The Liturgy and Ritual of the Ante-Nicene Church (Warren)

The Liturgy and Ritual of the Ante-Nicene Church (Warren)

continued

Chapter IV: The Connection between the Liturgy and Ritual of the Jewish and Christian Churches

1 § 1. INTRODUCTORY.—It is proposed to bring before the reader in this chapter a difficult subject, on which different views have been held by various writers at various times; namely, the relationship, or absence of relationship, of the Liturgy and Ritual of the Christian Church to the Liturgy and Ritual of the Jewish Church which preceded it. It must be allowed at starting that the following grounds constitute a strong, à priori ground for supposing that the Christian and Jewish organization, liturgy, and ritual would show at least some signs of connection and resemblance:— (1) The Divine Founder of the Christian Church was Himself, in His human nature, of Jewish nationality. (2) He lived throughout His life on earth as a loyal son of the Jewish Church, frequenting its services, and fulfilling all that the Levitical law enjoined. (3) On the night before His death He was actually engaged in the solemnization of the Jewish Paschal Supper when He instituted the Christian Eucharist.

2 (4) The Apostles and the saints who founded the first Christian Churches were likewise Jews, and frequented the temple services, certainly at first, and probably as long as the temple stood. The law of evolution would lead us to expect a natural continuity between Jewish and Christian worship. But when we come to details, to decide exactly what part of the temple service or of the synagogue service was the basis on which some apparently corresponding part of the Christian service was formed, to decide whether certain resemblances in points of ritual were and are intentional or accidental, then we are confronted with great difficulties. There is no direct statement upon the point in Holy Scripture, or in apostolic or subapostolic times. Mediæval writers have a good deal to tell us on this subject; but mediævalism was uncritical, and unless statements of this sort made by mediæval writers are supported by evidence, they cannot be relied upon as necessarily true.

3 Then, unfortunately, there are not extant sufficient authentic Jewish liturgical remains of the first century A.D., for us to base an independent conclusion upon them with certainty. Such early remains as do exist come to us through the Mischna, of the second century after Christ, yet containing documents of an earlier date; the Tosiphtha, a little later than the Mischna; and the two Gemaras, that of Jerusalem (4th century), and that of Babylon (5th century). All these are included in the corpus of the Jewish documents known as the Talmud. Perhaps the most helpful plan will be to lay before the reader the main facts about the services of the temple and the synagogue, together with an account of the Paschal Supper, giving in extenso the few portions of the Jewish Liturgy which are by general consent as old as the time of our Saviour. We will then call attention to points of similarity in the Jewish and Christian services, and shall have to decide how far such similarities are accidental, or due to a connection between the former and the latter.

4 § 2. THE TEMPLE SERVICES.—These included the daily offering of a lamb on the altar of burnt offering, in the morning and at even, accompanied with a meat offering (flour and oil), and a drink offering (wine). On the sabbath two lambs were offered instead of one. There was a daily offering of incense on the altar of incense in the morning before, and in the evening after the daily sacrifice. In connection with the offering of the burnt sacrifice, there was vocal and instrumental music; the priests blew silver trumpets, and the Levites played on various instruments. A special psalm was appointed for use on each day of the week, viz. on Sunday, Ps. xxiv.; on Monday, Ps. xlviii.; on Tuesday, Ps. lxxxii.; on Wednesday, Ps. xciv.; on Thursday, Ps. lxxxi.; on Friday, Ps. xciii.; on the sabbath, Ps. xcii. There were special sacrifices and services on the great festivals, which we will not describe here, though it will be necessary to speak later on about the Passover. In addition to these there were a multitude of private offerings and sacrifices, of which it is unnecessary to give any description here.

5 On the sabbath day the Song of Moses (Deut. xxxii.), divided into six portions for as many sabbaths, was sung after the morning sacrifice, and the Song of Moses (Exod. xv.) was sung after the evening sacrifice. There is no early evidence forthcoming as to any scheme of the regular repetition of the Psalter corresponding to the use of the Psalter in the Divine Office of the Christian Church, either in the case of the temple or of the synagogue services. The Talmud is our earliest extant authority for the character of services held originally in the temple, and afterwards transferred to the synagogue, viz. at morning (Shacharith), noon (Musaph), afternoon (Minchah), and evening (Arbith). The greater part of the Psalter was used, and is used still, at these and other services; e.g. in the morning service of the London Synagogue of to-day the following Psalms are used on sabbaths and Holy Days: xix., xxxiv., xc., xci., cxxxv., cxxxvi., xxxiii., xcii., xciii.; and on all days of the week, cxlv., cxlvi., cxlvii., cxlix., cxlviii., cl. We need not go through the whole of the Jewish Prayer-book. If these services are as ancient as the time of Christ, and if they were held in the temple before being transferred to the synagogue, then it is impossible not to trace in them the origin, or at least the inspiring, idea of the Christian Divine Office. Can it be a mere coincidence that Psalms cxlviii.-cl., which formed an integral part of the daily Jewish morning service, have been found everywhere as an unvarying element in the daily morning Christian service of Lauds?

6 § 3. THE SYNAGOGUE SERVICES.—The chief parts of the service in the synagogue were, according to the Mischna, (1) The recitation of the Shema; (2) prayer; (3) the reading of the Thorah (i.e. the Pentateuch); (4) the reading of the Prophets; (5) the blessing; to which was added a translation into the vernacular Aramaic of the lessons, read in the ancient Hebrew, and a discourse founded thereon. It will be noticed that the recitation of the Psalter, which is the centre of the Christian Divine office, and round which everything else circles, is absent from the synagogue service as here described. Its main object appears to be instruction, whereas the main object of the Christian Divine office is worship. We are inclined to extend to the whole Christian service a remark which Mons. E. de Pressensé makes with regard to sacred song— 'Its cradle was not the synagogue, where the frigid service consisted only of reading and prayer, without any intermingling songs of praise (Luke iv. 17; Acts xv. 21). Christian song comes directly from the temple, the offspring of that grand Hebrew poetry uttered by lips touched by the live coal from off the altar, the sublimest lyric expressions ever given to the griefs and yearnings of the human heart.'

7 The mediæval Liturgy of the synagogue is full of blasphemics against Jesus Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary, which seem to be the outcome and the perpetuation of a deep-seated and long-standing hostility between the Jewish Synagogue and the Christian Church. It should also be borne in mind that synagogues in the first century A.D. were a comparatively modern institution, and had no hereditary claim on the reverence or affection of either Jews or Christians. The contrary has sometimes been inferred from the statement of St. James, in Acts xv. 21, but the words used there might mean anything from one thousand to one hundred years. As a matter of fact, the meaning must be near the latter and not the former limit. There is no reference to synagogues in the Old Testament. Ps. lxxiv. 8 is generally admitted to be a mistranslation; nor can 3 Macc. vii. 20 be relied upon, although it is usually supposed to refer to the building of a synagogue at Alexandria, c. 217-215 B.C. There is really no evidence for the generally accepted theory and often-repeated statement that the foundation or re-foundation of synagogues took place in the days of Nehemiah or Ezra.

