A series of letters on the evidences of Christianity, (as they first appeared in the occident.)

Preface

BY THE EDITOR OF THE OCCIDENT.

It is now fully thirty years when there appeared, in the city of New York, a monthly paper called '' The Jew/' and edited by Solomon Henry Jackson. The object of this work was to lay before the public arguments in defence of the Jewish religion, which was theo, as now, assailed by the agents and messengers of the association calling itself, arrogantly, ''The American Society for Meliorating the Condition of the Jews.^^ Mr. Jackson and his coadjutors fiercely assailed the popular belief, and occasionally their honest zeal hurried them into expressions which would have been stronger had they been conveyed in gentler tones. The work dragged along a painful existence for two years, and died with the spring of the year 1825, when the editor retired, having had sad experience enough of the public indifference towards his laudable undertaking. The number of Israelites, however, at that time in America, could not have exceeded ten thousand, if there were so many ; hence it was naturally a difficult matter to support any denominational work, irrespective of the fact that Mr. Jackson had in all likelihood no acquaintance with general literature, and ^' The Jew^' contained little besides controversial papers. Still it is a pity that it died so soon, with so little satisfaction io the originators, and probably with a loss more con-

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IV PREFACE.

siderable than the extent of his means permitted him to bear. In short, like with many similar undertakings, Mr. Jackson found out that journalism had more sorrows than pleasures for nearly all who engage in it ; and for twenty years nearly, no attempt was made again to start a Jewish Journal in America.

One of the most attractive features of '^ The Jew,'^ were the papers which appeared therein under the name of ^^ Dea's Letters,'^ of which seventeen had been printed when the work stopped. They were noticed for their cogency and gentlemanly tone, the arguments being not the less striking for the gentleness with which the author wielded his weapons. At that time, which was soon after my arrival in America, it was a fruitless task to discover who the writer was, as no one seemed able to give any information on the subject. Not long after, however, an old gentleman of Richmond, Virginia, where I then resided, the late Jacob Mordecai, informed me that a little before the commencement of the nineteenth century, persons connected with the Simson family, of New York, had in vain endeavoured to find a printer in Philadelphia to give publicity to a series of letters, probably the identical Dea's papers which had appeared in ^^ The Jew."

In the meanwhile I had the pleasure of making the ajcquaintance of Sampson Simson, Esq., of Yonkers, New York ; and when I had commenced ^^ The Occident,'' in the month of April, 1843, and after the second number had appeared, I paid him a visit for the purpose of procuring the MS. of these letters, which I had ascertained were in his possession, intending to print the whole of them should my work survive sufficiently long. Mr. Simson was kind enough

PREFACE. V

to put the MS. in my hands, consisting of four books, covering in all about four hundred pages. I learned from him that, sometime before the American revolution, these letters had been loaned to his father, Solomon Simson, by a person to him unknown, and that they had been copied in the present MS. by Mr. Jacobs, a clerk, if I recollect aright, of Mr. S's father. More than this I did not learn.

On printing the first letter, in June, 1843, I at once suggested that the name of the author had been wrongly spelled in the MS., and should be Dlas instead of Dea. Much to my gratification I received, soon after, a letter from the late lamented Grace Aguilar, informing me that I was right in my conjecture, and that the author's name was Benjamin Bias J her maternal great grand father, a merchant of Portuguese origin, who came from Jamaica to England, where he spent the latter part of his life, and where, in fact, these important letters were written. It appears, likewise, from her statement, that Mr. Dias wrote two copies of the work, one of which he gave to his eldest son, Isaac, and the other to his youngest son, Jacob. The latter, who was the grand father of Miss Aguilar, lent his copy to a relative, and it was never returned ; and only some years back the descendants of Isaac, who reside in Jamaica, sent their copy to their aunt, the venerable widow of Jacob Dias, and it was greatly to the surprise of the family that they found the letters published in '' The Occident'^ identical with those in their possession. Subsequently I ascertained that the other copy was in this country, the owner having proposed to me to have it stereotyped for general circulation; but having stipulated with him that he should bear the expense of publication, which his ample means would have readily enabled

VI PREFACE.

him to defray, my letter remained unanswered. This person died some time ago, and an application through a friend in the South to his son-in law, who is not an Israelite, for a loan of the MS. to compare it with the one in my possession, was refused without assigning any reason. The English MS. neither has ever been in my hands ; so I am unable to determine whether the present collection contains all the writings of Mr. Dias or not. Any how it embraces all I have ever seen, and it is given with strict fidelity, only that I have made the necessary corrections in orthography and punctuation, and occasionally,' when absolutely requiste, I corrected a few errors made by the transcriber or the author ; a precedure absolutely requisite with all manuscripts, even when one prints his own works.

