PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
Dictionary of the Apostolic Church — Volume 1
James Hastings · 1,014,604 words · 1012 reading sections
Section 481
{a) It is suggested that the words ii> 'E^^o-y should be omitted, and that our present text is then correct (so e.g. Moffatt, and the majority of those who reject the Pauline authorship). Un- fortunately, as indeed Origen's attempt at explana- tion shows, the reading so obtained gives rather poor sense. The translation…
958 wordsSECTION 482Section 482
against Gnosticism. Pfleiderer, e.g., sees in 4^'''' an allusion to ' a Gnostic theory which separated the Christ of speculation from the Jesus of the evangelical tradition' {Primitive Christinnitij, iii. 3U3). He finds that the quotation of Ps 0S'« in 48'- depends on tiie ' Gnostic myth of the victorious de- scent to …
1,098 wordsSECTION 483Section 483
It is urged that it is new in St. Paul to find the unity of the Church traced back to Christ's cosmic position (Moffatt, op. cit. p. 393). But this is really rather a question of Christology than of the doctrine of the Church. Solidarity in Christ is the most characteristic part of St. Paul's teaching. The thought of t…
1,004 wordsSECTION 484Section 484
348 EPHESIA2fS, EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIAJ^S, EPISTLE TO THE the Christology of Col. and Eph. is embodied in Ph 2*'^'. It has been noted as un-Pauline that the result of the Cross should be seen in the reconciliation of Jew and Gentile ratlier than in relation to sin. But this objection is due to imperfect exegesis. It…
910 wordsSECTION 485Section 485
Some special cases have been thought suspicious The phrase ' holy apostles ' (3') has been dealt with above (§ i). The use of Sid^oXos (42' 6'i ; cf. 1 Ti 3\ 2 Ti 22") is curious, as St. Paul elsewhere employs the name ' Satan ' (also in the Pastorals, 1 Ti 1'-'"). But there is no reason why he should not have varied i…
1,058 wordsSECTION 486Section 486
(b) Relation to 1 Peter. — There is a considerable amount of resemblance of thought, structure, and language between Eph. and 1 Peter. This is especially obvious in the directions for family life (note the curious phrase ' your own husbands ' in 1 P 3\ which seems to depend on Eph 5--). Other parallels quoted are P wit…
900 wordsSECTION 487Section 487
EPHESUS storms are violent. The site was nevertheless so attractive that it must have been very early oc- cupied. The ancients dated the settlement of Ionian Greeks there early in the 11th cent. B.C., and the city long before St. Paul's time had be- come thoroughly Greek, maintaining constant in- tercourse with Corint…
980 wordsSECTION 488Section 488
The fidelity of St. Luke's narrative in its politi- cal allusions and local colour has received confirma- tion from many sources. As the virtual capital of a senatorial province, Ephesus had its proconsuls {avdviraToi, Ac 19^^), but here the plural is merely used colloquially, without implying that there could ever be …
1,017 wordsSECTION 489Section 489
the Stoics and Epicureans, St. Paul was face to face with the most influential philosophies of the day. Unfortunately, we know but little of the character of the interview or its results. The discussion was probably not hostile on the part of the philosophers, though Chevne seems to incline to this view (EBi, vol.'ii. …
1,073 wordsSECTION 490Section 490
(6) Physics. — Epicurus relied on the senses alone as the true basis of knowledge, and they reveal only matter in motion. Consequently, matter is the only reality. The incorporeal is the same as the non-existent, i.e. void, and this applies even to mind. When Epicurus explains the nature of matter, the inthionce of Dem…
914 wordsSECTION 491Section 491
Literature. — Lucretius, de Rerum Natura ; Diog-. Laert. de Vitis Philosophoruin, bk. x. ; Cicero, de Finibus, de Natura Deorum, Tuscidance Disputationes ; Plutarch, Disputatio qua doceturne suavitcr quidem vivi posse secundum Epicuri decreta, adv. Colotem ; E. Zeller, Stoics, Epicxireans and Sceptics, Eng. tr., London…
1,031 wordsSECTION 492Section 492
LiTERATDRB. — R. Hercher, Epistolographi Grceci, Paris, 1873 (a collection of Greek letters) ; H. Peter, Der Brief in der romisclien Litteratur, Leipzig, 1901 ; E. Norden, Die antike Kunstjjrosa^, do. 1909 ; G. A. Deissmann, Bibelstudien, Marburg, 1895, pp. 187-225 (Eng. tr., 1901, pp. 1-59) ; C. F. G. Heinrici, Der li…
