In 1 Maccabees the doctrinal subject under consideration is closely connected with the doctrine of God as presented in this book. We have seen above that direct divine intervention in the nation’s affairs is not nearly as prominently expressed here as in the books of the Old Testament; and it has also been already remarked that God is never mentioned by name in the whole book. The writer is certainly not wanting in earnest belief and faith in God; his conviction of the existence of an all-seeing Providence is clear from many passages; but he also has a strong belief in the truth expressed by the modern proverb that “God helps those who help themselves.” This attitude was largely due to the influence of certain tendencies which were beginning to assert themselves. These centred round the doctrine of God. Just as there was a disinclination, on account of its transcendent holiness, to utter the name of God, and instead to substitute paraphrases for it, so there arose also a disinclination to ascribe action among men directly to God on account of His inexpressible majesty. One result of this was the further tendency to emphasize and extend the scope of human free-will. We find, therefore, in this book that much more emphasis is laid on free-will than on divine grace. In the Additions to Esther it is just the other way about; for here human free-will is scarcely taken into account, while the divine activity among men is throughout insisted upon. But in both this book and 1 Maccabees there can be no doubt that the one-sided emphasis on divine grace and human free-will respectively was prompted by the particular subject-matter of either book. In the case of 2 Maccabees, though written with a definitely religious object, there is very little to note under the present heading; the frequent stress laid, however, on the fact that the Jews are God’s chosen people, and therefore under His special protection and guidance, is a point to be borne in mind. The next book to be considered is 2 (4) Esdras, and here again it is only the “Salathiel Apocalypse” that claims attention. “The writer’s intense sense of sinfulness, and his conviction of man’s inability to acquire justification by the works of the Law, impel him to throw himself wholly upon the divine compassion; he despairs of a life of absolute obedience to the Law, even by Israel, not to speak of the world. The unconscious and unexpressed cry of the book is for a moral dynamic, which legalism could not supply.”[332] This deeply religious writer must, therefore, perforce have looked to divine grace where human will-power was helpless. As we should expect, in the Book of Wisdom the main stress is laid on free-will, though the other side of the truth is not lost sight of. The former is plainly taught in i. 12-16: Court not death in the error of your life, Neither draw upon yourselves destruction by the works of your hands. * * * * *