and, moreover, as Jews, odious to all other nations. With TIBERIUS. such disadvantages, to say nothing of the smallness of their number and their imperfect insight into the doctrines they were to preach, they were manifestly unequal, without Divine aid, to the task of persuading mankind to abandon the religion of their fathers. But this aid their Master, according to His promise (Luke xxiv. 49), vouchsafed to give them. Ten days after His ascension, on the day of Pentecost, Christ sent the Holy Ghost upon them, and by this celestial gift empowered them to fulfil their high commission. They were immediately freed from all their former blindness of mind, and endued with the power of performing miracles and conferring miraculous gifts upon others, the faculty of discovering hidden counsels,* &c. With these endowments was joined the knowledge of foreign tongues, which enabled them to preach the redemption of mankind in languages understood by auditors in all parts of the world. 17. These heavenly aids contributed Spread of the greatly to the success which immediately attended their labours. After the preaching of Peter on this day 3,000 persons acknowledged Christ as the Messiah sent from God, and were baptised in His name. Now, as it was the Feast of Pentecost when * We have an instance of this faculty in the case of Ananias and his wife Sapphira, struck dead by Peter for "lying to the Holy Ghost" (Acts v. 1, 10). This was the first punishment inflicted by the Apostles, as a seasonable 17. What was the result of Peter's preaching on the day of Pentecost? In what way was this preaching particularly favourable to the spread of the Gospel? TIBERIUS. these miraculous events happened, Jerusalem was filled with strangers. Many of the converts, therefore, were doubtless foreign Jews, who carried the new doctrines with them into various parts of the world upon returning to their respective homes. And thus, within a few weeks of the foundation of the Church, the Gospel was spread into distant quarters. The First Establish- 18. This was the first establishment of the Christian Church, the form of which appears from St. Luke's history (Acts ii. 41-47), in four particulars :— (1) In admission by baptism alone; (2) in a steadfast continuance in the communion of the Apostles, and the doctrine which they taught; (3) in frequent celebration of the Eucharist; and (4) in public and united prayers. At first the poor were most forward to embrace the Gospel; and while their souls were nourished, their bodily wants were supplied out of a common fund contributed by those believers who possessed property. It is a mistake to suppose that the first believers maintained, in the literal sense of the expression, a community of goods; but they rejected the notion that the good things of this life were given for their own selfish enjoyment; and they therefore devoted a part of their income to those who would otherwise be in want. To suppose that they had all things in common in such a sense as to retain nothing of their own would be inconsistent with the frequent exhortations of the Apostles in the Epistles to alms-deeds 18. In what particulars does St. Luke's history instruct us as to the forms of the Church in its earliest days? Who were the most forward to embrace the Gospel? Was there a community of goods amongst the first believers ? Which was the first established Christian Church? and the right use of riches. The Church of Jerusalem TIBERIUS. we thus find to be the first established and most ancient Church and to it, as St. Luke tells us, "the Lord added daily such as should be saved" (Acts ii. 47). Primitive 19. It is probable that a Ritual existed. in the earliest days of the Church. Participation in the Lord's Supper was the great feature of public worship in the primitive Church, and both canonical and patristical notices of it show that it was a formal act. St. Paul implies a prayer of consecration when he uses the phrases, "The cup of blessing, which we bless" (1 Cor. x. 16); and, "When thou shalt bless with the spirit, how shall he that occupieth the room of the unlearned say Amen at the giving of thanks, seeing he understandeth not what thou sayest?" (1 Cor. xiv. 16). In the latter passage, the Apostle contemplates the celebration of the Eucharist in a language unknown to the congregation, and asks how the blessing pronounced by the minister over the Bread and Wine is to be understood by the people, and the several parts of the Liturgy to be properly recognized, so that they may take their share in it for in the terms, "when thou shalt bless," and "at thy giving of thanks," there is comprised, almost beyond a doubt, a service of considerable detail. Commenting upon the above passage, St. Chrysostom supposes it to have reference to a formulary then in use; "for," says he, "what the Apostle means is this-if you bless in a strange language, the * Blunt's "History of the Christian Church," pp. 33-42. 19. Is there any reason to suppose that a ritual existed in the earliest days of the Church? TIBEBIUS. layman, not knowing what you are uttering, and not able to interpret it, cannot add the Amen; for, not hearing the world without end,' which is the conclusion (of the prayers), he does not repeat the Amen." And Cyprian (who, as well as Justin, Irenæus, and Tertullian, has left on record detached passages and fragments of the primitive Liturgy,) mentions "the usual prayer in the Eucharist,* whilst describing the case of a female fanatic who affected to consecrate the elements by a ritual of her own. Independent of the Communion Office, there was a public form of Baptism in the apostolic age, traces of which are discoverable in Scripture. St. Peter says, "The like figure whereunto even Baptism doth also now save us, not the putting away the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God" (1 Pet. iii. 21). The stipulation or promise made at that Sacrament is clearly alluded to in the term "answer," which conveys the idea of the interrogatories put at Baptism even then. That there were forms also for Confirmation and Marriage is more than credible, although the traces of them are less distinctly apparent in the Scriptures of the New Testament. Catechumens and the Faithful. } 20. At the first establishment of the Christian Church, a distinction existed between Catechumens and the At the earliest promulgation of Faithful or Believers. the Gospel, all who professed a firm belief in Jesus, and * Ep. 75. 20. What was the practice at the first establishment of the Christian Church with regard to those who professed a belief in Jesus? How was this practice changed at a subsequent period? Distinguish between Catechumens and the Faithful or Believers. promised to lead a holy life, conformably to His religion, TIBERIUS. were received immediately among the disciples of Christ. A more full instruction in the principles of Christianity did not precede, but followed baptism. But this custom was changed when Churches were everywhere established; and no adults were admitted to the sacred font, unless previously well instructed in the primary truths of religion, and affording indubitable evidence of a sincere and holy character. Hence the distinction between Catechumens, or such as were in a course of instruction and discipline, and the Faithful, or Believers, who were admitted to all the mysteries, having been initiated into the Church by baptism. The Beginning of 21. The Church of Christ having been founded in its purity and simplicity, Peter and John healed a cripple at the gate of the Temple called Beautiful, and subsequently preached to the Jews, whereupon five thousand were brought over to the faith (Acts iv. 4). This growth of Christian doctrine roused the malice and envy of the Chief Priests and Sadducees, who, having insinuated to the Roman captain in command of the tower of Antonia, that the preaching of the Apostles tended to sedition, came upon them with soldiers, and cast them into prison. Next morning they were brought before the Sanhedrim, and after an attempt to awe them into silence by threats, they were dismissed. This was the beginning of the persecution of the Apostles. 21. When did the persecution of the Christians commence? Who were the earliest enemies of the Apostles, and what charge did they make? |