Thus matters stood until 1852, when the sum granted by parliament to be applied in aid of schools by the Committee of Council was £160,000 for the year. At the same time the lords of the council made an alteration in the minutes governing the appropriation of aid to the building or enlarging of Church of England schools; leaving it optional with founders who petitioned for aid, either to take it upon such conditions as previously existed, or upon certain new conditions. These new conditions give the clergyman of the parish or district more direct authority over the religious and moral instruction of the pupils than was expressed in the previous conditions, and they enable him to prohibit, (on religious or moral grounds,) the use of any book, and to suspend the teacher from his functions, pending the decision of the question by the bishop of the diocese, whose decision is to be final.
The new minutes of 1852 were not maintained by the succeeding government. The grant for public education in 1853 was £260,000, and in 1854, £263,000, exclusive of the grant for Ireland. In 1852, by the 15 & 16 Vic. c. 49, the acts referred to in this article relating to sites of schools, were extended ta sites for theological training colleges.
SCHOOLMEN. The title given to a class of learned theologians who flourished in the middle ages. They derive their name from the schools attached to the cathedrals or universities in which they lectured. Some make Lanfranc (William the Conqueror’s archbishop of Canterbury) the first author of scholastic theology; others, the famous Abelard; others, his master Roscelinus; and others again his pupil Peter Lombard. But the most distinguished of the Schoolmen lived in the next century. The scholastic theology was the first attempt at forming a systematic theology. Their first step towards a systematic theology was to collect the sentences of the Fathers; the next step was to harmonize them by reducing them to principles. This could only be done by the application of philosophy to divinity, for philosophy unfolds the principles of reasoning. The Schoolmen, therefore, had recourse to the reigning philosophy, that of Aristotle; and Thomas Aquinas, in hisSecunda Secundæ, i. e. the second part of the second division of the “Sum of Theology,” has given the best and clearest exposition of Aristotle’s Ethics to be met with out of Aristotle himself. The great error of the Schoolmen, which has occasioned the ruin of their theology, was this, that, instead of taking the Bible only for their basis, they took the Church for their first authority, and made the Bible only a part of the Church’s teaching.
The doctrine of the Schoolmen, of our deserving grace of congruity, is censured in our 13th Article.
The Schoolmen were:
1. Albertus Magnus, a Dominican friar, born in Suabia. He was educated in the university of Paris, and was Thomas Aquinas’s master. Pope Alexander IV. sent for him to Rome, where he officiated as master of the sacred palace: and Urban IV. forced him to accept of the bishopric of Ratisbon. He died at Cologne, in the year 1280. Albert wrote a great number of books; and, in those days of ignorance, was accused of magic, and of having a brazen head, which gave him answers.
2. Bonaventure, surnamed theSeraphic Doctor, born at Bagnarea, a city of Tuscany, in 1221. He entered into the order of the Minims, in 1233, and followed his studies in the university of Paris, where he afterwards taught divinity, and took his doctor’s degree with St. Thomas Aquinas in 1255. Next year he was elected general of his order; and Gregory X. made him a cardinal in 1272. He assisted at the first sessions of the General Council of Lyons,held in 1279, and died before it was ended. His works are very numerous, and equally replete with piety and learning.
3. Thomas Aquinas, surnamed theAngelical Doctor, was descended of the kings of Sicily and Aragon, and was born in the year 1224, in the castle of Aquin, which is in the territory of Laboré in Italy. After having been educated in the monastery of Mount Cassino, he was sent to Naples, where he studied Humanity and Philosophy. In 1244, he went to Cologne to study under Albertus Magnus. From thence he went to Paris, where he took his doctor’s degree in 1255. He returned into Italy in 1263; and, after having taught Scholastic Divinity in most of the universities of that country, he settled at last at Naples. In 1274, being sent for by Gregory X., to assist in the Council of Lyons, he fell sick on the road, and died in the monastery of Fossanova, near Terracina. Among the great number of his works, which make seventeen volumes in folio, hisSummais the most famous, being a large collection of theological questions.
4. Scotus, or John Duns Scotus, surnamed theSubtile Doctor, was a Scotchman by birth, and came to Paris about the year 1300, where he took his degrees, and taught in that city. He particularly taught the immaculate conception of the Blessed Virgin. From Paris he went to Boulogne, where he died soon after, in 1303. According to the custom of the times, he wrote many philosophical and theological works, in which he valued himself upon maintaining opinions contrary to those of Thomas Aquinas. This gave rise to the opposite sects of the Scotists and Thomists.
5. William Ocham, surnamed theSingular Doctor, was born in a village of that name, in the county of Surrey, in England. He was the head of the sect called the Nominalists. He flourished in the university of Paris, in the beginning of the fourteenth century, and wrote a book concerning the power of the Church and of the State, to defend Philip the Fair against Pope Boniface VIII. He was one of the grand adversaries of Pope John XXII., who excommunicated him for taking part with the anti-pope Peter of Corbario. He ended his days at Munich, the court of the Elector of Bavaria, who had received him kindly.