8 Synagogues were village institutes and police courts as well as halls of worship. Within their precincts cases were tried, prisoners were sentenced, and the sentences were carried out. Our Lord said— 'They shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for My Name's sake.' Beware of men, for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues.' St. Paul tells how— 'I imprisoned and beat in every synagogue them that believed. . . . I punished them oft in every synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto strange cities.' In later times St. Paul was himself five times sentenced by his fellow-countrymen to undergo the penalty of the lash, and the place where these scourgings were inflicted must have been the synagogue. Surely, with such painful and degrading associations and recollections, the synagogue would not have been the quarter to which the first Christians would have turned to find a model, either for their proceedings or their services. Their thoughts would more naturally centre round the temple, which our Saviour, and His Apostles after Him, regularly frequented, and which was, par excellence, the house of God.

9 Yet some further information about the arrangements of the synagogue may be acceptable. The building faced so that the worshippers might look towards the Holy City. The door for the entrance of the congregation was at one end of the building. At the further end—which we will call the east end—elevated on steps, was an ark, or closet, over which a canopy was spread. This ark always contained the scrolls of the law, and sometimes the official garments of the officers of the community. The desk for the leader of Divine worship was placed in front of the ark. The rostrum, or bema, an elevated pulpit or platform, from which the lessons of the law were read and discourses were delivered, usually stood in the centre of the building. In front of the ark there were armchairs, in which the elders of the synagogue and doctors of the law sat, facing the congregation.

10 A light was kept perpetually burning, in evident imitation of the temple light. Trombones were kept, to be blown on the first day of the year, and trumpets, to be blown on feast days. The usual hours of daily worship in the synagogue were nine a.m., when the morning sacrifice was being offered in the temple, and three p.m., when the evening sacrifice was being offered in the temple, or rather, while the sacrifice in the temple was being burned, which was interpreted to mean any hour between dark and dawn. It is not known with precision what the Jewish service was in the time of our Lord. Dr. Ginsburg says— service is certain; but it is equally certain that the present Liturgy of the synagogue embodies a large admixture of prayers which were compiled after the destruction of the second temple.' Dr. Schürer says— 'As the Shema undoubtedly belongs to the time of Christ, it is evident that certain established prayers were then already customary in public worship. It can, however, hardly be ascertained how much of the somewhat copiously developed Liturgy of post-Talmudic Judaism reaches back to that period.'

11 It is of no use, therefore—or rather, it is worse than useless, because it would be misleading—to take up a Jewish Prayer-book of the present day, and, with that as an authority, to institute a comparison between the liturgical language and ritual of the Jewish and Christian Churches. We will now quote those portions of the Jewish Liturgy, which, apart from, and in addition to, lections from Holy Scripture, are believed to be as old or older than Christianity, and to have been in use in the time of our Lord. § 4. THE SHEMA.—Two introductory benedictions, called the Shema, or Keriath Shema. 1. 'Blessed art Thou, O Lord our God, King of the universe, who createst light and formest darkness, who makest peace and createst all things. He in mercy causes the light to shine upon the earth and the inhabitants thereof, and in goodness renews every day the work of creation. Blessed art Thou, the Creator of light.

12 2. With great love hast Thou loved us, O Lord our God. Thou hast shown us great and abundant mercy, O our Father and King, for the sake of our forefathers who trusted in Thee. Thou who didst teach them the love of life, have mercy upon us, and teach us also . . . to praise and acknowledge Thy unity in love. Blessed art Thou, O Lord, who in love hast chosen Thy people.' [Recitation of the ten commandments. The Shema consisting of Deut. vi. 4-9; xi. 13-21; Numb. xv. 37-41.] 3. Concluding benediction— 'It is true and firmly established that Thou art the Lord our God, and the God of our forefathers; there is no God besides Thee. Blessed art Thou, O Lord, the Redeemer of Israel.' It is to be noticed that, in the conversation between our Saviour and the lawyer who inquired, 'Master, what must I do to inherit eternal life?' the lawyer recited a verse of the Shema (Deut. vi. 4, 5; St. Luke x. 26, 27).

13 § 5. THE EIGHTEEN BENEDICTIONS, OR THE PRAYER 'SHEMONAH ESRAH.'—These were recited in the temple daily; three of them were pronounced upon the people by the priests every day in the temple court. The sixteenth and seventeenth were used by the high priest on the Day of Atonement. 1. 'Blessed art Thou, O Lord our God, the God of our Fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, great, omnipotent, fearful, and most high God, who bountifully shewest mercy who art the possessor of all things, who rememberest the pious deeds of our fathers, and sendest the Redeemer to their children's children, for His mercy's sake in love, O our King, Defender, Saviour, and Shield. Blessed art Thou, O Lord, the Shield of Abraham! 2. Thou art powerful, O Lord, world without end. Thou bringest the dead to life in great compassion, Thou holdest up the falling, healest the sick, loosest the chained, and shewest Thy faithfulness to those that sleep in the dust. Who is like unto Thee, Lord of might? and who resembles Thee? a Sovereign killing and bringing to life again, and causing salvation to flourish, and Thou art sure to raise the dead. Blessed art Thou, O Lord, who raisest the dead.

14 3. Thou art Holy, and Thy Name is Holy, and the holy ones praise Thee every day continually. Blessed art Thou, O Lord the holy God. 4. Thou mercifully bestowest knowledge upon men, and teachest the mortal prudence. Mercifully bestow upon us from Thyself, knowledge, wisdom, and understanding. Blessed art Thou, O Lord, who mercifully bestowest knowledge. 5. Our Father, lead us back to Thy law. Bring us very near, O King, to Thy service, and cause us to return in sincere penitence into Thy presence. Blessed art Thou, O Lord, who delightest in repentance. 6. Our Father, forgive us, for we have sinned; our King pardon us, for we have transgressed; for Thou art forgiving and pardoning. Blessed art Thou, O Lord, merciful and plenteous in forgiveness. 7. Look at our misery, contend our cause, and deliver us speedily, for Thy Name's sake, for Thou art a mighty deliverer. Blessed art Thou, O Lord, the Deliverer of Israel.

15 8. Heal us, O Lord, and we shall be healed; save us, and we shall be saved, for Thou art our boast; grant us a perfect cure for all our wounds, for Thou, O Lord our King, art a faithful and merciful physician. Blessed art Thou, O Lord, who healest the sick of Thy people Israel. 9. Bless to us, O Lord our God, for good this year, and all its kinds of produce. Send Thy blessing upon the face of the earth, satisfy us with Thy goodness, and bless this year as the years bygone. Blessed art Thou, O Lord, who blessest the seasons. 10. Cause the great trumpet to proclaim our liberty, raise the standard for the gathering of our captives, and bring us together from the four corners of the earth. Blessed art Thou, O Lord, who gatherest together the dispersed of Israel. 11. Reinstate our judges as of old, and our councillors as of yore; remove from us sorrow and sighing, and do Thou alone, O Lord, reign over us in mercy and love, and judge us in righteousness and justice. Blessed art Thou, O Lord the King, who lovest righteousness and justice.

16 12. Let the apostates have no hope, and let those who perpetrate wickedness speedily perish; let them all be suddenly cut off; let the proud speedily be uprooted, broken, crushed, and humbled speedily in our days. Blessed art Thou, O Lord, who breakest down the enemy, and humblest the proud. 13. On the righteous, on the pious, on the elders of Thy people, the House of Israel, on the remnant of the Scribes, on the pious proselytes, and on us bestow, O Lord our God, Thy mercy; give ample reward to all who trust in Thy name in sincerity, make our portion with them for ever, and let us not be ashamed, for we trust in Thee. Blessed art Thou, O Lord, the Support and Refuge of the righteous. 14a. To Jerusalem, Thy city, in mercy return, and dwell in it according to Thy promise; make it speedily in our day an everlasting building, and soon establish therein the throne of David. Blessed art Thou, O Lord, who buildest Jerusalem.

