comparison has been drawn by an able pen: I shall make no apology for deducing an important inference from it. Setting aside the idolatry of Socrates, which entirely prevented him from reproving in others what he committed himself, "his doctrines upon the subjects of divinity, and morality, were introduced into the world with all the advantage that the ablest, and politest, pens could give, and they became the study and entertainment of all the considerable men that lived after him. Yet what was the effect of all this? Can you name the place where religion was reformed? Can you name the man who was so far reformed as to renounce the superstition of his country? No; none such are to be found; and how should there? since the greater the credit and reputation of Socrates were, the more strongly did they draw men to imitate his example, and to worship as their country worshipped."-" Consider, on the other side, what was the consequence of preaching the Gospel. St. Paul entertained the Athenians with no fine speculations, but he laid before them, in the plainest dress, the great and momentous truths of religion; he openly rebuked their idolatry, and condemned their superstition. The Gospel was preached in the same manner every where. The first preachers of it were enabled to support it by miracles, and most of them shed their blood in the defence of its truth. By these means they came likewise to have credit and authority in the world. But in these two cases there was this great difference; the corrupt example of Socrates was a dead weight upon the purity of his doctrine, and tended to perpetuate superstition in the world; the authority and example of the Apostles went hand in hand, and united their force to root out idolatry. There was this farther difference too; the doctrines of Socrates could go only among the learned; the doctrines of the Gospel were artless and plain, and suited to every man's capacity."-" For near 400 years, (the time between the death of Socrates and the birth of Christ) the disciples of the former had the world to themselves, to reform it if they could; in all which time there is no evidence remaining, that the religion of the world was the better for their wisdom. But in much less time the Gospel prevailed in most parts of the known world: wherever it came Superstition and Idolatry fled before it; and, in little more than three centuries, the empire became Christian; which completed the victory over the heathen deities 1." Here then let us rest our argument, and let us reflect, that if the wisest of the heathen philosophers, with all his boasted reason, could not free himself, or his disciples, from the chain of superstition, how much more we ought to rejoice, who possess that "liberty with which Christ has made us free 2." But in vain are we made members of a covenant of Grace, in vain are we put in possession of so many great and glorious privileges, if we employ them not to the noblest purposes: in vain are we allied to Heaven, if we satisfy ourselves with the humble, incompetent, and, too frequently, deceitful accommodations of the earth. 1 Bp. Sherlock, Disc. 4. Vol. I. 2 Gal. v. i. LECTURE XVIII. ACTS XVIII. St. Paul's second Apostolic Journey concluded. Corinth. Cenchrea. Ephesus. Cæsarea. -Jerusalem.-Antioch. THE productions of nature, when presented to the ordinary eye, exhibit a considerable degree of excellence and beauty; but when they are examined by that extraordinary instrument of human invention, the microscope, every particle of matter, every spire of grass, rises into importance, and discovers a perfection which the most skilful artist could not have produced, the most scientific understanding could not have conceived. Apply this observation to the Holy Scriptures, and you will find that the greater the accuracy with which they are studied, the more minute the investigation which they undergo, the greater perfection will they be found to possess; the higher will be our admiration, the more pure and refined our delight. By examining accurately merely one book of Scripture, that, for instance, which now occupies our attention, I presume we shall be fully satisfied of this truth; for, as we accompany the Apostles in their travels, every place where they take up their temporary abode, every event, whether prosperous or adverse, which befalls them, brings with it new occasions of instruction, new motives of action, and an increase of knowledge, human and divine. The blessed founder of Christianity did not, like the Jewish legislator, present himself before us in a situation of eminence and dignity, and from a mountain, arrayed in dreadful magnificence, promulge a code of statutes written by the finger of the Almighty on visible tables of stone; but he instituted a more spiritual worship, and propagated his mild and conciliating doctrines in a familiar manner, that the faith of the Christian should not stand in the "wisdom of men, but in the power of God1." As We have attended St. Paul through many interesting situations; every one of which, I trust, has left some useful impression on our minds. faith is the great object of our search, we cannot any where be more likely to attain it, than by taking St. Paul for our companion. His affectionate greetings to those who had been his children in the Lord, evince how much his heart was in his profession; and we cannot doubt the soundness of his faith who was enabled to work miracles in proof of his Apostolic character, and whose life was a valuable commentary on his writings. From Athens the Apostle came to Corinth, another considerable city of Greece, situated near 1 1 Cor. ii. 5. At the middle of the Isthmus, which divides that part of the continent of Europe, and communicates, by means of two ports, with the opposite seas. this place of trade and opulence, he resided above a year and six months', and laid the foundation of a large society of Christians. The Synagogue, at first, was his usual place of instruction, and the Jews and Jewish proselytes his usual audience. Here he met with a converted Jew, a native of Pontus, named Aquila, with his wife Priscilla, who seems also to have been a Christian. They had lately been expelled from Rome by a general edict of the Emperor Claudius against the Jews, as having been concerned in various tumults; according to the Roman biographer, at the instigation of one CHRESTUS 2. That there was no person of that name, at that time, or any other, a popular leader of sedition at Rome, is very evident; neither is it less clear how the mistake, if it was one, arose. 1 From hence, it is generally imagined, that St. Paul wrote his first Epistle to the Thessalonians, to whom he soon after transmitted the second; and also the Epistle to the Galatians. It does not come within the plan of these Lectures to notice at length the several valuable letters which were addressed by the Apostle to the converts of the different Churches planted, or visited by him. But it is recommended to the reader to peruse such Epistles as occur in order of time, and compare them with the incidents mentioned in the history of the Acts. In this study, he will find most ample and useful assistance in Dr. Paley's "Horæ Paulinæ, or the Truth of the Scripture History of St. Paul evinced; by a comparison of the Epistles which bear his name, with the Acts of the Apostles, and with one another." 2 Suetonii Claud. c. 25. |