and left him there to perform the proper functions of the office. Nothing can be made out of the term abide, nor does it prove that Timothy should henceforth make that city his ordinary residence to the end of his days. Without adverting to the scriptural usage of the word, it is quite obvious that Timothy was urged to stay for a time in Ephesus, instead of accompanying the Apostle (as he had been wont to do), in his intended journey into Macedonia. "I am compelled," says Paul, "to leave Ephesus, but I beg you to stay here for a while to set in order the things that are wanting." And in point of fact, he remained a very short time, for about five months later he went with Paul in Greece, then going with him into Macedonia, to Troas, Mitylene, and other islands of the Ægean Sea, and finally to Miletus, from whence Paul summoned the Bishops of Ephesus to meet him. A very absurd procedure certainly, if Timothy was Bishop. There is again the strongest probability that Timothy attended the Apostle to Jerusalem, in company with Trophimus, and it is certain that he was with him at Rome during Paul's first imprisonment in that city. During all this time there is not the least evidence in Scripture that he was in Ephesus, or near it.

But why discuss the question of Timothy's permanent residence in Ephesus? Paul himself has settled it. If the former had been left to exercise this pretended Episcopate, we may be sure that Paul, who styles himself "an Apostle of Jesus Christ," would not have withheld from Timothy his proper title as Bishop. He would have addressed him in some such words as these,-" As you are to abide in Ephesus to govern the church there according to the charge which I have given you, when I consecrated and installed you as Bishop or Archbishop of this place, I beseech you to do your duty." Such is the language which Paul should have employed in this letter, if there had been any ground for the imagination of the hierarchists; but instead of this, he simply says, "I besought thee to abide still in Ephesus."

AN ARGUMENT FOR THE DIVINITY OF CHRIST.

A WORK has recently issued from the press, containing an argument for the divinity of Christ, drawn from the facts of his life on earth. The argument assumes nothing more than that the Gospels, in a broad and general sense, are historical and credible. From this low stand-point, the writer boldly and forcibly argues that such a humanity as Christ's is utterly inexplicable, except on the ground of true divinity.

*THE CHRIST OF HISTORY: An Argument, grounded on the Facts of his Life on Earth. By JOHN YOUNG, M.A., of London. Republished by Robert Carter & Brothers, 285 Broadway, New York,

It is obviously a hazardous thing to construct an argument for the divinity of Christ, by waiving the inspiration of the Scriptures. "The mystery of godliness" is so much a matter of revelation and of spiritual illumination as almost to distrust the aid of independent reasoning. The reader, however, will notice that the argument is not a merely philosophical one. It does not deal in subtle metaphysics and in abstract propositions, but is drawn from facts, from the facts in the history of our Lord, which are generally admitted, even by those who do not believe in plenary inspiration. Bearing this in mind, the reader will not be shocked, but delighted with the plainness and soberness of the reasoning, an abstract of which we shall endeavour to exhibit, though obviously at very great disadvantage to the argument.

The book is divided into three parts: I. The first part discusses the OUTER CONDITIONS OF THE LIFE OF CHRIST, and maintains that his social position of poverty and obscurity, the shortness of his earthly course, and the nation and place in which he appeared, involved such an amount of obstruction to his work and triumph as to create, in human judgment, the impossibility of his reaching the elevation of character and of glory which became actually his own. The son of a carpenter, without any advantages of formal education, receiving no countenance from the ecclesiastical authorities or civil rulers, or the influential of society, Jesus nevertheless rose to the highest reputation. Moreover, he only lived to the age of thirty-three years, thirty of which he spent at the place of his birth, and only during three of which did he exercise the functions of a teacher. Galilee, from whence he came, was disreputable, even in Judea, wicked as it was; and even in Galilee, Nazareth was notorious for the ignorance and profligacy of its inhabitants. These circumstances are the very last which a Jew would ever think of connecting with the life of his Messiah. Yet it was under these outer conditions of disadvantage and obscurity that the public ministry and character of Christ reached their destined develop

It is not in development alone, but in that development under these conditions, that the evidence shadows forth something more than humanity. These outer conditions give extraordinary significance to the facts of the life of Christ; they irresistibly lift our faith above his mere human history, and point up to his true origin, and personal pre-eminence.

