The Ancient Church: Its History, Doctrine, Worship, and Constitution

Chapter 83

Chapter 835,119 wordsPublic domain

book. i. chap. viii.

[11:3] Matt, xxiii. 15.

[12:1] Many proofs of this occur in the Acts. See Acts x. 2, xiii. 43, xvi. 14, xvii. 4.

[12:2] See Cudworth's "Intellectual System," i. 318, &c. Edition, London, 1845. Warburton has adduced evidence to prove that this doctrine was imparted to the initiated in the heathen mysteries. "Divine Legation of Moses," i. 224. Edit., London, 1837.

[12:3] Gal. iv. 4.

[12:4] Gen. xlix. 10; Dan. ix. 25; Haggai ii. 6, 7.

[12:5] Virgil. Ec. iv. Suetonius. Octavius, 94. Tacitus. Histor. v. 13.

[13:1] Haggai ii. 7.

[13:2] Dan. vii. 14.

[14:1] See Supplementary Note at the end of this chapter on the year of Christ's Birth.

[14:2] Luke ii. 6, 7.

[15:1] Luke i. 11, 19.

[15:2] Luke. 26, 31.

[15:3] Luke ii. 13, 14.

[15:4] Matt. ii. 9.

[15:5] Matt. ii. 12.

[15:6] Matt. ii. 3. The evangelist does not positively assert that the wise men met Herod _at Jerusalem_. On their arrival in the holy city he was probably at Jericho--distant about a day's journey--for Josephus states that he died there. ("Antiq." xvii. 6. § 5. and 8. § 1.) We may infer, therefore, that he "heard" of the strangers on his sick-bed, and "privily called" them to Jericho. The chief priests and scribes were, perhaps, summoned to attend him at the same place.

[16:1] Matt. ii. 16. The estimates formed at a subsequent period of the number of infants in the village of Bethlehem and its precincts betray a strange ignorance of statistics. "The Greek Church canonised the 14,000 innocents," observes the Dean of St Paul's, "and another notion, founded on a misrepresentation of Revelations (xiv. 3), swelled the number to 144,000. The former, at least, was the common belief of our Church, though _even in our liturgy the latter has in some degree been sanctioned_ by retaining the chapter of Revelations as the epistle for the day. Even later, Jeremy Taylor, in his 'Life of Christ,' admits the 14,000 without scruple, or rather without thought."--_Milman's History of Christianity_, i. p. 113, note.

[16:2] Matt. ii. 11.

[16:3] Luke ii. 38. It is a curious fact that in the year 751 of the city of Rome, the year of the Birth of Christ according to the chronology adopted in this volume, the passover was not celebrated as usual in Judea. The disturbances which occurred on the death of Herod had become so serious on the arrival of the paschal day, that Archelaus was obliged to disperse the people by force of arms in the very midst of the sacrifices. So soon did Christ begin to cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease. See Greswell's "Dissertations," i. p 393, 394, note.

[17:1] Luke ii. 40.

[17:2] Luke ii. 52.

[17:3] Mark vi. 3.

[17:4] John vii. 15.

[18:1] Luke ii. 46, 47.

[18:2] Luke iv. 16.

[18:3] Luke iii. 21-23. "It became Him, being in the likeness of sinful flesh, to go through these appointed rites and purifications which belonged to that flesh. There is no more strangeness in His having been baptized by John, than in His keeping the Passover. The one rite, as the other, belonged to sinners, and among the transgressors He was numbered."--ALFORD, _Greek Testament_, Note on Matt. iii. 13-17.

[18:4] See Greswell's "Dissertations upon an Harmony of the Gospels," vol. i. p. 362, 363. John probably commenced his ministry about the feast of Tabernacles, A.D. 27.

[18:5] See Josephus, "Antiq." xviii, 5, § 2.

[19:1] Matt. iv. 23.

[19:2] Matt. iv. 24, 25.

[19:3] Isaiah xlv. 15.

[19:4] 1 Kings viii. 10-12.

