7. De Gratia et Perseverantia Sanctorum (1018, 4 to) ;
8. De amissione et intercessione Justification's <t C rutin; (1018, 4to) ; 9. De Svprema Potestafe Regit (1619. 4to). He left in MS. a Latin commentary on Ron ans which is now in the Bodleian Library. — Middleton, Eccl. Biog.
Abbott, Benjamin, one of the most laborious and useful of the pioneer Methodist preachers in America, was born in Pennsylvania, in 1732, and died 1796. He preached for twenty years with great zeal and suc- cess, chiefly in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Mary- land. Though an illiterate man, he was earnest, elo- quent, enthusiastic, and self-sacrificing, and thousands were added to the Church through his labors. — Firth, Life of B. Abbott (N. Y., 12mo); Minutes of Confer- ences, \, 68; Stevens, Hist, of M. E. Ch. i, 382 sq. ; Sprague, Annuls, vii, 41.
Abbreviation, or the use of one or two initials for the whole of a word. These first occur, in a Scriptural connection, on some of the Maccabaean coins (Bayer, De nummis Hebraio-Samaritanis), and in a few MSS. of the O. T. (especially W for ttirr). They have been frequently resorted to for the purpose of explaining supposed discrepancies or various reading, both in words (Eichhorn, Einleit. ins A. T. i, 323; Drusius, Qucest. Ebraic. iii, 6) and numbers (Vignoles, Chronol- ogic, pass. ; Capellus, Critica Sacra, i, 10 ; Scaliger, in Walton's Prolegomena, vii, 14 ; Kennicott's Disserta- tions), on the theory that letters were employed for the latter as digits (Faber, LJterce olim pro vocibits ad- hibita, Onold, 1775), after the analogy of other Orien- tal languages (Gesenius, Gesch. d. Ileb. Sprache, p. 173). In later times the practice became very com- mon with the Rabbins (Selig's Compendia. VOCUm //<- braico - Rabbinicarum ; also Colleetio abbreviaturarum llcbrtticartim, Lpz., 1781). and was abused for cabal is- tieal purposes (Danz, Rahhinismtis Enucli atus). An in- stance of its legitimate numerical use occurs in Rev. xiii, 18 (Eichhorn, Einleit. ins N. T. iv, 199), and the
ABBREVIATOR i
theory has been successfully applied to the solution of the discrepancy between Mark xv, 25, and John xix, 14 (where the Greek f [gamma = 3] has doubt- less been mistaken for t [stigma = 6]). — Kitto, s. v.
Abbreviator, a clerk or secretary employed in the Papal Court to aid in preparing briefs, bulls, etc. They were first employed by Benedict XII in the 14th century. Many eminent men have iilled the office. Pius II (vEneas Sylvius) was an abbreviator for the Council of Basle.
Ab'da (Heb. Abda, SO 3? [a Chaldaizing form], the servant, i. e. of God), the name of two men.
1. (Sept. 'AftSa.) The father of Adoniram, which latter was an officer under Solomon (1 Kings iv, 6). B.C. ante 995.
2. (Sept. 'A/3£iac.) The son of Shammua and a Levite of the family of Jeduthun, resident in Jerusalem after the exile (Neh. xi, 17); elsewhere called Oba- DIAH (q. v.), the son of Shemaiah (1 Chron. ix, 1G).
Abdas, a Persian bishop during the reign of Yez- degird (or Isdegerdes), King of Persia, under whom the Christians enjoyed the free exercise of their religion. Abdas, filled with ill-directed zeal, destroyed (A.D. 414) one of the temples of the fire-worshippers; and being ordnred by the monarch to rebuild the temple, refused to do so, although warned that, if he persisted, the Christian temples would be destroyed. Yezdegird put the bishop to death, and ordered the total destruction of all the Christian churches in his dominions ; upon which followed a bitter persecution of the Christians, which lasted thirty years, and was the occasion of war between Persia and the Roman empire. In the Romish and Greek Churches he is commemorated as a saint on May 16. See Socrat. Ch. Hist, vii, 18; Keander, Ch. Hist, ii, 110; Theod. Hist. Eccl. v, 39; Butler, Lives of Saints, May 16.
Ab'deel (Heb. Abdeet, ^SOO:?, servant of God; Sept. A/3<V/\), the father of Shelemaiah, which latter was one of those commanded to apprehend Jeremiah (Jer. xxxvi, 26). B.C. ante 605.
Ab'di (Heb. Abdi', ^"ZV, my servant ; or, accord- ing to Gesenius, for tl^'ZV, servant of Jehovah; but, according to Fiirst, properly "l'n^i:*, bondman), the name of three men.
1. (Sept. 'Afiri v. r. 'Aflat.) A Levite, grandfather of one Ethan, which latter lived in the time of David (1 Chron. vi, 44). B.C. considerably ante 1014.
2. (Sept. 'Aftci.) A Levite, father of one Kish (dif- ferent from Kishi, a son of the preceding), which latter assisted in the reformation under Hezekiah (2 Chron. xxix. 12). B.C. ante 726.
3. (Sept. 'Afiiia.) An Israelite of the "sons" of Elam, who divorced his Gentile wife after the return from Babylon (Ezra x, 26), B.C. 459.
Abdias, the name of two men.
1. Abdi'as (Lat. Abdias, the (iroek text not being extant), one of the minor prophets (2 Esdr. [Vulg. 4 Esdr.], i, 39), elsewhere called OBADIAH (q. v.).
2. Ab'dias, of Babylon, is said to have flourished about the year 59, and to have been one of the seventy disciples; but his very existence is somewhat doubt- ful. The work attributed to him, viz. Historia Cer- taminia Apostolici, in ten books, was written in the 8th or 9th century. It may lie found in Fflbricii Cod. Apocryph. Nov. Test, ii, 888; and was published also by Lazius (Basle, 1551, and Paris, 1580). A German translation is (riven in Barbery, Bibliotheh d. N.-T.