"Qui me suit, aux anges est pareil.Quand un homme a marché tout le jour au soleilDans un chemin sans puits et sans hôtellerie,S'il ne croit pas quand vient le soir il pleure, il crie,Il est las; sur la terre il tombe haletant.S'il croit en moi, qu'il prie, il peut au même instant.Continuer sa route avec des forces triples."(Le Christ et le Tombeau.) Tom. i. 44.[148]King Henry VIII., Act 2, Sc. 1. Contrast again our Lord before the council with St. Paul before that tribunal. In the case of one of the chief of saints there is the touch of human infirmity, the "something spoken in choler, ill and hasty," the angry and contemptuous "whited wall"—the confession of hasty inconsiderateness (ουκ ἡδειν—ὁτι εστιν αρχιερευς) which led to a violation of a precept of the law (Exod. xxii. 28).[149]Preface toIvanhoe.[150]Howthe great sayings were accurately collected has not been the question before us in this discourse. But it presents little difficulty. It is not absurd to suppose (if we are required to postulate no divine assistance) that notes may have been taken in some form by certain members of the company of disciples. The profoundly thoughtful remark of Irenæus upon his own unfailing recollection of early lessons from Polycarp, would apply with indefinitely greater force to such a pupil as John, of such a teacher as Jesus. "I can thoroughly recollect things so far back better than those which have lately occurred; for lessons which have grown with us since boyhood are compacted into a unity with the very soul itself." (τη ψυχη ἑνουνται αυτη)Euseb., v. 29. But above all, whatever subordinate agency may have been employed in the preservation of those precious words, every Christian reverently acknowledges the fulfilment of the Saviour's promise—"The Comforter, the Holy Ghost, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrancewhatsoever I have said unto you" (John xiv. 26).[151]Duc de Broglie.Revue des deux Mondes.15 Jan. 1882. Coxe,House of Austria, vol. iii., chap. xcix., p. 415, sqq.[152]John xiii. 30, xi. 35, xix. 5, xxii. 29-35.[153]Observe in the Greek the μη ἁμαρτητε, which refers to single acts, not to a continuous state—"thatye may not sin."[154]1 John ii. 2. As a translation, "towards" seems too pedantic; yet προς isad-versusrather thanapud, and with the accusative signifies either the direction of motion, or the relation between two objects. (Donaldson,Greek Grammar, 524). We may fittingly call the preposition here προςpictorial.[155]The various meanings of κοσμος are fully traced below on 1 John ii. 17. There is one point in which the notions of κοσμος and αιων intersect. But they may be thus distinguished. The first signifies the world projected inspace, the second intime. The supposition that the form of expression at the close of our verse is elliptical, and to be filled up by the repetition of "for the sins of the whole world" "is not justified by usage, and weakens the force of the passage." (Epistles of St. John, Westcott, p. 44.)[156]As to doctrine. There are three "grand circles" or "families of images" whereby Scripture approaches from different quarters, or surveys from different sides, the benefits of our Lord's meritorious death. These are represented by, are summed up in, three words—απολυτρωσις, καταλλαγη, ιλασμος. The last is found in the text and in iv. 10; nowhere else precisely in that form in the New Testament. "Ιλασμος (expiation or propitiation) and απολυτρωσις (redemption) is fundamentally one single benefit,i.e., the restitution of the lost sinner. Απολυτρωσις is in respect ofenemies; καταλλαγη in respect ofGod. And here again the words ἱλασμ. and καταλλ. differ.Propitiationtakes away offences as againstGod.Reconciliationhas two sides. It takes away (a) God'sindignationagainstus, 2 Cor. v. 18, 19; (b)our alienationfromGod, 2 Cor. v. 20." (Bengel on Rom. iii. 24. Whoever would rightly understand all that we can know on these great words must studyNew Testament Synonyms, Archbp. Trench, pp. 276-82.)[157]Acts xvii. 27.[158]Jonah i. 5.[159]1 John ii. 28.[160]2 John 9.[161]Matt. xxiii. 15.[162]Bouddhism, it is now said, appears to be on the wane, and the period for its disappearance is gradually approaching, according to the Boden Professor of Sanscrit at Oxford. In his opinion this creed is "one of rapidly increasing disintegration and decline," and "as a form of popular religion Bouddhism is gradually losing its vitality and hold on the vast populations once loyal to its rule." He computes the number of Bouddhists at 100,000,000; not 400,000,000 as hitherto estimated; and places Christianity numerically at the head of all religions—next Confucianism, thirdly Hinduism, then Bouddhism, and last Mohammedanism. He affirms that the capacity of Bouddhism for resistance must give way before the "mighty forces which are destined to sweep the earth."[163]That modern English writers have been more than just to Mohammed is proved overwhelmingly by the living Missionary who knows Mohammedanism best.—Mohammed and Mohammedans. Dr. Koelle.[164]The inner meaning of 1 John i. 8 exactly = ὑπακοη και ῥαντισμος (1 Peter i. 2). It is theobedientwho aresprinkled.[165]John xiv. 16, 26, xv. 26, xvi. 7.[166]Aug.in loc.