upon his mind, that while the Church of Rome can erect and maintain such institutions for the training of her priesthood, there was no great necessity for the paltry measure of endowing but one of the number; and that in doing so, while a Protestant Government has sacrificed its professed principles, and outraged the conscientious feelings of many of its steadiest friends, it has conferred but a contemptible boon on the very party it has sought hereby to conciliate. He would no longer wonder that the endowment was thanklessly, and even scornfully ACCEPTED! Nor could a traveller through Ireland fail to notice the spacious Roman Catholic chapels and cathedrals that have been recently erected, or are in the progress of erection in different parts of the island, some of them in the very poorest districts; and all rivalling, nay, surpassing in size and splendour, the churches and cathedrals of the establishment itself; not to speak of the smallness and fewness, in comparison, of the humbler conventicles of dissent. With his eye fixed on these landmarks, and at the same time casting a superficial glance over the mass of the population, he could scarcely avoid the impression that Popery was advancing in Ireland with giant strides. Yet, in the face of all these appearances, we venture to repeat our conviction that this is not really the case; that on the contrary, Popery was far more on the increase when its progress was less noticed than it is now; that its large and expensive erections are by no means a correct criterion of its real state; and that it is neither making proselytes, nor securing its hold upon the minds of its professed subjects, to the extent that these ostentatious exhibitions of its influence would seem to indicate. We must not, however, enter more fully into the various reasons that lead us to this conclusion. Our limits forbid. Our remaining remarks must be confined to the state of Protestantism: and they must be brief. The progress of Puseyism in Ireland, if it can be called progress at all, is not to be compared with the rapid and insidious spread of that heretical infection in England. In Ireland, it seems glad to skulk into a corner, and hide its diminished head. We have heard of but one clergyman, the curate of a suburban parish in Dublin, who has become a convert to Rome, through the influence of this corrupt leaven. There are others, we are aware, who are strongly tainted with it; but we have reason to believe they are not very numerous nor very influential. The recent secessions of so many of the Oxford divines will, we trust, operate as a timely and salutary warning to those who may have tampered with these errors, without being aware of their mischievous tendency. We do not think that many of our Irish clergy will be found disposed to follow the guidance of men who abjure the reformation and court the embraces of the Church of Rome. We hope, too, that the genuine Protestantism of the country is purifying itself from the secularizing influence of mere political partizanship; and will be, ere long, through the blessing of God's Holy Spirit, defecated from the dross of this base alloy. We hail the movements that are at present in progress in Ireland towards the organisation of the proposed "Evangelical Alliance" as indicative of a better order of things. We believe that among the followers of Christ in the sister country, there is a growing desire for a real spiritual unity among the people of God, that is already leading to the use of Scriptural means, and especially to increasing prayer for so happy and glorious a result. We notice, with pleasure, the indications that have been already given of this state of things, not only in the metropolis of Ireland, but in her almost equally important ULSTER metropolis, Belfast. The mere district meetings for Christian Union held by the Irish section of the provisional Evangelical Alliance Committee in DUBLIN, have already advanced to the character of public demonstrations. The third, being the last of their number, of which we can receive an account, before going to press, was held in the Wesleyan Methodist Centenary Chapel, Stephen's Green. The platform was crowded with ministers and influential laymen of the Episcopalian and other Evangelical denominations, who sat together upon it, in such friendly juxta position, as would seem as if they had been intentionally intermingled, for the purpose of effect. It was the effect, however, of mere accident; not of design. The area of this spacious place of worship was thronged with attentive listeners, who, with scarcely an exception, occupied their respective positions, many of them standing, till past ten o'clock at night. The public meeting at Belfast was double in point of number, being supposed to amount to three thousand, held in a Presbyterian Chapel: the Music Hall, originally selected as the place of