PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
A Dictionary of Christ and the Gospels — Volume 1
James Hastings · 1,289,916 words · 1288 reading sections
Section 361
Erevailed all over the West. They are found in is Commentary on Daniel (iv. 23, p. 244, ed. Bon- wetsch ; aliter iv. 9). They depend on the assump- tion that the earthly life of our Lord, from Ills conception to His death, lasted an exact number of years. The upholders of symbolical systems of numbers treated all frac…
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bishop Avrote on the Nativity,' and that this work was thought to have been composed at Epipl Only 6th January was observed at Jerusale phany. the»time of 'Silvia,' when there was a 'station' at Bethlehem at night. As the manuscript is defective, we do not know whether there was a celebration of the Eucharist there, …
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5. Commemorations of S&ints, etc.— These can be glanced at only briefly in a Dictionary of Christ and the Gospels. They were originally of local origin, and did not at once become popular except in the places wlifere they began. The earliest known collection of local saints' days is the Philo- calian Calendar of A.D. 3…
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' Silvia' has not, like the Apostolic Constitutions, a general martyrs' festival ; nor yet have the other Church Orders. But considering the great develon- ment of festivals in ' Silvia,' it is not improbable that she did describe such a general commemora- tion ; only the manuscript breaks off suddenly in the middle of…
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Another important section of the OT for our terminology is the ' Praise of Wisdom,' Pr 1-9. Se\ cral things are noticeable here ; the loud call -Divine W'iMloni as a street preacher (8', cf. I»>) ; I 111' Milium iiliuiinis conception of the call rejected 1 1-'); till- rail u> an invitation to a feast (ch. 9). 'I'liU la…
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2. Secular calling.— It is unnecessary to pass under review the occupations followed by our Lord in youth and by His Apostles. See artt. Trades, Carpenter, Flshing, etc. 3. Spiritual calling.— («) Our Lord Himself, who calls all others, was ' called of God ' (He 5^) to (lie Mcssiah^liip. It is an irrelevant sentiment…
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(d) So far we have dealt chiefly with authority ; when we consider the few cases in the Gospels where the call is generalized — ' not the righteous butsinners'(Mk2"l| Mt 9" || Lk 5=-) ; 'many called, few chosen ' (Mt '2-2^-')—inritrition comes to the front. The parable depicting the Kingdom of God as a feast (Mt 22=t-,…
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The camel forms the staple wealth of the Arab of the desert, who utilizes every part of the animal, even to the dung, which is used as fuel. Its flesh was forbidden to the Jew (Lv 11^ Dt 14'). Its milk is extremely nutritious, and on fermentation becomes an intoxicant. A thick mat of fine hair CANA CANAANITISH prote…
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In later times, Robinson (BRF' ii. 348 f., iii. 108) supports the claims of Khirbet Kc'ttia, and is fol- lowed by Ritter, Thomson, Ewald, Socin, Keim, and others. Eusebius and Jerome (Onom. s.v. Kava) identify Cana with Kanah* in Asher (Jos 19-*). This could not be Kefr Kenna, which is not in Asher, but might be Khirbe…
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Lexicon, s.v. Koi'ai'aros). And Koi-avoios from n.-JN},:! is as natural as ^apio-aios from k;b^-!S, stat. emphat. of Aramaic iT'l? for Heb. c'»n? (see Schiirer, HJP II. ii. 19). J. C. Lambert. CANDLE.— Candles were not much in use in an oil-bearing country like Palestine, and are not referred to in the Bible. But the …
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2. Description of the localities.— Tlie beautiful riain of Gennesaret is closed on the north-east by a spur of the hills which slopes do^vn gradually to the Lake. In the hollow formed by this, on the rising ground where the caravan-route begins to ascend tlie ridge, is the ruined khdn of Khdn Minyeh. On the low ground …
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This leaves room for the natural presumption to tell in favour of Tell Hum. And the identification is. confirmed by the 'fact that the pilgrim Theo- dosius (c. 530 A.D.), coming from the West, arrived at Heptapegon before he came to Capernaum : tliis lie would have done if it were at Tell Hum, but not if it had been at…
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6. Later history.— From A.D. 150 onwards the shores of the Sea of Galilee Ijecame a stronghold of Rabbinical Judaism. The fanaticism of this district would not tolerate the presence of Chris- tians ; it is expressly stated by Epiphanius {E(er. XXX. II ; cf. Harnack, Expansion of Christianity, ii. 261) that down to the …
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LiTERATURB —Josephus, Ant X viii. 5, xv xi. 4, xviii. iv, 3, XX vi. 2, BJ V. V. 8, VI. V. 3 ; Sehurer, HJP i. ii. 55, 11. i. 258 ; Hastings' DB, article ' Captain." P. Henderson Aitken. II. Besides these two military or semi-military uses of ' captain ' in the Gospels, we have to notice the employment of the term as …
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CARE CARPENTER as well. Nature reads to man the lesson of trust. The wild (lowers, though their life is so brief, are decked with loveliness by the yreat God. God takes care for the flowers. And He is youv Heavenly Father. The argument is a minori ad imijus. God's care for the flowers is a constant rebuke of His chil…
