love to God, the other, in de tailing the pleasures and enjoy ments of religion, might erect on this ample base that superstructure of joy and peace which is on earth the fairest emblem of the heavenly temple above, all whose "walls are salvation," and all whose "gates are praise." We feel sure that had we space for them, we could adduce quotations from the volume of Mr. Burder, which would greatly delight and benefit our readers, and justify the opinion we have expressed of his volume. Though a Dissenter, he has not made his work a vehicle for any sentiments but such as churchmen acknowledge in common with himself. The best of his Lectures are those which describe the Pleasures of Obedience to the Will of God; the Pleasures arising from the Exercise of the Affections in Religion; and the Pleasures of doing Good. From this last, we must, in justice to our author, give an extract; and, although we have occasionally to complain of him, as a writer, for the introduction in his sermons of weak stanzas from popular hymns a practice more common than edifying,-yet there are abundant specimens of strong and vigorous composition, and these in combination with a clear and sound and scriptural line of exposition. After remarking upon the universal extent of the Creator's benevolent operations, and the thousands of dependent beings who all wait upon him for continued communications of vitality and enjoyment, from the insect which feeds and dwells upon a single leaf, to the angel who wings his way from world to world, and whose existence it is his delight to render pleasurable, he proceeds to discover the same enjoyment in the bestowment above the reception of benefits, in the conduct of the Re deemer when on earth. "Was not this the sentiment which pervaded and animated the heart of the Friend of sinners, when to five thousand men, ready to faint with hunger, at a distance from their homes, he supplied a full when to the woman who seemed but littlé repast; although no miracle would he per form for his own relief, when subject to the cravings of hunger, after an abstinence of forty days? Was not this the sentiment by which he was actuated at Jacob's Well, disposed to grant the only request of Jesus for personal refreshment recorded in the history of his life, he said, "If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith unto thee, Give me to drink, thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given THEE living water? Was not heart under his overwhelming agony in the garden, and under the piercing torture of the cross? Was it not from the consi deration of the joy set before him-the joy of imparting eternal happiness to myriads ready to perish that he endured the cross, despising the shame? Is not this the sentiment which he still retains and cherishes on his throne of glory, disposing him to grant the most ample and torial fulness, to every member of his mysgracious communications, from his mediatical body resident on earth, and rendering it still more delightful to his benignant spirit, to pour the full tide of ineffable delight into the hearts of the redeemed above?" Burder, pp. 193, 194. this the sentiment which sustained his He then describes this principle as in complete array against those dictates of natural selfishness on which the majority of mankind appear to act-" Let us obtain from others as many advantages, and return as few as possible." And after urging the position that we love those to whom we do good, even more than those who do good to us, he gives a peculiarly striking illustration of his remark. "If you would form a vivid conception of the delight of benignant love, when its object is most deserving, attempt to ima gine the emotions of that angelic messenger who was commissioned to descend with rapid flight to the scene of the Redeemer's anguish in Gethsemane, and to strengthen him for the endurance of his agony. tenderness, with what assiduity, with what With what veneration, with what gratitude, with what delight must he have rendered the best services of an angel excelling in strength!' Must not the honour and the happiness thus enjoyed have had the effect of inspiring that seraph with a still warmer attachment to the Redeemer than he could possibly have che rished before, and with a still deeper interest in every part of that wondrous and glorious enterprise which angels delight to contemplate: thus expanding his capacities of delight, and augmenting the blessedness of his eternity? A kindred delight we may suppose to have been tasted by those female disciples of Galilee, who, with attached and devoted hearts, ministered to the Lord Jesus of their substance. Highly favoured were they by their Saviour when he received the offerings of their love; and perhaps it was one part of his generous intention, in being thus indebted to their aid, that they should thus taste of that pure and refined delight which was the aliment of his soul of love, and that, under circumstances most endearing, they should learn that it is more blessed to give than to receive.'" Burder, pp. 197, 198. we have maintained intercourse in all the walks of commerce, from the highest to the lowest, with a people who hold our religion in the utmost abhorrence, and yet profess to worship Him whom we acknowledge as the only true God; and did not experience teach us the contrary, we should suppose that they were objects of unceasing interest and inquiry to the Christian and the philosopher, because their present condition, their past history, and their national literature, are all alike calculated to excite the commiseration of the one, and to call forth the investigation of