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ROME, ST. PAUL
AND THE EARLY CHURCH

ROME, ST. PAUL
& THE EARLY CHURCH

THE INFLUENCE OF ROMAN LAW ON
ST. PAUL'S TEACHING & PHRASEOLOGY
AND ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE

CHURCH

By W. S. MUNTZ, D.D.

VICAR OF ST. John's, upper holloway

LONDON
JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET

1913

IN MEMORIAM
FILII DILECTISSIMI

G. W. M. M.

PREFACE

It is to St. Paul we owe that body of doc-
trine which has exerted the most profound
influence on the thought of the Christian
Church. Though the foundation of Chris-
tianity rests upon the life and teaching, the
death and resurrection of the Divine Re-
deemer, the details of which are preserved
for all time by those who wrote the Gospels,
yet it was not from those records, or their
authors, that the greatest impulse was
derived for the propagation of the new
religion : that came from St. Paul. A new
conception as to the import of Christ's death
was introduced by his teaching, which
marked an advance upon the views prevailing
amongst his predecessors. It involved the
recognition of Jesus, rather as the Divine
Redeemer than the Messiah, disclosing a
deeper significance in His death and risen
life, and unfolding new aspects of His
personality and mission.

Such differences have prompted some to
insist that the grandly simple Gospel of

vi PREFACE

Jesus has been misrepresented and ob-
scured by the Pauhne teaching. But while
there are differences, there is no contra-
diction in the revelation proceeding from
the Master and His servant. The earlier
conception was inadequate, and in St. Paul,
God was continuing to complete the revela-
tion of His Son.

As his doctrine differs in type from that
of other apostles, so St. Paul's method
differs for the propagation of what he terms
'my gospel,' and in the following chapters
an attempt is made to outline some of those
methods whereby he utilised the Roman
system of law — either in its pure form, or
modified by contact with Oriental customs —
and the Imperial administration as an auxili-
ary to his aim. Principles of contemporary
law supplied him with not a few terms and
figures whereby he could translate into
current speech some of those profound
spiritual conceptions for which those to
whom he preached possessed no corre-
sponding terms; this, too, whether he was
engaged in controversy for the defence of
Christian principles, or stimulating the
spiritual aspirations of his converts.

There is an aversion on the part of some
to the ' forensic type of thought,' in connec-

PREFACE vii

tion with the phenomena of the spiritual
life, but its use is a marked feature of the
PauUne writings and its study well repays
investigation. Professor G. B. Stevens ob-
serves (Pauline Theology, p. 46) : '' When the
interpreter permits his distaste for legal
analogy to lead him to deny its predominance
in St. Paul's doctrine, and to explain away
the natural force of his words in accordance
with that denial, he is but conforming his
interpretation to theological prepossession
and making impossible a sound and impartial
exegesis of the Apostle's writings."

Owing to the fact that the major portion
of the following pages was written before the
author had opportunity to consult Professor
Deissmann's recent book. Light from the
Ancient East, only a very limited use of
that work was possible. But in view of
the design which prompted these chapters, it
is important to observe the convincing
proofs Deissmann has adduced, that many
hitherto unsuspected passages have, as a
background, an intimate connection with
contemporary law and usage, especially
conceptions relating to ' freedom,' ' re-
demption,' and 'deliverance' from sin
and the law. The author's object is to
exhibit certain aspects of St. Paul's teach-

viii PREFACE

ing as they appealed to llic minds of his
contemporaries. Though often overlooked,
their recognition frequently discloses an
underlying import, even in passages which
by reason of their familiarity fail to convey
the original significance. This is well illus-
trated by Deissmann's remark on the Pauline
metaphor of slavery : "To the total efface-
ment of its ancient signification, in our
Bibles, is owing the fact that one of the
most popular appraisals of the work of
Christ by St. Paul and his school has been,
I think, only vaguely understood by us"
(p. 323).

It is true that it was St. Paul " who, after
Jesus, laid firm the foundation of the Churches
that are in Christ " ; but, in the Divine
Providence, Rome was ordained to be an
unconscious agent to minister to that end.
That he was able to testify '' from Jerusalem
and round about even unto Illyricum, I
have freely preached the Gospel of Christ,"
was in no small measure due to Imperial
influences. Had Rome realised that she
was permitting the growth of a society
destined to challenge her supremacy, the
history of the early Church would have been
very different. But before Rome really
comprehended the meaning and issues of

PREFACE ix

Christianity, the faith had been planted
throughout the Empire.

Lastly, when Rome founded her vast
empire, she " laid down the material con-
dition of the propagation of Christianity,"
and at the same time bequeathed to suc-
ceeding ages, as prevailing ideas, intense
regard for centralised authority, a love of
order and system, and a spirit of cosmo-
politanism. Such conceptions, though they
had indeed facilitated the Apostle's mission,
were destined later to thwart the theology
which is identified with his name. Accord-
ingly a brief sketch of those methods whereby
the Roman Church turned these prevailing
conceptions to her own aggrandisement will
not be out of place.

Christianity did not abolish these senti-
ments, and the Roman Church found them
to be a fruitful soil wherein to implant as
a seed her claims to Universal Supremacy,
submission to the hierarchy of the priesthood
as representing the Bishop of Rome, and
unquestioning obedience to the Canons of
the Church. Thus " the spirit of Roman
Law survived and was perpetuated in ecclesi-
astical institutions." Had these sentiments
perished with the decay of paganism, it is
more than questionable whether the

X PREFACE

Roman Church could have perfected her
system.

The author desires to acknowledge his in-
debtedness to the works of Sir W. M. Ramsay,
to which he has constantly referred in the
preparation of these pages. To approach
the subject of the following chapters with-
out consulting his invaluable works, would
indeed be presumptuous, for, at almost
every step, one is reminded of the immense
debt owed to him by every one who studies
the history of early Christianity. The author
would also express his gratitude to Professor
H. M. Gwatkin and Professor H. Goudy for
valuable suggestions and helpful criticism.

For the sake of readers unacquainted with
the legal system of St. Paul's days, a brief
sketch of its more prominent institutions
has been introduced in Chap. IV., perusal
of which, for others, will, of course, be
unnecessary.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I

PAGE

Witness in history to a preparation for the Gospel —
Butler's dictum — The aid of secular forces
necessary — Heathenism tended to separate na-
tions— The conception of a universal kingdom
not altogether absent — Zeno and the common
brotherhood of man — Plutarch's comment on
Alexander's ideal — The aim of Hellenism —
Rome carries on Alexander's poUcy — The re-
cognised failure of heathenism — Progressive
development foreign to ancient conceptions —
The theory of cycles in history — St. Paul de-
finitely proclaims a universal religion — He ap-
propriates the external advantages furnished by
the Roman Empire — Rome terminates inter-
national strife ..... 1-16

CHAPTER II

The Palestinian apostles not qualified to proclaim a
universal Gospel — Peril lest a reformed Judaism
should supplant Christianity — Universal purpose
of Christ's mission — Stephen the forerunner of
St. Paul — His attitude towards the Temple as
an obstacle to God's design — St. Peter's halting
acquiescence in regard to Gentile evangehsation
— Rome's unconscious assistance in St. Paul's
mission — His approval of * the powers that be '
— Spiritual truths finding expression by means
of legal terms — Difference betvreen St. Paul's
presentation of Christ and that of older apostles
— His estimate of the Law and avoidance of
Jerusalem — Reason for wide-spread knowledge of
Roman Law — The unity of the Roman Empire a

xii CONTENTS

PAGE

condition precedent, if the mission to Gentiles
to succeed — Attitude of Roman magistracy —
Means of communication between distant parts
maintained — St. Paul's purpose in the intended
visit to Spain — Summary . . . I7~40

CHAPTER III

The Empire facilitated the Apostle's work, but at
same time was a cause of hindrance — Spread of
Caesar-worship — Poverty of Gentile conceptions of
spiritual truth — Judaism provided a basis for
Christian doctrine — Wide diffusion of Greek
language — St. Paul's recognition of the best
elements in Gentile religions — A nidus in Roman
law for development of inquiry in Theology
and moral Philosophy — Atmosphere created by
Imperial rule and legislation favourable to novel
truths of Christianity— Rome infected con-
quered peoples with passion for study of juris-
prudence— Nations educated in conception of
political brotherhood — Converging lines in
Roman pohcy and Christianity . . 41-56

CHAPTER IV

Two extreme views regarding St Paul's employment
of legal conceptions — Brief sketch of institu-
tions of Roman Law — The Twelve Tables —
Conservatism of the unenlightened community —
Expansion of old strict law becomes imperative
— The agency of the Jurisconsults — The Praetor,
a keeper of the Roman conscience — Problems of
Western theology congenial to Roman mind —
Contrast between Greek and Latin theology —
The family, the unit of society — Its artificial
extension — Reason for importance attaching to
adoption — Roman and Greek wills — Death
eliminated from conception of inheritance —
Contrast between Roman testament and its
modern representative — Slavery involved no

CONTENTS xiii

rights — Law of Nature and law of nations —
a priori speculations of Stoics and theories of
Jurisconsults .... 57-80

CHAPTER V

The most prominent feature of St. Paul's theology —
The doctrine of Justification new, and yet not
new — The term ' my gospel ' — Justification in-
volves subjective spiritual processes — Problem
for St. Paul to translate these into current
phraseology — Adoption, in EngHsh sense, mis-
leading— Relationship resulting from adoption
equivalent to tie of blood — The Fatherhood of
God a lost conception — Roman hatred of spirit
of devotion — St. Paul's pre-Christian experience
enriched his sense of sonship — The revelation
of the purpose of the Law — Fault found with
the Apostle's method for expounding sonship,
because not natural — Comparison with Christ's
exposition of the idea . . . 81-95

CHAPTER VI

PecuUarity of phrase ' heirs of God ' — Explanation
supplied by Roman Law — Juhus Paulus quoted
— Father and son as joint-proprietors of family
property — Limitation of right to disinherit —
Purpose of Divine Testament not to disinherit,
but confirm a right — Seeming incompatibility of
sonship and present suffering — Roman testa-
mentary law contemplated not only rights, but
duties — Christ and His joint-heirs — The adoption
of the body .... 97-109

CHAPTER VII

St. Paul's fondness for legal expressions — The Holy
Spirit as a witness — Adoption to be distinguished
from Justification — Result of failure to compre-
hend the spirit of sonship — Reason for presence of

xiv CONTENTS

PA<SE

witnesses — Solidarity between the Pauline and
Johannine exposition of subjective experience —
Does the present popular conception of the Divine
nature call for readjustment ? — Testimony of the
Church of England and Nonconformity — Cause
for the present decline of the religious sentiment
— The problem for the Church to-day resembles
that confronted by St. Paul . . 111-123

CHAPTER VIII

The office of the Law — Figure of heir under age —
Pauline conception of the Law aroused intense
hostility in Jewish circles — This attitude had
its roots in past history — Reforms of Ezra —
Dominating hope of Judaism in past (Captivity)
era — Apocalyptic hterature and its purpose —
The claim that the world was created for Israel —
The suicide of national hope involved in St.
Paul's attitude — Baptism of Cornelius implied a
principle of universal application — St. Peter's in-
consistency— Condition of the Jew under the
Law illustrated by tutelage — Jewish conception
of God — Advent of Heir of all things . 125-139

CHAPTER IX

Reason for introducing figure of ' a man's cove-
nant'— Jewish notion that the law existed
before Patriarchs — No interruption in principle
of Faith from the age of Abraham — New Testa-
ment use of terms ' covenant ' and ' testa-
ment ' — The Roman will revocable during Hfe
and operative at death — Use made of this fact
by author of ' Hebrews ' — The Greek will
irrevocable — The Mosaic Law introduced as an
innovation — Contrast between law and promise
as to mode whereby given — Progressive revelation
not from Law to Faith, but ' from faith to faith '
— Permanency of principle of Faith manifests
immutability of God's design . 141 -153

CONTENTS XV

CHAPTER X

PAGB

Twofold meaning of ' Galatia ' — Ethnographical
and poUtical senses — Opposition to Lightfoot's
view — North and South Galatian theories —
EarUer history of Galatian people — Conquest
of Phrygia — Augustus incorporates 'Galatia
Proper ' in province of Galatia — Alexander's
pohcy in South Galatia — Roman, not Greek,
influence paramount in North Galatia — Infer-
ence drawn from survival of * Patria Potestas ' —
Arguments in support of South Galatian theory
based on legal references in Epistle to Galatians
— (a) equivalence of sonship and heirship ;
(b) pecuharity of Greek, as distinguished from
Roman, testaments; (c) 'guardians and stewards'
— Validity of South Galatian theory not depen-
dent on these legal allusions . . 155-172

CHAPTER XI

Roman Rule bequeathed conceptions favourable to
growth of Papacy — CentraHsation of secular
powers in person of Emperor prompted idea of
concentration of spiritual power — The moral
ascendancy of Church of Rome during first three
centuries — Influence of Greek Church predomi-
nant during this period — Subsequently Latin
Church free to develop on own lines — Latin
introduced into liturgy — Division between East
and West thereby accentuated — Problems en-
gaging attention of Greek and Latin Churches
diflerent — Latin theology coloured by native
legal genius — God represented as an offended
Judge — Mediating oflices of the Church regarded
as indispensable — Freedom of thought in religion
not encouraged — A standard faith prescribed —
Obedience to the Church, the all-embracing ideal
of duty — Cost of attaining an external unity —
Reason for Roman partiality for tradition —
Augustine as author of conceptions prevaiUng in
Middle Ages . . 173-189

xvi CONTENTS

CHAPTER XII

PAGE

The Imperial government adopted as a model by the
Church — This method of ecclesiastical govern-
ment opposed by Cyprian — The ' precedence
among equals ' no longer based on moral consid-
erations— Authority, not concession, the ground
for a new claim — Protest of Julius, bishop of
Rome — Appellate jurisdiction — Independence of
the African Church vindicated in case of Apiarius
— Civil power enUsted in support of Roman
claim to appellate jurisdiction — Decree of Valen-
tinian iii. — Exigencies arising from invasion
of Rome, an aid to papal ambitions — Results
following Emperor's withdrawal from Rome —
The Constantine Donation — Benefits conferred
by Church of Rome in early centuries . 191-208

CHAPTER XIII

The Canon Law intended as a rival to the Imperial
jurisprudence — Gregory as 'Justinian of the
Church' — Origin of 'foreign Canon Law' —
Imperial decrees adopted as a model by Bishop
of Rome — Dionysius Exiguus lays foundation of
Canon Law — The Decretum Gratiani — Various
compilations to form Corpus Juris Canonici —
Luther's protest — Causes for decUne of spiritual
allegiance to Rome — (a) struggle between rival
Popes awakened national consciousness ; (b)
revival of learning incompatible with spirit of
Papacy ; (c) Latin superseded by vernacular
as medium for expressing religious emotions —
Empire and Papacy as counter parts — Reason
asserted full sway .... 209-222

Index , . . . . . 223-227

ROME, ST. PAUL
& THE EARLY CHURCH

CHAPTER I

Witness in history to a preparation for the Gospel —
Butler's dictum — The aid of secular forces necessary —
Heathenism tended to separate nations — The con-
ception of a universal kingdom not altogether absent —
Zeno and the common brotherhood of man — Plutarch's
comment on Alexander's ideal — The aim of Hellenism —
Rome carries on Alexander's policy — The recognised
failure of heathenism — Progressive development foreign
to ancient conceptions — The theory of cycles in history
— St. Paul definitely proclaims a universal religion —
He appropriates the external advantages furnished by
the Roman Empire — Rome terminates international
strife.

The majority of thoughtful men whose
studies have been directed to the history
of the ages preceding Christianity, are in-
creasingly impressed with the fact that
therein a definite purpose is traceable, which
may justly be termed the Divine prepara-
tion for the coming of Christ and the planting
of the Faith amongst Gentile nations. The
perception of this fact is becoming clearer
than was possible even a generation ago,

2 HISTORICAL ANTECEDENTS

in consequence of the wider application of
the historical method, and the fuller re-
cognition of its valuable results.

The evidence of this preparation in history,
it is true, can be traced from times long
anterior to the Incarnation, but space forbids
us to pursue the inquiry further than the
date of those conquests of Alexander the
Great, which startled the world some three
centuries before the birth of Christ. It is
not contended that historic events were
invariably favourable, but, like the incoming
of the tide, retrograde movements were not
maintained, and proved ineffective to stay
the advancing course of Christianity, being
absorbed in the greater movements of pro-
gress and preparation for that " far off
Divine event," for which all the historical
antecedents were but the necessary pre-
lude. Persecution, the revival of heathenism,
Caesar worship, and even a catastrophe,
such as the destruction of Jerusalem, which
must have appeared to contemporary minds
to presage disaster to the Church, are seen
to have been compatible with, or even need-
ful to, its progress.

This is no mere suiting of facts to a
fanciful theory, no subtle afterthought pro-
pounded by those interested in the construe-

BUTLER'S DICTUM 8

tion of fresh defences for the Faith ; it is
written large and plain across the face of
those ages. But until that moment, desig-
nated " the fulness of time," the converging
lines of preparation were not to meet. The
various factors together constituting the
preparation, if examined separately, may
possibly appear to admit a purely natural
explanation, but when those factors are
considered in their entirety, any such ex-
planation is unthinkable, and supply but
another demonstration of Bishop Butler's
well known dictum, " Probable proofs by
being added, not only increase, but multiply
the evidence."

Had the promise of the Incarnation
been fulfilled, not at the pre-appointed time,
but in the historic surroundings prevailing
even a few generations earlier, the appeal of
the new Faith would have been eclipsed and
its spiritual energy more or less dissipated,
amid the turmoil gendered of racial pride
and international strife. It was therefore
essential as a preliminary condition, that
obstacles originating in political and ethnic
causes should be removed ; but this task was
not within the immediate sphere of Chris-
tianity. That preliminary, but necessary
work, was achieved by those secular forces

4 POLITICAL OBSTACLES

which came into play and were ordained
to minister to the progress of the Faith.

It was essential, once the earthly ministry
of Christ was fulfilled, that the Gospel
message should immediately go forth un-
impeded, save for those various forms of
moral opposition which remained and con-
stituted the specific province of work, where-
in the triumphs of the gospel were to be
won. Otherwise world-wide proclamation
of the Faith must have been postponed till
some future generation, when eye-witnesses
of the Redeemer's Passion and Resurrec-
tion no longer survived to testify, " that
which we have seen and heard, declare we
unto you " ; thus, deprived of its most
convincing factor, the new faith would have
found its course impeded in that most
vital crisis — its first contact with heathenism.

Now the heathen religions, however much
they differed among themselves, had this
common character, they tended to the separ-
ation rather than the union of nations.
For the various cults were held to have
been decreed by the local deities, whence it
followed that members of other states had
no part or lot in the worship of deities, whose
interest and aid extended merely to the
confines of the territory wherein they were

HEATHEN IDEALS 5

worshipped. Thus the Roman Jupiter
could never be an acceptable divinity in
Greece, nor again the Grecian Zeus in
Rome. Consequently religion became a
barrier between the nations, preventing,
rather than promoting, unity amongst
mankind.

And yet here and there amongst heathen
nations the conception of a perfect kingdom
was not unknown, wherein each member
might find his highest happiness, in union
with his fellow-men. This was indeed a
heathen adumbration of the Kingdom of
God, and is testified by the numerous
attempts to realise such a society. We can
trace this notion to a remote past, and find
evidences of efforts to realise the conception,
some incomplete, some mistaken, some
fantastic, and all more or less Utopian. We
follow it through the varied schemes of
pagan philosophers and legislators, to evolve
some perfect human society, in which each
man might be enabled to realize the full
development of the best that was in him,
all of which gave point and purpose to the
world's need for the Kingdom of God, as
declared by Jesus.

It is no false philosophy or strained inter-
pretation of ancient history to read in the

6 LINES OF PREPARATION

course of all these efforts a pathetic testi-
mony to the need of mankind for the King-
dom of God. It was as an infant crying for
food, conscious of need and craving for satis-
faction, but incapable of giving expression
to that which he desires. All such efforts
either failed or enjoyed a temporary and
partial measure of success, not because they
pursued an altogether visionary end, but
because the '* fulness of time " had not yet
arrived for the promulgation of the one and
only method whereby the universal longing
could be satisfied. But the darkest hour
precedes the daw^n, and to a sin-stricken
world, disillusioned as to its own innate
power to regenerate itself, there came the
conception of a new and universal religion,
involving the brotherhood of men, and offer-
ing to every one the glorious message of
redemption and immortality. The con-
verging lines of preparation met at length,
concerning which Augustine wrote, " Christ
appeared to the men of a worn-out dying
world, that, when everything around was
sinking into decay, they might, through Him,
receive a new and youthful life."

We cannot attempt to trace through the
pages of history the thread of the idea. Here
it must suffice to indicate a few illustrations

ZENO'S CONCEPTION 7

of the effort to realise this object. Zeno/
the founder of the Stoic Philosophy, stated a
lofty conception when he declared that his
aim was to induce men, whatever the nation
of each might be, not to live apart in
his own city, and divided by individual
rights, but to regard all men as fellow-citi-
zens, so that there might be one life and a
common duty. It fell to the lot of Alex-
ander the Great ^ to attempt to realize Zeno's
conception ; and this he did, by essaying to
combine Eastern and Western nations in
one great monarchy. Plutarch enlarges on
his method, and informs us that Alexander
regarded himself as commissioned by Heaven
to be the universal peacemaker. He mingled
together as in a loving cup, customs, mar-
riages and modes of life, and sought to
induce all men to consider the whole world
as a native land.^

1 That permanent principle in Stoic Philosophy, the
common brotherhood of man obUterating all distinction of
nationality, was first enunciated by him {IloXiTeia).

2 Although Alexander failed to achieve his ideal of a
universal monarchy, his efforts profoundly affected the
missionary propaganda of the early Church. He was the
means of introducing the Greek language amongst the
Jews, who flocked for commercial purposes to the cities he
founded. So numerous were Greek-speaking Jews in
Alexandria, that the Septuagint was prepared for their use,
as Hebrew and Aramaic were no longer famihar.

' 'AXXa KOivbs rj<€i.v 0(6dev cipixoa-Trjs Koi BiaWaKTrjs tcHv oXcoi'

8 ALEXANDER AND HELLENISM

He sought to remove the barriers formed
by race and language, for at Susa, in B.C. 824,
he, together with nearly one hundred of his
generals, wedded wives of the Persian race,
on an appointed day.^ In short, his method
was to spread Hellenism, and thus attain
Zeno's philosophic conception; for " Hellen-
ism meant fusion of race, unity of language,
union of cities in a great monarchy, religious
toleration and comprehension."

The empire won by Alexander almost
within a decade, and stretching from the
Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean, was not
long maintained in its integrity. But con-
quests of a different and more abiding
character resulted from the policy of plant-
ing Greek colonies within the cities founded
by him and his successors in Syria, Asia
Minor, Egypt, and the farther East. In
these cities, such as Alexandria and Antioch,
learning was fostered and developed, Greek
manners and customs were observed ; above
all, from them proceeded the Greek lan-

vofxiC<ov, . . . &(nr€p iv KpaTTJpt, (piXoTTjaio), fxi^as Toi>s ydfj.ovs kol rag
diairas, narpiba fxiv rrjv olK.oa)p.4vr]v TrpocreTa^cv Tjyei(rdm Trdvras-.—
De Fort, et Virt. Alexandria lib. i.

^ " It was an outward and startling expression of the idea
that the clash of arms was now over and done with. Hence-
forward the East should wed the West." — E. L. Hicks,
SL Paul and Hellenism, p. 2 (Studia BibUca).

ROME'S UNCONSCIOUS AID 9

guage, a peculiarly fitting vehicle for setting
forth the truths of Christianity, and destined
to become the common tongue of the civil-
ised world.

The policy initiated by Alexander affected
the East ; but that policy was carried on by
Rome, being applied to an area far wider, and
embracing Western nations. To sum up
Rome's unconscious work of external pre-
paration for the Gospel, — Wars between
nations were brought to an end, and by the
time Christianity was ready for entrance
on its work, there was universal peace ;
barriers hitherto impassable between race
and race were overthrown ; commerce, and
incidentally travel on the seas, were safe-
guarded from the perils of piracy ; admir-
able roads were constructed, policed by the
representatives of Rome, furnishing safe and
easy communication between most distant
portions of the Empire ; the administration
of public affairs was marked by no small
degree of justice and efficiency, more especi-
ally from the date of the termination of
the Republic, 27 B.C. (see p. 36). So highly
were the resulting benefits appreciated, even
by remote communities, that the central
civic administration at Rome was employed
as a model, to be imitated in its smallest

10 A NEEDFUL DISCIPLINE

detail. Movements such as these undoubt-
edly paved the way for the onward march
of Christianity.

We have briefly referred to the more
external preparation, but this did not stand
alone. Another preparation — which may be
termed ' spiritual ' — was progressing. For
God, " who in the generations gone by
suffered all the nations to walk in their own
ways " (Acts xiv. 16), had thereby provided
a needful discipline which at length began
to bear fruit. The conviction was extending,
that attempts to find truth, abortive in
previous experience, promised no better hope
for the future. Belief in the earlier and
purer forms of heathen religion was gradually
yielding to systems permitting such moral
corruption as that described by St. Paul
in the first chapter of the Epistle to the
Romans. It was no mere accident, but a
Providential design, that men should learn
by disappointing experience that they could
evolve no practical scheme for the regenera-
tion of the race. In his philosophic indict-
ment of these false systems, St. Paul sums up
the general trend of heathenism,^ whether

^ " The standard which St. Paul appUes is not that of the
historian. He does not judge by the average level of moral
attainment at different epochs, but by the ideal standard of

DEVELOPMENT UNKNOWN 11

in Greece, Rome, or the East. There he
traces in definite order the causes of their
gradual debasement. He asserts, as the
starting-point, that mere ignorance of God
is not the explanation for failure of these
systems, since men might have known "His
everlasting power and divinity " by the
witness of Creation, apart from Revelation.
But slighting such truth and turning to
vain speculations, men adopted idolatry.
Wherefore, having " exchanged the truth
of God for a lie," the Divinely-appointed
judgment followed — a reprobate mind — with
all its awful consequences of unspeakable
moral corruption.

The glimpse afforded of better things
increased the cravings of many for ameliora-
tion while despairing of its attainment, for
the mental habit of the times was incapable
of the modern conceptions of progressive
development. Men were too prone to look
to the golden age ^ of a traditionary past
as the ideal state, and were therefore readier
to retrace their steps than advance them.

that which ought to be attained." — Sanday and Headlam,
Crit. Com. Romans, p. 51.
^ Thus Virgil says —

" Aurea condet
Soecula qui rursus Latio regnata per arva
Sftturno quondam."

^r}cid, vi. 792-94.

12 AN ANCIENT THEORY

Moreover, the theory of cycles, according
to which history repeats itself in one con-
tinuous round throughout the ages, asserted
its pernicious influence.^ It was definitely
asserted by Plato and Cicero. Men per-
ceived much that appeared to support the
theory, for while schemes to secure some
better state of society than those founded
on force had brief periods of comparative
success, nevertheless the results were tran-
sient, the old order returned, and despotism
again and again asserted itself,

St. Paul recognised what the pagan mind
had not yet perceived, that all these longings,
mingled with the sense of utter failure, were
but disciplinary experiences in a quest
inspired of God, whereby the Divine plan
was being worked out. If men were to give
a hearty acceptance to the noble conception

^ Celsus, assuming the ceaseless round of cycles in history,
ridiculed Christians for their hope of progress and im-
provement— 'Ojxoia d' ott' apx^s els riXos 17 rav Qvqroiv rreplodos'
KOI Kara ras rcTayfievas dvaKVK\T](r€LS dvayKij to, avra del Ka
yeyovevai, koi eivai, /cat eaecrdai. (quoted by Origen, Con. Cels.
iv. 65). The same idea is reflected in Virgil's best known
Eclogue (iv. 5 and 6) —

" Magnus ab integro saeclorum nascitur ordo.
Jam redit et virgo, redeunt Saturnia regna."

' Magnus ordo ' was the vast period of some thousands of
years which terminates when the heavenly bodies return
to their first position. Then the cycle of history was
supposed to begin anew.

HUMAN METHODS TESTED 13

of the Kingdom of God, it was essential that
first they should test their own self-evolved
methods, that they should for a time be left
to their own devices, so that they might
realise what " men could do and what men
could not do." Accordingly it is evident
that in the world of thought and effort
there was some preparation for such a
kingdom. " Not only was it made manifest
that all human societies founded on a
merely secular basis had in them elements
of decay that led to their dissolution or
fall, but some of the principles that must
find place in any perfect commonwealth
had been brought to light ; and though
only partially and ineffectually applied, had
yet become the possession of mankind. . . .
There were more bitter cries of humiliation
and misery just because men had known
better things : there was the longing for
pardon that could only be satisfied with the
true pardon that the Son of God gives . . .
and there was the cosmopolitan spirit that
could understand a kingdom that was to
embrace all nations. Such things the
nations needed ; and in so far as they were
led in their struggles after a perfect common-
wealth to feel their need, was not this the
hand of God preparing for the establish-

14 A UNIVERSAL RELIGION

ment of that Kingdom which ' cannot be
moved ' " ? ^

It was St. Paul's privilege to be the first
to proclaim to Gentile nations satisfaction
for this " earnest expectation of the creation."
He claimed that the religion he preached
was universal, for every nation and every
grade of men. That was a conception so
novel, so contradictory to notions hitherto
prevailing, that it seemed incredible. But
what man deemed impossible, was possible
to God; and thus he argues on Mars Hill,
if " God made of one blood all nations of
men," then only one conclusion is admissible
— all are to worship Him.

Universalism such as this could not have
been proclaimed by a narrow and bigoted
Jew, a fact significant of the wisdom of the
Divine choice in the selection of this herald
of the Kingdom of God. St. Paul had faith
sufficient to believe that the message he
was about to proclaim would secure the
allegiance of the Empire as a whole ; and
being, as has well been said, '^ a great
ecclesiastical statesman," he was not slow
to seize the external advantages prepared
under God by the Empire. In all this
political and moral preparation for the

1 Candlish, Kingdom of God, p. 44.

INTERNATIONAL STRIFE 15

Gospel of Christ, '*the valleys were being
exalted and the mountains brought low "
for its promulgation.

Just as it was the temporal policy of
Rome to enter into and continue the work
initiated by Alexander the Great in the
West, so was it the spiritual policy of St.
Paul to carry on and elevate this work of
the Roman Empire; for, as Renan reminds
us, the unity of the Empire was the pre-
liminary condition to any great religious
proselytism which should transcend every
nationality. There is truth, too, in his re-
mark, "Had any told St. Paul that the
Emperor Claudius was his chief co-operator,
or Claudius, that the Jew just setting out
from Antioch was about to found the most
enduring part of the Imperial structure,
both would have been much astonished.
Nevertheless both sayings would have been
true."

So long as Rome was engaged in her wars
of conquest, and in the labour of consolidat-
ing refractory portions of the vast territories
which had fallen under her sway, just so
long were legitimate aspirations after higher
things suspended ; but a lasting peace estab-
lished, mankind began to realise that the
business of the camp or forum did not

16 PAX ROMANA

furnish the only worthy motives of life.
In terminating international strife through-
out the world, Rome had awakened the
spirit of social and religious unrest ; for while
war and kindred matters occupied men's
minds, such ideas slept. Universal peace,
the Pax Romana, however, arrived at length,
and became the greater awakener of con-
ceptions and aspirations, destined to find
their culmination in the Gospel of Jesus
Christ.

CHAPTER II

The Palestinian apostles not qualified to proclaim a uni-
versal Gospel— Peril lest a reformed Judaism should
supplant Christianity— Universal purpose of Christ's
mission — Stephen the forerunner of St. Paul — His
attitude towards the Temple as an obstacle to God's
design— St. Peter's halting acquiescence in regard to
Gentile evangehzation— Rome's unconscious assistance
in St. Paul's mission— His approval of " the powers
that be "—Spiritual truths finding expression by
means of legal terms— Difference between St. Paul's
presentation of Christ and that of older apostles— His
estimate of the Law and avoidance of Jerusalem-
Reason for wide-spread knowledge of Roman Law —
The unity of the Roman Empire, a condition precedent,
if the mission to Gentiles to succeed— Attitude of
Roman magistracy — Means of communication between
distant parts maintained— St. Paul's purpose in the
intended visit to Spain — Summary.

