provokingly summary with regard to the last twenty years. The difficulty in defining this part of his subject so as to exclude the pastor from any official claim to a share in it. He rightly rejects as unevangelical the "Catholicism" which would assign churchgovernment to the clergy alone, but nothing could more clearly show how far the "Evangelical Church has travelled from the Reformation point of view than Dr Köhler's not very convincing attempt to get rid of inconvenient passages in some of the sixteenth century documents, which undoubtedly assign to the clergy a share in the government of the Church. His account of church-government by the State is, that it is "no part of State power," nor is it any "Episcopal power," but it is "something annexed to State power connected therewith by positive law, yet undistinguishable from it though not comprehended in it by any inner necessity." The thing is evidently as difficult to describe as it is to justify. He argues that it has already become, and will more and more become, "a right of protection and review"; and he hopes it will continue so in order that the Church may be saved from the domination of party majorities, which, he says, is "inevitable in a thorough-going clerical or synodical government." It is hard to resist the conviction that a good deal of what the author has written on churchgovernment is the product of prejudice rather than calm reason. And so we are not surprised to find that the universal priesthood of believers has, in his view, no bearing on questions of churchgovernment. There are limits, however, to his defence of the existing state of matters. Patronage, for instance, is an anomaly. "Public rights in the possession of private individuals, though quite common in the Middle Ages, are for the present age an impossibility." Of the remaining parts not much need be said. They deal respectively with the clergy, the functions of the Church, and Church property. The general discussion of the clerical office makes it clear that the clergy have no jurisdiction, but are themselves subject to church-government, except in the cure of souls strictly defined. Α clear account is given of what training is required for the office, of the means of obtaining an appointment, of ordination as admitting to office, and of the rights and duties appertaining to it; and note is taken of peculiarities connected with different parts of the Empire. The account of the functions of the Church sets forth the prevailing practices as regards baptism, catechising, confirmation, public worship, the Lord's Supper, marriage, burial, discipline, and charity. Altogether the book is very useful and interesting, but Dr Köhler is far too easily convinced about some things. It is too late to tell us, as he does without qualification, that the Catholic Church principle first finds expression in Ignatius. Jus in sacra is a serious misprint (p. 60). JAMES ROBERTSON. Notices. It Studies in the History of Christian Apologetics, New Testament and Post-Apostolic,1 is the title given to the third and concluding volume of Dr James Macgregor's System of Christian Apologetics. Since the publication of this book the author has been removed by death, to the sorrow of many in Scotland and elsewhere who knew his great ability and valued him as a friend. Trained in the school of the strong, logical Theology of a former age, and gifted with a vigorous intellect, he was equalled by few either in acquaintance with the great system-builders of the seventeenth century, or in the power of handling difficult dogmatic questions. The present volume has all the characteristic qualities of the former two. is conservative in spirit, discursive in method, abounding in things always racily told though often little relevant to the immediate object, and in its main propositions logically reasoned. It is lacking both in unity and in proportion. The first book is occupied with the New Testament itself, especially with Christ's own method, His appeal to prophecy, His use of Miracle, His personal testimony. This is followed by a similar study of the practice of the Apostles. In this connection, some very good things are said of the place occupied by Miracle in general, and the resurrection of Christ in particular, in the ministry of the Apostles, and also of the methods of defence adopted by Peter and Paul. The second book is given to a review of the two great periods of Apologetics-the PostApostolic and the Modern. A number of matters not very pertinent to the argument are dealt with in a series of Appendices. There is no lack of ability in the book. But on such subjects as Prophecy, and on Old Testament questions as a whole, its position is not that of the present day. Dr