The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1880-01-07
THE PREPARAT TON FOR HIS
4 PPEA RING.


APPEA RING.
Christ came, as far as we may Judge of
such a thing, just at the opportune time.
Did you ever think of the peculiar state
of things which existed Just at the dawn
of the Empire? Christ entered the world
Just at the elimination of the Roman
power The conquest of the world had
been substantially accomplished In the
Forum, Augustus erected golden mile
stone, which was the centre of circle
whose radii extended to all parts of the
world-to Cadiz in Spain, to the Cata-
racts of the Nile, to various towns on
the Danube, through Gaul, to all the
cities Of Asia, and to the most distant
frontier the citizens Of the Empire could
Journey over well-constructed roads
They brought together all the nations of
the world. An intercourse sprang up
which had never been known before.
Spain, Gaul North Africa, even Britain,
soon became wholly Romanized. Two
languages the Greek and the Latin =
were spoken in all parts of the empire.
Now let an impulse, like that of Chris
tianity, be given at the Golden Mile-Po
of the Forum, and its vibrations would be
carried to every point of the circumfer-
ence. The travels of the Apostle Paul
illustrate this. The barriers between
nations were broken down, and UNI
vERsALIsM such as had never been known
before, was developed throughout Europe,
Northern Africa, and Western Asia.
But there was another feature to which
Uhlhorn calls attention in his work on
the Conflict between Christianity and
Paganism. This was JUDAISM We do
not realize, in our ordinary reading of the
New Testament, the position of the Jews
In the ancient world, and their relation to
the propagation of the new faith preached
by Paul and the other apostles. AL
ready, says Strabo, (who was a contem-
porary of our Saviour), " a Jewish popu-
lation has entered every city, and it is
not easy to fnd.a place in the habitable
world which has not received this race,
and is not possessed by it." In Egypt
they constituted one-eighth of the popu-
lation, and in Leontopolis they had
temple Of their own In Alexandria they
occupied two of the five wards of the
city, and were scattered throughout the
others. Antiochus the Great had trans
planted thousands Of Jewish families to
Phrygia and Lydia, whence they spread
over Asia Minor, and into Greece. Tar
sus in Cilicia, and Ephesus in Asia, were
centres Of Jewish life Their settlements
were found in Northern Africa, in Sicily.
and in Italy In the time of Tiberius
there were $4,000 in Rome, where they
had certainly seven, and probably more
than seven, synagogues. In Spain. in
Gaul, in Britain their representatives
were found, and a recent discovery of a
Jewish cemetery of the first century on
the banks Of the Danube suggests that
they were, perhaps, the merchants or
peddlers, who carried the iron and bronze
products Of Italy all over Central and
Western Europe. The Jews sell every
thing says Juvenal
Now, wherever they dwelt in sufficient
numbers, they had synagogue, or at
least a Proselcha or place Of prayer.
They lived to themselves, apart from the
heather, and all these Jewish conqrepa-
tons throughout the world were init
mately connected with each other. and
with the common centre at Jerusalem.
Every Jew, wherever he dwelt sent up
yearly his temple tax to Jerusalem, and
once at least in his life he went up to
visit the Holy City One Of their con
gregations, whether situated on the
banks Of the Danube or in the Libyan
Desert, was part of a universal society,
and if one Jewish congregation received
an injury at the hands Of the govern
ment, they all broke out into sedition,
and so were perpetual terror to the
emperors. Being great traders, and con-