f — 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF 
 
 CALI-FORNIA. 
 
 : c/.@^ M^4 
 
 fe--sV- 
 
 Received September, j8s5. 
 
 Accessions No.^^Jl^y^ 
 
 S/ie/f jVo. 1 
 
 - ^3 
 
THE 
 
 INQDISITION AND JUDAISM. 
 
LONDON: 
 
 pniNTED ny j. wektiieimer and cc 
 
 CIECXS I'LACE, riNSBUlIY CIllCUS. 
 
THE 
 
 INQUISITION AND JUDAISM. 
 A SERMON 
 
 ADDRESSED TO 
 
 JEWISH MARTYRS, 
 
 ON THE OCCASION OF AN AUTO DA FE AT LISBON, 1705. 
 
 BY 
 
 THE ARCHBISHOP OF CRANGAXOR. 
 
 ALSO 
 
 A REPLY TO THE SERMON, 
 
 BY 
 
 CARLOS VERO. 
 
 TKANSLATED DY 
 
 MOSES MOCATTA. 
 
 LONDON : 
 PRINTED BY J. WERTIIEIMER AND CO., 
 
 FIN8BCKY CIRCUS. 
 1845. 
 
3ib^ 
 
 ^yS6 
 
 ^ 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 In the following pages will be found a Sermon deli- 
 vered by the Archbishop of Cranganor to a number of 
 Israelites, hapless victims of the Inquisition, prepara- 
 tory to the unhallowed celebration of an Auto da Fe. 
 Of the unfortunate beings compelled to listen to the 
 archbishop, a majority Avere under sentence of making 
 their selection between Apostasy and Death, and one 
 amongst the number, having offended a second time 
 against the Inquisition, is, agreeably to all inference, 
 irrevocably condemned to perish by the flames. And 
 yet it is before such defenceless creatures, whose 
 tongues are bridled, that the prelate affects a vast 
 display of erudition ; it is such unhappy men whom 
 he assails with a verbose and diffuse harangue, 
 professing to enter into a free and fair discussion on 
 the merits of the respective creeds of Judaism and 
 Christianity ! 
 
 Such a flagrant outrage on the unalienable rights 
 of conscience— such a solemn farce, enacted in the 
 name, and under the assumed sanction of the God of 
 mercy and love— cannot fail to awaken in every 
 humane and thinking mind sentiments of abhorrence 
 and diso-ust. Painful as the records of such acts must 
 be, still we may derive a soothing consolation from 
 
VI INTKODUCTION. 
 
 the fact that the Satanic tribunal of Torquemado, 
 every page of whose history is inscribed in blood, has 
 long ceased to be tolerated by every civilized nation 
 throughout the globe. Though the times in which 
 our lives are cast bear the impress of a more humane 
 and enlightened spirit, and render impractible the bar- 
 barous deeds of the media3val ages ; we have never- 
 theless to deplore that the privileges of conscience are 
 not yet respected, and that the morbid craving for 
 apostatizing still continues to mar domestic and social 
 peace, and to keep alive the flame of civil and sectarian 
 strife which ought long since to have been extinguished. 
 In many parts of the Old and New World, but more 
 especially in great Britain, the conversion of the Jews 
 has become an organized system. Here, societies and 
 branch societies are formed, schools are established 
 for infants and adults, and enormous sums are annu- 
 ally placed at the disposal of mercenary agents to 
 further what the maudlin fanaticism of the day calls 
 " the good cause." It might be imagined that with all 
 this formidable apparatus, added to the efforts of a 
 regiment of missionaries in no way scrupulous as to the 
 means they employ to accomplish their unrighteous 
 object, that every year would bring an overwhehning 
 number of Jews to the baptismal font. Nothing, how- 
 ever, can be more contrary to the fact : for if we are 
 to give credence to the printed reports of the con- 
 versionists (and most anxious must they be to make 
 some shew in return for the treasure poured into 
 
INTRODUCTION. Vll 
 
 their coffers), eighteen, or at most nineteen, is the 
 yearly average of JeAvish souls that can be bought up 
 for the society in the several districts of their mis- 
 sionary stations. 
 
 On enquiring into the true motives that can possi- 
 bly induce Israelites to renounce the faith of their 
 fathers, we cannot divest ourselves of the suspicion 
 that a craving for mundane honors, and an unruly 
 ambition upon which religious sentiment holds no 
 check, may have great weight Avith some men, and 
 may lead them to prefer the momentary gratification 
 wh ch the parade and circumstance of power confers, 
 to the favor of the Supreme Being and the approbation 
 of conscience. To attempt to argue with such un- 
 principled men, if such there be, would be utterly 
 hopeless ; for little can the words of mortals avail with 
 persons who are deaf to the voice of God and reckless 
 of their eternal bliss. 
 
 Others, again, there are, whose abject poverty ren- 
 ders them obnoxious to the pecuniary bait held out 
 by the wily agents of the " Society." We are hardly 
 prepared to suggest a remedy in this case, indisposed 
 as we are to attempt to bind men to tlicir creed by 
 mere worldly considerations: yet would we venture 
 to urge on the consideration of the more opulent mem- 
 bers of our connnunity, the absolute necessity of taking 
 a deep and lively interest in the condition of their 
 poorer brethren, of ascertaining their mental and 
 physical wants, and of endeavouring to protect them, 
 
Vlll INTRODUCTION. 
 
 as far as may be practicable, from the demoralizing 
 influence of those who traflic in conscience. 
 
 There is, however, another class of Israelites, neither 
 few nor unimportant, who are deserving of the high- 
 est consideration. We allude to the youths of both 
 sexes, who, for want of that sound religious instruction 
 which the pulpit of every synagogue ought to pro- 
 vide, but Avhich at the present day is almost entirely 
 neglected, are left to their o"\vn resources, and are 
 thus rendered an easy prey to whoever may be dis- 
 posed to steal away their hearts. Every one conver- 
 sant with the religious training of Jewish females 
 must be impressed with the lamentable fact, that the 
 instruction imparted to this important class of the 
 community is fatally deficient. To them the scrip- 
 tures in the original Hebrew are as a sealed book : their 
 sole dependance is on the authorized Anglican version, 
 /which every Hebraist must be aware, is an extremely 
 partial translation, often at war with the obvious 
 grammatical sense of the verse and of the context, 
 and avowedly, or at least designedly, undertaken to 
 give a colouring to a system unknown to Moses and 
 to the succeeding prophets, and therefore subversive 
 oi the teachings of the genuine Hebrew scriptures. 
 These unfair and perverted translations, added to the 
 objectionable and totally unwarranted headings of the 
 chapters, often perplex readers of tender years, and 
 fill their minds with misgivings and doubts. Confid- 
 ing in ^vhat they suppose to be a faithful, accurate. 
 
INTRODUCTION. IX 
 
 and conscientious rendering of the Old Testament, 
 and receiving little or no aid from their own clergy 
 as to the proper exposition of the scriptures, they either 
 regard the Bible as involving manifest contradictions, 
 and so degenerate into infidelity, or they fall into the 
 snares spread for their feet by the mercenary agents 
 of the converting societies. It is for this class, and 
 principally for the female portion of this class, the 
 future wives and mothers in Israel, who must naturally 
 form the religious principles of the coming generation, 
 that the translator of the sermon of the archbishop 
 and of its refutation, has imposed on himself the pre- 
 sent task. 
 
 Whoever has noted the history of the controversy -, 
 between the "Converters" and the disciples of the 
 faith of Moses, must be aware that the weapons em- 
 ployed have been invariably taken from the same 
 armoury. The reader will not therefore be surprised^ 
 at the want of novelty in the "proofs" and "argu- 
 ments" advanced by the "converters," from the prelate s 
 of Cranganor downwards : but he will be rejoiced to ) 
 find that the able reply of the Israelite (whom either 
 a higli sense of modesty, or more probably, a fear of 
 persecuti(jn, has induced to conceal his naine), strikes 
 at the root of all the positions taken up by the cham- 
 pion of Papacy, and proves each of his arguments to 
 be inconsequent and unscriptural. Every book of the 
 Bible, and every volume recording the opinions of 
 indi\'idual iiabbins, has been ransacked by the coercing \ 
 
X INTRODUCTION. 
 
 'baptisers during a succession of centuries, and yet 
 they have found no sharper weapons wherewith to 
 V combat the pure principles of Mosaism than those 
 /employed by the Archbishop of Cranganor. 
 
 The reply, therefore, to the prelate of Lisbon, is a 
 reply to the whole of his fraternity who have since 
 / embarked in the same unjustifiable warfare. Let, then, 
 the discerning reader make himself familiar with the 
 sentiments and doctrines of both disputants : let him 
 study the sermon and the reply : let him " look on this 
 picture and on that" ; then let him compare the Jesuit- 
 ical sophistry of the former mth the unimpassioned 
 logic of the latter ; and it may reasonably be an- 
 ticipated that he will cling with increased fondness 
 and confidence to the faith of his fathers, and that he 
 will live and die a disciple of Moses, not only from 
 the circumstance of birth, habit, and early associations, 
 but from al3Solute conviction induced by the native 
 force of truth. 
 
 The old and somewhat curious work now put forth 
 having made its way by mere chance to the translator, 
 he at once deemed it a religious duty to give it an 
 English attire, and to secure for it a ready reception 
 amongst the youthful portion of his Jewish brethren, 
 by presenting it to them gratis. It is to be regretted 
 that some steps in the same direction have not long- 
 since been taken by those whose bounden duty it is 
 to train youth in religious knowledge. Far better 
 . would it have been for tlie moral and spiritual welfare 
 
INTRODUCTION. XI 
 
 of Israel, if the Rabbins of other times had manifested ', 
 less concern for every tittle of outward ceremonies 
 and had displayed more earnestness for the development 
 of the exalted principles which constitute the basis 
 and the glory of the Jewish faith. Had they but ) 
 imitated the example of the p;nintt" in the days of 
 Ezra, had they stood forth like him to expound the 
 law in the vernacular tongue instead of spending their 
 lives in subtile speculations and in fine hair dra^vn 
 disquisitions "which exercise no moral or religious in- 
 fluence over the minds of youth, how many w^ould 
 even at the present day be worshipping the God of 
 Israel as an absolute Unity, instead of bowing at the 
 shrine of apostasy. 
 
 The translator has frankly avowed his object in-, 
 introducing the follo^'ing work to the notice of the 
 youtli of Israel — that it is intended to fortify them in 
 the principles of their ancient faith, and to protect them 
 against the insidious efforts of the missionaries. To 
 this faithful declaration he begs to add, that nothing is 
 more remote from his mind and more alien to his 
 wishes than to interfere with the religious belief of his . 
 Christian brethren and compatriots. A genuine] 
 Israelite is, both from doctrine and feeling, an uncom- i 
 promising friend to freedom of conscience. Whilst he 1 
 is naturally attached to his own faith, it is with liim a / 
 
 actical doctrine that all men of all creeds whose lives ) 
 
 Tlio Chalclec for " lutcrpreter." 
 
Xll INTRODUCTION. 
 
 are morally good are equally the objects of the Al- 
 mighty's love and care, and that they will all partici- 
 pate in the blessings of life everlasting. Far, then, 
 from condemning the creeds of other men, the Israelite 
 respects all religious systems, however they may differ 
 from his own, and regards them as the several means 
 by which men are rendered useful, happy, and morally 
 good; and by which they are brought nearer and 
 nearer to that Great Being, " the Rock, whose Avork 
 is perfection." * 
 
 Never, therefore, will the Israelite be found attacking 
 the faith of another ; but if he is compelled to enter 
 the lists of controversy, it is on the side of the defence 
 that his banner will be unfurled, and there he will 
 be seen verifying the impressive scriptural axiom: — 
 n*llD n^: inj^l in " a word in season, how good is it !" 
 In an admirable little work just issued from the press, 
 we notice the following acute and judicious remark : t 
 "So long as the Christian confines his arguments and 
 " quotations to the New Testament, the Israelite feels 
 "perfectly secure, from his entire rejection of such au- 
 "thority as divine: but when the words of the Old 
 " Testament are so explained as to bear most startling- 
 "ly upon the creed of our adversaries, then it is that 
 "we need a careful but perfectly simple training to 
 "supply us with reply and defence." It is to be hoped 
 that the work now placed in the hands of Jewish 
 
 * Deiit. xxxii. 4. 
 
 t Women of Israel, by Grace Agtiilar. 
 
INTRODUCTION. Xlll 
 
 yovitlis, will supply the desideratum to whicli tlie 
 imtlioress refers. 
 
 The writer of the refutation has merely confined ^ 
 himself to the compass of the Archbisliop of Cran- 
 ganor's arguments ; and the scriptural quotations which 
 he has adduced in support are consequently narrowed ) 
 to that prescribed limit. Let it not, therefore, be ) 
 imagined that all the proofs which the Bible can fur- 
 nish in defence of Judaism, are exhausted in this reply : 
 far from it, since there is scarcely a chapter of the book 
 of Deuteronomy, nor a book of the prophets, which the i 
 writer might not have quoted in support of his defence, \ 
 had it been necessary to his purpose. J 
 
 The reader may, however, repose unlimited confi- \ 
 dence in all the expositions and elucidations which the 
 ^\Titer of the " Reply" has put forth. The translator, /* 
 who, during more than half a century of a prolonged life ' 
 devoted to the study of the genuine Hebrew Scriptures, 
 and to every controversial work of note from the pen of 
 JcAYS and Christians, has carefully examined and veri- 
 fied all the quotations employed by the writer of the 
 " Reply," and has found them to be fully trustworthy. 
 He is devoutly thankful to Almighty God for having 
 vouchsafed to him the time and the opportunity to 
 make himself thoroughly acquainted with the idiom of 
 the original text, so that his heart is indelibly im 
 pressed with the sublime and innnortal truths of 
 Judaism. 
 
 The translator would fain offer a word or two, as to 
 
XIV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 the manner in which he has endeavoured to perform 
 y his task. In order to render impartial justice to both 
 '" disputants, he has felt it right even at the sacrifice of 
 elegance of style and propriety of expression, to give a 
 .' faithful literal version both of the Portuguese homily and 
 > the Spanish reply. To do this he has ventured to re- 
 tain all the prohxity and tautology of the " Sermon," 
 as well as much of the quaintness and unevenness of 
 style which give a harshness to both compositions. If 
 these be considered blemishes, the judicious reader will 
 attribute them less to the ^vriters themselves than to 
 the age in which they flourished. 
 
 The task of the translator is now at an end: he 
 has only to oifer this work to the favorable and atten- 
 tive consideration of his readers, and to entreat them 
 to make themselves familiar with the Scripture^ in the 
 original Hebrew, which knowledge will prove to them 
 a valuable blessing : finally, he conjures every son and 
 daughter of Israel to regard as the Cynosure that is to 
 guide them through life, the emphatic exhortation of 
 Scripture : — 
 
 "Unto thee it Avas shewn that thou mightest be con- 
 vinced that the Eternal He is God, there is none be- 
 sides Him." (Deut. iv. 35). M.M. 
 
 KussELL Square, 
 24^5, 5605. 
 
 ERRATUM. 
 Page 124, line 2, for chapter xxiii. read chapter xxxiii. 
 
SERMON 
 
 THE AUTO DA FE. 
 
 CELEBRATED IN THE PUBLIC SQUARE IN THE CITY OF LIS- 
 BON, NEAR THE OFFICE OF THE INQUISITION, ON 
 TliE 6th SEFTEJ^IBER, 1705, IN THE PRE- 
 SENCE OF THEIR HIGHNESSES. 
 
 PREACHED BY 
 THE MOST ILLUSTRIOUS AND MOST REVEREND . 
 
 SENHOR DON DIEGO ANNUNCIAZAEO JUSTINIANO, 
 
 ONE OF THE CODNCIL OP HIS MAJESTY (wHOM GOD PRESERVE), 
 AND LATE ARCHBISHOP OF CRANGANOR. 
 
 LISBON, 1705. 
 
 At the Printing Office of ^Vntonio Pedro Ozogalrao. By Autkority. 
 
^^ OP TRR 
 
 iveusity; 
 
 SERMON AT AN AUTO DA FE, 
 
 ETC. 
 
 IPSE AUTEM POPULUS DIEEPTUS ET VASTATUS ; LAQUEUS 
 JUVENUM OMNES, ET IN DOMIBUS CARCEKUM ABSCON- 
 DITI SUNT: FACTI SUNT IN RAPINAil, NEC EST QUI 
 ERUAT ; IN DIREPTIONEM, NEC EST QUI DICAT : REDDE." 
 
 Isaiah, cap. xlii. 22. 
 
 Most High and Mighty Prince., and Lords. 
 I. 
 Oh ! degraded remnants of Judaism, unhappy frag- 
 ments of the S}Tiagogue! the last spoil of Judea! 
 opprobrium of the Catholics ! abhorrence and laughing- 
 stock of your fellow Jews, it is to you I address my- 
 self, ye misguided men ! You are the abhorrence and 
 laughing-stock of the Jews, for your ignorance is such 
 that you know not ho^v to observe the very law you pro- 
 fess. You are the opprobrium of the Catholics ; for, being 
 born within the pale of its church, your voluntary apos- 
 tasy has banished you from its bosom ; you are the last 
 spoil of Judea, for (to our shame) your lot is cast here 
 in Portugal to disgrace and scandalise us in the opinion 
 
 B 
 
2 SERMON OF JUSTINIANO, 
 
 of the whole world — in our quarter of the globe as well 
 as in your native East. You are the wi^etched frag- 
 ments of the Synagogue, for all its former greatness is 
 come to an end in your present misery. Finally, you 
 are a degraded remnant of Judaism, the wretched off- 
 shoots of Israel, who, since the destruction of your 
 country, have spread throughout Europe to infect 
 whole nations by your presence. 
 
 11. 
 
 You are a people whose patience has never been 
 exhausted by long-protracted hope, to whose minds 
 the clearest evidence does not bring conviction, whom 
 the severest suffering only disposes the more invete- 
 rately to persist in your obstinacy. Chastisement 
 that softens brutes, only makes you more stubborn. 
 Evidence that convinces even fools, only renders you 
 more positive. Hope that wearies the spirit of others, 
 makes you more enduring. You have, from the first, 
 been deceived by four dotards, who have taught you 
 to expect the Messiah after Christ had come into the 
 world ; so that instead of your hopes being abandoned 
 upon that event, they have encouraged you to persevere 
 in them, and to cling with desperation to your faith. 
 
 III. 
 
 How greatly do I j^ity your degradation, children 
 of Israel ! how many tears of blood I shed through com- 
 passion for your misfortunes, contemplating what you 
 are at this day, and what you formerly were. In ancient 
 times, the inheritors of that affection which your con- 
 tinued obstinacy did not deserve ; this day the objects of 
 
ARCHBISHOP OF CHANGANOR. 
 
 well-merited anger, which fulfils in you ajust retribution : 
 this day, the scaffold is the theatre of your contumely ; 
 formerly, your tabernacles were the boast of your re- 
 ligion. In ancient times, the waters held you in respect, 
 and no less the flames : this day, tire will feed onyou, 
 and your ashes, cast into the sea, will find a tomb in the 
 waters. Now, everybody shuns your society; an- 
 ciently, every body courted your friendship. Anciently, 
 trumpets sounded the glory you reaped from the ob- 
 servance of your law; this day, trumpets proclaim 
 your infamy in the superstitious observance (I will 
 not say of an expiring law, but ) of a law actually extinct. 
 At the present time, to be a Jew is considered a reproach 
 in every country : formerly, to be a Jew was deemed 
 an honor throughout the world : formerly, your tents 
 in the desert were dwellings wherein Heaven showered 
 upon you its favours; now, your depopulated habitations 
 are dwellings wherein the fire of justice reduces you to 
 ashes. This day, the anniversary of your feast of 
 Purim, is the day ^vhen you are to abjure and make 
 atonement for your sins in the yellow and scarlet co- 
 lours of your penitential dresses — the emblems of 
 the fire which will consume your dwelling-places, un- 
 less these dresses be changed for another colour before 
 being committed to the flames. In former times, 
 on the day of atonement for your sins, the scarlet 
 thread that was bound on the horns of the o:oat which 
 was to be sacrificed on that day was changed into white, 
 to show that God had pardoned your sins. In former 
 times, your inheritance was the unalienable property 
 of your families; now the public treasury is your heir. 
 It is more than sixteen hundred and tliirtv-two 
 
4 SERMON OF JUSTINIANO, 
 
 years since Titus brought destruction upon you, yet 
 are you still lingering in bondage, and God only knows 
 when your captivity ^^dll come to an end. Formerly 
 your God was so disposed to have mercy on your suft'- 
 erings, that your troubles never lasted more than a few 
 years. Thus, on account of selling Joseph into bon- 
 dage, which was your first sin, and in which all your 
 progenitors conspired, you were punished by a pil- 
 grimage in Egypt during the limited period of ninety- 
 one years. In the time of the Judges, the dispersion 
 you underwent for your idolatries, which formed your 
 second crime, and in which your ancestors were all 
 implicated, ended in a hundred and eleven years. In 
 Babylon, whither you were banished for having mur- 
 dered your prophets, your captivity ended in al)out 
 seventy years. Such was the extent of your punish- 
 ment when you put your prophets to death, worshipped 
 idols, and sold the innocent. 
 
 IV. 
 
 Truly, children, dear to my soul! the condition 
 in which you are at the present day compared with 
 Avhat you were in times past, would soften a heart 
 far less obdurate than mine; for though we may 
 not be of the same blood, we are all your brethren 
 through the blood of Jesus Christ who redeemed you, 
 and through the holy water of baptism, wherewith 
 you have been sprinkled. 
 
 Truly, unhappy race ! this change should in it- 
 self be sufficient to convert fools : how much more so 
 you, who boast of possessing knowledge? The contem- 
 plation of what you once were and what you now 
 
Alien Risiioi' (IF cran(;an()K. 5 
 
 are, should serve to convert you from what you ure to 
 what you ought to be ; and if it should please the God 
 of Tvsrael, our God as well as yours, to cause you to re- 
 pent this day with all your heart, it is in j^our power, 
 by making abjuration, to give authentic evidence of 
 the sincerity of your conversion. Without gi^'ing you 
 offence — for my wish is solely to convince you — I 
 shall endeavour to shew you your error, and so unde- 
 ceive you with regard to your tenets, so that if you 
 are reasonable beings, you cannot fail to become Ca- 
 tholics. Unhappy men ! who, ignorant of the very 
 creed you profess, mistake ridiculous forms for acts 
 of religion, how I could wish that all your teachers, 
 who are scattered over the world, could be here 
 this day, to be my hearers; for so demonstratively 
 shall I destroy the foundation of your hopes, that you 
 would be compelled, by their judgment as well as your 
 own, to become of the number of the faithful, however 
 obstinately you and they might wish to persist in re- 
 maining Jews. True it is, that without a pious disposi- 
 tion of the mil, it is hard to convince the understand- 
 ing : still, so forcible are the arguments that I shall this 
 day submit to your attention, that they cannot fail to 
 elicit from your judgment a conclusion adverse to the 
 falsehood of yours, and in favour of the truth of our 
 faith. 
 
 V. 
 
 In order that the demonstrations I may give, may 
 prove of sufficient efficacy to convince you of your 
 error, I shall not advance any theological arguments ; 
 for these depend on principles which either are un- 
 known to you through ignorance, or will be rejected by 
 
b SERMON OF JUSTINIANO, 
 
 your stubborn apostasy. I will not avail myself of 
 the New Testament; for your creed will not admit 
 the supposition, that through baptism you are con- 
 strained to believe in its truth : neither will I attempt 
 to persuade you by the evidence of our fathers, as I 
 suppose their authority will be held in suspicion by 
 your incredulous minds ; nor by the rendering of the 
 Old Testament according to our Vulgate, as you do 
 not admit that to be canonical ; but by your o^vn He- 
 brew or Chaldaic version, which you hold as sacred 
 authority, not admitting of doubt or controversy. 
 This, then, will be the text from which I shall draw 
 all my arguments. The expositions of your rabbins, 
 on whose doctrines you ground your faith as Jews, 
 Avill be added in corroboration. Oidy listen dispassion- 
 ately to me, and you will find that prejudice must 
 yield to the force of evidence. 
 
 YI. 
 
 The prophet Isaiah, in chap. xlii. of his Prophecies, 
 saw in a vision the wretched state into which the 
 Jews, on account of their sins, would fall after the 
 advent of Christ, who was and is the true Messiah 
 that God promised to the world in his Scriptures, and 
 left them a warning against their delusion in these words : 
 — "Ipse autem populus direptus et vastatus: laqueus 
 "juvenum omnes, et in domibus carcerum absconditi 
 "sunt: facti sunt in rapinam, nee est qui eruat; in 
 " direptionem, nee est qui dicat : Redde." 
 
 Know, ye unhappy people (says the prophet), know, 
 that after the coming of the Messiah, you will be a 
 dispersed nation througliout the world, and bondsmen 
 
AKClllUSIlOl' OK CKANGANOR. / 
 
 ill every land ; for you are to be a ruined and scattered 
 l^eople : " Ipse autem populus direptus et vastatus." 
 
 The small remnants of your former greatness, which 
 are left as an authentic testimony of the chastisement 
 of your sins, shall form a net, that will with a sudden 
 motion draw you into a fearful prison, so that each 
 shall be taken into a separate dungeon and immured 
 in his cell with such secrecy that no one shall know 
 who went in yesterday, and the one who is taken there 
 to-day shall not know who it is that goes in to-morrow : 
 " In domibus carcerum absconditi sunt." 
 
 You will be reduced to such misery, unfortunate 
 people! that your nation of old and young will be 
 quareUing with one another ; and you will form a net 
 for your mutual distress and entanglement : " Laqueus 
 juvenum universitas ipsorum vel omnes ipsi," says your 
 Hebrew text. 
 
 Thus, conformably to the prophecy, you confound 
 and entangle yourselves, wretched sons of Israel, 
 whom a severe imprisonment awaits Avhich you have 
 no means of averting ; for Judaism being the crime 
 with which you are charged, your involvement is such 
 that no aid can avail to eifect your liberation : "Facti 
 " sunt in rapinam, nee est qui eruat ; in direptionem, 
 " nee est qui dicat : Redde." 
 VII. 
 
 That this passage in Isaiah contemplated the punish- 
 ment that the Jews are now suffering, your own ex- 
 perience must be sufficient to convince you ; for you 
 yourselves are in the very condition into which the pro- 
 phet says you would fall after the advent of the Mes- 
 siah. You yourselves see how you are dispersed all 
 
6 SERMON OF JUSTINIANO, 
 
 over the world, and scattered throughout every land ; 
 and either from necessity or inclination hold your- 
 selves apart from one another, so that even if you 
 meet privately to perform the rites of Judaism, you 
 avoid each other in public, in order to deceive those 
 who charge you with being Jews. You yourselves 
 bewail your misfortunes, and complain to us Catholics 
 that your enemies ensnare you, and draw you so sud- 
 denly and indiscriminately into the meshes of our Holy 
 Office, that all of your lineage are exposed to the same 
 calamity; and although you mutually proclaim your 
 afflictions to one another, there is no one who has the 
 power to rescue you therefrom. All these facts, 
 founded upon your own experience, fully prove that 
 the prophet alludes to you in his text. If it be pos- 
 sible to suppose that this argument is not sufficient to 
 establish the point, the evidence of your own Rabbi 
 Samuel will serve to do so ; for a thousand years ago, 
 this rabbi, in his celebrated epistle, acknowledges that 
 Rabbi Isaac, seven hundred and live years previously, 
 had written that this captivity had befallen you for the 
 sin you committed in putting Christ to death: — 
 " Aperte dicit Deus quod erit desolatio post occisionem 
 " Christi; sicut est nostra desolatio, postquam Jesus 
 " fuit occisus." 
 
 VIIL 
 My brethren, do you see all these tokens already 
 fulfilled, of what was to happen to you after the Mes- 
 siah had come, according to the word of your prophet? 
 Either you do or you do not. If you do not, you are 
 blind ; for the very thing is at this moment happening 
 to every individual among you. If you do, Avhy do you 
 
ARCHBISHOP OF CRANGANOK. » 
 
 not disabuse yourselves, and admit that your hope is a 
 manifest error, and that the Messiah you expect can 
 never come, since these tokens prove tliat He has 
 ah-eady been? Subsequently to the Messiah's coming, 
 you were to be a dispersed and ruined people : " Po- 
 pulus direptus et vastatus." You were all to be en- 
 snared conjointly or separately : " Laqueus universitas 
 ipsorum, vel omnes ipsi." You were not to be impri- 
 soned together in gaol, but each of you was to have a 
 separate cell to himself: " In domibus carcerum ab- 
 sconditi sunt." So strong was to be the prison, and so 
 rigid the confinement, that no arm would be able to 
 rescue you therefrom : " Facti sunt in rapinam, nee 
 est qui eruat ; in direptionem, nee qui est dicat : Redde." 
 Now at this day if you experience all these things, 
 and your ancestors have experienced the same for so 
 many years past, how can you expect a future advent, 
 if it was after the advent all these things were to occur? 
 AYhat madness in you to look to the future for what is 
 already past ! After witnessing the consequences that 
 were to follow the advent of the Messiah, you still 
 continue to look forward to that event. The captivity 
 continues, the imprisonment does not cease, the net 
 goes on strengthening, the dispersion extending: the 
 destruction is prolonged, and the Messiah does not 
 appear. After the Messiah had come, you were to 
 undergo all this: the event proves tliat the coming has 
 already taken place; and yet you, with this event 
 in view, still expect him to come. Verily this is a 
 part of the severe punishment that God has in- 
 flicted on you for the horrid sacrilege of murdering 
 his Son. You hope for the Messiali, in o{)position to 
 
10 SERMON OF JUSTINIANO, 
 
 the very reasons of that for which you hope ; and thus, 
 although no longer in a position to expect Him, 
 inasmuch as he has already appeared, you persist, like 
 desperate men, in hoping against all hope. Gocl pro- 
 mised you a Messiah who was to come, and who 
 accordingly came: you, in your despair on seeing 
 that he has come, obstinately continue to hope for a 
 future Messiah, who, it is impossible, in the nature 
 of things, can come, and yet, in spite of this absolute 
 impossibility, persist in hoping for him, because you 
 cannot bring yourselves to lay such hopes altogether 
 aside. According to the most approved chronology, 
 since the time of Abraham, when God more expli- 
 citly promised you the Messiah, you have had three 
 thousand six hundred and fifteen years of hope, and 
 you are not yet tired ; for you still go on hoping, and 
 will continue to do so until the end of the world. Cour- 
 ageous must be the Jewish mind, that can thus hope 
 on untiringly. Cruel Messiah, who has so long delayed, 
 and will so long delay to appear ! enduring people, 
 that can still so perseveringly wait for the Messiah ! 
 But hope as much as you please, you may undeceive 
 yourselves; for so long as you will not have done 
 with your hopes, and confess that beside the person 
 of Jesus Christ no other Messiah is possible, your re- 
 demption will not take place, your captivity will con- 
 tinue, and your chastisement be prolonged. 
 
 IX. 
 
 " Nee est qui eruat; nee qui dicat : Redde." Now 
 upon the face of it, this passage of Isaiah evidently 
 implies that it is to be understood as relating to 
 
AKCHniSIIOP OF CllANGANOR. 11 
 
 the Jews and the punishment which they were to 
 undergo in their final dispersion. For the prophet 
 affirms that the Jews will not have a redeemer till 
 they are freed from their present captivity ; and if any 
 one of us ask you how long your captivity is to en- 
 dure, you can only reply, that so long as the Messiah 
 whom }ou expect does not come, you will continue to 
 undero-o your present suiferings. So that if the Jews 
 place their hope of redemption in a future Messiah (and 
 they are still expecting the Messiah), why does the 
 prophet say that they are not to have redemption? 
 For the precise reason that the Jews expect their 
 redemption from a future Messiah, they must remain 
 without relief; for no new Messiah will ever be sent to 
 them ; and as such a Messiah is impossible, so is the 
 relief impossible that the Jews expect therefrom. 
 
 X. 
 
 The Messiah the Jews expect is impossible, from the 
 very nature of the predictions which the Jews per- 
 suade themselves that the Messiah has to satisfy. It 
 is impossible, from the time in which he was to come, 
 and also from the signs having been already verified in 
 Christ, which cannot be again fulfilled in any other. 
 
 It is impossible, from the thne in which he is to 
 appear ; for the time was already passed when Christ 
 came, and it is impossible that a time which is past can 
 return again. It is, moreover, impossible from the 
 nature of the predictions which the Jews persuade 
 themselves that the Messiah has to satisfy, since these 
 very predictions prove that in the Messiah they have 
 been already fulfilled ; and, considering this impossi- 
 
12 SEHMON OF JUSTINIANO, 
 
 bility, the Messiah whom the Jews expect is no other 
 tlian a mere chimera which their obstinacy has in- 
 vented. The prophet, in order to convince the Jews 
 that their hope was a fable, and the object of their 
 desire but a dream, told them that the more they 
 hoped, the longer it would be before they obtained 
 the object of their hope, and the accomplishment of 
 their wishes : " Nee est qui eruat : nee est qui dicat : 
 Redde." 
 
 XI. 
 
 I shall next proceed to prove that the hope of the 
 Jews is self-destructive, for that they are expecting a 
 Messiah whom they ought not, inasmuch as, on every 
 rational principle, a Messiah such as the Jews expect 
 is an impossibility^ The conclusion must be ap- 
 parent to those Avho are sincere in their desire to 
 embrace the truth, as they will be unable to resist the 
 force of the evidence which I shall adduce. I might 
 well be discouraged and disheartened by the hopeless- 
 ness of reaping any fruit from my labours, seeing how 
 inadequate my arguments must be to destroy your 
 stubbornness, when Christ with his miracles could not 
 vanquish the obstinacy of your predecessors. But 
 surely the human understanding cannot for ever resist 
 the force of truth, however unfavourable the inclination 
 may be to its reception. I will address myself to your 
 judgment and not to your will : I say, not to your will, 
 because words cannot conquer obstinate determination ; 
 but rather to your judgment, because the understanding 
 must give assent to truth. Only attend to me with 
 a pious affection of the will, witliout previous ol"»duracy 
 
ARCHBISHOr OF CRANGANOR. K^ 
 
 of heart, and your judgment cannot fail to be so con- 
 vinced as to cause you to abjure sincerely your error, 
 and renounce your opposition. We will now enter 
 upon the discussion, and begin by adducing the par- 
 ticulars that were predicted concerning the Messiah. 
 
 XII. 
 
 In order to prove to you the impossibility of the 
 Messiah whom you expect, by the actual predictions 
 from which you infer what the Messiah is to be when 
 he comes, and to make apparent to you the fallacy of 
 your exi)ectations, it is requisite to ask you whether 
 you expect a Messiah such as God had promised to 
 you through His prophets, or whether you expect 
 one fashioned after the fancy of a few ignorant men, 
 who deceiving themselves and you, have invented an 
 absurd Messiah, and presented him as the true one to 
 your credulity? 
 
 If your expectations were of the first kind, your 
 hope would be just, supposing that the ^lessiah had 
 not already sanctified the world with his presence. If 
 your expectations are of the latter kind, you are mad: 
 inasmuch as you set in opposition to God's truth, the 
 idle story of a fcAV idiots, who seek to amuse you with 
 delusive hopes. As men of sense, I know you will an- 
 swer me, that the Messiah whenever he should appear 
 Avould be such as God revealed through His prophets. 
 Tell me now what is to be the Messiah whom you 
 expect? Is he to be a mere man like JMoses, who 
 delivered you from the Egyptian captivity, or like 
 Zerubbabel who redeemed you from the Babylonian 
 bondage? 1 v.cU know that you, or your teachers 
 
14 SERMON OF JUSTINIANO, 
 
 for you, will answer me that the Messiah will possess 
 far higher attributes, as he will deliver you from your 
 present oppression, and restore you to a more glorious 
 freedom. The same all your rabbins affirm in their 
 Talmud, see Sanhedrin^ chap. Ilelek. 
 
 XIII. 
 
 Again I ask you, The Messiah whom you still ex- 
 pect, presuming him more powerful than Zerubbabel 
 or Moses, is he to be a mere man as these two were, or 
 will he be man and God, as these two were not? 
 On the reply to this, depends the truth of our faith, 
 and the falsity of yours. A modern sect among your 
 rabbins advises you to give no reply to this question 
 (and they do well, for your reply would infallibly 
 enable us to convince you of your error), and to this 
 end they persuade you that when you cannot get ex- 
 cused from making a reply, you should deny the point 
 of a Messiah altogether, saying that he never came, 
 nor ever will come, for that the advent of the Messiah 
 is not an article of your faith, and that Judaism does 
 not consist in that expectation, but in the true obser- 
 vance of the law of Moses, which is the only thing 
 obligatory on the Jews. 
 
 XIV. 
 
 To understand correctly this point, it is requisite to 
 know that, with regard to the Messiah, the Jews of 
 the present day are divided into two entirely different 
 and opposite opinions. Some say, and that is the 
 general opinion among your wretched people, that the 
 Messiah has not yet come. Others assert that he 
 
AUCIIBISlIOr OF CRANGANOR. 15 
 
 came one thousand six hundred and thirty-two 
 years ago, having been born at the period when 
 Titus destro}'ed Jerusalem. So it is written in the 
 Tahnud in Beresheet Raha (which is in substance a 
 copious commentary upon Genesis) chap. Eclia. Also 
 in the book Sanhedrin in the chapter Cum similiter. 
 And as it is maintained, according to this opinion, 
 that the Messiah has already come, no less than 
 one thousand six hundred and thirty-two years 
 must have elapsed since his advent ; and yet, during 
 all that time, no Jew has seen him. Some even say 
 that he is still wandering unknown about the world ; 
 others, that he stands at the gates of Rome in company 
 with the poor, soliciting alms : others, that he is con- 
 cealed in the Caspian hills, with such precautions that 
 if an attempt should be made to go hi search of him, the 
 river Sabbatine would present an invincible obstruction ; 
 for on any Jews approaching its margin, its waters are 
 suddenly petrified, and rain down so heavy a shower of 
 stones on the unfortunate intruders, that the}^ either 
 are killed on the spot or are compelled to retire, leaving 
 their Messiah in his enchanted hiding-place. 
 
 XV. 
 
