Изображения страниц
PDF
EPUB

The people of]

THE ACTS.

of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few.

5 But the Jews which believed not, moved with envy, took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, and gathered a company, and set all the city on an uproar, and assaulted the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people.

6 And when they found them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also;

7 Whom Jason hath received: and these all do contrary to the decrees of Cesar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus.

8 And they troubled the people and the rulers of the city, when they heard these things.

9 And when they had taken security of Jason, and of the other, they let them go.

10 And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night

[Berea commended. unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews.

11 These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.

12 Therefore many of them believed; also of honourable women which were Greeks, and of men, not a few.

13 But when the Jews of Thessalonica had knowledge that the word of God was preached of Paul at Berea, they came thither also, and stirred up the people.

14 And then immediately the brethren sent away Paul to go as it were to the sea: but Silas and Timotheus abode there still.

15 And they that conducted Paul brought him unto Athens: and receiving a commandment unto Silas and Timotheus for to come to him with all speed, they departed. (L)

EXPOSITION-Chap. XVII. Continued.

CHAP. XVII.

(L) Ver. 1-15. Paul preaches at Thessalonica and at Berea, but is driven from both places by persecution-In the first instance we find Paul preaching in a synagogue of the Jews at Thessalonica, where he reasoned with them for three successive sabbaths, and probably on some of the intermediate days, in which we remark two important circumstances-1. He did not confine his reasonings to the subjects of natural religion, nor did he draw his arguments from the Pagan philosophers. These, as we shall see presently, he would sometimes quote, but they never formed his text he reasoned from the Scriptures. 2. The substance of all his discourses was "Jesus Christ, and him crucified." He reasoned from the Scriptures, "opening and alledging that Christ must needs have

suffered [for our sins], and have risen again from the dead [for our justification]. And this Jesus [added he] whom I preach unto you is CHRIST," or the Messiah. This affords a pointed condemnation of merely moral preaching, which will seldom reform and never convert a sinner. "One may more justly complain of some sermons in our days (says Dr. John Edwards) than the father of old did of Tully's works, that there is not a word of Christianity in them. Tully's Offices and Seneca's Epistles serve many instead of the Bible." (Edwards's Preacher, p. 79.)

"It is true (said the late learned Bishop Horsley) that it is the great duty of a preacher of the gospel to press the practice of its precepts upon the consciences of men; but then it is equally true, that it is bis duty to enforce this practice in a particular

NOTES-Chap. XVII. Con.

Ver. 5. Jason-A resident at Thessalonica, and a kinsman of St. Paul. See Rom, xvi. 21.

Ver. 6. These that have turned the world upside down.-The word properly implies sedition-an attempt to overturn the government. See ch. xxi. 38.

Ver. 11. More noble-Not in rank, but in disposition-"more ingenuous," or liberal minded.

Ver. 13. Stirred up the people-"Raising (a storm among] the people." Black wall in Doddr.

Ver. 14. To go as it were to the sea.-Doddr. "As if he were to go by sea." Newcome, "Towards the sea." So Schleusner. Bost and Rapbe lius have fully proved, that "towards," and not "as it were to," is the true rendering. Boothroyd,

L

Paul, at Athens, ridiculed] CHAP. XVII.

16 Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry.

17 Therefore disputed he in the synagogue with the Jews, and with the devout persons, and in the market

[by the philosophers,

daily with them that met with him.

18 Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoicks, encountered him. And some said, What will this babbler say? other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange

EXPOSITION.

way, namely, by inculcating its doctrines. The motives which the revealed doctrines furnish are the only motives he has to do with, and the only motives by which religious duties can be effectually enforced."

In answer to the objection, that "the peculiar doctrines of Revelation," as the Trinity, the incarnation, and the atonement, and communion with God, are above the capacities of the common people, his Lordship replies, "If this were really the case, the condition of mankind would indeed be miserable, and the proffer of mercy in the Gospel little better than a mockery of their woe; for the consequence would be, that the common people would never be carried beyond the first principles of natural religion. Of the efficacy of natural religion as a rule of action, the world has had the long experience of 1600 years: for so much was the interval between the institution of the Mosaic Church and the publication of the Gospel..... Among the vulgar, natural religion never produced any effect at all; among the learned, much of it is to be found in their writings, little in their lives." On the other hand, "Upon the first preaching of the Gospel, the illiterate, the scorn of pharisaical pride, who knew not the law, and were therefore deemed accursed, were the first to understand and to embrace the Christian doctrine." (Horsley's Primary Charge, 1790.)

