INTRODUCTION. . 9

of 'le Messiah's kingdom, and partly, no doubt, from the peculiar liard- shis and oppressions to which they were exposed. The prevalence of thiandisposition among them is proved by its being a matter of discus- sioiwhether it was even lawful to pay tribute to Caesar ; by their asser- tiorthat, as Abraham's seed, they were never in bondage to any man ; and)y their constant tumults and rebellions, which led first to their ba- nishent from Rome, and, finally, to the utter destruction of their city. Th(circumatances of the church at Rome, composed of both Jewish and Geiile converts ; surrounded by Jews who still insisted on the necessity of (rcumcision, of legal obedience, and of connexion with the family of Abiham in order to salvation, and disposed on many points to diifer amig themselves ; sufficiently account for the character of this epistle.