Urbana union. [volume] (Urbana, Ohio) 1862-1872, 1869-12-29

Sermon by Rev. Dr. LuIenfhaI, az the
Mound street Temple Cincinnati
Jewish aud Christian Ethics Compare
ed,
! Fext-i -issitterqHoIny iy. C "FOr this is your
wisdom and yoHr understanding in the eyes
Of the nation"
I have been requested by several Of
my Christian friends to deliver a SER
mon on the subject Of "Jewish and
| Christian ethics compared"
During the late trial of the Bible ques-
ton, before the Superior Court of this
city, questions Of the highest impOr-
tance, affecting ali denominations have
been raised. Each of the various sects
Is summoned before the tribunal Of the
public at large, to defend itself, if possi-
BE, against the charges brought against
them, and to hold, if possible, their
ground. Against our religion, the jew
ish religion, il was asserted, ifnOt plain
ly and equivOeaily, still implicitly,
that its doctrines, and especially its NOR
al code, have been largely surpassed and
improved by the teachings of the New
Testament, and that Judaism, therefore,
has become an antiquated and obsolete
system.
We owe it to the dignity, the spiritu-
al and moral worth of our religion, we
owe it to our self-respect, to review and
to scTutiniZe this common and sweep
ing charge. 1t forms a prominent and
standing part of all Christian theology;
you can hear it from every pulpit, you
find it in every theological text book.
Still, if it were the truth, we might
rest assured that the modern Jew Of the
nineteenth century would not hesitate
a moment to renOunce and discard his
creed, and so adopt the one better suit
ed to the advanced ideas of our age.
But the Jew still clings with a tenaci-
| ty that cannot be deferred by the asser-
| tiOns or insinuatiOps of opponents, to
| his old doctrines, and is still to-day, as
thousands of years ago, unwilling to
surrender either his creed or his cOnYic-
tiOns, If so, he must have his good Tea-
sons for it; by comparing notes he must
have discovered that his doctrines and
ethics can hold their own against those
of any other denomination; and as it is
this morning our aim and purpose, to
prove the right and justice Of his cause,
Heaven forbid that we should attempt
to hurt the religious sentiments Of any
of our Christian hearers. We ourselves
have suffered too nnch at the hand of
intolerance, that we should be bigOted
and intOlefant. Heaven forbid that we
should disturb the honest and sincere
convictions of any OfOur rfellOW-citizens.
We know but too well the ag0nies caus-
ed by the false zeal Of proselytism, to
reitarate such ineOneeiYed attempts.
We have too much regard for any sin
cere conviction, however widely it may
differ from ours, not to treat 1t with
that Difference and respect which hon.
esty and fTankness command and de-
serve. And, if still we have selected
such a controversial theme for this
morning, it is done merely for the pur-
pose of our Justification aud this Vindi-
cation of our faith,
And now to the point. 1t is 0ORamOIls
/ ly asserted that our religion is emphat-
ically that of love. Jet us get the New
Testament first. We read in Matthew
xx, 35. 'Then one of them, which was
a lawyer, asked him a question, tempt
ing him and saying, Master which is
the great commandment in the law?
Jesus said unto him, thou shalt love
the Lord thy God, with all thy heart,
and with all thy soul, and with all thy
might. This is the first and great COM
mandment. Thou shalt like thy fellow
man like thyself On these two COM
mandments hang all the law and the
prophets"
Aow, In these two osentences, the prin-
ciple OflOVe is most emphatically de-
elaTed to be the paramount Object Of re-
ligiOn, and by no lesser authority than
Jesus himself But did he there utter
any other sentence, any other word than
that which is contained in the Old
Testament?
In Deuteronomy, in the fourth and
fifth chapters, in one of the most i'm
pressive sermons delivered by Moses as
his farewell address to his people, after
having reiterated his solemn principle
of unadulterated MOnOtheism, saying:
unto thee il was showed, that thou
mightest kqeV, that Jehovah he is God,
there is none else beside him; know,
therefore, this day, and take it well 10
thy heart that Jehovah he is God in
Heaven above and on earth beneath;
there is none beside him. after having
repeated in the same sermon the ten
commandments in the most solemn and
eXhOrting manner, he concluded
by Saying: Hear, o Israel, Jeho-
yah IS our God, Jehovah is one, and
thou shalt love Jehovah, thy Cod with
all thy heart, and with all thy soul, ana
with all thy might" Moses then,
thousands of years before the advent Of
Jesus, laid down this broad principle Of
mans love to bis God,
And with no less emphasis does he
speak of the love Of man to man. In
the most sacred chapter Of Leviticus-
XIX, 1S-he says: "And thou shalt love
thy neighbor as thyself; am Jehevah." !
And IN order not to be misunderstood, |
as if this rule we're TO apply merely 70
eoreligionists or citizens of the same ma
tlon, he enjOins the same command, far
thirtv-third verse; "And If q stranger
soiourn with thee in your land, We shall !
not vex him; but the stranger that
dwelleth with you shall be unto you as
one born among you, thou shalt love
him as thyself; for ye were strangers in