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The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah Vol 1 - Predestination

The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah Vol 1 - Predestination

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THE PREPARATION FOR THE GOSPEL.<br />

BOOK I<br />

mythical stories, or to <strong>the</strong> popular beliefs, <strong>and</strong> by<br />

tracing <strong>the</strong> supposed symbolical meaning <strong>of</strong> names,<br />

numbers, &c., it became easy to prove almost<br />

anything, or to extract from <strong>the</strong>se philosophical<br />

truths ethical principles, <strong>and</strong> even <strong>the</strong> later results<br />

<strong>of</strong> natural science.' Such a process was peculiarly<br />

pleasing to <strong>the</strong> imagination, <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> results alike<br />

astounding <strong>and</strong> satisfactory, since as <strong>the</strong>y could not<br />

be proved, so nei<strong>the</strong>r could <strong>the</strong>y be disproved.<br />

This allegorical method ' was <strong>the</strong> welcome key by<br />

which <strong>the</strong> Hellenists might unlock <strong>the</strong> hidden<br />

treasury <strong>of</strong> Scripture. In point <strong>of</strong> fact, we find it<br />

applied so early as in <strong>the</strong> * Wisdom <strong>of</strong> Solomon.' •<br />

But as yet Hellenism had scarcely left <strong>the</strong> domain<br />

<strong>of</strong> sober interpretation. It is o<strong>the</strong>rwise in <strong>the</strong> letter<br />

<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Pseudo-Aristeas, to which reference has

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