PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
Dictionary of the Apostolic Church — Volume 1
James Hastings · 1,014,604 words · 1012 reading sections
Section 841
What has given authority to Ignatius' letters is his martyrdom. His letters, written in an abrupt and nervous style, overloaded with metaphors, incoherent, popular, and lacking every Hellenic grace, are yet endowed with such pathetic faith and such passionate joy in martyrdom, with such overwhelming love of Christ, th…
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Three of the predicates applied to the Roman Church by Ignatius in the address may now be considered. (1) The believers are diroSiv\i<T/ji4voi dirb wavrb^ dXXoTpiov xp'i'A'aTos, ' filtered,' ' pure,' ' free from all polluting colouring matter' (cf. Lightfoot, p. 193). As we have already noted, Ignatius does not think …
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IGNOEANCE ILLYEICUM 605 in Rome, but the episcopal lists of Eome, Antioch, Corinth, etc., must have been nothing but forgeries if there Avas not early in the communities a primus inter pares, at the head of the presbytery, such as Clement was when he wrote to the Church of Corinth (Hamack, Entstehung und Entwickel- …
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(3) According to the apostles, ignorance could never be AvhoUy eliminated from Christian life, Avhile the circle of knoAvledge must be constantly enlarged. The apostles Avere never content to leave even the humblest Christians in a state of ignorance, and one indication of this desire may be found in the phrase that re…
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Literature.— T. Mommsen, Hist, of Rome, Eng. tr., 1894, Index, «.».; Prow, of Rom. Einp.^, 1909, i. 10!) ; artt s.v in HDB (Ramsay), SDB (Souter), and Smith's DOUG (E. B. James). J. Strahan. IMAGE.— The use of this term in the apostolic writings may be conveniently discussed under three heads. 1. Connexion with idol…
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IMAGE IMMORTALITY 607 Father' (cf. also 8^^- '•2). There are other modes of the Divine inanifestation ; through creation itself he who has an eye to see may behold ' the invisible things of God' (Ko 1^"), but there is no revelation or manifestation so sure, so adequate, so satisfying as that in Christ. At this poin…
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I. General discussion of the place occupied in religious thought at the beginning of the Apostolic Age by the belief in immortality. IL Particular history of the development of the belief during the A]iostolic Age : 1. Pauline doctrine of innnortality. 2. Petrine doctrine of immortality. 3. Johannine doctrine of imm…
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(1) EscJiatological background. — There is an eschatological background to the whole of St. Paul's thinking on the subject of salvation. This is not to say that the etiiical nature of the sal- vation is excluded ; on the contrary, the ethical is inseparable from the eschatological, the con- nexion between life and righ…
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(c) The ultimate result of tliis indwelling of the Spirit of Christ is to assert the complete triumph of life over death even in the bodies of believers (Ro 8'M- The full manifestation of this life will bring deliverance for creation (v.^^) from the bondage of corruption {(pdopd). For St. Paul, then, immortality is not…
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(3) The Pastoral Epistles add one or two points. The dogmatic conception of abstract immortality — what Friedrich von Hiigel {Eternal Life) calls ' quantitative immortality ' — perhaps appears in 1 Ti 6^® : 6 fxdvos ^'xwi' ddavaaiav. In 4^ a sharp dis- tinction is drawn between ' the life that now is and that which is …
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of the hope are retained, while the particular Jewish colouring and schemes of thought are quietly dropped, with a few exceptions. In this Gosj^el 'eternal life' is the principal category under which the subject of immortality falls to be considered. The most important group of passages is in the 6th chapter. Here our…
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(2) 2 Clement has several interesting passages : V. 5, ' our sojourning in this world in the flesh is a little thing and lasts a short time, but the promise of Christ is great and wonderful, and brings us rest, in the kingdom which is to come, and in everlasting life.' In vi. 7 rest is contrasted with eternal punishmen…
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612 INCORRUPTION INSPIRATION AND REVELATION for fso RVm, more accurate than with, RV] the prayers of the saints. Some interpreters think that the incense added by the angel is here sup- posed to give some kind of efficacy to the prayers ; but, while interceding angels and archangels appear in the Book of Enoch (ix. …
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There is thus a natural transition from revela- tion by fact to revelation by word. The fact comes first ; it is there, so that all who run may read. But it is not read, because it is not understood ; it is a bare fact ; it needs an interpreter. And the interpretation is supphed by the inspired man who sijeaks and wTit…
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derived from Nature is best calculated to convey: 'the invisible things of him since the creation of the world are clearly seen, being perceived through the things that are made, even his everlasting power and divinity' (Ro 1^; cf. Wis 13i). The truths that Nature can tell us about God are not the_ whole truth ; it can…
