furnished by the New Testament (Matt. ix.; Acts xviii., xix.); the Hemerobaptists, or Daily Baptists, who reverently dipped their bodies in water every day; and these appear to have been related to the Mandæans (or Sabeans), who took the name in honour of the divine Æon, Saviour and Mediator, known as Manda.* About the middle of the first century the New People and their religion had found their way to Rome. The Roman Government felt no love for Jews, however much individual Romans might hanker after the oriental novelties of Mosaism. Heavy poll-taxes had been laid upon them. In the time of Claudius (41-54), as Suetonius narrates, all Jews were banished from Rome, for they were "continually making disturbances at the instigation of one Chrestus." Yet Jewish ideas and practices gained ground, despite the police measures of the Government and the ridicule of the Roman wits. On Sabbath days certain proselytes closed their shops. Some made devout pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Careful divisions of food into clean and unclean were observed. Juvenal, the satirist, gibed at pious fathers who trained their sons to spend the seventh day in idleness, to avoid swine's flesh, to worship an invisible god beyond the clouds, and, in bigoted exclusiveness, to refuse even to point out the road to an uncircumcised stranger Into the Jewish quarter of Rome, where some 20,000 Hebrews had crowded, the New Movement penetrated. Stray hints in Paul's epistle to the Roman Christians give us glimpses of a community by no means at one on points of doctrine and morals. While some freely ate meat and drank wine, others lived a simple Essenian life as vegetarians and water-drinkers. In one household the old festivals were kept with strictness; in another, all days were treated alike (Rom. xiv.). Among a section of these Jewish Christians the harlotries of Nero's court and the secularism of Rome's religion and politics had roused a dangerous and seditious zeal. Paul uttered a word of warning: every soul be in subjection to the higher powers." "Let Never *W. R. Sorley's "Jewish Christians and Judaism;" Kurtz's "Church History," vol. i., secs. 25 and 28. † Suetonius, Lives of the Cæsars," Claudius, xxv. This historian wrote in the period 98-120. In theless, the demeanour of the disciples of the New Movement led the Roman authorities to suspect a religion which showed no reverence for the Empire and its administration. Tacitus frowns upon these Jews who despise the gods, and cherish their dogmas above the ties of family affection. the year 64 a fire, breaking out in a humble shop-keeping district of Rome, spread over an immense area of the city. Nero energetically provided food and shelter for the homeless citizens, and planned out superb structures and new streets. People murmured that he had himself caused Rome to burn. To allay this rumour the Emperor made scapegoats of certain denizens of the Jewish quarter, who followed what Suetonius calls "the new and baneful superstition." Here we may quote the famous passage from Tacitus ("Annals," xv. 44): "To dispel suspicion, Nero fastened upon and subjected to ingenious tortures the people whom the public called Christians. Christ, the originator of that name, had been executed by the procurator Pontius Pilate, in the reign of Tiberius. The abominable superstition, though put down for a time, broke out again, not only in Judæa, where it began, but also in Rome, where all bad and shameful things collect and flourish. Out of the number first arrested some confessed, and these, with a great multitude against whom they gave information, were condemned, not so much on account of the fire, as because of their hatred against mankind in general. They were ridiculed even in their death; for some were clad in the skins of wild beasts and torn to pieces by dogs; some were nailed to crosses; others burned to death; and, as dusk came on, some were lit [after being smeared with pitch] as torches in Nero's own gardens.' ""* In Christian memories blood and horror were associated with Nero's name. After his death in June, 67, reports flew from corner to corner of the empire, hinting that Nero was still alive and would return from his hiding-place among the Parthians beyond the river Euphrates, and take revenge upon his enemies.† Tacitus was * The genuineness of the passage has been doubted. contemporary with Suetonius. For the events just narrated see Hausrath's "Time of the Apostles," iv., chapter on "Jews in Rome;" and Homersham Cox's "First Century of Christianity," vol. i., chap. X.; Antiqua Mater," chap. i. + Hausrath's "Time of the Apostles," iv., chap. on "The End of Nero." When, in 68, the Roman armies, after the conquest of Galilee, began to converge upon Jerusalem, a party of the New People took flight from the doomed city. Writing long afterwards, Eusebius tells how the Christians received a divine revelation directing them to escape. They made their way across the Jordan into Peræa, where, on a plateau overlooking the high-road to Damascus, stood the town of Pella. Here the settlement of humble Nazarenes and Ebionites dwelt in peace, while Jerusalem endured the agonies of the siege. And here, if certain critics have. judged rightly, some unknown writer published a small apocalypse, which we may call The Broad-sheet of Pella, and which is contained, in a more or less modified form, in the first three gospels (Matt. xxiv. 1–44, x. 17–23; Mark xiii. 1-37; Luke xxi. 5-36). This document purports to give a speech from the mouth of Jesus as he sits on the Mount of Olives in view of the Temple; but its real character as an original manuscript is suggested by the curious fact that, both in Matthew and Mark, the mention of the pollution of the Temple is followed by the remark, "let him that readeth understand "—a caution altogether out of place in a speech. A glance at the broadsheet will show how applicable are its contents to the conditions of the year 68. The elegant masonry of the Temple will be shattered. Sham Messiahs will appeal to the mob. Earthquakes will rumble, famines desolate, wars alarm. The disciples of the new gospel will be flouted, whipped, and, in some cases, slain. But they must cast aside all anxiety, and in the hour of trial the inner voice of the Holy Spirit will bid them speak the appropriate word. Unhappily, some weak minds will fail, and recant, and even betray their kinsmen. The Temple will be desecrated as Antiochus Epiphanes profaned it with an altar of Jupiter; and then the thunderstorm of wrath will lower. The Saints must flee. Well will it happen if the day of flight fall not on a Sabbath, for the devout Nazarene or Ebionite will save his life only with reluctance, if at the cost of breaking the Sabbath. And then the Son of Man will appear among the clouds, the celestial trumpet sound, and the Elect will be * Sorley's "Jewish Christians," ch. iv.; Hausrath's "Apostles," iv., chapter on History of the Christians during the Jewish War.” 66 gathered in from field and cottage. Let the Saints take heed and watch and pray. Such, in substance, is the message of the apocalypse which has been preserved by the first three gospels, though a comparison of the three versions reveals curious variations, as if later hands had added or subtracted a word here or a sentence there. The supposed prophecy clearly enough reflects the terror and uncertainty of the final days of the Jewish War, when the Saints looked upon the impending fall of Jerusalem as a signal for the descent of Messiah and the triumph of his followers.* 4. Organisation and Customs of the New People.-If the reader appreciates the use of the term, "The New People," he will allow that the religious innovators whom we have seen at Jerusalem, at Rome, or at Pella, represented an evolution which had as yet little consistency or definition. Their organisation, their doctrines, their literature, had not yet taken clear and peculiar forms. In the present section we shall somewhat anticipate the course of history, and trace the early growth and government and customs of Christian societies, in order to understand whither the embryo religion of the first century was tending. Having, so to speak, viewed the apparatus through which the New Movement worked, we shall be better able to approach the difficult problem of the essential character of the Gospel in which that Movement embodied itself. For many years the New Movement propagated itself through small local societies, which gradually took the name of Churches. Celsus, with a smile, noticed that the Christians he met were mostly weavers, cobblers, tanners, and the like. These humble artisans, shopkeepers, and slaves met in rooms in private houses. The book of Acts shows us how a hundred and twenty Saints held prayer-meetings in an upper chamber in Jerusalem. From allusions in Paul's letters and the Acts we glean details of the character of the Greek Christian assemblies. Forty or fifty people would meet in an upper room of a private house. There, remote from the hum of the street, the group of enthusiasts would greet each other and join in worship. As working people they found it *Hausrath's "Apostles," iv., chapter last cited; Keim's "Jesu of Nazara,' vol. v., chapter iv. convenient to attend chiefly in the evenings. The burning of many lamps and the presence of a crowd heated the air, and the windows were thrown wide; and naturally enough, as the story of Eutychus suggests (Acts xx.), the close atmosphere sometimes made the less fervent listeners inattentive and drowsy. Women sat apart, closely veiled. In an adjoining chamber, or in a specially marked-off corner, known as the Place of the Unlearned, gathered inquirers and stray visitors who were not yet admitted into full membership. As years passed by differences of rank received increased attention, until the writer of the "Epistle of James "indignantly complained that the richer Christians were assigned comfortable seats and the poorer brethren left to stand, or to squat uneasily on the floor or footstools. Some kind of reading opened the meeting, such as an extract from the Law or the Prophets; and, as Paul suggested that the "tallith" or head-covering worn by readers in the synagogues was symbolical of ignorance of God's gospel, we may suppose no such veil was worn by Christian lecturers. An exhortation or sermon followed. Prayers, praise, and psalms formed parts of the routine. In democratic spirit, any person so inclined was allowed to rise and sing a hymn, or utter an experience, or make an inspiriting appeal, his words being echoed by a fervent "Amen, Amen" from the audience. At times devotion reached the point of excitement and rapture, and the speaker's voice rose to an inarticulate shout or a mysterious whisper. The hearers received this "tongue" with reverence, though without comprehending its significance, unless, indeed, another member of the congregation offered to interpret the meaning of the "unknown tongue." Now and then a quiver of ecstasy ran through the room, and a whole chorus of voices, yelling and discordant, gave wild vent to the feelings of the Saints. Paul found it necessary to rebuke these unedifying outbursts. While women may have been left free to utter a prayer or express themselves in a "tongue," they did not engage in set and formal discourse; or, if any did, it was against the precise injunction of Paul, "Let the women keep silence in the churches; it is shameful for a woman to speak in the church." We have but little information to guide us to a conception of the method of sermon in vogue among the churches; and no doubt the |