The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-12-19
ST. PAUL AS A FOUNDER
HIS WORK INSPIRED THE ORGANIZA-
TION OF THE CHURCH.
PharisnicaI Conception of Christ ana
Its COnsequences-PauI' Letters to
the Eastern Churches.
Brooklyn Eagle

bTOOkIyn Eagle.
In Plymouth Church Sunday evening DR..
Lyman Abbott delivered the fourth in his
series of lectures on the life and writings
of st. Paul. He said
I'VE have no other direct information re-
specting the life of Paul than that which IS
contained in the book of Acts, and in the
photographed references to his epistles.
There are no other literary remains of Paul
than those which are contained in the New
Testament; nor is it at all likely that we
shall ever find either any other documents
from his pen or any other contemporaneouS
history concerning him. None the less, we
have information which throws no little
light on the life and teachings OF Pau,
which is not contained in the New Testa-
ment, and which serves us in Interpreting
them. If this were not the case there
would be comparatively little use in such a
course of lectures as L am giving you; COM
paratively little use, except as it might put
together the life as written in the Acts ana
the letters following the Acts.
1T is impossible for me- as ] so on with
these lectures. to stop and give you au-
thority for every statement, though it has
seemed TO me that 1T might be well to tndl-
cate tonight in the introduction of this
lecture some of the sources of information
not only by way of comprehensive state
ment, but by way of illustrative statement.
attempted to tell you in the second lecture
thought about Jesus Christ and the body or
disciples who were following Him. Now,
Paul has nowhere told us what he thought
about Jesus Christ and the body, of disciples
who were following Him. We Nave no con-
temporary history which does tell us what
Paul thought about Christ and the BODY or
disciples who were gathered about Him.
But Paul tells us that he was a Hebrew or
the Hebrews, that he was brought up IN
the strightest sect of the Pharisees, and we
have contemporary history which tells US
very clearly what the straightest sect OF
the Pharisees thought about Christ and
about the Christian sect.
I'VE have in the first place, the New Tes-
lament itself. The gospels intimate that tbs
PhariseeS charged Christ with being born
out of wedlOck. The gospels assure us that
the Pharisees declared that Christ was an
impostor that His resurrection was fraud,
foisted upon the people by the disciples who
stole His body from the grave; that He was
himself ignorant without education and
without competence to teach; and, Rabbinf-
cal literature, following these writer's, has
repeated with great aptitude these charges,
in time very close to the apostolic age,
and Rabbinical life of Jesus Zone at least,
l do not know but more) has been written
in which all these charges and many others
are brought against Him. We do, therefore,
know by deducton-not by direct informa-
tion-we know by reasonable and right de-
ductlon what Saul of Tarsus thought OF
Jesus of Nazareth and the Christian sect,
before he was converted, because we know
what the straightest sect of the Pharisees
to the straightest sect of the Pharisees
The organization of the early Christian
churches of which am going to speak to
of uncertainty. The history of these church,
in the apostolic age we have not except
as we find it in the book of Acts; but we
have some historical account of them as
they existed in the second century and we
can connect that organization with intima-
lions and suggestions in the book of Acts
and SO are able to construct with reas-
enable assurance of accuracy something
concerning the organization of the apostolic
churches.
EARLY CHRISTIAN CHURCH
eve find for example, that the word used
for the church is the same word as that
which was used by the Greeks to describe
their political assemblies. We are very sure,
therefore, that the early Christian Church
had some of the characteristics Of the dem
ocratic political assemblies of the Greeks;
otherwise the Greeks would not have taken
the word which fitted their political assem-
bies and apply it to the Christian assem-
bles. In the book of Acts, for example, we
find an account of the Greeks rushing into
the theater at EpheSuS in great cOnfu-
sion because they had been stirred up to a
passionate fervor by the declaration that
the preaching of the apostles is interfering
with the sale of the images of Diana And
this tumultuous assembly, which gathers in
the theater and cries first one thing ana
then another-the most part of them not
knowing why they have come together at
all-this tumultuous assembly Is called an
ecclesia. The same word is used to de-
scribe the Christian assemblageS. There
are other words in the Greek language that
would indicate a more highly organized
body We have a right to conclude. from
the simple fact that the word ecclesia is
used, that the body was not highly organ
lied - 90 49, 49, pa,,,
ordained del elders r of of the H churches We look
to see what the Greek word ordain IS:
1t is xeirotoneo, to elect by a show OF
hands, We turn to our Greek authorities
and we learn that in the Greek democratic
assemblies the officers We're elected as Ior-
merly they were elected IN England by
show of hands. This was the normal meth
cd of election in the democratic assemblies
of the Greeks; and we, therefore, conclude
that the officers whom Paul confirmed were
the officers that had been elected, sand prob
ably elected by a show of hands, in the way
in which they were elected in other Greek
assemblies We read of a council held IN
Jerusalem. To this council was brought
the question of how the Greek should be
treated in the new church-what should be
the relation Of the Greek Christian TO the
Jewish law; and this council, after deDates
issued what Is called In our Engnsih BiD ne
Paul and Barnabas to carry forth to the
churches. We look again to the Greek word
to see what this Greek word DEGREES IS;
preston of opiniOn'-What seemed TO the
assembly good. There are other words
that carry with them the conception or
authority and we therefore conclude that
these DEGREES were in the nature or resolu-
tions, and we are confirmed in this conclu-
sion when we observe that, a little later,
Paul quietly discarded two OF them at
least .,,,a,,
we reach our conclusion respecting the
somewhat uncertain and perpleXing ques-
ton of church history in the first and sec
ond century The view which l am going
TO give YOU tonight OF the growth and Or
ganiZation of these churches you might,
perhaps, naturally think is the Congrega-
tional view since it comes from Con-
gregationaI minister standing in a Congre- Z
gational pulpit. In point of fact, however,
although it is perhaps very generally. now
accepted by Congregatonalist scholars. II
cannot in any sense be called a denomina-
tionaI view. In fact, l believe that the
Congregationalists were the first of the
Protestants to affirm that the apostolic
churches were organized in particular
way, as an authoritative model TO be fol-
lowed in all future ages; but they have
held only by the Roman Catholic and
by the high church party within the Epis-
copal Church.
A CONGREGATIONAL VIEW.
1.-THE view which am going to present
to you tonight is not, therefore, Congre-
gational view. Indeed, the authorities on
which l shall mainly rely are, curiously
enough Episcopalian authorities. My
authorities are, apart from those of modern
times, first, study of the book Of Acts
and the Epistles themselves; secondly, a
study of the early apostolic fathers, and
thirdly, a special study of these great mod
ern scoars-Dr. Hort, of Cambridge, Pro-
lessor Hatch, of oxford. Dean Stanley, OF
Westminster. Bishop Lightfoot and DR..
School, Cambridge Mass.-all OF them dis
tinguished Episcopal scholars, all of them
recognized as authorities within the EpiS-
| coral communion. / do not mean TO SAP
that these gentlemen would all substantiata
all the statements am 10 give They would