Julian Pe

riod, 4753. Vulgar Æra, 40.

received over his Christian Churches. His own words are, "As Lydda. the Father hath sent me, even so send I you."

That the Sanhedrim, about the time of our Lord's incarnation, possessed and exerted the privilege of sending out apostles, is amply demonstrated by several Roman laws (1). The Jews were allowed, says Mr. Briscoe, to meet to pay their firstfruits, and to send them together, with whatever money they pleased, to Jerusalem for offerings (m), and to appoint proper officers to carry it. They were suffered also to determine all disputes and controversies among themselves in a judicial way. They were not only thus indulged in the use of their own customs and laws, but, what is much more, if any laws of the country, where they inhabited, interfered with their customs, they were dispensed with, and not obliged to comply with those laws. Thus, for instance, they were dispensed with in not attending courts of judicature, or giving bail on their sabbaths or feastdays.

Thus may it be sufficient to shew, that when the Gospel was preached to the Church, while it consisted of Jewish converts only, the authority which was exercised by the apostles was not a new thing, nor inconsistent with the manners and customs of the people under their former Mosaic discipline. The same principle of government was adhered to, that order, unity, and faith might still prevail. But instead of the persecuting letters and the armed bands, which were the credentials of the apostles of the former economy, the chosen apostles of the legislator of a better dispensation, were known by the influences of the Spirit, by holiness, purity, patience, and love. They were armed only with the power of truth and miracles, and they proclaimed the Messiahship of Jesus of Nazareth, and the glad tidings of salvation to all mankind. The Spirit of God, attended with its visible influences, the outward means of grace; the Christian priesthood and the Christian people were united in one faith and one discipline; the religion of the heart, which alone is spiritual and efficacious, was preserved by a stedfast adherence to the prescribed rites and forms of the apostolic Church: for the primitive Christians believed that He who gave the wine of the kingdom to man, provided also the earthen vessels, by which its spirit was preserved.

(a) Vitringa gives a beautiful description of the union of the Church at Jerusalem. Primæ Ecclesiæ Christianæ, Deo per præconium Christi atque Apostolorum et copiosam distributionem donorum spiritus sancti lucem è tenebris producente, formosa erat et splendissima facies. Omnia, ut vere solent, ridebant. Doctrinæ suæ constabant castimonia. Nihil in cultu, nihil in sacratissimis religionis symbolis adulterimum regiminis forma optima et ecclesiæ indoli convenientissima. Disciplinæ vigebat exercitium incorruptæ. Diaboli adversus ecclesiam ferocientis impetus eatenus à Deo cohibebantur, ut per satellites suos, principes mundanos, cursum Evangelii non sufflamen atterit. Hæreticis nullus adhucdum in ecclesia locus. Et, quod optimum et maximum et post doctrinæ sinceritatem præcipuam in ecclesia considerationem meretur, excellebat divina illa credentium ævi apostolici societas, quibuslibet virtutibus Christianis, et perfusa erat largo imbre donorum spiritus sancti. Hic conspicua erant fides illibata, vegeta, corroborata, omnia tentans, omnia potens, Zelus pro divina gloria et caussa Christi Regis ardentissimus, nulla metuens pericula, nullis languescens malis; charitas rara, inaudita, et quasi supergressa limites lege præscriptos, gratissima animorum concordia, juncta simplicitate, omnes de malo suspiciones excludenti; mansuetudo, benignitas, humilitas, et quæ plura in Christiano homine prædicanda sunt. His virtutibus elegante harmonia intexta erant dotes scientiæ, sapientiæ, prudentiæ, sanctitatis, prophetiæ, linguarum, charismatum, vegyeías, miraculorum, quæ hunc

Julian Period, 4748. Valgar Era,

35.

