AGE

aj: A period of time or a dispensation. In the above sense the word occurs only once in the King James Version, in the sing, as the translation of dor, which means, properly, a "revolution" or "round of time," "a period," "an age" or "generation of man's life"; almost invariable translated "generation," "generations" (Job 8:8), "Inquire, I pray thee, of the former age"); we have the plural as the translation of aion, properly "duration," "the course or flow of time," "an age or period of the world," "the world" (Ephesians 2:7, "in the ages to come"; Colossians 1:26, "the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations," the English Revised Version, "from all ages," etc., the American Revised Version, margin, of geneai, "generations" (Ephesians 3:5 "generations," Ephesians 3:21, "unto all generations for ever and ever," Greek margin, "all the generations of the age of the ages"). "Ages is given in margin of the King James Version (Psalm 145:13 Isaiah 26:4, "the rock of ages").

We have "age" in the above sense (2 Esdras 3:18; Tobit 14:5; aion) "ages," aion (1 Esdras 4:40 (of Truth) "she is the strength," etc., "of all ages"), genea, the Revised Version (British and American), "generation" (The Wisdom of Solomon 7:27; 1 Maccabees 2:61); Ecclesiasticus 24:33, eis geneas aionon, "generations of ages"; The Wisdom of Solomon 14:6, "generations' (geneseos).

Revised Version has "age" for "world" (Hebrews 6:5); "ages" for "worlds" (the Revised Version, margin Hebrews 1:2; the American Revised Version, margin; compare 1 Timothy 1:17) (margin, "unto the ages of the ages"), "ages" for "world" (1 Corinthians 10:11 Hebrews 9:26). the English Revised Version has "all ages" for "the beginning of the world" (Ephesians 3:9, the American Standard Revised Version "for ages"); "king of the ages" for "king of saints" (Revelation 15:3, corrected text; margin, many ancient authorities read "nations"; Jeremiah 10:7).

See EVERLASTING.

W. L. Walker

AGE; OLD AGE

In individual lives (cheledh; helikia): We have scarcely any word in the Old Testament or New Testament which denotes "age" in the familiar modern sense; the nearest in the Old Testament is perhaps heledh, "life," "lifetime," and in the New Testament helikia, "full age," "manhood," but which is rendered stature in Matthew 6:27, etc., the King James Version; cheledh occurs (Job 11:17), "Thine age shall be clearer than the noonday," the Revised Version (British and American) "(thy) life"; Psalm 39:5, "Mine age is as nothing before thee," the American Standard Revised Version, "my life-time"); we have helikia (John 9:21, 23), "He is of age"; Hebrews 11:11 "past age," Luke 2:52, "Jesus increased in wisdom and age," so the Revised Version, margin, King James Version margin, Ephesians 4:13); yom, day, (days) is used in the Old Testament to express "age" (Genesis 47:28), the whole age of Jacob," the King James Version, "the days of the years of his life"; but it occurs mostly in connection with old age); ben, "son" (Numbers 8:25 1 Chronicles 23:3, 24); kelah, "to be complete," is translated "full age" (Job 5:26); teleios, "complete" (Hebrews 5:14), the Revised Version (British and American), full-grown men, margin, perfect", dor, a revolution," "a period" is translated "age" Isaiah 38:12, "Mine age is departed and removed from me as a shepherd's tent," the American Standard Revised Version, "My dwelling is removed, and is carried away from me as a shepherd's tent," the English Revised Version, "mine age," margin, "or habitation"; Delitzsch, "my home"; compare Psalm 49:19, 20; 2 Corinthians 5:8. In New Testament we have etos, "year" (Mark 5:42), the Revised Version British and American, "old"; Luke 2:37; Luke 3:23, "Jesus. about 30 years of age". "Old age," "aged," are the translation of various words, zaqen zaqan, "the chin," "the beard", perhaps to have the chin sharp or hanging down, often translated "elders," "old man," etc. 2 Samuel 19:32, Job 12:20, 32:9, Jeremiah 6:11.

In New Testament we have presbutes, "aged," "advanced in days" (Titus 2:2 Philemon 1:9); presbutis, "aged woman" (Titus 2:3); probebekos en hemerais, advanced in days" (Luke 2:36); geras, "old age" (Luke 1:36).

