as THEY DO also the other scriptures, to their own destruction.

17 Ye therefore, beloved, foreknowing THESE THINGS, be on your guard, lest being carried away with others (xam, Eph. iv. 14.) by the deceit of the lawless, ye fall from your own steadfastness.

18 But grow in grace, and IN the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him BE glory both now and (us) unto the day of eternity. Amen.2

son to the torture, to make him confess some crime laid to his charge, or reveal some secret which he knows. Applied to writings, it signifies, by far-fetched criticisms and unsupported senses of words, to make a passage speak a meaning different from what the author intended: Hence in our language we have the expres sion, to torture words. Of this vice they are most commonly guilty, who, from pride of understanding, will receive nothing but what they can explain; whereas the humble and teachable receive the declarations of revelation according to their plain, grainmatical, unconstrained meaning, which it is their only care to attain by read. ing the scriptures frequently, and with attention.

7. As they also do the other scriptures.]-Here Peter expressly acknowledges the divine inspiration by which Paul wrote all his epistles; for, unless Paul was inspired, his writings could not have been called scriptures by any inspired apostle. The affection with which Peter, on this occasion, spake of Paul, and the honourable testimony which he bare to his writings, deserves great praise. He had been formerly rebuked by Paul before the brethren at Antioch, for refusing to keep company with the Gentile converts. But whatever resentment he might have entertained of that affront at the beginning, he had long ago laid it aside; and on cool reflection, it is

probable, that, instead of thinking ill of Paul, he now admired him for his bold and steady maintaining of the truth.

Ver. 17-1. Foreknowing these things, be on your guard.]—Here St. Peter teaches, that one great purpose for which the prophets were inspired to foretell the corruptions which were to arise in the church, and the evils which were to befall the sincere disciples of Christ, was to put them on their guard against these corruptions, and to arm them with fortitude to bear persecution.

2. Be on your guard.]--The word qve is a military term, denoting the action of soldiers who keep guard in fortified towns or castles.

Ver. 18.--1. Until the day of eternity. So the original, v vos, literally signifies. Bengelius on this expression remarks, that it teaches us that eternity is a day without any night; a real and perpetual day.

2. Amen.--See Eph. vi. 24. note 2. Benson remarks, that when this word is placed at the beginning of a sentence, it is an earnest asseveration. In the conclusion of a sentence it imports an earnest wish that it may be so.--The doxology with which this epistle con. cludes is evidently directed to Christ, as are some of the other doxologies in scripture.

PREFACE.

SECT. I.-The History of John the Apostle. JOHN, the writer of this epistle and of the gospel which bears his name, was the son of Zebedee, a fisher, who had a boat and nets and hired servants, Mark i. 20. and followed his occupation on the Sea of Galilee.-From Matt. xxvii. 55. compared with Mark xv. 40. it appears that the name of Zebedee's wife was Salome; for, in the former of these passages, she is called 'the mother of Zebedee's children,' who in the latter is named Salome.-Zebedee had another son whose name was James, and who seems to have been elder than John. Both of them were fishers like their father, and assisted him in his business till they were called to follow Jesus.-They seem all to have lived in one family in the town of Bethsaida, which being situated near the Sea of Galilee, was a convenient station for fishers.

Because the mother of Zebedee's children is mentioned among the women who followed Jesus from Galilee to the last passover, ministering to him, as related Matt. xxvii. 56. Lardner conjectures, that Zebedee was then dead, and that the two brothers lived in separate houses. For when our Lord, upon the cross, recommended his mother to John, it is said, John xix. 27. From that hour that disciple took her into his own home.' Perhaps John and his mother Salome lived together.-Theophylact was of opinion that John's mother was related to our Lord and Lardner, whom I have generally followed in giving John's history, supposes that that relation encouraged her to ask the two chief places in Christ's kingdom for her sons; and that it was the occasion of our Lord's committing the care of his mother to John. But there is no evidence in scripture of Zebcdee's children being related to our Lord by their mother.

