Such were the rites and customs of the Jews."
"But still, rites and observances were practised by the heathen, which
ceremonies ye acknowledge to have been false and impious, yet their
followers worshipped and slid their neck into the yoke as readily as thy
favourite Hebrews, who are proverbially rogues and cheats in the
estimation even of infidels themselves."
"Ay, but impostors appeal not to facts, to eye-witnesses of some event,
confirming and attesting the authority of their mission. Moses could not
have persuaded half-a-million of persons that he had brought them
through the Red Sea, fed them forty years with manna in the wilderness,
and performed many other miracles during their journey, had not the
facts been well known; and down to this day the rites and ceremonies of
the Jews are, in consequence, linked to these main facts as securely as
though we ourselves had formed the first series of the chain,
eye-witnesses to the miracles they attest. Again, the books of Moses
expressly represent that they are the great history and transcript of
the Jewish law, and speak of their being delivered by him and kept in
the ark from his time; likewise they are commanded to be read at stated
periods, and to be taught from father to son throughout all generations,
to the end that no imposition might be practised.
Pages:
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331