Chapter XII: Part III (3)

(=3=) =Application to Modern Conditions.=--Here again the lesson is important for the present day. Now as always fervent realization of the transcendent glory of Christianity tends sometimes to result in depreciation of ordinary duties. Men of exceptional piety sometimes seem to feel that civilization is unworthy of their attention, even if it is not actually a work of Satan. Of all such vagaries the First Epistle of Peter is the best corrective. Truth is here admirably guarded against the error that lurks at its root. The very epistle that emphasizes the separateness of the Church from the world, that teaches Christian people to look down upon earthly affairs from the vantage ground of heaven, is just the epistle that inculcates sober and diligent conduct in the various relationships of earthly life. In the effort at a higher morality, the simple, humble virtues that even the world appreciates should not be neglected; piety should involve no loss of common sense. Now as always the Christian should be ready to give a reason for the faith that is in him; now as always he should be able to refute the slanders of the world; now as always he should commend his Christianity by his good citizenship. Only so will the example of Christ be fully followed. Jesus was in possession of a transcendent message; but he lived the life of a normal man. The Christian, too, is a man with a divine mission; but like his Master he must exercise his mission in the turmoil of life. He must not be a spoilsport at feasts; his is no desert rôle like John the Baptist's. Christianity has a mission from without; but its mission is fulfilled in loving contact with the world of men.

(=4=) =The Christian's Defense.=--The Christians who suffered persecution should first of all, according to Peter, defend themselves to the very best of their ability. They should do their best to remove dishonor from the name of Christ. They should show the baselessness of the accusations which are brought against them. Then, if they still suffer, it will be clearly suffering for Christ's sake. Such suffering is glorious. It is a test from which faith emerges strong and sure, ch. 1:7; it is true conformity to the example of Christ. Chs. 2:21-24; 3:18; 4:1,13.

2. THE DATE OF THE PERSECUTIONS

From the persecutions presupposed in First Peter no very certain conclusion can be drawn with regard to the date of the epistle. A late date has sometimes been inferred from such passages as I Peter 4:16. Christians were not punished as Christians, it is said, until the beginning of the second century, and especially no such persecution was carried out in the early period throughout the whole empire. Ch. 5:9.

This argument breaks down at a number of points. In the first place, as has already been observed, it is by no means clear that First Peter presupposes a persecution of the Christians simply as Christians. Apparently special charges of immorality were still in the foreground, though these charges were often mere pretexts in order to secure the punishment of members of the hated sect.

In the second place, it is not clear exactly when Christians first began to be punished as "Christians" by the Roman authorities. Undoubtedly the legal basis for such persecution was present as soon as Christianity began to be regarded as separate from Judaism. Judaism had a legal status; Christianity, strictly speaking, had none.

3. DEPENDENCE AND ORIGINALITY

First Peter is clearly dependent upon a number of the Pauline Epistles, and apparently also upon the Epistle of James. The dependence, however, is by no means slavish; the epistle possesses marked characteristics of its own. As compared with Paul, for example, First Peter is somewhat simpler both in thought and in expression. No mere imitator, but a genuine personality, speaks to us from the noble simplicity of these pages.

4. COMPARISON WITH THE SPEECHES OF PETER

It is interesting to compare this epistle with the early speeches of Peter that are recorded in The Acts. Part of the difference--similarities also have been pointed out--no doubt, was due to the difference in the persons addressed. In those early speeches, Peter was preaching to unconverted Jews, and had to content himself with a few outstanding facts. In the epistle, he was addressing Christians, before whom he could lay bare the deep things of the faith. Nevertheless, the passing years had brought a change in Peter himself. Upon him as upon everyone else the mighty influence of Paul made itself felt; and even the revelation which came directly to him was progressive. The essence of the gospel was present from the beginning; but the rich unfolding of it which appears in First Peter was the product of long years spent in an ever-widening service.

5. THE STYLE OF THE EPISTLE

The style of First Peter, though not at all rhetorical, like that of Hebrews, is smooth and graceful. It has often been considered strange that a fisherman of Galilee should have been so proficient in Greek. But probably we have an exaggerated notion of the poverty and roughness of the first disciples of Jesus. Undoubtedly they had not enjoyed a rabbinical education; in the technical Jewish sense they were "unlearned and ignorant men." Acts 4:13. Nevertheless, they clearly did not belong at all to the lowest of the population; Peter in particular seems to have been possessed of considerable property. Furthermore, it must be remembered that Greek culture in the first century was making itself felt very extensively in Galilee. No doubt Peter could use Greek even before he left Galilee, and in the course of his later life his linguistic attainments must have been very greatly improved. It is by no means impossible that he wrote First Peter entirely without assistance.

6. SILVANUS

In order, however, to account for the linguistic excellence of this epistle, and in particular for the striking difference between it and Second Peter, a rather attractive hypothesis has been proposed. In I Peter 5:12, Peter says: "By Silvanus, our faithful brother, as I account him, I have written unto you briefly." Undoubtedly these words may designate Silvanus merely as the messenger who carried the letter to its destination. Compare Acts 15:23. It is also possible, however, that Peter meant to say that Silvanus had written the letter under his direction. In that case the thought would be due altogether to Peter; but the form, to some extent at least, would be the work of Silvanus. The hypothesis, of course, is only plausible, not necessary. There are other ways of accounting for the peculiarities of the epistle.