ecclesiæ primævæ statum divinum prorsus efficiebant ac cœlestem, eique Damascus.
magnam apud exteros consiliabant reverentiam. Rectores, omnibus
necessariis virtutibus donisque instructi, sua erga plebem officia dili-
genter observabant, absque affectato in eam imperio; plebs Christiana
rectoribus cum honore præstabat obsequium; vel potius, omnes ut
fratres se uni regi et domino, Christo Jesu, arctissimo amoris vinculo
compacti subjiciebant, ab ejus herentes ore, ejusque ducti spiritu.-
Vitringa Observ. sacræ, lib. iv. cap. vii. p. 901. (b) Principem vero
post patriarchas dignitatis locum obtinebant illi quos APOSTOLOS voca-
bant, nisi nos fallit Epiphanius, lib. 1. tom. 2. Hæres xxx. §. 4.
Προσεδρεύεσι γὰρ τῶ πατριάρχη, καὶ σὺν αὐτῷ πολλάκις, καὶ ἐν
· νυκτὶ, καὶ ἐν ἡμέρα, συνεχῶς, διάγεσι, διὰ το συμβελεύειν, καὶ
ἀναφέρειν αὐτῶ τὰ κατὰ νόμον. Assident enim hi patriarcha, et cum
eo sæpius din, noctuque continuo versantur: quod eidem a consiliis sint
ac de iis referant quæ ad legem pertinere videbantur. Est enim aurum
coronarium, quæ diversarum ordines curiarum vel amore proprio, vel in-
dulgentiarum lætitia, vel rebus prospere gestis, admoniti, in coronis aureis
signisque diversis obtulerit. Lege iv. Cod. Theod. de Aur. Coron. Wit-
sii. Exerc. Sac. xii. de Historia Hieros. p. 653. Succedit vox, mbw quam
sibi attribuit Ahias, 1 Reg. xiv.6. 7bx nibw ‘Jux ubi LXX. AπóσToλov
vertunt. Habebant etiam bw, vel bnp, áñóoroλes tñç kkkλnoías,
nuncios, cœtus, qui mandata deferrent ad synagogas Hierosolymam, vel
victimas et decimas ad sacerdotes: maxime qui diopaxpov, semisiclum,
tributum quotannis ex lege in sacrarium differendum, exigerent. Dein
collapsis Judaeorum rebus retenta tamen in synagoga vox, Αποστόλων
est; talesque signate dicebantur, qui patriarchæ assessores et legati
erant, ejusque ἐγκύκλια, γράμματα, circulares literas ad sygnagogas
deferebant pecuniis per capita colligendis, speciatim auro coronario, co-
rona scilicet patriarchali ornandæ, quod loco didragmi exigebant patri-
archæ in partibus tam orientis, quam occidentis.-Wits. Melet. Leid. p. 22.
(c) Lightfoot's Works, Pitman's edition, vol. iii. p. 196. (d) Schoet-
gen Horæ Hebraicæ, vol. i. p. 937. who has added this also to his
quotations. Sic ex Nedarim apud R. Samuel Ben David in fol. 28.2.

