^W OF P8/*g^ NOV SeCtion.vJ^l.i) 75 No )L'J7' trbe fUbCBsaQcs of tbe Bible EDITED BY Professor Frank K. Sanders, Ph.D., of Yale University, and Professor Charles F. Kent, Ph.D., of Brown University. This series \s not a substitute for the Bible, but an aid to the reverent, appreciative, and enthusiastic reading of the Scriptures, in fact it will serve the purpose of an ORIGINAL AND POPULAR COMMENTARY ON THE BIBLE. The books of the Bible are grouped according to a natural classification, their contents arranged in the order of appearance and a scholarly yet popular paraphrase of their distinctive thought given in plain and expressive English. The purpose of the series is to enable any reader of the Bible to understand its meaning as a reverent scholar of to-day does, and in particular to receive the exact impression which the words as originally heard or read must have made upon those for whom they were delivered. Technicalities and unsettled questions will be, as far as possible, ignored. Each volume will be prepared by a leading specialist and will contain such brief introductions as serve to put the reader Into intelligent relation to the general theme treated. The editorial rearrangement of the order of the Biblical books or sections will represent the definite results of sober scholar- •hip. I. Ube Aessages of tbe Sarlier prophets. II. Ube Obcssagee of tbe Xater propbets. III. Ube fUessages of tbe Xaw (Btvcrs. IV. Ube ilDessages of tbe propbetfcal ant) priestly 1){6torbmt* V. Ube /Messages of tbe pgalmists. VI. Ube tteseagcs of tbe Sages. VII. Ube flDeasages of tbe Sramatfc poeta. VIII. Ube Messages of tbe Bpocal^sptfc TKflrfter*. IX. Ube fl>eBsage0 of ^esus accorbing to tbe S^noptiftt* X. Ube Aessagee of 5esu0 accorMng to 3obn. XI. Ube Messages of paul. XII- Ube Aeseages of tbe Bpostles. Zhc CSieemQCB of tbe Bible EDITED BY Professor Frank K. Sanders, Ph.D. of Yale University AND Professor Charles F. Kent, Ph.D. of Brown University VOLUME XII THE MESSAGES OF THE APOSTLES Ube fl^essages ot tbe JBible THE MESSAGES OF THE APOSTLES THE APOSTOLIC DISCOURSES IN THE BOOK OF ACTS AND THE GENERAL AND PASTO- RAL EPISTLES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT AR- RANGED IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER, ANA- LYZED, AND FREELY RENDERED IN PARAPHRASE BY George Barker Stevens, Ph.D., D.D. Dwight Professor of Systematic Theology in Yale University NEW YORK CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 1900 Copyright, 1900, by CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS PREFACE The present volume includes the apostolic discourses contained in the earlier chapters of Acts and the Epistles of James, First Peter, Jude, Second Peter, First Timothy, Titus, Second Timothy, Hebrews, First, Second, and Third John, in the order named. The dates of many of these books are uncertain, and no order can claim to be more than approximately chronological. In general, how- ever, the sermons from Acts, the Epistle of James, and the First Epistle of Peter may be said to represent the earlier forms and stages of Christian teaching, while Epistles like Hebrews and First John belong to its later period. The Epistles to Timothy and Titus are included in this volume, partly because so many scholars doubt their Pauline au- thorship in their present form and, especially, because in any case they reflect the work of Timothy and Titus in ecclesiastical administration more than the theology of the apostle. The first ten Epistles of Paul, reproduced in •* The Messages of Paul," present to us the apostle's doctrinal system. The Pastorals, whatever view be taken of their authorship, have little bearing upon that system, but deal with relations and conditions which more ap- propriately place them in the later group of New Testa- ment writings. The same method of treatment has been adopted as in "The Messages of Paul." The general facts which one Preface should know in order to appreciate the writings comprised in the volume are stated in the Introduction. This is followed by an account of the conditions and problems of the early church which, it is hoped, will throw light upon the messages of the apostles, especially upon the apostoli'- discourses. Then, to each of the Epistles is prefixed a brief special introduction explaining the nature and aim of the book, with comments on the critical questions which it suggests. Those who wish to read more extensively on these questions are referred to the list of books of reference given in the Appendix. George Barker Stevens. VI CONTENTS INTRODUCTION PAGE I. The Jerusalem Church 3 II. The Leading Characteristics of Jewish Chris- tianity 9 III. The Earliest Conflicts of Christianity with Heathenism 15 IV. The Anonymous and Disputed Books of the New Testament 21 THE RECORDED SERMONS OF THE APOSTLES I. The Problems with which the Early Apostles had to Deal 29 II. The General Characteristics of their Sermons 35 III. Peter's Early Discourses. 1. The Address Concerning the Choice of an Apostle (Acts I : 16-22) 42 2. The Address at Pentecost (Acts 2 : 14-39) • • • • 43 3. The Address in the Temple-porch after the Healing of the Lame Man (Acts 3 : 12-26) 45 4. The Address before the Priests and Rulers (Acts 4:8-12) 47 5. The Answer to the Threats of the High-priest (Acts 5 : 29-32) 48 vii Contents PAGE IV. The Address of the Almoner Stephen (Acts 7:2-53) 49 V. Peter's Address to Cornelius (Acts 10 : 35-43) 53 VI. Peter's Defence before the Judaizers (Acts II : 5-17) 55 VII. The Address of Peter at the Apostolic Coun- cil (Acts 15 : 7-11) 56 VIII. The Address of James at the Apostolic Coun- cil (Acts 15 : 13-21) 57 THE EPISTLE OF JAMES I. The Characteristics and Contents of the Epistle 61 II. The Authorship, Date, and Destination of the Epistle 63 III. The Teaching of James" and Paul Regarding Justification 6j IV. The Message of James. 1. Encouragement to Christian Fidelity (i : i-ii) . 68 2. The Real Source of Temptation to Evil (i : 12-18) 69 3. The Doing of the Word (i : 19-27) 70 4. A Warning against Partiality in the Treatment of the Rich (2 : 1-13) 71 5. A Living and a Dead Faith Contrasted (2: 14-26). 72 6. The Control of the Tongue (3 : 1-12) 74 7. True Christian Wisdom (3 : 13-18) 75 8. The Folly of Friendship with the World (4 : i-io) . 75 9. Warnings against Evil Speaking and Presumption (4:11-17) 76 10. A Warning to the Rich (5 : 1-6) ^^ 11. An Exhortation to Patience and Faith (5 : 7-20) . 77 viii Contents THE FIRST EPISTLE OF PETER PACK I. The Contents and General Character of the Epistle 8i II. The Persons Addressed 83 III. The Authorship and Date of the Epistle . . 84 IV. The First Message of Peter. 1. The Apostle's Greeting (i : I, 2) 88 2. The Great Salvation (i : 3-12) 89 3. The Holy Life Required of the Christian (i : 13-25) 90 4. Christian Duties and Virtues (2 : 1-17) .... 91 5. The Blessedness of Suffering for Christ's Sake (2:18-25) 93 6. Reciprocal Duties of Wives and Husbands {3 : 1-7) 93 7. Encouragements in Well-doing (3 : 8-22) ... 94 8. Christian Courage and Hope (4 : i-ii) .... 96 9. Sharing in Christ's Sufferings (4 : 12-19) • • • • 97 10. The Duties of Elders, and of other Members, in the Church (5 : i-ii) 98 11. Concluding Salutations (5 : 12-14) 99 THE EPISTLE OF JUDE I. The Aim and Peculiarities of the Epistle . . 103 II. The Author and Date of the Epistle ... 104 in. The Author's Use of Other Books 107 IV. The Message of Jude— A Letter of Warning against False Teachers . 109 ix Contents THE SECOND EPISTLE OF PETER PAGE I. The Aim and Contents of the Epistle . . .115 II. Its Relation to Jude 116 III. Its Author, Date, and Readers 118 IV, The Second Message of Peter. 1. The Culture of the Christian Virtues (i : i-ii) . . 120 2. The Sure Foundation of Christian Faith (i : 12-21) 121 3. Warnings against False Teachers (2) 122 4. The Terrors of the Coming Judgment (3 : 1-13) . 124 5. An Exhortation to Fidelity (3 : 14-18) 125 THE FIRST EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY I. The General Character of the Pastoral Epistles 129 n. The Historical Situation Presupposed in the Pastorals 132 III. The Authorship and Date of the Epistle . . 133 IV. The Life and Character of Timothy .... 136 V. The First Message to Timothy. 1. A Charge to Keep the Gospel Pure (i) . . . . 138 2. Directions Concerning the Worship of the Church (2) 140 3. The Qualifications and Duties of Church Officers (3) 141 4. Errors to be Avoided and Rebuked (4) . . . . 142 5. Rules for the Administration of the Church (5) . 144 6. The Application of Christian Principles to Practi- cal Problems (6) 146 X Contents THE EPISTLE TO TITUS PAGE I. Titus and his Mission in Crete 151 II. The Peculiarities of the Epistle 153 III. Authorship and Date 155 IV. The Message to Titus. 1. The Regulation of the Churches and the Main- tenance of a Pure Gospel (i) 156 2. The Obligation of the Christian Believer (2) . . 157 3. Practical Duties ; Farewell Greetings (3) . . . 159 THE SECOND EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY I. The Question of a Second Imprisonment of Paul 163 II. The Apostle's Farewell. III. The Second Message to Timothy. 1. Encouragements in Sufferings (i) 169 2. The Soldierly Quality of the Christian Life (2 : i- 13) 170 3. The Christian's Safeguards against False Doctrine and Life (2 : 14 to 3 : 17) 172 4. The Apostle's Solemn Final Charge (4 : 1-8) . . 174 5. Concluding Requests and Greetings (4 : 9-22) . . 175 THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS I. The Course of Thought in the Epistle . . .179 II. The Purpose of the Epistle 183 III. To Whom was the Epistle Addressed? . . .185 IV. The Problems of Authorship and Date . . . 189 V. The Message to the Hebrews. 1. Christ's Superiority to the Angels (i, 2) . . . . 193 2. Christ's Superiority to Moses (3 : i to 4 : 16) . . 196 xi Contents PAGE 3. His Qualifications for the Priestly Office (5 : i-io) 200 4. Christ a Priest of a Higher Order than the Aaronic Priests (5 : 10 to 7 : 28) 201 5. Christ the Minister and Exponent of the New Spiritual Covenant (8 : i to 10 : 18) 205 6. The Perils of Apostasy (10: 19-39) 210 7. The Triumphs of Faith (11) 212 8. Concluding Instructions and Exhortations (12, 13) 216 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN I. The Relation of this Epistle to the Fourth Gospel 225 II. General Character and Destination of the Epistle 226 III. The Purpose of the Epistle 227 IV. The First Message of John. 1. The Messenger of Life (i : 1-4) 229 2. The Message of Life (i : 5-10) 229 3. The Gospel Rule of Life (2:1-11) 230 4. An Appeal to Young and Old to Seek the Higher Divine Life (2 : 12-17) 231 5. A Warning against the Denial of Christ (2 : 18-29) 232 6. The Nature and Goal of the Christlike Life (3:1-12) 233 7. Love the Crowning Characteristic of this Life (3 : 13-24) 234 8. The Anti-christian Spirit (4 : 1-6) 236 9. The Supremacy of Love (4: 7-21) 236 10. Jesus Christ the Way to God (5 : 1-12) .... 238 11. The Christian's Firm Assurance (5 : 13-21) . . . 239 xii Contents THE SECOND EPISTLE OF JOHN PAGE I. The Authorship of the Letter 243 II. The Person Addressed . 244 III. The Purpose of the Letter 245 IV. The Second Message of John. 1. Salutation (1-3) 246 2. The True and False Way (4-11) 246 3. Concluding Greeting (12, 13) 247 THE THIRD EPISTLE OF JOHN I. The Occasion and Purpose of the Letter . . 251 II. The Interest and Value of the Minor Epistles OF John 252 III. The Third Message of John. 1. Salutation (1-4) 253 2. Counsels and Warnings (S-12) 253 3. Concluding Greeting (13, 14) 254 APPENDIX Books of Reference 257 xm INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION THE JERUSALEM CHURCH The earliest manual of church history, the Book of Acts, opens with a picture of the first congregation of believers at Jerusalem. Their place of meeting was an upper room and their number may be approximately esti- mated from the fact that when Matthias was appointed an apostle to take the place of Judas, the number present was about one hundred and twenty (Acts 1:15). At the feast of Pentecost, a few days after Jesus' de- parture, occurred a signal realization of the promise of the Spirit in the confirmation of the faith of the disciples, and in the increase of their number. In his sermon on this occasion Peter convincingly maintained the Messiahship of Jesus. He asserted that the facts of his resurrection and ascension were in fulfilment of Old Testament pre- dictions, and that it was the immediate duty of the Jewish people to repent of their sins and to believe on Jesus as their promised Saviour. About three thousand souls of many nationalities received the word and were added to 3 Introduction The Messages the church (Acts 2 : 41). The occasion inaugurated a new epoch in the life of the community, not only because it gave new courage and hope to the first disciples, but also because the conversion of so large a number of per- sons residing outside Palestine was a promise of the ex- tension of the gospel to the whole world for which it was destined. There is no reason to believe that the primitive church at Jerusalem had any formal organization. Its life was extremely simple. The apostles were, of course, its nat- ural leaders, and Peter is represented as the spokesman of the assembly. At first the little company, many of whom were not residents of the city, seem to have dwelt together (Acts I : 13), but that arrangement must very soon have become impracticable on account of the growth of the community. They frequently met together for "the breaking of bread " (Acts 1:14; 2 : 42, 46), that is, for the celebration of the Lord's supper in the form of a common meal. When their number became large they probably met in groups in private dwellings, thus forming the churches or assemblies in houses, to which Paul refers as existing elsewhere (i Cor. 16 : 19; Rom. 16 : 5 ; Col. 4:15). These early Christians regarded whatever property they possessed as a means whereby they might serve their fel- low-believers. " Not one of them said that aught of the things which he possessed was his own ; but they had all things common " (Acts 4 : 32). From such expressions 4 of the Apostles Introduction as this, taken by themselves, it would appear that the be- lievers relinquished their private property entirely and con- tributed it to a common fund ; but from other indications it seems unlikely that the community of goods was carried thus far. Ananias might have retained the full price of his possessions without offence (Acts 5 : 4). Mary, the mother of Mark, retained her own house in Jerusalem (Acts 12 : 12). Moreover, we hear nothing of a com- munity of goods in the New Testament outside of the early chapters of Acts. The probability therefore is that each held his property at the service of his brethren, con- tributing it from generosity and love to their relief in the degree in which the circumstances seemed to him to re- quire. Special mention is made of the beneficence of Barnabas, who sold a field and contributed the entire sum received to the common fund (Acts 4 : 36, 37). It is in connection with these efforts to relieve the needy that we find the beginnings of church organization. The Greek-speaking Jews in the community complained that '• their widows were neglected in the daily ministra- tion" (Acts 6 : i). Whether this neglect was intentional or not we do not know. In any case the time had come for an official administration of the alms of the church. The apostles had in hand the arduous work of preaching, and of teaching the growing community, and could not •' forsake the word of God and serve tables" (Acts 6 : 2). Accordingly, a committee of seven almoners was ap- 5 Introduction The Messages pointed to attend to the work of distributing alms. It is noticeable that the Greek names of most of these men show them to have been chosen chiefly from the ranks of the Hellenists, who had made the complaint. This com- mittee, whose origin was due to a practical necessity, was, no doubt, the germ of the later office of deacon. The difficulties by which the Jerusalem church was sur- rounded were very great. The religious leaders and the more influential classes were opposed to the new " sect," and their hostility was sure to increase with its growth and success. The new doctrine was gaining ground with the people, and from the beginning it was true, as afterward, that there was " no small stir concerning the Way " (Acts 19 : 23), as Christian belief and practice soon came to be called. The Christians were chiefly from the humbler classes. What were they to face the learning, the influence, and the social prestige of the ruling classes in the nation? All the power of tradition, of rabbinic learning, of political advantage, was arrayed against them. Their hero was regarded as a malefactor who had met his just fate upon the ignominious cross. Their claim that he was the Messiah was contrary to the accepted interpretation of the Old Testament and abhor- rent to every instinct of Jewish pride and every aspiration of Jewish hope. Amid these conditions the early Chris- tians in their poverty and weakness braved the contempt and persecution of their countrymen, met them on the 6 of the Apostles Introduction field of Old Testament interpretation and history, and challenged them to deny the central fact on which they based their whole contention, that Jesus had been proven to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead. With living conviction and confident hope the Christian community faced the issue, matching against the author- ity, influence, and number of their antagonists simply the power of truth and fact. Despite formidable opposition the infant church con- tinued to grow. The Jewish leaders could neither refute the arguments nor deny the miracles of the apostles. The threats of the priests could not intimidate them (Acts 4 : 17 ff.). With confidence the believers committed them- selves to the care of God and prayed for courage to speak the truth with all boldness (Acts 4 : 24-30). As time went on and the hostility of the scribes, rulers, and priests increased in bitterness, the church found a double pro- tection, first in the favor of the common people (Acts 4:21; 5:13), and, second, in the refusal of the Roman authorities to sanction the cruel attacks planned by the Jewish leaders (Acts 19:35-41; 22:22-29), Even among the Jews themselves there were more reasonable men, such as Gamaliel, who counselled moderation in the treatment of the Christians, in the conviction, no doubt, that the cause which they represented would die of itself, if left alone (Acts 5 : 34-42). It need hardly be said that the Jerusalem church was 7 Introduction The Messages distinctly Jewish. Its members were Jews by birth and training. They shared, in great measure, the limitations of view which were common to their people. It therefore becomes an interesting question whether they contem- plated the extension of the gospel beyond Judaism. That there are traces of this larger view in the church of the first days cannot reasonably be doubted. Peter says that the promise is to " those that are afar off," as well as to those that are nigh, that is, to the Gentiles, as well as to the Jews (Acts 2 : 39). He sees in the outpouring of the Spirit upon men " from every nation under heaven " (Acts 2 : 5) the fulfilment of the prophet's words that " whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Acts 2 :2i). He knows that it was the divine purpose to bless " all the families of the earth " through the Jewish nation (Acts 3:25). These indications of a consciousness that the gospel was for all men are con- firmed by the conversion, under the labors of the primi- tive apostles, of the Ethiopian chamberlain (Acts 8 : 26 ff.), of Cornelius (Acts 10:1 ff.), and of many other Gen- tiles (Acts 10 -45), and by the explicit assertion of Paul that the primitive apostles approved his mission to the heathen, and that Peter himself commonly recognized Gentile converts as Christian brethren and associated with them without scruple (Gal. 2 19, 12). The question among the early Christians was not whether the Gentiles might receive the gospel, but, whether they might be 8 of the Apostles Introduction saved without being circumcised and obeying the Jewish law. There were those who held that the observance of the Mosaic law was necessary to salvation (Acts 15:1). The apostles themselves did not go to this extreme, but the question is a puzzling one and their conduct was not always consistent with the truth of a universal gospel. For his inconsistency in withdrawing from the company of the Gentile converts at Antioch in deference to the ideas of certain Jewish Christians, Paul severely rebuked Peter, solemnly charging him to " walk uprightly accord- ing to the truth of the gospel " (Gal. 2:11 ff.). II THE LEADING CHARACTERISTICS OF JEWISH CHRISTIANITY It was natural that the first Christians, reared and trained in the Jewish religion, should be strongly attached to its beliefs and practices. It was well that there was no sudden break with Judaism. The religion of the Jews was the preparation and basis for the religion of Christ. The Messianic salvation was from the Jews (John 4 : 22) ; that is, it was through Jewish history that the way was especially prepared for the Messiah's coming. But while the attachment of the early disciples to Judaism had its 9 Introduction The Messages good side, it also had its dangers. It was not easy for them to hold fast the essentials of truth common to Juda- ism and Christianity, and to allow outworn beliefs and rites to fall away and be forgotten. Trained in a system of traditions and ceremonies to which the greatest impor- tance had been attached, the first believers could not read- ily separate the wheat from the chaff. Accustomed to habits of thought to which a ritualistic system gives rise, they found it hard to pass to an appreciation of the spirit- ual teaching of Jesus. " No man having drunk old wine desireth new ; for he saith, the old is good " (Luke 5 : 39). Religious beliefs and practices, once fixed and adopted, always have an immense power of self-assertion and self- preservation. An intense conservatism, moreover, was characteristic of the Jewish mind, especially during the two or three centuries preceding Christ's coming. It was the period of Israel's decline ; the canon of Scripture had been closed ; the prophetic age was over ; religious beliefs had been authoritatively defined ; the ritual had been elaborated in great detail ; tradition reigned supreme. It was the age of the scribe and the priest. Incapable of search for new truth and impervious to its reception, the religious leaders of the people occupied themselves with ingenious applications of the letter of Scripture and in the perfunctory performance of religious ceremonies. It seemed a barren soil in which to plant the seeds of a gospel which was destined to change the world. 10 of the Apostles . Introduction One of the most marked characteristics of Judaism was what is called " particularism ; " that is, the tendency to regard the Jews as the special favorites of heaven and to suppose that all other peoples were outside the pale of God's mercy or interest. This narrow view arose from a false interpretation of the divine calling of Israel. The true meaning of the nation's election was that the Jewish people, as the recipients of revelation, should be the me- dium of the divine mercy to the world. But the people regarded God's favor as destined for themselves alone and as terminating on their own happiness and salvation. This idea of Israel's election meets us frequently in the pages of the New Testament. It was against this mis- conception that the apostle Paul protested in his great argument to show that God is not the God of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles, and that the " chosen peo- ple," if they are faithless and disobedient, will forfeit the favor of God (Rom. ii : 20-22). The Jews were characterized by a strong attachment to religious ceremonies, especially the rite of circumcision. It was this rite which marked this people off from the sur- rounding nations ; it was the badge of their separateness from the world and the pledge of their consecration to Jehovah. But, as so often happens in the case of relig- ious ceremonies, its higher meaning was obscured, if not wholly lost, in the later Judaism. Instead of being re- garded as a pledge of obedience and faithfulness to God, II Introduction The Messages it was viewed as a guaranty of his special and exclusive favor. The people interpreted circumcision as evidence that God's grace was pledged to them and that the divine promises to Israel would be fulfilled irrespective of the conduct of the nation. It was thus easy to fall into care- lessness and indifference respecting those conditions on which alone God can grant his spiritual mercies to men. In this way Jewish ritualism became a mere outward form of godliness. Religion degenerated into a superstitious dependence upon outward rites from which the power of living conviction and sincere consecration had departed. The official representatives of this ritualism were the most determined opponents of Christ and his gospel. Another peculiarity of Jewish religious thought was legalism. God was, above all things, the Lawgiver. He had prescribed all the duties of life in a great system of commandments and prohibitions. To observe these was to win his favor, and to attain temporal and eternal bless- edness. The relation of mankind to God was conceived as a legal, rather than as an ethical and personal, relation. Popular tradition had so elaborated the laws contained in Scripture that all life consisted in a round of observances and performances by which the devotee hoped to win the approval of God and the reward of perfect obedience. These facts are of importance to the student of the New Testament, because the ideas and tendencies of which we have been speaking were carried over into early 12 of the Apostles Introduction Christianity and must be taken into account in the effort to understand and interpret many New Testament books. Every reader of the gospels knows how often our Lord came into conflict with the scribes and priests — the re- ligious and theological teachers of his time. Their em- phasis upon outward ceremonies, their adherence to human tradition, their maintenance of superficial distinctions to the neglect of great moral principles, were among the points in which his teaching and life stood in irreconcilable contrast with theirs. In the Acts and epistles this contrast between Judaism and the gospel comes constantly into view. Against the idea that God was primarily to be thought of as a Law- giver issuing rules and commandments, the gospel taught that he was to be regarded as a Father. In contrast to the popular view that religion consisted in outward deeds, Christianity taught that it consisted in a certain state of the heart, in a God-like life. To the question : What shall I do to inherit eternal life ? which Judaism had answered by prescribing legal obedience, Christ and his apostles answered by enjoining love to God and man, and trust in the grace of the heavenly Father. These were great and far-reaching differences. They made it impossible for the advocates of the two systems to dwell together in peace. They were influenced by different motives and rested upon different principles. For a time men might attempt to reconcile the two points of view, but they were, 13 Introduction The Messages as Paul so clearly showed, inherently inconsistent and must lead to separation. The political conception of the Messiah and of his king- dom, current in Judaism, was one of the principal obsta- cles in the Jewish mind to the acceptance of Jesus, who founded no party, led no uprising, and refused to draw the sword. It was no easy task for the first believers to break away from the lower conceptions of Christ's work in which they had grown up and to adopt the notions of a spiritual king and kingdom and of salvation by sacrifice. The principal illustrations of the survival in early Jew- ish Christianity of the peculiarities which have been enu- merated will be found (so far as the portions of the New Testament included in this volume are concerned) in the difficulty with which Peter and his associates were brought to see that " God is no respecter of persons," and that the terms of salvation are the same for Jews and Greeks ; in the persistency with which the Hebrew Christians clung to the Jewish ritual, as depicted in the Epistle to the He- brews, and in certain echoes of false teaching and bitter opposition to the gospel which we hear in both the Pastoral and the Catholic Epistles. of the Apostles Introduction III THE EARLIEST CONFLICTS OF CHRISTIANITY WITH HEATHENISM The earliest opposition to Christianity came, as we have seen, from Judaism (Acts 4:1, 17). The almoner Stephen was the first victim of this cruel and implacable hostility (Acts 7 : 59). When Saul was converted and began to proclaim the Messiahship of Jesus in the syna- gogues, he at once became the object of a murderous plot. He escaped death only by the vigilance of his friends, who lowered him outside the wall of Damascus at night in a basket (Acts 9 : 25). Wherever the apostles went, mobs were excited against them. At Lystra the Jews stoned Paul and dragged him from the city, suppos- ing him to be dead (Acts 14 : 19). Paul and Silas were driven from Thessalonica by a rabble who pursued them even to Beroea (Acts 17 : 10, 13). Their preaching in the Jewish synagogues was everywhere the signal for an uproar. Such treatment was sure to precipitate a crisis. At Antioch Paul and Barnabas had been compelled to acknowledge that further efforts on behalf of the Jews seemed useless. " It was necessary," they said, " that the word of God should first be spoken to you. Seeing you thrust it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles" (Acts 13 : 46). 15 Introduction The Messages Again, when at Corinth, Paul, Silas, and Timothy sought to use the freedom of the synagogue for preaching Christ, and were only met by opposition and blasphemy (Acts i8 : 6), the apostle cried : " Your blood be upon your own heads ; I am clear ; from henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles." These events were turning-points in the apos- tle's career and in the progress of the gospel. They marked the increasing hopelessness of converting the Jewish people to belief in Jesus as the Messiah and opened the way to the great and successful work of Gen- tile missions. But how would the preachers and their message fare at the hands of the heathen ? At Athens the curious and light-minded Greeks had heard their message with min- gled incredulity and contempt (Acts 17 : 32). Was this an augury of the future ? Or was the successful mission which had been established at Antioch (Acts 1 1 : 20), in which many Gentiles had gladly received the word of God (Acts 13 : 47, 48), to be regarded as a prophecy of the reception which awaited the preaching of the gospel among the heathen? In some critical instances the Roman power had refused to lend its sanction to the mur- derous plots of the Jews, and had even thrown its shelter- ing arm over the persecuted " sect." Was this an assur- ance that the great empire was destined to be an ally of the gospel ? If we carefully read the history of the earliest missions 16 of the Apostles Introduction to the Gentiles we observe indications that the course of Christianity in the heathen world was not to be a smooth one. The differences, both doctrinal and practical, between Christianity and the religions of Greece and Rome were deep and wide, Christianity knew but one God, heathen- ism had " gods many and lords many " (i Cor. 8:5); the gospel proclaimed salvation through Christ, heathenism sought the favor of heaven through sacrifices, oracles, and auguries ; the religion of Christ required a pure life, the heathen religion tolerated and even encouraged many cor- rupting practices and revolting vices. Sooner or later the gospel must come into decisive conflict with the supersti- tions of these idolatrous systems. There could be no compromise between them. The history of this conflict falls mainly outside of the New Testament period, but its beginnings are already traceable there. It is noticeable that the clash generally came at the point where the work of the apostles affected unfavorably the selfish interests of the heathen. The super- stitions of the Grasco-Roman world provided occupation for a horde of sorcerers, soothsayers, and image-makers whose pockets would quickly feel the effect of a work like that of the apostles. Long before the day of Gentile missions, Philip had encountered the magician Simon in Samaria (Acts 8 : 9). At Paphos, on the first missionary tour, the Jewish sorcerer Elymas opposed the work of Barnabas and Saul and sought to turn aside from the faith 17 Introduction The Messages the Roman proconsul, Sergius Paulus (Acts 13 : 8). When Paul crossed into Europe on the second mission- ary tour, he quickly found that the interests which were fostered by heathen superstition would not be indifferent to his work. At Philippi, the first European city in which Paul and his companions preached, the cure of a sooth- sayer who " brought her masters much gain " by the prac- tice of her art, occasioned their arrest, chastisement with rods, and imprisonment (Acts 16:16 ff.). But the appar- ent defeat issued in victory, for not only was the jailer who guarded them converted, but the magistrates were forced to the verge of apology when they learned that Paul and Silas were Romans, and besought them to go quietly from the city (Acts 16 : 38, 39). At Athens Paul's preaching was received, not, indeed, with threats and violence, but with the cynical indifference and undisguised contempt which it was quite as hard to bear (Acts 17 : 32). At Ephesus the apostle encountered heathen superstition in its most inveterate forms. There exorcists and necro- mancers in great numbers plied their profitable trade. Yet in his campaign against them the apostle was highly successful. Many of them brought the books in which the rules of their magic were written and, publicly burning them, renounced their " curious arts" (Acts 19 : 19). An incident occurred at this time which occasioned " no small stir concerning the Way " (Acts 19 : 23). At Ephe- sus there was a shrine-maker, Demetrius, who conducted a 18 of the Apostles Introduction profitable business in making images of the goddess Diana. He was quick to discern the unfavorable effect of Paul's work upon the occupation of shrine-making. He loudly declared that the whole traffic was in peril and that the di- vinity herself was being " deposed from her magnificence" by this opponent of idol-worship. A tremendous excite- ment followed and a mob was created. Paul would quite certainly have lost his life had it not been for the interven- tion of the Roman official, who not only reminded the excited populace that if they had charges to prefer against the preachers, they could do so before the courts, but also gave them the very quieting suggestion that the Roman authorities would probably inquire after the instigators of the uprising (Acts 19 : 38, 40). At this intimation the crowd seems to have melted away, and Paul was once more *' delivered out of the mouth of the lion " (2 Tim. 4 : 17). After his missionary tours, when he returned to Jerusa- lem, Paul was again beset by enemies who had followed him from proconsular Asia. All Jerusalem was thrown into confusion, the apostle was beaten and would have been killed had he not asserted his rights as a Roman citizen to a regular legal trial (Acts 22 : 25-29). Being transferred to Cassarea (Acts 23 : 23), he was examined before Felix (Acts 24) and Festus (Acts 25), and, at length — after abandoning all hope of obtaining justice at the hands of these men — he appealed to Caesar (Acts 25 : 11). Then followed his stormy voyage to Rome (Acts 27, 28) 19 Introduction The Messages and the history abruptly ends. Here tradition takes up the story and assures us that Paul was tried and released, and then tried again and condemned to death, and that he perished beside the Ostian road, near the place where now stands the splendid Basilica which bears his name. Peter is also said to have died a martyr at Rome. This history of Christianity's early conflicts with heath- enism is only a sketch, but it is enough to reveal to us the patience, courage, and faith of those who, like Paul, per- ished in the cause to which they had consecrated their lives. To the sufferings which discipleship to Christ entailed, the New Testament bears ample witness. The Epistles of Paul, of James, and of Peter are addressed to those who, in various parts of the world, are suffering hard- ships for the sake of Christ, and the Apocalypse is a lurid picture of the sufferings of the church under the cruelties of Rome. Alike from Jews and heathens the early Chris- tians must " endure hardships." The reader will observe to what an extent, in the epistles included in this volume, the aim of the writers is to encourage the believers to whom they wrote to be brave and patient under perse- cution. Over the picture of the early church falls this dark shadow of sorrow and suffering, reminding us of the sketch which Paul has left us of his own experience : " Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a day and a night have I been in 20 of the Apostles Introduction the deep ; in journeyings often, in perils of rivers, in perils of robbers, in perils from my countrymen, in perils from the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilder- ness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren ; in labor and travail, in vi^atchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness " (2 Cor. II : 24-27). And, yet, he could call all this " light afflic- tion " when he thought of " the eternal weight of glory " (2 Cor. 4:17) which shall be the reward of the faithful servant of Christ. IV THE ANONYMOUS AND DISPUTED BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT The first books to receive a canonical, that is, a recog- nized authoritative character in the church were the four Gospels. This was the natural result of the high estimate in which the teaching and acts of Jesus were held. In these the church saw the supreme revelation of God. Hence the books in which the Lord's words and deeds were recorded were deemed of exceptional value, both for the instruction of believers and for the refutation of false teaching. Next in order of importance stood a second group of writings, including the thirteen Pauline letters, I Peter, i John, and the Book of Acts. As the canon of Introduction The Messages the Lord's words had gradually assumed an authoritative character similar to that which was attributed to the Old Testament, so the canon of undisputed apostolic writings and of apostolic history gradually took rank with the Gospels as sources for the trustworthy knowledge of prim- itive Christian teaching. This second group of books was especially adapted to do service in the refutation of the doctrinal errors which from a variety of heathen and Jew- ish sources invaded the early church. The formation of the canon was a long and slow proc- ess, and precise dates