No. 13.

[No. 1. VOL. II.

Nour two last numbers we laid beour an abstract

Valuable Epistle of this eminent Saint to the Corinthian Church. The corre spondent who favoured us with that abstract, has since transmitted a few reflections upon it, which we now sabin, and which we trust will be rund neither unseasonable nor use, Less.

As this excellent address ranks in point of antiquity and authority next to the inspired word, so it breathes in every line a spirit of meekness and simplicity not unworthy of an Aposte. But it is still more valuable, as it holds up to all future ages a vivid and interesting picture of that struggle between nature and grace, which takes place, not only in the hearts of individual believers, but in all societies of men united for religious purposes. We know, from the history of the Church of Corinth at a still earlier penod, that neither the presence and power of an Apostle, nor even the tra and most abundant effusions of the spirit had entirely eradicated the remains of pride, contention, and emulation; yet the representation of this Church, as it had subsisted nearly to the date of the Epistle of Clemens, is extremely pleasing. The power of davine grace is richly displayed in that smiable catalogue of its fruits, with which the epistle commences: charitv, hospitality. contentinent, love of order and subjection to lawful supenors, together with a lively interest in the general welfare of the Church, were qualities which eminently adorned the Christians of Corinth.

But human depravity never permits a state like this to be of long continuance: external circumstances, whose operation is suspended by the first fervours of religion, naturally regain their influence, and the enemy of souls ever on the watch, aids the col CHRIST. OBSERV. No. 13.

lision of opposite interests or inclina

and too soon acquires, unperceived, much of that influence over the Church of God which he possesses in the world at large. Pride was the first bitter fruit of the fall; and this single principle, in its operation upon societies, hath, from that time to the present, been the moving cause of every rebellion in states, and of most separations in Churches. But the general principle adapts itself to particular circumstances, and what those circumstances were in the Church of Corinth, though it was unnecessary, for Clemens to detail them in a letter to those who knew them better than himself, we may infer from the general tenor of his reproofs. A spirit of discord had evidently gone forth; some ancient and blameless Presbyters had been deposed by the influ ence of a party, and the whole evil is ascribed to wealth and luxury on the one hand-to envy and strife on the other..

Corinth, as is well known, was a very opulent and dissolute place: and though the state of Christianity, at that time, forbids us to suspect that any thing like open profligacy of manners, or undisguised tyranny and insolence, was tolerated among believers; yet, unless the power of religion be great indeed, wherever there is a striking distinction of ranks and habits in a religious society, self-indulgence will gradually return upon the wealthy, and envy will be mistaken for just oflence by the poor: a consideration, in all assemblies and all debates, beyond what is its due, will be claimed by worldly rank, and will be opposed by superior talents or eloquence in inferiors, with uniform, and often undue, pertinacity.

It seems probable, that the ejected.“ Presbyters of this Church had been. chosen at a time "when not many wise, not many learned, were called?"

they might have much zeal and simplicity, but be deficient in those ornamental qualifications which the polished and wealthy part of their hearers began to require; or length of time alone, and love of novelty, might diminish the respect which they had once felt for these venerable men, and inspire a restless desire of change, which, though it will be felt, must always be mortified in every well constituted Christian assembly, which has the choice of its own pastors.

Of corruption in doctrine there is no hint either on the one side or the other: men had not yet had time to philosophize and to refine upon the simplicity of the Gospel: the age, indeed, was learned, but Christians as yet were chiefly occupied about things of more importance: their faith was orthodox, but their passions were unhappily strong.

Again, it is evident that this effervescence, violent and unchristian as it was, terminated in no lasting schism; either because a due regard was paid to the apostolical remonstrance of Clemens, or because the minds of Christians, though capable of sudden and very blameable irritation, had not yet acquired, from long contention, that spirit of hardness and obstinacy which, in later ages, first occas sioned, and then perpetuated, so many unhappy schisms in the Church.

