I.

PART I.

tions round about them, than they had formerly CENT. been. For when they saw the sacred rites of the Greeks and Romans, they were taken with several of the ceremonies that were used in the worship of the Heathen deities, and did not hesitate to adopt them in the service of the true God, and add them as an ornament to the rites which they had received by divine appointment [t].

ruption, in

that reign

XV. But whence such enormous degrees of The causes corruption in that very nation which God had, in of the cora peculiar manner, separated from an idolatrous doctrine world to be the depository of divine truth? Vari- and morals, ous causes may be assigned, in order to give a ed among satisfactory account of this matter. First, It is the Jews. certain, that the ancestors of those Jews, who lived in the time of our Saviour, had brought from Chaldea, and the neighbouring countries, many extravagant and idle fancies, which were utterly unknown to the original founders of the nation [u]. The conquest of Asia by Alexander the Great, was also an event, from which we may date a new accession of errors to the Jewish system; since in consequence of that revolution, the manners and opinions of the Greeks began to spread themselves among the Persians, Syrians, Arabians, and likewise among the Jews, who, before that period, were entirely unacquainted with letters and philosophy. We may, further, rank among the causes that contributed to corrupt the religion and manners of the Jews, their voyages into the adjacent countries, especially Egypt and Phoenicia, in pursuit of wealth. For, with

the

[] See the learned work of Spencer, De legibus Hebræo rum, in the ivth book of which he treats expressly of those Hebrew rites which were borrowed from the Gentile worship, vol. ii. p. 1086, edition of Cambridge.

[u] See Gale's observations on Jamblichus, De mysteriis Egyptiorum, p. 206. Josephus acknowledges the same thing in his Jewish Antiquities, book iii. ch. vii. sect. 2.

I.

CENT. the treasures of these corrupt and superstitious nations, they brought home also their pernicious PART I. errors, and their idle fictions, which were imperceptibly blended with their religious system. Nor ought we to omit, in this enumeration, the pestilential influence of the wicked reigns of Herod and his sons, and the enormous instances of idolatry, error, and licentiousness, which this unhappy people had constantly before their eyes in the religion and manners of the Roman governors and soldiers, which, no doubt, contributed much to the progress of their national superstition and corruption of manners. We might add here many more facts and circumstances, to illustrate further the matter under consideration; but these will be readily suggested to such as have the least acquaintance with the Jewish history from the time of the Maccabees.

ruption,

Amidst this XVI. It is indeed worthy of observation, that, general cor- corrupted as the Jews were with the errors and superstitions of the neighbouring nations, they mains of still preserved a zealous attachment to the law of to be found. Moses, and were extremely careful that it should

some re

piety were

not suffer any diminution of its credit, or lose any the least degree of that veneration, that was due to its divine authority. Hence Synagogues were erected throughout the province of Judea, in which the people assembled for the purposes of divine worship, and to hear their doctors interpret and explain the holy scriptures. There were, besides, in the more populous towns, public schools, in which learned men were appointed to instruct the youth in the knowledge of divine things, and also in other branches of science [w]. And it is beyond all doubt, that these institutions contributed to maintain the laws in its primitive

[w] See Camp. Vitringa, De synagoga vetere, lib. iii. cap. v. p. 667. and lib. 1. cap. v. p. 133. vii. p. 156.

1

mitive authority, and to stem the torrent of CENT. abounding iniquity.

I.

PART I.

The Sama

XVII. The Samaritans, who celebrated divine worship in the temple that was built on mount Gerizim, lay under the burden of the same evils ritans. that oppressed the Jews, with whom they lived in the bitterest enmity, and were also, like them, highly instrumental in increasing their own calamities. We learn from the most authentic histories of those times, that the Samaritans suffered as much as the Jews, from troubles and divisions fomented by the intrigues of factious spirits, though their religious sects were yet less numerous than those of the latter. Their religion, also, was much more corrupted than that of the Jews, as Christ himself declares in his conversation with the woman of Samaria; though it appears, at the same time, that their notions concerning the offices and ministry of the Messiah, were much more just and conformable to truth, than those which were entertained at Jerusalem [x]. Upon the whole, it is certain that the Samaritans mixed the profane errors of the Gentiles, with the sacred doctrines of the Jews, and

