Lord Keeper Finch, who presented
him to the living of Torrington, Suffolk ; but
on the success of the Parliamentarian party,
he was one of the ministers ejected on account
of their monarchical principles. In 1650, how-
ever, he was appointed to St. Clement’s East
Cheap, in the city of London, and after the
Restoration, became in succession, Lady Mar-
garet Professor of Divinity, and Master of
-Jesus College, in the University of Cam-
bridge, with the rectory of St. Christopher’s,
London, and a stall in the cathedral of Ely.
In 1662 he was removed to the mastership of
Trinity College, and in the course of the same
year assisted in the revision of the liturgy; a
task for which his previous publications had
announced him to be peculiarly well qualified.
The death of bishop Wilkins, in 1673, made
room for his advancement to the episcopal
bench, and he was accordingly raised to the
vacant see of Chester, over which diocese he
continued to preside till his death in 1686.
The work by which he is principally known,
is his celebrated “ Exposition of the Apostles‘
Creed,” originally delivered by him in a series
of sermons or lectures from the pulpit of St.
Clement’s, which contains a body of divinity,
and a large portion of important biblical cri-
ticism and exposition. This elaborate and
learned work first appeared in 1659, and was
republished in folio, 1676, since which time
it has gone through at least a dozen editions,
and still sustains its reputation. It is used
as a text-book at the universities, and is re-
garded as one of the principal standards of
appeal on doctrinal matters in the Church of
England.——Jones’s Christ. Biog.
PELAGIANS, a sect who appeared about the
end of the fourth century. They maintained
the following doctrines: 1. That Adam was
by nature mortal; and, whether he had sinned
or not, would certainly have died—2. That the
consequences of Adam's sin were confined to
his own person—3. That newborn infants
are in the same situation with Adam before
the fall.—4. That the law qualified men for
the kingdom of heaven, and was founded
upon equal promises with the gospel'.--5.
That the general resurrection of the dead
does not follow in virtue of our Saviour's re-
surrection.—-6. That the grace of God is given
according to our merits—7. That this grace
is not granted for the performance of every
moral act; the liberty of the will and infor-
mation in points of duty being suflicicnt.
The founder of this sect was Pelagius, a
native of Great Britain. According to tra-
dition he was educated in the monastery of
Bangor, in Wales, of which he became a
monk, and afterwards an abbot. In the early
part of his life he went over to France, and
thence to Rome, where he and his friend
Celestius propagated their opinions, though
in a private manner. Upon the approach of
the Goths, 11.1). 410, they retired from Rome,
and went first into Sicily, and afterwards into
Africa, where they published their doctrines
with more freedom. From Africa, Pelagius
passed into Palestine, while Celestius rc-
maincd at Carthage, with a view to prefer-
ment, desiring to be admitted among the pres-
byters of that city. But the discovery of his
opinions having blasted all his hopes, and his
errors being condemned in a council held at
Carthage, A. D. 412, he departed from that
city, and went into the East. It was from
this time that Augustin, the famous bishop of
Hippo, began to attack the tenets of Pelagius
and Celestius in his learned and elegant writ-
ings; and to him, indeed, is principally due
the glory of having suppressed this sect in its
very birth.
Things went more smoothly with Pelagius
in the East, where he enjoyed the protection
and favour of John, bishop of Jerusalem,
whose attachment to the sentiments of Origen
led him naturally to countenance those of
Pelagius, on account of the conformity that
there seemed to be between these two sys-
tems. Under the shadow of this powerful
protection, Pelagius made a public profession
of his opinions, and formed disciples in
several places. And though, in the year 415,
he was accused by Orosius, a Spanish Pres-
byter, whom Augustin had sent into Pales—
tine for that purpose, before an assembly of
bishops met at Jerusalem, yet he was dis-
missed without the least censure; and not
only so, but was soon after fully acquitted of
all errors by the council of Diospolis. _
This controversy was brought to Rome,
and referred by Celestius and Pelagius to the
decision of Zosimus, who was raised to the
pontificate, 11.1). 417. The new pontifi‘,
gained over by the ambiguous and seemingly
orthodox confession of faith that Celestius,
who was now at Rome, had artfully. drawn
up, and also by the letters and protestations
of Pelagius, pronounced in favour of these
l. monks, declared them sound in the faith, and
PEN
PEN
589
unjustly persecuted by their adversaries. The
African bishops, with Augustin at their head,
little affected with this declaration, continued
obstinately to maintain the judgment they
had pronounced in this matter, and to
strengthen it by their exhortations, their
letters, and their writings. Zosimns yielded
to the perseverance of the Africans, changed
his mind, and condemned, with the utmost
severity, Pelagius and Celestius, whom he
had honoured with his approbation, and co-
veredwith his protection. This was followed
by a train of evils, which pursued these two
monks without interruption. They were con-
demned, says Mosheim, by that same Ephesian
council which had launched its thunder at
the head of N estorius. In short, the Gauls,
Britons, and Africans, by their councils and
emperors, by their edicts and penal laws, de-
molished this sect in its infancy, and sup-
pressed it entirely before it had acquired any
tolerable degree of vigour or consistence.
See Wiggers’ History of Augustinism and Pe-
lagian-ism from the original sources. Andover,
1840.
PENANCE, a punishment either voluntary,
or imposed by authority, for the faults a per-
son has committed. Penance is one of the
seven sacraments of ,the Romish Church.
Besides fasting, alms, abstinence, and the like,
which are the general conditions of penance,
there are others of a more particular kind;
as the repeating a certain number of ave-
marys, paternosters, and credos; wearing a
hair shirt, and giving one’s self a certain
number of stripes. In Italy and Spain, it is
usual to see Christians almost naked, loaded
with chains, and lashing themselves at every
step. See POPERY.
PENITENCE is sometimes used for a state
of repentance, and sometimes for the act of
repenting. It is also used for a discipline
or punishment attending repentance, more
usually called penance. It also gives title to
several religious orders, consisting either of
converted debauchees and reformed prosti-
tutes, or of persons who devote themselves to
the otlice of reclaiming them. See article
PENITENTS.
PENITENTIAL, an ecclesiastical book re-
tained among the Romanists, in which is
prescribed what relates to the imposition of
penance, and the reconciliation of penitents.
There are various penitentials: as the Roman
penitential, that of the venerable Bede, that
of Pope Gregory III., &e.
PENITENTIARY, in the ancient Christian
Church, a name given to certain presbyters
or priests, appointed in every church to re-
ceive the private confessions of the people, in
order to facilitate public discipline, by ac—
quainting them what sins were to be expiated
by public penance, and to appoint private pen-
ance for such private crimes as were not pro-
per to be publicly censured.
Penitentiary, also in the court of Rome, is
an ofiice in which are examined and delivered
out ‘the secret bulls, dispensations, 8cc. Peni-
tentiary is also an oflicer in some cathedrals,
vested with power from the bishop to absolve
in cases referred to him.
The term is also applied to such houses as
have been established for the reception and
reformation of females who have been se-
duced from the path of virtue; as “ The
London Female Penitentiary,” a most im-
portant and useful institution, supported by
voluntary contributions, patronized by her
majesty, and conducted on truly Christian
principles, by means of which numbers of
miserable outcasts have not only been reco-
vered to the proprieties of moral conduct, but
have given satisfactory evidence of genuine
conversion to God.
PENITENTS, an appellation given to certain
fraternities of penitents, distinguished by the
different shape and colour of their habits.
These are secular societies, who have their
rules, statutes, and churches, and make pub-
lic processions under their particular crosses
or banners. Of these, it is said there are
more than a hundred, the most considerable
of which are as follow :—The Vi’hite Peni-
tents, of which there are several different
sorts at Rome, the most ancient of which was
constituted in 1264 : the brethren of this fra-
ternity every year give portions to a certain
number of young girls, in order to their being
married: their habit is a kind of white sack-
cloth, and on the shoulder is a circle, in the
middle of which is a red and white cross.
Black Penitents, the most considerable of
which are the Brethren of Mercy, instituted
in 1488 by some Florentines, in order to
assist criminals during their imprisonment,
and at the time of their death. On the day
of execution they walk in procession before
them, singing the seven penitential psalms,
and the litanies; and after they are dead,
they take them down from the gibbet, and
bury them: their habit is black sackcloth.
There are others whose business it is to bury
such persons as are found dead in the streets:
these wear a death’s head on one side of their
habit. There are also blue, grey, red, green,
and violet penitents, all which are remarkable
for little else besides the different colours of
their habits.
Penitents or converts of the name of Jesus,
——-a congregation of religious at Seville, in
Spain, consisting of women who have led a
licentious life, founded in 1550. This mo-
nastery is divided into three quarters: one
for professed religious, another for novices, a
third for those who are under correction.
When these last give signs of a real repent-
ance, they are removed into the quarter of the
novices, where, if they do not behave them-
selves well, they are remanded to their correc-
tion. They observe the rule of St. Augustin.
PEN 5
PEN
90
Penitents of Orvieto, are an order of nuns
instituted by Antony Simoncelli, a gentleman
of Orvieto, in Italy. The monastery he built
was at first designed for the reception of poor
girls abandoned. by their parents, and in dan-
ger of losing their virtue. In 1662 it was
erected into a monastery, for the reception of
such as, having abandoned themselves to im-
purity were willing to take up and consecrate
themselves to God by solemn vows. Their
rule is that of the Carmelites.
Order of Penitents of St. Magdalen was
established about the year 127 2, by one Ber-
nard, a citizen of Marseilles, who devoted
himself to the work of converting the cour-
tezans of that city. Bernard was seconded
by several others, who, forming a kind of
society, were at length erected info a religious
order by Pope Nicholas 111., under the rule
of St. Augustin. F. Gesney says, they also
made a religious order of the penitents, or
women they converted, giving them the same
rules and Observances which they themselves
kept.
Congregation 'of Penitents of St. Magdalen,
at Paris, owed its rise to the preaching of F.
Tisseran, a Franciscan. who converted a vast
number of courtezans, about the year 1492.
Louis, duke of Orleans, gave them his house
for a monastery; or rather, as appears by
their constitution, Charles VIII. gave them
the hotel called Bochaigne, whence they were
removed to St. George’s Chapel, in 1572. By
virtue of a brief of Pope Alexander, Simon,
bishop of Paris, in 1497, drew them up a
body of statutes, and gave them the rule of
St. Augustin. It was necessary, before a
woman could be admitted, that she had first
committed the sin of the flesh. None were
admitted who were above thirty-five years of
age. Since its reformation by Mary Alve-
quin, in 1616, none have been admitted but
maids, who, however, still retain the ancient
name, penitents.
PENN, WILLIAM, a distinguished philan-
thropist, was descended from an ancient
family, respectable both in point of character
and independence, as early as the first public
records notice it. He was the son of Ad-
miral Sir William Penn, and was born in
London, in the parish of St. Catharine, on
Tower Hill, on the 14th of October, 1644.
He received the first rudiments of his educa-
tion at Chigwell, in Essex, where there was
an excellent free grammar-school, founded
only fifteen years before, by Samuel Hars-
nett, archbishop of York. As something re-
markable is usually said of all great men in
the early part of their lives, so it was said of
William Penn, that, while here and alone in
his chamber, being then eleven years old, he
was suddenly surprised with an inward com—
fort, and, as he thought, an external glory, in
the room, which gave rise to religious emo-
tions, during which he had the strongest con-
‘returned home.

viction of the being of a God, and that the
soul of man was capable of enjoying commu-
nication with him. He believed. also, that
the seal of divinity had been put upon him at
this moment, or that he had been awakened
or called upon to a holy life. But whatever
was the external occasion, or whether any or
none, or whatever were the particular notions
which he is said to have imbibed at this
period, certain it is, that while he was at
Chigwell school, his mind was seriously im-
pressed on the subject of religion. Having
left Chigwell at twelve years of age, he went
to a private school on Tower Hill, which was
near his father’s London residence. Here he
had greater advantages than before; for his
father, to promote his scholarship, kept for
him a private tutor in his own house. At
the age of fifteen, he had made such progress
in his studies, that it was thought fit to send
him to college. He was accordingly entered
a gentleman commoner at Christ’s Church
College, Oxford. He is said to have paid
great attention to his college exercises, and
yet to have allowed himself all reasonable re-
creation. Though William Penn was a youth
of a lively genius, and though he indulged
himself at times in manly-sports and exer—
cises, yet he never forgot the religious im-
pressions which he had received at Chigwell
school. These, on the other hand, had been
considerably strengthened by the preaching
of Thomas Lee. This person, a layman, had
belonged to the University of Oxford, ‘but
had then become a quaker. The doctrines
which be} promulgated‘ seem to have given a
- new turn to the mind of William Penn, who
was incapable of concealing what he thought
it a duty to profess. Accordingly, on disco-
vering that some of his fellow students en-
tertained religious sentiments which were in
unison with his own, he began, in conjunc-
tion with them, to withdraw himself from the
established worship, and to hold meetings,
where they followed their devotional exer-
cises in their own way. This conduct, which
soon became known, gave offence to the
heads of the college, who, in consequence of
it, fined all of them for nonconformity. This
happened in the year 1660, and Penn was
afterwards expelled from college, when be
His father is said to have
received him coldly, not approving of his
religious propensities. In 1662 his father
sent him abroad, in company with persons of
rank, who were then going on their travels.
The place where William first resided was
Paris, though how long he resided there is
uncertain. In the years 1662 and 1663, he
resided at Saumur, where he went to avail
himself of the conversation and instruction of
the learned Moses Amyrault, who was a pro-
testant minister of the Calvinistic persuasion,
professor of divinity at Saumur, and at this
time in the highest estimation of any divine
P E N 591 P F. N
in France. Under a man so conspicuous, he became an author also. His first work
William Penn renewed his studies. He read bore the following title: “ Truth exalted, in
the Fathers; he turned over the pages of theo- a short but sure Testimony against all those
logy; he applied himself to the rudiments of Religions, Faiths, and Worships that have
the French language. It was thought ad- , been formed and followed in the Darkness of
visable, on his return from the continent, that ! Apostacy, and for that glorious Light, which
he should know something of the laws of his is now risen, and shines forth in the Life and
own country; and accordingly, on the sug- ; Doctrines of the despised Quakers, as the
gestion of his father, he became a student of alone good old Way of Life and Salvation.”
Lincoln’s Inn. He remained there for about ; Shortly after this time he engaged in a con-
a year, when the great plague making its ; troversy with Thomas Vincent, on the subject
appearance in London, he quitted it, with j of the doctrines of the Quakers, and of the
many others, on the reasonable precaution of '
self-preservation. This took place in the:
Presbyterians. In one of his works be de—
fended the unity of God, detached from his
year 1665, in which year he came of age. ; trinitarian nature, and was consequently sent
He now became gradually more serious; he
mixed again only with grave and religious
people. His father determined a second time
to endeavour to break up his son’s connex-
ions; and to effect this, he sent him to Ire-
land. One reason which induced him to
make choice of Ireland for this purpose, was
his acquaintance with the Duke of Ormond,
(who was then lord-lieutenant of that coun-
try,) as well as with several others who at-
tended his court. But this scheme did not
answer. Nothing which William saw there
could shake his religious notions, or his de—
termination to a serious life. Every thing, on
the other hand, which he saw, tended to con-
firm them.
Being accidentally on business at Cork, he
heard that ThomasLoe (the layman of Ox-
ford, before mentioned as the person who
first confirmed his early religious impres—
sions) was to preach at a meeting of the
Quakers in that city. Accordingly he at-
tended. The preacher at length rose, and
thus began: “ There is a faith which over-
comes the world, and there is a faith which
is overcome by the world.” On this subject
he enlarged in so impressive a manner, that
William was quite overcome. Penn now be-
came a Quaker, and, at one of their meetings,
on the 3rd of September, 1667, he was appre-
hended on the plea of a proclamation, issued
in 1660, against tumultuous assemblies, and
carried before the mayor. The latter, looking
at him, and observing that he was not clothed
as others of the society were, offered him his
liberty if he would give bond for his good
behaviour. But William not choosing to do

this, he was committed, with eighteen others,
to prison. Shortly afterwards, however, on r
the intercession of Lord Orrery, he was dis- ;
charged. His father now sent for him to Eng- ‘:
land, and was greatly affected by his conduct,
and especially by his wearing the dress of
the Quakers; but he refused to retract, and l
was eventually turned out of doors. In 1668, I
being then twenty-four years of age, he came '
forth in the important character of a mini- l
ster of the Gospel; having, as has been before stated, joined in membership with the reli- ‘
gious society of the Quakers. In this year
as a prisoner to the Tower. While he was
in the Tower, he could not, consistent with
his notions of duty, remain idle. To do
good by preaching, while immured there, was
impossible; he therefore applied himself to
writing. His first effort ended in the pro-
duction of “ No Cross, no Crown ;” a work
which, in his own lifetime, passed through se-
veral editions. Soon afterwards he published
another work, entitled, “ Innocency with her
open Face ;” and shortly afterwards was re-
leased from the Tower. Soon after his libe-
ration he visited Thomas Loe, who had, at
Oxford, confirmed the religious impressions
received at Chigwell school, and from him
received directions as to his future conduct.
In 1670 the Conventicle Act was passed by
parliament; and, in consequence of~ Penn
preaching in Gracechurch-street, he was
taken up and committed to Newgate. After
a confinement in that place for some time,
he was brought to trial; and, notwithstanding
the improper conduct of the judge, in charg-
ing the jury five separate times after five se-
parate acquittals, they persisted in their ver-
dict. At this time his father died, and
shortly afterwards Penn published a work,
entitled, “ The People’s ancient and just
Liberties asserted ;” and engaged in a con-
troversy with ‘a Baptist preacher at High
\Vycomb, of the name of Ives, who had re-
flected publicly on the doctrines of the Qua-
kers and the conduct of Penn. About the
latter end of the year, Penn again ventured
to preach in London, and was in consequence
again apprehended and sent to the Tower,
and afterwards committed to Newgate. In
1671, while in Newgate, he wrote his cele-
brated letter to the High Court of Parlia-
ment, to the Sheriffs of London, and to a
Roman Catholic. He also published “ A can-
tionary Postscript to Truth exalted ;” “ Truth
rescued from Imposture ;” “ A serious Apo-
logy for the Principles and Practice of the
Quakers ;” and, “ The great Case of Liberty
of Conscience debated and defended.”
When he had finished the above works the
time for his liberation from prison approached.
This having taken place he travelled into
Holland and Germany: his object was to
PEN
PEN
592
spread the doctrines of his own religious so-
ciety in these parts. Of the particulars of
his travels we have no detailed account. We
know only that he was reported to have been
successful, and that he continued employed
on the same errand during the remainder of
the year. In 1672 he returned to England,
married Gulielma Maria Springette, daughter
of Sir William Springette, of Dorking, in
Sussex, and resided at: Rickmansworth. He
now travelled as a preacher among the Qua-
kers, and assisted that cause by his publica-
tions, entitled, “ The Spirit of ,Truth vindi-
cated ;” “ The new Witnesses proved old
Heretics ;” “ Plain Dealing with a traducing
Anabaptist ;” “ A Winding-sheet to the Con-
troversy ended ;” and “ Quakerism, a new
Nickname for old Christianity.” In 1673 he
continued to travel as a minister, and to be
employed in controversies with various per-
sons, who attacked the principles of Quakers
or Dissenters. Among the publications of this
year are “ The Christian Quaker ;” “'Reason
against Railing, and Truth against Fiction ;”
“ Urim and Thummim ;” “ Wisdom justified
of her Children ;” and “ The Counterfeit
Christian detected.”
He was also engaged in a public contro-
versy with the Baptists, which engaged much
of his time and attention. He endeavoured _to
stem the torrent of persecution against dis-
senters, by various publications on the ‘sub-
ject, especially by letters to various justices,
and to the King; by “ A Treatise of Oaths,”
and by other publications, entitled, “ Eng—
land’s present Interest considered ;” and “ The
continued Cry of the Oppressed for Justice.”
In 1675, still residing at Rickmansworth, he
preached with great success, converting many
to the principles of the Quakers. He also
held a public dispute with the celebrated
Richard Baxter; published a tract, entitled,
“ Paul smitten to the Ground ;” and was en-
gaged in arbitrating a dispute between John
Fenwick and Edward Byllinge, two mem-
bers of his own religious society, who had
purchased of Lord Berkeley his half share of
New Jersey, in North America. In_ 1676 he
was engaged in a controversy with John
Cheney, on the subject of Quakerism; was
appointed a manager of proprietary concerns
in New J ersey—divided it into east and west,
drew up a constitution for its government,
and invited settlers to reside there. In 1677
he continued to manage West New Jersey;
appointed commissioners to go there, and
sent off three vessels of purchasers and set-
tlers. He also paid a religious visit to Hol-
land and Germany, preached much on the
continent, was well received, made many con-
verts to his system, and, at Frankfort, wrote
his “ Letter to the Churches of Jesus through-
out the World ;” and, at Rotterdam, “ A
Call, or Summons, to Christendom 1” In 1678
he continued his management of West New
Jersey, and sent there two new vessels. On
behalf of the Quakers, who were at this time
much persecuted, he made two speeches be-
fore the Committee of the House of Com-
mons, in their favour. He wrote in this year,
“ An Epistle to the Children of Light in this
Generation.” In the following year he wrote
“ An Address to the Protestants of all Per-
suasions, upon the present Conj uncture; more
especially to the Magistracy and'Clcrgy, for
the promotion of Virtue and Charity.” This
address was well written, and excited consi-
derable attention. He also, in this year,
wrote two other treatises, one entitled “ Eng-
land’s great Interest in the Choice of a new
Parliament,” and “ One Project for the good
of England.”
In 1680 he petitioned Charles II. for letters
patent for a certain tract of land in America,
in lieu of the debt due by the government to
his father, and which he was induced to do,
from a desire to spread the principles and
doctrines of the Quakers ; and to raise a vir-
tuous empire in the new land, which should
difi‘use its example far and wide to the re-
motest ages. In the following year his wish
was gratified: he obtained a grant of the tract
solicited, under the name of Pennsylvania,
which the King gave in honour of his father.
Having so far obtained his wishes, he imme-
diately published “ An Account of Pennsyl-
vania, and the Terms of Sale ;” but wisely
and benevolently guarding the conditions of
sale in favour of the natives. He then pro-
ceeded to draw up a frame of government,
carefully preserving therein the rights of con-
science. He afterwards sent off three vessels,
with passengers and commissioners, and ad—
dressed by them an admirable and interesting
letter to the Indians, explanatory of his inten-
tions and views in settling among them. In
this year he was elected F. R. S. In the fol-
lowing year he published his frame of govern-
ment, wrote an admirable preface to it, ob-
tained a fresh grant of land, called the Terri-
tories, in America, and then sailed for New-
castle, in that country. At Upland he im-
mediately convened an assembly of the Qua-
kers, and afterwards visited New York and
Maryland. From those places he returned,
and made his great treaty with the Indians;
went to Pennsbury, fixed on a site for his
new city, and called it Philadelphia. He next
divided his land into counties—laid out town- .
ships—reserved a thousand acres for Fox, the
founder of the Quakers—received new rein-
forcements of settlers—appointed sheriffs to
the different counties—and issued writs to
them for calling assemblies in the ensuing
spring. While thus engaged, he was not,
however, indifferent to his personal religion.
To glorify God was the great object of his
life; and he was never so delighted as when
he thought that object was most efi'ectually
promoted. . In 1683 he proceeded in the
PEN
PEN
593
organization of the settlement. The assem-
bly met—j uries were appointed—the erection
of Philadelphia was commenced and prose-
cuted with great vigour, and he made a jour-
ney of discovery into the interior of Pennsyl-
vania; and sent to the free society of traders
the natural history of that settlement. In
1684, having received accounts of fresh per-
secutions in England, he determined on re-
pairing thither to use his influence with the
court to stop them. In the mean time he
settled the system of discipline for his own
religious societies at Pennsylvania, held con-
ferences, and made treaties with the Indians,
forwarded the building of his city, wrote
arfarewell epistle to his friends, provided for
the government in his absence, and then em-
barked for England, where he arrived in
health and safety. In 1685, on the death of
Charles II., he became a favourite with James
IL; and in his frequent interviews with the
king, endeavoured to prevail upon him to
adopt foreign measures, and obtained the par-
don of John Locke. By his connexion with
the court he became, however, unpopular;
but popularity he did not covet. During his
absence the state of Pennsylvania was not so
quiet as he could desire; and a correspon-
dence, therefore, became necessary with those
whom he had entrusted with the government
during his absence.
In 1686,‘ it was alleged by those who were
unfriendly to the king, that Penn was a Pa—
plst and a Jesuit; and a correspondence took
place between him and Tillotson on the sub—
ject. At this time he wrote “ A further
Account of Pennsylvania ;” and also “ A De-
fence of the Duke of Buckingham.” Soon
afterwards he visited Holland, for the purpose
of promoting the extension of religion, and
undertook a commission from the king to the
Prince of Orange. On his return to Eng-
land, he travelled among the Quakers as a
preacher ; and was much occupied in settling
the disputes which continued to exist at Penn-
sylvania; and in consequence of which, he
altered the form of government by a commis-
sion, and lodged the executive in five persons.
In 1687 the king, influenced by the represen-
tations of Penn, issued a declaration of liberty
of conscience for England, and for suspending
the execution of all penal laws in ecclesiasti-
cal matters. In consequence of such decla-
rations, the Quakers addressed him, and de-
puted Penn to carry up such address. He
afterwards was engaged, this year, in preach-
ing in various counties in England, particu-
larly at Bristol Fair, at Chew, under an oak,
and at Chester, where the king heard him;
and was also engaged. in writing two tracts,
one entitled, “ Good Advice to the Church of
England, and Catholic and Protestant Dis-
senters ;” and also, “ The Great and Popular
Objection against the Repeal of the Penal
Laws, stated and considered.” During this
year the affairs of Pennsylvania improved,
though his presence and assistance were emi-
nently necessary. In 1688 King William as-
cended the throne, and Penn, having lost his
patron in James, was arrested, examined be-
fore the lords of the council, and obliged to
give bail for his appearance; but in the fol-
lowing year, on appearing according to his
bail, no charge was made against him, and he
was discharged in open court. In this year
the celebrated Toleration Act passed; and at
that event he sincerely rejoiced. As to the
affairs of Pennsylvania, he instructed the
president of the council to institute at Phila-
delphia a public grammar school. In 1690
Penn was again arrested on a charge of cor-
respondence with James the Second. Before
King William he appeared, and defended
himself with great ability; but was made to
find bail, though afterwards, on appearing in
court, no evidence was offered against him,
and he was again discharged. He now de-
termined to return to Pennsylvania, but was
again arrested and tried; but the result was
equally honourable, as in the former cases;
for, though evidence appeared, it failed to
prove anything against him, and he was ac-
quitted; He was now on the point of sailing
for Pennsylvania, but was accused by a
wretch of the name of Fuller, (who was after-
wards pronounced by parliament to be an
impostor.) Constables were sent to take him,
and his intended voyage stopped. Penn now
determined upon retirement, since, to have
gone to Pennsylvania merely with a view of
making his escape, would have been useless;
because he would have been equally amenable
to British laws; and to have delivered up
himself voluntarily into the hands of the ma-
gistracy would have been unnecessary.
The absence of Penn began now to be seri-
ously felt in the province; members of the
council assumed powers which they did not
possess, and disturbances and dissatisfaction
ensued. With an illiberality and injustice,
which reflects infinite disgrace on the mini-
stry of that period, a proclamation was issued
for the apprehension of Penn. He now be-
came unpopular amongst some of his society,
who were either incompetent or unwilling to
estimate his worth; but the celebrated Locke
remembered him in the seasons of adversity,
and greatly cheered his mind by a visit. In
this year he published a Preface to Barclay’s
Apology for the Quakers; and, in the follow- .
ing year, wrote a work, entitled “ Just Mea-
sures ;” and another, professing to be “ A
Key, whereby to know and distinguish the
Religious Opinions of the Quakers.” During
the two last-mentioned years, the affairs of
Pennsylvania became additionally unsatis-
factory. Political quarrels took place between
the province and the territories, and a reli-
gious schism sprang up, headed by George
Keith. In 1693 he was deprived of his gm.
Q Q.
PEN
PEN
594
vernment by King William 7. and he now re-
solved upon returning to Pennsylvania, but
was prevented from it, in consequence of his
embarrassed circumstances. He now wrote
his “ Fruits of Solitude,” and “ An Essay
towards the present and future State of
Europe.” Shortly after this, he was heard
before King WVilliam in his council, and ac—
quitted: when the king said, that he might
follow his business as freely as ever, for that
he had nothing against him. At the close of
this year, he was deprived, by death, of his
amiable, accomplished, and excellent wife.
The affairs of Pennsylvania, during this year,
went on with greater order. In 1694 he
wrote “ An Account of the Rise and Pro-
gress of the Quakers ;” also, “ A Visitation to
the Jews,” and his “ Journey into Holland
and Germany In 1677.” King William at
length perceived the error of his conduct,
and restored Penn to his government; he tra-
velled in the ministry among the Quakers in
England, and directed the management of the
proceedings at Pennsylvania. In the fol-
lowing year, he delivered to the House of
Commons a judicious and excellent paper, on
the subject of making the Quakers’ afiirma-
tion equal to their oath, and continued preach—
ing amongst them. In 1696 he was married,
a second time, to Hannah, the daughter of
Thomas Calow, Esq., and was shortly after-
wards deprived by death of his only son.
This year he wrote his work, entitled, “ Pri-
mitive Christianity Revived.” In 1697, in
consequence of a bill depending in the House
of Lords against blasphemy, he published a
caution against that measure. In 1698 he
visited Ireland, as a minister of the Gospel,
and published many tracts in favour of Qua-
kerism. In 1699 he determined on visiting
America, and after addressing “ a letter to
the people of God, called Quakers, wherever
scattered or gathered,” he arrived, after a
tedious passage of nearly three months, in
the river Delaware, on the last day of No-
vember. He immediately proceeded to Phi-
ladelphia, met the assembly, and passed bills
against piracy and illicit trade. _
In 17 00 he retired to Pennsbury, proposed
and carried various resolutions in favour of
Indian and negro slaves; visited and re-
ceived the Indians ; travelled in the ministry
through the province and territories, and in
the Jerseys and Maryland; called a new as-
sembly at Newcastle, and allayed their dis-
sensions by his wisdom and justice. In 1701
he set out for East Jersey to quell a riot;
made a treaty with the Susquehannah and
other Indians; suggested a plan of trade with
them, to secure them from imposition, and to
improve their morals. He was now re—
quested to come over to England, and there-
fore he convened the assembly, signed the
new charter, constituted and incorporated
Philadelphia a city; appointed a council of
state, and a deputy governor, and embarked
for England, where he arrived about 'the
middle of December. In the years 1702 and
1703, he carried up the address of the Qua~
kers to Queen Anne; wrote “ Considerations-
upon the Bill against Occasional Confer--
mity ;” also, “ More Fruits of Solitude ;” and
a preface to “ Zion’s Travellers Comforted.”
From the year 1704 to 1.708, he wrote a pre-
face to the written Gospel Labours of John
Whitehead; travel-led as a minister into the
West of England, and laboured with great
success; wrote a general letter to the Quakers’


Society; was involved in a lawsuit with the
executors of his steward ; obtained no redress
in Chancery; and was obliged, in conse-
quence, to live within the rules of the Fleet.
From 1709 ‘to 1712, nothing particular oc-
curred, except that he was obliged to mort-
gage his province; wrote two or three pre-
faces to the works of Quakers, and in the last-
mentioned year was unfortunately seized with
an apoplexy. His health now gradually de-
clined, though he survived for some years,
but was prevented from being actively en-
gaged; till at length, on the 30th of July,
1718, in the 74th year of his age, after a life
of almost unprecedented activity and exer-
tion, death terminated his labours.
Vide Memoirs of the Private and Public
Life of William Penn, written by Thomas
Clarkson.—Jones’s Christ. Biog.
PENTATEUCH, from mat/Te, five, and Tevxog,
an instrument or volume, signifies the collec-
tion of the five instruments or books of Moses,
which are Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, N um-
bers, and Deuteronomy. Some modern wri-
ters, it seems, have asserted that Moses did
not compose the Pentateuch, because the
author always speaks in the third person;
abridges his narration, like a writer who col-
lected from ancient memoirs; sometimes in-
terrupts the thread of his discourse: for
example, Gen. iv. 23; and because of the
account of the death of Moses at the end, &c.
It is observed, also, in the text of the Penta-
teuch, that there are some places that are de-
fective: for example, in Exod. xii. 8, we see
Moses speaking to Pharaoh, where the author
omits the beginning of his discourse. The
Samaritan inserts in the same place what is
wanting in the Hebrew. In other places the
same Samaritan copy adds what is deficient
in the Hebrew; and what is contained more
than the Hebrew seems so well connected
with the rest of the discourse, that it would
be difficult to separate them. Iaastly, they
think they observe certain strokes in the
Pentateuch which can hardly agree with
Moses, who was born and bred in Egypt; as
what he says of the earthly paradise, of the
rivers that watered it and ran through it;
of the cities of Babylon, Erech, Resen, and
Calneh; of the gold of Pison; of the bdel~


~1ium, of the stone of Sohem, or onyx stone,
PEN
PER
595
which was to be found in that country.—
These particulars, observed with such curi—
~csity, seem to prove that the author of the
Pentateuch lived beyond the Euphrates. Add
what he says concerning the ark of Noah, of
its construction, of the place where it rested,
of the wood wherewith it was built, of the
bitumen of Babylon, 8:0. But in answer to
all these objections, it is justly observed, that
these books are, by the most ancient writers,
ascribed to Moses, and it is confirmed by the
authority of heathen writers themselves, that
they are his writing; besides this, we have
the unanimous testimony of the whole Jewish
nation ever since Moses’s time. Divers texts
of the Pentateuch imply that it was written
by him; and the book of Joshua and other
parts of Scripture import as much; and
though some passages have been thought to
imply the contrary, yet this is but a late
opinion, and has been sufiiciently confuted by
several learned men. It is probable, how-
ever, that Ezra published a new edition of '
the books of Moses, in which he might add
those passages that many suppose Moses did
not write. The Abbe Torné, in a sermon
preached before the French king in Lent,
17 64, makes the following remarks :—“ The
legislator of the Jews was the author of the
Pentateuch, an immortal work, wherein he
paints the marvels of his reign with the ma-
jestic picture of the government and religion
which he established! Who before our mo-
dern infidels ever ventured to obscure this
incontestable- fact? Who ever sprangadoubt
about this among the Hebrews ?—\Vhat
greater reasons have there ever been to attri-
bute to Mahomet his Alcoran, to Plato his
Republic, or to Homer his sublime poems?
Rather let us say, What work in any age
ever appeared more truly to bear the name
of its real author? It is not an ordinary
book, which, like many others, may be easily
hazarded under a fictitious name. It is a
sacred book, which the Jews have always
read with a veneration that remains after
1700 years’ exile. calamities, and reproach.
In this bookthe Hebrews included all their
science; it was their civil, political, and
sacred code; their only treasure, their calen-
dar, their annals; the only title of their sove-
reigns and pontifl‘s; the alone rule of polity
and worship: by consequence it must be
formed with their monarchy, and necessarily
have the same epoch as their government
and religion, Sza—Moses speaks only truth,
though infidels charge him with imposture.
But, what an impostor must he be, who first
spoke of the Divinity in a manner so sublime,
that no one since, during almost 4000 years,
has been able to surpass him! What an im-
postor ‘must he be whose writings breathe
only virtue; whose style, equally simple,
afi'ecting, and sublime, in spite of the rude-
ness of those first ages, openly displays an
inspiration altogether divine!” See Ainsworlh
and Kidder 0n the Pentateuch; Prideaux’s
Con, vol. i. pp. 342, 345, 073, 57 5; rl’larsh’s
Authenticity of the Five Books qfllfoses con-
sidered; Warburton’s Divine Legation; Dr.
Graves’s Lectures on the last Four Boo/es in
the Old Test; Jen/zins’s Reasonahleness of
Christianity,- Watson’s Apology, let. 2 and 3;
Faber’s Home Mosaicw, or a View of the .lVIo-
saz'cal Records.
PENTECOST, a solemn festival of the Jews,
so called, because it was celebrated fifty days
after the feast of the Passover, Lev. xxiii. 15.
It corresponds with Whitsuntide, for which it
is sometimes used.
PERFECTION, that state or quality of a
thing, in which it is free from defect or re—
dundancy. According to some, it is divided
into physical or natural, whereby a thing has
all its powers and faculties; moral, or an
eminent degree of goodness and piety; and
metaphysical or transcendent is the posses-
sion of all the essential attributes or parts ne-
cessary to the integrity of a substance: or it
is that whereby a thing has or is provided
of every thing belonging to its nature: such
is the perfection of God—The term perfec-
tion, says the great \Vitsius, is not always
used in the same sense in the Scriptures.
1. There is a perfection of sincerity, whereby a
man serves God without hypocrisy, Job i. 1 ;
Is. xxxviii. 3.—-—2. There is a perfection of
parts, subjective with respect to the'whole
man, 1 Thess. v. 23, and objective with re-
spect to the whole law, when all the duties
prescribed by God are observed, Ps. cxix.
128; Luke i. 6.—-3.There is a comparative per-
fection ascribed to those who are advanced in
knowledge, faith, and sanctification, in com-
parison of those who are still infants and un-
taught, 1 John ii. 13; 1 Cor. ii. 6; Phil. m.
l5.-—4. There is an evangelical perfection.
The righteousness of Christ being imputed to
the believer, he is complete in him, and ac-
cepted of God as perfect through Christ, Col.
ii. 10; Eph. v. 27; 2 Cor. v. There is
also a perfection of degrees, by which a per-
son performs all the commands of God, with
the full exertion of all his powers, without;
the least defect. This is what the law of
God requires. but what the saints cannot
attain to in this life, though we willingly
allow them all the other kinds above men.
tioned, Rom. vii. 24; Phil. iii. 12; 1 John .i.
S. lVz'tsii (E'conom'ia Ftrclerum Dei, lib. iii.
cap. 12, § 124; Bates’s Works, p. 557, _&e.;
Law and Wesley on Perfection; Docldmdge’s
Lectures, lecture 181.
PERFECTIONS or G01). See A'r'rnmn'rns.
PERJURY is the taking of an oath, in order
to tell or confirm a falsehood. This is a_very
heinous crime, as it is treating the Almighty
with irreverence; denying, or _at least dis-
carding his omniscience; profanmg his name,
and violating truth. It has always been
PER
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596
esteemed a very detestable thing, and those
who have been proved guilty of it, have been
looked upon as the pests of society. See OATH.
PERMISSION oF- SIN. See SIN.
PERSECUTION is any pain or aflliction
which a person designedly inflicts upon an-
other; and, in a more restrained sense, the
sufferings of Christians on account of their
religion. _Persecution is threefold. l. .Mcn-
tal, when the spirit of a man rises up and
opposes another.—2. Verbal, when men give
hard words, and deal in uncharitable censures.
——3. Actual or open, by the hand; such as the
dragging of innocent persons before the tri-
bunal of justice, Matt. 1:. 18. The unlawful--
ness of persecution for conscience sake must
appear plain to every one that possesses the
least degree of thought or of feeling. “ To
banish, imprison, plunder, starve, hang, and
burn men for religion,” says the shrewd
J ortin, “is not the Gospel of Christ; it is the
Gospel of the Devil. WVhere persecution be-
gins, Christianity ends. Christ never used
any thing that looked like force or violence,
except once ; and that was to drive bad men
out of the temple, and not to drive them in.”
We know the origin of it to be from the
prince of darkness, who began the dreadful
practice in the first family on earth, and who,
more or less, has been carrying on the same
work ever since, and that almost among all
parties. “Persecution for conscience sake,”
says Dr. Doddridge, “is every way inconsist-
ent; because, 1. It is founded on an absurd
supposition, that one man has aright to judge
for another in matters of religion—2. It is'
evidently opposite to that fundamental prin-
ciple of morality, that we should do to others
as we could reasonably desire they should do
to us.——3. It is by no means calculated to
answer the end which its patrons profess to
intend by it.—4. It evidently tends to produce
a great deal of mischief and confusion in the
world—5. The Christian religion must, hu-
manly speaking, be not only obstructed, but
destroyed, should persecuting principles uni-
versally prevail.——6. Persecution is so far
from being required or encouraged by the
Gospel, that it is most directly contrary to
many of its precepts, and indeed to the whole
of it.”
The chief objects who have fell a prey to
this diabolical spirit have been Christians ; a
short account of whose sufferings we shall
here give, as persecuted by the Jews, hea-
thens, and those of the same name.
' Persecution of Christians by the Jews. Here
we need not be copious, as the New Testament
will inform the reader more particularly how
the first Christians suffered for the cause of
truth. Jesus Christ himself was exposed to it
in the greatest degree. The four evangelists
record the dreadful scenes, which need not
here be enlarged on.
apostles suffered every evil which the malice
After his death, the,

of the Jews could invent, and their mad zeal
execute. They who read the Acts of the
Apostles, will find that, like their Master,
they were despised and rejected of men, and
treated with the utmost indignity and con-
tempt.
II. Persecution of Christians by the Heathen.
Historians usually reckon ten general perse-
cutions, the first of which was under the
Emperor Nero, thirty-one years after our
Lord’s ascension, when that emperor, having
set fire to the city of Rome, threw the odium
of that execrable action on the Christians.
First, Those were apprehended who openly
avowed themselves to be of that sect; then by
them were discovered an immense multitude,
all of whom were convicted. Their death and
tortures were aggravated by cruel derision and
sport ; for they were either covered with the
skins of wild beasts, and torn in pieces by
devouring dogs, or fastened to crosses, and
wrapped up in combustible garments, that, ~
when the day-light failed, they might, like
torches, serve to dispel the darkness of the
night. For this tragical spectacle Nero lent
his own gardens; and exhibited at the same
time the public diversions of the circus; some-
times driving a chariot in person, and some-
times standing as a spectator, while the shrieks
of women, burning to ashes, supplied music
for his ears—2. The second general persecu-
tion was under Domitian, in the year 95,
when 40,000 were supposed to have suffered
martyrdom—3. The third began in the third
year of Trajan, in‘ the year 100, and was car-
ried on with great violence for several years—-
4. The fourth was under Antoninus, when the
Christians were banished from their houses,
forbidden to show their heads, reproached,
beaten, hurried from place to place, plundered,
imprisoned, and, stoned—5. The fifth began
in the year 127, under Severus, when great
cruelties were committed. In this reign hap-
pened the martyrdom of Perpetua and Feli-
citas, and their companions. Perpetua had
an infant at the breast, and Felicitas was just
delivered. at the time of their being put‘ to
death. These two beautiful and amiable
young women, mothers of infant children,
after suffering much in prison, were exposed
before an insulting multitude, to a wild cow,
who mangled their bodies in a most horrid
manner: after which they were carried to a
conspicuous place, and put to death by the
sword—6. The sixth began with the reign of
Maximinus, in 235.-—7. The seventh, which
was the most dreadful ever known, began in
250, under the Emperor Decius, when the
Christians were in all places driven from their
habitations, stripped of their estates, tormented
with racks, &c.—-8. The eighth began in 257,
under Valerian. Both men and women suf-
fered death ; some by scourging, some by the
sword, and some by fire—9. The ninth was
under Aurelian, in 274; but this was incon-
PER
PER
597
siderable, compared with the others before
mentioned-10. The tenth began in the
nineteenth year of Dioclesian, 303. In this
dreadful persecution, which lasted ten years,
houses filled with Christians were set on fire,
and whole droves were tied together with
ropes, and thrown into the sea. It is related
that 17,000 were slain in one month’s time;
and that during the continuance of this perse-
cution, in the province of Egypt alone, no less
than 144,000 Christians died by the violence
of their persecutors; besides 700,000 that died
through the fatigues of banishment, or the
public works to which they were condemned.
III. Persecution of Christians by those of
the same name. Numerous were the persecu-
tions of different sects from Constantine’s
time to the Reformation; but when the‘ fa-
mous Martin Luther arose, and opposed the
errors and ambition of the Church of Rome, l
and the sentiments of this good man began to
spread, the pope and his clergy .joined all
their forces to hinder their progress. A ge-
neral council of the clergy was called: this
was the famous Council of Trent, which was
held for near eighteen successive years, for
the purpose of establishing popery in greater
splendour, and preventing the Reformation.
The friends to the Reformation were anathe-
matized and excommunicated, and the life of
Luther was often in danger, though at last he
died on the bed of peace. From time to time
innumerable schemes were suggested to over—
throw the reformed church, and 'wars were
set on foot for the same purpose. The Invin-
cible Armada, as it was vainly called, had the
same end in view. The inquisition, which
was established in the twelfth century against
the Waldenses, (see INQUISITION,) was now
more effectually set to work. Terrible perse~
cutions were carried on in various parts of
Germany, and even in Bohemia, which con-
tinued about thirty years, and the blood of the
saints was said to flow like rivers of water.
The countries of Poland, Lithuania, and
Hungary, were, in a similar manner, deluged
with Protestant blood. In
I'IOLLAND,
and in the other Low Countries, for many
years the most amazing cruelties were exer-
cised under the merciless and unrelenting
hands of the Spaniards, to whom the inhabi-
tants of that part of the world were then in
subjection. Father Paul observes, that these
Belgic martyrs were 50,000; but Grotius and
others observe, that there were 100,000 who
suffered by the hand of the executioner.
Herein, however, Satan and his agents failed
of their purpose ; for,-in the issue, great part
of "the Netherlands shook off the Spanish
yoke, and erected themselves into a separate
and independent state, which has ever since
been considered as one of the principal Pro-
. testant countries of the universe.
FRANCE.
No country, perhaps, has ever produced more
martyrs than this. After many cruelties had
been exercised against the Protestants, there
was a most violent persecution of them in the
year 157 2, in the reign of Charles 1X. Many
of the principal Protestants were invited to
Paris, under a solemn oath of safety, upon
occasion of the marriage of the King of
Navarre with the French king’s sister. The
Queen Dowager of Navarre, a zealous Pro-
testant, however, was poisoned by a pair of
gloves before the marriage was solemnized.
Coligni, Admiral of France, was basely mur-
dered in his own house, and then thrown out
-of the window to gratify the malice of the
Duke of Guise: his head was afterwards cut
013?, and sent to the king and queen-mother:
and his body, after a thousand indignities
ofi‘ered to it, hung by the feet on a gibbet.
After this, the murderers ravaged the whole
city of Paris, and butchered, in three days,
above ten thousand lords, gentlemen, presi-
dents, and people of all ranks. A horrible
scene of things, says Thuanus, when the very
streets and passages resounded with the noise
of those that met together for murder and
plunder; the groans of those who were dying,
and the shrieks of such as were just going to
be butchered, were everywhere heard; the
bodies of the slain thrown out of the win-
dows ; the courts and chambers of the houses
filled with them; the dead bodies of others
dragged through the streets; their blood run-
ning through the channels in such plenty, that
torrents seemed to empty themselves in the
neighbouring river: in a word, an innumerable
multitude of men, women with child, maidens,
and children, were all involved in one com_
mon destruction; and .the gates and entrances
of the king’s palace all besmeared with their
blood. Fi'om the city of Paris the massacre
spread throughout the whole kingdom. In
the city of Meaux they threw above 200 into
gaol; and after they had ravished and killed
a great number of women, and plundered the
houses of the Protestants, they executed their
fury on those they had imprisoned; and call—
ing them one by one, they were killed, as
Thuanus expresses, like sheep in a. market.
In Orleans they murdered above 500 men,
women, and children, and enriched themselves
with the spoil. The same cruelties were
practised at Angers, Troyes, Bourges, La.
Charite, and especially at Lyons, where they
inhumanly destroyed above 800 Protestants;
children hanging on their parents’ necks; pa-
rents embracing their children; putting ropes
about the necks of some, dragging them
through the streets, and throwing them, man~
gled, torn, and half dead, into the river. Ac-
cording to Thuanus, above 30,000 Protestants
were destroyed in this massacre, or, as others
afiirm, above 100,000. But what aggravates
P E R
PER
$98
these scenes with still greater wantonness and
cruelty, was, the manner in which the news
was received at Rome. When the letters of
the pope’s legate were read in the assembly
of the cardinals, by which he assured the
pope that all was transacted by the express
will and command of the king, it was imme-
diately decreed that the pope should march
with his cardinals to the church of St. Mark,
and in the most solemn manner give thanks
to God for so great a blessing conferred on
the see of Rome and the Christian world;
and that, on the Monday after, solemn mass
should be celebrated in the Church of Minerva,
at which the pope, Gregory XIII., and cardi-
nals were present; and that a jubilee should
be published throughout the whole Christian
world, and the cause of it declared to be, to
return thanks to God for the extirpation of
the enemies of the truth and church in France.
In the evening the cannon of St. Angelo were
fired to testify the public joy ; the whole city
illuminated with bonfires ; and no one sign of
rejoicing omitted that was usually made for
the greatest victories obtained in favour of
the Roman Church !
But all these persecutions were, however,
far exceeded in cruelty by those which took
place in the time of Louis XIV. It cannot
be pleasant to any man’s feelings, who has the
least humanity, to recite these dreadful scenes
of horror, cruelty, and devastation; but to
show what superstition, bigotry, and fanati-
cism, are capable of producing, and for the
purpose of holding up the spirit of persecution
to contempt, we shall here give as concise a
detail as possible. The troopers, soldiers, and
dragoons, went into the Protestants’ houses,
where they marred and defaced their house-
hold stulf; broke their looking-glasses and
other utensils; threw about their corn and
wine; sold what they could not destroy ; and
thus, in four or five days, the Protestants were
stripped of above a million of money. But
this was not the worst : they turned the din-
ing~rooms of gentlemen into stables for horses,
and treated the owners of the houses where
they quartered with the greatest cruelty, lash-
ing them about, not suffering them to eat or
drink. When they saw the blood and sweat
'run down their faces, they sluiced them with
‘water, and, putting over their heads kettle-
drums turned upside down, they made a con-
tinual din upon them, till these unhappy crea-
tures lost their senses. At Negreplisse, a
town near Montauban, they hung up Isaac
Favin, a Protestant citizen of that place, by
his arm—pits, and tormented him a whole
night by pinching and tearing of? his flesh
with pincers. They made a great fire round
about a boy, twelve years old, who, with
hands and eyes lifted up to heaven, cried out,
“ My God, help me!” and when they found
the youth resolved to die rather than renounce
his religion, they snatehed him from the fire
just as he was on the point of being burnt.
In several places the soldiers applied red-hot
irons to the hands and feet of men, and the
breasts of women. At Nantes, they hung up
several women and maids by their feet, and
others by their arm-pits, and thus exposed
them to public view stark-naked. They
bound mothers that gave suck to posts, and
let their sucking infants lie languishing in
their sight for several days and nights, crying
and gasping for life. Some they bound before
a great fire, and being half-roasted, let them
go; a punishment worse than death. Amidst
a thousand hideous cries, they hung up men
and women by the hair, and some by their
feet, on hooks in chimneys, and smoked them
with wisps of wet hay till they were suffo-
cated. ‘They tied some under the arms with
ropes, and plunged them again and again into
wells: they bound others, put them to the
torture, and with a funnel filled them with
wine till the fumes of it took away their rea-
son, when they made them say they consented
to be Catholics. They stripped them naked,
and, after a thousand indignities, stuck them
with pins and needles from head to foot. In
some places they tied fathers and husbands to
their bed-posts, and, before their eyes, ravished
their wives and daughters with impunity.
They blew up men and women with bellows
till they burst them. If any, to escape these
barbarities, endeavoured to save themselves
by flight, they pursued them into the fields
and woods, where they shot at them like wild
beasts, and prohibited them from departing
the kingdom (a cruelty never practised by
Nero or Dioclesian) upon pain of confiscation
of effects, the galleys, the lash, and perpetual
imprisonment. With these scenes of desola-
tion and horror the popish clergy feasted their
eyes, and made only matter of laughter and
sport of them ! l !
ENGLAND
has also been the seat of much persecution. ‘
Though Wickliife, the first reformer, died
peaceably in his bed, yet such was the malice
and spirit of persecuting Rome, that his bones
were ordered to be dug up, and cast upon a
dunghill. The remains of this excellent man
were accordingly dug out of the grave, where
they had lain undisturbed four-and-forty
years. His bones were burnt, and the ashes
cast into an adjoining brook. In the reign of.
Henry VIII., Bilney, Bayman, and many
other reformers, were burnt; but when Queen
Mary came to the throne, the most severe
persecutions took place. I-Iooper and Rogers
were burnt in a slow fire. Saunders was
cruelly tormented a long time at the stake
before he expired. Taylor was put into a
barrel of pitch, and fire set to it: Eight illus
trious persons, among whom was Ferrar,
Bishop of St. David’s, were sought out, and
burnt by the 'inliunous Bonner, in a few
PER 5
PER
99
days. Sixty-seven persons were this year,
an). 1555, burnt, amongst whom were the
famous Protestants, Bradford, Itidley, Lati-
mer, and Philpot. In the following year,
1556, eighty-five persons were burnt. Women
sufi'ered ; and one, in the flames, which burst
her womb, being near her time of delivery, a
child fell from her into the fire, which being
snatched out by some of the observers more
humane than the rest, the magistrate ordered
the babe to be again thrown into the fire and
burnt. Thus even the unborn child was
burnt for heresy! 0 God, what is human
nature when left to itself! Alas, dispositions
ferocious as infernal then reign and usurp the
heart of man ! The queen erected a commis-
sion court, which was followed by the de-
struction of near eighty more. Upon the
whole, the number of those who suffered
death for the reformed religion in this reign,
were no less than 277 persons; of whom were
five bishops, twenty-one clergymen, eight
gentlemen, eighty-four tradesmen, 100 hus-
bandmen, labourers, and servants, fifty-five
women, and four children. Besides these,
there were fifty-four more under prosecution,
seven of whom were whipped, and sixteen
perished in prison. Nor was the reign of
Elizabeth free from this persecuting spirit.
If any one refused to consent to the least cere-
mony in worship, he was cast into prison,
where many of the most excellent men in the
land perished. Two Protestant Anabaptists
were burnt, and many banished. She also, it
is said, put two Brownists to death; and
though her whole reign was distinguished for
its political prosperity, yet it is evident that
she did not understand the rights of con-
science; for it is said that more sanguinary
laws were made in her reign than in any of
her predecessors’, and her hands were stained
with the blood both of Papists and Puritans.
James I. succeeded Elizabeth : he published a
proclamation, commanding all Protestants to
conform strictly, and without any exception,
to all the rites and ceremonies of the Church
of England. Above 500 clergy were imme-
diately silenced, or degraded, for not com-
plying. Some were excommunicated, and
some banished the country. The Dissenters
were distressed, censured, and fined, in the
Star~Cha1nber. Two persons were burnt for
heresy, one at Smithfield, and the other at
Lichfield. Worn out with endless vexations,
and unceasing persecutions, many retired int-o
Holland, and from thence to America. It is
witnessed by a judicious historian, that, in
this and some following reigns, 22,000 per-
sons were banished from England by perse-
cution, to America. In Charles I.’s time
arose the persecuting Laud, who was the oc-
casion of distress to numbers. Dr. Leighton,
for writing a book against the hierarchy, was
fined 10,000l., perpetual imprisonment, and
whipping. He was whipped, and then placed
in the .kpillory; one of his ears cut off; one
side of his nose slit; branded on the check
with a red-hot iron, with the letters S.S.;
whipped. a second time, and placed in the pil-
lory. A fortnight afterwards, his sores. being
yet uncured, he had the other ear out off, the
other side of his nose slit, and the other cheek
branded. He continued in prison till the
long parliament set him at liberty. About
four years afterwards, William Prynne, a
barrister, for a book he wrote against the
sports on the Lord’s Day, was deprived from
practising at Lincoln’s Inn, degraded from
his degree at Oxford, set in the pillory, had
his cars cut off, imprisoned for life, and fined
50001. Nor were the Presbyterians, when
their government came to be established in
England, free from the charge of persecution.
In 1645 an ordinance was published, subject-
ing all who preached or wrote against the
Presbyterian directory for public worship to
a fine not exceeding 501.; and imprisonment
for a year, for the third offence, in using the
Episcopal book of common prayer, even in a
private family. In the following year the
Presbyterians applied to Parliament, pressing
them to enforce uniformity in religion, and to
extirpate popery, prelacy, heresy, schism,
&c., but their petition was rejected; yet in
1648 the Parliament, ruled by them, pub-
lished an ordinance against heresy, and de-
termined that any person who maintained,
published, or defended the following errors,
should suffer death. These errors were, 1.
Denying the being of a God—2. Denying.
his omnipresence, omniscience, &c.-—3. De-
nying the Trinity in any way—4. Denying
that Christ had two natures—5. Denying
the resurrection, ‘the atonement, the Scrip-
tures. In Charles lI.’s reign the Act of Uni-
formity passed, by which 2000 clergymen
were deprived of their benefices. Then fol-
lowed the Conventicle Act, and the Oxford
Act, under which, it is said, 8000 persons were
imprisoned and reduced to want, and many to
the grave. In this reign, also, the Quakers
were much persecuted, and numbers of them
imprisoned. Thus we see how England has
bled under the hands of bigotry and persecu-
tion; nor was toleration enjoyed until Wil-
liam III. came to the throne,.who showed him~
self a warm friend to the rights of conscience.
The accession of the present royal family was
auspicious to religious liberty; and as their
majesties have always bcfriendedtoleration, the
spirit of persecution has been long curbed.
IRELAND
has likewise been drenched with the blood of
the Protestants, forty or fifty thousand of
whom were cruelly murdered in a few days
in different parts of the kingdom, in the reign
of Charles I. It began on the 23rd of Octo~
ber, 1641. Having secured the principal
gentlemen, and seized their elfects, they mur~
PER
PER
600
dered the common people in cold blood, forc-
ing many thousands to fly from their houses
and settlements naked.into the bogs and
woods, where they perished with hunger and
cold. Some they whipped to death, others
they stripped naked, and exposed to shame,
and then drove them, like herds of swine, to
perish in the mountains: many hundreds
were drowned in rivers, some had their
throats cut, others were dismembered. With
some the execrable villains made themselves
sport, trying who could hack the deepest into
an Englishman’s flesh ; wives and young vir-
gins abused in the presence of their nearest
relations; nay, they taught their children to
strip and kill the children of the English, and
dash out their brains against the stones. Thus
many thousands were massacred in a few
days, without distinction of age, sex, or qua-
lity, before they suspected their danger, or
had time to provide for their defence.
SCOTLAND, SPAIN, 8w.
Besides the above-mentioned persecutions,
there have been several others carried on in
different parts of the world. Scotland, for
many years together, has been the scene of
cruelty and bloodshed, till it was delivered by
the monarch at the Revolution. Spain, Italy,
and the valley of Piedmont, and other places,
have been the seats of much persecution.
Popery, we see, has had the greatest band in
this mischievous work. It has to answer, also,
for the lives of millions of Jews, Mohamme—
dams, and barbarians. When the Moors con-
quered Spain in the eighth century, they al-
lowed the Christians the free exercise of their
religion; but in the fifteenth century, when the
Moors were overcome, and Ferdinand sub-
dued the Moriscoes, the descendants of the
above Moors, many thousands were forced to
be baptized, or burnt, massacred, or banished,
and their children sold for slaves; besides
innumerable Jews, who shared the same
cruelties, chiefly by means of the infernal
courts of the Inquisition, A worse slaughter,
if possible, was made among the natives of-
Spanish America, where fifteen millions are
said to have been sacrificed to the genius of
popery in about forty years. It has been
computed that fifty millions of Protestants
have at different times been the victims of the
persecutions of the Papists, and ut to death
for their religious opinions. We l, therefore,
might the inspired penman sa , that. at mystic
Babylon’s destruction “was ound in her the
blood of prophets, of saints, and of all that
was slain upon the earth!” Rev. xviii. 24.
To conclude this article, who can peruse
the account here given without feeling the
most painful emotions, and dropping a tear
over the madness and depravity of mankind?
Does it not show us what human beings are
capable of when influenced by superstition,
bigotry, and prejudice? Have not these
baneful principles metamorphosed men into
infernals; and entirely extinguished all the
feelings of humanity, the dictates of con-
science, and the voice of reason? Alas! what
has sin done to make mankind such curses to
one another? Merciful God! by thy great
power suppress this worst of all evils, and let
truth and love, meekness and forbearance,
universally prevail! Limborch’s Introduction
to his IIistory of the Inquisition; Memoirs of
the Persecutions of the Protestants in France,
by Lewis De Enarolles; Comber’s History of
the Parisian Massacre of St. Bartholomew,-
A. Robinson’s History 0 Persecution; Loch-
man’s History of Popist Persecution; Clarh’s
Looking-Glass for Persecutors; Doddridge's
Sermon on Persecution ; Jortin’s ditto, vol. iv.
ser. 9; Bower’s Lives of the Popes,- Fox’s
Martyrs; W'od'row’s History of the Sufierings
of the Church of Scotland ,- .Neale’s History of
the Puritans, and ofZVew England ; History of
the Bohemian Persecutions.
PERSEVERANCE is the continuance in any
design, state, opinion, or course of action.
The perseverance of the saints istheir conti-
nuance in a state of grace to a state of glory.
This doctrine has afforded considerable mat-
ter for controversy between the Calvinists
and Arminians. 'We shall briefly here state
the arguments and objections. And, first, the
perfections of God are considered as strong
arguments to prove this doctrine. God, as a
Being possessed of infinite love, faithfulness,
wisdom, and power, can hardly be supposed
to suffer any of hispeople finally to fall into
perdition. This would be a reflection on his
attributes, and argue him to be worse than a
common father of his family. His love to
his people is unchangeable, and, therefore,
they cannot be the objects of it at one time
and not at another, John xiii. l. Zeph. iii. 17.
Jer. xxxi. 3. His faithfulness to them and
to his promise is not founded upon their
merit, but his own will and goodness; this,
therefore, cannot be violated, Mal. iii. 6.
Numb. xxiii. 19. His wisdom foresees every
obstacle in the way, and is capable of re-
moving it, and directing them into the right
path. It would be a reflection on his wis~
dom, after choosing a right end, not to
choose right means in accomplishing the
same, J er. x. 6, 7. His power is insuperable,
and is absolutely and perpetually displayed in
their preservation and protection. 1 Pet. i. 5.
2. Another argument to prove this doctrine
is their union to Christ, and what he has done
for them. They are said to be chosen in him.
Eph. i. 4; united to him, Eph. i. 23 ; the pur-
chase of his death, Rom. viii. 34. Tit. ii,
14; the objects of his intercession, Rom. v.
10; viii. 34. 1 John ii. 1, 2. Now if there
be a possibility of their finally falling, then
this choice, this union, his death and inter-
cession may all be in vain, and rendered abor-
tive; an idea as derogatory to the divine
PER
PER
601
glory, and as dishonourable to Jesus Christ
as possibly can be. 3. It is argued from the
work of the Spirit, which is to communicate
grace and strength, equal to the day, Phil. i.
6. 2 Cor. i. 21, 22. If, indeed, divine grace
were dependent on the will of man, if by his
own power he had brought himself into a state
of grace, then it might follow that he might
relapse into an opposite state, when that power
at any time was weakened; but as the per-
severance of the saints is not produced by
any native principles in themselves, but by
the agency of the Holy Spirit, enlightening,
confirming, and establishing them, of course,
they must persevere, or otherwise it would be
a reflection on this Divine Agent, Rom. viii.
9. 1 Cor. vi. 11. John iv. 14; xvi. 14. 4.
Lastly, the declarations and promises of Scrip~
ture are very numerous in favour of this doc-
trine, Job xvii. 9. Psa. xciv. 14; cxxv.
Jer. xxxii. 40. John x. 28; xvii. 12. 1 Cor.
i. 8, 9. 1 Pet. i. 5. Prev. iv. 18; all which
could not be true, if this doctrine were false.
There are objections, however, to this doc-
trine, which we must state. 1. There are
various tbreatenings denounced against those
who apostatize, Ezek. iii. 20. Heb. vi. 3, 6,
Psa. cxxxv. 3—5. Ezek. xviii. 24. To this
it is answered, that some of these texts do
not so much as suppose the falling away of a
truly good man ; and to all of them it is said,
that they only show what would be the con-
sequence such should fall away; but cannot
prove that it ever in fact happens. 2. It is
foretold as a future event that some should
fall away, Matt. xxiv. 12, 13. John xv. 6.
Matt. xiii. 20, 21. To the first of these pas-
sages it is answered, that their love might be
said to wax cold without totally ceasing; or
there might have been an outward zeal and
show of love where there never was a true
faith. To the second it is answered, that per-
sons may be said to be in Christ only by an
external profession, or mere members of the
visible church, John xv. 2. Matt. xiii. 47,
48. As to Matthew, chap. xiii. 20,21, it is
replied, that this may refer to the joy with
which some may entertain the ofi‘ers of par-
don, who never, after all, attentively considered
them. 3. It is objected that many have in
fact fallen away, as David, Solomon, Peter,
Alexander, Hymeneus, &c. To which it is
answered, that David, Solomon, and Peter’s
fall, were not total; and as to the others, there
is no proof of their ever being true Christians.
4. It is urged that this doctrine supersedes the
use of means, and renders exhortations unne-
cessary. To which it may be answered, that
perseverance itself implies the use of means,
and that the means are equally appointed as
well as the end; nor has it ever been found
that true Christians have rejected them. They
consider exhortations and admonitions to be
some of the means they are to attend to in
order to promote ‘their holiness: Christ and
his apostles, though they often asserted this
doctrine, yet reproved, exhorted, and made
use of means. See Exnon'ra'rron, Means.
5. Lastly, it is objected that this doctrine
gives great encouragement to carnal security
and presumptuous sin. To which it is an-
swered, that this doctrine, like many others,
may be abused by hypocrites, but cannot be
so by those who are truly serious, it being the
very nature of grace to lead to righteousness,
Tit. ii. 10, 12. Their knowledge leads to
veneration; their love animates to duty; their
faith purifies the heart; their gratitude ex-
cites to obedience; yea, all their principles
have a tendency to set before them the evil
of sin, and the beauty of holiness. See
Whitby and Gill on the Five Points; Cole on
the Sovereignty of God ; Doddridge’s Lectures,
lec. 179 ; Turretini Comp. Theologire, Ice. 14,
p. 156; (Economic Witsii, lib. iii. cap. 13;
T oplady’s Works, vol. v. p. 476; RidgZe/y’s
.Body of Div., qu. 79.
PERsoN, an individual substance of a ra-
tional intelligent nature. Some have been
offended at the term persons, as applied to the
Trinity, as unwarrantable. The term person,
when applied to Deity, is certainly used in a
sense somewhat different from that in which
we apply it to one another; but when it is
considered that the Greek words 'Y'rroo'rao'tg
and IIpoo'unrov, to which it answers, are, in
the New Testament, applied to the Father and 1
Son, Heb i. 3; 2 Cor. iv. 6; and that no
single term, at least, can be found more suit-
able, it can hardly be condemned as unscrip-
tural and improper. There have been warm
debates between the Greek and Latin
churches about the words hypostasis and per-
sona: the Latin, concluding that the word
hypostasis signified substance or essence,
thought that to assert that there were three
divine hypostases, was to say that there were
three gods. On the other hand, the Greek
church thought the word person did not sufii-
ciently guard against the Sabellian notion of
the same individual Being sustaining three
relations ; whereupon each part of the church
was ready to brand the other with heresy, till
by a free and mutual conference in a synod
at Alexandria, A.D. 362, they made it appear
that it was but a mere contention about the
grammatical sense of a word; and then it was
allowed by men of temper on both sides, that
either of the two words might be indifi‘erently
used. See Marci Zlledulla, 1, 5, § 3; Ridg-
ley’s Divinity, qu. 11 ; Hurrion on the Spirit,
p. 140; Doddridge’s Lectures, lee. 159; Gill
on the Trinity, p. 93 ; l/Vatts’s l'Vorhs, vol. v. p.
48, 208; Gill’s Body of Divinity, vol. i. p.
205, 8vo.; Edwards’s History of Redemption,
p. 51, note; Horcc Sol. vol. ii. p. 20.
Pnnsnssron, the act of influencing the
judgment and passions by arguments of mo-
tives. It is difierent from conviction. Con-
viction affects the understanding only; Pm;
‘PET
P HA
602
suasion the will and practice. It may be con-
sidered as an assent to a proposition not suifi-
ciently proved. It is more extensively used
than conviction, which last is founded on de-
monstration natural or supernatural. But all
things of which we may be persuaded, are
not capable of demonstration. See Bluffs
Rhetoric, vol. ii. p. 174.
PFfl‘ER—PENCE was an annual tribute of
one penny, paid at Rome, out of every family
at the feast of St. Peter. This Ina, the
Saxon king, when he went in pilgrimage to
Home, about the year 740, gave to the pope,
partly as alms, and partly in recompense of a
house erected in Rome for English pilgrims.
It continued to be paid generally until the
time of King Henry VIII., when it was
enacted, that henceforth no persons shall pay
any pensions,Peter-pence, or other impositions,
to the use of the bishop and see of Rome.
Pze'rnnonnussmns, a sect founded about
the year 1110 in Languedoc and Provence,
by Peter de Bruys, who made the most lau-
dable attempts to reform the abuses and to
remove the superstitions that disfigured the
beautiful simplicity of the Gospel; though
not without a mixture of fanaticism. The
following tenets were held by him and his
disciples ;——That no persons whatever were to
be baptized before they were come to the full
use of their reason. 2. That it was an idle
superstition to build churches for the service
of God, who will accept of a sincere worship
wherever it is offered; and that, therefore,
such churches as had already been erected,
were to be pulled down and destroyed. 3.
That the crucifixes, as instruments of super-
stition, deserved the same fate. 4. That the
real body and blood of Christ were not ex-
hibited in the eucharist, but were merely re-
presented in that ordinance. 5. That the ob-
lations, prayers, and good works of the living,
could be in no respect advantageous to the
dead. The founder of this sect, after a la-
borious ministry of twenty years, was burnt,
in the year 1130, by an enraged populace set
on by the clergy, whose trafiic was in danger
from the enterprising spirit of this new re-
former.
Pn'rrrron, according to Dr. Watts, is the
fourth part of prayer, and includes a desire
of deliverance from evil, and a request of good
things to be bestowed. On both these ac-
counts petitions are to be offered up to God,
not only for ourselves, but for our fellow-
creatures also. This part. of prayer is fre-
quently called intercession. See PRAYER.
PETROJOANNITES were followers of Peter
John, or Peter Joannis—that is, Peter the
son of John, who flourished in the twelfth
century. His doctrine was not known till
after his death, when his body was taken out
of his grave, and burnt. His opinions were,
that he alone had the knowledge of the true
sense wherein the apostles preached the Gos~
pel; that the reasonable soul is. not the form
of man; that there is no grace infused by
baptism; and that Jesus Christ was pierced
with a lance on the cross before he expired.
PHARISEES, a famous sect of the Jews, who
distinguished themselves by their zeal for the
tradition of the elders, which they derived
from the same fountain with the written word
itself; pretending that both were delivered to
Moses from Mount Sinai, and were, there—
fore, both of equal authority. From their
rigorous observance of these traditions, they
looked upon themselves as more holy than
other men, and therefore separated them-
selves from those whom they thought sinners
or profane, so as not to eat or drink with
them; and hence from the Hebrew word was
pharas, which signifies “to separate,” they
had the name of Pharisees, or Separa-tz'sts.
This sect was one of the most ancient and
most considerable among the Jews, but its
original is not very well known; however, it
was in great repute in the time of our Saviour,‘
and most probably had its origin at the same
time with the traditions.
The extraordinary pretences of the Phari-
sees to righteousness, drew after them the
common people, who held them in the highest
esteem and veneration.
crisy, and making the law of God of no effect
through their traditions, Matt. ix. 12; xv. 1,
6; xxiii. 13, 33. Luke xi. 39, 52. Several of
these traditions are particularly mentioned,
in the Gospel; butthey had a vast number
more, which may be seen in the Talmud, the
whole subject whereof is to dictate and ex-
plain those traditions which this sect imposed
to be believed and observed.
The Pharisees, contrary to the opinion of
the Sadducees, held a resurrection from the
deac , and the existence of angels and spirits,
Acts xxiii. 8. But, according to Josephus,
this resurrection of theirs was no more than a
Pythagorean resurrection—that is, of the soul
only, by its transmigration into another body,
and being born anew with it. From this re-
surrection they excluded all who were noto-
riously wicked, being of opinion that the souls
of such persons were transmitted into a state
of everlasting woe. As to lesser crimes, they
held they were punished in the. bodies which
the souls of those who committed them were
next sent into.
Josephus, however, either mistook the faith
of his countrymen, or, which is more probable,
wilfully misrepresented it, to render their
opinions more respected by the Roman philo-
sophers, whom he appears to have, on every
occasion, been desirous to please. The Pha~
risees had many Pagan notions respecting the
soul ; but Bishop Bull, in his Harmonia Ap0s~
tolica, has clearly proved that they held a
resurrection of the body, and that they sup-
posed a ccrtainbonc to' remain uncorrupted,
Our Saviour fre- '
quently, however, charges them with hypo-.
P' H I
PHI
603
\
to furnish the matter of which the resurrection
body was to be formed. They did not, how-
ever, believe that all mankind were to be
raised from the dead. A resurrection was
the privilege of the children of Abraham
alone, who were all to rise on Mount Zion ;
their uncorruptible bones, wherever they
might be buried, being carried to that moun-
tain below the surface of the earth. The
state of future felicity in which the Pharisees
believed was very gross: they imagined that
men in the next world, as well as in the pre-
sent, were to eat and drink, and enjoy the
pleasures of love, each being re-united to his
former wife. Hence the Sadducees, who be-
lieved in no resurrection, and supposed our
Saviour to teach it as a Pharisee, very shrewdly
urged the difficulty of disposing of the woman
who had in this world been the wife of seven
husbands. Had the resurrection of Chris-
tianity been the Pharisaical resurrection, this
difficulty would have been insurmountable;
‘and accordingly we find the people, and,
even some of the Pharisees themselves struck
with the manner in which our Saviour re-
moved it.
This sect seems to have had some confused
notions, probably derived from the Chaldeans
and Persians, respecting the pie-existence of
souls; and hence it was that Christ’s disciples
asked him concerning the blind man, John ix.
2, “ Who did ‘sin, this man, or his parents,
that he was born blind?” And when the dis-
ciples told Christ that some said he was Elias,
Jeremias, or one of the prophets, Matt. xvi.
14, the meaning can only be, that they thought
he was come into the world with the soul of
Elias, Jeremias, or some other of the old
prophets transmigrated into him. With the
Essenes, they held absolute predestination,
andwith the Sadducees, free will; but how
they reconciled these seemingly incompatible
doctrines is nowhere sufliciently explained.
The sect of the Pharisees was not extin-
guished by the ruin of the Jewish common-
wealth. The greatest part of the modern
Jews are still of this sect, being as much de-
voted to traditions, or the oral law, as their
ancestors were.
PHILADELPHIAN SOCIETY, a sect or society
of the seventeenth century; so called from an
English female, whose name was J aue Leadly.
She embraced, it is said, the same views and
the same kind of religion as Madame Bou-
rignon, (see BOURIGNONISTS.) She was of
opinion that all dissensions among Christians
would cease, and the kingdom of the Redeemer
become, even here below, a glorious scene of
charity, concord, and felicity, if those who
bear the name of Jesus, without regarding
the forms of doctrine or discipline that dis~
tinguish particular communions, would all
join in committing their souls to the care of
the internal guide, to be instructed, governed,
and formed by his divine impulse and sug~
never deig'ned to inquire.
gestions. Nay, she went still farther, and
declared, in the name of the Lord, that this
desirable event would actually come to pass,
and that she had a divine commission to pro-
claim the approach of this glorious commu-
nion of saints, who were to be gathered in one
visible universal church or kingdom before
the disolution of this earthly globe. This
prediction she delivered with a peculiar degree
of confidence, from a notion that her Phila-
delphian Society was the true kingdom of
Christ, in which alone the Divine Spirit re~
sided and reigned. She believed, it is said,
the doctrine of the final restoration of all in-
telligent beings to perfection and happiness.
PHILANTHROPY, compounded of 950mg and
avdpwirog, which signify the love of mankind.
It differs from benevolence only in this—that
benevolence extends to every being that has
life and sense, and is of course susceptible of
pain and pleasure; whereas philanthropy can-
not comprehend more than the human race.
It differs from friendship, as this affection
subsists only between a few individuals, whilst
philanthropy comprehends the whole human
species. It is a calm sentiment, which per—
haps hardly ever rises to the warmth of
affection, and certainly not to the heat of
passion.
PHILIPISTS, a sect or party among the
Lutherans, the followers of Philip Melanc-
thon. He had strenuously opposed the Ubi-
quists, who arose in his time; and the dispute
growing still hotter after his death, the uni-
versity of Wittenberg, who espoused Melanc-
thon’s opinion, were called by the Flaccians,
who attacked it, Plu'lipists.
PHILOSOPHISTS, a name given to several
persons in France who entered into a combi-
nation to overturn the religion of Jesus, and
eradicate from the human heart every reli-
gious sentiment. The man more particularly
to whom this idea first occurred was Voltaire,
who, being .weary (as he said himself) of
hearing people repeat that twelve men were
sufficient to establish Christianity, resolved to
prove that one might be sufficient to overturn
it. Full of this project, he swore, before the
year 1730, to dedicate his life to its accom-
plishment; and, for some time, he flattered
himself that he should enjoy alone the glory
of destroying the Christian religion. He
found, however, that associates would be ne-
cessary ; and from the numerous tribe of his
admirers and disciples, he chose D’Alembert
and Diderot as the most proper persons to
co-operate with him in his designs. But Vol-
taire was not satisfied with their aid alone. He
contrived to embark in the same cause Fre-
derick IL, king of Prussia, who wished to be
thought a philosopher, and who, of course,
deemed it expedient to talk and write against
a religion which he had never studied, and
into the evidence of which he had probably
This royal adept
. PHI
PHI
604-
was one of the most zealous of V oltaire’s co—
adjutors, till he discovered that the philoso-
phists were waging war with the throne as
well as with the altar. This, indeed, was not
originally Voltaire’s intention. He was vain;
he loved to be caressed by the great; and, in
one word, he was, from, natural disposition,
an aristocrat, and an admirer of royalty.
But when he found that almost every sove-
reign but Frederick disapproved of his impious
projects, as soon as he perceived their issue,
he determined to oppose all the governments
on earth rather than forfeit the glory, with
which he had flattered himself, of vanquishing
Christ and his apostles in the field of contro-
versy.
He now set himself, with D’Alembert and
Diderot, to excite universal discontent with
the established order of things. For this
purpose they formed secret societies, assumed
new names, and employed an enigmatical
language. Thus Frederic was called Lac,-
D’Alembert, Protagoras, and sometimes Bert-
rand,- Voltaire, Raton; and Diderot, Platon,
or its anagram, Tonpla; while the general
term for the conspirators was Cacoucc. In
their secret meetings they professed to cele-
brate the mysteries of JVIyt/zra; and their
great object, as they professed to one another,
was to confound the wreteh, meaning Jesus
Christ. Hence their secret watch-word was,
Ecrasez l’Infame, “Crush Christ.” If we
look into some of the books expressly written
for general circulation, we shall there find
the following doctrines; some of them stand-
ing alone in all their naked horrors, others
surrounded by sophistry and meretricious
ornaments, to entice the mind into their net
before it perceives their nature. “ The Uni-
versal Cause, that god of the philosophers, of
the Jews, and of the Christians, is but a chi-
mera and a phantom. The phenomena of
nature only prove the existence of God to a
few prepossessed men: so far from bespeak-
ing a God, they are but the necessary effects
of matter prodigiously diversified. It is
more reasonable to admit, with Manes, of a
twofold God, than of the God of Christianity.
We cannot know whether a God really exists,
or whether there is the smallest difference
between good and evil, or vice and virtue.
Nothing can be more absurd than to believe
the soul a spiritual being. The immortality
of the soul, so far from stimulating man to
the practice of virtue, is nothing but a bar-
barous, desperate, fatal tenet, and contrary to
all legislation. ' All ideas of justice and in-
justice, of virtue and vice, of glory and
infamy, are purely arbitrary, and dependent
on custom. Conscience and remorse are no-
thing but the foresight of those physical
penalties to which crimes expose us. The
man who is above the law, can commit,
without remorse, the dishonest act that may
serve his purpose. The fear of God, so far
from being the beginning of wisdom, should
be the beginning of folly. The command to
love one’s parents is more the work of educa-
tion than of nature. Modesty is only an in-
vention of refined voluptuousness. The law
which condemns married people to live to-
gether, becomes barbarous and cruel on the
day they cease to love one another.” These
extracts from the secret correspondence and
the public writings of these men, will suffice
to show us the nature and tendency of the
dreadful system they had formed.
The philosophists were diligently employed
in attempting to propagate their sentiments.
Their grand Encyclopaadia was converted
into an engine to serve this purpose. Vol-
taire proposed to establish a colony of philo-
sophists at Cleves, who, protected by the king
of Prussia, might publish their opinions with-
out dread or danger ; and Frederick was dis-
posed to take them under his protection, till
he discovered that their opinions were anar~
ehical as well as impious, when he threw
them off, and even wrote against them.
They contrived, however, to engage the mi-
nisters of the court of France in their favour,
by pretending to have nothing in view but
the enlargement of science, in works which
spoke indeed respectfully of revelation, while
every discovery which they brought forward
was meant to undermine its very foundation.
'When the throne was to be attacked, and
even when barefaccd atheism was to be pro-
mulgated, a number of .impious and licentious
pamphlets were dispersed (for some time
none knew how) from a secret society formed
at the Hotel d’Holbach, at Paris, of which
Voltaire was ‘elected honorary and’ perpetual
president. To conceal their design, which
was the diffusion of their infidel sentiments,
they called themselves Economists. See
ECONOMISTS
The books, however, that were issued from
this club were calculated to impair and over-
turn religion, morals, and government; and
which, indeed, spreading over all Europe,
imperceptibly took possession of public opi-
nion. As soon as the sale was sufficient to
pay the expenses, inferior editions were
printed and given away, or sold at a very low
price; circulating libraries of them formed,
and reading societies instituted. While they
constantly denied these productions to the
world, they contrived to give them a false
celebrity through their confidential agents
and correspondents, who were not themselves
always trusted with the entire secrct.. By
degrees they got possession nearly of all the
reviews and periodical publications, esta-
blished a general intercourse, by means of
hawkers and pedlars, with the distant pro-
vinces, and instituted an oflice to supply all
schools with teachers : and thus did they ac-
quire unprecedented dominion over every
species of literature, over the minds of all
_PHY
PHY
605
ranks of people, and over the education of
youth, without giving any alarm to the world. -
The lovers of wit and polite literature were f
caught by Voltaire ; the men of science were
perverted, and children corrupted in the first
rudiments of learning, by D’Alembert and
Diderot; stronger appetites were fed by the
secret club of Baron Holbach; the imagina-
tions of the higher orders were set danger-
ously afloat by Montesquieu; and the multi-
tude of all ranks was surprised, confounded,
and hurried away by Rousseau. Thus was
the public mind in France completely cor-
rupted, and which, no doubt, greatly acce-
lerated those dreadful events which have
since transpired in that country.
PHILOSOPHY properly denotes love, or de-
sire of wisdom, (from quaoq and (70¢La.) Py-
thagoras was the first who devised this name,
because he thought no man was wise, but
God only; and that learned men ought ra-
ther to be considered as lovers of wisdom,
than really wise. 1. Natural philosophy is
that art or science which leads us to contem-
plate the nature, causes, and effects of the
material works of God. 2. Moral philosophy
is the science of manners, the knowledge of
our duty and felicity. The various articles
included in the latter are explained in their
places in this work. 3. Mental philosophy
is the science of mind, or of the different
mental powers, affections, and associations.
PHOTINIANS, a sect of heretics in the
fourth century, who denied the divinity of
our Lord. They derive their name from
Photinus, their founder, who was bishop of
Sermium, and a disciple of Marcellus. Pho-
tinns published, in the year 343, his notions
respecting the Deity, which were repugnant
both to the orthodox and Arian systems. He
asserted that Jesus Christ was born of the
Holy Ghost and the Virgin Mary; that a cer-
tain divine emanation, which he called the
word, descended upon him, and that, because
of the union of the Divine word with his hu-
man nature, he was called the Son of God,
and even God himself; and that the Holy
Ghost was not a person, but merely a celes-
tial virtue proceeding from the Deity.
PHRYGIANS, or CATAPHRYGIANS, a sect
in the second century, so called, as being of
the country of Phrygia. They were ortho-
dox in every thing, setting aside this, that
they took Montanus for a prophet, and Pris-
cilla and Maximilla for true prophetesses, to
be consulted in every thing relating to reli-
gion ; as supposing the Holy Spirit had aban-
doned the church. See MONTANISTS.
PHYLACTERY, in general, was aname given
by the ancients to all kinds of charms, spells,
or characters which they wore about them,
as amulets, to preserve them from dangers or
diseases.
Phylactery particularly denoted a slip of
parchment, wherein was written some text of
Holy Scripture, particularly of the Decaloguc,
which the more devout people among the
Jews were on the forehead, the breast, or
the neck, as a mark of their religion.
The primitive Christians also gave the
name Phylacteries to the cases wherein they
inclosed the relics of their dead. Phylacte-
ries are mentioned in the New Testament,
and appear to have been very common among
the Pharisees in our Lord’s time.
The Phylacteries used by the modern Jews
are of three kinds ; of each of which there is
a specimen in the library of the Duke of
Sussex. They are used for the head, the
arm, and attached to the door-post. They
consist of portions of Scripture, taken from
the Pentateuch, selected according to the
situation for which they are destined, written
upon very fine vellum, in a small square
Ichlitracter, and with a particular kind of
in .
1. For the Heath—The portions of the
Pentateuch for the Phylact of the head, con-
sist of Exod. xiii. 2—10, 11—16; Deut. vi.
4—9; xi. 13—21. These four portions con-
tain thirty verses, which are written upon
four slips of vellum, separately rolled up, and
placed in four compartments, and joined to-
gether in one small square piece of skin or
leather. Upon this is written the letter shin.
From the case proceed two thongs of leather,
which are so arranged as to guard the head,
leaving the square case containing the pas-
sages of Scripture in the centre of the fore-
head. The thongs make a knot at the back
of the head, in the form of the letter dalcth,
and then come round again to the breast.
The Phylacteries for the head are called
frontlets, and the use of them appears chiefly
to rest upon two passages of Scripture, Exod.
xiii. 9, and 16. These Phylacteries are also
called tephillin shel rosh, or the tephila of the
head. .
2. For the‘Arm.—This Phylactery consists
of a roll of vellum, containing the same pas—
sages of Scripture as those for the head, and
written in the same square character, and
with the same ink, but arranged in four co-
lumns. It is rolled up to a point, and inclosed
in a sort of case of the skin of a clean beast.
A thong of leather is attached to this case,
which is placed above the binding of the left
arm, on the inside, that it may be near the
heart, according to the command, Deut. vi.
6. After making a knot in the shape of the
letter jod, the thong is rolled seven times
round the arm in a spiral form, and termi-
nates by three points round the middle finger.
These are called tephillz'n shel jad, or the te-
phila of the hand.
3. For the Door-posts.——This Phylactery is
composed of a square piece of vellum, and
written like the former, and has the 4th, 5th,
6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th verses of the sixth
chapter of Deut., and the 13th verse of the
PIC
PIE
606
eleventh chapter of the same book inscribed
on it. This slip of vellum is inclosed in a
reed or case, and on it is written the word
shadai, one of the attributes (names) of God.
The Jews aflix these to the doors of their
houses, chambers, and most frequented places.
-—-Bibli0theca Sussezvz'ana.
Preanns, a sect which arose in Bohemia,
in the fifteenth century. Picard, the author
of this sect, from whom it derived its name,
drew after him, as has been generally said, a
number of men and women, pretending he
would restore them to the primitive state of
innocence wherein man was created ; and ac-
cordingly he assumed the title of New Adam.
\Vith this pretence, he taught them to give
themselves up to all impurity, saying, that
therein consisted the liberty of the sons of
God, and all those not of their sect were in
bondage. He first published his notions in
Germany and the Low Countries, and per-
suaded many people to go naked, and gave
them the name of Adamites. After this, he
seized on an island in the river Lausnecz,
some leagues from Thabor, the head quarters
of Zisca, where be fixed himself and his fol-
lowers. I-Iis women were common, but none
were allowed to enjoy them without his per-
mission; so that when any man desired a
particular woman, he carried her to Picard,
who gave him leave in these words :—“ Go,
increase, multiply, and fill the earth.” At
length, however, Zisca, general of the Hus-
sites, (famous for his victories over the Em—
peror Sigismond,) hurt at their abominations,
marched against them, made himself master
of their island, and put them all to death ex-
cept two. whom he spared that he might learn
their doctrine.
Such is the account which various writers,
relying on the authorities of ZEneas Sylvius
and Varillas, have given of the Picards.
Some, however, doubt whether a sect of this
denomination, chargeable with such wild prin-
ciples and such licentious conduct, ever ex-
isted. It appears probable that the reproach-
ful representations of the writers just men-
tioned, were calumnies invented and propa-
gated in order to disgrace the Picards, merely
because they deserted the communion, and
protested against the errors of the Church of
Rome. Lasitius informs us that Picard, to-
. gether with forty other persons, besides women
and children, settled in Bohemia, in the year
1418. Balbinus, the J esuit, in his “ Epitome
'Rerum Bohemicarum,” lib. ii., gives a similar
account, and charges on the Picards none of
the extravagances or crimes ascribed to_ them
by Sylvius. Schlecta, secretary of Ladislaus,
king of Bohemia, in his letters to Erasmus, in
which he gives a particular account of the
Picards, says, that they considered the pope,
cardinals, and bishops of Rome as the true
antichrists ; and the adorers of the conse-
crated elements in the cucharist as downright
idolaters ; that they denied the corporeal pre-
sence of Christ in this ordinance; that they
condemned the worship of saints, prayers for
the dead, auricular confessiom'the penance
imposed by priests, the feasts and vigils ob-
served in the Romish Church; and that they
confined themselves to the observance of the
Sabbath, and of the two great feasts of Christ-
mas and Pentecost. From this account it
appears that they were no other than the
Vaudois that fled from persecution in their
own country, and sought refuge in Bohemia.
M. De Beausobre has shown that they were
both of the same sect, though under different
denominations. Besides, it is certain that
the Vaudois were settled in Bohemia in the
year 1178, where some of them adopted the
rites of the Greek, and others those of the
Latin Church. The former were pretty
generally adhered to till the middle of the
fourteenth century, when the establishment
of the Latin rites caused great disturbance.
On the commencement of the national trou-
bles in Bohemia, on account of the opposi-
tion of the papal power, the Picards more
publicly avowed and defended their reli-
gious opinions; and they formed a con—
siderable body in an island by the river
Launitz, or Lausnecz, in the district of Bechin,
and, recurring to arms, were defeated by
Zisca.
PIETISTS, a religious sect that sprung up
among the Protestants in Germany, in the lat-
ter end of the seventeenth century. Pietism
w as set on foot by the pious and learned Spener,
who, by the private societies he formed at
Frankfort with a design to promote vital reli-
gion, roused the lukewarm from their indif-
ference, and excited a spirit of vigour and
resolution in those who had been satisfied to
lament in silence the progress of impiety.
The remarkable effect of these pious meet—
ings was increased by a book he published
under the title of Pious Desires, in which he
exhibited a striking view of the disorders of
the Church, and proposed the remedies that
were proper to heal them. Many persons of
good and upright intentions were highly
pleased both with the proceedings and writ-
ings of Spener; and, indeed, the greatest part
of those who had the cause of virtue and prac-
tical religion truly at heart, applauded the
design of this good man, though an appre-
hension of abuses retained numbers from en-
couraging them openly. These abuses actu-
ally happened. The remedies proposed by
Spener to heal the disorders of the church
fell into'unskilful hands, were administered
without sagacity or prudence, and thus, in
many cases, proved to be worse than the dis-
ease itself. Hence complaints arose against
these institutions of pietism, as if, under a
striking appearance of sanctity, they led the
people into false notions of religion, and fo-
mented, in those who were of a turbulent and
PIE
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607
violent character, the seeds and principles of
mutiny and sedition. >
These complaints would have been un~
doubtedly hushed, and the tumults they occa-
sioned would have subsided by degrees, had
not the contests that arose at Leipsic, in the
year 1689, added fuel to the flame. Certain
pious and learned professors of philosophy,
and particularly Franckius, Schadius, and
Paulus Antonius, the disciples of Spener, who
at that time was ecclesiastical superintendent
of the court of Saxony, began to consider
with attention the defects that prevailed in
the ordinary method of instructing the can-
didates for the ministry ; and this review per-
suaded them of the necessity of using their
best endeavours to supply what was wanting,
and correct what was amiss. For this pur~
pose they undertook to explain in their col-
leges certain books of Holy Scriptures, in
order to render these genuine sources of reli-
gious knowledge better understood, and to
promote a spirit of practical piety and vital
religion in the minds of their hearers. The
novelty of this method drew attention, and
rendered it singularly pleasing to many ; ac—
cordingly, these lectures were much fre-
quented, and their effects were visible in the
lives and conversations of several persons,
whom they seemed to inspire with a deep
sense of the importance of religion and virtue.
Many things, however, it is said, were done
in these Biblical Colleges (as they were cal-
led) which, though they might be looked
upon by equitable and candid judges as wor-
thy of toleration and indulgence, were, never-
theless, contrary to custom, and far from
being consistent with prudence. Hence ru-
mours were spread, tumults excited, animo-
sities kindled, and the matter at length
brought to a public trial, in which the pious
and learned men above mentioned were, in-
deed, declared free from the errors and here-
sies that had been laid to their charge, but
were, at the same time, prohibited from
carrying on the plan of religious instruction
they had undertaken with such zeal. It was
during these troubles and divisions that the
invidious denomination of Pietz'sts was first
invented ; it may, at least, be affirmed, that it
was not commonly known before this period.
It was at first applied by some giddy and in-
considerate persons to those who frequented
the Biblical Colleges, and lived in a manner
suitable to the instructions and exhortations
that were addressed to them in these semina-
ries of piety. It was afterwards made use of
to characterize all those who were either dis-
tinguished by the excessive austerity of their
manners, or who, regardless of truth and
opinion, were only intent upon practice, and
turned the whole vigour of their efforts to-
wards the attainment of religious feelings and
habits. But as it is the fate of all these de-
nommations by which peculiar sects are dis-
tinguished, to be variously, and often very
improperly, applied; so the title of Pictists
was frequently given, in common conversa-
tion, to persons of eminent wisdom and sanc—
tity, who were equally remarkable for their
adherence to truth, and their love of piety;
and, not seldom, to persons whose motley
characters exhibited an enormous mixture of
profligacy and enthusiasm, and who deserved
the title of delirious fanatics better than any
other denomination.
This contest was by no means confined to
Leipsic, but spread with incredible celerity
through all the Lutheran churches in the dif-
ferent states and kingdoms of Europe. For
from this time, in all the cities, towns, and
villages where Lutheranism was professed,
there started up, all of a sudden, persons of
various ranks and professions, of both sexes,
who declared that they were called by a di-
vine impulse to pull up iniquity by the root;
to restore to its primitive lustre, and propa-
gate through the world, the declining cause
of piety and virtue ; to govern the church of
Christ by wiser rules than those by which it
was at present directed; and who, partly in
their writings, and partly in their private
and public discourses, pointed out the means
and measures that were necessary to bring
about this important revolution. Several
religious societies were formed in various
places, which, though they differed in some
circumstances, and were not all conducted
and composed with equal wisdom, piety, and
prudence, were, however, designed to pro-
mote the same general purpose. In the mean
time, these unusual proceedings filled with
uneasy and alarming apprehensions both
those who were intrusted with the govern-
ment of the church, and those who sat at the
helm of the state. These apprehensions were
justified by this important consideration, that
the pious and well-meaning persons who
composed these assemblies, had indiscreetly
admitted into their community a parcel of
extravagant and hot-headed fanatics, who
foretold the approaching destruction of Babel,
(by which they meant the Lutheran church,)
terrified the populace with fictitious visions,
assumed the authority of prophets honoured
with a divine commission, obscured the sub—
lime truths of religion by a gloomy kind of
jargon of their own invention, and revived
doctrines that had long before been con-
demned by the church. The most violent.
debates arose in all the Lutheran churches;
and persons whose differences were occasioned
rather by mere words, and questions of little
consequence, than by any doctrines or insti-
tutions of considerable importance, attacked
one another with the bitterest animosity; and
in many countries severe laws were at length
enacted against the Pietists.
These revivers of piety were of two kinds,
who, by their difi‘erent manner of proceeding,
PIE
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608
deserve to be placed in two distinct classes.
One sect of these practical reformers proposed
to carry on their plan without introducing
any change into the doctrine, discipline, or
form of government that were established in
the Lutheran church. The other maintained,
on the contrary, that it was impossible to
promote the progress of real piety among
the Lutherans without making considerable
alterations in their doctrine, and changing
the whole form of their ecclesiastical disci-
pline and polity. The former had at their
head the learned and pious Spener, who, in
the year 1691, removed from Dresden to
Berlin, and whose sentiments were adopted
by the professors of the new academy of
Halle; and particularly by Franckius and
Paulus Antonius, who had been invited thi-
ther from Leipsic, where they began to be
suspected of Pietism. Though few pretended
to treat either with indignation or contempt
the intentions and purposes of these good
men, (which, indeed, none could despise with-
out affecting to appear the enemy of practical
religion and virtue,) yet many eminent di-
vines, and more especially the professors and
pastors of Wittenberg, were of opinion that,
in the execution of this laudable purpose,
several maxims were adopted, and certain
measures employed, that were prejudicial to
the truth, and also detrimental to the interests
of the church. Hence they looked on them-
selves as obliged to proceed publicly against
Spener, in the year 1695, and afterwards
against his disciples and adherents, as the in-
ventors and promoters of erroneous and dan-
gerous opinions. These debates are of a
recent date; so that those who are desirous
of knowing more particularly how far the
principles of equity, moderation, and candour
influenced the minds and directed the conduct
of the contending parties, may easily receive
satisfactory information.
These debates turned upon a variety of
points, and therefore the matter of them can-
not be comprehended under any one general
head. If we consider them, indeed, in rela-
tion to their origin, and the circumstances
that gave rise to them, we shall then be able
to reduce them to some fixed principles. It
is well known, that those who had the ad-
vancement of piety most zealously at heart,
were possessed of a notion that no order of
men contributed more to retard its progress
than the clergy, whose peculiar vocation it
was to inculcate and promote it. Looking
upon this as the root of the evil, it was but
natural that their plans of reformation should
begin here; and accordingly they laid it down
as an essential principle, that none should be
admitted into the ministry but such as had
received a proper education, were distin-
guished by their wisdom and sanctity of
manners, and had hearts filled with divine\
love. Hence they proposed, in the first
place, a thorough reformation of the schools
of divinity; and they explained clearly
enough what they meant by this reformation,
which consisted in the following points :—
That the systematic theology which reigned
in the academics, and was composed of intri-
cate and disputable doctrines, and obscure
and unusual forms of expressipn, should be
totally abolished; that polemical divinity,
which comprehended the controversies sub-
sisting between Christians of different com-
munions, should be less eagerly studied, and
less frequently treated, though not entirely
neglected; that all mixture of philosophy and
human learning with divine wisdom was to
be most carefully avoided; that, on the con-
trary, all those who were designed for the
ministry should be accustomed from their
early youth to the perusal and study of the
Holy Scriptures; that they should be taught
a plain system of theology, drawn from these
unerring sources of truth; and that the whole
course of their education was to be so di-
rected as to render them useful in life, by the
practical power of their doctrine and the
commanding influence of their example. As
these maxims were propagated with the
greatest industry and zeal, and were ex-
plained inadvertently by some without those
restrictions which prudence seemed to re-
quire, these professed patrons and revivers of
piety were suspected of designs that could
not but render them obnoxious to censure.
They were supposed to despise philosophy
and learning; to treat with indifference, and
even to renounce, all inquiries into the nature
and foundations of religious truths ; to disap-
prove of the zeal and labours of those who
defended it against such as either corrupted
or opposed it ; and to place the whole of their
theology in certain vague and incoherent de-
clamations concerning the duties of morality.
Hence arose those famous disputes concern-
ing the use of philosophy, and the value of
human‘ learning, considered in connexion
with the interests of religion; the dignity
and usefulness of systematic theology; the
necessity of polemic divinity ; the excellence
of the mystic system; and also concerning
the true method of instructing the people.
The second great object that employed the
zeal and attention of the persons now under
consideration was, that the candidates for the
ministry should not only for the future re-
ceive such an academical education as would
tend rather to solid utility than to mere spe-
culation ; but also that they should dedicate
themselves to God in a peculiar manner, and
exhibit the most striking examples of piety
and virtue. This maxim, which, when con-
sidered in itself, must be considered to be
highly laudable, not only gave occasion to
several new regulations, designed to restrain
the passions of the studious youth, to inspire
them with pious sentiments, and to excite in
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them holy resolutions, but also produced an-
other maxim, which was a lasting source of
controversy and debate, viz. : “ That no per-
son that was not himself a model of piety
and divine love was qualified to be a public
teacher of piety, or a guide to others in the
way of salvation.” This opinion was consi-
dered by many as derogatory from the power
and efficacy of the word of God, which can-
not be deprived of its divine influence by the
vices of its ministers, and as a sort of revival
of the long- exploded errors of the Donatists;
and what rendered it peculiarly liable to an
interpretation of this nature was, the impru-
dence of some Pietists, who inculcated and
explained it without those restrictions that
were necessary to render it unexceptionable.
Hence arose endless and intricate debates
concerning the following questions :—“ W'he-
ther the religious knowledge acquired by a
wicked man can be termed theology?” “ Whe-
ther a vicious person can, in effect, attain a
true knowledge of religion?” “ How far the
ofiice and ministry of an impious ecclesiastic
can be pronounced salutary and efficacious?”
“ Whether a licentious and ungodly man can-
not be susceptible of illumination?” and
other questions of a like nature.
These revivers of declining piety went still
farther. In order to render the ministry of
their pastors as successful as possible in rous-
ing men from their indolence, and in stemming
the torrent of corruption and immorality, they
judged two things indispensably necessary.
The first was, to suppress entirely, in the
course of public instruction, and more espe-
cially in that delivered from the pulpit, certain
maxims and phrases which the corruption of
men leads them frequently to interpret in a
manner favourable to the indulgence of their
passions. Such, in the judgment of the Piet-
ists, were the following propositions : No man
is able to attain to that perfection which the
Divine law requires ; good works are not ne-
cessary to salvation ; in the act of justification,
on the part of man, faith alone is concerned,
without good works. The second step they
took in order to give efiicacy to their plans of
reformation, was to form new rules of life and
manners, much more rigorous and austere
than those that had been formerly practised;
and to place in the class of sinful and unlaw-
ful gratifications, several kinds of pleasure
and amusement which had hitherto been
looked upon as innocent in themselves, and
which could only become good or evil in con-
sequence of the respective characters of those
who used them with prudence, or abused them
with intemperance. Thus, dancing, panto-
mimes, public sports, theatrical diversions, the
reading of humorous and comical books, with
several other kinds of pleasure and entertain-
ment, were prohibited by the Pietists as un-
lawful and unseemly, and therefore by no
means of an indifferent nature. The third
thing on which the Pietists insisted was, that
besides the stated meetings for public worship,
private assemblies should be held for prayer
and other religious exercises.
The other class of Pietists already men-
tioned, whose reforming views extended so
far as to change the system of doctrine and
the form of ecclesiastical government that were
established in the Lutheran church, compre-
hended persons of various characters and dif-
ferent ways of thinking. Some of them were
totally destitute of judgment ; their errors were
the reveries of a disordered brain; and they
were rather considered as lunatics than as
heretics. Others were less extravagant, and
tempered the singular notions they had de-
rived from reading or meditation, with a cer-
tain mixture of the important truths and doc-
trines of religion.
So far Mosheim, whose acgount of the Piet-
ists seems to have been drawn up with a de-
gree of severity. Indeed, he represents the
real character of Franck and his colleagues
as regardless of truth and opinion. A more
recent historian, however, (Dr. Haweis,) ob-
serves, “ that no men more rigidly contended
for, or taught more explicitly the fundamen-
tal doctrines of Christianity; from all I have
read or known, I am disposed to believe they
were remarkably amiable in their behaviour,
kind in their spirit, and compassionate to the
feeble-minded.”
PIETY consists in a firm belief and in right
conceptions of the being, perfections, and
providence of God; with suitable afiections to
him, resemblance of his moral perfections, and
a constant obedience to his will. The different
articles included in this definition,such as know-
ledge, veneration, love, resignation, &c., are
explained in their proper places in this work.
We shall, however, present the reader with
a few ideas on the subject of early piety; a
subject of infinite importance, and which we
beg our young readers especially to regard.
“ Youth,” says Mr. Jay, “is a period which
presents the fewest obstacles to the practice of
godliness, whether we consider our external
circumstances, our nature, powers, or our
moral habits. In that season we are most
free from those troubles which imbitter,
those schemes which engross. those engage-
ments which hinder us in more advanced
and connected life. Then the body possesses
health and strength; the memory is recep-
tive and tenacious ; the fancy glows; the
mind is lively and vigorous; the understand—
ing is more docile; the afl‘ections are more
easily touched and moved; we are more ac-
cessible to the influence of joy and sorrow,
hope and fear; we engage in an enterprise
with more expectation, and ardour, and zeal.
Under the legal economy, the first was to be
chosen for God; the first-born of man, the
first-born of beasts, the first-fruits of the
field. It was an honour becoming the God
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they worshipped to serve him first. This duty
the young alone can spiritualize and fulfil, by
giving him who deserves all their lives the
first-born of their days, and the first-fruits of
their reason and their affection; and never
have they such an opportunity to prove the
goodness of their motives as they then possess.
See an old man: what does he offer? his
riches? but he can use them no longer. His
pleasures? but he can enjoy them no longer.
His honour? but it is withered on his brow.
His authority? but it has dropped from his
feeble hand. He leaves his sins ; but it is be-
cause they will no longer hear him company.
He flies from the world; but it is because he
is burnt out. He enters the temple; but it is
as a sanctuary; it is only to take hold of the
horns of the altar; it is a refuge, not a place
of devotion, he seeks. But they who conse-
crate to him th ir youth, they do not pro—
fanely tell him t suspend his claims till the
rest are served; till they have satisfied the
world and the flesh, his degrading rivals.
They do not send him forth to gather among
the stubble the gleanings of life, after the
enemy has secured the harvest. They are
not like those, who, if they reach Immanuel’s
land, are forced thither by shipwreck: they
sail thither by intention. .
“ Consider the beneficial influence of early
piety over the remainder of our days.
Youth is the spring of life, and by this will
be determined the glory of summer, the
abundance of autumn, the provision of winter.
It is the morning of life; and if the Sun of
righteousness does not dispel the moral mists
and fogs before noon, the whole day generally
remains overspread and gloomy. Piet-y in
youth will have a good influence over our
bodies; it will preserve them from disease
and deformity. Sin variously tends to the
injury of health; and often by intemperance
the constitution is so‘ impaired, that late reli-
gion is unable to restore what early religion
would have prevented. Early piety will have
a good influence to secure us from all those
dangers to which we are exposed in a season
of life the most perilous. Conceive of a
youth entering a world like this, destitute of
the presiding, governing care of religion ; his
passions high, his prudence weak, impatient,
rash, confident, without experience; a thou-
sand avenues of seduction opening around
him, and a syren voice singing at the entrance
of each; pleased with appearances, and em-
bracing them for realities, joined by evil
company, and ensnared by erroneous publica-
tions : these hazards ‘exceed all the alarm I
can give. How necessary, therefore, that we
should trust in the Lord with our hearts, and
lean not to» our own understanding; but in
all our ways acknowledge him, that he may
direct our paths 1
“ Early piety will have a beneficial influ-
ence in forming our connexions, and esta-
blishing our plans for life. It will teach us
to ask counsel of the Lord, and arrange all
under the superintendeney of Scripture.
Those changes which a person who becomes
religious in manhood is obliged to make, are
always very embarrassing. With what diffi-
culty do some good men establish family
worship, after living, in the view of children
and servants, so long in the neglect of it !---
but this would have been avoided, had they
early followed the example of Joshua :—-‘ As
for me and my house, we will serve the
Lord.’ How hard is it to disentangle our-
selves from associates with whom we have
been long familiar, andvwho have proved a
snare to our souls!. Some evils indeed are
remediless; persons have formed alliances
which they cannot dissolve: but they did not
walk by the rule, ‘ Be ye not unequally yoked
together with unbelievers ;’ they are now
wedded to misery all their days; and repent-
ance, instead of vvisiting them like a faithful
friend, to chide them when they do wrong,
and withdraw, is quartered upon them for
life. An early dedication to God, therefore,
renders a religious life more easy, pleasant,
and safe. It is of unspeakable advantage
also under the calamities of life. It turns the
curse into a blessing; it enters the house of
mourning and soothes the troubled mind; it
prepares us for all, sustains us in all, sanc-
tifies us by all, and delivers us from all.
Finally, it will bless old age: we shall look
back with pleasure on some instances of use—
fulness ; to some poor traveller, to whom we
have been arefreshing stream; some deluded
wanderer we guided into the path of peace.
We shall look forward, and see the God who
has guided us with his counsel, and be en-
abled to say, ‘ Henceforth there is laid up for
me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord,
the righteous Judge, shall give me at that
day; and not to me only, but unto all them
that love his appearing.’ ” Jay’s Ser. vol. i.
ser. 5. Jennz‘ngs’s, Evans’s, Doddridge’s, Jer-
ment’s, and Tlzornton’s Sermons to Young Peo-
ple; Brg/son’s Address to Youth.
PILGBIM, in an ecclesiastical sense, one
who travels through foreign countries to visit
holy places, and to pay his devotion to the re-
lies of dead saints. The word is formed from
the Flemish pelgrim, or Italian pelegrin'o, which
signifies the same; and those originally from
the Latin peregrinus, a stranger or traveller.
PILGRIM FATHERS, a designation given to
those Puritans who emigrated early in the
sixteenth century from Holland and England
to North America, where they founded the
congregational churches of New England.
PILGRIMAGE, a kind of religious discipline,
which consists in taking a journey to some
holy place, in order to adore the relics of
some deceased saints. Pilgrimages began to be
made about the middle ages of the church,
butthey were most in vogue after the end of
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the eleventh century, when every one wasfor
visiting places of devotion, not excepting
kings and princes; and even blShOPS made
no difl‘iculty of being absent from their
churches on the same account. The places
most visited were Jerusalem, Home, Tours,
and Compostella. As to the latter place, we
, find that in the year 1428, under the reign of
Henry VI., abundance of licenses granted
from the crown of England to captains of
English ships, for carrying numbers of de-
vout persons thither to the shrine of St.
James; provided, however, that those pil-
grims should first take an oath not to take
anything prejudicial ‘to England, nor to reveal
any of its secrets, nor to carry out with them
any more gold or silver than what would be ,
sufiicient for their reasonable expenses. In
this year there went thither from England on
the said pilgrimage the following number of
persons: from London 280, Bristol 200, Wey-
mouth 122, Dartmouth 90, Yarmouth 60,
Jersey 60, Plymouth 40, Exeter 30, Poole
28, Ipswich 20 ; in all, 926 persons. Of late
years the greatest number have resorted to
Loretto, in order to visit the chamber of the
Blessed Virgin, in which she was born, and
brought up her son Jesus till he was twelve
years of age. _
In almost every country where popery has
been established, pilgrimages have been com-
mon. In England, the shrine of St. Thomas-
aft-Becket was the chief resort of the pious;
and in Scotland, St. Andrew’s, where, as tra-
dition informs us, was deposited a leg of the
holy apostle. In Ireland they have been con-
tinued even down to modern times; for from
the beginning of May till the middle of: Au-
gust every year, crowds of popish penitents
from all parts of that country resort to an
island near the centre of Lough Fin, or ‘White
Lake, in the county of Donegal, to the
amount of 3000 or 4000. These are mostly
of the poorer sort, and many of them are
proxies for those who are richer: some of
whom, however, together with some of the
priests and bishops on occasion, make their
‘appearance there. When the pilgrim comes
within sight of the holy lake, he must uncover
his hands and feet, and thus walk to the water-
side, and is taken to the island for sixpence.
Here there are two chapels, and fifteen other
houses; to which are added confessionals, so
contrived, that the priest cannot see the per-
son confessing. The penance varies accord-
ing to the circumstances of the penitent;
during the continuation of which (which is
sometimes three, six, or nine days) he sub-
sists on oatmeal, sometimes made into bread.
'He traverses sharp stones on his bare knees
01‘ feet, and goes ‘through a variety of other
forms, paying Sixpence at every different con-
fession. When all is over, the priest bores a
gimlet hole through the top of the pilgrim’s
staff, in which he fastens a cross peg; gives
i tholic countries.

him as many holy pebbles out of the lake
as he cares to carry away, for amulets to be
presented to his friends, and. so dismisses
him, an object of veneration to all other
Papists not thus initiated; who no sooner see
the pilgrim’s cross in his hands, than they
kneel down to get his blessing.
There are, however, it is said, other parts
of Ireland sacred to extraordinary worship
and pilgrimage; and the number of holy
wells, and miraculous cures, &c., produced by
them are very great That such things
should exist in this enlightened age, and in a
portion of Great Britain, is indeed strange;
but our wonder ceases when we reflect it is
among the lowest, and perhaps the worst of
the people.
Pilgrimage is not peculiar to Roman Ca-
The Mohammedans place a
great part of their religion in it. Mecca is
the grand place to which they go; and this
pilgrimage is so necessary a point of practice,
that, according to a tradition of Mohammed, he
who dies without performing it, may as well
die a Jew or a Christian; and the same is
expressly commanded in the Koran. What
is principally reverenced in this place, and
gives sanctity to the whole, is a square stone
building, called the Kaaba. Before the time
of Mohammed this temple was a place of wor-
ship for the idolatrous Arabs, and is said to
have contained no less than three hundred
and sixty different images, equalling in num-
her the days of the Arabian year. They were
all destroyed by Mohammed, who sanctified the
Kaaba, and appointed it to be the chief place
of worship for all true believers. The Mus-
sulmans pay so great a veneration to it, that
they believe a single sight of its sacred walls,
without any particular act of devotion, is as
meritorious in the sight of God as the most
careful discharge of one’s duty for the space
of a whole year in. any other temple.
To this temple every Mohammedan who has
health and means sufiicient, ought once, at
least, in his life, to go on pilgrimage ; nor are
women excused from the performance of this
duty. The pilgrims meet at different places
near Mecca, according to the different parts
from whence they come during the months of
Shawal and Dhu’lkaada, being obliged to be
there by the beginning of Dhu’lhajja; which
month, as its name imports, is peculiarly set
apart for the celebration of this solemnity.
The men put on the ibram, or sacred ha-
bit, which consists only of two woollen wrap-
pers, one wrapped about the middle, and the
other thrown over their shoulders, having
their heads bare, and a kind of slippers which
cover neither the heel nor the instep, and so
enter the sacred territory in their way to
Mecca. While they have this habit on, they
must neither hunt nor fowl, (though they are
allowed to fish ;) which precept is so punctu-
ally observed, that they will not kill vermin
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if they find them on their bodies: there are
some noxious animals, however, which they
have permission to kill during the pilgrim-
age—as kites, ravens, scorpions, mice and dogs
given to bite. During the pilgrimage, it be-
hoves a man to have a constant guard over
his words and actions; to avoid all quarrel-
ling or ill language, all converse with women,
and all obscene discourse; and to apply his
whole attention to the good work he is en-
gaged in.
The pilgrims being arrived at Mecca, im—
mediately visit the temple, and then enter on
the performance of the prescribed, ceremo-
nies, which consist chiefly in going in pro-
cession round the Kaaba, in running between
the Mounts Safa and Meriva, in making the sta-
tion on Mount Arafat, and slaying the victims
and shaving their heads in the valley of Mina.
In compassing the Kaaba, which they do
seven times, beginning at the corner where
the black stone is fixed, they use a short
quick pace the first three times they go round
it, and a grave ordinary pace the four last;
which it is said is ordered by Mohammed,that
his followers might show themselves strong
and active, to cut off the hopes of the infidels,
who gave out that the immoderate heats of
Medina had rendered them weak. But the
aforesaid quick pace they are not obliged to
use every time they perform this piece of de-
votion, but only at some particular times. So
often as they pass by the black stone, they
either kiss it, or touch it with their hand, and
kiss that.
The running between Safa and Meriva is
also performed seven times, partly with a
slow pace, and partly running; for they walk
gravely till they come to a place between two
pillars; and there they run, and afterwards
walk again, sometimes looking back, and
sometimes stopping, like one who had lost
something, to represent Hagar seeking water
for her son ; for the ceremony is said‘ to be as
ancient as her time.
On the 9th of Dhu’lhajja, after morning
prayer, the pilgrims leave the valley of Mina,
~ whither they come the day before, and pro-
cccd in a tumultuous and rushing manner to
Mount Arafat and Mina, and there spend the
night in prayer and reading the Koran. The
next morning by day-break they visit Al
Masher al Karam, or the sacred monument ;
and, departing thence before sun-rise, haste
by Batn Mohasser to the valley of Mina,
where they throw seven stones at three
marks or pillars, in imitation of Abraham,
who, meeting the devil in that place, and be-
ing by him disturbed in his devotions, or
tempted to disobedience when he was going
to sacrifice his son, was commanded by God
to drive him away by throwing stones at
him; though others pretend this rite to be as
old as Adam, who also put the devil to flight
in the same place, and by the same means.
The ceremony being over, on the same
day, the tenth of Dhu’lhajja, the pilgrims
slay their victims in the said valley of Mina,
of which they and their friends eat part, and
the rest is given to the poor. These victims
must be either sheep, goats, kine, or camels;
males, if either of the two former kinds, and
females if either of the latter, and of a fit age.
The sacrifices being over, they shave their
heads and cut their nails, burying them in
the same place ; after which the pilgrimage is
looked on as completed, though they again visit
the Kaaba, to take their leave of that sacred
building. ,
Dr. Johnson gives us some observations on
pilgrimage, which are so much to the purpose,
that we shall here present them to the reader.
“Pilgrimage, like many other acts of piety,
may be reasonable or superstitious, according
to the principles upon which it is performed.
Long journeys in search of truth are not
commanded; truth, such as is necessary to
the regulation of life, is always found where
it is honestly sought; change of place is no
natural cause of the increase of piety, for it
inevitably produces dissipation of mind. Yet
since men go every day to view the fields
where great actions have been erformed,
and return with stronger impressions of the
event, curiosity of the same kind may natu-
rally dispose us to view that country whence
our religion had its beginning. That the
Supreme Being may be more easily propiti-
ated in one place than another, is the dream
of idle superstition; but that some places
may operate upon our own minds in an un-
common manner, is an opinion which hourly
experience will justify. He who supposes
that his vices may be more successfully com-
bated in Palestine will, perhaps, find himself
mistaken; yet he may go thither without
folly : he who thinks they will be more freely
pardoned dishonours at once his reason and
his religion.” Johnson’s Rasselas; Enc. Brit. ;
Hume’s History of England. See CRUSADE.
PIOUS FRAUDS. See FRAUDS.
PITY is generally defined to be the uneasi-
ness we feel at the unhappiness of others,
prompting us to compassionate them, with a
desire of their relief.
God is said to pity them that fear him, as
a father pitieth his childi'en. The father,
says Mr. Henry, pities his children that are
weak in knowledge, and instructs them;
pities them when they are froward, and bears
with them; pities them when they are sick,
and comforts them; (Isa. lxvi. 13;) when
they are fallen, and helps them up again;
when they have offended, and forgives them ;
when they are wronged, and rights them.
Thus the Lord pitieth them that fear him.
(Ps. ciii. 13.) See COMPASSION or G01).
PLASTIC NATURE, ‘an absurd doctrine,
which some have thus described :——“ It is an
incorporeal created substance enducd with a

