commonwealth, hoped for deliverance from the fluctuating state of things and particularly from the evils of immorality, in accordance with the generally proclaimed oracles of the prophets. There can be no doubt, that this expectation of a kingdom of God which should arise out of Judaism, and be a very different thing from what others anticipated, was very prevalent, especially among the later Essenes. They preferred a still and quiet life of devotion, and served the public chiefly as peaceful counsellors and revered wise men. The spirit alone, the divine, the all sin-subduing spirit, could put an end to their calamities, burst the fetters of the law on the one hand, and of worldly mindedness on the other, and by his truth, bring not only the Jews but all the gentile world to an internal tranquillity; which their religious, in combination with worldly power or oppression, could not secure. These views, more or less matured, pervaded and animated a very considerable number of Jews, who waited only for the manifestation of God, in order to see the work of redemption in successful operation. Their aspirations for it increased, as the calamities multiplied. That such views were liable to abuse, resulted from the nature of the human mind. There arose one Theudas, who gave out that he was himself the Deliverer. So also one Simon, called the Sorcerer, shortly after this period. They however disappeared, and effected nothing. On the contrary, agreeably to the christian doctrine, (which the Jews flatly contradict,) true deliverance was wrought by that JESUS, who was born of Mary at Nazareth on the very year of Herod's death; in whom were perceived, at the time of his birth, all the indications of the future MESSIAS, or the Anointed, the Christ. With his entrance into the world, the christian doctrine, or the belief in a Redeemer already come, began to be more general among the class of Jews just described. Subsequently they found their expectations fully answered; and thus, though remaining outwardly Jews, they were in spirit separate from them. Up to this time, they were a constituent part of the Jewish community; and in them the ground of various agitations, or rather embarrassments, may be traced. The opposition between Judaism and Christianity first became manifest, after the founder of Christianity had finished his earthly course. Though his life, in itself considered, makes no conspicuous part of the Jewish history, we notice it here, for the sake of marking the principal points of the above mentioned self-evolving opposition, which in subse

quent times becomes of importance in the history of the Jews; but we pass no judgment on the numberless different expositions of the existing narrations and traditions, because it would lead us into the province of theological controversies.-Recognizing the sinfulness of men by nature as a fundamental principle, the Jews anxiously desired to find an atonement for sin. This was symbolized by sacrifices and by baptism. John surnamed the Baptist, born a little prior to Jesus, and also destined to a high calling, travelled up and down the wilderness, like the ancient prophets, proclaiming: "The kingdom of heaven draws near." Kindly greeting all who resorted to him, he baptized many in the Jordan, and preached repentance as a preparation for the coming of the Christ; whom moreover he recognized in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus also, honoring the national custom, received consecration from him. Exciting high expectations in his childhood, and astonishing people by his wisdom in discourse with the doctors of the law when twelve years old, he at the age of about thirty entered on his course as a public teacher. In Galilee his discourses had an overpowering influence, and soon his triumphant superiority in reasoning with the Pharisees and Sadducees in their own way, procured him the general esteem and veneration. The mentally diseased, often from mere internal conflicts exposed to exquisite pain, found relief by him; and other sufferings he was able to alleviate, by his healing word. After various miracles, which were beheld with amazement, but which did not so penetrate the soul as did his instructions, Jesus announced his vocation as the Christ, the Anointed one, the Saviour of the world, the Son of God, and in general, as the person foretold by the prophets under various attributes; and of course also as a king, yet not over an earthly realm, but over the spiritual world, which was to be new created. His friends who were in some uncertainty respecting his mysterious character, were at length brought gradually to the conviction, that he was the Deity himself, manifested in a human form. The Pharisees, who were advocates of the enlarged oral law, and especially of the expected glorious appearing at some time of a restorer of the commonwealth, saw in his denial of the holiness and atoning efficacy of certain precepts of the law, and in the announcement of his grand position, that redemption is to be sought for in a renovation of the soul, an entire prostration of their own system of doctrine. Although no one of the renowned doctors of Judaism

encountered him in debate, yet he had to answer a great many captious questions, and often to hear his doctrine branded as heresy. This occurred especially at Jerusalem, where his adversaries took occasion from certain expressions, to accuse hirn of treason; which the civil relations of the country easily. offered the means of doing. A Sanhedrim assembled under the Romish governor, Pontius Pilate, found him guilty; and Pilate, contrary to his own convictions, yielding to the urgency of the excited people, ordered him to be crucified. But the execution of the Sanhedrim's sentence, had an effect very different from that contemplated. The headlong procedure, in disregard of the usual forms of justice, strengthened and united his followers. They saw in the transaction, not merely the execution of an innocent person, but a conspiracy against the Deity, with which he was filled, and by whose spirit actuated, he, for the salvation of all, gave up his body to torture and contumely. From the period of Christ's crucifixion, his followers ceased to be Jews, and of course pass out of the province of our history into that of the church of Christ. The Jews themselves did not at the time view this transaction so important, as they must afterwards have found it to be.

Notwithstanding this separation of Christians from Jews, the doctrines of Christianity, which had once prevailed extensively among the Jews, continued to operate among them, and gave rise to several subordinate sects, such as the Ebionites and various others, which gradually drew off.*

Several important facts are brought out, in this chapter, which merit particular attention, as coming from a learned Jewish Rabbi, who has devoted his life to the investigation of such subjects, and who is considered by intelligent Jews as the most profound historian of the age. They are the following.