[167]"Nomen facile supplent credentes, plenum pectus habentes memoriâ Domini."—Bengel.[168]Εκεινος in our Epistle belongs to Christ in every place but one where it occurs (1 John ii. 6, iii. 3, 5, 7, 16, iv. 17; cf. John i. 18, ii. 21). It is very much equivalent to our reverent usage of printing the pronoun which refers to Christ with a capital letter.[169]Matt. vi. 45.[170]δοξας βλασφημουντες (2 Peter ii. 10; Jude v. 8).[171]Poems by Matthew Arnold("Rugby Chapel," Nov. 1857), vol. ii., pp. 251, 255.[172]ὁς μονος συνεπαθησεν πλανωμενω κοσμω.Acta Paul. et Thec.16,Acta. Apost. Apoc.47. Edit. Tischendorf.[173]On Liberty.John Stuart Mill (chap. iii.).[174]John viii. 12-35. For Apostolic usage of the word, see Acts i. 21; Rom. vi. 4; Ephes. ii. 10; Col. iii. 7.[175]John vii. 1.[176]"Ambulando docebat."—Bretschneider.[177]John xiii. 1-6.[178]Ἱνα ποιω ... και τελειωσω (John iv. 34).[179]After all deductions for the lack of accurate and searching textual exegesis, perhaps Bossuet's "Traité de la concupiscence, ou Exposition de ces Paroles de Saint Jean, 1 John ii. 15-17" (Œuvres de Bossuet, Tom. vii., 380-420), remains unrivalled.[180]The word κοσμος originally signified ornament (chiefly perhaps of dress); figuratively it came to denote order. It was first applied by Pythagoras to theuniverse, from the conception of the order, which reigns in it (Plut.,de Plac. Phil., ii. 1). From schools of philosophy it passed into the language of poets and writers of elevated prose. It is somewhat singular that the Romans, possibly from Greek influence, came to apply "mundus" by the same process tothe world, as it had also originally signifiedornament, especially of female dress (See Richard Bentley against Boyle,Opera Philol., 347-445, and Notes, Humboldt'sCosmos, xiii.). In the LXX. κοσμος does not appear as the translation of שׂלָם its spiritual equivalent in Hebrew; but very often in the sense of "ornament" and "order." (See Tromm.,Concord. Gr. in LXX., 1, 913), but it is found asworldseveral times in the Apocrypha (Wisdom vi. 26, vii. 18, ix. 3, xi. 18, xv. 14; 2 Mac. iii. 12, vii. 9-23, viii. 18, xiii. 14).[181]John xvii. 24.[182]In Hebrew תֵּבֵל habitable globe; translated οικουμενη in LXX. (see Psalm lxxxix. 11).[183]John v. 11.[184]John vi. 31; 1 John ii. 2.[185]John iii. 16. It may be added that these are passages where theworldas humanity generally passes into the darker meaning of that portion of it which is actively hostile to God. John xv. 18, 19.[186]See note on ver. 16 at the end of the next Discourse.[187]Gen. i. 31.[188]John i. 3.[189]The writer does not happen to remember any commentator who has pointed out this subtle but powerful thought, παν το εν τω κοσμω—εκ του κοσμου εστιν (1 John ii. 16).[190]1 John v. 19.[191]John xiv. 1; 1 John iv. 2, 3; 2 John 7.[192]John vi. 51, 53-56; 1 John iv. 2, 3; 2 John 7.[193]ἡ αλαζονια του βιου.[194]Gen. iii. 5.[195]Gen. iii. 6.[196]Gen. iii. 7.[197]S. Augustin.,Tract. in Joann. Epist.[198]Mark vii. 21.[199]1 John ii. 15, 16.[200]Ibid. ver. 17.[201]No portion of Prof. Westcott's Commentary is more thorough or more exquisite than his exposition here. (Epistles of St. John, 66.)[202]"Extirpantia verba." St. August (in loc.).[203]παραγεται. It has been said that this is not the real point; that what St. John here describes is not the general attribute of the world as transitory, but its condition at the moment when the Epistle was written, in presence of the manifestation of "the kingdom of God, which was daily shining forth." But surely the world can scarcely be so completely identified with the temporary framework of the Roman Empire; and theuniversalityof the antithesis (ὁ δε ποιων κ.τ.λ.) and its intenselyindividualform, lead us to take κοσμος in that universal and inclusive signification which alone is of abiding interest to every age.[204]Job xiv. 1, 2. Cf. x. 20-22.[205]Such seems to be the meaning of אַבְלִינָה (Ps. xxxix. 14).[206]Ps. xc. 9.[207]James iv. 13-17. The passage 1 Pet. i. 25 is taken from the magnificent prophecy in which the fragility of all flesh, transitory as the falling away of the flowers of grass into impalpable dust, is contrasted with the eternity of the word of God. Isa. xl. 6, 7, LXX.[208]"Possessa onerant, amata inquinant, amissa cruciant."—St. Bernard.[209]The view here taken of Bouddhism follows that of M. J. Barthelemy St. Hilaire.Le Bouddha et sa Réligion.Prémière partie, chap. v., pp. 141-182.[210]"These populations neither deny nor affirm God. They simply ignore Him. To assert that they are atheists would be very much the same thing as to assert that they are anti-Cartesians. As they are neither for nor against Descartes, so they are neither for nor against God. They are just children. A child is neither atheist nor deist. He is nothing."—Voltaire,Dict. Phil., Art.Athêisme.[211]It is noteworthy that in the collects in the English Prayer-Book, and indeed in its public formularies generally (outside the Funeral Service, and that for the Visitation of the Sick), there are but two places in which the note of the "world passeth away" is very prominently struck, viz., the Collect for the Fourth Sunday after Easter, and one portion of the prayer for "The Church Militant." One of the most wholesome and beautiful expressions of the salutary convictions arising from Christian perception of this melancholy truth is to be found in Dr. Johnson's "Prayer for the Last Day in the Year," as given in Mr. Stobart'sDaily Services for Christian Households, pp. 99, 100.