« Marcion lived in the reign of Antoninus: (Tertullian de Pros - script, c. 30,) and that this was Antoninus Pius, appears from Ire- njeus Adv. Hteres. Lib. iii. c. 4, who states that he flourished in the time of Anicetus, the tenth Bishop of Rome, who lived in the reign of Antoninus Pius. Euseb. Hist. Eccles. Lib. iv. c. 10, 11, and Chfoni- con. — IreNjEUs gives an account of his tenets. Adv. Hteres. Lib. i.
с. 29. Tertlluian wrote five books against Marcion: and the test account of the opinions of that heretic is given by the Bp. of Lincoln, THE APOLOGY OF ft**.
now teaching his followers to profess, that these is some other (Goo, greater than he who created the world. This man, through the assistance of evil spirits, hath caused many in every nation to speak blasphe- mies, and to deny that the Creator of the universe was God-; maintaining that some one else, of superior power, hath exceeded that Creator by executing greater works. And yet all, who have sprung from these sects, as we have stated, are called Christians. In the same manner as those, who do not hold the same opinions as the philosophers, are still included under the com- mon appellation of philosophy. Now whether they are guilty of any of those infamous acts which are reported/ such sfs the putting out of the lights, and promiscuous intercourse, and feeding on human flesh, we know not; but we know that they are not per- secuted nor put to death by you, even on account of their peculiar doctrines. We have also a treatise composed against all the heresies which have arisen, which, if you wish to peruse it, we will produce.
36. But we are so far from committing any (such) injustice or impiety (as is implied in the charge of devouring children), that we have learned that none but wicked men expose infants when they are born. First, because we see, that almost all such are brought up in the vilest manner, and for the basest purposes, whether they be male or female: and are every where publicly exposed, even as men of old reared in his luminous epitome of those books. Bp. Kate’s Account of Tertullian, c. vii. pp. 474-505. Eusebius, {Hist. Eccles. Lib. iv.. c. 11,) in quoting this passage, expresses himself as if it occurred in a book of Justin written against Marcion.
T These calumnies were constantly brought against the Christians; and are refuted in all their apologies. Compare Justin, Second Apology, p. 50. Dial, cum Tryph. p. 227. Tertullian, Apol. Sect. 2, 7, 8. Ad Nationes i. c. 2. Minucius Felix, Octavius, Sect. 9, 30. They are mentioned also by the martyrs, who suffered in the persecu- tion after the death of Antoninus Pius, (Euseb. Hist. Eccles. Lib. ▼. c. i. p. 133, A,) by Athenagoras ( Legal. p. 4,) and by Origen (Contra Celsum, Lib. vi.p. 293,4,) as having been advanced at the beginning of Christianity. He attributes the origin of the accusation to the Jews. Ka2 Soxet not Trapav\/)atov ’I ovSaloif ntnoirjxivcu (KfXtrof) rots Kari rf)v dpxhv voS Xpurriavtcpov iiSaffxaktas xaraaxtidaaat ivafripiav ro0 Xtfyov* its dpa mrsMcarof * mIsp psmXapfldvovffiv airoS rmv omp cftr.
JUSTIN MARTYR.
for sale herds of oxen, or goats, or sheep, or horses. And ye receive the hire* and tribute and custom of these persons, when ye ought to cut them off from the face of your empire. I abstain from mentioning the horrible, and even incestuous, offences which hence frequently occur; the manner in which men sometimes prostitute their children and their wives: or the shocking offerings which are made to her, whom ye call the mother of the gods. And, indeed, in the worship of all those who are accounted gods among you, a serpent is represented as a great symbol and mystery. (Ye accuse us also of extinguishing the lights, that we may give way to gross indulgences:) thus what ye openly practise and hold in honor, as if the divine light (of reason and natural sense of right and wrong) were overthrown and extinguished in you, ye falsely attribute to us: but this brings no blame upon us, who are free from all such abomina- tions, but rather upon those who do them, and bear false witness. For, as ye may learn, by inquiry, from our Scriptures, the leader of the evil demons is by us called the Serpent, and Satan, and the Devil, 1 who, as- Christ hath foretold, shall be sent into fire with all his host, and such men as follow him, to be punished for endless ages. For the cause why God hath hitherto delayed the execution of this is the human race. For he foreknows that some shall be saved by repentance, and some perhaps who are not yet born: and at.the first he formed the human race intelligent, and able to choose the truth and to be happy, 0 so that all men should be without excuse before God; for they are made capable of reason and foresight. But if any one believes not that.God cares for such things, such a man must either profess that God exists not at all, x or affirm that, if He exists, he delights in evil; or else that he remains as insensible as a stone: and that * Compare Suetonius, Caligula: c. 40. This disgraceful tribute was finally removed by a law contained in the code of Justinian, tit. xl. Lib. zi.