John had not the advantage of a learned education; for we are told, Acts iv. 13. that the council perceived Peter and John were unlearned men.' Nevertheless, like the generality of the Jewish common people of that age, they may have been well acquainted with the scriptures, having often heard them read in the synagogues. And as, with the rest of their countrymen, they expected the coming of the Messiah about that time, they lent a willing ear to the Baptist, when he published that Messiah was actually come, though the people did not know him, John i. 26. Afterward, when the Baptist pointed out Jesus to his disciples, ver. 29. as the lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world,' he said to them, ver. 33. I knew him not to be Messiah, but he who sent me to baptize with water, the same said to me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining on him, the same is he who baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. 34. And I saw and bare record, that this is the Son of God.' If the sons of Zebedee were of the num ber of those to whom John testified that Jesus was the Son of God, we may believe they attached themselves early to him, and were among those who are called his disciples, and to whom he manifested his glory at the marriage in Cana, by turning water into wine, John ii. 11.

After the miracle in Cana, the sons of Zebedee seem to have followed their ordinary occupation, till Jesus called them to attend on him constantly, as mentioned Matt. iv. For the evangelist having related the calling of Peter and Andrew, adds, ver. 21. And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them, 22. And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him;' namely, when he went about all Galilee, teaching in

their synagogues, and preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness, and all manner of disease among the people.'

Some time after this, Jesus chose twelve of his disciples to be with him always, that they might be eye and earwitnesses of all he did and said, and be qualified to testify the same to the world; and, in particular, qualified to bear witness to his resurrection from the dead. These chosen persons Jesus named apostles; and the sons of Zebedee being of that number, he surnamed them Boanerges, or sons of thunder, to mark the courage with which they would afterwards preach him to the world, as Christ the Son of God. How well James fulfilled his Master's prediction, may be known from his being put to death by Herod Agrippa, not long after our Lord's ascension, on account of his boldly testifying the resurrection of Jesus from the dead; so that he became the first martyr among the apostles. Cave, in his life of James, says, the sons of Zebedee had the sirname of Boanerges given them, on account of the impetuosity of their tempers. And it must be acknowledged, that they shewed too much anger in their proposal to have the Samaritans destroyed by fire from heaven, because they refused to receive Jesus, as he was going up to Jerusalem to worship: Luke ix. 54. Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elijah did ?'

But although James and John shewed improper zeal on the occasion mentioned, they were highly esteemed by their Master for their other good qualities; as appears from this, that of all the apostles, they only, with Peter, were admitted by him to be the witnesses of the resurrection of Jairus' daughter, and of our Lord's transfiguration, and of his agony in the garden. John more especially was so much beloved of Jesus, that he was called the disciple whom he loved. His benevolent disposition John manifested in this his first epistle, by the frequency and earnestness with which he recommended mutual love to the disciples of Christ. With benevolence, John joined great fortitude and constancy in his attachment to his Master. For he only of the twelve attended him during his crucifixion, and saw the blood and water issue from his side, when the soldier pierced it with a spear; and, I doubt not, was present when his body was laid in the sepulchre, and saw the sepulchre closed with a stone. He, with Peter, ran to the sepulchre, when Mary Magdalene brought word that the Lord's body was taken away. He was present also when Jesus shewed himself to his apostles, on the evening of the day of his resurrection; and on the eighth day thereafter. He, with his brother James, was present when Jesus shewed himself to his disciples at the Sea of Tiberias; and to the five hundred on the mountain in Galilee, mentioned Matt. xxviii. 16. Moreover, he was present with the rest of the apostles, when our Lord ascended into heaven from the mount of Olives. So that, with the greatest propriety and truth, he could begin his first epistle with saying, That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen, &c. we declare unto you;' referring to his gospel, in which he hath narrated the crucifixion, miracles, sufferings, death, and resurrection of the living Word; his appearances to his disciples after his resurrection; and, last of all, his ascension into heaven. To conclude, John was one of the one hundred and twenty upon whom the Holy Ghost descended, on the day of Pentecost which immediately followed our Lord's ascension.

