AM PRES BR1 . P624 Presbyterian and reformed review.
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THE PRESBYTERIAN AND REFORMED REVIEW
No. 51— July, 1902.
I.
THE EPISTEMOLOGICAL ARGUMENT FOR
THEISM.
T is not difficult to understand the influence exerted by the
JL Kantian philosophy during the last few decades. To an individual or a generation, engrossed in the study of science and indisposed to metaphysical speculation, averse to materialism and skepticism and moving in the direction of faith, the standpoint of Kant offers much attraction. It combines two signal advan- tages. It authenticates the concepts employed in science ; it provides an independent basis for religion. In both these respects its superiority as a working philosophic theory to posi- tivism is obvious. The late Professor Huxley enthusiastically extolled Hume as of all philosophers the most satisfactory to a scientific mind, But Hume deprives science of its metaphysi- cal foundations ; he denies philosophical validity to the idea of causation, and resolves the universe into unrelated atoms. It seems infelicitous that a speculation which invalidates the notions indispensable to scientific reasoning should be regarded with, approval by men devoted to the interpretation of nature. The Kantian doctrine is preferable in that it expressly vindicates the concepts which underlie our mathematical and our inductive
science.
The other advantage mentioned is of even greater consequence. “ Our most holy religion,” says Hume, in the Essay on Miracles , “ is founded on faith, not on reason.” Kant uses similar lan- guage : “I must abolish knowledge, to make room for belief.” His meaning, however, is entirely different. To Hume, religion is a superstition, a product of custom and imagination ; to Kant,
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it is an indefeasible possession of man as a moral being, asso- ciated with his dearest interests, having its roots in his deepest experiences. It is not strange that, in the reaction from the unbelief which reached its culmination about the middle of the nineteenth century, the moral faith of Kant should have com- mended itself to many, as conserving the practical elements of religion without involving its theoretical difficulties. One whose mind is open to the mystery of the universe, whose temper is devout and reverential, may naturally be attracted by a philos- ophy which puts him in possession of the world of transcendent reality, making its motives and hopes and consolations present and potent, and which at the same time sets aside theoretical problems as irrelevant. To many persons — to all persons, in certain moods — it is a satisfaction to be able to separate the emo- tional and volitional aspects of religion from its thought aspects, making it a purely spiritual and ethical experience. The Kantian philosophy legitimates both the scientific and the relig- ious views of the world ; it enables one to hold the two concur- rently, without concern as to their reconciliation. The spheres of knowledge and of faith being different, the two cannot come into collision. The freer scope afforded to the religious nature is the chief explanation of the extent to which a revised and modified Kantianism has replaced, of recent years, the positivism so influential a generation ago.
It is through no lack of appreciation of the truth which it contains, and through no failure to recognize the salutary ten- dencies which it embodies, that many who approach these ques- tions from the point of view of metaphysics, or from the point of view of theology, find themselves unable to rest satisfied with this position, reasonable and impartial as it seems. This phase of Kantian tradition emphasizes the negative and skeptical side of the system from which it is derived, The inability of the mind to penetrate to essential reality ; the limitation of knowledge to the sphere of phenomena ; the merely regulative character of our higher beliefs — these are the elements which it appropriates. The other side of Kant’s teaching — that which seemed to his great idealistic successors to contain his real meaning — his assertion of the law-giving energy of reason, it neglects. We may describe this prevalent and popular mode of thinking as an improved version of empiricism ; it furnishes a better basis for knowledge than can be given by a seusationalistic theory ; it is more sym- pathetic toward religion than was the older empiricism ; but it is just as emphatic as was Hume in restricting knowledge to the realm of sensible experience. One who is not prepared to aban-
THE EPISTEMOLOGICAL ARGUMENT FOR THEISM. 343
don the task of philosophy as hopeless, who believes that it is legitimate to inquire into the ideal significance of the world, as well as to observe and classify its facts, cannot regard with com- placency a view which holds in such light esteem the endeavor of the speculative reason.
How just is the discontent of the theologian with this dispar- agement of ideal thought one realizes as one ponders such a eulogistic statement as the following : “The present spread of Kantian philosophy,” says Paulsen, “on the whole, proceeds
from a desire to reconcile science and religion On the
side of religion, we may welcome as a hopeful sign a movement that is rapidly gaining strength in Protestant theology. I refer to the attempt to give the dogma a new place and significance in Church life. A former view regarded the dogma as the expres- sion of theoretical truths. These truths, it held, can and must be scientifically demonstrated by means of exegetical and his- torical proofs or ontological and cosmological arguments, or they can and must be interpreted by abstruse speculation. For the new movement, however, the dogma has the significance of a formula that does not bind the understanding as much as the will. It does not contain demonstrable predications of historical and natural reality, but articles of faith in values that are univer- sally recognized, that satisfy the heart and determine the will. By rejecting scholastic philosophy Luther rejected the artificial union between faith and knowledge. The modern view follows his precedent. It seeks to free Protestant theology from the intellectualism of orthodoxy, from the intellectual mania for demonstration and system, Avhich again controlled it soon after the .Reformation, and to base Church life on the Gospel of salva- tion by faith and charity.”*
The labor of the theologian is certainly quite superfluous upon such an estimate of his functions. According to this view, dogmas are not statements of truth, but awkward attempts to express, under forms of logic, experiences of emotion and of volition which cannot properly be thus expressed ; these formula- tions have no significance for the intellect ; they are of value only so far as they meet the demands of the heart and of the will.
The inextinguishable attraction which the ultimate problems of being have for the human mind appears in the fact that, however hostile to such inquiries the spirit of an age may be, attempts at a theoretical interpretation of the world are never wholly lacking. The positivistic and Neo-Kantian depreciation of reason has not
* Paulsen, Introduction to Philosophy, pp. 12, 13.
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sufficed, in our day, altogether to suppress such attempts. It is noteworthy that one of the most ambitious of these has arisen in the unfriendly environment of the English associationaiism — the “Synthetic Philosophy” of Spencer. The theory so popular at present, especially among men of science interested in philos- ophy, to which the vague term “ monism ” is often applied, is the pantheism of Spinoza translated into modern language. The pessimistic view of life, unhappily current even in the most favored times and countries, has found in recent years an ex- positor as definitely metaphysical as Schopenhauer himself — Hartmann’s Philosophy of the Unconscious being, like The World as Will and as Idea , a theory in regard to the nature of the World-ground. The most interesting, at least for our present purpose, of these various forms of contemporary metaphysics are those which derive their inspiration, and in large measure their content, from the greatest of the followers and critics of Kant — Hegel. Inasmuch as the current agnosticism shelters itself to so great an extent under the authority of Kant, it is fitting that there should arise protests against it cast in the forms of that idealistic rationalism which received at the hands of Hegel its most influential expression. The energy with which the Hegelian type of thought has asserted itself during the last score of years, will not seem strange to one who considers that it is the natural and historical antithesis of the exaggerated moral- ism which was the negative side of Kant’s teaching, and which has wrought as a subtle and pervasive force of disintegration in so much of the thought of the present day.
The truth which Hegel championed is that of the rationality of the world, the genuineness and veritableness of the thinking process — a truth which i3 the complement of the Kantian moral- ism, and which must be conjoined with it, if we are to attain a true theory of the validity and integrity of knowledge.
Is the form of idealism worked out by Hegel of value as a defense against agnostic negations ? In particular, is it available for the particular uses to which it is sought to be applied ? It must be remembered that the problem with which the school of Hegel, as at present represented among us, is chiefly concerned is the problem of theism. Their fundamental doctrine may perhaps be stated in this way : Keality, in its very nature, logi- cally and necessarily implies an infinite and omniscient intelli- gence. This is an ontological or, more strictly, an epistemologi- cal argument for the being of God. Analysis of the act of knowledge reveals, it is urged, certain universal and necessary
THE EPISTEMOLOGICAL ARGUMENT FOR THEISM. 345
conditions, not dependent upon individual reason or will, but recognized as valid for every rational being and in every con- ceivable universe ; these prerequisites alike of knowledge and of existence are manifestations of Absolute Reason, immediate expressions of divine thought. “ Unconscious or vaguely cog- nizant as the mind may be of the ultimate basis of its own activity, yet in all thinking, in all mental action, in all inquirv and reasoning, there is involved the assumption of the ultimate unity of being and thought,’1* there is involved an implicit assertion of the final reality on which all intelligence rests. This is a more cogent statement of the ontological argument than that which has ordinarily been given, and the seriousness and acuteness with which this line of thought is followed out by the class of thinkers referred to entitles them to the respectful attention of all who are interested in the problems of being and of knowledge, which are the common possession ot philosophy and of theology.
One’s answer to the question whether any help is to be had from ITegel toward the construction of a philosophical theism will depend on one’s opinion as to the general interpretation to be placed upon his philosophy. The view stated by Prof. Flint, in his Anti-T/ieistio Theories ,f is that held by many highly com- petent authorities. Hegel “ starts,” Prof. Flint tells us, “ with the absolute first — the simplest notion of reason — pure being, and thence derives all knowledge and evolves all reality in a con- tinuous process of reasoning from abstract and implicit to con- crete and explicit” ; he “ represents the absolute reality as the result or completion of a process of development”; his “ only idea of God is that of a God gradually evolved from unconscious- ness to consciousness.” If this be true, there is no room for dis- cussion ; it would be absurd to expect pantheism so undisguised and unmitigated to be anything but mischievously perverting in its influence upon Christian thought. According to this, God is not an Absolute, Self-conscious Spirit, but the result of a process of development ; He attains self-consciousness only in the con- sciousness of man ; He is Spirit only in the finite spirit ; He is dependent upon man and upon nature for His realization, and, as nature and man are subject to laws of development, He attains realization only gradually and approximately as this develop- ment proceeds —the whole conception is the complete negation of theism. Hegel’s Logic certainly seems, at first sight, to establish beyond dispute the accuracy of this account. It begins with
* Caird, Philosophy of Religion, p. 246. f Page 457.
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pure being, and proceeds through successive categories to the Absolute Idea, in which the process finds its completion ; God is the last term ot the development.
Yet the question arises whether, as the Logic deals only with categories of thinking, bare abstractions, it is intended to have any concrete reference ; whether the dialectical movement is to be regarded as the development of God, or as a logical exhibi- tion and arrangement of our thoughts about God. Regarded as an evolution of the Absolute, an attempt to show how God comes into being, the Logic is so futile and perverse an inconse- quence as to be unworthy of consideration — how can logical con- cepts be imagined by any one capable of evolving reality out of themselves ? But understood as a thought-scheme of the world, the suggestiveness of this ingenious and subtly reasoned argu- mentation cannot be disputed. Is it not better to interpret the Logic in a way that makes it reasonable and sensible than in a way which makes it grotesque ?
W e can more readily perceive the scope and meaning of this first part of Ilegel’s system if we note its relation to the other two parts — the Philosophy of Nature and the Philosophy of Spirit. Since Nature and Spirit or Mind comprise the whole of the concrete reality manifested in experience, it is evident that the L^ogic does not deal with concrete experience, but with the forms of pure thinking which are conditional for it. Kant in his Transcendental Analytic borrows from the ordinary formal logic the scheme of the categories ; Hegel attempts the profound and difficult task of determining, by an independent analysis, what the conceptions are which underlie our thought of the world, and how they stand related to each other, not chronologically, but in rank and value. The u priori element of the Trancen- dental Analytic is subjected to an investigation far more search- ing than that which Kant applied to it, and the result is a logical outline or skeleton which exhibits, in systematic arrangement and derivation, the constructive or relational elements, whose validity Kant established, but which were not critically exam- ined by him.
One can hardly conceive a more daring, and at the same time a more admirable, task than that which Hegel sets himself in this undertaking. If the universe is the embodiment of thought, why should it be impossible to abstract the form from the matter, the logical relations from the physical content of nature and the psychical content of mind? Whether within the compass of human power or not, this is the purpose of the Logic. Pure being, which stands as the first term of the series,
THE EP1STEM0L 0 GIGA L ARG UMENT FOR THEISM. 347
is not represented as containing potentially all the succeeding terms, so that they are to be regarded as derived from it, but each category is exhibited as inadequate, and as requiring for its completion one that is higher ; we are thus led from the several categories of “ Being ” to those of “ Essence,” and then to those of “ Idea,” ending with what has been presupposed throughout — the supreme category of the Absolute Idea, or self-conscious Spirit. The movement is not from a first princi- ple, as Prof. Flint understands, but toward one ; the order of exposition is the reverse of the order of thought. The outcome of the argument is that we are compelled, by the necessities of thinking, to conceive the highest principle of things as self-active mind ; this is established by an examination of the most impor- tant concepts which we employ in our thought of the world, showing that each is defective, that they all look forward to something higher, and that we can rest only in the all-com- prehending and all-explaining conception of a Self-determining Intelligence. This is not a pantheistic representation, nor is it a deriving of reality from thought, but it is a supremely valuable suggestion for theistic philosophy, since it maintains that an analysis and comparison of the categories of thinking demon- strates that the final principle of thought, presupposed in all lower principles, is self-conscious, self-active Intelligence.*
The process by means of which we pass in the Logic from each imperfect category to the next which transcends it, is a continu- ous application of the triple movement — of Thesis, Antithesis and Synthesis — which is, in the view of Hegel, the true and necessary process of thought, inevitably resulting from the nature of self- consciousness. What is it that we do in the act or process of becoming aware of anything ? The mind places the thing before itself as an object ; it objectifies itself, so to speak, in it ; and then, by a reflective and synthetic return of thought, the mind unites the object to its experience, and incorporates it with its previous possessions. Three steps or moments may be distin- guished—the subject, or ego, as it is at the outset ; the object, which negatives or opposes the existing consciousness ; the syn- thesis, which unites the new with the old in a higher product. This rhythm is to Hegel a universal norm which he applies every- where. It need hardly be pointed out that the contradiction is not the contradictory opposition of formal logic, which is mere
* Hegel himself was quite aware of the error involved in this way of represent- ing the world development. He repeatedly insists that what appears in it as the third and' last member of the dialectical movement described is in truth rather the first. Lotze, 3ietaphysics, Section 88.
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negation and adds nothing new, but is real opposition, in which there is an additional element, which needs to be taken up into the original statement in order to make it complete. In the dialectic of the Loyic each conception reveals its inadequacy in the fact that an exception or contradiction presents itself, and it is necessary to rise to a more comprehensive thought capable of uniting the two partial truths in a higher state- ment. This principle of negativity is the characteristic idea which runs through the entire Hegelian system, and one who thoroughly grasps it will have in his possession a key which unlocks many of the difficulties encountered. That this is a genu- ine principle, which applies in the most varied and practical manner throughout the whole range of our experience, is obvious. When we address ourselves to the study of an important and difficult book, or to the observation of manners and institutions with which we are unfamiliar, the first necessity is that we merge ourselves in that which we are seeking to understaDd, that we objectify or alienate ourselves in it ; after we have done that, and have thus gotten hold of the new matter, we can return to ourselves in reflection and introspection, and assimilate whatever in what we have acquired is worth retaining. We often fail to do justice to what we study and observe because we do not go thoroughly out of ourselves, but so carry along our own prepos- sessions and judgments that the ^elf-alienation is incomplete ; we assume the function of critics prematurely, before we have gotten the facts or the point of view. The life of society and the phenomena of history furnish constant illustrations of this law of negativity. Certain standards of taste in art or literature prevail at a particular time ; protests soon begin to appear, which indicate the incompleteness of the accepted canons. Moral practices are criticised by reformers, political institutions are assailed by radi- cals, dogmas are subverted by liberal thought. These oppositions all call for a higher synthesis which shall take what is true in the newly manifested tendencies and use it to correct the inadequacy of the old. All progress, whether of the individual or of soci- ety, is accomplished through the encountering and the surmount- ing of opposition, and the movement is rhythmical through the three stadia of which we have spoken.
In this scheme of thought determinations, it should be observed that each member of the series is true and valid as long as it remains in its proper place and is assigned to its appropriate func- tions. We think correctly in the use of the categories which stand under the head of “ Being ” as long as we are in the stage of thought to which these categories pertain — the stage of imme-
THE E PISTE MOL 0 GICA L ARG UHENT FOR THEISM. 349
diate perceplion, of direct apprehension of individual objects. But as soon as we pass beyond this stage and think of things as related, and not merely as existing apart from one another, we employ concepts of a higher order — such as substantiality, causa- tion and reciprocal action. Moreover, a system of forces, acting and interacting causatively, implies some unifying and originating agency ; this, Hegel says, we must think of as self-active ; and the type and reality of self-action is intelligence. Thus the dia- lectic ends with the Idea — Self-conscious Reason, which is pre- sented not as the result, but as the presupposition of the whole process. Philosophy is constantly falling into the error of taking a lower category and making it do duty for a higher. The Bleatic pure Being, Spinoza’s infinite Substance, Spencer’s Unknowable Force, even the Great First Cause of the cosmological argument, as it is often stated, — these are inadequate concepts under which to think the universe ; we need a higher principle of explanation, such as we discover in our conscious and voluntary life. Criti- cism of the constructive and relational elements of thought, such as that which Hegel undertakes, has for its purpose the determin- ing of the place and value of the various principles employed in the classifications and explanations of science and of philosophy. In the light of such a criticism, it is apparent, for example, that the mechanical categories, upon which all schemes of naturalism lay such stress, are incapable of the task to which they are put ; that they do not apply to reality in its higher manifestations ; that they belong in the physical sphere, and that concepts of a higher order must be invoked when we rise to the higher — the psychological and ethical — manifestations of experience.
As the analysis of self-consciousness thus furnishes Hegel with his method of procedure, it also suggests to him the analogies under which the Absolute Beino; is to be conceived.
And here we need to take account of a peculiarity of the Hegel- ian system from which important consequences may be expected to follow, namely, the undue prominence given to the purely cog- nitive aspects of experience. The attempt to construe the universe as the self-development of Absolute Reason renders it necessary to abstract the cognitive element in consciousness from the ele- ments of emotion and volition, and to contemplate the world solely on the side of thought as embodying rational concepts. The ques- tionable features of the Hegelian metaphysics are mainly due to this misleading simplification. This account of knowledge is some- times extravagantly asserted of the individual consciousness. Thus Caird, in his Philosophy of Kant, affirms that “ if we could
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know the whole conditions of an object, apart from perception, we should know its reality and Green declares that “ the sus- pension of thought in us means also the suspension of fact or reality for us,” that “ mere feeling, as a matter unformed by thought, has no place in the world of facts, in the cosmos of pos- sible experience,” and that, accordingly, “ any obstacle which it seemed to present to a monistic view of the world may be allowed to disappear.” f This means that we can experience the world through cognition alone, that thought constitutes nature in the sense that all the components of nature are present within the sphere of thought,' the conditions under which we think an object being equivalent to the conditions under which we know an object. Mr. Bradley’s criticism of this position is deci- sive. “ If we take up anything considered real, no matter what it is, we find in it two aspects. There are always two things we can say about it ; and if we cannot say both, we have not got reality. There is a ‘ what’ and a ‘ that,’ an existence and a content, and the two are inseparable. That anything should be, and should yet be nothing in particular, or that a quality should not qualify and give a character to anything, are obviously impos- sible. If we try to get the ‘ that ’ by itself, we do not get it. For either we have it qualified or else we fail utterly. If we try to get the 1 what ’ by itself, we find at once that it is not all. It points to something beyond, and cannot exist by itself and as a bare adjective. Neither of these aspects, if you isolate it, can be taken as real, or indeed, in that case, is itself any longer They are distinguishable only, and are not divisible.” “We main- tain,” he adds, “ another than mere thought.”:}: It seems, indeed, too obvious to admit of question that the world, as known by finite mind, is more than a system of relations, that it includes something to be related, a background of content or matter, which our thought qualifies and interprets. In the case of the Absolute Being there can. of course, be no datum of presentation, such as sensations are to us, but does it follow that we are justified in taking the other factor in knowledge — the combining, relating intelligence — as completely representative, and conceiving the Absolute after its analogy alone ? Is God nothing but a system of thought determinations ? Is there nothing in Him answering to feeling in us? Nothing answering to will in us— the verv essence of our personality? What right have we to construct our idea of the Absolute on the basis of a single mode of our experience ? It may be replied that the Hegelian theory does not
* Edward Caird, Philosophy of Kant, Vol. I, p. 51.
+ Prolegomena to Ethics , p. 51. t Appearance and Reality, pp. 162, 163.
THE EPISTEM OL 0 GICA L AUG UMENT FOR THEISM. 351
do this, that its “ thought ” is intended to include these other factors also. The thought of a Perfect Being, we may be reminded, is will, it is only imperfect knowing that knows one thing and wills another ; in God knowing and willing are the same. This scholastic sense of “ thought,” which makes it the synthesis of thought and will, is, we are told, the proper interpretation to put upon the term. Prof. Royce has expended much ingenuity and skill in defending his intellectualistic ontology against the charge of overlooking the element of will. In his address on “ The Con- ception of God,” delivered in 1895 at the University of Cali- fornia, after stating that he purposes “ to define Avhat we mean under the name God ” by means of using what tradition would call one of the divine attributes — the attribute of Omniscience, or of the Divine Wisdom,* he adds, “ We need to see from the out- set that this conceived attribute of Omniscience, if it were to be regarded as expressing the nature of a real being, would involve as a consequence the concurrent presence in such a being of attributes that we could at pleasure express under other names ; such, for instance, as what is rationally meant by Omnipotence, by Self-consciousness, by Self-possession — yes, I should unhesita- tingly add, by Goodness, by Perfection, by Peace.” “ In order to have,” he continues, “ the attribute of Omniscience, a being would necessarily be conceived as essentially world-possessing — as the source and principle of the universe of truth — not merely as an external observer of a world of foreign truth. As such he would be conceived as omnipotent, and also in possession of just such an experience as ideally ought to be ; in other words, as good and perfect.”! In Prof. Royce’s more recent work, The World and the Individual , the line of thought followed in the Address is presented in greater detail ; the identity of the concep- tion of God as “ an Absolute Experience transparently fulfilling a system of organized ideas” with the conception of God as an Absolute Will is argued, as in the Address, on the ground that the realization of ideas involves selective attention. The fulfill- ment of meaning is impossible without conscious selection and exclusion among possibilities. Spinoza was wrong in asserting that from the divine point of view all that is possible is real ; “ the exclusion of bare or abstract possibilities does not tend to impoverish, but rather to enrich, our consciousness of what is real, for it is by exclusion of vain possibilities that we become able at once to define a conscious purpose and to get it fulfilled in a precise way ; the life in which anything whatever can consistently hap- pen, and in which any purpose can be fulfilled in any wav, has
t Ibid., p. 13, .
* The Conception of God , p. 7.
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in so far no character as a life.”* * * § Selective attention, however, is what we mean by will. It follows that Omniscience, properly conceived, includes the other divine attributes. Whether the attribute of knowledge may properl v be held to connote, after this manner, the attribute of Will is perhaps chiefly a matter of nomenclature ; the important question is whether we reach, along this path, a view of the relation between God and the world with which we can rest satisfied, which sufficiently distinguishes depen- dent and finite existence from the transcendent Power from which it proceeds, and in particular which secures to the human will its due prerogatives. On these points Prof. Royce’s language is somewhat ominous. 1 ‘ The freedom of each finite moral individual is part of the Divine freedom “ the self-consciousness of each finite indvidual is a portion of the Divine Self-Consciousness the individual experience is identically a part of God’s experience — i.e., not similar to a portion of God’s experience, but identically the same as such portion; “this individual’s plan is identi- cally a part of God’s own attentively selected and universal plan.”f “ Our theory does indeed unite both your act and the idea that your act expresses, along with- all other acts and ideas, in the single unity of the Absolute Consciousness.” ^ What is this but to assert that there is but One Thought and One Will, within w'hich all thoughts and volitions of individual finite beings are comprehended ? According to this there is no aniverse of free personalities; we are but fragments of the One Sole Being. § As to the traditional concept of the creation of the world, “ the paradoxes and errors involved in it ” are obvious. “The theol- ogy which conceives the relation between God and the World, and
* The World and the Individual , First Series, p. 452.
t The Conception of God , pp. 273, 292.
\ The World and the Individual , First Series, p. 464.
§ In the second series of Aberdeen lectures, forming the second volume of The World and the Individual, the freedom of the individual will is argued on the ground of its uniqueness as an expression, in each person, of the Divine plan. “ Our idealistic theory teaches that all individuals and lives and experiences win their unity in God, in such wise that there is indeed but one absolutely final and intregrated Self, that of the Absolute. But our idealism also recognizes that in the one life of the divine there is indeed articulation, contrast and variety. So that while it is indeed true that for every one of us the Absolute Self is God, we still retain our individuality, and our distinction from one another, just in so far as our life-plans, by the very necessity of their social basis, are mutually con- trasting life-plans, each one of which can reach its own fulfillment only by recognizing other life-plans as different from its own” (p. 289). “For us the Self has indeed no Independent Being ; but it is a life, and not a mere valid law. It gains its very individuality through its relation to God ; but in God it still dwells as an individual, for it is a unique expression of the divine purpose” (p. 286).
TIIE EPISTEMOLOGICAL ARGUMENT FOR THEISM. 353
between the world and the individual, as primarily a causal rela- tion subordinates the individual to the particular in theory, and the significant to the relatively insignificant in practical doc- trine.”* As applied to this or that fact in the world, we may indeed employ the category of cause, but we cannot explain the world as a whole in this way. Causal connections subsist only between particular parts; “the conception of causality does not apply to the whole of reality itself.” The free, self-originating activity which calls into existence a creation numerically distinct from the Creator is, in the view of this reasoning, an inadmissible supposition. The immanence of God is pressed to such an extreme as to annul His transcendence.
Other representative exponents of this school of thought are even less satisfactory in their exposition of the relation between God and the universe. The descriptive or defining phrase applied to the Absolute by the brothers Caird is “ the unity of thought and being.” This may be understood to signify an indeterminate incognizable principle, serving simply the purpose of unification, explicable in terms neither of subject nor of object, practically identical with the Infinite Substance of Spinoza, a “ veiled divin- ity,” as Dr. Martineau said,f Kant’s “ unity of apperception” raised to Divine honors. Passages may be cited from the Philos- ophy of Religion and from the Evolution of Religion in support of this interpretation, A more concrete sense is, however, no doubt intended — that of Absolute Reason, in which man and nature find their unity. How is this immanent Reason related to the mem- bers of the antithesis which it unites ? Principal Caird rejects the concept of creation, as applied to the relation between God and the world, on grounds similar to those adduced by Prof. Royce ; it suggests “ a relation which, in the first place, is a merely external and, in the second place, a purely arbitrary one.”:}: “ To see in
the world a manifestation of absolute wisdom, both the existence of the world and all that is in it must be traceable to something in the nature of God, and not to mere arbitrary will and power.”§ “ That which God creates, and by which He reveals the hidden treasures of His wisdom and love is still not foreign to His own infinite iife, but one with it.” || “ We do not think as individual
beings, but as passing over to and sharing in a universal thought or reason.” T “We might even say that, strictly speaking, it is not we that think, but the universal reason that thinks in us.”** This
* The World and the Individual, p. 444. || Philosophy of Religion , p. 257.
| Nineteenth Century, April, 1895. 1 Ibid., p. 131.
f Philosophy of Religion, p. 143. ** Ibid., p. 158.
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language approximates dangerously to a pantheistic identification of the world with God, a submergence of individual intelligences in the Universal Intelligence. “ It is no mere pious metaphor, but a simple expression ot the facts to say that all our life is a
journey from God to God All our secular consciousness
can be only the explication or, if we prefer the Spencerian word, the differentiation of the primitive unity presupposed alike in consciousness and self-consciousness.”* “We begin, indeed, with a consciousness of the finite, of finite objects as such, and of the self as a finite subject, as if these were res complete — things rounded and complete in themselves ; but we come to ourselves, that is, we discover what objects truly are and what we ourselves are, only when we become conscious that they live and move and have their being in God.”f Prof. Royce defines God as “ the All-Knowing Moment or Instant,”:}: thereby, as we have seen, representing the Divine Thought as the containing Whole, of which all finite thoughts are parts. The sense of all-inclusive compre- hension is equally conveyed by the mode of statement employed by the writers of whom we are speaking ; the “ unity of thought and being ” admits no real existence outside itself; all finite things — whether material objects or individual selves — have their true being in God.
The theory of “ the eternal consciousness,” developed in the Prolegomena to Ethics of the late Thomas Hill Green, is an in- structive illustration of the tendency inherent in this type of speculation to eliminate the vital elements of personality from the conception both of God and of man. That a spiritual principle is presupposed in knowledge, and that a spiritual principle is manifest in nature, and that the correspondence and interrelation of man and nature testify to a spiritual principle from which both are derived — this is a line of thought whose pertinence and effec- tiveness as an argument for theism may be gratefully conceded. One need not desire a more convincing statement than the follow- ing : “ The question how ic is that the order of nature answers to our conception of it, is answered by recognition of the fact that our conception of an order of nature and the relations which form that order have a common spiritual source.” § What hinders our conceiving this common spiritual source in conformity with the Christian doctrine of God? As Prof. Veitch expresses it, “ What are the objections to the view that there is a Deity, above nature and finite mind, distinct from them really and numerically.
* Evolution of Religion, Vol. I, p. 166. t The Conception of God, p. 186. t Ibid. - § Prolegomena to Ethics, p. 35.
THE EPISTEMOLOGICAL ARGUMENT FOR THEISM. 355
jet related to them as free cause, i.e., a God conceived as Con- scious Will and Intelligence, after the highest form of Causality we know ?* There would be no objections if the facts of voli- tion were allowed equal weight in the construction of this theory with the facts of cognition. But the consideration of these prob- lems exclusively or predominantly from the point of view of knowledge induces an excessive tendency to unification. The concession of a distinct substantive reality to nature, and, still more, of a genuine ethical individuality to man, precludes the centralization of being in a single Self ; in order to maintain this centralization, the material or sense side of nature is refined away into thought relations, and the free acts of man are deprived of their character as preferential and initiative, and all finite exist- ence is then resolved into the immediate utterance or reproduction, in time, of an eternal consciousness. “We can attach no mean- ing to ‘ reality,’ as applied to the world of phenomena, but that of existence under definite and unalterable relations ; and we find that it is only for a thinking consciousness that such relations can subsist.”! “ The attainment of knowledge is only explicable as a reproduction of itself in the human soul by the consciousness for which the cosmos of related facts exists — a reproduction of itself in which it uses the sentient life of the soul as its organ.”! “ Human action is only explicable by the action of an eternal consciousness, which uses them (e. y\, all the processes of brain and nerve and tissue, all the functions of life and sense) as its organs, and reproduces itself through them.” § If God and man and nature are only thoughts, the logical necessity which governs thought obtains everywhere ; God is as destitute of freedom as man, since He is not a Bational and Sovereign Will, but an Eternal, Self-distinguishing Consciousness — “ the Logical Subject which serves to unify the collective groups and series of cosmical phe- nomena.” ||
That the process of cognition is an inadequate analogy under which to represent the relation of God to the universe, will hardly be questioned by one who considers how inevitably it conveys the suggestion of the dependence of God on the world. The Idea externalizes itself in nature, in order to return to itself again in
higher realization ; just as the mind, in knowing an object, dis-
tinguishes the object from itself, and then takes it up as a new element into its experience. The world is thus a means to the Divine Self-realization, a necessary condition indeed of the
* Thought and Being, p. 287. t Prolegomena to Ethics, p. 72.
t Prolegomena to Ethics, p. 53. I Ibid., p. 86.
| Upton, Lectures on the Bases of Religious Belief, p. 322.
356 THE PRESBYTERIAN AND REFORMED REVIEW.
Divine Self-consciousness. “ It is onlv bv this mediation through consciousness or finite spirit, by which it renders itself finite, that it comes to itself or to self-consciousness.”* The world is an essential moment in the life of God. It is necessary for God to create. “ Without the World, God were not God.” “God, in His Essential Being itself, must posit this reality, this external existence, which we call Nature.” f These statements do not justify the charge, not infrequently brought against Hegel, that he makes the world necessary to God, in the same sense and to the same degree that God is necessary to the world — as though one might say, indifferently, “ God created the world,” or “ The W orld created God.” Spirit is the prius ; the finite world is posited by it. In our own knowing, the subject is more than correlative to the object ; it transcends the opposition of subject and object in the unity of self-consciousness. “ God is the unity of the natural and the spiritual ; Spirit is, however, Lord of nature, so that the two do not occupy a position of equal dig- nity in this unity, the truth being rather that the unity is Spirit.”;}: Yet it is not easy, in the face of such statements as those quoted above, to refuse assent to Prof. Flint’s verdict that Hegel “ repre- sents the absolute reality as the result or completion of a process of development,” that his “ only idea of God is that of a God gradually evolved from unconsciousness to consciousness.” The analogy of our finite cognition is followed by Hegel in the con- struction of his system, and this makes the conception of an enlarged and enriched life, as the result of the self-estrangement of the Absolute Spirit in nature, almost inevitable.
Escape from this is sought in the elimination of time predicates as inapplicable to Absolute Being. What appears to our finite consciousness as a process in time may, from the eternal point of view, be realized as complete. It is difficult to state this in such a way as to avoid reducing nature and history to an illusion. In a well-known passage of the larger Logic , Hegel describes the world development in these terms : “ Within the range of the finite we never see or experience that the End or Aim has been really secured. The consummation of the infinite Aim, therefore, con- sists merely in removing the illusion which makes it seem yet unaccomplished. Good and absolute goodness is eternally accom- plishing itself in the world ; and the result is that it needs not wait upon us, but is already by implication, as well as in full actuality, accomplished. It is this illusion under which we live. It alone supplies at the same time the actualizing force on which
* Hegel, Philosophy of Religion, English translation, Yol. I, p. 206.
(■ Ibid , Vol. II, p. 75. \ Ibid., Yol. I, p. 208.
THE EPISTEMOLOGICAL ARGUMENT FOR THEISM. 357
the interest in the world reposes. In the course of its process the Idea makes itself that illusion, by setting an antithesis to confront it ; and its action consists in getting rid of the illusion which it has created. Out of this error does the truth arise.”* The objection that the Absolute is subjected to the limitations of time development is certainly effectually guarded against by this representation, but what substance of truth and fact remains in the world of our experience ? To our apprehension nothing is more real than the distinctions between the various stages of an event — the beginning of growth and its maturity, the incipiency of an undertaking and its completion, youth and old age, hope and possession, effort and achievement — the meaning of life lies in these differences, and without them we should have no interests or motives. Our sense of reality is shocked when it is suggested that this lapse of events in time is only apparent, that what seems to us change is not such in truth, that for the Supreme Being everything has been completed once for all.f A similar sacrifice of the finite world is made by T. II. Green when he says : “ We must hold that there is a consciousness for which the relations of fact, that form the object of our gradually attained knowledgej already and eternally exist. flow can these relations already exist if they have not yet been brought to pass? To an Omni- scient Mind they may be present ideally, but they cannot be present actually, except on the supposition that the temporal pro- cess is a mere form of our apprehension, which has no basis in the truth of things.
Is it possible to construe the relation of God to the world after the analogue of the cognitive consciousness without infringing either upon the independence and self- completeness of the Abso- lute or upon the actuality of finite experience ? If the reality of the time process in nature be conceded — as it is, for the most part, by Hegel — the conception of a developing God, of a Deity attaining self-realization through objectification in nature, is an almost necessary consequence ; and if this be not conceded, the actuality of the world is sacrificed.
“ The Infinite Spirit,” says Caird, “ contains, in the very idea -of its nature, organic relation to the Finite “ the idea of God
* Wallace, Logic of Hegel , p. 304.
f “ That terrible term Predestination , which hath troubled so many weak heads to conceive, and the wisest to explain, is in respect to God no prescious determination of our Estates to come, but a definitive blast of His Will already fulfilled, and at the instant that He first decreed it ; for to His Eternity, which is indivisible and all together, the last Trump is already sounded, the reprobates in the flame, and the blessed in Abraham’s bosom ” ( Religio Medici, First Part, section XI).
f Prolegomena to Ethics, p. 75.
24
358 THE PRESBYTERIAN AND REFORMED REVIEW.
contains in itself, as a necessary element of it, the existence of finite spirits “ the nature of God would be imperfect if it did not contain in it relation to a finite world.”* Are these state- ments justifiable ? Have we a right thus confidently to affirm that God must create ? Are such d priori dicta as to what is or is not compatible with Infinite Perfection ' becoming our estate of finitude ? Spinoza reasoned that God must bring to pass precisely such a world as does actually exist, and that no other was possible ; that was scarcely more presumptuous than this domgatic affirma- tion of the necessity of the creation. A metaphysic based on the psychology of knowledge tends to limit God by making Him dependent on the world, just as our intelligence is dependent on the object of perception.
From the standpoint of pure thought, it is impossible to under- stand the presence of evil in a world which is the self-expression of a Perfect Being. Spinoza was true to the requirements of his logic when he declared that such words as error, imperfection, wickedness are suitable only from the human point of view ; that regarded absolutely, “ sub specie seternitatis," nothing can be prop- erly characterized in such terms, since from the diviue point of view everything is good. All rationalistic systems are under the necessity of explaining away evil, moral as well as natural. Hegel’s famous saying, “ What is real is rational,” taken literally, is a flagrant example ; it asserts an optimism as crude and im- moral as that of the Essay on Man. In defending himself against his critics, Hegel disavowed the natural meaning of his words, and explained that by “ the real ” he meant “ the truly real ” — that which belongs to the structure and essence of things — so that the assertion is not that everything actual, everything which estab- lishes itself as a fact, is ipso facto rational, but only that the universe as a whole is the product and expression of reason. f The presence of evil is reconciled with the rationality of the universe by Hegel on the ground that it exists as a metaphysical necessity ; it is a stage in the development of spirit ; it is the opposition which spirit surmounts and reconciles in its progress toward freedom. This is by no means a bald denial of the fact of sin ; so far as it asserts that character is fortified and purified by the successful resistance of temptation, it is a truism ; as an explanation of the mystery of evil it is futile, since it leaves out of account the essential nature of moral evil as the choice of a perverse and responsible will.
* Philosophy of Religion , pp. 243, 252.
f Introduction to the Larger Logic , Wallace’s trans., p. 8.
THE EPISTEMOLOGICAL ARGUMENT FOR THEISM. 359
This evasion of the real issue may be observed in many writers of the Hegelian school. “ The lower nature is, it is true, the seeming opposite or contradictory of the higher, but it is that very opposition which constitutes it the means to the realization of the higher.”* “ The higher self can only realize its freedom by the strain or opposition of tendencies which have the character of natural necessity, and by the annulling or absorption of that neces- sity.”! “If we can trace any progress in the teaching of Jesus as it is recorded in the Synoptic Gospels, it is only that, with the increasing pressure of .the conflict and the growing consciousness of the evil with which he has to contend, there comes a deepening sense of the necessity of such conflict with evil, and of all the suffering it brings with it, to the highest triumph of good.”! “ The sense of the division of man from God, as a finite being from the infinite, as weak and sinful from the omnipotent good- ness, is not indeed lost ; but it can no longer overpower the con- sciousness of oneness It is not an absolute opposition, but
one which presupposes an indestructible principle of unity, that can and must become a principle of reconciliation. Ӥ The doctrine of these passages is that the opposition of evil is a necessary con- dition of goodness, and that it is a temporary opposition, certain to be overcome in the process of development. This makes evil either unreal or an element in the life of God. Ouce assumed to be present, evil may, no doubt, be transmuted into good, but why should it be present ? The conception of evil as a normal phase of growth, as a metaphysical and speculative necessity, empties it of its ethical content. Such a view arises out of the attempt to explain the world as a rational evolution, in disregard of the disturbing potentialities resident in the will of finite personalities.
Writers of the Hegelian school are accustomed to make frequent use of the word “ spiritual.” The view of the world which they present is, in their estimation, appropriately characterized by this term. It may be admitted that the claim is not unfounded. The forms of space and time, the categories of substance and caus- ality, of which naturalistic theories make so much use, are replaced in the idealistic speculation by concepts of a higher order. The explanation of things is sought, not in a physical principle, nor in an abstract logical generalization, but in a con- crete spiritual attribute — that of rationality. It is not strange that a worthier view of reality should be had through the employ -
* Principal Caird, The Philosophy of Religion , p. 286.
t Ibid., p. 287.
X Edward Caird, The Evolution of Religion, Yol. II, p. 138.
g Ibid., p. 147
360
THE PRESBYTERIAN AND REFORMED REVIEW.
ment of an interpreting and constructive iead derived from self- consciousness tlian in the use of postulates and data taken from the lower aspects of experience.
Yet, inasmuch as rationality is not the whole of spirit, it need he no surprise that difficulties, such as those we have considered, should arise. A completely adequate world-theory must take into account, and must duly satisfy, all the great tendencies’of our nature. It must recognize the emotional and volitional factors of experience, as well as the intellectual ; it must conceive the uni- verse from the point of view of will and of moral feeling, as well as from the point of view of thought It is because the Hegelian system fails to do this that it falls short, in important respects, of solving the speculative and the practical problems which philos- ophy encounters.
The conception of the supernatural is peculiarly repugnant to this type of thought. This is not because the physical frame- work of nature is looked upon with exaggerated reverence as essentially inviolable, but for the precisely opposite reason that the material aspect of things is so thoroughly subordinated to their inner meaning that it ceases to have any independent claims. The naturalistic objection to the supernatural is that it contravenes the uniformity of nature ; the Hegelian objection is that the con- ception is without significance, since what we call “ natural ” is in realit}' thought or, in other words, spirit, and, nature being itself spiritual, we do not need to look for Spirit in a sphere above nature. The denial of the supernatural is a natural consequence of the assumption that the universe is to be interpreted in terms of thought alone. Thought is necessitated ; it follows logical laws ; it admits no breach of continuity. If nature and man and history — all finite existence — are a dialectic evolution of Absolute Reason, each object and event and act being a moment in the pro- cess of the Supreme Mind, no relation between God and man, such as the word supernatural connotes, is possible. A supernatural realm is conceivable only on the supposition that God is Sover- eign Will, as well as Absolute Reason, and that man has a genuine power of self-determination, which may assert itself in revolt and disobedience ; when these ethical conditions are duly recognized, the supernatural realm is seen to be, not a contradiction of the rational order, but a completion of it, bringing it into accord with the demands of the heart and of the conscience as well as of the intellect.
The Hegelian philosophy of religion can make no place for miracles. “ This anthropomorphic and miraculous super- naturalism,” says Pfleiderer, in his Gifford lectures on “ The
THE EPISTEMOLOGICAL ARGUMENT FOR THEISM. 361
Philosophy and Development of Religion,” “ calls forth the reac- tion of naturalism. We need to escape from this vicious circle in the idealism of a truly religious view of the world, which finds
the divine life everywhere present and active in the world
In this spiritualized view of nature lies a rich compensation for the loss of miracles , which no longer have any place in a world of continuous development governed by law.”* “ Any attack upon the principle of Positivism, which seeks to establish special exceptions to the course of nature, must be a failure. A super- naturalism which tries to survive alongside of naturalism, dividing the kingdom with it, will soon have taken from it 1 even that which it seemeth to have.’ The only hope of a successful issue is to carry the war into the enemy’s quarters, and to maintain what Carlyle called a Natural- Supernaturalism — i.e, the doctrine, not that there are single miracles, but that the universe is miraculous. ”f
The law of continuity forbids that any unique or special charac- ter should attach to Christianity ; it falls under the general law of organic development. “ The way in which, in the thought of His disciples, the ordinary limitations of finitude and humanity .... gradually drop away from their image of Christ has in it something which, though unexampled in degree, yet agrees in kind with the ordinary process by which the ideal reveals itself in and through the real.”:]:
The difficulty which Hegel experienced in carrying out his design of establishing dogmatic Christianity, by means of his philosophy, upon a basis of reason arose largely, it will be remem- bered, in connection with the historical element, the element of fact. Why should an eternal and necessary moment in Thought express itself in a single act or person ? The Incarnation and the Atonement are acts of eternal and universal validity ; why should they be conceived as having happened once only, and in the case of one individual ? The pressure of this difficulty is felt by all who attempt to include Christianity within a process of idealistic evo- lution. The unique character of its facts and doctrines is lost ; it differs from other religions, and from other expressions of genius and truth, only in degree. Even the supreme fact of the Chris- tian revelation, the resurrection of Jesus, if it can be credited at all, ceases to have an evidential value. “ The evidence of the Christian law of life through death, and the possibility of obeying it ... . need not rest for us on the believed fact of the resurrec- tion of Christ It is not on such a foundation that we can
base our faith The spiritual life is, or ought to be, its
* The Philosophy and Development of Religion.
\ Evolution of Religion , I, p. 319. \ Evolution of Religion, IJ, p. 229.
362 THE PRESBYTERIAN AND REFORMED REVIEW.
own evidence ; and every secondary support that can be given to it, even if it were the visions of a St. Peter and a St. Paul, must prove treacherous. ’ ’ *
As an antithesis of “ natural,” we may welcome the word “ spiritual ” as affirming the immanent agency of God in the world of nature and of man, but when construed as excluding the immediacy of personal relation which the term “ super- natural ” designates, we may discern the product of a mistaken philosophic method, which lays too great stress upon the logical evolution of thought, neglecting the emotional and volitional sub- state of experience.
What verdict should be rendered upon a speculative tendency in which good and ill are so intimately commingled ?
As a protest against the depreciation of reason, and a vindica- tion of the rationality of the world ; as affirming the primacy of mind over matter, of spirit over nature ; as exalting self-con- scious reason above all lower categories of thinking, and all less adequate principles of explanation ; as furnishing to philosophical theism considerations which fall little short of demonstration ; as affording a type of ethical doctrine and a formulation of the ethi- cal end, which combines the practical common sense of utilita- rianism and the disinterestedness and ideality of the Kantian imperative ; as suggesting rubrics of aesthetic and historical clas- sification curiously fruitful as applied to art, and history, and social institutions — for such high services as these the Hegelian idealism deserves abundant honor and gratitude.
But the excessive intellectualism of the method renders inevita- ble dangers such as those we have pointed out. The theory of knowledge is not an adequate basis for metaphysics. We are feeling and acting as well as knowing beings. The descent of Hegelianism into pantheism — even into the coarse materialism of Feuerbach — is nothing strange. Strauss and Bauer, in Hew Testament criticism, are its natural products. The full proof of theism cannot be attained by so one-sided a method. The laws of logic and the laws of being do indeed correspond ; mind is per- fectly correlated to nature, and nature is thoroughly apprehensible by mind. Why this coincidence, except it be that both proceed from a common source ? This is irrefragable evidence of God as All Knowing, in His attribute of Omniscience. But the moral and spiritual attributes of God cannot be established upon epis- temological grounds alone ; we must reason from the total nature of man and not from a part of it. The vague utterances of Hegel-
* Evolution of Religion, II, pp. 240, 241.
THE EPISTEMOLOGICAL ARGUMEMT FOR THEISM. 363
ian thinkers as to the personality of God and the personality of man ; the awkwardness of their attempts at a theodicy ; their unwillingness to admit any element of the supernatural — these are defects of grave moment.
Of all the great historic systems, this most demands the exercise of a discriminating and critical judgment. The reader of the fascinating, thought-provoking, but elusive speculations of Pflei- derer, and Green, and Royce, and the brothers Caird, needs to keep preeminently in mind the injunction, “ Prove all things ; hold fast that which is good.”
Johns Hopkins Univeksity.
Edward H. Griffin.
II.
CHARACTER IN LANGUAGE.
LANGUAGE is defined by one of our chief authorities as “ the expression of ideas by words or significant articulate sounds, for the communication of thoughts;” and by another as “ the expression of thoughts and feelings by means of the articu- late sounds of the voice.” Prof. Whitney abbreviates these defi- nitions, and calls it “ articulate utterance for the expression of thought.” While these definitions do not prescribe, neither do they distinctly preclude, the very meagre and mechanical view of language which prevails in this intensely practical age. It is all too common to consider language as merely a necessary and burdensome medium of exchange, like silver and copper coins, and to look upon the great variety of languages as an unmitigated evil. As some progress has been made toward the unifying of the coinage of different countries, so a strong vote might be called out in favor of a Congress to consider the unification of language. Hence the Utopian scheme for a Yolapiik. As well proceed on mechanical principles to construct a palm tree out of brown paper and green silk, and ask it to take root in the sand and bear fruit. Just as well design a typical human face and prescribe it to be adopted by every member of the human family. Language is a growth, and a manifestation of something within, and these very varieties furnish a series of pictures of the history and character of the peoples who spoke or speak them.
Baron von Bunsen — Chevalier Christian Charles Josiah Bunsen — one of the truly great names of the nineteenth century, mani- fested his genius in the discovery of the paramount importance of comparative philology as an instrument in historical investigation — an instrument whose use is yet in its infancy, but which has already added materially to our knowledge of the facts of the past. Modern geological science has unraveled the history of countless thousands of ages of our earth’s crust, embedded in layer upon layer of storied rocks, and one wonders at the unsuspected simplicity of the science as he watches a Hugh Miller or an Arnold Guyot turn over page after page of this wonderful volume of the Book of Nature. Archbishop Trench seized upon this
CHARACTER IN LANGUAGE.
