d upon her a system of
emigration, that drew off her youth to the great centres of the world and
established large colonies in every leading city. Israel was never left to
settle down again into provincialism, but was stirred by the currents of
the great world of thought that poured in upon her from Greece and Egypt,
from Rome and the far East. "A cross-fertilization of ideas" was thus
carried on by Providence. The result of grafting the richest varieties of
thought upon such a sturdy stock could not fail of proving something rare
and rich. As was natural from such conditions, the thought of the nation
took on new forms. Calm study of nature and man, and rational speculation
on the great problems of life displaced impassioned and imaginative
thought. Prophecy gave way to philosophy. The sages became the teachers of
men. The third class of books in the Old Testament Canon, known by the
Jews as the Writings, belong to this period; Proverbs, Ecclesiastes,
Esther, Jonah, Daniel, etc. To this period also belongs the Apocrypha,
which contains some noble books. These varied writings show, when
critically studied, a direct bearing on the problems that we know were
occupying the mind of the nation during this period, and illustrate the
tendencies working among the people. We thus see, plainly, the growth of
the seeds of noble thought which were sown in the national consciousness
during the exile, and the growth of the rich germs wafted into Judea from
Greece and Egypt.
We can trace the development of the circle of ideas which, later on,
crystallized, under the ethical and spiritual force of Jesus into the
theology of Christianity. We watch the embryonic stages of this
thought-body, which at length awaited only the breathing within it of an
informing spirit to issue in a new and noble religion.
Nor was this period of the Restoration merely one of intellectual
development, else there would have been no such issue as came at length.
It was a period of quiet ethical and spiritual development. No prophet
arose, indeed, to quicken Israel, but the ancient prophets still spake
from the institutions into which they had breathed somewhat of their
spirit, and from the holy books which were read in every synagogue, and
learned in every home. The temple worship of this period retained the old
forms of sacrifice; but charged them with spiritual significances which
are difficult for us to associate with such bloody rites, did we not know
ho
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