meeting, not being sufficient to contain the crowding audience; the Vicar of Belfast in the chair, and the Presbyterian and other Evangelical denominations, as in Dublin, being fully represented on the platform.. :- The object of the meeting was thus stated in the requisition by which it was called " We, the undersigned ministers of Belfast, beg leave to invite the friends of Evangelical Protestantism to a meeting to be held (God willing) in the Music Hall, on Wednesday evening next, for the promotion of union on the basis of the conference held in Liverpool for a similar purpose in the month of October last." The requisition was signed by 26 ministers. At seven o'clock, the proceedings were commenced, and the following ministers and gentlemen addressed the meeting: The Rev. Wm. Stewart, (Wesleyan Minister.) The Rev. Wm. Gibson, (Presbyterian Minister.) The Rev. Thomas Walker. The Rev. George Shaw. James S. Blackwood, Esq., L.L.D. The Rev. R. W. Kyle. The Rev. Mr. Boyd, (Secession Minister) The Rev. Dr. Edgar, (Presbyterian Minister.) The Rev. W. MIlwaine. The Rev. John Graham, (Primitive Wesleyan Minister.) The Rev. Mr. Hodgens, and the Rev. J. Morgan. The Rev. Theophilus Campbell, incumbent of Trinity Church, commenced the proceedings by giving out a portion of the 90th Psalm, suited to the occasion; and after it had been sung, the Rev. Dr. Bryce read the 17th Chapter of the Gospel of St. John. This portion of Scripture was very appropriate, and well adapted to the circumstances under which the meeting was assembled. At the close of the meeting, the Rev. Mr. Seymour gave out the words of the hymn Bless'd be the dear uniting love That will not let us part which was sung at the close of the Liverpool Conference; and the assembly having fervently joined in this act of praise, the meeting was concluded by an impressive prayer from the Rev. David Hamilton. We had intended to notice several other favourable symptoms as to the spiritual state of Ireland, that have been impressed upon our minds in reviewing her circumstances during the year. But we must forbear. If permitted to chronicle the events of her religious history through the year, upon which we have just entered, we hope that many of these will be more fully unfolding their character and displaying their results. And whether permitted to chronicle them or not, we feel well assured that in Ireland as well as everywhere else, the cause of God, whatever temporary obstructions it may encounter, will go triumphantly onward to that final victory which the schemes of its enemies may retard for a season, but can never effectually prevent. C. ESSAYS, EXTRACTS, AND CORRESPONDENCE. THE NAME CHRISTIAN. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.-Acts xi. 26. THERE are few points of Church history, we apprehend, more utterly mistaken than that which is given us in these few words. It seems to be generally supposed, and almost taken for granted, that the epithet Christian was applied to the followers of the Lord Jesus in derision and reproach. Be it so; there could not have been a happier epithet invented by which to describe them; and if intended as a badge of infamy, there could never have been found a title which they should have considered it a higher honour to wear. But it would scarcely have been thought worth while to employ the pen of an inspired writer in recording a mere epithet of scorn. Nor do we find in a single passage of the New Testament that such a designation was employed with this intent by any of their various enemies. As in the days of Seth, men began to be called by the name of the Lord; so the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch. The view we have been combating, has led to a most unwarrantable rejection of this happy appellation. Some, who were wise above what is written, have gone so far as to set it aside altogether, and even to doubt the orthodoxy of the man who uses it as a favourite appellative of his brethren. Believers, those that know the truth,-and a variety of other designations have been adopted in preference to the simple and original name of Christians. We purpose to vindicate the appellation from such implied censure, and to rescue it from undeserved desuetude, by considering I. The name itself; II. The persons who bore it; and' III. The place where it was first given. I. As to the name itself. So far from supposing it invented by adversaries or given in reproach, we maintain, that— 1. It was a name divinely appointed. There can be no question that this is the meaning of the text. The connexion should be read as follows: "Then departed Barnabas to Tarsus, to seek carefully avatyσal (See A. Clarke, on Luke ii. 44, 45,) for Saul; and having found him, he brought him to Antioch. And it came to pass that for an entire year they were in the habit of assembling with the Church, and taught a considerable multitude, and