' Sincerity, a deep, great, genuine sincerity, is the first characteristic of all men in any way heroic' (Carlyle, Heroes and Hero-Worskvp, 1872, p. 42). The hypocrite does not dare to show him- self as he is. His fear of criticism compels him to wear a mask. virdKpicris includes both simulation and dissimulation. Bacon's definitions [Essays, vi. ) are clear and sharp as usual :
' There be three degrees of this hiding and veiling of a man's self. The first, Closeness, Reservation, and Secrecy ; when a man leaveth himself without observation, or without hold to be taken, what he is. The second. Dissimulation, in the nega- tive ; when a man lets fall signs and arguments, that he is not that he is. And the third, Simulation, in the affirmative ; when a man industriously and expressly feigns and pretends to be that he is not. '
Gal 2'^"" alludes to a crisis in which even the Apostle Peter dissembled, the other Jewish Chris- tians of Antioch dissembling with him ((rvvvir- eKpld-rjcrav), and even Barnabas, against his better judgment, was carried away by their vw6Kpi(ri.s, The fear of offending the narrow guardians of Judaistic orthodoxy was the cause of all this inconsistency on the side of the party of Christian liberty and progress. St. Peter did not really believe that he would be defiled by eating Gentile food. At Joppa he had learned to cast his cere- monial scruples to the winds (Ac 10^'^^) ; at Csesarea he had preached in the house of the Italian Cor- nelius, keeping company with ' one of another nation' (dXXo^ii^Xy, v.^*^), and witnessing a Gentile Pentecost (vv.'"-") ; and with the Greek Christians of Antioch he at first saw no more harm in eating and drinking than in singing and praying. But circumstances arose in which he had not the courage to continue putting his principles into practice. When he had to choose between giving the cold shoulder to his Gentile brethren and dis- pleasing the circumcised, the vacillating weakness of his character was illustrated once more. He was not even yet quite worthy of his great name — Peter, the man of rock. Concealing his liberal con- victions, he behaved as if he were a strictly conser- vative Jew. And his example proved infectious, for he could not act as a mere private individual. The influential leader of the Twelve Apostles drew after him many Jewish Christians, including even
* The Christian teaching includes references to the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost (19, 23), the Son of God and Son of Man (36, 3), born of a Virgin (19), the pre-existent (19), who became Man (7), suffered (31), died on the Cross (27, 42), descended into Hell (42), was justified (31), and exalted (41).
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ICONIUM
St. Paul's fellow-apostle, who had been living for years in intimate fellowship with the ceremonially unclean. Whatever excuses may be made for St. Peter's conduct — which some modern scholars (like most of the Fathers of the early Church) are dis- posed to regard in a much more favourable light than St. Paul did (A. C. McGittert, Apostolic Age, 1S97, p. 206 f. ) — it was a betrayal of the cause of spiritual freedom. His silent withdrawal from his Gentile brethren was as eloquent as any words could have been. It did as much harm as if he had issued a proclamation, ' Before Ave Jews can eat Avith you Gentiles, ye must bend your necks to the yoke of the law.' It was because in his heart he no longer believed anything of the kind that his action was rightly called virdKpia-is. But the terms in which he is elsewhere spoken of in the same letter (1^^ 2^*-) make it evident that his aberration was only temporary, and that there remained no essential difference betAveen ' the gospel of the uncircunicision ' and 'the circum- cision ' (2'').
In 1 Peter, which many critics still accept as genuine, this same Apostle enjoins his readers to put aAA'ay all hypocrisies, and to make a fresh start as if they Avere neAv-born babes (2"*). The injunction implies the possibility. It is sometimes pessimistically said that there is no remedy for hypocrisy. J. R. Seeley [Ecce Homo, 1873, p. 116) calls it 'the one incui-able vice.' The Divine Comedy represents the hypocrite as clothed for ever in a robe of lead — ' O in eterno faticoso manto ! ' (Inferno, xxiii. 67). J. B. Mozley { University Sermons", 1876, p. 34) says : ' The victim of passion then may be converted, the gay, the thoughtless, or the ambitious . . . they may be converted, any one of these — but Avho is to convert the hypocrite? He does not knoAV he is a hypocrite. . . . The greater hypocrite he is, the more sincere he must think himself.' It is perhaps faithless, however, to despair of any man,
and one may doubt Avliether our Lord Avould have expended such a passionate energy of scorn — Avhich, in a heart like His, is a form of love— upon incurables (Mt 23). 'Every son of Adam can become a sincere man, ... no mortal is doomed to be an insincere man' (Carlyle, op. cit. p, 116).
James Strahan. HYSSOP (i/o-crwTTos, aitx). — Hyssop is a Avall- groAving plant used by the JeAvs in ritual sprink- lings. It is mentioned by the Avriter of HebrcAvs in his revicAV of the ordinances of the OT (He 9^^). Scarcely any other Scriptural plant has given rise to so mucli discussion. The hyssop cannot be the tWwTros of Greek authors [Hyssopus officinalis), Avhich is not a native of Syria. Among the many suggestions that have been made (see J. G. B. Winer, Bibl. Bealworterbuch^, Leipzig, 1847-48, s.v. 'Ysop'), the choice seems to lie betAveen the caper (Capparis spinosa) and a kind of Avild mar- joram (Satiireja thymus) Avhich the Arabs call scttar. Both these plants groAV on Syrian rocks and Avails. Tristram argues for the caper {Nat. Hist, of the Bible, 1867, p. 455 f.). One objection to this plant is that its prickly branches and stiff leaves make it unsuitable for forming a bunch or Avisp ; another, that it is differently named in Scripture (.ijV^n* in Ec 12'). The sdiar Avas first suggested by Maimonides (de Vacca Bufa, iii. 2), folloAved by D. Kimchi {Lex. s.v.). It is excel- lently adapted for use as a sprinkler. Its identity with the hyssop is accepted by Thomson {Land and Book, new ed., London, 1910, p. 93), Avho describes it as 'having the fragrance of thyme, with a hot, pungent taste, and long, slender stems,' and by G. E. Post, Avho says (Smith's DB, Am. ed., p. 1115, foot-note): 'The fact that many stalks grow up from one root eminently fits this species for the purpose intended. The hand could easily gather in a single grasp the requisite bundle or bunch all ready for use.'