This day is rendered famous in history, on account of the horrible ma.s.sacre of Protestants in Paris in 1572. Thirty thousand persons were put to death in France, and this with the deliberate consent of the Pope and the authorities of the Roman Church!
BELFRY. Originally and properly, a watch-tower. That part of a church where the bells are hung.
BELLS. Bells have been used in churches in England from the 7th century. Their various uses are well summed up in the following monkish distichs,--
"Laudo Deum verum, plebem voco, congrego clerum, Defunctos ploro, pestem fugo, festa decoro."
"Funera plango, fulgura frango, sabbata pango, Excito lentos, dissipo ventos, paco cruentos."
In the Roman Church they are "baptized," with a certain ceremony; in the English Church they are merely consecrated, that is, set apart for a sacred purpose.
The "pa.s.sing bell" is the tolling of a bell while anybody is dying, or _pa.s.sing_ out of this life, in order that the faithful may offer prayers on his behalf. It is ordered by Canon 67.
BENEDICITE. The apocryphal ending of Daniel iii. It is a paraphrastical exposition of Ps. 148; it was commonly sung in the Christian Church in the 4th century. In 1549 it was ordered to be sung during Lent instead of the _Te Deum_. It is now generally used when the lessons speak of the Creation. The "three children" are Ananias, Azarias, and Misael, who are better known by their Chaldean names of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
BENEDICTION. A solemn act of blessing performed by Bishops and Priests of the Church. A certain form was given by G.o.d Himself for the use of the Jewish Priests, Num. vi.22-27. In our Church several forms are used agreeing with the Office of which they form a part. The ordinary benediction at the end of the Communion Service is from Phil, iv.7, and Num. vi.23.
BENEDICTUS. The song of Zacharias, the father of the Baptist, Luke 1.68-79. The alternate Psalm, called the _Jubilate Deo_, was inserted in 1552 to be used when the _Benedictus_ happened to be read in the second lesson. The song of Zacharias has always been a hymn of the Church.
BENEFICE or LIVING. A church endowed with a revenue for the performance of Divine Service; the holder of which is called a Rector, or Vicar, or Inc.u.mbent, or Perpetual Curate (see under each head). Heresy, Simony, and other grave offences, disqualify a man from holding a benefice.
A clergyman can only be deprived of his benefice for want of capacity, Heresy, Contempt of Court, or crime.
BIBLE, THE HOLY. So called from a Greek word, meaning "the books,"
just as the word _Scriptures_ means "the writings." The Bible is divided into two parts--the Old and the New Testaments, or Covenants. The Old Testament, or the Covenant of G.o.d with the Hebrew nation, is written partly in Hebrew, and partly--the latter part--in Aramaic. It is most important to remember that it was written by many different persons, and at widely different times, spreading over the course of 2,000 years. The New Testament, or the New Covenant of G.o.d with His people, whether Jews or Gentiles, although also written by many various authors, was produced between the years A.D. 50, and A.D. 100.
The Bible is called the "Word of G.o.d" because the authors wrote by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, Heb. i.i; Acts iv.25; 2 Peter i.21; &c. It is important to remember that we do not claim a _verbal_ inspiration, for the writers, but simply that G.o.d put into their minds what they should write. Inspiration did not preserve them from errors in grammar, or natural philosophy, or anything else foreign to the actual design of the Bible, which is the revelation of G.o.d, and of His will to man.
Thus, it is most important that we should know what books are inspired, and have a right to form a part of the Holy Scriptures, in other words what books are _canonical_. The Old Testament, as we have it now, was used by the Jews in the time of our Lord, who often quotes from its various books Himself, thus stamping them with the divine authority which they claimed. Ezra seems to have determined the canon of Old Testament Scriptures. With regard to the New Testament, the question of the authenticity and canonicity of some books was very much more difficult to determine, and an enormous amount of labour and scholarship has been expended on the subject. There can be no reasonable doubt now with regard to any of the _books_ of the New Testament; the only thing now doubtful is what the original words were in the places where the ancient ma.n.u.scripts differ. These differences are called _various readings_. The publication of the Revised Version of the New Testament in 1881 was partly an attempt to settle this question.
