CHAPTER XI.

MONOTHEISTIC RELIGIONS.

Judaism, Magianism, and Mohammedism.

WITHOUT the pale of Christianity, we find three religious professions intermediate between the Christian faith and the grosser creeds of Polytheism, as agreeing in the recognition of one Supreme Being, and bearing some relation to the True Revelation. These are, Modern Judaism; Magianism, or the ancient religion of Zoroaster, as still held by the Persian Guebres and Indian Parsees; and Mohammedism, or the religion of the Koran. The present chapter will comprise a brief analysis and comparison of these three monotheistic systems.

SECTION I.

JUDAISM.

Christianity, considered as the religion of the Bible, is but the development of primitive Judaism, and includes in it the entire faith of the ancient Hebrews. But modern Judaism unites the character of infidelity, as regards the faith of Christ and the doctrines of the Gospel, with that of a gross superstition, resting upon the authority of traditional dogmas and Rabbinical comments, which have been superinduced upon the ancient Jewish code.

The system of the Rabbinists rests upon the ancient Targumim, or Commentaries upon the Hebrew Scriptures ;*

Of the eight Targums now extant, the chief are, the Targum or Chaldee paraphrase of Onkelos, upon the Law of Moses, and that of Jonathan Ben Uzziel upon the Prophets; both regarded by the modern Jews as of authority nearly

the Mishna, or Traditional Oral Law; with the Gemaras, or Annotations, which, with the Mishna, form the Talmud;* and the Cabbala, which consists of a body of metaphysical speculations, mystical interpretations of Scripture, and magical charms, exhibiting the ne plus ultra of Rabbinical dotage and superstitious absurdity. Differences of opinion, however, exist among the Jews, with respect to these repositories of recondite lore; but almost all the Rabbies for the last five centuries have given their sanction to the Confession of Faith drawn up for them, in the twelfth century, by Rabbi Moses Ben Maimon (or Maimonides), the most judicious of their learned men. It has been publicly adopted as the authorized creed of the Synagogue, and has been inserted in the prayer-books, as a formula which all Jews are required to repeat daily. It consists of the following thirteen articles :

I. I believe with a true and perfect faith, that God is the Creator, (whose name be blessed,) Governor, and Maker of all creatures; and that he hath made, maketh, and shall make, all things for ever.

II. That the Creator (whose name be blessed) is One; and that such a unity as is in Him can be found in none other; and that He alone hath been our God, is, and for ever shall be.

III. That the Creator (whose name be blessed) is not corporeal, not to be comprehended with any bodily properties; and that there is no bodily essence that can be likened unto Him.

IV. That the Creator (whose name be blessed) is the first and the last; that nothing was before Him, and that He shall abide the last for ever.

equal to the Mosaic text. The other six are, that on the Pentateuch, falsely ascribed to Jonathan; the Jerusalem Targum on the Pentateuch, (imperfect, of late date, and in little esteem;) that of Joseph the Blind on the Psalms, the Proverbs, and Job; and three, by unknown authors, on other books of the Prophets and Hagiographa.

• From there being two Gemaras, there are two Talmuds; the one consisting of the Mishna and Babylonian Gemara, which is in the highest esteem among the Jews, and extends in some editions to twelve or thirteen volumes, folio; the other, the Mishna and Jerusalem Gemara, which is more ancient, and contains fewer absurdities. The Mishna itself, compiled at the beginning of the third century, is held equally sacred with the Scriptural law, which is expounded and limited by the Oral.

V. That the Creator (whose name be blessed) is to be worshipped, and none else,

VI. That all the words of the Prophets are true.

VII. That the prophecies of Moses our Master (may he rest in peace!) are true; that he was the father and chief of all wise men that lived before him, or ever shall live after him.

VIII. That all the law which at this day is found in our hands,* was delivered by God himself to our Master, Moses; God's peace be with him!

IX. That the same law is never to be changed, nor any other to be given us of God, whose name be blessed.

X. That God (whose name be blessed) understandeth all the works and thoughts of men: as it is written in the Prophets; "He fashioneth their hearts alike; he understandeth all their works."

XI. That God will recompense good to them that keep his commandments, and will punish them that transgress them.

XII. That the Messiah is yet to come; and although he retard his coming, yet I will always expect him till he

come.

XIII. That the dead shall be restored to life, when it shall seem fit to God the Creator, whose name be blessed and remembrance celebrated, world without end, Amen.