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vegetative life, but not with sensation or
thought; penetrating the whole created uni-
verse, being co-extended with it; and, under
God, moving matter, so as to produce the
phenomena which cannot be solved by me-
chanical laws: active for ends unknown to
itself, not being expressly conscious of its
actions, and yet having an obscure idea of
the action to be entered upon.” To this it
has been answered, that, as the idea itself is
most obscure, and, indeed, inconsistent, so
the foundation of it is evidently weak. It is
intended by this to avoid the inconveniency
of subjecting God to the trouble of some
changes in the created world, and the mean-
ness of others. But it appears that, even
upon this hypothesis, he would still be the
author of them ; besides, that to Omnipotence
nothing is troublesome, nor those things mean,
when considered as parts of a system, which
alone might appear to be so. Doddridge’s
Lectures, Ice. 37 ; Cudworth’s Intellectual Sys-
tem, pp. 149, 172; More’s Immortality of the
Soul, 1. iii. c. 12; Ray’s Wisdom of God, pp.
51, 52 ; Lord Monboddo’s Ancient Metaphysics;
Youn ’s Essay on the Powers and Mechanism
of ature.
PLATONICS, NEw. See NEW PLALPONICS.
PLEASURE, the delight which arises in the
mind from the contemplation or enjoyment
of something agreeable. See HAPPINESS.
PLENARY INSPIRATION. See INSPIRATION.
PLURALIST, one that holds more than one
ecclesiastical benefice with cure of souls.
Episcopalians contend there is no impropriety
in a presbyter holding more than one ecclesi-
astical benefice. Others, on the contrary,
afiirm that this practice is exactly the reverse
of the primitive churches, as well as the in-
structions of the apostle, Tit. i. 5. Instead
of a plurality of churches to one pastor, they
say we ought to have a plurality of pastors
to one church. (Acts xiv. 23.) The system
of pluralities, which obtains to such an extent
in England, arose out of an obsolete law, by
which a poor clergyman was enabled, if he
obtained the bishop’s consent, to hold two or
more livings under the nominal value of 81.
By the canon law, thirty miles was prescribed
as the greatest distance at which two livings
could be held together; but the practice
which has prevailed for more than a century
is to consider the thirty miles as forty-five.
In consequence of the operation of this sys-
tem, upwards of two thousand parishes are
deprived of their right of possessing resident
incumbents.
PLYMOUTH BRETHREN, an association of
separatists, so called from their head-quarters
being in and around the town of Plymouth.
They consist, for the most part, of members
of the Established Church, whose minds had
become unsettled by the perusal of Irvingite
and other extreme millenarian views, and
who, disinclined to unite with any existing
body of Dissenters, resolved to form them~
selves into a society, to be marked by no
sectarian peculiarities, and open to Christians
of all denominations who hold the principles
of evangelical religion. They assume no
name but that of “ Christians,” or “Breth-
ren;” have no written creed; renounce all
personal claim to their property; are strongly
opposed to a separate order of educated min-
isters ; maintain that, as the gifts of the Spirit
specified in I Cor. xii. are still enjoyed by
the church, the ministry ought to be open to
all the members; reprobate the holding of
the magistrate’s ofiice by Christians, and their
exercising any political right or privilege;
and refuse to co-operate with other Christian
societies for the attainment of any common
object. So far as has been ascertained, the
management of the affairs of the Society,
both as it respects the admission of members
and the distribution of funds, is lodged in the
hands of a few, who do not appear to be held
responsible to their brethren. They observe
the apostolic practice of showing forth the
Lord’s death every Lord's day. Their'con-
gregations amount to upwards of seventy;
and they reckon among their members a con-
siderable number of gentlemen who have re-
nounced their livings as clergymen of the
Church of England.
PNEUMATOLOGY, the doctrine of spiritual
existence. See SoUL.
PNEUMATOMACHISTS, a name given to Ma-
cedonius, bishop of Constantinople, and his
adherents, in the middle of the fourth cen-
tury, who denied that the Holy Spirit was
equal in essence and dignity to God the F a-
ther. They were condemned as teachers of
heresy by the Council of Alexandria, in 362.
POETRY, HEBREW. That a collection of
writings, substantiating their claims to the
most remote antiquity, and containing sub-
jects of the most inspiring and devotional
kind, should exhibit specimens of the poetic
art, is what we might naturally be prepared
to expect; yet it does not appear that the
subject excited that attention, or produced
that admiration, and that minute investigation
to which it is entitled, till the time of Bishop
Lowth, who has illustrated it with singular
elegance, ability, and success. According to
that learned prelate, there are four principal
characteristics of Hebrew poetry. First, the
alphabetical, in which certain lines or verses
begin with the same letter of the alphabet, or
with the letters of the alphabet in regular
succession. Secondly, the parabolic; the
constituent principles of which are the sen-
tentious, the figurative, and_ the sublime.
Thirdly, the parallelism ; consisting in a cer-
tain equality or resemblance between the_
members of each period, so that in two lines,
or members of the same period, things for
the most part shall answer to things, and
words to words, as if fitted to each other by
P O L
POL
614
a kind of rule or measure. Of this parallel-
ism there are three species; the synonymous,
when the same sentiment is repeated in dif-
ferent but equivalent terms, which is done in
a great variety of forms; the antithetic, when
a. thing is illustrated by its contrary being
opposed to it,—-sentiments being opposed to
sentiments, words to words, singulars to sin-
gulars; and the synthetic or constructive, to
which he refers all that does not come within
the two former classes. It generally consists
of verses somewhat longer than usual, and in
which the sentences answer to each other,
not by the iteration of the same image or
sentiment, or the opposition of their contra-
ries, but merely by the form of construction.
Others have divided the parallelism into pa-
rallel lines gradational, parallel lines anti-
thetic, parallel lines synthetic, and parallel
lines introverted.- See Bishop Jebb, and
Home's IntrocL, vol. ii., p. 424 ; the former of
whom has, at, considerable length, attempted
to show that much of these species of con-
struction are found in the New Testament as
well as the Old.
Bishop Lowth further reduces the various
productions of the Hebrew poets to the fol-
lowing classes:-— 1. Prophetic poetry; 2.
Elegiac poetry; 3. Didactic poetry ; 4. Lyric
poetry ; 5. Idyllic poetry ; 6. Dramatic
poetry.
On the nature of the Hebrew metre much
has been written, but nothing like a satisfac-
tory result has yet been arrived at. This
may, in a great measure, be ascribed to the
difliculties under which we labour in endea-
vouring to ascertain and fix the true pronun-
ciation of the Hebrew language. Attempts
have been made to determine the nature of
the rhythm or quantity by Meibomius, Go-
marus, Le Clerc, and others on the continent,
and especially by Bishop Hare in our own
country; but they have all failed to prove
that the poetical compositions of Scripture
are constructed on any principles similar to
those of Latin and Greek verse; and it has
been well remarked by Bishop Lowth, that
since the regulation of thc metre of any lan-
guage must depend upon these two particu-
lars—the number and the len h of the syl-
lables—the knowledge of which is utterly
unattainable in the Hebrew, he who attempts
to restore the true and genuine Hebrew ver-
sification erects an edifice without a founda-
tion.
POLONES FRATRES. See Socmnms
POLYGAMY, the state of having more wives
than one at once. Though this article (like
some others that we have inserted) cannot be
considered as strictly theological, yet as it is
a subject of importance to society, we shall
here introduce it. The circumstances of the
patriarchs living in polygamy, and their not
being reproved for it, has given occasion for
unlawful: but it is answered that the equality
in the number of males and females born
into the world intimates the intention of God
that one woman should be assigned to one
man : “for,” says Dr. Paley, “if to one man
be allowed an exclusive right to five or more
women, four or more men must be deprived
of the exclusive possession of any; which
could never be the order intended. The
equality, indeed, is not quite exact. The
number of male infants exceeds that of fe-
males in the proportion of 19 to 18, or there-
abouts; but this excess provides for the
greater consumption of males by war, sea-
faring, and other dangerous or unhealthy oc-
cupations. It seems also a significant indica-
tion of the divine will, that he at first created
only one woman to one man. Had God in-
tended polygamy for the species, it is probable
he would have begun with it; especially as
by giving to Adam more wives than one, the
multiplication of the human race would have
proceeded with a quicker progress. Polygamy
not only violates the constitution of nature,
and the apparent design of the Deity, but
produces to the parties themselves, and to the
public, ~the following bad effects: contests and
j ealousies amongst the wives of the same hus-
band; distracted affections, or the loss of all
affection in the husband himself ; a voluptu-
ousness in the rich which dissolves the vigour
of their intellectual as well as active faculties,
producing that indolence and imbecility, both
of mind and body, which have long charac-
terized the nations of the East; the abase-
ment of one half of the human species, who,
in countries where polygamy obtains. are de-
graded into instruments of physical pleasure
to the other half; neglect of children; and
the manifold and sometimes unnatural mis-
chiefs which arise from a scarcity of ‘women.
To compensate for these evils, polygamy does
not offer a single advantage. In the article
of population, which it has been thought to
promote, the community gain nothing, (no-
thing, I mean, compared with a state in which
marriage is nearly universal ;) for the ques-
' tion is not, whether one man will have more
children by five or more wives than by one,
but whether these five wives would not bear
the same or a greater number of children to
five separate husbands. And as to the care
of children when produced, and the sending
of them into the world in situations in which
they may be likely to form and bring up
families of their own, upon which the increase
and succession of the human species in a
great degree depend, this is less provided for
and less practicable, where twenty or thirty
children are to be supported by the‘ attention
and fortunes of one father, than if they were
divided into five or six families, to each of
which were assigned the industry and in-
heritancc of two parents. ‘Whether simul-
some modern writers to suppose that it is not , taneous polygamy was permitted by the law
POL
POL
615
of Moses seems doubtful, Deut. xvii. 16 ; xxi.
l5 ; but whether permitted or not, it was cer-
tainly practised by the Jewish patriarchs,
both before that law and under it. The per-
mission, if there were any, might be like that
of divorce, “ for the hardness of their heart,”
in condescension to their established indul-
gences, rather than from the general rectitude
or propriety of the thing itself.
“ The state of manners in J udea had‘ pro-
bably undergone a reformation in this respect
before the time of Christ; for in the New
Testament we meet with no trace or mention
of any such practice being tolerated. For
which reason, and because it was likewise
forbidden amongst the Greeks and Romans,
we cannot expect to find any express law upon
the subject in the Christian code. The words
of Christ, Matt. xix. 9, may be construed by
an easy implication to prohibit polygamy; for
if “whoever putteth away his wife, and mar-
rieth another, committeth adultery,” he who
marrieth another, without putting away the
first, is no less guilty of adultery; because
the adultery does not consist in the repudia—
tion of the first wife, (for however unjust or
cruel that may be, it is not adultery,) but en-
tering into a second marriage during the legal
existence and obligation of the first. The se-
veral passages in St. Paul’s writings which
speak of marriage, always suppose it to sig-
nify the union of one man with one woman,
Rom. vii. 2, 3. 1 Cor. vii. 12, 14, 16. The
manners of different countries have varied
in nothing more than in their domestic con-
stitutions. Less polished and more luxurious
nations have either not perceived the bad ef-
fects of polygamy, or, if they did perceive
them, they who in such countries possessed
the power of reforming the laws, have been
unwilling to resign their own gratifications.
Polygamy is retained at this day among the
Turks, and throughout every part of Asia in
which Christianity is not professed. In Chris-
tian cotmtries it is universally prohibited. In
Sweden it is punished with death. In Eng-
land, besides the nullity of the second mar-
riage, it subjects the offender to transpor-
tation or imprisonment and branding for the
first offence, and to capital punishment for the
second. And whatever may be said in behalf
of polygamy, when it is authorized by the
law of the land, the marriage of a second wife,
during the lifetime of the first, in countries
where such a second marriage is void, must
be ranked with the most dangerous and cruel
of those frauds by which a woman is cheated
out of her fortune, her person, and her hap-
piness.” Thus far Dr. Paley. We shall close
.this article with'the words of an excellent
writer on the same side of the subject :—
“When we reflect,” says he, “that the
primitive institution of marriage limited it to
one man and one woman; that this institu-
tion was adhered to by Noah and his sons.
amidst the degeneracy of the age in which
they lived, and in spite of the ‘example of po-
lygamy which the accursed race of Cain had
introduced; when we consider how very few
(comparatively speaking) the examples of
this practice were among the faithful; how
much it brought its own punishment with it ;
and how dubious and equivocal those passages
are in which it appears to have the sanction of
the divine approbation ; when to these reflec-
tions we add another, respecting the limited
views and temporary nature of the more ancient
dispensations and institutions of religion, how
often the imperfections and even vices of the
patriarchs and people of God in old time are
recorded, without any express notification of
their criminality—how much is said to be
commanded, which our reverence for the
holiness of God and his law will only sufl‘er
us to suppose were for wise ends permitted ;
how frequently the messengers of God .
adapted themselves to the genius of the peo-
ple to whom they were sent, and the circum-
stances of the times in which they lived ;
above all, when we consider the purity, equity,
and benevolence of the Christian law, the ex-
plicit declarations of our Lord and his apostle
Paul respecting the institution of marriage,
its design and limitation; when we reflect,
too, on the testimony of the most ancient fa-
thers, who could not possibly be ignorant of
the general and common practice of the apos-
tolic church; and, finally, when to these con-
siderations we add those which are founded
on justice to the female sex, and all the regu-
lations of domestic economy and national
policy, we must wholly condemn the revival
of polygamy.” Paley’s Mar. Phil. vol. i. p.
319 to 325; Zlfadan’s T Izely htkora; Towers’s,
l'V'z'lLs’s, Penn’s, R. H ill’s, Pa mer’s and IIa-weis’s
Answers to Madan; Mon. Rea, vol. lxiii. p
'338, and also vol. lxix. Beattie’s Elements q)’
Mar. Science, vol.‘ ii. p. 127-129.
POLYGLOTT. See BIBLE, POLYGLOTTS.
POLYTHEISM, the doctrine of a plurality
of gods, or invisible powers superior to man.
“ That there exist beings, one or many,
powerful above the human race, is a propo-
sition,” says Lord Kames, “ universally
admitted as true in all ages, and among all
nations. I boldly call it universal, notwith-
standing what is reported of some gross sav-
ages; for reports that contradict what is ac-
knowledged to be general among men, require
more able vouchers than a few illiterate voy-
agers. Among many savage tribes there are
no words but for objects of external sense : is
it surprising that such people are incapable of
expressing their religious perceptions, or any
perception of internal sense? The convic-
tion that men have of superior powers, in
every country where there are words to ex-
press it, is so well vouched, that, in fair rea—
soning, it ought to be taken for granted
among the few tribes where language is defi-
POL
POL
616
cient.” The same ingenious author shows,
with great strength of reasoning, that the
operations of nature and the government of’
this world, which to us loudly proclaim the
existence of a Deity, are not sufficient to ac-
count for the universal belief of superior
beings among savage tribes. He is therefore
of opinion that this universality of conviction
can spring only from the image of Deity
stamped upon the mind of every human be-
ing, the ignorant equally with the learned,
This, he thinks, may be termed the sense of
Deity.
This sense of Deity, however, is objected to
by others, who thus reason: all nations, ex-
cept the Jews, were once polytheists and ido-
laters. If, therefore, his lordship’s hypothesis
be admitted, either the doctrine of polytheism
must be true theology, or this instinct or
sense is of such a nature as to have, at differ-
‘ cnt periods of the world, misled all mankind.
All savage tribes are at present polytheists
and idolaters; but among savages every in-
stinct appears in greater purity and vigour
than among people polished by arts and
sciences; and instinct never mistakes its ob-
jects. The instinct or primary impression of
nature which gives rise to self-love, afl'ection
between the sexes, &c., has, in all nations,
and in every period of time, a precise and de-
terminate object which it inflexibly pursues.
How, then, comes it to pass that this parti-
cular instinct, which, if real, is surely of as
much importance as any other, should have
uniformly led those who had no other guide,
to pursue improper objects, to fall into the
grossest errors, and the most pernicious prac- ~
tices ?
For these and other reasons, which might
easily be assigned, they suppose that the first
religious principles must have been derived
from a source different as well from internal
sense as from the deductions of reason; from
a source which the majority of mankind had
early forgotten ; and which, when it was
banished from their minds, left nothing he-
hind it to prevent the very first principle of
religion from being perverted by various ac-
cidents or causes; or in some extraordinary
concurrence of circumstances, from being,
perhaps, entirely obliterated. This source of
religion every consistent theist must believe to
be revelation. Reason could not have intro-
duced savages to the knowledge of God, and
we have just seen that a sense of Deity is
clogged with insuperable difliculties. Yet it
is undeniable that all mankind have believed
in superior invisible powers; and, if ‘reason
and instinct be set aside, there remains no
other origin of this universal belief than prim-
eval revelation, corrupted, indeed, as it passed
from father to son in the course of many gene-
rations. It is no slight support to this doctrine,
that, if there really be a Deity, it is highly
presumable that he would reveal himself to
the first men ; creatures whom he had formed
with faculties to adore and to worship him.
To other animals the knowledge of the Deity
is of no importance; to man it is of the first
importance. Were we totally ignorant of a.
Deity, this world would appear to us a mere
chaos. Under the government of a wise and
benevolent Deity, chance is excluded, and
every event appears to be the result of estab—
lished laws. Good men submit to whatever
happens without repining: knowing that
every event is ordered by Divine Providence,
they submit with entire resignation; and such
resignation is a sovereign balsam for every
misfortune or evil in life.
As to the circumstances which led to poly-
theism, it has been observed, that, taking it
for granted that our original progenitors were
instructed by their Creator in the truths of
genuine theism, there is no room to doubt but
that those truths would be conveyed pure
from father to son as long as the race lived
in one family, and were not spread over a
large extent of country. If any credit be due
to the records of antiquity, the primeval in-
habitants of this globe lived to so great an
age, that they must have increased to a very
large number long before the death of the
common parent, who would, of course, be the
bond of union to the whole society ; and
whose dictates, especially in what related to
the origin of his being, and the existence of
his Creator, would be listened to with the
utmost respect by every individual of his
numerous progeny. Many causes, however,
would conspire to dissolve this family, after
the death of its ancestor, into separate and in-
dependent tribes, of which some would be
driven by violence, or would voluntarily wan~
der to a distance from the rest. From this
dispersion great changes would take place in
the opinions of some of the tribes respecting
the object of their religious worship. A sin-
gle family, or a small tribe, banished into a
desert wilderness, (such as the whole earth
must then have been,) would find employ-
ment for all their time in providing the means
of subsistence, and in defending themselves
from beasts of prey. In such circumstances
they would have little leisure for meditation ;
and, being constantly conversant with objects
of sense, they would gradually lose the power
of meditating upon the spiritual nature of
that Being by whom their ancestors had taught
them that all things were created. The first
wanderers would, no doubt, retain in tolerable
purity their original notions of Deity, and
they would certainly endeavour to impress
those notions upon their children ; but in cir-
cumstances infinitely more favourable to spec-
ulation than theirs could have been, the human
mind dwells not long upon notions purely
intellectual. We are so accustomed to sensi-
'ble objects, and to the ideas of space, exten-
sion, and figure, which they are perpetually
POL
POO
617
impressing upon the imagination, that we
find it extremely diflicult to conceive any
being without assigning to him a form and a
place. Hence Bishop Law supposes that the
earliest generations of men (even those to
whom he contends that frequent revelations
were vouchsafed) may have been no better
than Anthropomorphites, in their conceptions
of the Divine Being. Be th1s as it may, it is
easy to conceive that the members of the first
colonies would quickly lose many of the arts
and much of the science which perhaps pre-
vailed in the parent state; and that, fatigued
with the contemplation of intellectual objects,
they would relieve their overstrained faculties
by attributing to the Deity a place of abode,
if not a human form. To men totally illite-
rate, the place fittest for the habitation of the
Deity would undoubtedly appear to be the sun,
the most beautiful and glorious object of
which they could form any idea; an object
from which they could not but be sensible that
they received the benefits of light and heat,
and which experience must soon have taught
them to be in a great measure the source of
vegetation. From looking upon the sun as
the habitation of their God, they would soon
proceed to consider it as his body. Expe-
riencing the effects of power in the sun, they
would naturally conceive that luminary to be
animated as their bodies were animated; they
would feel his influence when above the hori-
zon; they would see him moving from east
to west; they would consider him, when set,
as gone to take his repose; and those exer-
tions and intermissions of power being analo-
gous to what they experienced in themselves,
they would look upon the sun as a real animal.
Thus would the Divinity appear to their un-
tutored minds to be a compound being like a
man, partly corporeal and partly spiritual ;
and as soon as they imbibed such notions,
though perhaps not before, they may be pro—
nounced to have been absolute idolaters.
‘When men had once got into this train, their
gods would multiply upon them with wonder-
ful rapidity. The moon, the planets, the
fixed stars, &c. would become objects of ve-
neration. Hence we find Moses cautioning
the people of Israel against worshipping the
hosts of heaven. Deut. iv. 19. Other objects,
however, from which benefits were received
or dangers feared, would likewise be deified:
such as demons, departed heroes, &c. See
IDOLATRY. . .
From the accounts given us by the best
writers of antiquity, it seems that though the
polytheists believed heaven, earth, and hell,
were all filled with divinities, yet there was
One who was considered as supreme over all
the rest, or, at most, that there were but two
self-existent gods, from whom they conceived
all the other divinities to have descended in a
manner analogous to human generation. It
appears, however, that the vulgar pagans
considered each divinity as supreme and
unaccountable within his own Province, and
therefore entitled to worship, which rested
ultimately in himself. The philosophers, on
the other hand, seem to have viewed the in-
ferior gods as accountable for every part of
their conduct to him who was their sire and
sovereign, and to have paid to them only that
inferior kind of devotion which the church of
Rome pays to departed saints. The vulgar
pagans were sunk in the grossest ignorance,
from which statesmen, priests, and poets ex-
erted their utmost influence to keep them
from emerging; for it was a maxim which,
however absurd, was universally received,
“ that there were many things true in religion
which it was not convenient for the vulgar to
know; and some things which, though false,
it was expedient that they should believe.”
It was no wonder, therefore, that the vulgar
should be idolaters and polytheists. The phi-
losophers, however, were still worse; they
were wholly “ without excuse, because that,
when they knew God, they glorified him not
as God; neither were thankful, but became
vain in their imaginations, and their foolish
heart was darkened. Professing themselves
wise, they became fools, and worshipped and
served the creature more than the Creator,
who is God, blessed for ever.” Rom. i. 20,
21, 22,25. See list of books under article
IDOLATRY; Prideaax’s Con. v. i. pp. 177, 17 9 ;
Kames’s Sketches of the History of Man; Bi-
shop Law’s Theory of Religion, pp. 58, 65—68,
94, 296; article Po/ytheism, in Enc. Brit;
Farmer on the l'Vorship of Human Spirits.
POMORIANS, a Russian sect, who believe
that Antichrist is already come, reigns un-
seen in the world, and has put an end in the
church to every thing that is holy. They
require those who join them to be re-bap'
tized. -
PONTIFF, or HIGH PRIEST, a person who
has the superintendence and direction of di-
vine worship, as the offering of sacrifices and
other religious solemnities. The Romans
had a college of pontifi‘s, and over these a
sovereign pontiff‘, instituted by Numa, whose
function it was to prescribe the ceremonies
each god was to. be worshipped withal, com—
pose the rituals, direct the vestals, and for a
good while to perform the business of augu-
ry, till, on some superstitious occasion, he
was prohibited intermeddling therewith. The
Jews, too, had their pontifi‘s; and among the
Romanists the pope is styled the sovereign
pontifi‘.
PONTIFICATE is used for the state or dig-
nity of a pontiff or high priest ; but more par-
ticularly, in modern writers, for the reign of
a pope.
PooR PILGRIMs, an order that started up
in the year 1500. They came out of Italy
into Germany bare-footed and bare-headed,
feeding all the week, except on Sundays,
POP
ro P
618
upon herbs and roots sprinkled with salt.
They stayed not above twenty~four hours .in
a place. They went by couples, begging from
door to door. This penance they undertook
voluntarily—some for three, others for five or
seven years, as they pleased, and then re-
turned home to their callings.
POPE, the title of the supreme pontifl', or
head of the Romish church. It is derived
from a Greek word, signifying father, and
was, at an early period, given to all bishops,
as appears from the ancient ecclesiastical
writers, and is still given to every priest in
Russia. But about the end of the eleventh
century Gregory VIII., in a council held at
Home, ordered that the title should be ap-
plied exclusively to the bishop of Rome.
What was thus arrogantly claimed has long
been conceded, and is now enjoyed without
dispute and without envy. He is commonly
addressed as Most Holy Father.
Porn, Electors ojI—The first five centuries,
the people and clergy together, and sometimes
the clergy alone, with consent of the people,
chose the pope by plurality of voices; until
after the death of Pope Simplicius, in 483,
Odoacer, king of the Herules and Italy, made
a law, that none should be chosen without
first acquainting the prince whom they had a
mind to choose. This law was abolished
about twenty years after, in the fourth coun-
cil of Rome, under Pope Symmachus, by the
consent of King Theodoric, in 502. But that
prince turning Arian, afterwards reassumed
the right, and did himself name Pope Felix
IV. The Gothic princes followed his ex-
ample, only allowing the clergy to choose;
but he was not to ascend the chair till con-
firmed by them. Justinian, who overturned
the empire of the Goths, and also his succes-
sors, retained the same privilege, and de-
manded money of the pope elect to confirm his
election. But Constantinus Pogonatus freed
them from this imposition in 681. Neverthe-
less, the emperors did still keep a share in the
election; so that the popes were not con-
secrated without their consent. Until the
French emperor, Louis le Debonnaire, in 824,
and his successors, Lotharius I. and Louis IL,
in 864, restored the popes to their former li-
berty. In the tenth age, the marquis of
Etruria and count de Tuscanella, with the
grandees of Rome, chose and deposed popes
as they pleased, as did the Emperor Otho
the Great, and his son and grandson in that
same age. St. Henry, duke of Bavaria, their
successor, restored the popes to their privi-
leges again in 1014, leaving the election to
the clergy and people of Rome; but his son
and grandson, Henry III. and IV., reassumed
the power of choosing or deposing the popes,
which occasioned wars between them and the
emperors about the investitures, the empe-
rors setting up anti-popes, which occasioned
a schism in the church of Rome. But after
» the time of Innocent IL, and that the contro-

versy between Peter de Leon, called Ana-
clete, and Victor IV. was extinguished, the
cardinals and principal of the clergy of Rome
chose Pope Celestine II. by their own autho-
rity, in 1143, and the rest of the clergy hav-
ing parted with their pretensions, Honorius
III., in 1216, or, according to others, Gre-
gory X., in 1274, ordered that the election
should be made in the conclave, since which
time the cardinals have still kept possession.
Porn, mode of clection.—Nine or ten da s'
after the funeral of the deceased pope, t e
cardinals enter the conclave, which is gener-
ally held in the Vatican. in a long gallery,
where cells of boards are erected, covered
with purple cloth, one for each cardinal, who
is during this time allowed only two servants,
except in case of sickness. They are guarded
by the militia of Rome, who hinder all inter-
course of letters from without, and the dishes‘
also are inspected by a master of the ceremo-
nies, lest any letters should be concealed in
the meat. At length it hath obtained among
them to premise certain articles, which they
think necessary for the'better government of
the church, and every one swears to observe
themif he should be chosen. The election is
made by scrutiny, access, or adoration. The
first is, when the cardinal writes the name of
him whom he votes for in a scroll of five
pages, on the first whereof he writes, “ Ego
eligo in summum pontificem reverendissimum
Dominum meum cardiualem.” But this is
written by one of his servants, that the car-
dinal may not be discovered by his hand. On
this fold two others are doubled down, and
sealed with aprivate seal. On the fourth the
cardinal writes his own name, and covers it
with the fifth folding. Then sitting in order
on benches in the chapel, with their scrolls in
their hands, they ascend to the altar by
turns; and after a short prayer on their
knees, throw the scroll into a chalice upon
the table, by it the first cardinal bishop sit~
ting on the right, and the first cardinal dea~
con on the left side, and the cardinals being
returned to their places, the cardinal bishop
turns out the scrolls into a plate, which he
holds in his left hand, and gives them as they
come to the cardinal deacon, who reads them
with an audible voice, while the cardinals
note down how many voices every person
hath; and then the master of the ceremonies
burns the scrolls in a pan of coals, that it
may not be known for whom any one gives
his voice; and if two-thirds of the number
present agree, the election is good; and he
on whom the two-thirds falls is declared
pope. When the choice is made by access,
the cardinals rise from their places, and go-
ing towards him whom they would have
elected, each says, “ Ego 'accedo ad reveren-
dissimum Dominum.” And the adoration is
much in the same manner, only the cardinal
P 0 P
POP
619
approaches him whom he would have chosen
with a profound reverence, but both the one
and the other must be confirmed by the scru-
tiny. There was another way, of choosing
by compromise : when the differences rose so
high that they could not be adjusted in the
conclave, they referred the choice to three or
five, giving them leave to elect any, whom
all, or the majority, should choose, provided
it were determined within the time that a
candle lighted by common consent should
continue. 'There is yet a fifth way of elec-
tion, called by inspiration, viz., when the
first cardinal arises in the chapel, and after
an exhortation to choose a capable person,
names such an one, to which if two-thirds
agree, he is reckoned legally chosen. Which
being performed by any of these methods, he
is led into the vestry clothed in his pontificali-
bus ; then carried into the chapel, seated on the
altar, and the cardinals, performing the cere-
mony of adoration, kiss his feet, hands, and
mouth; after which, all the doors and gates
of the conclave are opened, and the pope,
showing himself to the people, blesses them:
the cardinal deacon proclaiming with a loud
voice to them in these words, “ Annuncio
vobis gaudiam magnum, papam habemus.
Reverendissimus Dominus cardinalis—elec-
tus est in summum pontificem, et elegit sibi
nomen.” This being done, he descends into
St. Peter’s church, the cardinals with a cross
going before him; and then coming to the
high altar, takes off his mitre, kneels, and
prays awhile, and returns thanks to God and
the blessed apostles, &c.—-Sir Paul Ricaut’s
Introduction to Platina.
POPE, Inauguration ojI—‘When one of the
cardinals is chosen pope, the masters of the
ceremonies come to his cell to acquaint him
with the news of his promotion; whereupon
he is conducted to the chapel, and clad in the
pontifical habit, then receives the adoration,
that is, the respects paid by the cardinals to
the pope. After which he is carried to St.
Peter’s church, and placed upon the altar of
the holy apostles, where the cardinals come a
second time to the adoration; from thence he
is conducted to his apartment, and some days
after is performed the ceremony of his coro-
nation, before the door of St. Peter’s church,
where is erected a throne, upon which the
new pope ascends, has his mitre put ofi‘, and
a crown put on his head in presence of all the
people. Afterwards is the cavalcade, from
St. Peter’s church to St. John de Lateran,
whereat all the ambassadors, princes, and
lords assist, mounted on horseback, and richly
clad. Next before the pope go the two car-
dinal deans with their red caps; and the other
cardinals come after, two and two, followed
by the patriarchs, archbishops, bishops, and
prothonotaries. When the pope is come to
St. John de Lateran, the archbishop of that
church presents him with two keys, one of
gold, and the other of silver; then all the ca-
nons, paying their obeisance, and kissing his
feet, he gives the general benediction.
POPE, Jurisdiction ojZ—The pope’s juris-
diction extends to all the provinces called the
Ecclesiastical Estate, which takes in Cam-
pagna di Roma, the patrimony of St. Peter,
Terra Sabina, Umbria or Duchy of Spoleto,
the Marquisate of Ancona, the Duchy of
Urbin, Romagnia, Boulonois, the Duchy of
Ferrara, the Territory of Perusa, Le Contado
de Citta Castello. In the patrimony of St.
Peter are, the Duchy of Castro, the cities of
Caprarola, Ronciglione, &c., which belong to
the Duke of Parma; and the Duchy of Brac-
ciano, which has its particular duke. Be-
tween Romagna and the Duchy of Urbin is
the little Republic of St. Marino. But to re-
turn to the dominion of the pope: la Cam—
pagna di Roma hath for principal cities
Rome, Ostia, Palestrina, Frescati, Albano,
Tivoli, Terracina, &c. The patrimony of
St. Peter, the cities of Porto, Civita-Vecchia,
Viterbo, &c. The principal cities of Terra
Sabina are, Magliano, Vescovio, &c. Umbria,
in the Duchy of Spoleto, has Spoleto, Apisa,
Todi, &c. The Marquisate of Ancona con-
tains the cities of Ancona, Fermo, Our Lady
of Loretta, Ascoli, Jesi, &c. The Duchy of
Urbin hath four considerable cities, Urbin,
Senigaglia, St. Leo, 800. La Romagnia hath
Ravenna, Cervia, Faenza, 8w. The principal
city of the Boulonois is Bolonia la Grasse.
The Duchy of Ferrara comprehends Ferrara,
Comachio, &c. The territory of Orvietta
hath Aquapendente, Orvietta, &c. ; and that
of Perusia takes in Perugia, Citta de Pieve,
&c. ; and in Contado stands Citta di Castello.
PoPE, Oficersof—The pope has a Vicar
who is always a cardinal. He that manageth
that charge has jurisdiction over the priests
and regulars, over the lay-communities, hos-
pitals, places of piety, and Jews. His place
may be worth to him two hundred dncats per
month. He has two lieutenants, one for civil
and the other for criminal affairs, and a vice-
gerent, who is a bishop, for the exercise of
episcopal functions.
The Penitentiary has jurisdiction ‘in cases
referred to the pope; and gives to approved
confessors power to absolve. At solemn
feasts he goes into one of the churches of
Rome, where, sitting in a high chair, he has
a switch in his hand, and hears the confession
of particular cases. This place is worth eight
thousand crowns a-year.
The Chancellor was properly secretary to
the pope, ab intimz's. This charge is be-
stowed now upon none but a cardinal; and
it may be worth to him fifteen or sixteen
thousand crowns a-year. His business is to
dispatch the apostolic letters, whose petitions
are signed by the pope, except those which
are despatched by a brief sub annulo piscatoris.
He has under him a regent, and twelve ab-
POP
POP
620
breviators dz‘ parco muggiore, which are all
prelates. The regent has power to commit
all causes of appeal to the rota and referenda-
ries. The abbreviators dz' parco muggiore
draw the bulls, and send them when they are
written. Besides which, there are abbrevia-
tore tli pareo minore, which are scriveners,
and other officers of the chancery, appointed
to receive and sign bulls. The vice-chan—
cellor keeps a register of the collation of
titles given to cardinals, and of promotion to
bishoprics and consistorial abbeys.
The Chamberlain is always a cardinal, and
hath for substitutes the clerks of the apostolic
chamber, a treasurer, and a president. This
ofiice is worth to him fourteen thousand
crowns a-year. He takes cognizance of all
causes within the verge of the apostolic
chamber; and, besides, judgeth of appeals
from the masters of the streets, bridges, and
edifices. When the see is vacant, the cham-
berlain remains in the palace, in the pope’s
apartment, goes through the streets with the
Swiss guards attending him, coins money
with his own arms thereon, and holds a con- ,
sistory. He is one of the three chief trea-
surers of the Castle of St. Angelo, whereof '
the dean is another, and the pope the third.
The Prefect of the signature of justice is
also one of the cardinals, and has two hun-
dred ducats in gold per month. His business
is to make rescripts of all the petitions and
the commissions of causes which are dele-
gated by the court. Every Thursday the
signature of justice is held in the palace of
the cardinal prefect, where assist twelve pre-
lates referendaries, that have votes, and all
the other referendaries, with power to pro-
pose each two causes; as also an auditor of
the rota, and the civil auditor of the cardinal
vicar, having no vote, but only to maintain
their jurisdiction in what relates to them.
The prefect of the signature of grace signs
all the petitions and grants which the pope
bestows in the congregations held in his own
presence once a week. The prefect of the
briefs is always a cardinal; he revises and
signs the copies of the briefs.
The General of the holy church is created
by a brief of the pope, who gives him the
staff himself in his chamber, and takes his
oath. In time of peace he has allowed him a
thousand crowns per month, and three thou-
sand in time of war. He commands all the
troops and all the governors in the places and
fortresses of the Ecclesiastical Estate. His
lieutenant has three thousand crowns a-year,
and is made also by a brief from the pope, as
is the general of the artillery, who has twelve
hundred crowns per annum.
The governor of the castle of St. Angelo
has six thousand crowns per annum.
The pope has four Masters of Ceremonies,
who are always clad in purple, and have great
authority in public affairs. Besides which,
there are other masters of the ceremonies,
which are in the congregations of privileges,
whereof one discharges the office of secretary,
and the other despatches orders.
The Master of the Sacred Palace is always
a Dominican. He reviews and approves all
the books that are printed, being assisted by
two priests of the same order. The palace,
besides a table, allows him a coach.
The Major-demo, or steward of the house-
hold to the pope, is always a pre] ate. The cham~
berlains of honour are persons of quality, who
come not to the palace but when they please.
The Master of the Stables is a gentleman
who has the office of master of the horse,
without the title of it; for the pope bestows
no such upon any person. He is sword-
bearer, and sometimes one of the greatest
lords in Rome, as was Pompey Frangipani
under Leo II.
The Vestry-keeper is an Augustin monk,
who hath the same allowance as the master of
the palace. He takes care of all the riches in
the pope’s vestry. He goes like a prelate.
And if he be atitular bishop, takes place among
the assistant bishops.
The pope’s Secretary is always a cardinal,
and very often his nephew. This place is
united to that of Superintendent of the Eccle-
siastical Estate. He writes and subscribes
all the letters sent to the princes and nuncios.
All ambassadors and all ministers at Rome,
after having negotiated with the pope, are
obliged to give him an account of their nego-
tiations. The secretaries of state are subject
to the secretary superintendent, or cardinal
patron, whose orders they receive, and to whom
they send their letters to be subscribed. They
live in the palace and are prelates clad in purple.
There are twenty-four Secretaries qfBrz'qfis,
the chief whereof lives in the palace. Their
business is to subscribe and despatch all the
briefs that are received by the cardinal-pre-
feet of the briefs. The secretary of the secret
briefs takes care to prepare them when the
cardinal-patron or some one of the secretaries
of state commands him. These briefs are
shown to nobody, nor signed by the prefect
of the briefs, but when they are sealed sub
annulo piscatoris, and accompanied with a
letter from the cardinal-patron. The copies
of these briefs are carefully kept; and, when
the pope is dead, they are carried to the Cas-
tle of St. Angelo.
The Mareschal of Home has under him
two civil judges, one whereof is called the
first collateral judge, and the other the second
collateral, with a judge for criminal affairs.
He, together with these judges, takes cogni-
zance of matters between the citizens and
inhabitants of Rome. He is always a
foreigner, and lives in. the Capitol; while,
at the discharge of his oflice, he appears clad
like an old senator, having a robe of cloth of
gold that hangs down to the earth, with large
PO P
POP
621
'
sleeves to it, lined with red taffety. He has though they are not agreed whether this pri-
a seat in the pope’s chapel, near unto the em-,
peror’s ambassador.
As to the government of the pope’s domi-
nion. He governs the province of Rome
himself; but all the other provinces are go-
verned by legates or vice—legates. Besides
which, every province has a general, who
commands the soldiers; and each city a go-
vernor, chosen by the pope. But the Podestas
and other officers are chosen by the inhabi-
tants; except the forts, castles, and ports,
whose officers, as well as governors, depend
upon the pope’s choice. Onuphr. Passevin.
PoPEs, VVorhs relating to.—The principal
writers who record the lives and transactions
of the popes are,-—-Anastasius, surnamed the
Bibliothecarius, or the Librarian, who lived
in the ninth century, and records the lives of
the popes from Peter to Nicholas 1., who died
in 867. His work is full of legendary stories.
It was first published at Mentz in 1602. The
best edition is that of Bianchini, at Rome, 1718
-—1735, four vols. folio and quarto; Platina,
who wrote in the fifteenth century, who fol-
lows Anastatius, and others, and brings down
the lives to 1471. His work was published
at Venice in 1479; an abridgment of it in
English, by Sir Paul Ricaut, appeared about
1700. They were brought down by Onu~
phrius Passevinius to the year 1566. His
work was published in 1567. In English,
the reader will find much information re-
specting them in Dupin’s Ecclesiastical His-
tory. Bower’s History of the Popes, which
began to be published in 1748, and was fi-
nished in a very imperfect manner, in 17 54,
in quarto, is the only original work entirely
devoted to this department of ecclesiastical
history in our language. Unfortunately, it is
not always to be depended on, especially in
the last volumes. Baronius, Bellarmine, and
the other church historians, are full of refer-
ences to the lives and transactions of the
popes. One of the best epitomes of lives of
the popes, is a work in ‘German, by C. \V. J.
'Walch, of Gottingen, which appeared in
English, under the title of “ A Compendious
History of the Popes, from the‘ Foundation of
the Sec of Rome to the Present Time.”
Lond. 1759, 8vo. It is brief, but impartial,
and the fruit of much research—See also
Ranhe’s History of the Popes. I
PoPERY comprehends the religious doc-
trines and practices adopted and maintained by
the Church of Rome. The following summary,
extracted chiefly from the decrees of the Coun-
cil of Trent, continued under Paul 111., Julius
III., and Pins IV.~,from the year 1545 to 1563,
by successive sessions, and the creed of Pope
Pius IV. subjoincd to it, and hearing date
November 1564, may not be unacceptable to
the reader. One of the fundamental tenets
strenuously maintained by popish writers, is,
the infallibility of the Church of Rome;

vilege belongs to the pope or a general coun-
cil, or to both united; but they pretend that
an infallible living judge is absolutely neces-
sary to determine controversies, and to secure
peace in the Christian Church. However,
Protestants allege, that the claim of infalli‘
bility in any church is not justified by the au-
thority of Scripture, much less does it pertain
to the Church of Rome; and that it is in-
consistent with the nature of religion, and the
‘personal obligations of its professors; and
that it has proved ineffectual to the end for
which it is supposed to be granted, since
popes and councils have disagreed in matters
of importance, and they have been incapable,
with the advantage of this pretended infalli-
bility, of maintaining union and peace.
Another essential article of the popish
creed is the supremacy of the pope, or his
sovereign power over the universal church.
See SUPREMACY.
Further, the doctrine of the seven sacra-
ments is a peculiar and distinguishing doc-
trine of the Church of Rome ; these are bap-
tism, confirmation, the eucharist, penance,
extreme unction, orders, and matrimony.
The Council of Trent (sess. 7, can. 1,) pro-
nounces an anathema on those who say that
the sacraments are more or fewer than seven,
or that any one of the above number is not
truly and properly a. sacrament. And yet it
does not appear that they amounted to this
number before the twelfth century, when
Hugo de St. Victorc and Peter Lombard,
about the year 1114, taught that there were
seven sacraments. The Council of Florence,
held in 1438, was the first council that deter-
mined this number. These sacraments confer
grace, according to the decree of the Council
of Trent, (sess. 7, can. 8,) ea- opere opera-to, by
the mere administration of them; three of
them, viz., baptism, confirmation, and orders,
are said (can. 9) to impress an indelible cha-
racter, so that they cannot be repeated with-
out sacrilege; and the efi‘icacy of every sa-
crament depends on the intention of the
priest by whom it is administered (can. 11.)
Pope Pius expressly enjoins that all these sa-
craments should be administered according to
the received and approved rites of the Ca-
tholic Church. With regard to the eucharist.
in particular, we may here observe, that the
Church of Rome holds the doctrine of tran—
substantiation ; the necessity of paying divine
worship to Christ, under the form of the con-
secrated bread or host; the propitiatory sa-
crifice of the mass, according to their ideas of
which, Christ is truly and properly ofi‘ered as
a sacrifice as often as the priest says mass;
it practises, likewise, solitary mass, in which
the priest consecrates, communicates, and al~
lows communion, only in one kind, viz., the
bread, to the laity. (Sess. 14.)
The doctrine of merits is another distin-
POP
POP
(322
- judicial.
guishing tenet of popery; with regard to
which the Council of Trent has expressly
decreed (sess. 6, can. 32,) that the good works
of justified persons are truly meritorious;
deserving not only an increase of grace,
but eternal life, and an increase of glory ; and
it has anathematized all who deny this doc-
trine. Of the same kind is the doctrine of
satisfactions; which supposes that penitents
may truly satisfy, by the afliictions they en-
dure under the dispensations of Providence,
or by voluntary penances to which they sub-
mit, for the temporal penalties of sin to which
they are subject, even after the remission of
their eternal punishment. (Sess. 6, can. 30,
and sess. 14, can. 3 and 9.) In this connexion
we may mention the popish distinction of
venial and mortal sins; the greatest evils
arising from the former, are the temporary
pains of purgatory; but no man, it is said,
can obtain the pardon of ,7 the latter, without
confessing to a priest, and performing the pe-
nances which he imposes.
The Council of Trent (sess. 14, can. 1,)
has expressly decreed, that every one is ac-
cursed who shall afiirm that penance is not
truly and properly a sacrament instituted by
Christ in the universal church, for recon-
oiling those Christians to the Divine Majesty
who have fallen into sin after baptism; and
this sacrament, it is declared, consists of two
parts—the matter and the form: the matter
is the act of the penitent, including contrition,
confession, and satisfaction; the form of it is
the act of absolution on the part of the priest.
Accordingly it is enjoined, that it is the duty
of every man who hath fallen after baptism,
to confess his sins once a year, at least, to a
priest; that this confession is to be secret;
for public confession is neither commanded
nor expedient; and that it must be exact and
particular, including every kind and act of
sin, with all the circumstances attending it.
When the penitent has so done, the priest
pronounces an absolution, which is not con-
ditional or declarative only, but absolute and
This secret or auricular confession
was first decreed and established in the Fourth
Council of Lateran, under Innocent III., in
1215, (cap. 21.) And the decree of this
council was afterwards confirmed and en-
larged in the Council of Florence, and in that
of Trent, which ordains, that confession was
instituted by Christ ; that by the law of God
it is necessary to salvation, and that it has
always been practised in the Christian church.
As for the penances imposed on the penitent
by way of satisfaction, they have been com-
monly the repetition of certain forms of de-
votion, as paternosters or ave-marias, the
payment of stipulated sums, Pilgrimages,
fasts, or various species of corporeal disci-
pline. But the most formidable penance, in
the estimation of many who have belonged
to the Roman communion, has been the tem~
porary pains of purgatory. But under all-
the penalties which are inflicted or threatened
in the Romish Church, it has provided relief
by its indulgences, and by its prayers or
masses for the dead, performed professedly
for relieving and rescuing the souls that are
detained in purgatory.
Another article that has been long autho-
ritatively enjoined and observed in the Church
of Rome is the celibacy of her clergy. This
was first enjoined at Rome by Gregory VII.,
about the year 1074, and established in Eng-
land by Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury
about the year 1175; though his predecessor
Lanfranc had imposed it upon the preben-
daries and clergy that lived in towns. And
though the Council of Trent was repeatedly
petitioned by several princes and states to
abolish this restraint, the obligation of celi-
bacy was rather established than relaxed by
this council; for they decreed that marriage,
contracted after a vow of continence, is nei—
ther lawful nor valid; and thus deprived the
church of the possibility of ever restoring
marriage to the clergy. For if marriage,
after a vow, be in itself unlawful, the greatest
authority upon earth cannot dispense with it,
nor permit marriage to the clergy who have
already vowed continence. See CELIBACY.
To the doctrines and practices above recited,
may be further added, the worship of images,
of which Protestants accuse the Papists.
But to this accusation the Papist replies, that
he keeps images by him to preserve in his
mind the memory of the persons represented
by them, as people are wont to preserve the
memory of their deceased friends by keeping
their pictures. He is taught, he says, to use
them, so as to cast his eyes upon the pictures
or images, and thence to raise his heart to
the things represented, and there to employ
it in meditation, love, and thanksgiving, de-
sire of imitation, &c., as the object requires.
These pictures or images have this advan-
tage, that they inform the mind, by one
glance, of what in reading might require a
whole chapter; there being no other differ-
ence between them than that reading repre-
sents leisurely, and by degrees, and a picture
all at once. Hence he finds a convenience in
saying his prayers with some devout pictures
before him, he being no sooner distracted,
but the sight of these recalls his wandering
thoughts to the right object, and as certainly
brings something good into his mind, as an‘
immodest picture disturbs his heart with filthy
thoughts. And because he is sensible that
these holy pictures and images represent and
bring to his mind such objects as in his heart
he loves, honours, and venerates, he cannot
but upon that account love, honour, and re-
spect the images themselves.
_ ‘The Council of Trent likewise decreed,
that all bishops and pastors who have the
care of souls do diligently instruct their flocks
iPOP
POV
623
“ that it is good. and profitable to desire the
intercession of saints reigning with Christ in
heaven.” And this decree the Papists en-
deavour to defend by the following observa-
tions. They confess that we have but one
Mediator of redemption, but aflirm that it is
acceptable to God that we should have many
mediators of intercession. Moses (say they)
was such a mediator for the Israelites ; ‘Job
for his three friends; Stephen for his perse-
cutors. The Romans were thus desired by
St. Paul to be his mediators; so were the
Corinthians; so the Ephesians; (Ep. ad
Rom. Cor. Eph. ;) so almost every sick man
desires the congregation to be his mediators,
by remembering him in their prayers. And
so the Papist desires the blessed in heaven
to be his mediators ; that is, that they would
pray to God for him. But between these
living and dead mediators there is no simi-
larity: the living mediator is present, and
certainly hears the request of those who de-
sire him to intercede for them; the dead
mediator is as certainly absent, and cannot
possibly hear the requests of all those who at
the same instant may be begging him to in—
.tercede for them, unless he be possessed of
the divine attribute of omnipresence; and he
who gives that attribute to any creature is
unquestionably guilty of idolatry. And as
this decree is contrary to one of the first
principles of natural religion, so does it re-
ceive no countenance from Scripture, or any
Christian writer of the first three centuries.
Other practices peculiar to the Papists are,
the religious honour and respect that they
pay to sacred relics; by which they under-
stand not only the bodies and parts of the
bodies of the saints, but any of those things
that appertained to them, and which they
touched; and the celebration of divine ser-
vice in an unknown tongue: to which pur-
pose the Council of Trent hath denounced
an anathema on any one who shall say that
mass ought to be celebrated only in the vul-
gar tongue. (Sess. 25, and sess. 22, can. 9.)
Though the Council of Lateran, under Inno-
cent III., in 1215, (can. 9,) had expressly de-
creed, that, because in many parts within the
same city and diocese, there are many people
of different manners and rites mixed toge-
ther, but of one faith, the bishops of such
cities or dioceses should provide fit men for
celebrating divine offices, according to the
diversity of tongues and rites, and for ad-
ministering the sacraments.
We shall only add, that the Church of
Rome maintains, that unwritten traditions
ought to be added to the Holy Scriptures,
in order to supply their defect, and to be re-
garded as of equal authority; that the books
of the Apocrypha are canonical Scripture;
that the Vulgate edition of the Bible is to be
deemed authentic; and that the Scriptures
are to be received and interpreted according
to that sense which the Holy Mother Church.
to whom it belongs to judge of the true sense,
hath held, and doth hold, and according to
the unanimous consent of the fathers.
Such are the principal and distinguishing
doctrines of Popery, most of which have re-
ceived the sanction of the Council of Trent,
and that of the Creed of Pope Pius IV.,
which is received, professed, and sworn to by
every one who enters into holy orders in the
Church of Rome; and at the close of this
creed we are told, that the faith contained in
it is so absolutely and indispensably neces-
sary, that no man can be saved without it.
See ANTIcHnIsT; Bower’s History of the
Popes; Smz'ih’s Errors of the Church of Rome
detected,- Campbell’s Lectures on Ecclesiastical
History; Salter’s Hall Lectures against Po-
pery; Bennet’s Coafatatz'on of Popery; Ser~
mons at Salter’s IIall against Popery ; Bishop
Burnet’s Travels. (20.; .ZWOOI'C’S View of So-
ciety and illanners in Italy ; Dr. llfz'cldleton’s
Lettersfrom Rome; Stevenson’s I-Iz'storz'cal and
Critical View of some of the Doctrines of the
Church of Rome,- Vz'llz'er’s Essay on the Re-
formation of Luther; F lci'chefs Lectures on
the Roman Catholic Religion; Gavin’s Pro—
testant. _
POPOFTCHINS, a name given to the differ-
ent sects of Russian dissenters who recognise
the validity of ordination as given in the
established church, and receive most of their
priests from that communion. Those who
have no priests at all, or who do not acknow-
ledge the validity of church ordination, are
termed Bez-Popoflchins, or No-Priesters.
PORTESSE, PORTASSE, PORTEUS, for the
word is very variously spelled in the old
English writers, was the Breviary, which
contained not only the oflice of the mass, but
all the services of the church, except the
form of marriage. ,
POSITIVE INSTITUTES. See INSTITU-
TIONS.
POSSESSION on THE DEVIL. See DEMO-
macs.
POSTIL, a gloss or marginal note. It is a
word that came into use in the middle ages.
It is compounded of the Latin preposition
post, after, and the pronoun illa, that, and
signifies that it follows after the text. The
Postillze seem originally to have been short
explanations of the gospel or epistle of the
day. These sometimes found their way into
writing, and appeared either as marginal
notes, or short explanatory notes. Dupin
says, “they for the most part give grammati-
cal explications of the words, and take notice
of any little trifle.” Nicholas de Lyra enti-
tles his commentary on the whole Scriptures,
“Postillte perpetuale; sive breviae commen—
taria in universa biblia.” These postils, how-
ever, are not entitled to Dupin’s censure.
POVERTY is that state or situation opposed
to riches, in which we are deprived of the
POW
PRA.v
6'24
conveniences of life. Indigence is a degree
lower, where we want the necessaries, and is
opposed to superfiuity. \Vant seems rather
to arrive by» accident, implies a scarcity of
provision rather than a lack of money, and
is opposed to abundance. Need and neces-
sity relate less to the situation of life than
the other three words, but more to the relief
we expect, or the remedy we seek; with this
difference between the two, that need seems
less pressing than necessity.-—2. Poverty of
mind is a state of ignorance, or a mind void
of religious principle, Rev. iii. l7.——3. Po-
verty of spirit consists in an inward sense
and feeling of our wants and defects ; a con-
viction of our wretched and forlorn condition
by nature; with a dependence on divine grace
and mercy for pardon and acceptance, Matt.
v. 3. It must be distinguished from a poor-
spiritedness, a sneaking fearfulness, which
bringeth a snare. It is the efi‘ect of the
operation of the Divine Spirit on the heart,
John xvi. 8; is attended with submission to
the divine will; contentment in our situation;
meekness and forbearance as to others; and
genuine humility as to ourselves. It is a
spirit approved of by God, Isa. lxvi. 2; evi-
dential of true religion, Luke xviii. 13; and
terminates in endless felicity, Matt. v. 3; Isa.
lvii. 15; Ps. xxxiv. 18. Dunlop’s Ser., vol.
ii. Ice. 1; Barclay’s Diet; South’s Serm.,
vol. x. ser. 1; Spam, No. 464, vol. vi.; Ro-
bert Harris’s Sen, ser. 3, par. 3.
POWER, ability, force, strength. Power in-
cludes a particular relation to the subordinate
execution of superior orders. In the word
authority we find a sufficient energy to make
us perceive a right. Dominion carries'with it
an idea of empire.
POWER of G01). See OMNIPOTENCE.
POWERS of the MINI) are those faculties by
which we think, reason, judge, &c. “ They
are so various,” says Dr. Reid, “ so many, so
connected, and complicated in most of their
operations, that there never has been any
division of them proposed which is not liable
to considerable objections. The most com-
mon division is that of understanding and
will. Under the will we comprehend our
active powers, and all that lead to action, or
influence the mind to act—such as appetites,
passions, affections. The understanding com-
prehends our contemplative powers, by which
we perceive objects; by which we conceive
or remember them; by which we analyze or
compound them; and by which we judge and
reason concerning them. Or the intellectual
powers are commonly divided into simple
apprehension, judgment and reasoning.” See
Reid on the Active Powers, also on the Human
.Mind, and the intellectual Powers; Stewart,
Brown, and Ahercrombie, Chalmers on the
JlIoral and Intellectual Constitution of Jllan;
Loehe on the Umlerstmulz'ng. For the influ-
ence Christianity has had on the moral and
intellectual powers, see White’s admirable
Sermons, ser. 9. 5;"
PRACTICAL Worms, such books as treat of
and tend to promote Christian practice. With
some great exceptions, works of this class
are, from their very nature, of a more tem-
porary character (than any other theological
production. Generally speaking, they are,
and must be, adapted to the peculiar circum-
stances of their own age; they must be spe-
cially addressed to correct its prevailing evil
tendencies; they must pie-eminently promote
those parts of the Christian character which
are least cultivated. They must also, in their
external form, partake, in some measure, of
the habits of the times. Such as are founded
on a deep knowledge of human nature, and
animated with genuine piety, must indeed
benefit other ages, since human nature re-
mains essentially the same; but their most
direct influence belongs to the age in which
they are written. Subsequently they may
often form individuals: transfused into their
minds, they are re-produced in other shapes,
but are themselves withdrawn from circulation.
Their body perishes; while the soul which
gave it life migrates into another and another
frame, and thus continues often to diffuse an
extensive blessing, when the very name under
which they originally appeared is forgotten.
Pusey’s Historical Inquiry, p. 11—180.
PRAISE, an acknowledgment made of the
excelleney or perfection of any person or
action, with a commendation of the same.
“ The desire of praise,” says an elegant wri-
ter, “ is generally connected with all the finer
sensibilities of human nature. It affords a
ground on which exhortation, counsel, and
reproof can work a proper effect. To be en-
tirely destitute of this passion, betokens an
ignoble mind, on which no moral impression
1s easily made; for where there is no desire
of praise, there will also be no sense of re-
proach; but while it is admitted to be a
natural, and in many respects an useful prin-
ciple of action, we are to observe that it is
entitled to no more than our secondary re-
gard. It has its boundary set, by transgress-
ing which, it is at once transformed from an
innocent into a most dangerous passion.
When passing its natural line, it becomes the
ruling spring of conduct; when the regard
which we pay to the opinions of men en-
croaches on that reverence which we owe to
the voice of conscience and the sense of duty,
_—the love of praise, having then gone out of
1ts proper place, instead of improving, cor-
rupts; and, instead of elevating, debases our
nature.” Young’s Love of Fame,- Bla-ir’s Ser-
mons, vol. ii. ser. 6; ortz'n’s Diss., diss. 4,
passim; IVilberjfbrce’s Pract. View, ch. iv.
sec. 3 ; Smith’s Theory of ll/loral Sent, vol. i.
p. 233; Fitzoshorne’s Letters, let. 18.
Punish or G01), the acknowledging his
perfections, works, and benefits. Praise and
PRA
l’RA
(325-
\
thanksgiving are generally considered as sy-
nonymous, yet some distinguish them thus:——
Praise properly terminates in God, on ac-
count of his natural excellences and perfec-
tions, and is that act of devotion by which we
confess and admire his several attributes;
but thanksgiving is a more contracted duty,
and imports only a grateful sense and acknow-
ledgment of past mercies. 'We praise God
for all his glorious acts of every kind, that
regard either us or other men; for his very
vengeance, and those judgments which he
sometimes sends abroad in the earth; but we
thank him, properly speaking, for the in-
stances of his goodness alone, and for such
only of these as we ourselves are some way
concerned in. See THANKSGIVING; Bishop
Atterbw'y’s Sermon on Psalm 1. 14; Saurin’s
Sermons, vol. i. ser. 14; Tillotson’s Sermons,
ser. 146, conclusion.
' PRAYER, a request or petition for mercies;
or it is “ an offering up our desires to God,
for things agreeable to his will, in the name
of Christ, by the help of his Spirit, with con-
fession of our sins, and thankful acknowledg-
ment of his mercies.” Nothing can be more
rational or consistent than the exercise of this
duty. It is a divine injunction that men
should always pray, and not faint, Luke
xviii. 1. It is highly proper we should ac-
knowledge the obligations we are under to
the Divine Being, and supplicate his throne
for the blessings we stand in need of. It is
essential to our peace and felicity, and is the
happy mean of our carrying on and enjoying
fellowship with God. It has an influence on
our tempers and conduct, and evidences our
subjection and obedience to God. \Ve shall
here consider the object, nature, kinds, mat-
ter, manner, and forms of prayer, together
with its efiicacy, and the objections made
against it.
I. The Object of Prayer is God alone,
through Jesus Christ, as the Mediator. All
supplications, therefore, to saints or angels,
are not only useless, but blasphemous. All
worship of the creature, however exalted that
‘creature is, is- idolatry, and strictly prohibited
in the sacred law of God. Nor are we to
pray to the Trinity, as three distinct Gods;
for though the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost
be addressed in various parts of the Scripture,
2 Cor. xiii. l4; 2 Thess. ii. 16, 17 ; yet. never
as three Gods, for that would lead us directly
to the doctrine of polytheism: the more or-
dinary mode the Scripture points out, is, to
address the Father through the Son, depend-
ing on the Spirit to help our infirmities, Eph.
ii. 18 ; Rom. viii. 26.
II. As to the Nature of this duty; it must be
observed, that it does not consist in the eleva-
tion of the voice, the posture of the body, the
use of a form, or the mere extemporary use
of words, nor, properly speaking, in any thing
up of our desires to God, Matt. xv. 8. (See
the definition above.) It has been generally
divided into adoration, by which we express
our sense of the goodness and greatness of
God, Dan. iv. 34, 35; confession, by which
we acknowledge our unworthiness, 1 John
i. 9 ; supplication, by which we pray for par-
don, grace, or any blessing we want, Matt.
vii. 7; intercession, by which we pray for
others, James v. 16; and thanksgiving, by
which we express our gratitude to God, Phil.
iv. 6. To which some add invocation, a mak-
ing mention of one or more of the names of
God; pleading, arguing our case with God in
an humble and fervent manner; dedication,
or vsurrendering ourselves to God; depreca-
tz'on, by which we desire that evils may be
averted; blessing, in which we express our
joy in God, and gratitude for his mercies: but
as all these appear to me to be included in the
first five parts of prayer, I think they need
not he insisted on. '
III. The difl'crent Kinds of Prayer are, 1.
Ejaculatory, by which the mind is directed to
God on any emergency. It is derived from
the word ejacnlor, to dart or shoot out sud-
denly, and is therefore appropriated to de~
scribe this kind of prayer, which is made up
of short sentences, spontaneously springing
from the mind. The Scriptures afford us
many instances of ejaculatory prayer, Exod.
xiv. 15; 1 Sam. i. 13; Rom. vii. 24, 25; Gen.
xliii. 29 ; Judges xvi. 28; Luke xxiii. 42, 43.
It is one of the principal excellences of this
kind of prayer, that it can be practised at all
times, and in all places ; in the public ordin-
ances of religion; in all our ordinary and ex-
traordinary undertakings; in times of afilic~
tion, temptation, and danger; in seasons of
social intercourse; in worldly business; in
travelling; in sickness and pain. In fact,
every thing around us, and every event that
transpires, may afford us matter for ejacula-
tion. It is worthy, therefore, of our practice,
especially when we consider that it is a spe-
cies of devotion that can receive no impedi-
ment from any external circumstances, that
it has a tendency to support the mind, and
keep it in a happy frame ; fortifies us against
the temptations of the world; elevates our
afi'ections to God; directs the mind into a
spiritual channel ; and has a tendency to ex-
cite trust and dependence on Divine Provi-
dence. 2. Secret or closet prayer is another
kind of prayer to which we should attend.
It has its name from the manner in which
Christ recommended it, Matt. vi. 6. He him-
self set us an example of it, Luke vi. 12 ; and
it has been the practice of the saints in every
age, Gen. xxviii., xxxii.; Dan. vi. 10; Acts
x. 9. There are some particular occasions
when this duty may be practised to advan-
tage, as when we are entering into any imu
- portant situation; undertaking any thing of
of an exterior nature; but simply the offering | consequence; before we go into the world;
SS
PltA
PRA
626
when calamities surround us, Isa. xxvi. 20;
or when ease and prosperity attend us. As
closet prayer is calculated to inspire us with
peace, defend us from our spiritual enemies,
excite us to obedience, and promote our real
happiness, we 'should be watchful 'lest the
stupidity of our frame, the intrusion of com-
pany, the cares of the world, the insinuations
of Satan, or the indulgence of sensual objects,
prevent us from the constant exercise of this
necessary and important duty. 3. Family
prayer is also another part not to be ne-
glected. It is true there is no absolute com-
mand for this in God’s word; yet, from
hints, allusions, and examples, we may learn
that it was the practice of our forefathers:
Abraham, Gen. xviii. 19; David, 2 Sam.
vi. 20; Solomon, Prov. xxii. 6; Job, i.
4, 5; Joshua, xxiv. 15. See also, Eph. vi.
4; Prov. vi. 20; Jer. x. 25; Acts x. 2, 30;
xvi. 15. Family prayer, indeed, may not be
essential to the character of a true Christian,
but it is surely no honour to heads of fami-
lies to have it said that they have no religion
in their houses. If we consider what a bless-
ing it is likely to prove to our children and
our domestics; what comfort it must afford
to ourselves ; of what utility it may prove to
the community at large; how it sanctifies
domestic comforts and crosses; and what a
tendency it has to promote order, decency, so-
briety, and religion in general, we must at
once see the propriety of attending to it. The
objection often made to family prayer is,
want of time ; but this is a very frivolous ex-
cuse, since the time allotted for this purpose
need be but short, and may easily be redeemed
from sleep or business. Others say, they
have no gifts: where this is the case, a form
may soon be procured and used, but it should
be remembered that gifts increase by exer-
cise, and no man can properly decide unless
he make repeated trials. Others are deterred
through shame, or the fear of man: in an-
swer to such, we shall refer them to the de-
clarations of our Lord, Matt. x. 37, 38;
Mark viii. 38. As to the season for family
prayer, every family must determine for it-
self; but before breakfast every morning,
and before supper at night, seems most pro-
per: perhaps a quarter of an hour or twenty
minutes may be suflicient as to the time. 4.
Social prayer is another kind Christians are
called upon to attend to. It is denominated
social, because it is offered by a society of
Christians in their collective capacity, con-
vened for that particular purpose, either on
some peculiar and extraordinary occasions, or
at stated and regular seasons. Special prayer-
meetings are such as are held at the meeting
and parting of intimate friends, especially
churches and ministers; when the church is
in a state of unusual dcadness and barrenness;
when ministers are sick, or taken away by
death; in times of public calamity and dis-
tress, &c. Stated meetings for social prayer
are such as are held weekly in some places
which have a special regard to the state of
the nation and churches : missionary prayer-
meetings for the spread of the gospel;
weekly meetings held in most of the congre-
gations, which have a more particular reference
to their own churches, ministers, the sick,
feeble, and weak of the flock. Christians are
greatly encouraged to this kind of prayer
from the consideration of the promise, Matt.
xviii. 20 ; the benefit of mutual supplications;
from the example of the most eminent pri-
mitive saints, Mal. iii. 16; Acts xii. 12 ; the
answers given to prayer, Acts xii. 1—-12;
Josh. x.; Isaiah xxxvii. &c.; and the signal
blessing they are to the churches, Phil. i. 19 ;
2 Cor. i. 11. These meetings should be
attended with regularity; those who engage
should study simplicity, brevity, scripture
language, seriousness of spirit, and every thing
that has a tendency to edification. We now
come, lastly, to take notice of public prayer,
or that in which the whole congregation is
engaged, either in repeating a set form, or
acquiescing with the prayer of the minister,
who leads their devotions. This is both an
ancient and important part of religious exer-
cise; it was a part of the patriarchal wor-
ship, Gen. iv. 56; it was also carried on by
the Jews, Exod. xxix. 43; Luke i. 10. It
was a part of the temple service, Isaiah lvi.
7; 1 Kings viii. 59. Jesus Christ recom-
mended it both by his example and instruc-
tion, Matt. xviii. 20; Luke iv. 16. The dis—
ciples also attended to it, Acts ii. 41, 42 ; and
the Scriptures in many places countenance it,
Exod. xx. 24; Psal. lxiii. 1, 2 ; lxxxiv. 11 ;
xxvii. 4. For the nature, necessity, place,
time, and attendance on public worship, see
WORSHIP.
IV. Of the Matter of Prayer.-—“ It is ne-
cessary,” says Dr. Watts, “to furnish our-
selves with proper matter, that we may be
able to hold much converse with God; to en—
tertain ourselves and others- agreeably and
devoutly in worship; to assist the exercise of
our own grace and others, by a rich supply
of divine thoughts and desires in prayer, that
we may not be forced to make too long and
indecent pauses whilst we are performing that
duty; nor break off abruptly as soon as we
have begun for want of matter; nor pour out
abundance of words to dress up narrow and
scanty sense for want of variety of devout
thoughts. 1. We should labour after a large
acquaintance with all things that belong to
religion; for there is nothing that relates to
religion but may properly make some part of
the matter of our prayer. A great acquaint-
ance with God in his nature, perfections,
-works, and word; an'intimate acquaintance
with ourselves, and a lively sense of our own
frames, wants, sorrows, and joys, will supply
us with abundant furniture. We should also
PRA
PRA
6'27
be watchful observers of the dealings of God
with us in every ordinance, and in every pro~
vidence. We should observe the working of
our heart towards God, or towards the crea-
ture, and often examine our temper and our
life, both in our natural, our civil, and reli-
gious actions. For this purpose, as well as
upon many other accounts, it will be of great
advantage to keep by us in writing some of
the most remarkable providences of God, and
instances of his mercy or anger towards us,
and some of our most remarkable carriages
towards him, whether sins, or duties, or the
exercises of grace. 2. We should not content
ourselves merely with generals; but if we
wish to be furnished with larger supplies of
matter, we must descend to particulars in
our confessions, petitions, and thanksgivings.
We should‘ enter into a particular considera-
tion of the attributes, the glories, the graces,
and the relations of God. We should express
our sins, our wants, and our sorrows, with a
particular sense of the mournful circumstances
that attend them: it will enlarge our hearts
with prayer and humiliation if we confess the
aggravations that increase the guilt of our
sins, viz., whether they have been committed
against knowledge, against the warnings of
conscience, &c. It will furnish us with large
matter, if we run over the exalting and
heightening circumstances of our mercies and
comforts, viz., that they are great and spi-
ritual, and eternal as well as temporal. Our
petitions and thanksgivings, in a special
manner, should be suited to the place and
circumstances of ourselves, and those that we
pray with, and those that we pray for. 3.
It is very proper, at solemn seasons of wor-
ship, to read some part of the word of God,
or some spiritual treatise written by holy
men; or to converse with fellow-Christians
about divine things, or to spend some time
in recollection or meditation of things that
belong to religion : this will not only supply
as with divine matter, but will compose our
thoughts to a becoming solemnity. Just before
we engage in that work, we should be absent a
little from the world, that our spirits may be
freer for converse with God. 4. If we find
our hearts, after all, very barren, and hardly
know how to frame a prayer before God of
ourselves, it has been ‘oftentimes useful to
take a book in our hand, wherein are contained
some spiritual meditations in a petitionary
form, some devout reflections, or excellent
patterns of prayer; and, above all, the Psalms
of David, some of the prophecies of Isaiah,
some chapters in the Gospels, or any of the
Epistles; Thus‘we may lift up our hearts to
God in secret, according as the verses or pa-
ragraphs we read are suited to the case of our
own souls. This many Christians have ex-
perienced as a very agreeable help, and of
great advantage in their secret retirement.
5. We must not think it absolutely necessary
‘against roving digressions.

to insist upon all the parts of prayer in every
address to God, though in our stated and so-
lemn prayers there are but few of them that
can be well left out. What we omit at one
time, we may, perhaps, pursue at another
with more lively affection. But let us be sure
to insist most upon those things which are
warmest in our hearts, especially in secret.
We should let those parts of prayer have the
largest share in the performance for which
our spirit is best prepared, whether it be
adoration, petition, confession, or thanksgiv-
ing. 6. We should suit the matter of our
prayers to the special occasion of each par-
ticular duty, to the circumstances of the time,
place, and persons with and for whom we pray.
This will direct us to the choice of proper
thoughts and language for every part of
prayer. 7. \Ve should not affect to pray
long for the sake of length, or to stretch out
our matter by labour and toil of thought,
beyond the furniture of our own spirit.
Sometimes a person is betrayed by an affecta-
tion of long prayers into crude, rash, and un-
seemly expressions: we are tempted hereby
to tautologies, to say the same thing over and
over again. We are in danger of tiring those
that join with us. We exceed the season that
is allotted for us in prayer, especially when
others are to succeed in the same work.”
V. Of the llIethod of Prayer.—“Method,”
continues Dr. Watts, “is necessary to guide
our thoughts, to regulate our expressions, and
dispose of the several parts of prayer in such
an order as is most easy to be understood
by those that join with us, and most proper to
excite and maintain our own devotion and
theirs. This will be of use to secure us from
confusion, prevent repetitions, and guard us
The general
rules of method in prayer are these three :—
1. Let the general and the particular heads
in prayer be well distinguished, and usu—
ally let generals be mentioned first, and par-
ticulars follow. 2. Let things of the same
kind, for the most part, be put together in
prayer. We should not run from one part to
another by starts, and sudden wild thoughts,
and then return often to the same part again,
going backward and forward in confusion:
this bewilders the mind of him that prays.
disgusts our follow-worshippers, and injures
their devotion. Let those things, in every
part of prayer, which are the proper Objects
of our judgment, be first mentioned, andfhen
those that influence and move our affections:
not that we should follow such a manner of
prayer as is more like preaching, as some im-
prudently have done, speaking many divine
truths without the form or air of prayer. Yet
it must be granted that there is no necessity
of always confining ourselves to this, or to
any other set method, no more than there is
of confining ourselves to a form in prayer.
Sometimes the mind is so divinely full of one
P’R A
8 PRA
62
particular part of prayer, that high expres-
sions of gratitude, and of devoting ourselves
to God, break out first. I am persuaded,
however, that if young Christians did not
give themselves up to a loose and negligent
habit of speaking every thing that comes up-
permost, but attempted to learn this holy skill
by a recollection of the several parts of
prayer, and properly disposing their thoughts,
there would be great numbers in our churches
that would arrive at a good degree of the
gift of prayer, and that to the great edification
pf our churches, as well as of their own fami-
res.
_ “ As to expression in prayer, it may be ob-
served, that though prayer be the proper
work of the heart, yet, in this present state,
in secret as well as in social prayer, the lan—
guage of the lips is an excellent aid in this
‘part of worship. Expressions are useful not
only to dress our thoughts, but sometimes to
form, and shape, and perfect the ideas and
affections of our minds. They serve to
awaken the holy passions of the soul, as well
as to express them. They fix and engage all
_ our powers in religion and worship ; and they
serve to regulate as well as to increase our
devotion. The directions to attain a treasure
of expressions are these :—1. We should la-
bour after a fresh, particular, and lively sense
of the greatness and grace of God, and of
our own wants, and sins, and mercies. The
passions of the mind, when they are moved,
do mightily help the tongue ; they give a na-
tural eloquence to those who know not any
rules of art, and they almost constrain the
dumb to speak. There is a remarkable in-
stance of this in ancient history. When Atys,
the son of Croesus the king, who was dumb
from his childhood, saw his father ready to
be slain, the violence of his passion broke the
bonds wherewith his tongue was tied, and he
cried out to save him. Let our spiritual
senses be always awake and lively, then words
will follow in a greater or less degree. 2.
We should treasure up such expressions, es-
pecially as we read in Scripture, and such as
we have found in other books of devotion, or
such as we have heard our fellow-Christians
make use of, whereby our own hearts have
been sensibly moved and warmed. 3. We
should beaalways ready to engage in holy
conference and divine discourse. This will
teach us to speak of the things of God. It
should be our practice to recollect, and talk
over with one another, the sermons we have
heard, the books of divinity we have been
conversant with, those parts of the word of
God we have lately read, and especially our
own experiences ‘of divine things. Hereby we
shall gain a large treasure of language to
clothe our thoughts and affections. 4. We
should pray for the gift of utterance, and
seek the blessing of the Spirit of God upon
the use of proper means to obtain a treasure
of expressions for prayer; for the wise man
tells us, that ‘ the preparation of the heart in
man, and the answer of the tongue, is from
the Lord,’ Prov. xvi. 1. The rules about the
choice and use of proper expressions are
these :-—1. We should choose those expres-
sions that best suit our meaning, that most
exactly answer the ideas of our mind, and
that are fitted to our sense and apprehension
of things. 2. We should use such a way of
speaking as may be most natural and easy to
be understood, and most agreeable to those
that join with us. We should avoid all fo-
reign and uncommon words ; all those expres~
sions which are too philosophical, and those‘
which savour too much of mystical divinity;
all dark metaphors, or expressions that are
used only by some particular violent party-
men. \Ve should likewise avoid length and
obscurity in our sentences, and in the placing
of our words; and not interline our expres-
sions with too many parentheses, which cloud
and entangle the sense. 3. Our language
should be grave and decent, which is a me»
dium between magnificence and meanness:
we should avoid all glittering language and
affected style. An excessive fondness of ele—
gance and finery of style in prayer discovers
the same pride and vanity of mind as an 'af—
fection to many jewels and fine apparel 1n the
house of God : it betrays us into a neglect of
our hearts, and of experimental religion, by
an alfectation to make the nicest speech, and
say the finest things we can, instead of sin-
cere devotion, and praying in the spirit. On
the other hand, we should avoid mean and
coarse and too familiar expressions; such as
excite any contemptible or ridiculous ideas;
such as raise any improper or irreverent
thoughts in the mind, or base and impure
images, for these much injure the devotion
of our fellow-worshippers. ' 4. We should
seek after those ways of expression that are
pathetical; such as denote the fervency of
affection, and carry life and spirit with them ;
such as may awaken and exercise our love,
our hope, ‘our holy joy, our sorrow, our fear,
and our faith, as well as express the activity
of those graces. This is the way to raise,
assist, and maintain devotion. We should,
therefore, avoid such a sort of style as looks
more like preaching, which some persons that
affect long prayers have been guilty of to a
great degree: they have been speaking to the
people rather than speaking to God; they
have wandered away from God to speak to
men; but this is quite contrary to the nature
of prayer, for prayer is our own address to
God, and pouring out our hearts before him,
with warm and proper affections. 5. We
should not always confine ourselves to one
set form of words to express any particular
request, nor take too much pains to avoid an
expression merely because we used it in
prayer heretofore. We need not be over fond
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of a nice uniformity of words, nor of perpe-
tual diversity of expression in every prayer:
it is best to keep the middle between these
two extremes. The imitation of those Chris-
tians and ministers that have the best gifts,
will be an excellent direction in this as well
as in the former eases.
“ As to the voice in prayer. In the first
place, our words should be all pronounced
distinctly, and ought not to be made shorter
by cutting off the last syllable, nor longer by
the addition of hems and ohs, of long breaths,
affected groanings, and useless sounds, &c.
2. Every sentence should be spoken loud
enough to be heard, yet none so loud as to
affright or offend the ear. Some persons have
got a habit of beginning their prayers, and
even upon the most common family occasions,
so loud as to startle the company : others be-
gin so low in a large assembly, that it looks
like secret worship, and as though they for-
bid those that are present to join with them.
Both these extremes are to be avoided by
prudence and moderation. 3. We should ob—
serve a due medium between excessive swift-
ness and slowness of speech, for both are
faulty in their kind. If we are too swift, our
words will be hurried on, and be mingled in
confusion; if we are too slow, this will be
tiresome to the hearers, and will make the
worship appear heavy and dull.
“ As to gesture in prayer: all indecencies
should be avoided. Prostration may be some-
times used in secret prayer, under a deep and
uncommon sense of sin; but kneeling is the
most frequent posture; and nature seems to
dictate and lead us to it as an expression of
humility, of a sense of our wants, a supplica-
tion for mercy, and adoration of and depend-
ence on Him before whom we kneel.
“ Standing is a posture not unfit for this
worship, especially in places where we have
not conveniency for the humbler gestures;
but sitting, or other postures of rest and 1a-
ziness, ought not to be indulged, unless per-
sons are aged or infirm, or the work of prayer
be drawn out so long as to make it trouble-
some to human nature to maintain itself al-
ways in one posture. The head should be
kept, for the most part, without motion ; the
whole visage should be composed to gravity
and solemnity. The eye should be kept
from roving, and some think it best to keep
the eyes closed. The lifting up of the hands
is a very natural expression of our seeking
help from God. As to other parts of the
body, there is little need of direction. In se-
cret devotion, sighs and groans may be al-
lowed; but in public these things should be
less indulged. If we use ourselves to various
motions, or noise made by the hands or feet,
or any other parts, it will tempt others to
think that our minds are not very'intensely
engaged; or, at least, it will appear so fami~
liar and irreverent, as we would not willingly
be guilty of in the presence of our superiors
here on earth.”
VI. As to Forms of Prayen—We find this
has been a matter of controversy among di-
vines and Christians, whether such ought to
be used, or whether extempore prayers are
not to be preferred. We shall state the ar-
guments on both sides. Those who are ad-
vocates for forms, observe that it prevents
absurd, extravagant, or impious addresses to
God, as well as the confusion of extemporary
prayer; that forms were used under the Old
Testament dispensation, and, in proof thereof,
cite Numbers vi. 24, 26; x. 35,36. On the
other side it is answered, that it is neither
reasonable nor scriptural to look for the pat-
tern of Christian worship in the Mosaic dis-
pensation, which, with all its rites and cere-
monies, is abrogated and done away; that,
though forms may be of use to children, and
such as are very ignorant, yet restriction to
forms, either in public or private, does not
seem scriptural or lawful. If we look to the
authority and example of Christ and his
apostles, every thing is in favour of extem-
pore prayer. The Lord’s prayer, it is ob—
served, was not given to be a set form, ex-
clusive of extemporary prayer. See LoRD’s
PRAYER. It is further argued, that a form
cramps the desires, inverts the true order of
prayer, making our words to regulate our
desires, instead of our desires regulating our
words; has a tendency to make as formal;
cannot be suited to every one’s case ; that it‘
looks as if we were not ‘in reality convinced
of our wants, when we want a form to ex-
press them; and, finally, in answer to the
two first arguments, that it is seldom the case
that those who are truly sensible of their
condition, and pray extempore, do it in an
impious and extravagant manner ; and if any
who have the gift of prayer really do so, and
run into the extreme of enthusiasm, yet this
is not the case with the generality, since an
unprejudiced attention to those who pray ex-
tempore, must convince us that, if their
prayers be not so elegantly composed as that
of a set form, they are more appropriate, and
delivered with more energy and feeling.
VII. The Eflicacy of Prayer.—It has been
objected, that “ if what we request be fit for
us, we shall have it without praying; if it be
not fit for us, we cannot obtain it by praying.”
But it is answered, that it may be agreeable
to perfect wisdom to grant that to our prayers
which it would not have been agreeable to
the same wisdom to have given us without
praying for. But what virtue, you will ask,
is there in prayer, which should make a favour
consistent with wisdom, which would not
have been so without it? To this question,
which contains the whole difficulty attending
the subject, the following possibilities are
offered in reply :—-1. A favour _granted to
prayer, may be more apt on that very ac.
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630
count to produce a good effect upon the per-
son obliged. It may hold, in the Divine
bounty, what experience has raised into a
proverb in the collation of human benefits,
that what is obtained without asking, is often-
times received without gratitude. 2. It may
be consistent with the wisdom of the Deity
to withhold his favours till they be asked for,
as an expedient to encourage devotion in his
rational creation, in order thereby to keep up
and circulate a knowledge and sense of their
dependency on him. 3. Prayer has a na-
tural tendency to amend the petitioner him-
self; it composes the mind, humbles us under
a conviction of what we are, and under the
gracious influence of the Divine Spirit, assi—
milates us into the divine image. Let it suf-
fice, therefore, to say, that though we are
certain that God cannot be operated on, or
moved, as a fellow-creature may ; that though
we cannot inform him of any thing he does
not know, nor add any thing to his essential
and glorious perfections, by any services of
ours; yet we should remember that he has
appointed this as a mean to accomplish an
end; that he has commanded us to engage in
this important duty, 1 Thess. v. 17; that he
has promised his Spirit to assist us in it,
Rom. viii. 26; that the Bible abounds with
numerous answers to prayer; and that the
promise still relates to all who pray, that an-
swers shall be given, Matt. vii. 7; Psa. l.
15; Luke xviii. l, &c. ; Phil. iv. 6, 7; James
v. 16. W'il/zins, Henry, Watts, on Prayer;
Townsend’s Nine Sermons on Prayer; Paley’s
Moral Phz'L, Vol. ii. p. 31 ; flIat/zer’s Student
and Pastor, p. 87; VVollaston’s Religion of
.Nature, pp. 122, 124 ; II. More on Education,
vol. ii. chap. i; Barrow’s Works, vol. i. ser.
6; Smith’s System of Prayer; Scamp’s Ser-
mon on Family Religion ; Walford on Prayer.
PREACHER, one who discourses publicly on
religious subjects. See articles, DECLAMA-
TION, ELOQUENCE, MINISTER, and SERMON.
PREACHING is the discoursing publicly on
any religious subject. It is impossible, in the
compass of this work, to give a complete his-
tory of this article from the beginning down
to the present day. This must be considered
as a desideratum in theological learning.
Mr. Robinson, in his second volume of
“Claude’s Essay,” has prefixed a brief dis-
sertation on this subject, an abridgment of
which we shall here insert, with a few occa-
sional alterations.
From the sacred records, we learn, that
when men began to associate for the purpose
of worshipping the Deity, Enoch prophesied,
Jude 14, 15. We have a very short account
of this prophet and his doctrine; enough,
however, to convince us that he taught the
principal truths of natural and revealed reli-
gion. Conviction of sin was in his doctrine,
and communion with God was exemplified in
his conduct,Gen. v. 24 ; Heb. xi. 5, 6. From
the days of Enoch to the time of Moses, each
patriarch worshipped God with his family;
probably several assembled at new moons,
and alternately instructed the whole company.
Noah, it is said, was a preacher of righteous-
ness, 2 Pet. ii. 5; 1 Pet. iii. 19, 20. Abra-
ham commanded his household, after him, to
keep the way of the Lord, and to do justice
and judgment, Gen. xviii. 19; and Jacob,
when his house lapsed to idolatry, remon-
strated against it, and exhorted them, and all
that were with him, to put away strange gods,
and to go up with him to Bcthel, Gen. x.;
xxv. 2, 3. Melchisedec, also, we may con-
sider as the father, the prince, and the priest,
of his people, publishing the glad tidings of
peace and salvation, Gen. xviii. ; Heb. vii.
Moses was a most eminent prophet and
preacher, raised up by the authority of God ;
and by whom, it- is said, came the law, John
i. 17. This great man had much at heart
the promulgation of his doctrine ; he directed
it to be inscribed on pillars, to be transcribed
in books, and to be taught both in public and
private by word of mouth, Deut. xxviii. 8;
vi. 9; xxi. l9; xvii. 18; Numbers v. 23;
Deut. iv. 9. Himself set the example of
each; and how he and Aaron sermonized,
we may see by several parts of his writings.
The first discourse was heard with profound
reverence and attention; the last was both
uttered and received in raptures, Ex. iv. 31 ;
Deut. xxxiii. 7, 8. Public preaching does
not appear under this economy to have been
attached to the priesthood; priests were not
oflicially preachers; and we have innumerable
instances of discourses delivered in religious
assemblies by men of other tribes besides
that of Levi, Psa. lxviii. 11. Joshua was an
Ephraimite; but being full of the spirit of
wisdom, he gathered the tribes to Shechem,
.and harangued the people of God, Deut.
xxxiv. 9; Joshua xxiv. Solomon was a
prince of the house of Judah, Amos a herds~
man of Tekoa; yet both were preachers, and
one at least was a prophet, 1 Kings ii.; Amos
vii. 14, 15. When the ignorant notions of
pagans, the vices of their practice, and the
idolatry of their pretended worship, were in
some sad periods incorporated into the Jewish
religion by the princes of that nation, the
prophets and all the seers protested against
this apostasy, and they were persecuted for
so doing. Shemaiah preached to Rehoboam,
the princes, and all the people, at Jerusalem,
2 Chronicles xii. 5. Azariah and Hanani
preached to Asa and his army, 2 Chron. xv.
l, &c.; xvi. 7. Miehaiah to Ahab. Some
of them opened schools, or houses of in-
struction, and there to their disciples they
taught the pure religion of Moses. At
Naioth, in the suburbs of 'Ramah, there was
one where Samuel dwelt; there was another
at Jericho, and a third at Bethel, to which
Elijah and Elisha often resorted. Thithcr
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631
the people went on sabbath days, and at new
moons, and received public lessons of piety
and morality, 1 Sam. xix. 18; 2 Kings ii. 3,
5; iv. 2, 3. Through all this period there
was a dismal confusion of the useful ordi-
nance of public preaching. Sometimes they
had no open vision, and the word of the
Lord was precious or scarce: the people
heard it only now and then. At other times
they were left without a teaching priest, and
without law. And, at other seasons, again,
itinerants, both princes, priests, and Levites,
were sent through all the country to carry
the book of the law, and to teach in the cities.
In a word, preaching flourished when pure
religion grew; and when the last decayed,
the first was suppressed. Moses had not ap-
propriated preaching to any order of men:
persons, places, times, and manners, were all
left open and discretional. Many of the dis-
courses were preached in camps and courts,
in streets, schools, cities, and villages, some-
times with great composure and coolness, at
other times with vehement action and rap-
turous energy; sometimes in a plain, blunt
style, at other times in all the magnificent
pomp of eastern allegory. On some occa-
sions, the preachers appeared in public with
visible signs, with implements of war, yokes
of slavery, or something adapted to their
subject. They gave lectures on these, held
them up to view, girded them on, broke them
in pieces, rent their garments, rolled in the
dust, and endeavoured by all the methods they
could devise, agreeably to the customs of their
country, to impress the minds of their auditors
with the nature and importance of their doc-
trines. These men were highly esteemed by
the pious part of the nation; and princes
thought proper to keep seers and others, who
were scribes, who read and expounded the
law, 2 Chronicles xxxiv. 29, 30; xxxv. 15.
Hence false prophets, bad men, who found it
worth while to affect to be good, crowded
the courts of princes. Jezebel, an idolatress,
had four hundred prophets of Baal; and Ahab,
a pretended worshipper of Jehovah, had as
many pretended prophets of his own profes-
sion. 2 Chron. xviii. 5.
When the Jews were carried captive into
Babylon, the prophets who were with them
inculcated the principles of religion, and en-
deavoured to possess their minds with an
aversion to idolatry; and to the success of
preaching we may attribute the reconversion
of the Jews to the belief and worship of one
God; a conversion that remains to this day.
The Jews have since fallen into horrid crimes,
but they have never since this period lapsed
into ‘idolatry, Hosea, 2nd and 3rd chap;
Ezekiel, 2nd, 3rd, and 34th chap. There
were not wanting, however, multitudes of
false prophets among them, whose characters
are strikingly delineated by the true prophets,
and which the reader may see in the 13th “
chapter of Ezekiel, 56th Isaiah, 23d Jeremiah.
When the seventy years of the captivity were
expired, the good prophets and preachers,
_Zerubbabel, Joshua, Haggai, and others hav-
ing confidence in the word of God, and aspir-
ing after their natural, civil, and religious
rights, endeavoured by all means to extricate
themselves and their countrymen from that
mortifying state into which the crimes of their
ancestors had brought them. They wept,
fasted, prayed, preached, prophesied, and at
length prevailed. The chief instruments
were Nehemiah and Ezra: the first was go-
vernor, and reformed their civil state; the
last was a scribe of the law of the God of
heaven, and addressed himself to ecclesiastical
matters, in which he rendered the noblest
service to his country, and to all posterity.
He collected and collated manuscripts of the
sacred writings, and arranged and published
the holy canon in its present form. To this
he added a second work as necessary as the
former : he revived and new-modelled public
preaching, and exemplified his plan in his
own person. The Jews had almost lost in
the seventy years’ captivity their original lan-
guage: that was now become dead; and they
spoke a jargon made up of their own lan-
guage and that of the Chaldeans and other
nations with whom they had been confounded.
Formerly preachers had only explained sub-
jects; now they were obliged to explain
words; words which, in the sacred code,
were become obsolete, equivocal, or dead.
Houses were now opened, not for ceremonial
worship, as sacrificing, for this was confined
to the temple; but for moral obedience, as
praying, preaching, reading the law, divine
worship, and social duties. These houses
were called synagogues: the people repaired
thither morning and evening for prayer; and
on sabbaths and festivals the law was read
and expounded to them. We have a. short
but beautiful description of the manner of
Ezra’s first preaching, Nehem. viii. Upwards
of 50,000 people assembled in a street, or
large square, near the water-gate. It was
early in the morning of a sabbath day. A
pulpit of wood, in the fashion of a small
tower, was placed there on purpose for the
preacher; and this turret was supported by a
scaffold, or temporary gallery, where, in a
wing on the right hand of the pulpit, sat six
of the principal preachers; and in another,
on the left, seven. Thirteen other principal
teachers, and many Levites, were present also
on scaffolds erected for the purpose, alter-
nately to ofliciate. ‘When Ezra ascended the
pulpit, he produced and opened the book of
the law, and the whole congregation instantly
rose up from their seats, and stood. Then
he ofi‘ered up prayer and praise to God, the
people bowing their heads, and worshipping
the Lord with their faces to the ground ; and,
at the close of the prayer, with uplifted hands,
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they solemnly pronounced, Amen, Amen.
Then, all standing, Ezra, assisted at times by
the Levites, read the law distinctly, gave the
sense, and caused them to understand the
reading. The sermons delivered so affected
the hearers, that they wept excessively; and
about noon the sorrow became so exuberant
and immeasurable, that it was thought neces-
sary by the governor, the preacher, and the
Levites, to restrain it. “ Go your way,” said
they; “ eat the fat, drink the sweet, send
portions unto them for whom nothing is pre-
pared.” The wise and benevolent sentiments
of these noble souls were imbibed by the
whole congregation, and 50,000 troubled
hearts were calmed in a moment. Home they
returned, to eat, to drink, to send portions,
and to make mirth, because they had under-
stood the words that were declared unto
them. Plato was alive at this time, teaching
dull philosophy to cold academics; but what
was he, and what was Xenophon, or Demos-
thenes, or any of the Pagan orators, in com-
parison with these men? From this period to
that of the appearance of Jesus Christ, public
preaching was universal: synagogues were
multiplied, vast numbers attended, and elders
and rulers were appointed for the purpose of
order and instruction.
The most celebrated preacher that arose
before the appearance of Jesus Christ, was
John the Baptist. He was commissioned
from heaven to be the harbinger of the Mes-
siah. He took Elijah for his model; and as
the times were very much like those in which
that prophet lived, he chose a doctrine and a
method very much resembling those of that
venerable man. His subjects were few, plain,
and important. His style was vehement, his
images bold, his deportment solemn, his ac-
tions eager, and his morals strict; but this
bright morning star gave way to the illus-
trious Sun of Righteousness, who now arose
on a benighted world. Jesus Christ certainly
was the prince of preachers. Who but can
admire the simplicity and majesty of his
style, the beauty of his images, the alternate
softness and severity of his address, the choice
of his subjects, the gracefulness of his de-
portment, and the indefatigableness of his
zeal? Let the reader charm and solace him—
self in the study and contemplation of the
character, excellcncy, and dignity of this best
of preachers, as he will find them delineated
by the evangelists.
The apostles exactly copied their divine
Master. They formed multitudes of religious
societies, and were abundantly successful in
their labours. They confined their attention
to religion, and left the schools to dispute, and
politicians to intrigue. The doctrines they
preached they supported entirely by evi-
dence; and neither had nor required such
assistance as human laws or worldly policy,
the eloquence of the schools or the terror of
arms, the charms of money, or the tricks of
tradesmen, could afford them.
The apostles being dead, every thing came to
pass as they had foretold. The whole Chris—
tian system underwent a miserable change:
preaching shared the fate of other institutions,
and this glory of the primitive church was
now generally degenerated. Those writers
whom we call the Fathers, however held up
to view by some as models of imitation, do
not deserve that indiscriminate praise ascribed
to them. Christianity, it is true, is found in
their writings; but how sadly incorporated
with pagan philosophy and Jewish allegory !
It must, indeed, be allowed, that, in general,
the simplicity of Christianity was maintained,
though under gradual decay, during the first
three centuries. The next five centuries pro-
duced many pious and excellent preachers
both in the Latin and Greek churches, though
the doctrine continued to degenerate. The
Greek pulpit was adorned with some eloquent
orators. Basil, bishop of Caesarea, John
Chrysostom, preacher at Antioch, and after-
wards patriarch (as he was called) of Con-
stantinople, and Gregory Nazianzen, who all
flourished in the fourth century, seem to have
led the fashion of preaching in the Greek
Church: J erom and Augustin did the same in
the Latin Church. For some time, preaching
was common to bishops, elders, deacons, and
private brethren, in the primitive church; in
process, it was restrained to the bishop, and
to such as he should appoint. They called
the appointment ordination ;- and at last at-
tached 1 know not what ideas of mystery and
influence to the word, and of dominion to the
bishop who pronounced it. When a bishop
or preacher travelled, he claimed no authority
to exercise the duties of his function, unless
he were invited by the churches where he at-
tended public worship. The first preachers
differed much in pulpit action; the greater
part used very moderate and sober gesture.
They delivered their sermons all extempore,
while there were notaries who took down
what they said. Sermons in those days
were all in the vulgar tongue. The Greeks
preached in Greek, the Latins in Latin. They
did not preach by the clock (so to speak), but
were short or long as they saw occasion,
though an hour was about the usual time.
Sermons were generally both preached and
heard standing; but sometimes both speaker
and auditors sat, especially the aged and the
infirm. The fathers were fond of allegory;
for Origen, that everlasting allegorizer, had
set them the example. Before preaching,
the preacher usually went into a‘vestry to
pray, and afterwards to speak to such as came
to salute him. He prayed with his eyes shut,
in~the pulpit. The first words the preacher
uttered to the people, when he ascended the
pulpit, were, “ Peace be with you,” or, “ The
love of our Lord Jesus Christ, the grace of
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God, and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost,
be with you all ;” to which the assembly at
first added, “ Amen;” and, in after times,
they answered, “ And with thy spirit.” De-
generate, however, as these days were in
comparison with those of the apostles, yet
they were golden ages in comparison with
the times that followed, when metaphysical
reasonings, mystical divinity, yea, Aristote-
lian categories, and reading the lives of saints,
were substituted in the place of sermons. The
pulpit became a stage, where ludicrous priests
obtained the vulgar laugh by the lowest kind
of wit, especially at the festivals of Christmas
and Easter.
But the glorious Reformation was the off-
spring of preaching, by which mankind were
informed there was a standard, and the re-
ligion of the times was put to trial by it. The
avidity of the common people to read Scrip-
ture, and to hear it expounded, was wonder-
ful : and the Papists were so fully convinced
of the benefit of frequent public instruction,
that they who were justly callc’d “ unpreach-
ing prelates,” and whose pulpits, to use an
expression of Latimer, had been “ bells without
clappers ” for many a long year, were obliged
for shame to set up regular preaching again.
The Church of Rome has produced some
great preachers since the Reformation, but
not equal to the reformed preachers‘; and a
question naturally arises hereawhich it would
be unpardonable to pass over in silence, con-
cerning the singular effect of the preaching of
the reformed, which was general, national,
universal reformation.
In the darkest times of popery there had
arisen, now and then, some famous popular
preachers, who had zealously inveighed
against the vices of their times, and whose
sermons had produced sudden and amazing
effects on their auditors ; but all these effects
had died away with the preachers who pro-
duced them, and all things had gone back
into the old state. Law, learning, commerce,
society at large, had not been improved.—
Here a new scene opens : preachers arise less
popular, perhaps less indefatigable and exem-
plary: their sermons produce. less striking
immediate effects; and yet their auditors go
away, and agree by whole nations to reform.
Jerome Savonarola, Jerome Narm, Capis-
tran, Connecte, and many others, had pro-
duced b their sermons great immediate ef-
fects. hen Connccte preached, the ladies
lowered their head-dresses, and committed
quilled caps by hundreds to the flames.
When Narni taught the populace 1_n Lent,
from the pulpits of Rome, half the city went
from his sermons, crying along the streets,
“ Lord ‘have mercy upon us! Christ have
mercy upon us !”-'-—so that in only one pas-
sion week, 2000 crowns-worth of ropes were
sold to make scourges with; and when he
preached before the pope to cardinals and
bishops, and painted the crime of non-resi-
dence in its own colours, he frightened thirty
or forty bishops who heard him instantly
home to their dioceses. In the pulpit of the
University of Salamanca, he induced 800 stu~
dents to quit all worldly prospects of honour,
riches, and pleasures, and to become penitents
in divers monasteries. Some of this class
were martyrs too. We know the fate of
Savonarola, and more might be added; but
all lamented the momentary duration of the
effects produced by their labours. Narnihim-
self was so disgusted with his oflice, that he
renounced preaching, and shut himself up in
his cell to mourn over his irreclaimable con-
temporaries ; for bishops went back to court,
and ropemakers lay idle again.
Our reformers taught all the good doctrines
which had been taught by these men, and
they added two or three more, by which they
laid the axe to the root of apostasy, and pro-
duced general reformation. Instead of ap-
pealing to popes, and canons, and founders,
and fathers, they only quoted them, and re-
ferred their auditors to the Holy Scriptures
for law. Pope Leo X. did not know this
when he told Prierio, who complained of
Luther’s heresy, “ Friar Martin had a fine
genius!” They also taught the people what
little they knew of Christian liberty; and so
led them into a belief that they might follow
their own ideas in religion, without the con-
sent of a confessor, a diocesan, a pope, or a
council. They went farther, and laid the
stress of all religion on justifying faith. This
obliged the people to get acquainted with
Christ, the object of their faith; and thus
they were led into the knowledge of a cha-
racter altogether different from what they
saw in their old guides; a character which it
is impossible to know, and not to admire and
imitate. The old papal popular sermons had
gone off like a charge of gunpowder, produc-
ing only a fright, a bustle, and a black face ;
but those of the newe learninge, as the monks
called them, were small hearty seeds, which,
being sown in the honest hearts of the multi-
tude, and watered with the dew of heaven,
softly vegetated, and imperceptibly unfolded
blossoms and fruits of inestimable value.
These eminent servants of Christ excelled
in various talents, both in the pulpit and in
private. Knox came down like a thunder-
storm; Calvin resembled a whole day’s set
rain; Beza was a shower of the softest dew.
Old Latimer, in coarse frieze gown, trudged
afoot, his Testament hanging at one end of
his leathern girdle, and his spectacles at the
other, and without ceremony instructed the
people in rustic style from a hollow tree;
while the courtly Ridley, in satin and fur,
taught the same principles in the cathedral of
the metropolis. Cranmer, though a timer-
ous man, ventured to give King Henry VIII.
a New Testament, with the label, “ Whore~
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mongers and adulterers God will judge ;”
while Knox, who said, "' There was nothin ‘
in the pleasant face of a lady to afi‘ray him, ’
assured the Queen of Scots, that, “If there
were any spark of the Spirit of God, yea, of
honesty and wisdom in her, she would not be
offended with his afiirming in his sermons,
that the diversions of her court were diaboli-
cal crimes—evidences of impiety or insanity.”
These men were not all accomplished scho-
lars ; but they all gave proof enough that
they were honest, hearty, and disinterested in
the cause of religion.
All Europe produced great and excellent
preachers, and some of the more studious and
sedate reduced their art of public preaching
to a system, and taught rules of a good ser-
mon. Bishop Wilkins enumerated, in 1646,
upwards of sixty who had written on the sub-
ject. Several of these are valuable treatises,
full of edifying instructions; but all are on
a scale too large, and, by affecting to treat of
the whole office of a minister, leave that capital
bran ch, public preaching, unfinished and vague .
One of the most important articles of pul-
pit science, that which gives life and energy
to all the rest, and without which all the rest
are nothing but a vain parade, is either
neglected or exploded in all these treatises. It
is essential to the ministration of the divine
word by public preaching, that preachers be
allowed to form principles of their own, and
that their sermons contain their real senti-
ments, the fruits of their own intense thought
and meditation. Preaching cannot be in a
good state in those communities, where the
shameful trafiic of buying and selling manu-
script sermons is carried on. Moreover, all
the animating encouragements that arise from
a free, unbiassed choice of the people, and
from their uncontaminated, disinterested ap-
plause, should be left open to stimulate a ge-
nerous youth to excel. Command a man to
utter what he has no inclination to propa-
gate, and what he does not even believe;
threaten him, at the same time, with all
the miseries of life, if he dare to follow
his own ideas, and to promulge his own sen-
timents, and you pass a sentence of death
on all he says. He does declaim, but all is
languid and cold, and he lays his system out
as an undertaker does the dead.
Since the reformers, we have had mul-
titudes who have entered into their views
with disinterestedness and success; and,
in the present times, both in the church
and among dissenters, names could be
mentioned which would do honour to any
nation: for though there are too many who
do not fill up that important station with
proportionate piety and talents, yet we have
men who are conspicuous for theirextent of
knowledge, depth of experience, originality
of thought, fervency of zeal, consistency of
deportment, and great usefulness in the Chris-
tian church. May their numbers still be in-
creased, and their exertions in the cause of
truth be eminently crowned with the Divine
blessing! See Robinson’s Claude, vol. ii. pre-
face; Porter’s Lectures on Preaching; and
books recommended under article MINISTER.
PREADAMITES, a denomination given to the
inhabitants of the earth, conceived by some
people to have lived before Adam.
Isaac de la Pereyra, in 1655, published a
book to evince the reality of Preadamites, by
which he gained a considerable number of
proselytes to the opinion ; but the answer of
Demarets, professor of theology at Gronin-
gen, published the year following, put a stop
to its progress, though Pereyra made a reply.
His system was this. The Jews he calls
Adamz'tes, and supposes them to have issued
from Adam; and gives the title Preadamites
to the Gentiles, whom he supposes to have
been a long time before Adam. But this be-
ing expressly contrary to the first words of
Genesis, Pereyra had recourse to the fabulous
antiquities of the Egyptians and Chaldeans,
and to some idle rabbins, who imagined there
had been another world before that described
by Moses. He was apprehended by the In-
quisition in Flanders, and very roughly used,
though in the service of the dauphin. But
he appealed from their sentence to Rome.
whither he went in the time of Alexander
VII., and where he printed a retraction of his
book of Preadamites.
The arguments against the Preadamites
are these. The sacred history of Moses as-
sures us that Adam and Eve were the first
persons that were created on the earth, Gen.
i. 26, 27 ; ii. 7. Our Saviour confirmed this,
when he said, “ From the beginning of the
creation God made them male and female,”
Mark x. 6. It is undeniable that he speaks
this of Adam and Eve, because in the next
verse he uses the same words as those in Gen.
ii. 24, “ Therefore shall a man leave his father
and mother, and cleave unto his wife.” It is
also clear from Gen. iii. 20, where it is said
that “ Adam called his wife’s name Eve, be-
cause she was the mother of all living ;” that
is, she was the source and root of all men and
women in the world; which plainly intimates
that there was no other woman that was such
a mother. Finally, Adam is expressly called
twice, by‘the apostle Paul, the first man, 1
Cor. xv. 45, 47.
PREcEP'r, a rule given by a superior: a
direction or command. The precepts of re-
ligion, says Saurin, are as essential as the
doctrines; and religion will as certainly sink,
if the morality be subverted, as if "the theo-
logy be undermined. The doctrines are only
proposed to us as the ground of our duty.
SeeDoc'rmNE. ’
PRECISIANS, one of the names given to
the Puritans, or those who, about the time
of the Commonwealth, discovered by their
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635
conduct that they were in earnest on the sub-
ject of religion. They were called precise,
because they condemed swearing, plays, gam-
ing, and drinking, dancing, and other worldly
recreations on the Lord’s day, and the time-
serving, careless, and corrupt religion which
was then in fashion.
PREDESTINARIANS, those who believe in
predestination. See Pnnnns'rma'rron.
PREDESTINATION is the decree of God,
whereby he hath for his own glory fore-or-
dained whatever comes to pass. The word
predestinate is of Latin original, (prcedestino,)
and signifies in that tongue to deliberate be-
forehand with one’s self how one shall act,
and, in consequence of such deliberation, to
constitute, fore-ordain, and pre-determine
where, when, how, and by whom, any thing
shall be done, and to what end it shall be
done. So the Greek word mpooprZw, which
exactly answers to the English word predes-
tinate, and is rendered by it, signifies to re-
solve beforehand with one’s self what shall be
done, and before the thing resolved on is ac-
tually effected; to appoint it to some certain
use, and direct it to some determinate end. This
doctrine has been the occasion of considerable
disputes and controversies among divines.
On the one side it has been observed, that it
is impossible to reconcile it with our ideas of
the justice and goodness of God, that it
makes God to be the author of sin, destroys
moral distinction, and renders all our efforts
useless. Predestinarians deny these conse-
quences, and endeavour to prove this doc-
trine from the consideration of the perfections
of the Divine nature, and from Scripture tes-
timony. If his knowledge, say they, be in-
finite and unchangeable, he must have known
_ every thing from eternity. Ifwe allow the
attribute of prescience, the idea of a decree
must certainly be believed also ; for how can
,an action that is really to come to pass be
foreseen, if it be not determined? God knew
every thing from the beginning; but this he
could not have known if he had not so deter-
vmined it. If, also, God be infinitely wise, it
cannot be conceived that he would leave
things at random, and have no plan. He is
a God of order, and this order he observes as
strictly in the moral as in the natural world,
however confused things may appear to us.
To conceive otherwise of God, is to degrade
him, and is an insult to his perfections. If
he, then, be wise and unchangeable, no new
idea or purpose can arise -in his mind; no al—
teration of his plan can take place, upon con-'
dition of his creatures acting in this or that
way. To say that this doctrine makes him
the author of sin, is not justifiable. \Ve all
allow omnipotence to be an attribute of Deity,
and that by this attribute he could have pre-
vented sin _from entering into the world, had
he chosen 1t; yet we see he did not. Now
he 1s no more the author of sin in one case
than the other. May we not ask—Why (1068
he suffer those inequalities of providence?
Why permit whole nations to lie in idolatry
for ages? Why leave men to the most cruel
barbarities? Why punish the sins of the fa-
thers in the children? In a word, why per-
mit the world at large to be subject to pains,
crosses, losses, evils of every kind, and that
for so many thousands of years? And, yet,
will any dare call the Deity unjust? The
fact is, our finite minds know but little of the
nature of divine justice, or any other of his
attributes. But, supposing there are difiicul-
ties in this subject, (and what subject is with-
out ?) the Scripture abounds with passages
which at once prove the doctrine : Matt. xxv.
34; Rom. viii. 29, 3O ; Eph. i. 3, 6, 11 ; 2 Tim.
i. 9; 2 Thess. ii. 13; 1 Pet. i. 1, 2; John vi.
37; xvii.2 to 24; Rev. 8; xvii.8;
Dan. iv. 35; 1 Thess. v. 19; Matt. xi. 26;
Exodus iv. 21; Prov. xvi. 4; Acts xiii. 48.
The moral uses of this doctrine are these:
-——1. It hides pride from man. 2. Excludes
the idea of chance. 3. Exalts the grace
of God. 4. Renders salvation certain. 5.
Afi'ords believers great consolation. See
DEcREEs or G01); NECESSITY; King, Top-
lady, Cooper, and Tucker, on Predestinatz'on ,-
Burnet on the 17th Art; Whitby and Gill on
the Five Points , Wesley’s Pred. considered;
Hifl’s Logica Wesleiensis; Edwards on the
Will; Polhill on the Decrees,- Edwards's Ve-
ritas Redux; Saurin’s Sermons, vol. v. ser. 13;
Dr. Williams’s Sermon on Predestination; Ha—
milton on Election.
PRE—EXISTENCE or JESUS CHRIST, is his
existence before he was born of the Virgin
Mary. That he really did exist before is
plain, from John iii. 13; vi. 50, 850.; xvii.
1; viii. 58; 1 John i. 4: but there are va-
rious opinions respecting this existence. Some
acknowledge that‘ in Jesus Christ there is a
divine nature, a rational soul, and a human
body. His body, they think, was formed in
the Virgin’s womb; his human soul, they
suppose, was the first and most excellent of
all the works of God; was brought into ex-
istence before the creation of the world, and
subsisted in happy union in heaven with the
second person in the Godhead, till his incar-
nation. These divines differ from those called
Arians, for the latter ascribe to Christ only a.
created deity, whereas the former hold his
true and proper divinity: they differ from
the Socinians, who believe no existence of
Christ before his incarnation; they differ
from the Sabellians, who only own a trinity
of names ; they differ also from the generally
received opinion, which is, that the human
soul began to exist in his mother’s womb, in
exact conformity to that likeness unto his
brethren, of which St. Paul speaks, Heb. ii.
17. The writers in favour of the pre-exist-
ence of Jesus Christ’s human soul, reconn-
mend their thesis by these arguments :
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636
l. Christ is represented as his Father’s
messenger, or angel, being distinct from his
Father, sent by his Father long before his
incarnation, to perform actions which seem
to be too low for the dignity of pure God-
head. The appearances of Christ to the pa-
triarchs are described like the appearances of
an angel, or man, really distinct from God,
yet such a one, in whom God, or Jehovah,
had a peculiar indwelling, or with whom the
Divine nature had a personal union.
2. Christ, when he came into the world,
is said, in several passages of Scripture, to
have divested himself of some glory which
he had before his incarnation. Now if there
had existed before this time nothing but his
divine nature, this divine nature could not
properly divest itself of any glory. “ I have
glorified thee on earth; I have finished the
work thou gavest me to do. And now, O
Father! glorify thou me with thine own self,
with the glory which I had with thee before
the world was.”—“ Ye know the grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich,
yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye
through his poverty might be rich,” John
xvii. 4, 5; 2 Cor. viii. 9. It cannot be said of
God that he became poor: he is infinitely
self-suflicient; he is necessarily and eternally
rich in perfections and glories. Nor can it be
said of Christ as man, that he was rich, if he
were never in a richer state before, than while
he was on earth. _
It seems needful that the soul of Christ
should pre-exist, that it might have an oppor-
tunity to give its previous actual consent to
the great and painful undertaking of atone-
ment for our sins. It was the human soul of
Christ that endured the weakness and pain of
his infant state, all the labours and fatigues of
life, the reproaches of men, and the sufferings
of death. The Divine nature is incapable of
suffering. The covenant of redemption be-
tween the Father and the Son is therefore re-
presented as being made before the foundation
of the world. To suppose that simple Deity,
or the Divine essence, which is the same in all
the three personalities, should make a cove-
nant with itself, is inconsistent.
Christ is the angel to whom God was in a
peculiar manner united, and who in this union
made all the Divine appearances related in the
Old Testament.
God is often represented in Scripture as ap-
pearing in a visible manner, and assuming a
human form. See Gen. iii. 8; xvii. 1; xxviii.
12; xxxii. 24; Exod. ii. 2, and a variety of
other passages.
The Lord Jehovah, when he came down to
visit men, carried some ensign of Divine
majesty: he was surrounded with some splen-
did appearance. Such a light often appeared
at the door of the tabernacle, and fixed its
abode on the ark, between the cherubim. It
was by. the Jews called the Shckinah, i. e. the
habitation of God. Hence he is described as
dwelling in light, and clothed with light as
with a garment. In the midst of this bright-
ness there seems to have been sometimes a
human shape and figure. It was probably of
this heavenly light that Christ divested him-
self when he was made flesh. With this he‘
was covered at his transfiguration in the
mount, when his garments were white as the
light; and at his ascension into heaven, when
a bright cloud received, or invested him i; and
. when he appeared to John, Rev. i. 13 ; and it
was with this he prayed his Father would
glorify him.
Sometimes the great and blessed God ap-
peared in the form of a man or angeL It is
evident that the true God resided in this man
or angel ; because, on account of this union to
proper Deity, the angel calls himself God, the
Lord God. He assumes the most exalted
names and characters of Godhead. And the
spectators and sacred historians, it is evident,
considered him as true and proper God ; they
paid him the highest worship and obedience.
He is properly styled, “the angel of God’s
presence.” “ The (messenger or) angel of
the covenant,” Isa. lxiii. 9; Mal. iii. 1.
The same angel of the Lord was the parti-
cular God and King of the Israelites. It was
he who made a covenant with the patriarch,
who appeared to Moses in the burning bush,
who redeemed the Israelites from Egypt, who
conducted'them through the wilderness, who
gave the law at Sinai, and transacted the affairs
of the ancient church.
The angels who have appeared since our
blessed Saviour became incarnate, have never
assumed the names, titles, characters, ' or
worship belonging to God. Hence we may
infer, that the angel who, under the Old Tes-
tament, assumed Divine titles, and accepted
religious worship, was that peculiar angel of
God’s presence, in whom God resided, or who
was united to the Godhead in a peculiar man-
ner; even the pre-existent soul of Christ, who
afterwards took flesh and blood upon him, and
was called Jesus Christ on earth.
Christ represents himself as one with the-
Father : “ I and the Father are one,” John x.
30 ; xiv. 10, 11. There is, we may hence in-
fer, such a peculiar union between God and
the man Christ Jesus, both in his pre-existent
and incarnate state, that he may be properly
called God-man in one complex person.
Among those expressions of Scripture which
discover the pre-existence of Christ, there are
several from which we may derive a certain
proof of his Divinity. Such are those places
in the Old Testament, where the angel who
appeared to the ancients is called “ God, the
Almighty God, Jehovah, the Lord of Hosts,
I am that I am,” &c. ’
Dr. Watts supposes, that the doctrine of the
pre-existence of the soul of Christ explains
dark and diflicult Scriptures, and discovers
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many beauties and proprieties of expression
in the word of God, which on any other plan
lie unobserved. For instance, in Col. i. 15,
&c., Christ is described as the image of the
invisible God, the first-bom of every creature.
His being the image of the invisible God,
cannot refer merely to his Divine nature; for
that is as invisible in the Son as in the Father;
therefore it seems to refer to his pre—existent
soul in union with the Godhead. Again:
when man is said to be created in the image
of God, Gen. i. 27, it may refer to the God-
man, to Christ in his pre-existent state. God
says, “ Let us make man in our image, after
our likeness.” The word is redoubled, per-
haps to intimate that Adam was made in the
likeness of the human soul of Christ, as well
as that he-bore something of the image and
resemblance of the Divine nature.
0n the other side, it is aflirmed that this
doctrine of the pre-existence of the human
soul of Christ weakens and subverts that of
his personality. 1. A pure intelligent spirit,
say they, the first, the most ancient, and the
most excellent of creatures, created before the
foundation of the world, so exactly resembles
the second person of the Arian trinity, that it
is impossible to show the least difi'erence,
except in name. 2. The pre~existent intel-
ligence supposed in this doctrine is so con-
founded with those other intelligences called
angels, that there is great danger of mistaking
this human soul for an angel, and so of making
the person of Christ to consist of three na-
tures. 3. If Jesus Christ had nothing in com-
mon like the rest of mankind, except a body,
how could this semi~conformity make him a.
real man? 4. The passages quoted in proof
of the prc-existence of the human soul of Jesus
Christ, are of the same sort with those which
others allege in proof of the pre-existence of
all human souls. 5. This opinion, by ascrib-
ing the dignity of the work of redemption to
the sublime human soul, detracts from the
Deity of Christ, and renders the last as passive
as the first active. 6. This notion is contrary
to Scripture. St. Paul says, in all things it
behoved him to be made like his brethren; he
partook of all our infirmities, except sin. St.
Luke says, he increased in stature and in wis-
dom, Heb. ii. 17. Luke ii. 52. See articles,
J uses CHRIST, and INDWELLING SCHEME ;
Robinson’s Claude, vol. i. pp. 214, 311 ; W'atts’s
lVor/zs, vol. v. pp. 274, 385; Gill’s Body of
Div. vol. ii. p. 51; Robinson’s Plea, p. 140;
Fleming’s' Christology; Simpson’s Apology for
the Trin. p. 190; Ifaw/zer’s Serm. on the
Divinity of Christ, pp. 44, 45.
PRE-EXISTIANI, a term applied to those who
hold the hypothesis of the pre-existence of
souls, or the doctrine that, at the beginning of
the world, God created the souls of all men,
which, however, are not united to the body
till the individuals for whom they are destined
are begotten or born into the world. This
I

was the opinion of Pythagoras, Plato, and his
followers, and of the Kabbalists among the
Jews. The doctrine was taught by Justin
Martyr, Origen, and others of the Fathers,
and has been the common opinion of mystics,
both of ancient and modern times. Such as hold
the immediate creation of the human soul at
the moment of the production of the body, are
called Creatiani; and those who believe in its
natural propagation by the parents,Traduciani.
PREMONSTRANTES, or PRZEMONSTRATEN-
SES, a religious order of regular canons, insti-
tuted in 1120 by S. Norbert, and thence called
Norbertines. The rule they followed was that
of St. Augustin, with some slight alterations,
and an addition of certain severe laws, whose
authority did not long survive their founder.
They first came into England, mi). 1146.
Their first monastery, called New-house, was
erected in Lincolnshire by Peter de Saulia,
and dedicated to St. Martial. In the reign of
Edward I. this order had twenty—seven monas—
teries in England. .
PRESBYTEB. See next article, and articles
DEACON, ELDER.
PRESBYTERIANISM. The title Presbyterian
comes from the Greek word Hpecrfdz’lrepog,
which signifies senior, or elder,- intimating that
the government of the Church in the New
Testament was by presbyteries, that is, by
association of ministers and ruling elders,
possessed all of equal powers, without any
superiority among them, either in ofiice or
order. The Presbyterians believe, that the
authority of their ministers to preach the
Gospel, to administer the sacraments of bap-
tism and the Lord’s supper, and to feed the
flock of Christ, is derived from the Holy
Ghost by the imposition of the hands of the
presbytery ; and they oppose the independent
scheme of the common rights of Christians by
the same arguments which are used for that
purpose by the Episcopalians. They afiirm,
however, that there is no order in the church,
as established by Christ and his apostles,
superior to that of presbyters; that all minis-
ters, being ambassadors of Christ, are equal
by their commission; that presbyter and
bishop, though different words, are of the
same import; and that prelacy was gradually
established upon the primitive practice of
making the moderator, or speaker of the
Presbytery, a permanent oflicer.
These positions they maintain against the
Episcopalians by the following arguments.
They observe, that the apostles planted
churches by ordaining bishops and deacons
in every city; that the ministers which in
one verse are called .bishops, are in the next,
perhaps, denominated presbyters; that we no
where read in the New Testament of bishops,
presbyters, and deacons, in any one church;
and that, therefore, we are under the neces-
sity of concluding bishop and presbyter to be
two names for the same church oflicer.

