adduce the authority of Scripture for what I here assert, and will further
show, for the sake of greater clearness, why and how these ceremonials
served to establish and preserve the Jewish kingdom. (5) Isaiah teaches most
plainly that the Divine law in its strict sense signifies that universal law
which consists in a true manner of life, and does not signify ceremonial
observances. (6) In chapter i:10, the prophet calls on his countrymen to
hearken to the Divine law as he delivers it, and first excluding all kinds
of sacrifices and all feasts, he at length sums up the law in these few
words, "Cease to do evil, learn to do well: seek judgment, relieve the
oppressed." (7) Not less striking testimony is given in Psalm xl:7- 9, where
the Psalmist addresses God: "Sacrifice and offering Thou didst not desire;
mine ears hast Thou opened; burnt offering and sin-offering hast Thou not
required; I delight to do Thy will, 0 my God; yea, Thy law is within my
heart." (8) Here the Psalmist reckons as the law of God only that which is
inscribed in his heart, and excludes ceremonies therefrom, for the latter
are good and inscribed on the heart only from the fact of their institution,
and not because of their intrinsic value.

(9) Other passages of Scripture testify to the same truth, but these two
will suffice. (10) We may also learn from the Bible that ceremonies are no
aid to blessedness, but only have reference to the temporal prosperity of
the kingdom; for the rewards promised for their observance are
merely temporal advantages and delights, blessedness being reserved for the
universal Divine law. (11) In all the five books commonly attributed to
Moses nothing is promised, as I have said, beyond temporal benefits, such as
honours, fame, victories, riches, enjoyments, and health. (12) Though many
moral precepts besides ceremonies are contained in these five books, they
appear not as moral doctrines universal to all men, but as commands
especially adapted to the understanding and character of the Hebrew people,
and as having reference only to the welfare of the kingdom. (13) For