PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
McClintock & Strong Cyclopaedia — Volume 6
John McClintock & James Strong · 1,371,720 words · 1335 reading sections
Section 1261
"1. God has eternally elected a certain definite number of men whom he will infallibly save by Clnist in tlie wny prescribed by the Gospel. 2. These very elect are not per- sonally jiistilied until they receive Christ and yield them- selves up to him, but they remain condemned while un- converted to Christ. 3. By the m…
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It does not appear to have been a question in this con- troversy whether God in his Word commands sinners to repent and believe in Christ, nor whether he prom- ises life to believers and threatens death to unbelievers ; but whether it be the Gospel under the form of a new law that thus commands or threatens, or the mor…
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is observed, and extends to persons converted not alone from heathenism, but from any sect of Christians sepa- rated from the commimion of Rome. The time, how- ever, is left to be determined by circumstances. The Uoman Catholic missionaries still give the name of ne- ophytes to the Jews, Mussulmans, or pagans who are c…
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Zeller (as given in Ueberweg, p. 222) says : " The feel- ing of alienation from God and the yearning after a higher revelation are universal characteristics of the last centuries of the ancient world. This yearning was, in the lirst place, but an expression of the consciousness of the decline of the classical nations a…
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It may not be inappropriate even here to call atten- tion to the fact that this revealed conception of God was lodged with a people whose home was near the centre of the olden world — the pivot, so to speak, about which the movements of ancient social and religious life revolved. 3. Biof/raphical History. — (1.) The e…
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recognised the divinities of the popular faiths as well as the existence of dasmons, some good, some evil, as nec- essary mediators between the divine and human. (3.) L. Apuleius (born about A.D. 130), a teacher of the Platonic and Aristotelian philosophies at ^ledaura, I in Numidia, was a Latin representative of the …
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A fundamental principle of the philosophy of Ploti- nus is the identity of the subject and the object, of the cogniscr and thing cognised. The office of philosophy should be to gain '• a knowledge of the One . . . the es- sence and first principle of all things," not by a process of thought or reasoning, but by an imme…
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(10.) Jamblichus (died about A.D. 330), a native of Chalcis, in Coele-Syria, was a pu|)il of Porphyry, and the head of the Syrian school of Neo-Platoiiism, in wliich a fantastical theurgy was favored. He made n:^a of jjliilosoph}^ merely to confirm polytheistic wor- ship, and strove to justify superstition on speculati…
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NEO-PLATONISM 943 NEO-PLATONISM "A prince, who had studied human nature, and who possessed the treasures of the liornan empire, could adapt his arguments, his promises, and his rewards to every order of Christians, and the merit of a seasonable conversion was allowed to supply the defects of a candi- date, or even t…
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(14.) Among the adherents and teachers of Neo-Pla- tonism in the early part of the 5th century was the cel- ebrated female philosopher Hypatia, whose life, genius, learning, beauty, accomplishments, and untimely fate have been made, by a writer of distinction recently de- ceased, the groundwork of an imeresting and viv…
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necessity, into the corporeal world, yet without entirely forsaking the world of ideas. The soul's true vocation, then, is to seek to regain its proper home, to free itself from participation in the corporeal, in order that it may ascend again into the world of ideas, and attain the ul- timate aim of all its desires an…
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Neo-Platonists. See Neo-Platonism. Neo-Pythagoreans. See Pythagoueans, Neo-Sabellians. See Sabellians. Neo-Samosatians. See Samosatians. Neostadiensium Admonitio Christiana de LiBRO CoNCORDi.E, queiii rocaiif, a quibusdam theologis nomine, quorumdam ordinum Augnstance confessivnis edito (Neostad. in Palatinatu, 1581)…
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NEPAUL 946 NEPAUL kinsman king Alfred, who held him in the highest re- spect, and he urged his royal relative to turn his mind from the vanities of the -world. It is pretended that it was by his advice that Alfred rc-endowed the English school at Kome and sent oiTerings to the pope, and that his influence with the p…
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Of the history of Nepaul little is known until the in- vasion of the Ghurkas (17G8); it seems never to have been subject to the Mogul or any other great Asiatic conquerors. A war in which it became involved with Thibet in 1790 led to hostiUties with the emperor of China, who, regarding himself as the protector of the l…
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Ne'phi (NtfSrad v, r. '^{(pBag; Vulg. Kephi), the name given by many (jrapa roif TrnWolg) to the sub- stance otherwise called (2 Mace, i, 36) Naphthar (q. v.). Nephilim (D^^'^ED) occurs only in the plural form, and in the two passages (Gen. vi, 4 ; Numb, xiii, 33) where it is rendered in the English version "giants." …