In all probability, the Silvanus of First Peter is the same as the Silvanus of the Pauline Epistles and the Silas of The Acts. If so, his association with Peter is altogether natural; he was originally a member of the Jerusalem church. If, in accordance with the hypothesis which has just been mentioned, Silvanus was really concerned in the composition of the epistle, the choice of such a man for the task was, as has been pointed out by the chief advocate of the hypothesis, exceedingly wise. Silvanus, who had been a companion of Paul and his associate in founding many of the churches of Asia Minor, would be just the man who could find the right tone in writing to the churches to which the epistle is addressed.

7. MARK

The appearance of Mark in I Peter 5:13 confirms the strong tradition which makes Mark a disciple of Peter and associates him with Peter in the production of the Second Gospel. The only two individuals whom Peter mentions in his First Epistle were both natives of Jerusalem, and both, during part of their lives, companions of Paul. The unity of the apostolic Church was preserved not only by a unity of spirit, but also by the changing associations of Christian workers.

8. FORTITUDE IN THE MODERN CHURCH

The First Epistle of Peter has a varied message to the Church of to-day. Even in its exhortations to bravery and steadfastness it is very much needed. We are not subject to persecution by the state, but still there are a thousand circumstances of life in which we need to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God, casting all our anxiety upon him, because he careth for us. Ch. 5:6,7.

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IN THE LIBRARY.--Purves, "Christianity in the Apostolic Age," pp. 267, 275-282. Davis, "Dictionary of the Bible": Warfield (supplemented), article on "Peter." M'Clymont, "The New Testament and Its Writers," pp. 130-136. Ellicott, "A New Testament Commentary for English Readers," vol. iii, pp. 385-436: Mason, "The First Epistle of St. Peter." Zahn, "Introduction to the New Testament," vol. ii, pp. 134-194. The last-named work is intended primarily for those who have some knowledge of Greek, but can also be used by others.

LESSON XXXV

THE CHRISTIAN'S ATTITUDE TOWARD ERROR AND IMMORALITY

The Second Epistle of Peter and the Epistle of Jude

1. AUTHENTICITY

The Second Epistle of Peter and the Epistle of Jude are among the least known and most seriously questioned parts of the New Testament. Even in ancient times their authenticity was disputed; in the third and fourth centuries there were some at least who desired to exclude them from the New Testament. These ancient doubts have been continued in the modern Church. By very many scholars of the present day, Second Peter and Jude are assigned to second-century writers who falsely assumed the names of an apostle and of a brother of the Lord.

Against such views as these, a number of arguments might be employed. But the strongest argument of all is provided by the self-witness of the epistles themselves. Second Peter, in particular, not only lays claim to apostolic authorship in the address, but is written throughout in the name of an apostle. Either it was really written by an apostle or else it was a deliberate fraud. The latter alternative is excluded by the epistle itself. Second Peter does not look at all like a pseudonymous work, but is a weighty bit of writing, full of the sincerest moral earnestness. Both Second Peter and Jude ring true, with the genuine apostolic note.

2. SECOND PETER AND FIRST PETER

Resemblances have often been pointed out among all three divisions of the New Testament material attributed to Peter. Second Peter has been shown to resemble not only First Peter, but also the speeches of Peter as they are reported in The Acts. Such similarities of course point to a common authorship. It cannot be denied, however, that differences stand side by side with the similarities. In the comparison of the epistles with the speeches, such differences are of course not surprising. The total difference of subject and the wide interval of time provide an amply sufficient explanation. But how is it with the difference between Second Peter and First Peter?

(=1=) =Difference of Purpose and Subject.=--In the first place, the difference may be partly explained by the difference of purpose and subject. First Peter is a presentation of the glories of the faith in order to encourage Christians under trial and make them feel their separateness from the world; Second Peter is a solemn warning against dangerous perverters of the life of the Church.

(=2=) =Difference of Time.=--In the second place, a considerable interval of time may separate the two epistles. Here we find ourselves on uncertain ground. On the whole it is perhaps better to put the epistles near together at the close of Peter's life.

(=3=) =Work of Silvanus.=--In the third place, recourse may be had to the hypothesis, mentioned in the last lesson, which attributes a considerable share in the composition of First Peter to Silvanus.

(=4=) =Conclusion.=--Finally, there may be still further possibilities of explanation which cannot now be detected. The differences of style and of thought between the two epistles of Peter are far from sufficient to show diversity of authorship, and it must be remembered that similarities are to be balanced against the differences.

3. VALUE OF SECOND PETER AND JUDE

Although Second Peter and Jude are not so familiar as most of the New Testament, yet even these two brief epistles have entered deep into the mind and heart of the Church.

(=1=) =Expressive Phrases.=--Even the inimitably expressive phrases and sentences that have been derived from the epistles have produced no small enrichment of Christian life. The "exceeding great and precious promises," and the "partakers of the divine nature" of II Peter 1:4, the chain of virtues in vs. 5-7, the "make your calling and election sure" of v. 10, the "sure word of prophecy" of v. 19, the description of inspired prophecy in vs. 20, 21--"no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost"--the "vexed his righteous soul" of ch. 2:8, the "railing accusation" of v. 11; Jude 9, the "stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance" of II Peter 3:1, the "not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance" of v. 9, the "faith which was once delivered unto the saints" of Jude 3, the magnificent doxology of vs. 24, 25--a review of these passages as they appear in the King James Version will bring some realization of the profound influence which even the most obscure books of the New Testament have exerted both upon the English language and upon the character of Christian men.