II. The second part of Mr. Young's book discusses THE WORK OF CHRIST AMONG MEN, which is the second step in the argument for his divinity.

1. Christ's own idea of his public life was that he was the Messiah, the expectation of nations. The transition from private to public life was spontaneous on his part. He came forth of his own accord -he assumed a public position, and was not compelled, or even invited, or even encouraged to accept it. This was marvellous. He repeatedly avowed his claims to be the Messiah, and it is obvious

that this conviction was one of the formative and govering principles of his public life. Besides, his idea of the Messiah had nothing in common with the views and the spirit which were then universal, but was peculiar to himself, and perfectly original. He was alone in the country, in the age, in the world. His great soul rose above religious prejudices and errors, and above all national, educational, and social influences. He stood forth, not a Jew, but to fulfil a high and purely spiritual mission, embracing not Judea only, but the world; not a nation only, but universal humanity. And was he nothing more, essentially, than he seemed to be? Was all this probable, or possible, in the circumstances, to a mere man? And to such a man as Jesus outwardly was?

2. At the commencement of his ministry, it must have struck the men of that generation with wonder that a poor and unlearned young man should aspire to the office of teacher. He commenced his ministry with proclaiming that one great era of the world's history was then closing, and another, of higher meaning and brighter promise, was then opening upon men. In connection with this fact, he taught that the duty of the age was expressed in one word, repentance, and repentance in the sense of an entire and universal change of mind. The age, in the express lineaments of its ignorance, formalism, pride, hypocrisy, and impurity, he held up to itself. For the time, he was the incarnate conscience of the nation, performing that office which each man owed to himself, but would not discharge; and crying to all, in a voice fitted to pierce to the depths of their spiritual nature, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."

Who was this, whose mode of looking on human affairs and whose feelings were so original, so superior, and who professed to be gifted with such uncommon insight into the moral state of the world, and with such foreknowledge, withal, of its coming destinies? How came Christ's conscience and foresight alone so imperative and clear? He was no experienced or distinguished character, no priest or venerable sage, but, to all mortal seeming, an inexperienced, uneducated mechanic. An obscure youth took it upon himself to be the teacher, reprover, reformer, of his country and his age. Was this possible to a mere man, and to a man in the outward circumstances of Jesus?

3. The marked character of our Lord's public appearances invite notice. How terribly severe were some of his denunciations upon Chorazin, Capernaum, the Pharisees, Scribes! Against hypocrisy, formalism, pretence, Jesus lifted up his voice in the severest terms. And yet how tender was he in his general ministrations! Singularly gracious, compassionate, loving, he stood upon a level with humanity, and mingled in its sorrows and joys. Simplicity also marked the public appearance of our Lord. He owed literally nothing to phraseology, to modes, to circumstances. Whatever influence he acquired, and whatever power he exerted, was owing to

simple reality-in no degree to management, pretension, tact, or show. He was pure, unaffected, inartificial reality. Simplicity is true greatness-it is moral nobility. But was this likely to be the taste, the attainment of Jesus of Nazareth, had he been no more and no other than his external life disclosed? Authority marked the public appearance of Christ. "His word was with power." He spoke with a higher style of authority even than the Prophets. Whether it was an air of majesty about his whole appearance, or his calm and earnest voice, or the depth and force of what he said, there was left on the minds of all who listened to him an impression of power more than human, which they found it impossible to resist. Was this, verily, a young man just taken from the carpenter's workshop, uneducated, inexperienced, and friendless? It was. But if so, was he only this, and no more?