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niched facade and Corinthian pilasters (Porter, in Kit* to's Cyclop, s. v.). Nephu'sim (Heb. Xephusim', CCIS?, so the marg. ; but the text has Xepkistm', C'^O'^EJ, expan- sions; Sept. "S Kpovcri fi v. r. Na^ftcraii'; Vulg. Xaphu- sim), the head of a family of '"Temple servants" who returned from Babylon with Zerubbabe…
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Neptune, an ancient Roman god of the waters. It is doubtful whether he was originally a marine deity, for the old Italians were the very opposite of a maritime people, yet his name is commonly connected with nato, to swim ; hence at an earlier period he may have borne another designation, afterwards forgotten. When the…
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Kish Ker Saul. Abner; but the following seems better to reconcile the passages on the subject: Abiel Ner I Abner. Kish Saul. See Abiel; Kish; Saul. Nerd. See Spikenard. NEREIDS 950 NERGAL ITereids (vijpiiStg) was the name of the Greek sea- nymphs. They were fifty in number, and were daugh- ters «jf Xereus, th…
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NERGAL-SHAREZER 951 NERI ^-^3 L.[0^-ru/^...y^ Cyliuder iu the British Museum. eye. Among the southern Arabs his temple was paint- ed red ; and they oifered to him garments stained with blood, and a warrior (probably a prisoner), who was cast into a pool. It is related of the caliph Hakim that in the last night of …
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KEIII 952 NERIAS 1551, was ordained priest in the church of the Lateran. The year previous to his admission into the priesthood he had exerted himself for the conversion of several as- sociates of his, and he succeeded with Salviati, a brother of the cardinal of that name, and Tarugio, who after- wards became a card…
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GATION OF THE. (J. H.W.) Neri'ah (Heb. NeriyaW, ^^"^3, Jehovah is my lamp, or lamp of Jehovah, also [Jer. xxxvi, 14, 32; xliii, G] in the prolonged form Neriya'hu, W^l.? » Sept. 'St)piai; [v. r. 'Si)pi in Jer. xliii, 3J; Vidg. Nerias, but Neri in Jer. xxii, 12), the son of Maaseiah, and father of Seraiah (Jer. li, 59)…
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it left only a few half-ruined houses. Not only the temples and public buildings, as well as private houses, but also monuments of all kinds, masterpieces of art, and libraries were destroyed, and a groat number of lives lost. Although the emperor remained at Antium during the early part of the conflagration, and only …
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Nerol, ToBij.iA, ha-Kohen, was born at ]SIetz in 1652. After the death of his father, who had held the office of rabbi, in 1659, Nerol went to Worms, thence to Padua, where he studied medicine. lie then moved to Constantinople, where he was introduced as physician to the sultan Achmct III. At tlie beginning of the 18th…
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" Though persuaded that the coiiflngration was the crime of Nero, many serious Romans saw in this coup a means of delivering "the city fi-om an intolerable pest. Tacitus, notwithstanding some qualms of pity, was of this opinion ; and as to Suetonius, he reckons among the meritorious acts of Nero the punishment which he…
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NERONIAN PERSECUTIONS 956 NERSES Paul lost his life on this occasion. Wieseler {Chronol aynopse der vier Evangelim [1843], p. 531) places the execution of Paul in the bcf,'iiniiii.i,' of the year G4, and the crucifixion of Peter in the Neronian persecution, theref(;re some months later. Tradition places the death of …
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Nerses is the name of three great dignitaries who have become much distinguished in the history of the Armenian Church. 1. Nerses I, the Great, was a great-grandson of Gregory Photistes, the apostle of the Armenians, and was born at Vagharchabad about 310. In the year 364 he was elected bishop, and in 366, at the Coun…
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death of the emperor in 1180. In the midst of the en-' suing revolts, wars, and troubles of the time, the whole matter was entirely forgotten. The hatred of the Greeks against the Armenians was again renewed, es- pecially when the latter connected themselves with the Latin crusaders. In order to justify himself as Mell…
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Coin of the Emperor Nei-v Nervet, Jean, a French prelate, was born in 1442 at KvriMix. lie early joined the Order of St. Augustine. Louis XI, having found talent in Nervet, attached him to liis person in the capacity of almoner (1474), and selected him afterwards for confessor. His virtues and his rare prudence attrac…
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NEST 959 NESTOR that all are untouched, because that which might be taken may not be lawfully eaten." He adds, " If the law, then, be thus careful to prevent birds and beasts (for he had been alluding to the instances of this hu- manity of the law) from suffering pain and grief, how much more mankind!" (Kitto). See …
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The propensity of the swallow to affix its nest to human edifices, and of the sparrow to bring up its young in the haunts of men, is elegantly glanced at by the Psalmist, when he contrasts their familiarity with his own exile from the sanctuary (Psa. Ixxxiv, 2, 3). — Fairbairn. See Bird. Nesterfield, Ecclesiastical Co…