920 wordsSECTION 493Section 493
common (tuv 0e^ri\wp).' It was the fault of Esau, who was not without admirable qualities, that he made no such distinction. To him the most sacred things were common, because he had no spiritual discernment. He despised ' this birthright ' (Gn 25^-) as a thing of no worth. He did not despise the blessing which had mat…
1,033 wordsSECTION 494Section 494
But, while emphasizing the background of ideas common to primitive Christianity and Jewish apocalyptic, we must not ignore the distinctive- ness of the former ; and this now claims our at- tention. 3. The new Christian message.— (1) The Messiah has come, in the Person of Jesus. — The belief that Jesus of Nazareth was …
970 wordsSECTION 495Section 495
356 ESCHATOLOGY ESCHATOLOGY a warning of impending judgment into an evangel of salvation and forgiveness. (5) The free gifts of God. — To describe the apostolic gospel simply as a promise of escape from the wrath to come would be inadequate; it was a promise rich with new gifts and blessings — e.g. the outflo\%'ing…
987 wordsSECTION 496Section 496
(5) Final destinies. — Here again, no detailed scheme of doctrine is yet put forward. Broadly, it is implied that supreme joy will be the reward of the ' believers,' and that a dreadful fate awaits unbelievers (Ac 3^*). The phrase 'restoration of all things' (Ac 3^') might be taken to imply a ' universalistic ' view of…
988 wordsSECTION 497Section 497
(1) Causes of the decline. — (a) The recollection of our Lord's teaching. — If, as we have contended, the eschatology of our Lord was wider and deeper than the apostolic interpretation of it, it was natural that some of the half-understood sayings of the Master — particularly the parting commis- sions, Mt 28-", Ac V- …
939 wordsSECTION 498Section 498
This difficulty was met in two ways, (a) The sti'icter minds insisted that post-baptismal sin for- feited the right to salvation, and incurred con- demnation (He 6'*"®). By this means all Christians guilty of sin were classed among the ' not-saved,' and the two- fold division of retribution could logi- cally be maintai…
1,080 wordsSECTION 499Section 499
(2) The book as a type of apocalyptic literature. — ESCHATOLOGY ESCHATOLOGY 359 The writer is steeped in apocalyptic thought and language, to a greater extent tlian any other NT Avriter. To the average modern reader the book appears strange and unintelligible ; but to those familiar with Jewish apocalyptic there is…
1,030 wordsSECTION 500Section 500
(6) The distinctiveness of the Johannine Apoca- lypse.— The resemblance between the NT Apoca- lypse and other apocalypses is, as we have seen, striking ; but not less striking are the distinctive features of the former. («) Alone of all tlie apocalypses, Jewish or Chris- tian, it is given under the name of the writer,…
1,002 wordsSECTION 501Section 501
cf. 2 Th 2'- * (see below, and article Man of Sin), 1 Jn 4' 2 Jn' (see below) ; Didache, 16 (where he is to appear 'as Son of God,' i.e. as a pseudo- j\Iessiah) ; Ep. Barn. 4. The conception (like the corresponding one of the Messiah) varies from that of a human monarch to that of a supernatural being, sometimes closel…
1,031 wordsSECTION 502Section 502
7S7f. 1125 173). Again, while the word ' Antichrist ' (1 Jn 2'"', etc.) is taken from Jewish apocalyptic, the idea is com- pletely 'spiritualized' — so much so that com- mentators have found it most difficult to be certain what the writer himself intended to signify by the term. Broadly, it appears here to designate t…
928 wordsSECTION 503Section 503
IV. The Pauline type of early Christian ESCHATOLOGY, AND THE ESCHATOLObrY OF THE Gentile-Christian churches.— i. The escha- tology of St. Paul.— In view of the trend of recent criticism, it seems reasonable to accept as a work- ing hypothesis the view that all the 'Pauline' Epistles of the NT are genuine letters of t…
1,043 wordsSECTION 504Section 504
Thus the characteristic of 1 and 2 Thess. is that the eschatology is the ' central ' theme, and is completely Judseo-Christian in form. At the same time, it is closely linked with moral teaching (1 Th 312 4^^ etc. ) ; and this practical aspect of St. Paul's eschatology (which in this respect is in complete accord with …
