See, further, art. NERO; and, for the persecu- tion of the Jews by Antiochus Epiphanes, art. MACCABEES. H. M. GwWATKIN.
PERSEPOLIS (IlepoéwoXs).—The capital of Persia proper, the temples of which Antiochus Epiphanes attempted to destroy (2 Mac 95). The city itself and the royal palace had already been burned to the ground by Alexander the Great. The ruins of its two palaces, the one built by Darius Hystas- »is, the other by Xerxes, still exist at Chehl Minar, ‘the Forty Columns,’ near Istakhr. The city seems to have lain at the foot of the rock on which they stand. [Ker Porter, Travels, i. ». 576; Curzon, Persia and the Persian Question,
892.] A. H. SAYCE.
PERSEUS (lIlepce’s).—Among the achievements of the Romans narrated to Judas Maccabseus was the conquest of Perseus, king of Chittim (1 Mac 85). Chittim, properly denoting Cyprus, was applied more widely to the islands and coasts of Greece, and here (as in 1 Mac 1’) is used of Macedonia. The person here referred to is the son of Philip v., and the last king of Macedonia. Perseus came ta
754 PERSEVERANCE
the throne in B.c. 179. The Romans declared war |
upon him in 171, and three years later he was com- sletsty defeated by Q. AZmilius Paullus at Pydna (8.6. 168). Shortly afterwards he surrendered to his conquerors, and was taken as a captive to Rome, but through the influence of Paullus he was permitted to live in retirement at Alba.
H. A. WHITE.
PERSEVERANCE.—This subject resolves itself | into two branches, viz. (a) the doctrine that God’s |
power intervenes to preserve believers in a state of grace to the end, and (δ) the virtue of persever- ance, which is exhibited on the human side in fighting the fight of faith, and running the Chris- tian race for righteousness till death.
(a) As in general, so in regard to this matter, Scripture is practical and hortatory, uttering the language of faith in reference to particular indi- viduals or groups, and looking to their concrete situations. It refrains from putting the general questions which were afterwards suggested to specu- lative theology, and from drawing the universal theoretical conclusions which theology formulated. Or the doctrine given forth by the Scripture writers extends no further than the immediate practical needs of faith require. In respect to perseverance, believers, according to the NT, are not alone and unaided in their faith and religious life, but obtain God’s effectual support. They are not merely assisted by the works and order of nature and the laws of morality, which God has appointed once for all for their edification and guidance. There is, besides, the present spiritual
wer of God acting in and upon them (Mt 10”*-,
n 14, 1Co 3” ete.). And as often as faith realizes vividly that this power is almighty as well as wise and good, that God and not man rules upon the earth, it gains the firm conviction that God will succeed in His desi in spite of every adverse agency, and that He will not allow His purposes of grace to be frustrated even by the conceivable wilfulness of believers themselves (Jn 10%, Ro 8°-*, Ph 16, 2 ΤΊ 1129). Thatthelatter remain free is always understood ; God deals with men as with sons—they are treated as moral and responsible (Ph 2153), But the abstract question of the relation of human freedom to unfailing yorerren is neither solved nor proposed.
urther, believers even continue to sin, and in them especially all sin is dangerous—in one view increasingly so, as more is ever required of them (Lk 12). For their good the precise level of attainment, above which there is safety, is hidden in all particular cases, just as one on the edge of a precipice knows the exact line between the posi- tions of safety and rnin only when he begins to fall, or by paying for the knowledge with his life. In either kind of situation, ignorance, not know- ledge,—here too nearly relat to hurtful curiosity and leading to overweening confidence, —is the stimulus to men to turn their faces in the right way and persevere in it (1 Co 9”, Ph 3%), This divinely appointed arrangement, together with the faith that God will at all hazards bring His pur-
ses to pass, and that His absolute power is put orth for the believer’s support, most effectually guarantees perseverance in the latter. Along with Divine, i.e. the greatest, comfort (see the foregoing references) God administers the helps of warning and wholesome fear (He 6‘ 107. aes),
(δ) The virtue of perseverance is rendered in- cumbent by the fact that God works together with men for the restoration of the latter to the ful- ness of Christ’s holiness. They have therefore a lifelong work and duty, and scope for the most strenuous endeavour, in putting on Christ. The Spirit is the Teacher of the whole truth of Christ,
PERSIANS
Because and the object aimed at are alike divinely perfect, man is called to an endless advance in respect to his spiritual life and moral
and is a Divine Comforter (Jn 1455 1675*-), the source of hel
character (2Co 38). The consideration of the great cloud of witnesses who, amid sorest hard- ships, persevered in faith and integrity, should constrain us also to pursue the Christian course without intermission. Especially should the recol- lection of Christ’s endurance banish the sense of weariness and faintness (He 12"), The inspirin,