17 14. 14b. The branch of David Thy servant speedily cause to flourish, and exalt his horn with Thy help, for we look to Thy help all day. Blessed art Thou, who causest to flourish the horn of David. 15. Hear our voice, O Lord our God, have pity and compassion on us, and receive with mercy and acceptance our prayers, for Thou art a God hearing prayer and supplication, our King; do not send us empty away from Thy presence, for Thou hearest the prayers of Thy people Israel in mercy. Blessed art Thou, O Lord, who hearest prayer. 16. Be favourable, O Lord our God, to Thy people Israel, and to their prayer; restore the worship to Thy sanctuary; receive lovingly the burnt sacrifice of Israel and their prayer, and let the service of Israel Thy people be always well-pleasing to Thee. May our eyes see Thee return to Israel in love. Blessed art Thou, O Lord, who restorest Thy Shechinah to Zion.

18 17. We thankfully confess before Thee that Thou art the Lord our God, and the God of our fathers, world without end, and that Thou art the Shepherd of our life, and the Rock of our salvation, from generation to generation; we render thanks unto Thee, and celebrate Thy praises. Blessed art Thou, O Lord, whose Name is goodness, and whom it becomes to praise. 18. Bestow peace, happiness, blessing, grace, mercy, and compassion upon us, and upon the whole of Israel Thy people. Our Father, bless us all unitedly with the light of Thy countenance, for in the light of Thy countenance didst Thou give to us, O Lord our God, the law of life, loving-kindness, justice, blessing, compassion, life, and peace. May it please Thee to bless Thy people Israel at all times, and in every moment with peace. Blessed art Thou, O Lord, who blessest Thy people Israel with peace.'

19 It will be evident from 14a and 16 that in this form, the earliest form known to us, the eighteen Benedictions are more recent than the destruction of Jerusalem, A.D. 70. They may be dated A.D. 70 to A.D. 100, but their groundwork is more ancient, and we have printed them as containing, for the most part, material as ancient or more ancient than the time of Christ. § 6. THE KADISH.—The Kadish was part of the morning service of the synagogue. It was in these words, the legate of the congregation speaking, the congregation taking up the responses— 1. 'Exalted and hallowed be His great Name in the world which He created according to His will; let His kingdom come in your lifetime, and in the lifetime of the whole House of Israel, very speedily. IV. Amen. Blessed be His great Name, world without end. 2. Blessed and praised, celebrated and exalted, extolled and adored, magnified and worshipped be Thy holy Name. Blessed be He far above all benedictions, hymns, thanks, praises, and consolations, which have been uttered in the world.

20 IV. Amen. 3. May the prayers and supplications of all Israel be graciously received before their Father in heaven. IV. Amen. 4. May perfect peace descend from heaven, and life upon us and all Israel. IV. Amen. 5. May He who makes peace in His heaven confer peace upon us and all Israel. IV. Amen. Two petitions in the Lord's Prayer, as taught by our Saviour, seem to be based upon the first section of this Kadish. § 7. THE KEDUSHA. The following is the wording of the Kedusha, which was substituted in public worship for the third of the eighteen Benedictions. It is said in the same way as the Kadish. 'Hallowed be Thy Name on earth as it is hallowed in heaven above, as it is written by the prophet, And one calls to the other, and says— IV. Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God of Sabaoth; the whole earth is filled with His glory.

21 Those who are opposite them respond— IV. Blessed be the glory of the eternal, each one in his station. And in Thy Holy Word it is written, thus saying— IV. The Lord shall reign for ever and ever, Thy God, O Zion, from generation to generation. Hallelujah. From generation to generation we will disclose Thy greatness, and for ever and ever celebrate Thy holiness, and Thy praise shall not cease in our mouth, world without end; for Thou, O Lord, art a great and holy King. Blessed art Thou, holy God and King. It will be seen that the Triumphal Hymn, or Tersanctus, which is now part of the Christian Liturgy, had a position previously in the Kedusha of the Jewish Church. The first section of it is also suggestive of a petition in the Lord's Prayer. § 8. THE PASCHAL SUPPER.—We proceed next to describe the order and ceremonial of the Paschal Supper.

22 'The company having assembled, after the lamps were lighted, arranged themselves in due order on couches, round the tables, reclining on their left sides. A cup of red wine mingled with water, was filled for every one, and drunk, after a benediction by the head man of the group. A basin of water was then brought in, that each might wash his hands, and then another blessing was pronounced. A table was then carried into the open space between the couches, and bitter herbs and unleavened bread, with a dish, made of dates, raisins, and other fruits mixed with vinegar to the consistency of lime, in commemoration of the mortar with which their fathers worked in Egypt, set on it, along with the paschal lamb. The head man then took some of the herbs, dipped them in the dish, and after giving thanks to God for creating the fruits of the earth, ate a small piece, and gave one to each of the company. A second cup of wine and water was then poured out, and the son of the house, or the youngest boy present, was asked the meaning of the feast. The questions to be put had been minutely fixed by the rabbis, and were as formally and minutely answered in appointed words, the whole story of deliverance from Egypt being thus repeated year after year, at each Passover table, in the same terms throughout all Israel.'

23 The first part of the great 'Hallel' or 'Hallelujah' (Psalms cxiii., cxiv.) was now chanted, introduced by the formula— 'Therefore it is our bounden duty to thank, praise, exalt, glorify, praise and celebrate Him who has done all these things for our fathers, and for us. He has led us out of bondage to freedom, out of misery to joy, out of mourning to rejoicing, out of darkness to great light, out of slavery to liberty. Therefore let us sing before Him a new song, Hallelujah.' The resemblance of these words to the Preface in the Christian Eucharistic Service will be noticed at once. Then followed a prayer, beginning— 'Blessed art Thou, O Lord our God, King of the universe, who hast redeemed us and our forefathers from Egypt.' Upon which the blessing and the drinking of the second cup followed. This was followed by a second washing of hands. A third cup was now poured out, and then came the grace after meals. A fourth and last cup followed, and then Psalms cxv.-cxviii., which formed the rest of the 'Hallelujah;' and another prayer closed the feast. Ps. cxxxvi. was sung at the conclusion of the Hallel, and was itself called the Great Hallel.

24 § 9. VITRINGA'S THEORY.—The Dutch Protestant theologian, Vitringa, whose voluminous writings on the subject have been conveniently translated by the Rev. J. L. Bernard, maintained that the order, discipline, and ritual of the Christian Church were directly derived not from the Jewish temple, but from the Jewish synagogue. Whether the Christian Liturgy itself was derived from the same source, he held it to be impossible to decide in the absence of primitive Christian service books; but he illustrated his point by references, especially, to synagogical laws and practices in the matter of excommunication, ordination, preaching, lections of Holy Scripture, the use of lights, of a pulpit, desk, etc., the prohibition of women from speaking in public, the attitude of prayer, etc. He says— 'In a word, if we attentively consider the laws made in the early ages respecting the Church and its furniture, the reverence and respect due to it, there is hardly a law to be found that is not derived from the canons of the synagogue.'