The influence of Second Peter and Jude, however, is not merely the influence of isolated phrases. The epistles as a whole have a distinctive message for the Church. That message is twofold. It embraces in the first place an emphasis upon authority, and in the second place an insistence upon holiness.

(=2= =)The Emphasis Upon Authority.=--The adversaries who are combated in Second Peter and Jude were impatient of restraint. Apparently they distinguished themselves, as possessing the Spirit, from the ordinary Christians, as being merely "natural." Jude 5, 19; II Peter 2:12. They appealed to their own deeper insight, instead of listening to what apostles and prophets had to say. In reply, Peter and Jude insisted upon the authority of the Old Testament prophets, and upon the authority of the apostles, which was ultimately the authority of Christ. See especially II Peter 3:2.

A similar insistence upon authority is greatly needed to-day. Again men are inclined to appeal to an inward light as justifying freedom from ancient restraints; the Christian consciousness is being exalted above the Bible. At such a time, renewed attention to Second Peter and Jude would be salutary. False notions are rife to-day with regard to apostolic authority. They can be corrected by our epistles. Peter as well as Paul exerts his authority not in an official or coldly ecclesiastical way, but with an inimitable brotherliness. The authority of the apostles is the authority of good news. Subjection to such authority is perfect freedom.

The authority which Peter and Jude urge upon their readers is a double authority--in the first place the authority of the Old Testament, and in the second place the authority of Christ exerted through the apostles. For us, however, the two become one. The apostles, like the Old Testament prophets, speak to us only through the Bible. We need to learn the lesson. A return to the Bible is the deepest need of the modern Church. It would mean a return to God.

(=3=) =Insistence Upon Holiness.=--The second characteristic of Second Peter and Jude is the insistence upon holiness. Religion is by no means always connected with goodness. In the Greco-Roman world, the two were often entirely separate. Many pagan cults contained no ethical element whatever. The danger was therefore very great that Christianity might be treated in the same way. The early Christians needed to be admonished ever and again that their God was a God of righteousness, that no unclean thing could stand in his presence.

Insistence upon holiness is in itself no peculiarity of Second Peter and Jude. It runs all through the New Testament. But in these epistles it is directed more definitely perhaps than anywhere else against the opposite error. The opponents of Peter and Jude did not merely drift into immorality; they defended it on theoretical grounds. They were making a deliberate effort to reduce Christianity to the level of a non-ethical religion. Such theoretical defense of immorality appears, indeed, in a number of places in the apostolic Church. A certain party in Corinth, for example, made a wrong use of Christian freedom. But what is more or less incidental in First Corinthians forms the main subject of Second Peter and Jude. Christianity is here insisting upon its thoroughly ethical character.

At first sight the message might seem obsolete to-day. We always associate religion with morality; we can hardly understand how the two ever could have been separated. It is to be feared, however, that the danger is not altogether past. In our thoughts we preserve the ethical character of Christianity. But how is it with our lives? How is it with our religious observances? Are we not constantly in danger of making religion a mere cult, a mere emotional excitement, a mere means of gaining earthly or heavenly advantages, a mere effort to bribe God by our worship? The danger is always with us. We need always to remind ourselves that Christian faith must work itself out in holy living.

Peter in his second epistle has provided us with one important means to that end. It is the thought of Christ's coming. There can be no laxness in moral effort if we remember the judgment seat of Christ.

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IN THE LIBRARY.--Purves, "Christianity in the Apostolic Age," pp. 267-270, 282-285. Davis, "Dictionary of the Bible": Warfield (supplemented), article on "Jude." M'Clymont, "The New Testament and Its Writers," pp. 137-143. Ellicott, "A New Testament Commentary for English Readers," vol. iii, pp. 437-463, 505-519: Plummer, "The Second Epistle of St. Peter" and "The Epistle of St. Jude." Zahn, "Introduction to the New Testament," vol. ii, pp. 194-293. The last-named work is intended primarily for those who have some knowledge of Greek, but can also be used by others.

LESSON XXXVI

THE LIFE OF THE CHILDREN OF GOD

The Epistles of John

1. AUTHORSHIP OF THE FIRST EPISTLE

The First Epistle of John does not contain the name of its author. According to tradition, however, it was written by the apostle John, and tradition is here supported by the characteristics of the epistle itself. The author of the epistle was evidently the same as the author of the Fourth Gospel. The marked similarity in style can be explained in no other way. Even the careless reader observes that the style of the Fourth Gospel is very peculiar. Short sentences are joined to one another with the utmost simplicity; the vocabulary is limited, but contains expressions of extraordinary richness; the total effect is singularly powerful. These same characteristics, though they are so peculiar, appear also in the epistle. There is the same simplicity of sentence structure, the same use of such terms as "life" and "light" and "love," the same indescribable spirit and tone. Yet the epistle is no slavish imitation of the Gospel--differences stand side by side with the similarities. These two works are evidently related, not as model and copy, but as living productions of the same remarkable personality.

2. TESTIMONY OF AN EYEWITNESS

As in the Gospel, so also in the epistle the author presents himself clearly as an eyewitness of the life of Jesus, I John 1:1-3; 4:14; as in the Gospel he lays stress upon simple testimony. Even those things which have just been noticed as characteristic of his style are connected ultimately with the teaching of Jesus. In both Gospel and epistle, the beloved disciple has reproduced what he heard in Galilee and in Judea, though in both he has made the memory a living, spiritual fact.

