from without to one of the external senses, the ear-it was argumentative, and sought by reason to triumph over the affections. Motives, and not force, were offered. The heart was aimed at, and taken; but it was by the tongue of the speaker, the ear of the hearer, and words fitted to human nature; and it was successful because it was in harmony with the whole human constitution. The tempter was admitted into the heart, and got possession of the human affections. The sin of Eve began not in hearing, but in listening: she hearkened or listened after she heard the voice. This was the first motion towards sin and death; as to listen to the voice of the Son of Eve is the first motion towards righteousness and life. But we have not noticed the order of the temptation. The tempter began not by a flat contradiction or denial of the word of God, but simply by an interrogation creating a doubt on the question, Hus God spoken thus to you? "Yea! hath God said you shall not eat of every tree of the garden!" Farther than this he presumed not to go in his first address. But Eve suffered him to proceed. Had she not listened to this first suggestion, she would not have heard him say, "You shall not surely die." This was her radical error. When Satan attacked the Son of Eve, he aimed in the first place at creating a doubt in the same way: "Ir thou be the Son God, command these stones," &c. Jesus repelled the insinuation by giving him the word of the Lord-"It is written," &c. Forgetfulness is the parent of doubt; doubt of God's truth is the parent of false reasoning; false reasoning the parent of transgression, and transgression ends in death. The enemy, we can only now add, prevailed, and Eve was deceived. Both our parents became the captives of Satan, and human nature at the fountain head is corrupted and perverted from its allegiance and from the homage due to the rightful Sovereign of universal being. Sentence is pronounced upon all the parties in this eventful transaction. The serpent, the woman, and the man are severally examined, tried, and condemned. The future fortunes of all are foretold. War is formally proclaimed. The leaders are to be a Son of Eve and him that spoke in the person of the serpent; (for as it was not Balaam's ass that spoke, but a spirit that spoke in it; so it was not the serpent himself, but the Devil or Satan, that old serpent, that spoke to Eve.) The end of the campaign is clearly intimated, though its varied and greatly diversified scenes and fortunes are not pictured out. Eve's Son is to bruise his heel in treading upon the Dragon's head. But the heel being the farthest from the vital focus, intimates how slight the detriment of the one Chief, compared with the final overthrow and complete ruin of the other at the close of this long and arduous struggle. To trace the most prominent outlines of this truly interesting drama-this eventful war of six thousand years, is all that we dare attempt in this series. Allegiance to Heaven's King, for certain reasons true and worthy, is the rallying point in the one kingdom; and allegiance to the rebel chief and usurper, for reasons false and unworthy, is the rallying point in the dominions of the other. A. C. TYNDALE'S VERSION OF PETER'S PENTECOSTIAN ADDRESS. his voice, "PETER a stepped forth with the eleven, and lift up and said unto them: Ye men of Jewry, and all ye that inhabit Jerusalem: be this known unto you, and b with your ears hear my words. These are not drunken, as ye c ween; for it is yet but the third hour of the day: but this is that which was spoken by the Prophet Joel: It shall be in the last days (saith God) of my Spirit I will pour out upon all flesh. And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions. And your old men shall dream dreams. And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out of my Spirit in those days; and they shall prophesy. And I will show wonders in heaven above, and tokens in the earth beneath, blood and fire, and the vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and that notable day of the Lord come. And the time shall come that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Ye men of Israel, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you with miracles and wonders, and signs which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves know: him have ye taken dby the hands of unrighteous persons, after he was delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, and have crucified and slain him, whom God hath raised up and loosed the sorrows of death, because it was unpossible that he should be holden of it. David speaketh of him: e[Aforehand,] saw I God always before me: for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved. Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad. Moreover also, my flesh shall rest in hope because thou shalt not leave my soul in fhell, neither shalt suffer ethy saint to see corruption. Thou hast showed me the ways of life: thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance. "Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David: ifor he is both dead and buried, and his sepul chre remaining with us unto this day. Therefore since he was a Prophet, and knew that God had jsworn with an oath to him, that the fruit of his loins should sit on his seat: The msaw before, and spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul should not be left in hell: neither his flesh should see corruption. This Jesus has God raised up, whereof we are all witnesses. "Since now that he by the right hand of God exalted is, and hath received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth that which ye now see and hear. For David is not ascended into heaven, but he said: The Lord said to my Lord sit on my right hand, until I make thy foes thy footstool. So therefore let all the house of Israel know for a surety, that God hath made n the same Jesus whom ye have crucified, Lord and Christ. "When they heard this, they were pricked in their hearts, and said unto Peter, and unto the other Apostles: Ye men and brethren, what shall we do? Peter said unto them: o Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise was made unto you, and your children, and to all that are afar, even as many as our Lord God shall call. And with many other words p bare he witness, and exhorted them, saying: Save yourselves from this q untoward generation. They that gladly received his preaching were baptized. And the same day there were added runto them about three thousand souls." The following notes show all the variations from Tyndale down to the time of King James. "Gen." (Genevan version;) "Cov." (Coverdale;) "Bps." (Bishops' Bible;) “T. M.” (Thomas