[19:5] John v. 13, vi. 15, viii. 59, xii. 36; Mark i. 45, vii. 24.

[19:6] Mark ii. 1, 2; Matt. xiv. 13, 14, 21, xv. 32, 38, 39.

[20:1] Matt. iv. 13. Hence it is said to have been "exalted unto heaven" in the way of privilege. Matt. xi. 23; Luke x. 15. It was the residence as well of Peter and Andrew (Matt. xvii. 24), as of James, John (Mark i. 21, 29), and Matthew (Mark ii. 1, 14, 15), and there also dwelt the nobleman whose son was healed by our Lord (John iv. 46). It was on the borders of the Sea of Galilee, so that by crossing the water He could at once reach the territory of another potentate, and withdraw Himself from the multitudes drawn together by the fame of His miracles. See Milman's "History of Christianity," i. 188.

[21:1] John i. 46.

[22:1] Luke xxiv. 32.

[22:2] Matt. vii. 29.

[23:1] According to Mr Greswell our Lord adopted this method of teaching about eighteen months after the commencement of His ministry, and the Parable of the Sower was the first delivered. "Exposition of the Parables," Vol. i. p. 2.

[23:2] Isa. xxxv. 5, 6.

[23:3] See John v. 13, ix. 1, 6, 25, 36.

[23:4] Mark ii. 6, 7, 10, 11, iii. 5, 22.

[24:1] John vi. 9.

[24:2] Matt. xiv. 24, 25.

[24:3] Mark iv. 39; Matt. viii. 26, 27.

[24:4] John ix. 16.

[24:5] Matt. xxi. 19. Neander has shown that this was a typical action pointing to the rejection of the Jews. See his "Life of Christ." Bohn's Edition.

[24:6] John ii. 9.

[24:7] Matt. ix. 28, 29; Mark vi. 5, ix. 23, 24.

[25:1] John viii. 12.

[26:1] Several of the early fathers imagined that it continued only a year. Some of them, such as Clemens Alexandrinus, drew this conclusion from Isaiah lxi. 1, "To preach _the acceptable year_ of the Lord." See Kaye's "Clement of Alexandria," p. 347.

[26:2] John ii. 13, v. 1, vi. 4, xii. 1. Eusebius argues from the number of high priests that our Lord's ministry did not embrace four entire years. "Ecc. Hist." i. c. x.

[26:3] He lived, therefore, about thirty-three years. According to Malto Brun ("Universal Geography," book xxii.), "the _mean duration_ of human life is between thirty and forty years," and, in the same chapter, he computes it at thirty-three years. It would thus appear that, at the time of His death, our Lord was, in point of age, a fitting representative of the species.

[26:4] Luke iv. 44, viii. 1; Matt. ix. 35.

[27:1] John iii. 1, 2.

[27:2] Matt. xxvi. 63-66.

[27:3] Matt, xxvii. 38.

[27:4] Matt, xxvii. 24; John xviii. 38.

[27:5] Mark xv. 10, 15.

[28:1] Acts ii. 23.

[28:2] Matt. xxvi. 38; Mark xiv. 33.

[28:3] Luke xxii. 44.

[28:4] Matt, xxvii. 46.

[28:5] Luke xxii. 43.

[28:6] Luke xxiii. 44; Mark xv. 33.

[29:1] Matt, xxvii. 51, 52.

[29:2] Matt, xxvii. 54.

[29:3] John x. 18.

[29:4] Ps. xvi. 10; Acts ii. 31.

[29:5] John ii. 19; Mark viii. 31; Luke xviii, 33.

[29:6] John xiv. 19; 1 Thess. iv. 14.

[29:7] Rom. i. 4; 1 Cor. xv. 14, 17; 1 Pet. i. 3; Rev. i. 18.

[29:8] John xix. 33, 34.

[29:9] Matt, xxvii. 60.

[30:1] Matt, xxvii. 66.

[30:2] Matt, xxviii. 2, 4.

[30:3] Matt, xxviii. 11.

