3. We gain a heightened impression of their character and conduct by contrast. While the men of deception and guile hated the Light, we see another class attracted by it. From the be- ginning of His ministry, Jesus drew to Himself the sincere, the childlike, the men of ' honest and good heart' (Lk 8"). The first Apostles of the Lord were by no means exempt from serious faults and frailties of character ; but, with the exception of Judas, they were singularly honest and upright men ; men with a genuine enthusiasm for goodness. One of them drew from Jesus on His first approach the suggestive exclamation, ' Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile ' (.In l"). In the teaching and training of these first Apostles and disciples, our Lord especially emphasized the neces- sity of those virtues of character in which the
DECREE
DELIVERANCE
437
Pliarisees were so singularly delicient (Mt 5^ 7'"' 10"= 1125 i83_ Li^. 121-3). In this connexion it is of vital importance to bear in mind Mt 6--- -^. There are various degrees and stages of deception and guile, beginning with over-intellectual refinement, and passing finally into deliberate fraud and treachery. But in every case it means the lack of the ' single eye,' of perfect sincerity, and simplicity of nature. And, therefore, if Christian men and women are to keep themselves free, not merely from 'fleshly lusts,' but also from the more subtle forms of 'spiritual \\dckedness,' they must be continually testing and reviewing their ideals and conceptions of character and conduct in the light of their Master's life and teaching. Unless they do this, the light that is in them will turn to darkness.
* There is, I believe,' says Bisiiop Gore, ' nothinjj to which in our time attention needs to be called more than to the fact that conscience is only a famltij for knowing God and His will. It is certain, unless it is educated, to give wrong information. And the way to educate it is to put it to school with the *^ Liijht of the world." Alas ! there must be multitudes of respectable and self-enlightened people of whom it is true that the light which is in them is darkness '(7'Ae Sermoji on the Mount, p. 147). The testimony of the late Dr. Dale is not less emphatic. ' I doubt whether most of those who have been formed by the faith and traditions of the Evangelical mo\ ement are sufBciently impressed by the necessity of educating the conscience. . . . This partly explains how it is that some Christian people are worse men — morally — than some who are not Christians. The faculty of conscience requires a great deal of education if we are to distinguish between the right and the wrong in all the details of life ' {The Emngelical Rem ml, p. 98).
IjIteratore.— In addition to the books already referred to, the reader may consult Newman Smvth, Christian Ethics ; Prof. Knight, The Christian Ethic ; F.' D. Maurice, The Con- science and Social Morality ; J. R. lUingworth, Christian Character; H. Wace, Christianitji and Morality, R. W. Church, Discipline of the Christian Character.
Arthur Jenkinson. DECREE (Gr. 56-yMa," Lk 2').— In the Gospel of Luke, the birth of Jesus at Bethlehem is traced to the fact that a census of the people of Israel was being taken, which made it necessary that Joseph and Mary, who were both of Davidic descent, should go up from their home at Nazareth to the City of David. This census was brought about by the issue of a decree of Cjesar Augustus, that the Roman world should be taxed or registered. His- torians find much to question here as to St. Luke's accuracy. Was it likely that Herod's independent kingdom would be included in such a decree ? Is there any evidence that such an order on so great a scale was then issued ? As to Cyrenius [Quirinius], in whose governorship of Syria this census is said to have taken place, can it be proved that he was twice governor of Syria ? He was governor, some 10 years later, when the cen- sus took place, which caused the rebellion under Judas of Galilee, in 760 A.u.c. The researches of Wieseler, Zumpt, and W. M. Ramsay (Was Christ born at Bethlehem ?) have shown, however, that St. Luke's statement is capable of a good defence, and may turn out to have full corrobora- tion. Such a plain historical note, put in, with evident intention, by St. Luke, we should be slow to reject from one who is generally so well in- formed. See Augustus, Birth of Christ, Quir- inius. David M. W. Laird.
DEDICATION, FEAST OF (ra ^7/iaiVia).— This Feast was kept by the Jews on 25 Chislev and throughout the week following. The dedication commemorated in it was the dedication of a new altar by Judas Maecaba;us in li.C. 164 (1 Mac 436-59^ 2 Mac IQi-s, Jos. Ant. xil. vii. 6, 7). The old altar of Zerubbabel's temple had been defiled in B.C. 167, when 'an abomination of de.solation' was erected upon it (1 Mac 1"), and the climax was reached on 25 Chislev, when sacrifices were offered upon this idol-altar standing on the altar of
God (v.='). For tliree years this state of profana- tion had continued, but when the third anniversary of the desecration came round, the heroic efforts of Judas MaccabiEus and his companions had reached such success that they were able to cleanse the Holy Place and to set up a new altar in place of that which had been defiled, spending a week in special services for its dedication ; and, in order to commemorate this, Judas Maccabeus ordained 'that the days of the dedication of the altar should be kept in their seasons from year to year by the space of eight days, from the five and twentieth day of the month Chislev, with gladness and joy ' (1 kac 4»^).