 Others knowing that the Caspian hills were within 
 our reach, and considering the fable of the Sabbatine 
 river perfectly ridiculous, had recourse to Paradise, 
 saying that the Messiah is entertained there in the 
 company of Moses and Elijah ; and that when the time 
 should come, God would send him to deliver the Jews. 
 To these two opinions may be added a third of the 
 modern rabl)ins, asserting that the ^Messiah has not 
 
16 SERMON OF JUSTINIANO, 
 
 come, nor ever will come, since God has not promised 
 it in the Scriptures, nor is his advent an article of 
 faith with the Jews. This newly invented opinion is 
 so little followed, that as yet I have not met with any 
 other person professing it, beside one Francisco An- 
 tonio de Olivares, a Castilian by birth, who was ex- 
 pelled this city the 14th July, 1686, and died profess- 
 ing tins article of behef, or rather this absurdity, for 
 such all the Jews uniformly consider it, as we read in 
 the Talmud, Treatise Sanhedmi, chap. Helek, where the 
 rabbins expressly avow that there was no prophet 
 who did not make mention of the advent of the 
 Messiah : " Omnes prophetae aliquid de Messiah pra?- 
 " dixerunt." The like is affirmed in Yakut in the ex- 
 position of chap. Ixvi. of Josiah, p. 368. To this truth 
 every Jew in fact bears witness, when on the sabbath- 
 day, in all the Synagogues, they chant the celebrated He- 
 brew hymn Yigdal Elohim Hay^ wherein they entreat 
 God to hasten the advent of the Messiah. But not to 
 dwell on an article that is acknowledged universally 
 by every Synagogue, the testimony of Rabbi Moses of 
 Egypt, one of the most ancient of the Jewish 
 rabbins, will suffice to establish the fact. This rabbi 
 observes, in his exposition of the creed, that the 
 eleventh article is the acknowledgment of the Mes- 
 siah, in which the Jews are to believe with a perfect 
 faith, under the penalty, in case they should reject 
 it, of being reputed heretics by their Synagogues. 
 " Undecimus articulus est Messias, et hunc tenentur 
 " Hebrsei iirma fide credere et venturum sperare, 
 " prout omnes prophetae predixerunt. Et qui banc 
 
ARCHBISHOP OF CRANGANOR. 17 
 
 negave 
 " repiitari deberet.' 
 
 veritatein ne":averit a \e^e discedere 
 
 XVI. 
 
 These two opinions being premis^ 
 the Jews hold concerning the MessiahT^ 
 children of Israel, was the Messiah who came at the 
 period of the destruction of your city, or is the Messiah 
 who is, as you imagine, yet to come, to be a man or 
 God and Man united ? This question being pressed, 
 you will all reply that he was or is to be simply 
 man. Then if such were your Messiah who has 
 already come, or if such is to be the Messiah whom 
 you still expect to come, know of a certainty none 
 such will come, nor has yet come ; for the Messiali 
 who you say is to be, or already has been, is totally 
 impossible : and what is impossible cannot have hap- 
 pened in the past, nor can happen at any future time. 
 The Messiah must be God and Man ; for God revealed 
 to us by his prophets that the Messiah Avas to possess 
 the combination of the two natures, human and divine. 
 And it is impossible that God should speak untruth, 
 or that God should deceive ; and it is equally impos- 
 sible that there should be any true Messiah with other 
 attributes than such as God revealed would appertain 
 to the true Messiah. Therefore the Messiah whom your 
 hopes induce you to imagine will still come, because 
 he has not yet appeared, or the Messiah whom, notwith- 
 standing his having already come, you still expect to 
 accomplish your deliverance, is impossible in his very 
 nature. Being impossible, he cannot have come already 
 c 
 
18 SERMON OF JUSTINIANO, 
 
 nor can he remain to come ; consequently, your expec- 
 tation defeats itself, and will never be realised. 
 
 Hope, then, as long as you please, you who resolve 
 to remain Jews ; but undeceive yourselves, for if your 
 Messiah was or is to be as you expect, he never will 
 be nor has he been ; for such a Messiah is an impossi- 
 bility. Now hearken to your prophets. 
 
 XVII. 
 
 To the two prophets, Isaiah and Jeremiah, among 
 several others, God revealed who was to be the Mes- 
 siah that he had determined to send into the world. 
 Isaiah, in the 9th chap, of his prophecies, described 
 him thus, conformably to your Hebrew text : " Infans 
 " natus est nobis, et Filius datus est nobis, et erit prin- 
 " cipatus super humerum ejus : et vocabitur nomen 
 " ejus Admirabilis, Consiliarius, Deus, Fortis, Pater 
 " Sempiternus [or Pater Sempiternitatis], Princeps 
 " Pax ; ad multiplicandum principatum et pacis non 
 " erit finis, super solium David et super regnum ejus 
 " sedebit, ut confirmet illud et corroboret in judicio 
 " et justitia a modo et usque in sempiternum." 
 " Unto us a child is born, and unto us a son is given, 
 " and the government shall be upon his shoulders. He 
 " shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, God, Powerful, 
 " everlasting Father [or the Father of Eternity], Prince 
 " of Peace [or Prince Peace] ; whose empire shall be 
 " greatly augmented. He shall sit on the throne of 
 " David and over his kingdom, to establish and 
 " strengthen it in judgment and justice henceforth 
 " and to all eternity." 
 
ARCHBISHOP OF Cl^ANGANOR. 19 
 
 XVIII. 
 
 God made the same, or nearly the same revela- 
 tion, with a slight difference, to the prophet Jeremiah, 
 chapters xxiii. and xxxiii. according to your Hebrew 
 text: " Ecce dies venient, dicit Dominus: et susci- 
 " tabo David germen justum, et regnabit Rex et intel- 
 " liget: et faciet judicium et justitiam in terra. In 
 " diebus illis salvabitur Juda, et Israel habitabit ad 
 " fiduciam : et hoc est nomen quod vocabunt eum : 
 " Jehova (seu Tetragramaton) Justus noster." " The 
 " time vdM come, says God, that I will produce for 
 " David a scion of his stock, he shall reign as king, 
 " shall bcAvise and shall execute judgment and justice 
 " in the earth; and in that time Judah shall be saved 
 " and Israel shall unite with him in perfect confidence. 
 " The name he is to bear is that of God Jehovah (or 
 " the Tetragrammaton) our righteous one." 
 
 XIX. 
 
 These two prophets thus furnish, in their respective 
 predictions, two signs, whereby you as Jews might 
 recognise the promised Messiah. Isaiah says, he is to 
 be born a child : " Infans natus est." That he was to 
 be given at a certain time : " Filius datus est." That 
 he was to bear upon his shoulders : " Super humerum 
 ejus." That he was to hold the sovereignty which 
 should increase and extend : " Ad multiplicandum im- 
 perium." That he was to sit on the throne and be 
 placed over the kingdom of David : " Super solium 
 David, et super regnum ejus." This is the first sign 
 that the prophet gives, whereby to recognise the Mes- 
 siah. l)Ut he savs, moreover, that besides all these 
 
20 SERMON OF JUSTINIANO, 
 
 predictions, there will be another sign which apper- 
 tains to the true Messiah, whereby he may be known. 
 " For his surname shall be called. Wonderful (Admi- 
 rabilis)^ Counsellor (Conciliarius)^ God (Deus), Power- 
 ful (Fortis), Everlasting Father (Pater Sempiternus) 
 [or, Father of Eternity (Pater Sempiternitatis)'], 
 Prince of Peace (Priyiceps Pads) [or. Prince Peace 
 (Princeps Pax)'] :" — that the peace should have no 
 end : " Et pacis non erit finis :" that his empire 
 should endure from now unto all eternity — " A modo 
 et usque in sempiternum." This is the second sign of 
 the Messiah. The first sign clearly proves that the 
 Messiah is to be man ; for if the Messiah is to be born a 
 child, to be produced in time, to bear on his shoulders 
 an empire that will increase and extend, and be placed 
 on the throne of David and over his kingdom, the 
 Messiah must of necessity be man, for man alone can 
 satisfy these conditions. 
 
 XX. 
 
 The second sign is a conclusive demonstration 
 of the divinity of the Messiah, for if the Messiah 
 is to bear the names that the prophet said he 
 should, and to be called Wonderful, Counsellor, 
 God, Powerful, Everlasting Father, or Father of Eter- 
 nity, to hold perpetual sovereignty, kingdom ^vithout 
 end and peace interminable ; then, since no man who 
 is only mere man can have interminable peace, a king- 
 dom without end, perpetual empire, nor be Eternal 
 Father, or Father of Eternity, be called God, or have 
 the name of God appropriated to him, it follows that 
 the Messiah must be God, since these attributes can 
 
ARCHBISHOP OF CRANGANOR. 21 
 
 only belong to Ilim who is God. It follows, according 
 to the iirst-mentioned conditions, that the Messiah 
 must be man ; and, according to the second, that He 
 must be God ; consequently, the Messiah must be both 
 God and man. 
 
 XXI. 
 
 The words of Jeremiah corroborate this argument, 
 and also furnish two signs whereby the Messiah may 
 be recognised ; for he says, the Messiah was to be 
 hereafter: "Ecce dies venient." That he should appear 
 in course of time : " Suscitabo." That he was to be of 
 the line of David : " Germen David." That he should 
 execute justice : " Facit Justitiam ;" and that this jus- 
 tice Avas to be done on earth : " In terra." That he 
 should become king: " Et regnabit Rex." That he 
 should in time save the Jews: "Salvabitur Juda;" — 
 and that the Jews are to live under him in perfect con- 
 fidence: " Israel habitabit ad fiduciam." All these 
 circumstances prove that the Messiah must be man, 
 because ^dth man only are these circumstances 
 compatible, 
 
 XXII. 
 
 The Messiah, besides what we have already quoted 
 from the prophet, was to be called by the proper name 
 of God; and this name God was not to be any one in- 
 diiFerently of those applied to the Deity ; but solely, 
 that most sacred name Jehovah^ which signifies in 
 every way the existence of God and the essence of 
 His eternity (as I shall presently prove from the Rab- 
 bins) which name and the applied attribute are com- 
 patible with God alone. For inasmuch as it apper- 
 tains to God alone to be self-existent, so to God alone 
 
22 SERMON OF JUSTINIANO, 
 
 can appertain this name which asserts His uncreated- 
 ness and His eternity : so that if God says, that this is 
 the name the Messiah was to bear, either the Messiah 
 must be God, or God places us in peril of adoring the 
 Messiah as God, all the while that he is not God ; since 
 we should see the Messiah bearing as his proper 
 name, that name which he could not bear unless he 
 were God. God cannot be the cause of error or de- 
 ception. According to the first-mentioned titles which 
 God revealed the Messiah was to bear, he must be 
 Man; according to the second, God : therefore the Mes- 
 siah is both God and Man. Now, if you expect in the 
 Messiah, man only, and not God, you expect an im- 
 possible Messiah. For the Messiah, upon that suppo- 
 sition, could not have those names ascribed to him 
 which God said the Messiah should have. The pro- 
 phets have told you that the Messiah is to be both God 
 and Man; and you in opposition to your prophets, 
 through whose mouth God spake, expect a Messiah 
 that is to be mere man. Thus you are expecting a 
 Messiah that cannot have come, nor can ever have to 
 come. So that your hope is self-destructive ; for 
 whereas no hope can be placed except upon a possible 
 object, not only is the object which you hope for im- 
 possible, but equally so in its very nature is the hope 
 itself, and is impossible to be realized either in the 
 past, present, or future ; so that your hope of a Mes- 
 siah, merely man, is at the present time a dream, 
 in the past a shadow, and in the future will prove a 
 fable. 
 
 XXHL 
 
 ^y}vdt solution do you give to these two prophecies 
 
ARCHBISHOP OF CRANGANOR. 23 
 
 that are so clearly adverse to your expectation? What 
 answer do you make to a demonstration so decisive 
 against your delusion ? You must either believe or dis- 
 believe what your two prophets have declared. If you 
 believe them, how can you possibly expect a Messiah 
 in contradiction to what they have foretold? If you 
 do not believe them, why deceive the world, or why 
 deceive yourselves by still calling yourselves Jews? 
 I am well aware that you will answer me ; that although 
 as unlearned men you do not know how to reply to 
 these prophecies, yet your teachers are perfectly com- 
 petent to solve these difficulties, and that if you were 
 in Holland, Venice, Leghorn, or Turin, we should not 
 be able to press you so hard; for that in those places 
 you have Rabbins, who, as men of education and learn- 
 ing, well know how to explain these passages, and are 
 competent to reply to such arguments. Now I will 
 stand in their place, and have only to request that you 
 will consent to abide by the answers of your teachers 
 and the exposition of your Rabbins, for I will repeat 
 to you all that they write and teach with the object of 
 throwing doubt upon our faith, in order that I may 
 clearly demonstrate to you the falsity of their doc- 
 trines; and I take God, who will judge us all, as wit- 
 ness that I will relate to you all that your masters lay 
 down, with a view to expound these difficulties; or 
 rather to use the words of your own Rabbi Samuel, I 
 will repeat all your teachers have advanced, in order 
 to deceive you and themselves. " Domine," says this 
 rabbi, wi'iting to Rabbi Isaac, " Domine, mi videtur 
 quod decipimus alios et nos ipsos." 
 
24^ SERMON OF JUSTINIANO, 
 
 XXIV. 
 
 Rabbi Eben Ezra, after he saw that he would be 
 obliged, according to the text of Isaiah, to confess the 
 Messiah to be God, fearing lest he should be cast out 
 of the Synagogue, in order to keep in with the Jews, 
 denied that the prophet spoke of the Messiah in that 
 passage, alleging that the text alluded to king Heze- 
 kiah; and Kabbi Solomon, who was esteejned a Solomon 
 among all the Jews, in order to deceive you, professed 
 the same opinion, but perceiving that this interpretation 
 would be easily refuted by the text, with a view to 
 support his error, ventured to vitiate the original He- 
 brew, thereby committing a heavy crime, since there is 
 an express command in Deut. iv. 2, wherein God 
 forbids the committal of so wicked an act, "Xon addetis 
 super verbo, quod ego prsecipio vobis nee minuetis ex 
 eo." So reads your Hebrew text. The modern rabbins 
 explain in like manner the passage in Jeremiah, for 
 they also deny that the prophet spoke of the Messiah, 
 some affirming that he alludes to David, and others to 
 Zerubbabel; but all alike join in corrupting the sense of 
 the text, and maintain that the name of God does not 
 prove the divinity of the Messiah, for that it either is 
 not ascribed, in the text to the Messiah, or even if it is 
 so ascribed the Scriptures show that the name of God 
 is frequently applied to other objects besides the Deity. 
 
 XXV. 
 
 Such are the answers that your teachers make to our 
 demonstrations ; but these need only to be stated for 
 their falsehood to become apparent. 
 
ARCHBlSHOr OF CKAKGANOE. 25 
 
 Two false assertions are contained in the answer of 
 your rabbins. The first, that those passages in Isaiah 
 and Jeremiah were not intended to refer to tlie Messiah. 
 The second, that, in the passage from Isaiah, the pro- 
 phet speaks of King Hezekiah ; and in that from Jere- 
 M»iah, the prophet speaks of David or Zerubbabel. 
 Moreover that the name of God applied to the Messiah 
 in these two passages does not prove that the Messiah 
 was God, even if they be allowed to refer to the Messiah ; 
 for that either the Messiah does not take upon himself 
 the name of God, or even if he did assume that name, 
 it would be no proof of his divinity. And that you 
 may clearly see that the whole of this taught you by 
 your rabbins is a gross falsehood and absurdity, I will 
 show you wdth what ease their doctrines admit of refu- 
 tation, and we will begin with showing that the two 
 passages do refer to the Messiah, 
 
 XXVL 
 
 The Targum, or Chaldee paraphrase, of Rabbi Jona- 
 than Ben Uziel, that is. Rabbi Jonathan son of Uziel, 
 wdiich some authors, evincing the little knowledge they 
 had of the Hebrew writings, confound with the Targum 
 of Onkelos, thus translates into Chaldee this passage of 
 Isaiah following the text of the Hebrew. " Infans 
 " natus est nobis, Filius datus est nobis, et suscipiet 
 " legem super se, ad conservandam cam, et vocabitur 
 " nomen ejus, Minkodam, Deus fortis, permanens in 
 " SEecula stcculorum Messiah." 
 
 This book is held so sacred among the Jews, that, 
 down to the present day, no one of your synago- 
 gues has veatui-ed-.to reject tu' cotttrckiii^t it, not alone 
 
26 SERMON OF JUSTINIANO, 
 
 from its venerable antiquity (for it was composed one 
 thousand seven hundred and forty-seven years ago, 
 forty-two years before Christ), but because in all your 
 schools which you improperly call " Synagogues," it is 
 read every Sabbath-day equally with the Torah, that 
 is, the Pentateuch of Moses,* Moreover, you or your 
 rabbins (who have invented your ridiculous fictions) 
 have made your belief in this book a matter of public 
 notoriety, from having had put into your head the 
 well-known fable to the effect that when Jonathan was 
 composing it, if a fl}^ chanced to light on the j)aper on 
 which he was writing, there came instantly a fire from 
 heaven which consumed the fly, but left the paper 
 untouched : a fine story for men of sense to believe 
 in! 
 
 Now if the Targum which is admitted as a book of 
 infallible authority and as canonical, and the truth of 
 which has been always held to be incontrovertible, 
 explains the passage from the prophet Isaiah as rela- 
 ting to the Messiah, it must unquestionably be wrong 
 in any Jew to deny that the prophet did not here al- 
 lude to the Messiah. 
 
 XXVII. 
 
 The same sense as is given in the Targum, we find 
 in Beresheet Babba, in the large glossary on Gen. iv. 
 where it says, viz : — " Non est autem nomen Domini 
 "hie, nisi Rex Messias, ut dictum est; Principatus 
 " super humerum ejus !" To these books which you 
 hold as sacred and infallible, we will add the autho- 
 rity of the rabbins, to prove that the passage relates 
 
 ^ /-^ -y-^-5 ^^-^ ^^^^ ^ 
 
AKC 11 BISHOP OF CRANGANOR. 27 
 
 to the Messiah. Kabbi Joseph Galileo, in liis preface 
 to the Lamentations, which are called in Hebrew, Echa 
 Rahbathi^ being asked the name of the Messiah, answered 
 thus — " Noiiien Messia? Pax scriptum est, enim prin- 
 " ceps pacis Moyses Egyptio." This rabbi, whom by 
 distinction you call " the great preacher," also says in 
 his epistle named Egaret Teman^ written to the rabbins 
 in Africa, " Omnia noinina hie posita ab Isaia, ix. cum 
 " epithetis suis dicuntur de puero nato qui est Rex 
 " Messias." Consequently the opinions of Rabbi Eben 
 Ezra, and of the other rabbins who deny that the 
 passage treats of the Messiah, must be erroneous ; for 
 besides being in opposition to so many ancient rabbins 
 it is contrary to the Targum, which you admit to be an 
 authentic work, and even recognise as sacred. 
 
 XXVIII. 
 
 By the same evidence, it may be proved that the pas- 
 sage in Jeremiah is meant of the Messiah, which we con- 
 sider to be the case not only because your most learned 
 and most ancient rabbins who flourished in your sy- 
 nagogues acknowledge it, but because we find the same 
 in the Targum of Jonathan. " In tempore illo sta- 
 tuam Messiam justum et hoc est nomen quod ipsi dicent 
 ei; Tetragrainmaton Justus noster." The same we infer 
 from the book Midrash Tehilim^ which is a commen- 
 tary on the Psalms, where the text is thus expounded : 
 " Domine in virtute tua lastabitur Rex." Also in this 
 1)ook we read, "Quod est Messiae nomen est illud quod 
 dicitur ;" in cap. 23, Jeremi^e, "Dominus Justus noster." 
 The like we infer from the book Echa Rahbathi^ where, 
 ex})ouii(ling that part of Lamentations, " Longe factus 
 
28 
 
 est a me consolator," Eabbi Abba, speaking of the Mes- 
 siah, writes thus : " Quia elongatus est a me consolator 
 convertens anhnam meam. Quod est nomen Messiag? 
 DeusJehova est nomen ejus, sicut dictum est JeremiaB," 
 cap. xxiii. " Et hoc est nomen quod vocabunt eum. Do- 
 minus Justus noster." This is proved from an infinite 
 number of rabbins and books admitted by the Jews, 
 which, in order not to waste time, I shall refrain from 
 quoting. We are thus provided with a ready answer 
 to your teachers, which proves them to be guilty of 
 fallacy and falsehood in denying that these passages 
 in the two prophets treat of the Messiah, because 
 they know not how to reply to the evidence of the de- 
 monstration we have given, and being determined to 
 remain Jews, reject the interpretation both of the ca- 
 nonical books, and their most ancient rabbins, in order 
 to persevere in error. 
 
 XXIX. 
 
 Eben Ezra and Rabbi Solomon, being thus convicted 
 of falsehood, in denying that these prophets speak of 
 the Messiah, we will now proceed to convict them of a 
 second error in affirming that the passage in Isaiah 
 applies to King Hezekiah, and also to expose the error 
 of other rabbins in affirming that the text in Jeremiah 
 alludes to David or Zerubbabel ; and that the name of 
 God applied in these two places to the Messiah, does 
 not prove his divinity, even granting that they are 
 applied to him : in other words, that the name of God 
 is not applied to the Messiah, or even if so applied, is 
 not sufficient to prove his divinity. 
 
ARCIIBISIIOr OF CRANGANOR. 29 
 
 XXX. 
 
 First : — If the prophecy of Isaiah is to be under- 
 stood to treat of Hezekiah, as these rabbins pretend, 
 they are bound to shew us how the prediction of the 
 prophet has been fulfilled in Hezekiah. But this they 
 cannot shew, as to do so they must either deny chap, xviii . 
 of the 4th Book of Kings, or must pronounce that the 
 Scripture declares what is untrue, or has been falsi- 
 fied, in this chapter. For if the prophet thus speaks 
 of Hezekiah, of necessity Hezekiah was not called He- 
 zekiah, but God; and this alone must have been his 
 name. Furthermore, it must be shown that Hezekiah 
 was the Prince of peace, and the peace in his time 
 was perpetual ; also that he was Eternal Father, or Fa- 
 ther of Eternity, and his dominion exists at this day, 
 and will have no end ; for all this can be inferred 
 from the aforementioned passage in Isaiah, that he 
 was to be the Son — born of Him of whom the prophet 
 treats in chapter ix. Nothing of all this has been rea- 
 lised in Hezekiah, nor can be realised, but the direct 
 contrary is shewn in the sacred text. Therefore it 
 is false to assert that the prophet speaks of Hezekiah. 
 
 XXXI. 
 
 That no one ever called Hezekiah a God, and that 
 the designation of God was never bestowed on that 
 prince, is most certain, because we cannot trace from 
 Scripture that such title has been given to him ; but 
 on the contrary, he is there never called by any other 
 name than Hezekiah. That he never was, nor could 
 be, the Eternal Father, or Father of Eternity, our na- 
 
30 SERMON OF JUSTINIANO, 
 
 tural reason is sufficient to convince us, for Hezekiah 
 was notoriously a man ; and it is incumbent upon your 
 teachers to shew when and how these epithets, which 
 are the attributes of the Deity, were or could be ra- 
 tionally ascribed to Hezekiah ; for none can be an Ever- 
 lasting Father, or Father of Eternity, unless his own 
 existence were to all eternity, which is not the 
 case with any other than the Deity. They must shew 
 us that this king and his generation exist at the pre- 
 sent day, and that his dominion was multiplied, in- 
 stead of being divided as it was, when he received it 
 from his father. They must shew us how the king- 
 dom of David is strengthened and established at this 
 day, and was not diminished and ruined in the time of 
 his son Manasseh. But in order that this point may 
 rest on more than mere assertion, we will establish it 
 from the Scriptures. 
 
 XXXII. 
 
 The sacred text of chap, xviii. of the 4th Book of 
 Kings, is quite opposed to this exposition of your rab- 
 bins. Hezekiah was so far from extending his domin- 
 ion, that he received only a portion of his father's 
 kingdom. No sooner did he assume the reins of go- 
 vernment than all the principal fortified cities of his 
 kingdom were taken by Sennacherib; and in order 
 to rid himself of the danger that threatened it, he 
 gave the invader three hundred talents of silver, 
 and thirty of gold ; and, to pay this tribute, was com- 
 pelled not only to exhaust his treasury, but to with- 
 draw from the temple the silver and gold which it 
 contained. The peace conceded to him was of so short 
 a duration, that his whole reign was a perpetual war- 
 
ARCHBISHOr OF CRANGANOK. 31 
 
 fare ; and finally his son lost the whole of his empire, 
 and the establishment of the house of David came 
 to an end in his person, in Avhich the succession 
 to' the throne was lost and extinguished; since no 
 other descendant of Hezekiah now exists, nor is the 
 kingdom of that prince in being at the present day. 
 All this happened to Hezekiah, as we see in chaps, 
 xviii. xix. and xx. of the 4th Book of Kings; and 
 whatever is drawn from those chapters is an article of 
 faith with you. Nothing of all this was to happen 
 according to the predictions of Isaiah ; therefore either 
 the prophecy itself, or the account given in Kings, or 
 the interpretation of the rabbins, must be false. For 
 if the prophet says that the One prophesied of was to be 
 called God, to be Prince of peace, and that to his peace 
 there should be no end ; to be Eternal Father, or a 
 Father of Eternity ; that he was to have increased do- 
 minion ; and that his kingdom was to be endless, and 
 that he should perpetually establish the throne of 
 David ; then, since the passage in the Book of Kings 
 informs us that every thing that happened to Hezekiah 
 was contrary to what Isaiah had promised, it follows 
 (if the exposition of this rabbin is correct) that either 
 the prophet in what he has asserted, has spoken un- 
 truly, or else that the text in the Book of Kings is 
 false in its statement of events. The prophet cannot 
 deceive, nor can the text in Kings be disputed ; there- 
 fore the fault must be with your rabbins, who seek to 
 verify in Hezekiah what is totally inconsistent with 
 his character. And would you found your hopes on 
 so palpable a fallacy? 
 
32 SERMON OF JUSTINIANO, 
 
 XXXIIL 
 
 Unable to evade this dilemma, Rabbi Solomon and 
 others have dared to vitiate the text of Isaiah and Jere- 
 miah, in order to refute the opinion that the Messiah was 
 to be God, notwithstanding what the prophets declare 
 to the contrary. Your rabbins, seeing that, however 
 they might labour to explain away the two texts, they 
 could not keep out of view the divinity of the Messiah, 
 in order to maintain themselves and you in the Jewish 
 faith, laid down that the texts were not to be read as 
 if the Messiah was to be called. Powerful, Counsellor, 
 Prince of Peace, or as if the name of God was the name 
 the Messiah was to be known by, but as follows "Deus, 
 "Fortis, qui est Admirabilis, Concilarius, et Pater futu- 
 "ri SaBculi, vocabit Regem Messiah, Principem pacis," 
 as if the Messiah was to bear the name of the Prince of 
 Peace : and that God was not to be the Messiah, but 
 to bestow on the Messiah the title of Prince of Peace ; 
 and likewise that the passage in Jeremiah should not be 
 read thus — " Hoc est nomen quod vocabunt eum : Domi- 
 "nus Justus noster," but as follows — "vocabit eum Deus 
 "Justus noster," construing therefrom that it is God 
 who gave the name, and that the Messiah is the person 
 named. These barbarians, by thus corrupting the 
 former text and substituting vocahis for vocabitur 
 in Isaiah, and for vocabunt in Jeremiah, have con- 
 cluded that the Messiah did not ascribe to himself the 
 name of God ; but they deceive themselves, for all this 
 labour serves no other end than to prove their own 
 falsehood and audacity. Of this I shall now proceed 
 to give you the most ample evidence. 
 
Aiiciiinsiior OF crangaj^oh. 33 
 
 XXXIV. 
 
 In that passage of Isaiah where the word vehicare, 
 meaning vocabitur, occurs in the Hebrew, Rabbi So- 
 lomon, who was a notorious corrupter of the sacred 
 text, has audaciously substituted vahycra wliich means 
 vocavit. And in Jeremiah, where in the original icreu 
 is written, which means vocabimt, he has substituted 
 icreo which means vocavit. It is a very easy matter 
 to introduce such a corruption in the Hebrew, for it 
 should be borne in mind that the sacred text is always 
 read without points ; and even at this day the scroll of 
 the Bible that is used in all your synagogues is written 
 Tvithout points ; stops and punctuation only began to 
 be in use in the Bible four hundred and seventy-six years 
 after the birth of Christ, the first inventors being Rabbi 
 Jacob Ben Naphtili, and Rabbi Aaron Ben Asser ; the 
 sacred books before their time having always been read 
 without the points. When Christ came, the Je^vs, 
 wishing to disprove his divinity, began to vitiate the 
 Scriptures by means of the points. Vehicare thd,t is 
 vocabitur, and vahycra which signifies vocavit, are written 
 with the same letters (the points alone serving to dis- 
 tinguish them), and in like manner icreo which means 
 vocavit is composed of the same letters as icreu which 
 means vocabunt In order to corrupt the text in 
 Jeremiah, they took the letter vau which corresponds 
 with our vow^el u, and, removing the dot which is placed 
 in the middle of that letter and makes icreu, they trans- 
 ferred it to another letter, so that the vowel u changes 
 into 0, and thereby converts icreu into icreo; thus, by 
 the slight change of removing a single point from one 
 letter to another, the text in Jeremiah has been mate- 
 rially altered. 
 
 D 
 
34 SERMON OF JUSTINIANO, 
 
 XXXV. 
 
 In Isaiah, the text has been altered as follows : vehi- 
 care which is vocahitur or vocahimt, and vahycra which 
 means vocavit are both written wdth the same letters. 
 The vowel point kamets which was under the coph is 
 transposed, and what was vahycare becomes vahycra. 
 All this trouble and labour on the part of your rabbins, 
 and among them of Rabbi Solomon (whose chief bu- 
 siness in the world seems to have consisted in leading 
 you into error), you have thought fit to sanction. 
 But we shall have no difiiculty in confuting and 
 exposing his falsehood, for if we refer to the Septua- 
 gint, which was written one thousand nine hundred 
 and eighty-nine years ago, and about two hundred 
 and eighty-four before Christ, and to the Targum, 
 written one thousand seven-hundred and forty-two 
 years ago, or forty-two years before the birth of 
 Christ, we shall find that they both read vocabitur or 
 vahycare and not vahycra in Isaiah; and icreii (which 
 is vocabunt) and not icreo {vocavit)^ in the text of 
 Jeremiah. Since, then, Jonathan who wrote in Chaldee, 
 and the Seventy who ^vrote in Greek, agree in putting 
 vocahitur in the first place and vocahunt in the second, 
 it is beyond doubt that they must have been thus in 
 the original which they translated. If you will not 
 allow that it is so at the present day, it must follow 
 that the text has been altered. That being supposed — 
 
 XXXVI. 
 
 Tell me dispassionately whom are we to follow, and 
 whom to believe? Eabbi Solomon, who so many 
 years after the birth of Christ tells us that in these 
 
ARCHBISHOr OF CRANGANOR. 35 
 
 passages we find vocabit, vahi/era., and icreo, in order to 
 support his theory — or the Seventy interpreters, who 
 were selected by the Jews exclusively from among 
 themselves as the wisest men the Synagogue could pro- 
 duce, to render the Hebrew text into Greek, and who, 
 notwithstanding they were separated from each other, 
 ao-ree in attesting, two hundred and eighty-four years 
 before the birth of Christ, that the original text was 
 vahicare and icreii, as is proved by their rendering the 
 words as vocahitur and vocahunt ? 
 
 I again ask — in which of these two parties should we 
 confide? In Rabbi Solomon, notorious for the immense 
 number of the corruptions of sacred text that pervade 
 his works, and who is comparatively but of yesterday ? 
 — or the Targum, written forty-two years before the 
 coming of Christ, which uses in the Chaldee vocabitur 
 and vocabimt, as corresponding with icreh and vahycare 
 in the original? Years and years before this rabbi 
 Avrote, the text was always read one way ; and he was 
 the first to propose that it should be read differently ; 
 can you then believe that he has delivered to you the 
 truth ? So many years previously to Rabbi Solomon's 
 coming into the world, the texts were rendered in a dif- 
 ferent way from that in which he wishes they should 
 now be read ; consequently you must acknowledge it 
 to be the fact that he has been guilty of corrupting 
 them. With this demonstration before you, believe 
 as you please. But if you prefer Rabbi Solomon to 
 the Targum, and to the Seventy, you will act in oppo- 
 sition to that reverence in which both were ever held 
 l)y the Synagogue. 
 
36 SERMON OF JUSTINIANO, 
 
 XXXVIL 
 
 That the application of the name of God to the 
 Messiah, in both these places, proves his divinity, is an 
 argument which you and your teachers reject, urging 
 that the divinity of the Messiah is not proved by the 
 name of God having been applied to him, inasmuch as 
 this name is applied in Scripture to many created ob- 
 jects : this is a ridiculous notion proceeding either from 
 your ignorance or apostasy. We do not deny that the 
 names of God are applied in Scripture to an infinite 
 number of creatures rational and irrational, mthout 
 proving thereby that such creatures are gods. But 
 the point in question is whether we cannot prove that 
 the name Jehovah^ which is more especially the name 
 of God, and denotes that He is an Eternal Essence, is 
 never attributed to any other besides Himself. If 
 after that has been shown, we can demonstrate 
 that this name has been assigned to the Messiah, it 
 necessarily follows that he must be God. 
 
 XXXVIII. 
 
 If you are willing to discover the truth, let us care- 
 fully consult our Scriptures and yours. In the sacred 
 book, ten several names are appropriated to God. 
 "El" which signifies Fortem — "Sabaoth" which means 
 Lord of Valour or of Hosts — "Serecie*" which means, 
 Misit me ad vos — "Elyon" which means Excelsum — 
 "Elohim," "Eloe," "Ja," "Adonai," which all mean 
 the same as " Ja," which signifies God — " Shaddai" which 
 means Omnipotent ; and besides these, there is a more 
 
 * " Serecie " is not Hebrew, and probably was intended for Ayea, 
 meaning / c/r??,— see Ex. iii. 14, " I AM hath sent me unto you." 
 
ARCHBISHOP OF CRANGANOR. 37 
 
 Special name, TetragraTninaton, as it is called by the 
 Greeks, or the ineffable Name of God, which the Jews 
 call the name of four letters, yod^ he, vau, he. Of 
 these four letters or names is composed the most 
 sacred name Jehovah, which is held so sacred among 
 your people that when you invoke the name of the 
 Deity, you do not presume to utter the name Jehovah 
 (except it be the High-priest on occasion of certain 
 sacrifices), and on your hearing it pronounced, you 
 prostrate your faces to the ground. Hence it comes, 
 that when j^ou meet this name in writing, you 
 neither read nor pronounce it, but in its stead j^ou 
 substitute the word "Adonai." Neither you, nor 
 the Greeks, nor the Latins, have as yet discovered 
 its true signification. The Latins explain it by Deus 
 or Dominus, the Greeks by Tetragrammaton, and the 
 Hebrews by Adonai. And what is stiU more, you 
 wait for the Messiah to come, to know how it should 
 be pronounced ; for you say that he alone is acquainted 
 with its true pronunciation. This being conceded, 
 see what follows: the name Jehovah belongs exclu- 
 sively to God, and signifies in the most explicit manner 
 Self-existence, and as such cannot be communicated to 
 any other than God (for ^vith such a being alone is the 
 attribute of absolute self-existence compatible). So 
 that the Messiah must be God ; for this name has been 
 applied to him. All the other before-mentioned names, 
 wherewith God is invoked, are ascribed to creatures, as 
 you will find at every step in the Scriptures. But as 
 regards the name Jehovah Avhich has been applied to 
 the Messiah, you cannot point out a single place 
 in the Scriptures where it is ascribed to any other 
 being except to the Messiah, and to God; to put this 
 
38 SERMON OF JUSTINIANO, 
 
 point beyond doubt, hear what Kabbi Moses says in 
 his book called More, chap. vi. 
 
 " Cuncta nomina Dei excelsi, quae inveniuntur in 
 " Scripturis, ab aliqua certa operatione derivantur. 
 " Ad nomen istud, quod quatuor literis constat, 
 " nomen est particulare, et unicum Deo excelso, 
 " significatque Essentiam Divinam cum manifesto, 
 " determinatione, ad solum Deum absque aliqua 
 " sequi vocatione et communicatione ad alteram, qui 
 " Deus non sit." And in the same chapter he adds, 
 " Certe alia nomina Dei sunt nomina quae declarant 
 " aliquam operationem a qua derivantur. At vero 
 " hoc nomen quatuor literarum, non est cognitum 
 " ab aliqua derivatione et alteri non communicatur 
 " nisi soli Deo^ Therefore if this name beyond all 
 others, according to the Scriptures and the rabbins, 
 is so especially the attribute of God, and is incom- 
 municable to any other being, this name having been 
 given to the Messiah, fully establishes his divinity; 
 and your teachers, who well know the truth of what I 
 am stating, purposely confound together the different 
 names of God, "vvith the express object of misleading 
 you on this very point. 
 
 XXXIX. 
 
 To conclude this discourse, it only remains to prove 
 the falsehood of the interpretation of your rabbins, in 
 attributing to David or Zerubbabel the passage in Jere- 
 miah . Observe, my brethren, that Jeremiah prophesied 
 three hundred and eighty-six years after David's death. 
 That prince, being dead, could not return to life, nor 
 could he exist at a future time, having already existed 
 
ARCHBISIIOr OF CRANGANOH. 39 
 
 ill time past; so that if David was the subject of the 
 prophecy, the prophet would not say that David was 
 to live (suscitabo) but that he had lived. He would 
 not say that he should be called {vocabunt) but that 
 he had been called. He would not say that he should 
 sit on the throne (sedebit) but that he had already 
 been seated. Nor would he say he shoidd be wise 
 (sapiens erit) but that he was wise. He would 
 not say that he shoidd be king (regnabit rex) but that 
 he had been king. He would not say that he should 
 execute judgment {faciet jiistitiam in terra) but that 
 he had executed judgment on earth, so that the pro- 
 phecy would imply according to that interpretation, 
 that David, who had lived, was again to appear. Con- 
 sequently, the prophecy cannot be understood to 
 relate to David. Much less can it be taken with 
 reference to Zerubbabel, as may be shown, not by ex- 
 actly the same arguments with which we have refuted 
 the hypothesis of its applying to David, but by 
 others equally convincing. Firstly, because the name 
 Jehovah was not, and could not be applicable to Ze- 
 rubbabel, as we have shown you from your rabbins. 
 Secondly, the person prophesied of, was to be a king 
 {regnabit rex). Zerubbabel was not a king, whether 
 you consider him under the Babylonian captivity or 
 after he was restored to Judea. In the time of this 
 prince, the people did not live securely under his 
 government, which was another circumstance that was 
 to appertain to the party prophesied of, " et Israel ha- 
 " bitabit ad fiduciam," for we learn the direct contrary 
 from the Scriptures. The book of Esdras informs us, 
 that, after the people were restored and were living 
 under the government of Zerubbabel, they were in 
 
40 SERMON OF JUSTINIANO, 
 
 such a state of insecurity, that as they lifted up the 
 stones to build the Temple with one hand, they held 
 the sword to defend their works in the other. More- 
 over, after a short interval, Zerubbabel abandoned the 
 government of Judea, and went back to Babylon : 
 consequently the prophecy has not been verified in 
 Zerubbabel. Thus easily may we refute the assertions 
 of your rabbins : but the worst is, that, in spite of all 
 the evidence we can produce, you remain unwilling to 
 confess your error, and obstinately retain your belief 
 in these false doctrines. 
 
