The Grounds of Christianity Examined by Comparing The New Testament with the Old Part 7

From this it is very clear, that this prophecy has no reference to Jesus: but Isaiah speaks these things of himself; and the words ?

the Lord hath anointed me,? signify, ?G.o.d hath chosen, established me to declare?--what follows. This exposition of anointing is confirmed from these pa.s.sages;--1 Kings, xix ch.

?Anoint a prophet in thy stead,? where the sense is, ?const.i.tute a prophet in thy place.? Again, ?touch not mine anointed ones, and do my prophets no harm,? i. e. ?Touch not my chosen servants?; and so in several other places. The meaning, therefore, of Isaiah is, that G.o.d had appointed, and const.i.tuted him a prophet to announce these consolations to the Israelites, who were to be in captivity, in order that they should not dispair of liberation; and that they should have hope, when they read those comfortable words spoken by the mouth of Isaiah, at the command of G.o.d. For he calls the subjects of his message ?the broken in heart,? ?the captives,? ?

the mourners of Zion,? &c. all which terms are applicable only to the Israelites. That this is the true interpretation, will be made further evident to any impartial person, by reading the context preceding, and following.

Jo. ch. ii. v. 18. ?The Jews said to Jesus, what sign showest thou to us, that thou doest these things? Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. The Jews answered, saying, forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou build it in three days?? The Jews could never have spoken these words, here related; for the temple then standing was built by Herod, who reigned but thirty-seven years, and built it in eight years. This, therefore, must be a blunder of the Evangelist?s.

Jo. xiii. v. 21. Jesus says to his Disciples, ?a new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another.? This is not true, for the love of man towards his neighbour, was not a new precept, but at least as ancient as Moses, who gives it, Levit. xix. as the command of G.o.d, ?Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.?

Acts vii. v. 4. ?When he (Abraham) went out of the land of the Chaldees, he dwelt in Charran; from thence after his father was dead, he led him into this land in which ye dwell.? This directly contradicts the chapter in Genesis where the story of Abraham's leaving Haran is related; for it is certain from thence, that Abraham left his father Terah in Haran alive, when he departed thence. And he did not die till many years afterwards. This chronological contradiction has given much trouble to Christian Commentators, as may be seen in Whitby, Hammond, &c. &c.

V. 14, Stephen says, ?Jacob therefore descended into Egypt, and our Fathers, and there died. And they were carried to Sichem, and buried in the sepulchre which Abraham bought from the Sons of Hemor the Father of Sichem.? Here is another blunder; for this piece of land was not purchased by Abraham, but by Jacob. Gen.

xlix. 29; so also see the end of Joshua. But it is evident, that Stephen has confounded the story of the purchase of the field of Machpelah, recorded in Gen. xxiii. with the circ.u.mstances related concerning the purchase by Jacob.

In v. 43 of the same chapter, there is another disagreement between Stephen's quotation from Amos, and the original. [In the Acts the quotation is,--?Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the Star of your G.o.d. Remphan, figures which ye made to worship them, and I will carry you away beyond Babylon.? In Amos, ch. v.

26--?But ye have borne the tabernacle of Moloch and Chinn your images, the Star of your G.o.d which ye made,? &c.]

So also there is in the speech of James, Acts xv. a quotation from Amos, in which to make it fit the subject, (which after all it does not fit,) is the subst.i.tution of the words, ?the remnant of men,? for the words, ?remnant of Edom,? as it is in the original.

All these mistakes, besides others to be met with in almost--I was going to say in every page, of these Histories of Jesus and his Apostles, sufficiently show how superficial was the acquaintance of these men with the Old Testament, and how grossly, either through design or ignorance, they have perverted it. Indeed from these mistakes alone, I should be led strongly to suspect, that the Books of the New Testament were written by Gentiles, as I can hardly conceive that any Jew could have quoted his Bible in such a blundering manner.

CHAPTER XI.

WHETHER THE MOSAIC LAW BE REPRESENTED IN THE OLD TESTAMENT AS A TEMPORARY, OR A PERPETUAL INSt.i.tUTION.

A very great part of Dogmatic Theology among Christians is founded upon the notion that the Jewish Law was a temporary dispensation, only to exist till the coming of Jesus, when it was to be superseded by a more perfect dispensation.

On the contrary, the Jews are persuaded that their Law is of perpetual obligation, and the Doctrine of the Trinity itself is hardly more offensive to them, and, as they think, more contradictory to the Scriptures, than the notion of the abrogation of it. Now, that the Jews are on the right side of this question, i. e., arguing from the Old Testament, I shall endeavour to prove by several arguments.