The setting apart of St. Paul as the herald
of the Gospel to Gentile nations, marks an
event in history of the Christian Church, the
importance of which it would be impossible
to exaggerate. The Palestinian Apostles
had shown that they were unable to grasp
in all its fulness the conception of a universal
Gospel, nor were they qualified to follow up
the issues involved in the proclamation of
3

18 DANGER OF RELAPSE

such a faith in Gentile lands.^ If Christi-
anity was to escape the trammels of the
narrow-minded system in which it was born,
it was an indispensable preliminary that a
leader of another type should arise, capable
not only of restraining his fellow-apostles
from relapsing into a form of Judaism, but
preserving for the world at large a Christi-
anity emancipated from traditions, which
would have been fatal to the propagation
of a universal faith. For one of the first
perils encountered by the Christian Faith
arose from the incapacity of its earliest
followers to grasp the fact, that in Christ
Jesus the distinction between Jew and
Gentile was abolished. So long had it
been true, and so tenaciously was the
prerogative cherished, " Salvation is from
the Jews," that grave danger was involved
lest the new Faith, centring at Jerusalem,
should only be a reformed Judaism.

It is not possible for us to mistake the
import of Christ's words, concerning the
Divine purpose for Gentile nations, " other

^ The eleven approved of the Gospel of the uncircumcision
as preached by St. Paul, provided it was limited to heathen
converts, " while they confined their own ministry to the
Jewish world, being humbly conscious of unfitness for work
in any other sphere." — Bruce, St. Paul's Conception of
Christianity, P« 57*

STEPHEN'S LIBERAL OUTLOOK 19

sheep I have, which are not of this fold :
them also I must bring, . . . and they shall
become one flock,^ one shepherd " (John
X. 16). But till the liberal outlook and
evangelical zeal of Stephen began to awaken
the older apostles to the comprehensiveness
of the grand ideal, that truth had lain inert
and dormant in their minds. He it was who
first perceived that the limitations imposed
by the Palestinian apostles would be fatal
to Christianity as a world-wide faith. For
this large-mindedness he paid the forfeit
of his life, but not before he had vindicated
his attitude, by the unanswerable argument
that God had granted a spiritual revelation to
Abraham, and made His covenant with him,
before Tabernacle or Temple were erected, with
which the Jew associated exclusive holiness.^

1 The A.V. rendering " fold " is misleading, and respon-
sible for narrow views of the visible Church. liol^vr) does not
mean " fold," but " flock." The error, introduced from the
Vulgate (ovile), was incorporated in Wycliffe's version.
The play on the Greek words is represented in Luther's
translation, though not apparent in Enghsh : " und udrd
eine Herde und ein Hirte werden." The unity implied in
Christ's words does not consist in an aggregation of in-
dividuals witliin one fold {avXr'j), but springs from union
with the Common Shepherd, wherever, in time or space, the
sheep may be.

^ Kai vaos ovk ijv, koc dvaia ovk j]v, koI deias vyj/'ecos q^iccTO
A/3paa/x, koL npoyovovs Hepaas (Ix^ '^"' ^^ dWoTpia yfj r)v. — Cliry-

sostom, Horn. xv. 2 (Acts).

20 THE DIVINE PURPOSE

The nation had put the Temple in the place
of God, and made it an object of idolatry.
Accordingly, since the Temple and the Law
had become obstacles to the fulfilment of
God's designs, Stephen, by revealing their
relative unimportance, would lead his
audience to a true spiritual perspective in
regard to them.^

A special revelation was needed to con-
vince St. Peter that narrow Judaistic
limitations were foreign to the Divine pur-
pose of spiritual freedom, and that the time
had come for the portals of the Church to
be thrown open widely to all believers.
Even then, such was his prejudice, it was
only with a halting acquiescence he con-
ceded the principle of a universal gospel,
untrammelled by the conditions of its birth.
His interrupted fellowship with Gentile Chris-
tians of Antioch, proved his reluctance to ac-
cept whole-heartedly the new conditions and
carry out in practice, in the churches, what
he was almost forced to admit in theory."

" In these circumstances St. Paul was
ordained of God to reveal the universality
of the Gospel; and so peculiarly was he

1 To the mind of Augustine, Stephen's wdtness had a
close connection with St. Paul's conversion, as appears in
the well-known words, " Si Stephanus non orasset, Ecclesia
Paulum non haberet."

ST. PAUL'S PERSONALITY 21

fitted for the emancipation of the faith,
that the results of his mission bear convincing
witness to the wisdom of the Divine choice.
Seldom, perhaps never, have such qualities
as were his, been united in one personality.
Nurtured in a Greek city ; educated at the
feet of Gamaliel ; a born Roman citizen
with a knowledge of the law ^ enabling him
to engage successfully in legal argument
with the practised advocate Tertullus (Acts
xxiv. 1) ; he was equally at home in dis-
putation with Jew or Greek or Roman. As
we comprehend his marvellous versatility
and commanding intellect, his statesmanlike
powers of organisation, his indomitable pur-
pose, his spiritual fervour, his tenderly
sympathetic nature and his extraordinary
powers of physical endurance, we realise the
fitness of the instrument, selected by God,
for the evangelization of the Gentile world.

^ The trial of St. Paul, being a Roman citizen, was con-
ducted on the lines of Roman criminal procedure, involving
the ' criminis delatio,' the ' citatio,' etc. referred to in
Acts xxiv. 1-2. The accusers were assisted by the clever
pleader, Tertullus, but the Apostle successfully defended
himself. In two of the three counts he based his defence on
Roman Law: (i) Rome recognised and authorised Jewish
worship as a * religio Ucita.' His presence in the Temple
accorded with that State recognition. (2) He challenged the
legality of the trial as a whole, since according to Roman
Law the witnesses (" Jews from Asia," Acts xxi. 27) must be
produced, but they were absent.

22 ' THE POWERS THAT BE '

Information gathered from archaeological
and other sources accumulates concerning
the condition of the Romano-Greek world,
in the early days of Christianity, and it
becomes increasingly evident that St. Paul
was much indebted to the rule of Rome
and the Imperial administration in the pro-
vinces, for unconscious assistance in his
missionary efforts. That debt he would
probably have been the first to acknowledge ;
— a presumption justified by his approval
of " the powers that be," and by the fact
that he, recognising the civil power of Rome,
as divinely appointed, was the first amongst
the writers of the New Testament to insist
upon its due recognition by his converts.^
It was a sense of what he owed to the civil
power that prompted him to declare, " It
is a minister of God to thee for good "
(Rom. xiii. 4). That power, which through
its administrative machinery, not only
rendered travel possible and gave protection
from the tyranny of local officials, and also
the political unity achieved by Rome, im-
pressed him with the conception of the

^ Deissmann, Light from the Ancient East, p. 343 — "He
sees no theoretical difficulties in all the small political
questions that affect the humble individual : to respect and
pray for the powers in authority is as natural to him as the
payment of tribute and custom."

STORE-HOUSE OF ILLUSTRATION 23

Christian Church, as a universal spiritual
empire and impelled him to consider Spain,
the Western limit of Roman power, as the
goal of his evangelistic ambition.

In the Roman Law itself, and its modified
form in the East, he found ready to hand a
supply of terms and illustrations familiar
to his readers, fitted to give expression to
spiritual truth, such as the Fatherhood of
God and the corresponding spirit of sonship ;
the unity of the faithful as citizens of an
instant celestial kingdom : ^ the privileges
of believers as joint heirs with Christ.
Truths like these, truths novel to his readers,
he did not hesitate to set forth in the terms
of a pagan legal code, content if he might
thereby extend his Master's kingdom.
Liberality of method, such as this, was one
of the features which distinguished him from
the Palestinian apostles, fitting him for
his special work and prompting means con-
cerning which he himself says, " I am become
all things to all men, that I may by all means
save some " (1 Cor. ix. 22).

It cannot be a matter of surprise that his

^ e.g., Phil. iii. 20, 'Jifxcov yap to TroXiVeu/xa eV ovpavots vTnip)((i.
The verb marks an objective and abiding existence. In the
context, e'l ov is important in this connection. Moulton
regards it as convertible with oOev and thus connected with
ovpavols, but this is questionable.

24 PRESENTATION OF CHRIST

presentation of Christ should differ from
that of the older apostles. For even they,
notwithstanding underlying harmony, ex-
hibit a diversity in their conceptions of the
Person of Christ, and their teaching as to
aspects and issues of the Christian life.
Since the Palestinian apostles, with a
common training and a singular identity of
spiritual experience, exhibit these varia-
tions, then, a priori, St. Paul's theology
would exhibit features differing from those
of his fellow-apostles. They were untutored
provincials, but he was a native of a cosmo-
politan city, a born Roman citizen wdio had
spent his youth and early manhood in the
midst of a community impregnated with
the doctrines of men like Athenodorus, the
Stoic, and possessed, moreover, of a catholicity
begotten of extensive travel and intercourse
with many nationalities. Nor is such a con-
clusion unwarranted, for it is confirmed by the
study of the Pauline theology, the examina-
tion of which discloses many features w^hich
differentiate the Apostle to the Gentiles
from those mainly concerned with the Jew.

The fertile imagination, the keenness of
his moral observation, his religious fervour,
animated by a liberal spirit and far-seeing
statesmanship, prompted methods, both of

REVOLUTIONARY METHODS 25

expression and work, which, compared with
theirs, might be called revolutionary, but
were necessary, if he was to accomplish his
mission to the Gentiles. Nor can we fail
to note that the prevailing spirit amongst
the apostles at Jerusalem was so foreign to
his own, that for three years he represses
the legitimate desire to commune with those
who had companied with the Saviour. When
at length he went to Jerusalem, it was to
visit St. Peter, and him alone, whose teach-
ing and methods were more akin to his own
than those of St. James ; but his protest is
emphatic, that the Christianity he preached
was not derived from them at Jerusalem,
" which were apostles before me " (Gal. i. 17).
The mental attitude towards Judaism which
could speak of its " weak and beggarly
rudiments," could never have been im-
planted by them. There is much to be said
for Weizsacker's ^ contention, that Jeru-
salem was avoided by St. Paul, because
he was well aware that the spirit prevailing
there was foreign to his own, and that when
he did go, the visit was rendered possible
because he realised that there was no longer
a fear of interference with the independence
of the definite and distinctive attitude he

^ The Apostolic Age, p. 95 ff.

26 ST. PAUL'S VIEW OF THE LAW

had determined to adopt. How completely
he had broken loose from their teaching,
may be estimated by the bold and revolu-
tionary position he took up in regard to the
Law. " Had we no other information as
to his doctrine concerning the Law (than
that contained in the Epistle to the Gala-
tians), we might readily take his meaning
to be that it was added to restrain trans-
gression. It would be nearer the truth to
say that he means to suggest that the Law
was given in favour of transgression, to
provoke resistance to its behests. This is
certainly a very bold idea, but it is none
the less likely to be Pauline." ^

Instances of, and reasons for, the diverg-
ence of St. Paul, both in spirit and in method,
might be multiplied, but sufficient has been
already stated to justify the conclusion
stated above, and disclose the probability
that the Pauline theology would be formul-
ated in terms differing in many respects
from those of the older apostles.

We are chiefly concerned, however, with
the fact that St. Paul, and he alone, utilised
current terms of the great legal system of
his day, which as a " master of metaphor "
he found adaptable for his purpose. He

^ Bruce, St. PauVs Conception of Christianity , ?• 63.

ROMAN LEGAL EDUCATION 27

perceived that here was to his hand a
vehicle capable of being employed for the
formulation of doctrines he had been com-
missioned to proclaim/

It may be objected that the last statement
begs the question, that scope for the em-
ployment of legal terms as ancillary to St.
Paul's aims for the propagation of the Gospel
was restricted to a very small minority,
since knowledge of the law must have been
confined to the comparatively few interested
in legal matters. That was not the case,
and an objection of this kind imports modern
custom into the first century. The fact is
that a deep reverence for law was, for long,
one of the moral characteristics of the times,
and in order that it might be inculcated
from the earhest years, it was a part of the
Roman system of education to obhge the
children to repeat by rote the code of the
Decemvirs. This decemviral code, other-
wise the Twelve Tables, was to the Roman
youth what the catechisms of the various
Churches are to the children of to-day.^

1 " It is a matter of great importance how gospel con-
ceptions were expanded and adapted to the world, when we
try to understand Christianity as a world rehgion."—
Deissmann, Light from Ancient East, p. 332, n. 4.

2 The case of Cicero supplies an illustration. He states
{de Leg, ii, 59) that as a boy he was taught to repeat by

28 KNOWLEDGE OF LAW ESSENTIAL

Moreover, those who dealt under the aegis
of the Roman Empire were compelled,
for reasons of everyday life and personal
security, to have some knowledge of the
law. In modern times a man can afford to
be ignorant of it, but it was otherwise in the
apostle's days. Every man was obliged
to be, to a certain extent, his own lawyer,
as there was no class of professional men,
corresponding to our modern solicitors, to
whom we commit the conduct of legal
affairs. Questions regarding inheritances,
legacies, adoption, slavery, status, contracts,
tutors, wills, were continually arising, and
no man who valued his rights could afford
to be in complete ignorance of his privileges
and liabilities.^ Such, then, was the soil
which lay ready and receptive for the casting
of the seed.

This, however, is but one aspect of a

rote the text of the Tables :— ' discebamus enim pueri XII,
ut carmen necessarium.'

^ In early Roman times the Patricians jealously guarded
from the Plebeians the knowledge of the law, hence the
frequent and bitter disputes arising from its uncertainty.
This was terminated in 451 b.c. by the appointment of ten
commissioners (^decemviri legihus scvibendis), who compiled
a code of the law — which may be regarded as the Magna
Charta of the Roman people — and made its knowledge
public by inscribing them on tables of bronze, placed in
front of the Senate House. Hence none could plead ig-
norance of the law.

GENTILE EVANGELIZATION 29

great truth. The other is St. Paul's own
attitude towards the legal institutions and
administration of the Roman Empire. He
himself had a pride in his connection with
the Empire, nor can we " fail to be struck
by the strong hold that Roman ideas had
on the mind of St. Paul." We have but to
perceive the policy he adopted for the evan-
gelization of the Gentile world to be con-
vinced of the accuracy of this statement.
Previous to his work at Antioch, he had
laboured only in the smaller provincial
centres ; but the withdrawal from Antioch
coincides with the inception of a different
and far bolder policy, namely, the expansion
of Christianity through the medium of the
Roman Empire itself. The proof of this
statement lies in the fact that all his efforts
and movements subsequent to the com-
mencement of the Second Missionary jour-
ney are dominated by this bold conception.
The goal of this period of his ministry was
Ephesus, the metropolis of the Roman
Province of Asia, and " the door of the East
toward the West. There, sheltered by the
Roman magistracy, he was enabled to carry
on his work for three years in the very
home of the worship of the Ephesian Diana."
For the accomplishment of this grand policy

80 UNITY OF EMPIRE NEEDFUL

he utilises the facihties which, as a Roman
citizen, were at his disposal, and which he
well knew how to employ to the best ad-
vantage.

But this was by no means the full measure
of the Apostle's indebtedness to the Roman
regime. Renan observes that " every pro-
vince conquered by the Roman Empire was
a province conquered for Christianity," and
without the political preparation which
followed these conquests, the difficulties
for the Apostle would have been enormously
increased, perhaps insurmountable. The
same writer draws a picture of the obstacles
which would have lain in the Apostle's
path if Asia Minor, Greece, and Italy had
been divided, in the first century, into a
hundred little republics. In such circum-
stances it would be impossible to conceive
of his success. The imity of the Empire
was the condition precedent, if he was to
succeed in winning men to the conception
of a kingdom which knew no frontiers,
involving a unity superior to all nationalities.
We may be quite certain that the keen
perception of St. Paul was not oblivious of
the striking analogy to the Church, pre-
sented by the development of the Roman
Empire. Its progress from an insignificant

ALIENS COVET CITIZENSHIP 31

Italian State to world-wide supremacy is a
marvel in history. Bitter racial animosity
was swallowed up in admiration, which
prompted foreigners and aliens to solicit
the honour of citizenship and sink estrange-
ment in common fealty to the Emperor.
So, too, Christianity, going forth to world-
wide conquest, had its roots in Judaism, the
religion of a despised and insignificant people ;
but from it proceeded the Messiah, through
whose heralds the sway of universal empire
was claimed. Just as Rome had abolished
barriers between state and state, so had
Christianity overthrown Jewish particular-
ism. Henceforth such distinctions, " Greek
and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision,
Barbarian, Scythian, bondman, freeman,"
were meaningless to St. Paul, for " Christ
is all and in all." ^

In order that we may appreciate the
possibilities, for the furtherance of Christi-

^ In the writings of St. Paul, the death and ascension of
Jesus are shown to involve the catholic and spiritual
character of His kingdom (Eph. iii. 13-20). Believers are
taken up into the fellowship of that celestial Ufe wliich He
now leads (Phil. iii. 20). The Apostle no longer knows
" Christ after the flesh " as a member of one nation, as a
Hebrew (2 Cor. v. 16). The abohtion of Judaic particularism
and the impartial freedom of the Christian brotherhood, is
the legitimate consequence of the heavenly and glorified life
that belongs to Jesus. See Fisher, The Beginnings of Chris-
tianity, p. 513.

32 ROME AS A CENTRE

anity, created and opened up in the founding
and expansion of the Empire, we have but
to recollect the condition of the Greek
republics. They were a type of other
ancient governments, and in them liberty
of thought was utterly unknown. But the
suppression of these and similar states made
for freedom. The policy of the Roman
Empire was to consolidate and pacify all the
nations which lay around the Mediterranean,
with Rome as the centre, from which an
effective administration issued to the
furthest limits of the Imperial sway. Thus
was the great world-power of the day pre-
paring the way for the spread of the kingdom
of Christ, and through its agency, events
were overruled to the founding of " a king-
dom which cannot be moved." By this
Imperial policy of consolidation and the
administrative system established through-
out the Empire, St. Paul was signally aided
to attain his object and convey his message
to unevangelized regions, as he says, " making
it my aim so to preach the Gospel, not where
Christ was already named . . . but as it is
written. They shall see to whom no tidings
of Him came, and they who have not heard
shall understand " (Rom. xv. 20, 21).

The protection afforded by the Roman

JUDAISM A ' RELIGIO LICITA ' 33

magistracy was so helpful that its records
occupy no small place in Acts. At Antioch,
Corinth, Philippi, Thessalonica, Ephesus,
and many other places, the Apostle came
into collision with opponents, but they were
either Jews or local officials, and not Roman
magistrates. These latter, while refraining
from interference with the Jewish worship
and religion, as a *religio licita,'^ controlled,
and sometimes prevented, the effects of that
fierce persecution which followed in the
steps of the Apostle wherever he aroused
Jewish opposition. Again and again his
enemies essayed to prejudice the Roman
officials, but the ' Duoviri ' "^ were not to be
enlisted either by Jew or Gentile, in the
cause of persecution. The Roman policy or
the sense of justice prompted the refusal.
This attitude of the Roman magistracy

1 This term — due to Tertullian (Apolog. 21) — was un-
known to Roman law. It was the " collegia licita " which
were recognised. The Jews of the Dispersion became so
numerous that with the Greeks and Romans they were
termed ' a third nationality.' Their numbers, together
with their loyalty to the naling power, — so long as their
religion was not interfered with — brought about the State
recognition of Judaism.

2 The official title of the highest Roman magistrates
in colonial and municipal towns was ' duoviri juri dicundo.'
These were responsible for the judicial side of affairs ;
two others, the ' duoviri aediles,' corresponded to our city
surveyors.

34 GALLIO'S DECISION

is well illustrated by the treatment meted
out, by the proconsul of Achaia, to the
accusers of St. Paul. He refused to entertain
their plea and then stated the ground for
his decision, '' If indeed it were a matter of
wrong or of wicked villany, O ye Jews,
reason would that I should bear with you :
but if they are questions about words and
names and your own law, look to it your-
selves ; I am not minded to be a judge of
these matters. And he drave them from
the judgment seat " ^ (Acts xviii. 14-16).

The objection may be raised that this and
similar incidents do not necessarily imply a
favourable attitude towards the Apostle's
work, since the reason assigned for the
refusal of the Proconsul was based on the
ground that he had no jurisdiction in such
cases. But the accusation was clearly re-
cognised in the Roman Criminal Law, and
was a serious charge. The jurist Paulus
informs us that the Criminal Procedure
prescribed death or deportation for those

^ According to Ramsay the purport of Gallic's decision is
as follows : " If a misdemeanour or crime were in question,
ye Jews, reason would that I should bear with you, but if
they are questions of word, not deed, and of names, not
things, and of your law, not Roman law, ye yourselves will
look to it : to be a judge of these matters I for my part have
no mind." — St. Paul, The Traveller, p. 257.

ROMAN ADMINISTRATION 85

persons who introduced "new kinds of
worship, unknown to custom and disturbing
to weaker minds." ^ Various causes had
led to the recognition of Judaism by the
Imperial authorities as a "religiolicita," and
had given it a legal standing. Here was a
man who was charged with an offence
against public order, and had the Proconsul
desired to do so, he undoubtedly could have
committed the Apostle for trial.

By way of contrast with the foregoing, it
is worth noting that when St. Paul visited
Berea, a city which did not enjoy the
benefits of the Roman administration, he
found a favourable reception and a sym-
pathetic hearing. Success was manifest,
for many believed. Notwithstanding all
this, he found it impossible to remain, for the
Jewish opponents who had followed him
from Thessalonica, uncontrolled by the
Roman magistracy, raised such opposition,
that the new converts were compelled to
send him away. We cannot resist the con-
clusion that had the city of Berea been a
centre of Roman administration, St. Paul
would have found it possible to remain
and carry on his work, in spite of Jewish
opposition.

^ Julius Paulus, Sententio Recefics (5, 21, 2).

36 THE RULE OF A. FELIX

One of the few instances of injustice at
the hands of Roman ofBcials, occurred at
Caesarea, when Antonius Felix/ a man of
infamous memory, in defiance of the laws
enacted for the prevention of maladminis-
tration of justice in the provinces,^ kept
St. Paul a prisoner in the hope of extorting
a bribe for his release.

The trust reposed in the justice of the
Roman administration is illustrated by St.
Paul's resolve to appeal to the Emperor,
and Ramsay is of opinion that his purpose
in doing so was to gain a recognition for
Christianity as a ' religio licita,' and place it
in this respect on an equality with Judaism.
The imprisonment at Rome was scarcely
an act of oppression, but rather a measure
of precaution to prevent tumultuous assem-
blages.

We need only refer briefly to the assist-
ance afforded St. Paul in his missionary

1 The rule of Felix was terminated by his recall by Nero.
The testimony of Tacitus (Hist. v. 9) throvv^s light on this
act of injustice to the apostle : — " Antonius Felix per
omnem sasvitiam ac libidinem jus regium servili ingenio
exercuit."

2 Administrative justice in the provinces was zealously
maintained. Previous to the Lex Calpurnia repetundarum,
the Socii knew of no case of exactions by governors, if we
may trust Livy's evidence. Such offences were punished
in the age of St. Paul by exile.

EFFICIENCY OF COMMUNICATION 37

work by the surprising efficiency of the
Imperial system of intercommunication
between the different parts of the Empire.
It was literally true to say, " all roads lead
to Rome." Every province looked to Rome
as the great centre of the civilised world.
There in the Imperial city the fashion was
set, which the provinces followed sooner or
later. The policy of the Republic was to
create and foster this conception, and it
remained as a heritage during the first
century. It is evident the best means to
accomplish this end was by the formation
and maintenance of reliable and convenient
routes of communication, supplying a direct
access to the city. Hence the excellence
of the main roads to and from Rome, com-
pared with the condition of the ' cross
country ' roads. Both in Italy and in
the provinces, the efficiency of the road
system was guaranteed either by the ap-
pointment of special officers, or by making
the governors of each province responsible
for the condition of the roads, and for
maintenance of the peace along their course.
Piracy on the seas and highway robbery
were largely suppressed during the reign of
Augustus, but in later years the conditions
arose once more, which gave point to St.

38 ST. PAUL'S DESIRE TO VISIT SPAIN

Paul's reference to '" perils of robbers "
(2 Cor. xi. 26).

One of the strong desires of the later
period of the Apostle's life was to reach the
Imperial city, and thence to pass on to
Spain, the most westerly portion of the
Empire, with the intention of transforming
" that great world centre, Rome, into a
Christian centre," so that from her the light
might shine, even to the utmost bounds,
both East and West. While it cannot be
confidently asserted that he accomplished
his purpose and visited Spain/ the earliest
Roman tradition, as contained in the Mura-
torian Fragment, expressly states he did so,
and in this supports the statement of
Clement. " Paul, having been a herald
both in the east and in the west, received
the high glory of his faith. When he had
taught righteousness to the whole world
and had come to the limit of the west,*

^ The chronology of St. Paul's life, as stated by Lightfoot,
has been seriousty questioned by competent authorities,
from which it appears that the Apostle may have arrived in
Rome early in 59 a.d. and been released from imprisonment
in 61 A.D. Therefore the interval between the latter date
and his martyrdom may have afforded opportunity for the
visit to Spain.

* ' The limit of the West ' (t6 repixa t^s d^o-ecos) is
probably a phrase for ' Spain,' since a Roman writer would
scarcely employ the expression as an equivalei^t for ' Rome,'

A LEGITIMATE CONCLUSION 39

and borne witness before the rulers, he so
departed from the world and went to the
holy place."

It is a legitimate conclusion, to sum up
what has been stated — ^that the methods
employed by St. Paul for presenting the
gospel would differ from those of the Pales-
tinian apostles. The examination of the
Pauline theology confirms that conclusion.
He perceived the valuable use to which
contemporary law and the Roman admini-
stration might be put, in view of the wide-
spread knowledge of, and admiration for,
that legal system ; the protection afforded
by the Roman magistrates ; the facilities
provided for travel by the Imperial power ;
all these were impressed into service for the
attainment of that object so near to the
Apostle's heart. The suppression of the
smaller states, with their endless internecine
strifes and the unity of the Roman Empire,
all tended to prepare the way for the gospel
of Christ. Otherwise the progress of the
gospel would have been impossible. " Even
Judaism," as Renan insists, " but for the
pressure of Roman authority, would have
been strong enough to stifle it. The Jews
were prevented by the Roman magistrates
from killing it."

40 THE DIVINE APPROVAL

St. Paul's methods may not have com-
mended themselves to the Palestinian
apostles as a wliole, but when we ponder the
difficulties of his labours and their amazing
results/ no other conclusion is possible
than this — God was ratifying the peculiar
methods employed by His servant — and
the Divine approval crowned with success
the endeavours to bring home to men's
hearts that Gospel, thus " made known
unto all the nations unto obedience of
faith " (Rom. xvi. 26).

^ " The world-wide activity of St. Paul, extending through
a period of thirty years, beginning at a time when he was in
the full vigour of life and not terminating till he had become
* Paul, the aged,' was the prime means of estabhshing the
Christian religion in Europe." — Fisher, Beginnings of
Christianity, p. 523.

CHAPTER III

The Empire facilitated the Apostle's work, but at same time
was a cause of hindrance — Spread of Caesar-worship —
Poverty of Gentile conceptions of spiritual truth —
Judaism provided a basis for Christian doctrine —
Wide diffusion of Greek language — St. Paul's recog-
nition of the best elements in Gentile religions — ^IMany
hitherto unsuspected passages of Scripture have as a
background contemporary law and usage — A nidus
in Roman law for development of inquiry in
Theology and Moral Philosophy — Atmosphere created
by Imperial rule and legislation favourable to novel
truths of Christianity — Rome infected conquered peo-
ples with passion for study of jurisprudence — Nations
educated in conception of political brotherhood —
Converging lines in Roman poUcy and Christianity.

Though moral and political conditions, such
as those described in a previous chapter,
facilitated St. Paul's mission, at the same
time hostile and embarrassing elements were
involved in the problem of Gentile evangel-
ization, whose tendency was to retard the
free course of revealed truth ; for as Prof.
Gwatkin has observed, '' if the Empire was
the greatest of helps, it was also the greatest
of hindrances to the gospel." Thus the
spread of ' Caesar- worship ' throughout the

Empire, constituting an element of most

42 C^SAR-WORSHIP

serious opposition to Christianity, began to
replace the many and varied forms of
worship formerly observed, though local
cults, in accordance with the general Roman
policy, were not prohibited. The Senate
deified deceased emperors {divi imperatores) ^
who were considered to represent the divine
majesty of the Roman State, the new cult
thus giving expression to the national
unity. In the year 39 a.d., Caligula at-
tempted to set up his statue within the
precincts of the Temple at Jerusalem, in
order that he might be worshipped as a god,
and decreed that divine honours should be
paid to him. The Jews everywhere refused ;
but after a brief persecution they were
expressly exempted from compliance by the
succeeding Emperor, Claudius. This edict
of toleration did not extend to the Christians,
consequently " through this official religion,
dissent became also high treason " in their
case. Multitudes of those who had accepted
Christianity .suffered martyrdom by refus-

^ The term, first applied to Julius Caesar, was stamped on
the coinage, e.g. the denarius of Tiberius ; the coin used in
the question of the tribute money put to our Lord (Matt.
xxii. 20) bore the legend, TiCiESAR Divi Aug F Augustus.
Virgil refers to Augustus (JEneid, vi. 793, ' Augustus Caesar,
Divi genus '), the adopted son of C. Julius Caesar, as
' offspring of a god.'

THE THRONE OF SATAN 43

ing the test proposed, namely, that they
should sacrifice to the Emperor. It has
been suggested with much probability that
the wide dissemination of the new Imperial
cult, with one of its most important centres
at Pergamum, prompted St. John's reference
to that city as the " throne of Satan." ^

And yet adverse as all this might appear
to be to Christian hopes and efforts, there
was another aspect of the subject. Save
for the Jews and Christians, the cult of the
Emperor became a universal worship, " as a
recognition of the unity of the State," and
familiarised mankind with the — hitherto un-
known— conception of a universal religion.
It " did indeed prepare the way for the
Christian Church ... it co-ordinated the
various religions of the province into some-
thing approximating to a single hierarchy." ^

As a religion, it was almost valueless from
a devotional point of view ; but when an

^ OiSa TTOV KarotKels ottov 6 Bpovos tov 2arava (Rev. ii. 1 3).
Pergamum, the capital of the Roman province of Asia from
133 B.C., had two temples, dedicated solely to the Imperial
cultus, one to Augustus, another to Tragian, and probably
a third to a later emperor, whence the designation, Tp\s
NfcoKopoy. This is evidence for the importance of Pergamum
as a seat of ' Caesar-worship,' more especially as it was one
of the earliest cities, if not the first, to dedicate a temple for
this purpose.

2 Jlamsay, Christianity in the Roman Empire, p. 133.

44 ROMAN FORMS OF RITUAL

emperor of the type of Nero ascended the
throne, even heathen minds revolted at the
thought of rendering divine honours to such
a man. Thus were they induced to give a
readier hearing to the preaching of the new
Faith, with its ideals of purity, truth, and
love. Again, we may not overlook the fact
that " there were also certain direct legacies
from the old Roman religion, of which
Christianity could dispose with profit in the
shape of forms of ritual, and what was of
even greater value, words of real significance
in the old religion which were destined to
become of paramount and priceless value in
the Christian speech of the Western nations." ^
But we are here particularly concerned
with the impediment arising from the ex-
treme poverty of Gentile conceptions of
spiritual truth, and the absence of a phrase-
ology, whereby St. Paul might clothe the
novel ideas involved in his message. We
can form some conception of the difficulty in
this respect if we contrast his position with
that of those teachers who laboured to
convert the adherents of Judaism to Chris-
tianity. Monotheistic ideas were embedded
in the Hebrew religion. The Jewish people
had an " antecedent aptitude " for religious

^ Fowler, Religious Experience of Roman People, p. 465.

THE ADVANTAGE OF THE JEW 45

truth, and no language was more fitted than
theh'S, for the expression of spiritual ideas.
The meaning and results of sin were em-
phasised, both by precept and example ;
its far-reaching effects stood fully revealed
upon the first pages of the Jewish Scriptures ;
means of atonement were provided whereby
intercourse between man and God could be
restored. The spiritual education of the
Jewish race could be summed up in the
statement, that it w^as one long and gradual
enlightenment as to the moral attributes of
the great eternal Power, whereby the know-
ledge of God, both as regarded His justice
and His mercy, was possible.

Thus Christian teachers who laboured to
win the Jews, had but to erect the super-
structure of Christianity upon the founda-
tions of Israel's ancient religion, whereas
St. Paul was confronted by the difficulty
that such a basis was non-existent among
the Gentiles. For them it was necessary to
enunciate a complete theory of natural and
revealed religious truth, ^ and without St.

^ " When the Apostles went to the Gentiles they could not
build upon familiar Jewish conceptions. They must find or
create an equivalent for them upon heathen ground. They
had to lay a foundation in the natural intuitions and con-
scious necessities of the human soul, apart from all special
revelation." — Fisher, Begimiin^s of Christianity ^ p. 51 1.

