On this page
-
Text (1)
-
Untitled Article
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.
-
-
Transcript
-
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.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Untitled Article
o $ fire , - and the ascent of it 9 savoury elements in the smoke , might designate God ' s acceptance of the gift . Judge , therefore , of the reasonableness of the following passage from the discourse before- ^ mentioned ( by Dr . Pye Smith , p . 6 ) :
" The worship by sacrifices" ( says he ) " has been alleged to be of the nature of a present by way of homage to the Supreme Being . On this supposition , must not the bloodless , innocent , and more natural offering of
Cain , the fruits of the earth , be deemed more rational in itself , and more likely to be agreeable to the Deity than that of Abel , which appears re ~ volting to the feelings of humanity ,
an useless waste of animal life , and as an act of worship manifestly absurd I But passing by the grossness of the invention , what conceptions must they form of the blessed God , who imagine that with such services he could be
gratified ?" How sacrifices can be denied to be of the nature of a present , when the very name in Hebrew and in the language of every nation by whom they have ever been practised , and every
just definition of them implies it , is surprising . And , then , as to Cain ' s offering being apparently more natural and rational than that of Abel , which is here described as apparently inhuman , useless and absurb , what can be
meant by such extravagant expressions ? Is it possible that one who is in the habitual practice of tasting animal food can find any thing so shocking and abhorrent from his nature , in viewing that waste of life which he considers as innocent when incurred
for tUe gratification of his appetite , practised as an act of grateful and solemn homage to the Almighty BeT stpwer ? If Dr . Smith were to visit a slaughter-house , we doubt not but his tender sensibilities would be greatly shocked ; but frora these feelings does it follow tha-t tke use of anUual food
* s criminal ? He will not say so . To judge- of Ab ^ L ' s feeling 3 in &u&h ai * occurrence , ha should for a . n ^ omen ^ Uivest himself of the mild an ( J gently tone of feeling cheri ^ h ^ by the iin ^
mun ities of a learned profession in the civilized walks of life , an 4 stolid asT t >\ u » e the BenluneiUfe of a ^ bepl ^ erd awl keeper of cattle \ n , foe ^^ xiple ^ t age of $ he w ^ rld .
Untitled Article
To return : when gifts were thus made the method of approach to the Almighty , and the consumption of these gifts the act by which they were presented , it followed that sacrifices came to be considered as essential to the solemn worship of God ; and were practised , whatever was the occasion on which men felt themselves called
upon to address God in a solemn and express manner . For whatever was the occasion , the object desired wa 3 the favour of God , to which they knew no surer way , than by the performance of such an act as should substantially prove their gratitude , reverence and devout regard .
Such was the ceremony introduced as part of the ritual worship amongst the Jews : and if its general nature and design was at all modified by being adopted into the Mosaic institutions , it was in the following respects :
First , it was the principal ageftt ia promoting and keeping up that separation of the Jews from every other people , which was so important a part of the Jewish economy . Nothing can so much separate nations from each other as a difference in religious
institutions . And this object seemed capable of being sufficiently gained by merely reverting to those purer forms of worship which had gradually been forsaken by the world at large . Some nations were sunk into such ignorance as to worship the animals which had been used in ancient sacrifices , and to
think the slaughter of them the greatest crimes . This was the case with the Egyptians ; which is the reason of the saying of Moses , Exodus viii . 26 , in reply to Pharaoh's declaration , that they should be allowed to perform their sacrifices in Egypt , " It is not meet to da so , for we shall sacrifice
the abominations of the Egyptians to the Lord our God . " And , perhaps , it is in reference to some Egyptian prejudices amongst the Israelites oa this subject , that Moses says in the beginning of Leviticus , * ' If any man of you bring an offering ujito the Lord , ye shall bring your offering of the cattle , even of the herd , and of
the flock / " de bubis et balantibus . See a passage from Moses Egypticus , in Outxam , lib . i . cap . ix . § 4 . And it was partly in pursuance of the 8 jam £ object that ijl the utensjjs i ^ ade usfe of in Jewish worship wsjfe , ' ** sepq ^
Untitled Article
374 An Essay mi the Nature and Design qf Sacrifices under the Mosaic La % c
-
-
Citation
-
Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1823, page 374, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1786/page/6/
-