After the effusion of the Holy Spirit, John displayed the greatest boldness in maintaining his Master's cause, when with Peter he was brought before the council, and was strictly charged not to teach in the name of Jesus. For, on that occasion, he made the noble answer recorded

Acts iv. 19. Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you rather than unto God, judge ye. For we cannot but speak the things which we have heard and seen.'

We are told, Acts viii. 14. that when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, that they might receive the Holy Ghost.' It seems none could confer that gift but apostles.

From Gal. ii. 9. it appears that John was present at the council of Jerusalem, which met A. D. 49 or 50 to determine the great question agitated in the church of Antioch, namely, whether it was necessary to the salvation of the believing Gentiles, that they should be circumcised. And if, as is probable, John had his ordinary residence in Jerusalem till that time, he had his share in working the many signs and wonders, which are said to have been done by the hands of the apostles, Acts ii. 43. iv. 33. v. 12.

We are told, Rev. i. 9. that John was banished to the Isle of Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus. In that island he was favoured with the visions, which he hath recorded in his book of the Revelation.

The foregoing particulars concerning John, are all mentioned in the New Testament. The fathers in their writings add, that John lived to a great age; that he spent the latter part of his life mostly at Ephesus, the metropolis of the province of Asia: that the Roman emperor Domitian banished him to Patmos about the year 95; consequently after the destruction of Jerusalem. But Grotius and Sir Isaac Newton place John's banishment to Patmos, the former in the reign of Claudius, the latter in the reign of Nero; consequently before the destruction of Jerusalem. And in support of their opinion they allege some testimonies of later writers, together with other particulars. But Lardner, Can. vol. i. p. 359377. hath shewed, that these things are insufficient for establishing the early date of John's banishment. He therefore adheres to the common opinion, that John was banished to Patmos by Domitian's edict for persecuting the Christians, published in the latter part of his reign, Domitian died September 18, A. D. 96, and was succeeded by Nerva, in the first year of whose reign, if not sooner, John being released, returned to Ephesus, where, according to the ancients, he died in the third year of the emperor Trajan, answering to A. D. 100. Or, as Jerome expresses it, he died in the 68th year after our Lord's passion; which was the third of Trajan. Wherefore, if Lampe's opinion is well founded, that John was born in the same year with his Master, he must have been an hundred years old when he died.

A. D. 95.

The time of John's leaving Judea is unknown. But as in Luke's history of Paul's travels John is not mentioned, and no salutation is sent to him in any of the epis tles which Paul wrote from Rome to the churches of Asia, not even in his epistles to the Ephesians, nor in the epistles which in the latter part of his life he wrote to Timothy in Ephesus, it is reasonable to think that John was not at Ephesus while Paul was alive. I therefore am of their opinion who suppose, that John remained in Judea, from the time of the council of Jerusalem, till he saw Jerusalem encompassed with armies, and observed the other signs of its approaching destruction foretold by his Master: that he then fled into Asia, and coming at length to Ephesus, he fixed his ordinary residence in that city, and abode there till his death, as all the ancient Christian writers testify. Because none of these writers say our Lord's mother went with John into Asia, Cave, Basnage, and Lardner, conjecture that she died before John left Judea.

The other particulars, said by the ancients to have happened to John after he settled at Ephesus, it is needless to mention; as some of them are not sufficiently attested, and others of them are embellished with circumstances evidently fabulous. Yet, if the reader is desirous to know what ancient authors have reported concerning our apostle after he went into Asia, he will find the passages of their writings, in which these things are mentioned, quoted by Lardner, Canon, vol. i. beginning at page

349.

SECT. II. Of the Authenticity of the First Epistle of John.

THE authenticity of any ancient writing is established, first, By the testimony of contemporary, and of succeeding authors, whose works have come down to us; and who speak of that writing, as known to be the work of the person whose name it bears. Secondly, By the suitableness of the things contained in such a writing, to the character and circumstances of its supposed author; and by the similarity of its style to the style of the other acknowledged writings of that author. The former of these proofs is called the external evidence of the authenticity of a writing; the latter, its internal evidence. Where these

EPISTLE.

CHAP. I.-1. That which was from the beginning, (¿ aμa) which we have contemplated-concerning the living Word.