Revised Version has "old" for "the age of" (1 Chronicles 23:3), "own age" for "sort" (Daniel 1:10); "aged" for "ancients" (Psalm 119:100), for "ancient" (Isaiah 47:6); for "old" (Hebrews 8:13); "aged men" for "the ancients" (Job 12:12); for "aged" (Job 12:20), "elders."

Regard for Old Age:

(1) Among the Hebrews (and Orientals generally) old age was held in honor, and respect was required for the aged (Leviticus 19:32), "Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honor the face of the old man"; a mark of the low estate of the nation was that "The faces of elders were not honored"; "The elders have ceased from the gate" (Lamentations 5:12, 14). Compare Job 29:8 (as showing the exceptionally high regard for Job). See also The Wisdom of Solomon 2:10; Ecclesiasticus 8:6.

(2) Old age was greatly desired and its attainment regarded as a Divine blessing (Genesis 15:15 Exodus 20:12, "that thy days may be long in the land"; Job 5:26 Psalm 91:16, "With long life will I satisfy him"; Psalm 92:14; compare Isaiah 65:20 Zechariah 8:4 1 Samuel 2:32).

(3) A Divine assurance is given, "Even to old age I am he, and even to hoar hairs will I carry you" (Isaiah 46:4); hence it was looked forward to in faith and hope (Psalm 71:9, 18).

(4) Superior wisdom was believed to belong to the aged (Job 12:20; Job 15:10; Job 32:7, 9; compare 1 Kings 12:8); hence positions of guidance and authority were given to them, as the terms "elders," "presbyters" and (Arabic) "sheik" indicate.

W. L. Walker

APOSTOLIC AGE

ap-os-tol'-ik aj.

1. The Mission:

(1) When the disciples realized that they had seen the risen Christ for the last time and that it had now become their duty to spread His message, they gathered themselves together and restored the number of "witnesses" to the appointed Twelve. Immediately afterward the outpouring of the Holy Spirit gave them the signal to begin work. At first this work was rigidly centered in Jerusalem, and the first journeyings were the result of forcible dispersion and not of planned effort (Acts 11:19). But pilgrims to the feasts had carried away the gospel with them, and in this way Christianity had been spread at least as far as Damascus (Acts 9:2, 19). The dispersion itself widened the circle to Cyprus and to Antioch and marked the beginning of the Gentilework (Acts 11:19-20). Here the extreme prominence of Paul's ministry in the New Testament should not obscure the success of the other missionaries.

When the apostles began their journeys we do not know but at the time of Galatians 1:19 only Peter represented the Twelve in Jerusalem. Paul mentions their extended work in 1 Corinthians 9:5, 6 and it seems certain that Peter was in Rome shortly before his death. The troubles caused Paul by the Judaizers at least give evidence of the missionary zeal of the latter. Barnabas and Mark worked after their separation from Paul (Acts 15:39) and GentileChristianity existed in Rome long before the latter's arrival there (Romans 1:13). By the year 100 it appears that Christianity extended around the Mediterranean from Alexandria to Rome (and doubtless farther, although data are scanty), while Asia Minor was especially pervaded by it.

(2) Many factors cooperated to help the work: Peace was universal and communication was easy. Greek was spoken everywhere. The protection given Judaism sheltered from civil interference. The presence of Judaism insured hospitality and hearers for at least the first efforts to convert. The Jews' own proselytizing zeal (Matthew 23:15) had prepared Gentiles to receive Christianity. And not the least element was the break-up of the old religions and the general looking to the East for religious satisfaction.

(3) For the methods, Paul's procedure is probably typical. Avoiding the smaller places, he devoted himself to the cities as the strategic points and traveled in a direct route, without side-journeys. In this way a "line of fire" (Harnack) was traced, and the flame could be trusted to spread of its own accord to each side of the road. So as fruits of Paul's work at Ephesus there appear churches at Colosse and Laodicea some hundred and twenty miles away (Colossians 2:1; Colossians 4:16). The churches founded needed revisiting and confirming, but when the apostle felt that they could shift for themselves, he felt also that his work in the East was over (Romans 15:23).