25 We do not think that Vitringa established his point. Some of the above arrangements are based upon the ordinary requirements of convenience; a great part, and the more distinctive part, of the regulations which he adduces, were common to both the synagogue and the temple. § 10. BICKELL'S THEORY.—Dr. G. Bickell, followed by Dr. W. F. Skene, has laboured to prove that the earlier part—the pre-anaphoral part—of the Christian Liturgy is based upon the Jewish Sabbath Morning Prayer; and that the latter part of it—the anaphora, or canon—is based upon the language and ritual used in the Paschal Supper. The supposed similarity is exhibited in parallel columns, the Clementine Liturgy being used as a basis, supplemented from other quarters, especially from the Syriac Liturgy of St. James. If any one will read through these parallel columns, he will probably come to the same conclusion as the present writer, viz. that the resemblance, though sometimes evident, is generally slight, in some cases fanciful, in other cases undiscernible, and that there is not, on the whole, sufficient similarity to establish or to disestablish the theory which has been built upon it.

26 There are, however, a considerable number of the ordinances of the Christian Church, and of points of order, ritual, and language, which find a counterpart in the worship and ceremonial of the Jewish Church. We will enumerate and describe them, after which we shall be in a better position to decide whether the resemblances are the result of relationship or of chance. § 11. BAPTISM.—Baptism was used by the Jews for the admission of proselytes into the Jewish Church, in addition, no doubt, to certain other ceremonies which it would be beside our purpose to mention or describe here. Bathing, or washing with water, was also the appointed rite for the removal of certain Levitical defilements, and before the execution of priestly offices, such as entering the Holy Place, offering sacrifice, etc. It is quite possible that our Lord followed Jewish precedent in selecting and ordaining baptism as the rite of initiation into the Christian Church, the age at which it was administered being derived from the Jewish law and practice with regard to circumcision with which Christian baptism is expressly associated by St. Paul. At least this seems more probable than that pagan rites for the purification of infants should have been copied, as has been suggested by one of the most eminent writers of the present day.

27 The unction which accompanied baptism is expressly stated by Tertullian to have been borrowed from the practice of the Old Testament dispensation, and likewise the imposition of hands. § 12. BELLS.—Bells form part of the ministration robes of priests in the Greek Church, and were occasionally found attached to sacerdotal vestments in the Western Church, just as they formed part of the dress of the Jewish high priest as described in the Book of Exodus. § 13. BENEDICTIONS AT LECTIONS.—Benedictions were pronounced before and after each of the lessons read out of the Old Testament in the Jewish sabbath morning prayers. These apparently correspond to the benedictions and responsories connected with the lessons in Western Breviaries. § 14. COLOURS.—Various sequences of colours have grown up in course of time to be in use in the Christian Church. They were simple at first, but grew more complex as time went on. The following curious attempt to associate them with a Levitical origin is taken from a mediæval Irish tract preserved in the Lebar Brecc:—

28 'Query, by whom were your various colours first brought into the robe of offering? Not hard to say: Moses, son of Amram, brought them into the robe of offering of Aaron, son of Amram, his own brother. He was the first priest in the law of Moses. It is worth knowing how many colours were set by Moses in Aaron's robe. Not hard to say: eight, to wit, yellow, blue, white, green, brown, red, black, purple. That, then, is the number of colours which every robe of offering is bound to have in it from that time to this. It is worth knowing why that diversity was brought into the robe of offering, instead of its being one colour. Not hard to say: through mystery and figure. It is not fitting for any priest to approach Christ's body towards the offering, without a robe of shining satin around him, with the various colours therein, etc.

29 § 15. CONFIRMATION.—There is something, at first sight, analogous to confirmation, at least as administered now in the Western Church, and especially in the Church of England, in the way in which a Jewish lad, when twelve years of age, was presented in the temple or the synagogue, and formally taking upon himself the obligations of the Jewish Church, was solemnly admitted into full membership. Yet the resemblance must be accidental. Confirmation was originally closely connected with baptism, and its ceremonial finds no counterpart in the Jewish reception of the twelve-year-old lad. § 16. CHURCHES, NAME OF.—There are a considerable number of points connected with the structure and arrangement of churches, with their dedication, their decoration, and the reverence shown for them, on which comparisons might be drawn out at considerable length between Jewish and Christian customs; but the connection between them is of too unsubstantial and unproven a character to make it worth while to pursue the matter in detail. Probably similar comparisons might be worked out between the temples and worship of the Christian and the Buddhist or almost any other religion. There is, however, one trace of a Jewish influence or connection to which attention may be drawn, namely, the use of the word 'synagogue,' as a kind of loan word to describe a Christian place of worship. We have already seen that it occurs in that sense in the New Testament.

30 St. Ignatius, in his Epistle to Polycarp, says— 'Let Church assemblies (synagogæ) be held frequently.' In The Shepherd of Hermas we read— 'When a man having the Divine spirit comes into a synagogue of just men.' Theophilus of Antioch speaks of— 'The synagogues yet called the holy churches.' Theodotus (the Valentinian) calls— 'The Church, which is Christ's Body, the blessed synagogue.' The word is used by Firmilian of Cæsarea in his Epistle to St. Cyprian, in which he says— 'We do not share the same synagogue with heretics.' A Greek inscription over a Marcionite church on Mount Hermon, A.D. 308 or 318, runs thus— .' These are all instances of the perpetuation in Christian usage of a Jewish word. The following modes or marks of Jewish reverence or devotion seem to correspond to similar characteristics in Christian worship:— § 17. SILENT PRAYER.—The silent prayer which accompanied the offering of incense may have suggested the silent prayer in Eastern Liturgies, and the oratio secreta said super oblata, as well as the canon now said secreto in the Roman rite.

31 § 18. BOWING AT THE SACRED NAME.—When the name of Jehovah was mentioned, Jewish worshippers bowed down or prostrated themselves to the ground. This is akin to the Christian custom of bowing at the ascription of praise to God or to the Holy Trinity, or at the mention of the Name of Jesus, though the latter is more likely to have arisen out of a misunderstanding of Phil. ii. 10. § 19. REMOVAL OF SHOES.—Jewish worshippers removed their shoes from their feet when they entered the temple, a custom connected with Exod. iii. 5 and Josh. v. 15. Sandals were worn by Jewish priests in the temple, but they were barefooted while actually engaged in any ministration. It is interesting to find traces of a similar custom in certain parts of the Christian Church. Irish ecclesiastics appear to have taken off their sandals at the chancel rail when they went to celebrate or to pray at the altar, and to have put them on again when they returned thence. This custom is implied in a story told of St. Columba and his attendant Scannlan in the Book of Lismore. It is also an Eastern practice. Mr. Butler tells us that in the Coptic Church it is a rule for all who enter the haikal (= sanctuary) to put off their shoes at the door, and this applies even to the celebrant. This practice does not prevail in the Nestorian and Armenian Churches, though in the latter the priests wear special sandals or slippers.

32 Cassian tells us of the Egyptian monks that they always wore sandals instead of shoes, and that they always put off their sandals when they went to celebrate or to receive the holy mysteries. § 20. BOWING TOWARDS THE ALTAR.—On entering the temple all the congregation reverently bowed their heads. On leaving the vicinity of the altar both the priests and the worshippers were required to walk backward as far as the Gate of Nicanor, and there to stand, with their heads reverently bowed towards the altar before withdrawing. The mediæval and modern Christian custom of bowing towards the altar is an act of reverence of the same kind, but it is impossible to establish directly the derivation of the Christian from the Jewish custom, especially in the absence of any allusion to the practice in ante-Nicene times. Bingham follows Mede in thinking that it is highly probable that the Christian act of reverence is derived from the Jewish, though proof is wanting.