I have ascertained, likewise, that the author's full name was Benjaman Dias Fernandes ; and I regret that his relatives in England either know nothing more than what is given here, or that they did not care about communicating it for publication. Nor has any account ever reached me as to the reasons which induced Mr. Dias to write, or respecting the persons to whom they were addressed; but I rather think that nothing is known by his descendants on these topics, or else there can be but little doubt that Miss Aguilar would have informed me of them, as our correspondence for some years was quite familiar. If this conjecture be correct, Mr. Dias is but an addition to the many Israelites who have laboured well for their people, of whose history, nevertheless, we have nothing but their works.

It is possible that there may be other letters of Mr. DIas than those in this collection. But as it is my intention to take good care that Mrs. Aguilar, who still survives her

PREFACE. VM

gifted daughter, shall see this book, it is to be hoped that she will communicate these^ in case they do exist, to be made public hereafter.

The Israelitish reader has, accordingly, this work in his possession, after it has lain for nearly a hundred years either unpublished or scattered through the pages of ^^ The Jew,'' and the ^' Christian Inquirer,'' a magazine edited by the late Barnabas Bates, of postage reform memory, in each of which a portion appeared, and ^' Th-e Occident.," in No. 3 of which the first letter was presented, and the dissertation on Genesis xlix. 10,"^ in No. 128, the whole publication occupying a space of ten and a half years. From the beginning these papers have been eagerly read by Israelites living scattered through the country 3 and they have furnished them many good opportunities to give convincing answers to those who assailed them on account of their faith. It was in obedience, therefore, to the request of many friends, that I announced, several months ago, my intention of issuing them in book form, and I am now happy that I have done so. It is to be hoped that the work will attract, as it deserves, the attention of all Israelites, especially of ministers and elders, that they may give it the widest possible circulation ; as it is a sharpedged sword of faith to ward off the attacks which are so frequently made, and which are not alwaj's so easily answered

*It is more than probable that Mr. Dias is not tke author of the last mentioned paper, as it is headed in the MS : ^' Not being satisfied with the solution of this prophecy, as it is contained in the twenty-second letter, and having myself written a letter on the subject, (which I have hereunto annexed) I have made a few remarks in haste, which I here subjoin for the perusal of my friend." Whether, therefore, this is a subsequent remark of Mr. D., or orignating with the transcriber, or some one else, is at present impossible to determine.

Vlll PREFACE.

as some may suppose in their self-conceit. But these letters^ if they are not always the best that can be advanced on a particular topic, at least give always a. candid view of the question which they discuss, and in such a manner that their force cannot be easily weakened or avoided.

This is the first publication of mine which does not emanate from my pen ; but then these letters passed successively under my review, and have a few, though but a very few, notes of mine appended to them ; and I trust that I shall meet with so much encouragement as to induce me to issue hereafter more works of the kind, so that this may be '' The Jewish Controversial Library, No. 1,'' as I had at one time thought to print on the title page. We owe it to ourselves to defend our religion ; and it would be a shame if, with a free press at our command, we do not scatter light all over the land, and "teach the sons of Judah to wield the bow," the arrows of which slay unbelief and exterminate erroneous teaching.

ISAAC LEESER.

•Du-i 1 1 X.' fNovember 14th, 1853.

Philadelphia, j Marcheshvan 12th, 5614.

DIAS^ LETTEES.

Letter I

Dear Sir: — No distance between us shall hinder me, now having leisure, from satisfying your curiosity^ and sending you my opinion concerning primitive Christianity, and the foundation on which it is established. I believe, when you required this task of me, you little thought of the trouble and pains I should be at ; and I have no doubt, but you expected I should do this in about half a dozen letters. If so, you will find yourself greatly mistaken ; for as the subject is extensive, you will find that the consideration of one thing will insensibly lead me to another. Your curiosity, I am afraid; will cost you dear, and you are likely to pay for postage more than perhaps any thing I can say will be worth.

I intend my letters on this subject shall be separate, that the thread of them may not be interrupted by any thing foreign to the pui^pose. I likewise intend to keep a copy, and to number them, and this is the first. By this means I shall be enabled, should there be any miscarriage, to transcribe another copy.

