The history of the Jewish religion can, in consequence of this, be appropriately divided into five great epochs. The first epoch embraces the _natural religion_, from the times of the patriarchs down to Moses at the exodus from Egypt. The second comprehends the _positive_ or _revealed_ religion, from Moses to the time of the _Great Synagogue_ (_Keneseth Haggedolah_). This council must not be conceived as an assembly of theologians at a definite time; the name applies to the theologians of a whole epoch from the destruction of the first temple to the composition of the Mishnah. Of these the first were the _minor prophets_ (Haggai, Zachariah, Malachi, etc., of whom 120 are counted altogether), and the last was _Simon the Just_.[32] These, as well as their forerunners from the time of Joshua, took as their basis the Mosaic laws, and added new laws according to time and circumstances, but in conformity with the traditional method, every dispute on the subject being decided by the _majority of voices_. The third epoch extends from the composition of the Mishnah by Jehudah the Saint[33] to the composition of the Talmud by Rabina and Rabassi.[34] Down to this epoch it was forbidden to commit the laws to writing, in order that they might not fall into the hands of those who could make no use of them. But as Rabbi Jehudah Hanassi, or, as he is otherwise called, Rabbenu Hakades observed, that, in consequence of their great multiplicity, the laws may easily fall into oblivion, he gave himself a licence to transgress a single one of the laws in order to preserve the whole. The law transgressed was that against committing the laws to writing; and in this licence he defended himself by a passage in the Psalms, "There are times, when a man shows himself well-pleasing to God by transgressing the laws."[35] He lived in the time of Antoninus Pius, was rich, and possessed all the faculties for such an undertaking. He therefore composed the Mishnah, in which he delivers the Mosaic laws in accordance either with a traditional or with a rational method of exposition. It contains also some laws which form the subject of dispute. This work is divided into six parts. The first contains the laws relating to agriculture and horticulture; the second, those which refer to feasts and holidays. The third part comprehends the laws which define the mutual relations of the two sexes (marriage, divorce, and such subjects). The fourth part is devoted to the laws which deal with the teachers of the law; the fifth, to those which treat of the temple-service and sacrifices; and the sixth, to the laws of purification.