6. Raymond Lully, descended of an illustrious family in Catalonia, was born in the island of Majorca in 1236. He was of the order of the Minims, and had acquired a great knowledge of the Oriental languages. He invented a new method of reasoning, but could not obtain leave from Honorius IV. to teach it at Rome. Then he resolved to execute the design he had long formed of endeavouring the conversion of the Mohammedans. Having gone to Tunis, he had a conference with the Saracens, in which he run the risk of his life, and escaped only upon condition he would go out of Africa. He came to Naples, where he taught his method till the year 1290. At Genoa he wrote several books. From thence he went to Paris, where he taught his art. After several travels and adventures, he returned to Majorca, from whence he went over into Africa, where he was imprisoned by the Saracens, and so ill-treated, that he died of his wounds. He had found out the secret of making a jargon proper to discourse of everything, without learning anything in particular, by ranging certain general terms under different classes.
7. Durandus, surnamed theMost resolving Doctor, was of St. Pourcain, a village in the diocese of Clermont, in Auvergne, and flourished in the university of Paris from 1313 to 1318, in which year he was named by the pope, bishop of Puy, from whence he was transferred to the bishopric of Meaux, which he governed to the time of his death.
8. To these may be added, Giles, archbishop of Bourges, surnamed theDoctor who had a good Foundation; Peter Aureolus, archbishop of Aix, styled theEloquent Doctor; Augustin Triumphus, of Ancona, who wrote theMilleloquiumof St. Augustin; Albert of Padua; Francis Mairon, of Digne in Provence; Robert Holkot, an English divine; Thomas Bradwardin, an Englishman, surnamed theProfound Doctor, author of a treatisede Causa Deiagainst Pelagius; and Gregory of Rimini, author of two commentaries on the First and Second Books of Sentences.
SCOTLAND. (SeeChurch in Scotland.)
SCREEN. Any separation of one part of a church from another, generally of light construction, tabernacle work, open arcading, or wood tracery. The screens separating side chapels from the chancel, nave, or transept, are usually called parcloses. (SeeRood-loftandReredos.)
SCRIPTURE. (SeeBible.) “Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation; so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be required of any man, that it should be believed as an article of the faith, or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation. In the name of the Holy Scripture we do understand those canonicalbooks of the Old and New Testament, of whose authority was never any doubt in the Church.
“Of the Names and Number of the Canonical Books.
“Of the Names and Number of the Canonical Books.
“Of the Names and Number of the Canonical Books.
Genesis.Exodus.Leviticus.Numbers.Deuteronomy.Joshua.Judges.Ruth.The First Book of Samuel.The Second Book of Samuel.The First Book of Kings.The Second Book of Kings.The First Book of Chronicles.The Second Book of Chronicles.The First Book of Esdras.The Second Book of Esdras.The Book of Esther.The Book of Job.The Psalms.The Proverbs.Ecclesiastes, or Preacher.Cantica, or Songs of Solomon.Four Prophets the Greater.Twelve Prophets the Less.
Genesis.Exodus.Leviticus.Numbers.Deuteronomy.Joshua.Judges.Ruth.The First Book of Samuel.The Second Book of Samuel.The First Book of Kings.The Second Book of Kings.The First Book of Chronicles.The Second Book of Chronicles.The First Book of Esdras.The Second Book of Esdras.The Book of Esther.The Book of Job.The Psalms.The Proverbs.Ecclesiastes, or Preacher.Cantica, or Songs of Solomon.Four Prophets the Greater.Twelve Prophets the Less.
Genesis.Exodus.Leviticus.Numbers.Deuteronomy.Joshua.Judges.Ruth.The First Book of Samuel.The Second Book of Samuel.The First Book of Kings.The Second Book of Kings.The First Book of Chronicles.The Second Book of Chronicles.The First Book of Esdras.The Second Book of Esdras.The Book of Esther.The Book of Job.The Psalms.The Proverbs.Ecclesiastes, or Preacher.Cantica, or Songs of Solomon.Four Prophets the Greater.Twelve Prophets the Less.
Genesis.
Exodus.
Leviticus.
Numbers.
Deuteronomy.
Joshua.
Judges.
Ruth.
The First Book of Samuel.
The Second Book of Samuel.
The First Book of Kings.
The Second Book of Kings.
The First Book of Chronicles.
The Second Book of Chronicles.
The First Book of Esdras.
The Second Book of Esdras.
The Book of Esther.
The Book of Job.
The Psalms.
The Proverbs.
Ecclesiastes, or Preacher.
Cantica, or Songs of Solomon.
Four Prophets the Greater.
Twelve Prophets the Less.
“And the other Books (as Hierome saith) the Church doth read for example of life, and instruction of manners; but yet doth it not apply them to establish any doctrine: such are these following:
The Third Book of Esdras.The Fourth Book of Esdras.The Book of Tobias.The Book of Judith.The rest of the Book of Esther.The Book of Wisdom.Jesus, the Son of Sirach.Baruch the Prophet.The Song of the Three Children.The Story of Susanna.Of Bel and the Dragon.The Prayer of Manasses.The First Book of Maccabees.The Second Book of Maccabees.
The Third Book of Esdras.The Fourth Book of Esdras.The Book of Tobias.The Book of Judith.The rest of the Book of Esther.The Book of Wisdom.Jesus, the Son of Sirach.Baruch the Prophet.The Song of the Three Children.The Story of Susanna.Of Bel and the Dragon.The Prayer of Manasses.The First Book of Maccabees.The Second Book of Maccabees.
The Third Book of Esdras.The Fourth Book of Esdras.The Book of Tobias.The Book of Judith.The rest of the Book of Esther.The Book of Wisdom.Jesus, the Son of Sirach.Baruch the Prophet.The Song of the Three Children.The Story of Susanna.Of Bel and the Dragon.The Prayer of Manasses.The First Book of Maccabees.The Second Book of Maccabees.
