The daily morning journal and courier., 1900-04-30


 work, which is now so extremely com
 mon in Protestant countries that 1t has got down to textbooks, and series"
 volumes like this, is that it affords common ground of interest and enthu-
 siasm for skeptical and non-skeptlcal
 persons. The Old Testament, at any
 rate has ceased to be the shibboleth for
 staying one another at the fords, and
 has again become the common heritage of serious minded persons. The Bible
 is the best-written and the worst-com- piled history in the world; it therefore 1 both repays and requires infinite study from infinitely numerous points Of view.
 Renans 'Histoire du Peuple d'IsraeP'
 stands at the head of this class of lite
 rature for beauty and suggestiveness.
 That great work both loses and gains
 much, as against English or German
 rivals from the nationality of its au-
 thor. It was written by man Who, | though no mean scholar in the subject, 1 had not been born with the ideas of the | Bible in his blood and who wrote for
 race which is libelously accused of be- lieving "Isaie' to be grand opete An | glais.' But for people who have got the Bible in their blood, 1t is particular | ly necessary to be reminded that the history of Israel turned on real histori- cal events and movements such as those of any other history; though 1t is
 even more essential to perceive that, partly by means of, partly in spite of,
 those ordinary historical events. a new idea of personal religion was evolved, at first by individuals, finally by the ma jorty of the nation.
 The first half of Professor Budde's book, Is, of course, controversy-wh shall decide when doctors disagree? It is about the eighth century, with the prophets, that any certainty begins. Here Professor Budde has grasped the essential point so clearly that we some what regret he has not further expand ed the last chapter of the book, and been at pains to drive his points home more forcibly.
 ''Jeremiah's proper activity does not begin until the reign of Jehoiakin, the unworthy son of Josiah. In the very be- ginning of this kings reign the prophet opposes the faith in the inviolability of the temple (ch. vii, of. ch. xxvD. Such trust is vain if men at the same time steal and murder, commit adultery and perjure themselves, sacrifice to the Baal and follow after strange gods (vii: 9). All burnt offerings and sacrifices are vain for Yahweh had not demanded sacrifice from his people when he led it out of Egypt, but obedience and walk ing in the way of God (vii: 21-23). We here stand at decisive turning. point. In these words of Jeremiah prophetism declares the compact with the priest hood which 1t had made in Deuterono- my to be null and void. It goes It's own way again. alone, the way which Amos had long ago prepared. Salvation is to be expected not from laws and external ordinances but only from conversion of the heart and will to true morality The direct continuation of these asser- tions lies in the latter prophecy (xxxi 31-3D, in which, over against the old convenant, Jeremiah sets a new cove nant, which is to be written in the heart and mind of the House of Israel. He uttered repeated warnings against alli- ance with Egypt, but in vain. He urged the last weak king, Zedekiah, again and again. to surrender Jerusalem to the Chaldeans so as at least to save his own life and the lives of his people, but all was in vain."
 After his prophecies of the fall of the kingdom had come true: Those who had been carried off captive with Jehoi- akim cherish in the far-off land hopes of the speedy fall of the Chaldean king dom and of return home. But Jere- miah writes letter to them in which he l blasts all these hopes, and exhorts the l exiles to make themselves comforta ble | in the foreign land. They must build | houses and plant gardens, contract mar riages and bring up children, seek the | prosperity of the land of their exile and l pray for it, for better fate is not al- | lotted them (xxix: ff.) For this at titude Jeremiah was denounced before | the Jerusalem authorities, and to 1t he | Is indebted for the reputation of being bad patriot, a reputation which has clung to him up to this day. It is true | that he does not appear to attach the | value to those great blessings | of people-freedom and power. Mo- | where in his discourses do we find the hope of splendid future. of a restora- tion of the kingdom, and other glitter ing expectati tions such as we meet with in other prophets. A step of immeasur- able importance has here been taken, the step prepared by Amos and Hosea. The religion of Israel has been detached from the nations existence. Israel does not need any more to be an independent people in order to be sure of Yahweh's favor and to enjoy his blessings
 There is no doubt that Jeremiah's op- position to the political existence of the Jewish nation was premature. The re- turn from the captivity and the period of renewed independence was necessary to stamp the new religion more deeply Into the average Jew before the proph- cts estimate of the real future of Israel could be realized in history. But per- haps no one effort of the human imagi- nation has been greater or more fruitful of noble results than the clear percep- tion first formed by Jeremiah in sur So unpropitious, that the ulti- mate value of life lies in the human mind and not in society, nationality or politics. To Jeremiah it might have been well to point out the Limitations: to the modern world it is we'll to point out the truth.
 FITTED HIM.