Such is the avowed and accredited faith of the church of Rome; but it seems a most extraordinary circumstance, that, while this church has so enlarged the creed, it has reduced the number of the commandments, omitting altogether the second, “Thou shalt not make unto thee a graven image,” &c, Exod. xx, 3–6; as if the Catholics were conscious it could by no means be reconciled with the twenty-first article of the above recited creed. And then, to prevent alarm, as every body must know there should be ten commandments, the last is divided into two, to make up the number. This is said to have been done, even before the Reformation. It was done in the French National Catechism, published in 1806, and sanctioned by Pope Pius VII., by the archbishop of Paris, and by the Emperor Napoleon. It is remarkable, also, that in Dr. Chalenor’s “Garden of the Soul,” printed in London by Coglan, in 1787, in a form of self-examination for the penitent upon each commandment, there is no reference to the one omitted; nor is there any reference to it in Bossuet’s famous “Exposition of the Doctrines of the Catholic Church,” when treating upon images, and the manner in which they are directed to be honoured. Lastly, in Butler’s Catechism, the eighth edition, printed at Dublin in 1811, and sanctioned by four Roman Catholic archbishops, the commandments stand literally as follows: “1. I am the Lord thy God; thou shalt have no strange gods before me. 2. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. 3. Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day. 4. Honour thy father and thy mother. 5. Thou shalt not kill. 6. Thou shalt not commit adultery. 7. Thou shalt not steal. 8. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. 9. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife. 10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s goods.” Here it may be added, that by omitting the second command, the others are numbered differently from what they are by us. Thus, the third is brought in for the second, the fourth is made the third, &c, till they come to the last which is divided in two, for the purpose above mentioned. The gross and antiscriptural errors, leading to superstition, idolatry, and many other evils, which are contained in the peculiarities of the papistical faith, are abundantly pointed out and refuted by the leading Protestant writers.
ROMANS, Epistle to the. This epistle was written from Corinth, A. D. 58, being the fourth year of the Emperor Nero, just before St. Paul set out for Jerusalem with the contributions which the Christians of Macedonia and Achaia had made for the relief of their poor brethren in Judea, Acts xx, 1; Rom. xv, 25, 26. It was transcribed or written as St. Paul dictated it, by Tertius; and the person who conveyed it to Rome was Phœbe, a deaconess of the church of Cenchrea, which was the eastern port of the city of Corinth, Rom. xvi, 1, 22. It is addressed to the church at Rome, which consisted partly of Jewish and partly of Heathen converts; and throughout the epistle it is evident that the Apostle has regard to both these descriptions of Christians. St. Paul, when he wrote this epistle had not been at Rome, Rom. i, 13; xv, 23; but he had heard an account of the state of the church in that city from Aquila and Priscilla, two Christians who were banished from thence by the edict of Claudius, and with whom he lived during his first visit to Corinth. Whether any other Apostle had at this time preached the Gospel at Rome, cannot now be ascertained. Among those who witnessed the effect of the first effusion of the Holy Ghost are mentioned “strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes,” Acts ii, 10; that is, persons of the Jewish religion, who usually resided at Rome, but who had come to Jerusalem to be present at the feast of pentecost. It is highly probable that these men, upon their return home, proclaimed the Gospel of Christ; and we may farther suppose that many Christians who had been converted at other places afterward settled at Rome, and were the cause of others embracing the Gospel. But, by whatever means Christianity had been introduced into Rome, it seems to have flourished there in great purity; for we learn from the beginning of this epistle that the faith of the Roman Christians was at this time much celebrated, Rom. i, 8. To confirm them in that faith, and to guard them against the errors of Judaizing Christians, was the object of this letter, in which St. Paul takes occasion to enlarge upon the nature of the Mosaic institution; to explain the fundamental principles and doctrines of Christianity; and to show that the whole human race, formerly divided into Jews and Gentiles, were now to be admitted into the religion of Jesus, indiscriminately, and free from every other obligation. The Apostle, after expressing his affection to the Roman Christians, and asserting that the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation to all who believe, takes a comprehensive view of the conduct and condition of men under the different dispensations of Providence; he shows that all mankind, both Jews and Gentiles, were equally “under sin,” and liable to the wrath and punishment of God; that therefore there was a necessity for a universal propitiation and redemption, which were now offered to the whole race of men, without any preference or exception, by the mercy of him who is the God of the Gentiles as well as of the Jews; that faith in Jesus Christ, the universal Redeemer, was the only means of obtaining this salvation, which the deeds of the law were wholly incompetent to procure; that as the sins of the whole world originated from the disobedience of Adam, so the justification from those sins was to be derived from the obedience of Christ; that all distinction between Jew and Gentile was now abolished, and the ceremonial law entirely abrogated; that the unbelieving Jews would be excluded from the benefits of the Gospel, while the believing Gentiles would be partakers of them; and that this rejection of the Jews, and call of the Gentiles, were predicted by the Jewish Prophets Hosea and Isaiah. He then points out the superiority of the Christian over the Jewish religion, and earnestly exhorts the Romans to abandon every species of wickedness, and to practise the duties of righteousness and holiness, which were now enjoined upon higher sanctions, and enforced by more powerful motives. In the latter part of the epistle, St. Paul gives some practical instructions, and recommends some particular virtues; and he concludes with a salutation and a doxology. This epistle is most valuable, on account of the arguments and truths which it contains, relative to the necessity, nature, and universality of the Gospel dispensation.