Of these articles, (of which every Jew is required to profess his belief on pain of excision from the communion of Israel in this world, and condemnation with the wicked in the world to come,) the first five, the tenth, and the eleventh, which assert a belief in One God, the Creator and Governor of all things, Eternal, Incorporeal, the Only object of worship, omniscient, who will award to every man according to his works,—are in entire harmony with the Christian faith; as are also the sixth and the thirteenth, relating to the truth of the prophetical writings, and the restoration to life of the dead. The four articles peculiar to modern Judaism, and anti-Christian, are, the seventh, eighth, and ninth, which assert the ultimate

This is intended to include the Traditional, as well as the Written Law; it being contended, that the explication of the law of Moses, which they hold by tradition, came all from the mouth of God to Moses.

authority and supremacy of Moses,* the divine origin of the Traditional Law, and the perpetuity of the Law itself; ‡ and the twelfth, which denies, by implication, that Jesus Christ was the Messiah.§ Not one of these articles is supported by the Inspired Scriptures of the Old Testament. The expectations of a future national restoration cherished by the Jews, correspond to the views of the Millenarians.

In regard to the terms of acceptance with God, the Rabbinical doctrine is, that, as to the Jew, a perfect conformity to the law of Moses will ensure his salvation; and that, for every violation of the Divine precepts, whereby eternal life should seem to have been forfeited, no other atonement or expiation either is or ever was required by the Almighty, than sincere repentance. Repentance," says Maimonides, " expiates all transgressions." ||

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The precepts of the Jewish religion are divided into 248 affirmative, and 365 negative; together, 613. The latter are deemed obligatory on every Jew at all times. Of the former, the observance of some is optional; some are restricted to certain seasons and certain offices; and others can be performed only within the limits of Palestine. These precepts are deemed binding only on Jews, the Sinaitic covenant being confined to their nation. But men of other nations, it is generally admitted, may be saved, provided they observe as divine commands the Seven Precepts affirmed to have been given to the sons of Noah: viz. 1. Not to commit idolatry. 2. Not to blaspheme the name of God. 3. To maintain justice to all persons. 4. Not to commit incest or adultery. 5. Not to kill or hurt our neighbour. 6. Not to rob, steal, or deceive. 7. Not to eat flesh with the blood thereof.¶

Contrary to Deut. xviii. 15, as urged by St. Stephen, Acts vii. 37. This notion is specifically combated in the Epistle to the Hebrews, ch. iii. 3—6. + Contrary to Our Lord's declaration, Matt. xv. 3—9.

Contrary to the reasoning of the Apostle, Heb. vii. 11-28.

§ That Messiah is yet to come, "a second time," is an article of Christian belief. See Heb. ix. 28; x. 37.

The Jewish notion of the law, and of the meritorious efficacy of observing it, as deduced from their most approved doctors, is fully expounded by the learned John Smith, Discourses, pp. 312–335.

¶The first, fourth, and seventh correspond to the directions, Acts xv. 29.

The Jews still circumcise all their male children on the eighth day, and redeem their first-born, except those supposed to be descendants of Aaron. All the males are reckoned to enter the state of manhood, and to become their own masters in all things civil and religious, at the age of thirteen years and one day, when they are declared "Sons of the Precept," as being thenceforward obliged to observe the precepts of the law. The observance of the sabbaths, festivals, and fasts, is still rigidly maintained. The festival of the Passover is kept, but not the sacrifice: instead of the Paschal Lamb, they have the roasted shank-bone of a shoulder of lamb or kid, and eat a piece of unleavened bread in remembrance thereof. The ninth day of Ab is kept with great strictness, as the anniversary of the destruction of the Second Temple.

The Jewish liturgical service used in the synagogue worship, is affirmed to be of high antiquity. The most solemn and indispensable part of it consists of the Shemoneh Esrah, or the Eighteen Prayers. The Kiriath Shema, or reading of the Shema, (the three portions of Scripture read in the daily service are so called as beginning with that word,) is also considered as an important part of their religious worship, being a declaration of the Unity of God, and of the duty to love and adore him. This must be repeated twice a day, and is generally attempted to be recited by a Jew, as a confession of faith, in his last moments. When in the article of death, those around him will repeat the first verse, and "Jehovah is God," till he expires, that he may be said to die in the faith. Public prayer requires that at least ten men be present. They generally sit, their heads covered, except during the recitation of the Eighteen Prayers and some others, when they stand with their faces towards the land of Canaan, and their feet close together. Those who have not time to go to the synagogue, must say their prayers at home thrice a day; i. e. morning, afternoon, and night. The Jews pray for the

"Answering in some measure," says the Rev. R. Adam, "to our Confirmation." And at the circumcision, there is required "a god-father."

There are three liturgies, those of the German, the Portuguese, and the Italian Jews, but all in Hebrew.