Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1883-08-09
THE FUTUREOF JUDAISM.
M. Renan Delivers a PaneSyr fthe
Jews and Predicts Realization of
the R Religion of Isaiah.

IeeIdu, pTeSelteU ny l1e DdfOu al
phonse de Rothsc lid, delivered a re-
markable lecture on the subject of the
original identity and gradual separa-
/ ton of Judaism and Christianity. M.
Renan began by predicting a great
future for the Society of Jewish Stu
dies, one clause of whose statutes per-
mits gentiles to form part of the socie-
/ ty. Doubtless Jewish studies belong
ed of right to the Jews, but they be-
! lOnged also to humanity Researches
relative to the Israelite past interest
all the world All beliefs find in the
Jewish books the secret of their for
nation The bible has become the
intellectual and moral nutriment of
civilized humanity. The Jews have
this Incompatible privilege, that their
! book has become book of the whole
world-a privilege of universally
which they share with the Greeks, a
race which has imposed its literature
on all centuries and all countries NJ
Renan thanked the members of the
! Society of Jewish Studies for having
admitted the gentiles, like good Sama-
ritans, to work along with them in a
work that interests us all equally.
] Proceeding then to speak of the sub
! ject of his life's study, the origins of
Christianity, M. Renan said that those
origins ought to be placed at least $50
years before Christ, at the epoch of
the great prophets, who created an
entirely new idea of religion, and I'M
der whose influence was detinitively
accomplished the passage from print
tive religion full of unwholesome SUI
perstltlons to pure religion. After the
captivity, in the sixth century B. c..
the dream of the prophet of Israel is a
worship that might suit all humanity,
a worship consisting in the pure ideal
of morality and virtue-in short, the
reign of justice This idea constitutes
the great originality of the prophets,
and the true founders of Christianity,
according to M. Renan, were these
great prophets, who announced pure
religion, freed from all course materi-
al practices and observances, and re-
siding in the disposition of the mind
and heart-a religion, consequently,
which can and ought to be common
to all, an ideal religion, consisting in
the proclamation of the kingdom of
God upon earth, and in the hope of
an era of justice for poor humanity.
NJ. Renan next proceeded to show
that the first Christian generation is
essentially Jewish. The epistles of
st. James and st. Jude representing
the spirit of the first church, are alto
gether Jewish; st. Paul never thought
of separating himself from the Jewish
church, The Apocalypse of St. John,
composed about A. D. IS or 60, Is a
Jewish book and the author is a
passionate Jewish patriot After the
capture of Jerusalem comes the com
position of the synoptical gospels.
Here there is division, and yet Luke,
the least Jewish Of the evangelists,
insisted upon the fact that Jesus,
observed all the ceremonies of the
law. Toward 70 or so A. D. many
books were written inspired by Jew
ish patriotism, such as the book of
Judith, the ApOcalypses of Ezra and
of Baruch, and even the book of
/ Tobias. There is nothing more jew
ish than the book of Judith for in
stance, and yet these books are lost
among the Jews and preserved only
among the Christians, so true is it
that the bond between the church and
the synagogue was not yet broken
when they appeared. In the epistles
and gospels attributed to st. John
and written about A D. 125 the case
is altogether different. In them
Judaism is treated as an enemy, and
they contained symptoms of the APP
proach of the systems that will lead
the Christians to deny their Jewish
origin, such as gnosticism, for in
stance, which represents Christianity
as being a reaction against Judaism
and utterly opposed to it, while Mar
ciOn goes still further, and declares
Judaism to be a bad religion which
Jesus came to abolish.
M. Renan remarked the singularity
of such an error having been able to
manifest itself only century after
I the death of Christ, but insisted on
/ the fact that in the Christian church
gnosticIsm was like alateral stream to a
river In the second century the
orthodox church always considered
itself bound in the most intimate
manner to the synagogue. In the
third century the schism became
more pronounced under the influence
of the school of Alexander Clement
and Origon speak with such injustice,
and the separation becomes complete
when, under Constantine, Christiani
/ ty becomes a state religion and official,
while Judaism remains free. And yet
Chrysostom was obliged to rebuke
his congregation for going to the
synagogue. Nevertheless, the separa-
ton really grows more and more pro
found; we enter the middle age; the
barbarians arrive, Nld then begins
that deplorable ingratitude of humani-
ty, become Christian, toward Judaism
The crusades gave the signal for the
massacres Of the Jews, while the schol-
astic philosophy largely contributed
to embitter the hostility against them
Reviewing rapidly the condition of
the Jews in France in the middle ages
and subsequently, NJ. Renan arrived
at "a more consoling epoch, that
IL L, L.