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The Tests of Life

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The Tests of Life THE TESTS OF LIFE A STUDY OF THE FIRST EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN Being the Kerr Lectures for 1909 BY THE REV. ROBERT LAW, B.D. MINISTER OF LAURESTON PLACE CHURCH, EDINBURGH EDINBURGH T. CLARK, 38 GEORGE STREET 1909 [Scanned and proofed by Ted Hildebrandt, 2005] Printed by MORRISON & GIBB LIMITED, FOR T. & T. CLARK, EDINBURGH. LONDON: SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, HAMILTON, KENT, AND CO. LIMITED. NEW YORK: CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS. THE KERR LECTURESHIP THE "KERR LECTURESHIP" was founded by the TRUSTEES of the late Miss JOAN KERR of Sanquhar, under her Deed of Settlement, and formally adopted by the United Presbyterian Synod in May 1886. In the following year, May 1887, the provisions and conditions of the Lectureship, as finally adjusted, were adopted by the Synod, and embodied in a Memorandum, printed in the Appendix to the Synod Minutes, p. 489. On the union of the United Presbyterian Church with the Free Church of Scotland in October 1900, the necessary changes were made in the designation of the object of the Lectureship and the persons eligible for appointment to it, so as to suit the altered circumstances. And at the General Assembly of 1901 it was agreed that the Lectureship should in future be connected with the Glasgow College of the United Free Church. From the Memorandum, as thus amended, the following excerpts are here given:-- II. The amount to be invested shall be ₤3000. III. The object of the Lectureship is the promotion of the study of Scientific Theology in the United Free Church of Scotland. The Lectures shall be upon some such subjects as the following, viz. : A. Historic Theology (1) Biblical Theology, (2) History of Doctrine, (3) Patristics, with special reference to the significance and authority of the first three centuries. B. Systematic Theology (1) Christian Doctrine—(a) Philosophy of Religion, (b) Com- parative Theology, (c) Anthropology, (d) Christology, (e) Soteriology, (f) Eschatology. (2) Christian Ethics—(a) Doctrine of Sin, (b) Individual and Social Ethics, (c) The Sacraments, (d) The Place of Art in Religious Life and Worship. Further, the Committee of Selection shall from time to time, as they think fit, appoint as the subject of the Lectures any important Phases of Modern Religious Thought or Scientific Theories in their bearing upon Evangelical Theology. The Committee may also appoint a subject connected with the practical work of the Ministry as subject of Lecture, but in no case shall this be admissible more than once in every five appointments. IV. The appointments to this Lectureship shall be made in the first instance from among the Licentiates or Ministers of the United Free Church of Scotland, vii viii The Kerr Lectureship of whom no one shall be eligible who, when the appointment falls to be made, shall have been licensed for more than twenty-five years, and who is not a graduate of a British University, preferential regard being had to those who have for some time been connected with a Continental University. V. Appointments to this Lectureship not subject to the conditions in Section IV. may also from time to time, at the discretion of the Committee, be made from among eminent members of the Ministry of any of the Noncon- formist Churches of Great Britain and Ireland, America, and the Colonies, or of the Protestant Evangelical Churches of the Continent. VI. The Lecturer shall hold the appointment for three years. VII. The number of Lectures to be delivered shall be left to the discretion of the Lecturer, except thus far, that in no case shall there be more than twelve or less than eight. VIII. The Lectures shall be published at the Lecturer's own expense within one year after their delivery. IX. The Lectures shall be delivered to the students of the Glasgow College of the United Free Church of Scotland. XII. The Public shall be admitted to the Lectures. PREFACE As only a portion of the contents of this volume could be orally delivered, I have not thought it necessary to adhere to either the form or the title of "Lecture," but (with the consent of the Trustees) have assigned a separate "Chapter" to each principal topic dealt with. The method adopted in this exposition of the Epistle—that, namely, of grouping together the passages bearing upon a common theme—will be found, I trust, to have advantages which compensate in some measure for its disadvantages. That it has disadvantages, as compared with a continuous exposition, I am well aware. These, however, I have endeavoured to minimise, by supplying in the first chapter a specially full analysis of the Epistle, by careful indexing, and by making liberal use of cross-references. For the convenience of the