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An attempt to make Mk 1)3 confonn to Mt 1355 i; seen i.i some old MSS (including the good cursives 33-69) as well as in Eth. and Arm. versions, where we find ' carpenter's son ' in place of ' oai-penter* This reading must represent a very old text, for Origen (c. Cels. vi. 36) says, ' Nowhere in the Gospels current in …
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* Recent excavations in Palestine have thrown considerable light on Troglodyte dwellings, see PEFSt, 1903, jip. 20-23. t Wetzstein, Reiseherieht iiber Hauran und die Trachonen, p. 44 ff. J Nowack, Bebrdische Archdologie, i. 136. § Conder, Tent Work in Palestine, p. 145. II PEFSt, 1903, p. 31.1. 11 Jewish Encycl. i…
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It is a mistake to interpret Mt 5- (' Every one that looketh on a woman to lust after her hatli committed adultery with her already m bis heart ) as a condemnation of marriage ; the context show.-, the meaning to be that to cherish the desire for fornication or adultery is the same thing as com- mitting those sins in t…
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CENSUS 275 the lamp-stand, where all comers may sec it, and see by it? CENSUS.— This English word does not occur in the NT, tlie Greek term dTraypacjyr) being rendered taxing in AV and enrolment in RV both in Lk 2= and in Ac 5^'. In the former case, with which we are mainly concerned, 'enrolment' is certainly the be…
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The enrolment with which we are particularly concerned, then, would be appointed for B.C. 8 ; biit in the case of Herod's kingdom it was not achieved till about a couple of years later, apparently for reasons which Ramsay has indicated, but which need not here be reproduced. They refer to the strained relations which t…
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LiTERAxrRB.— Ranlsa^■•s Rout. AiUiij. .v.r. ; St. Geor«re .Stock's CfFsar de B. QaU. pp. 203-215 ; J. E. B. Mayor's Jumml, notes on passat'es cited above. M.VKCUS DODS. CEPHAS.-See Peter. CEREMONIAL LAW.-See Law. CERTAINTY.— The ways in which 'certainty' is expressed in the Gospels are frequently indirect. So far, ho…
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i CHAFF CHANCE Mt 14^'). And when it is recorded of the disciples to whom tlie Lord appeared after His resurrection, that ' they saw him, and worshipped, but some doubted ' (Sdrrdfu, 2S''j, He met this mixed regard by a great personal affirmation, and a great charge laid on them, which formed in point of fact the st…
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In NT chains invariably denote instruments for binding, or restraining the liberty of the person, e.g. the demoniac (Mk 5'), St. Peter (Ac 12"), the dragon (Rev. 20'). Imbeciles appear always to have received consideration, if not even reverence, in the East ; but demoniacs, and persons suffering from certain forms of …
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As Ijearing ujjon the subject of chance, reference may be mail.- t.i tlir casting of lots by the Roman solduM> l.ir 111., -.tiinents of Jesus. The incident is meiitiiincil liy (xi-iy one of the Evangelists, and is exphiini.-(l l,y .lohn as referring only to HLs seam- le.ss tunic (Mt 27^\ .Mk 15-', Lk SS-'', Jn 19=3- «)…
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(5) Caste c/istiiidioiis. — ' It was the hereditary disability the Aryans had succeeded in imposing CHAEACTER CHARACTER upon races they despispd, wlucli, reacting within their own circle and si iin:jtli.iiia 1 .y tlie very in- tolerance that gave it lniih, li;( . iHune such bitter fruit through so many ,, 1111111. s…
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(2) The gospel of Divine Forgiveness has had a distinctive and powerful effect upon the characters of those w ho have accepted it. Indeed, it has pro- dneed a new type of charaeler, wliiili e.aii be de- seriheil only as being born a,i;aiii(du :f\ 2 Co 5''-"*). Forgiveness was by no means a new idea, for it has never be…
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ing ; for its vii termed graces indicating tin of the old 11: according to t is in Christ .) are thus givei kindness, goo. and controlled by a power and spirit not their own. (4) There is one further contribution to the making of character in the name of grace which belongs to the Christian revelation, viz. the Divin…
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In another summary, it may be said that the Christian ethic revolves between two poles which are discovered in the light of Christ's teaching, the inwardness of religion, and its practical nature. The first had been neglected by the Jew and the second by the Greek. And one-sidedness is still only too possible, when, fo…
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Itimay be said that, while these remarks are true of the Syii.i]itii- (iuNpi-ls, they cannot fairly be ap- jilied to the l'.)iiilli ( lospel. A distinction, how- ever, iiui-t I l.-eiM'd. The Synoptic Gospels are mainly ctliii-il in their aim and method. Onto- logical and theological conclusions are certainly suggested…
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1. Parentage.— Pre-natal influence, whose mode of opiralion is lii>nL-ath observation, is an undoubted fact. I'.uc iilai'i' allbrds the conditions, physical and psyrii.iioijiiMl. under which that recapitulation of tliu ariic~Ual past, which gives to_ human char- acter its richest and most interesting elements, takes pl…
