ot participate
in the national worship and conform to the national usages were
outcasts. The triumph of Israel was to be accomplished by the miraculous
power of a Messiah who should descend out of heaven. His coming was
delayed, in part by the opposition of demons, in part by the failure of
the people to obey the law. This law embraced both moral and ceremonial
elements derived from varied sources, but in the apprehension of the
people it was all alike regarded as of divine origin. It was to be
obeyed without question and without inquiry as to its meaning, because
established by God. It was contained in the Sacred Scriptures (see
BIBLE: _Old Testament_), which had been revealed by God supernaturally,
and its meaning was set forth by schools of learned men whose
interpretations were authoritative. The conception of salvation was
mingled with ideas derived from the East during and after the period of
captivity. The priesthood held still the ancient ideas. Salvation was
for the nation, and the individual was not necessarily participant in
it. Life after death was disbelieved or held as the existence of shades.
There could be no resurrection of the body and no immortality (in the
Greek sense). With these beliefs were associated a certain worldliness
and want of fervour. The more actively and aggressively religious party,
on the other hand, adopted the belief in the resurrection of the body,
and in the individual's participation in the Messiah's kingdom; all the
pious would have their share in it, while the wicked would be outcast.
But these doctrines were variously conceived. By some the Messianic
kingdom was thought of as permanent, by others as intermediary, the
external kingdom being transcendent. So too some thought of a literal
resurrection of the body of flesh and blood, while others thought that
it would be transformed. The rudiments of some of these ideas can be
found in the prophets, but their development took place after the exile,
and indeed for the most part after the conclusion of the writings
accounted canonical. Thus too the belief in a kingdom of demons held a
large place in the mind of the people, though the references to such
evil beings are almost absent from the sacred writings of the Old
Testament. Again it is to the East that we must look for the origin of
these ideas.

The teaching of Jesus.

Jesus completed the prophetic teachings. He employed the old phraseology
and imagery, but he was conscio