PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
A Dictionary of Christ and the Gospels — Volume 2
James Hastings · 1,290,716 words · 1269 reading sections
Section 481
(b) ' No single social type monopolized the sym- pathy or acceptance of Jesus ' (Peabody, op. cit. p. 204). The zealot and the publican met in the inner circle of His disciples : Mary of Magdala, out of Avhom Avent seven devils, and Joanna, the Avife of Herod's steAvard, united to minister to Him of their substance. He…
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He was with men also in lowliness and meekness. When the Samaritan villagers would not receive Hun, He restrained His disciples' indignation and went to another village (Lk O'--"') ; He took a place in the lower seats in the Pharisee's house (Lk 14''-") ; He was infinitely api)roachable by all the outcast and needy. Th…
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Literature.— The Lives of Christ ; Young, The Christ of Ilifttorn ; Ullmann, The SinlcKuness of Jesus ; Channing's Works, vol. ii. ; Bushnell, On the Character of Jesxis ; Lacordaire, Jesus Christ ; F. W. Newman, P/iasesof Faith, with Martineau's reviews thereof, in Essays, vol. iii. ; Martineau, Seat of Authority in H…
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The root idea in the adjective rAetos, ' perfect,' is that of T^Xos, the 'end.' The perfect man is the man who has reached the end designed in his creation, the man who represents the ideal set before his own being. The Father may be said to be perfect, as completely and constantly realizing the end of His own being. G…
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closing days the burden of His mission, and all that it would entail in the far future of the world, seemed to weigh heavily upon Him. Near at hand He felt the weakness of His disciples' loyalty, and was especially ' troubled in the spirit ' about Judas ( Jn I321). As He looked forward into the days to come, there fell…
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(1) Self -consciousness is the soul's utterance 'I am.' (rt) I am myself and nobody else (cf. Jn 9* iyuj dfu). Almost tlie first sense of personality is that it speaks from behind closed doors. It can look out on otiiers, but they cannot enter un- invited to share its life. This point is brought out in Holman Hunfs fam…
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' God . . . soul . . . the only facts for me. Prove them facts? That they o'erpass my power of pro\'ing Proves them such.' (R. Browning, La Saisiaz). Through Christ man has learned to read God and himself as being gathered under the same cate- gories, perfect and infinite in the one, derivative and fettered in the oth…
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(1) The personal temptation of Jesus is given as the record of a unique struggle witliin the chambers of personality. It was associated with that en- hancing of His self-consciousness Avhich was repre- sented by the descent of the Spirit as that of a dove, and the hearing of a voice, ' Thou art my be- loved Son ' (Mk 1…
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On the other hand, there is an infinite range to the possibilities of personality clear to the mind of Jesus, but hai'dly fathomable to ourselves, as where He says that to receive a disciple is to receive One who is greater than he (lO'*'^), and the service even of the helpless and forlorn is done to Himself (25*', cf.…
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Starting from this point, the revelation of God as Father is the means of the enlargement of our personality in three ways, through (a) His forgive- ness of us, (b) our imitation of Him, (c) the com- munion between Him and us. {a) God's forgiveness, gratefullj- received, is the first stage of man's moral freedom. It m…
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the heart of a little child, endures as seeing Hirn who is invisible. On these three steps of heightened self-conscious, ness — forgiveness, imitation, and communion — . stands the temple of immortality for the soul. (2) Jesus made the .soul capable of attaining its high destiny (in correspondence with its Divine ori…
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The manifestation of this spiritual fact was at Pentecost (Ac 2), and it presupposed two prior events — the advent of Jesus, and His ascension. And the meaning of these three events for man's self-determinarion lies here. (i. ) The Spirit as revealed in the earthly life of Jesus was the unique illustration of a Person…
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348 fp:rsonality PERSONALITY indeed were it not continually replenished in spirit and in truth. Biat because personality is conscious of its eternal environment, it can ' endure as seeing him who is invisible,' and must assert itself in the name of its Creator and lledeemer. Steadily it has been rising to the height…
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PERVERTING PETER 319 personality. (/) It has been the fuhiuni of foreign missions ; "for there are souls to be saved wherever humanity is to be found. This is the most beauti- ful and characteristic t ..sk of the Church of Christ. These are some of the modern developments of personality as to its rights and duties. …
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The life of Peter has a triple interest, (a) His personality is attractive because of its naturalness, buoyancy, and Wgour. Belonging to the class of men who are readily undeistood, his impetuosity, candour, freedom of speech, transparency of motive, his large and genial humanity, appeal strongly to our hearts. Peter i…
