slave, a brother beloved both in the flesh and in the Lord" (16). This remarkable ideal of loving fellowship in the Lord Christ evinces a vivid concept of the divine and worshipful personality of the Lord, and illustrates the thought elsewhere (Col. iii, 3) expressed by the apostle of spiritual life hidden with Christ in God. 7. The Pastoral Epistles. In the pastoral epistles we find the true humanity of Jesus recognized in the statements that he was "manifested in the flesh" (1 Tim. iii, 16), and sprung "from the seed of David" (2 Tim. ii, 8). His preexistence seems to be implied in the "faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners" (1 Tim. i, 15). In 1 Tim. ii, 5, we are told that "there is one God, one mediator also between God and men, himself man, Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all." In Gal. iii, 19, Moses is referred to as a mediator by whose agency the law was delivered to Israel; here the mediator is of a higher order, and the mediator offers himself up as a ransom for all men. When allusion is made, in 1 Tim. i, 11, to "the gospel of the glory of the blessed God," the writer immediately adds: "I thank him who has endued me with power, even Christ Jesus our Lord, because he counted me faithful, appointing me unto service." Here Christ Jesus is recognized as the Lord who is exalted in unspeakable glory, exercises a heavenly authority, and appoints men unto holy ministries. In 2 Tim. i, 1, Paul speaks of "the promise of the life which is in Christ Jesus," and, in verses 9 and 10, of the "purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before times eternal, but hath now been manifested by the appearing of our Saviour Christ Jesus, who abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel." The fact that Christ Jesus is "our Saviour" becomes the more noteworthy when we study the expressions, "God our Saviour, and Christ Jesus our hope" (1 Tim. i, 1); "our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ" (Titus ii, 13); "God our Saviour" (1 Tim. ii, 3; Titus ii, 10; iii, 4); "Jesus Christ our Saviour" (Titus iii, 6). This general and indiscriminate use of "God our Saviour," and "Jesus Christ our Saviour," shows that in the mind of the writer God and Christ are one in the ministry of salvation. According to 1 Tim. iv, 10, "the living God is the Saviour of all men, specially of them that believe"; but in v, 21, "God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels" are mentioned in holy and reverend association. Christ Jesus is also the final judge of the living and the dead (2 Tim. iv, 1, 8, 14), and his title and power as Lord are repeatedly acknowledged (1 Tim. i, 14; 2 Tim. i, 8; iii, 11; iv, 17, 18, 22). The great "mystery of godliness" (1 Tim. iii, 16) consists in the marvelous facts enumerated in the poetic confession: He was manifested in the flesh, Was seen of angels, Was preached among the nations, Thus in the pastoral epistles the glory of Christ transcends that of any other being except the "One God," who, in 1 Tim. vi, 15, 16, is called "the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; who only hath immortality, dwelling in light unapproachable; whom no man hath seen, nor can see," and who will, in his own times, "show forth the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ." 8. The Ephesian Epistle. The three Pauline epistles, which more than all others are entitled to be called Christological, are those to the Ephesians, the Philippians, and the Colossians. After the usual salutation the epistle to the Ephesians opens with a reminder that "every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies is in Christ, even as the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him" (i, 3, 4). The epistle abounds in references to "the mystery of his will," and the "good pleasure of his will," and of his eternal purpose "to sum up all things in Christ, things upon the heavens and things upon the earth" (i, 10). This summing up, or gathering together again for himself under one head (åvakɛpaλaiwoaodai, note the middle) all things in heaven and earth must needs involve such a disclosure of the character of "the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory" (i, 17) that one who apprehends and appreciates it will surely be gifted with "a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him." With this uplifting thought in his soul the apostle prays for his readers that the eyes of their heart may be enlightened in order that they may "know what is the hope of his calling, what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of the strength of his might which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead and made him to sit at his right hand in the heavenlies, far above all rule, and authority, and power, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world (or age), but also in that which is to come: and he put all things in subjection under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all” (i, 18-23). According to iii, 18, 19, if anyone is "strong to apprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge," he too "may be filled unto all the fulness of God." Believers are "created in Christ Jesus for good works" (ii, 10), and the Church is conceived as "the household of God, builded upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief corner stone; in whom each several building, fitly framed together, groweth into a holy sanctuary in the Lord" (ii, 19-21). As the husband is head of the wife, "so also is Christ the head of the church, being himself the Saviour of the body" (v, 23). The mystery of Christ and of his Church is great (v, 32), but the enlightened heart, described in i, 18, will delight in the study of these sacred truths, and will admire the apostle's revelation and "understanding in the mystery of Christ" (iii, 4). The shining of Christ upon the soul that awakes to spiritual life at his call is able to bring forth into the light all hidden things (v, 13, 14). And thus this epistle is unique in its mystic tone and in profound conceptions of God in Christ gathering unto himself a redeemed and glorious body of saints, and dwelling in them as in a holy habitation. The gospel embodies "the unsearchable riches of Christ," and is a "dispensation of the mystery which from all ages hath been hid in God," and which is to be "made known through the church unto the principalities and the powers in the heavenlies, as the manifold wisdom of God, according to the purpose of the ages which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord" (iii, 8-11). Christ Jesus is thus conceived as central in the glory of this mystery of God, and he is referred to in iv, 9, as having "descended into the lower parts (тà κаTwтepa)' of the earth, and having also 1 According to Meyer this expression means that Christ "descended deeper than the earth, even