* Ay, note that Potter's wheel. That metaphor I and feel Why time spins fast, why passive lies our clay,—*
But I need, now as then, Thee, God, who mouldest men ;
My times be in Thy hand ! Perfect the cup as planned I *
But God's ' vessels of wrath ' (Ro 9''') create a difficulty for the reason as well as the heart, a difficulty which becomes a sKavSaXov when the phrase is interpreted as meaning that ' the Lord has created those who, as He certainly foreknew, were to go to destruction, and He did so because He so willed' (J. Calvin, Institutes, Eng. tr., 1879, ii. 229). Such a doctrine has been a rock of offence to very many. The legitimate protest of the clay is heard in the quatrains of Omar Khayyam ; and the last word of the Christian spirit is not uttered in the militant Messianic Psalm quoted in the Apocalypse : ' Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel ' (Ps 2' || Rev 2"). See Predestina- tion. James Strahan.
POVERTY.- See POOR, Poverty.
POWER, POWERS.— Six Greek expressions are thus translated in the EV.
1. c^ouo-ia is rendered thus frequently in the AV. It means, more exactly, 'authority, which the RV often substitutes, but sometimes, especially in Rev., it follows the AV. The Revisers prefer ' right ' in Ro g^S 1 Co 9«- , 2 Th 3'. In Ac 26'8 the expression 'the power (ejoiwk) of Satan' is to be noted, with which compare Lk 22*', Col 1'^
2. 8ijvo|its. — We find ' the power of God ' in 1 Co 1'8-2J 2^ 2 Co 6'; 'the i)0wer of our Lord Jesus ' in 1 Co 5* ; ' the power of the Holy Ghost ' in Ro 15''- '" ; in Ac 8'° ' that power of God which is called Great ' is a title given to Simon Magus. There is a strange variation in the RV of 2 Co 12', where Sivafus is twice used as an attribute of Christ ; on the first occasion it renders 'my power is made perfect in weakness' (AV 'my strength'), but on the second (where the AV has 'power') it gives ' that the strength of Christ may rest upon me.' Elsewhere ' power' is uniformly used by the RV, replacing 'might' and 'strength' of the AV (cL Eph \-\ Col 1", Rev 1'2'»).
3. KpaTos is rendered ' power ' by the AV in Eph
PR.^TOR
PRAISE
255
1" 6'°, Col 1", Rev 5'^ I Ti 6'«, He 2" ; in the last two references the KV also translates in the same way.
i. l<rxvs (2 Th I') is rendered AV * power,' RV 'might.'
5. TO Svi-oTiv In Ro 9" AV and RV have
'willing to make his power known,' i.e. 'what is possible to Him.'
6. Tu 8«vo|ji£'v<ji is translated in Ro 16" ' to him tliat is of power ' ; RV ' to him that is able.'
Lastly, in Kev. the AV sometimes inserts the word 'power' from the sense, where there is no Greek to correspond, e.g. Rev 6*, ' power was given to him ' {i568v avrifi) ; cf'. IP 13'= 16", in all of which the word disappears from the RV.
The plural ' powers ' represents Swctjueis in He 6', Ro 8**, 1 P 3^"; in the last two references angelic beings seem to be meant, as also in Eph 1-' and 1 Co 15-* (singular). 'Powers' is used by the AV and the KV for f Jouo-iai (another class of angels) in Eph 3'" 6'^ Col 1'^ 2'=, and in Ro 13'"' in the sense of ' earthly rulers.' In Tit 3' the AV gives ' powers,' the RV' 'authorities' iq.v.). See, further, art. Principauty. W. H. Dundas.
PR^TOR. — In origin this word means ' the man who goes before (the a,rmy),' prw-itor, ' the general,' and was applied to the chief magistrates of Rome, when the Kingdom gave place to the republic. On the appointment (367 B.C.) of two extra otKcials to look after the legal business of the Roman State, the name prcetor was given to them, and a new name consul was given to the chief magistrates. The same Greek equivalent, <rTpaTrjy6i ('general '), was used for prcetor always, though the duties had changed. The prstors of Ac 16-''*- are the chief magistrates of Philippi, a Roman colonia. It is not impossible that prcetores was their oflBcial title, but it is generally believed that in their case it was merely honorary (see under Magistrate). See W. M. Ramsay in JThSt i, [1899-1900] 114 fl'.
A SOTJTFR
PRiETORIAN GUARD.— See GUARD.
PR^TORIUM {irpaiTiipiov). — Originally denoting the general's (i.e. the prretor's) tent in the camp (Livy, X. 33), this word came to signify the official residence of the governor of a province (Cic. in Verr. II. iv. 28, v. 35), and in post- Augustan times a palace (Juv. x. 161) or any splendid country-seat (Suet. Atig. 72, Juv. Sat. i. 75). See, further, art. Palace. James Strahan.
PRAISE.— 1. Ideal of praise.-' He knows little of himself who is not much in prayer, and he knows little of God who is not much in praise.' These words express the habitual thought and practice of the Apostolic Church. We must distinguish between praise and thanksgiving. We praise God for what He is, we thank Him for what He has done. It is possible that a strain of selfishness may creep into our thanksgivings — the Pharisee spirit is not easy to eradicate. But a sincere heart is lifted by praise to the highest level of adoration. With angels and archangels we laud and magnify, saying ' Holy, Holy, Holy.' If we cannot trace the Sanctus of the Eucharist back to the 1st cent., we can affirm that it was based on the teaching of the Apocalypse, and may be said to perpetuate in the highest degree the doxologies so often heard on the lips of apostolic writers.