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longer necessary or practicable , and to them the gospel appeared in its aspect t > f universality , ana Christ as a saviour rather than a king . They saw that the office of this new lawgiver consisted in the introduction and support of a better system of religion than theirs ; a system incompatible with their own ; a system designed to supplant their own . All union between the believing
and unbelieving Jews was therefore impossible . There could be no halting between two opinions . The advocates of the two systems , the obstinate adherents of the one , and the obedient disciples of the other , were placed in direct opposition , and Jesus spoke truly when he said , " He that is not with roe is against me , and he that gathereth not with me , scattereth abroad . "
The systems are indeed as incompatible in their nature as unfitted by their form for a contemporaneous existence ; and it is no more possible for a man to adhere to both than for a pupil to attach himself to an elementary book while extending the application of the science it teaches to new objects . The Jewish law related to external obedience ; the Christian extended to the discipline of the heait . Infractions of the old law subjected the offender to death ; but as no individual could have escaped the penalty by merit , a
commutation of punishment was ordained , and sacrifices were accepted as an atonement . Infractions of the Christian law , which is spiritual in its nature and operation , can obtain pardon only by a spiritual act ; and it was for the purpose of pointing out this distinction that the forerunner of the Christ preached repentance to the Jews . Temporal rewards and punishments , near or remote , were the highest objects of hope and fear which Judaism could present . Christianity not only revealed sublimer subjects © t desire , but shewed that lower objects might be regarded with feelings the
very reverse of those which had hitherto been connected with them . It displayed the truth , that temporal happiness may issue in evil , that the afflictions of life may prove to be blessings , and that they would no longer bear a strict proportion to the obedience either of a nation or of individuals ; that , in short , they were abolished as sanctions . As it has been beautifully said , " Prosperity was the promise of the Old covenant , adversity of the New- " The distinguishing character , of Judaism was its exclusiveness ; of Christianity , its universality . The one appealed to feelings peculiar to the descend ants of One man ; the other , to desires common to the race . The one was
based on facts interesting to those only whose experience bore a reference to such facts : the other was founded on principles congenial to all hearts , in all regions , through all time . The two systems were irreconcileable ; they were opposite in all respects ; and yet such an analogy was preserved in their modes of operation , so evident was their tendency to the saine point , that there was no room for doubt
that their origin was identical . Both were the productions of the same wisdom , and their operation was conducted by the same benevolence . If this had been clearly perceived by all concerned , at the time of the introduction of the new dispensation , all would have been well ; but some insulted the Divine wisdom by endeavouring to hold the two systems in union , while others rejected the gifts of Divine benevolence , and chose to exclude themselves from the Messiah's kingdom .
Since , to believers , the Christ could not long appear in his particular character of king , and by unbelievers that character could not be admitted , it becomes interesting to inquire at what period the particular merged in the general office ; to ascertain what authority was claimed under the title ot King , and when that title was relinquished in favour of others more correctly expressive of the spiritual nature of his supremacy .
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456 The Education of the Human Race .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1830, page 456, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2586/page/24/
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