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incense , that he should offer it up with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar , which was before the throne ; and the smoke of the inceuse , which came with the prayers of the saints , ascended up before God out of the angel ' s hands /
&c * However inconsistent it may be with the more rational and enlightened devotion required by the Christian religion , it is clear that this practice gave a unity to the public prayers of the Temple , and rendered the whole perfectly social . " —Pp . 56—60 .
The remainder of this Chapter is devoted to " the religious worship of the synagogue , " concerning which the author has collected much curious and interesting matter , tending to shew
that the worship of the synagogue was social , and , in fact , the model of that which was adopted b y the Christian Church . We give his view of the subject in his own words :
" So perfectly social , then , was the mode of worship which Christ and his apostles sanctioned by their regular attendance upon it . It has been observed , it is true , that we read of Christ teaching , and reading the Scriptures and
expounding them in the synagogues , but never of his praying there . The reason of this , however , is extremely obvious . The prayers were the stated part of the synagogue services , in which all who attended regularly joined ; it is therefore evident that no notice whatever would be taken
of our Liord ' s jommg in them , for this was a matter of course ; and when it is said that his custom was t <* attend the synagogue 011 the Sabbath , this expression will always be understood by those who have , any respect for the common usage of language , as implying that he
joined in the prayers like all the rest who were present . But the case is different with reading the Scriptures and expounding them ; for none were permitted to do this , but those who were called out from the assembly for this purpose by the minister .
" In his own city Nazareth , as a member of the synagogue in that place , he was selected as the reader of the lesson for the day , and took occasion , as was usual , to comment upon it . This , therefore , especially as the passage was extremely remarkable , having reference to
himself as the Messiah , it was very natural and proper for the historian to notice . But this rery circumstance of his being selected as the reader , proves that he was present at the prayers . In all other places , when he taught the people , it was according to the custom , after the
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reading of the law and the prophets was concluded . * And thus did St . Paul at Antioch ; which also being remarkable especially with respect to ? the subject of his teaching , it was proper for tbe historian to mention . If a stranger happened
to preach at any of our places of worship in the present day , those who heard him would naturally mention this circumstance to their friends , particularly if there were any thing singular either in his manner or his subject . But who would think of observing that he was present at the prayers , and joined in
them with the others ? His being there to preach implied this . No person , therefore , who pays any attention to the mean - ing which general custom has assigned to these expressions , can doubt that when it is said , it was the custom of Christ and his apostles to attend the synagogue on the Sabbath-day , this implies , that
they constantly joined in the usual services of these places ; and we see at once , that so universal and so long established was the practice of social prayer in the habits of their countrymen , that it would never occur to them to give a particular command to enforce the
observance of it , as if it were something new , or generally neglected . "—Pp . 83—85 . The last Chapter relates to " the Social Worship of Christians . " Under this head , the author adduces the " Passages in the New Testament in
favour of Social Prayer /* first examining- those that have been quoted against the practice . Amongst these latter , is Matt . vi . 5 and 6 , his explanation of which is worthy of being given at length , together with his introductory remarks :
" Will it then still be urged , that our Lord not only discouraged this practice , but absolutely commanded his followers to abstain from the observance of it ? Had he meant to do this , and had he disapproved of social prayer as highly as its opponents in the present day wish to
have it believed , what was his duty relative to this subject ? As this practice had been so long and so universally established in the habits of his countrymen , instead of giving it encouragement by a regular
attendance upon it in their synagogues , had he intended to set it aside , whilst his prohibition of it was the most clear and unequivocal , would he not have embraced every opportunity that occurred of warning his hearers of its pernicious
? " See Prideaux ' sConn . Part . I . Book vi . p . 380 . "
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562 Review . —Moore on Social JVorghtp . * ,
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 2, 1822, page 562, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2516/page/42/
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