The Third Book of Esdras.
The Fourth Book of Esdras.
The Book of Tobias.
The Book of Judith.
The rest of the Book of Esther.
The Book of Wisdom.
Jesus, the Son of Sirach.
Baruch the Prophet.
The Song of the Three Children.
The Story of Susanna.
Of Bel and the Dragon.
The Prayer of Manasses.
The First Book of Maccabees.
The Second Book of Maccabees.
All the Books of the New Testament, as they are commonly received, we do receive, and account them canonical.”—ArticleVI.
The Jews acknowledge the Books of the Old Testament only, which both Jews and Christians agree were collected into one body, except the Book of Malachi, by Ezra. They had been preserved during the Babylonish captivity, and the collection was made by him on the return from it. He divided the Bible, (מקרה)mikra,lesson,lecture, orScripture,Βίβλος, (the Book,) into three parts: 1. The Law, containing the Pentateuch, or five books of Moses; 2. The Prophets, containing thirteen books; and 3. The Hagiographa, four books, making in the whole twenty-two, the number of letters in the Hebrew alphabet, but which the Jews now make twenty-four.
The first (the Law) was divided into fifty-four sections, for the several sabbaths, (with the intercalated month,) and these sections into verses. The division into chapters, which were originally subdivided by letters, not figures as now, is of late date, and was done to facilitate the use of concordances.
Some Books are cited in the Old Testament which are now lost, unless the same as others, under different names; as, 1. “The Book of Jasher” (Josh. x. 13; 2 Sam. i. 18); 2. “The Book of the Wars of theLord” (Numb. xxi. 14); 3. “The Book of Chronicles or Days,” containing the annals of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, frequently cited in the Books of Kings and Chronicles; 4. The remainder of Solomon’s “three thousand proverbs,” and “a thousand and five songs,” and the whole of his writings on natural history, “of trees,” “of beasts, and of fowl, and of creeping things, and of fishes” (1 Kings iv. 32, 33); and 5. Probably the Lamentations of Jeremiah on the death of Josiah, as this subject seems not included in the book now extant. Some think that the first, the Book of Jasher, is the same as the second; others, the Books of Moses; and others think the first three are the same, and were public records deposited in the house ofGod. It is very probable that the references to these books, from the sense of them, were subsequent introductions.
Hebrew was the language of the Old Testament generally, but Ezra, ch. iv., from verse 8 to ch. vi. verse 19, and ch. vii., from verse 12 to 27, Jeremiah, ch. x. verse 11, and Daniel, from ch. ii. verse 4, to end of ch. vii., are in Chaldee. The Books of the New Testament were written in Greek, except, only, it has been questioned whether St. Matthew did not write in Hebrew, or Syriac, the language then spoken in Judea; and St. Mark in Latin; and whether the Epistle to the Hebrews was not first written in Hebrew.
Whether the art of writing had its origin in the communication ofGodwith Moses on Mount Sinai, is doubtful. Some imagine that the passage, Gen. xxiii. 17, is an actual abridgment of the conveyanceof the field of Ephron made to Abraham. It is certainly not improbable that the patriarchs might have compiled records of their time, and that by inspiration; and that Moses might collect these, as Ezra did in after-times. And this is argued by some from a supposed difference of style. Moses himself was expressly directed to write by way of record; a custom which continued under the Judges and the Kings, some of the latter of whom collected and arranged the books then existing; as it is clear Hezekiah did the proverbs of Solomon. The prophecies of Jeremiah, we know, were publicly read; and when Ezra made his collection, the number of copies was great, and the difference existing between them is supposed to form the marginal readings, amounting in all to 840. It was after his time that translations began to be made.
The preservation of the sacred Scriptures, and of the genuineness and integrity of the text, seems almost miraculous. It was in order to this that the Masora was composed, by which was ascertained, with stupendous labour, the number of verses, of words, and even of letters, contained in the twenty-four books of the Old Testament, and in every section and subdivision; and also the words supposed to be changed, superfluous letters, repetitions of verses and words, significations different or analogous, mute letters, and various other particulars and mysteries.
The Targum (explanation) is the Chaldee Paraphrase; being this rather than literal translations of the books of the Old Testament, and by which, when the Hebrew text was read in the synagogue, it was explained to the people. The first Targum was that of Jonathan, about thirty years beforeChrist, on the greater and lesser Prophets. The next is that of Onkelos, nearly contemporary, or something later, on the Books of Moses only, short and simple, and the most esteemed. The Targum of Joseph the Blind, on the Hagiographa, is more modern, in a corrupt Chaldee, and less regarded. The Targum of Jerusalem, on the Pentateuch only, is very imperfect, and supposed by some to be only a fragment. Besides these there is a Targum falsely ascribed to Jonathan, on the Pentateuch, evidently not older than the 7th century: the Targums on Ecclesiastes, Canticles, Lamentations, Ruth, Esther: three Targums on Esther, and a Targum on the Chronicles, discovered in 1680: all these are of late date, not earlier than the 6th century. On Daniel, Ezra, and Nehemiah, there is no Targum.
Most of the MSS. of the Hebrew Bible at present in existence were collated by and for Dr. Kennicott, 250 by himself, and 350 by another, being from 480 to 800 years old. Since this more than 400 others, of the 7th or 8th century, have been discovered. Dr. Rossi followed up Dr. Kennicott’s work.