3. DESTINATION AND DATE

The First Epistle of John is perhaps scarcely to be called an epistle at all. Practically all the characteristics of a letter are missing. There is no address; there is no greeting at the close; there are no personal details. The readers are indeed referred to in the second person; but preachers as well as letter-writers say, "you." First John is a sort of general address written probably to some extended group of churches.

These churches are probably to be sought in Asia Minor. Throughout the epistle the readers are addressed in a fatherly tone. See, for example, ch. 2:1. Evidently the writer was well known as a sort of patriarch throughout an extended region. Such conditions prevailed in Asia Minor after the apostle John had begun to reside at Ephesus. Trustworthy tradition as well as the New Testament informs us of a period in the apostle's life when he had outlived all or most of the other apostles and was revered as the head of the Asian church. At some time within this period--probably nearer the end than the beginning--the First Epistle of John was written.

4. THE FALSE TEACHERS

The form of error against which the epistle is directed becomes clearest, perhaps in ch. 4:2,3. The false teachers had denied that Jesus Christ was come in the flesh. This may be interpreted in several different ways.

(=1=) =Docetism.=--In the first place, John may mean that the opponents simply denied the reality of the earthly life of Jesus. Such a form of error is by no means unknown in the history of the Church. It is called "Docetism." According to Docetism the Son of God did not really live a human life--with human sufferings and a human death--but only appeared to do so.

(=2=) =Cerinthus.=--In the second place, the meaning of the passage may be that the opponents denied the unity of the person of Jesus Christ. Compare ch. 2:22. Some persons in the early Church supposed that there were two separate persons in the figure that is described in the Gospels. A heavenly being, the Christ, it was thought, united himself with the man Jesus at the time when the dove descended after the baptism. Matt. 3:16,17. Such was the view of Cerinthus, who is declared by tradition to have been an opponent of the apostle John at Ephesus. It has been suggested, therefore, that it was actually Cerinthus, with his disciples, who is combated in the First Epistle of John.

(=3=) =Denial of the Incarnation.=--Both Cerinthus and the Docetists denied the reality of the incarnation--both denied that the Son of God actually assumed a human nature and lived a complete human life. According to Cerinthus and others like him, the Christ stood only in somewhat loose relation to the man Jesus. He was united with him only late in life, he left him before the crucifixion. On this view, it was not the Christ who lay in the manger at Bethlehem, it was not the Christ who suffered on the cross. Cerinthus, like the Docetists, kept the Son of God out of any close relation to the world and to us.

(=4=) =John's Reply.=--Against some such view as one of these, John was concerned to establish the reality of the incarnation--the truth that "the Word became flesh." In the Gospel, that truth underlies the whole of the narrative; in the First Epistle it is directly defended against the opposing error. It is defended first of all by an appeal to what the writer had seen and heard. "We knew Jesus in Palestine," says John in effect, "and we can testify that Jesus himself was none other than the Christ, the Son of God." I John, 1:1-4.

(=5=) =John, the Opponents, and Cerinthus.=--The false teachers who are combated in the epistle had apparently withdrawn from the Church and formed a separate sect. I John 2:19. Their separateness of mind and heart and life had found expression in open schism. Whether they are to be identified with disciples of Cerinthus is at least doubtful. False speculation about the person of Christ no doubt assumed many forms in the closing years of the first century.

5. CONNECTION BETWEEN THE SECOND AND THE THIRD EPISTLE

In III John 9, the apostle tells Gaius that he had written "somewhat unto the church." This letter to the church may have been written at some previous time. It is also possible, however, that it was written together with the letter to Gaius. The Greek word for "I wrote" admits of that interpretation. If that interpretation be correct, then John perhaps means to say that although he has written a letter to the church he could not in that letter urge the hospitable reception of the missionaries. For the present, the influence of Diotrephes was too strong. The letter to the church had to be concerned with other matters.

If this view of the letter mentioned in III John 9 be adopted, then the Second Epistle of John corresponds to the description. The Second Epistle is addressed to a church, and it is written with some reserve. If "certain" of the children of "the elect lady" were walking in truth, II John 4, the inference is that others were conducting themselves very differently. Evidently there was danger of false teaching among the readers. Hospitality to men like Demetrius and his companions could hardly be expected of such a church. If hospitality should be practiced, it was only too likely to be hospitality to men of a very different stamp. Vs. 10, 11.

Possibly, therefore, the Second Epistle of John is actually the letter that is referred to in III John 9, a letter to the church of which Gaius was a member. This hypothesis is supported by the striking formal similarity of the two letters. They are of almost exactly the same length; the openings and especially the conclusions, II John 12, 13; III John 13, 14, are couched in almost exactly the same terms. They look very much like twin epistles, written on two sheets of papyrus of the same size.

Of course the hypothesis is by no means certain. Perhaps the letter referred to in III John 9 was a previous letter bespeaking hospitality, which had failed of its effect. When the apostle saw, from the answer or lack of answer to the previous letter, that the church was ill disposed, he had recourse to an individual member of it. Even in this case, however, it remains probable that our two epistles were written at about the same time.

6. VALUE OF THE SHORTER EPISTLES

These last two epistles of John do not deserve the neglect which they have sometimes suffered. Despite their brevity--they are the shortest books of the New Testament--they are instructive in a number of ways.

