course of their government, and send them to the emperor and senate. The acts of Pilate were sent by him to Tiberius, who reported them to the senate; but they were rejected, it is said, by that assembly, because not immediately addressed to them.-Tertullian, Apol. cap. 5, 20, 21. The genuine acts, if they existed, are now lost, and those that remain are manifestly spurious. See Fabric. Cod. Apoc. New Testament, p. 298, Ap. 972. Pearson, Mosheim, and Lardner, are inclined to think that considerable credit is due to the account given by Justin Martyr and Tertullian of these acts. Dupin and some others consider the whole matter very doubtful. Lardner discusses the subject with his usual impartiality.-Works, 4to., vol. iii. p. 599-606. ACTS OF THE SAINTS, (Acta Sanctorum,) a name given to all collections of accounts of ancient martyrs and saints, both of the Greek and Roman churches. It is used more particularly as the title of a voluminous work comprising all those accounts, which were commenced at the instigation of the Jesuits, 1643, by John Bolland, a Jesuit of Antwerp, and continued after his death by others of the same order, known by the name of Bollandists (which see) to the year 1794, but not yet finished, though forming not fewer than fifty-three volumes in folio. It is held in high esteem by the members of the Roman communion; but contains a sad mixture of truth and falsehood, superstition and fiction. ADAMIC CONSTITUTION, the dispensation originally established with Adam, as the public head and representative of his posterity, in virtue of which, had he continued obedient, they would have been confirmed in holiness and happiness, but because he sinned, are involved with him in all the consequences of his rebellion. This constitution is specifically laid as the basis of the Apostle's reasoning, (Rom. v. 12-21. 1 Cor. xv. 22,) in which passages the connexion and analogy between the representative characters sustained by Adam and Christ are clearly set forth; in the former for the purpose of illustrating the plan of redemption, and in the latter for the purpose of confirming the doctrine of the future resurrection of believers. It has been common to designate the establishment given to Adam a covenant; and certainly, considering the latitude in which this term is frequently used in Scripture, it may not seem, at first sight, to be improper; but see under the word COVENANT. ADAMITES, a sect that sprang up in the second century. Epiphanius tells us that they were called Adamites from their pretending to be re-established in the state of innocence, such as Adam was at the moment of his creation, whence they ought to imitate him in going naked. They detested mar riage; maintaining that the conjugal union would never have taken place upon earth had sin been unknown. This obscure and ridiculous sect did not last long. It was, however, revived with additional absurdities in the twelfth century. About the beginning of the fifteenth century the name was revived, and applied to a sect that spread in Germany and Bohemia, and found also some partizans in Poland, Holland, and England, which arose about the same time with the Hussites, whom they resembled in their hatred of the Roman hierarchy; but the accounts that have been handed down to us respecting the appearing of both sexes naked in their assemblies and various, other outrageous customs, are not to be relied on with any degree of certainty, as they come originally from their enemies, who appear to have given them this ancient heretical appellation in order to hold them up to execration. ADESSENARIANS, a branch of the Sacramentarians; so called from the Latin Adesse, to be present, because they believed the presence of Christ's body in the eucharist, though in a manner different from the Romanists. ADIAPHORISTS, a term given in the sixteenth century to Melancthon and the divines of Wittenberg, who regarded as a matter of indifference the introduction into the Protestant worship of altars, mass-vestments, vespers, &c. This concession occasioned a violent dispute, called the Adiaphoristic Controversy, which was commenced by Flacius, a theologian of Jena, in connexion with the clergy of Lower Saxony. ADMISSION, a term in use amongst Presbyterians, to denote the service and act by which a minister is publicly introduced into a new charge. ADMISSION SERMON, the discourse which is preached introductory to the admission of a minister to a new charge. ADMONITION denotes a hint or advice given to another, whereby we reprove him for his fault, or remind him of his duty. Admonition was a part of the discipline much used in the ancient church; it was the first act or step towards the punishment or expulsion of delinquents. In case of private offences it was performed according to the evangelical rule, privately; in case of public offence, openly before the church. If either of these sufficed for the recovery of the fallen person, all further proceedings, in a way of censure, ceased; if they did not, recourse was had to excommunication.-Tit. iii. 10. 