cannot be assigned to its various stages. In general, however, it may be confidently stated that the canon of the Gospel was fixed during the first half, and the larger canon, including the undisputed apos- tolic books, within the second half, of the second century. Now, in addition to the twenty books already men- tioned, there was a third group of writings which were called the Antilegomena, or disputed books. These were : Hebrews, James, 2 Peter, Jude, 2 and 3 John, and (in the East) the Apocalypse. These were books whose apos- tolic authorship and authority were regarded as question- able, and which, therefore, held a doubtful position and were generally regarded as of secondary importance. They were accepted and read by some churches, and not by others. By some Christians they were read as edify- ing, but not as authoritative books. We know that other books which, finally, did not obtain a permanent place in 22 of the Apostles Introduction the canon occupied, for a time, a similar position — for example, the Epistle of Barnabas and the Shepherd of Hermas. In some instances the Eastern churches differed from the Western in their attitude toward disputed books — for example the Book of Revelation was generally ac- cepted in the West, while it was questioned or rejected in the East ; the reverse was the case with the Epistle to the Hebrews. Not until the fourth century can these ques- tions concerning the disputed books be said to have been put to rest. Toward this result the great theologian Athanasius exercised a powerful influence. Finally, the ecclesiastical councils of Laodicea (A.D. 363) and Car- thage (A. D. 397) adopted as the authoritative standards of Christian teaching the twenty-seven books which now compose our New Testament. From this historical sketch it is evident that the early church gave long and earnest attention to questions con- cerning its earliest traditions and the trustworthiness of the books which purported to contain primitive Christian teaching. By applying a variety of tests to the various writings which made claims to consideration it sought to •' prove all things and to hold fast that which is good." Some of these tests were : historical trustworthiness, apostolicity, and actual usefulness for edification. The task of determining what books were entitled to the rank of original documents of the Christian religion was no easy one. Some of these books were anonymous, as, for 23 Introduction The Messages example, the Epistle to the Hebrews. Others bore a familiar name, as James and Jude, but furnished no other important indication respecting the personality of the author. One book among the Antilegomena, 2 Peter, claimed to be the work of an apostle, but in its character and contents presented so many serious difficulties to the acceptance of its apostolic authorship that even as late as the third century we find it more widely rejected than accepted. This process by which the collection of sacred books was formed seems altogether natural when the circum- stances of the early church are considered. At first, while the memory of the Lord's words and deeds were fresh in the minds of all, the believing community would feel no need of any canonical books except those of the Old Testament. Only when the first generation of believers was dying out would it be thought necessary to compose written narratives of the events of Jesus's life and teaching. Had the church felt this necessity earlier, per- haps a much fuller account of our Lord's life would have been preserved to us. Again, the New Testament epis- tles were all occasional writings. Their authors wrote them to meet some particular need and had no idea in so doing of contributing to a permanent collection of author- itative books. Had the authors of these letters foreseen the use which was to be made of their writings during many centuries of Christian history, they would probably 24 of the Apostles Introduction have supplied us with much information concerning them- selves and their readers which is now wanting and the lack of which gives rise to many unsolved, and often insoluble, problems. How very little can we know with any certainty concerning the writers and original readers of the third group of books which were almost as much " disputed " in the early church as they are among scholars to-day. In the absence of specific information, either from the writings themselves or from other sources, we are left to construct as best we may a historical situa- tion into which these writings may be fitted, and tenta- tively to assign to them dates which seem appropriate for the type of teaching or the ecclesiastical conditions which they reflect. The books in question (which compose the greater part of the present volume) differ in one important point from the Pauline epistles. The latter are intensely personal and reflect definite historical situations. These characteris- tics are either quite wanting or very indefinite in the case of the " disputed books." Moreover, we have the narra- tive of Paul's life and missionary labors in Acts, into which we can fit his first ten epistles. Such a historical framework is lacking in the case of the Antilegomena. Our critical difficulties respecting these books are mainly due to the want of historical and biographical informa- tion. The spread of Christianity through Asia Minor and Greece to Rome is mainly identified with the work of the 25 Introduction Apostle Paul. Of its extension in other directions and of the other Christian workers in Palestine and in the Dis- persion we know comparatively little. Probably no other man so stamped his personality upon early Christianity as did Paul; if any other did so, time has effaced the im- pression and history has preserved to us no clear and trustworthy record of his work. The tradition concerning John's work in Ephesus, which has been preserved in the writings of the early church writers, is the nearest approach to our information concerning Paul ; but it bears no com- parison with the latter in clearness and definiteness. The indications of Peter's residence and work at Rome in early Christian literature are still more obscure and conflicting. The other original apostles — James, Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, and the rest— are hardly more than names to us. While it is true that the New Testa- ment enables us to obtain a clear idea of the most fruitful and permanent movement of early Christian history, it would be a matter of deep interest and a great aid to the solution of critical problems, if we knew more of the corresponding movements in the original home of our religion and in the East. We have reason to be thankful, however, that in some of the "disputed books," at least, we may find, outside the w^ork of Paul, memorials of that early Christian history which has left so few and such in- distinct traces on the pages of the New Testament. 26 THE RECORDED SERMONS OF THE APOSTLES THE RECORDED SERMONS OF THE APOSTLES THE PROBLEMS WITH WHICH THE EARLY APOSTLES HAD TO DEAL To understand primitive Christianity, the student must constantly remember that it took its rise on the soil of Judaism. Its Founder and his first disciples were Jews. The sacred books of Judaism, which constitute our Old Testament, were the sources from which their religious and moral instruction was drawn. Jesus always regarded these books with reverence and conformed to the system of worship and observance which was based upon them. When he began to gather about himself a band of disci- ples he did not require them to abandon their ancestral beliefs and practices. They accordingly continued to ob- serve the rites of the Jewish religion. They attended, as he himself did, upon the services of synagogue and tem- ple, without a thought that discipleship to Christ would involve a break with the religion of their fathers. Yet such a break was inevitable. Their master had 29 Apostolic Addresses The Messages come to fulfil the law and the prophets. The Old Testa- ment religion represented a stage in the great process of divine revelation, but the time had now come when a new epoch was about to begin. The Jewish system had fulfilled its purpose and was " ready to disappear " (Heb. 8:13). It was to pass away as the blossom passes away when it is fulfilled in the fruit — not by being destroyed but by being taken up into a higher stage of development. In this process of fulfilment all that was of merely temporary validity, all that was merely local or national, or adapted only to special conditions, must fall away of its own ac- cord in order that the principles and laws which are changeless and universal might stand forth in their true and eternal truth and power. Thus only could the re- ligion of Israel pass into a world-religion. Of the import of this great transition the first disciples had no clear idea. Indeed, they could only gradually be led to see that any such transition was impending. It was not so much the logic of reflection as the logic of events which awakened in them the consciousness that Christianity was something other than Judaism, and that the teaching of their Master was made up of principles of universal validity which were equally applicable to all men. He had, indeed, shown them by his example that he did not regard the Jewish people alone as the recipients of God's grace, and had taught them that his truth was new wine which could not be confined in the old bottles 30 of the Apostles Apostolic Addresses of Jewish belief and practice (Mark 2 : 22) ; but the gos- pels make it plain that they but very imperfectly under- stood his meaning. He was constantly telling his disci- ples that his kingdom was spiritual in its nature — a society and fellowship of those who were animated by the motives and principles of his own life and teachings — but they could conceive of no kingdom which was not an outward organization, like the Jewish state, and of no king who should rule merely in the hearts of men. Thus the early disciples, while sincerely attached to their Master and conscientiously desirous of receiving his word, remained, in a great degree, blind to the higher and broader mean- ings of his teaching and work. When, at length, Jesus began to speak of death as the goal which awaited him, they were not only puzzled but offended (Matt. 16 : 22). That the Messianic King, the promised Deliverer of the nation, should suffer and die was to them a bewildering contradiction. Had not the Old Testament depicted the Messiah as a triumphant and reigning Prince subduing his enemies and leading his peo- ple to prosperity and peace .'* Now he in whom they had trusted as Messiah declared that he must die at the hands of the people whom he had come to save. Surely the dis- may of the disciples at this announcement was, in all the circumstances, quite natural. Their mistake lay partly in a superficial literal interpretation of Old Testament texts and partly in a general incapacity to see that love conquers 31 Apostolic Addresses The Messages by humiliation and suffering, and that the path of sacrifice is the true way to exaltation and glory. At last the dreaded event occurred. Jesus was crucified and the hope of his disciples died with him (Luke 24 : 19, 20). But while they were brooding over their disappoint- ment, they learned that he had risen from the grave. To one and another, and even to assembled companies of his disciples he " manifested himself after his passion by many proofs " (Acts i : 3). It was this event which kin- dled hope again in the hearts of the disciples and in it we find both the motive and the theme of the earlier preach- ing. When, later, he ascended to heaven they pro- claimed him not only as the Victor over death but as the glorified Redeemer, exalted to the throne of honor and power at God's right hand. The Gospels bear frequent testimony to the failure of the disciples to understand the deeper truths of their Mas- ter's teaching. We have seen that the two points about which they were most confused were the necessity of his death and the nature of his kingdom. Now that he was risen and glorified in heaven, the way was open for them to attain a truer conception concerning both these sub- jects. They had learned that his death had not involved the failure of his mission, and his exaltation to heaven was adapted to suggest higher notions of his kingdom than those of earthly conquest and dominion vi^hich they had been cherishing throughout his ministry. If the Mes- 32 of the Aposttes Apostolic Addresses siah's death did not mean failure, was it, perhaps, the nec- essary means and method of his great achievement for mankind ? He had told them in advance that the Son of man must suffer death (Mark 8 : 31), and, after his resur- rection, he had shown them how the suffering and dying of the Messiah corresponded to the Old Testament picture of his career and experience : " Then opened he their mind, that they might understand the Scriptures ; and he said unto them, Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer, and rise again from the dead the third day ; and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name unto all the nations, beginning from Jerusa- lem " (Luke 24 : 45-47). The opening chapters of Acts which furnish us the ear- liest examples of the first Christian preaching, represent the disciples as illustrating the necessity of Christ's death by quotations from the Old Testament (Acts 2 : 25-28, 34, 35). They were clear on one point : the Messiah's death, against which they had formerly protested, was a part of the divine plan. He was now exalted to heaven ; he belonged to a higher world ; he had promised the Spirit under whose inspiration his work in the world should be carried forward with greater efficiency than when he was on earth. Here, surely, were the elements of a wider and higher view of the kingdom than that which they had been cherishing. It would be too much to expect, however, that this 33 Apostolic Addresses The Messages higher idea should be realized all at once. The disci- ples* thoughts could rise to the plane of the Master's only slowly and approximately. We accordingly find that they still continued to think of his kingdom as reaching its consummation in a visible, outward form. What he had failed to do while on earth, he would, they thought, soon return to accomplish. Hence they stood intently gazing after him into the skies, in expectation of his speedy visi- ble return to complete his work. This view of the method in which the kingdom of God should come continued to hold sway during the apostolic age. There is scarcely a New Testament writer who does not express the expecta- tion of the Lord's speedy return, in visible majesty, from heaven to earth (see e.g.. Acts i : ii ; i Thess. 4:15; I John 2 : 28 ; James 5 : 8, 9 ; 2 Peter 3 : 12, 13 ; Rev. 22 : 20). But a more spiritual and wide-reaching view of the kingdom had also been lodged in the heart of the church. It was the idea of Jesus, that God's kingdom was a leaven in the life of the world whose progress was not " with ob- servation." Under the logic of events and the tuition of the Spirit this conception asserted itself in ever-increasing power. The early preaching of the apostles can only be under- stood in the light of these facts. Its principal elements were : the Messiahship of Jesus, his death as a part of his divine mission, and his resurrection and glorified life in 34 of the Apostles Apostolic Addresses heaven. Later the Messiah's death took on a more posi- tive significance and was regarded as the primary means of salvation. That this significance was already attached to the death of Jesus by the primitive apostles is clear from Paul's statement that among the primary truths which he had received from them was the fact " that Christ died on behalf of our sins according to the Scriptures" (i Cor. 15:3). From a protest against his death to a belief in it as the chief saving, Messianic deed was a great transition, which could only be gradually accomplished by the study of Scripture and by the promised guidance of the Spirit " into all the truth " of Christ. II THE GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THEIR SERMONS We have no means of knowing the exact manner in which the reports of the earliest preaching have been pre- served to us. The Book of Acts was not composed until a generation after the early discourses of which we are speaking were delivered. Meantime their substance must have been embodied in a fund of tradition which was care- fully cherished and handed down. It is probable that out- lines of these sermons were early committed to writing and 35 Apostolic Addresses The Messages that such written memoranda were at the service of Luke when he composed the Book of Acts. The origin of the Acts was doubtless analogous, in this respect, to that of the third Gospel, which, the author tells us (Luke i : 1-4), proceeded upon the knowledge of many earlier and more fragmentary accounts of the Lord's words and deeds. The reports of the discourses as we have them are, of course, mere outlines or summaries. The means of re- porting addresses literally and in full did not exist in ancient times, and there would have been no motive for an effort to report them thus. The early teaching of the apostles, like that of Jesus, was wholly oral and was at first preserved only in the memory of those who heard it. Only later would the occasion arise to commit it to writing. Most of the discourses in Acts, if the reports of them were to be regarded as complete, would have occupied not more than two to five minutes in the delivery. It is ex- tremely improbable that the first preachers on occasions of great importance could have spoken so briefly. In this connection it is of interest that a prayer of the Jerusalem congregation has been preserved to us. It is an outcry to heaven against the threats of the rulers who sought to prevent the apostles from teaching in the name of Jesus. It is a summary of the church's wishes directed heaven- ward in that time of bitter trial, a resumi of the petitions which the believers were accustomed to offer in this stormy period. Its substance is : " May God, the All-powerful, 36 of the Apostles Apostolic Addresses who has overruled the counsels of Christ's foes for the ac- complishment of his own will, give us courage to preach and power to heal in the Master's name " (Acts 4 : 24-30). Looking at these early discourses more closely, we ob- serve that they are built upon the Old Testament. Their immediate aim is to show a correspondence between prophecy and the experience of Jesus. The sermons were spoken to Jewish audiences. The point of connection be- tween preacher and hearer, the ground which was com- mon to both, was the Old Testament. Both parties ac- cepted that as a revelation of God's will and purpose; both agreed that in its prophetic books the method in which God would save his people through the Messiah was set forth. The main point in which they differed was one of fact. Did Jesus correspond to the Old Testa- ment picture of Messiah ? This the apostles affirmed, and their Jewish opponents denied. It was, in part, a question of interpretation. As such it was necessary to discuss it by making appeal to the lan- guage of prophecy. Accordingly we find in the summary of Peter's discourse at Pentecost (Acts 2 : 14 ff.) no less than six Old Testament passages adduced (two of them extending to several verses) in illustration and confirma- tion of his argument. In the speech of Stephen before the Sanhedrin (Acts 7 : 2-53) there are nine such quota- tions, not counting mere Old Testament words and brief phrases. This, then, was the primary purpose of the first 37 Apostolic Addresses The Messages preaching: to show that Jesus was the Christ, that his life, death, and resurrection corresponded to Old Testa- ment prophecy, and that it was therefore the duty of the Jewish people to receive him as the divinely sent Messiah. From another point of view these discourses constituted a defence of their authors and of the Christian commu- nity. For example : the excitement attending the great revival at Pentecost had given rise to the charge that the Christians were intoxicated (Acts 2:13). At the opening of his discourse Peter took notice of this accusation, deny- ing its correctness and furnishing another explanation of the facts which had given rise to it. The address of Peter to the people after the healing of the lame man (Acts 3 : 12 ff.) was, in the first instance, designed to show them that it was not through the apostles' own power but through the power of Christ that they had been able to do the mira- cle. The apostles thus disclaimed being magicians and represented themselves as the bearers of a divine power and commission. The immediate occasion and aim of the address to the rulers (Acts 4 : 8 ff .) was similar. When the apostles were charged with occasioning excitement and tumult in the city their answer was : " We must obey God rather than men " (Acts 5 : 29). No choice was left them ; they must proclaim the gospel of Christ. If their preach- ing caused division and contention, it was not their fault. On the contrary, they boldly charged the fault upon their opponents because of their rejection of the Messiah and 38 of the Apostles Apostolic Addresses their cruel opposition to his witnesses. The address of Stephen, especially, was of the nature of a defence against the charge that he had spoken " blasphemous words against Moses, and against God" (Acts 6 : ii). Later, Peter had to defend himself against the objections which the more narrow-minded Jewish Christians made to his association with heathen converts (Acts 11:2, 3). It thus appears in how great a degree these early sermons were defensive. The apostles represented an unpopular cause, a movement which was everywhere spoken against. It was necessary that they should justify their conduct and their teaching and defend themselves against the misun- derstanding and misrepresentations to which they were everywhere exposed. But the sermons under consideration were not merely expository and apologetic ; they were also didactic. They had a positive message of truth and fact to deliver. They asserted that Jesus had been proved to be the Messiah by his life, death, and resurrection; that he now reigned supreme in heavenly glory ; that he was the true and only Saviour, and that God would judge the people by the attitude which they assumed toward his holy Servant, whom he had sent for their salvation. If it was plain and simple, it was nevertheless a great message which the apostles delivered. It was a message whose acceptance or rejection must prove decisive for the Jewish people. If the assertions of the apostles were true, if the Messiah 39 Apostolic Addresses The Messages had appeared, then it was certain that the nation was facing its destiny. It was a great contention for a few men without prestige or influence to make in the face of all the constituted authorities. But with a splendid cour- age, born of faith, the apostles made and maintained this contention. Persecution and death were the price which they paid for the privilege of being witnesses for Christ, but in their case, as afterward, the saying proved true that the blood of martyrs is the seed of the church. The first sermons were also accusations. The burden of the charge which these preachers hurled at the Jews was : You sought to destroy the Messiah, but God has overruled your design and thwarted your purpose. When they touch upon this point the language of the sermons often becomes peculiarly vehement : " You by the hand of lawless men did crucify and slay " the Messiah (2 : 23) ; but " God hath made this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ " (2 : 36). " You delivered up (to death) God's Servant, Jesus, and denied him before the face of Pilate, when he had determined to release him ; you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted unto you, and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead" (3 : 13-15). The speech of Stephen, especially, is a passionate indictment of the Jewish people, showing by a historical survey how flagrantly they have disobeyed God, how they have slain his messengers, the prophets, and refused to hear the 40 of the Apostles Apostolic Addresses voice of God which has spoken to them in their history, closing with the burning words : " You have now be- come the betrayers and murderers of the Righteous One — you who received the law as it was ordained by angels, and kept it not" (7 : 53). It was with this accusation of hostility to God's will and purpose that the first preachers coupled their exhortation to the people to repent. " Re- pent therefore," they cried, " and turn again that your sins may be blotted out "(3:19); he whom you rejected and crucified is your judge ; cease to be his enemies and be- come his friends (4:11, 12; 10 : 42). Finally, the discourses in question are marked by a pre- dictive element. They foretell a judgment to come. This judgment is thought of as being in the near future and as involving, especially, the Jewish people for their rejection of the Messiah. God has exalted Jesus to his right hand ; he is Lord (2 : 36), a Prince as well as a Saviour (5 : 31), *' ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead " (10 : 43). The first preachers did not fear to tell their hearers plainly that he whom they had condemned to death was alive ; that those who had judged him had themselves been judged ; that God in his power and prov- idence had reversed their decision and that he who had once meekly stood before their tribunals was now on the throne of heaven, and that before his judgment-seat they must stand. These were bold and startling utterances, and their earnestness, sincerity, and tone of conviction make 41 Peter's Addresses The Messages them impressive memorials of that early time when our religion was regarded as a fanatical superstition and when the profession of faith in Christ involved contempt and ostracism. Ill Peter's early discourses I. The Address Concerning the Choice of an Apostle (Acts I : 16-22) The first occasion for an address from Peter was during the days of waiting in the " upper chamber," where many disciples were gathered in anticipation of the fulfilment of the promise, judas's " Fellow-believers, the treachery of Judas, who betrayed fumimemofour Master, was but a fulfilment of prophecy. In the o'-^letT?) Psalms, David, speaking by divine inspiration, refers to one who should lose his appointed place, and this is ap- propriate to Judas, for he really had part with us in the The violent scrvicc of the apostlcshlp. With the money obtained by dS foretold his treachery he bought a piece of land on which he after- (1 : 18-20) ^^2X^i died a violent death— a fact which became notorious in Jerusalem and gave rise to the name by which the place is still called, namely, ' the field of blood.' The Psalm- passages to which I refer speak of his dwelling as being inhabited no more, and of another as taking his place. 42 of the Apostles Peter's Addresses " It is, accordingly, necessary for us to choose a succes- Require- sor for the vacant office. He must be taken from among Se"apostoiic those who were associated with us and with the Master °i^?\^^ 22) from the beginning of his ministry to the end, and who, Uke ourselves, can testify from personal knowledge to his resurrection." 2. The Address at Pentecost (Acts 2 : 14-39) On the day of Pentecost the disciples were given the Holy Spirit. Its outward manifestations amazed and per- plexed the multitude, who accused them of intoxication. But Peter made a memorable defence and appeal. " Listen to me, my fellow-countrymen. Your explana- The speak- tion of the present excitement which attributes it toSngliesno intoxication, is unreasonable, since it is but nine o'clock in f^'^P-'^'?- °^ ' intoxication the morning. On the contrary, this movement is the ^ut a fuifii- fulfilment of Joel's prophecy which declares that in the prophecy Messianic age the Spirit of God will come in power, not^^" ^'* only upon a chosen few but upon all men, producing ecstatic states and ecstatic speech such as you witness here to-day. Yea, the prophet declares that in both the old and the young these manifestations shall appear. He further describes the wonders of that time in striking physical imagery. Marvels, he says, shall be seen in heaven and in earth. Dark and lurid colors shall obscure the light of sun and moon as harbingers of that great testing-day when Jehovah will manifest himself. Then 43 Peter's Addresses The Messages shall Jehovah gather into the kingdom of the Messiah those who receive his word and accept his grace. The puroosc " Listen to my message, fellow-countrymen. You can \n crucify^^ not deny that God set the seal of his approval upon thwlrte'd by J^sus by the miracles which he enabled him to perform Stion"'^' ^^ y°"^ ^^^y midst. Now God saw fit in his gracious (2 : 22-24) purpose to allow you to wreak upon him your cruel vengeance by putting him to death. But your purpose thereby to destroy him, God thwarted by raising him from the dead, for he was not destined to be death's victim. His resur- In him, on the contrary, was to be fulfilled the psalmist's aTfuifiiment words of hopc, where he speaks of the constant presence Testament ^"^ ^^^P °^ Jehovah in which he constantly rejoices and promise trusts. With this confidence he is certain that he shall (2 : 25-28) not be abandoned to death and that destruction shall not claim as its prey Jehovah's chosen. Rather shall life be his portion, and he shall rejoice and triumph in the loving favor of his God. Fulfilled, not " Now let me frankly say that it is impossible for these but in Christ words to have found their adequate fulfilment in David (2 : 29-31) himself. Long years ago he fell a victim to death, nor has he ever broken its bonds. To whom, then, does this assurance refer ? Evidently to the Messiah whom God had promised to raise up from among his descendants. With prophetic foresight he was speaking of the triumph over death of the heir to his throne, the Messianic king. And this triumph has been realized in the resurrection of of the Apostles Peter's Addresses Jesus, to the reality of which we apostles testify. This Witnessed great movement which you are now witnessing is due to and by Sfis the Spirit of the risen and glorified Messiah which he is "f thrs^l^t sending upon those who repent and receive him. It is (2 : 32-35) not David, but David's King and Lord, in whom we are to see the fulfilment of such promises. Their language is inapplicable to David, who still sleeps the sleep of death. He himself speaks of Jehovah as addressing, not him but his Lord, and saying : * Take thy throne of power and subdue all thy foes.' Let the Jewish nation, then, be Hence Jesui assured that God has reversed their verdict and pro- [a- 36) "*' claimed him whom they sought to destroy to be the Messianic king. " You ask what God requires of you. I answer that he The practi- requires you to repent and to be baptized in token of your SnT^Re- discipleship to Christ, and your consecration to a holy g^J^^^** life ; and he will bestow his Spirit upon you. This is your (2 : 37-39) privilege, for God's promise of salvation through the Messiah is for you Jews and your descendants, as well as for the Gentiles. It is available for all whom God in his love has summoned to participate in his kingdom. " 3. The Address in the Temple-porch after the Healing of the Lame Man (Acts 3 : 12-26) One of the notable " signs " wrought by Peter was the healing of a man who had been for forty years a helpless cripple. The sight of this well-known man, given the free 45 Peter's Addresses The Messages use of his limbs, created an intense excitement among the people, who crowded into the temple to gaze at the apostles. Peter seized upon this opportunity for preaching. The divine «' Why are you surprised, my countrymen, at the mira- Je^Ythe cle which you have witnessed ? Why do you regard us Stiorof The with such wonder and awe as though by any power inhering miracle jj^ ^g ^g j^^^j cured this lame man ? No ; it is the work of (3 : la-io) the God of our forefathers, who has exalted to supreme power and glory his Servant Jesus. You, indeed, sought to destroy him, and even when Pilate would have acquitted him, insisted upon his being put to death. You condemned God's chosen and consecrated Messiah and demanded the release of a criminal instead ; you put to death him who came to bestow life ; but your intention failed of its goal; God defeated your wicked purpose by raising Jesus from the dead — a fact to which we apostles can testify from personal knowledge. It is through the power of the risen Christ and through dependence upon him that this wonderful cure which you have all witnessed was The murder- wrought. Now, I know, fellow-Israelites, that you, under the ?ui?rs an ^^ leadership of your rulers, put Jesus to death because unwitting you did uot rccoguizc him as the Messiah. Thus in fulfilment of -' , ,. , n r i/^ti- ^u u prophecy your blmducss you were really fulnllmg the prophecies ^j: Vv%3^i5) which depict God's Servant as suffering and dying. " Repent now of this great sin and turn unto God that you may obtain his forgiveness and that you may be pre- pared to enjoy the rich blessings which he is about to 46 of the Apostles Peter's Addresses bestow upon his people ; be ready, I say, that you may a prompt hasten the coming of the Messiah who is divinely wSfoSafn destined to save you. For a time, indeed, he must tarry thlough" in heaven, but at length he will appear to bring in the Jj^us the blessed consummation which has been foretold by divinely whom the inspired prophets throughout all the ages. Of this Saviour have fo?e- Moses already spoke, when he declared that, as God had ^g)^ ^^ ' ^'" raised him up as Israel's deliverer, so the Lord would also bring forth from the Jewish nation a great Prophet who should command the obedience of the race, and that those who refused to receive his word should be ruthlessly cut off from the people of God. The entire prophetic order from Samuel down have borne a similar testimony. Give heed to their message — you who are their descend- ants and the heirs of God's ancient promise, in which he declared that through the Jewish people he would bless all mankind. This promised blessing is now, first of all, proffered to you in that God has sent to you his Messiah, attesting his mission by raising him from the dead and offering you through him, deliverance from all your sins." 4. The Address before the Priests and Rulers (Acts 4 : 8-12) On the following day in the presence of the impressive Sanhedrin Peter showed by his bold and pointed words how far removed he was from the timid apostle of a few weeks before. 47 Peter's Addresses The Messages The apos- " You ask, O leaders and guides of the Jewish people, by tion fispea- whose aid and authority we have healed this lame man of Lour?e*^of his infirmity. I will answer you. I declare to you and to his miracu- ^hg whole Tewish nation that we performed the miracle by lous power •' ^ •' (4 : 8-10) the power of Jesus the Nazarene, whom you, thinking to destroy, put to death on a cross. But your purpose failed, for God brought him forth from the grave, and, as a witness to his power, this man now stands here before you cured. Jesus the " This Jesus, whom you Jews rejected and despised, God and Saviour has approved and attested as the Head and Founder of his (4 . ", 12) ijij^g(jom. In him alone is the Messianic salvation, for which you have been watching and waiting, to be found ; he, and he alone, is the divinely sent Messiah and Saviour of the nation." 