(=1=) =Historical.=--It is exceedingly interesting, for example, to compare them with the private letters of the same period which have recently been discovered in Egypt--see Lesson III, Teacher's Manual, in this course. In form, the opening of the Third Epistle is very much in the manner of the papyrus letters. Compare, for example, with III John 1-4 the following opening of a letter of the second century after Christ: "Apion to Epimachus his father and lord heartiest greetings. First of all I pray that you are in health and continually prosper and fare well with my sister and daughter and my brother. I thank the lord Serapis...." (The translation is that of Professor Milligan. See p. 20 of Teacher's Manual, Part I, of this course.) The differences, however, are even more instructive than the resemblances. What was said in Lesson I about the epistles of Paul applies in full measure to the epistles of John. Even the epistolary forms are here modified so as to be the vehicle of a new message and a new spirit.

Furthermore, the two epistles, especially Third John, cast a flood of light upon the internal development of the Church. In one respect indeed the historical significance of the Third Epistle has sometimes been exaggerated. It is not true that we have here the emergence of the monarchical episcopate--that is, the preëminence of one presbyter, called a "bishop," over his brother presbyters. Diotrephes does not appear clearly as a bishop. At about A. D. 110 in the epistles of Ignatius the episcopate is very prominent; but Third John belongs to an earlier period.

Nevertheless, this concrete picture of the internal affairs of a late first-century church is absolutely unique. The period is very obscure; these few brief lines illumine it more than pages of narrative. The traveling preachers of Third John are particularly interesting. Similar missionaries appear also in the "Didache," a sort of church manual which may probably be dated in the early part of the second century. In that later period, however, care had to be taken lest the hospitality of the churches should be abused. "But let every apostle," says the writer--the word "apostle" is used in a very broad sense to designate wandering preachers--"who comes to you be received as the Lord. He shall remain, however, no more than one day, or if necessary two. If he remains three days he is a false prophet." Such precautions, we may be sure, were not needed in the case of Demetrius and his companions.

(=2=) =Practical.=--Despite its individual address and private character, the Third Epistle of John is not an ordinary private letter. Like all the books of the New Testament, it has a message for the entire Church. The devout reader rises from the perusal of it with a more steadfast devotion to the truth and a warmer glow of Christian love.

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IN THE LIBRARY.--Purves, "Christianity in the Apostolic Age," pp. 272-274, 294-308. Davis, "Dictionary of the Bible": Purves (supplemented), article on "John, Epistles of." M'Clymont, "The New Testament and Its Writers," pp. 144-149. Ellicott, "A New Testament Commentary for English Readers," vol. iii, pp. 467-502: Sinclair, "The Epistles of St. John." Westcott, "The Epistles of St. John." Zahn, "Introduction to the New Testament," vol. iii, pp. 355-384. The two last-named works are intended primarily for those who have some knowledge of Greek, but can also be used by others.

LESSON XXXVII

THE MESSAGES OF THE LIVING CHRIST

The Book of Revelation (First Lesson)

1. THE APOCALYPSE AND THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

In the Student's Text Book it was maintained that the Apocalypse was written by John the son of Zebedee. The strongest objection to this view is to be found in the striking difference of language and style which exists between the Apocalypse on the one side and the Gospel and Epistles of John on the other. The style of the Apocalypse is extraordinarily rough; in it the most elementary laws of Greek grammar are sometimes disregarded. Such peculiarities appear scarcely at all in the Gospel; the language of the Gospel, though simple, is perfectly grammatical.

This observation has led many scholars to decide that the Gospel and the Apocalypse never could have been written by the same person; the argument, indeed, was advanced as early as the third century by Dionysius of Alexandria. Those who thus deny the unity of authorship do not all reject either one book or the other as authoritative; some suppose that the John whose name appears in the Apocalypse, though not the same as John the son of Zebedee, was a genuine prophet.

The evidence, however, for attributing all the Johannine books to the son of Zebedee is exceedingly strong. If the Apocalypse is to be attributed to some one else, tradition is very seriously at fault, and it is also very difficult to see how another John could have introduced himself to the churches of Asia Minor in the way that the author does at the beginning and end of the book without distinguishing himself from the greater man of the same name who was residing at Ephesus at the very same time. The Apocalypse must therefore be assigned to the son of Zebedee unless there is absolutely unimpeachable evidence to the contrary.

Such evidence is not really forthcoming. The difference of style between the Apocalypse and the Fourth Gospel is capable of explanation.

(=1=) =Possible Difference of Date.=--In the first place, it might be explained by a wide difference of date. If the Apocalypse was written at about A. D. 68, then an interval of some twenty-five years or more separates it from the Gospel. Such an interval would allow plenty of time for the style of the author to change. When the Galilean fisherman first left his home in Palestine, his command of the Greek language might conceivably be slight; whereas after a long residence in Asia Minor, as leader of a group of Greek-speaking churches, the roughness of his style would be removed. Hence the un-Greek, strongly Hebraistic usages of the Apocalypse would in the Gospel naturally give place to a correct, though simple style.

This hypothesis, however, is beset with serious difficulties. It is difficult to suppose that the Apocalypse was written before the closing decade of the first century. Some passages, it is true, have been strongly urged in favor of the early date. Particularly the reference to the seven kings in Rev. 17:10 has been thought by many excellent scholars to be decisive. The reference to the seven hills in the preceding verse seems to show that the "beast" represents Rome; the seven kings therefore naturally represent Roman emperors. The fifth emperor, beginning with Augustus, was Nero. If at the time when the book was written five were fallen, one was and the other was not yet come, v. 10, the book must apparently have been written under Nero's successor. His successor, Galba, reigned only a few months: the book was therefore written in A. D. 68 or 69. Or if the very brief reigns of Galba, Otho and Vitellius be not counted, then the book was written between A. D. 69 and 79, during the reign of Vespasian.