The first printed edition of the whole Bible was in 1488; the first Latin translation was by Munster, in 1534. The Septuagint was probably the first Greek version; to which followed those of Symmachus and Theodotion, with three others by unknown authors. The Septuagint, (a translation supposed to have been by seventy-two Jews,) called for conciseness “the Seventy,” was made in the reign of Ptolemy Philadelphus,B. C.277, at an expense of above £136,000. There are four principal modern editions: the Complutensian,A. D.1514–1517; the Aldine, 1518; the Roman of Sixtus V., 1587; and Grabe’s, printed at Oxford, 1707–1720. In 1798, Dr. Holmes began publishing an edition at Oxford, carried on since his death by Mr. Parsons, on the plan of Kennicott’s Hebrew Bible with the various readings in the margin.
The first edition of the New Testament in Greek was the Complutensian, 1514–1517, though not published till 1522. Next that of Erasmus, in 1516. The editions of the Stephenses (1546–1550) are admirable for their beauty. The editions of Beza, 1565–1598, and Elzevir, 1624, are also to be noticed. The celebrated edition, with various readings, of the Rev. John Mill, was published at Oxford in 1707, after the labour of thirty years, and the readings amounted to 30,000! That of Wetstein, at Amsterdam, in 1751, with a far greater number; and that of Griesbach, at Halle, in 1775–1777, with a select collection of these readings.
With this great number of various readings may be mentioned the increase of parallel passages, in the English editions of the Bible; being, from the edition 1611, when they were first introduced, to Bishop Wilson’s Bible,A. D.1785, from 8980 to 66,955. And these in the “Concordance of Parallels,” published afterwards by the Rev. C. Cruttwell, the editor of this last Bible, are probably three or four times the number.
SCRIPTURE, CANON OF. The present canon of the Roman Church was made in the fourth session of the Council of Trent, at which, besides cardinals, there were present no more than four archbishops and thirty-three bishops; ofwhich number all but eight were Italians.
These men, who were as ill qualified by their learning as by their numbers to rule so great a question, were not even unanimous in the conclusion which they adopted. Some contended that the books ought to be placed in separate classes, the one to be used for piety, the other for the establishment of doctrine, which is the rule of the English Church. Seripando, the most learned of the cardinals present, even wrote a book to maintain this view; while nearly half the members of the council were opposed to the anathema by which the decree is enforced.
The main authority which has been urged in favour of the Roman canon, is that of the Council of Carthage. It is not however agreed when this synod was held; and, whatever date may be assigned, its decrees have no authority beyond the province of Africa, having never been incorporated in the universal code. To use the words of Bishop Cosin, “the question is, whether ever any Church or ancient author, during these first ages, can be showed to have professedly made such a catalogue of the true and authentic books of Scripture, as the Council of Trent hath lately addressed and obtruded upon the world: which will never be done. In the mean while they all speak so perspicuously for our Church canon, that there can be no denial of their agreement herein with us.”
The Apostolical Constitutions, which some writers assign to Clement, bishop of Rome, and which were undoubtedly written very early, do not admit in the canon those books which we call apocryphal. In the second century we find that Justin Martyr never cites them for Scripture. Origen and Tertullian, in the third, agree in rejecting them. In the fourth, we have a multitude of the greatest writers, who are clearly against the Church of Rome on this point; such as Athanasius, Cyril of Jerusalem, Hilary, Epiphanius, Basil, Gregory Nazianzen, Chrysostom, and Jerome; besides the Council of Nice at the beginning of the century, and towards the close of it the Council of Laodicea, whose canons were incorporated among those of the universal Church. The great Churches of Jerusalem and Alexandria, of Antioch and Constantinople, pronounced on the same side; and even in the Roman Church itself we have the same testimony from Gregory I., as well as of many others who are held to be its chief authorities. Cardinal Caietan, who died only a few years before the meeting of the council, following St. Jerome, maintained the distinction between the canonical and apocryphal books, and the influence of his opinion was very considerable, even at Trent. But the use of the Apocrypha was well known to be indispensable to Roman theologians, and if it were not admitted to form part of Scripture, no Divine sanction could be pleaded for purgatory, the canonization of saints, or the worship of images and relics. In this, as well as many other instances, the Roman Church has not scrupled to violate primitive tradition, in order to maintain its uncatholic doctrines and practices.
SCRIPTURES, INSPIRATION OF. (SeeBible,Revelation.) “All Scripture,” we are told, “is given by inspiration ofGod.” To understand which expression we would remark, that Divine inspiration, or the supernatural influence ofGodupon the mind, to form it for intellectual improvement, may be, 1. An inspiration ofsuperintendency, by whichGodpreserves a writer commissioned by him to communicate his will, from error in those pointswhich relate to his commission. It does not follow that the writer shall be preserved from error in what relates to grammar, or natural philosophy; but he is preserved from error in all thatGodhas commissioned him to reveal. 2. An inspiration ofsuggestion, which precedes the former, and takes place whenGoddoth, as it were, speak directly to the mind of the inspired person, making such discoveries to it as it could not but by miracle obtain. This has been done in various ways, by immediate impression on the mind, by dreams and visions represented to the imagination; at other times by sounds formed in the air, or by visible appearances.
