All this might be
expected perhaps from a well-instructed, cool, and judicious
philosopher, but was not to be looked for from an illiterate Jew;
certainly not from an impetuous enthusiast.
VI. Nothing could be more quibbling than were the comments and
expositions of the Jewish doctors at that time; nothing so puerile as
their distinctions. Their evasion of the fifth commandment, their
exposition of the law of oaths, are specimens of the bad taste in morals
which then prevailed. Whereas, in a numerous collection of our Saviour's
apophthegms, many of them referring to sundry precepts of the Jewish
law, there is not to be found one example of sophistry, or of false
subtlety, or of anything approaching thereunto.
VII. The national temper of the Jews was intolerant, narrow-minded, and
excluding. In Jesus, on the contrary, whether we regard his lessons or
his example, we see not only benevolence, but benevolence the most
enlarged and comprehensive. In the parable of the Good Samaritan, the
very point of the story is, that the person relieved by him was the
national and religious enemy of his benefactor.
Pages:
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359