Once more-If the claims of authority be well grounded, they will, of course, be highest when nearest to their source: yet upon this supposition, how unaccountable is the conduct of Clemens and the Church of Rome. Surely, if a right of supremacy over the universal Church had been vested in St. Peter and his successors, here is the place where we might expect to find it in all its vigour. We have here the first instance upon record in which that Church thought proper to interpose in the religious concerns of its brethren. It might, therefore, have been expected, that the bishop of Rome should have begun with asserting his own sovereign authority over the Corinthian and all other Churches; should have rebuked with sharpness, have required implicit obedience to his mandates, and, in case of non-compliance, denounced the rebellious assembly cut off from the body of the faithful: yet, as if it were intended by providence, that the first known

interposition of a Roman Pontiff in the affairs of another Church should remain as a lesson of humility, or a reproof of arrogance to his successors, the evangelical author of this epistle seems purposely to extenuate his authority even over his own people; merges even his own name in that of his Church; and though he reproves the misconduct of the Corinthians with freedom, and even with dignity, yet it is only with the freedom of a benevolent equal and the dignity of a grieved friend. But above all, humility and patience are conspicuous: no "holy rage," no zeal calling for judgments, no asperity of reproach; but prayers and entreaties, or, at most, expostulations and arguments, constituted, at that time, the spiritual weapons of the Roman Church.

I have said that this epistle probably effected-it certainly contributed to the end for which it was intended: such will generally be the efficacy of a spirit like that of Clemens in administering reproof. Angry invective, and asperity of censure, which too early found their way into the controversial, and even apologetical, writings of Christians, irritated instead of reclaiming: but he can with the best grace repress the ebullitions of human passions in others, "who possesses his own soul in patience;" and few natures are so stubborn as not to be moved by admonition conveyed in the language of good will, by superior rank voluntarily descending from its own level to reason or to entreat, and by superior sanctity entering with tenderness into infirmities which it has ceased to feel, or condemning, with-out exultation and without comparison, disorders in a sister Church from which his own was happily exempt.

To the Christian Observer. PERMIT a sincere well-wisher to you and the cause you uphold, to suggest a few objections to a communication contained in your number for November, subscribed Biblicus; yet with all the diffidence due to the conscious inexperience of youth, and with a disinterested regard to religion and truth. Your correspondent there proposes "xapas" for "opus ;" an alteration, in my opinion, unauthorised by the similiarity of the words or the analogy of faith; the present connection

Who that recalls the observation of Juvenal,

"Quo non prostat femina templo," or his disgusting recital of the mysteries of Bona Dea:" who, I ask, that rightly estimates the infectious prevalence of a passion possessing so many and such general allurements, here recommended and enforced by the venerable sanction of religion, can deem this prohibition superfluous or misplaced? Or rather, who will not allow that the Apostles were fully justified in connecting with idolatry its general attendant?

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But even conceding to Biblicus the possibility of "pra" having been originally "pass," and so corrupted by the inaccuracy of transcribers (an usual resource in every difficulty); yet I must deny the possibility of their persevering in such a blunder, without design. It does not strike me, that the similarity or disposition of the letters is such, as to lead them into the same error when the word again occurs in a similar connection, as in Acts xxi. ver. 25. Unnecessary alteration of the text of scripture should be the last resource to which the Christian should retire; and, excepting when a passage is irreconcilable to grammar, or contradicts the analogy of faith, nothing can justify conjecture, however plausible. This daring and licentious spirit of criticism demands the discountenance of every serious mind; and I call upon you to support the solemn protest you entered against it not many months since*.

A FRIEND.

To the Editor of the Christian Observer. YOUR Correspondent Biblicus (No. XI. p. 693), must be sensible of the danger

* Review of Dr. Geddes's work in Christian Observer, vol. 1. p. 374.

of admitting conjectural emendations, in the text of the Holy Scriptures, without sufficient necessity. The word opus, which he would substitute for Tops, is supported on no authority but that of the conjecture of R. Bentley. No variation exists among the manuscripts collated by Wetstein. The objection of Biblicus against the present reading will, perhaps, be in siders how common, and how lightly some degree removed, when he conaccounted of, was the crime here mentioned, among the heathens, and how frequently it was connected with their idolatrous rites.

tion of Wetstein upon the place, will The following extract and observathrow some light upon the subject. (Scheviith Hieros. IV.) Si imperet gentilis Israelitæ, ut transgrediatur præceptum aliquod, exceptis istis de Idolatria, Scortatione, et Sanguinis effusione, transgrediatur potius quam mortem subeat. Toprus.] Festorum gentilium comes erat impudicitia. Sap. xiv. 26, 27. 23, 24. 1Pet. iv. 3. 1 Cor. x. 7, 8. Ne igitur gentes ad idolatriam redirent, hæc vetita sunt, et ne Judæi alienarentur a Gentibus.