[30:4] Matt, xxviii. 12, 13, 15.

[30:5] Rev. i. 5.

[30:6] Acts x. 40, 41.

[30:7] John xiv. 22.

[31:1] Acts i. 3.

[31:2] Luke xxiv. 27.

[31:3] Matt, xxviii. 19.

[31:4] Luke xxiv. 50, 51.

[32:1] John i. 10-12.

[36:1] Isa. liii. 3.

[36:2] John vii. 39.

[36:3] Acts i. 15.

[37:1] 1 Cor. xv. 6.

[37:2] See Matt. xv. 31; John ii. 23, vii. 31, viii. 30.

[37:3] See Joshua xv. 25.

[37:4] Hence called Iscariot, that is, _Ish Kerioth_, or, a man of Kerioth. See Alford, Greek Test., Matt. x. 4.

[37:5] Acts ii. 7.

[37:6] Compare Matt. ix. 9, 10, and Mark ii. 14, 15.

[37:7] "As St John never mentions Bartholomew in the number of the apostles, so the other evangelists never take notice of Nathanael, probably because the same person under two several names; and as in John, Philip and Nathanael are joined together in their coming to Christ, so in the rest of the evangelists, Philip and Bartholomew are constantly put together without the least variation."--Cave's Lives of the Apostles. Life of Bartholomew. Compare Matt. x. 3; Acts i. 13; and John i. 45, xxl. 2.

[38:1] Compare Matt. x. 3, and Acts i. 13.

[38:2] John xi. 16, xxi. 2.

[38:3] Mark xv. 40. He was in some way related to our Lord, and hence called His brother (Gal. i. 19). But though Mary, the mother of our Saviour, had evidently several sons (see Matt. i. 20, 25, compared with Matt. xiii. 55; Mark vi. 3; Matt. xii. 46, 47), they were not disciples when the apostles wore appointed, and none of them consequently could have been of the Twelve. (See John vii. 5). The other sons of Mary, who must all have been younger than Jesus, seem to have been converted about the time of the resurrection. Hence they are found among the disciples before the day of Pentecost (Acts i. 14).

[38:4] Mark iii. 17.

[38:5] Matt. x. 2.

[38:6] John i. 42.

[38:7] Matt. x. 4; Mark iii. 18; Luke vi. 15; Acts i. 13. Some think that _Kananites_ is equivalent to _Zelotes_, whilst others contend that it in derived from a village called Canan. See Alford, Greek Test., Matt. x. 4; and Greswell's; "Dissertations," vol. ii. p. 128. Some MSS. have [Greek: Kananaios].

[38:8] Mark vi. 7. "Although no two of these catalogues (of the Twelve) agree precisely in the order of the names, they may all be divided into three quaternions, which are never interchanged, and the leading names of which are the same in all. Thus the first is always Peter, the fifth Philip, the ninth James the son of Alpheus, and the twelfth Judas Iscariot. Another difference is that Matthew and Luke's Gospel gives the names in pairs, or two and two, while Mark enumerates them singly, and the list before us (in the Acts) follows both, these methods, one after the other."--_Alexander on the Acts_, vol. i. p. 19.

[39:1] Gal. i. 19.

[39:2] Acts i. 13. See also Jude v. 1.

[39:3] Upon this subject see the conjectures of Greswell, "Dissertation," vol. ii. p. 120.

[39:4] John i. 35, 40.

[39:5] From the great minuteness of the statements in the passage, it has been conjectured that the evangelist himself was the second of the two disciples mentioned in John i. 35-37.

[39:6] John iii. 30.

[39:7] Matt. xix. 27.

[40:1] Mark i. 20.

[40:2] Luke xix. 2.

[40:3] Luke xix. 2.

[40:4] Mark ii. 15.

[40:5] John vii. 52.

[40:6] John xi. 16. See also v. 8.

[41:1] John xx. 25.

[41:2] John xx. 28.