[212]The old "Memento Mori" timepiece of Mary, Queen of Scots, is a watch in the interior of a death's-head, which opens to disclose it. Surely not a symbol likely to make any soul happier or better![213]The ουν in ver. 24 is not recognised by the R. V. nor adopted in Professor Westcott's text. One uncial (A), however, inserts it in 1 John iv. 19. It occurs in 3 John 8. This inferential particle is found with unusual frequency in St. John's Gospel. It does not seem satisfactory to account for this by calling it "one of the beginnings of modern Greek." (B. de Xivrey.) By St. John as anhistorian, the frequentthereforeis the spontaneous recognition of a Divine logic of events; of the necessary yet natural sequence of every incident in the life of the "Word made Flesh." The ουν expresses something more than continuity of narrative. It indicates a connection of events so interlinked that each springs from, and is joined with, the preceding, as if it were a conclusion which followed from the premiss of the Divine argument. Now a mind which viewshistoryin this light is just the mind which will bedogmaticin theology. The inspired dogmatic theologian will necessarily write in a style different from that of the theologian of the Schools. The style of the former will beoracular; that of the latter will bescholastic, i.e., inferential, a concatenation of syllogisms. The syllogistic ουν is then naturally absent from St. John's Epistles. The one undoubted exception is 3 John 8, where a practical inference is drawn from an historical statement in ver. 7. The writer may be allowed to refer toThe Speaker's Commentary, iv., 381.[214]Jer. xxxi. 34.[215]Vers. 18, 22.[216]The last hour is not a date arbitrarily chosen and written down as a man might mark a day for an engagement in a calendar. It is determined by history—by the sum-total of the product of the actions of men who are not the slaves of fatality, who possess free-will, and are not forced to act in a particular way. It is supposed to derogate from the Divine mission of the Apostles if we admit that they might be mistaken as to the chronology of the closing hour of time. But to know that supreme instant would involve a knowledge of the whole plan of God and the whole predetermining motives in the appointment of that day,i.e., it would constructively involveomniscience. Cf. Mark xiii. 32, and our Lord's profound saying, Acts i. 7.[217]John v. 43.[218]1 John ii. 22, iv. 2, 3; 2 John 7-9.[219]Ver. 19.[220]Bingham'sAntiquities, i., 462-524, 565.[221]For other instances of this characteristic, see a subjectintroducedii. 29,expandediii. 9—another subjectintroducediii. 21,expandedv. 14.[222]το αυτου χρισμα, ver. 27,notτο αυτο ("the same anointing," A. V.) "This most unusual order throws a strong emphasis on the pronoun." (Prof. Westcott.) The writer thankfully quotes this as it seems to him to bring out the dogmatic significance of the word, emphasised as it is by this unusual order—the chrism, the Spirit ofHim.[223]1 John iii. 24.[224]The reading of the A. V. is received into Tischendorf's text and adopted by the R. V. Another reading omits και and substitutes παντες for παντα so that the passage would run thus, "Ye have an unction from the Holy One. Ye all know (I have not written unto you because ye know not) the truth." As far as the difficulty of παντα is concerned, nothing is gained by the change, as the statement recurs in a slightly varied form in ver. 27.[225]John xiv. 26.[226]"Let that abide in you which ye heard from the beginning," 1 John ii. 24. Cf. "Testifying that this is the true grace of God wherein ye stand," 1 Pet. v. 12. "Even as our beloved brother Paul has written unto you," 2 Pet. iii. 15. St. Paul has thus the attestation of St. John as well as of St. Peter.[227]Ver. 27[228]διδασκει—εδιδαξεν.[229]1 Cor. xi. 29.[230]Ver. 11.[231]John xv. 12-17. See also the stress laid upon the unity of believers; surely including love as well as doctrine in the great High-Priestly prayer, John xvii. 21-23.[232]"The message that ye heardfrom the beginning," conf. 1 John ii. 24.[233]"Contrariorum eadem est scientia."[234]This is one of the few references to the Old Testamenthistoryin St. John's Epistle (Gen. iv. 1-8). To thetheologyof the Old Testament there are many references;e.g., light and life. 1 John i. 1-5; John i. 4; Ps. xxxvi. 9. There is, however, another historical reference a few verses above (1 John iii. 8)—a passage of primary importance because it recognises the whole narrative of the Fall in Genesis, and affords a commentary upon the words of Christ (John viii. 44). The writer has somewhere seen an interesting suggestion that ver. 12 may contain some allusion to the visit of Apollonius of Tyana to Ephesus. Apollonius incited the mob to kill a beggar-man for the purpose of placing himself on a level with Chalcas and others who caused the sacrifice of human victims. The date of this incident would apparently coincide with the closing years of St. John's life (Philostrat. vita Apollon., Act. ii., S. 5).