 XL. 
 Be persuaded, my brethren, be persuaded to believe 
 what your proj^hets have told you, and cease to cling 
 to the absurdities which two ignorant rabbins have 
 put into your head, and to which you only yield your 
 belief, that you may have an excuse for remaining 
 Jews. Resolve to open your eyes, and consent to be 
 convinced by the truth ; for you have too long allowed 
 yourselves to be imposed upon by a falsehood. Ac- 
 knowledge that you cannot obtain freedom so long as 
 you do not change the nature of jour hopes ; for the 
 Redeemer you look for is impossible, because it is 
 impossible to have a Messiah without his being both 
 God and man. This has been foretold you by the 
 prophets, as you have already heard ; and the like is 
 affirmed by your rabbins, as you shall now hear : for 
 in this opinion the most learned men your Synagogue 
 ever had, are of one accord. 
 
 XLI. 
 
 Rabbi Hosea, in the opinion of some, or Rabbi 
 Simeon ben Jochay, in the opinion of others, who 
 
ARCiinisiior OF cranganor. \. ^^ 41 'vV^V 
 
 flourished many years before the birth of Christ, be^^^J^/J^ 
 two of the most ancient rabbins of the Synagogue — ini" 
 expounding the prophet Ilosea, speak thus : — "Woe to 
 " the impious and homicidal Jews, who shall murder 
 " the Messiah, the Son of God; for there be those who 
 " when God sends into the world his Son, the Messiah, 
 " to pardon their sins, shall resist and put him to death 
 " when he comes." " Deus sanctus et benedictus mittet 
 " Filium sanctum suum et carne humana se induct ; v8b 
 " illis impiishomicidis Israel, ob quorum amorem mittet 
 " DeusFihum suum, ut eis peccatadimittat quia propter 
 '' pravas suas opiniones erunt rebelles huic Messiae et 
 " ingenti iracundi^e perciti eum Occident." This is what 
 your rabbi tells you you would do to the Messiah 
 who was the Son of God. And what more do we 
 say? If the Messiah was the Son of God, and this 
 Son of God clothed himself with human flesh, accord- 
 ing to what this rabbi has acknowledged so long be- 
 fore the Messiah appeared, must not the Messiah have 
 been both God and man? In so far as he was God, 
 you could not slay him ; but in so far as he was man, 
 you did slay him. Thus the Messiah was both God 
 and man. 
 
 XLII. 
 
 Ivabbi Haccadosh, Avhom by distinction you call the 
 Holy Rabbi, and who flourished a hundred and twenty- 
 eight years before the birth of Christ (for he lived in 
 the times of the Maccabees), in his celebrated work, 
 called in the Hebrew Gala Bazeya, Avhich signifies 
 the revealing of secrets, speaking of the ]\Iessiah, in 
 his exposition of the 9th chapter of the prophet Isaiah, 
 which we have just explained, writes thus: — " Quia 
 " Messias Deus et Homo futurus est, ideo vocatus est 
 
42 SERMON OF JUSTINIANO, 
 
 " Emmanuel, quod interpretatus nobiscum Deus."— 
 " Because the Messiah has to be both God and man, 
 " therefore he shall be called Emmanuel, which means 
 " God with us." He repeats this truth still more 
 clearly in another passage, as you will find on re- 
 ferring to a Hebrew work which you call Tlie Gates 
 of Light: — " Rex Messias componitur ex Divinitate 
 ' et Humanitate, et in substantia Regis Messise inve- 
 ' niuntur du£e filiationes quarum una est Divinitatis, 
 ' qua Dei filius est, altera erit humanitatis, qua erit 
 ' filius prophetissse. In Messia substantia Divinitatis 
 ' distincta erit a substantia humanitatis, et e contra. 
 ' Quae duo simul juncta sunt in Messia." " The King 
 ' Messiah," says this rabbi, " is composed both of hu- 
 ' manity and divinity; for Messiah has two filiations, 
 ' one partaking of divinity, by virtue whereof he is the 
 ' Son of God : the other filiation as of the nature of 
 ' humanity, and by virtue of this he will be the son of 
 ' the prophetess. The Messiah consists of two sub- 
 ' stances, each different from the other. One is divine, 
 ' the other human. But these two substances, in 
 ' themselves distinct, become united in the Messiah." 
 The prophets and the rabbins who lived before the 
 advent of Christ explicitly declared that the Messiah 
 was to be both God and man ; and it was only in con- 
 sequence of your stubborn resolution to remain Jews, 
 that you denied Christ to be the Messiah, and resolved 
 to look out for another of a character different from 
 what your prophets and rabbins had previously laid 
 down. From all this, it becomes evident that the coming 
 of the Messiah is an impossibility. The Scriptures 
 cannot err, nor can your rabbins, men enlightened by 
 God (who before the advent of Christ declared these 
 
ARCHBISHOP OF CRANGANOR. 43 
 
 truths) be guilty of falsehood. Therefore Messiah can- 
 not come as simply man ; consequently, the Messiah 
 whom you so anxiously expect is impossible, because 
 the essential attributes are wanting in him which God 
 revealed the Messiah should possess. For these reasons, 
 your redemption cannot take place, seeing that the 
 Messiah is impossible, who, according to your expecta- 
 tions, is to redeem you. Thus your tears are fruitless, 
 for your hopes do not rest upon one who can put an end 
 to your captivity. Thus it is that you find yourselves, 
 and must remain till the end of the ^vorld, in the con- 
 dition in which we now see you (which is exactly such 
 as your Isaiah prophesied) without there being any 
 one to redeem or ransom you. — " Ipse autem populus 
 "direptus, et vastatus, laqueus juvenum omnes, et in 
 "domibus carcerum absconditi sunt; facti sunt in ra- 
 "pinam, nee qui est eruat; in direptionem, nee est 
 "quidicat: Redde." 
 
 XLIII. 
 
 Impossible as it is, that he whom you expect can be 
 the Messiah, for want of the essential attributes which 
 were to belong to him, the event is rendered equally 
 so by the period in which the true Messiah was to ap- 
 pear ; for that period is expired, and can never recur. 
 The time for the coming of the Messiah was accom- 
 plished and fulfilled when Christ came ; and any further 
 fulfilment is obviously impossible. Unhappy people, 
 whose hopes, not only the nature of the object, but 
 the time appointed for its fulfilment, alike conspire to 
 
 defeat. 
 
 XLIY. 
 
 To convince you of this truth, satisfactory proof 
 may be adduced from the prophecy of Jacob, in 
 
44 SERMON or JUSTINIANO, 
 
 Genesis, chap, xlix., when, desirous to point out to his 
 sons the time of the advent of the Messiah, he tells 
 them that the time of his coming would be when the 
 sceptre should fail in your nation. Now in fact it did 
 fail when Christ came, for Herod the Ascalonite held 
 the sceptre. Supposing that you should now or here- 
 after, be told by some sinful or ignorant Jew, that this 
 text is not a convincing argument, for that long before 
 the advent of Christ, the sceptre had failed in Jeconiah ; 
 this can only be said by one totally ignorant of sacred 
 history: for after Jeconiah, Josias reigned; and although, 
 after this prince, the title of king was lost to the 
 nation until the time of Herod, still the government 
 of the Jews was preserved with equal authority in the 
 persons of their princes, as is most clearly set forth in 
 the Scriptures. To prove still further this article, 
 the prophecy of Daniel in chap. ix. gives evident de- 
 monstration that his weeks, hoAvever you may attempt 
 to dispute the computation, are already accomplished. 
 There is scarcely a sermon on the same subject, in 
 which these two texts are not brought under discus- 
 sion ; but, in order that you may not allege that we 
 Catholics are so deficient in proofs for your convic- 
 tion that we are obliged to make the same arguments 
 serve many times, I will not allow myself to dwell on 
 the above texts, but shall be enabled by others of equal 
 evidence, to show you the futility of your hopes, and 
 to convince you that the time has past which you are 
 expecting, under the belief that the Messiah has not 
 yet come, but is still to appear. 
 
 XLV. 
 
 The prophet Daniel, chap, ii., relates Nebuchad- 
 nezzar's dream, wherein he saw a statue, of which the 
 
ATxCHBISHOP OF CRANGANOR. 45 
 
 head was of gold, the arms of silver, its belly of brass, 
 its feet of iron and clay. He also saw a small stone 
 thrown from a hill, which, striking the feet of the 
 statue, reduced it to powder. The head of the statue, 
 represented the empire of the Chaldeans; the arms 
 that of the Medes and Persians; the belly that of the 
 (1 reeks; and the feet that of the Romans. Such is 
 the interpretation given by your prophets and your 
 rabbins. The last named empire, namely the Roman, 
 (continues Daniel, chap. ii. 3,) will be mixed, one part 
 being iron, and the other part clay. On this account, 
 although the clay may mingle wdth the iron, the two 
 parts can never unite ; for, however closely mixed up, 
 they will not adhere to each other, inasmuch as the 
 clay w^ill not amalgamate mth the iron, nor the iron 
 with the clay, " Commiscebuntur sed non adha3rebunt 
 " sibi." And this was verified ; for the Roman empire, 
 which was typified by the iron, and the clay, which 
 was the kingdom of the Jews (says your Rabbi Joao 
 Baptista Deste, who, after recognising the error of your 
 belief, turned Catholic), although mixed, did not unite ; 
 for the same power was not possessed by the clay, which 
 was your kingdom, as by the iron, which was that of 
 the Romans. A like exposition has been given by 
 your Rabbi Fabiano de Tioghi (who also became con- 
 verted to Christ after being expelled from the Syna- 
 gogue), in his book named Dialogo de la Fede. Thus, 
 the prophet says that these two powers should be 
 intermingled (Commiscebuntur), but should not be 
 united (sed non adhcerehunt sibi). Allowing that the 
 Jews and the Romans confederated together as friends, 
 thev ever preserved a separate government; for, until 
 
46 SERMON OF JUSTINIANO, 
 
 the reign of Herod the Ascalonite, m whose time 
 Christ came, the temporal government of Judea was 
 held by the Jews. The Romans became your allies 
 in your defence, and you united with the Romans to 
 afford them assistance ; but in religion you were totally 
 at variance, for among you was established the worship 
 of the true God, but among the Romans a blind idola- 
 try. These facts are certain, and admit of no doubt 
 or dispute ; for we and all the world know that they 
 are recorded in the Book of Maccabees, where we are 
 informed of the confederacy you made with the 
 Romans, while you still continued to maintain the 
 observances of your law, and the government of your 
 kingdom, until the friendship between you becoming 
 relaxed, the Romans sent Herod to govern you, in 
 company with others in their confidence ; and, subse- 
 quently wishing to make an end of you, sent to destroy 
 your city. 
 
 XLYL 
 
 At the time that the iron of the Roman empire was 
 mingled with the clay of the kingdom of the Jews, a 
 small stone, says the prophet, destroyed the iron and 
 the clay; and in their place a kingdom arose, that 
 should never be destroyed or surrendered to any 
 other power, for its dominion was to be throughout 
 the world, and its rule over all the earth, and to en- 
 dure to eternity (Dan. ii. 11). "In diebus regnorum 
 " illorum suscitabit Deus coeli regnum quod in 
 " seternum non dissipabitur, et alteri populo non 
 " tradetur. Cominuet autem et consumet universa 
 " regna hsec, et ipsum stabit in geternum." This is 
 the prophecy from which we collect, that the empires 
 
ARCHBISHOP OF CRANGANOR. 47 
 
 of the Chaldeans, Persians and Greeks being destroyed, 
 but the Roman empire still existing (that is to say, 
 the iron) mingled vnth the kingdom of the Jews (that 
 is the clay), another kingdom or empire was to arise 
 that should destroy both these powers; and that 
 the empire which should succeed the two so destroyed, 
 was to hold perpetual dominion, unaffected by thne, 
 and should never pass into other hands, since the 
 stone that destroyed the several empires, in order to 
 establish the one that was to arise from their ruins, 
 would increase to such an extent that its bulk would 
 fill the Avhole earth. " Consumet universa regna hasc, 
 " et ipsum stabit in aeternum; secundum quod vidisti; 
 " quod de monte abscissus est lapis sine manibus, et 
 " comminuet testam et ferrum, et aes et argentum et 
 " aureum." 
 
 XL VII. 
 That this prophecy of Daniel treats of the Messiah, 
 is a settled point among your rabbins: so it is ac- 
 knowledo-ed in the book Midrash Tehilim. which is a 
 commentary on the Psalms, in the exposition of 
 Psalm xvii. 44, 45. " Quando Messias veniet, non 
 " erunt dicentes canticum, donee cadat coram ipso 
 " habens digitos, id est, regnum Romanorum de 
 " quo dictum est Daniel secundo; et digitus ex 
 " parte ferrei, et ex parte teste, ex parte regnum 
 " solidum et ex parte frivolum. In diebus reg- 
 " norum illorum statuet Deus coeli regnum quod 
 " in a^ternum. Iste est rex Messias sicut dictum 
 " est in Bereshith Rahbhy 
 
 The same we read in Bereshith Rabba, in the com- 
 mentary on Gen. xlii. " Rex vero nonus est ipse 
 
48 SERMON OF JUSTINIANO, 
 
 " Cgesar Augustus, qui universe orbe imperavit, sicut 
 " dictum est Daniel secundo, et regnum quartum 
 " erit forte sicut ferrum. Rex deciraus est Mes- 
 " sias qui regnabit a fine mundi, usque ad finem 
 " ejus, sicut dictum est, lapis qui percussit statuam, 
 " replenit universam terram," 
 
 The same thing is affirmed by Rabbi Naham, 
 Rabbi Moyses Hadarsan and Rabbi Soadias, in the 
 same place, " Lapis qui percussit statuam est reg- 
 " num Messiah, filii David." Now it being admitted, 
 that this interpretation is written in your books, and 
 acknowledged by your rabbins, we will proceed to 
 give you a clear explanation of this your prophecy. 
 
 XL VIII. 
 
 The Messiah, according to what the prophet says, 
 was to come when the Roman empire should be still 
 mixed up with the Jews ; and the advent of the Mes- 
 siah was to destroy equally the clay of the Jews, and 
 the iron of the Romans ; for out of the ruins of these 
 two kingdoms the kingdom of the Messiah was to arise, 
 which was to be everlasting and to spread through- 
 out the world. Now either this prophecy must be 
 false, which you will not assert (for Daniel was a true 
 prophet) or, the period for the Messiah's coming must 
 be already passed, seeing that the Roman empire is 
 not at this day mixed with the kingdom of the Jews, 
 nor their kingdom with that empire ; for both these 
 powers have been destroyed. If this is denied, you 
 will be driven to maintain, either that these two powers 
 still exist united, or that the Messiah did not come 
 during the period when the mixture of the Romans 
 and the Jews continued. 
 
ARCHBISHOP OF CRANGANOR. 49 
 
 If you admit that the Messiah was not to come 
 during that time, your prophet speaks falsely, which 
 surely you will not admit ; and )'our rabbins must have 
 also deceived you, which you will be equally unwilling 
 to acknowledge. If you allege that these two powers 
 are still flourishing and under a joint government, it 
 will be obligatory on you to show us whereabouts this 
 kingdom exists, and in what part of Judea or of the 
 world at this day, you still hold dominion. You will 
 have to give the lie to all the world and to yourselves ; 
 for you and every body else are well aware that your 
 kingdom was destroyed sixteen hundred and thirty-two 
 years ago, and that your dominion is at an end in 
 Judea : nor is there any part of the earth where you 
 now hold rule. It is evident, therefore, that you have 
 now none of these things remaining which were to 
 exist until the birth of the Messiah. Then how 
 can you expect the Messiah to come after it has been 
 proved that he has already appeared ? The Roman em- 
 pire mixed with yours is passed away, and not a vestige 
 of your kingdom remains. The kingdom that was to 
 succeed these two powers has been established for a 
 long period of years, and has diffused itself throughout 
 Europe, Asia, Africa, and America. It follows, then, 
 that the time which the prophet assigned for the 
 coming of the Messiah is past : and being past cannot 
 be expected back again. Thus your expectations are 
 in direct variance ^vith the period assigned for that 
 event. 
 
 XLIX. 
 
 There exists oidy one difficulty in this explanation; 
 but tliis difficulty arises from the scanty knowledge 
 
 £ 
 
50 SERMON OF JUSTINIANO, 
 
 you have of the Scriptures. By this prophecy, we 
 learn that the Messiah, when he should come, was to 
 found his own kingdom by destroying the kingdom of 
 the Jews and the Roman Empire. But the latter still 
 subsists, and is not destroyed ; consequently it would 
 seem as if the period for the advent of the Messiah 
 had not yet arrived. This argument proceeded from 
 the infamous Henriques, called Miguel Henriques 
 among us while he pretended to be a CathoHc, and 
 Mizael Henriques among you, after he declared him- 
 self a Jew, and as such suffered punishment in this 
 city on the eleventh of May 1682. That such an 
 opinion has become current amongst you is the fault 
 of your voluntary blindness, for you voluntarily adopt 
 a false interpretation of the sacred text. The Messiah 
 was not to destroy the Roman empire in a physical sense ; 
 for, had the prophet spoken of such a kind of destruc- 
 tion, it is very evident he would have committed a great 
 absurdity in affirming that a small stone, and which 
 fell without hands from a mountain, was to annihilate 
 a power whose dominion extended throughout the 
 world, and that the same stone should afterwards itself 
 grow into a mountain to fill the whole earth. The 
 prophet then spoke of a spiritual destruction, and the 
 annihilation of the religion and idolatry which the 
 Romans practised. With the advent of Christ, idola- 
 try ceased in all the countries into which the Romans 
 had carried their religious worship ; and thus the re- 
 lio;ion of the Romans was extino-uished throughout 
 the world, so that, on Christ's coming, their empire 
 was spiritually destroyed. I will now proceed with 
 additional arguments in evidence of this truth. 
 
ARCHBISHOP OF CRANGANOR. 51 
 
 The Messiah was to destroy the Roman empire, as 
 we learn from the prophecy, in order to found his o^^^l. 
 But the empire of the Messiah was to be spiritual; 
 therefore the destruction which was to precede it must 
 be so too. I will prove the major of this syllogism, 
 which alone requires proof. The kingdom of the 
 Messiah, according to the prophet, was to be everlast- 
 ing, " Stahit m ceternum." It was never to end, for it 
 was never to be destroyed, " In ceternum non dissipa- 
 hitury It was not to descend to others, " Alteri non 
 tradetur.'" No temporal or material object can be pre- 
 vented from descending to others, or fail to come to an 
 end. 
 
 The kingdom of the Messiah, which was to be 
 eternal and perpetual (for it was never to devolve 
 upon others), could not mean a temporal kingdom. 
 Consequently, it must have been a spiritual destruc- 
 tion of the Roman empire which was to be effected 
 by the Messiah, since the kingdom of the Messiah 
 that was to follow this destruction was spiritual. 
 The fact is, that the spiritual dominion of the Roman 
 empire absolutely ceased on the advent of Christ ; for 
 the idolatry of the Roman empire terminated through- 
 out the world on his coming. 
 
 Thus Sophonias prophesied. Sophon. chapter xx. 
 V. 17. " Horrihilis Dominus et attenuabit oriines deos 
 terrcey This is also admitted in your Talmud, in the 
 book Zohar ; Rabbi Moses of Egypt contends for the 
 same thing, affirming that Jesus of Nazareth was a good 
 man, because he put an end to idolatry thi'ougliout 
 E 2 
 
52 SERMON OF JUSTINIANO, 
 
 the world : ^^ Jesus Nazarenus fuit vir bo7ius, et destruxit 
 idolorum adoratione^ny Therefore, if, according to 
 your rabbins, your Talmud and your prophet So- 
 phonias, this was the kind of destruction that the Mes- 
 siah was to effect when he came, and which the true 
 Messiah, Jesus Christ, actually did effect; it follows 
 that the destruction of the Koman empire, predicted by 
 Daniel, was of a similar character, and must have 
 therefore been intended in a spiritual sense. 
 
 LI. 
 
 In order more thoroughly to convince you, I will 
 treat all the evidence in the very way that you have 
 adopted as most favourable to your own erroneous 
 views, and will be even more liberal than your com- 
 mentators who have treated upon this passage. I am 
 willing to grant that the Messiah was to bring a tem- 
 poral destruction on the Roman empire, and will show 
 you as clearly as the light at noon-day that this tem- 
 poral destruction has already come to pass ; for, after so 
 many victories gained by the Turks, and the repeated 
 triumphs of its enemies, how can it be asserted of this 
 empire that it still flourishes? The Roman empire, 
 as long as it endured, held dominion throughout 
 the world, subjected kingdoms, exacted obedi- 
 ence from princes, and exercised universal juris- 
 diction. Nothing of this any longer exists, as you 
 must yourselves allow. This is sufficient to show 
 that the Roman empire is already, even in a material 
 sense, destroyed. This government, to which in former 
 days the whole world was tributary, now possesses so 
 smnll a revenue, that deducting v/hat arises from 
 
ARCHBISHOP OF CRANGANOR. 53 
 
 conquest or iiilieritance, which is the appanage of tlie 
 rci^uning imperial house (not of the empire), that 
 which remains is not sufficient for the maintenance of 
 the emperor, I will not say with the dignity due to 
 his rank, but even as a private nobleman ; for if they 
 were at this day to elect an emperor, who ha})pened 
 not to possess property of his OAvn, he would be unable 
 to maintain himself mth all the revenue the empire 
 could furnish. This is an evident truth, and shows 
 that the temporal dominion of the Koman empire is 
 effectually destroyed. Hov»^ then can you hope that 
 tlie Messiah is still to come when this fact proves 
 that he has already been? It can only be from your 
 reluctance to relinquish your visionary hopes, that you 
 employ these futile arguments, and because you have no 
 better reply at your command, but are still at all hazard 
 determined to remain Jews; it would cost you less 
 trouble to renounce the authority of }'our prophets, 
 than to have recourse to these miserable evasions. 
 However, if you are indifferent to the voice of your 
 prophets, you will perhaps attend to what your rabbins 
 affirm; for I Avish to show you, by the doctrines of your 
 own teachers, that the advent of the Messiah is an 
 event not still to be expected, but one already past. 
 
 LIl. 
 
 Consult your Talmud, Treatise Sahat and Sanhedrm, 
 and there you will find that Rabbi Tanhuma asks the 
 reason why the Hebrew word Lemarbe is used by 
 the prophet Isaiah, chapter ix., to express " nndtipli- 
 candum ejus imperium," and why the final D (Mem) is 
 placed in the middle of the Lemarbe, when it is contrary 
 
54 SEKMON OF JUSTINIANO, 
 
 to usage to put such letter in the middle of any 
 other Hebrew word. No one has yet been found who 
 could solve this question ; and accordingly it is said in 
 your Talmud, that he heard a voice from heaven answer- 
 ing him thus, Eazi-li, Bazi-li, which Hebrew words 
 translated into Latin mean ^^ Secretum meum mihi ■" 
 ^^ Secretum meum mihif' or, My secret is my own; My 
 secret is my own. It is assented to by many of your 
 teachers that from the time of Isaiah's prophecy in 
 chapter ix., until the advent of the Messiah, a period 
 of six hundred years was to elapse. Now let us see 
 how many years have really elapsed since that pro- 
 phecy down to the present time, and when these six 
 hundred years were, or will be, fully completed, in 
 order that we may discover whether your Messiah has 
 already come, or is still to come, as calculated by your 
 rabbins. The better to convince you, I will follow no 
 other chronology than that adopted by them. 
 
 LIII. 
 
 The date of this prophecy was in the fourth year of 
 King Ahaz, reckoning from which time down to the 
 eleventh year of King Zedekiah, according to the com- 
 putation of your Rabbi Salomon, one hundred and fifty 
 years had elapsed. In that year, the first temple was 
 burnt, and you were carried captive into Babylon. 
 From the destruction of the first temple to the destruc- 
 tion of the second, by the account of that same rabbi, 
 four hundred and ninety years had passed, which 
 number added to one hundred and fifty, makes six 
 hundred and forty-one years. From this we must 
 deduct the forty-one years since the death of Christ. 
 
ARCIIBISIIOr OF CRANGANOR. 55 
 
 Consequently, agreeably to the computation of this 
 rabbi, the year in which Christ died completed the six 
 hundred years elapsed since the prophecy of Isaiah ; and 
 this Avas the period in which the ]\Iessiah was to come. 
 It is now one thousand six hundred and thirty-two years 
 since the time when Titus destroyed your city. Be- 
 tween that period and the fourth year of Ahaz six hun- 
 dred years intervene ; so that from the prophecy until 
 the present day we may reckon two thousand two hun- 
 dred and thirty-two years; deduct the six hundred, 
 and the advent of the Messiah, conformably to your 
 Talmud, should have taken place one thousand six 
 hundred and thirty-two years ago. And thus, although 
 one thousand six hundred and thirty-two years, by 
 your o^^l computation, must have taken place since 
 his advent, you still go on expecting him to come. 
 Moreover, you do this in open contradiction to your 
 Talmud, which no one can venture to oppose without 
 incurring the penalty of death ; such being the punish- 
 ment awarded by that book, to those who deny any 
 part of its contents. 
 
 LIV. 
 
 I invite you to consult the Talmud, book Sanhedrin 
 Guazit, chapter Col Israel, and you will there see the 
 period which your rabbins cabalistically assign for 
 the advent of the Messiah. The Jews have two 
 and twenty letters, by which they reckon their 
 numbers. AAlien they are placed in a manner that 
 does not make sense, like our ABC, they stand 
 for numerals. The first letter ^^ (Aleph), corre- 
 sponding to our A, means the number One. The 
 
56 SERMON OF JUSTINIANO, 
 
 second 2 (Beth), means Two. The third J (Ghimel), 
 Three; and so forth to "^ (Yod), which means Ten. 
 The next letter ;d (Caph), means Twenty ; and so on, 
 increasing by tens, to p (Koph), which is One 
 Hundred. -) (Resch) means Two Hundred; 
 ^ (Shin) Three Hundred; and n (Tauf), the last letter, 
 stands for Four Hundred. The Hebrews make use of 
 all these letters, not only in common writing, but in 
 expressing numbers in arithmetic and in all computa- 
 tions relating to the Messiah. They begin with 
 taking the first and last letters, Aleph and Tauf; 
 and the intermediate ones between Aleph and Mem 
 joined to these three make in all six hundred and 
 five, so that the final or closed D, as we have already 
 stated, contains within itself the secret of the Messiah's 
 advent, indicating as it does the six hundred years 
 corresponding to that event. These have already 
 elapsed; and consequently the Messiah has already 
 appeared. 
 
 LV. 
 
 Rabbi Moses Ben Maimon, in his celebrated epistle to 
 the rabbins of Africa, states, that by an ancient tradi- 
 tion of the Hebrews, the Messiah was to appear in 
 the year of the world four thousand four hundred and 
 seventy-four. We are now, according to your comput- 
 ation in the year five thousand four hundred and 
 sixty-five, from the creation of the world, so that if 
 the Messiah was to appear in four thousand four hun- 
 dred and seventy-four, it must be nine hundred and 
 ninety-one years since he came, and consequently you 
 are expecting him all this time after he has already 
 been. 
 
ARCHBISHOP OF CRANGANOR. 57 
 
 LVL 
 
 In the Talmud, chapter Ilelek^ in the Sanliedrin 
 Guazit, as well as in Sedar Ilolam, we find it written, 
 that the world is to endure only six thousand years ; 
 " Machina mundi hujus annorum series mille et non 
 " plurum persistere debet." So also affirm your rab- 
 bins, according to ancient tradition, originating with the 
 disciples of Elijah. The first two thousand years with 
 the law of nature and without a Avritten law; the 
 second two thousand years with the law of Moses ; and 
 the last two thousand with the law of the Messiah. 
 The two thousand years under natural law have long 
 since passed away ; the two thousand years under the 
 avritten law are also passed; consequently the two 
 thousand under the law of the Messiah alone are 
 wanting. According to the computation adopted by 
 your people in calculating the age of the world (which 
 puts us in the year five thousand four hundred and 
 sixty-five from the creation of the world) we are now in 
 the final two thousand that belong to the Messiah, 
 out of which five hundred and thirty -five have already 
 expired. Consequently, your own reckoning shows 
 that you are expecting One who came five hundred 
 and thirty-five years ago. 
 
 LYII. 
 
 Rabbi Elijah, son of liabbi Judas, a Talmudist of 
 the highest authority with you, writes thus: " Non 
 " minus octoginta quinque jubilaga mundus stabit, et 
 " in ultimo veniet Messias." The world then is to 
 exist during eighty-five jubilees; and in the last the 
 
58 SERMON OF JUSTINIANO, 
 
 Messiah is to appear. Your Rabbi Salomon, in ex- 
 plaining these eighty-five jubilees of the world's 
 duration, says, according to Scripture, that each 
 jubilee consists of fifty years, and the whole together 
 amount to four thousand two hundred and fifty: 
 " Octaginta jubileea faciunt annos quatuor mille du- 
 " centos et quinquaginta annos." By this computa- 
 tion the world is to exist four thousand two 
 hundred and fifty years, and in the last jubilee, that 
 is in the last fifty years, the Messiah was to come : 
 it is evident, therefore, that the Messiah came one 
 thousand two hundred and fifteen years ago ; for that 
 is the number of years that has elapsed from the year 
 four thousand two hundred and fifty to the present 
 time. Then how can you expect a Messiah, who, by 
 your own reckoning, must have appeared so long 
 since? He was to come during the last jubilee, when 
 the world should have existed four thousand two 
 hundred years, and be about entering the last fifty, 
 which were to complete the period of four thousand 
 two hundred and fifty years. Being then at present 
 in the year five thousand four hundred and sixty -five, 
 can you suppose the time for the Messiah's coming 
 not yet arrived? If you reflect on the force of this 
 argument, you will doubtless take the advice of your 
 Rabbi Samuel, Avho, convinced by this reasoning, re- 
 nounced your creed and acknowledged Jesus Christ. 
 " Stupeo, ac credo Jesum verum Dei Filium extetisse 
 " Messiam, et jamvenisse; revolvendo Scripta pro- 
 " phetarum, manifesto intelligo Christum esse Dei 
 " Filium nobis in terram missum ad redemptionem 
 " nostram. — I am amazed at this," said the rabbi, "and 
 
ARCHBISHOP OF CRANGANOR. 59 
 
 " believe that Jesus, the true Son of God, was the Mes- 
 " siah, and has already come. For, revolving in my 
 " mind all that the prophets have said, I clearly under- 
 " stand that Christ is the Son of God, who was sent into 
 " the world to redeem us." This rabbi acknowledged 
 the truth by renouncing his former belief, and you 
 would do well to follow his example. Rabbi Anima 
 Voluntas, or Rabbi Moses of Egypt, who is the same 
 person, also acknowledged this truth, as we may infer 
 from Sanhedrin Gauzit^ in Helek; for the Jews en- 
 quiring of him the time of the Messiah's coming, he 
 (reflecting on the procrastination of his 0"svn, and 
 your expectations of this event) answered them as 
 follows : " Yanum est atque inane a Judicis Messiam 
 " expectari, sed solaredemptioconsistit inpcenitentia. — 
 " It is perfectly in vain," says this rabbi, " for the Jews 
 *' to expect the Messiah; for at this time it is only by 
 " repentance that they can obtain redemption." 
 
 Undeceive yourselves, therefore, my brethren, as 
 your rabbins have already done. Undeceive yourselves, 
 and admit that your hopes are fallacious, and that the 
 advent of the Messiah is already passed, and having 
 passed cannot come again ; but if you are not satisfied 
 by this consideration which was sufficient to satisfy 
 your rabbins, I Avould ask you in conclusion what 
 reply you can make to the following question ? 
 
 LVIIL 
 
 Do you know how many Messiahs have appeared 
 in the world whom you have received ^\ithout raising 
 any difficulty or dispute? If not, as probably is the 
 case, I will enumerate all that have come to my know- 
 
60 SERMON OF JUSTINIANO, 
 
 ledge. Before the birth of Christ, Theudas declared 
 himself to be the true Messiah. The Jews received 
 him publicly ; and four hundred Jews assembled in 
 Jerusalem, who, being persuaded that he could con- 
 duct them over the river Jordan dryshod, followed 
 him with all that belonged to them. This being made 
 known to the Roman garrison who commanded the 
 city, they went out and destroyed him and his fol- 
 lowers, and re-entered Jerusalem carrying the head of 
 Theudas in triumph. So relates your historian 
 Josephus. This was the first Messiah whom you re- 
 ceived without any difficulty or controversy, and 
 having acknowledged him as such, you paid with your 
 lives the forfeit of your credulity. 
 
 LIX. 
 
 About the time of the birth of Christ, there came 
 another Messiah, Judas Galileo, who prevailed on you 
 not to pay tribute to C^Bsar, when he had ordered a 
 general impost to be collected throughout the world. 
 The whole Jewish people received him with tran- 
 sport, but you and Judas your Messiah experienced 
 the same fate as Theudas. After that again, in the 
 time of Felix the Proconsul of Judea, came a third 
 Messiah named Egipicio who was received by you 
 with equal delight, and having instilled into your 
 minds the idea of ridding Jerusalem of the yoke of 
 the Romans, with four thousand men sought to obtain 
 possession of the city, but being opposed by Felix, he 
 and his followers met the same end as the two former 
 Messiahs. Some short time after this, came two new 
 pretenders, named John and Simon, who found 
 
ARCHBISHOP OF CRANGANOR. 61 
 
 equally ready acceptance with you as the rest, and 
 led you to the same disastrous consequences. After 
 the death of Christ, a sixth Messiah appeared, 
 named Barcosbas, or as some called him Bencosbas, or 
 as others will have it Barchossiba, who gained over 
 the most enlightened man the Jews possessed at that 
 period (namely Rabbi Akeeba, as we learn from 
 the Talmud), and succeeded in inducing you to rebel 
 against the Romans; which resulted in your destruc- 
 tion by Titus and Vespasian. Forty-eight years after 
 this event, a seventh pretender appeared, named Ven- 
 tozora, whom some erroneously supposed to be the same 
 as Barchossiba. Under his persuasion, having fortified 
 yourselves against the Romans in Bithera or Bither, 
 your country was again ravaged by Adrian, who 
 brought destruction upon you and your pretended 
 Messiah. 
 
 LX. 
 
 In the course of time came an eighth Messiah, 
 named Mahir, who was received by you with your 
 usual alacrity and caused you to pay dearly for your 
 acceptance of him. The ninth Messiah appeared in 
 Sicily, and made you believe that he was to lead you like 
 Moses through the sea; and, having obtained credit 
 with you, he and all who followed him found their 
 grave in the waters. 
 
 In the year sixteen hundred and sixty-six came the 
 tenth Messiah, named Sabbati Essevi, who with the 
 greater part of his followers was condemned to death 
 by the Turks at Constantinople. And that this country 
 might not prove an exception to your notorious 
 credulity, there came a Jew from India, known in our 
 
62 SERMON OF JUSTINIANO, 
 
 history by the name of the Jew of Zapato, who told you 
 that he was the Messiah, and that having announced 
 himself publicly to the Jews on the Euphrates as such, 
 he had come to you to declare the good tidings, where- 
 upon you eagerly ran to receive him, expecting through 
 his means to gain possession of the Indies ; the matter 
 however ended in his being quickly laid hold of and 
 imprisoned by the Holy Inquisition. 
 
 Josephus mentions three Messiahs more, Judas 
 Gaulonitis, Judas son of Ezechias, and Athronges a 
 shepherd, all of whom met with the same fate as those 
 who went before them. 
 
 LXL 
 
 Here we have fourteen Messiahs publicly received by 
 you as such. Now tell me, I intreat, when you 
 acknowledo-ed each of these as the Messiah, had the 
 time arrived for his coming or had it not? If not, 
 how could you receive these as such before the time 
 appointed? If the time had arrived, and on that 
 ground you received them, how can you affirm that 
 the time of the Messiah's coming is still distant? 
 How can you maintain that the time was come when 
 all others might be Messiahs ; but that for Christ alone 
 the time was not yet come when he might be the Mes- 
 siah? 
 
 What answer can you make to this demonstration? 
 what else but simply to acknowledge that you are con- 
 vinced, for such a demonstration precludes any other 
 reply : either you must confess your error, and admit 
 that, on the score of time, the advent of your Messiah 
 is impossible, or totally shut your eyes to reason, from 
 an obstinate determination to remain Jews. Cease to 
 
ARCHBlSIIOr OF CRANGANOR. 63 
 
 act thus, my brethren; for if such be your resolution, 
 no greater misfortune can befall you : your captivity 
 will still endure, your exile be prolonged, and your 
 oppression become more stringent every day; for a 
 Messiah can never come to relieve you, seeing that the 
 time for that is already gone by, consequently there 
 can be no end to the misfortunes with which your 
 prophets have menaced you: " Ipse autem populus 
 " direptus et vastatus ; laqueus juvenum omnes, et in 
 " domibus carcerum, absconditi sunt ; facti sunt in 
 " rapinam, nee est qui eruat; in direptionem, nee est 
 " qui dicat, Redde." 
 
 LXIL 
 
 We are now arrived (slowly it is true, but our pro- 
 gress would have been still slower, had I advanced all 
 the proofs which I had prepared for this sermon), — we 
 are now, I say, arrived at the third part of our de- 
 monstration, in which I have to prove to you that the 
 Messiah, the object of your fervent aspirations, and 
 whom your obstinacy has continued to expect for so 
 many years, is impossible by reason of those signs that 
 were to belong to him, all of which have been already 
 accomplished in Christ, and having been so accom- 
 plished, do not admit of being fulfilled a second time. 
 There was to be only one Messiah : that is acknow- 
 ledged by all your ancient rabbins; and I have not 
 time to dwell on this point, which it is of the less 
 consequence to do, as it is not called in question 
 by any of your modern teachers. The Messiah 
 was to be one person ; but, if at different periods the 
 same signs have been fulfilled in two persons that God 
 
64 SERMON OF JUSTINIANO, 
 
 gave for one only, the Messiah must necessarily be 
 two, for there could be no better reason that the 
 Messiah should be one rather than the other. This 
 cannot be the case ; for God promised the world only 
 one Messiah : besides, if at diiferent times we perceive 
 altogether the same signs in two Messiahs, as belong 
 to one only, God has deceived us in having accom- 
 plished in two, those signs which were proper only to 
 one. It is impossible, as our natural reason suggests, 
 that God should deceive us : consequently, it is im- 
 possible that at different times the very same signs 
 should be realised in two persons, because one of these 
 two would have been the true Messiah and the other 
 false. But since the signs would have been found in 
 both, which could properly belong to one alone, the other 
 would be, and would not be the Messiah. He would 
 be the Messiah, because manifesting the signs pro- 
 phesied ; and he would not be, because two Messiahs 
 were impossible. Moreover, if there were two Mes- 
 siahs at diiferent times accompanied by the same signs, a 
 man could not but be held guiltless who should worship 
 either of the two, although that one should chance to 
 be the false Messiah, the very same signs being appa- 
 rent in both, and there being no reason in favor of 
 the one above the other. 
 
