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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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to bt Historians and Apologists of * 'Christianity r ; ' ySS
Untitled Article
< J . 8 , ' 5 . This Is the doctrine of a future state , as maintained by Pythagoras and the Stoics , which the Jews borrowed from the Pagans . The souls of the deceased remain for a time disembodied 4 they are then permitted to unite with other bodies , and they pass from aae to the othe * periodically , through endless ages . Now , reader , see the argument drawn to a few points . The Judaism 6 f the iVewTest ^ waent consis ts o piety aud morality , in contradistinction to the rites or works of the law . The
Judaism of Josephus is the same . The Judaism of the New Testament contains a powerful evidence of a future state ; the Judaism of Josephus comprehends the same animating doctrine . The Judaism of the New Testament
biings to light Moses and tlie prophets as preachers of a future state $ the Judaism of Josephus places the JewisU legislator in the same light , while , according to ritual Judaism , lie is silent on the subject . The Judaism of
the New Testament was propagated over the world by the apostles y and Josephus informs us , that in his days there was not a city among the Greeks , nbx a nation aifcong the Barbarians , wJiere the Judaism of which he speaks
was not made known and received by many . The Judaism of the New Testament was embraced and clung to with eager fondness by the Gentile converts $ and Josephus assures us that if the Jews were not sensible of
the superior value of their religion , they would be surpassed by multitudes , who embraced it among the nations . Finally , the Judaism of the New Testament makes the renewal of
beir ^ g , ami not the immortality of the soul , the only solid foundation of a future state ; the same foundation is assigned it by the Judaism of Josephus . The conclusion then is inevitable : the Judaism of the New
Testament and the Judaism of Josephus are one and the same ; or , in other words , Josephus , in his books against Apion , is the historian and apologist of the gospel . In spite of Mr . Fellows , who derided rne as an CEdiptis ; in spite of the Reviewer of Ben David ,
who would raise against me the cry of singularity ; in spite of the Cambridge correspondent , who represents me a second Will Whiston ; in spite of any other who may , if he pleases , call me
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WilUwith-the-wisp , ail ignis fatuus ., that bewitches and leads m&n itito bogs and ditches ; in ^ spite of these , this glorious truth will burst forth as the sun from behind > thick cloud ; and the future defenders of the gospel will have to claim the illustrious historian pf the Jews as one of its first champions , combating in the same field with the apostles under the banners of Christ .
In the last chapter of iny Ecclesiastical R&search . es I gave a short view of this proud and triumphant production of learning and genius , a paragraph of which , p . 536 , shall conclude this paper : " ¦ In the number of those
who wrote against the Jews and the Gospel was Apion , a Scribe of Alex * aridria , and a maa of wit knd learnings ) et profligate , malicious , ahd eager to oppose the truth by violence and falsehood . In his book he detailed the
common calumnies against the Jews , and blended them with so much scurrility and fiction , that he would have been unworthy of notice , if his wit and buffoonery had not left en many an unfavourable impression . Under the auspices of Epaphroditus , the illustrious friend of the Apostle Paul , Josephus undertook the defence of the Jews
and their jreligion against this grammarian ; and he gave to the world a work which has never been equalled for the solidity of his conclusions or the profundity and extent of his researches . In his former compositions
Josephus shews himself only a plain , ingenious commentator , or an artless but able historian ; in his work against Apion he rises on his readers , and displays in a high degree the united
powers of learning , argument and oratory . Though confined till a late period to the language and philosophy of the Hebrews , he soon acquired a wonderful acquaintance with the dialect and literature of Greece . His
powerful mind , in a short period , seems to have grasped the whole extent of the Phoenician , Chaldean , Egyptian and Grecian records ; and > with the authority of these records ,, overwhelmed all the enemies of the
Jews and of the gospel 5 thus repelling them on their own grounds , and sweeping avyay their falsehoods as with the force of a torrent . " J . JONES . ^^ t ^ - ^^ IMMj ^^^^^
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Dec. 2, 1824, page 725, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2531/page/21/
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