But to return to the history of St. Paul. At Thessalonica, some of the Jews, on hearing the Gospel preached, believed, and

associated with Paul and his companions; "of the devout Greeks (or proselytes) a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few; but the Jews, which believed not, raised a mob and a riot among the lowest classes, thinking to bring the holy preachers into trouble, and perhaps destroy them. They therefore assaulted the house of Jason, who appears to have been related to Paul, and gave him shelter; and drew (or dragged) him and the brethren found there before the magistrates, under the usual charge of being troublers of the public peace. Paul and Silas, however, had been conveyed away by night to Berea, and the magistrates taking security of Jason and the other converts to keep the peace, immediately discharged them. At Berea the Christian doctrine was much more favourably received. For as Paul reasoned from the Scriptures, these more liberal-minded Jews, instead of contradicting and blaspheming, "searched the Scriptures daily," to see if these things were as they were represented. The consequence was, as it generally has been, when received with the same candid and enquiring temper, the converts were very numerous. These indefatigable persecutors, however, the unbelieving Jews, hearing of this, followed to Berea, and stirred up another mob, so that the brethren were again compelled to secrete Paul: they accordingly conveyed him towards the sea, whence he sailed to Athens, and there waited for Silas and Timotheus.

NOTES.

Ver. 16. His spirit was stirred.-According to Doddr. the Greek word signifies sharpened, set on edge. In 1 Cor. xiii. 5, a kindred term is rendered "provoked," which word some use here.

Ibid. Wholly given to idolatry.-Marg. "full of idols," which is more literal.

Ver. 17. Devout persons-i. e. Jewish proselytes. And in the market-(Gr. Agora) the marketplace, or forum; a large open place, where the people assembled, and on the sides of which there were generally porticoes, or cloisters, where the philosophers used to dispute or lecture; where Courts were sometimes held; and where temples and theatres were usually built. On some of these accounts Covent garden market has been compared to one of these forums, or market-places. Ver. 18. Epicureans.-A species of atheists,

Stoicks-Fatalists; an opposite sect. See Enfield's Hist. of Philos, voi. 1. bk. ii, ch. 11 and 15.

Ibid. This babbler.-Marg, "a base fellow." Gr. "a word-scatterer;" which Beza explains in allusion to a little bird, called the seed-picker," remarkable for picking up scattered seeds: so they mean to insinuate that Paul had picked up scraps of philosophy in the market-place. A setter forth of strange [i. e. foreign] gods-Or" demons." (Greek, daimonia.) The Greeks used this term for all the invisible powers-celestial, teriestial, or infernal; gods, heroes, or devils.

Ibid. Jesus, and the resurrection.-In Gr. Anastasis; which latter, it is generally thought, these Athenians took for a new goddess. The Athenians worshipped Shame, Fame, Desire, &c. as goddesses.

Paul preaches]

THE gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection.

19 And they took him, and brought him unto Areopagus, saying, May we know what this new doctrine, whereof thou speakest, is?

20 For thou bringest certain strange things to our ears: we would know therefore what these things mean.

21 (For all the Athenians and strangers which were there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing.)

22 Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious.

23 For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.

24 God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;

[blocks in formation]

25 Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;

26 And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;

27 That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:

28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.

29 Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device.

30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:

31 Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the

NOTES-Chap. XVII. Con.

Ver. 19. Areopagus.-Marg. Mars' hill. Ver. 21. Some new thing-Literally, "newer thing." The Athenians were as anxious to hear the last new opinions stated, as some of our ladies to receive the last new fashions from Paris. They are upbraided more than once by Demosthenes for this excessive love of novelty, and it should seem that they are remarkable for the same weakness to the present day. See Orient. Lit. No. 1420.

Ver. 22. Mars' hill.-Gr. Areopagus; the same word as in ver. 19, but here literally translated in the text there only in the margin.

Ibid. Too superstitious.This translation is too harsh. The learned Jos. Mede renders it, "Too full of demons." Doddr. "Exceedingly addicted to the worship of invisible powers." St. Paul employs the most inoffensive terms in reproving the Athenians; but it is remarkable, that their own writers mention the same fact of their attachment to a multitude of idols. It is said there were more gods worshipped at Athens han in any other part of Greece, and that they kept a double number of festivals. Orient. Lit. No. 1421.