The passage remains, however, so obscure that it is very doubtful whether any one interpretation of it should be allowed to overbalance the evidence for the later date. Such evidence is abundant. Most weighty of all, perhaps, is the strong tradition which places the Apocalypse in the closing years of Domitian. It is hard to believe that that tradition is seriously at fault. The condition of the Church, moreover, as it is presupposed in the book, is more naturally to be sought at A. D. 95 than twenty-five years earlier. The persecution, for example, which the writer describes, seems far more like the persecution under Domitian than it is like the outbreak which was occasioned by the cruelty of Nero.

=(2) The Difference of Subject.=--If the later date be accepted, then the Gospel and the Apocalypse were written in the same period of the apostle's life, and the difference of style cannot be explained by a difference of date. Another explanation, however, is sufficient. The difference between the two books may be explained by the total difference of subject. The Gospel is a narrative of Jesus' life, written with abundant opportunity for reflection; the Apocalypse is a record of wonderful visions, where stylistic nicety would have marred the immediateness of the revelation. The very roughness of the Apocalypse is valuable as expressing the character of the book. In the Gospel, John brought to bear all his power of reflection and of expression; in the Apocalypse, he wrote in haste under the overpowering influence of a transcendent experience.

The grammatical irregularities of the Apocalypse, moreover, often create the impression that they are intentional. They belonged, apparently, to an apocalyptic style which to a certain extent had already been formed; they were felt to be suited to the peculiar character of the work.

Finally, it must not be forgotten that side by side with the differences of style there are some remarkable similarities. The underlying unity of thought and expression points to unity of authorship.

2. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE APOCALYPSE

(=1=) =A Record of Visions.=--In what has just been said, the dominant peculiarity of the Apocalypse has already been indicated. The Apocalypse is no careful literary composition, pieced together from previous works of a similar character. On the contrary, it is a record of genuine revelations. Before writing, the seer was "in the Spirit."

(=2=) =Influence of the Old Testament.=--Nevertheless, although the Apocalypse is a record of visions, and was written consciously under the impulsion of the Spirit, it is by no means uninfluenced by previous works. To a degree that is perhaps not paralleled by any other New Testament book, the Apocalypse is suffused with the language and with the imagery of the Old Testament. Though there is not a single formal quotation, the Old Testament Scriptures have influenced almost every sentence of the book. Particularly the books of Ezekiel and Daniel, which, like the Apocalypse, are composed largely of the records of visions, have supplied much of the imagery of the New Testament work.

This wide-spread influence of the Old Testament upon the Apocalypse is by no means surprising. The Apocalypse is based upon direct revelation, but direct revelation is not necessarily out of relation to everything else. On the contrary, it uses the language which its recipients can understand; and part of the language of the apostle John was the phraseology and imagery of the Old Testament.

It has already been hinted that works very similar in form to the Apocalypse are to be found in the Old Testament. This apocalyptic form was continued in a number of Jewish works written after the conclusion of the Old Testament canon. Superficially these works bear considerable resemblance to the New Testament Apocalypse; but closer examination reveals profound differences. The Jewish apocalypses appeared under assumed names--the most important of them under the name of Enoch--while John is so firmly convinced of having received genuine revelation that he requires no such spurious authority for his work. The similarity between our Apocalypse and its extra-canonical Jewish predecessors and contemporaries is a similarity at most of form; in spirit and content the difference is incalculable. Unlike these other works, the Apocalypse is a genuine prophecy.

3. THE MESSAGES TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES

The so-called letters to the seven churches were never intended to be circulated separately. From the beginning the letters formed part of the Apocalypse, which was addressed to all seven of the churches. From the beginning, therefore, each of the letters was intended to be read not only by the church whose name it bears, but also by all the others. The seven churches, moreover, are representative of the Church at large.

Nevertheless, despite the universal purpose of the letters, they are very concrete in the information that they provide about the churches in Asia Minor. Like the Second and Third Epistles of John they illumine an exceedingly obscure period in the history of Christianity.

(=1=) =The "Angels" of the Churches.=--Some details in the letters, it is true, are to us obscure. What, for example, is meant by the "angels" of the churches to which the several letters are addressed? The Greek word translated "angel" may also mean simply "messenger." Conceivably, it might designate merely a congregational officer. Many have supposed that it designates a bishop. In the epistles of Ignatius, which were written not very many years after the Apocalypse, the term "bishop" is applied to an officer who had supreme authority over a congregation including the presbyters. The appearance of these "angels" or "messengers" in the Apocalypse has been urged as proof that John as well as Ignatius recognized the institution of the episcopacy.

Surely, however, the matter is more than doubtful. The Greek word used, whether it be translated "angel" or "messenger," is a very strange designation of a bishop. Moreover, in the rest of the Johannine literature there is no recognition of the episcopacy. In the Third Epistle of John, for example, even if Diotrephes had set himself up as a bishop--which is itself exceedingly doubtful--his claim is certainly not accepted by the apostle.

On the whole, it seems better to regard the "angels" to which the seven letters of the Apocalypse are addressed merely as ideal representatives of the churches--representatives conceived of perhaps as guardian angels. Compare Matt. 18:10.