911 wordsSECTION 505Section 505
(b) The Intermediate State. — As long as St. Paul expected the Return in the immediate future, there was no logical place for any thought of the Inter- mediate State of the 'dead in Christ.' Probably St. Paul, like many Jews, believed in a ' waiting- place ' for the faithful souls of former generations, who had been ev…
913 wordsSECTION 506Section 506
364 ESCHATOLOGY ESCHATOLOGY the possibility of any Gentile influence, and main- tain that St. raul, from first to last, lived and spoke and wrote as a Jew (Schweitzer, Paul and his Inter- prefers, pp. 94, 227, 240, etc. ). On the whole, the change which came over St. Paul's theology seems explicable simply as the na…
918 wordsSECTION 507Section 507
An adequate discussion of the problem thus raised is impossible here; but one or two points may be noted : (a) St. Paul certainly associates baptism with 'death' and 'resurrection' (Bo 63, Col 212), and with the reception of the Spirit (1 Co 1213). But, while these passages, and certain others reu^arding the Eucharist…
950 wordsSECTION 508Section 508
(b) Occasionally we meet with clear signs of Greek thought, e.g. Ign. ad Bom. 3, ' Nothing visible is good.' And some thirty years later we find the Epistle to Diognctus reflecting a thoroughly Greek theory of the relation of the soul to the body (7, 10). (c) The conception of the Eucharist as a ' Mystery,' through wh…
971 wordsSECTION 509Section 509
Divested of these additions, 2 Es. is a series of seven visions, separated for the most part, in the experience of the seer, by periods of fasting and prayer. Their purpose is to shed light on the mysteries of the moral world, and restore the faith in God and reliance on His justice which had been shaken by the downfal…
1,071 wordsSECTION 510Section 510
(a) The speculations of St. Paul are closely paralleled by the discussions of moral and religious problems in the earlier part of 2 Esdras. Our author presumably belonged to the school in which the great Apostle was trained ; and, especially in his treatment of sin and the weakness of the Law as a redemptive power, has…
970 wordsSECTION 511Section 511
1913. D. Frew. ESSENES. — The Essenes were a Jewish monastic order, probably long preceding, not long surviving, the founding of Christianity. 1. Authorities. — Essenes are not mentioned either in the NT or in the Talmud. Our chief authorities are (1) Josephus [BJ II. viii., Ant. xviii. i. 5, XIII. V. 9, XV. X. 4ff.…
917 wordsSECTION 512Section 512
(1) Was James anEssene? — We may, however, deal with an assertion, sometimes made, that James, the writer of the canonical Epistle, was an Essene. Those who believe so found their belief upon the account of James given by Hegesippus (in Euseb. HE ii. 23), who flourished about A.D. 170. He asserts that James abstained f…
903 wordsSECTION 513Section 513
5. Influence on heresies. — If it is doubtful whether tiie Church in her normal development owed anything to Essenism, it is not doubtful that its influence is discernible in the rise of a number of heresies. Here too, however, its influence has sometimes been exaggerated. It is highly question- able whether Essenes ha…
1,102 wordsSECTION 514Section 514
The chief meanings of aiuv in classical Greek are : (1) a lifetime ; (2) an age or period ; (3) a period of unlimited duration. In the LXX, which is largely determinative for NT usage, aluv (usually repre- senting Heb. cViy) is employed with the same variations as in the older Greek literature ; and the length of time …
1,095 wordsSECTION 515Section 515
LiTERATiTRE.— S. D. F. Salmond, Christian Doctrine of Iiiinwrtaliti/, Edinburgh, 1895, p. 64!) ff. ; G. B. Stevens, Tfieol. of iST, do. 1899, p. 224 ff., Cliristian Doctrine of Salva- tion, do. 1905, p. 526 f. ; Expositor, 1st. ser. vii. [1878] 405-424, Srd. ser. vL [1887] 274-286, vii. [1888] 266-278 ; EBi ii. [1901] …
1,293 wordsSECTION 516Section 516
(4) The evangelical virtues. — In the NT there is no regular discussion of the nature of virtue, and no formal classification of virtues. The Greek philosophers, while they dittered in their views of what constituted the chief good, were agreed in accepting what are known as the four cardinal virtues — prudence, temper…
930 wordsSECTION 517Section 517