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Nestuiiiui Monk. There are some other monasteries in Persia, the most considerable of which is that near Tauris. Thej' have about twenty double convents, that is, both for monks and nuns, who have separate habitations, though but one common church. While the monks are employed in bodily labor the nuns prepare their vi…
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This colonization of Nestorianism, however, was not begini by the emperor's illiberal policj'. It had taken rise much earlier. Presbyter Ibas (q. v.), for the simple purpose of giving the Persian Christians an intelligent account of the controversy, had written a letter to IMares, bishop of Hardoshir, in Persia, shortl…
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II. Ecclesiastical History. — When the Sassanidas, by restoring the Zoroastrian mode of worship, had over- thrown the empire of the Parthians, the previous good understanding came to an end, as they required theirs to be not only the predominant, but the only religion of the empire. Yet the later rulers of this dynasty…
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[ encc in general. The words of the world's savant, I Alexander von Humboldt, in the second volume of hia Kosmos (Stuttg. and Tubing. 1847, p. 247 sq.), on the I connection of Nestorianism with the culture and physi- cal science of the Arabians, are worthy of note here : " It I was one of the wondrous arrangements i…
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wards, and greatly favored them. Cliodabende, second son of Arghun, called by the Tarc^rs Oldshaitu, was led by his mother to become a Christian, like her, and was baptized under the name of Nicholas, but after her death he returned to Islamism, and took the name of Mohammed Ghaiath-ed-din; his son, Abu Said, sur- name…
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lege of calling the meeting earlier. Barhebrasus says, in reference to the second canon, that Babajus com- manded his successors to marry under penalty of inter- dict, and ordered also the bishops and presbyters to marry again after their wife's death, which is evidently an erroneous statement (see Bill. Or. p. 429). H…
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the European manner, has on the other infected them with deeper superstitions; and the only benefit which they have derived from a change of name and commun- ion is the promise of political protection from France, with occasional presents of ecclesiastical vestments, pict- ures of saints, and rosaries — "Gifts," says M…
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Two centuries had elapsed without any particular information concerning the Nestorian Christians in the interior of India. It was doubted by many if they were still in existence, when they were visited by Dr. < laudius Buchanan in 1«07. lie found in the neigh- l)orhood of Travancore the Syrian metropolitan and his cler…
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the mountaineers, wild men. Though suffering oppres- sion and extortion from the Mohammedans, their circum- stances are tolerable for a people in bondage. The coun- tr3' is fertile, and the industrious among them are sur- rounded with plenty. Their character is bold, generous, kind, and artless. Oppression has not brok…
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also demand from these higher ecclesiastical orders abstinence from animal food, even from their infancy. The mother of tlie candidate for the episcopate or patriar- chate must observe the same abstinence while she nurses the infant. The Nestorian bishops do not defend these practices from Scripture, but only as matter…
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The creed and practice of the Nestorians are more sim- i pie and more scriptural than those of the Greek or any other Oriental Church. They entertain the deepest abhorrence of image Avorship, auricular confession, and purgatory. Their doctrinal tenets lie under suspicion ; yet the American missionaries do not hesitate …
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NESTORIAXS NESTORIAKS priests carry with them a small silver cross, which is often kissed by the people. They are very scrupulous respecting their religious ceremonies and fasts. Many Nestorians would rather die than violate their periodi- cal fasts, yet are they very far from Protestant in their ideas respecting the…
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In 1840 the first printing-press was set up in Oril- miah by the ingenious and efficient missionary printer, Mr. Breath, who died in 18G1. The Nestorians. who formerly had no printed copies of the sacred Scriptures, or any part of them, now have the Bible in both the ancient and vernacular languages, printed in paralle…
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Since the autumn of 1870 the Nestorian mission has passed from the control of the American Board of Com- missioners for Foreign Missions to the care of the Pres- byterian Board of Foreign Missions, and it is expected that the work so gloriously begun will be prosecuted by that body witli equal zeal and success. This mi…
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VIII. Lileratiire.—The works extant on the history of Xcstorianism are very numerous. In Malcom's 'J7ie- oliir/iral Index is a long list of such works; the most im- portant are, Doucin, I/i.itoire du Nestorianisnie (1G89); Franzius (Northolti), DUsertationes ; Le Quien, Orivns Clii'iitianus ; Schroder, Libernli Ilistor…
