fhews that they had no true notion of them. Thus much is certain, that there was a great conformity between the Effenes and Pythagoreans; as there was between the Sadducees and Epicureans; and the Pharifees and Stoicks (*). There is frequent mention of Profelytes in the New Of the Profelytės. Teftament, and therefore it will be proper to add here a word or two about them. They were heathens that embraced the Jewish Religion, either in whole, or in part, for there were two forts of them. Some were called the profelytes of habitation, or of the gate, because they were allowed an habitation among the children of Ifrael, and were permitted to live within their gates. These were not obliged to receive or oblerve the ceremonial law, but only to forfake idolatry, and to obferve the feven precepts, which, as the Thalmudifts pretend, God gave to Adam, and afterwards to Noah, who tranfmitted them to pofterity. The ift of those precepts forbids idolatry, and the worshipping of the fars in particular. The 2d recommends the fear of God. The 31 forbids murder. The 4th adultery. The 5th theft. The 6th enjoins refpect and veneration for magistrates; and the 7th condemns eating of ftefh with the blood. This lait, the Rabbins tell us, was added after God had permitted Noah to eat the flesh of animals. Of this kind of profelytes are fuppofed to have been Naaman the Syrian, the eunuch be ¡ longing to Candace queen of Ethiopia, Cornelius, Nicholas of Antioch, and feveral others mentioned in the A&ts. Thefe profelytes were not I looked upon as Jews, and therefore it doth not appear that there was any ceremony performed at their admiffion. Maimonides exprefly fays, that they were not baptized. The other profelytes were called profelytes of the covenant, because they were received into the covenant of God by circumcifion, which was named the blood of the covenant, becaufe, according to St. Paul (b), men by it were bound to obferve the ceremonial law. They were otherwise called profelytes of righteousness, on account of their acknowledging and obferving the whole ceremonial law, to which the Jews and the Pharifees in particular, attributed the caufe of our being accounted righteous before God, as we have observed in our preface and notes on St. Paul's epiftle to the Romans. The profelytes were alfo ftiled the drawn, to which JESUS CHRIST undoubtedly alluded when he faid (i), No man can come to me, except the Father which hath fent me draw him; meaning thereby that his difciples were drawn by quite other bands or motives than were thofe of the Pharifees. There were three ceremonies performed at their admiffion: the firft was circumcifion; the fecond was baptifin, which was done by dipping the whole body of the profelyte in water (k). The origin of the ceremony of baptifm is intirely unknown, because it is not spoken of in fcripture, when mention is made of those strangers, which embraced the Jewish religion (1); nor in Jofephus (m), when he relates *For a full and particular account of each of thefe fects, See Dr. Pridéaux, Con. Part II. B. v. under the year 107. (b) Gal. v. 3. (i) John vi. 44. (k) Maim. de proselyt. (m) Jof. Antiq. I. xiii. c. 17. N 4 relates how Hyrcanus obliged the Idumeans to turn Jews. The Rabbins will have it to be of a very ancient date. Some of them carry it up as high as the time of Moses. And St. Paul seems to have been of the fame opinion, when he faith that the "Ifraelites were baptized unto Mofes (n)." But after all, as the children of Ifrael were not profelytes, though they had been guilty of idolatry in Egypt, the words of St. Paul cannot admit of any other than a figurative fenfe. The baptifm of profelytes may then very properly be faid to have owed its rife to the Pharifees, who had very much augmented the number of purifications and wafhings. It is manifest from the gofpel, that it was ufual among the Jews, to admit men to the profeflion of a doctrine by baptifm. For the Pharifees do not find fault with John's baptifm, but only blame him for baptizing when he was neither the Meffiah, nor Elias, nor that prophet. When therefore this fore-runner of the Meffiah baptized fuch perfons as he difpofed and prepared to receive him, he did no more than practise a thing that was common among the Jews, but his baptifm was confecrated and authorized by a voice from heaven (o). The profelytes were baptized in the prefence of three persons of diftinction, who stood as witneffes. To this Jefus Chrift feems to allude, when he ordered his difciples to "baptize in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghoft;" and St. John, when he speaks of the three witneffes of the Chriftian religion (p). The profelyte was afked, whether he did not embrace that religion upon fome worldly view; whether he was fully refolved to keep and obferve the commandments of God; and whether he repented of his past life and actions? John the Baptift did exactly the fame to the Pharifees and Sadducees that came to his baptifm (g). Maimonides relates, that the miferies and perfecutions which the Jewifh nation was then expofed to, were alfo reprefented to the