PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
A Dictionary of Christ and the Gospels — Volume 1
James Hastings · 1,289,916 words · 1288 reading sections
Section 181
ASHER ASTROLOGY 131 ness. But He does not condemn the lower goods or attempt to tear out the human instincts and cravings. Nor does He make fellowship with God depend on any kind of outward ascetical ol)serv- ances. Indeed, as Harnack writes, ' Asceticism has no place in the gospel at all ; what it asks is that we s…
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ASTROLOGT was an important element of all ancient astronomy. The scientific observation of the positions and movements of the heavenly bodies was closely associated with the belief in their Divine character, and their influence upon the destinies of men, and formed the basis of cal- culations and predictions of future …
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continuously establish the personal witness of the Spirit. Therefore Jesus Himself gave the im- portant admonition that the real character of a tree is known by its fruit (Mt 7''"-"i. LlTEKATDRE.— Calvin, /..''-;, 1, |,, ,1, ,, 55 15-17; Westminster Confession. 1 , \\ 1 ,■ . „,t, "The Reformersand the Docti I!. : --…
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The fact of Pentecost was immediately explained as that outpouring of the Spirit upon all flesh which was to mark the establishment of the Messianic kingdom (Ac S'^-^^ S^'- ^-). It stood directly related to tlie event of which the Apostles were the chosen witnesses, the Resurrection of Jesus, whereby He was exalted to …
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Following upon the Sacraments is the witness of Church History — the worship, the dogma, the art, the experience of the Christian centuries— which have all consistently gathered round the Cross. We are therefore entitled to hold that any inter- pretation of the Christian facts which shifts the focus from Calvary to Bet…
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itially the refusal of Messianic Temptation i royalty on any condition but that of suffering ser- vice. It is no accident that the same Voice is heard again on the Mount of Transfiguration (Mt 17' and Mk 9' o vlbs liov b aya-ir7p-6s, Lk ^ b vlbs nov b iK\e\ey)i.ii/os [v.l. ayaTntTbi\, cf. Is 42'), when the manner in …
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aecomplished amid accessories more suggestive of ritual than the Crucifixion. But this would have been something less than a moral act, whereas the NT shows the propitiation wrought by Jesus Christ 'the righteous' (1 Jn 2', Ac 3'^ 7^^- 22''') to have been something more. The Agony in the Garden, followed by the Seven W…
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The interpretative word used in St. Paul's soteri- ology is KaraWayTi, 'reconciliation' (Ro 5" AV 'atonement'), the root idea of wliich is restora- tion of jiersonal relations between parties hitherto estranged. This involves the explanation of the ' catastrophe in human life,' sufficiently evident in common experience…
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• Such theories, like the IJotiio to express the Atnn society dominant in thr -M no doubt perform useful they are a method of expn problem. in in Cur Deus ATONEMENT ATONEMENT 3. Reconciliation is antecedent to the rcncical of the individual. — This is almost wholly ignored in modern German theology, which thereby …
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To claim for the death of Christ that it is a com- pleted act of reconciliation, the ground of the be- lieving sinner's justification, and thus alike the subject of adoring gratitude and the source of re- newed moral effort, is to establish a doctrine satis- factory to reason rather because it sets the several parts of…
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to explain. It is not distrust of reason, but the confidence of intelligent faith whicli, the more surely it realizes the reasonableness of the evan- gelical doctrine of the Atonement, will the more readily make tlie words of Bp. Butler its own : ' Some have endeavoured to explain the efficacy of what Christ has done a…
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ATTRIBUTES OF CHRIST. -In the Divine Person of Jesus Christ two perfect Natures were united. We shall therefore hnd attributes belong- ing to (1) His Divine Nature, (2) the union of the two Natures, (3) His true Human Nature. As in dealing with certain passages the extent of the Kenosis will weigh greatly, the present …
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5.' Universal Power is frequently claimed by Christ as His even on earth, although it could not be fuUy exercised until after the Ascension (Lk 10=- II Jn 16"). He is given authority (it.ovala) over all flesh (Jn 17=); 'All authority hath been given unto me in heaven and on carl \\ (Mt 2S'8), cf. Jn 3^^=13'*. According…
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Dalnian {WortJn nf Jems, 133 f.) Aramaic onjinal, that s. t>, ficur. i^v or airsS would have to be rendered ' when I am King,' etc., and Lk 23-*2 ' as King ' ; cf. Dn 62) B'r-11 ni^Sn? ' in the reign of Darius." On the ' origi- 3. Consciousness of His Mission was ever pre.sent to His mind. Frequently He uses such ex…
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9. Dignity.— An attribute commanding respect and reverence is closely connected with the above. The Baptist declared Christ to be immeasurably above himself (Jn 1=^), while Christ described him as the greatest of the prophets because His fore- runner (Mt IP-'") ; the disciples 'were afraid to ask him ' (Mk 9'=, cf . Jn…
