forced upon him; but, according to Philo, the Jews will not be in want of intercessors with the Father, as they will have three mediators of atonement, (яаρákληтоι тwν kaтahhayiov,) namely: 1. The mercy and goodness of God himself, who always prefers mercy to punishment. 2. The sanctity of the ancestors of the nation; for the disembodied souls, that bring pure and undefiled offerings to their Lord, intercede successfully for their sons and descendants. 3. The last paraclete is the reformation of those that are led to the covenant. We have seen above that, according to Philo, the world is always reconciled to God, is constantly engaged in the act of reconciliation, standing in its λóyoç as a blameless unity before God. All further development must accordingly appear to him as superfluous, as disturbing the harmony and peace of the world, which he views not in an ethical, but Hellenistic light. The law given by Moses is identical with the law of the world. The world is rational; the law, which is inherent in the world, has been brought to the consciousness of man by Moses, therefore it is eternal and not far from us; it is perfect and whole, admitting of no improvement. As Philo teaches that man was created after the image of God, that he partakes of the nature of the λóyos, the inference appears plausible, that he postulates the most intimate relation between God and man, and that the idea of the incarnation cannot be foreign to him. He speaks of heroes, born out of immortal and mortal seed, in whom the mortal admixture was governed by the divine seed, and says, that this end is attainable still. But notwithstanding all this, he denies a real union between the Divine and the human. Where the Divine light shines, the human goes out, (Quis Rerum Div., § 53,) and where the Divine goes out, the human rises, (Oέuç yàp οὐκ ἐστι θνητὸν ἀθανάτῳ συνοικῆσαι — for it is against the Divine will, that the human shall dwell together with the Divine.) For this reason, a state of ecstasy is absolutely necessary for receiving prophetic inspiration. The reason of this is not Philo's distinction between an unknown and actual God, since God says to Moses: "For me, it would be easy to grant what thou desirest, but not for thee to receive it;" but both his physical idea of God, and the admixture of the 2ŋ to all mortals, is the cause "why God is not communicable according to the infinity of his grace, but according to the capacity of the creature to receive. His power is infinite; all Divine powers are without limit; the creature is too weak to receive them, wherefore God gave not everything to us, but only as much as our nature can bear." Man must lay down his body, in order to arrive at a higher state of existence. His distinction between God as the active principle, (dpaσrýpɩov,) and the world as the passive principle, (nadηTikóv,) would be done away with by the incarnation. While Christianity sees in the human body not only an organ of the spirit, but also a requisite for the self-actualization of the same, Philo knows neither to look upon suffering as a deed also, nor sees he in the body anything else than a limit, a barrier. If he would need a Christ at all, he would have a docetic one, (Aóyoç atdioç,) an everlasting logos; but he does not even desire a new theophany of the logos. Even a metaphysical union of the cosmical opposites, God and world, he has so little succeeded in effecting, that man, in whose personality they center, the λóyos and the λn, does not really represent this union, in two directions. For God remains foreign to humanity; Philo's idea of the Deity is far from seeing the cause of man's existence in God; and man remains so foreign to the other extreme, the van, that he realizes his idea fully by laying it aside, by becoming disembodied, as Philo conceives of his original man, and those that are perfect. Thus the two extremes, God and viŋ, lie beyond man, limiting absolutely his knowledge and his liberty, and thus standing opposed to him as absolute mysteries, and as an unconquerable power of gravity. But these two extremes are also irreconciled to each other, and as their dualism produces the greatest unhappiness with consciousness of man, so he places also above God himself, who can never conquer matter fully, however desirous he may be of effecting it, a dark fate; divests his idea of God of all mere atheistical absoluteness, and thus makes it really pagan. Philo, inebriated with the Grecian idea of wisdom and beauty, knows how to cover up these contradictions, and to impart to the scientific, ethical, and religious comfortlessness of his stand-point the appearance of cheerfulness and beauty. But while the Grecian beauty is natural, his harmony is artificial and powerless. This harmony, however, shallow as it is, he looks upon as something higher, namely, as that union of the pagan and of the Jewish religion, which could be effected only through Christ; and we must confess that in his system the human mind has made the attempt to effect a union of the antechristian religions. Newly-born Christianity had thus, as it were, a rival in this attempt. But however dazzling for a superficial observer the similitude of many of his phrases and ideas with Christianity may be, their principles are diametrically opposed to each other, and even those expressions that are apparently identical have in their connections widely different meanings. So every reader of the Bible knows, that the 2óyos of St. John, and all the epithets given to him, the terms world, man, and even God, mean things different from what we have found Philo to designate by the same terms. Like Christianity, Philo would represent the world as celebrating an everlasting reconciliation by the 26yos; but what could be effected only by the fact of an humble condescension on the part of the λóyos, and what a pious desire was justified in waiting for as a Divine fact, that Philo fancies as accomplished forever, as accomplishing continually, and thus he becomes antagonistical to Christianity. His system approaches thus as a specter-like antagonism the cradle of Christianity, and appears on that horizon on which was to rise Christianity in order to set no more, as a dazzling, dissolving fata morgana. That the logology of St. John and Christianity has nothing to do with Philo's, we may, after what has been developed in the preceding pages, affirm without fear of successful contradiction; whether his logology and the incarnation, in particular, have anything in common with either Judaism or paganism, as it existed in the time of Christ, may be made the subject of investigation in one or two future articles. ART. VIII.