In the course of these letters I shall say, myself, as

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little as possible ; neither shall I assert any thing but under the authority of Scripture^ or of some eminent authors. Of these there are three, (all in Spanish.) The first is " Fortificacion de la Fe/' by Isaac, the son of Abraham, of whom take the following character from Basuage :^ ^^ It must not be denied,'' says he, ^' but that they had their defenders, at the head of whom we may rank Rabbi Isaac, the son of Abraham ; this man declares that he spent his life in the courts of Germany, near princes, who often gave him marks of distinction ; he had frequent conferences with Luther's disciples, and it was against them he composed his ^ Buttress of Faith/ It must be confessed his book is one of the most dangerous that has been produced against Christianity. The author runs through the whole gospel, and dwells upon all the passages of the sacred story that can furnish him with any objections; he enforces them briskly, -and at the same time refutes the Christian's answer." This book is translated into Latin under the title of ^^ Munumen Fidei." ^' It were to be wished," adds Mr. Basnage, *^ the learned translator had followed this author, step by step, and confuted him." The author wrote it originally in Hebrew; the Spanish translator has added several notes and remarks of his own. The second is the famous ^^Tratado de la Verdad de la Ley," written by Saul Levy Morteria, of whom no doubt but you have heard. The third is *^Prevenciones Divinas Contra La Vana Idolatria de las Gentes," by the learned Doctor Isaac Orobio de Castro, of whom Mr. Basnage makes mention,*}* This learned person had

* History of the Jews, B. 7, C. 30. f Ibid.

LETTER I. 6

a famous controversy with Limborch^ concerning the Christian religion, which is published in Latin; but I very much doubt if the arguments on his side be fairly represented. In the manuscript which I haye, there appears so much learning, solid argument, and sound judgment, that he must have been entirely qualified to support the advantages arising from his cause, besides his being well versed in all the doctrines of Christianity, and in their subtlety of subterfuges, which he continually exposes and explodes by his solid reasonings. These are the principal Jewish authors, who have written on controverted points, whose works are all in manuscript. I am indebted to some eminent Christian authors, who have supplied me with many hints, which I shall make use of occasionally ; as what they assert must, when properly applied, give an additional strength to, and illustrate whatever I shall assert.

I shall take care to settle and fix the proper meaning of the terms, and to use them according to their true sense and signification ; otherwise it will be impossible to avoid mistakes and confusion, as it happens when terms are made use of, or introduced, which have no determinate meaning, or have not proper ideas annexed to them ; for how, otherwise, can we judge of the truth of any proposition ? After all, I am very sure that the subject will sufier greatly in my hands for want of abilities equal to the task. For though I shall take care to assert nothing but such truths as I am convinced of, yet I cannot pretend to the happiness of being able to set them forth to you with that clearness which the importance of the subject requires; neither can I pretend, or you expect, that I should follow that method and regularity so necessary to be observed, and which oftentimes gives additional light to a subject; and I assure you that nothing less than the pleasure which I always take in obeying you, together with a strong propensity, or desire in me, to search into these matters (for my own satisfaction and information) could induce me to undertake that which must expose my ignorance, and which I only do on the condition that you keep these letters private^ and that you show them to no person whatever.

Letter II

How unfortunate is it that there should not be any authentic ancient writing of the transactions which are related in the New Testament, on the veracity of which we might depend. The disadvantage of being reduced to the necessity of taking every particular from such as were deeply engaged, and whose interest must naturally have led them to relate things which, perhaps, never happened, and many others in which they might be deceived, great as it is, is nothing (were there any certainty that the evidence of such authors is genuine) in comparison with what these writings have suffered, and the many alterations and additions they have received, and this to such a degree, that I dare say no learned man of the present day will be willing to assert of any one single text that it may not have undergone some change or alteration. Our first inquiry, therefore, must be into the authority of the New Testament ; for no person can have the least right over our understanding, or demand our

LETTER n. 5

assent to any proposition contrary to our conviction ; and we may be sure that we cannot offend, when we make inquiry into the nature of the evidence produced for our conversion, since it is the ouly method we have to come at the knowledge of truth in any matter. Besides, in so doing, we avoid as much as possible the being imposed on, and act as reasonable creatures, and according to the dignity of our natures.

" God himself/' says the judicious Mr. Chandler, ^^ who is the object of all religious worship, to whom we owe the most absolute subjection, and whose actions are all guided by the discerned reason and fitness of things, cannot, as I apprehend, consistent with his own perfect wisdom, require of his creatures the implicit belief of, or actual assent to any proposition which they do not, or cannot, either wholly or in part understand; because it is requiring of them a real impossibility, no man being able to stretch his faith beyond his understandiug.^^* Therefore, our inquiry into the nature of any proposition is absolutely necessary ; particularly in matters offered for our conversion. And it is a very just observation of Mr. Basnage, when he says, ^' We must prove the divine authority of the Gospel (to the Jews) before we engage in the particulars of other controversies/^")* And I add, till this is done, and the Jews admit the divine authority of the New Testament, nothing can be urged from it for their conversion ) for, in controversies, neither party can, with the least shadow of reason, make use of any authority which is not admitted or granted by the other. A Mahomedan might as consistently ui'ge the authority of the

* Introduction to his History of the Inquisition.

t History of the Jews, B. 7, C. 34.