num Sacerdotes הסר שמואל הני כהני שלוחי דיין הם או שלוחי דרחמנא

apostoli proprie an vero apostoli Dei? Quid inde vero? resp. Si dici-
mus, eos esse apostolos propriâ auctoritate venientes, non necesse est, ut
sacerdos, sit justus. Si vero dicimus, eos esse apostolos Dei, necesse
est, ut justi sint. (e) Mosheim, to prove the truth of his assertions,
quotes Gothefred, Petavius, and Wesseling, from various passages
in the Codex Theodosianus, and other ancient authors, that after the
destruction of Jerusalem, the Jewish patriarchs, who may be consi-
dered, in a certain degree, as supplying the place of the High Priests,
attached to themselves certain ministers of great trust and authority,
under the denomination of apostles, which is a strong corroboration of
what has been already advanced. Vid. J. Gothefredus ad codicem
Theodosianum, tom. vi. p. 251, 252. edit. Ritterian. Dion. Petavius
Animadvers. ad Epiphanium ad Hæres. xxx. et de Hierarchia Eccles.
lib. i. cap. vi. p. 16. et lib. ii. cap. ii. x. p. 45. in dogmatibus theo-
logicis, tom. iv. Petr. Wesseling de Archontibus Judæorum, p. 91. ap
Mosheim, vol. i. p. 120. (ƒ) Convenit præterea quod vim significa-
tionis cum titulo, nomen Aπósoλog τys ikkλýolas, Legatus
ecclesiæ, quod Paulus bis, nisi fallor, adhibuit in epistolis suis, an
quoad usum, dubium.-Imo in ecclesiis Christianis nulli fuerunt legati
catus ad Deum præter Episcopos et Presbyteros, vel præter presbyterio-
ram præsides. Clerus antiquissimæ ecclesiæ Christianæ constitit tan-
tum presbyteris et diaconis. Legati ecclesiarum, quales in synagogis
medií erant inter præfectos et diaconos, in ecclesiâ Christianà nulli fue-
runt, tum quia officium legati ecclesiæ (max bw) ut plurimum in an-
tiquis synagogis non fuit statum et solenne, sed quihusvis viris in syna-
goga honoratioribus et rerum sacrarum peritis liberè commissum, tum
quia ille precandi actus qui a legatus ecclesiæ in synagoga præstaban-
tur proprii ab ipsis synagogæ præfectis præstandus erat, et haud
dubie in multis synagogís, ubi doctorum copia non aderat, exercitus est.
Cum igitur in primis ecclesiis Christianis omnia quam simplicissimo
modo composita fuerint, opus non erat extra ordinariis ejusmodi per-

Julian Pe- candum ad deum legatis, sed præstabat omnino ut hic actus a præ- Damascus. riod, 4748. side presbyterii ceu a legato tam presbyterii quam ecclesiæ totius peraVulgar Era, geretur. Vitringa de Synag. veter. lib. iii. pars. 2. p. 913. (g) Bishop

35.

Jeremy Taylor on Episcopacy, p. 19. small 4to. edit. Oxford. 1642.
See the dissertation of Petit Critici Sàcri, vol. ix. and principally pp.
1183-1186. on this subject. (h) Hi assident patriarchæ et cum eo
assiduè diu noctaque degunt, consulendi gratiâ, et ea, quæ secundum
legem fieri debent, suppeditandi. Hottingerus verba Epiphanii sic inter-
pretatus videtur, ac si cuique patriarchæ unus solummodo fuerit apos-
tolus, sed mihi quidem longè commodius sic exponenda videntur post
alios, quod cuique patriarchæ plures fuerint senatores, apostoli dicti,
qui ab ipso subinde plenà cum auctoritate legati sunt ad synagogas suæ
ditionis visitandas aut reformandas. Et certè, stante adhuc republicà,
sæpè a Synedrio in gravioribus negotiis missi sunt legati in has aut illas
aras terræ Canaan, aut ad synagogas extra Canaanem, qui pro arbitrio
et amplitudine potestatis, sibi concessa de republicâ statuebant; quippe
cujus memoranda reliquit exempla Josephus in Historia vitæ suæ.
Vitringa de Synag. Vet. lib. 11. cap. x. p. 577. (i) Synedric Hiero-
solymitani tanta erat apud exteros quoque Judaicos auctoritas, ut
placitis ejus et præceptis obtemperarent, præsertim quando agebatar
de falsis prophetis et doctrina avitæ religionis contraria; et in
regionibus illis exteris in quibus synagogæ erant, quæ sponte
synedrii auctoritatem agnoscerent, Romani, corumque exemplo te-
trarchæ et dynastæ, concesserant synedrio potestatem, de Judæis in
criminibus ad religionem spectantibus, quæstionem habendi eosque
puniendi Joseph. Ant. 14. 10. 16. 6. Vitringa de Synagoga vet.
p. 866. Witsius Meletem, Leidens, p. 23. et Wolfius ad p. 1. add.
not. ad Matth. 26. 66. Kuinoel in lib. Hist. N. T. vol. iv. p. 330.
(k) Philo in leg. ad Caium, p. 1014. D. E. p. 1033. A. Augustus hear-
ing that the first-fruits were neglected, wrote to the governors of the
provinces in Asia, to permit the Jews to assemble for banqueting: for
that these were not assemblies of drunkenness and debauchery, (allud-
ing plainly to the Ovárot forbidden in the decree of Caius Cæsar,)
to cause riots and disturbance, but were schools of sobriety and
righteousness; of men studying virtue, and bringing in their yearly
first-fruits, of which they offer sacrifices, sending holy messengers to
the temple at Jerusalem. Then he commanded that none should hinder
the Jews from assembling, contributing their money, or sending to Je-
rusalem after their country manner. Then follows a letter of Norbanus,
containing an epistle of Augustus to him, "That the Jews, wherever
they are, should, according to their ancient custom, meet together,
bring in their money, and send it to Jerusalem." Ibid. p. 1035, D. E.
1036. A. B. We have the letter of Augustus Cæsar to Norbanus in Jos.
Antiq. I. xvi. c. 6. § 3. "The Jews, wherever they are, by an ancient
custom, are wont to bring their money together, and to send it to Jeru-
salem: let them do this without hindrance." In consequence hereof,
Norbanus wrote to the Sardians, Jos. ibid. § 6. and Ephesians, that
whoever should steal the sacred money of the Jews, and fly to an asy-
lum, should be taken from thence and delivered to the Jews, (in order
to be prosecuted and punished) in the same manner as sacrilegious
persons were to be dragged from all asylums. Jos. Antiq. 1. xvi. c. 6.
sect. 4. He sent also to the magistrates of Cyrene, putting them in
mind that Augustus had wrote to Flavius, the prætor of Libya, and to
others, who had the care of that province, that the Jews might send
their sacred money to Jerusalem without let or hindrance; commanding
the Cyrenians to restore what had been stopped, or taken away from the
Jews under pretence of tribute, and to prevent the like hindrance for
the future. Ibid. sect. 5. Augustus decreed, that the stealing of their
sacred books, or their sacred, money, out of the places in which they
were wont to be deposited in their synagogues, should be sacrilege, and
the punishment confiscation of goods. Ibid. sect. 2. Vid. et de Bell.
Jud. 1. vi. c. 16. sect. 2. p. 1284. fin.

