both as to form and, broadly speaking, as to contents. There are many more vital points of contact between the New Testament and the Talmud than divines yet seem fully to realise; for such terms as 'Redemption,'' Baptism,'' Grace,'' Faith,' 'Salvation,'' Regeneration,'' Son of Man,' 'Son of God,''Kingdom of Heaven,' were not, as we are apt to think, invented by Christianity, but were household words of Talmudical Judaism, to which Christianity gave a higher and purer meaning. No less loud and bitter in the Talmud are the protests against 'lip-serving,' against 'making the law a burden to the people,' against laws that hang on hairs,' against 'Priests and Pharisees. The fundamental mysteries of the new faith are matters totally apart; but the Ethics in both are, in their broad outlines, identical. grand dictum, 'Do unto others as thou wouldest be done by,' against which Kant declared himself energetically from a philosophical point of view, is quoted by Hillel, the President, at whose death Jesus was ten years of age, not as anything new, but as an old and well-known dictum that comprised the whole Law.' The most monstrous mistake has ever been our mixing up, in the first instance, single individuals, or classes, with a whole people, and next, our confounding the Judaism of

That

the time of Christ with that of the time of the Wilderness, of the Judges, or even of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The Judaism of the time of Christ (to which that of our days, owing principally to the Talmud, stands very near), and that of the Pentateuch, are as like each other as our England is like that of William Rufus, or the Greece of Plato like that of the Argonauts. It is the glory of Christianity to have carried those golden germs, hidden in the schools and among the silent community' of the learned, into the market of Humanity. It has communicated that Kingdom of Heaven,' of which the Talmud is full from the first page to the last, to the herd, even to the lepers. The fruits that have sprung from this through the wide world we need not here consider. But the misconception, as if to a God of Vengeance had suddenly succeeded a God of Love, cannot be too often protested against. 'Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself' is a precept of the Old Testament, as our Saviour Himself taught His disciples. The Law,' as we have seen and shall further see, was developed to a marvellously and, perhaps, oppressively minute pitch; but only as a regulator of outward actions. The faith of the heart'-the dogma prominently dwelt upon by Paul-was a thing that stood much higher with the Pharisees than this outward law. It was a thing, they said, not to be commanded by any ordinance; yet was greater than all. Everything, is one of their adages, 'is in the hands of Heaven, save the fear of Heaven.'

"Six hundred and thirteen injunctions,' says the Talmud,' was Moses instructed to give to the people. David reduced them all to eleven, in the fifteenth Psalm: Lord, who shall abide in Thy tabernacle, who shall dwell on Thy holy hill? He that walketh uprightly,' &c.

"The Prophet Isaiah reduced them to six (xxxiii. 15):- He that walketh righteously,' &c.

"The Prophet Micah reduced them to three (vi. 8) - What doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?'

"Isaiah once more reduced them to two lvi. 1):-Keep ye judgment and do justice.' "Amos (v. 4) reduced them all to one :Seek ye Me, and ye shall live.'

"But lest it might be supposed from this that God could be found in the fulfilment of His whole law only, Habakkuk said (ii. 4):-The just shall live by his Faith."

never

think of comparing one with the other, except for the purpose of pointing out, as I intend doing, in the course of my Essays, the use which some of the better sort of the Rabbis have made of certain dicta in the Gospels, Epistles, and the Revelation, and the way which the baser sort abused the same. Had Mr. Deutsch made the original of the Old Testament a subject of serious and solemn study, he would have known that "such terms as 'Redemption,' 'Baptism,' 'Grace,' 'Faith, Salvation,' 'Son of Man,' 'Son of God,' 'kingdom of Heaven,' were of frequent occurrence in the writings of Moses and the Prophets, which our Lord and His Apostles elucidated. A higher and a purer meaning they could not give to those terms, except it be to rescue them from the degradation and profanation to which some of the false Jewish teachers and pastors, even in the times of the Prophets, have reduced those terms. Let me just quote a couple of pas

sages from the Old Testament, in illustration of my meaning:-"For the Lord hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath He covered. And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed: and the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned. Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men: therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid."* "Then came certain of the elders of Israel unto me, and sat before me. And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be inquired of at all by them? Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet, I the Lord will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his idols."† I might multiply passages to the same effect. The above, however, will suffice to show how early some of our false teachers, elders, and pastors, have made the word of God,-which teems with promises and offers of "Redemption," Grace,' Faith," "Salvation," 'Regeneration,”—of none effect.

