and to recall wandering mortals to the sublime paths of piety and virtue. The consideration of this wretched condition of mankind will be also singularly useful to those who are not sufficiently acquainted with the advantages, the comforts, and the support which the sublime doctrines of Christianity are so proper to administer in every state, relation, and circumstance of life. A set of miserable and unthinking creatures treat with negligence, nay, sometimes with contempt, the religion of Jesus, not considering that they are indebted to it for all the good things which they so ungratefully enjoy.

CHAPTER II.

CONCERNING THE CIVIL AND RELIGIOUS STATE OF THE JEWISH NATION AT THE BIRTH OF CHRIST.

The Jews govern

Great.

I. THE state of the Jews was not much better than that ed by Herod the of the other nations at the time of Christ's appearance in the world. They were governed by Herod, who was himself a tributary to the Roman people. This prince was surnamed the Great, (surely from no other circumstance than the greatness of his vices,) and his government was a yoke of the most vexatious and oppressive kind. By a cruel, suspicious, and overbearing temper, he drew upon himself the aversion of all, not excepting those who lived upon his bounty. By a mad luxury, and an affectation of magnificence far above his fortune, together with the most profuse and immoderate largesses, he exhausted the treasures of that miserable nation. Under his administration, and by his means, the Roman luxury was received in Palestine, accompanied with the worst vices of that licentious people. In a word, Judea, governed by Herod, groaned under all that corruption which might be expected from the authority and the example of a prince, who, though a Jew in outward profession, was, in point of morals and practice, a contemner of all laws, human and divine.

The state of Judea

II. After the death of this tyrant, the Romans divided after the death the government of Palestine between his sons. In this of Herod. division, the one half of Judea was given to Archelaus, with the title of Exarch; and the other was divided between his two brothers, Antipas and Philip. Archelaus was a corrupt and wicked prince, and followed the example of his father's crimes in such a manner, that the Jews, grown weary of his iniquitous administration, laid their complaints and grievances before Augustus, who delivered them from their oppressor, by banishing him from his dominions, about ten years after the death of Herod the Great. The kingdom of this dethroned prince was reduced to the form of a province, and added to the jurisdiction of the governor of Syria, to the great detriment of the Jews, whose heaviest calamities were owing to this change, and whose final destruction was its undoubted effect in the appointment of Providence.

The calamities III. However severe the authority was which the that fell upon Romans exercised over the Jews, yet it did not extend to the entire suppression of all their civil and religious pri

the Jewish nation.

* See on this subject, Christ. Noldii Historia Idumææ, which is annexed to Havercamp's edition of Josephus, vol. ii. p. 333. See also Basnage, Histoire des Juifs, tom. i. part I. p. 27. Noris, Cenotaph. Pisan.; Pri

deaux, History of the Jews; Cellarius, his Historia Herodum, in the first part of his Academical Dissertations, p. 207; and above all, Josephus the Jewish historian.

vileges. The Jews were, in some measure, governed by their own laws, and they were permitted the enjoyment of the religion they had received from the glorious founder of their church and state. The administration of religious ceremonies was committed, as before, to the high priest, and to the sanhedrim; to the former of whom the order of the priests and Levites was in the usual subordination; and the form of outward worship, except in a very few points, had suffered no visible change. But, on the other hand, it is impossible to express the inquietude and disgust, the calamities and vexations, which this unhappy nation suffered from the presence of the Romans, whom their religion obliged them to look upon as a polluted and idolatrous people, and in a more particular manner, from the avarice and cruelty of the Prætors, and the frauds and extortions of the Publicans. So that, all things considered, their condition, who lived under the government of the other sons of Herod, was much more supportable than the state of those who were immediately subject to the Roman jurisdiction.

These calamities

increased by the of the Jewish na

priests and rulers

tion.

IV. It was not, however, from the Romans alone that the calamities of this miserable people proceeded. Their Own rulers multiplied their vexations, and hindered them from enjoying any little comforts that were left to them by the Roman magistrates. The leaders of the people and the chief priests were, according to the account of Josephus, profligate wretches, who had purchased their places by bribes, or by acts of iniquity, and who maintained their ill-acquired authority by the most flagitious and abominable crimes. The subordinate and inferior members were infected with the corruption of the head; the priests, and those who possessed any shadow of authority, were become dissolute and abandoned to the highest degree; while the multitude, set on by these corrupt examples, ran headlong into every sort of iniquity, and, by their endless seditions, robberies, and extortions, armed against them both the justice of God and the vengeance of men.

rupted amongthe multitude.