II.-5. Whosoever keepeth his word, truly in that man the love of God is perfected.

II.-6. He who saith he abideth in him, ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked. See chap. iii. 24. iv. 13. 16.

II.-8. I write to you a new commandment. III.-11. This is the message which ye have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.

II.-8. The darkness passeth away, and the light which is true, now shineth.

10. Abideth in the light, and there is no stumblingblock to him.

II.-13. Young children, I write to you, because ye have known the Father.

14. Because ye have known him from the beginning. II.-29. Every one who worketh righteousness is begotten of God. See also iii. 9. v. 1.

III.-1. Behold how great love the Father hath bestowed on us, that we should be called the sons of God! III.-2. We shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.

III.-8. He who worketh sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning.

III.-13. Do not wonder, my brethren, that the world hateth you.

IV.-9. By this the love of God was manifested, that God sent his Son, the only begotten, into the world, that we might live through him.

IV.-12. No man hath seen God at any time. V.-13. These things I have written to you who believe on the name of the Son of God, that ye may know that ye have eternal life; and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.

V.—14. If we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us.

V.-20. The Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true; and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.

two kinds of evidences are found accompanying any writing, they render its genuineness indubitable.

The external evidence of the authenticity of John's first epistle shall be laid before the reader in the preface to the second epistle, sect. 1. by shewing that the earliest and best Christian writers have all, with one consent, and without any hesitation, ascribed the first epistle to him. And their testimony is confirmed by this circumstance, that the Syriac translator who omitted the second epistle of Peter, the second and third epistles of John, and the epistle of Jude, because some doubts were entertained concerning them in the first age, or perhaps because they had not come to his knowledge, hath translated John's first epistle as an apostolical writing of which there never was any doubt.

In this preface, therefore, we shall state the internal evidence of the authenticity of the first epistle ascribed to John, by shewing, first, that in respect of its matter, and secondly, that in respect of its style, it is perfectly suitable to the character and circumstances of its supposed author. In respect of the matter or subject of the epistle under consideration, the writer of it hath discovered himself to be John the apostle, by introducing a number of sentiments and expressions found in the gospel, which all Christians from the beginning have acknowledged to be the work of John the apostle.

GOSPEL.

CHAP. I.-1. In the beginning was the Word. 14. And (usa) we beheld his glory. 4. In him was life.

14. The word was made flesh. XIV.-23. If a man love me, he will keep my words, and my Father will love him.

XV.-4. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bring forth fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine, no more can ye, except ye abide in me.

XIII.-34. A new commandment I give to you,-that ye love one another as I have loved you.

I.-5. The light shineth in darkness. 9. That was the true light.

XI.-10. If a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there is no light to him.

XVII.-3. This is the eternal life, that they might know thee the only true God.

And Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.
III.-3. Except a man be begotten again.

5. Except a man be begotten of water and of the Spirit.

I.-12. To them he gave power to become the sons of God, even to them who believe on his name.

XVII.-24. Be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory.

VIII. 44. Ye are of your father the devil-He was a murderer from the beginning.

XV.-20. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you.

III.-16. God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him might not perish, but have everlasting life.

I.-18. No man hath seen God at any time. XX.-31. These things are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God, and that believing ye might have life through his name.

XIV.-14. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.

XVII.-2. Thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he might give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. 3. And this is the eternal life, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.

From the above comparison of the first epistle of John with his gospel, there appears such an exact agreement of sentiment in the two writings, that no reader who is capable of discerning what is peculiar in an author's turn of thinking, can entertain the least doubt of their being the productions of one and the same writer. Farther, since John hath not mentioned his own name in his gospel, the want of his name in the epistle is no proof that it was not written by him; but rather a presumption that it is his, especially as he hath sufficiently discovered himself to be an apostle, by affirming, in the beginning of the epistle, that he was an eye and ear-witness of the things which he hath written concerning the living Word.