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deeply gratified with the declaration, and that He recognized in it a spiritual insight and capacity which qualified the speaker for high office and ser- vice in the Kingdom of God. But, though Peter had grasped the truth that Jesus was the Messiah, he was still in bondage to the traditional concep- tion of the Messiah…
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2. Subsequent to the Ascension. — If Peter was the foremost of the disciples before the Ascension, he was still more so, if possible, after that event. He is represented throughout the Acts as the leader of the Church ; and this view is confirmed by the references that St. Paul (Gal I'- *) makes to his position, which …
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352 PHAEISEES PHARISEES cratic spirit Avhich developed national Judaism into a Church, with a world-consciousness equal to that of Rome and a spiritual unity not inferior to that of Greece. (5) The Pharisees were also missionary, and made many converts {Ant. XX. ii.-iv. ; BJ 11. xix. 2 ; Mt 23''^). Hillel said : ' L…
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II. Theology of the Pharisees and the Teaching of Jesus.— Two views formerly held respecting the relation" of Jesus and His teachings to the Pharisaic Judaism of His time may now be regarded as obsolete. One was that both He and the Jews thew so directly from the OT that their ideas of the Messiah and His work were ess…
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(2) Jesu^' doctrine of God as Father. — The theo- logy of Jesus set out from the Fatherhood of God. It had been foreshadowed in the OT (Dt 32«, Ps VOL. II. — 23 68=) and later Jewisii literature (Wis 2'*), but was first taught in its unique imi>ortance and fulness by Jesus. It was peculiar to Him because He wsis relat…
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(4) Rule of faith and practice. — The Pharisees bound spiritual and moral living also under law. But law cannot produce affection, or Avin the heart, or Hnd place for the Holy Spirit, or be a vessel of grace. The idea of religion as a supreme impulse from the depths of man's nature, as Jesus taught it, independent of b…
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(2) Messianic teachings of Jesus. — The teachings of Jesus differed from those of the Pharisees on salvation, first, by showing it was not by law ; and, second, by presenting the Messiah as a sin-bearer. By repentance and faith in Him men would be I PHARISEES PHARISEES 355 saved. From the time of His baptism He lo…
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(2) Relation of Jesus to Jehovah. — Jesus taught that He wrought Sabbath nrirac^es and all miracles by the Holy Spirit and as Son of God (Jn 19"). Tlie Pliarisees replied that He did wonders by Beelzebub. It was the devil incarnate that went about doing good in Jesus. His forerunner, the Bajjtist, was also possessed by…
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terrible sentence, 'Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how shall ye esca^je the judgment of hell?' (Mt 2333). Literature. — Besides the works quoted in the text, of which Wellhausen's, Bousset's, and Baldensperger's are especially im- portant, cf. Montet, Essai sur les oriyinea d. partis Sad. et Phar. 1883 ; Schiir…
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There are not wanting in the Gosjiel narrative incidents which seem to show that Christ inherited this feeling of His countrymen and of His age, at least to some extent. He limits the ministry of His disciples to the villages of Judrea, bidding them avoid the villages of the Samaritans (Mt 10'') ; and in His interview …
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358 PHILANTHROPY PHILANTHROPY new coimnandmeiit ' which He had therein given them (Jn 13^^- ^^). He called upon those who would follow Him to be ready to sell all and follow Him (jNIt 19'-2^). The gift that won the approval of Heaven was not that which came out of the super- fluity of the rich, but the widow's mite,…
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This spirit the Christian Church has sought to realize in Avhat are called Missions. No distinction need cA^er be made betAveen ' Home ' and ' Foreign ' ISIissions. Least of all should any be made Avhen Ave consider, as Ave do here, the spirit Avhich belongs to both. The resource and ingenuity of love Avill appear in a…
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and deliberate disposition, and how little he had yet shown himself able to make any of the bolder etibrts of faith. And He evidently hoped that on this occasion Philip would rise from the manifest inadequacy of the existing material resources to the thought of the unseen powers which He (the Christ) had at His command…
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In the later Jewish writers, phylacteries play a great part ; their manufacture and use are elaborately described, and their significance and importance dwelt upon at length. 'There are more laws — ascribed to delivery by God to Moses — cluster- ing about phylacteries than about any other institution of Judaism. Maimon…
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Literature. — Comm. on Ex. and Deut, including long note in Kalisch's Exodus ; Maimonides, Yad Hachazakah, Hilcoth Tephillin ; Wagenseil, Sota ; artt. in Hastings' DB, the EBi ('Frontlets'), Smith's DB ('Frontlets'), Kitto's Ci/clop., the JE, Hamburger's RE, Riehm's HWB; Schiirer, UJP ii. ii. 113 ; Buxtorf, Lex. Chald.…
