philosophy which includes a religious faith, may, in the opinion of many, probably most, earnest thinkers, be supported by the furthest advances of the intellect, and also be allied with the purest pleasures of imagination; although it be productive of the most permanent mental tranquillity, and, in some extreme cases, may probably be indispensable to preserve fortitude;— yet a persuasion of the deep foundations on which the religious sentiments rest, and an appreciation of their value, require neither the expression nor the feeling of. alienation towards those who do not share those sentiments; a moderate experience must convince us that theological belief, even of the simplest kind, and benevolence, do not necessarily exist in proportion to each other; and that both a creed, and the want of one, may be met with in conjunction with that which irresistibly demands our sympathies,-a devotion to the cause of happiness on this earth. August, 1841. AN INQUIRY CONCERNING THE ORIGIN OF CHRISTIANITY CHAPTER I. HISTORICAL SKETCH, FROM THE BABYLONISH CAPTIVITY TO THE DEATH OF JESUS. THE Jewish nation, which was of considerable political importance in the days of David and Solomon, was much weakened, during the reigns of Ahaz and his successors, by the encroachments of the Assyrians, and extinguished, for a time, as a political power, by the conquest of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar. [B. C. 588.] But the national feeling in a people of 800 years' standing, of peculiar manners, associations, and religious worship, survives the capture of their towns; and, during each successive transportation of their tribes [B. C. 725-588], and their subsequent captivity at Babylon, the Jews consoled themselves with the hope of a speedy restoration to their own land.* • Jer. xxxii. 15, For thus saith the Lord of Hosts, Houses, and fields, and vineyards, shall be possessed again in this land. xxxiii. 7, And I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return, and will build them as at first. xlvi. 27, But fear not thou, O my servant Jacob, and be not dismayed, O Israel; for behold I will save thee from afar off, and thy seed from the land of their captivity, and Jacob shall return, and B They compensated themselves for their present insignificance with the expectation of future greatness;* and their very sufferings were made a theme soothing to their vanity, by being considered, not as the effect of superior power on the part of their enemies, but as a paternal and corrective chastisement from their own God. † [B. C. 536.] When Cyrus permitted the small remnant of pure Jews to re-occupy their own land, and to re-build their temple and city, ‡ their most extravagant hopes seemed about to be realized. A new æra opened upon them; § they were in the way to take rank again amongst the nations; and if this could be attained out of a state of general servi be in rest and at ease, and none shall make him afraid. (1. 19; Ezek. xxxvii.; xxxix. 25; xxvii. 25; Micah ii. 12.) Tobit xiv. 5, Afterwards they shall return from all places of their captivity, and build up Jerusalem gloriously, and the house of God shall be built in it for ever, with a glorious building, as the prophets have spoken thereof. * Obadiah 17, But upon Mount Zion shall be deliverance-and there shall be holiness, and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions; 18, And the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Esau for stubble;-21, And saviours shall come upon Mount Zion to judge the Mount of Esau, and the kingdom shall be the Lord's. Micah iv.; Micah v. 8, And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles as a lion among the beasts of the forest. Isaiah xlix. 18-26; lx. 12, For the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish: yea those nations shall be utterly wasted... The sons also of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee; and they shall call thee the city of the Lord, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel. . . thy people also shall be all righteous; they shall inherit the land for ever. . . a little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation; I the Lord will hasten it in its time. Isaiah xlii. 24, Who Did not the Lord, he ↑ Ezekiel, passim, xxxix. 23; Micah i. 5, For the transgression of Jacob is all this, and for the sins of the house of Israel. gave Jacob for a spoil, and Israel to the robbers' against whom we have sinned? xlvii. 6, I was wroth with my people, and have given them into thine (Chaldea's) hand. xlviii. 10, Behold I have refined thee (Jacob), I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction. Lam. iv. 22; Hosea xiv. 1; Daniel ix. 11. By comparing Ezra i. 3, with 1 Esdras iv. 63, it is seen that the decree of Cyrus was not understood as limited to the temple. § Haggai ii. 9, The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former. Zech. i. 16-21; ii. 10-13. |