This 7
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638
is apparent from Peter’s exhortation to the
elders or presbyters who were among the
Jewish Christians. “ The elders (presbyters)
which are among you I exhort, who am also
an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of
Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that
shall be revealed: feed the flock of God,
which is among you, taking the oversight
thereof (én'w'lco'lrom/Tsg, acting as bishops
thereofi) not by constraint, but willingly;
not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind;
neither as being LORDS over God's heritage,
but being ensamples to the flock,” 1 Pet.
v. 2, 3. From this passage it is evident that
the presbyters not only fed the flock of God,
but also governed that flock with episcopal
powers, and that the apostle himself, as a
church ofiicer, was nothing more than a pres-
byter or elder. The identity of the ofiice of
bishop or presbyter is still more apparent
from Heb. xiii. 7, 17; and 1 Thess. v. 12;
for the bishops are there represented as go-
verning the flock, speaking to them the word
of God, watching for their souls, and dis-
charging various oflices, which it is impos-
sible for any man to perform to more than
one congregation. ‘
“ From the last-cited text it is evident that
the bishops (moom'ra/uwovg) of the Thessa-
lonian churches had the pastoral care of no
more souls than they could hold personal
communion with in God’s worship; for they
were such as all the people were to know,
esteem, and love, as those that not only were
over them, but also ‘ closely laboured among
them and admonished them.’ But diocesan
bishops, whom ordinarily the hundredth part of
their flock never hear nor see, cannot be those
bishops by whom that flock is admonished; nor
can they be what Peter requires the bishops
of the Jewish converts to be, ‘ ensamples to
the flock.’ It is the opinion of Dr. Hammond,
who was a very zealous divine, and a zealot
for episcopacy, that the elders whom the
apostle James desires (Jas. v. 14) the sick to
call for, were of the highest permanent order
of ecclesiastical ofiicers ; but it is self-evident
that those elders cannot have been diocesan
bishops, otherwise the sick must have been
often without the reach of the remedy pro-
posed to them. .
“ There is nothing in Scripture upon which
the Episcopalian is more ready to rest his
cause than the alleged episcopacy of Timothy
and Titus, of whom the former is said to have
been bishop of Ephesus, and the latter bishop
of Crete; yet the Presbyterian thinks it clear
as the noon-day sun, that the presbyters of
Ephesus were supreme governors, under
Christ, of the Ephesian churches, at the very
time that Timothy is pretended to have been
their proper diocesan.
“ In Acts xx. 17, &c., we read, that, ‘from
Miletus, Paul sent to Ephesus, and called the
elders (presbyters) of the church. And when l
they were come to him, he said unto them,
Ye know, from the first day that I came into
Asia, after what manner I have been with
you at all seasons. And now, I know that
ye all, among whom I have gone preaching
the kingdom of God, shall see my face no
more. Wherefore I take you to record this
day,‘ that I am pure from the blood of all
men. For I have not shunned to declare
unto you all the counsel of God. Take heed,
therefore, unto yourselves, and to all the flock
over which the Holy Ghost hath made you
overseers, (évrwrovrovg, bishops,) to feed the
church of God, which he hath purchased ,
with his own blood. For I know this, that
after my departure shall grievous wolves
enter in among you, not sparing the flock.
Also of your ownselves shall men arise,
speaking perverse things, to draw away dis-
ciples after them. Therefore watch, and re-
member, that, by the space of three years, I»
ceased not to warn every one night and day
with tears. And now, brethren, I commend
you to God, and to the word of his grace,’
&c.
“ From this passage it is evident that there
was in the city of Ephesus a plurality of pas-
tors of equal authority, without any superior
pastor or bishop over them; for the apostle
directs his discourse to them all in common,
and gives them equal power over the whole
flock. Dr. Hammond, indeed, imagines that
the elders whom Paul called to Miletus, were
the bishops of Asia, and thathe sent for them
to Ephesus, because that city was the metro-
polis of this province. But were this opinion
well founded, it is not conceivable that the
sacred writer would have called them the
elders of the church of Ephesus, but the
elders of the church in general, or the elders
of the churches in Asia. Besides, it is to be
remembered, that the apostle was in such
haste to be at Jerusalem, that the sacred his-
torian measures his time by days; whereas
it must have required several months to call
together the bishops or elders of all the cities
of Asia, and he might certainly have gone to
meet them at Ephesus, in less time than would
be requisite for their meeting in that city, and
proceeding thence to him at Miletus. They
must, therefore, have been either the joint
pastors of one congregation, or the pastors of,
different congregations in one city; and as it
was thus in Ephesus, so it was in Philippi;
for we find the apostle addressing his epistle
‘to all the saints in Jesus Christ, which are
at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons.’
From the passage before us it. is likewise
plain, that the presbyters of Ephesus had not
only the name, but the whole power of bishops
given to them by the Holy Ghost; for they
are enjoined to do the whole work of bishops
-—7TOl./.t(U/£Ul rm! émchnotav 'rov Geov—which
signifies to rule as well as feed the church of
God. Whence we see that the apostle makes
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the power of governing inseparable from
that of preaching and watching; and that,
according to him, all who are preachers of
God’s word, and watchmen of souls, are ne-
cessarily rulers or governors of the church,
without being accountable for their manage-
ment to any prelate, hilt only to their Lord
Christ, from whom their power is derived.
“ It appears, therefore, that the apostle Paul
left in the church of Ephesus, which he had
planted, no other successors to' himself than
presbyter-bishops, or Presbyterian ministers,
and that he did not devolve his power upon
any prelate. Timothy, whom the Episcopa-
lians allege to have been the first bishop of
Ephesus, was present when this settlement
was made, Acts xx. 5; and it is surely not
to be supposed that, had he been their bishop,
the apostle would have devolved the whole
episcopal power upon the presbyters before
his face. If ever there were a season fitter
than another for pointing out the duty of this
supposed bishop to his diocese, and his pres-
byter’s duty to him, it was surely when Paul
was taking his final leave of them, and dis—
coursing so pathetically concerning the duty
of overseers, the coming of ravenous wolves,
and the consequent hazard of the flock. In
this farewell discourse he tells them, that ‘he
had not shunned to declare unto them all the
counsel of God.’ But with what truth could
this have been said, if obedience to a diocesan
bishop had been any part of their duty,
either at the time of the apostles speaking, or
at any future period? He foresaw that ra-
venous wolves would enter in among them,
and that even some of themselves should
arise speaking perverse things; and if, as the
Episcopalians allege, diocesan episcopacy
was the remedy provided for these evils, is it
not strange, passing strange, that the inspired
preacher did not foresee that Timothy, who
was then standing by the side of him, was
destined to fill that important ofiice; or if he
did foresee it, that he omitted to recommend
him to his future charge, and to give him
proper instructions for the discharge of his
duty P
“ But if Timothy was not bishop of Ephe-
sus, what, it may be asked, was his office in
that city? for that he resided there for some
time, and was by the apostle invested with
authority ‘to ordain and rebuke presbyters,
are facts about which all parties are agreed,
and which, indeed, cannot be controverted by
any reader of Paul’s epistles. To this the
Presbyterian replies, with confidence, that
the power which. Timothy exercised in the
church of Ephesus was that of an evangelist,‘
2 Tim. iv. 5, and not a fixed prelate. But,
according to Eusebius, the work of an evan-
gelist was ‘ to lay the foundations of the faith
in barbarous nations, and to constitute among
them pastors, after which he passed on to
other countries.’ Accordingly we find that
Timothy was resident for a time at Philippi
and Corinth, (Phil. ii. 19 ; 1 Cor. iv. 17 ; xvi.
10, 11) as well as Ephesus, and that he had
as much authority over those churches as
over that of which he is said to have been
the fixed bishop. ‘ Now, if Timotheus come,
see that he may he with you without fear,
for he worketh the work of the Lord, as I
also do. Let no man, therefore, despise him.’
This text might lead us to suppose that
Timothy was bishop of Corinth as well as of
Ephesus, for it is stronger than that upon
which his episcopacy of the latter church is
chiefly built. The apostle says, 1 Tim. i. 3,
‘ I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus,
when I went into Macedonia, that thou
mightest charge some that they teach no
other doctrine.’ But had Timothy been the
fixed bishop of that city, there would surely
have been no necessity for beseeching him to
abide with his flock. It is to be observed.
that the first epistle to Timothy, which alone
was written to ‘him during his residence at
Ephesus, was of a date prior to Paul’s meeting
with the elders of that church at Miletus;
for in the epistle he hopes to come to him
shortly: whereas he tells the elders at Mi-
letus that they should see his face no more.
This being the case, it is evident that Ti-
mothy was left by the apostle at Ephesus
only to supply his place during his temporary
absence in Macedonia; and that he could not
possibly have been constituted fixed bishop
of that church, since the episcopal powers
were afterwards committed to the presbyters
by the Holy Ghost in his presence.
“The identity of the office of bishop and
presbyter being thus clearly established, it
follows, that the presbyterate is the highest
permanent oflice in the church, and that every
faithful pastor of a flock is successor to the
apostles in every thing in which they were to
have any successors. In the apostolic office
there were indeed some things peculiar and
extraordinary, such as their irmnediate call by
Christ, their infallibility, their being witnesses
of our Lord’s resurrection, and their unli-
mited jurisdiction over the whole world.
These powers and privileges could not be con—
veyed by imposition of hands to any succes-
sors, whether called presbyters or bishops;
but as rulers or office-bearers in particular
churches, we have the confession of ‘the
very chiefest apostles,’ Peter and John, that
they were nothing more than presbyters, or
parish ministers. This being the case, the
dispute which has been so warmly agitated
concerning the validity of Presbyterian ordi-
nation may be soon decided ; for if the cere-
mony of ordination be at all essential, it is oh-
vious that such a ceremony performed by
presbyters must be valid, as there is no higher
order of ecclesiastics in the church by whom
it can be performed. Accordingly we find,
that Timothy himself, though said to be a Y
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G40
bishop, was ordained by the laying on of the
hands of a presbytery. At that ordination,
indeed, St. Paul presided, but he could preside
only as primus in paribus; for we have seen
that, as permanent ofiicers‘ in the church of
Christ, the apostles themselves were no more
than presbyters. If the apostles’ hands were
imposed for any other purpose, it must have
been to communicate these charismata, or
miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit, which
were then so frequent; but which no modern
presbyter or bishop will pretend to give,
unless his understanding be clouded by
the grossest ignorance, or perverted by the
most frantic enthusiasm.”
The members of the Church of Scotland
are strict Presbyterians. Their mode of ec-
clesiastical government was brought thither
from Geneva by John Knox, the famous
Scotch reformer, and who has been styled
the Apostle of Scotland.
Their doctrines are Calvinistic, as may be
seen in the confession of faith, and the larger
and shorter catechisms; though the clergy,
when composing instructions, either for their
respective parishes, or the public at large,
are no more fettered by the Confession, than
the clergy of the Church of England are by
the Thirty-nine Articles. Many in bot-h
communities take a more extensive latitude
than their formulas allow them.
As to the church government among the
Scotch Presbyterians, no one is ignorant, that,
from the first dawn of the reformation among
us till the era of the revolution, there was a
perpetual struggle between the court and the
people, for the establishment of an episcopal
or a presbyterian form : the former model of
ecclesiastical polity was patronized by the
House of Stuart 'on account of the support
which it gave to the prerogatives of the crown;
the latter was the favourite of the majority
of the people, perhaps not so much on account
of its superior claim to apostolical institution,
as because the laity are mixed with the
clergy in church judicatories, and the two or-
ders, which under episcopacy are kept so dis-
tinct, incorporated, as it were, into one body.
In the Scottish church, every regulation of
public worship, every act of discipline, and
every ecclesiastical censure, is the joint work
of a certain number of clergymen and laymen
acting together with equal authority, and de-
ciding every question by a plurality of voices.
The laymen who thus form an essential part
of the ecclesiastical courts of Scotland are
called ruling elders, and hold, it is maintained,
the same office, as well as the same name, with
those brethren (Acts xv.) who joined with the
apostles and elders at Jerusalem in determin-
ing the important question concerning the
necessity of imposing upon the Gentile con-
verts the ritual Observances of the law of
Moses. These lay-elders, it is further as-
serted, Paul enjoined Timothy (1 Tim. v. .1?)
to account worthy of double honour, if they
should rule well. and discharge the duties for
which they were separated from the multi-
tude of their brethren. In the Church of
Scotland every parish has two or three of
those lay-elders, persons chosen from among
the heads of families, of known orthodoxy,
and steady adherence to the worship, disci-
pline, and government of the church. Being
solemnly engaged to use their utmost endea-
vours for the suppression of vice and cherish-
ing of piety and virtue, and to exercise disci-
pline faithfully and diligently, the minister,
in the presence of the congregation, sets them
apart to their ofiice by solemn prayer; and
concludes the ceremony, which is sometimes
called ordination, with exhorting both elders
and people to their respective duties.
The Kirk Session, which is the lowest ec-
clesiastical judicatory, consists of the minister
and those elders of the congregation. The
minister is ex ofiicio moderator, but has no
negative voice over the decision of the ses-
sion; nor, indeed, has he a right to vote at
all, unless when the voice of the elders are
equal and opposite. He may, indeed, enter
his protest against their sentence, if he think
it improper, and appeal to the judgment of
the presbytery; but this privilege belongs
equally to every elder, as well as to every
person who may believe himself aggrieved
by the proceedings of the session. The dea—
cons, whose proper oflice is to take care of
the poor, may be present in every session,
and offer their counsel on all questions that‘
come before it ; but, except in what relates to
the distribution of alms, they have no decisive
vote with the minister and elders.
The next judicatory is the presbytery,
which consists of all the pastors within a cer-
tain district, and one ruling elder from each -
parish, commissioned by his brethren to re-
present, in conjunction with the minister, the
session of that parish. The presbytery treats
of such matters as concern the particular
churches within its limits; as the examina-
tion, admission, ordination, and censuring of
ministers; the licensing of probationers, re-
buking the gross or contumacious sinners, the
directing of the sentence of excommunica—
tion, the deciding upon references and appeals
from kirk sessions, resolving cases of con-
science, explaining difiiculties in doctrine or
discipline; and censuring, according to the
word of God, any heresy or erroneous doctrine
which hath either been publicly or privately
maintained within the bounds of its jurisdic-
tion. Some of them have frankly acknow-
ledged that they cannot altogether approve of
that part of her constitution which gives an
equal vote, in questions of heresy, to an illi~
iterate mechanic and his enlightened pastor.
Vi’e are persuaded (say they) that it has been
the source of much trouble to many a‘pious
clergyman, who from the laudable desire of
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explaining the Scriptures, and declaring to
his flock all the counsel of God, has employed
a variety of expressions of the same import to
illustrate those articles of faith, which may
be obscurely expressed in the established
standards. The fact, however, is, that in
presbyteries the only prerogatives which the
pastors have over the ruling elders are, the
power of ordination by imposition of hands,
and the privilege of having the moderator
chosen from their body.
From the judgment of the presbytery there
lies an appeal to the provincial synod, which
ordinarily meets twice in the year, and exer—
cises over the presbyteries within the pro-
vince a jurisdiction similar to that which is
vested in each presbytery over the several
kirk sessions within its bounds. Of these
synods there are in the Church of Scotland fif-
teen, which are composed of the members of
the several presbyteries within the respective
provinces which give names to the synods.
The highest authority in the Church of
Scotland is the General Assembly, which con-
sists of a certain number of ministers and
ruling elders delegated from each presbytery,
and of commissioners from the universities
and royal boroughs. A presbytery in which
there are fewer than twelve parishes sends to
the general assembly two ministers and one
ruling elder: if it contain between twelve and
eighteen ministers, it sends three of these,
and one ruling elder: if it contain between
eighteen and twenty-four ministers, it sends
four ministers, and two ruling elders; and of
twenty~four ministers, when it contains so
many, it sends five, with two ruling elders.
Every royal borough sends one ruling elder,
and Edinburgh two, whose election must be
attested by the kirk sessions of their respec-
tive boroughs. Every university sends one
commissioner from its own body. The com-
missioners are chosen annually six weeks be-
fore the meeting of the assembly; and the
ruling elders are often men of the first emi-
nence in the kingdom for rank and talents.
In this assembly, which meets once a year,
the king presides by his commissioner, who
is always a nobleman, and has a salary of
15001. per annum; but he has no voice in
their deliberations. The order of their pro-
ceedings is regular, though sometimes the
number of members creates a confusion, which
the moderator, who is chosen from among
the ministers to be, as it were, the speaker of
the house, has not sufiicient authority to pre-
vent. Appeals are brought from all the
other ecclesiastical courts in Scotland to the
General Assembly; and in questions purely
religious, no a peal lies from its determina-
tion. See Ha ’s View of 0. Gospel Church;
Eacycl. Brit, art. Presbyterians,- Brown’s Vin-
dzcation of the Presbyterian Form of Church
Government,- Scotch Confession V and Direc-
tery. For the other side of the question, and
against Presbyterian church government, see
articles BROWNISTS, CHURCH, CONGREGA-
TIONAL, and EPISCOPACY.
PRESBYTERIANS, CUMBERLAND, a body of
North American Presbyterians, who reside
principally in the states of Kentucky and
Tennessee, and the adjacent territories. The
causes which led to its formation are the fol-
lowing. About the year 1800, a very great
revival of religion took place within the
bounds of the synod of Kentucky, in conse-
quence of which a greater number of new
congregations were formed than it was possi-
ble to supply with regularly educated minis-
ters. To remedy this evil, it was resolved to
license men to preach who were apt to teach,
and sound in the faith, though they had not
gone through any course of classical study.
This took place at the Transylvania presby-
tery; but as many of its members were dis-
satisfied with the proposed innovation, an
appeal was made to the synod, which ap-
pointed a commission to examine into the
circumstances of the case; the result of whose
report was a prohibition of the labours of un-
educated ministers, which led the opposite
party to form themselves into an independent
presbytery, which took its name from the
district of Cumberland, in which it was con-
stituted.
As to doctrinal views, they occupy a kind
of middle ground between Calvinists and
Arminians. They reject the doctrine of eter-
nal reprobation, and hold the universality
of redemption, and that the Spirit of God
operates on the world, or as co-extensively
as Christ has made the atonement, in such
a manner as to leave all men inexcusable.
The number of their congregations amounts
to sixty.
PRESBYTERIANS, DISSENTING, those in
Scotland, who, though holding the principles
of presbyterian church government, have
separated from the kirk, and are formed
into several distinct bodies. See RELIEF,
SECEDERS, and SYNOD, REFORMED PRES—
BYTERIAN.
PRESBYTERIANS, ENGLISH. The first ad-
herents of this form of church government
in England were those Protestants who re-
turned from Frankfort, to which place they
had fled for refuge in the reign of Queen
Mary. There they became acquainted with
the Geneva platform, and, returning to their
native country in the time of Elizabeth, they
at first met in private houses, and afterwards
more publicly, on which occasions the wor-
ship was conducted agreeably to the forms of
the Geneva service-book. The first Presby-
terian place of worship that was built was at
Wandsworth, in Surrey, where also they
formed a presbytery. Other presbyteries
were then rapidly constituted in most of the
counties in England; and, in a short time, the
number of the Presbyterians is said to have
T 'r
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642
chapels.
amounted to a hundred thousand. In the
time of Cromwell they held the famous \Vest-
minster Assembly, consisting of a hundred
and fifty ministers, of whom, however, seven
were independents. They now hoped that
presbyterianism would be made the estab-
lished religion of England by an act of par-
liament; but a law was enacted, granting free
toleration to every one to think and worship
as he pleased, which proved a great eye—sore
to the Presbyterians, who had expected to see
their opponents, especially the Independents,
completely crushed.
About the beginning of last century, though
the Independents had greatly augmented,
both the size and number of the Presbyterian
congregations were nearly double those of the
former; but the gradual increase of Arminian
and Arian sentiments, and the consequent
diminution of interest in their preaching,
powerfully operated on the state of their con-
gregations, as those who could not be satis-
fied with anti-evangelical and dry moral dis-
courses, left them, and joined the Indepen-
' dents. This deteriorating course issued, with
many, in downright Socinianism. Ministers
of lax and dubious sentiments were at first
associated as lecturers, or co-pastors with
older ministers of orthodox views; and as
these died, they naturally came to he possessed
of the entire charge of the congregations.
Their seminaries also became infected with
heresy; and from these fountains poisoned
streams were let in upon the churches. Trus-
tees of Arian or Socinian opinions appointed
ministers holding these opinions over ortho-
dox congregations, contrary to their wishes
and solicitations. Endowments, that were
founded expressly with the view of main-
taining the preaching of the doctrines of our
Lord’s deity and atonement, and other doc-
trines therewith connected ;-—in other words,
the doctrines contained in the Assembly’s
confessions and catechisms, were appropri-
ated to the support of a system which the
founders would have held in utter abhor-
rence. In this way have upwards of one
hundred and seventy chapels come into the
hands of the present generation of Socinians,
who, in order to retain them, most disingenu-
ously arrogate to themselves the name of
Presbyterians, though they have nothing in
the shape of Presbyterian church govern-
ment; and what' is of infinitely greater mo-
ment, not so much as a shred of those doc-
trinal principles which distinguished the old
Presbyterians, and, as just noticed, to trans-
mit which ‘to posterity, they endowed these
What with these endowments, and
what with charities which have been similarly
alienated from their original purpose, the So-
cinians have in their hands an annual amount
of not less than 7000l., besides the proceeds
of 50,0001. left by Dr. Williams, for the sup-
part of orthodox sentiments. Yet, notwith-
standing all this temporal provision, pseudo~
presbyterianism is struggling for its existence,
—disturbed as it is on the one hand by the
influence of enlightened criticism, and the
zealous promulgation of Christian doctrine;
and, on the other, paralyzed by the torpedo
touch. of infidelity, with which it is but too
generally found to be in contact.
There exist in England, both in the metro-
polis, and in different counties, a number of
Presbyterian congregations, which have no
connexion with the Socinians, but are in com-
munion with the Church of Scotland, or the
Scotch Seceders. ' These are, therefore, care-
fully to be distinguished frpm the English
Presbyterians.
PRESCIENCE of GoD is foreknowledge, or
that knowledge which God has of things to
come. The doctrine of predestination is
founded on the prescience of God, and on the
supposition of all futurity being present to
him. Properly speaking, indeed, prescience
supposes that of predestination; for if we
allow that God from all eternity foresaw all
things, he must thus have foreseen them in
consequence of his permitting or fore-appoint-
ing them. Hence events are not certain
merely because foreknown; but foreknown
because antecedently certain on account of
predetermining reasons. See FOREKNOW-f
LEDGE, PREDESTINATION.
PRESCRIPTION, in theology, was a kind of
argument pleaded by Tertullian and others
in the third century against erroneous doc-
tors. This mode of arguin has been des-
pised by some, both because it has been used
by Papists, and because they think that truth
has no need of such a support. Others, how-
ever, think that if it can be shown that any
particular doctrine of Christianity was held
in the earliest ages, even approaching the
apostolic, it must have very considerable
weight; and, indeed, that it has so, appears
from the universal appeals of all parties to
those early times in support of their parti-
cular opinions. Besides, the thing is in itself
natural; for if a man finds a variety of opin-
ions in the world upon important passages in
Scripture, where shall he be so apt to get the
true sense as from contemporary writers, or
others who lived very near the apostolic age?
And if such a man shall find any doctrine or
interpretation to have been universally be-
lieved in the first ages, or, as 'Vicentius Li-
rinensis words it, semper ubique et ab omnibus,
he will unquestionably be disposed to think
such early and 1miversal consent, or such pre-
scription, of very considerable weight in de-
termining his opinion. ‘
Pnnsmur'rrox, as it relates to the mind, is
a supposition formed before examination. As
‘it relates to the conduct or moral action, it
implies arrogance or irreverence. As it re-
lates to religion in general, it is a bold and ~
daring confidence in the goodness of God,
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643
without obedience to his will. Presumptuous
sins must be distinguished from sins of in-
firmity, or those failings peculiar to human
nature, Eccl. vii. 20; 1 John i. 8, 9; from
sins done through ignorance, Luke xii. 48;
and from sins into which men are hurried by
sudden and violent temptation, Gal. vi. 1.
The ingredients which render sin presump-
tuous are, knowledge, John xv. 22 ; delibera-
tion and contrivance, Prov. vi. l4; Psal.
xxxvi. 4; obstinacy, J er. xliv. 16; Deut. i. 13;
inattention to the' remonstrances of conscience,
Acts vii. 51 ; opposition to the dispensations
of Providence, 2 Chron. xxviii. 22; and re-
peated commission of the same sin, Psal.
1xxviii. 17. Presumptuous sins are numer-
ous; such as profane swearing, perjury, theft,
adultery, drunkenness, Sabbath-breaking, &c.
These may be more particularly considered
as presumptuous sins, because they are gener-
ally committed against a known law, and so
often repeated. Such sins are most heinous
in their nature, and most pernicious in their
effects. They are said to be a reproach to
the Lord, Numb. xv. 3; they harden the
heart, 1 Tim. iv. 2; draw down judgments
from heaven, Numb. xv. 31; even when re-
pented of, are seldom pardoned without some
visible testimony of God’s displeasure, 2 Sam.
xii. 10. As it respects professors of religion,
as one observes, they sin presumptuously, 1.
when they take up a profession of religion
without principle; 2. when they profess to
ask the blessing of God, and yet go on in for-
bidden courses; 3. when they do not take re-
ligion as they find it in the Scriptures; 4.
when they make their feelings the test ‘of
their religion, without considering the differ-
ence between animal passion and the opera-
tions of the Spirit of God; 5. when they run
into temptation: 6. when they indulge in
self-confidence and self-complacency; 7. when
they bring the spirit of the world into the
church; 8. when they form apologies for that
in some which they condemn in others; 9.
when professing to believe in the doctrines
of the gospel, they live licentiously; 10. when
they create, magnify, and pervert their trou-
bles; 11. when they arraign the conduct of
God as unkind and unjust. See R. Walker’s
Sermons, vol. i. ser. 3; South’s Sermons, vol.
vii. ser. 10, 11, and 12; Tillotson’s Sermons,
ser. 147; Saurz'n’s Sermons, vol. i. ser. 11,
Robinson’s translation; Bishop Ho kins on
the Nature, Danger, and Cure of resump-
tuous Sins. See his works.
PRIDE is inordinate and unreasonable self-
esteem, attended with insolence and rude
treatment of others. “ It is sometimes,” says
a good writer, “ confounded with vanity, and
sometimes with dignity; but to the former
passion it has no resemblance, and in many cir-
cumstances it differs from the latter. Vanity
is the parent of loquacious boasting; and the
person subject to it, if his pretences be ad-
mitted, has no inclination to insult the com-
pany. The proud man, on the other hand, is
naturally silent, and, wrapt up in his own '
importance, seldom speaks but to make his
audience feel their inferiority.” Pride is the
high opinion that a poor, little, contracted
soul entertains of itself. Dignity consists in
just, great, and uniform actions, and is the
opposite to meanness. 2. Pride manifests itself
by praising ourselves, adoring our persons,
attempting to appear before others in a su-
perior light to what we are; contempt and
slander of others; envy at the excellences
others possess; anxiety to gain applause; dis-
tress and rage when slighted; impatience of
contradiction, and opposition to God himself.
3. The evil effects of pride are beyond com-
putation. It has spread itself universally in
all nations, among all characters; and as it
was the first sin, as some suppose, that en-
tered into the world, so it seems the last to be
conquered. It may be considered as the
parent of discontent, ingratitude, covetons-
ness, poverty, presumption, passion, extrava-
gance, bigotry, war, and persecutlon. In fact,
there is hardly an evil perpetrated but what
pride is connected with it in a proximate or
remote sense. 4. To suppress this evil, we
should consider what we are. “ If we could
trace our descents,” says Seneca, “ we should
find all slaves to come from princes, and all
princes from slaves. To be proud of know-
ledge, is to be blind in the hght; to be proud
of virtue, is to poison ourselves with the anti-
dote; to be proud of authority, is to make
our rise our downfall.” The imperfection of
our nature, our scanty knowledge, contracted
powers, narrow conceptions, and moral ina-
bility, are strong motives to excite us to
humility. We should consider, also, what
punishments this s‘in has brought on man-
kind. See the cases of Pharaoh, Haman, N e-
buchadnezzar, Herod, and others. How par-
ticularly it is prohibited, Prov. xvi. 18; 1
Pet. v. 5; James iv. 6; Prov. xxix. 23: what
a torment it is to its possessor, Esther v. 13 ;
how soon all things of a sublunary nature will
end: how disgraceful it renders us in the
sight of God, angels, and men; what a barrier
it is to our felicity and communion with God;
how fruitful it is of discord; how it precludes
our usefulness, and renders us really con-
temptible. See HUMILITY. I
PRIEST, a person set apart for the perform-
ance of sacrifice, and other ofiices and cere-
monies of religion. Before the promulgation
of the law of Moses, the first born of every
family, the fathers, the princes, and the kmgs,
were priests. Thus Cain and Abel, Noah,
Abraham, Melchizedec, Job, Isaac, and Ja-
cob, ofi‘ered themselves their own sacrifices.
Among the Israelites, after their departure
from Egypt, the priesthood was confined to
one tribe, and it consisted ofthree orders, the
high~priest, priests, and Levites. The priest-
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hood was made hereditary in the family of
Aaron; and the first-born of the oldest branch
of that family, if he had no legal blemish, was
always the high-priest. This divine appoint-
ment was observed with considerable accuracy
till the Jews fell under the dominion of the
Romans, and had their faith corrupted by a
false philosophy. Then, indeed, the high-
priesthood was sometimes set up to sale. and,
instead of continuing for life, as it ought to
have done. it seems, from some passages in
the New Testament, to have been nothing
more than an annual oflice. There is suffi-
cient reason, however, to believe, that it was
never disposed of but to some descendant of
Aaron capable of filling it, had the older
branches been extinct. In the time of David,
the inferior priests were divided into twenty-
four companies, who were to serve in rota-
tion, each company by itself, for a week.
The order in which the several courses were
to serve was determined by lot; and each
course was, in all succeeding ages, called by
the name of its original chief.
'The advocates of hierarchical claims, whe-
ther in the Romish, Greek, or Protestant
Churches, assume that Christian ministers
are entitled to be regarded, as succeeding to
the same relation to the church, with that
which was sustained by the priesthood under
the Jewish economy. Hence the terms and
offices peculiar to the ancient priests, are con-
ceived to be analogous to the functions and
designations of the Christian ministry. On
this assumption, it is contended that the du-
ties performed, and the authority exercised,
under the direct sanction of the Most High,
are now transferred to those who are duly
qualified, by a certain order of succession, to
discharge the otfices of the ministry under
the present dispensation. It has, however,
been satisfactorily proved, that the Christian
ministry is not a priesthood; that Christ is
the only and the all-sufiicient priest of the
Christian Church; and that the Levitical
terms employed in the New Testament, which
do not apply exclusively to Christ, belong
equally to all true Christians.
As ‘tapsvg means one who ofi'ers sacrifices,
and as sacrifices have been abolished since
the offering of the one perfect and all-sufii-
.c'ient sacrifice, it follows, that, in the strict
and official sense, there are no “ sacrifieers”
under the present dispensation. If, therefore,
the claims of the Christian ministers are
.made to rest upon a precise analogy to those
founded upon priestly functions of an abro-
gated dispensation, it surely becomes the
advocates of such claims to prove from the
Christian ‘Institute, that the conceived ana-
_10gy exists. But where is the proof? There
is not a single passage in “ the book” of apos-
tles and evangelists, to support the assump-
tion. Nowhere are the ministers of the gos-
pel represented as “ sacrificers ;” nowhere is
provision made for such a succession, as in
any respect similar to the Levitical, and still
less the Aaronical priesthood. To the pro-
phets, and rulers of the synagogues, it is ad-
mitted that there are allusions descriptive of
ministerial duties; for the work of instruction
was the appropriate business of these eccle—
siastical functionaries, and not performing
the services of a prescribed ritual. But sa—
cerdotal dignities are never ascribed to Chris-
tian presbyters, and the principles in which
the appropriation originated, may be evidently
traced to the working of that antichristian
power which produced at length “ the mys-
tery of iniquity,” and “ the man of sin.”
The conclusions involved in this argument
are subversive of all those “high-church ”
pretensions which, in more than one hier-
archy, have been the immediate sources of
arrogant and unholy domination. The doc-
trine of prerogatives, whether regal or pon-
tifical, has been for ages upheld by the advo-
cates of despotism, on most defensible grounds;
and the jus divinum by which kings reign,
and priests “lord it over God’s heritage,” has
been indebted for its main support to the same
assumption and analogy. Judaizing, in one
form or another, has been the 1rpwrov iI/evdog,
under the dispensation of Him who was
“meek and lowly of heart.” The first dis-
ciples required special illumination, to eman-
cipate their minds from the secular spirit they
had imbibed. The first errors that troubled
the churches, and perverted the gospel, arose
from the notion of amalgamating Judaism
with Christianity. The decree of the “ apos-
tles, and elders, and brethren,” though “it
seemed good to the Holy Ghost,” did not
eradicate the tendency that led to “the beg-
garly elements ” of the abolished economy.
One of the earliest indications of the rising
spirit of antichrist appeared in the principle
that made one class of ministers superior to
another, and found its convenient prototype
in the high-priest’s supremacy. The analogy
led to its consummation by most appropriate
encroachments, till one bishop became the su-
preme pontifi', and the imagined resemblance
became complete. J udaizing is the basis of
Protestant hierarchies; and the Old Testa-
ment, abused and perverted, furnishes the
principal sources, both of the illustrations and
the authority, by which the mighty appa-
ratus of ecclesiastical polity and priestly do-
minion is supported. See Stratten’s Book of
the Priesthood; Cong. Mag., Feb. 1831.
PRIMACY, the highest post in the church.
The Romanists contend that Peter, by our
Lord’s appointment, had a primacy, or sove-
reign authority and jurisdiction, over the
apostles. This, however, is denied by the
Protestants, and that upon" just grounds.
Dr. Barrow observes, (Works, vol. i. p. 557,)
that there are several sorts of primacy which
may belong to a person in respect of others.
FBI
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645
----1. A primacy of worth or personal excel-
lency—2. A primacy of reputation and es-
teem.-3. A primacy of order or bare dig-
nity and precedence—4. A primacy of power
and jurisdiction. As for the first of these, a
primacy of worth, we may well grant it to
Peter, admitting that probably he did exceed
the rest of his brethren in personal endow-
ments and capacities; particularly in quick-
ness of apprehension, boldness of spirit, rea-
diness of speech, charity to our Lord, and
zeal for ’ his service—2. As to a primacy of
repute, which Paul means when he speaks of
those who had a special reputation, of those
who‘ seemed to be pillars of the super-eminent
apostles, Gal. ii. 6, 9; 2 Cor. xi. 5; xii. 11,
this advantage cannot be refused him, being
a necessary consequent of those eminent
qualities resplendent in him, and of the illus-
trious performances achieved by him beyond
the rest. This may be inferred from that re-
nown which he hath had from the beginning;
and likewise from his being so constantly
ranked in the first place before the rest of
his brethren.---3.v As to a primacy of order
or bare dignity, importing that commonly,
in all meetings and proceedings, the other
apostles did yield him the precedence, may
be questioned; for this does not seem suitable
to the gravity of such persons, or their con-
dition and circumstances, to stand upon cere-
monies of respect; for our Lord’s rules seem
to exclude all semblance of ambition, all kind
of inequality and distance between his apos-
tles. But yet this primacy may be granted
as probable upon divers accounts of use and
convenience; it might be useful to preserve
order, and to promote expedition, or to pre-
vent confusion, distraction, and dilatory ob-
struction in the management of things—4.
As to a primacy importing a superiority in
command, power, or jurisdiction, this we
have great reason to deny upon the following
considerations :-—-1. For such a power it was
needful that a commission from God, its
founder, should be granted in absolute and
perspicuous terms; but no such commission
is extant in Scripture—2. If so illustrious an
ofiice was instituted by our Saviour, it is
strange that nowhere in the evangelical or
apostolical history, there should be any ex-
press mention of that institution—3. If Peter
had been instituted sovereign of the apos-
tolical senate, his oflice and state had been in
nature and kind very distinct from the com-
mon ofiice of the other apostles, as the ofiice
of a king from the ofiice of any ‘subject;
and probably would have been signified by
some distinct name, as that of arch-apostle,
arch-pastor, the vicar of Christ, or the like;
but no such name or title was assumed by
him, or was by the rest attributed to him.—
4. There was no ofiice above that of an
apostle known to the apostles or primitive
church, Eph. iv. 11 ; 1 Cor. xii. 28.——5. Our
Lord himself declared against this kind of
primacy, prohibiting his apostles to affect, to
seek, to assume, or admit a superiority of
power, one above another, Luke xxii. 14—24;
Mark ix. 35.—6. We do not find any pecu-
liar administration committed to Peter, nor
any privilege conferred on him which was
not also granted to the other apostles, John
xx. 23; Mark xvi. 15.—7. When Peter wrote
two Catholic epistles, there does not appear
in either of them any intimation or any
pretence to this arch-apostolical power.——8.
In all relations which occur in Scripture
about controversies incident of doctrine or
practice, there is no appeal made to Peter’s
judgment or allegation of it as decisive, no
argument is built on his authority.-—9. Peter
nowhere appears intermeddling as a judge or
governor paramount in such cases ; yet where
he doth himself deal with heretics and disor-
derly persons, he proceedeth not as a pope
decreeing, but as an apostle, warning, argu-
ing, and persuading against them—10. The
consideration of the apostles’ proceeding in
the conversion of people, in the foundation
of churches, and in administration of their
spiritual afi'airs, will exclude any probability
of Peter’s jurisdiction over them. They
went about their business, not by order or
license from Peter, but according to special
direction of God’s Spirit—11. The nature of
the apostolic ministry, their not being fixed
in one place of residence, but continually
moving about the world ; the state of things
at that time, and the manner of Peter’s life,
render it unlikely that he had such a juris-
diction over the apostles as some assign him.
—-12. It was indeed most requisite that every
apostle should have a. complete, absolute, in-
dependent authority in managing the duties
and concerns of the ofiice, that he might not
anywise be obstructed in the ilischarge of
them, not clogged with a need to consult
others, not hampered with orders from those
who were at a distance—13. The discourse
and behaviour of Paul towards Peter doth
evidence that he did not acknowledge any
dependence on him, or any subjection to him,
Gal. ii. 11.—14. If Peter had been appointed
sovereign of the church, it seems that it
should have been requisite that he should
have outlived all the apostles : for otherwise,
the church would have wanted a head, or
there must have been an inextricable contro-
versy who that head was. But Peter died
long before John, as all agree, and perhaps
before divers others of the apostles.
From these arguments, we must see what
little ground the Church of Rome hath to
derive the supremacy of the pope from the
supposed primacy of Peter.
PRIMATE, an archbishop who is invested
with a jurisdiction over other bishops. See
Ancnnrsnor.
Pnnurrrvn CHnIs'rIANs, those who lived
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646
in the first ages of Christianity, especially the
apostles and immediate followers of our Lord.
PRINCIPLE, an essential truth from which I
others are derived; the ground or motive of ‘
action. See DISPOSITION and DOCTRINE.
dern date, employed in the controversy be-
tween churchmen and dissenters, to denote
the free and unconstrained support of reli-
gious institutions, in opposition to the com-
pulsory mode of support enforced under the
pains and penalties of human laws. It is
gaining ground daily, and is acted upon to a
very considerable extent even by those who are
loudest in its condemnation—~voluntary contri-
butions being found indispensable to eke out
the allowance made by the state endowments.
PnIoR, the head of a convent; next in
dignity to an abbot.
PRISCILLIANISTS, the followers of Priscil-
lian, in the fourth century. It appears from
authentic records, that the difference between
their doctrine and that of the Manicheans
was not very considerable. For they denied
the reality of Christ’s birth and incarnation;
maintained that the visible universe was not
the production of the Supreme Deity, but
of some demon or malignant principle;
adopted the doctrine of aaons, or emanations
from the divine nature; considered human
bodies as prisons, formed by the author of
evil, to enslave celestial minds; condemned
marriage, and disbelieved the resurrection of
the body. Their rule of life and manners
was rigid and severe; the accounts, therefore,
which many have given of their lascivious-
ness and intemperance deserve not the least
credit, as they are totally destitute of evi-
dence and authority. That the Priscillianists
were guilty of dissimulation upon some oc-
casions, and deceived their adversaries by
cunning stratagems, is true; but that they
held it as a maxim that lying and perjury
were lawful, is a most notorious falsehood,
without even the least shadow of probability.
PROBATION, among dissenters, signifies the
state of a student or minister, while supplying
a vacant church, with a view, on their ap-
proval of his character and talents, to his
taking the pastoral oversight of them.
PROBATION, in a monastic sense, the year of
a novitiate, which a religious must pass in a
convent, to prove his virtue and vocation, and
whether he can bear the severities of the rule.
PROBATIONER, in the Church of Scotland,
9. student in divinity, who, bringing a certifi-
cate from a professor in an university of his
good morals, and his having performed his
exercises to approbation, is admitted to un-
dergo several trials before the presbytery, and
upon his acquitting himself properly in these,
receives a license to preach.
Pnonrrr, honesty, sincerity, or veracity.
“ It consists in the habit of actions useful to
society, and in the constant observance of the
laws which justice and conscience impose
upon us. The man who obeys all the laws of
society with an exact punctuality, is not,
therefore, a man of probity; laws can only
, respect the external and definite parts of hu-
PRINCIPLE, VOLUNTARY, a phrase of me-
man conduct; but probity respects our more
private actions, and such as it is impossible
in all cases to define ; and it appears to be in
morals what charity is in religion. Probity
teaches us to perform in society those actions
which no external power can oblige us to per-
form, and is that quality in the human mind
from which we claim the performance of the
rights commonly called imperfect.”
PROCESBION, a ceremony in the Romish
Church, consisting of a formal march of the
clergy and people, putting up prayers, &c., and
in this manner visiting some church, &c. They
, have processions of the host or sacrament;

of our Saviour to Mount Calvary ; of the ro-
sary, &c.
Processions are said to be of Pagan origi-
nal. The Romans, when the empire was
distressed, or after some victory, used con-
stantly to order processions, for several days
together, to be made to the temples, to beg the
assistance of the gods, or to return them thanks.
The first processions mentioned in ecclesi-
astical history, are those set on foot at Con-
stantinople, by Chrysostom. The Arians of
that city being forced to hold their meetings
without the town, went thither night and
morning, singing anthems. Chrysostom, to
prevent their perverting the Catholics, set up
counter-processions, in which the clergy and
people marched by night, singing prayers and
hymns, and carrying crosses and fiambeaux.
From this period the custom of processions
was introduced among the Greeks, and after-
wards among the Latins ; but they have sub-
sisted longer, and been more frequently used
in the Western than in the. Eastern church.
PROCESSION or THE HOLY GHos'r, a term
made use of in reference to the Holy Ghost,
as proceeding from the Father, or from the
Father and the Son. It seems to be founded
on that passage in John xv. 26, “ When the
Comforter is come, whom I will send unto
you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth,
which proceedeth from the Father, He shall
testify of me.” The procession of the Holy
Ghost, it is said, is expressly taught by
Christ, in very strong terms, in this text.
This procession, it is alleged, is here evi—
dently distinguished from his mission; for it
is said, “ Whom I will send to you from the
Father, even the Spirit of Truth which pro-
ceeds from the Father.” If his mission and
proceeding were the same thing, there would,
it is thought, be a tautology in the words,
his mission, according to that interpreta-
tion, being mentioned twice in the same
verse. Dr. Watts, however, observes, that
the procession of the Holy Ghost from the
Father, respects not his nature or substance,
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but his mission only; and that no distinct and
clear ideas can be formed of this procession;
consequently it must be given up as popish,
scholastic, inconceivable, and indefensible.
But, it is answered, what clear idea can be
given us of the originate, self-existent, eter-
nal being of the Father? Shall we, there-
fore, deny him to be without beginning or
end, and to be self-existent, because we know
not how he is so? If not, why must we give
up the procession of the Spirit, because we
know not the mode of it? We can no more
explain the manner how the Spirit proceeds
from the Father, than we can explain the
eternal generation and hypostatical union of
the two natures of the Son. We may say to
the objector, as Gregory Nazianzen said to
his adversary, “ Do you tell me how the Fa-
ther is unbegotten, and I will attempt to tell
you how the Son is begotten, and the Spirit
proceeds.”
The clearest and fullest account of this pro-
cession, next to that in the above-mentioned
text, is that in 1 Cor. ii. 12: “ The Spirit
which is of God ;” that is, (say the advocates
for this doctrine,) the Spirit, which is the
same in nature and essence with the Father,
and so is said to be of him, or out of him,
not as to local separation, but with respect to
identity of nature.
About the eighth and ninth centuries,
there was a very warm dispute between the
Greek and Latin Churches, whether the Spi-
rit proceeded from the Father only, or from
the Father and the Son; and the controversy
rose to such a height, that they charged one
another with. heresy and schism, when neither
side well understood what they contended for.
The Latin Church, however, has not scru-
pled to say that the Spirit proceeds from the
Father and the Son; but the Greek Church
chooses to express it thus: the Spirit pro-
ceeds from the Father, by or through the
Son, or he receives of the Son, Gal. iv. 6.
See HOLY GHOST; Bishop Pearson on the
Creed, p. 324; Watts’s Works, 8vo. ed., vol.
v. p. 199 ; Hurrz'on on the Holy Spirit, p. 204;
Ridgley’s Div. qu. ll ; Dr. Lightfoot’s Works,
vol. i. p. 482.
PROCLIANITES, the adherents of Proclus,
a Phrygian philosopher, who, about the year
194, put himself at the head of a. band of
Montanists, and spread the errors of Monta-
nus at Rome, and especially in Phrygia,
where, about 200 years afterwards, they
formed a most dangerous sect, and greatly
disturbed the peace of the churches. Proclus
denied that Paul was the author of the Epistle
to the Hebrews. '
PROCTORS or THE CLERGY, in the Eng-
lish ecclesiastical constitution, are those
among the clergy who are chosen, .in each
diocese, to sit and vote in the House of Con-
vocation.
PROPANE, a term used in opposition to holy.
A profane person is one who treats sacred
things as if they were common. The history
of nations is profane as distinguished from
that contained in the Bible. Profane writings
are such as have been composed by heathens,
in contradistinction from the sacred books of
Scripture, and the writings of Christian authors.
PROFESSION, among the Romanists, de-
notes the entering into a religious order,
whereby a person offers himself to God by a
vow of ' inviolably observing obedience, chas-
tity, and poverty.
Christians are required to make a profes-
sion of their faith. 1. Boldly, Rom. i. 16.—
2. Explicitly, Matt. v. 16.—3. Constantly,
Heb. x. 23.-—4. Yet not ostentatiously, but
with humility and meekness
PROFESSOR, a term commonly used in the
religious world, to denote any person who
makes an open acknowledgment of the reli-
gion of Christ, or who outwardly manifests
his attachment to Christianity. All real
Christians are professors, but all professors
are not real Christians. In this, as in all
other things of worth and importance, we
find counterfeits. There are many who be-
come professors, not from principle, from in-
vestigation, from love to the truth; but from
interested motives, prejudice of education,
custom, influence of connexions, novelty, &c.,
as Saul, J ehu, Judas, Demas, the foolish vir-
gins, &c. See article CHRISTIAN; Jay’s Ser-
mons, ser. 9 ; Mead’s Almost Christian; Bel-
lamy’s True Religion delineated; Sheplzerd’s
Sincere Convert, and on the Parable of the Ten
Virgins; Seclzer’s Nonsuch Professor; Chris-
tian Professor.
PROMISE is a solemn asseveration, by which
one pledges his veracity that he shall perform,
or cause to be performed, the thing which he
mentions.
The obligation of promises arises from the
necessity of the well-being and existence of
society. “ Virtue requires,” as Dr. Doddridge
observes, “ that promises be fulfilled. The
promisee, i. e. the person to whom the pro-
mise is made, acquires a property in virtue of
the promise. The uncertainty of property
would evidently be attended with great in-
convenience. By failing to fulfil my pro-
mise, I either show that I was not sincere in
making it, or that I have little constancy or
resolution, and either way injure my charac—
ter, and consequently my usefulness in life.
Promises, however, are not binding, 1. If
they were made by us before we came to such
exercise of reason as to be fit to transact af-
fairs of moment; or if by any distemper or
sudden surprise we are deprived of the exer-
cise of our reason at the time when the pro-
mise is made—2. If the promise was made on
a false presumption, in which the promiser,
after the most diligent inquiry, was imposed
upon, especially if he were deceived by the
fraud of the promisee.~—-3. If the thing itself
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be vicious; for virtue cannot require that vice
should be committed—4. If the accomplish-
ment of the promise be so hard and intoler-
able, that'there is reason to believe that, had
it been foreseen, it would have been an ex-
cepted case—5. If the promise be not ac-
cepted, or if it depend on conditions not per-
formed.” See Doddridgc’s Lect. lee. 69 ; Grot.
de Jure, lib. ii. cap. 11; Paler’s Mor. Phil.
vol. i. ch. 5 ; Grove’s Mor. Phi ., vol. ii. 0. 12,
p. 2; Watts’s Serm", ser. 20.
PROMISES 0F G01) are the kind declarations
of his word, in which he hath assured us he
will bestow blessings upon his people. The
promises contained in the sacred Scriptures
may be considered, 1. Divine as to their
origin.——2. Suitable as to their nature—3.
Abundant as to their number.—-—4. Clear as
to their expression—5. Certain as to their
accomplishment. The consideration of them
should, 1. Prove an antidote to despair.—2.
A motive to patience.—-3. A call for rayer.
——4. A spur to perseverance. See Carl: on
the Promises,- a book that, Dr. Watts says,
“ he could dare put into the hands of every
Christian, among all their divided sects and
parties in the world.” Buck’s Serm., ser. xi.
PROPAGANDA, a society founded at Rome,
1622, by Pope Gregory XV., the object of
which is to propagate the Roman Catholic re‘
ligion throughout the world. It is extremely
rich in funds; has a printing-ofiice furnished
with types of all the important languages
spoken on the globe; an immense library;
and a college or seminary for the education of
missionaries. It receives royal donations and
penny contributions. Its affairs are conducted
by eighteen cardinals, and several papal minis-
ters and officers of the college, who plan
measures not only for the extension of the
papal religion among pagans, but for the ex-
tirpation of heresy. Its full title is, Congre-
gatz'o de propagandd fide. The college, insti-
tuted by Pope Urban VIII., in 1627, is called
Collegium scu Seminarz'um de propagandfi fide.
A new propaganda has recently been es-
tablished in France. It consists of two divi-
sions, the seat of one of which is at Paris,
and that of the other at Lyons. Its receipts, in
1828, amounted to upwards of 67,0001. sterling.
PROPHECY, a word derived from 7Tp0¢7)TELa,
and in its original import signifies the predic-
tion of future events. It is thus defined by
\Vitsius; “ A knowledge and manifestation
of secret things, which a man knows not from
his own sagacity, nor from the relation of
others, but by an extraordinary revelation of
God from heaven.” In the Old and New
Testaments the word is not always confined
to the foretelling of future events. In several
instances it is of the same import with preach-
ing, and denotes the faculty of illustrating and
applying to present practical purposes the
doctrines of prior revelation. Thus, in Ne—
hemiah it is said, “ Thou hast appointed pro-
phets to preach,” chap. vi. ver. 7; and who~
ever speaketh unto men to edification, and
exhortation, and comfort, is by St. Paul called
a prophet, 1 Cor. xiv. 3. Hence it was that
there were schools of prophets in Israel,
where young men were instructed in the
truths of religion, and fitted to exhort and
comfort the people. It is prophecy, however,
according to the first definition given above,
we shall here consider.
Prophecy (with the power of working mi-
racles) may be considered as the highest evi-
dence that can be given of a supernatural
communion with the Deity. Hence, among
the professors of almost every religious sys-
tem, there have been numberless pretenders
to the gift of prophecy. Pagans had their ora-
cles, augurs, and soothsayers ; modern idola-
ters their necromancers and diviners; and
the Jews, Christians, and Mohammedans,
their prophets. The pretensions of Pagans
and impostors have, however, been justly ex-
posed; while the Jewish and Christian pro-
phecies carry with them evident marks of
their validity. Hence St. Peter observes,
“ We have a more sure word of prophecy,
whereunto we do well to take heed, as unto a
light that shineth in a dark place; for the
prophecy came not in old time by the will of
man, but holy men of God spake as they were
moved by the Holy Ghost,” 2 Pet. ii. 19, 21.
Scripture prophecy, therefore, hath God for
its origin. It did not arise from the genius
of the mind, the temperament of the body, the
influence of the stars, &c., but from the sove—
reign will of God. The ways by which the
Deity made known his mind were various;
such as by dreams, visions, angels, symbolic
representations, impulses on the mind, Numb.
xii. 6; Jer. xxxi. 26; Dan. viii. 16, 17.
As to the language of prophecy: “ It is,
says Mr. Gray, “ remarkable for its magnifi~
eence. Each prophetic writer is distinguished
for peculiar beauties; but their style in gene-
ral may be characterised as strong, animated,
and impressive. Its ornaments are derived,
not from accumulation of epithet, or laboured
harmony, but from the real grandeur of its
images, and the majestic force of its expres-
sions. It is varied with striking propriety,
and enlivened with quick but easy transi—
tions. Its sudden bursts of eloquence. its
earnest warmth, its affecting exhortations
and appeals, afford very interesting proofs of '
that lively impression, and of that inspired
conviction, under which the prophets wrote;
and which enabled them, among a people not
distinguished for genius, to surpass in every
variety of composition, the most admired pro~
ductions of Pagan antiquity. If the imagery
employed by the sacred writers appears
sometimes to partake of a coarse and indeli-
cate cast, it must be recollected, that the
Eastern manners and languages required the
most forcible representations; and that the
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masculine and indignant spirit of the prophets
led them to adopt the most energetic and de-
scriptive expressions. No style is, perhaps,
so highly figurative as that of the prophets.
Every object of nature and of art which could
furnish allusions is explored with industry;
every scene of creation, and every page of
science, seems to have unfolded its rich varie-
ties to the sacred writers, who, in the spirit of
Eastern poetry, delight in every kind of me—
taphorical embellishment.
illustration, it is obvious to remark,‘ that
earthly dignities and powers are symbolized
by the celestial bodies; the effects of moral
evil are shown under the storms and convul-
sions of nature; the pollutions of sin are re-
presented by external impurities ; and the be-
neficial influence of righteousness is depicted
by the serenity and confidence of peaceful
life. This allegorical language, being founded
in ideas universally prevalent, and adhered
to with invariable relation and regular ana-
logy, has furnished great ornament and ele-
gance to the sacred writings. Sometimes,
however, the inspired penmen drew their
allusions from local and temporary sources of
metaphor; from the idolatries of heathen na-
tions; from their own history and circum-
stances; from the service of their temple,
and the ceremonies of their religion; from
manners that have faded, and customs that
have elapsed. Hence many appropriate beau-
ties have vanished. Many descriptions and
many representations, that must have had a
solemn importance among the Jews, are now
considered, from a change of circumstances,
in a degraded point of view. Hence, like-
wise, here and there a shade of obscurity. In
general, however, the language of Scripture,
though highly sublime and beautiful, is easy
and intelligible to all capacities.”
2. Of the use and intent of prophecy.
As prophecy is so striking a proof of a su-
pernatural communion with the Deity, and
is of so early a date, we may rest assured it
was given for wise and important ends. “ It
cannot be supposed,” says Bishop Sherlock,
“ that God delivered prophecies only to satisfy
or employ the curiosity of the inquisitive, or
that he gave his Spirit to men merely to en-
able them to give forth predictions for the
amusement and entertainment of the world:
there must be some end worthy of the au-
thor.” Now, what end could this be, but to
keep alive, in the minds of those to whom it
was given, a sense of religion, and a hope of
future deliverance from the curse of the fall
through Jesus Christ? “ The uses of pro-
phccy,” says Dr. Jortin, “besides gradually
opening and unfolding the things relating to
the Messiah, and the blessings which by him
should be conferred upon mankind, are
many, great, and manifest.
“ 1. It served to secure the belief of a God,
and of a providence.
Thus, by way of ‘

“ As God is invisible and spiritual, there was
cause to fear, that, in the first and ruder ages of
the world, when men were busier in cultivat-
ing the earth than in cultivating arts and sci-
ences, and in seeking the necessaries of life
than in the study of morality, they might for-
get their Creator and Governor; and, there-
fore, God maintained amongst them the great
article of faith in him, by manifestations of
himself; by sending angels to declare his
will; by miracles, and by prophecies.
“2. It was intended to give men the pro-
foundest veneration for that amazing know-
ledge from which nothing was concealed, not
even the future actions of creatures, and the
things which as yet were not. How could a
man hope to hide any counsel, any design or
thought, from such a Being?
“ 3. It contributed to keep up devotion
and true religion, the religion of the heart,
which consists partly in entertaining just and
honourable notions of God, and of his perfec-
tions, and which is a more rational and a more
acceptable service than rites and ceremonies.
“ 4. It excited men to rely upon God, and
to love him who condescended to hold this
mutual intercourse with his creatures, and‘to
permit them to consult him, as one friend
asks advice of another.
“ 5. It was intended to keep the people, to
whom God revealed himself, from idolatry;
a sin to which the Jews would be inclined,
both from the disposition to it which they
had acquired in Egypt, and from the conta-
gion of bad example.
“ The people of Israel were strictly for-
bidden to consult the diviners and the gods of
other nations, and to use any enchantments
and wicked arts; and that they might have
no temptation to it, God permitted them to
apply to him and to his prophets; even upon
small occasions; and he raised up amongst
them a succession of prophets, to whom they
might have recourse for advice and direction.
These prophets were reverenced abroad as
well as at home, and consulted by foreign
princes; and, in times of the captivity, they
were honoured by great kings, and advanced
to high stations.”
As it respects us, prophecy connected with
miracles affords a considerable evidence of
the truth of revelation, as well as of a super-
intending Providence. This evidence, too,
is a growing evidence. “ The divine design,
uniformly pursued through a series of suc-
cessive generations, opens with a greater de-
gree of elearness, in proportion to the lapse
of time and the number of events. An in-
crease of age is an addition to its strength;
and the nearer we approach the point towards
which the dispensations of God unvaryingly
tend, the more clearly shall we discern the
wonderful regularity, consistency, and beauty
of this stupendous plan for universal good.
()f the great use of prophecies which have
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been fulfilled, as a direct and strong argu-
ment to convert unbelievers to Christianity,
and to establish Christians in the faith, we
have the most ample proofs.. Our Lord'him-
self made very frequent appeals to prophecy,
as evidence of his divine mission : he referred
the Jews to their own Scriptures, as most
fully and clearly bearing witness of himself.
Upon them he grounded the necessity of his
sufferings; upon them he settled the faith of
the disciples at Emmaus, and of the apostles
at Jerusalem. The same source supplied the
eloquence of St. Peter and St. Paul, and the
means with which Apollos ‘ mightily con-
vinced the Jews.’ This was a powerful in-
strument of persuasion in the succeeding ages
of the church, when used by the primitive
apologists. Upon this topic were employed
the zeal and diligence, not only of Justin
Martyr, but Tertullian, Cyprian, and Angus-
tin. It would never have been so frequently
employed, if it had not been well adapted to
the desired end; and that it did most com-
pletely answer this end, by the conversion of
unbelievers, is evident from the accounts of
Scripture, and the records of the primitive
church.
_“ Prophecy keeps the attention of Chris-
tians alive to the truth and importance of
their holy religion: to its truth, because pro-
phecy and Christianity had one and the same
origin, both being derived from the same
fountain of perfection; it keeps them alive to
its importance, because prophecy shows that
the Supreme Being has vouchsafed, through
a long succession of ages, to prepare man-
kind, by gradual revelations of his will, for
future blessings; and has proved, by sending
chosen messengers to usher in this final dis-
pensation, that ‘ the testimony of Jesus is the
spirit of prophecy.’ It confirms the general
belief of a God, and points out to a careless
world the plain traces of his watchful provi-
dence. It displays the counsels of inspiration,
incessantly directing the course of events,
without violating the order of reason and of
human action. Such knowledge is too won-
derful for us! such power is above our com-
prehension! But the fact is placed before our
eyes. We see, or may see, a regular. train of
prophecies tending towards one declared end,
accurately fulfilled and fulfilling amidst all
the confusion and opposition of this tumul-
tuous world; and we see that these prophe-
cies are clear, both in prediction and accom-
plishment, in proportion to their importance
in fixing our belief in the providence of God,
and in the great truths of divine revelation.
Thus it appears that the chief design of pro-
phecy is to bear constant witness to religious
truth; but though to convince gainsayers of
this truth is justly considered as its principal
use, it has another very important object, to
which it well becomes us to pay attention,
from motives of gratitude, as well as from I
__
fear of incurring the blame which Scripture
invariably imputes to those who neglect to
take advantage of the light afforded them.
It is designed to protect believers in the word
of God from the dangers arising from the
prevalent corruptions, errors, and vices of
the age in which they live. The due consi-
deration of prophecy will administer consola-
tion amidst present distress, and enliven faith
and elevate hope, whilst passing through
those dark depressing scenes, which, without
this gracious aid, might ‘lead through the in-
tricacies of doubt to the gloom of despair.”
Cbjections, however, have been raised
against the prophecies from their obscurity.
But to this it is answered, that they have
often a first, or partial, and an ultimate com-
pletion, of which the former may be generally
considered as an earnest of the latter. It is
principally this double sense of prophecy
which renders it obscure; for though the pre-
dictions of the prophets were sometimes posi-
tive and exactly descriptive, and delivered
with an accurate and definite designation of
names and times, prophecy was not generally .
designed to be clear before its accomplish-
ment. It is, however, always sufiiciently
exact in its descriptions to authenticate its
pretensions to a divine authority; to produce,
when it comes to pass, an acknowledgment
of its unerring certainty ; and to demonstrate
the wisdom and power of God. As Bishop
Newton observes, prophecies are the only
species of writing which are designed more
for the instruction of future ages than of the
times wherein they are written. In this re-
spect, as the world groweth older, it groweth
wiser. Time, that detracts something from
the evidence of other writers, is still adding
something to the credit and authority of the
prophets. Future ages will comprehend more
than the present, as the present understands
more than the past; and the perfect accom-
plishment will produce a perfect knowledge
of all the prophets.
3. Of the fulfilment of prophecy.
Our limits will not permit us to give a
copious account of the various prophecies
which have been remarkably fulfilled: but
whoever has examined profane history with
any degree of attention, and compared it with
the predictions of Scripture, must, if he be
not blinded by prejudice, and hardened by
infidelity, be convinced of the truth of pro-
phecy by its exact accomplishment. It is in
vain to say that these prophecies were deli-
vered since the events have taken place ; for
we see the prophecies, the latest whereof were
delivered about 1700 years ago, and some of
them above 3000 years ago, fulfilling at this
very time; and cities, and countries, and
kingdoms, in the very same condition, and all
brought about in the very same manner, and
with the very same,circumstances, as the
prophets had foretold. “ We see,” says Bishop
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Newton, “ the descendants of Shem and J a-
pheth, ruling and enlarged in Asia and Eu-
rope, and perhaps in America, and ‘the curse
of servitude,’ still attending the wretched de-
scendants of Ham, in Africa. We see the
prosperity of Ishmael, ‘ multiplied exceed-
ingly,’ and become ‘ a great nation,’ in the
Arabians; yet living like ‘ wild men,’ and
shifting from place to place in the wilderness;
‘ their hand against every man, and every
man’s hand against them ;’ and still dwelling
an independent and free people, ‘ in the‘ pre-
sence of all their brethren,’ and in the pre-'
sence of all their enemies. We see the family
of Esau totally extinct, and that of Jacob sub-
sisting at this day; ‘ the Sceptre departed
from Judah,’ and the people living nowhere
in authority, everywhere in subjection; the
Jews still dwelling alone among the nations,
while ‘ the remembrance of Amalek is utterly
put out from under heaven.’ We see the
Jews severely punished for their infidelity
and disobedience to their great prophet like
unto Moses; ‘ plucked from off their own
land, and removed into all the kingdoms of
the earth; oppressed and spoiled evermore ;’
and made ‘ a proverb and a by-word among
all nations.’ We see ‘ Ephraim so broken as
to be no more a people,’ while the whole
nation is comprehended under the name of
Judah; the Jews wonderfully preserved as a
distinct people, while their great conquerors
are everywhere destroyed; their land lying
desolate, and themselves cut off from being
the people of God, while the Gentiles are
advanced in their room. We see Nineveh so
completely destroyed that the place thereof is
not and cannot be known ; Babylon made ‘ a
desolation for ever,’ a possession for the bit—
tern, and pools of water; Tyre become ‘ like
the top of a rock, a place for fishers to spread
their nets upon ;’ and Egypt, ‘ a base king-
dom, the basest of the kingdoms,’ and still
tributary and subject to strangers. We see,
of the four great empires of the world, the
fourth and last, which was greater and more
powerful than any of the former, divided in
the western part thereof into ten lesser king-
doms; and among them a power ‘ with a
triple crown differs from the first,’ with ‘ a
mouth speaking very great things,’ and with
‘look more stout than his fellows, speaking
great words against the Most High, wearing
out the saints of the Most High, and changing
times and laws.’ We see a power ‘ cast down
the truth to the ground, and prosper, and
practise, and destroy the holy people, not re-
garding the God of his fathers, nor the desire
of wives, but honouring Mahuzzim,’ gods-
pr'otectors, or saints-protectors, ‘ and causing’
the priests .of Mahuzzim ‘ to rule over many,
and to divide the land for gain.’ We see the
Turks ‘ stretching forth their hand over the
countries,’ and particularly ‘ over the land of
Egypt, the Libyans at their steps,’ and the
Arabians still ‘ escaping out of their hand.
We see the Jews ‘led away captive into all
nations, and Jerusalem trodden down of the
Gentiles,’ and likely to continue so ‘ until the
times of the Gentiles be fulfilled,’ as the Jews
are by a constant miracle preserved a distinct
people for the completion of other prophecies
relating to them. We see one ‘ who opposeth
and exalteth himself’ above all laws, divine
and human, ‘ sitting as God in the church of
God, and showing himself that he is God,
whose coming is after the working of Satan,
with all power, and signs, and lying wonders,
and with all deceiveableness of unrighteous-
ness.’ We see a great apostasy in the Chris-
tian church, which consists chiefly in the
worship of demons, angels, or de arted saints,
and is promoted ‘ through the liypocrisy of
liars, forbidding to marry, and commanding
to abstain from meats.’ We see the seven
churches of Asia lying in the same forlorn
and desolate condition that the angel had
signified to St. John, their ‘ candlestick re-
moved out of its place,’ their churches turned
into mosques, their worship into superstition.
In short, we see the character of ‘ the beast
and the false prophet,’ and ‘ the whore of
Babylon,’ now exemplified in every parti-
cular, and in a city that is seated ‘ upon seven
mountains ;’ so that if the bishop of Rome
had sat for his picture, a greater resem-
blance and likeness could not have been
drawn.
“ For these things we have the attestation
of past, and the experience of present times;
and we cannot well be deceived, if we will only
believe our own eyes and observation. We
actually see the completion of many of the
prophecies, in the state of men and things
around us ; and we have the prophecies them-
selves recorded in books, which books have
been read in public assemblies these 1700 or
2000 years, have been dispersed into several
countries, have been translated into several
languages, and quoted and commented upon
by different nations, so that there is no room
to suspect so much as a possibility of forgery
or illusion.”
4. Rules for understanding the prophecies.
In order_to understand the prophecies, and
to form a right judgment of the argument for
the truth of Christianity, we must not consi-
der them singly and apart, but as a grand
whole, or a chain reaching through several
thousand years, yet manifestly subservient to
one and the same end. This end is no other
than the establishment of the universal em-
pire of truth and righteousness under the do-
mmion of Jesus Christ. We are not, indeed,
to suppose that each of the prophecies re-
corded in the Old Testament expressly points
out and clearly characterizes Jesus Christ;
yet, taken as a whole, this grand system re-
fers to him ; for the testimony of Jesus is the
spirit of prophecy. “ All the revolutions of
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Divine Providence have him for their scope
and end. Is an empire, or kingdom, erected?
that empire, or kingdom, is erected with a
view, directly or indirectly, to the kingdom
of‘ the Messiah. Is an empire, or kingdom,
subverted or overthrown? that empire, or
kingdom, is overthrown in subserviency to
the glory of his kingdom and empire, which
shall know neither bounds nor end, but whose
limits shall be no other than the limits of the
universe, and whose end no other than the
days of eternity. Jesus Christ, then, is the
only person that ever existed, in whom all
the prophecies meet as in a centre.” In or-
der, therefore, to oppose error and confront
the infidel, we must study the prophecies not
as independent of each other, but as connect-
ed; for “ the argument from prophecy,” says
Bishop Hurd, “ is not to be formed from the
consideration of single prophecies, but from
all the prophecies taken together, and consi-
dered as making one system; in which, from
the mutual dependence and connexion of its
parts, preceding prophecies prepare and illus-
trate those which follow; and these, again,
reflect light on the foregoing: just as in any
philosophical system, that which shows the
solidity of it is the harmony and correspond-
ence of the whole, not the application of it in
particular instances.
“ Hence, though the evidence be but small-
from the completion of any one prophecy
taken separately, yet that evidence, being al-
wa s something, the amount of the whole
evi ence resulting from a great number of
prophecies, all relative to the same design,
may be considerable; like many scattered
rays, which, though each be weak in itself,
yet, concentrated into one point, shall form
a strong light, and strike the sense very pow-
erfully. Still more; this evidence is not
merely a growing evidence, but is indeed
multiplied upon us, from the number of re-
flected lights which the several component
parts of such a system reciprocally throw
upon each; till at length the conviction rise
unto a high degree of moral certainty.”
Further, in order to understand the pro-
phecies, we must endeavour to find out the
true subject of prophecy; that is, precisely
what the prophets speak of, and the charac-
ters that are applied to that subject. The li-
teral sense should be always kept in view,
and a knowledge of oriental customs attained.
The beginning and end of the prophetic
sermons must be carefully‘ observed. The
time, as near as possible, of the prediction
should be ascertained. An acquaintance with
the method of salvation by Christ will greatly
assist us in this work. The mind must be
unprejudiced, and we should be well acquaint-
ed with the Scriptures at large. These rules,
with dependence on the divine teaching, will
assist us in understanding the prophecies. See
Bishop Newton’s Dissertation. on the Prop/re?
, favour.
cies; Bishop Sherloch’s Use and Intent of Pro-
phecy; Bishop Hurd’s Sermons on the Prophe-
cies ; Sir Isaac Newton’s Observations on the
Prophecies of Daniel and the Apocalypse;
Gray's Key to the Old Testament,- Simpson’s
Key to 'the Prophecies; Illustrations of Pro-
phecy ; Vitringa’s Typus Doctrines Prophe-
ticce; Gill on the Prophets; Ettrz'oh’s second
Exodus, or Remarks on the Prophecies of the
Last Times,- Kctt’s History the Inter reter of
Prophecy, and Dr. J. P. Smith on t' e Inter-
pretation of Pr hecy. See also the works of
Mede, Smith, allifax, Apthorp, Davidson,
and Faber, on the subject. '
PBOPHESYINGS, religious exercises of the
clergy in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, insti-
tuted for the purpose of promoting knowledge
and piety. The ministers of a particular di-
vision, at a set time, met together in some
church of a market or other large town, and
there each in their order explained, accord-
ing to their abilities, some portion of Scrip—
ture allotted to them before. This done, a
moderator made his observations on what had
been said. and determined the true sense of
the place, a certain space of time being fixed
for despatching the whole. These institu-
tions, like all others, however, it seems, were
abused, by irregularity, disputations, and di-
visions. Archbishop Grindal endeavoured to
regulate the prophesyings, and cover them
from the objections that the court made
against them, by enjoining the ministers to
observe decency and order; by forbidding
them to meddle with politics and church go-
vernment, and by prohibiting all nonconform—
ist ministers and laymen from being speakers.
The queen, however, was resolved to sup—
press them; and having sent for the arch-
bishop, told him she was informed that the
rites and ceremonies of the church were not
duly observed in these prophesyings; that
persons not lawfully called to be ministers
exercised in them ; 'that the assemblies them—
selves were illegal, not being allowed by pub-
lic authority; that the laity neglected their
secular affairs by repairing to these meetings,
which filled their heads with notions, and
might occasion disputes and sedition in the
state; that it was good for the church to
have but few preachers, three or four in a
county being suflicient. She further declared
her dislike of the number of these exercises,
and therefore commanded him peremptorily
to put them down. The archbishop, how-
ever, instead of obeying the commands of his
royal mistress, thought that she had made
some infringement upon his oflice, and wrote
the queen a long and earnest letter, declaring
that his conscience would not suffer him to
comply with her commands. The queen was
so inflamed with this letter, that the arch-
bishop was sequestered from his oflice, and
he never afterwards. recovered the queen’s
Thus ended the prophesyings ; “an
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useful institution,” says Neale, “for promot-
ing Christian knowledge and piety, at a time
when both were at a very low ebb in the na-
tion. The queen put them down for no other
reason, but because they enlightened the
people’s minds in the Scriptures, and encou—
raged their inquiries after truth; her majesty
being always of opinion that knowledge and
learning in the laity would only endanger
their peaceable submission to her absolute
will and pleasure.”
PROPHET, a person who foretells future
events. It is particularly applied to such in-
spired persons among the Jews as were com-
missioned by God to declare his will and
purposes to that people. See PROPHECY.
PROPHETS, FALSE. See IMPOSTORS, and
Josephus’s History of the Jews.
PROPHETS, Sons on THE, an appellation
given to young men who were educated in
the schools or colleges under a proper master,
who was commonly, if not always, an inspired
prophet, in the knowledge of religion, and in
sacred music, and thus were qualified to be
public preachers, 1 Sam. x. xi. 2 Sam. xix.
2 Kings ii.
PROPITIATION, a sacrifice offered to God
to avert his wrath, and effect the bestowment
of his favour. Among the Jews there were
both ordinary and public sacrifices, as holo-
causts, &c., offered by way of thanksgiving;
and extraordinary ones, offered by persons
guilty of any crime, by way of propitiation.
The Romish church believe: the mass to be
a sacrifice of propitiation for the living and
the dead. The reformed churches allow of
no propitiation, but that offered by Jesus on
the cross, whereby divine justice is appeased,
and our sins forgiven, Rom. iii. 25. 1 John
ii. 2.
As it respects the unbloody propitiatory
sacrifice of the mass above mentioned, little
need be said to confute such a doctrine. In-
deed, it is owned in the Church of Rome,
that there is no other foundation for the belief
of it than an unwritten tradition. There is
no hint in the Scripture of Christ’s ofl‘ering
his body and blood to his Father at his insti-
tution of the eucharist. It is also a manifest
contradiction to St. Paul’s doctrine, who
teaches, that without shedding of blood there
is no remission; therefore there can be no
remission of sins in the mass. The sacrifice
of Christ, according to the same apostle, is
not to be repeated. A second oblation would
be superfluous: consequently, the pretended
true and proper sacrifice of the mass must be
superfluous and useless.
The propitiation made by Jesus Christ is
that which atones for and covers our guilt, as
the mercy-seat did the tables of the law; or
it may be defined thus: “It is the averting
the punishment due to any one, by under-
going the penalty in the room of the guilty.”
Thus Jesus Christ is called the propitiation
or atonement, as his complete righteousness
propitiates his Father, by satisfying his law
and justice for all our transgressions. See
ATONEMENT, and books under that article.
Pnoroa'rrou or FAITH. See ANALOGY or
FAITH.
PROSELYTE, a new convert to some reli-
gion, or religious sect. Among the Hebrews,
proselytes were distinguished into two sorts:
the first called proselytes of the gate, because
suffered to live among them, and were those
who observed the moral law only, and the
rules imposed on the children of Noah; the
second were called proselytes of justice, who
engaged to receive circumcision, and the
whole law of Moses, and enjoyed all the pri-
vileges of a native Hebrew. '
PROSEUCHE, from arpoo'wxn, signifies
prayer; but it is taken for the places of
prayer of the Jews, and was pretty nearly
the same as their synagogues. But the syna-
gogues were originally in the cities, and were
covered places; whereas, for the most part,
the proseuehes were out of the cities, and on
the banks of rivers, having no covering, ex-
cept, perhaps, the shade of some trees or
covered galleries, Acts xvi. 13.
PROSPERITY, a state wherein things suc-
ceed according to our wishes, and are pro-
ductive of afiluence and case. However
desirable prosperity be, it has its manifest
disadvantages. It too often alienates the soul
from God; excites pride; exposes to tempta-
tion; hardens the heart; occasions idleness;
' promotes efi‘eminacy; damps zeal and energy;
‘and, too often, has a baneful relative influence.
It is no wonder, therefore, that the Almighty
in general withholds it from his children; and
that adversity should be their lot rather than
prosperity. Indeed adversity seems more
beneficial on the whole, although it be so
unpleasant to our feelings. “ The advantages
of prosperity,” says Bacon, “are to he wished;
but the advantages of adversity are to be ad-
mired. The principal virtue of prosperity is
temperance; the principal virtue of adversity
is fortitude, which in morality is allowed to
be the most heroical virtue: prosperity best
discovers vice, adversity best discovers virtue,
which is like those perfumes which are most
fragrant when burnt or bruised.” It is not,
however, to be understood that prosperity in
itself is unlawful. The world, with all its
various productions, was formed by the
Almighty for the happiness of man, and de-
signed to endear himself to us, and to what
leads our minds up to him. What, however,
God often gives us as a blessing, by our own
folly we pervert and turn into a curse. Where
prosperity is given, there religion is absolutely
necessary to enable us to act under it as we
ought. Where this divine principle influences
the mind, prosperity may be enjoyed and be-
come a blessing; for “ while bad men snatch
the pleasures of the world as by stealth, with~
PRO
PRO
654
out countenance from God, the proprietor of
the world, the righteous sit openly down to
the feast of life, under the smile of heaven.
No guilty fears damp their joys. The blessing
of God rests upon all they possess. Their
piety reflects sunshine from heaven upon the
prosperity of the world; unites in one point
of view the smiling aspect both of the powers
above and of the objects below. Not only
have they as full a relish as others of the in-
nocent pleasures of life, but, moreover, in
them they hold communion with God. In
all that is good or fairthey trace his hand.
From the beauties of nature, from the im-
provements of art, from the enjoyments of
social life, they raise their affections to the
source of all the happiness which surrounds
them, and thus widen the sphere of their
pleasures, by adding intellectual and spiritual
to earthly joy.” Blair’s Sermons, vol. i. ser. 3;
Bates’s Works, p. 297.
Spiritual prosperity consists in the continual
progress of the mind in knowledge, purity,
and joy. It arises from the participation of
the divine blessing; and evidences itself by
frequency in prayer; love to God’s word;
delight in his people ; attendance on his ordi-
nances; zeal in his cause; submission to his
will; usefulness in his church; and increas-
ing abhorrence of every thing that is deroga-
tory to his glory.
Pno'rns'rnn'r, a name first given in Ger-
many to those who adhered to the doctrine of
Luther, because, in 1529, they protested against
a decree of ‘the Emperor Charles V. and the
diet of Spires, prohibiting all Roman Catholics
from turning Lutherans, and decreeing that
the reformers should deliver nothing in their
sermons contrary to the received doctrine of
the church; declaring that they appealed to
a general council. This name has also been
given to those of the sentiments of Calvin;
and is now become a common denomination
for‘ all those of the reformed churches. See
article Rnronnra'rron; Fell’s Four Letters on
Genuine Protestantism; Ohillingworth’s Reli-
gion of the Protestants; Robertson’s History of
Charles V., vol. ii. pp. 249, 250.
PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH, in the
United States of America, a free and inde-
pendent body, which originated in the settle-
ment of members of the Church of England
in that country. The same creed obtains,
and nearly the same ritual. The prayer book
omits the Athanasian Creed; dispenses with
the use of the cross in baptism; abridges the
marriage service; alters the offensive expres-
sions in the burial service, and some other
things in adaptation to the state of things in
America. It is altogether unconnected with
the state. Its supreme power is lodged in a
triennial convention, consisting of clerical
and lay delegates from the different dioceses
or states. The bishops constitute an upper
house, and may originate measures for the
concurrence of the lower or mixed assembly.
The number of bishops is between sixteen and
twenty, and that of clergymen nearly seven
hundred. Besides a theological seminary at
New York, there are others in different parts
of the States.
PROTESTANT Mn'rnoms'r CHURCH, a re-
spectable body of seceders from the Methodist
Episcopal Church in North America, also
called Reformed Methodists. It took‘ its rise
in 1824, but did not come into full organiza-
tion till 1828, when, having tried every effort
to effect a lay representation in the Confer-
ence, the reformers withdrew in very con-
siderable numbers, and adopted a constitution
and discipline in accordance with the free
and unshackled principles which they found
could not be enjoyed among those whom they
had left. In 1834, they numbered four hun-
dred ministers, fifty thousand communicants,
and two hundred thousand of a population.
PROVIDENCE, the superintendence and care‘‘\\} I
The '
which God exercises over creation.
arguments for the providence of God are ge-
nerally drawn from the light of nature; the
being of a God; the creation of the world;
the wonderfully disposing and controlling the
affairs and actions of men; from the absolute
necessity of it; from the various blessings
enjoyed by his creatures; the awful judg-
ments that have been inflicted; and from the
astonishing preservation of the Bible and the
church through every age, notwithstanding
the attempts of earth and hell against them.
Providence has been divided into immediate
and mediate, ordinary and extraordinary,
common and special, universal and particular.
Immediate providence is what is exercised by
' God himself, without the use of any instru-
ment or second canse; mediate providence is
what is exercised in the use of means; ordi-
nary providence is what is exercised in the
common course of means, and by the chain
of second causes; extraordinary is what is out
of the common way, as miraculous operations;
common providence is what belongs to the
whole world; special, what relates to the
church; universal relates to the general up-
holding and preserving all things; particular}
relates to individuals in every action and cir-
cumstance. This last, however, is denied by
some. But, as a good writer observes, “ the
opinion entertained by some that the provi-
dence of God extends no farther than to a
general superintendence of the laws of nature,
without interposing in the particular concerns
of individuals, is contrary both to reason and '-
to Scripture. It renders the government of
the Almighty altogether loose and contingent,
and would leave no ground for reposing any
trust under its protection; for the majorit of
human affairs would then be allowed to {in -
tuate in a fortuitous course, without moving
in any regular direction, and without tending
to any one scope. The uniform doctrine of l
l’ R 0
655 P RO
hand of Heaven. We need not appeal to the
history of the statesman and the warrior; of
I" the sacred writings is, that throughout the
{ universe nothing happens without God ;) that
' his hand is ever active, and his decree or per-
mission intervenes in all; that nothing is too
great or unwieldy for his management, and
nothing so minute and inconsiderable as to be
below his inspection and care. While he is
guiding the sun and moon in their course
through the heavens; while in this inferior
world he is ruling among empires, stilling the
ragings of the waters, and the tumults of the
people, he is at the same time watching over
the humble good man, who, in the obscurity
of his cottage, is serving and worshipping
him.”
“ In what manner, indeed, Providence in-
terposes in human affairs; by what means
it influences the thoughts and counsels of
men, and, notwithstanding the influence it
exerts, leaves to them the freedom of choice,
are subjects of dark and mysterious nature,
and which have given rise to many an intri-
cate controversy. Let us remember that the
manner in which God influences the motion
of all the heavenly bodies, the nature of that
secret power by which he is ever directing
the sun and the moon, the planets, stars, and
comets, in their course through the heavens,
while they appear to move themselves in a
free course, are matters no less inexplicable
to us than the manner in which he influences
the councils of men. But though the mode
of divine operation remains unknown, the
fact of an overruling influence is equally
certain in the moral as it is in the natural
world. In cases where the fact is clearly
authenticated, we are not at liberty to call its
truth in question, merely because we under-
stand not the manner in which it is brought
about. Nothing can be more clear, from the
testimony of Scripture, than that God takes
part in all that happens among mankind;
directing and overruling the whole course of
events so as to make every one of them an-
swer the designs of his wise and righteous
government. We cannot, indeed, conceive
God acting as the governor of the world at
all, unless his government were to extend to
all the events that happen. It is upon the
supposition of a particular providence that
our worship and prayers to him are founded.
All his perfections would be utterly insigni-
ficant to us, if they were not exercised, on
every occasion, according as the circumstances
of his creatures required. The Almighty
would then be no more than an unconcerned
spectator of the behaviour of his subjects, re-
garding the obedient and the rebellious with
an e ual eye.
“ he experience of every one also must.
more or less, bear testimony to it. We need
not for this purpose have recourse to those
sudden and unexpected vicissitudes which
have sometimes astonished whole nations,
and drawn their attention to the conspicuous

the ambitious and the enterprising. We con-
fine our observation to those whose lives
have been most plain and simple, and who
had no desire to depart from the ordinary
train of conduct. In how many instances
have we found, that we are held in subjection
to a higher Power, on whom depends the
accomplishment of our wishes and designs?
Fondly we had projected some favourite plan:
we thought thatwe had forecast and provided
for all that might happen; we had taken our
measures with such vigilant prudence, that
on every side we seemed to ourselves per-
fectly guarded and secure! but, 10! some
little event hath come about, unforeseen by
us, and in its consequences at the first seem~
ingly inconsiderable, which yet hath turned
the whole course of things into a new di-
rection, and blasted all our hopes. At
other times our counsels and plans have been
permitted to succeed: we then applauded our
own wisdom, and sat down to feast on the
happiness we had attained. To our surprise
we found that happiness was not there, and
that God’s decree had appointed it to be only
vanity. We labour for prosperity, and obtain
it not. Unexpected, it is sometimes made to
drop upon us as of its own accord. The hap—
piness of man depends on secret springs too
nice and delicate to be adjusted by human
art: it requires a favourable combination of
external circumstances with the state of his
own mind. To accomplish, on every occasion,
such a combination, is far beyond his power;
but it is what God can at all times effect ; as
the whole series of external causes are ar-
ranged according to his pleasure, and the
hearts of all men are in his hands, to turn
them wheresoever he will, as rivers of
water. From the imperfection of our know-3
ledge to ascertain what is good for us, and
from the defect of our power to bring about
that good when known, arise all those disap-
pointments which continually testify that the
way of man is not in himself; that he is not
the master of his own lot; that, though he
may devise, it is God who directs; God, who
can make the smallest incident an efi'ectual
instrument of his providence for overturning ,1
the most laboured plans of men.
“Accident, and chance, and fortune, are
words which we often hear mentioned, and
much is ascribed to them in the life of man.
But they are words without meaning; or, as
far as they have any signification, they have
no other than names for the unknown opera-
tions of Providence; for it is certain that in
God’s universe nothing comes to pass cause-
lessly or in vain. Every event has its own
determined direction. That chaos of human
affairs and intrigues where we can see no
light, that mass of disorder and confusion which
they often present to our view, is all clearness
PRU 6
6 PUR
5
and order in the sight of Him who is govern- f
ing and directing all, and bringing forward '
every event in its due time and place. ‘ The
Lord sitteth on the flood. The Lord maketh
the wrath of man to praise him, as he maketh
the bail and the rain obey his word. He hath
prepared his throne in the heavens ; and his
kingdom ruleth over all. A man’s heart
deviseth his way, but the Lord directeth hlS
ste s.’
2T0 follow the leadings of Providence,
means no other than to act agreeably to the
law of duty, prudence, and safety, or any
particular circumstance, according to the d1-
rection or determination of the word or law
of God. He follows the dictates of Provi-
dence, who takes a due survey of the situation
he is placed in, compares it with the rules
of the word which reaches his case, and acts
accordingly. To know the will of God
as it respects providence there must be, 1.
Deliberation. 2. Consultation. 3. Suppli-
cation. The tokens of the divine will and
pleasure in any particular case are not ‘to be
gathered from our inclinations, particular
frames, the form of Scripture phrases, 1m-
pulses, nor even the event, as that cannot
always be a rule of judgment; but whatever
appears to be proper duty, true prudence, or
real necessity, that we should esteem to be
his will.” See Charnock, Flavel, Hoahwell,
Hopkins, Sherlock, Collings, and Fawcet on
Providence; Gill’s Body of Divinity; Ridg-
ley’s Body of Divinity, qu. 18 ; Blair’s Serm,
vol. v., ser. 18 ; Forsg/th’s Piece on Providence,
Enc. Brit; Wollaston’s Religion of Nature
Delineated, see. 5 ; Thomson’s Seasons, Winter,
conclusion.
PRUDENCE is the act of suiting words and
actions according to the circumstances of
things, or rules of right reason. Cicero thus
defines it :—-“ Est rerum expetendarum fugi-
endarum scientia.”—“ The knowledge of
what is to be desired or avoided.” Grove
thus :—-“ Prudence is an ability of judging
what is best in the choice both of ends and
means.” Mason thus :—“ Prudence is a
conformity to the rules of reason, truth, and
decency, at all times, and in all circumstances.
It differs from wisdom only in degree; wis-
dom being nothing but a more consummate
habit of prudence; and prudence a lower
degree, or weaker habit of wisdom.” It is
divided into, 1. Christian prudence, which
directs to the pursuit of that blessedness
which the Gospel discovers by the use of‘
Gospel means. 2. Moral prudence has for
its end peace and satisfaction of mind in this
world, and the greatest happiness after death.
3. Civil prudence is the knowledge of what
ought to be done in order to secure ‘the out-
ward happiness of life, consisting in. pros-
perity, liberty, &c. .4. Monastic, relating to
any circumstances in which a man is not
charged with the care of others. 5. (Eco~
nomical prudence regards the conduct of a
family. 6. Political refers to the good go-
vernment of a state.
The idea of prudence, says one, includes
weevil“, or due consultation; that is, con-
cerning such things as demand consultation in
a right manner, and for a competent time, that
the resolution taken up maybe neither too pre-
cipitate nor too slow ; and ova/wig, or a faculty
of discerning proper means when they occur.
To the perfection of prudence these three
things are further required, viz., dzwo'rng, or
a natural sagacity; dyxwoia, presence of
mind, or a ready turn of thought; and ip-
‘ll’ELPLCl, or exper1ence.
Plato styles prudence the leading virtue;
and Cicero observes, “ that not one of the
virtues can want prudence ;” which is cer-
tainly most true, since without prudence to
guide them, piety would degenerate into su-
perstition, zeal into bigotry, temperance into
austerity, courage into rashness, and justice
itself into foll . See Watts’s Sen, ser. 28;
Grove’s Mora Phil. vol. ii. ch. 2; Mason’s
Christian Mor. vol. i. ser. 4 ; Evans’s Christ.
Temper, ser. 38.
PSALMODY, the art or act of singing psalms.
Psalmody was always esteemed a considerable
.part of devotion, and usually performed in
the standing posture; and as to the manner
of pronunciation, the plain song was some-
times used, being a gentle inflection of the
voice, not much different from reading, like
the chant in cathedrals ; at other times, more
artificial compositions were used, like our an-
thems.
As to the persons concerned in singing,
sometimes a single person sung alone ; some-
times the whole assembly joined together,
which was the most ancient and general prac-
tice. At other times, the psalms were sung
alternately, the congregation dividing them’-
selves into two parts, and singing verse about,
in their turns. There was also a fourth way
of singing, pretty common in the fourth cen-
tury, which was, when a single person be-
gan the verse, and the people joined with
him in the close: this was often used for
variety in the same service with alternate
psalmody. See SINGING.
PSA'I‘YRIANS, a sect of Arians, who, in
the council of Antioch, held in the year
360, maintained that the Son was not like the
Father as to will; that he was taken from
nothing, or made of nothing; and that in
God generation was not to be distinguished
from creation.
PURE, a term in theology, which is ap-
plied to certain doctrines or articles of faith,
in contradistinction from those which are
called mixed. Pure doctrines are such as are
only and entirely derived from the holy
Scriptures, such as those of the Trinity, incar-
nation, &c. : whereas those which are mixed
are such as may be discovered or demon-
PUR 6
7 P U R
strated by reason, from which, as well as
from Scripture, proofs may be derived, as to
the existence of certain of the attributes of God.
PURGATORY is a place in which the just
who depart out of this‘ life are supposed to
expiate certain offences which do not merit
eternal damnation. Broughton has endea-
voured to prove that this notion has been held
by pagans, Jews, and Mohammedans, as well
as by Christians; and that, in the days of the
Maccabees, the Jews believed that sin might
be expiated by sacrifice after the death of the
sinner. The arguments advanced by the Pa-
pists for purgatory are these :—-1. Every sin,
how slight soever, though no more than an
idle word, as it is an offence to God, deserves
punishment from him, and will be punished
by him hereafter, if not cancelled by repent-
ance here—2. Such small sins do not deserve
eternal punishment—3. Few depart this life
so pure as to be totally exempt from spots of
this nature, and from every kind of debt due
to God’s justice—4. Therefore, few will es-
cape without suffering something from his
justice for such debts as they have carried
with them out of this world, according to that
rule of divine justice by which he treats
every soul hereafter according to its works,
and according to the state in which he
finds it in death. From these propositions,
which the Papist considers as so many self-
evident truths, he infers that there must be
some third place of punishment; for since the
infinite goodness of God can admit nothing
into heaven which is not clean and pure from
all sin, both great and small, and his infinite
justice can permit none to receive the reward
of bliss who as yet are not out of debt, but
have something in justice to suffer, there must
of necessity be some place or state, where
souls departing this life, pardoned as to ex-
ternal guilt or pain, yet obnoxious to some
temporal penalty, or with the gullt of some
venial faults, are purged and purified before
their admittance into heaven. And this is
what he is taught concerning purgatory,
which, though he know not where it is, of
what nature the pains are, or how long each
soul is detained there, yet he believes that
those who are in this place are relieved by
the prayers of their fellow-members here on
earth, as also by alms and masses offered up
to God for their souls. And as for such as
have no relations or friends to pray for them,
or give alms to procure masses for their re-
lief, they are not neglected by the church,
which makes a general commemoration of all
the faithful departed in every mass, and in
every one of the canonical hours of the di-
vine ofiice. Besides the above arguments, the
following passages are alleged ‘as proofs: 2
Maccabees xii. 43-45; Matt. xii. 31, 32 ; 1
Cor. iii. 15; 1 Pet. iii. 19.
served, 1. That the books of Maccabees have
no evidence of inspiration, therefore quota-
But it may be ob-.

tions from them are not to be regarded.~—2.
If they were, the texts referred to would ra-
ther prove that there is no such place as pur-
gatory, since Judas did not expect the souls
departed to reap any benefit from his sin-of-
fering till the resurrection. The texts quoted
from the Scriptures have no reference to this
doctrine, as may be seen by consulting the
context, and any just commentator thereon.
—-3. Scripture, in general, speaks of departed
souls going, immediately at death, to a fixed
state of happiness or misery, and gives us no
idea of purgatory, Isa. lvii. 2 ; Rev. xiv. 13;
Luke xvi. 22 ; 2 Cor. v. 8.——4. It is deroga-
tory from the doctrine of Christ’s satisfac-
tion. If Christ died for us, and redeemed us
from sin and hell, as the Scripture speaks,
. then the idea of further meritorious suffering
detracts from the perfection of Christ’s work,
and places merit still in the creature; a doc-
trine exactly opposite to Scripture. See Dod-
dridge’s Lectures, lect. 270; Limborclz’s T Item’.
1. 6, ch. 10, sec. 10, 22; Earl’s Sermon, in the
Sermons against Popery, vol. ii. No. l ; Bur-
net on the Art. ; Fleury’s Catechism, vol. ii.
p. 250.
PURIFICATION, a ceremony which consists
in cleansing any thing from pollution or de-
filement. Purifications are common to Jews,
Pagans, and Mohammedans. See IMPURITY.
PURITANS, a name given in the primitive
church to the Novatians, because they would
never admit to communion any one who, from
dread of death, had apostatized from the
faith; and was revived by Saunders, the Je-
suit, to cast reproach upon the persons and
way of the Reformers, and render them sus-
picious and odious to the state : but the word
has been chiefly applied to those who were
professed favourers of a further degree of re-
formation and purity in the church, before the
Act of Uniformity, in 1662. After this period,
the term Nonconformist became common, to
which succeeds the appellation Dissenter.
“ There have been High Church and Low
Church, which are only different expressions
for Puritan and anti-Puritan, Conformist and
Nonconformist, ever since the Reformation.
In the reign of Edward, Cranmer and Ridley
headed the one class, Rogers and Hooper the
other. Though all four died at the stake for
the common faith, the two last had suffered
severely from the two former, on account of
their opposition to certain imposed rites and
‘ceremonies. In the days of Mary, both par-
ties fled into foreign countries for security.
But, even when in exile, the former stifliy
adhered to the ceremonies which they had
endeavoured to impose when at home ; while
the latter, availing themselves of the privi-
lege of strangers, as resolutely refused to
submit to them. This created no small dis—
sension between the parties while abroad. On
their return, after the advancement of Eli-
zabeth to the throne, each hoped to carry
U U
PUR
PUS
658
their point. Those who were zealous for rites
and usages, however, gained the queen’s fa-
vour; their views being more in unison with
her arbitrary disposition, and her love of
pomp in religious as well as in civil matters.
But although the other party were disap-
pointed, they were not entirely thrown out.
As there was a great deficiency of properly
qualified persons to occupy the pulpits and
principal places in the establishment, many
of those who were known to ‘be opposed to
some of its ritual were allowed to ofliciate in
the churches, and their non-compliance with
parts of the rubric was connived at. Some
of them were also raised to dignified oflices.
In the course of her reign, however, the
bonds were gradually drawn tighter and
tighter, and very severe sufferings came to
be inflicted on a .body of excellent and con-
scientious men.
“ What is said of the Israelites in Egypt,
may be said with justice of the Puritans-—
the more they were afiiicted, the more they
multiplied and grew. The severities they
experienced only increased their resolution
to submit to no encroachments on conscience,
and added to their influence among those
who respected men suffering for conscience’
sake. Nothing but the energy and vigilance
of Elizabeth’s government prevented very se-
rious disturbances in the country from these
causes. Parliament would more than once
have given relief, but was prevented from
doing so by the archbishop, and his influence
over the queen. In her last days, when the
nation was beginning to worship the rising
sun, some abatement took' place; but still the
conflict went on.
“ A vigorous attempt was made by the Pu-
ritans, at the beginning of James’s reign, to
accomplish a further reformation of the
church, and to secure liberty for those who
conscientiously scrupled to observe some of
its rites, though they wished still to remain
within its pale. J ames’s hatred of Presbyte-
rianism, which be transported across the
Tweed. defeated this project. The canons
formed by the convocation, under his direc-
tion, increased, instead of mitigating, the
evils under which the Puritans groaned ; and-
during the whole of his reign, and that of his
‘unfortunate son and successor, matters gra-
dually grew worse and worse, till they finally
came to a grand crisis.
“ The pontificate of Laud was a great
means of accelerating that conflict in which
he lost his head. The conforming Puritans
were in his time severely dealt with. If
they did not how to the altar, would not read
the book of sports, or were guilty of the
crime of holding lectures, or of preaching
twice on the Lord’s day, it was enough to
bring them before the high-commission-court,
and subject them to all its oppressive and ini-
quitous censures. The consequences were
that multitudes of the ablest ministers, and
of the best of the people, left their native
country, and fled for an asylum to the wilds
and deserts of America. At last, oppression
brought the country to desperation; and, in
the struggle which ensued, both the church
and the monarchy were wrecked.
“ There was religious peace, but not gene-
ral satisfaction, during the Protectorate. The
friends of the fallen church were still numer-
ous ; the lovers of form and ceremony in re-
ligion were not few, though they were silent
and sullen. The opponents of the hierarchy
were divided among themselves; the largest
fragment, the Presbyterian, opposed them-
selves to all the sectaries, were enamoured
with an established church, and not as a body
inimical to a certain species of episcopal go-
vernment.
“ When Charles II. was restored, the epis-
copal establishment, as a matter of course,
was reinstated in all its rights and privileges;
and the body of the ministers who were at-
tached to a simpler, and what they regarded
a more scriptural form of religion, were
driven away. The vast majority of these
persons did not decidedly object to a modi-
fied episcopacy—to a liturgical form of wor-
ship, and to the use of various rites, pro-
vided they were not absolutely imposed on
their consciences as matter of faith and scrip-
tural practice. They were mostly believers
in the lawfulness of a civil establishment of
Christianity, and consequently were not dis-
senters from the church ; they only objected to
certain things belonging to, or imposed by it.”
PURITY, the freedom of any thing from
foreign admixture; but more particularly it
signifies the temper directly opposite to cri-
minal sensualities, or the ascendency of irre-
gular passions. See CHASTITY. Purity im-
plies, 1. A fixed habitual abhorrence of all
forbidden indulgences of the flesh—2. All
past impurities, either of heart or life, will
be reflected on with shame and sorrow.—-3.
The heart will be freed, in a great measure,
from impure and irregular desires.—~4.
It will discover itself by a cautious fear of
the least degree of impurity—5. It implies a
careful and habitual guard against ever thing
which tends to pollute the mind. See vans’s
Sermons on the Christian Temper, ser. 23;
and W’atts’s Sermons, ser. 27.
PURPOSE or G01). See DEGREE.
PUSEYISM, a name given to the heresy
taught at and propagated from Oxford, and
borrowed from Professor Pusey, one of those
with whom it originated, but who does not
appear to have taken so prominent a part in .
the dissemination of its principles as some
others in the same city. These principles
are: the saving eflicacy of the sacraments,
i. e. baptismal regeneration, and the pardon
of sin obtained in the act of taking the sup-
per; the restriction of divine grace to the
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instrumentality of what is called the aposto-
lical ministry, or ministers who have been
episcopally ordained in the churches of Eng-
land and Rome; the importance of observing
saints’ days, and keeping up certain symbo-
lical places and actions in connexion with
ecclesiastical edifices; the approximation, in
a variety of ways, to Romanism, and especi-
ally the fundamental perversion of the apos-
tolic doctrine of justification, which is made
to consist, not in the reversal of the sentence
of condemnation, and the treatment of the
sinner as a righteous person solely on the
ground of the imputed righteousness of Christ,
but in his ‘moral renovation, or his being
made internally holy through the influences
of the Holy Spirit. Much stress is laid on
fasting and other acts of mortification, in
which there is every symptom of a return to
the ascetic life. There is reason to believe
that the writings of Knox and Jebb have
mainly contributed to nourish this heresy,
which is rapidly spreading in the Church of
England, to the no small disquietude of those
within her pale who are still attached to the
doctrine of the apostles and of the Reform-
ation.
PUSILLANIMITY, is a feebleness of mind,
by which it is terrified at mere trifles or im-
aginary dangers, unauthorized by the most
distant'probability.
PYRRHONISTS. See ScEP'rIcs.
Q.
Quaxnns, a sect which took its rise in
England about the middle of-the seventeenth
century, and rapidly found its way into other
countries in Europe, and into the English
settlements in North America. The mem-
bers of this society, we believe, called them-
selves at first Seekers, from their seeking the
truth ; but after the society was formed, they
assumed the appellation of Friends. The name
of Quakers was given to them by their ene-
mies; and, though an epithet of reproach,
seems to be stamped upon them indelibly.
George Fox is supposed to be their first foun-
der; but after the Restoration, Penn and
Barclay gave to their principles a more re-
gular form. The doctrines of the society have
been variously represented; and some have
thought and taken pains to prove them fa-
vourable to Socinianism. But, according to
Penn, they believe in the Holy Three, or the
Trinity of the Father, Word, and Spirit,
agreeably to the Scripture. In reply to the
charge that they deny Christ to be God, Penn
says, “ that it is a most untrue and uncha-
ritable censure—that they truly and expressly
own him to be so according to the Scripture.”
To the objection that they deny the human
nature of Christ, he answers: “ We never
taught, said, or held so gross a thing, but
believe him to be truly and properly man like
us, sin only excepted.” The doctrines of the
Fall, and the redemption by Christ, are, ac-
cording to him, believed by them; and he
firmly declares, “ that they own Jesus Christ
as their sacrifice, atonement, and propiti-
ation.”
But we shall here state a further account
of their principles and discipline, as extracted
from a summary transmitted by one of their
most respectable members.
They tell us that, about the beginning of
the seventeenth century, a number of men,
dissatisfied with all the modes of religious
worship then known in the world, withdrew

from the communion of every visible church,
to seek the Lord in retirement. Among
these was their honourable elder, George Fox,
who, being quickened by the immediate
touches of divine love, could not satisfy his
apprehensions of duty to God without direct-
ing the people where to find the like consola—
tion and instruction. In the course of his
travels, he met with many seeking persons
in circumstances similar to his own, and
these readily received his testimony. They
then give us a short account of their sufl‘er—
ings and different settlements ; they also vin-
dicate Charles II. from the character of a per-
secutor; acknowledging that, though they
suffered much during his reign, he gave as
little countenance as he could to the severities
of the legislature. They even tell us that he
exerted his influence to rescue their friends
from the unprovoked and cruel persecutions
they met with in New England: and they
speak with becoming gratitude of the difi‘er- '
ent acts passed in their favour during the
reigns of William and Mary, and George I.
They then proceed to give us the following
account of their doctrine :—
“ We agree with other professors of the
Christian name, in the belief of one eternal
God, the Creator and Preserver of the uni—
verse; and in Jesus Christ, his Son, the
Messiah and Mediator of the New Covenant,
Heb. xii. 24.
“ When we speak of the gracious display
of the love of God to mankind, in the miracu-
lous conception, birth, life, miracles, death,
resurrection, and ascension of our Saviour,
we prefer the use of such terms as we find in
Scripture; and, contented with that know-
ledge which Divine Wisdom hath seen meet
to reveal, we attempt not to explain those
mysteries which remain under the veil; ne-
vertheless, we acknowledge and assert the
divinity of Christ, who is the wisdom and
power of God unto salvation. 1 Cor. i. 24.
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“ To Christ alone we give the title of the
Word of God, John i. l, and not to the
Scriptures, although we highly esteem these
sacred writings, in subordination to the Spi-
rit, (2 Pet. i. 21,) from which they were
given forth; and we hold, with the apostle
Paul, that they are able to make wise unto
salvation, through faith, which is in Christ _
Jesus, 2 Tim. iii. 15.
“ We reverence those most excellent pre-
cepts which are recorded in Scripture to
have been delivered by our great Lord; and
we firmly believe that they are practicable
and binding on every Christian; and that
in the life to come every man will ‘be re-
warded according to his works, Matt. xvi.
27. And further, it is our belief that, in
order to enable mankind to put in practice
these sacred precepts, many of which are
contradictory to the unregenerate will of
‘ man, (John i. 9,) every man coming into the
- world is endued with a measure of the light,
grace, or good Spirit of Christ, by which, as
it is attended to, he is enabled to distinguish
good from evil, and correct the disorderly
passions and corrupt propensities of his na-
ture, which mere reason is altogether insufli-
cient to overcome. For all that belongs to
man is fallible, and within the reach of tempt-
ation ; but this divine grace. which comes by
him who hath overcome the world, (John
xvi. 33,) is, to those who humbly and sin-
cerely seek it, an all-sufficient and present
help in the time of need. By this, the snares
of the enemy are detected, his allurements
avoided, and deliverance is experienced
through faith in its efl'ectual operation;
whereby the soul is translated out of the
kingdom of darkness, and from under the
power of Satan, unto the marvellous light
and kingdom of the Son of God.
“ Being thus persuaded that man, without
the Spirit of Christ inwardly revealed, can
do nothing to the glory of God, or to effect
his own salvation, we think this influence
especially necessary to the performance of the
highest act of which the human mind is
capable; even the worship of the Father of
lights and of spirits, in spirit and in truth:
therefore we consider as obstructions to pure
worship, all forms which divert the attention
of the mind from the secret influence of this
uuction from the Holy One, 1 John ii. 20, 27.
Yet although true worship is not confined to
time and place, we think it incumbent on
Christians to meet often together, (Heb. x.
25,) in testimony of their dependence on the
heavenly Father, and for a renewal of their
spiritual strength: nevertheless 1n the per-
formance of worship, we dare not depend for
our acceptance with him on a formal repeti-
tion of the words and experiences of others ;
but we believe it to be our duty to lay aside
the activity of the imagination, and .to wait‘
in silence to have a true sight of our con-