Julian Period, 4753.

about 40.

CHAPTER X.

Vulgar Era, The Gospel having now been preached to the Jews in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the Provinces; the Time arrives for the Conversion of the devout Gentiles, or Proselytes of the Gate'.

1 In the arrangement of this part of the present work, it will
be perceived that I have adopted, in opposition to the authority
of Drs. Lardner, Doddridge, and Hales, the opinion of Lord
Barrington and Dr. Benson, that the Gospel was preached to
the proselytes of the gate, before it was addressed to the ido-
latrous Gentiles. That the whole controversy may be fully and
explicitly placed before the theological student, I shall submit
to him the generally received opinion respecting the proselytes,
on which Lord Barrington's hypothesis is grounded, and Dr.
Lardner's objections, with the manner in which those objec-
tions may be removed. It will then be necessary to enter into
the various reasons and authorities by which the opinion of
Lord Barrington is supported and corroborated. Prideaux (a)
gives the following account of the supposed different classes of
proselytes. He states, there were two sorts of proselytes among
the Jews, 1st. The proselytes of the gate. 2d. The prose-
lytes of justice (righteousness). The former they obliged only
to renounce idolatry, and worship God according to the law of
nature, which they reduced to seven articles, called by them
the Seven Precepts of the Sons of Noah. To these they held
all men were obliged to conform, but not so as to the law of
Moses. For this they reckoned as a law made only for
their nation, and not for the whole world. As to the rest of
mankind, if they kept the law of nature, and observed the pre-
cepts above mentioned, they held that they performed all that
God required of them, and would by this service render them-
selves as acceptable to him, as the Jews by theirs; and there-
fore they allowed all such to live with them in their land, and
from hence they were called an i. e. sojourning prose-
lytes, and for the same reason they were called also
i. c. proselytes of the gate, as being permitted to dwell with
those of Israel within the same gates.

