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AT THE BIRTH OF CHRIST.

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communicate to them a larger measure of spiritual instruction, of which they stood so much in need.*

So exceedingly great was the fecundity of the Jewish people that multitudes of them, from time to time, were constrained to emigrate from their native country; and, at the æra of Christ's birth, the descendants of Abraham were to be met with in every part of the known world. In all the provinces of the Roman Empire, in particular, they were to be found in great numbers, either serving in the army, or engaged in the pursuits of commerce, or practising some lucrative art. Of the truth of this we have evidence in the second chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, where we learn that, on the day of Pentecost, there were assembled at Jerusalem Jews "out of every nation under heaven,” who had come up to attend the festival. Their dispersion over all the west was the consequence of the subjugation of Judæa to Rome, and it was an important link in the chain of divine. providence; for it placed them, as they express it, "witnesses of the unity of God in all the nations of the world," and this at a time when idolatry and vice overwhelmed all the rest of mankind. Those of them who thus ventured to establish themselves without the confines of Palestine were successful in proselyting to their faith many among whom they sojourned, giving them to perceive the superiority of the Mosaic religion to the Gentile superstition, and inducing them to forsake the worship of a plurality of gods: they likewise every where obtained that general sort of encouragement, and protection from violence, which was to be derived from various regulations and edicts of

"Jeoida, the high priest at Jerusalem, had a son named Manasseh, who married a daughter of Sanballet, governor of the Samaritans. Nehemiah, governor of Jerusalem, banished Manasseh for this breach of the law. This exile carried a copy of the Pentateuch with him, read it to the Samaritans, and dissuaded them from idolatry, to which they never afterwards returned; and it was his father-in-law Sanballet who obtained leave of Darius Nothus to erect the Temple on Mount Gerizim, of which Manasseh was the first high priest. Hence proceeded a race of men, as the Jews acknowledge, more exact in worshipping the true God than themselves. Hence came the Samaritan Pentateuch in the old Phonician character, which confirms that of the Jews. Hence also went a Greek version of the Pentateuch, for the use of Hellenistic Samaritans resident in other countries, and especially for those at Alexandria; and of course the conversion of the Samaritans was an event in providence favourable to the general knowledge and worship of the one true God." Robinson's Ecclesiastical Researches, p. 27.

the emperors and magistrates in their favour. On the other hand, the peculiarities of their religion and manners caused them to be held in very general contempt, and not unfrequently exposed them to much vexation and annoyance from the jealousy and indignation of a superstitious populace; while many of them, in consequence of their long residence and intercourse among foreign nations, fell into the error of attempting to accommodate their religious profession to the principles and institutions of some of the different systems of heathen discipline, numerous instances of which it would be easy to adduce. Upon the whole, the circumstance of the Jews having found their way into almost every region of the habitable globe, may be justly classed amongst the means made use of by Divine Providence to open a path for the general diffusion of the truths of Christianity.

LECTURE I.

Introductory Remarks-Object and plan of these Lectures-Importance of Ecclesiastical History-Strictures on the works of Dupin, Mosheim, Milner—Acts of the Apostles, &c.

I remember to have somewhere met with the remark, that the man who does not think he dropped from the clouds, or does not date the origin of the world from the day of his nativity, should be anxious to become acquainted with the transactions of different ages and countries; and for this, among other reasons, because to be ignorant of what took place before we came into the world is to be children all our days.

It cannot be denied that the all-wise and adorable Creator has implanted in the human breast a thirst after knowledge. It begins to manifest itself in children with the first dawnings of reason; and it is the province of history to minister food to this appetite. Knowledge is every where encouraged in the holy Scriptures, and our best interests are identified with it; 2 Pet. i. 2—while ignorance is pointed out as the concomitant of vice -or, in the language of Solomon, "it is not good that the soul be without knowledge," Prov. xix. 2. "Consider what I say," said the apostle Paul to an eminent preacher of the Gospel, "and the Lord give thee understanding in all things," 2 Tim. ii. 7.