33 § 21. EASTWARD POSITION.—The Jewish worshipper always turned his face towards the Holy of Holies, i.e. towards Jerusalem. This would always involve, in European congregations, the orientation of synagogues, and the eastward position in prayer, which have prevailed so generally, though not universally, in Christendom. § 22. ABLUTIONS.—The numerous ceremonial washings of hands or feet or body, prescribed to the Jewish priests in the Levitical code, bear a certain resemblance to the ceremonial ablution of the hands, known as the lavabo, which, either at the offertory or at some other point, forms a feature of most, if not all, Christian Liturgies, and also to the ceremonial washing of the feet, known as the pedilavium, on Maundy Thursday and at baptism. § 23. STANDING AT THE GOSPEL.—The standing up of the congregation in the synagogue at the reading of the law is analogous to the widely spread Christian custom of standing, as an act of reverence, during the reading of the liturgical gospel.

34 § 24. PROCESSION OF THE GOSPEL.—The solemn procession of the roll of the law to the reader's desk in the synagogue, resembles the ceremonial procession of the Holy Gospels in Eastern Liturgies, known as 'The Little,' or 'The Lesser Entrance.' § 25. SEPARATION OF THE SEXES.—The separation of the sexes in the Jewish Church, the men occupying the body of the synagogue and the women the galleries, or the congregation being divided upon the ground floor, was adopted in the early Christian Church, and is, to some extent, retained still. It might seem to be in the Christian Church merely the outcome of general Oriental sentiment as to the separation of the sexes, but a specially Jewish origin for it has been generally maintained. The separation of men and women in church was ordered in the Canons of Hippolytus, which also directed that women were to be carefully veiled. In no case was a woman allowed to preach, except in certain heretical communities.

35 § 26. MODE OF SINGING.—The mode of singing in the Jewish Divine service—partly responsorial, partly antiphonal, and possibly the actual chants used—are believed by some persons to have passed on into the service of the Christian sanctuary. In a letter attributed to St. Germanus Parisiensis (sixth century, but probably of somewhat later date), the use of antiphons and of antiphonal singing is derived from King Solomon, and the use of responsorial chanting from Miriam. According to a modern authority, Jewish melodic recitation may be the basis of the mode of chanting the service in the Christian Church. § 27. DEDICATION OF CHURCHES.—The solemn dedication of places of worship was observed throughout Jewish history, as in the case of the dedication of the tabernacle, of Solomon's temple, of the temple rebuilt under Zerubbabel, of the building of the temple and rebuilding of the altar when Judas Maccabeus had driven out the Syrians, of the temple as restored under Herod. This practice of dedication passed on into the Christian Church. The rubrics in the earlier Latin Pontificals and Sacramentaries, which, however, do not date from further back than the eighth century, seem purposely to borrow their language from the Old Testament, and to copy details in the Levitical ritual. The expression, 'the horn,' or 'the horns of the altar,' is used to denote the corner or the corners of the altar. This expression is evidently borrowed from Exod. xxvii. 2—

36 'And thou shalt make the horns of it upon the four corners thereof: his horns shall be of the same: and thou shalt overlay it with brass.' The directions to employ hyssop for sprinkling, and the sevenfold perambulation round the altar, seem to be based upon Exod. xxii. 22, etc., and Levit. iv. 17, etc. Any sprinkling water which remained was directed to be poured out at the base of the altar, an expression drawn from Exod. xii. 29 and Levit. iv. 25, etc. § 28. FASTS AND FESTIVALS.—Dec. 25 (25th of Chislev) was the Jewish Feast of the Dedication. It was adopted at a very early date by the Christian Church as the Feast of the Nativity of our Saviour, or Christmas-Day; but there is no proof that the identity of date is more than a coincidence, or that there was any connection between the Jewish and the Christian festival.

37 The four fasts observed annually by the Jews, and referred to in Zech. viii. 19, are stated to have suggested the institution of the four Ember seasons. The connection, as to number, is maintained in a passage in a treatise, 'De Hæresibus,' by Philaster, Bishop of Brixia, in the middle of the fourth century; but the purposes for which these Jewish and Christian fasts were instituted were of a totally different character, and it is difficult to believe that there was any connection between them. There were two weekly Jewish fast-days, Monday and Thursday, for which the Christian Church at a very early date substituted Wednesday and Friday, commemorating the betrayal and the crucifixion of our Lord, but we have not met with any statement or allusion asserting or suggesting any connection between the two arrangements. A high sabbath connected with a feast was the sabbath previous to it, not the sabbath after it, or the sabbath within the octave, as is usually the case in the Christian Church. The only similar arrangement which has come under our notice is in the case of the Eastern Church, where Quinquagesima week is the week before and not the week after Quinquagesima Sunday.

38 § 29. HEBREW LANGUAGE, USE OF THE.—It has been stated by Durandus that in the primitive Church the Divine Mysteries were celebrated in Hebrew, and some Orientalists have expressed an opinion that the structure of certain liturgical sentences indicates a translation from a Semitic language. But we have searched in vain for corroboration of Durandus' statement. Hebrew words occasionally occur in Latin Liturgies, but only in the case of such expressions as 'Amen,' 'Hallelujah,' 'Hosanna,' or of such titles of God as 'Hel,' 'Rucha.' The alphabet inscribed by a bishop at the consecration of a church was once written in Greek, Latin, and Hebrew. § 30. THE EUCHARIST.—(a) Dr. Edersheim thinks that the word 'Haggadah,' which means 'shewing forth,' and which was a Hebrew term for the Paschal Liturgy, suggested the language of St. Paul— 'As often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till He come.'

39 (b) The washing of hands, which took place in the Paschal Supper after the partaking of the first and also of the second cup, is suggestive of the Eucharistic lavabo. (c) Only red wine was allowed to be used at the Paschal Supper, and it was always mixed with water, just as the mixed chalice has been almost universally used in the Christian Eucharist. (d) Dr. Edersheim quotes a passage from the Mischna, which looks as if the water thus used was warm water— 'If two companies eat [the Passover] in the same house, the one turns its face to one side, the other to the other, and the kettle [warming kettle] stands between them. This offers a curious parallel to the infusion of warm water into the chalice at the commixture in the Byzantine rite, for which, however, no very early authority can be produced, nor is the practice known in any other Liturgy, Eastern or Western.

40 (e) The Paschal Supper was preceded by a fast. The evening sacrifice was ordinarily offered at 2.30 p.m. and slain at 3.30 p.m., but on the eve of the Passover these hours were put back to 1.30 p.m. and 2.30 p.m. No food was partaken of from that hour until the Paschal Supper, and that was not commenced until dark. This may have suggested the practice of fasting reception of the Eucharist, which has been observed with rare exceptions from the earliest times. § 31. IMPOSITION OF HANDS.—This was not part of the prescribed Levitical ritual, but it was the recognized external sign accompanying benediction, and appointment to office. There had been variation of practice in earlier times, but for some time before our Lord's day the appointment or ordination of a rabbi had come to be made or performed by the laying on of hands, and the presence of three ordained rabbis was required to make such an ordination valid. This is suggestive of the only universally used external sign which has scriptural authority in connection with ordination in the Christian Church, and reminds us of the early Canons which made the presence and co-operation of three bishops necessary not to the validity, but to the regularity of a consecration.