365
analogy, appropriating from an unnamed American author the phrase “ fossil poetry,” as applied to language, and led the way in showing how rich our own language is in “fossil poetry,” “ fossil history,” and in valuable hidden records in other departments, only waiting to be dug out. He has had many followers on both sides of the Atlantic, who have brought in rich spoils from their expe- ditions among words, new and old. As is often the case with met- aphor, the simile proves but a feeble expression of the treasures turned up by the linguistic pick and spade. If the geologist, from a single tooth or a bit of a broken shell, can locate a stratum and read in it the history of a geologic epoch, how much more should the philological historian trace the footprints of events in the forms of expression born in the throes of those very occurrences !
If language is the expression of thought and feeling, and thought and feeling are the very vital breath and heart- beat of character, why should we not apply ourselves to deciphering and reading off the abundant records of character so clearly presented to us in the significant forms of language? Let this, then, be our purpose in this article — to study character in language. And here at the outset, as we analyze the phrase, we find an embarrassment of riches, and have to set aside a broad and very suggestive department of the subject, namely, the study of personal charac- ter in the language of individuals. The artist often sets a mirror before his face and leaves us. his own ideal of himself. The author, with not a particle of this egotism, leaves an indelible portrait of his own character in the special type of his language. All the way down from Moses and Homer to Count Tolstoi and Ian Maclaren, writers in every tougue have been depicting their own individuality, each in his own particular niche in the Temple of Fame, and it should require no Roentgen rays to see the indi- vidual through his words. It would be a pleasing study thus to draw out our understanding of the characters that have embalmed themselves among the spices of their own compositions. And another chapter would give us an analysis of the character of many of our contemporaries, from a careful weighing of the favorite words and phrases of each, as we observe them in the pulpit, in the press or in conversation. But from the inviting coves and inlets of this picturesque shore, we must turn our prow out into the deeper waters and broader expanses of national charac- ter as represented in language and dialect.
Whatever be our theories as to the origin of language, there can be no question that language as we know it now, in the living present or in the recorded past, is a development. Moreover, to aid our study of the process, we find existing languages arrested at
366 TEE PRESBYTERIAN AND REFORMED REVIEW.
various stages of the development, to serve as specimens and illus- trations; just as all the geological processes that have gone to build up the earth’s crust may now be seen at work at one point or auother on the earth’s surface, and as the marsupial mammals and the birds and fishes of Australia stand as illustrations of an earlier era than exists among the fauna of other continents. These successive stages of development furnish us a scientific basis for the classification of languages, and this classification should guide us to some extent in our survey of the languages as we observe the character they exhibit. Another principle of classifi- cation, and one which appeals strongly to the imagination, is the genealogical method. We can distribute all the languages among the descendants of the three sons of Noah, and find in the tenth chapter of Genesis the names of most of the prominent nations of antiquity. But the application of this principle is too much a matter of speculation, the data are too slight to cover the whole problem, and many languages of wide extent and great importance are left to go begging for a proper place in the tables. The best classification of languages is the true philological one which goes on the basis of their internal structure. Profs. Max Muller and W. D. Whitney have made this system familiar. It distributes all languages into three principal groups, the Monosyllabic, the Agglutinative, and the Inflected ; and their degree of advancement is indicated in the order of the three names.
The Monosyllabic is the lowest order, from a linguistic stand- point. The characteristic of this group is that the language con- sists practically of roots, not properly inflected, and with no organic relation 1o each other. The Chinese language is the great representative of this class. Or, to speak more accurately, the numerous dialects and languages of the Chinese empire belong to this class, and constitute the bulk of its members. They claim attention by reason of the vast numbers of people they represent, and of the hoary antiquity of the languages, practically in the condition in which they now exist.
The Agglutinative are those languages in which the roots are intact and unchanged throughout their use, but are modified in their signification by the addition of a number of syllables, each of which is without meaning by itself, but maintains the same significance to whatever root it may be attached. This class includes all that large and important family of languages called the Turanian, whose home is Central Asia. These form the modi- fications by the addition of suffixes, piling them up, one upon another, till their number and complexity of meaning is some- times amazing. There are, however, languages in South Africa
CHARACTER IN LANGUAGE.
367
constructed on similar general principles, but having their modify- ing syllables as prefixes instead of suffixes.
The properly Inflected languages are those which have been involved in the truly progressive history of the world, and they include the two great groups commonly called the Semitic and the Aryan or Indo-European languages. The peculiarity of these is that the roots are not only modified by prefixes and suffixes, but the roots themselves are much affected and altered in form, and the modifying syllables or letters are not uniform in their significance, and are so intricately interwoven with the root and welded to it as to appear often to become an integral part of it.
In the geographical location of these three great groups of languages we have suggested to us an important principle which lies at the basis of the philosophy of history. This principle is poetically expressed in the familiar phrase, “Westward the star of empire takes its way 1” Whether it be from a natural inertia in the human character, allowing the earth in its easterly revolu- tion to slip along a little each day under man’s feet, or whether it is a current derived by induction from the daily revolution of tbe sun overhead, or whatever explanation may be given to it, fact it is that the grand trend and inclination and actual movement of history and of the nations has been toward the west. All true progress has been in that direction. From the original cradle of the race wave after wave of emigration has carried human activity farther and farther toward the setting sun. Immense populations have been somehow produced eastward of this starting point, but it has been a retrograde sort of motion. It has lost its own records of its origin, and it has stood still while the world has gone on toward the west. Here then we may base our first gener- alization of character as indicated in language. The nations using the Monosyllabic tongues are characterized by extreme conser- vatism and hang back in the far East, with practically no change from age to age. The Agglutinative languages are spoken by nations whicli in a very general sense may be called migratory or transitional. They have touched the borders of true history from time to time, but are not for the most part remembered with any great gratitude or affection. While the Inflected languages have ever been the powerful expression and instrument of those peoples that have created a connected and significant historp, and among whom science and literature, liberty and religion have received an approximately adequate treatment, and have paid large divi- dends in the form of progress and prosperity.
China stands for unqualified, sullen, dogged conservatism, and her language is a fitting garb for such a character. But the
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spirit of retrogression and uncompromising conservatism is not bounded by the Pacific Ocean, but in prehistoric ages made its way to the islands of the sea, and even across to the great conti- nent lying still farther to the East, there to perpetuate itself in savagery, and bide its time till the Westward-roving progressive element had girdled the globe and offered its beneficent influences to the benighted aborigines of the New World. When the two extremes had come thus face to face and their territories over- lapped, there could be no question as to the result, and the eflete and moribund surrendered almost without a struggle and withdrew, leaving the progressive element in undisputed possession of the new continent. With the languages of those tribes we have but little to do either practically or theoretically. The quaint, fan- tastic, and dainty forms of some of their words, which we have preserved in a multitude of proper names throughout the United States and Canada, are suggestive mementoes of the wild, roman- tic and often tender and pathetic life out of which they sprang. Whatever was noble, or generous, or brave among them has been packed down, not only in myth and song, but in the ambitious and high-sounding names and titles which they assumed to them- selves or gave to the white man, the only permanent residue of these uncultured tongues. A closer examination of these dialects would show them to be fit types of the tribes themselves — unreliable, narrow, sly, wholly at variance with one another, and as untrans- latable as the insoluble enigma of the existence, life and extinc- tion of that strange people.
But to return to the Chinese people and their strange tongue. Proud, jealous and self-centred, they have preserved an ancient and only partially developed language, which from its difficulty and peculiarity is a more effective barrier against foreigners than their own great wall ever could be. The cumbrousness of its method of representation suggests the idea of great breadth and volume ; but the fact is that the number of ideas capable of accu- rate expression in it is comparatively small, thus corresponding to the narrowness and stiffness which appears in the character of the people. The language consists of a number of separate indi- vidual syllables, incapable of any true organic relation to each other. And as the number of these syllables is quite limited, the genius of the language allows each one to be multiplied by a con- siderable variety of accents or intonations of the voice, to repre- sent a number of different ideas. These syllables are grouped together in series which by courtesy may be called sentences, but without any of that delicate syntactical relation to one another which gives such flexibility and power to Western speech. It is
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— to borrow a simile from zoology — the amoeba among the lan- guages, consisting of an aggregate of homogeneous cells with no members and with scarcely any structure. To carry out the simile, the languages of the second group, the Agglutinative, may be classed as the Articulata, with their successive rings firmly attached to each other, and through each other to the head, each retaining, however, its own shape and special functions. And the Inflected languages are the Vertebrates, with their symmetrical and firmly knit frames, their well-balanced limbs and organs, and their thoroughly developed organism. The Chinese language is, like the amoeba in natural history, away back where it was four thousand years ago, arrested in its natural course of development, and handed down through scores of generations unchangeable as the slant of their eyes or the pattern of their shoes.
When we turn to our second group, the Agglutinatives, and examine the Turanian languages, we shall come at once upon the Turkish as the most splendid specimen of its kind, and the most widespread language of Asia this side of China. The regularity, capacity and versatility of its verb has been fully set forth by Max Muller in his lectures on the Science of Language. This elaborately concatenated verb, with its numerous participles and gerunds, together with a rare accumulation of adverbs and parti- cles, renders this language incomparable as a medium for sententi- ous narrative and for dry humor, with inexpressibly terse and pat turns of expression and extremely delicate shades of significance. Those -who are acquainted with the people whose language this is, need hardly be reminded of the suitability of this to the national characteristics. The simplicity together with great elaborateness of its syntax and the rigid logic of the structure of the sentence, winding up, like the Latin, with one strong finite verb which controls the whole, needs but the suggestion to present an analogy to the democratic and almost patriarchal simplicity of their social system, in which, however, is involved an elaborate and powerful political system, culminating in an absolute monarchy. Its absolute regularity and unity, both in the conjugation of its verbs and in the declension of its nouns, appears like an analogy to its attempt to grasp the grand doctrine of the unity of the divine Being, while its rejection of the threefold distinctions of gender may be not inappropriately mentioned in connection with its antipathy to the doctrine of the Trinity. In its long undu- lating sentences there seems to be the redolence of the rolling steppes of Central Asia, whence the language came. And its vocabulary regarding pastoral and agricultural affairs, and concern- ing outdoor life in general, is peculiarly rich and varied. Its
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decided preference for gerunds and participles, as over against the frequent use of the finite verb, is a palpable allusion to the national avoidance of sharp decisions and finished actions ; and the putting off from period to period of the final winding up of the sentence reflects, not accidentally, the colossal proportions attained by the habit of procrastination. It would be perhaps invidious to carry the analogy further to the facility the language exhibits in the art of appropriating to its own use the wealth of its neighbors, for if that practice come under the condemnation of dishonesty or rapaciousness, it may prove the worse for some other languages which have been vastly enriched in the same way. This utilita- rian method is at least in keeping with the free and easy habits and the practical economical sense which characterizes the people.
Having thus glanced at a single example of each of these two great classes of languages, we must pass on to the more strictly historic and progressive languages, in which our own interest naturally centres, viz., the Inflected languages. These are by no means homogeneous, but constitute two great and wholly distinct groups, the Semitic and the Aryan or Indo-European.
In the former name, the Semitic, we come across a trace and reminder of the genealogical method of classifying languages, which has contributed to philological science this convenient term, by which are recognized a large and important group of languages which have no other general, characteristic and distinguishing title. This family of tongues is very compact, in geographical location, in history, and in characteristic qualities, all its branches having strong resemblances and affinities to each other. This family is naturally divisible into three branches : the Northern, or Phenician, with the dialects of its colonies ; the Middle, or Hebrew, with its cognate dialects, Chaldee, Syriac, etc.; and the Southern, or Arabic. Modern research has brought to light so much in the Assyrian records that shows characteristic differences from the Hebrew group, that it may prove necessary to classify that as a separate and fourth family, containing practically the Assyrian alone. These Semitic languages have two striking peculiarities. One is the general uniformity of their triliteral roots, and the other is the structure of the verb, widely different from anything in the Aryan languages, being very poor in moods and tenses, and compensating for it to some degree by a peculiar wealth in what are called species or conjugations, by which a single root is so modified as to present various phases of meaning, active and passive, causative, intensive, reciprocal, etc. The verb also holds a strongly dominant position in their syntax.
The Phenician language has gone into history chiefly noted
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for two facts : first, that to it the Greeks and Latins owed their alphabets, and through them all the European languages have become indebted for their means of expression ; and secondly, that from the Phenicians sprang that great Carthaginian colony and empire which was the great rival of Rome for hundreds of years in the struggle for supremacy in the Western Mediterranean. What we know of these Phenician peoples gives the impression that the stern and massive in their character was well depicted in the rugged features of their long extinct tongue.
The youngest branch of this group is the Arabic, reckoning the Koran, in the seventh century of our era, as among its earliest and purest classics. Aside from the few existing remnants of the Syriac, the Arabic is practically the only surviving representative of the Semitic languages ; but it makes up in breadth of supremacy what it lacks in age, for it is the spoken and largely the only language of between one and two hundred millions of people. Comparatively young as it is, it has outlived the people of whom it was characteristic. With small exceptions those who use it now are unworthy of so noble an inheritance. Its characteristics point to a people who walk like shades through our imagination — a people of broad culture and scientific accuracy, of brilliant imagination, balanced, however, with dignified and practical quali- ties. While Europe was asleep in the early mediaeval times, this magnificent language was the repository of existing learning and the active medium of research, and rich interest did it pay on the treasures entrusted to it. It has laid huge blocks in the very foundations of the temple of science, and it thrilled with Christian religious thought and feeling before the languages of modern Europe had waked into being. There is something pathetic in seeing such a noble language practically abandoned while still in its vigor to the wandering shepherd of the desert and to the wily slave-hunter in the African forests, or at best serving as a quarry for the building material of less original languages.
Of all this Semitic group of languages, the one which most especially and most personally interests us is the Hebrew. This was the vehicle of the earliest divine revelations, and of their permanent record and transmission to all ages. When Koah atoned for the folly of his intemperance by pronouncing that suc- cinct and comprehensive prophecy in the last verses of the ninth chapter of Genesis, he indicated that the richest blessing of Shem was to be the revelation which God would impart to him, but which in the end should fall to the inheritance of Japheth, as it is this day. And it is a significant and interesting fact that the Semitic tribes have given birth to the three great monotheistic
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religions of the world’s history. With Judaism and Christianity the Hebrew language with its kindred dialects have had a most intimate and important relation, and it is not without reason that Christian scholars in all ages have been deeply interested in this language, which being dead yet speaks. Beside the spiritual truth that it directly reveals to us, the individual characteristics of the language reflect those of the vigorous characters among whom it was developed. Its dignity, repose and almost childlike simplicity point to that placid patriarchal period of which Abra- ham and Melchizedelc are the types. The square, massive symbols which now represent the written language seem typical of the rigid, clear-cut moral distinctions which it taught to the human race, and of the grand and rugged character of a Moses and a Samuel and an Elijah. The splendid rhetoric of Job and Solomon show something of the poetic power of the people and of- their wonderful speech, while the tender and intense expressions of the Psalms depict the romantic and unparalleled character of David, and carry the language to some of its most marvelous heights. Its solemn periods, resonant with the impassioned remonstrances of the fiery but self-restrained ana holy prophets, are among the most sublime utterances of which human speech has shown itself capable. Truly the Divine Spirit chose no mean instrument through which to communicate spiritual truth to the minds of the earlier dispensation.
In the centre of all human history, the fulfillment of all proph- ecy and the type of the reconciliation of God with man, stands the cross of Jesus Christ, and on that cross is an inscription announc- ing the name of the sufferer and, with an unintentional expression of the truth, the reason of His suffering, because he was the King of God’s chosen people. There is something very significant in the three languages in which that inscription was written — Hebrew, Latin and Greek. We may call them the three sacred tongues : the three most intimately connected with the history of God’s people from the earliest times till now. They stood at that central point in history as representative of the past, the then present and the future. The Hebrew pointed to the records of the hoary past, and called to witness the long line of prophets, whose one great theme had been this matchless exhibition of divine love. It called to mind the elaborate but enigmatical ritual of outward forms and bloody sacrifices, whose days were numbered and whose doom had been pronounced by those blameless lips, now parched with dying thirst. The Latin signified the present mighty but crumbling political power that ruled the world. It was the proud representative of human learning, human law and human conquest.
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And it was the language which for well nigh a score of centu- ries was to tyrannize over the larger part of the nominal body of Christ on earth. The Greek stretched out its nervous finger toward the future. It indicated the Gospels to be written, and the Epistles and the blazing Apocalypse. It pointed to the Coun- cils and the Creeds of successive centuries. It signaled silence that the anticipating ear might catch the echo of the sonorous chants and hymns wafted down successive ages of one-lialf of the Christian Church. And it rested in confident assurance of peren- nial youth and of constant study, because it was the chosen bearer of the divine evangel.
The linking together of these three favored languages must form our transition from the venerable Semitic tongues to that other family of languages so intimately connected with our own life and our own history, the great Aryan family of tongues. The name Aryan is said to signify that which pertains to the light, and so the title itself tickles our vanity, and we consider ourselves pretty near the top of the Avave. German scholars have invented the name Indo-Germanic as somewhat descriptive of the strip of territory occupied by these languages, stretching from central India with a northwesterly sweep clear to the Avesternmost bound of Europe. Scholars of other countries have resented the needless egoism and have substituted “Indo-European,” which is more accurate and more satisfactory. Whatever is most vigorous, most valuable and most progressive in history has photographed itself on the languages of this group, and they come to us highly charged and ready to flash a flood of light on historical and eth- nological investigations. From some postulated original starting- point these languages, or the tribes who used them, began migra- tions in tAVO directions. Those that followed the prescribed west- erly course went on to prosperity and success. But here also there was a retrograde current which backed down through Persia into India, there to plant one of the oldest and one of the most typical of these varied languages, the Sanskrit. Starting then from the southeasternmost bound, we have first this ancient and sacred lan- guage, with its several modern descendants or representatives, then the Persic group and then the Armenian, on or near the pivotal point, while to the West Ave have, in successive tides of emigra- tion and growth, the Greek and Latin, the Keltic, Teutonic, Lithuanian and Slavic. The Eastern branch exhausted itself in its earliest effort, giving birth to the wonderful Sanskrit, the eldest sister in all the Aryan family. This, though long gone out of use, has fortunately been well preserved, to be compared with its own modern descendants, and Avith all the cognate languages 25
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to the farthest bound of Europe. Its characteristics would seem to correspond to those of the region and climate in which it arose. Keen, logical, flexible, elaborate, it tells us more of the character of the people who used it than all the actual descriptive and his- toric records in existence. It would seem a pity that it could not have flourished in a period or a region more favorable to perma- nence and to practical usefulness in the world’s history. The Persian language, like the Persian character, is of a lighter sort, running rather to aesthetics than to logic and science. It is emi- nently suited to the expression of poetry, although the ideal of poetry among Persian writers is based on principles wholly differ- ent from those held farther west. As the Persian language has enriched itself from the treasures of the Arabic, so it has also furnished very abundant materials to the Turkish, especially in the line of poetry. The Armenian language, so far as its litera- ture is concerned, is almost from the beginning thoroughly Chris- tian, and the fidelity and studiousness of its earlier scholars pro- duced one of the most valuable of the older versions of the Holy Scriptures. The language exhibits the characteristic national self-reliance in its inexhaustible resources for the construction of new words, as occasion arises, out of existing native material, without drawing on other languages.
Before taking up individually particular members of the Euro- pean family of nations, it may be well to note some general dis- tinctions and contrasts observable in speech, and indicating more or less clearly some distinguishing points in character.
The first, and perhaps the most obvious contrast is between the Eastern and Western languages. In the former there is a stateliness, a deliberate, self-conscious ponderosity, in keeping with the leisurely manner of life and thought. This is in contrast with the sharp, crisp, impatient, almost hasty habit of the Western tongues. Their intensely practical character predomi- nates, and makes even the aesthetic to be subject to the utilitarian. This is particularly noticeable in the length of the sentence. The Oriental sentence inclines to be long, comprehensive, balanced and dignified ; while the Occidental cuts up his thought into brief, terse, and even elliptical sentences, saving time, which he counts as money, and sparing laborious thought, in order to economize it in other ways. This contrast may be observed between the ancient and the modern languages, perhaps as strikingly as between the East and the West.
Another point of contrast between the Eastern and Ancient lan- guages, on the one hand, and the Western and Modern, on the other, is the existence in the former and the abandonment in the
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latter of two distinct dialects or types of language, one for litera- ture and the other for ordinary life and conversation, — a high style and a common or vulgar, one for the learned and the other for the ignorant. The reason for this is obvious in the differing extent of a reading knowledge. In the W est, in modern times, everybody is expected to know how to read, while in the East, as in ancient times, such knowledge is exceptional. The writer in the East addresses himself to the learned, and naturally drifts into a style more lofty and sententious than that used in common conversation. Whereas in the modern W est the object of literature is to reach and influence the masses, and this must be done in a language which the masses are familiar with, while at the same time the very training necessary to acquire the simplest power of reading brings the pupil in contact with the best standards, and raises in him a desire to bring his own language into conformity with them.
Another line of division among the languages, which, however, can hardly be drawn as a geographical one, and which perhaps has no very clear and explicable significance as regards national charac- ter, is in regard to accent and emphasis in words and sentences. In this respect there are all grades and degrees, ranging from the Turkish, on the one hand, in which the syllables in a word and in a sentence can often hardly be distinguished from each other in the force or stress of the voice, and consequently also in the length or quantity, to the English at the other extreme, which picks out one syllable from two, three or even four or five words, and gives the whole emphasis of the clause to that one, abbre- viating and even sometimes apocopating the other syllables in varying degrees. Between these two extremes we fiud such medial examples as the Greek, which gives one accent to almost every word, carefully indicating it in the writing, and thus encour- aging the habit of the voice to give a special force to that syllable. If we insist on a psychological explanation of this phenomenon, it may be suggested that it is owing to a difference in the intensity of thought. The languages where accent is slight are spoken by peoples of a phlegmatic and even perhaps somewhat languid temperament, while the prevalence of sharp accent is found among the nervous and sanguine temperaments of commercial and pro- gressive races.
In another line interesting peculiarities may be observed by noticing the influence of conquest on the language of the con- quering nation, and on that of the conquered. In some cases we shall find the conqueror enforcing his language upon the subdued races, while in other cases quite the opposite result follows. The example of Alexander the Great carrying the Greek language
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wherever his triumphant little armies went, and planting it per- manently in large regions of Western Asia, is perhaps the most familiar one; and the providential value of this phenomenon in preparing the world for the spread of the Gospel is also often alluded to. The partially successful efforts of the Turks to sub- stitute their own language for those of nations they subdued is another example in the same line ; as is also the history of many parts of England’s colonial empire, and the same result may follow in due time even in India. On the other hand, we have a very striking example of the opposite result in the history of the bold and aggressive Normans. When they swooped down upon the northern coast of France, and established themselves there in a permanent Norman kingdom, they soon lost their ancestral tongue and quietly adopted that of their adopted home. And stranger still, when they crossed the Channel and brought the Eng- lish under their power, they made no attempt to saddle the French language upon the Anglo-Saxons, but turned about and themselves became true Englishmen, in speech as well as in manners, paying well for the privilege by an infusion of new blood, and by the introduction into the language convenient and much needed terms. It would seem much easier to state such facts as these than to give a philosophical reason for them, but it may be suggested that the different result in these different cases is perhaps owing to a difference in the degree of cultivation already attained by the language of the conquering party. The Norman brought with him a wholly uncultured language and found the French in a more forward state, and the less disciplined was easily crowded out. Another instance of somewhat the same results is that of the Vandals coming into the Roman Empire, and to some extent the Goths also. They found the Latin language fortified in the secure entrenchments of an immense literature and thoroughly estab- lished usage, and the most natural thing was to yield and accept it.
One other striking contrast should be noticed, which has not often been observed, between the languages of the North and of the South. Those of the North are full of consonants, so closely packed together that a vowel sometimes has hard work to crowd itself between, while those of the South are overflowing and bub- bling with vowels, and use as far as possible the soft and liquid consonants, scrupulously avoiding all harsh combinations of rough consonants. We may take the Russian, the Scandinavian and the German as examples of the former, and the modern Greek and Italian to illustrate the latter. There seems to be a true relation between this fact and the proportion of thought and feeling. The consonants represent thought, and the vowels stand for emotion.
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This contrast may be observed in the enunciation of individual speakers. The clear, logical and profound thinker will strike out his consonants with a sharp ring, while the emotional nature will express itself more in the liquids and vowels. A careful study of the national characteristics of the peoples named above will give at least a general justification to this theory.
Space forbids that we should take up in detail the great lan- guages of Europe to study their national features in full, and we must only name specimens. The Greek language furnishes a good example, because it has two distinct phases, the ancient and the modern, and it is not difficult to see how these reflect the chang- ing character of the nationality. The ancient with its long and flowing periods, its complex syntax and great variety of verbal form, in tense and mood and voice, brings before us the calm and dignified, self-cultured, isolated, philosophic character with which history makes us familiar. The modern dialect, with its shorter sentences, its simplified structure and its rejection of many parts and forms as unnecessary, indicates the more practical, economical and realistic character, with more of culture among the masses and less of exceptionally high development of individuals. No language in the history of the world can compare with the Greek in the length of its continuous literary activity, and it is a wonder- ful fact that the changes in the language are comparatively very small. If a comparison of languages were to be instituted on the basis of simplicity and complexity of vowel sounds, the modern Greek would stand at the extreme of simplicity, for that language has only five elementary sounds, a, e, i, o, ou , and it preserves these in their pure and unmodified form as nearly as it is possible for human enunciation to do so. The revival of this language as a vehicle for vigorous contemporaneous and original literature since the days of Koraes, has certainly more than an accidental relation to the resuscitation of the people under im- proved political and social circumstances.
Alongside the Greek in classic literature stands the Latin, but a few lines will not suffice to set forth the mental, moral, social, legal, political, military and historical characteristics of this wonderful speech. For hundreds of years it ruled the world as no other language has ever done. The genius of the people who brought it out from an obscure province in central Italy and spread it over the known world has been widely and well sung. While it is charged with a lack in the liues of delicacy and sentiment, it should not be forgotten that for a millennium and a half it gave adequate expression to the deepest religious feeling of all of Christian Europe, and has preserved for us some of the loftiest and
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tenderest embodiments of Christian thought. The breadth of its applicability, and its wealth in each department, have made it the storehouse from which all the modern tongues of Europe have supplied their needs. Whatever is strong and noble and daring and exact in military matters, whatever is clear and logical in philosophy, whatever is sharp and discriminating and suggestive and comprehensive in science, whatever is high and flowing and impressive and rhetorical and pathetic in oratory, whatever is noble and pure and stimulating in patriotism, has had its expres- sion, its illustration and its embodiment in this splendid language. The decline and fall of the empire has largely shut us out from observing the amazing deeds and qualities of that wonderful people, but in the literature of the Latin language the record of these will go dow n to the latest generation.
And what shall we say in a few lines of the great and growing languages of modern times — of the phlegmatic German, with its patient delving scholarship, with its sonorous nasals and guttu- rals, with its rich domestic and religious poetry ? What of the gay, vivacious, conversational French, with its graphic descriptive power, its Keltic volatility, its practical grasp and application of every scientific truth and discovery, with its courtesy and its suavity, with its self-asserted universality in diplomatic and inter- national relations ? And what of the softer, poetic and musical Italian, dreamy and sympathetic as the gloriously tinted skies of its native clime? They all speak forth not what the dictionary and the grammar tell you, but they throb Avith the inner life and soul of the people who talk them. They are, far more than any mere guide-book elaboration, a true picture and description of the nations that have cast them in the mold of their own experience.
We cannot close without a word about our own English tongue, the most powerful, progressWe and effective language of modern times, Avith its 250,000 words and its unparalleled literature. In a hundred years the number of those who use it has increased from less than forty millions to more than three times that num- ber. With its immense vocabulary and its utterly lawless pro- nunciation, it presents serious difficulties to those who Avould learn it ; but it holds out rich rewards to those Avho perseArere and suc- ceed. With very little native power to form new Avords and compounds out of its own material, it has borroAved right and left from sources neAV and old, but has impoverished none. Its logic and science it clothes in revivified forms of the Latin and Greek, but its poetry and its deepest feelings it expresses in those Anglo- Saxon tones Avhich Ave learn at our mother's knee. It Aveleomes new and practical terms and phrases, but for its standard of purity
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in thought and expression it goes hack to that incomparable trans- lation of divine truth which has been the molding influence in the life of the people. That English is the language of the future in the Christian and progressive world is not the dream of an enthusiast ; it is the irresistible conviction of every careful student of modern history. It faithfully reflects the solid, practical com- mon sense of that mingled race which has made such a singular record on both sides of the Atlantic. It is to be studied, not alone by itself, but under the focused light of the characteristic qualities represented in all the languages of the world.
Marsovan, Turkey. EDWARD RlGGS.
III.
THE PRINTING OF THE WESTMINSTER CONFESSION.
IV. In Modification.
IT is not merely in its pure form, as it came from the hands of the Assembly of Divines, that the Westminster Confession has been put into circulation. Perhaps we may even say that during these later years it is not in its pure form that it has been most widely influential. If we wish to attain a complete view of the extent of its dissemination we must attend therefore as well to the modifications of it which have been published. With the nature of these modifications we have here nothing directly to do. We have merely to note the formal fact that modified forms of the Westminster Confession have been produced and sent out into the world.
These modified forms are not very numerous ; but they began to be made very early in the history of the document, and they have usurped its place in the case of a very large portion of its constituency. Indeed, it was only in a modified form that the Westminster Confession received the authorization of the very body at whose behest it was prepared. That it was put into cir- culation in an unmodified form at all was due to the Scotch Church “ stealing a march,” so to speak, on the English Parliament. And it might almost be said that it is only in a modified form that it is in use to-day outside the limits of immediate Scotch influence. In all the large American Presbyterian Churches, for example, it is not the Westminster Confession precisely as the Assembly of Divines framed it, but the Westminster Confession in some respects modified, that has been adopted as their standard of faith. We must certainly bear in mind that there are modifications and modifications. Some may merely touch the periphery of the circle of doctrines which the document teaches, and may affect even its external form in only a minute manner. Some, while introducing a considerable amount of change in its form, may penetrate very little or not at all into the substance of its doctrine. Others may profoundly affect its whole point of view and revolutionize its
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whole teaching. As a matter of fact, the Westminster Confession has been made the subject of modifications of all these sorts. But it is chiefly the less serious varieties of modification that have been introduced into it ; and it is in its most slightly modified forms that its wider influence has been gained.
The production of modified forms of the Westminster Confes- sion is of course the result of the existence from the very time of its publication of bodies of Christians who felt that it was expected of them to adopt it as the expression of their faith, but who found it in this or that point unacceptable to them, and were led to cut the knot by so far modifying it as to adapt it to their uses. It must be remembered that the Westminster Confession was the product of a national, or perhaps it would be speaking more prop- erly to say of an international, movement. It was not the con- struction of a chance body of Christians voluntarily gathered together with a view to formulating their peculiar tenets. It was drawn up by a Synod appointed by the Parliament of England and assisted by delegates from Scotland, the task of which was to prepare a scheme of uniformity in religion for the Three King- doms. It came into the world, therefore, as a national Confession. As such it was adopted by the Church of Scotland, and as such it was published by the Parliament of England. It was impossible for any body of Christians in the Three Kingdoms to avoid attending to it.
Moreover, it did in effect express the reasoned faith of the great mass of British Protestants. It was impossible for any body of them to refuse to take some account of it without bringing their orthodoxy under the suspicion of their brethren. A cer- tain moral pressure was thus brought to bear upon the Prot- estant bodies of Great Britain and its colonies by the confessed excellence and generally representative character of the docu- ment, which almost compelled them to give it at least a modified acceptance. But fairly representative as it was of the substance of the general Protestant faith, there were minor points of teach- ing in the document against which this or the other party was bearing passionate protest. It was the very essence of the Inde- pendent contention that was struck at in the Westminster doctrine of Church organization and government. And what was the dis- tinction of the Christian congregations who spoke of themselves as those “ baptized upon profession of their faith,” except their peculiar views on the subjects and mode of baptism ? As it was inevitable that these Christians should have to face the unspoken demand that they should orient themselves with respect to the Westminster Confession, it was equally inevitable that they should
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wish to set forth forms of it in which their peculiar views should find recognition or at least meet with no open contradiction. Thus, from the first, Independent and Baptist recensions of the Westminster Confession, at least, were foregone conclusions — un- less, indeed, the document should fall dead from the press. And the early production of these recensions is the proof that, despite the untoward turn of circumstances which rendered impossible of attainment the main object of the Assembly of Divines — the institution of uniformity of religion in the Three Kingdoms on a sound Reformed basis — the Westminster Confession did not fall dead from the press. Every great branch of Non-Conformists in England adjusted itself to it and gave it, in a form adapted to its special opinions on minor matters, the cordial testimony of public acceptance. Thus the Westminster Confession in its substance became in fact practically the common Confession of the entirety of British non-prelatical Christianitv.
The earliest modification of the Westminster Confession was the work of the English Parliament itself, acting in the Independent interest, and was produced even before the Confession was authori- tatively published in England. It was thus and thus only in fact that the Confession was offered to the English Churches by the constituted authorities. The edition of the Confession published by Parliament at the end of June, 16-18, under the title of Articles of Christian Religion , approved and passed by both Houses of Par- liament, after advice had with the Assembly of Divines by authority of Parliament sitting at Westminster — the only edition of the Confession published by the authority of the State — is in effect the Independent recension of the Confession. The growing Inde- pendent influence had sufficed to secure that ail that was offensive to that party should be exscinded from the document before it was put forth as the lawfully ordained public Confession of Faith of the Church of England. The chief bone of contention here concerned, of course, the organization of the churches into a Church, provided with a series of courts clothed with authorita- tive jurisdiction. With this was involved the whole subject of Church discipline. And more remotely there came to be connected with it the question of a limited toleration, not so much of diver- gencies in doctrine as of differences in Church organization, gov- ernment and forms of worship. To meet the case thus raised the Parliament simply struck out of the document the whole series of sections treating of Church government and discipline. Other changes were made : but they were minor and in a true sense incidental.
It was accordingly upon this Parliamentary recension that the
THE PRINTING OF THE WESTMINSTER CONFESSION. 388
Independent divines built when, ten years later (1658), they met at the Savoy to frame a Declaration of their faith. They intro- duced many minor variations in phraseology, recast a whole chap- ter— that on Repentance — and indeed inserted a whole new chap- ter— on the Gospel ; and here and there they sharpened or height- ened the expression of the doctrines taught in the document. But only in the two points of Church government and “ disci- pline ” and of “ toleration ” did they modify greatly its teaching. Their modified Confession had little prolonged circulation or influ- ence, it is true, among the Independent Churches of England ; these are found generally continuing to use the unaltered West- minster formularies. But in the Hew World it made for itself a richer history. Adopted both by the Massachusetts (1680) and Connecticut (1708) Churches as their standard of belief, it consti- tuted for many years the public Confession of American Congre- gationalists, and indeed lighted the pathway of these Churches down almost to our own day. It is interesting to observe, however, that the American Congregationalists in adopting the Savoy recension resiled from its introduction into the document of the principle of “ toleration,” thus bidding us to take note that its introduction by the English Independents was rather incident to their position than a settled principle of Independent belief. Independents suffering disabilities and Independents in position to inflict disabilities for religion’s sake, took opposite views of the relation of the civil magistrate to religious teaching. It was reserved to Presbyterians, after all, to make the “intolerant” teaching of the Westminster Confession a really constraining ground for modifying the document. The Independent modifica- tions turned, as on their hinge, rather on matters concerned with Church courts : all else was incidental to this and liable to varia- tions and the shadows cast by turning.
Meanwhile the English Baptists had been defining their relation to the Westminster Confession and had published a modification of it of their own (1677). As good Independents, they naturally took their start from the Savoy Declaration (1658), still further interpolating and filing it, and, of course, incorporating into it their own views as to baptism. It cannot be said that this Baptist recension exhibits quite the same degree of skill and learning that characterized the work done by the Savoy Synod : but it does exhibit equal fervor of religious feeling and equal devotion to the Reformed faith. In it the influence of the Independent recension of the Westminster Confession attained its height, and through it perhaps the Westminster teaching itself has reached its widest dissemination. For no more than its parent document did
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this Baptist recension remain the property of its English framers : it too crossed the sea, and in 1712 became the standard expression of the faith of the American Baptists, who have grown into a great host. If the "Westminster divines had done nothing else than lay down the lines upon which the great Baptist denomina- tion has built its creed, its influence on the Christian faith and life of the masses would have been incalculably great.
In the new conditions of political life in free America the defini- tion of the Westminster Confession of the relations of the civil magistrate to the Church could not fail to be thrown forward into a fierce light. As we have seen, the English Independents had already, somewhat incidentally, exscinded the “intolerant’’ features of the Confession and had been followed in this by the Baptists : though the American Congregationalists, occupying themselves the seat of the civil magistrate, had restored the objec- tionable principle. The fact is that in the seventeenth century “toleration” was rather a sentiment of the oppressed than a reasoned principle of Christian ethics : while unrestricted “relig- ious liberty ” had scarcely risen on the horizon of men’s thoughts. Whatever was done toward freeing the Westminster Confession from “ intolerant principles ” in that age was therefore fitful and unstable, and rather a measure of self- protection than the consis- tent enunciation of a thoroughly grasped fundamental principle. Thus it happened that the American Presbyterians were the first to prepare modifications of the Westminster Confession which turned on the precise point of the duty of universal toleration, or rather of the fundamental right of unrestricted religious liberty. The first of these modifications in the interests of the principle of religious freedom and the equality of all forms of religious faith before the law, was that made by the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America in 1788. The Associate- Reformed Church followed in the same pathway in 1799 ; and the United Presbyterian Church has continued this testimony in its own way ever since its formation in 1858. Thus it has come about that practically the whole body of American Presbyterians has cleansed the Westminster Confession from every phrase which could by any form of interpretation be made to favor intolerance and has substituted the broadest assertion of religious liberty.
It will have been observed that no one of the modifications thus far adverted to in any way affected the scheme of doctrine of the Confession. The Independents, Baptists, American Presbyte- rians alike gave the heartiest assent to the Reformed faith as set forth in this Confession ; and it was only because they recognized in its form of sound words the expression of their fundamental
THE PRINTING OF THE WESTMINSTER CONFESSION. 385
belief that they busied themselves with adjusting it in minor matters to their opinions and practices. The opening nineteenth century saw the rise, however, in what was then the extreme western portion of the United States, of a body of Christians who by inheritance were so related to the Westminster Confes- sion that they found it difficult to discard it altogether, but who in their fundamental theology had drifted away from the Reformed faith, to which it gives so clear and well-compacted an expression. By this combination of circumstances there was produced at last a modification of the Westminster Confession, which was directed not to the adjustment of details of teaching that lay on the peri- phery of its system of doctrine, but to the dissection out of it of its very heart. An Arminianized Westminster Confession is something of a portent : yet it is just this that the Cumberland Presbyterians sought to frame for themselves (1814), and to which, having in a fashion framed it, they clung for nearly three- quarters of a century.
Of course the Confession thus formed was never satisfactory even to its framers. To Arminianize the Westminster Confession with any thoroughness would leave to it only the general literary tone of its phraseology and its outlying definitions of secondary impor- tance, while all that is really distinctive of it as a Confession of Faith would be extirpated. It required, however, about seventy years for the Arminian leaven placed in the Confession by the Cum- berland Presbyterians to leaven the whole lump. The first rework- ing they gave it, though definitely directed to eliminating from it its formative doctrine — the Reformed doctrine of the sovereignty of God — left the larger part of the document intact. Every direct statement of the doctrine of the divine determination of human destiny was expunged, but the general tone of the document remained untouched. The result was felt by the Cumberland Presbyterians themselves to be eminently unsatisfactory, They perceived that the casting out of what they called “ the boldly defined statements ” of foreordination was insufficient for their end, and only succeeded in bringing the document into conflict with itself ; for, as they truly said, “ the objectional doctrine with its logical sequences pervaded the whole system of theology formu- lated in that book.” They perceived equally that their own Arminianizing principle was not given its full logical develop- ment by the substitution of statements announcing it for the Reformed statements expunged from the Confession. It was thus inevitable that the Confession prepared by them in 1814 should sooner or later be further “modified,” and the revolution then begun be made complete. The time seemed to be ripe for this early
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in the ninth decade of the century : and in 1883 an entirely new Confession was adopted by the Cumberland Presbyterians which is so drastic a 1 4 modification ” of the Westminster Confession as to retain nothing of its most distinctive character and very little even of its secondary features. In this document “ modifica- tion ” has stretched beyond its tether and become metamorphosis.
In the course of the two hundred and fifty years that have elapsed since its formulation the Westminster Confession has thus been sent out into the world in some half-dozen modifications. Some of these modifications concern so small a portion and so subordi- nate an element in the document that it becomes doubtful whether the publications in which they are embodied should not be rather treated as editions than as modifications of it. The Parliamentary edition of 1648 and the Confessions of the American Presbyte- rian Churches belong to this class : and we have accordingly listed them among the editions of the Westminster Confession in the bibliographies published in The Presbyterian axd Reformed Review for Octpber, 1901, and January, 1902. That we include them also in the list of modifications presentljT to be given is in the interests of a complete enumeration of these modifications in one place and need create no confusion. Others of these modifi- cations, while so far transforming the document that they can- not be treated as mere editions of it, are yet fully conservative of the whole system of doctrine taught in it and retain its gen- eral structure and the greater part of its very phraseology. In this class belong the Savoy Declaration of 1658 and its descend- ants in the Boston Confession of 1685 and the Saybrook Confes- sion of 1708, on the one hand, and in the Baptist Confession of 1677 on the other. The Cumberland Presbyterian recensions stand in a class by themselves as an extreme case of modification, striking at the very heart of the Confession and able to result in nothing other than its destruction.
In the following notes we have brought together as full an account of these several modifications as seemed necessary in order to trace the diffusion of the Westminster Confession in the new forms thus given it. We have not attempted to record all the editions in which the several modifications have been issued; but have contented ourselves with referring the reader, when possi- ble, to sources of information in which they can be traced. Only in the case of the Cumberland Presbyterian Confessions, whose history has not hitherto been thoroughly worked out, have we sought fullness of record.
THE PRINTING OF THE WESTMINSTER CONFESSION 387
NOTES TOWARD A BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE WESTMINSTER CONFESSION.
IV. Modifications.*
[a. The Parliamentary Recension, 1648] “ Articles | of | Christian Religion, | Approved and Passed by both Houses | of Parlia- ment, | After Advice had with the Assembly | of | Divines | by Authority of Parliament sitting at | Westminster. | London: | . . . . June 27, 1648 ” — (Schaff).
4to, pp. — . For an account of this edition, see Mitchell, The Westminster Assembly, etc., pp. 379 and 526 ; and Minutes , p. 412 sq. (especially 416); Shaw, History of the English Church During the Civil Wars, etc., I, 365 ; Schaff, Creeds of Christendom , I, 753, and especially 758-9. There are copies in the British Museum, “116, f. 19”; E. 449 ”; “ T. HI'”; and also in the Bodleian. Cf. the account of it given iu The Presbyterian and Reformed Review, Octo- ber, 1901, pp. 221-224 (No. 8).
The dealing of the Parliament with the work of the Westminster Assembly constitutes a very excellent anemometer for measuring how the political wind was from time to time blowing. When the text of the Coufession was reported to the Commons, the Independent influence was rising ; delays in dealing with it were made ; and by the time that the work of reviewing it was completed, the Indepen- dents were strong enough to secure the discarding from the document of all in it that provided for church courts and church discipline. The Parliamentary edition of the Confession published in the midsummer of 1648 is, therefore, distinctively the Independent recension of the formulary, and was received as such by the Indepen- dent party. The Independent divines met at the Savoy ten years later, accord- ingly, speak of it as their own recension and make complaint that it had been practically superseded by the Presbyterian recension in the use of the Churches. The account they give of the proceedings of Parliament in framing their redaction of the document is worth quoting. The Parliament, they say, “thought it not convenient to have matters of Discipline and Church-Government pub into a Confession of Faith, especially such particulars thereof, as there were, and still are controverted and under dispute by men Orthodox and sound in Faith. The 30th cap. therefore of that Confession, as it was presented to them by the Assem- bly, which is of Church-Censures, their Use, Kindes , and in whom placed : As also cap. 31. of Synods and Councels, by whom to be called , of what force in their decrees and determinations. And the 4th paragr. of the 20tli cap. which detei- mines what opinions and practices disturb the peace of the Church, and how such disturbers ought to be proceeded against by the Censures of the Church , and punished by the Civil Magistrate. Also a great part of the 24th cap. of Marriage and Divorce. These were such doubtful assertions, and so unsuitable to a Confes-
*Our indebtedness for aid in making out these notes has been, more than in former portions of our task, rather to books than to individuals. We have freely used the material offered us in Schaff’s Creeds of Christendom and Williston Walker’s Creeds and Platforms of Congregationalism ; as well as in the introductions and prefaces to the editions of the modifications recorded. For the descriptions of the editions of the Cumberland Presbyterian Confession we are indebted especially to the kindness of the Rev. Prof. J. V. Stephens, D.D , of Lebanon, Tenn., who has with great generosity supplied us with ample materials for a tolerably complete history of these formularies : for much guidance in studying the United Presbyterian Coufession we are indebted to the Rev. Dr James PIarper, of Xenia, Ohio. Other obligations are acknowledged in the course of the notes themselves.
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sion of Faith, as the Honorable Houses in their great Wisdom thought fit to lay them aside : There being nothing that tends more to heighten dissentings among Brethren, then to determine and adopt the matter of their difference, under so high a title, as to be an Article of our Faith.” ( Preface to the Savoy Declaration — -written by John Owen — as given by Williston Walker, The Creeds and Platforms of Congregationalism, New York : 1893, p. 363.)
The changes made by the Parliament for their recension are enumerated by Dr. Mitchell ( loc . cit. ), and are set down in the margin of Mr. W m. Carruther’s edition of the original text of the Westminster Confession (see The Presbyterian and Reformed Review, October, 1901, p. 658, No. 137). They are as follows :
Chap, xx, l 4. Omit the whole section.
Chap, xxiii, $ 4. Instead of “to pay them tribute and other dues,” read “to pay them their dues.” Instead of “the magistrate’s just and legal authority,” read “ the magistrates’ just and legal authority.” Instead of “ obedience to him, ” read “obedience to them.” Omit “much less hath the Pope .... other pre- tence whatsoever.”
Chap, xxiv, $ 4. Omit “The man may not marry .... them of her kin.”
Chap, xxiv, $ 5. Omit the whole section.
Chap, xxiv, ? 6. Omit the whole section.
Chap. xxx. Omit the whole chapter.
Chap. xxxi. Omit the whole chapter.
This Parliamentary recension of the Confession was printed only in one edition and appears to have had little circulation. It was returned to, however, by the Savoy divines in 1658, and through their rehabilitation of it obtained a new life and influence in both England (in the Baptist Creed of 1677) and in America (through the Boston and Saybrook recensions of the Savoy Declaration).
[b. The Savoy Recension , 1658] “ A j Declaration ' of the | Faith and Order | Owned and practised in the J Congregational Churches | in | England ; | Agreed upon and consented unto | By their | Elders and Messengers j in | Their Meeting at the
Savoy, October 12. 1658. | | | London: | Printed
by John Field, and are to be sold by | John Allen at the Sun Rising in Pauls | Church-yard, 1658 ” — (Walker).
4to, pp. [xxx], 64. Four editions appeared at London in 1659 ; others followed in 1677, 1688, 1729 ; Ipswich, 1745 ; Oswestry, 1812. There are copies of the early editions in the libraries of the Massachusetts Historical Society, of Harvard University and Princeton Theological Seminary (the edition : London | Printed for D. L. | Anti are to be sold in Paul’s Churchyard, Fleet | Street, and West, minster Hall, 1659). It has been reprinted in Hanbury’s Memorials . iii, 517- 548, and Williston Walker's The Creeds and Platforms of Congregationalism, 354-408. Compare also A. H. Quint, Congregational Quarterly, July and Octo. ber, 1866 (viii, 241 sq., 341 sq.), and Schaff, Creeds of Christendom, iii, 707- 729. Williston Walker, op. cit., pp. 340 sq., gives a list of the editions and some record of the best literature upon it, and an excellent account of its history. There is a Latin version, by Prof. Johannes Hoornbeek, Utrecht, 1662.
When Independency became ascendant in England the Congregationalist divines naturally desired to put forth a confessional statement which would more closely express their views than the Westminster formularies did, and the more so that the Parliamentary recension of the Westminster statement had obtained no circulation and only the Scotch editions of the Westminster Confession and those taken from them were accessible. Accordingly in 1658 a movement was set on foot, emanating apparently from those especially in the confidence of Cromwell, to call the Inde-
THE PRINTING OF THE WESTMINSTER CONFESSION 339
pendent Churches of the kingdom into conference for the purpose of fiaming a statement of their faith. The Synod, consisting of Messengers of about one hundred and twenty churches, met at the Savoy on September 29, 165S, and the duty of preparing and proposing a Confession was entrusted to a committee con- sisting of Thomas Goodwin, John Owen, Philip Nye, William Bridge, Joseph Caryll and William Greenhill, every one of whom except Owen had been a mem- ber of the Westminster Assembly. It was natural that the Westminster Confession, and that in its Parliamentary form, should be made the basis of their work : and they in fact confined themselves to preparing a revised edition of that formu- lary. They themselves give a very lucid account of their procedure, in the preface which they prefixed to the document — written, it is said, by John Owen. They say :
“ In drawing up this Confession of laith, we have had before us the Articles of Religion, approved and passed by both Houses of Parliament , after advice had with an Assembly of Divines , called together by them for that purpose. To which Confession, for the substance of it, we fully assent, as do our Brethren of New England, and the Churches also of Scotland , as each in their general Synods have testified.
