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f orm . A sttlall w&tk of this kind w&b much waftted , and w& tfove no hesitation itt recommending ; Mf * . MoOffe * s •* Inquiry , " as a Judicious and satisfactory argument for common or joint
prayer . The " Inquiry" consists of tfrree chapters . In the first , the author alleges ** Arguments from Reason in favour of Social Worship . " Of its reasonableness he thittks " the
universal practice of Christians" a pre * sumption , and for its utility he appeals to experience . The second Chapter is a discussion of " the
Degree of Encouragement given to Social Prayer by the Scriptures of the Old Testament . " Here , the practice of the Jews is fully inquired into , and the author expresses the result of the inquiry in the following' terms :
€€ From the instances which have been selected , then , it is perfectly manifest that the Israelites were always accustomed to public social worship , consisting of both prayer and praise ; and it is observable that of these instances some consist of thanksgiving and adoration ; some of confession of sin ; others of petition ; and in others all these are united . Should it
be said that part of them took place on extraordinary occasions , and are therefore no proofs of the common practice of the Jews , it is obvious to reply that they are such instances only of which the historian would take any notice ; the- usual and every-day services of religion would *
of course , be passed over in siience , just as days of public thanksgiving , or any solemn act of national worship on some singular occasion , might be mentioned by historians of the present day , whilst the regular worship of the Sunday would not form a subject sufficiently remarkable to be adverted to . The whole of these
instances , howerer , together with the Psalins composed expressly for the Temple service , and the officers appointed to conduct it , prove incoutestabty that social worship was the constant and stated practice of the Jews , and that it was always connected with the observance of the Mosaic rites .
" It is dr ' remarkable circumstance , that in the first edition of Mr . Wakefteld ' s pamphlet against public worship , which at the time excited considerable attention , he says expressly , ' I find no circura * stances in the Scriptures , concerning this people , the Hebrews , that wear any as pedt of public worship , as vre coKfrfuct it : * but inf his second edition he abandoned && $ topic oi argument , in consequence < tf
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the ^^ lfif ^ ctory answer * to it , * and allows himself to have been mistaken . Headtis ^ however , that the Jewish public worship Is nothing to the purpose ; + hi which he tippcai ^ tto tta to h&vfebeen equally fnisfa - fceri : and * among other reasons , befcatise , in the first place , this part of the religious
services of the Jews appears to have been sanctioned by the personal attendance of Christ and his apostles ; and , secondly , the universal prevalence of social prayer and praise anlortg this people , accoants satisfactorily for no command occurring in the New Testament for the observance
of this custom . To this it may b £ added * that social prayer is a duty altogether independent of the Mosaic institutes ; but by its connexion with them it may he considered as receiving an additional divine sanction . "—^ Pp . 42—44 .
The author next describes from Vitringa , Buxtorf , Lightfoot and others , " the religious services of the Temple iu the time of Christ , " and , after stating a variety of particulars , thus concludes this part of the " Inquiry : ''
" From the whole of this account , then , it is evident that the entire service of the Temple was not only public , but as social as possible . It was the service of the whole people , conducted by officers appointed for this purpose .
" The mode of prayer , it is true , was probably different from that in use among Christians . There is no proof that they had any minister to conduct this part of the services , and Prideaux says , that every one repeated what prayers he thought proper according to his own conceptions , referring to the instance of the Pharisee and Publican , as mentioned by
Christ . J t It aoDears . however , from Lrfcht-Christ . It appears , however , from Lightfoot ' s and other accounts of these services , on the best authority , that they had forms , and of these several have been given . The comment moreover upon the Talmud says expressly , § that the . se were the prayers of the people ; and Mainionides I ! observes that their prayers were
? " From the able pens of Mrs . Bat bauld , Dr . Disney , Mr . Shnspto , ( Simp $ on >) and Mr . Pope . " t " See Pope ' s Answer to Wakeneld . ' t " Luke xviii . 10 , &c . " $ ' * Tenhtp . Serv . ch . rx . sect . vi . '
K " Mainuurides , who"lived about the end of the eleventh century of the Christian aera , was the most learned and leas ^ superstitions of the Jevrisfe writers . 4 He was tifre Jewish <* radef , ' says Lewis , € an tfotfHoiy afr Cttrteufr dbservts , above
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500 IUvtett > r ~* M *> frrt > on Soekil Worship
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 2, 1822, page 560, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2516/page/40/
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