41 § 32. HOLY ORDERS.—The conviction that the Christian ministry in its threefold form was evolved out of the ministerial organization of the Jewish Church, found support at an early date. It is suggested by the language of St. Clement of Rome, in a chapter in which he is evidently describing the office and work of the Christian ministry, wherein he says— 'For to the high-priest are given certain functions, and to the priests their proper place is assigned, and to the Levites appertain their proper ministries, and the laymen are confined within the bounds of what is commanded to laymen.' Later on St. Jerome said— 'What Aaron, and his sons, and the Levites were in the temple, the same bishops, priests, and deacons are in the Church.' The comparison is drawn out in still greater detail in the Apostolic Constitutions, where it is said that— 42 'The Jewish sacrifices are the Christian prayers and supplications and Eucharist. Jewish firstfruits and tithes, and offerings, and gifts, are the oblations offered by the holy bishops to the Lord God through Jesus Christ, who died for them. For the bishops are your high priests, and the presbyters are your priests, and the deacons of to-day are your Levites, and so on with your readers, and singers, and ostiarii, and with your deaconesses, and widows, and virgins, and orphans; and the bishop, who is above all these, is the high priest. In its earliest form, in apostolic times, the three-fold ministry of the Christian Church was differently constituted. It consisted of, firstly, Apostles; secondly, presbyters or bishops; thirdly, deacons. These gradations, according to a modern liturgical writer of eminence, had also their Jewish counterparts. The Apostles corresponded to ethnarchs; the presbyters to rulers of the synagogue; the deacons to the .

43 Mons. de Pressensé maintained that the two Christian orders of bishops, or elders, and deacons (the Apostles representing the first order, divinely appointed, and not intended to be perpetuated) were borrowed not from the temple worship, but from the synagogue, which had nothing priestly about it, and the very simple organization of which singularly adapted it to the needs of the new community. These connections and correspondences may be deemed unproven or even fanciful, but they are infinitely more probable than the theory put forward now in certain quarters that the Christian Church borrowed or adapted its ministerial organization from paganism. § 33. MARRIAGE.—Some of the ceremonies connected with the Christian marriage service were probably taken over from Judaism, though, as in the case of the ring and of the white dress, they may have prevailed far and wide outside and beyond the Jewish community. The ring was recognized in the Old Testament, and used as a token of fidelity, and of reception into a family.

44 The distinctive attire of the bride, including the white dress, if she were not a widow, and the veil, and the crown or chaplet, were also Jewish usages to which reference is made in Holy Scripture. They have all been adopted into Christian marriage ritual; the crown especially in the Greek Church, where both bride and bridegroom are crowned, and where the whole service is known as 'the Service of the Coronation.' § 34. PRAYER, HOURS OF.—In connection with Jewish devotion, we find in Holy Scripture references to various hours of prayer both by day and night, e.g.— 'And they stood up in their place, and read in the book of the law of the Lord their God, one fourth part of the day, and another fourth part they confessed, and worshipped the Lord their God.' 'In the evening, and morning, and at noon-day will I pray, and that instantly: and He shall hear my voice.'

45 'At midnight I will rise to give thanks unto Thee, because of Thy righteous judgments.' 'Seven times a day do I praise Thee, because of Thy righteous judgments.' 'Arise, cry out in the night: in the beginning of the watches pour out thine heart like water before the face of the Lord.' 'He kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did afore-time.' 'For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.' 'Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour.' 'Peter went up upon the housetop to pray about the sixth hour.' There can be little doubt that the sevenfold division of the day services of the Christian Church into Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers, and Compline, and the lengthy night services called 'Nocturns' or 'vigiliæ nocturnæ,' owe their existence to the indications of Jewish customs contained in the above verses. We do not mean that the arrangement was taken over at once from the Jewish temple, because we do not know that such a multiform arrangement of services ever existed there; but, that when, in the course of centuries, the Christian scheme of services was developed, it was very largely influenced by scriptural, that is, by Jewish, considerations.

46 § 35. PRAYER, ATTITUDE AT.—The ordinary attitude in prayer among the Jews was standing, though kneeling and prostration were also practised. We have described at length early Christian practice in this matter, which, deliberately or otherwise, followed very closely upon Jewish precedent. § 36. PRAYER FOR THE DEAD.—There is no plain direction to pray for the departed either in the Old or the New Testament, nor is there any instance of such a prayer, if we except St. Paul's pious aspiration with regard to the probably deceased Onesiphorus— 'The Lord grant unto him that he may find mercy of the Lord in that day.' But there can be no doubt that such prayer was in use among the Jews before the time that our Lord was upon earth. A statement with reference to Judas Maccabæus, in the Second Book of Maccabees, puts this fact beyond all question— 'For if he had not hoped that they that were slain should have risen again, it had been superfluous and vain to pray for the dead.

47 And also in that he perceived that there was great favour laid up for those that died godly, it was an holy and good thought. Whereupon he made a reconciliation for the dead, that they might be delivered from sin.' Accordingly we are not surprised to find that the following prayer has formed part of the Jewish Liturgy. It was said in some congregations on each sabbath morning, in others on certain of the highest festivals, in others only on the Day of Atonement. We have not been able to ascertain the date of its composition, nor whether it existed in the time of our Lord. Neither this prayer, nor any other form of prayer for the dead, is found in the Authorized Daily Prayer-book of the United Hebrew Congregations of the British Empire (London, 1892).

A Prayer.

48 'May God remember the souls of my father and mother, my grandfather and grandmother, my uncles and aunts, my brothers and sisters, my relatives on the father's and mother's side, who have passed into their eternity. For the sake of the alms which I commend for them, may their souls be included in the bundle of life with the souls of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, Leah, and the other righteous men and women in Paradise; and let us say, Amen.' The evidence of early Jewish tombstones is in favour of the custom of prayer for the dead, but the date of these mortuary inscriptions has not been ascertained with sufficient certainty for any conclusive argument to be based upon them. We have already produced evidence as to the widespread practice of prayer for the departed in the early Christian Church. In the silence of Holy Scripture on the subject, one naturally asks, 'Whence was the practice derived?' It may be a deep-seated instinct or craving in our spiritual and intellectual nature finding outward expression for itself in formal prayer. But, more probably, the practice was taken over from the Jewish Church, a transfer made more easy by the absence of any condemnation of it, on the part of our Lord or His Apostles, in the pages of the New Testament.