(5) The conception of sin. — Speaking generally, it may be said that the non-Christian view of sin regards it as natural, and that the Christian view regards it as unnatural. This is, however, a broad generalization, and requires further definition. No system of ethical thought can altogether ignore the fact of sin, th…
967 wordsSECTION 518Section 518
3. Conclusion. — Ethics in the Apostolic Age did not consist in a re-statement of old experience or in a system of purely ethical theory, but in the recognition and acceptance in the sphere of conduct of the practical consequences of what was believed to be an entirely new experience of spiritual facts. LrrERATTTRB. —…
913 wordsSECTION 519Section 519
* The formula of faith contained in v.37 is not found in the oldest MSS, but cannot be later than the 2nd cent., as it is quoted by Irenseus (Boer. in. xii. 8). Kal irpoarayfJidrwv, (is Siv iroKirelas S.px'^v avroreXoOj (' he governs the race and decides trials in court and has charge of contracts and ordinances as if…
1,006 wordsSECTION 520Section 520
In Ac 20^"^^ we read that the Christians of Troas met together on the first day of the week in the evening to 'break bread.' That is stated to be the purpose of the meeting. The writer of the Acts is himself present, and gives an account of the scene. There are many lights in the upper room. St. Paul, who is leaving Tr…
1,036 wordsSECTION 521Section 521
EUCHAEIST EUCHAEIST 375 demons are, as it -were, the hosts at the sacrificial banquet. It is their cup which is drunk by those ■who attend. It is their table at which the guests sit. The parallel which St. Paul draws betAveen these demonic banquets and the Lord's Supper sug- gests that in the same way the bread and …
1,038 wordsSECTION 522Section 522
The second point is the phrase in 11^': 'Ye pro- claim the Lord's death till he come.' The addi- tion 'till he come' is reminiscent of Mk 14-^ and parallels, though the saying, as recorded in the Gospels, says nothing about the Lord's return, but speaks only of the joys of the Messianic Kingdom, to be shared by Him wit…
1,052 wordsSECTION 523Section 523
tians with the Last Supper of the Lord. But it seems by no means improbable that the words imply merely that he had received it from the Lord through tradition. There is no indication of any disagreement between St. Paul and the other apostles on this subject. And it has been pointed out that it is most improbable that…
1,179 wordsSECTION 524Section 524
We know exceedingly little about the mystery- religions which were current in the time of St. Paul.* But it may be noted that Johannine Eucharistic teaching has at first sight much more in common with the later mysteries than that of St. Paul. The very able argument of A. Schweitzer, t by which St. Paul's Eucharistic d…
907 wordsSECTION 525Section 525
* Op. cit. p. 244 f. 378 EUPHKATES EUTYCHUb Sjmtyche (q.v.). The Apostle exhorts them to be ' of the same mind in the Lord' (Ph 4-). We have no means of ascertaining the nature of the con- troversy between the two women, who may have been deaconesses, but were more probably prominent female members of the Church, o…
1,003 wordsSECTION 526Section 526
€vpoK\v5uv (TR ; ' Euroclydon,' AV) is one of a great number of textual variants. It appears in two 9th cent, uncials, H and L, and the majority of the cursives. The oldest authorities, NAB, have evpaKvXuv ; in the Codices Beza3 and Ephra?mi the account of the voyage is wanting, A reviser of the Vaticanus has inserted …
993 wordsSECTION 527Section 527
'Evangelist,' rare in the NT, is not found in the Apostolic Fathers or in the Didache. The use of the word for a writer of a Gospel is later, and the use for one who read the gospel in public worship is perhaps later still. AVhen the reader (ava-yvthaT-qs or lector), an official first mentioned by Tertullian (de Prces…
1,040 wordsSECTION 528Section 528
What these sorrows were, Paul's account of his own experience shows (Ac 20^^'^^ 2 Co P^" 6^'^" 1123-33. (,f_ jiq 8^36)_ This experience is regarded as a sharing of Christ's sufferings (2 Co P, 1 P 4^^), and even as a completion of that suffering for the good of the Church (Col 1^). ' Paul does not claim to fill up the …
1,121 wordsSECTION 529Section 529
