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(Continued from issue #8.)
Letter
6.
I
remember having read, but in what author I cannot at present recollect,
that in a controversy between a Christian and a Jew, the latter made
several objections to the authority of the New Testament, to which the
other, not being able to clear them up, returned this remarkable answer:
"The authority or divine inspiration of the New Testament was as
well grounded as that of the Old; and that there was no objection which
could be made to the New Testament, which might not with equal propriety
be made to the Old."
I
think there cannot be a greater instance of distress, or rather despair,
than when a disputant, rather than yield, is obliged to give up the very
principles on which alone he can support his cause. A fine method this
to convince the Jews of the authority of the New Testament, and at one
stroke to silence them. But if Christians have no other arguments to
establish its authority, we may declare they never will be able to work
their conversion; for how can a Christian consistently call himself by
that name, unless he admits the authority of the Old Testament? since,
if he gives that up, must he not give up his religion at the same time
also? It is of such who, notwithstanding, would be thought Christians,
that an author very judiciously observes:
"If
they really imagine that Christianity hath no dependence on Judaism,
they deserve our tenderest compassion, as being plainly ignorant
of the very elements of the religion they profess."* They must
therefore admit as a postulatum, its authority; for was not the Old
Testament cited by the apostles
for every thing they pretended to prove? and is it not the Old Testament
which they pretend is fulfilled in the New? Can persons, then, pretend
to be Christians, on rational principles, without admitting the
authority of the Old Testament? Can they either deny or lessen its authority? Therefore, there needs not any proof from
us to Christians for the authority of the Scriptures called by them the
Old Testament; to produce any, would be both labour and time lost,
because they must admit its authority, or they cannot be Christians. The
case of the Jews, in respect of the authority of the New Testament, is
quite another thing; and this they must all know and acknowledge.
Besides,
they well know the doubts which subsist concerning the books of the New
Testament. The learned Doctor Beveridge says: "No one can be
ignorant that some of the truly canonical books of the apostles were doubted of, in the three first centuries of
Christianity."*
And
again, "Amongst all the more ancient writers of ecclesiastical
matters, you will hardly find two that agree in the same number of
canonical books."† "The writers of those times," says
the famous Dodwell, "do not chequer their works with texts of the
New Testament; which yet is the custom of the moderns, and was also
theirs in such books as they acknowledged for Scripture; but they most frequently cite the books of the Old Testament, and would
doubtless have done so by those of the New, if they had been received as
canonical."‡
Now,
from all these particulars, and what I before observed, it plainly
appears, that the books of the Old Testament were the sole canon both of
Jews and Christians; and that in the first ages of Christianity no other
writings were accounted canonical; neither had they any other Scriptures
but the Old Testament; and all the evidence which is produced to prove
that Jesus is the Messiah, must be taken from there; for no other
evidence can be of any validity or authority. Neither could he claim the
Messiahship but from the prophecies; and, therefore, Jesus constantly
refers to the evidence of the Old Testament. "In fine," says
the most ingenious Mr. Collins, "Jesus and his apostles do
frequently and emphatically style the books of the Old Testament 'the
Scriptures,' and refer men to them as their rule and canon; but no new
books are declared by them to have that character. And if Jesus and his
apostles have declared no books to be canonical: I would ask who did, or
could, afterwards declare or make any books canonical? If it had been
deemed proper, and suited to the state of Christianity, to have given or
declared a new canon, or digest of laws: it should seem most proper to
have been done by Jesus or his apostles, and not left to any after them
to do; but especially not left to be settled long after their times, by
weak, fallible, factious, and interested men, who were disputing with
one another about the genuineness of all books bearing the names of the
apostles, and contending with one another about the authority of every
different book."§ "Indeed, to speak properly," says the
same ingenious person, "the Old Testament is yet the sole true
canon of Scripture, meaning thereby a canon established by those who had
a divine authority to establish a canon, and in virtue thereof, did
establish a canon, as it was in the beginning of Christianity."**
The Old Testament being, without dispute, the only Scripture both of
Jews and Christians: from that alone are we to judge of the office and
character of the Messiah; and for this purpose it will be proper to
extract a few of the many prophecies concerning the Messiah, his
kingdom, and the events to happen in his time, the better to compare them with what is related of Jesus in the New Testament,
in which they are said to be fulfilled.
