ch. ix. 20. 36 And besought him that they might only touch the hem of his garment: and as many as touched were made perfectly whole, Mark iii. 10. son had grown since the last quelling of a tempest. Before they say, "What manner of man is this that even the winds and the sea obey Him?" now they worship Him, saying, "Of a truth thou art the Son of God." CHAP. XV. HEN" TH b came to Jesus Scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying, c a Mark vii. 1. © Col. ii. 8. 2 Why do thy disciples transgress the tradi- ↳ Mark vii. 5. tion of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread. ye 3 But he answered and said unto them, Why do transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? also 1. "Then came to Jesus Scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem." So C., E., F., G., K., L., M., P., S., other later Uncials, most Cursives, most old Latin, Vulg., Cureton Syriac; but N, B., D., and a few Cursives read, "Came to Jesus from Jerusalem Scribes and Pharisees," as if they were especially sent from Jerusalem to question Him. 3. "By your tradition;" rather, "for the sake of;" propter. (Vulg.) 66 1. "Then came to Jesus Scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying," &c. Why is it particularly mentioned that these Scribes and Pharisees were of [or "from"] Jerusalem ?" Most probably to show that the leaders of religion in Jerusalem were getting thoroughly alarmed at the success of our Lord's teaching, and so sent men to oppose Him of their own body, who were better acquainted with all the minutia of the traditional exposition of the law, and better able to defend it than the Scribes of ignorant districts like Galilee. 2. "The tradition of the elders was a vast body of exposition of the Law, which had not in the time of our Lord been put into writing, but was handed down from teacher to teacher, and asserted d 4 For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death. d Ex. xx. 12. Lev. xix. 3. Deut. v. 16. Prov, xxiii. 22. . Ex. xxi. 17. Deut. xxvii. 16. f Mark vii. 11, 5 But ye say, Whoscever shall say to his father or his mother, 'It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; 6 And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition. 5. Alford and Revisers render latter clause, "Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, that wherein thou mightest have been benefited by me is a gift' (to God or the temple), he shall not honour (i.e., shall not pay, shall not sustain) his father" (or his mother). "His mother" omitted by N, B., D., Cureton Syriac; but retained by C., E., F., G., K., L., other Uncials, almost all Cursives, old Latin, Vulg., Syriac, Copt., &c. to have been delivered to Moses, or the elders at or near his time. In this, of course, there was not a particle of truth. It could not have existed during the times of the kings, or, indeed, before the captivity, because then the law itself was forgotten; but when, after the captivity, the Jews, thoroughly delivered from idolatry, began to pride themselves upon the mere possession of their law, then the door was opened to false expositions of it, which, whilst exalting the letter, made void its spirit. In after times it was put into writing, and formed the Talmuds. The mingled wickedness and absurdity of very much of this tradition may be judged of by the example cited by our Lord, of the way in which the fifth commandment was made void. It was first laid down that a dedication of anything to God, no matter how hasty— no matter from what motives-superseded all other claims upon it, even those of the commonest natural affection and charity. Then it was ruled that if any son in a moment of passion, or out of ill will and malice, said, respecting any assistance whatsoever that he might feel it his duty to afford to his parents, " It is Corban," from that moment he was precluded from doing anything to assist them. He might spend the money which he had proposed to give to them on himself or on his pleasures; but the moment it suggested itself to him to benefit his father or mother by it, his hand was arrested, as it were, by his vow, and he was bound to hand it to the treasury of the Temple, if he did not keep it for himself. So wicked a subter 7 Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, fuge seems incredible, but there can be no doubt that there were many similar cases in which the plain commands of the law of God were made void, though none, perhaps, so gross. It may be well to say a word here respecting the application of this place to Christian tradition. The Reformers of the Church of England in the sixteenth century undoubtedly desired to bring back the Church of this nation to what they conceived to be the primitive model; and so we find them continually appealing to the testimony of the early Fathers as to the interpretation of Scripture, and the practice of the Church in their day. A very considerable and influential school of thought in the Church has followed on the lines thus indicated, and has appealed to the written opinions of such men as Irenæus, Clement, Cyprian, and others, as of much greater value than those of any modern writer can possibly be, simply because they are witnesses to what was held or preached in the Church when the memory of the Apostolic teaching was comparatively fresh. The question is, In doing this, are we deferring to tradition? Are we following in the steps of the Jewish Scribes and Pharisees, and so making void the teaching of the Apostles in the New Testament? We assert that we are doing exactly the contrary. We are citing the opinions of men who testify to the doctrine