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 JEWS

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JEWS

cised Cornelius and his Gentile household with whom Peter himself broke bread in direct opposition to legal traditions. When, therefore, Paul, now become an ardent Apostle of Christ, openly maintained the free- dom of Gentile converts from the Law as understood and enforced by the Jews and even by certain Judeo- C'hristians, he was in thorough agreement with the official leaders of the Church at Jerusalem, and it is well known that the same official leaders positively approved his course of action in this regard (Acts, xv; Gal., ii). The real difference between him and them consisted in his fearlessness in preaching Christian freedom and in vindicating by his Epistles the neces- sity and efficiency of faith in Christ for justification and salvation independently of the " works of the Law ' ', that is, the great principles acknowledged and acted upon before him in the Christian Church. The result of his polemics was the sharp setting forth of the relation existing between Judaism and Christianity; in Christ's kingdom, only believing Jews and Gentiles recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (of. Matt., viii, 11); they are coheirs of the promise made to the father of all the faithful when he was yet uncircumcised; the Law and the Prophets are fulfilled in Christ and His body, the Church; the Gospel must be preached to all na- tions, and then the consummation shall come. The result of his consuming zeal for the .salvation of souls redeemed by the blood of Christ was the formation of religious communities bound together by the same faith, hope, and charity as the churches of Palestine, sharing in the same sacred mysteries, governed by pastors likewise vested with Christ's authority, and forming a vast Church organism vivified by the same Holy Spirit and clearly distinct from Judaism. Thus the small mustard seed planted by Jesus in Judea had grown into a great tree fully able to bear the storms of persecution and heresy (see Colossians, Epistle TO the; Ebionites; Gnosticism).

(3) Judaism since A. D. 70. — While Christianity thus asserted itself as the new Kingdom of God, the Jewish theocracy, guided by leaders unable "to know the signs of the times", was hastening to its total destruc- tion. The Romans came, and in a. d. 70 put an end forever to the Jewish Temple, priesthood, sacrifices, and nation, whereby it should have become clear to the Jews that their national worship was rejected of God. In point of fact, Judaism, shorn of these its essential features, soon "assumed an entirely new aspect. All the parties and sects of a former genera- tion vanished; Pharisees and Sadducees ceased to cjuarrel with each other; the Temple was supplanted by the synagogue, sacrifices by the prayer, the priest by any one who was able to read, teach, and interpret both the written and the oral law. The Sanhedrin lost its juridical cjualification, and became a consistory to advise people in regard to their religious duties. Judaism became a science, a philosophy, and ceased to lie a political institution" (Schindler, "Dissolving Views in the History of Judaism "). This new system, treated at first as simply provisional because of the surviving hope of restoring the Jewish commonwealth, had soon to be accepted as definitive through the crushing of Bar-Cochba's revolt by Hadrian. Then it was that Rabbinical or Talmudical Judaism fully asserted its authority over the two great groups of Jewish families east and west of the Euphrates re- spectively. For several centuries, under either the "Patriarchs of the West" or the " Princes of the Cap- tivity", the Mishna "Oral Teaching" completed by Rabbi Juda I, committed ultimately to writing in the form of the Jerusalem and Babylonian Talmuds (.see Talmud), and expounded by generations of teachers in the schools of Palestine and Ilabylonia, held undis- puted sway over the minds and consciences of the Jews.

In fact, this long acceptation of the Talmud by the Jewish race, before its centre was shifted from the East to the ^\'est, so impressed this Second Law

(Mishna) upon the hearts of the Jews that down to the present day Judaism has remained essentially Tal- mudical both in its theory and in its practice. It is indeed true that as early as the eighth century of our era the authority of the Talmud was denied in favour of Biblical supremacy by the sect of the Karaites, ancl that it has oftentimes since been questioned by other Jewish sects such as Judghanites, Kabbalists, Sab- batians, Chassidim (old and new), Frankists, etc. Nevertheless, these sects have all but disappeared and the supremacy of the Talmud is generally recognized. The most important religious division of Judaism at the present day is that between "Orthodox" and "Reform" Jews, with many subdivisions to which these names are more or less loosely applied. Ortho- do.x Judaism includes the greater part of the Jewish race. It distinctly admits the absolutely binding force of the oral Law as finally fi.xed in the "Shulhan Aruk" by Joseph Caro (sixteenth cent.). Its beliefs are set forth in the following thirteen articles, first compiled by Maimonides in the eleventh century: —

(a) I believe with a true and perfect faith that God is the creator (whose name be blessed), governor, and maker of all creatures; and that he hath wrought all things, worketh, and shall work forever, (b) I be- lieve with perfect faith that the creator (whose name be blessed) is one; that there is no unity like unto his in any way; and that he alone was, is, and will be our God. (c) I believe with a perfect faith that the creator (whose name be blessed) is incorporeal, that he has not any corporeal qualities, and that nothing can be compared unto him. (d) I believe with a perfect faith that the creator (whose name be blessed) was the first, and will be the last, (e) I believe with a perfect faith that the creator (whose name be blessed) is to be worshipped and none else, (f) I be- lieve with perfect faith that all the words of the proph- ets are true, (g) I believe with perfect faith that the prophecies of Moses our master (may he rest in peace) were true; that he was the father and chief of all prophets, both of those before him and those after him. (h) I believe with perfect faith that the Law, at present in our hands, is the same that was given to our master Moses (peace be with him), (i) I believe with perfect faith that this Law will not be changed, and that no other Law will be revealed by the creator (blessed be his name), (j) I believe with a perfect faith that Ciod (whose name be blessed) knows all the deeds of the sons of men and all their thoughts; as it is said: "He who hath formed their hearts altogether, he knoweth all their deeds", (k) I believe with a perfect faith that God (whose name be blessed) re- wards those who keep his commandments, and pun- ishes those who transgress them. (1) I believe with a perfect faith that the Messias will come; and although he tarries I wait nevertheless every day for his com- ing, (m) I believe with a perfect faith that there will be a resurrection of the dead, at the time when it shall please the creator (blessed be his name).

^\'ith regard to the future life. Orthodox Jews be- lieve, like the Universalists, in the ultimate salvation of all men; and like the CathoHcs, in the offering up of prayers for the souls of their departed friends. Their Divine worship does not admit of sacrifices; it con- sists in the reading of the Scriptures and in prayer. While they do not insist on attendance at the .syna- gogue, they enjoin all to say their prayers at home or in any place they chance to be, three times a day ; they repeat also blessings and particular praises to God at meals and on other occa.sions. In their morning de- votions they use their phylacteries and a praying scarf (lalith), except on Saturdays, when they use the talith only. The following are their principal festi- vals: — (i) Passover, on 14 Nisan, and lastmg eight days. On the evening before the feast, the first-born of every family observes a fast in remembrance of God's kindness to the nation. During the feast un-