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But, further, for Christ the revelation of God and His actiWtj- in tiie physical order of the world possessed a moral significance. God as a floral Being— and because as such He is perfect — can never act unless morally, even in the sj-stem of things physical. This truth regulated the whole of our Lord's conception of …
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any, of His hearers had any idea of the Kingdom of God as being such an order. On the other hand, however, they were familiar with many of the phenomena of constancy and regularity in the physical order of things. Therefore His object in calling the attention of His hearers to these piienomena was to lead their minds u…
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LrrKEATTRE.— Wendt, Teaching of Jestis, i. 151 ff. ; Bushnell, Xature and the Supernatural; Drummond, Sai. Late in the Spiritual World ; Mozlev, University Sermons, pp. 122-144 ; Expositor n. vii. [lSs4] 103, ni. iL [1SS5] 224. W. D. Thomson. PHYSICIAN. — 1. Luke, the jihyskmn. — It is a fact of special importance, i…
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3G4 PILATE PILATE of his birth. He ■was a Roman citizen, and was born probaljly in Italy. From the position \\hich he afterwards occnpied, it is certain that he be- longed in manhood to the middle or equestrian class in the connnunity ; but whether bj' favour of the Emperor or by birth is unknown. Admission to this …
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(1) According to Mark (14^^), the chief priests and scribes and elders, after Jesus had been brought from Gethsemane, led Him away to the high prie.st, in whose residence thej' all assembled. This was an extraordinary meeting of the Sanhedrin. The Court sought evidence which Avould lead to the death of Jesus, but faile…
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'slaAe,' should be remembered to his credit. He Avas not of the stuff' of Avhich heroes are made, though doubtless in many respects a competent governor. Little is knoAvn of Pilate's later history. He used armed force to sujjpress a fanatical movement in Samaria, Avhich does not appear to have en- dangered the Roman s…
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Alex. Souter. PILGRIM.— 1. Although the word is not found in the Gospels, they constantly indicate the place of the annual pilgrimages in the life and thought of the people. There is always an air of move- ment over the scenes, and a frequent change of setting in tlie lives of the men and women ; they are constantly m…
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The Tb before TrpoaKe<pa\aiov seems to imply that the cushion was one of the ordinai-y articles of the boat's furniture, while its position ' in the stern ' suggests that the disciples were in the habit of resting on it by turns during the night fishing (Lk 5^ Jn 2P). It is, therefore, not probable that it had been pla…
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W. EwiNG. PITCHER (Kepdfxiov). — An earthenware jar with one or two handles, used chiefly by women for carrying water ^Gn 24^^, Jg 7'*, "i; ; RV and AV ' pitcher '). The only occurrence of the word in the Gospels is in Mk 14'^ Lk 22"^', iu the directions given by our Lord for securing a room for the Paschal meal. It h…
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It is true that in speaking of God as the ' Merciful One ' our Saviour was repeating what is a familiar thought in the OT. D?n"i, ' compassionate,' is there used exclusively as an epithet of God (Dt 431), while in Sir 5019 we already find the simple Din"! as a name of God (see Dalman, Words of Jesus, p. 204) ; but in o…
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It may Avell be doubted if any presentation of the Passion Avhich moves our pity is in accordance Avith the Gospel (see, for a strong indictment against such, Kuskin's Lectures on Art, ii. §§ 56, 57) ; but L PLACE OF TOLL PLAN 3G9 even if we hesitate to accept this, we must confess tliat unless we are led through …
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2. ^^'e assume, then, that Jesus took uj) His ministry deliberately, with a programme, more or less definite, already formed in His mind. Was the Messianic claim an original part of this pro- gramme / We have here the crucial issue on which the whole question of the plan of Jesus may be said to hinge. That Jesus decla…
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OAvn disciples had done. He resolved to go up to Jerusalem and proclaim Himself openly at the Passover feast. That this Avas the express pur- pose of His journey to Jerusalem is indicated in the tAA'o symbolic acts by Avhich He marked His arrival — the solemn entrance in fulfilment of an unmistakable prophecy (Zee 9"),…
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LiTERATiRE.— Besides the many Lires of Jestis (e.g. Keini, A. Rciville, O. Holtziiiann), the followinj: are among the most useful recent books : Baltlensperf^er, DaaSelbstbewusntseinJcxxi (1S91) ; J. Weiss, Die I'redigt .lenv koiii lieichc Guttes (1900) ; Bousset, JexiiH (1904, Eng. tr. l!)(i.')) ; O. Schmiedel, Die Ua…
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372 PLOUGH POET 17^^ Jn 12^*). All the pleasure the -world can afford will never compensate for what is lost in such a pursuit (Mt 16-«, Mk S^, Lk 9-'). In this comprehensive statement even intellectual and a?sthetic forms of pleasure are included. The habit of daily self-denial is to be adopted (Lk 9-^). No delight…