* Rev. xx. 2. See Justin’s Dial, with Trypho i p. 331.
" rpdrreiv.
p) that alrbv Sii bfioXoyfau. For rtgrifr ' should pKK feebly be reed either or 4v4y«w.
THE APOLOGY 0/ virtue fend vice are nothing; but that men judge Actions to be good or bad merely by their own opinion; winch is the greatest impiety and injustice, A second reason i for otir not exposing infants is, lest any one so exposed should not be taken up, but perish; and thus we should be murderers.
37. Moreover, we either marry at first, for no other object than to rear children, or else abstaining from marriage, continue to live in a state of continence. And already one of our religion, in order to persuade you that promiscuous concubinage is not a religious mystery with us, (as ye falsely allege,) presented a. written petition to Felix the governor, at Alexandria, praying that he would permit a physician to mutilate his person; an operation which the physicians there said they were not at liberty to perform, without the governor’s leave. And when Felix altogether refused to grant his permission, the young man still persisted in his resolution of continence, satisfied with his own conscience, and that Cf his Christian brethren. Here also we may mention Antinous, who lately died, •fend ’whom all, through fear (of offending the Em- pdrftr Adrian) were eager to wotsnip as a god, knowing well what kind of character he bore, and whence he was.
And that no one may advance this objection against us, “ What should hinder us from believing, that he who by ns is called Christ, was a man of merely humain origin, who performed the wonders, which we speak of, by magical art,* and on that account was yj ditto heite takes up again the subject of exposing children, from Which, in his usual discursive manner, he had deviated, at the be- ginning of this Section. * a Absurd as this objection may appear, it was one which the early Christian Apologists thought it necessary to anticipate, and on that account sometimes laid greater stress on prophecy than on the miracles of Christ. Compare Irenjeus Adv. Hceres. Lib. ii. c. 57, Lactantius v. 3. “ Disce igitur, si quid tibi cordis (cordi) est, non idcirco h nobis Deum creditum Christum, quia mirabilia fecit, led quia vidimus in eo facta esse omnia qn© nobiB annunciate sunt vat* cinio prophetarum. Fecit mirabilia: magum putassemus, ut et voa nuncupates, (nunc putatis) et Jud©i tunc putaveront, si non -ilia ipsa tacturum Christum prophet© uno spiritu praedixissent.”— tfn another place (iv. c. 13,) Lactantius replies to the objection, said to have been made by the oracle of Apollo, and assented to by some of JUSTIN MAftTVR.
JUSTIN MAftTVR.
considered to be the Son of God!” we will proceed now to bring forward a proof. We will not rely upon testimony, but shall necessarily be persuaded by pro? phecies delivered before the events; since we see with our own eyes that events have taken place, and are now taking place, according to the predictions. And this proof will, we imagine, appear to you also the moat perfect and most true.
38. There were, then, among the Jews certain men, who were Prophets of God, by whom the prophetic Spirit proclaimed future events before they came to pass. And the kings, who were over the Jews in those days, possessed and preserved with great care the prophecies of these men, as they were first delivered, in books composed by the prophets themselves, in their own Hebrew language. Now when Ptolemy, king of Egypt, was forming his library, and endeavoring to collect the writings of all men, he heard of these pro- phecies, and sent to Herod b who then ruled over the Jews, desiring that the books of the prophecies might be sent to him. And H$rod the king sent them written in their aforesaid Hebrew language. But since what was thus written in them could not be understood by the Egyptians, he again sent, and desired him to send men to translate them into the Greek language. This being done, the books have remained with the Egyp- tians even to this day: and they are also with all the Jews in every place. Yet the Jews who read, under- Jews, that the miracles of Jesus were performed by magic, by an appeal to the fulfilment of prophecy, as a continual miracle going on before their eyes. — Origen meets the same objection, with different reasons. Contra Cels, Lib* ii. p. 88, seq.
t> This is a mistake either of Justin, or of some of his transcribers. The person to whom Ptolemy sent was Eleazar, who, according to Philo Judeus (Lib. 2, de Vita Mosis ) was high-priest and king of Judea. Josephus (Ant. XI. iv. 8,) says that the high-priests had the supreme power, till the posterity of the Asamoneans established a monarchical authority.
