Publication date
3/1/06
Volume
27
Number
5
The WatchTower
Views from the Watch Tower
The Watchtower Magazines
../literature/watchtower/1906/5/1906-5-1.html
 
 
VOL. 
XXVII 
ALLEGHENY, 
P 
A., 
MARCH 
1, 
1906 
VIEWS 
FROM 
THE 
WATCH 
TOWER 
No.5 
(67·68) 
OHRISTIAN 
TENETS 
THE 
JEWS 
MAY 
ADOPT 
mere 
martyrdom 
into 
a 
general 
way 
of 
life, 
are 
not 
in 
the 
To 
find 
a 
celebrated 
and 
influential 
Jew 
advising 
his 
race 
Gospels 
urged 
and 
intended 
solely 
t.o 
save 
one's 
own 
soul, 
but 
to 
(, 
follow 
the 
letter 
of 
the 
Law 
in 
the 
spirit 
of 
the 
Gospel" 
also 
to 
save 
others. 
The 
endurance, 
the 
self-sacrifice, 
are 
not 
is 
a 
decidedly 
interesting 
feature 
of 
the 
religious 
situation. 
to 
be 
merely 
passive, 
but 
active. 
They 
are 
to 
be 
helpful 
and 
Mr. 
Claude 
G. 
Montefiore, 
president 
of 
the 
Anglo-Jewish 
As- 
redemptive; 
through 
loving 
service 
and 
sympathy 
to 
awaken 
sociation, 
founder 
of 
The 
Jewish 
Quarterly 
Review 
and 
a 
man 
in 
the 
sinner 
the 
dormant 
capacity 
of 
righteousness 
and 
love. 
of 
light 
and 
leading 
in 
British 
Jewry, 
gives 
his 
fellows 
this 
"Lowly, 
active 
service 
for 
the 
benefit 
of 
the 
humblest 
is 
counsel 
in 
the 
current 
number 
of 
The 
Hibbert 
JournaZ 
(Lon- 
an 
essential 
feature 
of 
the 
synoptic 
religion. 
'He 
who 
would 
don.) 
Before 
giving 
this 
advice, 
he 
takes 
occasion 
to 
remark 
be 
great 
among 
you 
let 
him 
be 
your 
servant.' 
(It 
is 
not 
the 
to 
the 
Christian 
readers 
of 
his 
article 
that 
some 
of 
the 
doc- 
will 
of 
my 
Father 
that 
one 
of 
these 
little 
ones 
should 
perish.' 
trines 
which 
they 
imagine 
to 
be 
distinctively 
Christian 
were, 
and 
The 
teaching 
of 
the 
synoptics 
in 
this 
matter 
seems 
to 
cluster 
are, 
Jewish. 
The 
conception 
of 
the 
fatherhood 
of 
God 
and 
of 
round 
those 
three 
great 
sayings: 
(The 
Son 
of 
man 
came 
not 
his 
loving-kindness, 
for 
example, 
has 
been 
paraded 
as 
Christian, 
to 
be 
ministered 
unto, 
but 
to 
minister;' 
(I 
came 
not 
to 
eall 
(. 
whereas 
to 
the 
rabbinic, 
medieval, 
and 
modern 
Jew 
it 
wali, 
the 
righteous, 
but 
sinners;' 
(The 
Son 
of 
man 
came 
to 
seek 
and 
is, 
the 
ABC 
of 
his 
religion." 
Similarly, 
the 
doetrinel' 
and 
to 
save 
that 
which 
was 
lost.' 
"t~at 
reconc~lement 
with 
one's 
neighbor 
must 
precede 
rec- 
"And 
here, 
once 
more, 
we 
seem 
to 
be 
cognizant 
of 
fresh 
?ncl1ement 
w1th 
God, 
or 
that 
the 
best 
alms 
are 
those 
given 
and 
original 
teaching, 
which 
has 
produced 
fruit 
to 
be 
ever 
In 
secret, 
or 
that 
impure 
thoughts 
are 
evil 
as 
well 
as 
impure 
reckoned 
among 
the 
distinctive 
glories 
of 
Christianity. 
