Letter from Miller, M. R. to Morais, Sabato. Philadelphia, PA; Oct 1876
- Title
- Letter from Miller, M. R. to Morais, Sabato. Philadelphia, PA; Oct 1876
- Date Created
- 17 October 1876
- Format
- 3 pages on 2 sheets
- Language(s)
- English
- Source
- Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies
- Sabato Morais Collection, Box 2, Folder 3
- Has Format
- https://colenda.library.upenn.edu/items/ark:/81431/p3mk65t7x/manifest.json
- Link to Colenda
- https://colenda.library.upenn.edu/catalog/81431-p3mk65t7x
- Provenance
- Transfer of Custody from the Hebrew Education Society, 10 March 1913.
- Is Format Of
- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/judaicadh/morais/main/TEI/SMBx2FF3_30.xml
- content
-
301 S. Eighth st
Philadelphia, Oct. 17, 1876.
Rev. S. Morais:
Dear Sir,
Our conversation last sunday evening impressed me, and I was thinking of it all through the night. If the death of Socrates affected people very tenderly and caused them to be at variance, it would be very appropriate advice to let the subject alone, and not admit it into public discus=sion. Or, if the Methodists were trying to prejudice the public against Calvinism, and were constantly bringing the charge against Calvin that he persecuted Servetus, and that Servetus died a martyr from the cruel perse=cution of Calvin, and if they were thus driving the wedge of exasperated separation among Christians, it seems to me that Calvinists ought not to object to the hearing of all the testimony that can be adduced on the sub=ject, but at the same time they might say
that Calvin was only a fallible man, and that if he was wrong on the subject of religi=ous toleration he might be right on a thou=sand more important points—that this is an old question, what part Calvin had in the burning of Servetus? and that it ought not now to have any influence on any man's faith or life, and that for the sake of peace and mutual good will, it is best now to let the question sleep.
But this, as it appears to me, can not be said of the crucifixion of Jesus. Thousands feel that their own eternal life is inseparably connected with the question whether Jesus was worthy of death? It is in-finitely far from being a question of the past, in which the present living ages need not take any special practical interest, Why Jesus was hung? Hence it appears to me highly appropriate when we find the doctors of the Talmud giving essentially the same account of the charge against Jesus that is given in the New Testament, to bring them
into court as witnesses and give their testimony the value it deserves. This is all that I attempted to do. I tried to do this work fairly. Silence is not always the best means for the establishment of peace: in many in-stances the only thing that establishes peace is a full and fair investigation. Christians have the right to say in the face of Renau and others that the witness of the Talmud is against them.
Remember further, that I did not cite these evidences from the Talmud as against the Jews, but rather as being on the side of the truth of the New Testament.
I expect to leave Philadelphia this week, and I will be pleased to see you before I leave.
I remain
Yours very truly
M. R. Miller. - Identifier
- p3mk65t7x
- identifier
- SMBx2FF3_30
Part of Letter from Miller, M. R. to Morais, Sabato. Philadelphia, PA; Oct 1876
Miller, M. R. and Morais, Sabato, “Letter from Miller, M. R. to Morais, Sabato. Philadelphia, PA; Oct 1876”, Sabato Morais Digital Repository, accessed October 18, 2024, https://judaicadhpenn.org/legacyprojects/s/morais/item/88456