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3. Education." Hellenic or Roman culture might be brilliant, hut it was narrow, limited to the con- ditions of life in a Greek city, or to the u.ses of a ruling race. Its faults are plain : intellectual pride, superficial cleverness, abundance of ideas together with dearth of ideals. Conceive now the training of a Hebr…
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4. The years of silence. -For eighteen years we lose sight of Jesus. When they are past, not His physical frame only but His moral stature also has reached its fulness. The year.s themselves, apart from the incidents which must liave filled them, are the most potent of the formative in- fluences which are our guide to …
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1. His Deiignation of His vocation. — When we inquire how Jesus designated His life's aim, we are met early in the narrative with one general, yet most definite statement. He is addressing an audience composed of His own disciples, together with a wider range of auditors for wliom also His words are meant. We have, ind…
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286 CHARACTEK OF CHRIST CHARACTER OF CHRIST rouiiJ three points — (1) First, tlie Avord 'thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness' (v.'*). In this pregnant saying we are conveyed back to the heart of tlie OT. God is righteous -nhen He fulfils the obli^^aticins which He imposed on Himself when He in>titntiil Hi…
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iii. Characteristics OF Christ.— All character study is necessarily incomplete. A character which could be exhaustively analysed would not be worth the pains taken in making the necessary investiga- tions. The quality of mystery certainly belongs to tlie cliaracter of Christ to a degree that suggests a .source of power…
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ness, but of the fatht tions, pleadings, proi its astounding decla: blasphemous :inil )m the Divint' lii n r m less. It is /„.. ,.M tional piety, > i,|.,i,i , done, the inwitu: .stitlj describing ll typt ; in its invita- ost of all, in pride deemed mil lit y iii'vir questioned, of --, A'-ry. .-iihl free, and fear- .…
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(1) Obedience. We have seen that the character of Christ is created by the vocation to which He dedi- cated Himself. We now observe that this vocation is, in the view of Jesus, nothing impersonal, but is the personal will of the Father. This is the Father's ' business,' and to it He, as the Son, is entirely devoted. Th…
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CHARACTER OF CHRIST CHARACTER OF CHRIST the motive-power of His love to men. His love to God and His love to men constitute one energy of His soul. He turns toward the Father with the deep intelligence and the full sympathy of the Son ; and straightway He turns toward the world with the widest and tenderest charity (…
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(3) The attitude of His 'brethren' is still less intelligent. There is no suggestion in the narra- tive of any sympathy with Him whatsoever. After thirty years together, they could find no other explanation for His behaviour than tempor- ary insanity, and could conceive no other plan than to put Him under temporary res…
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How much the friendship of His disciples was to Jesus, the whole narrative bears witness. "Their faith in Him was the greatest encouragement, apart from immediate Divine assurances, that He could receive as He faced the appalling diHi- culties of His task. There is an unmistakable note of pathos in His clinging to His …
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We are thus recalled to the darker side of their relations with Him. Indeed, readers of the narra- tive are apt to be more severe in their judgment upon the disciples than was the Master Him- self. Certainly their defects and shortcomings are patent enough, and the contrast between their Master and them can scarcely be…
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292 CHARACTER OF CHRIST CHARACTER OF CHRIST of a trust and a reverence that are nothing than religious (Mk 2", Lk W, Mt 10»- IS^"). He passes verdicts upon their inner state that are not less than DiWne in their insight and their absolute- ness (Lk 9"-''^, Mt 9-*). He makes demands which no one has a right to make wh…
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(3) Compassion. — The respect which Jesus has for human nature becomes, in presence of human need, a very passion for helping, healing, saving. The qualities which most deeply impressed the men and women of His day, and which shine most clearly in His portrait, are not His supernatural gifts, but His unwearied goodness…
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against the Son of Man, not against the Holy Spirit. They knew not what they were about to do, but He knew (Mk 14"), and broke their hearts with His free forgiveness (v.'-). Third, the sin of Judas. Of all the crimes of which guilty man is capable, treachery is, in the judgment of all men, the most dreadful ; and ther…
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3. Patience.— It is an error to describe patience as a 'passive' virtue, if by that epithet is indi- cated tne spirit which niakeg no resistance, becanse resistance is seen to be futile. Patience is rather the associate of courage, and springs from the same root, namely, identification of will with a great and enduring…