4G SPREAD OF GREEK LAXCxUAGE

Paul, or some one like him, imbued with
Gentile culture, the Christian religion could
hardly have extended itself beyond Palestine.
No doubt Greek — ^the language employed
by St. Paul — was admirably fitted for his
purpose,^ being a most flexible instrument,
and, at the same time, most widely spoken.
In fact, no other language was needed by
the traveller, between Spain and Syria, so
effectively had the projects of Alexander the
Great taken root. Notwithstanding this,
Greek did not supply a Christian nomen-
clature, its exquisite pliancy with difficulty
accommodated itself to the new sentiments
and convictions. It had either to "endure
the naturalisation of new words, or to deflect
its own terms to new significations. In the
latter case, the doctrines were endangered,
in the former, the purity of the language."
St. Paul had therefore to weave the very
garments in which he could array his mes-

1 " Greek furnished the vehicle by wliich the revelation
of God through Jesus Christ was given to the world. Its
origin discloses its fitness for its providential office. It
embodied the lofty conceptions of the Hebrew and Christian
faith in a language which brought them home to men's
business and bosoms." Christianity has " elevated,
spirituahsed, transfigured, words previously current. It
has set old terms in new relations. It has added lustre to
conceptions already radiant." — Vide Thayer, Hastings, Diet,
of B., vol. iii. p. ^6 ff.

MISSIONARY DIFFICUIvTIES 47

sage. A close parallel exists at the present
day in the case of heathen races, for whom
versions of the Scripture are prepared in the
native language. The translators are faced
at times with almost insurmountable diffi-
culties, arising from the lack of spiritual
ideas, and consequently the absence of terms
in the vernacular, capable of reproducing
the import of the primary conception, as set
forth in Holy Scripture.

Similar difficulties confronted St. Paul,
but God had selected a herald gifted with
peculiar qualifications for the work. He
was a native of Tarsus, a seat of Greek
Philosophy scarcely inferior to Alexandria
or Athens. Stoicism was there most ably
taught by such philosophers as Nestor and
Athenodorus. It was a cosmopolitan city,
and as a seat of learning and philosophy,
the meeting-place of both Greeks and
Orientals. Now it would have been im-
possible for a young man gifted with the
mental capacity of St. Paul, to pass his most
susceptible years in the midst of such a
community and remain in ignorance of the
heathen philosophy. We know he was suffi-
ciently acquainted with the pagan practices
of his native city to be able to formulate
an indictment of heathenism, such as that

48 KNOWLEDGE OF ROMAN LAW

set out in his epistle to the Romans. His
was the peculiar, but important qualification,
namely, to know the best and the worst of
Gentile religions. This knowledge enabled
him to attack heathen systems in their most
vulnerable points ; at the same time his
acquaintance with Roman Law was of no
little service in furnishing him with many
an easily intelligible analogy to make things
plain, and to formulate a constructive system,
appealing to men whose hearts he sought
to win.

The extent to which he is indebted to
it, is a matter of discussion (see page 59),
but it is unquestionable that various legal
metaphors, such as adoption, inheritance,
tutelage, slavery, manumission, were con-
secrated by him to the high office of con-
veying his doctrine and facilitating its com-
prehension by heathen minds, impoverished
of spiritual conceptions and strangers to the
novel truths he proclaimed.

As an illustration of this fact we may
refer to manumission from slavery. During
a lengthened period of Roman history, the
slave's whole earnings were the property of
his master. But gradually the hardship
was relaxed and it became a recognised
custom to permit the slave to retain, for his

SACRAL MANUMISSION 49

own use, his savings (peculium), or what was
given him as a reward for any special
services. His savings might accumulate till
he had sufficient to purchase freedom from
his master. Roman and Grsec^o-Roman law
employed various methods for manumission,
but that mode whereon St. Paul relies for
illustration of Christ's redemptive work is
drawn from Greek usage. Thus ''ye are
nc^your own, for yet were bought with a
price " (1 Cor. vi. 19, 20) ; '' Ye were bought
with a price ; become not bondservants of

ERRATA

Page 49j lirfe 5 from top, for " Grascl».Roman " read " Gr»co-

Roman."
Page 49, line 9 from top, for ^* ye are no your own, for yet were

bought with a price " read " ye are not your own, for ye

were boaght with a price."

,t*XJ.iK^ W

man, xne gou ucmg mo i/xkjvk.k.vkjj. t^^,
who might dispute his enfranchisement.

In his recent work, Light from the
Ancient East (p. 326 ff.). Professor Deiss-
mann supplies details of this mode from
the inscriptions and papyri, which are so
numerous that " the form must have been
extremely well known." He gives a typical
example.
5

48 KNOWLEDGE OF ROMAN LAW

i1
I
r
t

of spiritual conceptions and strangers to the
novel truths he proclaimed.

SACRAL MANUMISSION 49

own use, his savings (peculium), or what was
given him as a reward for any special
services. His savings might accumulate till
he had sufficient to purchase freedom from
his master. Roman and Grsec^o-Roman law
employed various methods for manumission,
but that mode whereon St. Paul relies for
illustration of Christ's redemptive work is
drawn from Greek usage. Thus "ye are
nc^your own, for yet were bought with a
price " (1 Cor. vi. 19, 20) ; " Ye were bought
with a price ; become not bondservants of
men " (1 Cor. vii. 23).

By this method of sacral manumission, a
slave paid to the temple officials the price
his owner had already agreed to accept. The
master having received the price, sold him
to the temple deity, not for the purpose of
serving his new fictitious purchaser, but for
manumission. Henceforth he was a free
man, the god being his protector against any
who might dispute his enfranchisement.

50 CHRISTIAN LIBERTY

"Date. 'N.N. sold to the Pythian
Apollo, a male slave named X.Y. at a price
of . . . minae, for freedom (or on con-
dition that he shall be free, etc.).' "

He shows convincingly that many hitherto
unsuspected passages have a background of
contemporary law and usage, for "in
numerous records of manumission the nature
of the newly obtained liberty is illustrated
by the enfranchised person's being expressly
allowed henceforth to ' do the things he
will.' St. Paul, therefore, is referring to a
relapse into servitude when he points to the
possible result of the conflict between flesh
and spirit with these words : ' that ye may
not do the things that ye would ' (Gal. v.
17). Numerous manumissions, again, ex-
pressly forbid, sometimes under heavy
penalties, that the enfranchised slave shall
ever ' be made a slave ' again. We now see
how wicked is the intention of those ' who
. . . spy out our liberty, which we have
in Christ Jesus, that they might bring
us into bondage ' (Gal. ii. 4). And we
understand warnings like these in the letters :
' For freedom did Christ set us free ; stand
fast therefore, and be not entangled in the
yoke of bondage' (Gal. v. 1). And the still
more moving exhortation : ' Ye were bought

A VEHICLE OF TRUTH 51

with a price, become not slaves of men'"
(1 Cor. xii. 23).

These are but a few of the examples that
might be quoted, for "all that St. Paul and
St. John have to say about freedom has this
background ; but, most important of all,
the frequently misunderstood conception of
redemption, i.e. buying off, and hence deliver-
ance (from sin, the law, etc.), belongs, as St.
Chrysostom knew and pointed out, to the
same complex of ideas." ^

Thus contemporary law became a possible
vehicle of Divine truth, arguments and
allusions were rendered effective and the
apostle was thereby materially aided to ex-
pound his system of doctrine, embodying
terms and conceptions appealing to the vast
majority of his readers : for there are,
perhaps, few important aspects of the
religious experience which do not find ex-
pression in his epistles by its means. It is
significant that in later days Theology and
Moral Philosophy " found in Roman Law
not only a vehicle of expression, but a nidus
in which some of their profoundest inquiries
w^ere nourished into maturity." ^

^ Light from the Ancient East, p. 331. The conception is
clearly seen in St. John's metaphor, " If the Son shall make
you free, ye shall be free indeed " (John viii. 2,^).

2 Maine, Ancient Law, p. 340.

52 POLICY OF ROME

It is needful to observe, apart from the
possibility of adapting prevailing conceptions
of jurisprudence so as to give expression to
spiritual truths, an atmosphere was created
by Roman rule and legislation, in which
there floated certain ideas, all tending to
render the pagan mind receptive of, and
favourable to, the novel truths proclaimed.

Roman power and Roman law were pre-
paring the civilised world as a fruitful soil
wherein the seed of Pauline theology might
be cast. For it was the deliberate policy
of Rome to familiarize conquered nations
with her legal conceptions and institutions.
This she effectively accomplished by means
of her colonies,^ whence her influence was
diffused amongst the conquered peoples.
The administration of Roman Law, in
vanquished provinces, was generally so wisely
and impartially carried on, that the natives
were at length won over to a union, which
ultimately produced an esteem for her law
and institutions. Rome infected the con-

^ The Roman ' coloniae ' had Httle in common with our
modern colonies. Cicero and Livy refer to them as
' prsesidia,' ' speculse.' They were eminently fitted to
achieve the purpose of the conquerors. Held by Roman
citizen-soldiers, they familiarized the conquered peoples with
Roman administrative ideas, and, in a word, were miniatures
of the central power at Rome.

POLITICAL BROTHERHOOD 53

quered states with a passion for the study
of her national intellectual pursuit. " Thus,"
Maine says, " it came to pass that the
inhabitants of distant provinces came to
rival the Italians themselves as masters of
the national jurisprudence."

Well-nigh fruitless would it have been to
proclaim the universal brotherhood, by which
saints on earth were to live as members of a
heavenly commonwealth, wherein " Greek
and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision,
Barbarian, Scythian, bondman, freeman "
(Col. iii. 2) were not differentiated, till
Rome had first educated the nations in the
conception of political brotherhood, breaking
down the barriers of national animosity
and exclusiveness, thus leading all to realise
a common citizenship ^ in a universal
empire.

^ During the early history of the RcpubUc those alone who
dwelt in Rome were citizens, all others were aliens (' pere-
grini '). Extension of territory and the Social War (b.c. 90)
brought about the recognition of a third class, 'Latini,'
with a modified grant of citizenship, and the franchise was
extended to all citizens of ItaUan federated states, and even
to Roman subjects who dwelt outside Italy. Gradually
restrictions became less and less rigorous, till in the reign
of Claudius (pb. a.d. 54) the franchise was largel}'' a matter
of price. Finally Caracalla, as a fiscal expedient, granted
the privilege to all freemen of the Empire, " In orbe
Romano qui sunt ex constitutione imperatoris Antonini
Gives Romani cffecti sunt " (Digest, i. 5, 17).

54 ADMISSION TO CITIZENSHIP

In the early days of the Repubhc, ad-
mission to the rights of Roman citizenship
was as strictly circumscribed as the privileges
of Judaism, but extension of franchise pro-
ceeded apace under the Emperors, whose
revenues were largely supplemented by the
fees ^ exacted for the franchise, till at length
the citizenship was extended to all free
subjects of the Empire. There was growing
up concurrently as the result of apostolic
labour,^ the Christian conception of a chtu^h,
not as a Kingdom subjugating the world,
but as a commonwealth gradually extending
its citizenship to other lands and races.
That conception is thus expressed by St.
Paul, " ye were at that time separate from
Christ, alienated from the commonwealth
of Israel, ... ye are no longer strangers
and aliens, but ye are fellow citizens with the
saints and of the household of God " (Eph.
ii. 12, 19).

Roman policy and Christianity were thus
working on converging lines — though with

^ 'E-ycb ttoXKov K€(paXaLOV rrjv TroKiTeiav ravTTjv €KTrjadfxi]v (ActS
xxii. 28).

2 Even at the time of St. Paul's death, " Christianity had
already entered ever}?- province bordering on the Mediter-
ranean from Sj^ria to Italy, with the exception of Thrace,
and had penetrated into the interior of Asia Minor as far
as Galatia." — Hastings, Ency. Relig. and Ethics, p. 628,
vol. i.

IDEALS IN CHRISTIANITY 55

different objects in view, for " one of the
most remarkable sides of the history of
Rome is the growth of ideas which found
their reahsation and completion in Chris-
tianity. Universal citizenship, universal
equality of rights, universal religion, a uni-
versal church, all were ideas which the
Empire was slowly working, but which it
could not realise till it merged itself in
Christianity." ^

As we look back across the centuries and
observe the frequent tokens of the Divine
approbation which rested upon the Apos-
tolic labours ; the amazing results which
followed them ; together with the destruc-
tion of Jerusalem, involving, as it did, the
breaking up of the Jewish community —
the one race which stood in solid opposition
to Christianity — we can but say, God has
placed his seal of approval upon the efforts
of the Apostle, and vindicated, not only
the methods adopted by him but also the
catholic interpretation of the Gospel, of
which St. Paul was the most renowned and
successful exponent.

1 Ramsay, Expositor, Dec. 1889, P- 40-'

CHAPTER IV

Two extreme views regarding St. Paul's employment of
legal conceptions — Brief sketch of institutions of Roman
Law — The Twelve Tables — Conservatism of the un-
enlightened community — Expansion of old strict law
becomes imperative — The agency of the Jurisconsults
— The Prsetor, as keeper of the Roman conscience —
Problems of Western theology congenial to Roman
mind — Contrast between Greek and Latin theology —
The family, the unit of society — Its artificial extension
— Reason for importance attaching to adoption —
Roman and Greek wills — Death eliminated from
conception of inheritance — Contrast between Roman
testament and its modern representative — Slavery
involved no rights — Law of Nature and law of nations —
A priori speculations of Stoics and theories of Juris-
consults.

There is no question as to St. Paul's obliga-
tion to the Imperial rule and administra-
tion, increasingly manifested as it is by the
course of modern investigation, but the
extent of his debt to principles and institu-
tions of contemporary law as a means of
expounding doctrine is a subject of dis-
cussion. Some have insisted that his re-
ferences are only of a vague nature, and
consequently appeal to them for exegetical
purposes must be barren of result. It is

58 TWO EXTREME VIEWS

needful, however, to recollect that these
references were employed in an age when —
for various weighty reasons, as we shall
presently see- -men attached the first im-
portance to a knowledge of their renowned
jurisprudence. Accordingly such allusions,
far from conveying an indeterminate signi-
fication, spoke forcefully and with an import
self-evident to his readers. Otherwise we
should be compelled to believe that the
Apostle's keen perception was at fault in
employing metaphors unfitted to facilitate
comprehension of his teaching.

Some writers have gone to the other
extreme ; Halmel,^ for instance, seeks to
prove that St. Paul was familiar even with
the profoundest technicalities of Roman
Law. No attempt is made in these chap-
ters to maintain this extreme and, as we
believe, mistaken view ; nor is it asserted
that the more carefal examination of these
references will unfold new truths, but it is
unquestionable that passages of the Pauline
Epistles, obscure to many readers, will im-
part a clearer signification and reveal fresh
aspects of truth, if examined in the light
of Roman Law, or its Hellenistic form.

1 Dr. Anton von Halmel, tJbey romisches Recht im
Galaterbvief.

FOUNDATION OF ROMAN LAW 59

As an aid to those readers who may have no
acquaintance with it, a brief sketch is in-
troduced and reference made, with somewhat
greater fulness, to the legal institutions
reflected in St. Paxil's Epistles.

The foundation of Roman Law rests in
large measure upon the Twelve Tables
(see p. 27), which, regarded as semi-sacred,
supplied for long a code of legal principles
regulating the life of the citizen. The
law^ of the Twelve Tables was strictly
limited in its application : except as a
special favour, no one outside the pale of
Roman citizenship was permitted to avail
himself of the benefits of Roman Law ;
for the citizen, like the Jew, was most
zealous in the maintenance of his ex-
clusive privileges. Had this exclusive ap-
propriation been maintained, Roman Law
might have become as great a hindrance to
the onward march of the Gospel as subse-
quently it becamiC an auxiliary, after its
extension to other nations. Notwithstand-
ing the conservatism of the unenlightened
community, which dreads change, the ex-
pansion of the Empire rendered it imperative
that Roman Law should be modified both
as to its principles and their geographical
application.

60 WORK OF THE JURISCONSULTS

To follow the course of its development
and extension, till it attained its maximum
scope, would carry us far beyond the
apostolic age. It will not, however, be out of
place to refer to the methods whereby the
ancient Roman Law, the pride and the
exclusive possession of the citizen, the envy
of the non-citizen, became, either in its
pure or Hellenistic form, of universal applica-
tion and practically coextensive with the
civilised world, a result involving momen-
tous consequences, in connection with the
propagation of Christianity throughout the
Roman Empire.

Expansion came about in the following
manner. First the Jurisconsults^ — who
may be compared to our professors of law,
but with no place on the Bench — stated their
opinions to their students, not only on
actual cases as they were submitted by
clients for their opinion, or were decided by
the magistrates in Court, but also on
imaginary cases suggested by themselves
or by their pupils, which might appear to

1 Cicero informs us of the high esteem in which their
profession was held, and students flocked in crowds to
receive instruction from them. He himself was taught by
the renowned Q. Mucius. Pupils passed through a regular
course of legal study, referred to in the Digest in the words
" instituere, audire, instruere."

THE TWELVE TABLES 61

have some connection with the former.
These opinions (sententice) on both real and
hypothetical cases, carefully recorded by
themselves or sometimes by their students,
so increased as to form a huge legal litera-
ture, and formed the major portion of that
great body of Civil Law which has been in-
valuable in the formation of European
systems of law. The older Jurisconsults
professed merely to explain the Twelve
Tables, but they contrived by liberal inter-
pretation to read into that ancient code
much more than the text contained. Thus
they enlarged its scope without offending
the susceptibility of men averse to change.
Amongst later jurisconsults were some of
surpassing genius, such as Ulpian, Julian,
and Papinian, and it is well-nigh impossible
to estimate at its proper worth the debt
owed to them by the majority of civilised
nations ; truly they are '' the great lights of
jurisprudence for all time," the fruit of their
work remains with us, but it is unsurpassed
either in form or matter.

Again, a further modification of the old
strict law was later achieved by the action
of the Praetor, who proceeded on different
lines. The amelioration of the old iron-
bound system, effected by him, was marked

62 HARDSHIPS OF ANCIENT LAW

by open departure from the older form of
Roman Law. One of his functions was to
provide opportunities for securing justice in
cases where non-citizens were involved. In
the performance of this duty he had con-
siderable discretion — although within certain
limits — and could decide as to when the
strict provisions of Roman Law should give
way to considerations of jus gentium and
equity {naturalis cequitas). He was per-
mitted to go even further and to found his
decision for altering the law on the basis
of the common weal {publica utilitas).
Thus in giving relief against the hardship
of the old law, he may be regarded as the
" keeper of the conscience " ^ of the Roman
people. In this task he was aided in no
small degree by the attention drawn to
the Law of Nature (jus naturale) by the
Stoics.^ Apart from the jurisconsults and
the praetors a good deal also was done by
legislation, which, during the Republic, was
enacted by the assembly of the Roman

^ The Roman innate sense of justice and reverence for law
is exhibited in the permission for ahens to pretend citizen-
ship, in certain cases of patent hardship, and so find a legal
remedy. Thus (Gaius, iv. 2)7)' " Item ci vitas Romana
peregrino fingitur, si eo nomine agat aut eum eo agatur, quo
nomine nostris legibus actio constituta est, si modo justum
sit eam actionem etiam ad peregrinum extendi."

2 See post, p yy.

LAW IN APOSTOLIC TIMES 63

people. This source of law was gradually
superseded during the early period of the
Empire by the ordinances of the Senate, from
which, or later from the Emperor, as repre-
senting the people, there proceeded such
enactments as that referred to in Luke ii. 1 :
" In those days, there went out a decree from
Caesar Augustus, that all the world should
be enrolled." At length the ordinances of
the Senate, termed " senatus consulta," were
wholly replaced by Imperial constitutions,
proceeding from the Emperor alone, as
supreme lawgiver. Our knowledge of the
Roman Law, as it existed in the time of
St. Paul, is largely derived from the Insti-
tutes of Gaius (his full name is unknown,
Gaius being probably his praenomen), a MS.
of which was discovered in 1816 by Niebuhr
at Verona. The lateness of this discovery
explains the paucity of references to the
legal features of St. Paul's epistles, by
writers prior to this date, as the Institutes
of Justinian, with which they were alone
familiar, did not represent the law as it
stood in apostolic days. Numerous changes
were made in the Roman Law by suc-
cessive Emperors, forms and institutions
in force in the age of St. Paul becoming
obsolete. When Justinian assumed the

64 WESTERN CHURCH

purple (527), Roman Law had long passed
the climax of its development, and within
six years the vast accumulation of legal
literature, proceeding from the sources we
have specified, was edited and published by
him with numerous amendments, adapting
the law to his own time, in his immortal
works, the Code, the Institutes and Digest,
The whole of the common law (so called
'jus'), collected into fifty books, is known
as the Digest or Pandects, a work which has
influenced in greater or lesser degree the
legal systems of most civilised nations.^ The
part played by Roman Law in connection with
theological discussion during the centuries
succeeding the time of St. Paul is important.
''Almost everybody who has knowledge
enough of Roman law to appreciate the
Roman penal system, the Roman theory of
the obligations established by Contract or
Delict, the Roman view of Debts, and the
modes of incurring, extinguishing, and trans-
mitting them . . . may be trusted to say
whence arose the frame of mind to which
the problems of Western theology proved so
congenial, whence came the phraseology in

1 Among others, legal codes framed by France, Germany,
Austria, Italy, and Spain are all based, more or less, on
Roman Law.

GREEK SPECULATION 65

which these problems were stated, and
whence the description of reasoning employed
in their solution." ^

Therefore it is not strange, in view of what
has just been stated, that subsequently the
Western Church assimilated the Pauline
theology with readiness, especially such
aspects of it as were cast in a forensic mould. ^
The contrast between the Greek and Latin
Churches gives point to this statement.
The theology of the Greek Churches was
largely tinctured by Greek Philosophy,
Eastern mysticism, and Judaism, for the
Oriental mind revelled in this wealth of
thought from divers quarters, and there
resulted a theology in which metaphysical
aspects were its prominent features. It is
equally true to say that the theology of the
Latin Church was coloured by the legal
attitude of mind which characterised the
West. While the speculative mind of the
Greek was chiefly engaged with such doctrinal
questions as the Godhead and the nature of
Christ, which it continued " defining with
still more exquisite subtlety," the practical

^ Maine, Ancient Law, p. 358.

2 Numerous forensic terms are emplo^-ed in the Pauline
epistles, e.g. biKaiovv, ' to declare rigliteous ' ; diKaicoais,
'the act of acquittal'; KaraKpina, 'sentence of condemna-
tion ' ; eyxaXeti/, ' to indict ' or 'summon to a court for trial.'
6

66 THE ROMAN FAMILY

bent of the Western mind was almost ex-
clusively occupied with such conceptions as
justification, moral obligation, transmitted
sin or liability, and satisfaction or atone-
ment. That was a result to be anticipated
in the case of men occupied solely with the
study of jurisprudence, in which alone their
intellectual activities found scope. In this
connection, Maine observes truly, " It was
impossible that they should not select from
the questions indicated by the Christian
records, those which had some affinity with
the order of speculations to which they were
accustomed, and that their manner of deal-
ing with them should not borrow something
from their forensic habits." ^

The Family, — According to Roman legal
conceptions, the family — not the individual
— formed the unit of society, and was com-
posed of those related exclusively through
males. ^ Accordingly, the family embraced the
eldest male ancestor — the ' Paterfamilias '
— as the head, his wife and all their male
descendants, together with their wives, un-
married daughters, and likewise adopted

^ Maine, Ancient Law, p. 358.

2 The modern and natural conception of kinship is based
on descent from the marriage of a common pair. Those
related thus — " cognati " — are to be distinguished from the
" agnati," related by the artificial tie described above.

ANCIENT HORROR OF INTESTACY 67

persons. The ' Paterfamilias ' possessed
despotic powers — ' Patria potestas ' — over
all the members, and in many ways he re-
sembled the head of the patriarchal family
of the Old Testament. He was the house-
hold priest, and maintained the family
worship. The Roman cultus was mainly
the worship of ancestors, whose spirits, as
protecting divinities, were supposed to haunt
the hearth and home. It was the filial duty of
descendants to supply them with food, which
was sacrificed to these spirits. If the ' pater-
familias ' died childless, there was no person
to perform this most necessary duty, for the
heir was reckoned to be the only one who
could fulfil the office. ' To die childless was
to leave the perturbed spirit of the father
without rest or food ; from the natural pro-
tector of his house he became a malignant
ghoul. The records of ancient law show
many traces of the absolute horror with
which the fathers of our race contemplated
their disconsolate state, if they died without
children and, by consequence, without heirs.' ^
This fact explains in large measure the
important place assigned to adoption, for
hereby a remedy could be found for the
catastrophe involved in childlessness.

^ Hunter, Introduction to Roman Law, p. 151.

68 IMPORTANCE OF x\DOPTION

Adoption. — This institution occupies a very
insignificant place in modern European life,
as supreme importance attaches to relation-
ship by blood ; but adoption was a most
important factor in the social and religious
life of the age with which we are here
concerned, and involved weighty conse-
quences. Roman sentiment and Roman Law
regarded an adopted son as standing in
the identical position of a son born in
marriage. The truth of this statement is
revealed by the fact that, during the
whole succession of the Caesars, there is no
instance of a father being succeeded by any
other than an adopted son. So completely
was an adopted person identified with his
new family, that the rules prohibiting inter-
marriage between certain degrees of blood
relationship, applied with equal force to him.
Accordingly Octavia, the daughter of
Claudius, was not permitted to marry Nero,
who had been adopted by her father, till
she was emancipated from the paternal
authority. Further consequences were in-
volved ; thus the right to be heir of the
adopting father was conferred from the
moment of the ceremony, a right as valid as
in the case of a son by birth. If he was the
only son, whether by birth or adoption, he

ADOPTION AND SONSHIP 69

became sole heir ; but if there were other
sons, he inherited as joint-heir with them.
All agnatic relationships with his previous
family were dead and completely severed ;
he acquired a new family, and in the eye of
the law lost his former ' caput,' involving his
recognition as another man, a new being
born into the w^orld. Accordingly, he relin-
quished his old name, assuming the ' nomen '
of his new father, and, renouncing his former
household deities, adopted the worship of his
new family.

The common method of transferring a
person from one family to another took place
in the following manner. In the presence
of five witnesses the person about to be
adopted was sold by his paterfamilias
three times. The reason being that the
Twelve Tables enacted that if a father
sold his son thrice he lost his paternal
right {' patria potestas '). A fictitious law-
suit then followed, whereby the person
to be transferred was surrendered to the
adopting father. But the final stages of an
adoption and of a sale into bondage were
very similar, hence the necessity for the
presence of witnesses to testify as to the
real intention of the ceremony. Otherwise,
in the absence of anything corresponding to

70 HEIRSHIP AND INHERITANCE

our modern legal deeds, misconception might
ensue ; after the death of the adopting father,
malice or envy might suggest that he who
had entered into an inheritance had no legal
right to possess it, being only a bondsman.
In such a case the adopted son would seek
judicial aid. In open court he would declare
' after the ceremony with the scales and
brass, the deceased claimed me by the name
of son. From that time forward he treated
me as a member of his family. I called him
' father ' and he allowed it. ... I sat at his
table where the slaves never sat ; he told me
the inheritance was mine.' But the law
required corroborative evidence. One of
the five witnesses was called. ' I was
present,' he says, ' at the ceremony. It
was I who held the scales and struck them
with the ingot of brass. It was an adoption.
I heard the words of vindication, and I say
this person was claimed by the deceased not
as a slave, but as a son.' ^ In accordance
with the testimony of the witness a judicial
decision followed, confirming the right of
the adopted son to the inheritance.

Heirship and inheritance, — The notion ex-
pressed by the maxim of English law, " nemo
est heres viventis " — no one is the heir of a

^ Ball, Contemporary Review. Aug. 1891,

THE HEIR AS A CHILD 71

living person— had no place in the early
Roman Law, for at the moment of birth — or
adoption — a son became the heir of his father.
In our day the person who will inherit by the
terms of a man's will has no immediate
interest in the property, which may at some
future time be his : the heir of St. Paul's
time was interested in the property of the
' Paterfamilias,' and reckoned to have been
previously proprietor {suns heres), even
during the lifetime of the father. Further,
an ' indissoluble unity ' was considered to
exist between the ancestor and his heir, for
the testator was conceived ' to live on in his
heir.' In the eye of law he survived, for
' the elimination, so to speak, of the fact
of death ' was a principle of pure Roman
jurisprudence. It has been suggested that
this fact explains the bold expression, ' heirs
of God,' and it is only our familiarity with
the words that disguises the remarkable
nature of a phrase implying succession to
the Eternal Father. St. Paul makes fre-
quent and effective use of the idea of spiritual
inheritance, e.g. " heirs of God and joint
heirs with Christ " (Rom. viii. 17). "If a
son, then an heir through God " (Gal. iv. 7).

Guardianship. — This was a method for
continuing artificially the Patria potestas

72 THE PR.ETORIAN WILL

over an heir whose Pater famihas was
dead, but who was not of sufficient age to
protect his person or deal with his inheritance.
The heir, though he might be the possessor
of great wealth, found himself in a position
little better than a slave, so long as subject to
tutelage ; but, once the guardianship deter-
mined, the inheritance was entirely under
his control. Accordingly, St. Paul writes,
'' So long as the heir is a child, he differeth
nothing from a bond-servant, though he is
lord of all ; but is under guardians and
stewards until the time appointed of the
father" (Gal. iv. 1 and 2).

Testaments, — The ancient Roman will pre-
sented a remarkable contrast to its modern
representative, since its chief purpose was
not so much to transfer property, as to
appoint an heir who might represent the
personality of his ancestor. This purpose
was, as we have already seen, a vital con-
sideration of the time. Further, the ancient
will in Rome was public, irrevocable, and
took immediate effect ; in a word, it re-
sembled a modern conveyance of property,
becoming operative in the moment of its
completion. Subsequently another form —
the Praetorian will — came into use ; in it the
features which characterised the older form

THE STATUS OF A SLAVE 73

disappeared, it became a private instrument
revocable by a later will, and taking effect
only after the testator's death.

But while the ancient form fell into desue-
tude in Rome, its peculiar features continued
— according to Ramsay — in wills made in
Greece and South Galatia. This distinction
has been employed to reinforce the argu-
ments in support of the South Galatian
theory (see Chap. X.).
// Slavery, — While not a few slaves in the
time of St. Paul owed their condition to
capture in war or the fact that they were born
in slavery, yet by far the greater number
were imported to Rome by agents who
scoured the nearer Asiatic countries, Spain,
Gaul, and Africa to maintain the supply.
Their numbers, on the most moderate
estimate, amounted to one-half the popula-
tion of Rome. Regarded as a mere
* animated instrument,' a useful chattel,^
legal writers classed the slave with animals
and merchandise. He was frequently be-
queathed by will, or a master might oblige a
friend by the loan of a slave, as we might

1 While St. Paul did not directly insist on the freeing of
the slave as a Christian duty, the abolition of slavery was
involved in his counsel to Philemon, to receive back the
fugitive slave Onesimus, not -as 'a slave, but more than a
slave, a brother beloved.'

74 THE STATUS OF A SLAVE

lend a horse ; and all his earnings belonged
to his master. A modern servant gives his
services for wages, he is free to relinquish his
work at the end of his term of service, and is
possessed of rights corresponding to those of
his master. The slave had no such rights,
nor did later legislation, for the purpose of
preventing cruelty to the slave confer any
legal rights ; it was merely an effort to
restrain cruel masters, akin to the object
of a modern society for the prevention
of cruelty to animals. Notwithstanding
his servile condition, his position compared
favourably with that of the modern slave
before emancipation, for he was frequently
in education and attainments the equal of his
master, and entrusted with duties, such as the
' schoolmaster ' (A.V.) ^ which demanded the
fullest confidence ; and instances of friend-
ship between master and slave were not
infrequent. A New Testament example
is furnished in the case of the Roman
centurion whose slave was healed by Christ
(Luke vii. 2).

1 His duty was to accompany the child to and from
school, to give moral instruction, and ' keep him out of
mischief.' Tindale's rendering of the original (naidaycoyos)
as ' scholemaster ' conveys a wrong impression, but the
original has no corresponding word in English. R.V.
translates ' tutor.'

