times offices were created in imitation of the societies and clubs that existed throughout the empire. These offices tended to become permanent, and their incumbent's power greatly increased. In this way they encroached on those whose services had been voluntary. Opposition arose between those who had gifts and those who had offices. Of these "charismatic " persons, the prophets were the last to yield. This struggle culminated in the movement known as Montanism at the end of the second century. The outcome could not be doubtful. officers were organized, the prophets were only so many individuals. Regularly appointed officers of the church came to control everything. There was no longer room for the free exercise of gifts of any kind. The clergy dominated everything. The offices and the honors were theirs. Obedience to them became the test of church membership. The Jesus had said that religion is a matter of the heart. He taught not a theology but a religion. But those who came to believe in him brought with them their ignorance and many of their superstitions. Their false conceptions of things were not corrected by a belief in the Messiahship of Jesus. They brought with them their metaphysical speculations. They came into Christianity with all their intellectual possessions. The problem which pressed upon them was, How can Greek culture of the day be harmonized and united with the teachings of Jesus? The difficulty which the Gnostics of Colossæ had in fitting Jesus into their speculative system was but the first of a long series that were to trouble the church and vex its peace. It was inevitable that there should be a fusion of Christianity with the philosophy and superstition of the Greeks, in which the former was sure to suffer and lose much of its simplicity. The religion of Jesus became corrupted, his religion was replaced by a philosophy. The Sermon on the Mount, with its lofty ethics, was eventually replaced by the Athanasian Creed, with its subtle metaphysics. The oneness of Jesus with the Father in love, will, and purpose was replaced by a oneness in substance. The religious and ethical greatness of Jesus was obscured by the speculation about his metaphysical relations to God.1 1 See Hatch, The Influence of Greek Ideas upon Christianity. APPENDIX. THE CHRONOLOGY OF THE PERIOD. Ir must be emphasized at the outset that it is impossible to fix all the dates of this period with certainty. What is here offered is given as a working basis. It is not claimed that they are absolutely correct. Just a word as to the process of determining them. It seems to be certain that Porcius Festus became Procu rator and reached Cæsarea (Acts xxv. 1) in the spring of the year 60 a. d. Paul had already been two years a prisoner (Acts xxiv. 27). That fixes his arrest in Jerusalem in the year 58 (Acts xxi. 27 ff.). After Festus came, Paul appealed at once to Cæsar, and probably set sail for Rome in the autumn of 60, but because of shipwreck did not reach his destination until the spring of 61. These dates may be regarded as well established. From the various indications given in Paul's letters and in the Acts, combinations must be made, and we reckon from these dates backward and forward. The Crucifixion Conversion of Paul His labors in Arabia, his return to Damas cus, his visit in Jerusalem, and his return A. D. 30 33-34 34-35 34-45 until about 38 James the brother of John slain by Herod The so-called council at Jerusalem 44 44-51 50 or 51 Paul's missionary journey through Asia Mi nor, Macedonia, Greece, and his residence in Corinth; the so-called second Missionary Journey, about His residence in Ephesus, the so-called third missionary journey Paul's arrest in Jerusalem. Felix, Procurator Porcius Festus, Procurator Paul imprisoned in Cæsarea 50-54 60 62-63 In the autumn Paul sailed for Rome, which he reached in the following spring His imprisonment in Rome Probably set free, his journey to Spain? His The death of James, the brother of Jesus, in Jerusalem The Fall of Jerusalem 64-65 or later 62 70 |