THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG
RAFFLES, raf'elz, THOMAS: English Independent; b. at London May 17, 1788; d. at Liverpool Aug. 18, 1863. He studied at Homerton College, 1805-09; was pastor at Hammersmith, London, 1809-11; and at Liverpool, 1811-62. His ministry here was one of great usefulness and his position for a half a century a commanding one. He was one of the founders of Blackburn Academy for the education of Independent ministers, removed afterward to Manchester as the Lancashire Independent College. He published Memoirs of the Life and Ministry of Thomas Spencer (Liverpool, 1813; 7th ed., 1836) ; and Lectures on Practical Religion (1820). He contributed eight selections of his own to Hymns by W. B. Collyer (London, 1812), and arranged a Supplement to Dr. Watts's Psalms and Hymns (1853), including those and thirty-eight others, one of which was " High in yonder realms of light." Bibliography: T. S. Raffles, Memoirs of the Life and Ministry of . . T. Raffles, London, 1864 (by his son); J. B. Brown, T. Raffles, . a Sketch, ib. 1863; S. W. Duffield,
English Hymns, pp. 561-562, New York, 1886; Julian, Hymnology, pp. 948-949.
RAGG, LONSDALE: Church of England; b. at Wellington (10 m. e. of Shrewsbury), Shropshire, Oct. 23, 1866. He received his education at Christ Church, Oxford (B.A., 1889; M.A., 1892; B.D., 1905), and at Cuddesdon Theological College; was made deacon in 1890 and priest in 1891; curate of All Saints', Oxford, 1890; tutor and lecturer at Christ Church, 1891-95; vice-principal of Cuddesdon Theological College, 1895-98; warden of the Bishop's Hostel, Lincoln, and vice-chancellor of Lincoln Cathedral, 1899-1903; winter chaplain at Bologna, 1904-05; British chaplain at Venice, 1905 sqq.; prebendary of Buckden in Lincoln Cathedral. He has edited II Samuel for Books of the Bible (London, 1898); and has written: Aspects of the Atonement. Atoning Sacrifice illustrated from various sacrificial Types of Old Testament, and from successive Stages of Christian Thought (1904); Christ and our Ideals; Message of the Fourth Gospel to our Day (1906); Dante and his Italy (1907); The Mohammedan Gospel of Barnabas (1907; jointly with Laura M. Ragg) ; The Church of the Apostles. Being an Outline of the History of the Church of the Apostolic Age (1909); and The Book of Books; a Study of the Bible (1910).
RAHAB, re'hab: A Canaanitic woman of Jericho, who received the spies sent by Joshua. It is stated in Josh. ii. 1-21 that Rahab, a prostitute, received into her house in Jericho the two spies sent by Joshua to reconnoiter the enemy's country. When the messengers of the king of Jericho arrived at Rahab's house to arrest these spies, she first concealed them and then aided them to escape, asking as a reward that she and her family should be spared if Jericho fell into the hands of the Israelites: as a token of recognition she received a red thread to hang from her window. This promise was kept when Jericho was taken, and Rahab and her family were received into the community of Israel.
Not only did the Jews dislike to bring their ancestors into contact with, a prostitute, but some Christian expositors have also taken pains to give the word zonah or its Greek equivalent pornl,
another explanation, although these words always signify prostitute. Josephus (Ant., V., i. 2, 7) describes Rahab as the hostess of an inn. Jewish tradition asserted that eight prophets were descended from her (J. Lightfoot, Horce Hebraicce, on Matt, i. 5). She was said to have married either Joshua himself or else Salma, thus becoming the mother of Boaz and therefore an ancestor of David. The latter supposition seems to be accepted by the genealogy of Jesus in Matt. i. 2-19 (cf. I Chron. ii. 4 sqq.; Jerome, on Matt. i. 5). The author of the epistle to the Hebrews offers Rahab as an example of faith, and in James ii. 25 she illustrates the value of good works. Finally, Clement of Rome (/ Epist., i. 12) sees in the red cord a symbol of salvation by the blood of Christ. (R. Kittel.)
Bibliography: Besides the commentaries on the passages cited in the text from the Old and New Testaments, and the works on Hebrew history cited under Ahab, and Israel, History of, consult: A. Wunsche, Neue BeitrSae zur Erlauterung der Evangelium aus Talmud und Midrasch, pp. 3-4, Gottingen, 1878; F. Weber, System der altsynagogalen palastinischen Theologie, p. 318, Leipsic, 1880; DB, iv. 193-194; EB, iv. 4007; JE, x. 309; Vigouroux, Dictionnaire, xxxiii. 934-936.
RAHLFS, ralfs, OTTO GUSTAV ALFRED: German Protestant; b. at Linden (now a part of Hanover) May 29, 1865. He was educated at the universities of Halle and Gottingen (Ph.D., 1887), was inspector of the theological seminary at Gottingen (1888-90), became privat^docent at the university of the same city in 1891, titular professor in 1896, and associate professor of Old-Testament exegesis and Hebrew in 1901. He has written Des Gregorius Abulfarag Anmerkungen zu den salomonischen Schriften (Leipsic, 1887) ; Ani und Anaw in den Psalmen (Gottingen, 1891); Die Berliner-Handschrift des sahidischen Psalters (Berlin, 1901); and Septuaginta-Studien, vols, i.-ii. (Gottingen, 1904-07). He is also an editor of the Zeitschrift fur alttestamentliche Wissenschaft, and of the Theologische Litteror turzeitung.
RAHTMANN, rat'man, HERMANN: German theologian; b. at Liibeck in 1585; d. at Danzig June 30, 1628. After a course in theology at Rostock, he went to Cologne to study the learning and dialectics of the Jesuits, then to Frankfort and Leipsic to continue his studies in philosophy and theology and to give instruction. In 1612 he received a call as deacon to St. John's Church in Danzig; in 1617 he became deacon at St. Mary's Church, and in 1626 pastor of St. Catherine's Church.
His idealism, in Scriptural dogmatic form, is comprised in Jesu Christi: dess Konigs atter Kdnige und Herrn aller Herren Gnadenreich (Danzig, 1621), composed of collocated Bible sentences, with headings of the various chapters and a very few marginal notes. Rahtmann's theological and historical position finds its peculiar significance in answering the questions, " What Holy Scripture is; whence comes it; and what is its effect? " He derives the Scriptures from divine revelation, not from the inner light of reason. The direct recipients of Scripture were the apostles and prophets, among whom the Spirit also inwardly remained. Scripture, then, " is a divine outward word or witness of God's holy will and acts, as revealed by the Holy Ghost through