[41:3] Some writers have asserted that he is a different person from James "the Lord's brother" mentioned Gal. i. 19, but the statement rests upon no solid foundation. Compare John vii. 5; 1 Cor. xv. 7; Acts i. 14, xv. 2, 13. See also note p. 38 [38:3] of this chapter.

[41:4] John i. 47.

[41:5] Mark v. 37, ix. 2; Matt. xxvi. 37.

[41:6] Acts xii. 2, 3. "It is remarkable that, so far as we know, one of these inseparable brothers (James and John) was the first, and one the last, that died of the apostles."--_Alexander on the Acts_, i. 443.

[41:7] See Greswell's "Dissertations," vol. ii. p. 115.

[42:1] Matt. xx. 20, 21.

[42:2] Some writers have asserted that Philip and Nathanael were learned men, but of this there is no good evidence. See Cave's "Lives of the Apostles," Philip and Bartholomew.

[42:3] Greswell makes it nine months. See his "Harmonia Evangelica," p. xxiv. xxvi.

[42:4] Matt. x. 5, 6.

[42:5] See Vitringa "De Synagoga Vetere," p. 577, and Mosheim's "Commentaries," by Vidal, vol. i. 120-2, note.

[43:1] This is the calculation of Greswell. "Harmonia Evangelica," p. xxvi. xxxi. Robinson makes the interval considerably shorter. See his "Harmony of the Four Gospels in Greek."

[43:2] They received new powers at the close of their first missionary excursion. See Luke x. 19.

[43:3] Selden in his treatise "De Synedriis" supplies some curious information on this subject. See lib. ii. cap. 9, § 3. See also some singular speculations respecting it in Baumgarten's "Theologischer Commentar zum Pentateuch," i. 153, 351. Some of the fathers speak of seventy-two disciples and of seventy-two nations _and tongues_. See Stieren's "Irenaeus," i. p. 544, note, and Epiphanius, tom. i. p. 50, Edit. Coloniae, 1682; compared with Greswell's "Dissertations," ii. p. 7.

[43:4] Gen. x. 32.

[44:1] The following tabular view of the names of the descendants of Shem, Ham, and Japheth, mentioned in the 10th chapter of Genesis, will illustrate this statement:--

JAPHETH. Gomer, Magog. Madai. Javan, Tubal. Meshech. Tiras. Ashkenaz, Elishah, Riphath, Tarshish, Togarmah. Kittim, Dodanim.

It often happens that one branch of a family is exceedingly prolific whilst another is barren. So it seems to have been with the descendants of the three sons of Noah. Thus, Elam, Ashur, and others, appear each to have founded only one nation, whilst Arphaxad and his posterity founded eighteen.

[45:1] Luke x. 1.

[45:2] John iv. 39.

[45:3] Mark vii. 24, 26, 30, 31.

[45:4] This is the opinion of Dr Robinson. See His "Harmony." See also Luke ix. 51, 52, x. 33.

[45:5] Luke x. 13, 17, 18.

[45:6] Matt. xv. 24.

[46:1] Rev. xxi. 14.

[46:2] It is certain that some were called apostles who were not of the number of the Twelve. See Acts xiv. 4. In 1 Cor. xv. 5, 7, both "the Twelve," and "all the apostles," are mentioned, and it may be that the Seventy are included under the latter designation. Such was the opinion of Origen--[Greek: epeita tois eterois para tous dôdeka apostolois pasi, tacha tois ebdomêkoita]. "Contra Celsum," lib. ii. 65. See also "De Recta in Deum Fide," sec. i., Opera, tom. i. p. 806.

[46:3] Luke x. 9, 16, 19, 24.

[46:4] Eph. ii. 20. See also Eph. iii. 5. It is evident, especially from the latter passage, that the _prophets_ here spoken of belong to the New Testament Church.

[47:1] Acts xv. 6, xxi. 18.

[47:2] 1 Pet. v. 1; 2 John v. 1; 3 John v. 1. It is remarkable that Papias, one of the very earliest of the fathers, actually speaks of the apostles simply as _the elders_. See Euseb. book iii. chap. 39.