2. The style of this epistle, being the same with the style of the gospel of John, it is by that internal mark likewise shewed to be his writing. In his gospel, John doth not content himself with simply affirming or deny ing a thing, but to strengthen his affirmation, he denies its contrary. In like manner, to strengthen his denial of a thing, he affirms its contrary. See John i. 20. iii. 36. v. 24. vi. 22. The same manner of expressing things strongly, is found in the epistle. For example, ch. ii. 4. He who saith I have known him, and doth not keep his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.'-Ver. 27. "The same unction teacheth you concerning all things, and is truth, and is no lie.'-Chap. iv. 2. Every spirit which confesseth Jesus Christ hath come in the flesh, is from God. 3. And every spirit which doth not confess Jesus Christ hath come in the flesh, is not from God.'

In his gospel likewise, John, to express things emphatically, frequently uses the demonstrative pronoun this. Chap. i. 19. AT, This is the testimony.'-iii. 19. Auth, 'This is the condemnation, that light,' &c.—vi. 29. Tro, This is the work of God.'-ver. 40. TxTo, This is the will of him.'-ver. 50. 'Ouroc, This is the bread which came down from heaven.'-xvii. 3. AUTH, This is the eternal life.' In the epistle, the same emphatical manner of expression is found, chap. i. 5. ii. 25. This is the promise.'-iii. 23. AUT, 'This is his commandment.' -v. 3. Auta, 'This is the love of God.'-ver. 4. This is the victory.'-ver. 6. 'Ouro, 'This is he who came by water.'-ver. 14. This is the boldness which we have with him.'

Such is the internal evidence on which all Christians from the beginning have received the first epistle of John, as really written by him, and of divine authority, although his name is not mentioned in the inscription, nor in any part of the epistle.

SECT. III. Of the State of the Christian Church at the time John wrote his First Epistle; and of his design in writing it.

THE apostle John, having lived to see great corruptions, both in doctrine and practice, introduced into the church, by many who professed themselves the disciples of Christ, employed the last years of his life in opposing these corruptions. For he wrote his three epistles, to establish the truths concerning the person and offices of Christ, and to condemn the errors then prevailing contrary to these truths. Also to repress the lewd practices, for the sake of which these errors were embraced.-Besides, he considered that his testimony to the truths concerning the person and offices of Christ, together with his direct condemnation of the opposite errors published to the world in his inspired writings, would be of singular use in preserving the faithful from being seduced by the false teachers and other corrupters of Christianity, who in future ages might arise and trouble the church. See the Preface to James, sect. 4.

The heretical teachers who infested the church in the first age, finding Messiah called in the Jewish scripturc,

God, and the Son of God, thought it impossible that he could be made flesh. In this sentiment, these teachers followed the Jewish chief priests, elders, and scribes, who being assembled in full council, unanimously condemned Jesus as a blasphemer, because, being a man, he called himself Christ the Son of the blessed God. See 1 John v. 5. note. Upon this decision, one class of the ancient false teachers founded their error concerning the person of Christ. For, while they acknowledged his divinity, they denied his humanity; that is, the reality of his appearing in the flesh, (see 1 John iv. 2, 3. v. 1.); and contended, that his body was only a body in appearance, that he neither suffered nor died, and that he did none of the things related of him in the gospel. He seemed indeed to do these things, which, in their opinion, was a sufficient foundation for the evangelists to relate them as done by him. But their reality, as matters of fact, they absolutely denied. More particularly, having affirmed that he died only in appearance, they denied his having made a propitiation for the sins of the world by his death, chap. ii. 2. They likewise denied, that he arose from the dead and ascended into heaven. In short, according to them, the things ascribed to Jesus in the gospels were altogether imaginary. This was the opinion of Basilides, and of all the heretics in the first age to whom the fathers have given the name of Docetæ, or Phantasiastæ; but who by the apostle John are more emphatically called Antichrists, chap. iv. 3. because they were opposers of Christ as come in the flesh. By pretending that Christ suffered death only in appearance, the Docetæ endeavoured to avoid the ignominy of the crucifixion of their Master, and to free themselves from that obligation to suffer for their religion, which was laid on them both by Christ's precept and example.

