We now behold the solemn assembly convened. We see St. James, Bishop of Jerusalem, president of the meeting. Other holy apostles and elders surround him; and those who make the charge stand ready to support it. Without disorder or confusion of any kind, the argument is stated, and the pleadings commence. Truth, like the penetrating sunbeam, breaks in upon the holy meeting; and a decree is given, conformable to the revelation of the Spirit, and the consistency of the sacred writings.

St. Peter, in the first place, addresses the assembly, and warmly contends for that " liberty, with which Christ had set them free'." There is great propriety in his address, as he was the first who had been appointed by God to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles, and, beginning with the conversion of Cornelius, continued thus to exercise his important commission. His reasons are weighty. 1. He acquaints them that they could not but know how he himself was circumstanced, that he was chosen in a miraculous manner for this purpose, and that he had acted according to his instructions. 2. As a proof that his commission came from heaven, he informs them that God bare witness to the conversion of the Gentiles by an effusion of the Holy Ghost, and a communication of spiritual gifts, in the same manner as they had been at first given to the apostles themselves; and that there was no difference between them, the hearts of both being

purified by faith only-the circumcision of the heart, the true circumcision of Christians, superseding the necessity of all external rites. 3. This being the case, he argues, that it would be to tempt God to disobey the will and command of God, if they were to impose the heavy yoke of the law, which could not justify, on the converts of Christianity; for if "there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness would have been by the law." 4. He therefore concludes, that it is an article of faith, inviolable and immoveable, independent of all works of men, much less of the now abrogated works of the Mosaic Institutions, that men are only to be saved by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

This judicious harangue prepared the minds of the hearers for the testimony of Paul and Barnabas. A solemn impression was made on the council by the declaration of these eminent apostles of what "miracles and wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles by them." The proper inference therefore is, that the divine commission was not confined to the circumcised Jew, but extended also to the uncircumcised Gentile; as God would not give the attestation of miracles to a commission which he did not sanction.

It is necessary to interrupt the narrative to observe, that a difference of opinion has arisen among commentators, who are to be understood by these Gentiles? whether Proselytes of the gate

1 Gal. iii. 21.

only, who were obliged to obey certain rules called the Precepts of Noah, or all heathen converts in general? Whatever may be the true opinion, it is evident from the decision of St. James, which we shall soon meet with, that the great object of the council was, as much as possible, to avoid any unnecessary offence being given to the converted Jews. For this purpose great deference appears to have been paid to their prejudices, where it did not interfere with the profession of pure Christianity. But this is often a dangerous experiment; and instances occur even amongst the apostles themselves, where the effect of this spirit of accommodation was not always successful'.

When Paul and Barnabas had given their testimonies, the President of the Council made his decision, which met with the universal approbation of the Assembly. "Simeon," he says, "has told you how God at first, that is, at the first of his preaching, did visit the Gentiles, and that one of them, as first fruits, was converted by himself—but the original disclosure of this great event was made long before this period. The prophets in general, and in particular the prophet Amos, some centuries before, predicted that the "house of David should be restored in the person of Messiah, and that the residue of men (the remnant of Edom, one of the fiercest enemies of Israel, as it has been translated) might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord who doth all

1 See Gal. ii. 11, &c.

these things'." Let no man then think this a new invention; for God, who knows all things, hath revealed it thus long ago to his holy Prophets; and the purposes of divine Providence must be completed. "Wherefore," he adds," my sentence is, I judge by the authority with which I am invested, that we trouble not the converted Gentiles with an observance of the ceremonial law, but esteem it sufficient caution for them, if we direct them in their intercourse with the Jewish Christians to abstain from what may give offence, from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood." If you so far conform to these injunctions, which are yet short of those enjoined the Proselytes of the Gate, you will give no offence to the native Jews; for the law of Moses, of which these precepts form a part, is read every Sabbath day in their own synagogue.

The wisdom and policy of this venerable Council are both conspicuous in this sentence. The Apostles and Elders are desirous of preserving the unity and tranquillity of the Church, and therefore they neither betray the true doctrine of the Gospel, by acknowledging that any legal works were necessary or meritorious to salvation, nor do they obstruct the propagation of Christianity among the Jews, by opposing such ceremonies as were at least innocent in their nature. "It is one thing," says an eminent divine2, "to be bound to observe the law of Moses as a matter of necessary duty, it is another thing to

1 Amos ix. 11, 12.

2 Sherlock's Disc. Vol. iv. Disc. 12.

comply with some parts of that law upon motives of Christian charity and prudence. It was lawful for the Gentile converts to live without observing any part of the law of Moses; but though all things are lawful, yet, as St. Paul says, 'all things are not expedient, all things edify not.' In all the cities where the Gentile Churches had been planted, there were Jewish converts likewise, who were zealous of the law, and who would hold no communication with the Gentiles who eat blood and the like; and therefore, unless the Gentile Churches complied in such particulars, there must be an irreconcileable division in the Church of Christ, to the loss of that charity on which the Gospel sets so great a price. From whence it is evident," concludes the same author, " that the injunctions of the council were founded upon prudential considerations with respect to the Jews, and the matters ordained by the council were matters of discipline and government only 1.

This interpretation removes the difficulty of those

1 Lev. xvii. 11.

"The life of the flesh is in the blood, and 1 have given it to you upon the altar, to make an atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul. Therefore, I said unto the children of Israel, No soul of you shall eat blood," &c.-Here appears the reason of this strict and often repeated prohibition: blood was appointed as the atonement for sin, it was set apart and sanctified for that purpose; and consequently, when the use of the altar and sacrifices ceased, at the death of Christ, the prohibition of eating blood should cease also, and the precept concerning it in the Acts of the Apostles seems to have been prudential and temporary. Jortin's Rem. on Eccl. Hist. Vol. I. p. 215.