profelyte, that he might not rafhly embrace their religion. Je fus Chrift dealt almoft in the fame manner with the fcribe, who was willing to become his difciple (r). When the profelyte had answered all the questions that were put to him, he was inftructed in the principal articles and duties of religion, and the rewards and punishments annexed to the breach or obfervance of them in the world to come, that is, eternal life and death. It is evident from the question which the young man in the gofpel put to Jefus Chrift (s), "Lord, what fhall I do that I may inherit eternal life?" that this truth was already acknowledged and received among the Jews. It is upon the account of these inftructions that were given to profclytes before their being baptized, that the word baptifm is fometimes taken in fcripture for the inftructions themselves, and that to baptize in fome places fignifies to teach, or make difciples. For this very reafon undoubtedly it was, that baptifm is by fome ancient writers ftiled enlightning. The third ceremony performed at the admiffion of a profelyte, was a facrifice, which generally confifted of two turtle-doves, and two young pigeons. pigeons. When the profelyte had gone through all these ceremonies, he was looked upon as a new-born infant; he received a new name, and no longer owned any relations in the world. To this there are frequent allufions in the New Teftament (t). Such a profelyte was thenceforward reckoned a Jew, from whence it appears, that when we find in the Acts the Jews diftinguished from the profelytes (u), it is to be understood of the profelytes of the gate, and not of those of righteousness. But though they were looked upon as Jews, yet it is manifeft from the thalmudical writings, that they were admitted to no office, and were treated with great contempt. Which was a moft inexcufable piece of injuftice, efpecially from the Pharifees, who being extremely zealous in making profelytes (x), ought in all reafon to have dealt gently and kindly with them, for fear of creating in them an averfion to their religion. Of the Holy Things. THE HE oblations and facrifices of the Jews, deferve to be fet at the head of their holy things. It is evident from the offerings of Cain and Abel, that facrificing is as ancient as the world. It is not well known whether they offered thofe facrifices by the pofitive command of God, or of their own accord; reafon and religion teaching them that nothing could be more juft, than for them to profefs fome gratitude to their munificent benefactor for the manifold advantages they received from his bountiful hand. This last opinion is the most probable for the following reafons: 1. Had God given any fuch command, the facred hiftorian would undoubtedly have mentioned it. 2. Though God had appointed facrifices under the law, yet it appears from feveral paffages of the Old Teftament, that he had inftituted them, not because this kind of worship was in itfelf acceptable to him, but for fome other wife reafons; either because it was a fhadow of things to come, or elfe adapted to the circumstances of the people of Ifrael. He even faith exprefsly by his prophet Jeremiah (a), that in the day when he brought the children of Ifrael out of Egypt, he gave them no commandment concerning burnt-offerings and facrifices. Now it is not at all probable that God would have spoken in that manner concerning facrifices, if he had enjoined them to the first inhabitants of the world immediately after the creation. 3. If facrificing had been ordained from the beginning, as a worship acceptable to God in itself, it would not have been annulled by the gofpel. This annulling of it manifeftly fhews, that the end and defign of the facrifices (t) John iii. 3. Luke xiv, 26. 2 Cor. v. 16, 17. 1 Pet. ii. 2. (*) Acts ii. 10, xiii. 43• (x) Matth. xxiii, 15. under (a) Jer. vij. 22. under the law ceafing upon the coming of Jefus Chrift, whofe death and facrifice was typified by thofe facrifices, as St. Paul teaches us, the gofpel brought men back to a spiritual service, and to the religion of the mind. The author of the epiftle to the Hebrews fays indeed (b), that "by faith Abel offered to God amore excellent facrifice than Cain ;" but this very paffage may ferve to prove, that God did not enjoin facrifices to the first men. For if by faith we were to understand obedience to the revealed will of God, the facred writer might have said it of Cain as well as of Abel, fince they had both of them the fame revelation. It is then plain, that by faith here we are to understand that good difpofition of a grateful mind, which being fully perfuaded that God rewards piety, freely offers to him the first fruits of the benefits which it hath received from him, as we have obferved in our note on that place. This was a natural and a reasonable service, especially in the infancy of the world, when mankind had not perhaps a true notion of the nature of the fupreme being. This hath been the opinion of the greatest part of the Jewish doctors, and of the ancient fathers of the church. But how true it is, we fhall not go about to determine.. However