66

46

66

When the reviewer wrote the words "the fundamental mysteries of the new faith," he adopted the slip-slop phraseology of the unthinking and ill-informed. The eleventh chapter

Isa. xxix. 10-14. + Ezek. xiv. 1-4.

of the Epistle to the Hebrews demonstrates that THE FAITH which Jesus and His Apostles preached was that of Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Joseph, and all the saints of the Old Testament, as well as of those of the New. When he asserted "that the Ethics in both [in the New Testament and in the Talmud] are, in their broad outlines, identical," he wrote at random. The panegyric, "It is the glory of Christianity to have carried those golden germs hidden in the schools and among the silent community' of the learned, into the market of humanity," was a sinister compliment, inasmuch as it implied that Christianity was indebted to the Talmud for its Ethics. The statement that "It [Christianity] has communicated that kingdom of heaven,' of which the Talmud is full from the first page to the last," is as absurd as it is untrue. But what can one expect from an unbelieving Jew, who, for the sake of beguiling silly professing Christians, identifies himself, for the nonce, with them, and wrote of the Redeemer of the world, as Four Saviour?" The quotation about the gradual reduction of the "six hundred and thirteen injunctions which the reviewer gave-as he had done with his "weird story "-garbled and minus reference to vol., fol., and col., is not the unanimous teaching of the Rabbis, but the discourse of an individual Rabbi-most probably a Christian. MOSES MARGOLIOUTH, when an undergraduate at Trinity College, Dublin, had occasion to publish a brochure, entitled “IsRAEL'S ORDINANCES EXAMINED;" he gave the quotation more accurately, for he could read the original, by the token that he told his readers where the passage was to be found, even Talmud, vol. Maccoth, fol, 24, col. 1. It begins thus :—

66

"

'Rabbi Simlai expounded that six hundred and thirteen precepts were communicated unto Moses; three hundred and sixtyfive negative, according to the number of the days of the sun; and two hundred and fortyeight affirmative, to accord with the members of a man.t David came and reduced them to eleven: for it is written,

...

+ See "The Fundamental Principles of Modern Judaism Investigated," by the same author, p. 116.

A Psalm of David: 'Lord, who shall abide in Thy tabernacle? Who shall dwell in Thy holy hill? (1.) He that walketh uprightly, (2.) and worketh righteousness, (3.) and speaketh the truth in his heart. (4.) He that backbiteth not with his tongue, (5.) nor doeth evil to his neighbour, (6.) nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour. (7.) In whose eyes a vile person is contemned; (8.) but he honoureth them that fear the Lord. (9.) He that sweareth to his own hurt and changeth not. (10.) He that putteth not out his money to usury, (11.) nor taketh reward against the innocent. He that doeth those things shall never be moved.' (Psa. xv.)

Then came Isaiah and reduced them to siz; for it is written, (1.) 'He that walketh righteously, (2.) and speaketh uprightly; (3.) he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, (4.) that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, (5.) that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, (6.) and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil.' (Isa. xxxiii. 15.)

...

...

Micah came and reduced them to three; for it is written, 'He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, (1.) bat to do justly, (2.) and to love mercy, (3.) and to walk humbly with thy God?" (Micah vi. 8.). Then Isaiah again reduced them to two; for it is written, 'Thus saith the Lord, (1) Keep ye judgment, (2) and do justice.' (Isa. lvi. 1.) . . . Then came Amos and reduced them to one; for it is written, Thus saith the Lord unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and ye shall live.' (Amos v. 4.) . . . Likewise did Habakkuk come and reduce them to one; for it is written, But the just shall live by his faith.' (Hab. ii. 4.)"

The portions which Margoliouth omitted consist of unmeaning interpolations by a baser sort of Rabbis than Simlai, which render the discourse of the latter "tangled, confused, chaotic." Here then is another proof of Mr. Deutsch's superficiality, and that the essayist of the Quarterly, on the Talmud, was the last man from whom such wonders about the Talmud was to be expected, as Mr. Grove anticipated. I afford that gentleman, as well as every one of your readers, facilities for testing the question at issue between himself, and the writer in the Edinburgh Review. The references which I furnish, enable every one, not acquainted with Rabbinical lore, to apply to one of the chief Rabbis in this country, for translations of the quotations in question.

which the reviewer constantly exhibited must have had a deluding effect upon his confiding admirers, who looked upon him as an oracle, or a revealer of secrets, to which they had no access; but upon those who knew the man and his real attainments in Oriental lore, the effrontery produced a different effect, that of utter amazement at the writer's audacity. For instance, what can be more daring and flippant than his assertions respecting the "Pharisees." The following are his lucubrations about them :