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142 ATTRIBUTES OF CHRIST ATTRIBUTES OF CHRIST in the highest forms. He is the ' author and per- fecter (ipxvyii! nai TeXetwriJs) of our faith ' (He 12=), 'the perfect example— perfect in realization and etfect — of that faith which we are to imitate trust- ing in Him ' ( Westcott). Submission and Obedience He showed …
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12. Compassion. — His compassion ((nrKayxi''^i^<'9ai.) is often noticed ; it led Him to send out the Twelve (Mt 9*5), to heal the sick (Mt 14'*), to feed the 4000 (Mt 1532), to give sight to the blind (Mt 20"), to touch the leper (Mk 1"), to teach (Mk 6"), and to restore the widow's son (Lk 7'^). Cf. also Lk 1'*, ]\Ik …
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23. His Catholicity is to be noted finally. Though a Jew on the human side, yet He rose entirely above all merely national limits. ' He can be equally claimed by both sexes, by all classes, by all men of all nations.' * Even in His earthly ministry, though necessarily confined to His own nation (Mt 15**), His sympathy …
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The real difficulty, however, as to this alleged census under Quirinius lies in reconciling St. Luke's testimony with the facts of secular history. The Syrian governors in the period of B.C. 9-4 are given by Schiirer as C. Sentius Saturninus (B.C. 9-6) and P. Quintilius Varus(B.c. 6-4). As B.C. 4 is the generally accep…
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Our knowledge ol the government of the provinces under Augustus is too limited to admit of any clear ana full description of it. Suetonius (Auf/ust. 47) has given us the principles on which he acted in dividing the provinces between himself and the Senate, in these words; "The provinces which could neither be easily no…
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The energies of Augustus found scope for them- selves in other lines, and all with the object of building up his world-wide Empire that he meant to last in the ages to come. At the beginning of vol.. I. — lo his reign he put his hand to the restoration of the State religion. In B.C. 28 he claims to have 're- paired 82…
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•State, personified in its ruler.' Certainly that might have admirably served to establish his State policy, and make liim believe that he had accomplished all that human ingeimity could to make his Empire as enduring as it was world-wide. On his death in A.D. 14 a modification necessarily came, when the Senate decree…
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AUTHORITY OF CHEIST AUTHORITY OF CHRIST 147 teaching of Jesus which it is in some sense allowed to judge. We may say in Coleridge's phrase that we believe the teaching of Jesus, or acknowledge its (or His) authority, because it ' finds ' us more deeply tlian anything else ; but any Christian will admit that ' find ' …
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This holds true whenever we think of the moral or practical authority of Jesus. It is never legal : that is, we can never take the letter in which it is expressed and regard it as a statute, incapaljle of interpretation or modification, and binding in its literal meanin" for all persons, all times, all social condition…
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authority of Jesus. As far as we are sensitive to tlieir demands we are sensitive to His moral claim. Into tlie representations of Jesus as Judge outside of the Gospels it is not necessary to enter. (b) The authority of Jesus comes before us in another aspect when we think of Hira not as com- manding but as teaching, …
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There is, no doubt, great possibility of error in arguing from such abstract ideas as ' Divinity ' and ' humanity,' especially when they are in some way opposed to one anotlier in our minds : how- ever we may define them, we must remember that they were in no sense opposed or inconsistent in Christ. He was at once and …
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• Loisy (L'Smngile et L'jSgllse, 46 f., Autour d'un petit Livre, 130 f.) has attacked Mt 1127 on the ground that the unique Divine Sonship which it ascribes to Jesus is of a sort which it was not historically possible for Him to conceive or assert. Jesus, he holds, couid only have used 'Son of God' in the Messianic off…
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of the final — and who ^vill not .sometimes say the speedy? — triumph of His cause. We may mis- conceive the mode of it, even when we Uy to guide ourselves by His words ; but the important thing is not the mode but the fact, and of that we iire as sure as we are sure of Him. (c) Besides the authority which He exerci-s…
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value is recognized in the miracles, but it is onli : ' though ye believe not me, believe the works' (Jn 10^'*); by an afterthought, or as a second best : ' thoug • believe that I am in the Father and the Father in me ; or else, believe for the very works' sake ' (141'). The main line of thought is that which depre…
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The answer of the NT is in the affirmative, and it is not too much to say that the NT as a whole is the proof that this answer is right. ' We have AUTHORITY OF CHRIST AUTHORITY OF CHRIST says again (in 2 Co 13*), ' Ye seek a inoof of Christ speaking in me '—a proof which he is quite ready to give. He was conscious …