On the other hand, the Cerinthians and Ebionites adopted a doctrine concerning the Christ, which, though contrary to that just now described, was equally erroneous. They acknowledged the reality of the things written in the gospels concerning Jesus: But like many in modern times, who admit nothing as true which they are not able to comprehend, they denied that Jesus was the Christ or Son of God, chap. ii. 22. because they could not reconcile the things which happened to him with their idea of the Son of God. This class of heretics were said by the fathers, Auay Toy Inosy, to dissolve Jesus. See chap. iv. 3. note 1. end. For they affirmed that Christ entered into Jesus at his baptism in the form of a dove, but flew away from him before his passion.-B. Horsley, in Lett. 14. to Dr. Priestley, saith, "The Cerinthians held, that Christ being restored to Jesus after his resurrection, it rendered the man Jesus an object of divine honours." They believed, it seems, that Jesus was originally and essentially a man; and that whatever divinity he possessed was adventitious, consequently was separable from him.

The former sort of false teachers having denied the humanity, and the latter the divinity of our Lord, the apostle John, to confirm all the disciples in the belief of the truth concerning the person and offices of Christ, wrote this his first epistle, in which he expressly asserted that Jesus Christ is the Son of God,' chap. i. 3. 7. iv. 15. and that he came in the flesh. See chap. iv. 2. note.

Here let it be observed, that the opinions of the Docetæ, on the one hand, and of the Cerinthians on the other, concerning the person and offices of Christ, make it probable that the apostles taught, and that the first Christians believed Christ to be both God and man. For if the Docetæ had not been taught the divinity of Christ, they had no temptation to deny his humanity. And if the Cerinthians had not been taught the humanity of Christ, they would have been under no necessity of denying his divinity. But fancying it impossible that

both parts of the apostle's doctrine concerning the Christ could be true, the one class of heretics, to maintain his divinity, thought themselves obliged to deny his humanity; and the other, to maintain his humanity, supposed it necessary to deny his divinity.—To this argument, by which it is rendered probable that the apostles taught, and the first Christians believed, Jesus Christ to be both God and man, the Socinians perhaps will reply, that the members of the church of Jerusalem being called Ebionites by the ancients, is a proof, not only that the church of Jerusalem held the opinion of Ebion concerning the mere humanity of Christ, but that the apostles who planted and instructed that church held the same opinion; because it is natural to suppose, that the faith of the teachers and of the disciples on this article was the same, consequently that the apostles themselves were Unitarians. Nevertheless, from the account which Origen hath given of the brethren of the church of Jerusalem, who he tells us were called Ebionites by the ancients, it appears that this name, as applied to the Hebrew Christians, by no means leads to these conclusions. For in his second book against Celsus, sect. 1. in answer to the Jew, who alleged that the Jewish Christians, being deceived by Christ, had forsaken the laws and institutions of their fathers, and gone over to a different name and manner of living, Origen affirmed, "That they had not forsaken the law of their fathers, but lived according to it, being named from the poorness of the law; (he means, named Ebionites); for a poor person is called by the Jews Ebion. Hence, those of the Jews who received Jesus are called Ebionites." The Jewish believers, therefore, according to Origen, were called Ebionites, not because they held the opinion of Ebion concerning the mere humanity of Christ, but because they adhered to the law of Moses, and expected only the poor temporal rewards which were promised in that law; whereas, the proper Ebionites were those who had a low opinion of the person of Christ. So Eusebius informs us, E. H. lib. iii. c. 27. "The ancients called them Ebionites, who entertained a poor and low notion of Christ; for they thought him only (TV a navy) a simple and common man." Farther, admitting that the argument taken from the appellation of Ebionites, which was given by the ancients to the members of the church of Jerusalem, were well founded, it would not prove that all, or even the greatest part of them, held the doctrine of the mere humanity of Christ. For in comprehending the whole body of the Hebrew Christians under the appellation of Ebionites, Origen himself acknowledgeth in the third section of the same second book, that he wrote incorrectly, since he there distinguishes the Hebrew Christians into three sects, one of which, he tells us, discarded the law entirely; consequently they were not Ebionites, but orthodox Christians. The same distinction Jerome hath made in his commentary on Isaiah ix. 1, 2, 3. where he speaks of Hebrews believing in Christ, and, as a class of people distinct from them, mentions Nazarenes, who observed the law, but despised the traditions of the Pharisees, thought highly of Paul, and held the doctrine of our Lord's divinity. See also his Comment. on Isaiah viii. 14-21. More than this, although it were granted, for argument's sake, that the brethren of the church of Jerusalem generally believed the doctrine of Christ's mere humanity, it will not prove that the apostles by whom they were instructed were of the same opinion, unless we think the Hebrew Christians could not be enticed by false teachers to forsake their first faith. This, it is presumed, no one will affirm who recollects that the Laodiceans are an example of a whole church declining from its first faith, even in the days of the apostles, Rev. iii. 14-18. Lastly, in this question it is of importance to know, that the doctrine of the proper Ebionites concerning the mere humanity of Christ was deemed here