The differences, as a rule, are very unimportant.
The chief translations of the Bible into English are Wiclif"s, 1360; Tindal (or Tyndale) and Coverdale"s, 1526; The Geneva Bible, 1560; The Bishops" Bible, 1568. The Translation we use now, called the Authorized Version, was published in 1611. About 50 learned men were appointed by King James 1st for the task.
We will now proceed to consider the contents of the Bible, first remarking that the division into Chapters and verses does not date back beyond the 13th century, that it rests on no authority, and very often spoils the sense.
The Old Testament consists of 39 books, which may be thus cla.s.sified:--The Books of the Law; The Historical Books; The Holy Writings, or Poetical Books; and the Prophetical Books.
_The Books of the Law_, five in number, were written by Moses, and are called the Pentateuch; they are:--Genesis. Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.
_The Historical Books_ are twelve. Where the name of the Author differs from the name of the Book it is given in brackets,--Joshua, Judges (Samuel?), Ruth (Samuel or Ezra), 1st and 2nd Samuel (Samuel, Nathan, and Gad), 1st and 2nd Kings (Jeremiah), 1st and 2nd Chronicles (Ezra?), Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther (author not known).
_The Poetical Books_, or _Hagiographa_, consist of five books,--Job (author not known), Psalms (by various authors, about half by David), Proverbs (Solomon chiefly), Ecclesiastes (generally attributed to Solomon), Song of Solomon, or Canticles.
_The Prophetical Books_ are divided into two cla.s.ses, the Greater Prophets and the Lesser Prophets. They are so called, not from any superiority or inferiority, but from the extent of their writings.
_The Greater Prophets_ are four in number,--Isaiah, Jeremiah (author of two books--his Prophecy and his Lamentations), Ezekiel, Daniel.
_The Minor Prophets_ are twelve,--Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi.
The ordinary reader of the Bible misses much from the fact that the books are not grouped in any chronological order. In the following table the books are placed so as to form a continuous history of the Jews, while, by their side, are the names of those books which should be read as commentaries on the period. The book of Job, however, it is impossible to place. He seems to have been a shepherd king, perhaps of the time of Abraham, but he was not of the Hebrew nation. The two books of the Chronicles contain a summary of history from the Creation down to the Restoration under Cyrus; parts, however, may be read with other books. (_For Table_, _see opposite page_.)
From the time of Malachi to the Birth of John the Baptist, a period of about 400 years, there seems to have been no special revelation from G.o.d. The _Apocrypha_ was composed in that period by various authors. Although parts of it are appointed to be read as Lessons in Church, yet it is not considered as inspired, and consequently it does not belong to the Word of G.o.d. Our Church, in Art. vi., says that "the other books (viz., the Apocrypha) the Church doth read for example of life and instruction of manners, but yet it doth not apply them to establish any doctrine." The Church of Rome receives the Apocrypha as Canonical.
We now pa.s.s on to consider the New Testament. It consists of 27 books, written by eight persons. They were all written in Greek, unless perhaps St. Matthew"s Gospel, which some critics hold was originally written in Hebrew. The whole of the New Testament was written before the end of the first century, and during the lifetime of the Apostle John. The books were all received from the first as inspired, except the Epistle to the Hebrews, Epistles of James and Jude, 2nd of Peter, 2nd and 3rd of John, and the Book of the Revelation; but all these were in early times accepted as Canonical.
It is still doubtful who wrote the Epistle to the Hebrews.
The _Four Gospels_ are by St. Matthew, St. Mark, St. Luke, and St.
John. Of these, the first three are called the Synoptical Gospels, because they give a general view, and contain a brief account of the chief events of our Saviour"s life, His miracles and His parables, from the same standpoint. St. John chiefly dwells on our Lord"s words and discourses. The word "Gospel" means "_good news_."
