Later Hebrew literature discussed especially this aspect of his character, and the historical view was superseded by the ethical or theological. Cf . , for example, Pirke Aooth v. 4, of the ten testings or trials (ni]VD:)'of Abraham, and Taylor, in loc; 'Testament of Abraham,' ed. M. R. James, Texts and Studies, ii. 2.
Literature.— The authorities cited above, with articles on ' Abraliaiii ' in Bible Dictionaries, and the Commentaries.
A. S. Geden.
ABSOLUTION.— 1. Our Lord's words on Absolu- tion.—We find these in the following passages: Mt 16'"-'', especially this word spoken to Peter, ' I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven : and whatsoever thou .shalt bind on eartli shall be bound in heaven : and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven ' ; Mt 1818 (spoken to all the Apostles), 'Verily I say unto you. What things soever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven : and what things soever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed m heavei/; Jn 20-"'- 'Jesus therefore said to them again. Peace be unto you: as the Father hath sent me, even so send I you. And when he had said this he breathed on them, and said unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: whose soever sins ye forgive, they are forgiven unto them : w li.isr MM'\ (1 >iii^ y I'ltain, they are retained.'
Th,. iii-i ,,1 ill,' -,i\ ir.us- that about the kej's an, I 111,' l.iihliirj aii,l l',„,siMg— we might have been uii.lci sDiiif iuin|.ul-i,,n to take as for Peter alone, if it bad not been that the like saying is repeated to all the Apostles afterwards. 'The words were special to Peter, as the early history of the Acts shows ; but they were not limited to him. And
10
ABSOLUTION
ABSOLUTION
following as they do on his cjrcat confession — being a prize and reward of tli;it r.inffssion— they belong to him as a man who ha, I attained by the revela- tion of the Father to ;i true taitli that Jesus was the Christ the Son of (!od : they belonged to all the Apostles as men of like faith : and they belong to the whole Church of which these twelve were the nucleus, in proportion as that faith is alive in it. In regard to the saying (in Jn 20^) about the for- giveness and retaining of sins, it was spoken in ' a general gathering of the believers in Jerusalem ' (see Lk 24^), and ' there is nothing in the context to show that the gift was confined to any particu- lar group (as the Apostles) among the wliole com- pany present. The commission, therefore, must be regarded properly as the commission of the Chris- tian society ant\ not as that of the Christian ministi-y ' (Westcott, in loco).
The ' keys ' may be understood as the keys of the porter at the outer door of the house, and as symbolic of authority to admit into the kingdom of heaven or to exclude from it. Or they may be taken as the keys of the steward for use inside the house, and as symbolic of authority to open the stores or trea.suries of the household of God and to give forth from these treasuries according to the requirements of tlie household. It is rather in this second sense that authority is given to bind and to loose, which in Kabbinical usage meant to forbid and allow in matters of conduct ; that is to say, to interpret the will of God and to enjoin rules of life in liaiiii..ny with that wUl. This is the work of til.' St. wai.l iif the mysteries of God, and has to do ■lin rtly w all things, not persons. But the first .sense, that, of admitting and excluding, which has to do ^\■ith persons, is what is chiefly meant by the power of the keys, and it is as an exercise of this power and of the power given in the words, ' Whose soever sins ye forgive, they are forgiven unto them,' that absolution must be considered.
Our Lord's words seem at lirst reading to invest the Church with absolute authority, and to promise that Heaven will follow and ratuy the action of the Church on earth, whatever that action may be, in forgiving or judging, in admitting into the kingdom of heaven or excluding from it. But we recoil from this as impossible. There is no Church, how great soever its claims in regard to absolution, which does not admit that Goil alone forgives sin. We feel, however, that wo must lind a great sense in which to understand so great words as those of our Lord in these commissions. And we observe that before the words in Jn 2iJ-^ our Lord breathed upon His disciples and said, ' Receive ye the Holy Ghost.' He imparted to them His own very Spirit, so enabling them to te His representatives and e(|uipping them to continue His Avork. (The faith which Peter had by revelation of the Father, that is to say, by the .same Spirit, was an equivalent endowment before he received the promise of the keys). It was evidently the jnirpo.se of the Lord Jesus that His Church should contiime the exercise on earth of the ix>wer which He constantly exer- cised and set in the forefront of His ministry, the power of saying to the penitent, ' Thy sins are for- given thee ' ; and of .Siiying this with sucli assured knowledge of the truth of God and siu-h sympa- thetic discernment of the spirits of men, tliat what was done by tlie Church on earth shouhl l)e valid in heaven, and the word of Christ by tlie Churcli powerful to give comfort to truly penitent souls.