-RELIGIOUS INTELLIGENCE. GREAT BRITAIN. The Protestant Churches.-The missionary labors of the English Churches on the most extensive and promising missionary field of Christianity have been sadly interrupted by the Indian insurrection. But it is confidently hoped that much good will result from the momentary distress. The general observance of the day appointed for humiliation and prayer, has been an edifying example for all Europe. Many statesmen who before were opposed to the Indian government lending any moral influence to the efforts of the missionary, have changed their mind, and it is expected that, while no violence of any kind will be used to bring about the conversion of Hindoos and Mahommedans, yet the Christianization of India will meet with a more energetical support on the part of the government. missionary societies are fully alive to the importance of the crisis, and prepare themselves for a vigorous revival and extension of their Indian missions. The Wesleyan connection, in particular, has given a laudable example to the other denominations, by making great efforts to The increase the number of its missionaries in India. In this commonness of affliction and hope the Evangelical portion of the Established Church has given another proof of its catholic spirit, by freely associating with Dissenters in common prayer. But the Puseyites have called this step a palpable violation of the spirit and the letter of the Prayer Book and Canons, and a wanton scandal and offense of the Church. The necessary development of Romanizing tendencies in the Tractarian party has led to a split, one fraction, whose organ is the Union, carrying its sympathy with Rome so far as to create the suspicion, even among the other fraction of the same party, that their union with Rome is already an accomplished fact, and that they remain in the State Church only to lead over to Rome greater masses. It is gratifying to see that, while the Protestant character of the Establishment is still jeopardized, the dissenting denominations carry prosperously onward the mission of Protestantism. The storms which threatened the Congregational Union have subsided, and its last autumnal meeting has again been a peaceable one. The fame of Spurgeon, the great Baptist preacher, is not yet at its zenith, and the day appointed by the queen for humiliation and prayer assembled round his pulpit the unprecedented number of 23,000 hearers. The Roman Church.-New measures are concerted by the pope with some of the Irish bishops to break the stubbornness of Young Ireland, which is more desirous to secure social reforms than to work for the glory of the Roman Church. That there is, however, a sufficient amount of fanaticism left in the lower classes of the people, appears from the disgraceful riots in Belfast, where a Roman Catholic mob attempted to interfere with the right of Protestant ministers to preach in the open air. More gratifying intelligence is the news, that Dr. Newman has been commissioned to make a new English version of the Bible. Though it cannot be expected that this version will be in all respects a faithful one, it is likely to increase the number of Bible readers in the Roman Church. GERMANY, PRUSSIA, AUSTRIA. Protestant State Churches.-The great assembly of members and friends of the Evangelical Alliance held at Berlin in September, is classed by all Church parties among the most memorable conventions of the Christian Church. efficient step has ever been taken to create a permanent center of unity for all the various denominations of Evangel No more ical Protestantism, and to unite them in one organization. The proceedings of Berlin have shown to Protestants the advantage of such a permanent organization, and to their opponents, its practicability. If the assembly of Berlin is not yet the first Ecumenical Council of Protestantism, it is, at all events, a forerunner of it. For Germany it has, of course, a particular significance. The principle of religious liberty has been discussed in a manner which secures for it a more general support from the Evangelical party. The impressive description of the success of German Methodism in America, and the judicious replies of the German Baptist ministers to the accusations brought against them for proselytism, are a moral conquest for the free church cause in Germany, of incalculable import. Still there remain great dangers for the future development of the Evangelical party in the Protestant State Churches. It considers itself too weak to act inde The pendently of the High Church men. meeting of Berlin has been closely followed by a Church Diet at Stuttgard, on which the High Lutherans and the Evangelical party of all the State Churches work together in fraternal union, the latter making, for the sake of peace, conces sions of questionable expediency to their less compromising friends. Stahl's CryptoCatholicism was this year more energetically protested against than usual, but all the resolutions were, as before, in the interest of the two combined parties. Less pleased are the High Lutherans with the increasing success of the Gustavus Adolphus Association, which celebrated its twenty-fifth anniversary at Kassel, and reported the last year's receipts as amounting to 101,000 thalers. It has been thus enabled to support three hundred and eighty poor Protestant congregations, fiftysix more than last year, and promises more and more to become one of the most efficient Protestant organizations of Europe. The Roman Catholics feel despondent at its success, for their counter-association of S. Boniface has not been able to raise its collections higher than to 30,000 thalers. A Conference of the Reformed Churches, held at Bremen, has declared anew the unchanged sympathy of the Church with the union between Lutherans and Reformed. The efforts of a Lutheran association for erecting a monument to the Great Reformer of the sixteenth century, finds much sympathy among the people, though the Church governments of seven States, among them Prussia, had, at the publication of the last quarterly report, not yet authorized public collections to be taken up. Free Churches.