Being be comprehended, not discovered, by the intellect; therefore do we repeatedly meet with the injunction to "know God." Human intelligence did not first find Him, but received Him by means of revelation. The whole truth of Mosaism thus demands a divine revelation, which revelation is explained previously by the declaration of the creation of man in the image of God. In demanding that fact, revelation declares its possibility.

Were I here, my friends, to give not only a history, but arguments in proof of Judaism, I should have to answer a number of objections to which the so-called rational view of the subject would at this point give rise. But I have to adhere strictly to history, by which, perhaps, in its course, these unsolved remaining questions will be best answered. In this place I desired only to prove by means of Mosaism itself, the absolute necessity of Revelation to Mosaism.

We have therefore clearly defined the doctrine of God as declared in Mosaism, in contradistinction to the dualistic systems of antiquity. Mosaism proclaimed :— 1. God is absolute Being.

2. The world is His creation, in which the universal by degrees becomes special.

3. God is superior to and beyond the world, one and alone, incorporeal, holy, eternal, omnipresent and omnipotent.

4. Man is the unity of body and spirit; his spirit created in the image of God, with the destination of ever nearer approximation to God, free and self-determining, with the possibility of sin.

5. God is in direct relation to man, in that He conducts him towards perfection, is judge of his actions, the consequences of which He permits to appear; but

E

cancels the guilt of the penitent, and has revealed to him the truth.

This is the religious idea,' as Mosaism introduced it into the world, which, notwithstanding continued antagonism, has ever since been extending its dominion over mankind. The unity of God; the unity of the world; the unity of man: the indirect relation of God to the world by virtue of nature's laws; His direct relation to man, by providence, judgment, and revelation.

51

LECTURE III.

ON THE SOCIAL MORALITY OF MOSAISM.

In our examination of the morality of the social constitution of Mosaism, we must direct our attention especially to two points-1st. It establishes that man, in all his relations, is a unity, and that each of his component parts, having one and the same point of departure, is to be collaterally and equally developed. Further, the ideal in Mosaism differs not from the real, nor the doctrine from the life, nor the cultivation of head and heart from the line of action. By firmly establishing these first principles, Mosaism clears the road, by which their realisation may be attempted and achieved. Therefore all extremes, that would force human effort beyond the limit of human power and capacity, are foreign to, and unknown in, Mosaism. In it religion is not a thing apart from life here,' on earth, an ideal world, into which man retires, and in which he abstracts himself for an hour's brief space, and whence he emerges, without substantial or direct guidance, to re-enter the actual world of men, wherein all appears to contradict that ideal world of religion.

On the contrary, in Mosaism the entire life is religion, and religion is the entire life out of it, a religious

'Here' is to issue; therefore it does not merely treat of, but actually develops out of itself, alike morality and the law of society, alike virtue and right.

2. As Mosaism was addressed originally to one particular race, under particular circumstances, and at a certain period of the world's history, it not only establishes general fixed principles, but invests them in certain specific ordinances (a garb suited to the age and people), forming a comprehensive code of national laws, from which we have to extract the essential general thoughts and purport. For the attainment of this end, we must now often depart from the Mosaic letter, in order to seize the Mosaic spirit. We should further lay down two rules for our guidance in the performance of our task, viz.-We must carefully deduce the general design from the specific provisions; and, secondly, time and circumstances being duly weighed, we must discard that, and that only, which appertains exclusively to them-we must faithfully adhere to, and retain that, which appertains equally to all times and circumstances.

What, then, is the leading and highest principle of morals in Mosaism? It declares man to be created in the image of God; therefore is the deduction manifest, that the command, "Ye shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy,"* is the first and highest principle of Mosaic morality. From this first principle three conclusions may be drawn

1. Mosaism places the ground-work of all good, not in man, but in God. Hence what is good in God is good in man also; and man shall do good, because it is good in the sight of God. By these axioms incalculably much is achieved. In the first place, all human doubts

3 Mos. 19. 2.

and uncertainty are dispelled. By these means alone, in fact, we clearly perceive and know what is good, since from God only all individuality is absent; in Him alone no egotism can exist. In the second place, the aim of the good is fully determined, that aim being declared to be, not contentment (after all, but a refined egotism), but approximation to God.

2. Formal, external sanctification cannot here be the matter in question, the holiness of man being referred to the holiness of God. This sanctification is not to be effected by the ceremonial of religion: it is not an act of divine worship, but the life practical and spiritual, since in the sight of God, in no forms, but in attributes and deeds, consists "holiness." In accordance with this principle, the sanctification of the life and the spirit constitutes man's "holiness."

3. This principle again comprehends that of the unity of man. Religious morality and social life are not presented to us in Mosaism, as distinct entities, having an ideal, but not a real and intimate union; on the contrary, holiness includes them all, for this godlike holiness admits not of religion without morality, nor of morality without social virtue, but requires that the same character prevail throughout all these phases of life.

Let us now examine this Holiness in the minutest details in which it has reference to the individual relations of every human being, and we shall perceive that in Mosaism man is universally an independent selfdetermining creature, a being endued with independent natural powers and rights. Mosaism in no way requires of man self-abnegation, the sacrifice of his individuality; on the contrary, it elevates that individuality to its