Grabe supposes we should here read Upc? for 'H ptffy.
The account of the Septuagint version of the Old Testament given in the Cohortatio ad Gt<bcos ) p. 13, 14, which is ascribed to Justin, is somewhat different from this. It follows Philo, (De Vit. Mpsis } Lib. ii.) in asserting that the seventy interpreters were each shut pp in a different cell, and composed so many distinct versions, which ajl literally agreed.
THE APOLOGY OF stand not what is written; but regard us with hatred and enmity, slaying and punishing us, even as ye do, whenever they are able; as ye may easily learn. For in the late Jewish war, 6 Barchochebas, the leader of the Jewish insurrection, commanded the Christians only to be led away to severe tortures, unless they denied Jesus Christ and blasphemed.
39. Now in the books of the prophets we find it predicted, that Jesus, our Christ, should come, should be born of a virgin, and be made man; that he should heal every disease, and all manner of sickness, and raise the dead: that he should be enviously treated, and not be known; that he should be crucified, and die, and rise again, and ascend into heaven; that he should be the Son of God; and so be called: that some should be sent by him to preach these things to every nation of mankind, and that men of the Gentiles should more especially believe on him. Some of these prophecies also respecting him were delivered five thousand years before his appearing/ some three thousand, some two thousand; and some again one thousand, and others eight hundred years. For in the course of successive generations, different prophets succeeded one another.
40. Moses then, who was the first of the prophets,® wrote in these very words: “ A prince shall not fail from Judah, nor a ruler from between his feet/ until He shall come, for whom it is reserved;* and He shall be the expectation of the Gentiles, binding his colt to a vine, washing his garment in the blood of the grape.” h 6 In the 17th year of Adrian: Eusebius, Hist. Eccles. Lib. iv. c. 6, and Chronicon. Eusebius says the cause of his enmity to the Chris- tians was their refusal to unite with him against the Romans.
4 According to the chronology of Justin Martyr, somewhat more than 5000 years elapsed between the Creation and the birth of Christ. Theophilus (ad Autolycum, Lib. iil p. 138,) makes it 5515 years. Justin here, therefore, considers Adam as one of the prophets; agree- ing with Theophilus, (Lib. ii. p. 104.) Clemens Alexandnnus, (Strom, i. p. 335,) in like manner regards the names which Adam bestowed upon Eve, and upon all animals, as prophetic.
* The first, whose writings are preserved. Here, and in Sect. 71, the prophecy of Jacob is apparently ascribed to Moses who records it.
f he tQv fifipQv abrov, * airdKtiTai — that this, and not 8 A is the true reading, is plain from Justin’s Dial. with Trypho, pp. 348, 349.
»» Gen. xlix. 10.
JUSTIN MARTYR.
MM Now it is for you to inquire diligently, and to learn how long the Jews continued to have a ruler and a king of their own. It was until the appearing of Jesus Christ, our Master, and the interpreter of the prophe- cies which were not understood: as it was declared by the divine holy spirit of prophecy, in the writings of Moses, that a prince should not fail from the Jews, until he should come, for whom the kingdom was reserved. For Judah was the ancestor of the Jews, from whom also they have received their name. And ye, since Christ hath appeared, have both reigned over the Jews, and possessed all their country. Moreover, the expression, “ He shall be the expectation of the Gen- tiles,” implied, that men of all nations should expect him to come again; and this ye may see with your own eyes, and be pershaded of by the fact itself. For out of all nations of men, they look for Him who was crucified in Judea; after whom the land of the Jews was immediately subjugated and given up to you.
41. The words, 1 “Binding his edit to a vine, and washing his garment in the blood of the grape,” were a sign representing what should be done to Christ, and what he should himself perform. For an ass’s colt was standing in a certain village bound to a vine, which he then commanded his disciples to lead to him; and when it was brought, he sat thereon, ami entered into Jerusalem, where was that most magnifi- cent temple of the Jews, which was afterward thrown down by you. And after these things, he was crucified; that the rest of the prophecy might be fulfilled. For the words, “Washing his garment in the blood'of the grape,” predicted his passion which he was to undergo, cleansing by his blood those who believe in him. For that which is called by the prophet in the holy spirit, his garment, are the men which believe in him, in whom dwells the seed which is from God, even the word. And that, which is called “ the blood of the grape,” indicates that he who was to appear should have indeed blood, but that he should have it by divine power, and not of human seed. And the principal power, after « This passage is explained in a similar manner, in the Dialog** vaith TYyphOf pp. 272; 348.