[235]Ver. 14.[236]Vers. 14, 15.[237]Ver. 12.[238]Ver. 16.[239]Ver. 17.[240]Vers. 18, 19.[241]Vers. 20, 21.[242]"ForThe LoveI rather beseech thee" (Phil. v. 9). The addition in the A.V. (of God) rather impairs the sweetness and power, the reverential reserve of the original.[243]Of Prof. Westcott.[244]Ver. 17.[245]It is suggestive that on Quinquagesima Sunday, when 1 Cor. xiii. is the Epistle, St. Luke xviii. 31 sqq., is the Gospel. The lyric of love is joined with a fragment of its epic. That fragment tells us of a love which not only proclaimed itself ready to be sacrificed (Luke xviii. 31-33), but condescended individually to the blind importunate mendicant who sat by the wayside begging (vers. 35-43).[246]The word here is βιος not ζωη. "Βιος period of life; hence the means by which it is sustained, means of life." (Archbp. Trench.) It is to be wished that the R. V. had either kept "the good" of the A. V., or adopted the word "living"—the translation of βιος in Mark xii. 44; Luke xxi. 4.[247]2 John 3.[248]1 John i. 4, ii. 28, iii. 21, iv. 17, v. 14, iii. 19.[249]1 John i. 4.[250]τα σπλαγχνα (ver. 17). This however is the only occurrence of the word in St. John's writings. The substantive σπλαγχνα =emotions, is found in classical poets. But the verb σπλαγχνιζομαι occurs only in LXX. and New Testament—and thus, like αγαπη, is almost born within the circle of revealed truth. The new dispensation so rich in the mercy of God (Luke i. 78), so fruitful in mercy from man to man, may well claim a new vocabulary in the department of tenderness and pity.[251]1 John v. 6, conf. John xix. 34.[252]θεωρη, ver. 17.[253]"The love of which God is at once the object, and the author, and the pattern." (Prof. Westcott.)[254]1 John iv. 19.[255]Lord Meath.[256]Apoc. xx. 12, 13.[257]1 John ii. 28.[258]αισχυνθωμεν απ' αυτου, see Jerem. xii. 13 (for בּושׁ מִן). Prof. Westcott happily quotes, "as a guilty thing surprised."[259]Coming, εν τη παρουσια αυτου. The word is not found elsewhere in the Johannic group of writings. But by his use of it here, St. John falls into line with the whole array of apostolic witnesses—with St. Matthew (xxiv. 3-27, 37, 39); with St. Paul (passim); with St. James (v. 7, 8); with St. Peter (2 Peter i. 16, iii. 4-12). This fact may well warn critics of the precarious character of theories founded upon "the negative phenomena of the books of the New Testament." (See Professor Westcott's excellent note,The Epistles of St. John, 80.)[260](εν τη ἡμερα της κρισεως)—"in the Day of the Judgment"—cf. Apoc. xiv. 7. We have "inTHEJudgment" (Matt. xii. 41, 42; Luke x. 14, xi. 31, 32)—the indefinite "day of judgment" (Matt. x. 15, xi. 22, 24; Mark vi. 11).[261]2 Pet. ii. 9, iii. 7—but "TheDay ofTheJudgment," here only.[262]Cf. our Lord's words—"henceforth(απ' αρτι) ye shall see the Son of Mancoming." (Matt. xxvi. 64.)[263]John v. 21, 29.[264]Ver. 21.[265]Ver. 26.[266]Ver. 24.[267]Ver. 28, 29.[268]The writer ventures to lament the substitution of "judgment" for "condemnation," ver. 24. R.V. It is a verbal consistency, or minute accuracy, purchased at the heavy price of a false thought, suggested to many readers who are not scholars. "In John's language κρισις is, (a) thatjudgmentwhich came in pain and misery to those who rejected the salvation offered to mankind by Christ, iii. 19, κ.τ.λ., ερχεσθαι εις κρισιν, tofall into the state of one thus condemned, v. 24. (b) Judgment of condemnation to the wicked, with ensuing rejection, v. 29." Grimm. Lex. N.T. 247. Between this passage of the fourth Gospel and Apoc. xx., there is a marvellous inner harmony of thought. "The first resurrection" (ver. 6) = John v. 21, 26; then vv. 11, 12, 13 = John v. 28, 29.[269]Heb. ix. 27; 2 Cor. v. 10, cf. Rom. xiv. 10; Apoc. xx. 11, 12, 13.[270]μεθ' ἡμων—God's love in itself is perfected. It might be made as perfect as man's nature will admit by an instantaneous act; but God works jointly, in companionship with us. The grace of God "preventing us that we may will,works with uswhen we will." The essential idea of μετα iscompanionshiporconnexion. (See Donaldson,Gr. Gr., 50, 52 a.)[271]ελευθεριας ἡ πολις μεστη και παρρησιας γιγνεται. (Plat.,Rep., 557 B). The word is derived from παν and ῥησις.[272]Ephes. i. 18.[273]Cf. Matt. v. 48.[274]Ver. 18.[275]Bengel. The writer must acknowledge his obligation to Professor Westcott, whose exposition gives us a peculiar conception of the depth of St. John's teaching here. (The Epistles of St. John, 149-153).[276]This is expressed, after St. John's fashion, by the neuter, παν το γεγεννημενον εκ του Θεου. ver. 4.[277]ἡ πιστις ἡμων, ver. 4.[278]ὁ νικων τον κοσμον, ὁ πιστευων, ver. 5.[279]1 John ii. 29.[280]1 John iv. 7.[281]John iii. 5.[282]σφοδρα αινιγματωδης και σκοτεινως ειρημενος. Euseb.[283]וֶה יֻלָּר־שָׁם.Ver. 4.אִישׁ וְאִישׁ יֻלַּר־בָּהּ.Ver. 5.וֶה יֻלָּר־שָׁם.Ver. 6. Psalm lxxxvii.[284]
"Qui me suit, aux anges est pareil.Quand un homme a marché tout le jour au soleilDans un chemin sans puits et sans hôtellerie,S'il ne croit pas quand vient le soir il pleure, il crie,Il est las; sur la terre il tombe haletant.S'il croit en moi, qu'il prie, il peut au même instant.Continuer sa route avec des forces triples."(Le Christ et le Tombeau.) Tom. i. 44.