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2. The two modes of inspiration. — We have seen that there are two distinct modes of revela- tion, which may be called primary and secondary, or objective and subjective : the one a series of facts, the other embodying the interpretation of those facts. Insjjiration corresponds to the second of these modes ; it has to …
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When it is said that the Si)irit searches the deep things of God and then bestows a knowledge of these deep things on men, it is not meant that there is a mechanical transference of information. The process is dynamic, and not mechanical. What is meant is that the same Holy Spirit which mirrors, as it were, the conscio…
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The double character of the movement — a super- natural impulse and energy working upon and through natural human faculties — is well brought out in 1 Th 2]^ : ' For this cause we also thank God without ceasing, that, when ye received from ua the word pf the message, even the word of God, ye accepted it not as the word…
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It is difficult to exhaust the significance of this great passage from the Epistle to the Hebrews ; but a word must just be said about that other phra«e, *In many modes.' It might be taken as including the different classes of persons through whom_ God spoke ; not only prophets, but also psalmists and wise men. These …
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7. False claims to inspiration. — As in the case of the OT, so also in tlie case of the NT, we have to reckon with false claims to inspiration. There were prophets who were not deserving of the name. In both Testaments the prophets are regarded as forming a sort of professional class, which contained unworthy members. …
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LiTERATTjRE. — The present writer ia not aware of any work dealing specifically with the apostolic conception of Inspiration and Revelation ; but on the general subject reference may be made to artt. 'Bible' and 'Bible in the Church' in ERE, vol. ii. ; to B. Jowett, on 'The Interpretation of Scripture' in Essays and Re…
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Again, writing to the Colossians (l^*^), he prays that they may be 'endowed with all wisdom to apprehend [God's] verities and aU intelligence to follow His processes, hving in the mind of the Spirit — to the end that knowledge may manifest itself in practice' (J. B. Lightfoot, ad loc). Hav- ing this sure grasp of princ…
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These quotations may suffice to show how thoroughly the practice of intercession was carried out by the primitive Church. (d) Aristides in his Apology says: 'I have no doubt that the world stands by reason of the inter- cession of Christians' (ch. 16). (e) In the Martyrdom of Polycarp (A.D. 155), viii., it is recorde…
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Tiie exact content and text of the first Cliriscians' 'Bible' are not known. They were doubtless familiar with the tlnee-fold division of the Jewish canon — tlie 'Law,' the 'Prophets,' and the 'Writ- ings ' (Lk 24-*^ [?]), but they probably did not discuss questions of canonicity. Their feeling of spiritual elevation l…
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St. Paul uses the relations of the two brothers to their father and to one another to help him to make good his distinction between ' the children of the promise,' who are 'reckoned for a seed,' and 'the children of the flesh,' who are not 'children of God' (Ro 9^). Grappling with the problem of the incidence in his ow…
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to those writings. When he announces to the Jews of Pisidian Antioch his epoch-making decision to ' turn to the Gentiles,' it is in an utterance of Isaiah (49'') that he seeks the Divine sanction of his action : ' I have set thee for a light of the Gentiles' (Ac 13*^). When he reasons with the Athenians as to the error…
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In the Acts of the Apostles we find the word used historically with reference to the ancestors of the Jews of apostolic times and also applied to these Jews themselves. The past history of Israel as God's chosen people is referred to in the speeches contained in the Book of Acts, e.g. by St. Stephen (723. 37. 42)^ and …
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For the history and religion of Israel in apostolic times see artt. Pharisees, Herod. LiTBRATUEB. — Josephus, Ant., BJ ; H. Ewald, Gesch. det Volkes Israel, Gottingen, 1864-66; E. Schiirer, GJV*, Leipzig, 1901-11 ; C. von Weizsacker, Apostolic A(je, Eng. tr., 1894- 95. The following Commentaries on the relevant passag…
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268). James Strahan. ITALY ('IraXla). — The name was originally con- fined to the extreme southern point of the Italian peninsula. For the Greeks of the 5th cent. B.C. it denoted the tract along the shore of the Tarentine Gulf, as far as Metapontum, and thence across to the Gulf of Posidonia. By the time of Polybius t…
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IVORY (adj. i\e4>dvrivoi, noun rb iXefdvrivov, fr. A^<^as ; Skr. ebhas, Lat. ebur, Fr. ivoire). — Ivory- was prized by all the civilized nations of antiquity. The OT contains a dozen references to its beauty and value. ' Every article of ivory ' (Rev 18^^) was found in the market of the apocalyptic Babylon (Rome). It w…
