he Mosaic law,
and they piously rejected the immortality of the soul, as an opinion
that received no countenance from the divine book, which they revered
as the only rule of their faith. To the authority of Scripture the
Pharisees added that of tradition, and they accepted, under the name of
traditions, several speculative tenets from the philosophy or religion
of the eastern nations. The doctrines of fate or predestination, of
angels and spirits, and of a future state of rewards and punishments,
were in the number of these new articles of belief; and as the
Pharisees, by the austerity of their manners, had drawn into their party
the body of the Jewish people, the immortality of the soul became the
prevailing sentiment of the synagogue, under the reign of the Asmonaean
princes and pontiffs. The temper of the Jews was incapable of contenting
itself with such a cold and languid assent as might satisfy the mind of
a Polytheist; and as soon as they admitted the idea of a future
state, they embraced it with the zeal which has always formed the
characteristic of the nation. Their zeal, however, added nothing to
its evidence, or even probability: and it was still necessary that the
doctrine of life and immortality, which had been dictated by nature,
approved by reason, and received by superstition, should obtain the
sanction of divine truth from the authority and example of Christ.

When the promise of eternal happiness was proposed to mankind on
condition of adopting the faith, and of observing the precepts, of the
gospel, it is no wonder that so advantageous an offer should have been
accepted by great numbers of every religion, of every rank, and of every
province in the Roman empire. The ancient Christians were animated by
a contempt for their present existence, and by a just confidence of
immortality, of which the doubtful and imperfect faith of modern
ages cannot give us any adequate notion. In the primitive church, the
influence of truth was very powerfully strengthened by an opinion,
which, however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity,
has not been found agreeable to experience. It was universally believed,
that the end of the world, and the kingdom of heaven, were at hand.
* The near approach of this wonderful event had been predicted by the
apostles; the tradition of it was preserved by their earliest disciples,
and those who understood in their literal senses the discourse of Christ
himself, were o