apparently Jewish converts in every foreign land, and implying that the gospel had been already proclaimed throughout the world. Acts, ii, 5-11; Romans, x, 17, 18; James, i, 1.

Respecting the other class of hearers, the apostle Paul declares that the mystery of the gospel, which had been concealed from preceding ages, was then-"manifested, and by the appointment of the eternal God made known, through the prophetical Scriptures, to all the Gentiles, for the obedience of faith."-In like manner, he assured the Athenians that, although God had, as it were, overlooked the previous times of ignorance respecting true religion, he then commanded all men everywhere to repent, and embrace the gospel; and, in his Epistle to Titus, once more testifies that the saving grace of God had appeared to all men. In these and similar passages, the same subject is uniformly described in the same terms. The universality which they intimate must consequently have the same import in them all; and, as what is done must be feasible, the extent of that command to diffuse the gospel throughout the world, which the apostles are so plainly declared to have received and executed, must have been limited to the missionary labours among Jews and Gentiles which they were capable of accomplishing during their personal ministry, previously to the dissolution of the Mosaic economy, in conformity with the predictions of Christ already quoted;-" Ye will not have gone through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man shall come. . . . This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached throughout the world, as a testimony to all the Gentiles, and then shall the end come."-Matt: x, 23; xxiv, 14; Acts, xvii, 29-31; Romans, xvi, 25, 26; Titus, ii, 11.

And this was sufficient for the purpose. Aided by supernatural power, they were enabled during the space of about forty years, as several of the early christian writers attest, to visit and evangelize almost every region of the world. Devoting themselves exclusively to their great work, both by preaching and writing, they promulgated the gospel so extensively, as to give all nations an opportunity of hearing it, and so effectually, as to prevent its being ever afterwards lost, or forgotten. The common measure of duty on their part, and of responsibility on that of their hearers, had been fixed at the period of their first mission; when their master assured them that, if a city where they had preached and performed miraculous cures for a reasonable time refused to receive them, its inhabitants would incur the guilt and punishment of rejecting the gospel. That a similar rule was applicable to a province is shown by the account of Paul's two years' ministry at Ephesus; whereby, it is stated,"all that dwelt in Asia [proper, or proconsular,] heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Gentiles."-So, also, when many of the Samaritans were converted by Philip the deacon, it is said,"The apostles who [were] in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God."-For the original and authoritative publication of the gospel, as of human laws, it was not necessary that every individual should be personally addressed ;-it was sufficient that all who were disposed had a fair opportunity of hearing, or even reading the proclamation, delivered by special messengers in

vested with miraculous powers, and who, to use the language of one of the most eminent among them," preached the gospel with the Holy Spirit sent from heaven."-Matt: x, 11-15; Mark, vi, 10, 11; Luke, x, 5-16; Acts, viii, 14; xix, 8-10; 1 Peter, i, 12. In addition to the statements of Scripture on this subject, it may not be unsuitable to adduce two or three testimonies to the same effect from the early christian writers. Among the apostolical fathers, Clement, speaking of Paul, says that-" he preached both in the east and in the west, leaving behind him the glorious report of his faith; and so, having taught the whole world righteousness, and for that end travelled even to the utmost bounds of the west, he at last suffered martyrdom by the command of the governors."-Among the primitive fathers, Irenæus remarks,-" After that our Lord rose from the dead, and they [the apostles] were endued from above with the power of the Holy Ghost coming down upon them, they received a perfect knowledge of all things. They then went forth to all the ends of the earth, declaring to men the blessings of heavenly peace, having all of them, and every one alike the gospel of God."Precisely similar is the account given at a later period by Eusebius. "Using only the demonstration of the divine Spirit working with them, and the power of Christ performing by them many miracles, they spread the knowledge of the kingdom of heaven all over the world." It is indeed manifest from the New Testament that the missionary exertions of Paul alone extended through the principal regions of the Roman empire, from Arabia to Spain. Those of the other apostles are little noticed in the sacred volume; but, supposing, what can scarcely be doubted, that they travelled by mutual consent in different directions, and displayed an energy at all proportional to that of the apostle of the Gentiles, it is evident that during a period of forty years such agents might have planted the gospel in every part of the habitable globe. Although the majority of ancient traditions on this subject are undeserving of credit, the testimony concerning the ministry of Bartholomew and Thomas in southern India, if not in China, is entitled to respect. Of Pantænus, one of the primitive fathers, it is stated by Jerome that," at the request of ambassadors from India, he was sent into that country by Demetrius, bishop of Alexandria; where he found that Bartholomew, one of the twelve apostles, had preached the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ according to the gospel of Matthew, which he brought back with him to Alexandria, written in Hebrew letters."This last circumstance, which by Richard Simon and other critics has been deemed a ground of suspicion, is on the contrary a strong evidence of truth; since Israelites retaining their native language, at least for religious purposes, have been settled in those countries from the time of the Assyrian and Babylonish captivities. Such a people would naturally receive peculiar attention from apostolical missionaries; and for their use the gospel by Matthew, originally written as it is said in Hebrew, was specially designed and adapted.*