[47:3] Thus, Simon Zelotes is said to have travelled into Egypt and thence passed into Mesopotamia and Persia, where he suffered martyrdom; whilst, according to others, he travelled through Egypt to Mauritania and thence to Britain, where he was crucified. See Cave's "Lives of the Apostles," Life of Simon the Zealot. No weight can be attached to such legends. Origen states that the Apostle Thomas laboured in Parthia, and Andrew in Scythia. "In Genesim," Opera, tom. ii. p. 24.

[47:4] Acts vi. 6.

[48:1] Matt. vii. 16.

[48:2] Acts xxvi. 16; Luke x. 2; 1 Tim. i. 12.

[48:3] Such was Valentine, the most formidable of the Gnostic heresiarchs, said to be a disciple of Theodas, the companion of Paul. Clem. Alex. Strom. vii. Paul of Samosata and Arius were able to boast, at least as much as their antagonists, of their apostolic descent.

[49:1] 1 John iv. 1, 6.

[49:2] 2 John 10, 11.

[49:3] Gal. i. 8, 9.

[50:1] Luke x. 16.

[50:2] 2 Cor. iii. 1-3.

[51:1] Acts i. 3.

[51:2] Luke xxiv. 46, 47.

[52:1] Acts ii. 41.

[52:2] Acts ii. 44, 45.

[53:1] See Acts iv. 34. Barnabas was probably obliged to go to Cyprus to complete the sale.

[53:2] Acts vi. 1.

[54:1] Acts vi. 2, 3.

[54:2] Acts i. 15, 23. They selected two, and not knowing which to prefer, they decided finally by lot.

[54:3] Acts vi. 6.

[55:1] Acts iv. 18.

[55:2] Acts iv. 19.

[55:3] That is, A.D. 34, dating the crucifixion A.D. 31. Tillemont, but on entirely different grounds, assigns the same date to the martyrdom of Stephen. See "Memoires pour servir à L'Histoire Ecclesiastique des six premiers siecles," tome prem. sec. par. p. 420. Stephen's martyrdom probably occurred about the feast of Tabernacles.

[55:4] Daniel ix. 27. A _day_ in prophetic language denotes a _year_. Ezek. iv. 4, 5. A prophetic week, or seven days, is, therefore, equivalent to seven years.

[56:1] "The one week, or Passion-week, in the midst of which our Lord was crucified A.D. 31, began with His public ministry A.D. 28, and ended with the martyrdom of Stephen A.D. 34."--_Hales' Chronology_, ii. p. 518. Faber and others, who hold that the one week terminated with the crucifixion, are obliged to adopt the untenable hypothesis that John the Baptist and our Lord together preached seven years. The view here taken is corroborated by the statement in Dan. ix. 27--"_In the midst of the week_ he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,"--as Christ by one sacrifice of Himself "perfected for ever them that are sanctified."

[56:2] Matt, xxviii. 19.

[57:1] Acts viii. 6, 12.

[57:2] John iv. 9.

[57:3] Acts viii. 1.

[57:4] Luke xxiv. 47; Acts i. 4.

[57:5] Acts i. 8.

[57:6] Acts viii. 27-38.

[57:7] Acts x. 19, 30, 32.

[57:8] Acts x. 1.

[58:1] Acts x. 2.

[58:2] Acts xxi. 39.

[58:3] Strabo, xiv. p. 673.

[58:4] Rom. xi. 13; 1 Tim. ii. 7; 2 Tim. i. 11.

[58:5] Matt. x. 5, 6.

[59:1] 1 Cor. xv. 8.

[59:2] Rom. i. 1.

[59:3] Acts xxii. 3.

[59:4] Acts xxii. 3.

[59:5] Acts xxvi. 5.

[59:6] Acts vii. 58.