dition bestowed upon us; believing even a
single sigh (Rom. vii. 24) arising from such
a sense of our infirmities, and of the need
we have of divine help, to be more accept-
able to God than any performances, however
specious, which originate in the will of man.
“ From what has been said respecting wor-
ship, it follows that the ministry we approve
must have its origin from the same source;
for that which is needful for man’s own
direction, and for his acceptance with God,
(Jer. xxiii. 30—32,) must be eminently so
to enable him to be helpful to others. Ac-
cordingly, we believe that the renewed assist-
ance of the light and power of Christ is in-
dispensably necessary for all true ministry;
and that this holy influence is not at our com-
mand, or to be procured by study, but is the
free gift of God to chosen and devoted ser-
vants. Hence arises our testimony against
preaching for hire, in contradiction to Christ’s
positive command. ‘ Freely ye have received,
freely give," Matt. x. 8, and hence our con~
scientious refusal to support such ministry by
tithes, or other means.
“ As we dare not encourage any ministry
but that which we believe to spring from the
influence of the Holy Spirit, so neither dare
we attempt to restrain this influence to per-
sons of any condition in life, or to the male
sex alone; but, as male and female are one
in Christ, we allow such of the female sex as
we believe to be endued with a right qualifi-
cation for the ministry, to exercise their gifts
for the general edification of the church ;
and this liberty we esteem a peculiar mark
of the gospel dispensation, as foretold by the
prophet Joel, Joel ii. 28, 29, and noticed by
the apostle Peter, Acts ii. 16, 17.
“ There are two ceremonies in use among
most professors of the Christian name,—
water baptism, and what is termed the Lord’s
supper. The first of these is generally es-
teemed the essential means of initiation into
the church of Christ; and the latter of-main-
taining communion with him. But as we
have been convinced that nothing short of
his redeeming power, invariably revealed,
can set the soul free from the thraldom of
sin, by this power alone we believe salvation
to be effected. We hold, that as there is one
Lord and one faith, (Eph. iv. 5,) so his bap-
tism is one, in nature and operation ; that no-
thing short of it can make us living members
of his mystical body; and that the baptism
with water, administered by his forerunner,
John, belonged, as the latter confessed, to an
inferior dispensation, John iii. 30.
“ With respect to the other rite, we believe
that communion between Christ and his
church is not maintained by that, nor any
other external performance, but only by a
real participation of his divine nature (1 Pet'.
11. 4) through faith; that this is the supper
alluded to in the Revelation, ‘Rev. vii. 20,
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661
Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if
any man hear my voice, and open the door,
1 will come in to him, and will sup with him,
and he with me ;’ and that where the sub-
stance is attained, it is unnecessary to attend
to the shadow, which doth not confer grace,
and concerning which, opinions so different,
and animosities so violent, have arisen.
“ Now, as we thus believe that the grace of
‘God, which comes by Jesus Christ, is alone
sufiicient for salvation, we can neither admit
that it is conferred on a few only, whilst
others are left without it, nor thus asserting
its universality, can we limit its operation to
a partial cleansing of the soul from sin, even
in this life. We entertain worthier notions
both of the power and goodness of our hea-
venly Father, and believe that he doth vouch-
safe to assist the obedient to experience a
total surrender of the natural will to the
guidance of his pure, unerring Spirit; through
whose renewed assistance they are enabled
to bring forth fruits unto holiness, and to
stand perfect in their present rank, Matt. v.
48; Eph. iv. 13; C01. iv. 12.
“ There are not many of our tenets more
generally known than our testimony against
oaths, and against war. With respect to the
former of these, we abide literally by Christ’s
positive injunction, delivered in his sermon
on the Mount, ‘ Swear not at all,’ Matt. v. 34.
From the same sacred collection of the most
excellent precepts of moral and religious
duty, from the example of our Lord himself,
Matt. v. 39, 44, 800.; xxvi. 52, 53; Luke
xxii. 51 ; John xviii. 11 ; and from the cor-
respondent convictions of his Spirit in our
hearts, we are confirmed in the belief that
wars and fightings are in their origin and
' effects utterly repugnant to the Gospel, which
still breathes peace and good-will to men.
We also are clearly of the judgment, that if
the benevolence of the Gospel were gene-
rally prevalent in the minds of men, it would
effectually prevent them from oppressing,
much more from enslaving, their brethren,
(of whatever colour or complexion,) for
whom, as for themselves, Christ died; and
would even influence their conduct in their
treatment of the brute creation, which would
no longer groan, the victims of their avarice,
or of their false ideas of pleasure.
“Some of our ideas have in former times,
as hath been shown, subjected our friends to
much suffering from government, though to
the salutary purposes of government our
principles are a security. They inculcate
submission to the laws in all cases wherein
conscience is not violated. But we hold that,
as Christ’s kingdom is not of this world, it
is not the business of the civil magistrate to
interfere in matters of religion, but to main-
tain the external peace and good order of the
community. We therefore think persecution,
even in. the smallest degree, unwarrantable.
We are careful in requiring our members not
to be concerned in illicit trade, nor in any
manner to defraud the revenue.
“It is well known that the society, from
its first appearance, has disused those names
of the months and days, which, having been
given in honour of the heroes or false gods
of the heathen, originated in their flattery or
superstition; and the custom of speaking to
a single person in the plural number, as having
arisen also from motives of adulation. Com-
pliments, superfluity of apparel and furniture,
outward shows of rejoicing and mourning,
and the observation of days and times, we
esteem to be incompatible with the simplicity
and sincerity of a Christian life; and public
diversions, gaming, and other vain amusements
of the world, we cannot but condemn. They
are a waste of that time which is given us
for nobler purposes; and divert the attention
of the mind from the sober duties of life, and
from the reproofs of instruction by which
we are guided to an everlasting inheritance.
“ To conclude : although we have exhibited
the several tenets which distinguish our reli-
gious society as objects of our belief‘, yet we
are sensible that a true and living faith is not
produced in the mind of man by his own
effort, but is the free gift of God in Christ
Jesus, Eph. ii. 8, nourished and increased by
the progressive operation of his Spirit in our
hearts, and our proportionate obedience, John
vii. 17. Therefore, although for the preserv-
ation of the testimonies given us to bear, and
for the peace and good order of the society,
we deem it necessary that those who are ad-
mitted into membership with us should be
previously convinced of those doctrines
which we esteem essential, yet we require no
formal subscription to any articles, either as
a condition of membership, or a qualification
for the service of the church. ‘We prefer the
judging of men by their fruits, and depend-
ing on the aid of Him who, by his prophet,
hath promised to be ‘ a spirit of judgment to
him that sitteth in judgment,’ Isa. xxviii. 6.
\Vithout this, there is a danger of receiving
numbers into outward communion, without
any addition to that spiritual sheep-fold,
whereof our blessed Lord declared him-
self to be both the door and the shepherd,
John x. 7, 11 : that is, such as know his
voice and follow him in the paths of obedi-
ence.
“In the practice of discipline, we think it
indispensable that the order recommended by
Christ himself he invariably observed, Matt.
Xviii. 15——l7.
“ To effect the salutary purposes of discip-
line, meetings were appointed at an early
period of the society, which, from the times
of their being held, were called quarterly
meetings. It was afterwards found expedient
to divide the districts of those meetings, and
to meet more frequently : from whence arose
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662
monthly meetings, subordinate to those held
quarterly. At length, in 1669, a yearly meet-
ing was established, to superintend, assist, and
provide rules for the whole, previously to
;Vhich general meetings had been occasionally
reld.
“ A monthly meeting is usually composed
of several particular congregations, situated
within a convenient distance from each other.
Its business is to provide for the subsistence
of the poor, and for the education of their
offspring; to judge of the sincerity and fit~
ness of persons appearing to be convinced of
the religious principles of the society, and
desiring to be admitted into membership ; to
excite due attention to the discharge of reli-
gious and moral duty; and to deal with dis-
orderly members. Monthly meetings also
grant to such of their members as remove
into other monthly meetings certificates of
their membership and conduct; without
which they cannot gain membership in such
meetings. Each monthly meeting is required
to appoint certain persons, under the name of
overseers, who are to take care that the rules
of our discipline be put in practice; and when
any case of complaint, or disorderly conduct,
comes to their knowledge, to see that private
admonition, agreeably to the gospel rule be-
fore mentioned, be given, previously to its
being laid before the monthly meeting.
“When a case is introduced, it is usual for
a small committee to be appointed to visit the
offender, to endeavour to convince him of his
error, and to induce him to forsake and con-
demn it. If they succeed, the person is by
minute declared to have made satisfaction for
the offence; if not, he is disowned as a mem-
ber of the society. '
“ In disputes between individuals, it has
long been the decided judgment of the society,
that its members should not sue each other at
law. It therefore enjoins all to end their
differences by speedy and impartial arbitra-
tion, agreeably to rules laid down. If any
refuse to adopt this mode, or, having adopted
it, to submit to the award, it is the direction
of the yearly meeting that such be disowned.
“ To monthly meetings also belongs the
allowing of marriages; for our society hath
always scrupled to acknowledge the exclu-
sive authority of the priests in the solemniza—
tion of marriage. Those who intend to marry
appear together, and propose their intention
to the monthly meeting; and if not attended
by their parents and guardians, produce a
written certificate of their consent, signed in
the presence of witnesses. The meeting then
appoints a committee to inquire whether
they be clear of other engagements respecting
marriage ; and if at a subsequent meeting, to
which the parties also come and declare the
continuance of their intention, no objections
be reported, they have the meeting’s consent
to solemnize their intended marriage. This
is done in a public meeting for worship, to-
wards the close whereof the parties stand up,
and solemnly take each other for husband
and wife. A certificate of the proceedings is
then publicly read, and signed by the parties,
and afterwards by the relations and others as
witnesses. Of such marriage the monthly
meeting keeps a record; as also of the births
and burials of its members. A certificate of
the date of the name of the infant, and of its
parents, signed by those present at the birth,
is the subject of one of these last-mentioned
records; and an order for the interment,
countersigned by the grave-maker, of the
other. The naming of children is without
ceremony. Burials are also conducted in a
simple manner. The body, followed by the
relations and friends, is sometimes, previously
to interment, carried to a meeting; and at
the grave a pause is generally made; on both
which occasions it frequently falls out that
one or more friends present have somewhat
to express for the edification of those who
attend; but no religious rite is considered as
an essential part of burial.
“ Several monthly meetings compose a
quarterly meeting. At the quarterly meet-
ing are produced written answers from the
monthly meetings to certain queries respect-
ing the conduct of their members, and the
meeting’s care over them. The accounts
thus received are digested into one, which is
sent, also in the form of answers to queries,
by representatives‘ to the yearly meeting.
Appeals from the judgment of monthly meet-
ings are brought to the quarterly meetings,
whose business also it is to assist in any dif~
ficult case, or where remissness appears in
the care of the monthly meetings over the
individuals who compose them—There are
seven yearly meetings, viz., 1. London, to
which come representatives from Ireland ; 2.
New England; 3. New York; 4. Pennsyl-
vania and New Jersey; 5. Maryland; 6.
Virginia; 7. the Carolinas and Georgia.
“ The yearly meeting has the general su-
perintendence of the society in the country in
which it is established; and, therefore, as the
accounts which it receives discover the state
of inferior meetings, as particular exigencies
require, or as the meeting is impressed with
a sense of duty, it gives forth its advice,
making such regulations as appear to be re-
quisite, or excite to the observance of those
already made; and sometimes appoints com-
mittees to meet those quarterly meetings
which appear to be in need of immediate
advice. Appeals from the judgment of quar-
terly meetings are here finally determined;
and a brotherly correspondence, by epistles,
is maintained with other yearly meetings.
“In this place it is proper to add, that, as
we believe women may be rightly called to
the work of the ministry, we also think that
to them belongs a share in the support of our
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Christian discipline; and that some parts of
it, wherein their own sex is concerned, de-
volve on them with peculiar propriety: ac-
cordingly they have monthly, quarterly, and
yearly meetings of their own sex, held at the
same time and in the same place with those
of the men; but separately, and without the
power of making rules: and it may be re-
marked that, during the persecutions which
in the last century occasioned the imprison-
ment of so many of the men, the care of the
poor often fell on the women, and was by
them satisfactorily administered.
“ In order that those who are in the situa-
tion of ministers may have the tender sym-
pathy and counsel of those of either sex, who
by their experience in the work of religion
are qualified for that service, the monthly
meetings are advised to select such, under
the denomination of elders. These, and mi-
nisters approved by their monthly meetings,
have meetings peculiar to themselves, called
meetings of ministers and elders; in which
they have an opportunity of exciting each
other to a discharge of their several duties,
and of extending advice to those who may
appear to be weak, without any needless ex-
posure. Such meetings are generally held
in the compass of each monthly, quarterly,
and yearly meeting. They are conducted by
rules prescribed by the yearly meeting, and
have no authority to make any alteration or
addition to them. The members of them
unite with their brethren in the meetings for
discipline, and are equally accountable to the
latter for their conduct.
“ It is to a meeting of this kind in London,
called the second day’s morning meeting, that
the revisal of manuscripts concerning our
principles, previously to publication, is in-
trusted by the yearly meeting. held in Lon-
don; and also the granting, in the intervals
of the yearly meeting, of certificates of appro-
bation to such ministers as are concerned to
travel in the work of the ministry in foreign
parts, in addition to those granted 1) their
monthly or quarterly meetings. ‘1 hen a
visit of this kind doth not extend beyond
Great Britain, a certificate from the monthly
meeting of which the minister is a member is
suflicient; if to Ireland, the concurrence of
the quarterly meeting is also required. Re-
gulations of similar tendency obtain in other
yearly meetings. _
“ The yearly meeting of London, 1n the
year 1675, appointed a meeting to be held
in that city, for the purpose of advising and
assisting in cases of suffering for conscience’
sake, which hath continued with great use to
the societyto this day. It is composed of
friends, under the name of correspondents,
chosen by the several quarterly meetings, and
who reside in or near the society. The same
meetings also appoint members of their own
in the country as correspondents, who are to
join their brethren in London on emergency.
The names of all these correspondents, pre-
viously to their being recorded as such, are
submitted to the approbation of the yearly
meeting. Those of the men who are ap-
proved ministers are also members of this
meeting, which is called the meeting for suf-
ferings; a name arising from its original
purpose, which is not yet become entirely
obsolete.
“ The yearly meeting has intrusted the
meeting for sufferings with the care of print-
ing and distributing books, and with the
management of its stock; and considered as a
standing committee of the yearly meeting, it
hath a general care of whatever may arise,
during the intervals of that meeting, affecting
the society, and requiring immediate atten-
tion, particularly of those circumstances which
may occasion an application to government.
“ There is not, in any of the meetings
which have been mentioned, any president,
as we believe that divine wisdom alone ought
to preside; nor hath any member a right to
claim pre—eminence over the rest. The office
of clerk, with a few exceptions, is undertaken
voluntarily by some member; as is also the
keeping of the records. \Vhen these are very
voluminous, and require a house for their
deposit, (as is the case in London, where the
general records of the society in Great Britain
are kept,) a clerk is hired to have the care of
them: but, except a few clerks of this kind,
and persons who have the care of meeting
houses, none receive any stipend or gratuity
for their services in our religious society.”
The number of Quakers in England and
Ireland may amount to about 40,000; in
Scotland, they do not much exceed 300 ; but
in America their number may be from
100,000 to 120,000. See a pamphlet entitled,
A Summary of the History, Doctrine, and Dis-
cipline of the Quakers; Sewell’s and Rutty’s
History of the Quakers , Besse’s Sufi‘erings of
the Quakers,- Penn’s Works; Barclay’s Apo-
logy for the Quakers; lVeale’s History of the
Puritans; Clarz'dge’s Lq'fe and Posthumous
l'Vorks ,- Bevan’s Defence of the Doctrines of
the Quakers ,- Ada-ms’s View of Religions ;.
Tuke’s Principles of Religion as professed by
the Quakers ; Gough’s History of Quakers;
Clarkson’s Portraiture of Quakerz'sm.
QUAKERS, or FRIENDS EVANGELICAL, a
branchwhieh broke off from the old body, about
the year 1836, on occasion of the discussions
originated by the American heresy, or the
principles of deism advocated by Elias Hicks,
an American Quaker. At first a number of
valuable members who withdrew from the
society either joined other communions, or
stood aloof, waiting to see the issue of the
agitation which the controversy had pro-
duced, but most of them afterwards formed
themselves into a distinct society. Their
principal congregation is in Manchester, but
RAB
RAB
(564
they have also meetings in London, and dif-
ferent other towns in England. They main-
tain the sufliciency and authority of Scripture,
renouncing the tenets of subsequent revela-
tions, and of an universal, saving, inward
light; the necessity of the influence of the
Holy Spirit to regeneration and faith; and the
grand fundamental doctrine of Protestantism,
justification by faith alone in the righteous-
ness of Christ.
QUIETIs'rs, a sect famous towards the close
of the seventeenth century. They were so
called from a kind of absolute rest and inac-
tion, which they supposed the soul to be in,
when arrived at that state of perfection which
they called the unit'ive life ,- in which state they
imagined the soul wholly employed in con-
templating its God, to whose influence it was
entirely submissive, so that he could turn and
drive it where and how he would.
Molinos, a Spanish priest, is the reputed
author of Quietism; though the Illuminati,
in Spain, had certainly taught something like
it before. Molinos had numerous disciples in
Italy, Spain, France, and the Netherlands.
One of the principal patrons and propagators
of Quietism in France was Marie Bouveres
de la Motte Guyon, a woman of fashion, and
remarkable for her piety. Her religious sen-
timents made a great noise in the year 1687,
and were declared unsound by several learned
men, especially Bossuet, who opposed them in
the year 1697. Hence arose a controversy
between the prelate last mentioned and Fene-
lon, archbishop of Cambray, who seemed dis-
posed to favour the system of Guyon, and
who, in 1697, published a book containing
several of her tenets. Fenelon’s book, by
means of Bossuet, was condemned in the year
1699, by Innocent XII. ; and the sentence of
condemnation was read by Fenelon himself at
Cambray, who exhorted the people to respect
and obey the papal decree. Notwithstanding
this seeming acquiescence, the archbishop
persisted to the end of his days in the senti—
ments which, in obedience to the order of the
pope, he retracted and condemned in a public
manner.
A sect similar to this appeared at Mount
Athos, in Thessaly, near the end of the four-
teenth century, called Hesg/chasts, meaning
the same with Quietists. They were a branch
of the Mystics, or those more perfect monks,
who, by long and intense contemplation, en-
deavoured to arrive at a tranquillity of mind
free from every degree of tumult and per-
turbation.
QUIETNESS, in a moral sense, is opposed to
disorderly motion, to turbulency; to conten-
tion, to pragmatical curiosity, to all such
exorbitant behaviour, whereby the right of
others is infringed, their peace disturbed,
their just interest or welfare any ways pre-
judiced. It is a calm, steady, regular way of
proceeding within the bounds and measures
prescribed by reason, justice, and charity,
modesty, and sobriety. It is of such import-
ance, that we find it enjoined in the sacred
Scripture; and we are commanded to study
and pursue it with the greatest diligence and
care, 1 Thess. iv. 11. The great Dr. Barrow
has two admirable sermons on this subject in
the first volume of his works. He justly ob-
serves, 1. That quietness is just and equal.
2. It indicates humility, modesty, and sobriety
of mind. 3. It is beneficial to the world,
preserving the general order of things. 4. It
preserves concord and amity. 5. It begets
tranquillity and peace. 6. It is a decent and
lovely thing, indicating a good disposition,
and producing good effects. 7. It adorneth
any profession, bringing credit and respect
thereto. 8. It is a safe practice, keeping us
from needless encumbrances and hazards;
whereas pragmaticalness, interfering with the
business and concerns of others, often raises
dissensions, involves in guilt, injures others,
shows our vanity and pride, and exposes to ~
continual trouble and danger. _
QUINQUAGESIMA, a Sunday so called, be-
cause it is the fiftieth day before Easter, rec-
koned in whole numbers. SHROVE SUNDAY.
QUINTILIANS, a sect that appeared in Phry-
gia, about 189: thus called from their pro- '
phetess, Quintilia. In this sect the women
were admitted to perform the sacerdotal and
episcopal functions. They attributed extra-
ordinary gifts to Eve for having first eaten
of the tree of knowledge; told great things of
Mary, the sister of Moses, as having been a
prophetess, &c. They added, that Philip the
deacon had four daughters, who were all
prophetesses, and were of their sect. In these
assemblies it was usual to see the virgins
entering in white robes, personating pro-
phetesses. The errors of the Quintilians
were at first looked upon as folly and mad-
ness; but as they appeared to gain ground,
the Council of Laodicea, in 320, condemned
them.
R. _'
RABBINS (from the Heb. :11 Rab, great,)
doctors or teachers among the Jews, whose
province it is to decide difi'erences, determlne
what things are allowed or forbidden, and
judge both in religious and civil matters.
They celebrate marriages and declare divorces,
preach in the synagogues, and preside over
academies. Their studies are chiefly occupled
with the Talmud and the Cabala, and 1n
general they are acquainted with little else.
RAS
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665
There have, however, been some distin-
guished men among them, especially in Spain.
Of these the following are the principal :—
Moses Maimonides, or, abridged, Rambam,
born at Corduba, A. D. 1131, author of an
abridgment of the Talmud, a “ Commentary
on the Mishnah,” and “ More Nevochim, or
a Guide to the Perplexed ;” in the two latter
of which works, many novel philosophical
principles are advanced, which greatly scan-
dalized the western Jews. Solomon Jarchi,
abbreviated Rashi, died at Troyes, in France,
AJ). 1170, wrote a “ Commentary on the Old
Testament,” in which he chiefly follows the
interpretation of “ The Targum.” Owing to
the brevity with which he expresses himself,
he is often very obscure. Abenezra, born at
Toledo, A.D. 1167, improved himself by tra-
velling', applied to the study of the different
sciences, and rose quite superior to his coun-
trymen in his independence and impartiality
of mind. He also wrote a “ Commentary on
the Scriptures,” which is of much greater
value than that of Jarchi, on account of its
containing the results of much grammatical
and historical investigation. In elucidating
the Hebrew words, he frequently avails him-
self of the Arabic. David Kimchi, born about
1160, the author of a commentary, and other
learned works. He is more polemical than
any of his predecessors, and often attacks the
Christians with much bitterness; but most of
the passages containing these attacks have
been struck out of the printed copies by the
censors, and have since been omitted in the
MSS. from fear of the Inquisition. Aharbanel
(Abrabanel) flourished about 1490, and wrote
very elaborate and tedious commentaries on
the Bible. Taking the schoolmen for his mo-
del, he proposes a number of knotty questions
on every chapter or division, which he an-
swers at great length. Tanchum, of Jerusalem,
wrote Arabic commentaries on the Old Testa-
ment, which still exist in MS. in the Bodleian
Library. In critical works on the Scriptures,
accounts will be found of Ben Asher and Ben
Mtphthali, who revised the Hebrew text
about the beginning of the eleventh century.
Ra-mban, (Rab. Moses ben N ahman,) who
wrote on the Books of the Law. Elias Levita,
the distinguished Masoretic critic, and others,
who, in different countries, addicted them-
selves, with greater or less success, to the
study of the Hebrew Grammar and Scrip-
tures.
RANTERS, 1. A sect which sprang up in
1645, and advocated the light of nature under
the name of Christ within. Their sentiments
corresponded in a great measure with those
of the Seekers, which see. 2. A recent sepa-
ration from the Wesleyan Methodists. See
Mn'rnonrs'rs.
BASH J (meme. See J nneme, RASH.
RASHNESS consists in undertaking an ac-
tion, or pronouncing an opinion, without a
due examination of the grounds, motives, or
arguments, that ought first to be weighed.
RASCOLNIKS, schismatics, a term of re-
proach given to all who secede from the
Greek Church in Russia. They are very
numerous, amounting to between two and
three millions, and are daily on the increase.
RATIONALISM, the system which would
reduce all the truths and dictates of religion
to the standard of human reason. Its advo-
cates, called Rationalists, maintain, in general,
that mankind are led by their reason, and
especially by the natural powers of their
mind, and by the observation of nature, by
which they are surrounded, to a true know-
ledge of things relating to the Deity, human
duty, happiness, &c.; and that reason pos-
sesses the supreme authority, and highest
right of decision in matters of faith and mo-
rality. The term seems first to have been
used by Amos Comenius, in the year 1661,
and has been, and still is applied to the Ger-
man N eologians, who have acquired to them-
selves such a fearful pre-eminence by their
opposition to the peculiarities of the revealed
system. Rationalism differs but little from
Naturalism, and is often used as strictly
synonymous with it. See the article NEo-
LOGY.
READING (public) of the SCRIPTUBES. See
SCRIPTURES.
READINGS, VARIOUS, instances in which a
difference is found to exist in different manu-
scripts of the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures.
Without the intervention of a miracle it was
impossible that the sacred text should con-
tinue to be propagated, without suffering, in
a greater or less degree, the fate of all other
written documents. And that no such inter—
vention has taken place is evident, from the
fact that no two manuscripts, either of the
Hebrew Bible or the Greek New Testament,
are found in every respect to agree. The in-
spired autographs having long since been lost,
it is impossible to point out any manuscript,
and aflirm that it contains the z'psz'ssima verba
of the prophets or apostles. Even the best
copies are found, in many instances, to exhi-
bit readings which must, on every just prin-
ciple of criticism, give place to readings con-
tained in inferior copies.
When we speak of a various reading, we
do not usually mean a reading which differs
from the originally inspired text, but one
which differs from the Pextus Recept'us; 2'. e.
Vander Hooght’s Hebrew Bible published at
Amsterdam in 1705, and the Elzevir Greek
Testament, printed at Leyden in 1624. The
text of these editions, having, from the beauty
of their typographical execution, obtained an
extensive circulation, and become the basis of
subsequent editions, was most conveniently
appealed to on critical questions, and when
critical editions were published, this text was
exhibited in full, without any alteration, and
REA
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666
the varieties of reading were added in the
margin. The result of a nice and accurate
collation of these readings has shown that
there are, among them, many which possess
a higher claim to reception than those which
occupy their place in the text; but by far the
greater number are, as far as evidence yet
goes, not likely ever to supplant the textual
readings. Though the number of variaz lec-
tiones is immense, amounting to several hun-
dred thousands, comparatively few are of any
importance to the sense of the passages in
which they occur. The very worst manu-
script that is known to exist, contains every
dogma of faith, every precept of morality,
and every essential fact and circumstance of
history that is to be found in the best. The
variations are more in letters than in words;
and even where the words differ, it is more in
sound than in sense.
The fact that various reading did exist in
the copies of the sacred text, created, when
first disclosed, no small alarm among those
who had paid but little attention to subjects
of criticism; but it is now clearly perceived
that these readings, multiplied as they have
since been beyond comparison, so far from
invalidating the authority, or detracting from
the integrity of the word of God, go rather to
establish both, while they incontestably show,
that, being written independently of each
other, by persons separated by distance of
time, remoteness of place, and difference of
opinions, no collusion has taken place with a
view to transmit certain particular tenets, as
divinely sanctioned, to posterity.
The sources of various readings are vari-
ous; but are chiefly the following: errors or
mistakes in copies which have served as ex-
emplars; negligence, or mistake on the part
of transcribers; critical emendations; and
wilful corruptions. Of the last mentioned,
however, very few instances can be proved:
Eichhorn avers that only two are to be met
with in all the Old Testament.
In judging of the merits of the different
readings, recourse must be had to the testi-
mony of manuscripts, the ancient versions,
the quotations found in ancient Jewish and
Christian writers, the usus Zoquendz', the exi-
gency of the passages, &c.
REALISTS, the name of a sect of school phi-
losophers, formed in opposition to the No-
minalists. The former believed that univer-
sals are realities, and have an actual existence
out of the mind; while the latter contended
that they exist only in the mind, and are only
ideas.
RE-ANOINTERS, a sect in Russia, which
sprang up about the year 17 70. . They do not
rebaptize those who join them from the Greek
church, but insist on the necessity of their
having the mystery of the chrism again ad-
ministered to them. They are very numerous
in Moscow.
‘ preta-tion, it is authoritative.

REASON, a faculty or power of the mind,
whereby it draws just conclusions from true
and clear principles. Many attempts have
been made to prove reason inimical to reve—
lation ; but nothing can be more evident than
that it is of considerable use in knowing,
distinguishing, proving, and defending the
mysteries of revelation; although it must not
be considered as a perfect standard by which
all themysteries of religion must be measured
before they are received by faith.
It is to our reason, says Moses Stuart, that
the arguments which prove the divine origin
of Christianity are addressed; and it is by
reason that we prove, or are led to admit of
this origin, on general or historical grounds.
Reason prescribes, or at any rate developes
and sanctions, the laws of interpreting Scrip-
ture. But when reason is satisfied that the
Bible is the book of God, by proof ‘which she
cannot reject, and yet preserves her charac-
ter; and when she has decided what laws of
exegesis the nature of human language re-
quires; the only oflice that remains for her,
in regard to the Scriptures, is the application
of those laws to_ the actual interpretation of
the Bible. When by their application she
becomes satisfied with respect to what the
sacred writers really meant to declare, in any
case, she must admit it without hesitation,
whether it be a doctrine, the relation of a fact,
or a precept. It is the highest office of reason
to believe doctrines and facts which God has
asserted to be true, and to submit to his pre-
cepts; although many things, in regard to
the manner in which those facts and doctrines
can be explained, or those precepts vindi-
cated, may be beyond her reach. In short,
the Scriptures being once admitted to be the
word of God, or of divine authority, the sole
ofiice of reason, in respect to them, is to act
as an interpreter of revelation, and not in any
case as a legislator. Reason can only judge
of the laws of exegesis, and direct the appli-
cation of them, in order to discover simply
what the sacred writers meant to assert. This
being discovered, it is either to be received as
they have asserted it, or their divine autho-
rity must be rejected, and our obligation to
believe all that they assert, denied. There
is no other alternative. Philosophy has no
right to interfere here. If she ever interfere,
it must be while the question is pending,
whether the Bible be divine. Nor has sys-
tem, prejudice, sectarian feeling, orthodoxy,
or heterodoxy, so called, any right to inter-
fere. The claims of the Bible being once
admitted, the simple question in respect to it
is: What does it teach? And, in regard to
any particular passage, WVhat'idea did the
original writer mean to convey ? When this
is ascertained by the legitimate rules of inter-
It is an autho-
rity from which there is no appeal.
RECLUSE, among the Papists, a person
REC
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667
shut up in a small cell of an hermitage, or
monastery, and cut off not only from all con-
versation with the world, but even with the
house. This is a kind of voluntary imprison-
ment, from a motive either of devotion or
penance.
RECONCILIATION, the restoring to favour
or friendship those who were at variance. It
is more particularly used in reference to the
doctrine of the atonement. Thus God is
said to reconcile us to himself by Jesus
Christ, 2 Cor. v. 18. Our state by nature is
that of enmity, dissatisfaction, and disobe-
dience. But by the sufferings and merit of
Christ we are reconciled and brought near to
God. The blessings of reconciliation are
pardon, peace, friendship, confidence, holiness,
and eternal life. The judicious Guyse gives
us an admirable note on this doctrine, which I
shall here transcribe. “ When the Scripture
speaks of reconciliation by Christ, or by his
cross, blood, or death, it is commonly ex-
pressed by God’s reconciling us to himself,
and not by his being reconciled unto us : the
reason of which seems to be, because God is
the offended party, and we are the offenders,
who, as such, have need to be reconciled to
him; and the price of reconciliation, by the
blood of Christ, is paid to him, and not to
us. Grotius observes, that in heathen authors,
men’s being reconciled to their gods is always
understood to signify appeasing the anger of
their gods. Condemned rebels may be said
to be reconciled to their sovereign, when he,
on one consideration or another, pardons
them; though, perhaps, they still remain re-
bels in their hearts against him. And when
our Lord ordered the offending to go and be
reconciled to his ofi'ended brother, Matt. v.
23, 24, the plain meaning is, that he should
go and try to appease his anger, obtain his
forgiveness, and regain his favour and friend-
ship, by humbling himself to him, asking
his pardon, or satisfying him for any injury
that he might have done him. In like man-
ner, God’s reconciling us to himself by the
cross of Christ does not signify, as the Soci-
nians contend, our being reconciled by con-
version, or a religious turn in our hearts to
God, but is a reconciliation that results from
God’s graciously providing and accepting an
atonement for us, that he might not inflict
the punishment upon us which we deserved,
and the law condemned us to : but might be
at peace with us, and receive us into favour
on Christ’s account. For this reconciliation,
by the cross of Christ, is in a way of atone-
ment or satisfaction to divine justice for sin ;
and, with respect hereunto, we are said to
be reconciled t9 God by the death of his Son
while we are enemies, which is of much the
same import with Christ’s dying for the un-
godly, and while we were yet sinners, Rom.
v. 6, 8, 10. And our being reconciled to
God, by approving and accepting of his me-
thod of reconciliation by Jesus Christ, and,
on that encouragement, turning to him, is-
distinguished from his reconciling us to him-
self, and not imputing our trespasses to us, on
account of Christ’s having been made sin for
us, that we might be made the righteousness of
God in him, 2 Cor. v. 18, 21. This is called
Christ’s making reconciliation for iniquity,
and making reconciliation for the sins of the
people, Dan. ix. 24; Heb. ii. 17, and answers
to the ceremonial and typical reconciliation
which was made by the blood of the sacrifices
under the law, to make atonement and recon-
ciliation for Israel, 2 Chron. xxix. 24 ; Ezek.
xlv. 15, 17, and which was frequently styled
making atonement for sin, and an atonement
for their souls. Now, as all the legal sacri-
fices of atonement, and the truly expiatory
sacrifices of Christ, were offered, not to the
offenders, but to God, to reconcile him to
them, what can reconciliation by the death,
blood, or cross of Christ mean? but that the
law and justice of God were thereby satisfied,
and all obstructions, on his part, to peace and
friendship towards sinners are removed, that
he might not pursue his righteous demands
upon them, according to the holy resentments
of his nature and will, and the threatenings
of his law for their sins; but might merci-
fully forgive them, and take them into a state
of favour with himself, upon their receiving
the atonement, or (xarahhaynv) reconcili-
ation (Rom. v. 11) by faith, after the offence
that sin had given him, and the breach it
had made upon the original friendship between
him and them?” Nothing is more common
than to hear of God’s being reconciled to us,
his reconciled countenance, 850., but all such
modes of expression are unseriptural, and
have originated in erroneous ideas respecting
.the nature of the mediation of Christ. Se-
veral very objectionable phrases of this de—
scription are to be found in Watts’s Psalms
and Hymns, respecting which a judicious liv-
ing divine has remarked, that they may make
good poetry, but they are bad divinity. See
articles A'roNEMEN'r, MEDIATOR, and PRoPI-
TIATION; Grot. dc Satisf cap. 7 ; D7‘. Owen’s
Answer to Biddle’s Catechism; Guyse’s Note
on Coloss. i. 20; Charnack’s l/Vorks, vol. ii.
p. 241 ; John Reynolds on Reconciliation.
RECTITUDE, or UPRIGHTNESS, is the
choosing and pursuing those things which
the mind, upon due inquiry and attention,
clearly perceives to be fit and good, and
avoiding those that are evil.
RECTOR, a term applied to several persons
whose offices are very different, as, 1. The
rector of a parish is a clergyman that has
the charge and care of a parish, and possesses
all the tithes, &c. 2. The same name is also
given to the chief elective ofiicer _in several
foreign universities, and also to the head
master of large schools. 3. Rector is also
used in several convents for the superior
REF
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668
ofiicer who governs the house. The Jesuits
gave this name to the superiors of such of
their houses as were either seminaries or col-
leges.
REcUsANTs, such persons as acknowledge
the pope to be the supreme head of the
church, and refuse to acknowledge the king’s
supremacy, who are hence called Popish re-
cusants.
REDEMPTION, in theology, denotes our re-
covery from sin and death, by the obedience
and sacrifice of Christ, who, on this account,
is called “ The Redeemer,” Isaiah lix. 20;
Job xix. 25. Our English word redemption,
says Dr. Gill, is from the Latin tongue, and
signifies buying again; and several words,
in the Greek language of the New Testament,
are used in the affair of our redemption,
which signify the obtaining of something by
paying a proper price for it; sometimes the
simple verb, ayopazw, to buy, is used; so the
redeemed are said to be bought unto God by
the blood of Christ, and to be bought from
the earth, and to be bought from among men,
and to be bought with a price ; that is, with the
price of Christ’s blood, 1 Cor. vi. 20. Hence
the church of God is said to be purchased
with it, Acts xx. 28. Sometimes the com-
pound word téjayopaZw is used; which signi-
fies to buy again, or out of the hands of ano-
ther, as the redeemed are bought out of the
hands of justice, as in Gal. iii. 13, and iv. 5.
In other places, Av'rpow is used, or other
words derived from it, which signifies the de-
liverance of a slave or captive from thraldom,
by paying a ransom price for him; so the
saints are said to be redeemed not with silver
or gold, the usual price paid for a ransom,
but with a far greater one, the blood and life
of Christ, which he came into this world to
give as aransom price for many, and even
himself, which is c’w'rtkv'rpov, an answerable,
adequate, and full price for them, 1 Peter i.
18. The evils from which we are redeemed
or delivered are the curse of the law, sin,
Satan, the world, death, and hell. The
moving cause of redemption is the love of
God, John iii. 16. The procuring cause,
Jesus Christ, 1 Peter i. 18, 19. The ends of
redemption are, that the justice of God might
be satisfied; his people reconciled, adopted,
sanctified, and brought to glory. The pro-
perties of it are these: 1. It is agreeable to
all the perfections of God. 2. What a crea-
ture never could merit, and therefore entirely
of free grace. 3. It is special and particular.
4. Full and complete. And, lastly, 5. It is
eternal as to its blessings. See articles, Pno-
PITIA'I‘ION, RECONCILIATION, SATISFACTION;
and Edwards’s History of Redemption; Cole
on the Sovereignty of God; Lime-street Lect.
lect. 5 ; Watts’s Ruin and Recovery; Dr.
Owen on the Death and Satisfaction of Christ;
(hfll’s Body of Divinity.
REFORMA'I‘ION, in general an act of re-l
forming or correcting an error or abuse in
religion, discipline, or the like. By way of
eminence, the word is used for that great al-
teration and reformation in the corrupted
system of Christianity begun by Luther in
the year 1517.
Before the period of the Reformation, the
pope had in the most audacious manner de-
clared himself the sovereign of the whole
world. All the parts of it which were in~
habited by those who were not Christians, he
accounted to be inhabited by nobody ; and if
Christians took it into their heads to possess
any of those countries, he gave them full
liberty to make war upon the inhabitants
without any provocation, and to treat them
with no more humanity than they would have
treated wild beasts. The countries, if con-
quered, were to be parcelled out according to
the pope’s pleasure; and dreadful was the
situation of that prince who refused to obey
the will of the holy pontiff. In consequence
of this extraordinary authority which the
pope had assumed, he at last granted to the
king of Portugal all the countries to the
eastward of Cape Non in Africa, and to the
king of Spain all the countries to the west-
ward of it. In this was completed in his
person the character of Antichrist, sitting in
the temple of God, and showing himself as
God. He had long before assumed the supre-
macy belonging to the Deity himself in spi-
ritual matters; and now he assumed the same
supremacy in worldly matters also, giving
the extreme regions of the earth to whom he
pleased.
Every thing was quiet, every heretic ex-
terminated, and the whole Christian world
supinely acquiesced in the enormous absur-
dities which were inculcated upon them;
when, in 1517, the empire of superstition
began to decline, and has continued to do so
ever since. The person who made the first
attack on the extravagant superstitions then
prevailing was Martin Luther, the occasion
of which is fully related under the article
LUTHERANS.
The Reformation began in the city of Wit-
temberg in Saxony, but was not long confined
either to that city or province. In 1520, the
Franciscan friars, who had the care of pro-
mulgating indulgences in Switzerland, were
opposed by Zuinglius, a man not inferior in
understanding and knowledge to Luther him-
self. He proceeded with the greatest vigour,
even at the very beginning, to overturn the
whole fabric of popery; but his opinions
were declared erroneous by the universities
of Cologne and Louvain. Notwithstanding
this, the magistrates of Zurich approved of
his proceedings, and that whole canton, to-
gether with those of Bern, Basil, and Shafi-
hausen, embraced his opinions
In Germany, Luther continued to make
great advances, without being in the least
REF
REF
669
intimidated by the ecclesiastical censures
which were thundered against him from all
quarters, he being continually protected by
the German princes, either from religious or
political motives, so that his adversaries could
not accomplish his destruction as they had
done that of others. Melancthon,~Carlosta-
dius, and other men of eminence, also greatly
forwarded the work of Luther; and in all
probability the Popish hierarchy wouldhave
soon come to an end, in the northern parts of
Europe, at least, had not the emperor Charles
V. given a severe check to the progress of
reformation in Germany.
During the confinement of Luther in a
castle near Warburg, the Reformation ad-
vanced rapidly ; almost every city in Saxony
embraced the Lutheran opinions. At this
time an alteration in the established forms of
worship was first ventured upon at VVittem-
berg, by abolishing the celebration of private
masses, and by giving the cup as well as the
bread to the laity in the Lord’s Supper. In a
short time, however, the new opinions were
condemned by the University of Paris, and
a refutation of them was attempted by Henry
VIII. of England. But Luther was not to be
thus intimidated. He published his animad-
versions on both with as much acrimony as
if he had been refuting the meanest adver-
sary; and a controversy managed with such
illustrious antagonists, drew a general atten-
tion, and the reformers daily gained new con-
verts both in France and England.
But while the efforts of Luther were thus
every where crowned with success, the divi-
sions began to prevail which have since so
much agitated the reformed churches. The
first dispute was between Luther and Zuing-
lius concerning the manner in which the body
and blood of Christ were present in the eu-
charist. Both parties maintained their tenets
with the utmost obstinacy : and, by their divi-
sions, first gave their adversaries an argument
against them, which to this day the Catholics
urge with great force ; namely, that the Pro-
testants are so divided, that it ‘is impossible to
know who are right or wrong; and that there
cannot be a stronger proof than these divi-
sions that the whole doctrine is false. To
these intestine divisions were added the hor-
rors of a civil war, occasioned by oppression
on the one hand, and enthusiasm on the other.
See ANABAPTISTB.
These proceedings, however, were checked.
Luther and Melancthon were ordered, by the
elector of Saxony, to draw up a body of
laws relating to the form of ecclesiastical go-
vernment, the method of public Worship,
&c., which was to be proclaimed by heralds
throughout his dominions. He, with Me-
lancthon, had translated part of the New
Testament in 1522; on the reading of which
the people were astonished to find how dif-
ferent the laws of Christ were from those
which had been imposed by the pope, and to
which they had been subject. The princes
and the people saw that Luther’s opinions
were founded on truth. They openly re-
nounced the papal supremacy, and the happy
morn of the Reformation was welcomed by
those who had long sat in superstitious dark-
ness.
This open resolution so exasperated the
patrons of popery, that they intended to make
war on the Lutherans, who prepared for de-
fence. In 1526, a diet was assembled at
Spire, when the emperor’s ambassadors were
desired to use their utmost endeavours to
suppress all disputes about religion, and to
insist upon the rigorous execution of the sen-
tence which had been pronounced against
Luther at Worms. But this opinion was op-
posed, and the diet proved favourable to the
Reformation. The tranquillity, which they
in consequence enjoyed, did not last long.
In 1529, a new diet was formed, and the
power which had been granted to princes of
managing ecclesiastical affairs till the meeting
of a general council, was now revoked, and
every change declared unlawful that should
be introduced into the doctrine, discipline, or
worship of the established religion, before
the determination of the approaching council
was known. This decree was considered as
iniquitous and intolerable by several mem-
bers of the diet; and when they found that
all their arguments and remonstrances were
in vain, they entered a solemn protest against
the decree on the 19th of April, and appealed
to the emperor and a future council. Hence
arose the denomination of Protestants, which
from that time has been given to those who
separate from the Church of Rome.
Charles V. was in Italy, to whom the dis~
senting princes sent ambassadors to lay their
grievances before him : but they met with no
encouraging reception from him. The pope
and the emperor were in close union at this
time, and they had interviews upon the busi-
ness. The pope thought the emperor to be
too element, and alleged that it was his duty
to execute vengeance upon the heretical fac-
tion. To this, however, the emperor paid no
regard, looking upon it as unjust to condemn,
unheard, a set of men who had always ap—
proved themselves good citizens. The em-
peror, therefore, set out for Germany, having
already appointed a diet of the empire to be
held at Augsburg, where he arrived, and
found there a full assembly of the members
of the diet. Here the gentle and pacific Me_
lancthon had been ordered to draw up a con-
fession of their faith, which he did, and ex~
pressed his sentiments and doctrine with the
greatest elegance and perspiouity; and thus
came forth to view the famous Confession of
Augsburg. ‘
This was attempted to be refuted by the
divines of the church of Rome, and a contrq.
REF
REF
670
versy took place, which the emperor endea—
voured to reconcile, but without success: all
hopes of bringing about a coalition seemed
utterly desperate. The votaries of the Church
of Rome therefore had recourse to the power-
ful arguments of imperial edicts, and the
force .of the secular arm; and, on the 19th of
November, a decree was issued by the em-
peror’s orders, every way injurious to the
reformers. Upon which they assembled at
Smalcald, where they concluded a league of
mutual defence against all aggressors, by
which they formed the Protestant States into
one body, and resolved to apply to the kings
of France and England to implore them to
patronize their new confederacy. The king
of France, being the avowed rival of the
emperor, determined secretly to cherish those
sparks of political discord; and the king of
England, highly incensed against Charles, in
complaisance to whom the pope had long
retarded, and now openly opposed, his long-
solicited divorce, was equally disposed to
strengthen a league which might be rendered
formidable to the emperor. Being, however,
so taken up with the scheme of divorce, and
of abolishing the papal jurisdiction in England,
he had but little leisure to attend to them.
Meanwhile Charles was convinced that it was
not a time to extirpate heresy by violence;
and at last terms of pacification were agreed
upon at Nuremberg, and ratified solemnly in
the diet at Ratisbon : and affairs were so or-
dered by Divine Providence, that the Protest-
ants obtained terms which amounted almost
to a toleration of their religion. .
Soon after the conclusion of the peace of
Nuremberg, died John, elector of Saxony,
who was succeeded by his son John Frederick,
a prince of invincible fortitude and magnani-
mity, but whose reign was little better than
one continued train of disappointments and
calamities. The religious truce, however,
gave new vigour to the Reformation. Those
who had hitherto been only secret enemies to
the Roman pontiff, now publicly threw off
his yoke ; and various cities and provinces of
Germany enlisted themselves under the reli-
gious standards of Luther. On the other
hand, as the emperor had now no other hope
of terminating the religious disputes but by
the meeting of a general council, he repeated
his requests to the pope for that purpose.
The pontifi‘, (Clement VII.,) whom the his-
tory of past councils filled with the greatest
uneasiness, endeavoured to retard what he
could not with decency refuse. At last, in
1533, he made a proposal by his legate, to
assemble a council at Mantua, Placentia, or
Bologna; but the Protestants refused their
consent to the nomination of an Italian coun-
cil, and insisted that a controversy which had
its rise in the heart of Germany should ‘be
determined within the limits of the empire.
The pope, by his usual artifices, eluded the
:performance of his own promise; and, in
1534, was cut off by death, in the midst of
his stratagem. His successor, Paul 111.,
seemed to show less reluctance to the assem-
bling a general council, and, in the year 1535,
expressed his inclination to convoke one at
Mantua; and in the year following, actually
sent circular letters for that purpose through
all the states and kingdoms under his juris-
diction. This council was summoned by a
bull issued out on the 2nd of June, 1536, to
meet at Mantua the following year: but se-
veral obstacles prevented its meeting; one of
the most material of which was, that Fre-
derick, duke of Mantua, had no inclination to
receive at once so many guests, some of them
very turbulent; into the place of his resi-
dence. On the other hand, the Protestants
were firmly persuaded that, as the council
was assembled in Italy, and by the authority
of the pope alone, the latter must have had
an undue influence in that assembly ; of con-
sequence, that all things must have been
carried by the votaries of Rome. For this
reason they assembled at Smalcald in the year
1537, where they solemnly protested against
this partial and corrupt council; and, at the
same time, had a new summary of their doc-
trine drawn up by Luther, in order to pre-
sent it to the assembled bishops, if it should
be required of them. This summary, which
had the title of The Articles of Smalcald, is
commonly joined with the creeds and confes-
sions of the Lutheran church.
After the meeting of the general council in
Mantua was thus prevented, many schemes
of accommodation were proposed both by the
emperor and the Protestants; but, by the
artifices of the Church of Rome, all of them
came to nothing. In 1541, the emperor ap-
pointed a meeting at Worms, on the subject
of religion, between persons of piety and
learning, chosen from the contending parties.
This conference, however, was, for certain
reasons, removed to the diet that was to be
held at Ratisbon the same year, and in which
the principal subject of deliberation was a me-
morial presented by a person unknown, con-
taining a project of peace. But the confer-
ence produced no other effect than a mutual

agreement of the contending parties to refer
their matters to a general council, or, if the
meeting of such a council should be prevented,
to the next German diet.
The resolution was rendered ineffectual by
a variety of incidents, which widened the
breach, and put off to a further day the deli-
berations which were designed to heal it.
The pope ordered his legate, to declare to the
diet of Spire, assembled in 1542, that he

would, according to the promise he had al-
» ready made, assemble a general council, and
that Trent should be the place of its meeting,
if the diet had no objection to that city. Fer-
dinand, and the princes who adhered to the
HE E
l R E F
l
\
cause of the pope, gave their consent to this ; goldstadt.
proposal; but it was vehemently objected to
by the Protestants, both because the council
was summoned by the authority of the pope
only, and also because the place was within
the jurisdiction of the pope; whereas they
desired a free council, which should not be
biassed by the dictates, nor awed by the
proximity of the pontifl'. But this protesta-
tion produced no effect. Paul III. persisted
in his purpose, and issued out ‘his circular
letters for the convocation of the council,
with the approbation of the emperor. In jus-
tice to this pontiff, however, it must be ob-
served, that he showed himself not to be
averse to every reformation. He appointed
four cardinals and three other persons emi-
nent for their learning, to draw up a plan for
the reformation of the church in general, and
of the Church of Rome in particular. The
reformation proposed in this plan was, indeed,
extremely superficial and partial; yet it con-
tained some particulars which could scarcely
have been expected from those who com-
posed it.
All this time the emperor had been labour-
ing to persuade the Protestants to consent to
the meeting of the council at Trent; but
when he found them fixed in their opposition
to this measure, he began to listen to the
sanguinary measures of the pope, and re-
solved to terminate the dispute by force of
arms. The elector of Saxony and landgrave
of Hesse, who were the chief supporters of the
Protestant cause, upon this took proper mea—
sures to prevent their being surprised and
overwhelmed by a superior force ; but before
the horrors of war commenced, the great re-
former Luther died in peace at Eisleben, the
place of his nativity, in 1546
The emperor and the pope had mutually
resolved on the destruction of all who should
dare to oppose the council of Trent. The
meeting of it was to serve as a signal for tak_
ing up arms; and accordingly its delibera-
tions were scarcely begun, in 1546, when the
Protestants perceived undoubted signs of the
approaching storm, in a formidable union
betwixt the emperor and pope, which threat-
ened to crush and overwhehn them at once.
This year, indeed, there had been a new con-
ference at Ratisbon, upon the old subject of
accommodating differences in religion; but,
from the manner in which the debates were
carried on, it plainly appeared that these dif-
ferences could only be decided in the field of
battle. The council of Trent, in the mean-
time, promulgated their decrees; while the
- reformed princes, in the diet at Ratisbon, pro-
tested against their authority, and were on
that account proscribed by the emperor, who
raised an army to reduce them to obedience.
The elector of Saxony and the landgrave
of Hesse led their forces into Bavaria against
the emperor, and cannonaded his camp at In- 1
l
It was supposed that this would
bring on an engagement, which would pro-
bably have been advantageous to the cause of
the reformed ; but this was prevented chiefly
by the perfidy of Maurice duke of Saxony,
who invaded the dominions of his uncle. Di-
visions were also fomented among the con-
federate princes by the dissimulation of the
emperor; and France failed in paying the
subsidy which had been promised by its mo-
narch; all which so discouraged the heads of
the Protestant party, that their army soon
dispersed, and the elector of Saxony was ob-
liged to direct his march homewards. But
he was pursued .by the emperor, who made
several forced marches, with a view to destroy
his enemy before he should have time to re-
cover his vigour. The two armies met near
Muhlberg, on the Elbe, on the 24th of April,
1547; and, after a bloody action, the elector
was entirely defeated, and himself taken pri-
soner. Maurice, who had so basely betrayed
him, was now declared elector of Saxony;
and, by his entreaties, Philip, landgrave of
Hesse, the other chief of the Protestants, was
persuaded to throw himself on the mercy of
the emperor, and to implore his pardon. To
this he consented, relying on the promise of
Charles for obtaining forgiveness, and being
restored to liberty; but, notwithstanding
these expectations, he was unjustly detained
prisoner, by a scandalous violation of the
most solemn convention.
The affairs of the Protestants now seemed
to be desperate. In the diet of Augsburg,
which was soon after called, the emperor re-
quired the Protestants to leave the decision
of these religious disputes to the wisdom of
the council which was to meet at Trent. The
greatest part of the members consented to
this proposal, being convinced by the power-
ful argument of an imperial army, which was
at hand to dispel the darkness from the eyes
of such as might otherwise have been blind
to the force of Charles’s reasoning. How-
ever, this general submission did not produce
the effect which was expected from it. A
plague which broke out, or was said to do so,
in the city, caused the greatest part of the
bishops to retire to Bologna, by which means
the council was in effect dissolved; nor
could all the entreaties and remonstrances
of the emperor prevail upon the pope to
re-assemble it without delay. During this
interval, therefore, the emperor judged it
necessary to fall upon some method of ac-
commodating the religious differences, and
maintaining peace until the council so long
expected should be finally obtained. With
this view he ordered Julius Pelugius, bishop
of Naumberg, Michael Sidonius, a creature
of the pope, and John Agricola, a native of
Eisleben, to draw up a formulary which
might serve as a rule of faith and worship
till the council should be assembled; but as
REP (37:. REF
this was only a temporary expedient, and had
not the force of a permanent or perpetual in-
stitution, it thence obtained the name of the
Interim.
This project of Charles was formed partly
with a design to vent his resentment against
the pope, and partly to answer other political
purposes. It contained all the essential doc-
trines of the Church of Rome, though con-
siderably softened by the artful terms which
were employed, and which were quite dif- :
ferent from those employed before and after
this period by the council of Trent. There
was even an affected ambiguity in many of the expressions, which made them susceptible i
of different senses, and applicable to the sen-
timents of both communions. The conse--
quence of all this was, that the imperial creed
was reprobated by both parties. [See INTE-
RIliL] In the year 1542, the pope (Paul III.)
died, and was succeeded by Julius III., who,
at the repeated solicitations of the emperor,
consented to the reassembling of a council at
Trent. A diet was again held at Augsburg,
under the cannon of an imperial army, and
Charles laid the matter before the princes of
the empire. Most of those present gave their ,
consent to it, and, among the rest, Maurice,
elector of Saxony, who consented on the fol-
lowing conditions :——1. That the points of
doctrine which had already been decided
there should be re-examined.—2. That this
examination should be made in presence of
the Protestant divines.-—3. That the Saxon
Protestants should have a liberty of voting as
well as of deliberating in the council—4.
That the pope should not pretend to preside
in the assembly, either in person or by his
legates. This declaration of Maurice was
read in the diet, and his deputies insisted
upon its being entered into the registers,
which the archbishop of Mentz obstinately
refused. The diet was concluded in 1551;
and, at its breaking up, the emperor desired
the assembled princes and states to prepare
all things for the approaching council, and
promised to use his utmost endeavours to
procure moderation and harmony, imparti-
ality and charity, in the transactions of that
assembly.
On the breaking up of the diet, the Pro- '
testants took such steps as they thought most
proper for their own safety. The Saxons
employed Melancthon, and the Wittembergers
Brengius, to draw up confessions of faith to
be laid before the new council. The Saxon
divines, however, proceeded no farther than
Nuremberg, having received secret orders
from Maurice to stop there; for the elector,
perceiving that Charles had formed deslgns
against the liberties of the German princes,
resolved to take the most efl‘ectual measures
for crushing his ambition at once. He there-
fore entered, with the utmost secresy and ex-
pedition, into an alliance with the king of
I France and several of the German princes, for
the security of the rights and liberties of the
empire; after which, assembling a powerful
; army in 1552, he marched against the empe-
; ror, who lay with a handful of troops at Ins-
pruck, and expected no such thing. By this
sudden and unforeseen accident, Charles was
so much dispirited, that he was willing to
make peace almost on any terms. The con—
1 sequence of this was, that he concluded atreaty
' at Passau, which by the Protestants is con-
sidered as the basis of their religious liberty.
By the first three articles of this treaty it was
agreed that Maurice and the confederates
should lay down their arms, and lend their
troops to Ferdinand, to assist him against the
. Turks ; and that the landgrave of Hesse should
i be set at liberty. By the fourth it was agreed
' that the rule of faith called the Interim should
I be considered as null and void; that the con-
' tending parties should enjoy the free and un-
; disturbed exercise of their religion until a
‘I diet should be assembled to determine ami-
cably the present disputes, which diet was to
meet in the space of six months; and that
this religious liberty should continue always,
in case it should be found impossible to come
to an uniformity in doctrine and worship. It
was also determined that all those who had
suffered banishment or any other calamity,
on account of their having been concerned in
the league or war of Smalcald, should be re-
instated in their privileges, possessions, and
employments; that the imperial chamber at
Spire should be open to the Protestants as well
as to the Catholics; and that there should
always be a certain number of Lutherans in
that high court. To this peace, Albert, mar-
quis of Brandenburgh, refused to subscribe,
and continued the war against the Roman
Catholics, committing such ravages in the
empire that a confederacy was at last formed
against him. At the head of this confederacy
was Maurice, elector of Saxony, who died of
a wound he received in a battle fought on the
occasion in 1553. y
The assembly of the diet promised by
Charles was prevented by various accidents;
however, it met at Augsburg, in 1555, where
. it was opened by Ferdinand in the name
of the emperor, and terminated those de-
plorable calamities which had so long deso-
lated the empire. After various debates, the
following acts were passed, on the 25th of
September: That the Protestants who fol»
lowed the Confession of Augsburg should be
for the future considered as entirely free from
the jurisdiction of the Roman pontiff, and from
the authority and superintendence of the
bishops; that they were left at perfect liberty
to enact laws for themselves relating to their
religious sentiments, discipline, and worship ;
that all the inhabitants of the German empire
should be allowed to judge for themselves in
religious matters; and to join themselves to
Itli'F
REF
(373
that church whose doctrine and worship they
thought the most pure and consonant to the
spirit of true Christianity; and that all those
who should injure or prosecute any person
under religious pretences, and on account of
' their opinions, should be declared and pro-
ceeded against as public enemies of the em-
pire, invaders of its liberty, and disturbers of
its peace. .
Thus was the Reformation established in
many parts of the German empire, where it
continues to this day; nor have the efforts of
the popish powers at any time been able to
suppress it, or even to prevent its gaining
ground. It was not, however, in Germany
alone that a reformation of religion took place.
Almost all the kingdoms of Europe began to
open their eyes to the truth about the same
time. The reformed religion was propagated
in Sweden, soon after Luther’s rupture with
the Church of Rome, by one of his disciples,
named Olaus Petri. The zealous efforts of
this missionary were seconded by Gustavus
Vasa, whom the Swedes had raised to the
throne in the place of Christiern king of Den-
mark, whose horrid barbarity lost him the
crown. This prince, however, was as prudent
as he was zealous: and, as the minds of the
Swedes were in a fluctuating state, he wisely
avoided all kind of vehemence and precipita-
tion in spreading the new doctrine. Accord-
ingly, the first object of his attention was the
instruction of his people in the sacred doc-
trines of the Holy Scriptures ; for which pur-
pose he invited into his dominions several
learned Germans, and spread abroad through
the kingdom the Swedish translation of the
Bible that had been made by Olaus Petri.
Some time after this, in 1526, he appointed a
conference at Upsal, between the reformer
and Peter Gallius, a zealous defender of the
ancient superstition, in which each of the
champions was to bring forth his arguments,
that it might be seen on which side the truth
lay. In this dispute Olaus obtained a signal
victory, which contributed much to confirm
Gustavus in his persuasion of the truth of
Luther’s doctrine, and to promote its progress
in Sweden. The following year another event
gave the finishing stroke to its propagation
and success. This was the assembly of the
states at Westeraas, where Gustavus recom-
mended the doctrine of the reformers with
such zeal, that, after warm debates, fomented
by the clergy in general, it was unanimously
resolved that the reformation introduced by
Luther should have place in Sweden. This
resolution was principally owing to the firm-
ness and magnanimitjr of Gustavus, who de-
clared publicly that he would lay down the
sceptre, and retire from the kingdom, rather
than rule a people enslaved by the orders and
authority of the pope, and more controlled by
the tyranny of their bishops than by the laws
of their monarch. From this time the papal
empire in Sweden was entirely overthrown,
and Gustavus declared head of the church.
In Denmark, the Reformation was intro-
duced as early as the year 1521, in consequence
of the ardent desire discovered by Christiern
IL of having his subjects instructed in the
doctrines of Luther. This monarch, notwith-
standing his cruelty, for which his name has
been rendered odious, was nevertheless desir-
ous of delivering his dominions from the
tyranny of the church of Rome. For this
purpose, in the year 1520, he sent for Martin
Reinard, one of the disciples of Carlostadt, out
of Saxony, and appointed him professor of
divinity at Hafnia; and afterhis death, which
happened in 1521, he invited Carlostadt
himself to_fill that important place. Carlos-
tadt accepted of this ofiice, indeed, but in a
short time returned to Germany ; upon which
Christiern used his utmost endeavours to en-
gage Luther to visit his dominions, but in
vain. However, the progress of Christiern
in reforming the religion of his subjects, or
rather of advancing his own power above that
of the church, was checked, in the year 1523,
by a conspiracy, by which he was deposed and
banished; his uncle Frederick, duke of Hol-
stein and Sleswic, being appointed his suc-
cessor.
Frederick conducted the Reformation with
much greater prudence than his predecessor.
He permitted the Protestant doctors to preach
publicly the sentiments of Luther, but did not
venture to change the established government
and discipline of the church. However, he
contributed greatly to the progress of the Re—
formation by his successful attempts in favour
of religious liberty in an assembly of the states
held at Odensee in 1527. Here he procured
the publication of a famous edict, by which
every subject of Denmark was declared free
either to adhere to the tenets of the Church of
Rome, or to the doctrine of Luther. The
‘ papal tyranny was totally destroyed by his
successor Christiern III. He began by sup-
pressing the despotic authority of the bishops,
and restoring to their lawful owners a great
part of the wealth and possessions which the
church had acquired by various stratagems.
This was followed by a plan of religious doc-
trine, worship, and discipline, laid down by
Bugenhagius, whom the king had sent for
from Wittemberg for that purpose; and in
1539_ an assembly of the states at Odensee
gave a solemn sanction to all these transac~
tions. .
In France, also, the Reformation began to
make some progress very early. Margaret,
queen of Navarre, sister to Francis 1., the per-
petual rival of Charles V., was a great friend
to the new doctrine; and it appears that, as
early as the year 1523, there were in several
of the provinces of France great numbers of
people who had conceived the greatest aversion
both to the doctrine and tyranny of the
x x
lt E F
Church of Rome; among whom were many
of the first rank and dignity, and even some
of the episcopal order. But as their number
increased daily, and troubles and commotions
were excited in several places on account of
the religious differences, the authority of the
king intervened, and many persons eminent
for their virtue and piety were put to death in
amost barbarous manner. Indeed, Francis,
who had either no religion at all, or, at best,
no fixed and consistent system of religious
principles, conducted himself towards the
Protestants in such a manner as best answered
his private views. Sometimes be resolved to
invite Melancthon into France, probably with
a view to please his sister, the queen of Na-
varre, whom he loved tenderly, and who had
strongly imbibed the Protestant principles.
At other times he exercised the most infernal
cruelty towards the reformed ; and once made
the following mad declaration z—That, if he
thought the blood of his arm was tainted by
the Lutheran heresy, he would have it cut
off ; and that he would not even spare his own
children, if they entertained sentiments con-
trary to those of the Catholic Church.
About this time the famous Calvin began
to draw the attention of the public, but more
especially of the queen of N avarre. I-Iis zeal
exposed him to danger; and the friends of
the Reformation, whom Francis was daily
committing to the flames, placed him more
than once in the most perilous situation,
from which he was delivered by the interpo-
sition of the queen of Navarre. He, there-
fore, retired out of France to Basil, in Swit-
zerland, where he published his “Christian
Institutions,” and became afterwards so
famous.
Those among the French who first re—
nounced the jurisdiction of the Romish
Church are commonly called Lutherans by
the writers of those early times; hence it has
been supposed that they had all imbibed the
peculiar sentiments of Luther. But this ap-
pears by no means to have been the case; for
the vicinity of the cities of Geneva, Lausanne,
&c., which had adopted the doctrines of Cal-
vin, produced a remarkable effect upon the
French Protestant churches; insomuch, that,
about the middle of this century, they all en-
tered into communion with the church of
Geneva. The French Protestants are called
Huguenots (see I'IUGUENOTS) by their adver-
saries, by way of contempt. Their fate was
very severe, being persecuted ‘with unparal-
leled fury; and though many princes of the
blood, and of the first nobility, had embraced
their sentiments, yet in no part of the world
did the reformers suffer so much. At last, all
commotions were quelled by the fortitude
and magnanimity of Henry IV., who, in the
year 1598, granted all his subjects full liberty
of conscience, by the famous edict of Nantes,
and-seemed to have thoroughly established
674
ll 1:‘. l“
the Reformation throughout his dominions.
During the minority of Louis XIV ., however,
this edict was revoked by cardinal Mazarine,
since which time the Protestants have often
been cruelly persecuted; nor was the pro-
fession of the reformed religion in France at
any time so safe as in most other countries of
Europe.
In the other parts of Europe the opposition
to the church of Rome was but faint and am-
] biguous before the diet of Augsburg. Before
that period, however, it appears, from un-
doubted testimony, that the doctrine of Luther
had made a considerable, though probably
secret progress, through Spain, Hungary,
Bohemia, Britain, Poland, and the Nether-
lands; and had in all these countries many
friends, of whom several repaired to Wittem-
berg, in order to enlarge their knowledge by
means of Luther’s conversation. Some of
these countries threw off the Romish yoke
entirely, and in others a prodigious number of
families embraced the principles of the reform—
ed religion. It is certain, indeed, and the
Roman Catholics themselves acknowledge it
without hesitation, that the papal doctrines
and authority would have fallen into ruin in
all parts of the world at once, had not the
force of the secular arm been employed to
support the tottering edifice. In the Nether-
lands particularly, the most grievous perse-
cutions took place, so that by the Emperor
Charles V. upwards of 100,000 were destroyed,
while still greater cruelties were exercised
upon the people by his son, Philip II. The
revolt of the United Provinces, however, and
motives of real policy, at last put a stop to
these furious proceedings; and though in
many provinces of the Netherlands the estab-
lishment of the Popish religion was still con-
tinued, the Protestants have been long free
from the danger of persecution on account of
their principles.
The Reformation made a considerable pro-
gress in Spain and Italy soon after the rup-
ture between Luther and the Roman pontiff‘.
In all the provinces of Italy, but more espe~
cially in the territories of Venice, Tuscany,
and Naples, the superstition of Rome lost
ground, and great numbers of people of all
ranks expressed an aversion to the papal
yoke. This occasioned violent and danger-
ous commotions in the kingdom of Naples in
the year 1546 ; which, however, were at last
quelled by the united efforts of Charles V.
and his viceroy Don Pedro di Toledo. In
several places the pope put a stop to the pro-
gress of the Reformation by letting loose the
inquisitors, who spread dreadful marks of
their barbarity through the" greatest part of
Italy. These formidable ministers of super-
stition put so many to death, and perpetrated
such horrid acts of cruelty and oppression,
that most of the reformed consulted their
safety by a voluntary exile, while others re-
‘REF
REF
675
turned to the religion of Rome, at‘ least in
external appearance. But the inquisition,
which frightened into the profession of popery ,
several Protestants in other parts of Italy, :'
could never make its way into the kingdom
of Naples; nor could either the authority or
entreaties of the pope engage the Neapolitans
to admit even visiting inquisitors.
In Spain, several people embraced the Pro-
testant religion, not only from the controver-
sies of Luther, but even from those divines
whom Charles V. had brought with him into
Germany, in order to refute the doctrines of
Luther; for these doctors imbibed the pre-
tended heresy, instead of refuting it, and pro-
pagated it more or less on their return home.
But the inquisition, which could obtain no
footing in Naples, reigned triumphant 'in
Spain; and by the most dreadful methods
frightened the people back into popery, and
suppressed the desire of exchanging their
superstition for a more rational plan of reli-
gion. It was, indeed, presumed, that Charles
himself died a Protestant; and it seems to be
certain, that, when the approach of death had
dissipated those schemes of ambition and
grandeur which had so long blinded him, his
sentiments became much more rational and
agreeable to Christianity than they had ever
been. All the ecclesiastics who had attended
him, as soon as he expired, were sent to the
inquisition, and committed to the flames, or
put to death by some other method equally
terrible. Such was the fate of Augustine
Casal, the emperor’s preacher; of Constan-
tine Pontius, his confessor; of .Egidius, whom
he had named to the bishopric of Tortosa;
of Bartholomew de Caranza, a Dominican,
who had been confessor to King Philip and
Queen Mary; with twenty others of less
note.
In England, the principles of the Reforma-
tion began to be adopted as soon as an ac-
count of Luther’s doctrines could be conveyed
thither. In that kingdom there were still
great remains of the sect called Lollards,
whose doctrine resembled that of Luther;
and among whom, of consequence, the senti-
ments of our reformer gained great credit.
Henry VIII., king of England, at that time
was a violent partisan of the church of Rome,
and had a particular veneration for the writ-
ings of Thomas Aquinas. Being informed
that Luther spoke of his favourite author
with contempt, he conceived a violent prej u-
dice against the reformer, and even wrote
against him, as we have already observed.
Luther did not hesitate at writing against his
majesty, overcame him in argument, and
treated him with very little ceremony. The
first step towards public reformation, how-
ever, was not taken till the year 1529. Great
complaints had been made in England, and
of a very ancient date, of the usurpations of
the clergy 3 and, by the prevalence of the
Lutheran opinions, these complaints were
now become more general than before. The
House of Commons, finding the occasion
favourable, passed several bills, restraining
the impositions of the clergy; but what
threatened the ecclesiastical order with the
greatest danger was, the severe reproaches
thrown out almost without opposition in the
House against the dissolute lives, ambition,
and avarice of the priests, and their continual
encroachments on the privileges of the laity.
The bills for regulating the clergy met with
opposition in the House of Lords; and bishop
Fisher imputed them to want-of faith in the
,Commons, and to a formed design, proceed—
ing from heretical and Lutheran principles,
of robbing the church of her patrimony,
and overturning the national religion. The
Commons, however, complained to the king,
by their speaker, Sir Thomas Audley, of
these reflections thrown out against them;
and the bishop was obliged to retract his
words.
Though Henry had not the least idea of
rejecting any even of the most absurd Rom-
ish superstitions, yet, as the oppressions of
the clergy suited very ill with the violence of
his own temper, he was pleased with every
opportunity of lessening their power. In the
parliament of 1531 he showed his design of
humbling the clergy in the most effectual
manner. An obsolete statute was revived,
from which it was pretended that it was cri-
minal to submit to the legatine power which
had been exercised by cardinal Wolsey. By
this stroke the whole body of clergy was de—
clared guilty at once. They were too well
acquainted with Henry’s disposition, how-
ever, to reply, that their ruin would have
been the certain consequence of their not sub-
mitting to Wolsey’s commission, which had
been given by_ royal authority. Instead of
making any defence of this kind, they chose
to throw themselves upon the mercy of their
sovereign; which, however, it cost them
118,8401. to procure. A confession was like-
wise extorted from them, that the king was
protector and supreme head of the church of
England; though some of them had the dex-
terity to get a clause inserted which invali-
dated the whole submission, viz. in so far as
is permitted by the law of Christ.
The king, having thus begun to reduce
the power of the clergy, kept no bounds with
them afterwards. He did not, indeed, at—
tempt any reformation in religious matters;
nay, he persecuted most violently such as did
attempt this in the least. Indeed the most
essential article of his creed seems to have
been his own supremacy; for whoever denied
this was sure to suffer the most severe penal-
ties, whether Protestant or Papist.
He died in 1547, and was succeeded by his
only son Edward VI. This amiable prince,
whose early youth was crowned with that
REF
REF
676
Wisdom, sagacity, and virtue, that would have
done honour to advanced years, gave new
spirit and vigour to the Protestant cause, and
was its brightest ornament, as well as its most
effectual support. He encouraged learned
and pious men of foreign countries to settle
in England, and addressed a particular invi-
tation to Martin Bucer and Paul Fagius,
whose moderation added a lustre to their
other virtues, that by the ministry and la-
hours of these eminent men, in concert with
those of the friends of the Reformation in
England, he might purge his dominions from
the sordid fictions of popery, and establish
the pure doctrines of Christianity in their
place. For this purpose be issued out the
wisest orders for the restoration of true reli-
gion; but his reign was too short to accom-
plish fully such a glorious purpose. In the
year 1553 he was taken from his loving and
afliicted subjects, whose sorrow was inexpres-
sible, and suited to their loss. His sister
Mary (the daughter of Catherine of Aragon,
from whom Henry had been separated by the
famous divorce), a furious bigot of the church
of Rome, and a princess whose natural
character, like the spirit of her religion, was
despotic and cruel, succeeded him on the Bri-
tish throne, and imposed anew the arbitrary
laws, and the tyrannical yoke of Rome upon
the people of England. Nor were the me-
thods which she employed in the cause of
superstition better than the cause itself, or
tempered by any sentiments of equity or com-
passion. Barbarous tortures, and death in the
most shocking forms, awaited those who op-
posed her will, or made the least stand against
the restoration of popery; and, among many
other victims, the'learned and pious Cranmer,
archbishop of Canterbury, who had been one
of the most illustrious instruments of the
Reformation in England, fell a sacrifice to her
fury. This odious scene of persecution was
happily concluded in the year 1558, by the
death of the queen, who left no issue; and as
soon as her successor, the lady Elizabeth, as-
cended the throne, all things assumed a new
and pleasing aspect. This illustrious prin-
cess, whose sentiments, counsels, and pro-
jects, breathed a spirit superior to the natural
softness and delicacy of her sex, exerted this
vigorous and manly spirit in the defence of
oppressed conscience and expiring liberty,
broke anew the despotic yoke of papal autho-
rity and superstition; and, delivering her
people from the bondage of Rome, established
that form of religious doctrines and ecclesias-
tical government which still subsists in En -
land. This religious establishment differs in
some respects from the plan that had been
formed by those whom Edward VI. had em-
ployed for promoting the cause of the Refor-
mation, and approaches nearer to the rites
and discipline of former times; though it is
widely different, and, in the most important
points, entirely opposite to the principles of
the Roman hierarchy.
The cause of the Reformation underwent,
in Ireland, the same vicissitudes and revolu-
tions that had attended it in England. When
Henry VIII., after the abolition of the papal
authority, was declared supreme head upon
earth of the church of England, George
Brown, a native of England, and a monk of
the Augustine order, whom that monarch had
created in the year 1535, archbishop of Dub-
lin, began to act with the utmost vigour in
consequence of this change in the hierarchy.
He purged the churches of his diocese from
superstition in all its various forms, pulled
down images, destroyed relics, abolished ab-
surd and idolatrous rites; and by the influ-
ence as well as authority he had in Ireland,
caused the king’s supremacy to be acknow-
ledged in that nation. I-Ienry showed, soon
after, that this supremacy was not a vain
title; for he banished the monks out of that
kingdom, confiscated their revenues, and de-
stroyed their convents. In the reign of Ed-
ward VI. still further progress was made in
the removal of popish superstitions by the
zealous labours of bishop Brown, and the au-
spicious encouragement he granted to all who
exerted themselves in the cause of the Re-
formation. But the death of this excellent
prince, and the accession of queen Mary, had
like to have changed the face of affairs in
Ireland as much as in England; but her de-
signs were disappointed by a very curious
adventure, of which the following account
has been copied from the papers of Richard
Earl of Cork :—“ Queen Mary, having dealt
severely with the Protestants in England,
about the latter end of her reign, signed a
commission for to take the same course with
them in Ireland; and, to execute the same
with greater force, she nominates Dr. Cole
one of the commissioners. This doctor com-
ing with the commission to Chester on his
journey, the mayor of that city, hearing that
her majesty was sending a messenger into
Ireland, and he being a churchman, waited
on the doctor, who in discourse with the
mayor, taketh out of a cloak-bag a leather
box, saying unto him, ‘ Here‘ is a commission
that shall lash the heretics of Ireland,’ calling
the Protestants by that title. The good
woman of the house being well affected to the
Protestant rcli ion, and also having a bro-
ther, named olm Edmonds, of the same.
then a citizen in Dublin, was much troubled
at the Doctor’s words ; but, watching her con-
venient time while the mayor took his leave,
and the doctor complimented him down the
stairs, she opens the box, takes the commis-
sion out,‘ and places in lieu thereof a sheet of
paper with a pack of cards wrapped therein,
the knave of clubs being faced uppermost.
The doctor ‘coming up to his chamber, sus-
pected nothing of what had been done, and
REF
REG
677
put up the box as formerly. The next day,
going to the water~side, wind and weather
serving him, he sails towards Ireland, and
landed, on the 7th of October, 1558, at Dub-
lin. Then coming to the castle, the Lord
Fitz-Walter, being lord-deputy, sent for him
to come before him and the privy council;
who coming in, after he had made a speech
relating upon what account he came over, he
presents the box unto the lord-deputy; who
causing it to be opened, that the secretary
might read the commission, there was nothing
save a pack of cards with the knave of clubs
uppermost; which not only startled the lord-
deputy and council, but the Doctor, who
assured them he had a commission, but knew
not how it was gone. Then the lord-deputy
made answer, ‘ Let us have another commis-
sion, and we will shuflie the cards in the
meanwhile.’ The Doctor, being troubled in
his mind, went away, and returned into Eng-
land, and coming to the court, obtained an-
other commission; but, staying for a wind on
the water-side, news came to him that the
queen was dead; and thus God preserved the
Protestants of Ireland.” Queen Elizabeth
was so delighted with this story, which was
related to her by lord F itz-Walter on his
return to England, that she sent for Elizabeth
Edmonds, whose husband’s name was M atter-
.s/tad, and gave her a pension of 401. during
her life.
In Scotland, the seeds of reformation were
very early sown by several noblemen who
had resided in Germany during the religious
disputes there; but for many years it was
supressed by the power of the pope, seconded
by inhuman laws and barbarous executions.
The most eminent opposer of the papal juris-
diction was John Knox, a disciple of Calvin,
a man of great zeal and invincible fortitude.
On all occasions he raised the drooping spirits
of the reformers, and encouraged them to go
on with their work, notwithstanding the op-
position and treachery of the queen-regent;
till at last, in 1561, by the assistance of an
English army sent by Elizabeth, popery was,
in a manner, totally extirpated throughout
the kingdom. From this period the form of
doctrine, worship, and discipline, established
by Calvin at Geneva, has had the ascendency
in Scotland.
On the review of this article, what reason
have we to admire Infinite Wisdom, in mak-
ing human events, apparently fortuitous, sub-
servient to the spread of the Gospel! What
reason to adore that Divine Power which was
here evidently manifested in opposition to all
the powers of the world! What reason to
praise that Goodness, which thus caused light
and truth to break forth for the happiness and
salvation of millions of the human race!
For further information on this interesting
subject, we refer our readers to the works of
Burnet and Brandt ,- to Beausobre’s Histoire
I do la Reformation dams Z’Empire, ct les Etats

de la Confession d’Augsbourg, depuis 1517 -
1530, in 4 vols.8vo. Berlin, 1785 ; Mosheim’s
Ecclesiastical History,- and particularly the
Appendix to vol. iv. p. 136, on the Spirit of
the Reformers, by Dr. Maclaine. See also
Sleidan dc Statu Religionis ct Republicaz Ca-
rolo V.; Father Paul’s History of the Council
of Trent; Robertson’s History of Charles V.,-
Knox’s and Dr. Gilbert Steward’s History qf
the Reformation in Scotland; Encyc. Brit. ;
An Essay on the Spirit and Influence of the
Reformation by Luther, by B. C. Villiers,
which work obtained the prize on this ques-
tion, (proposed by the National Institute of
France, in the public sitting of the 15th Ger-
minal, in the year 10,) “ What has been the
influence of the reformation by Luther on the
political situation of the different states of
Europe, and on the progress of knowledge?”
H .ZVIore’s Hints to a Young Princess, vol. ii.
ch. 35.
Rnronmnn CHURCH. See CHURCH, RE-
FORMED.
REFUGEES, a term first applied to the
French Protestants, who, by the revocation
of the edict of Nantes, were constrained to
flee from persecution, and take refuge in
foreign countries. Since that time, however,
it has been extended to all such as leave their
country in times of distress. See HUGUENOTS.
REGENERATION, a new birth; that work of
the Holy Spirit by which we experience a
change of heart. It is to be distinguished
from baptism, which is an external rite,
though some have confounded them together.
Nor does it signify a mere reformation of the
outward conduct. Nor is it a conversion
from one sect or creed to another; or even
from atheism. Nor are new faculties given
in this change. Nor does it consist in new
revelations, a succession of terrors or conso-
lations, or any whisper as it were from God
to the heart, concerning his secret love,
choice, or purpose to save us. It is expressed
in Scripture by being born again, John iii. 7;
born from above, so it may be rendered, John
iii. 2, 7, 27; being quickened, Eph. ii. 1;
Christ formed in the heart, Gal. iv. 12; a
partaking of the Divine nature, 2 Pet. i. 4.
The eflicient cause of regeneration is the
Divine Spirit. That man is not the author
of it is evident, if we consider, 1. The case in
which men are before it takes place; a state
of ignorance and inability, John iii. 4.-——2.
The nature of the work shows plainly that it
is not in the power of man to do it: it is
called a. creation, a production of a new prin-
ciple which was not before, and which man
could not himself produce, Eph. ii. 8, 10.—3.
It is expressly denied to be of men, but de—
clared to be of God, John i. 12, 13. 1 John
iii. 9. The instrumental cause, if it may be
so called, is the word of God, James i. 18.
1 Cor. iv. 15. The evidences of it are, con‘
REG
REL
678
viction of sin, holy sorrow, deep humility,
knowledge, faith, repentance, love, and de-
votedness to God’s glory. The properties of
it are these :—-—1. It is a passive work, and
herein it differs from conversion. In rege-
neration we are passive, and receive from
God; in conversion we are active, and turn
to him.—-2. It is an irresistible, or rather an
invincible work of God’s grace, Eph. iii. 8.—
3. It is an instantaneous act, for there can be
no medium between life and death; and here
it differs from sanctification, which is progres-
sive—4. It is a complete act, and perfect in
its kind; a change of the whole man, 2 Cor.
v. 17.—5. It is a great and important act,
both as to its author and effects, Eph. ii. 4, 5.—
6. It is an internal act, not consisting in bare
outward forms, Ezek. xxxvi. 26, 27.—7. Vi-
sible as to its effects, 1 John iii. 14.—8. De-
lightful, 1 Pet. i. 8.——9. Necessary, John iii. 3.
-—10. It is an act, the blessings of which we can
never finally lose, John xiii. 1. See CALLING,
CoNvEBsIoN; and Charnock’s Works, vol. p. 1 to 230; Cole and Wright, but especially
l/Vz'therspoon on Regeneration,- Doddridge’s Ten
'Sermons on the Subject; Dr. Gz'll’s Body of
Divinity, article Regeneration; Dr. Owen on
the Spirit ,- Lime Street Lectures, sermon 8.
REGIUM DONUM, a sum of money annually
allowed by government to dissenting minis-
ters. It originated in a donation, made in
the way of royal bounty, by George II., in
the year 1723, consisting of 5001., to be paid
out of the treasury, for assisting first of all
the widows, and afterwards either ministers
or their widows, who wanted help. The first
motion for it was made by Mr. Daniel Bur-
gess, who had for some time been secretary
to the Princess of Wales, and was approved
by Lord Townshend, secretary of state, and
Sir Robert Walpole, chancellor of the exche—
quer, who entered readily into the measure,
with a view to secure the influence of the
Dissenters. When the money was paid, a
strict charge was given that the matter should
be kept very secret. Some few years after,
the sum was raised to 8501. half-yearly; and
at present, though no longer a Regz'um Donum,
it is still annually granted by parliament,
amounting to about 50001., but including the
relief granted to “ Poor French refugee
clergy, poor French Protestant laity, and
sundry small charitable and other allowances
to the poor of St. Martin’s in the Fields, and
others.”
The propriety of receiving it has been, and
still is, matter of doubt among Dissenters.
Good Mr. Baxter returned the portion that
was sent to him; and there are many in the
present day who consider it as a gross com-
promise of one of the first principles of Non-
conformity to be paid as teachers of religion
by the state, and accordingly would spurn it
from them, however necessitous might be
their outward circumstances.
RELIcs, in the Roman Church, the remains
of the bodies or clothes of saints or martyrs,
and the instruments by which they were put
to death, devoutly preserved in honour to
their memory; kissed, revered, and carried
in procession.
The respect which was justly due to the
martyrs and teachers of the Christian faith,
in a few ages increased almost to adoration;
and at length adoration was really paid both
to departed saints, and to the relics of holy
men or holy things. The abuses of the
Church of Rome with respect to relics are
very flagrant and notorious; for such was
the rage for them at one time, that, as F.
Mabillon, a Benedictine, justly complains,
the altars were loaded with suspected relics;
numerous spurious ones being every where
offered to the piety and devotion of the faith-
ful. He adds, too, that bones are often conse-
crated, which, so far from belonging to saints,
probably do not belong to Christians. From
the catacombs, numerous relics have been
taken, and yet it is not known who were the
persons interred therein. In the eleventh
century, relics were tried by fire, and those
which did not consume were reckoned ge-
nuine, and the rest not. Relics were, and
still are, preserved on the altars whereon
mass is celebrated: a square hole being made
in the middle of the altar big enough to re-
ceive the hand; and herein is the relic de-
posited, being first wrapped in red silk, and
inclosed in a leaden box.
The Romanists plead antiquity in behalf
of relics; for the Manichees, out of hatred
to the flesh, which they considered as an evil
principle, refused to honour the relics of
saints; which is reckoned a kind of proof
that the Catholics did it in the first ages.
We know, indeed, that the touching of
linen clothes, or relics, from an opinion of
some extraordinary virtue derived therefrom,
was as ancient as the first ages, there being a
hole made in the coflins of the forty martyrs,
at Constantinople, expressly for that purpose.
The honouring the relics of saints, on which
the Church of Rome afterwards founded her
superstitious and lucrative use of them, as
objects of devotion, as a kind of charms, or
amulets, and as instruments of pretended mi_
racles, appears to have originated in a very
ancient custom that prevailed among Chris-
tians, of assembling at the cemeteries or
burying-places of the martyrs, for the purpose
of commemorating them, and of performing
divine worship. When the PI‘OfGSSIOII. of
Christianity obtained the protection of civil
government, under Constantine the Great,
stately churches were erected over sepulchres,
and their names and memories were treated
with every possible token of affection and
respect. This reverence, however, gradually
exceeded all reasonable bounds; and those
prayers and religious services were thought
REL
RBI. -
679
to have a peculiar sanctity and virtue which
were performed over their tombs ; hence the
practice which afterwards obtained of depo-
siting relics of saints and martyrs under the
altars in all churches. This practice was
then thought of such importance, that St.
Ambrose would not consecrate a church be-
cause it had no relics; and the council of
Constantinople in Trullo ordained, that those
altars should be demolished under which
there were found -no relics. The rage of
procuring relics for this, and other purposes
of a similar nature, became so excessive,
that, in 386, the emperor Theodosius the
Great was obliged to pass a law, forbidding
the people to dig up the bodies of the mar-
tyrs, and to traflic in their relics.
Such was the origin of that respect for
sacred relics, which afterwards was perverted
into a formal worship of them, and became
the occasion of innumerable processions, pil-
grimages and miracles, from which the Church
of Rome hath derived incredible advantage.
In the end of the ninth century, it was not
sufiicient to reverence departed saints, and
to confide in their intercessions and suecours;
to clothe them with an imaginary power of
healing diseases, working miracles, and deli-
vering from all sorts of calamities and dan-
gers; their bones, their clothes, the. apparel
and furniture they had possessed during their
lives, the very ground which they had touched,
or in which their putrified carcases were laid,
were treated with a stupid veneration, and
supposed to retain the marvellous virtue of
healing all disorders, both of body and mind,
and of defending such as possessed them
against all the assaults and devices of the
devil. The consequence of all this was, that
every one was eager to provide himself with
these salutary remedies: consequently great
numbers undertook fatiguing and perilous
voyages, and subjected themselves to all sorts
of hardships; while others made use of this
delusion to accumulate their riches, and to
impose upon the miserable multitude by the
most implous and shocking inventions. As
the demand for relics was prodigious and
universal, the clergy employed the utmost
dexterity to satisfy all demands, and were far
from being nice in the methods they used for
that end. The bodies of the saints were
sought by fasting and prayer instituted by
the priest, in order to obtain a divine answer,
and an infallible direction; and this pretended
direction never failed to accomplish their de-
sires; the holy carcass was always found,
and that always in consequence as they im-
piously gave out, of the suggestion and 1n-
spiration of God himself. Each discovery of
this kind was attended with excessive demon-
strations of joy, and animated the zeal of
these devout seekers to enrich the church
still more and more with this new kind of
treasure. Many travelled with this view into
the eastern provinces, and frequented the
places which Christ and his disciples had ho-
noured with their presence; that with the
bones and other sacred remains of the first
heralds of the Gospel, they might comfort
dejected minds, calm trembling consciences,
save sinking states, and defend their inha-
bitants from all sorts of calamities. Nor did
these pious travellers return home empty: the
craft, dexterity, and knavery of the Greeks
found a rich prey in the stupid credulity of
the Latin relic-hunters, and made a profitable
commerce of this new devotion. The latter
paid considerable sums for legs and arms,
skulls and jaw-bones, (several of which were
pagan and some not human,) and other things
that were supposed to have belonged to the
primitive worthies of the Christian Church,-
and thus the Latin churches came to the pos-
session of those celebrated relics of St. Mark,
St. James, St. Bartholomew, Cyprian, Pan—
taleon, and others, which they show at this
day with so much ostentation. But there
were many who, unable to procure for them-
selves these spiritual treasures by voyages
and prayers, had recourse to violence and
theft; for all sorts of means, and all sorts of
attempts, in a cause of this nature, were con-
sidered, when successful, as pious and accep-
table to the Supreme Being. Besides the ar-
guments from antiquity, to which the Papists
refer in vindication of their worship of relics,
of which the reader may form some judg-
ment from this article, Bellarmine appeals
to Scripture in support of it, and cites the
following passages, viz. Exod. xiii. 19 ; Deut.
xxxiv. 6; 2 Kings xiii. 21; xxiii. 16—18;
Isa. xi. 10; Matt. xi. 20—22; Acts iv. 12,
15; xix. 11, 12.
The Roman Catholics in Great Britain do
not acknowledge any worship to be due to
relics, but merely a high veneration and res-
pect, by which means they think they honour
God, who, they say, has often wrought very
extraordinary miracles by them. But, how-
ever proper this veneration and respect may
be, its abuse has been so great and so general,
as fully to warrant the rejection of them al-
together.
Relics are forbidden to be used or brought
into England by several statutes ; and justices
of peace are empowered to search houses for
popish books and relies, which, when found,
are to be defaced and burnt, &c., 3 Jae. I.
cap. 26.
RELIEF SYNOD. The members of the
Relief Synod are a species of Dissenters in
Scotland, who dissent from the Establishment,
that they may enjoy the liberty and privilege,
which they maintain, of choosing their own
mlmsters.
Mr. Gillespie, who may be considered as
the founder of this sect, Mr. T. Boston, and
Mr. Collier, together with some ordained
elders, constituted themsehes into a presby-
REL
REL
680
tery at Colingsburgh, whose inhabitants were
the first who formally applied to them for
relief, hence called “the Presbytery of Re—
lief ;" being willing, say they, to afford relief
from the rigorous execution of the Act of
Patronage, to all “ who adhered to the con-
stitution of the Church of Scotland, as exhibited
in her creeds, canons, confessions, and forms
of worship.”
Since the act restoring patronage in 1712,
there have always been a number of minis-
ters in the Establishment who steadily 0p-
posed the rigorous exercise of patronage, or
the settlement of ministers by presentations,
where the concurrence of the generality of
the parishioners could not be obtained. But
the sect now under consideration, which took
its rise from this opposition, had no separate
existence until 1752.
The Assembly of that year not only ap-
pointed Mr. Richardson’s admission in Inver-
keithing, contrary to the wishes of the inha-
bitants, but also required every member of
the presbytery to attend and witness the
execution of the sentence; and further de-
clared, that the quorum should be five, instead
of three, the legal quorum, when Mr. Gil-
lespie, who was appointed to preside on the
occasion, and other five ministers, still declined
countenancing that admission ; in consequence
of which, he, as the most obstinate offender,
was deposed from the ofiice of the ministry,
and his kirk declared vacant.
The manner and dispatch with which this
afl‘air was conducted, is truly, as a minister,
formerly of the relief, but now in the Esta-
blishment, has observed, “ very remarkable ;”
for “ on Monday the Assembly gave out this
appointment; the day fixed for ordination
was Thursday, at eleven o’clock; every
member of the presbytery was summoned to
appear at the Assembly’s bar on Friday, and
Mr. Gillespie, who disobeyed the appoint—
ment, but obeyed the summons, was deposed
on Saturday—all in one week!”
When the Presbytery appeared at the bar
of the Assembly, Mr. Gillespie, and his five
brethren, gave in an humble representation,
signed by them, and Mr. Stark of Torrieburn,
as avindication of their conduct; but this,
instead of giving the desired satisfaction,
“ highly displeased the church,” and may be
considered as having laid a foundation for the
erection of the Relief Kirk, as a distinct and
independent society.
Being thus excluded from the communion
of the kirk, these two gentlemen, and a Mr.
lollier, who had been for some time officiating
among the Dissenters in England, together
with some ordained elders, constituted them-
selves into a Presbytery.
Thus the Relief body took its rise, not
from the law of patronage simply, but from a
new mode of carrying that law into effect.
Previously to 1752, when a Presbytery was
refractory, what was called a Riding Com-
mittee was appointed, to ordain the obnoxious
presentee; but, since that period, the dis-
agreeable work must always be performed by
the presbytery to which the parish belongs.
It may also be remarked here, that the moral
or legal preaching of some of the established
clergy was indirectly one great cause of the
origin of the Relief Synod, and is still a great
cause of its success. It has been almost ex-
clusively to ministers who were supposed not
to be sufiiciently evangelical in their senti-
ments, that opposition has been made by the
people.
In regard to doctrines, worship, church
government, and discipline, the members of
the Relief Kirk differ in little or nothing
from the Establishment. Their presbyteries
require from every new member of their own
body, as the terms of admission, a solemn and
public profession of his faith in God—his be-
lief of the Scriptures—his approbation of
Presbytery, “ according to Reformation prin-
ciples, and his adherence to the constitution
of the Church of Scotland, as exhibited in her
creeds, canons, confessions, and forms of wor-
ship.” This profession he solemnly makes
unto the presbytery, before his people, and '
promises to abide by these, in subjection to
his brethren.
They are unwilling to be reckoned Sece-
ders or Dissenters; and yet the members of
the Establishment seem but little disposed to
own them as brethren; for, by a late act of
the General Assembly, their ministers are
excluded from their communion, until they
have undergone a fresh examination
There are at present upwards of eighty
congregations in connexion with the Synod.
Of these thirty are large, and will average,
every Sunday, about 1200 worshippers. Of
the remaining fifty, several are small, but,
one with another, they may be estimated at
500; making, in all, somewhat more than
60,000 worshippers. And as it is found that
only about one-half the population can regu-
larly attend Divine ordinances, the whole
number in communion with the Synod may
be reckoned at from 116,000 to 120,000.
The Synod, consisting of all the ministers
and one lay elder, deputed from each congre-
gation, now meets in Edinburgh and Glasgow
alternately, on the first or second Tuesday of
May. It is divided into seven Presbyteries
—-viz. those of Edinburgh, Glasgow, St. Ni-
nians, Dysart, Perth, Dumfries, and Kelso.
The Relief Congregations in Newcastle,
Wooler, and Berwick-on-Twced, are within
the Synod. They have no separate estab-
lishments in Ireland or America; but mini-
sters of their denomination are readily re-
ceived into any of the Presbyterian bodies, in
Canada and the United States.
What has greatly tended to operate unfa—
vourably against this body may be found in
REL
RE].
681
the circumstances of their holding indiscri-
minate communion with the members of the
Established Church, admitting them to a
participation of the most solemn ordinances,
simply on the ground of their connexion with
the establishment, and without regard to their
religious knowledge or moral character, and
their having had no theological seminary of
their own, in which young aspirants for the
ministry might not only have secured to
them sound theological instruction, but also
have proper attention paid to their moral
habits and character. This latter inconveni-
ence has recently been removed by the ap-
pointment of an able and sound professor of
divinity to preside over and conduct theolo-
gical tuition. Adams’ Religious World; Smith’s
Historical Sketches of the Relief Church;
Edi-n1). Theol. Rev. Nov. 1830.
RELIGION is a Latin word, derived, accord-
ing to Cicero, from religere, “ to reconsider ;”
but according to Servius and most modern
grammarians, from religarc, “ to bind fast.”
If the Ciceronian etymology be the true one,
the word religion will denote the diligent
study of whatever pertains to the worship of
God. Accordingly, those who exhibited
zeal and earnestness in the service of God,
as the most important concern, were, there-
fore, called Ica'r’ tEoxml, religiosi; and their
conduct was called religz'o (the name of the
Deity being frequently annexed) (lei or rega
deum. The word religio, however, and espe-
cially the plural religiones, was most com-
monly used in reference to external worship,
rites, and ceremonies. According to the
other derivation, it denotes that obligation
which we feel on our minds from the relation
in which we stand to some superior power.
The word is sometimes used as synonymous
with sect; but, in a practical sense, it is
generally considered as the same with godli-
ness, or a life devoted to the worship and fear
of ,God. Dr. Doddridge thus defines it :--
“Religion consists in the resolution of the
will for God, and in a constant care to avoid
whatever we are persuaded he would disap-
prove, to despatch the work he has assigned
ignorance, and impiety.

and to one another. By revealed religion is
understood that discovery which he has made
to us of his mind and will in the Holy Scrip~
tures. As it respects natural religion, some
doubt whether, properly speaking, there can
be any such thing; since, through the fall,
reason is so depraved, that man without re-
velation is under the greatest darkness and
misery, as may be easily seen by considering
the history of those nations who are destitute
of it, and who are given up to barbarism,
ignorance, cruelty, and evils of every kind.
So far as this, however, may be observed,
that the light of nature can give us no proper
ideas of God, nor inform us what worship
will be acceptable to him. It does not tell us
how man became a fallen, sinful creature, as
he is, nor how he can be recovered. It af-
fords us no intelligence as to the immortality
of the soul, the resurrection of the body, and
a future state of happiness and misery. The
apostle, indeed, observes, that the Gentiles
have the law written on their hearts, and are
a law unto themselves; yet the greatest mo-
ralists among them were so blinded as to be
guilty of, and actually to countenance, the
greatest vices. Such a system, therefore, it
is supposed, can hardly be said to be reli-
gious, which leaves man in such uncertainty,
(See REVELATION.)
On the other side, it is observed, “ that,
though it is in the highest degree probable
that the parents of mankind received all their
theological knowledge by supernatural means,
it is yet obvious that some parts of that know-
ledge must have been capable of a proof
purely rational, otherwise not a single religi-
ous truth could have been conveyed through
the succeeding generations of the human race
but by the immediate inspiration of each in-
dividual. ‘We, indeed, admit many proposi-
tions as certainly true, upon the sole authority
of the Jewish and Christian Scriptures, and
we receive these Scriptures with gratitude, as
the lively oracles of God; but it is self-evi-
dent that we could not do either the one or
the other, were we not convinced by natural
means that God exists; that he is a being of
us in life, and to promote his glory in the | goodness, justice, and power; and that he in—
happiness of mankind.”
(See Gonmnnss.) i spired with divine wisdom the penmen of
The foundation of all religion rests on the these sacred volumes. Now, though it is very
belief of the existence of God. As we have, i
however, already considered the evidences of
the divine existence, they need not be enu~
merated again in this place; the reader will

possible that no man, or body of men, left to
themselves from infancy in a desert world,
would ever have made a theological disco-
very, yet, whatever propositions relating to
find them under the article EXISTENCE or w the being and attributes of the First Cause,
G01).
Religion has been divided into natural and
revealed. By ‘natural religion is meant that
knowledge, veneration, and love of God, and
the practice of those duties to him, our fellow- ‘
creatures, and ourselves, which are discover-
able by the right exercise of our rational
faculties, from considering the nature and
perfections of God, and our relation to him
i human reason, independent of written reve-
and duty of man, can be demonstrated by
lation, may be called natural theology, and are
of the utmost importance, as being to us the
first principles of all religion. Natural theo-
logy, in this sense of the word, is the founda-
tion of Christian revelation; for, without a
previous knowledge of it, we could have no
evidence that the Scriptures of the Old and
REL
2 REP
68
New Testaments are indeed the word of
God.”
The religions which exist in the world have
been ‘generally divided into four,——the Pagan,
the Jewish, the Mohammedan, and the Chris-
tian; to which articles the reader is referred.
The various duties of the Christian religion also
are stated in their different places. See also,
as connected with this article, the articles IN-
SPIRATION, REVELATION, and THEOLOGY, and
books there recommended.
RELIGIOUS, in a general sense, something
that relates to religion; and, in reference to
persons, that which indicates that they give
their attention to religion, and are influenced
by it, so as to difier from the world. The
term was introduced into the prayer for the
king, in the Book of Common Prayer, in the
reign of Charles II., for the purpose of throw-
ing a fresh stumbling-block in the way of the
Puritan ministers, who, it was well known,
would, on no account, prostitute the word,
and violate their consciences, by applying it
to a monarch of notoriously irreligious and
wicked habits. It has ever since been em-
ployed by clergymen of the Church of
England, irrespective of the character of the
king, or the injurious effects which such an
abuse of it must have on the people. It is
also used for a person engaged by solemn
vows to the monastic life; or a person shut
up in a monastery, to lead a life of devotion
and austerity under some rule or institution.
The male religious are called monks and
friars; the females, nuns and canonesscs.
RELLYANISTS, or RELLYAN UNIVERSAL-
ISTS, the followers of Mr. James Relly. He
first commenced his ministerial character in
connexion with Mr. Whitefield, and was re-
ceived with great popularity. Upon a change
of his views, he encountered reproach, and
was pronounced by many as an enemy to
godliness. He believed that Christ, as a
Mediator, was so united to mankind, that his
actions were theirs, his obedience and suffer-
ings theirs; and, consequently, that he has as
fully restored the whole human race to the
Divine favour, as if all had obeyed and suf-
fered in their own persons; and upon this
persuasion he- preached a finished salvation,
called by the apostle Jude, “The common
salvation.” Many of his followers are re-
moved to the world of spirits, but a branch
still survives, part of which met, till lately,
at the chapel in Windmill~street, Moorfields,
London, where there were different brethren
who spoke. They are not observers of ordi-
nances, such as water baptism and the sacra-
ment; professing to believe only in one bap-
tism, which they call an immersion of the
mind or conscience into truth by the teaching
of the Spirit of God ; and by the same Sptrlt
they are enabled to feed on Christ as the
bread of life, professing that in and with
Jesus they possess all things. They inculcate
and maintain good works for necessary pur-
poses; but contend that the principal and only
work which ought to be attended to, is the
doing real good without religious ostentation ;
that to relieve the miseries and distresses of
mankind according to our ability, is doing
more real good than the superstitious observ-
ance of religious ceremonies. In general they
appear to believe that there will be a resur-
rection to life, and a resurrection to condem-_
nation; that believers only will be among
the former, who as first-fruits, and kings and
priests, will have part in the first resurrection,
and shall reign with Christ in his kingdom of
the millennium; that unbelievers who are
after raised, must wait the manifestation of the
Saviour of the world, under that condemna-
tion of conscience which a mind in darkness
and wrath must necessarily feel ; that believ-
ers, called kings and priests, will be made the
medium of communicaiton to their condemned
brethren; and like Joseph to his brethren,
though he spoke roughly to them, in reality
overflowed with affection and tenderness;
that ultimately every knee shall bow, and
every tongue confess that in the Lord they
have righteousness and strength; and thus
every enemy shall be subdued to the kingdom
and glory of the Great Mediator. A Mr.
Murray, belonging to this society, emigrated
to America, and preached these sentiments
at Boston and elsewhere. Mr. Relly pub-
lished several works, the principal of which
were, “ Union,” “ The Trial of Spirits,”
“ Christian Liberty,” “One Baptism,” “ The
Salt of Sacrifice,” “Antichrist Resisted,”
“ Letters on Universal Salvation,” "‘ The
Cherubimical Mystery.”
_ REMEDIAL LAW. See LAW; and article
JUSTIFICATION.
REMONSTRANTS, a title given to the Armi-
nians, by reason of the remonstrance which,
in 1610, they made to the states of Holland
against the sentence of the Synod of Dort,
which condemned them as heretics. Episco-
pius and Grotius were at the head of the
Remonstrants, whose principles were first
openly patronised in England by Archbishop
Laud. In Holland, the Calvinists presented
an address in opposition to the remonstrance
of the Arminians, and called it a counter-
remonstrance. See ARMINIANS and Don't‘.
REMORSE, uneasiness occasioned by a con—
sciousness of guilt. When it is blended with
the fear of punishment, and rises to despair,-
it constitutes the supreme wretchedness of
the mind.
REPENTANCE signifies a reduction of the
mind from a rebellious and disaffected state
to that submission and thorough separation
from iniquity by which converted sinners are
distinguished. The Greelnuerawota properly
denotes an after-thought, or the soul recol-
lecting its own aetings; and that in such a
manner as to produce sorrow in the review,
REP
REP
683
and a desire of amendment. It is strictly a
change of mind, and includes the whole of
that alteration with respect to views, dISPOSl-
tions, and conduct, which is effected by the
power of the Gospel. Another word also 1s
used (peraushonai) which signifies anxlety or
uneasiness upon the consideration of what 1s
done. There are, however, various kinds of
repentance: as 1. A natural repentance, or
what is merely the effect of natural consclence.
2. A national repentance, such as the Jews in
Babylon were called unto ; to which temporal
blessings were promised, Ezek. xv1i1. 30. An external repentance, or an outward humi-
liation for sin, as in the case of Ahab. 4. hypocritical repentance, as represented in
Ephraim, Hos. vii. 16. 5. A legal repentance,
which is a mere work of the law, and the
efl‘ect of convictions of sin by it, which in
time wear off, and come to nothing. _6. An
evangelical repentance, which consists 1n co_n-
viction of sin ; accompanied by sorrow for _1t,-
confession of it; hatred to it; and renuncia-
tion of it. A legal and evangelical repentance
are distinguished thus : 1. A legal repentance
flows only from a sense of danger and fear of
wrath; but an evangelical repentance produces
a true mourning for sin, and an earnest desire
of deliverance from it. 2. A legal repentance
flows from unbelief, but evangelical is always
the fruit and consequence of a saving faith.
3. A legal repentance consists with an aver-
sion to God and to his holy law, but an evan-
gelical flows from love to both. A legal
repentance ordinarily flows from discourage'
ment and despondency, but evangelical from
encouraging hope. 5. A legal repentance 1s
temporary, but evangelical 1s the daily exer-
cise of the true Christian. 6. A legal repent-
ance does at most produce only a partial and
external reformation, but an evangelical is a
total change of heart'and life.
The author of true repentance is God, Acts
v. 31. The subjects of it are sinners, since
none but those who have sinned can repent.
The means of repentance is the word, and the
ministers of it : yet sometimes private consi-
deration, sanctified afflictions, conversatlon,
&c., have been the instruments of repentance.
The blessings connected with repentance are,
-pardon, peace, and everlasting life, Acts
xi. 18. The time of repentance is the pre-
sent life, Isaiah 1v. 6: Eccles._ix. 50. ‘The
evidences of repentance are, faith, humility,
prayer and obedience, Zech. x1i. _ 10. The
necessity of repentance appears evident from
the evil of sin; the misery 1t 1nvoives us in
here; the commands given us to repent 1_n
God’s word; the promises made to the ppm-
tent; and the absolute incapab1hty of_ enjoy-
ing God here or hereafter without it. See
Dichinson’s Letters, let. 9; Dr. Owen on 130th Psalm ; Gill’s Body of Divinity, article
Repentance; Rirlgley’s Body of Divinity, ques- _
tion 76; ‘Davies’ Sermons, vol. iii. ser. 44;
Case’s Sermons, ser. 4 ; Whitefield’s Sermons,-
Saurin’s Sermons, vol. iii. ser. 9; Robinson’s
Translation ; Scott’s Treatise on Repentance.
REPnEsEN'rERs. See MARROW-MEN.
REPROACH, the act of finding fault in op-
probrious terms, or attempting to expose to
infamy and disgrace. In whatever cause we
engage, however disinterested our motives,
however laudable our designs, reproach is
what we must expect. But it becomes us not
to retaliate, but to bear it patiently; and so
to live that every charge brought against us
be groundless. If we be reproached for
righteousness’ sake, we have no reason to be
ashamed nor to be afraid. All good men
have thus'sufi‘ered, Jesus Christ himself es-'
pecially. We have the greatest promises of
support. Besides, it has a tendency to hum~
ble us, detach us from the world, and excite
in us a desire for that state of blessedness
where all reproach shall be done away.
REPROBATION, the act of abandoning, or
state of being abandoned to eternal destruc-
tion, has been and is applied to that deeree or
resolve which God is supposed to have taken
from all eternity to punish sinners who shall
die in impenitence: in which sense it is op-
posed to election. But the word is never
used in this sense in Scripture, nor does the
Scripture teach any such doctrine as that of
a reprobatory deeree, how clearly soever it
refers us to the decree of election. See
ELECTION and PREDESTINATION.
REPRooF, blame or reprehension spoken to
a person’s face. It is distinguished from a
reprimand thus. He who reproves another,
points out his fault, and blames him. He
who reprimands, affects to punish, and mor-
tifies the offender. In giving reproof, the
following rules may be observed :—1. We
should not be forward in reproving our elders
or superiors, but rather to remonstrate and sup-
plicate for redress. What the ministers of
God do in this kind, they do by special com-
mission as those that must give an account, 1
Tim. v. 1 ; Heb. xiii. 17. 2. \Ve must not
reprove rashly: there should be proof before
reproof. 3. We should not reprove for slight
matters, for such faults or defects as proceed
from natural frailty, from inadvertency, or
mistake in matters of small consequence. 4.
We should never reprove unseasonably, as to
the time, the place, or the circumstances. 5.
We should reprove mildly and sweetly, in the
calmest manner, in the gentlest terms. 6. \Ve
should not affect to be reprehensive : perhaps
there is no one considered more troublesome
than he who delights in finding fault with
others. In receiving reproof, it may be ob-
served, 1. That we should not reject it merely
because it may come from those who are not
exactly on a level with ourselves. 2. “We
should consider whether the reproof given
be not actually deserved ; and that, if the re~
prover knew all, whether the reproof would
RES
RES
684
not be sharper than what it is. 3. Whether,
if taken humbly and patiently, it will not be
of great advantage to us. 4. That it is no-
thing but pride to suppose that we are never
to be the subjects of reproof, since it is human
to err.
RESCRIPTUS, CoDEx. This name is given
to ancient MSS., which, in the middle ages,
were used, after the original writing had
been in a great measure efi‘aced, for the co-
pying of other works, generally ecclesiastical
treatises. The Holy Scriptures themselves
have sometimes been efi‘aced by the monks,
to make way for homilies and legends. One
of the most ancient of our biblical MSS.,
marked C in the critical collections, is a
Coder rescriptus, or, as the Greeks term it,
paZ-impsest.
RESENTMENT, generally used in an ill
sense, implying a determination to return an
injury. Dr. Johnson observes, that resent-
ment is an union of sorrow with malignity;
a combination of a passion which all endea-
vour to avoid, with a passion which all con-
our to detest. The man who retires to medi-
tate mischief, and to exasperate his own
rage; whose thoughts are employed only on
means of distress and contrivances of ruin,
whose mind never pauses from the remem-
brance of his own sufferings, but to indulge
some hope of enjoying the calamities of
another, may justly be numbered among the
most miserable of human beings; among
those who are guilty; who have neither the
gladness of prosperity, nor the calm of inno-
cence. '
RESIGNATION, a submission without dis-
content to the will of God. The obligations
to this duty arise from, 1. The perfections of
God, Deut. xxxii. 4.-—2. The purposes of
God, Eph. i. 11.—3. The commands of God,
' Heb. xii. 9.—-4. The premises of God, 1 Pet.
v. 7.——5. Our own interest, Hos. ii. 14, 15.—
6. The prospect of eternal felicity, Heb. iv.
9. See articles AFFLICTION, DESPAIR, and
PATIENCE; Worthington on Resignation;
Grosvenor’s Mourner ,- Brooks’s Mute Chris-
tian ,- and books under AFFLICTION.
RESOLUTION, PIoUs, a determination to
break off or abstain from sin, and to live
godly. Some have bitterly exclaimed against
such resolutions, while others have made the
whole of their religion to consist in them.
To form them in dependence on the promised
aid of God’s Holy Spirit, must be virtuous;
to break them, sin. Peter was not to blame
for resolving to live and die with his Master ;
his fault lay in starting from his engagement.
It was a virtue in David to draw up a plan of
holy living, before he came to the throne, and
to resolve to realize it, Psa. ci. Indeed,
though the best may break their resolutions,
and fall very short of their designs: yet they
who never so much as resolve to do well, will
assuredly never do so.—-~Robinson, in Claude.
RnsoLU'rIoNEns, those who approved of
the answer given by the commissioners of
the general assembly of the church of Scot~
land, met at Perth in the time of Charles
II., to the question proposed to them by the
parliament, relative to what ‘persons were to
be admitted to rise in arms against Cromwell.
The resolution was that all persons capable
of bearing arms were to be admitted, except
those of bad character or obstinate enemies
to the covenant. It set the country in a flame.
Sermons were preached against it; pamphlets
were published, and meetings were held upon
the subject. Such as supported it were called
Resolutionists; while those who opposed it
were designated the Protesters, or Anti-reso-
lutionists. I
RESTITUTION, that act of justice by which
we restore to our neighbour whatever we
have unjustly deprived him of, Exod. xxii. 1 ;
Luke xix. 8.
Moralists observe respecting restitution,
1. That where it can be made in kind, or
the injury can he certainly valued, we are
to restore. the thing or the value. 2. We are
bound to restore the thing with the natural
increase of it, that is, to satisfy for the loss
sustained in the meantime, and the gain
hindered. 3. Where the thing cannot be
restored, and the value of it is not certain,
we are to give reasonable satisfaction, accord-
ing to a middle estimation. 4. We are, at
least, to give by‘way of restitution what the
law would give, for that is generally equal,
and in most cases rather favourable than ri-
gorous. 5. A man is not only bound to res-
titution for the injury he did, but for all that
directly follows from the injurious act. For
the first injury being wilful, we are supposed
to will all that which follows upon it. Ti!-
lotson’s Sermons, ser. 170, 171 ; C/n'llingworth’s
Works, ser. 7. _
RESTORATIONISTS, UNIVERSAL, a name
assumed by those in America, who hold the
tenet that all men will ultimately become
holy and happy. About the year 1818, one
Hosea Ballow breached the doctrines that all
retribution is confined to the present state of
existence; that the soul is mortal; and that,
at the resurrection all will be introduced into
a state of heavenly felicity. These views
were regarded as innovations upon the prin-
ciples of Universalism ; but as at last a ma-
jority of the universalist convention had
adopted them, nothing was left for those who
disapproved of them, but to separate, and
form themselves into a new body. This
took place, Aug. 17, 1831. They are not
numerous, and their societies are found prin-
cipally inMassachusetts.
REsURnEcTIoN, a rising again from the
.1 @tate of the dead; generally applied to the
‘iiesurrection of the last day. This doctrine
is argued, 1. From the resurrection of Christ,

1 Cor. xv.-——2. From the doctrines of grace,
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as union, election, redemption, Ste. —— 3.
From scripture testimonies, Matt. xxii. 23,
&c.; Job xix. 25, 27 ; Isaiah xxvi. 19; Phil.
ii. 20; 1 Cor. xv.; Dan. xii. 2; l Thess. iv.
14; Rev. xx. 13.—4. From the general judg-
ment, which of course requires it. As to
the nature of this resurrection, it will be, I.
General, Rev. xx. 12, 15 ;2 Cor. v. 10.—2. Of
the same body. It is true, indeed, that the
body has not always the same particles,
which are continually changing, but it has
always the same constituent parts, which
proves its identity; it is the same body that
is born that dies, and the same that dies shall
rise again; so that Mr. Locke’s objection to
the idea of the same body is a mere quibble.—
3. The resurrection will be at the command
of Christ, and by his power, John v. 28, 29.
-—-4. Perhaps as to the manner it will be suc-
cessive; the dead in Christ rising first, 1 Cor.
xv. 23 ; 1 Thess. iv. 16.
This doctrine is of great use and import-
ance. It is one of the first principles of
the doctrine of Christ; the whole Gospel
stands or falls with it. It serves to enlarge
our views of the divine perfections. It en-
courages our faith and trust in God under all
the difiiculties of life. It has a tendency
to regulate our affections and moderate our
desires after earthly things. It supports the
saints under the loss of near relations, and
enables them to rejoice in the glorious pros-
pect set before them. See Hody on the Resur-
rection; Pearson on the Creed ; Lime-street
,Leet, ser. 10; W’atts’s Ontology ,- Young’s Last
Day,- Loche on the Understanding, lee. ii. 0.
27 ; Warburton’s Legation of Moses, vol. p. 553, &c. ; Bishop Newton’s War/cs, vol. pp. 676, 683.
RESURRECTION or CHRIST. Few articles
are more important than this. It deserves
our particular attention, because it is the grand
hinge on which Christianity turns. Hence,
says the apostle, he was delivered for our
offences, and raised again for ourjustification.
Infidels, however, have disbelieved it, but
with what little reason we may easily see on
considering the subject. “ If the body of
Jesus Christ,” says Saurin, “ were not raised
from the dead, it must have been stolen away.
But this theft is incredible. Who committed
it? The enemies of Jesus Christ? Would
they have contributed to his glory by counte-
nancing a report of his resurrection? Would
his disciples? It is probable they would not,
and it is next to certain they could not.
How could they have undertaken to remove
the body? Frail and timorous creatures,
people who fied as soon as they saw him
taken into custody ; even Peter, the most
courageous, trembled at the voice of a servant
girl, and three times denied that he knew him.
Would people of this character have dared‘ to
‘resist the authority of the governor? i Would
theyhave undertaken to oppose the determina-
tion of the Sanhedrim, to force a guard, and to
! elude, or overcome soldiers armed and aware
? of danger? If Jesus Christ was not risen
again (I speak the language of unbelievers)
he had deceived his disciples with vain hopes
of his resurrection. How came the disciples
not to discover the imposture? Would they
have hazarded themselves by undertaking an
enterprise so perilous in favour of a man
who had so cruelly imposed on their credu-
lity P But were we to grant that they formed
the design of removing the body, how could
they have executed it? How could soldiers
armed, and on guard, sufl‘er themselves to be
over-reached by a few timorous people?
Either (says St. Augustine) they were asleep
or awake; if they were awake, why should
they suffer the body to be taken away? If
asleep, how could they know that the disci-
ples took it away P How dare they then de—
pose that it was stolen?”
The testimony of the apostles furnishes us
with arguments, and there are eight consi-
derations which give the evidence sufiicient
weight. 1. The nature of these witnesses.
They were not men of power, riches, elo-
quence, credit to impose upon the world ; they
were poor and mean. 2. The number of these
witnesses. See 1 Cor. xv.; Luke xxiv. 34;
Mark xvi. 14; Matt. xxviii. 10. It is not
likely that a collusion should have been held
among so many to support a lie, which would
be of no utility to them. 3. The facts them-
selves which they avow; not suppositions,
distant events, or events related by others,
but real facts which they saw with their own
eyes, 1 John i. 4. The agreement of their
evidence; they all deposed the same thing.
5. Observe the tribunals before which they
gave evidence: Jews and heathens, philoso-
phers and rabbins, courtiers and lawyers. If
they had been impostors, the fraud certainly
would have been discovered. 6. The place in
which they bore their testimony. Not at a
distance, where they might not easily have
been detected, if false, but at Jerusalem, in
the synagogues, in the pretorium. 7. The
time of this testimony; not years after, but
three days after, they declared he was risen:
yea, before the rage of the Jews was quelled,
while Calvary was yet dyed with the blood
they had spilt. If it had been a fraud, it is
not likely they would have come forward in
such broad day-light, amidst so much oppo-
sition. 8. Lastly, the motives which induced
them to publish the resurrection ; not to gain
fame, riches, glory, profit; no, they exposed
themselves to suffering and death, and pro-
claimed the truth from conviction of its im-
portance and certainty.
“ Collect,” says Saurin, “ all these proofs
together; consider them in one point of view,
and see how many extravagant suppositions
must be advanced if the resurrection of our
Saviour be denied. It must be supposed that