by divine appointment called the disciples Christians, first in Antioch." From this rendering, which we apprehend to be the just one, it will appear that the Apostles, Paul and Barnabas, were the persons who gave this name to the disciples, and that they did so by divine appointment. In order to establish this point, refer to a few passages in which the same verb Xenμariw occurs. Acts x. 22. Cornelius was warned from God, εχρηματίσθη Matt. ii.12. The wise men being warned of God. Verse 22, Joseph being warned of God. Lukeii.26, and it had been reveal. ed to him (Simeon) ην κεχρηματισμένον by the Holy Ghost. Rom. vii. 3. If, her husband living, she be married to another, it (the divine law) pronounces her an adultress. Heb. viii. 5. Moses was admonished of God, xv. 7. Noah being warned of God. xii. 25. For if they did not escape, who refused him that spake by divine authority, oracularly on earth, &c. Surely these passages referred to by Scott, are sufficient to establish the point that the word implies a divine appointment. The grammatical construction is active; not that they were called, but that they -the apostles-called the disciples Christians. Others, in ridicule, named them Chrestians. (Debtors, or persons turning things to advantage.) The name Chrestian was evidently a nickname, a term of reproach, coined from the divinely appointed name of CHRISTIAN. The latter was the new name by which it had been foretold (Isa. lxii. 2) that the Church should be called, and which the mouth of the Lord should name. As 2. It was a name designed to be permanent and universal. It was given to the disciples first at Antioch. This seems to intimate that it had spread elsewhere and become so settled and extended a designation, as to render it desirable that a record should be made by the inspired writers of its origin. Agrippa was well acquainted with it; and, using it as a name which the apostle could not be hurt by, as opprobrious or reproachful, exclaims to his illustrious prisoner, "almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian." The Apostle Peter sanctions it. 1 Pet. iv. 16. If any man suffer as a Christian. It prevailed everywhere, and became a lasting designation for the followers of Jesus. In the spirit of love, they called each other Brethren; while among men they boldly professed and avowed themselves to be Christians. 3. It is a name exceedingly appropriate and descriptive, far more so than any that have ever been substituted in its stead. It designated their attachment to the Lord Jesus as the Christ-the anointed one-the promised Messiah. It maintained the fact of his claim to that high and glorious office, and the exclusiveness of that claim. He only was the Christ; and they who followed him were Christians-the only Christiansthe only people that had a Messiah, a Saviour. A name founded upon any other appellation of our Lord would not have been so appropriate. Jesus, Emmanuel, &c., were names that had been, or would be, borne by others, and might, therefore, have proved inadequate to point out the followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesuits and Swedenborgians are, therefore, left to coin designations if they choose ftom these, while Christ and Christians stand opposed to every thing of the kind as anti-Christ and anti-Christian. 4. It is a name well calculated to prevent and destroy Sectarianism.-Under the appellation of sectarianism, I include everything that has divided the Christian Church into parties and sections from the beginning even till now. Into the justice and necessity of these divisions I am not now going to enter. The word as I now use it, includes Churchmen as well as Dissenters. are all sects and sectaries, and will be so till the prayer of Christ is fulfilled, that his people may be one. Now, this name is one suited for that unity calculated to prevent disruption, and to unite all parties in one. Names have We been a great cause of the continuance of the divisions of the Church of Christ. Whatever approaches an enlightened Arminian may be making to the knowledge of the truth, so long as he bears that name, a prejudiced Calvinist will shrink from him, and he, though perhaps a Scriptural Calvinist, will shrink, it may be, with still greater horror from the man that bears the odious designation. The same observation will hold good with respect to Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Independents, Baptists, and so forth. Our names are unhappily coined from the very points on which we differ. However convenient they may be as short designations, they perpetuate the memory and existence of the differences they record. Many differences would never have been seen or felt, or would have had but a momentary existence, had it not been for the fatal influence of these names. Oh! who would not join the poet in the wish, Let names and sects, and parties