All

The Jewish reli- V. Two religions flourished at this time in Palestine, gion much cor- viz., the Jewish and Samaritan, whose respective followers beheld those of the opposite sect with the utmost aversion. The Jewish religion stands exposed to our view in the books of the Old Testament; but at the time of Christ's appearance it had lost much of its original nature and of its primitive aspect. Errors of a very pernicious kind had infected the whole body of the people, and the more learned part of the nation were divided upon points of the highest consequence. looked for a deliverer, but not for such a one as God had promised. Instead of a meek and spiritual Saviour, they expected a formidable and warlike prince to break off their chains, and set them at liberty from the Roman yoke. All regarded the whole of religion as consisting in the rites appointed by Moses, and in the performance of some external acts of duty towards the Gentiles. They were all horribly unanimous in excluding from the hopes of eternal life all the other nations of the world; and, as a consequence of this odious system, they treated them with the utmost rigour and inhumanity when any occasion was offered them. And, besides these corrupt and vicious principles, there prevailed among them several absurd and superstitious notions concerning the divine nature, invisible powers, magic, &c., which they had partly brought with them from the Babylonian captivity, and partly derived from the Egyptians, Syrians, and Arabians who lived in their neighbourhood.

were divided into

And also among VI. Religion had not a better fate among the learned the doctors, who than among the multitude. The supercilious doctors, who various sects. vaunted their profound knowledge of the law, and their deep science in spiritual and divine things, were constantly showing their fallibility and their ignorance by their religious differences, and were divided into a great variety of sects. Of these sects three have in a great measure eclipsed the rest, both by the number of their adherents, and also by the weight and authority which they acquired. These were the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the Essenes." There is frequent mention made of the two former in the sacred writings; but the knowledge of the rites and doctrines of the latter is to be derived from Josephus, Philo, and other historians. These three illustrious sects agreed in the fundamental principles of the Jewish religion, while at the same time they were involved in endless disputes upon points of the highest importance, and about matters in which the salvation of mankind was directly concerned; and their controversies could not but be highly detrimental to the rude and illiterate multitude, as every one must easily perceive.

vided upon vari

ous points.

The three famous VII. It may not be improper to mention here some of Jewish sects di- the principal matters that were debated among these famous sects. One of the main points of controversy was, Whether the WRITTEN LAW alone was of divine authority. The Pharisees added to this law another, which had been received by oral tradition. This the Sadducees and Essenes rejected as of no authority, and adhered to the written law as the only divine rule of obedience. They differed also in their opinions concerning the true sense of the law. For while the Pharisees attributed to the sacred text a double sense, one of which was obvious, regarding only the words, and another mysterious, relating to the intimate nature of the things expressed, and while the Sadducees maintained that nothing further was delivered by the law than that which was contained in the signification of the words, the Essenes, at least the greatest part of that sect, entertained an opinion different from both of these:-they asserted, in their jargon, that the words of the law were absolutely void of all power, and that the things expressed by them were images of holy and celestial objects. These litigious subtilties and unintelligible wranglings about the nature and sense of the divine word were succeeded by a controversy of the greatest moment, concerning the rewards and punishments of the law, particularly with respect to their extent. The Pharisees were of opinion that these rewards and punishments extended both to the soul and body, and that their duration was prolonged beyond the limits of this transitory state. The Sadducees assigned to them the same period that concludes this mortal life. The Essenes differed from both, and maintained that future rewards and punishments extended to the soul alone, and not to the body, which they considered as a mass of malignant matter, and as the prison of the immortal spirit. But exercised reci- VIII. These differences, in matters of such vast conseprocal toleration quence between the three famous sects above mentioned, produced none of those injurious and malignant effects which are too often seen to arise from religious controversies. But such as have any acquaintance with the history of these times will not be so far

towards each other.

b Besides these more illustrious sects, there were several of inferior note, which prevailed among the Jews at the time of Christ's appearThe Herodians are mentioned by the

ance.

sacred writers, the Gaulonites by Josephus, and others by Epiphanius and Hegesippus in Eusebius; nor is it rational to look upon these sects as fictitious.

deceived by this specious appearance of moderation, as to attribute it to noble or generous principles. They will look through the fair outside, and see that their mutual fears of each other were the latent reason of this

apparent charity and mutual forbearance. The Sadducees enjoyed the favour and protection of the great. The Pharisees, on the other hand, were extremely high in the esteem of the multitude. And hence they were both secured against the attempts of each other, and lived in peace, notwithstanding the diversity of their religious sentiments. The government of the Romans contributed also to the maintenance of this mutual toleration and tranquillity, as they were ever ready to suppress and punish whatever had the appearance of tumult and sedition. We may add to all this, that the Sadducean principles rendered that sect naturally averse to all sorts of altercation and tumult. Libertinism has for its objects ease and pleasure, and chooses rather to slumber in the arms of a fallacious security, than to expose itself to the painful activity which is required both in the search and in the defence of truth.

Essenes.