The New Testament was written by asuperintendentinspiration. The apostles were, according toChrist’spromise, furnished with all necessary powers for the discharge of their office, by an extraordinary effusion of theHoly Spiritupon them at the day of Pentecost (Acts ii. 4, &c.); and a second time (Acts iv. 31).
We may assure ourselves that they were hereby competently furnished for all those services which were of great importance for the spread and edification of the Church, and of so great difficulty as to need supernatural assistance.
Considering how uncertain a thingoral traditionis, and how soon the most public and notorious facts are corrupted by it, it was impossible that the Christian religion could be preserved in any tolerable degree of purity, without awrittenaccount of thefacts and doctrines preached, by the apostles; and yet, on the other hand, we can hardly suppose thatGodwould suffer a doctrine introduced in so extraordinary a manner to be corrupted and lost.
The discourses ofChristwere several of them so long, and some likewise of so curious and delicate a nature, that it is not to be imagined the apostles should have been able exactly to record them, especially so many years after they were delivered, and amidst such a variety of cares and dangers, without such extraordinary Divine assistance, or without an inspiration of superintendency.
Many of the doctrines which the apostles delivered in their writings were so sublime and so new, that as they could not have been known at first otherwise than by an inspiration of suggestion, so they would need an inspiration of superintendency in delivering an accurate account of them.
There is reason to believe, from the promise ofChrist, that such parts of the New Testament as were written by the apostles were written by an inspiration of superintendency.
It is not to be thought that persons, so eminent for humility, piety, humanity, and other virtues, as the apostles were, would have spoken of their writings as thewordsand thecommands of theLordas thetest of truth and falsehood, and gloried so much in being under the direction of theSpirit, if they had not certainly known themselves to be so in their writings, as well as in their preaching; and the force of this argument is greatly illustrated, by recollecting the extraordinary miraculous powers with which they were honoured, while making exhortations and pretensions of this kind, as was hinted above.
There was an ancient tradition that St. Mark and St. Luke were in the number of the seventy disciples who were furnished with extraordinary powers fromChrist, and received from him promises of assistance much resembling those made to the apostles (compare Luke x. 9, 16, 19); and if it were so, as the arguments used to prove both the understanding and integrity of the apostles may be in great measure applied to them, we may, on the principles laid down, conclude that they also had some inspiration of superintendency. But there is much reason to regard that received and ancient tradition in the Christian Church, that St. Mark wrote his Gospel instructed by St. Peter, and St. Luke his by St. Paul’s assistance; which, if it be allowed, their writings will stand nearly on the same footing with those of Peter and Paul.
It may not be improper here just to mention the internal marks of a Divine original in Scripture. The excellence of its doctrines, the spirituality and elevation of its design, the majesty and simplicity of its style, the agreement of its parts, and its efficacy upon the hearts and consciences of men, concur to give us a high idea of it, and corroborate the external arguments for its being written by a superintendent inspiration at least.
There has been in the Christian Church, from its earliest ages, a constant tradition, that these books were written by the extraordinary assistance of theSpirit, which must at least amount to superintendent inspiration.
With respect to the Old Testament, the books we have inherited from the Jews were always regarded by them as authentic and inspired. And our blessedLordand his apostles were so far from accusing the Jews of superstition, in the regard which they paid to the writings of the Old Testament, or from charging the scribes and Pharisees (whomChrist, on all proper occasions, censured so freely) with having introduced into the sacred volume mere human compositions, that, on the contrary, they not only recommend the diligent and constant perusal of them, as of the greatest importance to men’s eternal happiness, but speak of them as Divine oracles, and as written by an extraordinary influence of theDivine Spiritupon the minds of the authors. (Vide John v. 39; x. 35; Mark xii. 24; Matt. iv. 4, 7, 10; v. 17, 18; xxi. 42; xxii. 29, 31, 43; xxiv. 15; xxvi. 54, 56; Luke i. 67, 69, 70; x. 26, 27; xvi. 31; Acts iv. 25; xvii. 11; xviii. 24–28; Rom. iii. 2; xv. 4; xvi. 26; Gal. iii. 8; 1 Tim. v. 17, 18; 2 Tim. iii. 14–17; James ii. 8; iv. 5; 1 Pet. i. 10–12; 2 Pet. i. 19–21.) To this list may be added many other places,—on the whole, more than five hundred,—in which the sacred writers of the New Testament quote and argue from those of the Old, in such a manner as they would surely not have done, if they had apprehended there were room to allege that it contained at least a mixture of what was spurious and of no authority.—Lowth on Inspiration. Tillotson’s Sermons. Doddridge’s Lectures.
The argument of the Divine inspiration of Scripture as an induction from its adaptation to the nature of man—even as regards those parts of the Old Testament which have been most obnoxious to cavil—is ably maintained in the Bampton Lecturesof 1817, preached by the Rev. John Miller, from which the following is extracted:—“Although Scripture presents the most humiliating portraiture of human nature, and that intentionally, to lead man into a knowledge of himself, as the subject of its operation; it should be added that the Bible does not exhibit anunmixedimage of evil, inasmuch as, if it did, it would not be that exact resemblance of the character of man, which it is now affirmed to be. Nor do I, in subjoining this qualification, feel a consciousness either of having carried the main proposition unreasonably far, to countenance a partial construction, or of now adding any such inconsistent exception as may neutralize or destroy its force.
“The representation of evil was intended, and is necessary, for the analysis of doctrine. We hold the opinion, that a man is a being, ‘very far gone from an original righteousness,’ in which he was created. And it is maintained that the whole substance of Scripture so fully justifies this doctrine as to be quite inexplicable, and therefore, as a record of Divine wisdom, inadmissible, without it.
