W. J. S. Miller. SELF-RENUNCIATION. — See Renunciation and Self-denial.
SELF-RESTRAINT.— See Self-control.
SELF-SUPPRESSION.— Religion maybe thought of as having for its aim either the complete sup- pression or the development to its highest expres- sion of the individuality of man. In the history of Christianity both these conceptions have been adopted, and each has been regarded as the true interpretation of the spirit of the Lord.
Those Christian teachers whose bent is towards Mysticism have for their ideal the ultimate sup- pression of self. The elevated expression which their doctrine found in the German mystics of the 14th cent, gives us the clearest view of this ten- dency. Eckart, and afterwards Tauler, taught that the spiritual life was at its highest when self was annihilated. The complete suppression of self was attempted in a wholly difl'erent spirit by certain societies of late origin, notably by the Society of Jesus. In the Jesuit system the individ- ual is completely subordinated to the community, and the suppression of each man's self is of vital necessity for the accomplishment of perfect disciij- line. The tendency of Protestantism, on the other hand, has been towards the development of indi- viduality. Its teachers have aimed at allowing free play to natural diversities of character, and have even justified the accentuation of the various ways in which men differently constituted have apprehended the gospel message.
Our Lord, in His dealings with men, seems always to have assumed that natural varieties of character and the varied environment of each in- dividual required differences of treatment. His advice changes according to the temperament and circumstances of those to whom it was given. A leper, after his healing, is bidden to ' tell no man ' what was done for him (Mt 8^). Other lepers are told to go and show themselves to the priests and make the offerings commanded in the Law (Lk 17"). One who wished to follow Him but desired first to bury his father, receives the stern word — ' Let the dead bury their dead ' (Mt S-''). A re- stored demoniac, anxious ' to be with him,' is told to go home to his friends (]\Ik 5'^). One rich man is commanded to sell all that he has (Mt 19'-i). Others are allowed to continue in possession of the whole or part of their property (Lk 19^, Mt 27"). To a certain hard saying the Lord appends the caution, ' He that is able to receive it, let him
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SEPARATION
receive it' (Mt 19^^). These and other sayings which might be quoted display our Lord's evident desire to develop rather than annihilate individu- ality. In the training of the Twelve, who were to carry on His work after the Ascension, He aims not at creating a spirit of unquestioning obedience to plain commands, but rather at developing a highly intelligent and spiritually energetic kind of character. We are necessarily ignorant of much that passed between Him and them especially during those forty days when He sjioke to them ' of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God ' (Ac 1^), but we know enough to feel sure that He wished the Twelve to work for His cause with a certain independence and personal responsibility, rather than to suppress in them personal freedom of intellect and will. See also Self-denial.
LiTERATURK.— A. W. Hutton, The Inner Way ; W. R. Inge, Light, Life, and Love, and the same writer s Christian Mysti- cism ; B. A. Vaughan, Hours with the Mystics ; Molinos, The Spiritual Guide (Eng. tr. Glasgow, 1885) ; Zbckler, Askese mid Monchtum (p-p. 592, etc.); art. ' Jesuitenordnen ' in PRE^ vol. viii. ' J. O. HaNNAY.
SEMEIN. — A link in our Lord's genealogy (Lk 32«, AV Semei).
SEPARATION, — In discourses descriptive of the present condition and future prospects of the King- dom of God, Christ taught that the Kingdom in its ideal state of purity would not be realized till the end of the world, when the object in view is to be attained by means of a judicial separation be- tween real members and those who are members only in outward appearance or profession (Mt 1324-30. 36-43. 47-60)_ jn opposition to prevailing ideas on the subject, Christ plainly indicated that the Kingdom of God, throughout the course of its earthly development, must contain conflicting elements of good and evil, and gravely deprecated any premature attempt at separating them. The intermixture foreshadowed was not a pure king- dom existing amid a corrupt environment, but a kingdom itself invaded and pervaded to some extent by a corrupt element.
Wendt maintains that Christ did not ' contemplate an outward separation of His disciples from the fellowship of the Israelitish nation and religion ' (Teaching, ii. 351 f . ) ; and that the parables of the Tares and the Drag Net were intended to guard against any attempt in that direction. But the evil element referred to in the parables is not that which has always existed in the world, and must be expected to continue, but that which has entered the Kingdom in the course of, and as the result of, its own operations, which tend to gather within its pale spurious ad- herents as well as genuine (Mt 13*7). A separation, moreover, from the Jewish Church, as Christ must have foreseen, was imminent and inevitable, if for no other reason, because the spirit and aims of the society founded by Him were so widely different (Mt gi^f), and it is clearly implied in the announce- ment of the approaching downfall of the Jewish State (Lk 19«f).