the other. The antiquities, geology, and traditions of our country have occupied the attention of literary and scientific men, while a subject daily pressed upon our notice, and certainly well capable of repaying our researches, has been very generally neglected; and what is still more extraordinary, a Christian community has disregarded the moral and religious condition of an outcast people to whom they owe infinite obligations, to whom were entrusted the oracles of God, and "of whom, as concerning the flesh, Christ came, who is over all God blessed for ever." The Bible alone satisfactorily ac counts for these things: it denounced against rebellious Israel, that she should dwell in the land of "her enemies ;" and an enemy has every nation of Christendom proved in its turn to this long-exiled race. 4 From the days of Justin Martyr, the controversy between Christians and the Jews has been carried on with more or less vigour. When the members of the Church of Rome took part in it, they were usually the assailants; and they made a most unfair use of the power which, in some countries, they had over the press, by suppressing or mutilating the publications of their adversaries. In the Bibles and tracts which learned Jews printed in Spain and Italy, in the infancy of the art, all passages which reflected on Chris tianity were altered or erased; and no copy could be exposed to sale until the signature of an inquisitorial censor had certified that the proper revision had taken place. In consequence of the greater liberality which prevailed among the members of the Reformed Church, after a short time the principal works on the Jews' side were printed and published in the north of Europe. The popish party engaged in this controversy under peculiar disadvantages; for the Jews could, in many cases, retort upon them the usages of their own church; and on this account the learned author of the Pugio Fidei, was obliged to write a treatise on the difference between Jewish and Papal traditions. While he and his brethren maintained that Christianity did not contravene the Mosaic Law, their own practice, in the worship of images, appeared to their opponents a decided proof to the contrary; and we may feel assured that no conscientious and reflecting Jew could embrace Christianity under the form in which it is presented by the Church of Rome. The conversions said to have taken place in Spain and Portugal were merely of a political kind, and the supposed converts repaired continually to Amsterdam, to renew and perpetuate their connexion with the Jewish Church: nay, it is credibly attested, that many, even of the clergy, in those countries were concealed Jews. The Reformed Church, having abandoned those corruptions which tended to multiply objections against Christianity, met their Jewish adversaries on more equitable ground. They disclaimed persecution; they left the press unrestricted; and sought no arguments but what the Scriptures supplied. The writings of the Dutch and German divines and rabbies will therefore be found to present the fairest view of the controversy between Jews and Christians, which, when freed from all extraneous matter, involves in it two questions, the first, rela tive to the interpretation of certain predictions in the Old Testament— the second, to passages in the New that seem to contradict the Old. So thoroughly have these questions been formerly discussed, that nothing new has been introduced into the more modern controversy. The points we must still canvass with our Jewish opponents are, whether particular predictions belong to Messiah, or to some one else; whether that future advent at which prophecies confessedly relating to him are to be fulfilled, be his first or second; and how far certain facts and doctrines contained in the New Testament are contradictory to the Old. The discussion of these topics has been revived by the friends of the London Society for promoting Christian Knowledge among the Jews; the works on the Christian side of this question being published either by that Society or its accredited advocates. The translation of the New Testament into Biblical Hebrew is the great work of this institution, and affords the surest and best mode of leading the Jews to a knowledge of Christianity. Soon after the revival of Hebrew literature in the Christian church, the celebrated Munster published a Hebrew Testament, which has been reprinted twice in England: it is, however, critically speaking, more a Chaldee than a Hebrew version. The language of the work before us professes to be as close an approximation as possible to the language and idiom of Moses and the Prophets; and many learned Jews, we understand, have admitted its critical excellence. Agents employed by other religious societies have stated that the continental Jews seek for it with eagerness, and that it is highly acceptable to them, on account of the peculiar value which they set on every thing written in Nor need we their holy tongue. be surprised at the attachment which the Jews all over the world exhibit to their original language; a language which Christians justly the Hebrew idiom, urgent neces- venerate as one of those chosen by היהי, איש עשיך : communion with their honoured rather run thus ונלבוש תולע וסדין הוא והתעדן בערנות forefathers. The Jews' Society has certainly acted wisely in undertaking to prepare a version de novo, rather than in reprinting that of Munster. In accomplishing their object, they must have had many difficulties to encounter; but they have surmounted them in a manner that reflects the greatest credit upon their labours. Indeed, we may say that they have been wonderfully successful, considering the nature of their attempt: though, doubtless, the work contains some blemishes, which may be removed in subsequent editions. We shall point out a few passages which have struck us in looking through the Gospel of St. Luke, as needing emendation. We of course do not profess to have gone regularly through the volume. Luke xii. 15.