There are two sections of the NT in which this idea of uncon- scious faith is developed at some length, and given the emphasis which its importance deserves. The more obvious is in the Epistle to the Hebrews, in the great roll-call of those sons of faith in many ages who were ' looking unto the Pioneer and Perfecter of faith, even Jesus ' (He 122). of these it is written that they 'all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen and greeted them from afar, and having con- fessed that they were strangers and sojourners on the earth ' (1113, cf. VV.3M- J"). The faith by which they lived and in which they died was no doubt a more or less distinctly conscious faith in God and in the unseen world ; but the writer of the Epistle is not content to view it so. To his eyes it was also an unconscious faith in Jesus Christ, who alone embodies faith in its conscious perfection, and is Himself the ultimate ground of its reality in all. — The other, and the deeper treatment, is in St. Paul's later Epistles. In his earlier writings there are occasional passages in which the same thought is expressed, e.g. 'They drank of a spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was the Christ ' (1 Co lO-t) ; but it is only in the Epistles to the Colossians and Ephesians that St. Paul discloses his whole mind. In these he dwells with enthusiasm on ' the mystery which hath been hid from all ages and generations . . . which is Christ in you (Gentiles), the hope of glory ' (Col 126. 27, cf . Eph 3112). St. Paul is not so deeply moved by the thought of a secret kept out of sight in the Divine counsels, while for ages men were being destroyed for lack of knowledge, and only disclosed at the last. God's purpose, he felt, was an eternal purpose ; and if salva- tion through faith in Christ— in whom He ' purposed to sum up all things ' (Eph li") — remained for long a hidden mystery, it was not for the interval ineffectual. All through the long time of waiting, here was a secret hope for all men, though theirs might be an unconscious faith as yet. And ' in the fulness of the times ' this hope was revealed through Apostles and prophets and saints in the Church (Eph 35, Col 12^1), that the faith which had been unconscious and incomplete might become conscious and resolute and full of glorj', working in power in all (tvipyou- /JI.IVVI sv ivva,fjLit). It is a truly magnificent view of life which is here unfolded to sight. It brings all time before Christ's earthly manifestation, and all races which have not known Him, and — we may fairly add — all souls which love and revere the holiness which they see in Him, though they do not feel able to confess His Name as the Saviour, or the Son of God, within the reach of healing and help in virtue of their unconscious faith. This is not, indeed, universalism, for it does not antici- pate the ultimate judgment of God ; but it does teach that it is God's will ' that all men should be saved and come to a know- ledge of truth ' ; and it teaches that this is through faith — conscious or unconscious — in 'one mediator between God and men, himself man, Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom on behalf of all, the testimony being appointed for its proper seasons ' (1 Ti 2«). E. P. BOYS-SMITH.
UNDERSTANDING. — 1. o-w-Uvai, -€<ris, adj. cTo's (priv. acvveros), to bring one thing alongside of another : (1) for combat ; (2) metaph., for critical comparison, 'to bring the outward object into con- nexion with the inward sense ' (Liddell and Scott), ' to put the perception with the thing perceived ' (Grimm-Thayer), to ' apprehend the bearings of things ' (Liglitfoot, Col. ). The typical passage is Mt 131^- ^^, where the exact significance is distinctly brought out. The hearer ' by the wayside ' differs from ' him that was sown upon good ground ' in this, that the former 'understandeth not' while the latter ' understandeth ' — the former does not apprehend the bearing of what he hears on practical conduct, the latter sees the bearing and acts accordingly. The former ' does not recognize himself as standing in any relation to the word which he hears or to the kingdom of grace which that word proclaims ' (Trench, Parables, in loc), while the latter does so recognize. In v.^i, concluding the series of parables, Jesus asks His disciples if they have apprehended the meaning of all that He has said. In the same sense (Mt 17^^) the disciples have, by the exercise of their critical faculty, recognized that in speaking of Elias, Jesus was in fact re- ferring to the Baptist. Hence the contrast be- tween trui/. and otlier words— dKoiJetj/, Mt 13'*- "• i^- ^^, Mk 7'^ Lk 8i», the sound of the word spoken fall- ing on the ear contrasted with the exercise of such criticism as leads to the apprehending of its per- sonal bearing : voelv, Mk 8^'', perceiving contrasted with earnest reflexion. A comparison of Mt 16^^ with II Mk 821 is interesting, Mt. representing the