fall, Whatever controversies it might have saved, the universal adoption of this name on the part of all the genuine followers of Christ would never have produced either error or confusion. It would have been as easy still to detect the teachers of false doctrine that might assume it, as it was when they did so in the days of the Apostles. Banish sect and party-spirit, Christ the bond of union be ;- 5. It is a name that was given most seasonably. Just as the Church was multiplying so as to become peculiarly exposed to the evils of division, and as judaizing teachers were preparing_to harrass the Gentile converts, this designation was adopted to amalgamate the Jews and Gentiles; otherwise we should have heard of Jewish believers, and Hellenist believers, and Gentile believers, until the seeds of irreparable divisions would have been sown in the Church of Christ. But at this crisis, by divine direction, the apostles interposed, and a name was adopted that made both one in Christ Jesus. In the remaining part of these remarks, we are not about to offer any new observations; but simply to bring under notice, two other points observable from the text, which tend to illustrate and confirm the preceding ideas. For this purpose, consider, II. THE PERSONS WHO WERE CALLED CHRISTIANS. 1. Disciples only.-No others have a right to it, however others may usurp this or any other name appropriate to true believers. In fact, no name can shut out such pretenders to Christianity. Nor is it in names or creeds, or tests, to do that which can only be accomplished in any measure by the Scriptural constitution and discipline of a Church of Christ. If you ask who then are Christians? don't suppose that we shall reply all who please to assume the designation. Ah! no! they only are to be so called or considered, who are the genuine disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. But while it is a name that belongs to his disciples only, it belongs to 2. Disciples at large. The Gentile believer has as much right to it as the Jewish believer. The Dissenter as much as the Churchman-the babe in Christ as well as the father. All are one in Him, and He is one in all. This is indeed the glorious peculiarity of the divinely instituted designation. Observe III. THE PLACE WHERE IT WAS FIRST GIVEN Antioch. This was a peculiarly appropriate place for such a designation to originate in; because 1. At Antioch, first the Gentiles were brought into the Church in any considerable numbers. You will see this from the reading of the chapter. Here a general name first became necessary. Here that general name was divinely suggested and happily fixed. 2. From Antioch the first mission to the Gentiles proceeded. Chap. xiii. It was well that here the Jew and Gentile should first be knit together in one common designation, in which their previous distinctions ought to have been forgotten. Accustomed to speak of believers under this common appellation, the apostles would spread it throughout all the Churches which they planted, and though the disciples were first called Christians at Antioch, yet in the progress of these early missions the name would soon become familiar to, and extended over the entire Christian world. 3. At Antioch, the controversy with Judaising teachers formally began, and there it was triumphantly decided. This early effort to divide and distract the Church received a signal overthrow. And it was an honour conferred upon the Church at Antioch, that as she had thus fought with those who said they were Jews, and were not, but did lie, she should bear to the latest times the honourable trophy of her contest and victory in the disciples being first called Christians at Antioch. We may learn from hence 1. The importance of names in religious matters, both in a good and in a bad sense. They may do much to promote or to hinder the progress of truth, and love, and unity. 2. The watchfulness of divine Providence over the affairs of the Church of Christ. He that named light and Heaven, and seas, &c., was careful to name his people. So important a circumstance, however trivial it might seem to some, was not to be left to caprice or chance. But the 3. The care of the Apostles to act even in little things by divine commandment. There was not the same legislation about little things in the Christian as in the Jewish tabernacle. apostles were wise and faithful master builders, and we should carefully follow their pattern. If the name, surely the constitution of the Christian Church must have been, in its great principles, arranged by divine appointment. My dear friend, you are called a Christian. Are you really so or not? What is a Christian? Are you this? Or is it not a name you dishonour and contradict; and bear only in form. May God make us all not only almost but altogether Christians. May God call us so, and we shall be such indeed. AMEN. W. H. C. |