Excerpt from The Religion and Worship of the Synagogue: An Introduction to the Study of Judaism From the New Testament Period In planning the present volume the writers have endeavoured to keep in view the requirements more especially of Christian readers and students. For long the need of a popular Handbook dealing with Judaism in a comprehensive way, in a manner adequate to the theme and to the attainments of modern research, has been patent. It is becoming more and more widely recognized that in the light of the new knowledge that has resulted from the study of comparative religion, Judaism, particularly in its earlier phases, occupies a position of unique importance, especially for the elucidation of Christian origins. In such a study, it is true, Judaism not only proves illuminating, but is itself illuminated. But it remains unfortunately true that Judaism has not yet come to its rights in this department of knowledge. Too many students seem still to imagine that the serious study of the Jewish Religion can be left on one side altogether. To Christian theologians, whose interests are absorbed in the investigation of the beginnings of Christianity, the study of Judaism as a living whole - as a vital organism with a soul and genius of its own - is also of supreme importance. We feel bound to express our conviction that the failure to appreciate this aspect of the matter has been responsible in the past for much one-sided and defective exegesis of the New Testament. It is true, learned treatises to illustrate particular themes of Christian interest - as, e.g., the various "Lives" of Our Lord - have been written from time to time, and some of these are of great and enduring value in particular ways. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.