5. The Answer to the Threats of the High-priest (Acts 5 : 29-32) The Sadducees, enraged at their temerity in preaching the resurrection within the very temple precincts, and per- haps jealous at their success, again arrested the apostles. Delivered from prison they continued to preach publicly. When finally brought before the Sanhedrin and charged with disobedience, Peter declared their position. " You members of the Sanhedrin forbid us to proclaim our message and point out the dangers of our action. All in vain. We are sent of God and we shall speak his word, 48 of the Apostles Stephen's Address whatever men may forbid or command. We affirm that The motive in rejecting Jesus as the Messiah and in putting him to a stance of the cruel and disgraceful death you were fighting against the m^e^saee God whom our people from of old have worshipped. But (s : 29-32) your opposition was futile, for God brought him up from the dead, and assigning him the seat of honor and power on his throne, has proclaimed him to be the Messiah and the Saviour of his people from their sins. To these facts we apostles testify and our witness is confirmed by the working of the divine Spirit in the hearts and lives of those who receive Jesus as the Christ." IV THE ADDRESS OF THE ALMONER STEPHEN (Acts 7 : 2.53) His enemies had accused Stephen of being hostile to the Jewish law (compare Acts 6:11, 13, 14); in this address he shows that the Jews themselves have been faithless to the divine law and that they have opposed and persecuted the prophets and teachers whom God gave them. Thus the address becomes a counter-accusation. " I am charged with speaking contemptuously of the temple and the law. Listen, fellow-Jews and members of the council, to my answer. Our God, Jehovah, called our 49 Stephen's Address The Messages The divine forefather, Abraham, away from his home and his tribe in Abraham the East and directed him to repair to a new country. He f°^?.8)'^°'^ accordingly left Chaldasa and, after sojourning in Haran until his father's death, came on, led by the divine hand, to this land of ours. Now Abraham obtained no per- manent home in this country, although God had said, * I will give it to you and your seed ' (though at that time he was childless). He was further told that his descendants should be enslaved to a foreign power and suffer hard- ships for four hundred years. Jehovah also declared that he would punish these oppressors and deliver his people from their power. He then ordained the rite of circum- cision as a pledge of this promise, according to which Isaac was born and circumcised. He became the father of Jacob, and he, in turn, the father of the twelve patriarchs. The history " In their cnvy these sons of Jacob sold Joseph to the plo^etn '"" Egyptians. But God blessed and protected and exalted Egypt^ him to a place of great influence and power in the king's court and he became the king's prime minister. At that time a great famine afflicted both Egypt and Canaan and the fathers of our nation were without food. Now Jacob, hearing that a supply of food could be obtained in Egypt, sent thither his sons for this purpose. On their second visit Joseph became known to them, and the Egyptian king learned that he was a Hebrew. Thereupon Joseph summoned from Canaan Jacob and his other relatives — seventy-five in number — to come to him in Egypt. This 50 of the Apostles Stephen's Address they did, but were borne back to the land of their fathers to be buried in the ground which their ancestor Abraham had bought of the native inhabitants. " Now as time went on the nation increased in number Their op- until a king came into power who did not recognize the fhrE^p-^ services of Joseph to the country. He dealt craftily and ^}^'^\ _^ . cruelly with our people and forced them to expose their children to death. At that time Moses was born. He was The youth a beautiful child and was tenderly cared for by his parents TionofMoTes for three months. Then he was exposed to die, and the ^^ " ^""^^^ king's daughter adopted and reared him as her own . He was trained m all the science of the time and gave proof of great knowledge and ability. When he was about forty His slaugh- years of age he wished to visit the Hebrew colony to E^ptfa"n which by birth he belonged. While doing so he saw an Mi^f^^^^ *° Egyptian ill-treating one of his countrymen and he slew (7 = 23-29) the offender. He thought that the people would recog- nize in him their destined deliverer, but they did not. This was shown the next day when he found two Hebrews quarrelling. He intervened to settle their dispute, remind- ing them that brothers should not do one another harm. Whereupon the aggressor repulsed him saying : ' What authority have you in our affairs ? Do you claim the right to kill me as you killed that Egyptian yesterday ? ' At this repulse Moses left his people and dwelt in Midian, where two sons were born to him. After forty years' resi- dence there an angel appeared to him in a burning bush 51 Stephen's Address The Messages His divine in the dcsert of Sinai. As Moses in wonder approached, {iterance of he heard the voice of Jehovah saying : ' I am your fathers' from^E^% God.' In alarm he turned back, and the voice continued : (7 : 3036) ' Take off your shoes, for this place is made sacred by my presence. I have seen the tears and heard the cries of my oppressed people, and I have come to save them, and I have chosen you as the instrument of their deliverance.' This man Moses whose services his people had refused, Jehovah through his angel, who appeared m the flaming bush, appointed to be the guide and liberator of his peo- ple. Accordingly he brought them out of Egypt, being aided by the miracles which God wrought for their deliver- ance before they left the country, and in the overthrow of the king's army in the Red Sea, and during the forty years' pilgrimage in the desert. The people's "It was this Moses who declared that God would raise obey Moses up from his pcople a great Prophet and Deliverer ; he re- (7 : 37-43) ceived from Jehovah's angel a divine commission to lead the people ; through him God spoke to the nation ; and yet they refused his leadership and authority and longed to return to Egypt ; they renounced Jehovah and wanted Aaron to make them divinities to guide them, for they would not believe that Moses, who had brought them thus far, could accomplish their deliverance. Accordingly they made an image of a calf, an idol like those of Egypt, and worshipped and sacrificed to it. Then Jehovah gave them over to the results of their folly and they worshipped 52 of the Apostles Stephen's Address the sun, moon, and stars, illustrating the words of Amos where he reproaches the people for their idolatry and threatens them with captivity in Babjdon (Amos 5 : 25-27). " At Sinai the people built the tabernacle according to the The Jews' plan which Jehovah revealed to Moses. This tent of [heir divine- meeting they brought into the promised land, from which g^/JJ^Jj '^*'^* God expelled their enemies, and retained until David the teachers friend of God desired to build for his worship a more per- manent abode. It was Solomon who carried this purpose into effect. But Jehovah does not dwell in temples, for, as the prophet says, he inhabits heaven ; his presence is not Umited to any place. You obstmate Jews are always refusing to hear the voice of God ; you are now only do- ing what your fathers did before you. What prophet of God ever escaped your cruelty ? Those who have foretold the Messiah's coming you have slain : you are the mur- derers of God's messengers — you who received God's law from heaven, only to disregard and disobey it." V Peter's address to Cornelius (Acts 10 : 35-43) The conversion of the Roman centurion, Cornelius, impressively illustrates the extension of the gospel to the heathen. It was one of the circumstances in the divine 53 Peter's Addresses The Messages logic of events which helped Peter to see that God in no way limits his favor to a single nation. The apostle's ad- dress emphatically expresses this conviction to which he had now arrived. Theimpar- " I now See that God regards and treats all men impar- God^ ° tially ; he receives, irrespective of their nationality, those (lo : 34, 35) ^j^o reverence him and do his will. He has proclaimed his will to the Jewish nation through the gospel of Jesus the Messiah, whose authority extends to all mankind. God's rev- You are acquainted with this revelation in the life of th?'mii?stry Jesus, how from his baptism by John his mission was (lo^^ 6^^8) divinely attested by his miraculous and benevolent works. We apostles can testify to these works, which were per- formed among the Jewish people both in the city and in the country ; but our nation, instead of receiving him, put him to a shameful death on the cross. But by the power of God he rose from the grave and appeared to Christ's those who were divinely selected to attest his resurrection, resurrection that is, to US who associated with him after he rose from (lo : 39-41) ^j^g dead. He then charged us to proclaim his gospel to the nation and to tell them that God had made him Judge The Mes- of all mankind. He is the Messiah whom the prophets Judge and forctold ; hc is the promised Saviour who grants to all (10T4"', 43) who receive him the forgiveness of their sins." 54 of the Apostles Peter's Addresses VI Peter's defence before the judaizers (Acts II : 5-17) The news that Peter had not merely preached to a Gen- tile household and baptized its members, but had even associated with them as Christian brethren, gave a great shock to the conservatively minded members of the Chris- tian community at Jerusalem, who did not dream, as yet, that Christianity would be other than a modified Juda- ism. In answer to their challenge Peter thus defended his action. *' You criticise me for associating with the Gentile con- The vision verts. I have had an experience which has taught me taught Petec that this course is right. Listen to the story: While Jfrl^Jds praying at Joppa I saw in a vision a great collection of ^'sttnctloii^ animals of many kinds and was bidden to kill such as I (n : 5-10) wanted for food . I replied that I could not eat the meat of animals which are forbidden to us in the ceremonial law. To this the heavenly voice answered, * God takes no account of such distinctions.' This happened yet again and then the vision vanished . " Directly after this experience, appeared three messen- The mes- gers from Caesarea to ask me to go thither. I was con- corneiuls strained to go with them without scruple. Accordingly ^" ' ""^'^^ we all, six of us, went to the house of Cornelius (who had 55 Peter's Addresses The Messages sent the men), and he told us how he had been moved by a vision to send to Joppa for me that I might show him The sal- and his household the way of salvation. As I commenced heathen * to tell him the way of life the power of the Spirit came upon OiTivi?) "^ ^^ ^^ ^^ Pentecost, reminding me of the promise of Jesus to baptize his disciples with the Holy Spirit. Since it was evident from these events that God had sent the blessings of salvation to this Gentile household, how could I refuse to recognize his precious purpose to extend his saving mercy to all mankind ? " VII THE ADDRESS OF PETER AT THE APOSTOLIC COUNCIL (Acts 15 ; 7-1 1) The success of Paul and Barnabas during the first mis- sionary journey in forming prosperous churches, many of whose members were Gentiles, aroused to activity the stricter section of the church in Judea. Representatives from Jerusalem began to appear at Antioch to urge that the only door to Christianity was fidelity to the usages of Judaism. The question was a vital one. Paul and Bar- nabas went up to Jerusalem to argue it. They found sup- port, as timely as it was, perhaps, unexpected, from Peter and from James. Peter appealed to his experience. " You remember, fellow-believers, that I was the one 56 of the Apostles Peter's Addresses who, in the early days of our preaching, was divinely The observ- appointed to proclaim the message of salvation to the Jewish law heathen. God, the Searcher of hearts, approved the work "a' "^s^^cg and gave it success by pouring out his Spirit upon them as God gra- bountifully as upon us Jews. On all who accepted the saves all Messiah — whatever their nationality — he bestowed the through blessings of his forgiveness. How contrary, then, would [ic^.xi) it be to the indications of his providence for us to require the Gentile converts to observe the requirements of our Jewish law — a requirement which we Jews even have always found an oppressive and burdensome task. No ; let us make no such demand, since we have learned that Jews and Gentiles alike are saved by virtue of God's love revealed through Jesus Christ." VIII THE ADDRESS OF JAMES AT THE APOSTOLIC COUNCIL (Acts 15 : 13-21) At the same time James, the recognized head of the Jerusalem Christians, threw his great influence on the side of generosity and moderation. " Let me give my opinion, Christian brothers, concern- ing the question under discussion. Peter has told you how God has opened the doors of his kingdom to the 57 James's Address God's gra- cious pur- pose toward the Gen- tiles (15:13-18) The only conditions which should be imposed upon the heathen converts (15 : 19-21) Gentile world and called them to share in the blessings of his salvation. All this accords with the picture which the prophet draws of the restoration of Israel to prosper- ity and peace and of the proclamation of his loving pur- pose to all the peoples of the earth. I give it, then, as my opinion that we ought not to impose our Jewish law upon the Gentile converts, but that we should send them a message asking them to refrain from practices which are corrupting or which give special offence, such as, idol- worship, social impurity, and the eating of the meat of animals in which the blood still remains. Such absti- nence is essential to harmony and peace, since the Mosaic law which forbids the practices which I have named, is still read and enjoined, as of old, in all the synagogues every sabbath day." 58 THE EPISTLE OF JAMES THE EPISTLE OF JAMES THE CHARACTERISTICS AND CONTENTS OF THE EPISTLE The Epistle of James is a practical homily on Christian life and duty. It has been appropriately called " the Christian Book of Proverbs." It was addressed to a group of believers who belonged to the humbler classes and who were suffering many hardships at the hands of their richer fellow-countrymen. It is a message of com- fort, encouragement, and exhortation. It is almost devoid of doctrinal teaching in the technical sense of that term. In style and contents it resembles more the practical in- struction of Jesus concerning the true motives of conduct than it does the more elaborate and controversial reason- ing of Paul upon the method and conditions of salvation. The author writes to encourage his readers to endure with patience the trials and persecutions to which they are subject and to warn them against such sins as covetous- ness, worldliness, and the unrestrained use of the tongue. Thus the epistle is an example of " applied Christianity." 6i James The Messages It has no formal logical plan. In its style it is simple but lively and vigorous. A more detailed statement of the contents of the epis- tle would be as follows : After a brief salutation (i : i) the author takes up the subject of temptation and shows that moral trials will prove wholesome if they are patiently and prayerfully endured, but that temptation in the sense of enticement to sin proceeds from men's own evil desires and not from God, from whom only good can come (I : 2-18). Next, he warns his readers to be doers of the divine word by repressing anger, controlling the tongue, and exercising benevolence (i : 19-27). He then shows that the oppression of the poor and servility toward the rich is contrary to the Christian law (2 : 1-13), which de- mands deeds of kindness and helpfulness and not a mere profession of belief (2 : 14-26). He next warns his readers against the unbridled use of the tongue (3:1-12), and against such sins as anger, jealousy, factiousness, worldliness, and evil speaking (3 : 13 to 4 : 12), admon- ishes them to form their plans subject to God's will (4 : 13-17), inveighs against the hardness of the rich, and comforts the poor by the hope of the Lord's speedy ad- vent (5 : i-ii). The epistle closes with a group of exhor- tations and advices regarding oaths, prayers, confession, and the treatment of the sick and erring (5 : 12-20). 62 of the Apostles James II THE AUTHORSHIP, DATE, AND DESTINATION OF THE EPISTLE Beyond mentioning his name (i : i) the writer gives us no personal information concerning himself. He des- ignates himself by the indefinite expression " a servant of Jesus Christ " and addresses his message to " the twelve tribes of the Dispersion " (i : i) ; but these terms throw no clear light upon his identity. Nor does ecclesiastical tradition greatly help us here. It is not probable that either of the two primitive apostles who bore the name of James was the writer of the letter. We hear nothing of James the son of Alphasus after Acts 1:13, and James the son of Zebedee was early put to death (Acts 12 : 2). Of the Jameses who are known to us from the New Testa- ment there remains "James the Lord's brother "whom Paul reckons among the "pillar apostles" (Gal. i : 19; 2:9; compare i Cor. 15 : 7), and who is known in early tradition as the bishop of the church in Jerusalem. That he was the writer of the epistle is favored by the following considerations: (i) The epistle has many points of re- semblance to the teaching of Jesus and was probably composed by someone who was personally familiar with that teaching. (2) The epistle reflects the practical and conservative temper which from other New Testament 63 James The Messages sources {e.g.. Acts 15) we know to have been character- istic of James. (3) The relation of James to primitive Jewish Christianity was such as to make the sending of such a message to his suffering brethren most natural. This view involves the relatively early date of the letter. Many critics, on the contrary, are of the opinion that the epistle cannot have been written by James the Lord's brother. The principal reasons given for this view are : (i) A carpenter's son would not have the necessary com- mand of the Greek language. (2) James was a strict legalist (Gal. 2 : 12) and could not have gloried in the "law of liberty" and omitted all consideration of the Jewish cultus, as our author does ; and (3) the discussion of faith and works (2 : 14-26) not only presupposed Paul's teaching but implied the long-continued prevalence of error on the subject of justification which the author is concerned to refute. With the question of authorship is directly involved the questions of the date and destination of the letter. In favor of an early date (A.D. 40-50) the following consider- ations are adduced : (i) The echoes of the teachings of Jesus, already mentioned (compare, e.g., i : 5-8 with Matt. 6 : 24, 25 ; i : 6-8 with Matt. 6 : 19 ff. ; 4:1-5 with Matt. 5 : 43-48) ; (2) The absence of all discussion upon the questions involved in the relation of Christianity to Judaism ; (3) The appeal to the hope of the Lord's speedy coming, which was characteristic of primitive Christianity ; 64 of the Apostles James (4) The simple and primitive point of view from which the subject of justification is regarded, the question of sal- vation by deeds of the law, which was raised to such prominence by Paul, receiving no consideration here. On the contrary, it is argued that the epistle must be late (about A.D. 125) because (i) the fact last mentioned shows that the Pauline doctrine of salvation by faith alone had led to the grave practical error that salvation was condi- tioned upon mere belief, and (2) such a misunderstanding of the doctrine of salvation by faith could hardly have arisen in the apostolic age, especially in Jerusalem. (3) The extreme worldliness inveighed against, the ambition to become teachers, and the infrequent mention of the name of Jesus, are thought by some to favor a late date. (4) Attention is called to the weak external attestation of the epistle. Eusebius (about A.D. 325) places it among the " disputed " books ; it is not in the Muratorian canon, nor is it quoted by Tertullian. Origen is the first who mentions it by name. Although it was incorporated into the Syriac version of the New Testament about A.D. 150, it did not gain general acceptance in the church until about A.D. 400, and at no time do we find a clear and definite view respecting its authorship. ^^ To whom was the letter addressed } The usual view is, to Jewish Christians outside Palestine. We know from the Book of Acts (8:1) that in consequence of persecu- tion many Palestinian Christians left Jerusalem and that 6s James The Messages their preaching was instrumental in founding Christian congregations in Antioch in Syria, Cyprus and other places (Acts ii : 19-22). That the readers were profess- ing Christians is everywhere presupposed in the epistle (i : 18, 21 ; 2 : I ; 5 : 17). Some modern critics, however, hold that the readers could not have been Jewish Chris- tians and that " the twelve tribes " must be understood figuratively. In proof of this view it is said that the gen- eral term used to describe the readers of the epistle does not agree with the supposition that the persons addressed were Jewish, that " synagogue " (2 : 2) is merely a name for the congregation, or its place of meeting, and that the regular church organization which the epistle presupposes, did not exist in purely Jewish congregations. Every unprejudiced student must feel the difficulty of deciding upon these questions of authorship, date, and des- tination in view of the want of all positive evidence bearing upon them. All answers of these questions must, in the present state of our knowledge, be conjectural and pro- visional. To me it seems probable that the epistle is pre- Pauline and that its author was James, the Lord's brother ; but I hold this opinion with full appreciation of the diffi- culties which it involves and with full recognition of the force of some of the arguments for a late date. In any case we have in our epistle a simple, untechnical presenta- tion of Christian teaching, a book of- practical Christian " wisdom " which is closely kindred in spirit to many of 66 of the Apostles James the ethical maxims of Jesus which have been preserved in our synoptic tradition. Ill THE TEACHING OF JAMES AND PAUL REGARDING JUSTIFICATION There is an apparent contradiction between the teach- ing of Paul that men are saved on condition of faith, apart from works (Gal. 2 : i6), and that of James that faith without works is dead and powerless to save (2 : 14, 24, 26), but it is only apparent, since the two writers use both the wcM-ds " faith " and " works " in different senses. By faith Paul means vital union with Christ involving obedi- ence and love ; by faith James means mere theoretic be- lief. There is no contradiction between the statements : (i) Men are saved by entering into the life of fellowship with Christ (so Paul), and (2) men are not saved by cor- rect opinions (so James). But the two writers do not mean the same by "works." With Paul this word means deeds of obedience to the Mosaic law (such as cir- cumcision) regarded as meritorious and entitling the doer to salvation ; with James " works " means deeds of kind- ness, charity, and love, the fruit of a living faith in Christ. There is no contradiction between the statements : (i) Men cannot earn salvation by meritorious acts (so Paul) 67 James i : i The Messages and (2) men cannot be saved without cultivating the life of Christ-like love and service (so James). The two writers may be compared to two trains which are, indeed, running in different directions, but which are in no dan- ger of colliding, since they are not running upon the same track. Both apostles in their positive arguments in dif- ferent terms teach the same truth, that true faith " works through love " (Gal. 5:6), that is, is an active and en- ergetic principle expressing itself in deeds and services and issuing in the practical " fruit of the Spirit " (Gal. 5 : 22). IV THE MESSAGE OF JAMES I. Encouragement to Christian Fidelity (i : i-ii) The greet- James, a Servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, ing(i : i) •' •' * sends his greetings to the Jewish-Christians who are scattered abroad. i (i : 2.4) Moral test- Dq not grieve, my brothers, but be glad when you are ing a reason , q j for joy ^ subjected to various moral trials; for the testmg of your fidelity develops perseverance. Perseverance should be allowed to reach its perfect development in you, that you may be strong and mature in the Christian life. When any one of you feels the need of spiritual guidance let him seek it from God who freely and generously gives 68 of the Apostles James i : i8 his divine aid ; it surely will not be withheld. But the Faith and seeker must ask in confidence and with an undivided of heart the heart ; for he who is divided in his interest between earth- of"obtah?ing ly and heavenly good is as fickle and inconstant as the ^^g^om^ waves of the sea in a storm. Such a man, half Christian (i = 5-8) and half worldling, need not think that he will obtain from God what he asks. The humble believer should rejoice in his exaltation as The poor a child of God, and the rich Christian should be glad to need not humble himself and serve others ; for his riches are as rich?" fleeting as the field-blossoms which quickly wither and ^* • 9*"^ die in the sun and wind and their beauty is gone forever ; so perishable are earthly treasures. 2. The Real Source of Tetnptatton to Evil (i : 12-18) Happy is the man who gains the victory over evil when Enticement he is enticed by it ; for when his moral testing is com- fJorn'ood plete he shall win the heavenly blessedness which belongs ^"a n^s°(wn to the sons of God. But let no man suppose that God evil p^assiong entices anyone to evil, for he can neither himself be fav- orably disposed toward what is wrong, nor can he dispose others toward it. Allurements to sin are due to man's own evil desires. These desires produce sin, and the sin when it runs its full course ends in moral death. Make no mistake on this point, my dear brothers. God, the Source of all light and truth, is the Giver of all good things ; no evil comes from him ; he is a Sun whose per- 69 James i : 19 The Messages feet light suffers no eclipse ; and he has brought us into the life of holiness and truth as the beginning and pledge of a large ingathering into his kingdom. 3. The Doing of the Word (i : 19-27) A lesson in I am telling you no unfamiliar truth. Be eager in re- nTssI'^^imil- ceiving Christian instruction, cautious in the use of the c?ntr"f ''^^* tongue and in the indulgence of anger, for angry passion (1 : 19-21) jg j^Qt a help but a hindrance to the Christian life. Re- nounce, therefore, all the evil and corruption which so abound in the world, and in a quiet and gentle spirit nurt- Religion re- urc the saviug truth which has been taught you. But m"e're hear* this truth is uot merely something to be heard, but some- ing but a thine to be done. He who merely hears the truth with- doing of the *> , , , ■ • r . u ^ truth out puttmg what he hears mto practice soon forgets what (1 : 22-25) ^^ ^^^ heard— like one who turns away from a mirror and thinks no more of the likeness which he has seen. But when one reads his duty in the spiritual law of Christ and faithfully perseveres in obedience to it, his effort shall not Self-control, fail of its reward. Self-deceived is the man who imagines Ind p^i'Iify that he is a Christian but puts no restraint upon his the marks of tong-ue A truc piety in the sight of God is illustrated by true religion "^"S r/ ,,:,, ., u - (i : 26, 27) kindness and charity to the friendless and the sunermg and by purity from the evils of the world. 70 of the Apostles James 2 : 10 4. A Warning against Partiality in the Treatment of the Rich (2 : 1-13) Do not attempt, my brothers, to combine devotion to Favoritism ^, . , , ... , ,^ .., to the nch Christ with partiahty toward men. To illustrate what I and disre- mean : Suppose a rich man in fine clothing and jewels poo? con- * comes into your assembly and, at the same time, a poor chmtSn^* man, miserably clad, comes in. Now, if you show spe- '^^ (2 : 1-9) cial deference to the finely dressed man and give him the best seat, and send the poor man to the meanest place, are you not, in making such discriminations, showing the partiality which the Christian law forbids ? Reflect, my brothers, how God has reversed human conditions and made the poor to be rich in the blessings of his grace and kingdom. How inconsistent is it in you, then, to set the poor at naught. And what reason have you for showing such honor to the rich ? Are they not the very class at whose hands you are suffering hardships and persecution ? Is it not they who speak with contempt the sacred name of Christ into which you were baptized? If you obey the divine law which requires equal love to all men, you will meet with God's approval ; but if, instead, you show partiality to one class, as against another, you will be dis- approved and regarded as law-breakers. For he who breaks the law in only one respect must be The divine regarded as a transgressor of the law as a whole. For all i^divisS)ie"'^ the different commandments are utterances of the one ^^ '• ^°"^3) 7J James 2:11 The Messages supreme Lawgiver. He who forbade adultery forbade also murder. Now the adulterer does not escape the con- demnation of the law because he does not murder. Let your speech and conduct become those who are not to be tested by conformity to mere outward commandments, but by an inner motive which the heart cheerfully obeys. For to the merciless the divine judgment will be severe ; but the merciful will obtain mercy and may await the divine judgment without fear or dread. 5. A Living and a Dead Faith Co7itrasied (2 : 14-26) The futility How usclcss is it, my brothers, for a man to possess a of mere the- ,.,,.,, .^ . .. . . , oretic belief faith which does not manifest itself in works of mercy and (a : H-'9) jgyg^ s^^h a faith can have no saving value. Suppose, for example, that a believer should declare that he pos- sessed the feelings of benevolence and pity, and yet when he met with a fellow-Christian who was naked and hun- gry should merely express the wish that his need might be supplied, and do nothing at all for the relief of the needy one. What a valueless philanthropy that would be ! Equally valueless is a faith which does not express itself in deeds and services ; it has within it no principle of life or movement. Let me put the matter very clearly. Suppose that one who is not a party to this discussion should meet the question under consideration. Suppose him to meet a man such as I have described (v. 14) who professes to have " faith " alone, and suppose this outsider, 72 of the Apostles James 2 : 26 in turn, to take up the claim to possess " works." How, now, will he be likely to view the relation of the two prin- ciples ? Will he not say : You claim to have faith ; give me a proof that you possess it apart from works, if you can. I, on the other hand, will prove by my works that I profess faith also. He might well argue further, thus : You who profess to have faith would probably quote as an example of it your belief that God is one. It is a cor- rect opinion ; but I would remind you that the demons also hold the same opinion and are not the better for it. What folly, then, to claim that any so-called faith which does not lead to deeds of mercy and love is useful or sav- ing. Take the typical Old Testament example of faith, Old Testa- that of Abraham. He is described not merely as believ- proofs that ing, but also as doing a great act of self-sacrifice, which an'/ aa'ive"^ was the fruit of his faith. For this act, as well as for the ^^'^l' t^,^^' ceptable faith which gave rise to it, God approved him. God re- 'o ^od (2 : 20-26) quires not only a right disposition, but also the conduct which is appropriate to such a disposition. This conduct is, indeed, proof that the right disposition exists. The two belong inseparably together. Where the conduct is want- ing, it will be found that the " faith " which is claimed is deficient. The example of Rahab, who was approved for her deeds, also shows that true faith is an active principle. Thus we reach the conclusion that a faith which does not lead to a good life is the mere corpse of religion. 73 James 3 : i The Messages 6. The Control of the Tongue (3 : 1-12) The impor- My brothers, be not so eager as many of you are, to controuiig bccomc teachcrs ; remember that they assume a greater the t^ongue responsibility and are subject to greater peril than others. We are all guilty of many errors ; but our greatest danger lies in the use of the tongue. He who can control that member thereby shows that he has attained a thorough self-mastery. Just as the horseman controls and guides his horse by a mere bit and bridle, and as the sailor directs his great ship through wind and waves, by means of a small rudder, so do we control our whole life and conduct by ruling that important and pretentious little member, the tongue. For as a tiny spark can kindle a great flame, so the tongue, if misused, can arouse and excite the Difficulty of whole nature. I say that the tongue is like a fire which ("'•^6-8)"''^°^ inflames the whole world of passion in both soul and body and rages with its mad, devouring flames through our entire being. All the creatures of the earth, sky, and sea have been subdued, but no one has ever been able to subdue that turbulent and deadly power, the tongue. Conse- And what contradictions issue from an uncontrolled an^unbridied tongue : Prayer and praise to God, and at the same ?onguV^* time, curses upon our fellow-men, made in God's image. (3 : 9-12) How unreasonable and unchristian ! You do not draw both wholesome and impure water from the same spring ; nor do you take from a tree fruit which is contrary to its 74. of the Apostles James 4 : 4 nature. No more should the tongue which confesses Christ, utter words which belie that confession. 7. True Christian Wisdom (3 : 13-18) The proof of a true Christian discretion and self-control The true is found in a life of pure deeds and humility. The phi- false phi- losophy of selfishness, on the contrary, is seen in an envi- iife°Ln-° ous and quarrelsome spirit. This is not the heavenly wis- T^.^ j*'!j8) dom of Christ, but the base device of wicked men and evil spirits. For out of such evil passions spring all reckless and dishonorable deeds. But Christian wisdom, on the contrary, cultivates such qualities as goodness, concord, sympathy, and benevolence ; and they shall reap an ample harvest of blessing who, in the spirit of peacemakers, sow the seeds of such Christian virtues. 8. The Folly of Friendship with the World (4 : i-io) The disputes and conflicts in which you are engaged The vanity arise from the lower passions which still hold sway within andTsensuai you. The satisfaction which you are seeking can never ?|^^j"?^ be found in the gratification of cruel and selfish passions, but only in obedience to the will of God. In deserting the divine law of life and adopting the evil principles which rule in the wicked world, you have forfeited God's friendship and have made yourselves his foes. Will God regard such a course with complaisance ? Does he not, as the Scripture says, jealously crave to have us continue 7S James 4 : 5 The Messages The con- ditions of true happi- ness (4 : 5- 10) Offences against one's fel men are offences against God (4 : ". 12) Our times are in God's hand (4 : i3-»7) faithful to himself ? Rich blessing flows from this yearn- ing love of his. Hence the Scripture speaks of God's hostility to the self-willed, and of his favor to the teach- able. Be done, then, with submission to sin and yield your hearts unto God ; seek his fellowship and he will be with you and bless you. Renounce the evils which defile you and consecrate yourselves, without reserve, to God. With tears of penitence lament your sins and in humble trust yield yourselves up to God's will, that he may ennoble and enrich your lives. 9. Warnings against Evil Speaking and Pre- sumption (4 : 1 1 -17) Avoid all denunciation of one another and all harsh and contemptuous judgments, for since these are contrary to the Christian law of love, they arraign the law itself ; but the Christian is a subject of the law, not an authority above it. The almighty God alone is the author and giver of the law ; it is our part to obey it, and obedience requires that we abstain from the severe and censorious judgment of others. Refrain, also, from all over-confidence and presumption regarding the future. You must not plan your work as if life were certain. For how uncertain it is ! How quickly it may end, as the mist vanishes before the sun. All your plans ought, therefore, to be made in dependence upon the divine will and providence. Your boastful self-suffi- 76 of the Apostles James 5:11 ciency and self-confidence are wrong — the more so since they are contrary to your Christian instruction and profes- sion and a violation of what you know to be right. 10, A Warning to the Rich (5 : 1-6) I warn you who are rich of the perils which threaten The perils you. Your riches are but festering heaps of moral cor- (5 : 1-6) ruption and shall testify against you in the judgment. The complaints against you of the workmen whom you have defrauded of their just wages have been heard by the almighty Ruler and Judge. You have lived in ease and self-indulgence, but like the beasts that perish, you have been fattening yourselves for the slaughter ; the blood of unresisting just men cries out for vengeance upon you. II. An Exhortation to Patience and Faith (5 : 7-20) Await the Lord's return to earth with courage and The sad hope, my brothers. As the farmer patiently waits upon ing should the processes of nature until the fruit of his labor is ma- JwatrtiTe ture, so do you wait in endurance and hopefulness, for the Load's com- day of the Lord will soon dawn. Do not incur the Lord's displeasure by censuring your fellow-believers, for lo, we shall all soon stand before Christ's judgment-seat. Let us imitate the patient endurance in suffering of the Old Testament saints and prove, as they did, that it is the purpose of God in the midst of our trials to show us his sympathy and to grant us his grace. 77 James 5 : 12-20 Vain swearing forbidden (5 : ") Instruction respecting prayer (5 : 13-18) The recov- ery of the erring (5 : 19. 20) And be especially careful, my brothers, to avoid the vain and irreverent use of oaths of all kinds. Let your simple word be enough, for it can only be due to untruthfulness that an oath should be thought necessary to confirm your assertions. In your sorrow seek God's comfort ; in your joy give him thanks. Let the sick seek the prayers of the over- seers of the church on his behalf, and let them solemnly consecrate and commit him to God, and God shall save him from his sickness and his sins. Acknowledge to one another your faults and pray together, on each other's behalf, for God's forgiveness. The prayer of a sincere Christian secures great blessing from God. An example is Elijah. He was a man with faults and weaknesses like our own ; yet we read in the Scripture how he asked God to withhold rain and it was withheld for three years and a half ; and, again, he plead for rain and it was granted, and the earth again yielded her harvests. Remember that when any one of your number goes astray from the right way, he who recovers such a wan- derer to the Christian life and fellowship will save a fellow- believer from moral destruction and win a great victory over the power of evil. 78 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF PETER THE FIRST EPISTLE OF PETER THE CONTENTS AND GENERAL CHARACTER OF THE EPISTLE After greeting the readers, " the elect sojourners of the Dispersion" in various provinces of Asia Minor (i : i, 2), the author gives thanks to God and bestows praise upon the Christians addressed for the courageous and joyful manner in which they are enduring suffering in the cause of Christ (i : 3-12). He then solemnly admonishes them to abstain from the sins which characterized them before their conversion and to live a holy life in brotherly love and supreme devotion to Christ (i : 13 to 2 : 10). Next follow various instructions concerning the relations of the readers to the heathen, such as the attitude to be as- sumed toward rulers, the obligations of servants to their masters, and the mutual duties of husbands and wives (2 : 1 1 to 3 : 7). These directions are followed by impas- sioned exhortations to cultivate the Christian virtues and, especially, to imitate the example of Christ's suffering on behalf of others (3 : 8 to 4 : 6). Reminding his readers 81 I Peter The Messages that the end of the age is near, the author next exhorts them to the faithful performance of the duties of the Christian life, such as prayer and loving service, to the patient endurance of suffering, and to unshaken trust in God — the keynote of all being this : suffer for Christ's sake as he has suffered for you (4:7 to 5:11). The epistle closes with various salutations and a benediction (5 : 12-14). The aim of the letter is to confirm the readers in faith, patience, and hope amidst circumstances of great trial. Its burden is: Hold fast the blessed hope of a speedy deliverance from your sorrows and sufferings. The en- couragement which the author constantly urges is that since Christ has suffered for us, we ought to be willing to suffer for his sake, and that the present sufferings of the Christian will be far outweighed by the heavenly blessed- ness which is soon to be his. Thus the theme of the epis- tle is, the true Christian in suffering. The letter reflects a time when to be a Christian meant to brave contempt and to endure hardship. Its dominant thought is that as Jesus passed through suffering to his throne of power and glory, so the Christian must travel through the valley of trial and sorrow on his way to the celestial city; via cruets, via lucis. 