tical by the church in the days of Irenæus, who wrote his books against heresies in the year 176 or 177. For in the list which he hath given of heretics, lib. i. he places the Ebionites between the Cerinthians and the Nicolaitans, both of them acknowledged heretics. And in his third book he refutes, by testimonies from the scriptures, the opinion of those who affirmed that Christ was a mere man engendered of Joseph, which was precisely the opinion of the proper Ebionites. Now, if the Ebionæan doctrine concerning the person of Christ was esteemed by the church heretical so early as in the time of Irenæus, it could neither be the doctrine of the apostles nor of the first Christians. Upon the whole, the argument of the Socinians to prove that both the apostles and the first Christians were Unitarians, taken from the members of the church of Jerusalem being called Ebionites by the ancients, is by no means conclusive.

Besides the heretics above-mentioned, there was a third sort who troubled the church in the apostle's days, named Nicolaitans, Rev. ii. 15. These the ancient Christian writers called Gnostics; because, misunderstanding our Lord's words, John xvii. 3. This is the life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent,' they affirmed, that nothing was necessary to eternal life, but the knowledge of the true God and of his Son Jesus Christ. With them, therefore, knowledge was the highest, and indeed the only Christian virtue; and therefore, whoever possessed the knowledge of God and of Christ was sure of salvation, whatever his character and actions might be.-Farther, because the apostle Paul, in his epistles, had taught the doctrine of justification by faith without works of law, these heretics affirmed that Christ had set men free from the obligation of the law of God as a rule of life; consequently, that in the gospel dispensation believers being under no law whatever, they sinned not by any thing they did, however contrary it might be to the laws, whether of God or of men. According to them, the only thing incumbent on believers, in order to their obtaining eternal life, was to abide in Christ;' by which they meant, abiding in the knowledge and profession of the gospel. This impious doctrine the Nicolaitans anxiously propagated, for the purpose of alluring wicked men to become their disciples, that they might draw money from them, which they spent in gratifying their lusts. Accordingly our Lord, in his epistle to the church of Pergamos, Rev. ii. 14. represents the Nicolaitans as holding the doctrine of Balaam, who (as Peter expresses it, 2 Pet. ii. 15. loving the hire of unrighteousness) taught Balak to cast a stumbling. block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit whoredom.'-Farther, because these ungodly teachers, whilst they inculcated the most immoral doctrines, pretended to be inspired, our Lord gave them the name of Jezebel, Ahab's wife, who, being addicted to sorcery and divination, was a great favourer of the prophets of Baal. Perhaps also the Nicolaitans, to gain the reputation of inspired teachers, imitated the prophets of Baal in their ecstasies.-Our Lord's condemnation of the doctrines and practices of these impostors, we have in the following passage, Rev. ii. 20. Thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, who calleth herself a prophetess, to teach, and to deceive my servants to commit whoredom, and to eat things sacrificed to idols.'

Concerning this class of false teachers, it is proper to remark, that their error did not consist in denying the essential difference between moral good and evil, but in affirming that Christ having purchased for his people an absolute freedom from the laws both of God and men, they were not bound by any rules of morality, but were at liberty to do what they pleased; so that, being inca pable of sinning, they were not subject to punishment. This doctrine leading its abettors to all manner of licen