[60:1] Acts xxvi. 10. [Greek: psêphon]. See Alford on Acts xxvi. 10, and Acts viii. 1. See also "The Life and Epistles of St Paul" by Conybeare and Howson, i. 85. Edit., London, 1852. Paul says that "all the Jews" knew his manner of life _from his youth_--a declaration from which we may infer that he was a person of note. See Acts xxvi. 4. There is a tradition that he aspired to be the son-in-law of the high priest. Epiphanius, "Ad Haer.," 1, 2, § 16 and § 25.

[60:2] Acts ix. 2, and xxii. 5.

[60:3] Acts ix. 3-21.

[60:4] Gal. i. 17, 18.

[60:5] This date may be established thus:--Stephen, as has been shewn, was martyred A.D. 34. See note, p. 55 of this chapter. Paul seems to have been converted in the same year, and therefore, if he returned to Damascus three years afterwards, he must have been in that city in A.D. 37. It would appear, from another source of evidence, that this is the true date. The Emperor Tiberius died A.D. 37, and Aretas immediately afterwards seems to have obtained possession of Damascus. He was in possession of it when Paul was now there. See 2 Cor. xi. 32, 33. It is probable that he remained master of the place only a very short time.

[60:6] Gal. i. 12.

[60:7] 2 Cor. xi. 5.

[61:1] Acts ix. 17, 18.

[61:2] Acts xiii. 1, 2.

[61:3] Simeon or Niger, according to Epiphanius, was one of the Seventy. "Haeres," 20, sec. 4. Luke, the writer of the Book of the Acts, is said to have been one of the Seventy, and some have asserted that he is the same as Lucius of Cyrene, mentioned Acts xiii. 1.

[61:4] Ananias, by whom he was baptized, was, according to the Greek martyrologies, one of the Seventy. See Burton's "Lectures," i. 88, note. It is evident that Ananias was a person of note among the Christians of Damascus.

[62:1] Acts ix. 23.

[62:2] See Josephus' "Antiquities," xviii. 5.

[62:3] See Burton's "Lectures," i. 116, 117.

[62:4] 2 Cor. xi. 32, 33.

[62:5] Acts ix. 26, 27.

[62:6] This statement rests on the authority of a monk of Cyprus, named Alexander, a comparatively late writer. See Burton's "Lectures," i. 56, note.

[62:7] Acts xxii. 21.

[63:1] Acts ix. 29, 30.

[63:2] Gal. i. 21.

[63:3] Acts xv. 23, 41.

[63:4] Acts xi. 25, 26.

[64:1] Griesbach, Lachmann, Alford, and other critics of great note, here prefer [Greek: Hellênas] to [Greek: Hellênistas], but the common rending is better supported by the authority of manuscripts, and more in accordance with Acts xiv. 27, where Paul and Barnabas are represented, long afterwards, as declaring to the Church of Antioch how God "had opened the door of faith _unto the Gentiles_." See an excellent vindication of the _textus receptus_ in the _Journal of Sacred Literature_ for January 1857, No. VIII., p. 285, by the Rev. W. Kay, M.A., Principal of Bishop's College, Calcutta.

[64:2] Acts xi. 20.

[65:1] John xix. 19-22.

[65:2] Acts xi. 27-30.

[66:1] It is obvious from Acts ix. 31, xxvi. 20, and Gal. i. 22, that such churches now existed.

[66:2] Acts xii. 3, 24, 25.

[66:3] Clem. Alex. Strom, vi. p. 742, note; Edit. Potter. Eusebius, v. 18.

[66:4] "Antiquities," xix. c. 8, § 2, xx. c. 2, § 5.

[66:5] Acts xii. 20-23.

[66:6] From the comparative table of chronology appended to Wieseler's "Chronologie des apostolischen Zeitalters," it appears that the date given in the text is adopted by no less than twenty of the highest chronological authorities, including Ussher, Pearson, Spanheim, Tillemont, Michaelis, Hug, and De Wette. It is also adopted by Burton. Wieseler himself, apparently on insufficient grounds, adopts A.D. 45.

