Los Angeles herald., 1906-07-30
CHRISTIANS ARE
TAKEN TO TASK
RABBI HEIGHT SPEAKS BEFORE
LIBERAL CLUB
Regret Is Expressed That There Are
30 Few Professors of ohrlss
tIanlty Who Believe as
Paul Taught

Jesus or Nazareth from the stand
point of a Jew" was the topic of DR.. s.
Hecht, rabbi Of Temple B'nai B'rith,
In a lecture before the Liberal club last
evening at Mammoth hall. He said in
part;
I'm making the distinction between
Jesus the man and Christ his charac-
ter, simply mean to serve the cause
of Justice and truth as 1 see It, for
while the former stands for the name
Of man universally recognized and
admired, the latter is disputed and de-
MED by many men and women
throughout civilization. When speak
try to give utterance to my own
Views and prefer this method of stat
Ing my own position even though 1t
were wrong, to that spineless attitude
of being the echo of the opinions of
other people.
Il feel tonight that this meeting is
held i'm spirit of fairness and that
you are ready to listen respectfully,
and therefore I unhesitatingly assert
that the world Is progressing.
THE study of the life and character
of Jesus is made extremely difficult to
one like myself, but my presentation of
the subject will be, in so far as possi-
BILE, uninfluenced by the opinions,
either of orthodox Christianity or
treating the subject, 1 am obliged to
depart from any existing method. so
that while professional writers have
treated either mythical or historical
the dogmatical or purely religious as
poets, 1 do not propose to specialize
on either.
Three Distinct Characters
."As 1 cast a comprehensive glance
upon the life of the gentle rabbi of
Nazareth, he appears to me in three
distinct characters at three distinct
periods of his life. In the first he is
the eloquent doctor, the bold REFORM
er and the prophet who fearlessly rep
rimands the people, the intrepid adj
vocator of the great principles of JUS
tice and morality.
I'm the second he appears as Messiah
the Christ who proclaims himself to
be he who is to fulfill in Israel all the
promises of the prophets. Here we
find him wrapped in the midst of the
supernatural miracles flashing around
him. He lives, moves and acts amid
miracles.
I'm the third he affirms the divine
character which his disciples claim for
him, identifies himself with the person
of God, is the equal of the Father and
is God himself.
1--WE admire the man of wisdom,
gentleness, purity and integrity; we
honor him for his fearless exposure of
shams, frauds and hypocrisy; we ap-
plaud his views of the ever burning
social and economic questions; we
concede to his superiority as teacher
and grandeur as a man. And though
it may be easily understood how he
came to claim the messiahship, I must,
from my point of view, deny that
claim"
As to Christianity
The speaker then proceeded to point
out some passages of the synoptic Cos
pels which he said did not agree with
each other nor with the statement of
the church fathers. In continuing he
said:
"Christianity, the religion that domi
mates the entire civilized world, may
be considered as the direct or indirect
effect of the life and works of Jesus,
and with this we are concerned at this
time.
"Says a contemporaneous historian:
AT its infancy Christianity has no
claim on the attention of the Jewish
historian. 1t is in the days of Its power
when full grown it chooses to abuse
its strength and emulate the worst
deeds of those varnished pharisees,
whom it's founde- so justly condemned.
that Christianity enforces its painful
claim on reluctant notice of him who
relates the tear-bedewed and blood
stained events of Jewish history"
DR.. Hecht then turned to historical
statement, describing the political sit
uation in Judea from the time follow
ing Immediately the death of Herod
and unto the appointment of Pontius
by step, the hardships which the Jews
were obliged to endure and showed
how the hope for a
Messiah grew in the midst Of the op-
pressed people.
Speaks of Temple Scene
The speaker clearly and concisely re-
ferred to the birth of Jesus from the
historical standpoint and from the
point of view of the Gosl ell writer's,
dwelling at some length upon the cpl
sode of Jesus as a boy remaining in
the temple to discuss religious sub
jects with the hoary-headed rabbis, and
upon the conversation be-
tween the mother and son, the former
saying, "Behold thy father and l have
sought thee sorrowing," and the latter
answering, "How is 1t that We sought
me? Wist we not that I must be
about my Fathers business?" and
"They understood not the saying which
he spake unto them"
The next point concerns the baptism
of Jesus by John the Baptist, the
speaker pointing out some incongruities
in this account, according to the syn
optics, After dwelling some time upon
this point, DIR. Hecht spoke of the eigh-
teen years, the record of which he said
was missing, and continued:
"At the age of about 80, the career of
Jesus publicly began. He took up the
words that his forerunners had used,
Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is
at hand but being wise and polite, and
realizing that he could not secure the
of the whole people, he con-
fined his efforts to a certain class whom
he considered capable of spreading his
ideas and mating them popular"
Discusses Miracles
Here Dr. Hecht paid glowing
tribute to the character of Jesus. who
has said, "They that be whole need not
a physician, but they that are sick"
and the speaker explained the miracle
of the deaf he made to hear, etc, by
saying:
"Think of the moral courage II re-
1uired for a rabbi to hold converse and
associate with such persons, especial
lY of the stamp of Mary Magdalene.
Yet, he converted them made them
pure and whole, without losing any OF
his own purity and sweetness OF char