"Qui me suit, aux anges est pareil.Quand un homme a marché tout le jour au soleilDans un chemin sans puits et sans hôtellerie,S'il ne croit pas quand vient le soir il pleure, il crie,Il est las; sur la terre il tombe haletant.S'il croit en moi, qu'il prie, il peut au même instant.Continuer sa route avec des forces triples."(Le Christ et le Tombeau.) Tom. i. 44.
[148]King Henry VIII., Act 2, Sc. 1. Contrast again our Lord before the council with St. Paul before that tribunal. In the case of one of the chief of saints there is the touch of human infirmity, the "something spoken in choler, ill and hasty," the angry and contemptuous "whited wall"—the confession of hasty inconsiderateness (ουκ ἡδειν—ὁτι εστιν αρχιερευς) which led to a violation of a precept of the law (Exod. xxii. 28).
[149]Preface toIvanhoe.
[150]Howthe great sayings were accurately collected has not been the question before us in this discourse. But it presents little difficulty. It is not absurd to suppose (if we are required to postulate no divine assistance) that notes may have been taken in some form by certain members of the company of disciples. The profoundly thoughtful remark of Irenæus upon his own unfailing recollection of early lessons from Polycarp, would apply with indefinitely greater force to such a pupil as John, of such a teacher as Jesus. "I can thoroughly recollect things so far back better than those which have lately occurred; for lessons which have grown with us since boyhood are compacted into a unity with the very soul itself." (τη ψυχη ἑνουνται αυτη)Euseb., v. 29. But above all, whatever subordinate agency may have been employed in the preservation of those precious words, every Christian reverently acknowledges the fulfilment of the Saviour's promise—"The Comforter, the Holy Ghost, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrancewhatsoever I have said unto you" (John xiv. 26).
[151]Duc de Broglie.Revue des deux Mondes.15 Jan. 1882. Coxe,House of Austria, vol. iii., chap. xcix., p. 415, sqq.
[152]John xiii. 30, xi. 35, xix. 5, xxii. 29-35.
[153]Observe in the Greek the μη ἁμαρτητε, which refers to single acts, not to a continuous state—"thatye may not sin."
[154]1 John ii. 2. As a translation, "towards" seems too pedantic; yet προς isad-versusrather thanapud, and with the accusative signifies either the direction of motion, or the relation between two objects. (Donaldson,Greek Grammar, 524). We may fittingly call the preposition here προςpictorial.
[155]The various meanings of κοσμος are fully traced below on 1 John ii. 17. There is one point in which the notions of κοσμος and αιων intersect. But they may be thus distinguished. The first signifies the world projected inspace, the second intime. The supposition that the form of expression at the close of our verse is elliptical, and to be filled up by the repetition of "for the sins of the whole world" "is not justified by usage, and weakens the force of the passage." (Epistles of St. John, Westcott, p. 44.)
[156]As to doctrine. There are three "grand circles" or "families of images" whereby Scripture approaches from different quarters, or surveys from different sides, the benefits of our Lord's meritorious death. These are represented by, are summed up in, three words—απολυτρωσις, καταλλαγη, ιλασμος. The last is found in the text and in iv. 10; nowhere else precisely in that form in the New Testament. "Ιλασμος (expiation or propitiation) and απολυτρωσις (redemption) is fundamentally one single benefit,i.e., the restitution of the lost sinner. Απολυτρωσις is in respect ofenemies; καταλλαγη in respect ofGod. And here again the words ἱλασμ. and καταλλ. differ.Propitiationtakes away offences as againstGod.Reconciliationhas two sides. It takes away (a) God'sindignationagainstus, 2 Cor. v. 18, 19; (b)our alienationfromGod, 2 Cor. v. 20." (Bengel on Rom. iii. 24. Whoever would rightly understand all that we can know on these great words must studyNew Testament Synonyms, Archbp. Trench, pp. 276-82.)
[157]Acts xvii. 27.
[158]Jonah i. 5.
[159]1 John ii. 28.
[160]2 John 9.
[161]Matt. xxiii. 15.
[162]Bouddhism, it is now said, appears to be on the wane, and the period for its disappearance is gradually approaching, according to the Boden Professor of Sanscrit at Oxford. In his opinion this creed is "one of rapidly increasing disintegration and decline," and "as a form of popular religion Bouddhism is gradually losing its vitality and hold on the vast populations once loyal to its rule." He computes the number of Bouddhists at 100,000,000; not 400,000,000 as hitherto estimated; and places Christianity numerically at the head of all religions—next Confucianism, thirdly Hinduism, then Bouddhism, and last Mohammedanism. He affirms that the capacity of Bouddhism for resistance must give way before the "mighty forces which are destined to sweep the earth."
[163]That modern English writers have been more than just to Mohammed is proved overwhelmingly by the living Missionary who knows Mohammedanism best.—Mohammed and Mohammedans. Dr. Koelle.
[164]The inner meaning of 1 John i. 8 exactly = ὑπακοη και ῥαντισμος (1 Peter i. 2). It is theobedientwho aresprinkled.
[165]John xiv. 16, 26, xv. 26, xvi. 7.
[166]Aug.in loc.
[167]"Nomen facile supplent credentes, plenum pectus habentes memoriâ Domini."—Bengel.