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Concluding estimate. —When we have studied the character of Christ from the points of view sug- gested in the foregoing scheme, we are conscious that we are only on the threshold of a great sub- ject, to whose wealth of meaning no formal study can do justice. The character of Christ presents ■unsearchable riches ' to e…
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(2) His own self-knowledge and His oirn. self- icitness, which establish the fact of a conscience at once perfectly true and absolutely void of any sense of sin. {a) He taught His disciples to pray for forgive- ness ; but He never set them the example of asking it on His own behalf. He Avas their example in prayer as …
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If Jesus were in any degree sinful. He must lia\e known it, and had He known it He would have told us. If He knew it and did not tell us, we should have just cause of complaint against CHAEGER CHIEF PRIESTS 297 Him, since, in that case, He must have allowed a false impression to grow up regarding Him. If He was sin…
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A touch of witty caricature or grotesque ex- aggeration has often since then given pass and plausibility to something essentially wrong and in itself repulsive. When society is made selfisli and artificial by luxury and the love of pleasure, it will keep its oaths of personal vanity although the gratification should st…
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LiTKRATPRE. -Schiirer, ffyp ii. i. pp. 174-184, 195-206, and ' Die ctpziiffs iin NT • m SK, 1872, pp. 593-657 ; Edersheim, Life and Times ofJemt the Metsiah, i. p. 322 f. ; Ewald, BI vii p 479 ff. ; Hastinsts' J)B, artt. ' Priests and Levitcs ' and ■ Priest in NT'; Hauck-HerzoK, PliE\ art. 'Hoher Priester'; Jetmsh Encv…
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The Apocryphal writings which, in particular, ahound in these tales of the childhood of Jesus, are the Gospel of pseildo- Matthew, the Protevatwelium of Jam^s, the Arabic Gospel of the Infancy, and the Gospel of Thomas in its various forms. The Thomas Gospel is mainly answerable for the stories of vindictive miracles r…
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On His visit to Nazareth, described in Lk 4, ' He entered, as His custom was, into the synagogue on the Sabbath day ' (v.'^) : and that custom, we may be sure, was a growth from His earliest years. Children, in those days, were admitted to religious celebrations in the Temple at an early age. A boy's religious life was…
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lilili-s' disiiute (•oiicciinii- i,ir.cdriirr , \l k '.)■■'■■" and j.aivilleU) furtliLT briii-sonl lli.- .jiialil i.-s of child- liood which were most piecioiis in His eyes, and CHILDEEN CHILDREN 301 the value and importance He attached to little children themselves. The little one He called to Him and so lovingly …
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The domestic economy which forms the back- ground of Jesus' life, and is assumed in all His dealings with children and in all His allusions to them and their ways, is, of course, the whole- some home-life which hail grown up in Israel under the moulding influence of the revelation of the Old Covenant. Its basis was the…
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What Jesus did for children, we may perhaps sum up as follows. He illustrated the ideal of childhood in His own life as a child. He mani- fested the tenderness of His affection for children by conferring blessings upon them in every sta.^e of their development as He was occasionally brought into contact with them. He a…
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CHILDREN arms (Mk 10'«, c£. Q'"). His allusions to children in His teaching reflect the closeness of His ob- servation of them. He celebrates the delight of the mother m her baby, obliterating even the Eangs of birth {Jn 16-') ; the fostering love of the ither who cuddles his children up with him in bed (Lk 11') ; th…
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ingd( Hef unto me,' He says ; 'forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.' And then proceeding Avith the solemn 'Verily' — 'Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, shall in no wise enter therein' (Mk lO"- '=, Lk 18'«- " ; cf. Mt ig'-"). Wherein this childliken…
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From the point of view thus revealed in object- lesson and discourse, it was natural for our Lord to speak of His disciples as ' babes.' ' I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and eartli,' He cries on one momentous occasion (Mt 11-^, Lk 10-'), ' that tliou didst hide these things from the wise and understanding, and …
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CHILDREN OF GOD.— The teaching of Jesus Christ abo\it the children of God cannot be under- stood apart from His teaching about the Father- hood of God : indeed, it is from the latter stand- point that it must be approached. In such an approach the main positions seem to be as follows :— (1) Jesus asserts absolutely th…
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(c) Children of God trust their heavenly Father. This mark of Divine sonship is emphasized in the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus exhorts His disciples not to be as the Gentiles, but to rely upon their heavenly F'ather's knowledge of their needs and His desire to help thera. Anxiety must be banished from the hearts of God's…
922 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.