Ver. 25. Neither is worshipped-(Doddr. served) -with men's hands-i. e. all our services are of no use to him: he needeth nothing from us.

Ver. 26. And hath made of one blood all nations. By this the apostle assures the Greeks, that, though a Jew, his benevolent affections were by no means confined to his own nation; and at the same time insinuates, that theirs onght not to be restrained from him on that account. The whole family of man have one Father, and men of all nations are therefore brethren.

Ibid. And hath determined the times before appointed. Here he addresses both the above classes of philosophers, equally opposing the Epicureans,

who refer all events to chance and accident, and the Stoics, who attribute all to fate; he refers all things to the determination of an infinitely wise and good God, who, as he is the only infinite, is also the only perfectly independent Being.

Ver. 27. If haply-(Doddr. " possibly")-they might feel after him.-The allusion is to people groping in the dark, and is intended to represent the difficulty of finding out God by the mere light of Nature.

Ver. 28. In him we live, and move, and have our being. Doldr. "In him we live, and are moved, and do exist."-For we are also his offspring. The passage usually supposed to be here referred to, is thus translated:

"Jove's presence fills all space, upholds this ball; All need his aid, his power supports us all; For we his offspring are, and he in love, Points out to man his labour from above." See the Phænomena of Aratus. The same words, with the variation of a letter only, are to be found in the Hymn of Cleanthes. See Doddr.

Ver. 30. God winked at.-Doddr. " Overlooked.” This text does not, cannot mean that God is in any case indifferent to the conduct of his creatures; for it is added, that he commands all men every where to repent, and has appointed a day to judge them. So it was with the nations of Canaan-he winked, he appeared to close his eyes against their iniquities, until they were full, and then fulfilled at once his threatenings against them, and his promises to Abraham. See Gen. xv. 16.

Ver.31. Given assurance.-Marg." offered faith" -i.e. evidence to support our faith; namely, the evidence of Christ's resurrection.

[blocks in formation]

(M) Ver. 16-34. Paul preaches at Athens, and with what success.-" On a promontory formed by the confluence of two classical rivers, stood Athens, the glory of ancient Greece. High in political eminence and in military fame, it was still more distinguished for the learning, the eloquence, and the polished refinement of its inhabitants; and for the number, variety, and excellence of the works of art produced or collected within its walls: for those magnificent structures of which the very fragments are the admiration of modern nations; for the most exquisite productions of painting and sculpture; for its various schools of philosophy; and, in a word, for all that was elegant and admirable in every branch of science, and art, and literature." (Dr. Wardlaw's Sermon for the London Miss. Soc.)

Here Paul waited-some weeks perhaps for the arrival of his friends and fellow labourers, Silas and Timothy; and what man of science, or literature, or taste, would not have waited with complacency and delight in the midst of such an assemblage of every thing elegant and splendid, tasteful and ingenious? But not so Paul. "His spirit was stirred, was roused, was agitated within him, when he saw the city given to idolatry," and "full of idols." What were those beautiful statues and paintings, which at the end of 2000 years are still envied and admired? They were idols-the images of imaginary, perhaps of diabolical beings.-What were those beautiful and yet unequalled piles of architecture? They were the temples of those gods.-What was the sum of all their literature and science? "The world by

wisdom knew not God,"

Paul's spirit was stirred, and what did he? First he disputed with the Jews and proselytes in the synagogue, doubtless recommending to them that Messiah to whom his heart was wholly attached. But may

we not venture to believe that, while he did this, he could not refrain from mingling reproof with instruction? "What! children of Abraham, do you not live in a city full of idols, and do you never put in a word on behalf of the one true God, the God of Abraham-the only God here unknown ?" He disputed also daily, in the market-place, "with them that met with him," whether plebeians or philosophers. And here, it seems, both the atheistical Epicureans and the disciples of Zeno fell upon him, not with weapons of violence, but with a kind of sneer, as if he were come to recommend to them some new gods, or demons, as they expressed it. It may seem strange to an English reader, that they should take the resurrection for a deity; but this is not so wonderful when we consider that they were total strangers to both the doctrine and the name, which being feminine in the Greek language, might easily be mistaken for a goddess.