-For a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things he possesseth, is ren ; כי לא במותר קנין האיש חיים,dered The quotations from the Old Testament have been rendered according to the Greek text. The case was certainly one of difficulty; and much might be said in favour of the practice of other translators, who substituted the Hebrew original of such quotations in the place of a literal translation of the Greek. We are of opinion, however, that the authors of this Hebrew version judged rightly: their business was to render the Greek text into Hebrew; and, if there were discrepancies between the quotations and the original, to reconcile them belongs to the Biblical critic, not to the translator. With reference to one of these quotations-that in Rom. iii. 14, 15. -it may be worth while to remark, that the margin of some Hebrew MSS. of the Psalms, contains the words quoted in the following order, אשר פיהם אלה ומרה מלא קלו רגליהם לשפך דם. than that exhibited in the Hebrew מקנינו כי, ברבה איש לא חי לי : idiom we should prefer the following, as more consonant to the Biblical This collocation of words is better In the next verse, w would be a better rendering of "ground" than . In ver 33, D is more properly a Moth, than 8. Chap. xiii. 6, "A certain man had a fig-tree planted in his vineyard," is ill rendered by 1972 MINN YD) W's; Testament. There is a passage which seems to us not fairly rendered, because it is rendered so as to support our side of the question, without giving the Jews the advantage of the ambiguity of the original: we allude to "And the disciples were called of God, Christians first : 26 .Acts ii היהי איש אחד,it would be better .אשר לו תאנה בכרמו שתולה In called "The Generation of Jesus,' which pretends to give a true account of the resurrection. Here, as before, Mr. Hamilton shews that the arguments of the Jews are, in principle, the same as ours; and that we reject the rabbinical fables respecting the resurrection, and adhere to the Gospel narrative, for precisely the same reasons which have induced them to reject the testimony of Tacitus, as contradicting the veracity of Moses. The conclusion of the Letter affords the following brief summary of the ar gument. at Antioch." We are aware that the original term does sometimes, but it does not always, imply a Divine communication: there is, therefore, á petitio principii in assuming that the name Christian was bestowed on the followers of Christ by Divine authority. This passage has not escaped the notice of the Jews. But we have no wish to pursue this minute criticism in reference to a work which, as a whole, is allowed to reflect great literary credit upon the translators; and we doubt not the Jews' Society has friends and agents fully competent to proceed through out with the necessary emendations. But, in order to instruct the Jews in the true nature of Christianity, it is necessary not only to give them the New Testament, but also to offer them proofs of its Divine Authority. Though many of them are Deists and reject all revelation, yet we have a right to argue with them as believers in the Divine authority of the Old Testament; and happily we can shew them that the inspiration of the New Testament is demonstrable on the same grounds as that of the Old. Mr. Hamilton, the highly respectable writer of the Letter to Rabbi Hirschell, mentions this point: he has selected two facts, the Exodus, and the Resurrection of Christ; one connected with the Jewish, the other with the Christian dispensation. To prove the truth of the Exodus, he quotes largely from David Levi's Answer to Paine, and shews that the principle of Levi's arguments may be applied with equal force in proof of the resurrection of Christ; and that by them the Evangelists, like Moses, may be vindicated from the charge of either enthusiasm or imposture. After comparing the true accounts of these facts, and weighing the evidences for them, he notices the false statement which occurs respecting them, in works laying no claim to inspiration; namely, in Tacitus, who notices the emigration of the Israelites; and in a rabbinical tract "I have now, sir, examined in detail that evidence which we both admit to be deci sive in favour of the truth of the Exodus, posed on the persons who lived at the "I have designedly confined myself to one fact, and to one species of evidence; but I assert, without fear of contradiction, that you cannot use any argument to prove the inspiration of Moses, and the truth of his writings, which cannot be advanced against yourselves to prove that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah. It is a mere petitio principii, what is vulgarly called must be true, because it confirms what has begging the question, to say that the Exodus other proofs of a divine origin; but that the resurrection cannot be true, because it professes to confirm doctrines, otherwise proved to be false. The falsehood of these doctrines you think sufficiently established by their being contradictory to the Mosaic Law, which we all allow to be of Divine authority. I shall not enter into this question further than to deny the position that Christianity contradicts the Mosaic Law in the sense in which you understand it; but I may fairly ask you why a false doctrine |