 The Messiah, whom God commanded us to worship 
 as his Son, is one ; and to no other Messiah but him is 
 similar worship due. This is expressly stated in the 
 sacred text according to the original Hebrew: " Os- 
 " culamini,", or "adorate Filium ejus ne forte irascatur, 
 " Filius ille et omnino pereat qui illius viam non se~ 
 " quitur." And where would l)e the justice of God 
 
AHcnnisiiop OF cranganor. G5 
 
 pix)mising only one Messiah with certain infallible 
 signs, should he confer these very signs on two dif- 
 ferent persons? This argument proves most conclu- 
 sively that the Messiah whom the Jews expect can 
 never appear, and annihilates the grounds upon which 
 their hopes are founded, seeing that the signs that God 
 revealed should accompany the j\Iessiah, began to be 
 realized one thousand seven hundred and live years 
 ago in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, and it is now 
 one thousand six hundred and thirty-two years since 
 they were fully accomplished, such being the number 
 of years since your city was taken and destroyed 
 under Titus. 
 
 LXIII. 
 
 To complete this demonstration, I would enquire 
 whether you expect your Messiah to come, with the 
 signs described by your scriptures and prophets, or 
 with others unknown to us and yourselves? You 
 surely will not say that you expect any others besides 
 those revealed from God ; consequently, he must come 
 with the signs we collect from Scripture. All these 
 without one single discrepancy have been fulfilled in 
 Christ, therefore in no one but Christ can they again 
 be fulfilled. Now let us examine, not all the signs, for 
 that is impossible in a single sermon, but only the prin- 
 cipal ones which God revealed should be manifested 
 in the Messiah. 
 
 LXIV. 
 
 One of the signs of the Messiah, God says by the 
 prophet Isaiah, chapter viii., was, that when the IMes- 
 siah should come into the world, the ruin of the Jews 
 and the destruction of their citv should follow : " Et 
 
66 SERMON OF JUSTINIANO, 
 
 " erit vobis in sanctificationem, in lapidem aiitcm 
 " ofFensionis et in petram scandali duabus domibus 
 " Israel; in laqueum, et in ruinam habitantibus in 
 " Jerusalem." In the Chaldean paraphrase (or) the 
 Targum of Jonathan, we read : " Et erit vobis Messias 
 " in scandalum duabus domibus Israel." If you deny 
 that this sign belonged to the Messiah, or that the 
 prophet spoke with reference to him, you contra- 
 dict the Targum and the Talmud ; for the com- 
 mentary upon this passage in the Treatise Scmhedrin 
 and Yalatt, evidently assumes that the Messiah is 
 the person alluded to: " Non veniet filius David 
 " quousque non consumentur duse domus patrum 
 " Israel, sicut scriptum est in Isaiah, chapter viii." 
 The same is affirmed by your Kabbi Salomon in his 
 exposition of Micah chapter v. : " Iste dominator est 
 " Messias filius David, de quo scriptum est; et erit in 
 " petram scandali." Two signs, says the prophet, 
 shall witness to the Messiah. He is to be a stumbling- 
 block to the Jews, and the Jews are to be ruined in 
 their dominion and city on his advent. This being 
 granted, I call upon you to declare whether these 
 signs were or were not fulfilled in Christ? If they 
 were not, why were you so greatly offended in 
 Christ, that as the cause of your offence you per- 
 secuted and crucified him? Why do you continue at 
 this day to be offended in him, so that you cannot 
 without offence bear to hear him named? If he did 
 not satisfy the predictions, how is it that your city is 
 destroyed? If he did verify them, how is it that 
 you hope for the Messiah, and seek for his coming, 
 that you may crucify him? You have already done 
 
ATiCHBISIIOP OF CUANGANOR. G7 
 
 SO, find would you go on, from day to da}^ mur- 
 dering your Messiah? AYhy do you seek or hope 
 foi" him? Is it that your kingdom may be lost ? It is 
 already lost. Is it that he may be the destruction of 
 your city? The Romans have already destroyed it. 
 Is it that he may deprive you of the government of 
 Judea? It is already taken from you. Is it that he 
 may be an offence and stumbling-block to you? Al- 
 ready you have stumbled over and been offended in 
 him, since you put him to death as a criminal, though 
 he was innocence itself. Let us enlarge upon this 
 point : and tell me if the Messiah, whom you expect, 
 is to be an offence and stumbling-block to you ; and 
 will he bring ruin and destruction upon you ? You will 
 all answer, No, for the Messiah is to be the object of 
 your adoration, submission, and respect. Your Mes- 
 siah is to restore you to freedom, reinstate you in 
 your city, conduct you in safety to Judea, and give 
 you once more the dominion of Palestine. Well, is 
 such to be the Messiah you are looking for? If so, he 
 will be a false Messiah ; for the true Messiah was to 
 put an end to your dominion, destroy Judea, ruin 
 your city, and be an opprobrium to you, as your 
 prophet and your rabbins agree in foretelling. Now 
 your Messiah will not bring with him these tokens: 
 and, consequently, Christ must be the true Messiah ; 
 and he, whom you expect to come after Christ, must 
 be a fi^lse Messiah. 
 
 LXV. 
 
 From Isaiah we pass on to the text of Ilosea, upon 
 which we shall only bestow a cursory glance, for if 
 we Avere to dwell upon it, it would be sufficient in 
 F 2 
 
68 SERMON OF JUSTINIANO, 
 
 itself for a whole sermon. The prophet Hosea in 
 chap. iii. gives us other signs whereby the ^Messiah 
 might be known on his coming. " Dies multus expec- 
 " tabit, et ego expectabo vos." When the Messiah 
 comes, says the prophet, the Jews will be expecting 
 him, and the Messiah will be expecting the Jews ; and 
 as the Jews were not to receive him, they should 
 remain mthout a king, without a prince, without a 
 sacrifice, and without an altar, " Sedebunt filii Israel, 
 " sine rege, sine principe, sine sacrifici, et sine altari." 
 And after long remaining in this condition, they 
 Avould acknowledge their error, and in the latter 
 days worship the Messiah, whom they were not wil- 
 ling to accept when he came. " Et post haec rever- 
 " tentur filii Israel ad Dominum Deum suum et ad 
 " David regem suum." You cannot avoid the force 
 of the prophecy, by maintaining with some of your rab- 
 bins, that the passage does not allude to the Messiah, 
 but to David ; for your own Targum, a sacred book 
 with you, interprets the passage as relating to the 
 Messiah, " Post haec obedient Messiae filio David." 
 And your rabbins acknowledge that the Messiah is 
 understood in Scripture under the name of David, as 
 we learn from Medrasli Mishle, a Glossary on the Pro- 
 verbs in chap, xix., and from the book called Zoar, in 
 the exposition of chap. xix. of Leviticus. Moreover, 
 independently of the doctrine of your rabbins, it 
 clashes both with reason and with Scripture, to sup- 
 pose that the passage can be explained as relating to 
 David. 
 
 LXVI. 
 
 It clashes with Scripture, for it there appears that 
 
ARCIinlSIIOP OF CRANGANOR. 69 
 
 David died many jTars ago; and it clashes with 
 reason, since it is evident that as David is dead he 
 cannot expect you, nor can you expect him while 
 the world exists. For it is clear that David after 
 his death cannot return, and, consequently, you can- 
 not expect him, nor he you, for the dead cannot ex- 
 l)cct the living. Thus it is proved the prophet did not 
 speak of David. You have to expect him who was 
 predicted, " Expcctabis me." He is also to expect you, 
 " Ego expectabo vos." If he is to expect you, then 
 he must have already come ; for if he had not come 
 you might have continued to expect him, but he could 
 not have to expect you. You cannot expect David, 
 for he has already appeared; nor David expect you^ 
 seeing that he is dead: consequently this prophecy 
 cannot be understood to allude to David. Moreover 
 you are to seek out the person predicted as your God. 
 " (Juasrent Dominum Deum suum." None of you 
 are now looking for David, for he has appeared long 
 since, nor do you acknowledge David to be God. 
 Thus your exposition must be untrue. Besides you 
 were to deny the person predicted ; but subsequently, 
 at the end of the world, to be converted to him, 
 " Post hac revertentur." You were to adore hhn as 
 3^our God, says the Targum, " Revertentur ad cultum 
 Dei sui." Thus he whom you were to deny, when he 
 first came, was God. David you did not deny, at the 
 time when he came ; nor wdll you worship him as your 
 God, at the end of the world, when he may come to 
 life again. Therefore David cannot be the person 
 foretold by your prophet Hosea. 
 
70 SERMON or JUSTINIANO. 
 
 LXVIL 
 
 Much less can you refer the application of this pro- 
 phecy to the Babylonian captivity ; for in the captivity 
 of which your prophet speaks, you were not to have a 
 king, a prophet, or priest. In Babylon you had a 
 priest named Josedek, as we perceive in Daniel xiii. ; 
 you had kings and princes, priests and sacrifices. All 
 this is corroborated in Baruch i. 10 ; you had sacri- 
 fices and priests, " Facite manna, et offerte pro pec- 
 " cato ad aram Domini Dei Nostri." You had a king, 
 namely Joachim; you had princes, namely Zerubba- 
 bel and Salathiel; consequently, the prophet did not 
 speak of the Babylonian captivity. This being granted 
 and accepted as certain, as also that the prophet spoke 
 of the Messiah, we will now proceed to the considera- 
 tion of these signs in Christ Jesus. 
 
 LXVIIL 
 
 Is this prophecy true? You cannot but acknow- 
 ledge its authenticity, and that, consequently, the 
 Messiah has already come ; for, otherwise, the Messiah 
 could not be expecting you, "expectabo vos." He came, 
 you would not receive him ; and for this reason you 
 have neither prince, altar, sacrifice, nor priest ; you are 
 to turn to him, " Revertentur ;" you are to seek for 
 him, " Qujcrent Dominum Deum suum." Have you 
 to return to him ? Then you must have turned away 
 from him when he came. Has the prophecy been 
 verified or not ? If it has not been verified, how comes 
 it that you did not receive Christ when he came ; and 
 that you are since without prince, altar, sacrifice, 
 
ARCHBISHOP OF CRANGANOH. 71 
 
 priest, or king? seeing that you were to be reduced 
 to this state, in consequence of not accepting the Mes- 
 siah Avhen he should come. If these things have been 
 ah-eady accomplished, how can they ever be accom- 
 plished again? Will you reject your Messiah when he 
 shall appear? You will all reply in the negative, con- 
 sequently in him, the signs of the true Messiah cannot 
 be fulfilled, for the true Messiah when he came was 
 to be rejected by the Jews. Thus if the signs are in- 
 capable of being hereafter verified, it is because they 
 have already been verified in Christ. But it is impos- 
 sible that they can be so again ; and, consequently, the 
 Messiah that you expect becomes impossible. On the 
 advent of your Messiah, are you to lose king, sacrifice, 
 and prince? This cannot be; for all these things are 
 left to him to restore to you. Thus, in your Messiah, 
 this sign cannot be fulfilled ; therefore Christ, in whom 
 it was fulfilled, was the Messiah, and he whom you 
 look for will never exist. To what end do you expect 
 and hope for a Messiah? Is it to reject him? You 
 have done this already. Is it that you may be left 
 without king, prince, sacrifice, altar, or priest? You 
 have been in this state sufiiciently long already ; and 
 if on his coming you remain so, the ^lessiah you ex- 
 pect, as we have fully shown, cannot be the true Mes- 
 siah. 
 
 LXIX. 
 
 From Hosea we turn to Malachi to discover another 
 siirn of the true Messiah, which has already been ful- 
 filled, and therefore cannot occur again. Malachi i. 
 10, " Xon est mihi voluntas in vobis. Munus vestrum 
 " non suscipiam de nianu vestra. Ab ortu enim solis 
 
72 SERMON OF JUSTINIANO, 
 
 " usque ad occasum, magnum est nomen meum in 
 " Gentibus, et in omni loco sacrificabitur milii oblatio 
 " munda." When the Messiah comes, God said 
 through the prophet Malachi, the person of the Jews 
 shall no longer be agreeable to me, nor will I desire to 
 receive their sacrifices ; for, from the rising of the sun 
 to the going down thereof, -my name shall be great 
 among the nations (that is among the Heathen), and 
 in every place a pure sacrifice shall be ofi'ered to me. 
 This being certain, from prophecy, tell me, are not 
 yourselves and your sacrifices rejected ? Have not the 
 Gentiles entered into possession of your heritage? 
 Does God accept any sacrifice, or external worship 
 from you? Is there any part of the world where the 
 converted Heathen do not off'er sacrifice to the true 
 God? You can deny no part of this, for it is manifest 
 to the whole world. The whole world knows it to be 
 true, that you do not now offer sacrifice ; that it is a 
 tenet of your faith not to offer sacrifice out of Jeru- 
 salem. All the world knows that your sacrifices and 
 yourselves are rejected, and that you have neither 
 altar nor priest. All the world knows, as well as your- 
 selves, how you bewail, with unavailing tears, that we 
 Gentiles are in possession of your heritage. — All the 
 world knows that there is no country in the globe, 
 where the converted Gentile does not adore the true 
 God, and offer up sacrifice of the most pure worship 
 and acceptable oblation. Either this prophecy has 
 been accomplished or not. If not, sacrifice cannot 
 exist throughout the world, but only in Jerusalem. 
 This is not the fact; for, although Jerusalem still 
 exists, there is no one place in the Temple where you 
 
ATtCIIBISITOr OF CRANOANOTl. 73 
 
 arc penuitted to offer up sacrifice. If the prophecy 
 is not fulfilled, the prophet must have spoken untruly, 
 and you cannot avoid conceding, without falling into 
 a palpable contradiction, that, according to your view, 
 he is mistaken in two events, which he affirms were 
 to occur at the same time. First, That God would 
 reject and put an end to your sacrifices. Secondly, 
 That after this rejection, the Gentiles throughout the 
 world would offer sacrifice. You do not now offer 
 sacrifices, as yourselves allow, and, as you obstinately 
 maintain, neither do we ; you must admit one of 
 these two alternatives, either that the prophet has 
 spoken falsely, in declaring, that whenever the sacri- 
 fices of the Jews should cease, those of the Gentiles 
 should follow; or else, that yours having ceased, ours 
 ha^e already begun. The first alternative you cannot 
 maintain; consequently, you must acknowledge the 
 second. Besides, if we do not at the present day 
 offer sacrifice, you place yourselves in a dilemma, as 
 it would show that God now receives, nowhere 
 throughout the world, either sacrifice or adoration; 
 for you do not render any, still less the Mahometans. 
 And if you should maintain that ice do not, it follows 
 that there are none in the world who offer sacrifice in 
 the true worship of God. This is impossible; conse- 
 quently, the sign predicted has already occurred, and 
 does not remain to be verified. To what purpose 
 do you hope and seek for a Messiah ? Is it to forfeit 
 your right of primogeniture ? That is already lost to 
 you. That the Gentiles should possess your inherit- 
 ance? This they already do. That God should reject 
 you? Already you have been rejected. Are all these 
 
74 SERMON or JUSTINIANO, 
 
 things to happen when your Messiah comes? Are 
 you to be rejected? Are you to lose your inheritance 
 and your right of primogeniture? You will answer 
 me in the negative ; for, that your Messiah is to restore 
 you to all those things of which you have been 
 deprived during your captivity. So that your Messiah, 
 who is to come, will never appear ; or if he were, to 
 come, cannot be the true one ; for, on the advent of the 
 true Messiah, all these things were to be lost to you. 
 Now open your eyes, my brethren, for I have not 
 time to produce other proofs — open your eyes, and 
 yourselves behold the miserable condition in which 
 you now are, and perceive how fully all the signs 
 have been verified in Christ Jesus that the prophets 
 gave for your direction in ascertaining the true 
 Messiah. You have brought your misery upon your- 
 selves, by your refusal to accept the Messiah, and 
 because instead of worshipping his person, you took 
 his life on the cross. This was your sin, and for that 
 you are at this day suffering punishment, as ac- 
 knowledged by Rabbi Samuel, "Non paveo quod 
 " peccatum, per quod sumus in hac captivitate sed 
 " illud propter quod locutus est dominus per Amos; 
 " expavesco, quod iste Jesus sit ille Justus venditus 
 " pro argento." 
 
 LXX. 
 Adopt, then, the conclusion of this eminent rabbi, 
 and at length undeceive yourselves, for it is full time, 
 seeing that your hopes are but an empty shadow, the 
 Messiah you expect a chimera : and any IMessiah but 
 Jesus of Nazareth is a dream and an absurdity; for 
 Christ alone possessed all the true qualifications that 
 
ARCHBISIIOr OF CRANGANOR. 
 
 
 were predicted of tlie Messiah, and it is impossi-ble 
 that any other person can be invested with the same. 
 Be satisfied that any Messiah but Christ is impossible ; 
 for Christ having come, the time is past for the 
 advent of any other. Understand, finally, that any 
 IMcssiah beyond the person of Christ is an impossi- 
 bihty, because all the tokens of the real Messiah have 
 already been fulfilled in him. 
 
 If you will repent with all your heart, and sincerely 
 admit this conviction, happy indeed will you be in 
 renouncing your error ; for, with a knowledge of the 
 truth, you wdll abandon the shadows of the Synagogue 
 for the light of the Church, the horrors of heresy for 
 the beauty of faith. Take comfort; for, although 
 chastisement may have placed you in the right road, 
 it mil, in the end, have been the instrument of opening 
 your eyes; and you will find your God so merciful, 
 that although, as Jews, you rejected him for your 
 Father, on your repentance he will again receive you as 
 his children, having redeemed you by his o^vm precious 
 blood. Prove yourselves, in the true sense of the 
 word, good Jews; for if " Jew" means one who makes 
 acknowledgment, you ought to acknowledge your 
 errors if you would be thought truly to remain Jews. 
 The honour you have lost by coming under the sen- 
 tence of the Inquisition, and the property that has 
 been confiscated on account of your heresy you will 
 recover, accompanied with great grief of heart, on 
 account of its not being by misfortune that you have 
 incurred so much suffering, but for your sins and 
 offences against a God to whom you are so much 
 indebted. 
 
76 SERMON OF JUSTINIANO, 
 
 LXXL 
 
 And you, unhappy man, who stand here among 
 these penitents, if you would obtain remission for 
 your sins, open your eyes in time, that the fire in 
 which your body is to be consumed may not extend, 
 at the same time, to consume your souL O beloved 
 son of my heart, redeemed by the blood of Jesus 
 Christ, educated in the bosom of the Church, bathed 
 in the holy waters of baptism, that I could with 
 the best blood of my veins cure you of your blindness ! 
 for, were that possible, I would shed the last drop to 
 remove your illusion, and rescue your soul from the 
 power of the Devil, who renders you thus obstinate. 
 How bitterly do I grieve at your misery; and how 
 deeply is my soul plunged in sorrow at beholding 
 you in imminent peril of eternal condemnation ! Con- 
 sider, my son, begotten in the gospel, born among 
 Catholics, and illuminated by the light afforded you 
 by so many learned men, consider how greatly you 
 are deceived, and that if you have the misfortune 
 to die in this condition, a consuming fire awaits your 
 soul, to envelop it in flames to all eternity, after a 
 temporal fire has already consumed your body. You 
 are convicted of being a Jew from direct evidence; 
 and you have yourself confessed your guilt, thinking 
 to dhninish the crime by confession. Besides this, 
 you have lapsed into the abominable error of Atheism. 
 Now reconcile, if you can, these two things, of being 
 at the same time an Atheist and a Jew. If at this 
 day salvation could be obtained by the Law of Moses, 
 which it cannot, you are in the wretched condition of 
 
ArvCTTBISIlOr OF CRAXGANOR. 77 
 
 being out of the pule of salvation ; for you will die 
 a heretic to the very hiw you prt)fess. You are a 
 Sadducean Jew, as you have yourself acknowledged. 
 Are you ignorant, that even at the time when your 
 law still existed, the opinions of the Sadducees Avere 
 considered heretical, inasmuch as they denied the 
 doctrine of the resurrection, and consequently the 
 immortality of the soul? You are still in a worse 
 state, for you do not only deny the immortality of the 
 soul, but are so blind as to deny having a soul. You 
 affirm that there is no other happiness beyond this 
 world — that life is the only true salvation — and that 
 perdition is not in hell, for there is no such place, but 
 death is the sole destruction. If you believe (how- 
 ever erroneously) this to be the fact, why do you 
 seek to lose a life in which alone happiness consists 
 in your opinion? How can it be your pleasure to 
 die, if death in your judgment is the only perdition? 
 Suffer yourself to be persuaded by one Avho ardently 
 desires your salvation. Entreat the mercy of the 
 tribunal of the Holy Office, which with so much 
 compassion has waited two years, and has so patiently 
 l3orne . with your vacillation, at one time repenting, 
 at another time retracting, and finally settling down 
 into the miserable dogma of Atheism. Confess your 
 errors, not with the desire of preserving your life, 
 but with the simple view to the salvation of your 
 soul. But if you are determined to die in your 
 present state, I summon you hence to the day of 
 Judgment, when both of us, liaving risen from the 
 dead, shall appear in the presence of the true God. 
 You will return to life as a Jew and a Heretic, in 
 
78 SERMON or JUSTINIANO, 
 
 which state you died : I, on the other hand, hope for 
 the divine mercy by returning to hfe as a Cathohc, 
 because, I trust through the divine goodness, I shall 
 die in the law of Jesus Christ, in which alone salvation 
 can be obtained. AYe both of us have to appear, at 
 the resurrection, in the presence of the Supreme 
 Judge ; and you will then see that God may reprove 
 me for the greatness of my sins, but will not, for 
 being false to my faith. He may reproach me for 
 my defective observance thereof, but not for my want 
 of sincerity therein; unless God were unjust, which 
 he is not. But as to you, he will not only judge 
 you on account of your crimes, but will condemn you 
 for the observance of the law in which you died. 
 Imagine yourself in the presence of God, free from 
 any other sin than that of persevering in the law of 
 Moses; and imagine a Christian in the same divine 
 presence, free from any crime but the observance of 
 the law of Christ. If God were to condemn the 
 Cliristian for the love of his law, and grant salvation 
 to the Jew for a similar observance on his part, God 
 would not act with justice, nor would it be recon- 
 cileable mth those reasons which we Catholics urge 
 in proof of his justice. For in that case the Catholic 
 might reason with God as follows — " Upright Judge, 
 " I believe in Christ, because he fulfilled all those 
 " signs that you revealed by your Prophets, that 
 " your Son should be invested with. I acted as you 
 "commanded me; and you now condenm me for so 
 " doing. Why will you condemn me for being 
 " obedient ?" Assuredly this statement will not 
 admit of any contradiction. Consequently, it is 
 
ARCITBISnOr OF CHANG ANOR. 79 
 
 impossible that God will condemn the Catholic for 
 remaining a Christian. 
 
 Now let us suppose the Jew, whom God condemns 
 for his observance of the law of Moses, attempting 
 to argue with God against his judgment. He would 
 say: "0 God, I believed in the God of Abraham, 
 " Isaac, and Jacob; I observed the law you gave to 
 "Moses, then why condemn me?" But then God 
 might reply: "You speak untruly; for Abraham, 
 " Isaac and Jacob believed, and expected a future 
 " Messiah who was to be my Son, and was to possess 
 " all those signs, that I promised, whereby he might 
 " be known. This Son came into the world, and 
 " in him were apparent all the tokens revealed in 
 " the Scriptures. You were so far from acknow- 
 " ledging or believing him, that you crucified him. 
 " The law given to Moses was to come to an end with 
 " the advent of my Son, and he was to promulgate 
 " another, which was to spread throughout the whole 
 " world; and you saw with your own eyes the signs of 
 " the time in which this law was to be promulgated 
 " (John XV. 22). If my Son had not come 
 " into the world, and the prophecies had not been 
 " accomplished, you might be excused, by saying that 
 " you observed the law that I gave for ever, and that 
 " you believed in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and 
 " flacob. But now that every thing has been satis- 
 " factorily falhlled, I am just in condemning you, and 
 " you are rebellious in remaining a Jew." JMy brother, 
 however frightful this may be that I am now reciting 
 to you, such will be indeed your lot on that day. 
 Such is the mesh in which you, of your own choice. 
 
80 SERMON OF JUSTIN! ANO, 
 
 will be caught. This is the net that your are now 
 weaving for all connected with you, your children, 
 your parents, your relatives, your friends, and your 
 entire race, for such is the wretched lot foretold by 
 your prophets. " Ipse autem populus direptus, et 
 " vastatus ; laqueus juvenum omnes, et in domibus 
 " carcerum absconditi sunt : facti sunt in rapinam, 
 " nee est qui eruat in direptionem ; nee est qui dicat: 
 " Redde." 
 
 LXXII. 
 
 I have come to a conclusion with my proofs, 
 and likewise with you, unhappy people of Israel. 
 God, my Lord who was crucified by the Jews, 
 as much for their salvation, as for our good, Lord, 
 soften their obdurate hearts ; for there stands a heart 
 truly obstinate among these wretched people. 
 Though they took up stones from the road to kill 
 you, now that you have suffered death, subdue the 
 hardened hearts of the Jews who murdered you, and 
 still refuse to love you ; you bestowed sight on a 
 blind man, who put a spear to your side, give eyes 
 to this blind ]:)eople who still desire to pierce you 
 and still point the spear to your heart. Sprinkle, 
 God of my soul, sprinkle anew water and blood 
 from your compassionate heart over these wretched 
 men : it may be they will repent, seeing that a heart 
 offended by such repeated provocations still lavishes 
 favours so little deserved by their repeated trans- 
 gressions. You rent the veil of the Temple in token 
 that your death put an end to the Je^vish Synagogue ; 
 rend the veil that has covered the Jewish heart for 
 
ARC'HRTSIlOr OF CRAXOAXOT?. 81 
 
 SO iiiiiny years, tliat Avitli all theii' lioart tlioy may 
 renounce their errors through the saving influenee 
 of your death. You have awaited with open arms 
 the sons of Judca for 1705 years, and the more 
 eagerly you solicit them to come to you, the more 
 ungratefully they turn away from you, and obsti- 
 nately refuse to acknowledge you as their I\Iessiah. 
 I know how anxiously you desire to save tliem, 
 that you died for ever in dying for them, and that 
 they for murdering you are in danger of perishing 
 eternally. Be mindful, Lord God I through your 
 compassionate nature, be mindful of these your sons, 
 who in fact are of your own blood, and whom you 
 redeemed at the price of so much suffering. They 
 were so ignorant, that though you were their Father 
 they would not admit themselves to be your sons; 
 but the ingratitude of children ever finds pardon in 
 the love of a parent. You called to them in kind- 
 ness, but they made an ungrateful return for your 
 favours. Seek now to win them to you by chastise- 
 ment, however little chastisement has hitherto benefited 
 them. Cause them to acknowledge with perfect 
 sincerity, that in their present miseral)le state they 
 have no other remedy than to repent for the time 
 they have lost in their false expectations, by bewailing 
 their errors, abhorring their sins, abominating their 
 superstition, and renouncing their contumacy, so that, 
 being regenerated liy the waters of their penitent 
 eyes, they may be born again your children, as already 
 by Baptism they have become. 
 
 LAUS DEO! 
 
R E P L Y 
 
 TO 
 
 THE SERMON OF THE ARCHBISHOP 
 OF cfeANGANOR, 
 
 AT 
 
 THE AUTO DA FE, 
 
 SOLEMNISED IN LISBON, 6th SEPTEMBER, 1705. 
 
 THE AUTHOR OF THE SECRET HISTORY 
 OF THE INQUISITION, 
 
 A rOSTIIlMOrS work rRlNXED TN VILLA-FRANCA 
 BY 
 
 CARLOS VERO. 
 
I^JTRODUCTION. 
 
 I OUGHT to inform the ciiiidicl Reader, that the reply to 
 the Sermon I am now about to publish, is the posthu- 
 mous work of an eminent person known in the 
 republic of letters by his excellent and judicious 
 productions; and although his advanced age and 
 tormenting infirmities little disposed him to engage 
 in controversy, yet, to comply with the wishes of 
 some of his friends who were most anxious to see 
 a refutation of this boasted Sermon, he composed 
 that which is hereto subjoined; and quoted the 
 several Articles of the Sermon separately, in order 
 to reply minutely to each. His intention was 
 not to attack the Christian religion, but to defend 
 his o^\^l; and to show, that the calumny which 
 the archbishop has promulgated ngainst that most 
 eminent and learned writer Rabbi R. Solomon, of 
 having corrupted the text of the holy Scriptures, 
 should actually be ascribed to the archbishop himself, 
 or to some Christian who preceded him. That the 
 author has accomplished his object, he who will 
 read and examine the sermon and the refutation 
 
86 REPLY TO THE SERMON OF 
 
 without being blinded by prejudice or interest, cannot 
 fail to acknowledge; and I am persuaded that 
 any one capable of weighing the reasoning of each 
 party, will perceive an immense difference between 
 the Sermon and the Reply : since all the reasoning 
 the Sermon presents is deduced from the erroneous 
 conclusions and conceits of its author, from in- 
 accurate quotations, allegory, and words wrested 
 from their literal sense: while the Reply is composed 
 of real and true inferences, deduced from premises 
 founded on clear and evident prophecies, explained 
 in the literal sense without being perverted from their 
 natural meaning, or frittered away by typical inter- 
 pretation, in order to make them suit a particular 
 purpose, as practised by the preacher in his sermon. 
 
 So much it has been considered necessary to state 
 to the friendly reader; for most people desire to know 
 somethino^ of an author, as well as of his work. 
 
 There is nothing more useful to religion than free 
 discussion. We ought closely to search and examine 
 into the subject, with a view to establish it on the 
 most solid foundation ; but whoever wishes to form 
 a just opinion, must divest himself of all the pre- 
 judices imbibed by education, and reflect that his 
 opponent has a soul as well as himself, and is desirous 
 to attain that supreme felicity, which is the aim of 
 all true religion ; he ought to consider that there is 
 no man in the world, who if he knew that there 
 existed a true rehgion, Avhich was not his own, but 
 would abandon his own and embrace the true one; 
 for if he did not, his obstinate opposition to his 
 own good would render him unworthy of the title of 
 Man, 
 
THE ARCHBISHOP or cranganor. ,w 
 
 This being admitted, it follows that if the motive 
 wliich stimulated him to controversy, is to bring 
 over to what he believes to be the true religion those 
 who for want of being rightly informed have been 
 kept away from it ; he ought to avail himself of those 
 means which best conduce to the desired effect; he 
 should adopt the most persuasive style, and confine 
 himself to strict reasoning, solid arguments, to infer- 
 ences correctly deduced, and conclusions carefully 
 drawn : he ought not to evince any partiality except 
 for truth, but should acknowledge reason, Avherever 
 he may meet it, and exhibit perfect sincerity and 
 candor throughout ; he ought to flee from subterfuge 
 and fiction ; be most scrupulous of what he ventures 
 to assert, and honest in giving the correct sense of 
 his quotations; he ought not to offend by using 
 ignominious terms, nor invent calumnies to uphold his 
 doctrine, nnich less claim a victory founded on 
 passages perverted from their literal meaning. It is in 
 this manner that the discussion will be best conducted, 
 and the truth most easily elicited, which is the object 
 we ought to seek. To act otherwise serves only to 
 endanger the credit of the disputant and the religion 
 he advocates ; for, when we find that a man is unable 
 to defend his Creed without offering offence to his 
 opponent and resorting to calumnies and falsehood, 
 we are apt to attribute the defects of the pleader to 
 the religion itself, and naturally conclude that since 
 no other argument but abuse has been put forward, 
 none other can be advanced ; and the opposite party 
 instead of becoming converted only remains more 
 firmlv attached to his own faith. 
 
88 KEPLY TO THE SEUMON OF 
 
 Religion being a matter that so vitally concerns 
 every human being, on entering into polemical dis- 
 cussions, with the view of converting another person 
 to our creed, no language unworthy of learned and 
 rational men should be resorted to ; otherwise, instead 
 of following up the investigation of the more essential 
 principles in question, we should be occupied in re- 
 senting the insults offered, and in framing others in 
 retaliation, by which means hatred and ill-will are en- 
 gendered instead of the amicable feelings that ought 
 to prevail. 
 
 I am of opinion that we ought to esteem and 
 respect any person who attempts to convert us to 
 his own religion, whatever that may be, which (ac- 
 cording to his belief) will procure for us the greatest 
 and most exalted benefits that man can desire ; and if 
 he treats us with the courtesy consistent with the sin- 
 cerity to which he lays claim, we ought to endeavour 
 to answer him in the most courteous and charitable 
 terms in our power ; but, on the other hand, nothing 
 forbids us to hold in contempt, and to regard as outcasts 
 from the republic of letters, those who wilfully per- 
 vert facts and disfigure the truth to answer their own 
 purposes. 
 
 All the religions in the world admit of being classi- 
 fied under four denominations. The first, compre- 
 hending the greater part of the world, is made up of 
 the various Pagan religions which suppose a multitude 
 of Gods, or no God at all : the next, less numerous 
 than the Pagans although more so than those which 
 follow, is Mahometanism : the third is Christianity, 
 embracing fewer disciples than those above named, 
 
rilK AKC'IIIUiSIKU' OF CUANGANOK. HO 
 
 but more tluiii the fourth, which is the least ol' all in 
 number. This consists of those who profess the 
 Jewish religion. 
 
 As w^e have not much knowledge of the various 
 Pagan creeds, it is unnecessary to take them into con- 
 sideration; the rest (namely, Mahometans, Christians, 
 and Jews) agree in the opinion that there exists only 
 One Sole Eternal Cause, that created, directs, and 
 governs the world; moreover, Christians and Jew^s 
 coincide in maintaining that none other but their re- 
 spective religions can be true. 
 
 Now the Jewish religion may be divided into tvvo 
 forms of faith : the one professed by the majority of the 
 JcAvs is the Law of Moses conjoined with Eabbinical 
 traditions; the other is that which is professed by the 
 Caraites who reject tradition. It w^ould be necessary, 
 therefore, for a Christian disposed to become a convert, 
 and to be convinced of the truth of the Jewish religion, 
 before professing either of the two creeds, to examine 
 with every possible accuracy and diligence the reason- 
 ing of both parties, in order to know in favour of 
 which he should decide, since if he remain uninformed 
 of the arguments on which either is founded, he will 
 not be in a position to discover the truth ; but, after 
 acquiring a miimte and extensive knowledge of the 
 ground of persuasion that prevails w ith them each to 
 follow their respective opinions, he will then be master 
 of the question, and competent to choose the side he 
 deems best supported. I cannot conceive how any Jew 
 can conscientiously be induced to become a convert to 
 Christianity, without first examining most rigidly all 
 the various opinions that have Ix'en and still are enter- 
 
90 REPLY TO THE SERMON OF 
 
 tained among the professors of that creed, as well as 
 the reasons which are urged for and against them; for 
 on this subject there exists so great a diversity of 
 judgments, that each party claims the victory for itself, 
 and remains persuaded that it alone professes the true 
 religion, and that all others are mere schismatics. What 
 man is there so learned, so acute, and so thorough a 
 theologian that he can presume to decide for one sect 
 in particular, much less to fix his choice without first 
 well weighing and comparing together the various 
 opinions? 
 
 This is a task which ought to be performed among 
 Christians themselves; nor should any of them pre- 
 sume to decide on the subject, who had not first 
 thoroughly examined into every sect of his religion, 
 divested of the prejudice resulting from having been 
 brought up in a difi:erent mode of belief. To convert 
 the Jews therefore, it would be requisite, in the first 
 place, to call a general council of all the professors of 
 Christianity, under whatever denomination they may 
 be styled, not excepting the Unitarians; and when the 
 general council shall have agreed which of all their 
 various opinions ought to be adopted by common con- 
 sent of all, uninfluenced by artifice, deceit, interest, or 
 arbitrary power, it would then be proper to summon 
 another council, to which the Jews might have free 
 access and full liberty to deliver their opinions ex- 
 plicitly, without fear or reserve, on a subject involving 
 the salvation of all. 
 
 The Christians should first prove that Christ was 
 the promised Messiah from the Old Testament, 
 and from all the prophecies whicli speak literally of 
 
THE AllCHIUSHOr OF CRANGANOK. Ul 
 
 the true Messiah without perversion or allegory. 
 They nuist produce authority for asserting that lie 
 was to be both God and Man. They must prove from 
 the Old Testament that God is One and Three : they 
 must show clearly the obligation of the Jews to re- 
 nounce the Law of Moses, and to embrace that of 
 Christ, and satisfy us by what authority this latter 
 law was ordained ; and after all this, they should pa- 
 tiently attend to the arguments which we might allege 
 to the contrary. Each party should have full liberty 
 of speech and reply, and be ready to acknowledge the 
 truth, on whichever side and under whatever form 
 and circumstances it might appear. 
 
 This is the only way to bring all to acknowledge the 
 truth : but to produce that effect, it would be requisite 
 that such a council should be open to the public with- 
 out restriction, that it should be composed of men not 
 holding any religious appointment from either party, 
 so that no one might be constrained to persist in his 
 own particular creed for the sake of retaining office. 
 
 It appears to me that it is only in this manner the 
 truth can be elicited, and a decision come to on the 
 question that has been agitated during seventeen 
 hundred years, and which may subsist, God alone 
 knows how much longer. 
 
 But it is as great madness for the archbishop to 
 believe that the Jews will yield their opinions under 
 the influence of subtlety and allegory, as it would be 
 for them to believe that he would yield his, so long as 
 the Church has any benefices to bestow. Let each 
 man adhere to his own creed, and w^orship God with 
 an upriirht and pure intention, and not depart from 
 
92 KEPLY TO THE ARCHBISHOP OF CRANGANOR. 
 
 what has been taught him (provided he does wot feel 
 competent to decide for himself) and leave to God the 
 care of his salvation. He, who is all-merciful, will 
 accept his upright intentions, although his form of 
 creed may not be the most acceptable. Let theologians 
 talk as they please, this is what I shall ever believe ; 
 for I can never be persuaded that our merciful 
 Creator will withhold His grace even from an upright 
 and virtuous Mahometan, who observes his religion 
 because he sincerely believes it to be the best manner 
 in which he can v/orship God. 
 
THE SERMON REFUTED, 
 
 Paragraph II. — " You are the persons whose fci- 
 " tience has never been exhausted by long protracted 
 '' hopeT 
 
 Righteous Heaven! How great must be the force 
 of that prejudice, which can presume to censure as a 
 crime the practice of a virtue so truly heroic, and so 
 well deserving the highest encomium ! 
 
 It is on account of this sublime hope, that the people 
 of Israel are called a holy people; for neither captivity, 
 l^anishment, martyrdom, affliction, or degradation, has 
 been sufficient to make them abandon the true faith ; 
 nor has the hope of future greatness or present pros- 
 perity proved an adequate incentive to make them re- 
 nounce their sacred and imj^crishable religion; such is 
 their constancy in truth and such the strength of tlieir 
 ])elief, that, preferring heavenly to all human consider- 
 ations, they do not and will not forsake God and His 
 law. 
 