1 Thess. v. 14. Eph. vi. 4. not pronounce the name of Jehovah, read Adonai instead of it in all the places in which it occurs in the Hebrew Bible. This veneration for the Tetragrammaton is at least as ancient as the time of Josephus, who declares that it was not lawful for him to speak of it. ADONISTS, such divines and critics as maintain that the Hebrew points ordinarily annexed to the consonants of the word Jehovah, are not the natural points belonging to that word, nor express the true pronunciation of it; but are the vowel points belonging to the words Adonai and Elohim, applied to the consonants of the ineffable name Jehovah, to warn the readers, that instead of the word Jehovah, which the Jews were forbid to pronounce, and the true pronunciation of which had been long unknown to them, they are always to read Adonai. They are opposed to Jchorists, of whom the principal are Drusius, Capellus, Buxtorf, Alting, and Reland. ADOPTIANISTS, the followers of Felix of Urgil and Elipandus of Toledo, who, towards the end of the eighth century, advanced the notion that Jesus Christ, in his human nature, is the Son of God, not by nature, but by adoption. It was condemned by Charlemagne at the Council of Ratisbon, and again at the Synod of Francfort, 794, and at Rome and Aix-la-Chapelle, 799, as a new modification of the Nestorian heresy. Felix was dismissed from his office: and the whole controversy ceased after the death of Elipandus. though he were his son by nature; and therefore civilians call it an act of legitimation, imitating nature, or supplying the place of it. It is easy, then, to conceive the propriety of the term as used by the Apostle in reference to this act, though it must be confessed there is some difference between civil and spiritual adoption. Civil adoption was allowed of and provided for the relief and comfort of those who had no children; but in spiritual adoption this reason does not appear. The Almighty was under no obligation to do this; for he had innumerable spirits whom he had created, besides his own Son, who had all the perfections of the divine nature, who was the object of his delight, and who is styled the heir of all things. Heb. i. 3. When men adopt, it is on account of some excellency in the persons who are adopted; thus Pharaoh's daughter adopted Moses because he was exceeding fair, Acts vii. 20, 21; and Mordecai adopted Esther because she was his uncle's daughter, and exceeding fair, Est. ii. 7; but man has nothing in him that merits this divine act. Ezek. xvi. 5. In civil adoption, though the name of a son be given, the nature of a son may not: this relation may not necessarily be attended with any change of disposition or temper. But in spiritual adoption we are made partakers of the divine nature, and a temper or disposition given us becoming the relationship we bear. Jer. iii. 19. 66 Much has been said as to the time of adopADOPTION, an act whereby any person re- tion. Some place it before regeneration, beceives another into his family, owns him for cause it is supposed that we must be in the his son, and appoints him his heir. 2. Spiri- family before we can be partakers of the tual adoption is an act of God's free grace, blessings of it. But it is difficult to conceive whereby we are received into the number, of one before the other; for although adopand have a right to all the privileges of the tion may seem to precede regeneration in sons of God. 3. Glorious, is that in which order of nature, yet not of time; they may be the saints being raised from the dead, are at distinguished, but cannot be separated. "As the Last Day solemnly owned to be the chil- many as received him, to them gave he power dren of God, and enter into the full posses- to become the sons of God, even to them that sion of that inheritance provided for them. believe on his name." John i. 12. There is Rom. viii. 19, 23. Adoption is a word taken no adoption, says the great Charnock, withfrom the civil law, and was much in use out regeneration. Adoption," says the among the Romans in the Apostles' time, same author, "is not a mere relation; the when it was a custom for persons who had no privilege and the image of the sons of God go children of their own, and were possessed of together. A state of adoption is never withan estate, to prevent its being divided, or de-out a separation from defilement." 2 Cor. vi. scending to strangers, to make choice of such 17, 18. The new name in adoption is never who were agreeable to them, and beloved by given till the new creature be formed. "As them, whom they took into this political rela- many as are led by the Spirit of God, they tion of children; obliging them to take their are the sons of God." Rom. viii. 14. Yet name upon them, and to pay respect to them these are to be distinguished. Regeneration, as though they were their natural parents, as a moral act, gives us a likeness to God in and engaging to deal with them as though our nature; adoption, as a legal act, gives us they had been so; and accordingly to give a right to an inheritance. Regeneration them a right to their estates as an inherit- makes us formally his sons, by conveying a ance. This new relation, founded in a mu-principle, 1 Pet. i. 23; adoption makes us retual consent, is a bond of affection; and the latively his sons, by conveying a power. privilege arising from thence is, that he who John i. 12. By the one, we are instated is in this sense a father takes care of and pro- in the divine affection; by the other, we are vides for the person whom he adopts, as partakers of the divine nature.' The privileges of adoption are every way great and extensive. 1. It implies great honour.They have God's name put upon them, and are described as "his people, called by his name." 2 Cor. vi. 18. Eph. iii. 15. They are no longer slaves to sin and the world; but emancipated from its dreadful bondage, are raised to dignity and honour. Gal. iv. 7. 