the above analogies, the "key of knowledge" is the means of attaining to true knowledge in respect to the kingdom of God (Luke xi, 25; comp. Matt, xxiii, 13; Luke xxiv, 32). It is said that authority to explain the law and the prophets was given among the Jews by the delivery of a key.. See Bind. The Kabbins say that God has reserved to himself four keys— the key of rain, the key of the grave, the key of fruitfulness, and the key of barrenness. See Keys, Poweh of the.
Keyes, Josiaii, a Methodist Episcopal minister, was born at Canajoharie, N. Y., Dec. 30, 1799; converted at the age of twelve; entered the Genesee Conference in 1820 ; in 1831-34 was presiding elder on Black Kivcr •District, and in 1835 on Cayuga District, where he died April 22, 1836. j\Ir. Keyes possessed a grasping intellect and great application. AVithout regular instruction, he acquired " a respectable knowledge of Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, and as a general scholar, a theologian, and a preacher, he stood eminent among the ^Methodist minis- try of the day. He was a very useful man, a sincere Christian, and main- souls were converted through his labors." — Minutes ofConf€r€nces.\\,A\2\ Geo. Peck,D.D., Early Methodism (N. Y. 1860, 1 2mo) , p. 473. (( i. L. T.)
Keys, John, a Presbyterian minister of English de- scent, was born at AVilton, N. II., in 1778. He gradu- ated at Dartmouth College, Hanover, N. H., in 1803, and afterwards taught school for several years. He studied theology at INIorristown, N. J., under James Eichards, D.D. ; was licensed in 1805, and in 1807 ordained by the New York Presbytery at Orangedale, N. J., and in 1808 installed pastor of the Church at Sand Lake, near Al- bany, N. Y. In 1814 he accepted a call from the Congre- gational Church of Wolcott, Conn. ; in 1824 removed to Tallmadge, Ohio, as pastor of a Congregational Church, and afterwards preached successively at Dover, New- burg, Ohio; at Peoria, 111. ; at St. Louis, Mo. ; and at Ce- dar Kapids and Elkader, Iowa. At last he returned to Dover, Ohio, where he died January 27, 1867. Mr. Keys was an industrious student. As a preacher he took the greatest delight in his work; as a Christian he had great faith in the jiower of special prayer. See "Wilson, Presh. Historical A Imanac, 1868, p. 216. (J. L. S.)
Keys, Power of the, a term which in a general sense denotes the extent of ecclesiastical power, or, in a narrower sense, the right to authorize or prohibit abso- lution ; and it is upon the interpretation in the one sense or the other that the Protestant and Romish churches differ from each other. "We base this article, in the main, upon that in Herzog, lieal-Encyklop. xiii, 579 sq.
I. New-Testament Doctrine. — The expression ririE"? TlTTi^a, or " key of the house of David" (Isa. xxii, 22), denotes the power which was given to the king's officer over the royal household. In literal symbolism. K\t'i^ Aaind (Rev. iii, 7) denotes the authority which Christ as King exercises over his realm with special regard to his right of admission or dismission. When Jesus (^latt. xvi, 19) solemnly intrusted to I'eter, as a representative of the apostles, the keys of the heavenly kingdom, lie invested him by that act simply. with his apostolical station, which involves the founding of the Christian Church by the preaching of the forgiveness of sin (Luke xxiv, 47) and tlie establishment of the Gospel doctrine (JIatt. XX, 19). In this sense the commission (John xx, 23) to the other eleven apostles must likewise be inter- jvreted, for we have no reason to believe that the ajios- tles ever exercised the authority, as Jesus did, of reliev- ing the sinner of his guilt ; and yet, even if proofs could be adduced to show that the apostles did exercise such authority, all evidence that such authority was trans- ferred to the Church after the apostolic age is surely wanting. Besides, it is proper to make a distinction be- tween the power of the keys claimed for Peter as an ex- pression of apostolical authority, and the power " to bind and to loose" which Jesus (Matt, xvi, 19) also conferred not only upon his other apostles, but upon the whole Church (Matt, xviii, 18). Both expressions, to bind and
KEYS, POWER OF THE
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KEYS, POAVER OF THE
to loose, which in New-Testament usage do not require a personal, but an impersonal object, mean, according to Kabinnical language, to permit and io forbid, to confirm and to revoke (see Lightloot, ad loc. Matt., and corap. the art. Bind) ; and in the N.-T. passages quoted they can refer only to the sphere of Christian social life. Against the opinion of the later Church, that Paul (1 Cor. v, 3-5) made use of the apostolic authority to forgive and to retain sins, Eitschl (.4 It-Kathol. Kirche, 2d edit., p. 337 sq.) argues that in this passage onl}' a disciplinary reg- ulation is referred to ; that Paul conceded to the Church the right of discipline, and only exercised authority when he supposed himself to act in harmony with the wish of the Church ; and that, if the apostle (2 Cor. ii, G-10) held a contrarj^ doctrine, he would be subject to the charge of simulation. The apostolical writings, more- over, do not allude to any other agency in the Church for the remission of sins than that spoken of by Paul himself, 2 Cor.v, 18 sq., namely, reconciliation by Christ and the prayers of believers (1 John v, IG; James v, 10).