49 On the other hand, in the absence of certain proofs that prayer for the dead formed part of the Jewish Liturgy in our Lord's time, some modern writers have held that it was a later importation from Christianity into Judaism. But, considering the conservatism of the Jews, and their hostility to the Christian Church, this seems to be improbable. M. Israel Lévi is conscious of this difficulty, but does not do much to meet it. § 37. VESTMENTS.—We have seen that there is little proof of the existence of any distinctive dress of the Christian clergy during the first three centuries. The first reference to a vestment is in the Canons of Hippolytus (p. 163). The next is early in the fourth century, when the emperor Constantine gave to Macarius, Bishop of Jerusalem, a rich vestment embroidered in gold, to wear when administering baptism. After that time varied and splendid vestments began to be worn by officiating clergy—bishops, priests, and deacons, having each their distinctive dress—and the common theory of the mediæval ritualists, in which they are largely followed by writers of the present day, is that these vestments were copied from those of the Levitical priesthood; e.g. Rabanus Maurus, in the ninth century, asserts this of vestments in general, and of the amice, or superhumeral, in particular. Durandus, writing in the thirteenth century, makes the same assertion, but in qualified terms, as to vestments generally. The Levitical theory is incorporated in a rubric of a ninth-century Service Book of English Use, which runs thus—

50 'Incipiunt orationes ad vestimenta sacerdotalia seu levitica.' The Chasuble and Rationale are both described as of Jewish origin in a letter attributed to S. Germanus Parisiensis (A.D. 555-576), but probably of somewhat later date. Bishop Young, writing in the present day, says— 'If any one will compare the engravings of the vestments of the Jewish high priest, priest, and levite, as given by Calmet, with those now in use by the bishops, priests, and deacons of the Oriental Church, he will be struck with the resemblance between them, and the presumptive proof which the comparison affords that the latter were derived from the former.' But can this theory as to the origin of vestments be true? We think not; because considering the state of alienation and antipathy, which existed between Jews and Christians during the early and middle ages, it is an unlikely, though not an impossible, supposition that the latter should have directly borrowed their ministerial dress from the former; and there is a simpler theory of the origin of vestments, which has philological support, viz. that the Christian ministerial dress is a survival of the ordinary lay dress of the opening centuries of the Christian era. We repeat that there is slight trace of special dress in use before the reign of Constantine; then if we examine the names which the clerical vestments now bear, and have borne from the first, we find that they denote ordinary articles of lay attire once in everyday use. Such names are—

51 Alba, the white undergarment, tunic, or shirt. Capa, the cope, a late Latin word, denoting an article of dress corresponding to the toga, the ordinary outer garment of a Roman citizen. Another name for the cope was 'pluviale,' literally, that which protects a man's body from the rain. Casula, the chasuble, a little hut, covering the whole body, corresponding to the 'pænula,' an outer garment or cloak. Cingulum, the cincture or girdle with which the tunic was fastened. Manipulus, the maniple, literally a handful, i.e. the handkerchief in the hand. Stola, the stole. This word did not come into use to designate an article of ecclesiastical dress till the ninth century, and it probably has no connection with the classical stola. The earlier name for stole was 'orarium' or handkerchief. A somewhat similar process has been going on in England, in another department of clerical dress, in recent times. The levée dress, in which clergy have to appear at court in 1897, including buckleshoes, silk stockings, knee-breeches, and three-cornered hat, is the everyday dress of the clergy of two centuries ago, petrified for a particular purpose, and perpetuated in state ceremonial.

52 § 38. JEWISH ORIGIN OF CHRISTIAN FORMULE OF DEVOTION.—It may be asked, Have any portions of Jewish liturgical language been transferred into the services of the Christian Church? and if so, to what extent? It is not easy to give a complete answer to these questions, but the answer must undoubtedly be, To a considerable extent. It is no matter of surprise that such a borrowing should have taken place in the case of New Testament Canticles, which were the devout outpourings of the minds of persons familiar with the devotions of the Jewish Temple and synagogues from their childhood; but similarity of thought and language extends and is found beyond them, as may be seen by aid of the following parallel tables:— 53 St. Luke i: 49. Magnificat: He that is mighty hath done to me great things. The Eighteen Benedictions: 2. Thou art mighty, O Lord, world without end Who is like unto thee, Lord of might? St. Luke i: 51. Magnificat: He hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. The Eighteen Benedictions: 12. Let the proud speedily be uprooted, broken, crushed and humbled speedily in our days. Blessed art Thou, O Lord, who breakest down the enemy, and humblest the proud. St. Luke i: 52. Magnificat: He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree. The Eighteen Benedictions: 1. Blessed art Thou who rememberest the pious deeds of our fathers, and sendest the Redeemer to their children's children. Blessed art Thou, O Lord, the Shield of Abraham. St. Luke i: 54. Magnificat: He hath holpen His servant Israel, in remembrance of His mercy. St. Luke i: 55. Magnificat: As He spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed for ever. Magnificat: Benedictus. The Eighteen Benedictions: The Eighteen Benedictions. St. Luke i: 68. Magnificat: Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for He hath visited and redeemed His people. The Eighteen Benedictions: 1. Blessed art Thou, O Lord our God, the God of our fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who rememberest and sendest the Redeemer to their children's children. St. Luke i: 69. Magnificat: And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David. 14h.

54 The branch of David Thy servant speedily cause to flourish, and exalt his horn with Thy help. . . . Blessed art Thou, O Lord, who causest to flourish the horn of David. | | 71 | That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us; | See St. Luke i. 51, 52; Ben. 12. | | 72 | To perform the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember His holy covenant; | See St. Luke i. 54; Ben. 1. | | 73 | The oath which he swore to our father Abraham, | | St. Luke 55 i. To give knowledge of salvation unto His people by the remission of their sins, Through the tender mercy of our God. To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace. 4. Thou mercifully bestowest knowledge upon men, and teachest the mortal prudence. Mercifully bestow upon us from Thyself, knowledge, wisdom, and understanding. 6. Our Father, forgive us, for we have sinned; our King, pardon us, for we have transgressed, for Thou art forgiving and pardoning. 13. On us bestow, O Lord our God, Thy mercy. 18. Bestow . . . mercy, compassion upon us, and upon the whole of Israel Thy people. 18. Bless us all unitedly with the light of Thy countenance; for in the light of Thy countenance didst Thou give to us the law of life, etc. May it please Thee to bless Thy people Israel at all times and in every moment with peace. Blessed art Thou, O Lord, who blessest Thy people Israel with peace.

56 St. Luke ii. Gloria in Excelsis. Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. Nunc Dimittis. Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace; For mine eyes have seen Thy salvation. The Kadish. Blessed and praised, celebrated and exalted, . . . may perfect peace descend from heaven, and life upon us and all Israel. The Eighteen Benedictions. 2. Thou loosest the chained, and shewest Thy faithfulness to those that sleep in the dust. 16. May our eyes see Thee return to Israel in love. Blessed art Thou, O Lord, who restorest Thy Shechinah to Zion. The Lord's Prayer. Hallowed be Thy Name. The Triumphal Hymn. Holy, holy, holy, Lord of Sabaoth; heaven and earth are full of His glory. Blessed be He for ever. Amen. The Eucharistic Preface. It is verily meet and right, holy and becoming, and advantageous, to our souls, Jehovah, Lord God, Father Almighty, to worship Thee, to hymn Thee, to give thanks to Thee, to return Thee praise, etc.

57 The Kedusha. Hallowed be Thy Name on earth, as it is hallowed in heaven above. The Kedusha. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God of Sabaoth; the whole earth is filled with His glory. At the Paschal Supper. Therefore it is our bounden duty to thank, praise, exalt, glorify, praise, and celebrate Him, etc. The 'Kyrie Eleyson,' preserved in its Greek form in Latin Liturgies, was probably in its origin a Greek-Jewish liturgical formula, derived from such Old Testament passages as the following:—, ; , , ; , . There is a curious addition to the text of 'Gloria in Excelsis' in several ancient Irish versions, consisting of the words 'et omnes dicimus Amen' ('and we all say, Amen'). It has also been found in the Armenian version of the Vespers evening hymn, 'Hail, gladdening light,' etc. There can be little doubt that this is an importation of the phrase וְנֹאסַד אָמֵן (= 'and say we, Amen') which occurs so frequently in the Kadish and in other parts of the Jewish Morning Service.