“A few things we have added for obviating some erroneous opinions, that have been more broadly and boldly here of late maintained by the Asserters, then in former times ; and made some other additions and alterations in method , here and there, and some clearer explanations, as we found occasion.
“ We have endeavored throughout, to hold to such Truths in this our Confession, as are more properly termed matters of Faith ; and what is of Church-order we dispose in certain Propositions by it self. To this course we are led by the Example of the Honorable Houses of Parliament, observing what was established, and what
omitted by them in that Confession the Assembly presented to them So
that there are two whole Chapters, and some Paragraphs in other Chapters in their Confession, that we have upon this account omitted ; and the rather do we give this notice, because that Copy of the Parliaments, followed by us, is in few men’s hands ; the other as it came from the Assembly, being approved of in Scotland, was printed and hastened into the world before the Parliament had declared their Resolutions about it ; which was not till June 20. 1648. and yet hath been, and continueth to be the Copy (ordinarily) onely sold, printed and reprinted for these eleven years.
“ After the 19th cap. of the Law, we have added a cap. of the Gospel , it being a Title that may not well be omitted in a Confession of Faith : In which Chapter, what is dispersed, and by intimation in the Assemblies Confession with some little addition, is here brought together, and more fully under one head.
“That there are not Scriptures annexed as in some Confessions (though in divers others it’s otherwise) we give the same account as did the Reverend Assem- bly in the same case : which was this ; The Confession being large, and so framed, as to meet with the common errors, if the Scriptures should have been alleadged with any clearness, and by shewing where the strength of the proof lieth, it would have required a volume.” ( A Declaration of the Faith and Order Owned and Practiced in the Congregational Churches in England Lon-
don, 1658, pp. xx-xxii ; as reprinted by Williston Walkee in The Creeds and Platforms of Congregationalism, New York, 1893, pp. 362-3.)
The Savoy Declaration is thus put forward distinctly as merely a recension of the Westminster Confession, and as omitting from it only matters of Discipline and Church Government, conceived as having no proper place in a Confession of Faith. It is represented as not only preserving but emphasizing its whole doi- trinal scheme, and as retouching its doctrinal definitions only for the sake of giving more distinct explanations of the doctrines there expounded or of bringing them 26
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into more pointed opposition to errors grown more rampant since their first enunciation.
The text of the Savoy Declaration in its relation to the Westminster Confession can he most conveniently studied in its reprint by Professor Williston Walker (op. cit.) who has carefully indicated by black-faced type and footnotes all its variations from the earlier document. Cf. also Dr. Quint’s and Dr. Schaff’s pre- sentations (opp. cit.). The following list of the variations will enable the reader to reconstruct the Declaration from the Westminster Confession, and to form an estimate of the amount and nature of the modifications made by it.
Chap, i, $ 2. Omit “The Gospels according to.”
Chap, i, \ 2. Add “the” before “inspiration.”
Chap, i, § 8. Omit “ the” from “time of the writing.”
Chap, i, § 10. Instead of “ the Holy Spirit speaking in the Scripture,” read “ the holy Scripture delivered by the Spirit ; into which Scripture so delivered, our Faith is finally resolved.”
Chap, ii, 4 2. Instead of “ the alone foundation,” read “the alone Fountain.”
Chap, ii, \ 2. Instead of “whatsoever .... Obedience he is pleased to require of them,” read “whatsoever .... Obedience, as Creatures, they owe unto the Creator, and whatever he is further pleased to require of them.”
Chap, ii, § 3. Add at end : “ Which Doctrine of the Trinity is the foundation of all our Communion with God, and comfortable Dependence upon him.”
Chap, iii, 4 t>. Last clause, insert “or” between “redeemed by Christ’’ and “effectually called.”
Chap, iv, $ 1. Insert “out” between “make” and “ of nothing.”
Chap, v, § 1. Instead of “to” before “ his infallible ’’ read “unto.”
Chap, v, £ 4. Insert “in” after “Providence” (by mere printer’s slip ?).
Chap, v, $4. Instead of “it” before “extendeth,” read “his determinate Counsel.”
Chap, v, 4 4. Instead of “and that not by a bare permission, hut such as hath joined with it a most wise and powerful binding and otherwise ordering and governing of them,” read “(and that not by a bare permission) which also he most wisely and powerfully boundeth, and otherwise ordereth and governetb.”
Chap, v, 4 4. Insert “most” before “holy ends.”
Chap, v, 4 5. Instead of “unto” after “support,” read “ upon.”
Chap, vi, 4 1. Instead of “Our first parents, being seduced by the subtilty and temptation of Satan, sinned in eating the forbidden fruit. This their sin God was pleased, according to bis wise and holy counsel, to permit, having proposed to order it to his own glory,” read “God having made a Covenant of Works and Life, thereupon, with our first parents and all their posterity in them, they being seduced by the subtilty and temptation of Satan, did wilfully transgress the Law of their Creator, and break the Covenant in eating the forbidden fruit.”
Chap, vi, 4 2. After “By this sin they,” add “ and we in them.”
Chap, vi, \ 2. After “fell from,” omit “their.”
Chap, vi, 4 3. After “They being the Root,” insert “and by God's appointment standing in the room and stead.”
Chap, vi, 4 3. After “was imputed and,” omit “the same death in sin and.”
Chap, vii, 4 1. Instead of “ never have any fruition of him as their blessedness and reward,” read “ never have attained the reward of life.”
Chap, vii, 4% 5 and 6. Substitute for these two sections the following: “5. Although this Covenant hath been differently and variously administred in respect of Ordinances and Institutions in the time of the Law, and since the coming of Christ in the flesh ; yet for the substance and efficacy of it, to all its spiritual and saving ends, it is one and the same ; upon the account of which various dispen-ations, it is called the Old and New Testament.”
Chap, viii, 4 1. After “only begotten Son,” add “according to a Covenant made between them both.”
THE PRINTING OF THE WESTMINSTER CONFESSION. 391
Chap, viii, $ 3. After “the Divine,” add “in the Person of the Son.”
Chap, viii, $ 3. Add “also” before “put all Power.”
Chap, viii, $ 4. After “did perfectly fulfil it,” add “and underwent the punishment due to us, which we should have borne and suffered, beiDg made sin and a curse for us.”
Chap, viii, $ 4. Instead of “endured,” read “enduring.”
Chap, viii, $ 5. Instead of “Justice of His Father,” read “Justice of God.”
Chap, viii, $ 6. Instead of “ unto the Elect,” read “ to the Elect.”
Chap, ix, ? 1. Instead of “natural liberty, that is neither,” read “natural liberty and power of acting upon choice, that it is neither.”
Chap, ix, ? 1. Iustead of “determined to good.” read “determined to do good.”
Chap, ix, £ 4. Instead of “which was good,” read “which is good.”
Chap, x, $ 3. Omit “ through the Spirit.”
Chap, x, \ 4. Instead of “yet they never truly come uuto Christ,” read “yet not being effectually drawn by the Father, they neither do nor can come unto Christ.”
Chap, xi, $ 1. Instead of “but by imputing the obedience and satisfaction of Christ unto them,” read “but by imputing Christ’s active obedience unto the whole Law, and passive obedience in his death for their whole and sole righteous- ness.”
Chap, xi, $ 3. Omit “thus” before “justified.”
Chap, xi, $ 3. After “justified and did,” add ‘‘by the sacrifice of himself, in the blood of his Cross, undergoing in their stead the penalty due unto them.”
Chap, xi, | 3. Instead of “His Father’s justice,” read “God’s justice.”
Chap, xi, $ 4. Add “personally” after “justified.”
Chap, xi, 5. Instead of “and not have the light,” read ‘‘and in that condition they have not usually the light.”
Chap, xiii, $ 1. Instead of “who,” read “that.”
Chap, xiii, $ 1. Insert “ united to Christ ” before “ effectually called.”
Chap, xiii, § 1. Transpose “through the vertue of Christ's death and resurrec- tion” immediately after “created in them.”
Chap, xiii, ? 1. Insert “also” before “further.”
Chap, xiii, $ 1. Add “through the same vertue” after “personally.”
Chap, xiii, $ 1. Insert “all” before “true holiness.”
Chap, xiv, $ 1. Instead of “sacraments and prayer,” read “Seals, prayer and other means. ”
Chap, xiv, $ 3. Instead of “This Faith .... but gets the victory,” read “This Faith, although it be different in degrees, and may be weak or strong, yet it is in the least degree of it different in the kind or nature of it (as is all other saving grace) from the faith and common grace of temporary believers ; and therefore, though it may be many times assailed and weakened, yet it gets the victory.”
Chap. xv. The whole Chapter is rewritten so as to run as follows :
“Of Repentance Unto Life and Salvation.
“ Such of the Elect as are converted at riper yeais, having sometime lived in the state of nature, and therein served divers lusts and pleasures, God in their effect- ual calling giveth them Repentance unto life.
“II. Whereas there is none that doeth good, and sinneth not, and the best of men may through the power and deceitfulness of their corruptions dwelling in them, with the prevalency of temptation, fall into great sins and provocations; God hath in the Covenant of Grace mercifully provided, that Believers so sinning and falling, be renewed through repentance and Salvation.
“ III. This saving Repentance is an Evangelical Grace, whereby a person being by the holy Ghost made sensible of the manifold evils of his sin, doth by Faith in
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Christ humble himself for it with godly sorrow, detestation of it, and self-abhor- rency, praying for pardon and strength of Grace, with a purpose, and endeavor by supplies of the Spirit, to walk before God unto all well-pleasing in all things.
“ IV. As Repentance is to be continued through the whole course of our lives, upon the account of the body of death, and the motions thereof ; so it is every mans duty to repent of his particular known sins particularly.
“ V. Such is the provision which God hath made through Christ in the Covenant of Grace, for the preservation of Believers unto salvation, that although there is no sin so small, but it deserves damnation ; yet there is no sin so great, that it shall bring damnation on them who truly repent ; which makes the constant preaching of Repentance necessary.’’
Chap, xvi, # 1. Instead of “intention’’ read “intentions.’’
Chap, xvi, $ 7. Insert “to’’ before “others.”
Chap, xvii, $ 2. Omit “flowing’’ after “election” (printer’s slip ?).
Chap, xvii, $ 2. After “ Jesus Christ ” add “and union with him, the oath of God.”
Chap, xvii, $ 2. Instead of “ the spirit ” read “ his spirit.”
Chap, xvii, § 3. Instead of “Nevertheless” read “And though.”
Chap, xvii, $ 3. Instead of “come to be deprived of some measure of their gi aces and comforts, ” read “ come to have their graces and comforts impaired.”
Chap, xvii, $ 3. Add at end : “yet they are and shall be kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.”
Chap, xviii, $ 1. Instead of “hypocrites” read “temporary believers.”
Chap, xviii, g 1. Instead of “estate” read “state.”
Chap, xviii, $ 1, Instead of “a state of grace ” read “ the state of grace.”
Chap, xviii, $ 2. Iustead of “founded upon .... day of redemption,” read “ founded on the blood and righteousness of Christ, revealed in the Gospel, and also upon the inward evidence of those graces and to which promises are made, and on the immediate witness of the spirit, testifying our Adoption, and as a fruit thereof, leaving the heart more humble anti holy.”
Chap, xviii, $ 4. Omit “and” after “ contenance.”
Chap, xviii, § 4. For “never utterly” read “neither utterly.”
Chap, xix, g 1. After “God gave to Adam a Law,’’ add “of universal obedi- ence writteu in his heart, and a particular precept of not eating the Fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil.”
Chap, xix, g 2. Instead of “This Law .... delivered by God,” read “This Law so written in the heart, continued to be a perfect Rule of righteousness after the fall of mau, and was delivered by God.”
Chap, xix, $ 3. Omit “ as a church under age.”
Chap, xix, \ 3. Iustead of “All which ceremouial laws are now abrogated under the new Testament,” lead “All which Ceremonial Laws being appointed onely to the time of Reformation, are by Jesus Christ the true Messiah and onely Law- giver, who was furnished with power from the Father for that end, abrogated and taken away.”
Chap, xix, \ 4. Omit “ as a body politic.”
Chap, xix, \ 4. Instead of “not obliging any other, now, further than the general equity thereof may require,” iead “ not obliging any now by vertue of that institu- tion, their general equity onely being still of moral use.”
Chap, xix, $7. Instead of “ requireth ” read “required.”
Chap. [xx]. At this point an entirely new chapter is inserted as follows :
“Of the Gospel a.vd of the Extext of the Grace thereof
“The Covenant of Works being broken by sin, and made unprofitable unto life, God was pleased to give unto the Elect the promise of Christ, the seed of the woman, as the means of calling them, and begetting in them Faith and Repent-
THE PRINTING OF THE WESTMINSTER CONFESSION. 393
ence : In this promise the Gospel, as to the substance of it, was revealed, and was therein effectual for the conversion and salvation of sioners.
“ II. This promise of Christ, and salvation by him, is revealed onely in and by the word of God ; neither do the works of Creation or Providence, with the Light of Nature, make discovery of Christ, or of Grace by him, so much as in a general or obscure way ; much less that men destitute of the revelation of him by the Promise or Gospel, should he enabled thereby to attain saving Faith on Repentance.
“III. The revelation of the Gospel unto sinners, made in divers times, and by sundry parts, with the addition of Promises and Precepts for the'obedience required therein, as to the Nations and persons to whom it is granted, is meerly of the Sov- eraign will and good pleasure of God, not being annexed by vertue of any promise to the due improvement of mens natural abilities, by vertue of common light re- ceived without it, which none ever did make or can so do : And therefore in all ages the Preaching of the Gospel hath been granted unto persons and nations, as to the extent or straithing of it, in great variety, according to the counsel of the will of God.
“IV. Although the Gospel be the onely outward means of revealing Christ and saving Grace, and is as such abundantly sufficient thereunto ; yet that men who are dead in trespasses, may be born again, quickened or regenerated, there is more- over necessary an effectual irresistible work of the holy Ghost upon the whole soul, for the producing in them a new spiritual life, without which no other means are sufficient for their conversion unto God.”
Chap, xx [xxi], § 1. Instead of “ the curse of the moral law ” read “the rigor and curse of the Law.”
Chap, xx [xxi], ? 1. Add “ fear and ” before “sting of death.”
Chap, xx [xxi], ? 1. Add “for the substance of them ” after “ Believers under the Law.”
Chap, xx [xxi], §1. Add “the whole Legal administration of the Covenant of Grace ” after “the yoke of the Ceremonial Law.”
Chap, xx [xxi],? 2. Instead of “or beside it in matters of faith or worship ” read “ or not contained in it.”
Chap, xx [xxi], $ 3. Instead of “lust do thereby destroy ” read “lust, as they do thereby pervert the main designe of the Grace of the Gospel to their own destruc- tion ; so they wholly destroy.”
Chap, xx [xxi], ? 4. Omit the whole section.
Chap, xxi [xxii], ? 1. Insert “ just ’’ before “ good.”
Chap, xxi [xxii], ? 1. Instead of “limited to” read “limited by.”
Chap, xxi [xxiij, ? 2. Instead of “creature” read “creatures.”
Chap, xxi [xxii], ? 3. Instead of “ religious ” read “ natural.”
Chap, xxi [xxii], ? 3. Instead of “and that” read “ but that.”
Chap, xxi [xxii], ? 3. Instead of “ and if vocal in a known tongue ” read “and when with others in a known tongue.”
Chap, xxi [xxii], ? 5. The section is recast as follows: “The reading of the Scriptures, Preaching, and hearing the word of God, singing of Psalms, as also the administration of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, are all parts of religious wor- ship of God, to be performed in obedience unto God with understanding, faith, reverence, and godly fear : Solemn Humiliations, with Fastings and Thanksgiving upon special occasions, are in their several times and seasons to be used in a holy and religious maner. ’ ’
Chap, xxi [xxii], ? 6. Insert “in ” before “truth.”
Chap, xxi [xxii], ? 6. Instead of “or wilfully ” read “nor wilfully.”
Chap, xxi [xxii], ? 7. Omit “due” before “proportion.”
Chap, xxi [xxii], ? 7. Add “ by Gods appointment ” before “be set apart.”
Chap, xxi [xxii], ? 7. Instead of “in his word” read ‘‘ by his word.”
Chap, xxi [xxii], ? 7. Instead of “by a positive ” read “ in a positive.”
394: THE PRESBYTERIAN AND REFORMED REVIEW.
Chap, xxi [xxii], \ 7. Add at the end “the observation of the last day of the week being abolished.’’
Chap, xxi [xxii], $ 8. Omit “of’’ after “ ordering.”
Chap, xxii [xxiii], § 1. Omit “upon just occasion."
Chap, xxii [xxiii], §1. Insert “ iu truth, righteousness and judgrueut ” after “swearing.”
Chap, xxii [xxiii], $ 2. Instead of “and dreadful ” read “ or dreadful.”
Chap, xxii [xxiii], $ 3. Add “ warranted by the Word of God ” after “ Whoso- ever taketh an oath.”
Chap, xxii [xxiii], $ 3. Instead of “imposed bylawful authority” read “law- fully imposed by Authority.”
Chap, xxii [xxiii], $ 5. Add “ which is not to he made to auv Creature, hut to God alone” alter “A vow.”
Chap, xxii [xxiii J, \ (> Omit the entire section.
Chap, xxii [xxiii], \ 7 [6]. Omit “No man may .... In which respects.”
Chap, xxiii [xxiv], $ 1. Instead of “them that are good ’ read “ them that do good.”
Chap, xxiii [xxiv], \ 1. Instead of “managing” read “management,’’
Chap, xxiii [xxiv], $2. Omit “piety.”
Chap, xxiii [xxiv], $3. Substitute for this section the following: “III. Al- though the Magistrate is bound to incourage, promote, and protect the professor and profession of the Gospel, and to manage and order civil administrations in a due subserviency to the interest of Christ in the world, and to that eud to take care that men of corrupt mindes and conversations do not licentiously publish and divulge Blasphemy and Errors iu their own nature, subverting the faith, and inev- itably destroying the souls of them that receive them : Yet iu such differences about the doctrines of the Gospel, or ways of the worship of God, as may befall men exercising a good conscience, manifesting it iu their conversation, and holding the foundation, not disturbing others in their ways or worship that differ from them ; there is no warrant for the Magistrate under the Gospel to abridge them of their liberty.”
Chap, xxiv [xxv], title. Omit “and divorce.”
Chap, xxiv [xxv], $ 3. Omit “only” before “in the Lord.”
Chap, xxiv [xxv], \ 3. Omit “ notoriously.”
Chap, xxiv [xxv], $ 3. Instead of “heresies” read “Heresie.”
Chap, xxiv [xxv], $ 4. Omit last sentence: “The man may not .... of her own.”
Chap, xxiv [xxv], 5, 6. Omit both sections entirely.
Chap, xxv [xxvi], $ 2. Substitute for the section the following: “II. The whole body of men throughout the world, professing the faith of the Gospel and obedience unto God by Christ according unto it, not destroying their own profes- sion by any Errors everting the foundation, or unholiness of conversation, are. and may be called the visible Catholique Church of Christ, although as such it is not intrusted with the administration of any Ordinances, or have any officers to rule or govern in, or over the whole Body.”
Chap, xxv [xxvi], \\ 3, 4. Omit both sections entirely.
Chap, xxv [xxvi], g 5, (3). Instead of “nevertheless there shall be always a Church ou earth to worship God according to his will,” read “ Nevertheless Christ always hath had, and ever shall have a visible Kingdom iu this world, to the end thereof, of such as believe in him, and make profession of his name.
Chap, xxv [xxvi], $ 6, (4). Add at the end “ whom the Lord shall destroy with the brightness of his coming.”
Chap, xxv [xxvi], g (5). Add at the end of the chapter the following section : “ V. As the Loid in his care and love toward his Church, bath iu his infinite wise providence exercised it with great variety iu all ages, for the good of them that
THE PRINTING OF TEE WESTMINSTER CONFESSION. 395
love him, and his own Glory : so according to his promise, we expect that in the later days, Antichrist being destroyed, the Jews called, and the adversaries of the Kingdom of his dear Son broken, the Churches of Christ being inlarged, and edified through a free and plentiful communication of light and grace, shall enjoy in this world a more quiet, peaceable and glorious condition then they have enjoyed.”
Chap, xxvi [xxvii], § 1. Omit “by” before “Faith.”
Chap, xxvi [xxvii], § 1. Add “although they are not made thereby one person with him ” after “ by his Spirit and [by] faith.’’
Chap, xxvi [xxvii], $ 1. Omit “ with him ” after “fellowship.”
Chap, xxvi [xxvii], $ 2. Instead of “ Saints by profession ” read “All saints.’’
Chap, xxvi [xxvii] $ 2. Insert “though especially to be exercised by them in the relations wherein they stand, whether in Families or Churches, yet,” after “ which communion.”
Chap, xxvi [xxvii], § 3. Omit the entire section.
Chap, xxvii [xxviii], §1. Instead of “ instituted by God ” read “instituted by Christ.”
Chap, xxvii [xxviii], \ 1. Instead of “to represent Christ” read “to represent him.”
Chap, xxvii [xxviii], $ 1. Omit “as also to put a visible difference between those that belong, unto the Church and the rest of the world.”
Chap, xxvii [xxviii], $ 1. Instead of “to engage them ” read “to engage us.”
Chap, xxvii [xxviii], §2. Instead of “ the effects ” read “ and effects. ”
Chap, xxvii [xxviii], $ 4. Instead of “the Supper of the Lord ” read “ the Lord’s Supper. ’ ’
Chap, xxvii [xxviii], $ 4. Instead of “ ordained ” read “called.”
Chap, xxviii [xxix], $ 1. Omit “not only for the solemn admission of the party baptized into the visible Church but also.”
Chap, xxviii [xxix], § 1. Instead of “unto him” read “unto the party bap- tized.”
Chap, xxviii [xxix], $ 1. Instead of “ sacrament ” read “ Ordinance.”
Chap, xxviii [xxix], $2. Instead of “sacrament” read “Ordinance.”
Chap, xxviii [xxix], $ 2. Omit “ thereunto” at end.
Chap, xxviii [xxix], $ 4. Add at end “ and those only.’’
Chap, xxviii [xxix], $ 7. Omit at beginning “ The Sacrament of.”
Chap, xxix [xxx], $ 1. Instead of “ Church ” read “ Churches.”
Chap, xxix [xxx], $ 1. Add “and shewing forth ” after “remembrance.”
Chap, xxix [xxx], § 1. Add “of” after “sealing.”
Chap, xxix [xxx], $ 1. Omit “as members of his mystical body” at the end.
Chap, xxix [xxx], $ 2. For “ sins” read “sin.”
Chap, xxix [xxx], §2. For “commemoration” read “memorial.”
Chap, xxix [xxx], §2. For “abominably” read “abominable.”
Chap, xxix [xxx], $2. For “one ’’read “own.”
Chap, xxix [xxx], £ 3. Omit “to declare his word of institution to the people.”
Chap, xxix [xxx], § 7. For “ Bread and Wine ” read “ Bread or Wine.”
Chap, xxix [xxx], §8. Omit “ although ignorant .... Wherefore.”
Chap, xxix [xxx], $ 8. Instead of “against Christ ” read “ against him.”
Chap, xxix [xxx], §8. Add at end “yea, whosoever shall receive unworthily, are guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord, eating and drinking Judgement to themselves.”
Chap. xxx. Omit whole chapter.
Chap. xxxi. Omit whole chapter.
Chap, xxxii [xxxi], title. Instead of “men” read “man.”
Chap, xxxii [xxxi], § 1. Instead of “torments” read “torment.”
Chap, xxxiii [xxxii], §2. Instead of “refreshing which shall come from ” read “ glory with everlasting reward in.”
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THE PRESBYTERIAN AND REFORMED REVIEW.
Cliap. xxxiii [xxxii], § 3. Omit “ day of” before “Judgement.”
It was the misfortune of the Savoy Declaration to be published at the end in- stead of at the beginning of the dominance of Independency in England, and it quickly passed y>ut of sight. The attacks upon it by Baxter and Du Moulin seemed only like slaying the dead. But in New England it wTas destined to have the career denied it in the land of its birth. The Congregationalists of New Eng- land, after adapting it to their own views with regard to the relations of Church and State, erected it into as much a norm of sound doctrine as it was possible for Independents to possess ; and for many years it continued to be the recognized stand- ard of the Congregationalists of America. The forms in which it was given this important position are to be immediately enumerated. Even in England also a much wider influence than could have been hoped for it in its original form was obtained for it iu a derived form, — in that Confession of Faith prepared by theBap- tists in 1677, and ever since more widely honored by the Baptist Churches of both England and America than any other formulary. Of this, too, we shall shortly give some account.
[bb. 11 le Boston form of the Savoy Recension , 1680] 11 A | Confes- sion | of | Faith [ Owned and consented unto by the | Elders and Messengers | of the Churches | Assembled at Boston in New England, | May 12, 1680. | Being the second Session of
that | Synod. | | | Eph. iv. 5 . . . . | Col. ii. 5
| | | Boston ; | Printed by John Foster.
1680 (Walker).
8vo, 5j x 3j inches, pp. vi, 65, with Cambridge Platform. Subsequent editions are numerous, e. g., Boston, 1699, 1725, 1750, 1757 : also in the Magnalia, Lon- don, 1702; Hartford, 1853-5; the Results of Three Synods, etc., Boston, 1725; The Original Constitution, Order and Faith of the New England Churches, etc., Boston, 1812; The Cambridge and Saybrook Platforms, etc., Boston, 1829; Ratio Discipline by T. C. Upham, Portland, 1829 ; Report on Congregationalism , etc., Boston, 1846 ; The Cambridge Platform, etc., by Nath. Emmons, Boston, 1855. A full list of editions is given by Williston Walker, The Creeds and Platforms of Congregationalism (New York, 1893), p. 409 : he also reprints the whole preface from the editio princeps and gives au illuminating historical account : see him also, p. 410, for a list of the relevant literature.
The task laid on that assembly of the Massachusetts Churches which has been called the “ Reforming Synod ” of 1679-1680, so far as doctrine is concerned, consisted chiefly in bearing testimony to the unpolluted faith of the second generation of the Massachusetts Churches. Iu the circumstances in which it wrought, it was inevitable that the Synod should turn to the Savoy Declaration for an expression of the faith which they held iu common with their British brethren : and the more so that the two leading members of the Committee to which the task of drawing up the Confession was entrusted. Mather and Oates, had been in England at the time that the Savoy Declaration had been framed and were in close touch with its authors. It was the Savoy Declaration, therefore, only slightly altered to adjust it to the New England theory of the relation of the Church and State, that was reported to the Synod and adopted by it as the creed of the Massachusetts Churches. How the whole matter stood with them will be best set forth by a short extract from the Preface prefixed to the Confession, when it was printed.
“There have been those who have reflected upon these Ne w English Churches for our defect in this matter [that is to say in published creeds], as if our Princi- ples were unknown ; whereas it is well-known, that as to matters of Doctrine we agree with other Reformed Churches : Nor was it that, but what concerns Worship
THE PRINTING OF THE WESTMINSTER CONFESSION. 397
and Discipline, that caused our Fathers to come into this wilderness, whiles it was a land not sown, that so they might have liberty to practice accordingly. And it is a ground of holy rejoycing before the Lord, that now there is no advantage left for those that may be disaffected toward us, to object anything of that nature against us. For it hath pleased the only wise God so to dispose in his Providence, as that the Elders and Messengers of the Churches in the Colony of Massachusets in New England, did, by the Call and Encouragement of the honoured General Court, meet together Sept. 10, 1679. This Synod at their Second Session, which was May 12, 1680, consulted and considered of a Confession of Faith. That which was consented unto by the Elders and Messengers of the Congregational Churches in England , who met at the Savoy (being for the most part, some small variations excepted, the same with that which was agreed upon first by the Assembly at Westminster, and was approved of by the Synod at Cambridge in New England , Anno 1648, as also by a General Assembly in Scotland) was twice publickly read, examined and approved of : that little variation which we have made from the one, in compliance with the other may be seen by those who please to compare them. But we have (for the main) chosen to express our selves in the words of those .Reverend Assemblyes, but so we might not only with one heart, but with one mouth glorifie God, and our Lord Jesus Christ” ( Preface , etc., as given by Walker, op. cit., p. 439).
This Confession was reported to the General Court of Massachusetts and (January 11, 1680) approved by that body and ordered “ to be printed for the benefit of these churches in present and after times.” By certain local churches ( e . g., the Old South of Boston and the First of Cambridge) it was utilized as a local creed. It was accepted as the faith of the churches of Connecticut in 1708. As late as 1865 it was reaffirmed as substantially embodying the faith to which these churches are pledged, by a Council, as representative of American Congregationalism as any body of delegates can be. At present it is perhaps practically forgotten in the Congregational Churches : and since 1884 has fallen into desuetude even in the Old South Church of Boston.
As the Preface itself witnesses, the only variation of importance from the Savoy Declaration which the document registers is a return to the teaching of the West- minster Confession in the matter of the relation of Church and State. The follow- ing are the divergences from the Savoy Declaration, in detail (the chapter and section numbers are those of the Westminster Confession : those enclosed in square brackets alone being those of the Savoy Declaration) :
Chap, v, $ 1. West, and Savoy, “even to the lpast”: Boston, “even unto the least.”
Chap, v, § 1. Savoy, “according unto West, and Bost., “according to.”
Chap, xiii, $ 1. Savoy, “They that are united to Christ, effectually called ”: West, and Bost., “They who are effectually called.”
Chap, xiii, $ 2. West, and Savoy, “abideth”: Bost., “abide.”
Chap, xvii, \ 2. West, and Savoy, “and of the seed”: Bost., “and the seed.”
Chap, six, % 2. West, and Savoy, “upon Mount Sanai”: Bost., “on Mount Sanai.”
Chap, xix, 'i 3. Savoy, omit “ as a church under age ” : Westminster and Boston, insert.
Chap, xxiii [xxiv], $ 3. Boston here rejects the new section framed at the Savoy and inserts a new § 3, based in part on Westminster, Chap, xx, $ 4, which had been omitted by the Parliamentary and Savoy recensions alike. This new Boston section runs as follows : “III. They who upon pretense of Christian liberty shall oppose any lawful power, or the lawful exercises of it, resist the Ordinance of God, and lor their publishing of such opinions, or maintaining of such practices as are contrary to the Light of Nature, or to the known Principles of Christianity, whether concerning faith, worship, or conversation, or to the power of godliness,
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THE PRESBYTERIAN AND REFORMED REVIEW.
or such erroneous opinions or practices, as either in their own nature, or in the manner of publishing or maintaining them, are destructive to the external peace and order which Christ hath established in the Church, they may lawfully be called to account, and proceeded against by the censures of the Chinch, and by the power of the civil Magistrate ; yet in such differences about the Doctrines of the Gospel, or Wayes of the Worship of God, as may befal men exercising a good conscience, manifesting it in their conservation, and holding the foundation, aud duely ob- serving the Rules of peace and order, there is no warrant for the Magistrate to abridge them of their liberty.”
Chap, xxvi [xxvii], g 2. Into this new section framed at the Savoy, Boston inserts the words “they and their children with them ” after the word “conver- sation”— “doubtless,” as Dr. Walker says, “influenced by the Halfway Coven- ant.”
Chap, xxvi [xxvii], $ 2. Boston adds at end, “Although as such it is not intrusted with any Officers to rule or govern over the whole body.”
Chap, xxviii [xxix], $ 2. Savoy omits “thereunto” at end: Westminster and Boston insert.
Chap, xxix [xxx], \ 1. Westminster and Savoy, u unto the end Boston, “to the end.”
Chap, xxix [xxx], $ 3. Savoy omits “to declare his word of institution to the people”: Westminster and Boston insert.
Chap, xxxii [xxxi], \ 1. Westminster and Savoy, “for souls”: Boston, “(f souls.”
[bbb. The Saybrook form of the Boston-Savoy Recension , 1708] A | Confession | of | Faith | Owned and Consented to by the | Elders and Messengers | Of the Churches j In the Col- ony of Connecticut in | New England. | Assembled by Dele- gation I at Say-Brook I September 9th, 1708 I I Eph.
iv. 5 .... | Col. ii. 5 . . . | . . . . | . . . . | | New-
London in N. E. | Printed by Thomas Short, | 1710.
16mo, 5|x3j inches, pp. 116. Subsequent editions are: New London, 1760 ; Bridgeport. 1810; Hartford, 1831, 1838 ; in Congregational Order, etc., Middle- town, 1843. Copies of the edd. of 1710 and 1810 and of the Congregational Order are in the library of the. Theological Seminary at Princeton. For the edi- tions and literature see Williston Walker, op. cit., p. 464 : in the subsequent pages he gives a full historical account and reprints the Preface (pp. 517-520).
A movement for a united Confession of Faith for the churches of the colony of Connecticut was definitely inaugurated “att a meeting of Sundry Elders” as early as 1703 (Walker, p. 498), and when the Synod of Saybrook was called in 1708 the provision of such a Confession was naturally made one of its duties. Of course it was the Confession of the Massachusetts Churches since 1680 that was recommended by it for this end. In the Preface prepared for the document, after a sketch of the history of creeds in general, the attitude of the Synod is outlined as follows :
“Among those of latter times Published in our Nation most worthy of Repute and acceptance we take to be the Confession of Faith, Composed by the Reverend Assembly of Divines Convened at Westminster, with that of the Savoy, in the substance and in expressions for the most part the same : the former professedly assented and attested to, by the Fathers of our Country by Unanimous Vote of the Synod of Elders and Messengers of the Churches met at Cambridge the last of the 6th Month, 1648. The latter owned aud couseuted to by the Elders and Messen- gers of the Churches assembled at Boston, May 12th, 1680. The same we doubt
THE PRINTING OF THE WESTMINSTER CONFESSION. 399
not to profess to have been the constant Faith of the Churches in the Colony from the first Foundation of them. And that it may appear to the Christian World, that our Churches do not maintain differing Opinions in the Doctrine of Eeligion, nor are desirous for any reason to conceal the Faith we are perswaded of: The Elders and Messengers of the Churches in this Colony of Connecticut in New England > by vertue of the Appointment and Encouragement of the Honourable the General Assembly, Convened by Delegation at Say Brook, Sept. 'dth, 1708. Unanimously agreed, that the Confession of Faith owned and Consented unto by the Elders and Messengers of the Churches Assembled at Boston in New England , May 12th, 1680. Being the second Session of that Synod, be Recommended to the Honour- able the General Assembly of this Colony at their next Session, for their Publick Testimony therelo, as the Faith of the Churches of this Colony, which Confession together with the heads of Union and Articles for the Administration of Church Government herewith emitted were Presented unto and approved and established by the said General Assembly at Neio Haven on the I4H1 of October, 1708. This Confession of Faith we offer as our firm Perswasion well and fully grounded upon the Holy Scripture, and Commend the same unto all and particularly to the people of our Colony to be examined, accepted and constantly maintained ” (Preface, etc., in Walker, op. cit., pp. 518-519).
The General Court of the Colony, meeting at New Haven, October 1708, or- dained that “all the Churches within this government that are or shall be thus united in doctrine, worship, and discipline, be, and for the future shall be owned and acknowledged established by law.” Accordingly the symbols adopted at Say- brook were printed once and again (1710, 1760) at the expense of the colony and distributed throughout the colony. This establishment continued in effect until it was silently repealed by the omission of all reference to it in the revision of the statutes in 1784.
The Saybrook Confession doubtless was not intended to differ in any respect from that of the Boston Synod. But during the process of printing — it was the first book printed in Connecticut — certain slight variations crept in. The following list will indicate these (the chapter and section numbers follow those of the West- minster Confession, those included in square brackets alone being those of the Savoy Declaration):
Chap, ii, $ 2. Westminster, Savoy, Boston, “not standing”; Saybrook, “nor standing.”
Chap, v, $ 6. Westminster, Savoy, Boston, at end, “others ”: Saybrook, “them ” — “a change,” comments Dr. Walker, “of some importance.’’
Chap, viii, $ 7. Westminster, Savoy, Boston, “proper to”: Saybrook, “proper in.”
Chap, xi, § 1. Savoy, Boston, “ obedience unto ” : Saybrook, “ obedience to.”
Chap, xii, $ 1. Saybrook omits “in ” after “ vouchsafeth. ”
Chap, xvi, $ 5. Saybrook reads “judgements ” for “judgement” at end.
Chap, xviii, $3. Westminster, Savoy, Boston, “his calling”: Saybrook, “their calling.”
Chap, [xix, $ 2. “ on ” as in Boston.]
Chap, [xix, $ 3. Add “ as a church under age ” as in Boston.]
Chap, xix, $3. Saybrook reads “ worshiping ”.
Chap, [xx], title. Saybrook reads “Graces.”
Chap, [xxiii [xxiv], $ 3. As in Boston.]
Chap, xxiv [xxv], § 2. Saybiook omits “of” after “ preventing.”
Chap, xxv [xxvi], § 1. Saybrook omits “is” before “ the Spouse.”
Chap, xxv [xxvi], \ 1. Saybrook adds “and ” after “all.”
Chap, [xxvi [xxvii], $ 2. Insert “they and their children after -them” as in Boston] .
Chap, [xxvi [xxvii], $ 2. Insert sentence at end as in Boston.]
Chap, [xxviii [xxix], \ 2. Add “thereunto ” as in Boston.]
400
TEE PRESBYTERIAN AND REFORMED REVIEW.
Chap, [xxix [xxx], \ 3. Add sentence as in Boston ; bat with “instruction ” in- stead of “institution,” by printer’s error.]
[c. The Baptist Recension , 1677] A | Confession | of Faith, | put forth by the Elders and Brethren j of many | Congregations I of 1 Christians | (Baptized upon Profession of their Faith) | in | London and the Countrey. | The Third Edition. | [Texts here from Bom. x. 10 and John y. 39] | London : Printed by S. Bridge in Austin Fry- | ers, for Eben. Tracy at the Three Bibles on | London Bridge. Will. Marshall at the Bible [ in Xewgate-Street. And John Marshall at the | Bible in Grace- Church-Street, 1699.
24mo, pp. [24 ; unnumbered, for title, preface and contents], 106 [2] ; 4j x 24 inches (block of type). Earlier editions appeared 1677, 168S, 1689, and later editions 1719, 1720, 1791 +. It was adopted in America by tbe Baptist Associa- tion that met in Philadelphia, September 25. 1742, and was shortly afterwards printed by Benjamin Franklin : then in the following edition : “A | Confession of Faith, | put forth | by the | elders and brethren | of many Congregations of Chris- tians; | (Baptized upon Profession of their Faith) | in London and the Country |
I Adopted by the Baptist Association met at | Philadelphia | September 25,
1742. | With two additional articles, viz : Of Imposition of Hands, | and Singing of Psalms in Public Worship. | A new edition. | [Texts from Ro. x. 20, and Jno. v. 39] | Burlington, | Printed for W. W. Woodward, Philadelphia, | By S. C. Ustick, | 1810.” | 24mo, pp. ix, 71 -j- 40 (the last forty pages containing “A Short Treatise Concerning our Discipline ”). An edition was printed at Pittsburgh (S. Williams), 1831. It has been reprinted by Crosby, Hist, of English Baptists, etc. (London, 1740), III. Append, ii, pp. 56 — iii : and by Uxderhill, Confessions of Faith in illustration of the History of the Baptist Church of England in the Seventeenth Century (Knolleys Society, London, 1854), pp. 169-246. See Schaff, Creeds of Christendom, I, 855-6, and III, 738, where are given large extracts from it, illus- trating its relation to the Westminster Confession. It was translated into Welsh, 1721, and again by the Rev. Joshua Thomas, of Leominster (the painstaking and careful historian of the Baptists), in 1791. In his preface, Mr. Thomas speaks of the Confession of 1677 as differing in nothing, so far as substance is concerned, from the earlier Baptist Confession of 1644, fourth ed. 1652, but altered in form, “ in order to make it more like tbe Confessions of Faith of the Presbyterians and of the Independents, except in the matter of Baptism and a few other things”: “it was printed in Welsh,” he adds, “in 1721: Since then seventy years have elapsed The present edition is altogether a new translation.”
This Confession, both in England and America, is still in high repute among the Baptists. It was greatly esteemed by the late Charles Spurgeon, who published it in cheap form for use among his followers. This “Spurgeou's Edition ” has been admirably reprinted in America in a beautiful little pamphlet, as follows :
Thirty-two Articles of Christian | Faith and Practice : j Baptist Confession of Faith, | With Scripture Proofs, | Adopted by | The Ministers and Messengers | of the | General Assembly,
| which met in London in 1689. | With a | Preface by the Kev. C. H. Spurgeon. | Wharton, Barron & Company, j 10 E. Fayette St., Baltimore, Md. | 1890.
16mo, pp. 44. The laudatory preface by Mr. Spurgeon is dated in 1S55, which
TIIE PRINTING OF THE WESTMINSTER CONFESSION!. 401
doubtless marks the date of the first issue “ in a cheap form ” of “this most ex- cellent list of doctrines.”
In the preface prefixed to the Baptist Confession its authors explain that the older Confession, “put forth about the year 1643 ” was no longer “commonly to be had” and the time had arrived for a republication of the faith of the Baptist churches ; and “ finding no defect in this regard ” — that is, in regard to the expres- sion of the great truths of the Gospel — “in that fixed on by the Assembly, and after them by those of the Congregational way, we did readily conclude it best to retain the same Order in our present Confession ” ; and also to follow the example of “those of the Congregational way’’ in departing very little from the very words of the Assembly’s Confession. In effect this Confession is nothing other than the Savoy Declaration somewhat freely interpolated with additional sentences and clauses, and adapted to the use of the Baptists by an adjustment of its doctrine of Baptism. The minor alterations introduced run through the whole document and are very numerous ; but not only do they not change its substance but they leave it the same Confession even in form.
We shall not attempt to mark here all the changes, but the following list will indicate their nature by a sufficient display of samples, and will include all of auy real significance. The numbering of the chapters will follow those of the Savoy Declaration which this Confession simply repeats :
Chap, i, §1. Prefix “The Holy Scripture is the only sufficient, certain and infallible Rule of all Saving Knowledge, Faith and Obedience
Chap, ii, \ 1. Remodel at opening, thus : “The Lord our God is but one ouely living, and true God ; whose subsistence is in and by himself, infinite in being and perfection, whose Essense cannot be comprehended by any but himself ; a most pure spirit, etc.”
Chap, ii, $ 3. Remodel, thus: “In this Divine and Infinite Being there are three subsistences, the Father, the Word (or Son), and Holy Spirit, of one sub- stance, power and eternity, each having the whole Divine Essense, yet the Essense undivided, the Father is of none. . . . proceeding from the Father and the Sou, all infinite, without beginning, therefore but one God, who is not to be divided in Nature and Being but distinguished by several peculiar, relative Properties, and personal Relations ; which Doctrine. ...”
Chap, iii, § 1. Remodel, thus: “God hath decreed in himself, from all eternity, by the most wise and holy Councel of his own Will, freely and unchang- able (sic), all things whatsoever comes (sic) to pass ; yet so as thereby is God neither the Author of sin, nor hath fellowship with any therein, nor is violence offered to the will of the Creature, nor yet is the liberty, or contingency of second Causes taken away, but rather established, in which appears his Wisdom in dis- posing all things, and Power, and Faithfulness in accomplishing his Decree .”
Chap, iii, ? 3. Expanded as follows : “By the Decree of God, for the manifesta- tion of his glory, some Men and ADgels are pre-destinated or fore-ordained to Eternal Life, through Jesus Christ, to the praise of his glorious grace ; others being left to act in their sin to their just condemnation, to the praise of his glori- ous justice.”
Chap, iii, $ 5. The closing clause is modified thus : “ Without any other thing in the creation as a condition or cause moving him thereunto.”
Chap, iii, $ 7. Omitted, and 8 made $ 7.
Chap, iv, $ 1. Transpose “ in the beginning ” to the commencement of the para- graph and omit “ out of nothing.”
Chap, v, § 5. Add at end : “ So that whatsoever befals any of his Elect is by his appointment, for his glory, and their good.”
Chap, vi, £ 1. Rewritten, with a return to the Westminster Confession at the end, thus : “ Although God created Man upright, and perfect, and gave him a
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righteous Law, which had been unto Life had he kept it, and threatened Death upon the breach thereof ; jet he did not long abide in this honour; Satan using the subtilty of the Serpent to seduce Eve, then by her seducing Adam, who without any compulsion, did wilfully transgress the Law of their Creation, aDd the Com- mand given unto them, in eating the forbidden Fruit ; which God was pleased according to Ms wise and holy Councel to permit, having purposed to order it, to Ms own glory.”
Chap, vi, $ 3. Add at end : “being now conceived in Sin, and by nature children of Wrath, the servants of Sin, the subjects of Death, and all other miseries, spir- itual, temporal and eternal, unless the Lord Jesus set them free.”
Chap, vi, $ 6. Omit altogether.
Chap, vii, § 2. Omit altogether.
Chap, vii, §§ 4, 5. Replaced by a new $ 3, thus : “This Covenant is revealed iu the Gospel ; first of all to Adam in the promise of Salvation by the Seed of the Woman, and afterward by further steps, until the full discovery thereof was corn- pleated in the New Testament ; and it is founded in that Eternal Covenant transac- tion, that was between the Father and the Son about the Redemption of the Elect; and it is alone by the Grace of this Covenant, that all of the Posterity of fallen Adam, that ever were saved, did obtain Life and blessed Immortality ; Man being now utterly incapable of acceptance with God upon those terms on which Adam stood in his state of Innocency.”
Chap, viii, $ 6. Instead of “work of Redemption .... wrought” real “Price of Redemption .... paid.”
Chap, viii, g 8. Add at end : “and all by free, and absolute Grace, without any condition foreseen in them, to procure it.”
Chap, [viii, $$ 9, 10.] Two sections added, thus: “$ 9. This Office of Mediator between God and Man, is proper onely to Christ, who is the Prophet, Priest, and King of the Church of God ; and may not be either in whole or any part thereof transferr’d from him to any other. \ 10. This number and order of Offices is neces- sary ; for in respect of our ignorance, we stand in need of his prophetical Office ; and in respect of our alienation from God and imperfection of the best of our ser- vices, we need his Priestly Office, to reconcile us, and present us acceptable unto God : and in respect of our averseness, and utter inability to return to God, and for our rescue and security from our spiritual adversaries, we need his Kingly Office, to convince, subdue, draw, uphold, deliver, and preserve ns to his Heavenly Kingdom.”
Chap, x, $ 1. Omit “ all ” and “ and those only.”
Chap, x, $ 3. Restore the Westminster clause : “ through the Spirit.”
Chap xiii, $ 3. Add at end : “pressing after an Heavenly L:fe, in Evengelical Obedience to all the Commands which Christ, as Head and King, in his Word hath prescribed to them.”
Chap, xvii, $ 1. Instead of “ They ’’ at the beginning read “ Those instead of “ his ” before “ Beloved ” read “ the add after “ Spirit,” “ and given the pre- cious Faith of his Elect unto and add at end : “ seeing the Gifts and Callings of God are without Repentance (whence he still begets and nourisheth iu them Faith, Repentance, Love, Joy, Hope, and all the Graces of the Spirit unto immortality) and though many storms and floods arise and beat against them, yet they shall never be able to take them off that Foundation and Rock which by Faith they are fastned upon ; notwithstanding, through unbelief and the temptations of Satan, the sensible sight of the light and love of God, may for a time be clouded and ob- scured from them, yet he is stiil the same, and they shall be sure to be kept by the Power of God unto Salvation, where they shall enjoy their purchased Possession, they being engraven upon the Palm of his Hands, and their Names haviug been written in the Book of Life from all Eternity.”
Chap, xvii, g 3. Substitute for the new closing clause of Savoy the following :
THE PRINTING OF THE WESTMINSTER CONFESSION. 403
“yet they shall renew their repentance and be preserved, through faith in Christ Jesus, to the end.”
Chap, xxiii, § 3. Instead of “neither may any man ....’’ to the end, read : “for that by rash, false, and vain Oaths, the Lord is provoked, and for them this land mourns.”
Chap, xxiii, § 4. Omit all after “ reservation.”
Chap, xxiii, §§ 5, 6. Compressed (with some minor adjustments) into one §5.
Chap, xxiv, § 3. Substitute the following : “Civil Magistrates beingset up by God, for the ends aforesaid, subjection in all lawful things commanded by them, ought to be yielded by us in the Lord, not only for Wrath, but for Conscience-sake; and we ought to make Supplications and Prayers for Kings, and all that are in Author- ity, that under them we may live a quiet and peaceable Life, in all godliness and honesty.”
Chap, xxiv, § 4. Omit altogether.
Chap, xxvi, § 1. Instead of “ which is invisible ” read “ which (with respect to the internal work of the Spirit and Truth of Grace) may he called Invisible.”
Chap, xxvi, § 2. Instead of “ The whole body of men ” read “All persons.”
Chap, xxvi, $2. Instead of “Catholique Church of Christ” read “Saints.”
Chap, xxvi, § 2. For “although . . . .” to the end, substitute “and of such ough*t all particular Congregations to be constituted.”
Chap, xxvi, § 4. Instead of the opening sentence, read ; “ The Lord Jesus Christ
is the Head of the Church, in whom, by the appointment of the Father, all Power
for the Calling, Institution, Order, or Government of the Church is invested in a supreme and soveraign manner, neither can the Pope,” etc., as in Savoy.
