Luke xxiv. 13-53; Acts i. 3-14; 1 Corinthians xv. 3-8) 462 II. The Community at Jerusalem (Acts i. 15-v., xii. 1–23) 481 III. Stephen and Philip (Matthew xvii. 1-9; Acts vi.-viii. 8, IV. The Apostle of the Gentiles (Galatians i. 13-20; Acts ix. V. The First Mission to the Heathen (Galatians 1, 21, 24; Acts xi. 22-30, xii. 24-xiv.; Luke x. 1 ff., 17-20) . VI. The Collision of the two Parties (Galatians ii.; Acts xv.). VII. The Gospel in Europe (Acts xvi.-xviii. 18; Mark v. 1-20). VIII. Paul at Ephesus (2 Corinthians xi. 23-29; Acts xviii. 18-23, xix. 1-20, 23-41; Galatians; Mark ix. 38-40; Matthew IX. The Community at Corinth and the Letter to Rome (Acts XII. The Communities after the Death of Paul (Matthew xiii. 24-30, 36-43. Revelation; James; Jude. Hebrews; Colossians. 2 Thessalonians; Matthew xxiv. 4-41; Luke xviii. 1-8; 2 Peter. 1 Peter; Ephesians; 2 Timothy; Titus; 1 Timothy; 1 John; 2 John; 3 John) 643 XIII, The Disciple whom Jesus Loved (Gospel according to John) 666 INTRODUCTION. HISTORICAL SKETCH OF JESUS AND THE APOSTOLIC AGE. NIN I. TINETEEN hundred years ago the whole civilized world known to the ancients bowed beneath the sceptre of the Emperor of Rome. Everywhere from Britain to Æthiopia the Roman eagles had marked the track of victory. The Atlantic Ocean and the African desert had interposed impassable natural barriers to the West and South; the Rhine and Danube formed a northern frontier against the Barbarians. In the East alone the invincible legions had been baffled, for the Parthian or new Persian monarchy contested with varying fortune of war the possession of the district of the Euphrates, and the wandering tribes of north-western Arabia were troublesome neighbors whom it was easy to defeat but impossible to subdue. For this reason Syria and Phoenicia were generally occupied by a very considerable military force. The whole of this enormous area was divided into provinces (conquered territories) of Rome, and was ruled by governors. The only exception was furnished by Middle and Southern Italy; for about a century before the commencement of our era the inhabitants of these districts, sword in hand, had extorted from the citizens of Rome the concession of equal rights, and now stood under the immediate government of the Roman Senate. But even in the East there were some few people who were still dignified with the name of allies, and allowed to retain their own princes as vassals of Rome. These people, though bound to pay tribute and serve in the army, still preserved the shadow of independence. Originally the title of Roman citizen was only allowed to a foreigner The as a reward for some signal service, but eventually it was granted to any one who paid a fixed sum of money. title was greatly coveted, for it gave those who bore it the privilege of appeal from the jurisdiction of the local governors to the imperial court at Rome. With regard to language the gigantic empire was split into two great sections. Latin prevailed in the West; but in the East, ever since the times of Alexander the Great, Greek had been the universal language. Octavianus, better known under the name of Augustus, heir to the great Julius Cæsar, was the first to ascend the imperial throne, which he did after a sanguinary civil war (reigned 29 B.C. to 14 A.D.). And now, for the first time for centuries, there was peace; and the doors of the temple of Janus at Rome, which always stood open in time of war, were closed. Under Augustus the provinces were divided into two classes. To those which had neither internal commotions nor hostile invasions to fear governors were appointed yearly by the Senate; but those which were threatened by tumult or war were governed by nominees of the Emperor. These imperial provinces were for the most part situated on the frontier, and in them the five-and-twenty legions of the empire were quartered. In fact their governors were military commanders, each of them supported by a general overseer of the taxation. Important sub-districts, such as Palestine, were sometimes placed under the immediate control of deputy-governors, who combined the administration of the military, the judicial, and the financial affairs of their respective districts. The Roman supremacy weighed like lead upon the subject peoples. So far from respecting their independence the governors aimed rather at extinguishing all national peculiarities. But the worst abuse was the systematic draining of the provinces by the contractors of taxes, who practised the most shameless extortion with impunity. On the other hand, the widest toleration of the various religions was practised by Rome. The governors were instructed to respect the religious convictions of the peoples. Thus, for example, the military standards to which the Cæsar's image was affixed had never been carried into Jerusalem before the time of Pilate, out of regard to the Jewish horror of image-worship. The Roman magistrates in many of the conquered districts took part offcially in the public worship of their respective territories; and Augustus even went so far as to assign a portion of the H imperial revenues drawn from Palestine to the maintenance of the daily sacrifice in the temple on Mount Zion. Generally speaking, then, the Romans were far from desiring to force the worship of their own gods upon all their allies or subjects. But there was one exception to this rule. It was required, throughout the whole empire, that divine honors should be paid to the Emperor; and the demand involved the Jews, and the Christians after them, in grievous perplexities. The Romans themselves were forbidden by law to go over to a foreign religion; but the regulation was seldom enforced. Indeed, the religious condition of the ancient world made it impossible to carry it out; for faith in the national deities was tottering to its fall among Romans and Greeks alike. In fact, it had out-lived itself; and philosophy had powerfully contributed to its overthrow. A deep dissatisfaction made the want of something better keenly felt, and an ever stronger yearning after a purer conception of the nature and the will of the Deity threw many a one into the arms of Judaism, just as it afterwards prepared the way for Christianity. II. THE civil war between the brothers Hyrcanus and Aristobulus, sons of the Maccabæan prince Alexander Jannæus, had brought the Romans under Pompey into Judæa (64 B.C.); and once established there as rulers, they obstinately maintained their footing. It was through their favor and by the force of their arms that the Idumæan Herod, son of Antipater, the adviser of Hyrcanus, secured the Jewish throne (from 37 to 4 B.C.). He threw down the temple of Zerubbabel, and raised a new and magnificent structure in its place. The building of this temple occupied eight years, and the cost was enormous. Herod was an energetic and magnificent ruler, but a thorough despot. His suspicious character and unnatural cruelty merited the burning hatred with which he was regarded by his subjects. This aversion was so intense that on his death the Jews sent a special embassy to Rome, praying the Emperor not to impose upon them a prince of the house of Herod, but rather to allow them to follow their own laws and customs, under the supervision of the governor of Syria. But their petition was rejected, and Augustus, giving effect to the will of Herod, divided the country among that monarch's sons. Archelaus received Idumæa, Judæa, and Sa |