No. IX.
CHRISTIANS CANNOT BE RECKONED AMONGST THE "PIOUS OF THE NATIONS OF THE WORLD."
We said, in our last number, that "the pious of the nations
of the world" are, according to the oral law, those who have
received the seven commandments of the sons of Noah. We
said that of the laws laid down for their own conduct, some, as
for instance that respecting divorces, are such as would introduce
confusion and misery into Gentile society—and that
others, referring to the administration of justice by Rabbinical
tribunals, are extremely unjust. But the advocates of the oral
law think, nevertheless, that it is very tolerant, more tolerant
than the New Testament, because it says that "the pious of
the nations of the world have a share in the world to come."
Now we cannot help feeling a curiosity to know how great or
how small that share will be. And this our curiosity is excited
by the following information, which the oral law commands to
be communicated to a Gentile who wishes to turn Jew:—
(
Hebrew characters)
"As they are to make known to him the punishments attached to the commandments, so they are also to inform him of the rewards for keeping them. They should inform him, that, by the doing of these commandments, he will be worthy of everlasting life; and that there is no perfectly righteous man, except that possessor of wisdom who does and knows them. And they are to say to him, Be assured that the world to come is laid up for none but the righteous, and they are Israel; and as to this that thou seest Israel in trouble in this world, their good things are laid up for them, for they cannot receive an abundance of good things in this world, like the nations. Their heart might, perchance, be lifted up, and they might go astray, and lose the reward of