Chap, xxvi, § 5. Omit, and insert eleven new sections, §§ 5-15, in which the whole Independent doctrine of the Church is developed : § 5. The constitution of par- ticular churches by the call of individuals by the Spirit and the command of the Lord that they company together ; § 6. The character of the members as “ Saints by calling”; § 7. The endowment of each particular church for its function ; $8. The officers of each church ; § 9. The mode of induction into office ; § 10. The work of the pastor ; §11. Lay preaching ; § 12 The right of discipline; § 13. The duty of patience; §14. Communion among the churches; §15. Advisory Councils. The whole chapter is reprinted by Schaff, op. cit., Ill, pp. 738-741, and may be there consulted.
Chap, xxvii, § 2. Returns to Westminster at beginning, reading “ Saints by Pro- fession,” instead of “All Saints ” with Savoy.
Chap, xxvii, §2. After “ which Communion ” insert “according to the Rule of the Gospel.”
Chap, xxvii, §2. After “extended to all” insert “the Household of Faith, even all.”
Chap, xxvii, § 2. Add at end : ‘ ‘ Nevertheless their Communion one with another as Saints, doth not take away or infringe the Title or Propriety which each man hath in his goods and possessions ” — thus returning to Westminster, ^ 3 ad jin.
Chap, xxviii. Entirely rewritien, with new title, thus :
“ Of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.
“§1. Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, are Ordinances of positive and soveraign Institution, appointed by the Lord Jesus the only Law-giver, to be continued in his Church to the end of the world.
“ § 2. These holy Appointments are to be administered by those only, who are qualified and thereunto called according to the Commission of Christ.”
Chap, xxix, § 1. Instead of “Sacrament” read “Ordinance.”
Chap, xxix, §1. Instead of “and seal .... regeneration,” read “of his fel- lowship with him, in his Death and Resurrection ; of his being Engrafted into him.”
Chap, xxix, § 1. Omit the clause “ which Ordinance . . . .’’to the end.
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Chap, xxix, $ 2 sq. The order of (lie sections is so altered that § 2 of the Savoy becomes § 3 ; § 3 becomes § 4 ; g 4 becomes \ 2, while $£ 5, 6, 7 are omitted. The whole runs as follows in its remodeled form :
“ §2. Those who do actually profess Repentance toward God, Faith in, and Obedi- ence to our Lord Jesus, are the only proper subjects of the Ordinance.
“ $ 3. The out ward Element, to be used in this Ordinance, is Water, wherein the Party is to be baptized, in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
“ $ 4. Immersion, or Dipping of the Person in Water, is necessary to the due Administration of this Ordinance.”
Chap, xxx, $ 1. Remodel at the beginning so as to read: “ The Supper of the Lord Jesus, was instituted by him, the same Night wherein he was betrayed, to be observed ’’
Chap, xxx, § 1. Instead of “ the sealing of all benefits thereof unto true believ- ers ” read “ Confirmation of the Faith of Believers in all the Benefits thereof.”
Chap, xxx, $2. Instead of “Sacrament” read “Ordinance.”
Chap, xxx, $4. Omit down to “ The denial . . .
Iu the American form of this Confession — as set forth under the authorization of the Baptist Association, met at Philadelphia, September 25, 1742 — there were in- serted into it two additional chapters. One of these, “Of Singing of Psalms in Public Worship,” was given place as chapter xxiii ; the other, “Of Laying on of Hands,” as chapter xxxi — the chapter numbers throughout being adjusted to these insertions. The former treats the “ singing the praises of God ” as a duty enjoined oil the Church : by the “ laying on of hands ” is meant just “confirmation.”
[d. American Presbyterian Recension , 1789] The j Constitution | of the | Presbyterian Church | in the | United States of America I containing | the | Confession of Faith, | the | Cate- chisms, | the | Government and Discipline, | and the | Direc- tory for the worship of God, | Ratified and adopted by the Synod of INTew York | and Philadelphia, held at Philadelphia | May the 16th, 1788, and continued by adjourn- | ments until the 28th of the same month. | Philadelphia : | Printed by Thomas Bradford, | In Front- streer,, fourth Door below Market-street. | M DCC LXXXIX.
12mo, pp. [vii], 205 ; 5^ x 2f inches (block of type.) Numerous subsequent edi- tions, which are listed in The Presbyterian and Reformed Review for January, 1902, pp. 76 sq., which see.
The preparation of a “Constitution” for itself by the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America was a measure undertaken preparatory to the division of the Synod, which had hitherto been the governing body of the young Church, and the erection of a General Assembly, which latter body met for the first time in 1789. The original Synod had in 1729 adopted the Westminster Confession and Catechisms under the terms of a “ Declaratory Act,” announcing “the said Con- fession and Catechisms to be the confession of their faith, excepting only some clauses in the twentieth and twenty-third chapters, concerning which clauses the Synod do unanimously declare, that they do not receive those articles in any such sense as to suppose the civil magistrate hath a controlling power over Synods with respect to the exercise of their ministerial authority, or power to persecute any for their religion, or iu any sense contrary to the Protestant succession to the throne of Great Britain” ( Records of the Presbyterian Church , 1729, p. 93). As the time approached, however, for the constitution of the General Assembly,
THE PRINTING OF THE WESTMINSTER CONFESSION. 405
“ the Synod took into consideration the last paragraph of the twentieth chapter of the Westminster Confession of Faith ; the third paragraph of the twenty-third chapter; and the first paragraph of the thirty-first chapter; and having made some alterations, agreed that the said paragraphs, as now altered, be printed for
consideration And the Synod agreed that when the above alterations in
the Confession of Faith shall have been finally determined on by the body, .... the said Confession thus altered .... shall be styled ‘The Confession of Faith . ... of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America’” ( Records , etc., 1787, pp. 539-40). Accordingly the next year the proposed alterations were consummated, and it was ordered “ that the Westminster Confession of Faith, as now altered, be printed in full .... as making a part of the Constitution ”
( Records , etc., 1788, p. 546). The volume of 1789 was the result, and this altered form of the Westminster Confession has remained ever since the Confession of Faith of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, and has as such also naturally become the Confession of Faith of its daughter Church, the Presby- terian Church in the United States.
The following are the modifications thus made by the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America :
Chap, xx, $ 4. Omit at the end, “and by the power of the Civil Magistrate.”
Chap, xxiii, $ 3. The entire section is remodeled so as to read : “Civil magis- trates may not assume to themselves the administration of the Word and Sacra- ments ; or the power of the keys of the kingdom of heaven ; or, in the least interfere in matters of faith. Yet as nursing fathers, it is the duty of civil magis- trates to protect the Church of our common Lord, without giving the preference to any denomination of Christians above the rest, in such a manner that all ecclesi- astical persons whatever shall enjoy the full, free, and unquestioned liberty of discharging every part of their sacred functions, without violence or danger. And, as Jesus Christ hath appointed a regular government and discipline in his Church, no law of any commonwealth should interfere with, let, or hinder, the due exercise thereof, among the voluntary members of any denomination of Christians, accord- ing to their own profession and belief. It is the duty of civil magistrates to protect the person and good name of all their people, in such an effectual manner as that no person be suffered, either upon pretense of religion or of infidelity, to offer any indignity, violence, abuse, or injury to any other person whatsoever : and to take order, that all religious and ecclesiastical assemblies be held without mol- estation or disturbance.”
( lvip. xxx, \ 1 Add and it belougetb to the overseers and other rulers of the particular churches, by virtue of their office, and the power which Christ has given them for edification and not for destruction, to appoint such assemblies ; and to convene together in them, as often as they shall judge it expedient for the good of the Church.”
Chap, xxxi, $ 2. Omit the entire section.
In addition to these modifications, the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America (but not its daughter Church, the Presbyterian Church in the United States, commonly known as “ the Southern Presbyterian Church ”) in 1886-7struck out the last clause of chap, xxiv, $ 4: “The man may not .... of her own the object being “ to remove any obstacle that may have existed to the marrving of a deceased wife’s sister, ” but the real effect being to remove the erection of affinity into a bar to marriage of precisely the same reach as consanguinity.
[e. Associate Reformed Recension , 1799] The | Constitution | and | Standards | of the j Associate- Reformed Church | in North America. | New York : | Printed by T. & J. Swords, No. 99 Pearl-street. | 1799.
8vo, pp. 614, 6f x 3^ inches (block of type). There are numerous subsequent 27
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THE PRESBYTERIAN AND REFORMED REVIEW.
editions, for which see the list in The Presbyterian and Reformed Review, January, 1902, p. 116 sq.
On the constitution of the Synod of the Associate-Reformed Church. October 31, 1782, the Westminster Confession and Catechisms were declared to be its doctrinal standards; but a ‘’Declaratory Act’’ was added excluding from this adoption “the following sections of the Confession of Faith, which define the power of civil government in relation to religion. Chap, xx, ? 4 ; Chap, xxiii, $ 3 ; Chap, xxxi, § 2,’’ (Scouller’s History of the United Presbyterian Church, etc , p. 165). At the Synod’s meeting, May, 1799, the sections thus excepted were modified, as well as Larger Catechism Q. 109, and the Confession and Catechisms thus modified were declared to be the doctrinal standards of that Church, in the terms of the following act: “The Westminster Confession of Faith, with the Catechisms, Larger and Shorter, having been formerly received by the Synod, with a reserva- tion for future discussion of the doctrine respecting the power of the civil magis- trate in matters of religion ; and the said doctrine being now modified in a manner more agreeable to the Word of God, to the nature of the Christian Church, and to the principles of civil society, The Synod do explicitly receive the afore- said Confession and Catechisms, with the doctrine concerning the civil magistrate as now stated in the twentieth, twenty-third, and thirty-first chapters of the Con- fession, as the system of doctrine which is built upon the foundation of the Apos- tles and Prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone. And the Synod do hereby declare, that the aforesaid Confession and Catechisms, as herein received, contain the true and genuine doctrine of the Associate Reformed Church ; and that no tenet contrary thereto, or any part thereof, shall be countenanced in this Church ” ( The Constitution, etc., p. 8).
The modifications thus made in the Westminster Confession by the Associate- Reformed Church of North America are the following :
Chap, [xx, ? 4. For “ power" read “ powers ’’ in first line : doubtless uninten- tional preservation of a bad reading.]
Chap, xx, $ 4. Modify the last sentence, so as to read : “And for their publish- ing of such opinions, or maintaining of such practices, as are contrary to the light of nature, or to the known principles of Christianity, whether concerning faith, worship, conversation, or the order which Christ hath established in his Church, they may be lawfully called to account, and proceeded against by the censures of the church : and in proportion as their erroneous opinions or practices, either in their own nature, or in the manner of publishing or maintaining them, are des- tructive to the external peace of the Church, and of civil society, they may be also proceeded agaiust by the power of the civil magistrate.”
Chap, [xxiii, § 3. Omit “the” before “administration of the word”: doubtless unintentional variation.]
Chap, xxiii, g 3. Modify from the first clause on — from the word “yet” — so as to read as follows : “yet, as the gospel revelation lays indispensible obligations upon all classes of people who are favoured with it, magistrates, as such, are bound to exe- cute their respective offices in a subserviency thereto, administering government on Christian principles, and ruling in the fear of God, according to the directions of his word ; as those who shall give an account to the lord Jesus, whom God hath appointed to be the judge of the world Hence, magistrates, as such, in a
Christian country, are bound to promote the Christian religion, as the most valu- able interest of their subjects, by all such means as are not inconsistent with civil rights ; and do not imply an interference with the policy of the church, which is the free and independent Kingdom of the Redeemer ; nor an assumption of dominion over conscience.”
Chap, xxxi, § 2. Substitute the following: “The ministers of Christ, of them- selves, and by virtue of their office ; or they with other fit persons, upon delegation from their churches, have the exclusive right to appoint, adjourn, or dissolve such
THE PRINTING OF THE WESTMINSTER CONFESSION. 407
Synods or Councils : though, in extraordinary cases, it may be proper for magis- trates to desire the calling of a Synod of ministers and other fit persons, to consult and advise with about matters of religion ; and in such cases, it is the duty of the churches to comply with their desire.”
At the same time there was an amendment made of a single word in the 109 Q. of the Larger Catechism : “tolerating a false religion ” being altered into “ author- izing a false religion.”
[f. The United Presbyterian Recension , 1858] The Confession of Faith agreed upon by the Assembly of Divines at West- minster, as received by the United Presbyterian Church of North America, with references to the proofs from the Holy Scriptures. Philadelphia : William S. Young, 1028 Race Street. Pittsburgh : William S. Rentoul. 1859.
18mo, pp. 94. See The Presbytekian and Reformed Review, January, 1902, 119, No. lxxxiv.
The | Subordinate Standards | of the | United Presbyterian Church | of | North America, j Published by authority of the General Assembly. | [Copyright secured according to law.] | Pittsburgh : j United Presbyterian Board of Publica- tion. I 1867.
16mo, pp. v, 593 + 76 + 24 -f 12. Many other editions ; see The Presby- terian and Reformed Review, January 1902, p. 119, No. lxxxv sq.
The United Presbyterian Church of North America is the result of a union effected in 1858 between the two churches known as The Associate-Reformed Church and The Associate Presbyterian Church. This union brought into one General Assembly the great body of American “Seceders.” The Associate- Reformed Church had modified the Westminster Confession (see above under e) at Chap, xx, § 4, xxiii, 3, xxx, 2. The Associate Presbyterian Church had retained the Westminster Confession unaltered, but in its “Testimony” had, without passing judgment on the doctrine of the Confession, expressed its own view of the relation of Church and State in a manner which shows that it was much the same as that of the Associate-Reformed.
In this document, which was a term of communion, it had said: “We do therefore assert, that, as the kingdom of Christ is spiritual, acknowledging no other laws and no other rulers than he lias appointed in it, so the civil magis- trate, as such, is no ruler in the Church of Christ ; and has no right to interfere in the administration of its government. He is bound to improve every oppor- tunity which his high station and extensive influence may give him, for pro- moting the faith of Christ, for opposing the enemies of this faith, for supporting and encouraging true godliness, and for discouraging whatever in principle or practice, is contrary to it. But to accomplish these ends it is not warrantable for him to use any kind of violence either towards the life, the property or the consciences of men. He ought not to punish any as heretics or schismatics, nor ought he to grant any privileges to those whom he judges professors of the true religion, which may hurt others in their natural rights. His whole duty as a magistrate respects men, not as Christians, but as members of civil society. The appointed means for promoting the kingdom of Christ are all of
a spiritual nature If any article of our Confession of Faith seems to
give any other power to the civil magistrate, in matters of religion, than what we have now declared to be competent to him, we are to be considered
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as receiving it only in so far as it agrees with other articles of the same Con- fession, in which the spiritual nature of the Church is asserted, and the keys of the kingdom of heaven denied to belong to the civil magistrate; and in so far as it agrees wTith this declaration of our principles.”
When the two Synods came together it was agreed that the Westminster Con- fession should he printed intact, while modifications of it at xx, 4, xxiii, 3, xxxi> 2, should be printed in a parallel column alongside of these sections of the orig- inal. Misunderstanding was further guarded against by publishing in ‘‘The Testimony of the United Presbyterian Church ” — which is of equal authority with the Confession itself — not only an article on ‘‘The Headship of Christ,” in which the spiritual nature of the Church is insisted upon, but also (in the Introduction) a comprehensive Declaration covering the wrhole subject. This Declaration is as follows: ‘‘To these Westminster Standards (including the Confession of Faith, Catechisms — Larger and Shorter — the Form of Presby- terial Church Government, and Directory for the Public Worship of God), we, as a church, declare our adherence, as containing a true exhibition of our faith as a branch of the Church of Christ. In making this declaration of adherence, we are not to be understood as giving our unqualified approba- tion of the principles respecting the power of the civil magistrate, as they are set forth in chap. 20tli, sec 4th ; chap. 23d, sec. 3d ; chap. 31st, sec. 2d, of the Westminster Confession. The language there employed has been vari- ously interpreted, and by many thought to be inconsistent with that ‘ lib- erty of conscience’ and that ‘distinct government in the hands of church officers’ which the Confession, itself recognizes. For this reason we have deemed it a duty, without passing any judicial opinion in relation to the meaning of these parts of the Confession, to exhibit in a parallel column the acknowledged doctrine of this Church — leaving it to every reader to form his own opinion as to the agreement or disagreement between the views thus set forth. This course we have been led to adopt, from a desire to avoid doing violence to that feeling of veneration, which all true Presbyterians cher- ish for this standard of faith to which the Church, under God, is so much indebted ; and, at the same time, to discharge a duty that is resting upon us, to exhibit clearly and fully what we believe to be the principles of divine truth on this subject” ( Subordinate Standards, etc., p. 540).
It might have been expected that, for these new statements of doctrine, to be printed alongside of the text of the Confession at the designated points, the sections prepared by the Associate-Reformed Church in 1799 would be adopted. On the contrary, however, entirely new sections were drawn up, in which (especially in that printed alongside of xxiii, 3) the influence of the modifications prepared by the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America in 1788 is apparent. These United Presbyterian modifications are as follows (we have used the edition of Ihe Subordinate Standards, etc., printed in 1867 ) :
Chap, xx, § 4. “ And because the powers which God hath ordained, and the
liberty wiiicli Christ hath purchased, are not intended by God to destroy, but mutually to uphold and preserve one another ; they who upon pretense of Christian liberty, shall oppose any lawful power, or the lawful exercise of it, whether it be civil or ecclesiastical, resist the ordinance of God. And for the publishing of such opinions, or maintaining such practices as are con- trary to the light of nature or to the known principles of Christianity, whether concerning faith, worship or conversation, or to the powrer of godli- ness ; or such erroneous opinions or practices as, either in their own nature or in the manner ofpublishing or maintaining them, are destructive to the extea- nal peace and order which Christ has established iu the Church ; they ought to be called to account and proceeded against by the censures of the Churc h
THE PRINTING OF THE WESTMINSTER CONFESSION. 409
if they belong to her Communion, and thus he amenable to her own spiritual authority. And as the civil magistrate is the minister of God for good to the virtuous, and a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil, he is therefore bound to suppress individuals and combinations, whatever may be their avowed objects, whether political or religious, whose principles and practices, openly propagated and maintained, are calculated to subvert the foundations of properly constituted society.”
Chap, xxiii, § 3. ‘‘The civil magistrate may not assume to himself the administration of the Word and Sacraments, or the power of the keys of the Kingdom of heaven, or in the least interfere to regulate matters of faith and worship. As nursing fathers, magistrates are bound to administer their government according to the revealed principles of Christianity, and improve the opportunities which their high station and extensive influence afford in promoting the Christian religion as their most valuable interest and the good of the people demand, by all such means as do not imply any infringement of the iuherent rights of the Church ; or any assumption of dominion over the consciences of men. They ought not to punish any as heretics or schis- matics. No authoritative judgment concerning matters of religion is compe- tent to them, as their authority extends only to the external works or practices of their subjects as citizens, and not as Christians. It is their duty to protect the Church, in such a manner that all ecclesiastical persons shall enjoy the full, free and unquestioned liberty of discharging every part of their sacred functions without violence or danger. They should enact no law which would in any way interfere with, or hinder the due exercise of government or discipline established by Jesus Christ in His Church. It is their duty, also, to protect the person, good name, estate, natural and civil rights of all their subjects, in such a way that no person be suffered upon any pretence to vio- late them ; and to take order that all religious and ecclesiastical assemblies be held without molestation or disturbance. God alone being Lord of the con- science, the civil magistrate may not compel any under his civil authority to worship God contrary to the dictates of their own consciences, yet it is com petent in him to restrain such opinions, and punish such practices, as tend to subvert the foundations of civil society and violate the common rights of men.”
Chap, xxxi, § 2. “We declare that as the Church of Jesus Christ is a king- dom distinct from and independent of the State, having a government, laws, office-bearers and all spiritual powers peculiar to herself, for her own edifica- tion ; so it belongs exclusively to the ministers of Christ, together with other fit persons, upon delegation from their churches, by virtue of their office and the intrinsic power committed to them, to appoint their own assemblies and to convene together in them, as often as they shall judge it expedient for the good of the Church.”
In Q. 109 of the Larger Catechism, the alteration made by the Associate- Reformed Synod of 1799 is not retained, but the Westminster “tolerating” is reverted to.
[g. The Cumberland Recension , 1814] [g1. 1815] The [ Constitu- tion | of the | Cumberland Presbyterian Church, | in the | United States of America : | containing | the Confession of Faith, a Catechism, | the Government and Discipline, | and the Directory for the | Worship of God. | .Ratified and adopted by the Synod of Cumber- | land, held at Sugg’s Creek, in Tennessee | State, April the 5th, 1814, and con- tinued by | adjournments, until the 9tli of the same month. |
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THE PRESBYTERIAN AND REFORMED REVIEW.
Nashville, T. | Printed by M. & J. Norvell, | for the Pub- lishers. | 1815.
12mo, pp. vi, 154 ; 5§ x 2§ inches (block of type) ; neatly bound in leather. There is a page of errata on the back of the title-page : then come the address “To the Christian Reader,” occupying two pages ; a Table of Contents occupy- ing two pages ; and then the Text of the Confession with the proof-references (but not the passages) inserted at the end of each chapter. The Catechism is a modified Shorter Catechism: the Westminster Larger Catechism was not retained in the Cumberland formularies. There are copies of this edition in the libraries of Prof. J. V. Stephens, D.D., of Lebanon, Tenn., and of the Rev. Henry C. McCook, D.D., of Philadelphia. A description of this edition has been printed by Dr. McCook in the Journal of the Presbyterian Historical Society for December, 1901 (vol. I, No. 2), p. 209. Compare also the full account of its origin given by Prof. Stephens in an article, entitled The Evolu- tion of the Confession of Faith of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, printed in the Cumberland Presbyterian Quarterly for April, 1902.
The Cumberland Presbytery, which was constituted in 1810, retained the standards of the Presbyterian Church as its constitution, with an express per- mission, however, of liberty in the matter of Predestination. The compact entered into by the founders of this new body, February 4, 1810, included the following paragraph: “All candidates for the ministry who may hereafter be licensed by this Presbytery, and all licientiates and probationers who may hereafter be ordained by this Presbytery, shall be required, before such licen- sure and ordination, to receive and adopt the Confession and Discipline of the Presbyterian Church, except the idea of fatality, which seems to be taught under the mysterious doctrine of Predestination. It is to be understood, how- ever, that such as can clearly receive the Confession without exception, shall not be required to make any” ( A Circular Letter issued by order of the Cumberland Presbytery in 1810, pp. 11, 12 ; cf. Stephens, l.c.). At the spring meeting of the Presbytery, 1813, provision was made for its division into three Presbyteries and the formation of a Synod, to convene for the first time in the ensuing October, and Messrs. Finis Ewing and Robert Donnell were appointed “a committee to draft a complete, though succinct account of the rise, doc- trines, etc., of the Cumberland Presbytery.” On October 6 the report of this committee was made to the Synod, and the report was approved and ordered to lie printed in the Third American edition of Buck’s Theological Dictionary, where it duly appeared on the issue of that book (Philadelphia : W. W. Wood- ward, 1814, pp. 38G-389). In this report the declaration of the relation of the new church to the Presbyterian standards made by the Cumberland Presbytery in 1810 was repeated, but the indeterminate position there taken up as to the doctrine of Predestination is evacuated by the addition of the positive declara- tion that the Cumberland Presbyterians “dissent from the Confession .... in 1st. That there are no eternal reprobates. — 2d. That Christ died not for a part only, but for all mankind. — 3d. That all infants, dying in infancy, are saved through Christ and the sanctification of the Spirit. — 4th. That the Spirit of God operates on the world, or as co-extensively as Christ has made atonement, in such a manner as to leave all men inexcusable.” There is the germ of a new creed here; and of a new creed which should not run on precisely the same lines with the Westminster Confession. In the presence of this declaration of doctrine the retention of the unaltered Westminster Standards as the norm of doctrine of the Church were a gross inconsistency. We cannot be surprised, therefore, to learn that at the same meeting the Synod made provision for the drafting of a new creed. On October 7, 1813, the following minute was adopted : “After much deliberation the Synod came to the following resolu-
THE PRINTING OF THE WESTMINSTER CONFESSION. 4 11
tion, to wit : The period having come when a distinct Confession of Faith, Catechism and Discipline appear to be necessary for the distinct society of the Cumberland Presbyterians ; Resolved , therefore, that William McGee, Robert Donnell, Thomas Calhoun and Finis Ewing be appointed a committee to draw up and prepare for the press a Confession, Catechism and Discipline in con- formity to the avowed principles of this body, to be ready by the next meeting of this body.”
‘‘This committee,” we are told, ‘‘simply read over the Westminster Confes- sion, item by item, changing or expunging such expressions as did not suit them. This process was repeated” (Foster, A Sketch of the History of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, in the “American Church History Series,” xi, 305) The report was made to the Synod at a meeting held in April, 1814 : “The committee appointed by the Synod for the purpose of compiling a Con- fession upon the avowed principles of this body, being enquired at, reported that they have complied with the order and proceeded to read.” The result was the adoption of the above-named Confession by a unanimous vote. “Messrs. Finis Ewing and Hugh Kirkpatrick have mutually agreed to print the Confes- sion of Faith of the Cumberland Presbyterians, at eighty-seven and one-half cents per copy, upon good writing paper, neatly bound and lettered, to which the Synod was unanimously agreed.”
In the preface of this book, addressed “to the Christian reader,” the Synod said : “With respect to the Confession, it will be seen the Synod have adopted many whole chapters of the old [Westminster] almost verbatim. In others they have retained part and expunged part, sometimes adding a section, or a part of a section, to make the sense more full and more compatible with their ideas of the gospel. They have endeavored to erase from the old Confession the idea of fatality only, which has long since appeared to them to be taught in a part of that book. But, notwithstanding the Synod have ventured to model, to expunge and to add to the Confession of the General Presbyterian Church, yet they are free to declare that they think, in the main, that to be an admirable work, especially to be performed so shortly after Roman supersti- tion and idolatry had almost covered the whole Christian world.”
[g3. 1821] The j Constitution | of the | Cumberland Presbyterian Church, | in the | United States of America : | containing | The Confession of Faith, A Catechism, the | Government and Discipline, and I the Directory for the [ Worship of God.
I Ratified and adopted by the Synod of Cumberland, held j at Sugg’s Creek, in Tennessee State, April the 5th, | 1814, and continued by adjournments, until the 9th of | the same month. | Russellville : | Printed by Charles Rhea, | for the Publishers. ] 1821.
8vo, pp. 4 unnumbered, with the one at the back of title-page blank, 137. and 3 unnumbered at the back of the book, containing table of contents;
x 31 inches (block of type) ; neatly printed and bound in leather. This is substantially a reprint of the 1815 edition in somewhat larger type. The same rule is followed in reference to the proof-texts. Russellville is a small town in Kentucky, about 140 miles southwest of Louisville. There are copies in the libraries of Dr. Stephens, of Lebanon, Tenn., and Dr. McCook, of Philadelphia. A description of this edition has been printed by Dr. McCook, loc. cit., p. 210.
[g3. 1830] The | Constitution | of the | Cumberland Presbyterian | Church, | in the U, States of America : | containing | The
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Confession of Faith ; A Catechism ; | The Government and Discipline ; A | Directory for the Worship of God. | Second Edition. | Revised and Adopted by the | General Assembly at Prince- | ton, Ky. May 1829. | Fayetteville : | Printed by Ebenezer and J. B. Hill, j 1830.
Pp. iv, 177, and 3 unnumbered at back, containing table of contents ; 4 x 2£ inches (block of type) ; bound in leather ; proof-texts, as in former editions, only cited. The place of printing, Fayetteville, is a small town in Tennessee, about 75 miles south of Nashville. This edition owes its origin to the division of the Synod and the organization of a General Assembly, which took place in 1829. It is called the “second edition,” doubtless in contrast to the Synodical, editions, which together are counted as one, because the first edition, that is form, of the “Constitution.” At the meeting in 1829 a Committee was appointed “to revise and prepare for publication those parts of the Form of Government of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, which require alteration, in order to adapt them to the constitution of a General Assembly.” This Committee sub- mitted a report which was approved ; and the Rev. Robert Donnell and Samuel Harris were appointed “to superintend the publication of 5000 copies,” the edition appearing in 1830. This edition differs from the former in the “Form of Government,” where Chap, x, “Of the Synodical Assembly,” is so modified as to make the Synod a subordinate instead of the highest Church court, and two chapters are added, one on “The General Assembly ” and one on “ Com- missioners to the General Assembly.”
There is a copy of this edition in the library of Dr. Stephens, of Lebanon, Tenn. ; and a description of it is published by Dr. McCook in the Journal of the Presbyterian Historical Society for March, 1902 (vol. I, No. 3), p. 2 4.
[g4. 1834] The [ Constitution | of the | Cumberland Presbyterian Church, j in the | United States of America : | containing | The Confession of Faith, The Catechism, and A | Directory for the Worship of God: | together with the | Form of Gov- ernment and Discipline, | As Revised and Adopted by the General Assembly | at Princeton, Ky. May, 1829. | Third Edition, j Nashville : | Printed by James Smith j 1834.
16mo, pp. 334, and 3 unnumbered at the back, containing the table of con- tents ; 4| x 3 inches (block of type) ; well printed and bound in leather. In the heading of the “ Preface” the words “to the First Edition” are omitted : and the note, previously occurring at the bottom of the first page of the address “ To the Christian Reader,” explaining the omission of the Larger Catechism no longer appears. This is the first edition in which the proof-texts are printed in full (and not merely cited by reference, as in earlier editions, except in part of chap, xvii, on the Perseverance of the Saints, in which chapter some of the texts are given at large in the earlier editions). In both the 1834 aDd the 1837 editions Mr. Smith added a note of explanation in reference to “the keys of the kingdom,” as found in the Confession of Faith, chap, xxx, section ii. The General Assembly approved the note as it appeared iu the 1834 edition. The same note appeared in all subsequent editions, so far as is known, until the Revised Confession appeared (1883).
No authority can be found authorizing Mr. Smith to print an edition of the Confession, though it is probable that the General Assembly did give its sanc- tion, from the fact that Mr. Smith was at that time editing and printing the
TEE PRINTING OF TEE WESTMINSTER CONFESSION 413
Cliurch paper. He was well prepared, in those days, with a steam press to do good work. Mr. Smith was of Scotch descent ; a very able minister, and died in Scotland during the Civil War, whither he had gone by the appointment of President Lincoln upon some mission.
There are copies of this edition in the library of Dr. Stephens, Lebanon, Tenn., and in the Library of Congress, Washington (kindly reported by Allen R. Boyd, Esq., Secretary of the Library) ; and a description of it is printed by Dr. McCook, l.c., p. 254.
[g5. 1887] The | Constitution | of the | Cumberland Presbyterian Church, | containing | The Confession of Faith, Catechism, | and A Directory for the Worship of God: | together with the [ Form of Government and Discipline, | As Revised and Adopted by the General | Assembly at Princeton, Ky. | May 1829. | Fourth Edition. | Nashville : | Printed at Smith’s Steam Press. | 1837.
Pp. 296, and 3 unnumbered at the back, containing the table of contents ; 4x9f x 2§ inches (block of type) ; well printed and bound in leather. This is a reprint of the 1834 edition. Observe the omission from the title-page, of the words “in the United States of America.” There is a copy of tins edition in the library of Dr. Stephens, of Lebanon, Tenn., and it is described by Dr. McCook, l.c., pp. 254-255.
[g6. 1843 J The | Constitution j of the | Cumberland Presbyterian Church | in the | United States of America. | Containing | The Confession of Faith ; the Catechism ; | and A Directory for the Worship of God. | Together with the Form of | Gov- ernment and Discipline. | Revised and Adopted by the General Assembly, | at Princeton, Ky., May, 1829. j Pitts- burg : | Printed by Arthur A. Anderson. | 1843.
Pp. 178, and 12 pages at the back of the book, containing “General Rules for Judicatories” and table of contents; 4^ x 2| inches (block of type). The prefatory matter is identical with that of the editions of 1830, 1834, 1837, except that references to Mr. Smith’s History in two footnotes in the edition of 1837 are omitted. The footnote on the Larger Catechism reappears. The main difference between this edition and its immediate predecessors is indicated b}r a footnote on p. 80 : “ Note. The reader will perceive that we have merely given the chapter and verse in the Scripture references. 1st. Because in read- ing the references it is more satisfactory to us to have the Bible in our hand, and from the references to turn to the chapter and verse, and examine it in its connection. It is a little additional labor, but the compensation to the reader is ample. 2d, We asked the opinion of several brethren who unhesitatingly said it was the better way, not only for the reason mentioned, but in order to reduce the price of the book in these hard times and secure for it a better circu- lation.” To Avhom the “we” (the publishers) in this note refers cannot posi- tively be determined, though it is altogether likely that the Rev. Dr. Milton Bird was the responsible publisher of this edition as of the immediately subse- quent one ; and it is also probable that he was acting in this under the author- ity of the Synod of Pennsylvania. The Rev. Dr. B. W. McDonold, in his Eistory of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, p. 313, says: “For several years each Synod made its own arrangements about having the Confession of
414
THE PRESBYTERIAN AND REFORMED REVIEW.
Paitli and Catechism published.” This and the immediately subsequent edi- tions are the only ones we have met with which seem to fall under this state- ment.
There is a copy of this edition in the library of Dr. Stephens, of Lebanon, Tenn. ; and Dr. McCook describes it, l.c., p. 255.
[g‘. 1844J The | Confession of Faith | of the | Cumberland Pres- bjTerian Church | in the | United States of America | Revised and Adopted by the General Assent- | bly, at Prince- ton, Ky., May, 1829. | Stereotyped by J. A. James. | Pitts- burgh : | Published by Milton Bird. | A. A. Anderson, Printer. | 1844.
Pp. x, 286 ; x 2f inches (block of type). The proof-texts are printed in full. This seems to be the first edition of the Cumberland Confession that was printed from stereotyped plates. The Board of Publication of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, which was organized in 1847, acquired these plates and issued editions from them. Certainly as many as four editions were issued by the Board from them, viz. — 1848, [1850] , [1851 ], [1855], as given below. This is the first edition bearing the title “The Confession of Faith,” etc.
There is a copy of this edition in the library of Rev. Dr. Stephens, of Leba- non, Tenn. ; and another was reported to us by the Robert Clark Co., Cincin- nati, Ohio (letter of January 22, 1902).
[g8. 1848] The | Confession of Faith | of the | Cumberland Presby- terian Church | in the | United States of America | Revised and Adopted by the General Assem- j bly at Princeton, Ky., May, 1829 | Stereotyped by J. A. James | Published | By Cum- berland Presbyterian Board | Of Publication | 1848.
Pp. x, 286 ; 4£ x 2f inches (block of type); neatly printed and bound in leather. Proof-texts are printed in full. This edition is from the same plates as that mentioned immediately previously. There is a copy in the library of the Rev. Dr. Stephens, of Lebanon, Tenn. ; and it is listed by Dr. McCook, as cited, p. 256. See below under gu as to place of publication.
[g9. 1850] The | Confession of Faith | of the | Cumberland Pres- byterian Church | in the | United States of America | Revised and Adopted by the General Assem- | bly, at Princeton, Kv., May, 1829 j Stereotyped by J. A. James | Published | By Cumberland Presbyterian Board | of Publication. | [No date].
Pp. x, 286 ; 4^ x 2| inches (block of type). This edition is printed from the same plates from which the immediately preceding editions were printed. Like the edition of 1848, it has nothing to show where the printing was done, but evidently Louisville was the place. It will also be observed that this imprint has no date. The annual report of the Board for 1849-50 shows that an edition of 5000 copies of the Confession had been got out. Whether this was done in 1849 or 1850 cannot be positively determined, but probably it was done in 1850, and there is reason to believe that this edition is the one thus mentioned. There is a copy of it in the library of the Rev. Dr. Stephens, of Lebanon, Tenn.
[g10. 1851] The | Confession of Faith | etc. [as in the immediately preceding edition].
There is a copy of this issue in the library of the Rev. Dr. Stephens, of
THE PRINTING OF THE WESTMINSTER CONFESSION. 415
Lebanon, Tenn. The condition of the plates as revealed in the printing shows it to be a later issue than that of [1850], from which it otherwise differs in no respect : it also seems inferrible from the report of the Board of 1851 that such an edition was issued — though that fact is not affirmed ; the number of copies reported in stock, however, as compared with earlier reports, appears to imply that a new issue had been made.
[g11. 1855] The | Confession of Faith | of the | Cumberland Pres- byterian Church | in the | United States of America | Re- vised and Adopted by the General Assem- | bly, At Prince- ton, Ky., 1829. | Stereotyped by J. A. James. | Published | By Cumberland Presbyterian Board ] Of Publication | [No date].
There is a copy of this edition in the library Dr. Stephens, Lebanon, Tenn. The date of its issue is determined from the report of the Board. The Board of Publication of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church was at its organization located at Louisville, Ky., and had its work done in that city by contract. Doubtless both this and the editions mentioned immediately before it (which do not record the place of publication) were issued from that place.
[g12. 1860] The | Confession of Faith | of the | Cumberland Pres- byterian Church | in the j United States of America. | Re- vised and Adopted by the General Assem- | bly at Princeton, Ky., May, 1829. | Nashville, Tenn.: | Board of Publication of the Cumberland | Presbyterian Church. 1 1860.
Pp. iv, 272 ; 44 x 2f inches (block of type); excellent job of printing and binding. The proof-texts are printed in full. On the back of the title-page is found: “Printed by A. A. Stitt | Southern Methodist Publishing House, | Nashville, Tenn.’’ | The Board of Publication, then located at Nashville, reported in 1860 that new plates of the Confession had been made and that 1008 copies had been printed from these plates. Great pains were taken to procure an exact set of plates on this occasion. All the imprints of this Confes- sion from I860 to 1880 — of which there were at least eleven — were made from these plates.
A copy of this edition is in the library of the Rev. Dr. Stephens, of Lebanon, Tenn.
[g13. 1861] The | Confession of Faith | of the | Cumberland Pres- byterian Church | in the | United States of America. | Re- vised and Adopted by the General Assem- | bly, at Princeton, Ky., May, 1829. | Nashville, Tenn.: | Board of Publication of the Cumberland | Presbyterian Church. | 1861.
Pp. iv, 272; 4^ x 2f inches (block of type); excellent job of printing and binding. From the same plates as the immediately preceding edition. There are copies in the libraries of the Rev, Drs. Stephens, of Lebanon, Tenn., and McCook, of Philadelphia ; and it is described by Dr. McCook in the Journal of the Presbyterian Historical Society for December, 1901 (I, ii), p. 211.
[g14. 1864] The | Confession of Faith | of the j Cumberland Pres- byterian Church | in the | United States of America. | Re- vised and Adopted by the General Assem- | bly, at Prince-
416
THE PRESBYTERIAN AND REFORMED REVIEW.
ton, Ky., May, 1829. | Pittsburgh : | Board of Publication of the Cumberland | Presbyterian Church. | 1864.
32mo, 4T95 x 2-[§ inches (block of type), pp. 272. Pages iii-iv contain the “Preface”; pages 5-7, the “Contents”; p. 8 is blank; pages 9-167 contain “The Confession of Faith ” with proof-texts in full ; pages 168-189, the “Cate- chism ” ; pp. 190-234, the “ Form of Government and Discipline ” ; pages 239- 242, the “ Form of Process ” ; pages 243-272, the “ Directory for the Worship of God.” The Publication work of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church was carried on at Pittsburgh during the course of the Civil War : this is one of the issues of the Confession made in this period. There are copies of this edition in the libraries of the Theological Seminary at Princeton, and of Dr. Stephens, of Lebanon, Tenn.
[g15- 1866] [The | Confession of Faith | etc. [as in the immedi- ately preceding edition] | Pittsburgh : | Board of Publication of the Cumberland | Presbyterian Church. | 1866.]
No copy of this issue has turned up: but its manufacture is reported in the Report of the Board of Publication for 1866. So the Rev. Dr. Stephens reports. It is possible, of course, that this issue was taken from the plates without changing the date-line (1864).
[g16. 1867] The | Confession of Faith | of the | Cumberland Pres- byterian Church | in the | United States of America. | Revised and Adopted by the General Assem- | bly, at Prince- ton, Ky., May, 1829. | Nashville, Tenn.: | Board of Publica- tion of the Cumberland | Presbyterian Church. J 1867.
Pp. iv, 272 ; 4£ x 2f inches (block of type). This imprint is made from the same plates described in No. 12. The imprints of 1864 and [1866] at Pittsburgh were also made from the same plates. There is a copy in the library of the Rev. Dr. Stephens, of Lebanon, Tenn.
[g17. 1868] The | Confession of Faith j etc. [as in the preceding edition,] | Nashville, Tenn.: | Board of Publication of the Cumberland | Presbyterian Church. | 1868.
From the same plates as the preceding edition. There is a copy in the library of the Rev. Dr. Stephens, of Lebanon, Tenn.
[g18. 1869] The | Confession of Faith | etc. [as in the pre- ceding edition] | Nashville, Tenn.: \ Board of Publication of the Cumberland | Presbyterian Church. | 1869.
A reprint of the preceding edition : the report of the Board of Publication shows that 1000 copies were printed off in 1869. There is a copy in the library of the Rev. Dr. Stephens, of Lebanon, Tenn.
[g19. 1870] The | Confession of Faith | etc. [as above], | 1870.
From the same plates. A “ Manual ” of fourteen pages was bound in at the end of this edition, and this is continued in all succeeding editions, except that of 1872 (g':0 below, p. 417), from which the “Manual ’\is dropped. There is a copy of this edition in the library of the Rev. Dr. Stephens, of Lebanon. Tenn.
THE PRINTING OF THE WESTMINSTER CONFESSION. 417
[g20. 1872] The | Confession of Faith, | etc. [as above]. | 1872.
From the same plates. In the library of Dr. Stephens. The “Manual” is omitted .
[g21. 1871] The | Confession of Faith | etc. [as above], 1874.
From the same plates. In the library of Dr. Stephens. The “Manual” is restored.
[g22. 1875] The | Confession of Faith | of the [ Cumberland Presbyterian Church j in the United States of America. | etc. [as in the immediately preceding editions]. Nashville, Tenm, | Cumberland Presbyterian Publishing House. | T. C. Blake, D.D., Publishing Agent. | 41 Union St. | 1875.
32mo, pp. 286 : same contents as the immediately preceding editions, includ- ing addition at end of a “ Manual | of the | Cumberland Presbyterian Church,
| adopted by the | General Assembly | at Murfreesboro, Tennessee, May, 1869 ” | pp. 273-286. There is a copy in Dr. Stephens’ library and there is also a copy in the library of the Rev. Dr. Henry C. McCook, Philadelphia, Pa., who has also described it, loc. cit., p. 211. This appears to be the first edition bearing the name of Mr. Blake on the title-page.
[g23. 1878] The | Confession of Faith | of the | Cumberland Pres byterian Church | in the | United States of America. | etc. [as in the immediately preceding editions]. | Nashville, Tenn.: | Cumberland Presbyterian Publishing House. | T. C. Blake, D.D., Publishing Agent. | 41 Union Street. | 1878.
32mo, pp. iv, 5, 286. There is a copy in the Library of Congress, Washing- ton, D.C. ; and another in Dr. Stephens’ library.
[g2b 1879] The | Confession of Faith | of the | Cumberland Pres- byterian Church | of the | United States of America. | lie- vised and Adopted by the General Assem- | bly, at Prince- ton, Ky., May, 1829. | Nashville, Tenn.: | Board of Publica- tion, C. P. Church. | 1879.
32mo, pp. iv, 286 ; 4X\ x 2x9g- inches (block of type). Same contents as in preceding edition. There are copies in the libraries of the Theological Semi- nary at Princeton and of Dr. Stephens, Lebanon, Tenn.
[g25. 1880] The | Confession of Faith | of the [ Cumberland Pres- byterian Church | of the | United States of America. | etc. [as in the immediately preceding edition], | Nashville, Tenn.:
| Board of Publication, C. P. Church. | 1880.
32mo, pp. iv ; 286 ; 4,% x 2X\ inches (block of type). Same contents as in preceding edition. There are copies in the libraries of the Theological Semi- nary at Princeton, and of the Rev. Dr. Stephens, Lebanon, Tenn.
In the list above given we have probably been able to enumerate most, if not all, of ihe issues of the first form of tlie Cumberland Confession of Faith. We have been enabled to do so chiefly by a very full catalogue and description of editions put at our disposal by the Rev. Dr. J. V. Stephens, of Lebanon, Tenn., from whose notes we have drawn with the utmost freedom. Dr. Stephens has
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THE PRESBYTERIAN AND REFORMED REVIEW.
copies of the following issues in his library, viz.: — 1815, 1821, 1830, 1834, 1837, 1843, 1844, 1848, 1850, 1851, 1855, 1800, 1801, 1804, 1807, 1808, 1869, 1870, 1872, 1874, 1875, 1878, 1879, 1880, — that is, of all the issues noted above, except that of 1866. We have also enjoyed the benefit of communications from Dr. Henry C. McCook, of Philadelphia, and have availed ourselves of the two papers he has printed on the subject in successive numbers of the Journal of the Presby- terian Historical Society (I, ii and iii). The latter of these papers is based on information furnished chiefly by the Rev. W. A. Provine, of Columbia, Tenn.
The history of the formation of this Confession has already been outlined in the notes under its initial issue, supplemented by those under the immediately subsequent issues. The Constitution completed for the first Assembly (1829), and published in its perfected form in 1830, continued to be of force in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church until 1883, when a revised Constitution was adopted.
The following are the principal changes introduced by the Cumberland revision of 1813-1814 into the Westminster Confession That is, of course into the Confession of Faith of the Presbyterian Church of the United States of America — for it was this recension of the West minster Confession that was in the hands of the fathers of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church and from it that they marked their divergences. No attempt has been made to record all the variations that appear in the printed text. Many changes of punctuation occur, — apparently, however, only accidentally ; and it is hard to believe that some of the changes in words also are not accidental. The list given below con- tains all the changes that are of significance and a sufficient number of the more minute variations to serve as a sample of the whole. The text used for the comparison is that of the issue of 1880.
Chap, i, § 1, last clause. Instead of “the Holy Scripture ” read “the whole Scripture.”
Chap, i, § 2, first clause. Instead of “ Scripture ” read “ Scriptures.”
Chap, i, § 3. Omit “of” before “no authority.”
Chap, i, § 5. Omit “ the ” before “ efficacy.’’
Chap, i, § 8. Omit “to be ” before “translated.”
Chap, ii, §3. Omit the whole of last sentence : ‘ The Father is of none .... the Son.”
Chap, iii, § 1. Remodel so as to read : “God did, by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will, determine to act or bring to pass what should be for his own glory.”
Chap, iii, §2. Remodel so as to read: “God has not decreed anything respecting his creature man, contrary to his revealed will or written word ; which declares his sovereignty over all his creatures, the ample provision he has made for their salvation, his determination to punish the finally impenitent with everlasting destruction, and to save the true believer with an everlasting salvation.”
Chap, iii, g, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. Omit entirely : but a very long note is attached to the end of g 2 arguing the whole question of the Decree of God : this note may be found extracted in Schaff’s Creeds of Christendom, iii, 772-3.
Chap, v, g 1. Omit “actions.”
Chap. v. g 1. Omit “according to his infallible foreknowledge, and the free and immutable counsel of his own will.”
Chap, v, g 2. Omit entirely.
Chap, v, g 3, [2]. Instead of “without, above, and against,” read “with and above” — and observe that the proof-text for “without” is retained for “with ” !
Chap, v, g 4. Omit entirely.
THE PRINTING OF THE WESTMINSTER CONFESSION. 419
Chap, v, § 5, [3]. Insert “the” before “manifold.”
Chap, v, § 5, [3]. Omit “or” before “to discover.”
Chap, v, § 5, [3]. Instead of “ occasions of” read “ occasions to.”
Chap, v, § 6, [4]. Omit “and exposeth them to such objects as their corrup- tion makes occasion of sin.”
Chap, v, § 6, [4], Omit “the” before “softening.”
Chap, vi, § 1. Instead of “permit, having purposed to order it to his own glory,” read “overrule, through Christ, for his own glory, and the good of them that believe.”
Chap, vi, § 3. Instead of “the guilt of sin was imputed” read “by their sin all were made sinners.”
Chap, vi, § 5. Instead of “This corruption of nature, during this life, doth remain in those ” read “ The remains of corrupt nature are felt by those.”
Chap, vi, § 6. Omit “both original and actual.”
Chap, vii, § 3. Omit “and promising to give unto all those that are ordained unto life, his Holy Spirit to make them willing and able to believe.”
Chap, viii, § 1. Insert “has” before “pleased.”
Chap, viii, § 1. Omit “in his eternal purpose.”
Chap, viii, g 1. Omit “and ordain.”
Chap, viii, § 1. Insert “who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world ” before “ to be the Mediator.”
Chap, viii, g 1. Instead of “unto whom he did from all eternity give a people to be his seed ” read “ unto whom he promised a seed.”
Chap, viii, § 1. Insert after “called ” “by his word and Spirit.”
Chap, viii, g 1. Insert after “justified ” “ by his grace.”
Chap, viii, g 2. Instead of “ two ” read “ these ” before “ whole.”
Chap, viii, g 5. Instead of “whom the Father hath given unto him ” read “ who come to the Father by him.”
