New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-11-17
REMAINS ISRAEL.
THE AMERICAN TRANSLATION COM
PLETED.


the narrative after the great wars OF the Mac
cabees and carries it forward to the end of the
Jewish Kingdom the rise Of ldumaean Herod'
.he spread Of Roman power in Asia and the be-
efnnings of Christianity. While there IA much
10 say about social and political movements IN
this century and half Of Jewish life. the most
significant chapters are, after ALL those when
refer to the literature Of the period. 10 those
books which got abroad under the name or the
patriarch Enoch to the cynical reflections that
were attributed by some unknown author 10
Solomon under the title of Ecclesiastes, 10 the
beginnings of the Talmud, and to the imaginative
philosophy and criticism OF the Alexanuriah
Phno Some of these point forward more clearly
than any Of the historical events OF the time 10
the coming religious upheaval. SO far AS the
latter are concerned Renan hardly does nio'e
than repeat the lessons of earlier times Inc
Jews hare changed little under his mana since
the time Of the earliest kings They are still the
same race OF materalists divided into two great
factions one OF which is practical, worldly self
indulgent: the other Journalist and fanatlcaI
Only as TO one point. the doctrine OF immortal'!
and the resurrection. does the author make out
a positive evolutionary process toward the ne"
religion the origin of which he aims at as the
central fact OF Jewish history,
The trouble with Jewish political development
was as Renan himself indicates. that II was
never truly independent In these times wheh
Jewish warriors were victorious and when the
country gained a peace of sixty years, II was d!
reason. not of Jewish power but of Gentle weak
ness The rise of a new Asiatic empire after the
selencid dynasty would have struck the knell of
Jewish autonomy as quickly as was done by the
progress of the Roman power in the Orient But
ind
the Jews an opportunity to test by actual expert
nent their ancient law. Renan indicates that the
experiment was not gratifying He points out
the confession of Josephus that the observance
Of the Sabbatical year was foolish The trial was
made In good faith even with enthusiasm, for
.tne dominant idea Of the materialistic Jew,
stranger TO dreams of the resurrection, was that
his Law was perfect, and would make society
perfectly happy If it were properly carried out
"If the happiness OF mankind couu nave peeh
assured by the Torah 1t must nave heen so In
Judea from John Hyrcanus TO Pompey. Ihere
is no question but that the people were compare
lively happy. They took pride in their laws ana
they enforced them vigorously But TINS perlou
founded. says Renan. just what Jesus attacked
most yigorously-a religious bourgeoisie. Pharl-
eaism and its opposite. Sadduoeeism; that u.s.
religious materialism, the idea that man is just
flied by his outward observance, and not by
purity OF heart
In the old days there had been the prophets
with their visions TO correct the materlahst
tendencies of the race. So now, there were
those who. desparing Of any influence In their
own names or impeed by the tendency OF the
age toward apocryphal literature. put fortn
rtopian ideas in the name OF the patriarch
rnoch. Renan emphasizes the difficulty that is
found in crticising these books. especially as 10
the date of their composition. But his argu-
ment inconcusive as it is manifestly proves II
correct. that there was Christianity before
Christ The name of Enoch was well CHOSEN.
It was fitting that one who had never died
should speak to men of Immortality and should
turn the eyes of men away from the world in
which everything was going wrong 10 world
where everything must be right. But it took
more than one hand more than one generation
even, to work up the mass Of vision, eXhorta-
ton and legend connected with the patrarch's
name. Apparently, Renan attributes only
small part OF the work TO an early time. There
Is a long passage in the midst of the Book of
Enoch as il now stands, consisting Of series
Of visions that were evidently meant to shadow
forth the political relations Of Israel with its
neighbors This he agrees with others in at
tributing to che time Of the Maccabees. He
differs from others only in adding to this
antique nucleus certain chapters which are
generally supposed to be later in origin. These
visions have little literary connection with
each other thar they may we'll have been COM
posed separately and then Joined together as
Renan thinks. by some compiler who conceived
the idea OF introducing Methuselah to hear
what Enoch had TO say and to transmit II in
traditional form to posterity Thus the core OF
the book would belong say to the year 200. b. c.
But this was only the beginning In course OF
time all the severe satire in which the old
prophetic literature was rich was repeated
under the name Of Enoch. The fiercest words
OF these nameless Missionaries were directed
against the rich and powerful. And the miseries
of this world. its poverty. its Unforeseen dsas-
tiers. it's destruction Of friends and children no
longer satisfied them. They must have also
the horrors Of world Of fire depicted with
vividness which has only been initiated since
their day.
Among these visions there scattered dis
courses OF a sort to confOund those who have
studied them. Were they written before the New
Testament or after? II is not merely Remains
rationalism which asks this question. Men Of all
shades Of belief have asked IT, Nor is Renan
alone in saying that to the antediluvian patri-
arch are attributed "dscOurses so like those Of
Jesus that the line between them cannot be
traced. and criticism stands in doubt before this
inexplcable problem: Were the apocalyptic dis
courses Of Jesus reproductions Of those OF Enoch
or were those OF Enoch reproductions OF those Of
jesus Renan pretends nol to answer this in
quiry These discourses. he says look as If they
had been written by Christian: but then. on the
other hand. no Christian could have imagined
those visions which belong to the time OF the
Maccabees And those visions were no after
thought They have the intensity. the charac-
teristc thought. Of Judaism rising as a nation
amid the ruins OF the Greek power in Syria I'VE
must suppose" adds Renan. that the apocayp-
tic discourses of Jesus had their existing models
and that these must be sought for in the Book
Of Enoch. But believe that the Enoch-like