42

Doubtless, the Jews were made more acquainted with the doctrine of immortality among the Chaldeans and Persians.  They became more familiar with it too in the schools of the Greek Philosophers in Egypt.

43

However, as this doctrine was not in the same condition in reference to their Scriptures that the doctrines of God’s Unity and Attributes were—­since the former were entirely overlooked by that sensual people, while the latter would be sought for:—­and since too, for the former, previous exercising was necessary, and as yet there had been only hints and allusions, the faith in the immortality of the soul could naturally never be the faith of the entire people.  It was and continued to be only the creed of a certain section of them.

44

An example of what I mean by “previous exercising” for the doctrine of immortality, is the Divine threatenings of punishing the misdeeds of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation.  This accustomed the fathers to live in thought with their remotest posterity, and to feel, as it were, beforehand, the misfortune which they had brought upon these guiltless ones.

45

By an allusion I mean that which was intended only to excite curiosity and to occasion questions.  As, for instance, the oft-recurring mode of expression, describing death by “he was gathered to his fathers.”

By a “hint” I mean that which already contains any germ, out of which the, as yet, held back truth allows itself to be developed.  Of this character was the inference of Christ from the naming of God “the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”  This hint appears to me to be unquestionably capable of being worked out into a strong proof.

47

In such previous exercitations, allusions, hints, consists the positive perfection of a Primer; just as the above-mentioned peculiarity of not throwing difficulties or hindrances in the way to the suppressed truth constitutes the negative perfection of such a book.

48

Add to all this the clothing and style.

1.  The clothing of abstract truths, which were not entirely to be passed over, in allegories and instructive single circumstances, which were narrated as actual occurrences.  Of this character are the Creation under the image of growing Day; the Origin of Evil in the story of the Forbidden Tree; the source of the variety of languages in the history of the Tower of Babel, &c.

49 2.  The style—­sometimes plain and simple, sometimes poetical, throughout full of tautologies, but of such a kind as practised sagacity, since they sometimes appear to be saying something else, and yet the same thing; sometimes the same thing over again, and yet to signify or to be capable of signifying at the bottom, something else:—­

50

And then you have all the properties of excellence which belong to a
Primer for a childlike people, as well as for children.