Esther, i, 1; viii, 9; Romans, xv, 18, 19, 24; Galat: i, 15-17; Clement, 1 Corinthiii, 13-15. Lardner's Works, 8vo, Lond: 1788; vol: ii, 109, 144, 158, 159, 203-205, 466; iv, 225; v, 35-37.

With the exception of his mentioning another apostle, who might however have assisted, and after a time attained greater celebrity than Bartholomew, this ancient record is remarkably confirmed by Dr. Buchanan; who between the years 1806 and 1808 visited Cochin, on the Malabar coast, and, in his Christian Researches in Asia, writes as follows.-"[Cranganore] is that celebrated place of christian antiquity where the apostle Thomas is said to have landed, when he first arrived in India from Aden in Arabia.... The tradition among the Syrians is that the apostle continued at this place for a time, before he went to preach at Melapoor, and St. Thomas's Mount, on the coast of Coromandel, where he was put to death. The fact is certainly of little consequence, but I am satisfied that we have as good authority for believing that the apostle Thomas died in India, as that the apostle Peter died at Rome. . . . The resident Jews are divided into two classes, the Jerusalem, or white Jews, and the ancient, or black Jews. . . . . It is only necessary to look at the countenance of the black Jews to be satisfied that their ancestors must have arrived in India many ages before the white Jews. Their Hindoo complexion, and their very imperfect resemblance to the European Jews, indicate that they have been detached from the parent stock in Judea many ages before the Jews in the west, and that there have been intermarriages with families not Israelitish. . . . . The Jews have a neverceasing communication with each other in the east; . . . . SO that, when any thing interesting to the nation takes place, the rumour will pass rapidly throughout all Asia. . . . . Almost in every house I find Hebrew books, printed or in manuscript."— The important bearing on missionary operations of this wellknown practice of Israelites, both in ancient and modern times, is too obvious to require further notice. A statement nearly similar to that of Dr. Buchanan is given by Mr. Medhurst, in his interesting work on China, which contains the following passage." Thomas the apostle is celebrated by the eastern Christians, as having been the first to preach the gospel in India; all the Syrian churches in Malabar claim him as their founder, and his sepulchre is shown on the Coromandel coast to this day. Considering the extent, population, and civilization of China, it can hardly be supposed that so important a region was entirely neglected by the first propagators of the gospel; and Assemannus informs us that Thomas the apostle having done much for the establishment of the Christian faith in India, passed over to a country on the east, called China, where he preached the gospel, and founded a church in the city of Cambalu, (Peking) after which he returned to Malabar. In the Chaldee ritual there is an office for the celebration of St. Thomas, which says that by him the Persians, Hindoos, and Chinese were converted to the Christian faith."*

That soon after its origin the gospel was rapidly and extensively propagated through the world is admirably proved by Paley, in his well-known "Evidences of Christianity;" from which work two or

Buchanan, (Claudius, D.D.) Christian Researches in Asia, 3d Edition, 8vo, Edinb: 1812; pp. 125, 204-214; Medhurst, (W. H.) China,-Its State and Prospects, 8vo, Lond: 1838; pp. 220–222.

