PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
A Dictionary of Christ and the Gospels — Volume 2
James Hastings · 1,290,716 words · 1269 reading sections
Section 541
The crowds which Jesus found at Jerusalem were naturally drawn from the country-districts, so that tliej' afford no reliable clue to the exact population of the capital, although, if we may trust the calcu- lations of Josephus {BJ Xl. ix.), it must have been capable of including, at the Passover season, more than thre…
932 wordsSECTION 542Section 542
In one single instance ' portion ' or ' part ' occurs in the unique sense of one of the ways in which God is served ; but here the word is fj-epis, not /xepoi (Lk lO''^ 'Mary hath chosen the good part'; the context seems to demand the sense of ' the best part'). W. O. E. Oesterley. PORTRAITS (of Christ).— See Christ i…
971 wordsSECTION 543Section 543
Modern commentators of repute (including Calvin) treat the story of the Pounds (Lk 19'!-^') as a variant of the parable of the Talents (Mt 2514-30) . Qjy^ prevailing theories on the origin of the Gospels as we have them tend to the con- firmation~of this view. In Mt. the jjarable appears as part of the prophetic discou…
1,007 wordsSECTION 544Section 544
1. The place of poverty in Christ's own life.— (a) The home in Xazarcth. — That Ciirist's parents were not wealthy we gather from St. Luke"s narrative of the Infancy (2-^), where the otl'er- ing of the poor is brought at the Presentation ; that ' there was no room for them in the inn ' (2') does not in itself show that…
1,059 wordsSECTION 545Section 545
An interesting echo of this teaching on poverty, or on the openhandedness that must prevent the dangerous accumulation of wealth, is found in the Gospel of the Hebreivs (fragm. 11), whei-e the rich man who came to Christ in the attitude of the young ruler is told that he could not have kept the Law, since people are dy…
904 wordsSECTION 546Section 546
POVERTY OF SPIRIT POWER 387 understand the message of the Kingdom and re- spond to it. ' Blessed are the poor who have allowed their poverty to fulfil its work in them, — who are poor in spirit as well as in worldly cir- cumstances.' The truth of the saying may be best illustrated by the historical fact that our Lor…
966 wordsSECTION 547Section 547
Literature. — Titius, Die NT Lehre von der Seligkeit, 1S95, Part i. (esp. p. 72 ff.); H. J. Holtzmann, NT Theologie, vol. i. 181 f. (1897); Loisy, Lc dittcoiirs sxir la montmjnc (1903); also works of a popular or honiiletical character, e.(j. : Dykes, Be- atittides of the Kingdom (1876) ; Gore, Sermon on the Mount (190…
1,101 wordsSECTION 548Section 548
points the duties of the great (Mt 18^- ■* 19'*). The constitution and aspirations of the Kingdom, as embodied in the Sermon on the Mount, not only surpass all similar requirements of government, but seem to invert all that the world had hitherto counted great and noble. The innermost instinct of empire, the white ensi…
902 wordsSECTION 549Section 549
Literature. — W. Arthur, Tongue of Fire. ch. ix. ; A. Maclaren, Holy of Holies, chs. vi. viii. ; Mason, Conditiuns of our Lord's Life oh Earth (1896), 84 ; W. N. Clarke, What shall we think of Christianity! (1899), 106 ; Forrest, Authority of Christ. G. M. Mackie. PRiETORIUM.— The word occurs in the text of Mk 15^'' o…
1,044 wordsSECTION 550Section 550
For the Hebrew terms employed with the meaning 'praise' and its cognates, reference may be made to the art. ' Praise (in OT)' in Hastings' DB iv. 33 f. The most frequent are— '^S'l 'praise' (esp. in the liturgical formula .-:;-?''St = Hallelujah), n^i^n ' give thanks ' (RV), rn? ' bless,' n?; ' make melody ' ; rare syn…
901 wordsSECTION 551Section 551
iiiinx.1 54«» ra HiS-.n^n^y 1123 D'iv ([ni), and has various shades of meaning, according to the context— e.(/. of thanksgiving for benefits received, Lk 1718; by con- fession (of sin), Jn 924; cf. Jos 719. The phrase is frequent in Rev. of celebrating God's praises (Rev 49 1113 197). " ^ ^ The frequent mention in the…
1,069 wordsSECTION 552Section 552
In discussing the subject of prayer in reference to Christ and the Cios]iels, we maj' consider these topics: (1) the words used to express the idea of prayer ; (2) places and times of prayer ; (3) atti- tude in prayer ; (4) Christ's example ; (5) Christ's tU)ctrine. 1. Tliere are a few words for 'prayer' in the NT wli…
