Ib. p. 33.
—their faiths in the efficacy of their own rites, and creeds, and ceremonies, and their whole train of substitutions for moral duty, was so entire, and in their opinion was such a saving faith, that they could not at all interpret any language that seemed to dispute their value, or deny their importance.
Poor strange Jews! They had, doubtless, what Darwin would call a specific
paralysis
of the auditory nerves to the writings of their own Prophets, which yet were read Sabbath after Sabbath in their public Synagogues. For neither John nor Christ himself ever did, or indeed could, speak in language more contemptuous of the folly of considering rites as substitutions for moral duty, or in severer words denounce the blasphemy of such an opinion. Why need I refer to Isaiah or Micah?
Ib. p. 34.
Thus it was that this moral preacher explained and enforced the duty of repentance, and thus it was that he prepared the way for the greatest and best of teachers, &c.
Well then, if all this was but a preparation for the doctrines of Christ, those doctrines themselves must surely have been something different, and more difficult? Oh no! John's preparation consisted in a complete rehearsal of the