Chap, viii, g 8. Remodel at the opening so as to read thus: “Jesus Christ by the grace of God, has tasted death for every man, and now makes interces- sion for transgressors ; by virtue of which, the Holy Spirit is given to convince of sin, and enable the creature to believe and obey; governing the hearts of believers by his word and Spirit ”
Chap, ix, g 3. Add at end “without Divine aid.”
Chap, ix, g 4. Instead of “ not only will that which is good, but doth also that which is evil,” read “will do that which is good.”
Chap, x, g 1. Instead of “hath predestinated unto life” read “calls, and who obey the call.”
Chap, x, g 1. Omit “ in liis appointed and accepted time.”
Chap, x, g 1. Instead of “ effectually to call by his word and Spirit ” read '■ to bring.”
Chap, x, g 2. Omit “effectual.”
Chap, x, g 2. Omit “and special.”
Chap, x, g 2. Instead of “thing ” read “good.”
Chap, x, g 2. Instead of “ passive therein ” read “ dead in sin.”
Chap, x, g 2. Instead of “ quickened and renewed ” read “ enlightened.”
Chap, x, g 3. Instead of “Elect ” read “All.”
Chap, x, g 3. Instead of “ other elect persons ” read “others.”
Chap, x, g 3. Iusert before “who are incapable,” “who have never had the exercise of reason, and.”
Chap, x, g 4. Omit entirely.
Chap, xi, g 1. Instead of “effectually calleth ” read “calleth (and who obey the call).”
Chap, xi, g 4. Instead of “ God did, from all eternity decree to justify all the elect,” read “God, before the foundation of the world, determined to justify all true believers.”
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Chap, xi, § 5. Instead of “ can ” read “will.”
Chap, xiii, § 4. Omit entirely.
Chap, xiv, § 1. Instead of “whereby the elect are enabled to believe to the saving of their souls,” read “ whereby sinners are united to Christ.”
Chap, xiv, § 3. Omit “ many to ” in the second clause.
Chap, xiv, § 3. Instead of “through Christ ” read “ of Christ.”
Chap, xvi, § 7. Instead of “ men ” at opening read “man.”
Chap, xvi, § 7. Instead of “they are therefore sinful, and cannot please God, or make a man meet to receive grace from God,” read “they therefore cannot merit the favor of God.”
Chap, xvi, § 7. Omit “and ” before “yet.”
Chap, xvi, § 7. Omit “more sinful, and.”
Chap, xvii, § 1. Remodel at the opening so as to read : “They whom God hath justified and sanctified, he will also glorify ; consequently the truly regenerated soul will never totally . . . . ”
Chap, xvii, § 2. Omit “of the saints ” at opening.
Chap, xvii, § 2. Remodel at the beginning so as to read : “ Depends on the unchangeable love and power of God ; the merits, advocacy and interces- sion of Jesus Christ ; the abiding ....”*
Chap, xvii, § 3. Add at the beginning: “Although there are examples in the Old Testament of good men having egregiously sinned, and some of them continuing for a time therein ; yet now since life and immortality are brought clearer to light by the Gospel, and especially since the effusion of the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost, we may not expect the true Christian to fall into such gross sins.”
Chap xvii, § 3. Instead of “and of the world, the prevalency of corruption remaining in them and the neglect. ...” read “the world, and the flesh, the neglect ”
Chap, xvii, § 3. Instead of “means of their preservation ” read “means of grace.”
Chap, xvii, § 3. Instead of “ grevious sins ” read “ sin.”
Chap, xvii, § 3. Omit “for a time continue therein, whereby they.”
Chap, xvii, § 3. Omit “have their hearts hardened” and insert “have” after the next “and.”
Chap, xvii, § 3. Omit “ hurt and scandalize others, and bring temporal judgments upon themselves,” and insert at end "but the real Christian can never rest satisfied therein.”
Chap, xix, § 3. Omit “to ” before “the people.”
Chap, xx, § 1. Insert “of” before “which ” at opening of second sentence.
Chap, xxviii, § 6. Omit last clause, “to such .... appointed time.”
Chap, xxviii, § 7. Add at end: “There being no example for the repetition of Christian baptism.”
Chap, xxix, § 2. Omit “of” between “offering up” and “himself.”
Chap, xxix, § 2. Instead of “ for all the sins of the elect ” read “ of the sins of all the world.”
The Cumberland Confession of 1815 was obviously not adapted permanently to satisfy the Church. The process by which it was formed was too hasty and superficial to result in anything more than a makeshift. The document actually produced was clearly neither one thing nor the other. All the expres- sions in the Westminster Confession, explicitly enunciating Predestination had been expunged : but much implying it was left. It is not remarkable that
♦There is a longish note attached to this section ; it is given in full by Schaff, loc. cit., p. 77o.
THE PRINTING OF THE WESTMINSTER CONFESSION 421
agitations for a r “revision” of it marked the history of the Cumberland Church from almost the beginning. What is remarkable is that they were so slow in making headway. Even as late as 1841 the Assembly refused to con- sider a proposition for a revision. Again in 1845 it declined to listen to a memorial looking to that end brought in from the Synod of West Tennessee. In 1853-1854 the work of revision was actually attempted, but failed in its later stages. Renewed efforts to secure revision were made in 1868. It was not until 1881, however, that it was finally taken in hand and carried through. At the Assembly of 1881, met at Austin, Tex., two committees were appointed, the one to draw up the draft of the revised Confession, the other to review and revise the work of the first. They met duly at Lebanon, Tenn., and after completing their work, published it in pamphlet form and in the Church jour- nals, “that criticism might be made by those desiring to do so.” These criticisms were considered by the committees at subsequent meetings and their perfected work reported to the Assembly of 1882. This Assembly reviewed the work carefully, and after amending it transmitted it to the Presbyteries for approval or disapproval. Their verdict proving favorable, the new Confession was formally adopted at the Assembly of 1883, met at Nashville, Tenn. For a succinct account of the agitations looking towards the revision and of the history of the preparation of this revision, see the paper of Prof. John Y. Ste- phens, D.D., in the Cumberland Presbyterian Quarterly for April, 1902, already cited.
The following list of editions of this new Cumberland Confession has been drawn up largely from materials kindly furnished by Dr. Stephens. Dr. Stephens possesses copies of the issues of 1882, 1882, 1884, 1884, 1885, 1891, 1893, 1898 and 1901.
[gg. The Cumberland Reconstruction ( Second Form), 1883] [gg1. 1882] [The Revised Confession of Faith in First Draught, 1882].
When the committee appointed in 1881 had completed the new Confession in first draught, the results of their labors were published in pamphlet form and in the weekly papers of the Church for information, “that criticism might be made by those desiring to do so.” So we are informed by the Preface to the Revised Version. This publication was accordingly made either late in 1881 or early in 1882. There is a copy of it in the library of the Rev. Dr. Stephens, Lebanon, Tenn.
[gg2. 1882] [The Revised Confession of Faith in its perfected form, 1882.]
The General Assembly of 1882 received the Revised Confession in draught from the hands of its committee, and after introducing a number of changes into it, mostly verbal, transmitted the book to the Presbyteries for their approval or disapproval. This implies its printing in the form given it by the amendments of the Assembly. See Stephens, as cited, and McCook, Journal of the Presbyterian Historical Society , March, 1902 (I, iii), p. 253, note f. There is a copy of this issue in the library of the Rev. Dr. Stephens.
[gg3. 1883] [The Revised Confession of Faith, etc. 1883.]
“ The General Assembly of 1883, after declaring the Revised Confession adopted, instructed the Board of Publication ‘to bring out a cheap edition of the Revised Confession of Faith for distribution among the churches, and that they do not stereotype said Confession until after the next meeting of the General Assembly.’ Accordingly on August 16, 1883, the following 28
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announcement appeared in the Cumberland Presbyterian : ‘ The Revised Con- fession of Faith and the Catechism of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church is now ready for sale. The editing and printing are finely done. They are bound in paper : and sell at ten cents per copy ’ ” (Stephens, l. c.). No copy of this edition has come into our hands.
[gg4. 1884] New (Revised) | Confession of Faith | and | Cate- chism | of the | Cumberland Presbyterian Church, | A.D. 1883. | Belfast : | Published for the Committee. | 1884. | University Printing House, Upper Arthur Street.
Pp. 40; 5f x 3f inches (block of type) ; bound in paper. The occasion for the publication of this edition was the application of the Cumberland Presby- terian Church for membership in the “ Alliance of the Reformed Churches Throughout the World Holding the Presbyterian System.” This application came before the Alliance at its Third General Council, held at Belfast, Ire- land, June 24-July 3d, 1884. The debate on the subject is reported in the published volume of Minutes and Proceedings, Belfast, 1884. This edition was printed by “ The Committee” for the use of the members of the Council in considering the application for membership. There is a copy in the library of Prof. Stephens, of Lebanon, Tenn.
[gg5, 1884] Confession of Faith | and | Government | of the | Cumberland Presbyterian Church | (Revised). | Adopted 1883.
| Nashville, Tenn.: | Cumberland Presbyterian Publishing House. | 1885.
16mo ; pp. 158 ; 4| x 5 inches (block of type). This edition was actually pub- lished in December, 1884, but (according to a custom not very rare) bears on the title-page the date of the approaching year. The history of its issue and its peculiarities as an edition appear from the following note of Prof. Stephens (loc. cit.) : ‘‘The General Assembly of 1884 instructed the Board of Publica- tion to publish the new book in permanent form ‘as soon as possible, and that Revs. S. G. Burney, T. C. Blake and C. H. Bell, and ruling elder John Friz- zell, shall read the proof of the same.’ By an oversight of the Assembly, no ‘Preface’ and no ‘Introductory Statement on Church Government’ had been pre- pared for the Revised Confession. The Rev. T. C. Blake, D.D [a member of the Editing Committee just mentioned], prepared a ‘Preface,’ and the Rev. S. G. Burney, D.D. [the Chairman of the Editing Committee appointed to super- vise the publication of this edition], prepared an ‘ Introductory Statement on Church Government.’ But on account of certain expressions used by these gentlemen, which the Board thought ought not to be printed in the book with- out the approval of the Assembly, the publication of the Revised Confession was delayed. It was not until December 25, 1884, that the announcement was made by the Board, ‘ We are now filling orders for the Revised Confession.’ ” The edition thus published contained neither a “Preface” nor an “ Introduc- tory Statement”: those prepared by individual members of the Editing Com- mittee being held over for submission to the Assembly of 1885. Its most dis. tinguishing peculiarity is, however, the presence at the end of the Catechism of an additional question and answer, made by the Rev. T. C. Blake without authorization from the Assembly. This runs : “106. What does the conclusion of the Lord’s Prayer teach us? The conclusion of the Lord’s Prayer — which is, For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever, Amen — teaches us to take our encouragement in prayer from God only, and in our prayers to praise him, ascribing kingdom, power and glory to him ; and in testimony of our desire and assurance to be heard, we say, Amen.”
THE PRINTING OF THE WESTMINSTER CONFESSION. 423
There is a copy of this edition in the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., and another in the possession of the Rev. Dr. J. V. Stephens, Lebanon, Tenn.
[gg6. 1885] Confession of Faith | and | Government | of the | Cumberland Presbyterian Church | (Revised). | Adopted 1883. | Nashville, Tenn.: | Cumberland Presbyterian Publish- ing House. | 1885.
Pp. vi, 161 ; 4| x 3 inches (block of type). The disagreement in the Board of Publication concerning the “Preface” and “Introductory Statement,” which had delayed the issue of the edition of 1884 and had led it at length to be put forth without these additions, was brought before the Assembly of 1885. The Assembly ordered the “Preface” and “Introductory Statement on Church Government,” which have been included in all subsequent editions, to be inserted without referring them to the Presbyteries. The Assembly ordered that the unauthorized Question 106 in the Catechism as published in the preceding issue be dropped. The present edition, published after the meeting of the Assembly of 1885 and embodying its directions, is really the edilio princeps, in the sense of the first authoritative edition of the new Cum- berland Confession : the text of the Confession seems to be from the same plates, however, as the preceding. There is a copy of it in the library of Prof. J. Y. Stephens, of Lebanon, Tenn.
[gg7. 1891] Confession of Faith, | etc. [as in the immediately preceding edition] | Nashville, Tenn.: | . . . . | 1891.
This is an imprint from the same plates as the immediately preceding edi- tion. There is a copy in the library of Prof. Stepnens, Lebanon, Tenn.
[gg8. 1893] Confession of Faith | and | Government | of the | Cumberland Presbyterian Church | (Revised). | Adopted 1883. | Nashville, Tenn.: | Cumberland Presbyterian Publish- ing House. | 1893.
16mo, pp. vi, 196 ; 4}f x 3 inches (block of type). Copyright certificate on the back of title, dated 1884. Contains : Preface, pp. iii-vi ; Table of Con- tents, pp. 3-6 ; Introduction, pp. 7-9 (p. 10 blank) ; Confession of Faith, pp. 11-63, with proof-texts at large ; Catechism, pp. 63-77, without proof refer- ences ; Introductory Statement on Church Government, pp. 78-80 ; Constitu- tion, pp, 81-106 ; Rules of Discipline, pp. 107-138 ; General Regulations, pp. 129-136; Directory for Worship, pp. 137-150; Rules of Order, pp. 151-161 (p. 162 blank) ; Indexes, pp. 163-196. It is from the same plates as the imme- diately preceding edition, with the addition of Indices. There is a copy in the library of Princeton Theological Seminary, and another in the library of Prof. Stephens, of Lebanon, Tenn.
[gg°. 1896] Confession of Faith | and | Government | of the | Cumberland Presbyterian Church | (Revised). | Adopted 1883. | Nashville, Tenn.: | Cumberland Presbyterian Publish- ing House. | 1896.
16mo, pp. vi, 196, 4^| x 3 inches (block of type). Contents as in the imme- diately preceding issue, from the same plates used in which it is taken. There is a copy in the library of the Rev. Dr. Henry C. McCook, of Philadelphia, who has described it in the Journal of the Presbyterian Historical Society for December, 1901 (I, ii), p. 211.
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[gg10. 1898] Confession of Faith, | etc. [as in the immediately pre- ceding editions] | Nashville, Tenri.: | . . . . | 1898.
This is an imprint from the same plates as the immediately preceding edi- tion. There is a copy in the library of the Rev. Dr. Stephens, Lebanon, Tenn.
[ggn. 1899] [Confession of Faith, | etc. [as in the immediately preceding editions] | Nashville, Tenn.: | . . . . | 1899.]
The Records of the Publishing House show that an issue was made in 1899, but no copy of it has fallen in our way. It is, of course, possible that it was taken from the plates without changing the date-line (1898).
[gg12. 1901] Confession of Faith | and | Government | of the | Cumberland Presbyterian Church. | (Revised.) | Adopted 1883. | Nashville, Tennessee : | Cumberland Presbyterian Publishing House. | 1901.
16mo, pp. vi. 203 (beginning with 3 ; i.e., there are no pages 1, 2) ; 4f x 3 inches (block of type) ; copyright certificate on the back of the title-page bear- ing date of 1884. Contains: Preface, pp. iii-vi ; Contents, pp. 3-6; Introduc- tion, pp. 7-9; p. 10 blank ; Confession of Faith, pp. 11-66, with proof-texts at large ; Catechism, pp. 67-82, without proofs; Introductory Statement on Church Government, pp. 83-85 ; Constitution, pp. 86-113 ; Rules of Discipline, pp. 114- 136; General Regulations, pp. 137-145; Directory for Worship, pp. 146-160; Rules of Order, pp. 161-171 ; p. 172 blank ; Indexes, pp. 173-205.
This edition marks a new beginning in the manufacture of the Cumberland Confession. From 1884 the same plates had been in use : for this edition new plates have been made. In its contents it differs from its immediate predeces- sors only in the incorporation of an amendment of § 47 of the “ Constitution,” declared to have been duly adopted by the Church, at the Assembly of 1901, by which Ruling Elders and Deacons are permitted to be elected fora term of years instead of for life, when the particular churches so desire.
There is a copy of this edition in the library of the Theological Seminary at Princeton.
In the recasting of their earlier Confession for the formation of the docu- ment the editions of which have just been enumerated, the Cumberland Pres- byterians subjected their original Confession to an exceedingly drastic process. Its formal division into chapters was obliterated, and the paragraphs numbered consecutively from 1 to 115 ; but the new document is more informally divided into essentially the same series of topics, following the same order, with one important exception. There are 36 of these topics as over against the 33 chapters of the Westminster Confession, the increase of number being due to dividing the material falling in the earlier document under the head of “ Effectual Call- ing ” into two topics bearing the titles respectively of ‘‘Divine Influence” and “Regeneration”; and similarly making two topics of “Sanctification” and “Growth in Grace,” and of “Religious Worship” and “The Sabbath Day.” The single alteration in the order of these topics concerns precisely the ordo salutis. The Westminster Confession, in accordance with a distribution of the material common (though not by any means universal) among the Reformed Divines, treats first of the benefits conferred by God on the Covenanted, and then of the duties required by Him of them: this Confession reverses this, and places Repentance and Faith (and in that order — again reversing the order of the Westminster Confession) before all the saving acts of God except Voca- tion— thus seeking, apparently, an order of chronological occurrence. It is.
THE PRINTING OF THE WESTMINSTER CONFESSION. 425
however, in the sequence of these saving acts themselves that the real diver- gence shows itself. These are given in the Westminster Confession, of course, in the necessarily Reformed sequence, Effectual Calling, Justification, Adoption, Sanctification ; while in the Cumberland Confession they take the equally necessary Arminian order, Divine Influence, Justification, Regeneration, Adoption, Sanctification. The fundamental nature of the revision is already suggested by this fact. It was undertaken professedly, as the Preface informs us, “to eliminate all the features of hyper-Calvinism ’’ — it would be as well to leave off the qualification implied by “hyper-” — “from the Westminster Confession ” ; and “ to set forth more clearly and logically the system of theol- ogy believed and taught by the Cumberland Presbyterian Church.” In a word it was supposed that the alterations formerly made in the Westminster Confession were insufficient completely to transform it from a Calvinistic into as high an Arminian document as was desired — though it must be recognized that the Cumberland Presbyterians scarcely allow that they go the whole way with Arminianism, inasmuch as they still teach the doctrine of Perseverance. And it was felt that as it was Arminianism that was to be taught consistency required a more drastic treatment of the document. This is certainly given it in the new creed. In the process of Arminianizing the Confession, however, much more is done. The text is greatly curtailed and compressed, and not, it must be confessed, to the advantage of the style : almost all the fine old flavor has been evaporated and a new tone of somewhat brusque and dry plainness substituted in its stead. Enough of the phraseology of the Westminster Con- fession is retained perhaps to keep it in the class of modifications of that docu- ment : but it certainly is an extreme instance of modification that is here pre- sented.
The greatness of the alteration that has been made by this recension renders it impossible to record here the changes introduced. They are pervasive ; and the whole document would need to be quoted to exhibit them. We must con- fine ourselves therefore to a sample or two of how the new document deals with the doctrines.
“ Decbees of God.
“8. God, for the manifestation of his glory and goodness, by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will, freely and unchangeably ordained or deter- mined what he himself would do, what he would require his intelligent crea- tures to do, and what should be the awards, respectively, of the obedient and the disobedient.
“ 9. Though all divine decrees may not be revealed to men, yet it is certain that God has decreed nothing contrary to his revealed will or written word.
“Divine Influence.
“ 38. God the Father, having set forth his Son Jesus Christ as a propitiation for the sins of the world, does most graciously vouchsafe a manifestation of the Holy Spirit with the same intent to every man.
“39. The Holy Spirit, operating through the written word, and through such other means as God in his wisdom may choose, or directly, without means, so moves upon the hearts of men as to enlighten, reprove and convince them of sin, of their lost estate, and of their need of salvation ; and, by so doing, inclines them to come to Christ.
“40. This call of the Holy Spirit is purely of God’s free grace alone, and not because of human merit, and is antecedent to all desire, purpose, and intention on the part of the sinner to come to Christ ; so that while it is possi- ble for all to be saved with it, none can be saved without it.
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"41. This call is not irresistible, but is effectual in those only who, in peni- tence and faith, freely surrender themselves wholly to Christ, the only name whereby man can be saved ’’
‘‘4G. While there is no merit in faith, yet it is the condition of salvation. It is not of the nature of good works, from which it must be distinguished ”
“ 48. All those who truly repent of their sins, and in faith commit themselves to Christ, God freely justifies ”
“49 Though of free grace alone, it [Justification] is conditioned
upon faith, and is assured to none but penitent and true believers ’’
“51. Those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ are regenerated, or born from above, renewed in spirit, and made new creatures in Christ ”
“56 A state of sinless perfection in this life is not authorized by the
Scriptures (sic), and is a dogma of dangerous tendency ”
“CO. Those whom God has justified, he will also glorify ; consequently, the truly regenerated soul will not totally fall away from a state of grace, but will be preserved to everlasting life ”
“ Civil Government.
“85. God, the Supreme Lord and King of all the World, has ordained civil officers to be under him over the people, for his own glory and the public good ; and to this end, has armed them with power for the defence of the inno- cent and the punishment of evil-doers.
“86. It is lawful for Christians to accept civil offices when called thereunto, in the management whereof they ought especially to maintain piety, justice and peace, according to the wholesome laws of each Commonweahh.
“87. Civil officers may not assume to themselves the administration of the word and the Sacraments, or in the least interfere in matters of faith ; yet it is their duty to protect the Church of our common Lord, without giving prefer- ence to any denomination of Christians. And as Jesus Christ has appointed a government and discipline in his Church, no law of any Commonwealth should interfere therewith, but should provide that all religious and ecclesiastical assemblies shall be held without molestation or disturbance.
“88. It is the duty of the people to pray for magistrates, to obey their lawful commands, and to be subject to their authority for conscience’ sake.”
Besides the literature cited in the course of the notes above, the following may be profitably consulted on the Cumberland Presbyterian Creeds : — Sciiaff’s Creeds of Christendom, I, § 99, pp. 813 sq., Ill, pp. 771 sq.; David- son’s History of the Presbyterian Church in Kentucky (New York, 1847), pp- 223 sq.; McDonold’s History of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church (Nash- ville, 1888), pp. 98 sq. and 45S sq.; Foster’s Sketch of the History of the Cum- berland Presbyterian Church (New York, 1894), Yol. SI of the “American Church History Series,” pp. 303 sq.; Chrisman’s Origin and Doctrines of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church (Nashville, 1875); Howard’s Creed and Con- stitution of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church (Nashville, 1885); Miller’s Doctrine and Genius of the Cumberland Pi-esbyterian Church (Nashville, 1892). Further bibliographies are given by Schafl and Foster.
Princeton.
Benjamin B. Warfield.
IY.
FREE-WILL AND PHYSIOLOGICAL PSY- CHOLOGY.
THERE are two famous labyrinths, says Leibnitz, in which the human reason has wandered : one relating to necessity and freedom, and the other to the constitution of matter. Into both of these our subject invites us to venture.
At the time of the Fall, according to Milton, the spirits of the lower world relieved the tedium of their existence by reasoning together of “ fixed fate, free-will, foreknowledge absolute,” and judging from recent literature interest in the discussion has con- tinued down to the present day. We are frequently told, indeed, that the problem is insoluble, or of no practical importance, or purely scholastic, or due to the whimsical notions of a few meta- physicians, or that it has been settled or dropped by modern phil- osophy. But it continues to be discussed.
The chief reason, doubtless, for present interest in the question is its supposed ethical bearing — the fear among advocates of free- will that a general acceptance of the determinist creed would be disastrous to morality. The philosopher, happily, knows better than to allow his philosophical belief unduly to influence his con- duct ; but if the doctrine of the extreme determinist be generally accepted, the results no doubt would be unfavorable to morality. If it should come to be commonly believed that the will is an impotent factor in the game of life, that all of a man’s actions are determined not by him but for him, either by heredity or physical environment, the logical, and no doubt to a great extent the actual, result would be a weakening of moral restraints and a paralysis of moral effort. Mr. A. J. Balfour has reason for his fear that if the creed of “ naturalistic determinism be adopted certain emotions hitherto found serviceable in the promotion of virtue, such as repentance, moral indignation, and moral admiration evoked by the heroic or the saintly, will at a stroke be reduced, if they are to survive at all, to the position of amiable but unintelligent weaknesses.”* Dr. Martineau, again, enters a protest against the view of Prof. Sidgwick that the
* Foundations of Belief , p. 25.
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free-will problem is not of any vital importance for etbics. The fascination of the problem, he confesses, arises to him from “ its profound connection with the very roots of our moral and spiritual convictions.* And having established the authority of conscience and the reasonableness of theistic belief, he feels constrained to vindicate free-will lest the whole structure of morals and religion which he has reared should topple in ruins. The literary critic no less than the ethical philosopher has a quarrel with the determinist. If man, as a recent critic of Zola has expressed it, “ is fatally the product of a certain hereditary temperament, which unfolds itself in a certain physical, intellec- tual and moral environment,” he is not as interesting a subject for literary treatment as he is if considered as a free being who forms his own character. Says Mr. Paul Elmer More : f
“ The ordinary fault of naturalism is the lack of interest, so that we see the gen- uine naturalist constantly seeking to attract readers by all sorts of illegitimate allurements of the animal senses. Juan Valero curtly asks : ‘ How can such novels interest when they present a temperament and not a character — a mere machine which moves in accordance to physiological laws?’ ”
The sombre pessimism which pervades much of our modern lit- erature is but the dark shadow cast by a fatalistic philosophy. The trinity of spiritual beliefs, God, Freedom and Immortality, generally stand or fall together ; and where these are lost, hope and aspiration will die, life will be looked upon as controlled by blind fate, and the only solace for the miseries of existence will be that life “ ends soon and nevermore shall be.”
The determinist creed has found a powerful ally in the science which investigates the connection between mind and brain. That this connection is an intimate one cannot now be denied by the strictest spiritualists in philosophy. Idealists, who hold that body is in some sense a mental construction, do not doubt that the for- tunes of mind and of the body as so constructed are closely bound up together. That the part of the body most closely con- nected with the thinking or reasoning functions is the cranial cavity in the upper part of the head seems to us so self-evident as to require no scientific proof ; but the fact was not always recognized. Aristotle, strangely enough, believed that the abdo- men was the seat of the intellect. The researches of modern physiology and psychology have proved beyond a doubt that the mental life is in some way associated with the tissues of the brain especially with the gray matter which composes its rind or cortex. The tendency of modern investigation of the connection, between
* Study of Religion , Vol. II, p. 185.
| “The Novels of George Meredith,” Atlantic Monthly , October, 1899, p. 492.
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mind and brain is doubtless toward a materialistic and mecbanical explanation of the facts of mind. Genetic psychology, proceed- ing upon the theory that all higher and more complex phenomena of mind are the products of lower and simpler forms of mental life, seeks to establish an unbroken connection between the devel- oped mind of the man and the rudimentary mind of tbe animal. The evolutionist goes a step further and finds the germ of con- sciousness in the vegetable cell or even in the properties of the inorganic atom. Physiological psychology again — a science still in its infancy, but a very lusty infant — favors the construction of mental facts under mechanical categories. The intimate connec- tion between mind and brain has been a truism of science since the time of Descartes, but has received new emphasis in recent years through the researches of Maudslev, Carpenter, Weber, Fechner, Wundt and others. It has been shown that many of the simpler mental processes are connected with definite portions of the brain cortex ; that diseased brain tissue causes an impairment of the mental powers ; and Fechner, the father of “ psycho- physics,” or metric physiological psychology, has attempted to bridge the gap between mind and matter by showing that the relation between the physical stimulus and the resulting sensation can be expressed in a mathematical formula.
The currents of modern psychology have thus been setting strongly in the direction of materialism. In its origin mind is the product of material particles organized in the form of brain cells, while its processes are the result of molecular movement in the brain. In its origin and history, and it would seem in its destiny, the conscious life is inextricably bound up with matter and its laws. If soul is a phase or product of a complicated arrangement of highly evolved matter, the belief in its substantial- ity, its freedom, or its continued existence would seem to be absurd, if not impossible. The eclipse of spiritual beliefs with which philosophy is thus threatened was well described over thirty years ago by one who has been popularly regarded as a champion of materialism. Said Prof. Huxley :
“The consciousness of this great truth (that the physiology of the future would extend the realm of matter and law over the mental sphere) weighs like a night- mare, I believe, upon many of the best minds of these days. They watch what they conceive to be the progress of materialism, in such fear and powerless anger as a savage feels when during an eclipse, the great shadow creeps over the face of the sun. The advancing tide of matter threatens to drown their souls ; the tight- ening grasp of law impedes their freedom ; they are alarmed lest man’s moral nature be debased by the increase of his wisdom.”*
The doctrine of materialism which has thus been reinforced by
* “The Physical Basis of Life,” Fortnightly Review , Feb., 1869.
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modern science is a theory of the universe which has had its representatives in all periods of philosophic thought. In its thoroughgoing form it is a ruthless application of “ Occam’s razor” in the interests of philosophic unity, cutting away the excrescences of supposed spiritual existence. Matter, motion, force are everything. Mind is but a phase, phenomenon or mani- festation of highly organized matter. Following the lead of phys- ical science we seem to gain the whole world of knowledge but to lose the soul ; for the notion of a soul or spirit as anything distinct from or independent of a special arrangement of matter is a super- stition, the relic of an outworn creed — “ The world is made of ether and atoms and there is no room for ghosts.” It is an interesting fact that the earlier materialists, Democritus and Epi- curus, left room in their theory for certain kind of freedom. The primitive atoms, which by hypothesis moved only in straight and parallel lines, were endowed with a species of freedom to account for their declination or swerving when combining to form individual things. Again, if pleasure is man’s highest good, as Epicurus held, man must be free to choose that course of action which promises the greatest pleasure. Modern materialism, whether in its crude or more refined form, is distinctly inimical to free-will. If man is a machine, as La Mattrie, pushing Des- cartes’ automaton theory of animals to an unexpected conclusion, declared, or if “ the brain secretes thought (including volition) as the liver secretes bile,” according to the famous dictum of Cabanis, freedom in any form is of course a chimera.
A theory of the universe which would reduce mind to a form of matter or a mode of motion has of course its philosophical as well as its ethical or sentimental objections. The more complete becomes the mechanical explanation of the world in terms of matter and motion, the more insistent becomes the teleological demand, flow explain the mechanism? The questions, Whence? For what purpose ? will continue to be asked and materialism can offer no reply. Again, the materialist in the very assertion of his creed seems to become involved in a logical paradox. When he declares, “ I know that matter alone exists,” he is in the familiar dilemma of the man of the logical text-books who says, “lam now uttering a falsehood,” or “I am keeping silence.” His statement must be false in order to be true. The affirmation of the existence of anything — say, matter or molecules — is an activity of mind. The more positive, therefore, the materialist is in the assertion of his creed, the more deeply is he involved in contradic- tion. He would seem to be doubly inconsistent when he not only confesses his faith, but seeks to affect the brains of other people
FREE-WILL AND PHYSIOLOGICAL PSYCHOLOGY. 43 1
so that their brain-processes shall turn out the creed of material- ism. Those who remain obdurate will reply that since knowledge under the view in question must be simply the product of the fortuitous concourse of thoughtless atoms, an arrangement of brain molecules corresponding to the spiritualistic creed is as “ valid ” as an arrangement corresponding to Ihe materialistic creed, if, indeed, any question of validity can be raised between them.
The logical difficulties in holding the materialistic or “ man- machine ” doctrine have been illustrated by a recent writer, to whom Dr. Van Dyke has called attention in his admirable chapter on “ Liberty.”* Says Mr. Henry Beauchamp :
“ I am an automaton — a puppet dangling on my distinctive wire, which Fate holds with an unrelaxing grip. I am not different, nor do I feel differently, from my fellow-men, but my eyes refuse to blink away the truth, which is, that I am an automatic machine, a piece of clockwork wound up to go for an allotted time, smoothly or otherwise, as the efficiency of the machine may determine. Free-will is a myth invented by man to satisfy his emotions, not his reason. I feel as if I were free, as if I were responsible for my thoughts and actions, just as a person under the influence of hypnotism believes he is free to do as he pleases. But he is not ; nor am I. If it were once possible for a rational being to question this fact, the discoveries of Darwin must have set his doubts at rest.
‘‘ And yet it is impossible to avoid the conclusion that we are nothing else than irresponsible automata, whose actions and thought are pre-determined to the minutest detail.
“ What is crime? A crime is an action threatened by the law with punishment, says Kant ; and freedom of action or free-will is a legally necessary condition of crime. But the law of heiedity conclusively demonstrates that free-will and free- dom of action stand in the category of lively imaginings. Therefore crime, as the law understands it, is non-existent, since no imputabilitv can be recognized when a man is not responsible for his actions. Therefore the law is not justified in inflicting punishment. ’’f
Plainly our “ automaton” is right in saying that the theory is destruction of freedom and moral responsibility. But why does he declare with some show of indignation that punishment is unjusti- fiable ? If all actions are strictly mechanical, the acts of the collective automaton can as little be criticised as unjustifiable as those of the individual. Moral categories, such as right and wrong, justifiable and unjustifiable, must be everywhere abohshed. Why, again, does the distinctive wire by which our automaton is controlled compel him to act in so strangely unautomatic a man- ner ? Instead of being content to “ dangle,” as we should expect him to do, he looks abroad upon his fellow-puppets with pity not unmixed with indignation and cries aloud in the pages of the Fort- nightly Review: “Ho, ye brother-automata! Don’t you know
* Gospel for an Age of Doubt, pp. 210-212.
f ‘ Thoughts of a Human Automaton,” Fortnightly Review , March, 1892.
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that you are making fools of yourselves ? Reform your auto- matic thoughts and dangle the way I do.” Readers of Mr. Beau- champ’s essay may find a grim comfort in reflecting, with Mr. Balfour, that a belief in freedom, from the evolutionistic stand- point, has been one of the conditions of success in the struggle for existence, and that consistent determinists will in the long run be eliminated by a process of selective slaughter, and leave the field to the better-equipped advocates of freedom.
Latter-day philosophers with a materialistic bias generally hide the grosser features of materialism under the modest vail of agnos- ticism. Prof. Huxley, for example, seeks to escape from the con- sequences of a materialism which, as he says, “ may paralyze the energies and destroy the beauty of a life, ’ ’ by taking refuge in the skeptical philosophy of Hume. He slays doubt with doubt. If we know matter as it really is, and further can perceive in cause and effect not simply a sequence but a necessary sequence, he sees no escape from utter materialism and necessarianism. But, he asks, “ after all, what do we know of this terrible 1 mat- ter, ’ except as a name for the unknown and hypothetical cause of states of our own consciousness?* We know nothing really of the true nature either of matter or spirit, nor of any necessary connection of one thing with another. So it follows that “ the materialistic position that there is nothing in the world but mat- ter, force and necessity, is as utterly devoid of justification as the most baseless of theological dogmas.” Between the bald mate- rialism, which says that mind is sublimated matter, and the re- fined materialism, which says that from all we know of mind and matter the former is the product of the latter, but adds in an aside, we know nothing of either, there seems very little to choose. In the one case, mind is the result of the play of material atoms ; in the other, it is merely a combination of atoms of sensation, a string of beads without the string. In neither case can we assert the existence of the freedom or reality of spirit, and in both cases the laws of what we call the mental life must be the laws of mechanical causation.
But is there no escape from the materialistic frying-pan except into the agnostic fire ? The new psychology itself supplies at least a partial answer. The modern psychologist, studyiug psychology as a “natural science,” starts out, we may roughly say, with two fundamental postulates. The first is taken from physiology, and is “ Thought is a function of the brain.” Every mental process has as its cause or accompaniment some corre- sponding change in the central nervous system. In a word, “ the
* “ The Physical Basis of Life,” Fortnightly Review , February, 1869, p. 143.
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materials of the consciousness are the products of cerebral activity ” (Huxley). The second postulate is taken from physics, and is the doctrine of the conservation of energy, or rather an inference from it. There is no loss of energy out of the mate- rial world, and no influx of energy from without. The sum of energy in the physical world is always constant.
The first postulate may be criticised on its own account. The function of an organ in the physiological sense is its activity, what it does, and results in some physical movement or some chemical change. It is the function of the hand to grasp, of the liver to secrete bile, of the heart to maintain the circulation of the blood. In the strict physiological sense, then, the function of the cells and fibres of the brain is not to think but to receive, trans- form and transmit incoming nerve currents. But waiving this verbal objection, let us examine the relation between mind-pro- cess and brain-movement implied in the formula, “ Thought is a function of the brain.” The plain meaning is that brain-process always precedes and produces thought-process ; in short, that “ the materials of consciousness are the products of cerebral activity.” Those who hold that mind is in any sense a product or property of matter must hold this view, and it has the advan- tage of agreeing in part with the view of the ordinary conscious- ness. The ordinary man believes that the igniting of a match is the cause of his sensation of light, or if he has a smattering of physiology and psychology he traces the process through vibra- tion in the ether, chemical change in the rods and cones of the retina, irritation of the optic nerve and excitement of the cortical centre — all of which is followed by the sensation of light. But the ordinary man believes also in a reciprocal action of mind upon body — that the wish, for instance, to raise his hand is not only father to the thought, but is the real cause of those move- ments in the brain centre, nerves and muscles which result in the action. If, however, mind is subordinate to matter, this recipro- cal influence plainly must be denied. The purpose of the states- man, the benevolence of the philanthropist, the hatred of the murderer, the idea of the artist cannot have the slightest influence upon the expression of these mental phenomena in the material world ; otherwise there would be an influx of energy from with- out into the material, and the servant would become master.
We are brought thus to what we have called the second postu- late of physiological psychology, — the conservation of physical energy ; and we find that it is the rock upon which the first postu- late, the brain-function theory, is wrecked. Let us listen to Prof. HofFding :
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“The supposition that a causal relation may exist between the mental and the material is contrary to the doctrine of the ‘ persistence of energy for at the point where the material nerve-processs should be converted into mental activity, a sum of physical energy would disappear without the loss being made good by a corre- sponding sum of physical energy.
“Of course there is always one way of escape : to deny the doctrine of energy. This doctrine is not experimentally proved, and, as we have seen, cannot, strictly speaking, ever be proved. But according to the general rules of methodology, we may not, in framing our hypotheses and iu judging of them when framed, enter into conflict with leading scientific principles. And in modern natural science, the doctrine of energy is such a leading principle. If, therefore, an hypothesis is in conflict with this doctrine, the fact tells at once against it.”*
After examining the theories of dualism, materialistic and monistic spiritualism, Holfding states, though only as a “ provisional hy- pothesis,” his own view :
“ Only the fourth possibility, then, seems to be left. If it is contrary to the doctrine of the persistence of physical energy to suppose a transition from the one province to the other, and if, nevertheless, the two provinces exist in our experi- ence as distinct, then the two sets of phenomena must be unfolded simultaneously, each according to its laws ; so that for every phenomenon in the world of con- sciousness there is a corresponding phenomenon iu the world of matter, and con- versely (so far as there is reason to suppo-e that conscious life is correlated with material phenomena).
“Both the parallelism and the proportionality between the activity of con- sciousness and cerebral activity point to an identity at bottom We have
no right to take mind and body for two beings or substances in reciprocal relation. We are, on the contrary, impelled to conceive the material interaction between the elements composing the brain and nervous system as an outer form of the inner
ideal unity of consciousness It is as though the same thing were said in
two languages.’’ f
This “ new Spinozism,” as it has been called, is held in differ- ent forms, sometimes as the metaphysical “ double aspect ” theory of one substance with two parallel but unconnected attributes, but more often as the more modest empirical theory of “ psycho- physical parallelism,” and may be said to be the dominant theory among psychologists to-day. At first sight it seems rather favorable to free-will. If the mental series goes along bv itself, not influenced or controlled by the physical series, but governed by its own laws, mind may conceivably be endowed with the power of initiating action. When we examine more closely, however, we see that the freedom possible under the theory is a vanishing quantity. In the first place, mind can have no influence over bodily action ; all the deeds done in the body are determined by physical antecedents, governed strictly by physical law. And secondly, even in the closed circle of the thought-life there seems to be no room for freedom. Every psychical process
* Outlines of Psychology , pp. 55 and 58. t Op. cit., p. 65.
FREE-WILL AND PHYSIOLOGICAL PSYCHOLOGY.
435
Has some physical process as its concomitant, and the cause or antecedent of this physical process is to be found in the physical world. The inference seems inevitable that mind must look always to the material world for the clue to its own activities, and that the conscious life, while theoretically independent of matter, is nothing but a passive spectator of its own processes, borne along upon the stream of physical causation and unable to influence its own course.
The double-aspect theory may meet the demands of the doc- trine of the persistence of energy, but there are other claimants to be satisfied before it can be accepted as the last word upon the psycho-physical problem.
1. There is the seeming paradox that concomitant phenomena which are wholly shut off from each other’s influence, are yet but the two aspects of a fundamental unity. First there is a great gulf fixed between the mental and the material, and then, as if to atone for this arbitrary divorce of what in nature seems joined together, it is hinted that after all states of consciousness and the modification of brain-cells are two sides of the same thing. Leaving out of account the doctrine of the persistence of energy, with which, it would seem, the physiological psycholo- gist as such has nothing to do, the facts of his science apparently confirm the common belief in (1) the interaction, and (2) the real distinction, between mind -processes and brain-processes. Both of these the theory in question denies.
2. The relation between the two sets of facts, the mental and the molecular, which go along in a parallel series, is not like the relation between the movements of the central- observatory clock and of another clock synchronized with it by electrical connec- tion, but like that between two clocks so constructed in the begin- ning as always to keep time together. It is Leibnitz’s “ preestab- lished harmony ” over again. Only in the present theory nothing is said about any preestablishment.
3. There is no evidence that the physical series and the psychi- cal series are always concomitant or parallel. This objection to the double-aspect theory is strongly urged by Prof. Ziehen.* To Wundt’s theory that there is a conscious concomitant to all move- ments of organized matter, Ziehen objects that there is no evi- dence for this except in the case of the brain, and that even in the narrow sphere of molecular brain movement “numberless material processes of the cortex take place without the concomi- tance of psychical processes. ”f On the other hand, to the ques-
* Introduction to Physiological Psychology. See the last chapter.
t Page 275.
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tion whether “ material processes in the central nervous system accompany a ll psychical phenomena,” his answer is “decidedly negative.”* He finds psychical factors for which there is “no material basis,” and instances “ the projection of our sensations into space and time, a psychical fact for which we were unable to obtain any psycho-physical explanation. ”f The view which Ziehen himself adopts is called “ critical monism,” and is really the Kantian doctrine. The psychical series is shown to be the primary series, and the psycho- physical dualism to be only a semblance.
4. If there is no interaction between consciousness and the physical world, gaps are left both in the physical and in the men- tal series which are wholly unaccounted for. Take first the mental series. I am writing, let us suppose, at my desk, with my thoughts engrossed with the subject of this paper. Suddenly the firebell rings, and my thoughts are at once far away from my subject and occupied with curiosity or anxiety as to the locality of the fire, and a desire to join the crowd running to the scene of the excitement. What is the link in the transition from abstract speculation to eager curiosity or anxiety ? Surely none can be found unless we go for it into the physical sphere — the fire, the bell, the vibrations in the atmosphere, the excitement of the appropriate lortical centre. But all these, according to our theory, have absolutely no effect upon consciousness. The psy- chical series finds in itself the laws of its own changes. Plainly there is here a gap or break in the conscious life which nothing but the effect of a physical event will account for, and the whole life of thought, emotion, sensation and volition will be filled with similar instances of wholly unexplained and inexplicable discon- tinuity.
The facts of bodily movement are equally inexplicable without the intervention of a psychical agent. Let us borrow an illustra- tion from Dr. Martineau :
“ A lady who is a social favorite is in lively conversation at a dinner-party five or six miles from her London home. A servant hands to her a telegram: ‘The child has fallen downstairs ; he is seriously hurt.’ A convulsion of horror passes over a face just bright with laughter, agitates her pulse, takes away her breath : but, with the self-control of benevolent tact, she contrives to withdraw with just adequate explanation ; orders her carriage and flies to her boy ; but on the way goes round to her physician’s door to take him with her ; and even remembers that there may be need of a surgeon too, and bears the delay till she can return pro- vided with both forms of skill. Reaching home at last and going straight to the child’s room, she covers the flutter of fear and pity with a bright look and com- forting words, till the way is prepared for the friendly doctors ; and when it proves to be a broken arm, she insists on being their attendant whilst it is set, that
* Introduction to Physiological Psychology, page 2. \ Page 277.
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she may strengthen his heart and quiet his cries, though herself feeling as if she ■were being torn limb from limb.’’*
If we believe that there is no interaction between mind and brain, we must believe that, provided only the nerve and brain mechanisms had been the same, the mother would have gone through all the bodily movements necessary to bring help to her child had there been no conscious meaning assigned to the words . of the telegram, no affection, no solicitude, no eager desire, no clear calculation of the means to be employed. The conscious factor must be wholly eliminated, in accounting for the result, if the brain has “ an automatic action, uninfluenced by states of consciousness.” All the complicated actions which followed the receipt of the telegram might have been performed without the aid of consciousness, just as the frog whose spinal chord has been severed will draw up its foot when it is touched with acid. Con- sciousness is simply the fly upon the wheel imagining that it is driving the coach. But does not this account ignore the really sig- nificant thing in the whole history — the meaning ascribed to the telegram ? The words, if read without being understood, might be a signal for action of some kind. But what action ? This would not be decided until a meaning had been attached to the words — until the signal had been interpreted. Doubtless any action, however complicated, if performed habitually upon the reception of a given stimulus, will approximate to the type of reflex action; but that the course of conduct in question, wholly new and requiring at each step both careful calculation and quick decision, can be accounted for without the conscious factor, is as hard to believe as is “ the production of molecular motion by consciousness.”
Both members of the psycho-physical parallelism seem to fall into hopeless discontinuity when the links of inleraction which bind them together are broken. The gaps in both series must be filled in by metaphysical assumption not warranted by psycho- logical experience. Our ordinary modes of thinking and speaking- must also largely be modified, as we are warned by Prof. Wundt. When we speak, for instance, of the influence of mind over body, we must “ always mean, if we do not say, that the word 1 influ- ence ’ is not to be taken sensu stricto : ”f for no causal nexus must be asserted between incomparable phenomena. On the other hand, it is improper, strictly speaking, to say that the sun or the electric spark causes the sensation of light, for, on the theory of Wundt, “ we must even suppose .... that it is not the physical stimulus which occasions the sensation, but that this latter arises
* Study of Religion, Yol. ii, p. 238.
f Lectures on Animal and Human Psychology, page 449.
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from some elementary psychical jjrocesses lying below the limen of consciousness When we read a little later that “ soul ” has been banished from psychology “ as a metaphysical surplusage for which psychology has no use,”f and remember the “ elemen- tal psychical processes lying below the limen of consciousness,” which were assumed to account for our sensations, we see how hard it is even for a psychologist to avoid assumptions, and how hard it is to be consistently un metaphysical.
The theory of a psycho-physical parallelism, in view of its difficulties, will hardly be accepted as the last word upon the prob- lem of mind and brain. If we are to believe, however, in a real interaction between the mental and the physical spheres — between states of consciousness and molecular motion — what becomes of the doctrine of the conservation of energy? We must remember that while this is one of the most certain of the empirical general- izations of modern science, it is applicable strictly only to the transformation of one kind of physical energy into another. Energy expended in one form will reappear in another form or other forms in an equivalent amount, and under proper conditions might be changed back again into the original form without in- crease or loss. But states of consciousness cannot be expressed in numerical terms of more or less, and are wffiolly incomparable with any form of physical force. As to the mode in which physi- cal processes and mental processes influence each other, we are, and it would seem must remain, wholly ignorant ; but this should not lead us to deny the fact of their mutual influence. All physi- cal causation is a mystery, but it is none the less certain that the impact of one billiard ball is the cause of the motion of another. We do not know how the volition to move the hand starts the discharge down the motor nerve, or how the agitation of nerve fibre and brain cell produces the sensation. But that in both cases the causal relation exists is, apart from metaphysics, as little to be denied as is the causal relation between any two phenomena in the physical world.
The physiological psychologist may rightly plead for the liberty to pursue his investigations and form his conclusions unhampered alike by metaphysical assumptions and by the generalizations of other sciences. His inferences must be based upon the phe- nomena of his own science, not upon the conclusions of another science. It is then, of course, the business of the philosopher to review the results of the separate sciences and to reconcile them, if he can. In the meantime he will protest against allowing a prin-
* Lectures on Animal and Human Psychology, page 450. The italics are ours.
t Page 454.
FREE-WILL AND PHYSIOLOGICAL PSYCHOLOGY, 439
ciple of physics, applicable properly only to the correlation of physical forces, to prejudge the whole question of the relation between matter and mind.
It may be that we are no nearer than ever to the true answer to this question. u Ignoramus," we must modestly admit, even if we are not prepared to add, ‘‘ Ignorabimus Perhaps we shall be compelled to believe, as Prof. Tyndall has suggested, that the “ mystery of Mind, which has hitherto defied its own penetrative power, .... may ultimately resolve itself into a demonstrable impossibility of self-penetration.” Meanwhile, it is safe to assert that the investigations of modern science which lie on the border- land between physiology and psychology have not made any less tenable our faith in the reality of spirit or of its attribute of free- dom. We may still believe the testimony of consciousness, that we have power on our own selves and on the world, and may con- fidently trust in the great realities of
“ That true world within the world we see,
Whereof our world is but the bounding shore. ’ ’
Ossining, N. Y. Wm. HALLOCK JOHNSON.
(
Y.
THE ATONING SAVIOR OF THE SHIAHS.