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guards, who had been particularly cautioned { lowed ground which religion, in every age
by their ofiieers, sat down to sleep ; and that,
however, they deserved credit when they said ,
It must 5
be supposed that men, who had been imposed ’
the body of Jesus Christ was stolen.
on in the most odious and cruel manner in
the world, hazarded their dearest enjoyments
for the glory of an impostor. It must be sup-
posed that ignorant and illiterate men, who
had neither reputation, fortune, nor elo-
quence, possessed the art of fascinating the
eyes of all the church. It must be supposed
either that five hundred persons were all de-
prived of their senses at a time, or that they
were all deceived in the plainest matters of
fact; or that this multitude of false witnesses
had found out the secret of never contradict-
ing themselves or one another, and of being
always uniform in their testimony. It must
be supposed that the most expert courts of
judieature could not find out a shadow of con-
tradiction in a palpable imposture. It must
be supposed that the apostles, sensible men in
other cases, chose precisely those places and
those times “which were most unfavourable
to their views. It must be supposed that
millions madly suffered imprisonments, tor-
tures, and crucifixions to spread an illusion.
It must be supposed that ten thousand mira-
cles were wrought in favour of falsehood, or
all these facts must be denied; and then it
must be supposed that the apostles were
idiots; that the enemies of Christianity were
idiots; and that all the primitive Christians
were idiots.”
The doctrine of the resurrection of Christ
affords us a variety of useful instructions.
Here we see evidence of divine power; pro-
phecy accomplished; the character of Jesus
established; his work finished; and a future
state proved. It is a ground of faith, the
basis of hope, a source of consolation, and a
stimulus to obedience. See Saurin’s Sermons,
vol. ii. ser. 8, Robinson’s Translation; Ditton
and West on the Resurrection; Cook’s Illustra-
tion of the general evidence establishing the
reality of Christ’s Resurrection, p. 323, Ecc.
Rev. vol. iv., but especially a small but ad-
mirable Essay on the Resurrection of Christ,
by Mr. Dore.
RETIREMENT, the state of a person who
quits a public station in order to be alone.
Retirement is of great advantage to awise
man. To him “ the hour of solitude is the
hour of meditation. He communes with his
own heart. He reviews the actions of his
past life. He corrects what is amiss. He
rejoices in what is right; and, wiser by ex-
perience, lays the plan of his future life. The
great and the noble, the wise and the learned, ,
the pious and the good, have been lovers of '
On this field the patriot‘
serious retirement.
forms his schemes, the philosopher pursues
his discoveries, the saint improves himself ‘in
wisdom and goodness. Solitude is- the hal-
_ has adopted as its'own.
‘desirable.
, SOD.
There her sacred
inspiration is felt, and her holy mysteries
elevate the soul; there devotion lifts up the
voice; there falls the tear of contrition ; there
the heart pours itself forth before him who
made, and him who redeemed it. Apart
from men, we live with nature, and converse
with God.” Logan’s Sermons, vol. ii. ser. 2.
Blair’s Sermons, vol. i. ser. 9 ; Bates’s Rural
Philosophz ; Brewster’s Recluse; Zimmerman
on Solitude.
REVELATION,'the act of revealing or mak-
ing a thing public that was before unknown ;
it is also used for the discoveries made by
God to his prophets, and by them to the
world; and more particularly for the books
of the Old and New Testament. A revelation
is, in the first place, possible. God may, for
any thing we can certainly tell, think proper
to make some discovery to his creatures
which they knew not before. As he is a
Being of infinite power, we maybe assured
he cannot be at a loss for means to communi-
cate his will, and that in such a manner as
will sufliciently mark it as his own.. 2. It is
For whatever the light of nature
could do for man before reason was depraved,
it is evident that it has done little for man
since. Though reason be necessary to exa-
mine the authority of divine revelation, yet,
in the present state, it is incapable of giving
us proper discoveries of God, the way of sal-
vation, or of bringing us into a state of com-
munion with God. It therefore follows, 3.
That it is necessary. Without it we can attain
to no certain knowledge of God, of Christ, of
the- Holy Ghost, of pardon, of justification,
of sanctification, of happiness, of a future
state of rewards and punishments. 4. No re-
velation, as Mr. Brown observes, relative to
the redemption of mankind, could answer its
respective ends, unless it were sufiiciently
marked with internal and external evidences.
That the Bible hath internal evidence, is evi-
dent from the ideas it gives us of God’s per-
fections, of the law of nature, of redemption,
of the state of man, &c. As to its external
evidence, it is easily seen by the characters
of the men who composed it, the miracles
wrought, its success, the fulfilment of its pre-
dictions, &c. See SCRIPTURE. 5. The con-
tents of revelation are agreeable to reason.
It is true there are some things above the
reach of reason; but a revelation containing
such things is no contradiction, as long as it
is not against reason; for if every thing be
rejected which cannot be exactly compre-
hended, we must become unbelievers at once
of almost every thing around us. The doc-
trines, the institutions, the threatenings, the
‘precepts, the promises of the Bible, are every
way reasonable. The matter, form, and ex-
hibition of revelation are consonant with rea-
6. The revelation contained in our
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Bible is perfectly credible. It is an address
to the reason, judgment, and affections of
men. The Old Testament abounds with the
finest specimens of history, sublimity, and in-
teresting scenes of Providence. The facts of
the New Testament are supported by un-
doubted evidence from enemies and friends.
The attestations to the early existence of
Christianity are numerous from Ignatius,
Polycarp, Irenaeus, Justin Martyr, and Tatian,
who were Christians; and by Tacitus, Sue-
tonius, Serenus, Pliny, &c. who were heathens.
See CHRISTIANITY. 7. The revelations con-
tained in our Bible are divinely inspired.
The matter, the manner, the scope, the pre-
dictions, miracles, preservation, 8cc. &c. all
prove this. See INSPIRATION. 8. Revelation
is intended for universal benefit. It is a com-
mon objection to it, that hitherto it has been
confined to few, and therefore could not come
from God, who is so benevolent; but this
mode of arguing will equally hold good
against the permission of sin, the inequalities
of providence, the dreadful evils and miseries
of mankind which God could have prevented.
It must be further observed, that none de-
serve a revelation; that men have despised
and abused the early revelations he gave to
his people. This revelation, we have reason
to believe, shall be made known to mankind.
Already it is spreading its genial influence.
In the cold regions of the north, in the burn-
ing regions of the south, the Bible begins to
be known; and from the predictions it con-
tains we believe the glorious sun of revela-
tion shall shine and illuminate the whole
globe. 9. The effects of revelation which have
already taken place in the world have been
astonishing. In proportion as the Bible has
been known, arts and sciences have been cul-
tivated, peace and liberty have been difl’used,
civil and moral obligations have been attended
to. Nations have emerged from ignorance
and barbarity, whole communities have been
morally reformed, unnatural practices abo-
lished, and wise laws instituted. Its spiritual
effects have been wonderful. Kings and pea-
sants, conquerors and philosophers, the wise
and the ignorant, the rich and the poor, have
been brought to the foot of the cross; yea,
millions have been enlightened, improved, re—
formed, and made happy by its influences.
Let any one deny this, and he must be an
hardened, ignorant infidel, indeed. Great is
the truth and must prevail. See Dr. Leland’s
Necessity of Revelation. “ This work,” says
Mr. Ryland, “ has had no answer, and I am
persuaded it never will meet with a solid con-
futation.” Halyburton against the Deists; Le-
land’s View of Det'stical lVriters; Brown’s
Compendium of Natural and Revealed Reli-
give; Stilliflgfieet’s Origines Sacra: is, per-
haps, one of the ablest defences of revealed
religion ever written. Delany’s- Revelation
examined with Camlour; Arch. Campbell on
Revelation,- Ellz's on Divine Things; Gale’s
Court of the Gentiles.
REVELATION, THE Boox or, the last book
in the sacred canon, frequently quoted or
referred to by its Greek name, Apocalypse
(c’mrotcakvzl/tg), which signifies a discovery or
revelation. Its contents were communicated
to John during his exile on Patmos, towards
the end of the reign of Domitian. They em-
brace two distinct ranges of subject: First,
“ the things which then were,” i. 19, or the
state of Christian affairs as then existing in
the_ adjacent seven Asiatic churches; and,
secondly, “the things which should be here-
after,” or the constitution and fates of the
church through its several periods of propa-
gation, corruption, reformation, and triumph,
from its commencement to its consummation
in glory.
Until the fourth century this book was
almost universally received. It is quoted or
referred to as divinely inspired, or the writing
of the apostle John, by Justin Martyr, Ire-
naeus, Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian,
Hippolytus, Origen, Dionysius, Cyprian, V ic-
torinus, and others who lived during the three
first centuries ; and appears first to have been
called in question by some who could not ex-
plain its mysteries, and who were apprehen-
sive of the encouragement which it might
give to the Chiliasts. But, even at that very
time, it was received without scruple by Atha-
nasius, Jerome, Augustine, and other eminent
fathers; and, indeed, few books of the New
Testament have more complete evidence of
canonical authority than the book of Revela-
tion. Besides, the internal evidence is strongly
in favour of its divine origin. There is a
sublimity, purity, and consistency in it, which
could not have proceeded from an impostor.
Add to which, the fulfilment of many of its
predictions is so remarkable, that to many
learned men who have attended to this subject,
the evidence from this source alone is demon-
strative of its divine claims. Alexander on
tlze Canon.
REVENGE means the return of injury for
injury, or the infliction of pain on another in
consequence of an injury received from him,
farther than the just ends of reparation or
punishment require. Revenge difi‘ers mate—
rially from resentment, which rises in the
mind immediately on being injured; but re-
venge is a. cool and deliberate wickedness,
and is often executed years after the offence
is given. By some it is considered as a per-
version of anger. Anger, it is said, is a pas-
sion given to man for wise and proper pur-
poses, but revenge is the corruption of anger;
is unnatural, and therefore ought to be sup-
pressed. It is observable that the proper
object of anger is vice; but the object in
general of revenge is man. It transfers the
hatred due to the vice, to the man to whom it
is not due. It is forbidden by the Scriptures,
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and is unbecoming the character and spirit
of a peaceful follower of Jesus Christ. See
ANGER.
REVERENCE, awful regard; an act of
obeisance; a submissive and humble de-
portment. See LoRD’s NAME TAKEN IN
VAIN.
REVEREND, venerable; deserving awe and
respect. It is a title of respect given to ec-
clesiastics. The religious abroad are called
' reverend fathers; and abbesses, prioresses,
&c., reverend mothers. In England, bishops
are right reverend, and. archbishops most
reverend; private clergymen reverend. In
France, before the revolution, their bishops,
archbishops, and abbots, were all alike mos‘.
reverend. In Scotland, the clergy, individual-
ly, are reverend; a synod is very reverend;
and the general assembly is venerable. The
Dissenters, also, in England have the title of
reverend ; though some of them suppose the
term implies too much to be given to a mere
creature, and that of God only it may be said
with propriety, “holy and reverend is his
name." Psal. cxi. 4.
RIDLEY (NIcHoLAs), an eminent English
prelate and martyr, descended from an an-
cient family in Northumberland, was born,
early in the sixteenth century, at Wilmonts-
wick in that county. About 1518, he was
entered of Pembroke Hall, Cambridge; and
was taught Greek by Robert Crook, who had
begun a course of that language at Cambridge.
To his knowledge of the learned languages,
he added that of philosophy and theology.
For further improvement in the latter, he
went to the Sorbonne, at Paris, and from
thence to Louvaine; continuing on the conti-
nent till 1529. Returning to Cambridge, he
applied with more than ordinary industry to
the study of the Scriptures. For this pur-
pose he used to walk in the orchard at Pem-
broke Hall, and there commit to memory
almost all the epistles in Greek; which walk
is still called Ridley’s walk. In 1533, he was
chosen senior proctor of the university; and,
while in that oflice, the important point of
the pope’s supremacy was examined, on the
authority of Scripture. The decision of the
university was, that “ the bishop of Rome had
no more authority and jurisdiction derived to
him from God in this kingdom of England,
than any other foreign bishop :” which was
signed by the vice-chancellor, and by Nicholas
Ridley and Richard Wilkes, proctors.‘ In
1538, Ridley was collated to the vicarage of
Herne, in Kent. In 1539, when the act of
the Six Articles was passed, Mr. Ridley bore
his testimony against it. Having received a
prebend in the church of Canterbury,_ he
preached in that city with so much zeal against
the abuses of popery, as to provoke the other
prebendaries and preachers of what was called
the old learning, to exhibit articles against
him at the archbishop’s visitation in 1541, for
preaching contrary to the statute of the Six
Articles. The attempt, however, completely
failed. Gardiner, bishop of Winchester, next
endeavoured to entrap him; and articles were
exhibited against him before the justices of
the peace, in Kent, and afterwards before the
king in council, which charged him with
preaching against auricular confession, and
with directing the Te Deum to be sung in
English ; but the accusation being referred to
Cranmer by the king, that prelate imme-
diately crushed it, much to the mortification
of Dr. Ridley’s enemies. He had been
hitherto a believer in transubstantiation, in-
fluenced by the decrees of popes and councils,
the rhetorical expressions of the fathers, and
the letter of Scripture; but it is supposed that
a perusal of the controversy between Luther
and the Zuinglians, and the writings of Ra-
tramnus or Bertram, which had fallen into his
hands, induced him to examine more closely
into the Scriptures and opinions of the fathers ;
the result of which was a conviction that this
doctrine had no foundation. Cranmer, also,
to whom he communicated his discoveries,
joined with him in the same opinion ; as also
did Latimer.
King Edward ascended the throne in 1547 ;
and Dr. Ridley, in his sermons before the
king, as well as on other occasions, exposed,
with boldness and eloquence, the errors of
popery. In the same year he was promoted
to the bishopric of Rochester. In 1548,
Bishop Ridley appears to have been employed
in compiling the Common Prayer, in con-
junction with Archbishop Cranmer and others;
and in 1549, he was put into a commission,
together with Cranmer, and several others,
to search after all anabaptists, heretics, and
contemners of the Common Prayer. This
produced the execution of Bocher and Paris,
of which Mr. Gilpin gives the following
account :-—-—“ John Bocher and George Paris
were accused, though at different times, one
for denying the humanity of Christ; the
other for denying his Divinity. They were
both tried, and condemned to the stake; and
the archbishop not only consented to these
acts of blood, but persuaded the aversion of
the young king into a compliance, ‘ Your
majesty must distinguish (said he, informing
his royal pupil’s conscience) between common
opinions, and such as are the essential articles
of faith. These latter we must on no account
suffer to be opposed.’ ” What Christian can
read this without regret? In 1549, Bonner,
bishop of London, was deprived, and Ridley,
who was one of the commissioners before
whom his cause was determined, was thought
the most proper person to fill that important
see; and he was accordingly installed in 1550.
‘Bishop Ridley filled his high station with
great dignity, and was a pattern of piety,
temperance, and regularity to all around him.
To promote more generally a reformation in
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the doctrine of the church, the council, this
year, appointed Cranmer and Ridley to pre-
pare a book of articles of faith. With this
view they drew up forty-two articles, and
sent copies of them to other bishops and
learned divines, for their corrections and
amendments: after which the archbishop re-
viewed them a second time, and then pre-
sented them to the council,where they received
the royal sanction, and were published by the
king’s authority. In 1552, he visited the
Princess Mary. She thanked him for his
civility, and entering into conversation with
him, the bishop offered to preach before her
on the following Sunday; but the princess,
after some hesitation, told him that the doors
of the parish church should be open to him,
but that neither herself, nor any of her ser-
vants, should hear him. After some alterca-
tion, the princess parted from the bishop with
these words : “ My Lord, for your civility in
coming to see me, I thank you ; but for your
offering to preach before me, I thank you not
a whit.” When the parliament assembled in
1553, the king, who was languishing under
the decline which soon put an end to his life,
ordered the two houses to attend him at
Whitehall, where Bishop Ridley preached
before him, recommending, with such energy,
the duties of beneficence and charity, that his
majesty sent for him, to inquire how he could
best put those duties in practice ; and the
result of this sermon and conference was, a
determination in the king to found, or incor-
porate anew, and endow with ample revenue,
those noble institutions—Christ’s, Bartholo-
mew’s, and St. Thomas’s hospitals.
Upon the death of Edward VI., Ridley was
earnest in attempting to set Lady Jane Grey
on the throne ; but when the design had mis-
carried, he went to Mary to do her homage,
and submit himself to her clemency. His
reception was such as he might have expected :
he was immediately committed to the Tower.
It has been thought he might have recovered
the queen’s favour, if he would have brought
the weight of his learning and authority to
countenance her proceedings in religion.
He was, however, too honest to act against
his conviction; and after eight months’ im-
prisonment in the Tower was conveyed from
thence to Oxford, where, on the 1st of Octo-
ber, 1555, he was condemned to death for
heresy.
Ridley now prepared himself for his ap-
proaching death; which a good conscience
made him look upon as a matter of joy and
triumph. He called it his marriage; and, in
the evening preceding his execution, behaved
himself with as much cheerfulness as ever.
His brother offered to watch all night with
him, but he would not suffer him, saying,
“ that he minded (God willing) to go to bed,
and to sleep as quietly that night as ever he
did in his life.” When Ridley arrived at the
place of execution, he earnestly lifted up his
hands and eyes to heaven, till he saw, shortly
after, Latimer descending to the spot; upon
which, with a most cheerful countenance, he
ran to him, embraced and kissed him, and
comforted him, saying, “Be of good heart,
brother, for God will either assuage the fury
of the flame, or else strengthen us to abide it.”
Then, moving to the stake, he kneeled down
and prayed earnestly, as did Latimer likewise.
Then rising, they conferred together a little
while. Dr. Smith, who had recanted in King
Edward’s time, was appointed to preach before
them. He chose for his text these words,—
“ Though I give my body to be burned, and
have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.”
When the sermBh was finished, Ridley asked
Latimer whether he would first answer it:
but Latimer desiring Ridley to begin, both
of them kneeling down, Ridley, addressing
himself to the Lord Williams, Dr. Marshall,
the vice-chancellor, and other commissioners
appointed for that purpose, said, “ I beseech
you, my lord, even for Christ’s sake, that I
may speak but two or three words.” And
while Lord Williams was inclining his head
to ask the mayor and vice-chancellor whether
he might permit him to speak, the vice-chan-
cellor and bailiffs ran up hastily to him, and
with their hands stopping his mouth, said,—
“Master Ridley, if you will revoke your
erroneous opinions, and recant the same, you
shall not only have liberty to do so, but also
the benefit of a subject ;-—that is, your life.”
—“ Not otherwise?” said he. “ No,” re-
turned Dr. Marshall; “ therefore, if you will
not do so, then there is no remedy, but you
must suffer for your deserts.” “Well,” re—
plied the noble martyr, “ so long as the breath
is in my body, I will never deny my Lord
Christ, and his‘ known truth. God’s will be
done in me.” After this speech, he rose up
and said with a loud voice,—“ Well, then, I
commit my cause to Almighty God, who
will judge all indifi‘erently.” Ridley, being
stripped to his shirt, stood at the stake, and
prayed: “O Heavenly Father, I give unto
thee most hearty thanks for that thou hast
called me to be a professor of thee, even unto
death. I beseech thee, Lord God, take
mercy upon the realm of England, and deliver
the same from all her enemies.” Then the
smith took an iron chain, and brought it
round the two martyrs, and, as he was driving
in the staple, Dr. Ridley shook the chain,
and said to the smith, “ Good fellow, knock
it in hard, for the flesh will have its course.”
His brother now brought him some gun-
powder in a bag, and would have tied it about
his neck. The bishop asked what it was,
and, being informed, said, " I take it to be
sent of God, therefore I will receive it "as
sent of him. And have you any for my
brother?” meaning Latimer. Being an-
swered in the aflirmative, he bade him give it
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R ,0 G
690
to him betime, lest it- should be too late,
WhlCh was accordingly done. He then be-
sought the interest of Lord Williams for se-,
veral poor men, and for his sister, whom he 1
feared would be injured by his death. A
fagot, ready kindled, was now laid at Rid-
ley’s feet; to whom Latimer said,--“ Be of
good comfort, Master Ridley, and play the
man. We shall this day light such a candle,
by God’s grace, in England, as I trust shall
never be put out.” The fire being given to
them, when Ridley saw it flaming up towards
him, he cried, with an exceeding loud voice,
“Into thy hands, 0 Lord, I commend my
spirit. OLord, receive my spirit.” Latimer,
on the other side, as earnestly praying, “0
Father of Heaven, receive my soul ;” and ap-
peared to embrace the flames. After he had
stroked his face with his hand, he soon died,
apparently with little or no pain. But the
fire on the other side was so ill managed, that
Ridley’s lower parts were consumed long
before he died—which he did, calling upon
the Lord to have mercy upon him He suf-
fered on the 15th of October, 1555. Vide Dr.
Gloster Ridley’s Life of Bishop Ridley; also
Wordsworth’s Eccl. Biog.
RIGHT DIVINE, the sanction supposed to
be found for certain ecclesiastical forms or
arrangements in the word of God. Hence
we read of the divine rights of Episcopacy,
Presbytery, Tithes, &c. When most of the
texts to which the appeal jure divino has been ‘
made, are examined by the light of enlight-
ened criticism, and in accordance with con-
sistent principles of interpretation, it will be
found, that they could never have been made
to speak the language which has been forced
upon them, had it not been for the blindness
of party prejudice, or the unblushing effron-
tery of interested party zeal. Not unfre-
quently they afford countenance to none of the
parties who make the appeal, but authorita-
tively inculcate a doctrine, or establish a
practice of an altogether different nature from
the matters in dispute.
RIeHTEoUsNEss, justice, holiness. The
righteousness of God is the absolute and‘
essential perfection of his nature; sometimes
it is put for his justice. ' The righteousness
of Christ denotes not only his absolute per-
fection, but is taken for his perfect obedience
to the law, and suffering the penalty thereof
in our stead. The righteousness of the law
is that obedience which the law requires.
The righteousness'of faith is the righteous-
ness of Christ as received by faith. The
saints have a threefold righteousness. 1. The
‘righteousness of their persons, as in Christ,
his merit being imputed to them, and they
accepted on the account thereof. 2 Cor. v. 21 ;
Eph. v. 27; Isaiah xlv. 24. 2. The righte-
ousness of their principles being "derived
from, and formed according to, the rule of
right, Ps. cxix. ll. 3. The righteousness of
their lives,’ produced by the sanctifying in-
fluence of the H01 Spirit, without which no
man shall see the 0rd, Heb. xiii. 24; 1 Cor.
vi. 11. See IMPUTATION, JUSTIFICATION,
SANCTIFICATION; Dichinson’s Letters, let. l2;
Witherspoon’s Essay on Imputed Righteous-
ness; Hervey’s Theron and Aspasio‘; Dr.
Owen on Justification; Watts’s Works, vol. iii.
p. 532, oct. ed.; Jenhs ‘on Submission to the
Righteousness of God.
RITE, a solemn act of religion; an external
ceremony. (See CEREMONY.) For the rites
of the Jews, see Lowman’s Hebrew Ritual;
Spencer cle Heb. Leg.; Durell on the Mosaic
Institution; Bishop Law’s Theory of Religion ,-
p. 89, 6th ed.; Godwin’s Moses and Aaron-,-
Edwards’s Survey of all Religions, vol. i. ch.
9 ; Jennings’s Jewish Antiquities.
RITUAL, a book directing the order and
manner to be observed in performing divine
service in a particular church, diocese, or the '
like.
RoBINsoN, JOHN, minister of thev inde-
pendent church in Holland, to which the
first settlers of New England belonged, was
born in England in 1575, and educated at
Cambridge. In 1602, he became pastor of a
dissenting congregation in the north of Eng-
land, and removed with them to Leyden in
Holland in 1610. It was his intention to
follow his congregation to the New World,
but his death in 1625 prevented. He was
a man of genius, quick penetration, ready
wit, and of great modesty, integrity, anl
candour. His classical learning and acute-
ness in disputation were acknowledged by
his opponents. In his farewell address to
the emigrants, he says, “ If God reveal any
thing to you by any other instrument of his,
be as ready to receive it, as ever you were to
receive any truth by my ministry; for I am
verily persuaded, I am very confident, that
the Lord has more truth yet to break out of
his holy word. For my part, I cannot sufli--
ciently bewail the condition of the reformed
churches, who are come to a period in reli-
gion, and will go at present’ no further than
the instruments of their reformation. The
Lutherans cannot be drawn to go beyond
what Luther saw; whatever part of his will
our good God has revealed to Calvin, they
will rather die than embrace it. And the
Calvinists, you see, stick fast where they
were left by that great man of God, who yet
saw not all things.” He published a “De-
fence of the Brownists ;” “ J ustification of
the Separation from the Church of England ;”
“People’s Plea for the exercise of Prophe-
sying,” 1618; “Essays Moral and Divine,”
1628.
ROGEREENS, so called from John Rogers,
their chief leader. They appeared in New
England about 1677. The principal- distin-
guishmg tenet of this denomination was, that
worship performed the first day of the week
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691
was a species of idolatry which they ought
to oppose. In consequence of this, they used
a variety of measures to disturb those who
were assembled for public worship on the
Lord’s day. '
ROMAINE, WILLIAM, was born on the 25th
of September, 1714, at Hartlepool, in the
county of Durham. His father was a man
of exemplary piety, though not of great
wealth; and was one of the refugees upon
the revocation of the edict of Nantes. He
educated his son in those principles which
were, through life, his shield and buck-
ler, and which he would not have exchang-
ed, could the world have been laid at his
feet. His parents, discovering his early
genius, placed him at the celebrated gram-
mar—school founded by Bernard Gilpin.
There he gained '-much sound learning and
religious knowledge, and there the foundation
was laid of his future fame. In the year
1730, his father having previously determined
him to become a minister of the Church of
England, he was sent to Oxford, and entered
at Hertford College, and from thence he was
removed to Christ Church College. In Oc-
tober, 1737, he took his degree of master of
arts, after having been ordained a deacon,
at Hereford, by Dr. Henry Egerton. He
then became curate of Loe Trenchard, in
Devonshire. In 1739 his great love of truth
roused him publicly to attack Dr. Warburton,
on his “ Divine Legation of Moses.” In the
same year he was ordained priest by Bishop
Hoadley ; and became curate to a clergyman
of the name of Edwards, who had in his
possession the two livings of Banstead and
Horton, both in Middlesex. Owing to the
intimacy and. friendship subsisting between
Mr. Edwards and Mr. Romaine, he became
acquainted with Sir Daniel Lambert, and
was appointed his chaplain. Through 1118
medium he was appointed to preach at St.
Paul’s Cathedral; and at that time, (though
only twenty-seven years of -age,) so great
was his zeal for religion and the success of
Christianity, that he delivered a sermon on
Rom. 14, 15, before the lord mayor and
the court of aldermen. This sermon dis-
played close thinking, and sound reasoning.
Shortly after that event it was 1115 W181]. and
determination, owing to many unpleasmg
circumstances, to leave London for his native
place; but this he was not permitted to do;
for, as he was about to embark, a gentleman
entered into conversation with him, and the
result was, that his friend directed his atten-
tion to the lectureship of St. George’s, in B0-
tolph-lane, and St. Botolph’s, Billingsgate,
which were then vacant. Mr. Romaine con-
sented to remain in the metropolis, and to
become a candidate; and was, in‘ the year
1748-, chosen lecturer‘ of St. Botolph’s. In
the following year, he was chosen lecturer
of St. Dunstan’s-in-the-West, and at St.
Gcorge’s, Hanover-square, to which he was
appointed morning preacher. His faithful-
ness, united to his eloquence, induced
many to attend to his ministry, and in a
short time his congregations were immense.
His success created violent clamours and
opposition against him. The rector refused
him the use of the pulpit, and the affair
was brought into the Court of King’s
Bench. The decision deprived him of one
of his lectureships, but confirmed him in
the other, and endowed it with a salary of
eighteen pounds a year. Here his labour of
love was again interrupted by the church-
wardens, who refused to open the doors of
the church till seven o’clock, and to light it
when required; so that he was compelled to
preach by the light of one candle, till by the
interference of Dr. Terrick, the then bishop
of London, with the rector and churchwar-
dens, he was allowed to continue quietly in
his ministerial labours for six years; when
he became curate and morning preacher at
St. Olave’s. In February, 1755, he was mar-
ried to Miss Price; and, in the following
year, accepted the rectory of St. Andrew
\Vardrobe, and St. Anne’s Blackfriars, both
of which he held till his death. The bene—
volence of Mr. Romaine was very extensive.
The Royal Humane Society, and the Bible
Society for distributing Bibles among his
Majesty’s forces, both by sea and land, de-
rived great‘benefit from his exertions.
His end was peaceful and serene, and he
could reflect on the moment of his dissolution
with that happy composure which the good
man alone can feel. The last sermon he
preached was at St. Dunstan’s; he complained
of indisposition after the services, and gra-
dually became weaker. On the 26th of June,
1795, he left town for change of air, and felt
revived for a short time, which was an alter-
ation he was not at all anxious to experience.
On the sabbath day, July 28, 1795, he ex-
pired, and was interred in the rectory vault
of Blackfriars Church.
The publications of this venerable man
were numerous and valuable. * The principal
among them consisted of “ A Hebrew Con-
cordance and Lexicon of Marius de Calasio,”
four vols. folio; “ Nine Sermons on the 107th
Psalm~;” “ A Discourse on the Self-existence
of Jesus Christ ;” “ The Life of Faith ;”
“ The Scriptural Doctrine of the Lord‘s Sup-
per, briefly stated ;” “ The Walk of Faith,”
2 vols.; “ The Triumph of Faith,” &c. &c.
Vide Haweis’s Ltfe of M‘. Romaine,- also his
Life and W'or/cs ; Jones’s Christ. Biog.
ROMISH CHURCH. See CHURCH, and Po-
PERY.
ROSARY, a bunch or string of beads on
which the Roman Catholics count their
prayers.
ROSICRUCIANS, a name assumed by a sect
or cabal‘ of Hermetical philosophers, who
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SAB
692
arose, as it has been said, or at least became
first taken notice of, in Germany, in the be-
ginning of the fourteenth century. They
bound themselves together by a solemn secret,
which they all swore inviolably to preserve;
and obliged themselves, at their admission
into the order, to a strict observance of cer-
tain established rules. They pretended to
know all sciences, and chiefly medicine;
whereof they published themselves the res-
torers. They pretended to be masters of
abundance of important secrets, and, among
others, that of the philosopher’s stone; all
which they afiirmed to have received by tra—
dition from the ancient Egyptians, Chaldeans,
the Magi, and Gymnosophists. They have
been distinguished by several names, accom-
modated to the several branches of their doc-
trine. Because they pretend to protract the
period of human life by means of certain nos-
trums, and even to restore youth, they were
called Immortales; as they pretended to know
all things, they have been called Illuminati,-
and, because they have made no appearance
for several years, unless the sect of Illumi-
nated which lately started up on the continent
derives its origin from them, they have been
called the Invisible Brothers. Their society
is frequently signed by the letters F. R. C.,
which some among them interpret Fratres
Ron's Cocti ,- it being pretended that the
matter of the philosopher’s stone is dew con-
cocted, exalted, &c.
ROUNDHEADS, a name of reproach coined
about the time of the civil wars, and applied
to such as refused to join in the profane prac-
tices of their neighbours, set up the worship
of God in their families, and insisted on the
necessity of spiritual religion. “ Down with
the Roun-dheads !” was a common watch-
word. It was bestowed either because the
Puritans usually were short hair, and the
Royal party long; or, because, some say, the
queen, at Strafi'ord’s trial, asked, in reference
to Prynne, who that roundheaded man was
who spoke so strongly. The device on the
standard of Colonel Cook, a parliamentary
ofiicer, was a man in armour cutting off the
corner of a square cap with a sword. His
motto was, Mute quadrata rotundis.
RUSSIAN CHURCH. See Cnuacn, GREEK.
S.
SABBATARIANS, those who keep the seventh
day as the sabbath. They are to be found
principally, if not wholly, among the Bap-
tists. They object to the reasons which are
generally alleged for keeping the first day;
and assert, that the change from the seventh
to the first was effected by Constantine on his
conversion to Christianity. The three fol-
lowing propositions contain a summary of
their principles as to this article of the sab-
bath, by which they stand distinguished. 1.
That God hath required the observation of
the seventh, or last day of everyweek, to be
observed by mankind universally for the
weekly sabbath. 2. That this command of
God is perpetually binding on man till time
shall be no more. And, 3. That this sacred
rest of the seventh-day sabbath is not (by
divine authority) changed from the seventh
and last to the first day of the week, or that
the Scripture doth no where require the ob-
servation of any other day of the week for
the weekly sabbath, but the seventh day only.
They hold, in common with other Christians,
the distinguishing doctrines of Christianity.
There are two congregations of the Sabbata-
rians in London; one among the General
‘Baptists, meeting in Mill Yard, the trust-
deeds of which date as far back as 1678, but
which is now reduced in number to seven
females; the other" among the Particular
Baptists, in Cripplegate. There are, also, a
few to be found in different parts of the king-
dom; and in America there are eighteen

churches, twenty-nine‘ ministers, and 2862
communicants. They are there called Se-
venth-cla-y Baptists. A tract, in support of
this doctrine, was published b Mr. Corn-
thwaite, in 1740. See Evans’s hetch of the
Denominations of the Christian World ,- and
books under next article.
SABBATH, in the Hebrew language, signi-
fies rest, and is the seventh day of the week;
a day appointed for religious duties, and a,
total cessation from work, in commemoration
of God’s resting on the seventh day; and
likewise in memorial of the redemption of the
Israelites from Egyptian bondage.
Concerning the'time when the sabbath was
first instituted there have been different opin-
ions. Some have maintained that the sancti-
fication of the seventh day mentioned in Gen.
ii. is only there spoken of 8m 1rpoh1jillewg, or
by anticipation; and is to be understood of
the sabbath afterwards enjoined in the wil-
derness ; and that the historian, writing after
it was instituted, there gives the reason of its
institution: and this is supposed to be the
case, as it is never mentioned during the
patriarchal age. But against this sentiment
it is urged, 1. That it cannot be easily sup-
posed that the inspired penman would have
mentioned the sanctification of the seventh
day amen the primeval transactions, if such
sanctification had not taken place until 2500
years afterwards. 2. That considerin Adam
was restored to favour through a ediator,
and a religious service instituted, which man
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693
was required to observe, in testimony not
only of his dependence on the Creator, but
also of his faith and hope in the promise, it
seems reasonable that an institution so grand
and solemn, and so necessary to the observ-
ance of this service, should be then existent.
3. That it is no proof against its existence
because it is not mentioned in the patriarchal
age, no more than it is against its existence
from Moses to the end of David’s reign,
which was near 440 years. 4. That’the sab-
bath was mentioned as a well-known solem-
nity before the promulgation of the law,
Exodus xvi. 23. For the manner in which
the Jews kept it, and the awful consequences
of neglecting it, we refer the reader to the
Old Testament, Lev. xxvi. 34, 35; Neh. xiii.
16, 18; Jer. xvii. 21; Ezek. xx. 16, 17;
Numb. xv. 23—36.
Under the Christian dispensation, the sab-
bath is altered from the seventh to the first
day of the week. The arguments forthe
change are these :——1. As the seventh day
was observed by the Jewish Church in me-
mory of the rest of God after the works of
the creation, and their deliverance from
Pharaoh’s tyranny, so the first day of the
week has always been observed by the Chris-
tian church in memory of Christ’s resurrec—
tion. 2. Christ conferred particular honour
upon it, by not only rising from the dead,
but also by repeated visits to his disciples
on that day. 3. It is called the Lord’s Day,
Kvptmcfl, a term otherwise only used in the
New Testament in reference to the sacred
supper, 1 Cor. xi. 20, and as, in the latter
passage, it denotes that which specially com-
memorates the death of our Lord, it seems
indisputable that it is applied in the former to
that which specially commemorates his re-
surrection, Rev. i. 10. 4. On this day the
apostles were assembled, when the Holy
Ghost came down so visibly upon them, to
qualify them for the conversion of the world.
On this day we find St. Paul preaching in
Troas, when the disciples came to break
bread. 6. The directions the apostles give
to the Christians plainly allude to their reli-
gious assemblies on the first day. 7. Pliny
refers to a certain day of the week being kept
as a festival, in honour of the resurrection of
Christ; and the primitive Christians kept it
in the most solemn manner.
These arguments, it is true, are not satis-
factory to some, and it must be confessed
that there is no law in the New Testament
concerning the first day. However, it may
be observed that it is not so much the precise
time that is universally binding, as that one
day out of seven is to be regarded. “ As it
is impossible,” says Dr. Doddridge, “ cer-
tainly to determine which is the seventh day
. from the creation ; and as, in consequence of
the spherical form of the earth, and the ab-
surdity of the scheme .which supposes it one
great plain, the change of place will neces-
sarily occasion some alteration in the time of
the beginning and ending of any day in ques-
tion, it being always at the same time, some-
where or other, sun-rising and sun-setting,
noon and midnight, it seems very unreason—
able to lay such a stress upon the particular
day as some do. It seems abundantly sufli-
cient that there be six days of labour and one
of religious rest, which there will be upon the
Christian and the Jewish scheme.”
As the sabbath is of divine institution, so
it is to be kept holy unto the Lord. Numer-
ous have been the days appointed by men for
religious services ; but these are not binding,
because of human institution. Not so the
sabbath. Hence the fourth commandment is
ushered in with a peculiar emphasis—“ Re-
member that thou keep holy the sabbath day.”
This institution is wise as to its ends: that
God may be worshipped; man instructed;
nations benefited; and families devoted to
the service of God. It is lasting as to its
duration. The abolition of it would be un-
reasonable; unscriptural, Exod. xxxi. 18 ;
and every way disadvantageous to the body,
to society, to the soul, and even to the brute
creation. It is, however, awfully violated by
visiting, feasting, indolence, buying and sell-
ing, working, worldly amusements, and tra-
velling. “ Look into the'streets,” says Bishop
Porteus, “ on the Lord’s Day, and see whe-
ther they convey the idea of a day of rest.
Do not our servants and our cattle seem to
be almost as fully occupied on that day as on
any other? And, as if this was not a sufii-
cient infringement of their rights, we con-
trive, by needless entertainments at home,
and needless journeys abroad, which are often
by choice and inclination reserved for this
very day, to take up all the little remaining
part of their leisure time. A sabbath day’s
journey was among the Jews a proverbial
expression for a very short one; among us
it can have no such meaning afiixed to it.
That day seems to be considered by too
many as set apart, by divine and human au-
thority, for the purpose, not of rest, but of
its direct opposite, the labour of travelling,
thus adding one day more of torment to those
generous but wretched animals whose ser-
vices they hire; and who, being generally
strained beyond their strength the other six
days of the week, have, of all creatures under
heaven, the best and most equitable claim to
suspension of labour on the seventh.”
As soon as Christianity was protected by
the civil government, the Lord‘s Day was
ordered by law to be kept sacred. All pro-
ceedings in courts of law, excepting such as
were deemed of absolute necessity, or of cha-
rity, as setting slaves at liberty, &c., were
strictly forbidden; and all secular business,
excepting such as was of necessity or mercy,
was prohibited; and by a law of Theodosius,
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694
senior, and another by T heodosius, junior,
no public games or shows, no amusements or
recreations, were permitted to be practised on
that day. (See Cod; Theoel. lib. ii. tit. 8, de
jeriis; Cod. Justin. lib. iii.; Cod. T heod. lib.
xv. de spectaculis, lit. 5, leg. 2.) The day
was consecrated by all the primitive Chris-
tians to a regular and devout attendance upon
the solemnities of public worship, and other
religious exercises ; and, as Bingham says in
- his Christian Antiquities, “ they spent it in
such employments as were proper to set forth
the ‘glory of the Lord, in holding religious
assemblies for the celebration of the several
parts of divine service, psalmody, reading the
Scriptures, preaching, praying, and receiving
the Communion; and such was the flaming
zeal of those pious votaries, that nothing but
sickness, or a great necessity, or imprison-
ment, or banishment, could detain them from
it.” A further proof of the sanctity in which
they held the sabbath was their pious and
zealous observance of the Saturday evening,
or rather from midnight to break of day on
the Lord’s Day. This time the early Chris-
tians spent in the exercises of devotion ; and
persons of all ranks employed it in prepara-
tion for the sacred day. It must also be fur-
ther observed that, in many places, particu-
larly in cities, they usually had sermons
twice a day in the churches, and that the
evening was as well attended as the morning.
service: but in such churches as had no
evening sermon, there were still the evening
prayers; and the Christians of those times
thought themselves obliged to attend this
service as a necessary part of the public wor-
ship and solemnity of the Lord’s Day. The
better to enforcethis observance upon such
as were ungodly or careless, ecclesiastical
censures were inflicted upon them, whether
they frequented places of public amusement,
or spent the day in indolence at home.
These observations chiefly refer to the period
between the publication of the gospel by the
apostles and the latter end of the fourth cen-
tury--a period when this day might be ex-
pected to be observed more in accordance
with the command of Christ and the will of
the Holy Ghost.
The evils arising from sabbath-breaking
are greatly to be lamented; they are an in-
sult to God, an injury to ourselves, and an
awful example to our servants, our children,
and our friends. To sanctify this day, we
should consider it, 1. A day of rest; not, in-
deed, to exclude works of mercy and charity,
but a cessation from all labour and care—2.
As a day of remembrance; of creation, pre-
servation, redemption—3. As a day of medi-
tation and prayer,in which we should culti-
vate communion with God, Rev. i. 10.--4.
As a day of public worship, Acts xx. 7 ; John
xx. 19.--5. As a day of joy, Is. lvi. 2; Ps.
exviii. 24.—~6. As a day of praise, Ps. cxvi.
12—-l4.-—7. As a day of anticipation; looking
forward to that holy, happy, and eternal sab-
bath that remains for the people of God.
See Chandler’s Two Sermons on the Sab-
bath; Wright on the Sabbath ,- Watts’s Hol.
of Times and Places ; Orton’s six Disc. on the
Lord’s Day; Kennicott’s Ser. and Dial. on the
Sabbath; Bp. Porteus’s Sermons, vol. i. ser.
9 ; IVatts’s Sermons, vol. i., ser. 57 ; S. Pal-
mer’s Apology for the Christian Sabbath ,- Ken-
nicott on the Obligations of Cain and Abel, pp.
184,, 185; Conder’s and Burder’s Law of the
Sabbath; Dr. Wardlaw on the Sabbath.
SABELLIANS, a sect in the third century
that embraced the opinions of Sabellius, a
philosopher of Egypt, who openly taught that
there is but one person in the Godhead.
The Sabellians maintained that the Word
and the Holy Spirit are only virtues, emana-
tions, or functions of the Deity; and, held
that he who is in heaven is the Father of all
things; that he descended into the Virgin,
became achild, and was born of her as a son;
and that, having accomplished the mystery
of our salvation, he diffused himself on the
apostles in tongues of fire, and was then de-
nominated the Holy Ghost. This they ex-
plained by resembling God to the sun; the
illuminating virtue or quality of which was the
Word, and its warming virtue the Holy
Spirit. The Word, they taught, was darted,
like a divine ray, to accomplish the work of
redemption; and that, being reascended into
heaven, the influences of the Father were
communicated after a like manner to the
apostles.
SABIANS, MENDAITES, otherwise impro-
perly called CHRISTIANS or ST. J OHN, a sect
flourishing at Bussora, Shuster, and other
places in the East. Their numbers have been
computed at twenty or twenty-five thousand .
families. They call themselves Bendeh Hai,
“ creatures of the life,” and lllendai Yahia,
“ Disciples of John,” meaning the Baptist,
whom they regard as their founder. They
seem to hold a middle place between Jews
and Christians. The first verses of John’s
Gospel they apply to the Baptist, and regard
Christ as a prophet, but one of his followers.
In their places of worship they have no
images or ornaments of any kind whatever.
They hold the Jordan in great veneration;
but, owing to adverse circumstances, their
pilgrimages to that river have in a great mea-
sure ceased.
peculiar solemnity, especially on the day
when that of John was instituted. They go
down into the river to receive the rite, which
Is performed by the priest, who holds a vessel
with water in his hand, and pours it upon
each person singly, saying,—,—“ I renew thy
baptism in the name of our Father and Sa-
viour, John; who, in this manner, baptized
the Jc ws in the Jordan, and saved them : he
shall save thee also.” Their priests ofliciate
Baptism they celebrate with _‘
SAC
SAC
(2'95
in vestments of camel’s skin; and they eat
locusts and honey sacramentally. Few, ex-
cept the priests, are acquainted with their an-
cient language, which is a corrupt dialect of
the Syriac, and is supposed to come near to
that formerly spoken in Galilee, whence they
emigrated to the places which they now in-
habit. The principal books which they pos—
sess in this language are, Sedra Z’Adam, “ the
Book of Adam ;” Drashz'a Yahz'a, “ the Dis-
putation of John ;” Sedar Melanshe, “ the
Book of the Zodiac.” They contain the
dogmas of the sect; their rites, historical
notices, and astrological rules. Of the first,
Professor Norberg, of Lund in Sweden, who
spent several years in the East, and was an
eminent oriental scholar, has published a
translation, together with a Lexicon and an
Onomasticon.
SABIANS, from sun, a host, is also the name‘
given to an ancient sect of idolaters, whose
religion consisted in the worship of the
planets, or the host of heaven: hence the
appellation.
SACCQPHORI, a denomination in the fourth
century, so called, because they always went
clothed in sackcloth, and affected great auste-
rity and penance.
SACK, BRETHREN or THE, a religious order,
which was established about the beginning of
the thirteenth century, and had monasteries
in France, Germany, Italy, and England.
The brethren were very austere; for they
neither ate flesh nor drank wine. Besides
the sack which they wore, and from which
they took the name, they went bare-legged,
and had only wooden sandals on their feet.
SACRAMENT is derived from the Latin word
sacramentum, which signifies an oath, parti-r
cularly the oath taken by solders to be true
to their country and general. The word was
adopted by the writers of the Latin church,
to denote those ordinances of religion by
which Christians came under an obligation
of obedience to God, and which obligation,
they supposed, was equally sacred with that
of an oath. See Vow. Of sacraments, in
this sense of the word, Protestant Churches
admit of but two; and it is not easy to con-
ceive how a greater number can be made out
from Scripture, if the definition of a sacra-
ment be just which is given by the Church
of England. By that church, the meaning of
the word sacrament is declared to be “ an
outward and visible sign of an inward and
spiritual grace given unto us, ordained by
Christ himself, as a means whereby we re-
ceive the same, and a pledge to assure us
thereof.” See BAPTISM, and LoRD’s SUPPER.
The Romanists, however, add to this number,
confirmation, penance, extreme unction, or~
dination, and marriage, holding in all seven
sacraments. See POPERY. Numerous, how-
ever, as the sacraments of the Romish Church
are, a sect of Christians sprang up in Enir~
land, early in the last century, who increased
their number. The founder of this sect was
a Dr. Deacon. According to these men,
every rite, and every phrase, in the book
called the Apostolical Constitutions, were cer-
tainly in use among the apostles themselves.
Still, however, they make a distinction be-
tween the greater and the lesser sacraments.
The greater sacraments are only two, baptism
and the Lord’s supper. The lesser are no
fewer than ten, viz five belonging to baptism
—exorcism, anointing with oil, the white
garment, a taste of milk and honey, and
anointing with chrism or ointment. The
other five are—the sign of the cross, imposi-
tion of hands, unction of the sick, holy orders,
and matrimony. This sect, however, if not
extinguished, is supposed to be in its last
wane. Its founder published, in 1748, his
full, true, and comprehensive view of Chris-
tianity. in two catechisms, octavo.
SACRAMENTARIANS, a general name given
to all such as have held erroneous opinions
respecting the Lord’s supper. The term is
chiefly applied among Catholics, by way of
reproach, to the Lutherans, Calvinists, and
other Protestants.
SACRIFICE, an offering made to God, on an
altar, by means of a regular minister, as an
acknowledgment of his power, and a payment
of homage. Sacrifices (though the term is
sometimes used to comprehend all the offer-
ings made to God, or in any way devoted to
his service and honour) difl’er from mere
oblations in this, that in a sacrifice there is a
real destruction or change of the thing offered;
whereas an oblation is only a simple offering
or gift, without any such change at all: thus,
all sorts of tithes, and first~fruits, and what-
ever of men’s worldly substance is consecrated
to God for the support of. his worship, and
the maintenance of his ministers, are offerings,
or oblations ; and these, under the Jewish law,
were either of living creatures, or other things:
but sacrifices, in the more peculiar sense of
the term, were either wholly, or in part, con~
sumed by fire. They have, by divines, been
divided into bloody and unbloody. Bloody
sacrifices were made of living creatures;
unbloody, of the fruits of the earth. They
have also been divided into expiatory, impre-
catory, and eucharistical. The first kind
were offered to obtain of God the forgiveness
of sins ; the second, to procure some favour;
and the third, to express thankfulness for
favours already received. Under_ one or
other of these heads may all sacrifices be
arranged, though we are told that the Egyp-'
tians had six hundred and sixty-six different
kinds,——a number surpassing all credibility.
Various have been the opinions of the learned
concerning the origin of ‘sacrifices. Some
suppose that they had their origin m super-
stition, and were merely the inventions of
men; others, that they originated in the
SAC
SAC
696
natural sentiments of the human heart; others
imagine that God, in order to prevent their
being offered to idols, introduced them into
his service, though he did not approve of
them as good in themselves, or as proper rites
of worship. “But that animal sacrifices,”
says a learned author, “were not instituted
by man, seems extremely evident from‘the
acknowledged universality of the practice;
from the wonderful sameness of the manner
in which the whole world offered these sacri--
fices; and from the cxpiation which was
constantly supposed to be effected by them.
“ Now human reason, even among the
most strenuous opponents of the divine insti-
tutions, is allowed to be incapable of pointing
out the least natural fitness or congruity
between blood and atonement ; between killing
of God’s creatures, and the receiving a pardon
for the violation of God’s laws. This conse-
quence of sacrifices, when properly offered,
was the invariable opinion of the heathens, but
not the whole of their opinion in this matter;
for they had also a traditionary belief among
them, that these animal sacrifices were not
only expiations, but vicarious commutations,
and substituted satisfactions ; and they called
the animals so offered their c’w-rt'tl/vxa, the
ransom of their souls.
“ But if these notions are so remote from—-
nay, so contrary to—any lesson that nature
teaches, as they confessedly are, how came the
whole world to practise the rites founded upon
them? It is certain that the wisest heathens,
Pythagoras, Plato, Porphyry, and others,
slighted the religion. of such sacrifices, and
wondered how an institution so dismal (as it
appeared to them), and so big with absurdity,
could diffuse itself through the world. An
advocate for the sufiiciency of reason (Tindall)
supposes the absurdity prevailed by degrees ;
and the priests who shared with their gods,
and reserved the best bits for themselves, had
the chief hand in this gainful superstition.
But it may well be asked, who were the priests
in the days of Cain and Abel? or, what gain
could this superstition be to them, when the
one gave away his fruits, and the other his
animal sacrifice, without being at liberty to
taste the least part of it? And it is worth
remarking, that what this author wittily calls
the best bits, and appropriates to the priests,
appear to have been the skin of the burnt
offering among the Jews, and the skin and
feet among the heathens.”
Dr. Spencer observes (De Leg. Heb. lib.
iii. § 2), that sacrifices were looked upon as
gifts, and that the general opinion was, that
giftswould have the same effect with God as
with man; would appease wrath, conciliate
favour with the Deity, and testify the grati-
tude and affection of the sacrificer: and that
from this principle proceeded expiatory, pre-
catory, and eucharistical offerings. This is
all that is pretended from natural light to
countenance this practice.
soever the comparison may be thought to hold
between sacrifices and gifts, yet the opinion-
that sacrifices would prevail with God must
proceed from an observation that gifts had
prevailed with men; an observation this,
which Cain and Abel had little opportunity
of making. And if the coats of skin, which
God directed Adam to make, were the re~
mains of sacrifices, sure Adam could not
sacrifice from this observation, when there
were no subjects in the world ,upon which he
could make these observations.” Kenaz'cott’s
second Dissert. on the Ofl‘erings qf Cain and
Abel, p. 201, 8:0.
But the grand objection to the divine origin
of sacrifices is drawn from the Scriptures
themselves, particularly the following (J er.
vii. 22, 23) :-—“ I spake not to your fathers,
nor commanded them, at the time that I
brought them out of Egypt, concerning the
matters of burnt offerings or sacrifices; but
only this very thing commanded I them,
saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your
God, and ye shall be my people.” The inge-
nious writer above referred to, accounts for
this passage (pp. 153 and 209) by referring to
the transaction at Marah (Exod. xv. 23, 26),
at which time God spake nothing concerning
sacrifices: it certainly cannot be intended to
contradict the whole book of Leviticus, which
is full of such appointments. Another learned
author, to account for the above, and other
similar passages, observes, “ The Jews were
diligent in performing the external services
of religion; in offering prayers, incense, sacri-
fices, oblations: but these prayers were not
offered with faith; and their oblations were
made more frequently to their idols than to
the God of their fathers. The Hebrew idiom
excludes with a general negative, in a com-
parative sense, one of two objects opposed to
one another, thus :—-‘ I will have mercy, and
not sacrifice.’ (Hos. vi. 6.) ‘ For I spake not
to your fathers, nor commanded them, con-
cerning burnt offerings or sacrifices : but this
thing I commanded them, saying, Obey my
voice.’ ” (Lowth in Isaiah xliii. 22, 24.)
The ingenious Dr. Doddridge remarks, that,
according to the genius of the Hebrew lan-
guage, one thing seems to be forbidden, and
another commanded, when the meaning only
is, that the latter is generally to be preferred
to the former. The text before us is a re-
markable instance of this ; as likewise Joel ii.
13 ; Matt. vi. 19, 20; John vi. 27 ; Luke xii.
4, 5, and Col. iii. '2. And it is evident that
Gen. xlv. 8; Exod. xvi. 8; John v. 3Q;vii. 19,
and many other passages, are to be expound—
ed in the same comparative sense, (Paraph.
on the New Test, sect. 59,). so that the whole
may‘ be resolved into the apophthegm of the
‘wise man (Prov. xxi. 3) : “ To dojustice and
judgment is more acceptable to the Lord than
sacrifice.” See Kemzicotf above referred to;
But how well-
SAL
7 SAM
(if)
Edwards’s History of Redemption, p. 76, note;
Outram de Sacrg'ficiis, l/Varbm'ton’s Divine
Leg. b. 9, c. 2 ; Bishop Law's Theory of Rel.
p. 50 to 54; Jennings’s Jewish Antiq., vol. i.
pp. 26, 28 ; Fleziry’s Manners of the Israelites,
part iv. ch. 4; Dr. J. P. Smith on the Sacri-
fire of Christ.
SACRILEGE, the crime of profaning sacred
things, or things devoted to God. ' The
ancient church distinguished several sorts of
sacrilege. The first was the diverting things
appropriated to sacred purposes to other uses.
2. Robbing the graves, or defacing and spoil-
ing the monuments of the dead. 3. Those
were considered as sacrilegious persons who
delivered up their Bibles and the sacred
utensils of the church to the Pagans, in the
time of the Dioclesian persecution. 4. Pro-
faning the sacraments, churches, altars, &c.
5. Molesting or hindering a clergyman in the
performance of his ofiice. 6. Depriving men
of the use of the Scriptures or the sacraments,
particularly the cup in the eucharist. The
Romish casuists acknowledge all these but the
last.
SADDUCEES, a famous sect among the Jews;
' so called, it is said, from their founder Sadoc.
It began in the time of Antigonus, of Socho,
president of the Sanhedrim at Jerusalem, and
teacher of the law in the principal divinity ,
school of that city. Antigonus having often
in his lectures inculcated on his scholars that .
they ought not to serve God in a servile man- ',
ner, but only out of filial love and fear, two of
his scholars, Sadoc and Baithus, thence in-
ferred that there were no rewards at all after
this life; and, therefore separating from the
school of their master, they taught there was
no resurrection nor future state, neither angel
nor spirit. (Matt. xxii. 23. Acts xxiii. 8.)
They seem to agree greatly with the Epicu-
reans ; differing however in this, that though
they denied a future state, yet they allowed
the power of God to create the world; whereas
the followers of Epicurus denied it. It is said
also that they rejected the Bible, except the
Pentateuch ; denied predestination; and taught
that God had made man absolute master of
all his actions, without assistance to good, or
restraint from evil.
SAINT, a person eminent for godliness.
The word is generally applied by us to the
apostles and other holy persons mentioned in
the Scriptures: but the Romanists make its
application much more extensive ; as, accord-
ing to them, all who are canonized are made
saints of a high degree. Protestants in ap-
plying this term to the Sacred Writers are
very inconsistent; for though they say, St.
John, St. Peter, St. David; they never use,
St. Isaiah, St. Habakkuk, 8:0. The Scripture
style is, Esaias, Math. xiii. 14. David, Rom.
iv. 6; xi. 9. Osee, Rom. ix. 25; and ought
to be adhered to. Sec CANONIZA'I‘ION.
SALVATION means the safety or preserve?
tion of any thing that has been or is in dan~
ger ; but it is more particularly used by us to
denote ‘our deliverance from sin and hell, and
the final enjoyment of God in a future state,
through the mediation of Jesus Christ. See
articles A'roNEMEN'r, Paorrrr ATION, RECONCI-
LIATION, REDEMPTION, and SANCTIFICATION.
SALVATION of INFANTS. See INFANTS.
SA MA RITANS, an ancient sect among theJews,
whose origin was in the time of king Reho-
boam, under whose reign the people of Israel
were divided into two distinct kingdoms—
that of Judah and that of Israel. The capital
of the kingdom of Israel was Samaria, whence
the Israelites took the name of Samaritans.
Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, having be-
sieged and taken Samaria, carried away all
the people captives into the remotest parts of
his dominions, and filled their place with
Babylonians, Cutheans, and other idolaters.
These, finding that they were exposed to wild
beasts, desired that an Israelitish priest might
be sent among them, to instruct them in the
ancient religion and customs of the land they
inhabited. This being granted them, they
were delivered from the plague of wild beasts,
and embraced the law of Moses, with which
they mixed a great part of their ancient idol-
atry. Upon the return of the Jews from the
Babylonish captivity, it appears that they had
entirely quitted the worship of their idols.
But though they were united in religion,
they were not so in affection with the Jews ;
for they employed various calumnies and
stratagems to hinder their rebuilding the tem-
ple of Jerusalem; and when they could not
prevail, they erected a temple on Mount
Gerizim, in opposition to that of Jerusalem.
(See 2 Kings xvii. Ezra iv. v. vi.) The
Samaritans, at present, are few in number,
but pretend to great‘ strictness in their obser—
vation of the law of Moses. They are said
to be scattered; some at Damascus, some at
Gaza, and some at Grand Cairo, in Egypt.
SAMARITAN PENTATEUCH, the collection of
the five books of Moses, written in Samaritan
or Phoenician characters; and, according to
some, the ancient Hebrew characters which
were in use before the captivity of Babylon.
This Pentateuch was unknown in Europe till
the seventeenth century, though quoted by
Eusebius, Jerome, &c. Archbishop Usher
was the first, or at least among the‘first, who
procured it out of the East, to the number of
five or six copies. Pietro della Valle pur-
chased a very neat copy at Damascus, in 1616,
for M. de Sansi, then ambassador of France,
at Constantinople, and afterwards bishop of
St. Malo. This book was presented to the
Fathers of the Oratory of St. Honoré, where,
perhaps, it is still preserved ; and from which
father Morinus, in 1632, printed the first
Samaritan Pentateuch, which stands in Le
Jay’s Polyglot, but more correctly in \Val-
ton’s, from three Samaritan manuscripts,
SAN
SA N
698
which belonged to Usher. The generality of
divines held, that the Samaritan Pentateuch,
and that of the Jews, are one and the same
work, written in the same language, only in
different characters; and that the difference
between the two texts is owing to the inad-
vertency and inaccuracy of transcriber-s, or
to the afi‘ectation of the Samaritans, by inter-
polating what might promote their interests
and pretensions; that the two copies were
originally the very same, and that the addi-
tions were afterwards inserted. And in this
respect the Pentateuch of the Jews must be
allowed the preference to that of the Samari~
tans ; whereas others prefer the Samaritan, as
an original, preserved in the same character
and in the same condition in which Moses
left it. The variations, additions, and trans-
positions which are found in the Samaritan
Pentateuch, are carefully collected by Hottin-
ger, and may be seen on confronting the two
texts in the last volume of the English Poly~
glot, or by inspecting Kennicott’s edition of‘
the Hebrew Bible, where the various readings
are inserted. Some of these interpolations
serve to illustrate the text: others are a
kind of paraphrase, expressing at length what
was only hinted at in the original; and
others, again, such as favour their pretensions
against the J ews,-—namely, the putting Geri~
zim for Ebal.
SAMARITAN VERsIoN.
cient versions, 13.
SANCTIFICATION, that work of God’s grace
See BIBLE, an-
. by which we are renewed after the image of
God, set apart for his service, and enabled to
die unto sin and live unto righteousness. It
must be carefully considered in a twofold
light. 1. As an inestimable privilege granted
us from God, 1 Thess. v. 23. And, 2. As an
all-comprehensive duty required of us by his
holy word, 1 Thess. iv. 3. It is distinguished
from justification thus: J ustification changeth
our state in law before God as a Judge; sanc-
tification changeth our heart and life before
him as our Father. J ustiflcation precedes,
and sanctification follows, as the fruit and evi-
dence of it. The surety-righteousness of
Christ imputed is our justifying righteous-
ness; but the grace of God implanted is the
matter of our sanctification. Justiflcation is
an act done at once; sanctification is a work
‘which is gradual. Justiflcation removes the
guilt of sin; sanctification the power of it.
Justiflcation delivers us from the avenging
wrath of God; sanctification conforms us to
his image. Yet justification and sanctification
are inseparably connected in the promise of
God, Rom. viii. 28 to 30; in the covenant of
grace, Heb. viii. 10; in the doctrines and pro-
mises of the Gospel, Acts v. 31 ; and in the
experience of all true believers, 1 Cor. vi. ll.
Sanctification is, 1. A divine work, and not to
be begun or carried on by the power of man,
Tit. iii. 5. 2. A progressive work, and not
perfected at once, Prov. iv. 18. 3. An inter-
nal work, not consisting in external profes-
sion or bare morality, Psalm 1i. 6. 4. A
necessary work; necessary as to the evidence
of our state, the honour of our characters, the
usefulness of our lives, the happiness of our
minds, and the internal enjoyment of God’s
presence in a future world, John iii. 3; Heb.
xii. 14. sanctification evidences itself by, 1.
A holy reverence, Nehem. v. 15. 2. Earnest
regard, Lam. iii. 24. 3. Patient submission,
Psal. xxxix. 9. Hence Abp. Usher said of
it, “ Sanctification is nothing less than for a
man to be brought to the entire resignation
of his will to the will of God, and to live in
the offering up of his soul continually in the
flames of love, and as a whole burnt-offering
to Christ.” 4. Increasing hatred to sin, Psal.
cxix. 133. 5. Communion with God, Isa.
xxvi. 8. 6. Delight in his word and ordin-
ances, Psal. xxvii. 4. 7. Humility, Job xlii.
5, 6. 8. Prayer, Psal. cix. 4. 9. Holy con-
fidence, Psal. xxvii. 1. 10. Praise, Psal. ciii.
1. 11. Uniform obedience, John xv. 8. See
Marshall on Sanctification; Dr. Owen on the
Ifoly Spirit; Witsii G'Iconomia, lib. iii. 0. l2;
Brown’s Nat. and Rev. Theology, p. 447;
Haweis’s Sermons, ser. 11, 12, 13; Scougal’s
Works. See articles HoLINEss, Wonxs.
SANCTIONS, DIVINE, are those acts or laws
of the Supreme Being which render anything
obligatory. See LAW. ~
SANDEMAN (ROBERT), after whom the sect
of the Sandemanians is called in England,
but which, in Scotland, are better known as
Glasites, was a native of Perth, where his
family were of long standing and considerable
respectability. He was born in the year 1723,
and after acquiring the rudiments of educa-
tion in the place which gave him birth, he
was sent to prosecute his studies at Edin-
burgh, with a view, as would seem from some
hints in his writings, to the ministry in the
kirk of Scotland. It does not, however ap-
pear that he connected himself with the na-
tional establishment; for the deposition of
Mr. John Glas, first by the synod of Angus
and Mearns, and afterwards by the commis-
sion of the General Assembly, which about
that time took place, on account of the tes-
timony which he publicly bore against all
national establishments of Christianity, as
being utterly at variance with the nature of
the kingdom of Christ, which is not of this
world, raised a flame throughout Scotland,
and excited very general attention. Among
others, Mr. Sandeman adopted Glas’s view of
the subject; and, consequently, abandoning
all thoughts of the clerical profession, he
turned his attention to trade. Taking up his
residence in Edinburgh,'he joined the Glas-
ites, married one of Mr. Glas’s daughters,
and became an elder in the church that was
formed in that city: carr ing on the linen
trade for the support of himself and family
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He early began to distinguish himself as an
author; and his first production seems to
have been “ Some Thoughts on Christianity,
in a Letter to a Friend,” written about the
year 1750, at the request of a Freethinker,
who had kindly entertained the author at his
house, and earnestly requested him to give
his thoughts on that important subject in
writing. This pamphlet, though small, dis-
covers an original train of thinking. The
subject is placed in a new and striking light;
and the deductions which the writer makes
from his first principles, show him to be pos-
sessed of the powers of cogent reasoning. In
1757 he published his celebrated “ Letters on
Theron and Aspasio,” addressed to Mr. Her-
vey, in two volumes, l2mo., in which he at-
tacked the prevailing system of what is
termed the orthodox faith, with uncommon
acuteness, and no little effect. A second
edition of the “ Letters” was given to the
public in 1759, with an Appendix; in which
he notices several pieces that had been written
against him; and in 1762, appeared a third
edition, with a second Appendix of consider-
able magnitude; enumerating many other
tracts which his Letters had occasioned; from
which it is abundantly manifest, that the
very pillars of orthodoxy were supposed to
be shaken, and a general alarm prevailed.
Adverting to the effects which had been pro-
duced by his “ Letters,” he says, in one of
his Appendixes, “ If, amidst the throng of
daily publications, my book serve as a little
transitory fuel to the fire of that contention
which the Saviour came to revive upon the
earth, and which will continue burning till
he come again, my purpose in writing is suf-
ficicntly honoured: yea, though it should be
forgotten before the current year end, I have
it to say, that my purpose has already been
honoured far beyond expectation.”——About a
year after the publication of the first edition
of his “ Letters,” an epistolary correspond-
ence took place between the author and Mr.
Samuel Pike, a dissenting minister in Lon-
don, of some note, which ended in the latter
adopting the views of Mr. Sandeman, giving
up his connexion with the church of which
he was pastor, and uniting with the Sande-
manian body in London. In these Letters,
which were printed in 1759, in a pamphlet
entitled “ An Epistolary Correspondence be-
tween Samuel Pike and Robert Sandeman,
relating to the Letters on Theron and Aspa-
sio,” the main points of difference between
Mr. Sandeman and his opponents are dis-
cussed in a close and searching manner; par-
ticularly the nature of justifying faith, which
the former contended had nothing to do with
a different manner of believing from what
takes place in the common concerns of life;
but that it consists wholly in the things be-
lieved. In opposition to Mr. I-Iervcy’s fa—
vourite principles of appropriation, in which
he rested the essence of justifying faith, Mr.
Sandeman strenuously insisted, that it was
nothing more nor less than “ the bare belief
of the bare truth,” witnessed or testified con-
cerning the person and work of Christ.
Heavy complaints have been made of the
severity of his style, and the caustic with
which it is frequently seasoned, especially
where the characters of what he terms “ the
popular preachers,” come in his way. View-
ing them as corrupters of the Gospel which
they professed to preach, and, consequently,
as misleading their fellow-creatures in the all
important concerns of another world, he did
not spare them. “ If I must give my opinion
of my own performance,” says he, “ I am
ready to say, that this writer proposes to con—
tend for the divine righteousness finished on
the cross, as the sole requisite to justification.
In evincing this, he looks around him on all
sorts of men, and examines their various pre-
tensions to righteousness on every side.
Whatever he finds opposed, or set up instead
of the divine righteousness, he resolutely
attacks. In doing this, he makes use of every
weapon he can lay his hand upon, and ac-
cording to his various occasions, he lays hold
on whatever weapon he can most readily
wield, and by which he may cut deepest, whe-
ther it be keen satire, disdainful irony, the
contemptuous smile, indignant frown, or more
cool reasoning. He seems particularly to
have had in his eye J eremiah’s maxim of
war, ‘ Spare no arrows!’ while the popular
doctrine with its contrivers and followers, as
being the thing most highly lifted up among
men, and with the greatest artifice too,
against the revealed righteousness, behoved
to be the greatest object of his attention and
opposition.”
Though we conceive Sandeman was egre-
giously mistaken, and not more at variance
with the known phenomena of the human
mind, than with the calls and invitations of
the Gospel, in representing faith as something
in which the mind is absolutely passive; and
though there are various things in his writ-
ings relative to the doctrine of assurance
which will not bear to be ‘tried by the test of
Scripture; yet there are, perhaps, after all,
few writers who have more contributed to
lead to simpler and more accurate views of
the nature of faith, to sweep away the cob-
webs which mystified the subject of a sinner’s
obtaining justification before God through the
righteousness of Christ, and to detect and
expose the evils of trimming, carnal and
worldly systems of religion. “There are
many things,” says Mr. Fuller, “in the
system of Sandeman, which, in my judgment
are worthy of serious attention. I have no
doubt but those against whom he inveighs,
under the name of popular preachers, and
many other preachers and writers of the
present times, stand corrected by him, and
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by other writers who have adopted his prin-
ciples.”
Those who know nothing of this author
but from his writings, or the testimony of
his adversaries, would be led to conclude, that
he was naturally of a sour, morose, cynical
disposition; and yet the case was quite the
reverse. He was in person small; of a mild,
affable, courteous turn; a most determined
enemy to the pomp of the clergy, which he
treated without ceremony or reserve, and that
occasioned him many enemies from the or-
der; remarkable for his condescension to
men of low estate, but fired with a holy jea-
lousy for the purity of the Gospel, and the
honours of divine grace, while, at the same
time, his general deportment was so exem-
plary, that the breath of calumny never
dared to assail it. Mr. Sandeman accepted
an invitation from some persons in America,
who had read his writings and professed a
strong attachment to them, to come and settle
among them; and accordingly, accompanied
by an associate, he sailed for New England in
1764. There is reason to believe, that he
was much disappointed in the persons who
had invited him over, and in the expectations
he had formed generally respecting America.
Dissensions began to arise, soon after his arri-
val, between the colonies and mother country.
Mr. Sandeman’s principles led him to avow
the most implicit obedience to the latter,
which subjected him to severe persecutions
from the enraged colonists; his days were
embittered; his prospects of usefulness in a
great measure blighted; and, after collecting
a few small societies, he ended his life at
Danbury, in Connecticut, Fairfield county, in
the year 1771. Since his death there has ap-
peared from his pen, “ The Honour of Mar-
riage opposed to all Impurities ;” “ An Essay
on Solomon’s Song ;” “ On the Sign of the
Prophet Jonah,” &c. &c., all of which may
be read with profit. Jones’s Christ. Biog.;
Fuller’s Samlemanianism.
SANDEMANIANS, a sect that originated in
Scotland about the year 1728; where it is, at
this time, distinguished by the name of Glas-
ite, after its founder, Mr. John Glas, who was
a minister of the established church in that
kingdom; but being charged with a design of
subverting the national covenant, and sapping
the foundation of all national establishments,
by maintaining that the kingdom of Christ is
not of this war (1, was expelled from the synod
by the Church of Scotland. His sentiments
are fully explained in a tract, published at
that time, entitled, “ The Testimony of the
King of Martyrs,” and preserved in the first
volume of his works. In consequence of
Mr. Glas’s expulsion, his adherents formed
themselves into churches, conformable, in
their institution and discipline, to what they
apprehended to be the plan of the first churches
recorded in the New Testament.
The chief op'nions and practices in which
this sect differs from other Christians, are,
their weekly administration of the Lord's sup-
per; their love-feasts, of which every mem-
ber is not only allowed but required to par-
take, and which consist of their dining toge-
ther at each other’s houses in the interval be-
tween the morning and afternoon service.
Their kiss of charity, used on the occasion of
the admission of a new member, and at other
times when they deem it necessary and pro-
per ; their weekly collection before the
Lord‘s supper, for the support of the poor,
and paying their expenses; mutual exhorta-
tion; abstinence from blood and things stran-
gled ; washing each other’s feet, when, as a
deed of mercy, it might be an expression of
love, the precept concerning which, as well as
other precepts, they understand literally;
community of goods, so far as that every one
is to consider all that he has in his posses-
sion and power liable to the calls of the poor
and the church ; and the unlawfulness of lay-
ing up treasures upon earth, by setting them
apart for any distant, future, and uncertain
use. They allow of public and private diver-
sions, so far as they are unconnected with cir-
cumstances really sinful; but apprehending a
lot to be sacred, disapprove of lotteries, play-
ing at cards, dice, &c.
They maintain a plurality of elders, pastors,
or bishops, in each church; and the necessity
of the presence of two elders in every act of
discipline, and at the administration of the
Lord’s supper.
In the choice of these elders, want of learn-
ing and engagement in trade are no sufiicient
objection, if qualified according to the in-
structions given to Timothy and Titus; but
second marriages disqualify for the office ; and
they are ordained by prayer and fasting, im-
position of hands, and giving the right hand
of fellowship.
In their discipline they are strict and severe,
and think themselves obliged to separate from
the communion and worship of all such re-
ligious societies as appear to them not to
profess the simple truth for their only ground
of hope, and who do not walk in obedience to
it. We shall only add, that in every trans-
action they esteem unanimity to be absolutely
necessary. Glas’s Testimony q‘ the King of
Martyrs,- S’andeman’s Letters on Theron and
Aspasio, letter 11»; Bachus’s Discourse on
Faith and its Influence, p. 7-30 ; Adams’s View
0J"1?eli_qi0ns; Bellamy’s Nature and Glory of
the Gospel, Lond. edit. notes, vol. i. p. 65-125;
Pullcr’s Letters on Sandemanianism.
SANHEDRIM, a council or assembly of per-
sons sitting together ; the name whereby the
Jews called the great council of the nation,
assembled in an apartment of the temple at
Jerusalem, to determine the most important
affairs both of church and state.
Sananarrns, wandering fanatics, or rather
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701
impostors, of the fourth century, who, instead
of procuring a subsistence by honest industry,
travelled through various cities and provinces,
and gained a maintenance by fictitious mira-
cles, by selling relics to the multitude, and
other frauds of a like nature.
SATAN is a Hebrew word, and signifies an
adversary, or enemy, and is commonly applied
in Scripture to the devil, or the chief of the
fallen angels. “ By collecting the passages,”
says Cruden, “where Satan, or the devil is
mentioned, it may be observed that he fell
from heaven with all his company ; that God
cast him down from thence for the punishment
of his pride; that, by his envy and malice,
sin, death, and all other evils, came into the
world; that by the permission of God, he
exercises a sort of government in the world
over his subordinates, over apostate angels
like himself; that God makes use of him to
prove good men and chastise bad ones; that
he is a lying spirit in the mouth of false pro-
phets, seducers, and heretics; that it is he, or
some of his, that torment or possess men ; that
inspire them with evil designs, as he did David,
when he suggested to him to number his
people ; to Judas, to betray his Lord and
Master; and to Ananias and Sapphira, to
conceal the price of their field. That he roves
full of rage like a roaring lion, to tempt, to
betray, to destroy, and to involve us in guilt
and wickedness; that his power and malice
are restrained within certain limits, and con-
trolled by the will of God. In a word, that
he is an enemy to God and man, and uses his
utmost endeavours to rob God of his glory,
and men of their souls.” See articles ANGEL,
DEVIL, TEMPTATION. More particularly as
to the temptations of Satan :—-1. He adapts
them to our temper and circumstances.—2.
He chooses the fittest season to tempt: as
youth, age, poverty, prosperity, public devo-
tion, after happy manifestations; or when in a
bad frame; after some signal service; when
alone or in the presence of the object ; when
unemployed and off our guard; in death—3.
He puts on the mask of religious friendship,
2 Cor. xi. 14; Matt. iv. 6; Luke ix. 50; Gen.
iii.--4. He manages temptation with the
greatest subtilty. He asks but little at first;
leaves for a season in order to renew his at-
tack.-5. He leads men to sin with a hope of
speedy repentance—6. He raises suitable in-
ltruments, bad habits, relations. Gen. iii.;
Job ii. 9, 10. Gilpin on Teigptations ; Brooks
on Satan’s Devices; Bishop orteus’s Sermons,
vol. ii. p. 63; Burgh’s Crito, vol. i. ess. 3;
vol. ii. ess. 4; Howe’s Works, vol. ii. p. 360 ;
Gurnall’s Christian Armour.
SATANIANS, a branch of the Messalians,
who appeared about the year 390. It is said,
among other things, that they believed the
devil to be extremely powerful, and that it
was much wiser to respect and adore than to
curse him.
SATISFACTION, in general, signifies the act
of giving complete or perfect pleasure. In
the Christian system it denotes that which
Christ did and suffered in order to satisfy
divine justice, to secure the honours of the
divine government, and thereby make an
atonement for the sins of his people. Satis-
faction is distinguished from merit thus : The
satisfaction of Christ consists in his answering
the demands of the law on man, which were
consequent on the breach of it. These were
answered by suffering its penalty. The merit
of Christ consists in what he did to fulfil what
the law demanded, before man sinned, which
was obedience. The satisfaction of Christ is
to free us from misery, and the merit of Christ
is to procure happiness for us. See AToNE-
MEN'J.‘ and PROPITIATION. Also Dr. Owen
on the Satisfaction of Christ,- Gill’s Body of
Diet, article Satisfaction; Stillingfleet on
Satisfaction ,- Watts’s Redeemer and Sane tifier,
pp. 28, 32 ; Hervey’s Theron and Aspasio.
SATURNIANS, a denomination which arose
about the year 115. They derived their name
from Saturnius of Antioch, one of the prin-
cipal Gnostic chiefs. He held the doctrine of
two principles, whence proceeded all things;
the one a wise and benevolent Deity; and
the otherfmatter, a principle essentially evil,
and which he supposed acted under the super-
intendence of a certain intelligence of a malig-
nant nature.
The world and its inhabitants were, accord—
ing to the system of Saturnius, created by
seven angels, which presided over the seven
planets. This work was carried on without
the knowledge of the benevolent Deity, and in
opposition to the will of the material prin-
ciple. The former, however, beheld it with
approbation, and honoured it with several
marks of his beneficence. He endowed with
rational souls the beings who inhabited this
new system, to whom their creators had im-
parted nothing more than the animal life;
and, having divided the world into seven parts,
he distributed them among the seven angelic
architects, one of whom was the God of the
Jews, and reserved to himself the supreme
empire over all. To these creatures, whom
the benevolent principle had endowed with
reasonable souls, and with dispositions that
led to goodness and. virtue, the evil being, to
maintain his empire, added another kind,
whom he formed of a wicked and malignant
character; and hence the differences we see
among men. When the creatures of the world
fell from their allegiance to the supreme
Deity, God sent from heaven into our globe
a restorer of order, whose name was Christ.
This Divine Conqueror came clothed with a
corporeal appearance, but not with a real
body. He came to destroy the empire of the
material principle, and to point out to virtuous
souls the way by which they must return to
God. This way is beset with difficulties and
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702
sufferings, since those souls who propose re~
turning to the Supreme Being must abstain
from wine, flesh, wedlock, and in short from
every thing that tends to sensual gratification
or even bodily refreshment. See GNosTIcs.
SAVIOUR, a person who delivers from
danger and misery. Thus Jesus Christ is
called the Saviour, as he delivers us from the
greatest evils, and brings us into the possession
of the greatest good. See JEsUs CHRIST,
LIBERTY, PROPITIATION, REDEMPTION.
SAVIOUR, ORDER or ST., a religious order
of the Romish church, founded by St. Bridget,
about the year 1345; and so called from its
being pretended that our Saviour himself
declared its constitution and rules to the
foundress.
Savor CONFERENCE, a series of meetings
held by royal commission at the residence of
the Bishop of London, in the Savoy, in the
year 1661, between the bishops and the non-
conformist ministers, in order so to review,
alter, and reform the liturgy, as to meet the
feelings of those who had serious scruples
against its use, and thereby promote the peace
of the church. The individuals chosen com-
prehended the archbishop of York, with
twelve bishops on the one side, and eleven
nonconformist ministers on the other. Had
the episcopal commissioners entered into a
fair and open discussion on the points at issue,
reconciliation, to a certain extent, might have
taken place ; but as they were, from the begin-
ning, averse from conceding a single iota to
the dissenters, the whole proved a farce, and
the negotiation turned out a complete failure.
At a convocation of the bishops held almost
immediately after, instead of removing any
thing that was at all likely to stumble tender
consciences, they rendered the liturgy still
more objectionable, by adding the story of
Bel and the Dragon to the lessons taken from
the Apocr pha.
SAVOY gONFESSION or FAITH, a declaration
of the faith and order of the Independents,
agreed upon by their elders and messengers in
their meeting at the Savoy, in the year 1658.
This was reprinted in the year 17 29. See
Neale’s History of the Puritans, vol. p. 507,
quarto edit.
SCEPTIC, mcenrucog, from o'xevr'rouat, “ I
consider, look about, or deliberate," properly
signifies considerative and inquisitive ; or one
who is always weighing reasons on one side
and the other, without ever deciding between
them. The word is applied to an ancient sect
of philosophers, founded by Pyrrho, who
denied the real existence of all qualities in
bodies, except those which are essential to
primary atoms; and referred every thing else
to the perceptions of the mind produced by
external objects ; in other words, to appearance
and opinion. In modern times the word has
been applied to Deists, or those who doubt of
the truth and authenticity of the sacred Scrip-
tures. One of the greatest sceptics in later
times was Hume: he endeavoured to introduce
doubts into every branch of physics, meta-
physics, history, ethics, and theology. He has
been confuted, however, by the doctors Reid,
Campbell, Gregory, and Beattie. See INFI—
BELITY.
SCHWENKFELDIANS, a denomination in the
sixteenth century; so called from one Gasper
Schwenkfeldt, a Silesian knight. He differed
from Luther in the three following points.
‘The first of these points related to the doc-
trine concerning the eucharist. Schwenkfeldt
inverted the following words of Christ, “ this
is my body,” and insisted on their being thus
understood, “ my body is this,” i. e. such as this
bread which is broken and consumed; a true
and real food, which nourisheth, satisfieth,
and delighteth the soul. “ My blood is this,”
that is, such its effects, as the wine which
strengthens and refresheth the heart. Second-
ly, He denied that the external word which
is committed to writing in the holy Scriptures
was endowed with the power of healing, illu-
minating, and renewing the mind; and he
ascribed this power to the internal word,
which, according to his notion, was Christ
himself. Thirdly, He would not allow Christ’s
human nature, in its exalted state, to be called
a creature, or a created substance, as such a
denomination appeared to him infinitely below
its majestic dignity; united as it is in that
glorious state with the divine essence.
ScHIsM, from o'Xto-ua, a rent, cleft, fissure;
in its general acceptation it signifies division
or separation, but is chiefly used in speaking
of separations happening from diversity of
opinions among people of the same religion
and faith. All separations, however, must
not, properly speaking, be considered as
schisms.
Schism, says Mr. Arch. Hall, is properly a
division among those who stand in one con-
nexion of fellowship; but where the difference
is carried so far, that the parties concerned
entirely break up all communion one with
another, and go into distinct connexions for
obtaining the general ends of that religious
fellowship which they once did, but now do
not carry on and pursue with united endea-
vours, as one church joined in the bonds of
individual society; where this is the case, it
is undeniable there is something very different
from schism; it is no longer a schism in, but
a separation from, the body. Dr. Campbell
supposes that the word schism in Scripture
does not always signify open separation, but
that men may be guilty of schism by such an
alienation of afi'ection from their brethren as
violates the internal-union subsisting in the
hearts of Christians, though there be no error
in doctrine, nor separation from communion.
See 1 Cor. iii. 3, 4; xii. 24--26.
The great schism of the West is that which
happened in the times of Clement VII. and
SCH
,son
703
Urban VI., which divided the church for forty and 117mm] on Schism ,- Dr. Campbell’s Prel.
or fifty years, and was at length ended by the Diss. to the Gospels, part 3 ; Haweis’s Appen.
election of Martin V. at the council of Con- I to the first volume of his Church Iiz'story;
stance.
The Romanists number thirty-four schisms '
in their church ; they bestow the name English ‘
schism on the reformation of religion in this '
kingdom. Those of the church of England apply the term schism to the separation of
the Presbyterians, Independents, Anabaptists, I
and Methodists.
“The sin of schism,” says the learned
Blackstone, “as such, is by no means the!
object of temporal coercion and punishment. '
If, through weakness of intellect, through
misdirected piety, through perverseness and
acerbity of temper, or through a prospect of
secular advantage in herding with a party,
men quarrel with the ecclesiastical establish-
ment, the civil magistrate has nothing to do
with it; unless their tenets and practice are
such as threaten ruin or disturbance to the
state. All persecution for diversity of opin-
ions, however ridiculous and absurd they may
be, is contrary to every principle of sound
policy and civil freedom. The names and
subordination of the clergy, the posture of
devotion, the materials and colour of a minis-
ter’s garment, the joining in a known or un-
known form of prayer, and other matters of
the same kind, must be left to the option of
every man’s private judgment.” The follow-
ing have been proposed as remedies for schism :
“ 1. Be disposed to support your brethren by
all the friendly attentions in your power,
speaking justly of their preaching and charac-
ter. Never withhold these proofs of your
brotherly love, unless they depart from the
doctrines or spirit of the gospel. 2. Discoun-
tenance the silly reports you may hear, to the
injury of any of your brethren. Oppose
baekbiting and slander to the utmost. 3.
Whenever any brother is sinking in the es-
teem of his flock through their caprice, per-
verseness, or antinomianism, endeavour to
hold up his hands and his heart in his work.
4. Never espouse the part of the schismatics,
till you have heard your brother’s account of
their conduct. 5. In cases of open separation,
do not preach for separatists till it be evident
that God is with them. Detest the thought
of wounding a brother’s feelings through the
contemptible influence of a party spirit; for
through this abominable principle schisms
are sure to be multiplied. 6. Let the symp-
toms of disease in the patients arouse the
benevolent attention of ‘the physicians. Let
them check the forward, humble the proud,
and warn the unruly, and many a schismatic
distemper will receive timely cure. 7. Let
elderly ministers and tutors of academics pay
more attention to these things, in proportion
as the disease may prevail; for much good
may be accomplished by their influence.” See

King on the Primitive Church, p. 152; Hales
Archibald Hall’s View of a Gospel Church,-
Dr. Owen’s View of the Nature of Schism,-
Buch’s Ser. ser. 6, on Divisions; Dr. Hoppus’s
Prize Essay on Schism.
SCHISM BILL, THE, an act passed in the
reign of Queen Anne, in virtue of which,
nonconformists teaching schools were to be
imprisoned three months. Each schoolmaster
was to receive the sacrament, and take the
oaths. Ifafterwards present at a conventiele,
he was to be incapacitated and imprisoned:
he was bound to teach only the Church Cate-
chism. But ofi'enders conforming were to be
recapacitated: and schools for reading, writing,
and the mathematics were excepted. It was
to have extended to Ireland; and if it had, its
course was designed to have been followed
with an attempt to deprive the Dissenters, all
over the kingdom, of their right to vote in
elections for members of Parliament. But
the Queen died the very day the Act was to
have received her signature and taken force,
and consequently fell to the ground. See
conclusion of the article NONCONFORMIST.
SCHOLASTIC, in the manner of the school-
men : what is treated in a subtile and meta-
physical way.
SCHOLIA, short notes of a grammatical or
exegetical nature. Many scholia are found
on the margin of manuscripts, or interlined,
or placed at the end of a book. They have
also been extracted, and brought together,
forming what is called Catena Patrum.
SCHOLIASTS, writers of such brief notes on
passages of Scripture. A multitude of scholia
from the ancient Christian fathers, especially
those of the Greek Church, have come down
to us in their works. Their value, of course,
depends on the learning and critical acumen
of the authors. Theodoret, Theophylact, and
(Ecumenius are among the best of them.
SCHOOLMEN, a set of men, in the twelfth,
thirteenth, and fourteenth centuries, who
framed a new sort of divinity, called Scholastic
Theology. Their divinity was founded upon,
and confirmed by, the philosophy of Aristotle,
and lay, says Dr. Gill, in contentions and
litigious disputations. in thorny questions and
subtle distinctions. Their whole scheme was
chiefly directed to support antichristianism;
so that by their means popish darkness was
the more increased, and Christian divinity
almost banished out of the world.
“ Considering them as to their metaphysical
researches,” says an anonymous but excellent
writer, “ they fatigued their readers in the
pursuit of endless abstractions and distinctions;
and their design seems rather to have been
accurately to arrange and define the objects
of thought than to explore the mental faculties
themselves. The nature of particular and
universal ideas, time, space, infinity, together
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704
with the mode of existence to be ascribed to
the Supreme Being, chiefly engaged the atten-
tion of the mightiest minds in the middle ages.
Acute in the highest degree, and endued with
a wonderful patience of thinking, they yet,
by a mistaken direction of their powers,
wasted themselves in endless logomachies,
and displayed more of a teasing subtlety than
of philosophical depth. They chose rather to
strike into the dark and intricate by-paths of
metaphysical science, than to pursue a career
of useful discovery : and as their disquisitions
were neither adorned by taste, nor reared on a
basis of extensive knowledge, they gradually
fell into neglect, when juster views ,in philo-
sophy made their appearance. Still they will
remain a mighty monument of the utmost
which the mind of man can accomplish in
the field of abstraction. If the metaphysician
does not find in the schoolmen the materials
of his work, he will perceive the study of their
writings to be of excellent benefit in sharpen-
ing his tools. They will aid his acuteness,
though they may fail to enlarge his know-
ledge.”
Some of the most famous were, Damascene,
Lanfranc, P. Lombard, Alex. Hales, Bona-
venture, Thomas Aquinas, Duns Scotus, and
Durandus. Gill’s Body of Din, Preface;
Eclectic Rev. for Dec. 1805 ; II. More’s Hints
to a. Young Princess, vol. ii. pp. 267, 268.
Sco'rrs'rs, a set of school divines and philo-
sophers; thus called from their founder, J.
Duns Scotus, a Scottish cordelier, who main-
tained the immaculate conception of the Virgin,
or that she was born without original sin,
in opposition to Thomas Aquinas and the
Thomists.
Sco'r'r (THOMAS), a clergyman of the
Church of England, was a native of Lincoln-
shire. He was born on the 16th of February,
1747, at Braytoft, a small farm-house, five
miles from Spilsby. He was the tenth of
thirteen children, all of whom he survived.
His father was ambitious of bringing up one
of his family to a profession ; and the eldest
son was consequently educated, and appren-
ticed to a surgeon ; but, dying young, Thomas
was sent to school to learn Latin. At the age
of sixteen he was bound apprentice to a medi-
cal practitioner at Alford; but at the end of
two months the master was dissatisfied with
his behaviour, and sent him home. He was
now employed about the farm for some time,
and compelled to labour in the most servile
occupations: sometimes tending the sheep,
and at others following the plough. In this
menial situation he continued more than nine
years, yet continually cherishing the wish of
becoming a clergyman. Thoughts of the
university, of learning, and of study, often
presented themselves to his mind: and he at
length consulted a clergyman at Boston, who
encouraged his attempt at qualifying himself
for the ministry; and having acquired a com-
petent knowledge of Greek, as well as Latin,
he eventually obtained ordination from Dr.
Green, bishop of Lincoln, the 20th of Sept,
1772. His first situation was a curacy in
Buckin gham shire, where he became acquainted
with Mr. John Newton, then curate of Olney,
whom he succeeded, on the removal of the
latter to the metropolis, in 1781. His inter—
course with Mr. Newton was the means of
giving an entire new turn to his whole course
of life. In the memoir written by himself,
Mr. Scott honestly admits that when he re-
ceived ordination, he was totally ignorant of
the gospel, and destitute of the power of god-
liness. But his correspondence with Mr.
Newton led to an important change in both
his sentiments and practice. He embraced
the sentiments commonly termed Calvinistic,
and in process of time became an able advo-
cate of that system. In 1785 he was removed
from Olney to the chaplainship of the Lock
Hospital, near Hyde Park Corner, and held,
besides, two lectureships in the city. In 1801,
he obtained the living of Aston Sanford, in
Buckinghamshire, which he held to the period
of his death—the 16th of April, 1821. It is
an exceedingly small parish, but he could not
be prevailed on to seek a larger, on account
of the paucity of baptisms and burials which
took place—a circumstance which, in some
measure, relieved his scruples respecting the
service as prescribed in the ritual. He first
appeared as an author in a small volume, en—
titled “ The Force of Truth,” 1779, in which
he details the singular events which issued in
his change of mind and character. This little
piece has gone through not less than twenty
editions. But his most important work, and
that which has rendered him one of the most
influential divines of the present day, is “ A
Family Bible, with original Notes, practical
Observations, and marginal References,” first
published in four volumes, quarto, 1796 ; and
of which the ninth edition, with the author's
last corrections and improvements, appeared
in 1825, in six volumes quarto. He was also
the author of a great number of pieces, which
have recently been collected and published
uniformly, in ten volumes octavo, including
“ Remarks on the Bishop of Lincoln’s Refu-
tation of Calvinism :” “ Essays on Important
Subjects ;” Sermons, Tracts, 8tc., &c. He
left in manuscript, at the period of his decease,
a copious account of his own life, replete with
interest, which has been published by his
son, and ver extensively read. See Memoirs
of Thomas cott, by his Son,- Jones’s Christ.
Biog.
ScRIBE. This word has different significa-
tions in Scripture. 1. A clerk, or writer, or
secretary, 2 Sam. viii. 17. 2. A commissary,
or muster-master of the army, 2 Chron. xxvi.
11 ; 2 Kings xxv. l9. 3. A man of learning,
a doctor of the law, 1 Chron. xxvii. 32.
SCRIPTURE, a word derived from the Latin
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705
scriptura, and in its original sense of the same
import with writing, signifying “any thing
written.” It is, however, commonly used to
denote the writings of the Old and New Tes-
taments, which are called sometimes the
Scriptures, sometimes the sacred or holy
Scriptures, and sometimes canonical Scrip-
tures. These books are called the Scrip-
tures by way of eminence, as they are the
most important of all writings. They are said
to be holy, or sacred, on account of the sacred
doctrines which they teach; and they are
termed canonical, because, when their num—
ber and authenticity were ascertained, their
names were inserted in ecclesiastical canons,
to distinguish them from other books, which,
being of no authority, were kept out of sight,
and therefore styled “ apocryphal.” See
APOCRYPHA.
Among other arguments for the divine
authority of the Scriptures, the following may
be considered as worthy of our attention :—
“ 1. The sacred penmen, the prophets and
apostles, were holy, excellent men, and would
not—artless, illiterate men, and therefore
could not—lay the horrible scheme of deluding
mankind. The hope of gain did not influence
them, for they were self-denying men, that
left all to follow a Master who had not where
to lay his head; and whose grand initiating
maxim was, “ Except a man forsake all that
he hath, he cannot be my disciple.” They
were so disinterested, that they secured nothing
on earth but hunger and nakedness, stocks
and prisons, racks and tortures ; which, indeed,
was all that they could, or did, expect, in con-
sequence of Christ’s express declarations.
Neither was a desire of honour the motive of
their actions; for their Lord himself was
treated with the utmost contempt, and had
more than once assured them that they should
certainly share the same fate; besides, they
were humble men, not above working as me-
chanics, for a coarse maintenance; and so
little desirous of human regard, that they
exposed to the world the meanness of their
birth and occupations, their great ignorance
and scandalous falls. Add to this, that they
were so many, and lived at such distance of
time and place from each other, that, had they
been impostors, it would have been impracti-
cable for them to contrive ,and carry on a
forgery without being detected. And as they
neither would nor could deceive the world, so
they neither could nor would be deceived
themselves; for they were days, months, and
years, eye and ear witnesses of the things
which they relate; and when they had not
the fullest evidence of important facts, they
insisted upon new proofs, and even upon sen-
sible demonstrations ; as for instance, Thomas,
in the matter of our Lord’s resurrection,
John xx. 25; and, to leave us no room to
question their sincerity, most of them joyfully
scaled the truth of their doctrines with their
own blood. Did so many and such marks of
veracity ever meet in any other authors?
“ 2. But even while they lived, they confirm-
ed their testimony by a variety of miracles
wrought in divers places, and for anumber of
years; sometimes before thousands of their
enemies, as the miracles of Christ and his
disciples ; sometimes before hundreds of
thousands, as those of Moses. (See MIRACLE.)
“ 3. Reason itself dictates that nothing but
the plainest matter of fact could induce so
many thousands of prejudiced and persecuting'
Jews to embrace the humbling, self-denying
doctrine of the cross, which they so much
despised and abhorred. Nothing but the
clearest evidence arising from undoubted
truth could make multitudes of lawless, luxu-
rious heathens receive, follow, and transmit
to posterity, the doctrine and writings of the
apostles ; especially at a time when the vanity
of their pretensions to miracles and the gift of
tongues could be so easily discovered, had they
been impostors; and when the profession of
Christianity exposed persons of all ranks to the
greatest contempt and most imminent danger.
“ 4. When the authenticity of the miracles
was attested by thousands of living witnesses,
religious rites were instituted and performed
by hundreds of thousands, agreeable to Scrip-
ture injunctions, in order to perpetuate that
authenticity: and these solemn ceremonies
have ever since been kept up in all parts of
the world; the Passover by the Jews, in re-
membrance of Moses’ miracles in Egypt;
and the Eucharist by Christians, as a memo-
rial of Christ’s death, and the miracles that
accompanied it; some of which are re-
corded by Phlegon the Trallian, a heathen
historian.
“ 5. The Scriptures have not only the ex‘
ternal sanction of miracles, but the eternal
stamp of the omniscient God by a variety of
prophecies, some of which have already been
most exactly confirmed by the event pre-
dicted. See PROPHECY.
“ 6. The scattered, despised people, the
Jews, the irreconcileable enemies of the
Christians, keep with amazing care the Old
Testament, full of the prophetic history of
Jesus Christ, and by that means afford the
world a striking proof that the New Testament
is true; and Christians, in their turn, show
that the Old Testamentis abundantly confirmed
and explained by the New. See JEWS, § 4.
“ 7. To say nothing of the harmony, vene-
rable antiquity, and wonderful preservation
of those books, some of which are by far the
most ancient in the world; to pass over the
inimitable simplicity and true sublimity of
their style; the testimony of the fathers and
the primitive Christians; they carry with
them such characters of truth, as command
the respect of every unprejudiced reader.
“ They open to us the mystery of the crea-
tion: the nature of God, angels, and man;
2 z
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706
the immortality of the soul; the end for
which we were made; the origin and con-
nexion of moral and natural evil ; the vanity
of this world, and the glory of the next.
There we see inspired shepherds, tradesmen,
and fishermen, surpassing as much the greatest
philosophers as these did the herd of man-
kind, both in meekness of wisdom and subli-
mity of doctrine. There we admire the purest
morality in the world, agreea le to the die-
tates of sound reason, confirmed by the wit-
ness which God has placed for himself in our
breast, and exemplified in the lives of men of
like passions with ourselves. There we dis-
cover a vein of ecclesiastical history and theo-
logical truth consistently running through a
collection of sixty-six different books, written
by various authors, in different languages,
during the space of above 1500 years. There
we find, as in a deep and pure spring, all the
genuine drops and streams of spiritual know-
ledge which can possibly be met with in the
largest libraries. There the workings of the
human heart are described in a manner that
demonstrates the inspiration of the Searcher
of hearts. There we have a particular ac-
count of all our spiritual maladies, with their
various symptoms, and the method of a cer-
tain cure—a cure that has been witnessed by
multitudes of martyrs and departed saints,
and is now enjoyed by thousands of good
men, who would account it an honour to seal
the truth of the Scriptures with their own
blood. There you meet with the noblest
strains of penitential and joyous devotion,
adapted to the dispositions and states of all
travellers to Siou. And there you read those
awful threatenings and cheering promises
which are daily fulfilled in the consciences of
men, to the admiration of believers, and the
astonishment of attentive infidels.
“ 8. The wonderful eflicacy of the Scrip-
tures is another proof that they are of God.
When they are faithfully opened by his mini-
sters, and powerfully applied by his Spirit,
they wound and heal; they kill and make
alive; they alarm the careless, direct the lost,
support the tempted, strengthen the weak,
comfort mourners, and nourish pious souls.
“ 9. To conclude: It is exceedingly re-
markable, that the more humble and holy
people are the more they read, admire, and
value the Scriptures; and, on the contrary,
the more self-conceited, worldly-minded, and
wicked, the more they neglect, despise, and
asperse them.
“As for the objections which are raised
against their perspicuity and consistency,
those who are both pious and learned, know
that they are generally founded on preposses-
sion, and the want of understanding in spirit-
ual things; or on our ignorance of several
customs, idioms, and circumstances, which
were perfectly known when those books were
written. Frequently, also, the immaterial
error arises merely from a wrong punctua
tion, or a mistake of copiers, printers, or
translators; as the daily discoveries of pious
critics, and ingenuous confessions of unpreju-
diced inquirers, abundantly prove.”
To understand the Scriptures, says Dr.
Campbell, we should, 1. Get acquainted with
each writer’s style. 2. Inquire carefully into
the character, the situation, and the oflice of
the writer; the time, the place, the occasion
of his writing; and the people for whose im-
mediate use he originally intended his work.
3. Consider the principal scope of the book.
and the particulars chiefly observable in the
method by which the writer has purposed to
execute his design. 4. Where the phrase is
obscure, the context must be consulted.
This, however, will not always answer. 5.
If it do not, consider whether the phrase be
any of the writer’s peculiarities: if so, it must
be inquired what is the acceptation in which
he employs it in other places. 6. If this be
not sufiicient, recourse should be had to the
parallel passages, if there be any such, in the
other sacred writers. 7. If this throws no
light, consult the New Testament and the
Septuagint, where the word may be used. 8.
If the term be only once used in Scripture,
then recur to the ordinary acceptation of the
term in classical authors. 9. Sometimes re-
ference may be had to the fathers. 10. The
ancient versions, as well as modern scholiasts,
annotators, and translators, may be con-
sulted. 11. The analogy of faith, and the
etymology of the word, must be used with
caution.
Above all, let the reader unite prayer with
his endeavours, that his understanding may
be illuminated, and his heart impressed with
the great truths which the sacred Scriptures
contain.
As to the public reading of the Scriptures,
it may be remarked, that this is a very lauda-
ble and necessary practice. “ One circum-
stance,” as a writer observes, “ why this
should be attended to in congregations, is,
that numbers of the hearers, in many places,
cannot read them themselves, and not a few
of them never hear them read in the families
where they reside. It is strange that this has
not, long ago, struck every person of the
least reflection in all our churches, and espe-
cially the ministers, as a most conclusive and
irresistible argument for the adoption of this
practice.
“ It surely would be better to abridge the
preaching and singing, and even the prayers,
to one-half of their length or more, than to
neglect the public reading of the Scriptures.
Let these things, therefore, be duly consi-
dered, together with the following reasons
and observations, and let the reader judge
and determine the case, or the matter, for
himself.
“ Remember that God no sooner caused
SCH
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707
any part of his will, or word, to be written,
than he also commanded the same to be read,
not only in the family, but also in the con-
gregation, and that even when all Israel were
assembled together (the men, women, and
children, and even the strangers that were
within their gates); and the end was, that
they might hear, and that they might learn,
and fear the Lord their God, and observe to
do all the words of his law, Deut. xxxi. 12.
“ Afterward, when synagogues were erected
in the land of Israel, that the people might
every sabbath meet to worship God, it is well
known that the public reading of the Scrip-
ture was a main part of the service there per-
formed; so much so, that no less than three-
fourths of the time was generally employed,
it seems, in reading and expounding the
Scriptures. Even the prayers and songs used
on those occasions appear to have been all
subservient to that particular and principal
employment or service, the reading of the
law.
“ This work, or practice, of reading thel
Scripture in the congregation, is warranted
and recommended in the New Testament, as
well as in the Old. As Christians, it is fit
and necessary that we should first of all look
unto Jesus, who is the author and finisher of
our faith. His example, as well as his pre-
cepts, is full of precious and most important
instruction; and it is a remarkable circum-
stance, which ought never to be forgotten,
that he began his public ministry, in the
synagogue of Nazareth, by reading a portion
of Scripture out of the book of the prophet
Isaiah, Luke iv. 15--19. This alone, one
would think, might be deemed quite sufii-
cient to justify the practice among his disci-
ples through all succeeding ages, and even
inspire them with zeal for its constant ob-
servance.
“ The apostle Paul, in pointing out to
Timothy his ministerial duties, particularly
mentions ‘ reading,’ 1 Tim. iv. 13. ‘ Give
attendance,’ says he, ‘ to reading, to exhort-
ation, to doctrine,’ evidently distinguishing
reading as one of the public duties incum-
bent upon Timothy. There can be no reason
for separating these three, as if the former
was only a private duty, and the others public
ones: the most natural and consistent idea is,
that they were all three public duties: and
that the reading here spoken of, was no other
than the reading of the Scriptures in those
Christian assemblies where Timothy was con-
cerned, and which the apostle would have
him by no means to neglect. If the public
reading of the Scriptures was so necessary
and important in those religious assemblies
which had Timothy for their minister, how
much more must it be in our assemblies, and
even in those which enjoy the labours of our
most able and eminent ministers !”
On the subject of the Scriptures, we must
refer the reader to the articles BIBLE, CANON,
INSPIRATION, Paornncv, and REVELATION.
See also Brown’s Introduction to his Bible;
Dr. Campbell’s Preliminary Dissertations to his
Transl. of the Gospels,- Fletcher’s Appeal;
Simon’s Critical History of the Old and New
Test. ,- Ostervald’s Arguments of the Books and
Characters of the Old and New Test; Cosins’s
Scholastic Hist. of the Canon of Script. ; War-
den’s System of Revealed Religion; Wells’s
Geography of the Old and New Test; The
Use of Sacred History, especially as illustrat-
ing and confirming the Doctrine of Revelation,
by Dr. Jamieson ; Dich on Inspiration; Black-
well’s Sacred Classics; M ichaelis’s Introduction
to the New Test,- Melmoth’s Sublime and
Beautiful of the Scriptures; Dwight’s Disser-
tation on the Poetry, History, and Eloquence of
the Bible; Edwards on the Authority, Style,
and Perfection of Scripture; Stachhouse’s His-
tory of the Bible; Kennicott’s State of the He-
brew Text; Jones on the Figurative Language
of Scripture; and books under articles BIBLE,
COMMENTARY, CHRISTIANITY, and REVELA—
TION.
SE-BAPTISTS, a sect of small note, which
was formed in England about the beginning
of the seventeenth century, by one John
Smith, who maintained that it was lawful for
every one to baptize himself‘. There is at
this day an inconsiderable sect in Russia,
who are known by this name, and who per-
form the rite upon themselves, from an idea
that no one is left on earth sufliciently holy to
administer it aright.
SECEDERS, a numerous body of Presby-
terians in Scotland, who have withdrawn from
the communion of the established church.
In 1732, more than forty ministers pre-
sented an address to the General Assembly,
specifying, in a variety of instances, what
they considered to be great defections from
the established constitution of the church, and
craving a redress of those grievances. A
petition to the same effect, subscribed by
several hundreds of elders and private Chris-
tians, was offered at the same time; but the
Assembly refused a hearing to both, and en-
acted, that the election of ministers to vacant
charges where an accepted presentation did
not take place, should be competent only to a
conjunct meeting of elders and heritors, being
Protestants. To this act many objections
were made by numbers of ministers and pri-
vate Christians. They asserted that more
than thirty to one in every parish were not
possessed of landed property, and were, on
that account, deprived of what they deemed
their natural right to choose their own pas-
tors. It was also said, that this act was ex-
i tremely prejudicial to the honour and interest
of the church, as well as to the edification of
the people: and, in fine, that it was directly
contrary to the appointment of Jesus Christ,
and the practice of the apostles, when they
SEC
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708
filled up the first vacancy in the apostolic col-
lege, and appointed the election of deacons
and elders in the primitive church. Many of
those also who were thought to be the best
friends of the church expressed their fears
that this act would have a tendency to over-
turn the ecclesiastical constitution, which was
established at the Revolution.
Mr. Ebenezer Erskine, minister at Stirling,
distinguished himself by a bold and deter-
mined opposition to the measures of the As-
semhly in 1732. ‘Being at that time modera-
tor of the synod of Perth and Stirling, he
opened the meeting at Perth with a sermon
from Psalm cxviii. 22. “ The stone which
the builders rejected is become the head stone
of the corner.” In the course of his sermon,
he remonstrated with no small degree of free-
dom against the act of the preceding Assem-
bly, with regard to the settlement of mini-
sters ; and alleged that it was contrary to the
word of God and the established constitution
of the church. A formal complaint was
lodged against him for uttering several offen-
sive expressions in his sermon before the
synod. Many of the members declared that
they heard him utter nothing but sound and
seasonable doctrine; but his accusers, in-
sisting on their complaint, obtained an ap-
pointment of a committee of synod, to collect
what were called the offensive expressions,
and to lay them before the next diet in writ-
ing. This was done accordingly; and Mr.
Erskine gave in his answers to every article
of the complaint. After three days’ warm
reasoning on this affair, the synod, by a ma-
jority of six, found him censurable; against
which sentence he protested, and appealed to
the next General Assembly. When the As-
sembly met, in May 1733, it affirmed the sen-
tence of the synod, and appointed Mr. Erskine
to be rebuked and admonished from the chair.
Upon which he protested, that as the Assem-
bly had found him censurable, and had re-
buked him for doing what he conceived to
be agreeable to the word of God and the
standards of the church, he should be at
liberty to preach the same truths, and to tes-
tify against the same or similar evils on every
proper occasion. To this protest Messrs.
William Wilson, minister at Perth; Alexander
Moncrief, minister at Aberneth'y; and James
Fisher, minister at Kinclaven, gave in a writ-
ten adherence, under the form of instrument;
and these four withdrew, intending to return
to their respective charges, and act agreeably
to their protest whenever they should have
an opportunity. Had the affair rested here,
there never would have been a secesslon ; but
the Assembly, resolving to carry the process,
cited them by their officer to compear next
day. They obeyed the citation ; and a com-
mittee was appointed to retire with them, in
order to persuade them to withdraw their
protest. The committee having reported that
I they still adhered to their protest, the Assem-
bly ordered them to appear before the com-
mission in August following, and retract
their protest; and, if they should not comply,
iand testify their sorrow for their conduct,
the commission was empowered to suspend
them from the exercise of their ministry,
with certification that, if they should act con-
trary to the said sentence, the commission
should proceed to a higher censure.
The commission met in August accord-
ingly; and the four ministers, still adhering
to their protest, were suspended from the
exercise of their oflice, and cited to the next
meeting of the commission in November fol-
lowing. From this sentence several ministers
and elders, members of the commission, dis-
sented. The commission met in November,
and the suspended ministers compeared. Ad-
dresses, representations, and letters from
several synods and preshyteries, relative to
the business now before the commission, were
received and read. The synods of Dumfries,
i Murray, Ross, Angus and Mearns, Perth and
Stirling, craved that the commission would
delay proceeding to a higher censure. The
synods of Galloway and Fife, as also the pres-
, bytery of Dornoch, addressed the commission
for lenity, tenderness, and forbearance to-
wards the suspended ministers; and the pres-
bytery of Aberdeen represented, that, in their
‘ judgment, the sentence of suspension inflicted
‘on the foresaid ministers was too high, and
that it was a stretch of ecclesiastical autho-
rity. Many members of the commission rea-
soned in the same manner, and alleged, that
the act and sentence of last Assembly did not
oblige them to proceed to a higher censure at
this meeting of the commission. The question,
; how ever,was put,--Proceed to ahigher censure
l or not? and the votes being numbered, were
ll found equal on both sides: upon which Mr.
John Goldie, the moderator, gave his casting
vote to proceed to a higher censure; which
stands in their minutes in these words :—
“ The commission did and hereby do loose
the relation of Mr. Ebenezer Erskine, mini-
ster at Stirling; Mr. William Wilson, minister
at Perth; Mr. Alexander Moncrief, minister
at Abernethy; and Mr. James Fisher, mini-
ster at Kinclaven, to their respective charges,
and declare them no longer ministers of this
church; and do hereby prohibit all ministers
of this church to employ them, or any of them,
in any ministerial function. And the com-
mission do declare the churches of the said
ministers vacant from and after the date of
this sentence.”
This sentence being intimated to them,
they protested that their ministerial ofiice
and relation to their respective charges should
be held as valid as if no such sentence had
passed; and that they were now obliged to
make a secession from the prevailing party in
the ecclesiastical courts; and, that it shall be