82 of the Apostles i Peter II THE PERSONS ADDRESSED The form of the address : " to the elect who are sojourn- ers of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia" (i : i) would, taken by itself, most natu- rally refer to the Jewish Christians who were scattered abroad throughout these provinces of Asia Minor; and this is the more common view of the nationality and lo- cation of the readers. But this interpretation encounters some difficulty in the epistle itself, where they are said to have formerly lived "in ignorance" and "darkness" (i : 14 ; 2 : 9), and to have been, previous to their con- version " no people " (2 : 10), but to have now become a holy people for God's own possession (2 : 9). These expressions certainly favor the view that the persons ad- dressed were not Jewish, but Gentile believers. In that case, the language of the address would have to be re- garded as figurative. Its meaning would be that they were " sojourners of the Dispersion" in the sense of being sur- rounded by unbelievers (compare i : 17; 2 : 11). Quite as likely as either of these opinions is the supposition that the letter was primarily designed for the Jewish Christians to whom the salutation seems to refer, but that the circle of readers included also Gentile converts, to whom the language is, here and there, adapted. This supposition 83 I Peter The Messages would be in exact accord with what we find to be the fact in the Epistle to the Romans, where, although the readers were primarily Gentile (Rom. i : 13), there are several passages which were evidently written with the Jewish element more particularly in mind (Rom. 4:1; 7:1). Ill THE AUTHORSHIP AND DATE OF THE EPISTLE According to tradition, the apostle Peter suffered mar- tyrdom in Rome during the Neronian persecution in A. D. 67 or 68. Those who hold the genuineness of the epistle accordingly assign it to the period A. D. 64-67.' The principal arguments for this view of the subject are as follows : (i) The genuineness of the epistle was unques- tioned in the early church. It is found in the most ancient versions of the New Testament, is cited as an un- disputed book by Eusebius (about A. D. 325), and is at- tested by the church fathers from Papias and Polycarp onward. Both of these early church fathers were hearers of the apostles, and bishops (of Hierapolis and Smyrna re- spectively) in the region for which the epistle purports to have been destined. (2) The epistle is thought to con- tain reminiscences of Peter's life and experience as made » Professor Ramsay, however, in "The Church in the Roman Empire" (pp. 279-94), maintains that this tradition is not correct, that Peter hved on to a much later time, and wrote our epistle about A. D. 80. 84 of the Apostles i Peter known to us in the New Testament elsewhere. Christ applied to Peter the figurative term " rock " (Matt. i6 : i8) and Peter speaks of Christ as the " living stone " on which the church is built (2 : 4). The writer of the epistle calls himself a " witness " of the sufferings of Christ (5 : i), as in Peter's discourse at Pentecost he had called the apostles " witnesses " of Christ's resurrection (Acts 2 : 32). In both the Petrine preaching and in the epistle Christ is referred to as the " stone set at naught by the builders " (Acts 4:11; I Pet. 2 : 7, 8). In both he is described as having been •• hanged on a tree " (Acts 5 : 30 ; i Pet. 2 : 24). (3) The contents of the letter correspond to the contents of Peter's preaching as reported in Acts. We find the same recog- nition of the equality of heathen and Jewish converts (compare i Pet. i :4-i2 ; 2 :3-io; 5: 12 with Acts 10:47 ; II : 17; 15 : 7-11 ; Gal. 2 : 7-10) and the same concen- tration of attention upon the death, resurrection, and sec- ond coming of Christ (compare i Pet. 1:3-7; 2 : 21-25 I 3 : 18 ; 4:1 with Acts 2 : 23-36 ; 3 : 13-26 ; 10 : 39-42). (4) The dependence of our epistle in ideas and language on Romans and Ephesians (compare, for example, i Pet. 4 : 10 ff. with Rom. 12:6 ff. ; i Pet. 3 : 9 with Rom. 12 : 17 ; I Pet. 2 : 13 ff. with Rom. 13 : 1-5 ; i Pet. 3 : 22 with Eph. I : 20 ff. ; I Pet. 5 : 8 with Eph. 6 : 11-13) is favorable to its genuineness, since a writer of post-apos- tolic times, impersonating Peter, would have no motive to imitate or incorporate in his work matter from these two 8s I Peter The Messages letters. Galatians would have been more to his purpose than Romans because it was addressed to a group of churches to which the author of First Peter also ad- dresses his epistle. On the contrary, many modern writers hold that the epistle is the late production of a writer who merely used the name of the apostle to give weight to his message. Harnack assigns it to the reign of Domitian (A. D, 81-96) ; Jiilicher to that of Trajan (98-117). The principal argu- ments for the spuriousness and late date of the epistle are as follows : (i) Silas (Silvanus) and Mark(i Pet. 5 : 12, 13) are every where else (Philem. 24 ; Col. 4 : 10 ; 2 Tim. 4:11) found in association with Paul, not with Peter. (2) That Peter should really have written from Rome (" Babylon," 5 : 13) to the churches of Asia Minor, as is commonly sup- posed, is quite impossible. Peter had no relation with those churches, which belonged distinctively to the sphere of the apostle Paul. (3) Peter could not have written so good Greek as that of our epistle, nor would he have cited the Old Testament from the Septuagint version. (4) The epistle is an echo of Pauline teaching. If it were to be assigned to the years 64-67 it would be easier to attribute it to Paul than to Peter.' If it was really written by Peter > Harnack (" Chronologic," p. 451 flF.) holds that the epistle was written either by Paul or by someone who had been strongly influenced by him. McGiffert ("Apostolic Age," p. 579 ff.) thinks it was written by a disciple or friend of Paul, possibly Barnabas. 86 of the Apostles i Peter within the lifetime of Paul to the Christians of Paul's prov- ince, and with such free use of his epistles, why does not the author mention his fellow-apostle ? (5) The epistle contains no trace of the burning questions about the law and the relation of Jewish and Gentile Christianity, and therefore cannot have been written during the period (64-67) when these questions must still have been rife. (6) The epistle cannot be the work of an apostle because it not only gives the readers no information concerning the life and words of Jesus, but betrays no first-hand knowledge of them. It is evident at a glance to how great an extent the argument, on both sides, moves in the region of conject- ure. The strongest consideration in favor of the genuine- ness of the epistle is its unquestioned acceptance in the early church. The greatest difficulty which this view en- counters is connected with the supposition that Peter, who, so far as we know, had never visited the provinces men- tioned in the address, should have written a letter to the believers within Paul's special field of labor. The view of Weiss that, before Paul traversed Asia Minor, there were Jewish-Christian church foundations there, is with- out evidence and is confronted by many difficulties. That the language and ideas should have been influenced by Romans and Ephesians proves nothing on either side, and this alleged dependence is itself by no means so evident as it is often asserted to be. The unquestioned acceptance 87 I Peter i : i The Messages of the epistle as Petrine in the early church from the sub- apostolic age onward, is a fact which the opponents of its genuineness do not succeed well in accounting for, and the argument derived from it is one which mere supposi- tions and conjectures (largely derived from our lack of in- formation) do not avail to refute. The traditional view that the epistle was written from Rome rests mainly upon the interpretation of " Babylon " in 5 : 13 as a metaphorical designation for Rome. But this interpretation is a doubtful one. The fact that in the Book of Revelation (14 : 8) Rome is figuratively described as " Babylon " does not go far toward proving that a sim- ilar use of words is to be found in our epistle. If " Baby- lon " is to be taken literally it would involve the conclu- sion that Peter was in the Far East when he wrote the letter. IV THE FIRST MESSAGE OF PETER I. The Apostle s Greeting (1:1,2) t^ ?hi"sca t°" Peter, a chosen messenger of Jesus Christ, sends his tered Jewish greetings to his Christian countrymen who are scattered (i : 1/2)" abroad throughout the provinces of Asia Minor, who, in the gracious purpose of God, have been called and saved unto holiness of life and cleansing by the blood of Christ. 88 of the Apostles i Peter 1:12 May God's grace and peace be with you in increasing measure. 2. The Great Salvation (i :3-i2) Praise be to God who has, in his great love, given us The blessed the hope of salvation through the resurrection of his Son, spfed by Jesus Christ, from the dead— the hope of a blessed and [jon"^^^"""" glorious reward which is laid up in heaven for you whom, (^ - 3-s) through your faith, God is preparing for the reception of that blessedness which shall soon be granted you at the Lord's return. In the prospect of such a salvation you A cause for can be glad, though for a brief period you have to endure even in trib- bitter trials, since you know that these are but a test of J^j^*'^") your devotion whereby it is purged of its dross and made ready to shine in all its purity in the day of Christ's com- ing. For though Christ is hidden from our eyes he is re- vealed to our faith and love ; as we think of him we are filled with immeasurable happiness and have a foretaste of the blessedness for which we long. How great and The glorious , . 1 • • .^1 . • , 1 1 mystery of mysterious is this salvation ! The inspired prophets who God's gift of foretold it sought in vain to fathom its meaning. They fhrough foresaw that through the Messiah's sufferings a glorious ^^"^ j^^,^) era should be ushered in, but they only dimly discerned its nature. Only this was clear to them, that God was preparing for his people some great blessing which they themselves should not live to see. This gift of God has now been brought to you by the preachers of the glad 89 I Peter 1:13 The Messages tidings of salvation — a gift whose full meaning and value the angels themselves are not able to estimate. 3. The Holy Life Required of the Christian (i : 13-25) Be holy With the prospect of such blessedness before you, you fs^holy* ^°^ should look forward with constancy and eagerness to its (i : 13-16) realization at the coming of the Lord. As sons of God you should no longer live in impurity, as you did before your conversion when you knew not the way of life ; but you must live in obedience to the divine will and in moral likeness to God himself, even as the Scripture teaches that since God is holy, his people must also be holy. Your re- Now you who coufess your sonship to God who judges ha™bee°n "^^^ ^ith Strict impartiality, should live your lives in holy costly ^^,g before him who has saved you from the sinful course (i : 17-21) •' of life in which you had been brought up, not by the gift of perishable treasures but by giving up to death as an offering his own sinless Son. Although this saving work of Christ lay in the counsels of divine love from eternity, it was only at the end of a long period of preparation that God sent him into the world for the accomplishment of his purpose, which has now been wrought on your behalf, whereby, through the resurrection and glorification of Christ, you have obtained a secure faith and steadfast hope in God. Since, now, you have entered upon a life of obedience to God and of love toward men, let a sincere and strong brotherly love prevail among you, for the germ 90 of the Apostles i Peter 2 : 8 of a new life, the eternal divine truth itself, has been im- Let the di- planted in your hearts — a living and enduring seed of within you truth, I say, for, as the Scripture teaches, everything hu- ^rulls"^*^"^*^ man is as frail and fading as the field-flowers, but God's ^^ = 22-25) truth is imperishable. Now it is this imperishable truth which through the gospel has been made known unto you. 4. Christian Duties and Virtues (2 : 1-17) Renounce the sinful life with all its evils and follies The Chris- and in childlike simplicity and teachableness receive the life found heavenly truth by which you shall be made strong in the JJroSgh Christian life. You have already experienced the kind- ^^."^gj ness of the Lord. Come, then, to him whom God has made pre-eminent in his kingdom that he may make you sharers in its benefits, building you into his spiritual temple, consecrating you to his service, and enabling you to devote yourselves to God in that Christ-like self-sacri- fice with which he is well pleased. The Scripture de- scribes the Messiah as the divinely chosen corner-stone of God's spiritual temple, and assures us that they shall stand secure who build upon that strong foundation. You Christians have the right to claim this assurance as your own ; but to those who reject Christ those words of Script- ure apply which describe God's chosen corner-stone as becoming, not a ground of comfort and hope, but an occasion of refusal and hostility. This is because they are inwardly hostile to God's truth, for it is natural 91 I Peter 2 : 9 The Messages that those who refuse the truth should reject him who is The be- its bearer and representative. But you believers are the caus^for true people of God, the true spiritual Israel, the heirs of ingfa^^Qrio) ^o^'s favor and promises. How greatly, then, should you magnify the goodness of God who has saved you from the blindness of ignorance and the depths of sinful- ness in which you once lived and has brought you to the knowledge of himself and made you the objects of his favor and friendship. He should I exhort you, my brothers, as those who are travelling biamekss through an evil world, to avoid those carnal sins which (a : II, 12) ^,Qyy j-yjj^ yom- spiHtual life. Keep yourselves free from the vices of the heathen among whom you live. Refute by your pure lives and good deeds the charges of wicked- ness which they bring against you, that they may thereby be led to trust in God and so to rejoice in him in the great day of trial. And obeeU- Remember that it is the part of Christian duty to be authority law-abiding and to render to the various rulers and magis- (2 • 13-17) trates under whose authority you live that deference and obedience which are their due. God requires that by your upright life you should disprove the baseless accusa- tion of your enemies. Maintain, indeed, your Christian liberty, but remember that it does not mean freedom to sin, but only freedom to do the will of God. Render to all their due ; to your fellow-Christians fraternal affection ; to God supreme reverence ; to the reigning emperor respect. 92 of the Apostles i Peter 3 : 2 5. The Blessedness of Suffering for Christ's Sake (2 : 18-25) Let servants render obedience and deference to theirUndeserved masters not only in cases where the latter are kind but ^oundlf* even if they are severe and harsh, for God approves the J'a^i'^.fo) course of those who for the truth's sake patiently endure hardship and injustice. No credit is due to you for the endurance of sufferings which you have justly deserved, but if you bear with fortitude unmerited hardships God will approve and bless you in such experience. For does Christ the not our Christian life mean just this, that we should Smpie of"' imitate Christ in the patient and undeserved endurance of (!ff 2i-?5) suffering } He, the sinless sufferer, accepted his burden of sorrow without murmur or protest, commending his spirit into the hands of the righteous Judge ; yea, he took upon himself on the cross the burden which our sins imposed that we might be delivered from sin into a holy life. He suffered for your salvation, for you were (in the words of Scripture) wandering sheep ; but now you have been gathered into the fold of your true spiritual Shep- herd and Overseer. 6. Reciprocal Duties of Wives and Husbands (3 : 1-7) Wives also should be obedient to their husbands, in order that by their modest and reverent manner of life they may win to Christ those husbands who are still 93 I Peter 3:3 The Messages Wives unbelieving. Let them not concern themselves for mere the biuty^ outward appearance by tricking themselves out in costly and "Set" omaments and showy clothing ; but let them rather seek 'pi"t that inner beauty of the heart and life which is pleasing to God. With the beauty of such a meek and obedient temper were the women of the olden time adorned. It is illustrated by Sarah's deference to Abraham. You will exemplify the same spirit if you freely and cheerfully observe these directions. Husbands Husbands, in turn, have reciprocal duties to their wives. Sefr wTves They should accord to them all reasonable treatment and rratLn?ss^''^' deference, not only because they are inferior in strength and tender- but bccausc, equally with themselves, they are sharers in ness (3 . 7 ^^^ blessings of salvation. You must not forget these duties, if you expect your prayers to avail with God. 7. Encouragements t'n Well-doing (3 : 8-22) God's bless- In conclusion, I exhort you to cultivate the virtues of ise^d'tJ'Ke concord, sympathy, affection, and humility. Avoid re- who return ygnee and do good to those who ill-treat you, for in so good for evil » ° , , , . , i i • , (3 : 8-12) doing the Christian finds both his duty and his reward. Hence we read in the Scripture that he who would have a long and happy life must avoid all harsh and evil speak- ing and strive to be at peace with his fellow-men. Such as do this God will bless and reward, while those who return evil for evil will fall under his displeasure. If you do that which is just and right, you have nothing 94 of the Apostles i Peter 3 : 22 to fear. Indeed, if you suffer in the cause of truth, you No real dan- shall find peace in so doing and need feel no dread or fn"hos^e* " alarm. Only make the spirit of Christ your own ; in ^°^^ quietness, yet in confidence, be prepared to answer those ^3 = 13. 14) who challenge you to show, the grounds on which you cherish the Christian hope of salvation. See that you A pure life is the Chris- give your own consciences no occasion to accuse you, so tian's de- that when you are charged by your enemies with wrong- ^^^-^l^^ 16) doing, your pure Christian life will be your sufficient de- fence. Your sufferings may, by God's blessing, be made His trials a means of grace to you, especially if they are incurred by Sessmgs^ the performance of your duty. This is the lesson which ^^ = '7) we learn from our great example, Christ, who suffered for The reward no fault of his own, but for the sins of others, that he J^ chriS'for might bring us into the life of fellowship with God. But seJv^d^s'uf- he was not given over to the power of death, for, though ,^^'"j"| his body truly died, his spirit passed through death unharmed, and in his spiritual state he went to the underworld and proclaimed the message of salvation to the captive souls of those sinners of Noah's time who, after a long delay of God's justice, were destroyed by the flood, from which but eight persons were saved in the ark — as we are now saved by the waters of baptism, not, indeed, by a mere outward cleansing, but by seeking from God an inward purification. And this we do through the hope which is inspired by our Lord's resurrection and exalta- tion to the place of supreme honor and power in heaven. 95 I Peter 4 : i The Messages D3ring unto sin and liv- ing unto holiness (4 •• 1-6) An exhorta- tion to Christian fidelity (4:7-") 8. Christian Courage and Hope (4 : i-ii) Remember and imitate the example of Christ's suffer- ings. As in his death he broke off all relations with the sinful world, so may you pass through the experience of outward suffering and emerge from it, purified from sin, into the life of obedience to God. Revert no more to that past sinful life when you lived as those who know not God and gave yourselves up to every base and defiling practice and passion ; nor be disturbed by the surprise which your former companions contemptuously express that you no longer join them in their wild excesses ; they, too, must stand before him who shall judge both the living and the dead ; for the object of Christ's preaching to the dead was that, though they had been visited with the common human judgment of death, they might still attain to spiritual life in fellowship with God. The day of the Lord's coming to judgment is near ; therefore be earnest and faithful in the practice of prayer and of fraternal love, for love is the very essence of a good and pure life. Be generous one toward another and share together the gifts of God, remembering that they are given you as a means of blessing to others. Therefore let your teaching of divine truth and all your Christian service be done in dependence upon God's wisdom and grace, in or- der that all may be to the praise of God through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs eternal honor and power. 96 of the Apostles i Peter 4:19 9. Sharing in Christ's Sufferings (4 : 12-19) As followers of Christ you should expect to suffer The Chris- severe hardships, by which your fidelity is tested. In such pectTo^s^uffer experiences you should be glad to repeat the experience of ^f^^^^^ your great example, since after you have suffered with him you shall, at his coming, also share his heavenly bless- edness and dominion. Rejoice, therefore, when you have The rewards to suffer in the cause of Christian truth and duty, for in suflferfng such trials God will bless you with his presence. There '^^ '' ^'^'^^^ is no such comfort in suffering the just penalty of sin and crime ; it is when one suffers unjustly, because of his de- votion to Christ, that he has the promise of the presence and blessing of God. For in the present trials and sor- Steadfast- 11 • • f ^1 ^ ^ ^' ness in pres- rows we see the begmnmgs of the great testmg process, ent trials a which is to try all men. To its ordeals we Christians 1"^^^^^")'^°^ must, first of all, be subjected, and if it be found difficult t^e coming ' •* judgment for some of us to abide its tests, what will be the result (4 : 17-19) for those who reject Christ and his salvation ? If, I say, the test prove almost too severe for us Christians, how hopeless is the prospect of the unbelieving, wicked world. Let the Christian, then, when in God's providence he is required to suffer for his faith, persevere in his fidelity, knowing that in the care of God he is safe from harm. 97 I Peter 5 : i The Messages 10. The Duties of Elders, and of other Members, in the Church (5 : i-ii) The respon- Jo the older members who bear rule in the church I (who sibilities of the elders in am also an elder and a sharer both in Christ's sufferings the^flock"l^f and in his promised blessedness) give this charge : Instruct God (5 : 1-4) ^^^ guide the believers committed to your care in cheer- ful obedience to the divine will ; not for worldly gain, but for the love of Christian service; not with an arbitrary show of authority, but by your exemplary Christian life ; and you shall not fail of the imperishable reward which Dutiesofthe the Master will bestow at his coming. Let the younger Shrisffans, Christians show all due deference to those who are older, ^fhouf dis- ^"^^ ^^^ hoXki young and old cultivate a lowly mind and the tinction spirit of mutual service ; for, as the Scripture says, God opposes the haughty, but favors the meek. Humbly yield yourselves, therefore, to be led and taught of God, that this blessing of the lowly may be yours ; nor be distracted by care and worry, since he has you safe in his own keep- ing. In Christian duty be faithful and constant, for Satan like a ravening wild beast is ever watching for his prey. By your fidelity resist him, nor think that the trials to which you are subject are more severe than those which A prayer for have come upon your fellow-Christians elsewhere. May vSofJ'^ ^^ ^^ author of all blessings, who through Christ has made (s J 10. 11) us partakers of his gracious salvation, grant to you when this brief day of suffering is over, his perfect comfort and 98 of the Apostles i Peter 5:14 blessedness, and may he triumph over every foe and reign eternally. II. Concluding Salutations (5 : 12-14) By the hand of Silas, whom I esteem as a devoted fel- The writer , ,. . , , . , , . , and aim of low-believer, I have written you this short letter in order the letter to show you the true path of peace and safety. Do you ^ " continue to walk in it. The church in Babylon ' sends you her greetings, as does Farewell also Mark, my spiritual son. With the kiss of fraternal ^Tial^rj) love salute one another, and may the peace of God dwell in the hearts of all of you who love Christ. * Most interpreters understand the words : "She that is in Babylon," to refer to the church there, personified ; but others suppose it to refer to some Christian woman. The expression : " elect together with you," when com* pared with i : i " to the elect " favors the former view. 99 THE EPISTLE OF JUDE THE EPISTLE OF JUDE THE AIM AND PECULIARITIES OF THE EPISTLE The short Epistle of Jude is wholly devoted to a single object, the rebuke and refutation of certain corrupt error- ists who were seeking to lead the Christians addressed astray from the faith. The writer's aim is stated in verses 3 and 4. It was to exhort the believers to " contend ear- nestly for the faith once for all delivered to the saints," and to warn them against certain "ungodly men who turn the grace of God into lasciviousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ." It is evident from the language of the epistle that these dangerous persons were spurious or renegade Christians who had perverted Christian liberty into license. They were as impure in life as they were false and pernicious in their teaching. The author describes their selfish and base passions by call- ing them shepherds who feed only themselves, waterless clouds, restless, surging waves, and wandering stars {vv. 12, 13), and in lurid colors he depicts the fearful judgment which awaits them {;vv. 7, 13, 16). 103 jude The Messages The epistle gives us no hint respecting the location of the persons to whom it was addressed. It is directed, in general, " to them that are called, beloved in God the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ" {v. i). The most noticeable characteristics of the letter are, a vehement spirit, a somewhat turgid style, the use of " faith " in a sense approximating the idea of a doctrine handed down from the past (z/. 3), the appeal to the authority of the apostles (7/. 17), the copious use of Old Testament illus- trations {vv. 5, 7, 1 1), and the citation of apocryphal books iyv. 9, 14, 15). II THE AUTHOR AND DATE OF THE EPISTLE Concerning himself, the author tells us only his name and that he is a " brother of James." There was a Jude or Judas (besides Judas Iscariot) among the original apos- tles (Luke 6 ; 16 ; Acts 1:13) who in the lists given by Mark (3: 18) and Matthew (10:3) is called Thaddasus. In both catalogues furnished by Luke he is further de- scribed, according to the rendering of our older English version, as " the brother of James." The phrase is, how- ever, simply " Jude of James " ('louSas 'la/ed)i3ou) which much more naturally means " Jude the son of James " (so R. v.). On this view it is unlikely that the author of 104 of the Apostles Jude our epistle means to designate himself as the Jude of the apostolic list. We also learn from the New Testament (Matt. 13:55; Mark 6 : 3) that among the brethren of Jesus there was a Jude (or Judas) as well as a James. In view of the well- known position of James, the Lord's brother, in the early- church, it is a plausible supposition that the author intends to lend weight to his message by describing himself as the brother of "James the just," the overseer of the mother church in Jerusalem. This would be equivalent to giving his readers to understand that he is Jude, the Lord's brother. The question arises, whether this supposition is a tenable one. It is well known that the epistle had only a partial and tardy recognition in the early church. Its authorship was regarded as uncertain and its value differently estimated. As late as the time of Eusebius in the fourth century it was rejected by many, although widely recognized. Still later, Jerome tells us that objections were felt to it be- cause of its use of apocryphal books. On the other hand, it is found in the early Syriac version and in the canon of Muratori and is quoted by Clement of Alexandria and Tertullian. The principal grounds on which many mod- ern critics deny its genuineness are as follows: (i) The persons denounced in the letter can be shown to have been Gnostics, and the second century is the period of Gnosticism. That the errorists were Gnostics is claimed 105 jude The Messages to be proven by the tendencies to lawlessness which are ascribed to them {yv. 4, 12, 16), by their pretensions to visions (v. 8) and superior wisdom {y. 16), and by their separation of men into classes {v. 19). (2) The objective use of " faith " to denote a traditional belief is proof of the late date of the letter. (3) The perfectly general form of the address (t/. i) shows that the epistle belongs to the time when the idea of the " catholic " church had begun to develop, that is, to the second century. (4) The knowledge and use of apocryphal books by the author and the way in which he appeals to apostolic authority, look in the same direction. Those who employ these argu- ments commonly date the book within the period A. D. 100-150. It may be said, on the contrary : (i) That we now know that Gnosticism had attained a very considerable development and was a wide-spread and vigorous force within the second half of the first century, and (2) that while some of the characteristics of the letter do point to a comparatively late date, this is not necessarily incon- sistent with its genuineness. We have no knowledge of Jude the Lord's brother from other sources, and that he should have become a missionary in the Gentile world and should have written a letter to the believers who were known to him, about the year 75 or 80, is not at all dis- proved by the foregoing arguments. It is vain to be cer- tain where there are no grounds for certainty. Respect- 106 of the Apostles Jude ing such questions as this we can only speak of probabili- ties. It is probable that the author means his readers to understand that he is the brother of Jesus. Nothing in the letter itself or in the history of the early church as known to us is irreconcilable with that supposition. Ill THE author's use OF OTHER BOOKS The author's chief source of illustration is the Old Tes- tament. He uses the fate of the unfaithful Israelites in the wilderness {y, 5; compare Num. 14 : 28-30), the de- struction of the cities of the plain (z/. 7 ; compare Gen. 19), and the stories of Cain, Balaam, and Korah {v. 11; com- pare Gen. 4:5 ff. ; Num. 31 ; Num. 16), to illustrate the divine judgment upon such sins as those of which the corrupt libertines are guilty. He appeals, in general, to the teaching of the apostles as containing this prophecy : " In the last time there shall be mockers, walking after their own ungodly lusts" (7^. 18). It is probable that the writer means to give in his own words the substance of some such description as that given by Paul of " the man of sin," and " the mystery of lawlessness " (2 Thess. 2:1- 12). In speaking of those who " turn the grace of God into lasciviousness " {v. 4), he doubtless has in mind Paul's principle of freedom from the law which some, even in 107 jude The Messages the apostle's own time, perverted into the maxim : Let us sin because we are not under the law, but under grace (Rom. 6:15; compare Rom. 6 : i ; i Cor. 6 : 12). But the most noteworthy references in the epistle are those which the writer makes to apocryphal books. The allusion in verse 9 to Michael the archangel contending with the devil for the possession of the body of Moses, is said by the church father Origen to have been derived from a book called the " Ascension of Moses." The force of the illustration is : The archangel would not utter a contemptuous judgment even against Satan, but these men do not scruple to despise even the divine powers and authority. A portion of this apocryphal book was found some years since at Milan, but it did not contain the de- scription to which Jude refers. In verses 14 and 15 there is a still more striking quotation from an apocryphal book, the "Book of Enoch." The passage reads: "And to these (wicked men) also Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, Behold, the Lord came with ten thou- sand of his holy ones, to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their works of ungodli- ness which they have ungodly wrought, and of all the hard things which ungodly sinners have spoken against him." This is a free rendering of a passage from " Enoch," i. 9. The reference in verse 6 of our epistle to the fall of angels " which kept not their own principality, but left their proper habitation," is probably a reminiscence of • 108 of the Apostles Jude 4 similar descriptions in the " Book of Enoch " (14 : 4 ; 15 : 3; 64 : 2). This book, which is nowhere else quoted in the New Testament, is a composite work, in part pre- Christian and in part post-Christian. It is a work which exercised a powerful influence upon popular Jewish relig- ious thought, especially by its descriptions of the person and work of " the Son of man," the Messiah.^ IV THE MESSAGE OF JUDE A Letter of Warning against False Teachers The greeting of Jude, the bondman of Christ and Salutation brother of James, to his fellow-believers : I wish you the increasing enjoyment of God's favor and blessing. As I was planning to write you a letter concerning Occasion of Christian life and duty, I was moved to urge you espe- (3,^4)"" cially to preserve the steadfast confidence in Christ which is God's supreme gift to the believer. There is special need of this exhortation, for false teachers have crept into your midst, like wolves into the sheep-fold, who are per- verting the gospel by treating the mercy of God as per- ^ There are two translations of the Book of Enoch into English, one by Professor G. H. Schodde and one by Rev. R. H. Charles. For a free but accurate paraphrase, with explanatory introductions, see Volume VIII. of the " Messages of the Bible " by Professor F. C. Porter. 109 Jude 5 The Messages mission to sin, thus falsifying the very meaning of our salvation through Christ. Examples of Now, although I shall tell you only what you know al- ment upon ready, I wish to remind you how, in times past, God has (5°7) taken vengeance upon his enemies. One illustration is his destruction of the unfaithful Israelites when he was delivering his people from Egypt ; another is his con- signment of the sinful angels to their gloomy prison- house to await the final judgment ; still another is the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbor- ing cities, and their utter annihilation by fire in punish - The pre- ment for their depravity. But these corrupt men against g'J^ss'insof whom I am warning you, are giving themselves over to teachiS the same wicked practices and to an equal contempt of (5:8-11) divine authority and power. How great is their pre- sumption ! The archangel Michael when, as tradition re- lates, he disputed with Satan for the possession of the body of Moses, would not utter even against him, an evil pow- er, a scornful and contemptuous judgment, but left it to God to reprove him ; but these men do not scruple in their ignorant folly to despise even the heavenly powers ; they would as readily rail at good beings as at evil, while their base carnal desires, whose authority they alone rec- ognize, are plunging them into ruin. Destruction be theirs ! They have imitated Cain in murderous hate, Balaam in greed, and Korah in their proud contempt for all author- ity. Your love-feasts are defiled by their presence ; like 110 of tJie Apostles jude 21 false shepherds who care not for the flock, they are aim- Their harm- ing to derive selfish advantage from their influence among weii-^de-*" you ; like waterless clouds, they carry with them no ben- coUldemna- efit ; like dead trees, they are utterly and hopelessly bar- J^°" ren of all spiritual fruit. They are like the sea in violent agitation, such is the restless surging of their evil passions ; like meteors which flksh out brightly for a moment and then disappear in eternal darkness. To them are appli- cable the words of Enoch when he describes the divine judgment upon the ungodly : God shall come with hosts of angels and utterly overwhelm in destruction the cor- rupt and blasphemous despisers of his authority and truth. Such are the men who are seeking to lead you astray — fault-finders, lustful, boastful, sensuous and ar- rogant flatterers, whose favor is but a cloak for their self- ishness. The work of these deceivers reminds us how our Lord's Such evil apostles had predicted that in the days before his advent expwted * ungodly and wicked men should appear and seek to lead ^^7-19) the faithful astray. They break up friendships ; they are given over to the unrestrained power of the lower nature. But do you, my brethren, refuse to yield to their influence Exhortation and cling with confidence to Christ and his truth ; be chiSt and constant in prayer ; cultivate a sense of God's love to you t«nd«r con- and hope in Christ's mercy to be shown you at the ap- toward the proaching judgment. As for those who have fallen under (20^23) the baleful influence of the false teachers, treat such of lit Jude 22-25 them as are still perplexed and wavering with much con- sideration and tenderness ; those who have gone further in error snatch by eager efforts from the fire, as brands from the burning ; toward even those whose deep cor- ruption excites only loathing, a merciful feeling must be cherished, though it is naturally accompanied by alarm at their seemingly hopeless situation. • Doxology And now to him who is able to save you from these fearful corruptions and to bring you, pure and holy, to his heavenly kingdom — to God, our Saviour through Jesus Christ, be ascribed all praise, honor, and authority, in all past time, now, and forever. Amen. (24. 