RTHODOX Mohammedanism has no doctrine of vica-
rious atonement. Though ostensibly confirming the Scrip- tures as previous revelations, it repudiates the fundamental truth of the law of Moses and of the Christian system, that “ without the shedding of blood there is no remission.” Notwithstanding this Islam retains animal sacrifices and gives them a definite place in its ritual. The sect of Shiahs in Persia and India have, how- ever, engrafted on Islam a well-developed doctrine of vicarious atonement in which Imam Husain, the sacrifice of Kerbala, is the savior of sinners. The Shiah beliet on this subject has, I believe, never been presented in detail, so that I trust the charm of novelty will give interest to the subject.
I. First, let us consider the original doctrine of Islam with regard to sacrifices. Mohammedans offer sacrifices on two special occasions. One is the Qurban Bayram, or Id-ul-Azha, the Festival of Sacrifice ; the other is the Aqiqah, on the birth of a child.
The Festival of Sacrifice was first instituted in imitation of the great Day of Atonement. During the first year of the Hegira, Mohammed at Medina, in his efforts to conciliate the Jews, kept this fast, and was undoubtedly familiar with its expiatory signifi- cance. Afterward, when he broke with the Jews and changed tne Kcbla from Jerusalem to Mecca, he substituted the Festival of Sacrifice on the tenth day of the twelfth month — Zul Haja — the time at which the heathen Arabs were sacrificing animals at their pilgrimage. Mohammed took two rams and went forth before his people at Medina. Sacrificing one of them, he said: “ O Lord, I sacrifice this for my whole people, all those who bear witness to Thy unity and my mission.” Then sacrificing the other ram, he said: “ 0 Lord, this is for Mohammed and the family of Mo- hammed.”* This is an evident imitation of the Jewish high priest sacrificing “ first for his own sins and then for the peo- ple’s.” On his last pilgrimage to Mecca, Mohammed sacrificed sixty-three camels in the valley of Mina — one for every year of his life. The victim on the Festival may be a camel, cow, sheep,
See Hughes, Dictionary of Islam.
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goat or buffalo, and it is offered not only at Mecca during the Hajj but in every place, and is tbe special obligation of every free Mussulman when he arrives at the age of maturity. In all cases the sacrifice is eaten ; one-third may be given to the poor, one- third to friends, and one-third reserved for the family. The camel sacrificed by the Crown Prince of Persia at Tabriz is divided by the attendants.
The Aqiqah is a usage of the Sunnis, but does not appear to be customary among Shiahs. It is described by Hughes as a sacri- fice made for a child when it is from one to five weeks old. It consists of one goat for a girl and two for a boy. The head of the child is first shaved and rubbed with saffron. The weight of the hair in silver is given to the poor, and while the friends eat the goat the following prayer is offered: “ 0 God ! I offer to thee, instead of my own offspring, life for life, blood for blood, head for head, bone for bone, hair for hair, skin for skin. In the name of the great God I sacrifice this goat.” Finally, the bones are carefully burnt.
Some other occasions for sacrifices will come to view in consid- ering the significance of Mohammedan sacrifices, to which we now pass. The meaning of this rite is not explained fully in the Koran.
(1) Sacrifices are regarded as a memorial of the willingness of Abraham to offer his son, who is generally supposed to be Ishmael. The Hyatul-Kaloob,* translated by Rev. James L. Merrick, a former missionary in Tabriz, says: “ When Ibrahim was about to sacrifice Ismael, the Most High made a black and white sheep his substitute, which had been pasturing for forty years in Paradise, and was created not in the course of nature but by the direct power of God, to be offered instead of him on whose life such important events depended. Now every sheep sacrificed at Mina, till the day of judgment, is a substitute or commemora- tive of the substitute for Ismael.’ ’
(2) Sacrifice signifies personal dedication to God, with the idea
of approaching near to Him. This accords with the root meaning of the word Qurban. So Sheikh Abdul Ilaqq, in his Commen- tary on the Mishkat,! says, “ The sacrifice is that which is slaughtered with the object of obtaining nearness to God.” The idea of dedication is brought out in Surah, xxii, 36, 38: “ Unto
the professors of every religion have we appointed certain rites, that they may commemorate the name of God on slaying the brute cattle which he hath provided for them. Your God is one God,
* The Life and Religion of Mohammed , by Merrick, p. 28.
f Hughes, Dictionary of Islam, p. 552.
442 THE PRESBYTERIAN AND REFORMED REVIEW.
wherefore resign yourselves wholly unto him.” This idea is forcibly stated in the words used by the offerer when he sacrifices the victim. Turning its head toward Mecca, he says: “ In the name of the great God ! Verily, my prayers, my sacrifice, my life, my death, belong to God, the Lord of the worlds : for I am the first of those who are Muslim ” (i. e., resigned). Dedication seems also to be implied in the service of sacrifice on the birth of a child.
(3) Sacrifice is regarded as a thank-offering, as in Surah, xxii, 38, 39 : “ Wherefore commemorate the name of God over them. Thus we have given you dominion over them, that ye may return us thanks.” Such also are the frequent sacrifices made for recovery from sickness or for the birth of a son, which are often offered in fulfillment of a vow. Not seldom they are presented at the local shrines. Peace-offerings are sacrificed in the highway by the friends of pilgrims returning from the Hajj, in gratitude for their safe arrival.
(4) Other sacrifices are of a precatory nature. In case of seri- ous sickness a sheep is brought into the house and led around the patient. It is then taken out and sacrificed, in the hope that its life may be accepted in his stead. In some cases the number of victims is multiplied. A sacrifice of this nature is yearly offered at the village of Ispanjan, near Tabriz. When the severe spring wind prevails which is destructive of crops and fruits, an ox is taken to a neighboring mountain and slain. Its blood flows into a well which has been devoted to that purpose. The villagers believe that the wind is propitiated. A scene in the Miracle or Passion Play of Muharram depicts the bringing of victims to avert calamity.* In the plain of Kerbala Imam Husain is met by Zahir and other chiefs, bringing some lambs. They say: “ Peace be unto thee, thou King of the empire of faith, thou offspring of the chosen of God, and rose-bush of the meadows of truth ! May Zahir and his party be a sacrifice for thee ! O ye chiefs, slay your lambs as offerings to Husain, the priest of the universe!” The chiefs laying down their sheep for slaughter, Husain says : “ Withhold your hands, all of you, 0 ye Arabs. What is the reason that each of you intend to slay a lamb ?” Zahir : “ May I be a ransom for thee, 0 thou enlightener of heaven and earth, thou fresh plant of the orchard of her ladyship Zahrah (Fatima) ! They intend to shed the blood of these animals at the dust of thy sacred feet, to avert misfortunes and calamities and accidents.” Husain orders the lambs to be numbered. They are found to be
* Col. Felly’s translation of The Miracle Passion Play of Hasan and Husain, p. 244.
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seventy-two, just the number of bis party. He forbids the sacri- fice, saying that he and his retinue are the willing victims.
(5) Another idea in sacrifices is that of merit, rendering a ser- vice to God which will put Him under obligation. Every good work is regarded as suab or merit. Surah, xxii, 38, says of sacri- fices : “Ye receive advantage from them.” Zaid Ibn Arqam. relates* that the companions said : “0 prophet, what are the rewards for the sacrifices of camels and sheep that have wool?” He said : “ There is a good reward also for every hair of their wool.” A Khutbah quoted by Sellf says, “ If you sacrifice a fat animal, it will serve you well and carry you across the sirat ,” or bridge to Paradise.
(6) Sacrifices are made to men as tokens of respect and honor. When the Shah makes public entrance to a city, each Ivand-khuda, as well as the heads of the Sayids, Dervishes, etc., sacrifices a sheep before him. The original purpose in this custom may have been thanksgiving for his propitious arrival, but now the sole thought appears to be to honor the king. Similar honor is given to any dignitary only in a less measure. It is even customary for a shepherd by the wayside to bring one of his flock into the road before any passing foreigner, with knife in hand ready to slay the victim if protest is not made, and if bakhshish is forthcoming to remunerate him.
(7) The idea which seems to be excluded by Mohammed from the doctrine of sacrifices is that of expiation. It is agreed by all students of Islam that the Koran does not contain the doctrine of atonement ; the shedding of blood is nowhere said to be for remission of sins. In Surah, xxii, 39, it is said, “ Their flesh is not accepted of God, neither their blood, but your piety is accepted of him.” The piety is explained by the Arabic com- mentator A1 Baizawi to mean “ the sincerity and intention of your heart.”
It is true that a good deal is said in the Koran concerning expia- tion. The same terms are used as in the Hebrew, — e. g ., “ Kafara ” (to cover), “ fidyah,” a ransom, — and with the meaning of expia- tion for sin. For example, “ 0 Lord, forgive us therefore our sins and expiate our evil deeds for us ” (Surah, iii, 194). But they are never used with reference to the shedding of blood in sacri- fices.:}: The expiatory, act according to the Koran, is some work of charity or religious observance or penance. For a false oath, the “ expiation shallbe to feed ten poor persons with such mid- dling food as ye feed your own families with, or to clothe them,
* Hughes, Dictionary, p. 552. \ Compare Hughes, Dictionary, p. 11&.
f The Faith of Islam, by Rev. Edward Sell.
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or to set free a captive. But lie who cannot find means shall fast three da}7s ” (Surah, v, 91). “For the killing of game on the pilgrimage, in expiation thereof he shall feed the poor, or as the equivalent of this he shall fast, that he mav taste the ill conse- quence of his deed. God forgiveth what is past.” In brief, according to Mussulman theology, the atonement for sins is made by the works of the law, the performance of worship, fasting, almsgiving and pilgrimage. For example, it is said that if any one repeats on a festival five selected Surahs of the Koran, God will pardon the sins of fifty years that are past and of fifty years to come. A tradition narrates that Mohammed said he hoped that the Fast of Ashura would cover the sins of the coming year. From another point of view, no atonement by rites is necessary. Repentance and faith obtain pardon. “ If they repent and amend, then let them be. Verily God relenteth. He is merciful ” (Surah, iv, 20). A tradition says,- “ An incessant sinner has not sinned who has asked pardon, although he may have sinned seventy times a day, because asking pardon is the coverer of sin.”
It is evident that Mohammed rejected the doctrine of sacrificial atonement from his system. Not only so, but in his representa- tions of the Mosaic dispensation he eliminates the doctrine. In enumerating the duties under the covenant of the children of Israel (Surah, ii, 82), he omits all reference to the sin or trespass offerings. In the account of the red cow, so strangely perverted from the Scripture account (Num. xix ; Surah, ii, 66-70), the idea of expiation for sin is not included. The atoning death of Christ is repudiated. His death is denied. “ They slew him not and they crucified him not, but they had only his likeness. They did not really slay him, but God took him up to Himself ” (Surah, iv, 157). Though another Surah (iii, 47, 48) says, “ God said, 0 Jesus, I will cause thee to die and will take thee up to myself,” leaving the matter somewhat in doubt, yet most commentators and received traditions maintain that Jesus did not die. Instead of Him one of His disciples or one of His enemies was crucified by mistake, God having transferred Christ’s appearance to that person. This person is called Titian, or Judas, who allowed him- self to be taken, or Simon of Cvrene.f The crucifixion of Jesus was a fiction to Mohammed, as to the Basilidians and Carpocra- tians. The cross was an abhorrence to him. It is said that he destroyed everything brought into his house with that figure upon it. According to the Mishkat, the prophet said : “ I swear by heaven, it is near, when Jesus, the son of Mary, will descend
Dictionary of Islam, p. 451.
f See Sales’ Notes on Koran.
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from heaven upon your people, a just king, and he will break the cross and kill the swine.”
The rejection by Mohammed of the doctrine of the atonement, while claiming to republish the previous revelations of Moses and Christ, especially in view of the fact that he must have known the Mosaic doctrine of expiatory sacrifice from the Jews at Medina, is strongly urged* as a signal evidence that Mohammed was a conscious impostor and deliberately omitted to testify to this cardinal doctrine, that salvation by atonement might not appear to have the divine sanction in any dispensation. Dr. Wherry gives several reasons why we may suppose Mohammed ignored this doctrine. f It contradicts Mohammed’s idea of divine sover- eignty. God is the compassionate, the merciful, and is all-sover- eign in this attribute, so that He can forgive according to His good pleasure without the necessity of an atonement. On this point Prof. Henry Preserved Smith says : \ “In the case of Mohammed there seems to be no consciousness that justice could conflict with mercy. There is no theory of atonement. Expiation is nowhere brought into relation to the wrath of God.” Mohammed’s later opposition to the Jews led him to eliminate Jewish doctrine and may have caused him to reject sacrifices for sin.
II. Notwithstanding the silence of the Koran and the apparent opposition of Mohammed to the doctrine of vicarious sacrifice, it is a remarkable fact that the idea has found a place in the system of Islam. An accepted tradition in the Mishkat-ul-Masibih gives an account by Ayeshah of Mohammed’s conversation while sacri- ficing. She relates that he said :§ “ Man has done nothing on the day of sacrifice more pleasing to God than the spilling of blood ; for verily the animal sacrificed will come on the day of resurrec- tion, with its horns, its hair, its hoofs, and will make the scales of his actions heavy, and verily its blood reacheth the acceptance of God before it falleth upon the ground.”
But it is especially among the Shiahs that the idea of atonement has gained a place and in reference to the death of their Imams. Often, when trying to set forth the story of the cross to the Shiahs of Persia, they reply: “ In like manner the blood of the Imam Husain avails for us as an offering to God.” Sometimes, too, they bring out the idea that Christ’s death was but one, whereas Husain and his retinue of the holy seed of the prophet all shed their blood for the salvation of their people. Extending the application still further, the sufferings and violent deaths of the
* Dr. Wherry’s Commentary on the Koran, Yols. I, p. 319, II, 61, III, 165.
t Vol. II, p. 60.
X The Bible and Islam, pp 122-125. § Dictionary of Islam, p. 552.
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Imams Ali, Hasan, etc., are made to have expiatory efficacy. The Mujtihids of the Sheikhi sect especially exalt the Imams to the highest point of dignity and attribute to their actions the greatest efficiency.
This doctrine has an historical origin which demands brief con- sideration. Ali became Khalifa in succession to Abu Bekr, Omar and Osman. Shiahs claim that he had neen appointed by Mo- hammed as his successor and should have been the first Khalifa, the rightful Imam, and have been succeeded by Hasan and Husain, his sons by Fatima, the daughter of the prophet. Ali was assassinated at Kufa by the sword of Mulzam, and Hasan was poisoned by his seventieth wife, at the instigation, as is alleged, of Muavia, the supplanting Khalifa at Damascus. Husain was led bv the promises of the fickle people of Kufa to march from Medina to receive the Khalifate. He was left without assistance by the Kufans and with his company of seventy-two soldiers was sur- rounded by the army of Yezid, son of Muavia, under Umar and Shamr, and slain on the plain of Kerbela. Among those who perished was his brother Abbas, his sons Ali Akbar and Ali Asghar, and Kazim, the son of Hasan, while the sister and wife of Husain were led away captive to Damascus.. The martyred seed of the prophet became the centre of a devotion and veneration which has increased and developed through the centuries. Their adherents formed the Shiah sect. Its most characteristic feature is t e commemoration of the events of Kerbela in the month of Muharram — in the Passion Play, the Lamentations of the Mar- seyakhans, the self-tortures of the mourner-gangs and the bloody procession of Ashura, with its wild and frenzied devotees cutting themselves with swords and pouring out their blood even unto death.
The unsuccessful attempt of Husain to attain to the Khalifate has been transformed into a voluntary martyrdom, nay more iuto a sacrificial and vicarious offering of his life and that of his family for the sins of his followers, bringing into Mohammedanism the doctrine of substitutionary atonement. It does not seem certain that the Shiahs by their older traditions claimed for the deaths of the Imams any expiatory efficacy. For example, in the Hayat- ul-Quloob,* written in 1676, it is said that Mohammed foretold the death of Husain and his family, and gave Umm Salmah some of the dust of Kerbela, which he said would become blood when the massacre occurred. He said, also, “A sect of my religion will visit your graves in reverence of me, and I will give them salva- tion on the day of judgment.”
* Life of Mohammed , by Merrick, p. 181.
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This merely predicts the death, but a tradition found in Sell* is to the effect that Mohammed said ot Husain: “ He will die for the sake of my people.” Now popular tradition and invention have embellished the facts with a thousand additions. These can be well ascertained in the tragedies of the Passion Play, which are acted with impassioned fervor in the first ten days of Muharram. The plays are not to be regarded as historical nor even as repre- senting approximately the events. They may, however, be relied upon as setting forth the doctrinal beliefs of the Shiahs at the present day. Let us examine these Passion Plays, to ascertain their doctrine concerning the deaths of the Imams.
Tradition and imagination have developed the subject so as to cover the course of time from the eternal counsels of God to the final judgment. Whenf God, before the creation of heaven and earth, and 2000 years before Adam was formed, created Moham- med, Fatima, Ali, Hasan and Husain, he showed them a standard and asked, Who will bear it? The others declined. Husain took it up. God said, The conditions are that you should be beheaded and your family chained and thirsty and persecuted. Husain accepted the conditions. Then God said, “ For this cause all mediation and atonement will be by you.”
When Hasan and Husain were children they came to Mohammed, on Qurban Bayram, and said, “ 0 grandfather, the Arab children have put on good clothes, we have none ; therefore we are sorrow- ful.” Then the prophet was sad because he could not buy them clothes. At that time Gabriel came down, and said, “ 0 prophet, God sends you greeting. Why are you sad ? Take these two suits of clothes, one for Hasan and one for Husain. I have brought them from heaven.” Their color was white, and the children did not admire them. Then Gabriel brought a pan of water from Paradise, and said, “ Whatever color you wish thev will become.” The prophet asked Hasan, “ What color do you want?” He chose green, and Husain red. Gabriel, pouring out the water, wept. The prophet said. “ Why do you weep?” Gabriel answered : 1 1 Because Hasan will die of poison and
Husain will be red in his own blood at Kerbala.”:}:
Mohammed is declared to have consecrated Husain as a sacrifice from his childhood. Gabriel visited him and said :§ “ O messen- ger of the gracious God, consider the sinful state of thy poor people and make Husain a propitiation for their sins, that the Lord of ali beings may, in the Day of Judgment, have mercy on all of them for Husain’s sake.” Mohammed is willing, saying :
* Faith of Islam , p. 94. \ Tradition’s source unknown.
t Tradition’s source unknown. § The Miracle Play, by Col. Pelly, p. 23.
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“ Alas, O Gabriel ! for the misery of my people. Though Husain is the light of my eyes, I will, in order to save my people from the wrath to come, make Husain a propitiation for their sins.” Gabriel: “Well done; for such generosity, since thou makest Husain a man of sorrow on behalf of thy people, no doubt God will forgive all of them in that day, for the Imam’s meritorious blood’s sake.” Later, Mohammed tells Husain of this divine purpose, saying : * “ 0 Husain, come hither, all the inhabitants of the two worlds, whether men or Jinns, are sunk in sin and have only one, Husain, to save them.” Husain : “ What is thy order, grandfather? I am quite ready to obey it.” The Prophet: “ Hear child, I am going to tell you the story of Iverbala. Wilt thou go submissively, wilt thou suffer troubles or not ?” Husain: “ What do you mean ?” The Prophet : “0 Husain, thou must voluntarily give thy head to the dagger.” Husain: “ With all my heart. I 'will give my own head for the salvation of my people. Nay, I will even make the throat of my infant son Asghar a target to the arrow of God’s decree for them.” The Prophet : ‘ ‘ Thou must give up the two hands of Abbas, thy brother. Though it grieve thee much, thou must offer thy son, Ali Akbar, also.” Husain : “ For the sake of God, I will most readily do so.” Husain’s foreknowledge of the events is set forth. On his departure from Medina he narrates in detail the approach- ing calamities. f When the time draws near his willingness for the appointed work is emphasized. He says : “ Oh ! How blessed the morn when I shall joyfully behold myself surrounded on all sides by the army of Yezid in the plain of Iverbala ! For a long time I have been anxiously wishing for that day.” “ Husain’s throat longs to meet the cutting dagger of the inhabitants of Kufa. How glad am I to become a sacrifice for mankind !” “I will stretch my throat before the dagger, seeing it is the will of the friend that I should obey his voice.”
The purpose of the sacrifice is continually set forth to be “ the salvation of our sinful followers.” Fatima says to Husain, “ He who wishes to save men from everlasting flames must undergo the troubles of Iverbala.” Husain says, “ It is not grievous that I and all my companions should be slain, since the thing is done for the salvation of the people.” “ The crown of intercession is fitted for our heads only.”
Husain sets himself forth as the substitute and expiation. He says “ The helpless people of the prophet of God have no rock of salvation to fly to for a refuge except Husain. They have no advocate with God on the Day of Judgment except Husain. The
* The Miracle Play, by Col. Pelly, p. 88. f P. 210. J Pp. 210-211.
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way of salvation is shut up against them on account of their manifold sins ; and, except Husain, none can make a proper atone- ment or propitiation for transgression. Who can save the people of God from the wrath to come, seeing the empire of faith has no other king but Husain?” “I am willing to be killed for the sake of God’s people, that I may intercede for all in the great plain of last account.” “ The treasure of eternal happiness shall be at my disposal as a consequent reward.”
As if this redemption was actually accomplished and ready to be applied, Hurr, a warrior sent by Yezid, who, like the dying thief, turned to the side of Husain and fought for him like a valiant champion, says as he rushes to death : “I have letter- patents sealed with Husain’s seal that I am saved in both worlds.”
To guard against the thought that Husain was overpowered by thirst or by his enemies, two incidents are related. A dervish appears with a cup of water, drawn by the piteous cries of Sukai- nah, Husain’s little daughter. Husain says to him :* “ Know, 0 young man, that we are never in need of the water of this life. If I will, I can make the moon or any other celestial orb fall down on the earth ; how much more can I get water for my chil- dren. Look at the hollow made in the ground with my spear ; water would gush out of it if I were to desire it. I die parched and offer myself a sacrifice for the sins of my people, that they should be saved from the wrath to come.”
Besides this, Jafar, the king of the Jinns, with his troops, comes to Husain’s assistance after the death of his followers, saying : “ 0 king of men and Jinns, O Husain, peace be on thee ! 0
judge of corporeal and spiritual beings, behold I have come out with troops of Jinns to lend thee help.” Husain rejects the offer, saving: “ Return thou, Jafar, to thy home.” “What have I to do with the empire of the world or its tempting glories.” “ I have washed my hands of life, I have guided myself to do the will of God.”
When Husain came before his enemies he said to them :f “ Do not think that I am at a loss ; with a sweep of my hand I could turn 5000 of you into hell.” “ When he was sitting near his tent and the opposing force came up to him, he waved his hand and 500 of them were instantly killed.”
In the death scene Husain, already wounded, cries out: “O God, have mercy in the Day of Judgment on my people for my sake.” He prays for the presence of the prophet. Mohammed appears and says : “ Sorrow not, dear grandchild, thou shalt be a
* Passion Play, Yol. II, p. 81, seq.
\ Oral tradition.
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mediator, too, in that day.” Husain answers: “ I would ofter my soul not once or twice, but a thousand times for the salvation of thy people.”* In the climax the shameless Shamr stands over the fallen Imam, and addresses him : “ See how the dagger waves over thee. It is time to cut thy throat.” Husain dies, uttering the following prayer: “ 0 Lord, for the merit of me, the dear child of the prophet ; 0 Lord, for the sad groanings of my mis- erable sister ; O Lord, for the sake of young Abbas, rolling in his blood ; I pray thee, in the Day of Judgment, forgive, 0 merciful Lord, the sins of my grandfather’s people, and grant me, bounti- fully, the key of the treasure of intercession.”
In the above quotations not only the sufferings and death of the Imam Husain, but those of his relatives are stated to be expiatory. This appears more fully in the acts devoted to their deaths. Of Ali Akbar, Husain says: “ I sacrifice him for the sake of the beloved. Intercession for sinners is the great price of his blood. Yes, Ali Akbar is a ransom for many nations.” “ Oh, Ali Akbar, I know I am offering thee a sacrifice for the sins of mankind.” Zainab, the sister of Husain, too, is a willing sufferer. “ I, the sorrowful one, have also consented to be in bonds .of affliction and trial and to walk barefooted and bareheaded through the streets of Damascus for the sake of the sinners of our people, since all our sufferings tend to the happiness of our sinful people.” The whole family is thus regarded as offering itself a propitiatory sacrifice. Some Mujtihids even distribute the merits of their atonement to different classes of men, saying that Husain made atonement for grown men, Abbas for men thirty years of age, Ali Akbar for youths of eighteen, Ali Asghar for children, and Zainab and Kulsum for women.
The doctrine, fully developed with regard to these martyrs, is by a natural logic carried back and applied to the deaths of the first and second Imams and the pains of the prophet and Fatima. To these all are attributed vicarious expiation. Mohammed, on his deathbed at Medina, is represented as saying to Ali : “ Thy martyrdom will be the means of salvation to my people, in raising thee to the high office of intercessor for them.” Ali: “ O Prophet, I am ready to be afflicted with all sorts of ills for the sake of thy holy people’s salvation.” The Prophet : “ 0 Fatima, thou must offer Hasan a ransom for my people.” So Ali, as he dies at Kufa from the sword-stroke, makes a last prayer: “ 0 thou beneficent Creator, the sole, the almighty God, I adjure thee by that pearl- like tooth of thy chosen and glorious prophet which was knocked out with a stone in the battle of Ohod ; and by the
* Miracle Play , Yol. II, p. 81 seq.
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fracture which Fatima suffered in her side ; and by the tearful eyes of his distressed family;” and “ for this head of mine cloven asunder with the sword of tyranny, and for the sake of my body rolling in its own blood, forgive thou mercifully the sins of my Shiahs, and in the Day of Judgment pardon thou all them that love me.” *
But in this work of expiation none has the merit of Husain. For a popular tradition says, u At the last judgment Moslems will stand in tiers. The first tier God will send to heaven as righte- ous, i. e., their good works having overbalanced their evil works. For the second and third tiers Mohammed will mediate, and will attempt it for the fourth tier. But God will refuse, saying, They deserve hell. Then Husain will point to his standard and plead by the blood of Kerbala, and God will pardon the multitude.
III. The Imam Husain Ibn Ali is thus a rival of our Lord Jesus Christ. Millions of our fellow-men attribute to his death the effects that we attribute to our Lord’s. They regard his death as more memorable and important than any fact of his life, or than any truth he taught. Year by year they commemorate it with a series of unique religious ceremonies. They constantly present to the missionaries his atonement as a foundation of hope in contrast with the Gospel. They thus challenge comparison be- tween his death and that of Christ. While we might throw aside this claim as undeserving of attention, yet since millions in Persia and India cling to such a faith, it is interesting to make a com- parison between the passion of the Imam and that of the Messiah. Let it not seem superfluous to show the inferiority of the Imam of Arabia to the Prophet of Nazareth, of the sacrifice at Kerbala to the crucifixion on Calvary. I shall follow the account as found in Ockley’s History of the Saracens , Irving’s Successors of Mohammed and Osborne’s Islam under the Arabs. While we cannot be sure of the facts, yet we find the history contrasts greatly with the tra- ditional embellishments of the Passion Play.
Jesus left Galilee, for Jerusalem “ to suffer many things and be killed.” His definile purpose was to give His life for His sheep. He went to seek a cross. Husain left Medina bearing letters of invitation from 140,000 Kufans to come and lead a revolt against Yezid, expecting to win for himself the Khalifate, the crown of the Moslem world. He was seeking aggrandizement through human instrumentalities. Jesus set his face toward Jerusalem, going as a lamb to the slaughter. Husain crossed the desert, expecting to meet large reinforcements and conquer. The Kufans, who a short time before were ready to welcome his entrance with
* Miracle Flay , Vol. I, pp. 87, 151, 141.
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enthusiastic hosannas and make him king, were now saying, “ We have no Khalifa but Yezid.” Jesus, betrayed by Judas, was met in the garden of Gethsemane by a band of soldiers and officers with swords and staves ; Husain, with his armed companv of thirty-two foot soldiers and forty horsemen, was surrounded on the banks of the Euphrates by 3000 horsemen. Jesus said to them, “If ye seek me, let these go their way.” Husain gave his friends the privilege of departing, saying: “ These troops seek no life but mine. Tarry not with me to your destruction, but leave me to my fate.” Jesus’ disciples all forsook him and fled ; Husain’s followers said : “ God forbid that we should survive your fall. We have devoted our lives to you.” Jesus healed the ear of Malchus, saying : “ Put up again thy sword into its place, for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.” “ Mv kingdom is not of this world ; if my kingdom Avere of this world, then would my servants fight.” Husain permitted and encouraged all his followers to engage io murderous single combats and even bound on Ali Akbar the famous zul-fakar, the sword of Ali, with which Ali Akbar slew more than thirty men. Abbas fought with his sword in his mouth Avhen his hands were cut off. Husain, “ faint with thirst and wounded, fought with desperate courage and sleAV several of his antagonists.” He preferred to live, and proposed that he be allowed to return to Mecca, be given a safe conduct to Yezid or allowed to go and fight against the idolaters. Umer wished to give opportunity to Husain to flee, but feared the vengeance of Obeidullah, as Pilate feared Carsar. During the crucifixion the dying thief turned to Jesus and said. “ Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom,” and Christ answered : “ This day shall thou be with me in Paradise.” In the beginning of the attack Hurr, a captain, came over to the side of Husain, saying: “I desire to sacrifice myself for thee.” Husain answered : “ May God grant you a happy martyr- dom ; you will enter Paradise a free man Jesus was anointed shortly before His death Avith precious ointment, and said : “ She hath done it for my burial. Yerily I say unto you, Avhereso- ever this Gospel shall be preached in the Avhole world, there shall this also Avhich this woman hath done be told for a memorial of her.” Husain entered his tent, washed and anointed himself and perfumed himself witn musk. One asked him the meaning of this action. He replied : “Alas ! there is nothing betAveen us and the black-eyed houris, but that these people came down upon us and kill us.”
Jesus in His anguish cried out, “ I thirst!” and Avas gi\'en vinegar to drink. Imagination has pictured Mohammed de-
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scending from heaven to Husain with a cup of water or a Persian dervish arriving on the same errand, but the chronicler, with a more pathetic touch, shows us Husain trying to assuage Ali Akbar’s thirst by inserting his tongue in his mouth ; and when he attempted to reach the Euphrates, of which even the un- clean beasts and the infidels freely drank, he was shot in the mouth with an arrow, and returned to the tent with the blood pouring from the wound. Jesus under His load of suffering cried out, “ My God, my God, why hath thou forsaken me?” Husain said: “ 0 God, dost thou withhold help from us?” When his infant Abdullah was killed in his arms, he said : “ Lord, give me strength to bear these misfortunes.” Jesus commended his sor- rowing mother to the care of the beloved disciple. Husain remembered his old nurse and recommended her to Zeinab. He also said: “ Sister, show to Sukainah, my daughter, always the tenderness of a mother. Be kind to my child after me.” Jesus prayed for his murderers and crucifiers : “ Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.” When the enemies of Husain attempted to set fire to the tents and the women cried out in alarm, Husain said: “ What! Would you bum my family? Cursed Shamr ! The fire of Jehannam be thy portion!” To another he said : “ May thy mother be childless.” To still others: “Thy impudence exceeds all bounds; may thy mother sit in mourning for thee.” “ A thousand curses from God be on Obeidullah Ibn Ziyad, the unprincipled mean fellow.” When Abdullah was smitten, Husain took a handful of the blood and threw it toward heaven, exclaiming: “ 0 Lord, take vengeance •on the wicked.” During the fight he asked for a truce to pray at noonday. He imprecated the Kufans as follows : “ Let not the dews of heaven distill upon them and withhold thou from them ithe blessings of the earth, for they first invited me and then •deceived me.”
Jesus gave up his life, saying: “It is finished. Into thy hands I commend my spirit.” Husain, left alone by the death of his companions and exhausted by his wounds, fought on till, wounded on the hands and the neck, he was thrust through with a spear and fell, covered with thirty- three wounds and thirty-four bruises. The head was severed from the body and taken to Kufa and Damascus. The trunk was trampled under the horses’ hoofs and crushed in the earth. The soldiers took his spear and the rest of the spoils and divided them among themselves, remind- ing us of how they parted Jesus’ garments among them. The trunkless head of Husain was presented to Obeidullah, tne gov- ernor, who smote it on the mouth with his staff, as the high priest 30
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buffeted and smote Jesus with tbe palms of his hands. For three days the body of Husain remained exposed to the inclemency of the weather and the attacks of wild beasts and vultures, but preserved, as they believe, by miracle from being touched by them. Then the inhabitants of a neighboring village, ashamed that the body of a grandson of the prophet should be so exposed, buried it in the plain of Kerbala, where it remains in a shrine — a place of pilgrimage of millions of devoted followers. How striking the contrast in the case of Jesus ! His body was taken and with honor and bv loving hands was placed in a rock-hewn sepulchre. Three days passed and He burst the oars of the tomb and ascended to the right hand of power. In the one case there is the shrine of a dead Imam — crumbling dust — a symbol of defeat ; in the other, the empty sepulchre of a risen Christ, the symbol and evidence of triumph.
These similarities and contrasts are founded on the traditional narratives of the Shiahs, which are somewhat historical. Mingled with these are accounts of miraculous events that show evidence of imitation of the Gospel narratives. As at Christ’s death the sun was darkened, and darkness was over all the land from the sixth to the ninth hour, the vail of the temple was rent, the earth quaked and the rocks were rent ; so the Shiahs declare that the sun was eclipsed so that the stars appeared at noonday, the earth was darkened three days, the sides of the heavens turned red and looked like clotted blood, the heavens rained blood, all the drinking vessels in the world were found filled with blood, and clotted blood was found under every stone that was turned up in Jerusalem. The place where the head of Husain lay was covered with emanations of light. As Judas and Pilate and Herod met with violent deaths, so those engaged in the murder of Husain met with misfortune, soon fell sick and most of them died mad.
We have drawn the parallel between the two narratives. We have studied the story of the death of the Shiah mediator in contrast to that of the Christ, the Saviour of the world. Let us make a resume of the points. Husain sought earthly dominion ; Jesus said, “ My kindom is not of this world.” The one sought his own aggrandizement ; the other to give His life a ransom for others. The one died overpowered in spite of his own and his followers’ exertions ; the otner said : “I have power to give my life and to take it again ; none of you taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself.” The one died smiting to the dust his opponents, having covered the plain with their blood ; the other having commanded, “ Put up the sword into the sheath; they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.” The one prayed God to curse his
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enemies, the other for their forgiveness and salvation. The one died as a brave and courageous man, pious after his fashion ; the other died with such a wonderful bearing that the centurion said, “ Surely this was the Son of God.” The body of the one remains in the dust ; that of the other was resurrected and glori- fied and lives in immortal life.
But the parallel extends still further. While in most cases a birth, a coronation or a victory has been the origin of a memorial, in the case of Husain and Jesus, their deaths are the centres of religious celebrations. To the Christian the Lord’s Supper is the most important ordinance, to the Shiah Mohammedan the celebra- tions of the month of Muharram surpass all others in the hold they have on their hearts and lives. Here we have an oppor- tunity to contrast the religions and compare the ideals acting on the adherents of the beheaded Imam and the crucified Christ.
How is Husain’s death commemorated ? In the Persian Passion Play — the Takia— the whole scene of his sacrifice at Kerbala is represented by actors taking the part of each historic character. The incidents are brought vividly before the people, who are affected to tears of sorrow or cries of rage according to the changes in the scenes. Spectacles* in the streets keep the interest alive. Processions of men and women march in irregular mass through the streets and bazaars. Some bear national banners and religious emblems. At one place a band of boys chants the mournful tale of Husain’s death. At another a squad of men, barefooted and naked down to the waist, follows a leader clashing cymbals. Some- have chains or cat-o’ -nine-tails of iron or leather tipped with steel, with which they lacerate their backs. Others use large- clubs, while many pound themselves with their fists until their breasts and backs are black and blue with sores. At night they repair to the mosques. They anoint their heads, faces and beards with filthy black ointment and bare their feet and breasts. A Mollah takes the lead, and with singing of dirges and frantic intonations of the words “ Shah Husain,” and beating of their breasts, they continue a night-long lament. Their frenzy thus wrought up, they are prepared for the Ashura or tenth of the month. In the morning they are clothed in white, the crowns of their shaven heads are cut, the blood flows down in profusion ; wild excitement takes hold of them ; swords are placed in their hands ; they start in procession through the street, flashing their swords in the air, ever and anon gashing their heads and raising the now wild and frenzied cry, “ Shah Husain ! Shah Husain ! ” There appears also a richly caparisoned riderless horse, eloquent
* For full descriptions see the writer’s Persian Life and Customs.
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of the absence of the fallen Husain, or perhaps a spotless white dove, perched upon a saddle, representing the plumed messenger which, dipping its wings in the blood of the slain, carried the sad news to the sacred cities. Next follows a mounted company of babes, strapped to the horses, their heads bleeding and their gar- ments red from the cruel sword cuts. What a spectacle ! A length of barbarous fanaticism which recalls the prophets of Baal — a celebration which yearly ends in the death of some partici- pants in many of the cities of Persia. So do the devotees of Husain commemorate his death.
H ow solemn, simple and edifying, how much more rational and consistent with a divine institution, is the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper ! In it the plain emblems of our Saviour’s broken body and shed blood call to remembrance Calvary and the crucifixion, drawing our souls to a new exercise of faith and love ; and seal to us the benefits of Christ’s sacrificial death. To the Christian the communion is a eucharist — a thanksgiving feast of divine love ; the cross is a symbol of pardon, a foretaste of the Paradise in which he will sing the new song, “ Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive glory and honor and power and blessing.”
To the Shiahs, notwithstanding their elaborated doctrine of propitiation through the sacrifice of the Imam, Kerbala remains an “ anguish ” and an “ affliction.”* Noptean of victory closed their sad celebration, no glad resurrection anthems swell forth in notes of triumph. But mourning, wailing and lamentations, curses and bitterness, a frenzy of passionate grief are unrelieved by any consolation. The black garments worn during the month are fit symbols of their condition. They chant the dirge of disappoint- ment. They cannot but regard Husain’s death as a calamity, as a triumph of his enemies. They would rather he had succeeded in seizing the Khalifate and transmitting it in succession to his de- scendants. Their attempt to steal the livery of Jesus to clothe Husain in is vain. The suffering atoning Saviour of the world will convince them of his divine preeminence and draw them, as all men, unto Himself.
Tabriz, Persia. S. G. WlL^OX.
* Arabic words Kerb = anguish, and bnla = affliction.
YI.
REVIEWS OF
RECENT THEOLOGICAL LITERATURE.
I.— APOLOGETICAL THEOLOGY.
Magic and Religion. By Andrew Lang, Author of 3fyth, Ritual and Religion; Custom and Myth , etc. 8vo, pp. x, 316. Longmans, Green & Co., 39 Paternoster Row, London, New York and Bombay : 1901.
Into this volume Mr. Lang has gathered a series of papers. The most of them bear on the problem of the origin and early history of religion and tend to strengthen the hypothesis set forth in his Making of Religion , which was published in 1898 and favorably reviewed in this journal at the time ( vol. ix, p. 744). That hypothesis is stated by an unfriendly critic — Mr. Hart- land — as follows : “ Apparently it is claimed that the belief in a supreme being came, in some way only to be guessed at, first in order of evolution, and was subsequently obscured and overlaid by belief in ghosts and in a pantheon of lesser divinities.” That is to say, Mr. Lang, setting himself against the current of popular speculation, supposes that belief in a supreme being, instead of arising as an evolution from a precedent ancestor worship or anim- ism, antedated those forms of belief. He was led to this conclusion, he tells us (p. 224),“ first, by observing the reports of belief in a relatively supreme being and maker among tribes who do not worship ancestral spirits ; ” and ‘ ‘ secondly, by remarking the otiose unworshipped supreme being, often credited with the charge of future rewards and punishments, among polytheistic and ancestor- worshipping people.”
In defense of himself against Mr. Hartland’s inuendo, Mr. Lang replies that it is true enough that he holds that belief in “ a creative being (not a spirit, merely a being), before ghosts are worshipped,” “came in some way only to be guessed at.” “ But,” he adds, “ if I am to have an hypothesis like my neighbors, I have suggested that early man, looking for an origin of things, easily adopted the idea of a maker, usually an unborn man, who was before death and still exists. Round this being crystallized affection, fear and sense of duty; he sanctions morality and early man’s remarkable resistance to the cosmic tendency, his notion of unselfishness. That man should so early conceive a maker and father seems to me very probable; to my critics it is a difficulty. ... No speculation seems more inevitable ” (p. 225). Readers of our review of Mr. Lang’s Making of Relig- on (ix, 744) will remember that in this we are quite of Mr. Lang’s mind. That
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man should instinctively “ project himself upon the heavens ” seems to us so inevitable, in fact, that we can account for the difficulties which his critics find with Mr. Lang’s postulation of an anthropomorphic religion for early man only by a fatal one-sidedness in their methods— a one-sidedness which, in a word, forgets the subject in absorption with the object. It is not, after all, “primitive religion ” in the abstract that we are in search of, but the primitive religion of man. And the primitive religion of man can never be reached by methods which leave out of consideration man himself, the pro- ducing cause of the thing we are investigating.
Now, what we are saying amounts, of course, to suggesting that the so-called “ anthropological method ” requires to be supplemented by the “ psychological method,” in order that we may attain satisfying results in this sphere of investigation. No one will rise from reading the discussions of the origin and early forms of religion by our leading anthropologists, with- out a strong conviction that what is needed by these writers is a funda- mental study of the psychology of religion. The scoff implied in Mr. Hart- land’s professed inability to conceive how man could arrive directly at belief in a man-like supreme being grates a little on our susceptibilities. It is all very well to collect the phenomena of religion as they appear in the life of races and peoples and tribes, and to seek from these to construct a phenomo- logical schema of the course of religious development. Knowledge of how religion arises in the individual mind is, nevertheless, an indispensable pre- requisite to the safe interpretation of these phenomena. No more here than in other spheres of investigation is it other than pseudo-science to seek to interpret phenomena apart from the constitutive factor by which they were produced.
We are not saying that “ the anthropological method ” is useless and can lead to no sound conclusions. On the contrary we welcome Mr. Lang’s in- vestigations in this sphere just because “ the anthropological method ” has in his hands led to sound conclusions: conclusions which we think, on “anthro- pological ” grounds pure and simple, must stand. Though these conclusions are powerfully commended to us, because they are in harmony with the find- ings suggested to us by the psychological method also, yet their immense importance as “ anthropological ” conclusions is revealed when we attend to another consideration. We can imagine anthropologists objecting to the use of the psychological method altogether, or at least looking at it with a certain chary distrust, on the ground of a formed or half-formed or even perhaps sub-conscious doubt whether it is legitimate to attribute to “ primitive man ” the same mental movements observable in civilized man. We can imagine an extreme evolutionist saying, or at least feeling, that his business is to get behind the man whose mental workings he is conscious of in him- self, or can observe in his fellows— or even to get behind man himself, at least, as wre know man, to the half-bestial creature that once wras slowly becoming man. What he wishes to do is to observe how, in the process of other changes, this change also took place — this evolving being became a religious creature. Obviously, from this point of view, the intrusion into his work of considerations derived from a knowledge of the human mind as at present existing, and its normal workings, might confuse his entire reason- ing. It is of the utmost significance that Mr. Lang steps in at just this point and shows us that on “ anthropological grounds ” themselves, “ primitive religion ” is exhibited as “ anthropomorphic ” rather than as “ animistic ” or “ ancestor- worshipping.” And it is because he seems to us to have done this, that we attach an importance to his writings on this subject that from other points of view might well seem excessive. Primitive man is observed to have actually reasoned humanly.
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Mr. Lang’s main thesis, then, is, let us understand, that “nothing in savage religion is better vouched for than the belief in a being whom nar- rators of every sort call ‘ a Creator who holds all in his power ’ ” (pp. 9-10) ; and that this supreme being is not “envisaged as a spirit but rather as a supernormal magnified man of unbounded power and of limitless duration ” (p. 17). Thus, he contends, the earliest traceable form of religion was relatively high ; and it was due to the process of social evolution that it sub- sequently deteriorated to the low forms now so prevalent among savages. Now, this opinion, he remarks, may be attacked on two sides. It may be said that the loftier religious ideas of the lowest savages have been borrowed from higher religions into contact with which these savages have been brought — especially from Christianity or Islam. And the validity of the evidence itself by which these higher religious ideas are attributed to lower races may be assailed. The present volume is, for the most part, made up of essays in which these two modes of assault on his theory are met, although other factors in the problem and other attempts at a solution of it are also discussed.
First Mr. Tyler’s theory of “ loan-gods or borrowed religion ” is examined ; and it is shown that it will not account for the situation. It remains a fact that low savages, the most remote in time and place from the possibility of having borrowed their “ high gods,” yet do believe in a creator andmoral governor of the world. Then Mr. Frazer’s idea that magic has everywhere preceded religion, and indeed that religion has been invented only in despair of magic — when men had tried magic and found it wanting — is examined and equally found inconsistent with the facts. “ As to that despair, it does not exist ” : religion is found not as the successor of magic but existing fully developed side side by with superabundant magic. Next the central argu- ment of the new edition of Mr. Frazer’s Golden Bough is taken up — that horrible theory of the origin of the Jewish feast of Purim, by means of which he fancies he can account for the ascription of deity to our Lord. In a running criticism, covering about 125 pages — a criticism so desultorily written as to tax the patience of the reader sadly — this portentous piece of conjectural construction is fairly laughed out of court. Doubtless this was the right way to deal with the nest of unsupported and insupportable hypo- theses out of which Mr. Frazer has built his castle in the air ; but it makes certainly very confused reading. The result of the discussion is stated in a question, thus : “ Seriously, have we not in all this book [£. e., The Golden Bough'] to do with that method of arbitary conjecture which has ruined so many laborious philosophies of religion ?” Two further essays carry on the general line of investigation to which the book is devoted. In one of these Mr. Frazer’s primal theory — that built on “ the ghostly Priest ” — is subjected to a very telling criticism. In the other South African religion is restudied with a view to validating its original recognition of a “high god.” The volume closes with three essays on folk-lore and magic, which have no immediate relation to the main subject with which the volume deals.
We cannot praise the form into which Mr. Lang has cast the greater part of the discussions included in these pages. It has all of Mr. Lang’s worst faults in an exaggerated measure. But we consider the matter of the volume important as a buttress to the suggestions enunciated in The Making of Religion, and as a really conclusive exposure of the methods of Mr. Frazer in the Golden Bough. We do not see how any one, after reading Mr. Lang’s criticisms upon these methods, can treat the main lines of argument in that painful book seriously.
Princeton.
B. B. Warfield.
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II.— EXEGETICAL THEOLOGY.
Encyclopaedia Biblica. A Critical Dictionary of the Literary, Political and Religious History, the Archaeology, Geography and Natural History of the Bible. Edited by the Rev. T. C. Cheyne, M.A., D.D., Oriel Professor of the Interpretation of Holy Scripture at Oxford, and formerly Fellow of Balliol College, Canon of Rochester, and J. Suth- erland Black, M.A., LL.D., Formerly Assistant Editor of the Encyclopaedia Britannica. Volume III : L to P. London : Macmillan & Company, Ltd.; New York: The Macmillan Company, 1901. 4to, pp. xvi, and coll. 2689 to 3988.
The first volume of the Encyclopaedia Biblica was reviewed in The Pres- byterian and Reformed Review for July, 1900 (vol. xi, p. 516 seq .) ; and the second volume in the number for July, 1901 (vol. xii, p. 459 seq.). The third volume, continuing the work from L through P, now lies before us. It is not necessary at this late date to speak of the general character of the book — the beauty of its typography and the excellence of its manufacture, the fullness and exactitude of its scholarship, the radicalism of its standpoint, the reckless subjectivity of its method, the destructiveness of its results, the dogmatism of its tone. Those who do not know the book already must be referred to the notices of the former volumes for a general account of it. It will suffice at present merely to note that the third volume carries the enter- prise one step further toward completion on precisely the same lines. We still wonder at the immensity of detailed learning packed into it : at the ubiquitous and always brilliant touch of Dr. Cheyne’s versatile but not over- serious hand ; at the extremity of the views presented ; at the apparent determination animating the editor to produce a dictionary of the Bible which shall leave behind for the study of successors nothing that shall in any wise deserve the name of Bible.