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973 NESTORIUS will help you to conquer the Persians." Nor did his fury against the heretics find vent only in words; he proceeded to deeds of persecution which, by exciting tumults among the people, led to the effusion of blood. The Pelagians alone, with whose doctrine of free-will (but not of original sin) he sympat…
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this disputed point. "You ask," he says in his first sermon, " whether Mary may be called another of God. Has God, then, a mother? If so, heathenism itself is excusable in assigning mothers to its gods; but then Paul is a liar, for he said of the deity of Christ that it was without father, without mother, and without d…
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that raised him up. He believed " horainem Deifica- tura, et lion verbutn carnem factum," that Christ became (Jod by merit and not by nature. At some meetings at Epliesus, preliminary to the council, Nestorius said he would not admit tliat a cliild could be (iod. Acacius, liisliop of Jlclitaiia, at the council said tha…
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j Nestorius. This one w.is Cyril, bishop of Alexandria, who had jireviously exhibited a violent jicrsecuting spirit against pagans, Jews, and heretics. He took the field, moved by interests both personal and doctrinal, and used every means to ovcrtlirow his rival in Coi<- ! stantinople, as his like-minded uncle and pr…
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devoted tools. The bishop of the city in which the council was assembled was the friend of Cyril, and such was the extent of influence arrayed against Nestorius that he found it necessary to solicit from the imperial commissioner a guard to protect his person and the house in which he resided. A number of the Syrian bi…
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purpose of enlisting the influence of the court for them- selves, and at length they succeeded in prevailing upon the fiicble and vacillating emperor, through the inter- vention of Theophilus's si.-^ter, to confirm the deposition of Xestorius, although he liad agreed to withdraw his objection to the word " theotokos," …
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an imperial edict appeared which condemned Nestorius to perpetual banishment in the Greater Oasis of Upper Egypt. " The unhappy Nestorius," says a Church his- torian, "was now dragged from the stillness of his for- mer cloister of Euporjjius, before the gates of Antioch, in which he had enjoyed four years of repose, fr…
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Of later literature, see Petavius, Theolog. dogmatum, tom. iv (rfe incarnutione^, lib. i, c. 7 sq. ; Gamier, De hcei-esi et lihris Nestorii, in his edition of the Opera Marii Mercator. (Paris, 1673 ; newly edited by Migne, Paris, 1846) ; Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, eh. xlvii ; Jablonski, De Nestoriani…
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Piece of an Ancient Egyptian Fishing -net, with leads, etc., attached. (From the Berlin Museum.) NET 9/-8 NET mcrous : it was selected as an appropriate imape of the subtle devices of the enemies of God on the one hand (e. f?. Psa. ix, 15 ; xxv, 15 ; xxxi, 4), and of the unavert- able vengeance of God on the other …
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" Birds formed an article of food among the Hebrews (Lev. xvii, 13), and much skill was exercised in catch- ing them. The following were the most approved methods: (1.) The trap (HQ), which consisted of two parts — a net, strained over a frame, and a stick to sup- port it, but so placed that it shoidd give way at the s…
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Decr-shootiug uiLhiii ;i >,cU*.a Enclosure. (From the Knyuujik Gallery, IJiitish Museum.) NETCHAEF 981 NETHINIM closed in upon them. The usages of the Egyptians, and, | so far as can be ascertained, of other Oriental nations, in this respect, correspond with the intimations of Julius Pollux {Onomast. v, 4), who sta…
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2. Origin and Duties oftlie Nethinim. — It is the unan- imous voice both of Jewish tradition (comp. Jebamoth, 78 b; Midrash Jalkut on Josh, ix, 27) and tlie best Jewish commentators (comp. Rashi and Aben-Ezra on Ezra ii, 43; Kimchi on Josh, ix, 20) that the Gibeon- ites whom Joshua consigned forever to be the hewers of…
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fallen victims to some other outburst of Saul's furj', and,' though there were survivors (2 Sam. xxi, 2), the' num- ber was likely to be quite inadequate for the greater stateliness of the new worship at Jerusalem. It is to this period accordingly that the origin of the class bear- ing this name may be traced. The Neth…
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Neto'phah (Heb. Netophah', nst03, distillation; Sept. lsiTix)(pa iu Ezra, v. r. Nf^ojra ; but 'Avtrixxpd in Neh., V. r. 'A-cu^a ; Vulg. Netopha), a town in Pales- tine, fifty-six of whose people returned from captivity with Zerubbabel (Ezra ii, 22 ; Neh. vii, 26). Two of David's guard, IMaharai and Heleb or Hildai, lea…
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Nets. See Hawk. Wetter, Thojias op Waldex (generally known as Thomas Waldensis'), an eminent English Roman Cath- olic Church historian of the early part of the 15th cen- tur>', was born at Walden, Essex. He joined the Car- melites, and rose in course of time to prominence in his order in England. He was placed first i…
985 wordsSource & rights
Public-domain 19th-century biblical, theological, and ecclesiastical reference work; 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.