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His biographers are poets. The Gospel which gives us by far the most intimate glimpses into His inner life is Avritten by a man who was a poet to the very heart of liim. Matthew, himself less poetical, interpolates his narrative with long swing- ing quotations from the poets of his native land, such as those recorded i…
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The mention of emotion in this connexion recalls inevitably the famous definition of religion as ' morality touched with emotion ' (M. Arnold, Lit. and Dogma, ch. ii.). It is indeed a meagre and inadequate conception of religion. Yet there is a /arge element of truth in it, and the emotional element in all true religio…
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These proofs of Christ's emotion are very familiar, but His imagination has received less attention, and to it we shall devote a somewhat more minute study. That it Avas strongly in evidence is suffi- ciently proved by the fact that some of the Jews on one occasion took Him to be a devil-possessed Samaritan (Jn 8'**).…
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His words abound in bright little sketch-pictures of the life and labours of men — etched, one might almost say, upon the margins of the Gospels. ' Fishers of men ' (jNIk 1"), one with his hand upon the plough-handles but his head turned back (Lk 9'''^), some with loins girt and lamps burning, wait- ing for the sound o…
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It need not surprise us when we find the imagi- nation of Jesus reaching its cliniax of realistic vividness in the field of the weird and the ghastly. It is a ti'agic world, and he who, with his imagina- tion in free i)lay, dares to confront its facts im- partially, will certainly see and tell gruesome things. There is…
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The person of the devil is very frequently present to the mind of Jesus, and generally he is addressed or spoken of Avithout imagery. At other times, hoAvever, he is portrayed as a princely figure — ' prince of this Avorld ' — Avho A-ainly comes to find his OAvn in Him (Jn 14^**), and Avho is, by the Cross, cast out fr…
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Spirituality and poetry are connected in the most intimate way, and the remembrance that Jesus was a poet may lead us past many futile controversies and into many illuminative interpretations. Two results may be selected as of very special value to the understanding of the mind of Christ. 1. His use of hyperbole. —Bot…
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That ideal world— so far ahead of the most spiri- tual of us all, yet so persistently claiming us as its children and beckoning us to the courageous re- newal of our broken attempts to reach it — is a world whicii could have Ijeen constructed for man only bj^ God incarnate in One who was a poet. LiTERATrRE. — Various …
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The usual name for the officers charged with the execution of the law and the maintenance of order 378 POLITICAL CONDITIONS POLITICAL CONDITIONS is vTT-np^rris (Mt 5-=, Jn 7=*-- ^'- ""' 18^- '-). It may be variously translated 'apparitor,' ' serjeant,' or 'warder.' They had the duty, among others, of inflicting- th…
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4. Ethnarchy of Archelaus. — On the death of his father, Archelaus succeeded to the lordship of Judsea, with Samaria and Idunuca. His accession was opposed by some of his own faniilj', and by the popular party at Jerusalem, who aimed at the restoration of the theocracy, but pleaded mean- while for the investment of the…
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i was introduced by them. Soon after his accession in A.D. 14 to the throne of the Empire. Tiberius adopted the jxdicy of lengthening the term of servic-e in these provincial apixiintments, in the hoi>e of protecting the people from rapacity, by ! affording the governors a longer period over which to spread their exac…
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7. Political parties (see the various articles under separate titles). — The Samaritans, though kindred in race with the Jews, were regarded by them as sectaries, and the bitterness on both sides was fatal to joint political action of any permanent kind. The Sadducees were a priestly nobility, tenacious of the prestige…
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POPULARITY PUPULAKiTY 3S1 was neither to nor bi/ flesh and blood that He desired to reveal Himself and to win a place in the hearts of men, but fo the Divine germ within each soul, and bj/ the revelation of the Heavenly Father (Mt 16''). See following article. And as with the Master so must it be with the servants.…
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(2) But tlie popularity of Jesus was due not onlj- to His personal qiialities, but to His methods as a Teacher and the gospel that He brought, (a) Much lay in His methods — in the simplicity and ilirectness, the homeliness and jiicturesqueness of His language, and its entire freedom from all the professional pedantries…
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4. The decline of His popularity. — The miracle of tiie Feeding of the Five Thousand was a great turning-point in the life of Jesus. It marked, we have said, the culmination of His popularity, but also tlie beginning of its decline. And the reason for tills decline was just that the popularity it brought was of a kind …
1,114 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.