The occasion of this name seems to be taken from these
words in the fourth commandment, i. e. And the strangers
which are within thy gates; which may as well be rendered,
Thy proselytes which are within thy gates; that is, the prose-
lytes of the gate, that dwell with thee. For the Hebrew word
ger, which signifies a stranger, signifieth also a proselyte, and
both in this place and in the fourth commandment denote the same
thing. For no strangers were permitted to dwell within their
gates, unless they renounced idolatry, and were proselyted so
far as to the observance of the seven precepts of the sons of
Noah. Though they were slaves taken in war, they were not
permitted to live with them within any of the gates of Jerusa-
lem, on any other terms; but, on their refusal thus far to
comply, were either given up to the sword, or sold to some
foreign people. And as those who were thus far made proselytes
were admitted to dwell with them, so also were they admitted
into the temple, there to worship God; but were not allowed
to enter any farther than into the outer oourt, called the court
of the Gentiles. For into the inner courts, which were within
the enclosure, called the chel, none were admitted, but only

Joppa and
Cæsarea,

Julian Pe

SECTION I.

riod, 4753.
Vulgar Era, St. Peter sees a Vision, in which he is commanded to visit

about 40.

such as were thorough professors of the whole Jewish religion.
And therefore, when any of these sojourning proselytes came
into the temple, they always worshipped in the court. And of
this sort of proselytes Naaman the Syrian, and Cornelius the
centurion, are held to have been.

The other sort of proselytes, called the proselytes of justice,
were such as took on them the observance of the whole Jewish
law. For although the Jews did not hold this necessary for
such as were not of this nation, yet they refused none, but
gladly received all who would embrace their religion; and they
arc remarked in our Saviour's time to have been very sedulous
in their endeavours to make converts, and when any were thus
proselyted to the Jewish religion they were initiated to it by
baptism, sacrifice, and circumcision, and thenceforth were ad-
mitted to all the rites, ceremonies, and privileges, that were
used by the natural Jews.

It was on this generally received opinion that Lord Barrington (b) framed his hypothesis, which demonstrates, beyond a doubt, the separate manner in which the Jews, the devout Gentiles, or proselytes of the gate, were severally converted to the Christian faith. The holy Gospel, like the grain of mustard seed, was of gradual developement, and progressively revealed to the world. We have already seen that the Gospel was first preached to the Jews, and that the first Christian Church was established at Jerusalem. The period in which the Gospel was confined to the Jews and proselytes of righteousness, who enjoyed all the privileges of the former, is supposed to commence, according to Lord Barrington, at the year 29, and end in the year 41. The second period, when the Gospel was preached to the proselytes of the gate, begins at the year 41 to 45. The third, when it was preached to the idolatrous Gentiles, is from the year 45 to the year 70, which brings us to the end of the Jewish age, and the destruction of the Jewish state and nation, which implied the abolition of the law of Moses, relieved the Jews and the proselytes of the gate from their adherence to those laws, and consequently destroyed the distinction of the three periods; all men being then bound only to the faith and obedience of the Gospel, and a subjection to the laws of those countries in which they respectively resided. The more minute divisions of the noble author it will not be necessary to notice, as they appear to me less corroborated than the others, and are not referred to in the present arrangement.

Dr. Lardner's proposition, in reply to this hypothesis of three divisions, is-there was but one sort of proselytes (c).

He then proceeds to describe them by the usual characteristics universally acknowledged to belong to proselytes of righteousness-they were called "strangers, or proselytes within the gate," and "sojourners," as they were allowed to dwell or sojourn among the people of Israel. They were so called because they could not possess land; the whole of Canaan being, by the law of Moses, appropriated to the twelve tribes only.

1. In defence of this hypothesis, Dr. Lardner quotes Exod. xii. 48. Lev. xvii. 8. Num. ix. 14. and xv. 15, 16. all of which ordain a perfect similiarity between the Israelite and the so.

Joppa and
Cæsarea.