of the Church in days far purer, far less secular, in most respects far more likely to be right than our own. The Jewish Tradition was late Tradition, not put into writing till centuries after our Lord's time-the oldest traditions not probably as old as the Book of Malachi. Whereas the works of the Christian Fathers were published by themselves. Their dates are well ascertained. Those who are most appealed toIgnatius, Irenæus, Cyprian-were eminently spiritual men. Some of them, as Clement and Origen, were highly intellectual men. Some of them, such as Justin and Clement of Alexandria, were well acquainted with Gentile literature and philosophy. Many of them were martyrs. Almost all were, like their Divine Master and His immediate followers, poor men. If any of them were bishops, their episcopal dignity was a passport to persecution and death, rather than to worldly honour. Now, when such men, living at such an era, held certain opinions, and appealed to the 8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. Is. xxix. 13. Ezek. xxxiii. 31. Is. xxix. 13. Col. ii. 18-22. Tit. i. 14. 9 But in vain they do worship me, 'teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. 8. "This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth." So C., E., F.. G., K., M., 8., other Uncials, most Cursives, &c. ; but omitted by N, B., D., L., 33, 124, old Latin, Vulg., Syriac (Cureton and Schaaf), Copt., &c. Scriptures to establish those opinions, the great probability is that they were right in what they held. To take a particular case. These men, without exception, held a very high view of the Sacraments as supernatural means of grace, and of the Church as a supernatural Society, and of the ministry as derived from the Apostles, and endowed with supernatural functions: and they appeal to the Scriptures in the enunciation of their opinions. We who hold the same opinions respecting the Church and the Sacraments as they do, appeal to their written testimony as most likely to set forth the true meaning of Scripture; and we appeal to it as being less likely to be contaminated by human tradition than any modern author whatsoever. Any modern commentator, such as Alford, Scott, Vaughan, Wordsworth, no matter what view he takes, has seventeen or eighteen hundred years of fluctuating Christian opinion to warp his view of the meaning of any passage of God's Word, whereas Justin and Irenæus have scarcely one century of opinion or tradition between them and Christ. In saying this, we are perfectly alive to the fact that there are most mischievous Christian traditions which have developed into Papal Infallibility, Mariolatry, and such things. But we assert that the early Fathers knew nothing of these things, and that their silence about them stamps such opinions as erroneous, because not held from the beginning. It is a question respecting the interpretation of Scripture; and it stands to reason that the opinions held in ages nearest to the Apostolic times are more likely to be right than opinions first heard of a thousand or fifteen hundred years after. 66 8-9. This people draweth nigh unto me.. . . . commandments of men." This place is quoted from the Septuagint version of Isaiah xxix. 13. There is a slight difference between the Hebrew and Greek, but the teaching is the same. In the one case it is, "Their fear toward me is taught by the precepts of men;" in the 10 And he called the multitude, and said unto them, Hear, and understand: 11 'Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth the man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man. k Mark vii. 14. Acts x. 15. Rom. xiv. 14, 17, 20. 1 Tim. iv. 4. Tit. i. 15. other, "In vain do they worship me, teaching the commandments and doctrines of men," or "teaching, as their doctrines, the precepts of men." If God has given a Revelation of His Will respecting our belief or conduct, it is clear that we must honour that Revelation by founding our creed and conduct upon it. This principle is very distinctly contravened when the cup in the Eucharist is withheld from the laity, and priests are forbidden to marry. But there are many other ways of contravening it: as, for instance, when duties enjoined by God are deliberately and of set purpose enforced by secular considerations and merely human sanctions, not by reference to God's present will and future judgment. With respect to modes of conducting public worship it is to be remembered that ultra-Protestant forms, such as those of Presbyterians and others, are far more the precepts of men than Catholic worship: for the only mode of worship which can make the smallest claim (from its antiquity) to Apostolical authority, is the general form and arrangement of the Eucharistic service which is to be found in the oldest Liturgies, and which is to a very considerable extent preserved in our own. · ... 10. "He called the multitude hear, and understand." Is there any reason why He should call the multitude? Most certainly. The principle which He was about to enunciate that all moral defilement comes from within, not from without-was not for a select few, but for every man-every human being is required to understand it, and lay it to heart. 11. "Not that which goeth into the mouth cometh out this defileth." A very interesting question arises here. In Levit. xi. a large number of animals are pronounced to be unclean, and so not to be eaten by the Israelites; though many of those so pronounced unclean are manifestly fit for human food. Does our Lord intend here to abrogate this law, which, in His pre-existent state, He had Himself ordained? Unquestionably He does so |