They are all comprised in these positions, 1. That the Mosaic Inst.i.tutions are most solemnly, and repeatedly declared to be perpetual; and we have no account of their being abrogated, or to be abrogated in the Old Testament. 2. They are declared to be perpetual by Jesus himself, and were adhered to by the twelve apostles.

1. Nothing can be more expressly a.s.serted in the Old Testament than the perpetual obligation of those rites which were to distinguish the Jews from other nations. It appears, for instance, (from the 17th ch. of Genesis,) in the tenor of the covenant made with Abraham, that circ.u.mcision was to distinguish his posterity, to the end of time. It is called ?an everlasting covenant? to be kept by his posterity through all their generations. See the ch. where the condition of the covenant is, that G.o.d would give to Abraham and his posterity, the perpetual inheritance of the promised land with whatever privileges were implied in his being their G.o.d, on condition that their male children were circ.u.mcised in testimony of putting themselves under that covenant. There is no limitation with respect to time; nay it is expressly said that the covenant should be perpetual.

The ordinance of the Pa.s.sover is also said to be perpetual, Ex. xii.

14, &c. ?And this day shall be unto you for a memorial, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord throughout your generations.

You shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever.? This is repeated afterwards, and the observance of this rite is confined to Israelites, Proselytes, and slaves who should be circ.u.mcised, v. 48.

The observance of the Sabbath was never to be discontinued, Ex.

x.x.xi. 16. ?Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever.?

The appointment of the Family of Aaron to be Priests, was to continue as long as the Israelites should be a nation. See Lev. vii.

35.

The Feast of Tabernacles was to be forever. Lev. xxiii. 41. ?It shall be a statute for ever, in your generations.? The observance of this Festival is particularly mentioned in the prophecies, which foretell a future settlement of the Jews in their own land, as obligatory on all the world; as if an union of worship at Jerusalem was to be, according to them, effected among all nations by the united observance of this Festival there, see Zech. 14; what he there says is confirmed by what Isaiah prophecied concerning the same period. Is. 2. ?It shall come to pa.s.s in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go, and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the G.o.d of Jacob, and He will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths. For out of Zion shall go forth the Law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among the nations, and rebuke many people, and they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation. shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.?

With respect to all the Laws of Moses, it is evident from the manner in which they were promulgated, that they were intended to be of perpetual obligation upon the Hebrew nation, and that by the observance of them they were to be distinguished from the other nations, see Deut. xxvi. 16.

The observance of their peculiar Laws was the express condition on which the Israelites were to continue in possession of the promised land; and though on account of their disobedience they were to be driven out of it, they had the strongest a.s.surances given them that they should never be utterly destroyed, like many other nations who should oppress them; but that on their repentance G.o.d would gather them from the remote parts of the world, and bring them to their own country again. And both Moses, and the later Prophets a.s.sure them, that in consequence of their becoming obedient to G.o.d in all things, which it is a.s.serted they will, (and which may be the natural consequence of the discipline they will have gone through,) they shall be continued in the peaceable enjoyment of the land of promise, in its greatest extent to the end of time. See to this purpose Deut. iv. 25, &c.; also. Deut. 30, where it is thus written.

?And it shall come to pa.s.s, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and shalt call them to mind among all the nations whither the Lord thy G.o.d hath driven thee; and shalt return unto the Lord thy G.o.d, and shall obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thy heart, and with all thy soul; that, then, the Lord thy G.o.d will turn thy captivity, and have compa.s.sion upon thee, and will return, and gather thee from all the nations whither the Lord thy G.o.d hath scattered thee. If any of thine be driven out unto the utmost parts of heaven, from thence will the Lord thy G.o.d gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee. And the Lord thy G.o.d will bring thee unto the Land which thy Fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it, and He will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy Fathers. And the Lord thy G.o.d will circ.u.mcise thy heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy G.o.d with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live; and the Lord thy G.o.d will put all these curses upon thine enemies, and on them that hate thee, which persecuted thee.

And thou shalt return, and obey the voice of the Lord, and do all his commandments which I command thee this day." &c.

?What an extent of prophecy, and how firm a faith in the whole of it do we see here! (says Dr. Priestly.) The Israelites were not then in the land of Canaan. It was occupied by nations far more numerous, and powerful than they; and yet it is distinctly foretold in the 4th ch. that they would soon take possession of it, and multiply in it: and that afterwards they would offend G.o.d by their idolatry, and wickedness, and would in con-sequence of it be driven out of their country; and without being exterminated or lost, be scattered among the nations of the world; that by this dispersion, and their calamities, they would at length be reformed, and restored to the divine favour, and that then (as in the quotation) in the latter days they would be gathered from all nations, and restored to their own country, when they would observe all the laws which were then prescribed to them. Past history, and present appearances, correspond with such wonderful exactness to what has been fulfilled of this prophecy, that we can have no doubt with respect to the complete accomplishment of what remains to be fulfilled of it.?

