SERIES OF LETTERS ON THE CONTROVERSY BETWEEN JEWS AND CHRISTIANS: COMPRISING THE MOST IMPORTANT DOCTRINES OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. BY JOSEPH SAMUEL C. F. FREY, AUTHOR OF A HEBREW GRAMMAR, A HEBREW, LATIN, AND ENGLISH DICTIONARY, AND EDITOR OF VANDER HOOGHT'S HEBREW BIBLE. IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. I. "These are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the FIFTH EDITION. NEW-YORK: PUBLISHED BY PETER HILL, No. 94 BROADWAY. SOLD BY LEAVITT, LORD, & CO. 1837. D Fanshaw, Printer. 130. f. 151.. Entered, according to act of Congress, in the year 1835, by JOSEPH SAMUEL C. F. FREY, in the Clerk's office of the District Court of the southern district of the State of New-York. PREFACE. iii DEAR READER, As you may probably have seen my narrative, or history of my own life, several editions of which have been published both in England and in this country, I shall not say any thing respecting myself except what may be necessary as a key to the following letters. In the year 1771 I was born in Germany, of Jewish parents, and brought up in the strict observance of all the religious ceremonies of my forefathers. I was early educated for the office of Rab bi, which I sustained afterward, together with the office of Reader in the synagogue, &c. for seven years. At the age of 25, being convinced that Jesus is the Messiah, I left my father's house and kindred, and publicly professed the Christian religion. In 1799 I devoted myself to the work of a missionary, and commenced the preparatory studies in the missionary seminary at Berlin, Prussia, and pursued it afterwards more fully in England. In 1805 I commenced my missionary labors in London, and continued the same until 1816, when I removed with my family to this country, where I became the pastor of a congregation in the city of New-York. In 1823 I resigned my pastoral charge, and engaged as agent for the "American Society for Meliorating the condition of the Jews" until 1828. Since that period I have spent much of my time in traveling and preaching the glorious Gospel of the blessed God through the greater part of the United States. Thus far the Lord has brought me on, and I can truly say goodness and mercy have followed me all the days of my life, for which I desire to bless his holy name. The substance of the following letters constituted my lectures to my Jewish brethren in London, and many of them I have preached in several cities in Great Britain, in the city of New-York, and Charleston, S. C. &c. and to the praise of Him "from whom cometh every good gift," I can say, upon good evidence, that they have met with general approbation, and frequently solicited for publication. For the last twenty years I have revised and enlarged these lectures repeatedly, and carefully compared them with the sacred Scriptures, with the writings of our ancient and modern Rabbins, and with the most approved works of Christian divines; and believe them to contain the truth as it is in Jesus Christ, my blessed Lord and Savior. Now I am old and grey-headed, and cannot expect to have many more days to labor in the vineyard of my Lord, I have endeavored to prepare them for the press to the best of my poor abilities, and now humbly submit them to the public, that after I shall be dead, and gone to rest with my fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven, I may yet, by these letters, teach transgressors the way of salvation through the once crucified, and now exalted, Redeemer, and confirm believers in the all-important truth, that Jesus Christ is the true Messiah, the Son of the living God. With respect to the style and composition of this work, I am perfectly aware that the critic will find many imperfections, but hope the candid reader will please to bear in mind that the English is not my native tongue; and ever |