IX. The Essenes had little occasion to quarrel with the other sects, as they dwelt generally in a rural solitude, far removed from the view and commerce of men. This singular sect, which was spread abroad through Syria, Egypt, and the neighbouring countries, maintained that religion consisted wholly in contemplation and silence. By a rigorous abstinence also, and a variety of penitential exercises and mortifications, which they seem to have borrowed from the Egyptians, they endeavoured to arrive at still higher degrees of perfection in virtue. There prevailed, however, among the members of this sect, a considerable difference both in point of opinion and discipline. Some passed their lives in a state of celibacy, and employed their time in educating and instructing the children of others. Others embraced the state of matrimony, which they considered as lawful, when entered into with the sole design of propagating the species, and not to satisfy the demands of lust. Those of the Essenes who dwelt in Syria held the possibility of appeasing the Deity by sacrifices, though in a manner quite different from that of the Jews, by which, however, it appears that they had not utterly rejected the literal sense of the Mosaic law. But those who wandered in the deserts of Egypt were of very different sentiments; they maintained that no offering was acceptable to God but that of a serene and composed mind, addicted to the contemplation of divine things; and it is manifest from hence that they looked upon the law of Moses as an allegorical system of spiritual and mysterious truths, and renounced in its explication all regard to the outward letter."

The Therapeutæ. X. The Therapeuta, of whom Philo the Jew makes particular mention in his treatise concerning Contemplative Life, are supposed to have been a branch of this sect. From this notion arose the division of the Essenes into theoretical and practical. The former of these were wholly devoted to contemplation, and are the same with the Therapeuta; while the latter employed a part of their time in the performance of the duties of active life. Whether this division be accurate or not, is a matter which I will not take upon me to determine. But I see nothing in the laws or manners of the Therapeutæ that should

Sce the Annotations of Holstenius to Porphyry's Life of Pythagoras, p. 11 of the edition published by Küster.

d Sce Mosheim's observations on a small treatise of the learned Cudworth, concerning the true notion of the Lord's Supper, p. 4.

The moral doctrine of these sects.

lead us to consider them as a branch of the Essenes; nor indeed has Philo asserted any such thing. There may have been surely many other fanatical tribes among the Jews, besides that of the Essenes; nor should a resemblance of principles always induce us to make a coalition of sects. It is, however, certain that the Therapeuta were neither Christians nor Egyptians, as some have erroneously imagined. They were undoubtedly Jews: nay, they gloried in that title, and styled themselves, with particular affectation, the true disciples of Moses, though their manner of life was equally repugnant to the institutions of that great lawgiver, and to the dictates of right reason, and showed them to be a tribe of melancholy and wrong-headed enthusiasts. XI. None of these sects indeed seemed to have the interests of real and true piety at heart; nor were their principles and discipline at all adapted to the advancement of pure and substantial virtue. The Pharisees courted popular applause by a vain ostentation of pretended sanctity, and an austere method of living, while in reality they were strangers to true holiness, and were inwardly defiled with the most criminal dispositions, with which our Saviour frequently reproaches them. They also treated with more veneration the commandments and traditions of men than the sacred precepts and laws of God. The Sadducees, by denying a future state of rewards and punishments, removed at once the most powerful incentives to virtue, and the most effectual restraints upon vice, and thus gave new vigour to every sinful passion, and a full encouragement to the indulgence of every irregular desire. As to the Essenes, they were a fanatical and superstitious tribe, who placed religion in a certain sort of seraphic indolence, and, looking upon piety to God as incompatible with any social attachment to men, dissolved, by this pernicious doctrine, all the great bonds of human society. XII. While then such darkness, such errors, and dissensunder- sions prevailed among those who assumed the character and authority of persons distinguished by their superior sanctity and wisdom, it will not be difficult to imagine how totally corrupt the religion and morals of the multitude must have been. They were accordingly sunk in the most deplorable ignorance of God and of divine things; and had no notion of any other way of rendering themselves acceptable to the Supreme Being than by sacrifices, washings, and the other external rites and ceremonies of the Mosaic law. Hence proceeded that dissolution of manners, and that profligate wickedness, which prevailed among the Jews during Christ's ministry upon earth. And hence the divine Saviour compares that people to a flock of sheep which wandered without a shepherd; and their doctors to men who, though deprived themselves of sight, yet pretended to show the way to others.

The multitude

stition and cor

ruption.

errors among

The Cabbala a XIII. To all these corruptions both in point of doctrine source of many and practice, which reigned among the Jews at the time of the Jews. Christ's coming, we may add the attachment which many of them discovered to the tenets of the oriental philosophy concerning the origin of the world, and to the doctrine of the Cabbala, which was undoubtedly derived from thence. That considerable numbers of the Jews had imbibed the errors of this fantastic system, appears evidently, both

The principal writers who have given accounts of the Therapeuta, are mentioned by Jo. Albert. Fabricius, in the fourth chapter of

his Lux Salutaris Evangelii Toto Orbe Exoriens, p. 55.

Matt. xxiii. 13, 14, &c. * Matt. x. 6; xv. 24, 25. John ix. 39.