 In a similar case, doubtless, the noble preacher and 
 his followers (since he deems the patience and hope of 
 the Jews so great an evil) would think it more becoming 
 to sacrifice patience and hope, and turn away from one 
 
94 REFUTATION OF THE SERMON OF 
 
 deity to another, and from one la^v to another, as 
 they are wont to do with their saints, fixing their de- 
 votion upon those from wliom they anticipate the 
 most prompt return. 
 
 But to show the archbishop how much God esteems 
 this virtue, and in what terms He extols it, let him 
 attend to the words of the prophet Jeremiah, ii. 2, 
 where it is affirmed that he will not forget the pa- 
 tience with which the holy people followed him forty 
 years in the wilderness : " Recordor tibi benignitatis 
 " adolescentise tuse, amoris sponsalium tuorum, te 
 " prosequitam esse me per desertum, per terram non 
 " satam." 
 
 If the Divine Majesty was thus pleased with their 
 dependence on His divine providence during the short 
 term of forty years, how much more so must he be 
 with their patience and endurance during so many 
 centuries of captivity and exile ? 
 
 " You are those to ivhose minds the clearest evidence 
 " does not bring conviction /" 
 
 In proceeding to proofs, the force of this evidence 
 will be examined. 
 
 VI. — See the prophet Isaiah, chap. xlii. 
 
 The preacher imagines that the prophecy alluded 
 to, describes the calamities, extortions, and vexations 
 the Jews were to suffer after the advent of the Messiah. 
 To justify this interpretation he paraphrases the 
 verse: " Ipse autem populus direptus et vastatus, etc." 
 " They are a people despoiled and trampled under 
 " foot, &c." from which words he infers that the Jews 
 have no right to look forward to a Messiah. 
 
THK ARCIIBISnOP OF CRANGANOR. M") 
 
 IX. — '' If the Jeifs place their hope of redemytioit, 
 '' in a future Messiah^ and they are still expecting the 
 " Messiah, why does the prophet say that the Jews are 
 " not to have redemption f For the jirecise reason, that 
 " the Jews expect their salvation from a future Messiah, 
 " they must remain icithout relief; for a new Messiah 
 " will never come to the Jews, and as such a Messiah 
 " is impossible, so is the relief impossible that the Jeivs 
 " expect therefrom y 
 
 It must be noticed, that this prophecy consists of 
 two parts; the first is quoted by the preacher, the 
 second he has taken care to omit. The first represents 
 the troubles, misfortunes, and contumely that Israel 
 sufi*ers in its present dispersion ; the second states the 
 good, the greatness, and felicity that Israel will enjoy 
 in its future redemption : and this is given in terms so 
 affectionate and kindly as to draw tears of joy from 
 every Israelite, still more confirming him in his hopes, 
 and cheering him with a promise of prosperity which he 
 knows cannot fail him. 
 
 The folloAving is a translation of the words pro- 
 nounced by the holy prophet with his accustomed 
 eloquence and "inimitable energy of style : "But now, 
 " thus saith the Lord, that created thee, Jacob, and 
 " and He that formed thee: Israel! fear not; for I 
 " have already redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy 
 " name; thou art mine. When thou passest through 
 " the waters I will be with thee; and through the 
 " rivers, they shall not overwhelm thee; when thou 
 " walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned, 
 " neither shall the flame kindle upon thee; for I am 
 "the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy 
 " Saviour," (Isaiah xliii. 1 — 3.) 
 
96 EEFUTATIOX OF THE SERMON OF 
 
 And in the same endearing strain he continues, to 
 the conclusion of the chapter, to comfort and en- 
 courage his beloved Israel, although a sinful, ungrate- 
 ful, and rejected people. 
 
 I cannot, then, conceive how the preacher can posi- 
 tively assert, that the prophet declares that no re- 
 demption will come to release Israel from their present 
 bondage, when he evidently states the contrary. I 
 wonder that the orator never contemplated that his 
 sermon might chance to fall into the hands of some 
 Jew, who, on consulting the passage, chap, xlii., will 
 find that the preacher has exaggerated the evils therein 
 threatened, by representing them as irrevocable and 
 perpetual, whereas the prophet does not protract them 
 beyond the period of the captivity, also that he sup- 
 presses the promised restoration to prosperity which 
 follows in chap, xliii. 
 
 What opinion can that Jew entertain of the 
 preacher's candour? What conception can he form of 
 his doctrines? We will still further develop these 
 important reflections. The preacher affirms that 
 there will be no redemption for Israel : but God says, 
 " Fear not, for I have already redeemed thee." 
 
 The preacher affirms that God has rejected and dis- 
 carded Israel from his protection and favour, that 
 He no longer acknowledges them for His peculiar 
 people. God says, " I called thee by thy name, thou 
 art mine." The preacher affirms that Israel, through 
 their manifold iniquities, have lost the glorious privi- 
 lege they enjoyed when God styled himself the God of 
 Israel. But God says, " I am the Lord thy God, the 
 Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour." 
 
THE ARCHRTSHOP OF CRANGANOR. 97 
 
 I would ask then the preacher, if he can suppose 
 tliat the Jews will cease to believe the word of God, 
 which is so clear, obviouS, and intelligible, in order to 
 attach belief to his o-wii exaggerations, misrepresenta- 
 tions, suppressions of fact, and forced objections? Is 
 he so blind as not to perceive, that the arguments 
 which he advances against their expected Messiah and 
 their long-protracted hopes, are the very same which 
 give them assurance of the one and confirm them in 
 the other; so much so, that the wondering and as- 
 tonished Israelite will be apt to exclaim, " God 
 of Truth, are these the proofs that Christians bring 
 against us? Are such preached by their eminent 
 divines, approved of by their most learned prelates, 
 and given to tlie public press under the highest 
 authorities?" 
 
 Blessed art thou, the great God of Israel, who hast 
 preserved me in my true foith ! for what better proof 
 of its truth can I desire than that of its assailant 
 ha™g no means to confute me save those which 
 spring from disguises, exaggerations, and omissions, 
 contradictions of fact, and quotations so garbled, 
 that I can find the most convincing arguments in its 
 favour in the very passages which he attempts to 1) ring 
 forward to confute it. 
 
 XIIL— The preacher says, that if we ask a Jew 
 whether his expected jMessiah will be only Man, or 
 both God and Man, he feels greatly perplexed; and on 
 this account the rabbins warned the people, that 
 should such a question be propounded to them, they 
 must reply, that the Messiah has not nor ever will come. 
 
 H 
 
98 REFUTATION OF THE SERMON OF 
 
 Now I cannot understand how the Jew can feel any- 
 such doubt or embarrassment, while one of the articles 
 of his creed declares that thS Messiah is to be a Man^ 
 and not God and Man^ as will be hereafter shown. 
 I must suppose that this information has been given 
 to the preacher either by some malevolent neophyte, 
 to gain credit as a good Christian, or by some igno- 
 rant Christian to obtain credit as a deep theologian. 
 If the preacher extracted it from any book, he ought, 
 as is usual, to have stated where he found this famous 
 advice of the rabbins ; however, it often happens in 
 controversies, where power and tyranny supersede the 
 necessity of evidence, that the more essential points 
 are admitted without proof; and points of the least im- 
 portance are dwelt upon and exaggerated. 
 
 XIV. — " The Jews are divided in opinion on the 
 " advent of the Messiah, some believe that he has not 
 " yet appeared, and are still expecting him ; whilst 
 " others affirm that he came sixteen hundred and 
 " thirty-seven years ago, immediately after the de- 
 " struction of Jerusalem by Titus.^' 
 
 Thus far the preacher in his sermon, although he 
 well knows that no Jew believes, nor ever did believe 
 any such thing, not even the rabbins who speak of the 
 birth of the Messiah; they having represented this 
 imaginary being as if in actual existence, with a view 
 to indicate to the people that the Messiah would be 
 ready to appear at any moment when they should 
 become penitent, as promised by Moses in Deut. iv. 29, 
 where, after intimidating the people with angry threats, 
 he says, that notwithstanding their rebellion, if they 
 
THE ARCHBISHOP OF CRANGANOR. 99 
 
 seek God witli all their heart and Avith all their soul, 
 they will tind him iiidulg-ent and gracious. The same 
 is contirmed in chap. xxx. 
 
 Now the rabbins apprehended that the nation, 
 seeing itself dispersed over the three quarters of the 
 globe, defenceless, without allies or friends, without 
 prince or kingdom, without a temple or sacrifice, and 
 plunged into sad consternation, would give way to a 
 fatal despondency, judging that, having left God and 
 renounced His protection. He had left them exposed to 
 rapine, destruction, and extermination. The rabbins, 
 as vigilant and affectionate parents, endeavoured 
 to animate and comfort the people by suggesting 
 through metaphors, in imitation of the prophets, that 
 their deliverance from the present captivity would be 
 more speedy than what had taken place from Egypt 
 and Babylon, requiring no condition except that of 
 repentance ; it being manifested in innumerable passages 
 of the Pentateuch and Prophets, that when the people of 
 Israel should find themselves oppressed with troubles, 
 persecutions, and calannties, on reverting to God Avith 
 sincere and cordial contrition, they would be redeemed 
 and reinstated in their own land with much greater 
 prerogatives and privileges than those they enjoyed 
 on the two previous occasions ; for that, on being finally 
 restored to its possession, they would never again have 
 to apprehend war, hostile invasion, or a renewal of their 
 captivity. 
 
 The preacher will perhaps reply, by urging that the 
 rabbins might easily have taught this dogma, of the 
 speedy advent of the Messiah, without conjuring up 
 any imaginary being to make the public believe a 
 
100 REFUTATION OF THE SERMON OF 
 
 thing that had no existence. I answer, that they only 
 copied the Prophets, who frequently present figurative 
 descriptions as actual realities. The prophet Isaiah, 
 in his book, chap, v., describes, " A vine planted by 
 " his friend in a fertile soil, where he erected a tower 
 " and made a wine-press, hoping to gather abundance 
 " of choice grapes, but when he gathered them found 
 " them only wild in place of cultivated grapes." Here 
 we see a simple allegory, a thing of the imagination, 
 represented by something that had real existence ; the 
 prophet himself explaining that by this vine must be 
 understood the house of Israel, from which God ex- 
 pected a nation of pious and devout men, but found 
 them only licentious and dissolute. 
 
 Did not God command the prophet Ezekiel to show 
 the people the representation of a great eagle with 
 large wings, expanded limbs, and beautifully varie- 
 gated plumage, that had broken off the branch of a 
 cedar tree from Lebanon, etc., applying this to Nebu- 
 chadnezzar and to the king of Judah ? 
 
 Thus then, seeing that God has been pleased to 
 make use of types for the purpose of persuasion, how 
 can the rabbins be blamed when they have done no 
 more than imitate the divine example? But who- 
 ever may have informed the lord archbishop, that 
 there are Jews who affirm that the Messiah came im- 
 mediately after the destruction of the Temple, and 
 that the sceptre was lost sixteen hundred and thirty- 
 two years since, must have been very little versed in 
 the belief of the Jews in what concerns the Messiah, 
 since the nation well know that what the rabbins 
 intend by representing the Messiah's birth to have 
 
THE ARCHBISHOP OF CRANGANOR. 101 
 
 taken place on the destruction of Jerusalem, is 
 merely to signify to the people that the period of re- 
 demption is ever at hand; not that his birth has 
 actually and truly occurred, but that it may at any 
 moment occur. 
 
 How can any Jew believe that the Messiah has 
 come, believing as he does that the purpose of his 
 coming is to collect the dispersed, to deliver them 
 from oppression and persecution, and to place them on 
 the sunnnit of happiness and greatness, rebuilding 
 their city, and restoring it and their temple, and both 
 more sumptuously than they ever were before? Not 
 seeing any particle of all this realised, how can it be ima- 
 gined that any Jew believes or asserts that the Messiah 
 has already come? Having established this incontro- 
 vertible principle, all the remainder of section xiv. be- 
 comes of no account; as is also the case with section — 
 
 XV Wherein it is stated that the modern rabbins 
 
 affirm that the Messiah has not, and will not come, be- 
 cause God has not promised it in the Scriptures, nor is 
 it an article of faith Avith the Jews. Had the preacher 
 been better versed in the Jewish creed, he would not 
 say this ; for the mere assertion that the coming of a 
 Messiah is not an article of his faith would be deemed 
 heresy among the nation. However, Francisco Antonio 
 de Olivares, who adopted this opinion, is only to be 
 blamed for want of information, living as he did in 
 Portugal, where it is not permitted to have or to read 
 any works relative to the Jewish law ; moreover, the 
 opinion of an individual is not sufficient to constitute a 
 doirma or form a sect. 
 
102 REFUTATION OF THE SERMON OF 
 
 Isaiah, ix. 5, "Et vocabitur nomen ejus, etc." 
 
 In order that the reader may comprehend the real 
 state of the question, it appears to me not only con- 
 venient but absolutely requisite to give the verse in 
 dispute in Latin, as well as in the vulgar tongue, and 
 then explain each, that the discerning reader may 
 judge which of the two explanations appears the more 
 correct, more consistent with the literal sense, and 
 more consonant to reason. 
 
 The Latin version given by the preacher says: 
 " Infans natus est nobis, et filius datus est nobis, et 
 " erit principatus super humerum ejus, et vocabitur 
 " nomen ejus Admirabilis Consiliarius, Deus Fortis, 
 " Pater Sempiternus, Pater Sempiternitatis, Princeps 
 '' Pax." 
 
 This translation diiFers from the Hebrew text. It 
 appears that the preacher, neglecting the promise that 
 he set out with, that his quotations should be always 
 conformable to the original Hebrew, and not to the 
 Vulgate, doubtless beheving that there would be no 
 one to contradict him, chooses to forget to have re- 
 course to the former in the present instance; or, 
 to speak more plainly, being well aware that the 
 controversy would be perfectly untenable without 
 some adulteration in the text, had recourse to the 
 Vulgate to help him out in his argument. 
 
 In the first instance, he puts the verb vocahitur in 
 the future passive, according to which the Hebrew 
 must be read veyicare ^'Ip^). which means he shall be 
 called. Now the Hebrew text is vayicra S^^^l?*) ^^ ^'^■ 
 cavit., which is the preterite active, and must be trans- 
 lated, and he called. 
 
THE ARCHBISHOP OF CRANGANOR. l03 
 
 Secoiully, he puts each of the attributes in the 
 nominative case, applying them all to the Messiah; 
 from which he infers that the Messiah is God, and 
 then calls him a powerful God, Everlasting Father, etc. 
 
 Thirdly, he splits up the last attribute into two, 
 turning both the words of which it consists into nomi- 
 native cases ; reading thus Princeps Pax^ whereas, in 
 tlie Hebrew, the word prince is in the accusative case, 
 governed by the word vocabit, and the word jjeace in 
 the genitive, thus making Principem Pads, which 
 means Prince of Peace, not two separate attributes as 
 the preacher would have; as is evident from the 
 Hebrew which reads Di/^ 1^ Sar Shalom, meaning 
 Prince of Peace; the noun lb' Sar having the (-) 
 patach point, indicates the genitive case ; whereas, if it 
 constituted an attribute in itself, it should be pointed 
 Avith a (•^) kametz. I cannot comprehend then how the 
 preacher so confidently and so readily produces this verse, 
 asserting it to be "conformable to your Hebrew text." 
 
 XXIV, — In the 24th section, he presumes to malign 
 K. Aben Ezra and R. Solomon wdio have explained this 
 prophecy of Isaiah, chap, ix, as applying to King Heze- 
 kiali, asserting that the former though convinced from 
 the text that the Messiah was God, yet, out of fear that 
 they might eject him from the synagogue, affirmed 
 that the passage related to King Hezekiah and not to 
 the Messiah. Accordino- to these assertions of the 
 preacher, Aben Ezra believed the Messiah to be God. 
 Supposing this to be the case, why should he fear 
 being ex}jelled the synagogue? He might have re- 
 nounced the Jewish law and gone over to Christianity, 
 
104 REFUTATION OF THE SERMON OF 
 
 where he would have been favourably received, courted, 
 and applauded, being famed as an eminent grammarian, 
 a celebrated astronomer, and an excellent commentator, 
 who kept to the literal sense, and in nowise inclined to 
 allegory, as may be clearly seen in his general com- 
 mentary on the Bible. 
 
 Permit me, reverend father, to inquire by what 
 means your eminence came to the knowledge that 
 R. Aben Ezra became convinced that the Messiah 
 must be God ? That you learned it from the rabbi 
 himself is impossible, seeing that he died more than 
 live hundred years ago. The rabbi might have re- 
 vealed this secret, but to whom could he reveal it? 
 Certainly not to a Jew ; for he had to fear the conse- 
 quences. To a Christian? Not so; for it would 
 have been a stain on the reputation of so learned a 
 man to have professed a religion which he could not 
 defend, and that could not ensure salvation: we 
 cannot, then, imagine by what means the preacher 
 discovered the secret sentiments of this renowned 
 rabbi. Doubtless any Jew, acquainted with the true 
 state of the case, and who is aware that the preacher's 
 intention was merely to inveigle (no matter by what 
 falsehoods) the consciences of his auditors, the pitiable 
 objects of this Auto da Fe, will in his heart rejoice, at 
 perceiving to what arts and inventions he was obliged 
 to have recourse in order to maintain his system. 
 
 " Rabbi Solomon, who was esteemed a Solomon 
 " among all the Jews, in order to deceive you, pro- 
 " fessed the same opinion," etc. This horrid calunmy 
 was framed in the malevolent brain of the neophyte, 
 Nicholas de Lira, a Norman, on finding himself em- 
 
THE ARCHBISHOP OF CRANGANOR. 105 
 
 barrassed by the " vocavit nomen ejus " (Isaiah, 
 chap. ix.). It surprises me greatly that the catholic 
 apostolic Roman lord archbishop should avail him- 
 self of this caluuHiy, when it is well known that the 
 supreme council of the Inquisition at Rome will not 
 receive any accusation from a neophyte against a Jew. 
 I repeat, it does surprise me that the lord archbishop 
 should admit this ridiculous calumny, when we find 
 (book 15, chap, xiii., De Civitate Dei) that St. Augustin, 
 one of the principal doctors of the church, affirms it 
 to be incredible that the Jews should have vitiated the 
 sacred books. First: because it appears impossible 
 that they should aU have concurred in so vile a pur- 
 pose, dispersed as they are throughout every part of the 
 world, without finding some one among them to oppose 
 a crime of such enormity, and a sacrilege so abominable 
 as falsifying the sacred text ; besides, we find all the 
 Hebrew manuscripts, both ancient and modern, per- 
 fectly in accordance with each other in every point : 
 although written at various periods, and in remote 
 regions, indicative of inviolate and accurate fidelity. 
 Neither ought we to presume (continues the same 
 St. Augustin ) that so numerous a people, who, in their 
 captivity, have no other property than the possession 
 of the sacred volumes, would consent to falsify them to 
 gratify the malevolence and rancour that they might 
 entertain against any other nation or people : whence 
 he concludes, that where Ave find a difterence between 
 the Hebrew text and the Greek version, most credit 
 ought to be given to the Hebrew, as there is no diffi- 
 culty in supposing that the Greek interpreter may 
 have committed an error of translation. He termed 
 
106 REFUTATION OF THE SERMON OF 
 
 it a ridiculous calumny, and that justly ; it being so 
 considered and reputed by the whole people of Israel. 
 Indeed, so scrupulous are they, that if they perceive 
 in the Book of the Law (which is read each Sabbath 
 day in their synagogues) a single letter more or less 
 than there ought to be, although merely explanatory, 
 and not in the least altering the sense of the passage, 
 or of the words, that book is immediately laid aside 
 and another substituted in its place. The rigid no- 
 tions of the Jews go still further in all that relates to 
 the word of God; for if it should happen that the 
 reader of the Pentateuch should, either through igno- 
 rance or carelessness, mispronounce any word or 
 accent, that might in any degree alter the meaning, 
 he must repeat tlie whole of the verse, and, if not aware 
 of his error, those who hear him must admonish him 
 and make him repeat the verse correctly. This being 
 the practice of the synagogues throughout the nation, 
 on discovering any trifling error written or pro- 
 nounced, what would they do if they knew or sus- 
 pected that one of the most celebrated rabbins of 
 Israel, as was R. Solomon, had altered the text of 
 Isaiah. Moreover, if our excellent Rabbi Solomon 
 interprets this prophecy as appertaining to Hezekiah 
 (which really and truly it does, as any one may see 
 who looks into the Prophecies in order to understand 
 them, and not to pervert them, as will be hereafter 
 more fully shown), what necessity was there to alter or 
 corrupt the text ? For, admitting it to be as the j^reacher 
 and the Vulgate pretend, ^^1p^] vepcare, and vocabitur, 
 no conclusion can be drawn from this that will militate 
 against the rabbi's exposition; and he might leave 
 
THE ARCHBISHOP 0¥ CRANGANOR. 107 
 
 the rocabitur without exposing himself to the censure 
 of Jew or Christian. R. Solomon, then, having inter- 
 preted the prophecy as rehitingto Hezekiah, and having 
 left the ^"^pW vayicm and vocavit as he found them, it 
 follows that he was not the one who altered and falsified 
 the text, but that this must have been done by St. 
 Jerome, or some one antecedent to him, inasmuch as it 
 appeared to them that the prophecy could not other- 
 wise be explained in the future tense; and by this 
 wretched emendation they hoped to give some show of 
 support to their belief. However, let the preacher 
 know, that the Jews have no necessity for similar acts 
 or frauds to support theirs, inasmuch as, being the 
 word of God, it can maintain and defend itself. If we 
 examine all the Hebrew copies, ancient and modern, 
 in any part of the world, we shall find that nothing 
 has been altered ; and that they all agree and concur 
 in giving the same simple truth. 
 
 The Jew who is conscious of this, will not fail, 
 duly to appreciate the conduct of those, who fiot con- 
 tent vnth vitiating the sacred text themselves, indulge 
 in inventing calumnies as groundless as they are 
 absurd, against the most faithful and excellent ex- 
 positor that ever lived — a man justly esteemed and 
 venerated by the whole republic of letters, for his 
 commentary on the entire Bible ; namely, the Penta- 
 teuch, the early and later Prophets, and the Ilagio- 
 graphy, as well as the whole of the Mishna, and 
 nearly all the Talmud, consisting of sixty-three 
 treatises, arranged in twelve volumes folio, which 
 comprise all the ceremonial, moral, and judicial laws, 
 all of them explained in correct and suitable 
 
108 REFUTATION OF THE SERMON OF 
 
 language, and in a laconic style peculiar to himself, 
 SO remarkably clear and intelligible that no one can 
 apply to him, " Dum arctius esse volo obscurior fio." 
 
 Perceiving that the vapours of anger were con- 
 densing into an opaque cloud, charged with a strong 
 but just resentment against my reckless antagonist ; I 
 resolved to repress the warm impulses of my excited 
 feelings, and content myself with laying before him 
 in the mildest terms, the powerful and irrefragable 
 reasons, which should induce him to retract the 
 charges he has brought against this profound and 
 learned rabbi, who was really a wise Solomon, who 
 never deceived (as he asserts), but taught and ex- 
 plained to all the enlightened nations of Europe, the 
 written and oral laws, which the Jews believe and 
 observe in their dispersion. 
 
 The preacher corroborates his hypothesis, or to 
 speak more correctly, he pretends so to do, from the 
 Chaldee version (made by the learned Jonathan, son 
 of Uziel) of the above-mentioned verse of Isaiah, 
 translating it as follows : " Et vocabitur nomen ejus 
 " Min Kodam^ Deus Fortis permanens in sascula 
 " saeculorum Messias;" omitting the end of the verse, 
 which says, "in cujus diebus multiplicabitur pax." 
 Two questions here present themselves ; first, why he 
 omitted to translate the expression Min Kodam ; 
 and the second, why he suppressed the end of the 
 verse. 
 
 The reply to these two points will make manifest 
 who it was that corrupted the text, and endeavoured 
 to deceive the world. 
 
 The infererce to be drawn from wlmt I have before 
 
THE AHCIIUISHOl' OF CRANGANOR. 109 
 
 stated, bears against the preacher, hiasiiiuch as it 
 proves that he is accustomed to alter, garble, and 
 mutilate the text; while he gives his hearers to under- 
 stand that he translates literally and faithfully from 
 the Hebrew, saying " Isaiah has thus written in the 
 " ninth chapter of his prophecies, according to your 
 " Hebrew text. 'Et vocabitur nomen ejus, Admira- 
 '" bills, etc. Princeps Pax.' " 
 
 Good Heavens ! Has not the preacher just above, 
 accused R. Solomon of having changed the future 
 passive vocabitur, " He shall be called," into the active 
 form vocavit, ^^ He called f thereby rendering the 
 first attributes in the nominative, and leaving the 
 final one (the Prince of Peace) in the accusative case ; 
 and here we see him, himself, altering the text, and 
 translating it, not in the least after the Hebrew, but 
 according to his own preconceived notions, just as 
 he has done with the Chaldee paraphrase of Jonathan, 
 son of Uziel, from which he has copied the word 
 Min Kodam -svithout translating it, and omitted alto- 
 gether the last part of the verse, which says " In 
 " cujus diebus multiplicabitur pax." 
 
 The true text of Jonathan is as follows : — " Et 
 " vocabitur nomen ejus, a facie, vel ab Admirabili 
 " Consiliario, Deo Potente, Patre JEternitatis, Princeps 
 " Pacis." " And his name shall be called by Ilim who 
 " is the Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, and Ever- 
 " lasting Father, the Prince of Peace [that is, the 
 "Messiah], in whose days peace shall be multiplied." 
 
 The first four attributes are of God ; the last, " the 
 " Prince of Peace, is of man, and in Hebrew, is in the 
 " accusative case, being governed by the active verb 
 
110 REFUTATION OF THE SERMON OF 
 
 ^^vocavit, and in Chaldee, in the nominative, as in 
 " regimen with the passive verb vocahitur.'" 
 
 Min Kodam is a word in the ablative case, 
 omitted by the preacher, because, it did not suit his 
 purpose to insert it ; not that he was ignorant of its 
 interpretation, since in chap. vii. 11, of the very 
 same prophet, Isaiah says to King Ahaz, " Pete tibi 
 " signum, a facie Domini Dei tui," which Montano 
 translates in these words (also taken from Jonathan), 
 "Ask a sign 'from' the Lord thy God." Now, we 
 shall discover the reason why the preacher left Min 
 Kodam untranslated; for had he given its meaning, 
 the passage would have run thus. " Et vocabitur 
 "nomen ejus, a facie Admirabilis Consiliarii, Dei 
 "Potentis, Patris ^ternitatis, Principis Pacis, Mes- 
 " sias, in cujus diebus multiplicabitur pax." " And 
 " his name shall be called by the Wonderful Counsellor, 
 " the Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, 
 " Messiah, in whose days peace shall be multiplied." 
 According to this rendering, all the attributes belong 
 to the child (as the object called), who is regarded 
 as the Messiah; but then, who is to be taken for the 
 agent, who calls? Whereas, by inserting the words 
 Min Kodam (which is the ablative case), the first 
 four attributes belong to God, as the agent, who calls ; 
 the last alone remaining to the child, who, is the ob- 
 ject called. From what has been already said, the dis- 
 creet and impartial reader will be satisfied that the 
 preacher has altered the text, both in the Hebrew 
 and Chaldee, arranging the words in a way to make 
 it appear that the Messiah was to be both God and 
 Man. But I should wish him to explain, why he has 
 
THE ARCIIBISIIOr OF CRANGANOR. Ill 
 
 taken so mucli trouble to mutilate and distort these 
 abstruse verses, when aftei* all, if the whole point 
 were conceded, it would amount to no more than 
 an allegory, resting upon a false foundation, and in 
 direct opposition to the primary article of our faith. 
 
 It would have been much easier to have laid hold 
 of that article itself (the principal basis of the Jewish 
 religion), which says " Hear, Israel, the Lord is 
 " our God, the Lord is one," and give the unfortunate 
 prisoners of the tyrannical Inquisition to understand, 
 that the original text read, " The Lord is three and 
 " one,^^ but that the Jews corrupted it, by omitting 
 two words, so as to be read " The Lord is one.''' He 
 might have added that Rabbi Solomon, Aben Ezra, 
 or any other rabbi who chanced to enter his mind, was 
 the person Avho first altered the above mentioned verse, 
 and that before his time, the Jews accepted the other 
 version ; and that the moderns, through their hatred 
 to the Christians, corrupted the text; and here, his 
 excellency might have dilated, displaj'ing his rhetoric 
 in that discursive style so peculiar to himself; by 
 which means I can assure him, he would have attracted 
 quite as much applause and approbation as he has 
 derived from the arguments which he has employed : 
 nor, need he have feared contradiction from the Chris- 
 tians or the Jews; not from the Christians, for that 
 would not have suited their views; and as for the 
 Jews, they were too illiterate and uninformed, or e^^en 
 were they otherwise, and competent to contradict him, 
 full sure I am that none among them wovdd have dared 
 to lift up their eyes, much less their voices, against 
 him. On the contrary, it is certain that their heads 
 
112 REFUTATION OF THE SERMON OF 
 
 would bow assent to whatever he might choose to 
 advance. 
 
 Gracious Heaven ! how truly absurd must it appear 
 to all impartial persons, when they see a man 
 eminent in his profession, of high rank in the prelacy, 
 disputing with persons who either cannot or dare 
 not answer him, quoting books which they are not 
 allowed to read, and with all this, finds it requisite to 
 distort and mutilate passages of the Holy Scriptures 
 in order to prove what he attempts to inculcate. 
 
 1 appeal to all learned and unprejudiced men living 
 in countries where they are not constrained to circum- 
 scribe their ideas at the will of four illiterate inquisi- 
 tors, if such a display would not be more fit for a 
 farce than a sermon; for a theatre than a pulpit. 
 They call us blind because we will not yield our 
 reason to groundless allegory ; because we do not cede 
 the leading article of our faith to their tortuous and 
 perverted expositions: but what ought they to be 
 called who corrupt the sacred text, who lay hold of 
 part of a chapter, discourse, proposition, or verse, 
 without noticing the context which is necessary to give 
 the genuine sense, in order to apply the fragment as 
 they please, and thereupon raise a shout of victory, as 
 if their opponents had been really and fairly defeated ? 
 
 Does the learned prelate imagine that this course 
 will convince any Jew ? He is deceived if he thinks so : 
 for, on the contrary, it fortifies him in his belief; and, 
 instead of imitating the Inquisition, which prohibits 
 every book that argues against its religion, we pu])- 
 lish such works as are written against us, and we ex- 
 plain them to our children, that they may know tlie 
 
THE ARClllUSIIOr OF CKANGANOll. 118 
 
 truth of our reasoning and the fallacy of tlieirs ; that 
 they may gain strength in the true belief, and that 
 they may perceive what subterfuge they are driven to 
 who wish to distort the truth, and to what con- 
 trivances they must have recourse in order to main- 
 taui their opinions. 
 
 That the impartial reader may be put in possession 
 of the exact truth relative to the prophecy in question, 
 I will here expound its genuine and literal sense with- 
 out distortion or allegory, as interpreted by the most 
 eminent and authentic writers : 
 
 Commencement of Chapter VII. — Rezin, king of 
 Aram, and Pekah, king of Israel, had laid siege to 
 the holy city of Jerusalem ; but, through the gallant 
 resistance of the citizens, were compelled to raise the 
 siege: yet, notwithstanding, they carried off a large 
 booty and a great number of prisoners. The con- 
 federated kings formed a new alliance, with the 
 intent of renewing the siege with larger armies and 
 increased vigour. This confederacy threw the house 
 of David into great consternation; for fear that, 
 should those kings conquer, they would put an end 
 to the sovereignty and their kingdom ; and the people 
 were no less afraid than the king. Therefore God 
 commanded the prophet Isaiah to go in company 
 with his son, Shear Yashub, to meet Ahaz, and to 
 tell him from God to be calm and to comfort his 
 dejected soul, and reanimate his lost spirits, and 
 not to fear these tAVO firebrands, who were more 
 likely to take fire and consume themselves than 
 others : that, although they proposed making a com- 
 plete conquest of the kingdom, in order subsequently 
 
114 REFUTATION OF THE SERMON OF 
 
 to share it between them, he prophesied to them 
 that such an idea would not be realised; but, on 
 the contrary, Israel (namely the Ten Tribes), at 
 the expiration of seventy-five years, would cease to 
 be a nation, would be totally scattered and laid waste, 
 and that, in the interim, neither one king nor the 
 other would enlarge the boundary of his dominions, 
 each remaining within his own possessions. God 
 commanded Ahaz, in order to gain confidence in 
 what he had foretold him, to ask for a sign or 
 miracle, whether it be in the highest heaven or in 
 the depths of the earth. The incredulous king ex- 
 cused himself under the pretence of piety, saying, 
 that he ought not to require proof from God, 
 whereas the true motive was, the little faith he 
 attached to the words of the prophecy ; but the 
 prophet, displeased with his incredulity, said that 
 God would give, although not asked for by the king, 
 a clear and manifest sign, in order to secure the 
 belief of Judea in this prophecy; namely, that the 
 young woman then pregnant should be delivered of 
 a son, who should be named Immcmuel^ and that, 
 before he should attain to years of discretion, the 
 two confederated kings would be totally extermi- 
 nated. But that, should the stubbornness and per- 
 versity of the incredulous king, instead of contritely 
 rendering thanks to God for so signal a deliverance, 
 induce him obstinately to persist in his iniquities, he 
 gave him notice that thereby. Divine justice being 
 in the highest degree provoked, he would inevitably 
 be chastised with greater rigour, by God's allowing 
 the formidable army of the king of Assyria to take 
 
THE ARCllBlSHOr OF CHANGANOR. V "liO 
 
 possession of all the strongholds and castles of Jirt 
 leaving the land so desolate and uncultivated — s^ 
 deficient and barren of cattle, that he who possessed 
 one calf and two sheep would be the largest pro- 
 prietor : and that where, formerly, grew a thousand 
 vines, the ground should become a barren waste, full 
 of thorns and thistles; and the most fertile hills fit 
 only to give pasture to cattle for want of men to 
 cultivate them. 
 
 In chap, viii., God commands the prophet to take 
 a scroll, by way of confirmiug the prophecy, as well 
 as to hand it down to posterity, and write thereon, 
 Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz . 
 
 The prophet executed the Divine order, took two 
 witnesses, Uriah and Zechariah, and went unto the 
 prophetess who conceived and bare a son. He named 
 him (agreeably to the order of God) Maher-Shalal- 
 Hash-Baz, inthnating that before this child should 
 learn to call "father" and "mother," the king of 
 Assyria would vanquish in battle the two allied kings, 
 take them captive, and carry away the spoils of 
 Damascus and the riches of Samaria. 
 
 However, as there existed a party in Judea who 
 were anxious for the success of Rezin and Pekah, 
 and secretly opposed the reigning family, God ordered 
 the prophet to predict to them, that as they hated the 
 mild and peaceful rule of the house of David, He 
 would bring upon them the formidable armies of the 
 king of Assyria, who should occupy the Avhole of 
 Judea until they reached the capital of the kingdom ; 
 but that, notwithstanding, he would assist those who 
 were faithful, and deliver them fi'om this peril. 
 
116 REFUTATION OF THE SERMON OF 
 
 The prophet then reverts to the two allied mon- 
 archs, assuring the Jews that all their armaments 
 would not prevail, and that, although they might 
 use their greatest exertion and labour, and increase 
 their forces by the aid of various nations, all would 
 prove ineffectual; and, in spite of whatever they 
 might think, their object would never be accomplished. 
 He then proceeds to tell them, that God admo- 
 nished him to warn them that they should not 
 follow in the steps of those who wished to usurp the 
 government, or who took part with the two allied 
 kings. That he should exhort such persons to de- 
 fend the just cause, to confide wholly in God, and 
 to fear only the Divine Majesty, who would protect 
 them. That this prophecy should be sealed and 
 kept close among the learned and wise men until 
 the period of its accomplishment. The prophet also 
 says, although at present God has withdrawn or 
 concealed His protection from us, I trust in His 
 divine mercy, and have full confidence that the de- 
 sired time will arrive, when it will be clearly mani- 
 fested, inasmuch as I and my children are obvious 
 signs of what is to happen to Israel ; namely, Yesa- 
 hya, the salvation of God; Shear Yashiib, restoration 
 of the remnant, which indicates that those who re- 
 main of Judah shall return to their pristine state; 
 Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz, signifying that shortly and 
 quickly the prey and spoil of the two kings would 
 follow; Immamiel, or God with us, and that when 
 you are required to consult idols and oracles, which 
 always speak vaguely and obscurely, you should 
 answer them that every one nuist have recourse to 
 
THE AllCHBISHOP OF CRANGANOR. 117 
 
 his own God, and therefore you would seek to con- 
 sult the prophets and the professors of the most 
 holy Law. Idols and oracles give unfounded and 
 false answers to those who consult them ; and when 
 their votaries find themselves in affliction, assailed 
 by misfortune, hungering and thirsting, they look 
 up to heaven and revile their god for having de- 
 ceived them with his prophecy, or impute their dis- 
 tress to the bad government of the king; and, 
 finally, when persecuted and harassed with troubles, 
 see nothing before them but vexation and misery, 
 without a gleam of hope of deliverance. Thus it 
 fared with the sons of Zebulun and Napthali in the 
 first captivity; and still worse in the second with 
 those who were carried captive to the ^Yest by 
 Tiglath Pileser, king of Assyria. 
 
 In chap. ix. the prophet predicts, that the like 
 shall not occur to the tribe of Judah ; for, although 
 they might experience the gloom of a siege and the 
 horrors of war, inasmuch as Sennacherib, king of 
 Assyria, would come against them, still they should 
 receive the light of salvation and the brightness of 
 victory, through the awful intervention of his divine 
 power, by which the fame of the nation should be 
 exalted to the highest point of glory and greatness : 
 that with indescribable joy and content they should 
 praise and magnify the Eternal and Omnipotent 
 God, in gratitude for so signal and marvellous a 
 deliverance, with all the demonstrations of pleasure 
 evinced by the farmer when gathering in his grain, 
 or the soldier when dividing the spoil. That the 
 armies of their enemies should be Miiiquished and 
 
118 REFUTATION OP THE SERMON OF 
 
 annihilated by miraculous aid, and without any of 
 the danger or loss of life which usually befalls the 
 conquerors in a victory attained by natural means; 
 for that the victoiy would resemble that achieved by 
 Gideon over the Midianites with few men, without 
 loss of life, or even any interference on the part of the 
 conquerors, by the assistance of an angel, who would 
 destroy the hostile army with the same fierceness as 
 fire consumes combustible matter. That this would 
 happen through the merits of that child (already 
 born), on whose shoulders the burden of the monarchy 
 would rest with dignity, and would be named by Him 
 who is Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, the Father 
 of Eternity, — the Prince of Peace (or, if the noble 
 preacher will so have it, let him be called by the 
 name of Wonderful Counsellor, Powerful, Mighty 
 Father of Eternity, Prince of Peace), who should 
 extend the empire, which should enjoy a perpetual 
 peace, whereby the tottering throne of David would 
 be established on a foundation of justice and charity 
 for ever; and that the Lord of Hosts had decreed that 
 all this should come to pass. The prophet proceeds to 
 say, that God having chastised the Ten Tribes of 
 Israel, in order that they might repent and turn 
 away from their sins, the chiefs, with the rest of the 
 people confiding in the alliance of the king of 
 Aram^ proudly and presumptuously asserted that they 
 were to be restored to a state equal, or even supe- 
 rior, to their former condition; however, God would 
 show them the little worth of that alliance by stirring 
 up Rezin's enemies against him, and giving them 
 power to conquer him in battle, and that, after- 
 
THE AUCUBISIIOr OF CRANGANOR. 119 
 
 wards, he would so hi-iiig it to pass, that these same 
 Aramites on the one hand, and tlie Philistmes on 
 the other, should attack and conquer Israel with 
 great slaughter, without the divine wrath being 
 thereby appeased. 
 
