Homer. The greatest and the bravest of the Iliad knew what this is. Ajax, more than once, is struck with awe and filled with terror. Hector flies panic-stricken around the walls of Troy. The hero of the Odyssey bends beneath its power, and feels as one in the very shadow of death. Well does he describe it.

Odyssey, X, 496. G.

588, P. Struck at the word, my very heart was dead.
Pensive I sat. My tears bedewed the bed.

To hate the light and life my soul begun,
And saw that all was grief beneath the sun.
Composed at length, the gushing tears suppressed,
And my tossed limbs, now wearied into rest.

49. The reader of the Bible knows well how faith in God is insisted upon as necessary to sustain us, and how often we are reproved for the lack of it. It is needless to make selections illustrating this point; for they will occur at once to every mind. In the same way, throughout Homer, faith is insisted upon; and many a reproof for failure in the exercise of it may be found. A fine passage in the Odyssey will render this very clear. Ulysses, on the eve of battle, is encouraged by Minerva; but the numbers arrayed against him appear so great that he is disposed to shrink back. The goddess thus reproves him:

Odyssey, XX, 45. G.

55, P. Oh, impotence of faith! Minerva cries;
If man on frail, unknowing man relies,

Doubt ye the gods? Lo, Pallas' self descends,
Inspires thy counsels, and thy toils attends.

In me affianced, fortify thy breast,

Though myriads leagued, thy rightful claim contest.

We sincerely trust that the comparisons above made have not proved utterly tedious to the reader. If he has had the patience to go through them all, he has probably arrived at some of the conclusions indicated in our preliminary remarks. The subject is by no means exhausted; and there will doubtless occur to the reader passages from the Old Testament which have been omitted by us.. We may, on some future occasion, again solicit his attention to the subject presented, under a somewhat different form. We conclude: the present paper with two or three observations, which seem of importance to us, and which are best presented at its close:

1. The Iliad and the Odyssey lean clearly toward humanity. Homer makes kindness and mercy and generosity, greater than the exercise of brute force. When, at the funeral of Patroclus, Achilles

sacrifices twelve Trojan captives, the poet condemns the deed in these words:

Iliad, XXIII, 175. G.

D. Then, last of all, by evil counsel swayed,

216, P. Twelve noble youths he slew, the sons of Troy.

In the assembly of the gods, Apollo is made to say, speaking of the same Achilles, and condemning his cruel and revengeful acts:

Iliad, XXIV, 50. G.

C. He slays the illustrious Hector first, then drags his corse,
In cruel triumph, at his chariot wheels,

Around Patroclus' tomb; but neither well

He acts, nor honorably to himself,

While, to gratify revenge,

64, P. He pours dishonor thus on senseless clay.

These ideas are not found in a few places only. They pervade both these grand poems. Of course, we meet with transactions which cannot be judged of by our modern standard of morality and humanity; but the Homeric spirit, considered with reference to that age, is eminently moral and humane.

2. There is not a single great and brave deed recorded in the Iliad or in the Odyssey, that is not performed with so much manifest divine assistance, that nothing whatever is left in which man may glory. So uniform and striking is this, so clearly and strongly is the matter put, that it is impossible not to believe that the old poet meant to bring out, in the strongest relief, man's utter weakness and nothingness in the sight of heaven, and to teach him to say, with the Hebrew, "Not unto us, not unto us, but unto THY name give glory.”

3. Considered purely as religious books, the Iliad and Odyssey are remarkable. Almost every page inculcates, with a sort of intensity, the duty of reverencing and worshipping the gods, and the value of faith and prayer, and recognizes, with glowing earnestness, human dependence on the divine strength, and the divine presence as interpenetrating human affairs.

HACKENSACK, N. J.

J. B. HAGUE.

THE THEMES AND METHODS OF APOSTOLIC

PREACHING.

THE impartial student of history, in view of the wonderful revolution

in thought and life consequent on the promulgation of Christianity by the apostles, will not fail to inquire, What was the burden of the discourses producing such definite and permanent results? and the question must hold a stronger claim on the attention of men who acknowledge themselves appointed to perpetuate the same system. For the materials with which to prosecute this inquiry, we are dependent almost solely on the New Testament; and, indeed, only a small portion of this volume is serviceable for this purpose. As the epistles were written to build up the Christians to whom they were addressed in spiritual knowledge and a godly life, it is not surprising that they contain only occasional references to the means by which believers were brought to Christ. The narratives of the evangelists are occupied with events of an earlier date, and contain very little bearing directly on the answer to our question. Matthew says that the apostles were directed to go and disciple all nations, teaching them to observe all things commanded by Christ. This shows that the work rested on a divine commission, but does not reveal the method by which disciples were to be made. According to Mark, they were to preach the gospel, but we must look elsewhere for the interpretation of this word. Luke's testimony that they were to preach

repentance and remission of sins, in the name of Christ, among all nations, gives us some clearer idea of the work for which these men. were sent. But for anything like a full view of the themes and methods employed by the apostles in calling men to faith in Christ, we are almost exclusively dependent on the book of Acts.

