Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1871-02-25
THE STORY OF JESUS.
AS Told by a Rabbi.

L Sunday evening lahL On Jesus Ol NdNh
reth as a historical character. The lee
ture Of DIR. Wise is largely reported in
the New York papers. We quote from
the World'sreport:
Ny investigation into the Gospel and
Talmud have taught me three paradoxess
concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which !
consider highly important and essential
points in history. especially in the origin
of Christianity Jesus of Nazareth was
not the author Of Christianity. de was
Pharisean doctor, an eminent patriot,
a fervent enthusiast, determined to save,
to rescue, his country out of the clutches
of bloody despotism. He was cruci-
fed by the Roman authorities, to the
chastisement, chagrin and profound re-
gret Of the Jews. maintain these par
| adoxes in contradiction TO those modern
| critics who advance the idea that Jesus
was an Essene; to those who hold the
theory that no such person ever lived;
and especially the unfounded theory of
| M Renan, that Jesus was an ignorant
phantast, with Greco-Roman ideas and
Jewish prophetical spontaniety. The
Talmud often mentions the name of
Jesus; his teacher, Rabbi Joshua, with
whom he was in Egypt; his disciples,
one of whom stood in close communlca-
ton with several of the most prominent
authorities, and he stood at the head OF
the nascent church. In the Talmud men
ton is made of manuscript then well
known to the rabbis, which Jesus wrote
in Egypt and brought to Palestine. The
original Hebrew or Aramaic Gospel is
mentioned there from which those pas
sages in the four Gospels were taken, in
which they literally, or almost so, agree.
Those passages of the Talmud to which
we refer bear the names and stamp OF
prominent cotemporaries Of Jesus and
| the Apostles. This settles the question
of his real existence. Had those rabbis
considered him an ignoramus, or a mere
imposter, they must have said so some
where; but they did not.
Their silence is much better testi-
mony than M. Renan's arguments,
eighteen centuries post fdctum. There
upon, with all due respect to M. Renan,
we think he misconceived the character
of Jesus entirely. A careful comparison
of the sources gives us the following his
torical picture: A strange feature of the
| Old Testament is the opposition of
prophets and psalmists to priests and
sacrifices. This opposition, among which
were also Isaiah, Jeremiah and Malachi,
was inherited by political party which
became powerful in Judea in the third
century B. G. This party called itself
Hassidrim--" the pious or law-abiding
ones" Their opponents cdlled them
Perushiam, the Dissenters," which was
corrupted into the word "Pharisee.
These were the anti-priesthood and the
ocratic republicans. The majority of
the people was with them. The most
stringent among them, tinctured with
Stole peculiarities, formed secret or
der of Hassidrim, which word was after
ward corrupted into " "Essenes. " The
opposition to priests and kings, altar
and throne, was the main feature OF
these two parties, only that the Essenes
had peculiar secrets, and the Pharisees
had none. The Essences were G
secret order, and the Pharisees popu-
lar party. As long as Judea was
independent the two main parties
in the political arena, Sadducees
and Pharisees, aristocrats and dem
ocrats, governed the country alter
nately, as circumstances favored the
one or the other side. But when Rome
had become sovereign in Judea, and
governed her by the instrumentality of
Herod, Archelaus, and then by Roman
governors and Jewish high priests, the
Pharisees were most despotically treated,
oppressed and prosecuted, as democrats
always were under imperial or royal
scepters. The more infiexibly and
strenuously the Pharisees clung to the
theocraoy, to their God and their cOun-
try, the more Rome and her partisans in
Judea we're embittered, and the severer
were the measures against them. The
high priests of that period, and Caiphas
especially were the tools and instruments
in the hands of their Roman masters. SO
the hatred against Rome, the home ars-
tocracy and against the priests increased
with every passing year. Some OF the
Pharisees formed a society in imitation
of the Essences, called the Haberim, or
/" Associates" with the object of saving
the theocracy. They, like the Essenes,
maintained that every lsraelite was
priast of the Most High, every table was
an altar aud every meal sacrifice.
| Therefore, every one must observe the
laws of priestly ablutions.
This society embraced the principles
of opposition to king and priest; they
wanted neither, and so were naturally
hated by both. One Of those Haberim
was John the Baptist, rabbi and a
priest himself, He made public propa-
randa for this Association. From
solitude on the Jordan, he called upon
the masses to come to him.. repent Their
sins, take the priestly ablutions alter
ward called baptism, and receive the re-
mission of sins, that the theocracy or
kingdom of heaven, which are literally
the same, shall be restored Like all
his compatriots, he proclaimed that ma
tional misery was the punishment for
national sins Repent those sins, they
will be forgiven and the punishment re-
moved This done, and the kingdom OF
heaven is restored in Israel; which in
modern phraseology signifies independ-
enee Of bripee and priest, independence
of foreign invaders and home cQrFpp-
tions; Il signifies freedom, equality and
the sovereignty Of Gods laws; Thou
sands, it appears, came to dnhni also
Roman soldiers and other hirelings, and
the revival assumed the dimension of a
popular insurrection and the charac-
ter Of a threatening rebellion, at
ieast - the estimation of Herod,
King Of Gaiilee, in whose territory
John preached and baptized. Tyrants
are easily alarmed, and always ready to
dispose Of patriots. SO John and many
other rabbis with him were severally
captured, transported TO a. place in Ara.
bia, beyond the reach Of the jews, and
we're beheaded by the command Of