929 wordsSECTION 553Section 553
It should be noticed that the instances of Christ's praying which are recorded in the tJospels are found just before or just after leading events in the Lords life ; also that the majority of them are given us by St. Luke, whose Gospel is some- times called 'the Gospel of Prayer." There are, indeed, three recorded inst…
918 wordsSECTION 554Section 554
must be approached in prayer, viz. a deep sense, not only of need (as in the other two parables), but of unworthiness. Before Him we have no claim to merit, no ground for self-congratulation. Tlie parable indicates that downcast eyes and beating of the breast are natural accompaniments of a penitent's praj'er. Less dir…
1,121 wordsSECTION 555Section 555
Literature.— Works on the reasonableness and the efficacv of prayer abound, but they are outside the sphere of this article. Handbooks of Biblical Theology give little help. In Bible Dictionaries the art. on ' Prayer' "in Hastings, iv. p. 42 ff., should be consulted ; also in Schaff-Herzog, iii. p. 1879, and in Herzog-…
933 wordsSECTION 556Section 556
.iA 394 PREACHING CHRIST PREACHING CHRIST is easy to see the dangers connected with this situation. If Ave take the sentence, ' Jesus is the Christ,' we may put the emphasis either on the subject or the predicate. We can conceive how a Jew, whose imagination was on flame with the apocalyptic hopes associated with t…
1,218 wordsSECTION 557Section 557
The passage just quoted (Ac I-'*-) is practically coterminous with the oldest form of Gospel which we possess. ' Beginning from the baptism of John unto the day that he was taken up ' : these are the limits within which lies the Gospel according to Mark. Hence we might say that to preach this gospel is to preach Christ…
917 wordsSECTION 558Section 558
was secured, it i- imr -ucli a phenomenon which makes Him the Christ to us. Its value now lies in showing that He regarded Himself as the Christ, the promised King. And so with the argument from miracles, which, though not formallj- put, is perhaps as characteristic of the Second Gospel as the argument from prophecj- i…
1,007 wordsSECTION 559Section 559
5. If we bring these ideas to a jJoint, we shall say that to preach Christ means to preach Jesus in the absolute significance for God and man Avhich He had to His own consciousness and to the faith of the first witnesses ; and to preach Him as exalted, and as having this absolute significance now and for ever. The ques…
1,067 wordsSECTION 560Section 560
(6) Jesus, however, has other ways of conveying His absolute significance. One of the simplest is that in which He represents Himself as judge of men, arbiter of their eternal destinies. It may be argued, no doubt, that the form in which this is expressed in Mt 7^^^- 2.5^^'''- is, in part at least, due to the Evanffeli…
827 wordsSECTION 561Section 561
significance of Jesus remains. It is given in what we may call His consciousness of His relation to God. To Jesus, God was the Father, and He Him- self was the Son. It does not matter that God is a universal Father, and that all men are or are called to be His sons ; Jesus recognizes this, and insists upon it, but He c…
1,147 wordsSECTION 562Section 562
6. With the rest of the NT in mind, the ques- tion is naturally raised at this point, whether Jesus gave any further definition to the idea of media- tion than that which we find in this passage. All men owe to Him the knowledge of God as Father, but how does He impart it ? All men nmst become His debtors if tliey are …
1,050 wordsSECTION 563Section 563
PKKACHIXG CHRIST PREACHING CHRIST 399 only ditterence was that He knew a better way of doing the will of God than that wliich the scribes of His day enforced on the people, and that He called men to leave their traditions and learn of Him. Wellhausen not only removes from the mind of Christ in this way everything th…
1,387 wordsSECTION 564Section 564
400 PKEACHING CHRIST PREACHING CHRIST First Epistle of Peter is on a level with this. In many respects it is more explicit. There has been more reflexion on the absolute significance of Jesus in religion, on His relation to the OT, on the power of His resurrection, on the virtue of His Passion as connected with rede…