It 
deeds, 
or 
that 
there 
is 
peculiar 
joy 
in 
heaven 
over 
the 
repent- 
has 
two 
aspects: 
first, 
the 
yearning 
and 
eager 
activity 
to 
save 
ant-these 
doctrines 
and 
several 
others 
are 
not 
only 
rabbinic 
and 
to 
redeem; 
secondly, 
the 
special 
attitude 
of 
the 
Master 
commonplaces, 
but 
familiar 
.Tewish 
maxims." 
toward 
sinners 
and 
toward 
sin. 
The 
rabbis 
and 
the 
rabbinic 
The 
common 
Jewish 
objections 
to 
Christianity 
are 
that 
religion 
are 
keen 
on 
repentance, 
which 
in 
their 
eyes 
is 
second 
some 
of 
its 
teaching 
is 
"unpractical 
and 
overstrained," 
that 
only 
to 
the 
law; 
but 
we 
do 
not, 
I 
think, 
find 
the 
same 
pall­ 
the 
ideal 
is 
so 
high 
as 
to 
be 
"incapable 
of 
realization" 
that 
sionate 
eagerness 
to 
cause 
repentance, 
to 
save 
the 
lost, 
to 
'( 
if. 
some 
maxims 
were 
literally 
obeyed, 
there 
would 
b~ 
a 
sub- 
redeem 
the 
sinner. 
The 
refusal 
to 
allow 
that 
any 
human 
1I0ul 
version 
of 
law 
alld 
order, 
and 
universal 
confusion," 
that' 
(the 
is 
not 
capable 
of 
emancipation 
from 
the 
bondage 
of 
sin, 
the 
tendency 
of 
the 
teaching 
is 
to 
make 
a 
man 
take 
a 
too 
selfish 
labor 
of 
pity 
and 
love 
among 
the 
outcast 
and 
the 
fallen, 
~() 
intere.t 
in 
the 
saving 
of 
his 
own 
soul" 
and 
that 
it 
"point!l 
back 
to 
the 
synoptic 
Gospels 
and 
their 
Hero. 
They 
were 
hardly 
toward 
an 
ascetic 
morality.'" 
known 
before 
his 
time. 
And 
the 
redemptive 
method 
which 
In 
one 
divergence 
of 
doctrine 
between 
the 
rallbinic 
rellg. 
he 
inaugurated 
was 
new 
likewise. 
It. 
was 
the 
method 
of 
pity 
ion 
and 
that 
of 
the 
synoptic 
Gospels, 
however, 
Mr. 
Montefiore 
and 
love. 
There 
is 
no 
paltering 
with 
sin; 
it 
is 
not 
made 
less 
seems 
to 
incline 
toward 
the 
latter. 
He 
says: 
odious; 
but 
instead 
of 
mere 
threats 
and 
condemnations, 
the 
« 
The 
rabbinic 
religion 
followed 
the 
prevailing 
doctrine 
of 
chance 
is 
given 
for 
hope, 
admiration, 
and 
love 
to 
work 
their 
th~ 
9ld 
Testament 
in 
holding 
that, 
on 
the 
whole, 
the 
right 
wonders 
within 
the 
sinner's 
soul. 
The 
sinner 
is 
afforded 
the 
prmclple 
of 
human 
conduct, 
and 
the 
great 
principle 
of 
divine 
opportunity 
for 
doing 
good 
instead 
of 
evil, 
and 
his 
kindly 
conduct, 
was 
that 
of 
proportionate 
requital 
or 
tit 
for 
tat. 
I 
services 
are 
encouraged 
and 
praised. 
Jesus 
seems 
to 
have 
hall 
d? 
.not 
mea!! 
to 
say 
~hat 
other 
principles, 
;uch 
as 
that 
of 
the 
a 
special 
insight 
into 
the 
nature 
of 
certain 
kinds 
of 
sin, 
and 
<l!vme 
forgIveness! 
~ld 
lIOt 
frequently 
cross 
the 
principle 
of 
into 
the 
redeemable 
capacity 
of 
certain 
kinds 
of 
sinners. 
