f him. [But "man" is at once
interpreted as the Jewish race.] And now I see that as for the world
which was made on account of us, lo! it abides, but we on account of
whom it was made depart' [i.e. into captivity], xv. 7: 'As regards what
thou didst say touching the righteous, that on account of them has this
world come into being, nay more, even that world which is to come is on
their account.' xxi. 23: 'Reprove therefore the angel of death ... and
let the treasuries of souls restore them that are enclosed in them, for
there have been many years like those that are desolate, from the days
of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and of all those who are like them, who
sleep in the earth, on whose account Thou didst say that Thou hadst
created the world.' (This idea of the treasury of the souls of the
righteous recurs in xxx. 2.) In _The Assumption of Moses_ (i. 12) it
is said, 'God hath created the world on behalf of His people. But He
was not pleased to manifest this purpose of creation from the
foundation of the world, in order that the Gentiles might thereby be
convicted [i.e. of ignorance], yea to their own humiliation might by
their arguments convict one another.'

The above teaching shows us exactly what it was to which St. Paul
opposed his doctrine of Justification by {262} Faith. We see it here
on its own ground. Its close association with 'boasting' is apparent
even in its better form; and its view of election contrasts, by its
selfish narrowness, with the view of election put forward by St. Paul,
viz. that God's election of a chosen people or society, together with
His apparent reprobation of others left outside, both alike subserve a
purpose of infinite width, the ultimate divine purpose to 'have mercy
upon all.' See Romans ix-xi, especially xi. 32, and cf. Eph. i. 9-10:
'the secret of His will with a view to the dispensation of the fulness
of the times, to bring together all things in the Christ, things in
heaven and things in earth.'

The marked contrast between the doctrine of Baruch and the doctrine of
St. Paul must of course be admitted in general; but it has been asked
whether the doctrine of the Atonement is not a fragment of the
abandoned Jewish doctrine of merit, borrowed inconsistently by St.
Paul, or inconsistently tolerated by him. To this the reply is surely
in the negative. The Jews undoubtedly held that Enoch, Moses,
Jeremiah, and others were, on account of their righteousness, the
accepted