Matthews;) "Cr." (Cranmer:) a Standing, Gen. Bps. b Let my words enter in at your ears, Cov. Hearken to, Gen. Hear, Bps. c Suppose, T. M. Cr. Gen. Pps. d By wicked hands, Gen. Bps. e Gen. Bps. omit. f The grave, Gen. [So vs. 31.] g Thine holy, T. M. Cr. Thine holy one, Gen. Bps. h I may boldly, Gen. i That he is, Gen. j Promis ed nim, Cov. Christ, as concerning the flesh, should come of the fruit of his loins, and should set, Cr. Of the fruit, &c. he should raise up Christ concerning the flesh, to set him, &c. Gen. Bps. (In that Christ should rise again in the flesh,) T. M. Oen. n Both Lord and Christ, this Jesus, I say, &c. Gen. Repent of your sins, Gen. p He besought, Gen. m Knowing this before, Cr. q Fro Comparing Tyndale's version of this passage with the marginal readings, any one may see how much we are indebted to King James and his fifty-four translators. A. C. THE SENATORIAL GOVERNMENT OF THE CHURCH. IN our last number we promised a remark or two on another part of the communication of our correspondent R. L. of Baltimore-that pertaining to the eldership. I only premise two or three axiomatic truths on this subject: GOVERNMENT OF THE CHURCH. 127 1. Every community requires government; or, in other words, every body requires a head. 2. A community all head, or a community that is all government, is a monster. 3. It is more harmonious with reason, universal nature, and the Bible, that seniors should govern juniors, than that juniors should govern seniors. These things premised, we allege that the church of Christ is a community that needs government, and that her Founder and Head has communicated authority for this purpose to some persons. The Apostles were authorized by Christ to give rules for the selection and ordination of Elders, and these seniors were instructed in their duties by the Apostles. One branch of their duties was "ruling well." They were teachers and rulers. Consequently if they ruled, others obeyed. A community all rulers, or a com munity all ruled, would be an anomally in earth or heaven. The Christian house resembles a family in some respects: for ruling a family well is the best preparation for ruling a church well; and the best voucher of a man's fitness for exaltation to the Senate or eldership, is his proficiency in family government. If I thought my readers were not well read in Paul's letters to Timothy and Titus, I would here quote chapter and verse. Touching the passages quoted and commented on by our cor respondent, we have only time and room to remark, that the pas sages themselves, without comment, are clearly in favor of a senatorial government in the church. The nation of Israel and the synagogues were both under a senate, and the Christian church was after the same model. Thus Paul to the Thessalonians, says, "We beseech you, brethren, acknowledge them who labor among you and are ovVER YOU, (under) in (or by) the Lord, and admonish (or instruct) you, and to esteem them very highly in love for the work's sake, or on account of their sacred office-"warn the UNRULY," (or disorderly.) Paul addressed the churches even where bishops are named in them, because he wished to teach both their duties to each other, and was above both. "He gave first Apostles." This fact explains the difficulty suggested on account of not writing to the senate or bishops of the churches. It was indeed wise and benevolent on the part of the Apostles to instruct both the rulers and the ruled at the same time face to face in one public letter. True, indeed, he addressed Timothy and Titus on official duties; but generally he addressed the whole community-and although he sometimes gave a charge to the senate, as in the case of the Ephesian bishops, he preferred to write to the congregations with or without an eldership, that all might be instructed, supported, and comforted. 128 GOVERNMENT OF THE CHURCH. I object to the comments of R. L. on Hebrews xiii. 7, 17. as well as on the phrase "the church-the pillar and support of the truth," because they appear to me rather forced and unnatural, as well as contrary to other clear and express statements. To the church is certainly "committed the oracles of God," and her members are taught to regard themselves as "holding forth the light of life," as a "city situate on a mountain," and therefore rightly termed "the pillar," the monumental column on which is inscribed the salutary truth; and she is as well the support as the abode of the truth; for she is built on the truth, and is to hold the truth and to exhibit the truth to the world. Some critics, among whom is Benson, reads this verse thus: "Timothy," behave "thyself in the house of God," that you may be "a pillar and a support of the truth." Still if the Apostles were pillars and Timothy a pillar, the church of which they were a part is certainly the pillar and support of the truth! Still this is a subordinate matter. The comment on Hebrews xiii. 17. does violence to the connexion in which it stands. To convert the rulers that watch for men's souls into political rulers, that take care of their lives, difficult though it be, is still more manageable than-to make the comment suit the context. For how will the rest of the verse correspond to political rulers: "Obey your magistrates and submit yourselves; for they watch for your lives as those that must give account, that they may do this with joy and not with mourning, for that would be unprofitable for you" [Christians.] The civil magistrates in those days were rather watching for the lives of the Christians in another sense than that of our correspondent, and certainly thus to obey them could not be very profitable for the brotherhood! I am aware that our brother is fearful of the abuses of these precepts of the Apostles, and would rather find some other way of disposing of them, than to risque all the consequences of the plain and most obvious interpretation of them. I have felt all this embarrassment myself, and can therefore sympathize with him. But as my experience advances I am the more established that the abuses of these precepts are less to be feared than the nullification of them. There are the extremes of Congregationalism and monarchical despotism. There is popery and a fierce democracy. Neither of these are the Christian Institution. Mobocracy may become as tyrannical as unlimited monarchy. Both are to be eschewed for the same reasons. Louis XIV., though a persecuting tyrant, was no more to be feared than the organs of the popular assemblies in the "age of reason" and "the reign of terror." The person who converts a congregation, who is the father of a community as Paul was to the Corinthians, is generally the |