Mair's Studies in the Christian Evidences 2 appears in a third edition, revised and enlarged. It consists of a series of papers which are intended to help intelligent members and adherents of the Church who may be vexed by certain difficulties of faith. From a Theistic foundation it aims at leading the earnest inquirer on to the central truths of the Gospel. It does this in a sober and careful way, touching on the relations between physical science and Christianity, and giving a very useful summary of the evidence for the authenticity of the New Testament writings. One of the best sections of the book is one which deals with the argument for the unique personality of Christ. The volume as a whole is well fitted 1 By the Rev. James Macgregor, D.D., Oamaru. Edinburgh T. &. T. Clark. 8vo, pp. 370. Price 7s. 6d. 2 By Alexander Mair, D.D. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark. Cr. 8vo, pp. xv. 415. Price 6s. to meet the needs of those to whom it is specially addressed, and deserves the success which has attended it. Few English pastors can match Dr Dale in large and luminous statement of the doctrines of Christianity. In times when the current has been so much the other way, he has never been afraid to come before his people with the strong meat of Christian doctrine; and in the last book which he has published, we see how he has been able to expound from the pulpit "in an orderly and systematic manner all the principal doctrines of the Christian faith." Happy are the people who receive such teaching and are trained to value it. Dr Dale has read largely and thought deeply on the great truths of the Christian Revelation. He has written one of the best books we possess on the Atonement; and in this volume we get the substance of his deepest thoughts and maturest preaching on the greatest subjects. One section of Christian doctrine is left undiscussed, that which includes the grave problems of the Last Things. Another, that to which Justification and the operation of Grace belong, is but partially considered; but on the Being of God, the Humanity and the Divinity of Christ, the Holy Spirit, the Trinity, Man, Sin, and the Atonement, Dr Dale discourses and reasons in a way befitting the majesty and moral magnitude of the themes. The book is a powerful, healthsome, bracing book, which should be read and read again. Mrs Agnes Smith Lewis, to whose liberality and enterprise we are indebted for the discovery of the Syriac palimpsest, issues a translation of the text of the Codex.2 The publication is a most timely one, and will be a material help to a proper estimate of the document. A short narrative is given of the circumstances of the discovery; the relation of this Codex to other Syriac Versions is considered; the manuscript is described; and some of its leading characteristics are stated. In order to increase the usefulness of the translation, marginal notes are given indicating those "variations from our English Authorised Version which have their equivalents either in the Revised Version, as substantially representing the testimony of the most ancient Greek manuscripts, in Cureton's MS., or in Codex Bezae as the chief representative of the Old Latin." It is of interest to see that Mrs Lewis's study of the Version leads her to conclude that it is not the work of a heretic, and that she inclines to understand the word Měpharrěshë (in the sentence "here endeth the Gospel of the Měpharrěshē four books"), as meaning "of the interpreters" or "translators," although she does not regard the 1 Christian Doctrine: A Series of Discourses. By R. W. Dale, LL.D., Birmingham. London: Hodder & Stoughton. Cr. 8vo, pp. xi. 329. Price 6s. 2 A Translation of the Four Gospels from the Syriac of the Sinaitic Palimpsest.. London: Macmillan. Cr. 8vo, pp. xxxvi. 239. Price, 6s. net. question as settled. Together with Mrs Lewis's translation we have the Syriac text itself, published in splendid form by the Syndics of the Cambridge University Press. The text is reproduced as edited by the late Professor Bensley, Mr J. Rendel Harris, and Mr F. Crawford Burkitt. It could not be in better hands. The value of the publication is increased by an Introduction from Mrs Lewis's pen, and by some valuable notes, tables, and facsimiles. Students have now the means of examining the text for themselves, and of forming their own conclusions. It is premature to hazard any very decided opinion upon many questions suggested by it. It certainly represents an old text, perhaps an older form of the Old Syriac than Cureton's. But even this has to be further verified, and other questions, such as that touching its relation to the Diatessaron, require to be more carefully thought out. Many of its readings are of