What was first announced by Moses, is repeated by Isaiah and other prophets, a.s.suring them of their certain return wherever dispersed, to their own land in the latter days; and that they should have the undisturbed possession of it to the end of time.

It has been objected, that the term "for ever" is not always to be understood in its greatest extant, but is to be interpreted according to circ.u.mstances. This for the sake of saving time I will acknowledge. But the circ.u.mstances in which this phrase is used in the pa.s.sages already adduced, and in a number of others of similar import which might be adduced, clearly indicate, that it is to be understood in those pa.s.sages to mean a period as long as the duration of the Israelitish nation, which elsewhere is said to continue to the end of the world.

For this reason, among others, this final return of the Jews from their present dispersed state, cannot at any rate be said to have been accomplished at their return from the Babylonish captivity.

For that captivity was not by any means such a total dispersion of the people among all nations, as Moses, and the later prophets have foretold. Nor does their possession of the country subsequent to it, at all correspond to that state of peace, and prosperity, which was promised to succeed this final return.

Figures of speech must, no doubt, be allowed for. But if the whole of the Jewish polity was to terminate at the destruction of Jerusalem by t.i.tus, (as is maintained by Christians,) while the world is still to continue, the magnificent promises made to Abraham, and his posterity, and to the nation, in general, afterwards, have never had any proper accomplishment of all.

Because with respect to external prosperity, which is contained in the promises, many nations have hitherto been more distinguished by G.o.d, than the Jews. Hitherto the posterity of Ishmael has had a much happier lot than that of Isaac. To say, as Christians do, that these prophecies have had a spiritual accomplishment in the spread of the Gospel, when there is nothing in the phraseology in which the promises are expressed, that could possibly suggest any such ideas, nay, when the promise itself in the most definite language expresses the contrary, is so arbitrary a construction as nothing can warrant. By this mode of interpretation, any event may be said to be the fulfillment of any prophecy whatever.

Besides, it is perfectly evident, that these prophecies, whether they will be fulfilled, or not, cannot yet have been fulfilled. For all the calamity that was ever to befall the Jewish nation is expressly said to bear no sensible proportion to their subsequent prosperity: whereas, their prosperity has. .h.i.therto borne a small proportion to their calamity; so that had Abraham really foreseen the fate of his posterity, he would on this idea, have had little reason to rejoice in the prospect.

It may be said, that the prosperity of the descendants of Abraham, was to depend on a condition, viz., their obedience, and that this condition was not fulfilled. But, besides that the Divine Being must have foreseen this circ.u.mstance, and therefore must have known that he was only tantalizing Abraham with a promise which would never be accomplished; this disobedience, and the consequences of it are expressly mentioned by Moses, and the other Prophets, only as a temporary thing, and what was to be succeeded by an effectual repentance, and perpetual obedience, and prosperity.

Among others, let the following prophecy of Isaiah (in which the future security of Israel is compared to the security of the world from a second deluge) be considered, and let any impartial person say, whether the language does not necessarily lead those who believe the Old Testament, to the expectation of a much more durable state of Glory, and Happiness, than has, as yet, fallen to the lot of the posterity of Abraham.

Is. 54, 7. ?For a small moment have I forsaken thee, but with great mercies will I gather thee. In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment, but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord, thy Redeemer. For this is as the waters of Noah unto me. For as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, go have I sworn, that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee. For the mountains shall [or ?may?] depart, and the hills be removed, but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee.--All thy children shall be taught of the Lord, and great shall be the peace of thy children. In righteousness shalt thou be established. Thou shalt be far from oppression, for thou shalt not fear; and from terror, for it shall not come nigh thee. No weapon formed against thee, shall prosper, and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment, thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord.?

Here, as also in Moses, and other Prophets, an establishment in righteousness is promised to the Israelites, such as shall secure their future prosperity; and this promise has not yet been fulfilled.

The promise of future virtue as connected with their future happiness, is also clearly expressed in Jer. ch. iii. 18.

Had the Jewish nation become extinct, or likely to become so, it might, with some plausibility, have been said by Christians, that the purposes of G.o.d concerning them were actually fulfilled, and, therefore, that the words of the promise must have had some other signification than that which was most obvious. But the Jews are as much a distinct people as they ever were, and therefore seem reserved for some future strange destination.