it be, it is certain that the facrifices of the law were of divine inftitution. Befides their being figures of things to come, as we are affured in the gospel they were; God's defign in appointing them was moreover to tie up the people of Ifrael to his fervice, by a particular kind of worship, but which fhould not be very different from what they had been used to; and also to turn them from idolatry, and to keep them employed, that they might have no leifure of inventing a new kind of worship. And indeed if we reflect upon the great quantity, and prodigious variety of the facrifices of the law, as well as upon the vaft number of ceremonies that were enjoined, we fhall have no reason of wondering at what St. Peter fays, Acts xv. 10. their The Jewith doctors have diftinguished the facrifices into so many different forts, that the following their method could not but be tedious and ungrateful to the reader. We shall therefore juft touch upon general divifions. They have divided them into facrifices properly, and facrifices improperly fo called; the last were fo named, because though they were confecrated to God, yet they were not offered upon the altar, nor even in the temple. Such were, 1. The fparrows, or two clean birds that were offered by the priest in the houses of the lepers for their cleansing, by facrificing one, and letting the other go (c). 2. We may rank among thefe the heifer, whofe head was ftruck off to expiate a murder, the author of which was unknown (d). 3. As alfo the red heifer that was burned by the priest without the camp; whofe afhes were faved to put in the water, wherewith those that had been defiled, by touching a dead body, were wont to purify themselves (e). 4. And laftly, (b) Hebr. xi. 4. (e) Levit. xiv. 49, 50, &c. Concerning thefe ceremonies, fee Spencer of the Jewish ceremonies, Dif. 1. ii. 15. and iii. 10. (d) Deut. xxi. (c) Num, xix. 2. laftly, the Azazel, or (*) fcape-goat, which was fent into the wilderness loaded with the fins of the people (f). As for the facrifices properly fo called, and known by the general name of corban, that is, a holy gift, they may be divided into two general parts; into bloody or animate, and into unbloody or inanimate facrifices. The firft were of three forts, viz. whole burnt-offerings, fin-offerings, and peaceofferings. Some were publick, and others private; there were fome appointed for the fabbaths, the folemn feafts, and for extraordinary cafes or emergencies. Before we give a particular account of each of them, it will be proper to fet down what was common to them all. 1. Sacrifices in general were holy offerings, but the publick ones were holiest. 2. It was unlawful to facrifice any where but in the temple. 3. All facrifices were to be offered in the day-time, never in the night. 4. There were only five forts of animals which could be offered up, namely, oxen, fheep, goats; and among birds, pigeons and turtle-doves. All thefe animals were to be perfect, that is, without fpot or blemish. Certain ceremonies were obferved in every facrifice, fome of which were performed by those that offered it, as the laying their hands on the head of the victim, killing, flaying, and cutting it in pieces, and washing the entrails of it; others were to be done by the priests, as receiving the blood in a veffel appointed for that ufe, fprinkling it upon the altar, which was the most effential part of the facrifice, lighting the fire, fetting the wood in order upon the altar, and laying the parts of the victim upon it. 6. All facrifices were falted. 5. Whole burnt offerings. (*) A holocauft, or whole burnt-offering, was the most excellent of all the facrifices, fince it was all confecrated to God, the victim being wholly confumed upon the altar; whereas fome parts of the others belonged to the priests then upon duty, and thofe that had offered the victim. Accordingly it is one of the most ancient, fince we find it offered by Noah, and Abraham, but with what ceremonies is unknown, and alfo by Job, and Jethro the father-in-law of Mofes (g) It is commonly fuppofed that Cain and Abel also offered this kind of facrifice, which was chiefly intended as an acknowledgment to almighty God, confidered as the creator, governor, and preferver of all things; and this undoubtedly was the reason why no part of it was referved. This facrifice was notwithstanding offered upon other publick and private occafions, as to return God thanks for his benefits, to beg a favour from him, or atone for fome offence or pollution. Whole burnt-offerings, like the other facrifices, were either publick or private. The fame animals were offered in thefe, as in the reft (*) The learned are not agreed about the meaning of the word azazel. According to fome, it was the name of a mountain. According to others, it fignifies going, or fent away. Others will have it to mean a devil. Concerning this goat, fee Dr. Prideaux Conn. P. II. B. I. near the beginning. (f) Lev, xvi. 8. (*) The Greek word holocauft (konator) fignifies what is entirely confumed by fire. Phil. de Vict. p. 648. g) Gen. viii. 20. xxii. 13. Job. i. 5. |