Certainly the results here proclaimed as the findings thus far reached by “a scientific criticism,” take away from the writings which have been gathered into the Bible all that entitles them to be looked upon as constitut- ing anything that can be supposed to merit the name of “ The Book ” in any preeminent sense. Even the most precious records of the New Covenant do not escape. Dr. Schmiedel of Zurich had been called in, in the second volume, to assure us that the Gospels cannot be trusted to give a true picture of the founder of Christianity : nay, that the one thing which is to be assumed before all others as the foundation of evangelic criticism is that He was the precise contrast of the being they portray to us. In this volume the work of destruction is completed by calling in Dr. Van Manen of Leyden to assure us that we have no genuine letters of Paul. Of course Dr- Cone is equally sure wre have none from Peter. In a word, every shred of the New Testament is gone. The first age of Christianity it seems was barren of records. We have nothing that represents an age earlier than that of the epigoni. Naturally the old distinction between canonical and uncanonical literature is obliterated by this. In a special article devoted just to its obliteration — entitled “ Old Christian Literature,” i. e., the literature that belongs to the “ pre-canonizing period,” or in other words before A.D. 180— Dr. Van Manen tells us complacently: “The distinction is not a just one. . . . It does not in point of fact rest upon any real difference in the character or origin of the books concerned”; but only on a “dogmatic” “assumption,” “as if the New Testament contained the records of a special revelation” (col. 3472). Into what we call our New Testament there has merely been gathered a portion (perhaps the best por-
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tion) of the mainly pseudepigraphic literature of the second age of Chris- tianity, appealed to (mistakenly) as Apostolic in the third age, and so “ can- onized.” Behind these writings there loom up faintly certain figures to which they bear their doubtful testimony — the figure of Jesus, the figure of Paul, and doubtless the figures of other early missionaries who as well as Paul wrought to extend the religion of Jesus. That is all that we have left of the New Testament and of the founders of Christianity, We certainly ought to be thankful that we are left so much. There seems to be no reason, on the principles here acted on, why Paul himself should not have been sub- limated into a fiction, Jesus into a symbol, and Christianity into a (possibly pleasing) myth. Dr. Yan Manen is to be congratulated that he has not pushed matters to extremes.
Everything distinctive of Christianity as a historical religion is, certainly, in point of fact, somewhere or other in these volumes evaporated into the mist. Perhaps the special point of attack in the present volume may be not unfairly said to be the “ Virgin Birth ” of our Lord. Not content with the long argument which Prof. Schmiedel has developed against it under the title “ Mary,” Dr. Cheyne has called in Dr. Hugo Usener to attack it equally at length in a separate article entitled “ Nativity.” The two authors are thoi’oughly at one in their conclusions. The story of the virgin- birth is pure legend, built up on heathen, not even on Jewish, presupposi- tion. Merely as a piece of literature we prefer Usener’s presentation. But there is so little to choose otherwise between the two that one wonders why both were inserted — unless it were to provide against the possible contin- gency of a careless examiner of the Encyclopaedia missing knowledge of its unbelieving attitude toward this fundamental fact, lying at the basis of the Christian religion.
In connection with Usener’s discussion of the place of the Nativity (col. 3346) we have a characteristic instance of Dr. Cheyne’s fertility of expedient which ought not to be overlooked. Usener (as also Schmiedel) as a matter of course represents Nazareth as the birthplace of Jesus, and thinks worth dis- cussion only, “How was it possible for Bethlehem to set up competing claims ?” “ In this connection,” he remarks, “ it has been noticed that there was also a Bethlehem in Galilee, not far from Nazareth, which is men- tioned once in the Talmud as Bethlehem Noseriyyah. Our present problem, however, cannot be solved, but rather only further complicated, by this reference.” Dr. Cheyne at once interposes a dissenting note, referring us to his article on Nazareth. Turning thither we find him expressing doubt of the very existence of a Nazareth — as indeed the really thoroughgoing anti- biblical critic ought to, seeing that it is only the New Testament that witnesses to its existence. “ Nazareth ” with Dr. Cheyne is only a variant name for Galilee — as he had already explained under the title “ Gennesar ” in vol. ii. (col. 1678), where he supposes Gennesar to be compounded of {J and toi iu the sense of Galilee or a district of Galilee. “ The truth surely is,” accordingly, “ that Bethlehem noseriyyah means ‘ the Galilean Bethlehem.’ ” And it was here that Jesus was born ! ‘ 1 The title Bethlehem-Nazareth was misunderstood by some of the transmitters of the tradition, so that while some said ‘ Jesus was born at Bethlehem,’ others said 1 Jesus was born at Nazareth ’ ’’ (col. 3362.) From this point of view, let us punctually observe, there was after all a kernel of true tradition behind both the narratives : and the whole elaborate structure of the “ critics ” by which the birth-stories have been built up out of misapplied prophesies falls to the ground. So far as they exhibit the insecurity of the critical construction, the lightness with which their most thoroughly wrought-out theories are held even by them- selves, Dr. Cheyne’s remarks are therefore not without their instructiveness.
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Elsewhere also we find Dr. Cheyne acting similarly the role of enfant terrible in the household of criticism. The article on “ Purim ’’ for example is written by Mr. Johns of Queen’s College, Cambridge, with an appendix by Dr. Frazer of Golden Bough fame. Both writers make much of Babylon- ian connections and Dr. Frazer’s horrible theory, of course, rests wholly upon these. At the end Dr. Cheyne appends a note in which he throws the whole of this elaborate structure overboard. “ That Mordecai had no connection with Marduk .... appears to the present writer .... certain. Hadassah and Esther seem to be equally remote from Istar .... Even from the point of view of a conservative textual criticism it is difficult to make a con- nection of Purim with the Babylonian New Year’s festival probable, and from a text critical point of view it is most improbable ” (col. 3982). Truly we shall have to class Dr. Cheyne (to some extent) among the prophets !
We shall not be able to do Dr. Cheyne justice, however, until we hear him on “ Jerahmeel.” We have not heard him on it yet. He is to tell us all about it in a book yet to be published under the title of Critica Biblica. Mean- wThile he whets our appetite for the book and stretches our curiosity to the extreme by continual references to this “ Jerahmeel ” — which it seems is to unlock well nigh all the puzzles of the Old Testament, historical, critical, etymological. It is incredible how often Dr. Cheyne suggests that solutions of all kinds of problems are to be found in this mysterious “Jerahmeel.” We should not trust ourselves to estimate the number of Old Testament names which he indicates as corruptions of this protaean name : only an actual count would justify a reference to them. As the wonder grows in our mind a certain dissatisfaction grows also : we have been accustomed to look upon Encyclopaedias as aids in understanding books — now we are given puzzles in the Encyclopaedia and referred to unpublished books to explain them. Why was not “ Jerahmeel ” so far explained under “ Jerahmeel ” as to enable us to understand all these references ? Can it be that Dr. Cheyne had not yet discovered “ Jerahmeel ” in its full potency until after the second volume of the Encyclopaedia was published ? All the phenomena point that way.
Enough has been said to show that, in this volume too, Dr. Cheyne is everywhere busy adding gaiety if not light to the page. Fifty-eight helpers have been called to his assistance in preparing the material. Of these over a score are Continental scholars — Benziger, Bertholet, Budde, Deissmann, Duhm, Gautier, Guthe, Jiilicher, Kautzsch, Kosters, Van Manen, Marti, Meyer, Nestle, Noldeke, Schmiedel, Socin, Tiele,Usener, Yoltz, Wellhausen, Winkler, Zimmern. There are eight American writers represented. The most copious of these is Prof. George F. Moore, formerly of Andover, now of Harvard University. His contributions continue the two series he had begun in earlier volumes — Pentateuchal Introduction (‘Leviticus,’ ‘Num- bers’) and Idolatry (‘ Massebah,’ ‘Molech,’ ‘Nature Worship’): there is also a comprehensive article on * Philistines.’ Prof. W. Max Muller, of Phila- delphia, continues to treat Egyptian subjects (‘Nile,’ ‘Iso,’ ‘Noph,’
‘ Pharaoh ’ ‘ Phinehas,’ ‘ Pithom ’). Dr. Torrey, of Andover, deals with the Maccabees, both with the family and with the Books ; as also with Malachi. Dr. Toy treats ‘ Proverbs,’ and Dr. Cone the Epistles of Peter. Dr. Francis Brown contributes a brief philological introduction to Dr. Tiele’s compre- hensive article on ‘Persia.’ Prof. G. A. Barton, Ph.D., of Bryn Mawr, writes at length on ‘ Numbers ’; and Dr. Prince, of New York University, writes fully on ‘ Music.’
Among the more notable articles must be numbered naturally those on the several books of the Bible. There fall to be treated in this volume Lamentations, Levi*-icus5 Malachi, Micha, Nahum, Nehemiah, Numbers,
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Obadiah, Psalms, Proverbs, Philippians, Philemon and Peter’s Epistles. Such assignments as ‘ Names ’ to Prof. G. B. Gray ; ‘ Parables ’ to Prof. Jiilicher ; ‘ Nehemiah ’ to the late Prof. Kosters ; ‘ Proverbs ’ to Prof. Toy ; ‘ Papyri ’ to Prof. Deissmann, insured thorough treatment of the topics, though at the same time excluded all novelty— except of course when Dr. Cheyne intervenes with additions and notes. A few cuts (e. g., under ‘ Music,’ ‘ Palace,’ ‘ Penny,’ ‘ Pottery ’) and eight good maps illustrate the text.
Princeton. Benj. B. Warfield.
Our Bible and the Ancient Manuscripts, being a History of the Text and its Translations. By Frederic G. Kenyon, M.A., D.Litt., Hon. Ph.D. of Halle University ; Late Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford. With 26 Facsimiles. Second Edition. Eyre and Spottis- woode, etc. 1896. 8vo, pp. xi, 255. Third Edition, revised and enlarged, with 29 Facsimiles and an Appendix on Recent Biblical Dis- coveries, 1898.
The Palaeography of Greek Papyri. By Frederic G. Kenyon, M.A., Late Fellow of Magdalen College, Hon. Ph.D. (Halle), D.Litt. (Durham), Assistant Keeper of Manuscripts, British Museum. With Twenty Facsimiles and a Table of Alphabets. Oxford : At the Claren- don Press, 1899. 8vo, viii, 160.
Handbook to the Textual Criticism of the New Testament. By Frederic G. Kenyon, Assistant Keeper of Manuscripts, British Museum. With Sixteen Facsimiles. London : Macmillan and Co., Limited ; New York : The Macmillan Company, 1901. 8vo, pp. xi, 321.
The publication of Dr. Kenyon’s Handbook to the Textual Criticism of the New Testament furnishes a fit occasion for bringing together for cursory remark the chief contributions he has hitherto made to the better or wider understanding of the history and state of the text of the New Testament. We have accordingly associated with this latest of his works on the subject two earlier publications, one more popular, one more scientific in its scope, to both of which the present volume bears a somewhat close relation. We have observed the attribution to him of yet another volume which would naturally fall into the same series — a collection of Facsimiles of Biblical Manuscripts in the British Museum (1900) : but this happens not to have fallen in our way. There is also, of course, the somewhat long list of his editions of Greek texts from the British Museum papyri, which more remotely bear upon his work on the problems of the New Testament text. These began, it will be remembered, with almost the unexpectedness of an explosion, in the simultaneous publication in 1891 of the text and transla- tion of Aristotle’s Constitution of the Athenians and the volume of Classical Texts from Papyri in the British Museum, containing fragments of Demos- thenes, Herodas, Homer, Hyperides, Isocates, etc. Certainly here was an achievement for a young man under thirty, whose scientific expression hith- erto had been practically confined to the preparation of the earlier parts of the Catalogue of Additions to the Department of Manuscripts in the British Museum (1888-1893). A separate facsimile edition of Herodas and an edition of the Orations of Hyperides against Athenogenes and Philippides (1892) quickly followed. Later there was added an edition of the Odes of Bacchy- lides (1897), while other papyri fragments have been from time to time given to the world through the periodical press (Class. Rev. vi, 436; Rev. de Phil. xvi. 181, xxi. 1 ; Journal of Philology , xxi. 296 ; Melanges Weil , 1898, p. 243),
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and still others in those beautiful volumes, Greek Papyri in the British. Mu- seum, Catalogue irith Texts — the first of which with 150 plates appeared in 1893, and the second with 123 plates in 1898. In the comprehensive Intro- duction to this last-named work, we find much which has been drawn upon — with appropriate amplifications and modifications, of course — in the books which we have placed at the head of this article, and to this extent this Catalogue might readily be looked upon as part of Dr. Kenyon’s direct preparation for writing his latest book, with which we are now more imme- diately concerned. But it is not unfair to treat the whole series as bearing witness rather to Dr. Kenyon’s general palseographical learning, and thus as only indirectly facilitating the preparation of his treatise on New Testament Textual Criticism. With the two earlier books, which we have placed at the head of this article, the case is different: in different ways and degrees, it is true, but equally really, both stand immediately at the root of the Textual Criticism and contribute directly to its pages. It might almost be said, in fact, that this treatise is but an amplified, enriched and scientifically height- ened recension of the portion of Our Bible and the Ancient Manuscripts dealing with the New Testament Text, which, among other additions, has incorporated also the cream of The Palaeography of the Greek Papyri , so far as it is applicable to the New Testament.
It is not our purpose, however, to revert to these volumes more than is necessary to call attention to them and place them in their right relation to the volume more particularly in hand. The earlier of them is a remarkably successful attempt to put into the hands of educated Bible readers a readable and accurate account of how the Bible has come down to us. It opens with three general chapters on Variations in the Bible Text, The Authorities for the Bible Text and The Original Manuscripts of the Bible. The Hebrew Text and the Versions of the Old Testament are then treated in two chapters ; and these are succeeded by three in which the Text, MSS. and Versions of the New Testament are dealt with. A single chapter is given to the Vulgate in the Middle Ages : and then the book closes with two chapters tracing the fortunes of the English Bible, in its Manuscript and Printed Forms. No pretention is made to originality : the book is frankly based on the work of others, which it only proposes to popularize. Its note is sobriety and judi- ciousness. Only in a single matter has it gone astray by accepting bad guid- ance. This is a very serious matter in itself, though here of less importance because forming no essential part of the book : it concerns the account given of the origin and history of the Canon, both Old Testament and New (cf.pp. 27, 95). One wonders, again, that Dr. Kenyon, of all men, wTith his firsthand knowledge of papyrus documents, should not have known in 189S how the papyrus-paper was manufactured (p. 19 : the matter is set right in the later books — Papyri, p. 16 ; Text, p. 19) . But (with the exception of the mat ter of the Canon) they are only minute flaws that can be picked in this good book. It easily takes rank with the best popular expositions we have.
The treatise on The Palaeography of Greek Papyri stands at the opposite pole from Our Bible and the Ancient Manuscripts in point of originality. This is original or nothing : it pretends to be only an essay, but it undertakes to break entirely new ground. Though strictly scientific in contents, it is so clearly written and marshals its material with such skill that its interest is by no means dependent solely on its novelty. The brief opening chapter, entitled “ The Range of the Subject,” contains a welcome precis of the his- tory of the recovery of papyrus documents, chiefly from the sands of Egypt. The second chapter summarizes what is known of papyrus as a writing material, and provides what w'e may call the archaeology of the subject. The palaeography of the non-literary papyri is briefly surveyed in the third
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chapter; this branch of the general subject being passed over succinctly because it is not new. The proper subject of the book is reached in the fourth and fifth chapters, in which the palaeography of the literary papyri is for the first time worked out systematically. Finally the transition to vellum is described in a sixth chapter, and some useful tables and lists are added in an appendix. The quality of sobriety and judiciousness which characterized the more popular volume are equally in evidence in this, and gives an air of fine restraint to the whole which vastly adds to the comfortable confidence of the reader : he is easily persuaded that he is in the hands of a competent and safe guide and passes on from page to page in a docile spirit. For a book breaking new ground this is a noticeably modest and eminently satisfying one.
On turning to the Handbook to the Textual Criticism of the New Testament , one notes at once the same qualities of style, tone, manner which character- ized its predecessors. It is an eminently well-written book : it is a markedly calm and sober book : it is a thoroughly well-informed book. The same tone of moderation and good judgment which met the reader in the former vol- umes delights him here also. It is a positive pleasure to read these quiet, judicious pages, so free from all special pleading, and so aloof from all whimsical extravagances. One feels assured from the outset that he is get- ting a fair summary of the present attainment of the art in which he is being instructed. Perhaps he will miss a little the individual note ; will feel the lack of the stimulus that attends enthusiastic advocacy ; and will scarcely avoid receiving an impression that he is getting an essentially outside view of the subject — something like the summing up of a judge in a case in which he has had no personal part to play. His consolation will be that he feels himself in the hands of a fair-minded and well-informed judge whose guidance he can trust.
The eminent sobriety of the book is at once brought to the attention of the reader in the opening chapter, where the function of criticism is expounded. He will note for example with satisfaction the circumspect position taken up with reference to the practice of conjectural emendation (pp. 2, 6, 14-15). It is “ a process precarious in the extreme, and seldom allowing any one but the guesser to feel confident in the truth of its results.” “ Where documentary evidence is plentiful, conjecture will be scarce ; but when the former is want- ing, the latter will have to try to take its place to the best of its ability. In the case of the New Testament the documentary evidence is so full that con- jecture is almost excluded.” “ When the evidence is so plentiful and varied as it is for the New Testament, the chances that the true reading shall have been lost by all are plainly very much smaller. It is universally agreed that the sphere of conjecture in the case of the New Testament is infinitesimal ; and it may further be added that for practical purposes it may be treated as non-existent. No authority could be attributed to words which rested only upon conjecture.” This is eminently prudent. But the reader may be par- doned for wondering whether it goes to the bottom of the matter. He will certainly desiderate some account of the nature of the conjectural process and the natural limitations of its use. This he does not get.
For it will not suffice him to be told that exceptionally plentiful or early attestation will exclude it. If he is a receiver of letters, he knows from his own experience that autographs themselves constantly contain errors which conjecture both can and must remove. If he is a reader of popular literature, he knows from repeated observation that such errors may persist through a million copies issued in scores of editions. He has himself corrected hundreds of them. He opens, we will say, the fifth volume of the English Translation of Harnack’s History of Dogma, at Chapter vi (p. 274), and he reads in the title of the chapter of “ The Cralovingian Renaissance.” Will
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he hesitate to correct this at once to “ Carlovingian ?” A few lines lower down he reads of “ the Neoplatonic type of thouoht ” : and with as little hesitation corrects the errant second “ o ” into a “ g.” He turns the page and on p. 277 the word “ activite ” meets his eye and is at once made “ activity ” : and when a little lower down he reads “the king-emperor of the Franks and Romans was the successor of Augustine and Constantine,” he as promptly corrects the “ Augustine ” into “ Augustus.” Nor does he hesitate on p. 285 when he reads that “ Christ was as man sacrificed for sakes ” to insert “ men’s ” before “ sakes,” nor a little lower down to change the order of the words “ the then Incarnation ” to “ then the Incarnation.” Neither does he do all this with fear and trembling, but with confidence and assurance.
Nor will he be satisfied by being told that the sacred text is too holy to be thus corrected by conjecture. If it is obviously wrong he will be apt to think it too holy not to be corrected, whether by conjecture or what not, so only it be corrected. He takes up, for example, the Brevier 16mo edition of the Revised New Testament, issued at the Cambridge University Press in 1881, and at 1 Cor. iii. 5, he reads : “ What then is Apollos ? and what is Paul ? Ministers through whom ye Lord believed; and each as the gave to him.” Because this is a sacred text, will he decline to transfer the word “ Lord ” to its proper place before the word “ gave ?” Or he takes up the “ Editio critica minor ex viii maiore desumpta ” of Tischendorf, published in 1878, and on p. 945 he runs into mere nonsense, due to the misplacement of a whole line from the first to the seventh place on the page. Sacred as the text is, he is not likely to wait to consult the MSS. before he readjusts the lines and goes on his way in entire confidence both in his readjustment and in the authority of the text as readjusted. Or if he takes up the Barker and Bill Bible of 1631 and reads at Ex. xx. 14, “ Thou shalt commit adultery,” will he decline to insert at once the “ not ” so obviously required, or to act on the thus amended text, because forsooth “ no authority can be attached to words which rest only upon conjecture ?” Would he have to wait until he consulted other copies (which are happily extant and accessible in these cases) before he gave full confidence to such conjectures and assigned full authority to them ? We must not confuse the authority due to the Biblical text with the method of procedure by which the Biblical text is ascertained. When once ascertained, it has the authority that belongs to it as the Biblical text: and the only valid question is, Whether it is really ascertained. This question clearly has nothing to do with the nature of the text ascertained, but purely with the nature of the processes by which it is ascertained. Pro- cesses that are valid for the ascertainment of a secular are equally valid for the ascertainment of a sacred text, aud it has no bearing on their validity that the texts when thus validly ascertained have the imperative of law in them, or the authority of God’s holy word.
Enough has doubtless been said, however, to make it manifest that appeals to the sacredness of the New Testament text, to the multitude of its depositories, to the antiquity of its attestation, do not really touch the ques- tion of the applicability of conjectural criticism to it. There are limits to the successful use of conjectural emendation : but Dr. Kenyon’s comfort- able remarks do not even hint to us what they are or where they are to be found. Roughly speaking, they may be suggested by the broad remark that a bad text may be successfully emended by conjecture ; a good text, not. That is to say, in proportion as a text is really bad— in proportion as gross errors are sown thickly through it — in that proportion does conjectural emendation find its opportunity; just as any one, looking over a “dirty proof-sheet,” will find numerous opportunities to correct it without con-
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suiting the “ copy ” — errors of spelling, errors of grammar, errors of trans- position, omission, insertion and the like. On the other hand, in proportion as a text is good, in that proportion does the sphere of the safe application of conjectural emendation shrink. This is because in a good text all the grosser errors have been eliminated, and such errors as remain belong to a different order : it is no longer a question of mere blunders of careless repro- duction but a subtle question of style or meaning — and here tastes differ and the fear lies near at hand that we are not correcting the scribe but the author himself, and hence not restoring but corrupting his text. The reason why the New Testament text is inaccessible to conjectural emendation is then, not because we have so many witnesses to it, nor because we have such early witness to it, nor yet because it is so sacred — though each of these facts doubtless enters, in its own way, into the production of the correctness which has secured the result — but shortly because it has been so excellently transmitted to us. The New Testament text, as it comes into our hands, is so good a text that there has been eliminated from it th e forties conjectures.
Even here, however, we need to make distinctions. The New Testament text as it lies in any given single manuscript is certainly not removed from correction by conjecture ; it rather gives occasion for even the easiest and most obvious conjectures. No manuscript in existence is free from a set of incuria which any and every reader of it will correct as he reads — just as he will correct the incuria of any printed book, as we illustrated above from a few pages of Harnack’s History of Dogma. If we needed to print the New Testament from a single codex — as many of the classical authors have been from time to time printed — we should need cursorily to correct it, as we cur- sorily correct them, by conjecture pure and simple, without raising any question about the propriety of the process. When we speak of the inapplica- bility or the practical inapplicability of conjectural emendation to the New Testament text, we are having in mind not that text as it lies actually in this or that single document, but an already emended text derived from a comparison of witnesses and already editorially revised. And the reason why this already castigated text is inaccessible to conjectural emendation is simply because it is so good a text that the opportunity for conjectural emendation has been removed. Still another distinction, however, must be made at this point. If the New Testament text is removed by its excellence from the chance of emendation by conjecture, it is still not removed from the application of conjectural criticism. No text can be too good to be criti- cised : the only proof we can have of its excellence is through criticism. The autograph itself, if we had it, and whatever approach to the autographic text we may have attained by our most careful and wise use of the documen- tary evidence, must be subject to the further critical scrutiny of our best powers to betray its shortcomings or certify its correctness. The last resort in any process of criticism, bestowed on any text whatever, is just conjectural criticism. That is to say, the final step in settling any text is the careful scrutiny of the text as provisionally determined, with a view to learn- ing whether it commends itself to the critical judgment as the very text of its author. This is essentially the application of the conjectural process to the entire text : and it is just as essentially this if no errors are detected by the process or no remedies for detected errors suggested, as it would be if it were found still full of difficulties and impossibilities, cures for which we proceed to suggest. So far is it then from true to say that conjectural criti- cism has no place in the text of the New Testament, and that we must have some surer foundation for the authoritative Word of Life than conjecture can supply, that it would be truer to say that the final establishment of every word of the New Testament is due to the application of this mode of criti-
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cism, and that it is on its authority that our ultimate confidence is built that what we have in our hands is the veritable Word of Life that God has given us through His servants the Apostles. It may sound paradoxical : it is in truth a paradox of just the same order as the fundamental philosophical truth that all knowledge is built on faith: and it is just as true as that undeniable proposition. No more cau the documentary critic boast himself as over against the “ conjectural critic,” than can the sensationalist boast himself over the “ believer.”
We have permitted ourselves to run beyond all reason in these remarks on conjectural criticism because we have fancied they might so illustrate the matter as to permit us to say more intelligibly what we wish to say in the way of criticism of Dr. Kenyon’s book. We have already remarked that he seems to approach the subject of the textual criticism of the New Testa- ment a little too much from the outside— as if he had not after all entered sympathetically into its processes. We wish to add that accordingly far too preponderant a place is in this volume given to the externalia of the art with which it deals. Dr. Kenyon tells us all about the Manuscripts, and the Versions and the Patristic quotations ; he tells us all about the history of the art in the past ; he outlines the present state of the textual problem as it is discussed in the schools : and all with admirable skill. Nobody could do it better. But as to the art of textual criticism itself — the reader will rise from the book but little wiser than he opened it. He has not read a page without pleasure ; he has not read a page without profit ; he has not read a page without admiration. For all that Dr. Kenyon has set out to tell us, we could not have had a better guide. But Dr. Kenyon has not elected to tell us how we must proceed in undertaking the great and, to each of us, indeed necessary task of actually criticising the text of the New Testa- ment. He informs us (pp. 15, 16), that “the function of the textual critic is, first, to collect documentary evidence, and, secondly, to examine it and estimate its value.” There is not a word about applying it to the actual formation of the text ! Accordingly, he goes on to say : “ The object of the present volume is to show what has been done in both these directions.” It is no part of its object, then, to teach us how to exercise the art of textual criticism. Its point of view is purely historical and at most it provides us with an estimate of a condition attained. “ In Chapters ii-vi,” he proceeds, “ an account will be given of the available textual material — the copies of the New Testament in the original Greek, the ancient translations of it into other languages and the quotations from it which are found in the early writers of the Christian Church. The materials having been thus passed in review, an attempt will be made in Chapters vii and viii to sum- marize what has hitherto been done in the way of using these materials, to discuss the principal theories now current with regard to the early history of the New Testament text aud to estimate the general position of the textual problem of the present day.” This is an exact record of the contents of the volume. All this is done and done admirably. But when all this is done there yet remains the whole subject of the textual criticism of the New Tes- tament. In a word, Dr. Kenyon’s volume is devoted to the externalia of the subject and treats these externalia exceedingly well. He does not profess to do more. He does not do more.
It will be observed that our criticism of the volume turns rather on what it does not contain than on what it does contain. The volume is indeed somewhat remarkable for its omissions. There are minor surprises in this regard as well as the great surprise we have tried to suggest. We read over the table of contents : I. The Function of Textual Criticism ; II. The Autographs of the New Testament; III. The Uncial Manuscripts; IV. The
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Minuscule Manuscripts ; V. The Ancient Versions; VI. Patristic Quota- tions; VII. Textual Criticism in the Past; VIII. The Textual Problem. Where shall we find what we may call the archaeology of the subject discussed ? Where shall we look for some sufficing account of various readings, their ordinary character, their several modes of origination ? Where shall we discover the proper modes of dealing with these variations outlined: the different kinds of evidence, internal, whether intrinsic or transcriptional, and external, in its various modes of application ? What has become of the Lec- tionaries ? But we pause in the long list of inevitable questions. Compare the table of contents of a contemporaneously appearing primer on The Text of the New Testament — almost in its contents as defective as this— we mean the Rev. K. Lake’s contribution to the “ Oxford Church Text-Books” (London, Rivingtons, 1901, foolscap 8vo, pp. 154) — and we shall see at least how odd it is that some of these topics are not formally recognized as substan- tial constituents of a Handbook to the Textual Criticism of the New Testa- ment. Mr. Lake’s table runs : The Object and Method of Textual Criticism ; The Apparatus Criticus of the New Testament — the Greek MSS., the Ver- sions, Patristic Quotations, Liturgical Evidence; Chapter Divisions and Stichometry ; History of Modern Criticism ; The Western Text.
No doubt some of the topics left unrecognized in Dr. Kenyon’s table of contents are nevertheless to be found tucked away in some corner or other of the book. The index helps us to discover an incidental mention of the Lection- aries among the pages devoted to the Minuscule MSS. (pp. 109, 122). Some classes of variations and some canons of criticism are cursorily mentioned and even criticised in the opening chapter on “ The Function of Textual Criti- cism.” Some archaeological and palseographical details are given in connec- tion with the descriptions of the MSS. And perhaps some suggestions as to the method of procedure in criticism may be picked up in the course of the historical remarks that occupy the concluding chapters. But this only advises us that there is not only an insufficiency in the treatment of these things, but also a confusion of formal arrangement of the material. This formal confusion emerges even in the captions of the chapters. What are we to make of the caption of the second chapter, for instance : “ The Auto- graphs of the New Testament ” ? Of course this chapter does not treat of “the autographs of the New Testament.” It is, on the contrary, a very illuminating description of the first period of “ The Manuscript history of the New Testament” — the period during which it was propagated on papyrus, a period of which Dr. Kenyon has a special right to speak with authority and on which he writes most interestingly and instructively. It is with some- thing like irritation that we see hidden under such a misleading title this admirable chapter, in some respects the most welcome in the volume, out- lining as it does the history of the New Testament for nearly four centuries and adding a new chapter to that history from firsthand knowledge.
Next after this chapter on the Papyrus period, the two closing chapters of the book are likely to commend themselves to the reader. The intermediate chapters leave little to be desired in the presentation of their own subjects : but they are necessarily more of the nature of compilations and have less of the attraction of novelty. The penultimate chapter surveys the history of text- ual criticism in the past ; the last one, under the title of “ The Textual Prob- lem,” really summarizes recent discussion regarding the families of text precised by Dr. Hort. Both turn as on a pivot upon Dr. Hort’s textual theory, and provide a most useful account of the debates that have raged of late around it — especially with reference to the origin and value of the so- called “Western text,” — giving a singularly judicial summing up of the results so far. Dr. Kenyon finds Dr. Hort’s working out of the history of 31
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the text essentially unaffected by more recent investigation. His own view he represents as “ substantially the same as that of Hort, though with some modifications.” He outlines it as follows : “ The early history of the New Testament text presents itself to us as an irregular diffusion of the various books among the individuals and communities which embraced Christianity, with few safeguards against alteration, whether deliberate or unintentional. To that stage, which follows very soon on the production of the original auto- graphs, belong the various readings, early in their attestation yet compara- tively rarely convincing in themselves, which we call the <5 text, and which Hort terms ‘ Western,’ and Blass (in the case of the two books of St. Luke) ‘Roman.’ In Egypt alone (or principally) a higher standard of textual fidelity prevailed, and in the literary atmosphere of Alexandria and the other great towns a comparatively pure text was preserved. This has come down to us (possibly by way of Urigen and his pupils) iu the Codex Yaticanus and its allies, and is what we have called the /3 text, and what Hort calls ‘ Neutral.’ Another text, also found in Egyptian authorities, and differing from the last only in minor details, is that which we call the y text, and Hort ‘ Alexandrian.’ Finally there is the text which, originating in the neighborhood of Antioch about the end of the third century, drew together many of the various readings then in existence, and with many minor modi- fications developed into a form which was generally adopted as satisfactory throughout the Eastern Church. This is the a text of our nomenclature, Hort’s ‘ Syrian ’ ; the text which monopolized our printed editions until the nineteenth century, but which is now abandoned by all but a few scholars ” (pp. 309-10). Dr. Kenyon rightly represents this as substantially Dr. Hort’s construction of the history.
The modification of Dr. Hort’s position which he thinks recent research points to consists in a slight abatement of the hegemony which Dr. Hort ascribed to the “ Neutral text,” and a consequent admission of the probabil- ity that “ among much that is supposititious there is also something that is original ” preserved in the Western text. Put in this general way there is nothing in this proposition which Dr. Hort could ever have thought of deny- ing : as Dr. Kenyon at once points out, instancing the case of the readings which Dr. Hort awkwardly called “ Western non-interpolations.” Appar- ently what Dr. Kenyon means to suggest is simply that more “Western” readings may ultimately have to be accepted as over against “Neutral ” read- ings than Dr. Hort supposed. Certainly this may well be true ; it may easily be true under Dr. Hort’s reading of the history of the text. But it is worth while to keep iu mind that it was not alone on “genealogical ” principles that Dr. Hort’s preference for the “ Neutral ” text was based. It was equally ou the verdict of “internal evidence of classes” and “internal evidence of groups.” And here we must call attention to the neglect of these powerful instruments of criticism of which both Dr. Kenyon and Mr. Lake aie guilty in their exposition of Dr. Ilort’s theory of criticism. They seem to have focussed their attention so exclusively on Dr. Hort’s genealogical distribution of the texts that they have permitted to slip out of view his exposition of the critical processes which he calls by these names. No doubt there are faint echoes of them left even in Dr. Kenyon’s exposition : but they are so faint that they give no proper account of themselves and pass practically off the stage altogether. The consequence is that Dr. Hort’s theory appears as practically only a theory of the history of the text, and even his genealogical method falls back into practically little more as an engine of criticism than Dr. Tregelles’ “comparative criticism.” It is much more than this; and supplies, by its attention to the force of attestation consisting of cross-wit- nesses, an organon of a value not known before his day. When further
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reinforced by the results of his “ internal evidence of groups ” and “ internal evidence of classes ” it has a value and decisiveness which no reader of Dr. Kenyon’s account of it would be likely to perceive. The essence of the matter may be summed up in a word by saying that Dr. Hort trusts his “ Neutral ” text so fully not merely because he adjudges it the earliest and most carefully transmitted text, but because he has thoroughly tested it and finds it in any case supereminently the best text. The “Western” text is treated as a corrupt text, not in forgetfulness of its early and wide distri- bution, but because on testing it betrays itself, whatever its origin, intrin- sically a depraved text. Dr. Hort has solid reasons to give for this judgment : it is a pity to permit these reasons to fall out of notice and to treat the ques- tion as if it were chiefly one of age and distribution and external attestation.
This neglect of the elaborate processes of “ internal evidence of groups ” and “ internal evidence of classes ” in the exposition and estimate of Dr. Hort’s theory is symptomatic of the age as well as peculiarly characteristic of the external tone of Dr. Kenyon’s book. Dr. Kenyon almost seems to fancy that we can get along in reconstructing the text of the New Testament very much with the external evidence alone. Nothing could be more mistaken. The use of internal evidence, recognized or unrecognized — both intrinsic and transcriptional — accompanies every step of the process, and it is not the least of the merits of Dr. Hort’s method that this constant dependence of critical procedure on internal evidence is drawn out from obscurity and made explicit. Had Dr. Kenyon given us such a chapter as no one could have written better and as ought to have been included in his excellent treatise, on the methods and processes, the philosophy and the practice of criti- cism, he would have been forced to acknowledge and expound the place of internal evidence in every step of the work ; and he could never have left his readers in ignorance of the large part it plays in Dr. Hort’s methods and the unavoidably constant use made of it by every critic who actually forms a text. Neither could he have left his readers supposing that the ultimate question of the “ Western” text is the question of its origin rather than the question of its value. We do not know when, where or how it came into being ; but there is an organon of criticism in our hands by which, pending the settlement of these questions, we can already assure ourselves that it is not the original text of the New Testament, just because it can be shown to be a corrupt text— the most corrupt text in fact that has ever had a large circulation in the Church.
It does not follow, naturally, that the question of the origin of the “ Western ” text is of little interest or of little importance. It has rightly become the leading question of post-Hortian investigation. But the very character of the text itself excludes, from the beginning, all hypotheses con- cerning its origin which would make it out to be the original text of the New Testament. We do not ourselves see why the most likely hypothesis of its origin may not be found in a modification of Prof. Ramsay’s theory of its origination in a revision by an Asiatic scribe, or, to speak more exactly, in a multiplication and distribution of his glossator. In his admir- able chapter on the Papyrus period of the New Testament transmission, Dr. Kenyon draws a vivid picture of how we must suppose that the New Testa- ment circulated in this period. He has, wholly unnecessarily, introduced into this account some highly unsupported and insupportable views as to the origin and history of the New Testament canon (pp. 23, 39-40, 270). There never was a time when the New Testament books were “ regarded as ordin- ary books and not as sacred ” — at least if we are to let history decide the question for us. There never was a time when the text, because so looked upon, was treated with a certain contempt by those who yet valued it suffi-
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cienlly to copy it. The character of the monuments of the text is enough to assure us of that — choose we even designedly the worst text extant as a wit- ness. But there was a time when the multiplication of the New Testament manuscripts was in the hands not of professional “ publishers,” but of pri- vate zeal : when it was circulated from hand to hand and, as it were, subter- raneously, as believer after believer sought and obtained this or that fragment of it for his own use — a single book or, at most, group of books — possibly labo- riously copied by himself from a companion’s cherished exemplar, almost cer- tainly secured painfully at the hand of some amateur copyist. This mode of propagating itself belonged to that “ servant form ” which the New Testa- ment shares with Christianity itself and Christianity’s Founder ; it must needs so make its way among the humble of the earth, whose names are written in heaven.
Consider how the Book of Acts, for instance, thus passed from hand to hand— laboriously, unskillfully, but most lovingly copied out by un- wonted fingers on the cheapest of material, from the cherished manuscript of some humble Christian “ evangelist ” or “ prophet ” perchance— long carried in his bosom, often thumbed with clumsy, work-worn fingers, rubbed, frayed, annotated with loving care to mark its sense and preserve items of information picked up here and there and thought fitted to illu- minate the narrative, perhaps even to enrich it. How could such a text as the “ Western ” fail to grow up in such circumstances ? In a region like the Mediterranean littoral from Caesarea to Rome, full of humble Christians of whom some had known Paul, many, those who had known Paul, and all knew something of an intimate character of this or that locality or of the origin and history of this or that church touched on in the narra- tive— can it surprise us that the text so framing itself should be filled with bits of authentic information possessing every mark of original and firsthand knowledge ? Consider how notes first put into the margin by a Mnason or a Tychicus, or some one who had known such “ ancient believers,” would be cherished by the humble copyist who was “ privileged ” to transcribe them. And consider at the same time how less “authentic” annotations would inevitably become confused in the course of time with these. For ourselves we do not see how a text like the “ Western ” text of Acts could fail to grow up in the conditions in which this book was certainly circulated through the first lour hundred years. And the character of the “ Western ” text of Acts is in our judgment the standing and shining testimony, not to the license with which the text of the book was treated, but to the amazing care with which it was dealt with, the real reverence with which it must have beeu handled. It is, after all is said, a great wonder that the text did not come out of these four centuries of private multiplication mangled and mauled beyond recogni- tion. Nothing could have preserved it so pure except such a reverential hand- ling as comported with its sacred character.
In a word the glossator who made the Western text— which is not a uni- form text in all documents representing it, it must be remembered, but has its local and temporal variations — may well have been the Christian commu- nity itself from Jei'usalem to Rome, working with “ local knowledge ” at its disposal as well as with loving zeal. The Western text in this view would be just “ the popular ” text of the first four centuries. Alongside of it would coexist, of course, what we may venture, for the sake of a distinction, to call “the ecclesiastical” or “the official” text, provided we do not read into these terms later connotations : we mean a text propagated for the use of churches rather than of individuals, and therefore much more carefully, or perhaps we should rather say effectually, guarded, copied doubtless by professional hands, taken from old and well-preserved
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copies in use in mother-churches and the like. This transmission would continue a line of descent for the text of a more “ aristocratic ” and of a more trustworthy kind, and would naturally provide a text to which other texts in circulation would stand related as either corrupt popular parallels or artificial scholastic revisions. If we do not mistake we have in this general scheme the real nature of the “ Neutral,” “ Western ” and “ Alexandrian ” texts suggested. And looking at the whole problem from some such point of view, no discovery of the antiquity of the Western text, its wide exten- sion, the exactness and air of original information of many of its distinctive readings, and the like, can disturb us: it is all just what we should expect and we are thoroughly prepared for it. It is all full of interest to us : all full of instruction : historically we expect to profit much from it : but we shall be slow in prefering the “ popular ” text to the “ official ” text-
Meanwhile, let us repeat that even with the “ Western ” text in view, we can scarcely emphasize too strongly the excellence of the transmitted text of the New Testament. Dr. Kenyon has some admirable remarks in his open- ing chapter on the superiority of the New Testament transmission to that of classical authors, in point both of number of witnesses and relative closeness of testimony. Its superiority in exactness of textual transmission is even more marked. Dr. Hort’s estimate is that in seven-eighths of the New Testa- ment we have the actual autographic text in hand, and in nine hundred and ninety-nine thousandths of it practically so. This is no exaggeration. We may read nine hundred and ninety-nine words consecutively with the comfort- able feeling that we are reading the author’s own words : and then we may put our finger on the thousandth word and estimate precisely the amount of doubt that attaches to it and the amount of difference in sense that would result in the settlement of the doubt in any possible way. This is of the providence of God, and ought to be recognized as such. What actually printed text is nearest to the autographic text, it may meanwhile be some- what difficult to decide. We certainly should not with Dr. Kenyon recom- mend the text that underlies the Revision of the English Bible made in 1881, as a standard text for common use. This text does not even pretend to pro- vide a standard text : but is essentially a compromise text altered from the Receptus only where compulsion was laid on the Revisers. Mr. Weymouth’s or Dr. Nestle’s “resultant” text would be better: Westcott and Hort or Weiss better still. What the practical worker really needs is a good text, say Westcott and Hort’s ; a good digest of readings, either full or such as is given in Dr. Hort’s Introduction or Dr. Sanday’s Appendix; and a brief practical outline of how to use the evidence, such as is given, for example, at the end of Dr. Hort’s first volume. So equipped even the beginner may hopefully enter into the work of scrutinizing the text of the New Testament. If now he wishes to know all the important things about the externaha of the art of textual criticism as applied to the New Testament, what can he do better than add this admirable volume of Dr. Kenyon’s ? Only he must not expect to get out of it anything very helpful outside the limits of the ex ternalia. For Dr. Kenyon has not designed to put, and has not put, anything beyond the externalia into it.
Princeton. Benj. B. Warfield.
The Relation of the Apostolic Teaching to the Teaching of Christ. Being the Kerr Lectures for 1900, by Rev. Robert J. Drum- mond, B.D., Lothian Road Church, Edinburgh. Edinburgh : T. &. T. Clark, 1900. 8vo, pp. viii, 432.
This book contains the last series of lectures delivered on the Kerr founda-
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tion to the students of the United Presbyterian Theological Hall, prior to its union with the Free Church Halls in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen. The lectureship has become favorably known through the previous courses held under it, that of Dr. Orr on “ The Christian View of God and the World as centring in the Incarnation,” that of Dr. Forrest on “ The Christ of His- tory and of Experience,” and that of Dr. Kidd on “ Morality and Religion.” The present contribution fully maintains the high standard set for it by its predecessors.
Mr. Drummond’s choice of subject was an unusually happy one. Through the ever-growing production in the field of Biblical Theology and the constantly deepening interest taken even by the non-theological public in this line of study, the question how far the diversity of Biblical teaching thus brought to light is consistent with the ideal unity and harmony of reve- lation has become pressing and practical to an eminent degree. That the danger connected with the over-emphasizing of the multiformity of New Testament teaching is far from imaginary, appears from the response wrhich the cry “Back to Christ” has awakened in the present genera- tion. The author very convincingly shows how utterly unreasonable and self-contradictory this demand is. First of all, because we have no direct ac- cess to Christ, all our knowledge of Him being mediated by the testimony of His followers. In reality, therefore, the demand amounts to this, — that we must go back from the New Testament writers as expounders of Christ to the New Testament writers as recorders of the life and teaching of Christ. When put in this form the catching phrase at once loses much of its plausi- bility. That these writers are more reliable as historians than as doctrinal interpreters is far from self-evident. In the second place, it may be properly urged that the influence exerted by Christ upon His disciples as reflected in the New Testament documents, constitutes one of the prime factors in de- termining wdiat Christ actually was, what forces were stored up in Him. To this must be added in the third place the consideration that Jesus Him- self clearly anticipated the carrying on of His teaching activity by those of His followers who had been most intimately associated with Him, and prom- ised them the guidance of the Holy Spirit as ample qualification for this task, so that to appeal from the Apostles to Christ is in reality to appeal from the Christ working indirectly to the Christ working directly; and it betrays a relatively low opinion of the supernatural resources of Christ as a revealer to assume that in the latter capacity He deserves greater confidence than in the former.
We think it a cause for regret that this last principle is not pressed by the author to the full extent of its applicability. Throughout, the Apostolic teaching is viewed too exclusively in the light of a Spirit-guided unfolding of a deposit of truth already given in the teaching of Christ. This would seem to exclude Apostolic teaching from the category of revelation proper. Un- doubtedly to some extent this is in accord with the New Testament repre- sentation on the subject. But alongside of this runs another representa- tion. In many cases the Apostles claim to be the recipients of revelation in the strict sense of the word, and to transmit such truth as could not have been discovered by them through mere reflection upon the teaching of Christ. Notably this is the case with Paul. And yet on page 283, speaking of Paul’s doctrine of the atonement, the author says: “And Paul combining with this (i. e., with Christ’s hints on the meaning of his death) what he knew by experience of man’s spiritual need and what he had found for himself, in harmony with Christ’s hints, in the Cross, was prepared to meet inquirers and say why it was that the Christ must die.” Such a mode of viewing the connection between Jesus and Paul prevents the author from using the
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strongest weapon in defense of his main thesis. Only where Christ and the Apostles are recognized as coordinated, if not coequal, links in the chain of supernatural revelation does the absurdity of the demand “Back to Christ” become fully apparent.
After introducing his subject the author defines his position with reference to the problems of New Testament Introduction. This is throughout con- servative. It would have been better if these critical presuppositions had been simply stated without any attempt at justification. It was impossible to touch more than the surface of the discussion within such narrow limits as the author here had to set for himself. On the other hand it would have been extremely desirable to make clear at the beginning how the critical views adopted and the conclusions reached on the essential harmony of Apostolic teaching with that of Christ are interdependent. A decisive factor here is the acceptance or rejection of the authenticity of the Johan- nine discourses of Jesus. If these are admitted in evidence, the demon- stration of the substantial agreement between the Pauline teaching and that of Jesus becomes a comparatively easy matter. In the opposite case a much longer and more laborious process of investigation will be required to lay bare the roots of the Pauline theology in the doctrine of Jesus. For all apologetic purposes, the lectures would have gained in value if the writer had reckoned more with this twofold possibility and shaped his argument so as to meet both positions. As it is, the evidence drawn from the synoptics and that derived from John are so interwoven that it is not possible to tell at a glance how much convincing force the former would possess for a reader who felt bound to discount the latter.
In our opinion Mr. Drummond fails to do justice to the teaching of John the Baptist, as an anticipation of specifically New Testament truth, on more than one important point. Are John’s doubting inquiry and our Lord’s state- ment placing him outside of the kingdom sufficient warrant for the view that “ John’s work was often of the very opposite spirit from that of Christ that “ John was a child of the Esseno-Apocalyptic influence, looking for a Messiah who should lead on a purified Israel to the expulsion of the Romans, and to a world-empire which should be the kingdom of God ?” That mod- ern writers who reject the historicity of the fourth Gospel can construe the Synoptical data to this effect we understand ; but we do not see how it is possi- ble to reach such results after unqualified acceptance of the Johannine record and careful combination of it with the Synoptical picture. The man who said : “ Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world,” stood certainly at a far remove from the prevalent Messianic hope of the time, even in its purest form, with which Mr. Drummond would have us identify him.
The two following chapters on The School of Christ and on The Features of Christ’s Teaching contain much excellent material, but might have been considerably abbreviated, or even wholly omitted, without affecting the main discussion in the sequel. Chapter IV treats of The Common Assumption. By this the author means the soteriological character of the Gospel of both Jesus and the Apostles; and in connection with it the anthropological and hamartiological presuppositions are discussed. Passing on from this to the detailed examination of the Gospel-content the author treats in successive chapters of The Kingdom of God and its Variants, of The Son of Man and the Son of God, and of The Intentions of the Cross Hinted and Grasped (Chaps. V, VI, VII). He finds this order of treatment suggested by the development observable within the limits of Jesus’ own objective teaching, — in which the kingdom is first made prominent, afterward the Messiahship, and toward the close of the ministry the Cross. In regard to the Lord’s
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subjective consciousness, it should be remarked, the author denies all evi- dence of development. In the treatment of these three topics there is fur- ther this difference, that the discussions of the Kingdom and the Cross move forward from the teaching of Jesus to that of the Apostles, while in dealing with the Christological problem the reverse order is followed, a change of method for winch the reason is not apparent. The ninth chapter contains a comparative discussion of Faith as Man’s Subjective Response. Chapter X formulates the results and points out their application.
It is impossible in a brief review to do justice to the richness and sug- gestiveness of the author’s treatment of the many complicated questions on which these chapters touch. We must content ourselves with referring to a few points 'where it seems to us there is room for diversity of opinion. The author is not always successful in grasping and reproducing the concrete, individual aspect under which the truth of the Gospel appears with each teacher or writer. This defect is no doubt largely explainable from his pro- fessed aim to extract the ideal substance of the truth from the several forms of presentation, for the purpose of comparison. How wholly inadequate, e.g., is the description of the kingdom as “ a great spiritual association, in which God’s will is supreme,” to give us a definite conception of the manner in which Jesus visualized the new order of things He came to establish ? This is a description, indeed, which in its generality might be appropriated by the most naturalistic interpretation of our Lord’s religious teaching, while in reality the idea of the kingdom is supernatural to its very core. Probably it has something to do with this, when the use of the kingdom- thought is regarded as an accommodation on the part of Jesus, and a similar view is suggested even with reference to the idea of Messiahship. We do not believe it can be proven that our Lord consciously treated these supreme conceptions of His teaching as mere figures, in the sense that He possessed side by side with them and placed above them a more abstract, less histori- cally conditioned form of representation. His relative silence during the later stage of His ministry on the topic of the kingdom certainly cannot prove this, because there is abundant evidence that up to the very last the kingdom-idea retained its supreme place in His mind, if not in His teaching. Mr. Drummond could hardly have failed to perceive this, if he had given due prominence to the vigorous eschatological trend of thought which from the beginning is associated with the idea of the kingdom. Both the king- dom and the Messiahship were infinitely more to our Lord than current Jew- ish notions; they were both given to Him as authoritative revelation-con- cepts, which as such could not but embody eternally valid principles in eternally valid forms. The author fully recognizes this of the divine father- hood. We fail to see why the two other ideas are not entitled to the same distinction. Of course, all earthly religious language contains a figurative element, but there is a wide difference between the recognition of this and the ascription to Jesus of conscious accommodation. It would be better to say that kingship and Messiahship are the ideal concrete expressions not merely for that time, but for all time, of the two fundamental religious facts of the divine supremacy and divine mediation in the sphere of redemption.