E 2

[x] Christ insinuates on the contrary, in the strongest manner, the superiority of the Jewish worship to that of the Samaritans, John iv. 22. See also, on this head, 2 Kings xvii. 29. The passage to which Dr. Mosheim refers, as a proof that the Samaritans had juster notions of the Messiah than the Jews, is the 25th verse of the chapter of St. John already cited, where the woman of Samaria says to Jesus, I know that Messiah cometh, which is called Christ; when he is come, he will tell us all things. But this passage seems much too vague to justify the conclusion of our learned historian. Besides, the confession of one person who may possibly have had some, singular and extraordinary advantages, is not a proof that the nation in general entertained the same sentiments, especially since we know that the Samaritans had corrupted the service of God by a profane mixture of the grossest idolatries.

CENT. and were excessively corrupted by the idolatrous I. customs of the Pagan nations [y].

PART I.

XVIII. The Jews multiplied so prodigiously, that the narrow bounds of Palestine were no the Jews out longer sufficient to contain them. They poured, of Palestine. therefore, their increasing numbers into the neigh

The state of.

bouring countries, and that with such rapidity, that, at the time of Christ's birth, there was scarcely a province in the empire, where they were not found carrying on commerce, and exercising other lucrative arts. They were maintained, in foreign countries, against injurious treatment and violence, by the special edicts and protection of the magistrates [2]; and this, indeed, was absolutely necessary, since, in most places, the remarkable difference of their religion and manners, from those of the other nations, exposed them to the hatred and indignation of the ignorant and bigotted multitude. All this appears to have been most singularly and wisely directed by the adorable hand of an interposing providence, to the end that this people, which was the sole depository of the true religion, and of the knowledge of one Supreme God, being spread abroad through the whole earth, might be every where, by their example, a reproach to superstition, contribute in some measure to check it, and thus prepare the way for that yet fuller discovery of divine truth, which was to shine upon the world from the ministry and gospel of the Son of God.

CHAP.

[y] Those who desire an exact account of the principal authors that have written concerning the Samaritans, will find it in the learned work of Jo. Gottlob Carpzovius, entitled, Critica. S. Vet. Testam. part II. cap. iv. p. 595.

[z] See the account, published at Leyden 1712, by James Gronovius, of the Roman and Asiatic edicts in favour of the Jews, allowing them the free and secure exercise of their religion, throughout all the cities of the Lesser Asia.

CHAP. III.

Concerning the Life and Actions of Jesus Christ.

I.

PART I.

1. NHE errors and disorders that we have now CENT. been considering, required something far above human wisdom and power to dispel and remove them, and to deliver mankind from the The birth miserable state to which they were reduced by of Christ. them. Therefore towards the conclusion of the reign of Herod the Great, the Son of God descended upon earth, and taking upon him the human nature, appeared to men under the sublime characters of an infallible teacher, an allsufficient mediator, and a spiritual and immortal king. The place of his birth was Bethlehem, in the land of Palestine. The year in which it happened, has not hitherto been fixed with certainty, notwithstanding the deep and laborious researches of the learned on that matter. There is nothing surprising in this when we consider that the first Christians laboured under the same difficulties, and were divided in their opinions, concerning the time of Christ's birth [a]. That which appears most probable, is, that it happened about a year and six months before the death of Herod, in the year of Rome 748 or 749 [b]. The uncertainty, however, of this point is of no sort of consequence. We know that the Sun of Righteousness has shone upon the world. And though we cannot fix the precise period in which he arose, this will not hinder

[a] The learned John Albert Fabricius has collected all the opinions of the learned, concerning the year of Christ's birth, in his Bibliograph. Antiquar. cap. vii. sect. x. p. 187.

[6] Matt. iii. 2, &c. John i. 22, &c.