-
"In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of
Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the North to the
land that I have given for an inheritance unto your
fathers."—Jer. 3. 18.
-
"Thus saith the Lord God, behold, I will take the children of
Israel from among the nations* whither they be gone, and will gather
them on every side, and bring them into their own land, and will make
them one nation in the land, upon the mountains of Israel; and one king
shall be king to them all, and they shall no more be two nations;
neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all; neither
shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their
detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions; but I will save
them out of all their dwelling places wherein they have sinned, and will
cleanse them, so shall they be my people, and I will be their God. And
DAVID my servant shall be king over them, and they shall have one
shepherd: they shall also
walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them. And they
shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein
your fathers have dwelt, and, they shall dwell therein, even they, and
their children, and their children's children for ever; and my servant
David shall be their prince for ever. Moreover I will make a covenant of
peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant, and will place
them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them
for evermore. My tabernacle also shall be with them, yea, I will be
their God, and they shall be my people; and the nations shall know that
I, the LORD, do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst
of them for evermore."—Ezekiel 37. 21-36.
- "And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries
whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds;
and they shall be fruitful and increase. And I will set up shepherds
over them which shall feed them; and they shall fear no more, nor be
dismayed; neither shall they be lacking, saith the LORD. Behold, the
days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous
branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment
and justice in the earth. In his day Judah shall be saved, and Israel
shall dwell safely; and this is his name whereby he shall be called, The
Lord our righteousness. Therefore, behold the days come, saith
the Lord, that they shall no more say, The LORD liveth, which brought up
the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; but the LORD liveth,
which brought up and which led the seed of the house of Israel out of
the north country, and from all countries wherein I had driven them; and
they shall dwell in their own land."—Jer. 23. 3-8.
- "And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand
for an ensign to the people; to it shall the gentiles seek: and his rest
shall be glorious. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD
shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his
people, which shall be left from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from
Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath,
and from the islands of the sea. And he shall set up an ensign for the
nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together
the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. The envy also
of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off;
Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex
Ephraim."—Isa. 11. 10-13.
- "Therefore, thus saith the LORD GOD, now will I bring again the
captivity of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel, and
will be jealous, for my holy name; after that they have borne their
shame and all their trespasses whereby they have trespassed against me,
when they dwelt safely in their land and none made them afraid. When I
have brought them again from the people, and gathered them out of their
enemies' lands, and am sanctified in them in the sight of many nations;
then shall they know that I am the Lord their God, which caused them to
be led into captivity among the nations: but I have gathered them unto
their own land, and have left none of them any more there, neither will
I hide my face any more from them, for I have poured out my spirit upon
the house of Israel, saith the Lord God."—Ezek. 39. 25-29.
- "And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall beat
off from the channel of the river unto the stream of Egypt, and ye shall
be gathered one by one, O ye children of Israel. And it shall come to
pass in that day, that the great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall
come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts
in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the LORD in the holy mount at
Jerusalem."—Isaiah 27. 12, 13.
- "Therefore will I save my flock, and they shall no more be a prey;
and I will judge between cattle and cattle. And I will set up one
shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant DAVID; he
shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd. And I the Lord will be
their God, and my servant DAVID a prince among them; I the Lord have
spoken it. And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause
the evil beasts to cease out of the land, and they shall dwell safely in
the wilderness, and sleep in the woods. And I will make them, and the
places round about my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to
come down in its season; there shall be showers of blessing. And the
tree of the field shall yield her fruit, and the earth shall yield her
increase, and they shall be safe in their land, and shall know that I am
the Lord, when I have broken the bands of their yoke, and delivered them
out of the hand of those that served themselves of them. And they shall
no more be a prey to the heathen, neither shall the beasts of the land
devour them; they shall dwell safely, and none shall make them afraid.
