he was at Corinth; or it might have been written, as Michaelis thinks, in Macedonia, before Paul went to Corinth.

II. NOT long after St. Paul had converted the Galatians to the belief of the Gospel, some Judaizing Christians endeavoured, with considerable success, to persuade them of the necessity of being circumcised, and of observing the law of Moses; for this purpose they urged, though without any foundation, the authority of the Apostles and Elders at Jerusalem; they represented Paul as having only an inferior commission, derived from the church at Jerusalem, and that even he, in certain cases, had allowed of circumcision. The object of this Epistle, which is written in a strain of angry complaint, was to counteract the impression made by these false teachers, and to re-establish the Galatians in the true Christian faith and practice.

St. Paul begins, after a salutation in the name of himself and all the brethren who were with him, by asserting his apostolical mission; he shows, from a brief history of his life, that he learnt the Gospel not from man, but by immediate revelation from God; and that he entered upon his ministry by divine appointment, without receiving any instruction or authority from those who were Apostles before him, or at first holding any communication with them; that he afterwards conferred with the heads of the church at Jerusalem, and was by them, upon the fullest conviction, acknowledged to be an apostle through the especial grace of God. St. Paul having thus proved the independency and divine original of his mission, and that he was "not a whit behind the very chiefest of the Apostles (a)," proceeds to refute the imputation

of inconsistency with which he had been charged, by stating that he had not compelled his convert and companion, Titus, who was a Greek, to be circumcised, and by showing that he had uniformly resisted the Judaizing Christians, and in particular that he had withstood and reproved Peter at Antioch, who, through fear of the Jewish Christians, had refused to associate with heathen converts; he contends that he had always maintained that the Gospel was alone able to save those who believe it, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ (b): he expostulates with the Galatians for having suffered themselves to be seduced by false teachers from the doctrines which he had taught them, and brings to their recollection, that upon their embracing the Gospel, and not the Law, they had received the Holy Ghost (c); he then pursues the main subject of the Epistle at considerable length, and proves that the obligation of the ritual part of the Mosaic Law is completely abolished, both with respect to Jews and Gentiles (d); and in the course of his argument he contrasts the present defection of the Galatians with their former zeal and affection towards him, and expresses a fear lest he should have preached to them in vain; he earnestly exhorts them to stand fast in the liberty with which Christ had made them free, and not to suffer themselves again to be entangled with the bondage of legal ordinances; he points out the moral and spiritual nature of the Gospel, in opposition to outward observances (e); and concludes with a variety of directions and precepts, all tending to the cultivation of practical virtue (ƒ).

(b) C. 1 and 2.

(d) C. 3. v. 6 to the end of c. 4.
(ƒ) C. 6.

(c) C. 3. v. 1 to 5.

(e) C. 5.

St. Paul wrote this Epistle with his own hand, although it was his common practice to make use of an amanuensis.

It may be proper to remark, that the doctrine contained in this Epistle goes farther than the decree of the council at Jerusalem, mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles. In this Epistle St. Paul maintains that no persons, whether Jews or Gentiles, after they had embraced the Gospel, ought to consider the observance of the Mosaic Law as essential to their salvation, or as contributing to a greater degree of perfection; and he says to the Galatian Christians, "Christ is become of no effect to you, whosoever of you are justified by the Law;" that is, whoever relies upon legal ordinances as the means of his justification, will lose all the, benefits to which he would otherwise be entitled from the profession of the Gospel: whereas the decree only decided that it was not necessary for Gentile converts to Christianity to be circumcised, or to conform to the rites and ceremonies of the Mosaic institution (g).

(g) It has always been thought a point of considerable difficulty to account for St. Paul's not appealing to this decree in his Epistle to the Galatians. Those who wish to see the best reasons which can be assigned for that omission, may consult Dr. Paley's Hor. Paul. page 197.

PART II.

CHAPTER THE THIRTEENTH.

OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS.

I. This Epistle was really written to the Ephesians.— II. Date and other Circumstances relative to it.— III. Its Contents.

I. SOME learned men have thought that this Epistle was not addressed to the Ephesians, but to the Laodiceans, conceiving it to be the Epistle mentioned in the fourth chapter of the Colossians, " and that ye likewise read the Epistle from Laodicea (a)." The principal ground of their objection to the commonly received opinion of its being written to the Ephesians is, that there are no allusions in it to St. Paul's having ever resided among the persons to whom it is addressed; whereas it is certain that Paul had been twice at Ephesus when he wrote this Epistle, and one of those times he had resided there more than two years; but this negative argument is contradicted by the most positive testimony, and by almost the unanimous voice of antiquity. Ignatius, who was contemporary with the Apostles, expressly says that St. Paul wrote an

(a) Theodoret maintained that the Epistle here referred to was an Epistle from the Laodiceans to Paul, and not from Paul to the Laodiceans. Cave, Michaelis, and several other moderns, have adopted this opinion, and the words of the original appear to me to favour it.

Epistle to the Ephesians (b), and his description of it corresponds with this Epistle. Irenæus and Clement of Alexandria, both fathers of the second century, quote this Epistle as written to the Ephesians. Tertullian, who lived nearly at the same time, censures Marcion for asserting that this Epistle was written to the Laodiceans, and says that it was really written to the Ephesians. Origen, Dionysius of Alexandria, Cyprian, Eusebius, and all the later fathers, who quote this Epistle, treat it as written to the Ephesians; and almost all the antient manuscripts and versions attest the same thing, by supporting the reading of our Bibles, “ Paul, an Apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus." Upon these authorities I feel myself fully justified in considering this Epistle as written to the Ephesians (c).

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II. EPHESUS, a city of Ionia, and the capital of the proconsular Asia, was famous for its temple of Diana, which was esteemed one of the seven wonders of the world and its inhabitants were noted for their superstition and skill in magic. We have seen that St. Paul preached the Gospel for a short time at Ephesus, in the year 53; and that in the following year he returned thither, and remained there more than two years. During this long residence he made many converts to Christianity, who seem to have been distinguished by their piety and zeal. This Epistle contains no blame or complaint whatever; and its sole object appears to have been to confirm the Ephesian Christians in the true faith and practice of the Gospel. It was written while St. Paul was a prisoner the first time at Rome; and as the Apostle does not express in it (b) It is remarkable that this is the only book of the New Testament mentioned by Ignatius.

(c) Those who wish to see this question more fully discussed, may consult Dr. Lardner, vol. 6. and Marsh's Michaelis, vol. 4.