“It is, however, contended also, thatwiththis doctrine, found to be involved in the substance of its histories, and harmonizing with the end of its great provisions, Scripture commends itself, in a peculiar manner, to our belief and acceptation, as a record which, while it extends to the very root of our disease, and so alone points out the true method of recovery from it, falls in thereby with the observations of our own personal experience.
“But such involvement of a general truth by no means necessarily fixes or defines the measure or degree of sin in individuals acting in various stages of moral responsibility, and subject to the influences, not only of rational motives, but (as would seem, more or less even from the beginning) to those of an infused grace! And it may confidently be maintained, that the two several propositions now affirmed of Holy Writ, viz. that it gives a most humiliating view of man, and yet not one of unmixed evil, are not only not inconsistent, but explanatory one of the other. The one is specially profitable for ‘doctrine,’ the other for ‘instruction in righteousness.’ For Scripture not to have discovered a full and intimate acquaintance with the extent and quality of evil itself, would have substracted from our sure persuasion of its perfect insight into truth. Upon the other hand, to have displayed the operation of that evil otherwise than as it is seen practically existing in its effects, would not have been to give that real likeness of ourselves, which we have a claim to look for in a record offering itself to be our faithful guide. Hence, in the first case, without the darker lineaments of the Bible, how could we rightly have arrived at that truedoctrinalstatement, which now affirms the general existence of an extreme unsoundness in the constitution of human nature, if that which is in man can only be developed adequately, or inferred correctly, through scrutiny of the worst deeds which man has done? How, in the second—while we consent entirely to the truth of this broad abstract statement of thenatureof man—could we consent with willing minds to take our sole or only chief instruction in the ways of righteousness, from guidance which should represent us all as being just alike, at any or at every moment of our lives, when we are certain that the practical appearances of evil show very many gradations, and put on very different aspects, in the condition of different individuals? * * * If Scripture does indeed thus show us to ourselves, and we cannot deny the truth of the resemblance; if it neither conceals deformity to tempt us, nor yet drives us into extremity, so as to overwhelm us; if it neither threatens nor promises too much, could it have proceeded either from one that did not know us, or from one that did not love us?”
SEALED BOOKS. By the Act 13 & 14 Car. II. (which ratified the last revision of the Prayer Book,) c. 4, sect. 28, it was enacted that the dean and chapter of every cathedral and collegiate church, should obtain under the great seal of England a true and perfect printed copy of the above-mentioned Act and Prayer Book, to be kept by them in safety for ever, and to be produced in any court of record when required; and that like copies should be delivered into the respective courts of Westminster, and the Tower of London: which books so to be exemplified under the great seal, were to be examined by persons appointed by the king, and compared with the original book annexed to the Act: these persons having power to correct and amend in writing any error; certifying the examination and collation under their hands and seals: “which said books, and every one of them, shall be taken, adjudged, and expounded to be good, and available in the law to all intents and purposes whatsoever, and shall be accounted as good records as this book itself heretofore annexed,” &c.
Mr. Stephens, in his late edition of theCommon Prayer Book, with notes, has given a fac-simile text of the original black letter Prayer Books, published after the last Review, with all the corrections of the commissioners carefully marked. The sealed books which he collated for this purpose, are those for the Chancery, Queen’s Bench, Common Pleas, Exchequer, St. Paul’s, Christ Church Oxford, Ely, and the Tower of London.
SECONDARIES. A general name for the inferior members of cathedrals, as vicars choral, &c.: theclerici secundæ formæ, that is, of the second or lower range of stalls, called thebas chœurin France. The priest vicars and minor canons were sometimes included in the superior form. Some of the lay singers at Exeter are so called. Sometimes the term was applied to the assistant priest in course, even though not of the second form. At Hereford the second vicar who assists in chanting the Litany is the “secondary.”
SECT. (Fromseco, Lat., to cut; being analogous to the wordschism, derived from the Greekσχίζω, which has the same meaning.) A religious community following some particular master, instead of adhering to the teaching of the Catholic Church. Thus Calvinists are the sect following Calvin; Wesleyans the sect following Wesley. We are to remember that we are expressly forbidden in Scripture thus to call any man master: one is our master,Jesus Christ, the righteous.
SECULAR CLERGY. In those Churches in which there are monasteries, the clergy attached to those monasteries are calledRegulars, the other clergy are styledSeculars. In our Church, before the Reformation, the number of Regulars was very great; but, since the Reformation, we have only had Secular clergy. The canons of such cathedrals of the old foundation as were not monastic, were called Secular.
SEDILIA. Seats near an altar, almost universally on the south side, for the ministers officiating at the holy eucharist. They are generally three in number, for the celebrant, epistoler, and gospeller, but vary from one to five.
SEE. (Latin,sedes.) The seat of episcopal dignity and jurisdiction where the bishop has his throne, orcathedra.
SELAH. An untranslated Hebrew word, recurring several times in the Psalms, and in Habakkuk iii., on the meaning of which there are many opinions. It is most probably a direction to raise the voice, or make some change in the instrumental performance at certain passages, and is merely a musical notation, connected however, as all proper musical expression must be, with the sense.