4. The teaching of Christ claims our notice. His disciples cannot appeal to any work from the hands of their master, constructed for the purpose of giving a full and systematic exposition of his doctrines. He left no writings like Confucius, Mohammed, Epictetus, Seneca, Plato. Our knowledge of his personal teaching is derived from oral discourses and conversations, taken down by humble but faithful narrators. And yet in no other writings are there such sublime views of the reign of God in man, of the pardon of sin, of the doctrine of providence, of prayer, of piety towards God, and of love to man. Especially were the teachings of Christ remarkable on three points. (1.) The soul's reality and greatness. Jesus came into the world at an age of marvellous intellectual activity and cultivation, which yet scarcely believed in the soul. Even in Judea, gross materialism had darkened and enervated religion. Who shall stand forth to tell to man that he has a soul? Who shall give back to the world the divine original, after the interpolations and corruptions of a thousand ages? Jesus of Nazareth has done nothing less than this. His ministry was a voice to the world, on behalf of the soul, familiarizing the lost idea, and pleading for its restoration. Beside the graves of men and at their festive boards, on all occasions, Christ proclaimed the soul. It is real! it is great! it is accountable! it is immortal! The body shall die. The earth and these heavens shall pass away; but the soul endures forever, in life or in perdition!

(2.) Of God, Jesus taught his spirituality, unity and moral perfections. The God of the New Testament is not a quality, not an idea or a process, or a law, not a thing, but a being, an agent. He is truly a life; but as he is truly a mind, so is he the presiding mind of the universe. Christ uniformly turned the thoughts of mankind to the infinite, ever-living intelligence; and summoned the world to believe and adore. He also proclaimed one true God, everywhere and always. No hint of any other doctrine than that of absolute unity is ever given; none other is named or noticed. "There is one God, and none other but he." One God, one su

preme object of reverence and love, of worship and obedience-only one. Perfect rectitude, purity, truth and love, are his attributes. Whilst the gods of the pagans were the personifications of wickedness, this God is excellence, only excellence, excellence infinite and everlasting. Christ also proclaimed the paternity of God, and came near to tell men, in their ignorance, of their high descent, that they had still a father, and that their father pitied and loved them. He came to wake up in the bosom of God's fallen sons a cry after their father, and to bring the guilty wanderers to their home!

(3.) Reconciliation of the soul with God.-To accomplish this reconciliation was the highest end of the personal ministry of Jesus. He often spoke of it, as connected with his life, and as still more mysteriously related to his death. The whole of the ministry of Christ was a ministry of reconciliation. His life as well as his death was sacrificial and atoning. The soul and God at one, no longer divided by sin, by ignorance, enmity, distrust, but reunited and reconciled; for this Jesus both lived and died. The soul and God, as doctrines, constituted the chief theme of his teaching; but the doctrines were proclaimed because they contained the seed of life, of everlasting life to a dying world, and were fitted to originate a deep and vital change in men's consciences and hearts. The spiritual restoration and regeneration of the world, in other words, the establishment of a reign of God in the human soul, forms the true idea of the personal ministry of Christ, the true idea of his life, the true idea of his death.

Christ's system of religious truth, compared with Mohammedanism, Buddhism, Talmudism, the ancient Jewish Scriptures, Stoicism, Socraticism or Platonism, with the system of any or of all the philosophers of Greece or Rome, is incomparably superior. "What is still more, it may be affirmed without misgiving, that of all the spiritual truth existing in the world at this moment, not only is there not a single important idea which is not found in the words of Christ, but all the most important ideas can be found nowhere else, and have their sole fountain in his mind. From his mind there shone a light which neither Egypt, nor India, nor Greece, nor Rome, had ever kindled, which no age before his day ever saw, and none since, except in him alone, has ever seen.'

We now ask an explanation of the facts connected with Christ's condition on earth, and of his work among men. What interpretation shall be given to the extraordinary manifestations of his character and life? Let Mr. Young's remarks be deeply pondered by the reader:

"The supposition that he was merely a messenger and a prophet of God, a man divinely selected and furnished for a Godlike work, does not satisfy, never can satisfy, the extraordinary conditions of the case. The world has heard the voice of many God-sent men, the organs through which imperishable truth, in various amounts, has been conveyed; but not one of these can, on any just ground, be likened for a moment to Jesus Christ. We have found that he is not merely different from them, but, in the most material respects, incomparably above