' THE LORD'S FREEDMAN ' 75

St. Paul frequently employed the term
' slave ' to represent the Christian service.
'' If I were still pleasing men, I should not
be the slave of Christ " (Gal. i. 10) ; '' Epaph-
ras, a slave of Christ Jesus " (Col. iv. 12).
To the great majority of those to whom his
Epistles were addressed, the term ' slave '
{hovXo^) would not suggest the idea of
' servant ' in the sense noted above. Such
as were converts from the Grseco-Roman
world would undoubtedly regard the ex-
pression as implying ' slave.' Unfortun-
ately, in the Authorised and Revised Ver-
sions, ' servant ' is employed as a synonym
for the Pauline expression ' slave.' In
one passage the Revisers have ventured
to translate the word rendered in the
Authorised Version as 'servant' by 'bond-
servant,' i.e. slave, "for he that was called
in the Lord, being a bondservant, is the
Lord's freedman " (1 Cor. vii. 22). By
substituting ' servant ' for ' slave,' we
lose just that aspect of his life in which St.
Paul gloried, and which he would keep before
the minds of men. He claims no rights
against the Master who had bought him with
a price ; nor did he regard his high office,
even for a moment, as an honourable post
in his Master's kingdom, which he was free

76 THE LAW OF NATURE

to renounce at his pleasure ; for ' in this
abandonment of all human liberty, at the
feet of the Redeemer — in this utter surrender
of the right to his intelligence, his affections,
the employment of his time, and his property,
his movements from place to place, except
as his Master might command, St. Paul
found the true dignity and the true happi-
ness of his being as a man.' ^

The Law of Nature. — Allusion has been
made above to the assistance rendered by
the Praetor, in his task of simplifying and
extending the application of the old law,
with its numerous restrictions and in-
tricacies. At first the liberal policy of
the Praetor was possibly despised by the
Roman citizen. He would probably have
been content to permit the ' foreigner and
alien ' to resort to the tribunal of the
Praetor Peregrinus (who presided over the
Court dealing with cases in which, through
commerce, etc., foreigners were involved),
just as the Jew was prepared to allow ' aliens
to the commonwealth of Israel ' the enjoy-
ment of the benefits of Judaism to a limited
extent, so long as they confined themselves to
the portion of the Temple — the Gentiles'
Court — assigned for their use. But in-

^ Liddon, Sermon on Gal. i. lo.

INFLUENCE OF STOICS 77

creasing acquaintance with the simpler
Praetorian system convinced opponents of its
superiority, and finally won their admiration.
This change of attitude was due not only to its
recognised merits, but perhaps more largely
to the influence of the philosophy of the
Stoics. They taught that there was a code
of Nature prescribing to every man in every
nation the things which are right, prohib-
iting likewise what was wrong ; in a word, it
was a ' lex scripta in cordibus,' a law written
in the heart. Now the further the Romans
pushed their conquests, the more plainly
it was seen that amongst all the subjugated
peoples, however much their local customs
might differ, there was a certain substratum
of rules and principles common not only
to them, but to Rome herself. The Stoics
seized upon this ' notion of a law common
to the Romans with other nations and with
all mankind.' They termed it the ' jus
naturale.' Study of this subject suggested
to some of the Roman legal professors that
the law administered by the Praetor — and
called the ' jus gentium,' the law of nations —
was to be identified with ' the law of Nature '
of the Stoics. Thus the a priori speculations
of the philosophers and the a posteriori infer-
ences of the lawyers were conceived to have

78 GENESIS OF STOICISM

arrived at a common result. The lost code of
natm^e was held to have been rediscovered
and restored from the Golden Age. This
shallow identification satisfied the Roman
mind and stimulated the growing popularity
of the Praetorian law which, as we have
seen, largely superseded the old Quiritary
law.

In this connection it may be added many
have imagined that St. Paul was indebted
to Stoicism for not a few aspects of his
teaching. Undoubtedly there is a remark-
able correspondence, especially with the
ethics of Seneca, so that some have argued
that this Roman philosopher was acquainted
with St. Paul and with the New Testament : ^
Jerome, indeed, gives him a place in his list
of Christian authors ; but such assumptions
have been disproved by Bishop Lightfoot,
in his Philippians, The true reason for the
resemblance lies in the fact that Jewish
thought and Stoicism had much in common,
and it is exceedingly probable that the
genesis of the latter is to be found in
Judaism. The agreement was remarkable :

1 This is improbable ; but Ramsay sees, in the harsh treat-
ment meted out to St. Paul after the year 64, the removal
of a former ameliorating influence, which he traces to the
policy of Seneca, who was deprived of office in 62. Vide
St, Paul the Traveller ^ etc., p. 355.

ST. PAUL AND ' CONSCIENCE ' 79

belief in one great supreme Being ; the
impossibility of representing the Divine
nature by means of things material ; the
ultimate extinction of the heathen deities
and the existence of Providence {Trpovoia),
Such were some of the conceptions common
to Jew and Stoic. The correspondences
are so numerous and striking that they
cannot be regarded as mere coincidences
in thought. An example is afforded by
St. Paul's use of the term ' conscience '
{(Tvveihr)(7L<;), Apart from his use of the word,
it does not occur in the New Testament
except in the Epistle to the Hebrews and
1 Peter; and since it was not employed in
the Old Testament, the question naturally
arises, what origin, other than Stoicism, can
be assigned for a term of frequent applica-
tion by the Apostle, and yet one foreign to
Hebrew thought ? That he should have
been familiar with the doctrines of Stoicism
is not strange, as he must have had many
opportunities, during his early manhood,
of listening to the daily disputations of
teachers from the celebrated Tarsian school,
who invaded the market-place and streets
of his native city in their zeal for the pro-
pagation of their doctrines.

It has been suggested with much proba-

80 INDICTMENT OF GENTILE NATIONS

bility that St. Paul has in his mind the ' jus
naturale ' as he indicts Gentile nations (Rom.
ii.) ; for Theophilus — who wrote the early
paraphrase of the Institutes of Justinian —
informs us that by it, thefts, murder,
adultery and such crimes w^ere prohibited.
Thus it fulfilled for Gentile nations the
purpose accomplished by the Decalogue
for the Jewish people.

CHAPTER V

The most prominent feature of St. Paul's theology — The
doctrine of Justification new and yet not new — The
term, 'My gospel' — Justification involves subjective
spiritual processes — Problem for St. Paul to translate
these into current phraseology — Adoption, in English
sense, misleading — Relationship resulting from adoption
equivalent to tie of blood — The Fatherhood of God
a lost conception — Roman hatred of spirit of devotion
— St. Paul's pre-Christian experience enriched his sense
of sonship — The revelation of the purpose of the Law —
Fault found with the Apostle's method for expounding
sonship, because not natural — Comparison with Christ's
exposition of the idea.

During the period of his retirement after
his conversion, St. Paul, by profound in-
vestigation, had thought out under Divine
direction the relations and issues of the
revelation vouchsafed him by his Risen
Lord. The doctrine of Justification by
Faith,^ the most prominent feature of his

1 The interpretation of the expression ' to justify '
(dL<aiovv) occupies an important place in the distinction
drawn between Eastern and Western theology; according
to the former it generally signified to ' count or declare
just ' ; but the Latin Church regarded the corresponding
expression (* justificare ') as equivalent to 'make just,' thus
in effect including ' sanctification ' as involved in the term.

82 JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH

theology, was one of the fruits of this period.
The doctrine was new, and yet again was
not new ; for although in its ' technical
theological sense,' as employed in the New
Testament, it is not to be discovered in the
records of patriarchal times, yet the Apostle
brings us back to that germinal conception
which was as old as Abraham himself.
For ages the part played by faith in the life
of the Patriarch had been concealed and
obscured by the Law till its true import
was revealed to St. Paul, whereby the whole
current of his life was reversed.

No reader of what he termed ' my
gospel ' ^ can fail to observe the modes he
employs to state the spiritual issues of
justification by faith. Thus, "Ye are all
sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus "
(Gal. iii. 26) ; " God sent forth His Son . . .
that we might receive the adoption of
sons. And because ye are sons, God sent

The Pauline use of the term signifies, not the character
imparted to the justified man, but the ' footing ' on which
one may stand to another. On this distinction depends in
large measure the important place assigned to the conception
of * grace ' in the theology of the West.

1 Thrice he employs the phrase, ' according to my gospel '

(Kara to evayyeXLOv fxov), — his purpose waS, not tO suggest

it as ' antagonistic to the common faith of the Church, but
as complementary to and explanatory of it.' — Sanday and
Headlam, Romans, p. 433.

ISSUES OF JUSTIFICATION 83

forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts,
crying, Abba, Father" (Gal. iv. 4-6); and
again, " Ye received not the spirit of bondage
again unto fear, but ye received the spirit
of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father," ^
(Rom. viii. 15). Some have disparaged the
doctrine as tending to antinomianism ; but
those who do so, forget that it imphes
more than a mere claim to an interest in the
atonement on the ground of faith. It in-
volves subjective spiritual processes, verified
by his own experience, and out of that
experience he speaks. He anticipated the
objection of those who might disparage
the doctrine, for he realised that men might
rest content with its merely objective aspect,
and be satisfied with a claim to release from
condemnation through the vicarious sacri-
fice of Christ. Therefore he introduces the
figure of adoption to reveal that subjective
side of justification, in the absence of which
the atonement is shorn of its power, as a

1 It is noteworthy that ' abba ' (the * emphatic '
Aramaic word for ' father ') is only employed in the N.T.
in ' direct address ' to God. Such was Christ's use ; here
it is an utterance prompted by the Holy Spirit and directed
to the Heavenly Father. The double form probably
originated with Greek - speaking Jews, but it became a
hallowed expression by reason of Christ's example in
GeLhseman*.

84 AN ESSENTIAL CONCEPTION

dynamic for a life of holiness. So essential
was this conception for his readers, and so
potent and uplifting had he found it in his
own spiritual experience, that his ardent
nature was on fire to state the true and worthy
relationship to God in such terms as to find
a ready access to their minds. The rela-
tionship involved not only the filial spirit,
but a divine life, divine because kindred to
God's own nature and communicated by
Him. Thus St. John writes, " Behold, what
manner of love the Father hath bestowed
on us, that we should be called the sons of
God : and such we are " (1 John iii. 1, R.V.).
But how convey an adequate notion to
others, how translate the conception into
current phraseology ? That was the prob-
lem for St. Paul, and accordingly he sought
some analogy to facilitate his task. He
turned to the Roman Law and appropri-
ated the legal term ' adoption ' {vlodeala)^'^
for to his mind, and that of his readers,
the status resulting from adoption, far from
implying inferiority, was identical with son-
ship originating in birth, ^ '' Ye received

^ The term ' adoption ' is employed by St. Paul five
times in his Epistles. Once (Rom. ix. 4) it is applied to the
unique position of Israel as a nation ; elsewhere it refers to
the Christian's peculiar privileges.

2 The apostle does not deny, by the use of this illustra-

ADOPTION IN ENGLISH SENSE 85

not the spirit of bondage again to fear ;
but ye received the spirit of adoption,
whereby we cry, Abba, Father " (Rom.
viii. 15). Gilford's explanation, that he
coined the word expressly for his purpose,
is improbable in view of the very numerous
inscriptions incorporating the term ; but,
whatever its origin, as a metaphor it con-
veyed to minds familiar with the Roman
Law a wealth of meaning which to-day is
hidden from many readers of St. Paul.
English readers, unacquainted with Roman
Law, might be disposed to question the
aptness of the illustration ; the reason
being, they assume the Pauline reference
is to an adoption similar to, or identical
with, our custom of adoption. If he had
employed this illustration in the English
sense, it would have been a most unhappy
analogy, and for the following reason : ^^dth

tion, that all men may be designated * sons of God ' in a
restricted sense ; e.g. he quotes with approval to a heathen
audience, rod yap koX yevos eo-fiev (Acts xvii. 28), yet he
never fails to make clear that the regenerate man is a son
in a far more exalted sense than he who might be so termed,
because created by God. Such are * sons of God,' but being
under the dominion of sin, of each it might be said truly,
' he differeth nothing from a slave ' (Gal. iv. i). St. Paul
restricts the term vl6s to those who as ' sons of God '
through faith in Christ, have peculiar spiritual privileges.
Compare with this his use of yeVoy in the former quotation.

86 THE BOND IN ADOPTION

us a man receives a child into his house and
gives him a home and education ; but this
relationship is not founded on a law. The
arrangement — and it is nothing more — may
be broken at any moment ; the legitimate
hopes, raised high by temporary kindness,
may be dashed to the ground, and the child
returned to his former life and surroundings.
Public opinion m.ay have some weight,
but, certain minor legal rights excepted,
English Law, generally speaking, does not
recognise ' adoption ' as involving any
right on the part of the child. But the
Pauline analogy was founded on one of the
most cherished of the Roman institutions,^
fraught with most important and widely-
reaching results, both to the adopted person
and the father who had received him into
his family. A bond was formed which not
even death could sever. The adopter could
not, even if he would, evade the new
relationship, established by the ceremony
of adoption in the presence of the appointed
witnesses. The adopted person obtained a
right to the family inheritance ; and so close
was the new relationship conceived to be,
that the tie of blood was no stronger. A

^ For the importance attached to this institution, see
p. 67.

THE DIVINE PLEDGE 87

proof of this may be seen in the fact that
the rules prohibiting marriage between blood
relations operated equally to preclude
marriage where the relationship originated
in adoption.^ An English adoption, with
its elements of capriciousness, its liability
to sudden termination, its almost entire
immunity from legal sanction of any kind,
would have been a most unfortunate illus-
tration, since the object of the Apostle was
to awaken men to the full realisation of
their glorious privileges, to enable them to
comprehend the certainty, the closeness and
permanence of that bond which united God
to them as their Father, and them to God
as His sons ; to assure his readers that the
covenant which God makes with every
believer in Christ Jesus is not a capricious
undertaking, liable to be broken at any
moment, but a pledge to be observed by
Him in all its fulness, because grounded
on the Eternal Truth and Justice. This
deep spiritual concept was amongst the most
difficult of statement and translation into
current thought. Some idea of the difficulty

^ " Sed si qua per adoptionem soror mihi esse coeperit,
quamdiu quidein constat adoptio, sane inter me et earn
nuptiae non possunt consistere, cum vero per emancipati-
onem adoptio dissoluta sit ; potero earn uxorem ducere." —
Gaius. i. 6i.

88 TIMES OF IGNORANCE

may be formed by the recollection of the
fact that ' the average Christian ' of the
present day, with all the acknowledged aids
to the right conception of the filial spirit
and its blessed consequences set forth by
St. Paul, finds it no shallow task to grasp
his meaning.

But in the age when the Apostle wrote,
not only did the same difficulty exist, but
men had lost the idea of the Fatherhood of
God. The pagan conception of God varied ;
some regarded Him as no better, from the
moral standpoint, than themselves ; others,
' as a sternly pure being, extreme to mark
what was done amiss, who might give a
happier lot in another world in exchange
for ascetic self-torture in this, or for rigid
observance of a rule more exact than that
which He had Himself imposed.' During
the times of his ignorance, man ' had
learned to travestie and caricature to him-
self the nature and mind of God in a thousand
ways. The more unlike to God he became,
so much the more he thought wickedly that
God was even such an one as himself. To
the minds of the heathen in general, God
was no better than men, and would condemn
Himself if He condemned them . . . and
the utmost that could be done was to en-

A NEW CONCEPTION OF GOD 89

deavour to keep Him in good temper with
fair words and frequent offerings.' ^

To men with such impoverished and un-
worthy notions as these, St. Paul endeav-
oured to bring the noble conception of
sonship with the Heavenly Father, and
none had greater need than those that dwelt
within the confines of the Latin world.
Their religion, the lineal descendant of the
cult of ancient Latium, was, as Renan well
says, a pitiful thing, presenting such a
conception of Deity that one more false is
nowhere to be found, — a conception that rose
no higher than the State, which was the
true god of Rome. If prayer was offered,
there was no necessity for any moral quali-
fication, for the Deity was compelled, not
by the fitness of the applicant, but by the
fact that all due forms had been carefully
observed. Nay more, if feelings of devotion
should happen to be aroused, such must be
immediately suppressed, for that would be
a defect in a religion which placed ' calm,
order, and regularity ' before all else. Men
were to yield what was due to the gods, but
anything more than this exceeded what w^as
strictly due and became ' superstitio,' — a
thought to the Roman mind as hateful

^ Mason, Faith of the Gospel, p. 174.

90 ST. PAUL'S DISCOVERY

as the spirit of scorn, which ignored the
gods.

Accordingly, to such peoples, possessed
during the ' times of ignorance ' of this
false and pitiful notion of Godhead, St. Paul
brought the new conception of God as
Father, and men as sons of God. Although
there had been amongst the heathen writings,
adumbrations of this magnificent truth as
the Apostle declares, when on Mars Hill he
quoted with approval the words of the poet
Aratus, his fellow-countryman, " For we are
also His offspring " (Acts xvii. 28), yet such
were but the faint glimmerings of the coming
dawn.

But, further, that new-found knowledge
of the Fatherhood of God, and the sonship
of believers, was enriched by his peculiar
pre-Christian experience, and prepared him
in a remarkable way, by the contrast, to be
a worthy exponent of the truth he was so
keenly concerned to communicate to others.
The most important moment in the spiritual
life of St. Paul, next to his conversion, was
that when there flashed upon him the full
significance of the commandment, " Thou
shalt not covet " (Rom. vii. 7). The force
of this word has, in the original, " a wider
sense than our ' covet ' ; it includes every

AN IMPOSSIBLE STANDARD 91

kind of illicit desire."' Concerning other
commandments he could say, " All these
have I kept from my youth," since they
related only to external matters of conduct.
As a Pharisee he was not concerned with
the surging passions and appetites within
the heart ; the state of his motives, feeling,
or will aroused no anxious solicitude ; nay,
of their importance in the spiritual life he
was ignorant, and therefore he could truly
say, " I was alive apart from the law once "
(Rom. vii. 9). But St. Paul stood on the
threshold of a new discovery. In the
moment when the significance of this par-
ticular commandment, "Thou shalt not
covet," stood revealed to his conscience, a
new dimension for him was added to the
Law. Hitherto he had known its length and
breadth, now he knew its depth ; lusts,
passions, evil desires, had formerly aroused
no spiritual concern within him, now he
learnt that " the world of iniquity within "
must be taken into account.

This new insight convinced him of two
facts. First, that the Law which had been
his boast, and whose demands he had fondly
imagined he had perfectly fulfilled, con-
demned him, its most devoted adherent and

1 Vide Sanday and Headlam, Intevnat. Grit. Com. p. 179-

92 TRUE PRINCIPLE OF SERVICE

follower ; and again, he was persuaded that
acceptance with God by means of the Law
was impossible, for he testifies, " By the
works of the law shall no flesh be justified
in His sight " (Rom. iii. 20). How intense
the anguish of his soul when suspicions
concerning his boasted religion refused to be
silenced, when secret misgiving was rein-
forced by the testimony of those he per-
secuted and by the witness of Stephen !
Nay more, the impossible standard receded
further from attainment as he became
conscious that by the perversity of his
human nature the Law suggested disobedi-
ence. " Sin, finding occasion, wrought in
me through the commandment all manner
of coveting " (Rom. vii. 8). But the dawn
of a new hope was night at hand, and
brightened into the light of day as soon as
the Divine purport of the Law was manifest
to his conscience, namely, to prepare the
heart to welcome the new principle of life
and sonship in Christ Jesus. His transition
from despair to hope, from servitude to
filial relationship, he thus describes, " A
Deliverer has come, and I can only thank
God, approaching His Presence in humble
gratitude, through Him to whom the deliver-
ance is due — Jesus, Messiah, our Lord."

CHRIST AND SONSHIP 93

The great spiritual discovery at length is
his, that men are sons of God ; — not by the
physical act of circumcision, entailing a
servile obedience, but through faith in
Christ Jesus, which ushered in the new
spiritual relationship, " For ye received not
the spirit of bondage again unto fear ; but
ye received the spirit of adoption, whereby
we cry, Abba, Father."

Fault has been found with St. Paul on the
ground that the method employed by him
to expound sonship conveys the idea of a
relationship which, emphasizing the external
bond of union, is not natural, whereas son-
ship as Christ presents the idea, for example,
in the parable of the Prodigal Son, is neither
artificial, nor is it restricted by such limi-
tation. He taught His disciples, too, to
regard God as " our Father " and address
Him as such : — a formula subsequently em-
ployed by all His apostles as their ' dis-
tinctive method of addressing the Deity ' —
thereby authorising the use of a term
connoting relationships that are frequently
unrecognised. For although His relation
to the Father is unique, He did not intend
His disciples to regard the relationship
expressed by " our Father " as quite of a
different character from His own ; and for

94 A NEW REVELATION

this reason the sonship of such disciples to
God, ' is a participation of His own unique
relation to the Father.' Otherwise, if en-
tirely different from His, we should be com-
pelled to regard our Lord's presentation of
sonship to God as artificial and unreal. The
manifestation of this truth during His
earthly ministry was impossible, and had
necessarily to await the advent of the pro-
mised Revealer.

The conception of the fatherhood of God,
though clearly recognized in the Old Testa-
ment, was limited, as it lacked the note
of universalism expressed by Jesus, and so
different are the proportions assumed by
the doctrine in the New Testament that it
may be said, they amount almost to ' a new
revelation.' Jesus gave the new and needed
impulse : ' if the idea of the fatherhood of
God was to retain its highest qualities of
warmth and intimacy, and was at the same
time not to be the privilege of a chosen few,
but was to be brought home to the common
consciousness of mankind.' ^

To disparage the Pauline method of state-
ment is, so to speak, to slight the reflected
light, because it does not equal the brilliancy
of that from which it borrows its diminished

1 Hastings, Did. of Bib., art. ' God.'

ADOPTION IN PAULINE THEOLOGY 95

radiance. The Only Begotten, who was in
the bosom of the Father, neither had nor
could have any interpreter of His absolute
knowledge who might pass on undimmed and
unimpaired to man the knowledge He alone
possessed. We may be certain that none
were more conscious than the Apostle of the
measure by which the figure of adoption fell
short of the ' genial presentation ' of sonship
by Christ. Nevertheless it plays an im-
portant part, not only in the Pauline theology,
but in the devotional literature of the Church,
amply repaying a careful examination of the
ideas involved.

CHAPTER VI

- Heirs of God ' — A remarkable phrase — Explanation sup-
plied by Roman Law — Julius Paulus quoted — Father
and son as joint-proprietors of family property — Limi-
tation of right to disinherit — Purpose of Divine
Testament not to disinherit, but confirm a right —
Seeming incompatibility of sonship and present
suffering — Roman testamentary law contemplated not
only rights, but duties — Christ and His joint-heirs —
- The adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.'

A MATTER for discussion arising naturally
out of the subject of adoption is Heirship —
a legal metaphor of effective use and frequent
occurrence in the Pauline Epistles. Thus,
"the Spirit Himself beareth witness with
our spirit, that we are children of God :
and if children, then heirs ; heirs of God,
and joint-heirs with Christ ; if so be that
we suffer with Him, that we may be also
glorified with Him " (Rom. viii. 16, 17).
Again, " because ye are sons, God hath sent
forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts,
crying, Abba, Father. So that thou art no
longer a bondservant, but a son ; and if a
son, then an heir through God " ^ (Gal. iv. 6, 7).

^ A.V. has 'an heir of God through Christ.' ^lu \pia-Tov
is probably an interpolation, depending on Rom. viii. 17.
8

98 ' HEIRS OF GOD '

But having established the reaUty of son-
ship, to which fact the indwelhng Spirit
bears witness by infusing fihal impulses,
proper to the new relation of sonship to
God, St. Paul proceeds to show that
the adoption of grace involves further
privileges, for believing men are thereby
' heirs of God.' That is an expression
with which we are so familiar, that its
peculiarity escapes the ordinary reader.
The peculiarity consists in the following
fact.

According to English Law, heirship con-
notes death, the death of the father to whom
the son succeeds ; but God is eternal, hence
at first sight this phrase, 'heir of God,'
strikes a reader as being unwarranted and
absurd. Let us examine the phrase. We
shall first take the expression 'heirs of
God ' as it is commonly understood by an
English reader and consider the two con-
clusions involved. According to our law, a
man may have, during his lifetime, an ' heir

' Through God ' is a somewhat peculiar phrase, signifying
the inheritance comes to men, neither through merit, nor
the law, nor kindred with Abraham, but through the
redemption effected by God. The idea of heirship has the
imprimatur of our Lord (Matt. xxi. 28). In O.T. times it
referred to the possession of the Promised Land, but in the
N.T. it embraces those privileges associated with the name
of the Messiah.

THE ETERNAL INHERITANCE 99

presumptive ' or an ' heir apparent,' but,
strictly speaking, he can have no heir. It
is death, the death of the ancestor, which
brings the heir into existence/ Hence we
find that, according to the common interpre-
tation, the absurd deduction is involved,
that God, like man, is capable of death ;
for, as we have seen, without the death of the
person from whom he inherits, the heir does
not exist. We pass from that preposterous
conclusion to the only other alternative.
By it we are obliged to assume that the
Apostle employed the expression in a manner
both vague and pointless. Such an assump-
tion would be entirely at variance with the
precise and logical methods of the writer,
and, moreover, would defeat the very pur-
pose he had in view, namely, to bring home
to the hearts of his readers the certainty
and indefeasible nature of the eternal inherit-
ance to be shared with Christ our ' joint-
heir.'

This remarkable phrase, ' heirs of God,'
implying succession to an Eternal Being,
cannot be satisfactorily explained by the
principles of our law ; but the fact that the

^ Blackstone, on Title by Descent, says, ' By law no
inheritance can vest, nor can any person be the heir of
another till the ancestor is dead.'

100 CONCEPTION OF INHERITANCE

Apostle was employing the conceptions of
Roman jm'isprudence to formulate his
theology, removes our difficulty. ' Heirs '
and ' inheritance ' in St. Paul's days im-
plied the very reverse of the conceptions in-
volved in the modern use of these terms. A
person did not then await the decease of the
man whose son he was ; in the moment he
was born, or constituted a son by adoption,
he then became an heir.

A further difference to be observed in the
principle which obtained in Roman Law
has been well put by Sir Henry Maine. He
compares the Roman conception of inherit-
ance to the notion expressed by our legal
maxim, 'the king never dies,' and so the
testator was conceived to live on still in his
heir. ' In the pure Roman jurisprudence,
the principle that a man lives on in his heir —
the elimination, if one may so speak, of the
fact of death — is, too obviously for mis-
take, the centre round which the whole law
of testamentary and intestate succession is
circling.' ^ Thus birth, not death, accord-
ing to Roman Law, brought the heir into
being.

Applying these facts to the figure ' heirs
of God,' we perceive a new import and a

^ Maine, Ancient Law, p. 190.

A SUBLIME DESTINY: : ^^^^

loftier meaning. No longer does the ex-
pression seem forced or unwarranted. Birth,
not death, is the incident which initiates the
happy condition of an ' heir of God.' The
new birth into the family of God, through
faith in Christ Jesus, is the foundation of
the right to inheritance. Our claim to
sonship rests upon the new relationship
established, " Ye are all sons of God, through
faith, in Christ Jesus " (Gal. iii. 26). i'

The phrase " heirs of God and joint-heirs
wath Christ " involved a destiny so sublime
that sober minds might well regard the
promised heritage as purely visionary. But
as no mere enthusiast St. Paul declared,
" I am in a strait betwixt two, having a
desire to depart and be with Christ ; for it is
very far better " (Phil. i. 23). For, having
proved his Master's present promises, he
was fully assured of those to come, and all
that intervened between him and the in-
corruptible inheritance was but

" The lifting of a latch,
Naught but a step into the open air
Out of a tent already luminous
With light which shines through its transparent folds."

By the familiar figures ' heir ' and ' in-
heritance ' he would bring to other hearts
an assurance like his own.

102 FATHER AND SON JOINT-OWNERS

Just as the very novelty and sublimity of
the glorious truth no doubt caused some to
question its reality, so assuredly many readers
to-day fail to apprehend precious aspects of
the same truth on account of erroneous inter-
pretation, or overlook them by reason of
familiarity with the terms.

We find in the Digest (28-2-11) a quotation
of which Julius Paulus (the Jurist) is the
author, that a sort of co-partnership existed
in the property possessed by the family, and
thus the father and his children were joint-
owners of the family estate. ' When, there-
fore, the father dies it is not so correct to
say that they inherit his property, as that
they acquire the free control of their own.' ^
A curious feature of Roman Law bears out
this fact. Throughout the records of Roman
history, and even in the time of Justinian,
who abolished so much of the older law, the
rule was universally observed that if a father
wished to disinherit his sons, adopted or
otherwise, he must do so in express terms. ^
If he failed to do this, the will whereby he
had attempted to give the inheritance to

^ Post mortem patris non hereditatem percipere videntur,
sed magis liberam bonorum administrationem consequuntur.

* " Sed siquidem films a patre exheredetur, nominatim
exheredari debet : alioquin non videtur exheredari." —
Gaius, ii. 127.

PURPORT OF DIVINE COVENANT 103

others was absolutely void, and the children
inherited notwithstanding the will, the reason
being, as above stated, the law regarded the
children as already, before the death of
the father, co-proprietors in that inherit-
ance.

Now the whole purport of God's covenant
with men in Christ is not to disinherit, but
the reverse, to assert, to confirm their right.
Human purposes may change, but there is no
dualism in the counsels of God. Thus, " if
ye are Christ's, then are ye Abraham's
seed, heirs' according to the promise"
(Gal. iii. 29). 7

Those to whom St. Paul wrote, being fully
conversant with the legal aspects of heirship,
apprehended the lofty conception set forth
in these figures and the spiritual prerogatives
portrayed. They thereby realised the il-
limitable inheritance— though for a time its
enjoyment was deferred— as already a posses-
sion of the child of God. They were not
mere expectants, but possessors in reality
of the eternal inheritance ; already, here and
now, they were partners with God in the
Divine patrimony. It is noteworthy that

1 Not " heirs " of Abraham ; that was the Jew's contention
but " heirs" of God, in agreement with the statement as in
Gal. iii. 26.

104 THE VALIDITY OF SONSHIP

St. Paul asserts this privilege of spiritual
inheritance, in close connection with his
statement of the incarnation and its purpose,
"that we might receive the adoption of
sons." The Son of God became the Son
of Man in order that men might become the
sons of God ; — a spiritual status involving
inheritance, for " if children, then heirs ;
heirs of God, and joint-heirs together with
Christ " (Rom. viii. 17). But how are we
to reconcile all this with the low estate of the
present ? Such exalted honour and privilege
might appear to be incompatible with the
trials, the temptations, " the sufferings of
this present time." By sad experience we
know that the evils consequent upon previous
sin are not annihilated by the pardon
granted in sonship, and the child of God
is therefore sometimes tempted to suspect
the validity of his sonship ; but the Holy
Spirit, in His office as a witness, enables the
heir of God to look upon these consequences
in a different light. Formerly he regarded
them as penal, ' emphasizing his separation
from God,' but now he sees them in the light
of a spiritual discipline, the purport of which
is to bring a closer union between the Father
and His child. He who thus interprets the
' mystery of suffering ' and so reconciles it

A STAGE OF EXPERIENCE 105

with the love of God in Christ, can truly
say—

" And so I live, you see,
Go through the world, try, prove, reject,
Prefer, still struggling to effect
My warfare ; happy that I can
Be crossed and thwarted as a man,
Not left in God's contempt apart.
With ghastly smooth Ufe, dead at heart." ^

Universal suffering does not belie the sublime
destiny, for it is only a stage of transitory
experience which must precede attainment
of the heritage of glory. The apparent in-
consistency vanishes in the light of this
figure, " if children, then heirs ; heirs of
God, and joint-heirs with Christ ; if so be
that we suffer with Him, that we may also
be glorified with Him."

This does not refer to sorrow in general,
which comes to all, whether children of God
or not. The ' suffering ' here intended is
that arising from our union with Christ ; such
suffering ' must be involved in our being
one of His members.' This is but the
Pauline setting of St. Peter's assurance,
"but insomuch as ye are partakers of
Christ's sufferings, rejoice ; that at the
revelation of His glory also ye may rejoice
with exceeding joy " (1 Pet. iv. 13). Roman
^ Browning, " Easter-Day."

106 LIABILITIES OF HEIRSHIP

Law did not contemplate — any more than
our present law — an inheritance as involv-
ing only rights and privileges. The heir
was responsible for any liabilities affecting
the inheritance, as well as for the per-
formance of any duties which the adopter
might choose to place upon him.