1,075 wordsSECTION 565Section 565
(a) Sometimes they are, so to speak, unstudied : the truth is put, and possibly with emphasis, but there is no particular reflexion upon it. Thus, in 1 Co 3" ' other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Christ Jesus.' This comes very close to Ac 4"'- (see above). Again, when we read in 2 Co P" ' how ma…
964 wordsSECTION 566Section 566
way of conceiving Christ, in which the individual historical Person is elevated or expanded into a universal or representative Person, pervades the Epp. to the Romans, Corinthians, and Galatians see esp. Ro 5'-^-, 1 Co 15-^-'''). As these Epp. are central in St. Paul's writings, there is a certain justification for la…
842 wordsSECTION 567Section 567
exclude error, when we say that God created all things out of nothing ; such a formula teaches only the absolute dependence of nature on God. But it is put positively, or so as to convey the truth in which the world is interested, when we say that all things were created in Christ. St. Paul's con- viction of this truth…
966 wordsSECTION 568Section 568
11. If, hoA\ever, Ave are in sympathy Avith this conviction, it may fairly be argued that Ave can preach Clirist Avithout raising any further ques- tions. We must find tlie absolute significance of Jesus in the area Avithin Avhich Jesus presented Himself to men, ' beginning from tlie baptism of John until the day Avhen…
1,133 wordsSECTION 569Section 569
the fulness of the Deity (P^ 2«), i.e. 'the totality of the Divine attributes and powers' (Lightfoot). His eternal Divinity shines out in ^o-tii/ (P^), while yiv-qrat (v.i'^) reflects the humanity which He has assumed and glorihed. Similar teaching is found in the other Epistles of the same g:roup. In Ephesianst the e…
1,027 wordsSECTION 570Section 570
The conception of Christ's Sonship here may seem to be quite different from that commonly found in the Epistles. But a comparison with Ro 1* may show that the two at root agree. Both here and in Romans the Resurrection is due to His holiness (Ac 1335). In Rom., further, the holiness is due to His sonship, of which the …
1,052 wordsSECTION 571Section 571
II. Conceptions of the Twelve and their asso- ciates in the Acts. — Our discus.sion has brought us to thb early jireaching of the Twelve. Let us see more particularly the way they had come. Their approach was the opposite of St. Paul's. They began with the Man Jesus of Nazareth, and ad- vanced" slowly to the higher tho…
951 wordsSECTION 572Section 572
2. Genesis of their conception. — This takes us back to the Gospel history, and that to the pro- phecies of the OT. (1) Andrew and John were led to follow Him through the testimony of John the Baptist. Others were doubtless directly or in- directly attected by John's ministry. And John links us inevitably to the OT an…
1,326 wordsSECTION 573Section 573
III. Conception of the later NT books.— 1. Hebrews.— The very purpose of this letter is to forestall apostasy by showing Christ's superiority to all others, including Moses and Aaron, the pro- phets, and all the angels. The first chapter is equal in strength and fulness to the great passages in Col. and Philippians. He…
968 wordsSECTION 574Section 574
In the Apocalypse the A{X)stle is given a vision of Christ in His inettable glory, and a panoramic view of His march to acknowledged pre-eminence. All the main features already sketched reappear heie in most striking fashion. He is the Lamb slain, the Kedeemer who in His blood loosed from their sins (P) and purchased u…
1,026 wordsSECTION 575Section 575
The sermons in the Acts confine themselves to the historical manifestation of Jesus Christ, the prophetical preparation for it, and the Second Advent. But in the ^xTitinofs of St. Paul an in- creasing consciousness of Christ's pre-existence and definiteness in speaking of it can be tracetl. In 1 Co 15^' Christ is ' fro…
989 wordsSECTION 576Section 576
sorrow. He can bid the Avomen of the city weep for the downfall that is to come, ' for yourselves and for your children ' (Lk 23^). Dwelling upon pro- phetic visions, He portrays the signs that shall herald the coming of the Son of Man (Mt 24"^ || Lk 2125). But most notable of all His personal premedita- tions is that…
915 wordsSECTION 577Section 577