25) 112 THE SECOND EPISTLE OF PETER THE SECOND EPISTLE OF PETER THE AIM AND CONTENTS OF THE EPISTLE Like the Epistle of Jude, Second Peter is a vehement protest against false teaching and corrupt life, and an impassioned appeal to its readers, to stand firm in the Christian faith and to cultivate and practise the Christian virtues. After the address and greeting (1:1,2) the author exhorts his fellow-Christians to the cultivation of Christian knowledge and virtue in order that they may obtain entrance into the eternal kingdom of Christ (1:3- 11). In I : 12-21 he justifies this word of exhortation by reminding them that it is his last message to them and by assuring them of the reality and power of the truth which he proclaims to them. He then describes and de- nounces the false teachers who have appeared among them and warns the believers against their doctrines and practices (ch. 2). These evil men, indeed, deny Christ's second coming, arguing that " all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation " (3:4); but he appeals to the prophets and apostles in opposition to "5 2 Peter The Messages them. He reminds his readers how suddenly the flood came upon the ancient world, urges that God does not reckon time as men do, argues that the world's destruc- tion has been delayed to afford men an opportunity for repentance, and counsels patient waiting (3 : 1-13). Finally, he warns them to be ready for the day of Christ's coming, even as Paul had taught them in his epistles, in which there are " some things hard to be understood " (3 : 16) which some are perverting to their destruction. The Christians, however, being forewarned, should stand fast in faith and hope, and grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ (3 : 14-18). II ITS RELATION TO JUDE That between our epistle and that of Jude there is some kind of interdependence is evident to every reader. The second chapter of 2 Peter is almost identical in sub- stance and, to a great extent, in language also, with Jude 3-18. The illustrations from the fall of the angels, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and the rebuke of Balaam are common to both. In both epistles the pre- sumption, irreverence, and corruptness of the errorists are described in similar terms. The principal differences are that 2 Peter omits the illustrations drawn by Jude from 116 of the Apostles 2 Peter apocryphal books (the contest of Michael and Satan, and Enoch's prophecy of judgment), and from the history of Cain, introduces references to the flood and to " righteous Lot," and amplifies (in 3 : 1-13) the reminder of Jude {vv. 17, 18) that the apostles had predicted the appearance of scoffers, and illustrates their scepticism by citing their denial of the Lord's coming. Scholars are divided on the question whether 2 Peter is dependent on Jude, or conversely. The former, however, is the prevailing opinion. This view is favored by the fact that parallels to Jude are found not only in ch. 2 of 2 Peter but elsewhere (i : 2, 5, compare Jude 2, 3; 1:12, compare Jude 5). The picture in Jude of the cor- rupt persons described as being already present among the readers is somewhat confused in 2 Peter by the repre- sentation of them, now as being present (2 : 10, 12, 18, 22) and now as not having yet appeared (2 : 1-3). More- over, it is not easy to imagine the motive of the writer if the supposition be made that Jude is an abridgment of 2 Peter, whereas an enlargement of Jude, with special adap- tations and applications, is quite capable of explanation. 117 2 Peter The Messages III ITS AUTHOR, DATE, AND READERS It is well known that in all periods of the church doubts have been entertained by some regarding the apostolic authorship of 2 Peter. It is not until we reach the time of Origen, in the third centun,'. that we begin to find a positive attestation of the book. Aside from the use of it by this great church father, there is little testimony of importance till we reach the time of Eusebius (about 325), who says : " As to the writings (of Peter), one of his epistles called the First is acknowledged as genuine ; but that which is called the Second, we have not indeed understood to be embodied with the sacred books, yet. as it appeared useful to many, it was studiously read with the other Scriptures. These writings are those that are called Peter's epistles, of which I have understood only one epistle to be genuine and admitted by the ancient fathers." The ecclesiastical councils of Laodicea (A. D. 363) and Carthage (A. D. 397), however, admitted 2 Peter into their lists of sacred books, and from the fourth cen- tury onward we may date the general acceptance of the epistle as genuine. In modern times the apostolic authorship of the epistle is called in question on grounds like the following : The epistle dififers from i Peter in style, diction, and ideas, 118 of the Apostles 2 Peter places Paul's epistles on a level with Old Testament Scripture (3 : 1 5) — ^a view of them which could not have obtained in the life-time of Peter, and speaks of the mount of transfiguration as '• the holy mount " (i : 18) — an ex- pression which in the apostolic age would have been used to designate only Mount Zion. On the other hand, likenesses in style and thought are placed over against the differences ; it is pointed out that Paul himself speaks of the things which he is writing to the Corinthians as " the commandment of the Lord"(i Cor. 14:37), and it is said that the mount in question is naturally called holy because the transfiguration had made it sacred to Chris- tian thought. Many other minor considerations are urged on either side. The problem is a difficult one, and it would be unwarranted to pronounce a positive judgment where the data for a decision are so scanty and uncertain. If genuine, the epistle was written not far from A. D. 65. Zahn says, 60-64 ; Weiss, 66. Those who deny its genuineness place it later — sometimes as late as A. D. 150. Some, on the basis of a literal interpretation of i Peter 5:13, and on the supposition of its genuineness, have held that the letter was written from Babylon ; others, on the figurative view of the passage just named and on the basis of the tradition that Peter died in Rome, have maintained that Rome was the place of writing. We possess no information as to the circle of readers to whom the letter was addressed. If genuine it was prob- 119 2 Peter i : i Tke Messages ably intended for the same general class as First Peter (see 1 : i). The very general form of address used: "To them that have obtained a like precious faith with us " (i : i), and the evident use by the author of the Epistle of Jude, the introduction of which is equally general, do not help us in determining the nationality and location of the readers. Unfortunately this epistle is one about whose author, readers, and time and place of writing we have no clear information. The general character and purpose of the epistle, however, are not doubtful, and the value of its practical teaching need not be lessened by our uncertainty respecting the critical questions connected with it. IV THE SECOND MESSAGE OF PETER I. T/ig Culture of the Christian Virtues (i : i-ii) The Chris- I, Simou Peter, Christ's bondservant and messenger, a hoiy*^Hfe ^° Send to you, my fellow-believers and partakers in the sal- (»: 1-4) vation which God has provided in Jesus Christ, my greet- ings, wishing you the increased enjoyment of God's favor and continued growth and progress in the Christian faith. Rich, indeed, are the blessings and rewards of the spirit- ual life which God has opened to us through that revela- tion of himself by which he has shown us how to imitate 120 of the Apostles 2 Peter i : 12 his own glorious perfections and to embrace those blessed assurances of his forgiving love by which we are delivered from the evil of the world and are made sharers in the likeness and fellowship of God himself. Since, now, you The pcrfec- have entered upon this new and holy life, be diligent in JJaS vinuS'' the culture of the virtues which it requires. In your trust ^^. *™v in Christ, which is the foundation of the Christian life, moral courage must not be wanting ; and this quality, in turn, needs knowledge to guide its action. But knowl- edge will not be wise unless there be associated with it self-control. Then in addition to this self-control patient endurance is needful, while with this must be blended piety. With piety must mingle love to one's fellow- Christians, and with this, in turn, love to all men without distinction. Those who cultivate and combine in their The desir- lives these virtues will prove active and useful Christians, of earrSst while those who lack them will fail in moral discernment f5.°o^,v and will be in danger of relapsing into the old sinful life. In view of this peril, my brothers, I exhort you to per- severance in the spiritual life upon which you have en- tered ; if you cultivate these virtues you will secure the coveted salvation and will receive at the Lord's coming the rich rewards of his eternal kingdom. 2. T^e Sure Foundation of Christian Faith (i : 12-21) Though I repeat only what you already know, I shall not cease to warn you of the dangers which threaten you E2I 2 Peter i : 13 The Messages A solemn and to exhort you to constancy in the Christian life upon to faUhfuU which you have entered. I deem it my duty, as long as I nes» live, to incite you to faithfulness by reminding you of your obligations— the more so as I am living, as Christ has shown me, in the near prospect of death. But I shall leave nothing undone in order that, after my departure, Anargu- you may recall my warnings and encouragements. For Sra^osde's^^ were not following myths invented by human fancy experience when wc assurcd you that the Lord would come in (i : 16-18) , , , , , majesty, for we apostles saw on the sacred mount the pledge and prophecy of that coming in the glory of the transfiguration and heard the heavenly voice proclaim our Lord to be the Son of the Father's love and the special An argu- object of his good pleasure. By such events the ancient niophecy" Messianic prophecies are confirmed. To them you should (i : 19-21) give attention, for they illumine the present darkness with hope and encourage us to expect the dawning of the day of Messiah's advent. And this confidence is not misplaced, because prophecy is not merely the result of the prophets' own thought, but is the product of a divine inspiration. 3. Warnings against False Teachers (2) The appear- As in ancient times false prophets appeared in Israel, ance of false i -n j teachers SO now there Will appear among you dangerous errorists, *" • '*^^ counterfeit and reprobate Christians. By them many believers will be beguiled and, in consequence, the cause of Christ will suffer reproach. For the sake of gain will 122 of the Apostles 2 Peter 2:15 these pernicious teachers acquire influence over you un- suspecting believers — but only for a little while, for they shall soon be overwhelmed in judgment. Their fate shall Their ap- be like that of the sinful angels whom God has imprisoned md^ent ii- in dark dungeons until the day of judgment ; like that of J^^^ ^^.g^/ the ungodly world destroyed by the flood — from which only Noah and seven others were saved ; like that of Sodom and Gomorrah from whose fiery judgment (a fear- ful warning to evil doers !) the just Lot, who lamented the wickedness of his fellows, was saved (for his spirit was deeply grieved by the constant sight of his neighbors' depravity). These examples show both how the Lord delivers the righteous in times of trial and how he judges the base and the lawless. Such are these perverse men Their pre- against whom I am warning you. Haughty and defiant, and^co?nipt- they do not scruple to blaspheme the supernal powers. (!f t^.i^) Not even angels, though they are greater than men, and might with less presumption do so, would think of utter- ing such contemptuous defiance. But these sensuous free-thinkers, blindly and irrationally give themselves up to their evil instincts and plunge headlong down the path of destruction. Sunk in corruption themselves, they defile your Christian communion by their base excesses ; the sport of evil passion and the slaves of sin, they carry corruption and defilement wherever they go. They are like Balaam who sought his own selfish advantage, but was rebuked for his covetousness through the word of 123 2 Peter 2:16 The Messages 2l beast to which God gave for the purpose the powef of speech. Like waterless springs or driven clouds, no good comes from them ; their portion is utter destruction. With boastful pretensions of wisdom, they are drawing back into the sinful life those who were beginning to emerge from it ; this they do under pretence of showing them the way of freedom, while, in fact, they are them- selves the bondslaves of sin and are but dragging their The perils of dupes down into the same wretched slavery. How dread- fa ° 20-22) f ul a thing it is for weak and inexperienced believers who have entered on the way of Christian truth and life to be drawn down again by these corrupt men into the deprav- ity which they had renounced ! Of such the saying proves true : their last state is worse than their first. Better would it have been for them never to have known what the better life is than, having known it, to repudiate it and plunge back again into the depths of corruption. To do this is to imitate the animals who return to their own filth. 4. The Terrors of the Coming Judgment (3 : 1-13) The denial I am Writing you now, as in a previous epistle, in order of the sec ..,/., ,. • , , , ond coming, to put you m mmd of the predictions of prophets and swe/(3 ^1-7) apostles who have foretold the appearance of corrupt scoffers who, because the course of things has been unin- terrupted from the beginning of the world, should deny that the Lord will come to judgment. These sceptics 124 of the Apostles 2 Peter 3:15 persistently ignore the fact that the earth, which seemed so substantial and unchangeable, was once overwhelmed by a flood. We have the same divine assurance which was given before that catastrophe that a similar judgment of destruction, only by fire instead of water, now awaits the wicked world. In connection with the argument of the scoffers this, A further too, is to be remembered, that the Lord does not count the scoffers time as men do. A period which seems to us long is not ^^ * ^"^°^ so to him. Moreover, he may be delaying the final crisis in order to give the greater opportunity for repentance. But we may be sure that when the day of the Lord does come, it will come suddenly ; then the framework of this present world will be consumed in flame. In view of the A practical terrors of this impending crisis what pure and blameless from the lives should we lead, and how eagerly should we look for- (j^i'^fj"*) ward to the destruction of this present evil world and to the emergence of a new and purified order. 5. An Exhortation to Fidelity (3 : 14-18) In view of this prospect of coming judgment, see to it An appeal that you, my dear brothers, live pure and peaceable lives o*f PauUnd before God, remembering that the delay of the Lord in ag^S'"*^ destroying the wicked means your salvation, as you have *^°'* ^^° . read in the letter which our dear brother Paul has written meaning you ; in this, as in all his letters, he speaks of these sub- * '*"' jects. His meaning is sometimes difficult and, in conse- 125 2 Peter 3 : 16-18 quence, the undiscerning and perverse often misapply his words, as they do those of the Old Testament, deduc- ing from them false and ruinous conclusions. You are now forewarned. Be not misled by these evil men from the path of Christian truth and duty, but persevere in your fidelity to Christ and seek an ever closer fellowship with him, to whom be eternal praise. 116 THE FIRST EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY THE FIRST EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY THE GENERAL CHARACTER OF THE PASTORAL EPISTLES The Epistles to Timothy and Titus are distinguished from the other letters which bear the name of Paul by noticeable peculiarities of style, tone, and purpose. They are less doctrinal and more personal than the first ten epistles, except Philemon. They move, in the main, in a different realm of ideas and interests. They are directed to Timothy and Titus, Paul's trusted helpers, and are de- signed to aid and encourage them in their labors as super- intendents of Christian work in Ephesus and Crete re- spectively. From this object they derive the name Pas- toral Epistles, The great themes of Paul's doctrinal teaching — justifi- cation, reconciliation, and the law — are barely mentioned in these letters. Instead, the epistles deal with rules for church administration, warnings against vain speculations, and exhortations to fidelity in Christian labor and to the steadfast endurance of hardships. The qualifications of 129 1 Timothy The Messages bishops and of deacons are described at length in First Timothy (3 : 1-13 ; compare Titus i : 5-9) ; directions are given respecting the duties and behavior of various classes of persons — widows (i Tim. 5 : 1-16), the older and the younger men and women (Titus 2 : 1-8), and servants (i Tim. 6:1,2; Titus 2 : 9, 10). The regulation of public worship (i Tim. 2) and the administration of church dis- cipline (i Tim. 5 : 17-25 ; Titus 3 : 10, 11) are prominent subjects in First Timothy and Titus. The relations of the sexes (i Tim. 2 : 8-15), of the rich and poor (6:9, 10), and of rulers and subjects (i Tim. 2 : i, 2; Titus 3 : i, 2) are dwelt upon, and the superintendents are particularly exhorted to attend faithfully to the duties which are con- nected with all these different matters. Especially are they warned against the influence of certain current forms of error which are variously described as a "giving heed to fables and endless genealogies" (i Tim. i : 4), vain and confident assertions (i : 7), hypocrisy and lying (4:1, 2), the prohibition of marriage and other ascetic absti- nences (4: 3), the greed of gain (Titus i : 10, 11), and a knowledge {gnosis) falsely so called (i Tim. 6 : 20). It appears from the language used that these errors were kindred to those mentioned in Colossians — an incipient Gnosticism, largely mixed with Jewish elements (Titus I : ID, 14), a dualistic and ascetic eclecticism which rev- elled alike in superstitious folly and in moral corruption. If we look more closely at these letters we find that cer- 130 of the Apostles i Timothy tain terms and conceptions are characteristic of them, for example," God our Saviour" (i Tim. i : i ; 2:3; 4 : 10; Titus I : 3; 2 : 13; 3 14 — not so in 2 Timothy), "the faith," used quite objectively in the sense of doctrine (i Tim. I : 19 ; Titus i : i, 4, 13); such phrases as "the faithful saying" (i Tim. 3:1; Titus 3 : 8), " the sound, or wholesome, doctrine" (i Tim. i : 10; Titus 1:9; 2:1)," the faithful word " (Titus 1:9), and " sound, or healthy, speech " (Titus 2 : 8). Such peculiarities, taken in connection with the references to the church and its ad- ministration (see especially i Tim. 3:15) show that these letters reflect, not so much the problems on which the church's very existence depended, as questions of regulat- ing an established organization. The tone of the epistles, especially of First Timothy and Titus, is distinctly ecclesi- astical. The fragments of a hymn which is quoted (i Tim. 3 : 16), and the apparent echoes of liturgical forms {e.g., Titus 2 : 11-14, 3 : 4-7), illustrate the same tendency. In reading these epistles we are in the world of church or- ganization and administration. In general, these epistles follow no logical arrangement. First Timothy and Titus are especially loose in structure. A still more noticeable characteristic, especially of the two letters just named, is their lack of freshness and original- ity in comparison with the other Pauline epistles. It can- not be denied that in these letters the writer deals mainly with ready-made materials. He is handling current coin. 131 I Timothy The Messages He assumes that there is a body of sound doctrine with which the reader is familiar and the contents of which he may presuppose. Hence we are never told what this wholesome teaching is. The epistles do not unfold the inner meaning of Christian truth ; they urge practical duties which spring out of doctrines already known and institutions already long established. II THE HISTORICAL SITUATION PRESUPPOSED IN THE PASTORALS As has been already observed, the epistles picture Timothy as superintending the work of the church in Ephesus, and Titus as performing a like service in Crete. Of both these trusted friends of the apostle we often hear in the New Testament, but we nowhere else find them engaged in the work just mentioned. The epistles also presuppose that Paul wrote First Timothy and Titus while at liberty, apparently in Macedonia (i Tim. 1:3), and Second Timothy while a prisoner calmly awaiting the approach of death (2 Tim. 4 : 6-8). It is evident that this epistle could not have been written by the apostle during the imprisonment when Colossians, Philemon, and Philippians were written, for then he wrote in the con- 132 of the Apostles i Timothy fident expectation of a speedy release (Philem. 22 ; Phil. 2 : 24). It is obvious, then, that the epistles presuppose a historical situation which does not fit into the life of Paul as revealed in the Acts and in the first ten epistles. If we are to adjust these epistles to the apostle's history, we must do so by supposing that, as he expected, he was released from the imprisonment in which he wrote Colos- sians, Philemon, Ephesians, and Philippians, resumed his missionary journeying, during which he wrote First Timo- thy and Titus, was then reimprisoned and condemned to death, and, during his last days, wrote Second Timothy. These statements serve to raise the whole question of the authorship and date of the epistles. Ill THE AUTHORSHIP AND DATE OF THE EPISTLE The objections to the Pauline authorship of the Pastoral Epistles are mainly derived from the peculiarities which have been sketched. They do not apply equally, how- ever, to all three epistles. We shall see that Second Timothy furnishes fewer difficulties than the other two. Summarily stated, the principal difficulties are : (i) There is no place for them in the known life of Paul. (2) They are unpauline in language and ideas and are especially 133 1 Timothy The Messages lacking in the vigor and penetration which are character- istic of Paul's letters. (3) They presuppose a highly de- veloped ecclesiastical system which cannot be earlier than the second century. (4) The errors combated must be later than Paul's time. (5) They are loose in logical structure and bear the marks of being the work of differ- ent hands. All these considerations are urged with spe- cial force against First Timothy and Titus. Attention is called to the phrases : " oppositions {antitheseis) of the knowledge [gnosis] falsely so-called" (i Tim. 6 : 20) as being probably an allusion to the work of the Gnostic Marcion called Antitheseis ; to the characterization of the church as " the pillar and ground of the truth " (i Tim. 3:15), which is said to reflect the ecclesiastical conceptions of the post-apostolic age ; to the fact that in Titus the elders and the bishops are separately men- tioned (i : 5, 7) as if they were no longer one and the same, as in the apostolic age, and to the mention of the elders as composing a " presbytery" (i Tim. 4 : 14), that is, a college or compacted body of rulers. The existence, too, of an order of widows, a recognized company of de- pendent women who, under certain conditions, were, at least, partially supported by the church (i Tim. 5:3-16), is thought to point to a late date, since no such institu- tion or arrangement is known to have existed in the apos- tolic age. The question of fitting the epistles into the framework 134 of the Apostles i Timothy of Paul's life will be considered in connection with Second Timothy. The errors characterized are, no doubt, Gnostic in their main features. But so also were those which were rife at Colossae. We now know that Gnosticism existed in all its essential elements in the apostolic age. The prin- cipal difficulties are connected with the language and thought and with the church-order presupposed. It is not certain that bishop and elder denote different officers in First Timothy and Titus, although the separate references to them (i Tim. 3:1-7; 5 : i, 17 : Titus i : 5, 7-9) makes such an interpretation plausible. It must, however, be ad- mitted that one cannot attentively read First Timothy, for example, without being struck by its lack of directness, vigor, and grasp upon the deep truths of Christianity which characterize Paul's earlier letters. These difficulties are partly, but not wholly, removed by the special object which the letter has in view. The supposition of many scholars that some brief memoranda of Paul's have been incorporated into this manual for the regulation of church administration, is not an unreasonable one. In this way it could be explained how Paul's name was associated with the message sent to Timothy and why it was received as Paul's in the church at large. We shall see later that if our epistle be regarded as be- ing directly and entirely the work of Paul it must have been composed about A. D. 65. If the view that it is a manual from a later hand, into which some Pauline fragments I Timothy The Messages were incorporated, be adopted, its date would need to be placed a considerable number of years later. Professor Harnack, who adopts this theory, places the epistle about A. D. loo-i lo. While certainty concerning the authorship and date of the Pastorals is not attainable, it may be said that an increasing number of scholars favor the supposi- tion of composite authorship or compilation and a com- paratively late date. This supposition accounts for the peculiarities of the epistles, and, at the same time, explains the connection with them of the name of Paul. On this view the epistles are Pauline in a modified sense, though not composed by his hand. The question of authorship will meet us again in con- nection with Second Timothy, in which the peculiarities to be explained are of a somewhat different character. IV THE LIFE AND CHARACTER OF TIMOTHY With Timothy we are made acquainted by the Book of Acts (i6 : 1-3). He was a resident of Lystra and was already a devoted Christian disciple when Paul visited that city on his second missionary tour. Not improbably he had been converted by the apostle on his earlier visit to Lystra (Acts 14 : 6-22). We are told that his mother was a Jewess— a fact which, no doubt, explains Paul's 136 of the Apostles i Timothy willingness that he should be circumcised (Acts i6 : 3) in order that no needless offence should be given to the Jews. Timothy became the apostle's efficient helper in his mis- sionary work and his name is coupled with that of Paul in the salutations of five of his letters (i and 2 Thess. , 2 Cor., Col., Phil.). He was with the apostle when from his Roman prison he wrote Colossians (1:1) and Philippians (i : i). Thereupon he disappears from view until we meet with him again in the Pastoral Epistles. They give us, besides the general facts already mentioned, some fur- ther details concerning his life — the names of his mother and grandmother (2 Tim. i : 5) and the careful training which he had received in the Old Testament Scriptures (2 Tim. 3 : 14, 15), and tell us that Paul in his last days greatly desired the presence of his spiritual son (2 Tim. 4:21). The picture which the Pastoral letters paint of Timothy is that of a devoted and sincere man, who, however, ap- pears somewhat lacking in firmness and courage. He seems to have shrunk from responsibility and to have been much discouraged by the perplexities and trials of his position. He is represented as being in danger, not only of allowing those committed to his charge to be led astray, but even of coming himself under the baleful in- fluence of false teaching. Perhaps he was one of those men who can work more successfully under the direction of another than when left to himself. 137 I Timothy i : i The Messages THE FIRST MESSAGE TO TIMOTHY I. A Charge to Keep the Gospel Pure (i) Saluution I, Paul, a divinely commissioned apostle of Christ, send d : I. a) to you, my spiritual son Timothy, salutations of grace, mercy, and peace. The current I now repeat the exhortation which I gave you when specuTation I was about to Start for Macedonia ; namely, that you avoided^and s^o"^^ wam certain false teachers from devoting their ersrebuked ^^^^"'^^^^"s to fooHsh myths and speculations concern- (1 : 3-7) ing the derivation of spiritual beings — subjects which provoke disputes rather than help men to discharge their duties as faithful stewards of God ; for the goal of the gospel requirement is love pure and sincere, and faith without pretence. Some have deserted these truths and in their folly have assumed to be expounders of the divine law, without knowing at all the true import The Chris- of that which they pretend to teach. Now the law of devo^te him- God is Certainly profitable, if it is used according to its wholesome "^^^^ meaning and intention, and it is only rightly used and moral when One cousiders that it exists not for him who fulfils (i : 8-II) the divine will in free obedience, but to rebuke and re- strain those who are guilty of various sins and crimes and of whatever conduct is contrary to the wholesome in- 138 of the Apostles i Timothy i : 20 struction contained in the gospel. This is the view of the nature and use of the law which accords with the glorious good news which God has now proclaimed and with whose proclamation I have been intrusted. Praise be to Christ, who strengthened me and deemed The grace me fit to enter his service, though I was one who pro- calling Paul faned sacred things and bitterly opposed his cause. But Jj^^" ^^^' he had compassion upon me, for I did not know how (» : "-17) sinful my conduct was; and the abounding grace of Christ reached even to me and produced in me the fruits of faith and love. True beyond all question is that word, ** Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners," for I was the greatest sinner. But God had mercy upon me, in order that, in the case of a great evil-doer such as I was, he might show forth all the richness of his forgiving grace as an illustration of the forbearance which he would show toward those who should afterward believe on Christ for salvation. Now to the one God, the glorious King of the ages, be all praise ascribed, forever. This instruction, then, my son Timothy, respecting the An exhorta- true Christian teaching, I now deliver to you, in accord fSJess *" ' with the predictions of your faithful service to Christ, ^^ " '^**°^ which were formerly made. In fulfilment of them do you fight the good fight. Hold fast to Christ and to a pure purpose in his service. Be warned by the loss of faith on the part of some ; for example, Hymenasus and Alexan- der, whom I have remanded to Satan that he may inflict 139 I Timothy 2 : i The Messages upon them sufferings which shall deter them in the future from the profanation of sacred things. 2. Directions Concerning the Worship of the Church (2) Prayer to be The first poiut, then, which I charge you to observe is all dasse?of that, in the public worship, all classes of men be remem- J^^"j.y) bered in the prayers. Let God's guidance be asked for rulers and magistrates, that the church may enjoy the blessings of rest and peace in the practice of all Christian virtues. The offering of such prayers on behalf of all men is pleasing to God, since he desires the salvation of all. For there is one God, the Author of salvation for all, and one Mediator, Christ Jesus, who himself shares man's nature and died to save all men — a work of grace which was destined to be proclaimed to the world in God's own time, and for whose proclamation I solemnly declare that I was divinely appointed as a herald and messenger that I might lead the heathen to believe on Christ. Public wor- I further direct that, wherever Christian congregations comiu°cted assemble, the men should offer up public prayer in rev- by w5men°* ^reuce and peaceableness. Also, that the women ap- (2 : 8-15) pear in the congregation in modest guise and demeanor ; not decked out in artificial ornaments and wearing costly raiment and jewels, but adorned (as Christian women should be) with the beauty of a good life. In the public Z40 of the Apostles i Timothy 3 : 7 assembly the women are to listen and learn with all do- cility. I forbid them to assume the function of public teachers or to assert their authority over the men in the conduct of the affairs of the church, and require that they be quiet in the assembly. For man was a prior, woman a subsequent, creation of God; moreover, it was not man, but woman, who yielded to the voice of the tempter ; but she shall realize her salvation, not by assuming the func- tions of public life, but by keeping, in all faithfulness and simplicity, to her allotted sphere as wife and mother. 3. The Qualifications and Duties of Church Officers (3) The high estimation in which the office of overseer is The quaU- held in the church is well warranted. Among the quali- iJToveJ^Jers fications required in one who would assume this office ^^ " ^"'^ are : purity of private life, generosity, capacity for teach- ing, peaceableness, freedom from greed, ability to govern his own household and to restrain his children from all lawless and froward action (for how could one administer the affairs of the church who cannot regulate his own household ?), and experience in Christian work, so that he may not, by reason of his conceit, expose himself to the divine judgment which Satan through his pride incurred. Moreover, he must sustain a good reputation among those outside the church, so as not to fall a prey to the wiles of the tempter. Deacons, too, must be honorable, straight- forward, temperate, free from covetousness, keeping the 141 I Timothy 3 : 8 The Messages Those re- treasure of Christian truth in purity of heart. The office deacons" should not be assumed except by those whose fideUty has (3 : 8-13) ijggj^ ^glj proved. Their wives, also, must possess the moral qualities which have been mentioned. Deacons, I repeat, must be exemplary in private and family life, for the faithful discharge of their office leads to an honorable position in the church and to the confident assurance — grounded upon faith in Christ— of the church's appre- ciation. teSce'^fSb- ^ ^"^ writing in the hope of visiting you soon ; but if I serving am prevented from doing so, these written instructions will these direc- ^ ° tions serve to show you how to regulate the worship and gov- ^^ ■ '^"* ernment of the church, which is the support and preserver of the divine truth. And this secret of God's truth as revealed in Christ is confessedly deep and weighty, includ- ing (as one of our hymns expresses it) the facts of his incarnation, his attestation by the Holy Spirit, the minis- tration of angels to him, the preaching of his gospel to the heathen, its wide-spread reception and his glorious ascension. 4. Errors to be Avoided and Rebuked (4) dan*erouT * ^°^ '^ *^ expressly foretold in prophecy that in the clos- form of de- ing period of this present age some will relinquish their trust (4 : 1-5) 1^ Christ and give themselves over to the evil influences of demoniacal powers, being led astray by pretentious false teachers who are well aware of their own wickedness and 142 of the Apostles i Timothy 4:13 guilt. Among their erroneous teachings is their prohibi- tion of marriage and their insistence upon ascetic absti- nence from certain kinds of food which God created for man's use, and which Christians should gratefully receive and enjoy. For all the provisions of God for man's life are wholesome, and should be gratefully accepted and used, for they are made holy by the partaker's solemn words of thanksgiving. If you impress these truths upon the minds of your fel- spiritual dis- low-Christians, you will prove yourself an acceptable ser- earnest ef- vant of Christ, mature in the Christian life and knowledge erabfr ^"^^ in which you have been nurtured. Pay no heed to the ^"^ • ^^^^ irreverent and silly myths of the false teachers. Train yourself in spirituality ; for though physical gymnastics have a temporary value for our present welfare, spiritual training secures benefits both for the present and for the future life. This is a statement whose truth none can gainsay. That we may achieve this heavenly good we toil and struggle, being moved thereto by our hope in God's salvation, which is freely offered to all ; but is real- ized by those who believe on Christ. Enforce these prin- ciples in your instruction. So conduct yourself that no one shall lose respect for you on account of your youth ; in public and private life set a good example before your fellow-Christians. While I am absent be diligent in the public reading of the Scriptures and in the work of relig- ious instruction. Do not fail to use God's gracious gift 143 I Timothy 4:14 The Messages for teaching and administration, which the Spirit bestowed upon you in accordance with a prophecy which was spoken when the body of elders, by the imposition of their hands, set you apart to your office. Bear these exhortations steadfastly in mind and carefully observe them, that all may note your attainments in Christian grace and knowl- edge. Have careful regard to your own life and to the work of instruction of which you have supervision. Be true to all the duties which I have enjoined upon you, and you will thereby further both your own salvation and that of those committed to your guidance. 5. Rules for the Administration of the Church (5) Directions Accord to the persons of your charge the consideration for the just , *; . , ^ • . ■ j andgener- and treatment which are appropriate to their age and menfof position. Have a special care for those widows who are (^'ftl) utterly destitute and dependent. In cases where widows have children or grandchildren who can support them, they should be enjoined to do so, thus making return for what their parents had done for them ; God's blessing is promised upon such a fulfilment of filial duty. Now the widow who is wholly dependent and friendless puts her trust in God alone and worships and serves him continu- ally ; while she who gives herself up to wanton pleasures abandons herself to moral death. Carefully observe these directions, that the widows of your charge cause no scandal in the church. Now with respect to the support 144 of the Apostles i Timothy 5:17 of widows, the general principle is that each person must care for his own relatives ; if he does not, he fails to show the natural affection which even the heathen exhibit. Let The condi- no widow be placed on the list of church pensionaries who thd? sup- does not fulfil the following conditions : She must be PJurch ^^^ not less than sixty years of age, must have lived an un- (5 : 9-16) sullied conjugal life, and must be well attested as one who has reared and trained her own children well, shown gen- erosity, served her fellow-believers, comforted the sorrow- ing, and, in short, as having lived a life of faithful Chris- tian service. Do not enroll widows who are under sixty, for they are likely to turn away from Christ to worldly pleasures, and to marry again, and thus to incur the blame of forsaking their allegiance to Christ. Thus they readily form habits of laziness, gossiping, meddlesomeness, and recklessness in speech. I therefore counsel that these younger widows marry and rear families, so as to bring no reproach upon the church ; for some of them have al- ready deserted the path of the Christian life. If any Christian woman have widowed relatives dependent upon her, let her, if possible, support them, that the church may be relieved from assuming their maintenance, so that it can reserve its entire bounty for those widows who have no one to provide for their wants. Elders who faithfully perform their office of superin- tendency, deserve special praise, especially such as teach and preach. For the Old Testament, in saying that the 145 I Timothy 5 : i8 The Messages The appoint- OX, while threshing, should not be muzzled, recognizes the Seatment of principle which Jesus proclaimed when he said that the (5"i?22? laborer is worthy of his reward. Do not entertain a charge made against an elder, unless it is supported by the testimony of two or three witnesses. When elders transgress the law of the Christian life, rebuke them in the presence of the whole church, that all may be warned of the peril of such action. I solemnly charge you to ob- serve these directions and to apply them without unjust discrimination. Avoid all haste in setting men apart to church offices, so as not to incur blame if they prove unworthy ; preserve yourself from all such partnership in Necessity of their wrong-doing. Give up the ascetic rule of drinking gJodfx^am- water only, and for the benefit of your health make a pie to others moderate use of wine. The sins of some men are mani- (5 '• 23-25) fest before the eyes of all and herald their coming judg- ment, while those of others are concealed and await the disclosure of their real character. Similarly, the good deeds of some are known and recognized beforehand, while those of others, though for the time unobserved, are certain to come to light at the judgment. 