The Events of the Non-Catholic Period of the Church. By
W. Blackley, M.A. (Samuel Harris and Co.)—We have here a series of discourses expository of the period of Church history comprehended in the narrative of the Acts of the Apostles from chapters i. to xi. According to Mr. Blackley's view, this interval marks the time daring which, dating from the death of Christ, the proclamation of the Gospel was restricted to the Jewish people. Therefore it was that the Apostle to whom the keeping of the keys had been entrusted by Christ did not unlock the Kingdom of Heaven to the Gentiles till; in his mission to the centurion Cornelius, Peter proclaimed all men equal in the sight of God, and equally partakers of the evangelic privileges. The question here suggests itself,—What was the signifi- cance of Philip's mission to the Samaritan villages ? (Acts ix.) Did the Samaritans, in the estimate of their jealous Jewish neighbours, occupy a middle ground, from which the access to the vantage posi- tion held by the Jew was easier ? The interval spoken of above extended over three years and a half.
Previous page