Edg.ar Daplyn. PREPARATION (wapaffKtv^, Mt 27''-, Mk 15^-, Lk 23•■^^ Jn lO'^-^'--*-).— 1. Since tiie Sabbath was a day of holy rest, the food for it was cooked and all else needful got ready on the previous d,ay, the. ■Kpo(jd§^aTov (Mk 15'*'-) ; * and thus that day was designated by the Jews 'the Preparation. 'f The C…
1,001 wordsSECTION 578Section 578
In the opinion of tlie present writer the diffi- culty is due to a misunderstanding of Jn 13' and IS'^"*. When tiiose two passages are rigiitly considered, tiie position seems to be estabiisiied tiiat Trapa(rKevr) means Friday alike in the Fourth Gospel and in tiie Synoptics. Jn 13^ siiouid be read as a separate jiarag…
938 wordsSECTION 579Section 579
t See Lightfoot on Jn 1828, Mk 1525. § Dt 162, 2 Ch 301- 23. 24 351. 8-19, Ezk 4521-24. Lightfoot on II Cf. 213- 23 64 1155 121 131. Contrast Mt 2617 =Mk 14i2=Lk 227. 8. Literature. — Lightfoot, Hor. Heb. (see references in foot- notes); Strauss, LeO. Jes. ui. ii. § 121, and New Life of Jesus, ii. § 85 ; Keim, Jesus…
906 wordsSECTION 580Section 580
\l) By the testimony of Jesus is meant the un- conscious impress of His Personality. It is evident, to use with all respect a familiar phrase, that Jesus had a presence. The people marvelled because He spoke with authoritj', although an unlettered man (Mt 7-*- -^, ^Ik 6-). His eyes were as a flame of tire (^Ik 3', Lk 2…
1,115 wordsSECTION 581Section 581
4. Christian history has been a long series of endeavours to realize the full meaning of the Di^iiie presence. First it was caught into Jewish preconceptions, and projected into the doctrine of the Parousia. This had its effect on the iimiost circle of Christian writers with the exception of St. John, and on most of th…
1,072 wordsSECTION 582Section 582
LiTER.ATURE.— Harnack, Hist, of Dogma, or Outlines ; Mathe- son, Growth of the Spirit of Christianity ; Fairbairn, Christ in Mod. TheoL, bk. i. ; Herrmann, Communion with God ; Imita- tion of Christ; John Woolman's Journal; J. Campbell Whit- tier, Poems; Stopford Brooke, Christ -in Mod. Life; Watson, Inspiration of our…
1,093 wordsSECTION 583Section 583
2. The Purification ofMory, besides synchronizing with the Presentation of her Son. was an event belonging to the same moral and religious category. It also was an act of a humble-minded and becoming oljedience to the Law of Moses, under which she lived. St. Jerome alone among the Fathers was of opinion that in her ca.…
981 wordsSECTION 584Section 584
Both the Purification of Mary and the Presenta- tion of our Lord in the Temple are commemorated on the 2nd of February (Candlemas . Baronius says that the Church at Kome was led to the institution of this Feast in order to supersede the Lupercalia, the observances connected wherewith were of an extremely immoral as wel…
953 wordsSECTION 585Section 585
2. Before the Birth of Christ this characteristic of His mission was heralded in Mary's song. She who described herself as a handmaiden of low estate could rejoice that in the coming Kingdom the pruutl would be scattered in, or by (Lk P' RVm), the disposition of their hearts. Princes would be brought down, and rich me…
1,249 wordsSECTION 586Section 586
5. The essential vice of pride was glanced at in one of these conversations w hen the Master said, ' All ye are brethren ' (Mt 238). Pride is an injurj- to the bond of brotherhood ; it is disloyalty in the Christian household ; it is a breach of fellowship. The selfish despising of our fellow-creatures is a contradicti…
1,222 wordsSECTION 587Section 587
(3) The essential meaning of priesthood. — In order to obtain a true idea of the priesthood of Christ, it is necessary to inquire what were the essential characteristics of priesthood. What were the functions which the priest performed as priest, those of which he had the monopoly, and which no one else could perform u…
914 wordsSECTION 588Section 588
PRIEST PKIEST 417 Melchizodek priesthood. He was a royal person (wIulIi Aaron was nut) ; an abiding person (which Aaron was not) ; n unique })erson (which Aaron was nut). It is the personal superiority in these respects over the priesthood of Aaron that is d^elt upon in coiniexion witli Mekhizedek. There is, of cour…
1,393 wordsSECTION 589Section 589