1 John iii. 1, 2. 2. Inexhaustible provision and riches.-They inherit all things. Rev. xxi. 7. All the blessings of a temporal kind that are for their good shall be given them. Psal. lxxxiv. 11. All the blessings of grace are treasured up in Jesus Christ for them. Eph. i. 3. All the blessings of glory shall be enjoyed by them. Col. i. 27. "All things are yours," says the Apostle, "whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come, all are yours." 1 Cor. iii. 22. 3. Divine protection." In the fear of the Lord is strong confidence, and his children shall have a place of refuge." Prov. xiv. 26. As the master of a family is engaged to defend and secure all under his roof, and committed to his care, so Jesus Christ is engaged to protect and defend his people. They shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings and quiet resting places." Isa. xxxii. 18. Heb. i. 14. 4. Unspeakable felicity.-They enjoy the most intimate communion with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. They have access to his throne at all times, and under all circumstances. They see divine wisdom regulating every affair, and rendering every thing subservient to their good. Heb. xii. 6-11. The laws, the liberties, the privileges, the relations, the provisions, and the security of this family, are all sources of happiness; but especially the presence, the approbation, and the goodness of God, as the governor thereof, afford joy unspeakable and full of glory. 1 Pet. i. 8. Prov. iii. 17. Heb. iv. 16. 5. Eternal glory.—In some cases civil adoption might be made null and void, as among the Romans, when against the right of the pontifex, and without the degree of the college; but spiritual adoption, as it is divine as to its origin, so it is perpetual as to its duration. "The Son abideth in the house for ever." John viii. 35. "The inheritance of the saints is incorruptible, undefiled, and never fadeth away." 1 Pet. i. 4. "Now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is." 1 John iii. 2. In the present state, we are as children at school; but in heaven we shall be as children at home, where we shall always behold the face of our heavenly Father, for ever celebrating his praises, admiring his perfections, and enjoying his presence. "So shall we be ever with the tion of all former dependencies.—When a child is adopted, he relinquishes the object of his past confidence, and submits himself to the will and pleasure of the adopter; so they who are brought into the family of God, will evidence it by giving up every object, so far as it interferes with the will and glory of their heavenly Father. Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols?" Hos. xiv. 8. "Other lords have had dominion over us; but by thee only will we make mention of thy name.' Isa. xxvi. 13. Matt. xiii. 45, 46. Phil. iii. 8. 2. Affection. This may not always apply to civil adoption, but it always does to spiritual. The children of God feel a regard for him above every other object. His own excellency, his unspeakable goodness to them, his promises of future blessings, are all grounds of the strongest love. "Whom have I in heaven but thee, and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee." Psalm Ixxiii. 25. "Thou art my portion, saith my soul, therefore will I hope in thee." Lam. iii. 24. Luke vii. 47. Psal. xviii. 1. 3. Access to God with a holy boldness.-They who are children by adoption are supposed to have the same liberty of access as those who are children by nature; so those who are partakers of the blessings of spiritual adoption, will prove it by a reverential yet familiar address to the Father of spirits: they will confess their unworthiness, acknowledge their dependence, and implore the mercy and favour of God. "Because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father." Gal. iv. 6. Through Jesus Christ we have access by one Spirit unto the Father." Eph. ii. 18. 66 Having such a privilege, they come boldly to the throne of grace, that they may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need." Heb. iv. 16. 4. Obedience. Those who are adopted into a family must obey the laws of that family; so believers prove themselves adopted by their obedience to the word and ordinances of God. "Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you." John xv. 14. "Whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him. He that saith he abideth in him, ought himself also to walk even as he walked." 1 John ii. 4, 5. 5. Patient, yet joyful expectation, of the inheritance. In civil adoption, indeed, an inheritance is not always certain; but in spiritual adoption it is. "To them who, by patient continuance in well-doing, seek for glory, and honour, and immortality, eternal life." Rom. ii. 7. "We look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal." 2 Cor. iv. 18. Rom. vi. 23. Heb. xi. 26, 27. From the consideration of the whole of this doctrine, Lord." 1 Thess. iv. 17. we may learn that adoption is an act of free The evidences of adoption are, 1. Renuncia- grace through Jesus Christ. Eph. i. 5. Ap plied to believers by the Holy Spirit. Gal. iv. 6. Rom. viii. 15, 16. A blessing of the greatest importance, 1 John iii. 1, and lays us under an inviolable obligation of submission, Heb. xii. 9; imitation, Eph. v. 1; and dependence, Matt. vi. 32. See Ridgley's and Gill's Body of Div. art. Adoption; Charnock's