the "carnal ordinances" of
Judaism, which would have been virtual apostacy from Christ. This
magnificent epistle constitutes in some sense a solemn requiem to the
old temple service with its altar and priesthood, where the blood of
bulls and goats that can never take away sin had flowed for so many
centuries. This service had accomplished its end in prefiguring Christ
the true "Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world," and it
was destined soon to pass away forever "with tumult, with shouting, with
the sound of the trumpet"--to pass away forever, that men might give
their undivided faith to Christ, our great High-priest, who ministers
for us in the heavenly tabernacle, presenting there before his Father's
throne his own blood shed on Calvary to make propitiation for the sins
of the world.

To the argumentative part of this epistle are appended exhortations
(partly, indeed, anticipated in the preceding part) to constancy in the
Christian profession, drawn from the awful doom that awaits apostates,
from the examples of faith furnished by ancient worthies, and especially
from the example of Christ himself and the glorious fellowship to which
his gospel introduces us. To these are added some admonitions of a more
special character. Thus the present epistle performs an office in the
general system of revelation which is supplied by no other book of the
Old or New Testament. To the book of Leviticus it may be said to hold
the relation of substance to shadow, and it is its divinely appointed
expositor.

CHAPTER XXXI.

THE CATHOLIC EPISTLES.

1. Seven epistles, that of James and the six that follow, are called
_Catholic_, that is, _general_ or _universal_, as not being directed to
any particular church. They were not all, however, addressed originally
to believers generally, but some of them to particular classes of
believers, or even to individuals, as the introductory words show.

I. EPISTLE OF JAMES.

2. The question respecting the _person_ of James who wrote this epistle
is one of great difficulty. That "James the Lord's brother," whom Paul
names as one of the apostles (Gal. 1:19), is identical with the James
mentioned by Luke in Acts 12:17; 15:13; 21:18, and is the author of the
present epistle, is admitted by most writers, though not by all. That
this James of Gal. 1:19 was the James who is named with Joses, Simon,
and Judas, as one of our Lord's brethren (Matt. 13:55; Mark 6:3), must
be receiv