SEMI-ARIANS. The Arian sect was divided into two principal parties: the one of which adhering more closely to the opinion of their master, maintained that theSonofGodwas unlike theFather,Ἀνόμοιας, and of this party was Eunomius: the other party refused to receive the word consubstantial, yet acknowledged theSonofGodὉμοιούσιος, of a like substance or essence with theFather, and therefore were called Semi-Arians, that is, half Arians; this party made the majority in the Councils of Rimini and Seleucia.
SEMI-PELAGIANS, or MASSILIENSES. A sect of heretics, who endeavoured to find a medium betwixt the Pelagians and the orthodox; they had their origin about 430 in France, (hence the nameMassiliens, from Massilia, now Marseilles). Their principal favourers were Cassianus, a disciple of Chrysostom; Faustus, abbot of Lirinum; Vincentius, a Gallic writer, whom St. Prosper answered, &c. Their agreement with the Pelagians was in the power of free-will, at least as to the beginning of faith and conversion, and to the co-operation ofGodand man, grace and nature, as to predestination, from foreknowledge and universal grace, and the possibility of the apostasy of the saints. Some of them also would modify those opinions, and maintained only the predestination of infants from a foreknowledge of the life they would lead. The great opposers of this heresy were St. Augustine, Fulgentius, &c. The original of thepredestinarianheresy in this age is denied by Jansenius and others, as well as Protestants, and looked upon as a fiction of the Semi-Pelagians.
SEMI-PREBENDARIES. (SeeDemi-Prebendaries.)
SEMINARIES, in Popish countries, are certain colleges, appointed for the instruction and education of young persons, destined for the sacred ministry. The first institution of such places is ascribed to St. Augustine. And the Council of Trent decrees, that children, exceeding twelve years of age, shall be brought up, and instructed in common, to qualify them for the ecclesiastical state; and that there shall be a seminary of such belonging to each cathedral, under the direction of the bishop.
In the seminaries of France none are taken in but young persons, ready to study theology, and to be ordained. And for the maintenance of these seminaries certain benefices are allotted, or else theclergy of the diocese are obliged to maintain them. These colleges are furnished with halls for the public exercises, and little chambers or cells, where each student retires, studies, and prays apart. Such is the seminary of St. Sulpicius at Paris.
In the reign of Queen Elizabeth, the Roman Catholics projected the founding English seminaries abroad, that from thence they might be furnished with missionaries to perpetuate and increase their communion. Accordingly the college of Douay was founded in 1569, at the expense of Philip II., king of Spain; and Dr. William Allen, an Englishman, was made head of it. In the year 1579, a college was founded at Rome for the same purpose, by Gregory XIII., who settled 4000 crownsper annumfor the subsistence of the society. The famous Robert Parsons, an English Jesuit, was rector of this college. King Philip founded another of these nurseries at Valladolid in the year 1589, and one at Seville in 1593. The same prince founded St. Omers in Artois,A. D.1596. In the next century more seminaries were established, at Madrid, Louvain, Liege, and Ghent.
The two colleges of Douay and Rome received such great encouragement, that some hundreds of priests were sent off from thence into England. And to engage the members of these societies more firmly, they obliged them, at their admission, to take the following oath: “I, A. B., one bred in this English college, considering how great benefitsGodhath bestowed upon me, but then especially when he brought me out of my own country, so infected with heresy, and made me a member of the Catholic Church; as also desiring with a thankful heart to improve so great a mercy ofGod; have resolved to offer myself wholly up to Divine service, as much as I may, to fulfil the end for which this our college was founded. I promise, therefore, and swear, in the presence of AlmightyGod, that I am prepared from mine heart, with the assistance of Divine grace, in due time to receive holy orders, and to return to England, to convert the souls of my countrymen and kindred, when, and as often as, it shall seem good to the superior of this college.” As a further encouragement, Pope Pius V. sent his brief to the students of these colleges, for undertaking the mission into England. And that they might act without clashing, and with the better harmony, he put them all under the direction of Dr. Allen, afterwards Cardinal.
By a statute of Queen Elizabeth it is made a præmunire to contribute to the maintenance of a Popish seminary. And by one of King James I., no persons are to go, or be sent, to Popish seminaries, to be instructed or educated, under divers penalties and disabilities mentioned in the statute.
The houses of the societyDe Propagandâ Fide, established for the preparing ecclesiastics for missionaries among infidels and heretics, are also called seminaries. The principal of these is that at Rome, called the Apostolic College or Seminary, or the seminaryDe Propagandâ Fide.
SEPTUAGESIMA. The Sunday which in round numbers is 70 days before Easter: hence the name. There being exactly 50 days between the Sunday next before Lent and Easter day inclusive, that Sunday is termed Quinquagesima, i. e. the 50th. And the two immediately preceding are called from the next round numbers, Sexagesima and Septuagesima, 60th and 70th. The Church thus early begins to look forward to Easter, the queen of festivals. She would call back our minds from the rejoicing season of Christmas, and, by reflections on the humiliating necessity there was forMessiah’sadvent, prepare us for that solemn season in Lent; in which, if with deep contrition and lively faith we followChristin hissufferings, we may rejoice with him here, and humbly hope to reign with him hereafter in hisglory. The observance of these days and the weeks following, appears to be as ancient as the time of Gregory the Great. Some of the more devout Christians observed the whole time from the first of these Sundays to Easter, as a season of humiliation and fasting, though the ordinary custom was to commence fasting on Ash-Wednesday.