1*

Koran for the conviction of the Christian, as a Christian make use of or urge any thing from the New Testament for the conviction of the Jew. The absurdity of such a method in either case is equally plain and obvious; for, as the Christian does not admit the infallibility or divine inspiration of the Koran, what force or validity could any argument drawn therefrom have, or what regard would the Christian pay to any such authority ? So, in like manner, what regard can it be expected the Jew will pay to any proof drawn from the New Testament, the authority or infallibility of which they do not admit ? Can conviction be reasonably expected from such grounds ?

By inspiration, I mean '' God communicating his will, and exciting a person to publish, by writing, or proclaiming by words, such matters as are dictated to him/^ A person thus actuated, either in his writings or words, is properly inspired ; and whatever he writes or says, under such circumstances, must be infallible or true ; because, being under the immediate influence or guidance of God, he cannot be liable to error or deception. But the person, so actuated or influenced, must necessarily lose his own free -agency ; because he thereby becomes an instrument which God makes use of, under whose direction he acts ; for otherwise he would not be infallible. Therefore, when I speak of the infallibility of any book or writing, I mean thereby that its author was under the circumstances afore-mentioned at the time of waiting; for if he was not under these circumstances, then cannot his writings be infallible; because he, like other free agents, must be liable to deception, and may mistake the things concerning which he writes, or may impose upon others.

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It is a doubt with me, whether there is any considerate person who believes in the infallibility of the New Testamen. For no person will undertake to say that every word it contains was dictated by God to those who wrote it ; and if they were not all dictated by God, then cannot the whole be infallible.

That every word could not be dictated by God is plain, from the contradictions it contains ; and if only some part or parts of these writings should be thought infallible, such difficulties must necessarily arise in settling what part is so, and what part is not so, that it would be impossible to come to any tolerable agreement concerning it. And I am sure that nothing less than an inspired person could understand it ; for otherwise there would be as many different opinions as persons employed in the work ) and we should hear one person give as fallible what another asserted to be infallible.

Thus stands the case. Whoever now believes, or is persuaded of the divine inspiration or infallibility of the writings of the New Testament, must, I apprehend, have his evidence and conviction from one of the following means :

1. The immediate inspiration of the writer.

2. The immediate evidence of God's influence.

3. Immediate tradition from the inspired writer.

4. Distant tradition.

5. Education or authority.

6. Evidence arising from examination.

1. As to an immediate inspiration of the writer, or that evidence which the writer has, at finding himself, at the time of "writing, under the irresistible influence and immediate guidance of God, whose dictates he is forced to set down as an instrument, and (during the time) with the loss of his natural free-agency, the person thus influenced and excited may very consistently believe his writings to be inspired, and consequently infallible; because the circumstance in which he found himself at the time of his writing produced that conviction in Mm.

It is questionable whether those, who are so anxious to impress on others the infallibility of the writings of the New Testament, ever believed the writers thereof under the afore-mentioned circumstances ; which they must necessarily do, otherwise their infallibility falls to the ground ; but if they believed they were, I should be glad to know from what source their conviction arises ; for I have not yet met with any thing to this purpose.

2. The next evidence, to that which the writer himself has, is when God is pleased to impress on, or influence the mind of a person by irresistibly forcing him, by some supernatural means, to believe such and such writings to be inspired. It is very certain that God may do this ; but it is a question if He ever did ; for no person did ever pretend to these supernatural illuminations, without being suspected by the more cool and sedate ] and all pretending to such a gift never met with any credit from the most discerning, who generally ascribe it to a distempered imagination. However, they, like the writer, may very consistently believe such writings to be infallible. But, then, neither the writer or the person so influenced can be any evidence to me, unless I attain to the certainty of it by the same supernatural means.

LETTER n. 9

8. Immediate tradition from the inspired 'writer.'^ This can be to me nothing but mere human fallible tradition ] for if a person^ whether really or pretendedly inspired, publishes a book or writing, and declares that it contains doctrines dictated by God to himself, his evidence to me is at least but human evidence, and therefore, uncertain and precarious : for if I believe it written by inspiration, it is on his own authority, which is both human and fallible. This being the case, how or in what manner shall I be able to distinguish the truly inspired writer from the imposter, who should pretend to the like privilege ? And if we take the writers' words in all cases, or give heed to their own testimony, we shall be liable to be deceived and imposed on by every impostor or pretender to revelation ; and the want of a certain criterion, I apprehend, was the occasion that in the first ages of the church so many different gospels appeared, which by many were received with veneration, while others rejected them as false and spurious : so that this immediate tradition can be no evidence at all of the divine inspiration or infallibility of any book or writing.