Thus co-heirs, according to Roman Law,
were invested with a liability to the claims
upon the inheritance to which they suc-
ceeded. It would be manifestly unjust to
permit one co-heir to accept all the benefits
and at the same time to refuse the liabilities,
thus casting all the burden upon the other
co-heir. So we cannot expect to share the
glory with Christ and reject the suffering
entailed, for " faithful is the saying : If we
endure, we shall also reign with Him "
(2 Tim. ii. 11 and 12), and to suffer with
Christ is but an evidence of our oneness
with Him. It is only by our sharing in the
inheritance of suffering and service, of
whatever kind it may be, that we can
finally hope to be sharers in the heritage
of glory. ' We must bear the charges with
Him, if we would also share the emoluments.'

But the certainty and value of the inherit-
ance encouraged the Roman heir to sustain
the burden of such liabilities as might be

' WAITING FOR OUR ADOPTION ' 107

involved in the inheritance. So, too, the
child of God can say, " I reckon that the
sufferings of this present time are not worthy
to be compared with the glory which shall be
revealed to us-ward " (Rom. viii. 18). The
right and title to the eternal inheritance is
indefeasible,^ so that the ' co-heir with
Christ ' can declare, ' to disinherit me is to
disinherit my co-heir Christ ; for His title
and mine are joined together in an indis-
soluble bond of co-heirship ' ; according to
the title, we are " children of God, and if
children then heirs : heirs of God, and joint-
heirs with Christ."

In close connection with the benefits
flowing from sonship by adoption, St. Paul
refers to what some have conceived to be
either a different type of adoption or a
contrasted and perfect spiritual state, in
the words, " not only so, but ourselves also,
which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even
we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting
for our adoption, to wit, the redemption of
our body " (Rom. viii. 23). But neither
of these explanations gives the true sense

^ Compare with this the maxim of Roman Law, ' semel
heres semper heres ' ; the inheritance might be forfeited
for certain reasons, e.g. if the heir refused to observe the
terms of the will, but this was the exception to the general
rule.

108 REDEMPTION OF THE BODY

of the passage ; for the Apostle ' is not
here contrasting an inward state already
relatively perfect with an outward state
which has not yet participated in the
spiritual renewal. The Apostle means : We
ourselves who, by the possession of the
Spirit, have already entered inwardly into
the new world, still groan because there is a
part of our being, the outward man, which
does not yet enjoy this privilege.' ^

In our present circumstances we have
only the firstfruits of the Spirit, comprising
" love, joy, peace, longsuffering, goodness,
faith, meekness, temperance " ; but the
glorious inheritance which pertains to the
sons of God will not be realized in all its
fulness until the resurrection, when, " con-
formed to the body of His glory," the
faultlessness of the outward man will be
vmited to the holiness of the believer's
redeemed spirit, whereby the physical part
of the adopted son of God shall have been
placed on an equality with his spirit, and
when body, as well as spirit, shall have
become participators in Redemption. While
there is no doubt as to the fact of our pre-
sent adoption, nevertheless, so long as the
physical side of our nature is not a partici-

1 Godet, Romans, vol. ii. p. 97.

TESTIMONY OF ST. JOHN 109

pator in the redemptive process already
enjoyed by the spirit, just so long we may
be truly said to ^' wait for our adoption."

Thus there is no inconsistency in the
statements, but, according to the particular
aspect of sonship which occupies the Apostle's
mind, he refers at one time to the inheritance
as already in possession, and again as in the
nature of an expectancy. A similar char-
acteristic may be observed as the Apostle
treats of salvation ; at one time he regards it
as a thing already complete, and again as a
conception of a spiritual fact only to be
perfected at the Parousia. The question
may be asked what is the nature of the
inheritance to w^hich the Apostle refers ?
We can only reply in the words of Scripture,
"it is not yet made manifest what we shall
be " ; but this we do know, ' Christ admits
all His brethren to share alike in that in-
heritance which He has won, not for Himself,
but for them.' The testimony of St. John,
though expressed in another setting, is in
full accord with that of the Apostle to the
Gentiles, " We know that, if He shall be
manifested, we shall be like Him " (1 John
iii. 2).

CHAPTER VII

St. Paul's fondness for legal expressions — The Holy Spirit
as a witness — Adoption to be distinguished from
Justification — Result of failure to comprehend the
spirit of sonship — Reason for presence of witnesses —
Solidarity between the Pauline and Johannine ex-
position of subjective experience — Does the present
popular conception of the Divine nature call for
readjustment ? — Testimony of the Church of England
and Nonconformity— Cause for the present decline of
the religious sentiment — The problem for the Church
to-day resembles that confronted by St. Paul.

The fondness of St. Paul for illustration
drawn from legal sources has been enlarged
upon by Professor Deissmann in his Light
from the Ancient East, in which he gives a
series of most interesting examples. Many
of these have only recently been identified
as involving legal ideas, through discoveries
of papyri, ostraea, and other ancient remains.
But surely none was more apt than the
reference to the witnesses — w^hose special
fimction is described below— in the ceremony
of adoption. The Apostle employs the
figure to illustrate the testimony borne by
the Holy Spirit to the Christian conscious-

112 THE HOLY SPIRIT AS WITNESS

ness. " The Spirit beareth witness with
our spirit, that we are the children of God "
(Rom. viii. 16).

Now, all who are justified by faith in
Christ are undoubtedly the sons of God,
but it is equally true that all have not the
consciousness of sonship : the lack of which
is one of the causes of a type of servile
Christianity, alas ! only too common and
fatal to the spirit of Christian liberty.

Adoption in this sense — the believer's
consciousness of sonship and its resulting
filial spirit — is to be distinguished from
justification. The act of justification is
objective, and should be, but is not always,
followed by that normal Christian experience,
the subjective spirit of sonship. Where
that spirit of conscious sonship is present, it
confers an ennobling assurance, inspiring
every thought and action of the child of
God. But many a believer in Christ, be-
cause he has failed to realize the full con-
sequence of his adoption into the family of
God, is dwelling in a land of sombre shadow,
and needs but to see his blessed privilege in
order to pass into an unclouded clime. Our
Lord describes the Prodigal, in the parable
related by St. Luke, as one who conceived
he would return to the paternal home in the

RESTORATION TO SONSHIP 113

capacity of a servant ; but his father had
other intentions, and all his future services
were to be rendered, not as a servant, but as
a son. Another aspect, according to Christ's
presentation, was the fact that the sinner,
debased by his grievous sin and alienated
by his own act from his father, is graciously
accepted and restored to the full privileges
of sonship, just as if he had never forsaken
his father's home and love. Adoption is the
Pauline figure for setting forth the same
truth.

For a man to know he is justified by a
Divine operation is indeed good, but there
is, as we have seen, a further accession of
spiritual knowledge, not always attained,
namely, the persuasion of filial relationship,
of exalted privilege, and he who fails to
attain this spirit is depriving himself of a
precious comfort and encouragement which
is his by right, and ought to be his in posses-
sion. " The sin of the world is a false
confidence, a careless, complacent taking
for granted that a man is a Christian when
he is not. The fault, sorrow, and weakness
of the Church is a false diffidence, an anxious
fear whether a man be a Christian when he
is. . . . Many Christians go through life
with this as the pervading temper of their
9

114 PERVERSE INGENUITY

minds— a doubt sometimes arising almost
to agony, and sometimes dying down to
passive, patient acceptance of the condition
as inevitable, — a doubt whether, after all,
they be not, as they say, ' deceiving them-
selves ' ; and in the perverse ingenuity with
which that state of mind is constantly
marked, they manage to distil for themselves
a bitter vinegar of self-accusation out of
grand words in the Bible, that were meant
to afford them but the wine of gladness and
of consolation." ^ Thus the state of son-
ship which every Christian possesses is one
thing, the rarer spirit of conscious and
assured sonship is another ; but the Divine
intention is plainly revealed, that every
believer should be the happy possessor of
both ; " God sent forth His Son . . . that
we might receive the adoption of sons."
And " because ye are sons, God sent forth
the Spirit of His Son into your hearts,
crying, Abba, Father " (Gal. iv. 4-6). The
faith in Christ whereby men become " sons
of God " is normally accompanied by love
to Him, in a greater or lesser degree. It
is the response of the heart to the prior love
of God, as expressed by St. John, " We love,
because He first loved us " (1 John iv. 19).

' Maclaren, Exposition on Epis. to Romans^ p. 136.

THE BELIEVER'S LOVE 115

But while this love to God on the part
of the believer is a new spiritual attitude, a
new experience kindled within — neverthe-
less it may not afford conclusive evidence
to him that he is indeed entitled to reckon
himself a son of God. But there is a further
witness proceeding, not from the believer's
own heart, but from God Himself, for it is
one of the functions of the Holy Spirit to
testify, " The Spirit Himself beareth witness
with our spirit, that we are children of
God" (Rom. viii. 16). This he effects by
the assurance of God's love for the indi-
vidual soul, which is the complement of the
believer's love to God; for when the sense
of God's love has been '' shed abroad in our
hearts through the Holy Ghost which was
given unto us " (Rom. v. 5), perplexity
concerning the real relationship to God
vanishes in the presence of the witnessing
Spirit.

At every ceremony of adoption, witnesses
were necessary, and the raison d'etre of their
presence, according to the institutions of
Roman Law, was to bear testimony, should
the need arise, concerning disputed points.
For example, it might be necessary to seek
further evidence as to the intentions of the
principal parties to a transaction, dealing

116 FUNCTION OF THE WITNESSES

with the transference of a person from one
family to another, i.e, from the " potestas " ^
of one individual to that of another. There
was a stereotyped form of words employed
for the adoption of a son into a new family,
and a very similar form for a very different
object, namely, the sale of a person into
slavery. The actual form of words in both
cases was so similar, that in the absence of
special precautions, misapprehension might
occur. Now the special function of those
witnesses who were always present on such
occasions was to safeguard the real intentions
of the parties, otherwise a case of adoption
might be construed as one of slavery, and
vice versa. In the event of misapprehension
or opposition, one of the witnesses was
summoned, and a judicial decision obtained
in accordance with his testimony. The man
who affirmed that he was an adopted son,
whose claim to the privileges involved in
sonship had not been disputed, and another
man whose disputed claim had been upheld,
might have equal rights to sonship and to
inheritance, but the very opposition to
the claim introduced a new species of
evidence, that of the witness, which was
unanswerable and undeniable. The adopted

1 See p. 6j,

SUBJECTIVE EXPERIENCE 117

son was confirmed in his right, and no longer
could questions arise.

Now the Spirit had borne witness with the
spirit of St. Paul, and from that subjective
experience he declared, " because ye are
sons, God sent forth the Spirit of His Son
into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father." The
solidarity to be observed in the Johannine
and Pauline exposition of this inner sub-
jective life of Christianity is noteworthy ;
according to the former, " Whosoever be-
lieveth that Jesus is the Christ is begotten
of God " (1 John v. 1), in perfect accord
with St. Paul's more technical statement :
both insist on the fact that sonship to God
results from union with Christ by faith.
Both writers also appeal to the corroborative
evidence within, laying stress upon the
value of the inner witness, the testimony
of the Spirit : "As many as are led by
the Spirit of God," says St. Paul, " they
are the sons of God." This finds its
equivalent in the Johannine phraseology,
" If we receive the witness of men, the
witness of God is greater. . . . He that
believeth on the Son of God hath the
witness in himself " (1 John v. 9-10),
thus expressing the spirit of his Epistle,
which, so far as the subjective experience

118 NEED OF READJUSTMENT

is involved, was the complement of his
Gospel.

St. Paul recognised the need, amongst
his readers, for a noble and inspiring, a
worthy and constraining, conception of
man's relationship to God ; and as we reflect
on the present popular conception of the
Divine nature, the thought forces itself on
us whether a problem similar to that which
exercised the mind of the Apostle has not
arisen in our day. On all sides we hear
the melancholy confession that the sway
which religion exercises over the minds of
men is fast diminishing. It is not that the
methods employed to retain the religious
allegiance are not sufficiently varied, nor are
the efforts feebler than in other days, but
the subject prompts the question, " May not
the prevailing notion of the Divine nature
and the Divine Law too, require readjust-
ment in the minds of men ? " In Apostolic
times it was necessary to combat erroneous
conceptions and perversions of the truth.
History repeats itself, and the dark repellent
view of God as a stern Ruler and Judge,
whose austere severity had alone been tem-
pered by the clemency of the Saviour,
was responsible for the low tide of religious
life and fervour during the eighteenth and

POTENCY OF CALVIN'S TEACHING 119

the earlier half of the nineteenth century.
The potency of Calvin's teaching had not
yet been exhausted, but men were beginning
to rebel against his portraiture of the Eternal
Father as One who has prescribed for multi-
tudes of His dependent creatures an endless
doom/ But the dawn of a new and a
loftier conception concerning the Divine
Fatherhood was at hand. " That God was
a Father to men flashed out like a new dis-
covery. A speaker in Parliament actually
referred with admiration to ' what had
recently been called in beautiful language,
the Fatherhood of God.' The term is now
so familiar to us that we find it difficult to
imagine that fifty years ago it could strike
men as new. It was an old truth that had
slept and awaked ; and when once pointed
out, it was seen to be everywhere in the
New Testament." ^

We live in days when the pendulum has
swung to the other extreme, and men ascribe
to God a character analogous to that of a
good-natured, complacent man, whose weak-
ness is that he condones a wrong, rather than
troubles to vindicate himself and assert the

1 For a brief but striking account of the result of modern
Calvinism in New England, see Alexander's Primary
Convictions, pp. 318 and 319.

^ J. A. Robinson, Camb. U?iiv. Sermons.

120 PENAL CONSEQUENCES

right. When the conception is abroad that
punishment is alien to His character and
that His justice is overthrown by His love,
men will make light of sin. Withdraw the
conception of penal consequence, and the
Divine law, having lost its constraining
power, becomes mere advice which men are
free to treat as they please.

There are, alas ! multitudinous evidences
that many have reached an alarming stage
of indifference to the Divine claims upon
them, a state similar to that attained by
those who conceived that the Gospel of God's
love furnished a licence to sin, and to whom
St. Paul thus referred, " Shall we sin, be-
cause we are not under the law, but under
grace ? " (Rom. vi. 15). That the fear of
God is fast becoming enfeebled, is the testi-
mony both of the Church of England and
Nonconformity. This result has followed,
we believe, in great measure from the mis-
understanding of the ' love of God.'
The ' fear ' of God is compatible with our
love to Him and His love to us, but both are
needful. The heart of a child is filled with
love to an affectionate father, and the
greater the love, the greater the dread of
grieving him whom he loves. But let that
child begin to conceive that a weak good

RELIGIOUS SENTIMENT 121

nature animates his father's attitude towards
him, then those worthy and ennobhng senti-
ments of veneration, homage, and deference
will be supplanted by a frame of mind
capable of repudiating all parental claim on
loyalty and service.

The cause of the lamentable decline of the
religious sentiment may be traced to the
divorce of two eternal qualities in the Divine
nature — justice and love — which, if the
religious life of the nation is to be main-
tained, can never be separated. "It is
true — eternal truth — that God is love. But
it was easily misinterpreted in an unworthy
sense by those who could not distinguish
between love and mere good nature. For
those who did not know that in reality we
fear most the person we love most and who
loves us most — that reverence and love are
inseparable : for those who could not under-
stand that love is very jealous and demands
complete surrender, and therefore that the
holy love of God is awful and constraining :
for such the notion grew that God was too
kind to punish. The fear of God was
weakened : the strain of duty was relaxed :
a softness came over religion : it might
attract, but it had lost its power to compel." ^

^ J. A. Robinson, Canib. Univ. Sermons.

122 PRESENT POPUIAR CONCEPTION

False as was the Calvinistic conception of
former days, tending to a spiritual bondage,
equally false is the present popular concep-
tion tending to licence. That attitude to-
wards religion is widely extending, and the
remedy is not to be found in ceaseless
reiteration of dogma, but in bringing back
to the hearts of men the truth that the fear
of God is a necessary element in all worthy
service and worship, and that those of whom
it is true, " there is no fear of God before
their eyes " (Rom. iii. 18), have attained the
climax of human depravity and wickedness.
It is a power which is never absent in a true
revival of religion, a power which St. Paul
employed with studied purpose : " Knowing
therefore the fear of the Lord, we persuade
men " (2 Cor. v. 11). While it is true that
fear is cast out by love, as St. John informs
us, yet there is a reverent awe which cannot
be eclipsed by love without disastrous con-
sequences to the religion of the individual.
The problem for the Church to-day is the
same as that which confronted St. Paul,
when he sought to adapt his message to the
comprehension of the toiling masses, the
humble artisan, the soldier, and the slave.
The words of the writer quoted above are to
the point : " The gospel needs translating

ST. PAUL ADAPTS HIS MESSAGE 123

into the language of the masses ; it must
be brought within the range of their ideas ;
must at least understand their preposses-
sions ; must be recommended by illustra-
tions taken boldly from their manner of
life : This was St. Paul's method ; it is
worth adoption to-day.^

^ Stud. Bib., vol. iv. p. 13.

CHAPTER VIII

The office of the Law — Figure of heir under age — PauUne
conception of the Law aroused intense hostihty in
Jewish circles — This attitude had its roots in past
history — Reforms of Ezra — Dominating hope of Juda-
ism in past (Captivity) era — Apocalyptic Hterature and
its purpose — The claim that the world was created
for Israel — The suicide of national hope involved in
St. Paul's attitude — Baptism of Cornelius implied a
principle of universal application — St. Peter's in-
consistency— Condition of the Jew under the Law
illustrated by tutelage — Jewish conception of God —
Advent of Heir of all things.

St. Paul was the first to realize, or rather to
expound, the purport of the Law of Moses
from the standpoint of Christianity. He
perceived that while it afforded no effectual
remedy for the deepest needs of humanity,
it fulfilled a most necessary, thougli subor-
dinate, office during the spiritual minority
of the Jew. It supplied a preparatory
discipline, and by requiring a perfect obedi-
ence, to which men found by sad experience
they could not attain, it thus revealed
their moral helplessness, and by intensifying
the consciousness of sin, prepared them to

125

126 GUARDIANSHIP INDISPENSABLE

welcome the principle, " The righteousness
of God by faith." But all this involved its
temporary nature and ultimate abrogation.
Could any figure be more apt than that
drawn from the condition of an heir under
age, subject to guardians and stewards till
he had learned to value the liberty destined
to be his, at the time appointed by the father ?
" So long as the heir is a child, he differeth
nothing from a bondservant, though he be
lord of all ; but is under guardians and
stewards until the time appointed of the
father " (Gal. iv. 1, 2). The analogy, like
any other relating to Divine things, is not
applicable in all its details, and it is possible
St. Paul was not referring explicitly to any
one system of law, but had in contemplation
a ' sort of abstraction ' of the principles
common to tutelage. In its main features,
however, it was strikingly applicable. Thus
the limitations imposed on a minor were not
intended as, nor indeed could be, permanent.
So too the spiritual minority of " children
in bondage under the rudiments of the
world " must terminate in the fulness of
time. Again, the system of ' guardians and
stewards ' was indispensable for the child
under age. So also was the Divine plan
for the spiritual nonage of the sons of God.

EMANCIPATION FROM LEGALISM 127

But when the temporary yet indispensable
purposes was fulfilled, the heir — no longer
in a condition hardly distinguishable from
that of a bondservant, scarce knowing why
he must yield obedience, unconscious of
his father's intention concerning him, and
ignorant of the value of his inheritance —
entered into enjoyment of the paternal
provision for his future and the liberty of
full manhood. So those emancipated from
the disabilities of legalism entered into the
glorious liberty of the children of God. As
reference is made in Chapter X. to the
legal terms involved in the analogy, we
confine ourselves here to consideration of
the causes for the intense hostility aroused
in Jewish circles by the Pauline conception
of the Mosaic Law. That conception is
reflected in the above passage.

The origin of this hostility is to be
sought in times long anterior to the age of
St. Paul. It is therefore necessary to revert
to certain national movements amongst the
Jews, developed as far back as the days of
Ezra and Nehemiah, who may be regarded
as the real founders of Judaism. What is
recorded of Ezra is true of Nehemiah :
he '' had set his heart to seek the law of the

128 EXPRESSION OF JEWISH PIETY

Lord, and to do it, and to teach in Israel
statutes and judgments " (Ezra vii. 10).
They impressed not a section only, but the
whole nation, with such a sense of the
sanctity and importance of the Law, as had
not hitherto existed ; so that its former
neglect was replaced by a passionate regard
and intense devotion. Thus " legal ob-
servance remained from the time of Ezra
until long after the Christian era as the
universal expression of Jewish piety." ^
The Prophets were relegated to a secondary
place, and the Law regarded " as a com-
plete system by which men should live." A
policy of isolated national life was in-
augurated, and marriage with alien races
was prohibited. In the absence of the
monarchical system the priestly class was
in the ascendant.

The principles inculcated were responded
to with alacrity, for the remnant which
returned with Ezra represented a people
purged of elements which might weaken the
national cause. Those with feeble faith
in Jehovah and the triumph of His cause
had been absorbed into heathenism, but
the residue were animated by qualities giving
rise to those later features of Judaism,

^ Gamble's Spiritual Sequence of the Bible, p. 57.

UNFULFILLED PROPHECY 129

"bitter zeal and exclusive temper." The
inner spring of this national movement was
the strong hope of a liberator, through whom
the Gentile would be humiliated, and ven-
geance meted out to the oppressors of the
people of God.

But the special aspects of this national
reformation began to be obscured, and pre-
pared the way for that phase of Judaism
which ushered in the Maccabean period, with
its zealots, urged on by an undying resistance
to Rome, and animated by the firm convic-
tion of a universal Jewish theocracy ; for the
spirit of Judaism was transformed between
the return from the Captivity and the time
of Christ.

For a time this revival of the Law satisfied
the national hope, but at length the severity
and continuance of Syrian and Roman
oppression forced the conviction that the
restoration of a Davidic kingdom was no
longer possible. Further, unfulfilled pro-
phecy concerning God's gracious purpose
for man caused trust in the ideas of the
Prophets to wane. During the two centuries
preceding the Christian era a remarkable
development took place in Hebrew literature.
Apocalyptic writings took the place of
prophecy, to which they were akin. Under

130 APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE

the name and guise of some hero prominent
in Hebrew history, such as Enoch, Moses,
Daniel, or Baruch, this Hterature, based on
famiUar writings, giving a ' new turn ' and
another interpretation, was accepted as offer-
ing a solution of what hitherto had been
enigmas in God's providential dealings with
His people. Amidst their visions and ob-
scure symbols, these writers, adopting a
wider outlook than the Prophets, insist on
the final vindication of God's promises to the
nation.

Now in this literature is to be discovered
one of the causes for the intense hostility
exhibited by the Jew to the attitude adopted
by St. Paul towards the Law and towards
the Gentile world. The sufferings Israel
had long endured at the hands of relentless
enemies soured the spirit of the nation.
One of the hopes which sustained the
people was the confident expectation of
the downfall and appalling retribution
foretold by the Apocalyptic writers as
the doom in store for the hated Gentile
oppressor. Was he to be admitted to the
cherished privileges of Israel ? Were the
long-drawn-out sufferings of the nation
to be ignored by a spiritual amnesty con-
ferred on those who had degraded and

A LONG HISTORICAL SEQUENCE 131

humiliated God's chosen people ? The
thought to the Jew from any quarter was
intolerable ; and doubly so, proceeding from
one regarded as a renegade and apostate
from the national faith/

It is only in recent years that the import-
ance of this literature has been recognized.
Its purpose was to uphold the national
faith during a protracted period of trial,
which its authors sought to achieve by pre-
senting the adverse experiences of the people
as the " long historical sequence " necessary
to the fulfilment of the consummation they
confidently asserted.

These facts serve to explain those alter-
nations in the popular sentiment towards
our Lord. Was it fondly imagined that He
was manifesting His power as the expected
Liberator ? Then the people would " take
Him by force and make Him a King." Did
He appear by some other aspect of His

1 The Jewish contemporaries of St. Paul regarded God's
covenant as indissoluble, and one from which He could not
recede. The belief is exhibited again and again in the
Apocalyptic hterature. It was claimed that the world was
created for Israel. According to the Jew, " he and his people
alone were the centre of all God's action in the creation and
government of the world." As for Gentile nations, they
were of no consequence whatsoever, and were compared to
spittle. These facts illustrate the striking declension, in
St, Paul's days, from the conception of the Prophets,

132 FOUNDATION OF NEW KINGDOM

ministry to contradict the cherished idea ?
Then they were ready to join in the cry,
" Crucify Him." That same spirit con-
fronted St. Paul, as he proclaimed a spiritual
empire whose bounds and influence should
far exceed the most sanguine expectations
of the enthusiasts, by making the Gentile,
equally with the Jew, a participator in a
universal blessing. Of those to whom he
preached, some, renouncing the materialized
notion of an earthly Kingdom, accepted
the conception of a spiritual Kingdom — not
conditioned by racial prerogatives or cere-
monial observances, but based on " right-
eousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost " ;
most, however, were repelled, and clung
with redoubled vehemence to the old con-
ception.

The attempt to turn the tide of popu-
lar misconception necessarily involved the
wounding of Jewish racial pride. Institu-
tions, dearer than life itself, were challenged
when St. Paul asserted : " It is not he who
has the outward and visible marks of a Jew
who is the true Jew ; neither is an outward
and bodily circumcision the true circumcision.
But he who is inwardly and secretly a Jew
is the true Jew ; and the moral and spiritual
circumcision is that which really deserves

SENSE OF RACE PRIVILEGE 133

the name." ^ The Jew, conscious that such
doctrine involved the suicide of his cherished
faith, threw himself into opposition, for
thereby, "at a stroke, the feeling of race,
which had been matured through ages of
struggle and persecution, and had become
a part of the deepest passions of the Jews,
was to be done away, and there was to arise
a new Israel, a fresh people of God, set aside,
not by blood, but by a living relation to
God." ^

Thus amongst the Jewish Christians there
were some in whom the acceptance of the new
faith had not obliterated the sense of national
pride and race privilege, to which reference
has just been made. They conceived that
the principal modification of their ancient
faith, introduced by Christianity, consisted
in the acceptance of Christ as the promised
Messiah, and the fact that He had made
atonement for their sins, by His death on the
Cross. Had they been content to retain
Jewish practices for themselves the subse-
quent controversy with the apostle might
never have arisen, as he did not require
Christians of Jewish birth to cease living as

1 Sanday and Headlam's paraphrase, Crit. Com., Rom. ii.
28, 29.

2 Gardner, Growth of Christianity, p. So.

134 A UNIVERSAL PRINCIPLE

Jews. But they insisted that Gentile con-
verts should pass through the portals of
Judaism by observing the rite of circum-
cision. So long as the converts were mostly
drawn from Judaism there was little
evidence of the coming controversy, but
when Gentiles became believers in such
numbers " as bid fair to swamp the old
disciples," and when they realized that St.
Paul's exposition of the Law and the doctrine
of the Atonement involved the abrogation,
not only of circumcision, but Mosaism as a
whole, the reactionary party among the
Jewish Christains threw themselves fanatic-
ally into an attempt to undermine the
Apostle's influence and recapture for Judaism
his Gentile converts. Accordingly, when St.
Paul returned to Antioch he found that
certain " false brethren," representing the
extreme Jewish party at Jerusalem, had
initiated amongst his converts a retrograde
movement towards Judaism. Now the ad-
mission of Cornelius, the Gentile, into full
communion with the Church at Jerusalem,
accompanied, as it was, by evidences of
Divine direction and approval, had clearly
embodied a principle of universal applica-
tion to Gentile Christianity — namely, that
the observance of the Mosaic Law was not

PAULAS AUTHORITY CHALLENGED 185

incumbent on the non- Jewish beUever ; but
these reactionaries repudiated the principle
involved, and regarded his admission as an
exceptional case, entirely unrelated to the
question at issue.

Arguments also were not wanting to per-
suade the Gentile converts of St. Paul to re-
nounce their new found Christian liberty.
Thus the Law of Moses had a Divine origin,
God had formed His covenant with "Abraham
and his seed " ; Jesus was of the seed of
Abraham, and not only did He observe that
Law, but He and His disciples submitted to
the rite of circumcision ; the only teacher
adverse to this position was one, neither
called to the apostolate during the earthly
ministry of Jesus, as were the Palestinian
apostles, nor able to produce letters of
commendation to prove he was authorised
by the Church at Jerusalem. Such argu-
ments were not without result in seriously
disturbing the peace of the Churches and
undermining the faith of the converts. It
was therefore resolved to send St. Paul to
Jerusalem to secure a final decision from
the leading apostles there. Although they
formally decided to support him in his
assertion of Gentile Christianity, much op-
position proceeded from those members of

136 PERILOUS TIMES FOR NEW FAITH

the extreme Jewish party present at the
Council. Notwithstanding this decision,
they continued to embarrass and misrepre-
sent St. Paul's work throughout the Gentile
Churches.

The magnitude of the peril to Gentile
Christianity may be gauged by the fact that
even St. Peter was carried away by their
specious pleading, for, although at Antioch
he associated himself freely with uncircum-
cised members of the Gentile Church, yet
when reproached by messengers from Jeru-
salem, he separated himself from them and
inconsistently abandoned the liberal attitude
previously adopted. This inconsistency,
amounting to virtual rejection of the Council's
decision, added force to the plausible argu-
ments of the Judaisers.

These were, indeed, perilous times for the
new faith ; and had St. Paul relaxed his
efforts, that grand conception of a universal
Church, whose gates were opened to all
believers, might have remained for ages a
mystery still hidden from the sons of men.
It was at this crisis he wrote his Epistle
to the Galatians, vindicating his authority
and proving the Law to be, not a final
ordinance, but merely a preparation for the
Gospel of Christ. He sums up in a sentence

PRE-CHRISTIAN STATE OF ISRAEL 137

the grand distinction between Judaism and
Christianity : " But I say so long as the
heir is a child, he differeth nothing from a
bondservant, though he is lord of all ; but
is under guardians and stewards until the
time appointed of the father." Hence
the spirit gendered in the Jewish race
while under tutelage, a spirit leading the
nation to regard God as afar off, " So
distant that He could have nothing to do
with it, except through angelic inter-
mediaries, so majestic and awful that men
were afraid to pronounce His name, and
spoke of Him and to Him by circumlocution ;
a Divine taskmaster who imposed a heavy
burden of legal obligation which men bore
in a spirit of slavish fear ; — such was the
pre-Christian state of even God's chosen
people of Israel." ^

Such unworthy conceptions of God, how-
ever pardonable in those of the older dis-
pensation, could have no place when " the
term appointed " by the Divine Father had
arrived. The former condition of tutelage
had terminated, for the Heir of all things
had entered on His rightful inheritance, in
Him emancipation had been achieved for
all believers. St. Paul has nothing to say

^ A. B. Bruce, Sermons.

138 GALATIAN FOLLY

against the Law as such, for it is "holy, and
the commandment holy, and righteous, and
good " (Rom. vii. 12) ; indeed, so far as its
special office in the Divine plan of salvation
was concerned, he would have been the
first to vindicate its use and worth, but con-
trasted with the Gospel it was imperfect and
inadequate. Its office only continued while
the childhood of the race was not ready to
enjoy freedom, when rules of conduct had
to be rigidly enforced, and while " principles
could not be nakedly and argumentatively
enunciated."

The Galatians failed to see that a discipline
fitted for children could not be permanent,
and ignored the fact that its purpose was
but the preparation for the Kingdom of God
proclaimed by Christ. St. Paul's protest
against their folly was founded on his own
spiritual experience ; he knew that the
temporary dispensation had gendered within
him unworthy and imperfect notions of God
and His service, as distinguished from the
liberty and gladness of sonship, now attained
through the advent of the Heir." In Christ
they had attained their spiritual majority, the
temporary functions of the Law, figured by
'' guardians and stewards," had ipso facto
come to an end. They were entitled to the

SPIRITUAL MINORITY 139

exercise of freedom and liberty, untram-
melled by restrictions which, however im-
perative during a spiritual nonage, were no
longer needful. " Wherefore then serveth
the Law ? " the Apostle demands, for their
action was a reversal of the natural order,
a re-entrance of the full-grown man into
minority, with restrictions and limitations
proper to a state of childhood.

CHAPTER IX

Reason for introducing figure of ' a man's covenant ' —
Jewish notion that the Law existed before Patriarchs —
No interruption in principle of Faith from the age of
Abraham — New Testament use of terms * covenant '
and * testament ' — The Roman will revocable during
life and operative at death — Use made of this fact by
author of ' Hebrews ' — The Greek will irrevocable —
The Mosaic law introduced as an innovation — Contrast
between law and promise as to mode whereby given —
Progressive revelation not from Law to Faith, but
" from faith to faith " — Permanency of principle of
Faith manifests immutability of God's design.