Works, vol. ii. p. 32-72; Flavel's Works, vol. ii. p. 601; Brown's System of Nat, and Rev. Religion, p. 442; Witsii Econ. Fœd. p. 165. ADORATION, the act of rendering divine honours, including in it reverence, esteem, and love: this is called supreme, or absolute. The word is compounded of ad, "to," and os. oris, “mouth;" and literally signifies to apply the hand to the mouth, "to kiss the hand;" this being, in the eastern countries, one of the great marks of respect and submission. See Job xxxi. 26, 27. The attitude of adoration, however, we find has not been confined to this mode; standing, kneeling, uncovering the head, prostration, bowing, lifting up the eyes to heaven, or sometimes fixing them upon the earth, with the body bending forward; sitting with the under parts of the thighs resting on the heels, have all been used as expressive of veneration and esteem. Whatever be the form, however, it must be remembered that adoration, as an act of worship, is due to God alone. Matt. iv. 10. Acts x. 25, 26. Rev. xix. 10. There is, 2. what may be called human, or paying homage or respect to persons of great rank and dignity. This has been performed by bowing, bending the knee, falling on the face. The practice of adoration may be said to be still subsisting in England, in the ceremony of kissing the king's or queen's hand, it being performed kneeling on one knee. There is also, 3. adoration relative, which consists in worship paid to an object as belonging to or representative of another. In this sense the Romanists profess to adore the cross, not simply or immediately, but in respect of Jesus Christ, whom they suppose to be on it. This is, however, considered by Protestants as coming little short of idolatry. See IDOLATRY. more extensive and complicated; it creates a new sufferer-the injured husband,-upon whose affection is inflicted a wound the most painful and incurable that human nature knows. The infidelity of the woman is aggravated by cruelty to her children, who are generally involved in their parents' shame, and always made unhappy by their quarrel. The marriage vow is witnessed before God, and accompanied with circumstances of solemnity and religion, which approach to the nature of an oath. The married offender, therefore, incurs a crime little short of perjury; and the seduction of a married woman is little less than subornation of perjury. But the strongest apology for adultery is, the prior transgression of the other party; and so far, indeed, as the bad effects of adultery are anticipated by the conduct of the husband or wife who offends first, the guilt of the second offender is extenuated. But this can never amount to a justification, unless it could be shown that the obligation of the marriage vow depends upon the condition of reciprocal fidelity; a construction which appears founded neither in expediency nor in terms of the vow, nor in the design of the legislature which prescribed the marriage rite. To consider the offence upon the footing of provocation, therefore, can by no means vindicate retaliation. "Thou shalt not commit adultery," it must ever be remembered, was an absolute interdict delivered by God himself. Mankind, in all ages, and in all civilized countries, have regarded the violation of the marriage-bed with abhorrence. It has been punished in various ways, and with different degrees of severity, according to the general manners and morals of the country; sometimes with extreme rigour, and in other instances with capricious and ridiculous penalties. By the divine law, given to the Jews, it was punished with death in both parties, where either the woman was married, or both. Strabo says, the same was the case in Arabia Felix. Among the ancient Egyptians, it was not common; but when it did occur, a thouADULTERY, an unlawful commerce be- sand lashes were inflicted on the man, and tween one married person and another, or the woman was deprived of her nose, In between a married and unmarried person. 2. Greece, the laws against it were severe. The It is also used in Scripture for idolatry, or rich, however, were sometimes allowed to redeparting from the true God. Jer. iii. 9. 3. deem themselves by paying a fine, in which It is also used in ecclesiastical writers for a case the woman's father returned the dowry person's invading or intruding into a bishop- which he had received from the husband. rick during the former bishop's life. 4. The Some suppose it was refunded by the adulword is also used in ancient canons for the terer. A frequent punishment there was punishment or fine imposed for that offence, putting out the eyes. According to Homer, or the privilege of prosecuting for it. Al- adulterers were stoned to death. By the laws though adultery is prohibited by the law of of Draco and Solon, when caught in the act, God, yet some have endeavoured to explain they were at the mercy of the injured party. away the moral turpitude of it; but it is evi- Adulteresses were prohibited, in Greece, from dent, observes Paley, that, on the part of the appearing in fine garments, and entering the man who solicits the chastity of a married temples. Some suppose that this offence was woman, it certainly includes the crime of se- made capital by Romulus, and again by the duction, and is attended with mischief still twelve tables; others, that it was first made C capital by Augustus; and others, not till the time of Constantine. The fact is, that the punishment