Helon's Pilgrimage to Jerusalem, Volume 1 (of 2)

Helon's Pilgrimage to Jerusalem, Volume 1 (of 2) - A picture of Judaism, in the century which preceded the advent of our Savior.

The work which is now offered to the public, appeared in Germany in 1820, unaccompanied by notes or even references to Scripture. The author alleged, as a reason for this omission, that the majority of readers would not concern themselves about authorities, and that the few who did might easily find them. He was, however, soon convinced, by the expression of public opinion, that he had underrated the curiosity of the former class, as much as he had overrated the patience of the latter; and promised to remedy the deficiency. As the work had been partly translated into Dutch and illustrated with notes, by the Professors Vanderpalm and Clarisse, he purposed to add his own notes to theirs, when their translation should be completed. It was my original intention to have waited for the appearance of this appendix; but as four years have now elapsed, and I have been unable to hear any tidings of it from Germany, I thought it better to endeavour to supply the xvdefect. Having no clue whatever to guide me to the sources of the authors statements, it may happen that I have not assigned the precise authority which he had in view; and, in justice to him, the reader will not conclude, that all which is not fortified by a reference is destitute of a warrant from antiquity, but only that the passage in which it is found has not occurred to me. The liberty which I have used with the original consists wholly in retrenchments. Of these alterations some have been made to prevent repetition and diffuseness: in a very few instances what appeared evidently fanciful or unfounded has been silently effaced. The reader who is not acquainted with any other authority for Jewish antiquities than the Old and New Testament, will not, perhaps, be displeased to find here a brief statement of the sources whence the materials of the following work have been derived. He who chooses a distant age for the scene of such a fiction as this, and endeavours to give the form and colour of reality to the dim and broken outlines, will find himself at a loss, even in delineating the best known ages of Greece and Rome. But our author has undertaken a task of still greater difficulty. The Jews were entire strangers to those kinds of literary production, in which the living manners of a people are preserved to posterity: literature among them was devoted to higher objects than comedy, satire, and ethical xvidescription. The history of our Saviour, it is true, carries us into the very bosom of domestic life among his contemporaries; and the knowledge which we thus acquire is peculiarly valuable, from the stamp of truth which is impressed on every part of it. But if we learn much from this source, there is still more of which we are left ignorant. Next to the books of Scripture, the Antiquities and History of the Jews by Josephus, are the most authentic sources of information. Philo, occupied in pursuing the phantoms of allegorical interpretation, gives less aid than might have been expected from his voluminous writings. Among the Fathers of the Christian church, Jerome, who was long resident in Palestine, has left us, in various works, very important information respecting the geography, natural history, and customs of the country. Of the heathen writers, even the gravest and most learned so pervert and confound every thing relating to the manners and religion of the Jews, that they cannot be trusted for any thing beyond geography, and the details connected with it. ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 54867
Author: Strauss, Friedrich
Release Date: Jun 8, 2017
Format: eBook
Language: English

Contributors

Translator: Kenrick, John, 1788-1877