THB APOLOGY OF God the Father and the Lord of all things, is the Son, the Word; the manner of whose incarnation, and how he was made man, we shall hereafter show. For as not man, but God, hath made the blood of the vine, so this intimated that the blood should not be of human seed, but of the power of God, as we before said.
42. Isaiah also, another prophet, predicting the same things in different words, thus spake: k “ There shall come a star out of Jacob, and a flower shall spring from the branch of Jesse “and upon his arm shall the Gentiles hope.” 1 Now a shining star did rise, and a flower did spring from the root of Jesse, even this Christ. For through the power of God, he was born of a virgin, of the seed of Jacob, the father of Judah, who hath been shown to be the father of the Jews. Moreover Jesse was his progenitor, according to the prophecy; and he was the son of Jacob and Judah, by natural descent.
43. And again, hear how expressly it was predicted by Isaiah, that he should be born of a virgin. For thus it was spoken: “ Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son: and they shall say of his name, God with us.” 111 For the things which appeared to be incredible and impossible with men, those did God predict by the prophetic Spirit; that when they came to pass, they should not be disbelieved, but believed, inasmuch as they were before declared. But lest some, 11 not under- standing the prophecy which hath been advanced, should bring the same charge against us, which we 7 make against your poets, who say that Jupiter came down to women, under the influence of impure passions, we will endeavor to explain these words. Now, when it is said, “ Behold a virgin shall conceive,” it is implied that the virgin conceived without carnal intercourse with any one; or otherwise she would no longer have been a virgin. But the power of God coming upon the virgin overshadowed her, and caused her to conceive, although still a virgin. Moreover the angel of God, who was sent to the virgin at that very k Justin here unites the prophecy of Balaam, Numb. xxiv. 17, with that of Isaiah xi. 1.
JUSTIN MARTYR.
time, saluted her saying, “ Behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, by the Holy Ghost, and shah bear a son, and he shall be called the Son of the Highest; and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.”® Thus they, who have re- corded* all things concerning our Saviour Jesus Christ, have taught: whom we believe; since the prophetic Spirit also declared, as we have shown, by the above-mentioned Isaiah, that he should be so born. Moses, therefore, the prophet already quoted, declares, 1 * that we are not permitted to consider the Spirit, and the Power which is from God, to be any other than the Word/ which is also the first-begotten of God. And this, coming upon the virgin and overshadowing her, not by carnal knowledge, but by (divine) power, caused her to conceive. The name also of Jesus, in the He- brew tongue, hath the same meaning as Soter (Saviour), in the Greek language.® Wherefore also the angel said to the virgin, 44 And thou shalt call his name Jesus; for he shall save his people from their sins.” 1 p &iropvr)novc6oavTte. — In Sect. 86, the Gospels are styled iironwnov rf- para, memoirs.
* Moses nowhere makes such an assertion; unless we suppose Justin to have alluded to some mystical interpretation of such a pas- sage as Exod. iv. 22: “Israel is my son, my first-born.” Grabe supposes that Justin may have written ’H aatas instead of Mwcrfc.
* The Spirit and the Word (Atyos) seem here to be confounded. Compare Sect. 61, 85. Bp. Kate observes, with reference to the B es of the early Fathers, in which xvnpa is used to signify the Nature of Christ, “ Perhaps the idea present to their minds Wa6, that as, in the mystery of the Incarnation, the Holt Ghost came upon the Virgin, and the Power of the Highest overshadowed her, and the A 6yot thereby became flesh, the Holt Spirit, the 4 power of the Highest,’ and the A 6yog were the same. But Justin attributes the inspiration of the ancient Prophets sometimes to the A 6yos, some- times to the Holt Spirit. Here it is difficult to interpret the latter of the Divine nature in Christ; and yet the two appear to be identi- fied. I know of no other mode of explaining this fact, than by suppos- ing that, as the A 6yos was the conductor of the whole Gospel economy, Justin deemed it a matter of indifference, whether he said that the Prophets were inspired by the Atyor, or by the Holt Spirit who was the immediate agent. The Holy Spirit is called in Scripture ths ‘ Spirit of Christ. 1 (Rom. viii. 9. Gal. iv. 6. PhtL i. 19. 1 Pet. i. 11. In the last passage the immediate reference is to the inspiration of the prophets,)” Bp. Kate’s Account of Jtutin Martyr, ch. 11. p. 78.