On the whole, it must be allowed, that the settlement of Israel in the land of Canaan, foretold with such emphasis by the Prophets, is a settlement which has not yet taken place, but may take place in that period so frequently, and so emphatically, distinguished by the t.i.tle of ?the latter days;? and therefore that whatever is said of Jewish customs, or modes of worship in ?the latter days?? is a proof of the meant restoration of their ancient religious rites.

That the inst.i.tutions of the Mosaic Law are to be continued on the restoration of the Jews to their own land after their utter dispersion, is a.s.serted by Moses himself in one of the pa.s.sages already quoted; but is more clearly expressed by the subsequent Prophets. In some of their prophecies, particular mention is made of the observance of Jewish festivals, and of sacrifices; and in Ezechiel we find a description of a magnificent Temple, which being closely connected with his prophecy of the future happy state of the Israelites in their own land, cannot be understood of any other than a Temple which is then, according to the Hebrew Prophets, to be reared with greater magnificence than ever. Mention is also made of ?the Glory of the Lord,? or that effulgent Shechinah which was the symbol of the divine presence, filling this Temple, as it did that of Solomon.

Ezech. xliii. 1, &c. ?Afterward he brought me to the gate, even the gate that looketh toward the East; and behold the glory of the Lord came from the way of the East, and his voice was like the noise of many waters, and the Earth shined with his Glory.--And the Glory of the Lord came into the house by the way of the gate, whose prospect is toward the East. So the Spirit took me up, and brought me into the inner court, and behold the Glory of the Lord filled the house.--And he said unto me, Son of man, the place of my Throne, and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel for ever, and my holy name shall the house of Israel no more defile,? &c.

Towards the end of the same chapter we read an account of the dedication of this new Temple by sacrifices; and particular directions are given in the succeeding chapters for the Priests, and for the Prince. If, therefore, there be any truth in these prophecies, the Jews are not only to return to their own country, and to be distinguished among the nations, but are to rebuild the Temple, and to restore the ancient worship.

Having proved that the Old Testament declares the perpetuity of the Mosaic Law, I proceed, 2dly, to prove that it is declared to be perpetual by Jesus himself.

But before I adduce my proofs, I beg leave to premise, that when any Law is solemnly enacted, we expect that the abrogation of it should be equally solemn, and express, in order that no room for dispute may remain upon the subject. Accordingly, it is the custom, I believe, in all countries, not to make any new Law, contradictory to another before subsisting, without a previous express abrogation of the old one. And certainly it appears to me a strange notion to suppose, that the elaborate and n.o.ble Law given from mount Sinai amidst circ.u.mstances unexampled, awful, and tremendously magnificent, and believed to have been declared by the voice of G.o.d to be a perpetual and everlasting Code, should vanish, perish, and be annihilated by the mere dictum of twelve fishermen!!

But the fact is otherwise, for Jesus was so far from teaching the abrogation of that law, that he expressly says--? Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the Prophets, I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pa.s.s, one jot, or one t.i.ttle shall in no wise pa.s.s from the law, till all be fulfilled.? This is a most explicit declaration that not the smallest punctilio in the law of Moses was intended to be set aside by the Gospel. Nay more, he expressly commanded his disciples to the same purpose--?The Scribes and Pharisees (says he,) sit in Moses? seat; all therefore whatsoever they command you, that observe, and do.?

It is said in answer to this by Christian Divines, that his discourse relates to things of a moral nature, and that he only meant, that no part of the Moral Law was to be abolished. But besides that the expression is general, there could be no occasion to make so solemn a declaration against what he could not have been suspected of intending, viz. of abolishing the moral law. He seems in his discourse to have had in view the additions that had been made to the law. These he sets aside, but no part of the original law itself.

It has also been urged that by fulfilling, may be meant such an accomplishment of it as would imply the superseding of it when the purposes for which it was inst.i.tuted should be answered. To silence this explication it will be sufficient to produce a few out of many pa.s.sages of the New Testament where the term fulfil occurs in connexion with the term law. Thus Paul says, Gal. v. 14, ?All the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this, thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself,? and again. Rom. xiii. 8, ?He that loveth another, hath fulfilled the law.? But certainly, notwithstanding this fulfilment of the moral law, it remains in as full force as ever.

The Apostles understood Jesus to mean as we have a.s.serted. For it is evident from the Acts, that the Christians at Jerusalem were zealous in attachment to the law of Moses; this is evident from their surprise at Peter's conduct with regard to Cornelius; and in the dispute about imposing circ.u.mcision upon the Gentiles; observe there was no dispute about its being obligatory upon Jews.