SEPTUAGINT. The Greek version of Scripture, which was received both by the Jews and the primitive Christians. The first account which we have of the origin of the Septuagint, is that which is given us by Aristeas. It is to this effect. Ptolemy Philadelphus, by the advice of Demetrius Phalereus, having determined to enrich his library at Alexandria with a translation of the books of the Jewish law, sent Aristeas, his minister, accompanied by Andrew, a person of celebrity, to Eleazar the high priest of the Jews, that he might obtain both a copy of the original, and persons duly qualified to render it into Greek. The request was complied with. A copy of the Mosaic law written in golden letters was sent, with seventy-two men, six from each tribe, to translate it. The translators, persons skilled both in Hebrew and Greek,were honourably received by the king of Egypt, and by him were sent to the isle of Pharos; and there, in the space of seventy-two days, they completed their work, mutually assisting each other, and dictating their translation to Demetrius. This version was afterwards read in an assembly consisting of Jewish priests and other learned men, and being stamped by their approbation, was placed in the library of Alexandria.
This account, given us by Aristeas, is sometimes appended to the editions of Josephus, and is also edited separately. It is worthy of remark, that in this description nothing of the marvellous is introduced, and it would clearly seem that the reference is to the Pentateuch, and to that only.
Josephus, in the twelfth book, s. 1, of his “Antiquities,” for the most part agrees with this account by Aristeas. But in the life of Moses, by Philo-Judæus, we find both variations and additions. Agreeing with Aristeas in his assertion, that certain learned Jews were sent from Jerusalem to Alexandria to translate the books of Moses, and that they were lodged by Ptolemy in the isle of Pharos, he tells us in addition, that all the translators were kept apart from each other; but that, notwithstanding this, their translations, upon comparison, were found exactly to correspond, as it were, by Divine inspiration. From Justin Martyr we find, that in his time the story was that the seventy-two translators were shut up each in a separate cell, where no intercourse could possibly take place; but that the translations, when produced, were found to agree not only in sense but verbally, not varying even in a single syllable. Here we certainly find a miracle implied; and in the time of Justin the story must have been well established, since he mentions his having seen the cells himself. With respect to the number of the cells, however, there must have been, as there easily might be, some uncertainty, for Epiphanius mentions only thirty-six. But the story had been made to shape itself according to the fact; and it was reported in his time, that, instead of a cell being allotted to each translator, two were shut up in each cell, who having been employed from sunrise till the evening, translated in order, not merely the Pentateuch, but each of the books of the Old Testament, and they so completed their work, that there was not to be found the slightest difference in any of the thirty-six versions; an astonishing harmony, in which a singular miracle of Divine providence could not fail to be traced.
Now, if to these statements implicit credit be given, the question is decided as to the miraculous origin and consequent inspiration of the Septuagint. But to these stories there are several obvious objections. We do not for a moment assent to the principle of that objection which is urged by the learned and candid Dupin, who, among the Romanists, is almost singular in opposing the Divine origin of the LXX., when he asks why there should be seventy-two translators when twelve would have sufficed? For this is the very spirit of rationalism: “Ido not see why such should have been the case; and therefore it wasnotthe case.” To such an objection the answer of the equally learned Dr. Brett, among Protestants the chief vindicator of the Divine origin of the Septuagint, is more than sufficient, when he urges that we might as well deny that, on our authorized English version, fifty-two persons were employed, when by twelve, or even by two, the work might have been accomplished. Nor would he insist, with Dean Prideaux, that the stories must be rejected, because the Septuagint is written in the Alexandrian dialect; and that, therefore, it could not have been effected, according to the supposition, by Jews sent from Judea; for there is no reason to suppose that the Greek spoken in Palestine was much different from that used in Egypt, that language having been introduced into both countries only about fifty years before by the same people—the Macedonians. Indeed, a comparison of the language of the New Testament with that of the Septuagint will disarm this objection of its force. We may, indeed, afford to give up another objection, which has very plausibly been urged, though its character is rationalistic, viz. that to collect six learned men from each tribe would have been difficult, if not impossible, the ten tribes having been dispersed after the taking of Samaria; for we know that many individuals belonging to these tribes were incorporated with the Jews, and there may have been means still left for distinguishing them. But, after all these allowances, there is strong internal evidence against these stories, arising from the difference of the manner and the style in which the several books are translated. In some the Hebraisms are said to preserved, in others not; some books (the Pentateuch for instance, the Proverbs, Ezekiel, Amos, Judges, Kings, and many of the Psalms) are well executed, while the translation of Isaiah is bad, and that of Daniel was so decidedly incorrect, that it was rejected by Origen, and its placesupplied by the version of Theodotion. Now, is it probable that, if the Septuagint had been, according to the accounts already given, the work of the same men, at the same time, and acting under a miraculous inspiration, such very material difference should exist between the several books? Our own authorized version, though made by different persons, and though some of the books may be more correctly rendered than others, nevertheless preserves a uniformity of style which stamps it as being all the work of the same age. And the fact that this is not the case with respect to the Septuagint, is a presumption against its being the work of the same men living at the same time. And this is a consideration which prepares us to regard the external evidence with some suspicion. When, indeed, we look to the external evidence, we find that the authority which was at first assumed only for the Pentateuch is gradually assumed for all the books of the Old Testament. In Aristeas we read of no miracle: the miracle was evidently gradually introduced and enlarged upon, until subsequent writers believed it to be a fact. And we are always and most justly suspicious of a story which thus