 The word El., in Hebrew, signifies strong., and is an 
 epithet indiscrmiinately applied to God and man, and 
 when applied to the latter does not signify Divinity, 
 but merely power, greatness, or official station, thus : 
 
 aJ^lD '<b^, Ele-Moab : princes or valiant men of Israel. 
 np-ia'? D'n'^X ynnJ, I have made thee superior to Pharaoh. 
 Q'n'^x pr'tr^T "lU^s, whom the judges shall condemn. 
 
 Thus, with great propriety, we may apply the title 
 of "1135 Sj^, El Gibor., to Hezekiah, indicating thereby 
 that he would be a valiant hero, a great captain ; this 
 is confirmed by passages in Scripture, describing him 
 as a man of valour (2nd Kings, chap. xx. 20) ; " And 
 the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and all his might,'^ etc. 
 
 The words "ly ""li^, Abi Had, which the preacher 
 translates Pater yEternitatis, is translated by Montano 
 (in a marginal note). Pater Seculi, Father of the Age; 
 to be convinced that this is correct, we need only 
 refer to the Sacred Text. 
 
 After the separation of the Ten Tribes from those 
 of Judah and Benjamin, the pious and devout kings 
 of the former, namely, Asa, Jehoshaphat, Jotham, 
 although they anxiously endeavoured to establish 
 divine worship in their own kingdom, abstained from 
 interfering Avith that of Israel, either from its ap- 
 pearing to them impossible to restore it, OAving to the 
 contumacy of their kings, or tlirough fear that any 
 communication between Israel and Judea would be 
 
120 REFUTATION OF THE SERMON OF 
 
 likely to infect the latter with their detestable worship 
 of idols. Whereas Hezekiah, the father of the age^ the 
 common father of both, taking as much care of the 
 strayed sheep that Avere not under his charge, as of 
 those sheltered in his own sheepfold, wrote letters, 
 despatched couriers, and sent qualified persons to all 
 the towns and cities of Israel, exhorting the Israelites 
 to return to the worship of the true God, and to leave 
 the accursed calves ; and, with his wonderful counsel, 
 managed this great work so admirably as to bring back 
 the alienated Jews to the true worship, as appears from 
 chap. XXX. 1, of the 2nd Book of Chronicles : " Heze- 
 " kiah also sent to all Israel and Judah, and wrote 
 " letters to Ephraim and Manasseh, inviting them to 
 " come to Jerusalem to the House of the Lord to cele- 
 " brate the Passover of the Lord God of Israel ;" and, by 
 the same wonderful counsel, he transferred the Passover 
 to the second month ; thus it is said, " And the king 
 " took counsel with his princes and with all the con- 
 " gregation in Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover in 
 " the second month." This enabled them all to cele- 
 brate it together; and that many of the Israelites 
 actually did come, appears from the same Book, 
 chap. XXX. 11 : " Moreover men of the tribes of Asher, 
 " Manasseh, and Zebulun humbled themselves and 
 " came to Jerusalem;" and in verse 18 it says, " For 
 " many of the people of Ephraim and Manasseh, Issa- 
 " char and Zebulun had not purified themselves, yet 
 " ate of the Passover contrary to what was com- 
 " manded; but Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, 
 '' ' Oh ! God, who art benevolent, be merciful to all 
 " ' those who have prepared their hearts to seek thee I'" 
 
THE ARCHBISnOP OF CRANGANOR. 121 
 
 It will tlius be seen how just a claim he had to the 
 title of fat/ier of the age, and wonderful counsellor, in 
 having taken so much care to restore them to favour 
 with God. That he was the Prince or Arbiter of 
 Peace, there can be no doubt. For what person in 
 that age would venture to oppose Almighty God, who 
 by so many prodigies had proclaimed himself the 
 protector of Hezekiah ; since he sent an angel to be 
 commander of his armies, a prophet to heal his dis- 
 eases, and ordered the sun to retrograde in its 
 diurnal course, in order to confirm his prophecies by 
 this marvellous event, which caused Baladan, king of 
 Babylon to send ambassadors to inquire into this 
 miracle and to seek his alliance? 
 
 From the above mentioned chapters, translated lite- 
 rally, and applied to the actual persons of whom they 
 treat, we find that the sign the prophet gave to Ahaz 
 was, that the young woman had conceived, and that 
 she would give birth to a son who should be called 
 Immanuel. The prophet had taken two faithful wit- 
 nesses to record, namely, Uriah and Zechariah; and 
 succeeding events were found to be in perfect accord- 
 ance mth the prophecy. The prophet went to the 
 young woman, who was his wife ; she conceived, and 
 gave birth to a son : him they named Immanuel, and 
 before he had arrived at years of discretion the designs 
 of the two allied monarchs were rendered abortive. 
 
 Such then is the literal exposition of this prophecy ; 
 and to attempt to dispute it would be only arguing 
 in opposition to facts. Indeed such an attempt, in 
 the eyes of those who have studied the Scriptiu'es 
 free from all bias, must appear a virtual acknow- 
 
122 REFUTATION OF THE SERMON OF 
 
 ledginent of defeat, and a mere display of weakness. 
 Morever tliis miracle or sign was given to Aliaz and 
 the house of David, in order to certify to them that 
 the kings of Samaria and Aram would not follow up 
 their intentions, and that their designs would be frus- 
 trated. How then could a sign be given to them to 
 indicate what was to haj^pen in the course of about 
 seven hundred years, in order to show what was to 
 occur within two or three years '! and how could the 
 prophet say (from an event which was to occur about 
 seven hundred years subsequently), " It shall come to 
 " pass, that before the child shall know to distinguish 
 " between bad and good, the land you hate shall be 
 " bereft of its two kings." Are not these two 
 kings Rezin, king of Aram, and Pekah, king of Israel? 
 And is it not clearly meant that they should both be 
 defeated and conquered in battle, and should lose their 
 kingdoms? How then, to assure them of what was to 
 occur in their lifetime, could he give them a sign from 
 Avhat was to happen seven hundred years later, and 
 this to an incredulous and idolatrous king like Ahaz ; 
 would it not have exposed the prophet to the derision 
 of the king and his court? Most assuredly it would: 
 and the learned among the Christians, who study this 
 prophecy impartially, are not ignorant of this, and 
 consequently agree that such is the true, literal, and 
 genuine sense, as confessed by Eusebius Basilius, 
 Geronimus Cirilius, and Theodoretus, among the an- 
 cients : and there are but few among the well-informed 
 moderns who do not acquiesce therein, and admit that 
 even the allegorical sense is not solely applicable to 
 Christ, but might equally be adapted to any other 
 
THE ARCHBISHOP OF CRANGANOR. 123 
 
 person, without perverting or straining the text; 
 whence Ave see that those erudite and wise men knew 
 that the allegorical sense is not compulsory, and there- 
 fore is insufficient to constrain the Jews to admit it. 
 All are agreed that the prophecy explained literally is 
 clear and obvious, and not in the least degree perplexed 
 or obscure ; and that it was fulfilled a few years after- 
 wards, as the prophet predicted, to the very letter. 
 
 But this is not the case when we attempt to apply 
 it in an allegorical sense to Christ ; for it then becomes 
 obscure, confused, and inappropriate, and compels us 
 to resort to the corrupt text of the A^ulgate to ren- 
 der it applicable, and even that will not be found 
 sufficient.' 
 
 I flatter myself tliat I have placed this prophecy 
 in such a light as to show my co-religionists (as is 
 the purport and scope of my refutation) how little 
 reason the learned preacher has to exult over this 
 passage : and he could only do so among those whose 
 ignorance rendered them unable to discern the truth, 
 or whose dread of punishment prevented their pro- 
 claiming it. 
 
 The preacher, in confirmation of his hypothesis, refers 
 to chapters xxiii. and xxxiii. of Jeremiah, gives the 
 verses 5 and 6 of chapter xxiii. and attempts to explain 
 them after his own views, as alluding to the Messiah ; 
 stating that the prophet says, " That a just king will 
 " come," etc., and ^^that King will be called Deus Justus 
 " nosterT However, he takes no further notice of chap- 
 ter xxxiii. ; and, deeming his bare assertion sufficient, 
 unhesitatingly affirms that, from the verses of these two 
 chapters, it is evident tliat the Messiah must be God and 
 
124 EEFUTATION OF THE SERMON OF 
 
 Man. I am not surprised at his omitting verses 15 and 
 16 of chapter xxiii. ; for he has done a similar thing in 
 the Gth paragraph, wherein he quotes from chapter xlii. 
 of Isaiah, in which God threatens his people with chas- 
 tisement and calamities, and omits the forty-third, that 
 immediately follows, wherein He encourages and con- 
 soles them with affection and tenderness. Let us ex- 
 amine then these two verses, by which means we may 
 penetrate into the true cause of this omission : "In 
 " Diebus illis salvabitur Juda et Jerusalem, habitabit 
 " confidenter, et hoc est nomen vocabunt eum, Dominus 
 " Justus noster." I know not to what we are to refer 
 this eum masculine, when the Hebrew says n? (Jcl)', a 
 pronoun feminine, which can only refer to the city of 
 Jerusalem; this being indubitably the case, the verse 
 must mean Jerusalem shall be called " God is our 
 " right or justice :" this same word is apj^lied to the 
 Messiah in chapter xxiii. Now as the preacher says 
 that, since he is so called, he must be both God and 
 Ma7i^ it would follow that Jerusalem, bearing a similar 
 name, is at the same time God and City. The like I say 
 of the altar erected by the patriarch Jacob in Shechem 
 (Genesis, chap, xxxiii. ver. 20). The like of that erected 
 by Moses for the victory obtained over Amalek, which 
 he called " God is my standard." The same mth the 
 altar of Gideon, which he called " God of peace ;" and, 
 finally, the same with Jerusalem, when the prophet 
 Ezekiel, in the last verse of his book, says, that Jeru- 
 salem will be called " God is there." Now to conclude 
 my observations on this point, the reverend preacher 
 should be told, that the hymn he names, which is 
 chaunted in the Synagogue on every Sabbath and 
 
THE ARCIIBISIIOl' OF CRANGANOR. 125 
 
 Holiday evening, is, in fact, a declaration of the articles 
 of the Law which the Jews profess, and that the third 
 of the said articles declares that God is incorporeal, and 
 consequently, is not Man^ which article of the creed is 
 derived from various parts of the Bible. Moses says, 
 addressing the people (in Dent. chap. iv. ver. 12): 
 " And God spoke to you from amidst the fire ; you 
 " heard a voice speaking, but you saw no simihtude, 
 " only a voice;" and further says (Deut. chap. iv. 
 ver. 15), " Take good heed to yourselves; for ye saw 
 " no similitude in the day that God spoke to you out of 
 " the midst of the fire ;" and continues, charging them 
 strenuously not to make a likeness of any manner of 
 creature. Balaam, although a Gentile, says, " God is 
 " not Man that he should lie, nor the Son of Man that 
 " he should repent." The holy prophet Samuel said 
 to King Saul, " Surely the Strength of Israel will not 
 " lie, nor repent; for he is not Man that he should re- 
 " pent." " Et etiam fortitudo Israelis non mentietur 
 " nee poenitudine ducetur; non enim homo est ut 
 " poeniteat ilium." 
 
 Ezekiel said to Hiram, king of Tyre, who boasted 
 of being a god, " Perchance you may venture to say 
 " before the assassin, I am God; then you shall be 
 " made to know that you are but man, not a god, 
 " when in the power of your murderer." " Xunquid 
 " dicendo Deus sum, coram interfectore tuo: tu 
 " autem Homo es, et non Deus, in manu interfec- 
 " toris tui :" finally, God says through his prophet, 
 " I A^ill not according to the fury of my -WTath, I will 
 " not again do injury to Ephraim; for I am God and 
 " not Man." " Non faciam secundum iram furoris 
 
126 REFUTATION OF THE SERMON OF 
 
 " mei, noil revertar ad disperdendum Epliraim, quo- 
 " niam Deus sum et non vir." 
 
 These are the pillars on which this most important 
 article rests ; the immateriality of God, which, if any 
 Jew should deny, he would not only be considered a 
 heretic but a renegade, and forfeit among his people 
 all claim to the denomination of Jew; then can it be 
 imagined that the nation will cease to believe an ar- 
 ticle so clear, and so frequently reiterated by the 
 prophets, to follow the exposition contended for by the 
 reverend father. 
 
 Thus the honour of the learned Rabbi Solomon 
 stands vindicated and cleared from the vile calumny of 
 having falsified the words of the prophets ; and suffi- 
 cient proof has been given that, as a Jewish theologian, 
 he could not believe or imagine that chapter ix. of 
 Isaiah and chapters xxiii. and xxxiii. of Jeremiah de- 
 clare that the Messiah must be Man and God. 
 
 The same remark will apply to the eminent rabbi 
 Aben Ezra; to Jonathan, the son of Uziel, and, finally, 
 to every son of Israel, no matter how uninstructed or 
 ignorant. However this may be, I cannot but express 
 my astonishment that the preacher, who endeavours 
 to make it appear that Jonathan, the son of Uziel, 
 infers from the words (in chap vii. of Isaiah, ver. 6), 
 " Infans natus est," that the Messiah is God, does not 
 avail himself of his authority and countenance in 
 chap, xxiii. and xxxiii. of Jeremiah, but uses the 
 Hebrew text alone, without adverting to the Chaldee 
 paraphrase ; and that he should exercise his ingenuity 
 in again calumniating the innocent but persecuted 
 Rabbi Solomon, charging him with having falsified 
 
THE ARCHBISIIOr OF CRANGAxVUK. 127 
 
 the text ill chapter xxiii. of" Jeremiali, iiiicl venture to 
 assert that the true reading gives : " And this is the 
 " name that they shall call him," not " that He shall call 
 him," which latter he treats as a corruption introduced 
 by the rabbi ; and that he should quote the text of 
 chapter xxiii., where he makes the prophet declare 
 that the Messiah is God, and omits to quote from 
 chapter xxxiii., where precisely the same language is 
 applied to the city of Jerusalem. 
 
 What reply can he make to this? that he does not 
 pretend to say the city of Jerusalem is God. Granted : 
 but why then does he set up a general axiom, affirming 
 that the Tetragrammaton is applied to none other but 
 God, when in fact we find it applied to inanimate ob- 
 jects, such as altars and cities? Agreeably to his 
 axiom all these things must be gods; he may en- 
 deavour to solve tlie difficulty by saying that man, as 
 the most noble of all creatures, was alone capable and 
 worthy of being united with the Deity; to this I 
 answer, I only know that God has declared by the 
 mouth of his prophet Hosea, " I am God and not 
 " man," and I need say no more 
 
 XXV and XXVI. — The preacher goes on to say, 
 that the rabbins explain the prophecy in chapter ix. 
 of Isaiah as relating to Hezekiah, and in chapters xxiii. 
 and xxxiii. of Jeremiah, to David and Zerubabel. As 
 regards Isaiah, the preacher is correct in affirming 
 that the rabbins apply the passage to Hezekiah, and I 
 am of the same opinion, as may be seen by the expo- 
 sition of the prophecy above given, where I have 
 shown that the first verses of chapter ix. treat of 
 
128 REFUTATION OF THE SERMON OF 
 
 nothing else but the miraculous triumph that Israel 
 gained over Sennacherib ; according to such view, the 
 two parts of the chapter agree in alluding to one and the 
 same event ; and there is no occasion to interpret it as 
 referring to the Messiah, who is sufficiently spoken of 
 in many other passages of the Bible. As to the two 
 chapters of Jeremiah, I know no rabbi who thinks 
 they allude to any one else but the Messiah. 
 
 The preacher bestows needless labour in attempting 
 to prove that Rabbi Solomon has falsified the text, 
 and in ridiculing the exaggeration of the writers, who 
 relate of the eminent Jonathan, that a fly passing over 
 any of his writings was instantly consumed. Had the 
 preacher reflected that the rabbinical style is fre- 
 quently figurative, he would have perceived that the 
 above cited metaphorical passage merely implied that 
 this great man was so studious and attentive during 
 his meditations on the Law, that, should any worldly 
 thought intrude on his mind while so engaged, it was 
 instantly subdued and annihilated. 
 
 XXVII. — The reverend preacher takes great pains 
 to prove that the passage in chapter ix. of Isaiah 
 speaks of the Messiah ; and to this end brings forward a 
 host of rabbins, ancient and modern, as of that opinion. 
 Although we have had sufficient evidence already of 
 how little weight can be attached to the preacher's pre- 
 tended proofs, I am willing, for the sake of argument, 
 to waive my objections, and will be liberal enough to 
 invite all Israel to take it for granted, as he says ; for, 
 after all, the principal question {summa rerum) is to 
 ascertain if the Messiah truly is God. 
 
THE AT^CIiniSIIOr OF CRANGANOR. 129 
 
 XXXIII. — Our author alleges that the Rabbuis, 
 finding themselves in difficulty on points proposed to 
 them, could find no means to extricate themselves, 
 except by vitiating the text ; but they had no necessity 
 to vitiate the text, since we see that the aforementioned 
 article of their creed directly forbids any Jew to be- 
 lieve that God can be also man. 
 
 XXXIV. — XXXIX These are answered by 
 
 the aforementioned article of belief. In the 23rd 
 chapter we grant that Jeremiah speaks of the ^lessiah ; 
 but not that he says, nor that it can possibly be in- 
 ferred from his words, that the Messiah is God. 
 
 XLI. — Two rabbins are herein named, viz. R. 
 Osseas and R. Simeon ben Jochay. Rabbi Osseas 
 never appeared in reriwi natura. There is not and 
 never ^^as a rabbi of that name. The other, who he 
 affirms flourished many years before Clirist, was not 
 in existence till more than a century after, and in no 
 book attributed to him do we find what the preacher 
 has stated; and further, were such an opinion to ap- 
 pear in any book that has come down to us (which 
 we absolutely deny), that rabbi would l3e condemned 
 as a renegade, and his doctrine carry with it no weight 
 whatever. 
 
 XLI I. — The same reply may be made to this sec- 
 tion, namely, that whoever believes or writes that the 
 Messiah is God and Man, is no Jew ; that is to say, he 
 does not profess the Law of Moses, consequently his 
 doctrine cannot influence us as Jews. Towards the 
 
 K 
 
130 EEFUTATION OF THE SERMON OF 
 
 end of this same section, the observation made in the 
 sixth is repeated, and a quotation given from chap. xlii. 
 ver. 22 of Isaiah, " Ipse autem populus direptus et 
 vastatus." In addition to what I have ah^eady re- 
 marked upon this passage, I refer the reader to chap, 
 xliii., which annihihates all that the preacher advances; 
 for it states clearly that Israel is God's people, and that 
 redemption is assured to them in accordance with the 
 statements in the preceding chapter. 
 
 XLIII. and XLIV.~The reverend father boasts, 
 with much confidence, of having convinced the Jews 
 by chapter xlix. verse 10 of Genesis, " Non auferetur 
 " sceptrum a Juda, nee scriba de femore ejus donee 
 " veniat Shilo (vel qui mittendus est) et ipse aggre- 
 " gatio populorum." But he should be informed that 
 he is much deceived in his conception of this pro- 
 phecy. It must be kept in mind, that the name 
 Judah represents four very different objects, and is 
 capable of as many different acceptations ; as is taught 
 in the schools. 
 
 It may be received for Judah, the son of Jacob, as 
 in this same chapter (Genesis xlix. ver. 8), where it 
 is said, " Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren 
 " shall praise, and shall bow down to thee." 
 
 It may be received solely for the Tribe of Judah, as 
 in verse 10 of the above mentioned chapter, where it 
 is said, " The sceptre shall not depart from Judah." 
 Again, it may be taken for the two tribes, Judah and 
 Benjamin ; because, subsequently to the separation of 
 the Ten Tribes, all the kings who reigned over the 
 two are called kings of Judah, as tacitly comprising 
 
TIIK AKCIIBISHOr OF CRANGANOR. 131 
 
 tliat ot" Jieiijainin; tiiially, it maybe taken for the 
 Twelve Tribes, which form the whole body of Israel, 
 as ill Jeremiah, chap, xxxiii. ver. 11, where, speaking 
 of the Messiah, it says, " In those days Judah sliall be 
 " saved, and Jerusalem shall be in safety." Here evi- 
 dently the name of Judah is used to denote all Israel. 
 This incontrovertible principle being established, 
 we are compelled to receive the name of Judali in 
 verse 10, where it says, " That the sceptre shall not 
 depart from Judah," as meaning neither the individual 
 nor the whole nation, but the single tribe. Not the 
 individual; for we cannot suppose that the patriarch 
 understood that his son Judah would live and reign 
 until the Messiah came, or that the verse really meant 
 that the sceptre should not depart from Judah h'unself 
 until the Messiah came. Nor was it meant to express 
 the whole nation ; for, as Jacob was blessing his sons, 
 each separately one by one, it is evident that he is ad- 
 dressing himself to Judah individually^ and prophesies 
 to hhn in the words " Xon auferetur sceptrum a 
 Juda," that the sceptre shall remain permanently in 
 his tribe without ever passing into the hands of any of 
 the others; accordingly, the preacher cannot plead in 
 argument against the Jews tliat the sceptre departed 
 from the nation on the birth of Christ, who, in his 
 opinion, was the Messiah, inasmuch as the sceptre of 
 Judah had failed many years antecedently in king 
 Zedekiah, without ever returning to Judah; and, this 
 being indisputably the case, it follows necessarily that 
 the prophecy is either false, or wrongly explained. In 
 order to obviate these difficulties, it must be observed 
 that by understanding this prophecy in a literal sense. 
 
182 REFUTATION OF THE SERMON OF 
 
 as in reason we ought to do, we shall perceive that 
 it contains no allusion to the Messiah, nor to any 
 period later than the epoch of the separation of the 
 kingdoms of Israel and Judah ; much less does it treat 
 of the tribes as members of the body of the nation, 
 excepting in one instance, and that indirectly and in- 
 cidentally. That it does not treat of the Messiah is 
 fully proved by the circumstance related in Scripture, 
 that the holy patriarch having assembled his sons, 
 proceeded to describe to them what was to happen at 
 the end of days (Genesis, chap, xlix., ver. 1). It 
 might appear at first sight, from this passage, as if he 
 intended to make some allusion to the Messiah, always 
 supposing that the expression, the end of days, is to be 
 understood as denoting the period of the Messiah, in 
 accordance with chap. ii. ver. 2, of Isaiah, where the 
 prophet, describing the supreme felicity of that epoch, 
 says, " And it shall come to pass at the end of days, 
 " or in the latter days, that the mountain of the 
 " Lord's house shall be established on the summit of 
 " the mountains," &c. 
 
 This prophecy we find confirmed in Micah, chap. iv. 
 ver. 1, in precisely the same words. The prophet 
 Jeremiah also makes use of the same terms, when de- 
 scribing the prosperity of Israel at the epoch of the 
 Messiah, in chap, xxx., ver. 24, and the prophet 
 Ezekiel in chap, xxxviii., ver. 16. 
 
 The holy patriarch, then, having used the same 
 words, it might naturally enough, at first sight, be 
 supposed he was speaking of the Messiah, as before 
 remarked; but, when we come to investigate more 
 closely what he said on that occasion, we shall find 
 
THE ARCHBTSIIOr or CHANGANOR. 133 
 
 that he neither aUuded to the Messiali nor to the 
 people of Israel in general. This is clearly evinced by 
 what he said to his sons; since, as to Reuben, he only 
 reproved him for his conduct with liilha, also Simeon 
 and Levi for their rash conduct towards Shechem on 
 account of Dinah ( Judali we shall notice immediately). 
 To Zebulun he predicted that the territory allotted to 
 him would be maritime. To Asher, that his country 
 would be fertile and pleasant; and, in short, there is 
 nothing said about the Messiah. 
 
 It is true that all Christian commentators, and many 
 of the Jews, explain the words, " Non auferetur scep- 
 " trura ^ Juda;" "the sceptre shall not depart from 
 " Judah," &c., figuratively, as relating to the Messiali; 
 however, the literal translators among the Jews only 
 understand it to indicate the separation of the kingdom 
 of Israel from that of Judah, interpreting the prophecy 
 in the following manner : " Thee, Judah, thy brethren 
 " mil praise, and bow down to thee; for thou art in- 
 " trepid as a lion, and supremacy will be conceded to 
 " thee. The rule thou possessest over the whole 
 " nation will continue undivided until the Shilonite 
 " shall come, who will separate the Ten Tribes from the 
 " two others ; and then to him, that is to say, to Judah, 
 " it will be left to gather together certain people, mean- 
 " ing the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, with the 
 " priests and Levitcs dispersed throughout all Israel, 
 " who will quit their glebe land, habitations, and pro- 
 " perty, and assemble in Jerusalem, as well as many 
 " other pious Israelites, who, imitating the priests and 
 " Levites, will fix their residence in the country of 
 " Judea, in order not to abandon the holy and divine 
 
134 REFUTATION OF THE SEEMON OF 
 
 " worship professed by their pious and devout an- 
 " cestors." 
 
 That such is the genuine and literal sense of the pro- 
 phecy concerning Judah there can be no doubt, from 
 the numerous reasons that support this exposition, and 
 from the many irrefragable objections that arise against 
 a figurative explanation, as we shall proceed to prove. 
 
 The first objection is, that the allegorists seek by 
 violently torturing the word Skiloh to make it imply 
 the Messiah, when in fact it is the name of a famed 
 citv in the holy Land, wherein the Ark of God reposed 
 during three hundred and sixty-nine years, having 
 been placed there by Joshua; as may be seen in chap, 
 xviii. verse 1 of the Book of Joshua, in which it is 
 named seven times; in Judges, six; in the first book 
 of Samuel eight times ; in the first of Kings twice ; in 
 Jeremiah four times ; in the Psalms, once ; thus 
 making twenty-eight times in all that it has been 
 named in the Bible. The prophet Ahijah, the Shilo- 
 nite, is named in 1 Kings, chap, xi., xii., and xiv., 
 proving clearly and literally that Shilo was the name 
 of a city, and the prophet Ahijah a native of that city ; 
 I know not then what could induce the allegorists to 
 construe the name of a city so well known in a sense 
 so remote from its true signification. The second ob- 
 jection, Avhich appears unanswerable, militates against 
 Jonathan, son of Uziel, and Onkelos, for having framed 
 an allegory on a principle that has not only been con- 
 tested, but is actually contradicted by the evidence of 
 facts ; affirming, as they do, that the sceptre would 
 not fail Judah until the advent of the Messiah, whereas 
 they must have known that it did fail in the Baby- 
 lonian Captivity ; and that the nation, after being re- 
 
THE ARCIIBISIIOr OF CRANGANOR. 185 
 
 established in Judea, and living under subjection to 
 the Persians and Greeks, at length succeeded in 
 breaking and throwing off the heavy and cruel yoke 
 of the lattei', and took for tlieniselves kings from the 
 tribe of Levi, and not from that of Judah ; and, when 
 these became extinct, they chose Herod and his de- 
 scendants for their kings, until nearly the end of the 
 second Tem})le, when the sceptre, that is, what little 
 power had remained in the nation, ceased altogether 
 until the present time. 
 
 In proceeding to investigate this formidable ob- 
 jection, first we are compelled to suppose that two 
 eminent sas-es like these could not be so rash as to 
 
 o 
 
 frame an allegory so contradictory to the literal sense ; 
 for, if what the allegory represents be true, what the 
 patriarch says must be false, as proved by the pre- 
 ceding quotations. Next it becomes necessary to ex- 
 plain the allegory in a manner not only that it may be 
 seen not to contradict the prophecy, but that it may 
 indicate something of the same tendency. 
 
 The learned, both Jews and Christians, ever prefer 
 tlie literal sense to the figurative. The Rabbins clearly 
 say, in the Treatise on the Sabbath, chap, v., that 
 " the Sacred Text can never be diverted from its 
 " literal signification;" and Cornelio a Lepide, in his 
 Canons on the Pentateuch, Can. 40, says, " In sensu 
 " literal! omnis sentential omniaque verba debent ex- 
 " plicare et accommodari rei significatae, id autem non 
 " est necesse in sensu allegorico." AlloAving this, Ave 
 find that, according to the paraphrases of Jonathan 
 and Onkelos, the literal sense of the patriarch's pro- 
 phecy is contrary to, and incompatible with the 
 
136 REFUTATION OF THE SERMON OF 
 
 allegorical interpretation ; for, agreeably to that, 
 from tlie time King David held the sceptre, the 
 sovereignty should never have failed from the house 
 of David, which is the same thing as to say from the 
 tribe of Judah. " Sed sic est ," that it did fail in 
 Zedekiah, the last king at the destruction of Jeru- 
 salem, without ever returning to that tribe, as was 
 seen in the Second Temple ; ergo, conformably to the 
 allegory of these sages, we are constrained to say, 
 either that the patriarch's prophecy was false (which 
 would be an odious heresy and horrid blasphemy), or 
 that the two allegorists knew not how to adapt the 
 allegorical to the literal sense ; this would be a para- 
 dox, as the interpretation given by them of many 
 passages in the Bible, that would otherwise have ap- 
 peared to us incomprehensible, clearly evince the 
 knowledge and capabilities of these most eminent 
 sages. The difficulty is greatly enhanced on seeing 
 that, since the destruction of the second Temple, till 
 the present time, the sceptre has failed in Israel ; how, 
 then, can we ever reconcile the allegory with the pro- 
 phecy, since the allegory confidently affirms that the 
 sceptre will never fail in Judah, whereas the prophecy 
 neither promises nor indicates any such thing? The 
 only mode I can see of solving this formidable diffi- 
 culty is to draw a distinction between possession and 
 jurisdiction, and to understand the text conformably 
 to the allegorists, as representing the patriarch to 
 speak of J7msdictio7i, not of actual possession, which 
 will serve to make the sense of the prophecy clear. 
 
 " Judah (said the holy patriarch), thy brethren will 
 " cede the superiority to thee, thy father's children 
 
THE ARcimisiior of crangaxor. 137 
 
 " will iKnv down to theo, for tlioii art intrepid, nnd 
 " bold as a lion." If, in any time, Judah should for- 
 feit the crown, and the sceptre pass into another tribe, 
 the patriarch assures him that he has nothing to fear, 
 for what he had lost would be merely the possession 
 for a limited time ; the jurisdiction always remaining 
 intact, and reserved, to be enjoyed as a perpetual 
 possession in the person of the future Messiah. 
 
 Nevertheless, as the greater number of commentators 
 are ever inclined to view the phrase, " non auferetur 
 " sceptrum a Juda," as a prophecy, assuring this tribe 
 of a continued and uninterrupted empire until the 
 coming of the Messiah, I find it requisite to invalidate 
 this opinion, and to prove, from various passages and 
 prophecies in the holy Bible, that God had many times 
 threatened his incorrigible people with the downfall of 
 their crown and destruction of their kingdom. 
 
 In Leviticus, chap. xxvi. ver. 33, God says, " I will 
 " scatter you among the nations, and draw out a sword 
 " after you, and your land shall be desolate, and your 
 " cities waste." 
 
 Here we read of dispersion, desolation of the land, 
 and the destruction of cities. Things incompatible 
 with the crown and sceptre. 
 
 In Deuteronomy, chap. iv. ver. 27, we read, "And 
 " the Lord shall disperse you among the nations, and 
 " ye shall be left few in number among the heathen 
 " whither the Lord shall lead you." 
 
 In chap, xxviii. ver. 36, Moses says, " The Lord 
 *' shall bring thee, and thy king which thou shalt set 
 " over thee, unto a nation wdiich neither thou nor thy 
 " fathers have known." 
 
138 REFUTATION OF THE SERMON OF 
 
 From these texts in the Pentateuch may clearly be 
 inferred the total destruction of the kingdom, and the 
 complete dispersion of the nation. I, therefore, can- 
 not perceive whence is derived this boasted certainty 
 of the permanency of the kingdom of Judah till the 
 advent of the Messiah. I am aware I shall be told 
 that this promise is made perfectly obvious and clear 
 in 2 Samuel, chap. vii. ver. 15 and 16, where God says to 
 David, speaking of his son Solomon, " But my mercy 
 *' shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, 
 " whom I put away before thee ; and thine house and 
 " thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee : 
 *' thy throne shall be established for ever." 
 
 In 1 Kings, chap. ix. ver. 3, to the 11th inclusive, 
 in a vision that appeared to Solomon, after having 
 dedicated the temple, God said to him, that he had 
 accepted his dedication, and that His name, His eyes, 
 and His heart, would attend on that house perpetually, 
 and that, if he would follow the steps of David his 
 father, serving Him with a perfect and uj^right heart, 
 and observe His precepts, that He would establish his 
 throne perpetually over Israel, as He had promised to 
 His servant David, saying, " There shall not fail thee 
 " a man upon the throne of Israel; but if you should 
 *' turn from following me, yourself, or your children, 
 " and will not keep my commandments and my sta- 
 " tutes, which I have set before you, but go and serve 
 " other gods, and worship them : then will I cut off 
 " Israel out of the land which I have given them, and 
 " this house, which I have hallowed for the sake of my 
 " name, will I cast out of my sight, and Israel shall 
 " be a proverb and a byword among all people ; and 
 
THE AKClIBISIIOr OF CRANGANOK. 139 
 
 " at this house, whicli is now so high, every one that 
 " passeth by it sluiU be astonished, and shall hiss, and 
 " exclaim. Why hath the Lord done this unto this land 
 " and to this house? And the reply shall be, Because 
 " they forsook the Lord their God, who brought forth 
 " their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and have 
 " resorted to other gods, and have worshipped them 
 " and served them, therefore hath the Lord brought 
 " upon them all this evil !" 
 
 This revelation and promise explain what God would 
 do for David, from which we may incontestably infer, 
 that the greatness, the happiness, and the perpetuity 
 of the sovereignty which God promised David and 
 Solomon, were only conditional and not absolute. Al- 
 though secundum allegata et probata^ my hypothesis is 
 already firmly established, to the effect that God never 
 did promise the patriarch Jacob, or king David, or 
 king Solomon, his son, the perpetuity of the crown (at 
 least until the advent of the Messiah) I will, by way 
 of putting the question for ever at rest, proceed to 
 show, that so far from such promise having ever been 
 made, God revealed to David the profanation of the 
 temple, the destruction of Jerusalem, and the cruel 
 massacre of the people; all which, David bitterly be- 
 wails in Psalm Lxxix., wherein he says, " Oh Lord ! 
 "the heathen are come into thine inheritance; thy 
 " holy temple have they defiled : they have laid Jeru- 
 " salem in heaps ; the dead bodies of thy servants have 
 " they given to be meat to the fowls of heaven ; tlie 
 " flesh of thy saints unto the beasts of the earth ! 
 " Their blood have they shed like water round about 
 " Jerusalem, and there was none to bury tliem," The 
 
140 EEFUTATION OF THE SERMON OF 
 
 remainder of the Psalm is filled with lamentation over 
 the calamities of the nation. This Psalm was either 
 composed hy Asaph, the Levite, a musician of the 
 holy house, and dedicated to David, or may have been 
 composed by David himself, and dedicated to Asaph, 
 as may be inferred from chapter xxv. of 1 st Chronicles : 
 and as all the Psalms were of divine inspiration, we 
 must conclude that God chose to reveal to David the 
 future destruction of Jerusalem ; nor will it avail to 
 say, that David speaks of his own time, deploring the 
 loss of some battle, the result of which constituted the 
 misery that the Psalmist describes. It will not avail, 
 I say, to use a frivolous subterfuge, it being obvious 
 to us, that David never had a battle but wherein he 
 was victorious; and it is a notorious fact, that the 
 Gentiles never did, in his time, either enter Jerusalem, 
 defile the temple, or demolish the holy city ; and that 
 the massacre described in the Psalm never took 
 place. E?'go, this must have been a prophetic revela- 
 tion to David, or to Asaph, whence it may be deduced 
 that David knew that God's promise of perpetuity of 
 the sovereignty in his family was conditional, not 
 absolute. 
 
 To silence cricicism effectually, and leave no room 
 for contradiction, it will be suflficient merely to read 
 Psalm cxxxii. ver. 11, 12, where it says, " The Lord 
 " hath sworn in truth unto David, lie will not turn 
 " from it. Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy 
 " throne. If thy children will keep my covenant and 
 " my testimony that I shall teach them, their children 
 " shall sit upon thy throne for evermore." 
 
 From these verses we see that David himself ac- 
 
THE ARCHBISHOP OF CUANGANOR. Ill 
 
 knowledges that the perpetuity of the kmgdoni and his 
 family, previous to the eoniing of the Messiah, was to 
 be conditional^ and not absolute. We might also quote 
 the 137th Psalm, which represents the peo[)le as cap- 
 tives in Babylon ; but there being no title attached to 
 this Psalm, and there being many who suppose it to 
 have been composed in Babylon by some feeling and 
 pious person (although such is not my opinion), I will 
 not make use of it, more especially as I consider that 
 the arguments already adduced have established my 
 hypothesis on an indestructible foundation. 
 
 XLY. and LII. — In order to prove his assumption, 
 the preacher recurs to the statue in Nebuchadnezzar's 
 dream, interpreting the three first metals, gold, silver, 
 and copper, to mean the three monarchies, Chaldean, 
 Persian, 'and Greek ; and applies the fourth, iron, to 
 the Roman, ascribing the potter's clay to the Jewish 
 kingdom, which was not united with the iron, but 
 mixed with it ; mixed, that is to say, by the alliance 
 that existed between the Romans and the Jews, by 
 virtue of which the Romans were obliged, in case 
 of war, to succour and defend them. He then 
 adds, that the stone without hands, that struck the 
 statue and reduced it to powder for ever, scattered 
 and destroyed the clay, together with the four me- 
 tals. 
 
