and of the rest of the Apostles, they maintained that marriage was illicit, and asserted the necessity of rendering a homage to the angels, as the Mediators between God and man. To recall the Ephesians to their former faith, and to fortify them against the erroneous systems of deceitful teachers, the Apostle of the Gentiles addressed to them this Epistle.

EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS.

This epistle which, about the year 62, was conveyed by Epaphroditus from St. Paul, in bonds at Rome, to the faithful at Philippi, one of the principal cities in Macedonia, was occasioned by the intelligence communicated to that apostle, concerning a dispute which had arisen between Evodia and Syntyche, whom he beseeches to be of one mind; and by the discord that existed amongst the believers in that city relative to certain points of Christian doctrine.

EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS.

Almost the same identical reasons that induced St. Paul to write to the Ephesians, prevailed upon him, conjointly with Timothy, to address a letter to the Colossians, about the year 62. Tychicus and Onesimus were charged with its delivery.

FIRST EPISTLE TO THE THESSALONIANS.

The first epistle to the Thessalonians bears the subscription not only of St. Paul, but also of Silas and of Timothy, and was written about the year 52, from Corinth, on account of the following circumstances. It was from Athens that the apostle of the Gentiles had dele

gated his favourite disciple Timothy to Thessalonica, in order to ascertain the condition of the Church in that city, from which he had been driven by the persecution of the Jews. Timothy soon joined St. Paul at Corinth, to render him an account most favourable to the perseverance and the fervour of the Thessalonian proselytes. The disciple detailed to his master the solicitude exhibited by some amongst them to be more particularly instructed concerning the condition of those who had already died -the second coming of the Saviour—and the final judgment. In consequence of this, St. Paul rejoices with the Thessalonians on their adherence to the faith, and assures them that the other Churches are loud in their eulogiums; he then proceeds to communicate the instructions which they sought for, and in conclusion, we behold this fervent apostle with his usual energy, rectifying the ignorance of the less instructed-fixing the wavering faith of some-and whilst he chides the errors of others, with a winning gentleness exhorting all to patience and to mutual charity.

SECOND EPISTLE TO THE THESSALONIANS.

The second epistle to the Thessalonians, like its precursor, bears the subscription of St. Paul, of Silas, and of Timothy, and was written at Corinth about the year 53. In his first letter the apostle had animadverted on the erroneous opinion concerning the day of judgment. The receipt of this epistle only provoked the patrons of the novel doctrines to maintain, with redoubled obstinacy, that the day of final retribution was at hand. To chastise the temerity of these self-constituted teachers, and to repress the errors they were circulating, was the object of this second epistle to the Thessalonians.

EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY.

Timothy was one amonst the most cherished disciples of St. Paul, who had selected him to be his fellow-labourer and companion in almost all his various journeyings, and had deputed him to visit many of the Churches of the Gentiles in his name, and had employed him with singular success, in the conversion of the Jews. Solicitous to furnish his disciple with the most ample instructions on the duties of his holy ministry, on the government and discipline of the Church, St. Paul addressed a particular epistle to Timothy, in which he fervently exhorts him to guard himself against seducing teachers, and to perform with zeal all the obligations of his sacred calling. He informs him that he had cut off from communion with the Church, the blasphemous Hymeneus, and Alexander. He enumerates the virtues and the qualities which ought to ornament the character of such as are selected to compose the various orders of the hierarchy; he mentions how the household of a bishop should be constituted, and notices the conduct that ought to be observed by men and women in the religious assemblies.

SECOND EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY.

This epistle of Paul to Timothy was followed by a second from Rome, about the year 65. The apostle of the Gentiles most anxiously desired to behold once more his well-beloved disciple, and co-partner in many of his difficulties. On this account he urges him to come to Rome as expeditiously as possible. After having reminded Timothy of his various duties as a teacher of the word, St. Paul prophetically announces that the hour of his own death is not far distant, and exhorts him, also, to prepare for martyrdom if necessary.

EPISTLE TO TITUS.

Titus, also, was a devoted companion and disciple of St. Paul, and whilst he participated in the affections and paternal solicitude of that apostle, was, like Timothy, honoured with a particular epistle from their common master. In this letter, after having commissioned Titus to finish what he had himself begun at Corinth, and to appoint bishops in different cities, St. Paul repeats the same instructions we have lately heard him delivering to Timothy.

EPISTLE TO PHILEMON.

This letter was produced by a strictly private circumstance. St. Paul had converted and baptized at Rome, Onesimus, a slave, who had fled the house of his lord, a distinguished Colossian citizen, by name Philemon, himself initiated in the faith by the apostle. Unwilling to retain Onesimus against his master's will, St. Paul sent him home again with a letter, in which he strongly supplicates the favour of Philemon towards his returning

servant.

To the epistles of St. Paul succeed other seven, composed in part by different apostles, but not immediately addressed to any one particular portion of the faithful. Of the first of these the author was St. James the less, the bishop of Jerusalem, in which city he wrote it, probably between the years 58 and 63. His object was to encourage the brethren and more especially those dispersed through Palestine, and recently converted from the synagogue, to brave the persecutions enkindled by the Jews; and not only to fortify them against the dangers of apostacy, but to warn them also of the acts and errors of deceitful teachers.

FIRST AND SECOND EPISTLES OF ST. PETER.

A mere partial perusal of the two epistles of St. Peter, will serve to convince us that the same reasons which prevailed with St. James, induced St. Peter also to address himself by writing, to the faithful, in order to guard them against the danger of returning to their former darkness; to console them amid their trials and the persecutions they endured for conscience' sake, and to exhort them to preserve the deposit of faith, pure and untainted by the falsehood of innovators.

FIRST EPISTle of St. JOHN.

To confirm his spiritual children in the truths of Christianity, and to caution them especially against the erroneous doctrines that had been propagated by Ebion and Cerinthus, concerning the divinity of Jesus, were the motives which induced St. John to write this epistle, which he does not address to any particular Church, but, in all probability, communicated to the faithful at Ephesus and its vicinity.

SECOND EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN.

The second letter penned by this apostle is addressed to the lady Electa and her children. In it he notices. that "many seducers had gone out into the world who confessed not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh." (verse 7.) Hence, he exhorts this pious matron and her family to continue steadfast in the truth, and forbids them to say as much as "God speed thee," (verse 10.) or receive into their house the man who had revolted from the doctrine of Christ.

THIRD EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN.

His third letter the apostle wrote to Gaius, whom he