[168]Εκεινος in our Epistle belongs to Christ in every place but one where it occurs (1 John ii. 6, iii. 3, 5, 7, 16, iv. 17; cf. John i. 18, ii. 21). It is very much equivalent to our reverent usage of printing the pronoun which refers to Christ with a capital letter.
[169]Matt. vi. 45.
[170]δοξας βλασφημουντες (2 Peter ii. 10; Jude v. 8).
[171]Poems by Matthew Arnold("Rugby Chapel," Nov. 1857), vol. ii., pp. 251, 255.
[172]ὁς μονος συνεπαθησεν πλανωμενω κοσμω.Acta Paul. et Thec.16,Acta. Apost. Apoc.47. Edit. Tischendorf.
[173]On Liberty.John Stuart Mill (chap. iii.).
[174]John viii. 12-35. For Apostolic usage of the word, see Acts i. 21; Rom. vi. 4; Ephes. ii. 10; Col. iii. 7.
[175]John vii. 1.
[176]"Ambulando docebat."—Bretschneider.
[177]John xiii. 1-6.
[178]Ἱνα ποιω ... και τελειωσω (John iv. 34).
[179]After all deductions for the lack of accurate and searching textual exegesis, perhaps Bossuet's "Traité de la concupiscence, ou Exposition de ces Paroles de Saint Jean, 1 John ii. 15-17" (Œuvres de Bossuet, Tom. vii., 380-420), remains unrivalled.
[180]The word κοσμος originally signified ornament (chiefly perhaps of dress); figuratively it came to denote order. It was first applied by Pythagoras to theuniverse, from the conception of the order, which reigns in it (Plut.,de Plac. Phil., ii. 1). From schools of philosophy it passed into the language of poets and writers of elevated prose. It is somewhat singular that the Romans, possibly from Greek influence, came to apply "mundus" by the same process tothe world, as it had also originally signifiedornament, especially of female dress (See Richard Bentley against Boyle,Opera Philol., 347-445, and Notes, Humboldt'sCosmos, xiii.). In the LXX. κοσμος does not appear as the translation of שׂלָם its spiritual equivalent in Hebrew; but very often in the sense of "ornament" and "order." (See Tromm.,Concord. Gr. in LXX., 1, 913), but it is found asworldseveral times in the Apocrypha (Wisdom vi. 26, vii. 18, ix. 3, xi. 18, xv. 14; 2 Mac. iii. 12, vii. 9-23, viii. 18, xiii. 14).
[181]John xvii. 24.
[182]In Hebrew תֵּבֵל habitable globe; translated οικουμενη in LXX. (see Psalm lxxxix. 11).
[183]John v. 11.
[184]John vi. 31; 1 John ii. 2.
[185]John iii. 16. It may be added that these are passages where theworldas humanity generally passes into the darker meaning of that portion of it which is actively hostile to God. John xv. 18, 19.
[186]See note on ver. 16 at the end of the next Discourse.
[187]Gen. i. 31.
[188]John i. 3.
[189]The writer does not happen to remember any commentator who has pointed out this subtle but powerful thought, παν το εν τω κοσμω—εκ του κοσμου εστιν (1 John ii. 16).
[190]1 John v. 19.
[191]John xiv. 1; 1 John iv. 2, 3; 2 John 7.
[192]John vi. 51, 53-56; 1 John iv. 2, 3; 2 John 7.
[193]ἡ αλαζονια του βιου.
[194]Gen. iii. 5.
[195]Gen. iii. 6.
[196]Gen. iii. 7.
[197]S. Augustin.,Tract. in Joann. Epist.
[198]Mark vii. 21.
[199]1 John ii. 15, 16.
[200]Ibid. ver. 17.
[201]No portion of Prof. Westcott's Commentary is more thorough or more exquisite than his exposition here. (Epistles of St. John, 66.)
[202]"Extirpantia verba." St. August (in loc.).
[203]παραγεται. It has been said that this is not the real point; that what St. John here describes is not the general attribute of the world as transitory, but its condition at the moment when the Epistle was written, in presence of the manifestation of "the kingdom of God, which was daily shining forth." But surely the world can scarcely be so completely identified with the temporary framework of the Roman Empire; and theuniversalityof the antithesis (ὁ δε ποιων κ.τ.λ.) and its intenselyindividualform, lead us to take κοσμος in that universal and inclusive signification which alone is of abiding interest to every age.
[204]Job xiv. 1, 2. Cf. x. 20-22.
[205]Such seems to be the meaning of אַבְלִינָה (Ps. xxxix. 14).
[206]Ps. xc. 9.
[207]James iv. 13-17. The passage 1 Pet. i. 25 is taken from the magnificent prophecy in which the fragility of all flesh, transitory as the falling away of the flowers of grass into impalpable dust, is contrasted with the eternity of the word of God. Isa. xl. 6, 7, LXX.
[208]"Possessa onerant, amata inquinant, amissa cruciant."—St. Bernard.
[209]The view here taken of Bouddhism follows that of M. J. Barthelemy St. Hilaire.Le Bouddha et sa Réligion.Prémière partie, chap. v., pp. 141-182.
[210]"These populations neither deny nor affirm God. They simply ignore Him. To assert that they are atheists would be very much the same thing as to assert that they are anti-Cartesians. As they are neither for nor against Descartes, so they are neither for nor against God. They are just children. A child is neither atheist nor deist. He is nothing."—Voltaire,Dict. Phil., Art.Athêisme.