 I would ask the Lord Archbishop, supposing that 
 Israel is doomed to remain permanently scattered and 
 destroyed, what necessity would there be for the Mes- 
 siah? and for whom need he to come? who woidd 
 there be to enjoy the promised greatness and hap[)iiiess 
 
142 REFUTATION OF THE SERMON OP 
 
 during the period of his reign? How would the 
 prophecy be accomplished that Jeremiah proclaims 
 (chap, xxiii. ver. 5), "Behold the days come, saith 
 " the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous 
 " Branch, and a just king shall reign and prosper, 
 '' and shall do justice and charity in the land; in his 
 " days shall Judah be saved, and Israel shall dwell in 
 " peace^^^ &c. ? 
 
 The same is confirmed in cliap. xxxiii., ver. 15 and 
 16, and also in ver. 17, where it says, " Thus saith the 
 " Lord, There shall not be cut oif from David a man to 
 " sit on the throne of the house of Israel." Now if 
 the destruction of Israel had been typihed by the 
 crumbling of the clay of the colossus, according to the 
 hypothesis of the archbishop, over whom is this just 
 and charitable king to reign? Who are the people 
 that are to enjoy his mild dominion? What nation 
 will have the merit to attain the favour of his pro- 
 tection ? 
 
 It is a dangerous experiment, by means of any such 
 ill-explained and misapplied allegories, to attempt to 
 convince a nation among whom it has never been the 
 practice to swerve from the literal sense of Holy Writ, 
 and that with good reason and justice, as the literal 
 word of God is pure, clear, unalterable, inviolable, and 
 incontrovertible, whilst allegory is merely a frail hu- 
 man invention, frequently inapplicable, and when 
 applicable, more often conducing to error than to 
 truth. 
 
 Besides the incontestable proofs quoted from tlie 
 prophet Jeremiah, an infinite number more might be 
 collected from all the prophets ; however, I shall con- 
 
THE xVRCITBISIlOP OF CHANG ANOR. 143 
 
 fine myself solely to confuting the false proposition 
 ■which the preacher ventures to advance (namely, that 
 the breaking in pieces of the clay of the statue, is to 
 be interpreted as applicable to Israel), and endeavour 
 to convince him by the words of the prophet Daniel, 
 chapter ii. ver. 44. " Porro tempore reguin istorum 
 " suscitavit Deus coeli regnum quod in a3ternum noii 
 " corrumpitur, et regnum istud populo alteri non re- 
 " linqueter; comminuet et consumat omnia ista regna, 
 " et ipsum stabit in teternum ! " 
 
 " But in the days of these kings the God of Heaven 
 " will raise up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, 
 " and the kingdom shall not be surrendered to any other 
 " people; but it shall break in pieces and consume all 
 " these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever !" 
 
 The toes, partly of iron, and partly of clay, indicate 
 that a portion of the kingdom should remain firm, and 
 the rest be broken up. It cannot be inferred that 
 there are two kingdoms, as the preacher imagines; but 
 merely, that there is 07ie kingdom, part of which will 
 be strong, and the other part weak. J^rgo, he cannot 
 affirm that the clay is a fifth kingdom, indicating the 
 Jewish empire. 
 
 XLVIII. — Our author proceeds with much con- 
 fidence to assert, that the prophet foretells that the 
 advent of the Messiah would take place while the 
 Eoman empire and the Jews were still mingled to- 
 gether ; and that, on his coming, he would destroy in 
 the Jews the clay of their kingdom, and in the llo- 
 mans the iron of their empire; for IVoni the ruins of 
 
144 REFUTATION OP THE SERMON OF 
 
 these two doraiiiions would arise the kingdom of the 
 Messiah, which, &c. 
 
 From this, he brings to bear against the Jews a 
 dilemma, which appears to him to be irrefutable, 
 alleging that the Roman empire is no longer mingled 
 Avith tlie kingdom of the Jews ; nor is the kingdom of 
 the Jews mingled, with that empire, for that both these 
 powers are destroyed; and goes on to say, that the 
 kingdom of Christ is now spread all over the world, 
 and denies that the Messiah can come after that 
 destruction ; but that the destruction was to follow his 
 coming. So formidable does the preacher consider 
 this dilemma, that he persuades himself the Jews will 
 remain convinced and confuted, without having a 
 word to say in reply; but he does not consider what 
 has been stated and proved above; namely, that in 
 this colossal statue there was no substance whatever 
 that indicated the Jews. This having been already 
 clearly established, we see the chimerical invention of 
 the preacher's dilemma, as completely fallen, demo- 
 lished, and crumbled into dust, as the statue of Nebu- 
 chadnezzar itself. 
 
 To confirm this fact, it will be sufficient merely to 
 read the beginning of Daniel, chapter vii. where he 
 relates seeing, in a vision, the same four monarchies, 
 which Nebuchadnezzar had seen represented by the 
 four metals, gold, silver, copper, and iron, depicted to 
 him under the type of four wild beasts ; a lion, a bear, 
 a tiger, and another, whose figure he only describes as 
 monstrous, hideous, and most dreadful in form and 
 aspect. 
 
THE ARCHBISHOP OF CRANGANOR. 145 
 
 If then this vision of Daniel was the counterpart of 
 tliat of Nebachadnezzar, with this single difference, 
 that the emblems in the one case consisted of metals, 
 and in the other, of animals, it follows, tlmt as in 
 Daniel's we only count four animals, representing 
 the four monarcliies, so in Nebuchadnezzar's, the 
 number must also be four. 
 
 To convince the Jews, by means of allegories, is as 
 futile as to attempt retaining water in a sieve ; for the 
 Hebrew nation never abandon the literal sense of the 
 Scriptures ; concluding, and with reason, that the 
 literal sense is the true word of God, pure, sincere, in- 
 violable, and infallible, while allegory is nothing more 
 than a conjecture, an idea, a presumption, a chimera, 
 concocted from the slender materials that the circum- 
 scribed knowledge of the human mind can supply. 
 
 The preacher explains the metals in Nebuchad- 
 nezzar's statue, according to the principles which he 
 considers suited to his own purpose; and, contrary to 
 the fact, represents the Roman empire as already de- 
 stroyed. To see this more clearly, it must be noticed, 
 that the Persians, who conquered the Babylonian 
 monarchy, destroyed and annihilated it in a manner 
 that it remained extra rerum naturam, as we learn 
 from the sacred Scriptures, and from the history of 
 those times, which explains the statue's remaining 
 without the head of gold. The Persian monarchy was 
 subverted and demolished by the Greeks, that of the 
 Greeks, by the Romans; thus three metals are disposed 
 of, and there only remains the iron, mixed with the 
 clay. This indicates the Roman empire, wliich sub- 
 sists and remains, down to the present day. True, it is 
 
 L 
 
146 REFUTATION OF THE SERMON OF 
 
 not with so extended a territory, or wide a jurisdic- 
 tion, as in former times : but still incontrovertibly as 
 the same Roman empire, although confined within 
 very narrow limits: for the emperor of Germany, 
 before being crowned emperor, takes up the title, in 
 his father's life, of king of the Romans, and after 
 becoming emperor, enjoys the same titles and dignities 
 as his ancestors, he being called Ca3sar and Augustus ; 
 and, as such, a pre-eminence is conceded to him by all 
 the kings and potentates of Europe, without dispute 
 or opposition. 
 
 If the feet of iron, which represent the Roman 
 empire, remain, it involves a contradiction, to suppose 
 that the stone now fills the earth with its bulk ; for 
 the prophet says, that the stone, after having reduced 
 all the metals to dust, was converted into an immense 
 mountain, that filled the whole earth : now, allomng 
 that the fourth metal still subsists, there can be no 
 stone, for they cannot exist together; ^^ Sed sic est,'^ 
 that the metal does exist; ergo, the stone cannot yet 
 have appeared, and consequently the Messiah is not 
 yet come. 
 
 To establish the doctrine of the Messiah's having 
 already come,> our author avails himself of the pre- 
 tended authority of the Talmudic rabbins, whom he 
 quotes as afiirming that the final D (mem) contained in 
 the word n!21D7 {lemarhe) Isaiah, chap.ix. ver. 7, which 
 numerically represents six Imndred, indicates that so 
 many years had passed from the promulgation of that 
 prophecy to the death of Christ; and that it had 
 always been held, tliat Avhen those six hundred years 
 were expired, the time for the Messiah's appearance 
 
THE ARCIIBTSIIOr OF CRANGANOR. 147 
 
 Avould be close at hand. lie further adds, that the 
 rnbbi in question flourished two hundred years after 
 tlie birth of Christ. If this were the case, how can it be 
 explained, that knowing the predicted period had so 
 long elapsed, he did not renounce the Mosaic law, and 
 profess the Christian doctrine? 
 
 To vanquish these imaginary difficulties, repre- 
 sented by our author as so formidable, let the good 
 father be informed, that the Jews Avill not deviate one 
 iota from the literal meaning of the text, nor will they 
 ever admit of converting the plain literal sense into 
 allegory: but when any passage occurs which is 
 obviously figurative, they will endeavour to resolve it 
 into a sense as nearly approaching the literal as the 
 text will allow. 
 
 Let him learn also, that the Talmud is composed of 
 canons, dogmas, and regulations for the ritual ; and that 
 when in case of a doubt arising among the rabbins 
 upon any point therein treated, after having been tho- 
 roughly discussed and canvassed in their medrash, or 
 college, it has been solved and decided by a plurality of 
 voices, conformably to the opinion that appears to carry 
 with it the greatest weight : such decision is preserved 
 and followed by the Jews, as rigidly as if it were the 
 written law itself. On the other hand, as is well 
 known, the Talmud contains an immense number of 
 allegories in reference to every part of the Bible, 
 which frequently give rise to questions that are agi- 
 tated and investigated like the rest, but are never ab- 
 solutely determined nor decided upon, and only serve 
 to elicit some moral conclusions for the people, wliich, 
 
148 REFUTATION OF THE SERMON OF 
 
 if well selected and well applied in sermons, arc likely 
 to produce useful effects on the congregation. 
 
 But to come more immediately to the point at issue, 
 i. e. the closed or final mem which occurs in the middle 
 of the word, and which the Talmudists (if we may 
 believe the preacher) understand to denote a num- 
 ber : I shall show, and with every appearance of pro- 
 bability, and in strict conformity with the circum- 
 stances of the times, that it may be accounted for by 
 looking to the form of the letter itself. 
 
 God having promised the pious and devout King 
 Hezekiah a solid and lasting peace, and a perpetual 
 and uninterrupted tranquillity, not satisfied with hav- 
 ing signified this in mere verbal language, placed in 
 the middle of the word the final mem^ which being a 
 close quadrangle, served the purpose of a hierogly- 
 phic, to indicate to the king, that as this square is so 
 shut in on all sides, that nothing can enter or break it, 
 in like manner the peace he was to enjoy would not be 
 interrupted or broken in upon during his whole life, 
 as, in fact, turned out to be the case. 
 
 Here we perceive two allegories applied to this 
 mem^ founded on two suppositions, both possible, both 
 plausible, and both adequate. Let us examine the 
 value and meaning of the Talmudic allegory, and how 
 far it extends. 
 
 The Talmudic rabbi, according to the preacher, 
 affirms, that the Messiah ought to come six hundred 
 years after King Ahaz, in virtue of the closed or final 
 mem : well, so be it ; but it is rec[uisite to examine 
 the qualification of this rabbi, and how he became 
 
THE ARCHBISHOP OF CRAXGANOR. 149 
 
 enabled to lathoiii this recoiulite mystery, whether by 
 reflection or by divine inspiration; if it were from the 
 latter of these means, it becomes a sort of prophecy, 
 and as such demands our implicit acquiescence ; but if 
 obtained from his own meditations and ideas, it is 
 entitled to no greater influence or force than any other 
 allegory : and being so, as, in fact, it is, there is no 
 obligation to believe or receive it as if it were prophecy ; 
 on the contrar}^, the author himself only advances it 
 as a mere conjecture, believing the event possible (at 
 the time named), but not as sure to happen. This 
 proves itself; for if the nation had received this pre- 
 diction as prophetical, they would have acknowledged 
 Christ to be the ^lessiah, that is to say, the Messiah 
 promised in the closed mem^ but which they certainly 
 did not. 
 
 LY. — It is ridiculous to object, as is done at the end 
 of section 53, that if the Jews deny that the mem in 
 Lemarhe signifles the six hundred years that elapsed 
 between the fourth year of Ahaz and the coming of 
 Christ, they would incur the penalty of death. 
 
 The Lord Archbishop is much mistaken; for the 
 obligation on the Jews to believe the rabbins extends 
 no farther than to the doctrine and the ritual of the 
 Law, as we may perceive from chap. xvii. ver. 8 to 14 
 of Deuteronomy. l>ut they are not compelled to be- 
 lieve in every rabbinical allegory. I have already 
 remarked, that if any rabbi makes an allegorical state- 
 ment or exposition of any passage in the Holy Scrip- 
 tures, which the preacher imagines may be turned to 
 
150 REFUTATION OF THE SERMON OF 
 
 his own advantage, he presents it in argument to the 
 Jews as if it were with them an article of faith, and 
 persuades himself that he has thereby brought con- 
 viction home to their minds. According to this doc- 
 trine, I, for my disbelief in the rabbinical exposition 
 of the mem, ought to be regarded by my nation as 
 a heretic or schismatic : but- this is far from being the 
 case ; for, as I have so often remarked, allegory is no 
 more than a human idea, and as such not considered 
 to carry with it any divine sanction ; thus, the argu- 
 ment drawn from the numerical sigTiiiication of the 
 mem falls to the ground and needs no further reply. 
 The author of this refutation, oppressed by age and 
 infirmities, has had no opportunity to see the book 
 quoted by the reverend preacher ; but, having atten- 
 tively examined the passage alluded to in the works 
 of Maimonides himself, finds that the archbishop, mth 
 his accustomed candour, has given a garbled extract 
 therefrom, omitting the commencement of the dis- 
 course, which is essential to the true understanding of 
 the paragraph in question. The author writes as 
 follows :* " With regard to what you say relating to 
 " the period of the Messiah's coming, and what R. 
 " Zehadya advances on the subject : first you ought 
 " to know that the precise time cannot be ascertained 
 " by any living being, as is declared in Daniel xii. 9, 
 " 'And he said. Go thy way Daniel, for the words are 
 " 'closed up and sealed till the end of time.' 
 
 " However, ideas and opinions have been entertained 
 
 * \iAe. Epist. ad Orient. 
 
THE ARCHBISHOP OF CKANGANOR. 151 
 
 '* by some learned men, ^vlio think they have as- 
 " certahied it, and the })rophet has touched on that 
 "pohit, saying (Dan. xii. 4), ' Though you extend 
 " ' and increase knowledge greatly,' etc., meaning 
 " that although opinions would multiply, and va- 
 " rious judgments be formed concerning the Messiah's 
 " coming, still no human prediction of that event 
 " would be accomplished ; the prophet goes on to 
 " admonish us, not on that account to doubt of the 
 " truth of God's promise, and says, ' Be not troubled 
 '"if this be not accomplished at the time an- 
 " 'ticipated; but in proportion as his coming may be 
 " ' protracted, so let your hopes be increased ;' as also 
 " says Habakkuk, chap. ii. ver. 3, ' And though it 
 " ' tarries, wait for it, because it will surely come.' 
 
 " It deserves notice that the period even of the 
 " Egyptian captivity, although to this God affixed a 
 " precise term (for Y>^e read in Genesis, chap. xv. ver. 
 " 13, 'And they shall serve them, and be afflicted by 
 "'them four hundred years'), is not exactly under- 
 " stood, being difficult to ascertain, some supposing 
 " that these four hundred years should be reckoned 
 " from the Patriarch Jacob's going down into Egypt ; 
 " others, from the time the captivity commenced, 
 "about seventy years later; others again were of 
 " opinion, that the period Avas to be reckoned from 
 " the time of the Patriarch Abraham's receiving the 
 " revelation, and accordingly when the four hundred 
 "years of their reckoning were completed, certain 
 " Israelites left Egypt thirty years before the mission 
 " of Moses, thinking that the time of redemption had 
 
u ; 
 
 152 KEFUTATION OF THE SERMON OF 
 
 " arrived; and tliey were slain by the Egyptians, who 
 " increased the yoke of the captivity : this at least we 
 " are taught by our sages; and David alludes to these 
 " men in Psalin Ixxviii. ver. 9, where he says, ' The 
 "'children of Ephraim, armed and carrying bows, 
 " 'turned their back in the day of battle!' 
 
 " The true reckoning of the four hundred years 
 " was from the birth of Isaac, who was Abraham's 
 " successor, as we read in Genesis, chap. xxi. ver. 12, 
 " ' For in Isaac shall thy generation be called.' In 
 " Gen. chap. xv. ver. 13, God said, ' Your posterity 
 "'shall be wanderers in a land not their own, and 
 shall serve and be afflicted by them four hundred 
 years.' The literal sense of this verse is, that 
 " during part of the captivity, the Egyptians would 
 " rule over them, humiliate, and afflict them, as there 
 " were to be, in all, four hundred years of exile, but 
 " not of subjection. This truth remained unknown, 
 " until it was found, after the coming of Moses, 
 " that the four hundred years were accomplished be- 
 " tween the birth of Isaac and the departure from 
 " Egypt. We consequently may infer, that if the 
 " term of the Egyptian captivity, which had a fixed 
 " and limited period, was not rightly understood, how 
 " much less likely so to be is our present protracted 
 " captivity, which from its extended duration alarmed 
 " the prophets themselves, and prompted one of them 
 " to exclaim, Psalm Ixxxiv. ver. 5, ' AVilt thou be 
 " ' angry with us for ever ? Wilt thou extend thine 
 *' 'anger to all generations?' And Isaiah, treating 
 " on the procrastination of tlie captivity, says, chap. 
 *' xxiv, ver. 22, ' And they shidl Ijc gislhered together 
 
THE AKCIlBISIIOr OF CRANGANOU. 153 
 
 " 'as prisoners iirc gtithered in the dungeon, and sludl 
 " 'be shut up in the prison, and after man}' days shall 
 '"be visited.'" 
 
 From the above quotation, we perceive that the 
 very learned author was of opinion, that no man can 
 ever attain to a knowledge of the precise time of the 
 Messiah's coming : in proof of which, he quotes the 
 verse from Daniel, " That the prophecies will remain 
 "closed and sealed until the last hour;" and from this 
 fact, he brings forward the example of the Egyptian 
 captivity, to which, although God was pleased to affix 
 a precise limit of four hundred years, there existed 
 various suppositions and opinions concerning its 
 duration, by reason of the uncertainty of the exact 
 date from which the computation was to commence. 
 
 This eminent sage, after expressing himself so ex- 
 plicitly on this article, ventures to prescribe a period for 
 the advent of the Messiah : knowing this fact, is there 
 any person in the world (except the archbishop), who 
 can fail to believe that this opinion is advanced not 
 as infallible but merely as possible ? If the preacher 
 had been candid enough to produce the whole of the 
 passage (as I have done), there would have been no 
 foundation left for his arguments; but it was certain, 
 that he had not to fear contradiction from those he 
 was addressing, they being men condemned to the 
 flames, suffering under penance and wearing the badge 
 of the Inquisition. 
 
 L\l. — In this number, cur author adduces a sen- 
 tence from one of the sages of the Talmud, who says 
 that the world is to exist onlv six thousand vears, 
 
154 REFUTATION OF THE SEEMON OF 
 
 " Macliini Mundi hujus annorum Sexies Milla, et 
 " Don plurum persistere debet," and then adds, " the 
 '' same say your rabbins, from ancient tradition since 
 " the time of Elijah's disciples." 
 
 The preacher here asserts two things : — First, that 
 the rabbins affirm this from ancient tradition. 
 Secondly, that this same tradition takes its origin 
 from the disciples of Elijah, understanding this Elijah 
 to be the prophet known by that name, who was 
 taken up alive to Heaven ; but to show how little the 
 reverend father is versed in Hebrew literature, and 
 how imperfect his acquaintance is with the Talmud, 
 I will show that this is only the unsupported opinion 
 of one of the sages, and not ancient tradition received 
 from the time of Elijah's disciples; and in the course of 
 the discussion it will appear who this Elijah actually 
 was. 
 
 First, it is requisite to keep in mind, that in the 
 Talmud, when a sage advances an opinion, whether 
 originating in his own mind, or based on some pas- 
 sage in the Holy Scriptures, if it does not appertain 
 to any part of the law, either ritual or doctrinal, it 
 is not discussed nor decided, so that, although some- 
 times the opinions of others are produced against it, 
 the matter goes no further. 
 
 The great Eabbi Moses of Egypt, in the last chapter 
 of his commentary on Kings, treating on the different 
 opinions in the Talmud, as to what is to happen before 
 and after the coming of the Messiah, sa3's, that these 
 prophecies are very obscure and difficult to compre- 
 hend, that the prophets themselves did not under- 
 stand them, that the sages did not receive any 
 
THE ARCIIIUSIIOr OF CRANGANOR. V.^- 155 ' J^ '' ^ 
 
 trnJltion conceniiiig them, and that they <^"l7^s5|«^j^ '' 2 
 coursed about them from what they collected frOTia^i^If*i 
 the text itself. Thus we find that this learned man, ^*^ 
 so eminent in the knowledge of the Talmud, asserts 
 that the sages never received any tradition regarding 
 these sayings and opinions, and that they formed their 
 notions on them from conjecture ; and this he follows 
 up, by saying, that much time ought not to be 
 bestowed on this study, since mere human conjec- 
 tures often prove erroneous and rarely true ! 
 
 Hence we perceive, that this opinion has never 
 been received, either aa an article of faith or tradition, 
 and if the term of six thousand years had passed, we 
 should be entitled to say, that it had not been justified 
 by the event, or that it indicated, under a .form of 
 speech, something that we could not comprehend : 
 and to show that it is not sanctioned by the Talmud, 
 w^e find in the treatise Sanhedrim, chapter Ilelek 
 (which he so frequently quotes), that a different 
 opinion was entertained by another famous rabbi, who 
 says that the reign of the Messiah in himself and in 
 his descendants, is to last seven thousand years. 
 
 Our author further afiirms, that the doctrine of 
 the six thousand years M^as an old tradition received 
 by the rabbins from the disciples of Elijah, and to 
 give force to the argument, he leads us to understand 
 tliat it was the prophet Elijah. 
 
 However, I beg to inform the Archbishop, that this 
 same Elijah was only a rabbi, in Avhose house an 
 academy was held; and when anything is recorded in 
 his name, it is to be understood merely as liavin 
 been di^^cusscd therein : and the same remark applie; 
 
 to 
 
156 REFUTATION OF THE SERMON OF 
 
 to Rabbi Ishmael, in whose house anotlier academy 
 was held, of which the proceedings are given in the 
 same form; so this Elijah was just as much the pro- 
 phet Elijah, as Rabbi Ishmael the son of the patriarch 
 Abraham ; consequently the tradition was not received 
 from the disciples of Elijah, as the learned preacher 
 has affirmed. 
 
 I cannot pass unnoticed the manner in which he 
 has misrepresented the passage to which he refers ; 
 for in order to shape it to his taste, and to prevent the 
 possibility of contradiction, he does not produce the 
 text itself, but says the sages affirm that the world 
 will exist only six thousand years. The first two 
 thousand, under the Law of Nature, without the 
 written law; the second two thousand, under the Law 
 of Moses ; and the last two thousand, under the Law 
 of the Messiah. 
 
 But in fact, the sage expresses himself in the follow- 
 ing manner: — " It was declared in the academy, or 
 " rather Elijah's house, that the world is to subsist 
 " six thousand years, and then for one thousand it is 
 "to remain waste; two thousand without any juris- 
 " diction Avhatever; two thousand with the Law of 
 "Moses; and tAvo thousand during the time of the 
 " Messiah." 
 
 "\Ye see then how the preacher perverts this opinion, 
 and makes an addition, of his own invention, to the 
 words of the sage, who merely says, that the last two 
 thousand years will be those Avhen the Messiah may 
 or ought to come (that is to say, during any part of 
 them, either at their beginning or end), ])ut the 
 preacher makes him declare that the last two thousand 
 years are to be under the Law of the Messiah, indi- 
 
TITE ARCIIBISIIOP OF CRANGANOR. 157 
 
 cative that the Law of Moses was then to cease, and 
 that of Christ to be established ; whereas, the learned 
 Elijah made no mention whatever of the law of the 
 IMessiah, bnt only of the time of the Messiah; his 
 object being, by interpolating and corrupting the 
 text, to represent the rabbins of the Tahnud, as 
 believing in Christ. Men who argue in this manner 
 expose themselves not only to the derision and scoff 
 of the Jews, but also to the contempt of all well- 
 informed Christians. 
 
 LYII. — The same re})ly may be made to his in- 
 ference, drawn from the doctrine of the eighty-five 
 jubilees, viz. : that it is not received tradition, but 
 merely individual opinion, and as such does not compel 
 our belief. He adds, that we ought to take counsel of 
 a certain Rabbi Samuel, who, convinced by a similar 
 train of reasoning, renounced our faith, and wor- 
 shipped Christ ; this same Rabbi Samuel having stated, 
 that after turning over in his mind all that the prophet 
 had said, he clearly understood that Christ was the 
 Son of God, sent into the world for our redemption. 
 I believe what he states, with regard to turning over 
 the prophets ; but I can assert, that / have studied 
 them, and made them my principal occupation, during 
 several years, but never found what this neopliyte 
 discovered; and I am confident that no one will make 
 such a discover}', who carefully studies the prophecies, 
 and not merely skhns them over. Indeed, the numerous 
 proofs, alleged by the archbishop, go no further, than 
 to show the weakness of his arguments, and tlie slight 
 foundation on which he builds his opinions. 
 
158 REFUTATION OF THE SERMON OF 
 
 He says that Rabbi Aniraa Voluntas, or Rabbi 
 Moses of Egypt, for they are one and the same, also 
 acknowledges this truth, as may be seen in Sanhedrim^ 
 Gazit^ in the division Helek 0, for on the Jews inquiring 
 of him the time of the Messiah's coming, this rabbi, 
 contemplating the procrastination of his and our hopes, 
 in regard to the future advent of the Messiah, answered 
 them with this reproof, " Vanum est atque inane a 
 " JudasisMessiam expectari, sed sola redemptio consistit 
 " in poenitentia." 
 
 I do not know who the Anima Voluntas, or Rabbi 
 Moses the Egyptian, can be, who gave this opinion. 
 Here is evidently an anachronism of seven or eight 
 hundred years, for the Talmud was completed twelve 
 or thirteen centuries back, whereas the only Rabbi 
 Moses of Egypt I know, flourished but about six cen- 
 turies ago. What we do find in the chapter alluded 
 to, is an expression of a very learned man, named 
 Rab, who, treating on tlie advent of the Messiah, says ; 
 " Already all the appointed periods of time are passed, 
 " and the event (namely the advent of the Messiah) 
 " now only depends on penitence and pious works." 
 
 He hereby intimates, that the present captivity has 
 no prescribed term, as was the case ^\^th those of Egypt 
 and Babylon (one of four hundred years, the other, of 
 seventy), and that the periods supposed to have been 
 set by Daniel, or others, having passed away, and the 
 Messiah not yet come, the Jews ought now to un- 
 deceive themselves, and learn that the coming of the 
 Messiah rests only on penitence and good works, and 
 does not depend on any fixed epoch. It seems to 
 me impossible to collect from the«e words of the sage, 
 that he understood the Messiah had already come. 
 
THE APxCIIBISTIOr OF CRANGANOR. 159 
 
 LVIIT. — LXIII. — In tlicse sections, our autlior 
 gives an elaborate history of various pseudo-Messiahs, 
 that have appeared in the nation during a period of 
 more than fifteen luindred years. To all this it may 
 be answered, that although it be true the people ran to 
 receive some of them, flattering themselves with the 
 belief that each might be the true and expected Mes- 
 siah, so soon as they saw that the prophecies which 
 regard the true Messiah were not literally fulfilled in 
 them, they rejected and abandoned them, looking upon 
 them in the light in which they are still held by the 
 nation, as mere impostors. 
 
 Is it any wonder that an abject and oppressed 
 people should seize every opportunity to effect their 
 deliverance, being led away by that confidence which 
 they always had, and still have, in God, and by the 
 hope they place in His divine and holy word, which 
 cannot fail ? 
 
 Did there not exist, and do there not exist at the 
 present day, in Portugal, persons who expect the re- 
 turn of King Sebastian ;* and was there not, in past 
 ages, one who pretended to be the same, and were not 
 books written to prove him such ? If, then, such things 
 have occurred in a free nation, merely from the 
 anxious Avish of beholding again a beloved monarch, 
 can it be surprising that an oppressed people, actuated 
 
 * King Don Sebastian was supposed, in fonriGr af^es, to have 
 mysteriously disappearoil from Portuo[cil, au(i numbers of bis subjects 
 verily believed lie would return to them at some future period ; and 
 there used to be, in Lisbon, one particular road by which many 
 imagined he would come. 
 
160 REFUTATION OF THE SERMON OF 
 
 by the fond hope of seeing a king promised to them 
 by the Ahnighty, should fall into a similar error? 
 
 LXIY. — In tliis section, our author questions the 
 Jews seriously, if they expect the Messiah to come 
 with those signs that the Scriptures and the prophets 
 describe, or with others, of which no mention is made? 
 
 I reply to the archbishop, that the Messiah we ex- 
 pect is the same that is described in the holy Scrip- 
 tures ; and if he wishes to know for what purpose he 
 is to come, and what he will effect, let him read the 
 following prophecies. 
 
 Deuteronomy, xxx. 1 — 10. " And it shall come 
 " to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, 
 " the blessing and the curse, which I have set before 
 " thee, and thou shalt call them to mind anions^ all 
 " the nations whither the Lord thy God has driven 
 " thee, and shalt return unto the Lord thy God, and 
 " shalt obey his voice according to all that I command 
 " thee this day, thou and thy children, Avith all thine 
 " heart, and all thy soul; that then the Lord thy God 
 " will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon 
 " thee, and will return and gather thee from all the 
 " nations, whither the Lord thy God hath scattered 
 " thee. If any of thine be driven out into the utter- 
 " most parts of heaven, from thence Avill the Lord thy 
 " God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee : 
 " and the Lord thy God will bring thee into the land 
 " which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess 
 " it; and he will do thee good, and multiply thee 
 " above thy fathers; and the Lord thy God will 
 
THE ARCTIllTRTTOr OF CRANGANOR. Ifil 
 
 ' circumcise tliiiie heart, and the heart of thy seed, to 
 ' h)ve the Lord tliy God with all thine heart, and with 
 ' all thy soul, that tliou mayest live; and the Lord thy 
 ' God will put all these curses upon thine enemies, and 
 ' on tliem that hate thee, who have persecuted thee; 
 ' and thou shalt I'cturn and obey the voice of the 
 ' Lord, and do all his commandments, which I com- 
 ' mand thee this day ; and the Lord thy God will 
 ' make thee plenteous in every work of thine hand, in 
 ' the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, 
 ' and in the fruit of thy land for good, for the Lord 
 ' will again rejoice over thee for good, as he rejoiced 
 ' over thy fathers; if thou shalt hearken unto the 
 ' voice of the Lord thy God, to keep his command- 
 ' ments, and his statutes, which are written in tlie 
 ' book of the law, and if thou turn unto the Lord thy 
 ' God with all thine heart and with all thy soul." 
 From these verses it must be inferred, that even 
 
 after the advent of the Messiah, the law of Moses will 
 
 be observed by His people. 
 
 Isaiah, chap. ii. ver. 2 — 4. " And it shall come to 
 ' pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's 
 ' house shall be established on the top of the mountains, 
 ' and shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations 
 ' shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and 
 ' say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of 
 ' the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he 
 ' will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his 
 ' paths, for out of Zion shall go forth the law ; and the 
 ' word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And he shall 
 ' judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many 
 ' i)eopl(', and they shall beat their swords into plough- 
 M 
 
162 REFUTATION OF THE SERMON OF 
 
 " shares, and their spears into pruning-books; nation 
 " shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall 
 " they learn war any more." 
 
 Ibid. chap. xi. ver. 10 — 16. " And in that day there 
 " shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an 
 " ensign of the people, to it shall the Gentiles seek, and 
 " his rest shall be glorious. And it shall come to pass 
 " in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the 
 " second time to recover the remnant of his people, 
 " which shall be left from Assyria, and from Egypt, 
 " and from Pathros, and from Gush, and from Elam, 
 " and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the 
 " islands of the sea. And he shall set up an ensign 
 ''''for the nations^ and shall assemble the outcasts of 
 " Israel^ and gathei^ togetlter the dispersed of Judah 
 '■''from the four corners of the earth. The envy also 
 " of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah 
 " shall be cut oiF: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and 
 " Judah shall not vex Ephraim. But they shall fly 
 " upon the shoulders of the Philistines towards the 
 " West; they shall spoil them of the East together; 
 " they shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab, and 
 " the children of Amnion shall obey them. And the 
 " Lord shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian 
 " sea, and shall wave his hand over the river, and with 
 " his mighty winds shall smite it into seven streams, 
 " and make men go over dryshod ! And there shall 
 " be a highway for the remnant of his j^eople, which 
 " shall be left from Assyria, like as it was to Israel in 
 " the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt." 
 Ibid. lii. 1. " Awake, awake: put on thy strength, 
 " Zion ; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem 
 
TIIF AT^rilBTSTIOr OF CRANGAXOR. 108 
 
 "the holy city! lor henceforth there shall no more 
 '' come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean." 
 
 Ibid. chap. Ixv. ver. 16, 19, and 20. " Pie who 
 " blesseth himself in the earth shall bless hhnself in 
 " the God of Truth, and he that sweareth in the 
 " earth shall swear by the God of Truth; because 
 " the former troubles are forgotten, and because they 
 " are hid from mine eyes ! . . . . I will rejoice in 
 " Jerusalem, and joy in my people, and the voice of 
 " weeping shall no more be heard in her, nor the 
 " voice of crying. There shall be no more thence 
 " an infant of days : nor an old man that hath not 
 "filled his days; for the child shall die a hundred 
 " years old : but the sinner being a hundred years 
 " old shall be accursed." And so throughout the 
 chapter. 
 
 Ibid. chap. Ixvi. 18, 19, and 20. "For I know 
 " their works, and their thoughts ; it shall come that 
 " I will gather all nations and tongues, and they shall 
 " come and see my glory. And I will set among them 
 " a sign, and I will send those that escape of them 
 " unto the nations Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that draw 
 " the bow, to Tubal and Javan, to the isles afar off, 
 " that have not heard my fame, neither have seen my 
 " glory, and they shall declare my glory among the 
 " Gentiles. And they shall bring all your brethren 
 " for an offering unto the Lord out of all nations, 
 " upon horses and in chariots, and in litters, and upon 
 " mules, and upon swift beasts, to my holy mountain, 
 " Jerusalem, saith the Lord, as the cliildren of Israel 
 " bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of 
 " the Lord." 
 
164 REFUTATION OF TFIE SERMON OF 
 
 Jereinuih, chap. iii. ver. 17 and 18. "At that time 
 " they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord, 
 " and all the nations shall be gathered into it to the 
 " name of the Lord to Jerusalem, neitlier shall they 
 " walk any more after the imagination of their evil 
 " hearts. In those days the house of Judah shall 
 " walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come 
 " together out of the land of the north, to the land I 
 " have given for an inheritance to your fathers." 
 
 Ibid. chap. xxxi. ver. 34. " And they shall no 
 " more teach every man his neighbour and every man 
 " his brother, saying. Know the Lord, for they shall 
 " all know me, from the least of them even unto the 
 " greatest of them, saith the Lord : for I will forgive 
 " their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no 
 " more." 
 
 Ezekiel, chap, xxxvi. ver. 25 and 2G. " Then I 
 " will sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall 
 " be clean from all your iilthiness, and from all your 
 " idols will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give 
 " you, and a new spirit will I put within you, and I 
 " will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, 
 " and I will give you a heart of flesh." 
 
 Ibid. chap, xxxvii. ver. 24 — 28. " And David my 
 " servant shall be king over them; and they shall 
 " have one shepherd; they shall also walk in my 
 " judgments, and observe my statutes and do them. 
 " And they shall dwell in the land that I have given 
 " unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have 
 " dwelt, and they shall dwell therein, even they and 
 " their children, and their children's children for ever, 
 " and my servant David shall be their prince for ever. 
 
TllK AKClUMSIIor OF CKANGAXOK. 165 
 
 " Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with 
 " them; it shall be an everlasting covenant Avith them, 
 " and I will place them and multiply them, and will 
 " set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. 
 " My tabernacle also shall be with them : yea, I will 
 " be their God, and they shall be my people. And 
 " the heathen shall know that I the Lord do sanctify 
 " Israel, wdien my sanctuary shall be in the midst of 
 " them for evermore." 
 
 Ibid. chap, xxxix. ver. 27—29. " When I have 
 '' brought them again from the people, and gathered 
 '^ them out of their enemies' lands, and am sanctified 
 " in them in the sight of many nations ; then shall 
 " they know that I am the Lord their God, which 
 " caused them to be led into captivity among the 
 '' hc^athen, but I have gathered them into their own 
 " and have left none of them any more there. Nei- 
 " ther will I hide my face any more from them : for I 
 " have poured out my Spirit upon the house of Israel, 
 '' saith the Lord God." 
 
 Joel, chap. ii. ver. 27—29. " And ye shall know 
 " that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the 
 " Lord your God, and none else, and my people shall 
 " never be ashamed. And it shall come to pass 
 " afterwards, that I will pour out my spirit upon all 
 " flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall pro- 
 " phesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your 
 " voung men shall see visions. And also upon all the 
 " servants and the handmaids in those days will I 
 " pour out my spirit." 
 
 Ibid. Chap. iii. ver. 16, 17. " And the Lord also 
 " shall roar (tut of Zion, and utter his voice from Jeru- 
 
166 REFUTATION OF THE SEEMON OF 
 
 " salem, and the heavens and the earth shall shake; 
 " but the Lord will be the hope of his people, and 
 " the strength of the cLildren of Israel. So shall ye 
 " know that I ara the Lord your God, dwelling in 
 " Zion, my holy mountain; then shall Jerusalem be 
 " holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her 
 " any more/' 
 
 Zechariah, chap. viii. ver. 23. " Tlius saith the Lord 
 " of Hosts, in those days it shall come to pass, that 
 " ten men shall take hold, out of all languages of the 
 " nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that 
 " is a JcAv, saying. We will go with you ; for we have 
 " heard that God is with you." 
 
 Ibid. chap. xiv. ver. 16 : " And it shall come to 
 " pass, that every one that is left of all the nations 
 " which came up against Jerusalem, shall even go up 
 " from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of 
 " Hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles." 
 
 Daniel, chap. ii. ver. 44 : " And in the days of these 
 " kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, 
 " which shall never be destroyed : and the kingdom 
 " shall not be left to other people; but it shall break in 
 " pieces, and consume aU these kingdoms, and it shall 
 " stand for ever." 
 
