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Christians in Pontus, Galacia, Cappadocia, Asia Minor, and Bithynia, some persons came from those countries to Rome, (whither there was a frequent and general resort from all parts,) who brought him information concerning the state of religion among them.

22. These accounts induced him to write a second time, most probably at the beginning of A. D. 65, in order to strengthen in the faith the Christians among whom he had labored. The design of the apostle is to establish the Hebrew Christians in the truth and profession of the gospel; to caution them against false teachers, whose tenets and practices the writer largely describes; and to warn them to disregard those profane scoffers, who made, or should make, a mock of Christ's coming to judgment; which having asserted and described, he exhorts them to prepare for that event, by a holy and unblamable conversation.

CHAPTER IX.

EPISTLES OF JOHN-REVELATION-JUDE.

1. THE Epistles of St. John. Although the name of the apostle John is not prefixed to, or contained in, these epistles, they have been invariably, and with unquestionable correctness, ascribed to him from the very first ages.

2. The apostle's studied omission of his own name in the Gospel accounts for its being want

ing in these books, and strengthens rather than impairs his claim to be the author of the epistles The remarkable analogy of style and sentiment also offers most decisive evidence for the same conclusion.

3. Different opinions have been held as to the time when the epistles were written; some believing they were written after the destruction of Jerusalem, and toward the end of the first century; but the most probable opinion is, that they were written before this event, about A. D. 68 or 69.

4. It cannot be determined from whence, or to whom, the epistles were written-whether from Judea, Ephesus, or from Patmos.

5. The first book is usually styled, The General Epistle of St. John, but it bears no marks of the epistolary form; it is not inscribed to any individual, begins without salutation, and ends without benediction. "It would seem," says Bishop Horsley, "that this book hath, for no other reason, acquired the title of an epistle, but that, in the first formation of the canon of the New Testament, it was put into the same volume with the didactic writings of the apostles, which, with this single exception, are all in the epistolary form."

6. It is indeed a didactic discourse upon the principles of Christianity, both in doctrine and practice; and whether we consider the sublimity of its opening with the fundamental topics of God's perfections, man's depravity, and Christ's propitiation; the perspicuity with which it pro

pounds the deepest mysteries of our holy faith, and the evidence of the proof which it brings to confirm them; whether we consider the sanctity of its precepts, and the energy of argument with which they are persuaded and enforced, in the dignified simplicity of language in which both doctrine and precept are delivered; whether we regard the importance of the matter, the propriety of the style, or the general spirit of ardent piety and warm benevolence, united with a fervent zeal, which breathes throughout the whole composition, we shall find it in every respect worthy of the holy author to whom the constant tradition of the church ascribes it"the disciple whom Jesus loved."

7. The design of this treatise is, to refute and to guard those Christians to whom he wrote against erroneous and licentious tenets, principles, and practices-such as the denial of the real deity and proper humanity of Christ, of the reality and efficacy of his sufferings and death, as an atoning sacrifice, and the assertion that believers, being saved by grace, were not required to obey the commandments of God.

8. These principles began to appear in the church of Christ even in the apostolic age, and were afterward maintained by the Cerinthians, and other heretics, who sprung up at the close of the first, and in the second century of the Christian era.

9. The second epistle is directed to a matron, who is not named, but only spoken of, as "the elect lady."

10. The matter of the second epistle is a short summary of what is contained in the first. The elect lady is commended for her virtuous and religious education of her children; and is exhorted to abide in the doctrine of Christ, to persevere in the truth, and carefully to avoid the delusions of false teachers. But chiefly the apostle beseeches this Christian matron to observe the great and indispensable commandment of Christian love and charity. This epistle was probably written about the same time as the first.

11. The Third Epistle of John is addressed to a converted Gentile, a respectable member of some Christian church, called Caius, or Gaius; but who he was is extremely uncertain, as there are three persons of this name mentioned in the New Testament.

12. (1.) Gaius of Corinth, whom Paul calls his "host, and the host of the whole church." 1 Cor. i, 14; Rom. xvi, 23. (2.) Gaius of Macedonia, who accompanied St. Paul, and spent some time with him at Ephesus. Acts xix, 29. (3.) Gaius of Derby, who also was a fellowtraveler of St. Paul. Acts xx, 4.

13. Modern critics suppose the person to whom this epistle was addressed was Gaius of Corinth, as hospitality was a leading feature of his character; and a hospitable temper, especially toward the ministers of the gospel, is strongly marked in the fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth verses of this epistle.

14. The scope of this epistle is to commend

his steadfastness in the faith, and his general hospitality, especially toward the ministers of the word; to caution him against the ambitious and turbulent practices of Diotrephes, and to recommend Demetrius to his friendship: deferring what further he had to say to a personal

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15. The Revelation of St. John. In addition to his Gospel, and the three epistles, the apostle John was the author of the remarkable book bearing the above title, and closing the canon according to our version.

16. There is some considerable difference of opinion as to the time when the book was written, but the most probable and received opinion is, that St. John was banished into the desolate Island of Patmos, toward the end of Domitian's reign, by virtue of his edicts for persecuting the Christians, and that he had the revelation contained in the Apocalypse during his exile this view is supported by many of the fathers. The death of Domitian occurred A. D. 96; the Christian exiles were then liberated, and St. John was permitted to return to Ephesus. Soon after this, the book of Revelation was published by the liberated apostle.

17. The occasion of writing the Apocalypse is sufficiently evident from the book itself. John, being in exile in Patmos, is favored with the appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ to him, and is repeatedly commanded to commit to writing the visions which he beheld.

18. The design of the book is twofold:

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