4. As to distant tradition, this evidence must be proportionably less the farther it is removed from the original ; and if immediate tradition be but human fallible evidence, and a true revelation cannot by it be distinguished from a false one, how can it be the better ascertained by being more distant from the original tradition? for the farther it is removed the more it is weakened.

5. The evidence arising from education or authority, if it

* This influence must also take away the free agency of the object so irresiatihl y injltienced, and, of a consequence, accountability also, sls there can be neither reward nor punishment for doing that we are, as ■machines, impelled to do by the power irresistible. — Ed. Jew.

proves any thing, proves that all the diflferent books which give rise to the different religions in the world, are all inspired ; for on this footing each person believes his to be so, and therefore, this can be no evidence at all.

6. Evidence arising from examination. — This is the only one to be depended on ; but then it is entirely personal^ and can never extend farther than the person who examines : that is, it may appear probable to me, on examination, that such a book was written under God's immediate influence and direction ; but if a book appears to me to be probably divinely revealed, this is no reason why another person should believe the same, or that it should appear to him in the same light, unless he likewise find it to be so on his own examination.

Letter III

Haying myself examined the writings of the New Testament, and likewise what is generally offered to support the opinion of their inspiration, I declare it to be altogether insufficient to me ; for there does not appear any one circumstance, whether alleged by others, or contained in the writings themselves, sufficient to prove that either of the writers, at the time of writing, was under the unerring guidance or special influence of God. Besides, there is not in all the gospels any one expression intimating any such thing; neither do the writers thereof lay any claim, or in the least pretend to any such privilege or authority ; nor indeed could such a prerogative be consistently ever allowed

LETTEE III. 11

them ; for if every one of them at the time of writing, had been under the immediate guidance of God, thej would, in this case, all have given us the very same account of things, without the least difference or variation ; for it is impossible, if God dictated to them all the same history, that any variation or difference should be found, unless it could be supposed that God could dictate different facts in different histories of the same person. But that there are frequent contradictions is evident.

From this circumstance, and many others, I conclude that the writers of the New Testament could not be under the infallible guidance of God; neither do I find that they published or gave out their writings as such. And if they did not declare themselves inspired, what authority or foundation could any one else have to declare them so ? On the contrary, it very evidently appears that there were no writings deemed canonical in what is called the first ages of Christianity, but the Old Testament ! The famous Dodwell says, *' We have at this day, certain most authentic ecclesiastical writers of the times, as Clemens Romanus, Barnabas, Hermas, Ignatius, and Polycarpus, who wrote in the same order wherein I have named them, and after all the writers of the New Testament, except Jude and the two Johns, but in Hermas you will not find one passage, nor any mention of the New Testament; nor in all the rest is any one of the Evangelists named ; and if sometimes they cite any passages like those we read in our gospels, you will find them so much changed, and for the most part, so interpolated, that it cannot be known whether they produced them out of our, or some other apocryphal gospels ; nay, they sometimes cite passages which most certainly are not in the present gospels/^* The first who wrote is Matthew, but at what time he did write is uncertain; some fixing his date at one time, and some at another. Again, some think he composed his gospel in the Hebrew or Jerusalem dialect ; for it seems the very language he wrote in is uncertain ; and it is confessed on all hands that no account can be had of the original ; so that if he wrote in this language, it has disappeared, but how or in what manner nobody knows. And what is still more extraordinary, the Judaizing Christians (for whoso use it is said he wrote) had a gospel under his name, but its authenticity was not admitted by the other sects ; not because they found, on comparing it with the original, that it was corrupted, (for this they could not do for want of the original,) but because it differed from or was contradictory to the many other spurious gospels which they had received, or to the opinion which the majority of that council which settled the canon had embraced. But what will appear still more surprising to you, is that the Christian should offer to the world for acceptance, as inspired and infallible, a Greek version, which is the one now existing, and which most people mistake for the original of Matthew's gospel, without any person's comparing this version with the original, or indeed without knowing any thing either of the original oi the author of the version. Should they not, in an affair of such importance, and before they pretend to fix on it the stamp of infallibility, be certain that it was at least a true version ? But nothing of this kind is done, which appears to me such a proceeding as nothing can justify.