SEC
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709
lawful and warrantable for them to preach
the Gospel, and discharge every branch of
the pastoral oflice, according to the word of
God, and the established principles of the
Church of Scotland. Mr. Ralph Erskine,
minister at Dunfermline; Mr. Thomas Mair,
minister at Orwel; Mr. John M‘Laren, mini-
ster at Edinburgh; Mr. John Currie, minister
at Kinglassie; Mr. James Wardlaw, minister
at Dunfermline; and Mr. Thomas Nairn,
minister at Abbotshall, protested against the
sentence of the commission, and that it should
be lawful for them to complain of it to any
subsequent general assembly of the church.
The secession properly commenced at this
date. And accordingly the ejected ministers
declared in their protest, that they were laid
under the disagreeable necessity of seceding,
not from the principles and constitution of the
Church of Scotland, to which, they said, they
stedfastly adhered, but from the present
church-courts, which had thrown them out
from ministerial communion. The Assembly,
however, which met in May 1734, did so far
modify the above sentence, that they empow-
ered the synod of Perth and Stirling to receive
the ejected ministers into the communion of
the church, and restore them to their respec-
tive charges; but with this express direction,
“that the said synod should not take upon
them to judge of the legality or formality of
the former procedure of the church judicato-
ries in relation to this affair, or either approve
or censure the same.” As this appointment
neither condemned the act of the preceding
Assembly, nor the conduct of the commission,
the seceding ministers considered it to be ra-
ther an act of grace than of justice; and, there-
fore, they said they could not return to the
church-courts upon this ground; and they
published to the world the reasons of their
refusal, and the terms upon which they were
willing to return to the communion of the
established church. They now erected them-
selves into an ecclesiastical court, which they
called the Associated Presbytery, and preached
occasionally to numbers of the people who
joined them in different parts of the country.
They also published what they called an Act,
Declaration, and Testimony, to the doctrine,
worship, government, and discipline of the
Church of Scotland; and against several in-
stances, as they said, of defection from these,
both in former and in the present times. Some
time after this, several ministers of the esta-
blished church joined them, and the Associ-
ated Presbytery now consisted of eight minis-
ters. But the General Assembly which met in
1738, finding that the number of Seceders was
much increased, ordered the eight ministers
to be served with a libel, and to be cited to
the next meeting of the Assembly, in 1739.
They now appeared at the bar as a constituted
presbytery, and having formally declined the
Assembly’s authority, they immediately with-
drew. The Assembly which met next year
deposed them from the ofiice of the ministry;
which, however, they continued to exercise in
their respective congregations, who still ad-
hered to them, and erected. meeting-houses,
‘where they preached till their death. Mr.
' James Fisher, the last survivor of them, was,
by an unanimous call, in 1741', translated from
Kinclaven to Glasgow, where he continued in
the exercise of his" ministry among a nume-
rous congregation, respected by all ranks in
that large city, and died in 1775, much re-
gretted by his people and friends. In 1745,
the seceding ministers were become so nume-
rous, that they were erected into three differ-
ent presbyteries under one synod, when a very
unprofitable dispute divided them into two
parties.
The burgess oath, in some of the royal bo-
roughs of Scotland, contains the following
clause,—-“ I profess and allow with my heart
the true religion presently professed within
this realm, and authorised by the laws thereof.
I will abide at and defend the same to my
life’s end, renouncing the Romish religion
called Papz'stry.” Messrs. Ebenezer and
Ralph Erskine, James Fisher, and others, ‘
afiirmed that this clause was no way contrary
to the principles upon which the secession was
formed, and that, therefore, every seceder
might lawfully swear it. Messrs. Alexander
Moncrief, Thomas Mair, Adam Gib, and
others, contended, on the other hand, that the
swearing of the above clause was a virtual
renunciation of their testimony; and this
controversy was so keenly agitated, that they
split into two different parties, and now met
in different synods. Those of them who as-
serted the lawfulness of swearing the burgess
oath were called Buryhers; and the other
party, who condemned it, were called Anti-
burgher Seceders. Each party claiming to it-
self the lawihl constitution of the Associaie
Synod, the Antiburghers, after several previ-
ous steps, excommunicated the Burghers, on
the ground of their sin, and of their contu—
macy in it. This rupture took place in 1747,
since which period, till the year 1820, they
remained under the jurisdiction of different
synods, and held separate communion, al-
though, gradually, much of their former hos-
tility was laid aside. The Antiburghers con-
sidered the Burghers as too lax, and not suf-
ficiently stedfast to their testimony. The
Burghers, on the other hand, contended that
the Antiburghers were too rigid, in that
they had introduced new terms of communion
into this society.
What follows, in this article, is a farther
account of those who were commonly called
the Burglzer Seceders. As there were among
them, from the commencement of their seces-
sion, several students who had been educated
at one or other of the universities, they ap-
pointed one of their ministers to give lectures
SEC
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710
ministry. Their seminary is called the Di-
vinity Hall, in which, in addition to the ordi-
nary advantages of a University education,
the students are specially instructed in Bibh-
cal Criticism, Church History, and the prin-
ciples of theology.
Where a congregation is very numerous, as
in Stirling, Dunfermline, and Perth, it is form-
ed into a. collegiate charge, and provided with
two ministers. They were erected into six
different presbyteries, united in one ‘general
synod, which commonly meets at Edinburgh
in May and September. They have also a
synod in Ireland, composed of three or four
different presbyteries. They are legally tole-
rated in Ireland; and government, some years
ago, granted 5001. per annum, and. of late an
additional 5001.; which, when divided among
them, affords to each minister about 201. over
and above the stipend which he receives from
his hearers. These have, besides, a presbytery
in Nova Scotia; and some years ago, the
Burgher and the Antiburgher ministers resid-
ing in the United States formed a coalition,
and joined in a general synod, which they
call the Synod of New York and‘Pennsylvam'a.
They all preach the doctrines contained in the
Westminster Confession of Faith and Cate-
chisms, as they believe these to be founded on
the sacred Scriptures. They catechize their
hearers publicly, and visit them from house to
house once every year. They \will not give
the Lord’s Supper to those who are ignorant
of the principles of the Gospel, nor to such as
are scandalous and immoral in their lives.
They condemn private baptism; nor will they
admit those who are grossly ignorant and pro-
fane to be sponsors for their children. Be-
lieving that the people have a natural right to
choose their own pastors, the settlement of .
their ministers always proceeds upon a popu—
lar election; and the candidate, who is elected
by the majority, is ordained among them.
Convinced that the charge of souls is a trust
of the greatest importance, theyr carefully
watch over the morals of their students, and
direct them to such a course of reading and
study as they judge most proper to quahfy
them for the profitable discharge of the pas-
toral duties. At the ordination of their min-
isters, they use a formula of the same kind
with that of the established church, which
their ministers are bound to subscribe when
called to it; and if any of them teach doctrines
contrary to the Scriptures, or the Westminster
Confession of Faith, they are sure of being
thrown out of their communion. None of
their ministers, excepting one, has been pro-
secuted for error in doctrine since the com~
mencement of their secession.
They believe that the Holy Scriptures are
the sole criterion of truth, and the only rule
to direct mankind to glorify and enjoy God,
the chief and eternal good; and that “ the su-
. in theology, and train up candidates for the

preme judge, by which all controversies of re-
ligion are to be determined, and all the decrees
of councils, opinions of ancient writers, doc-
trines of men and private spirits, are to be ex-
amined, and in whose sentence we are to rest,
can be no other but the Holy Spirit speaking
in the Scriptures.” They are fully persuaded,
however, that the standards of public authority
in the Church of Scotland exhibit a just and
consistent view of the meaning and design of
the holy Scriptures with regard to doctrine,
worship, government, and discipline; and they
so far differ from the Dissenters in England,
in that they hold these standards to be not only
articles of peace and a test of orthodoxy, but
as a bond of union and fellowship. They con-
sider a simple declaration of adherence to the
Scriptures as too equivocal a proof of unity in
sentiment, because Arians, Socinians, and Ar-
minians, make such a confession of their faith,
while they retain sentiments which they (the
Seceders) apprehend are subversive of the
great doctrines of the Gospel. They believe
that Jesus Christ is the only King and Head
of the church, which is his body; that it is
his sole prerogative to enact laws for the go-
vernment of his kingdom, which is not of this
world; and that the church is not possessed of
a legislative, but only of an executive power,
to be exercised in explaining and applying
to their proper objects and ends those laws
which Christ hath published in the Scriptures.
Those doctrines which they teach relative to
faith and practice are exhibited at great length
in an explanation of the Westminster Assem—
bly’s Shorter Catechism, by way of question
and answer, in two volumes, composed chiefly
by Mr. James Fisher, late of Glasgow, and
published by desire of their synod.
For these fifty years past, the grounds of
their secession, they allege, have been greatly
enlarged by the public administrations of the
established church, and particularly by the
uniform execution of thelaw respecting pa-
tronage, which, they say, has obliged many
thousands of private Christians to withdraw
from the parish churches, and join their society
In most of their congregations, they cele-
brate the Lord’s Supper twice in the year; and
they catechize their young people concerning
their knowledge of the principles of religion
previously to their admission to that sacra-
ment. When any of them fall into the sin of
fornication or adultery, the scandal is regu~
larly purged according to the form of process
in the established church; and those of the
delinquents who do not submit to adequate
censure, are publicly declared to be fugitives
from discipline, and are expelled the society.
They never accept a sum of money as a com-
mutation for the offence. They condemn all
clandestine and irregular marriages; nor will
they marry any persons unless-they have been
proclaimed in the parish church on two dif- *
ferent Lord’s days at least.
SEC
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711
The constitution of the Antiburgher church
differed very little from that of the Burghers.
The supreme court among them was designat-
ed The General Associate Synod, having under
its jurisdiction three provincial synods in
Scotland, and one in Ireland. They, as well
as the Burgher Seceders, had a professor of
theology, whose lectures every candidate for
the oflice of a preacher was obliged to attend.
After many unsuccessful attempts to bring
about a reunion of these two bodies, measures
were more vigorously renewed about twelve
or fourteen years ago, and in 1820 it was hap-
pily accomplished; and the communion thus
formed took the name of the United Secession
Church, and now constitutes the most nume-
rous and influential body among the Dissent-
ers in Scotland. Though unendowed, and
labouring under many disadvantages in a pc-
cuniary point of view, it is rich in the intelli-
gence and piety of its ministers, and the extent
in which true religion is found to exist among
its members. \Vith much of that hereditary
profession which is so common in the North,
there are, nevertheless, in its congregations
numbers who have experienced the Gospel to
be the power of God unto salvation, and who
adorn the doctrine of God their Saviour in all
things. It is every day acquiring fresh
strength by the increase of its members ; and
instead of a coalition being any longer expect-
ed between this church and the establishment,
the probability of any such union is every day
becoming less and less, owing partly to a
growing jealousy of the Dissenters, and an
indisposition to co-operate with them in reli-
gious matters, on the part of the Mother
Church, and partly to the rapid progress that
is making, both among the ministers and
people of the Secession, of principles decid-
edly hostile to all ecclesiastical establishments.
The number of settled ministers at present
in the united body is about three hundred and
twenty, vacant churches from thirty to forty,
and the number of licensed preachers on the
list nearly a hundred. In the most populous
towns the congregations belonging to this
body not only rival, but often exceed, in nu-
merical strength, the congregations of the
establishment. About two hundred ministers
attached to this church labour in England in
the cause of evangelical truth and Christian
liberty, and form there an independent body.
In the northern counties a considerable num-
ber of congregations have been formed in this
connexion. These have regular presbytcries.
There are in London four congregations. In
North America, much of the supply of evan-
gelical Presbyterian ministers has been obtain-
ed from this body; and in Nova Scotia, the
Presbyterian Church not only had its origin,
- but also, till very lately, its entire supply from
them.
SECEDERS, OLD LIGHT, an insignificant
section of the old Secession church, otherwise
known by the name of Original Seceders, an
agreeing pretty much with those next men-
tioned, yet keeping themselves distinct from
them, and holding no fellowship with any
other body of professors. They are described
as few in number, and remarkable for nothin
but illiberality and intolerance. Edin. Theol.
Rev. Nov., 1830.
SEcEnERs, ORIGINAL, a small party of
Presbyterians in Scotland, which has lately
coalesced under the auspices of Dr. lV ‘Crie
and Mr. Paxton, who refused to unite with
the United Secession Church, on the ground
of the mere abstract question about the “ ma-
gistrate’s power” in matters of religion. De-
pendent entirely on old prejudices upheld and
recommended merely by the respectability of
the names of their leaders, this body, which
is extremely small, cannot subsist long, but
must gradually merge into one or other of the
largerbodies of Presbyterian Dissenters.
Snc'r, a collective term, comprehending all
such as follow the doctrines and opinions of
some divine, philosopher, &c. The word
sect, says Dr. Campbell (Prelim. Diss.) among
the Jews, was not, in its application, entirely
coincident with the same term as applied by
Christians to the subdivisions subsisting
among themselves. ‘We, if I mistake not, in-
variably use it of those who form separate
communions, and do not associate with one.
another in religious worship and ceremonies
Thus, we call Papists, Lutherans, Calvinists,
different sects, not so much on account of their
differences in opinion, as because they have
established to themselves different fraternities,
to which, in what regards public worship,
they confine themselves; the several denomi-
nations above mentioned having no inter-
community with one another in sacred matters.
High Church and Low Church we call only
parties, because they have not formed separate
communions. Great and known differences
in opinion, when followed by no external
breach in the society, are not considered with
us as constituting distinct sects, though their
differences in opinion may give rise to mutual
aversion. Now in the Jewish sects, (if we
except the Samaritans) there were no sepa-
rate communities erected.
and the same synagogues were attended alike
by Pharisees and Sadducees : nay, they were
often of both denominations in the sanhedrim,
and even in the priesthood. Another differ-
ence was, also, that the name of the sect was
not applied to all the people who adopted the
same opinions, but solely to the men of emi-
nence among them who were considered as the
leaders of the party.
SECULAR CLERGY. See CLERGY.
SECUNDIANS, a denomination in the second
century which derived their 11. me from Secun-
dus, a disciple of Valentine. He maintained
the doctrine oftwo eternal principles, viz. light
and darkness, whence arose the good and evil
The same temple ‘
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712
that are observable in the universe.
VALENTINIANS.
SEDUCER, one who decoys or draws away
another from that which is right. _
SEE, APOSTOLIC, the chair or throne of
such bishoprics as were supposed to have been
‘formed by an apostle.
The title, thus originally common to many,
was, in process of time, by the ambition of
the Bishops of Rome, appropriated to their
own. They had, as they thought, till the
year 1662, apregnant proof, not only of St.
Peter’s erecting their chair, but of his sitting
in it himself: for till that year the very chair
on which they believed, or would make
others believe, he had sat, was shown and
exposed to public adoration on the 18th of
January, the festival of the said chair. But
while it was cleaning in'order to be set up
in some conspicuous place of the Vatican, the
twelve labours of Hercules unluckily ap-
peared engraved on it. Our worship, how-
ever, says Giacomo Bartholini, who was pre-
sent at this discovery, and relates it, was not
misplaced, since it was not to the wood we
paid it, but to the prince of the apostles, St.
Peter. An author of no mean character, un-
willing to give up the holy chair, even after
this discovery, as having a place and a pecu-
liar solemnity among the other saints, has
attempted to explain the labours of Hercules
in a mystical sense, as emblems representing
the future exploits of the popes. But the ridi-
culous and distorted conceits of that writer
are not worthy our notice, though by Cle-
ment X. they were judged not unworthy of a
reward.
SEEKERS, a denomination which arose in
England in the year 1645. They derived
their name from their maintaining that the
true church ministry, Scripture, and ordi-
nances, were lost, for which they were seek-
ing. They taught that the Scriptures were
uncertain; that present miracles were ne-
cessary to faith; that our ministry is with-
out authority; and that our worship and ordi-
nances are unnecessary or vain.
SELEUCIANS, disciples of Seleucus, a philo-
sopher of Galatia, who, about the year 380,
adopted the sentiments of' Hermogenes and
those of Audaeus. He taught, with the Valen-
tinians, that Jesus Christ assumed abody only
in appearance. He also maintained that the
world was not made by God, but was co-
eternal with him ; and that the soul was only
an animated fire created by the angels; that
Christ does not sit at the right hand of the
Father in a human body, but that be lodged
his body in the sun, according to Ps. xix. 4 ;
and that the pleasures of beatitude consisted
in corporeal delight.
SELF-BAPTIZERS. See sE-BAPTISTS.
SELF-DECEPTIQN includes all those various
frauds which we practise on ourselves in
forming a judgment, or receiving an impres-
See
sion of our own state, character, and conduct;
or those deceits which make our hearts impose
on us in making us promises, if they may be
so termed, which are not kept, and contract-
ing engagements which are never performed.
Self-deception, as one observes, appears in
the following cases. “ 1. In judging of our
own character, on which we too easily confer
the name of self-examination, how often may
we detect ourselves in enhancing the merit of
the good qualities we possess, and in giving
ourselves credit for others which we really
have not! 2. When several motives or pas-
sions concur in prompting us to any action,
we too easily assign the chief place and effect
to the best. 3. We are too prone to flatter
ourselves by indulging the notion that our
habits of vice are but individual acts, into
which we have been seduced by occasional
temptations, while we are easily led to assign
the name of habits to our occasional acts and
individual instances of virtue. 4. We con-
found the mere assent of the understanding
naturally, attended by some correspondent
but transient sensibilities, with the impulses
of the affections and determination of the
will. 5. We are apt to ascribe to settled
principles the good actions, which are the
mere effect of natural temper. 6. As some-
times, in estimating the character of others,
we too hastily infer the right motive from the
outward act; so, in judging of ourselves we
overrate the worth by overvaluing the motives
of our actions. 7. We 'often, confound the
non-appearance of a vicious affection with its
actual extinction. 8. ‘We often deceive our-
selves by comparing our actual with our
former character and conduct, and perhaps
too easily ascribing to the extirpation of
vicious, or the implantation of virtuous habits,
that improvement which is owing merely to
the lapse of time, advancing age, altered cir-
cumstances, Sec. 9. Another general and
fertile source of self-deception is our readiness
to excuse, or at least to extenuate the vices
of our particular station: while we congra-
tulate ourselves on the absence of other
vices which we are under no temptation to
commit. 10. We deceive ourselves by sup-
posing our remorse for sin is genuine, when,
alas, it does not lead to repentance. 11. By
forming improper judgments of others, and
forming our own conduct upon theirs.” From
this view we may learn, 1. That the objects
as to which men deceive themselves are very
numerous, God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit,
the Bible and Gospel doctrines, religious
experience, sin, heaven, hell, 8w. 2. The
causes are great and powerful; sin, Satan, the
heart, the world, interest, prejudice. ‘3. The
numbers who deceive themselves are great;
the young, the aged, the rich, the poor, self-
righteous, hypocrites, apostates, the ungodly.
4. The evils are many and awful. It renders
us the slaves of procrastination, leads us to
SEL
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713
overrate ourselves. fiatters us with an. idea of
easy victory, confirms our evil habits, and
exposes us to the greatest danger. 5. We
should endeavour to understand and practise
the means not to be deceived; such as strict
self-inquiry, prayer, watchfulness, and ever
taking the Scriptures for our guide. 6. And
lastly, we should learn to ascertain-the evi-
dences of not being deceived, which are such
as these: when sin is the object of our in-
creasing fear, a tenderness of conscience,
when we can appeal to God as to the sincerity
of our motives and aims, when dependent on
God’s promise, providence, and grace, and
when conformed to him in all. righteousness
and true holiness. Christ. Obs. 1802, pp.
632, 633. '
SELF-DEDICATION, the giving up of ourselves
unrescrvedly to God; that we may serve him
in righteousness and true holiness. See
vHowe’s W'orhs, vol. i. 8vo. edit.
SELF-DEFENCE implies not only the preser-
vation of one’s life, but also the protection of
our property, because without property life
cannot be preserved in a civilized nation.
Some condemn all resistance, whatsoever
be the evil offered, or whosoever be the per-
son that offers it; others will not admit that
it should pass any further than bare resistance ;
others say that it must never be carried so far
as hazarding the life of the assailant; and
others, again, who deny it not to be lawful in
some cases to kill the aggressor, at the same
time aflirm it to be a thing more laudable
and consonant to the gospel to choose rather
to lose one’s life in imitation of Christ, than
to secure it at the expense of another’s, in
pursuance of the permission of nature. But,
“ Notwithstanding,” says Grove, “ the great
names which may appear on the side of any
of these opinions, I cannot but think self-
defence, though it proceeds to the killing of
another to save one’s self, is in common cases
not barely, permitted, but enjoined by nature;
and that a man would be wanting to the
Author of his being, to society, and to himself,
to abandon that life with which he is put in
trust. That a person forfeits his own life to
the sword of justice by taking away another’s
unprovoked, is a principle not to be disputed.
This being so, I ask, whence should arise the
obligation to let another kill me, rather than
to venture to save myself by destroying my
enemy? It cannot arise from a regard to
society, which, by my suffering another to
kill me, loses two lives; that of an honest man
by unjust violence, and that of his murderer,
if it can be called aloss, by the hand of justice.
YVhereas, by killing the invader of my life, I
only take a life, which must otherwise have
been forfeited, and preserve the life of an
innocent person. Nor for the same reason
can there be any such obligation arising from
the love of our neighbour; since I do not
really save his life by parting with my own,
but only leave him to be put to death after a
more ignominious manner by the public exe-
cutioner. And if it be said that I dispatch
him with his sins upon him into the other
world, which he might have lived long enough
to repent of, if legally condemned; as he must
answer for that, who brought me under a
necessity of using this method for my own
preservation; so I myself may not be pre-
pared, or may not think myself so, or so well
assured of it as to venture into the presence of
my great Judge; and no charity obliges me
to prefer the safety of another’s soul to my
own. Self-defence, therefore, may be with
justice practised, 1. In case of an attempt
made upon the life of a person, against which
he has no other way of securing himself but
by repelling force by force. 2. It is generally
esteemed lawful to kill in the defence of
chastity, supposing there be no other way of
preserving it.” See Grove’s Moral Philosophy.
Also Hints on the Lawfulness of Selfldefence
by a Scotch Dissenter.
SELF-DENIAL, a term that denotes our
relinquishing every thing that stands in oppo-
sition to the divine command, and our own
spiritual welfare, Matt. xvi. 24. It does not
consist in denying what a man is, or what he
has; in refusing favours conferred on us in
the course of providence; in rejecting the use
of God’s creatures; in being careless of life,
health, and family; in macerating the body,
or abusing it in any respect; but in renouncing
all those pleasures, profits, views, connexions,
or practices, that are prejudicial to the true
interests of the soul. The understanding
must be so far denied as not to lean upon it,
independent of divine instruction. Prov. iii.
5, 6. The will must be denied, so far as it
opposes the will of God, Eph. v. 17. The
affections, when they become inordinate, Col.
iii. 5. The gratification of the members of
the body must be denied when out of their
due course, Rom. vi. 12, 13. The honours of
the world, and praise of men, when they
become a snare, Heb. xi. 24—26. Worldly
emoluments, when to be obtained in an un~
lawful way, or when standing in opposition
to religion and usefulness, Matt. iv. 20—22.
Friends and relatives, so far as they oppose
the truth, and would influence us to oppose it
too, Gen. xii. 1. Our own righteousness, so
as to depend upon it, Phil. iii. 8, 9. Life
itself must be laid down, if called for in the
cause of Christ, Matt. xvi. 24, 25. In fine,
every thing that is sinful must be denied,
however pleasant, and apparently advanta-
geous, since, without holiness, no man shall
see the Lord, Heb. xii. 14. To enable us to
practise this duty, let us consider the injunc-
tion of Christ, Matt. xvi. 24; his eminent
example, Phil. ii. 5, 8 ; the encouragement he
gives, Matt. xvi. 225 ; the example of his saints
in all ages, Heb. xi. ; the advantages that attend
it; and above all, learn to implore the agency
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714
of that Divine Spirit, without whom we can
do nothing.
SELF-EXAMINATION is the calling ourselves
to a strict account for all the actions of our
lives, comparing them with the word of God,
the rule of duty; considering how much evil
we have committed, and good we have omitted.
It is a duty founded on a divine command,
2 Cor. xiii. 5, and ought to be, 1. Deliberately.
2. Frequently. 3. lmpartially. 4. Diligently.
5. Wisely. And, 6. With a desire of amend-
ment. This, though a legal duty, as some
modern Christians would call it, is essential
to our improvement, our felicity, and interest.
“ They,” says Mr Wilberforce, (Pract. View,)
“ who in a crazy vessel navigate a sea
wherein are shoals and currents innumerable,
if they would keep their course, or reach their
port in safety, must carefully repair the
smallest injuries, and often throw out their
line, and take their observations. In the
voyage of life, also, the Christian who would
not make shipwreck of his faith, while he is
habitually watchful and provident, must make
it his express business to look into his state
and ascertain his progress.”
SELF-EXISTENCE or (301) is his entire
existence of himself, not owing it to any other
being whatsoever ; and thus God would exist,
if there were no other being in the whole
compass of nature but himself. See Exrs'rnncn
and E'rnnnrrv or GOD.
SELF—GOVERNMENT. See HEART.
SELFISHNESS. See SELF-SEEKING.
SELF-KNOWLEDGE, the knowledge of one’s
.own character,’ abilities, duties, principles,
prejudices, tempers, secret springs of action,
thoughts, memory, taste, views in life, virtues,
and vices. This knowledge is commanded
in the Scriptures, Psalm iv. 4; 2 Cor. xiii. 5,
and is of the greatest utility, as it is the
spring of self-possession, leads to humility,
stedfastness, charity, moderation, self—denial,
and promotes our usefulness in the world.
To obtain it, there should be watchfulness,
frequent and close attention to the operations
of our own minds, regard had to the opinions
of others, conversation, reading the Scriptures,
and dependence on divine grace. See Mason
on Sclfllmowledge; Baa'ter’s Set lacquaintance ,-
Loc/ze on the Understanding,- Watts’s Improve-
ment ofthe ll’lz'nd.
SELF-LOVE is that instinctive principle
which impels every animal, rational and irra-
tional, to preserve its life and promote its own
happiness. “ It is very generally confounded
with selfishness; but, perhaps, the one propen-
sity is distinct from the other. Every man
loves himself, but every man is not selfish.
The selfish man grasps at all immediate
advantages, regardless of the consequences
which his conduct may have upon his neigh-
hour. Self-love only prompts him who is
actuated by it to procure to himself the
‘greatest possible sum of happiness during the
whole of his existence. In this pursuit, the
rational self-lover will often forego a present
enjoyment to obtain a greater and'more per-
manent one in reversion; and he will as often
submit to a present pain to avoid a greater
hereafter. Self-love, as distinguished from
selfishness, always comprehends the whole of
a man’s existence ; and in that extended sense
of the phrase, every man is a self-lover; for,
with eternity in his view, it is surely not
possible for the most disinterested of the
human race not to prefer himself to all other
men, if their future and everlasting interests
could come into competition. This, indeed,
they never can do ; for though the introduction
of evil into the world, and the different ranks
which it makes necessary in society, put it in
the power of a man to raise himself in the
present state by the depression of his neigh-
bour, or by the practice of injustice; yet in
the pursuit of the glorious prize which is set
before us, there can be no rivalship among
the competitors. The success of one 18 no
injury to another; and, therefore, in this sense
of the phrase, self-love is not only lawful, but
absolutely unavoidable." Self-love, however,
says J ortin, (ser. 13, vol. iv.) is vicious,
1. When it leads us to judge too favourably of
our faults—2. When we think too well of our
righteousness, and over-value our good actions,
and are pure in our own eyes—3. When we
over-value our abilities, and entertain too good
an opinion of our knowledge and capacity.
—-4. When we are proud and vain of inferior
things, and value ourselves upon the station
and circumstances in which, not our own
deserts, but some other cause, has placed us.
——5. When we make our worldly interest,
convenience, ease, or pleasure, the great end
of our actions.
Much has been said about the doctrine of
disinterested love to God. It must be con-
fessed that we ought to love him for his
own excellences ; yet it is difficult to form an
idea how we can love God unconnected with
any interest to ourselves. What, indeed, we
ought to do, and what we really do, or can
do, is very different. There is an everlasting
obligation on men to love God for what he is,
however incapable of doing it; but at the
same time, our love to him is our interest;
nor can we, in the present state, I think, while
possessed of such bodies and such minds, love
God without including a sense of his relative
goodness. “ We love him,” says John,
“ because he first loved us.” See LOVE.
SEMBIANI, so called from Sembianus their
leader, who condemned all use of wine as
evil of itself. He persuaded his followers that
wine was a production of Satan and the
earth, denied the resurrection of the body,
and rejected most of the books of the old
Testament. ~
sEMI-ARIANS were thus denominated, be—
cause, in profession, they condemned the
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715
errors of the Arians, but in reality maintained
their principles, only palliating and concealing
them under softer and more moderate terms.
They would not allow, with the orthodox,
that the Son was ouoovotog, of the same sub-
stance, but only OILOLO'UO'LOQ, of a like substance
‘ with the Father; and thus, though in expres-
sion they differed from the orthodox in a
single letter only, yet in effect they de—
nied the divinity of Jesus Christ. The
Semi-Ariamsm of the moderns consists in
their maintaining that the Son was, from all
eternity, begotten by the will of the Father;
contrary to the doctrine of those who teach
that the eternal generation is necessary. Such,
at least, are the respective opinions of Dr.
Clarke and Bishop Bull.
SEMI-PELAGIANS, a name anciently, and
even at this day, given to such as retain some
tincture of Pelagianism.
Cassian, who had been a deacon of Con-
stantinople, and was afterwards a priest at
Marseilles, was the chief of these Semi-Pela-
gians, whose'leading principles were, 1. That
God did not dispense his grace to one more
than another, in consequence of predestination,
i. e. an eternal and absolute decree, but was
willing to save all men, if they complied with
the terms of his Gospel.--2. That Christ died
for all men.——-3. That the grace purchased by
Christ, and necessary to salvation, was offered
to all men—4. That man, before he received
grace, was capable of faith and holy desires.
—5. That man was born free, and was conse-
quently capable of resisting the influences of
grace, or of complying with its suggestion.
The Semi-Pelagians were very numerous;
and the doctrine of Cassian, though variously
explained, was received in the greatest part
of the monastic schools in Gaul, from whence
it spread itself far and wide through the
European provinces. As to the Greeks and
other Eastern Christians, they had em~
braced the Semi-Pelagian doctrines before
Cassian. In the sixth century the controversy
between the SemisPelagians and the disciples
of Augustine prevailed much and continued to
divide the western churches.
SENSE, a faculty of the soul, whereby it
perceives external objects by means of im*
pressions made on the organs of the body.
Moral sense is said to be an apprehension
'_ of that beauty or deformity which arises in
the mind by a kind of natural instinct, pre-
viously to any reasoning upon the remoter
consequences of actions. Whether this really
exists or not, is disputed. On the affirmative
side it is said that, 1. We approve or disap—
prove certain actions withont deliberation.
2. This approbation or ‘disapprobation is uni~
form and universal. But against this opinion
it is answered, that, 1. This uniformity of
sentiment does not pervade all nations. 2.
Approbation of particular conduct arises from
a sense of its advantages. The idea continues
when the motive no longer exists; receives
strength from authority, imitation, &c. The
efiicaey of imitation is most observable in
children. 3. There are no maxims univer-
sally trne, but bend to circumstances. 4.
There can be no idea without an object, and
instinct is inseparable from the idea of the
object. See Puley’s Moral Philosophy, vol. i.
chap. v. ; Hutches-on on the Passions, p. 245,
&c.; Mason’s Sermons, vol. i. p. 253.
SENSE OF SCRIPTURE. In interpreting the
Bible, the Catholics hold to a'fourfold sense.
The first is, the sensus grammaticus, or literce;
the second, or sensus mysticus, they subdivide
into three; viz. tropologz'cus, or moralis; alle-
gorz'cus, and anagogz'cus. This theory of her-
meneutics was expressed in the following
distich :—
Litera gesta docet; quid eredas allegoria ,-
M oralz's quid agas; quid speres a-nayoyia.
The reformers, on the other hand, and
most of the older divines, held only one sense
—namely, the grammatical. Their opinion
is beautifully expressed by Maresius: Absit a
nobis ut Deum faciamus (liq/Morrow, aut mul-
tiplices sensus aflingamus ipsius verbo, in quo
potius, tanquam in speculo limpidissimo, sui
auctoris simplicitatem eontemplari debemus,
Ps. xii. 6; xix. 9. Unicus ergo sensus scrip-
turaa, nempe grammaticus, est admittendus,
quibuscunque demum terminis, vel propriis
vel tropicis et figuratis exprimatnr. So
strong were the feelings of Luther upon the
subject, that he did not scruple to afiirm that
the grammatical sense of Scripture is the only
sense on which we can rest at the hour of
death: or, to use his own words, the only
sense that it will do to die by.
SENTENCES, BOOK OF. See LOMBARD.
SEPARATISTS, a small body of Independents,
founded by the late John \Valker, originally
fellow of Trinity College, Dublin, but who
left the Established Church, and after preach-
ing for some time, with considerable popu-
larity, in different parts of the united king-
doms, settled down as member and teacher of
the society in Dublin, but owing to some pe-
culiar notion, never considered himself quali-
fied to accept the elder’s ofiice in it. Their
principles are rigid in the extreme. They
separate from all other bodies of professing
Christians ; but keep at the greatest distance
from the Saudemanians, who come nearest to
them in opinion. Their worship is conducted
in a state of complete separation from those
who may visit them, by means of a partition
which divides them. They will not pray in
private, nor hold any religious intercourse
with those who do not belong to them.
When any of their number is excommunicated,
they will not eat so much as a common meal
with him. They disallow of oaths; and shortly
after the introduction of the Reform Bill,
Parliament most inconsistently passed an act,
\ exempting them from the necessity of taking

SEP
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716
them, while they paid no deference to the
scruples of other Dissenters, and even mem-
bers of the Establishment, on the subject.
SEPTUAGESIMA, the third Sunday before the
first Sunday in Lent; so called because it was
about seventy days before Easter.
SEPTUAGIN'E, the name given to the most
ancient Greek version of the books of the
Old Testament, from its being supposed to be
the work of seventy-two Jews, who are
usually called the seventy interpreters, be-
cause seventy is a round number.
Aristobulus, who was tutor to Ptolemy
Physcon; Philo, who lived in our Saviour’s
time, and was contemporary with the apos-
tles; and Josephus, speak of this translation
as made by seventy-two interpreters, by the
care of Demetrius Phalereus, in the reign of
Ptolemy Philadelphus. All the Christian
writers, during the first fifteen centuries of
the Christian era, have admitted this account
of the Septuagint as an undoubted fact; but,
since the Reformation, critics have boldly
called it in question. But whatever differ-
ences of opinion there have been as to the
mode of translation, it is universally acknow-
ledged that such a version, in whole or in part,
existed; and it is pretty evident that most of
the books must have been translated before
our Saviour’s time, as they are quoted by
him. It must also be considered as a won—
derful providence in favour of the religion of
Jesus. It prepared the way for his coming,
and afterwards gr‘eatly promoted the setting
up of his kingdom in the world; for hitherto
the Scriptures had remained locked up from
all other nations but the Jews, in the Hebrew
tongue, which was understood by no other
nation; but now it was translated into the
Greek language, which was a language com-
monly understood by the nations of the world.
It has also been with great propriety ob-
served, “ that there are many words and
forms of speech in the New Testament, the
true import of which cannot be known but by
their use in the Septuagint. This version
also preserves many important words, some
sentences, and several whole verses which
originally made a part of the Hebrew text,
but have long ago entirely disappeared. This
is the version, and this only, which is con-
stantly used and quoted in the gospels and
by the apostles, and which has thereby re-
ceived the highest sanction which any writ-
ings can possibly receive.”
The principal editions of this important
version are the following :—The Complutcn-
sion, 1517. This was the Polyglot, and from
the text of it editions were afterwards. pub-
lished in the Antwerp Polyglot, 1572; 1n the
'l‘riglot of Commeline, at Middleburg, 1n
1586; by Welter in 1596, at Hamburg; by
Hutter, at Nuremburg in 1599; and in the
Paris Polyglot, 1645. The AZI/iflé or Vene-
lmn. 1518. This edition was from the cele-
brated press of Aldus, and in regard to its
publication was prior to the Complutensian;
the text is also much more correct. From
this text other editions were printed; at
Strasburg, by Cephalaeus, in 1526; Basle,
1545, 1550, and 1582; and Frankfort, 1597.
The Roman or Vatican, 1587. Published
from the celebrated Vatican MS. by order of
Sixtus V. It has received the commenda-
tions of all learned men, from Morinus to
Masch. Editions of it were printed in 1628,
at Paris; at London, in 1653, and in the
Polyglot, 1657; Cambridge, 1665; Amster~
dam, 1683; Leipzig, 1697; Franeker, 1709.
by Bos; Amsterdam, 1725, by Mill; Leipzig,
1730, and 1757; Halle, 1759; Oxford, 1805,
and 1817. The Alexandrina First published
from the MS. of that name in the British
Museum, by Grabe and Lee, 1707-1720, 4
vols. fol. and 8 vols. 8vo. It was republished
by Breitinger in 4 vols. 4to. at Zurich. in
1730—1733. The best edition of the Septua-
gint is IIolmes’s. Of this splendid edition,
the book of Genesis was published in 1798,
and the Pentateuch was completed in 1804.
Dr. Holmes died in 1805, after having pub-
lished the book of Daniel. The work was
then committed to the Rev. J. Parsons, who
finished it in 1827. About 70001. were sub-
scribed to assist in procuring the collation of
MSS. in every part of Europe; and fourteen
years were spent in this preparatory process.
To the Pentateuch is prefixed a valuable pre-
face, giving a full account of the nature of the
undertaking. It is the most perfect work of
its kind, and leaves nothing to be desired but
the formation of a critical text from the trea-
sure of its collected readings. An extended
account of this edition is given in volume
the second of the first series of the Eclectic
Review, and in the Classical Journal, vol. ix.
If the reader wish to examine into the his-
tory and importance of this version, in addi—
tion to the works of Walsh and Le Long,
which treat of the editions, he may consult
Walton’s Prolegomena, cap. ix.; Hody’s Dis-
sertatio in Historiam Aristeae dc LXX. In-
terpretibus; Prideaux’s Connexion, Part II.,
b. i.; and Bauer, Tract. III. ; also Hamilton’s
Introduction to the Hebrew Scriptures, chap.
vi.; Ewing’s Greek Grammar, sect. xi.; A
Letter showing why our English Bibles differ
so much from the Septuagint, &c., by Dr.
Thomas Brett, 1743, 8vo.; (republished in
the third volume of \Vatson’s Theological
Tracts ;) and Owen’s Inquiry into the pre-
sent state of the Septuagint.
The book, says Michaelis, most necessary
to be read and understood by every man who
studies the New Testament, is, without doubt,
the Septuagint, which alone has been of more
service than all the passages from the profane
authors collected together. It should be read
in the public schools by those who are des-
tined for the church, should form the subject
SER
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717
of a course of lectures at the university, and
be the constant companion of an expositor of
the New Testament.
Those who desire a larger account of this
translation, may consult Hody, de Bib. Tea:-
tz'bus ,- Prideawv’s Connexion; Owen’s Inquiry
into the Septuagint Version; Blair’s Lectures
on the Canon,- Michaelis’s Introduction to the
New Testament; Clarke’s Bibliotheca; and
Orme’s Bib. Bibl.
SEPTUAGINT CHRONOLOGY, the chronology
which is formed from the dates and periods of
time mentioned in the Septuagint translation
of the Old Testament. It reckons 1500 years
more from the creation to Abraham than the
Hebrew Bible. Dr. Kennicott, in the disser-
tation prefixed to his Hebrew Bible, has at-
tempted to show that it is very probable that
the chronology of the Hebrew Scriptures, since
the period just mentioned, was corrupted by
the Jews between the years 175 and 200; and
that the chronology of the Septuagint is more
agreeable to truth. It is a fact, that, during
the second and third centuries, the Hebrew
Scriptures were almost entirely in the hands
of the Jews, while the Septuagint was confined
to the Christians, and they had, therefore, a
very favourable opportunity for this corrup-
tion; but no proof can be brought home to
them, and the religious, or rather superstitious
veneration in which they have ever held their
Scriptures, and which is clearly discoverable
in the integrity of the rest of these writings,
renders it in the highest degree improbable
that they corrupted the chronology. _
SERIOUSNESS, a term often used as synony-
mous with religion.
SEnMoN, a discourse delivered in public
for the purpose of religious instruction and
improvement.
In order to make a good sermon, the follow-
ing things may be attended to. The exordium
should correspond with the subject on which we
are about to treat. For this purpose the con-
text often forms a source of appropriate re-
mark; and this, though called a hackneyed
way, is one of the best for opening gradually
to the subject; though, I confess, always to use
it is not so well, as it looks formal. There are
some subjects in which the context cannot be
consulted: then, perhaps, it is best to begin
with some passage of Scripture apposite to the
subject, or some striking observation. It has
been debated, indeed, whether we should be-
gin with any thing particularly calculated _to
gain the attention, or whether we should rise
gradually in the strength of remark and apt-
ness of sentiment. As to this, we may observe,
that although it is acknowledged that ammis-
ter should flame most towards the ‘end, per-
haps it would be well to guard against a too
low and feeble manner in the exordium. _ It
has been frequently the practice of making
apologies, by way of introduction: though
this may be admitted in some singular cases.
as on the sudden death of a minister, or disap-
pointment of the preacher, through unforeseen
circumstances, yet I think it is often made use
of where it is entirely unnecessary, and car-
ries with it an air of afl'ectation and pride.
An apology for a man’s self is often more a
reflection than any thing else. If he be not
qualified, why have the efl'rontery to engage?
and, if qualified, why tell the people an un-
truth ?
Exordiums should be short; some give us
an abridgment of their sermon in their intro-
duction, which takes off the people’s attention
afterwards ; others promise so much, that the
expectation thereby raised is often disap-
pointed. Both these should be avoided ; and
a simple, correct, modest, deliberate, easy
gradation to the text attended to.
As to the plan. Sometimes a text may be
discussed by exposition and inference; some-
times by raising a proposition, as the general
sentiment of the text, from which several
truths may be deduced and insisted on ; some-
times by general observations; and sometimes
by division. If we discuss by exposition, then
we should examine the authenticity of the
reading, the accuracy of the translation, and
the scope of the writer. If a proposition be
raised, care should be taken that it is founded
on the meaning of the text. If observations
be made, they should not be too numerous,
foreign, nor upon every particle in the text.
If by division, the heads should be distinct
and few, yet have a just dependence on and
connexion one with the other. It was com-
mon in the last two centuries to have such a
multitude of heads, subdivisions, observations,
and inferences, that hardly any one could re-
member them : it is the custom of the present
day, among many, to run into the other ex-
treme, and to have no division at all. This is
equally as injurious. “ I have no notion,”
says one, “ of the great usefulness of a sermon
without heads and divisions. They should be
few, and distinct, and not coincide. But a
general harangue, or a sermon with a con-
cealed division, is very improper for the gene-
rality of hearers, especially the common peo-
ple, as they can neither remember it, nor so
well understand it.” Another observes : “ We
should ever remember that we are speaking to
the plainest capacities; and as the arranging
our ideas properly is necessary to our being
understood, so the giving each division of our
discourse its denomination of number has a
happy effect to assist the attention and me-
mory of our hearers.”
As to the amplification. After having laid
a good foundation on which to build, the su-
perstructure should be raised with care.
“ Let every text have its true meaning, every
truth its due weight, every hearer his proper
portion.” The reasoning should be clear, de-
liberate, and strong. N 0 flights of wit should
be indulged ; but a close attention to the sub-
SE R
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718
ject, with every exertion to inform the judg-
ment and impress the heart. It is in this part
of a sermon that it will be seen whether a
man understands his subject, enters into the
spirit of it, or whether after all this parade, he
be a mere trifler. I have known some who,
after having given a pleasing exordium and
ingenious plan, have been very deficient in the
amplification of the subject; which shows that
a man may be capable of making a good plan,
and not a good sermon, which of the two, per-
haps, is worse than making a good sermon
without a good plan. The best of men, how-
ever, cannot always enter into the subject
with that ability which at certain times they
are capable of. If in our attempts, therefore,
to enlarge on particulars, we find our thoughts
do not run freely on any point, we should not
urge them too much--this will tire and jade
the faculties too soon; but pursue our plan.
Better thoughts may occur afterwards, which
we may occasionally insert.
As to the application. It is much to be la-
mented that this is a part which does not be-
long to the sermons of some divines. They
can discuss a topic in a general way, show
their abilities, and give pleasing descriptions
of virtue and religion; but to apply, they
think will hurt the feelings of their auditors.
But I believe it has been found that, among
such, little good has been done; nor is it like-
ly, when the people are never led to suppose
that they are the parties interested. There
are also some doctrinal preachers who reject
application altogether, and who affect to dis-
charge their ofiice by narrating and reasoning
only ; but such should remember that reason-
ing is persuasion,- and that themselves, as often
as any men, slide into personal application,
especially in discussing certain favourite points
in divinity. Application is certainly one of
the most important parts of a sermon.
Here both the judgment and the passions
should be powerfully addressed. Here the
minister must reason, expostulate, invite, warn,
and exhort; and all without harshness and an
insulting air. Here pity, love, faithfulness,
concern, must be all displayed. The applica-
tion, however, must not be too long, unnatural,
nor, I think, concluded abruptly. ‘We shall
now subjoin a few remarks as to the style and
delivery.
As to the style: it should be perspicuous.
Singular terms, hard words, bombastic expres-
sions, are not at all consistent. Quoting Latin
and Greek sentences will be of little utility.
Long argumentations, and dry metaphysical
reasoning, should be avoided. A plain, manly
style, so clear that it cannot be misunderstood,
should be pursued. The Scriptures are the
best model. Mr. Flavel says, _“ The devil is
very busy with ministers in their studies,
tempting them to lofty language, and terms of
art, above their hearers’ capacities.”
The style should be correct. That a man
may preach. and do good, without knowing
much of grammar, is not to be doubted: but
certainly it cannot be pleasing to hear a man,
who sets himself up as a teacher of others,
continually violating all the rules of grammar.
and rendering himself a laughing-stock to the
more intelligent part of the congregation ;
“ and yet,” says one, “ I have heard persons
who could scarce utter three sentences with-
out a false construction, make grammatical
criticisms not only on the English language,
but on Latin, Greek, and Hebrew.”
Care should always be taken not to use a
redundancy of words, and a jingle of sentences
and syllables, as they carry more an air of
pedantry than of prudence.
As to the use of figures. “ A noble meta—
phor, when it is placed to an advantage, casts
a kind of glory round it, and darts a lustre
through a whole sentence.” But the present
and the past age have abounded with preachers
who have murdered and distorted figures in
a shameful manner. Keach’s metaphors are
run beyond all due bounds. Yet I know of
no method so useful in preaching as by figures,
when well chosen, when they are not too
mean, nor drawn out into too many parallels.
The Scriptures abound with figures. Our
Lord and his disciples constantly used them;
and people understand a subject better when
represented by a figure, than by learned dis-
quisitions.
As to the delivery of sermons, we refer to the
articles DECLAMATION and ELOQUENCE. See
also MINISTER and PREACHING.
SERPENTINIANS, or Ornrrns, heretics in
the second century, so called from the venera-
tion they had for the serpent that tempted Eve,
and the worship paid to a real serpent : they
pretended that the serpent was Jesus Christ,
and that he taught men the knowledge of good
and evil. They distinguished between Jesus
and Christ. Jesus, they said, was born of the
Virgin, but Christ came down from heaven
to be united with him: Jesus was crucified,
but Christ had left him to return to heaven.
They distinguished the God of the Jews, whom
they termed Jaldabaoth, from the supreme
God; to the former they ascribed the body,
to the latter the soul of men. It is said they
had a live serpent, which they kept in a kind
of cage: at certain times they opened the cage-
door, and called the serpent ; the animal came
out, and mounting upon the table, twined it-
self about some loaves of bread. This bread
they broke, and distributed it to the company ;
and this they called their Eucharist.
SERVANTS. The business of servants is to
wait upon, minister to, support and defend
their masters ; but there are three cases, as
Dr. Stennett observes, wherein a servant may
be justified in refusing obedience: 1. When
the master’s commands are contrary to the will
of God. 2. \Vhen they are required to do
what is not in their power. 3. When such
SHA
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719
service is demanded as falls not within the
compass of the servant’s agreement. The
obligations servants are under to universal
obedience, are from these considerations ;
1. That it is fit and right. 2. That it is the
expressed command of God. 3. That it is for
the interest both of body and soul. 4. That
it is a credit to our holy religion. The man-
ner in which this service is to be performed is,
1. With humility. Prov. xxx. 21, 22 ; Eccl.
x. 7.—2. Fidelity, Titus ii. 10; Matt. xxiv.
45.—3. Diligence, Prov. x. 4 ; xxi. 5. l Thess.
iv. 11.—-4. Cheerfulness. ~Stennett’s Domestic
Duties, ser. 7 ; F leetwood’s Relative Duties,
ser. 14, 15; Paley’s Moral Philosophy, vol. i.
chap. ll.
SERVING TABLES, one of the parts of the
Presbyterian sacramental service. The whole
of the communicants not partaking at once,
as in congregational churches, it is found
necessary to continue the distribution of the
elements, with intervals of Psalm-singing, dur-
ing which those who have eaten quit the table,
to give place to a flesh set of communicants.
The distribution of the bread and wine, and
the delivery of an address, are what consti-
tutes serving the table. The number of tables
varies from four to eight, and each address
occupies ten minutes, or a quarter of an hour.
The minister of the place serves the first
table; the rest are served by his assisting
brethren.
SERVITES, a religious order in the Church
of Rome, founded about the year 1233 by seven
Florentine merchants, who with the approba-
tion of the bishop of Florence, renounced the
world, and lived together in a religious com-
munity on Mount Senar, two leagues from
that city.
SETHIANS, heretics who paid divine worship
to Seth, whom they looked upon to be Jesus
Christ, the Son of God, but who was made by
a third divinity, and substituted in the room of
the two families of Abel and Cain, which had
been destroyed by the deluge. They appeared
in Egypt in the second century; and, as they
were addicted to all sorts of debauchery, they
did not want followers. They continued in
Egypt above two hundred years.
SEVENTY. About the year B. c. 277, the
Old Testament was translated into Greek, by
the united labours of about seventy learned
Jews, and that translation has been since
known as the version of the LXX. See SEP-
'ruacm'r.
SEVERITES. See ANGELITES.
SEXAGESIMA, the second Sunday before
Lent; so called because about the sixtieth day
before Easter. _
SHAKERS, or the Millennial Church. The
first who acquired this denomination were
Europeans; a part of which came from Eng-
land to New York in the year 1774, and being
joined by others, they settled at Nisqueunia,
above Albany; from whence they have spread
their doctrines, and increased to a considerable
number.
Anna Leese, whom they style the Elect
Lady, is the head of this party. They assert,
that she is the woman spoken of in the twelfth
chapter of Revelations; and that she speaks
seventy-two tongues: and though those
tongues are unintelligible to the living, she
converses with the dead, who understand her
‘language. They add further, that she is the
mother of all the elect; that she travails for
the whole world; and that no blessing can
descend to any person, but only by and through
her, and that in the way of her being possess-
ed of their sins, by their confessing and re-
penting of them, one by one, according to her
direction.
The principal doctrines which are attributed
to the Shakers, by those who have had 0ppor~
tunities to be acquainted with their religious
tenets, are as follow :-—That there is a new
dispensation taking place, in which the saints
shall reign a thousand years with Christ, and
attain to perfection; and that they have en-
tered into this state; are the only church in
the world; and have all the apostolic gifts.
They assert that all external ordinances, espe-
cially baptism and the Lord’s Supper, ceased’
in the apostolic age; and that God had never
sent one man to preach since that time, until
they entered into this new dispensation, and
were sent to call in the elect. They attempt
to prove this doctrine of a new dispensation
by counting the mystical numbers specified
in the prophecies of Daniel, as well as by their
signs and wonders.
Christ in the church, is reconciled with man ;
and that Christ is come a light into human
nature to enlighten every man who cometh
into the world, without distinction. That no
man is born of God, until, by faith, he is assi-
milated to the character of Jesus Christ in his
church. That in obedience to that church a
man’s faith will increase, until he comes to be
one with Christ, in the Millennium church
state. That every man is a free agent to walk
in the true light, and choose or reject the truth
of God within him; and, of consequence, it is‘
in every man’s power to be obedient to the
faith. That it is the gospel of the first resur-
rection which is now preached in their church.
That all who are born of God, as they explain
the new birth, shall never taste of the second
death. That those who are said to have been~
regenerated among Christians, are only rege-
nerated in part; therefore, not assimilated‘
into the character of Christ in his church,
while in the present state, and, of consequence,
not tasting the happiness of the first resurrec-
tion, cannot escape, in part, the second death.
That the word everlasting, when applied to
the punishment of the wicked, refers only to a
limited space of time, excepting in the case
of those who fall from their church; but for
such there is no forgiveness, neither in this’
That God, through J esus‘
SHA
SIB
720
world, nor that which is to come, They quote
Matt. xii. 32, to prove this doctrine. That the
second death, having power over such as rise
not in the character of Christ in the first re-
surrection, will, in due time, fill up the mea-
sure of his sufferings beyond the grave. That
the righteousness and sufferings of Christ, in
his members, are both one; but that every
man suffers personally, with inexpressible woe
and misery, for sins not repented of, notwith-
standing this union, until final redemption.
That Christ will never make any public ap-
pearance, as a single person, but only in his
saints :—that the judgment day is now begun
in their church; and the books are opened,
the dead now rising and coming to judgment,
and they are set to judge the world. For
which they quote 1 Cor. vi. 2. That their
church is come out of the order of natural ge-
neration, to be as Christ was; and that those
who have wives be as though they had none ;
that by these means, heaven begins upon
earth, and they thereby lose their sensual and
earthly relation to Adam the first, and come
to be transparent in their ideas in the bright
and heavenly visions of God. That there is
no salvation out of obedience to the sovereignty
of their dominion: that all sin which is com-
mitted against God is done against them, and
must be pardoned for Christ’s sake through
them, and confession must be made to them
for that purpose. They hold to a travail and
labbur for the redemption of departed spirits.
The discipline of this denomination is founded
on the supposed perfection of their leaders:
the mother it is said, obeys God through
Christ, European elders obey her, American
labourers, and the common people, obey them,
while confession is made of every secret in
nature, from the oldest to the youngest. The
people are made to believe they are seen
through and through in the gospel glass of
perfection by their teachers, who behold the
state of the dead, and innumerable worlds of
spirits good and bad.
These people are generally instructed to be
very industrious, and to bring in according to
their ability to keep up the meeting. They
vary 1n their exercises ; their heavy dancing,
as it is called, is performed by a perpetual
springing from the house floor, about four
inches up and down, both in the men’s and
women’s apartment, moving about with extra-
ordinary transport, singing sometimes one at
a time, sometimes more, making a perfect
charm.
This elevation affects the nerves, so that
they have intervals of shuddering as if they
were in a strong fit of the ague. They some-
times clap hands, and leap so as to strike the
joist above their heads. They throw off their
outside garments in these exercises, and spend
their strength very cheerfully this way.
Their chief speaker often calls for their at-
tention; then they all stop, and hear some
harangue, and then fall to dancing again.
They assert. that their dancing is the token
of the great joy and happiness of the new
Jerusalem state, and denotes the victory over
sin. One of the postures which increase
among them, is turning round very swift for
an hour or two. This they say is to show
the great power of God.
, They sometimes fall on their knees, and
make a sound like the roaring of many waters,
in groans and cries to God, as they say, for
the wicked world who persecute them. In
1828 the number of societies was 16; the
number of preachers about 45; members
gathered into their societies, about 4500 ; those
not received 900; making in all about 5400.
Rathhurn’s Account of the Shakers ,- T aylor’s
Account of the Shakers; West’s Account of
the Shakers.
SHAME, a painful sensation, occasioned by
the quick apprehension that reputation and
character are in danger, or by the perception
that they are lost. It may arise, says Dr.
Cogan, from the immediate detection, or the
fear of detection, in something ignominious.
It may also arise from. native difiidence in
young and ingenuous minds, when surprised
into situations where they attract the peculiar
attention of their superiors. The glow of
shame indicates, in the first instance, that the
mind is not totally abandoned; in the last, it
manifests a nice sense of honour and delicate
feelings, united with inexperience and igno-
rance of the world.
SHASTER, the name of a book in high esti—
mation among the idolaters of Hindostan,
containing all the dogmas of the religion of
the Bramins, and all the ceremonies of their
worship.
SHEOL, the Hebrew word corresponding to
HADES, which see.
SHn'rEs, a Mohammedan sect that reject
the traditions, and profess themselves to be
the partizans or followers of Ali, to whom,
and to his descendants, they maintain, belongs
the imamate or sovereign spiritual and tem-
poral authority over the Mohammedans.
This sect is dominant in Persia, as that of the
Sonnites or Traditionists is in Turkey. It is
divided into a number of minor sects, some
of which hold the metempsychosis and other
tenets of the Oriental philosophy.
SHROVE TUESDAY, the day before Ash
Wednesday or Lent, on which, in former
times, persons went to their parish churches
to confess their sins.
SIBYLLINE ORACLES, prophecies delivered,
it is said, by certain women of antiquity,
showing the fates and revolutions of king-
doms. We have a collection of them in eight
books. Dr. J ortin observes that they were
composed at different times by .different per-
sons ; first by Pagans, and then, perhaps, by
Jews, and certainly by Christians. They
abound with phrases, words, facts, and pas-
SIM
SIM
' nobility.
sages, taken from the LXX, and the New
Testament. They are, says the Doctor, a
remarkable specimen of astonishing impu~
dence and miserable poetry, and seem to have
been, from first to last, and without any
one exception, mere impostures.
SIMON, THE COUNT DE, the founder of a
new sect in France, belonged to one of the
most distinguished families of the French
He was grand nephew of the cele-
brated Duke de St. Simon, who wrote the
well-known memoirs of the court ‘of Louis
XIV.; and he descended from the Counts of
Vermandois, who profess to trace their origin
even to Charlemagne. He was born in 1760,
and seems, from his earliest- years, to have
had remarkable presentiments‘; ‘for, at the
age of seventeen, he directed that he should
be waked every morning with the words,
“ Rise, Count, you have great things to do.”
At this period, he-entered the military service,
and in 17 78 went to the United States, where
he served several campaigns under the com-
mand of the illustrious Washington. During
his residence in America, be occupied himself
much more with political scenes than with
military operations. He studied the man-
ners, laws, and character of the Americans;
he meditated on the great events of which he
was witness, and endeavoured to anticipate
their results. “I foresaw,” says he, “that
the American revolution would be ‘the com-
mencement of a new political era; that it
would be an important step in general civili-
zation ; and that in a little time it would pro-
duce great changes in the social order of
Europe.” Thus it was the American war
which developed the first philosophical and
political reflections of St. Simon, and the
citizens of the United States, without doubt,
first suggested the St. Simonian religion.
Being in want of the pecuniary means indis-
pensable to commence his work of reform, St.
Simon engaged in large commercial specula-
tions. He was successful, and amassed a great
fortune. Hence he was wont to say, that nothing
is easier than to make money. With this
fortune he was desirous of founding a school
of science, and a grand establishment of in-
dustry, such as that which has been lately
founded by Mr. Robert Owen.
Having spent seven years, from 1790 to
1797, in commercial speculations, St. Simon
turned his attention to the study of the
sciences. He formed ‘friendships with the
most celebrated professors of the Polytechnic
school, and the school of medicine ; he opened
to them his house, his purse. and his table;
and in entertaining his numerous company
he soon expended the greater part of his
fortune. He afterwards travelled in different
countries of Europe—in Germany, in Eng-
land, and in Switzerland,-—-to acquaint himself
with the progress of science in the learned
world. But he did not find, he says, any

new idea, and he saw that general science, as
he terms it, was still every where in its
infancy. He returned to his country, and for
several years, he drew around him men of
learning; and also artists, painters, poets, and
dramatic actors. Having studied the sciences,
he wished also to acquire a knowledge of the
fine arts ; and, in doing this, he spent the last
remains of his fortune.
During the bloody wars of Napoleon, St.
Simon published some writings in the depart-
ment of political science. In them he showed
the state of anarchy which prevailed in
Europe, since the chief tie which connected
the different states composing it, the Catholic
religion, was weakened. He also examined
the progress of civilization during the
eighteenth century. But the voice of this
obscure philosopher was not heard. France
was too much deafened with the noise of
arms.
From the period of 1814, he published
pamphlets and journals, mostly addressed to
the industrious classes. He wished to estab-
lish industry upon a new basis, and to give it
a higher importance in society. His writin gs
produced‘ but little impression in France.
Men did not readily comprehend his system,
and cared little about studying it. During
this time, St. Simon, whose elder brother was
a member of the Chamber of Peers, lived in
extreme poverty, and in a state of almost
utter destitution. ,
At the time of his death, in 1825, he had
but one solitary disciple—there was only one
man who understood his doctrines, and
adopted his opinions. It is this disciple who
is the real founder of the St. Simonian sect,
and who has made known and propagated
the views of him whom he regarded as a
new Messiah. And it is a remarkable fact,
that this solitary disciple, this primitive
apostle, is no longer at the head of the sect.
He is assigned to the second or third rank
only, by new comers, who have more ad-
dress, or, perhaps, more talents than him~
self.
In his private life, St. Simon was an agree—
able man, of simple manners, and of easy
access. He spoke freely of his projects, was
fond of the company of the young, whom he
was accustomed to call “ The men of the
future ;” was very industrious, and manifested
a strong desire to benefit mankind by the
‘accomplishment of his projects.
Two years after his death, his disciples
published a journal entitled, “ Le Producteur,”
to explain the principles of St. Simonism.
What is very curious in the history of the
St. Simonians is, that they were at first
merely philosophers, and not at all the founders
of a religion. They spoke of science and
industry, but not of religious doctrines. All
at once, however, it seemed to occur to them
to teach areligion. ‘Then "their school became
3 A
SIM
SIN
722
a church, and their association'a sect.
It is I worthy liberulity; but they are rather to be
evident that with them religion was not ori- l viewed as resulting from indifference to
ginally the end of their instruction, but has
been employed by them as the means of
collecting a greater number of hearers.
SIMONIANS, or ST. SIMONIANS, an infidel
sect recently organized in Paris by the poli-
tical fanatic above mentioned, whose funda-
mental principle is, that religion is to perfect
the social condition of man ; therefore Chris—
tianity is no longer suitable for society, because
it separates the Christian from other men, and
leads him to live for another world. The
world requires a religion that shall be of this
world, and consequently a God of this world.
They reject whatever they suppose to have
been derived from the philosophy of the
East; they consider the Deity neither as
spirit nor matter, but as including the whole
universe, and are thus plainly Pantheists ; and
they regard evil as nothing more than an
indication of the progress which mankind are
doomed to make in order to be freed from it;
in itself, they maintain it is nothing. Its
members are principally of the higher ranks,
and are displaying, not without success, the
greatest activity in spreading the venom of
their infidel principles. They occupy, in
Paris, the largest and most handsomely fitted
halls, where they meet in great numbers.
SIMoNY is the corrupt presentation of any
one to an ecclesiastical benefice, for money,
gift, or reward. It is so called from the
resemblance it is said to bear to the sin of
Simon Magus, though the purchasing of holy
orders seems to approach nearer to this ofi'ence.
It was by the canon law a very grievous
crime; and is so much the more odious,
because, as Sir Edward Coke observes, it is
ever accompanied with perjury; for the pre-
sentee is sworn to have committed no simon .
However, it was not an offence punishable m
a criminal way at the common law, it being
thought sufficient to leave the clerk to eccle-
siastical censures. Butas these did not affect
the simoniacal patron, nor were efiicacious
enough to repel the notorious practice of the
thing, divers acts of parliament have been
made to restrain it, by means of civil for-
feitures, which the modern prevailing usage
with regard to spiritual preferments calls
aloud to have put in execution.
SIMULTANEUM, a term used in Germany to
express the joint religious service of a congre-
gation made up partly of Protestants, and
partly of Catholics. At the celebration of a
marriage, for example, the Protestant clergy-
man delivers a sermon, on the duties of the
married state, from the pulpit of a Roman
Catholic church; the Catholic priest then
says mass at the altar, and performs the
ceremony ; after which the Protestant minister
goes to the altar, from which he blesses the
new-married pair. Such exhibitions are
generally regarded as instances of praise-

religious principle.
SIN, the transgression of the law, or want
of conformity to the will of God. 1 John iii.
4.—l. Original sin is that whereby our whole
nature is corrupted, and rendered contrar to
the law of God; or according to the ninth
article of the church of England, “ It is that
whereby man is very far gone from original
righteousness, and is, of his own nature,
inclined to evil.” This is sometimes called
indwelling sin, Rom. vii. The imputation of
the sin of Adam to his posterity is also what
divines generally call, with some latitude of
expression, original sin.——2. Actual sin is a
direct violation of God’s law, and generally
applied to those who are capable of commit-
ting moral evil; as opposed to idiots, or
children, who have not the right use of their
powers—3. Sins of omission consist in the
leaving those thing undone, which ought to
be done—4. Sins of commission are those
which are committed against affirmative pre-
cepts, or doing what should not be done.—
5. Sins of infirmity are those which arise from
the infirmity of the flesh, ignorance, surprise,
snares of the world, &c. See INFIRMITY.-—
6. Secret sins are those committed in secret,
or those which we, through blindness or
prejudice, do not see the evil of, Psalm xix.
12.—7. Presumptuous sins are those which
are done boldly, and against light and convic-
tion. See PRESUMPTION.——8. Unpardonable
sin seems to consist in the malicious ascription
of the dispensations, gifts, and influences of
the Spirit to the power of Satan. The reason
why this sin is never forgiven, is not because
of any want of sufiiciency in the blood of
Christ, nor in the pardoning mercy of God,
but because such as commit it despise and
reject the only remedy, i. e. the power of the
Holy Spirit, applying the redemption of the
Gospel to the souls of men.
The corruption of human nature is,—-l.
Universal as to the subjects of it, Rom. iii. 23 ;
Isa. liii. 6.—-2. General, as to all the powers
of man, Isa. i. 6.—-3. Awful, filling the mind
with constant rebellion against God and his
lam—4. Hateful to God, Job xv. 16. And,
5. Punishable by him, 1 Sam. ii. 9, 10; Rom.
ii. 9. Why the Almighty permitted it, when
his power could have prevented it, and how
it is conveyed from parents to their children,
form some of those deep things of God,
of which we can know but little, in the
present state; only this we are assured of,
that he is a God of truth, and that whatever
he does, or permits, will ultimately tend to
promote his glory. While we contemplate,
therefore, the nature, the evil, the guilt, the
consequence of sin, it is our happiness to
reflect that he who hath permitted it hath
provided a remedy for it; and that he “so
loved the world, that he gave his only begot-
SIN
SIX
723
' 16; Eph. v. 19.
7ten Son, that whosoever believeth in him
should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
Se‘eA'roNEMENT, REDEMPTION; and Edwards,
Wesley, and Taylor, on Ori inal Sin; Gill’s
Body of Din, article Sin,- Kzgng’s and Jenyn’s
Origin of Evil; Burrough’s Exceedin Sinful-
ness of Sin; Dr. Owen on Indwelling Sin;
Dr. Wright’s Deceitfulness of Sin; Fletcher’s
Appeal to Matter of Fact; Williams’s Answer
to Belsham; Watts’s Ruin and Recovery;
Howe’s Living Temple, p. 2. c. 4; Dr. Smith’s
Sermon on the Permission of Evil; Orme on
Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.
SINCERITY, freedom from hypocrisy or dis-
simulation. The Latin word sincerus, from
which our English word sincere is derived, is
composed of sine and ccra, and signifies with-
out wax, as pure honey, which is not mixed.
with any wax; thus denoting that sincerity
is a pure and upright principle. The Greek
word éAUCpw/Eta, translated sincerity, 2 Cor. i.
12, signifies properly a judgment made of
things by the light and splendour of the sun ;
as in traffic, men hold up goods they are
buying, to the light of the sun, to see if they
can discover any defect in them. Thus, those
who are truly sincere can bear the test of
light, and are not afraid of having their prin-
ciples and practices examined by it. This
word, however, like many others, is abused,
and often becomes a subterfuge for the ungodly
and the indolent, who think that their practice
is nothing, but that sincerity, or a good heart,
as they call it, is all in all. But such deceive
themselves, for a tree is known by its fruits ;
and true godly sincerity will evidence itself
by serious inquiry, impartial examination,
desire of instruction, unprejudiced judgment,
devotedness of spirit, and uniformity of
conduct. The reader will find this subject
ably handled in Gurnall’s Christian Armour
vol. ii. p. 121 to 148. See HYPOCRISY.
SINGING, an ordinance of divine worship,
in which we. express our joy in God, and
gratitude for his mercies. It has always been
a branch both of natural and revealed religion,
in all ages and periods of time.
of the worship of the heathen. It was prac-
tised by the people of God before the giving
of the law of Moses, Exod. xv.; also under
the ceremonial law. Under the Gospel dis-
pensation, it is particularly enjoined, Col. iii.
It was practised by Christ
and his apostles, Matt. xxvi. 30, and in the
earliest times of Christianity. The praises
of God may be sung privately in the family,
but chiefly in the house of God; and should
he attended to with reverence, sincerity, joy,
gratitude, and with the understanding, 1 Cor. ;
Among the Anti-Peedobaptists,;
during the early part of their existence,-
xiv. 15.
psalmody was generally excluded as a human
ordinance; but some congregations having
adopted it about the beginning of the
eighteenth century, a violent controversy was
excited. About the middle of the century,
however, the praises of God were sung in
every Anti-paedobaptist church. It is to be
lamented, however, that this ordinance has
not that attention paid to it which it deserves.
That great divine, Dr. Jonathan Edwards,
observes, that as it is the command of God
that all should sing, so all should make con-
science of learning to sing, as it is a thing
that cannot be decently performed at all
without learning. Those, therefore, (where
there is no natural inability,) who neglect to
learn to sing, live in sin, as they neglect what
is necessary in order to their attending one of
the ordinances of God’s worship.” We leave
those who are wilfully dumb in God’s house
to consider this pointed remark.
Much has been said as to the use of in-
strumental music in the house of God. On
the one side it is observed that we ought not
to object to it, because it assists devotion;
that it was used in the worship of God under
the Old Testament; and that the worship of
heaven is represented by a delightful union of
vocal and instrumental music. But on the
other side, it is remarked, that nothing should
be done in or about God’s worship without
example or precept from the New Testament ;
that, instead of aiding devotion, it often tends
to draw off the mind from the right object;
that it does not accord with the simplicity of
Christian worship; that the practice of those
who lived under the ceremonial dispensation
can be no rule for us; that not one text in the
New Testament requires or authorises it by
precept or example, by express words or fair
inference ; and that the representation of the
musical harmony in heaven is merely figura-
tive language, denoting the happiness of the
saints._ See Music. We have not room here
to prosecute the arguments on either side;
but the reader may refer to p. 211 of the fourth
volume of Bishop Beveridge’s Thesaurus;
Stillingfleet’s and Bp. Horne's Sermons on
Church Music; No. ‘630 of the eighth vol. of
_the Spectator; Bishop Horne on the 150th
It was a part ‘
Psalm; Theol. llfag. vol. ii. p. 427, and vol.
iv. pp. 333, 458 ; Biblical Mag. vol. ii. p. 35;
Ridglcy’s Body of Div. ques. 155; Haweis’s
C'lu-rch History, vol. i. p. 403; Williams’s His-
torical Essay on Church Music, prefixed to
Psalmodia Evangelica,vol. ii. p. 56; Bealfiird‘s
Temple lllusic ,- Lyra Evangelica; Practical
Discourses on singing in the lVorship of God,
preached at the Friday Evening Lecture in
East Cheap, 1708; Doclwell’s Treatise on the
Lawfulness of Instrumental Music in Holy
Duties.
Srx ARTICLES, law of. See STATUTES.
SIx PRINCIPLE BAPTISTS, a small body in
North America, who also call themselves “ Of
the Ancient Order of the Six Principles of
Christ and his Apostles.” They take the name
from Heb. vi. 1. 2. They are immersionists,
and reject infant baptism. They reside on
SLA
SOB
72-4
Rhode Island, where they have eighteen ; disturbances and confusion; and everywhere
preachers, and amount to about 1750 com- 1 is an enemy to peace, comfort, and Christian
municants.
l
good breeding. Lastly, it is an evil ful'llof
SLANDER, according to Dr. Barrow, is ut- ; deadly poison: whatever flows from it is in-
! fected, and poisons whatever it approaches;
y even its praises are empoisoned; its applauses
lmalicious; its silence criminal; its gestures,
1 motions, and looks, have all their venom, and
t-ering false speeches against our neighbour,
to the prejudice of his fame, safety, welfare;
and that out of malignity, vanity, rashness,
ill nature, or bad design. The principal kinds
of slander are these :-—1. Charging others
with facts they are not guilty of. . 2. Afiixing
scandalous names and odious characters which
they deserve not. 3. Aspersing a man’s ac-
tions with foul names, importing that they
proceed from evil principles, or tend to bad
ends, when it doth not, or cannot appear. 4.
Perverting a man‘s words or acts disadvanta-
geously by affected misconstruction. 5. Par-
tial or lame representation of men’s discourse
or practice, suppressing some part of the
truth, or concealing some circumstances which
ought to be explained. 6. Instilling sly sug-
gestions which create prejudice in the hearers.
7. Magnifying and aggravating the faults of
others. 8. Imputing to our neighbour’s prac-
tice, judgment, or profession, evil consequen-
ces which have no foundation in truth.
Of all characters in society, a slanderer is
the most odious, and the most likely to pro-
duce mischief. “ His tongue,” says the great
Massillon, “is a devouring fire, which tar-
nishes whatever it touches; which exercises
its fury on the good grain equally as on the
chaff ; on the profane as on the sacred; which
wherever it passes, leaves only desolation and
ruin ; digs even into the bowels of the earth;
turns into vile ashes what only a moment be-
fore had appeared to us so precious and bril-
liant ; acts with more violence and danger
than ever, in the time when it was apparently
smothered up and almost extinct; which
blackens what it cannot consume, and some-
times sparkles and delights before it destroys.
It is an assemblage of iniquity, a secret pride,
which discovers to us the mote in our brother’s
eye, but hides the beam which is in our own ;
a mean envy, which, hurt at the talents or
prosperity of others, make them the subject of
its censures, and studies to dim the splendour
of whatever outshines itself; adisguised hatred,
. terate ; all need to ‘be sober.’
which sheds in its speeches the hidden venom '
of the heart; an unworthy duplicity, which
praises to the face, and tears in pieces behind '
the back; a shameful levity which has no
command over itself or words, and often sa-
crifices both fortune and comfort to the im-
herate barbarity, which goes to pierce an
absent brother; a scandal, where we become
a subject of shame and sin to those who listen
to us; an injustice, where we ravish from our
brother what is dearest to him. It is a rest-
less evil, which disturbs society; spreads dis--
spread it each in their way. Still more dread-
ful is this evil when it is found amongst those
who are the professed disciples of Jesus Christ.
Ah! the Church formerly held in horror the
exhibitions of gladiators, and denied that be-
lievers, brought up in the tenderness and
benignity of Jesus Christ, could innocently
feast their eyes with the blood and death of
these unfortunate slaves, or form an harmless
recreation of so inhuman a pleasure : but
these renew more detestable shows ; for they
bring upon the stage—not infamous wretches
devoted to death—but members of Jesus
Christ, their brethren; and there they enter-
tain the spectators with wounds which they
inflict on persons who have devoted them-
selves to God.” Barrow’s Works, vol. i. ser. 17,
18; Massillon’s Sermons, vol. i. ser. 5, English
trans. ; and article EVIL SPEAKING.
SMALCALD, ARTICLES or. See ARTICLES.
SMALCALDIC LEAGUE. See LEAGUE.
SOBRIETY, freedom from any inordinate
passion. “ Sobriety,” as one observes, “is
both the ornament and the defence of a Chris-
tian. It is requisite in every situation, and in
every enterprise; indeed, nothing can be done
well without it. The want of sobriety is seen
and felt by multitudes every day. Without
sobriety a man is exposed to the tossing of
the merciless waves, destitute of an anchor.
Sobriety is a security against the baneful in-
fluence of turbulent passions; it is self posses-
sion; it is self-defence. It is necessary on all
occasions : when we read, when we hear, when
we pray, when we converse, when we form
schemes, when we pursue them, when we
prosper, when we fail. Sobriety is necessary
for all descriptions of character; it is neces-
sary for the young and for the old; for the
rich and the poor, for the wise and for the illi-
The necessity
of sobriety is obvious,—-1. In our inquiries
after truth, as opposed to presumption. 2. In
our pursuit of this world, as opposed to covet-
ousness. 3. In the use and estimate of the
things of this world, as opposed to excess.
f 4. In trials and afilictions, as opposed. to impa-
prudence of an amusing conversation; a deh~ '
_v. 8; Phil. iv. 5; Tit. ii. 12;
sension through cities and countries; disunites _
the strictest friendships ; is the source of ha- ,
tred and revenge ; fills wherever it enters with ;
tience. 5. In forming our judgment of others,
as opposed to censoriousness. 6. In speak~
ing of one’s self, as opposed to egotism. Many .
motives might be urged to this exercise, as.
1. The general language of Scripture, 1 Pet.
1 Pet. iv. 7
2. Our profession as Christians. 3. The ex-
ample of Jesus Christ: and 4. The near ap-
proach of death and judgment.” See DRUNK-
ENNESS, h/IODERATION.
S O C 7
5 SOC
[\S
SOCIALISTS, or OWENITES, those who adopt
the opinions advanced by Robert Owen, son-
in-law of the late pious David Dale, Esq., of
Glasgow. Imagining that he could succeed
better in carrying out his scheme in North
America, he attempted to form a community
at New Harmony; but having failed, he came
to London, where, as also throughout the
country, he is busy in endeavouring to gain
over converts to his utopianw and wicked
‘ , views.
The principles which he avows are decid-
edly atheistical, and must, to the extent of their
influence, prove subversive of all morality
and true social enjoyment. He maintains, that
men are the creatures of the circumstances by
which they are surrounded, that they have no
free choice in their thoughts, feelings, or ac-
tions, but are absolutely subject to necessity,
their belief and feeliu gs being instincts of their
nature; consequently they are irresponsible
agents ; that the contrary principles have
produced and maintained afictitious and erro-
neous system of society ; that the language,
laws. manners and customs of all the nations
of the world are all essentially wrong; that
there must be a complete revolution in the
affairs of men, in order that a new set of cir-
cumstances may be created, which shall act
upon them from their birth; cities must be
abandoned ; all private right to property must
cease ; the present notions respecting the mar-
riage bonds must'be repudiated, and new
sexual ideas acquired; all the books hitherto
deemed sacred and divine, rejected as fabulous
and absurd; the impositions of those in au-
thority; kings, clergy, physicians, and lawyers
sacrificed for their own good, as well as for
that of the public; all civil and religious pro-
fessions being formidable enemies to the hu-
man race. In short, what he proposes is, the
entire overthrow of the existing state and
classification of society, and the formation of
a new classification, in which children shall
be educated on a system which shall exclude
all the notions which now obtain, and grow
up to be men and women, and so pass on
through life, without a single idea of God, of
individual responsibility, or of any future state
of rewards and punishments. _
Those who know what human nature is,
will not be surprised on finding that these no-
tions, monstrous as they are, have been eagerly
swallowed by numbers, especially of the lower
orders of society, among whom, and among
the young of all classes, books and tracts con-
taining blasphemous and obscene matter have
been industriously circulated.v
SOCINIANS. Faustus Socinus, who died in
Poland in 1604, is generally considered as the
founder of this denomination; and from him
they derive their name. Modern Socinians,
however, being strenuous advocates for the
divine unity, now claim the appellation of ;
Unitarians, as more. descriptive of their tenets,
since they do not acknowledge all the doctrines
of Socinus. But neither do any other deno-
mination of professing Christians hold all the
doctrines of their respective founders: it is
suflicient for the purpose of just discrimina-
tion, if they hold the leading or peculiar sen-
timents of the party, in orderto warrant their
being called by his name. The distinguishing
sentiment of Socinus was, the simple human-
ity of Christ: that of modern Unitarians is
the same; hence they are properly denomi-
nated Socinians, however this sentiment may
be modified, or whatever be'the subordinate
parts of the system.
The term Unitarian, as implying a denial
of three persons in the Godhead, might be
proper to distinguish Socinians from T rinita-
rians; but when understood in its popular
sense, as not only denying the revealed dis-
tinction in Deity, but also as exclusively
maintaining the divine unity which all Trin-
itarians contend for no less than themselves,
the appellation ceases to be appropriate, and
therefore has been strongly objected to by the
Calvinists, and other Trinitarians. The Jews,
the Mohammedans, the Sabellians, the Sweden -
borgians, and even the Deists, allow of only
one Person in the divine essence; of course
the Socinians cannot plead any preferable
claim over them to be called Unitarians. Be-
ing, nevertheless, zealous advocates for the
simple humanity of Christ, and maintaining
that the Saviour is merely a human being,
some of them have taken the name of “Hu-
manitarians,” which is certainly more descrip-
tive of their leading sentiment; while others
of them choose to call themselves “Rational
Christians.”
Their sentiment is, that the Father, and he
alone, is truly and properly God; that the
Son had no existence whatsoever, before he
was conceived by the Virgin Mary; and that
the Holy Spirit is no distinct subsistence from
the Father and the Son, but that the title is
merely figurative, denoting the power or
energy of God. They confess that Christ is
called God in the Holy Scriptures; but con—
tend that it is only a deputed title, investing
him with great authority; and that while he is
nominally God, he is really nothing more
than a mere man: yet that he was an extra-
ordinary person, acting under a divine com—
mission as a teacher of truth and righteous--
ness; and that in him the prophecies relating
‘to the Messiah were completely, though not
‘literally, fulfilled. They admit the whole
history of his ascension and glorification in
its literal acceptation; but believing him to be
a mere man like them-selves, though endowed
-with a large portion of divine wisdom, they
assert that the only objects of his mission
were,-—-to teach the efficacy of repentance,
without any proper atonement for sin, as a.
means of restoring us to the divine favour,-~

L to exhibit in his life and, conduct an example
SOC
SOC
726
for our imitation,——to seal his doctrine with
his blood,--and in his resurrection from the ‘
dead, to furnish a proof of the certainty of our
resurrection at the last day.
Their doctrine respecting the atonement is,
that God requires no consideration or condi-
tion of pardon, but the repentance of the
offender; and that, consequently, the death of
Christ was no real sacrifice for sin;
though it be so called in Scripture, it is merely
in a figurative sense, by way of allusion to
the Jewish sin-offerings; just as our praises
and other good works are called sacrifices,
because they are something offered up to God.
The mediation of Christ is wholly rejected,
and the pardon of sin is said to be dispensed
solely on account of men’s personal virtue,
without any regard to the sufferings or merit
of another. They explode the doctrine of
original sin, and also that of divine influence
upon the mind, contending that the latter was
peculiar to the times of the apostles, and was
merely subservient to the purpose of working
miracles.
The Socinians of the sixteenth century
believed that Christ was advanced to the go-
vernment of the universe, after his resunec-
tion, and that religious worship was to be
paid to him; but those of the present day
generally consider this notion as nnscriptural,
and therefore reject it; and, regarding him as
a mere man like themselves, they very con-
sistently withhold from him all religious
homage. They also have other reasons for
deviating from their predecessors: “ Jesus is
indeed alive, they think; and, without doubt,
employed in offices the most honourable and
benevolent; but as they are totally ignorant of
the place where he resides, and of the occupa-
tions in which he is engaged, there can be no
proper foundation for religious addresses to
him, nor of gratitude for favours now received,
nor yet of confidence in his future interposi—
tion on our behalf.”
Modern Socinians consider the Scriptures
to be faithful records of past transactions, but
deny that the writers were divinely inspired,
except in those cases where they themselves
expressly claim it; they allow that they wrote
according to the best of their knowledge, and
from their circumstances could not be mis~
taken with respect to the principal facts of which
they were proper witnesses; but that, like
other men, subject to prejudice, they might be
liable to adopt a hasty and ill-grounded opi-
nion concerning things which did not come
within the compass of their knowledge.
The partial inspiration of the sacred writers,
in general, is extended not only to Moses, but
even to our blessed Lord himself; for they
can see no reason for believing, that either
Moses or Christ were inspired with superna-
tural knowledge, or endowed with supernatu-
ral power, beyond the immediate objects of
their mission. They consequently aim at di~
l he rejected as spurious.
and '

, vesting revealed religion of every circumstance
not consonant to the dictates of human reason. 7
Hence they do not believe in our Lord’s mi-
raculous conception; but are of opinion that
he was the legitimate son of'Joseph and Mary,
and consequently that the two first chapters
of Matthew, containing. this doctrine, are to
But though they
consider the present authorised version as
liable to great objections, and have endea-
voured to substitute what they consider an
“ Improved Version” in its stead, the Socini-
ans have generally united with the Bible So-
cieties in their laudable exertions to circulate
the Scriptures, affording, in this instance,
an honourable proof of their candour and
liberality.
Though not necessarily connected with the
system, Socinians in general deny the exist-
ence of the devil and his agency, considering
it as an evanescent prejudice, which it is now
a discredit to a man of understanding to be-
lieve. Many of them also reject the spiritu-
ality and separate existence of the soul; be-
lieving that man is wholly material, and that
our only prospect of immortality is from the
Christian doctrine of a resurrection. Of course
the notion of an intermediate state of consci-
ousness between death and the resurrection
is rejected; for as the whole man dies, so the
whole man is to be called again to life at the
appointed period of the resurrection, with the
same associations that he had when alive; the
intermediate portion of time having been
passed by him in a state of utter insensibility.
In their view, also, future punishment is nei-
ther vindictive nor eternal, but disciplinary;
intended for the good of the party, and ap-
pointed for a limited time, so that all at last
are to be recovered and restored to the enjoy-
ment of eternal life. In what relates to wor-
ship and discipline, they adopt the Indepen-
dent form of Church government, generally
use written forms of prayer, and consider the
Lord’s Supper as the only standing ordinance
under the Gospel.
The Socinians evidently carry the principle
of free discussion, in matters of religion, to a
much greater length than any other denomi—
nation of professed Christians, and this with-
out seeming to think that any apology is ne-
cessary from them for it. Dr. Priestley
appeared to glory in the continual fluctuation
of his public creed; nor did he wish his friends
to consider it at any period as being fixed.
Hence he tells one of his correspondents, that
his life as a theologician was made up of a
succession of changes, but always from high
to low.
Calvinism, which he afterwards changed for
what is termed moderate Calvinism. In pro-
cess of time that gave place to Arminianism,
and the latter to Arianism, which, in its turn,
was also changed for Socinianism, and that
even of the lowest class; nor could he pretend
He commenced his career with high "
SOC
SOL
727
to say that his creed was then fixed. The
doctor‘s successor acknowledges that he does
not know where. to stop in his career. One
Socinian writer wishes it to be understood
that he has discovered three out of the four
Evangelists to be spurious; another endeavours
to prove prayer to be a thing nugatory and
vain; a third has attempted to put down pub-
lic worship altogether, as being little better
than hypocrisy; and a fourth opposes the
morality of the Sabbath, recommending the
revival of the book of sports on that day;
while another denies the doctrine of the resur-
rection and the general judgment, which others
of them had pronounced the only discoveries
of rational Christianity.
Socinians were but little known in England
until the reign of Charles I., when the famous
John Biddle became their leader, and was
ably opposed by the pious and learned Dr.
Owen. Since that period they have acquired
considerable distinction, from the writings and
. infi uence of Dr. Priestley and his associates, and
also from the literary labours of the Monthly
and Critical Reviewers. They have also gained
some accession to their numbers, both from
the Church and ‘from among Dissenters, par-
ticularly of the Presbyterian. denomination,
whose sentiments would more easily coalesce
with theirs than those of some others; but it
does not appear that any considerable number
of converts have at any time been made to
Socinianism from among profiigates and unbe-
lievers.
Dr. Priestley, with much honour to himself,
attempted to convert the Jews, but it was at-
tended with no success : on the contrary, his
Jewish opponent undertook to prove to the
world, that the doctor himself did not under-
stand the Christian Scriptures. Mr. Levi
entitled his first letter, in answer to Dr. Priest-
ley’s second address, “ The Divinity of Christ,
and his Pre-existent State, proved to be taught
in the Gospels; and consequently, whoever
does not believe the same, is not entitled to
the appellation of a Christian.” In America,
Dr. Priestley was equally unsuccessful; for
during the ten years that he lived there, his
ministry was but indifi‘erently attended, and it
is said that his congregation rarely exceeded
thirty or forty persons. They afterwards
greatly increased, but almost exclusively in
the city of Boston and its vicinity. They
lately amounted to one hundred and fifty con-
gregations, larger and smaller, in the United
States; but are said, of late years, to be on
the decline. Till within these few years past,
it does not appear that there were any con-
gregations of this description in Scotland, nor
scarcely any individuals who were avowed
Socinians. England is their principal seat;
here they have a college, and have had some P
men of learning; but—excepting some half-
dozen chapels in the metropolis and other
large towns, which are pretty well filled—-
their congregations wear every appearance of
desolation. Their congregations may be di-
vided into two classes,--the ancient and the
modern; but in many of both, the number of
hearers does not average thirty. Those re-
cently formed are struggling hard for exist-
ence; and notwithstanding all the efforts
whichhave been recently made, both from the
pulpit and the press, and the boasted number
of conversions to Socinianism which take
place, the body is on the wane, rather than
the increase. The reason is obvious: the
system only suits the cast of a certain order
of mind. Those of this cast may remain: but
numbers merely avail themselves of the posi-
tion which it affords, of a convenient and mo-
mentary halting-place on the road to total
infidelity. One of their most popular preach-
ers in the metropolis has become wearied of
the religion of the Bible in every shape, and
has advertised discourses on the Lord’s Day
Evening, upon common proverbs, and the
state of the arts. sciences, &c., at different
periods of the history of England! In 1808,
the Socinians published, under a very fallacious
title, what they termed an Improved Version
of the New Testament, but it never took;
and no wonder: for as Mr. Orme justly ob-
serves, “it mangles and misrepresents the
original text, perverts the meaning of its most
important terms, and explains away all that is
valuable in the doctrinal system of Christi;
anity.” Though professedly critical, there
perhaps never appeared a work ‘which more
outrages every principle of sound biblical cri-
ticism. Its errors and blunders were ably ex—
posed by Nares, Laurence, Magee, and wri-
ters in the British and Eclectic Reviews-
Their principal writers are Priestley, Lind-
say, Belsham, Carpenter, Yates, and Channing.
Those who have taken the most prominent
part on the other side of the controversy, as
carried on in modern times, are Horsley,
Magee, Fuller, \Vardlaw, J. P. Smith, Stuart,
and Woods.
Sonon AND MAN, the Bishopric of. This
article is here introduced, on the supposition
that few readers know where Sorlor lies, or
what is meant by the name. The Norwegians
and Danes who in ancient times occupied the
Orkneys, and other islands on the coast of
Scotland, divided these islands into two groups;
to the former they gave the name of Nora'a—
reyar, or Northern Isles; and to the latter,
which included the western islands, that of
Sudurcyar, or Southern Isles. By Sodor,
therefore, is meant the western islands of
Scotland, especially those most contiguous to
the Isle of Man, which, with them, formed a
diocese.
SOLDINS, so called from their leader, one
Soldin, a Greek priest. They appeared about
the middle of the fifth century in the kingdoms
of Saba, and Godolia. They altered the man-
ner of the sacrifice of the mass; their priests
SOR
SOU
728
ofi‘ered gold, their deacons incense, and their
sub—deacons myrrh; and this in memory of
the‘like offerings made to the infant Jesus by
the‘v wise men. Very few authors mention the
Soldins, neither do we know whether they
' still subsist.
SOLFIDIANS, those who rest on faith alone
for salvation, without any connexion with
works; or who judge them selves to be Christ’s,
because they believe they are.
SON or Gon, a term applied in the Scrip-
tures not only to magistrates and saints, but
more particularly to Jesus Christ. Christ,
says Bishop Pearson, has a fourfold right to
this title. I. By generation, as begotten of
God, Luke i. 35.-—2. By commission, as sent
by him, John x. 34, 36;—3. By resurrection,
as the first born, Acts xiii. 32, 33.--4. By ac-
tual possession, as heir of all, Heb. i. 2, 5.
But, besides these four, many think that he is
called the Son of God in such a way and man-
ner as never any other was, is, or can be, be-
cause of his own divine nature, he being the
true, proper, and natural Son of God, begotten
by him before all worlds, John iii. 16 ; Rom.
viii. 3; 1 John iv. 9. See article GENERATION,
ETERNAL.
Sonna, in Mohammedan law, is, according
to the Book of Definitions, the observance of
religion in matters respecting which there is
no positive and necessary command: also the
general practice of the prophets, with some
few exceptions. Now this general practice in
matters of religion is called the Sonna of
guidance, but in those of common occurrence,
the Sonna of excess. The Sonna of guidance
is that by the due performance of which reli-
gion is rendered complete ; and the dereliction
of which is either detestable or sinful. The
Sonna of excess is that, to embrace which con-
stitutes guidance; that is, it performs, ensures
good works, but the dereliction of which is
neither detestable nor sinful ; as, for instance,
the custom of the prophet in rising» sitting,
putting on his clothes, &c. is not binding, but
if followed is meritorious. The Sonna, there-
fore, comprises the Mohammedan traditions.
SONNITES, the orthodox Mohammedans,
who rigidly adhere to the traditions, and are
famous for their opposition to the several
heretical sects, especially the Shiites, who re-
ject the traditions. The Turks belong to the
former; the Persians to the latter sect.
Soorrs, a sect of philosophical religionists,
widely spread through the Persian empire.
They hold that nothing exists absolutely but
God, that the human soul is an emanation
from his divine essence, and will be reabsorbed
into it. They speak of divine things in a
very transcendental and mystic style. See
Henry lllav-iyn’s Life; M ill’s Mohammedan-s.
Soucnnr, magic, conjuration. See CHARMS
and Wrrcncnar'r.
Sonnow, uneasiness or grief, arising from
the privation of some good we actually pes-
sessed. It is the opposite to joy. Though
sorrow may be allowable under a sense of sin,
and when involved in troubles, yet we must
beware of an extreme. Sorrow, indeed, be-
comes sinful and excessive when it leads us
to slight our mercies; causes us to be insensi-
ble to public evils; when it diverts us from
duty; so oppresses our bodies as to endanger
our lives; sours the spirit with discontent,
and makes us inattentive to the precepts of
God’s word, and advice of our friends. In or-
der to moderate our sorrows, we should con-
sider that we are under the direction of a wise
and merciful Being; that he permits no evil
to come upon us without a gracious design;
' that he can make our troubles sources of spiri-
tual advantage; that he might have afllicted
us in a far greater degree; that though he
has taken some, yet he has left many other
comforts; that he has given many promises
of relief; that he has supported thousands in
as great troubles as ours; finally, that the
time is coming when he will wipe away all
tears, and give to them that love him a crown
of glory that fadeth not away. See Rasm-
NATION.
SOUL, that vital, immaterial, active substance,
or principle, in man, whereby he perceives,
remembers, reasons, and wills. It is rather
to be described as to its operation, than to be
defined as to its essence. Various. indeed,
have been the opinions of philosophers con-
cerning its substance. The Epicureans thought
it a subtile air, composed of atoms, or primitive
corpuscles. The Stoics maintained it was a
flame, or portion of heavenly light. The Car-
tesia-ns make thinking the essence of the soul.
Some hold that man is endowed with three -
kinds of soul, viz. the rational, which is purely
spiritual, and infused by the immediate inspi-
ration of God; the irrational 01' sensitive,
which, being common to man and brutes, is
supposed to be formed of the element; and,
lastly, the vegetative soul, or principle of
growth and nutrition, as the first is of under-
standing, and the second of animal life.
The rational soul is simple, uncompounded,
and immaterial, not composed of matter and
form; for matter can never think and move
of itself as the soul does. In the fourth vo-
lume of the Memoirs of the Literary and Phi-
losophical Society of Manchester, the reader
v,will find a very valuable paper, by Dr. Fer-
rier, proving, by evidence-apparently complete,
that every part of the brain has been injured
,, without affecting the act of thought. It will
_ he difiicult for any man to peruse this with-
out being convinced that the modern theory ~
“of the Materialists is. shaken from its very
. foundation.
The immortality of the soul may be argued
-from its vast- capacities, boundless desires,
great improvements, dissatisfaction with the
l present state, and desire of some kind of reli-
ygion. It is also argued from the consent of

S O U
SOU
729
all nations ; the consciousness that men have
of sinning; the sting of conscience; the jus-
tice and providence of God. How far these
arguments are conclusive, I will not say, but
the safest, and, in fact, the only sure ground
to go upon to prove this doctrine is the word
of God, where we at once see it clearly estab-
lished, Matt. x. 28, xxv. 46 ; Dan. xii. 2 ; 2
Tim. i. 10; 1 Thess. iv. 17, 18; John x. 28.
But as this article belongs rather to metaphy- _
si‘cs than to theology we refer the reader to A.
Baxter on the Sou ,- Locke on the Understand-
ing ; Watts’s Ontology,- Jachson on Mltter
and Spirit,- Flavel on the Soul ,- More’s Immor-
tality ofthe Soul,- Hartlcy on M an; Bp. Porteus’s
Sermons,vol. i. ser. 5—7 ; Doddridge’s Lectures,
lect. 92-97 ; Drew’s Essay on the Immateria'lz'ty
and Immortality of the Soul. Care of the Soul.
See CARE.
SOUTHCOTTERS, the followers of Joanna
Southcot, well known some years ago in the
south of England as a prophetess. She was
the daughter of a farmer at St. Mary Ottery’s,
in Devonshire. She left the Establishment, and
joined the W'esleyan body, but was soon expelled
from it, on account of her pretended visions.
The book in which Joanna published her
prophecies is dated London, April 25, 1804;
and she begins by declaring she herself did
not understand the communications given her
by the Spirit, till they were afterwards ex—
plained to her. In November, 1803, she was
l
After this she gives us a long communica-
' tion on Gen. xlix., wherein Jacob warns his
sons of what should befall them in the last
‘ days, and which she applies to our present
' times.

told to mark the weather during the twenty- ,
four first days of the succeeding year, and
then the Spirit informs her that the weather
She then favours her readers with a
long essay on the marriage of the Lamb, and,
as variety is always pleasing, it commences in
sober prose, but ends in jingling rhyme.
The following is the conclusion of a com-
munication which she had at Stockport : “ As
wrong as they are, saying thou hast children
brought up by the parish, and that thou art
Buonaparte’s brother, and that thou hast been
in prison; so false is their sayings, thy
writings came from the devil or any spirit
but the Spirit of the Living God; and that
every soul in this nation shall know before
the five years I mentioned to thee in 1802,
are expired : and then I will turn as a diadem
of beauty to the residence of my people, and
they shall praise the God of their salvation.”
In March, 1805, we find Joanna published
a pamphlet in London, endeavouring to con-
fute “ Five Charges ” against her, which had
appeared in the “ Leeds Mercury,” and four of
which, she says, were absolutely false. The
first charge was respecting the sealing of her
disciples. The second on the invasion. The
third on the famine. The fourth on her mis-
sion. The fifth on her death. Sealing is the
-grand peculiarity and ordinance of these
people. Joanna gave those who professed
belief in her mission, and will subscribe to
the things revealed in her “'Warning,” a
‘ sealed written paper with her signature, for
each day was typical of the events of each ;
succeeding month: New Year’s day to corre-
spond with January, January 2 with Feb-
ruary, 85c.
After this she relates a dream she had in
1792, and declares she foretold the death of '
Bishop Buller, and appeals to a letter put into
the hands of a clergyman whom she names.
One night she heard a noise as if a ball of
iron was rolling down the stairs, three steps ;
and the Spirit afterwards, she says, told her
this was a sign of three great evils which
were to fall upon this land, the sword, the
plague, and famine. She aflirms that the late
war, and ‘that the extraordinary harvest of
1797 and 1800, happened agreeably to the
predictions which she had previously made
known ; and particularly appeals to the people
of Exeter, where it seems she was brought up
from her infancy.
In November, 1803, she says she was or-
dered to open her Bible, which she did at
Eccles. i. 9 ; and then followsa long explan-
ation of that chapter.
When she was at Stockton-upon-Tees in
the next month, she informs us three metho-
dist preachers had the confidence to tell her
she uttered lies ; and she then refers them to


four clergymen who could prove she and her
friends were not. liars.
which they had to pay half-a-crown, and by
which they were led to think they were sealed
against the day of redemption, and that all
those who were possessed of these seals would
be signally honoured by the Messiah when he
comes again. It is said they looked upon
Joanna to be the bride, the Lamb’s wife; and
that as man fell by a woman, he will be re-
stored by a woman. Some of her followers
pretended also to have visions and revelations.
Joanna went so far at last as to declare
' herself pregnant with another Messiah, who
was. to be called Shiloh. Her followers made
costly preparations for the birth of their ex-
pected prince, and had a cradle constructed
at an expense of two hundred pounds. The
disease by which she was deceived terminated
in her death; but her deluded disciples, after
having been compelled to inter her, persisted
in the belief that she was to bear the Shiloh,
and gave out that she would rise again with
the child in her arms.
The members of her society have been
gathered chiefly from among the more ig-
norant members of the Methodists, and of
- the established church. Mr. Foley, rector of
Old Swlnford, near Stourbridge, was said to
be a firm believer in the resurrection of the
prophetess; and another clergyman used to
i go regularly to expound her writings at Brits.
SPI 7
SP1
.30
tol. The Southcotters abound principally in
the northern counties. At Ashton-under—line
they have a splendid temple, which cost them
nine thousand pounds. Their worship is de-
scribed as awfully wild and tumultuous. The
men are known by their wearing long beards
and brown hats. At present, it seems, both
warning and sealing have subsided; they are
waiting in awful suspense for the commence-
‘ment of the thousand years’ reign on the
earth. Yet it is said they do not mean that
Christ will come in person, but in spiritnand
that the sealed who are dead before this time,
will be raised from their graves to partake m
this happy state.
SOVEREIGNTY or G01) is his power and
right of dominion over his creatures, to dis-
pose and determine them as seemeth him
good. This attribute is evidently demon-
strated in the systems of creation, providence,
and grace; and may be considered as absolute,
universal, and everlasting, Dan. iv. 35 ; Eph.
i. 11. See DOMINION, GOVERNMENT, POWER,
and WILL 0F G01); Cole on the Sovereignty
Qf God ,- and Charnock on the Dominion of
God in his Works, vol. i. p. 690; Edwards’s
Sermons, ser. 4.
SPINOSISM, the doctrines of Spinoza, who
was born a Jew at Amsterdam in 1632. The
chief articles in his system are such as these:
that there is but one substance in nature, and
that this only substance is endued with an in-
finite variety of attributes, among which are
extension and cogitation: that all the bodies
in the universe are modifications of this sub-
stance, considered as extended; and that all
the souls of men are modifications of the
same substance, considered as cogitative: that
God is a necessary and infinitely perfect Being,
and is the cause of all things that exist, but
not a different Being from them: that there
is but one Being and one nature; and that
this nature produces within itself, by an im—
manent act, all those which we call creatures;
and that this Being is, at the same time, both
agent and patient, efiicient cause and subject,
but that he produces nothing but modifica-
tions of himself. Thus is the Deity made
the sole agent as well as patient, in all evil,
both physical and moral. If this impious
doctrine be not Atheism, (or, as it is sometimes
called, Pantheism,) I know not what is. See
PANTHEISM.
SPIRIT, an incorporeal being or intelligence;
in which sense God is said to be a Spirit, as
are angels and the human soul.
Srrnrr, HOLY. Sec HOLY Gnos'r.
Srnu'ruxu'rv or G01) is his immateriality,
or being without body. It expresses _an idea
(says Dr. Paley) made up of a negative part
and of a positive part. The negative part
consists in the exclusion of some of the known
properties of nature, especially of solidity, of
the vis incrtim, and of gravitation. The posi-
tive part comprises perception, thought, Wlll,
power, action, by which last term is meant
the origination of motion. Nit. ’I’i’zeol. p. 481.
See INCORPOREALITY or G01).
SPIRITUAL-MINDEDNESS, that disposition
implanted in the mind by the Holy Spirit, by
which it is inclined to love, delight in, and
attend to spiritual things. The spiritual-
minded highly appreciate spiritual blessings
—are engaged in spiritual exercises—pursue
spiritual objects—are influenced by spiritual
motives—and experience spiritual joys. To
be spiritually-minded, says St. Paul, is life
and peace, Rom. viii. 6. See Dr. Owen’s erc-
cellent Treatise on this subject.
SPIRITUALIZE, to interpret and apply his-
torical, or other parts of the Bible, in what is
called a spiritual manner. The sense thus
brought out is termed the spiritual sense ,- and
those preachers or expositors who are most
ready and extravagant in eliciting it, are the
most highly esteemed by the unlearned and
persons of an uncultivated taste. It is im-
possible adequately to describe the excesses
and absurdities which have been committed
by such teachers. From the time of Origen,
who spiritualized the account of the creation
of the world, the creation and fall of man,
and numerous other simple facts related in
the Bible, down to the Jesuit who made the
greater light to mean the pope, and the lesser
light and the stars to mean the subjection of
kings and princes to the pope, there have
been multitudes in and out of the Catholic
Church who have pursued the same path. In
the present day it is repudiated by all en-
lightened and sober-minded teachers, and is
only to be met with in places of worship
served by persons of coarse and illiterate
habits, or an unbridled imagination ; or who,
for the sake of advantage, aim at the causing
of their persons to be held in admiration by
the great swelling words of vanity to which
they give'utterance. A noted preacher in
the metropolis, when expounding the history
of Joseph, made out Pharaoh to mean God
the Father, and Joseph the Son. As Joseph
interpreted Pharaoh.’s dreams, so Christ in-
terpreted the will of the Father. Potiphar’s
wife signified the sinful humanity, which, ac-
cording to the preacher, our Lord assumed.
The prison signified the prison of hell, to
which Christ went after his death. The chief
butler, who was restored, typified a number of
damned spirits whom Christ then liberated;
and the chief baker was a type of the rest
who were left—cut of)" from their head, Christ!
Such a mode of interpretation may astound
persons of weak minds, but it is most irrcve~
rent and dangerous. For, what can sooner
lead the unconverted, who may possess a sound
and discriminating natural judgment, to reject
the Scriptures altogether, than to hear of im-
portant doctrines drawn equally from the first
chapter of First Chronicles, and from any
other part of the .iiblc? It is one thing to
SPO
STO
731
explain a passage literally, and then deduce
from it spiritual and practical reflections; and
another, to represent it as directly and posi-
tively teaching certain spiritual truths, or
apply it to subjects with which it has no
manner of connexion whatever. See Stuart’s
Ernesti, p. 37.
Sronsons, are those persons who, in the
otiice of baptism, answer, or are sureties, for
the persons baptized. See GODFATHERS
SPORTS, BOOK or, a book or declaration,
drawn up by Bishop Morton, in the reign of
King James I., to encourage recreations and
sports on the Lord’s day. It was to this
effect :——“ That for his good people’s recrea-
tion, his majesty’s pleasure was, that, after the
end of divine service, they should not be dis-
turbed, letted, or discouraged, from any lawful
recreations; such as dancing, either of men or
women; archery for men; leaping, vaulting, or
any such harmless recreations ; nor having of
may-games, wln'tson-ales, or morrz'ce-dances; or
setting/up of may-poles, or other sports there-
with used, so as the same may be had in due
and convenient time, without impediment or
let of divine service; and that women should
have leave to carry rushes to the church for
the decoring of it, according to their old cus
toms; withal prohibiting all unlawful games
to be used on Sundays only; as bear-baiting,
bull-baiting, interludes, and at all times (in the
meaner sort of people prohibited) bowling.”
Two or three restraints were annexed to the
declaration, which deserve the reader’s notice.
1st, “ No recusant (i. c. Papist) was to have
the benefit of this declaration. — 2dly, Nor
such as were not present at the whole of di-
vine service.—-Nor, 3dly, Such as did not
keep to their own parish churches, that is,
Puritans.”
This declaration was ordered to be read in
all the parish churches of Lancashire, which
abounded with Papists ; and Wilson adds, that
it was to have been read in all the churches of
England; but that Archbishop Abbot, being
at Croydon, flatly forbade its being read there.
In the reign of King Charles 1., Archbishop
Laud put the king upon republishing this de-
claration, which was accordingly done. The
court had their balls, masquerades, and plays,
on the Sunday evenings; while the youth ot
the country were at their morrice-dances,
may-games, church and clerk ales, and. all
such kind of rcvelling. The severe pressing
of this declaration made sad havoc among the
Puritans, as it was to be read in the churches.
Many poor clergymen strained their consci-
ences in submission to their superiors. Some,
after publishing it, immediately read the fourth
commandment to the people :—“ Remember
the Sabbath Day to keep it holy ;” adding,
“ This is the law of God, the other the injunc-
tion of man.” Some put it upon their curates,
whilst great numbers absolutely refused to
comply; the consequence of which was, that
several clergymen were actually suspended for
not reading it.
STANcAnIsTs, those who held with Stancar,
a Lutheran divine, in opposition to Osiander,
that we are justified by the righteousness in-
herent in, and wrought out by, the human
nature of Christ alone, irrespective of his
' divine. nature.
STAROBRADSI, or OLD CEREMONIALISTS,
Russian dissenters, who broke off from the
dominant church, in the latter half of the
seventeenth century, in consequence of the
numerous corrections which were introduced
into the printed copies of the church service,
and which they considered to be corruptions
foisted in with a view to undermine the faith.
They would have nothing to do with the re-
vised copies, with those who used them, or
with any church into the service of which
they were admitted ; but collected all the old
images, and copies of the Scriptures and
church books; worshipped by themselves;
re-baptized such as had been baptized after
the schism; and strictly enforced non-com-
munion, even in eating and drinking, with the
innovators, or such as approved of, and con-
formed to, the use of the corrected books. In
a short time the members of this separation
amounted to nearly 100,000 ; and though they
have been subject to some severe persecutions,
especially one in 17 64, when 20,000 of them
were banished to people the wilds of Siberia,
their number has continued to increase, and
is supposed now to amount to several hundred
thousands. They have a great number of
churches, besides monasteries and nunneries.
STATUTE, BLOODY, or the law of the six
articles; a law enacted in the reign of Henryr
VIIL, which denounced death against all those
who should deny the doctrine of transubstan-
tiation, or maintain the necessity of receiving
the sacrament in both kinds, or aflirm that it
was lawful for priests to marry, that vows of
celibacy might be broken, that private masses
were of no avail, and that auricular confession '
to a priest was not necessary to salvation.
STEDFASTNESS. See CONSTANCY.
STOICS, heathen philosophers, who took
their names from the Greek word o'roa, sig-
nifying a porch or portico, because Zeno, the
head of the Stoics, kept his school in a. porch
of the city of Athens. It is supposed that
Zeno borrowed many of his opinions from
the Jewish Scriptures: but it is certain that
Socrates and Plato had taught much of them ‘
before. The Stoics generally maintained that
nature impels every man to pursue whatever
appears to him to be good. According to them,
self-preservation and defence is the first law
of animated nature. All animals necessarily
derive pleasure from those things which are
suited to them; but the first object of pursuit
is not pleasure, but conformity to nature.
Every one, therefore, who has a right discern-
ment of what- is good, will be chiefly con-
S U B 732
SUB
corned to conform to nature in all his actions
and pursuits. This is the origin of moral
obligation. With respect to happiness or good,
the stoical doctrine was altogether extrava-
gant: they taught that all external things are
indifferent, and cannot affect the happiness of
man ; that pain, which does not belong to the
mind, is not evil; and that a wise man will be
happy in the midst of torture, because virtue
itself is happiness.
Of all the sects, however, of the ancient
philosophers, it is said that the Stoics came
nearest to the Christians; and that not only
with respect to their strict regard to moral
virtue, but also on account ' of their moral
principles; insomuch that Jerome atiirms that
in many things they agree with us. They
asserted the unity of the Divine Being—the
creation of the world by the Aoyog, or Word
-—the doctrine of Providence—and the con-
flagration of the universe. They believed in
the doctrine of fate, which they represented as
no other than the will and purpose of God,
and held that it had no tendency to looseness
of life. _
STRIGOLNIKS, a sect of Judaizing Russian
Christians, which sprang up in the fourteenth
century, and increased with great rapidity,
owing to the zeal of the founders, and the
analogy which was found to exist between the
Greek ceremonies and the temple service of
the Jews. They were joined by priests and
deacons of the Russian church; and several
even of the bishops favoured their doctrines.
The flames of persecution were repeatedly
kindled against them; but they continued to
exist either more publicly or in private; and
at this day are concentrated in the Seleznev-
tchini, who are Jews in‘ principle, observe cir-
cumcision, the seventh-day Sabbath, and parts
of the ceremonial law.
STYLITES, PILLAR SAINTS, an appellation
given to a kind of solitaries, who stood motion~
less upon the tops of pillars, raised for this
exercise of their patience, and remained there
for several years, amidst the admiration and
applause of the stupid populace. Of these, we
find several mentioned in ancient writers, and
even as low as the twelfth century, when they
were totally suppressed.
The founder of the order was St. Simeon
Stylites, a famous anchorite in the fifth cen-
tury, who first took up his abode on a column
six cubits high; then on a second of twelve
cubits; a third of twenty-two; a fourth of
thirty-six; and on another of forty cubits;
Where he thus passed thirty-seven years of his
life. The tops of these columns were only
three feet in diameter, and were defended by
a rail that reached almost to the girdle, some-
what resembling a pulpit. There was no ly-
ing down in it. The Faquirs, or devout peo-
ple of the East, imitate this extraordinary kind
of life to this day. .
SUB-DEACON, an inferior minister, who

anciently attended at the altar, prepared the
sacred vessels, delivered them to the deacons
in time of divine service, attended the doors
of the church during communion service, went
on the bishop’s embassies with his letters, or
messages to foreign churches, and was in-
vested with the first of the holy orders. They
were so subordinate to the superior rulers of
the church, that, by a canon of the Council of
Laodicea, they were forbidden to sit in the
presence of a deacon without his leave.
SUBLAPSARIANS, also sometimes called IN-
FRALAPSARIANS, those who hold that God
permitted the first man to fall into transgres-
sion without absolutely predetermining his
fall; or that the decree of predestination re-
gards man as fallen, by an abuse of that free-
dom which Adam had, into a state in which
all were to be left to necessary and unavoid-
able ruin, who were not exempted from it by
predestination. See SUPRALAPSARIANS.
SUBMISSION 'ro Gon implies an entire
giving up of our understanding, will, and-
affections to him; or, as Dr. Owen observes,
it consists in, 1. An acquiescency in his right
and sovereignty. 2. An acknowledgment of
his righteousness and wisdom. 3. A sense of
his love and care. 4. A diligent application
of ourselves to his mind and will. 5. Keep-
_ing our souls by faith and patience from
weariness and despondency. 6. A full re-
signation to his will. See RESIGNATION.
Sonnow.
SUBSCRIPTION, CLERICAL. Subscription to
. articles of religion is required of the clergy
of every established church, and of some
churches not established. But it has been a
matter of dispute whether it answers any
valuable purpose as to religion, however ne-
cessary as a test to loyalty. All language is
more or less ambiguous, so that it is difiicult
always to understand the exact sense, or the
animus imponentis, especially when creeds have
been long established. It is said that the
clergy of the churches of England and Scot-
land seldom consider themselves as fettered
by the Thirty-nine Articles, or the Confession
of Faith, when composing instructions for
their parishes, or the public at large.
It is to be feared, indeed, that many sub-
scribe merely for the sake of emolument;
and though it be professedly ex animo, it is
well known that it is not so in reality; for
when any one appears to entertain conscien-
tious scruples on the subject, he is told,—-it is
a thing of no consequence, but only a matter
of form. How such will answer to the Great
Head of the church, we must leave them, to
judge. They who think subscription to be
proper, should remember that it approaches.
very near the solemnity of an oath, and is not
to be trified with. “ Great care,” says Dod~
dridge, “ ought to be taken that we subscribe
nothing that we do not firmly believe. If the
signification ol' the words he dubious,and we
SUC
SUN
733
believe either sense, and that sense in which
we do believe them is as natural as the other,
we may, consistently with integrity, subscribe
them; or if the sense in which we do believe
them be less natural, and we explain that
sense, and that explication be admitted by the
person requiring the subscription in his own
right, there can be no just foundation for a
scruple. Some have added, that, if we have
reason to. believe (though it is not expressly
declared) that he who imposes the subscrip-
tion does not intend that we should hereby
declare our assent to those articles, but only
that we should pay a compliment to his au-
thority, and engage ourselves not openly to
contradict them, we may, in this case, sub-
scribe what is most directly contrary to our
belief; or that, if we declare our belief in any
book, as, for instance, the Bible, it is to be
supposed that we subscribe other articles only
so far as they are consistent with that; be-
cause we cannot imagine that the law would
require us to profess our belief of contrary
propositions at the same time. But subscrip-
tion upon these principles seems a very dan-
gerous attack upon sincerity and public virtue,
especially in those designed for public oflices.”
If the reader be desirous of investigating the
subject, he may consult Paiey’s Mor. Phil.
vol. i. p. 218; Dyer on Subscription; Dod-
dridge’s Lect., lect. 70; Conybeare’s Sermon
on Subscription; Free and Candid Disquz'si--
tions relating to the Church of England; and
The Confessional.
SUCCESSION, UNINTERRUPTED, a term made
use of by the Romanists and others in refer-
ence to those bishops who are supposed to
have derived their authority from the apostles,
and so communicated that authority to others,
in a line or succession. It is a very precarious
and uncomfortable foundation for- Christian
hope (says Dr. Doddridge) which is laid in
the doctrine of an uninterrupted succession of
bishops, and which makes the validity of the
administration of Christian ministers depend
upon such a succession, since there is so great
a darkness upon many periods of ecclesiastical
history, insomuch that it is not agreed who
were the seven first bishops of the Church of
Rome, though that church was so celebrated;
and Eusebius himself, from whom the greatest
patrons of this doctrine have made their cata-
logues, expressly owns that it is no easy mat-
ter to tell who succeeded the apostles in the
government of the churches, excepting such
as may be collected from St. Paul’s own words.
(See EPISCOPACY.) Contested elections in
almost all considerable cities, make it very
dubious which were the true bishops; and
decrees of councils, rendering all those ordi-
nations null where any simoniacal contract was
the foundation of them, make it impossible
to prove that there is now upon earth any one
person who is a legal successor of the apos-
tles; at least, according to the principles of
the Romish Church. Consequently whatever
system is built on this doctrine must be very
precarious. “ I am fully satisfied,” says Bishop
Hoadly, “ that till a consummate stupidity can
be happily established, and universally spread
over the land, there is nothing that tends so
much to destroy all due respect to the clergy,
as the demand of more than can be due to
them ; and nothing has so effectually thrown
contempt upon a regular succession of the
ministry, as the calling no succession regular
but what was uninterrupted ; and the making
the eternal salvation of Christians to depend
upon that uninterrupted succession, of which
the most learned must have the least assur-
ance, and the unlearned can have no notion,
but through ignorance and credulity.” Howe’s
Episcopacy, pp. 170, 183; Doddridge’s Lec-
tures, lect. 197; C/zandler’s Sermons against
Popery, p. 34-37 ; Pierce’s Sermons, pref. ; and
article ORDINATION.
SUFFERINGS or Crrnrs'r. To form an idea
of Christ’s sufl'erings, we should consider the
poverty of his birth ; the reproach of his
character; the pains of his body; the power
of his enemies; the desertion of his friends;
the weight of his people’s sins; the slow, ig-
nominious, and painful nature of his death;
and the hidings of his Father’s face. All
these rendered his sufferings extremely severe;
yet some heretics said, that the sufferings of
Christ were only in appearance, and not real ;
but, as Bishop Pearson observes, “ If hunger
and thirst; if revilings and contempt ; if
sorrows and agonies; if stripes and bufi‘eting;
if condemnation and crucifixion, be sufferings,
Jesus sufiered. If the infirmities of our nature;
if the weight of our sins; if the malice of
men ; if the machinations of Satan; if the
hand of God, could make him suffer, our
Saviour sufiered. If the annals of time; if
the writings of the apostles; if the death of
his martyrs; if the confession of Gentiles;
if the scofi‘s of the Jews, be testimonies, Jesus
sztflerea'. Pearson on the Creed ,- Dr. Ram-
bach’s Meditations on the Sufl'erings of Christ.
For the end of Christ’s suiferings, see DEATH
or CHRIST.
_ S‘UMMISTS, a name given to those scholastic
divines who ropounded their dogmas in
works called ummce Theologice. This name
was _first adopted as a compliment to Thomas
Aquinas, who published his famous work on
divinity under the title of Summa totius Theo-
Iogz'w, and thereby greatly lowered the estima-
tion in which the “ Book of Sentences,” writ-
ten by Peter Lombard, was held.
SUNDAY, on THE Lonn’s DAY, a solemn
festival observed by Christians on the first day
of every week, in memory of our Saviour’s
resurrection. See SABBATH.
It has been contended, whether Sunday is
a name that ought to be used by Christians.
The words Sabbath and Lord‘s Day, say some,
are the only names mentioned in Scripture
SUP
34” SUP
p
l
respecting this day. To call it Sunday, )8 to
set our wisdom before the wisdom of God, and
to give that glory to a pagan idol which is
due .to him alone. The ancient Saxons called
it by this name, because upon it they wor-
shipped the sun; and shall Christians keep
up the memory of that which was highly dis-
pleasing to God, by calling the Sabbath by
that name rather than by either of those he
hath appointed? It is, indeed, called Sunday
only because it is customary; but this, say
they, will not justify men in doing that which
is contrary to the example and command of
God in his word.
Others observe, that although it was origi-
nally called Sunday by the heathens, yet it
may very properly retain that name among
Christians, because it is dedicated to the
honour of the true light, which lighteth every
man that cometh into the world, of Him who
is styled by the prophet “ the Sun of Right-
eousness,” and who on this day arose from
the dead. But although it was in the primi-
tive times indifferently called the Lord’s Day,
or Sunday, yet it was never denominated the
Sabbath—a name constantly appropriated to
Saturday, or the seventh day, both by sacred
and ecclesiastical writers. See SABBATH.
SUPEREROGATION, what a man is supposed
to do beyond his duty, or more than he is
commanded to do. The Romanists stand up
strenuously for works of supererogation, and
maintain that the observance of evangelical
counsels is such. By means hereof a stock
of merit is laid up, which the church has the
disposal of, and which she distributes in in-
dulgences to such as need.
This absurd doctrine was first invented to-
wards the close of the twelfth century, and
modified and embellished by St. Thomas in
the thirteenth: according to which, it was
pretended that there actually existed an im-
mense treasure of merit, composed of the
pious deeds and virtuous actions which the
saints had performed beyond what was ne-
cessary for their own salvation, and which
were, therefore, applicable to the benefit of
others; that the guardian and dispenser of
this precious treasure was the Roman pontiff ;
and that, of consequence, he was empowered
to assign to such as he thought proper, a por-
tion of this inexhaustible source of merit,
suitable to their respective guilt, and sufficient
to deliver them from the punishment due to
their crimes.
SUPERINTENDENT, an ecclesiastical superior
in several reformed churches where episco-
pJacy is not admitted, particularly among the
utherans in Germany, and the Calvinists in »
some other places. The superintendent is
similar to a bishop, only his power is some-
what more restrained than that of our dio-
cesan bishops. He is the chief pastor, and
has the direction of all the inferior pastors
within his district or diocese.
‘ and, for that