6. The Application of Christian Principles to Practical Problems (6) The duty of Christian slavcs must accord to their masters all due tian^lave respect and obedience, so as not to bring reproach upon <^ • ^' ') the gospel. Those who have Christian masters must not 146 of the Apostles i Timothy 6 : lo disregard their obligations to them on the ground that their superiors are fellow-Christians, but, rather, render them all due service just because the masters who receive the service are Christian brethren. These warnings must be emphasized in your teaching. Reverting to the errors of which I was speaking, I re- The dan- peat that those who offer you a different teaching from arice and the wholesome gospel of Christ and the doctrine which (e"; 3.i°o" is promotive of piety, do so from pride and ignorance. They have a morbid appetite for idle disputations and wranglings, which only serve to stir up evil passions and to promote violent collisions among those base and false men who regard religion as a means of worldly gain. But the true good in life is secured by piety coupled with a contented mind ; for why should we be greedy of earth- ly gain } It is merely granted to man for a little while and must soon be surrendered. How much better to be satisfied with the supply of our needs than to crave after riches ! For those who make the possession of wealth their goal in life expose themselves to many perils and evils which often overwhelm them in moral ruin. For from avarice springs every sort of sin, and some have been beguiled by it into renouncing their Christian pro- fession and have thus brought upon themselves bitter pain and shame. But do thou, the Lord's servant, avoid avarice and its consequences, and pursue, instead, the great Christian 147 I Timothy 6: 11-21 The Chris- virtUCS tian's call to faithfulness and purity (6 : 11-16) The right use of wealth (6 : 17-19) Parting in- structions (6 : 20, 21) Manfully wage the warfare to which your faith inspires you, making the life eternal the goal of your striving, for to this were you summoned at your conver- sion and committed by your public confession of Christ. I charge you before God, the source of all life, and before Christ, who fearlessly professed his Messiahship before the Roman procurator, to keep the Christian law unsullied and inviolate till the Lord's return, which, in due time, shall be brought to pass by our great and mighty God, to whom, changeless, supremely glorious, majestic, and in- visible, be ascribed praise and dominion forever. Enjoin upon those who possess worldly wealth not to be proud on this account, and not to trust in their perish- ing possessions, but to trust in God, who gives abundance of this world's goods, not that we may be proud of them, but that we may rightly enjoy and use them. Charge them to practise benevolence, to seek the wealth of good works, to be generous and sympathetic, thus storing up for themselves, as a ground of reward, a treasure of good deeds, that they may attain the true, heavenly life. And do you, O Timothy, keep fast hold of the whole- some teaching which has been intrusted to you. Avoid irreverent and empty word-strifes and the contradictions and conflicts of the false teachers who offer you a pre- tentious and spurious knowledge by which some have already been beguiled from their allegiance to Christ. May his grace be yours. 148 THE EPISTLE TO TITUS THE EPISTLE TO TITUS TITUS AND HIS MISSION IN CRETE The information which the New Testament furnishes us concerning the apostles's assistant to whom this letter of advice and encouragement was addressed, is quite meagre. From Gal. 2 : i, 3, we learn that he was closely associated with Paul and Barnabas at Antioch during their missionary labors there (Acts 11 : 19 ff.). and that he ac- companied them to Jerusalem when they went up to attend the famous apostolic council (Acts 15; Gal. 2). Titus was a Greek, possibly a Cretan, and the question whether he should be circumcised or not was made a test-case re- garding the whole problem of the relation of Gentile con- verts to the church. Paul implies (Gal. 2 : 3) that there were Judaizers who demanded his circumcision in con- formity with their maxim that unless Gentile converts were circumcised and kept the law of Moses, they could not be saved (Acts 15:1). To this demand, which the primitive apostles did not support, Paul refused to yield, and thus a signal victory was gained for the apostle's 151 Titus The Messages principle tiiat Christians need not become Jews, since faith in Christ is the sole condition of salvation. During Paul's missionary tours Titus was one of his most trusted assistants. On three occasions he was sent by the apostle to Corinth on missions of peculiar delicacy and difficulty owing to the disturbed condition of the Co- rinthian church (2 Cor. 2 : 13 ; 8 : 6 ; 12 : i8). The suc- cess of his efforts at reforming the abuses at Corinth and in making the collection for the poor Christians at Jeru- salem testifies to his ability, tact, and strength of character, and justifies the confidence and affection which the apostle reposed in him. After the time to which the passages just cited refer, we hear nothing more of Titus until he appears in our epistle as the superintendent of the churches in the island of Crete. He is said to have been left there by the apos- tle that he might " set in order the things that were want- ing, and appoint elders in every city " (i : 5). He is ad- dressed as Paul's " true child after a common faith " (i : 4). He is instructed in the epistle concerning the duties of his office, but these admonitions and advices are less personal than are those which are addressed to Timothy in the First Epistle and therefore throw less light upon his per- sonality. Of the Cretans among whom Titus was called to labor we have no knowledge beyond the very meagre information which may be gleaned from this letter. They are described as a very coarse people by one of their own 152 of tJie Apostles Titus prophets or soothsayers (i : 12), and the whole tone of the epistle would lead us to think that they proved an easy prey for the corrupt leaders who sought to turn them aside from *' the wholesome teaching " of the gospel. II THE PECULIARITIES OF THE EPISTLE In general, the peculiarities of the epistle to Titus are the same as those which mark the first letter to Timothy. The two epistles are closely kindred in subject, contents, and purpose, and probably belong together in time and authorship. The same use of terms is characteristic of both — "the faith," "God our Saviour," "the sound doc- trine," and " the trustworthy " or " wholesome word." The same ecclesiastical arrangements and interests are re- flected — the separate mention of elders and " the bishop," warnings against corrupt Jewish ascetics, and directions respecting the conduct of various classes of persons in the church. The instructions given with reference to these subjects are less detailed than in First Timothy, and some topics which find a place in that letter are quite wanting in the Epistle to Titus, as, for example, the subjects recom- mended for public prayer (i Tim. 2 : i, 2), the directions that the prayers of the congregation be led by the men and that the women " learn in quietness with all subjec- 153 Titus The Messages tion" (i Tim. 2:8-15). The character required in a bishop, or overseer, is depicted in much the same terms in both epistles (i Tim. 3:1-7; Titus i : 7-9). but no mention is made of deacons in Titus (compare i Tim. 3 : 8-10). The quahfications of elders are very briefly sketched in Titus (i : 6) — the terms used closely resem- bling those which are applied to the bishop in First Tim- othy (3 : 2-5) — while in First Timothy we find not so much a statement of the qualifications of elders, as a de- scription of the dignity belonging to them and of the way in which they should be treated (i Tim. 5 : 17-20). The order of widows, which is so prominent a theme in First Timothy (5 : 3-16), does not appear at all in the letter to Titus. Nor are the rich, who are so solemnly warned in First Timothy against pride and covetousness (6 : 9, 10, 17-19), mentioned in the shorter epistle. The same loose arrangement of materials is noticeable in both epistles, although it is more marked in the former. In Titus the following is the order of subjects: After the salutation (I : 1-4) comes the description of the qualifications of elders and the bishop (i : 5-9) and then a picture of the false teachers (i : 10-16). They are described as Jewish — "of the circumcision," " giving heed to Jewish fables " (i : 10, 14) — and, yet, into the midst of the description is thrust a characterization of the Cretans by " one of their own prophets "(1:12). Then follow directions concern- ing the duties of aged women, young women and servants 154 of the Apostles Titus (ch. 2), and exhortations to the cultivation of various Chris- tian virtues (3 : i-ii). The epistle ends with personal greetings and a benediction (3 : 12-15). We observe that, throughout, " the sound doctrine " is the constantly recur- ring note. The elders and the bishop must have certain qualities in order that the " faithful word " (i : 9) may be maintained. The false teachers must be refuted and the appropriate duties of the various classes in the church performed, in the interest of " the sound doctrine "(2:1, 8, 10). Very noticeable, too, is the repeated recommen- dation of " good works " (3 : 8, 14). Ill AUTHORSHIP AND DATE The question of the authorship and date of our epistle is substantially the same as in the case of First Timothy. In neither can it be claimed that the doctrine is positively unpauline. In fact, certain passages, such as Titus 3 : 4- 7 and I Timothy i : 15, 16, maybe regarded as summaries of the apostle's teaching. Yet, the difficulties of attribut- ing the epistles, in their present form, to the apostle are, as was shown in the introduction to First Timothy, very great. It is probable that criticism will finally rest in the supposition that certain oral or written instructions of Paul for the guidance of his helpers have been elaborated and 155 Titus I : I The Messages incorporated into these pastoral messages by a writer who adapted the principles contained in them to the circum- stances and needs of a somewhat later time. IV THE MESSAGE TO TITUS Salutation and blessing (I : 1-4) The ap- pointment and qualifi- cations of elders (I : 5-9) I. The Regulation of the Churches and the Mainten- ance of a Pure Gospel (i) I, Paul, whom God has bound to his service, and Christ has commissioned to promote the true faith of God's peo- ple and the right understanding of the wholesome doc- trine which assures us of the blessed life, which the ever faithful God in ancient days promised to his people, but now in his own appointed time has revealed in the gospel which he has bidden me to preach — invoke upon you, Titus, my true spiritual son in Christ, the blessing of God our Father and of Christ our Saviour. The purpose of my leaving you in Crete was that you should supply the defects in the organization of the churches and carry out my previous instruction to provide each church with a board of elders. Remember that those only are eligible to this office who are, in their moral life, above suspicion, blameless in their marital re- lations, and whose children are irreproachable Christians. For the overseer of the church must be subject to no ac- 156 of the Apostles Titus 2 : i cusation ; he must be neither obstinate, nor irritable, nor quarrelsome, nor avaricious, but generous, kind, sober- minded, upright, and self-controlled, holding fast the wholesome teaching of the gospel, that he may both ed- ify believers and refute the false teachers. For there are many self-willed errorists, devoted to Current cor- foolish and hurtful questions, especially certain Judaizers, fife and^dSc- who ought to be silenced — men who lead whole families (""^10-16) into unbelief, exercising a destructive influence, and all for the sake of base gain. The corruption which may be found among the Cretans is described by one of their own soothsayers, who pronounces them a treacherous, rude, and sensual people. It is a true indictment. There- fore you will need to employ rigorous measures to keep them loyal to Christ and to prevent them from being led astray by Judaizing speculations and perverse human distinctions and abstinences. To those who have clean hearts all outward things are clean ; but for those who are inwardly corrupt nothing is clean, for the impure mind defiles everything. These wicked men pretend to have a special knowledge of God, but by their utterly corrupt, detestable, and pernicious deeds they completely belie this profession. 2. The Obligation of the Christian Believer (2) Let your instruction be in accord with the healthful teaching of the gospel. Require the aged men to prac- 157 Titus 2 : I The Messages Maxims for tisc sclf-control, to maintain a Christian bearing, and to ancfof the evince the virtues of faith, love, and endurance. Exhort f^®^ X the aged women also to conduct themselves in a manner befitting their profession, to avoid slander and excess in Duties of wine-drinking, and to instruct others in the way of Chris- w*ives^ tian virtue. Bid them to admonish the young women of (2 : 3-5) their Juty to love their husbands and children, and to be discreet, chaste, domestic, and obedient to their husbands, in order that the gospel may suffer no reproach on ac- count of their conduct. Let the younger men be taught Necessity of sclf-control. Do you yourself set before others a good good"fx* Christian example in all respects ; let your teaching be rr-^6^8) pure, chaste, and, both in its form and matter, free from everything which is at variance with the gospel, in order that your adversaries may be disarmed by the irreproach- Obiigations able character of your life and teaching. Bondmen should Oz ?9,^io) be taught to obey and to please their masters ; not to ob- ject to performing their duties, nor to pilfer from their su- periors, but to render them just and faithful service, that their conduct may in all respects do honor to the gospel. For the revelation of God's all-embracing, saving purpose, The motives which has been made in Christ, has shown us that we liv^ing^ must renounce the wicked and corrupt life and live purely (2 : H-15) ^j^^ uprightly during this brief and evil age, while we eagerly expect the glorious advent of Christ, our divine Saviour, who died to save us from all sin and to acquire for himself a holy people, devoted to good deeds. 158 of the Apostles Titus 3:11 Demand the observance of these instructions. Permit no one to treat them lightly. 3. Practical Duties ; Farewell Greetings (3) Remind the Christians of Crete to be obedient to their The duty of Roman magistrates, to stand ready to do every duty, not lawful au- to revile anyone, not to be quarrelsome, but peaceable, ofTourSy displaying toward all classes of men a spirit of gentleness (3 : 1-3) and compassion. For before we became Christians we, too, lived in the folly, disobedience, and moral degradation of the sinful life. But from this wretched life God in his Grathude for divine goodness and love rescued us, not by reason of our good mercy a mo- deeds, but by his grace working through the cleansing Smies power of his Spirit, bestowed on us in Christ ; thus were ^^ '• 4-7) we saved and assured of eternal life by God's undeserved favor. Trustworthy is this word concerning God's gra- Factionai- cious salvation, and of its meaning for conduct and char- pSa^ron ti*" acter I wish you to be confidently assured, so that you fj:*8-°iO^^ may teach the believers under your charge to live a good life. These instructions are wholesome and useful ; but the vain disputings, speculations, and contentions of the false teachers avoid, for they are utterly profitless. A man who continues to foment discord after being reprimanded a second time, you need not further admonish, since it is evident that he is deliberately sinning with a full con- sciousness of his guilt, and cannot be recovered. When Artemas and Tychicus arrive in Crete, be sure 159 Titus 3 : 12-15 Personal to comc and visit me at Nicopolis ; for I purpose to (3 : 12-14) spend the winter there. Take pains to equip Zenas and ApoUos for their journey, so that they may be provided with whatever they need. And let our fellow-believers in Crete be careful to practise benevolence for the relief of those in want, thereby showing that their faith is living and productive. Farewell ^ and benedic AH my Companions salute you. Give my greetings to (3T15) my beloved fellow-Christians. Grace be with you all. 160 THE SECOND EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY THE SECOND EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY THE QUESTION OF A SECOND IMPRISONMENT OF PAUL We have seen that there is no place for the Pastoral Epistles in the framework of Paul's life which is furnished by the Book of Acts and his first ten epistles. If they are genuine, either in whole or in part, they must belong to a period subsequent to the imprisonment in Rome described in Acts 28 during which Colossians, Philemon, Ephesians, and Philippians were composed. Was there such a period ? Why the Book of Acts breaks off so abruptly we do not know. It is extremely improbable that it could have been the deliberate design of the author to close his work by saying that during his two years of mild imprisonment the apostle continued his work of preaching and teaching, no one preventing him (Acts 28 : 30, 31). Nor is it likely that the author stopped here because Paul was put to death at the end of the two years mentioned. If this had been the case, it is almost inconceivable that the 163 2 Timothy The Messages writer should not have mentioned the fact. The most reasonable supposition is that in breaking off his narrative of Paul's life so abruptly, Luke did not think of the events mentioned at the end of the narrative as the last in the apostle's career; that is, that Paul's life was prolonged beyond the point to which he had brought down the his- tory of it. If this were so, then it is certainly possible that the messages to Timothy and Titus belong, as they purport to do, in this closing p«riod of the apostle's career. But we are not wholly dependent upon such uncertain conjectures. We have seen that during the Roman im- prisonment just referred to, Paul confidently expected to be very soon set at liberty. He asks Philemon at Colos- sae to make ready a lodging for him, for, he adds, he ex- pects soon to visit him {v. 22). He expresses to the Phi- lippians the same confident expectation of release (Phil. I : 25 ; 2 : 24). These passages show that during the two years mentioned at the close of Acts, the apostle had what seemed to him good reasons to anticipate a speedy and favorable verdict, and that, in view of these reasons, he had planned to visit the distant regions of Macedonia and Asia Minor. To this it may be answered : We can- not conclude from the fact that a man, and, especially, a prisoner, formed plans of travel that he actually carried them out. We know that Paul many times planned to visit Rome before he wrote the Epistle to the Romans 164 of the Apostles 2 Timothy (Rom. I : 13), but was prevented from doing so, and that he changed from time to time his plans of travel after they were definitely formed (2 Cor, i : 16, 17). But this answer has little positive weight. The confident expecta- tion of the apostle, on the contrary, does justify the pre- sumption that he was set at liberty. In the absence of the slightest proof or even probability to the contrary, we may say that the reasons which Paul had for predicting a speedy release are presumptive reasons for believing that he was released. But there is one more consideration bearing on the ques- tion. We know that Paul cherished a set purpose to visit Spain (Rom. 1 5 : 28). We also know that if he ever car- ried this purpose into effect he must have done so after be- ing released from the imprisonment mentioned in Acts 28. Now, there is an early church tradition to the effect that Paul did visit the extreme West in the prosecution of his missionary labors. This tradition finds expression in the oldest extra-canonical Christian writing, composed about A. D. 95, the Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians, which states that the apostle travelled to the bounds of the West * (Chs. 5, 6 ; compare the Epistle of Ignatius to the Ro- mans 2:2). Within the known Hfe of the apostle he never went further westward than Rome, but the phrase of Clement can hardly refer to Paul's journey to Rome, since Clement himself resided in Rome and wrote his epis- » The phrase which Clement uses is : koI «iri t5 ripua t^s fivacwc eMuv. 165 2 Timothy The Messages tie from that city. That a Roman should describe the journey of a Palestinian to Rome as a visit to the bounds of the West is extremely improbable. The phrase used bore a well-defined meaning.^ We may conclude, then, that, in all probability, Paul was acquitted at his trial which occurred in or about the year 63 and went forth again to his missionary work, and that, later, he was again apprehended and taken to Rome, where he suffered mar- tyrdom as related by the uniform and unquestioned eccle- siastical tradition of early Christian literature. This is a conclusion in which two such eminent and widely diverg- ing scholars as Zahn and Harnack agree. II THE apostle's FAREWELL There is, then, a place in the life of Paul for the Pasto- ral Epistles. The question concerning them takes this form : Are their characteristics such as make it reasonable to suppose that Paul composed them during this closing period of his life ? We have seen that many difficulties beset this supposition in the case of First Timothy and Titus, and that the theory of an elaboration and adaptation made by a later hand, of notes or memoranda addressed 1 Students who are interested In the question should consult on this point Zahn's Einleitung in das Neue Testament, i. 447, 448. 166 of the Apostles 2 Timothy by the apostle to these assistants, is gaining favor among scholars. We have now briefly to review Second Tim- othy. After the salutation (1:1, 2), Timothy is admonished to continue steadfast in the same faith which has sustained the apostle in all his sufferings (i : 3-14). Then, after some personal references (i : 15-18), he is again exhorted to courage and constancy (2 : 1-13), and is warned to avoid foolish word-strifes and hurtful errors and to culti- vate, instead, the Christian virtues (2 : 14-26). Next, the corrupt men whose errors Timothy is exhorted to avoid and oppose are more particularly described (3 : i to 4 : 5), and the exhortation is enforced by a pathetic prediction of the apostle's approaching end (4 : 6-8). Several personal observations and greetings (4 : 9-22) bring the letter to a close. While Second Timothy shares, in general, the peculiari- ties which are characteristic of First Timothy and Titus, it is decidedly more orderly, compact, and straightforward in the movement of its ideas and more vigorous and energetic in thought. The pictures given of Timothy's early life and training (i : 5 ; 3 : 14, 15), and of the apostle's various expe- riences (i : 15-18 ; 2 : 9, 10 ; 4 : 6-18), bear all the marks of a sketch from life. There are numerous minor touches, such as the references to Paul's persecutions and personal relations, which are highly realistic. Especially so are such allusions as that to his former trial and its favorable 167 2 Timothy The Messages issue (4 : 1 6, 17), to the cloak which he left at Troas and which he now needs to defend him from the dampness of his cell, and to the parchment-books with which he might now relieve the tedium of his solitude (4 : 13). The figures of the soldier, the boxer, and the husbandman (2 : 3-6) are all favorite ones with the apostle. The references to ec- clesiastical conditions which make it so difficult to refer First Timothy and Titus, in their present form, to the apos- tle, are almost wholly absent here. Nothing is said of an ascetic Gnosticism, of church-rules, of the discipline of elders, of clergy and laity, of bishop and presbyter, of offi- cial lists of widows, or of the church as the chief support of the truth. In short, the epistle makes the impression of a genuine communication of the aged apostle to his be- loved disciple, and as such (after allowing for some later additions) an increasing number of scholars regard it; We need not hesitate, then, to look upon this epistle as the swan-song of the great apostle, his paean of victory over death which Christ had vanquished by bringing life and incorruption to light through the gospel (i : 10). 1 It may interest critical students to know that this is the view now taken by Professor Hamack. 168 of the Apostles 2 Timothy i : 8 III THE SECOND MESSAGE TO TIMOTHY I. Encouragements in Sufferings (i) Paul, a messenger of Christ, divinely set apart for the Salutation promotion of the gospel, to my dear child Timothy ; the ^^ * ^' ^^ favor and blessing of God and of Christ be with you. I thank the God of my fathers whom I also faithfully Thanksgiv- serve, as I constantly remember you in my prayers and Hlh/'Td^TO- think of the tears which you shed at our parting, and *^°" ^? *^^, ■. , I- c' apostle and eagerly long for the joy of seemg you— I am grateful to zeal in Chris- God, I say, for the news which I hear, that you are illus- {t?^s) trating and reproducing the sincere faith which both your grandmother and your mother possessed. My confidence in your devotion leads me to remind you to put to use the ah gifts to equipment for service which God graciously bestowed upon usedTn^G?d's you at your ordination. For the Spirit which God has f^^^^ given us does not produce timidity, but courage, self- denial, and self-restraint. Do not shrink from defending the gospei of Christ nor from acknowledging your relation to me, his imprisoned apostle, but prove yourself my fel- low-sufferer for the gospel, through the grace of God, which will strengthen us for every trial. For to such en- durance are we urged by the fact that God has saved us, not because of our deserving, but according to the gracious 169 2 Timothy i : 9 The Messages purpose which he formed before the world was and which he has now realized in the coming of Christ, who has van- quished death and assured us of a blessed life through the gospel for the proclamation of which I have been divinely commissioned. Therefore do I suffer courageously in the service of Christ, for in him I have an unwavering trust, and rest assured that he will safely keep the sacred trust which I have reposed in him until the day of his appear- ing. Let the healthful teaching which I have given you serve as your guide in your Christian life and work. Faithfully fulfil your divinely appointed work of preaching and teaching by the help of the Spirit which God gives you. The apos- You know how I have been forsaken by all the Asian and true Christians — among them Phygelus and Hermogenes. The (JTi'l^s) Lord's blessing be upon the household of Onesiphorus, who often comforted me, and did not forsake me because of my imprisonment ; but when he came to Rome was all the more careful, on that account, to search me out and visit me — may he meet with favor from Christ at his coming — and of his kind services to me at Ephesus I have no need to tell you. 2. The Soldierly Quality of the Christian Life (2 : 1-13) Unlike those who have proved unfaithful, do you, my spiritual son, prove yourself a courageous champion of 170 / of the Apostles 2 Timothy 2 : 13 the gospel through the strength which Christ imparts. The good The teachings which you have heard me expound, and (2^ ^.6) *'* which many others have attested, intrust to reHable men, who also have the gift for instructing others. Like my- self, you are a soldier of Christ; you must join me in suffering in his service. A soldier must keep himself free from all occupations except those of military duty, in order that he may please his commander. It is not enough for the athlete to take part in the games ; if he is to win the prize, he must contend according to the laws of the contest. The farmer who toils hard in tilling the soil has the first right to the product of his labor. Note well the meaning of these illustrations, and the Lord will enable you to apply them in your work. Recall for your The certain- encouragement the triumph of Christ, the Son of David, (^^y^^j""'^^ over death — the central truth of that message for whose sake I am imprisoned as an evil-doer; but the gospel itself goes on its way unfettered. Confident in its power and victory, I can patiently endure all manner of hard- ships, if thereby I may promote the spiritual good and the final salvation of my fellow-believers. It is a trust- worthy saying : " If we share Christ's death, we shall share his life; if we share his suffering, we shall share his glory; if we prove false to him, he will disown us; if we are untrue to him, he will still be true to his word, for he cannot act inconsistently with his own nature." 171 2 Timothy 2 : 14 The Messages 3. The Christian's Safeguards against False Doctrine and Life (2 : 14 to 3 : 17) Fruitless Enjoin upon those under your instruction to be true to ?ontrovereTes Christ, and solemnly warn them to avoid profitless dis- by^the'chris'^- putes which can only prove destructive to faith. Spare J^^P . no pains to prove yourself in God's service a well-tested and acceptable worker, correctly teaching and applying the truth of the gospel. But avoid the fruitless disputings of the false teachers, for they will go further and further in their impiety, and their teaching will spread in the church like an eating ulcer. Such men are Hymenaeus and Philetus, men who have wandered from the path of truth in teaching that the resurrection is a thing of the past, thereby shaking the confidence of some in a future resurrection. However, the church which God has es- tablished stands unshaken, and on its foundations are inscribed the divine declarations : " The Lord knows his own," and " Let those who confess Christ live a righteous Discrimina- Hfe." Novv just as in a great mansion some of the uten- eamertness ^^^^ ^^^ made of costly and some of cheap materials ; some succSuf ^'^ for higher and some for lower uses — so in the congregation Christian there will be found both genuine and spurious, both useful (2 : 20-26) and useless, Christians. If now a believer will keep him- self free from the companionship of these counterfeit be- lievers, he will prove himself to be a valuable instrument for the Lord's work, always ready for every honorable 172 of the Apostles 2 Timothy 3 : 9 service. Beware of those evil desires to the power of which the young are especially exposed ; cultivate the virt- ues of righteousness, faith, and love, and preserve har- mony with all sincere worshippers of our Lord. Avoid senseless and profitless disputings which only engender angry contentions. The Christian minister must not be contentious, but amiable, devoted to teaching, patient, in kindness reproving those who oppose the gospel, in the hope that they may be brought through repentance to a true experience of salvation, and may be saved from the toils of Satan, whose captives, forced to do his bidding, they now are. I would remind you that in the closing days of the pres- The near fu- ent age we must look for special outbreaks of wickedness. JiJ^eS spe^ Every base and violent passion, every moral corruption f^^ pJ'"'}* and perversion will find expression, and counterfeit piety teachers will abound. Have no fellowship with those who illus- ^ " ^ ^ trate such wickedness. For it is men of this class who insinuate themselves into houses and captivate weak and base women, who are eager for novelty, but incapable of attaining a real apprehension of divine truth. As the sorcerers Jannes and Jambres sought to hinder the work of Moses, so do these corrupt and faithless men resist the progress of the gospel. But their evil purpose will be foiled, for their senselessness, like that of the magicians, shall be plainly exposed. In contrast to the course of these false teachers, recall the example of my instruction, 173 2 Timothy 3 : lo The Messages Timothy's experience, and suffering for the gospel, for those who faithTulnis" will be true to Christ must suffer for his sake. Quite dif- fsfilTjT"" ferent is it with those wicked and self-deceived impostors who plunge into ever deeper depths of wickedness. But do you remain true to the teaching which you received from your parents, and remember how from early youth you were trained in the knowledge of the Sacred Script- ures which, when read in the light of faith in Christ, are able to show you the true way of salvation. Since all Scripture is divinely inspired, it is useful for increasing our knowledge, for rebuking our sin, and for disciplining us in the religious life, so that the Christian man may be adequately equipped for every service to which he is called. 4. The Apostle's Solemn Final Charge (4:1-8) Exhortation I adjure you before God and before Christ, the Judge of nesr* " ' all men — yea, in the prospect the Lord's coming to judg- (4 : 1-8) ment and of his glorious reign, I adjure you to be con- stant and faithful in your work of preaching, teaching, and admonition. P^or the days are coming when profess- ing Christians will lose their interest in the healthful gos- pel of Christ, and with eager and morbid curiosity will run hither and thither after various teachers to please their fickle desires, and will desert the truth and take up with the myths of the false teachers. But do you be pru- dent, patient, and faithful in your work as a preacher and servant of the Master. For my blood will soon be poured 174 of the Apostles 2 Timothy 4 : 17 out in martyrdom ; I am on the point of leaving this world to be with the Christ. My conflict is over ; I stand at the goal ; through all hardships and temptations I have con- tinued loyal to him ; nothing now remains for me but to receive the reward of perfect blessedness which our Lord will confer when he comes in judgment and victory — a reward which he will give not to me alone, but to all who have set their hearts on his manifestation and triumph. 5. Concluding Requests and Greetings (4:9-22) Make every effort to visit me soon ; for Demas in his Personal re. desire for earthly good has deserted me and gone to Thes- oT^ 9.^3) salonica. Both Crescens and Titus have also gone, and I have only Luke left. Bring Mark with you when you come, for his services are useful to me. I have sent Tychicus to Ephesus. When you come, bring me the travelling-mantle which I left at Troas ; also the papyrus- books, and especially the parchment-rolls. The brass- Christ's founder Alexander did me serious injury ; the Lord re- to'the"riend- ward him as he deserves. Be on your guard against him, \l\ll^^^}^ for he has been a bitter opponent of my teaching. At my first appearance in court no one espoused my cause, but all abandoned me ; I pray that God may forgive them. But the Lord Jesus was my helper and gave me courage and boldness, so that the gospel was proclaimed in the capital and the knowledge of it extended to the heathen ; and I was saved from the danger which threat- 17s 2 Timothy 4 : 18-22 ened me. And the same faithful Master will save me from all harm and make me a sharer in his celestial glory. To him be praise forever. Amen. Farewell My greetings to Prisca and Aquila and to the family of ^Vig-il) Onesiphorus. Erastus stayed at Corinth, and Trophimus I left at Miletus sick. If possible, come to see me before winter comes on. Eubulus, Pudens, Linus, Claudia, and all my fellow-believers send you their greetings. May the Lord Jesus bless you with his presence ! God's grace be with all the congregation ! 