[67:1] Though Peter was taught, by the case of Cornelius, that "God also to the Gentiles had granted repentance unto life" (Acts xi. 18), and though he doubtless felt himself a debtor, both to the Greeks and to the Jews, yet still he continued to cherish the conviction that his mission was, primarily to his kinsmen according to the flesh. James and John had the same impression. See Gal. ii. 9; James i. 1; 1 Pet. i. 1.

[68:1] Acts xii. 2.

[68:2] Acts xxii. 17-21.

[68:3] I here partially adopt the translation of Conybeare and Howson. Their work is one of the most valuable contributions to sacred literature which has appeared in the present century.

[68:4] The Second Epistle to the Corinthians was written about fourteen years after this, or towards the close of A.D. 57. See Chap. IX. of this Section. The Jews often reckoned current time as if it were complete.

[68:5] 2 Cor. xii. 2-4.

[68:6] Exodus iii. 2-10.

[68:7] Isaiah vi. 1, 2, 8, 9.

[70:1] Acts xiii. 1-3.

[70:2] Acts iv. 36.

[71:1] Deut. xxxiii. 10.

[72:1] Rom. i. 1.

[73:1] Gen. xlviii. 13-15.

[73:2] Lev. viii. 18, and iv. 4.

[73:3] Num. xxvii. 18.

[74:1] 1 Tim. v. 17.

[74:2] This portion of the apostolic history may illustrate 1 Tim. iv. 14, for Paul had official authority conferred on him "by prophecy," or in consequence of a revelation made, perhaps, through one of the prophets of Antioch, "with the laying on of the hands of the Presbytery." Something similar, probably, occurred in the case of Timothy. But, in ordinary circumstances, the rulers of the Church must judge of a divine call to the ministry from the gifts and graces of the candidate for ordination.

[75:1] Acts xiii. 4.

[75:2] Acts xiii. 4.

[75:3] Acts iv. 36.

[75:4] Until this date we read of "Barnabas and Saul," now of "Paul and Barnabas." Paul was the Roman, and Saul the Hebrew name of the great apostle. His superior qualifications had now full scope for development, and accordingly, as he takes the lead, he is henceforth, generally named before Barnabas.

[75:5] 2 Cor. xi. 26,--[Greek: potamôn].

[76:1] Acts xv. 38.

[76:2] Acts xv. 39.

[76:3] Acts xiv. 6.

[76:4] Acts xiv. 23.

[76:5] [Greek: Cheirotonêsantes de autois kat' ekklêsian presbuterous].--The interpretation given in the text is sanctioned by the highest authorities. See Rothe's "Anfange der Christlichen Kirche," p. 150; Alford on Acts xiv. 23; Burton's "Lectures," i. 150; Baumgarten's "Acts of the Apostles," Acts xiv. 23; Litton's "Church of Christ," p. 595.

[76:6] Acts xiv. 27.

[76:7] They set out on the mission probably in A.D. 44, and returned to Antioch in A.D. 50. The Council of Jerusalem took place the year following.

[77:1] Acts xiii. 48.

[77:2] Acts xiv. 13.

[77:3] Acts xiii. 6-8.

[77:4] Acts xiii. 50.

[77:5] Acts xiv. 2.

[78:1] Acts xiv. 19.

[78:1] 2 Tim. iii. 10, 11.

[79:1] Acts xv. 1.

[79:2] This inference was indeed admitted. See Acts xv. 5, 24.

[79:3] Gal. v. 2-4, vi. 13, 14.

[79:4] Acts xvi. 31; John iii. 36.

[80:1] Luke xxiii. 43.

[80:2] Ps. ii. 12.

[80:3] Acts xv. ii.

[81:1] Acts xv. 2.

[81:2] Acts xv. 23, 24, 41.

[81:3] Acts xvi. 4.

[81:4] Paul and Barnabas, with the other deputies, were sent "to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders" (Acts xv. 2); "when they were come to Jerusalem, they were received of the church, and of the apostles and elders" (Acts xv. 4); and the decrees are said to have been ordained "of the apostles and elders which were at Jerusalem" (Acts xvi. 4); but not one of these statements necessarily implies that these rulers were exclusively elders _of the Church of Jerusalem_.

