Vermont telegraph. [volume] (Brandon [Vt.]) 1828-1843, 1840-01-01
XII. NO.

'N"'' ohu loT9ttS, mat, IN Tie renunca-
ton OF old habits, and old prejuGices, in
defiance to sufierlngs and disgrace, in at
Iachment to religion so repugnant 10 the
PRIDE and bigotry of their nation, and
above all, In submission 10 system of
doctrines which rested its authority on the
miracles OF. their own time, and their own
remembrance, every Jewish convert gives
the most decisive testimony which man
Can give for the truth and divinity OF our
religion.
But why, then. says the iniidel. did
they not ali believe? Had the miracles
of the Gospel been true, we do not see
how human nature could have held out
against an evidence SO striking and so ex-
lraordlnary; nor can NE al all enter into
the obstinacy of that belief which is as
cribed TO the majority of the Jewish neo-
pie, and which led them to shut their eyes
against testimony that no man of com
mon sense could have resisted.
Many Christian writers have ATTEMPTED
to resolve this difficulty, and to prove that
the infdeity of the Jews. n spite of the
miracles which they saw, is perfectly con-
sistent with the known principles of hu-
man nature. For this purpose. they
have enlarged, with much force and plau-
sibiity, on the strength and inveteracv of
the Jewish preludices-on the bcwider-
ing influence of religious bigotry upon
! the understanding o. men-on the woeful
| disappointment which Christianity offered
| to the pride and interest OF the nation
on the sel6shness of the preslhood-and
on the facility with which they might turn
a blind and lanatical multitude, who had
been trained, by their earliest habits, to
follow and TO revere them.
In the Gospel history ITSELF we have a
4 very consistent account at least OF The Jew
ISL opposition to the claims Of our Savior.
We see the deeply wounded pride of ma
ton, that felt itself dis9raced by the loss
of It's independence. We see the AFRO
gance of its peculiar ard exclusive claims
to the favor of the Almighty. We see
, the anticipation of great prince, who
was TO deliver them from the power and
subsection of their enemies. We see their
insoleDt contempt for the people of her
countries, and the foulest scorn that they
should be admitted 10 an equality with
themselves In the honors and benefits of
revelation from heaven We NAV easily
| conceive, how much the doctrine of Christ
, and his apostles was calculated to gall,
/. and irrtate, and disappoint them; how it
/ must have mortified their national vanity
= how it must have alarmed the jealousy of
e an arlfu and interested priesthood and
n how it must have scandalized the great
n body of the people, BY the liberaIily with
: which it addressed itself to all men, and
5. to all nations, and raised TO an elevation
O with themselves, those whom the firm
d est habits and prejudices of their country
e had led them TO contemplate under all the
n disgrace and ignominy of outcasts.
rel Accordingly, we know in fact, that Bit
a. terness. and resentment, and wounded
n pride, lay at the bottom Of great deal OF
E. the opposition, which Christianity expe
lg rienced from the Jewish people In The
s. New Testament history itself, we see re
peated examples of their outrageous VIC
,st lence and this is confirmed by the test
he monv of many other writers. In the bis
- tory of the martyrdom of Polycarp, it i
of stated. that the Gentiies and Jews inhab
u ting Smyrna in a furious rage. and will
In a loud voice. cried out, This is the teach
ST. er of Asia, the father Of the Christian:
he the destroyer of our gods, who teaches al
I a men not to sacrifice, nor 10 WORSHIP
in them 7 They collected wood, and th
a dried branches of trees for his pile; an
ent it is added, the Jews also, according
the custom, assisting with the greatest 70
He wardness' 1t is needless to multiply lie
= of tlmonies 10 point so generally unde
in stood as, that it was not conviction alnn
At which lay at the bottom Of their oppos
- ton to the Christians; that great deal
of passion entered into it and that their Il
hat merous acts Of hostility against the wo
-en- shippers of Jesus, carry in them all 4
in marks eff fury and resentment.
hat Now we know that the power of pas
nd ion will often carry it very far over I
ohl power of conviction. We know that /
ally strength Of conviction is not in proporli
t in to the quantity of evidence presented,
ISL TO the quantity of evidence attended
evil and perceived, IN consequence of that
Their tention. We also know, that attention
the in great measure, voluntary act; a
the that it is often 10 the power of the mil
been both to turn away its attention from vi
esti- Would land il in any painful or humii
esti- ing conclusion, and TO deliver itself up {
un- clusively to those arguments which fiat
giR- its taste and its prejudces. All this /
, no within the range of familiar and ever
and day experience. We all know how mu
from i insures the success OF an argume
hou- when it gets a JarOrable hearing. In
sion. far the greater number of instances,
,eroe narti,.s IN a litigation are not merely et
brist. attached 10 their own side Of the quest,
d ia but each confident and believing
ton theirs is The si1e on which Justice lies