It is more difficult to determine whether during the 1st cent, narratives from the life of Jesus and collections of His sayings were so read. That there were such writings is evident from the early existence of Mark and Q, the common source of much of the First and Third Gospels, and from the use of such records in Christian teaching (Lk 1''). As eye-witnesses of Jesus died out, the oral or written tradition of His life would be higlily prized by the early Christians, and the paren- thetical remark, ' Let him that readeth under- stand' (Mk 13", Mt 24"), points to the reading, publicly or privately, of such records. It must not be supposed, however, that even the apos- tolic writings, though widely read for didactic purposes, were regarded at first as 'Scripture.' The Sayings of Jesus were quoted as of supreme authority (Ac 20^, 1 Co 7'" 9", 1 Th 4'=) in matters of belief and practice, but tlie written record of these and the separate apostolic writings were not looked upon as 'Scripture' till the 2nd century. But even then the writings which now form the NT did not displace the OT, though they found a place in the public reading of Scripture. Justin, describing the practice of his day (c. 155), says, ' There are meetings of all of us who live in cities or the country, and the memoirs of the apostles and the writings of the [irophets are read as long as time allows' (Apol. i. 67).
LiTERATlTRE. — In addition to works quoted above, see artt. ' Ana»^nostes,' by D. Butler, and 'Lectionary,' by F. H. Scrivener, in W. .Siiiitti-S. Cheethani's DC A, London, 1875-80; also artt. by W. F. Adeney, on ' Worship (in NT)' in UDB, and ' Reader ' in DCff. M. ScOTT FLETCHER.
REBECCA ("Pc^^/cKa).— Rebecca, the wife of Isaac, received a Divine oracle before the birth of her twin sons, Esau and Jacob, foretelling her that she would be the mother of two nations or peoples, of whom the elder would serve the younger (Ro 9'"-''-, from Gn 25-'--«). St. Paul uses this tradition as illustrating a mysterious principle which he observed in the operation of Divine grace. Even within the family of Abraham, to whom the promises were given, God more than once made choice, rejecting Ishmael and accepting Isaac, loving Jacob and hating Esau (Ro 9'- "). In the OT those preferences were regarded as purely arbitrary, .Jalnveh having the right to do as He pleased with any mother's sons ; but the Apostle discerns in His sovereign decrees a gracious design which embraces all mankind — ' the purpose of God working by means of election' (17 nar' iK\oyT]v irpdeeffis). See JACOB and EsAU.
James Steahan.
RECOMPENSE.— See Reward.
RECONCILIATION (raTaXXa7i)). — ' Reconcilia- tion ' is the elect word in the apostolic literature to denote the changed relations issuing in the restoration, brought about by means of the Person and work of Jesus Christ, of the fellowship between God and man, which sin had interrupted. The Greek term is based upon the idea of exchange, especially the exchange of equivalent values ; this passes, through the ideas of excliauge of sympathy, mutual understanding and reciprocal confidence,
RECONCILIATION
RECONCILIATION
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into the notion of leconciliation, and thus beponies a term expressive of personal relations, with the implication that a previous hostility of mind or heart is now put away. Whilst the English ' recon- ciliation ' (and its German equivalent Versblmunfj) Implies a mutual putting away of hostility, the Greek term is frequently used where only one erson ceases to be angry with another and receives im into favour (see Grimm-Thayer", Edinburgh, 1890, p. 333). In the apostolic writings it is used both wliere the enmity is one-sided and where it is mutual ; in the former case the context must show on which side the active enmity exists ; the word in and of itself cannot declare on wliich side the adjustment is required or whether the hostility is mutual. ' Reconciliation ' is the redemptive term specially acceptable to the modern mind, which seeks to interpret the Atonement in terms of personality ; because it states the apostolic thought on the redemptive relations of God and man in personal and therefore in ethical terms, and not in terms of law or of sacritice. The practical value of the term, and the immediacy of its application to living experience, make a similar appeal ; for in the apostolic teaching it is directly and organic- ally connected with ' the ministry of reconcilia- tion' and 'the word of reconciliation' (2 Co 5'"-) which constituted the essence of the apostolic preaching. Moreover, it presents ' at-one-ment ' as the result of atonement ; it brings the mystery of a past ' propitiation ' into the light of present and abiding personal relations Godward and manward ; for it declares a restored communion to be a perma- nent attitude of God to man, and at the same time a progressively realized experience in man himself ; ' God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and gave unto us the ministry of reconciliation,' is also 'in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not reckoning unto them their trespasses, and having committed unto us the word of reconciliation ' (2 Co 5™-).
Unlike ' propitiation,' ' reconciliation' is a terra without direct ancestry in OT usage, and in the NT it is a redemptive term peculiar to the writ- ings of St. Paul. The Pauline usage is found in Ro5i»'- lll^ 2 Co S""'-, Eph 2i«, Col I""'- (cf. also 1 Co 7" and Jer Sl^" [LXX], 2 Mac 1« 7'' S^, Mt5=^). In Ko 5'"'- the context distinctly shows that the reconciliation spoken of is that of God to man ; it is something received by man as an accomplished fact; and, although the act of man in ' receiving' the reconciliation by obedient faith is implicitly recognized as perfecting the Divine purpose by his becoming himself reconciled to God, the clear Pauline contention is that there is a reconciliation on the part of God that is not only antecedent to any reception of it on the part of man, but is independent of any change of feeling on the part of man brought about by the Divine redemption ; it is not an alteration in his relation to God accom- plished by man. God is regarded as having estab- lished anew a relation of peace by putting away His hostility towards man in his sin (cf. Ro 11'^, Eph l""). ' While we were enemies we were recon- ciled to God through the death of his Son ' (Ro S'") ; 'enemies' (exSpoi), whilst it is a term used both actively, denoting hostility towards God, and passively, denoting hostility from God, almost certainly includes the latter in this place as it obviously does in 11-*, where it is correlated with 'beloved' [ar/airriTol), which is certainly passive — ' beloved of God ' ; the verb ' were reconciled ' (icaT- ttWaytiixev, 5'") is a real passive ; men are primarily the objects, not the subjects, of the reconciliation. Otherwise the force of St. Paul's great argument that God's 'own love towards us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us' (v.*) was sufficiently strong to account for this changed