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3§S Essay on the Evidences of 'the Jewis...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Essay On The Evidences Of The Jewish Hev...
bedience te Gpd , and which have been strictly verified by the event . Nothing has been more common with objectors than to allege against the Jewish scriptures the
faults and crimes of eminent personages under the old dispensation . With great faults many of them weTe chargeable ; some with glaring vices . But we should recollect that these parts of their
conduct are not withdrawn or shaded from otir view : they are left on record either by ^ the individuals themselves , or by those who , generally , were attached to their characters and memories .
And shall this impartiality pass for nothing ? Is it nothing that vie . are distinctly informed of the unreasonable anger and discontent of Moses , of the complicated guilt of David , and of the follies and idolatries of Solomon in the
decline of life ? To a candid reasoner this information carries a presumption that writers who will not conceal what national vanity or other passions might have tempted them to conceal , are worthy of being credited in whatever they relate . Add io which that the
simplicity and artlessness of their style , the number of circumstances they describe , and of the dates and places they mention ^ all obviate the suspiciah of their -de . signing a fraud , or feeing under the influence of delusion .
Whoever compares the book of Denttronomy with Exodus , Leviticus & tk & Numbers- *—>—the recapitulation of the law and history of the Israelites ill their passage through the wiWetness i with the original narrative and st & tement—v / Wl
discern many fcigns of truth and nature in unintended coincidences . I am much mistaken indeed
Essay On The Evidences Of The Jewish Hev...
if he will not have ground to be «* lieve that the authoravas an eyewitness of the facts he represents , that he bore a distinguished part in them , and that he is no other
than the lawgiver himself ; that Moses through whose agency * we maintain , God communicated bis acts unto the children of Israel . The character and object of the Jewish religion are of principal importance in "tire argument . If
that Hiligion consisted partly in ritual observances essential to a people , who , living in a very early age , would be chiefly affected by what they saw , it also consisted mainly in the cultivation of devout and moral habits , without \ vhich their strictest obedience
to ceremonial duties was pronounced unavailing and profane * Tins fact , overlooked by writers of a , certain description , is so powerful that it will support the fabric ^ of Judaism . When the other nations
of the world vvefif sunk in the most barbarous ®^ 4 | licentious idolatry ; when , ^ notwithstanding their superiority in literary attainments , they were degra $ fcd , as to religious faith and worship ,
below the level of humanity , the Jews , a people whom they despised and enslaved ) acknowledged one pure and spiritual Being as the Mak er * Lord aj $ pd Benefactor of the universe , an # presented Of
homage to him a ^ ojtb . this great Being their writings Abound with the sublimest , the most striking and most rational sentiments : and numerous passages in their prophets evince tjjat their religious institutions were eminently
auspicious to good mbralavj Whetace such senU * w ^ nt » of re * ligion at such ^ period and atfipng such a people ? Let 'those who
3§S Essay On The Evidences Of 'The Jewis...
3 § S Essay on the Evidences of ' the Jewish Revelation
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), June 2, 1814, page 328, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/mrp_02061814/page/8/
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