The words, " though it be but a man's
covenant, yet when it hath been confirmed,
no one maketh it void, or addeth thereto "
(Gal. iii. 15), carry St. Paul's great contro-
versy a stage further. In the previous
chapter he had sought to emphasize the
temporary nature of the law by the figure
of the child under age. Here he deals with
a different aspect, namely, the permanence
of God's original covenant, the immutability
of the Divine promise to Abraham. The
cause of the dispute may be of little interest
to some, but we cannot be indifferent to
the debt we owe the Apostle for guiding the

142 ANCIENT FAITH RENOUNCED

primitive Church through the greatest crisis
in its history, when Judaism seriously threat-
ened to make its way into the new faith.
As we picture him standing ahnost alone
' against the world,' facing simultaneous
attack from nearly every centre of his work,
all the while persecuted and misrepresented,
renouncing the ancient faith, ' while the
gospel of complete salvation by faith in
Christ was yet unproved,' we recognize
liim as the foremost champion of Christian
liberty, who by his hard-won victory has
made the whole world his debtor. Had
he been unsuccessful, the scope of its appeal
must have been limited to a single nation,
and the design of Christianity as a universal
religion frustrated.

The Epistle to the Galatians was written
during an acute stage of the controversy with
the extreme Jewish party, who regarded his
attitude towards the Law as revolutionary.
Though they had accepted Christianity, they
still continued to be Jews. To admit Gentiles
to the high privileges of the commonwealth
of Israel on the terms maintained by
St. Paul, was keenly felt by them as a dis-
paragement to their race and a profanation
of cherished privileges. " The question at
issue was whether heathens, having become

ANALOGY OF THE ' COVENANT ' 143

Christians, were to be required to become
Jews likewise, and that as a matter of
essential principle to concede this was to
make void the grace of God and the faith
of man." ^

But when Jewish emissaries entered into
the Pauline Churches, and by insisting
on the necessity of circumcision imperilled
the simplicity of the Gospel, the apostle
realized that it w^as imperative to defeat
their efforts, by demonstrating the true
relation in which Mosaism stood to the
principle of Faith. St. Paul purposed,
by introducing the following analogy, to
convince his opponents of God's eternal
purpose in the Covenant of Promise, and
demonstrate the subserviency of the Law
to it, for " a covenant confirmed beforehand
by God, the Law, which came four hundred
and thirty years after, doth not disannul,^
so as to make the promise of none effect "
(Gal. iii. 17). Thus he shows that God did
not establish two collateral covenants or

^ Hort, Jiidaistic Christianiiy, p. loo.

''The translation, "the law . . . cannot disannul"
(A. v.), is misleading. A testator had power to abrogate a
former will by a later one. R.V. translates (ovk aKvpoi)
" doth not disannul." The distinction is material, as the
Apostle was seeking to prove the Law could not be placed
on an equality with the Promise to Abraham, otherwise it
would have been abrogated by the Law.

144 THE PRINCIPLE OF FAITH

testaments ; for if the Law is placed on equal-
ity with the Promise, contradiction is in-
volved, making "the Promise of none effect."

It was not easy to convince the Jew of the
relative inferiority of the Law. His imagi-
nation had been at work to buttress the
cardinal position he assigned to it, and the
opinion has been expressed with much
probability, that St. Paul's reference to
the later origin of the Law was prompted
by the fact that, according to Jewish teaching
of the day, the Law did not originate with
Moses, but had existed even before the
Patriarchs, and was observed by them." ^

In dealing with this subject he cut to the
quick Jewish pride of race and national con-
ceit, but the demonstration of the secondary
importance of the Mosaic Law was neces-
sarily involved in his theology. Not only was
it a cause of bitter opposition on the part
of the Jew, but it gave rise to questionings
and perplexity to Jewish Christians. For
he asserted that during the whole range of
religious experience from Abraham to Christ,

^ Vide Thackeray's Law of Moses and Paul, p. 6i.
" Adam, it was said, e.g., was circumcised and observed the
Sabbath . . . the Book of Jubilees illustrates this tendency.
The Jewish feasts, according to that book, were instituted by
Abraham and Jacob, and the whole of the Mosaic Cere-
monial was observed by the Patriarchs."

A BIRTH ^ AFTER THE SPIRIT' 145

the principle of faith was embedded therein,
notwithstanding the divinely given Law of
Moses, and that principle had provided the
method of man's acceptance with God from
the time of its institution with the Patriarch.
He introduced the allegory of Hagar and
Ishmael to reinforce his argument, by which
he would remind his opponents that while
Abraham was father of both Isaac and
Ishmael, yet from the spiritual standpoint
they were sons in a very different sense.
Ishmael was a son * after the flesh,' his birth
presenting no feature of Divine intervention,
yet far otherwise was the birth of Isaac ;
it was foretold, it was not in the course of
nature and depended on the faith of Abra-
ham. In short it was a birth * after the
Spirit.' The Jew was in full accord so far,
but the apostle's conclusion was hateful
in the extreme as he proceeded to identify
the covenant at Sinai — not with Isaac —
but with Hagar and Ishmael, thus tracing
the boasted spiritual ancestry of the Jew
to ' the bondwoman and her son.'

Now the Pauline doctrine on this subject
suggested the questions — the continued
validity of the first covenant being asserted
by the Apostle — why should not the second
maintain its authority too, since it was

146 GOD'S COVENANT UNALTERABLE

equally a Divine ordinance ? Did not the
fact that the Mosaic Law, instituted 430
years ^ after the Abrahamic covenant, imply
that the covenant was superseded by the
law ? Nor did the opponents neglect to
urge that Abraham, upon whose spiritual
relations with God the Apostle had founded
his argument, was himself circumcised.

St. Paul appeals to the principles which
govern the ordinary dealings between man
and man. " I speak after the manner of
men." By analogy drawn from mere human
affairs he discloses the baselessness of sucli
arguments, either against the Law of Faith
or in favour of the continuing validity of
the Ceremonial Law ; for if " a man's cove-
nant " once confirmed is incapable of sub-
sequent alteration, a fortiori God's covenant
of promise is unalterable.

Considerable perplexity has been occa-
sioned by the New Testament use of the
terms 'testament' and 'covenant,' for
though they differ so greatly in meaning

^ The statement above, as to a period of 430 years inter-
vening between Abraham and Moses, — which agrees with
the Samaritan Pentateuch and the Septuagint, — has been
questioned. According to the Hebrew text of Exodus the
interval was considerably longer; even if this was so, it
does not affect the Apostle's position, it merely reinforces
the argument.

AN AMBIGUOUS TERM 147

to the modern mind, they are translations,
of one and the same word ' diatheke '
(BtaOyKij) in the original Greek. In the
Revised Version the word ' testament ' is
rejected in favour of ' covenant,' except
in Heb. ix. 16 and 17, where it occm-s
twice, and at ver. 15 the Revisers, realis-
ing the difficulty, insert a marginal note,
"the Greek word here used signifies both
covenant and testament." The original of
the term ' covenant ' in the Old Testament,
is the Hebrew word, ' b'rith ' (^'"1?) trans-
lated, with two exceptions, in the Septuagint
by ' diatheke.'' Another word, ' syntheke '
(avvdtjKTj), was employed in later versions;
but it signified an agreement between two
parties conceived as being equals. Accord-
ingly it had been rejected by the writers of
the Septuagint, since it was regarded as
unsuitable to express the agreement between
God and man, where equality was absent.
Further, it failed to express the unilateral
aspect of God's gracious compact freely
made with man. Although diatheke scarcely
expressed the full meaning of the Hebrew
b'rith, it was selected as the " least un-
suitable " term.

But soon after the completion of the
Septuagint version the practice of making

148 ROMAN WILLS

wills became common amongst the Greeks,
and the word employed for such testamentary
dispositions was diatheke, consequently in
New Testament times this term had acquired
a twofold signification amongst Greek-
speaking Christians who were acquainted
with the Septuagint. Hence it becomes
important in regard to the Epistles to
inquire from an exegetical point of view
" what ideas did the word convey to first
readers of the New Testament " ? The
question has been much discussed, and the
difficulty is not lessened by the fact that
the word is sometimes used to express both
significations, namely, ' covenant ' and
'testament'; thus (1 Cor. xi. 25), "This
cup is the new covenant (margin, 'testa-
ment,' R.V.) in My blood," where either
sense is equally relevant.

Further, when diatheke is employed in the
sense of ' will ' — a sense only found in the
New Testament — two phases of thought
are to be discerned, and the distinction
depends on the destination of the particular
Epistle in which it is employed, or rather
the form of will familiar to those addressed.
A feature of the Roman as distinguished
from the Greek will, was the fact of its
being inoperative till the death of the

THE GREEK WILL 149

testator, and revocable during his life ;
hence the author of the Epistle to the
Hebrews, addressing those familiar with
the Roman will alone, writes, " For where a
testament is, there must of necessity be the
death of him that made it. For a testa-
ment is of force w^here there hath been death ;
for doth it ever avail while he that made it
liveth ? " (Heb. ix. 16, 17). Thus the writer
is able to enforce the necessity for the death
of Christ, if the Divine Testament is to be
regarded as valid.

On the other hand, the Greek will, Ramsay
maintains, was characterised by being an
irrevocable instrument (but see note 2, p.
165) ; hence he insists on the cogency of
the analogy in the Epistle to the Galatians,
dealing with the Judaistic controversy and
illustrating the fact that the Law, as subse-
quent to the Promise, could not invalidate or
supersede the latter.

Some controverted the pre-eminence as-
signed by St. Paul to Faith because of their
opposition to the Apostle himself ; others,
reflecting on the assumed priority in time
of the Mosaic Law to the principle of Faith,
honestly doubted whether his doctrine was
justified. But whatever the cause of oppos-
ition, he vindicates his position by sweep-

150 PRIORITY OF THE PROMISE

ing away the false notion that the Law-
was prior to the Promise. This he does by
reminding his opponents that the promise
to Faith had not been set aside but continued
to exist all through the ages from Abraham ;
nor could it be abrogated by the later cere-
monial Law, for the promise to Abraham
w^as complete, and needed nothing to supple-
ment it. It was founded on Faith alone,
and the Mosaic Law, four hundred and fifty
years after, could have no possible applica-
tion to the Patriarch. It came in the nature
of an innovation, " a parenthesis in the
Divine plan." That Faith had continued
all through the ages is evident, for " the
law came in beside that the trespass might
abound " ; ^ and clearly it was impossible
that Mosaism could come " in beside," had
the regime of Faith been abolished.

The Judaist sought to place the Law on
the same plane with the promise, by insisting
that " the inheritance is of the Law." To
deal thus with the Law was to make it a
continuation of the promise to Abraham,
and thereby render the fulfilment of the
latter " dependent upon the Law," or on the
Law and the promise combined. But St.

^ No/xof §e nap€iar]X6€v, Iva TrXfovdai] to TrapaTTToifxa (Rom,
V. 20).

AN UNFETTERED PROMISE 151

Paul frustrates such attempts to introduce
the Law, as a source of blessing, into the
sphere of the promise by the unanswerable
reminder : " For if the inheritance is of the
law, it is no more of promise : but God hath
granted it to Abraham by promise " (Gal.
iii. 18). Thus the rendering of the Revised
Version fails to express all the Apostle in-
tended to convey. In the Greek, the word
" God " is by its position emphatic.^ Nor
does " hath granted " adequately indicate
his meaning. In the original, the significa-
tion is to grant in kindness, to confer freely
or lavishly as a gift. Thus he brings out the
grand contrast between the promise and the
Law, for the latter implies a contract between
two parties, and suggests no thought of
gracious favour, each being bound to perform
his pledges, so ''the man that doeth them
shall live in them." But the promise was
conferred on Abraham freely, graciously, un-
fettered by any undertaking on the part of
the recipient. Thus his meaning is — it was
God, and no other than Himself, who con-
ferred it on Abraham by way of a free gift,
without the pledges which the Law involved.
Nor could the Judaiser discover any sup-
port for his opposition to Paulinism in the

^ TO) Sf 'A,3paa/i ^t' errayyeXias K()(apLaTat. 6 Oeos (Gal. iii. I 8).

152 FAITH, NOT A NOVEL PRINCIPLE

fact that Abraham received circumcision,
for the promise was made to him "not in
circumcision, but in uncircumcision " ; and
the Divine approval of his faith alone,
as the medium for acceptable approach to
God, was anterior to that rite, which thereby
was proved to be merely the seal of the
righteousness he had by faith.

To follow the controversy between St.
Paul and his opponents might seem a weary
task; but his object, in short, was, not to
assert a novel religious principle, but to
establish the fact that his doctrine of justi-
fication by Faith introduced, in essence, no
new thing, but existed as a spiritual truth
from the age of the Patriarch. His purpose
was to manifest the similarity of Abraham's
faith to that by which Christians are
justified. For as Christian men have faith
in God, "who quickeneth the dead," and
raised up His Son, Jesus Christ ; so in a
manner did Abraham believe God. For
notwithstanding his own and Sarah's old
age, he believed in the power of God, — a
power superior to nature, whereby the birth
of Isaac could be caused, — which " might
be described as a birth from the dead," — and
thus the promise could be fulfilled, '' like the
stars of heaven, so shall thy descendants

GREAT EXEMPLAR OF FAITPI 153

be " (Gen. xv. 5). Nor was this the only
instance of his faith. From his call till
the close of life he stands as the great ex-
emplar, in Old Testament times, of the life
of faith. The lesson of that life admon-
ished all who despised the Pauline doctrine
of Justification by Faith, and boasted of
privileges founded on the Law of Moses;
for " when all this was recorded in Scripture,
it was not Abraham alone who was in view,
but we too — the future generations of Chris-
tians, who will find a like acceptance, as
we have a like faith." ^ Thus by means of
the figure, " a man's covenant," St. Paul
reveals the fact that notwithstanding Jewish
denial and remonstrance, progressive reve-
lation— between the age of the Patriarch
and the coming of Christ — was not from
Mosaism to Faith. It was a progress "from
faith to faith," and the transience of the
ceremonial Law brought out conspicuously
the immutability of the Divine counsel,
by the reversion, at the coming of Christ,
to the primaeval principle, which was the
principle of Faith.

1 Sanday and Headlam's paraphrase of Rom. iv. 23, 24.

CHAPTER X

Twofold meaning of "Galatia" — Ethnograpliical and
political senses — Opposition to Lightfoot's view —
North and South Galatian theories — Earlier history
of Galatian people — Conquest of Phrygia — Augustus
incorporates ' Galatia Proper ' in province of Galatia
— Alexander's pohcy in South Galatia — Roman, not
Greek, influence paramount in North Galatia — Inference
drawn from survival of ' Patria Potestas ' — Arguments
in support of South Galatian theory based on legal
references in Epistle to Galatians — (a) equivalence of
sonship and heirship — (b) peculiarity of Greek, as
distinguished from Roman, testaments — (c) ' guardians
and stewards ' — VaUdity of South Galatian theory
not dependent on these legal allusions.

Appeal has been made to the legal allusions
in the Epistle to the Galatians for the pur-
pose of deciding the meaning of the term
'' Galatians." Commentators have ranged
themselves on one or other of two sides in
answer to the question, " What Churches
vv^ere addressed by St. Paul in his Epistle to
the Galatians ? " Now the term " Galatia " ^
may be used in two senses; it means
either the ethnographical region inhabited
by the Galatians, comprising an extensive
but sparsely peopled region in the north-
eastern portion of Asia Minor, and known for

^ The author of 'Acts' does not use the terms 'Galatia'

or 'Galatians.' He employs the adjective * Galatic ' (Acts

xvi. 6, xviii. 23).

155

156 RIVAL THEORIES

convenience as " Galatia Proper " ; or it
may mean the Roman province of Galatia,
which included not only Galatia Proper,
but extended much further to the south and
west, comprising Lycaonia and Pisidia, and
reached to within thirty miles of the Medi-
terranean Sea. That St. Paul addressed
his Epistle to the Churches in North Galatia
or Galatia Proper was the view of Lightfoot,
who is followed by Schmiedel, Lipsius,
Weiss, Jiilicher, and others. This view is
known as the '' North Galatian theory."
A different conclusion has been drawn by
Ramsay, Pfleiderer, O. Holtzmann, and
Sanday, who maintain that the Churches
of Galatia were situated in the Roman pro-
vince of Galatia and outside Galatia Proper.
Ramsay, the leading champion of this, the
'' South Galatian theory," has stated that
the question is "so fundamental that it
affects almost every general inquiry, whether
in regard to ' Acts ' as a history and as a
literary composition, or in regard to Paul's
policy and character." Further, so vital,
is this question that he has not hesitated to
state that had Churches been founded in
North Galatia, of which no record exists in
" Acts " (and this is required by the North
Galatian theory), he could no longer regard

APPEAL TO LEGAL ALLUSIONS 157

' Acts ' as having been composed during the
first century by a companion of St. Paul.
But this question is evidently not of such
gravity ; for if we assume that the North
Galatian theory is true, the only charge
which could be brought against the author
is simply an omission to relate the
founding of the Galatian Churches in its
proper place. The veracity of the author
cannot be impugned on this ground, for he
subsequently mentions the subject. It is
difficult to understand Ramsay's insistence
on the extreme importance of this point, for
the author makes no mention of the founding
of the Church, e.g, at Colosse or in Cilicia, or
to the journey of St. Paul to Corinth, which
may be inferred from several passages in the
Second Epistle to the Corinthians. Any one
of these omissions might be regarded as
equally affecting ' Acts ' as a history and as
a literary composition.

Before we refer to the legal allusions in
Galatians, to which appeal has been made
with the object of deciding the controversy,
it will be needful to consider the earlier
history of Galatia. Certain Gallic tribes
(liat. Gallogreeci), three in number, wliose
kindred inhabited Northern Italy and France,
invaded Asia Minor in 279-278 B.C. Previ-

158 CONQUEST OF THE PHRYGIANS

ously they had been a scourge, plundering
and ravaging the south-eastern portions of
Europe, but after invitation from Nicomedes,
king of Bithynia, who enUsted their forces
against his brother, they crossed into Asia
Minor, not, indeed, as mere mercenary troops,
but accompanied by their famihes. After a
century passed in irregular warfare, the
invaders conquered the native Phrygians,
" an agricultural and cattle-herding popula-
tion of rustics, peaceful and good humoured."
The victory of Attains i., king of Pergamum,
in 232 B.C. {dr.), overthrew the Gauls, who
were then confined to North Eastern
Phrygia, which thus gained the name of
" Galatia." About 160 B.C. a portion of
Lycaonia lying to the south of the Galatic
territory,— including Iconium and Lystra, —
was incorporated, together with Pessinus, on
the north-western frontier, and consolidated
with the territory originally seized.

Pompey, in 64 B.C., bestowed iirmenia
]\Iinor on Deiotarus, who had gained the
supremacy over the other two tribes, and he
was recognised by Rome as King of Galatia.
After his death, Amyntas, his successor,
received the title of King of Pisidia from
Mark Antony. In 36 B.C., Amyntas' king-
dom was enlarged by the transference of

THE PROVINCE OF GALATIA 159

Castor's territories, who had been King of
Galatia. The territory thus acquired, he
governed on the Roman model. After his
death, in 25 B.C., Augustus decided to incor-
porate the greater portion of Amyntas'
kingdom with the Empire : thus the province
was formed, to which the name "Galatia"
("Galatia Provincia")^ was given. The
inhabitants were termed " Galatse," in con-
formity with the Roman custom, which was to
designate the inhabitants of a province by
some name 'etymologically connected with the
name of the province, ' irrespective of their race.
In view of the argument based upon the
legal reference of St. Paul in the Epistle to
the Galatians, it is well to summarize the
territorial changes brought about by the
Roman power. From 64 B.C., Galatia was a
client State of the Empire, but in 25 B.C. it was
absorbed in the province in the strict Roman
sense of that term, and, with the additions,
to which we have above referred, comprised
Galatia in the original and narrower sense
of the term, together with the ethnic regions

^ Thus it is necessary to distinguish between ' Galatia '
as the name for the territory occupied by the Galhc con-
querors, and ' Galatia ' the Roman province, a term used in
the political sense — roughly half as large again as the former,
containing the cities Lystra, Derbe, Iconium, and Pisidian
Antioch.

160 ROMAN INFLUENCE PARAMOUNT

— Pontus Galaticus, Paphlagonia, Phrygia
Galatica, and Lycaonia Ga.latica. All these
territories are comprised in the term "pro-
vince of Galatia," and were controlled by
one Roman governor.

It is probable that in Galatia Proper,
Roman influences were paramount, whereas
in South Galatia, Alexander's policy to
Hellenise his Asiatic dominions had taken
firm root. The geographical configuration
of Southern Galatia tended materially to
facilitate that policy, which was adopted
and carried on by the members of the
Seleucid dynasty.^ One of the great high-
ways which accommodated the traffic and
commerce between East and West lay across
this part of the country and connected
Antioch with Ephesus. The Seleucid kings
settled colonies of Jews and Greeks along
this route, which developed into cities and
became sources of educational influence upon
the native population. That influence may
be summed up in the words of Ramsay, who
states in his Historical Commentary on the

^ The Seleucid dynasty ruled over Syria from 312 B.C.
for about two centuries and a half, and takes its name from
the founder, Nicator, one of Alexander's generals, who
afterwards became Seleucus i. He sought to carry out
Alexander's poUcy of spreading Hellenic civilisation
throughout his dominions.

CELTIC CUSTOMS IN N. GAL ATI A 161

Galatians that the inscriptions prove,
" before the time of Christ the cities pos-
sessed an organised municipal Government
of the Greek type, cultivated Greek manners
and education, and used the Greek lan-
guage." The conclusion is therefore drawn
that the inhabitants of South Galatia would
retain some knowledge of the principles of
Greek Law, which had been introduced before
the date when the country was taken over
by the Roman Government.

It is held that a totally different state of
affairs obtained in Northern Galatia. There
the tide of Hellenism had much less effect
than in the South, and the inhabitants
retained their Celtic customs till at least
the middle of the first century a.d. Ramsay
cites Mommsen as authority for the state-
ment, that notwithstanding adoption of the
native Phrygian religion by the Galatians,
" even in the Roman province of Galatia
the internal organisation was predominantly
Celtic." The fact to which Gains refers in
his Institutes ^ is an allusion to the power
of the father — "jus vitce necisque^^ — over his
children. This was a cherished institution,
not only of the Romans, but also of the Celts,

^ " Nee me praeterit Galatarum gentem credere in potes-
tate parentum liberos esse " (i. 55).
12

162 THE KING OF GALATIA

both in Gaul and Galatia till the reign of
Antoninus Pius; but the Greeks regarded
the custom with repugnance. The long
continuance of such a custom, together with
the retention of their national language,
leads us to infer that " the Galatians es-
pecially constituted a distinct and exclusive
stock " (Mitteis), and were characterised
by features which would retard the onward
march of Hellenism. Ramsay's argument —
" as North Galatia grew in civilization it
was not Greek, but Roman manners and
organizations that were introduced" — is
further supported by the relations between
Rome and Deiotarus, who was commended
for his marked friendship towards the Empire,
and honoured by being named ' King of
Galatia.' The pronounced friendship of
Dieotarus to Rome was equalled, and
possibly excelled, by that of Amyntas,
hence the strong probability that while
Roman customs and organizations would
be established and propagated, Hellenic in-
fluence would be resisted.

We are now in a position to discuss those
arguments in support of the South Galatian
theory which Ramsay bases on the refer-
ences to inheritance, to the will, and to
tutelage, occurring in the Epistle to the

' SONS OF ABRAHAM ' 163

Galatians. Speaking generally, Ramsay
contends that the people of North Galatia
would not be, for the reasons given above,
familiar with Greek Law, whereas the con-
trary would be the case with the inhabitants
of South Galatia, amongst whom Hellenic
customs and ideas had been implanted by
the Seleucid kings.

(a) The first passage to be dealt with in
this connection is that referring to the " sons
of Abraham " (Gal. iii. 7). There was a
marked difference between the Roman and
Greek law on the subject of inheritance in
the time of St. Paul. The ancient law of
Rome confined an inheritance to sons and
adopted sons, the reason being that in ancient
times duties rather than rights were considered
to be involved in an inheritance. A prime
duty of the heir was to see to the due per-
formance of the ' sacra.' If a man had a
son, he was the proper person to fulfil the
' sacra.' If he had no son, he must, by
adoption, put some one in the place of a son.
So vastly important was this duty of pro-
viding for the performance of the ' sacra,'
that the ancient law regarded an adopted
son as identified with a born son.^ Since,
then, the inheritance was confined to sons

^ Vide p. 68 of this book.

164 HELLENIZATION OF S. GALATIA

(whether adopted or otherwise), it became
possible to invert the idea, and call the
' heir ' a ' son,' and vice versa. So far as
the Roman Law was concerned, the equiva-
lence of the terms '' heir " and " son "
came to an end long before the age of St.
Paul, and a man was at liberty to appoint a
person as his heir without adopting the heir
as his son. But legal ideas associated with
the ancient jurisprudence of Rome were
never introduced into North Galatia, for when
it passed into the hands of the Roman
administration, the legal conceptions of the
later and contemporary jurisprudence would
replace the native law of the Celts.

On the other hand, the ancient idea of the
equivalency of ' son ' and ' heir ' persisted
in South Galatia in consequence of the policy
of Hellenization adopted by the Seleucidae,
but was unknown, as we have seen, in North
Galatia. Now St. Paul states (in Gal. iii. 7),
" Know therefore that they which be of faith,
the same are sons of Abraham " (R.V.).
According to Ramsay's argument, the words
are written for people amongst whom the
equivalence of sonship and heirship was a
familiar conception, and he paraphrases the
passage thus : " All they who inherit that
special property of Abraham, namely, Faith,

GREEK AND ROMAN WILLS 165

must be sons of Abraham." Thus the
Gentiles may be called the " sons" of Abra-
ham because they are heirs of Abraham, or of
Abraham's faith. Ram^say accordingly draws
the conclusion that St. Paul was addressing
his Epistle to those who were acquainted
with Greek law, that is to say, to those who
dwelt in South rather than North Galatia.^

(b) Again, by the testamentary law of
Rome in the age of St. Paul, a will was a
secret instrument while the testator lived ; it
took effect at death only, and, moreover, was
revocable, — that is to say, it might be super-
seded by a new act of testation at any time.
Accordingly Roman wills at that time were
on these points similar to English wills of
to-day. But the contrary, according to
Ramsay, was the case with the Greek will.
He states that it was public, irrevocable,^

^ Ramsay's treatment of these legal references has been
seriously challenged by Prof. Schmiedel (Ency. Bib., col.
1609), who quotes Schulin and others as his authority for
stating that as early as 370 B.C. in Athens it was not needful
for one appointed an heir to be adopted. Mitteis, too,
expresses the opinion that this held good everywhere for
the third century b.c, since the testaments of the philo-
sophers, as preserved to us by Diogenes Laertius, certainly
are not restricted to the Attic field alone (Reichsrechi unci
Volksrecht, p. 341). This statement is supported by the
wills of Greek settlers recently discovered in the Faiyiim.
See also D. Walker, Gift of Tongues, p. 131 ff.

2 Ramsay's argument for the irrevocability of Greek wills

166 'A MAN'S COVENANT '

and operated not from the date of the death
of the testator, but from the time when the
conditions imposed were fulfilled by him who
was named as heir. He further states that
the particular form of will referred to in the
words, " though it be but a man's covenant
(testament ^), yet when it hath been con-
firmed, no one maketh it void, or addeth
thereto" (Gal. iii. 15), was the Greek
testament as distinguished from the Roman ;

fails to convince. Those scholars who have made a special
study, not only of Attic, but Greek wills in general, are agreed
that Greek Law was on this point similar to Roman Law,
i.e. that wills were revocable at the testator's pleasure. In
the interests of his argument, " to have been able to adduce
a single instance in wliich Greek differed from Roman law
in this respect, would have been much more valuable than
any number of conjectures ; in point of fact, so far as we have
been able to discover, it is not possible in the Greek sphere
to point to any area, however hmited, within which pre-
vailed that irrevocabiUty which Ramsay without qualifica-
tion speaks of as 'a characteristic feature of Greek law.'"
— Schmiedel, Ency. Bib., art. " Galatia."

^ In this passage " testament " is probably the better
rendering; for although "covenant" is to be preferred
when diadTjKT] stands in " strictly Biblical and Hebraic
surroundings," here it is possible St. Paul indicates a non-
scriptural use by the words, " I speak after the manner of
men." " There is ample material," Deissman says (Light
from the Ant. East, p. 341), to back " me up in the statement
that no one in the Mediterranean world in the first century
A.D. would have thought of finding in the word hiaOrjKrj the
idea of 'covenant.' St. Paul would not, and, in fact, did
not. To St. Paul the word meant what it meant in his
Greek Old Testament, ' a unilaterial enactment,* in par-
ticular, * a wiji or testament,' "

ADDITIONAL CONFIRMATION 167

for the conception involved is that "the
duly executed will cannot be revoked by
the subsequent act of the testator." From
this Ramsay draws the conclusion that the
Apostle was addressing those familiar with
the modified form of the Greek will, and finds
in this reference further evidence that the
Epistle was addressed to the inhabitants of
the South Galatian cities.

(c) Additional confirmation of the South
Galatian theory is found — according to
Ramsay — in another passage from the
Epistle to the Galatians, namely, iv. 2,
referring to " guardians and stewards."
Roman Law provided for the guardianship
of persons (males) under the age of fourteen,
by authorising the head of the family to
nominate guardians by his will for this
purpose. They were termed ' tutors.' But
as this period of guardianship was frequently
unequal to the general purposes of con-
venience, the introduction of " curators "
sprang up to secure the due supervision of
a ward till the age of twenty-five. The
' curator ' was not appointed by a will, but
by the Praetor or Prseses— the governor of a
province — as the case might be. Thus in
Roman Law there were two distinct forms
of guardianship.

168 MODIFIED GREEK LAW

In the pure Greek Law there was only
one kind of guardian (eTr/rpoTro?) ; this is the
first of the terms employed in Gal. iv. 2,
and Ramsay asserts it is equivalent to the
* tutor ' of Roman Law. There is no mention
in the pure form of Greek Law of the
' steward ' (oUovofjLo^), But Ramsay con-
tends that St. Paul's reference here is not to
pure Greek Law. but to a form of it, modified
by contact with Oriental notions. He con-
siders that the peculiarities of this modified
Greek Law are recorded in the ' Grseco-Syrian
Law Book,' edited by Bruns and Sachau,
'' whereby a father may make a twofold
nomination (not only of ' guardians,' but
also ' stewards ') for his children who are
minors, ix, under the age of twenty-five
years. This, he asserts, is the peculiar con-
dition referred to by St. Paul (Gal. iv. 2),
and is a further proof that here " we are
placed amid Selucid, and therefore South
Galatian, not among North Galatian, manners
and customs." ^

It does not follow, even if Ramsay's
interpretation of these legal allusions fails
to stand the test of criticism,^ that therefore

^ Hist. Com. on Epist. to Galatians, p. 393.
* St. Paul describes a double form of guardianship ; in
this he agrees with the Roman practice, but differs from it in

A REMARKABLE OMISSION 169

the South Galatian theory is falsified, as
that is only one line of evidence in its
support. Other arguments for it have been
adduced from Acts and from the Pauline
Epistles. Thus 1 Cor. xvi. 1 : " Concern-
ing the collection for the saints, as I
gave order unto the Churches of Galatia,
so also do ye." If St. Paul here refers to
Galatia Proper, how are we to account for
his remarkable omission to make a demand
for '' collection for the saints " from the
Lycaonian and Pisidian Churches situate in
South Galatia ? These Churches were dear
to him, and had been visited by him on
several occasions. His desire was to foster
a holy rivalry in the work of love, and it is
difficult to accept a theory whereby the
conclusion seems unavoidable that he gave
no opportunity to those Churches to take
their part with the Churches of Macedonia,
Achaia, and Galatia in his plan for the
relief of the brethren in Jerusalem. The

regard to the father's power to appoint both offices. Was
St. Paul employing the technical ideas of Roman or Greek
Law for illustration, or only referring in general terms to the
subject ? Ramsay argues that the difficulty supphes another
factor in support of the South Galatian theory, as St. Paul
is not dra^ving his illustrations either from Roman or pure
Greek Law, but from the older Greek Law enacted by the
Seleucid rulers in South Galatia. The argument is not
convincing. See Schmiedel, Ency. Bib., col. 1610.

170 ' COLLECTION FOR THE SAINTS '

evidence furnished by this matter of the
" collection for the saints " is weighty, for
it is no passing allusion that is made. St.
Paul had made a solemn promise at Jeru-
salem, as related in Gal. ii. 10 : " They
would that we should remember the poor ;
which very thing I was also zealous to do " ;
and he frequently refers to this collection.
" To the Corinthians he proposes the example
of the Galatians ; to the Macedonians the
example of the Corinthians ; to the Romans
that of the Macedonians and Corinthians "
(Bengel).