418 PRIEST PEINCE entrance into heaven is mentioned, He is said to have gone ^through his own blood,' i.e. His access is based on the offering on Calvary (9'^). It seems impossible, therefore, to extend the idea of Christ's offering to mean ' a present and eternal offering to God of His life in heaven ' (W. Milligan…
1,051 wordsSECTION 590Section 590
Literature.— Hastings' DB, artt. 'Priest (in NT),' 'Heb- rews' ; W. Milligan, Ascension and Heavenly Priesthood of our Lord ; Davidson, Hebrews, Special Note on ' Priesthood of Christ' ; Dimock, Our One Priest on High, and The Christian Doctrine of Sacerdotium ; Perowne, Oiir High Priest in Heaven ; Rotherhani, St^idie…
958 wordsSECTION 591Section 591
LiTERATLRE.— The Le.xx. g.vv. ; Alford's Gr. Te-gt. ; Westcott's Sf. John ; Bruce and Dods in EGT ; Holtzmann in JUand-Com. ; Hastings' DB, art. ' Prince ' ; Chase, CrcdihilUy of the Acti, p. 129 ff. ; Spurgeon, The Messiah, 163, 175. J. C. Lambert. PRINT (ri'TTo?, the mark of a stroke or blow ; cf. Athen. tovs tvttov…
921 wordsSECTION 592Section 592
420 PRISON PRISOXEK 28^, cf. 1 Co P^). ' The prints of the nails are not only signs of recognition, but also signs of victorj'. . . . He jioints to His wounded hands and feet as proving that He bears even within the veil the tokens of I'edeeming love. The conception is one on which Art has always loved to dwell. We …
1,009 wordsSECTION 593Section 593
Literature. — Besides the authorities referred to above, see the Commentaries, ad loc. ; Hastings' DB, artt. ' Crimes ' and ' Prison ' ; Conybeare-Howson, Life of St. Paul, i. 357 f.; Farrar, Life of St. Paul, 1. 497, ii. 390 ff., 547. D. A. MACKINNON. PRISONER.— The word 'prisoner' (Seo-Mtos) is found in the Gospels …
1,156 wordsSECTION 594Section 594
J. C. Lambert. PROCURATOR.— A 'procurator' (the exact Gr. equivalent is eiriTpoTros) was properlj* a slave or freedman who looked after (procurabat) a man's property (cf. Mt 20^, Lk 8^). The nearest Eng. equivalent is ' steward " (wh. see). This upper servant acted for his master, in the absence of the latter, in all…
977 wordsSECTION 595Section 595
The parable is thus practical in its aim — teaching men not only how they ought to treat their repent- ant brethren, but chiefly what is necessary to en- able them to do so. For what was it that led the father to act as he did? Was it not just the love he bore his son, foolish and erring though he had been ? The elder …
1,123 wordsSECTION 596Section 596
PKOFAXIXG, PROFANITY PROFAXIXG, PKOFAXITY I O-: 2. The sin. — Tlie sin of profaning consists in treating sacred tilings witli irreverence or con- tempt, and in the Bible the charge of profanation is found especially in connexion with the desecra- tion or violation of the Snbbath, of the Temple, or of tJie name of Go…
953 wordsSECTION 597Section 597
In the eyes of Jesus all this, however it might be defended by ecclesiastical lawyers, was a desecra- tion of His Father's hou?e, inasmuch as it was a hindrance to true spiritual worship. And the principles He lays down here on the subject of worship and its profanation are far-reaching and penetrating. The Temple at J…
928 wordsSECTION 598Section 598
Thus the word 'confess' answers in the OT to m', which always implies the utterance of genuine faith or feeling (Hiph. = hiunhly and thankfulli/ to acknowledge God's name and good- ness, 1 k 8S-'-35 [LXX ilo'M>.oyioua.i] ; Hithp. =contriteli/ to con- fess sin, Lv 55 1621 [LXX liKyaptia]) ; while ' profess ' answers to …
989 wordsSECTION 599Section 599
PR<;>FIT PROGRESS 425 fess me before men, him will I also confess before my Father Avhieh is in heaven' (Mt 10^-'). J. Dick Fleming. PROFIT.— Two Gr. words are so rendered : (1) j,i0.iii, to furt/Ltr, help, ■ofit : RV 'profit,' Mt 15-' ( = Mk TH) !(>» ( = Mk s*. Lk 9^3 Tw( pront AV 'advantage'), Jn 6"^: 'prevail…
946 wordsSECTION 600Section 600
2. But at this point notice requires to be taken of two other historical facts with which the posi- tion of Christ and His teaching came inevitably into immediate and important relations. First, the Jewish people occupied a unique and pre- eminent place among all the peoples of antiquity as regards the fact of human pr…
952 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.
Project Gutenberg source record →
Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.