-The General Synod of the Moravians, attended by forty depu ties from Germany, ten from England, and ten from America, has happily overcome some difficulties threatening the denomination with a split. In several parts of Germany they have recently made great progress, though their converts do not always separate themselves from the State Church. So much are their labors characterized by a spirit of love, that they are unmolested even by the High Lutherans and the Roman press. Irvingites, who likewise do not demand of their members to leave the State Churches, have attracted uncommon attention by the spreading of their principles among the Roman priests of the diocese of Augs burg. Five of them have been excommunicated, and work now by their writings The for Irvingism. The little band of German Swedenborgians celebrated the centenary of the foundation of the New Jerusalem, on which occasion Professor Tafel, of the University of Tubingen, the only distinguished man of the denomination in Germany, stated that General Dembinsky has become a convert to Swedenborgianism, and is at present engaged in translating the works of Swedenborg into Polish. The Roman Catholic Church.The Roman Church likewise continues to extend her associations, and to found new ones. The Society of S. Charles Borromeo, for spreading Catholic books, reports its receipts during the last year as amounting to 47,000 thalers, which is an increase of 11,000 thalers. The Young Mechanics' Catholic Associations (Gesellen Vereine) are counting nearly thirty thousand members, and are becoming popular among the working classes of the people. The Asso eiations of Christian Art are ahead in their organization of similar Protestant associations, and held their second General Assembly at Regensburg. The Roman Temperance Associations were in some districts, as, for example, Oldenburg, more successful than the Protestant. But, on the whole, the growth of the Roman associations remains far behind the grand development of the Protestant. The General Assembly of the Catholic Associations held this year at Salzburg looked, in comparison with the assemblies of Berlin and Stuttgard, like a failure. No more than one hundred deputies were present. Many of the speeches showed how little influence the Roman Church has, as yet, on German society at large. We refer, in particular, to the statement that among the larger newspapers, no more than six are in the service of Rome. If the Roman influence increases, as it undoubtedly does, it is especially due to the continuing protection of the princes. Nowhere is this felt so much as in Austria, whose government confers extraordinary favors on the Roman Church. After having given the theological faculty of Insbruck to the Jesuits, it even calls some theologists of Rome, renowned only for skill in scholastic and sophistic subtilties, to the University of Vienna. It gives its consent to the erection of a commercial institution in Vienna, only on the condition that its manager be always a member of the Roman Church. It forbids the press from treating on religious subjects. It confides more and more state institutions to the care of monastic orders. So it has enabled the ultramontane party to make some great demonstrations. Pilgrimages are again taking great dimensions, one sanctuary alone, Maria Zell in Styria, having attracted, at its seven hundredth anniversary, about one hundred and fifteen thousand pilgrims, and among them nearly all the members of the imperial family. The expectations of the Ultramontane party for the future, exceed, therefore, every limit. Already its leading organ, the Oestreichische Volksfreund, demauds that Austrian publishers be required to send one gratis copy of every book published by them to the bishop of the diocese, as the only authority competent to judge of the theological soundness of its contents. The Protestant Churches.-Switzerland has reason to be satisfied with its religious anniversaries. The assembly of the Pastoral Society, at Lausanne, was attended by about two hundred and forty clergymen of very divergent parties, and its deliberations were, throughout, characterized by a spirit of fraternal charity. The Societé Evangelique at Geneva, reported of the auspicious progress of Protestant missions in France, Algeria, and Piedmont; and was able to send a re-enforcement of three young ministers to the Waldenses of Piedmont. The anniversaries of Basil (Protestant Aid Societies, Bible Society, Foreign Missionary Society) witnessed, as usual, an immense concourse of pious Christians, and furnished, if compared with the associations of the Roman Church, a striking illustration how much better Protestantism succeeds in organizing grand associations for religious purposes, and how much the living unity among pious Protestants is more efficient than the dead uniformity of the Roman Church. But though the present year has been signalized by great progress of religion, yet the secular government of not a few Protestant cantons remains in the hands of statesmen who are avowed atheists. Roman Church.-After many fruitless attempts, the Roman Catholics have at length established, after the model of Germany, Catholic, or Pius Associations, and held the first General Constitutive Assembly. Twenty branch societies were reported as being in existence. In addition to the three primitive cantons, (Schwytz, Unterwalden, Uri,) and Zug, which have unwaveringly obeyed the dic |