1. At the time our Savior was on earth, the religion of the Pharisees and doctors of the law, and of their numerous followers, actually was just such, as it is described in the New Testament. It was professedly founded on an oral law, handed down by tradition. It was confined very much to external acts of worship, such as praying and fasting, and to ceremonial observances. All its prescriptions fell under one or other of the six heads, of Seeds, Women, Festivals, Property, Things sacred, and Things clean and unclean. It considered the punctilious observance of ceremonial laws as so meritorious, that no other atonement for sin was necessary. It knew nothing of regeneration, or a change of heart; and it made little account of the moral conduct. It expected a Messiah of the house of David;

but it supposed he would be a restorer of the Jewish commonwealth, and a powerful worldly prince or king over their nation.

2. This system of religion was not the pure Judaism of the Old Testament Scriptures, or of Moses and the prophets, but it was the device of the Rabbis, Hillel, Shammai, and others, who lived in and near the period of Christ's advent. It was however, not brought to perfection in a single age. The Rabbis labored upon it for centuries; and, it being a system of their making, it is properly called Rabbinism. In the days of our Savior it was taught only by oral communication; and it was afterwards embodied in the Mishna, which being the text of the two Talmuds, is of course the basis of the prevailing modern Judaism. The first authors and projectors of this system, had, no doubt, honest intentions; but they swerved widely from the Holy Scriptures, and they and their followers have lived in an ideal world of their own creation, and most of them were enthusiasts in the proper sense of the term.

3. Besides this numerous party adhering to Rabbinism, there were, at the time of Christ's advent, a very considerable body of Jews, chiefly plain common people, unambitious of distinction, and standing aloof from the political agitations, who held very different sentiments, and viewed the whole system of Rabbinism as a mere tissue of external sanctity. They looked to the Spirit, the divine, the all sinsubduing spirit, as alone able to put an end to the public disorders, to reform the world, and to restore mankind to the lost favor of God. And accordingly, they were expecting a kingdom of God, a spiritual and holy kingdom, to arise out of Judaism, which should bless all nations. And as the times grew darker, and iniquity abounded, they became more and more ardent in their aspirations for the speedy appearance of this kingdom of God, for the advent of the Messiah, the manifestation of God, and the actual redemption of the world from sin. These views, more or less developed, spread widely among the Jews of that age, and especially among those who chose to live a still and quiet life of devotion, and to serve the public chiefly as pious monitors and revered pious men.-Hence,

4. Christianity in its great outlines, was no new religion to the Jews. Its fundamental doctrines had been known and extensively believed among them, before Christ came, though they became more general after his advent; and many of its prominent features lingered among them, after the separation of the followers of Christ from the Jewish church. It was in fact, taught by the ancient prophets, though obscurely; and it was from this source, that a knowledge of it was derived by the pious Israelites who died before Christ came.

5. Dr. Jost, though a Jew, delineates the character and the course of John the Baptist, and he describes the life, the preaching, the miracles, and the crucifixion of Christ, as fully as his limits would permit, and throughout, in perfect accordance with the statements of the four evangelists, from whom he probably borrowed his account.

Hence we infer, that in his view, the statements of the Evangelists are faithful and true, so far as facts are concerned, or that they are genuine and authentic history, and not spurious or fabricated accounts on which no reliance can be placed.

6. For the sake of distinctly marking the contrast-or " opposition," as he calls it-between Rabbinic Judaism and genuine or primitive Christianity, Dr. Jost states the following facts: viz.—The sinfulness or depravity of men by nature, was the great and fundamental principle of Christianity, or the assumed fact on which the whole system rested. And hence, regeneration by the Divine Spirit, or the necessity of a change of heart; the insufficiency of good works, or obedience to any law whatever, to secure the favor of God; and the necessity of an atonement for sin, in order to the salvation of men; are among the prominent and most distinguishing doctrines of Christianity. Jesus Christ, moreover, announced himself as the Son of God, and the Savior of the world. And immediately after his crucifixion, his disciples regarded him as being so filled with the Deity, that the conspiracy against him was, in fact, a conspiracy against the Deity himself; and they considered him as having voluntarily given up his body to torture and contumely, for the salvation of mankind. Such in its outline, was primitive Christianity, according to the finding of this learned and candid Jew, who professes to have carefully examined all the ancient records and traditions on the subject, and then, without canvassing" the numberless different expositions" of those documents, to have given us their plain obvious meaning, as it appeared to his unbiassed and penetrating mind.-Let those who profess themselves Christians, and yet discard any or all these doctrines, account for it if they can, that such a man should find them to be obviously the great and leading doctrines of Christianity, as it was taught by Christ himself, and received by his original followers and disciples.

ARTICLE X.

THE PHRASES BORN OF GOD,' AND 'BORN AGAIN,' IN THE NEW TESTAMENT.

By Rev. Samuel H. Cox, D. D. Pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, Brooklyn, N. Y.

No real believer in the Scriptural doctrine of regeneration, can doubt its importance; and every experienced disciple, or every genuine subject of the same, knows its reality. He may indeed doubt, sometimes, whether his own experience of it is