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His earthly life, was possibly quite intelligible to those who first read the Gospel ; they knew that it was a spiritual Gosiiel, and that it was never intended to be taken as a literal record of Jesus' discourses, but as an inspired interpretation of all that He was and did. Kead in this light, it has its authority in…
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ground themselves on, right conceptions of God. On any other view, what would be the propriety of the pronoun 'thee,' which certainly singles out from all other possible individuals or 'entities Him in the knowledge of whom Christ declares that ' eternal life ' consists ? If right conceptions of God are not essential t…
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But, further, that Christ found the ultimate standard of right in God's nature as expressed through God's will, is clear also from such state- ments as these: 'Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say ? Father, save me from tliis hour ? but for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify thy name ' (Jn 12'"'…
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AUTHORITY IN RELIGION AUTHORITY IN RELIGION 155 even so do ye also unto them,' is, according to our Lord, but a just summary of ' the law and the proijhets ' in terms that may lie appreciated by the moral sense of all men. He teaches that the whole OT, so far as it has to do witli duty towards man, is but an unfoldin…
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iii. Judicial authority in religion. — 1. Term defined.— An legislative authority has par- ticularly to do with duty, so judicial authority has particularly to do with triith : the former prescribes what one is to do or to be ; the latter, what he is to believe : the former creates and defines relation and obligations …
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' set the seal of His disapproval uuon the more subtle and spiritual, but no less real compulsion of a tyrannical public or ecclesiastical opinion, whether formulated into a tradition or into a usage. His ' Do not your alms before men, to be seen of them ' (Mt 61), was designed hardly more to eradicate pride from the …
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ourselves that the laws of its structure are the ! that obtain in the structure of the eye itself. It i£ an organ of vision as is the eye itself, though, of course, an organ of vastly greater range. What it discloses to us we could not apprehend without it. Much that it discloses to us, we either only gradually come to…
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The criticism of the former passage by B. Weiss can hardly be regarded as invalidating it as a proper source of information as to our Lord's teaching concerning the Church (see his ^T Theol. i. p. 141). It is fair, we think, to assume that the charge contained in the latter passage was addressetl to the Apostles, not a…
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judgment, mercy, and faith. Hspeciall>- significant ar. WMr-i- scribes that the Christ is the son of David ? David hiiiist h sai.l in the Holy Spirit, The Lord said unto m\' Lord, etc. Da\iJ himself calleth him Lord, and whence is he his son?' (i) Besides the passages already cited, the fol- lowing show that Christ r…
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Thus when we reach Christ in the matter of religion, we have reached the fountainhead. It were idle to look for a court in which to reWew and put to the test His findings in regard either to truth or to duty. Such, certainly, is His own teaching upon the subject. See preceding article. iv. EXKCUTIVE AUTHORITY IN RELIG…
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the word from the cross, ' It is accomplished ' (Jn IQ'"). Surely the prophet went not amiss when he spoke of Him as the great' Ebhedh Jahiveh (ni.T nnj;). (4) According to our Lord, the great executive of the Godhead is the Holy Spirit. It belongs to another article (see HoLY Spirit) to unfold His doctrine of the Holy…
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AWE. — The adoration of what is mysterious and sublime is an essential element in religion. Wlien expressed towards unworthy objects the result is superstition, but the motive itself is the soul of worship. As the feeling is thus fundamental to the relationship between the human and the Divine, increase of knowledge, w…
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Thereafter it became the commission of the Church to proclaim and teach and exemplify how the flesh may in turn become the Word, and every believer be a dwelling-place for the Spirit of Christ. Tlie reverence that once gathered around His own visible person could still influence men through every witness in whom His Sp…
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LiTERATtTRE.— ii'cce Homo, ch. 1 ; Reynolds, John the Baptist, Lecture 4 ; Tennyson, Idylls of the King, ' The Coming of Arthur," ap. fin. ; Morley, Life of Gladstone, ii. 252. John R. Legge. AZOR.— An ancestor of Jesus, according to the genealogy in the First Gospel (Mt 1""-). BABE. — 1. (3p^0o!, lit. ' nourished ' …
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1. Causes of the 7H0vement. — What are the causes that have contributed to restore the figure of Jesus to its place in the centre of religious thought ? We shall mention three as the chief. (a) The first is the application of historical criticism to the Gospel narrative. In 1835, D. F. Strauss published his Lebcn Jesi…
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In formulating these metaphysical doctrines, the Church no doubt believed that it was safeguarding vital religious interests. What seemed at stake was nothing less than the reality of the salvation mediated by Christ. But, it is contended, the con- ception of salvation that the Nicene and Chalcedon formulas were design…