176 THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS THE COURSE OF THOUGHT IN THE EPISTLE No epistle in the New Testament is characterized by so high a degree of rhetorical art as that to the Hebrews. It is the only epistle of which it can be said that it must have been constructed according to a definite plan, which the author elaborated in advance. The argument, as a whole, is cumulative, and all its details are skilfully mar- shalled and made to bear upon the writer's main purpose. The structure of the epistle can best be exhibited by giv- ing a brief outline of the course of thought. The author begins with a striking portrayal of Christ's superiority in both his person and his work to the Old Testament prophets (i : 1-3). His description of the dignity of the Son leads him to the discussion of his first main topic, namely, a comparison of Christ with the angels, by whom, according to popular Jewish belief, the legal system had been introduced (i : 4 to 2 : 18). For his purpose the writer, here as elsewhere, makes large use of Old Testa- ment passages, cited from the Greek version, which he 179 Hebrews The Messages skilfully weaves together and interprets according to the method of reading Messianic prophecy which was current in his time. He shows that Christ is called God's Son, while angels are not (i : 4, 5), that angels are bidden to do him homage (i : 6), and that they are but the servants of those whom he redeems (i : 14). Thereupon he pauses in the argument to exhort the readers to be faithful to Christ and his gospel, and solemnly warns them against carelessness and negligence by saying that if disregard of the law which was given by inferior beings, the angels, was punished, how much more severe will be the penalty of neglecting the salvation brought by the Messiah (2 : 1-4). He then resumes and completes the comparison by show- ing that Christ, though made a little lower than the angels by his sufferings and death, has now been crowned with glory and honor at God's right hand (2:5-18). We note here a pervading peculiarity of the epistle, namely, that with each division of the argument is coupled an exhorta- tion to the readers to conform to the conclusion to which the argument leads. Thus, in the present instance, the main thought of the first two chapters is : Since Christ is the Supreme Revealer of God, be true and steadfast in your adherence to him. The author's second main point is the superiority of Christ to Moses. The latter was, indeed, a faithful ser- vant in God's house ; but the position of Christ is not that of a servant, but that of a son (3 : i-6»). Thereupon fol- 180 of the Apostles Hebrews lows, largely in Old Testament language adapted to the purpose, the usual exhortation : Since we have a greater leader than Moses, let us not imitate the disobedient Israelites who, refusing his leadership, perished in the desert, but faithfully follow the Captain of our salvation, who will safely lead us into the blessed rest of the heav- enly Canaan (3 : 6^ to 4 : 16). Here we note another com- mon characteristic of the epistle and an example of the writer's rhetorical art, namely : He introduces into the closing words of his exhortation which is founded on the comparison of Christ with Moses, an anticipatory reference to the topic which he intends next to discuss. In depict- ing the dignity and leadership of Christ, he alludes, at the close, to his perfect, heavenly priesthood, thus paving the way for the next and most elaborate argument of the epistle, the demonstration that Christ's priesthood is su- perior to that of the Old Covenant (5 to 12). This great central section of the epistle falls into sev- eral subdivisions. The writer begins by showing that Christ had certain characteristics in common with the Aaronic priests. Like them, he must be a man who can sympathize with and represent those on behalf of whom he ministers. But, on the other hand, unlike them, he does not need to make an offering for his own sins (5:1-3). This latter thought is only suggested here in anticipation of a fuller development later (7 : 26-28). Like the Old Testament priests, too, Christ could not 181 Hebrews The Messages assume the priestly office of himself, but must be divinely appointed to it (5 : 5). And, now, in showing how Jesus perfectly fulfilled all the essentials of that office (5 : 6-10), the writer introduces an anticipative reference to Melchiz- edek, the mysterious priest-king, who stands as a type of the changeless, eternal priesthood of the Messiah. This comparison of Christ with Melchizedek he afterward de- velops fully (7). Having thus shown that Christ, the heav- enly high -priest, is the perfect Mediator of salvation, he introduces again the constantly recurring warning and ex- hortation to the readers to persevere and grow in Chris- tian knowledge and virtue and to lay firm hold upon the hope of eternal blessedness offered in the gospel (5:11 to 6 : 20). The author then resumes the comparison of Christ with the Levitical priests, using for his purpose the figure of Melchizedek, who appears so suddenly upon the stage of Old Testament history (Gen. 14 : 18-20), and disappears as mysteriously as he comes {7). From this comparison also the perfection of Christ's priesthood is deduced. The au- thor next shows that Christ's mediation is superior to that of the Old Testament priests because, while they minister in earthly sanctuaries, which are but types or shadows of the true, he ministers in the upper, heavenly temple, the immediate presence of God ; and that he is connected with a better covenant than that which God made with the Jewish people, a new covenant superseding the old, in 182 of the Apostles Hebrews which an actual and not a mere symbolical purification from sin and cleansing of the conscience takes place (8 : I to lo : i8). This elaborate argument is followed by an equally extended practical section in which the truth developed in the argument is applied (lo : 19 to 13 : 25). Here, as in all the hortatory portions of the epistle, the watchword is : " Be patient, faithful, and obedient in your devotion to Christ and his truth. " II THE PURPOSE OF THE EPISTLE The aim which the writer had in view has been, in part, already indicated. But the subject must be more specifi- cally considered because of its bearing upon the questions of the destination and readers of the epistle. As we have seen, the contents of the epistle might be divided into (i) the theoretic or argumentative, and (2) the practical or hortatory parts. Then the question may be raised : Which group of passages represent best the main purpose of the epistle? In other words. Is the epistle primarily an argument or an exhortation? Is its immediate pur- pose to establish a certain view of Christianity or doctrine of salvation, or is it to confirm the readers in devotion to truth which they already know and hold ? If the former 183 Hebrews The Messages theory be held, then the further question arises: Is the writer's aim mainly didactic or apologetic ? Is the epistle primarily an exposition or a defence of Christian doctrine ? These questions will meet us again in the next para- graph. Suffice it to say now that the epistle is primarily practical in aim. Its arguments and illustrations are all subordinate to the practical end of confirming the readers in Christian faith and hope. An idea which frequently recurs is : If those who stood upon a lower plane of knowl- edge and privilege (the Jews) were punished for disobe- dience and unfaithfulness, how much more severely shall we who possess God's perfect revelation in Christ be pun- ished if we fail in fidelity and steadfastness. The author exhorts the readers not to be content with the rudiments, but to press on toward maturity in Christian life and knowledge (6 : i). He reproaches them for their lack of progress and exhorts them to zeal and effort. What, now, was the specific nature of the faults which characterized them and of the dangers which threatened their Christian life } Were they inclined to relapse back into Judaism, and was this the peril against which he warned them ? Or was it the danger of slackness and indifference in gen- eral ? These questions can only be answered in the light of additional facts. 184 of the Apostles Hebrews' III TO WHOM WAS THE EPISTLE ADDRESSED? The usual answer, long current in the church, is : To Jewish Christians, presumably in Palestine or, at any rate, within the province of Syria. The principal arguments for this view are: (i) The title of the epistle is "To the Hebrews," and although this title cannot be proved to have been given by its author to the letter, it is very an- cient. (2) All the various arguments of the epistle move in the world of Jewish history and ideas. The compari- son of Christ with the prophets, the angels, and Moses, and, especially, the elaborate and detailed argument for the superiority of Christ which is drawn from a descrip- tion of the Old Testament priesthood, tabernacle, and temple, show that both the writer and the readers were Jewish. (3) The inferiority of Judaism as representing a lower stage of divine revelation, is elaborately portrayed. The only natural explanation of this portrayal is that it had for its purpose to warn the readers not to go back from Christianity to this more elementary and inadequate system. If the readers were not Jewish Christians who were in danger of such a retrogression, this elaborate de- scription and argument would be quite inexplicable. (4) The readers, with the writer, are spoken of as hearers of i8S Hebrews The Messages the primitive apostles (2 : 3). Such would, most probably, be Jewish Christians. Quite a different view of the destination of the letter, however, has been adopted by several eminent scholars of our time. It is that the epistle was written without re- gard to the nationality of the readers ; that they were not considered by the author to be in danger of apostatizing to Judaism, and that they probably resided in Rome.^ The principal grounds for this theory are as follows: (i) The epistle takes no account of the difference between Jew and Gentile, and says nothing against Jewish worship and practices, such as circumcision. The author writes as a Christian to Christians without giving any indication re- specting the nationality of his readers. (2) The rudiments of Christian doctrine in which they have remained— re- pentance from dead works, belief in God and in the resur- rection and judgment — fit better the supposition that the readers were Gentiles than they do the theory that they were Jews. The latter would possess these rudiments of religious belief even before their conversion to Christ. (3) The readers are said to have performed works of benevo- lence to Christians in general (6 : 9, 10), to have endured a special conflict of sufferings (10 : 32), and to have shown sympathy with prisoners (10 : 34). Moreover, the readers are exhorted to consider the " issue of the life " of their * This opinion is advocated, for example, by Jiilicher, von Soden, Har- nack, and McGiffert. 186 of the Apostles Hebrews deceased leaders and to imitate their faith (13:7). All these indications point to Rome — to the position and in- fluence, the experience and martyr-death of believers re- siding in the world's capital. (4) The salutation which the Italian Christians send by the writer to the readers (13 : 24) is most naturally explained if the letter was des- tined for Italy, that is, in all probability, for Rome. Har- nack suggests that the epistle was addressed to some par- ticular limited circle of believers in Rome— probably to some household-congregation such as Paul mentions in First Corinthians 16 : 19 ; Romans 16 : 5, and Colossians 4: 15. These considerations certainly present some difficulty in accepting the traditional view that our epistle was really written " to the Hebrews." But are they as strong as the counter arguments ? Does the fact, for example, that our author does not speak against circumcision or attendance upon the synagogue prove anything? He might argue against a reversion to Judaism without mentioning such particulars. And if he was writing to some special group of Jewish Christians, what occasion need he have to take account of the differences between Jewish and Gentile Christians ? The arguments for the Roman destination of the letter are almost wholly built upon details in the epistle — minor traits, like the salutation of the Italians and the compassion of the readers for prisoners, which may, indeed, suggest Rome, but are not of great weight when 187 Hebrews The Messages placed over against the elaborate portrayal of the Jewish system and the cumulative argument to prove the superi- ority of the gospel to Leviticalism. These are the great outstanding peculiarities of the letter, which require ex- planation. The minor traits mentioned create difficulty mainly in consequence of our lack of information respect- ing the situation of the writer and the readers. In some instances, the Roman theory builds upon very doubtful inferences. For example: Assuming, with most inter- preters, that " the issue of their life " (13 : 7) refers to the martyr - death of the readers' former church - rulers, it would not in the least follow that Peter and Paul were especially meant, much less that the readers resided where these apostles suffered martyrdom. The common theory, on the other hand, rests upon the general character and contents of the epistle. The Jewish cast of the whole exposition, its consequent fitness and adaptation to Jewish minds, and the note of warning which seems to sound through all the arguments and ex- hortations (see, for example, 3 : 1 2 ; 4 : i , 1 1 ; 6 : 6 ; 1 2 : 1 8 ff.) by which the writer would strengthen his readers' adher- ence to Christ, not only gave rise in the early church to the title " To the Hebrews," but have convinced the great majority of scholars ever since that the epistle was de- signed for Jewish readers, probably in Palestine or Syria.* » So, e.g., Weiss, Godet, Westcott, Hort, Bruce, Beyschlag. Zahn holds that the letter was addressed to Jewish Christians resident in Rome. 188 of the Apostles Hebrews It would seem singularly gratuitous for a writer to argue the case for Christianity in comparison with Judaism at such length for readers who had never adhered to Judaism and felt no attraction to it. The opinion that the letter was primarily practical, rather than theoretical, in aim, however, is consistent with either hypothesis respecting its destination. IV THE PROBLEMS OF AUTHORSHIP AND DATE Hebrews has been handed down to us as a Pauline epistle. It does not, however, claim the apostle as its author. The tradition that Paul wrote it arose from the fact that it exhibits a general kinship to the Pauline type of thought. Like Paul, the author has much to say of the imperfect and preparatory character of the Old Testament system and of the completeness and sufficiency of the gos- pel. But, closely considered, these subjects are seen to be treated in very different ways by the two writers, while, in language, style, and mode of thought and methods of argument, the writer of Hebrews differs widely from Paul. It is quite certain that the epistle was not written by Paul. But who, then, was the writer? This question has opened a wide field for learned guessing. The epistle has been assigned to every person known to us from the 189 Hebrews The Messages New Testament who, by any possibility, could have writ- ten it — to Barnabas, Apollos, Timothy, Silas, not to men- tion others. That Barnabas was the writer was asserted by Tertullian, and many modern scholars have favored this opinion. Barnabas was a man of apostolic rank (Acts 14 : 4, 14), a Hellenist from Cyprus, a Levite, and an honored member of the Jerusalem church. As such, it is said, he might most naturally write such a letter of warning and exhortation to his fellow -believers in Pales- tine or Syria. The Apollos hypothesis, however, which was adopted by Luther, has met with still more general favor. Apol- los is known to us as a cultured, rhetorical Alexandrian, well versed in the Greek Old Testament (Acts 18 : 24 ff. ; compare i Cor. 2 : 1-5). These qualifications would ac- count for the elaborate style, the Alexandrian cast, the kinship with Philo and the Book of Wisdom, and the free use of the Septuagint in the epistle, while the relation of Apollos to Paul would explain the general agreement of the epistle with Pauline doctrine. On the other hand, it must be said that if either of these prominent men had written the epistle, it is very strange that the name of the author should so soon have been forgotten. We have no evidence that Barnabas possessed the literary culture dis- played in the epistle, and Apollos was not a disciple of the primitive apostles (2 : 3). Professor Harnack, in a recently established journal for 190 of the Apostles Hebrews New Testament studies, has elaborated the theory that the epistle was written by Priscilla. This view presupposes the Roman destination of the epistle. Harnack reminds us that the author was well acquainted with Timothy (13 : 23), was closely associated with the apostles, though not him- self an apostle (2 : 3), and must, therefore, have been a prominent Christian worker. He further calls attention to the fact that in every passage in which Priscilla and Aquila are mentioned by either Luke (Acts 18 : 18, 26) or Paul (Rom. 16:3; i Cor. 16:19; 2 Tim. 4:19), the name of Priscilla stands first. This fact seems to indicate that she was more effective and influential as a teacher than her husband. Harnack thinks that the early disap- pearance of the writer's name is most naturally explained on the supposition that the epistle was written by a woman, since it is well known that the position of women became much less prominent in the post-apostolic age than it had been in the early days of the Church. In consequence of the disfavor with which the idea of a woman acting as a teacher came to be regarded, nothing was said by those who highly esteemed the epistle respecting the writer, and thus her name fell out of all connection with her strik- ing message to her household congregation. Finally, the writer often speaks in such a way as to show that another was closely united with him (or rather, on Harnack's view, with her) in sending the message. He says : " Pray for us " (13 : 18) ; " And / exhort you " (13 * 19) ; " Our brother 191 Hebrews The Messages Timothy " (13 : 23) ; " / will see you " (13 : 23 ; compare the "we" passages, 6 : 3, 9, 11), etc. It is held that Paul's Jewish-Roman co-laborers, Aquila and Priscilla (Rom. 16:3; I Cor. 16 19), would best correspond to these various indications respecting the personality and relations of the writer. This theory has met with little favor among scholars. The considerations which are urged in its favor are out- weighed by the improbability that a Jewish - Roman woman in Rome, a weaver of tent-cloth, should have pos- sessed such a rhetorical training, and such an acquaint- ance with the Alexandrian philosophy of religion as are displayed in the Epistle to the Hebrews. It is vain, in- deed, to claim more than a conjectural value for any of the suppositions which have been advanced concern- ing the authorship of our epistle. We must still abide by the verdict of Origen. " Who it was that really wrote the epistle, God only knows." The date, too, is uncertain. Most scholars who hold that the epistle was addressed to Roman Christians place it within the reign of Domitian (A. D. 81-96). The more common view is that it was written during the years 65- 70.^ The principal argument for the earlier date is that the vivid and detailed portrayal of the Levitical cultus implies that it was a present reality and was exerting a * Harnack admits that the epistle may be earlier than Domitian's time, and Zahn assigns it to " about 80." 192 of the Apostles Hebrews i : 2 powerful attractive force upon the readers. On the con- trary, it is argued that the use made of this cultus is illus- trative only and that the writer uses the tabernacle for this purpose as freely as the temple. If, it is said, we are to argue from his references to the temple, that the tem- ple was still standing, we should be required to suppose that the description of the tabernacle also implied its con- tinued existence. While it is true that we may not con- clude from specific references to the temple that the letter antedated the year 70, it is difficult to resist the impres- sion that the picture of the sacrificial system as a whole is not one drawn from memory, but one taken from life. If our author was not writing for Jews and depicting a still existing system of worship, we must say that his illustra- tions and arguments drawn from that system and com- posing fully half of his epistle, are singularly far-fetched and inapposite. THE MESSAGE TO THE HEBREWS I. Christ's Superiority to the Angels (i, 2) In ancient times God partially revealed himself by The suprem. various methods to the Jewish people through men spe- ^^\ °.^) ^"^* cially chosen to declare his will ; in these closing days of the present age he has revealed himself to us in no less a 193 Hebrews i : 2 The Messages person than his Son. To this Son, his agent in the world's creation, God has given supreme and universal dominion. In him shines forth the radiant glory of God ; he bears the impress of the divine nature ; his will supports the order of the world. When, now, he had finished his re- deeming work for man, God exalted him to the seat of honor and power. By this exaltation it was shown that to him belonged a higher dignity than had ever been ac- corded to the angels, for he bears the high title of Son, Neither his which is not given to them. In the Old Testament we aufhority^'* do not find Jehovah represented as applying this title to canbeattrib-angreis; but he docs apply it to the Messiah. More- Uted even & » ^r j to angels over, the angels are bidden by Jehovah to render homage ^*' to Christ, when he shall return to earth in glory and triumph. Messiah's superiority to the angels is further recognized in the Old Testament. They are there likened to the swift and subtle powers of nature ; but prophets speak of Christ as possessing supreme and universal do- minion. Their language could be applied to no angel. Further : The creation of the world and perpetuity of life are attributed to him ; Jehovah describes him as occupy- ing the seat of authority and wielding the sceptre of do- minion over all foes ; while to the angels of every rank is assigned the humble position of ministering in the interest of those who are to become partakers of his salvation. Since Christ is so superior to the angels in office and authority, we ought to hear and obey his message with 194 of the Apostles Hebrews 2 : 8 even greater reverence than is due to the law which angels His teach- introduced. We all know how severely God punished loathe kS° all disobedience to the law given on Sinai ; with how by'^^ngeS^ much greater rigor will he treat indifference to the clearer ^^ • ^-4) and fuller revelation of his will in Christ — a saving revela- tion, which was presented, in the first instance, in the teaching of the Lord Jesus himself, and was then securely transmitted to us by his immediate disciples. This mes- sage of salvation through his Son, God attested by mir- acles and by bestowing upon those who received it such spiritual endowments as suited his gracious purpose. There is a further proof of Christ's superiority to the The superi- angels : God has not accorded to them dominion over the and domfn- coming Messianic age. But has he granted it to Christ ? J°". "^g^^"** Let us see. One Scripture writer does, indeed, speak of man's weakness, insignificance, and inferiority to the an- gels, but, notwithstanding this, he goes on to assert that God has exalted him to a place of dominion and authority. The language used is very strong ; he describes his sovereignty as extending to "all things." But we do not yet see man exercising any such dominion as is here described. This exaltation is realized only in Christ. In him is fulfilled both the humiliation and the exaltation of which the Psalmist speaks — the former by his stooping to suffer the death of the cross, the latter by his glorifica- tion. Now the temporary humiliation of Christ below the angels is no argument against his real supremacy over 195 Hebrews 2 : 9 The Messages His humilia- them. It was a necessary condition of his accomplishing to°wa?(/ te his saving work for man that he should pass through a (afg^iS" career of suffering. For both Saviour and saved have a common Father — God ; hence the Saviour does not scruple to address men as his brothers, expressing, in common with them, his trustful dependence on Jehovah, and naming himself as the elder brother of the children of God. Since the men whom he came to save were pos- sessed of a weak and perishable nature, he also himself took upon him human frailty, in order that by himself submitting to death he might render powerless him who introduced death into the world, that is, Satan, and might free men from their perpetual bondage to the fear of death. For, indeed, he did not come to earth to save angels, but Thus he be- men. Therefore it was necessary that he should enter came our , . . ..... perfect High mto human conditions and limitations, in order that he (^Ti7, 18) rnight fulfil his priestly office of atonement on behalf of the people, in perfect sympathy with all their sin and need. For since he has himself passed through a career of moral trial, he is able to help those who are undergoing temptation. 2. Christ's Superiority to Moses (3: i to 4: 16) In view of the position and purpose of Christ which have been described, do you, fellow-members of the Christian commonwealth, give careful heed to him who has introduced and ratified the new gospel dispensation, 196 of the Apostles Hebrews 3 : 13 namely, Jesus, who has as faithfully accomplished his di- The position vinely given mission on behalf of man, as did Moses his °he kingdom work as a leader of the people of God. But to Christ, God ^^^Sd'^wkT' has assigned a dignity and authority as much higher than jjjat of that given to Moses as the position of one who organizes (3 : 1-6) and regulates a household is higher than that of the ser- vants within it. Now just as every household must have some administrator in charge of it, so must God's spiritual household ; and it is God himself who presides over his family and, in various periods, gives to one and another his position and function within it. Now, in thus arrang- ing for the administration of his household, God made Moses a servant, and he faithfully performed the service of bearing testimony to truths which were to be more fully revealed through Christ ; but to Christ he gave the authority which belongs to a Son, placing him in com- plete control of his spiritual family — of which we are members, if we persevere in our loyalty to Christ and in our confident expectation of his kingdom, until his com- ing. Now the Scripture describes the indifference and Warnings disobedience of the people under the leadership of Moses, foTaTty and in consequence of which Jehovah declared that they ^is°^^^'^"« should not enter the promised land. Therefore, do you, (3 : 7-19) my Christian brethren, beware of disloyalty and dis- obedience to One who possesses so much higher a dignity and authority than Moses had. Be warned of the dangers of unfaithfulness, in this your day of opportunity ; lest 197 Hebrews 3 : 14 The Messages any of you be seduced by sin into disloyalty to Christ. For we shall share in blessed fellowship with Christ if we persevere in trusting him till his coming. Heed, then, the solemn warning against unfaithfulness which was given to the Israelites, and do not repeat the sin of which they were guilty in the wilderness. But how general was the disobedience of which I have spoken .'* Was it not uni- versal ? And was not God angry with Israel for her sins in consequence of which so many perished in the desert } And did not God utter a solemn oath that these faithless people should not see the promised land } Thus we see that it was unfaithfulness which prevented them from en- tering Canaan, and we should beware of repeating their experience. Thepro-nise xhe failure of the Tews, through their unbelief, to enter or rest and •' ° blessedness the promised land should be a warning to us, lest we, like through them, should fail to attain the proffered peace and bless- (4:T-'io.t edness of Christ's kingdom. For we Christians have had a divine promise of rest proclaimed to us, as the Jews did through Moses ; they did not heed the message addressed to them, but received it only with incredulity. Let us not follow their example. We conclude that the rest of God was destined to be realized by the followers of Christ ; the Jews were excluded from it, as the Psalmist says, although it was fully prepared and waiting from the creation of the world. For that there was a Sabbath rest of God from the beginning is implied in the Scriptural word about 198 of the Apostles Hebrews 4 : 14 God's resting after creation, and in the refusal of God to permit the Jewish people to enjoy it. The case stands thus : God has prepared a Sabbath rest for his people ; the Jews by their faithlessness forfeited it ; yet the Psalm which speaks of the " to-day " of opportunity, and warns against disobedience, implies that the rest in question is still available. For if the Jewish people under Joshua had realized the real rest of God, the Scripture, so long after- ward, would not have spoken of it as still unentered and unenjoyed, as the Psalmist does when he proclaims an- other " to-day " of God's favor. We therefore conclude that this rest has been reserved till now, and is available for believers in the Messiah. Such a blessed repose in Christ's kingdom as I speak of is possible for us, for who- ever enters the rest of God rests from the toils and labors of his life as God rested after creation. Such being the Faithfulness glorious prospect which is open to us, let us beware of commands disobedience and failure. For God's requirements are ft^^fui^^Jn^ent strict and severe. His messages and commandments are (4 : "-13) living and effective, and they pierce and search the inmost recesses of our life. None can escape his all-seeing eye ; all unbelief and disobedience are perfectly known by him to whom we are accountable. Since, then, we have so exalted a Mediator, Jesus, our risen and glorified Lord, let us continue loyal and faithful to him. For though he is so highly exalted, yet he is full of compassionate feeling for our weaknesses; he has 199 Hebrews 4:15 The Messages An assur- passed through a full course of moral trial like our own, Chris?s without yielding to sin. We may therefore fearlessly ap- hdpfiiness pfo^ch his heavenly seat in the assurance that he will re- (4 : 14-16) ceive us with favor and will strengthen us to resist and overcome the power of evil when we are tempted. 3. His Qualifications for the Priestly Office (5 : i-io) The quaii- The pricst who is to intercede with God on behalf of fo/a"riesr ^^^'^ ^"^ ^o offcr Sacrifices in atonement for sin, must him- (5 : 1-4) self be a man ; he must be able to sympathize with men in their weakness and sin, because he is himself acquainted by experience with human frailty, and on this account he must offer sacrifices for his own sins as well as for those of others. Moreover, the priest must not assume his of- fice, but must take it by appointment from God as Aaron Christ's per- did. Now Christ fulfilled these conditions of the priestly sion orthi'm office ; he did not grasp the honor of the priesthood, but (5 : 5-10) God who, in Scripture, is described as exalting him to his Messianic throne and as attributing to him a perpetual priesthood, appointed him to the office. He also fulfilled the first condition of exercising the priestly office by en- during, in his human life, the severest trials and sufferings, by w.hich he was disciplined in obedience to the will of God, perfectly fitted for his work as Saviour of men, and exalted to the dignity of a perpetual priesthood. 200 of the Apostles Hebrews 6 : 8 4. Christ a Priest of a Higher Order than the Aaronic Priests (5 : 10 to 7 : 28) It is difficult to make plain to you the meaning of this These deep .^ . ^. . . f . . . er aspects ol priestly office of Christ because of your immaturity in Christ's Christian knowledge. For although you have been Chris- mendedTo tians long enough to have become the instructors of ^^^ reader's » o attention others, you need yourselves to be instructed in the very (5 : "-u) elements of Christian doctrine ; you are mere children in the apprehension of the gospel. For he who can receive only the rudiments of Christian teaching is a mere child in understanding. But the deeper mysteries of our faith are appreciated only by the mature Christian who is trained in discriminating between what is useful and what is worthless in religious teaching. Let us leave behind this elementary stage of Christian An exhorta- knowledge and go on toward maturity ; let us cease to and progress limit our attention to those primary truths in which, by ^^ • '"^^ this time, we should all be well instructed. And this progress to higher stages of knowledge we shall achieve — with God's blessing. I exhort you the more earnestly to make this progress, because if you do not go forward you are in danger of going backward and forsaking Christ altogether. I warn you that if, after having made a be- ginning in the Christian life, as you have done, you now desert the gospel, you will find no other means of salva- tion ; you will be treating with contempt the only One 201 Hebrews 6 : 9 The Messages who is able to save you. You will but show how thank- less you are — like the soil which heaven blesses with fre- quent showers and which brings forth only briers in return. And to in- But though I thus Warn you against deserting the gospel, votion to I do not believe, my brethren, that you will thus renounce (6^"9-i2) your allegiance to Christ. You have shown, and are still showing, your love to God by your services done to his people, and he will bless and reward you for this. I trust you will persevere in your Christian faithfulness and con- fidence, and that with God's faithful people you may share in the blessedness of Messiah's kingdom at his coming. The Gospel- When God assured Abraham of a numerous posterity, fir^d byT" he Confirmed his promise by a most solemn oath taken in of ^G^d °*^^ ^he name of his sacred honor. Abraham confidently be- (6 : 13-20) lieved the promise, and it came true. His promises to us are equally sure. For as men make their oaths, by which they would confirm their statements, in the name of some- one greater than themselves, so God, in order to give the most absolute assurance to his people, confirmed his prom- ise by an oath. Thus he has given us a double assurance, by his promise and by his oath, in order that we who have placed our hope of salvation in Christ might be kept secure in our confidence, as a ship is held by its anchor. Let this steadfast hope bind us to that spiritual and heavenly world into which Jesus, our Advocate and Priest, after the order of Melchizedek, has now entered. That Christ's priesthood is fitly typified by that of Mel- of the Apostles Hebrews 7 : lo chizedek is seen in the fact that in the name of Jehovah Mdchizedek this royal priest pronounced a blessing upon Abraham, chrfst ° the head of the Jewish nation, and received from him, as ^^ • ^'3^ an expression of honor and homage, tithes of the chief spoils of war. This fitness is also seen in the meaning of the priest's name, " king of righteousness," and in the meaning of the name of his city, " Peace." The parallel extends further: Melchizedek suddenly appears on the field of Old Testament history, and as suddenly disap- pears — a priest, not by descent, but by some higher right, suggesting the priesthood of him whose office is bound up with his essential, changeless life. Reflect, now, upon the superiority of Melchizedek's The superi- ,-11 f 1 T • T-1- o"ty of Mel- pnesthood, as compared with that ot the Levites. 1 hey, chizedek's indeed, receive tithes from those who, like themselves, are fo'Sj'S'^ sons of Abraham and who are therefore equal to them in t^? Levitical '■ _ pnests rank, and thus have a certain relative pre-eminence ac- (7 : 4-10) corded to them ; but Melchizedek, whose priesthood did not rest upon human descent, received tithes from the great patriarch himself and took the part of a superior in pronouncing blessing upon him. Moreover, the Levitical priests are subject to death, but of the death of Melchiz- edek the Old Testament says nothing. Yes, I may even say that, in a certain sense, Levi himself paid tithes to Melchizedek, for Levi, though yet unborn, may be re- garded as rendering homage to Melchizedek in the person of his ancestor Abraham. 203 Hebrews 7:11 The Messages Christ's per- We have further proof of the inferiority of the Levitical Evenfy priesthood : If that priesthood, on which the whole Old P"f j'j^°°^ Testament system was based, could have secured the end which it proposed — the reconciliation of men with God — then no other priesthood would have been needed ; but it could not ; that priesthood must therefore give place to another. Now, since the whole system rested upon the priesthood, the change in the priesthood must involve the abrogation of the whole system. How radical this change was is seen in the fact that the new priest, Christ, comes from another tribe than that of Levi and rests his claims on wholly different grounds from those of descent. And that with this change in the priesthood the whole Mosaic economy disappears, is still further evident from the fact that the new priest is of a different order from the old, and that his office rests upon a unique basis. He was not made priest by a rule or statute, but in virtue of an inherent, imperishable life ; accordingly his priesthood is described as changeless and perpetual. Thus the old, im- perfect, priestly institution passes away, and with it the system of which it was a part ; and we see that a secure hope of attaining the goal contemplated by the law is first attained under Christianity. Moreover, the superiority of Christ's priesthood, as compared with that of the Levitical priests, is shown by the fact that he, unlike them, was de- clared a priest by the solemn oath of Jehovah ; it follows that the covenant under which he ministers is far superior 204 of the Apostles Hebrews 8 : 3 to the Old Testament system. Another point of differ- ence is that the Levitical priests stand in an order of suc- cession and are subject to death, while Christ's office is grounded in his immutable life. This qualification enables him to complete the work of salvation for all who accept his mediation, since his ministrations on their behalf are uninterrupted. For the completion of our salvation we needed the Christ the ministrations in the heavenly sanctuary of such a perfect who maki?