Again, Barnabas is mentioned without any
introductory statement in Gal. ii., and was
evidently known to the Galatians as the
champion of the Gentiles. We are aware
(Acts XV. 36-40) that he accompanied St.
Paul on his first journey, and was not with
him during his second visit, when, according
to the older theory, the Galatians were first
evangelised. Further, it appears to have been
St. Paul's plan to visit Bithynia (Acts xvi. 6) ;
but if it was a part of the plan to visit
Galatia Proper, then the statement, " Ye
know that because of an infirmity of the flesh
I preached the gospel unto you the first time "
(Gal. iv. 13), becomes unintelligible. Space
forbids reference to other passages which

LTGHTFOOT S VIEW 171

have been quoted from the Pauhne Epistles
in support of the South Galatian theory.

One may well hesitate to pronounce
definitely either way in regard to these
conflicting theories, since both find support
from the ablest scholars. But we must
recollect that Lightfoot — whose name is
most prominently associated with the older
theory — was handicapped by the compara-
tive ignorance which, in his day, prevailed
on the subject of Asia Minor ; and also by
the fact that the arguments for the rival
theory were as yet more or less incomplete ; ^
but taken as a whole the balance of argu-
ment seems to be adverse to Lightfoot's
view, namely, that St. Paul founded Churches
in Galatia in the ethnological sense, that is
to say, in Galatia Proper. This conclusion
is supported by the policy of St. Paul,
which, as Ramsay states, was to Chris-
tianize the Roman Empire, passing along
the Roman highways guided by the political
divisions of the Roman Provinces, working
mainly in the towns, the centres of Roman
government. The other and older theory

1 It is a significant fact that Bishop Westcott rejected
the older theory. Canon Westcott informs the author
that this change of view occurred about the end of 1900, i.e.
when the arguments for the S. Galatian theory had been
more fully developed.

172 THE BALANCE OF ARGUMENT

requires us to believe that the Epistle
to the Galatians was addressed to a few
scattered congregations in a wide and
sparsely-peopled district, whose members
were engaged in agricultural pursuits ; on
the other hand, the South Gaiatian theory
conforms to the Pauline policy by denoting
the Gaiatian Churches as Pisidian Antioch,
Iconium, Derbe and Lystra, a group of
towns within easy access of each other, and
probably peopled by comparatively educated
inhabitants. Moreover, the natural route for
St. Paul on his second missionary journey
would be through South Galatia ; and if the
theory which this involves is adopted, it is
found to harmonize in a striking manner with
incidental references in the Pauline Epistles.
In view of Professor Schmiedel's con-
vincing arguments against the conclusions
drawn by Ramsay from these legal refer-
ences, it might appear that the newer theory
is seriously imperilled ; but this by no means
follows, as it is supported by strong evidence
of an entirely different kind. On the whole,
the balance of argument seems to be adverse
to the older theory, namely, that St. Paul
founded Churches in Galatia in the ethno-
logical sense, that is to say, in Galatia
Proper.

CHAPTER XI

Roman rule bequeathed conceptions favourable to growth
of Papacy — Centralization of secular powers in person
of Emperor prompted idea of concentration of spiritual
power — The moral ascendancy of Church of Rome
during first three centuries — Influence of Greek Church
predominant during this period — Subsequently Latin
Church free to develop on own lines — Latin introduced
into liturgy — Division between East and West thereby
accentuated — Problems engaging attention of Greek
and Latin Churches different — Latin theology coloured
by native legal genius — God represented as an offended
Judge — Mediating offices of the Church regarded as
indispensable — Freedom of thought not encouraged —
A standard faith prescribed — Obedience to the Church
the all-embracing ideal of duty — Cost of attaining an
external unity — Reason for Roman partiaUty for tradi-
tion— Augustine as author of conceptions prevailing in
Middle Ages.

An attempt has been made in the preceding
chapters to indicate certain conceptions
which, generated by Roman rule and legisla-
tion, contributed in no small degree to
facilitate St. Paul's mission. We must not,
however, imagine that, having once exerted
their influence, they had thereby lost all

vitality. The introduction of Christianity

173

174 ROMAN GENIUS FOR CONQUEST

on the stage of history did not bhnd men
to the debt owed to the Roman power,^
whereby nations most widely separated,
whether by geographical or ethnic causes,
had been brought into a common political
brotherhood and into allegiance to the
common power of Rome, — a power w^hich
they realized meant to give, and on the whole
did administer, justice to all alike. Centuries
of Roman rule preceding the introduction
of Christianity had created a mental atti-
tude which subsequently proved to be favour-
able to the growth and supremacy of the
Papacy, which " fell heir to the old Roman
genius for conquest and discipline." It
was the acumen of the leaders of the Latin
Church- that detected the possibility of
utilizing, for her own aggrandisement, these
political notions and influences bequeathed
to the world by the Roman State. Such
notions were an intense esteem for order, a
predilection for centralized authority and

^ Early Christians regarded Rome as the great protecting
power in the world (6 Kare'xwv), and looked on the coming of
Antichrist as its only termination. Even in the midst
of persecution, decreed by Rome, Christian prayer on her
behalf continued. The words — ascribed to Hilary the
Deacon — reflect the prevaihng view, ' Non prius veniet
Dominus quam regni Romani defectio fiat, et appareat
Antichristus qui interficiet sanctos, reddita Romanis
Ubertate, sub suo tamen nomine,*

USE OF PREVAILING IDEAS 175

obedience to government. These'^ideas per-
sisted and became important adjuncts to
the policy of the Roman Chmxh. They
attained their maximum influence over the
minds of men from the sixth to the ninth
centuries, when " the work of converting
the new races to the recognition and obedi-
ence of the Church went on with unabated
and successful ardour, resembling nothing
so much as that earlier process of conquest
by which the city of Rome made herself
mistress of the nations." ^ Therefore to
estimate correctly the causes of the diver-
gence of the Church of Rome from the
primitive Gospel, it is not sufficient merely
to examine the perversion of spiritual
principles of Christianity at Rome, but we
must carry our minds further back so as to
embrace prevailing ideas, to which we have
above referred. Apart from these prevailing
ideas, and their perverted use by the Romish
Church, the Papacy would have been im-
possible. Their normal office in the secular
sphere was beneficial to good government,
but transferred to another sphere — the
spiritual — the final issue was an unbear-
able ecclesiastical tyranny. They subse-
quently became the means of thwarting

^ Allen, Continuity of Christian Thought, p. 185.

176 SECULAR POWER

the dissemination of the truths which
formed the foundation of the Pauline
teaching.

These conceptions did not then become
extinct, but their direction was changed.
For the minds of men, habituated to the
centraUzation of authority in the hands of
one man, the Emperor, turned by a kind of
instinct to the conception of a centrahzation
of spiritual power in the person of the Bishop
of Rome. Concentration of secular power
had been followed in the past by benefits
which appealed to all, and had won the
admiration of the civilized world. Men could
see no reason why similar benefits should
not flow from the supremacy of one in the
spiritual sphere. In the early centuries of
Christianity the Church of Rome claimed
nothing more than a moral ascendancy over
other Churches, which was but a " precedence
among equals." By the middle of the fourth
century, signs were not wanting that this
honourable position had ceased to satisfy,
and soon evidences were multiplied that the
Church of Rome aspired to an absolute and
supreme authority. That policy furnishes
a long and melancholy history of unwarrant-
able presumption, of duplicity and intrigue,
the details of which would occupy many

INFLUENCE OF EASTERN CHURCH 177

volumes, so that here only the more im-
portant features can be outhned.

The poHtical division of the Empire into
its Eastern and Western parts in 326 a.d.
by Constantine, had far-reaching results,
for it was followed by separation in the
Church. So long as the Churches of the
East and West were united, the influence
of the former was pre-eminent in theologi-
cal thought and discussion; moreover, its
theology was characterized by a remarkable
spirituality and a continual appeal to reason.
That influence might have exercised some
restraining influence in the West, but when
once its possible control terminated, the
Latin Church was free to develop on lines
consonant with her national genius. The
liberal and beneficent influence of the
Eastern Church, resulting from the com-
bination of Greek philosophy and Christian
thought, was now withdrawn, and Roman
Law became a paramount actor in Western
theology. The disruption was emphasized
by the fact, that while the Churches in the
East continued the use of Greek, the Latin
tongue was employed in the West, and by
the end of the third century had superseded
the former.^ But the difference in language

1 Till about the middle of the third century, Greek was, in
13

178 PROFOUND CONTROVERSIES

was not the only contrast in the resulting
communities, they were further distinguished
by marked differences in doctrine, differ-
ences which have continued to characterise
them till the present day.

For, till the separation. Western Chris-
tianity had been content to accept the only
available stock of terms and ideas contained
in the language of Greek metaphysics,
" out of which the human mind could pro-
vide itself with means of engaging in the
profound controversies as to the Divine
persons, the Divine Substance, and the
Divine Natures." ^ To formulate such ab-
struse conceptions was a task beyond the
capacity of the Latin language and its
scanty philosophy, consequently the results
of Eastern theology were appropriated by
Latin- speaking Christians without debate.

the main, the language of the populace, and probably of
the Roman liturgy too. Old Latin versions of the Scrip-
tures had, indeed, been in circulation long before Jerome's
version (the Vulgate), but the third century witnessed the
general introduction of Latin, now no longer restricted to
legal and official use. But as fossils embedded in strata
testify to former conditions of life — such remains as the
Kyrie eleison, the Trisagion, the Apostles' Creed (Greek),
remind us of the part played by the Greek language in the
Roman Church. Tertullian, Cyprian, and Novatian were
the primary creators of Latin theology. Leo i. {ph. 461) was
the earliest Latin preacher of note at Rome.
1 Maine, Anc. Law, p. 356.

A TENDENCY OF LATIN WORLD 179

Maine, quoting Milman's Latin Christianity,
observes that after the division was estab-
lished, and while " the Greek theology went
on defining with still more exquisite subtlety
the Godhead and the nature of Christ —
and while the interminable controversy still
lengthened out — the Western Church threw
itself with passionate ardour into a new order
of disputes, the same which from those
days to this have never lost their interest
for any family of mankind at any time
included in the Latin communion. The
nature of Sin and its transmission by
inheritance — the debt owed by man and
its various satisfaction — the necessity and
sufficiency of the Atonement — above all,
the apparent antagonism between Free-
will and the Divine Providence, — these
were the points which the West began to
debate as ardently as ever the East had
discussed the articles of its more special
creed." ^

Accordingly we find that the legal genius
of the Latins coloured their theology, and a
characteristic of the Latin world has been a
readiness to legalize the language of Scrip-
ture by casting such theological conceptions
as atonement, moral obligation, and freewill

^ Anc. Law, p. 357.

180 GOD AS OFFENDED JUDGE

in a forensic mould. This predilection has
been an important factor in giving to the
conceptions of Western Christianity a char-
acter of their own. Nor is this a matter
for surprise ; for, as the author just quoted
observes, " to the cultivated citizen of
Africa, of Spain, of Gaul and Northern
Italy, it was jurisprudence, and juris-
prudence only, which stood in the place of
poetry and history, of philosophy and
science. So far, then, from there being
anything mysterious in the palpably legal
complexion of the earliest efforts of Western
thought, it would rather be astonishing if it
had assumed any other hue."^

The whole trend of Latin thought accele-
rated the development of a theology which
accentuated the view of God as an offended
Judge withdrawn from humanity ; nor is it
too much to say that the policy of the Roman
Church was to augment the sense of separa-
tion between God and man. That idea, once
implanted, was sedulously fostered, till at
length the mediating offices of the Church
were regarded as indispensable for the soul's
approach to God. The functions of the
Church were made to replace the work of the
Holy Spirit : the hierarchy became the sole

' P. 342.

REPRESSION OF INQUIRY 181

channel of grace : the Church ascribed for
herself a definite limit outside which there
was no salvation ; reconciliation with God
was only possible by means of the penances
prescribed by the Church and the absolution
of the priest. The conception of a priest
caste arose, whose authority was inde-
pendent of the body of Christians who
formed the Church, and the members of the
caste were, in virtue of their office, regarded
as inheritors of those promises made by
Christ to His apostles.

The features which characterised the
theology of the Western or Roman Church,
and have continued to characterise it till
the present day, were a tendency to repress
inquiry which savoured of speculation in
theology, and for which, as we have seen, it
possessed little faculty. The faith, moreover,
that attracted was one expressed in precise
terms, excluding all debatable elements and
moulded after the manner of a legal code,
any divergence from which might be de-
tected with facility by the officials of the
Church.

The faith propagated by the Roman
Church was therefore in the nature of a
standard to which men must subscribe, for
anything in the nature of liberality of

182 CLAIM FOR FINAL AUTHORITY

opinion, freedom of thought, or akin to the
modern spirit of Protestantism, aroused
strong antipathy/ The treatment meted
out by her to those charged with divergence
of theological opinion from her standard,
illustrates this attitude. Whatever might
be said of the divergence from the standard
faith, the ground of condemnation was
that persons were to be found sufhciently
bold to question or controvert the principles
laid down by her authority, and thus imperil
the Church's unity. " The new priestly
state was as omnipotent as the old heathen
state, in the sense of claiming final authority
over every relation of life and allowing no
reserved domain of conscience. More and
more, from age to age, Rome set forth
obedience to the Church as the all-embracing
ideal of duty, and summed up all sin in the
crime of disobedience." ^ By such methods
did the Latin Church attain an external one-
ness ; but it was at the sacrifice of the sim-
plicity of the Gospel, and fatally different

^ Even Augustine, who gave freer play to reason in his
writings than, perhaps, any other writer of the times, says,
" Si ergo invenires aUquem, qui Evangeho nondum credit,
quid faceres dicenti tibi, Non credo ? Ego vero evangeho
non crederem, nisi me cathoUcse Ecclesiae commoveret
auctoritas." — Contra Epist. Manich. cap. v.

2 Gwatkin, Early Ideals of Righteousness ^ p, 84. \

PARTIALITY FOR TRADITION 183

from that deeper, vital, and spiritual unity
which Christ desired when He prayed " that
they all may be one."

We now turn to consider in fuller detail
some of the methods employed by the Roman
Church in order to secure and fortify that
external unity upon which such great im-
portance was laid. Tradition was declared
to be part of the deposit of the faith, and to
have " a use collateral to Scripture " (New-
man) ; thus providing a sufficient basis, not
only for the claim to unity, but also for
supremacy. By introducing principles which
are not laid down in Holy Scripture, '' or may
be proved thereby," unity was gained; but
a unity which imported the gravest spiritual
dangers, because merely external. It is not
difficult to understand the partiality for
tradition which has characterised the Latin
Church, for there was to be found a very
storehouse of ' truth and discipline,' from
which she might supplement her teaching
concerning matters vital to a policy for
which no warrant could be found in Holy
Scripture. We can here only briefly trace
the manner in which the supersession of the
Holy Scriptures, as the supreme authority,
was brought about by the place assigned
to tradition in the Latin Church. Irenaeus,

184 TERTULLIAN'S POINT OF VIEW

in controversy with the Gnostics, insisted on
the vahdity of the ' deposit ' of the faith
as handed down in the Church's official
tradition. While admitting there might be
other examples, he instanced the Roman
Chm'ch as one which safely preserved the
apostolic tradition. To him the surety for
its preservation depended on the fact that
the faithful, who from time to time resorted
thither, as the centre, from all parts of the
world, would detect any deviation from
that tradition ; ^ thus, in effect, constitut-
ing the doctrine of the Church of Rome as
the standard for all. The result of this
contention was furthered by Tertullian, es-
pecially in his De prcescriptionibus hcereti-
corum. Before his conversion to Chris-
tianity he had been a Roman jurist, and
therefore it is not surprising that he defends
the authority of tradition from a lavv^yer's
point of view, and argues thus : The Church's
doctrine may be compared to a man's pro-
perty, in the ownership of which he becomes
assured by length of possession or prescrip-
tive holding. He had no sympathy with the

^ " Ad hanc enim ecclesiam propter potiorem principali-
tatem necesse est omnem convenire ecclesiam, hoc est eos
qui sunt undique fideles, in qua semper ab his qui sunt
undique conservata est ea quae est ab apostolis traditio "
(iii. 3, 2, Adv. HcBfeses),

CLAIM TO INTERPRET HISTORY 185

spirit of inquiry, and urged that the truth
is a certain fixed and unquestionable reahty,
the search for which is only to be maintained
till it is discovered, when all further inquiry
ought to cease. Thus he writes : " We w^ho
believe in Christ need ask no further ques-
tions, for we believe that there is nothing
further which we ought to believe. ' Seek,
and ye shall find,' was spoken only to the
Jews : and in any case we who have found
the truth cannot seek further, without con-
fessing that we have lost it." He endeavours
to fortify this position by adding the parable
of the lost piece of silver ; when the quest
was successful, there was no object to be
gained by maintaining the search. With
arguments such as these would he stifle the
spirit of inquiry, which might be tempted
to examine too closely into the ' deposit of
the faith ' committed to the Church. The
importance of the treatise rests on the as-
sumption, by its author, that the Church
continued to hold and teach in its entirety
the doctrine received by the apostles from
the great Head of the Church. Tertullian's
assumption was, till a recent date, employed
by the Latin Church to reinforce the claim
on behalf of tradition, and though contra-
dicted by history, it was maintained on the

186 IDEAS IN AUGUSTINE'S SYSTEM

plea that the Church is the ' supreme in-
terpreter of history.'

But it was to Augustine, more than any
of his predecessors, that the conception of
the Church, as maintained during the Middle
Ages, is due. Doubtless it may appear
strange to affirm that one whose teachings
constitute a very fountain from which flows
a stream of evangelic truth, is in large
measure the author of mediaeval miscon-
ception ; nevertheless it was he who rendered
possible that development of the Latin
Church resulting in the Papal system. His
great work, the City of God, is based on
the conception of the Christian Church as an
ecclesiastical polity, founded on the ruins of
the declining Roman Empire. He grounded
the claim for the Church's right to teach on
the fact that she had received the ' deposit '
of truth which she was empowered to pro-
tect as a guardian, and maintained that
outside the Church neither truth nor salva-
tion was to be found. An attitude such as
this admitted little room for the exercise of
reason; and since the Church was a Divine
appointment, consequently it was God's will
that its portals provided the only means of
entrance to His favour. He would even
employ force, and sought to justify appeal

AUGUSTINE'S IDEAS DEVELOPED 187

to physical means by reference to Christ's
words in the parable, " compel them to
come in." Subsequent leaders of theological
thought only carried on and developed the
ideas latent in the system of Augustine/

There are many who regard Augustine
as in all respects a worthy successor of St.
Paul, one whose authority and influence are
unimpeachable; but notwithstanding that
widely prevalent opinion, there are aspects
of his teaching, more particularly in regard
to the Church's policy, which justify the
assertion that it was his theology which
made the rise of the Papacy possible,^ and
" for a thousand years those also who came
after him did little more than re-afiirm his
teaching."

It is indeed difficult to reconcile Aug-
ustine's pre-eminent position as a spiritual

^ " The entire political development of the Middle Ages
was dominated by him ; and he was in a true sense the
creator of the Holy Roman Empire. It was no accident that
the De Civitate Dei was the favourite reading of Charle-
magne."— Warfield, Ency. Religion and Ethics, vol. ii. p.

222.

2 Concerning the Bishop of Rome as the of&cial head of
the " City of God," it is to be observed that Augustine did
not make the claim in so many words, but the trend of his
thought is clear, " Jam enim de hac causa duo concilia
missa sunt ad Sedem Apostolicam : inde etiam rescripta
venerunt. Causa finita est : utinam aliquando finiatur
error." — Sermo cxxxi. cap. x.

188 PRIMITIVE SIMPLICITY

teacher with the fact that he assigned to the
merely external and visible Church a place of
surpassing significance, rigidly insisting that
outside the Church there was no salvation,
for elsewhere no channel of grace for the
individual was to be discovered ; thereby
involving a manifest retrogression from the
primitive simplicity of the Gospel of Christ.
It is, however, possible that some explana-
tion for his attitude may be discovered in the
peculiar exigencies of the times. The Roman
Empire was approaching dissolution through
the influx of the northern barbarians, and
the Church found all her energies taxed to
the utmost to bring rude pagan tribes within
her fold. These were men to whom a spir-
itual law of Christian liberty would have
been a contradiction or an enigma, whose
notions of rule and order were closely
associated with the tyranny of the times,
and when the persuasion that ' might is
right ' was seldom challenged.

Independent judgment — based on reason
and stimulated by the intellectual ability
of leaders in thought — found small place
for exercise in such an age ; recourse was
accordingly made to the external authority
of the State, claimed by Augustine for the
Church, and obedience was enforced on the

APPEAL FOR OBEDIENCE 189

ground of penal consequences hereafter.
That, at least, had the merit of promising an
effective appeal for obedience to the un-
reflecting masses who crowded within the
portals of the Church.

CHAPTER XII

The Imperial government adopted as a model by the Church
— This method of ecclesiastical government opposed
by Cyprian — The ' precedence among equals ' no
longer based on moral considerations — Authority, not
concession, the ground for a new claim — Protest of
Julius, bishop of Rome — Appellate jurisdiction —
Independence of the African Church vindicated in case
of Apiarius — Civil power enUsted in support of Roman
claim to appellate jurisdiction — Decree of Valentinian
III. — Exigencies arising from invasion of Rome, an
aid to papal ambitions — Results following Emperor's
withdrawal from Rome — -The Constantine Donation
— Benefits conferred by Church of Rome in early
centuries.

The study of the methods employed by the
Roman Church to attain supremacy cannot
fail to impress the mind with a sense of the
remarkable skill displayed by those who
took advantage of every external cause to
compass that end. " Spiritual ideals and
motives of human infirmity, spiritual forces
and unscrupulous worldly methods, have
combined to build up little by little the
great fabric of papal claims." ^ Just as
Judaism prepared the way for the progress

^ Robertson, No. xiii. Ch. Hist. Society Papers.

191

192 STATE AS MODEL FOR CHURCH

of Christianity, but subsequently became a
hindrance to the proclamation of the liberty
of the Gospel, so in a measure was it the
case with the Roman Law and administra-
tion. The aid furnished in the days of St.
Paul is undeniable, but the spiritual develop-
ment of the Church began to be retarded
from the time she took the State as the
model for her own government. The pro-
gress of events gave shape and impetus to
the notion that the ecclesiastical govern-
ment of the Church should conform to the
Imperial administration. Many arguments
were forthcoming in support of the theory,
since the speedy attainment of wide-spread
power, resulting from the amazing progress
of Christianity, found the Church unpre-
pared and embarrassed by the far-reaching
scope of her influence and conquests over
heathenism. In her perplexity she turned,
and found ready to her hand the model
furnished by the State. A dominant idea,
as we have already observed, prevailed in
the political world, that authority embodied
in one man, the Emperor, promised the
greatest good to the subject ; hence the
decision of the Roman Senate to delegate
its powers to the Emperor. By parity
of reasoning it was claimed that a similar

CYPRIAN'S ATTITUDE 193

delegation of the powers inherent in the
representatives of the various Churches
would afford a correspondingly beneficial
method of government in the Church at
large, by bringing the whole hierarchy
of an ecclesiastical empire into subjection
to the jurisdiction of the Bishop of
Rome.

This, the Roman theory, was strongly
opposed by Cyprian, bishop of Carthage,
in the treatise, De catholicce ecclesice unitate,
in which he maintained the equality of the
Bishops, together with a common responsi-
bility for the welfare of the Church at large. ^
The history of the growth ot the papal
supremacy may be briefly summed up in the
statement that it consisted in a series of
endeavours to encroach upon the earlier
theory of Cyprian,^ and bring the conception
of the authority and pre-eminence of the
Bishop of Rome into line with that of the
political head of the Empire.

This was the grand aim of the Latin Church,

^ Cyprian's attitude in this matter is important ; he
maintained his right to decide in the appeal to him from the
Spanish Churches, though Stephen, bishop of Rome, had
already given judgment on the case. At the Council of
254 he reversed Stephen's decision.

2 Episcopatus unus est, cuius a singuhs in solidum pars
tenetur (cap. 5).

194 A VISIBLE CENTRE

and amidst all the vicissitudes which lay in
the path of its attainment, we can observe
from the time of Leo the Great, a constant
approach towards that consummation, when
the Bishop of Rome could take to himself
with some show of reason the proud title
*episcopus episcoporum.' Thus the spirit of
the times and the genius of the Latin people,
as we have seen in the preceding chapter,
contributed to the formation of a mental
atmosphere favourable to the Roman theory.
A kingdom without a visible head was un-
thinkable to the Latin mind, so the Church,
too, " must have a visible centre and a
visible circumference : the terms of admit-
tance and of exclusion must be exactly
defined ; the nature of the powers delegated
to its officers must be explicitly determined,
there must be conformity of practice and
conformity of opinion as well ; there must
be stringent methods of securing obedience
and subordination.^

During the first three centuries we find
that ' a precedence among equals ' was will-
ingly conceded by the national Churches
to the Roman See,^ but in the fourth century

^ Allen, The Continuity of Christian Thought, p. 103.
* The spiritual conception of the episcopate, which had
prevailed during the first three centuries, began to be

GROWTH OF PAPAL SYSTEM 195

this moral ascendancy, no longer claimed as
a concession, was demanded on the ground
of authority ; a claim which received a new
reinforcement with every fresh surrender
of the native rights of provincial Synods.
The development of the papal system,
beyond the original and legitimate precedence
among equals, proceeded gradually — appeal
was made to the Gospels for support for the
fiction of the primacy of St. Peter, and was
zealously inculcated, involving as it did
a claim for the Bishop of Rome to govern
the universal Church by Divine right.
" The application of the text, ' Thou art
Peter, and upon this rock I will build My
church,' to the Roman See is of purely
Western origin, and we find it beginning to
be made as soon as the belief has gained
currency that St. Peter had been, in the
strict sense of the word. Bishop of Rome.
The second century, as I believe, bequeathed
this belief to the Church, and the first attri-
bution of the Petrine office to the Roman
bishop was the work of the third." ^ The
genesis of such conceptions can thus be

obscured by another conception — the official — as the
organisation of the Church proceeded and developed into
the system of Church government.

^ Robertson, Ch, Hist, Society Papers, No, xiii. p. 207.

196 BORROWED CONCEPTIONS

clearly traced to the experience of centuries
of Roman Law and administration ; but the
end was attained when the spiritual Head-
ship of the ascended Saviour was replaced
by him who, at Rome, made the extravagant
and unwarrantable claim to be the visible
representative of Christ on earth.

To relate the history of this movement in
all its aspects, would be to write the history
of the Church of Rome ; we are here con-
cerned more particularly with conceptions
borrowed from the policy of Imperial Rome,
and subsequently moulded so as to be a
powerful aid to the attainment of that
object, essential to the Roman system,
namely, the Supremacy. Evidence that
the authority of the Bishop of Rome was,
till about the year 342, only of a moral
character, is convincing. Julius, bishop of
Rome from 337 to 352, replying to an
accusation brought against him by the
Arians — ^that he had by his own judgment
set aside certain decisions adopted by them
— makes no assertion of any inherent right
pertaining to his office whereby he might
claim a supreme jurisdiction over other
Churches. Had such right existed, this was
the time for its assertion. Far from that,
he admonished them for not having brought

APPELLATE JURISDICTION 107

the question to the notice of the Church at
large, and thus stated his own opinion :
" You ought to have written to all of us, so
that we might all have decided what was
just." This pronouncement was no asser-
tion of supremacy, but a protest against the
exclusion of the Roman See from the delib-
erations of the Church as a whole. The
protest would have been meaningless had
the Roman supremacy been established at
this time.

During the lifetime of Julius, appellate
jurisdiction of a very restricted kind was
conferred upon him by the Canons of
Sardica^ (343). These Canons only author-
ised him to express an opinion whether a
case ought to be re-tried. Besides, the
right was distinctly limited to the case
of bishops who felt they had been unjustly
condemned by the local tribunals. If he
thought so, he was empowered to send a
presbyter to take part in another trial of
the case by bishops from a neighbouring
province.

^ It is to be noted that the Sardican Canons did not confer
appellate jurisdiction on the Bishop of Rome as such, nor
on Julius, as successor of St. Peter. Further, the Council of
Sardica was not General and CEcumenical, and its Canons,
wliich asserted authority, were contradicted by many
Greek Canons,

198 CLAIM TO JURISDICTION

The importance of the Canons of Sardica
rests upon the fact that no longer was it
necessary to found a claim for interference
by the Bishop of Rome on merely moral
grounds as heretofore, they asserted a new
authority of a very limited character,
however, neither empowering the right to
demand jurisdiction in every case, nor to
take the initiative and cite a provincial
bishop to Rome. Nevertheless the Bishops
of Rome were emboldened to go beyond
that strictly limited authority defined by the
Sardican Canons, and adjudicate in every
case of appeal to them. This claim was
not relaxed in any way by the succeed-
ing bishops, Liberius and Damasus i. The
" authoritative tone " of their successor
Siricius was more marked, for " the Roman
See had never taken a step backward ; the
persevering repetition of the claim to legis-
late told in the course of time, and the series
of decretals initiated by Siricius eventually
worked their way into the Canon Law of
Western Christendom." ^

But signs of encroachment on the acknow-
ledged " precedence among equals " were not
passed over in silence, interferences were
resisted by other Churches, which did not

^ liobertson, Ch, Hist, Society Papers, p. 251,

DECISION OF AFRICAN CHURCH 199

hesitate to repudiate or denounce the pre-
tension. The African Church, for example,
vindicated its complete independence in
connection with the case of Apiarius, a
presbyter, who had been justly deposed by
the local bishop, Urbanus, for misconduct.
Apiarius appealed to Zosimus, bishop of
Rome, who, professing to base his authority
for action on the " Canons of Nicaea," re-
instated the presbyter. The dispute did
not terminate during the lifetime of Zosi-
mus {ob, 418) nor that of his successor,
Bonifacius {ob. 422). Celestine, the succeed-
ing bishop, subsequently, at the instance of
Apiarius, sent legates to Africa to examine
the case, when a Council was convened to
discuss the matter.

The decision of the African Church is
noteworthy for two reasons. 1. A direct
denial was given to the claim put forward
by the legates on behalf of Celestine, and
a protest was lodged against appeals to
ecclesiastical authorities other than those
provided by the native Churcli. To this
was coupled the request that legates should
not be sent from Rome, nor persons received
there, who had been excommunicated by
Synodical authority. 2. A subject of more
importance arose out of the repudiation

200 CANONS OF NIC^A AND SARDICA

by the African Church of the ground on
which Celestine based his claim to inter-
fere. The legates sent by him sought to
represent that the Nicene Canons gave the
required authority for the appellate juris-
diction claimed by Rome. But it was dis-
covered that genuine copies of the Nicene
Canons, upon w^hich the legates proposed
to rely, gave no support to the Roman
claim ; and, further, that the copy of the
so-called ' Nicene Canons ' cited by the
legates contained the Canons of Sardica,
which were formulated in 347, twenty-two
years after the Council of Nicsea. Celes-
tine and those who subsequently supported
his action maintained that the Canons of
Nicaea and Sardica were to be read together,
notwithstanding the fact that the former
was, and the latter was not, a General
Council ; nor did its canons receive universal
acceptance. Further, the Canons of Nicaea
only amounted to twenty in number, and
those of Sardica to twenty-one ; never-
theless the Codex Canonum et Constitutor um
Ecclesice Romance, which purports to contain
a collection of the Canons of the Roman
Church in the time of Innocent i., specifies
forty-six. Consequently five are spurious.
Further evidence is supplied in the second

INTERPOLATION OF DOCUMENTS 201

Canon of the General Council held in the
year 381 at Constantinople. This enjoined
that no bishop shall interfere with churches
outside his own diocese ; and the prohibition
reveals the growing insistence of the Roman
See.

