the narrow limits of the promised land. That obstacle was indeed removed
by the destruction of the temple of Jerusalem; but the most considerable
part of the Jewish religion was involved in its destruction; and
the Pagans, who had long wondered at the strange report of an empty
sanctuary, were at a loss to discover what could be the object, or what
could be the instruments, of a worship which was destitute of temples
and of altars, of priests and of sacrifices. Yet even in their fallen
state, the Jews, still asserting their lofty and exclusive privileges,
shunned, instead of courting, the society of strangers. They still
insisted with inflexible rigor on those parts of the law which it was in
their power to practise. Their peculiar distinctions of days, of meats,
and a variety of trivial though burdensome observances, were so many
objects of disgust and aversion for the other nations, to whose habits
and prejudices they were diametrically opposite. The painful and even
dangerous rite of circumcision was alone capable of repelling a willing
proselyte from the door of the synagogue.

Under these circumstances, Christianity offered itself to the world,
armed with the strength of the Mosaic law, and delivered from the weight
of its fetters. An exclusive zeal for the truth of religion, and the
unity of God, was as carefully inculcated in the new as in the ancient
system: and whatever was now revealed to mankind concerning the nature
and designs of the Supreme Being, was fitted to increase their reverence
for that mysterious doctrine. The divine authority of Moses and the
prophets was admitted, and even established, as the firmest basis of
Christianity. From the beginning of the world, an uninterrupted series
of predictions had announced and prepared the long-expected coming of
the Messiah, who, in compliance with the gross apprehensions of the
Jews, had been more frequently represented under the character of a King
and Conqueror, than under that of a Prophet, a Martyr, and the Son of
God. By his expiatory sacrifice, the imperfect sacrifices of the temple
were at once consummated and abolished. The ceremonial law, which
consisted only of types and figures, was succeeded by a pure and
spiritual worship, equally adapted to all climates, as well as to every
condition of mankind; and to the initiation of blood was substituted a
more harmless initiation of water. The promise of divine favor, instead
of being partially confined to