* priest as Christ is — one who does not need, as the Levit- offgr^^^^ ical priests do, to offer sacrifices for his own sins as well (7 = 26-28) as for those of others, nor, like them, to repeat his sacri- fice over and over again ; for the priests of Judaism were frail and sinful men, while the priest of the New Covenant whom Jehovah has appointed by his oath is a Son, per- fectly fitted for his saving work. 5. Christ the Minister and Exponent of the New Spiritual Covenant (8:1 to 10 : 18) A leading point in my whole argument respecting the Christ min- superiority of Christ's priesthood is that he officiates, not helvVniy^^ in this lower, earthly temple, like the Levitical priests, but J^J^jJJJJJjy" in the upper, heavenly sanctuary. I speak of Christ as a diate pres- ministering priest ; now the very meaning of a priest is (8 : 1-5) one who offers sacrifices ; wherefore Christ must offer a sacrifice. Now it cannot be on earth that he fulfils this priestly function, because the priestly office on earth is 205 Hebrews 8 : 4 The Messages already filled ; it must be in the upper, spiritual tabernacle that he ministers — the true sanctuary, of which the Mosaic tabernacle, whose construction Jehovah directed, was but a typical representation. This heavenly priest- hood is as much superior to its earthly counterpart as the New Covenant with which it is connected is superior, in the hopes and blessings which it offers, to the Old Cov- enant. For if the Old Testament system had been per- fect, it would not have been supplanted by a new dispen- As predict- satioH. But it was not, and its imperfection is recognized fJ^ijekTgtiTp- by its own representatives, the prophets, who describe the"new s^ir J^hovah as promising his people a New Covenant, which ituai cove- shall be different from that which he gave them on Mount Christ" Sinai. The marks of this new order which Jehovah (8 : 6-13) promised are, that it shall be a system of inner law rather than of outer law, that it shall aim at making the knowl- edge of Jehovah universal, and that it shall be a dispensa- tion of grace and forgiveness. Now, when the coming of a new system is thus foretold, it is evident that the speedy abrogation of the old is implied ; and if the prophet, so long ago, could speak of this change as imminent, we must conclude that by this time it is near its consum- mation. Thesacri- Now the Old Testament system had its various ar- imperf Jct^™ rangcmcuts for worship and its visible earthly sanctuary, mi *^'"^°' The tabernacle in the wilderness consisted of two parts : (9 : i-io) an outer one, called the holy place, and an inner one, 206 of the Apostles Hebrews 9 : 13 called the most holy place, each with its appropriate ar- rangements and furnishings, which it does not now con- cern us to describe in detail. This being the construction of the tabernacle, the priests were allowed at all times to enter the outer court and offer their sacrifices, but into the innermost part only the high-priest could enter, and he but once a year, when he made atonement for his own sins and for those of the congregation. Now this ar- rangement by which the most holy place was made so inaccessible was a symbolic expression of the fact that, under the old system, free access into the immediate presence of God was not yet permitted, and that the per- fect religion had not yet been introduced. The sacrifices which were offered under the old covenant bore in them- selves the marks of their imperfection ; they were outward and temporary, and could not cleanse and renew the heart. Now, the ideal religion toward which the Mosaic Christ has economy pointed, Christ has introduced. His ministry on [deaf of the our behalf is not performed in an earthly and temporary ment^s^ysfem sanctuary, but in the heavenly temple, in the immediate (9 - "-22) presence of God. The sacrifice which he has offered was not that of animals, but that of his own life, and in the heavenly world he is now acting as the Mediator of our salvation. For if the sacrifice of animals was accepted, under the old covenant, as accomplishing a ceremonial cleansing, how much more shall the perfect spiritual sacri- 207 Hebrews 9 : 14 The Messages fice of the spotless Christ accomplish the real purification of the inner life. By means of this perfect sacrifice Christ has introduced a new order, which, by reason of the ef- ficacy of his death for those who lived under the imperfect Jewish dispensation, is able to secure the perfect salvation of all God's people. This death of Christ was necessary, for a testament ' is only rendered valid and put into effect by the testator's death. Accordingly, we find much said about death in connection with the old covenant ; in fact, death by the shedding of blood is a constant factor in the carrying out of that system and an essential characteristic of its worship. Christ's per- Thcsc Considerations emphasize, by analogy, the neces- (9^: 23-28)" sity of Christ's death. As the lower sanctuary, the sym- bol of the true, was ceremonially purified by sacrifice, so the most holy place on high must be made ready and ac- cessible for believers by the perfect sacrifice of Christ. For Christ's priestly ministry is performed, not in an earthly sanctuary, but in the very presence of God him- self ; nor does he need to repeat his sacrifice, as the Jewish high-priest did ; for had his priesthood been like theirs, his death would have needed to occur many times during the course of human history ; but since his priest- 1 There is here a play on the word fiiaff^xij —which may mean either cove- nant or testament. The writer uses the word in the former sense except in 9 : 16, 17, where he passes over to the other meaning, which was better adapted to the purpose of his argument. 208 of tJie Apostles Hebrews lo : 13 hood is so superior, it was only necessary that he should make one final and effectual sacrifice for sins. And just as men die but once, and thereafter follows, not another death, but judgment, so Christ has died once for the sins of mankind, and when he comes to earth again, he will not come to die a second time, but to complete for his followers the work of their salvation. Since the Jewish sacrificial system deals only with types The old . . , ... . . . , , . , , covenant of the true, spiritual realities, it is evident that it could not, fulfilled in by its repeated ministrations, complete the salvation of(i|."i]^8) those who participated in its rites. The perpetual repeti- tion of its sacrifices is itself a proof that it could not effectu- ally and permanently accomplish its object. The fact that every year, on the great day of atonement, confession of sin was made, shows that the people had not attained the full consciousness of pardon. And, no wonder, for, in the nature of the case, animal sacrifices could not purify the moral life. Accordingly, we find the Scripture describing Christ's work as consisting, not in burnt sacrifices, but in the sacrifice of perfect obedience to God. The old method of approach to God he has set aside, and has opened the new path of obedience by which we are fully forgiven and sanctified. How great the difference ! In the Old Testament we see the priests constantly repeating these ineffectual sacrifices, whereas under the new dispensation we see Christ offering one final sacrifice for sin and then taking his heavenly throne and carrying to completion his 209 Hebrews lo : 14 The Messages Exhortation to confi- dence and steadfast- ness in the Christian life (10 : 19-25) saving work. For by one effectual sacrifice he has pro- vided a perfect salvation for those who believe on him. How plainly are the greatness and sufficiency of this sav- ing work pictured in the prophet's proclamation of forgive- ness and moral renewal as the chief characteristics of the gospel ! Now where these results are attained, there can be no further occasion for expiatory offerings. 6. The Perils of Apostasy (10 : 19-39) Since, now, the immediate presence of God, the mest holy place of the heavenly sanctuary, has been made ac- cessible to us by the rending of the veil of the Saviour's flesh, and since he now officiates as priest on our behalf in the heavenly temple, let us come to God in all sincerity and confidence, since we have been purified from sin by the perfect sacrifice and consecrated to God in baptism. And let us steadfastly adhere to the assurance of salvation given us in Christ, for this promise of God will not fail of its fulfilment. And let us seek to promote in one another the spirit of brotherhood and of benevolence ; especially let us not cease our regular attendance upon the meetings of the Christian assembly, as some are doing, but encour- age one another in the Christian life, the more so as the day of the Lord's coming draws near. For if we deliberately abandon the true way of salvation which Christ has opened to us through his death, we shall find no other means of deliverance ; after such an apostasy 210 of the Apostles Hebrews lo : 36 there will remain for us only the terrible prospect of the if the read- divine judgment, when God's fiery indignation will con- chris^they sume his foes. The law of Moses summarily punished ^thef Sav° apostasy — when attested by two or three witnesses — byjo""^, the penalty of death ; how much more terrible will be the penalty which he shall deserve who has treated the Sav- iour with contempt, despised, as if it were impure, his holy sacrifice, and scorned the work of the divine Spirit in the Church. The penalty of such disobedience cannot be escaped, for in the Scripture Jehovah solemnly declares that he will punish his foes and vindicate his people, and it is a terrible thing to expose one's self to his punitive judgment. Remember how in the first days of your Christian life Believers you patiently suffered persecution for your faith, both by |^ady to suf- enduring abuses and assaults, which exposed you to pub- f/'for^rdr lie contempt, and through your efforts for the alleviation faith of the sufferings of your fellow-believers. Such was your devotion to Christ at that time that you actively sympa- thized with those who were imprisoned for Christ's sake and cheerfully submitted to the plundering of your prop- erty, being sustained by the thought that you had a pre- cious and eternal inheritance in heaven. Do not now for- The reward sake this zealous and courageous Christian confession endurance which carries with it the assurance of eternal blessedness. ^^° '• 35-39) For steadfast endurance is necessary, in order that when you have proved yourselves faithful to the divine require- Hebrews lo : 37 The Messages ments, you may enter into the possession of the promised blessing. For soon the Lord will come, and then the steadfast devotion of the faithful believer shall prove his passport to eternal life, but the apostate God will reject. I am confident, however, that you and I, my readers, do not belong to that class who renounce the gospel and so forfeit their salvation, but are among those who are persevering in loyalty to Christ and will inherit the promised blessedness. 7. The Triumphs of Faith (11) Examples Now this trust in God's promises of which I speak, is a TeS^ament firm Confidence that what is hoped for will come to pass, faUhlnlpk^ ^^^ assured conviction of the existence of invisible realities. hope for the It vvas just this iuncr persuasion for which the Old Testa- future •* ^ . 3. The Gospel Rule of Life (2:1-11) I am writing you, my dear disciples, in the hope of showing you more plainly the way of holiness ; but when any one of you does fall into sin, let him remember that we have one to plead our cause before God, even our holy Saviour, Jesus Christ, who has died to save us from sin ; and not to save us only, but to save all men. Now the test of discipleship to him is the doing of what he com- mands ; if, therefore, anyone claims fellowship with him and yet disobeys his word, that is proof that his pro- fession is false ; but those who obey his precepts, thereby show that they are sincerely consecrated to God. This, then, is the test of fellowship with Christ. He who lays claim to such fellowship must live the life of Christ-like purity and service. This rule of life which I am setting before you is no novelty, it is but the requirement of the gospel which was 230 of the Apostles i John 2 : 17 taught you at your conversion. And, yet, the Christian The law law is ever taking on new meaning and shining in new once^new light. It is the law which reigned in the life of Jesus and ^2"? 7,% which must rule in our lives ; for we Christians have emerged from the life of sin and error into the knowledge of God's truth and love. To his law of purity and love we must be obedient if we are to be Christ's disciples. Hatred toward one's fellows is the practical denial of that The spirit of law. This, I say, is the test; brotherly love is the proof de^^ce of ^ that we are living in obedience to God's requirements. dUclpieship Hatred, on the contrary, is the proof that we do not truly <2 '- 9-") know God, and that we are living in perverse disregard of his holy will. 4. An Appeal to Young and Old to Seek the Higher Divine Life (2 : 12-17) • I am writing to you, my spiritual children, in order that Obedience you who have tasted God's forgiving love in Christ, may one supreme know the way of salvation more perfectly. I am writing ^}^\^^^,^ x to you who are older to deepen in you the knowledge of your divine Saviour. To you younger believers I am writ- ing to encourage you in your manly conflict against evil. To young and old alike I have written in order to confirm you in Christian knowledge and virtue. And this is the substance of my instruction : Set not your hearts on this wicked, perishable world ; for all its beauty, pomp, and pleasure are as fleeting as a fading flower. Build, there- 231 I John 2 : i8 The Messages Desertions from the brotherhood not unex- pected (2 : i8) Their apos- tasy danger- ous and destructive (2 : 19-23) The true Christian must be ab- solutely loyal to Christ (2 : 24-29) fore, your hopes on God, for those who commit them- selves to him are secure amid all life's changes. 5. A Warning against the Denial of Christ (2 : 18-29) You have already been taught, my children, that the day of the Lord's coming shall be preceded by the out- break of hostility to his truth and kingdom ; those who embody such opposition have already appeared, and from this we may know that the day of his advent is near. These foes of Christ left our Christian fellowship because they were not in real sympathy with us ; had they been so, they would have remained in the church, but their de- parture only showed that they were not true Christians. Now you have received enlightenment from God, and you know full well what the Christian life is and requires. I am not writing to tell you this, for you know perfectly the difference between truth and falsehood. What is so false as the denial of the real Messiahship of Jesus ? This is the very essence of anti-Christian unbelief. The denial of Christ is equally the denial of God, who has attested Christ as his Son. The former denial carries with it the latter. Yield no place to this anti-Christian spirit. Hold fast the truth which was taught you from the first. Persevere in your confession of both the Son and the Father. By clinging to Christ, as well as by be- lieving in God, you shall realize the promise of eternal 232 of the Apostles i John 3 : 6 life. My warnings are intended to put you on your guard against tliese deniers of Christ. I am confident that the divine presence and teaching will secure you against being shaken from your steadfast adherence to him. Let us be true to him, that, when he comes in majesty, we may have no occasion, by reason of our unfaithfulness, to tremble before him in fear and dread. You know that he is worthy of all confidence; be assured, then, that in living the life of fellowship with him, you may claim the full rights of children of God. 6. The Nature and Goal of the Christ-like Life (3 : 1-12) How wonderful a love God has shown us in calling us The mean- into the life of fellowship and likeness to himself. This qSllfents is why we find no favor in the eyes of the wicked world, °o ood^'^ for the world is estranged from God. Already we are (3 = 1-6) members of the household of God ; and yet we are far frorM the full realization of our Christian calling ; but when Christ shall return, then shall we see him with unclouded vision and be transformed into his likeness. Now everyone whose life is inspired by the purpose of becoming like Christ, strives after the perfection of his great example. The sinful life means defiance to the holy will of God, and it was the object of Christ's coming to destroy the power of sin. He, therefore, who claims fel- lowship with the sinless Saviour, must forsake the sinful life ; for such a life is contrary to the very nature and re- I John 3 : 7 The Messages Deeds of quirements of discipleship to Christ. Let there be no ckstveevU mistake on this point ; he is acceptable to God who lives ?he sfn?ef is ^ ^oly, Christ-lilce life ; the habitual sinner, on the con- not a child trary, shows by his deeds his likeness to Satan, whose nat- of God ^ •' , ^, . (3 : 7-12) ure it is to sin. It is the very purpose of Christ s coming into the world to destroy Satan's dominion. The true child of God does not live the sinful life, because the germ of a new character has been implanted in him ; indeed, he cannot live such a life, since it would be the contradic^ tion of his sonship to God, Here, then, is the test by which we may distinguish those who are morally akin to God and those who are kindred to Satan : Those who do not live the life of purity and love are not God's children. The duty of love is the burden of the gospel which has been taught you since you became Christians. Its oppo- site is seen in the murderous hate of Cain, whose deed sprang from his wicked hostility to the goodness which he saw in his brother. 7. Love the Crowning Characteristic of this Life (3 : 13-24) The con- Such being the nature of the Christian life, it is no tween love wonder that you find yourselves in disfavor with the world, fs'fijis) ^^^ ^^^y proof that you have broken with the wicked world, the realm of moral death, is that you love one an- other ; for love is the essence of goodness. On the con- trary, hate is the principle which spreads death through 234 of the Apostles i John 3 : 24 the world, and thus we meet again in love, and hate the contrasted, antagonistic forces of life and death. How, now, shall we learn the meaning of love ? Look upon The real Christ and see him giving his life for his fellows ; there \^^^)^f ° we see love's supreme exemplification ; his life of sacrifice ^q^^^ ^^ and service is the pattern for us. On the contrary, the (3 = 16-18) loveless life would be seen in one who possessed the means and the opportunity of helping and serving those in need and yet refused to do so. Let our love be no mere profession, but an active principle leading to good deeds. If our love is thus sincere and helpful, we may know that we belong to God, and when our consciences condemn us for our faults, we may still be confident of God's favor, because he who takes account of our right desire and intention, is more compassionate toward his true children than they are toward themselves. But most The assur- , .f . . . ance which happy are we if we give our consciences no occasion to springs out accuse us. Then we may rejoice in all the fulness of°^!°j^g%^j God's grace, because we are living in accord with his holy will. And what is it to do what he requires } What but this : to live the life of Christ-like love ? To do that is to be in blessed fellowship with God, and the consciousness of this fellowship he gives through the presence of his Spirit in our hearts. 235 I John 4 : i The Messages 8. The Anti-Christian Spirit (4 : 1-6) The test of Dq not credulouslv follow even^one who offers to teach true and , , ,, , i i • i i false teach- you, but apply to all the test by which you may know (4I 1-3) whether they are really teachers of divine truth or not (for the world is full of pretenders to a divine mission). Now, this is the test by which you may know the true from the false : Those who acknowledge the incarnation of Jesus are true ; those who deny this are false. This spirit of denial is the essence of that hostility to Christ which you have been told would manifest itself, and which True chii- has, indeed, already appeared. You are God's true chil- heed°in?y '^ dren and have resisted the influence of these false guides ; ^hr^th^^^ for the power that works in you is mightier than that (4 : 4-6) which prevails in the wicked world. The false teachers embody the spirit of this evil world and therefore find in it the sphere of their work and influence. But we belong to another order ; ours is the message of God's truth, and this message must find its acceptance among those who are morally kindred to God ; the wicked world will not re- ceive our teaching. Here, then, is the test by which we may distinguish the true teaching from the false. 9. The Supremacy of Love (4 : 7-21) Love the Brotherly love is the motto of our religion, for love is a reilSon °^ divine principle. Those whose lives are ruled by love are (4 : 7-13) God's true children. Those, on the contrary, who reject 236 of the Apostles i John 4 : 19 this principle cannot be living in fellowship with God, since love is the very essence of God's moral nature. Now the supreme revelation of God's love is seen in his sending his only Son into the world for our salvation. The greatness of this love appears in the fact that God loved us, although we did not love him, and sent his Son to save us from our sins. In this free and undeserved love of God what a motive should we find to the love of one another ! Although God is invisible to our outward eyes, if love is the motive of our life he is spiritually pres- ent in us and reproduces his own nature in us. It is by this test of growing likeness to God that we know our- selves as living in vital fellowship with him. Now this The coming supreme proof of God's love, the sending of his Son to su^emJ^x-^ save us, we have known in our own experience. To ^""p^^ °^ acknowledge and accept this gift of God is to enter into (4 : 14-16) the life of communion with him. This gift we believers have received and appropriated. It is the self-revelation of him whose nature is love; therefore to live the life of love is to live in blessed and perfect union with God. When we thus share in the God-like life of love we have Love casts no more fear of the divine judgment because we know f^! jy!!^) that we are living our life in harmony with God's nature and requirements. I say that love is the best cure for fear. When one loves he need not dread the penalties of God's law, for to do so would show that he had not really entered into the God-like life of love. Our love to God is the answer of our hearts to the free and undeserved love 237 I John 4 : 20 The Messages Love to God which God has shown to us. Love to God also carries man are in- with it lovc to man. The pretence to love God when one X^^S^^t) hates his fellow-men is false ; for who could rise to the height of loving the invisible God who cannot even love his fellow-men among whom he daily lives .'' You see, therefore, that the gospel requirement that we should love God includes also the duty of love to our fellow-men. 10. Jesus Christ the Way to God (5 : 1-12) Faith in We bccome children of God through the acceptance of slv^our^is Christ as Messiah and Saviour, and love to God the Father the Chrfs-"^ carries with it love to all his children. If we truly love tian's victory Qod and obcy his will we may be assured that we shall over the •' ^ world also love our brethren. The proof of love to God is the ^ ' ^' doing of his requirements, and they are not irksome when love rules the heart. Those who are in spiritual union with God resist the power of the evil world, and the in- spiring motive in their successful conflict with sin is their faith. Whom do we see winning the victory over sin if not those who are trusting in Jesus as their Saviour } He The three- was, and remained throughout his life on earth, the truly mony^which Anoiutcd of God ; not alone at his baptism, but also in bo°rne^Shis ^^^ through his death, did God's Spirit attest his divine Son mission. This divine attestation of the Sonship of Christ is that which proves him to be the Messiah and Saviour, and this witness is threefold : the bestowment of the Spirit upon him, the heavenly voice at his baptism, and 238 of the Apostles i John 5:17 the divine favor and presence in his death ; and all these conspire to prove the same thing : the reality and divine- ness of his saving mission. Now, if we are ready to ac- This testi- cept the testimony of men, how much more ready should ^rpass^d we be to receive the testimony by which God himself has j" yaiue proclaimed Jesus Christ to be his Son and our Saviour. He who accepts Christ rests upon this strong divine as- surance, while he who refuses him rejects the plain word of God because he rejects the testimony by which God has attested Jesus as his Son. Now this is the substance of the divine testimony : God has brought to men eternal life in his Son ; to receive the Son is to receive the life which he brings ; to reject the Son is to reject the life of which he is the Bearer. II. The Christian's Jirm Assurance (5 : 13-21) I am writing to you, my Christian brethren, to confirm The Chris- you in the assurance of your salvation through Christ. so^n"abie^c'on We may have all confidence that God hears our prayers fidence in prayer and that he will give us all things which are in accord with (5 = 13-17) his gracious purpose for our salvation. If, for example, any one of you sees a brother halting and stumbling in the Christian course, he may confidently ask God's help in his effort to save the erring one from his faults ; but there is a contemptuous rejection of Christ concerning which I dare not express myself so hopefully. All failure to do God's will is, of course, sinful, but the prospect of recov- 239 I John 5 : 18-21 ery is much greater in the case of some sins than in that of others. The believ- Now in the nature of the case the true child of God rity fn'christ cannot live a sinful life, for his Saviour keeps him secure (5 : i8-2i) £j.Qj^ |.|^g assaults of Satan. We Christians are conscious of the friendship of God and of the enmity of the wicked world. We also know that to us God has revealed him- self in Christ and that through him we have a saving knowledge of the Father. To us the blessed realities of God's life and love have been disclosed in Christ; to receive them is salvation. My dear disciples, be prompt to reject all counterfeits which are offered you in their stead. 240 THE SECOND EPISTLE OF JOHN THE SECOND EPISTLE OF JOHN THE AUTHORSHIP OF THE LETTER After a partial and somewhat doubtful recognition this epistle was definitely adopted into the canon by the coun- cils of Laodicea and Carthage in the fourth century. Ob- jection has been made to its apostolic authorship on the ground of the severe and intolerant language of verses lo and II, and because the author calls himself the elder or presbyter {v. i). On the other hand, it is difficult to imagine any motive for the forging of this brief personal letter, and it is unnatural to suppose that a forger would have called himself the presbyter and not the apostle. Moreover, the epistle shows not a few points of resem- blance to First John in style and contents. Some have referred the letter to the somewhat dim and doubtful per- sonality called " John the presbyter " in early church tra- dition, but this view is not especially favored by verse i, since it appears that in the early church the apostles were 243 2 John The Messages sometimes called elders (i Pet. 5 fi) and there is no rea- son why the apostle John may not have designated him- self by that title. II THE PERSON ADDRESSED To whom is this epistle addressed ? The words of the address {v. i), rendered in our English versions: "unto the elect lady and her children," ^ are capable of two gen- eral meanings, and the second of these may be expressed in any one of three different translations. The first in- terpretation is that some church (personified) is addressed ; compare i Peter 5 : 13, where "she that is in Babylon, elect together with you," is supposed by many to refer to the church in Babylon (or Rome). The other interpre- tation applies the phrase to an individual. But who is the person? Three answers are possible, (i) " To the lady Electa ; " (2) " To the elect Curia ; " (3) " To the elect, that is, Christian, lady " (unnamed). Against the view that a church is addressed is the analogy of Third John, V. I, where a person is named, and the fact that the epistle proceeds as if written to a person. The order of the words is unfavorable to the supposition that a woman * The Greek is : «KAe»tTp Kvpi^ (cai toIs jiKvoi.^ avr^$. 244 of the Apostles 2 John named either Electa or Curia is addressed. The most natural meaning of the word is that given in our English versions — " to the Christian lady " — but they give us no intimation as to who the " elect lady " was. Ill THE PURPOSE OF THE LETTER The primary object of the letter is indicated in z/. 4 : " I rejoice greatly that I have found certain of thy chil- dren walking in truth, even as we received commandment from the Father." The apostle seems to have met with some of the children of the lady addressed, perhaps at Ephesus, and he wrote this letter to the mother and the children to express his joy at their Christian devotion. But there was a secondary object in writing, namely, to warn the family against the anti- Christian denial that Jesus is come in the fiesh {vv. 7-1 1). We note in this brief letter the same interplay of tender instruction and encourage- ment in the life of love and of impassioned warning against the denial of Christ which characterize the First Epistle. The writer promises, if possible, to visit the family ad- dressed (z/. 12), and closes by sending the greetings of the "elect lady's" sister (z/. 13). 245 2 John I ; I The Messages IV THE SECOND MESSAGE OF JOHN I. Salutation (1-3) The writer's I who am an elder in the church write to you, Christian and^good lady, and to you, her beloved children ; and with me all our wshes fellow-believers unite in sending you this message for your encouragement and comfort in the knowledge and expe- rience of the everlasting gospel. May the rich blessing of the Father and of the Son, Jesus Christ, abide with us. 2. The Trtie and the False Way (4-11) The law of The obedient and faithful Christian life of some of your commended children has given me great joy. Now I wish to commend ^**'^ to you all that same rule of life in which we have been in- structed since our conversion, that is, the law of mutual love. This love consists in obeying God's requirements, and this maxim has been the central truth in all our A warning Christian teaching. The need of emphasizing it is all the dlSiafof * greater now that many false teachers have appeared who SS ^^^y ^^ incarnation and Messiahship of Jesus. This de- nial is the essence of hostility to Christ and his truth. Beware of being deprived of your Christian confidence and hope by the pernicious work of these men. For those who renounce Jesus Christ and his gospel, thereby 246 of the Apostles 2 John i : 13 refuse the true and saving knowledge of God ; but those who cleave to that gospel, possess the knowledge of the Father and of the Son through whom he has revealed himself. Abstain from all relations with those who are seeking to win you from Christ to a doctrine which is subversive of his truth, for to have social fellowship with such men is to encourage them in their evil deeds. 3. Concluding Greeting (12, 13) I have much which I should like to say to you, but I The writer will write no more, for erelong I hope to visit you and ^^i\^^ to confirm you further in the peace and hope of the gos- (12^^13) pel. The children of your Christian sister send their greetings. 247 THE THIRD EPISTLE OF JOHN THE THIRD EPISTLE OF JOHN THE OCCASION AND PURPOSE OF THE LETTER This epistle is closely like Second John in style and ideas. Both are written by " the elder " to the persons whom he "loves in truth " {v. i). The conclusions of the two letters are especially similar. The person, Gaius, addressed in this epistle, is otherwise unknown to us- He seems to have been a layman of position and influence whom John commends for his hos- pitality and charity. The occasion and design of the letter appear to have been as follows : The apostle had sent out certain breth- ren, evangelists, who had visited the church to which Gaius belonged. They had brought with them a letter of commendation from the apostle. In the church in ques- tion there was a man named Diotrephes {v. 9), who proudly rejected the letter and the authority of its author, and sought to prevent the reception of the messengers. But Gaius welcomed them, furnished them hospitality, and set them forward on their way. The evangelists, on re- 251 3 John The Messages turning (to Ephesus), reported the conduct of Diotrephes and of Gaius. This report was the occasion of the letter. Toward its close {v. 1 2) Demetrius, perhaps the bearer of the epistle, is commended. The epistle thus unites commendation of Gaius and Demetrius with censure of Diotrephes. Like the other epistles of John, it combines gentleness and severity. It has a more definite and specific occasion than Second John, and thus exhibits a somewhat more vivid and life- like character. II THE INTEREST AND VALUE OF THE MINOR EPISTLES OF JOHN Although these two minor epistles have no special doctrinal importance, it is a matter of no small interest that we have preserved to us two private letters of the apostle John. Like the Epistle to Philemon, these letters give us a glimpse of the writer in his personal relations, as well as furnish us a vivid picture of the conditions and difficulties of Christian work in the apostolic age. Says Dr. Gloag : " We have in these two epistles of John a glimpse of the state of the apostolic churches, the mixed character of the churches, the prevalence of heretical 252 of the Apostles 3 John i : 8 teaching, the institution of travelling evangelists, and the occasional resistance even to apostolic authority." Ill THE THIRD MESSAGE OF JOHN I. Salutatioti (1-4) I, an elder among the believers, send my greetings to The writer my dearly beloved Gaius. May God, who has so richly J^mp^rS^'"^ prospered you in your spiritual life, grant you a full meas- ^rog^eS'^"*^ ure of all temporal blessing. It was a great joy for me (1-4) to hear from some of our fellow-believers of your fidelity in Christian life and duty. I can have no greater pleasure than that which comes from knowing that my disciples are loyal to Christ. 2. Counsels and Warnings (5-12) I cordially commend your kind and generous treatment Commenda- of the Christian brethren who have visited you. They Sus's speak gratefully to their fellow-believers of your benev- cg^rtS^mes-^ olence. It is truly a good work to help them forward on sengers their Christian mission, for they have given themselves to their work with true Christian devotion, forgetful of all per- sonal reward. Such servants of Christ should receive our encouragement that we may thus have a part in their work. 253 3 John I : 9-14 The con- I have previously given the church some counsel, but Sd^a'good^ Diotrephes, in his self-seeking ambition, set my advice at example naught. When I visit you I will bring up for considera- tion his wicked and contemptuous conduct, for not only did he refuse my counsel, but he opposed the work of the messengers and sought to discredit them before the brotherhood. My brother, shun such an evil example and continue your labor of love. To help and to serve is God-like ; but to harm one's brethren is proof that one knows not God. Demetrius is an example of well-doing which is acknowledged by all. I need not assure you of his true devotion. 3. Concluding Greeting (13, 14) Closing Since I have so much that I wish to say to you I will ^°°^ not now write more but will wait till I see you, as I hope wishes •' * (13, 14) to do shortly, when we can speak together freely. God's blessing be with you. The friends here send greetings. My salutation to each of the brethren. ^54 APPENDIX APPENDIX BOOKS OF REFERENCE One of the most instructive popular treatises on the portions of the New Testament which are included in this volume is Dean Farrar's " Early Days of Christianity " (various editions). The student may also consult with profit such works as Dr. Hort's "T'Jdaistic Christianity," 1894 (Macmillan), De Pres- sense's "Apostolic Age," 1890 (Hodder & Stoughton), Bart- let's •' Apostolic Age," 1900 (Scribner and T. & T. Clark), Purves* " Christianity in the Apostolic Age," 1900 (Scribner), and Lechler's very thorough work (2 vols.), entitled, "The Apostolic and Post-apostolic Age," 1886 (T. & T. Clark). Among the more popular commentaries some of the most scholarly and useful are: " The Popular Commentary," edited by Dr. Schaff (Scribner), "The Expositor's Bible," (Arm- strong), and *' The Cambridge Bible for Schools" (Cambridge University Press). In "The Expositor's Bible" I would especially commend Dr. Plummer's commentaries on the Pas- toral Epistles and the Epistles of James and Jude, Dr. Lumby's on the Epistles of Peter, and Dr. Edwards's on Hebrews. In "The Cambridge Bible" some of the best are those of Dean Plumptre on James, Peter, and Jude ; of Dean Farrar on Hebrews, and of Dr. Plummer on the Epistles of John. 257 Appendix The two small volumes by Professor Lindsay on the Acts of the Apostles in the series called " Hand-books for Bible Classes " (T. & T. Clark), will be found very useful, as will the excellent exposition of Hebrews by Professor A. B. David- son in the same series. The doctrinal significance of the Epistle to the Hebrews has been discussed in treatises by Professor A. B. Bruce and by the Rev. George Milligan, 1899 (T. & T. Clark), and that of the Epistles of John by Professor George B. Stevens in " The Johannine Theology," 1896 (Scribner). The theology both of Hebrews and of the General Epistles is fully set forth in the "Theologies of the New Testament" by Weiss, 1882-83 (T. & T. Clark), Beyschlag, last edition, 1899 (T. & T. Clark), and Stevens, 1899 (Scribner and T. & T. Clark). Those who wish to read more elaborate discussions of ques- tions of introduction than are furnished in this volume will find them in Farrar's "Messages of the Books," 1885 (E. P. Button & Co. )f or in Gloag's "Introduction to the Catholic Epistles," 1887 (T. & T. Clark), and in the " Introductions to the New Testament" by Weiss, 1887-88 (Funk & Wagnalls), Salmon, last edition, 1891 (Murray), and Bacon, 1900 (Mac- millan). 258 Zbc Ibistoiical Series FOR BIBLE STUDENTS EDITED BY Professor Charles F. Kent, Ph.D., of Brown Univer- sity, and Professor Frank K. Sanders, Ph.D., of Yale University. IN response to a widespread demand for non-technical yet scholarly and reliable guides to the study of the history, literature, and teaching of the Old and New Testaments, and of the contemporary history and litera- ture, this series aims to present in concise and attractive form the results of investigation and exploration in these broad fields. Based upon thoroughly critical scholar- ship, it will emphasize assured and positive rather than transitional positions. The series as a whole is intended to present a complete and connected picture of the social, political, and religious life of the men and peoples who figure most prominently in the biblical records. Each volume will be complete in itself, treating com- prehensively a given subject or period. It will also refer freely to the biblical and monumental sources, and to the standard authorities. Convenience of size, clearness of presentation, and helpfulness to the student, will make the series particularly well adapted for (i) practical text- books for college, seminary, and university classes ; (2) hand-books for the use of Bible classes, clubs, and guilds ; (3) guides for individual study ; and (4) books for general reference. CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS Publishers ------ New York XTbe historical Series FOR BIBLE STUDENTS HISTORY OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE L Ube Tanite^ ■IRfng^om. Fifth edition. II. Ube 2)(rl6e^ ^king^om. Fifth edition. Charles F. Kent, Ph.D., Professor of Biblical Literature and History, Brown University. HISTORY OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE III. Ube aSab^lonfan, ipersfan, att6 ©reefi lperfo^s. Charles F. Kent, Ph.D., Professor of Biblical Literature and History, Brown University. IV. Ube /Uactabean an6 IRoman pcriob (including New Testament Times). James S. Riggs, D.D., Professor of Biblical Criticism, Auburn Theological Seminary. CONTEMPORARY OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY V. IbCstors Of tbe Egyptians. James H. Breasted, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Semitic Lan- guages and Egyptology, the University of Chicago. VI. Ibistorg of tbe SSabglonians an6 Bsssrians. George S. Goodspeed, Ph.D., Professor of Ancient History, the University of Chicago. NEW TESTAMENT HISTORIES VII. Ube life Of 3e6U0. Rush Rhees, Professor of New Testament Interpretation, New- ton Theological Seminary. VIII. Ube BpostoHc Bge. George T. Purves, Ph.D., D.D., Professor of New Testament Literature and Exegesis, Princeton Theological Seminary. OUTLINES FOR THE STUDY OF BIBLICAL HISTORY AND LITERATURE IX. jfrom Earliefit Ufmeg to tbe Captivttg. X. fvom tbe Erile to 200 B. S). Frank K. Sanders, Ph.D., Professor of Biblical Literature, Yale University. Date Due 10 ■38 s V^CULTY ^H S 'd; L. K f