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James Strahan. JAILOR. — The AV translates d€crixo<pv\a.^ in Ac 16-^ ' jailor,' and in vv.^* ^^ ' keeper of the prison.' The RV adheres to the terra 'jailor' in all three verses. The person so designated occupied the position of supreme authority as governor of the prison (cf. a.pxi-SeaiJ.o(j)v\a^, Gn 39^^ LXX), and m…
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626 JAMES AND JOHN JAMES AND JOHN adds with reference to John and James is that they were partners with Peter, wliicli might have been deduced from the Marcan account. And the more obvious explanation of their prompt obedience is that suggested by the 1st chapter of St. John — previous acquaintance at an earlier sta…
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2. In Acts. — The sons of Zebedee are placed next to Peter in the list of apostles (Ac P^), the name of John being placed before that of James, as in the Lucan Gospel. This is in accordance with the author's view, who assigns to John a place of im- portance second only to Peter in the history of the growth of the Churc…
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(4) The evidence of the Martyrologies also points to the same tradition, even if they are capable of another explanation. The Syriac Calendar which Erbes {ZKG xxv. [1904]) dates 411, and 341 for the part concerned, gives for Dec. 27: 'John and James, the Apostles, in Jerusalem.' Bernard's explanation that such a celebr…
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On the whole, the least unsatisfactory explana- tion of the evidence, with all its difficulties and complexities, is the hypothesis tiiat the Apostle did spend some years of his later life in Epliesus, where he became the hero of many traditions which belonged of right to another or to others. 5. The Fourth Gospel. — …
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He is understood to be meant by the modest self-designation 'James the servant of the Lord' (Ja 1'), and the author of the Ep. of Jude is con- tent to describe himself as the ' brother of James.' In view of the fact that he seems to have remained constantly at Jerusalem, it is at least uncertain whether he is included …
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It is in part, at least, owing to this gnomic style and prophetic temper that the Epistle does not form a logically constructed whole, according to Western theories of composition. This is not to saj^ that it has no cohesion. A considerable part of it is grouped round three or four main ideas — temptation, the bridling…
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ex-tended reference to the faith of Abraham (ad Cor. X. 1 ff.) Clement quotes Gn 15^ in its proper context, following St. Paul ; and, though he refers to the sacrifice of Isaac, he speaks of it as offered 5l VTraKoijs and not 5id irlaTeuis. 3. Date and authorship. — As might perhaps have been expected from the charact…
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(/i) The address itself constitutes a difficulty. If, as seems natural in a Christian writing, it means Jewish Christians in the Uteral Diaspora, where were these to be found prior to the Pauline missions? Moreover, there is no hint that the churches addressed contained Gentile Christians. But were there ever any purel…
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C. The hypothesis that the Ep. is an originally Jewish work adapted by a Christian 'svTiter has been maintained by Spitta and Massebieau (see Literature below) on the ground of (1) the scanti- ness of specifically Christian doctrine — an unmis- takably Christian reference is admitted only in 1^ and 2^ ; (2) close affin…
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Against this theory the following objections are offered . ( 1 ) The hypothesis is unduly complicated. (2) The religious spirit of the Ep. gives the im- pression of being very much earlier than that of Hermas. (3) The ultimate association of the Ep. with James of Jerusalem and its consequent re- ception are not fully a…
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We can only conclude, therefore, that all that is certain about Jannes and Jambres is that they were the names of two men who were believed in the ApostoUc Age to have been the leaders of the magicians who withstood INIoses, and that they have been made the centre of pious legends and the cause of much critical ingenu…
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2. Topography.— The chief authority for Jeru- salem in tlie 1st cent. A.D. — its topography no less than its history— is the Jewish writer Josephus. His historical works cover the period with which we have here to deal, and it is to the details there furnished that we owe most of our knowledge of the fortunes and aspec…
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* TeVcropa? Kal £e'«a (Niese) ; Whiston reads 'toxty' {BJ v, iv. 3). ^\ Tomb of //e/en& JERUSALEM in the /iposto/ic /7de ^^ S Stephen's Church Pseph 0 Her'od's Man. ',3 7orr*i) of- ff}^ ^'''^ I n6rotto-^ S. James i Virgin's I . . Fountain (SotomopS Pool) i: Man. ot ~ - ' "Mn^nus S C A.LE,,,, Fountain (…
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iii. Changes in the City during the Apostolic Age. — While there was nothing to equal the great building achievements of Herod the Great, activity was by no means stayed during the interval between the Death of Christ and the Destruction of Jeru- salem (c. A.D. 30-70). This we judge from the fact that it was not until …