And I will raise up for them a plant of renown, and they shall be no
more consumed with hunger in the land, neither bear the shame of the
heathen any more."—Ezekiel 34. 22-29.
- "And there shall be no more a pricking briar unto the house of
Israel, nor any grieving thorn of all that are round about them that
despised them; and they shall know that I am the Lord God: Thus saith
the Lord God: When I shall have gathered the house of Israel from the
people among whom they are scattered, and shall be sanctified in them in
the sight of the heathen, then shall they dwell in their land that I
have given to my servant Jacob. And they shall dwell safely therein, and
shall build houses and
plant vineyards; yea, they shall dwell with confidence, when I have
executed judgments upon all those that despise them round about them;
and they shall know that I am the Lord their God."—Ezek. 28.
24-26.
- "As I live, saith the Lord God, Surely with a mighty hand, and with
an outstretched arm, and with fury poured out, will I rule over you. And
I will bring you out from the people, and will gather you out of the
countries wherein ye are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with a
stretched out arm, and with fury poured out. And I will bring you into
the wilderness of the people, and there I will plead with you face to
face. Like as I pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness of the land
of Egypt, so will I plead with you, saith the Lord God."—Ezek.
20. 33-36.
- "I will accept you with your sweet savour, when I bring you out
from the people, and gather you out of the countries wherein ye have
been scattered, and I will be sanctified in you before the
heathen."—Ezek. 20. 41, 42.
- "Hear the word of the LORD, O ye nations, and declare it in the
isles afar off, and say, He that scattered Israel will gather him, and
keep him as a shepherd doth his flock. For the Lord hath redeemed Jacob,
and ransomed him from the hand of him that was stronger than
he."—Jer. 31. 10, 11.
- "Fear not, for I am with thee; I will bring thy seed from the east,
and gather thee from the west; I will say to the north, give up; and to
the south, keep not back; bring my sons from far, and my daughters from
the ends of the earth; even every one that is called by my name; for I
have created him for my glory, I have formed, him; yea, I have made
him."—Isa. 43. 5, 6, 7.
It
is needless to transcribe more passages declarative of these great
events of which the prophetic writings are full. From these and many
other prophecies of the like nature, we may collect the office and
character of the Messiah. But before we proceed, it is certainly
necessary to explain the meaning of the word Messiah. משיח Messiah
or Mashiach, as pronounced in Hebrew, signifies anointed, or the
anointed one. It is applied to kings, priests and prophets, as they were
anointed to their office. Jews, therefore, by way of eminence and
emphasis, called, and continue to call, that person whom God should
raise up, and make the instrument for the accomplishment of such
prophecies, as particularly describe, and foretell the delivery and
glory of the nation, by this name. Now, if Christians will prove that
Jesus fulfilled these prophecies, they will then convert the Jews, for
they require nothing else.*
NOTE.—The
above letter is, according to our own view, the most important of the
series thus far. It states truly, that in arguing with Christians, we
need not prove as a preliminary the truth of the books of the covenant,
for these are emphatically as requisite to them as to us. Mr. Dias is
therefore perfectly correct to step forward at once to the character of
the Messiah, as laid down in Scripture. And this we think far more
important than his preceding discussion concerning the authenticity of
the gospels, acts and epistles; for our religion is true, not because
the grounds of Christianity are not proven, but because it is a system, one
and entire in itself, and was instituted by God, and sprung from Him
long before the followers of the self-styled Messiah of Nazareth was in
existence. The prophets speak of a Messiah, or if you prefer the word, a
Christ, who is to accomplish all that has been predicted of him. Now
precisely such a one and no other can be received as the fulfiller of
scriptural prediction; but if he omit any of these, he is not the one
whom we expect:—though he accomplish all the gospels say of him,
though by his agency the blind see, the deaf hear, the sick are made
whole, and the dead are called to life. Such acts are not his mission
for this is the redemption of Israel and the world; and unless this have
been, or be accomplished, the personage under question cannot be the
King of the Jews. We therefore ask the reader's particular attention to
the letter which we furnish this month, although it does not communicate
so many curious details as its predecessors.—Ed. Oc.
(To be continued.)
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