[82:1] It has been argued by Burton ("Lectures," vol. i. p. 122), that the first visit of Paul to Jerusalem after his conversion took place about the time of one of the great festivals, as he is said, on the occasion, to have "disputed against the Grecians" (Acts ix. 29), who were likely then to have been very numerous in the city. If he arrived now at the time of the same festival, the interval must have been precisely fourteen years.

[82:2] Gal. ii. 1. Some make these fourteen years to include the three years mentioned Gal. i. 18, but this interpretation does violence to the languages of the apostle. The system of chronology here adopted requires no such forced expositions. Paul came to Jerusalem three years after his conversion, that is, in A.D. 37; and fourteen years after, that is, in A.D. 51, he was at this Synod.

[82:3] Acts ix. 26.

[83:1] Acts xxi. 20.

[83:2] Acts xxi. 21.

[83:3] Acts xv. 5.

[83:4] Gal. ii. 4. It is here taken for granted that the visit to Jerusalem, mentioned in the second chapter of the Epistle to the Galatians, is the same as that described in the fifteenth of Acts. Paul says that he went up "by revelation" (Gal. ii. 2),--a statement from which it appears that he was divinely instructed to adopt this method of settling the question.

[83:5] Gal. ii. 12.

[83:6] Gal. ii. 2.

[83:7] Acts xvi. 4, xxi. 25.

[84:1] Acts xv. 12.

[84:2] Acts xv. 22.

[84:3] Acts xv. 23.

[84:4] The expression here used--"the multitude" ([Greek: to plêthos])--is repeatedly applied in the New Testament to the Sanhedrim, a court consisting of not more than seventy-two members. See Luke xxiii. 1; Acts xxiii. 7. There were probably more individuals present at this meeting.

[84:5] Acts xv. 2.

[84:6] 1 Cor. xii. 28; Eph. iv. 11.

[84:7] In Acts xi. 27, we read of "prophets" who came "from Jerusalem unto Antioch."

[84:8] Acts xv. 23. "The apostles, and elders, _and_ brethren."

[84:9]The context may appear to be favourable to this interpretation, for the two deputies now chosen--"Judas surnamed Barsabas, and Silas"--who are said to have been "chief men among _the brethren_" (ver. 22), are likewise described as "_prophets_ also themselves" (ver. 32). In Acts xviii. 27, "the brethren" appear to be distinguished from "the disciples."

[85:1] This reading, which is adopted by Mill in the Prolegomena to his New Testament, as well as by Lachmann, Neander, Alford, and Tregelles, is supported by the authority of the Codex Vaticanus, the Codex Alexandrinus, the Codex Ephraemi, and the Codex Bezae. It is likewise to be found in by far the most valuable cursive MS. yet known. It is confirmed also by the early testimony of Irenaeus, and by the Latin of the Codex Bezae, a version more ancient than the Vulgate, as well as by the Vulgate itself. The reading in the _textus receptus_ may be accounted for by the growth of the doctrine of apostolical succession; as, when the hierarchy was in its glory, transcribers could not understand how the apostles and elders could be fellow presbyters.

[85:2] It is worthy of note that Peter, fourteen or fifteen years afterwards, speaks in the style here indicated. Thus he says--"The elders which are among you, I exhort, _who am also an elder_" ([Greek: sumpresbuteros]).--(l Pet. v. 1.)

[85:3] Acts xv. 28.

[86:1] Gal. iii. 2.

[86:2] Acts xv. 8-10.

[86:3] Acts xi. 15, 17.

[86:4] This style of speaking was used by councils in after-ages, and often in cases when it was singularly inappropriate.

[87:1] Acts xv. 29.

[87:2] See 1 Cor. x. 23, 31, 32.

[88:1] "Since the eating of such food, as Paul expressly teaches (1 Cor.