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[Golgotha, p. 54; cf. T. Zalin, Introduction to the NT', ii. 447 f . ). [b) The Temple and its precincts. — Although tradition has fixed on one spot as being the special meeting-place of the first Christians, there can be no doubt they still continued to frequent the Temple. While thej^ had indeed become Chris- tians …
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(e) Sites associated with the proto-martyrt. — (1) St. Stephen. — The association of St. Stephen with the Coenaculum dates from the 8th cent., and with the modern Bdb Sitti Maryam (St. Stephen's Gate) from the 15th century. These traditions may be ignored, and attention fixed on the site N. of the city, where Eudocia's…
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The government now passed into the hands of King Agrippa I., who ruled in Jerusalem during the last years that the apostles as a body continued there (A.D. 41-44). Agrippa had already rendered service to the nation of the Jews by preventing Caligula from setting up his statue in the Temple. He was promoted by Claudius …
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ii. The Christians in Jerusalem. — Apart from the Book of Acts there is little information regarding the Christians during the years that tliey tarried in Jerusalem. A not unlikely tradi- tion gives twelve years as the period that the Twelve remained at the first centre of the Church. After that arose persecution and c…
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[d) The position of James, the Lord^s brother. — More than any of the Twelve, who at first were so prominent, is James, the Lord's brother, associated with tiie Church in Jerusalem. He appears sud- denly in Acts as possessed of authority equal to that of the greatest of the apostles, and at the Council he occupies the …
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JESUfci JEW, JEWESS 641 viii. 3). The nearest Latin equivalent wastii-banitas. But gradually the coinage was debased, and evrpa- ireXia came to mean no more than badinage, per- siflage, wit without the salt of gT:ace ; in Chry- sostom's striking phrase, it was ' graceless grace ' (xcipts axap^s). See E. Trench, NT S…
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One of the most remarkable features in con- nexion with the Jews in the apostolic times was their world-wide dispersion. From Spain in the West to the Persian Gulf in the East Jews had settled in every large city. Their exclusive re- ligion and their contempt of the heathen kept them together as a community within the …
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Though it is not at all probable that by Jezebel this Sibyl could be aimed at, seeing that the ob- noxious teacher was within the Thyatiran Churchj yet it is not improbable that a Chaldsean prophet- ess outside might stimulate a Christian prophetess inside the Church. It is of course always possible that Jezebel is not…
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Thisparticularprophecy wins for Joel a prominent ]ilace in the NT. St. Peter at once recognized its fulhlment in that outpouring of the Spirit, that baptism of fire, that Divine intoxication, which was exjierienced on the day of Pentecost. He quoted the prophet's words, and the question naturally arises hoAV he interpr…
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JOHX, EPISTLES OF hate his brother Christian. Love lights the path, so that he can walk without stumbling. The writer then turns to iinniediate circum- stances (vv. !-■'''). The sin which keeps them far from God has been removed ; the experience of the old and the strength of the young have secured victory (w.^^- ^'■…
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4''-5^-. — In these verses, the last and most intri- cate section of the Epistle, we have the third pre- sentation of the two theses. The remainder of ch. 4 is predominantly ethical, the opening verses of ch. 5 christological, or at least doctrinal. But the two theses are interwoven, and can hardlj' be separated. Love …
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of God. This danger, which threatened Jewish Christians piimarily, must have ati'ected the whole body. The prominence of the Jewish controversy in the Fourth Gospel is now generally recognized. It is less prominent in the Epistle, but there is no essential difference of situation. At the same time it is only one eleme…
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(5) Ethical error. —In his denunciations of ethical error there is no reason to suppose that the writer has a different class of opponents in view. He could not have connected his ethical and christo- logical theses as he has, if the two sources of danger had been separate. At the same time, in his practical warnings a…
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JOHX, EPISTLES OF JOHN, EPISTLES OF 647 the point, if true, is not decisive. It could as plausibly be explained as a modification of more original and less jaopular views. But serious diver- gence can only be maintained bj' the excision of 526-29 g3;n. g^jjj^ other inconvenient passages from the Gospel. The differen…
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4. Contents of Third Epistle.— The Third Epistle also deals with the question of hospitality to travelling missionaries and teachers, emphasizing in a particular instance the duty of Christians in this respect, as the Second deals with its necessary limitations. The objects of the letter are to claina a suitable welcom…
994 wordsSource & rights
Public-domain historical reference work (1915–1916); 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.