"Regarding these 'Pharisees' or 'Separatists' themselves, no greater or more antiquated mistake exists than that of their being a mere 'sect' hated by Christ and the Apostles. They were not a sect,any more than Roman Catholics form a 'sect' in Rome, or Protestants a 'sect' in England, and they were not hated so indiscriminately by Christ and the Apostles as would at first sight appear from some sweeping passages in the New Testament. For the Pharisees,' as such, were at that time-Josephus notwithstanding-simply the people, in contradistinction to the 'leaven of Herod.' Those 'upper classes of freethinking Sadducees who, in opposition to the Pharisees, insisted on the paramount importance of sacrifices and tithes of which they were the receivers, but denied the Immortality of the Soul, are barely mentioned in the New Testament. The wholesale denunciations of 'Scribes and Pharisees' have been greatly misunderstood."

Here the writer not only sets at defiance the Apostles and their contemporary, Josephus, but also our blessed Lord Himself, whom he condescended in the previous page to apostrophise as "our Saviour." Those declarations in the New Testament "regarding these Pharisees" which do not commend themselves to him, as favourable to his clients, he describes as sweeping passages. I dare say the eight woes denounced by the most merciful One against "these Pharisees" must have swept like a hurricane of wrath over the cowed spirits of those craven and coward murderers, whose hearts were set upon the destruction of the Holy and Just One, in His defenceless state. Let me just give the connecting link between those denunciations, and some of the previous events.

MISSIONARY WORK AMONGST THE

JEWS IN THE PROVINCES.

ONE of the ablest of the missionaries of the "London Society for Promoting Christianity Amongst the Jews," the Rev. M. Wolkenberg has been engaged, in the course of the last two months of the past year, in endeavouring to stir up an interest in the souls of Jews and Gentiles in the great truths of the Gospel of the grace of God. He was privileged to preach to crowded congregations, consisting of believers, professors, and unbelievers, at Portsea, Exeter, Plymouth, Swansea, Cardiff, and Bristol. In each place the interest which was excited was of a vital character, and the seed thus sown will no doubt, in God's own good time, bring forth fruit to the praise and glory of the Redeemer's most holy name. In our last issue we gave a bird's eye view of our brother's sermon at St. John's Church, Portsea, as it was reported in the Portsmouth Times of November 19. We now give the epitomes of his discourses which he delivered at Cardiff and Bristol, as furnished in the provincial local papers. The following is from the South Wales Daily News of the 9th ult. :—

66 THE LIGHT OF ISRAEL REFLECTED ON THE GENTILES.

"SERMON TO JEWS AND GENTILES.On Sunday evening last a sermon was preached by the Rev. M. Wolkenberg to Jews and Gentiles, at St. John's Church, Cardiff. The attendance was very large, and a considerable number of Israelites were present. The subject was The Light of Israel reflected upon the Gentiles.' Taking his text from Isaiah lx. 2-3, the rev. gentleman said: The close and intimate relations subsisting between the Jewish people and the Christian Church have been either ignored or misunderstood in all ages; and this misapprehension has proved a fruitful source of evil, and produced the most

baneful effects upon both. To this cause must be attributed, in the first instance, the rejection of the Gospel by the Jews, and their denial that Christianity is the necessary sequel to the Mosaic economy, and the further development of the Divine counsels for the salvation of mankind. Ths consequences of this repudiation of every connection betweeu the law and the Gospel are, to the reflecting Israelite, who still clings to the faith of his forefathers, simply appalling. To him everything in the Old Testament is involved in impenetrable mystery. He cannot give himself a satisfactory reason why God, who is not a respecter of persons, should have heaped innumerable benefits upon his people, and have consigned all

other nations to moral darkness who are equally the work of His hands, and, therefore, ought to be no less objects of His compassion. His perplexity increases when he reflects, that in spite of the divine preference of this people, they are. and always have been, in everything which constitutes the happiness of a nation, far inferior to the Gentiles who received no such favours. He has no Scriptural ways of access to his God, for the Temple services are no more, and sacrificial atonements are impracticable. Last, but not least, if religion is to be of any practical use, it should open a clear prospect beyond the grave, and deprive death of its terrors. And yet, apart from the Gospel, there is no direct and explicit reference in Moses and the Prophets to a future state of existence, and the few passages that treat of it are so obscure and ambiguous that their meaning has been disputed and explained away by Jewish Commentators themselves. On the other hand, from the Jewish natural rejection of Jesus, Christians have declared the hasty and erroneous inference that the Gentile Church has taken altogether the place of Israel. They plainly overlook the Apostle's assertion, that the Gentiles