160 THE APOLOGY OF [$44, 45.
44. Even ye yourselves, 1 imagine, will concede, that they who prophesy are inspired by nothing else but the divine word. Hear also how another prophet, Micah, predicted the very place where Christ should be born. For he spake thus: “ And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, art not the least among the princes of Judah: for out of thee shall come a governor, that shall rule my people Israel.’** Now Bethlehem is a village in the country of the Jews, five and thirty furlongs distant from Jerusalem; as ye may also learn from the taxing, which took place under Cyrenius who was your first prefect* in Judea.
Hear, again, what was foretold, to show that Jesus, when he was born, should not be known by other men, until he came to man’s estate, even as it came to pass. The prophecies are these. 7 45. “Unto us a child was born:. unto us a young „„ man was given: whose government is upon his shoulders.”* This is a prophecy of the power of the cross, against which he placed his shoulders when he was crucified, as shall be more clearly shown as we proceed. And again the same prophet Isaiah, inspired by the Spirit of prophecy, declared, “ I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gain-saying people, unto those who walked in a way that was not good.”* “ They ask of me now justice: and dare to draw nigh unto GoD.” b And again in other words he saith by another prophet, “They pierced my feet and my hands, and cast lots for my vesture.” 6 Now David, the king and prophet who said thus, suffered none of these things; but the hands of Jesus Christ were stretched out, when he was crucified by the Jews who spake against him, and said that he was not the Christ. For, as the prophet said, they in derision placed him upon a judgment seat, and said, “ Judge over us.”
u Micah v.*2, as quoted Matt. ii. 6.
* Ixtrponos — Grot i us, on Lukeii. 2, shows that Cyrenius could not have been procurator. The word Ivirpoxas is of general signification.
y There is here probably an omission of some passages from the prophets.
fc Isa. Iviii. 2. « Pa. xxii. 16, Id.
JUSTIN MARTYR.
The words also, “They pierced my hands and my feet,” were a reference to the nails, which were fixed in his hands and feet upon the cross. And, after his crucifixion, they who crucified him cast lots for his vesture, and divided it among themselves. And that these things were done, ye may learn from the records of what took place under Pontius Pilate. 4 To show that it was expressly predicted, that he should sit upon the foal of an ass, and come into Jerusalem, we will mention the prophetic writings of another prophet, Zephaniah. The words are these: 4 ‘ Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Sion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy king cometh unto thee, meek, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.”* 46. Now, when ye hear the sayings of the prophets, as if they were delivered by some one person, imagine not that they are said by the inspired writers them- selves, but by the divine word which moved them. For sometimes it prophetically declares what shall come to pass hereafter; sometimes it speaks as in the person of God the Father, and Lord of all; sometimes as in the person of Christ; and sometimes as in the person of (he people who answer to the Lord, or to his Father. In the same manner as ye may see also in your own writers, that one person writes the whole, but introduces different persons as holding discourse. The Jews who had the books of the prophets, not observing this, knew not Christ, when he came; and moreover hate us, who say that he is come, and ^ prove that he was crucified by them, as it was predicted.
47. And that this also may be plain to you; these words were spoken, in the person of the Father, by Isaiah the prophet, whom we have before mentioned: * The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib: but Israel doth not know me; and my people * Compare Section 63. Tertullun, Apol„ Sect. 5, 21, appeals to the information respecting Jesus Christ conveyed to the Emperor Tiberius by Pontius Pilate. These acts, or records, of Pilate were the memoranda of the daily transactions of his government.
• Zech. ix. 9. Matt. xxi. 5. Justin Martyr, in his Dialogue vith Trypho, p. 273, quotes this prophecy correctly, from Zechariab, not from Zephankb, as here.
