RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Medardus Mediator
nearly all destroyed; the extreme northern part was outside the present church walls, for in the early period the names Ephesus and Smyrna were read on it, showing that it originally included at least the southern part of Asia Minor. The artist accomplished very fair results with the difficult material and subject with which he worked. Mountains are indicated in colored lines, the Dead Sea in blue wavy lines; in the larger cities principal streets are roughly represented, while in Jerusalem appear the principal structures of the period (the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, and at least three other churches, one outside the city), as well as two colonnaded streets which run through the north and south length of the city, and three (or four) gates on north, east, and south. Smaller cities are indicated with walls and round towers. The subdivision of the map was by tribes, with boundaries and chief towns. Nearly 140 names or parts of names can be traced. The territories of six tribes are represented in whole or in part — Dan, Simeon, Judah, Ephraim, Benjamin, and Zebulon. As examples of the places named may be cited: Modein, Nob, Lydda, Gath, Ashdod, Jericho, Ephrata, iElamon, Bethabara, Ramah (in Benjamin and in Judah), Gibeon, iEnon, Shiloh, Gerizim, Shechem, Gerar, Bethlehem Ephrata, Beth-zur, Ascalon, Gaza, Beersheba, the tomb of Joseph, the well of Jacob, and the oak of Mamre, in Palestine; and in Egypt Pelusium, Tanis, Sais, Hermoopolis, and three arms of the Nile. The date of the map is made out to be probably the middle of the fifth century, since the principal structures of Jerusalem seem to correspond with those of the city of that period. The extant remnant has proved of some service in confirming a number of locations already made out, and in suggesting a few others. Had the entire map been preserved, its value might have been very great. A subject of debate still is whether in the map's composition the Onomasticon of Eusebius was employed. Geo. W. Gilmore.
Bibliography: The principal account of the map is by C. Clermont-Ganneau, in Recueil d'archeologie orientate, ii (1897), 161-175, from which is taken the matter in PEF, Quarterly Statement, 1897, pp. 213-225, cf. 167, 239, also 1898, pp. 85, 177-183, 251, and 1901, 235-246. Other summaries are to be found in The (New York) Independent, 1897, p. 1656; Biblical World, 1898, pp. 244-250; Methodist Review, 1898, 478—480; Geographical Journal, 1901, p. 516. Other discussions are: G. Durand, Le Carte mosaique de Madaba, Paris, 1897; A. Schulten, Die Mosaikkarte von Madaba, Berlin, 1900; Kubitschek, in the Mittheilungen of the Royal Geographical Society of Vienna, 1900, pp. 335-380; A. Jacoby, Das geographische Mosaik von Madaba, Leipsic, 1905. A large and important literature is indicated in Richardson, Encyclopaedia, p. 666.
On the town, apart from the map, consult: PEF, Quarterly Statement, 1895, July; M. Sejourne, in Revue biblique internationale, 1892, 617-644; DB, iii. 309-310.
MEDHURST, WALTER HENRY: Missionary, sinologue, and lexicographer; b. in London Apr. 29, 1796; d. there Jan. 24, 1857. He studied at Hackney College; embarked for China as a missionary printer, 1816; was so successful as a student of languages and as a preacher that he was ordained at Malacca, 1819, and labored in Penang and Batavia; returned to England, 1836, but again went out to his work in Java, 1838; on the opening of Shanghai as a treaty port in 1842 he settled there
and remained until the year of his death. He was accomplished in the Javanese, Chinese, and Japanese languages. With the cooperation of friends he produced what is known as the " Delegates' Version " of the Bible in Chinese. Among his other works may be noted : English and Japanese Vocabulary (Batavia, 1830); Dictionary of the Hok-Keen Dialect of the Chinese Language (Macao, 1832); China, its State and Prospects (London, 1838); Chinese and English Dictionary (2 vols., Batavia, 1842-43); Chinese Dialogues (Shanghai, 1844; new ed. by his son, 1861); and Dissertation on the Theology of the Chinese (1847). Bibliography: H. O. Dwight, H. A. Tupper, and E. M.
Bliss, Encyclopedia of Missions, pp. 444-445, New York,
1904; DNB, xxxvii, 202-203.
MEDIATOR: A title applied to Jesus Christ in relation to his work as intermediary between God and the world and between man and God. The New Testament presents Christ as mediator in two aspects, the cosmic and the redemptive. The principal passages bearing on the cosmic or universal mediation are I Cor. viii. 6; Col. i. 15-17; Heb. i. 2-3; John i. 3-4. As the image or Logos of God the son is the sole mediator of the divine creative activity. Eternal preexistence is affirmed of him. Through him the universe is a consistent unity, and progressively realizes the divine purpose. In him is seen the rational explanation and final aim of all things. This type of thought has its Jewish as well as Greek background. In the Jewish doctrine of Angels (q.v.), of wisdom (Prov. viii.), and of the Spirit of God (q.v.), the idea of mediatorial agencies between God and the world is made familiar. Greek thought represented the Platonic-Stoic logos both as immanent reason and as expressed will. Josephus described the law as given by angels (Ant. XV., v. 3), a view repeated in Acts vii. 53; Gal. iii. 19; and Heb. ii. 2; cf. Jubilees, i. 27-29, and Assumption of Moses, i. 14. Philo gathers up the lines of both Greek and Jewish development in his doctrine of the Logos: the Logos is the mediator between the immortal God and the sinful human race (" Who Is the Heir "). The New-Testament teaching culminates in the unique and unshared mediation of the eternal Christ.
The other aspect of mediation — the redemptive — is more fully represented in the New Testament (Matt. xi. 27-28; Mark viii. 38; Luke ix. 11-27; John, passim; Acts xvii. 31; Eph. i. 10-21; Col. i. 20; I Tim. ii. 5-6; I John ii. 1-2). Mediation before Christ's earthly existence is affirmed in I Cor. x. 4; I Pet. i. 11; and John i. 11-12. For Paul the mediation consists of vicarious suffering and death in behalf of sin, continues after death in his intercession (Rom. viii. 34) and gift of the Spirit (Rom. viii. 8-11), and in manifold saving activities until his return to judgment, the destruction of the last enemy, and the glorification of the saints (I Thess. iv. 16-17; I Cor. xv. 24-28, 50-57; Phil. iii. 20-21). The mediatorship of Jesus is the special theme of the epistle to the Hebrews. He was qualified for this task by the experiences of his earthly life. He was superior to the angels, to Moses, and to the priests. The latter was evinced by the fact that he was appointed not by men but by God, that he
Mediator Medo-Persia