The Book of the _Acts of the Apostles_ is generally considered to have been written by St. Luke (c.f. Acts 1.1 with Luke 1.1-4).
The Epistles were written by the authors whose names they bear (except perhaps Hebrews). Seven of them are called _Catholic_, which means addressed to the Church _generally_, or _universally_, and not to particular persons or particular bodies of Christians.
The Book of Revelation, or Apocalypse, is by St. John the Apostle.
The following is a chronological table of the books of the New Testament, with their probable dates:--
Books Date A.D.
S. Matt"s 60 S. Mark"s 64 S. Luke"s 64 S. John"s 70 The Acts 64 I. Thess. 52 II. Thess. 52 Galatians 52 I. Corinth. 53 II. Corinth. 57 Romans 58 Ephesians 61 Philipp. 62 Colloss. 62 Philemon 62 I. Tim. 56 t.i.tus 56 II. Tim. 61 S. James 61 I. Peter 64 II. Peter 64 Jude 64 I. John 80 II. John 85 III. John 90 Revelation 95 Some scholars a.s.sign an earlier date to the Revelation.
CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF BOOKS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | BOOKS ILl.u.s.tRATING | CONTEMPORARY PERIOD | HISTORY | SAME PERIOD | PROPHETS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Creation | Genesis, | I. Chron. i. to x. | To | Exodus. | (geneaologies). | Settlement| Numbers. | Leviticus. | In | Deuteronomy.| | Canaan. | Joshua. | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Judges. | Judges. | Ruth. | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kings. | I. Samuel. | I. Chron. x. to xxix. 22; Psalms | | II. Samuel./| of David,Asaph, Ethan, and | | | Sons of Korah. | | I. Kings | | Ecclesiastes, Canticles, and | Jonah (time of Jehu).
| | Proverbs, (time of Solomon). | | II. Kings /| I. Chron. xxix. 22, to end of II. | Amos | | Chron. | Hosea | From Uzziah | | | Isaiah to end of | | | Joel / Hezekiah.
| | | Micah | | | | Nahum | | | | | | | Zephaniah Time of | | | Jeremiah / Josiah.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Esther. | Psalm cx.x.xvii. | Habakkuk, Daniel, | | Obadiah, Ezekiel.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ezra. | Psalms cxx. to cx.x.xiv. (probably sung | Haggai, Zechariah, | on the way back). | Malachi.
Nehemiah. | Psalms cxiii. to xcviii. at consecration of | | Temple. | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BIBLE CHRISTIANS. Sometimes called Bryanites. They are the followers of a Mr. William O"Bryan, a Wesleyan local preacher in Cornwall, who, in 1815, separated from the Wesleyans, and began himself to form societies upon the Methodist plan. In doctrine they do not appear to differ from the various bodies of Arminian Methodists.
The forms of public worship are of the same simple character. But in the administration of the Lord"s Supper "it is usual to receive the elements in a sitting posture, as it is believed that that practice is more comformable to the posture of body in which it was first received by Christ"s Apostles, than kneeling; but persons are at liberty to kneel, if it be more suitable to their views and feelings to do so." Members of this sect are nearly all Cornish people.
_Ministers_. _Lay Preachers_. _Members_.
173. 1,442. 24,238.
_On_ _Sunday_ _Probation_. _Chapels_. _Scholars_.
822. 574. 37.361.
BIDDING PRAYER. The Prayer before the Sermon. Before the Reformation it was called the _Bidding of the beads_. The people were bid to pray for certain objects as the preacher successively named them.
The canonical form of the present prayer is given in the 55th Canon.
The ordinary practice of using a collect is now sanctioned by custom. An extempore prayer, however, from the preacher is quite unauthorized. At the University sermons, and also on occasions of more than usual solemnity, the Bidding Prayer is always used. In Borough towns it is appropriately repeated on the Sunday next after November 9th, when the Mayor is elected.
BIER. The carriage on which the coffin is carried to the grave.