105 



who would remove "the ancient landmarks "" 

 which the fathers had set. One of the mosi char- 

 acteristic features of the Hebrew religion was the 

 purity of its doctrines. And the reason for such 

 purity, was the special care which God exercised 

 to keep the Israelites uncontaminated from the 

 dual fault of false doctrine and false practice. 



Bishop S. M. Merrill, D.D., in his '"New Testa- 

 ment Idea of Hell " says: 



'* The best way to learn the opinions of a peo- 

 ple at a given time in their history, is to study 

 their literature at the period in question. * * * * 

 The Targums are perhaps the most authoritative 

 expositions of Jewish faith, as it was when Christ 

 was on earth, now within our reach. These 

 afford unmistakable evidence that eternal pun- 

 ishment was taught and believed by the Jewish 

 people. * * * * They contain the thought of 

 the leaders of the people as taught in the syna- 

 gogues, and unquestionably reveal the prevalent 

 opinions of the Jews at the time of Christ and 

 prior to his day." 



Dr. Wit 1 »y says: ' * It seems reasonable to inter- 

 pret them (words rendered Hell) according to the 

 received opinions of the Jews, since otherwise 

 our Lord using them so frequently in speaking 

 to them, without saying anything to show that 

 He did not understand the expression as they did, 

 must have strengthened them in their error. 