For the purposes of this examination, it will be necessary to consider only such of the discourses mentioned in this book as are connected with the introduction of men to the Christian life; and these will be most conveniently classified according to the audiences to which they were addressed, which were Jews, proselytes, or idolaters. In the majority of instances thus passing in review, the audiences were Jews, or the Jewish element predominated in them. The preachers belonged to this people, and evidences of the strong attachment which bound them to the scattered Israelites, are continually occurring in the record of their labors. The account of the early diffusion of Christianity does not take the reader beyond those portions of the empire in which these people were found in large numbers; and wherever the apostles in their visits to places separated by long distances, and differing much in social and civil affairs, find themselves speaking to a company of Israelites, the fact that they are in the presence of children of Abraham rises to greater prominence in their minds than anything connected with the residence of their hearers, whether it be Damascus or Corinth or Rome. Even the apostle to the Gentiles acknowledges continual anguish of heart on account of his kinsmen according to the flesh, and declares his message of salvation to the Jew first, then to the Greek.

Some account is given of a large number of addresses to Jewish audiences, delivered by various speakers, amidst great diversity of times and places; but we find the same chief topics, the same lines of thought and species of argument in them all. One or two will answer, therefore, as examples of the class, and none can serve our purpose better than the sermon of Peter at the pentecostal season. Not many weeks have elapsed since the Nazarene was crucified. The majority of the people in Jerusalem have probably ceased to think of the man and the circumstances of his death; but a company of his disciples, having passed through a varied experience, are obediently waiting for the fulfilment of his promise to them, though unable to form any clear conception of the manner in which the promise should be accomplished. At length, in the fulness of the appointed time, they suddenly perceive wonderful manifestations of the divine presence and power, and become conscious of extraordinary exaltation of spiritual life. They are at once assured that the expected day has

come, and at once they begin to make communications to the people as the Spirit gave them utterance. The announcement of the wonderful phenomena attendant on this spiritual exaltation calls together a promiscuous assemblage from the dwellers in the city, Jews and proselytes; some of whom, probably, might be classed with Simeon, of an earlier day, and were waiting for the consolation of Israel; some showed their devoutness only in the formal observance of an ancient ritual; and some were frivolous persons who could find in the scene nothing more than an occasion for jests and merriment. In these circumstances, and before this audience, preaching in the Christian dispensation was inaugurated. What was the message?

In accordance with the natural forwardness of the man, Peter stands forth as the chief speaker. He rebukes the scoffers by an appeal to a well-known social custom, and declares the strange events occurring before the assembly to be the fulfilment of a precious prophecy of their sacred Scriptures. Jesus the Nazarene, he says, was pointed out to you as a man from God, by the wonders and signs which were wrought among you by him. This man, delivered up to you in accordance with the divine purpose, you caused to be put to death by the hands of idolatrous Gentiles. But God has raised him from the dead. This is what our father David, being a prophet, foretold concerning the Messiah, and we all are witnesses to you that God has raised Jesus from the dead. He being now exalted on high, sends forth the Spirit to accomplish the promised work among you. Be assured, therefore, that the crucified Jesus is made Lord and Christ. Many of the audience receive these declarations as true, their hearts are filled with sorrow and alarm, and they anxiously inquire, What shall we do? The answer is simple and direct: Repent, each of you, and prove your faith in Christ by acknowledging him in baptism; and you shall be made glad in the remission of sins, and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Three thousand are added to the church as the result of this day's labors.

Analyzing this discourse, we find distinct recognition of the inspiration of the Old Testament Scriptures, of the doctrine that miracles are a sign from God, and of the foreordination of particular events as harmonizing with responsibility in human action. Testimony is given to the principal facts connected with the life and death of Jesus. The gift of the Spirit to the church is affirmed to be through the Redeemer. The forgiveness of sins is set forth, on the one side; on the other, repentance, faith, and baptism. But the chief point of the discourse evidently is the resurrection of Christ. This is the fact to which the apostles are witnesses. Old truths are systematized around it. If