reo.ohcd tl1om. The man (lt.v~p(). Bo eh. it. 22, him in ecclesiastical writers is the well- 'I11uovv ,-op Na(wpaio,,, d.vopa l,,,rb 'TOV e,ou known one of EU80bius, 'Eccl. Hist.,' iii. iv., 1,;.,,. 0 0,0«-r/llvov, 1<.-r.11. Ami so in John v. in :which he srrys, "We nre told by an 27 our Lord himsolf enys of himself that a~c10nt writer, Dionysius tho pastor of tho the Fnlher go.ve him o.nlhnrity to execute diocese of Corinth (ob. 178 A.D.), that his jmlgmont "becnuso ho is the Snn of mnn:" namesake Dionysius the Areopr>~te, of onrl in Mntt. xxvl. 2,1, "Hcrco.ftcr eho.11 ye whom St. Luke says in the Acts that he see the Bon pf man sitting on tho_ right wo.s the first who embraced the faith after band of power." (For the connccl11m of St. Paul's diecorrrae in the Areopo.gus, be- the,iml;:1ncnt with Chl'ist'e resurrection, see come the first bishop of the Church in especially eh. x. 40-42.) So too the Creeds. Athens." Eusebius reper.ts the statement Ver. 32.-Now for anrl, A.V.: but for ~n ~is lonl:\"__ notice or Dionysins or Corinth, and, A.V.: concerniny this yet again for m 1v. xxm. Other uncertain traditions ayain of this matter, A.V. Somo mookod. speak of him (Suidae) as one who rose to Athenian sceplieioru could not accept so the heig-ht or Greek erudition, and a.a having spiritual n truth os the rewrrection of the suffered a crnel martyrdom ()ficeph., iii. 11). dead: and Athenian levity of purpose "The ,vorks which go by his name are dPferred to another day the decisive step undoubtedly spurious" (AlfOl'd). Damaris; of accepting the salvation of the risen "wholly unknown" (Meyer), but certainly Saviour, just as it had deferred resistance not the wife of Dionysius, as Chrysostom to Philip of Macedon till tlleir liberties (' De Sacerd.,' iv. 7) and others have thought were gone and their country enslaved. (' Dictionary of the Bible'). And others with (For "We will hear thee again," comp. them. These would seem to be but few eh. xxiv. 25.) from St. Luke's way of mentioning them, Ver. 33.-T71U8 for so, A.V. and T.R.: and from onr hearing nothing more in the went out for depa,i-tecl, A.V. The meaning Acts about the Church at Athens. It is is that he left the assembly in the remarkable that this small number of con- Areopagus. At ver. 22 we were told that verts coincides with the weakness of the be stood Iv µ.eurp -rou 'Ape/au ,ra:yov (where synagogue at Athens-too weak to peraecute, see note): now he went out lie µ.e<Tou aim,v, and too weak to make proselytes among the lcnving them still sitting on their benches, Greeks of Athens. It seems clear that no- while he walked down the steps to the city where else had St. Paul won so few souls again from the pince where he stood. to Christ. And yet God's Word di,! not Ver. 34.-But for howbeit, A.V.: whom return to him wholly void. The sred fell also for the which, A.V. Dionysius the on some good ground, to bring forth fruit Areopagite. The co.rliest notice we have of unto eternal life.
HOMILETICS. Vere. 1-15.-Tlie strange alliance. Among the hindrances to the progress of the gospel in the world we have often to notice the combination of the most discordant elements for the purpose of obstruction. Pilate and Herod were made friends together when they united in crucifying the Lord of glory. When the chief priests and l'hari- sees, in their blind hatred of the Lord Jesus Christ, sought bis death, they did not scruple to invoke the aid of the Roman power, the object of their bitterest hatred and continual resistance, and to profess an entire devotion to that detested rule. "1Ve have no king but Cmsar." So in politics, men of the most opposite principles often combine to crush the object of their common dislike. In religion, too, we see extreme parties joining bands to discomfit a third party to which they are equally opposed. In nil such combinations there is waut of uprightness and truth. There is a culpable indifference to the nature of the weapons which men use to compass their own end. There is a clear evidence that it is not the cause of righteousness and of Gcd's truth that men are seeking to promote, but some end of their own. When these combina- tions tnke place to oppose the progress of Christian truth, though they may be formid- able for a time, they carry with them the evidences that they are from beneath and will not prevail. The Church of God need not be afraid of them. The Jews of Thessa- lonica. combined with the hoothen rabble of their town, under a pretence of loyalty to Cresar, to silence Paul and Bilas. When they fled they pursued them to Berwa, and drove them thence onwards to Athens and Corinth. But the breath intended to e:!:tin- guish the flame did but make it blaze up from place to place. So will it be with every COllspirncy to put ot1t tho light of Obrist. Philosophy and sensuality, science and THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. [en. xm. l-84,
lawlesm11ss, atheism and superstition, ma.y join ha.nde and combine to remove the cendlestick of God's Church; it will but shed its light brighter and wider in the places where God wills it to shine, until at 111st the whole earth shall be filled with the knowl<'dge of God's glory, 88 the waters cover the sea.