He 
b.t 
for 
tat, 
but 
stIll 
1t 
seems 
true 
to 
say 
that 
tit 
for 
tat 
occu. 
perceived 
that 
there 
was 
a 
certain 
untainted 
humility 
of 
soul 
pIeS 
a 
very 
large 
place 
in 
Jewish 
ethics 
and 
reliO'ion 
a 
larger 
which 
some 
sins 
in 
some 
sinners 
had 
not 
yet 
destroyed, 
just 
111n('e 
than 
the 
facts 
of 
life 
or 
our 
highest 
ethicai 
and 
re- 
as 
he 
also 
believed 
and 
realized 
that 
there 
was 
a 
certain 
cold, 
ligious 
conceptions 
can 
fully 
justify 
and 
approve. 
Now 
the 
formal, 
negative 
virtue 
which 
was 
practically 
equivalent 
to 
tf'n~hjng' 
of 
the 
synoptic 
Gospels 
seems 
to 
traverse 
that 
doc- 
sin, 
and 
far 
less 
capable 
of 
reformation. 
Overzealous 
scrupu­ 
trine 
in 
many 
different 
ways. 
As 
between 
man 
and 
man 
we 
losity, 
and 
the 
pride 
which, 
dwelling 
with 
smug 
satisfaction 
have, 
for 
instance, 
the 
teachinA", 
'If 
ye 
love 
them 
which 
love 
upon 
its 
own 
excellence, 
draws 
away 
the 
skirt 
from 
any 
con· 
yOll, 
what 
thank 
have 
ye" 
and 
the 
reception 
of 
the 
prodigal 
tact 
with 
impurity, 
were 
specially 
repugnant 
to 
him. 
Whether 
son, 
an.d 
a~ 
between 
God 
and 
man 
the 
teat'hingo 
seems 
more 
with 
this 
sin 
and 
with 
its 
sinners 
he 
showed 
adequate 
patience 
l'mphatIc 
stIll. 
Not 
only 
that 
the 
sun 
rises 
on 
the 
evil 
as 
well 
may 
perhaps 
be 
doubted, 
but 
it 
does 
seem 
to 
me 
that 
his 
as 
the 
good. 
but 
also, 
in 
the 
parable 
of 
the 
vineyard 
'I 
will 
denunciation 
of 
formalism 
and 
pride, 
his 
contrasted 
pictures 
give 
unto 
this 
last 
even 
as 
unto 
thee.' 
. 
.. 
. 
, 
of 
the 
lowly 
publican 
and 
the 
scrupulous 
pharisee, 
were 
new 
. 
"Perh~ps 
one 
r~ason, 
tho 
not 
the 
deepest, 
why 
the 
doc- 
and 
permanent 
contributions 
to 
morality 
and 
religion. 
All 
the 
trIne 
of 
tit 
for 
tat 
IS 
less 
thought 
of 
in 
the 
Gospels 
is 
theh 
Jewish 
reader 
meets 
them 
in 
the 
synoptic 
Gospels, 
he 
recog- 
rather 
pronounced 
antagonism 
to 
earthly 
good 
fortu'ne 
their 
nizes 
this 
new 
contribution; 
and 
if 
he 
is 
adequately 
open- 
st;ong 
sympathy 
with, 
or 
even 
partiality 
for, 
the 
wedk, 
the 
minded, 
he 
does 
it 
homage 
and 
is 
grateful." 
mIserable, 
and 
the 
poor. 
The 
only 
treasures 
of 
any 
value 
SPONTANEOUS 
GENERATION 
OP 
LIFE 
are 
the 
treasures 
to 
be 
attained 
in 
heaven. 
The 
treasures 
We 
see 
much 
in 
the 
public 
prints 
respecting 
the 
efforts 
o~ 
earth 
are 
transitory 
from 
a 
double 
reason-the 
individual 
of 
chemists 
and 
biologists 
to 
produce 
life, 
and 
several 
., 
pro- 
OICS, 
and 
the 
old 
order 
is 
rapidly 
nearin~ 
its 
close. 
The 
same 
fessors" 
have 
announced 
their 
success 
in 
so 
doing. 
What 
are 
thoughts 
me~t 
us 
not 
infrequently 
in 
the 
rabbinic 
literature. 
the 
facts' 
hut 
we, 
n~te 
m 
the 
Gosp~ls 
a 
kind 
of 
passionate 
.gl?rification 
of 
For 
centuries 
scientific 
minds-skeptical 
respecting 
the 
renuncIatIon 
and 
adverSIty 
as 
marks 
of 
true 
d,sc~ples1Iip 
and 
teachings 
of 
the 
Bible 
that 
God 
is 
the 
author 
of 
life, 
the 
Creator 
as 
the 
one. 
sure 
p~ssport 
to 
heave~. 