SUPERNATURALIST, a name comm only given
in Germany to all who believe in supernatural
agency as exerted in the inspiration of the
Scriptures, the performance of the miracles
therein recorded, &c. Their opponents are
called Anti-supernaturalists.
SUPERSTITION is a word that has been used
so indefinitely, that it is diflicult to determine
its precise meaning. From its resemblance
in sound to the Latin word superstes, a sur-
vivor, it is evidently derived from it; and
difi'er'ent attempts have been made to trace
their connexion in signification, but without
any degree of certainty. It is generally de-
fined' to be, the observance of unnecessary
and uncommanded rites and practices in reli-
gion; reverence of objects not fit for worship;
too great nicety, fears, or scrupulousness ; or
extravagant devotions; or religion wrong
directed or conducted. The word may be
applied to the idolatry of the Heathens, the
traditions of the Jews, the unscriptural rites
of the Catholics; to the dependence placed
by many on baptism, the Lord’s supper, and
other ceremonies. It may be extended to
those who, without any evidence, believe that
prophecies are still uttered, or miracles are
performed. It is also applied to those who
believe in witchcraft, magic, omens, &c.
Superstition, says Claude, usually springs
either, 1. From servile fear, which makes
people believe that God is always wrathful,
and invents means to appease him. 2. Or
from a natural inclination we all have to idol-
atry, which makes men think they see some
ray of the Divinity in extraordinary creatures,
and on this account worship them. Or, 3.
From hypocrisy, which makes men willing to
discharge their obligations to God by grimace,
and by zeal for external services. Or, 4. From
presumption, which makes men serve God
after their own fancies. Claude’s Essay on
the Com ositz'on of a Sermon, vol. pp. 49 and
299; aurin’s Sermons, vol. v. p. 49. Eng.
edit; Gregory’s Essays, essay 3.
SUPRALAPSARIANS, persons who hold' that
God, without any regard to the good or evil
works of men, has resolved, by an eternal
decree, supra. lapsum, antecedently to any
knowledge of the fall of Adam, and indepen-
dent of it, to reject some and save others; or,
in other words, that God intended to glorify
his justice in the condemnation of some, as
well as his mercy in the salvation of others;
urposc, decreed that Adam
should necessarily fall.
Dr. Gill gives us the following account of
Supralapsarianism. The uestion which he
proposes to discuss, is, “ hether men were
considered in the mind of God in the decree
of election, as fallen or unfallen,—'-as in the
corrupt mass through the fall, or in the pure
mass of creatureship, previous to it, and as to
be created?” There are some who think that
.the latter, so considered, were the objects of
SUP
5 SUP
73
Supralapsarians, though of these, some are of
opinion that man was considered as to be
created or creatable, and others as created but
not fallen. The former seems best, that, of
the vast number of individuals which came
up in the divine mind whom his power could
create, those whom he meant to bring into
being he designed to glorify himself by them
in some way or other. The decree of election
respecting any part of them, may be distin-
guished into the ‘decree of the end and the
decree of the means. The decree of the end
respecting some, is either subordinate to their
eternal happiness, or ultimate, which is 'more
properly the end, the glory of God; and if
both are put together, it is a state of ever-
lasting communion with God, for the glori-
fying of the riches of his grace. The decree
of the means includes the decree to create
men, to permit them to fall, to recover them
out of it through redemption by Christ, to
sanctify them by the grace of the Spirit, and
completely save them; and which are not to
be reckoned as materially many decrees, but
as making one formal decree ; or they are not
to be considered as subordinate, but as co—
ordinate means, and as making up one entire
complete medium; for it is not to be sup-
posed that God decreed to create man, that he
might permit him to fall, in order to redeem,
sanctify, and save him: but he decreed all
this that he might glorify his grace, mercy,
and justice. And in this way of considering
the decrees of God, they think that they sufii-
ciently obviate and remove the slanderous
calumny cast upon them with respect to the
other branch of predestination, which leaves
men in the same state when others are chosen,
and that for the glory of God. Which calumny
is, that, according to them, God made man 10
damn him; whereas, according to their real
sentiments, God decreed to make man, and
made man neither to damn him nor save him,
but for his own glory, which end is answered
in them some way or other.-—Again: they
argue that the end is first. in view before the
means, and the decree of the end is, in order
of nature, before the decree of the means;
and what is first in intention, is last in execu-
tion. Now, as the glory of God is last in
execution, it must be first in intention, where-
fore men must be considered in the decree of
the end as not yet created and fallen; since
the creation and permission of sin belong to
the decree of the means, which in order of
nature is after the decree of the end. And
they add to this, that if God first decreed to
create man, and sufi'ered him to fall, and then
out of the fall chose some to grace and glory,
he must decree to create man without an end,
which is to make God to do what no wise
man would; for when a man is about to do
any thing, he proposes an end, and then eon—
trives and fixes on ways and means to bring
election in the divine mind. These are called -

about that end. They think also that this
way of conceiving and speaking of these
things best expresses the sovereignty of God
in them, as declared in the 9th of Romans,
where he is said to will such and such things,
for no other reason but because he wills them.
The opponents of this doctrine consider,
however, that it is attended with insuperable
difiiculties. We demand, say they, an ex-
planation of what they mean by this prin-
ciple, “ God hath made all things for his own
glory.” If they mean that justice requires a
creature to devote himself to the worship and
glorifying of his Creator, we grant it; if they
mean that the attributes of God are displayed
in allhis works, we grant this too; but if the
proposition be intended to afiirm that God
had no other view in creating men, so to
speak, than his own interest, we deny the
proposition, and affirm that God created men
for their own happiness, and in order to
have subjects upon whom he might bestow
favours.
We desire to be informed, in the next place,
say they, how it can be conceived that a de~
termination to damn millions of men can con-
tribute to the glory of God? We easily con-
ceive, that it is for the glory of divine justice
to punish guilty men; but to resolve to damn
men without the consideration of sin, to create
them that they might sin, to determine that
they should sin in order to their destruction,
is what seems to us more likely to tarnish the
glory of God than to display it.
Again: we demand how, according to this
hypothesis, it can be conceived that God is
not the author of sin ? In the general scheme
of our churches, God only permits men to sin,
and it is the abuse of liberty that plunges man
into misery : into this principle, all lenified as
it seems, is yet subject to a great number of
difiiculties ; but in this scheme, God wills sin
to produce the end he proposed in creating
the world, and it was necessary that men
should sin: God created them for that. If
this be not to make God the author of sin,
we must renounce the most distinct and clear
ideas.
Again: we require them to reconcile this
system with many express declarations of
Scripture, which inform us that God would
have all men to be saved. How doth it agree
with such pressing entreaties, such cutting
reproofs, such tender expostulations, as God
discovers in regard to the unconverted?
Matt. xxiii. 37.
Lastly, we desire to know, how it is possible
to conceive a God, who, being in the actual
enjoyment of perfect happiness, incomprehen-
sible and supreme, could determine to add
this decree, though useless to his felicity, to
create men without number for the purpose
of confining them for ever in the chains of
darkness, and burning them for ever in un-
quenchahle flames. Gill’s Body QfDiv. vol; i.
S WE
S W E
7 (i
~Mark ix. 35.
p. 299; Bfinc’s W’orhs; Smu‘in’s Sermons, vol.
v. p. 336, Eng. trans.
SUPREMACY or THE Porn, a doctrine held
by the Roman Catholics, who believe that the
bishop of Rome is, under Christ, supreme
pastor of the whole church; and, as such, is
not only the first bishop in order and dignity,
but has also a power and jurisdiction over all
Christians. This doctrine is chiefly built
upon the supposed primacy of St. Peter, of
whom the bishop of Rome is the pretended
successor: a primacy we no where find com-
manded or countenanced, but absolutely pro-
hibited in the word of God, Lukexxii. 14, 24;
See INFALLIBILITY, PRIMACY,
Form, and POPERY; Dr. Barrow’s Treatise on
the Pope's Supremacy ; C'hillz'ngworth’s Religion
of the Protestants,- and Smith’s Errors of the
Church of Rome.
SUPREMACY, OATH or. See OATH.
SUSPICION consists in imagining evil of
others without proof. It is sometimes oppo-
sed to charity, which thinketh no evil. “ A
suspicious temper checks in the bud every kind
affection; it hardens the heart, and estranges
man from man. What friendship can we ex-
pect from him who views all our conduct with
distrustful eyes, and ascribes every benefit we
confer to artifice and stratagem? A candid
man is accustomed to view the characters of
his neighbours in the most favourable light,
and is like one who dwells amidst those beau-
tiful scenes of nature on which the eye rests
with pleasure. Whereas the suspicious man,
havin his imagination filled with all the
shocking forms of human falsehood, deceit,
and treachery, resembles the traveller in the
wilderness, who discerns no objects around
him, but what are either dreary or terrible;
caverns that open, serpents that hiss, and
beasts of prey that howl.
SWEARING. See OATH.
Cursing and Swearing is an offence against
God and religion, and a sin of all others most
extravagant and unaccountable, as having no
benefit or advantage attending it. It is a con-
tempt of God; a violation of his law ; a great
breach of good behaviour; and a mark of
levity, weakness, and wickedness. How those
who live in the habitual practice of it can call
themselves men of sense, of character, or of
decency, I know not. By the last statute
against thislcrime, 19 George II. which repeals
all former ones, every labourer, sailor, or sol-
dier, profanely cursing or swearing, shall for-
feit one shilling; every other person under
the rank of a gentleman, two shillings; and
every gentleman, or person of superior rank,
five shillings, to the poor of the parish; and
on a second conviction double, and for every
subsequent ofl‘e‘nce, treble the sum first for-
feited, with all charges of conviction ; and, in
default of payment, shall be sent to the house
of correction for ten days. ,
SWEDENBORG, EMANUEL, a noted visionary,

and the founder of the sect called by his name.
He was the son of J esper Swedberg, bishop of
Skara, in Sweden, and was‘born in Stockholm,
Jan. 29, 1689. In 1710 he commenced his
travels in England, Holland, France, and Ger-
many; and on his return to his native country,
in 1714,he attracted the notice of the monarch,
who, in 1719, elevated him to the rank of no-
bility. He was a member of the Swedish
Academy of Sciences, and distinguished him-
self by his successful studies in natural history,
particularly in metallurgy, on which he pub—
lished a work in three volumes folio.
Not satisfied with his attempts to penetrate
into the hidden recesses of the material world,
the baron, giving free scope to his powerful
imagination, launched into the world of spirits,
had frequent and immediate communications
with spiritual beings, and was honoured with
transcendent and wonderful revelations. Pass-
ing one day along Cheapside, he all at once
fell prostrate on the ground ; and when asked
by a friend who accompanied him the cause of
his prostration, he replied, “Do you not see
Moses passing?” On which it has been aptly
remarked, that a man who could see Moses
passing in Cheapside, might see any thing else.
He asserts that, in the year 1743, the Lord
manifested himself to him by a luminous per-
sonal appearance, and at the same time opened
his spiritual eyes, so that he was enabled con-
stantly to see and converse with spirits and
angels. From that time he began to print
and publish various wonderful things which,
he said, were revealed to him, relating to hea-
ven and hell, the state of men after death, the
worship of God, the spiritual sense of the
Scriptures, the various earths in the universe,
and their inhabitants; with many other strange
particulars.
Swedenborg lived and died in the Lutheran
communion, but always professed the highest
respect for the Church of England. He re-
garded Jesus Christ as the proper person of
the Father, whose Divine Essence supplied
the place of a human soul to him; and held
that his humanity, when rendered perfect by
his obedience and sufferings, was deified, or
made divine. With respect to the sacred
Trinity, though he rejected the idea of three
distinct persons, as destructive of the unity of'
the Godhead, he admitted three distinct essen“
tial principles, elements, or characters, as ex-
isting in it; namely, the divine essence or
character, in virtue of which he is called the
Father or Creator; the human essence, prin-
ciple, or character, united to the divine in the
person of Jesus Christ, in virtue of which he
is called the Son and Redeemer; and, lastly,
the proceeding essence or principle, in virtue‘
of which‘ he is called the Holy Ghost. He
further maintains, that the sacred Scripture
contains three distinct senses, called celestial,
spiritual, and natural, which are united by
correspondences; and that in each sense it is
SWE
S Y M
737
divine truth accommodated respectively to the
angels of the three heavens. and also to men
on earth. This science of correspondences (it
is said) has been lost for some thousands of
years, viz. ever since the time of Job, but is
now revived by Emanuel Swedenborg, who
uses it as a key to the spiritual or internal .
sense of the sacred Scripture; every page of
which, he says, is written by correspondence,
that is, by such things in the natural world as
correspond unto and signify things in the spi-
ritual world. He denies the doctrine of atone- '
ment, or vicarious sacrifice, maintaining that
the sacrifice of Christ did not consist in his
suffering the punishment due to sinners, but
in the hallowing of every principle or element‘
of his human nature to the Godhead ; together
with the doctrines of predestination, uncon-
ditional election, justification by faith alone,
the resurrection of the material body, the per-
sonal coming of Christ to judge the world,
&c.; and, in opposition thereto, maintains that
man is possessed of free will in spiritual things;
t-ha‘t‘salvation is not attainable without repent-
ance, that is, abstaining from evils, because
they are sins against God, and living a life of
charity and faith, according to the command-
ments ; that man, immediately on his decease,
rises again in a spiritual body, which was
enclosed in his material body; that in this
‘spiritual body he lives as a man to eternity,
either in heaven or in hell, according to
the quality of his past life; and that souls
live in heaven according to the nations to
which they belonged on earth. The Dutch,
for instance, occupy the south part of hea-
wen; the Swedes, the north; the English
the centre-——an honour conferred upon them
because of the toleration and liberty which
exist among them, and the reception which
they have given to the true faith; that all the
domestic customs of the different nations, their
modes of life, 85c. will be kept up in the future
state; that the Quakers are excluded from
heaven; and that the Moravians are only per-
mitted to look in at the door. That all those
passages in the Scripture generally supposed
to signify the destnuction of the world by fire,
and commonly called the Last Judgment,
must be understood according to the above-
mentioned science of correspondences, which
teaches, that by the end of the world, or con-
summation of the age, is not signified the de-
struction of the world, but the destruction or
end of the present Christian church, both
among Roman Catholics and Protestants, of
every description or denomination; and that
this last judgment actually took place 1n the
spiritual world in the year 17 57 ; from which
era is dated the second advent of the Lord and
‘the commencement of a new Christian church,
which, they say, is meant by the new heaven
and the new earth in the Revelation, and the
New Jerusalem thence descend-ing, which, it
was revealed to the Baron, actually exists in '
the centre of Africa; with a view to find
which a Swede, named Wadstrom, accom-
panied Sparman, the naturalist, to that con-
tinent; and two colonies have been formed at
Messrata and Sierra Leone, from which to
approach it.
Swedenborg’s works, which are volumi~
nous, have all been translated into English;
and societies have been formed in Manchester
and elsewhere, for the purpose of republishing
and circulating them. He died in an obscure
lodging in London, in 1772, and was buried
in the Swedish church, Prince’s Square. Sum
marg View of Swedenborg’s Doctrines; Swe-
denborg’s Works ,- Dialogues on Swedenborg's
Theological IVritings ,- Adams’s Relig. World
Dis. ; Bertholdt’s Dogmen Gesch.
SwEnENBoRGIANs, the followers of Baron
Swedenborg, found chiefly in Sweden, Eng-
land, and the United States of America. Their
number in Britain amounts to between 2500
and 3000, and not fewer than fifty clergymen
of the Church of England, with several thou—
sands of other ranks, who are not actual mem-
bers of their society, advocate or favour the
doctrine. They hold an annual meeting at
Hawkstone, in Shropshire, and they have a
General Conference, composed of ministers
and delegates from their different congrega-
tions. In Sweden, its abettors have greatly
increased of late; but they are found to be
few in other countries on the continent.
In North America, they have a General
Convention at Baltimore, in connexion with
which are six ordaining and eight teaching
ministers, with ten licentiates. They have in
all twenty-two regular societies, and in all
seventy-nine places where their doctrines are
received.
The sect, as will be seen from the preceding
account of the leading principles of their
founder, is an amalgamation of Sabellianism,
the error of the Patripassians, many of the
anti-scriptural notions of the 'Socinians, and
some of the most extravagant vagaries of mys-
ticism. Their mode of interpreting Scripture
is totally at variance with every principle of
sound philology and exegesis, and necessarily
tends to unsettle the mind, and leave it a prey
to the wildest whimsies that it is possible for
the human imagination to create or entertain.
They practise baptism and the Lord’s Sup-
per, and use confirmation, the solemnizat-ion
of matrimony, after the ordinary ceremony at
church, and a burial service. They approxi-
mate to an independent form of church ‘govern-
ment, 'but their discipline is not yet definitely
settled. No candidate for ordination can be
admitted till after he has been baptized into
the faith of the new. church; the formula of
which is: “ I baptize thee into the name of the
Lord Jesus Christ, who is Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit.”
SYMBOL, an abstract or compendium, a sign
or representation, of something vmoral, by the
3 1a
SYN
SYN
738
figures or properties of natural things. Hence
symbols are of various kinds; as hierogly-
phics, types, enigmas, parables, fables, &c.
See Dr. Lancaster’s Dictionary of Scripture
Symbols; Bicheno’s symbolical Vocabulary in
his signs of the Times; Faber on the Pro-
phecies; W. Jones’s l'Vorlcs, vol. iv. let. 11.
SYMBOLICAL BooKs, the standard or nor-
mal works which contain the doctrines pro-
fessedly believed in the several churches of
Christendom. For an account of these, see
the article CONFESSIONS or FAITH.
SYNAGOGUE, a place where the Jews meet
to worship God.
SYNCELLUS, or SINCELLUS, an ancient fa-
mil y of the Patriarchs, and other prelates of the
Greek church. The name, in the corrupt
Greek, avymyhhog, signifies a person who lies
in the same chamber with another; and the
ecclesiastic who bore it lived in the same room
with the prelate, to be a witness of his conduct,
and was, on this account, called the bishop’s
eye. The ofiice afterwards degenerated into a
mere dignity, or title of honour, and was con-
ferred by the emperor on the prelates them-
selves, who were addressed as Pontifical Syn-
celli, and Syncellz Augustales.
SYNCRETISM, a system of union and har-
mony which was attempted to be introduced
into the Lutheran church in the seventeenth
century. It originated with Calixtus, Pro-
fessor of Divinity at Helmstadt, who, in exa-
mining the doctrines professed by the difi‘erent
bodies of Christians, discovered that, notwith-
standing there were many things to be repro-
bated, there was so much important truth held
by them in common, that they ought to banish
their animosities, and live together as disciples
of one common master. His object was to
heal the divisions and terminate the contests
which prevailed. Like most men of a pacific
spirit, he became the butt of all parties. He
was accused of Calvinism, Roman Catholicism,
Arianism, Socinianism, Judaism, and even
Atheism. His bitterest opponent was Buscher,
a Hanoverian clergyman, who published a
book against him, entitled Crypto-Papismus
novcc fl‘heologice Helmstadiensis. The subject
was taken up by the Conference, held at
Thorn, in the year 1645, to which Calixtus
had been sent by the Elector of Brandenburg;
and the whole force of the Saxon clergy was
turned against him, as an apostate from the
strict and pure principles of Lutheranism.
This great man continued, however, with con-
summate ability, to defend his views, and
repel the attacks of his enemies, till his death
in 1656. But this event did not put a stop to
the controversy. It continued to rage with
greater or less violence till near the close of
the century, by which time most of those who
took part in it had died. To such a length was
the opposition to Calixtus at one time carried,
that in a dramatic piece at Wittenberg, he was
represented as a fiend with horns and claws.
Those who sided with him were called Calix-
tines or Syncretists—which latter term is de-
rived from the Greek ovyIcpn'rtZw, signifying
to join two or more parties together.
SYNERGISTS, those, in Luther’s time, who
held that there were three co-operating causes
in man’s conversion :-—G0d,’ the word, and
free will: maintaining, according to Pfeflin-
ger, that though the human will could not
awaken or rouse itself to good works, but must
be awakened by the Holy Spirit, yet that man
was not altogether excluded from such works
of the Holy Spirit, but that he also, in a cer-
tain degree, did his share.
SYNoD, a meeting or assembly of ecclesias-
tical persons to consult on matters of religion.
Of these there are four kinds, viz. 1. General,
where bishops, &c. meet from all nations.
These were first called by the emperors; after-
wards by Christian princes ; till, in later ages,
the pope usurped to himself the greatest share
in this business, and by his legates presided
in them when called. 2. National, where
those of one nation only come together to
determine any point of doctrine or discipline.
The first of this sort which we read of in
England was that of Herudford, or Hertford,
in 673; and the last that was held by Cardinal
Pole, in 1555. 3. Provincial, where those
only of one province meet, now called the
convocation. 4. Diocesan, where those of but
one diocese meet to enforce canons made by
general councils, or national and provincial
synods, and to consult and agree upon rules
of discipline for themselves. These were not
wholly laid aside, till, by the act of submission,
25 Hen. VIII. 0. 19, it was made unlawful for
any synod to meet but by royal authority.
See ConNcIL and CONVOCATION.
SYNOD is also used to signify a Presbyterian
church court, composed of ministers and elders
from the different presbyteries within its
bounds, and is only subordinate to the General
Assembly.
SYNOD, ASSOCIATE, the highest ecclesias-
tical court among the imited Presbyterian Dis-
senters in Scotland, the powers of which are,
in a great measure, analogous to those of the
General Assembly in the established kirk.
SYNoD, REFORMED PRESBYTERIAN, other-
wise known by the names—Cameronians, from
Richard Cameron, one of their preachers,
who fell in an action with the king’s troops in
1680; Mountain-men, because they originally
worshipped on the mountains and moors of
Scotland, during the persecution under Charles
II. ; M ‘Millanites, from the name of the first
minister that espoused their cause after the
revolution ; and Covenanters, because they
immovably adhere to the Scottish covenant.
They profess to hold no new opinions, but
only contend for the very same things which
were generally received by all ranks of men
in the purest time of our Reformation, between
1638 and 1649.
f
S Y N h
S Y N
39
1
,ceivedthe accession of the Rev. Thomas
‘ ing Presbytery.”
other two, as a co-presbyter. _
_ Reformed Presbytery, from time to time, re-
' thousands in the once famous Church of Scot-
From this period till the Revolution in
1688, there was a gradual and most alarming
defection from the Reformation attainments.
In this trespass all ranks, in general, through
the nation, were deeply involved. N everthe-
less, even in those days of trouble, rebuke,
and blasphemy, there were some faithful wit-
nesses for Christ and his cause. They were
valiant for the truth upon the earth ;-—they
resisted the prevailing defections even unto
blood, striving against sin, and they generally
held their meetings in the open air, a practice
which they transmitted to their descendants,
and which, though no longer the effect of ne-
cessity, is not wholly disused to this day in ,
some districts, as often as the sacrament of
the Lord’s Supper is dispensed. They sted-
fastly adhered to the very same principles,
which were openly espoused, and solemnly
ratified by the covenanted Church of Scot,-
land, in the times of her purest reformation.
- Thus they remained till, in 1706, the Rev.
John M‘Millan acceded to them and espoused
their cause. Some time afterwards they re-
Nairn, who had been in connexion with the
Secession Church. Mr. M‘Millan and he,
with some ruling elders, who had been regu-
larly ordained before, and held the same prin-
ciples, “ constituted a Presbytery, in the name
of Christ, the alone Head of his Church,” in
17 43, under the title of the Reformed Presby-
fiery. This title it still bears; “ not that they
consider themselves as any better than other
men, or as having, in their own persons, ar-
rived at any higher degrees of perfection; but
purely for this, that it is at least their honest
intention faithfully to adhere to the whole of
our Reformation attainments, in both church
and state, without knowingly dropping any
part of them. On this account, it is pre-
sumed, they may justly enough he called the
Reformed or Reformation Presbytery; while,
in another point of view, they might, with
equal propriety, be denominated the Dissent-
Mr. Marshall soon" after received a call, was
regularly ordained, and took his seat with the
After this, the
ceived small accessions to the number of both
their ministers and people. “ Having obtained
help of God, they continue to this day, wit-
nessing none other things than what many

land have witnessed before them.”
So far are the Old Dissenters from being
unfriendly, as some have supposed, to civil
government amongst men, that they have uniformly and strenuously contended, that it 1
is a precious ordinance, instituted by the great Creator of heaven and earth. and made known
in the revelations of his will, for his own
glory, the external protection of his church,
where the true religion is known and pro- ,
fessed, and the good of mankind at large.
I Nor do they object even to the particular
kind of it adopted in our own country, viz. a
mixed monarchy. The great matters on which
' their scruples turn, are the terms, or funda-
mental conditions, on which persons are ad-
mitted into places of power and trust in the
nation. Disapproving of the present terms
of advancement to power and authority,—
and especially, seeing that an unwarranted
supremacy over the church of Christ is made
an essential part of the constitution, and the
support of it in their respective stations the
positively fixed and indispensable condition
upon which persons are admitted to fill the
several places of power,-—these the Old Dis-
senters cannot in judgment approve, but find
themselves under the disagreeable necessity
of openly entering their protest against na~
tional backsliding, either in church or state.
Doing so, they consider themselves as pro-
ceeding on the great and generally admitted
principle, that human society is formed by
mutual consent, and not by compulsion. If
so, the Old Dissenters cannot, consistently, be
refused the privilege of openly avowing their
satisfaction with the fundamental laws of that
great national society to which, in the person
of their worthy ancestors, they heartily gave
their consent, and to which they still consent
in their own persons; neither can they be
justly blamed, after using the best means of
information in their power, for following the
dictates of their own mind in dissenting from
the deeds of those who, at the Revolution,
receded from the former laudable attainments,
and re-organized the society on principles en-
tircly different.
Meanwhile, after publicly entering their
dissent from the Revolution settlement of
church and state, and candidly assigning their
reasons, it ever hath been, and they trust ever
shall be, their study to live peaceably and in-
ofiensively, without giving disturbance either
to small or great. Nor do they wish this to
be admitted on their bare assertion. Let their
conduct undergo the strictest investigation for
a hundred years back; and it will be found,
that in no rebellions, seditions, or public dis-
turbances of any kind, have they ever had a
share, or taken any active part. They never
entertained the idea of propagating their
principles by violence ; nor had they ever the
remotest thought of injuring either the person
or property of any man, high or low, rich or
poor, however much he may difi‘er from them
in'sentiment with respect to other civil or re-
ligious matters. On the contrary, they sin-
cerely wish, by every consistent means in
their power, to promote the peace and hap-
piness of human society, wherever Providence
orders their lot. ‘
The Old Dissenters are strenuous adv oeates
for the binding obligation of the National
Covenant of Scotland, and of the Solemn

SYN
SYN
7401 '
League and Covenant of the three kingdoms,
—Scotland, England, and Ireland, which, as
well as the Westminster Confession, they look
upon as the confession of‘ their faith. Fully
convinced that the holy Scriptures warrant
public vowing, or covenanting unto the Lord;
and, consequently, that either the church, as
such, a nation at large, or any other organized
body of professing Christians, may, as well
as the individual, bind their own souls by
solemn covenant, to serve God, and keep his
commandments; they justly conclude that
such deeds, when both matter and manner, as
in the above transactions was the case, are
regulated by the revealed will of God, must
be of perpetual obligation; inasmuch as the
society, taking burden upon them for them-
selves and their posterity, is a permanent
society which never dies, though the indi-
viduals composing it at any given time soon
may.
The Old Dissenters are strict Presbyterians,
taking the holy Scriptures for their infallible
standard; and in subordination to these,
adopting the form of Presbyterian church
government agreed upon by the \Vestminster
Assembly, and established in 1648, when
Presbytery was at the greatest height; dis-
senting from the indulgence granted by
Charles II., from the toleration granted by
James VII., and from the present revolution
establishment.
The form of sound words which Christ
himseif hath exhibited in the sacred oracles,
they always consider as the rule of their doc-
trine. As a subordinate standard agreeable
to this, they adopt the Westminster Confes-
sion of Faith, with the catechisms, larger and
shorter; which they consider as a well-di-
gested summary of what should be taught in
the church. Public prayers, with the heart,
and with the understanding also, and in a
known tongue, but not in written or in hu-
manly prescribed forms; singing psalms of
Divine inspiration, and these alone; reading
and expounding the Scriptures; preaching
and receiving the word; administering and
receiving the sacraments of baptism and the
Lord’s Supper; together with public fasting
and thanksgiving, as the circumstances of the
church may require; these they consider as
the divinely instituted ordinances of religious
worship; in the observation of which, God is
to be worshipped in spirit and in truth ; while
they reject all rites and ceremonies of human
invention, without exception. Agreeably to
this they follow substantially, as a subordinate '
rule, the “ \Vestminster Directory for Public
Worship.” For regulating their discipline,
they take what aid they can find from the
ancient books of discipline of public authority
in the Church of Scotland, together with the
acts and decisions of Assembly, in the time
of the Reformation ; and as to the particular
mode of proceeding in these matters, they

observe much the same forms of process
with the other Presbyterian churches of Scot-
land. .
In 1810, the Reformed Presbytery in Scot-
land constituted itself into a synod of three
Presbyteries, which is denominated the Re-
formed Presbyterian Synod of Scotland. The
synod has under its charge twenty-six con-
gregations, of which sixteen have fixed pastors.
The other ten are vacant.
Much about the same time the Reformed
Presbytery in Ireland constituted itself into
the Reformed Presbyterian Synod of Ireland.
It includes four Presbyteries, in which are
twenty-one congregations. Of these, fifteen
have fixed pastors—the rest are vacant. There
is now also in America a Reformed Presby-
terian Synod, which, in 1819, included four
Presbyteries. There were then twenty con-
gregations in America with fixed pastors, and
many vacancies.
In Scotland the number of ministers is in-
creasing, while their members are nearly ‘sta-
tionary in regard to numbers. They have
now a professor of theology, under whose
charge the students are placed for four years,
after they have gone through the regular
course of academical studies in one of the
universities in Scotland.
Their “ Judicial Testimony,” together with
the several defences thereof; their “ Terms
of Communion,” accompanied with an ex-
planation and defence; and their different
warnings against prevailing errors and im-
moralities, are before the public, and may be
consulted by those who desire to'know further
particulars respecting them.
They are reported to be rapidly improving
in their liberality towards other bodies of pro-
fessing Christians; and not long ago there
was something like a movement among them
to join the United Secession Church. Their
steadiness and piety of character, and their
general intelligence, endear them to those who
have an opportunity of knowing them per-
sonally. Adams’s Relig. World, and,Edin.
'Theol. Rea, Nov. 1830.
SYNOD, RELIEF. ‘See RELIEF.
SYRIAN Cnaxs'rmns. The number of Sy-
rian churches is greater than has been sup-
posed. There are, at this time, fifty-five
churches in Malayala, acknowledging the
patriarch of Antioch. The church was erected
by the present bishop in 1793. See Evang.
Mag. for 1807, p. 480.
The Syrian Christians are not Nestorians.
Formerly, indeed, they had bishops of that
; communion; but the liturgy of the present "
church is derived from that of the early church
of Antioch, called Litargia Jacobi Apostoli.
They are usually denominated Jacobite ; but.
they differ in ceremonial from the church of
that name in Syria, and indeed from any
existing church in the world. Their proper
designation, and that which is sanctioned by
TAB
TAL
741
their own use, is Syrian Christians,
Syrian Church of Malayala.
The doctrines of the Syrian Church are
or the I contained in a very few articles ; and are not
at variance, in essentials, with the doctrines of
the Church of England.
T.
TABERNACLE, among the Hebrews, a kind I
of building in the form of a tent, set up‘ by
the express command of God for the per-
formance of religious worship, sacrifices, &c.
Exod. xxvi. xxvii.
Tabernacle is also a name given to certain
chapels or meeting-houses in England, erected
by Mr. Whitefield, and to similar places of
worship reared by Robert Haldane, Esq.,-for
the accommodation of a few large congrega-
tions in Scotland, out of which have chiefly
been formed the present churches of Congre-
gational Dissenters in that country.
TABERNACLES, FEAST or, a solemn festival
of the Hebrews, observed after harvest, on
the 15th day of the month Tisri, instituted to
commemorate the goodness of God, who pro-
tected the Israelites in the wilderness, and
made them dwell in booths whence they came
out of Egypt.
TABLE TALK, Ln'rnna’s, an apocryphal
work ascribed to the great Reformer, and
pretending to give a collection of his favourite
sayings, aphorisms, &c. It contains no small
quantity of excellent matter, and much that
is amusing; but retails many absurd stories
and extravagances, which tend in no small
degree to lower the character of Luther. If
any part of it really came from his pen, it
was never designed for publication.
TABORITES, the followers of John Huss, so
called from the fortified city of Tuber, erected
on a mountain, in the circle of Bechin, in
Bohemia, which had been consecrated by the
field-preaching of Huss. The gentle and
pious mind of that martyr never could have
anticipated, far less approved of, the terrible
revenge which his Bohemian adherents took
upon the emperor, the empire, and the clergy,
in one of the most dreadful and bloody wars
ever known. The Hussites commenced their
vengeance by the destruction of the convents
and churches, on which occasions many of
the priests and monks were murdered. John
Ziska, a Bohemian knight, formed a nume-
rous, well-mounted, and disciplined army,
which built Tabor, as above described, and
rendered it an impregnable depot and place of
defence. He was called Ziska of the Cup,
because one great point for which the Hus-
sites contended was the use of the cup by the
laity in the sacrament. At his death, in 1424,
the immense mass of people whom he had
collected fell to- pieces; but, under Procopius,
who succeeded Ziska as general, the Hussites-
again rallied, and gained decisive victories
over the imperial armies in 1427 and 1431.

After‘ this, as all parties were desirous of
coming to terms of peace, the council 01' Basle
interposed, and a compromise was made; but
hostilities again broke out in 1434, when the
Taborites gained a complete victory. Owing,
however, to the treachery of Sigismund, whom
they had aided in ascending the throne, they
were much weakened; and from this time
they abstained from warfare, and maintained
their disputes with the Catholics only in the
deliberations of the Diet, and in theological
controversial writings, by means of which
their creed acquired a purity and complete~
ness which made it similar, in many respects,
to the Protestant confessions of the sixteenth
century. Encroachments were gradually made
on their religious freedom, and they continued
to suffer until they gradually merged into the
BOHEMIAN BRETHREN, which see.
TALAPOINS, priests or friars of the Siamese
and other Indian nations. They reside in
monasteries under the superintendence of a
superior, whom they call a Sanerat. They
perform penance for such of the people as pay
them for it ; are very hospitable to strangers,
and strict in their rules of chastity. There
are also female Talapoins, who live according
to rules similar to those of the men.
TALENT figuratively signifies any gift or
opportunity God gives to men for the promo-
tion of his glory. “ Every thing almost,”
says Mr. Scott, “that we are, or possess, or
meet with, may be considered as a talent; for
a good or a bad use may be made of every
natural endowment, or providential appoint-
ment, or‘ they may remain unoccupied through.
inactivity and selfishness. Time, health,
vigour of body, and the power of exertion
and enduring fatigue—the natural and ac-
quired abilities of the mind, skill in any law-
ful art or science, and the capacityr for close
mental application—the gift of speech, and’
that of speaking with fluency and propriety,
and in a convincing, attractive, or persuasive
manner—wealth, influence, or authority—a
man’s situation in the church,tbe community,
or relative life—and the various occurrences-
which make way for him to attempt any thing
of a beneficial tendency; these, and mangg
others that can scarcely be enumerated,‘ are‘
talents which the consistent Christian will- im-
prove to the glory of God, and the benefit of
mankind. Nay, this improvement procures
an increase of talents, and gives a man an
accession of influence, and an accumulating
power of doing good; because it tends to
establish his reputation for prudence, piety,
iTAL
TAR
7-12
1,;
integrity, sincerity, and disinterested benevo-
lence: it gradually forms him to an habitual
readiness to engage in beneficent designs, and
to conduct them in a gentle, unobtrusive, and
.unassuming manner: it disposes others to re-
gard him with increasing confidence and af-
fection, and to approach him with satisfaction ;
and it procures for him the countenance of _
many persons, whose assistance he can em-
ploy in accomplishing his own salutary pur-
poses.”
TALMUD (from the Heb. ‘n05, Iamad, to
teach), the great depository of the doctrines
and opinions of the Jews. There are two
works which bear this name—the Talmud of
Jerusalem and the Talmud of Babylon. Each
of these is composed of two parts—the Mish-
nah, which is the text, and is common to
both; and the Gemara, or commentary.
The Mishnah, which comprehends all the
laws, institutions, and rules of life, (which,
besides the ancient Hebrew Scripture, the
Jews thought themselves bound to observe,)
was composed, according to the unanimous
testimony of the Jews, about the close of the
second century. It was the work of Rabbi
Jehuda (or Juda) I-Iakka'dosh, who was the
ornament of the school of Tiberias, and is
said to have occupied him forty years. The
commentaries and additions which succeeding
rabbies made, were collected by Rabbi Jo-
chanan Ben Eliezer, some say in the fifth,
others say in the sixth, and others in the
seventh century, under the name of Gemara,
that is, completion, because it completed the
Talmud. A similar addition was made to the ‘
Mishnah by the Babylonish doctors in the
beginning of the sixth century, according to
Enfield; and in the seventh, according to
others.
The Mishnah is divided into six parts, of
which every one which is entitled order is
formed of treatises: every treatise is divided
into chapters, and every chapter into mish-
nahs, or aphorisms. In the first part is dis-
cussed whatever relates to seeds, fruits, and
trees: in the second, feasts: in the third,
women, their duties, their disorders, mar-
riages, divorces, contracts, and nuptials: in
the fourth, are treated the damages or losses
sustained by beasts or men, of things found,
deposits, usuries, rents, farms, partnership in
commerce, inheritance, sales and purchases,
oaths, witnesses, arrests, idolatry; and here
are named those by whom the oral law was
received and preserved: in the fifth part are,
noticed what regards sacrifices and holy
things: and the sixth treats on purifications,
vessels, furniture, clothes, houses, leprosy,
baths, and numerous other articles :-—all this
forms the Mishnah.
As the learned reader may wish to obtain
some notion of rabbinical composition and
judgment, we shall gratify his curiosity sufii-
cicntl y by the following specimen :~-—“Adam’s
body was made of the earth of Babylon, his
head of the land of Israel, his other members of
other parts of the world. R. Meir thought he
was compact of the earth gathered out of the
whole earth; as it is written, ‘ Thine eyes did
see my substance.’ Now it is elsewhere writ-
ten, ‘The eyes of the Lord are over all the
earth.’ R. Aha expressly marks the twelve
hours in which his various parts were formed.
His stature was from one end of the world to
the other; and it was for his transgression
that the Creator, laying his hand in anger on
him; lessened him; ‘ for before,’ says R. Ele~
azer, ‘ with his hand he reached the firmament.
R. J ehuda thinks his sin was heresy; but R.
Isaac thinks that it. was nourishing his fore-
skin.”
The Talmud of Babylon is most valued by
the Jews; and this is the book which they
mean to express when they talk of the Talmud
in general. An abridgment of it was made by
Maimonides, in the 12th century, in which he
rejected some of its greatest absurdities. The
Gemara is stuffed with dreams and chimeras,
with many ignorant and impertlinent questions,
and the style very coarse. The Mishnah is
written in a style comparatively pure, and may
be very useful in explaining passages of the
New Testament, where the phraseology is
similar. This is, indeed, the only use to
which Christians can apply it: but this ren-
ders it valuable.—-Lightfoot has judiciously
availed himself of such information as he
could derive from it. Some of the popes, with
a barbarous zeal,-and a timidity of spirit for
the success of the Christian religion, which
the belief of its divinity can never excuse,’
ordered great numbers of the Talmud to be
burned. Gregory IX. burned about twenty
cart-loads; and Paul IV. ordered 12,000 copies
of the Talmud to be destroyed. See MISHNAH,
the last edition of the Talmud of Babylon,
printed at Amsterdam, in 12 vols. folio; the
Talmud of Jerusalem is in one large volume
folio.
TANQUELINIANS, so called from Tanqueli-
nus, who formed a numerous denomination in
Brabant and Antwerp in the twelfth century.
He treated with contempt the external worship
of God, the sacrament of the Lord’s supper,
and the rite of baptism ; and held clandestine
assemblies to propagate his opinions. He
declaimed against the vices of the clergy with
vehemence and intrepidity.
TARGUM, a name given to the Chaldee para-
phrases of the books of the Old Testament.
They are called paraphrases or‘ expositions,
because they are rather comments and expli-
cations, than literal translations of the text.
They are written in the Chaldee tongue, which
became familiar to the Jews after the time of
their captivity in Babylon, and was 'more
known to them than the Hebrew itself; so
that when the Hebrew text was read in the
synagogue, or in the temple, they generally
TAR‘
II‘
7413
added to it an explication in the Chaldee
tongue for the service of the people, who had
but a very imperfect knowledge of the Hebrew
tongue. It is probable, that even from the
time of Ezra this custom began: since this
learned scribe, reading the law to the people
in the temple, explained it, with the other
priests that were with him, to make it under-
stood by the people, Neh. viii. 7, 9.
But though the custom of making these
sorts of expositions in the.Chaldee language
he very ancient among the Hebrews, yet they
have no written paraphrases or Targums be-
fore the era of Onkelos and Jonathan, who
lived about the time of our Saviour. Jona-
than is placed about thirty years before Christ,
under the reign of Herod the Great. Onke-
los is something more modern. The Targum
of Onkelos is the most of all esteemed, and
copies are to be found in which it is inserted
verse for verse with the Hebrew. It is so
short, and so simple, that it cannot be sus-
pected of being corrupted. This paraphrast
wrote only upon the books of Moses; and his
style approaches nearly to the purity of the
Chaldee, as it is found in Daniel and Ezra.
This Targum is quoted in the Mishnah, but
was not known either to Eusebius, St. Jerome,
or Origen.
The Targum of Jonathan, son of Uziel, is
upon the greater and lesser prophets. He is
much more diffuse than Onkelos, and espe—
cially upon the lesser prophets, where he takes
greater liberties, and runs on in allegories.
His style is pure enough, and approaches
pretty. near to the Ohaldee of Onkelos. It is
thought that‘the Jewish doctors, who lived
above 700 years after him, made some addi-
tions to him.
The Targum of Joseph the Blind is upon
the Hagiographia. This author is much more
modern, and less esteemed, than those we have
now mentioned. He has written upon the
Psalms, Job, the Proverbs, the Canticles, Ec-
clesiastes, Ruth, and Esther. His style is a
very corrupt Chaldee, with a great mixture of
words from foreign languages.
The Targum of Jerusalem is only upon the
Pentateuch; nor is that entire or perfect.
There are whole verses wanting, others trans-
posed, others mutilated; which has made
many of opinion that this is only a fragment
of some ancient paraphrase that is now lost.
There is no Targum upon Daniel, or upon
the books of Ezra and Nehemiah.
These Targums are of great use for the
better understanding not only of the Old
Testament, on which they are written, but
also of the New. As to the Old Testament,
they serve to vindicate the genuineness of the
present Hebrew text, by proving it to be the
same that was in use when these Targuins
were made; contrary to the opinion of those.
who think the Jews corrupted it after the
time of our Saviour. They help to explain
many words and phrases in the Hebrew ori-
ginal, and they hand down to us many of the
ancient customs of the Jews. And some of‘
them, with the phraseology, idioms, and pe-
culiar forms of speech which are found in
them, do, in many instances, help as much
for the_ illustration and better understanding
of the New Testament as of the Old, the
Jerusalem Chaldee dialect, in which they are
written, being the vulgar language of the Jews
in our Saviour’s time. They also very much
serve the Christian cause against the modern
Jews, by interpreting many of the prophecies
of the Old Testament, respecting the Mes-
siah, in the same manner as the Christians
do. The best edition of these Targums is
that in Buxtorf’s great Hebrew Bible, Basle,
1610. '
Tnsconnuerrm, an ancient sect, supposed
to be a subdivision of the Montanists, and so
called from the custom of putting the fore-
finger on the nose in the act of prayer:
Tao'lcog in the Phrygian language signifying
a stake, and 5pvy70g a nose or beak.
TE DEUM, the title of a celebrated hymn,
long used in the Christian Church, and so
called because it begins with these words:
Te Deum laudamus; i. e. “ We praise thee, O
God.” The origin and author of this hymn
have been disputed. It‘ has commonly been
ascribed to Jerome and Augustine jointly ; but
it has, with greater probability, been attri-
buted to Nicetus, Bishop of Triers, who lived
about the year 535, and who is said to have
composed it for the use of the Gallican
Church. \ .
TELnoLocY, that science which developes
the end or final causes of the constitution of
things in the natural world, and thus deduces
proofs of the existence and attributes of God.
The word is compounded of the Greek reitszog,
from Tehog, and, and hoyog, doctrine.
TEMPER, the disposition of the mind, whe-
ther natural or acquired. The word is seldom
used by good writers without an epithet, as, a
good or a bad temper. Temper must be dis-
tinguished from passion. The passions are
quick and strong emotions, which by degrees
subside. Temper is the disposition which re—
mains after these emotions are past, and which
forms the habitual propensity of the soul.
See Dr. Evans’s Practical Discourses on the
Christian Temper, and the various articles,
gown, Pn'rmncn, Humnn'rr, Foacrrrunn,
'c.
‘TEMPERANCE, that virtue which a man is
said to possess who moderates andrestrains
his sensual appetite. It is often, however,
used in a much more general sense, as syno-
nymous with moderation, and is then applied
indiscriminately to all the passions. “Tem-
perance,” says Addison, “has those particular
advantages above all other means of health,
that it may be practised by all ranks and con-
. ditions at any season or in any place. It is a
T E M ‘PM
TEM
kind of regimen into which every man may
put himself without interruption to business,
expense of money, or loss of time. Physic,
for the most part, is nothing else but the sub-
stitute of exercise or temperance.” In order
to obtain and practise this virtue, we should
consider it, 1. As a divine command, Phil. iv.
5; Luke xxi. 34; Prov. xxiii. 1—3.-—-2. As
conducive to health.-'—3. As advantageous to
the powers of the mind—4. As a defence
against injustice, lust, imprudence, detraction,
poverty, tice.—And, lastly, the example of
Christ should be a most powerful stimulus to
it. See INTEMPERANCE, Sonnm'rr.
TEMPLARS, TEmPLERs, or KNIGHTS OF
THE TEMPLE, a religious order instituted at
Jerusalem, in the beginning of the twelfth
century, for the defence of the holy sepulchre,
and the protection of Christian pilgrims. They
were first called The Poor of the Holy City,
and afterwards assumed the appellation of
Templars, because their house was near the
temple. The order was founded by Baldwin
11., then King of Jerusalem, with the con-
currence of the pope ; and the principal arti-
cles of their rule were, that they should hear
the holy oifice throughout every day; or
that, when their military duties should pre-
vent this, they should supply it by a certain
number of paternosters ; that they should
abstain from flesh four days in the week, and
on Fridays from eggs and milk meats; that
each knight might have three horses and one
squire, and that they should neither hunt nor
fowl. After the ruin of Jerusalem, about
1186, they spread themselves through Ger-
many and other countries of Europe, to which
they were invited by the liberality of the
Christians. In the year 1228, this order ac-
quired stability by being confirmed in the
Council of Troyes, and subjected to a rule of
discipline drawn up by St. Bernard. In
every nation they had a particular governor,
called Master of the Temple, or of the militia
of the temple. Their grand master had his
residence at Paris. The order of Templars
flourished for some time, and acquired, by
the valour of its knights, immense riches,
and an eminent degree of military renown;
but, as their prosperity increased, their vices
were multiplied, and their arrogance, luxury,
and cruelty, rose at last to such a great
height, that their privileges were revoked,
and their order suppressed with the most ter-
rible circumstances of infamy and severity.
TEMPLE, a public building erected for the
purpose of religious worship.
TEMPORAL, a term often used for secular,
as a distinction from spiritual or ecclesiastical;
likewise for any thing belonging to time in
contrast with eternity.
TEMPORALITIES 0F Brsrrors are the reve-
nues, lands, tenements, and lay fees, belonging
to bishops, as they are barons and lords of
parliament.

TEMPTATION, the enticement of a person to
commit sin by offering some seeming advan-
tage. There are four things, says one, in
temptation: 1. Deception ; 2. Infection ; 3.
Seduction; 4. Perdition. The sources of
temptation are, Satan, the world, and the flesh.
We are exposed to them in every state, in
every place, and in every time of life. They
may be wisely permitted to show us our weak-
ness, to try our faith, to promote our humility,
and to teach us to place our dependence on a
superior Power; yet we must not run into
them, but watch and pray ; avoid sinful com-
pany ; consider the love, sufferings, and con-
stancy of Christ, and the awful consequences
of fallinga victim to them. The following
rules have been laid down, by which we may
in some measure know when a temptation
comes from Satan.—-1. When the temptation
is unnatural, or contrary to the general bias
or temper of our minds—2. When it is op-
posite to the present frame of the mind—3.
When the temptation itself is irrational; be-
ing contrary to whatever we could imagine
our own minds would suggest to us.—4. When
a temptation is detested in its first rising and
appearance—5. Lastly, when it is vi'olent.
See SATAN. Brooks, Owen, Gilpin, Capel,
and Gillespie on Temptation; South’s Seven
Sermons on Temptation, in the 6th vol. of his
Seimons; Pike and Hayward’s Cases of Con-
science; and Bishop Porteus’s Sermons, vol.
i., ser. 3 and 4.
TEMPTATION or CHRIST. The temptation
of Christ, of which we read in the 4th chap.
of Matthew, has been the subject of mu'ch in-
fidel ridicule ; and some ingenious writers, to
avoid the difiiculties of a literal interpretation,
have reduced the whole to vision and allegory.
But perhaps this has increased rather than
removed those difiiculties. Is it not best al-
ways to adhere as closely as possible to the
language of inspiration, without glozing it
with fancies of our own? And after all, what
is there so inconsistent with reason in this ac-
count? That, when our Lord retired to the
interior part of the wilderness, the enemy of
mankind should assume a disguise, (whether
human or angelic is not important,) and pre-
sent the most plausible temptation to our Re-
deemer, under those trying circumstances,
is perfectly consistent with the malevolence
of his character; but how far he was permitted
to exert his power in forming them, is not ne-
cessary to be inquired. The grand objection
is, why was Satan suffered thus to insult the
Son of God? Wherefore did the Redeemer
suffer his state of retirement to be thus dis-
turbed with the malicious suggestions of the
fiend? May it not be answered that‘herein.
1. He gave an instance of his own condescen-
sion and humiliation—2. He hereby proved
his power over the tempter.—-3. He set an
example of firmness and virtue to his follow-
ers.—-And, 4. He here affords consolation tc
TES
THA
745
his suffering people, by showing not only that
he himself was tempted, but is able to succour
those who are tempted, Heb. ii. 13; iv. 15.
Farmer on Cln'z'st’s Temptations; Edwards’s
Ilistory of Redemption, note 334; Henry, Gill,
and Macknight in loc.
TERAPHIM, a word in the Hebrew language
which has much exercised the ingenuity of the
critics. It is commonly interpreted idols.
It would be useless here to trouble the reader
with the numerous conjectures which have
been formed respecting its meaning. Perhaps
the best way to determine it would be to exa-
mine and compare all the passages in which
it occurs, and to consult the ancient transla-
tions.
TERMINISTIC CONTROVERSY, a controvery
carried on between Professors Ittig and Re-
chenberg, at Lcipsic, towards the end of the
seventeenth century, respecting the question——
Whether God has fixed a terminus gratiae, or
determinate period in the life of an individual
within which he may repent, and find favour
with his Maker; but after the expiration of
which neither of the two is possible. Rechen-
berg adopted the aliirmative, and those who
coincided in his opinion were called Termi-
nists. Ittig, on the contrary, maintairi'ed that
access was to be had to the grace of God at
all times, and that the day of grace extended
through the whole of life.
TEsT Am. See AcT, TEsT.
TESTAMENT, NEw. The religious institu-
tion of Jesus Christ, says Dr. Campbell, is
frequently denominated 1) mum) dtaér’pcn,
which is almost always rendered the New Tes-
tament; yet the word dtadn'zcn by itself, is ge-
nerally translated covenant. It is the Greek
word, whereby the Seventy have uniformly
translated the Hebrew word Berz'th, which our
translators have invariably translated cove-
nant. That the Hebrew term corresponds
much better to the English word covenant
than to testament, there can be no question;
yet the word dtaélzimp in classical use is more
frequently rendered Testament. The proper
Greek word for covenant is o-vv9mcn,which is
not found in the New Testament, and occurs
only thrice in the Septuagint, where it is never
employed for rendering the word Berz'th.
The term New is added to distinguish it
from the Old Covenant, that is, the dispensa-
tion of Moses. The two covenants are always
in Scripture the two dispensations; that under
Moses is the old, that under the Messiah is the
new. In the latitude wherein the term is used
in holy writ, the command under the sanction
of death, which God gave to Adam, may, with
suflicient propriety, be termed a Covenant ;
but it is never so called in Scripture ; and
when mention is made of the two covenants,
the old and the new, or the first and the se-
cond, there appears to be no reference to any
thing that related to Adam. In all such places,
Moses and Jesus are contrastcd,--the Jewish.
economy and the Christian: Mount Sinai,
in Arabia, where the law was promulgated;
and Mount Sion, in Jerusalem, where the
gospel was first published.
These terms, from signifying the two dis-
pensations, came soon to denote the books
wherein they were written, the sacred writings
of the Jews being called the Old Testament;
and the writings superadded by the apostles
and evangelists, the New Testament. An
example of the use of the former application
we have in 2 Cor. iii. 14. “Until this day
remaineth the veil untaken away in the read—
ing of the Old Testament.” See Dr. Camp-
bell’s Dissert. part 3.
TESTAMENT, OLD. See BIBLE, SCRIPTURE.
THANKFULNESS. See GRATITUDE, and the
next article.
THANKSGIVING, that part of divine worship
wherein we acknowledge benefits received.
“ It implies,” says Dr. Barrow, (vol. i. ser. 8
and 9,) “ l. A right apprehension of the bene-
fits conferred. 2. A faithful retention of bene-
fits in the memory, and frequent reflections
upon them. 3. A due esteem and valuation
of benefits. 4. A reception of those benefits
with a willing mind, a vehement affection.
5. Due acknowledgment of our obligations.
6. Endeavours of real compensation; or, as
it respects the Divine Being, a willingness to
serve and exalt him. 7. Esteem, veneration,
and love of the benefactor.” The blessings
for which we should be thankful are, 1. Tem-
poral; such as health, food, raiment, rest, &c.
2. Spiritual; such as the Bible, ordinances,
the gospel and its blessings; as fi'ee grace,
adoption, pardon, justification, calling, 8w.
3. Eternal, or the enjoyment of God in a fu-
ture state. Also for all that is past, what we
now enjoy, and what is promised ; for private
and public, for ordinary and extraordinary
blessings; for prosperity, and even adversity,
so far as rendered subservient to our good.
The excellency of this duty appears, if we
consider, 1. Its antiquity: it existed in Para-
dise before Adam fell, and therefore prior to
the graces of faith, repentance, &c. 2. Its
sphere of operation; being far beyond many
other graces which are confined to time and
place. 3. Its felicity; some duties are pain-
ful; as repentance, conflict with sin, 850.; but
this is a source of sublime pleasure. 4. Its
reasonableness. And, 5. Its perpetuity. This
will be in exercise for ever, when other
graces will not be necessary, as faith, repent~
ance, &c. The obligation to this duty arises,
1. From the relation we stand in to God. 2.
The divine command. 3. The promises God
hath made. 4. The example of all good men.
5. Our unworthiness of the blessings we
receive. And, 6. The prospect of eternal
glory.
THAUMATURGIST, a worker of wonders, or
, miracles, from the Greek, Gav/ta, a wonder, and
tpyov, a work.
TH E
THE
746
THEFT, the taking away the property of
another without his knowledge or consent.
This is not only a sin against our neighbour,
but a direct violation of that part of the deca-
logue which says, “ Thou shalt not steal.”
This law requires justice, truth, and faithful-
ness in all our dealings with men ; to owe no
man any thing, but to give to all their dues;
to be true to all engagements, promises, and
contracts; and to be faithful in whatever is
committed to our care and trust. It forbids
all unjust ways of increasing our own and
hurting our neighbour’s substance by using
false balances and measures; by over-reach~
ing and circumventing in trade and commerce ;
by taking away by force or fraud the goods,
persons, and properties of men; by borrow-
ing and not paying again; by oppression,
extortion, and unlawful usury. It may
include in it also, what is very seldom called
by this name, i. e. the robbing of ourselves
and families, by neglecting our callings,
or imprudent management hereof; lending
larger sums of money than our circumstan-
ces will hear, when there is no prospect of
payment; by being profuse and excessive in
our expenses; indulging unlawful pleasures.
and thereby reducing our families to poverty ;
or even, on the other hand, by laying up a
great deal for the time to come, while our
families are left to starve, or reduced to the
greatest inconvenience and distress.
THEODICY, Gr. Qsodutata, a word used to
denote the justification of the divine character
and ways. It is principally concerned with the
existence of physical and moral evil, especially
the latter, the origin of which has furnished a
problem which has never been, and, in all
likelihood, never will be solved in the present
state of things. Leibnitz wrote an essay, en-
titled “ Dc Theodicée,” in which he enters at
considerable length into the subject of opti-
mism, which has, since his day, occupied the
attention both of German, English, and Ame—
rican metaphysicians.
THEODOSIANS, a numerous sect of Russian
dissenters, who are very zealous in their oppo-
sition to the church, calling it the receptacle
of all the heresies that ever troubled the peace
of true believers, and loudly afiirming that the
priests only preach up anti-Christ under the
name of Jesus, and that genuine Christianity
is no longer to be found in the national church.
They are strict observers of the sabbath, par-
ticularly attentive to justice in their dealings,
especially as it regards weights and measures,
observant of unity, and careful never to appeal
to unbelievers for a decision of their differen-
ces. They differ but little from the Pomerz'ans,
which see ; only they purify by prayer what-
ever they purchase in the markets of unbe-
lievers, and omit to write the superscription
over the image of the cross.
THEOLOGY, (from Geog, God, and Aoyog
doctrine, i. e. Aoyog wept Own, the doctrine
or science of God and divine things,) signifies
that science which treats of the being and at-
tributes of God, his relations to us, the dispen-
sations of his providence, his will with respect
to our actions, and his purposes with respect
to our end. The word was first used to denote
the systems, or rather the heterogeneous fables,
of those poets and philosophers who wrote of
the genealogy and exploits of the gods of
Greece. Hence Orpheus, Musaeus, Hesiod,
&c. were called theologians; and the same
epithet was given to Plato, on account of his
sublime speculations on the same subject. It
was afterwards adopted by the earliest writers
of the Christian church, who styled the author
of the Apocalypse by way of eminence,
QsoXoyoQ, the divine. As the various sub—
jects of theology are considered in their places
in this work, they need not he insisted on
here.
THEOLOGY, DOGMATIC, that part of divinity
which treats of its doctrines or principles, and
is thus to be viewed as distinct from, if not
in opposition to, practical or moral theology.
It is also used in the sense of a relation of
the opinions of theologians respecting certain
doctrines.
Tmfonocv, ELENCHTIC, (éhsyxog, refu-
tation, 2 Tim. iii. 18,) the same as polemic
theology, which see. It is also called by some
theologz'a antithetica. _
THEOLOGY, NATURAL, the science which
treats of the being, attributes, and will of God,
as evincible from the various phenomena of
created objects. It is a science of great
simplicity, and a vast multiplicity of obvious
and decisive evidences are every where found
for its illustration. The great book of the
universe lies open toall mankind; and he
who cannot read in it the existence, and,
to a certain extent, the character of its
Author, will probably derive but little bene-
fit from the labour of any commentator: their
instructions may elucidate a few dark pas-
sages, and exalt our admiration of many
that we already perceive to be beautiful: but
the bulk of the volume is legible‘without
assistance; and much as we may find out
by study and meditation, it will still be as
nothing in comparison with what is forced
upon our apprehension. No thinking man
can doubt that there are marks of design in
the universe; and any enumeration of the
instances in which this design is manifest,
appears, at first sight, to be both unnecessary
and impossible. A single example seems
altogether as conclusive as a thousand; and __
he that cannot discover any traces of con-tri-
vance in the formation of an eye, will probably
retain his atheism at the end of a whole system
of physiology. _
The ancient sceptics seem to have had
nothing to set up against a designing Deity,
but the obscure omnipoteucy of chance, and
the experimental combinations of 21.-chaos of
THE
THE
747
restless atoms. The task of the theistic phi-
losophers was, therefore, abundantly easy in
those days; and though their physical sci—
ence was by no means very correct or exten-
sive, they seem to have performed it in a bold
and satisfactory manner. They appealed at
once to the order and symmetry of nature, and
to the regularity and magnificence of the
grand structure of the universe. The great
phenomena of the heavens, in particular, ap-
pear to have arrested their attention; and the
magnitude and uniformity of planetary move-
ments seem to have afforded a sufficient proof
of divine power and intelligence. In this
broad and general way did the theists of anti-
quity propose their evidence of the divine
mind, finding it easier, and probably thinking
it more magnificent, and better suited to the
dignity of the Deity, that the proofs of his ex-
istence should be derived from the great and
sublime parts of his creation, than from the
petty contrivances of animal or vegetable or-
ganization.
In the mean time physical science was
making slow but continual advances; and
curious inquirers were able to penetrate into
the more immediate causes of many of the ap-
pearances of nature. Elated with these dis~
coveries, which ought to have increased their
veneration for the Supreme Contriver of the
whole, they immediately fancied they had
found out the great secret of nature; and as-
cribing imaginary qualities and energies to
different classes of bodies, they dethroned the
Deity by the agency of secondary causes, and
erected a system of materialism in his stead.
It was in those circumstances that certain false
opinions as to the opposition of religion and
philosophy originated. Those whose disposi-
tions inclined them to devout contemplation,
were accustomed to look upon the wonders of
nature in the gross, to consider them as envi-
roned with a certain awful mystery, and to
diseountenance every attempt to pry into their
origin, as a presumptuous and profane inter-
ference with the councils of Omnipotence. In-
quisitive naturalists, on the other hand, were
apt to forget the lawgiver in their zealous
admiration of the law; and mocking at the
pious horror of the ignorant, considered the
mighty fabric of the universe as little better
than a piece of mechanical juggling, that could
only command our admiration while the cause
of its movements was concealed.
This, however, was an error that was soon
rectified by the progress of those very specu-
lations by which it had apparently been pro-
duced. When men began to reason more cor-
rectly upon the appearances of nature, they
soon learned to perceive that the minute tex-
ture of animal and vegetable bodies contained
more wonderful indications of contrivance and
design than the great masses of astronomy;
and that, from the greater complication of
their parts, and our more intimate experience
of their uses, they were infinitely betterfittcd
to attest the adaptation of means to ends than
the remoter wonders of the heavens. Boyle
Newton carried this principle of philoso-
phical piety along with them into all their spe-
culations. The microscopical observers caught
the same spirit. Ray and Derham successively
digested all the physics of their day into a
system of natural theology. A late editor of
Derham has inserted most of the modern dis-
coveries; and in the recent popular works of
Paley and Chalmers, the science has been
presented in the most interesting and instruct-
ive forms.
THEOLOGY, POLEMIC, that branch of the
science which treats of the disputed points in
a critical manner, taking up the different or
erroneous views that have been advanced re-
speeting them, and refuting these views,
either by logical arguments, Or by an ex-
posure of them by a true critical exposition
of such texts of Scripture as bear upon the
contr'overted subjects. The phrase was first
used by Friedman Beckmann, a Jena theolo-
gian of the seventeenth century, who wrote
a book under the title of Theologia Pole-
mzca.
THEOLOGY, POSITIVE, that mode of treating
divinity, which consists in an exclusive appeal
to the testimonies of the fathers, the decrees
or canons of councils, &c. which, being con-
sidered as determining the sense of the church
on any disputed points, render the doctrines
thus determined, fixed and certain
THEOLOGY, SCHOLASTIC, is that part or
species of divinity which clears and discusses
questions by reason and argument; in which
sense it stands, in some measure, Opposed to
positive divinity, which is founded On the
authority of fathers, councils, &c. The school
divinity is now fallen into contempt, and is
scarcely regarded anywhere but in some of
the universities, where they are still, by their
charters, obliged to teach it.
THEOLOGY, SYSTEMATIC, such a methodi-
cally arranged form of the great truths and
precepts of religion, as enables the student
to contemplate them in their natural eon-
nexion, and thus to perceive both the mutual
dependence of the parts, and the symmetry
of the whole. Arrangement, every one ac-
knowledges, is a very considerable help both
to the understanding and the memory; and
the more simple and natural the arrangement
is, the greater is the assistance which we
derive from it. There are, indeed, few arts
or sciences which may not be digested into
different methods; and each method may
have advantages peculiar to itself; yet, in
general, it may be afiirmed that that arrange~
ment will answer best, upon the whole, in
which the order of nature is most strictly ad_
hered to, and wherein nothing is taught pre-
viously which presupposes the knowledge of
what is to be explained afterwards.
THE
THE
748
It is no objection either against holy writ
on the one hand, or against the systematic
study of it on the other, that there is no such
digest of the doctrines and precepts of our
religion exhibited in the Bible. It is no ob-
jection against holy writ, because to one who
considers attentively the whole plan of provi-
dence regarding the redemption and final re-
storation of man, it will be evident that, in
order to the perfecting of the whole, the parts
must have been unveiled successively and by
degrees, as the scheme advanced towards its
completion. And if the doctrines to be be-
lieved, and the duties to be practised, are de-
livered there with sufficient clearness, we have
no reason to complain: nor-is it for us to
prescribe rules to Infinite Wisdom. On the
other hand, it is no objection against this
study, or the attempt to reduce the articles of
our religion into a systematic form, that they
are not thus methodically digested in the
Bible. Holy writ is given us, that it may be
used by us for our spiritual instruction and
improvement; reason is given us to enable us
to make the proper use of both the temporal
and the spiritual benefits which God hath
seen meet to bestow. The conduct of the
benefieent Father of the universe is entirely
analogous in both. He confers liberally the
material, or means of enjoyment; he gives
the capacity of using them; at the same time
he requires the exertion of that capacity, that
so the advantages he has bestowed may be
turned by us to the best account. We are
then at liberty, nay, it is our duty, to arrange
the doctrine of holy writ in such a way, as
may prove most useful in assisting us, both to
understand and to retain it.
It would be in vain to look for much of
systematic theology in the fathers or earlier
writers of the Christian Church. They lived
too near the times of the apostles to feel the
necessity or importance of this kind of writ-
ing: nor were their circumstances at all
favourable to it. Most of them were incapa-
ble of. any thing profound; the body of the
people were of the same description; and both
teachers and taught were so much conversant
with a state of suffering, as to have scarcely
either time or inclination for any thing but .
what bore immediately on the practice or the
consolations of the gospel. Origen and Cyril
of Jerusalem, were the first among the Greeks
who did any thing in this way. The former,
in his work, wept dpxJm—or Four Books con-
cerning Principles, while he gives some in-
formation, astounds us with allegories and
absurdities; the latter, in his “ Catechetical
Discourses,” which were written in his youth,
conveys some useful instruction in a less ob-
jectionable manner. Augustine, in his En-
chiridion, or Treatise on Faith, Hope, and
Charity, presents a kind of system, while, in
some of his other writings, he discusses many
of those questions which at a future period
were reduced into more regular form, and
occasioned interminable disputes.
It was in the middle ages that scholastic
theology combined into re ular system the
principles and duties of religion; but unfor-
tunately it presented the subject in a shape,
not only opposed to sound philosophy, and
repugnant to all correct taste, but calculated
to do the most serious injury to religion. The
works of Abelard, Lombard, Aquinas, and
other angelic or seraphic doctors of the dark
ages, afi'ord proofs of no inconsiderable talent,
especially in dialectics; but unhappily it was
employed rather to bewilder the mind than to
aid the discovery of truth. The metaphysics
of Plato, the logic of Aristotle, and the cor-
rupt theology of the Church of Rome, were
amalgamated into one crude, incoherent mass
of unintelligible dogmas, which was honoured
with the title of the orthodox faith, and the
slightest departure from which was deemed a
pernicious heresy.
To these succeeded the Roman casuists,
who occupied themselves not so much with
the metaphysics of doctrine as with meta-
physics of practice. See CASUIST. Their
works are storehouses of logical subtleties,
and magazines of moral combustibles, suffi-
cient to distract and destroy the universe.
This style of writing in the department of
systematic and casuistic theology among the
Romanists, gave place to a simpler and more
practical mode of treating such subjects, under
the denomination of “Common laces” among
the reformers. Disgusted w1th the meta-
physical absurdities and logomachies of the
schoolmen, Melancthon, Luther, and others,
produced compendiums, or brief systems of
religion, in which, arranged under various
heads, the principal articles of Christian faith
and duty were plainly stated. The confes-
sions of the reformed churches necessarily
assumed a systematic form, and expositions
or commentaries on them brought the doc-
trines and duties of religion in regular digests
before the people of every country in which
they were adopted. In most of these produc-
tions, while both occupy one book, the eredenda
and the agenda are always treated distinctly.
In systematic theology the institutions of
Calvin, though not the first in order of time,
carried ofi‘ the palm from all its predecessors,
and has not yet been surpassed by any com-
petitor. Diversity of opinion may exist re-
specting some of the positions of the Genevese
reformer, and even among those who hold
his general views of Christian doctrine, there
may not be an entire concurrence in every-
sentiment or expression -, but while profound-
piety, masculine energy of mind, acuteness
and strength of argument, perspicuity of
statement, and purity of language, continue
to be respected among men, the Christian
Institutes of John Calvin will secure for their
author immortal honour.
Till-J
T H E
749
The following are some of the principal
writers in this department of theology :--—
Polanus, Altz'ngius, Tneretin, Pictet, Markius,
Mastriclzt, Stapfer, Witsius, Brauni'us, Ames,
Buddams, Perkins, Downham, Baxter, Leigh,
Limborch, Ridgley, Stackhouse, Doddridge,
Gill, Hopkins, Dwight, Watson, Starr and
Flatt, Dick and Knapp; Campbell on System.
Theology, and Orme’s Life of Baxter.
THEOPASCHITES, a denomination, in the
fifth century, who held that Christ had but
one nature, which was the divine, and, con-
sequently, that this divine nature suffered.
THEOPHILANTHROPISTS, a sect of deists,
who, in September, 1796, published at Paris
a sortof catechism or directory for social
worship, under the title of Manuel des Thean-
throphi‘les. This religious breviary found
favour; the congregation became numerous;
‘and in the second edition of their Manual
they assumed the less harsh denomination of
T heophilanthropists, i. e. lovers of God and
man. According to them, the temple the
most worthy of the Divinity is the universe.
Abandoned sometimes under the vault of
heaven to the contemplation of the beauties
of nature, they render its Author the homage
of adoration and gratitude. They, neverthe-
less, have temples erected by the hands of
men, in which it is more commodious for
them to assemble, to hear lessons concerning
his wisdom. Certain moral inscriptions; a
simple altar, on which they deposit, as a sign
of gratitude for the benefits of the Creator,
such flowers or fruits as the seasons afford ; a
tribune for the lectures and discourses, form
the whole of the ornaments of their temples.
The first inscription, placed above the altar,
recalls to remembrance the two religious
'{logmas which are the foundation of their
moral.
First inscription. We believe in the ex-
istence of God, in the immortality of the soul.
Second inscription. \Vorship God, cherish your
kind, render yourselves useful to your coun-
try. Third inscription. Good is every thing
which tends to the preservation or the per-
fection of man. vEvil is every thing which
tends to destroy or deteriorate him. Fourth
inscription. Children, honour your fathers and
mothers, obey them with affection, comfort
their old age. Fathers and mothers, instruct
your children. Fifth inscription. \Vives, re-
gard your husbands, the chiefs of your houses.
Husbands, love ‘your wives, and render your-
selves reciprocally happy
From the concluding part of the Manual
of the 'Theophilanthropists, we may learn
something more of their sentiments. “ If
‘any one ask you,” say they, “what is the
origin of your religion and of your worship,
you can answer him thus z—Open the most
ancient 'books which are known, seek thene
what was .the religion, what the worship of
‘the first human beings of which history has
preserved the remembrance. There you will
see that their religion was what we now call
natural religion, because it has for its principle
even the Author of nature. It is he that has
engraven it in the heart of the first human
beings, in ours, in that of all the inhabitants
of the earth; this religion, which consists in
worshipping God and cherishing our kind, is
what we express by one single word, that of
Theophilanthropy. Thus our religion is that
of our first parents ; it is yours; it is ours ; it
is the universal religion. As to our worship,
it is also that of our first fathers. See even
in the most ancient writings, that the ex-
terior signs by which they rendered their
homage to the Creator were of great simpli-
city. They dressed him for an altar of earth;
they offered him, in sign of their gratitude
and of their submission, some of the produc-
tions which they held of his liberal hand.
The fathers exhorted their children to virtue;
they all encouraged one another, under the
auspices of the Divinity, to the accomplish-
ment of their duties. This simple worship
the sages of all nations have not ceased to
profess, and they have transmitted it down to
us without interruption.
“ If they yet ask you of whom you hold
your mission, answer, we hold it of God him-
self, who, in giving us two arms to aid .our
kind, has also given us intelligence to mutually
enlighten us, and the love of good to bring
us together to virtue: of God, who has given
experience and wisdom to the aged to guide
the young, and authority to fathers to conduct
their children.
“ If they are not struck with the force of
these reasons, do not further discuss the sub-
ject, and do not engage yourself in controver-
sies, which tend to diminish the love of our
neighbours. Our principles are ‘the eternal
truth : they will subsist, whatever individuals
may support or attack them, and the efforts
of the wicked will not even prevail against
them. Rest firmly attached to them, without
attacking or defending any religious system;
and remember, that similar discussions have
never produced good, and that they have
often tinged the earth with the blood of men.
Let us lay aside systems, and apply ourselves
to doing good: it is the only road .to happi-
ness.” So much for the divinity of .the Theo-
philanthropists; a system entirely defective,
because it wants the true foundatiom—the
word of God; the grand rule of all our
actions, and the only basis on which our hopes
and prospects of success can he built.
Tm-zosornrs'rs, a sect who pretend to
derive all their knowledge from divine illu-
mination. The-y boast that, by means of this
celestial light, they are not only admitted to
the intimate knowledge of God, and of all
divine truth, but have access to the most sub-
lime secrets of nature. They ascribe it to the
singular manifestation of divine benevolence,
.T ‘H E ' 7.‘
that they are able to make such a use of the
element of fire in the chemical art, as enables
them to discover the essential principles of
bodies, and to disclose stupendous mysteries
in the physical world. To this class, it is
said, belonged Paracelsus, R. Fludd, Van Hel-
mont, Peter Poiret, and the Rosicrucians.
THERAPEUTIE, so called from the extraor-
dinary purity of their religious worship, were
a Jewish sect, who, with a kind of religious
frenzy, placed their whole felicity in the con-
templation of the divine nature. Detaching
themselves wholly from secular affairs, they
transferred their property to their relations or
friends, and withdrew into solitary places,
where they devoted themselves to a 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 apartment, to which
the inhabitant retired for the purposes of de-
votion. After their morning prayers, they
spent the day in studying the law and the
prophets, endeavouring, by the help of the
commentaries of their ancestors, to discover
some allegorical meaning in every part. Be-
sides this, they entertained themselves with
composing sacred hymns in various kinds of
metre. Six days of the week were, in this
manner, passed in solitude. On the seventh
day they met, clothed in a decent habit, in a
public assembly; where, taking their places
according to their age, they sat with the right
hand between the breast and the chin, and
the left at the side. Then some one of the
elders, stepping forth into the middle of the
assembly, discoursed with a grave countenance
and a calm tone of voice, on the doctrines of
the sect; the audience, in the mean time, re-
maining in perfect silence, and occasionally
expressing their attention and approbation by
a nod. The chapel where they met was
divided into two apartments, one for the men,
and the other for the women. So strict a
regard was paid to silence in these assemblies,
that no one was permitted to whisper, nor
even to breathe aloud ; but when the discourse
was finished, if the question which had been
proposed for solution had been treated to the
satisfaction of the audience, they expressed
their approbation by a murmur of applause.
.Then the speaker, rising, sang a hymn of
praise to God; in the last verse of which the
whole assembly joined. On great festivals,
the meeting was closed with a vigil, in which
sacred music was performed, accompanied
with solemn dancing; and these vigils were
continued till morning, when the assembly,
after a morning prayer, in which their faces
were directed towards the rising sun, was
broken up. So abstemious were these ascetics,
that they commonly ate nothing before the
setting sun, and often fasted two or three
days. They abstained from wine, and their
ordinary food was bread and herbs.

0 T HO
Much dispute has risen among the learncd
concerning this sect. Some have imagined
them to have been Judaizing Gentiles; but
Philo supposes them to be Jews, by speaking
of them as a branch of the sect of Essenes,
and expressly classes them among the fol—
lowers of Moses. Others have maintained,
that the Therapeutae were an Alexandrian
sect of Jewish converts to the Christian faith,
who devoted themselves to a monastic life.
But this is impossible; for Philo, who wrote
before Christianity appeared in Egypt,-speaks
of this as an established sect. From com-
paring Philo’s account of this sect with the
state of philosophy in the country where it
flourished, it seems likely that the Thera—
peutae were a body of Jewish fanatics, who
suffered themselves to be drawn aside from
the simplicity of their ancient religion by the
example of the Egyptians and Pythagoreans.
How long this sect continued is uncertain;
but it is not improbable that, after the appear-
ance of Christianity in Egypt, it soon became
extinct.
THOMISTS, the followers of Thomas Aqui-
nas, who, beesides adopting the Aristotelian
philosophy, in opposition to Duns Scotus,
who held to the Platonic, taught the August-
inian doctrines of original sin, free grace, &c.,
and condemned the dogma of the Immaculate
Conception, whereas Scotus was a Semipela-
gian, and stood forth as the champion of the
Virgin’s freedom from the taint of original
conception.
THOUGHT, an image of anything formed
in the mind; sentiment, reflection, opinion,
design. As the thoughts are the prime
movers of the conduct ; as in the sight of the
Divine Being they bear the character of good
or evil; and as they are, therefore, cognizable
at his tribunal, the moral regulation of them
is of the greatest importance. It is of conse-
quence to inquire what thoughts ought to be
rejected, and what to be indulged. Those of
an evil nature, which ought to be banished,
are, 1. Fretful and discontented thoughts. 2.
Anxious and apprehensive thoughts; 3. Angry
and wrathful thoughts. 4. Malignant and re-
vengeful thoughts. 5. Such as are foolish,
trifling, and unreasonable. 6. Wild and ex-
travagant, vain and fantastical. 7. Romantic
and chimerical. 8. Impure and lascivious.
9. Gloomy and melancholy. 10. Hasty and
volatile. 11. Profane and blasphemous. The
thoughts we ought to indulge, are those which
give the mind a rational or religious pleasure;
tend to improve the understanding; raise the
affections to divine objects; to promote the
welfare of our fellow-creatures, and withal
the divine glory. To bring the mind into a.
habit of thinking as we ought to think, there
should be a constant dependence on, and-im—
ploring of, divine grace; an increasing ac-
quaintance with the sacred Scriptures; an
improvement of every opportunity of serious
TIT
TIT
751
Swift.
conversation; a constant observance of the
works of God in creation, providence, and
grace: and lastly, a deep sense of the realities
of an eternal'world as revealed in the word
or God. Mason on Soy-knowledge ; Watts on
the fllind ,- Godwin’s Vanity of Thoughts.
‘See his \Vorks, vol. iii. p. 232.
TIARA, the name of the pope’s triple crown.
The tiara and keys are the badges of the
‘papal dignity, the tiara of his civil rank, and
the keys of his jurisdiction ; for as soon as the
pope is dead, his arms are represented with
' the tiara alone, without the keys. The ancient
tiara was a round high cap. John XIII. first
encompassed it with acrown. Boniface VIII.
added a second crown; and Benedict XII. a
third.
TIME, mode of duration marked by certain
: periods, chiefly by the motion and revolution
of the sun. The general idea which time
_ gives in every thing to which it is applied, is
that of limited duration. Thus we cannot
say of the Deity that he exists in time, be—
cause eternity, which he inhabits, is abso-
lutely uniform, neither admitting limitation
_nor succession.
Time is said to be redeemed or improved
when it is properly filled up, or employed in
the conscientious discharge of all the duties
which devolve upon us, as it respects the
Divine Being, ourselves, and our fellow-crea-
tures. Time may be said to be lost when it
is not devoted to some good, useful, or at least
some innocent purpose; or when opportuni-
ties of improvement, business, or devotion,
are neglected. Time is wasted by excessive
sleep, unnecessary recreations, indolent habits,
useless visits, idle reading, vain conversation,
and all those actions which have no good end
in them. We ought to improve the time,
when we consider, 1. That it is short. 2.
3. Irrecoverable. 4. Uncertain. 5.
That it is a talent committed to our trust.
And, 6. That the improvement of it is ad-
vantageous and interesting in every respect.
See Shower on Time and Eternity; Fox on
Time ; J. Edwards’s Posthumous Sermons, ser.
24, 25, 26; Hale’s Contemplations, p. 211;
Ilervey’s Meditat.,- Young’s Mght Thoughts;
~Blair’s Grave.
TITHES, the tenth part of any acquired
possession, or of the increase annually arising
and renewing from the profits of land, stock
.upon lands, personal industry, &c., and ap-
propriated to religious or ecclesiastical pur-
poses. They are very ancient, and were
exacted, in the earliest times, among almost
all nations. Abraham voluntarily ofiei ed the
tithes ~of his spoil to Melchisedek, as priest
of the Most High God, and Jacob vowed that
he would devote a tenth of all his income to
Jehovah; but they specially claim attention
as exacted in the Jewish and Christian
churches.
1. In the Jewish Church. These were of
two kinds: the first, a tenth of all the fields
and herds given for the support of the Levites,
who, having no landed property, yet per-
forming important services in the Israelitish
state, were entitled to a liberal remuneration.
Of these, however, the Levites had to pay
one-tenth to the priests, who thus received a
hundredth part of the produce above specified.
Lev. xxvii. 30-33. Num. xviii. 21, 22. The
second tithes were appropriated to the main-
tenance of the feasts and sacrifices, Deut. xii.
11—17—19 ; xiv. 22, 23 ; with the exception,
that every third year, the people might make
a feast of them at their own houses, for the
servants, widows, orphans, the poor, and the
Levites, Deut. xiv. 28, 29 : xxvi. 12—15.
2. In the Christian Church. The Levitical
law having been entirely superseded by the _
introduction of the Christian dispensation, in
which nothing is ordained respecting tithes,
the divine right by which they were raised
necessarily ceased. Nothing whatever is said
in reference to them in the New Testament,
though the principle is there distinctly recog-
nized and enforced, that the ministers of the
Gospel should be liberally maintained by
those among whom they labour. Nor do we
find any mention made of them in the earliest
and purest ages of the Church. It was not
till the fourth and fifth centuries, after Chris-
tianity had been desecrated by its being forced
into a state alliance, that we find the tithe
system introduced and carried into effect.
The tithes, however, as then levied, were
divided into three portions :——1. One-third
went to the bishop, who had to sustain the
onus hospitalitatis, which was Often very great,
in consequence of the number of travellers,
both clergy and laity, who repaired to the
episcopal residence for entertainment. 2.
Another third was distributed‘ among the
clergy in proportion to their different circum—
stances and claims. 3. And the last third
went to defray the expenses of repairing the
churches, &c., and to the support of the
poor.
Much has been said by the clergy relative
to the jurc divino of tithes; but the more
prudent have generally insisted on their right
to them as a matter of human institution.
And on no other ground can they, with any
degree of consistency, exact them from those
who reside in their parishes, whether they
attend their ministry or not. They were first
introduced into England by Athelwolf, and
devoted by him to God, to the blessed Virgin,
and to all the saints, for the averting of tem-
poral calamities, for the health of his royal
soul, and the pardon of his sins, and for the
saying of masses for himself and his nobles
when deceased. At first, though every man
was obliged to pay tithes in general, yet he
might give them to what priests he pleased,
which was called the “ arbitrary consecration
of tithcs;” or he might pay them into the
TOL
TRA
752
hands of the bishop, who distributed among
his diocesan clergy the revenues of the church,
which were then common. But when dioceses
were divided into parishes, the tithes of each
parish were allotted to its own particular
minister; first by common consent, or the
appointment of the lords of manors, and after-
wards by the written law of the land.
Tithes are of three kinds: first, predial,
as of corn, grass, hops, and wood. ~ Secondly,
mixed, as wool, mil-k, pigs, &c., consisting of
natural produce, but nurtured ‘and preserved
in part by the care of man, and of these the
tithe must be paid in gross. Thirdly per-
sonal, as of occupations, trades, fisheries, and
the like ; and of these, only the tenth part of
the clear gains and profits is due.
Lands, and their occupiers, however, may
be exempted, or discharged, from the payment
of tithes, either in part or totally: First, by a
real composition, when an agreement is made
between the owner of the lands and the parson
or vicar, with the consent of the ordinary and
‘the patron, that such lands shall, for the'
future, be discharged from payment of tithes,
by reason of some land, or other real recom-
pense, given to the parson in lieu of them.
Secondly, a discharge, 'by custom or prescrip-
tion, which is either de modo decimandi, or de
non (lecimandi. The former is any means by
which the general law of tithing is altered,
and a new method of taking them introduced, .
as a couple of fowls-instead of the tithe eggs,
twopence an acre for the tithe of land, &c.
The latter appertains to the king by preroga- -
tive, to spiritual persons, or corporations, as‘
bishops, monasteries, &c. See Blackstone’s
Comm. ,- Rees’s Cyclop., and Stratten’s English
and Jewish Tithe Systems compared.
TITLE, a presentation to some vacant eccle-
siastical preferment, or a certificate of such
presentation, required by bishops from those
who apply to them for ordination. Should
any ordain without a sufiicient title, he must
keep and maintain the person whom he so
ordains, with all things necessary, till he can
prefer him to some ecclesiastical living‘, upon
pain of suspension from giving orders for the
space of one year.
TOLERATION, in matters of religion, is either
civil or ecclesiastical. Civil toleration is an
impunity, and safely granted by the state to
every sect that does not maintain doctrines
inconsistent with the public peace. Eccle-
siastical toleration is the allowance which the
Church grants to its members to differ in
certain opinions not reputed essential. See
Dr. Owen, Locke, and Dr. Furneauar, on
Toleration; Milton’s Civil Power in Ecclesias-
tical Causes; Hints on Toleration, by Phila-
gatharches ,- Rcfflexions Philosophiques et Po-
litiques sur la Tolerance Reliyieuse, par J. P.
De N***.
TOLERATION Ao'r. Sec ACT or TOLERA-
TION.
TONGUE, DUTIES on THE. “ 1. To glorify
God, by magnifying his name. 2. To sing
his praises. 3. To declare to others God’s
goodness. 4. To pray to him for what we
want. 5. To make open profession of our
subjection to him. 6. To preach his word.
7. To defend the truth. 8. To exhort men
to particular duties. 9. To confess our sins
to God. 10. To crave the advice of others.
11. To praise that which is good in others.
12. To bear witness of the truth. 13. To
defend the cause of the innocent and just.
14. To communicate to others the same good
impressions we have received.”
Ton-cuss, GIFT or. See GIFT or TONGUES.
TRADITION, something handed down from
one generation to another. Thus the Jews
pretended, that, besides their written law con-
tained in the Old Testament, Moses had de-
livered an oral law, which had been conveyed
down from father to son ; and thus the Roman
Catholics are said to value particular doctrines,
supposed to have descended from the apostolic
times by tradition.
In the older ecclesiastical fathers, the words
7rapadomg and traditio are used to denote any
. instruction which one gives to another, whether
oral or written. In the New Testament also,
and in the classical writers, wapadovvat and
tradere si ify, in general, to teach, to instruct.
In this wider sense, tradition was divided into
scripta and non scripta sive oralis. The latter,
traditio oralis, was, however, frequently called
traditio, by way of eminence. This oral tra—
dition was often appealed to by Irenae-us, Cle-
mens of Alexandria, Tertullian, and others of
the ancient fathers, as a test by which to try
the doctrines of contemporary teachers, and
by which to confute the errors of the heretics.
They describe it as being instruction received
from the mouth of the apostles by the first
Christian churches, transmitted from the apos-
tolic age, and preserved in purity until their
own times.
Oral tradition is still regarded by the R0-
man Church as a principium cognoscendi in
theology; and they attempt to support their
hypothesis respecting it by the use made of it
by the fathers. But it must appear altogether
futile, if due regard be paid to the difference
of time. In the first period of Christianity,
the authority of the apostles was so great, that
all their doctrines and ordinances were strictly
and punctually observed by the Churches
which they had planted. And the doctrine
and discipline which prevailed in those apos-
tolical churches were, at the time, justly con-
sidered by others to be purely such as the
apostles themselves had taught and established.
This was the more common, as the books of
the New Testament had not, as yet, come into
general use among Christians; nor was it, at
that, early period, attended with any special
liability to mistake. In this way we can ac-
count for it, that Christian teachers, of the
TRA. 7
3 TBA
_ second and third centuries, appeal so frequently
to oral tradition. But in later periods of the
Church, the circumstances were far different.
After the commencement of the third century,
when the first teachers of the apostolical
churches and their immediate successors had
passed away, and another race sprung up,
other doctrines and forms were gradually in-
troduced, which difi‘ered, in many respects,
from apostolical simplicity. And now those
innovators appealed more frequently than had
ever been done before to apostolical tradition,
in order to give currency to their own opinions
and regulations. They went so far, indeed, as‘
to appeal to this tradition for many things not
only at variance with other traditions, but with
the very writings of the apostles which they
had in their hands. From this time forward,
tradition naturally became more and more
uncertain and suspicious. No wonder, there-
fore, that we find Augustine establishing the
maxim, that it could not be relied upon, in the
ever-increasing distance from the age of the,
apostles, except when it was universal, and
perfectly consistent with itself, and the Re-
formers justly held, that tradition is not a sure
and certain source of knowledge respecting
the doctrines of theology, and that the Holy
Scriptures are the only prz'ncz'pz'um cognoscendi.
TRADUCIANA, those who hold that the souls
of children, as well as their bodies, are propa-
gated from their parents. According to J e-
rome, both Tertullian and Appollinaris were
advocates of this opinion, and the opponents
of Pelagianism, in general, have been inclined
to it. Since the reformation it has been more
approved than any other in the Lutheran
Church, and that not by philosophers and
naturalists merely, but also by divines. Luther
himself‘, though he did not declare distinctly
in its favour, was also inclined towards this
theory; and in the “Formula Concordiae,”
it is distinctly taught, that both soul and body
are propagated by the parents in ordinary
~generation. What has rendered the hypothe-
sis more acceptable to theologians, is its afford-
ing the easiest solution of the doctrine of native
depravity; and it seems to receive confirma-
tion from the psychological facts, that the
natural disposition of children not unfre-
quently resembles that of their parents; and
that the mental excellences and imperfections
of arents, are inherited nearly as often by
their children as any bodily attributes. But,
after all that can be said, we must be content
to remain in uncertainty respecting the sub-
ject. “ As thou knowest not what is the way
of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in
the womb of her that is with child, even so
thou knowest not the works of God who
maketh all.” Eccles. xi. 5.
TRANSLATION, in the ecclesiastical sense of
the word, is the removing of a bishop from
one see to another. It is also used for the
version of a book or writing into a different

language from that in which it was written.
In translating the Scriptures, great know-
ledge and caution are necessary. Dr. Camp-
bell lays down three fundamental rules for
translating :—1. The translation should give
a complete transcript of the ideas of the origi-
nal. 2. The style and manner of the original
should be preserved. 3. The translation should
have all the ease of original composition.
He observes, that the difliculties found in
translating the Scriptures arise,-—1. From the
singularity of Jewish customs. 2. From the
poverty (as appears) of their native language.
3. From the fewness of the books extant in it.
4. From the symbolical style of the prophets.
5. From the excessive influence which a pre-
vious acquaintance with translations have oc-
casioned. And, 6. From prepossessions, in
what way soever acquired, in regard to reli-
gious tenets.
~ Notwithstanding these difliculties, however,
the divines employed by King James to trans-
late the Old and New Testaments, have given
us a translation which, with a very few excep-
tions, can scarcely be improved. These di-
vines were profoundly skilled in the learning
as well as in the languages of the East; whilst
some of those who have presumed to improve
their version, seem not to have possessed a.
critical knowledge of the Greek tongue, to
have known still less of the Hebrew, and to
have been absolute strangers to the dialect
spoken in Judea in the days of our Saviour,
as well as to the manners, customs, and pecu-
liar opinions of the Jewish sects. “ Neither,”
as one observes, “ metaphysical acuteness, nor
the most perfect knowledge of the principles
of translation in general, will enable a man
who is ignorant of these things to improve the
authorised version either of the Gospels or
Epistles; for such a man knows not accurately,
and therefore cannot give a complete trans-
cript of, the ideas of the original wor '.” See
BIBLE; Mr. Tytler’s Essay on the Principles of
Translation,- and Dr. Campbell’s Preliminary
Dissertations to his Translation of the Gospels.
TRANSPORTATION, in Scotland, the removing
or translation of a minister from one parish or
congregation to another.
TRANSUBSTANTIATION, the conversion or
change of the substance of the bread and wine
in the eucharist into the body and blood of
Jesus Christ, which the Romish Church sup-
pose to be wrought by the consecration of the
priest. Nothing can be more contradictory
to Scripture, or to common sense, than this
doctrine. It must be evident to every one
who is not blinded by ignorance and prejudice,
that our Lord’s words, “This is my body,”
are mere figurative expressions; besides, such
a transubstantiation is so opposite to the testi-
mony of our senses, as completely to under-
mine the whole proof of all the miracles by
which God hath confirmed revelation. Accord-
ing to such a transubstantiation, the same body
3 C
TRI
Till
7"4
is alive and dead at once, and may be in a
million of different places whole and entire at
the same instant of time; accidents remain
without a substance, and substance without ac-
cidents; and that a part of Christ’s body, is
equal to the whole. It is also contrary to the
end of the sacrament, which is to represent
and commemorate Christ, not to believe that
he is corporeally present, 1 Cor. ix. 24, 25.
But we need not waste time in attempting to
refute a doctrine which, by its impious con-
sequences, refutes itself. See Smith’s Errors
of the Church of Rome, dial. 6; A Dialogue
between Philalethes and BenevoZ-us; Kidder’s
Jilessiah, part iii. p. 80; and Brown’s Compen-
dium, p. 613.
- TRENT, COUNCIL or. See COUNCIL.
TRIALS. 1. Painful circumstances into
which persons are brought by Divine Provi-
dence, with a view to illustrate the perfections
of God, bring to light the real character of
those who are thus tried, or to advance their
spiritual and eternal interests.
2. In Scottish ecclesiastical diction, exer-
cises prescribed for those who are to pass an
examination or trial, in order to obtain a license
to preach the gospel. These exercises difl'er.
In the case of the Rev. Ebenezer Erskine,
the trials were, a homily on Isaiah xlv. 22,
a popular sermon on Rom. ix. 17, 18; a
Latin discourse on the nature of j ustify-
ing faith: to give an account of Psalm xliii.
in Hebrew. and the Greek New Testament,
ad aperturam libri ; and to answer catcchetical
questions.
TnmEs, THE Tim. The tribes composing
the kingdom of Israel, which were led into
captivity, into Assyria and the countries about
the Caspian Sea, by Tiglath-pilezer, about 740
years before Christ. Many conjectures have
been hazard'ed with respect to their fate, some
authors maintaining that they became totally
extinct; others that they exist to this day in
some unknown part of the world. By one class
of writers they have been found in the Af-
ghauns; by others, in the Uzbec Tartars; while
a third class pretend to have discovered their
descendants in the inhabitants of South Ame-
rica. Yet nothing seems more probable than
that they, and the captivity of the two tribes of
Judah and Benjamin, amalgamated during
their joint metoi/cesz'a in Babylon, and that they
returned together as one people, in consequence
of the edicts issued by the Persian kings. To
this conclusion the reader will no doubt be
brought, who attentively examines the bearing
of the following passages of sacred writ: Neh.
xi. 3, xii. 37 ; Ezra iii. 1, vi. 16, viii. 35,
x. 5 ; , Ezek. xxxvii. 16—28. On no other
principle is it possible to account for the
amount of the population which is statedby
Josephus as existing in Palestine in his time.
The posterity of the Jews, strictly so called,
never could, within the period that had elapsed
since the return from Babylon, have amounted
to any thing like half the number at which he '
rates them.
TRICHOTOMY, the theory according to which
man is divided into three parts,—-hody, soul,
and spirit. This theory, supposed to derive
support from 1 Thess. v. 23, was common
among the early fathers of the church, but was
opposed by Tertullian and other writers of the
Western Church.
it still is by the more evangelical part of the
Lutheran church. The Reform'ers, however,
did not consider spirit and soul as difl'erent
substances, but only as different attributes or
operations of the same spiritual essence.
TRIERS, a society of ministers, with some
others, chosen by Cromwell to sit at White-
hall. They were mostly Independents, though
some Presbyterians were joined with them.
They had power to try all that came for insti~
tution and induction ; and without their appro-
bation none was admitted. They examined
all who were able to come up to London; but
if any were unable, or of doubtful qualifica-
tions, they referred them to some minister in
the country where they lived. According to
Baxter, they did abundance of good to the
church. They saved many a congregation
from ignorant, ungodly, drunken teachers ;
that sort of men who intended no more in the
ministry than to say a sermon, as readers say
their common prayers, and to patch up a few
. good words together to talk the people asleep on
Sunday, and all the rest of the week go with
them to the alehouse, and harden them in their
sin; and that sort of ministers, who either
preached against a holy life, or preached as
men that never were acquainted with it. All
those who used the ministry but as a common
trade to live by, and were never likely to con-
vert a soul, they usually rejected, and in their
stead they admitted persons of any denomina—
tion, who were able, serious preachers, and
lived a godly life.
TRINITARIANS, those who believe in the
Trinity. See next article, and lecture clxii.
of Doddridgc, where the reader will find a
statement of the opinions of the ancients on this
doctrine, as likewise many of the modems:
such as Baxter, Dr. Clarke, Burnet, Howe,
Waterland, Taylor, Pearson, Bull, Wallis,
Watts, and Jeremy Taylor.
TRINITY, the union of three in one; gene-
rally applied to the inetfable mystery of three
persons in one God, Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit. The term, which might more properly
be expressed by triunz'ty, corresponds to the
trinitatis unitas, of Tertullian. It was less
properly expressed by the Greek fathers by
the word Tptag, a term which had been em-
ployed b certain Platonic philosophers, when
they sp re of the many triads in the Deity,
but was first introduced in application to the
Christian doctrine, by Theophilus of Antioch,
in the second century. This Tertullian ren-
dered into Latin by trinitas. The doctrine of
It was held by Luther, as
TRI
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the trinity is rejected by some because it is
1ncomprehens1ble ; but as Mr. Scott observes,
it‘ distinct personality, agency, and divine per~_~
feetions, be in Scripture ascribed to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, no.
words can more exactly express the doc»
trine, which must unavoidably be thence in-
ferred, than those commonly used on this sub-
ject, viz. that there are three distinct Persons
in the Unity of the Godhead. The sacred
oracles most assuredly teach us, that the One
living and true God is, 'in some inexplicable.
manner, Triune, for he is spoken of as One
in some respects, and as Three in others, Gcn.
i. 26; ii. 6, 7; Isa. xlviii. 16; xxxiv. 16; 2
Cor. xiii. l4 ; John xiv. 23 ; Matt. xxviii. 19;
2 Thess. iii. 3; Acts v. 3, 4. The Trinity of
Persons in the Deity consists with the Unity
of the Divine Essence; though we pretend not
to explain the modus of it, and deem those re-
prehensible who have attempted it; as the
modus in which any being subsists, according
to its distinct nature and known properties, is
a secret to the most learned naturalists to this
present day, and probably will always continue
so. But if the most common of God’s works,
with which we are the most conversant, be in
this respect incomprehensible, how can men
think that the modus existendi (or manner of
existence) of the infinite Creator can be level
to their capacities? The doctrine of the Trin-
ity is indeed a mystery, but no man hath yet
shown that it involves in it a real contradic-
tion. Many have ventured to say, that it
ought to be ranked with transubstantiation,
as equally absurd. But Archbishop Tillotson
has shown, by the most convincing arguments
imaginable, that transubstantiation includes
the most palpable contradictions -, and that we
have the evidence of our eyes, feeling, and taste,
that what we receive in the Lord’s supper is
bread, and not the body of a man; whereas
we have the testimony ‘of our eyes alone that
the words ‘ This is my body,’ are at all in the
Scriptures. Now this is intelligible to the
meanest capacity; it is fairly made out and
perfectly unanswerable: but who ever attempt-
ed thus to prove the doctrine of the Trinity to
be self-contradictory? What testimony of our
senses, or what demonstrated truth, does it con-
tradict? Yet till this be shown, it is neither fair
nor convincing to exclaim against it as con-
tradictory, absurd, and irrational.” See articles
J ESUS CHRIST and HOLY Gnos'r; also Owen,
W’atts, Jones, S. Browne, Fawcett, A. Taylor,
J. Scott, Simpson, and Wesley’s z'eces on the
subject; Bult’s Defensio Fidei ictcnw; Dr.
Alhlr’s Testimonies of the Jewish Church; Dis-
play of the Trinity by a Layman ,- Scott’s Essays.
Tnrrnnrs'rs, a sect of the sixth century,
whose chief was John Ascunage, a Syrian
philosopher, and at the same time a Mono-
physite. This man imagined in the. Deity
three natures or substances absolutely equal
in all respects, and joined together by no
common essence; to which opinion his ad-
versaries gave the name of Tritheism. One
of the warmest defenders of this doctrine
was John Philoponus, an Alexandrian philo-
sopher and grammarian of the highest reputa—
tion; and hence he has been considered by
many as the author of this sect, whose mem-
bers have consequently derived from him the
title of Philoponists.
This sect was divided into two parties, the
Philoponists and the Cononites; the latter of
whom was so called from Conon, bishop of
Tarsus, their chief. They agreed in the
doctrine of three persons in the Godhead,
and differed only in their manner of explain—
ing what the Scripture tau-ght concerning the
resurrection of the body. Philoponus main-
tained, that the form as well as the matter of
all bodies was generated and corrupted, and
that both, therefore. were to be restored in
the resurrection. Conon held, on the contrary,
that the body never lost its form; that its
matter alone was subject to corruption and
decay, and was consequently to be restored
when this mortal shall put on immortality.
TRUCE or G01), a scheme set on foot for
the purpose of quelling the violence and
preventing the frequency of private wars, oc—
casioned by the fierce spirit of the barbarians
in the middle ages. In France, a general peace
and cessation from hostilities took place A. n.
1032, and continued for seven years, in con-
sequence of the methods which the bishop of
Aquitaine successfully employed to work upon
the superstition of the times. A resolution was
formed, that no man should, in time to come,
attack or molest his adversaries during the
season set apart for celebrating the great festi-
vals of the church, or from the evening of
Thursday in each week, to the morning of
Monday in the week ensuing, the intervening
days being consecrated as particularly holy;
our Lord’s passion having happened on one of
those days and his resurrection on another.
A change in the dispositions of men so sudden,
and which proposed a resolution so unexpected,
was considered as miraculous; and the respite
from hostilities which followed upon it was
called the Truce of God. This cessation from
hostilities during three complete days every
week, allowed aconsiderable space for the
passions of the antagonists to cool, and for the
people to enjoy a respite from the calamities
of war, and to take measures for their own
security.
Tnnsr IN G01) signifies that confidence in,
or dependence we place on him. This trust
ought to be, 1. Sincere and unreserved, not
in idols, in men, in talents, riches, power, in
ourselves part, and him part, Prov. iii. 5, 6—-
2. Universal; body, soul, circumstances, 1
Peter v. 7.—-3. Perpetual, Isa. xxvi. 4.-—4.
With a lively expectation of his blessing,
Mic. vii. 7. The encouragement we have to
trust in him arises, 1. From his liberality,
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Rom.‘ viii. 32; Psa. lxxxiv. 11.-~2. His
ability, James i. 17.-—3. His relationship, Psa. '
ciii. 13.-—4. His promise, Isa. xxxiii. 16.—5.
His conduct in all ages to those who have
trusted him, Gen. xlviii. 15, 16; Ps. xxxvii.
25. The happiness of those who trust in
him is great, if we consider, 1. Their safety,
Psa. cxxv. 1.—2. Their courage, Psa. xxvii.
l.—-3. Their peace, Isa. xxvi. 3.-—4. Their
character and fruitfulness, Psa. i. 3.—5. Their
end, Psa. xxxvii. 37; Job v. 26.
TRUTH, a term used in opposition to false-
hood, and applied to propositions which an~
swer or accord to the nature and reality of the
thing whereof something is aflirmed or de—
nied. JVatural or physical truth is said to be
the agreement of our sentiments with the na-
ture of things. .Moral truth is the conformity
of our words and actions to our sentiments.
Evangelical or Gospel truth is taken for
Christ ; the doctrines of the Gospel; substance
.or reality, in opposition to the shadows and
ceremonies of the law, John i. 17. For this
truth we ought to be sincere in seeking, zea—
lous in defending, and active in propagating;
highly to prize it, constantly to rejoice in it,
and uniformly to be obedient to it. See
LYING, SINCERITY; Tatham’s Scale of Truth,-
Loche on the Understanding ; Beattie on Truth;
Stemzett’s Sermon on propagating the
Truth; Saw'in’s Sermons, Eng. trans, vol.
ii., ser. 1 and 14.
TSCHORNABOLTSI, a Russian sect, the mem-
bers of which refuse to take an oath, hold it
unlawful to shave the beard, and do not pray
for the emperor and imperial family accord-
ing to the prescribed form. They have many
things in common with the other sects, and
believe that the end ‘of the world is at hand.
TURLUPINS, a denomination which appeared
about the year 1372, principally in Savoy and
Dauphiny. They taught that when a man is
arrived at a certain state of perfection, he is
freed from all subjection to the divine law.
It is said they often went naked, and they al-
lowed of no prayer to God but mental. They
called themselves the fraternity of‘ the poor.
TYNDALE, WILLIAM, deservedly renowned
as an English reformer, and memorable for
having made the first English version of the
Bible, was born on the confines of the prin-
cipality, in the year 1480. After being initi-
ated in grammar learning, he prosecuted his
studies in the University of Oxford, where,
having imbibed the principles of the Reform-
ation, he instilled them into the minds of some
of the junior fellows of Magdalen College,
and other students. He was greatly esteemed
in the university for his excellent moral cha-
racter, being considered a person of a most
virtuous disposition and unblemished life, in
consideration of which he was admitted a
canon of the college then newly founded by
Cardinal \Volsey. His zeal in behalf of the
reformers, however, soon excited a clamour



against him, and obliged him to quit Oxford
for safety; on which he retired to Cambridge,
where he diligently applied himself to the
study of the Holy Scriptures, and of divinity.
After finishing his academical studies, he ac-
cepted the invitation of Sir John Welch,
knight, to become the tutor of his sons ; and
proceeded to his residence at Little Sodbury,
in Gloucestershire, about ten miles from Bath,
and the same from Bristol, where he conti-
nued for some time highly respected by Sir
John and his family. It deserves to be re-
corded in this place, that the mansion in
which Tyndale found an asylum, and spent
some years of his life in the family of Sir
John Welch, still exists, and is kept in very
creditable repair, after a lapse of 300 years.
It stands upon a slight eminence adjoining
the parish church, and is conspicuously seen
from every part of the Riding (or racecourse)
of Chipping Sodbury, towards which it fronts.
In order to conciliate the mind of the knight
and his lady, and prepossess them in favour
of the Reformation, Tyndale put into their
hands Erasmus’s Manual of a Christian Sol-
dier, which he had himself translated into
English; and with a view of propagating the
principles of the Reformation as far as was in
his power, be frequently preached in and
about Bristol.
At the hospitable table of Sir John Welch,
’ Tyndale. had frequent opportunities of meet-


ing many abbots and dignified clergymen
who resorted thither, to whom he introduced
the subject of religion, freely avowing his
own sentiments ; and when at any time they
declared their dissent from his opinions, he
would freely appeal to the Scriptures in sup-
port of what he said. Of this, however, his
opponents in time grew weary, and finding
themselves unable to answer him, they began
to entertain a secret grudge against him, and
to seek his ruin. He complains of this in his
prologue to the first book of Moses, testify-
ing that he suffered much from unlearned
priests, (in Gloucestershire,) who, he says,
“ were full rude and ignorant, God knoweth ;
.which have seen no more Latin than that
only which they read in their portesses and
misilsals, which yet many of them can scarcely
reac .”
Tyndale having thus brought upon himself
the ill-will of the popish clergy, they not only
reviled him as a heretic, but impeached him
to the chancellor of the diocese, before whom
he appeared, and was severely reprimanded
and threatened. Finding that he could now
no longer continue secure in that part of the
country, and that his patron, Sir John Welch,
could not protect him without bringing him-
self into danger, they parted by mutual con-
sent. He then came to London, and preached
for some time in the church of St. Dunstan
in the West, and set himself in good earnest
to translate the New Testament into English,
UBI
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757
as the most effectual means of rooting out
popery, and establishing genuine Christianity.
Convinced, however, that he could not safely
prosecute his design in England, be resolved
to go on the continent for greater security.
Leaving England, he first proceeded to
Saxony, where he conferred with Luther and
other learned men. He then came back into
the Netherlands, and took up his residence at
Antwerp, where there then was a considerable
factory of British merchants, of whom several
had embraced the doctrines of the reformers.
Here he set himself about his intended work,
in which he had the assistance of the learned
John Fry, and a friar named William Roye,
who was afterwards burnt in Portugal; the
latter acted as his amanuensis, and assisted
him in other respects. In 1526, Mr. Tyndale
published his translation of the New Testa-
ment, in octavo, but without a name. The
impression consisted of 1500 copies, many of
which found their way into England, and
were eagerly bought up and read. This
alarmed the popish party, who did all they
could to suppress the work. Tonstall, then
Bishop of London, employed agents to buy
up all the copies they could meet with, which
was done, and a bonfire made of them in
Cheapside. John Tyndale, the author’s bro-
ther, was prosecuted and condemned to do
penance for importing and concealing some of
the copies; and Mr. Monmouth, his great
friend and benefactor, was imprisoned in the
Tower and almost ruined. Tyndale reprinted
his New Testament in 1527 ; and a still more
correct edition was printed in 1534. He also
translated the five books of Moses, which
were printed in 1530; besides which, he is
said to have translated all the other historical
books of the Old Testament, though it does
not appear that these latter were ever printed.
Mr. Tyndale resided some time at Hamburg,
but afterwards returned to Antwerp, where
be lodged in the house of Mr. Thomas Poyntz,
an English merchant. Here he was seized by
those who had long thirsted for his blood, as
a heretic, too dangerous to live, and conveyed
to the Castle of Vilvorden, eighteen miles
from Antwerp, where he continued in con-
finement a year and a half. His friends made
every exertion in their power to procure his
U nrourrxnmns, formed from ubique, “ every
where,” in ecclesiastical history, a sect of Lu-
therans which rose and spread itself in Ger-
many ; and whose distinguishing doctrine was,
that the body of Jesus Christ is every where,
or in every place.
Brentius, one of the earliest reformers, is
said to have first broached this error in 1560.
Luther himself, in his controversy with Zuin-
discharge, but in vain. He was brought to
trial, condemned by virtue of the emperor’s
decree, made in the assembly at Augsburg;
and, in the year 1536, put to death near the
Castle of Vilvorden, being first strangled.
He died, calling out in his last moments,
“Lord, open the eyes of the King of England,”
after which, his body was reduced to ashes.‘
Such was the end of William Tyndale, a very
learned and pious man, and of the most un-
blemished character, whose only crime was
that of translating the Scriptures into English
for the benefit of his countrymen—Brit.
Biog.; Jones’ Christ. Biog. ‘
TYPE. an impression, image, or representa-
tion of some model, which is termed the anti-
type. In this sense the word is often used to
denote the prefiguration of the great events of
man’s redemption by things in the Old Testa—
ment. Types are distinguished into, 1. Such
as were directly appointed for that end; as
the sacrifices. 2. Such as had only a provi-
dential ordination to that end ; as the story of
Jacob and Esau—And, 3. Things that fell
out of old, so as to illustrate present things
from a similitude between them; as the alle-
gory of Hagar and Sarah. Some distinguish
them into real and personal; by the former
intending the tabernacles, temples, and reli-
gions institutions; and under the latter, in-
cluding what are called providential and per-
sonal types: others deny that there are any
personal types strictly so called. \Vhile we
may justly consider the death of Christ, and
his resurrection from the dead, as events that
are typified in the Old Testament, we should
be careful not to consider everything men-
tioned in the Hebrew Scripture as a type, for
this will expose the whole doctrine of types
to ridicule : for instance, what can be a greater
burlesque on the Scriptures ‘than to suppose,
as some have done, that the extraction of Eve
from the side of Adam, while he was in a deep
sleep, was intended as a type of the Roman
soldiers’ piercing our Saviour‘s side while he
slept the sleep of death? Such ideas as these,
vented sometimes by novices, and sometimes
by more aged divines, gave a greater proof of
the wildness of their fancies than the cor-
rectness of their judgments. See Stuart's Er-
nestt, p. 38.
U.
glius, had thrown out some unguarded ex-
pressions that seemed to imply a belief of the
omnipresence of the body of Christ; but he
became sensible afterwards that this opinion
was attended with great difliculties, and parti-
cularly that it ought not to be made use of as
a proof of Christ’s corporeal presence in the
eucharist. However, after the death of Lu-
ther, this absurd hypothesis was renewed, and
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758
dressed up in a specious and plausible form,
by Brentius, Chemnitius, and Andraeas, who
maintained the communication of the proper—
ties of Christ’s divinit to his human nature.
It is, indeed, obvious t at every Lutheran who
believes the doctrine of consubstantiation,
whatever he may pretend, must be an Ubiqui-
tarian.
UBIQUITY, omnipresence; an attribute of
the Deity, whereby he is always intimately
present to all things. See OMNISCIENCE.
UCKEWALLISTS, a sect which derived its
denomination from Uke Walles, a native of
Friesland, who published his sentiments in
1637. He entertained a favourable opinion
of the eternal state of Judas, and the rest of
Christ’s murderers. His argument was this,—
that the period of time which extended from
the birth of Christ to the descent of the Holy
Ghost, was a time of deep ignorance, during
which the Jews were destitute of divine light;
and that, of consequence, the sins and enor-
mities which were committed during this
interval were in a great measure excusable,
and could not merit the severest displays of
the divine justice. This denomination strictly
adhered to the doctrine of the Mennonites.
UNBELIEF, the refusing assent to testimony.
It is often taken for distrust of God’s faithful-
ness, but more particularly for the discrediting
the testimony of God’s word, concerning his
Son, John iii. 18, 19 ; xvi. 9.
says Dr Guyse, “ disaifection to God, disregard
to his word, prejudices against the Redeemer,
readiness to give credit to any other than him,
inordinate love to the world, and preferring
of the applause of men to the approbation of
God.”—“ Unbelief,” says the great Charnock,
“is the greatest sin, as it is the foundation of
all sin: it was Adam’s first sin: it is a sin
against the Gospel, against the highest testi-
mony; a refusal to accept of Christ upon the
terms of the gospel. It strikes peculiarly at
God; is the greatest reproach of him, robs
him of his glory, a contradiction to his will,
and a contempt of his authority.” The causes
of unbelief are Satan, ignorance, pride, and
sensuality. The danger of it is great; it
hardens the heart, fills with presumption,
creates impatience, deceives with error, and
finally exposes to condemnation, John iii. 11.
C/zamock’s Works, vol. ii. p. 601 ; Case’s Ser-
mons, ser. 2 ; Bishop Porteus’s Sermons, vol. i.
ser. 2; Dr. Owen’s Reasons of Faith,- Han-
nam’s Congendium, vol. ii. p. 26; Churchill’s
Essay on nbeliq/I
UNBELIEVERS are of three sorts. 1. Those
who, having heard the Gospel, reject it.-—2.
Those who verbally assent to it, yet know not
to what they assent, or why they believe—3.
They who, whatever knowledge they may
have of certain speculative points of divinity,
yet obey not the truth, but live in sin.
The following is a striking description,
given by Massillon, of an unbeliever (Ser. i.
“ It includes,” ‘

vol. iii. Engl. trans.) “ He is a man without
morals, probity, faith, or character ; who owns
no rule but his passions, no law but his in-
iquitous thoughts, no master but his desires,
no check but the dread of authority, no God
but himself; an unnatural child, since he
believes that chance alone hath given him
fathers; a faithless friend, seeing he looks
upon men merely as the wretched fruits of a
wild and fortuitous concurrence, to whom he
is connected only by transitory ties; a cruel
master, seeing he is convinced that the strong-
est and the most fortunate have always reason
on their side. Who could henceforth place
any dependence on such? They no longer
fear a God; they no longer respect men;
they look forward to nothing after this life:
virtue and vice are merely prejudices of edu-
cation in their eyes, and the consequences of
popular credulity. Adulteries, revenge, blas-
phemies, the blackest treacheries, abomina-
tions which we dare not even name, are no
longer in their opinion but human prohibi-
tions established through the policy of legis-
lators. According to them, the most horrible
crimes or the purest virtues are all equally
the same, since an eternal annihilation shall
soon equalize the just and the impious, and
for ever confound them both in the dreary
mansion of the tomb. What monsters, then,
must such be upon the earth!”
UNCHANGEABLENESS or G01). See FAITH-
FULNESS and IMMUTABILITY or G01).
UNCTION, in matters of religion, is used for
the character conferred on sacred things by
anointing them with oil. Unctions were very
frequent among the Hebrews. They anointed
both their kings and high priests at the cere-
mony of their inauguration. They also an-
ointed the sacred vessels of the tabernacle and
temple, to sanctify and consecrate them to the
service of God. In the ancient Christian
Church, unction accompanied the ceremonies
of baptism and confirmation. Extreme unc-
tion, or the anointing persons in the article of
death, was also practised by the ancient Chris-
tians, in compliance with the precept of St.
James, chap. v. 14, 15 ; and this extreme unc-
tion the Romish Church has advanced to the
dignity of a sacrament. It is administered to
none but such as are affected with some mortal
disease, or in a decrepit age. It is refused to
impenitent persons, as also to criminals. The
parts to be anointed are, the eyes, the ears, the
nostrils, the mouth, the hands, the feet, and
the reins. The laity are anointed in the palms
of the hands, but priests on the back of them,
because the palms of their hands have been
already consecrated by ordination.
The oil with which the sick person is
anointed represents, it is said, the grace of
God, which is poured down into the soul; and
the prayer used at the time of anointing ex-
presses the remission of sins thereby granted
to the sick person; for the prayer is this :——-
UNI 7
UNI
0
"0
\
“ By this holy unction, and his own most pious
mercy, may the Almighty God forgive thee
whatever sins thou hast committed by the
sight,” when the eyes are anointed; by the
hearing, when the ears are anointed; and so
of the other senses.
The passage before mentioned, from St.
James, respecting the anointing with oil, has
been a source of difiiculty to some pious minds ;
but, in order to understand it, it is necessary to
observe that anointing with oil was an ordi-
nance for the miraculous cure of sick persons.
(Mark vi. 13.) But since those extraordinary
gifts are ceased, as being no longer necessary
for the confirmation of the gospel, of course
there is no warrant now for using that cere-
mony.
UNCTION, in preaching, is that insinuating
tenderness of spirit—that sweet, affectionate,
and alluring mode of address which impreg-
nates the soul with thrilling feelings of de-
light, and soothes and draws it into a ready
compliance with what is presented to it.
UNDERSTANDING, the faculty of perceiving
things distinctly; or that power of the mind
by which we arrive at a proper idea or judg-
ment of things. Sec JUDGMENT, MIND,
SOUL.
UNIFonMrrY, regularity; a similitude or
resemblance between the parts of a whole.
The word is particularly used for one and the
same form of public prayers, administration
of sacraments, and other rites, &c. of the
Church of England, prescribed by the famous
stat. 1 Eliz. and 13, 14 Carol. II. cap. 4, called
the Actqf Uniformitr , which see.
UNIGENI’I‘US, THE BULL, the instrument
‘ issued by Pope Clement XL, in 1713, against
the French translation of the New Testament,
with notes, by Pasquier Quesnel, priest of the
Oratory, and a celebrated Jansenist. The
book, having occasioned considerable dis-
putes, had already been condemned by the
court of Rome in 1708; but this step being
found ineffectual, Clement, who had privately
spoken of it in terms of rapture, declaring it
to be an excellent book, and one which no
person resident at Rome was capable of writ-
ing, proceeded to condemn One Hundred and
One propositions of the notes; such as—
Grace, the effectual principle of all good
works; faith, the first and fountain of all
the graces of a Christian; the Scriptures
should be read by all, &c. This bull, pro-
cured by Louis and the Jesuits, occasioned
terrible commotions in France. Forty Galli-
can bishops accepted it; but it was opposed
by many others, especially by Noaillcs, arch—
bishop of Paris. Many of the prelatcs, and
other persons eminent for piety and learning,
appealed, on the subject, from the papal au-
thority to that of a general council, but in
vain. A persecution was raised against those
who espoused the principles of Quesnel, and
many of them were obliged to flee their conn—
try. By these means the interests of the
Romish Church were greatly injured. Not
only did they confirm Protestants in their
separation from her communion, but they
strengthened the party of the Jansenists, and
produced a sympathy in their favour on the
part of numbers who had previously felt no
interest in the dispute.
UNION CHAPELS. See CHAPELS.
UNION HYPOSTATICAL is the union of the
human nature of Christ with the divine, con-
stituting two natures in one person. Not
consubstantially, as the three persons in the
Godhead; nor physically, as soul and body
united in one person; nor mystically, as is
between Christ-and believers; but so as that
the manhood subsists in the second person,
yet without making confusion, both making
but one person. It was miraculous, Luke i.
34, 35. Complete and real: Christ took a
real human body and soul, and not in appear-
ance. Inseparable, Heb. vii. 25. For the
reasons of this union, see article .MEDIATOR.
UNION to CHRIST, that act of divine grace
by which we are joined to Christ; and is
considered, 1. As virtual, or that which was
formed from all eternity, Eph. i. 4.—-2. Vital
or spiritual, formed in the moment of our re-
generation, John xvii. 26 ; 1 John iv. 13. It
is represented in the Scripture by the strong—
est expressions language can admit of, and
even compared to the union between the
Father and the Son, John xvii. ll, 21, &c.
It is also compared to the union of a vine and
its branches, John xv. 4, 5. To the union of
our food with our bodies, John vi. 56, 57. To
the union of the body with the head, Eph. iv.
15, 16. To the conjugal union, Eph. v. 23,
30. To the union of a king and his subjects,
Matt. xxv. 34, 40. To a building, 1 Pet. ii.
4, 5; Eph. ii. 21, 22. It is also represented
by an identity or sameness of spirit, 1 Cor.
vi. 17. By an identity of body, 1 Cor. xii.
12, 27. By an identity of interest, Matt. xxv.
40; John xx. 17. This union must be con-
sidered not as a mere mental union only in
comfort or notion: nor a physical union, as
between the head and the members; nor as
an essential union, or union with the divine
nature; but as a mystical union, Eph. v. 32.
Honourable union, 1 John iii. 1, 2. Super-
natural union, 1 Cor. i. 30. Holy, 1 John iii.
24. Necessary, John xv. 4. Inviolable, Rom.
viii. 38, 89. Some state it thus: I. An union
of natures, Heb. ii. ll.--2. Of actions, his
obedience being imputed to us, and our sins
reckoned to him, 2 Cor. v. 2l.~—-3. Of life,
Col. iii. 4.--4. Of sentiment, 2 Cor. v. 17.—
5. Of interest, Matt. xxv. 34, &c.—6. Of
affection, 2 Cor. v. 14.—7. Of residence, John
xvii. 24. The advantages of it are knowledge,
Eph. i. 18. Fellowship, 1 Cor. i. 9. Security,
John xv. Felicity, 1 Pet. i. 8. Spirituality,
John xv. 8 ; and indeed, all the rich commu~
nications of spiritual blessings here and here-
UNI 760
UNI
after, Col. i. 22. The evidences of union to
Christ are, light in the understanding, 1 Pet.
ii. 9. Afi'ection to him, John xiv. 21. Fre-
quent communion with him, 1 John i. 3. De-
light in his word, ordinances, and people, Ps.
xxvii. 4; cxix. Submission to his will, and
conformity to his image, 1 John ii. 5.--Dzck-
inson’s Letters, let. l7; Flavel’s Method of
Grace, ser. 2 ; Pol/it'll on Union; Brown’s
'Compend., b. 5. ch. 1.
UNITARIANS, a name assumed by those who
confine the glory and attributes of divinity to
the Father, and refuse them to the Son and
Holy Spirit. As the unity of the Godhead is
not distinctly a tenet of that body, but is held
by Trinitarians as strenuously as by them,
the legitimate use of the term has never been
conceded to them. For a greater length of
time, and more appositely, they have been
called SOCINIANS, which see.
UNITED BRETHREN. See MORAVIANS.
UNITY or G01), a term made use of to de-
note that there is but one God or self-existent
Being. The unity of God is argued from his
necessary existence, self-sufficiency, perfec-
tion, independence, and omnipotence; from
the unity of design in the works of nature;
and from there being no necessity of having
more gods than one; but the Scriptures set it
beyond all doubt, Deut. vi. 4; Psal. lxxxvi.
10; Isa. xliii. 10; Mark xii. 29; John xyii.
3; Romans iii. 30; 1 Cor. viii. 4, 6; 1 Tim.
ii. 5. See POLYTHEISM; Abernathy on the
Attributes of God, vol. i. ser. 5; l/Vtlhins’s
Natural Religion, pp. 113, 114. ; 'Irlowe’s Works,
vol. i. pp. 72, 73; Gz'll’s Divinity, VOL-1. p.
183, 8vo. edit. ; Ridgleg’s Divinity, question 8.
UNIVERSALISTS, those who suppose that, as
Christ died for all, so, before he shall have.
delivered up his mediatorial kingdom‘ to ‘the
Father, all shall be brought to a participation
of the benefits of his death, in their restora-
tion to holiness and happiness. They teach
that the wicked will receive a punishment
apportioned to their crimes ; that punishment
itself is a mediatorial work, and founded upon
mercy; that it is a mean.of humbling, sub-
duing, and finally reconciling the sinner to
God. They suppose that the words eternal,
everlasting, &c. as they sometimes apply to
the things which have ended, so they cannot
apply to endless misery. They say, this doc-
trine is the most consonant to the perfections
of the Deity, most worthy the character of
Christ, and that the Scriptures cannot be re-
conciled upon any other plan. They teach
their followers ardent love to God; and peace,
meekness, candour, and universal love to men,
they observe, are the natural result of these
views.
The sentiments of the Universalists were
embraced by Origen in the third century, and
in more modern times by Chevalier Ramsay,