2. Jerusalem Church:

The members of the earliest Jerusalem church thought of themselves simply as Jews who had a true understanding of the Messiah and so constituting a new "way" or "party" (hardly "sect") in Judaism (Acts 22:4, especially). At first they were suffered to grow unmolested and their right to exist was apparently unquestioned, for the Sadducean actions of Acts 4:1; Acts 5:17 were in the nature of police precautions. And it is significant that the first attack was made on a foreigner, Stephen. He seems to have angered the crowds by preaching the impending destruction of the Temple, although he was martyred for ascribing (practically) Divine honors to Jesus (Acts 7:56). Yet the apostles were not driven from the city (Acts 8:1) and the church was able to continue its development. In 41 A.D., the Roman representatives gave way to the Pharisaically inclined Agrippa I and (for reasons that are not clear) persecution broke out in which James was martyred and Peter delivered only by a miracle (Acts 12). With the resumption of Roman rule in 44 A.D. the persecution ceased.

Some peaceable mode of living was devised, as appears from the absence of further allusions to troubles (compare Acts 21:17-26) and from the accounts of Josephus and Hegesippus of the esteem in which James the Lord's brother was held. His martyrdom (in 62 A.D.?) was due to the tension that preceded the final revolt against Rome, in which the Christians of Jerusalem took no part. Instead, they retired across the Jordan to Pella (Revelation 12:13-17), where they formed a close, intensely Jewish body under the rule of the descendants of Christ's brethren according to the flesh. Some mission work was done farther to the east but in the 2nd century they either were absorbed in normal Christianity or became one of the factors that produced Ebionism.

3. Judaists:

Many members of this body (and, doubtless, other Jewish Christians outside it) showed various degrees of inability to understand the Gentile work. The acceptance of an uncircumcised Christian as "saved" offered fairly slight difficulty (Galatians 2:3 Acts 15). But to eat with him was another thing and one that was an offense to many who accepted his salvation (Galatians 2:12, 13). The rigorous conclusion that the Law bound no Christian was still another thing and one that even James could not accept (Acts 21:21). At the time of Galatians 2:9, the "pillars" were as yet not thinking of doing Gentilework. Paul's controversies are familiar and probably the last friction did not end until the fall of Jerusalem. But the difficulties grew gradually less and 1 Peter is evidence that Peter himself finally accepted the full status of Gentiles.

4. Relations with Rome:

From the Roman power Christianity was safe at first, as the distinctions from Judaism were thought too slight to notice (Acts 18:14-16; Acts 25:19). (Troubles such as those of Acts 17:9 were due to disturbance of the peace.) So the government was thought of as a protector (2 Thessalonians 2:7) and spoken of in the highest terms (Romans 13:1 1 Peter 2:13, 14). But, while absolute isolation was not observed (1 Corinthians 10:27), yet the Christians tended more and more to draw themselves into bodies with little contact with the world around them (1 Peter 4:3-5), so provoking suspicion and hostility from their neighbors. Hence they were a convenient scapegoat for Nero after the burning of Rome. It is uncertain how far his persecution spread or how far persecutions occurred from his time until the end of the reign of Domitian (see PETER, THE FIRST EPISTLE OF), but in Revelation, Rome has become the symbol for all that is hostile to Christ.

5. "Hellenism":

Influence of the "pagan" religions on Christianity is not very perceptible in the 1st century. But syncretism was the fashion of the day and many converts must have attempted to combine the new religion with views that they held already (or that they learned still later). Apparently little attention was paid to this attempt, if restricted to entirely minor details (1 Corinthians 15:29), but in Colossians 2:8-23 a vital matter is touched. The danger is more acute in the Pastorals (1 Timothy 1:4; 1 Timothy 4:3 Titus 3:9) and in Revelation 2 great harm is being done. And Jude, 2 Peter, and 1 John contain direct polemics against the systems so arising, the beginnings of what in the 2nd century appeared as Gnosticism.

For further details see the separate articles, especially MINISTRY; NEW TESTAMENT CANON; and (for life in the Apostolic Age) SPIRITUAL GIFTS.

LITERATURE.

Seethe separate articles. Works with the title Apostolic Age are by Gilbert (brief), Bartlet (useful), Purves (very conservative), Ropes, McGiffert, and Weizsacker. The last three are for critical study.

Burton Scott Easton