ROOFS. The letting down of the paralytic through the roof of the house where Jesus was, is satisfactorily explained by the following extract from Shaw’s Travels: “The houses throughout the east are low, having generally a ground floor only, or one upper story, and flat-roofed, the roof being covered with a strong coat of plaster of terrace. They are built round a paved court, into which the entrance from the street is through a gateway or passage room furnished with benches, and sufficiently large to be used for receiving visits or transacting business. The stairs which lead to the roof are never placed on the outside of the house in the street, but usually in the gateway, or passage room to the court, sometimes at the entrance within the court. This court is now called, in Arabic, el woost, or ‘the middle of the house,’ literally answering to τὸ μέσον of St. Luke, v, 19. It is customary to fix cords from the parapet walls, Deut. xxii, 8, of the flat roofs across this court, and upon them to expand a veil or covering, as a shelter from the heat. In this area, probably, our Saviour taught. The paralytic was brought on to the roof by making a way through the crowd to the stairs in the gateway, or by the terraces of the adjoining houses. They rolled back the veil, and let the sick man down over the parapet of the roof into the area or court of the house, before Jesus.” The windows of the eastern houses being chiefly within, facing the court, in order to see what was going on without in the streets of the city, the only way was to run up to the flat roof. Hence the frequent expression in Scripture, when allusion is made to sudden tumults and calamities, to get up to “the house top.” See [Houses].
ROSE, הבצלת, Cant., ii, 1; Isaiah xxxv, 1. The rose, so much and so often sung by the poets of Persia, Arabia, Greece, and Rome, is, indeed, the pride of the garden for elegance of form, for glow of colour, and fragrance of smell. Tournefort mentions fifty-three kinds, of which the Damascus rose, and the rose of Sharon, are the finest. The beauty of these flowers is too well known to be insisted on; and they are at this day much admired in the east, where they are extremely fragrant. In what esteem the rose was among the Greeks, may be learned from the fifth and fifty-third odes of Anacreon. Among the ancients it occupied a conspicuous place in every chaplet; it was a principal ornament in every festive meeting, and at every solemn sacrifice; and the comparisons in Ecclesiasticus xxiv, 14, and l, 8, show that the Jews were likewise much delighted with it. The rose bud, or opening rose, seems in particular a favourite ornament. The Jewish sensualists, in Wisdom ii, 8, are introduced saying, “Let us fill ourselves with costly wine and ointments; and let no flower of the spring pass by us. Let us crown ourselves with rose buds before they are withered.”
ROSH. The Hebrew speaks of a people called Rosh, Ezek. xxxviii, 2, 3. “The orientals hold,”[hold,”] says D’Herbelot, “that Japheth had a son called Rous, not mentioned by Moses, who peopled Russia, that is, Muscovy.” We question not but Rosh, or Ros, signifies Russia, or the people that dwell on the Araxes, called Rosch by the inhabitants; which was the habitation of the Scythians. It deserves notice, that the LXX. render the passage in Ezekiel, Γὼγ, ἄρχοντα Ῥὼς, Μεσὸχ, καὶ Θοβὲλ, Gog, the chief of Ros, Mesoch, and Thobel; and Jerom, not absolutely to reject this name, inserts both renderings: Gog, terram Magog, principem capitis (sive Ros) Mosoch, et Thubal. Symmachus and Theodotion also perceived Ros to be in this place the name of a people; and this is now the prevailing judgment of interpreters. Bochart, about A. D. 1640, contended that Russia was the nation meant by the term Ros; and this opinion is supported by the testimony of various Greek writers, who describe “the Ros as a Scythian nation, bordering on the northern Taurus.” Mosok, or Mesech, appears to be the same as the Moskwa, or Moscow, of the moderns; and we know, that not only is this the name of the city, but also of the river on which it stands. See [Gog].