(=2=) =The Nicolaitans.=--Another puzzling question concerns the "Nicolaitans" who appear in several of the letters. The name itself is obscure. By tradition it is connected with that Nicolaüs of Antioch who was one of the seven men appointed in the early days of the Jerusalem church to attend to the administration of charity. Acts 6:5. The tradition may possibly be correct. If it is correct, then Nicolaüs, in his later life, had not justified the confidence originally reposed in him.

At the first mention of the Nicolaitans, in the letter to Ephesus, Rev. 2:6, nothing whatever is said about their tenets. Their error, however, was not merely theoretical, but practical, for it was their "works" that the Lord is represented as hating. In the letter to Pergamum, the Nicolaitans are probably meant in v. 14. Like Balaam, they enticed the people of God to idolatry and impurity. The form which their idolatry took was the eating of meats offered to idols. The question of meats offered to idols was no simple matter. In the First Epistle to the Corinthians Paul had permitted the eating of such meats under certain circumstances, but had sternly forbidden it wherever it involved real or supposed participation in idolatrous worship. The form in which it was favored by the Nicolaitans evidently fell under the latter category. In a time of persecution, the temptation to guilty compromise with heathenism must have been insidious; and also the low morality of the Asian cities threatened ever and again to drag Christian people back into the impure life of the world.

In the letter to Thyatira, also, "the woman Jezebel" is apparently to be connected with the same sect, for the practical faults in Thyatira and in Pergamum were identical. Jezebel, the Phoenician wife of Ahab, was, like Balaam, a striking Old Testament example of one who led Israel into sin. It is significant that the woman Jezebel in Thyatira called herself a prophetess. Rev. 2:20. This circumstance seems to indicate that the Nicolaitans had excused their moral laxness by an appeal to special revelations. The impression is confirmed by v. 24. Apparently the Nicolaitans had boasted of their knowledge of the "deep things," and had despised the simple Christians who contented themselves with a holy life. At any rate, whatever particular justification the Nicolaitans advanced for their immoral life, they could not deceive the all-searching eye of Christ. Their "deep things" were deep things, not of God, but of Satan!

Who is meant by "the woman Jezebel"? Some interpreters, who suppose that the "angel" of the church was the bishop, regard Jezebel as a designation of the bishop's wife. This whole interpretation is, however, beset with serious difficulty. Perhaps "the woman Jezebel" does not refer to an individual at all, but is simply a figurative designation of the Nicolaitan sect. The description of the coming retribution in vs. 21-23 seems to be highly figurative.

It will be observed that the sin of the churches at Pergamum and Thyatira was not limited to those who actually accepted the Nicolaitan teaching. Even to endure the presence of the guilty sect was the object of the Lord's rebuke. Toward the works of the Nicolaitans only hatred was in place. Rev. 2:6. That is a solemn lesson for modern indifferentism. Tolerance is good; but there are times when it is a deadly sin.

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IN THE LIBRARY.--Purves, "Christianity in the Apostolic Age," pp. 274, 308-312. Davis, "Dictionary of the Bible": Purves (supplemented), article on "Revelation." M'Clymont, "The New Testament and Its Writers," pp. 150-155. Milligan, "Lectures on the Apocalypse" and "Discussions on the Apocalypse." Ellicott, "A New Testament Commentary for English Readers," vol. iii, pp. 523-641: Carpenter, "The Revelation of St. John." Ramsay, "The Letters to the Seven Churches of Asia." Plumptre, "A Popular Exposition of the Epistles to the Seven Churches of Asia." Swete, "The Apocalypse of St. John." Zahn, "Introduction to the New Testament," vol. iii, pp. 384-449. The two last-named works are intended primarily for those who have some knowledge of Greek, but can also be used by others.

LESSON XXXVIII

A VISION OF THE FINAL TRIUMPH

The Book of Revelation (Second Lesson)

1. THE INTERPRETATIONS OF THE APOCALYPSE

The interpretations of the Apocalypse may be divided into four classes.

(=1=) =Unfulfilled Prophecies.=--According to one method of interpretation, the prophecies of the book are all unfulfilled. In the last days there will be a mighty revival of evil like that which is symbolized by the dragon and the beast and the false prophet, there will be plagues and woes like those which are described in connection with the seals and the trumpets and the bowls, and there will be a triumph of God's people and an eternal blessedness of the new Jerusalem. This interpretation would place the Apocalypse out of analogy with the other prophecies of the Bible. Prophecy is seldom out of all connection with the immediate present. Even where the prophetic vision reaches to the very end of time, the fulfillment or the preparation for the fulfillment is usually represented as beginning at once. In the Apocalypse, as in other prophecy, there is evident reference to the circumstances of the original readers.

(=2=) =Contemporary Events.=--A second method of interpretation goes to an opposite extreme. By this method the prophecies of the book are thought to be concerned merely with events of the writer's own age. "The beast" is the Roman Empire; "Babylon" is the city of Rome; the author expected the destruction of both to take place within a few years' time. In its thoroughgoing form this interpretation also is to be rejected. It degrades the Apocalypse to the level of a mistaken prediction, and reduces the self-evidencing glories of the book to trivialities. Evidently the outlook of the seer was far broader and far more spiritual than it is represented by the advocates of this interpretation.

(=3=) =The Whole History of the Church.=--By a third method of interpretation, the first two methods are combined. The book is written distinctly in view of conditions of the first century, its predictions concern partly the immediate future; but there is also an outlook upon remoter ages. By this interpretation the prophecies are held to provide an epitome of the whole of history from the first coming of Christ to his second coming.