This 
note 
~oes 
hey~nd- 
of 
all 
things-have 
been 
examining 
nature 
to 
see 
how 
life 
has 
how 
far 
rIghtly 
1S 
another 
question-the 
rabbmic 
(chastise- 
its 
start. 
At 
first 
it 
seemed 
that 
new 
bugs, 
worms 
and 
insects 
ments 
of 
love.' 
The 
soul 
is 
a11. 
'Adversity 
is 
the 
blessing 
were 
from 
time 
to 
time 
created 
independently. 
For 
instance, 
of 
the 
New 
Testament.' 
With 
incomparable 
eloquence 
ana 
many 
have 
noticed 
that 
an 
Old, 
water-soaked 
wooden 
pail 
power 
the 
Gospels 
disclose 
to 
us 
one 
aspect 
of 
the 
ultimate 
would 
be 
lifted 
and 
an 
enormous 
roach 
found 
beneath 
it-too 
tr~th, 
one 
fact 
of 
reality, 
to 
which 
we 
can 
never 
again 
be 
largoe 
to 
have 
crawled 
under, 
and 
perhaps 
of 
a 
kind 
not 
pre 
vi· 
blm~, 
even 
tho 
we 
realize 
that 
it 
is 
by 
no 
means 
the 
complete 
ously 
seen 
in 
that 
quarter. 
realIty, 
hy 
!10 
means 
the 
only 
truth 
throuO'h 
which 
we 
must 
Further 
resear('h 
demonstrated 
that 
there 
are 
in 
the 
earth 
work 
and 
lIve, 
the 
truth, 
I 
mE-an, 
which 
Professor 
Bradley. 
the 
air 
and 
the 
water, 
microbes 
far 
too 
sma11 
to 
be 
seen 
by 
with 
s?ch 
splendid 
insi~ht, 
has 
lately 
shown 
us 
to 
be 
exhibited 
the 
naked 
ey.e 
•. 
which, 
under 
favorable 
conditions, 
would 
pro- 
hy 
Kmg 
Lear, 
that 
(the 
judgment 
of 
this 
world 
is 
a 
lie' 
duce 
larger 
hvmg 
creature!! 
of 
one 
kind 
or 
another, 
according 
[th.at] 
ItS 
~oods 
whi~h 
we 
Covet 
corrupt 
us; 
rthat] 
its 
ill;, 
to 
the 
environments 
and 
conditions. 
whIch 
wreck 
our 
bodIes, 
set 
our 
souls 
free': 
'the 
conviction 
Then 
came 
the 
suggestion 
that 
all 
the 
lar!!'er 
forms 
of 
being 
that 
our 
whole 
attitude 
in 
asking 
or 
exPecting 
that 
goodness 
were 
mere 
evolutions 
from 
lower 
to 
higher. 
With 
this 
thought 
sh?uld 
be 
prosperous 
is 
wrong; 
that, 
if 
only 
we 
could 
see 
th,e 
learned 
of 
this 
world 
have 
been 
wrestling 
for 
the 
past 
thmgs 
as 
they 
are 
we 
should 
see 
that 
the 
outward 
is 
nothing 
fifty 
years, 
shaking 
the 
foundations 
of 
faith 
in 
the 
Bible 
for 
and 
the 
inward 
is 
all.' 
" 
' 
millions. 
For 
if 
the 
Bible 
be 
true 
this 
theory 
is 
false 
as 
And 
of 
the 
Christian 
doctrine 
of 
self-renunciation 
to 
save 
respects 
man's 
origin. 
Instead 
of 
further 
evolution 
being 
our 
others 
he 
writes: 
salvation 
the 
Bible 
points 
us 
to 
our 
fall, 
to 
the 
redemption 
. 