EVIL-SPEAKING EXCOI^aiUJSICATIO^S^ 381 of a final fulfilment of God's purpose of grace, and both are linked -with a love that sees in human need and pain an opportunity for service and sacri- fice, in which man can regard himself as a fellow- worker with God in the solution of the problem of evil. To revert to the d…
917 wordsSECTION 530Section 530
James Strahan. EXALTATION.— See Ascension. EXCOMMUNICATION.— Excommunication is a form of ecclesiastical censure involving exclusion from the membership of the Church. Such ex- clusion may be temporary or permanent. It may cut oti' the oflender from aU communion and every privilege, or it may be less severe, allowing …
1,002 wordsSECTION 531Section 531
1 Ti 1""). Probably he thought that, in accordance with the sentence of the Church, God would allow Satan to inflict some physical malady that Avould lead the offender to repentance. If we may take 2 Co 2®"" to refer to the same case, the desired result was reached. 'It cannot have been unknown to Paul that he was he…
1,136 wordsSECTION 532Section 532
As the word TrapaKX-rjcns has many shades of meaning, so the ' exhortations ' referred to in the NT have many tones of emotional stimulus. In fact, the character of the exhortation was deter- mined by the circumstances which called it forth. In times of threatened apostasy it was admonitory ; amid persecution and dange…
970 wordsSECTION 533Section 533
2. Deriyaticn. — The word SpKos seems primarily to have referred to a spirit, or an object made sacred by the indwelling of a spirit, and so came to mean the thing that brought a spirit into efl'ec- tive touch with a j^erson, hence ' an oath.' opd^eiv, in the same way, came to mean to bring these two together, hence [a…
987 wordsSECTION 534Section 534
The Twelve, after being chosen, were ordained to be with Jesus in order that they might go forth {a) to preach, (b) to have power to heal diseases, and (c) eK^aWeiv to. 5aLix6via (Mk Z^*-^^, Mt 10'). When He did send them forth. He gave them power to cast out all unclean spirits (Mt W, MkG'', Lk 9^). St. John reported …
1,036 wordsSECTION 535Section 535
liiTERATTTRE. — See the Literature mentioned in the foot-notes of art. DrTiNATlos, and in addition W. M. Alexander, Deinonic Possession in the XT, 1&02 ; H. A. Dallas, Gospel Records in- terpreted by numan Experieyice, 1903, p. 2L'l ; Andrew Lang:, The Making of Religion^, 1900, p. 12S ; R. C. Thompson, The Devils and …
903 wordsSECTION 536Section 536
2. The Acts. — In Ac 20^ we have the expediency 386 EXPEDIENCY EXPEIJIEXCY of discrimination in teaching. Here St. Paul re- minds tlie elders of Ephesus that he had kept back nothing that was proHtable (tu>v (rv/M(pep6vTwi') unto them. As in the case of the Corinthians (1 Co 3"-) the Apostle confined his statement …
974 wordsSECTION 537Section 537
By some modern critics St. Paul is described as hard and inflexible, and as incapable of anything like compromise and accommodation under any circumstances. But the above passages, as well as many others Avhich could be quoted, by no means confirm this judgment. That he could be as Arm and as inflexible as a rock where…
1,027 wordsSECTION 538Section 538
It will be observed that the case of Timothy and that of Titus (Gal 25) are totally different. The former being by birth ' a son of the law ' on his mother's side, mi^ht naturally conform to the usaares of what was so far his national reli},'ion. Titus, on the other hand, was a pure Gentile, and his circumcision was ur…
904 wordsSECTION 539Section 539
be bewitched by (the ' evil eye ' of envious) false teachers, when he had already ' placarded ' Christ crucified before their eyes, who should have arrested their gaze and averted peril (Gal 3^ ; cf. Lightfoot, ad loc). This expresses the characteristic em- phasis in apostolic teacliing on the positive side of truth, t…
970 wordsSECTION 540Section 540
(2) St. Paul's arrival in Rome awoke another, stranger kind of partisanship in the Roman Church (Ph P^"'8). His presence moved the preachers of the city ; it quickened the evangelical pulse ; but, while some began to preach Christ in good-will to him (St' eiiSoKlav), others did it through envy and strife (did. <p6bvov …
907 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.
Project Gutenberg source record →
Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.