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Page 68
Having unburthened my mind upon this subject, and frankly
expressed my sentiments and feelings with regard to the character
of Jesus; I hope I may now be allowed (without incurring the
charge of maliciously exposing him, or the twelve apostles, to
reproach) to state my opinions with regard to the merit of the
moral maxims, ascribed to him and them, in the New Testament.
And I again caution the reader, that he is not obliged to lay to his,
or their, charge, the mischievous consequences that originated
from acting upon these maxims and principles, since it is by no
means impossible that they may have been falsely ascribed to him
and to them.
Now then, let us attend to the subject of the chapter, viz., the moral
maxims ascribed to Jesus. These moral maxims consist of 1st,
Those which were adopted by him from the Old Testament. 2d,
Those of which he himself is described as the author. With the
consideration of those of the first class I shall not trouble the
reader, but shall devote this chapter to the examination of those
which are supposed to have originated from him. These are, 1st, �
Do to others what you would that others should do to you.� 2d, �
Resist not the injurious person; but if a man smite thee on one
cheek, turn to him the other also.� 3d, If a man ask thy cloak, give
him thy coat also.� 4th, � If thou wouldest be perfect, sell all that
thou hast, and give to the poor; and come follow me.� 5th, � Unless
a man hate his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and
possessions, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.�
6th, � Take no thought for the morrow.�
With regard to the first of these maxims, it does not belong to
Jesus, as the author. It is found in the book of Tobit, chapter iv.
15, and it was a maxim well known to the Rabbins. It is found in
the Talmud verbatim. �What thou wouldest not have done to thee,
do not thou to another.� (Tal. Bab. Schabbat. fol. 31.) So also
Hillel addressed a proselyte thus, �What is hateful to thee, do not
thou to thy neighbour.� Several other expressions of Jesus were, it
appears from the Talmud, proverbial expressions in use among the
Jews. For instance, the original of that saying recorded Matthew
vii. 2. �With whatsoever measure ye mete,� &c., is found in the
Talmud of Babylon (Sanhedrim fol. 100, Sotah, chapter 4, 7, 8,9.)
�With whatsoever measure any one metes it shall be measured to
him. So also the original of that expression of �Cast out the beam
out of thine own eye, and then thou shalt see clearly to cast the
mote out of thy brother�s eye is to be found in the Talmud*.
What is called by Christians �the Lord�s Prayer,� is merely a few
clauses taken from Jewish prayers, and put together. Very many
instances of a similar nature to these might be produced; but, as I
must be brief, the reader is referred for further satisfaction to the
works of Lightfoot, where he will learn, by extracts from Jewish
writings, the source, and meaning of many more of the sayings of
Jesus.
I now proceed to the most disagreeable part of the subject, viz.:
The consideration of the other maxims mentioned, which, it must
be allowed, do belong to Jesus, or at least to the New Testament,
since they are the peculiar moral principles of Christianity, and the
honour of them can be challenged by, I believe, no other religion.
These precepts are so extremely hyperbolical, that they are not,
and cannot be perfectly observed by any Christian, who does not
detach himself completely from the business of society; and these
maxims, (which, as I said before, are the only parts of the morality
of the New Testament, which are not borrowed,) never have been
obeyed by any but the primitive Christians; and by the Monks, and
Anchorets; for even the Quakers and Shakers, eminent as they are
in Christian morality, have never been able to come quite up to the
self denial required by the New Testament.
Indeed, the moral maxims peculiar to Christianity are
impracticable, except by one who confines his wealth to the
possession of a suit of clothes, sad wooden platter, and who lives
in a cave, or a monastery. They bear the stamp of enthusiasm upon
their very front, and we have always seen, and ever shall see, that
they are not fit for man: that they lift him out of the sphere in
which God designed him to move; that they are useless to society,
and frequently produce the most dangerous consequences to it. In a
word, in these maxims we find commands, the fulfillment of
which, is impossible by any man who is a husband, a father, or a
citizen.
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