LONDON: SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, AND CO.,

STATIONERS'—HALL COURT.

MDCCCLV.

london:
printed by j. wertheimer and co.
circus place, finsbury circus.

SYNOPSIS.
[Notice by the Translator.][Author's Preface.]
[chapter I].
GOD.
1. His existence. Cosmological argument.4. All-wise, good, pure, immutable.
2. First Cause, necessary, eternal.5. God.
3. Omnipotent, free, provident,
omniscient, infallible.		6. Psychological argument.
7. Moral argument.
[chapter II].
MAN.
8. His faculties.14. Double tendency.
9. His destination.15. Contrast.
10. Intellect.16. Choice.
11. Reason.17. Conscience.
12. Free will.18. Feeling.
13. Immortal soul.
[chapter III].
NATURAL RELIGION.
19. Idea of religion.21. Faith.
20. Necessity for man.
[chapter IV].
INSUFFICIENCY OF NATURAL RELIGION.
22. Obstacles.27. Internal anarchy.
23. Tardy development of reason.28. Limitation of human understanding.
24. Ascendancy of sensuality.29. Uncertainty of human knowledge.
25. Want of opportunity.30. Experience.
26. Social life.31. Necessity of a revelation.
[chapter V].
REVEALED RELIGION.
32. Its actuality.37. Essence of revelation.
33. Its truth.38. Lofty aspiration of man.
34. Its fundamental principle.39. Prophecy.
35. Relation between God and man.40. Prediction of the future.
36. Divine plan.
[chapter VI].
OBJECTION AND ANSWER.
41. Rationalism antagonistic to faith.46. Is the cause of faith.
42. Self-love in the physical world.47. Is not the offspring of imagination.
43. Self-love in man.48. Depends on the
subjection of the sensual appetites.
44. Heroism of man.49. Furnishes evidence to faith.
45. Proceeding from love.
[chapter VII].
PRELIMINARY DISPOSITIONS OF REVELATION.
50. Contingency in revelation.53. Beginning from an individual.
51. Its removal.54. Election of that individual.
52. Choice of a portion of mankind.
[chapter VIII].
PATRIARCHAL EPOCH.
55. Abraham.59. Circumcision.
56. His virtues.60. Abraham's progeny.
57. Aim of his vocation.61. Providential measures.
58. Covenant established with him.
[chapter IX].
SINAITIC REVELATION.
62. Egyptian bondage. Moses.64. Modality of the revelation.
63. Preamble of the revelation.65. Decalogue.
[chapter X].
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.
66. First Commandment,70. Fifth,
67. Second,71. Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth,
68. Third,72. Ninth.
69. Fourth,73. Tenth.
[chapter XI].
SUCCESSIVE REVELATIONS.
74. Their character.75. Their sanction.
76. Their twofold direction.
[chapter XII].
REVEALED NOTIONS RESPECTING GOD.
77. Knowledge of God.80. Love of God.
78. Opportunity of such a knowledge.81. Fear of God.
79. Immediate relation between God and man.82. Other duties towards God.
[chapter XIII].
DUTIES TOWARDS FELLOW-MEN.
83. Justice.86. Other duties.
84. Negative duties.87. Charity and benevolence.
85. Positive duties.88. Duties toward the animate and inanimate nature.
[chapter XIV].
DUTIES TOWARDS ONE'S-SELF.
89. Fundamental rule.90. Duties towards the body.
91. Sanctification.92. Other special obligations.
[chapter XV].
JUDAISM.
93. Religious idea.95. Mosaism.
94. Its vicissitudes among the Jews.96. Prophetism.
[chapter XVI].
CONCLUSION.
97. Action, creed, hopes.

NOTICE.

the name of Isaac Reggio of Goritz, is now a celebrity in the Hebrew literary world. A man of vast mind, a profound scholar, a philosopher, and an elegant writer, his numerous works on Theology, Hermeneutics, Philology, History, and Literature, written in Hebrew, in Italian, and in German, have tended much to revive the taste for Hebrew literature, and to reconcile modern education to the study of Jewish antiquities.

The present little book is one of his latest productions in the Italian language. In a style at once concise and perspicuous, and with a form of reasoning suited to the scientific requirements of the times, he introduces the student to an enlarged view of Religion, ascends with him to the heavenly source from which it emanated, and leads him, through the paths of virtue and love, to the comprehension and admiration of the objects contemplated by it. In short, he teaches—if I am permitted the expression—the philosophy of religion.

I humbly, but firmly believe that, in the hands of able Jewish teachers, this work will considerably assist them to infuse into religious instruction a little more spirituality, and to impart a more comprehensive view of religion, than the routine of former days deemed necessary, and that, by so doing, they will be better able to enlarge and satisfy the minds, improve the hearts, and generally advance the moral education of youth.

Notwithstanding the well-intentioned and beneficial efforts of many friends of education among the British Jews, and the praiseworthy exertions of some excellent teachers, the education of the mass is, we must confess, still in a condition, in which the attainment of those objects has not ceased to be a desideratum. We may or may not be on a level with our neighbours, but we have very urgent and special calls of our own for self-improvement, we have a particular mission to fulfil, with its concomitant duties. Such self-improvement and such duties are demanded by the spirit—not of the age, as is too commonly said and believed—but of an age which began thirty-two centuries ago, at the revelation on Mount Sinai—the spirit of Judaism, of well-understood Judaism. Our age, with all its boasted and undeniable progress, is still, morally, far below the type designed by Providence for humanity in the Sinaitic dispensation, far behind the spirit which dictated and pervades the pages of the sacred volume, and which, when thoroughly understood and generally acted upon, must bring about the supreme reign of justice, charity, and universal love, and—as far as attainable—the ultimate perfection of mankind.

It has appeared to me that these truths find a plain and logical exposition in this little work, and that its contents may not prove uninteresting even to the general reader. I also believe that a more correct apprehension of the true spirit and principles of Judaism by our Christian brethren, than is commonly arrived at, will have the twofold effect, of gradually leading to a larger measure of justice being dealt to the Jew, and inducing the latter to a higher degree of self-respect. For these several reasons, I have volunteered to translate it for the use of the English public, while other versions are being prepared in Germany and France. I trust that those to whose lot has fallen the honourable but arduous task of educating and informing young minds, and to whom it is more particularly addressed, will give it their earnest consideration, for the sake of whatever good they may cull from it, as a material in aid, while they are laying the foundations of virtue in the hearts of the rising generation.

That the results may correspond to the intentions is the sincere wish of

the translator.

AUTHOR'S PREFACE.