[211]It is noteworthy that in the collects in the English Prayer-Book, and indeed in its public formularies generally (outside the Funeral Service, and that for the Visitation of the Sick), there are but two places in which the note of the "world passeth away" is very prominently struck, viz., the Collect for the Fourth Sunday after Easter, and one portion of the prayer for "The Church Militant." One of the most wholesome and beautiful expressions of the salutary convictions arising from Christian perception of this melancholy truth is to be found in Dr. Johnson's "Prayer for the Last Day in the Year," as given in Mr. Stobart'sDaily Services for Christian Households, pp. 99, 100.
[212]The old "Memento Mori" timepiece of Mary, Queen of Scots, is a watch in the interior of a death's-head, which opens to disclose it. Surely not a symbol likely to make any soul happier or better!
[213]The ουν in ver. 24 is not recognised by the R. V. nor adopted in Professor Westcott's text. One uncial (A), however, inserts it in 1 John iv. 19. It occurs in 3 John 8. This inferential particle is found with unusual frequency in St. John's Gospel. It does not seem satisfactory to account for this by calling it "one of the beginnings of modern Greek." (B. de Xivrey.) By St. John as anhistorian, the frequentthereforeis the spontaneous recognition of a Divine logic of events; of the necessary yet natural sequence of every incident in the life of the "Word made Flesh." The ουν expresses something more than continuity of narrative. It indicates a connection of events so interlinked that each springs from, and is joined with, the preceding, as if it were a conclusion which followed from the premiss of the Divine argument. Now a mind which viewshistoryin this light is just the mind which will bedogmaticin theology. The inspired dogmatic theologian will necessarily write in a style different from that of the theologian of the Schools. The style of the former will beoracular; that of the latter will bescholastic, i.e., inferential, a concatenation of syllogisms. The syllogistic ουν is then naturally absent from St. John's Epistles. The one undoubted exception is 3 John 8, where a practical inference is drawn from an historical statement in ver. 7. The writer may be allowed to refer toThe Speaker's Commentary, iv., 381.
[214]Jer. xxxi. 34.
[215]Vers. 18, 22.
[216]The last hour is not a date arbitrarily chosen and written down as a man might mark a day for an engagement in a calendar. It is determined by history—by the sum-total of the product of the actions of men who are not the slaves of fatality, who possess free-will, and are not forced to act in a particular way. It is supposed to derogate from the Divine mission of the Apostles if we admit that they might be mistaken as to the chronology of the closing hour of time. But to know that supreme instant would involve a knowledge of the whole plan of God and the whole predetermining motives in the appointment of that day,i.e., it would constructively involveomniscience. Cf. Mark xiii. 32, and our Lord's profound saying, Acts i. 7.
[217]John v. 43.
[218]1 John ii. 22, iv. 2, 3; 2 John 7-9.
[219]Ver. 19.
[220]Bingham'sAntiquities, i., 462-524, 565.
[221]For other instances of this characteristic, see a subjectintroducedii. 29,expandediii. 9—another subjectintroducediii. 21,expandedv. 14.
[222]το αυτου χρισμα, ver. 27,notτο αυτο ("the same anointing," A. V.) "This most unusual order throws a strong emphasis on the pronoun." (Prof. Westcott.) The writer thankfully quotes this as it seems to him to bring out the dogmatic significance of the word, emphasised as it is by this unusual order—the chrism, the Spirit ofHim.
[223]1 John iii. 24.
[224]The reading of the A. V. is received into Tischendorf's text and adopted by the R. V. Another reading omits και and substitutes παντες for παντα so that the passage would run thus, "Ye have an unction from the Holy One. Ye all know (I have not written unto you because ye know not) the truth." As far as the difficulty of παντα is concerned, nothing is gained by the change, as the statement recurs in a slightly varied form in ver. 27.
[225]John xiv. 26.
[226]"Let that abide in you which ye heard from the beginning," 1 John ii. 24. Cf. "Testifying that this is the true grace of God wherein ye stand," 1 Pet. v. 12. "Even as our beloved brother Paul has written unto you," 2 Pet. iii. 15. St. Paul has thus the attestation of St. John as well as of St. Peter.
[227]Ver. 27
[228]διδασκει—εδιδαξεν.
[229]1 Cor. xi. 29.
[230]Ver. 11.
[231]John xv. 12-17. See also the stress laid upon the unity of believers; surely including love as well as doctrine in the great High-Priestly prayer, John xvii. 21-23.
[232]"The message that ye heardfrom the beginning," conf. 1 John ii. 24.
[233]"Contrariorum eadem est scientia."
[234]This is one of the few references to the Old Testamenthistoryin St. John's Epistle (Gen. iv. 1-8). To thetheologyof the Old Testament there are many references;e.g., light and life. 1 John i. 1-5; John i. 4; Ps. xxxvi. 9. There is, however, another historical reference a few verses above (1 John iii. 8)—a passage of primary importance because it recognises the whole narrative of the Fall in Genesis, and affords a commentary upon the words of Christ (John viii. 44). The writer has somewhere seen an interesting suggestion that ver. 12 may contain some allusion to the visit of Apollonius of Tyana to Ephesus. Apollonius incited the mob to kill a beggar-man for the purpose of placing himself on a level with Chalcas and others who caused the sacrifice of human victims. The date of this incident would apparently coincide with the closing years of St. John's life (Philostrat. vita Apollon., Act. ii., S. 5).
[235]Ver. 14.
[236]Vers. 14, 15.
[237]Ver. 12.
[238]Ver. 16.
[239]Ver. 17.
[240]Vers. 18, 19.
[241]Vers. 20, 21.