But though knowledge of every kind be valuable, and may, under the direction and government of a well-regulated understanding, be rendered subservient to the purposes of useful life, we ought never to lose sight of the fact, that all the powers of created beings are limited; and, as no one man can expect to

understand every thing, it is the dictate of wisdom to select those branches of knowledge, as the object of pursuit, which are in themselves the most valuable and important. Unless we act upon this principle, and regulate our conduct by it, we may be squandering away the precious hours of life in the veriest trifles, while the acquisition of pearls is within our reach and neglected by us.

HISTORY, taking the term in its general acceptation, has been not inaptly defined-" Philosophy teaching by examples how to conduct ourselves in every situation of private or public life." But though history in general has its usefulness in enlarging the mind, ministering to its gratification, and furnishing lessons of instruction for the conduct of human life, it is not intended that it should be the subject of the present Course of Lectures : and for this, among other reasons, because it is far too extensive a province to be traversed by me, or perhaps explored by yourselves, without more leisure and better opportunities of making our way through it than what most of us possess. It is not my intention, therefore, to take up your time in tracing the rise and fall of the various empires, states, and kingdoms of this world; or in turning over the annals of blood, as the late Dr. Johnson, in his emphatical manner, designated the study of General History: our time and attention will, I hope, be much more agreeably and profitably employed by confining ourselves to one branch of this extensive subject, namely, the History of the Christian church, commencing with its origin and pursuing the narrative down to the times in which we live.

I cannot think that any apology is necessary for the choice we have made of a subject as the basis of these Lectures. Ecclesiastical history is the history of the origin, progress, and dissemination of the Christian religion; and it is a most important branch of divine philosophy. It opens up to our view many interesting discoveries of the dealings of God with our guilty race; and it cannot be too carefully prosecuted. It will afford us abundant opportunities of witnessing how the world stands affected towards the doctrine of the cross-it will illustrate the enmity between the two seeds, the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent, which indeed had existed from the beginning, Gen. iii. 15, but which began to display itself more signally when the king

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS, &c.

59.

dom of Christ was set up by means of the preaching of the everlasting gospel-and it will afford proof of the perpetual agency of the wicked one in corrupting the Gospel so as to accommodate it to the reigning lusts of the human heart, and his malice and rage in persecuting those who in every age have kept the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.

But, notwithstanding the high claims which this subject has upon our attention, it has too often been regarded as of little moment to Christians in general. It may be considered, say some, as forming perhaps a useful branch of study for theologians intending to devote themselves to the work of the ministry, but as containing little that deserves the regard of the simple disciple of the Saviour. To such a representation of the matter, however, it is impossible for me to subscribe. For, next to the Gospel itself, which is the Wisdom of God and the Power of God to the salvation of all that believe, I am compelled to rank, in point of interest and importance, the reception which it has met with in the world. Its happy effects in subverting the empire of darkness-diminishing the mass of idolatry, superstition, and vice-conveying to men the justest views of the divine character, and giving the knowledge of salvation by the remission of sins

emancipating myriads of the human race from the slavery of sin and Satan, and training them up for a state of endless felicity in the world to come; such are the all-important ends of that dispensation which has the church or kingdom of Christ for its centre and basis. Little as this kingdom is thought of by the wise and mighty of this world, it is of infinitely more importance than all the world besides. If this assertion should seem strange to any of you, let me entreat you to consider for a moment what it was that brought the Lord of life and glory into our world— that led him to forego the happiness and bliss of the heavenly state to assume human nature into personal union with the divine-to tabernacle among us as a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, and in that state to subject himself to persecution, to shame and suffering, and the accursed death of the cross-to all that the malice of earth and hell could inflict upon him. It was to lay the foundation of this kingdom: and it is for the sake of this kingdom, in which' the Saviour himself reigns and of which the sole government is placed upon his

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