V LEER'S SYSTEI OF TUPOLOCY OF THE G.D SENAGOGUE OF PALESTINE. dens ་ Jadelsm, and the To those works may the ado the import f Joseph All, waletea by 14%, and the treatise My Weiss, both bela, ing to the present century. ing the works on Juloi n written from a Claistien plot and a devase of the faith, ay be 7 ne Fine" by Rayra? Martini, accom nied by J. de Voisin, and publi bed, with an Lascar 1 CURTHI SERIES, VOL. XXXIV.—-1 METHODIST QUARTERLY REVIEW. JANUARY, 1882. WEBER'S SYSTEM OF THEOLOGY OF THE OLD SYNAGOGUE OF PALESTINE. [FIRST ARTICLE.] System der Altsynagogalen Palüstinischen Theologie aus Targum, Midrash, und Talmud Dargestellt, von Dr. FERDINAND WEBER, Pfarrer in Polsingen, Mittelfranken. Nach des Verfassers Tode Herausgegeben von FRANZ DELITZSCH und GEORG SCHNEDERMANN. Pp. xxxiv and 399. Leipsic: Dörffling & Franke. 1880. THE book placed at the head of this article is the only thorough and systematic work that has ever been published on the Theology of the Ancient Jews. Few, indeed, are the works which, to any great extent, cover the same ground. The first writer who published an account of the Jewish System of Faith was R. Saadia Gaon, of Upper Egypt, in the first part of the tenth century. In the twelfth century appeared the book "Kusari," written by Judah Hallevi in defense of Judaism, and the treatise "More Nebochim" of Maimonides, on the doctrines of the Jews. To these works may be added the important treatise of Joseph Albo, written in 1425, and the treatise of Fürst on the Karaïtes, and "The History of Jewish Tradition," by Weiss, both belonging to the present century. Among the works on Judaism written from a Christian stand-point and in defense of the faith, may be named the "Pugio Fidei," by Raymund Martini, accompanied with remarks by J. de Voisin, and published, with an Introduction to the Jewish Theology, by Benedict Carpzov, Leipsic, 1687. In FOURTH SERIES, VOL. XXXIV.-1 the same century (seventeenth) Helvicus wrote "Systema Controversiarum Theologicarum quae Christianis cum Judæis intercedunt, octo elenchis comprehensum." Joseph de Voisin composed "Theologia Judaica." Wagenseil also published, against the Jews, "Telea ignea Satanæ," and A. Pfeiffer wrote against them a polemic work. This was followed by Eisenmenger's "Judaism Unveiled," published in 1700; and by a work of Majus on the "Theology of the Jews." Bodenschatz, in 1748-49, published a work on "Modern Judaism," more free from prejudice than the preceding ones. Dr. Weber characterizes the older polemic works against the Jews-so far as the representation of Jewish doctrine is concerned-as without scientific value. "They are far more collections of all possible absurdities and frivolities than historical representations of religion. And even where this is not the case, the sources are used without any criticism. . . . It is, therefore, to be lamented that, apart from men like Delitzsch, Wünsche, and a few others, not more attention and study of the sources have been given to the Jewish theology, from a Christian scientific side, in our time." Dr. Ferdinand Weber, a Christian pastor, by devoting himself twenty years to the study of the oldest Jewish writings, fully prepared himself for the great task of presenting to the Christian world-and, we may add, to the Jewish—a faithful, clear, and systematic view of the doctrines of the ancient Jewish Synagogue. In the sickness which terminated in his death, July 10, 1879, the author committed the publication of his work to the distinguished scholar, Dr. Delitzsch, who highly commends the work. The utility of such a work is not to be called in question, as it is certainly of the highest importance to us to know what were the theological and ethical views of the Palestinian Jews in the time of Christ. For, without this knowledge, it is impossible for us to see in Christ's teaching the points of doctrine that coincide with the Jewish system, or diverge from it, and to ascertain how far the doctrines of the great Founder of Christianity are original. And besides this, a thorough knowledge of the contemporary Jewish views cannot fail to throw great light upon the teachings of Christ and his apostles, and at the same time to show what were the elements in Judaism |