Of the two philosophic sects here mentioned, it may be sufficient for us here to remark their leading principles. The former, the followers of Epicurus, who made the chief good to consist in enjoyment, rid themselves of all fears or trouble in religion, by denying the being and providence of God, and maintaining that all events came by chance or accident. The Steies, disciples of Zeno, on the other hand, admitted both ; but then they tied up the hands of deity by the laws of fate, allowing to neither god nor man a freedom of will or action. These sects, who were perpetually debating with each other, united in attacking Paul; and either not understanding, or at least pretending not to understand him, brought him to the celebrated Court of Areopagus; not, so far as appears, under any criminal charge, but that they might have a full exposition of his new and strange principles.

One thing is here necessary to be ob

NOTES.

Ver. 34. Dionysius the Areopagite.-There are two volumes, folio, of writings preserved under his name, supposed to be written by him after his conver

sion; but Dr. A. Clarke pronounces them to be "a mere and foolish forgery of the 5th or 6th century."

[blocks in formation]

served, that though one of the sects denied the being of a God, and the other robbed him of his independence, they both paid so much complaisance to the vulgar, that they were willing to worship any god or every god that they might be required to serve; and therefore, doubtless, looked upon Paul as unaccountably precise and scrupulous in his objecting to idolatry.

We follow Paul, however, into this ancient and august Court; not, indeed, as a criminal, but as a stranger, from whom they requested (and perhaps demanded) an account of the strange notions which he attempted to propagate, relative to one Jesus who was crucified, and to the resurrection (Anastasis), whom these ignorant philosophers took for a new god and goddess of whom they had never before heard. Standing therefore in the midst of the Court, he thus courteously and eloquently addressed them-surrounded, doubtless, by the persons who had desired the statement of his doctrines, and whose national character was that of seeking novelty.

"Men of Athens," said he, "I perceive that, in all things, ye are too superstitious" -or, more literally, "too much addicted to the worship of demons," under which term they understood all the invisible powers, good or evil-" for, as I passed by and beheld your devotions," or, rather, the objects and instruments of your devotion, "I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD." The meaning of this inscription it has cost critics and antiquaries much labour to dis cover, without attaining absolute certainty on the subject. The opinions to us most probable, and most generally received, are

1. That the inscription referred to the God of the Jews, whose peculiar name they were always reluctant to disclose to Gentiles, and latterly refused to pronounce

themselves. But 2. the far more general opinion seems to be that adopted by Hammond and Doddridge, and which depends

on

the following narrative :-Diogenes Laertius (in his Life of Epimenides) relates, that in his time (about 600 years before Christ) there was a terrible pestilence in Athens, to avert which they sacrificed to all the gods whom they supposed able to assist them, but without success. Epimenides therefore advised them to bring some sheep into the Areopagus, and then letting them loose, to follow them, and, when they laid down, to sacrifice to the god whose altar was nearest. Some of these sheep, it is supposed, might lie down, at a time when Athens was far from being so full of idols as in Paul's time, at a distance from any statue or temple (or perhaps at an equal distance between two), when, not knowing to what god to direct their worship, they dedicated an altar “to the unknown god" who presided over the spot where the sheep rested. Thus there might be (as is indeed reported) more than one altar of this description. That which Paul saw furnished him with a text for his address, from which he discoursed to them of the ONE great invisible Being, to them unknown, who formed and governs all things. "Him, therefore, whom ye ignorantly worship," and seem to grope after in the dark, "Him declare I unto you." This Great Being, he proceeds to state, had "made of one blood all nations of men," or, more literally and properly, "the whole nation of mankind :" representing the world as oue great family, "the offspring" of the same Almighty Father, in whom "all live, and move, and do exist." He thence infers that this Universal Parent of mankind could in no way resemble statues of metal or of stone, but was a being of infinite power and activity,

NOTES.

CHAP. XVIII. Ver. 2. Claudins had commanded, &c.-This is mentioned by Suetonius in the life of Claudius, and Christians were at this time considered only as a Jewish sect. See Lard. Cred. i. 633.

Ver. 3. Tentmakers-A very important trade at that time, when tents were much in use; and rank

ing probably with our trunk-making, The early Rabbies made no secret of their trades. One was surnamed the shoemaker, another the baker, &c. (See Doddr.) Paul's motive was evidently that be inight not be burdensome to the churches for sapport. See 1 Cor. iy. 12; 2 Cor. xii. 14.

« ПредыдущаяПродолжить »