A Guide for the Religious Instruction of Jewish Youth — John Shaqi
A Guide for the Religious Instruction of Jewish YouthReggio, Isaac Samuel
Religion
A Guide for the Religious Instruction of Jewish Youth
Reggio, Isaac Samuel
Judaism -- Juvenile literature
self, and centres his motives exclusively in the object beloved. This
kind of love, however, presupposes a uniformity of tendencies, which
causes the one who loves to esteem and to endeavour to appropriate the
qualities admired by him; and in this precisely consists the
resemblance, which produces the true love. Justice, faithfulness,
righteousness, mercy, and many other Divine attributes, which in the
biblical language are called _the ways of the Eternal_, cannot be fully
and worthily appreciated, except by him who uses all his endeavours to
adorn himself with such virtues, as far as his limited nature allows.
And now we can understand, why he cannot truly love who walks not in His
ways.
LXXXI. Another principal duty, issuing from the same revelation, is that
which is commonly called _fear of God_, an expression very frequent in
the sacred text, but which requires to be explained. The Hebrew word
used is susceptible of two different interpretations. It might apply to
the fear of retribution, suggested by the reflection that an
all-powerful God will not leave unpunished the transgressors of his
commands; or the same word might signify the sense of reverence and
unbounded veneration, with which the frail creature must feel almost
overwhelmed when thinking of its exalted Creator, who knows all, sees
all, and governs all. The former originates in the intellect, the latter
in the heart. It is obvious that the fear of punishment is not a
sufficient restraint to deter man, at all times, from sin; for in the
ebullition of impetuous passions, the intellect becomes offuscated and
impeded in the exercise of its functions, or frequently is itself
pressed into the service of the predominating passion. Not so the awe
and reverence inspired by the majesty of the Supreme King of the
universe. It pervades all the heart, disposes it to feelings of
submission and obedience, convinces it that man is at all times in the
presence of his Maker, and thus prevents inordinate material appetites
from bursting forth and rising forcibly to uncontrollable preponderance.
Hence it is that the fear of God, taken in the latter sense, is a
powerful prop which supports the religious edifice, is the most
effectual and valuable lesson we derive from the revelation of the
Divine attributes.
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