"The 
l'enunciation, 
the 
self-denial. 
and 
that 
daily 
carry- 
accomplished 
for 
the 
world 
by 
the 
Son 
of 
God, 
and 
to 
the 
mg 
of 
the 
cross, 
whereby 
Luke, 
as 
Wellhausen 
notes, 
changes 
coming 
deliverance 
of 
the 
groaning 
creation 
from 
sin 
and 
its 
(3731) 
Vou. XXVII ALLEGHENY, PA., MARCH 1, 1906 No. 5 VIEWS FROM THE WATCH TOWER CHRISTIAN TENETS THE JEWS MAY ADOPT To find a celebrated and influential Jew advising his race to ‘‘follow the letter of the Law in the spirit of the Gospel’’ is a decidedly interesting feature of the religious situation. Mr, Claude G. Montefiore, president of the Angio-Jewish Association, founder of The Jewish Quarterly Review and a man of light and leading in British Jewry, gives his fellows this counsel in the current number of The Hibbert Journal (London.) Before giving this advice, he takes occasion to remark to the Christian readers of his article that some of the doctrines which they imagine to be distinctively Christian were, and are, Jewish. The conception of the fatherhood of God and of his loving-kindness, for example, has been paraded as Christian, ‘whereas to the rabbinic, medieval, and modern Jew it was, and is, the A B C of his religion.’’ Similarly, the doctrines ‘‘that reconcilement with one’s neighbor must precede reeoneilement with God, or that the best alms are those given in secret, or that impure thoughts are evil as well as impure deeds, or that there is peculiar joy in heaven over the repentant—these doctrines and several others are not only rabbinic commonplaces, but familiar Jewish maxims.’’ The common Jewish objections to Christianity are that some of its teaching is ‘‘unpractical and overstrained,’’ that the ideal is so high as to be ‘‘ineapable of realization,’’ that “*if some maxims were literally obeyed, there would be a subversion of law and order, and universal confusion,’? that ‘the tendency of the teaching is to make a man take a too selfish intere.t in the saving of his own soul,’’? and that it ‘points toward an ascetic morality.’’ _ In one divergence of doctrine between the rabbinic religion and that of the synoptic Gospels, however, Mr. Montefiore seems to incline toward the latter. He says: ‘*The rabbinic religion followed the prevailing doctrine of the Old Testament in holding that, on the whole, the right principle of human conduct, and the great principle of divine conduct, was that of proportionate requital, or tit for tat. I do not mean to say that other principles, such as that of the divine forgiveness, did not frequently cross the principle of tit for tat, but still it seems true to say that tit for tat occupies a very large place in Jewish ethics and religion, a larger place than the facts of life or our highest ethical and religious conceptions can fully justify and approve. Now the teaching of the synoptic Gospels seems to traverse that doctrine in many different ways. As between man and man we have, for instance, the teaching, ‘If ye love them which love you, what thank have ye?’ and the reception of the prodigal son, and as between God and man the teaching seems more emphatie still, Not only that the sun rises on the evil as well as the good, but also, in the parable of the vineyard, ‘I will give unto this last even as unto thee.’ .. . _ ‘‘Perhaps one reason, tho not the deepest, why the doctrine of tit for tat is less thought of in the Gospels, is their rather pronounced antagonism to earthly good fortune, their strong sympathy with, or even partiality for, the weak, the miserable, and the poor. The only treasures of any value are the treasures to be attained in heaven. The treasures of earth are transitory from a double reason—the individual dies, and the old order is rapidly nearing its close. The same thoughts meet us not infrequently in the rabbinic literature. but we note in the Gospels a kind of passionate glorification of renunciation and adversity as marks of true discipleship, and as the one sure passport to heaven. This note goes heyond— how far rightly is another question—the rabbinic ‘chastisements of love.’ The soul is all. ‘Adversity is the blessin of the New Testament.’ With incomparable eloquence and power the Gospels disclose to us one aspect of the ultimate truth, one fact of reality, to which we can never again be blind, even tho we realize that it is by no means the complete reality, by no means the only truth through which we must work and live, the truth, I mean, which Professor Bradley. with such splendid insight, has lately shown us to he exhibited by King Lear, that ‘the judgment of this world is a lie: (that] its goods which we covet corrupt us; [that] its ills, which wreck our bodies, set our souls free’: ‘the conviction that our whole attitude in asking or expecting that goodness should be prosperous is wrong; that, if only we could see things as they are we should see that the outward is nothing, and the inward is all.’ ’?’ And of the Christian doctrine of self-renunciation to save others he writes: _ ‘The renunciation, the self-denial. and that daily carrying of the cross, whereby Luke, as Wellhausen notes, changes [3781) mere martyrdom into a general way of life, are not in the Gospels urged and intended solely to save one’s own soul, but also to save others. The endurance, the self-sacrifice, are not to be merely passive, but active. They are to be helpful and redemptive; through loving service and sympathy to awaken in the sinner the dormant capacity of righteousness and love. ‘*Lowly, active service for the benefit of the humblest is an essential feature of the synoptic religion. ‘He who would be great among you, let him be your servant.’ ‘It is not the will of my Father that one of these little ones should perish.’ The teaching of the synoptics in this matter seems to cluster round those three great sayings: ‘The Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister;’ ‘I came not to call the righteous, but sinners;’ ‘The Son of man came to seck and to save that which was lost.’ ‘*And here, once more, we seem to be cognizant of fresh and original teaching, which has produced fruit to be ever reckoned among the distinctive glories of Christianity. It has two aspects: first, the yearning and eager activity to save and to redeem; secondly, the special attitude of the Master toward sinners and toward sin. The rabbis and the rabbinic religion are keen on repentance, which in their eyes is second only to the law; but we do not, I think, find the same passionate eagerness to cause repentance, to save the lost, to redeem the sinner. The refusal to allow that any human soul is not capable of emancipation from the bondage of sin, the labor of pity and love among the outcast and the fallen, go back to the synoptic Gospels and their Hero. They were hardly known before his time. And the redemptive method which he inaugurated was new likewise. Jt was the method of pity and love. There is no paltering with sin; it is not made less odious; but instead of mere threats and condemnations, the chance is given for hope, admiration, and love to work their wonders within the sinner’s soul. The sinner is afforded the opportunity for doing good instead of evil, and his kindly services are encouraged and praised. Jesus seems to have had a special insight into the nature of certain kinds of sin, and into the redeemable capacity of certain kinds of sinners, He perceived that there was a certain untainted humility of soul which some sing in some sinners had not yet destroyed, just as he also believed and realized that there was a certain cold, formal, negative virtue which was practically equivalent to sin, and far less capable of reformation. Overzealous scrupulosity, and the pride which, dwelling with smug satisfaction upon its own excellence, draws away the skirt from any contact with impurity, were specially repugnant to him. Whether with this sin and with its sinners he showed adequate patience may perhaps be doubted, but it does seem to me that his denunciation of formalism and pride, his contrasted pictures of the lowly publican and the scrupulous pharisee, were new and permanent contributions to morality and religion. As the Jewish reader meets them in the synoptic Gospels, he recognizes this new contribution; and if he is adequately openminded, he does it homage and is grateful.’’ SPONTANEOUS GENERATION OF LIFE We see much in the public prints respecting the efforts of chemists and biologists to produce life, and several ‘‘professors’’ have announced their success in so doing. What are the facts? For centuries scientific minds—skeptical respecting the teachings of the Bible that God is the author of life, the Creator of all things—have been examining nature to see how life has its start. At first it seemed that new bugs, worms and insects were from time to time created independently. For instance, many have noticed that an old, water-soaked wooden pail would be lifted and an enormous roach found beneath it—too large to have crawled under, and perhaps of a kind not previously seen in that quarter. Further research demonstrated that there are in the earth, the air and the water, microbes far too small to be seen by the naked eye, which, under favorable conditions, would produce larger living creatures of one kind or another, according to the environments and conditions. Then came the suggestion that all the larger forms of being were mere evolutions from lower to higher. With this thought the learned of this world have been wrestling for the past fifty years, shaking the foundations of faith in the Bible for millions. For if the Bible be true this theory is false as respects man’s origin. Instead of further evolution being our salvation the Bible points us to our fall, to the redemption accomplished for the world by the Son of God, and to the coming deliverance of the groaning creation from sin and its (67-68)

This website uses cookies to improve the website and your experience. By continuing to browse this website, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. If you require further information or do not wish to accept cookies when using this website, please visit our Privacy Policy    Terms of Use    .