58 For a list of Hebrew words surviving in use in the Christian Liturgy, see § 29, p. 230. Dr. J. F. Young, Bishop of Florida, has printed in parallel columns portions of the Jewish Sabbath Morning Service and of the Greek Liturgy of St. Basil; and also the Jewish supplications used during the Ten Days of Penitence (the Sabbath excepted) at the morning service and the Greek Ektene. In each case there is a general resemblance, but that resemblance seems to be too vague to justify the conclusion that the Christian formula of devotion has been borrowed from the Jewish, or that there is any direct connection between them. The Rev. J. E. Field has written many pages to prove the Jewish origin of the Christian Liturgy, but his proof of such origin is made up mainly of slender coincidences of diction or similarities of subject-matter, in the case of single sentences or even of single words, and does not carry conviction.

59 § 39. GOSPEL FOR THE TENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.—The selection of the passage from St. Luke xix. 41–48, in which our Lord's prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem occurs, as the Gospel for the Tenth Sunday after Trinity is said to have been determined by its near coincidence with one of the days of prayer and fasting (the ninth of Ab), on which the Jews bewail the fall of their capital and the destruction of the temple. A review of the facts accumulated in this chapter will, we think, bring most readers to the conclusion that on some points there has been deliberate imitation of Jewish usage on the part of the Christian Church; while on other points an unintentional resemblance exists, a resemblance based on an instinct of reverence, which, whether in the Jewish or the Christian, or indeed in any non-Jewish and non-Christian religion, would naturally show itself in the same or in a similar way.

60 § 40. HEATHEN WORSHIP SUGGESTED AS THE SOURCE OF CHRISTIAN RITUAL.—In connection with the subject-matter of this chapter, it is desirable to mention the fact that a totally different theory of the origin and development of Christian ritual, and of the growth of Christian terminology in connection with the sacramental ordinances of the Church, has been recently put forward both in this country and abroad. Take up the Hibbert Lectures for 1888. Their author, Dr. Hatch, selects for his title, The Influence of Greek Ideas and Usages upon the Christian Church. In chapter x. he maintains that the sacramental ritual and terms of the Christian Church, as developed from the second to the fifth centuries of the Christian era, were borrowed from the Eleusinian mysteries. He dwells especially upon— These and other Eleusinian observances are compared to the ritual, nomenclature, and practices of the Christian Church as commencing to be developed directly after the Apostolic age, and as fully developed in the fifth and sixth centuries; and the latter are concluded to be derived from the former.

61 We cannot do justice to Dr. Hatch's argument in a short summary. It is thoughtfully worked out, and finished with the following eloquent passage:— 'In the splendid ceremonial of Eastern and Western worship, in the blaze of lights, in the separation of the central point of the rite from common view, in the procession of torch-bearers, chanting their sacred hymns, there is the survival, and in some cases the galvanized survival, of what I cannot find it in my heart to call a pagan ceremonial; because though it was the expression of a less enlightened faith, yet it was offered to God from a heart that was not less earnest in its search after God, and in its effort after holiness, than our own. Although a primâ facie case is made out by Dr. Hatch in a chapter which deserves to be read through carefully by every person interested in the subject, yet we are convinced that on further consideration the whole theory will break down on the following grounds:—

62 1. It seems to be a moral impossibility that a religion like Christianity, the raison d'être of which was a protest against heathen theology and heathen morality, which threw unmeasured ridicule and contempt upon the heathen gods, especially in the pages of its earlier apologists, Aristides, Minucius Felix, etc., should have borrowed its ritual practices and terminology from a heathen source. This remark applies to the Church in the ante-Nicene period. No doubt in later days, when Christianity came more widely in contact with heathenism, and when heathenism had lost the power, if not the will, to persecute, there may have been some adaptation of heathen ritual observances. 2. The cause why the earliest Christian rites were performed with secrecy, both as to manner and time and place, was the danger of persecution and martyrdom which always attended or was liable to attend the profession and practice of Christianity until it became a religio licita. This characteristic of secrecy lingered on as against the heathen and catechumens long after the dangers in which it originated had passed away.

63 3. Such words as , , , , , , are derived directly from the New Testament, and not from the Eleusinian mysteries. It is not necessary here to discuss the further question, Whence did the writers of the New Testament, especially St. Paul, derive the use of the words? The similarity between certain parts of the ritual and liturgical language of heathenism and both Judaism and Christianity, was noticed long ago by a famous Christian thinker and writer, who offered a far more probable explanation of it than the Hibbert Lecturer, viz. that the false religion is an imitation of the true, and not vice versâ. Tertullian said— 'The question will arise, By whom is the sense of the passages which make for heresies interpreted? By the devil, of course, to whom pertain those wiles which pervert the truth, and who, by the mystic rites of his idols, vies even with the essential portions of the Divine sacraments. He

64 'Paganism' in Smith and Cheetham's Dictionary of Christian Antiquities. too baptizes some, that is, his own believers and faithful followers; he promises the putting away of sin by a laver; and, if my memory still serves me, their Mithra sets his mark on the foreheads of his soldiers; he celebrates also an oblation of bread, and introduces an image of a resurrection, and beneath a sword wreathes a crown. What must we also say of the fact that he limits his high priest to a single marriage, and that he has his virgins and his votaries professing continence. But if we consider the superstitions of Numa Pompilius, his priestly offices, badges, and privileges, his sacrificial services, and the instruments and vessels of the sacrifices themselves, and the curious rites of his expiations and vows, shall we not clearly see that the devil imitated the well-known moroseness of the Jewish law? Satan, therefore, who showed such great eagerness to express in the rites of idolatry those very things of which the administration of Christ's sacraments consists, possessing still the same genius, set his heart upon and succeeded in adapting to his profane and rival creed the very instruments of Divine things and of the Christian saints, his interpretation from their interpretations, his words from their words, his parables from their parables,' etc.

65 A theory of the heathen origin of Christian vestments has been sometimes put forward, e.g. by a recent writer, who says— 'The mitre is the head-dress of the Persian priests, and of the Mithra worshippers of Commagene, on statues of the early Roman period. This is by no means the only instance in which Pagan vestments came to be used by Christian priests. The scarlet robes of the flamens were adopted by cardinals; the alb was an Egyptian sacred dress; the dalmatic, a short-sleeved skirt, was worn by Commodus and by Elagabalus, the emperor who was priest of the Sun-God, symbolized by the black stone brought from Emesa in Syria to Rome. The practice of kissing the foot of an emperor was introduced by Caligula from Persia. There is no proof offered for these statements except in the case of a supposed etymological connection between 'Mithras' and 'Mitre.' They are extremely improbable. It would not be more fanciful to connect the scarlet robes of the flamens with the academic full dress of Doctors of Divinity.

66 The Puritans at the time of the Reformation denounced the surplice as heathenish, as well as popish. It was described not only as 'the white linen garment that the Mass-priest wears in the popish religion,' but also as 'the mark of the linigeri calvi of Isis,' as 'a kind of garment used by the priests of Isis' and as 'the costume of the priests of Baal.' The threefold constitution of the Christian ministry has been referred to a heathen origin in recent times by many distinguished writers, including Hatch in England, and Harnack in Germany; but the à priori improbability of early Christianity condescending to borrow from the heathenism which it denounced, and by which it was persecuted, applies to this as well as to all other cases of alleged or supposed borrowing, apart from difficulties which may arise peculiar to the particular loan or debt under consideration.