(=4=) =Mixture of Discordant Traditions.=--A fourth method of interpretation, which has become influential in very recent years, abandons all hope of discovering a unitary message in the book, and proceeds to divide it into its component parts. The analysis was carried on first by literary criticism. An older work of the time of Nero was supposed to have been revised at a later period; or non-Christian Jewish works were supposed to have been incorporated in the present work by a Christian compiler. This sort of literary criticism has in the last few years given place sometimes to a subtler method. Investigation is now directed to the materials of which the book is composed, whether those materials were embodied in previous literary works or only in previous traditions. The ultimate source of much of the material is found in Babylonia or other eastern countries; this material is thought to be not always in accord with the context into which in our Apocalypse it has been introduced.

This method must emphatically be rejected. It contains, indeed, an element of truth. Undoubtedly the Apocalypse makes use of already-existing materials. But these materials are, for the most part at least, of genuinely Hebrew origin; and they have been thoroughly assimilated for the purposes of the present prophecy. The Apocalypse is not a compilation full of contradictions, but a unitary work, with one great message for the Church.

(=5=) =Wrong Use of the Third Method.=--Of these four methods of interpretation the third has been adopted in the Student's Text Book. The prophecies of the Apocalypse concern the entire history of the Church. Undoubtedly this interpretation is subject to abuse. It has been employed in the interests of special controversy, as when the Protestants saw in the scarlet woman a representation of papal Rome.

(=6=) =Principles, Not Individual Facts.=--All such abuses may be avoided, however, if the interpreter will remember that the book deals with great principles, rather than with individual facts. The beast is neither the Roman Catholic Church, nor the religion of Mohammed, nor the Turkish Empire. Undoubtedly it expressed itself in some phases of each of those institutions. But no one of them can be identified with it outright. The beast of the Apocalypse is nothing less than the blatant, godless power of worldly empire, however that power may be manifested. At the time of John it was manifested especially in the empire of Rome. Even Rome, however, cannot be identified with the beast entirely without qualification. Even Rome had its beneficent side. John as well as Paul, even in the fire of persecution, might have expressed the thought of Rom. 13:1-7. Peter also wrote in the midst of persecution; yet Peter could say, "Be subject to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether to the king, as supreme; or unto governors, as sent by him for vengeance on evil-doers and for praise to them that do well." I Peter 2:13,14.

The other side of Rome's power, it is true, was prominent at the close of the first century. More systematically than before, Rome had begun to persecute the Church of God. By the demand of emperor-worship she had tried to put her stamp upon the followers of Jesus. Through her priesthood she had endeavored to lead men astray. In these things she was a manifestation of the beast. As such she was execrated and resisted to the death by every loyal Christian. There could be no hope of compromise. Hope lay rather in the power of God. God would give the just reward; God would give the final victory. Such was the message of the Apocalypse.

The message is of perennial value. The beast is not yet dead. His methods are different, but still he oppresses the Church. Wherever his power is felt--whether in ruthless oppression or impious warfare or degrading superstition--there the prophecy of John is a comfort and an inspiration to the people of God.

Undoubtedly this method of interpretation, which detects in the book principles rather than individual facts, involves a reduction in the amount of direct information which the Apocalypse may be thought to give. A detailed account, whether of the progress of the Church, or of the final catastrophe, is by this interpretation no longer found in the book.

2. THE THOUSAND YEARS

At one point at least, this conclusion has been regarded by many devout Christians as involving a serious loss. That point is concerned with the thousand years of Rev. 20:1-8. According to the interpretation that has just been advocated, the thousand years are merely a symbol for the time of the present Christian dispensation, and the rule which the saints are represented as bearing with Christ probably refers to the condition of the blessed dead up to the final resurrection. To many devout readers of the Bible this interpretation seems to be an impoverishment of the prophet's words. In reality, they maintain, the passage predicts a return of Jesus to earth before the final judgment, and a long period of his blessed sway.

Undoubtedly this more literal interpretation of the millennium seems at first sight to be required by certain phrases of the passage. But the highly figurative character of apocalyptic language must always be borne in mind. Numbers, in the Apocalypse, are usually symbolic; so it may be with the thousand years. During the present dispensation Satan is in one sense bound, and in another sense he is free. In principle he has been conquered; but in the sphere of worldly power he continues to work his wrathful will.

3. THE CHRISTIAN HOPE

One thing at least is clear. No interpretation of the Apocalypse is correct if it fails to do justice to the hope of Christ's return. If the figurative interpretation weakens our expectation of that dread meeting with the Lord, then it is untrue to the mind of the Spirit. There are difficulties connected with the idea of a literal millennium; but such difficulties are inconsiderable in comparison with those that result from any rationalizing, any explaining away, of the universal Christian hope. The Apocalypse, according to any right interpretation, is a vision of final triumph.

That triumph is a triumph of Christ. Back of all the lurid imagery of the book, back of the battles and the woes, and back of the glories of God's people, stands the figure of the Saviour. With him the book began, and with him, too, it ends. He is the same who lived the life of mercy and of glory on earth, the same who died for our sins on the cross. To the Lamb all power is given--all power in heaven and on earth. By him all enemies are conquered; by him the whole earth will be judged. To those who bear the mark of the beast he is an Avenger; to his Church he is an ever-living Saviour.

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IN THE LIBRARY.--The reading suggested under Lesson XXXVII is intended for both of the lessons on the Apocalypse.

LESSON XXXIX

REVIEW