reader, I have set down in the footnotes such exegetical details as seemed most necessary to explain or to establish the interpretation adopted; but where these involved lengthy or intricate discussion, they, along with all minuter points of exegesis, have been relegated to the Notes at the end of the volume. In these Notes the text of the Epistle is continuously followed. The points of textual difference between the various critical editions of the Epistle are comparatively unimportant, ix x Preface and I have seldom found it necessary to refer to them. The text used is that of Tischendorf's Eighth Edition; but in one passage (518) I have preferred the reading indicated in our Authorised Version and in the Revisers' margin. Among the commentators to whom I have, of course, been indebted, I mention Westcott first of all. Owing, perhaps, to natural pugnacity, one more readily quotes a writer to express dissent than to indicate agreement; but, though I find that the majority of my references to "Westcott" are in the nature of criticism, I would not be thought guilty of depreciating that great commentary. With all its often provoking characteristics, it is still, as a magazine of materials for the student of the Epistle, without a rival. Huther's and Plummer's commentaries I have found specially serviceable; but the most original, beautiful, and profound is Rothe's, of which, it is somewhat surprising to find, no full translation has yet appeared. I desire, besides, to acknowledge obligation to J. M. Gibbon's Eternal Life, a remarkably fine popular exposition of the Epistle; and to Professor E. F. Scott's Fourth Gospel, for the clear light which that able work throws upon not a few important points as well as for much provocative stimulus. But there is no book (except Bruder's Concord- ance) to which I have been more indebted than to Moulton's Grammar of New Testament Greek, the next volume of which is impatiently awaited. Professor H. R. Mackintosh, D.D., of New College, and the Rev. Thomas S. Dickson, M.A., Edinburgh, have placed me under deep obligation by exceptionally generous and valuable help in proof-reading. Mr. David Duff, B.D., not only has rendered equal service in this respect, but has Preface xi subjected the book, even in its preparatory stages, to a rigorous but always helpful criticism—a labour of friendship for which I find it difficult to express in adequate terms the gratitude that I owe and feel. Finally, I am grateful, by anticipation, to every reader who will make generous allowance for the fact, that the preparation of this volume has been carried through amid the incessant demands of a busy city pastorate, and who will attribute to this cause some of the defects which he will, no doubt, discover in it. EDINBURGH, January 1909. CONTENTS CHAP. PAGE I. STYLE AND STRUCTURE 1 II. THE POLEMICAL AIM 25 III. THE WRITER 39 IV. THE DOCTRINE OF GOD AS LIFE AND LIGHT . 52 V. THE DOCTRINE OF GOD AS RIGHTEOUSNESS AND LOVE 67 Excursus on the Correlation of Righteousness and Love 80 VI. THE DOCTRINE OF CHRIST 89 VII. THE WITNESSES TO THE DOCTRINE OF CHRIST (with appended Note on xri?sma) 108 VIII. THE DOCTRINE OF SIN AND THE WORLD 128 IX. THE DOCTRINE OF PROPITIATION 156 X. ETERNAL LIFE 184 XI. THE TEST QF RIGHTEOUSNESS 208 XII. THE TEST OF LOVE 231 XIII. THE TEST OF BELIEF (with appended Note on pisteu<ein) 258 XIV. THE DOCTRINE OF ASSURANCE 279 XV. THE GROWTH OF CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE 306 XVI. ESCHATOLOGY (with appended Note on Antichrist) 315 XVII. THE RELATION OF THE EPISTLE TO THE FOURTH GOSPEL 339 NOTE ON ginwskei?n AND ei]de<nai 364 NOTES 368 INDEXES 415 xiii ABBREVIATIONS The following works are referred to as follows, other titles being cited in full: ABBOTT Johannine Vocabulary (A. & C. Black, 1905), and Johannine Grammar (A. & C. Black, 1906). BEYSCHLAG Neutestamentliche Theologie. Zweite Auflage. Halle, 1896. CANDLISH The First Epistle of St. John. A. & C. Black, 1897. DB A Dictionary of the Bible. Ed. by Dr. Hastings. T. & T. Clark, 1898-1904. EBRARD Biblical Commentary on the Epistles of St. John. T. & T. Clark, 1860. GIBBON Eternal Life. By the Rev. J. M. Gibbon. Dickinson, 1890. GRILL Untersuchungen uber die Entstehung des vierten Evan- geliums. J. C. B. Mohr, 1902. HAUPT The First Epistle of St. John. Clark's Foreign Theological Library, 1879. HOLTZMANN Hand-Commentr. zum Neuen Testament. Vierter Band. Freiburg i. B. 1891. HARING Theologische Ablzandlungen zum Carl von Weizsacker gewidmet. Freiburg i. B. 1892. HUTHER Critical and Exegetical Handbook to the General Epistles of James and John T. & T. Clark, 1882. JPT Jahrbucher fur protestantische Theologie. LUCKE Commentary on the Epistles of St. John. 1837. MAURICE The Epistles of St. John. Macmillan & Co., 1857. MOULTON Grammar of New Testament Greek. Vol. i. T.
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