into the subterranean region, into Hades. The object was to present Christ as the one who fills the whole universe, so that, with a view to his entering upon this his all-filling activity, he has previously with his victorious presence passed through the whole world, having descended from heaven into the utmost depth, and ascended from this depth to the utmost height." Exegetical Handbook, in loco. Eng. trans. of 4th German ed., 1880. This interpretation accords, perhaps, with the most natural meaning of the words, but has nothing in the context that requires or even suggests an allusion to Hades. Yet this interpretation has been adopted by many ancient and modern expositors (e. g., Irenæus, Jerome, Alford, Ellicott, Beet). It is not necessary, however, to say with Meyer that he "descended into the utmost depth," for Paul does not use the superlative. Inasmuch as the phrase lowest parts of the earth is used in Psa. cxxxix, 15, to denote the womb, Witsius and some others explain it of the descent of the preexistent Christ into the womb of the virgin. Chrysostom, Theodoret, and others, see in the words an allusion to the death and burial of Christ." But the more widely accepted modern interpretation takes the words Ts Yis as a genitive of apposition"this lower earth," "lower parts of the universe," as contrasted with the height (vos) of heaven. ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things." This passage is somewhat remarkable for its free appropriation of the language of a well-known psalm (lxviii, 18), and the application of it to Christ. The words of the psalm are addressed directly to Jehovah, the God of Sinai: Thou hast ascended on high; Thou hast received gifts among men. The imagery is that of the triumphal return of a conqueror to his fortress in the height ("the mountain which God hath desired for his abode," ver. 16; comp. "the height of Zion," Jer. xxxi, 12), leading in his train a large body of captives whom he has taken (comp. Judg. v, 12), and receiving tributary gifts from among the subject nations (comp. Isa. lx, 5-11). The God of Israel is thus conceived as ascending in triumph to his chosen dwelling in the holy mountain of Zion. But the apostle not only applies this language to the ascension of Christ "far above all the heavens," but he also changes one important word so as to represent his hero as bestowing rather than receiving gifts among men. The gifts which he bestowed are specified in verse 11, "apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers," and the purpose for which these were given is stated further on. The significance of this passage for the doctrine of the person of Christ is to be seen in its bold application to him of language which the Hebrew scripture employs in describing the triumphs of Jehovah, and also in its assertion that Christ has ascended above all heavens so as to fill all things." In Exod. iii, 7, 8, Jehovah says: "I have seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and I am come down (778, and I descended; Sept., Karéẞm) to deliver them," etc. It is not improbable that this very passage floated before the mind both of the psalmist and of the apostle when they wrote. There is no necessity of assuming that Paul's memory failed him so that he substituted gave for received, nor that he intended to quote the passage accurately, or to interpret it in its true historical meaning. Nor is it important to determine whether by "the lower parts of the earth" he means Hades, popularly conceived as located under the earth, or the grave, or the earth itself as lower than the heavens. The main thoughts are the descending, and the ascending, and the giving gifts unto men. With that mystic and spiritual insight which discerned so many suggestive figures of Christ in the Old Testament the apostle saw the fitness of the passage under discussion to portray the incarnation, ascension, and triumph of the Lord Jesus. The triumphal ascent of ... Christ to the highest heaven implied that he also previously came down from on high, and so far it accords with the teaching of John iii, 13; vi, 62; xvii, 5. Thus a concept of personal preexistence is put forward, for "he that descended is the same also that ascended." It may be alleged in general that one may ascend who has not previously descended, so that ascent into heaven does not necessarily imply a previous descent therefrom. But this allegation is precluded by the imagery of a conqueror ascending to his own native height and leading captives in his triumphal march. Moreover, the ascent "far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things" is an ascription of exaltation to Christ which involves transcendent and most worshipful relation to the throne and dominion of the Most High. The "filling of all things" suggests the divine prerogative of Jehovah, who says in Jer. xxiii, 24: "Do not I fill heaven and earth?" Omnipresence would thus seem to be predicated of the ascended Christ; and yet other uses of this expression in the epistle make it somewhat questionable just how far we are at liberty to press the literal import of the language. For while the statement of this verse is made without any limit or qualification-"that he might fill all things"-it is said immediately afterwards that he gave apostles, and prophets, and pastors, and teachers "for the building up of the body of Christ, till we all attain unto . . . the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ." Moreover, in i, 23, it is said that the church "is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all." This last saying is best explained as meaning that he fills "all things" (rà ñávтa, i.e., the whole universe,) "with all things" (èv não, i.e., with all things which the universe contains, ev to be taken with dative of the instrument): he fills the universe of things with all things which are therein. This is in harmony with Col. i, 16-19; 1 Cor. viii, 6; Heb. i, 2, and John i, 3, 10. Unless, therefore, his church be understood to be coextensive with the universe, his fullness extends beyond that of "his body," and permeates all elements and creations of the cosmos. It would seem, therefore, that the absolute omnipresence of Deity is thus attributed to Jesus Christ, and it is expressly said in Col. ii, 9, that "in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead (ɛórns, Deity) bodily." And yet this apostle prays that his readers "may be filled unto all the fulness of God" (Eph. iii, 19). What sort of fullness can all this mean? Some "measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ" is, according to iv, 13, attainable by all who belong to the body of Christ. They partake of his Tλnpwμa, and his fullness seems from iii, 19, to be identical with "all the fulness of God" (Tav тò пλýρwμа тоv dεov). The solution of this mystery is difficult because of our habit of |