Articles Asceticism
THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG
conference proceedings. He was president of the Conference in 1806. During the Civil War in America he championed the Union cause and wrote a series of able articles in its support for The London Quarterly Review — a periodical which he helped to found in 1853 and to which he contributed regularly for thirty years. His books are numerous and some of them had an enormous sale. They include: A Mission to the Mysore, with Scenes and Facts Illustrative of India, its People and its Religion (London, 1S47; ed., with introduction, notes, and appendix, H. Haigh, 1902); The Successful Merchant, Sketches of the Life of Air. Samuel Budgett (1852); The People's Day, an Appeal to the Right Hon. Lord Stanley against his Advocacy of a French Sunday (1855); The Tongue of Fire, or the True Power of Christianity (1856); Italy in Transition, Public Scenes and Private Opinions in the Spring of I860 (1860); The Modern Jove, a Review of the Collected Speeches of Pio Nono (1873); The Life of Gideon Ouseley (1876); The Pope, the Kings, and the People (2 vols., 1877; ed. W B. Neatley, 1903); On the Difference between Physical and Moral Law, the Fernley lecture for 1883 (1883); Religion without God and God without Religion, a criticism of the philosophical systems of Frederic Harrison, Herbert Spencer, and Sir Fitzjames Stephen (3 parts, 1885-87).
Bibliography: Consult The Methodist Recorder, xlii, 11-16, London, Mar. 14, 1901, for biographical sketch.
ARTICLES, IRISH, LAMBETH, THIRTY-NINE, ETC. See Irish Articles, Lambeth Articles, Thirty -nine Articles, etc.
ARUNDEL, ar'un-dl, THOMAS: Archbishop of Canterbury; b. at Arundel Castle (55 m. s.w. of London), Sussex, 1353; d. at Canterbury Feb. 19, 1414. He was the third son of the Earl of Arundel, and the family influence secured his promotion to the bishopric of Ely when only twenty-one; he was made Archbishop of York in 1388, of Canterbury in 1396, this being the first instance of a translation from York to Canterbury. He was active in the turbulent times of Richard II, and incurred the resentment of the king; in 1397, with his brother, the Earl of Arundel, he was impeached of high treason; the Earl was executed and the Archbishop was banished. He went to Rome, but the Pope, Boniface IX, at the request of Richard, transferred him to St. Andrews which in effect deprived him of a see, as Scotland adhered to the rival pope, Benedict XIII. He joined Henry of Lancaster on the continent, returned with him to England, 1399, crowned him king, Oct. 13, and was reinstated as Archbishop of Canterbury. He was five times Lord Chancellor of England, twice under Richard II (1386-89 and 1391-96), and three times under Henry IV Arundel was a shrewd and far-sighted prelate in the performance of what he understood to be bis duty. He spent his wealth freely upon the churches in which he was interested. In his later years he entered heartily into the persecution of the Lollards and was especially conspicuous in the prosecution of Lord Cobham. He procured a prohibition of the vernacular translation of the Scriptures.
Bibliography: W. F. Hook, Lives of the Archbishops of Canterbury, iv, London, 1865; DB, ii, 137-141.
ASA, e'sa: Third king of Judah, son and successor of Abijah. He is said to have "reigned forty-one years, contemporary with "\Ieroboam, Nadab, Baasha, Elah, Zimri, Omri, and Ahab of Israel. His dates, according to the old chronology, are 955-914 B.C.; according to Hommel, 911-871; according to Duncker, 929-872; according to Kamphausen, 917-877. Although in I Kings xv, 10, Maachah, the daughter of Abishalom, is mentioned as his mother, who, according to verse 2, was the mother of Abijah (called " Abijam " in I Kings; see Abijah), he was probably not the latter's brother, but his son, as is stated in verse 8. Maachah was probably the name of both his mother and his grandmother, and " daughter of Abishalom " is erroneously inserted in verse 10 from verse 2. Asa tried to uproot idolatry, and deposed his mother " because she had made an idol in a grove " (I Kings xv,13, A. V.; R. V.," because she had made an abominable image for an Asherah ;" the object in question may have been a phallic image). He drove the Sodomites from the land, and destroyed the idols. The high places, however, were not removed. At the suggestion of the prophet Azariah (according to the Chronicler) he caused his people to renew their vows to Yahweh at a great festival. He is said to have built cities and performed mighty deeds, but no details are given.
What is told of Asa's conduct in the war with Israel does not redound to his glory (I Kings xv, 16 sqq.). When Baasha fortified Ramah on the frontier between Israel and Judah, Asa could think of no better way to retaliate than to hire Ben-hadad, king of Syria, to invade Israel. The expedient accomplished its immediate purpose by forcing Baasha to retire from Ramah; but the ultimate outcome was the hundred years' war between Israel and the Arameans, which brought misfortune upon both lands and even involved Judah. The Chronicler states that the prophet Hanani was sent to rebuke Asa for his conduct, and was imprisoned for his boldness. The Chronicler further relates that in the eleventh year of Asa's reign " Zerah the Ethiopian " invaded Judah and met a great defeat. The event is not mentioned in the Book of Kings, and some regard the narrative as unhistorical. Those who accept it have not succeeded in identifying Zerah the Ethiopian. In his old age Asa suffered from a disease of the feet, perhaps gout. [The Chronicler characteristically remarks " yet in his disease he sought not to Yahweh, but to the physicians ".] Asa's history is in I Kings xv, 9-14; II Chron. xiv-xvi. (W Lotz.)
The most probable dates for Asa are 912-872 b.c. J. F. M.
Bibliography: Consult the works mentioned under Ahab, and, in addition, for Zerah the Ethiopian, H. Winekler, Alttestamentliche Untersuchungen, pp. 160 sqq., Leipsic, 1892.
ASAPH. See Psalms.
ASBURY, az'ber-i, FRANCIS: The first Methodist bishop ordained in America; b. at Hamstead Bridge, parish of Handsworth (a northern suburb