2. Special. — In its specialized use, oIko8o/j.i^ is a technical term for the exercise of ' spiritual gifts ' (xapia/jLara) within the Christian congregation by its members, for the mutual ' edification ' of in- dividuals. St. Pauls description of the variety and exercise of these endowments in Corinth (1 Co 12 and 14) is probably true of most places in which the Church was established. There were evidently meetings held almost exclusively for 'edification,' to which unbelievers were admitted (1 Co M-"'-). It was not a formal service for Divine worship, but rather a fellowship meeting with the practical aim of atibrding members with a ' gift ' an opportunity of using their supernaturally bestowed powers for the spiritual welfare of all present (1 Co 12^ ; cf. 1 P 4^"'-). At such times the most notable contribu- tions would be : (a) teaching (StSax^y), which included the ' word of wisdom ' and the ' word of knowledge* (1 Co 12^) ; (b) prophecy (irpocprjTeLa), which dealt with future events (Ac 11-") or revealed an in- sight into the needs of those present (1 Co 14*- ^'■); (c) glossolalia or tongues (■yiv7)y\i>}(T(rC)v), which were probably incomprehensible utterances expressive of prayer or praise (v.^^).
Closely connected with prophecy was 'discerning of spirits,' and with glossolalia ' the interpreta- tion of tongues' (1 Co 12i" M^^ff-). In addition there would be prayer, the reciting or singing of hymns, the reading of Scripture, and the ' word of exhortation' (1 C0I426, Eph 5'«, Col 3'6, Ac 131^).
In order that genuine edification might result from such a variety of gifts, exercised often under stress of great excitement, two rules were laid down for the Corinthian Church : (1) the compara- tive value of x'^P'o'M'^''"'* must be recognized — e.g. prophecy is sujierior to 'tongues' for purposes of edification (1 Co 14'--^); (2) there must be an observance of due order in the meetings (vv.^"**).
LiTERATnRE. — HDB, artt. ' Church,' • Edification ' ; H. Cremer, Bibl.-Thenl. Lex. of NT Greek, s.w. oiicoSo/u.e'(o, o'tKoSoiiri ', O. Pfleiderer, Paulinism, Eng. tr.2, 1891, i. 229-238 ; C. voa Weizsacker, Apostolic Age, Eng. tr.2, u. [1899] 248-279 ; A. C
EDUCATIOif
EDUCATION
321
McGiffert, History of Christianity in tTve Apostolic Age, 1897, pp. 520-535 ; E. von Dobschiitz, Christian Life in the Primitive Church, Eng. tr., 1904, pp. 16-20; T. M. Lindsay, The Church and the Ministry in the Early Centuries^, 1907, pp. 41-60,
69-109. M. Scott Fletcher.
EDUCATION.— 1. Jewish.— The Jews from early times prized education in a measure beyond the nations around them. It was the key to the know- ledge of their written Law, the observance of whicli was required by the whole people without respect of rank or class. They were tlie people of a Book, and wherever there is a written literature, and that religiously binding, elementary education, at least in the forms of reading and writing, is imperative and indispensable. The rise of the synagogue, and of the order of Scribes in connexion tlierewith, exercised a powerful influence upon the progress of education among the mass of the people. In the 4th cent. B. 0. there was a synagogue in every town, and in the 2nd cent, in every considerable village as well. To the synagogues there were in all pro- bability attached schools, both elementary and higher, and the hazzdn ('the attendant,' Lk -i-" II V) may well have been the teacher. The value of education was understood among the Jews before tiie Christian era. In the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarclis we read : ' Do ye also teach your chil- dren letters, that they may have understanding all their life, reading unceasingly the Law of God ' (' Levi,' xiii. 2). In the P.salnis of Solomon the fre- quent use of ira-iSeveiv , TratSei/rrjs, and 7rat5e/a (with the significant addition of pd/SSos, vii. 8, and of fidffTi^, xviii. 8) points to the existence of schools and of a professional class of teachers. By the Apostolic Age there is abundant evidence of the general diflusion of education among the people. ' Our principal care of all,' says Josephus (c, Ap. i. 12), comparing the Jews with other nations, 'is to educate our children well, and to observe the laws, and we think it to be tlie most necessary business of our wliole life to keep this religion which has been handed down to us.' Among the Jews every child had to learn to read ; scarcely any Jewish ciiildren were to be found to whom reading of a written document was strange, and therefore were there so many poor Jewish parents ready to deny themselves the necessaries of life in order to let their children have instruction (c. Ap. ii. 26 ; of. B. Strassburger, Gesch. der Erziehung bei den Isracliten, 18S5, p. 7). The result of instruction from the earliest years in the home, and of teaching received on the Sabbath, and on the frequent oc- casions of national festivals, is, according to the Jewish historian, ' that if anybody do but ask any one of our people about our laws, he could more easily tell them all than he could tell his own name. For because of our having learned them as soon as ever we became sensible of anything, we have them as it were engraven on our souls ' (c. Ap. ii. 19).