Contemplation. See Mrsncs.
Contentment (avrapKua,! Tim. vi, 6; ^'snffi- ciency,'* 2 Cor. ix, 8) is a disposition of mind in whkfa our desires are confined to what we enjoy withovt mar- muring at our lot, or wishing ardently for more. It stands opposed to envy (James iii, 16); to avarice (Heb. xiii, 5) ; to pride and ambition (Piov. xiii, 10); to anxiety of mind (Matt, vi, 25, 84) ; to mnnnorings and repinings (1 Cor. x, 10). Contentment does net imply unconcern about our welfare, or that we should not have a sense of anything uneasy or distiessaif ; nor does it give any countenance to idleness, or pfe> vent diligent endeavors to improve our circnmstanoei. It implies, however, that our desires of worldly good be moderate; that we do not indulge nimecessaiT care, or use unlawftil efiTorts to better onrs^vee ; bet that we acquiesce with, and make the best of oar ooa- dition, whatever it be. Contentment arises not fnm a man's outward condition, but fh>m his inward dispo> sition, and is the genuine ofllspring of hnmilitT, at- tended with a fixed habitual sense of God> particnkr providence, the recollection of past mercies, and a jest estimate of the true nature of all earthly things. ICo-
CONTDfENCY
493
CONVENT
tires to oontentment ariM from the consideration of the rectitude of the divine goyemment (Psa. xcvii, 1, 2), the benignity of the divine providence (Psa. cxlv), the greatness of the dinne promises (2 Pet. i, 4), oar own unworthiness (Gen. xxxii, 10), the punishments we deserve (Lam. iii, 89, 40), the reward which oon^ tentment itself brings with it (1 Tim. vi, 6), the speedy termination of all our troubles here, and the prospect of eternal felicity in a ftiture state (Rom. v, 2). See Barrow, WorJcs, iii, ser. 6, 6, 7, 8, 9 ; Burrows, On (km- tenimeni; Watson, AriofConimtmeiUf Dwi'Jiht, TkeoU ogy, ser. czxix ; Fellowes, Theology, ii, 428, 600 ; Buck, TheoL DicL s. v.
Continency. SeeCHASTrrr; YisonnTT.
Continentes. See Encratitbs.
Contizigeiioy. See Fobeknowledob ; Pbb-
DESTINATION.
Contract ((rwoXXay/uc, 1 Mace, xiii, 42), a busi- ness agreement or formal compact. See Baboaiic. Various solemnities were used in the conclusion of contracts among the ancient Hebrews. Sometimes it was done by a simple joining of hands (Prov. xi, 21 ; Ezek. xvii, 18), and thus the Hindoos, to this day, rat- ify an engagement by one person laying his right hand upon that of the other. Sometimes, also, a cov- enant was ratified by erecting a heap of stones, to which an appropriate name was given (Gen. xxxi, 44 -64) ; that made between Abraham and the king of Gerar was ratified by the oath of both parties, also by a present from Abraham to the latter of seven ewe lambs, and by giving a name to the well which had occasioned the transaction. Festivities appear to have accompanied the ceremonies attending such alliances, for Isaac and Abimelech made a feast on concluding their covenant (Gen. zxvi, 30 ; xxxi, 54). A similar practice also obtained among the heathen nations. The Scythians are said to have first poured wine into an earthen vessel, and then the contracting parties, catting their arms with a knife, let some of the blood ran into the wine, with which they stained their armor; after which they themselves, together with the other persons present; drank of the mixture, uttering the direst maledictions on the party who should violate the treaty. Another mode of ratifying covenants was by the superior contracting party presenting to the other some article of his own dress or arms. Thus *' Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was upon him, and gave it to David, and his garments, even to his sword, and'to his bow, and to his girdle*' (1 Sam. xviii, 4) ; and at the present day, the highest honor which a king of Persia can bestow upon a subject is to cause himself to be disapparelled, and to give his robe to the favored individual. In Numbers xviii, 19, men- tion is made of a covenant of salt (q. v.). See Oath. Among the Hebrews, and, long before them, among the Canaanites, the purchase of anything of conse- quence was concluded, and the price paid, at the gate of the city, as the seat of judgment, before all who went out and came in (Gen. xxiii, 16, 20 ; Ruth, iv, 1, 2). From the latter book we also learn that on some occasions of purchase and exchange, the transfer was ■confirmed by the proprietor plucking ofiT his shoe at the city gate, in the presence of the elders and other witnesses, and handing it over to the new owner.
The earliest notice of written instruments, sealed and delivered, for ratifying the disposal and transfer of property, occurs in Jeremiah xxxii, 10-15, which the prophet commanded Baruch to buiy in an earthen vessel, in order to be preserved for production at a friture period as evidence of the purchase. No men- tion is particularly made as to the manner in which deeds were ancientiy canceUed. Some expositors have imagined that in Colossians ii, 14, Paul refers to the cancelling of them by blotting or drawing a line across them, or by striking them through with a nail ; but we hare no authority whatever, from antiquity,
to authorize such a conclusion. — ^Thomson, Land cmd Book, ii, 382-884. See Covenant.