great interest, above all that in Matthew i. 16. Discussion has naturally centred for the time in this last, and some very hasty opinions have been emitted. Except by some tour de force, which would be a practical surrender of scientific principle, and of the value of objective evidence in matters of Textual Criticism, it is impossible to rid the Codex either of the strange reading in Matthew i. 16, or of the testimony elsewhere borne by its text to the supernatural birth of our Lord. To urge, as some do, that the uncertain and divided voice of this one manuscript, which at its best is the voice of an indirect witness, shall overbear the consentient testimony of our oldest direct witnesses is an extraordinary position to assume. The peculiarity of reading in the verse referred to has its explanation, perhaps in the ideas of generations which prevailed in those times, as has been suggested, perhaps in the fact that the genealogies were taken precisely as they stood in the public registers, perhaps in something else. It is much too soon to commit oneself to a positive opinion. The manuscript must first be much more thoroughly studied, and the questions of its date, character (whether heretical or otherwise), and relations to other texts, much more patiently thought out. Meantime, we owe much to those who have put the materials into our hands. The issue of a new and cheaper edition of Hermann Lotze's Microcosmos 2 is a real boon both to students of philosophy and to students of theology. This fourth edition is in every respect complete as regards contents. It is produced in a very handsome form, and its price is less by one-third than that of previous editions. It is a work of supererogation to speak at this date of the importance The Four Gospels in Syriac. Transcribed from the Sinaitic Palimpsest. Cambridge University Press. Pp. xlvi. 318. Price, 24s. * Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark. 2 vols. 8vo, pp. xxiv. 714, and x. 740. Price, 24s. of a book which has taken so high a place in philosophical literature, and to which many thinkers confess themselves debtors. It is a great book, full of strong and elevated thinking on nature, the soul, life, man, and God, which neither theologian nor philosopher can safely neglect. It has also the advantage of appearing in a trustworthy and readable translation. Two interesting volumes come from Dr Alexander Whyte. One of these is a Lecture on Jacob Behmen,1 the working shoemaker, whom Dr Whyte classes as "the greatest of the mystics and the father of German philosophy." A very vivid account is given of Behmen's life, his spiritual experiences, and his theological ideas. The man and his teaching are both subjects which at once fascinate and puzzle the student. They have deeply influenced many theologians of the first order, among others the late Professor Franz Delitzsch. As in the case of others of the great mystics, there were two sides to Behmen's doctrine, one of which is of doubtful value and of very mixed character. Dr Whyte gives an excellent appreciation of the better side, and does ample justice to the deep, devout spirit and extraordinary genius of this strange seventeenth century He does it all with the fervour of one in full sympathy with the mind revealed in Behmen's writings. The other volume is on Samuel Rutherford and some of his Correspondents. seer. It consists of a series of Lectures delivered in St George's Free Church, Edinburgh, and is on the same plan as the author's well-known Bunyan Characters. Dr Whyte could have no more congenial subject, and this book will rank with the best things he has written. Nothing could be more just or more telling than his estimate of Rutherford in all the strange and almost contradictory qualities that met in the man, the pastor, and the theologian. The sketches of the Correspondents, the Gordons of Cardoness, Marion M'Naught, Lady Kenmure, Lady Culross, Lady Boyd, and others, are done in attractive literary form, and with a fine insight into different types of character and experience. It was a happy inspiration that moved Mr Jolly to prepare his volume on Ruskin's ideas of Education.3 As one who has long held the position of one of Her Majesty's Inspectors of Schools, and who at the same time has been a diligent and appreciative student of Ruskin, Mr Jolly has peculiar qualifications for such a task, and he has produced a book that is full of fruitful and fertile reflections. 1 Edinburgh Oliphant, Anderson & Ferrier. * Edinburgh: Oliphant, Anderson & Ferrier. 2s. 6d. Cr. 8vo, pp. 86. Price, 1s. 3d. Ruskin on Education. Some needed but neglected Elements restated and reviewed. By William Jolly. London: George Allen. Small cr. 8vo, pp. xvi. 167. Price, 2s. net. |