was left to the discretion of the husband and parents of the adulteress. The most usual mode of taking revenge was by mutilating, castrating, or cutting off the nose or ears. The punishment assigned by the lex Julia de adulteris, instituted by Augustus, was banishment, or a heavy fine. It was decreed by Antoninus, that to sustain a charge of adultery against a wife, the husband who brought it must be innocent himself. Under Macrinus, adulterers were burnt at the stake. Under Constantius and Constans, they were burned, or sewed up in sacks and thrown into the sea. But the punishment was mitigated, under Leo and Marcian, to perpetual banishment or cutting off the nose; and, under Justinian, the wife was only to be scourged, lose her dower, and be shut up in a monastery; or, at the expiration of two years, the husband might take her back again: if he refused, she was shaven, and made a nun for life. Theodosius instituted the shocking practice of public constupration, which, however, he soon abolished. În Crete, adulterers were covered with wool, as an emblem of their effeminacy, and carried in that dress to the magistrate's house, where a fine was imposed on them, and they were deprived of all their privileges and their share in public business. The punishment in use among the Mingrelians is the forfeiture of a hog, which is usually eaten very amicably by the woman, the gallant, and the cuckold. In some parts of India, it is said that any woman may prostitute herself for an elephant, and it is reputed no small glory to have been rated so high. Adultery is stated to be extremely frequent in Ceylon, although punishable with death. Among the Japanese, and some other nations, it is punishable only in the woman. Among the Abyssinians, the crime of the husband is punished on the innocent wife. On the contrary, in the Marian Islands, the woman is not punishable, but the man is; and the wife and her relations waste his lands, burn him out of his house, &c. Among the Chinese, adultery is not capital: parents will even make a contract with the future husbands of their daughters, to allow them the indulgence. In Portugal, an adulteress is condemned to the flames; but the sentence is seldom executed. By the ancient laws of France, this crime was punishable with death. Before the revolution, the adulteress was usually condemned to a convent, where the husband could visit her during two years, and take her back if he saw fit. If he did not choose to receive her again by the expiration of this time, her hair was shaven, she took the habit of the convent, and remained there for life. Where the parties were poor, she might be shut up in an hospital instead of a convent. The Code Napoleon does not allow the husband to proceed against his wife in case he has been condemned for the same crime. The wife can bring an action against the husband only in case he has introduced his paramour into the house where she resides. An adulteress can be imprisoned from three months to two years; but the husband may prevent the execution of the sentence by taking her back. Her partner in guilt is liable to the same punishment. Castration was the punishment in Spain. In Poland, previous to the establishment of Christianity, the criminal was carried to the market-place, and there fastened by the testicles with a nail; a razor was laid within his reach, and he had the option to execute justice on himself, or remain where he was and die. The Saxons consigned the adulteress to the flames, and over her ashes erected a gibbet, on which her paramour was hanged. King Edmund the Saxon ordered adultery to be punished in the same manner as homicide; and Cannte the Dane ordered that the man should be banished, and the woman have her ears and nose cut off. In the time of Henry I., it was punished with the loss of the eyes and genitals. Adultery is in England considered as a spiritual offence, cognizable by the spiritual courts, where it is punished by fine and penance. The common law allows the party aggrieved only an action and damages. In the United States, the punishment of adultery has varied materially at different times. In the State of Massachusetts, an adulterer or adulteress may be set on the gallows for one hour, be publicly whipped, and imprisoned or fined. All or any of these punishments may be inflicted, according to the circumstances of the offence. Adultery is, moreover, very seldom punished criminally in the United States. The Mohammedan code pronounces it a capital offence. It is one of the three crimes which the prophet directs to be expiated by the blood of a Mussulman.—Encyc. Amer. ADVENT, a term commonly used in reference to the Incarnation, and also to the appearance of Christ to judge the world. The one is called the First, and the other the Second Advent. It is, however, employed in Scripture to denote any coming of the Lord, especially that which has for its object, the infliction of a particular judgment. In ecclesiastical use, it signifies a festival which includes the four Sundays, or weeks, before Christmas, which season the Roman Catholics spend in fasting and humiliation. It is first mentioned in this sense by Maximus Laurinensis, in one of his homilies, written in the middle of the fifth century. No nuptials were allowed to be celebrated in Advent after the council held at Lerida, in the sixth century. ADVERSARY, one who sets himself in opposition to another; one of the names of Satan. See SATAN. |