THE APOLOGY OF doth not consider. Ah, sinful nation, a people full of iniquity, an evil seed, wicked children: ye have for- saken the Lord.”* And again in another place, where the same prophet speaks in like manner in the person of the Father. 44 What house will ye build me, saith the Lord. Heaven is my throne, and earth my foot- stool.”* And again in another plqce; “ Your new moons and your sabbaths my soul hateth, and the great day of fasting and rest 1 endure not; even if ye come to present yourselves before me, 1 will not hear you. Your hands are full of blood: even if ye bring fine flour and incense, it is an abomination unto me. I desire not the fat of lambs and the blood of bulls. For who hath required this at your hands.” h “ But loosen every band of wickedness, rend asunder the ties of violent contracts: cover the naked and him that hath no house: deal thy bread to the hungry.”* Thus, then, may ye understand what kind of precepts are delivered from God by the prophets.
48. When, again, the prophetic spirit speaks in the person of Christ, it expresses itself thus: 44 1 have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gain- saying people, unto those who walked in a way that was not good.” k And again, 44 I gave my back to stripes, and my cheeks to buffetings: I turned not away my face from the shame of spitting. And the Lord was my helper. Wherefore I turned not: but I set my face as a solid rock; and I knew. that I should not be ashamed, for he is near that justifieth me.” 1 And again, when he saith, “ They cast lots for my vesture; and pierced my feet and my hands.”® “ But I lay down and slept and rose up again: for the Lord sus- tained me.” B And again, when he saith, 14 They spake with their lips, they shook the head, saying, let him save himself.” 0 All which things, as ye may learn, were done to Christ by the Jews. For when he was crucified, they pouted their lips, and shook their heads, saying, Let him that raised the dead save himself. p * Isa. lxvi. 1.
> Isa. lviii. 6. 7.
p Matt, xxvii. 39.
Google JUSTIN MARTYR.
49. Moreover, when the prophetic spirit speaks to foretell things to come, it is in this manner. “For out of Sion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people. And they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks. And nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” 4 And that it did so come to pass, ye may readily learn. For from Jerusalem twelve men went forth into the world, and they unlearned/ not knowing how to speak. But by the power of God they preached to every nation of men, that they were sent by Christ to teach all men the word of God. Wherefore we who formerly killed one another, now not only abstain from fighting against our enemies, but are ready to meet death with cheerfulness, confessing the faith of Christ, rather than lie, or deceive those who persecute us. For we might, on such an occasion, have acted accord- ing to that saying (of the poet),* i( My tonguo alone hath sworn, and not my mind.”
However it would be absurd, while soldiers, once engaged and enrolled by you, adhere to the oath which they have made, in preference even to their own lives, their parents, their country, and all their families, when ye can ofier them nothing immortal; that we, ardently desirous of immortality, should not endure every thing, in order to obtain the object of our wishes, from him who is able to fulfil them.
50. Hear also in what manner prophecy was made concerning those who preached liis doctrine, and de- clared his appearing; the aforesaid prophet and king having thus spoken by the prophetic spirit: “ Day unto day uttereth speech; and night unto night showeth knowledge. There is no speech nor language whose voices are not heard. Their sound is gone out through all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world. In the sun be hath placed his tabernacle: and he (is) THE APOLOGY OF RM.
as a bridegroom going out of his chamber: he will rejoice as a giant to run his course.” 1 51. In addition to these, we hare thought it right and appropriate to mention some other prophecies, delivered by the same David; whence ye may learn in what manner the prophetic spirit exhorts men to live: and how it speaks of the conspiracy which was formed against Christ by Herod, king of the Jews, and the Jews themselves* and Pilate who was your procurator among them, with his soldiers: declaring that all 7 nations of men should believe in Him; showing that Cod calls him his Son, and hath promised to put all his enemies under him: in what manner the devils endeavor, as far as is possible, to escape the power of God the Father and Lord of all things, and that of Christ himself: and how God calls all men to repent- ance, before the day of judgment shall come. The words are to this effect: u “ Blessed is the man, who hath not walked in the counsel of the ungodly, and hath not stood in the way of sinners, and hath not sat upon the seat of the scornful. 1 But his will is in the law of the Lord, and in his law will he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the water- courses, which shall give its fruit iu its season: and the leaf whereof shall not fall off, and all which it beared*’ shall prosper. Not so the wicked, not so; but (they are) even as the chaff, which the wind scattered* from the face of the earth. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the council of the righteous. For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous, and the way of the ungodly shall perish.” u Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things? The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Loro, and against his Anointed, saying. Let us break their bonds asunder, and cast away their yoke from us. He that dwelled* in the heavens shall laugh them to seorn; and the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and in his anger he shall trouble them. But I am set up by him as a king, upon