Dr. Cheyne, Mr. Hartley, and others. But ‘
one of the greatest advocates for this doctrine ,
was Dr. Cbauncy. His arguments are these .
1. Christ died not for a select number of men
only, but for mankind universally, and with-
out exception or limitation, for the sacred
Scriptures are singularly empbatical in ex-
pressing this truth, 1 Thess. v. 10; 1 Cor. xx.
3; Rom. v. 6; 1 Pet. iii. 18 ; John i. 29 ; in.
16, 17 ; 1 John ii. 2 ; Heb. ii. 9.--2. It is the
purpose of God according to his good plea-
sure, that mankind universally, in consequence
of the death of his son Jesus Christ, shall
certainly and finally be saved, Rom. v. 12,
860.; viii. 19—24; Col. i. 19, 20; Eph. iv.
10; i. 9,10; 2 Tim. i. 14.—3. As a mean in
order to men’s being made meet for salvation,
God will sooner or later, in this state or an-
other, reduce them all under a willing and
obedient subjection to his moral government,
1 John iii. 8; John i. 29; Matt. i. 21 ; Psal.
viii. 5, 6; Heb. ii. 6, 9; Phil. ii. 9—11; 1
Cor. xv. 24-—29.—4. The Scripture language
concerning the reduced or restored, in con-
sequence of the mediatory interposition of
Jesus Christ, is such as leads us into the
thought, that it is comprehensive of mankind
universally, Rev. v. 13. '
The opponents, however, of Dr. Chauncy,
and this doctrine, observe, on the contrary
side, that the sacred Scriptures expressly
declare that the punishment of the finally im-
penitent shall be eternal, Matt. xvii. 8 ; xxv.
41, 46 ; Mark ix. 43 ; Rev. xiv. ll ; 2 Thess.
i. 9; Ephesians ii. 17 ; Jude xiii. ; Rev. ix. 3;
xx. 10; Matt. xii. 31, 32; Luke xii. 10; Mark
iii. 29: 1 John v. 16; Heb. i. 4, 6; x. 26, 27;
Matt. xxvi. 24. See articles DESTRUCTION-
ISTS, HELL.
The title of Universalists distinguishes those .
who embrace the sentiment of Mr. Relly. See
RELLYANISTS. Dr. Joseph Huntingdon was a
great advocate also for universal salvation, as
may be seen from a posthumous work of his,
entitled, “ Calvinism Improved ; or the Gospel
Illustrated in a system of real Grace issuing
in the Salvation of all men.” This work was
answered by Mr. Nathan Strong, minister of
Hartford, in Connecticut; in which he endea~
vours to reconcile the doctrine of eternal
misery with the infinite benevolence of God.
This doctrine of universal salvation, or res-
toration, besides being generally acknowledged
by the Socinians, has been defended in Eng-
land by Mr. Winchester, and after him by
Mr. Vidler and others. The latter has been
opposed by Mr. A. Fuller and Mr. C. J erram.
There are but few Universalists forming a dis—
tinct sect in this country; but in the United
States, their Societies amount to between two
and three thousand; their preachers to about
one hundred and forty, and their regularly or-
ganised churches to sixty. The tenet is almost
universally held by the Protestants of Ger-
many. Dr. Chauncy’s Salvation of all Men; and
a refutation of this work by Dr. Jon. Edwards,
of New Haven, Glasgow, 1802; Whlte’s
VAL 761
VAN
Restoration of all things; Hartley on Man,-
Universalists’ Miscellany; Fuller's Letters to
Vidler; Letters to a Univcrsalist, containing
a Review of that controversy, by Scrutator; Mr.
Spaulding’s Treatise on. Universalism; and M
Stuart’s work on Future Punishment, published
in America.
UNPARDONABLE SIN. See SIN, sec. 8.
URIM AND THUMMIM, (light and perfec-
tion,) among the ancient Hebrews, a certain
oracular manner of consulting God, which
was done by the high priest, dressed in his
robes, and having on his pectoral, or breast-
plate. There have been a variety of opinions
respecting the Urim and Thummim, and, after
all, we cannot determine what they were.
The use made of them was, to consult God in
difficult cases relating to the whole state of
Israel, and sometimes in cases relating to the
king, the sanhedrim, the general of the army,
or some other great personage.
URSULINES, an order of nuns, founded ori-
ginally by St. Angela, of Brescia, in the
year 1537, and so called from St. Ursula, to
whom they were dedicated.
At first, these religious did not live in com-
munity, but abode separately in their fathers’
houses; and their employment was to search
for the affiicted, to comfort them; for the ig-
norant, to instruct them; and for the poor, to
relieve them; to visit the hospitals, and to
attend upon-the sick; in short, to be always
ready to do acts of charity and compassion.
In 1544, Pope Paul III. confirmed the insti-
tution of the Ursulines. Sir Charles Borromeo
brought some of them from Brescia to Milan,
where they multiplied to the number of four

hundred. Pope Gregory XIII. and his suc-
cessors Sixtus V. and Paul V. granted new
privileges to this congregation. In process of
time, the Ursulines, who before lived sepa-
rately, began to live in community, and em—
brace the regular life. The first who did so
were the Ursulines of Paris, established there
in 1604, who entered into the cloister in the
year 1614, by virtue of a bull of Pope Paul V.
The foundress of the Ursulines of France,
was Madame Frances de Bermond, who in
1574 engaged about twenty-five young women
of Avignon, to embrace the institute of St.
Angela of Brescia. The principal employ of
the Ursulines, since their establishment into
a regular order, was to instruct young women;
and their monasteries were a kind of schools,
where young ladies of the best families re-
ceived their education.
USURY, the gain taken for the loan of money
or wares. The Jews were allowed to lend
money upon usury to strangers, Deut. xxiii.
20; but were prohibited to take usury from
their brethren of Israel, at least if they were
poor, Exod. xxii. 25; Lev. xxv. 35, 37. From
the Scriptures speaking against the practice of
usury, some have thought it unlawful, Psa.
xv. 5; Prov. xxviii. 8; Ezek. xviii. 8. But it
is replied, that usury there only means immo-
derate interest, or oppression, by taking ad-
vantage of the indigent circumstances of our
neighbour; that it seems as lawful for a man
to receive interest for money, which another
takes pain with, improves, but runs the hazard
of in trade, as it is to receive rent for our land,
which another takes pain with, improves, but
runs the hazard of in husbandry.
V.
VALENTINIANS, a sect who sprung up in the
second century, and were so called from their
leader Valentinus. The Valentinians were
only a branch of the Gnostics, who realized or
personified the Platonic ideas concerning the
Deity, whom they called Pleroma or Plenitude.
Their system was this: the first principle is
Bythos, i. 0. Depth, which remained many ages
unknown, having with it Ennoe or Thought,
and Sige or Silence: from these sprung the
Nous or Intelligence, which is the only Son,
equal to, and alone capable of comprehending
the Bythos. The sister of Nous they called
Alethia or Truth; and these constituted the
first quaternity of JEons, which were the
source and original of all the rest: for Nous and
Alethia produced the world and life ; and from
these two proceeded man and the church. But
besides these eight principal .ZEons, there were
twenty-two more; the last of which, called
Sophia, being desirous to arrive at the know-
ledge of Bythos, gave herself a great deal of
uneasiness, which created in her Anger and

Fear, of which was born Matter. But the
Horos or Bounder stopped her, preserved her
in the Pleroma, and restored her to perfec-
tion. Sophia then produced the Christ and
the Holy Spirit, which brought the JEons to
their last perfection, and made every one of
them contribute their utmost to form a Saviour.
Her Enthymese or Thought, dwelling near
the Pleroma, perfected by the Christ, produced
every thing that is in this world by its divers
passions. The Christ sent into it the Saviour,
accompanied with angels, who delivered it
from its passions without annihilating it; from
thence was formed corporeal matter. And in
this manner did they romance concerning
God, nature, and the mysteries of the Chris-
tian religion. .
VATICAN MANUSCRIPT. See BIBLE MSS.
VANISTS, the partisans of Sir Harry Vane,
whose religious views were clouded and mys-
tical, though his character appears to have
been noble, brave, and disinterested.
VANITY, emptiness. It is often applied to
VER 7
VIR'
62
the man who wishes you to think more highly
of him than what he really deserves; hence
the vain man fiatters in order to be flattered;
is always fond of praise ; endeavours to bribe
others ‘into a good opinion of himself by his
complaisance, and sometimes even by good
ofhces, though often displayed with unnecessary
ostentation. The term islikewisc applied to this
world, as unsatisfactory, Ecc. i. 2; to lying, Ps.
1v. 2 ;_ to idols, Deut. xxxii. 21 ; to whatever dis-
appoints our hopes, Ps. 1x. 11. See PRIDE.
VAnIoUs READINGS. See READINGS. I
VEDAS, the sacred books of the Hindoos,
believed to be revealed by God, and called
immortal. They are considered as the foun-
tain of all knowledge, human and divine, and
are four in number. The principal part of
them is that which explains the duties of man
In methodical arrangement. The fourth book
contains a system of divine ordinances. See
the first volume of the Asiatic Researches.
VENERATION, an affection compounded of
awe and love, and which, of all others, be-
comes creatures to bear toward their infinitely
perfect Creator. See DEvoTIoN.
_ VENIAL SINs. According to a distinction
invented by the schoolmen, and adopted in the
Church of Rome, some sins are pardonable,
others not. To the former they give the name
of venial, to the latter, that of mortal sins.
Thomas Aquinas, and his followers, lay down
seven distinctions between them, but they are
most frivolous, as Baxter has shown in the
fourteen arguments which he has employed in
their coufutation. It is most certain that, as
the smallest sins contain in them rebellion
against the supreme authority of God, they
must be in their own nature mortal, or deserv—
ing of death ; while, on the other hand, there
is no sin so great that it will not be forgiven,
on repentance and faith in the atonement.
VERACITY OF G01) is his truth, or an exact
correspondence and conformity between his
word and his mind. Moses says, “ He is a God
of truth.” He is true in and of himself; he truly
and really exists; hejs the true and living God;
all his perfections are true and real; truth is
essential to him ; it is pure and perfect in him;
it is the first and original in him; he is the
fountain of truth; all his works in creation,
providence, and grace, are according to truth.
See FAITHFULNESS or G01).
VERSCHORISTS, a sect that derived its deno-
mination from Jacob Verschoor, a native of
Flushing, who, in the year 1680, out of a per-
verse and heterogeneous mixture of the tenets
of Cocceius and Spinosa, produced a new
form of religion, equally remarkable for its
extravagance and impiety. -His disciples and
followers were called Hebrews, on account of
the zeal and assiduity with which they all,
without distinction of age or sex, applied
themselves to the study of the Hebrew lan-
guage. Their sentiments were nearly the
same as the Hattemists. See HATTEMISTS.
VERTABIETS, among the Armenian Chris‘
tians, are such as have acquired a degree cor-
responding to that of doctor in divinity
among us. This degree is conferred with the
same solemnities as holy orders: and those
who receive it are appealed to in all religious
debates; they preach in the churches; recon:
cile differences; and exert themselves to main-
tain the purity of the Armenian creed. They
are supported by the voluntary contributions
of their hearers, or of those who apply to them
for the decision of any religious question.
VETo ACT, an act passed by the General
Assembly of the Church of Scotland, by
which Presbyteries are compelled, if the ma-
jority of the male communicants of a parish
object to the settlement of a presentee, to reject
such presentee, without assigning a reason.
VICAR, a priest of a parish, the predial
tithes whereof are impropriate or appropriated ;
that is, belong either to a chapter, religious
house, &c. or to a layman, who receives them, '
and only allows the vicar the small tithes, or a.
convenient salary.
VIcE, a fault; the opposite of virtue.
VIGIL, the eve or day before any solemn
feast, because then Christians were wont to
watch, fast, and pray in their churches.
VIRGINITY, PENETRATIVE, such an extra-
ordinary or perfect gift of chastity, to which
some have pretended, that it overpowered those
by whom they have been surrounded, and
created in them an insensibility to the pleasures
of the flesh. The Virgin Mary, according to
some Romanists, was possessed of this gift,
which made those who beheld her, notwith-
standing her beauty, to have no sentiments
but such as were consistent with chastity.
VIRGINITY, PERPETUAL, is ascribed to the
mother of our Lord by the Eastern or Greek
Church, which calls her asuroipgsvog, and by
the Romans, which calls her Semper Virgo.
In every age of the church, however, there
have been those who have maintained that she
only continued a virgin till the nativity of
Christ. Epiphanius, and after him Augustine,
give such the name of A-ntidz'comm'ianitaz.
Bishop Pearson maintains the afiirmative, on
the following very unsatisfactory grounds;
her peculiar eminency and unparalleled privi-
lege; the special honour and reverence due to
her Son, and ever paid by her; the regard of
the Holy Ghost that came upon her, and the
power of the Highest which overshadowed
her; and the singular goodness and piety of
Joseph, her husband. By an accommodation
of Ezek. xliv. 2, he, and many others, are
inclined to support the same side of the ques--
tion. With respect to Matt. i. 25, where it is
said, “Joseph knew her not until she had
brought forth ‘her first-born Son,” it has gene~
rally been considered equivocal; but Camp-
bell, Whitby, Bloomfield, and other critics,
regard the phrase as favouring the contrary
opinion, that she did not continue a virgin.
W A H
WAH
763
See especially Whitby’s Note, and we may well
one of the ways in which the Almighty was
acquiesce inthesentimentofBasil, there quoted: pleased to reveal himself to the prophets,
“ what she was afterwards, (after the birth of
our Saviour,) let us leave undiscussed, as being
of small concern to the mystery.”
VIRTUE, a term used in various significa-~
tions. Some define it to be “living according
to nature ;” others, “ universal benevolence to
being.” Some, again, place it “in regard to
truth ;” others in the “moral sense.” Some
place it in “the imitation of God ;” others,
“in the love of God and our fellow creatures.”
Some, again, think it consists “in mediocrity,”
supposing vice to consist in extremes; others
have placed it in “a wise regard to our own
interest.” Dr. Smith refers it to the principle
of sympathy; and Paley defines it to be'the
doing good to mankind, in obedience to the
will of God, and for the sake of everlasting
happiness. Some of these definitions are cer-
tainly objectionable. Perhaps those who
place it in the love of God and our fellow crea-
tures may come as near to the truth as any.
See Edwards and Jameson on Virtue; Grove’s
and Paley’s Moral Phil; Cumberland’s Law
of Nature, cap. i. § 4; Beattie’s Elements of
Moral Science, vol. ii. pp. 8, 77; Dr. I'Vatts’s
Self Love and Virtue Reconciled, 2nd vol. of his
work, last edition.
VISION, the supernatural representation of
an object to a man when waking, as in a glass
which places the visage before him. It was

Isa. i. 1.; xxi. 2.
VISITATION, the survey or inspection per-
formed by a bishop in his diocese, to examine
into the state of the church. In a divine or
spiritual sense, it is taken either for a commu—
nication of divine love, or for any calamity
affecting a nation.
VOLUNTARIES, those who advocate what is
called the Voluntary Principle. See PRINCIPLE,
VOLUNTARY. w
Vow, a solemn and religions promise or
oath. (See OATH.) It is more particularly
taken for a solemn promise made to God, in
which we bind ourselves to do or forbear
somewhat for the promoting of his glory. Un-
der the Old Testament dispensation, vows
were very common, J udg. xi.; Num. xxx. But
in the New Testament there is no com- '
mand whatever for the observation of them.
Hence it is supposed that vows belong more to
the ceremonial law than to the Gospel; and
that we are to be more dependent on divine
grace to keep us, than to make resolutions
and'vows which we do not know that we shall
be able to perform ; and we certainly ought not
to vow any thing but what we are able to perform.
VULGATE, a very ancient translation of the
Bible, and the only one acknowledged by the
Church of Rome to be authentic. See BIBLE,
ancient versions, 10, 3.
W
WVAHABEES, a modern Mohammedan sect,
founded by Sheik Mohammed, the son of Abd
el Waheb, in honour of whom they bear the
name. They profess to have reformed Islam-
ism, and reduced it to its primitive simplicity.
They reject the worship of the prophet as
gross idolatry, and adhere strictly to the Koran.
They otherwise observe all the religious rites
of the Mohammedans, the number of the
prayers, the genuflexions, the fast of the
Ramadan, and abstinence from wine and all
spirituous liquors. They inflict death on all
Mussulmans who do not renounce the wor-
ship of Mohammed. The Jews and Chris-
tians they leave unmolested. They originated
in the small tribe of Nedshi, in Yemen; but
their founder undertook an expedition into
Syria, and the regions bordering on the Eu—
phrates; and having collected a number of
tribes from the Arabian desert, who became
converts to his views, he formed them into a
distinct nation, under the government of Eben
Send, as their civil governor, and himself as
their Iman, or spiritual ruler. This appears
to have taken place soon after the middle of
last century; but no measures were taken
against the Wahabees by the Porto till the
year 1798, when they were attacked by the

Pasha of Bagdad, but without effect, which
emboldened them to leave the desert; and in
1801 and 1802 they met with signal success, took
great booty from the neighbouring Mohamme-
dans, and captured Mecca itself, where they
established their power in lieu of that of the
Grand Sultan, in virtue of which he had
hitherto been regarded as the head and pro-
tector of the faithful. The residence of Send
was now fixed at Dreich, where he had a
palace, and lived in all' the pomp and splen-
dour of an eastern prince. In 1803 and 1804
he made unsuccessful attacks on Bagdad and
Bussorah, but took Medina in 1804, and in
1805 J idda, which had formerly baflied all his
attempts to subdue it. The Porte was now
obliged to pay a heavy tribute for permission
to send an escort from Damascus with the
caravans of pilgrims that annually proceeded
to Mecca; and these caravans were no longer
allowed to have weapons, flags, or music, or
to enter the holy city on carpets, as formerly.
In 1807, the Wahabees stood in the zenith of
their power; since which time they have been
repeatedly repulsed, but they still continue
to form a powerful body, to the great annoy-
ance of the Turkish government, and to the
terror of the pilgrims, who proceed from
WAL
WAL
764
O
all parts of the East to visit the tomb ‘of the
prophet.
WALDENSES, or VALDENSES, a sect of re-
formers, who made their first appearance
about the year 1 160. They were most nume-
rous about the valleys of Piedmont; and hence,
some say, they were called Valdenses, or
Vaudois, and not from Peter Valdo, as others
suppose. Mosheim, however, gives this ac-
count of them: he says that Peter, an opulent
merchant of Lyons, surnamed Valdensis, or
Validisius, from Vaux, or Waldum, a town in
the marquisate of Lyons, being extremely
zealous for the advancement of true piety and
Christian knowledge, employed a certain
priest, called Stephanus de Evisa, about the
year 1160, in translating, from Latin into
French, the four Gospels, with other books of
holy Scripture, and the most remarkable sen-
tences of the ancient doctors, which were so
highly esteemed in this century. But no
sooner had he perused these sacred books,
with a proper degree of attention, than be
perceived that the religion which was now
taught in the Roman church, difi'ered totally
from that which was originally inculcated by
Christ and his apostles. Struck with this
glaring contradiction between the doctrines of
the pontifl‘s and the truths of the Gospel, and
animated with zeal, he abandoned his mer-
cantile vocation, distributed his riches among
the poor, (whence the Waldenses were called
the poor men of Lyons,) and forming an
association with other pious men who had
adopted his sentiments and his turn of devo—
tion, he began, in the year 1180, to assume
the quality of a public teacher, and to instruct
the multitude in the doctrines and precepts of
Christianity.
Soon after Peter had assumed the exercise
of his ministry, the archbishop of Lyons, and
the other rulers of the church in that pro-
vince, vigorously opposed him. However,
their opposition was unsuccessful; for the
purity and simplicity of that religion which
these good men taught, the spotless innocence
that shone forth in their lives and actions,
and the noble contempt of riches and honours
which was conspicuous in the whole of their
conduct and conversation, appeared so engag-
ing to all such as had any sense of true piety,
that the number of their followers daily in-
creased. They accordingly formed religious
assemblies, first in France, and afterwards in
Lombardy ; from whence they propagated
their sect throughout the other provinces of
Europe with incredible rapidity, and with
such invincible fortitude, that neither fire nor
sword, nor the most cruel inventions of merci-
less persecution, could damp their zeal, or
entirely ruin their cause.
The attempts of Peter Waldo and his fol-
lowers were neither employed nor designed
to introduce new doctrines into the church,
nor to propose new aiticles of faith to Chris-
tians. All they aimed at was, to reduce the
form of ecclesiastical government, _and the
manners both of the clergy and people, to
that amiable simplicity and primitive sanctity
that characterized the apostolic ages, ' and
which appear so strongly recommended in the
precepts and injunctions of the Divine Author
of our holy religion. In consequence of this
design, they complained that the Roman
church had degenerated, under Constantine
the Great, from its primitive purity and
sanctity. They denied the supremacy of the
Roman pontiff, and maintained that the rulers
and ministers of the church were obliged, by
their vocation, to imitate the poverty of the
apostles, and to procure for themselves a sub-
sistence by the work of their hands. They
considered every Christian as, in a certain
measure, qualified and authorized to instruct,
exhort, and confirm the brethren in their
Christian course; and demanded the restora-
tion of the ancient penitential discipline of
the church, 2'. e. the expiation of transgres-
sions by prayer, fasting, and alms, which the
new-invented doctrine of indulgences had al-
most totally abolished. They at the same
time afiirmed, that every pious Christian was
qualified and entitled to prescribe to the peni-
tent the kind or degree of satisfaction or ex-
piatioii that their transgressions required;
that confession made to priests was by no
means necessary, since the humble ofi'ender
might acknowledge his sins and testify his
repentance to any true believer, and might
expect from such the counsel and admonition
which his case demanded. They maintained,
that the power of delivering sinners from the
guilt and punishment of their offences be~
longed to God alone ; and that indulgences, of
consequence, were the criminal inventions of
sordid avarice. They looked upon the pray-
ers and other ceremonies that were instituted
in behalf of the dead, as vain, useless and ab-
surd, and denied the existence of departed
souls in an intermediate state of purification ;
aflirming that they were immediately, upon
their separation from the body, received into
heaven, or thrust down to hell. These and
other tenets of a like nature composed the
system of doctrine propagated by the Wal-
denses, It is also said, that several of the
\Valdenses denied the obligation of infant
baptism, and that others rejected water bap-
tism entirely; but‘ Wall has proved that in-
fant baptism was generally practised among
them.
Their rules of practice were extremely
austere; for they adopted as the model‘ of
their moral discipline the sermon of Christ on
the mount, which they interpreted and ex-
plained in the most rigorous and literal man-
ner; and consequently prohibited and con-
demned in their society all wars, and suits of
law, and all attempts towards the acquisition
of wealth, the inflicting of capital punish-
WAL
W A'R
ments,~ self-defence against unjust violence,
and oaths of all kinds.
During the greatest part of the seventeenth
century, those of them who lived in the val-
leys of Piedmont, and who had embraced the
doctrine, discipline, and worship of the church
of Geneva, were oppressed and persecuted in
the most barbarous and inhuman manner by
the ministers of Rome. This persecution
was carried on with peculiar marks of rage
and enormity in the years 1655, 1656, and 1696,
and seemed to portend nothing less than the
total extinction of that unhappy nation. The
most horrid scenes of violence and bloodshed
were exhibited in this theatre of papal tyran-
ny ; and the few \Valdenses that survived
were indebted for their existence and support
to the intercession made for them by the
English and Dutch governments, and also by
the Swiss cantons, who solicited the clemency
of the duke of Savoy on their behalf.
WAL'roN, BRIAN, editor of the Polyglott
Bible, was born at Cleaveland, in the North
Riding of Yorkshire, in the year 1600. He
was first admitted into Magdalen College, and
afterwards removed to Peterhouse, in Cam-
bridge, where he took the degree of master
of arts, in 1623. About that time he taught
a school and ofliciated as curate, in the county
of Suffolk, whence he removed to London,
and lived for a little time under Mr. Stock.
rector of Allhallows, in Bread-street. After
the death of Mr. Stock, he became rector of
St. Martin’s Orgar, in London, and of San-
don, in Essex, to the latter of which he was
admitted in 1635. In 1639 he commenced
doctor of divinity ; at which time he was
prebendary of St. Paul’s, and chaplain to the
king. On the breaking out of the civil war,
he was summoned by the House of Commons
as a delinquent, sequestered from his living of
St. Martin’s Orgar, plundered, and obliged to
fly; but whether he went to Oxford directly,
or to his other living at Sandon, in Essex,
does not appear. Of the latter, however, he
was speedily dispossessed, after having been
grievously harassed, and forced to seek an
asylum for his life ; so obnoxious was he be-
come to the parliamentary party, by his zeal
for the church and king. Retiring to Oxford,
he was, on the 12th of August, 1645, incor~
porated in the university, and now formed
the noble scheme of publishing the Polyglott
Bible, which, with the assistance of several
learned men, he published in 1657, in six
volumes, folio. See BIBLE, PoLvcLo'r'r. The
Prolegomena and Appendix to this immortal
work, were attacked by Dr. John Owen, in
1559, in “ Considerations,” &c. to which Dr.
Walton replied, in a piece under the title of
“ the Considerator Considered,” 860. 8vo. Af-
ter the Restoration he had the honour to pre-
sent the Polyglott Bible to Charles II., who
made him chaplain in ordinary, and soon after
promoted him to the bishopric of Chester. In

September, 1661, he went to take possession
of his see, and was met upon the road, and
received with such a concourse of gentry,
clergy, and military men, attended by such
acclamations of thousands of the people, as
had never been known in that quarter on any
similar occasion, and, it may be added, not
much in the character of the genius of the
Gospel! This glory, however great, proved
short'lived, for Bishop Walton, on his return
to London, about two months after, died at his
house in Aldersgate-street, on the 29th of
November, 1661, and was interred in St. Paul’s
Cathedral, where a monument, with a Latin
inscription, was erected to his memory. Brit.
Biog.; Jones’s Christian Biog.
WARBURTON, WILLIAM, bishop of Glou-
cester, an English prelate of the greatest
abilities, was born at Newark-upon-Trent, in
the county of Nottingham, on the 24th of
December, 1691. His father was George \Var-
burton, an attorney and town clerk of that
place. His mother was Elizabeth, the daugh-
ter of William Hobman, an alderman of the
same town. The bishop received the early
part of his education under Mr. Weston, then
master of Okeham School, in Rutlandshire.
His original designation was to the same pro-
fession as that of his father and grandfather;
and he was accordingly placed clerk to an at-
torney, with whom he remained until he was
qualified to engage in business on his own
account. He was then admitted to one of the
courts at Westminster, and for some years
continued in the employment of attorney and
solicitor, at the place of his birth. To the
peculiar education of 'Warburton may be as-
cribed most of the peculiarities of his charac-
ter; himself, at first an obscure provincial
attorney, undisciplined in the court of aca-
demical study, and refused when he had
even risen to celebrity a common academi-
cal honour, he cherished, in after life, a
great dislike to the regular disciplinarians of
learning; and it was at once his delight and
pride to confound the followers of the beaten
path in study, by recondite erudition, and to
dazzle and astound the supporters of esta-
blished principles and maxims, by combating
them with a force of reason and strength of
logic which was as unexampled as it was an-
dacious. His learning and his mental powers
were equally established without assistance,
and he loved to show how his inbred mental
vigour had triumphed over difiiculties. From
the same source arose both the excellences
and defects of his character.
It has been suggested, by an ingenious
writer, that he was for some time usher at a
school; but this is certain, that in 1724, his
first work, consisting of translations from
Caesar, Pliny, Claudian, and others, appeared
under the title of “Miscellaneous Transla-
tions, in Prose and Verse, from Roman Poets,
Orators, and Historians.” That work was
WAR
WAR
706
dedicated to his early patron, Sir Robert Sut-
ton, and seems to have laid the foundation of
his subsequent ecclesiastical preferment. At
this period, it has been supposed, he had not
abandoned his profession, and it is certain he
did not attend to it long afterwards. In 1727
his second work, entitled, “ A Critical and
Philosophical Inquiry into the Causes of
Prodigies and Miracles, as related by Histo-
rians,” &c. was published, in 12mo., and was
also dedicated to Sir Robert Sutton. He was
at this time in orders; and on the 25th of
April, 1728, had the honour to be in the
king’s list of masters of arts, created at Cam-
bridge on his Majesty’s visit to that univer-
sity. In June, the same year, he was pre-
sented by Sir Robert Sutton to the rectory
of Burnt Broughton, in the diocese of Lin-
coln; a living worth 2001. a year, which he
retained till his death. A great part of his
subsequent life he spent at that place; he
devoted himself entirely to letters, and there
planned, and in part executed, some of his
most important works. Several years elapsed,
after obtaining this preferment, before Mr.
Warburton appeared again in the world as a
writer. In 1736 he emerged from the com-
parative obscurity of a private life, into the
notice of the world. The first publication
which rendered him afterwards celebrated,
now appeared under the title of “The Al-
liance between Church and State; or, the
Necessity and Equity of an Established Re-
ligion and a Test Law, demonstrated from the
Essence and End of Civil Society, upon the
fundamental Principles of the Law of Nature
and Nations,” in three parts, the first treating
of a civil and religious society; the second, of
an established church; and the third, of a test
law, 8vo. At the end was announced the scheme
of “The Divine Legation of Moses,” in which
hehad at this time made considerable progress.
In the last mentioned, as in other works,
\Varburton, accounting dissent from his fa-
vourite theories as a crime of the blaekest
dye, punished all nonconformists to the idol
he had set up, with a most merciless measure
of pains and penalties. The first volume of
the “Divine Legation of Moses” was pub-
lished, in January, 1737-8, and which, ac--
cording to the author, “ demonstrated the
principles of a religious deist, from the omis-
sions of the doctrine of a future state of
rewards and punishments, in the Jewish dis-,
pensation,” in six books. This work pro-
duced several answers, and a universal war
commenced at his first rise in the literary
world, and was proclaimed agair st him. That
his innovating and paradoxical spirit should
procure him many adversaries, was hardly to
be doubted; but, as if the hypotheses be ad-
vanced were matters of established belief, he
resented every departure from them as a de-
parture from truth itself‘, and his impatience
of contradiction frequently broke out, in
angry defiance against his opposers, and over~
whelmed them with a torrent of scurrility,
strengthened by an unequalled force of argu-
ment and promptitude of wit. In answer to
the first attacks made on his “Legation of
Moses,” he published, two months afterwards,
“ A Vindication of the Author of the Divine
Legation of Moses, from the Aspersions of
the Country Gentleman’s Letter in the Weekly
Miscellany of February 14th, 1737 -—8,” 8vo.
A second edition of “ The Divine Legation
of Moses,” also appeared, in November, 1738.
Of this work Gibbon said, “ it was a monu-
ment crumbling in the dust, of the vigour
and weakness of the human mind.” In 1741
the second volume of “ The Divine Legation,”
in two parts, containing books iv., v., and vi.,
was published; as was also a second edition
of “The Alliance between Church and State.”
“ The Divine Legation of Moses” had now
been published some time, and various an-
swers and objections to it had appeared from
different quarters. In 1744 Mr. VVarburton
turned his attention to those attacks on his
favourite work; and defended himself in a
manner which, whilst it did not prove him to
he possessed of much humility or diflidence,
at least demonstrated that he knew how to
wield the weapons of controversy with the
hand of a master. His first defence now ap-
peared, under the title of “ Remarks on several
occasional Reflections, in Answer to the Rev.
Dr. Middleton, Dr. Pococke, the Master of
the Charter-house, Dr. Richard Grey, and
others; serving to explain and justify divers
Passages in the Divine Legation, as far as it
is yet advanced; wherein is considered the
Relation the several Parts bear to each other
and the whole; together with an Appendix,
in Answer to a late pamphlet, entitled, ‘An
Examination of Mr. W ’s Second Pro-
position,”’ 8vo. And this was followed, next
year, by “ Remarks on several occasional Re-
flections, in answer to the Rev. Drs. Stebbing
and Sykes, serving to explain and justify the
Two Dissertations in the Divine Legation,
concerning the command to Abraham, to offer
up his Son, and the nature of the Jewish
Theocracy, objected to by those learned
Authors,” part two, and last, 8vo. Both these
answers are couched in those high terms of
confident superiority which marked almost
every performance that came from his pen
during the remainder of his life. At this
juncture the kingdom was under an alarm,
occasioned by the rebellion breaking out in
Scotland. Those who wished well to the
then established government, found it ncces~
sary to exert every effort which could be used
against the invading enemy.’ The clergy
were not wanting on their part; and no one
did more service than Mr. Warburton, who
published three very celebrated sermons at
this important crisis. Notwithstanding his

_ great connexions, his acknowledged abilities,
W A R
WA R
767
and his established reputation, a reputation
founded on the durable basis of learning, and
upheld by the decent and attentive perform-
ance of every official duty incident to his
station, he did not receive any addition to the
preferment given him in 1728, by Sir Robert
Sutton, (except the chaplainsliip to the Prince
of \Vales,) until April, 1746, when he was
unanimously called by the Society of Lin-
coln’s Inn to be their preacher. About this
time the publication of Dr. Middleton’s “In-
quiry concerning the Miraculous Powers,”
gave rise to a controversy which was con-
ducted with great warmth and asperity on
both sides, and not much to the credit of
either party. On this occasion, Mr. War-
burton published an excellent performance,
written with a degree of candour and temper,
which it is to belamented he did not always
exercise. Thetitle of it was, “Julian; or,
a Discourse concerning the Earthquake and
Fiery Eruption which defeated the Em-
peror’s attempt to Rebuild the Temple at
Jerusalem, 1750;” 8vo. A second edition
of this discourse, with additions, appeared
in 1751.
In 1753, Mr. \Varburton published the first
volume of a course of sermons, preached at
Lincoln’s Inn, entitled “The Principles of
Natural and Revealed Religion, occasion-
ally opened and explained.” This, in the
subsequent year, was followed by a second.
At this advanced period of his life, that
preferment which his abilities might have
claimed, and which had hitherto been with-
held, seemed to be approaching towards
him. On September 17th, 1754, he was ap-
pointed one of his Majesty’s chaplains in
ordinary; and, in the next year, was pre-
sented to a prebend in the cathedral of Dur-
ham, on the death of Dr. Mangey. About
the same time, the degree of doctor of
divinity was conferred on him by Dr. Her-
ring, then Archbishop of Canterbury; and a
new impression of the Divine Legation having
been called for, he printed a fourth edition of
the first part of it, corrected and enlarged,
divided into two volumes, with a dedication
to the Earl of Hardwicke. In 17 57, a pamph-
let was published, called “Remarks on Mr.
David Hume’s Essay on the Natural History
of Religion ;” which is said to have been
composed of marginal observations, made by
Dr. Warburton, on reading Mr. Hume’s book,
. and which gave so much offence to the author
animadverted upon, that he thought it of im-
portance enough to deserve particular men-
tion in the short account of his life. On
October the 11th, in this year, \Varburton
was advanced to the deanery of Bristol; and,
m_1758, republished the second part of “ The
Divine Legation,” divided into two parts, with
adedication to the Earl of Mansfield, which
deserves to be read by every person who
esteems the well-being of society as a concern
of’ any importance. At the latter end of the
next year Dr. Warburton received the honour
so justly due to his merit, of being dignified
with the mitre, and promoted to the vacant
see of Gloucester. He was consecrated on
the 20th of January, 1760, and, on the 30th
of the same month, preached before the House
of Lords. In the next year he printed “ A
Rational Account of the Nature and End of
the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper,” 12mo.
In 1762 he published “The Doctrine of
Grace, or the Ofiice and Operations of the
Holy Spirit vindicated from the Insults of
Infidelity and the Abuses of Fanaticism,”
two volumes, 121110. In 1765 another edition
of the second part of “The Divine Legation,”
was published, as volumes three, four, and
five, the two parts printed in 1755 being con-
sidered as volumes first and second. It was
this edition which produced the well known
controversy between him and Dr. Lowth, in
which he proved, that neither the resources
of his ingenuity were exhausted by time, nor
the severity of his pen composed by age. On
this occasion was published “The Second
Part of an Epistolary Correspondence be-
tween the Bishop of Gloucester and the late
Professor of Oxford, without an Imprimatur,‘
that is, without a cover to the violated Laws
of Honour and Society,” 1766, 8vo. The
next year produced a third volume of his
“Sermons,” dedicated to Lady Mansfield;
and with this. and a single sermon, preached
at St. Lawrence, Jewry, on Thursday, April
the 30th, 1767, before his Royal Highness,
Edward, Duke of York, president, and the
governors of the London Hospital, &c. 4to.,
he closed his literar labours, though his
faculties continued unimpaired for some time
after this period. He transferred 5001. to
Lord Mansfield, Judge \Vilmot, and Mr.
Charles Yorke, upon trust, to found a lecture
in the form of a course of sermons ; to prove
the truth of revealed religion in general, and
of the Christian in particular, from the com-
pletion of the prophecies in the Old and New
'I‘estament,'which relate to the Christian
church, especially to the apostasy of papal
Rome. To this foundation we owe the ad-
mirable introductory sermons of Bishop Hurd,
and the well-adapted continuation of Bishops
Halifax and Bagot, and Dr. Apthorp. It is a
melancholy reflection, that a life spent in the
constant pursuit of knowledge, frequently
terminates in the loss of those powers, the
cultivation and improvement of which are
attended to with too strict and unabated a
degree of ardour. This was, in some degree,
the misfortune of Dr. \Varburton: like Swift,
and the great Duke of Marlborough, he gra-
dually sunk into a situation in which it was a
fatigue to him to enter into general conversa-
tion. This melancholy event was aggravated
by the loss of his only son; and the bishop
himself expired at the advanced age of eighty»
WAT
WAT
768
one. A neat marble monument was erected
in the cathedral of Gloucester.
Dr. J ohnson’s character of this literary phe-
nomenon is too remarkable to be omitted.
“ About this time, 1738, Warburton began to
make his appearance in the first ranks of
learning. He was a man of vigorous faculties ;
a mind fervid and vehement; supplied, by in-
cessant and unlimited inquiry, with wonderful
extent and variety of knowledge, which yet
had not oppressed his imagination, nor clouded
his perspicacity. To every work he brought
a memory full fraught, together with a fancy
fertile of original combinations, and at once
exerted the powers of the scholar, the reasoner,
and the wit. But his knowledge was too mul-
tifarious to be always exact, and his pursuits
were too eager to be always cautious. His
abilities gave him a haughty consequence,
which he disdained to conceal or mollify; and
his impatience of opposition disposed him to
treat his adversaries with such contemptuous
superiority, as made his readers commonly
his enemies, and excited against the advocate
the wishes of some who favoured the cause.
He seems to have adopted the Roman em-
peror’s determination, oderz'nt dam metuant;
he used no allurements of gentle language,
but wished to compel rather than to persuade.
His style is copious without selection, and
forcible without neatness; he took the words
that presented themselves; his diction is coarse
and impure; and his sentences are unmea-
sured.”
“His love of paradox,” says Mr. Orme,
“is well known. His levity, dogmatism, and
surliness, have often been exposed. His love
of notoriety and the marvellous was certainly
stronger than his attachment to truth. While
his talents will be always admired, his charac-
ter will never be respected. His services to
theological science are of a very doubtful na-_
ture ; and, connected with religion, they have
been decidedly injurious. Parts of his system
are true and important, and well supported;
but his main principle is a fallacy, unfounded
in itself, and incapable of demonstrating the
Divine Legation of Moses, were it even true.”
The ablest view of the Warburtonian Contro-
versy will be found in the Quarterly Review,
vol. ii. p.401. See Jones’s Christ. Biogt;
Orme’s Biblio. Bib.
WATCHERS. See AcoEMETzn.
WATCHFULNESS, vigilance, or care to avoid
surrounding enemies and dangers. We are to
watch against the insinuations of Satan; the
allurements of the world; the deceitfulness of
our hearts; the doctrines of the erroneous; and
indeed, against every thing that would prove
inimical to our best interests. We are to ex-
ercise this duty at all times, in all places, and
under all circumstances. 1 Cor. xvi. l3 ;
Luke xii. 37.
To watch, is also to wait for and expect:
thus we are,-—1. To watch the providence of
God—2. The fulfilment ofthe prophecies--
3. God’s time for our deliverance from trou-
bles; Psalm cxxx.—4. We are to watch unto
prayer; Eph. vi. 18.—5. For death and judg-
ment ; Mark xiii. 37.
WATEnLAnDIANs, a sect of Anabaptists in
Holland. They are thus called in distinction
from the Flemingians, or Flandrians; and
likewise because they consisted at first of the
inhabitants of a district in North Holland,
called Waterland. The Flemingians were
called the fine or rigid, and the Waterlandians
the gross or moderate Anabaptists. The for-
mer observe, with the most religious accuracy
and veneration, the ancient doctrine and dis-
cipline of the purer sort of Anabaptists; the
latter depart much more from the primitive
sentiments and manners of their sect, and
approach nearer to the Protestant churches.
These latter, however, are divided into two
distinct sects, the Waterlanders and the Fries-
landers: but this difference, it is said, merely
respects their place of abode. Neither party
have any bishops, but only presbyters and
deacons. Each congregation is independent
of all foreign jurisdiction, having its own
court of government, composed of the pres-
byters and deacons. But the supreme power
being in the hands of the people, nothing of
importance can be transacted without their
consent. The presbyters are generally men
of learning; and they have a public professor
at Amsterdam for instructing their youth in
the different branches of erudition, sacred
and profane. About 1664, the Waterlanders
were split into the two factions of the Galenists
and the Apostoolians. Galen Abraham Haan,
doctor of physic, and pastor of the Mennonites
at Amsterdam, a man of uncommon penetra-
tion and eloquence, inclined towards the Arian
and Socinian tenets, and insisted for the recep-
tion of all such into their church fellowship as
acknowledged the divine authority of the
Scriptures, and led virtuous lives. He and
his followers renounced the designation of the
Mennonites. The were with great zeal op-
posed by Samuel Xpostool, another physician
and eminent pastor at Amsterdam, who, with
his followers, admitted none to their commu-
nion but such as professed to believe all the
points of doctrine contained in their public
Confession of Faith.
\VATTs, Dr. Isaac, was born at Southamp-
ton, the 17th of July, 1674. His father, Mr.
Isaac Watts, was the master of a very fiourish-,
ing boarding-school in that town, which was
in such reputation, that gentlemen’s sons were
sent to it from America and the West Indies
for education. He was a most pious, exem-
plary Christian, and an honourable deacon of
the church of protestant dissenters assembling
in that place. He was imprisoned more than
once for his nonconformity; and during his
confinement his wife was known to sit on a
stone near the prison~door suckling her son
WAT 7
WAT
69
Isaac. He began to learn Latin at four years
old, in the knowledge of which, as well as the
Greek language, he made such progress, under
the care of the Reverend Mr. Pinhorne, a
clergyman of the establishment, that he be~
came the delight of his friends, and the admi-
ration of the neighbourhood. In 1690 he was
sent to London for academical education, un-
der the Reverend Mr. Thomas Rowe; and,
in 1693, in his nineteenth year, he joined in
communion with the church under the pas-
toral care of his tutor. Dr. \Vatts was early
attached to the composition of poetry; “and
indeed he stated that he had amused himself
with verse from fifteen years old to fifty. In
his early years he took great pains in the ac-
quisition of knowledge. The works he read
be generally abridged, and thus impressed
more deeply on his mind the knowledge he
attained. His Latin Theses, written when
young, were very excellent. After the doctor
had finished his academical studies, at the age
only of twenty years, he returned to his father’s
house at Southampton, where he spent two
years in reading, meditation, and prayer; in
reading, to possess himself of ampler know-
ledge; in meditation, by which he might take
a full survey of useful and sacred subjects,
and make what he had acquired by reading
his own; and prayer, to engage the divine
influences to prepare him for that work to
which he was determined to devote his life,
and the ‘importance of which greatly affected
his mind. Having thus employed two years
at his father’s, he was invited by Sir John
Hartopp, Bart, to reside in his family at Stoke
Newington, near London, as tutor to his son, '
where he continued five years, and by his be-
haviour procured himself such esteem and
respect, as laid the found-ation of that friend-
ship which subsisted between him and his
pupil during the whole of his life. But while
he assisted Mr. Hartopp’s studies, he did not
neglect his own; for not only did he make
further improvement in those parts of learning
in which he instructed the young gentleman,
but he applied himself to reading the Scrip-
tures in the original tongues, and the best
commentators, critical and practical.
The doctor began to preach on his birth-
day, 1698, at twenty-four years of age, and
was the same year chosen assistant to Dr.
Isaac Chauncy, pastor of the church then
meeting at Mark—lane, London. But his
public labours, which met with general accept-
ance, were interrupted by a threatening illness
of five months, which was then thought to
have originated from the fervour of his zeal
in preaching the gospel. However, his sick-
ness did not discourage him from renewing
his delightful work, as soon as Providence
was pleased to restore him to health. In
January, 1701-2, the doctor received a call
from the church above-mentioned, to succeed
Dr. Chauney in the pastoral ofiice, which he
accepted the very day King William died, on
the 8th of March, 1701-2, notwithstanding the
discouraging prospect which that event parti-
cularly gave to nonconformist ministers, and
the fears with which it filled the hearts of dis~
senters in general. But he had set his hand to
the plough, and would not look back: and ac—
cordingly, he was solemnly ordained to the
pastoral office, on the 18th of March following.
But the joy of the church in their happy set-
tlement in so able and excellent a pastor, was
quickly after sadly damped by his being seized
with a painful and alarming illness, which
laid him aside for some time, and from which
he recovered but by slow degrees. Upon
which the church saw it needful to provide
him with a stated assistant; and accordingly,
the Rev. Mr. Samuel Price was chosen to that
service in July, 17 Q3. But notwithstanding
the doctor’s public labours were by these
means considerably relieved, yet his health
remained fluctuating for some years. He went
on without any considerable interruption in
his work, and with great success and pros-
perity to the church, till the year 1712., when,
in September, he was seized with a violent
fever, which injured his constitution, and left
such weakness upon his nerves, as continued '
with him, in some degree, during the remain-
der of his life. In March, 1713, Mr. Price
was chosen by the church to be co-pastor
with him, in consequence of the continued in-
disposition of Dr. ‘Vatts. Dr. \Vatts, some
time afterwards, removed into Sir Thomas
Abney’s family, and continued there till his
death, a period of no less than thirty-six
years. In the midst of his sacred labours for
the glory of God and the good of his genera-
tion, he was seized with a most violent and
threatening fever, which left him oppressed
with great weakness, and put a stop, at least,
to his public services, for four years ; but here
he enjoyed the uninterrupted demonstration
of the truest friendship. Though the doctor
cultivated every kind of learning, and perhaps
was the most universal scholar of his age;
and though he possessed extraordinary abili-
ties as- a poet; yet not entertainment, but
benefit, and that in the most sacred and direct
sense, to the church and world, evidently
appeared to be the end which he kept con—
stantly in view.
The far greater part of his works are theo—
logical, and devoted to the most important and
useful subjects. Children in early age had no
small share of his exertions for their good, as
1118 songs and catechisms for their particular
service, in the most easy and condescending
language, abundantly prove. Those prime
and radical constituents of a truly good cha—
racter, truth and sincerity, were very con-
.spicuous in the doctor. He never discovered,
in his behaviour or conversation, anv thing
like a high opinion of himself. He- by no
means treated his mferiors with disdain ; there
3 D
W E D
WES
770
was nothing overbearing or dogmatical in his
discourse. His aspect, motion, and manner of
speech betrayed no consciousness of his supe-
rior abilities. Great as his talents were as a
poet, and extraordinary as the approval of his
works was in the world, he spoke concerning
his compositions in verse in the humblest lan-
guage :——“ I make no pretences,” says he. “to
the name of a poet, or a polite writer, in an
age wherein so many superior souls shine, In
their works, through the nation.” When he
appeared in the pulpit he had a very respect-
able and serious auditory. Though he had
little or no action, yet there was such a rich
vein of good sense and profitable instruction;
there was such propriety, ease, and beauty
in his language; such a freedom, and at the
same time, correctness in his pronunciation,
accompanied with an unaffected solemnity in
the delivery of the most sacred and momen-
tous truths, that his ministry was much at-
tended: and he had a considerable church,
and crowded congregation.
The prose writings of Dr. Watts are various
and superior. His work “On the Improve-
ment of the Mind ” is one of the first publica-
tions in the English or any other language;
and his Catechisms and Sermons have ever
been extensively read and most generally ad~
mired. The doctor’s poetical writings are
numerous, and all of them have considerable
merit. They are numerous, as appears from
his large collection of Lyric Poems, his Book
of Hymns, his Imitation of the Psalms, his
Songs for Children, and several pieces of
poetry in his Miscellaneous Thoughts. Few
poets have so habitually made improvement
their aim as Dr. Watts. To benefit whilst be
pleased was his constant object; and the cause
of morality and religion he habitually defended
or extended. Many of the lyric poems were
written in 1694, when the doctor was only
twenty years of age; and some of them bear
even a prior date. In time they increased,
till they amounted to a considerable number,
which were printed in 1706, when he was at
the age of thirty-two. In the year 1728, the
universities both of Edinburgh and Aberdeen,
in a most respectful manner, without his
knowledge, conferred the degree of doctor of
divinity upon him.
In 1748, the life of Dr. Watts appeared to
be drawing to a close. In his last illness he
proved the excellence of his principles, and
the greatness of his piety, by his patience and
serenity of mind, and by the evident satisfac-
tion with which he contemplated his approach-
ing dissolution. The doctor was interred in
a very handsome manner, amidst a vast con-
course of people, in the burial-ground in Bun-
hill Fields, London.
Since his decease his numerous publications
have been collected and printed in six volumes
quarto, and also in seven volumes royal octavo.
WEDNESDAY, Asn. The first day of Lent,
when, in the primitive church, notorious sin-
ners were put to open penance thus :-~They
appeared at the church-door barefooted, and
clothed in sackcloth, where, being examined,
their discipline was proportioned according to
their offences ; after which, being brought into
the church, the bishop singing the seven peni~
tential psalms, they prostrated themselves, and
with tears begged absolution ; the whole con-
gregation having ashes on their heads, to sig-
nify that they were both mortal, and deserved
to be burnt to ashes for their sins.
\VEsLEY, JoHN, the founder of the sect
called the Wesleyan Methodists, was born at
Epworth, in Lincolnshire, on the 17 th of June,
1703. His father, Samuel Wesley, was a cler-
gyman of the Church of England, and held
the living of Epworth. His parishioners were
very profligate, and the zeal with which he
discharged his duties excited in them a spirit
of hatred so violent, that they set his house
on fire. Mr. Wesley was then roused by a cry
of fire from the street: but little imagining
that it was in his own house, he opened the
door, and found it full of smoke, and that the
roof was burnt through. Directing his wife
and the two eldest girls to rise and shift for
their lives, he burst open the nursery-door,
where the maid was sleeping with five chil-
dren. She snatched up the youngest, and
bade the others follow her: the three eldest
did so; but John, the subject of the present
memoir, who was then six years old, was not
awakened, and, in the alarm, was forgotten.
The rest of the family escaped; some through
the windows, some by the garden-door; and
Mrs. Wesley, to use her own expression,
“ waded through the fire.” At this time,
John, who had not been remembered till that
moment, was heard crying in the nursery.
The father ran to the stairs, but they were
so nearly consumed that they would not
hear his weight; and being utterly in de~
spair, he fell upon his knees in the hall,
and in agony commended the soul of the
child to God. John had been awakened by
the light, and finding it impossible to escape
by the door, climbed upon a chest which stood
near the window, and he was then seen from
the yard. There was no time for procuring
a ladder, but one man was hoisted on the
shoulders of another, and thus he was taken
out. A moment after, the whole roof fell in.
When the child was carried out to the house
where his parents were, the father cried out,
“ Come, neighbours, let us kneel down; let
us give thanks to God! he has given me all
my eight children: let the house go, I am
rich enough.” John Wesley remembered this
providential deliverance through life with the
deepest gratitude.
John was educated at the Charter-house,
where, for his quietness, regularity, and appli-
cation, he became a favourite with the master,
Dr. W alkcr. At the age of seventeen he was
WES
WES
771
removed from the Charter-house to Christ
Church, Oxford. Before he went to the uni-
versity, he had acquired some knowledge of
Hebrew, under his brother Samuel’s tuition.
At college he continued his studies with great
diligence, and was noticed there for his attain-
ments, and especially for his skill in logic.
He was ordained in the autumn of the year
1725, by Dr. Potter, then bishop of Oxford,
and afterwards primate. In the ensuing spring,
he offered himself for a fellowship at Lincoln
College. The strictness of his religious prin-
ciples was now sufficiently remarkable to af-
ford subject for satire, and his opponents
hoped to prevent his success, by making him
ridiculous. Notwithstanding this kind of op-
position, he attained the object in view, and
was elected fellow in March, 1726.
From this time Mr. Wesley began to keep
a diary, and during a life of incessant occupa-
tion, he found time to register, not only his
proceedings, but his thoughts, his studies, and
his occasional remarks upon men and books,
and not unfrequently upon miscellaneous sub-
jects, with a vivacity which characterized him
to the last. Eight months after his election to
a fellowship, he was appointed Greek lecturer
and moderator of the classes. At that time
disputations were held six times a week at
Lincoln College. He now formed for himself
a scheme of studies—Mondays and Tuesdays
were allotted for the classics; ‘Wednesdays,
to logic and ethics; Thursdays, to Hebrew
and Arabic ; Fridays, to metaphysics and na-
tural philosophy; Saturdays, to oratory and
poetry; but chiefly to composition in those
arts ; and the Sabbath to divinity. It appears
by his diary, also, that he gave great attention
to mathematics.
The elder Mr. Wesley was now, from age
and infirmity, become unequal to the duty of
both his livings: John, therefore, went to
Wroote, and ofliciated there as his curate;
but, after two years, was summoned to his
college, upon a regulation that the junior
fellows, who might be chosen moderators,
should attend in person the duties of their
ofiice. It was while he held this curacy that
he obtained priest’s orders.
On his return to college, Mr. Wesley began
to prosecute his studies with extraordinary
application, and also prevailed upon two or
three under-graduates, whose inclinations and
principles coincided with his own, to form an
association, not so much for the purposes of
study, as for religious improvement. To
carry this into effect, they lived by rule, and
held meetings for devotional purposes. This,
in process of time, drew on them the observa-
tion of their fellow students, and excited their
ridicule ; and finally issued in their obtaining
the name of Methodists.
Two of the early members of this society
afterwards acquired celebrity; James Hervey,
the author of the Meditations; and George
Whitefield, who subsequently seceded from
Wesley, on Calvinistic grounds. They were
now about fifteen in number: when first they
began to meet, they read divinity on Sunday
evenings only, and pursued their classical
studies on other nights; but religion soon be-
came the sole business of their meetings : they
now regularly visited the prisoners and the
sick, communicated once a week, and fasted
on Wednesdays and Fridays.
The elder Mr. Wesley, for some years, had
been declining; and he was very solicitous
that the cure in which he had faithfully la-
boured should be obtained for his son John,
from an anxious desire that the good which
he had effected might not be lost through the
carelessness of a lukewarm successor; and that
his wife and daughters might not be dispos-
sessed of their home. John, however, would
not consent to this arrangement: more good,
he averred, was to be done to others by his
continuance at Oxford; the schools of the
prophets were there: was it not a more ex-
tensive benefit to sweeten the fountain, than
to purify a particular stream? Besides, the
parish contained two thousand souls; and he
said, “I see not how any man can take care
of a hundred.” The latter opinion, however,
he greatly changed.
In 1735 the elder \Vesley died; one of his
latest desires was, that he might complete his
work on Job. This wish seems to have been
nearly, if not wholly accomplished; and John
was charged to present the volume to Queen
Caroline. Going to London on this com-
mission, he found that the trustees of the new
colony of Georgia were in search of persons
who would preach the gospel there to the set~
tlers and the Indians, and that they had fixed
their eyes upon him and his associates. At
first he peremptorily refused to go upon this
mission, but at last determined to refer the
ease to his mother, thinking she would not
consent: in this he was mistaken. On the
14th of October, 1735, John and Charles
Wesley, in company with Mr. Oglethorpe, the
founder of the colony, embarked for Georgia.
On board the same vessel there were twenty-
six Moravians, going to join a party of their
brethren, from Herrnhut, who had gone out
the preceding year, under the sanction of the
British government. On their arrival at the
Savannah the brothers separated. Charles
went with Benjamin Ingham (one of the Ox-
ford society) to Frederica; John took up his
lodging with the Germans, at Savannah, who
had emigrated from Herrnhut.
The commencement of his ministry was
pleasing; the people crowded to hear him,
and the congregation, which was at first very
gay, dressed plainly in conformity to his
exhortations. Those favourable appearances
would probably have increased, had Mr. Wes-
ley been less attached to rigid and impractica-
ble discipline; but his extraordinary rigour
WES
WES
772
entailed upon him a train of distressing conse— Charles Wesley, and the immediate followers
quences, which a little prudence might have of Mr. Wesley, in London, had constant dispu‘
avoided, and obliged him to return home.
tations with the Moravians; in consequence
Mr. Whitefield sailed from the Downs for of which Mr. Wesley was summoned to town.
Georgia, a few hours only before the vessel
which brought Mr. Wesley back from thence,
cast anchor there. Charles Wesley had come
over to procure assistance, and John had
written to invite Mr. Whitefield to Georgia.
The latter had become popular at Bristol and
London, during Mr. Wesley’s absence, and
would probably have given birth to metho-
dism, had the VVesleys never existed. Mr.
\Vesley now became intimately connected
with the Moravians, in London, particularly
with Peter Boehler; and by him, “in the
hands of the great God,” says Mr. Wesley,
“ I was clearly convinced of unbelief,——of the
want of that faith whereby alone we are
saved.” A scruple immediately occurred to
him, whether he ought not to leave ofi‘ preach-
ing,—for how could he preach to others who
had not faith himself? Boehler was consulted
whether he should leave it off, and answered,
“ By no means.”-—“ But what can I preach?”
said Mr. Wesley : the Moravian replied,
“ Preach faith till you have it; and, then, be-
cause you have it, you will preach faith.” Ac—
cordingly he began to preach this doctrine,
though, he says, his soul started back from
the work. This was his state till Wednesday,
May 24th, 17 38, a remarkable day in the his-
tory of methodism; for upon that day he dates
his conversion--a point, say his ofiicial bio-
graphers, of the utmost magnitude, not only
with respect to himself, but to others. On
the evening of that day he went, very unwil-
lingly, to a society in Aldersgate-street, where
one of the assembly was reading Luther’s
preface to the Epistle to the Romans. What
followed may best be given in his own words.
“ About a quarter before nine, while he was
describing the change which God works in
the heart, through faith in Christ, I felt my
heart strangely warmed; I felt I did trust in
Christ, Christ alone, for salvation: and an as-
surance was given me, that he had taken away
my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law
of sin and death.” Yet Mr. Wesley’s religious
opinions were not quite fixed; and to put an
end to painful uncertainty, he resolved to visit
the Moravians at Hcrrnhut. Returning to
England, he went to Bristol, and was there
received by Mr. Whitefield, who, had returned
from Georgia, and had introduced the practice
of field preaching. This Mr. Wesley at first
thought very strange, but he soon complied
with the innovation, and practised it himself.
The congregations became numerous ; the
first Methodist chapel was built, and the soci-
ety divided into bands after the Moravian plan.
These events took place in the year 1739.
This may be considered as the foundation of
Methodism; its progress can only be briefly
noticed. During Mr. Wesley’s stay at Bristol,
l
l
The breach widened, and Mr. Wesley, forea
seeing a division inevitable, took a large build-
ing in Moorfields, which had been a foundery
for cannon during the civil wars. This build-
ing retained the name of “ Foundery,” after it
was used as a place of worship. The separa-
tion took place, and the seceders were found
to be but about twenty-five men and twice
that number of women. Methodism had yet
a greater shock to encounter. Mr. Whitefield
became a decided Calvinist, and Mr. Wesley
equally strenuous in support of Arminian doc-
trines. These two good men could no longer
co-operate, and the former withdrew from his
connexion with Mr. \Vesley, taking with him
those of the society who united with him in
opinion. This took place in the years 1740
and 17 41.
Methodism gradually acquired shape and
consistency. Mr. Wesley was yet, in many
respects, a high churchman; but, driven by
the current of events, he was constantly in-
troducing innovations. Most clergymen re-
fused him their pulpits; this drove him to
field-preaching. But field-preaching is not
for all weathers, in a climate like ours; pray-
er-meetings also were a part of his plan : and
thus it became expedient to build meeting-
houses. Meeting-houses required funds: they
required ministers too, while he was itinerat-
ing. Few clergymen could be found to co-
operate with him; and though at first he
abhorred the thought of admitting uneducated
laymen to the ministry, lay preachers were
soon forced upon him, by their own zeal,
which was too strong to be restrained, and by
the plain necessity of the case. When the
meeting-house was built at Bristol, Mr. Wes-
ley had made himself responsible for the ex-
penses of the building. As, however, it was
for their public use, the Methodists at Bristol
properly regarded the debt as public also; and
one of the members proposed, that every
person in the society should contribute a
penny a week, till the whole was paid. It was
observed, that many of them were poor, and
could not aflord it. “Then,” said the pro-
poser, “put eleven of the poorest with me,
and if they can give anything, well; I will
call on them weekly, and if they can give
nothing, I will give for them as for myself.”
Thus began the contribution of class money,
and the same accident led to a perfect system
of inspection. The leaders, or persons who
had undertaken for a class, as these divisions
were called, were next directed to inquire
after the conduct and spiritual welfare of those
under their care. And, finally, the leaders,
instead of calling weekly on their flock, for
greater convenience, assembled them at a
given time and place. Thenceforth, whenever
WES
WES
773
a society of Methodists was formed, this ar-
rangement was followed.
Mr. WVesley had preached at Bristol, Moor-
fields, Blaekheath, and Kingswood. He next
proceeded to Newcastle, being inclined to try
that scene of action, because of the success
which he had found among the colliers in
Kingswood. On his journey he called at
Birstall, and found there a preacher and a
large congregation, raised up without his in-
terference. The name of this preacher was
John Nelson. He had heard Mr. Wesley at
Moorfields, and being impressed by his dis-
courses, when he returned to Birstall (his
native place) began first to exhort his neigh-
bours in his own house, and when that was
too small, in the open air. Had Mr. Wesley
been still doubtful whether the admission of
lay preachers should make a part of his plan,
this must have decided him. At Newcastle
Mr. \Vesley was shocked at the profiigacy of
the populace. At seven on Sunday morning,
however, he walked to Sandgate, the poorest
part of the town, and there began to sing the
hundredth psalm. This soon brought a crowd
about him, which continued to increase till
he had done preaching. At five in the even-
ing of the same day he preached again, and
his congregation was so large, that it was not
possible for one-half to hear. “ After preach-
ing,” said Mr. Wesley, “ the poor people were
ready to tread me under foot, out of pure love
and kindness.” He could not then remain
with them, but his brother soon came and
organized them ; and in a few months he re-
turned, and began to build a room for public
worship. Mr. Wesley had now meeting-
houses in Bristol, London, Kingswood, and
Newcastle; and societies were rapidly formed
in other places by means ofritinerancy, which
was now become a regular system, and by
the co-operation of lay preachers, who sprung
up daily among his followers. In the course
of his regular itinerancy, he called at Ep—
worth, and being denied the use of the church,
he stood upon his father’s tombstone, and
cried, “The kingdom of heaven is not meat
and drink, but righteousness, and peace, and
joy in the Holy Ghost.” Seven successive
evenings he preached upon that tombstone,
and in no place did he ever preach with greater
effect. Mr. ‘Wesley and his preachers were
now exposed to the attacks of various mobs
in London, Bristol, Cornwall, and particularly
at Wednesbury. Where the magistrates did
their duty these outrages were soon suppress-
ed; but in some parts the mob was incited by
the clergy, and connived at by the magis~
trates. At Wednesbury advantage was taken
of the popular cry against the Methodists to
break open their doors and plunder their
houses; but greater personal barbarities were
exercised in other places. Some of the
preachers received serious injury ; others
were held under water till they were nearly
dead; and of the women who attended them,
some were so treated by the cowardly and
brutal populace, that they never thoroughly
recovered. In some places they daubed the
preacher all over with paint. The progress
of Methodism was rather furthered than im-
peded by this kind of persecution. In every
instance the preachers displayed that fearless-
ness which, when the madness of the moment
was over, made even their enemies respect
them. At first there was no regular provi-
sion for the lay preachers. They were lodged
and fed by some of the society wherever they
went; and when they wanted clothes, if they
were not supplied by individual friends, they
represented their necessity to the stewards.
But a small stated allowance was soon found
necessary. A school was also erected at
Kingswood, for the education of the sons of
the preachers. The limits of this volume pre-
clude any details from being given of the ad-
vancement of Methodism. In brief, it may be
stated, that it spread through England, Wales,
I and Ireland. In Scotland it was not equally
successful.
Messrs. Coke and Moore, referring to the
year 1785, say, " from this time Mr. Wesley
held on his way without interruption. The
work of God increased every year. New
societies were formed, in all of which the
same rules were observed. Though now de-
clining in the vale of years, he slackened not
his pace. He still rose at four in the morning,
preached two, three, or four times a day, and
travelled between four and five thousand
miles a year, going once in two years through
Great Britain and Ireland.” In his eighty-
fourth year he first began to feel decay ; and
upon commencing his eighty-fifth, he observes,
“ I am not so agile as I was in times past; I
do not run or walk so fast as I did; my sight
is a little decayed; . . . . and I am not con-
scious of any decay in writing sermons, which
I do as readily, and, I believe, as correctly as
ever.” At the beginning of the year 1790,
he writes, “ I am now an old man, decayed
from head to foot . . . However, blessed be
God! I do not slack my labours : I can preach
and write still.” On the 17th of February,
1791, he took cold, after preaching at Lam-
beth. For some days he struggled against an
increasing fever, and continued to preach till
the Wednesday following, when he delivered
his last sermon. From that time he became
daily weaker and more lethargic. He died
in peace, on the 2d of March _1791, being in
the eighty-eighth year of lns age, and the
sixty-fifth of his ministry. He was buried at
the City Road Chapel, London. His works are
published in sixteen volumes, octavo. He
also published the “ Christian Library; or
Extracts and Abridgments, &c., from various
Writers,” fifty volumes, 12mo. “ The Armi-
nian Magazine,” a monthly publication now
continued under the title of “ The Methodist
WHI
WHI
774
Magazine,” &c. &c. &c. He left no other
property behind him than the copyright
and current editions of his works; and this
he bequeathed to the use of the Connexion,
after his debts were paid.
WESTMINSTER ASSEMBLY, a name given
to the synod of divines called by parliament
in the reign of Charles I., for the purpose of
settling the government, liturgy, and doctrine
of the Church of England. They were con-
fined in their debates to such things as the
parliament proposed. Some counties had two
members, and some but one. And because
they would seem impartial, and give each
party the liberty to speak, they chose many
of the most learned episcopal divines; but
few of them came, because it was not a legal
convocation, the king having declared against
it. The divines were men of eminent learn-
ing and godliness, ministerial abilities, and
fidelity. Many lords and commons were
joined with them, to see that they did not
go beyond their commission. Six or seven
Independents were also added to them, that
all sides might be heard. This assembly first
met July 1, 1643, in Henry the Seventh’s
Chapel. The most remarkable hints concern-
ing their debates are to be found in the Life
of Dr. Lightfoot, before his works, in folio,
and in the Preface to his Remains, in octavo.
See also the Assembly’s Confession of Faith,-
Neale’s History of the Puritans; and article
DIRECTORY, in this work. There is a publi-
cation which is commonly, but unjustly,
ascribed to this assembly, viz. : “ The Anno-
tations on the Bible.” The truth is, the same
parliament that called the assembly, employed
the authors of that work, and several of them
were members of the assembly.
WHIPPERS. Sec FLAGELLANTS.
WHITE BRETHREN. See BRETHREN,
WHITE.
WHITEFIELD, GEORGE, was born at Glou-
cester, on the 16th of December, 1714. His
father, who was a publican in Gloucester, died
when he was very young, leaving him under
the superintendence of a wise and tender
mother, who, considering him to be under her
peculiar guardianship, from the tenderness of
his age, made him the object of her fondest
solicitude. From his youth he was endowed
with extraordinary talents. Between the age
of twelve and fifteen, he made great progress
in the classics. Owing to the pecuniary difii-
culties of his mother, his education was at this
moment arrested, and he was deprived of that
instruction which was fitting him for future
usefulness. At the age of seventeen he received
the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, and became
a decidedly pious and devout Christian. In the
following year he was sent to Pembroke Col-
lege, Oxford, Mr. Charles Wesley being at that
time a student of Christ Church College. Mr.
Whitefield there became acquainted with him,
and under his ministry he received much
benefit. Having arrived at the age of twenty-
one, on Sunday morning, the 20th of J une’
1736, he was solemnly ordained by the Bishop
of Gloucester. On the Sunday following, be
preached a celebrated sermon on “ The Neces-
sity and Benefit of Religious Society.” This
sermon made so strong an impression, that it
was reported he had driven fifteen of his hear-
ers mad. The following week he left Glouces-
ter for Oxford, and there took his bachelor’s
degree. A very short time after, he received
an invitation to visit London, where he con-
tinued two months, having taken up his
lodgings in the Tower, reading prayers, cate-
chising and preaching alternately, in the
chapel of the Tower, Wapping chapel, and at
Ludgate prison, every Tuesday. At this time
he felt anxious to join the Wesleys and Ing-
ham, who had gone out as missionaries to a
new colony at Georgia: and shortly afterwards
received letters from thence, containing an in-
vitation to him to labour there. He considered
this as a call from Providence: and, after
having taken leave of his friends in Glouces-
ter and Bristol, in the year 1737, he left the
shores of Britain for the continent of America,
attended by the blessings and prayers of thou-
sands for his safety and usefulness. After a te-
dious voyage, he arrived at Savannah on the 7 th
of May, 1738, and after having laboured four
months at Georgia, he was obliged to return
to England, to receive priests’ orders, and to
collect funds to enable him to lay the founda-
tion of an orphan school at Georgia. On the
6th of September, 1738, he again embarked on
board a vessel bound from Charlestown to
London, where he arrived, after a perilous and
fatiguing voyage. On the 14th of January he
was ordained priest at Oxford, by Bishop Ben-
son, and was afterwards exposed to much
persecution for preaching the word of life;
and was denied the use of those pulpits in
which he had been in the habit of preaching.
Moorfields, Kennington, and Blackheath, were
the places in which he preached to thousands
in the open air, with great success, though not
without opposition. After having made col-
lections, which amounted to upwards of a
thousand pounds, for the Orphan House at
Georgia, he sailed the second time for Ame-
rica, where he arrived, after a passage of nine
weeks, and was immediately invited to preach
in the churches, which were soon filled with
immense auditories. When he arrived at Sa-
vannah, he chose a spot of ground for the
Orphan School: and on the 25th of March,
17 40, laid the first brick, naming it Bethesda,
2'. e. a house of mercy.
That institution afterwards became emi-
nently useful, and many an orphan’s prayer
was presented to heaven for its illustrious
founder. During his fatiguing journics from
town to town, he was much exhausted, and
sometimes nearly overcome with anxiety; but
the success which attended his exertions at
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5 W H I
Georgia gave him great pleasure, and inspired
him with zeal and hope. Again, however, he
sailed for England, and arrived on the 14th of
March at Falmouth. Immediately on his ar-
rival in his native country, he travelled to Lon-
don, and preached the following Sunday on
Kennington Common to a large and impressed
congregation. Having been earnestly solicited
to visit Scotland, he voyaged from London to
Leith, where he arrived July 30th, 1741, and
was most cordially received at Dumfermline and
Edinburgh. After preaching in many places,
and collecting 5001., he left Scotland to go
through Wales in his way to London. At
Abergavennyin Wales, he married Mrs. James,
a widow between thirty and forty years of age,
to whom he was much attached. On his arrival
in London, and resuming his “labour of love,”
he found the weather would not permit him to
preach in the open air in Moorfields. Some
dissenters, therefore, procured the loan of a
piece of ground, and built thereon a large
temporary shed, which he called a tabernacle;
and his congregation became exceedingly large.
In the beginning of August, 1744, Mr. White-
field, though in an infirm state of health, em-
barked again for America, and, after a tedious
passage, arrived at New York. At that place
he was taken exceedingly ill, and his death
was apprehended ; but through the providence
of God, he gradually recovered, and resumed
his arduous and important duties. After his
illness he was very much inconvenienced with
pains in his side; for which, and the general
recovery of his health, he was advised to go to
the Bermudas. Such advice he adopted, and
there he landed on the 15th of March, 1748. '
At the Bermudas he met with the kindest re-
ception, and traversed the island from one end
to the other, preaching twice every day, and
by that means was eminently and extensively
useful. His congregations were large ; and on
seeing so many persons ignorant of Christi-
anity, he was frequently much affected. He
there collected upwards of one hundred pounds
for his Orphan School. That sum he transmitted
to Georgia: and, as he feared a relapse in his
disorder if he returned to America, he took his
passage in a brig, and arrived in safety at
Deal, and the next evening set ofi‘ for London,
after an absence of four years. On the re-
turn of Mr. Whitefield, he found his congrega-
tion at the tabernacle very much scattered,
and his own pecuniary circumstances declining,
having sold all his household furniture to pay
the Orphan House debt. His congregation
now, however, began to contribute, and his
debt was slowly liquidating. At this time
Lady Huntingdon sent for him to preach at
her house to several of the nobility, who de-
sired to hear him; among whom was the Earl
of Chesterfield, who expressed himself highly
gratified; and Lord Bolingbroke told him he
had done great justice to the divine attributes
in his discourse. In September he visited

Scotland a third time, and was joyfully re~
ceived. I-Iis thoughts were now wholly enga~
ged in a plan for making his Orphan House
(which was at first only intended for the father-
less) a seminary of literature and academical
learning. In February, 1749, he made an ex-
cursion to Exeter and Plymouth, were he was
received with enthusiasm, and in the same year
he returned to London, having travelled about
six hundred miles in the west of England ; and
in May he went to Portsmouth and Portsea, at
which places he was eminently useful: many
at that time, by the instrumentality of his
preaching, being “turned from darkness to
light, and from the power of Satan unto God.”
In the month of September he went to North-
ampton and Yorkshire, where he preached to
congregations of ten thousand people, who
were peaceable and attentive; and only in one
or two places was he treated with unkindness.
In 1751, Mr. Whitefield visited Ireland, and
was gladly received at Dublin. He expressed
himself much pleased with the size and atten~
tion of the congregations assembled to hear
him : and his labours were, as usual, very
useful. From Ireland he proceeded to Scotland,
where he also met with great encouragement
to proceed in his indefatigable work. On the
6th of August he set out from Edinburgh for
London, in order to embark for America.
Having taken leave of his friends at home, he
again set sail in the Antelope for Georgia, and
on the 27th of October arrived at Savannah,
and found the Orphan School in a flourishing
condition. Having suffered formerly from the
climate, be determined not to spend the sum-
mer in America, but re-embarked for London,
where he arrived in safety, after a tolerable
voyage.
His active mind, ever forming some new
plan for the extension of the Redeemer’s king-
dom, now turned towards the Tabernacle. He
formed a plan for the erection of a new one
and in the course of the following summer it
was completed. The foundation was laid
March 1, 1753, and was opened on Sunday,
June the 10th, 1754. After preaching in it
a few days, he again left England for Scot-
land, embraeing every opportunity of preach-
ing on his road till he arrived at Edinburgh;
and, after travelling 1200 miles, he returned
home, on the 25th of November, and opened
the Tabernacle at Bristol, after which he re-
turned to London, and, in September, 1756,
opened his new chapel in Tottenham-court
Road. His labours were immense. He preach—
ed fifteen times a week; hundreds of persons
went away from the chapel who were not able
to gain admittance. By his unremitting at-
tention to his congregation, at the two chapels
in London, his strength was much reduced,
and he became debilitated and weak. In the
latter end of the year, finding his health im-
proved, he, however, determined on again
visiting America. Accordingly, in the latter
WHI
WIC
776
end of November, he left England, and arriv-
ed at Boston in safety the beginning of Janu-
ary ; and, on writing to his friends in England,
expressed himself much gratified with the
evident improvement in the Orphan House.
After spending the winter pleasantly and use-
fully in America, he once more embarked for
his native shores; and after a passage of twenty
eight days, landed in England, and on the 6th
of October, 1765, opened the Countess of
Huntingdon’s chapel at Bath. Shortly after
his arrival in London, Mrs. Whitefield was
seized with an inflammatory fever, and be-
came its victim on the 9th of August; and on
the 14th he delivered her funeral sermon,
which was distinguished for its pathos, yet
manly and pious eloquence.
He now prepared for his seventh and last
voyage to America. He embarked at the
beginning of September, and on the 30th of
November, arrived in safety, after a perilous
and trying passage. But his sphere of acti-
vity was now drawing rapidly to a close;
his career of usefulness was soon to be con-
cluded; the sand in his hour glass was fastly
running through; and this venerable and dis-
tinguished man was soon destined to enjoy
the felicities of heaven. His complaint, which
was an asthma, made rapid strides upon his
constitution, and though it had several times
threatened his dissolution, it was at last sud-
den and unexpected. From the 17th to the
20th of September, this faithful labourer in
the vineyard of Christ preached daily at Bos-
ton ; and, though much indisposed, proceeded
from thence on the 21st, and continued his
work till the 29th, when he delivered a dis-
course in the open air, for two hours; not-
withstanding which, he set ofi‘ for Newbury
Port, where he arrived that evening, intending
to preach the next morning. His rest was
much disburbed, and he complained of a great
oppression at his lungs; and at five o’clock
on the Sabbath morning, the 30th of Septem-
ber, 1770, at the age of only fifty-six, he
entered into that rest prepared for the people
of God. According to his own desire, Mr.
Whitefield was interred at Newbury Port. On
the 2d of October, at one o’clock all the bells
in the town were tolled for an hour, and the
vessels in the harbour gave their proper sig-
nals of mourning. At two o’clock the bells
tolled asecond time; and at three they repeat-
ed their mournful tolling during the time of
the funeral. Some of the most respectable
inhabitants attended the funeral, which was
solemn and impressive.
Mr. Whitefield was not a learned man, like
his contemporary, \Vesley; but he possessed
an unusual share of good sense, general in-
formation, knowledge of the holy Scriptures,
and an accurate acquaintance with the human
heart. Few ministers have been equally use-
ful since the days of the apostles. 'l‘hc ser-
mons of Mr. Whitefield were chiefly impas-
sioned and declamatory, more generally ad-
dressed to the hearts than the understandings
of his congregations. Mr. Whitefield was be-
nevolent and kind, forgiving and gentle, but
he was zealous and firm, and seldom allowed
his feelings to overcome his judgment. He
was eminently useful in having excited a
greater degree of attention'to religion than
can be well conceived; and millions have,
doubtless, blessed his name, as tens of thou-
sands revere his memory.
WHITSUNDAY, a solemn festival of the
Christian Church, observed on the fiftieth
day after Easter, in memory of the descent of
the Holy Ghost upon the apostles in the visi-
ble appearance of fiery cloven tongues, and of
those miraculous powers which were then
conferred upon them.
It is called Whitsunday, or White Sunday,
because this being one of the stated times for
baptism in the ancient Church, those who
were baptized put on white garments, as
types of that spiritual purity they received in
baptism. As the descent of the Holy Ghost
upon the apostles happened on that day which
the Jews called Pentecost, this festival re-
tained the name of Pentecost among the Chris-
tians.
Wrcxnrmnss. See SIN.
WIcKLIrFE, JOHN, the celebrated reformer.
was born in the year 1324, near Richmond, in
Yorkshire. Of his parents, or his early years,
nothing is certainly known; but when young
he was distinguished for his genius; and, when
but sixteen, was admitted commoner of Queen’s
College, Oxford, and soon afterwards removed
to Merton College, where he was first proba-
tioner, and afterwards fellow. 'Whilst in that
college, he was distinguished for his learning
and application, and was regarded as aman
of profound knowledge. The study of the
holy Scriptures, however, afforded him the
most delight. He wrote notes, and exposi-
tions, and homilies on several parts of them;
and by such means acquired the title of Dr.
Evangelicus, or the Gospel Doctor. In 1360,
he distinguished himself by his wise and zea-
lous opposition to the encroachments of the
begging friars, and shortly afterwards by a
controversy on the subject of the poverty of
Christ. In 1361 he was advanced to be mas-
ter of Baliol College, Oxford, and four years
afterwards to be warden of Canterbury Hall,
which had been then recently founded. At
this time he had acquired general esteem, and
the affection and respect of the highest digni—
taries of the church. In consequence of some
conscientious scruples and manly dignified
conduct, he was, however, in 1370, expelled,
by a bull from the pope, from the latter situa-
ation which had been bestowed on him. At
this time Pope Urban had given notice to
King Edward, that he intended by process to
cite him to his court, then at Avignon, to
answer for his default, in not performing the
W1C
W1C
777
homage which King J ohn’s predecessor ac-
knowledged to the see of Rome, for his realm
of England, and dominion of Ireland, and for
refusing to pay the tribute granted to that
see. Such claim the king had determined to
resist, and the parliament had approved the
determination, when a monk had the efl‘ron-
tery to vindicate the pope, and insist on the
equity of his claim. Against that writer Wick-
_ lifi‘e presented himself as an able and zealous
antagonist. In 1372, having taken his degree
of doctor of divinity, he publicly professed
and read lectures on theology, to the unquali-
fied satisfaction of the schools. He again di-'
rected his attention to the exposition of the
abuses which had at that period crept into the
Church ; and, a few years aftewards, in a cele-
brated tract, he charged the friars with hold-
ing fifty heresies and errors, which, in that
publication, he enumerated. The papal power,
which had been gradually increasing, was
now greater than ever; and the pope disposed
of ecclesiastical benefices and dignities as he
thought fit. On Italians, Frenchmen, and
other aliens, totally ignorant of the‘ English
language, he bestowed the most lucrative be-
nefices; of which the parliament had made
complaints to the king, and to the pope him-
self. Notwithstanding these complaints, they
could not meet with redress; and, at length,
the king sent ambassadors to Pope ‘Gregory
XI. to require of him that he would forbear
any further interference with a reservation
of benefices. The result of this commission
was very unsatisfactory, and the commons, in
parliament, therefore renewed the request,
that “ remedy be provided against the provi-
sions of the pope, whereby he reaps the first-
fruits of ecclesiastical dignities, the treasure
of the realm being thereby conveyed away,
which they cannot bear :” and an act was
passed, that cathedral churches should enjoy
their own elections; and that, for the future,
the king should not write against the persons
so elected, but rather, by his letters, endea-
vour their confirmation, if there should be
occasion. Such measure being, however, un-
satisfactory, the king issued out a commission
for taking a survey of all benefices which were
then in the hands of aliens; and their number
appearing to be very great, in 1374, the king
appointed other ambassadors to go to the pope,
to treat with him on the same affairs on which
he had sent ambassadors to him the year be-
fore :—-one of those ambassadors was Vi'iek-
lifi‘e. In the treaty with the pope, which
lasted two years, he was much engaged; and
it was at length concluded, that for the future
the pope should desist from making use of
reservations of benefices, and that the king
should no more confer benefices by his writ ;
though, in the following year, notwithstand-
mg Such treaty, the pope did make reservation
of benefices elective. By being concerned
in this treaty, Wicklitfe was made more sen-
sible than he was before of the pride, covet-
ousness, and ambition of the pope; and, on
his return home, every where exposed him.
Against the doctrine of indulgences he wrote ;
and by his zealous opposition to the Church
of Rome, he met with much trouble. The
pride and covetousness of the clergy he re-
proved, as also their neglect to preach Christ’s
gospel. It 137 6 the king presented him with
the rectorship of Lutterworth. Wicklifi‘e, by
his endeavours to reform a corrupt age, made
himself many enemies, who waited for oppor-
tunities to gratify their revenge; and as soon
as he began, in his public lectures, to oppose
the papal powers, nineteen articles were exhi-
bited against him to the pope. When the
pope had received those articles, he despatched
various bulls to England, directing the matter
to be investigated—Wickliffe to be imprisoned,
and, if guilty, to be punished. Before the
bulls reached England, King Edward was
dead; but the archbishop and bishop of Lon-
don proceeded to execute the pope’s bulls;
and not being able to get Wicklifi'e delivered
up to them by the University of Oxford, they
issued out their mandate to the chancellor of
the university and the diocese of England,
commanding them to direct him to appear be-
fore them on the 19th of February. On the
appointed day, Wicklifi'e, accompanied by
John Duke of Lancaster, and Henry Piercy,
earl-marshal, attended at St. Paul’s, when, in
consequence of a quarrel between the bishop
of London and the earl-marshal, the court
broke up without adopting any measures. In
June, 1378, the delegates sat again for the
execution of their commission ; when the
queen-mother sent for Louis Clifford, to for-
bid them to proceed to any definitive sentence
against VVickliife. At that meeting Wick-
lifi‘e attended, and delivered an able and in-
teresting paper, in which he assigned reasons
for the statements he had made, and for which
he had been cited ; but his explanations being
unsatisfactory to the delegates, they com-
manded him no more to repeat such propo-
sitions, either in the schools or in his sermons.
By the death of Pope Gregory XI. in this
year, an end was put to the commission of
the delegates, and Wieklitfe appeared before
them no more. In 1378 Wicklitfe published
his book on the Truth of the Scriptures; and
in 1379, in consequence of the fatigues he en—
dured, he was seized dangerously ill, and ap-
peared to be on the point of death; but from
that attack he recovered, to the inexpressible
‘joy of the reformed Church. In 1380, in his
lectures, sermons, and writings, Wicklifi'e ex-
posed the Romish court, and the vices of the
clergy, both religious and secular. At the
same period he was also engaged, with other
pious and learned men, in translating the Holy
Scriptures into English. For labours so im-
portant, he, however, received not the gm-
titude and respect which he deserved, but
\VIC 11
8 WIL
opposition and reproach. The wicked clergy
perceived that such a measure would strike
at the root of ignorance and superstition, and,
like the Ephesians of old, they trembled for
their craft. This translation was attacked,
and he ably defended it; and, what was yet
more important, the right of the people to
read the Scriptures was questioned, but such
right he re-asserted, and wisely upheld. In
this and the following year he strenuously and
ably opposed the popish doctrine of transub-
stantiation, or the real presence of Christ’s
body in the sacrament of the altar. Such
opposition to a doctrine which had been
received for nearly a thousand years by the
Catholic Church, necessarily occasioned and
excited the malice of his enemies, and he was
censured by the chancellor of Oxford, and
some doctors of the university. Wickliffe
appealed from this decree of the chancellor
to the king. Archbishop Sudbury, about this
time, being beheaded by the rebels, William
Courtney, bishop of London, was translated
to the see of Canterbury, by the pope’s bull,
who, in 1382, in a court of certain select
bishops, held in the month of May, in the
monastery of the preaching friars, condemned
several of the opinions of Wicklifi‘e and his
followers, as pernicious, heretical, and repug-
nant to the doctrines of the Church. It does
not appear that Wicklifi‘e was at all cited to
appear at this court; but the condemnation
which was then passed, Courtney required
the chancellor of Oxford to publish. Unsa-
tisfied with even such measures, Courtney
obtained letters patent from the king, direct-
ing that Wicklifi‘e, with other excellent men,
should be expelled from the University of
Oxford; and ordering that the publications
of \Vicklifl'e should be every where seized and
destroyed. Thus persecuted, Wicklifl'e long
withstood the tide of opposition and fury, till
at length, overcome by force, he was obliged
to quit his professor’s place, and retire to Lut-
terworth. Forced to leave the university,
and retire to his parsonage, he still continued
his studies, and endeavoured to promote the
reformation of those corruptions which, he
was convinced, were every where prevalent.
Against a popish crusade he published an able
and interesting tract: and shortly afterwards
his celebrated book, entitled, “The great
Sentence of the Curse expounded;” and his
“ Treatise on the improper Distribution of
Benefices.” Wicklifi‘e, soon after his removal
to Lutterworth, was seized with a fit of the
palsy, of which he shortly recovered, and was
again able to resume his duties. By pope
Urban he was cited to appear before him, but
he returned a letter of excuse, saying, that
Christ had instructed him to the contrary,
and taught him to obey God rather than man.
Wicklifl'e’s health now began gradually to de-
cline, yet he preached the word of God, in
season and out of season; till at length, on

St. Innocent’s day, 1384, he was attacked
with another fit of the palsy, and shortly after-
wards expired.
The writings of Wicklifi‘e were numerous
and learned: his doctrines were those of the
reformed Church ; his followers increased,
and he assisted greatly in bringing about that
reformation, by which all wise and good men
have been delighted, and the history of which
is so interesting and important. Wicklifi'c
was a man who seems to be placed as much
above praise, as he is above envy. He had
well studied all the parts of theological learn-
ing; was skilled in the canon of civil and our
own municipal laws ; was grave, yet cheerful,
and, above all things, loved God with all his
heart, and his neighbours as himself. For
further account of this great reformer, vide
Works of PVz'c/cllfl'e; Stry e’s History of the
Reformation; History of gtford ; Leland and
Fox’s Acts and Monuments ,- Dr. James’s Apo-
logy for John lVz'chlzfi‘e; Archbishop l'Vahc’s
State of the Church; Walsz'ngham’s History of
England; Lewis’s History of the Life and
Sufi'erings of Wichlzfi'c; and a valuable and
interesting Life of this great reformer, which
has been lately published by the Rev. Mr.
Vaughan, of Kensington.
WILHELMINIANS, a denomination in the
thirteenth century, so called from Wilhelmina,
a Bohemian woman, who resided in the terri~
tory of Milan. She persuaded a large number
that the Holy Ghost was become incarnate in
her person, for the salvation of a great part of
mankind. According to her doctrines, none
were saved by the blood of Jesus but true and
pious Christians; while the Jews, Saracens,
and unworthy Christians, were to obtain sal-
vation through the Holy Spirit which dwelt
in her, and that, in consequence thereof, all
which happened in Christ during his appear-
ance upon earth in the human nature, was to
be exactly renewed in her person, or rather
in that of the Holy Ghost, which was united
to her.
WILKINSONIANS, the followers of Jemima
Wilkinson, who was born in Cumberland in
America. In October 17 7 6, she asserted that
she was taken sick, and actually died, and
that her soul went to heaven, where it still
continues. Soon after her body was reani-
mated with the spirit and power of Christ,
upon which she set up as a public teacher;
and declared she had an immediate revelation
for all she delivered, and was arrived to a
state of absolute perfection. It is also said
she pretended to foretel future events, to dis-
cern the secrets of the heart, and to have the
power of healing diseases ; and if any person
who had made application to her was not
healed, she attributed it to his want of faith.
She asserted that those who refused to believe
these exalted things concerning her, will be
in the state of the unbelieving Jews, who re-
jected the counsel of God against themselves;
WIL
WIS
779
and she told her hearers that it was the
eleventh hour, and the last call of mercy that
ever should be granted them: for she heard
an inquiry in heaven, saying,—-“ Who will
go and preach to a dying world?” or words
to that import: and she said she answered,
“ Here am I—send me ;” and that she left the
realms of light and glory, and the company
of the heavenly host, who are continually
praising and worshipping God, in order to
descend upon earth, and pass through many
sufferings and trials for the happiness of man-
kind. She assumed the title of the universal
friend of mankind; hence her followers
distinguished themselves by the name of
Friends.
WILL, that faculty of the soul by which it
chooses or refuses any thing offered to it.
When man was created, he had liberty and
power to do what was pleasing in the sight
of God; but by the fall, he lost all ability of
will to any spiritual good; nor has he any
will to that which is good, until divine grace
enlightens the understanding and changes the
heart. The nature of the will, indeed, is in
itself indisputably free. Will, as will, must
be so, or there is no such faculty; but the
human will, being finite, hath a necessary
bound, which indeed so far may be said to
confine it, because it cannot act beyond it;
yet within the extent of its capacity it neces-
sarily is and ever will be spontaneous.
The limits of the will, therefore, do not take
away its inherent liberty. The exercise of
its powers may be confined, as it necessarily
must, in a finite being; but where it is not
confined, that exercise will correspond with
its nature and situation.
This being understood, it is easy to perceive
that man in his fallen state can only will ac-
cording to his fallen capacities; and that
however freely his volitions may flow within
their extent, he cannot possibly overpass
them. He, therefore, as a sinful, carnal, and
perverse apostate, can will only according to
the nature of his apostasy, which is con-
tinually and invariably evil, without capacity
to exceed its bounds into goodness, purity,
and truth; or otherwise he would will con-
trary to or beyond his nature and situation,
which is equally impossible in itself, and
contradictory to the revelation of God. See
Edwards on the Will ; Theol. M isc., v01. iv.
p. 391 ; Gill's Cause of God and Truth,- Top-
ady’s Historic Proof; Watts’s Essay on the
Freedom of the Will ; C/zarnoch’s Works, vol.
ii. pp. 175, 187 ; Loche on the Understanding;
Reid on the Active Powers, pp. 267, 291 ; and
articles LIBERTY and NECESSITY, in this
work.
WILL or G01) is taken, 1. For that which
he has from all eternity determined, which is
unchangeable; and must certainly come to
pass; this is called his secret will. 2. It is
taken for what he has prescribed to us in his
word as the rule of duty; this is called_his
revealed will. A question of very great 1m-
portance respecting our duty, deserves here
to be considered. The question is this: “ How
may a person who is desirous of following the
dictates of Providence in every respect, know
the mind and will of God in any particular
circumstance, whether temporal or spiritual?
Now, in order to come at the knowledge of
that which is proper and needful for us to be
acquainted with, we are taught by prudence
and conscience to make use of, 1. Delibera-
tion. 2. Consultation. 3. Supplication; but,
1. We should not make our inclinations the
rule of our conduct. 2. We should not make
our particular frames the rule of our judg-
ment and determination. 3. We are not to
be guided by any unaccountable impulses and
impressions. 4. We must not make the event
our rule of judgment. 1. Unless something
different from our present situation offer itself
to our serious consideration, we are not to be
desirous of changing our state, except it is
unprofitable or unlawful. 2. When an alter-
ation of circumstance is proposed to us, or
Providence lays two or more things before
our eyes, we should endeavour to take a dis-
tinct view of each case, compare them with
one another, and then determine by such
maxims as these : -— Of two natural evils
choose the least; of two moral evils choose
neither ; of two moral or spiritual good things
choose the greatest. 3. When, upon due con-
sideration, nothing appears in the necessity
of the case of the leadings of Providence to
make the way clear, we must not hurry Pro-
vidence, but remain in a state of suspense;
or abide where we are, waiting upon the Lord
by prayer, and waiting for the Lord in the
way of his providence. In all cases, it should
be our perpetual concern to keep as much as
possible out of the way of temptation to omit
any duty, or commit any sin. We should en-
deavour to keep up a reverence for the word
and providence of God upon our hearts, and
to have a steady eye to his glory, and to
behold God in covenant as managing every
providential circumstance in subserviency to
his gracious purposes in Christ Jesus.” Pike
and Hayward’s Cases of Conscience, p. 156.
WILL WORSHIP, the invention and practice
of such expedients of appeasing or of pleasing
God, as neither reason nor revelation sug-
gests.
WISDOM denotes a high and refined notion
of things, immediately presented to the mind,
as it were by intuition, without the assistance
of reasoning. In a moral sense, it signifies
the same as prudence, or that knowledge by
which we connect the best means with the
best ends. Some, however, distinguish wis-
dom from prudence thus: wisdom leads us to
speak and act what is most proper; prudence
prevents our speaking or acting improperly.
A wise man employs the most proper means
WON 780
WOR
for success; a prudent man the safest means
for not being brought into danger.
Spiritual wisdom consists in the knowledge
and fear of God. It is beautifully described
by St. James, “as pure, peaceable, gentle,
easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good
fruits, without partiality, and without hypo-
crisy.” James iii. 17. See Dnvo'rron, RE-
LIGION.
Wrsnom or G01) is that grand attribute of
his nature by which he knows and orders all
things for the promotion of his glory and the
good of his creatures. This appears in all
the works of his hands, Ps. civ. 24; in the
dispensations of his providence, Ps. xcvii. 1,
2; in the work of redemption, Eph. iii. 10;
in the government and preservation of his
church in all ages, Ps. cvii. 7. This doctrine
should teach us admiration, Rev. xv. 3, 4;
trust and confidence, Ps. ix. 10 ; prayer,
Prov. iii. 5, 6; submission, Heb. xii. 9 ; praise,
Ps. ciii. l, 4. See Charnoch’s IVorhs, vol. 1 ;
Saurz'n’s Sermons, vol. i. p. 157, Eng. trans. ;
Gill’s Divinity, vol. i. p. 93 ; Abemethy’s Ser-
mons, vol. i. ser. 10; Rag/s Wisdom of God in
Creation; Paley’s ZVatural Theology.
WITCHCRAFT, a supernatural power which
persons were formerly supposed to obtain the
possession of, by entering into a compact
with the devil. Witchcraft was universally
believed in Europe till the sixteenth century,
and even maintained its ground with tolerable
firmness till the middle of the seventeenth.
The latest witchcraft frenzy was in New
England, in 1692, when the execution of
witches became a calamity more dreadful
than the sword or the pestilence. Some have
denied the existence of witchcraft altogether.
That such persons have been found among
men seems, however, evident from the Scrip-
tures, Deut. xviii. 10; Exod. xxii. 18; Gal.
v. 20; Lev. xix. 13 ; xx. 6. The inconsist-
ency of holding such persons in estimation,
or having recourse to fortune-tellers, diviners,
charmers, and such like, appears in this, 1.
It is imitating the heathens, and giving coun-
tenance to the foolish superstition and absurd
practices of pagans. 2. Such characters are
held in abhorrence by the Lord, and their
very existence forbidden. Lev. xx. 6; Exod.
xx. 18.—3. He threatens to punish those who
consult them, Lev. xx. 6.—4. It is wrong to
have any thing to do with them, as it is set-
ting an awful example to others. 5. It is
often productive of the greatest evils, decep-
tion, discord, disappointment, and incredible
mischief’. Hawhz'ns’s Two Sermons on Witch-
craft ,- Ency. Brit,- Moore’s Theological Worhs,
pp. 240, 251 ; Hutchinson on Witchcraft.
WONDER, any thing which causes surprise
by its strangeness. “ It expresses,” says Mr.
Cogan, “ an embarrassment of the mind after
it is somewhat recovered from the first per-
cussion of surprise. It is the effect produced
by an interesting subject which has been

suddenly presented to the mind, but concern-
ing which there are many intricacies, either
respecting the cause or manner in which any
event has taken place, motives of extraor-
dinary conduct,” &e. How it differs from
admiration, see ADMIRATION.
Wonxs, Goon, are those actions which are
conformable to truth, justice, or propriety;
whether natural, civil, relative, moral, or reli-
gious. The circumstances requisite to a good
work are, 1. That it be according to the will
of God. 2. That it spring from love to God.
1 Tim. i. 5. 3. It must be done in faith,
Rom. xiv. 23. 4. It must be done to the
glory of God, 1 Cor. x. 31 ; Phil. i. 11. The
causes of good works are, 1. God himself,
Heb. xiii. 21. 2. By union to Christ, Eph.
ii. 10. 3. Through faith, Heb. xi. 4, 6. 4.
By the word and Spirit, Luke viii. 15 ; Isa.
iii. 3; 2 Tim. iii. 16. As to the nature and
properties of good works, 1. They are im-
perfect, Eccl. vii. 20; Rev. iii. 2. 2. Not
meritorious, Tit. iii. 5; Luke xvii. 10. 3.
Yet found only in the regenerate, Matt. vii.
17. The necessary uses of good works, 1.
They show our gratitude, Psa. cxvi. 12, 13. 2.
Are an ornament to our profession, Tit. ii. 10.
3. Evidence our regeneration, Job xv. 5. 4.
Profitable to others, Titus iii. 8. See HoLI-
NESS, OBEDIENCE, SANCTIFICATION; Gz'll’s
Body of Diu, vol. iii. book iv.; Ridgley’s
Body of Dita, q. 92; Marshall on Sanctg'fi-
cation.
Worms or G01). See BIBLE, REVELA-
TION, SCRIPTURE.
WORLD, the whole system of created things.
(See CREATION.) It is taken also for a secu-
lar life, the present state of existence, and the
pleasures and interests which steal away the
soul from God. The love of the world does
not consist in the use and enjoyment of the
comforts God gives us, but in an inordinate
attachment to the things of time and sense.
“1. We love the world too much,” says Dr.
Jortin, “when, for the sake of any profit or
pleasure, we wilfully, knowingly, and deli-
berately transgress the commands of God. 2.
When we take more pains about the present
life than the next. 3. When we cannot be
contented, patient, or resigned, under low and
inconvenient circumstances. 4. We love the
world too much when we cannot part with
anything we possess to those who want, de-
serve, and have a right to it. 5. When we
envy those who are more fortunate and more
favoured by the world than we are. 6. When
we honour, and esteem, and favour persons
purely according to their birth, fortunes, and
success, measuring our judgment and appro-
bation by their outward appearance and situ-
ation in life. 7. When worldly prosperity
makes us proud, and vain, and arrogant. 8.
When we omit no opportunity of enjoying
the good things of this life; when our great
and chief business is to divert ourselves till
I
W i) R
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781
we contract an indifference for rational and
manly occupations, deceiving ourselves, and
fancying that we are not in a bad condition
because others are worse than we.”——Jortin’s
Serm., vol. iii. ser. 9 ; Bishop Hopkins on the
Vanity of the World; Dr. Stennet’s Sermon
on Conformity to the World; H. More on
Education, vol. ii. chap. 9 ; R. Walher’s Ser-
mons, vol. iv. ser. 20.
WORLD, AGES OF. The time preceding
the birth of Christ has generally been divided
into six ages. The first extends from the be-
ginning of the world to the deluge, and com-
prehends one thousand six hundred and fifty-
six years. The second, from the deluge to
Abraham’s entering the Land of Promise in
2082, comprehends four hundred and twenty-
six years. The third, from Abraham’s en-
trance into the promised land to. the Exodus
in 2523, four hundred and thirty years. The
fourth, from the going out of Egypt to the
foundation of the temple by Solomon in 2992,
four hundred and seventy-nine years. The
fifth, from Solomon’s foundation of the tem-
ple to the Babylonish captivity in 3416, four
hundred and twenty-one years. The sixth,
from the Babylonish captivity to the birth of
Christ, A. M. 4000, the fourth year before the
vulgar era, includes five hundred and eighty-
four years.
WORLD, DISSOLUTION or.
GRATION, DISSOLUTION.
WORLD, ETERNITY or.
on THE WORLD.
WORSHIP, DEMON, the worship of a class
of spirits which were thought to be superior
to the soul of man ; but inferior to those in-
telligences which animated the sun, the moon,
and the planets, and to whom were committed
the government of the world, particular na-
tions, &c. Though they were generally in-
visible, they were not supposed to be pure
disembodied spirits, but to have some kind of
ethereal vehicle. They were of various or-
ders, and according to the situation over
which they presided, had different names.
Hence the Greek and Roman poets talk of
satyrs, dryads, nymphs, fauns, 840. 85c. These
different orders of intelligences, which, though
worshipped as gods, or demi-gods, were yet
believed to partake of human passions and
appetites, led the way to the deification of de-
parted heroes, and other eminent benefactors
of thgahuman race ; and from this latter pro-
bably arose the belief of natural and tutelar
gods, as well as the practice of worshipping
these gods through the medium of statutes
cut into a human figure. See IDOLATRY and
POLYTHEISM. l/Varburton’s Divine Legation;
Farmer on the l'Vorship of Dcemons ,- Gale’s
Court of the Gentiles.
WonsHIP or GOD (cultus Dei) amounts to
the same with what we otherwise call religion.
This worship consists in paying a due respect,
veneration, and homage to the Deity, under a
‘it
See CONFLA-
See ETERNITY
sense of an obligation to him. And this in~
ternal respect, &c. is to be shown and testified
‘gay external acts; as prayers, thanksgivings,
c.
Private worship should be conducted with,
1. Reverence and veneration. 2. Self-abase-
ment and confession. 3. Contemplation of
the perfections and promises of God. 4. Sup-
plication for ourselves and others. 5. Earnest
desire of the enjoyment of God. 6. Frequent
and regular. Some who have acknowledged
the propriety of private worship have objected
to that of a public nature, but without any
sufiicient ground. For Christ attended public
worship himself‘, Luke iv.; he prayed with
his disciples, Luke ix. 28, 29; xi. 1; he pro-
mises his presence to social worshippers, Matt.
xviii. 20. It may be argued also from the
conduct of the apostles, Acts i. 24; ii.; iv.
24; vi. 4; Rom. xv. 30; 1 Cor. xiv.; Acts
xxi.; 2 Thess. iii. 1, 2; 1 Cor. xi. ; and from
general precepts. 1 Tim. ii. 2, 8; Heb. x. 25 ;
Deut. xxxi. l2; Psa. e. 4.
Public worship is of great utility. as, 1. It
gives Christians an opportunity Of openly
professing their faith in and love to Christ.
2. It preserves a sense of religion in the mind,
without which society could not well exist.
3. It enlivens devotion and promotes zeal. 4.
It is the means of receiving instruction and
consolation. 5. It afi‘ords an excellent ex-
ample to others, and excites them to fear
God, &c.
Public worship should be, 1. Solemn, not
light and trifiirg, Psa. lxxxix. 7. 2. Simple,
not pompous and ceremonial, Isa. lxii. 2. 3.
Cheerful, and not with forbidding aspect,
Psa. c. 4. Sincere, and not hypocritical, Isa.
i. 12; Matt. xxiii. 13 ; John iv. 24. 5. Pure,
and not superstitious, Isa. lvii. 15.
\Ve cannot conclude this article without
taking notice of the shameful and exceedingly
improper practice of coming in late to public
worship. It evidently manifests a state of
lukewarmness; it is a breach of order and
decency; it is a disturbance to both ministers
and people; it is slighting the ordinances
which God has appointed for our good: and
an affront to God himself! How such can be
in a devotional frame themselves, when they
so often spoil the devotions of others, I know
not. lVatts’s Holiness of Time and Places;
Kinghorn and Loader on Public lVorship ;
Parry/s, Barbanld’s, Simpson’s, and VVz'lson’s
Answer to W ahefield' s Inquiry on the Authority,
Propricty, and Utility of Public Worship ;
1Vewman on Early Attendance.
WRATH, violent and permanent anger.
See ANGER.
WRATH OF GOD is his indignation at sin,
and punishment of it, Rom. i. 18. The objects
of God’s anger or wrath are the ungodly,
whom he has declared he will punish. His
wrath is sometimes manifested in this life, and
that in an awful degree, as we see in the case
ZEN
ZOH
782
of the old world, Sodom and Gomorrah, the ' penitent in the world to come; for the wicked,
plagues of Egypt, the punishment and cap- it is said, shall go away into everlasting pun-
tivity of the Jews, and the many striking ishment, where the worm dieth not, and the
judgments on nations and individuals.
still more awful punishment awaits the im- ii. 8, 9; i. 18.
But a fire is not quenched. Matt. xxv. 46; Rom.
See HELL, SIN.
Z. -
ZABIANS, see SABEANS.
ZACHEANS, the disciples of Zacheus, a native
of Palestine, who, about the year 350, retired
to a mountain near the city of Jerusalem, and
there performed his devotions in secret; pre-
tending that prayer was only agreeable to
God when it was performed secretly, and in
silence.
ZEAL, a passionate ardour for any person
or cause. There are various kinds of zeal;
as, 1. An ignorant zeal, Rom. x. 2, 3. 2. A
persecuting zeal, Phil. iii. 6. 3. A super-
stitious zeal, 1 Kings xviii.; Gal. i. 14. 4.
An hypocritical zeal, 2 Kings x. 16. 5. A
contentious zeal, 1 Cor. xi. 16. 6. A partial
zeal, Hos. vii. 8. 7. A temporary zeal, 2
Kings xii. and xiii.; Gal. iv. 15. 8. A genuine
zeal, which is a sincere and warm concern for
the glory of God, and the spiritual welfare of
mankind. This is generally compounded of
sound knowledge, strong faith, and disinter-
ested regard; and will manifest itself by self-
denial, patient endurance, and constant exer-
tion. The motives to true zeal are, 1. The
divine command, Rev. iii. 19. 2. The ex-
ample of Christ, Acts x. 38. 3. The import-
ance of the service of Christ. 4. The ad-
vantage and pleasure it brings to the possessor.
5. The instances and honourable commenda-
tion of it in the Scriptures: Moses, Phineas,
Caleb, David, Paul, &c., Gal. iv. 18; Rev.
iii. 15, &c.; Tit. ii. 14. 6. The incalculable
good effects it produces on others, James v.
20. See Reynolds and Orton on Sacred Zeal;
Epans’s Christian Temper, ser. 37 ; Hughes’s
Sermon on Zeal; Mason’s Christ. Mar. ser.
28.
ZEALOTS, an ancient sect of the Jews, so
called from their pretended zeal for God’s
law, and the honour of religion.
ZEND, or ZENDAVESTA, a book ascribed to
Zoroaster, and containing his pretended reve-
lations, which the ancient Magi and modern
Parsees observe and reverence in the same
manner as the Christians do the Bible, making
it the sole rule of their faith and manners.
The Zend contains a reformed system of
magianism, teaching that there is a Supreme
Being, eternal, self-existent, and independent,
who created both light and darkness, out of
which he made all other things; that these
are in a state of conflict, which will continue
to the end of the world; that then there shall
be a general resurrection and judgment, and
that just retribution shall be rendered unto
men according to their works; that the angel

of darkness, with his followers, shall be con-
signed to a place of everlasting darkness and
punishment; and the angel of light, with his
disciples, introduced into a state of everlasting
light and happiness; after which, light and
darkness shall no more interfere with each
other. It is evident, from these and various
other sentiments contained in the Zend, that
many parts of it are taken out of the Old
Testament. Dr. Baumgarten asserts that this
work contains doctrines, opinions, and facts,
actually borrowed from the Jews, Christians,
and Mohammedans ; whence, and from other
circumstances, he concludes, that both the
history and writings of this prophet were
probably invented in the later ages.
ZOHARITES, so called from their attachment
to the book Zohar, are properly to be re-
garded as a continuation of the sect formed
by the famous Sabbathi Tzevi. Their creed
is briefly as follows :-—1. They believe in all
that God has ever revealed, and consider it
their duty constantly to investigate its mean-.
ing—2. They regard the letter of Scripture
to be merely the shell, and that it admits of
a mystical and spiritual interpretation. ——- 3.
They believe in a Trinity of Parzufim, or
persons, in Elohim—4. They believe in the
incarnation of God; that this incarnation took
place in Adam, and that it will again take
place in the Messiah—5. They do not believe
that Jerusalem will ever be rebuilt.—6. They
believe that it is vain to expect any temporal
Messiah; but that God will be manifested in
the flesh, and in this state atone, not only for
the sins of the Jews, but for the sins of all
throughout the world who believe in him.
This sect was revived about the year 1750,
by a Polish Jew, of the name of Jacob Frank,
who settled in Podolia, and enjoyed the pro-
tection of the Polish government, to which
he was recommended by the bishop of Kame-
netz, in whose presence he held disputes with
the orthodox Jews, and who was astonished
at the approximation of his creed to flit prin-
ciples of Christianity. On the death of the
bishop, he and his adherents were driven into
the Turkish dominions; and being also per-
secuted there by the Rabbinists, they resolved
to conform to the rites of the Catholic Church.
Frank at last found a place of rest at Ofi'en-
bach, whither his followers flocked by thou-
sands to visit him, and where he died in 1791.
Their numbers do not appear to have increased
much of late ; but they are to be met with in
different parts of Hungary ‘ind Poland.
ZUI a.
83 ZUI
1
ZOROASTER, an ancient Oriental philoso—
pher, respecting whom little is known with
certainty. He is generally regarded as the
Zerdusht of the Persians, who reformed the
religion of the Magi, and wrote the Zenda-
vesta, which contains its principles.
ZUINGLIANS, a branch of the Reformers,
so called from Zuinglius, the celebrated Swiss
divine, whose life we have given in the fol-
lowing article. His chief difference from
Luther was concerning the eucharist. He
maintained that the bread and wine were
only sigmfications of the body and blood of
Jesus Christ, whereas Luther believed in con-
substantiation.
ZUINGLIUS, ULRICUS, or ULRIC ZUINGLE,
was born on the 1st of January, 1484, at VVild-
hous, a village of the county of Tokenburg,
in Switzerland. His father was a simple
peasant, but was much and generally esteemed.
The early manifestations which young Ulric
gave of superior genius, determined his father
to consecrate him to the church. With this
intention, he sent him first to Basel and then
to Bern, where a school of polite literature
had been lately founded. The instructions
he there received were principally in Latin.
The Dominicans at that time exerted great
influence in the city of Bern. Eager to pre-
serve the authority they enjoyed, they sought
to entrap into their errors and superstitions,
amongst others, young Zuinglius; and pro-
fiting by the indiscretion of a youth left to
his own guidance, they prevailed upon him
to come and reside in their convent till he
should have attained the age requisite for en-
tering upon the noviciate. Zuinglins's father
greatly disapproved of this step, and ordered
him to quit Bern, and repair to Vienna, the
university of which city enjoyed great cele-
brity. Zuinglius obey ed; arrived at his new
place of destination, and applied to the study
of philosophy. After two years passed at
Vienna, Zuinglius returned to his father’s
house, but did not long remain there. The
knowledge that he had already acquired was
not sufiicient for him; he was desirous both
of adding to his store, and of applying what
he already possessed. He therefore repaired
a second time to Basel. The situation of a
teacher having become vacant, it was in-
trusted to Zuinglius, who was scarcely then
eighteen years of age, and he laboured with
success to facilitate and encourage the study
of the ancient languages. The duties of his
situation by no means absorbed the whole
active mind of Zuinglius, and therefore he
continued to learn as well as to teach. In the
meantime, he did not neglect the studies pe-
culiar to the profession for which he was de-
signed by his father.
At Basel, Zuinglius took the degree of
master of arts. In the midst of the most
assiduous application, and the most serious
kinds of employment, Zuinglius was a cheer-
ful and agreeable companion. He had resided
four years at Basel, when the burghers of
Glaris,"the chief town of the canton of that
name, chose him for their pastor. He accepted
this situation, which brought him nearer to
his family; and repaired thither, after receiv-
ing holy orders. In order that he might per—
form with advantage the duties of the Chris-
tian ministry intrusted to him, Zuinglius
thought he stood in need of deeper and more
extensive learning than he already possessed.
He accordingly resolved to recommence his
theological studies. An assiduous perusal of
the New Testament preceded his new re-
searches. In order to render himself more
familiar with Paul’s Epistles, be copied the
Greek text with his own hand, adding in the
margin a multitude of notes, extracted from
the fathers of the church, as well as his own
observations. The attention of Zuinglius was
now directed to the passages of Scripture cited
in the canon of the mass, and to those which
serve as a basis to the most essential precepts
of the Catholic Church.
After endeavouring to explain the text of
the gospel by itself, Zuinglius also made him-
self acquainted with the interpretations given
by other theologians, especially by the fathers
of the church. From the fathers Zuinglius
went on to the obscure authors of the middle
ages; their rude style and absurd opinions
would soon have discouraged him, had he not
wished to become minutely informed of the
state of Christianity during these ages of igno-
rance. It was not from mere curiosity that
Zuinglius undertook these long and painful
studies, but for the sake of fixing his faith on
a solid and immoveable foundation. The re-
sult of this examination was very different
from what he expected. It now appeared to
him that many Catholic interpretations of the
Holy Scriptures were incorrect, and that the
primitive mode of worship had also undergone
considerable changes. The nearer he traced
Christianity to its source, the less he found
it encumbered with the multitude of obser-
vances, in which his contemporaries made the
essence of religion to consist. In the eyes of
Zuinglius, also, the almost unbounded power
of the priests appeared contrary to gospel
principles. He was sufliciently aware that
the clerical body now required a different
organization from that of the first ages; but
he thought that the servants of the altar, far
from seeking to withdraw themselves from
the jurisdiction of the temporal magistrate,
ought to have afforded the example of con-
stant submission to the established power.
&However just these reflections appeared to
E Zuinglius, he was in no haste to make them
' known, and he only allowed himself to submit
them to the examination of some learned men
l
with whom he maintained an active corre-
, during his ten years’ abode at Glaris. During

spondence. Zuinglius followed this course
ZUl
ZUl
784
his tesidencelat Glaris, Zuinglius was twice
ordered, by his government, to accompany
the troops of the canton, in the capacity of
chaplain. The reputation of Zuinglius having
gained high celebrity, he was sent for to Zu-
rich, and created preacher in the cathedral, to
whichoffice he was installed, December, 1518,
deeply regretted by the parishioners whom he
quitted. In 1522, he published a tract, “ On
the Observation of Lent.” This work, the first
that Zuinglius published, much irritated the
popish party against him. Zuinglius caused
an assembly to be called, for the pu‘pose of
composing the difference in religion, by the
senate of Zurich, on the 29th of January, 1523.
He had drawn his doctrines into thirty—seven
propositions, which he was fully persuaded
were agreeable to the gospel. When the con-
sultation was over, the assembly passed an
edict greatly in favour of Zuinglius; and, in
fact, the whole proceeding reflected great
honour on his principles. After the publica—
tion of this edict, the doctrine of Zuinglius
became general throughout the whole canton
of Zurich, under the name of evangelical
truth.
Zuinglius was, however, determined to per-
fect his design of introducing the reformed
doctrine into Switzerland, and therefore en-
gaged the senate to call a new assembly.
They assembled, accordingly, on the 26th of
October, 1523 ; the disputations were concern~
ing the worship of images. The resolution of
this conference was, that no images were to be
allowed among Christians. In the next con-
ference, they discoursed about the mass, which
Zuinglius maintained was no sacrifice. They
accordingly passed the like sentence upon the
mass. About this time, Zuinglius wrote se-
veral books in defence of his doctrine. A
council was assembled at Baden. The deci-
sions were not adopted, however, throughout
all Switzerland; the cantons of Bern, Glaris,
Basel, Schaffhausen, and Appenzel, refused
to admit them. Thus the efforts of the as-
sembly of Baden, far from weakening the
party of the reformer, rather gave it fresh
strength. In the year 1527, several munici-
palities of the canton of Bern addressed the
senate for the abolition of the mass, and the
introduction of the worship established at
Zurich. In the mean time preparations were
making at Bern to give the assembly the great-
est possible solemnity. Haller was earnestly
desirous of the presence of Zuinglius. Zuin-
glius was by no means disposed to lose an
opportunity of unfolding his dodtrine before
a numerous auditory which appeared to be
disposed in his favour. He therefore repaired
to Bern, accompanied by several Swiss and
German theologians, who all assembled at
Zgrich towards the end of the year 1527. As
soon as Zuinglius arrived at Bern, the convo-
cation began its sittings, at which the great
council assisted in a body. The Ten Theses,
composed by Haller, containing the essential
points of Zuinglius’s doctrine, were succes-
sively discussed. Zuinglius, and those of his
party, defended them with so much success,
that they gained over a great number of the
clergy to their doctrines. The conference at
Bern was very serviceable to the cause of
reform, from the splendour reflected on it by
the union of so many celebrated men. The
town adopted the reformed worship, and in
the space of four months, all the municipalities
of the canton followed the example. In 1525
Zuinglius published his book, “De ver-a et
falsa Religionc.”
In the year 1531 a civil war broke out in
Switzerland, between the five cantons who
still adhered to the errors of the Roman Ca-
tholic religion, and the cantons of Zurich and
Bern, who strongly supported the cause of the
Reformation; when the latter were defeated
in their own territories, with the loss of four
hundred men. Zuinglius, who accompanied
the army of the reformers in the capacity of
chaplain, (as it was the custom of the Swiss
to send their head pastor to war, as chaplain,)
was killed, in the forty-seventh year of his
age; and, while dying, was heard to repeat
these words :——“ Can this be considered as a
calamity? Well, they are able, indeed, to slay
the body; but they are not able to kill the
soul.” His body being found by the Roman
Catholics, they burned it to ashes.
Zuinglius was a man of uncommon learn-
ing; his mind was stored with useful know-
ledge; and his zeal for the cause of religion
was tempered with prudence and moderation.
His pure and discriminating mind early led
him to seek the paths of that evangelical truth
which he maintained till death with consistent
firmness. To Switzerland is due the honour
of having produced many such men as the
noble and worthy reformer Zuinglius, to whom
posterity will ever be indebted.
THE END.
rt'I. : {v
II-ht‘t‘. J. D
1915
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