LiTERAxrRB.— Ranlsa^■•s Rout. AiUiij. .v.r. ; St. Geor«re .Stock's CfFsar de B. QaU. pp. 203-215 ; J. E. B. Mayor's Jumml, notes on passat'es cited above. M.VKCUS DODS.
CEPHAS.-See Peter. CEREMONIAL LAW.-See Law.
CERTAINTY.— The ways in which 'certainty' is expressed in the Gospels are frequently indirect. So far, however, as certainty is expressed by direct terms, various phrases are employed for the pur- pose. Of these the most frequent are d<r0aXijs and its derivatives do-^aXifu, aj<pdXcia, d<r<pa\Q!. These always express objective security ; the certainty which is or might be verified, and which consists in an accurate correspondence with facts.
Thus in his preface St. Luke (1-*) says he has 'traced the course of all things accurately . . . that thou mightest know the certainty . . . ' (i»^«X£i«, cf. Ac 623, i Th 53) ; the traitor says, ' Take him and lead him away safely ' (Mk 14** iff^Xauf , cf.
„ , - , elsewhere in NT.
\c 215* 2230 25=6, Ph 31, He 619. The derivatives of /3£,a«.« are also employed, but with a force more or .Jess distlnctl.v moral or subjective. Thus the disciples are said to have * preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and con- firming the word ' (Mk 16-"<i ,363«je«, cf. Ro 15», 1 Co 16. «, 2 Co 1«", Col 27, He 23 139). Sometimes it is the disciples themselves who are 'confirmed' or 'stablished.' Outside the Gospels tzi^aio< and p(pati^^-»- occur with some frequency, being specially characteristic ol the Ep. to Heb. (cf. 2 P liO- ", Ro 418, h co 17. He 22 36 616 19 917, Ph 17). In Lk 23^7 i,,i,! occurs, ' Certainlj this was a righteous man ' ; and in Lk 4'^ -rayTas-, ' Doubtless ve H ill say to me ... ' (cf. Ac 2122 os*, 1 Co 91") ; but these are adverbial qualitatives of no great importance. [It is hardly necessary to remark that in the great majority of the passages in w hich the word ' certain ' occurs in the English versions, it renders the indefinite pronoun t*,-, where it has nothing to do with certainty, but is merely an idiomatic phrase equivalent to ' some ' in a quite indefinite sense].
With this use of language it is instructive to compare the opposite ■ tmcertainty ' which is expressed by i-rcfix, i.Ttfiefuij, commonly translated ' perplexed,* though the meaning is rather that of hesitancy than of perplexity, as one finds no way out of a difficulty, and so is brought to" pause. These words occur in Lk 2125 and Jn 1322 "doubting of whom he spake' (cf. Ac;252i', 2 Co 48, Gal 420). It is also worth while to compare such occa- sional use of T-Wif as * given assurance unto all men ' (Ac 1731) ; and that of nkr.pc^iptx, • full assurance ' (Col 22, 1 Th 15, He 6").
~ part from sjiecial ter
tainty, tlie broad fact itself has, of course, a large l)lace in the Gospels and in the mind of the Lord Jesus. This is usually repre.sented by saying that a person or a thing is ' known,' where otSa is the verb employed. This verb is a ' perfect-present,' .and by its very form indicates the possession of knowledge, not its acquirement. In a number of passages the sense Is accordingly best rendered not by ' I know,' but by ' I am suie of.'
The following are instances from the Gospels of this way of expressing certainty :— ' Fear ye not, for i am ceruin that ye are seeking Jesus who was crucified ' (Mt 285) ; ' Master, we are certain that thou speakest and teachest straightforwardly " (Lk 2021) ; • We speak w hat we are certain of, and bear evidence of what we have seen ' (Jn 311) ; • No longer do we believe through thv report, for we ovirselves have heard and are certain ' (4*2) ; ' What sign doest thou that we may feel certainty, and may trust thee?' (030); 'This is Jesus tlie son of Joseph ; we are certain of his father and mother' (6*-, cf. 7-'7) ; 'Give glory to God; we are certain this man is a sinner. He therefore answered, If he is a sinner I am not so certain ; of one thing I am certain, that, being blind, henceforth I see ' (92*- ») ; ' Even now I am certain that whatsoever thou mayest ask of God, God will give thee ' (I122) ; ' He that hath seen beareth witness, and his witness is true (i>,r9.>;i), and he is certain that he speaketh true (iXrK), that ye also may believe ' (1935, ,.f. -jiil). Some- times oiS« is used of God's knowledge with its unerring cer- tainty; and at other times of man's knowledge of God which springs from ihtsoikiI trii^L ami love.
It is cIku.ii t.ii-li. that the grounds on which certainty is slniwn in tlie Gospels to rest are moral gromids rather than intellectual ; for commonly it is moral certitude, not scientific security, Iwhich is in view. On the one hand, the foundation of certainty is the faithfulness of God : this is well illustrated in the case of Zacharias (Lk 1'"--'"), and in that of Mary (vv.»'-38). On the other hand, certainty is won through men's trust (Triffris) in God or in Christ. So the Lord said, ' Whosoever shall say unto this mountain . . . and shall not doubt {SiaKpha) in his heart, but shall believe . . . he shall have it ' (Mk 1 123 1| IMt 212'). To Peter as he be"an to fear and sink He said, ' O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt ; ' (5«rTdfu,