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three additional testimonies of the early fathers in further illustration of the subject may not be irrelevant; since, on account of their hav ing lived so near the primitive age, the almost universal diffusion of Christianity which they describe must in a great measure be attributed to the personal labours of the apostles." Justin Martyr, who wrote about thirty years after Pliny [the younger,] and one hundred and six after the Ascension, has these remarkable words. There is not a nation, either of Greek, or Barbarian, or of any other name, even of those who wander in tribes, and live in tents, amongst whom prayers and thanksgivings are not offered to the Father and Creator of the Universe, by the name of the crucified Jesus.'-Tertuliian, who comes about fifty years after Justin, appeals to the governors of the Roman empire in these terms. We were but of yesterday, and we have filled your cities, islands, towns, and boroughs, the camp, the senate, and the forum.'. . . . The same Tertullian, in another passage, by way of setting forth the extensive diffusion of Christianity, enumerates as belonging to Christ, besides many other countries,the Moors, and Getulians of Africa, the borders of Spain, several nations of France, and parts of Britain, inaccessible to the Romans, the Sarmatians, Daci, Germans, and Scythians;'—and, which is more material than the extent of the institution, the number of Christians in the several countries in which it prevailed is thus expressed by him. Although so great a multitude that in almost every city we form the greater part, we pass our time modestly and in silence.'-Clemens Alexandrinus, who preceded Tertullian by a few years, introduces a comparison between the suc cess of Christianity, and that of the most celebrated philosophical institutions. The philosophers were confined to Greece, and to their particular retainers, but the doctrine of the Master of Christianity did not remain in Judea, as philosophy did in Greece, but is spread throughout the whole world, in every nation, and village, and city, both of Greeks and Barbarians, converting both whole houses, and separate individuals, having already brought over to the truth not a few of the philosophers themselves.'. . . . . Origen, who follows Tertullian at the distance of only thirty years, delivers nearly the same account. In every part of the world,' says he,throughout all Greece, and in all other nations, there are innume rable and immense multitudes who, having left the laws of their country, and those whom they esteemed gods, have given themselves up to the law of Moses, and the religion of Christ.'*-On the prin ciple of a limited yet virtual universality of publication, suggested by the Scripture itself, it thus appears that the apostles could and did execute the final mission given them by their divine master to preach the gospel throughout the world; and that the notion of an absolute and literal universality, never yet realized, nor likely to be so, and implying the concurrence of other agents besides the apostles during an uncertain and indefinite period, ought to be rejected, on account of its contradicting the Scripture in these and other important respects.

Paley, (William, D.D.) Evidences of Christianity, in 2 vols. 8vo, Lond: 1805; vol: ii, pp. 223 - 226.

II. It has been alleged that ordinary ministers and missionaries really perform the command of Christ, and must therefore be regarded as having a share in it; but the statement is erroneous both in principle, and in fact. The command, as has been shown, was addressed to the apostles only, in their peculiar and pre-eminent character, and directed them, with the aid of supernatural power, to accomplish a specific work within a limited time. No other persons ever did or can hold the same office, not even their contemporaries, much less their successors. They were, in the highest sense of the terms, stewards of the mysteries of God, ambassadors of Christ, and the chosen witnesses of his resurrection. They were commissioned to preach the gospel with original authority, and before the conclusion of the Mosaic economy, both to Israelites, as the ancient people of God, and to the Gentile world; and their mission was supported and authenticated, not only by the miracles which they performed, but still more by the power, which they exclusively possessed, of communicating miraculous gifts to their converts. As the inspired authors of the New Testament, they are the supreme teachers and legislators of Christianity till the end of time. As the primitive channels of evangelical truth, they are the root-branches of that spiritual vine, whereof all other Christians, whether pastors or people, are the fruit. In conjunction with the prophets of the Old Testament, they furnish in their writings the doctrinal foundation on which the universal church is built; and the brief but perfect definition of his disciples given by the Lord himself is," Those who believe on him through the word of his apostles."-John, xv, 1-16; xvii, 20; Ephes: ii, 19, 20; 2 Peter, iii, 1, 2.

The office of ordinary ministers and missionaries, however dignified and important, is entirely distinct, and altogether subordinate to that of the apostles. They have not been, like them, personally instructed by Christ, nor are they eye-witnesses of his resurrection. They have no knowledge of divine truth but what, in common with others, they derive from the Scriptures; and of these they are by no means infallible expositors, but, on the contrary, often misinterpret them, and sometimes to a serious extent. They possess no prophetical, legislative, or judicial authority; no power to work miracles, much less to communicate miraculous gifts to others; and, as the divine message of salvation has long since been finally published and confirmed, they are not in the proper sense of the terms ambassadors of Christ, or stewards of the mysteries of God. Since, therefore, they neither participate in a mission which was peculiar to the apostles, nor fulfil its conditions, it necessarily follows that they have no direct concern, either with its commands or its promises.

If the direction that the gospel should be preached άoy τý kтioɛ, to the whole institution, is to be understood of Israelites throughout the world, as the ancient people of God, the limitation of this mission to the apostles, and to the age in which they lived, will be still more evident; for, whatever may be the hidden purposes of divine mercy towards the Israelitish nation, they ceased at that period to be the people of God, and cannot therefore, in that character, be the objects of any christian mission.