 Such is the indelible character of the Messiah and 
 the touchstone by which the truth of his mission must 
 be tested ; for if in his time all these prophecies are ac- 
 complished (and an infinite number of others which I 
 omit), we shall acknowledge him as such; but if not, 
 we shall regard him as spurious, and we shall not judge 
 figuratively, but literally ; for if we take the liberty to 
 turn the prophecies, which stand in no need of a 
 
THE AKC'illUSHor OF CUA^GANOU. 1()7 
 
 li_LiUi';ilive coiistriictioii, into iiUegories, liow would It 
 1)0 j)ossible to distinguish tlie false from the true 
 Messiah ? 
 
 AMioever might be disposed to apply thein to him- 
 self by perverting the text, and allegorising it to suit 
 his purpose, might set himself up for the Messiah, 
 whereas the realisation of the undermentioned chain of 
 events, forms an unerring criterion by which the true 
 ]\Iessiah can be ascertained; he must be known and 
 made manifest in the eyes of all the nations of the 
 earth ; in his time war is to cease among the nations ; 
 all will follow one only law; and adore one only God. 
 Now, as we have not to this day seen any of these 
 prophecies accomplished, we must conclude that the 
 Messiah has not yet come. 
 
 LXIV. — In this section our author quotes the 8th 
 chapter, 14th verse of Isaiah, allegorising it as usual. 
 It has already been proved, that this chapter, the pre- 
 ceding and subsequent ones, treat of King Hezekiah, 
 and no more need be added on this point. 
 
 LXY. — LXIX. — In this he pretends to prove, that 
 verses 3, 4, 5 of chapter iii. of Hosea, treat of Christ, and 
 then proceeds to say, the prophet Hosea, (chap. iii. ), gave 
 us another sign from which the Messiah may be recog- 
 nised: "Dies multos expectabis me et ego expectabo 
 " vos." " When the Messiah is come," says the pro- 
 pi let, " the Jews will be still waituig for him, and 
 " the Messiah vnU. wait for the Jews, and because the 
 " Jews will not receive him, they will continue with- 
 " out a king, without a prince, without sacritice. 
 
168 REFUTATION OF THE SERMON OF 
 
 *' and without an altar." " Sedebunt filii Israel sine 
 " rege, sine principe, sine sacriiicio, et sine altari." 
 
 After the Jews remaining in this state, they will ac- 
 knowledge the Messiah whom they would not receive 
 when he did come, " et post hac revertentur iilii Israel, 
 " ad Dominum Deum suum et ad David regem suum." 
 
 For the better comprehending of tliis prophecy, and 
 to convince the world how little reason the reverend 
 preacher evinces in his remarks upon it, it will be 
 requisite to give the quotation from beginning to end. 
 
 Hosea, iii. 1 — 5. — "Et dixit Dominus ad me, ad- 
 " hue vade dilige mulierem dilectam socii, et adul- 
 " teram, secundum dilectionem Domini ad filios Israel, 
 " et ipsi respicientes ad Deos alienos et diligentes 
 " dolia uvarum; et mercatus sum cam mihi, in quin- 
 " decim argenteis et chomer hordeorum et letech 
 " hordeorum, et dixi ad eam. Dies multos sedebis 
 " mihi; ne fornicaberis, et ne sis viro, et etiam ego ad 
 " te. Quia dies multos manebunt hlii Israel, non 
 " rex et non princeps, et non sacrificum, et non statua 
 " et non ephod et teraphim. Postea revertentur 
 " filii Israel et qua^rent Dominium Deum suum, et 
 " David regem suum et pavebunt ad Dominium et ad 
 " bonum ejus in novissimo dierum." 
 
 " Then said the Lord unto me. Go, yet love a woman 
 " (beloved of her friend, yet, an adulteress) according 
 " to the love of the Lord towards the children of 
 " Israel, who look to other Gods, and love flagons of 
 " wine. So I bought her to me, for fifteen pieces of 
 " silver, and for an homer of barley, and a half homer 
 " of barley. And I said unto her, thou shall abide 
 " for nic many days, thou shalt not play the harlot, 
 
THE AUCllBISHOP OF CKANGANOK. 1 G'J 
 
 " aiul thou shult not be for another man, so will I 
 " also be for thee. For the children of Israel shall 
 " abide many days without a king, without a prince, 
 " and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and 
 " without ephod or teraphim. Afterward shall the 
 " children of Israel return penitently and seek the 
 " Lord their God, and David their king, and shall 
 " fear the Lord and his goodness in the latter days." 
 
 God told the prophet to take a woman, and love her 
 as a faithful husband, notwithstanding her being an 
 adulteress. 
 
 The prophecy declares thus much, and its interpre- 
 tation exactly corresponds. God loved and favoured 
 Israel, notwithstanding their being plunged into the 
 idolatry of the Egyptians, he gave the law which was 
 the espousal; but they were ungrateful, and gave 
 themselves up to idolatry and vice, and particularly 
 to wine. 
 
 The prophet says, that he took his wife for fifteen 
 pieces of silver, and an omer and a half of barley, 
 and made a compact with her that she should con- 
 tinue many days without knowing any other man, 
 or even himself. 
 
 He gives the allegory, and then applies it by say- 
 ing : — For in the same manner that this Avoman would 
 remain Avithout a husband, and without a lover for 
 l)enalty of her past adulteries, the children of Israel 
 Avould remain many days Avithout a king (of the house 
 of David), Avithout a prince (of the kings of Israel), 
 Avithout sacrifice (that is Avithout the temple), Avith- 
 out a statue (that is Avithout idolatry), Avithout 
 ej)hod, namely, Avilhout Lrini and Thummim (Avhich 
 
170 REFUTATION OF THE SERMON OF 
 
 constituted the divine oracle), through which the 
 prince consulted God, and without teraphini (that is, 
 the oracle of the heathen). 
 
 Thus the type exactly corresponds with the event, 
 for in like manner as the prophet's mfe was to pass 
 many days without a husband, and at the same thiie 
 free from adultery, so Israel in her captivity was to 
 remain without sacrifice, without a temple (indicating 
 the husband), without an image, meaning idolatry, 
 (which is adultery), without the epliod (which is 
 prophecy) and even without tlie oracles of the Gentiles 
 from which to learn future events. 
 
 The prophet further says, that when the period 
 was past, in which the people of Israel should have 
 given proofs of their great constancy, and their confi- 
 dence in God, they would return to repentance for 
 the sins they had committed, and would thus obtain 
 the manifest interposition of divine providence in their 
 favour, by the restoration of their temple, and the 
 reifrn of the house of David, all which should come to 
 pass in the latter days. 
 
 This is the literal sense of the prophecy. 
 
 Not content with explaining away its sense in 
 metaphors, the reverend preacher boldly alters the 
 words of the text, wishing us to believe that God 
 said, " Dies multos expectabis me, et ego expectabo 
 " vos." And on this falsified text remarks, " When 
 "the prophet comes, the Jews will still wait for him, 
 "and the Messiah will have to wait for the Jews, and 
 "because the Jews will not receive him, they will 
 " remain without a king," etc. 
 
 From Avhat part of the prophesy, is it to be deduced 
 
THE AKClIBISIlor OF CUANGANUR. 171 
 
 that the Jews would reject the Messiah? and that 
 because the Jews would not receive hiui, they were to 
 remain without a king, &c. ? Is not the punishment 
 of being without a king the penalty for having com- 
 mitted adultery, that is to say, idolatry ? 
 
 AVhat the prophet says, is diametrically opposite to 
 what the preacher has pretended to infer ; for Hosea 
 affirms, that they shall be many days without a king, 
 prince, or sacrifice, and that afterwards they will 
 return in penitence and seek God, and David their 
 king. But the preacher asserts, that they are to re- 
 main without a king, etc., after the coming of the 
 Messiah, in consequence of not having acknowledged 
 him; now from which of the words of the prophet 
 does he infer that on the Messiah's coming, he was to 
 be rejected by the Jews and that the Messiah is to be 
 both God and Man? In order to show clearly the 
 true source from which the preacher draws these two 
 conclusions, we must place in a clear light, the cor- 
 ruptions that he has introduced into the text, on the 
 strength of which, he expects to make his assertions 
 pass current with the Jews. We will produce his 
 alleged quotations from the prophet, and compare 
 with the original. 
 
 Preacher. Original, 
 
 Dies nndtos expectabis Et dixit ad eam. Dies 
 me, et ego expectabo vos. multos sedebis mihi, ne 
 
 fornicaberis, et ne sis viro, 
 et etiam, ego, ad te. 
 
 Post ha3c revertentur Postea revertentur hhi 
 filii Israel ad Dominum Israel et querent Donn- 
 Deum siuun, et ad Da^•id num Deum suum, et 
 
 David regeni suum. 
 
172 REFUTATION OF THE SERMON OF 
 
 Wishing to make the prophet appear to say, that 
 the Jews had to Avait for the Messiah, and the Messiah 
 for the Jews, he interpolates a verse, for which there 
 is no authority in the sacred text, " Dies nmltos 
 " expectabis me, et ego expectabo vos;" many days 
 you Avill expect me, and I shall have to expect you, 
 as if thereby intimating that he came, but was not 
 received by the Jews, for whom he is still patiently 
 waiting. 
 
 Now in the first place, this verse has been forged 
 either by the Lord Archl^ishop, or by the authors of 
 the vulgate, for there is no such sentence, to be found 
 in the prophesy. Secondly, did there even exist such 
 a verse, it would not allude to the Messiah, but to 
 the prophet himself, since the former is not introduced 
 as speaking in any part of the prophecy, consequently, 
 not even by corrupting the text, as he has done, does 
 our Author advance his argument a single step. The 
 prophecy cannot be understood to apply to Christ in any 
 manner ; for it states that after the children of Israel, 
 have been for many days without a king, prince, or sacri- 
 fice, they will become penitent and seek God and the 
 Messiah. Ergo — after Israel remaining a long time 
 without a king, &c., the ]\Iessiah was to come. But 
 when Christ came, Israel did not lack a king, temple, 
 or sacrifice ; so that Christ could not be the Messiah 
 promised in the prophecy. 
 
 I will now turn to the corruption in the other verse 
 " Et postea revertentur filii Israel ad Dominum Deum 
 " suum et ad David regem suum." Now the original 
 says, " Postea revertentur filii Israel et querent Domi- 
 " num Deum suum et David regem suum." The 
 
THE AHCIIRISfK^r OV CRANGANOR. 17o 
 
 omission of the word querent, makes the text read as 
 if the children of Israel would return penitent to God, 
 and to DaA'id their king; by which the author imagines 
 that he has gained his point, of showing that the 
 ^Messiah is to be God and Man. However, he will 
 iind that if he can bring no better proofs in support 
 of his doctrine than these, they will not avail him 
 much, since in the original Ilelirew, and in every 
 Bible, whether in print or in manuscript, we iind 
 ItJ'pn'l, which means et querent, and is. so translated 
 in all the various versions which exist in diiferent 
 languages, and is similarly rendered by Pagnino, Arius 
 Montano, and many others. 
 
 Jonathan the son of Uziel, in the Targum, writes, 
 that they vrill return penitent; that they Avill seek 
 their God, and obey the Messiah, the son of David ; 
 consequently he does not hold him to be God. IIow 
 wretched must be the reasoning derived from such 
 fabrications ! That he should preach them I am not 
 surprised, there being no one present who knew how, 
 or could venture to contradict him; but I do wonder 
 that any one should have the audacity to send them to 
 the public press, regardless of the disgrace brought 
 upon those who appear to countenance such corrup- 
 tions of the Divine word. It is, indeed, grievous and 
 lamentable that men should be found so blind as to 
 introduce corruptions into the sacred text, and persist 
 in them, for their selfish purposes, which amounts to 
 an act of treason against the Divine Majesty; which 
 cannot please even those persons of their o^\^l faith, 
 whose understandings are free to discuss truth, and 
 who must detest the use of such means : much less 
 
174 EEFUTATION OF THE SERMON OE 
 
 will they convince the Jcavs, who ure the depositaries 
 of the Divine word, and the ark, wherein the testimony 
 is preserved pure, clear, and immaculate, from which 
 the learned, even of the Christian religion, form their 
 translations, and which tliey adopt as their guide, and 
 appeal to in all cases of doubt. 
 
 LXX. — The preacher produces the prophecy of 
 Malachi, chap. i. ver. 10 and 11. "I have no pleasure 
 " in you, saith-the Lord of Hosts, neither mil I accept 
 " an offering at your hand; for from the rising of the 
 " sun, even unto the going doAvn of the same, my name 
 " is great among the Gentiles, and in every place in- 
 " cense is offered to my name, and a pure offering ; 
 " for my name is great among the heathen, saith the 
 " Lord of Hosts." 
 
 The reverend preacher supposes that the prophet 
 speaks of the time of Christ, and thence deduces that 
 God had destroyed the nation, and the sacrifices, and 
 pretends to prove that he had created a new and pure 
 sacrifice in its stead ; one who sacrificed himself for 
 the whole world, and by Avhose means the name of 
 God has become great throughout the globe ; and that 
 the prophet alludes to him, where he says, " For from 
 " the rising of the sun to the going doA\m thereof, my 
 " name is great among the Gentiles, and in every place 
 " incense and pure gifts are offered to my name." 
 
 His great argument against the Jcavs, and on which he 
 founds his exposition, consists in this, that at the time 
 of the prophet there was no nation that offered sacri- 
 fice to God ; and, therefore, of necessity, he must be 
 speaking of the time of Christ, to wliose name, through- 
 
THE ARCTTP.rSITOP OF CRANGANOR. 175 
 
 out tlie four ([iiarters of the globe, a pure sacrifice Avas 
 oltered. 
 
 To reply to this would-be formidable argument, it 
 is proper to remark that ]\Ialachi was the last of all 
 the pro})hets, and entered upon his mission in the 
 early days of the Second Temple, when the priest- 
 hood were grossly ignorant of their duties, as we 
 perceive from the prophet Haggai, his cotemporary, 
 chapter ii. ver. 12 and 13; for, on his asking them a 
 question relative to their office, their ignorance was 
 made manifest by the nature of their reply ; nor is it 
 to be wondered at, that having been seventy years out 
 of the ministry, they had forgotten the theory as well 
 as the practice. In addition to their general state of 
 ignorance, the people became infected by the example 
 of the surrounding nations, and, like them, were want- 
 ing in the true feeling of devotion; and Avhen they 
 offered sacrifice to God, they sought for some animal 
 which Avas lame or blind, or which they had stolen, to 
 avoid giving of their own ; and set so little value upon 
 their burnt offerings and sacrifices, that they thought 
 the worst subjects they could find were good enough 
 for the altar. This occurred among the lower orders. 
 The priests, who, as being the nearest to God, we might 
 have expected would reprove the people, and clearly 
 show them their errors, were the very persons who 
 encouraged and promoted this sin, by speaking irrever- 
 ently of the holy altar, complaining of their labour, 
 and neglecting their sacred duties. By this reprehen- 
 sible conduct they destroyed all devotion among the 
 people, and incurred the Divine -wrath ; so that, being 
 greatly incensed at the neglect and improper conduct 
 
176 TIEFUTATTON OF THE SERMON OF 
 
 of the priests, God sent to correct them through this 
 holy prophet, recapitulating the loving-kindness He had 
 shown to the nation from the time of its origin in the 
 patriarch Jacob. Thus, this prophecy commences by 
 setting before them the love which he had promised 
 them, as contrasted with tlie fate of Esau, Jacob's own 
 brother, whom God had deprived of his condition and 
 kingdom, and converted his verdant and fertile land 
 into a fearful desert, which was to continue waste for 
 ever ; so that he would never succeed, whatever exer- 
 tions he might make to re-estabUsh himself and rebuild 
 his ruined cities ; for, all that he might buikl God would 
 pull down, because his wickedness and sins had made 
 him the object of Divine wrath, and that, as such, he. 
 should be known and called among the nations ; but 
 that, on the other hand. He would establish Israel, and 
 restore him to his original condition. 
 
 After enumerating the favours which He had bestoAved 
 on them, and continued to bestow. He goes on to 
 relate the ingratitude with which they repaid these 
 benehts, both people and priests; the former in 
 bringing what Avas most vile and despicable for their 
 sacrifices; the latter, by offering such sacrifices and 
 neglecting the Divine ministry, for which reason. He 
 says, " I have no pleasure in you, nor are offerings 
 " acceptable from your hands." Upon this the preacher 
 puts the question, what sacrifice it was which the 
 nations sacrificed in the time of the prophets, that was 
 acceptable to God, as pure and clean, and who it was 
 that caused the name of God to be promulgated and 
 proclaimed throughout the world, from where the 
 sun rises to where it sets, since God himself has declared 
 
THE AKCIIBISIIOr OF CRANGANOK. 177 
 
 tliiit his iiiime wus great among the nations : from this 
 inquiry our author concludes, that the circumstances 
 could not have referred to the prophet's OAvn time, for 
 at that period the Gentiles had no knowledge of a First 
 Cause, and that consequently he must allude to the 
 time of Christ. 
 
 It would be easy to answer the preacher, and over- 
 turn his objections, b}^ the authority of the Targum of 
 Jonathan, the son of Uziel, Avho explains these gifts 
 and pure offerings to mean the prayers of the Jews in 
 all countries. 
 
 Jonathan wi'ites thus : " From the place where the 
 '' sun rises unto the place where it sets, great is my name 
 " among the nations, and at all times that j^ou shall 
 " perform my will, I will receive your prayers, and my 
 " great name shall be sanctified by your means, and 
 '' your prayers shall be as pure sacrifice before me." 
 
 Thus this sage understands that the sacrifices alluded 
 to, mean the orisons of the Jews, and these he calls 
 pure sacrifice, and (in the opinion of this author) the 
 Jews are the persons who sanctify the great name of 
 God among the nations. Resting upon his sanction, I 
 might claim the victory over my antagonist, were I as 
 little scrupulous as himself; but, although Jonathan is 
 a writer of no mean authority, and deservedly held in 
 high estimation, that is not sufficient to oblige us to 
 admit his allegory, and make us abandon the literal 
 sense of the text ; therefore, I contend, in opposition 
 to his opinion, that the prophecy refers literally to the 
 Gentiles, and not to the Jews; this is in accordance 
 with the views of the majority of the commentators 
 upon the })assage, wlio understood the proi)het to mean, 
 
 N 
 
178 REFUTATION OF THE SERMON OF 
 
 that the Divme Majesty reproaches the Jewish people 
 and their priests for the contempt they evince in the 
 sacrifices; adding, that He esteems the offering of the 
 Gentiles more than the oblations of the Jews; for, 
 although the former were idolaters, they had a know- 
 ledge of, and adored a First Cause, as existing prior to 
 all things, and Him they held to be from all eternity, 
 although at the same time they admitted the existence 
 of secondary causes. These Gentiles, when they 
 brought their sacrifices, notwithstanding they were 
 ofi*ered up to idols, took peculiar care that they should 
 be of the most perfect and pure kind that could be 
 procured, while the Jews, although sacrificing to the 
 true God, brought the worst they could find; for 
 which reason, God says, that the sacrifice of the 
 Gentiles was more .pure than tliat of the Jews. 
 
 Let us examine into the true spirit of the prophecy, 
 and we shall see how the good archbishop corrupts and 
 pei^erts its meaning, to make it indicate the contraiy 
 of what it actually expresses. The prophecy consists 
 in rebuking and reprimanding the people for the little 
 respect with which they treated the sacrifices, reproach- 
 ing them, that those which the Gentiles (although 
 idolaters) presented were pure and immaculate, 
 but that they selected the most worthless for their 
 offerings; and concludes, in chapter iii., that after the 
 advent of the Messiah, the ofterings of Judah and 
 Jerusalem would be acceptable to God, as in former 
 days and in years of old. 
 
 The preacher, to evade any discussion concerning 
 the mode in which the Gentiles offered sacrifices to 
 God at that time, boldly affirms, that the prophet treats 
 
THE ARCHBISHOP OF CRANGANOR. 179 
 
 of times subsoqueiit to the advent of tlie Messiah, 
 whom because the Jews would not receive as the true 
 ^lessiah, they and their sacrifices would be no longer 
 acceptable to God ; but, in lieu thereof, He would 
 accept the sacrifice of the mass, which he calls pure 
 and immaculate, offered up from the place where the 
 sun rises unto where it sets, by tlie converted Gentiles. 
 He bases his exposition on a few isolated passages, 
 irrespective of their connection Avitli the context, 
 whicli he takes care to suppress in all such places as 
 Avould militate against his own views of the prophecy. 
 But how can he attempt to argue that circumstances, 
 which were to occur four or iive hundred j^ears later, 
 could serve as an example or comparison to the Jews 
 of that day? The prophet says, at that time the name 
 of God was great and reno^vned among the nations, 
 and that the Gentiles then sacrificed to the Eterniil 
 Cause, and burnt incense, and presented to Him a pure 
 offering: now the preacher will not admit of this, 
 until five liundred years afterwards. It must be noticed 
 that he does not say, that the gifts and offerings of 
 the Gentiles were pleasing to God, but merely that 
 their sacrifices were pure ; not that God accepted and 
 valued them, but only that they were consecrated to 
 God; and afiirms, that after the advent of the Messiah, 
 the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be again 
 acceptable to God; consequently, that God would not 
 destroy the Jews, nor reject their offerings, ])ut, on 
 the contrary, would esteem and be pleased with them 
 subsequent to the advent of the ^fessiah. The offerings 
 of the Gentiles never Avere grateful to Him, nor did he 
 value them, and the comparison was only instituted to 
 
180 REFUTATION OF THE SERMON OF 
 
 depreciate the sacrifices that the Jevv^s brought in those 
 days, and not to exalt those of others. I have been 
 induced to present the whole of the prophecy, and to 
 explain it, in order to show clearly, to all those who 
 wish to learn the truth, the devices and corruptions 
 that the preacher has made use of to maintain his 
 hypothesis, and to let the impartial reader see how 
 little cause he has to triumph on the scale of prophecy, 
 which he twists and corrupts, so as to make it express 
 what is convenient to himself, as " if there were no 
 " sons in Israel, as if he had no heir." 
 
 It remains to be shown, that in those times the 
 Gentiles had a knowledge of the First Cause, and that 
 although they recognised secondary causes, they never- 
 theless made a wide distinction between these and the 
 First and Eternal one ; and although it may not be 
 necessary to confirm Avhat God himself declares (for 
 independent of all human tradition that Avould be 
 sufficient in itself to settle the question), stiU it may 
 be well to adduce some few authorities from Christian 
 and Gentile writers on the subject, which, while they 
 deprive the preacher's argument of aU its force, ^vill 
 make the meaning of the prophecy appear additionally 
 clear and intelligible. I will not embarrass my answer 
 Avith a multitude of quotations, but confine myself to 
 such as come nearest to the point in question, since 
 my chief object is confined to showing my OAvn people 
 what little cause the preacher has to assume to himself 
 the victory, from passages bearing a sense so opposite to 
 what he attempts to deduce from them ; I will, there- 
 fore, content myself with citing only those which are 
 most appropriate, and coincide nearly with the period 
 
THE ARCHBISHOP OF CRANGANOll. 181 
 
 in wliich the prophet lived: any one, Avishing to 
 ascertain the truth, may consult the originals. 
 
 luiscbius, in his work, " I)e Preparatione Evangelii," 
 t^ays he had read in a book of Zoroaster, tlie ancient 
 Persian philosopher, the following words : — 
 
 " God is the iirst of all incorruptible beings, ever- 
 '' lasting and inconceivable. He is not composed of 
 '• parts. There is none comparable or equal to Him. 
 ''He is the author of all good, totally independent, and 
 " tlie most exalted of the most excellent beings, the 
 " \visest of all intellects, the father of equity, and propa- 
 " gator of all good laAVS, omniscient, onmipotent and 
 " the original Framer of nature." 
 
 Plutarch, hi his treatise of I sis and Osiris, assures 
 us that the Magi called Oramazes the great God, or 
 the pi'inciple of light that i)roduced all things, 
 and operates all hi aU. They admitted of another 
 god, but of an inferior nature, vdiom they called 
 !ilithras, or the inferior god, but did not consider him 
 co-eternal with the supreme God, but the first product 
 of his power. 
 
 Plutarch also, in the same treatise, speaking of the 
 Egyptians, assures us, " that they held the opinion, 
 '' that as the sun was common to all the world, al- 
 " though bearing different names in divers regions, 
 " so there exists only one supreme intelligence and 
 " reason, one same providence who governs the Avorld, 
 " although worsliipped under various names, and 
 "that He has deputed hiferior Ijeings to be His 
 " ministers." 
 
 Jamblicus says, according to the Egyptians, tlic 
 supreme chief God existed in isolated unity prior to 
 all otlier existences. 
 
182 REFUTATION OF THE SERMON OF 
 
 The author of the "Argoiiautica" says, " Let us first 
 " chaunt a hymn on ancient chaos; as the heavens, the 
 " seas, and the earth were formed out of it. Let us 
 " sing praises to that eternal, wise and perfect Love 
 " that reduced this chaos into order." 
 
 Thales, the Milesian, one of the seven wise men of 
 Greece, who flourished about six hundred years before 
 Christ (according to Diog. Laert., book L), believed 
 " that God is the most ancient of all beings, the 
 " author of the universe which is replete with w^onders, 
 " the mind that redeemed it from confusion and re- 
 " duced it into order, that He has no beginning nor 
 " end and that nothing is hidden from him, that there 
 " are none who can resist the force of destiny ; but 
 " that this destiny is nothing more than the immutable 
 " reason and eternal power of Providence." 
 
 Pythagoras gives us an idea of the divinity in the 
 following words : — " There is but one only God, who 
 " is not as some imagine seated on the summit of the 
 " world, and on the circumference of the universe, but 
 " is in himself all in all ; He sees all the existences 
 " wdiich pervade infinite space ; He is the sole first 
 " cause, the light of heaven, the father of all; Lie 
 " creates all things, orders and disposes of all ; He is 
 " the reason, the life, and motion of all existences." 
 
 Plato, in his " Kepublica," says that " God is sur- 
 " rounded by a thick darkness which no mortal can 
 " penetrate, and that, as an inaccessible Deity, he 
 " ouffht to be adored in silence." 
 
 For further proof of this truth, and to render it 
 irrefutable, read in Daniel the idea which Nebuchad- 
 nezzar entertained of one only God, for inmiediately 
 
T[IE AKCUBISIIOP OF CKANGAXOR. 183 
 
 on Daniel's ivlating to liiiu the dreaiu ol' the statue, 
 he acknowledged thtit his god was the supreme God 
 of gods ; he does not say that he gained from this 
 dream the knowledge of there being one God above all 
 gods, but affirms that, by the miracle, he was made to 
 know that the God whom Daniel adored was the true 
 God of all gods. 
 
 Cyrus says, Ezra, chap. i. verses 2, o, " The 
 '' Lord God of heaven has bestowed on me all the 
 " kingdoms of the earth, and has conmianded me to 
 "erect a Temple in Jerusalem, which is in Judea; 
 " whoever desiretli to be among you, and others of his 
 " own. people, God be with him ; let him go up to 
 " Jerusalem and build the House of the Lord God of 
 " Israel; He is the God." 
 
 The Gibeonites deceived the princes of the nation, 
 in the tmie of Joshua, with a well-kllo^v^l stratagem, 
 saying, that they had come from a far country, occu- 
 pying six months' journey, on learning the name and 
 fame of the miracles of the true God; and although it 
 was but a I'raud, it necessarily must have appeared 
 credible at the time, that those remote nations had 
 obtained a knoAvledge of the greatness of a First Cause ; 
 for were this not the case, the princes would not have 
 l)een deceived, nor would the Gibeonites have dared 
 to practise a deception based upon an impossibility. 
 
 God affirms that the wonders and signs he had 
 wrought in Egypt, were only for the purpose of making 
 knoA\m his name and fame throughout the world, 
 " That my name may be declared throughout the 
 " earth" (Exod. chap. ix. ver. 6). It is clear, there- 
 fore, that the One First Cause was publicly acknoAV- 
 
184 REFUTATION OF THE SERMON OF 
 
 lodged among all nations and worshipped, altliougli 
 under different names. It is not strange that this 
 knowledge should have existed among them, for 
 Nebuchadnezzar had proclaimed at divers times 
 throughout his vast empire, that there was but the 
 one God of the heavens, as seen in Daniel, chap. iv. 
 ver. 1, " Nebuchadnezzar, the king, to all people, 
 " nations and languages that inhabit the earth : may 
 " peace be multiplied unto you. I deem it right to 
 " shew the signs and wonders that the High God has 
 " wrought towards me. How great are His signs 
 " and how powerful His miracles ! His kingdom is 
 " an everlasting kingdom, and His dominion Avill en- 
 " dure from generation to generation." And in 
 chap. iv. ver. 37, varying the expression, he says, 
 " Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, extol, and glorify 
 " the King of heaven ; for all his works are truth, and 
 " His ways justice, and those who v/alk in arrogance 
 " He is able to abase." 
 
 When Daniel was delivered from the lions, Darius 
 the Mede ordered the publishing of an edict, as fol- 
 lows, Daniel, chap. vi. ver. 25, 26, 27, 28 : " Then 
 " King Darius wrote to all people, nations, and 
 " tongues, inhabiting all the earth : may peace ho 
 " multiplied unto you. I make a decree, that in 
 " every region of my kingdom men tremble and fear 
 '' before the God of Daniel, for he is the liidng God 
 " and established for ever, and His kingdom shall not 
 " be destroyed, and His dominion shall be unto the 
 " end : He delivereth, and rescueth, and worketh signs 
 " and wonders in heaven and earth, who hath de- 
 " livered Daniel from the power of the lions." 
 
THE ARCHBISHOP OF CRANGANOK. 185 
 
 Cyrus, the king, ordered that there should be given 
 to the holy Temple, sheep, goats, lambs, salt and wine, 
 and oil, that they might sacrifice for the life of the 
 king and the royal household ; the edict is as follows, 
 Ezra, chap. vi. ver. 9, 10: "And whatever might 
 " be required, goats, slieep, or lambs, for a burnt offer- 
 '• ing to the God of heaven, also flour, salt, and oil, 
 " conformable to what the priests who are in Jeru- 
 " salem may ask, shall be given daily without any 
 " hindrance, in order that they may offer a sweet 
 " savour to the God of heaven, and pray for the life 
 " of the king and his sons." 
 
 The King Artaxerxes sent considerable presents, 
 and all other requisites, to the temple of God, as we 
 see in Ezra, chap. vii. ver. 21 and 23. 
 
 " And I, King Artaxerxes, do command all trea- 
 " surers who dwell on the other side of the river, that 
 " whatever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the Law of 
 " God, may require, shall be given unto him. All things 
 " commanded by the God of heaven, shall be promptly 
 " done for the house of the God of the heavens, that his 
 " anger may not be against the king's dominions or 
 " sons." 
 
 From all these instances, we may infer that the 
 great name of God, and the knowledge of the First 
 Cause, had been proclaimed and disseminated among 
 tlie nations, and was revered and esteemed from the 
 place where " the Sun rises unto where it sets ;" for 
 the signs and miracles Avhich God had wrought by the 
 hands of his prophets and servants, liad been made 
 public by the three kings, Nebuchadnezzar, Dai'ius, 
 
186 REFUTATION OF THE SERMON OF 
 
 and Cyrus; and the Prophet Malachi living very near 
 those times (at the commencement of the Second 
 Temple), it is no wonder that a knowledge of the First 
 Cause should have existed in the world in his days, 
 and that the Gentiles who had learned the truth 
 should oiFer up to him incense and saciifice. 
 
 To these the prophet refers, when he says, " That 
 " in all places they bring incense and pure offerings 
 "to my name." 
 
 It having now been proved, from both sacred and 
 profane history, that the Gentiles co-temporary with 
 the prophet Malachi had a full knowledge of the First 
 Cause, and that many of them offered up sacrifices 
 to him and brought contributions, the prophecy 
 becomes perfectly intelligible when taken with refer- 
 ence to the tune of its promulgation; nor is there any 
 necessity to torture it, as the preacher has done, in 
 order to draw inferences contrary to its obvious and 
 genuine sense. 
 
 The preacher, exhorting one of the prisoners who 
 was brought out to be consigned to the flames, 
 addresses him in these words : " Consider yourself in 
 " the presence of God, free from any other sin but 
 " that of reverencing the law of Moses; and imagine a 
 " Christian in the same presence, without any other 
 " crime than the observance of the law of Christ. If 
 " God condenmedthe Christian for his love of the law, 
 " and saved the Jew for his love of the same, God would 
 " not be just, nor could any satisfactory reply be given 
 " to the reasons the Catholic might in that case allege 
 " against his justice. For, under these circumstances, 
 
THE Al^CnBTSIIOP OF CRANGANOR. 187 
 
 " the Catholic would reason witli God in the followin^t;- 
 " manner. 
 
 " Upright judge, I believe in Christ, because he 
 " possessed all such signs as were revealed through 
 '* }'our prophets, that your son should bring with 
 " him. I have done what you commanded me; you 
 " have condemned me for so doing; how can you 
 " blame me for having obeyed your^ commands? 
 " These arguments are certainly unanswerable; conse- 
 " quently it is impossible that God should condemn a 
 " Catholic for being a Christian." 
 
 The archbishop speaks with as much effi'ontery as if 
 he were secretary to the Supreme Being, and as if 
 what passes in heaven were familiarly known to him; 
 and has sufficient assurance and presumption to affirm 
 that if God condemned the Catholic for observing the 
 laAv of Christ, and saved the Jew for observing the 
 law of Moses, God would not be just ; and goes as far 
 as to assert, that God could not reply satisfactorily to 
 the arguments the Catholic might allege against his 
 justice. The only reason adduced for the Catholic's 
 believing in Christ is, because he contained in himself 
 all the signs that God had revealed through his 
 prophets that were to accompany his son. 
 
 I)Ut, should God reply to this Catholic that the 
 Divine Majesty never had a son, and that in Christ 
 those prophecies which relate to the true Messiah 
 were not literally fulfilled; that none lead to con- 
 sidering the Messiah as a God, but always as a mere 
 man; and that, if he had impartially examined the 
 sacred prophecies, these then would have instructed 
 
188 REFUTATION OF THE SERMON OF 
 
 him in the truth ; and further, if God should condescend 
 to command him to consult them, in order to perceive 
 how greatly he had erred in his conception, what could 
 the Catholic reply? That God was unjust in con- 
 demning him for having taken no means to remove 
 his own blindness, for having confided in his own 
 ignorance, and having believed from interested motives, 
 without examining into what was so essential to his 
 salvation; for having done that which God had not 
 commanded or ordained ? 
 
 I have not such presumption as to limit the reasons 
 that God might present to the Catholic, in order to 
 force upon him conviction ; for the Deity can produce 
 others incomparal)ly more efficacious than my feeble 
 human reason can devise : hovv'ever, I will only contend 
 that the arguments I have alleged are sufficient to 
 confute the archbishop's presumption, I will not say 
 ill the presence of the Divine Being, but certainly 
 before any human tribunal : and if I had to give an 
 account of myself in the manner the preacher describes, 
 and in that character to exculpate myself from no 
 worse charge than that of having professed the law of 
 Moses, I should do it in this form : — 
 
 Lord God, I prostrate myself before thy Divine 
 presence on my knees, to render an account of the 
 religion I professed in my former life, and the reasons 
 that guided me. Lord, I was born of Jewish parents, 
 was instructed in the law of Closes, which I accepted, 
 upon the authority of my teachers, until I attained to 
 years of discretion, when, by reading books of con- 
 troversy, I was incited to examine, with all the accuracy 
 
THE ARCIIRISIIOP OF CRANGANOR. 189 
 
 of ^\•hicll my intellect was capable, tlic reasons alleged 
 by either part}- ; and liaAinii- balanced them, unprejndiced 
 by my education, I found that the Divine prophecies 
 tliat speak of the Messiah had not been fulfilled by 
 any man, until the day of my death. I found, 
 Lord, in thy holy Law, the assurance that if our dis- 
 persion extended from one end of the world to the 
 other, that we should again be gathered together, and 
 be conducted into the land of promise, where thou 
 wilt require the observance of thy Divine precepts. 
 How could I change to another religion that destroys 
 and annihilates thy most holy word, that opposes thy 
 Divine commandment, that thyself promulgated from 
 ]\[ount Sinai, solely because there are some men who 
 explain certain of the prophecies allegorically, and 
 aj3ply them to a person whom they call your son, and 
 who have recourse to the figurative sense, because 
 they feel themselves refuted by the literal meaning? 
 
 How could we abandon thy Divine word, that we 
 have heard from thy most holy mouth, for expositions 
 and allegories of men who do not agree among them- 
 selves, which contradict and oppose the truth received 
 from thy faithful servant Moses, from thy holy pro- 
 phets, and from a long succession of sages and learned 
 men ; who, through so many ages, have written con- 
 formably with that same received truth, which in all 
 their writings they confirm, and have exhorted us to the 
 rigid observance of thy Divine word ? These I took for 
 my guide, and believing I was serving and worshipping 
 Thee in the best form and manner that was possible, 
 I connected myself closely with that religion, which 1 
 
190 REFUTATION OF THE SERMON OF 
 
 believed to be the only one revealed, and which I re- 
 cognised for thy true and eternal word. I have lived 
 a Jew, and died a Jew, and in so doing believe I have 
 served Thee as thou hast commanded, and am now 
 before thy Divine mercy, that thou mayest order to 
 be done unto me as shall seem good in thy sight, and 
 with the humble persuasion that I have acted in 
 obedience to thy commandments. 
 
 And after sentence has been passed on me according 
 to His wil], I shall then discover whether judgment is 
 given in heaven accompanied by the same forms as on 
 earth ; for, to confess the truth, I am not so well in- 
 formed on the subject as the good archbishop, nor 
 have I the arrogance to ascribe injustice to God, or to 
 speak of Him with the same freedom, for there is 
 no mocking with " The Divine Majesty." Job says, 
 chap. xiii. ver. 9, " It is good that he search you out, 
 " for as one man mocketh another, so do you mock 
 " Him." Nor shall we ever presume to treat His name 
 with presumption and irreverence, even by way of 
 hypothesis. This is taught me by my holy religion, 
 as Moses says in Deuteronomy, chap. x. ver. 20 — 21, 
 " Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God; Him shalt thou 
 " serve, and to Him shalt thou cleave and swear by 
 " his name. He is thy praise, and he is thy God that 
 " hath done for thee these great and terrible things, 
 " which thine eyes have seen." 
 
 May he be pleased in his Divine mercy to unveil 
 the eyes of all nations ; so that we may all worship 
 Him alike, uniting, in the same mind, to call upon his 
 most holy name with one voice, according to the 
 
THE AKCIIBISIIOP OF CRANGANOK. 11)1 
 
 assurance given ns by tlie prophet Zephaniah, chap. iii. 
 ver. 9, " For then will 1 diffuse among the people a 
 " pure language, that they may invoke the name of 
 " the Lord, and serve him with one accord." 
 
 TPIE END. 
 
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