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164 BACK TO CHRIST BACK TO CHRIST movement known as Chiistianity. Our attention must be limited to tlie theologies in which the new feeling for the historical Christ has exerted some marked influence. (1) We begin with that form of the movement which departs least from traditional orthodoxy, and to which the terra …
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Though the need for such a construction can be demonstrated, the construction itself is not to be regarded as a work of human freedom. We re- ceive it as authoritatively given. To traditional theology the autliority is inspired Scripture, the witness of the Apostolic writers no less than Christ's self-witness. It is ch…
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Finally, while the teaching of Jesus places the centre of gravity in the will, the Church transfers it to the intellect. ' This do and thou shalt live ' (Lk 10°*) is the command of Jesus : what the Church requires is belief rather than conduct. The gospel of Jesus represents the crown of religion ; it is the highest a…
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necessarily conceived in the Catholic manner as the submission of the mind to a proposition on the ground of its authority. But if the Reformation has taught us anything, it is that faith is not assent to a doctrine, but trust in the living God. F'aith is no product of our own activity ; it is God- created — the result…
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But this is not all. In analyzing Christ's sig- nificance, Ritschlian theology attaches even (greater importance to the idea of Power. Christ is that fact through which God enters as a force into history, to awaken and sustain faith. It is not natural for us to believe the gospel of God's for- giveness and Fatherly lov…
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The y\. Avas the receptacle for the money of Jesus and the disciples ; it contained, no doubt, the proceeds of the sale of their goods, and gave the idea later of the common fund (Ac 4^"'-); it was replenished by the gifts of friends (Lk 8"); and from it the poor were helped (Jn 13="). Judas may have been entrusted wit…
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BAPTISM (^aimaiM = ' the rite of Bai)tism,' always in NT distinguished from ^ajmafids, 'a washing,' Mk 7^ He 6- 9'" [but see Lightfoot, Com. on Colossians, p. 184] ; but this distinction is not maintained in Josephus [cf. Ant. XVIII. v. 2]; and in the Latin versions and Fathers baptisma and Impti^mus and even baptismum…
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water : ' And if thou canst not in cold, then in warm ; but if thou hast neither, pour water thrice upon the head.' Here it is obvious that aflusion is to be practised only where immersion is incon- venient or impossible. The Eastern Church has in the main adhered to the primitive form. But in the Western Church the ex…
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m^^^i^^' Holtzmann's eared to His ,vr_r««0f. 1. o,.,. Resurrection and said nothing disciples aftei the ^<;=''";.'=j the Resurrection is inconceivable. _ Bettei uenv j yg „ ,ost altogether than think of a '^^^'J'Xs But the floating before the eyes of t^«„^fjjesus is cer- Trinitarian formula "? t;l»« i^'^""^" ^^ ^aid …
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Literature.— The Commentaries of Meyer, Alford, and Ols- hausen ; Ewald, History of Israel, vol. vi. ; Lange's and Renan'8 Z/(/e of Christ; art. 'Barabbas' in Hastings' DB, Encyc. Bill., and Jewvih Encyct. ; Merkel, ' Die Begnadigung am Passah- feste' in ZHTW, 1905, p. 293(1. J. C. LAMBERT. BARACHIAH.-Mt '233Mom. N* a…
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W. C. Allex. BAR-JONA(H).-See Peter. BARLEY. — In the Gospels, barley is mentioned only in the account given by St. Jolin (6'"''') of the miraculous feeding of the five thousand witli live barley loaves and two fishes. The word occurs twice (vv.'- '•'), and in both cases rei)resents tlie adjectival form Kpldifos in th…
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In favour of the identification are the following points. (1) Bartholomew being a patronymic, the Dearer may easily have had another name ; (2) the Sjmoptists never mention Nathanael, St. John never mentions Bartholomew ; (3) the Synoptists in their lists place Bartholomew next to Philip, as James next to his probable …
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W. M. Taylor, see, for the above and other homiletic details, Cox, Biblical Expositions, pp. Jesm by Various Authors (J. Robinson, Manchester). We may 155-107, and The Miracles refer also to Longfellow's poem ' Blind Bartimse George Milligan. BASKET. — All four Evangelists, in narrating the miracle of the feeding …
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Zxvpls is a smaller and round and shallow basket. ^apydvT] is a long bag, knitted by {i.e. of) rope, which is in one way very like the SiKTvov of fish, but is different from it in other way(s).' One might ask whether the cTup!; of Ac 92= is not an error of memory on the part of St. Luke. St. Paul in his own account of…
900 wordsSource & rights
Public-domain historical reference work (1906–1908); OCR text from Internet Archive. Historical scholarship and terminology reflect its era; OCR may contain errors. Verify quotations and current scholarly claims independently.
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Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.