RUBY, a beautiful gem, whose colour is red, with an admixture of purple, and is, in its most perfect state, a gem of extreme value. In hardness it is equal to the sapphire, and second only to the diamond. It is mentioned in Job xxviii, 18, and Prov. viii, 11, &c.
RUE, ϖήγανον, Luke xi, 42, a small shrubby plant, common in gardens. It has a strong, unpleasant smell, and a bitterish, penetrating taste.
RUSH, גמא, Exodus ii, 3; Job viii, 11; Isaiah xviii, 2; xxxv, 7; a plant growing in the water at the sides of rivers, and in marshy grounds.
RUSSIAN CHURCH. The Russians, like other nations, were originally Pagans, and worshipped fire, which they considered as the cause of thunder, under the name of Perun, and the earth under the name Volata; at the same time having some notions of a future state of rewards and punishments. Christianity was first professed by the Princess Olga, who was baptized at Constantinople. She recommended it to her grandson Vladimir, on whose baptism, in 988, it was adopted by the nation generally; and from that time the Greek church has been the established religion throughout Russia, and Greek literature greatly encouraged. During the middle ages, however, the doctrine of transubstantiation, and some other popish peculiarities, were covertly introduced; and, by the irruption of the Mongol Tartars, in the fifteenth century, a stop was put to learning and civilization for full two centuries; but, on the accession of the present dynasty in 1613, civilization and Christianity were restored, and schools established for the education of the clergy. The Russian clergy are divided into regular and secular; the former are all monks, and the latter are the parochial clergy. The superior clergy are called archires; but the title of metropolitan, or bishop, is personal, and not properly attached to the see, as in the western church. Next after the archires rank the black clergy, including the chiefs of monasteries and convents, and after them the monks. The secular priests are called the white clergy, including the protoires, or proto-popes, priests, and deacons, together with the readers and sacristans. These amounted, in 1805, throughout the empire, to ninety-eight thousand seven hundred and twenty-six. The white clergy must be married before they can be ordained, but must not marry a second time; they are at liberty then to enter among the black clergy, and a way is thus opened for their accession to the higher orders. The whole empire is divided into thirty-six diocesses, or eparchies, in which are four hundred and eighty-three cathedrals, and twenty-six thousand, five hundred and ninety-eight churches. The churches are divided into three parts. 1. The altar, where stands the holy table, crucifix, &c, which is separated from the body of the church by a large screen, on which are painted our Saviour, the virgin, the Apostles, and other saints. Upon a platform before this are placed the readers and singers, and here the preacher generally stands behind a movable desk. 2. The nave, or body of the church, which may be called the inner court. 3. The trapeza, or outer court. The two last are designed for the congregation, but neither have any seats. The walls of the church are highly embellished with Scripture paintings, ornamented with gold, silver, and precious stones, but no images.
The church service is contained in twenty-four volumes, folio, in the Slavonian language, which is not well understood by the common people. Parts of the Scriptures are read in the service; but few, even of the ecclesiastics, possess a complete Bible. The patriarch of Russia was formerly almost equal in authority with the czar himself; but Peter the Great, on the death of the patriarch in 1700, abolished his office, and appointed an exarch. In 1721 he abolished this office also, and appointed a “holy legislative synod” for the government of the church, at the head of which is always placed a layman of rank and eminence. The monastic life was once so prevalent in this country, that there were four hundred and seventy-nine convents for men, and seventy-four for women, in which there were about seventy thousand monks and nuns, &c; but this kind of life was so much discouraged by Peter the Great and the Empress Catherine, that the religious are now reduced to about five thousand monks and seventeen hundred nuns. Great part of their revenues has also been alienated, and appropriated to the support of hospitals and houses for the poor.