CAIUS.

For the Christian Observer.

REMARKS ON LUKE XXI. 24. "JERUSALEM shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled;" that is,

it shall be in the possession of the Gentiles, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in, or they be converted to the faith;" at which time the Jews will acknowledge the Messiah, and be restored to their own land. (See Rom. ii. 25, and Dan. ix. 27).

Has not a part of this prophecy been remarkably fulfilled? Did not Jerusalem, with its territory, become the property of Vespasian, who sold it to such Gentiles as chose to settle there? In the time of Adrian no Jew was permitted to reside in Jerusalem, or its vicinity, but a number of aliens came thither, and the country became a colony of the Romans. When Julian apostatized to heathenism, being sensible that the evident accomplishment of our Lord's prophecies concerning the Jewish nation made a strong impression upon the people, and was a principal cause of their conversion, he resolved to deprive

Christianity of this support by bringing the Jews to occupy their own land again, and by allowing them the exercise of their religion, and a form of civil government. After he had made great preparations, he began his scheme with an attempt to rebuild the temple, but his workmen were soon obliged to desist by an evident interruption of God; for terrible balls of fire, bursting forth near the foundations, and frequently burning the workmen, rendered the place inaccessible. This fact is attested by heathen, and Jewish, as well as Christian, historians, and is highly deserving of credit.

In later times, few of the Jews have lived in their own land, but they have been dispersed over the whole world, whilst their city has been oppressed by a succession of foreign masters; the Romans, Saracens, Franks, Mamelukes, and Turks, to which last it is still subjeet.

In short, ever since the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, every attempt to frustrate the divine decree, that Jerusalem should be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled, has failed. In our own times the French are known to have harboured the design of restoring the Jews to their own country. And is it not as well known, that their intentions were defeated by very inconsiderable means? The French general, Bonaparte, had experienced uniform success till he proached the borders of the Holy Land, and then a handful of men were sufficient to hinder his taking a small and weak place. The time was not come, which the Lord had purposed, and the devices of men were, therefore, ineffectual.

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J. F. II.

EXTRACTS FROM NOWELL'S CATECHISM.

* Master. Explain the nature of the Christian Religion.

Pupil. The Christian Religion is the true and holy worship of God, and the observation of his precepts.

Master. From whence should this be learned?

Pupil. From no other quarter than from the word of God himself, which he has set before us in the scriptures.

Master. All things, therefore, ne

cessary to life and godliness, are contained in the word of God?

Pupil. Undoubtedly.

Master. To what end then have so many ecclesiastical councils been conrened, whose decrees have passed almost for oracles?

Pupil. These have met, in general, to interpret obscure texts of scripture, or to put an end to controversies, or upon some question respecting the discipline of the Church: not for the purpose of establishing new points of faith. For all things necessary to salvation; for instance, how a pure and undefiled religion should exercise itself towards God; what sort of persons we should be in our life and conversation; in what manner our trust should be placed in God; how we must pray unto him, and praise him for his benefits received; in what way the sacraments should be administered: such things, I say, must be learned from the word of God, as they cannot be done with any propriety without such knowledge. As the Lord himself testifies, the ignorance of scripture is the mo ther of all errors.

Master. Therefore we shall have done our duty, when we have heard and understood the word of God.

Pupil. By no means: since we ought, not merely to hear and understand's God's word, but to embrace it with firm assent, as the truth of God sent down from heaven; and cordially to love it, and submit ourselves to its direction, and form our minds by its doctrines; that, being once deeply fixed in the heart, it may take root there, and bring forth the fruits of a pious life, agreeably to its nature, as the means of our salvation, according to what was designed by heaven. Men, however, would lay out their time to no purpose, either in teaching or learning it, unless God deign to inform our hearts by the teaching of his spirit. As St. Paul teaches, "that in vain men either plant or water, unless God give the increase." 1 Cor, iii. 7. Therefore that we may be able to understand the wisdom of God concealed in his word, we must make earnest supplications to him, that he would enlighten our minds, which are overspread with worse than Ægyptian darkness.

Master. Into what principal parts do you divide the word of God? Pupil. Into the Law and the Gos