[242]"ForThe LoveI rather beseech thee" (Phil. v. 9). The addition in the A.V. (of God) rather impairs the sweetness and power, the reverential reserve of the original.
[243]Of Prof. Westcott.
[244]Ver. 17.
[245]It is suggestive that on Quinquagesima Sunday, when 1 Cor. xiii. is the Epistle, St. Luke xviii. 31 sqq., is the Gospel. The lyric of love is joined with a fragment of its epic. That fragment tells us of a love which not only proclaimed itself ready to be sacrificed (Luke xviii. 31-33), but condescended individually to the blind importunate mendicant who sat by the wayside begging (vers. 35-43).
[246]The word here is βιος not ζωη. "Βιος period of life; hence the means by which it is sustained, means of life." (Archbp. Trench.) It is to be wished that the R. V. had either kept "the good" of the A. V., or adopted the word "living"—the translation of βιος in Mark xii. 44; Luke xxi. 4.
[247]2 John 3.
[248]1 John i. 4, ii. 28, iii. 21, iv. 17, v. 14, iii. 19.
[249]1 John i. 4.
[250]τα σπλαγχνα (ver. 17). This however is the only occurrence of the word in St. John's writings. The substantive σπλαγχνα =emotions, is found in classical poets. But the verb σπλαγχνιζομαι occurs only in LXX. and New Testament—and thus, like αγαπη, is almost born within the circle of revealed truth. The new dispensation so rich in the mercy of God (Luke i. 78), so fruitful in mercy from man to man, may well claim a new vocabulary in the department of tenderness and pity.
[251]1 John v. 6, conf. John xix. 34.
[252]θεωρη, ver. 17.
[253]"The love of which God is at once the object, and the author, and the pattern." (Prof. Westcott.)
[254]1 John iv. 19.
[255]Lord Meath.
[256]Apoc. xx. 12, 13.
[257]1 John ii. 28.
[258]αισχυνθωμεν απ' αυτου, see Jerem. xii. 13 (for בּושׁ מִן). Prof. Westcott happily quotes, "as a guilty thing surprised."
[259]Coming, εν τη παρουσια αυτου. The word is not found elsewhere in the Johannic group of writings. But by his use of it here, St. John falls into line with the whole array of apostolic witnesses—with St. Matthew (xxiv. 3-27, 37, 39); with St. Paul (passim); with St. James (v. 7, 8); with St. Peter (2 Peter i. 16, iii. 4-12). This fact may well warn critics of the precarious character of theories founded upon "the negative phenomena of the books of the New Testament." (See Professor Westcott's excellent note,The Epistles of St. John, 80.)
[260](εν τη ἡμερα της κρισεως)—"in the Day of the Judgment"—cf. Apoc. xiv. 7. We have "inTHEJudgment" (Matt. xii. 41, 42; Luke x. 14, xi. 31, 32)—the indefinite "day of judgment" (Matt. x. 15, xi. 22, 24; Mark vi. 11).
[261]2 Pet. ii. 9, iii. 7—but "TheDay ofTheJudgment," here only.
[262]Cf. our Lord's words—"henceforth(απ' αρτι) ye shall see the Son of Mancoming." (Matt. xxvi. 64.)
[263]John v. 21, 29.
[264]Ver. 21.
[265]Ver. 26.
[266]Ver. 24.
[267]Ver. 28, 29.
[268]The writer ventures to lament the substitution of "judgment" for "condemnation," ver. 24. R.V. It is a verbal consistency, or minute accuracy, purchased at the heavy price of a false thought, suggested to many readers who are not scholars. "In John's language κρισις is, (a) thatjudgmentwhich came in pain and misery to those who rejected the salvation offered to mankind by Christ, iii. 19, κ.τ.λ., ερχεσθαι εις κρισιν, tofall into the state of one thus condemned, v. 24. (b) Judgment of condemnation to the wicked, with ensuing rejection, v. 29." Grimm. Lex. N.T. 247. Between this passage of the fourth Gospel and Apoc. xx., there is a marvellous inner harmony of thought. "The first resurrection" (ver. 6) = John v. 21, 26; then vv. 11, 12, 13 = John v. 28, 29.
[269]Heb. ix. 27; 2 Cor. v. 10, cf. Rom. xiv. 10; Apoc. xx. 11, 12, 13.
[270]μεθ' ἡμων—God's love in itself is perfected. It might be made as perfect as man's nature will admit by an instantaneous act; but God works jointly, in companionship with us. The grace of God "preventing us that we may will,works with uswhen we will." The essential idea of μετα iscompanionshiporconnexion. (See Donaldson,Gr. Gr., 50, 52 a.)
[271]ελευθεριας ἡ πολις μεστη και παρρησιας γιγνεται. (Plat.,Rep., 557 B). The word is derived from παν and ῥησις.
[272]Ephes. i. 18.
[273]Cf. Matt. v. 48.
[274]Ver. 18.
[275]Bengel. The writer must acknowledge his obligation to Professor Westcott, whose exposition gives us a peculiar conception of the depth of St. John's teaching here. (The Epistles of St. John, 149-153).
[276]This is expressed, after St. John's fashion, by the neuter, παν το γεγεννημενον εκ του Θεου. ver. 4.
[277]ἡ πιστις ἡμων, ver. 4.
[278]ὁ νικων τον κοσμον, ὁ πιστευων, ver. 5.
[279]1 John ii. 29.
[280]1 John iv. 7.
[281]John iii. 5.
[282]σφοδρα αινιγματωδης και σκοτεινως ειρημενος. Euseb.
[283]
[284]