The ambition of the Roman See for
supremacy had now attained such pro-
portions that artifices of the kind to which
we have just referred, and for which no moral
defence can be found, began to be employed
in furtherance of the unwarrantable claim
to authority. The work of falsification and
interpolation of documents proceeded apace
— though the date for its commencement is
uncertain. These documents, afterwards
conclusively proved to be forgeries, the Popes
never repudiated. They have been incor-
porated into the Canon Law of the Roman
Church and form its basis. But falsification
of documents and misuse of canons were not
the only methods employed — other means
were not overlooked. Thus we find the
civil power of Rome enlisted on behalf of
the claim; for in the year 445 appellate
jurisdiction was confirmed to the See of
Rome in virtue of the Roman Law. Oppor-
tunity for this intervention by the secular
power was furnished by the action of Hilary,

202 THE IMPERIAL DECREE

bishop of Aries, who ventured to assert
MetropoHtan rights over Vienne by super-
seding one bishop and removing another.
Pope Leo then deprived Hilary of his rights
as Metropolitan and reinstated the deposed
bishop. This action was confirmed by the
Emperor, who promulgated the following
law : " We decree, by a perpetual sanction,
that nothing shall be undertaken contrary
to ancient custom by the Gallican or other
Provincial bishops, without the authority
of the venerable Pope of the eternal city.
But whatever the authority of the Apostolic
Chair appoints shall be law to them and to
all,^ so that if any bishop when summoned
shall neglect to appear before the Court of
Justice of the Roman Bishop, he shall be
compelled to come by the Governor of the
province." This alliance between the civil
and the ecclesiastical powers culminated,
firstly, in the principle that the Church of
Christ was to be upheld by the arm of the
State; and, secondly, in the claim for the
possession by the Pope of a superiority
over the Emperor, who, it was asserted by

* Referring to the bishops of Gaul and of other provinces,
the Emperor, Valentinian iii., decreed : " Sed illis omni-
busque pro lege sit, quiquid sanxit vel sanxerit apostolicae
sedis auctoritas."

CHURCH AS INTERMEDIARY 203

Gelasius, " is the temporal sovereign, but
the Bishop of Rome is the spiritual sovereign
of the world." ^ That claim was " never
afterwards relaxed, and it saw its realisation
in the Imperial authority over Christendom
of Hildebrand and Innocent iii."

Another factor contributing to the Roman
supremacy of which we must not lose sight,
was the political necessities of the times.
While the influence of the Emperor grew
weaker and the area of the Empire more
circumscribed by the advance of the northern
tribes, there was one power, the ecclesiastical
hierarchy, which stood superior to the flood
of conquest. Men began to realise as never
before the importance of the Church to
the State, a conception which the Papacy
employed to the fullest extent for the
attainment of its designs. The victorious
barbarians recognised that the Church, with
its widely spread machinery of ecclesiastical
officials, was in the nature of an inter-
mediary, whose assistance was essential
if the allegiance of the conquered provinces

1 Thus Dante, Purg. (Canto xvi. 129-132), writes:

" The Church of Rome,
Mixing two governments that ill assort,
Hath miss'd her footing, fallen in the mire,
And there herself and burden much defiled."

' — H. F. Carey's translation.

204 CANOSSA

was to be retained. Thus, so far from the
exigencies of the times being a hindrance to
the ambitions of the Popes, they but prepared
the way to the assertion of " the spiritual
sovereignty of the world " which at length
enabled Gregory vii. to assert his right
" to dispose princes." He excommunicated
the Emperor Henry iv. and released his
subjects from their allegiance : '' I deny," he
pronounced sentence, " to Henry, the govern-
ment of the whole realm of Germany and Italy,
and release all Christians from the bond of
the oath which they have made or will make
to him, and forbid any one to serve him as
if he were a king." The Emperor made
his way across the Alps to the Castle of
Canossa to make peace with Gregory, who
refused for three days to admit him to his
presence, while the royal suppliant stood
barefoot in the snow.

A great advance towards the supremacy
took place during the latter part of the fifth
century. In 476 a.d., the Emperor Romulus
Augustus was deposed by Odoacer, and
Rome was exchanged for Constantinople as
the political capital of the Empire. Thus
the Papacy, "inheriting no small part of
the local authority, which belonged to the
Emperor's officers, drew to herself the rever-

THE CONSTANTINE DONATION 205

ence which the name of the city still com-
manded, until, in the days which followed
her emancipation from the control of the
Emperors at Constantinople, she had per-
fected in theory a scheme which made her
the exact comiterpart of the departed
despotism, the centre of the hierarchy,
absolute mistress of the Christian world." ^

Soon the scheme for the attainment of the
predominant papal aim took shape in the
production of the marvellous forgery known
as the Constantine Donation, which for
seven hundred years was almost universally
accepted as genuine.^ It purported to be a
grant of sovereignty over Italy and the
countries of the West from Constantine to
Sylvester and succeeding Popes in token of
the Emperor's gratitude for his recovery
from leprosy. The reason assigned in the
Donation for this extraordinary self-efface-
ment of the temporal power was, that the
spiritual government might not be hampered
by the presence of a secular authority. The
Donation further conferred on the Popes the
right to wear the Imperial purple, to use the

^ Bryce, Holy Roman Empire, p. 99.

^ In 1440, Laurentius Valla demonstrated the Donation
to be a fraudulent document, and subsequent research has
fully confirmed his verdict.

206 COUNTERPART OF THE STATE

Lateran palace as a place of residence, to
bear the sceptre, and enjoy other privileges
which hitherto had been the right of the
Emperor alone. The attempt to secure such
privileges furnished clear evidence that the
Papacy aspired to be the counterpart of the
Imperial power.

The Popes having thus attained to an
equality with the Emperor, proceeded to
assert superiority on the ground that the
temporal sphere was inferior to the spiritual,
and that sovereignty was conferred by the
Pope, as God's vicegerent, upon the Em-
peror. But the papal pretension was re-
inforced by a power which the Empire did
not possess, for both Papacy and the later
Empire " rested on opinion rather than
material force ; and when the struggle, which
began in the eleventh century, came, the
Empire succumbed, because its rival's hold
over the souls of men was firmer, more
direct ; enforced by penalties more terrible
than the death of the body." ^ Notwith-
standing the subsequent evils engendered by
the extravagant assumption of universal
supremacy, the benefits conferred upon
Christendom in general by the Church of
Rome during the earlier centuries demand

^ Bryce, Holy Roman Empire, p. 418.

SERVICES OF ROMAN CHURCH 207

approval ; here was to be found liberal
support for the necessities of distant and less
wealthy Churches; here a refuge was forth-
coming for many who had become fugitives
because they had championed the truth ;
here were to be found capable and energetic
defenders of the standard faith against here-
tical teaching which was rife in many other
Churches, especially in the East. So valu-
able were the earlier services of the Roman
Church to the cause of truth and religion ;
so great were the opportunities arising from
the peculiar position and influence as the
Metropolitan See, that it must ever be a
cause of poignant regret that the Bishops
of Rome, unsatisfied by the exercise of
that legitimate authority accorded them by
the rest of Christendom, proceeded to con-
vert that moral ascendency into an actual
supremacy.^

Bishop Lightfoot compares the earlier and
later attitude of the Roman wSee in the fol-

^ With reference to the union of the temporal and spiritual
powers in his person, Dante quaintly compares the Pope to
an unclean animal of the Levitical code, " who chews the
cud but doth not cleave the hoof." Concerning the result of
that union he writes {Purg., Canto xvi. 112-115) :

" The sword
Is grafted on the crook ; and, so conjoined
Each must perforce decline to worse, unawed
By fear of other."

208 SUBSEQUENT DESPOTISM

lowing words : " The claims of Rome in the
earlier ages were modest, indeed, compared
with her later assumptions. It is an enor-
mous stride, from the supremacy of Gregory
the Great as patriarch of the West and
father of the English Church in the sixth
century, to the practical despotism claimed
by Hildebrand and Innocent iii. in the
eleventh and succeeding centuries."

CHAPTER Xlll

The Canon Law intended as a rival to the Imperial juris-
prudence— Gregory as * Justinian of the Church ' —
Origin of ' foreign Canon Law ' — Imperial decrees
adopted as a model by Bishop of Rome — Dionysius
Exiguus la^^s foundation of Canon Law — The Decretum
Gratiana — Various compilations to form Corpus Juris
Canonici — Luther's protest — Causes for decline of
spiritual allegiance to Rome — {a) struggle between
rival Popes awakened national consciousness ; (b)
revival of learning incompatible with spirit of Papacy ;
(c) Latin superseded by vernacular as medium for
expressing religious emotions — Empire and Papacy as
counterparts — Reason asserted full sway.

Our subject introduces us to a third factor
in the Roman System, the Canon Law,
destined to be of signal service to papal
policy, and " intended by its authors to
reproduce and rival the Imperial Jurispru-
dence." ^ The Emperor Justinian had
codified the law of Rome as embodied in
the Corpus Juris Civilis, and Pope Gregory
IX. sought in the ecclesiastical sphere to
emulate him by compiling the Corpus Juris
Canonici, whereby he secured the title
" Justinian of the Church." The caution is

1 Bryce, Holy Roman Empire, p. loo.
15

210 ROMAN CANON LAW

perhaps needed, that the Canon Law under
consideration is now known as " foreign
Canon Law," ^ and is to be distinguished from
the Enghsh Canon Law. The latter incorpor-
ated only such Canons and Constitutions of
the former as, in the 35th year of Henry viii.,
were decreed to be neither " contrary nor
repugnant to the laws, statutes, and customs
of this Realm, nor to the damage or hurt of
the King's prerogative royal " ; and, further,
such foreign Canon Law to be valid must have
been " in the past accepted in this country."
The Roman Canon Law arose in conse-
quence of differences of opinion on various
matters of doctrine and worship. Mutual
deliberation became imperative, and the
bishops of neighbouring Churches assembled
from time to time to take common counsel.
Their decisions, termed " Canons," were only
of force within the province of their origin.
The earliest of which we possess any record
were those held to discuss the Easter
Question and the Montanist schism, which,
according to Eusebius, took place in the
reign of Commodus (a.d^ 180-192) ; and
councils of bishops became very common in

1 A convenient term to distinguish that portion of the
foreign Canon Law recognised in England is, the ' King's
ecclesiastical law,' a term first employed in Elizabeth's
reign.

DECISIONS OF COUNCILS 211

the third century. In the fourth and follow-
ing centuries, attempts were made to give
greater weight and more extended apphca-
tion to such canons, by summoning councils
to represent the whole Church. On matters
of faith and doctrine the decisions of
(Ecumenical Councils were authoritative
and of permanent force ; decisions in other
matters relating to ecclesiastical policy and
administration depended for their validity
rather on the acknowledged usefulness of
the rule, than the renown of the particular
council by which it was decreed. Thus some
Canons framed by mere local councils ob-
tained a universal observance, while others
issuing from general councils never won
universal assent.^

Till about the beginning of the fifth
century the Roman See had been content to
offer counsel when approached by provincial
Churches; but from this time forward the
Imperial Decrees of the Emperor, which
were the answers given to legal questions pre-
ferred by inferior judges to him in his capacity
as magistrate or in final appeal, were taken
as a model, and what formerly had been
mere advice began to assume the complexion

* e.g. Canon 15 of the Nicene Council prohibiting the trans-
lation of bishops ; it never obtained universal recognition.

212 FOUNDATION OF CANON LAW

of a command. No longer was it considered
necessary to legislate for the Church by
means of comicils ; but the Bishop of Rome,
in virtue of his own authority, promulgated
decretals and rescripts which subsequently,
together with the Canons of Councils, formed
the main body of Roman Canon Law.

The foundation of the Canon Law was
laid by Dionysius Exiguus,^ who about
510 A.D. compiled a collection of the Canons
of the various Councils and papal decretals,
down to his own time. This collection,
revised and enlarged, was presented to
Charlemagne, by Pope Hadrian i., in 774
A.D., and contains the law of the Roman
Church at that age. Various smaller col-
lections of Canons subsequently appeared,
till in 1144 a.d., Gratian, a monk of Bologna,
produced the compilation known as —

1. The Decretum Gratiani, which con-
stitutes the first portion of the Corpus Juris
Canonici. This collection was " intended
originally as an epitome for the instruction
of youth in the schools ; it shortly super-
seded all older compilations of Canon Law ;
and although swarming with false state-
ments and inaccuracies, exercised the most

1 An abbot of Rome (oh. cir. 556), a voluminous writer,
best known as the author of the Cyclus Pasohalis.

JUSTINIAN'S CODE AS A MODEL 213

far-reaching influence. In it genuine
Canons were mixed with spurious decretals,
the Gregorian fictions, numerous extracts
from sources of Roman Law, from the
writings of the Fathers and of theologians,
and, finally, with scholastic deductions of the
compiler himself. The keystone and leading
idea, which gave unity and cohesion to so
many unconnected and often contradictory
decisions, was to exalt the Church above all
the powers of the earth, and to make the
Pope her sovereign.^

The codified results of Justinian's work
(p. 64) was a favourite study of the times,
and suggested the idea of a similar compila-
tion for the Church, wherebv it should
possess " a code no less complete, no less
imposing, no less scientific " ; for the benefits
which flowed from the Imperial jurispru-
dence, with the Emperor as fountainhead,
were impressed on all sides.

It was this ever-present fact w^hich in-
spired within the "partisans of the Papacy
the idea of setting up an opposing system
of ecclesiastical polity, in which the Pope
should take the place accorded by the Civil
Code to the Holy Roman Emperor. By
labours of successive compilers, culminating

1 Geffcken, Ch. and State, p. 210, vol. ii.

214 SUCCESSORS OF GRATIAN

in the final work of Gratian, the Canon Law
was for the first time created into a system
distinct from Theology on the one hand and
from Civil Law on the other." ^ It obtained
a ready reception throughout the AVestern
Church, and took an analogous place in the
ecclesiastical sphere to that which had been
formerly assigned to the Justinian legal code
in the domain of civil affairs. It became
the armoury from which to draw a suitable
weapon for fresh attacks on what remained
of local independence, and for every emerg-
ency when the papal designs were threatened.
The work of Gratian was carried on by
others during the two following centuries with
the approval of the Popes, and resulted in —

2. Decretals of Pope Gregory ix., which
were intended to supersede older collections.

3. The Liher Sextus or the Sext, produced
by Pope Boniface viii. This compilation
was termed Liher Sextus as being comple-
mentary to the five books compiled by
Gregory ix.

4. The Clementines or Constitutiones Cle-
mentince, compiled by Pope Clement v. in
1313 A.D. This was a kind of seventh book,
extending the Decretals of Gregory ix.

^ Vide Rashdall, Universities of Europe in Middle Ages,
vol. i. p. 134 ff.

LUTHER'S PROTEST 215

The above four are generally considered
as forming the Canon Law ; but two other
parts with less authority subsequently
added. They are —

5. The Extravagantes of Pope John xxii.,
and

6. The Extravagantes Communes.

The Corpus Juris Canonici, accepted
generally as authoritative by the Western
Church, continued to be recognised until the
Reformation, when Luther raised his protest
against that fundamental error of the Canon
Law which confused matters temporal and
spiritual. He drew a clear line of distinction
between the two provinces, as appears in
the articles of the Augsburg Confession con-
cerning " Ecclesiastical Power." There it
is stated : " The ecclesiastical and civil
powers are not to be confounded. The
ecclesiastical power hath its own command
to preach the Gospel and administer the
Sacraments. Let it not intrude upon
another office ; let it not transfer the
kingdoms of the world, the laws of magis-
trates, not withdraw from their lawful
obedience, nor hinder the execution of
judgments touching any civil ordinances or
contracts. Let it not prescribe laws to
governors concerning the form of the com-

216 OBJECT OF CANON LAW

monwealth, since Christ saith, ' My kingdom
is not of this world.' "

The compilers of the Canon Law sought
by its means to make the Church supreme
over all other powers; an aim only possible
so long as the Latin notion of absolutism
continued its hold on the minds of men,
which aim could only succeed while the
highest purpose of the State was conceived
to be the maintenance of the Church's
supremacy, and while historical investiga-
tion lay dormant and reason speechless in
the presence of authority. But causes had
been at work for centuries, resulting in the
freeing of a great part of the Western world
from the incubus of the Papacy, for " no
revolution has ever been more gradually
prepared than that which separated almost
one half of Europe from the communion of
the Roman See." ^

1. The first cause which brought about
the downfall of the " holy Roman Empire"
was the awakening of the national con-
sciousness of the various States. That
cause was quickened into active opera-
tion by the scandals connected with the
struggle between the rival Popes, Gregory
XII. and Benedict xiii. Europe, divided

^ Hallam, Const. Hist. i. p. 57.

BROKEN LINK IN HISTORY 217

in its allegiance to the rivals from the
year 1378 till 1416, was impotent to
effect a reconciliation ; while each com-
petitor for the papal supremacy employed
every stratagem to secure for himself the
support of the different sovereigns, and
acknowledgment from the temporal powers
as to the validity of his claims. Thirty-eight
years of schism had awakened reason,
and the minds of men were compelled to
reconsider the Roman claim upon the
spiritual allegiance of mankind. Hitherto
there was at least some show of reason for
the Divine authority of the claim. Men
were impressed as they reflected on the
long line of succession asserting continuity
with St. Peter, and herein lay the secret
of that Roman pretension which for ages
had exercised its influence on the minds
of those who accepted the claim without
question, in days when historical criticism
was unknown. But the pretensions of rival
Popes, each asserting his authority as a
vicegerent of Christ, contradicted the
accepted theory of infallible election, and
" a link was now broken in the majestic
chain of history."

The nations of Europe ranged themselves
on one side or the other, Scotland, France,

218 NEWBORN SENTIMENT

Naples, and certain lesser States supporting
Clement vii. ; while England, Germany,
Denmark championed the cause of Urban vi.
The papal claims were shaken to their
foundations, and the consciousness of nation-
ality began to assert itself within those
States which had emancipated themselves
in greater or lesser measure from the holy
Roman Empire. At first the new-born
national sentiment found expression in re-
sisting further papal encroachments ; but
political forces had been set in motion which
did not come to rest till Northern Europe
had been broken up into its separate and
independent nationalities.

2. Secondly, the revival of learning w^as
stimulated by the migration westwards of
Greek scholars driven out by the advance of
the Turks to Constantinople ; for the East
had not suffered to the same extent as the
West at the hands of barbarian conquerors,
and learning had there continued to exist.
The art of printing was discovered, and
furnished additional means for extending
the field of learning by the dissemination
of the new ideas which began to occupy
the minds of men ; and the New Learning
generated a mental atmosphere in which
the spirit of the Papacy could not thrive.

DEFECTS OF LATIN TONGUE 219

3. Lastly, another cause was the superses-
sion of the Latin tongue as a medium for the
expression of spiritual conceptions. Since
the beginning of the fourth century its use
had been universal in the West, both in
religion and learning. But as a language it
was not the best adapted for the expression
of spiritual emotions. Its use tended to
repress and confine fervent impulses that
touched the deep things of the human heart,
and obstruct articulation of awakening
religious emotions. While Heine may have
been guilty of exaggeration when he said
although Christianity had tormented itself
for more than a thousand years in the
attempt to spiritualise the Latin tongue, its
efforts were fruitless, still there is ground
for the opinion he expressed, " The language
of the Roman people can never belie its
origin. It is a language of command for
generals ; a language of decree for adminis-
trators ; an attorney language for usurers ;
a lapidary speech for the stone-hard Roman
people." The expression of the spiritual
consciousness burst all restraining bonds,
and, like a rising flood confined, the resisting
walls at length refused to hold back the
surging tide, and from the Reformation
onwards religious thought and emotion

220 COHESION OF EMPIRE ENDED

found expression in the widening stream of
the vernacular Uteratures of newborn nation-
ahties.

Conclusion. — The mental attitude of the
times permitted the development of the
pretensions of the Papacy, which to the
modern mind seems so remarkable : a
development only possible where the rights
of private judgment were non-existent, and
when men worshipped traditional authority
with unquestioning fidelity.

But the ambitions of the Papacy pre-
pared the way for her own undoing, and
the fall of the Empire, to which by un-
justifiable interference in State affairs she had
contributed in no small measure, was the
precursor of her own defeat. Alone, neither
the Empire nor the Papacy in the mediaeval
sense could exist. They were counterparts
the one of the other ; and the fall of the
Empire heralded the fall of the Papacy.
The cohesion of the Empire had come to an
end : in its place were formed the various
nationalities of the West. For example,
in England, Norman and Anglo-Saxons had
become oblivious to race distinctions, and
were welded into the English nation. The
same process later took place in France,
where the Frankish, Celtic, and Latin

DANTE AND MARSILIUS 221

elements in the population were merged to
form the French nation. A similar process
was at work elsewhere, and the opposition
of the Popes to the assertion of national
rights only whetted the desire for inde-
pendence. This spirit first found expres-
sion in the resistance of England to the
papal demands, and was followed by France,
Northern Italy, and Germany. The great
schism and the claim of the rival Popes
upon a divided Christendom, by removing
the restraints on reason and awakening
the spirit of inquiry, created an environ-
ment in which the papal theories of suprem-
acy could not flourish. Anti-papal treatises
appeared, and writers, as Dante in his
De Monarchia and Marsilius of Padua in
his Defensor Pads, threw the weight of
their influence into the rising opposition
to the papal assumptions. Some of the
opinions of Marsilius, as expressed in the
Defensor Pacts, were in remarkable con-
trast to contemporary thought. He opposed
the claims of the Pope to all else except the
spiritual power, and insisted that he should
be subject to the authority of the General
Council. He taught that the general body of
all Christian people constituted the Church.
Marsilius was under no misapprehension as

222 CONCLUSION

to the basis for the Pope's claim to authority,
tracing it to the accident that his seat was in
the city associated with the former rule and
glory of the Roman Emperor. The spirit of
nationalism, awakening into consciousness
after long sleep, induced by the universal
dominion of Rome, refused to brook any
longer the interference of the Popes with the
rights of independent princes and national
Churches. It was then that the Pauline
doctrine, eclipsed for centuries, at length
emerged to throw light on religious pro-
blems, which came into prominence when
Europe, awakened to freedom of life and
thought, engaged in the controversies of
the Reformation.

INDEX

Adoption, relationships result-
ing from, 68 ; ceremony of,
69 ; contrasted with slavery,
69; if disputed, 70; the term
in English law, 85 ; filial im-
pulses, 98 ; " waiting for,"
107 ; distinguished from
Justification, 1 12.

African Church vindicates in-
dependence, 199.

Alexander the Great, 2 ;
attempt to realise Zeno's
conception, 7 ; his aim in
Hellenism, 8.

Am^mtas, 158.

Antioch, St. Peter's interrupted
fellowship at, 20.

Antonius, Felix, 36.

Apiarius, case of, 199.

Apocalyptic literature, 1 29, 130.

Aratus, 90.

Athenodorus, 47.

Augsburg Confession, 215.

Augustine, heathen world and
Christ, 6 ; on Stephen's
influence on St. Paul, 20 n. ;
and mediaeval misconcep-
tion, 186; De civitaie Dei,
187 «.; and external auth-
ority, 188 ; quoted, 182 n.

Blackstone, 99.

Brotherhood, political and

Christianity, 53.
Browning's " Easter Day," 105.
Bruce, A. B., 26, 137.
Butler's dictum, 3.

Caesar Augustus, decree of, 6t, ;
forms province of Galatia,

159.

Caesar-worship, 41, 42 n.

Caligula, 42.

Calvin, influence of, 119.

Candlish, Prof., 13.

Canon I,aw, as rival of Im-
perial law, 209 ; " foreign "
and English, 210 n. ; origin
of, 211-212; Luther's pro-
test against, 215 ; object of,
213.

Canossa, 204,

Celsus derides the hope of
progress, 12 n.

Christianity and peril of re-
formed Judaism, 18.

Church, Christian conception
of, 54 ; idea of universal,
55.

Cicero and education of Roman
youth, 27 n.

Citizenship, Roman, 54, 59 ;
universal, 55.

Claudius, Emperor, 42.

Colonies, Roman, 52.

Conscience, 79.

Constantine donation, 205.

Cornelius, baptism of, involved
universal principle, 134.

Covenant, God's, purpose of,
103 ; permanence of original,
141 ; and " testament " in
N.T., 146, 148.

Cyprian opposes Roman
I theory, 193.
223

224

INDEX

Dante, union of civil and
spiritual power, 203 n. ; his
quaint comparison, 207 n. ;
De Monarchia, 221.

Decretum Gratiani, 212.

Deiotarus, 158.

Deissmann VII., 27??., 49, 166;/.;
on sacral manumission, 50 ;
on meaning of " diatlieke,"
166 n.

Derbe, 172.

Digest, origin of, 64.

Dionysius Exiguus, work of , 2 1 2.

Duoviri, ^2) "•

Eastern Church influence on
West, 177 ; controversies of,
179.

Empire, Roman, division of,
and results, 177; Empire and
Papacy as counterparts, 220.

Ezra, 127-128.

Fatherhood of God, idea of, lost
by heathen, 88 ; in O.T.,
94 ; present popular con-
ception of, 118.

Forensic type of thought,
aversion to, vi.

Gains, Institutes of, 6^, 102.

Galatia, meaning of — double
sense, 155; "Galatia Proper,"
156; King of, 158; balance
of argument and rival
theories, 172.

Gallio's decision, 34.

Golden Age, 11 ; and law of
Nature, ji.

Greek and Christian nomen-
clature, 46 ; Greek and Latin
Churches contrasted, 65, 65.

Gregory vii., 204.

Guardianship, to prolong
authority of father, 7 1 .

Hagar, St. Paul's inference
from allegory of, 145.

Halmel's argument, 58.

Heathen conception of a per-
fect kingdom, 5 ; attempts
to realize it, 7.

Heir, need of, based on Roman
religion, 67 \ " Heirs of God,"
peculiarity of term, 98 ;
Blackstone on, 99 n. ; birth
not death initiates, 100.

Heirship, Roman contrasted
with modern idea of, 71.

Hellenism, meaning and re-
sult, 8.

Hicks, E. L,, 8 n.

History, witness to prepara-
tion for Gospel, 1-4.

Holtzmann, O., 156.

Incarnation, purpose of, 104.
Inheritance, Roman and

modern conceptions of, 71 ;

father and son co-proprietors

in, 102 ; involved duties as

well as rights, 106.
Intestac)^ Roman horror of,

67.
Irenseus on preservation of

truth at Rome, 184.

Jewish aptitude for spiritual
truth, 44, 45.

Judaism, St. Paul's mental
attitude towards, 25 ;
founders of, 127; Prophets
relegated to secondary place,
128 ; world created for
Israel, 131 n.

Julian (jurist), 61.

Jiilicher, 156.

Julius, Bishop of Rome, 196 ;
appellate jurisdiction, 197.

Julius Paulus, 102.

Jurisconsults, office of, 60.

Jus gentium, 77 .

Justification, doctrine of, 81 ;
as new and yet not new, 82 ;
germinal conception of, 82 ;
resulting subjective pro-
cesses, %'i).

Justinian, 6'},.

Kyrie eleison, witness of, in
Latin liturgy, 178 n.

Latin and Greek Churches
contrasted, 65.

INDEX

225

Latin as medium for expressing
spiritual conceptions, 219 ;
Heine's opinion of, 219.

Law of Nature and Stoics,

17-
Lightfoot's chronology of St.

Paul's life questioned, 38 n. ;

inadequate knowledge of

Asia Minor, 171,
Lipsius, 156.
Livy on administrative justice,

36 #.
Lystra, 172.

Maccabean period, 129.
Maine, problems of Western

theology, 64.
Manumission, 49.
Mason, A. J., 89.
IMilman quoted, 179.
Mosaism, its value temporar}^

125 ; abrogation of, 126 ;

perplexity amongst Gentile

Christians, 144.

National consciousness, awak-
ening of, 216.

Nature, law of, theories of
Stoics, 62 ; lost code of, yZ ;
Golden Age and, 78.

Nestor, 47,

Nicene Canons, 199-200.

Niebuhr's discovery, 63.

North Galatian and South G.
theories, 156.

Octavia, 68.

Odoacer, result of deposition

by Augustus, 204.
Onesimus and alDolition of

slavery, jt^ n.

Pandects, origin of, 64.

Papinian, 61.

Paterfamilias, 66.

Patria potestas, 67.

Paul, St. ; indictment of
heathenism, 11 ; a universal
gospel, 14 ; his versatility
and special qualification for
his mission, 21 ; civil power,
" a minister of God," 22

spiritual truths expressed
through Roman Law, 23 ;
"revolutionary" methods,
25 ; attitude towards legal
institutions, 29 ; knowledge
of heathenism, 48 ; obliga-
tion to Imperial rule un-
questioned, 57 ; references
to Roman Law self-evident
to readers, 58 ; abolition of
slavery, yz '''^- '> his use of
term " slave," 75 ; pre-
Christian experience, 90 ;
the impossible standard for,
92; Jewish hostility to,
130 ; his doctrine of atone-
ment involved abrogation
of IMosaism, 134 ; venture
on unproved gospel, 142 ;
his teaching eclipsed for
centuries, 222.
Paulus on penalty for intro-
ducing new kinds of worship,

34-

Peter, St. ; his halting acquies-
cence, 20 ; abandons liberal
attitude, 136 ; fiction of
primacy of, 195.

Pfleiderer, 156.

Pisidian Antioch, 172.

Plutarch's comment on Alex-
ander, 7.

Popes, effect of rivalry be-
tween, 217.

Praetor ; his modification of
Roman Law, 61 ; Praetorian
will, 72 ; P. Peregrinus and
foreigners, j6.

Promise, contrast between
Law and, 151.

Ramsay, Sir W., quoted, 29,
43, 55, 156, i6r, 162 ; OD
N. Galatian theory and St.
Luke, 156.

Redemption, St. Paul's con-
ception of, 51 ; body to be
participator in, 107-9.

Religion — pagan cults separ-
ated nations, 4 ; idea of uni-
versal, 55.

Religio licita, 35, 36.

226

INDEX

Renan, unity of Empire, 1 5, 30.

Revelation, progressive, from
" faith to faith," 153,

Revival of learning, 218.

Robinson, J. A., 119, 121.

Rome, as unconscious agent,
viii., 22 ; unity of Empire
necessary for St. Paul's
work, 1 5 ; terminates inter-
national strife, 15 ; par-
allelism between Rome's
policy and mission of Chris-
tianity, 31 ; colonies, 52 ;
franchise, 54 ; mental atmo-
sphere created by, 174 ;
later thwarted Pauline
teaching, 175 ; Bishop of,
and secular power, 176.

Roman Church ; divergence
from primitive gospel, 175 ;
" moral ascendency " at first,
176 ; Latin legal genius
coloured theology of, 179 ;
antipathy to freedom of
thought, 181 ; crime of
disobedience to, 182 ; takes
State as model, 192 ; grand
aim of, 193 ; ascendency
demanded on authority, 195 ;
interpolation of documents,

201 ; civil power enlisted,

202 ; influx of barbarians,

203 ; benefits bestowed on
Christendom, 206 ; oppor-
tunities abused, 207.

Roman Law ; knowledge of,
essential, 28 ; Roman system
of education, 27 ; furnished
analogies, 48 ; extent of
St. Paul's debt to, 48 ; a
vehicle of expression for
theology, 5 1 ; illuminates
Pauline teaching, 58 ; Roman
jealousy of, 59 ; scope en-
larged, 60 ; modified by
Prsetor, 61 ; sense of justice,
62 n.

Sardica, canons of, 197.

Schmiedel, 156, 165, 166.

Senate defies deceased em-
perors, 42 ; ordinances of,
63.

'Schoolmaster,' 74 w.

Seneca, 78.

Septuagint, term " diatheke "

adopted, 147 ; later double

signification of term, 148.
Siricus, Bishop of Rome,

198.
Slavery, manumission from,

48, 50 ; causes of Roman,

73-
"Sons of Abraham," Ramsay

on, 164.

Sons of God, double use of
term, 85.

Sonship, St. Paul's presenta-
tion of, disparaged, 93 ;
genial presentation of, by
Jesus, 95.

South Galatian theory, argu-
ments for, based on legal
terms, 163, 165, 167.

Spain, tradition of St. Paul's
visit to, 38.

Spirit, Holy, as witness,
III.

Stephen's liberal outlook, 19 ;
his arguments unanswerable,
20.

Stoicism, 47 ; Zeno, the
founder of, 7 ; and law of
Nature, 62 ; St. Paul's
supposed debt to, 78.

Susa, Alexander at, 8.

Tarsus, seat of Greek philo-
sophy, 47.

Terminology, lack of spiritual,
44.

Tertullian's assumption, 185.

Testament, contrasts with
modern, J2.

Thackeray, H. St. John,
quoted, 144 11.

Theophilus, 80.

Throne of Satan, 43.

Tradition, place in Latin
Church, 183.

Trisagion, witness of, in Latin
liturgy, 178 n.

Twelve Tables, 27 ; a semi-
sacred code, 59 ; expansion
of, 61.

INDEX

227

Ulpian, 6i.

Universal brotherhood, con-
ception of, 53.

Valentinian, Emperor, decree

of, 202 n.
Virgil, golden age, 11 n.\ cycles

in history, 12 n.

Weiss, 156.

Weizsacker, 25.

Westcott rejects N. Galatian
theory, lyi n.

Will, Praetorian, 72.

Witnesses, Roman, their func-
tions, 115.

Zeno, founder of Stoicism, 7.

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