It is perhaps also connected with the one-sided appreciation of the idea of the kingdom, that so little emphasis is thrown on the divine sovereignty and no attempt is made to point out the roots of the Pauline doctrine on this sub- ject in the teaching of Jesus. There is certainly no scarcity of material for this in the discourses of the fourth Gospel, and even in the Synoptics the points of contact are easily found by one who knows how to look beneath the surface. What the author says in refutation of the alleged dualistic element iu the Gospel of John, viz.: that the passages in question are simply the
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result of the Apostle’s looking at spiritual processes from the point of view of their final outcome, can be hardly called a serious solution of the diffi- culty. Most of these statements are not words of John but of Jesus, and they do not interpret the original human choice in the light of its eter- nal issue, but in the light of a primordial ideal relationship to God. On the whole it must be acknowledged that the Calvinistic affinities in our Lord’s teaching have hitherto failed to find due recognition, a thing not to be won- dered at if we remember that the great body of Biblico-theological litera- ture has been produced by non-Calvinistic writers. It is the more to be re- gretted that a professed Calvinist, as we infer Mr. Drummond from a remark on page 153 to be, should in entering this field make no serious effort to supply the deficiency.
Among the most striking and forceful parts of the book we should count the Christological discussion in Chapter VI. Especially pertinent are the remarks on pp. 214, 215, about the modern tendency to restrict the Messianic idea as held in the consciousness of both Jesus and the disciples to the nar- rowest Jewish limits. Mr. Drummond well points out how this involves a marked discrepancy between the treatment accorded to the idea of the king- dom and that accorded to Jesus’ presentation of Himself as king ; and how the latest efforts to reduce again to Jewish limits Christ’s conception of the kingdom seem dictated by an undefined sense of this incongruity. The bearing of the date of appearance of the Synoptical Gospels, midway between Paul and John, on the interpretation of the Christological views re- flected in these Gospels is lucidly stated. The modern Arianizing construc- tion of the Pauline Christology by such writers as Holtzmann and Pfleiderer might, perhaps, have been more directly and elaborately formulated and criticised than is done on page 230. With the author’s exclusion from 2 Cor. iii. 17, of all reference to the personal Spirit we cannot agree. It is true the purport of the Apostle’s statement <5 c U nvpios to nvevfia konv is to represent Christ as the Source of quickening power in contrast with the ypappa of the law ; but Paul does not know of any quickening power in the abstract the very point of the saying is, that through His soteriological identification with the Holy Spirit Christ can inwardly liberate and transform men. The interpretation of Phil, ii, on page 233, keeps happily free from all kenoti- cism. We are not quite sure that the vn'mx^v can be pressed with Gif- ford so as not merely to leave room for, but to express the continued exist- ence of Christ after the incarnation in the pop<pfj -deov. Interesting is the note on page 218, in which the author rightly contends against Menegoz, that the ideas of supernatural conception and preexistence can have been no more mutually exclusive to the Synoptics, than in the view of many writers the ideas of preexistence and natural birth were to Paul.
In the discussion of the significance of Christ’s death it is gratifying to notice that its vicarious character is strenuously upheld. The author does not shun to say that it means to Jesus Himself the penalty for sin. So far as Jesus’ own consciousness is concerned there can be no doubt of this ; and two or three passages are quite as conclusive in proving it as a greater number would be. It is a different question, however, to what extent Jesus explained this penal significance of his death to the disciples. Here the number of passages becomes of importance. Is it not somewhat of an ex- aggeration to say that He made it abundantly plain how intimately and necessarily His own death and resurrection were associated with the bestowal of the forgiveness of sins ? Our Lord could scarcely have done this so long as the fact itself had not transpired. It was reserved for Apostolic teaching to give the doctrinal interpretation of the fact. The author here obviously is too much under the influence of his principle that all Apostolic teaching
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must be a mere unfolding of the teaching of Jesus and can add no new rev- elation-content, such as would interpret the facts of Christ’s career rather than explain his words. The statement made on page 273, in connection with the exegesis of Mark x, 45, that ?.vrpov is used in the Septuagint in a sacrificial sense, is in this form misleading. It is only in classical Greek and in the New Testament epistles that the conceptions of Ivrpov and sacrifice are associated. That Jesus had this association in mind when He spoke of the giving of his soul as a rausom for many, may be made plausible from the analogy of the sacrificial implication of the words spoken at the Last Supper ; but it canuot be affirmed with certainty. The distinction that in the' insti- tution of the Supper the bread has predominant reference to the Incarnation? whereas the cup concentrates attention on the Death, has little to support it. Whatever there is in the symbolism of the elements referring to a life-com- munion with Christ, besides being common to both, is not retrospective, but prospective ; it points to a communion to be made possible through His atoning death, with the exalted rather than with the incarnate Christ as such.
In the chapter on Faith exception may be taken to the interpretation put upon the phrase “faith is counted for righteousness,” viz.: “Given that trust, God counts it to a man for righteousness — i. e., not as a substitute for it, but as the thing itself in germ, the attitude of heart and will, which will inevitably express itself in acts which please Him.” This view is not only different from but directly opposed to the function Paul ascribes to faith in justification, and which is set forth quite correctly by the author in the preceding and following pages.
We conclude our notice with a tribute of admiration for the diligence which, in the midst of the many labors of a modern city pastorate, suc- ceeded in reading and and digesting so much of the vast literature on so comprehensive a theme. The lectures throughout betray a more than super- ficial acquaintance with both ancient and recent discussion of the topics re- viewed. The form also into which the author casts his thoughts makes the book delightful reading from beginning to end. No one will peruse it with- out being instructed and edified at the same time.
Princeton. Geerhardus Yos.
Theologischer Jahresbericht. Unter mitwirkung von Baentsch, Clemen, Elsenhans, Everling, Ficker, Foerster, Funger, Hasenclever, Hegler, Hering, Kohlschmidt, Lehmann, Loesch, Liidemann, Liilmann, Marbuck, Mayer, Meyer, Preuscben, Scheite, Spitta,Sulze, herausgegeben von Dr. G. Kruger, Professor in Giessen. Zwanzigster Band, enthaltend die Literatur des Jahres 1900. Erste Abtheilung : Exegese, bearbeitet von Baentsch , Meyer. 8vo, pp. 1-288. (Berlin: C. A. Schwetschke und Sohn ; New York : Gustav E. Stechert, 1901.) In our notices of this indispensable index to theological literature during the course of last year, we called attention to the improve- ments being introduced into it in the interest of ease of reference, and also to its increasing size. This first section of the volume for 1901 (reporting the exegetical literature of 1900) of course profits by these improvements : in size it exceeds the corresponding issue of last year by more than a hun- dred pages. The most striking change, however, concerns its authorship. We no longer have the familiar wrork of Siegfried in the Old Testament and Iloltzmann in the New : Prof. Bruno Baentsch of Jena takes the place of the former, and Prof. Arnold Meyer of Bonn that of the latter. Holtzmann retires also from his position as co-editor of the work and the whole respon- sibility now rests on Kruger. The change strikes us, at first view, as an improvement in the Old Testament (which absorbs the greater portion of
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the pamphlet — pp. 1-194) but no advantage in the New Testament, where Holtzmann’s notes, though one-sided, were always thorough and to the point. The spirit of the work has undergone no great alteration. We offer the following samples of the workmanship of the two writers here repre- sented. Baentsch writes (pp. 104, 105) : “ For very many the manner in which Christ and the Apostles cite the Old Testament is an obstacle to accepting the results of scientific criticism. Hortvill seeks to do such fearful souls a service by presenting again the proof, already often drawn out to satiety, that Christ generally accommodated His teaching in unim- portant matters to the theology and point of view of His day. It will not be granted him, however, that this matter is an unimportant one. See The Expository Times, x i, 477. Volck’s Conference-lecture on ‘ The Attitude of Christ and the Apostles to the Old Testament ’ will be a welcome gift to many : in it he skillfully shows, among other things, how the problem as to the literary connection of Moses with the Pentateuch is entirely unaffected by the New Testament references. Very few will agree, however, with the tame critical position of the author and his hermeneutical rule to understand the Old Testament in the light of the New. Compare the Theolog. Literatur- blatt, No. 43 (Ed. Konig)." On the authorship of Hebrews, Meyer writes as follows: “Hausleiter in the Theolog. Liter aturblatt, 23, 127, calls attention to the testimony of the Tractatus de libris, which Wegmann ascribes to Novatian, to the effect that Hebrews was written by Barnabas. The disappearance of the name remains, however, remarkable, and Har- nack holds it, therefore, ‘ probable ’ that this letter came from some one whose name was willingly forgotten later. Such he thinks was that of Priscilla, which the Western text in D. allows also to fall in the background. This name also fits otherwise, for the letter is apparently directed to a house- congregation in Rome, such as had grown up in the house of Aquila and Priscilla. She was a notable teacher and a friend of Timothy’s. The argu- ment drawn from the interchanging ‘ we ’ and ‘ 1 7 is scarcely convincing, according to the usage of Epicurus aud Epictetus. These things are proba- bilities : to Se alrjdcg olSev. In Germany people are naturally astonished that the authorship of Hebrews should be ascribed to a woman ( Emng . Kirchenzeitung, 14): in America they find the idea ‘most interesting,’
‘ skillful ’ ( Biblical World, xv, 475) : the Ueutsch-Amerikanische Zeitsclirift calls its readers’ attention to the ‘ ingenious observations and conclusions;’ in England, Comb calls the idea striking, attractive, and thoroughly original, but he thinks the logical strength, the masculine grip, the compelling force of the argument of the Epistle scarcely attainable by a woman ! And yet an Apollos had permitted himself to be taught by Priscilla! Lazarus has translated Harnack’s article into English (Luth. Cli. Rev., 448-471).” The Jahresbericht enters its twentieth year with a promise of increased useful- ness. There are some things that might well be improved in it yet (above all its attitude toward destructive criticism of the Bible) ; but it is indis- pensable to every student of theology. A New Topographical, Physical, and
Biblical Map of Palestine : Scale — four miles to an inch. Compiled from the Latest Surveys and Researches, Including the Work of the English and Ger- man Palestine Exploration Funds. Showing all Identified Biblical Sites, together with the Modern Place Names. Prepared under the Direction of J. G. Bartholemew, F.R.S.E., F.R.G.S. , and Edited by Professor George Adam Smith, M.A., LL.D., T).D., etc. With Complete Index, Compiled under the Supervision of J. G. Bartholemew, F.R.S.E., F.R.G.S. (Edin- burgh : T. & T. Clark, 1901.) This new map of Palestine is a boon to all students of the Bible. The work of the English Palestine Exploration Fund, embalmed in its great map of Western Palestine on the scale of one mile to
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the inch, made an epoch of course in the cartography of Palestine. But that work is already a quarter of a century old ; and the impulse given to the geographical study of the Holy Land by the work of that fund itself, to say nolliing of other and in many respects deeper and richer currents, have car- ried us far onward during these last years. There was clamant need for an authoritative summing up of the accumulated data in a new map, which should gather all of value in recent discoveries. The editing of such a map could not have fallen into better hands than Prof. Smith’s. Eight years ago (1894) he gave us his excellent Historical Geography of the Holy Land , and it has been known that his interest in the subject has not abated meanwhile : only this last year he has made a special geographical journey to Palestine, doubtless primarily in the interests of the map which we now so gratefully receive at his hands. The title-page describes sufficiently the sources and scope of the map. It includes the country from Beirut in the north to the Arabah in the south, extending as far east as Damascus and Jebel Hauran. The physical relief is shown by coloring in contours and by diagrammatic cross-sections. It represents primarily a complete survey of the country as it exists at the present day, with all the modern place-names: on this is superimposed the whole series of identified ancient names, and these are given in bolder letter- ing, so as to call especial attention to themselves. There are, besides the sections, inset maps showiug the environs of Jerusalem and the present vege- tation of Palestine. The scale is four miles to the inch and the plate measures 54 by 35 inches. The map is accessible in three forms— either mounted on rollers and varnished, for wall use; or mounted on cloth and in cloth case, royal 8vo size, for library use ; or divided into two sheets and mounted on cloth, folding small, for tourist use, for which its careful record of roads, etc., renders it particularly valuable. In each form it is accom- panied with a complete Index, containing the 3180 names marked on it. Its mechanical execution is exceedingly fine, coloration and lettering alike being clear-cut and eye resting. In one word the cartographer, geographer and his- torical scholar have united to give us in this beautiful sheet the definitive map of Palestine for the opening years of the twentieth century. Every student
of the Bible will rejoice in it and thank the publishers for it. Babel und
Bibel. Ein Vortrag von Friedrich Delitzsch. Mit 60 Abbildungen. 8vo, pp. 53. (Leipzig: J. C. Hinrichs’sche Bucliliandlung, 1902.) The Ger- mans have an “ Oriental Society ” that has sent out an expedition which, as Prof. Delitzsch expresses it, is carrying on “ its tireless work in the ruins of Babylon from morning till evening, in heat and cold, for Germany’s glory and Germany’s science.” In the interests of this society Prof. Delitzsch delivered in the Academy of Music at Berlin, on the 13th of January last, a public lecture, to which “ His Majesty the Emperor and King ” graciously lent his presence: His Majesty even asked that it should be repeated on the 1st of February in the precincts of the royal palace itself. It was a grand ad- vertising scheme. And its reward has been rich : everybody has been talking about the address ; the daily press has been discussing it ; and now the great house of Hinrichs has issued it in excellent form — both in a cheaper edition at two marks the copy and in a fine edition at four marks each. Lest an inade- quate idea of the interest of the address should be formed from its success- ful use as an advertising measure, let us say at once that it is in its matter an excellent account of the value of the new Assyriological learning to students of the Bible. It is, of course, written from Prof. Delitzscli’s personal point of view and embodies his personal opinions on many disputed points, and, indeed, his personal attitude toward the his- torical and even doctrinal authority of the Hebrew Scriptures: but it is written by the hand of a master and gives an illuminating
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rapid survey of the gains for understanding the Bible thus far obtained from the excavations of the far East. There is nothing in it particularly new or very startling to those moderately informed on the subject, but it is all well put and interestingly presented. The brochure begins by a rapid enu- meration of the recovery of extra-Biblical knowledge of many external Biblical matters, — names and sites of places, persons, peoples mentioned in the Bible. Thence it rises to the aid afforded by the monuments to the study of the Biblical chronology and even to the interpretation of the Biblical text, — as for example of the Trishagion of Numbers vi. 24 sg., which, says Delitzsch, is only to be understood at its full value when we learn that “to lift up one’s countenance, one’s eyes on one,” was a current Babylonian expression for “ setting one’s love on another, as a bridegroom gazes on the bride or a father on the son with loving approbation.” At this point the tone of the address changes somewhat, and the rest of it is given to an attempt to suggest the indebtedness of the Hebrews to the Babylonians for their cultural and religious development. This is pressed so far that the reader begins to wonder whether Christian civilization and the Christian religion itself may not be considered by Prof. Delitzsch as but little more than a natural development out of the old Babylonian culture. The institution of the Sabbath, the narrative of the flood, the account of the creation, nay also of the fall, and of heaven and hell, the angels, the demons, the devils, nay also God Himself, His names, His unity, His character, — all these as they appear in the Hebrew Scriptures are taken back into the circle of Babylonian religious conceptions and presented as developments from them. “And so,” he concludes complacently, “I have succeeded in showing that there is very much that is purely Babylonian that still, through the medium of the Bible, clings to our religious thought.” He professes to think, to be sure, that no injury can be done to true Christianity by so conceiving, though he allows that it will induce a process of cleansing in our religious thinking. But when one comes to estimate the losses and gains, perhaps not all will be entirely of Dr. Delitzsch’s opinion as to what we may safely spare. In truth there is a grave exaggeration apparent in his dealing with this whole class of subjects ; and it might be well recommended to him to read and imitate the fine good sense of Dr. Davis’ Genesis and Semitic Tradition. We shall gain much from the monuments : but one thing we shall not gain—
a naturalistic account of the origin of the revealed religion. Biblical and
Semitic Studies. Critical and Historical Essays by the Members of the Semitic and Biblical Faculty of Yale University. 8vo, pp. xii, 330. (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons; London: Edward Arnold, 1901.) Among the methods by which the Bicentennial Anniversary of Yale University was celebrated was the issue of a series of volumes prepared by a number of the Professors and Instructors, “as a partial indication of the character of the studies in which the University teachers are engaged.” The present volume represents with this design the work of the Semitic and Biblical Faculty. It contains six essays on very diverse topics, the greater number of them having been originally prepared for the Semitic and Biblical Club of the University. As a conspectus of the ruling opinions on Biblical matters prevailing at Yale University at the opening of the twentieth century they are startling enough, and calculated to cause the patrons of the theological department of that University much searching of heart. Otherwise they have not a very large significance. Only a single one of them is a contribu- tion of note to the knowledge of the subject it treats-, — Prof. Porter’s essay on “ The Yeger Hara,” which he has made a grounded “ Study on the Jewish Doctrine of Sin.’’ Next to this in interest is Dr. Moulton’s essay on “ Tbe Significance of the Transfiguration,” which though confused in arrangement
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is yet both careful and thoughtful. The method of Dr. Bacon in bis essay on “ Stephen’s Speech ; its Argument and Doctrinal Relationship,” is too vicious to produce any solid results. He opens with the remark that “ every careful reader is impiesed with the fact that Stephen’s speech is but imper. fectly adapted to the situation the author of Acts makes it fill and sup ports this statement by (among others) a quotation from Calvin to the effect that the careless reader may possibly so imagine! On this, he tears the speech apart from its historical setting, and seeks to interpret it as if it were a product of other times and other climes. Similar in spirit with Dr. Bacon’s methods of procedure are the two initial essays, which concern Old Testa- ment topics. The first, by Prof. Curtis, deals with “ The Tribes of Israel,” and manages to evaporate the whole historical account of them into a mist. The second, by Profs. Kent and Sanders, treats of “ The Growth of Israel- itish Law,” and presents the origin of that law as a slow evolution, not the product of one author but of a myriad, not the outgrowth of one generation but of a whole series of eight centuries. The final paper in the volume is a trans- lation, by Prof. Torrey, of a portion of Ibn ‘Abd El-Hkem’s Conquest of Egypt. It is excellently done and presents a very interesting series of quaint
pages. The volume as a whole is somewhat melancholy reading,
Samuel and His Age: A Study in the Constitutional History of Israel. By George C. M. Douglas , D.D., Joint Principal of the United Free Church College, Glasgow, and formerly Professor of Hebrew and Old Testament Exegesis there. Demy 8vo, pp. xxiii, 276. (London : Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1901.) Dr. Douglas’ excellent monograph on Samuel constitutes the tenth volume in the King’s Printers’ series called “The Bible Students’ Library ” — a series that has already won a good degree for itself in the minds of earnest students of the Biblical record. The present volume is written with the combined reverence and insight for which Dr. Douglas’ work is well known. His standpoint is that of one who would fain begin with the presumption that the Bible record is veritable history, to be followed as such unless dis- proved. “ The aim has been,” he writes, “ to begin by taking the account of Samuel given in the Bible as being what it professes to be, and to discuss it with willingness to do justice to the statements, yet at the same time to put their reasonableness and verisimilitude to the test of close examination.” “ Surely the issue of this examination,” he adds, “has been to show that every alleged trait of his character and every act attributed to him in the narrative has commended itself to the intelligent and truth-loving inquirer as historical. The whole of the details fit into what we know of the age in which Samuel lived, and find their confirmation in consequences, good and evil , which wrere wrought in succeeding generations, until we come to the end of that kindgom and the ruin of that commonwealth which w'ere inseparably united with Samuel’s thoughts and aspirations and activities ” (p. 250). The book opens with a chapter designed to orient its view of the historical record with reference to the recent “critical” attack: it is entitled “Historical Position of Samuel Vindicated.” There follows on this a preliminary chap- ter in which is outlined the “relation of Samuel and David to Moses and Joshua.” The life and work of Samuel are then developed in successive chapters dealing respectively with “The Childhood and Youth of Samuel,” “The Prophetic Office of Samuel,’’ “The Priestly Work of Samuel,” “Samuel as Judge,” “Samuel’s Transmission of his Office as Judge to a King,” “How Saul was Three Times made King by Samuel,” and finally “The Completeness of this Quiet Revo- lution by Samuel.” A final chapter discusses the “Literary Relation of 1 Samuel to the Earlier Books.” Then comes the “ Recapitulation,” and the volume closes with four appendices, treating of “ The Critical Discussions
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of the Song of Hannah,” “Jehovah Appeared Again in Shiloh,” “The Book of Jashar,” and “ The Constitutional Statute of the Realm of Israel.” It will be seen from this outline that the book is a comprehensive treatise, and touches on most of the questions of interest regarding one of the most important figures in the whole history of Israel — next to Moses, Dr. Douglas thinks, the most important, most epoch-making, most significant
figure in the whole Old Testament period of the history of the kingdom.
The Twentieth Century New Testament. A Translation into Modern English made from the Original Greek (Westcott & Hort’s Text). In Three Parts. Part I. — The Five Historical Books. 12mo, pp. vii, 254. Part II. — Paul’s Letters to the Churches. 12mo, pp. x, 380. Part III. — The Pastoral, Per- sonal and General Letters; and the Revelation. 12mo, pp. [viii] 513. (New York, Chicago, and Toronto: Fleming H. Revell Company [1899, 1900, 1901].) The new translation offered to us in these volumes is of English origin, and has been made, we are told, by a company of twenty scholars, who have undertaken this new rendering into “ current English,” on discov- ering that “ the English of the Authorized Version (closely followed in that of the Revised Version) is in many passages difficult for those who are less educated, and is even unintelligible to them.” Neither literality of rendering nor a merely paraphrastic reproduction has been sought ; but a complete transferrence of the thought into “ idiomatic English.” The work as now printed is conceived by its authors as tentative, and suggestions for its improvement are asked for. The perusal of only a few pages will suffice to inform the reader that he has in his hands an earnest, honest and schol- arly attempt to put the Greek text into intelligible English. It varies from page to page in merit, and even somewhat in manner. A large part of it is to such an extent a rendering ad sensurn rather than ad literam that we cannot agree that it has missed the Scylla of paraphrase in sheering off from the Charybdis of literality. Probably the opening verses of John present an unusually unfavorable specimen of the whole. Certainly it is pure para- phrase that we get there, and not always paraphrase of the sense intended. For example, verse 14: “The Word then became man, and made a home among us, (we saw the honour given him— such honour as an only son receives from his father)” ; or again, verse 18: “God the only Son, who is ever close to the Father’s heart, — it was he, who made him known.” This assuredly will not convey to the reader the meaning of John. Opinions will necessarily differ, however, as to the success with which this or that passage has been reproduced. Opinions will even differ as to the usefulness of the plan adopted, — whether there is not made an attempt to rewrite the New Testament as we imagine it would have been written by men of the end of the nineteenth century, rather than an effort to convey in nineteenth century language what was actually written. But opinions will not differ that a book has been produced which will help every reader to understand his New Testament. With the second volume, short introductions begin to be prefixed to the books. Those of the third volume are not always happy, and betray a tendency toward modern liberalism in the treatment of
the questions bearing on the literary history of the several books. Bible
Studies. Contributions, chiefly from Papyri and Inscriptions, to the History of the Language, the Literature and the Religion of Hellenistic Judaism and Primitive Christianity. By Dr. G. Adolf Deissmann, Professor of Theology in the University of Heidelberg. With an Illustration in the Text. Authorized Translation, incorporating Dr. Deissmann’s most Recent Changes and Additions, by Alexander Grieve , M.A. (Edin.), D.Phil% (Lips.), Minister of the South United Free Church, Forfar. 8vo, pp. xv, 384. (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1901 ; New York: Imported by Charles
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Scribner’s Sons.) The publication of Dr. Deissmann’s Bihelstudien, which appeared in 1895, followed shortly, 1897, by a second series under the name of Neue Bihelstudien, marked if it did not create what may be called in a small way a new epoch in the study of the Greek of the New Testament. The epoch had been arriving through a century or more, during which the Greek inscriptions were being collected, edited and studied, and the muse- ums of Europe were being filled with papyri, chiefly preserved in the dry sands of Egypt. This material had already been more or less drawn upon for the explanation of the New Testament vocabulary and idiom. But it was left to Dr. Deissmann to catch the popular theological ear and inaugu- rate the era of general attention to the new material. This success was due partly to the pleasant style in which lie wrote ; and partly to the comparatively rich treasures which he offered from the new sources, for the illustration of the New Testament ; and partly again, no doubt, to the fact that he adduced his material not purely and simply for itself, but for the support of a theory as to the nature and relations of New Testament Greek. In any case it is certain that the publication of his two little books formed an event ; that they have borne excellent fruit ; and that they were quite worthy of being turned into English, so that non-German-reading English students may profit by the inspiration that is in them. Under Dr. Deissmann’s direction the two have been smelted together in the English translation ; and the treatise has beeii enriched by corrections and additions from the author’s hand : it appears accordingly not as a translation merely, but as a revised edition of the German work. As a typical instance of the revision which the work has received, the treatment of the word aycnrr] (pp. 198 sq.) may be noted. A heathen use of this word had been cited in the German edition from the Paris Papyrus 49, on the faith of the French editor. A reexamina- tion of the original proves that the real reading is rapaxf/v. Outside the Scriptures the word accordingly has turned up only in Philo (as Thayer had already recorded) and in a late scholion to Thucydides. It cannot be affirmed, therefore, that it has been yet found in use where it may not possi- bly have been derived from its biblical usage: but the probability is, of course, that it is not a specifically biblical word. To those who are un- familiar with the German original, it may be said that the book consists of a series of essays designed to illustrate chiefly the language of the New Testa- ment. The first essay, to be sure, is not precisely of this character. It is entitled “ Prolegomena to the Biblical Letters and Epistles,” and is an attempt to discriminate under these names between the real letter, meant for the eye of a special reader only, or a body of readers, and the literary letter, meant just because literary for the world as such : and to apply this distinc- tion to the criticism of the letters of the New Testament. One does not need to coincide with all the author’s specific judgments to enjoy and profit by this interesting discussion. The second essay, entitled “ Contributions to the History of the Language of the Greek Bible,” has for its thesis that it is a mistake to treat the Greek of the Greek Bible as a thing apart, but that it is to be considered as an embodiment of the popular Greek of the day. The third essay, entitled “Further Contributions, etc.,” continues the same theme. In these two essays, filling the space from p. 61 to p. 268, a great mass of material illustrating the Greek of the LXX and N. T. is drawn from the papyri and inscriptions. The fourth paper (pp. 269-300) describes an interesting instance of the broader influence of the LXX, — in a lead tablet from the African town of Hadrumetum. Then follow a few “Notes on Some Biblical Persons and Names” — the most interesting of which is one on “Saulus Paulus,” which goes to show that we must not put a “henceforth” into the phrase of Acts 13, but read it simply as “Saul
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who was also called Paul.” This is followed by a study of “Greek Tran- scriptions of the Tetragrammaton,” and the volume closes with a collection of five brief notes on points of interest in the Greek Bible. The translation
is adequate rather than perfect. Le Nouveau Testament de notre Seigneur
Jesus-Christ, explique au moyen d’Introductions, d’Analyses, et de Notes Exeg6tiques par L. Bonnet, docteur en theologie. Evangele de Jean : Actes des Apotres. Seconde edition, revue et augmentee par Alfred Schroeder, pasteur Lausanne. 8vo, pp. 559. (Lausanne: Georges B ridel et Cie.: [1899]) Everybody knows — or everybody ought to know — the beautiful Commentary on the New Testament, the fruit of Dr. Louis Bonnet’s old age, after his half-century’s work in the ministry of the Gospel. The last volume of the four in which it was first published — which was the very volume now lying before us — saw the light in 1885, having been finished, as the author tells us in his Preface, along with his eightieth year. As the years have sped on a new edition of the whole has become necessary, that it may be brought up to date and given a new lease of life and a fresh career of usefulness. This has been undertaken by Pastor Alfred Schroeder of Lausanne, and the second volume of this new edition now lies before us. Suffice it to say in a word that Mr. Schroeder’s very delicate task has been admirably accomplished. The general plan of the work remains the same : the doctrinal teaching of the comments has been carefully left unaffected. But the revising hand has gone everywhere, — and it is felt in translation, introductions, and notes alike. The result is that a good Commentary has been made even better. The French Churches are to be congratulated on possessing such an exact, vivid and spiritual handbook to the understanding of the New Testament, written in a style which every educated Christian can read with pleasure, out of a learning from which the most instructed can profit. Hear how Mr. Schroeder speaks of the books of which this volume treats. “ This vol- ume includes the commentary on two books which rank among the principal books of the New Testament : the Gospel of the only-begotten Son of God and the book of the Acts of the Holy Spirit through the first instruments whom He created. The one presents to us Him who came to us from the Father, 1 the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world ’; the other shows us the Saviour, returned to the glory which He had before with the Father, and presents the work of salvation He had begun here below. The one offers to our contemplation the divine life realized in a human existence ; the other tells us how this life began to propagate itself in the bosom of our humanity. The first is the Gospel particularly appropriate to an epoch like ours, when men recognize that salvation does not lie in the ad- hesion of the intellect to a system, to a body of doctrine, but in vital faith in a person who is Himself ‘the way, the truth and the life’; the second is peculiarly the manual of the Church at the end of a century whose glory it is that it is the century of missions.” It is in this spirit that the whole work has been prosecuted, and naturally it has given us a Commentary both conserva- tive and spiritual intone. The Pastoral Epistles. A New Translation, with
Introduction, Commentary and Appendix. By Rev. J. P. Lilley, M.A., Arbroath. Crown 8vo, pp. viii, 255. (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1901 ; New York: Imported by Charles Scribner’s Sons.) Mr. Lilley is already favorably known to the theological public by an admirable book on The Lord's Supper and a very useful handbook on The Principles of Protestant- ism. To the readers of this Review he is not unknown : a very striking paper by him on Hypo-Evangelism having appeared in the number for April, 1893. In the present volume he gives further proof of the quality of his learning. Though issued as one of the “ Handbooks for Bible Classes,” edited by Prof. Marcus Dods and Dr. Alexander Whyte, it is a pretty 32
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full commentary on the Pastoral Epistles, and in some portions is addressed to a somewhat advanced audience. The volume is divided into four parts. The first of these is Introductory and treats in one long chapter of “ The Pastoral Epistles as a Group,” and then in three very short ones of the three Epistles separately. Then follows a Translation of the three Epistles. The Commentary succeeds — written in a flowing style and brought down to the comprehension of the educated layman. Finally in an Appendix we have gathered a series of discussions, doubtless intended for the higher class of readers. These deal with the style and vocabulary of the Epistles, the theory of composite authorship, the chronological order and plan of the Pastoral Epistles, the evolution of the teaching elder, Paul’s doctrine of Inspiration, the Ethics of the Pastoral Epistles, and the Literature of the Pastoral Epistles. As will be seen the scheme of treatment is very com- plete : and everywhere we feel the hand of a careful student and a sober thinker. Having said this, it is scarcely necessary to add that the conclu- sions reached are conservative, — that the Pauline authorship is convincingly defended and that the whole body of critical questions is discussed with sanity and good effect. It would be hard for the working pastor or the general student to find a better guide to the understanding of these letters. The limitations of Mr. Lilley’s handling of the Epistles may be suggested by his note, say. on the words “ sound doctrine ” in 1 Tim. i. 10. Mr. Lilley translates “ healthful teaching,” and explains that what Paul means to say is that the apostolic doctrine is “ in its influence thoroughly healthful ” — the word employed being “ in root the same as the now common epithet ‘ hygienic ’” (p. 77). This is of course an entire mistake, and involves a confusion between the two adjectives vyifc (vyiafauv) and vyieivog. “ A reminder is scarcely necessary,” says Zahn ( Einleitung , etc., i, 486, note 16), “ that vyiaivuv , vyifc do not, like the German ‘ gesund,’ mean both sanus and saluber , but sanus only.” So, commenting on tfefcrew-of, 2 Tim. iii, 16 (p. 215), he says: “Literally ‘inspired of God’ is ‘God-breathed’; and since the breath of God is everywhere identified with His presence, the epithet as applied to the Scriptures can only mean that, written by holy men of old, borne on by the Holy Spirit, every Scripture has the presence and operation of God indissolubly associated with it; and that this gracious influence of the Spirit as the direct agent at work will be felt by every one that reads them with a humble and teachable heart.” That is to say “ God-breathed ” is the same as “God-breathing ” I It is a great tribute to Mr. Lilley’s diligence and good judgment that with a feeling for language thus defective he has pro- duced so good a Commentary.
III.— HISTORICAL THEOLOGY.
The Pkogress of Dogma, being the Elliot Lectures, delivered at the Western Theological Seminary, Allegheny, Penna., U. S. A., 1S97. By James Orr, M.A., D.D., Professor of Apologetics and Systematic Theology United Free Church College, Glasgow. Crown 8vo, pp. xxviii, 365. London : Hodder & Stoughton ; New York : A. C. Armstrong & Son, 1901.
The task which Dr. Orr sets himself in this admirable series of lectures is not to deal exhaustively with the history of doctrine (which in such brief compass would of course be absurd) , nor even to discuss its broad outlines for its own sake. It is rather to seek out and illustrate the law that has guided the development of doctrine, and to inquire what help the recognition
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of this law “affords us in determining our attitude to theological system now, and in guiding our steps for the future.” When the immanent law of the actual history that has been wrought out by doctrine is fairly seized, Dr. Orr conceives, “it will not only prevent us ever after from regarding the development of dogma as a maze of irrationality, but will be sure to furnish us with a corroboration, and in some measure a rationale , of our Protestant Evangelical creeds ; will yield us a clue to their right understanding, and, what is not less important, an aid to their further perfecting.” For Dr. Orr finds that law to be nothing other than logical sequence. So that, as a mat- ter of fact, the development of doctrine as it lies before us on the broad page of history, exhibits itself as simply the logical system of doctrine “projected on a vast temporal screen.”
In other words the Church in the age-long process of thinking out the treasures of truth committed to it, has proceeded very much on the same lines which the individual mind must pursue ; and accordingly the order in which the doctrines of Christianity emerge on the page of history as engaging the attention of the Church and successively receiving final determination, presents a close parallel with the order in which these doctrines are arranged in the concatenated systems of theology. The idea is of course not in itself new : Klieforth, for example, long ago told us, in his Dogmengeschichte , that to the successive Greek, Latin and German Churches had been one after the other committed the working out of the great problems of Theology proper, Anthropology and Soteriology, while those of Ecclesiology lay yet in the lap of the future. And Dr. Orr does not stop to ground the idea, as it is capable of being grounded, in the profound thought to which Dr. Kuyper has given so rich a development, — that the true subject of Sancta Tlieologia is not the individual thinker but the whole Church of God — the new creation of the palingenesis, the Body of Christ ; just as the real subject of “ science ” is not the individual mind of this or that investi- gator, but humanity at large. But he has grasped the principle firmly, con- ceived it with unwonted clearness, and applied it most fruitfully in an exposition of the progress of doctrine, from which no reader will rise with- out a well-grounded conviction that the Church could not have proceeded otherwise than is here expounded in attaining gradual apprehension of the Gospel, and that the attainments thus arrived at by it are solid attainments, valid for all time; in a word, that the system of truth embodied in the Protestant creeds comes to us with “ the sanction of history ” in a sense which is apt to seem to the reader, if not quite new, yet newly important.
There are, naturally, minor points in the application of the general scheme of development with respect to which difference of opinion is possible. One notes, for example, that Klieforth assigns to the modern Church the devel- opment of the doctrines subsumed under the caption of Ecclesiology, while Dr. Orr assigns to it rather those belonging to Eschatology : and one notes in this connection what looks very much like a breaking down of the scheme of development for the post-Reformation period. Here are the great doc- trines of God and the Trinity, the Person of Christ, Sin and Grace, the Atonement, Justification: one sees their logical interrelations and the necessity of the order in which they emerged as “ burning questions ” in the consciousness of the Church. Dr. Orr’s successive treatment of them marches with firm step along the pathway of the logical development. But there the logical development stops : and the last two chapters appear to lapse into a mere survey of unrelated currents of thought, going each its own way, without regard to the general course of development. Possibly also else- where in the volume there are passages which can scarcely be said to find their complete raison d'etre in the logical progress, but are rather dictated by
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the historian’s love of completeness in picturing the characteristics of an age. One may legitimately question, again, whether the first age of the Church is best described from the point of view of the doctrinal develop- ment as an “ apologetical age,” and as well whether it is necessary to preposit the anthropological discussions beginning with Augustine to the Christological discussions beginning with Apollinarius, or perhaps wTe may even say with Arius : whether, in other words, it would not be better to recognize that the whole doctrine of God — including the determination of His personal unity and His triune personality, together with the whole doc- trine of the Son of God, including the determination of His relation to God the Father and His relation to the Man, Jesus— belong together both logically and historically. Whatever questions of this kind we may raise, however, concern mere details in the application of a principle which is sound in itself and is applied by Dr. Orr with notable effect.
It is quite plain that the general view which Dr. Orr takes of the history of doctrine as the progressive explication of the Gospel is the very antipodes of the notion of Harnack that the progress of doctrine has been in the main a pathological process — a steady corruption of the original simplicity of the Gospel. Accordingly Dr. Orr most naturally makes it one of his objects to point out stage by stage his reasons for dissenting from the judgment of that brilliant but scarcely circumspect scholar. This running criticism of Har- nack ’s views constitutes one of the most interesting and useful of the subor- dinate features of the book. It is the more odd that the point at which we find ourselves most seriously at variance with Dr. Orr’s teaching is one in which he goes astray, as we think, by following Harnack too closely. At the critical point of the origin of the Old Catholic Church, strangely enough, Dr. Orr takes over with only slight modification the whole construction of the German theorizer. With respect to the formation of the Canon, at least, we judge the matter of the first importance: and we cannot but feel that Dr. Orr has gone immensely wrong here. No doubt the Church was forced back on the Apostolic deposit by the Gnostic controversy, and thus was enabled by that controversy to find itself ; but assuredly it was not thus nor then, for the first time, that it was “ im- pelled to set about in right earnest making a collection of the books ” which it regarded as Apostolic, and separating them from the floating mass of ecclesiastical literature ; neither did the “ Canon ” of Marcion antedate, but rather presupposed, the Canon of the Church.
Other points in which we find difficulty in following Dr. Orr’s exposition are of less importance, but some of them may be cursorily adduced, — if for no other purpose than to indicate that the high value we set upon the book is not wholly blind. We question whether entire justice is done either to Augustine or to the idea of monergistic regeneration, by the remarks on p. 150 (c/. also note *) upon “ irresistible grace.” It surely is inadequate to say that “ what Augustine holds is that God can use such means, can so-deal with the individual in providence and grace, can bring him into such outer and inner discipline, as, in harmony with, nay, through the laws of human free- dom, to overcome his resistance ” (p. 151;. Augustine does make much of means, but he does not confine “ grace ” to the operation of means : he does make grace in its essence liberating, not enslaving, but he does not make it act solely “through the laws of human freedom,” but also on the soul’s freedom. The matter is more exactly stated on p. 161 : “ Augustine views the will as set in motion, and spiritually liberated by divine grace.”
Nor can we regard as adequate the exposition of Augustine’s doctrine of predestination (pp. 152, 153) as if it were “always predestination to life and salvation, never to sin and death.” Augustine explicitly and repeatedly
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teaches the predestinatio gemmina. This inadequate view of Augustine’s doctrine leads to what seems to us injustice also to Gottschalk (p. 162), as if he “ outdid Augustine himself in the rigour of his advocacy of predestina- tion a quite common remark, which seems to have, however, no real basis in fact. It seems to be very difficult to do justice to Gottschalk, if we are to judge from the extremely unjust pages which Harnack has consecrated to him in the fifth volume of his History of Dogma. We can easily forgive Dr. Orr sucli little things, however, in the presence of his admirable remarks which im- mediately follow (pp. 162 sq.) on the doctrine of predestination in general and its difficulties. Here a firm finger is laid upon the very centre of the subject and the whole discussion is raised to its proper place in an “organic view of the divine purpose in its relation to the world and history.” Per- haps it is going a little far to say that “ only a foolish person ” (p. 168) will fail to understand that God acts by processes, and that election and reproba- tion are incident to this method of working ; but surely a wise man ought to see that God’s election is an item in the great organic process by which He is saving the world to Himself. And, by the way, when we have said this we may add that we wonder why Dr. Orr, seeing it all so clearly and expounding it so freshly and so finely, should yet balk a little at the idea of “ particular redemption,” or as he calls it “ limited atonement ”; and indeed seek to “ guard against ” this fundamental doctrine by a mode of statement that can scarcely be saved from logically issuing in a theory of universal sal- vation. We “ guard against this,” he says, i. e., against “ particular redemp- tion,” “by recognizing that Christ is not only the Head of the Church, but in a true sense also the Head of humanity ” (p. 232, note 5)— the reference being to the satisfaction of Christ the Head for his Body, which is His Church. Here too surely we must take the organic view. Christ died for the race and will save the race — He died for and saves the world : but this ‘ race ’ and ‘ world ’ is to be construed not extensively of the ‘ race ’ and ‘ world ’ at any given point in the process, but protensively of the ‘race ’ and ‘ world ’ as a whole in its progressive development — as at the end of the process it shall be seen to be. In a word the universalism of the Scriptures is, and the uni- versalism of theology should be, an organic and eschatological and not an individualistic and each-and-every universalism. In this true sense Christ is the Head of a new humanity and offered Himself for humanity, and by His offering saves humanity — though in the course of the process by which His saving of humanity is wrought out, each and every man who emerges as a unit in the progress of the ages is not saved.
Through the mazes of the Christological controversies Dr. Orr guides us with a skillful hand. We are not able to go with him, to be sure, in the stress he lays on the idea of humanity as capax infiniti as the key to the Christological problem,— though he guards himself somewhat by remarking that “ it is possible to make too much of this ” (p. 176). In the incarnation, after all, it was not the case that humanity embraced the infinite, but that the infinite assumed humanity ; and surely there is no gulf in the universe so wide as that which separates the increate from the created, the self- existent from the dependent. The remarks on the modern theories of Kenosis (p. 337), on the other hand, leave nothing to be desired in point either of clearness or of decisiveness. The influence of most of these theories i he considers,
“is already a thing of the past. The self-obliteration of the Logos to the point of the self-surren- der of His conscious life in the godhead (which is their salient feature), is more than ‘self- emptying ’ — it is practically self-extinction ; while the person that results is in no way distin- guishable from ordinary man save in His undeveloped potencies. Thus, by a curious reversal of standpoint Kenoticism works round to a species of Ebionitism. Accordingly the tendency of the newer Christological theories has been to dispense with the preiexistent Logos altogether as a metaphysical figment.’’
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We cannot go so heartily with him, however, when he proceeds to discuss the Kenotic corrollary of the limitation of Christ’s earthly knowledge. Here he seems to forget momentarily the rights of the two natures, and speaks of Christ’s knowledge and ignorance, the voluntariness of His limi- tation of knowledge and the authority of His teaching, as if he were deal- ing with a single knowing mind, and had to distinguish only between several departments of knowledge. Needless to say that there is no solution to this problem possible save in the frank acceptance and utilization of the gem- mina mens.
Nothing in the book is more illuminating than the whole discussion of the soteriological advance — whether in its first stage under the impulse of Anselm or in its development in Reformation theology. We do not think justice is quite done to Calvin’s doctrine of God (pp. 2 42 sq.), and the remarks on the place of love in God’s nature at this point need to be qualified by the additional remarks on pp. 343 sq. as to other qualities of the Divine nature equally fundamental. “ It is easy to say, ‘ Love is above law and can freely remit sin.’ But there are things that even God cannot do, and one is to say that His holiness cannot react against sin.” Important as it is to remember that God is love, it is equally important to remember that love is not God and the formula “ Love ” must ever therefore be inadequate to express God. In dealing with the “ ordo salutis ” (p. 273 sq.), Dr. Orr appears to us not to discriminate clearly enough between the impetration and the application of redemption, — a failure to discriminate between which lies at the root of the difficulties of those who are confused as to the relation of regeneration and justification. Regeneration is, of course, the logical prius both of faith and of the justification of which faith is the prius. But the impetration of sal- vation is the logical prius of the whole process of its application, inclusive of regeneration and its resultant faith and of the justification and sanctifi- cation that follow on faith. The prevalent errors here arise from the confu- sion on the one hand of justification with the impetration of salvation, and on the other of the act of regeneration with the work of sanctification. Assuredly this confusion cannot be escaped by refusing to distinguish be- tween these several elements in the composite work of salvation — which no doubt, however, are separable only in analysis and not in fact. For the rest it is scarcely exact to say that “ the vital union with Christ is effected by faith.” It is effected by the Holy Ghost who is the author of faith, and whose vivifying act on the soul antedates the act of the sinner which we call faith.
The sketches of post-Reformation theology and of the currents of modern theological thought to which the last two lectures are devoted are masterly in both contents and form. Little space is given to the eschatological prob- lems, which are yet spoken of as perhaps the special task of the modern Church. What is said is said well and prudently, although the reader is left with a little less assurance of the final issue of sin and the final state of the sinner, than he would gather from the deliverances of our Lord on the subject. Possibly the unmitigated sternness of our Lord’s denunciations of sin, and the unrelieved horror of the outlook which he leaves for the unbe- lieving sinner, may prove after all the more loving mode of dealing with this terrible subject, — a subject so terrible in itself that it can scarcely be given additional terrors by any mode of dealing with it.
We have permitted ourselves the critic’s privilege of finding fault when- ever we could find fault with this admirable book. But we must not allow ourselves to leave the impression that we find fault with the book itself. Every human product is faulty, in the sense that it is not wholly free from faults. But the faults of this book are few and relatively unimportant, and
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deserve mention only that the few imperfections may be kept before our minds as we emphasize the main fact, — that it is an eminently good book, tracing with wide learning and singular sobriety the fundamental line of development of Christian theology through the ages. The sanity of Dr. Orr’s handling of the immense material lying at his disposal is the constant wonder of the reader ; and no one will lay the book aside without an increase of wisdom as well as of knowledge. Everyone who wishes to obtain a sound grasp upon the essence of Christian thought should surely begin with this book in his hand as his guide.
Princeton. Benjamin B. Warfield.
Theologischer Jahresbericht . . . herausgegeben von Dr. G. Kruger , Professor in Giessen. Zwanzigster Band, enthaltend Die Literatur des Jahres 1900. Zweite Abtheilung: Historische Theologie, bearbeitet von Liidemann , Preusclien, Picker, O. Clemen , Loesche, Kohlschmidt, Lehmann, Hegler, Koehler. 8vo, pp. 508 (Berlin : C. A. Schwetschke und Sohn; New York: Gustav E. Steckert, 1901.) The historical section of this indispensable annual review of theological literature has felt, more perhaps than any other portion, the tendency to expansion which has marked the successive issues of recent years. The issue for 1899 contained, for example, 277 pages; that for 1900, 361 ; that for 1901, 508. Two new workers have been introduced also in this latest issue : Lie. Dr. O. Clemen, Gymnasialoberlehrer in Zwickau i. S., who aids Dr. Ficker in compassing the Church History of the Middle Ages, and Lie. Dr. Walther Kohler, Privatdozent in Giessen, who is joined with Dr. Hegler in caring for the Church History subsequent to 1648. The work is prosecuted in the same spirit and with the same remark- able diligence as formerly, while the increased space occupied has allowed somewhat more numerous and fuller characterizations of the books adduced.
The Early Church : Its History and Literature. By James Orr , II. A.,
D.D., Professor of Apologetics and Systematic Theology United Free Church College, Glasgow. Small 12mo, pp. viii, 146, with one plate. (London: Hodder & Stoughton; New York : A. C. Armstrong & Son [1901].) It is something of an achievement to pack into the space of less than 150 small duodecimo pages a clear, judicious and readable account of the Christian Church up to Constantine : but Dr. Orr has done this. We have read the booklet through with unabated interest from beginning to end, and can tes- tify that there is not a dry “ compend-like ” page in it. It is as truly an “ individual ” sketch of the first stage of Church History as if it had been expanded to a dozen times its length. And the breadth of Dr. Orr’s learning and the sobriety of his judgment render it a very admirable guide to opinion through the mazes of this difficult period. He does, here and there, we must confess, lean a little too heavily on the constructions of Harnack for our taste : the most striking instance of this comes to expression on pages 88, sq., where Harnack’s schema for the development of the Old Catholic Church is accepted — a schema which seems to us throughout essentially d priori and artificial, despite its general attractiveness and the elements of truth contained in it ; and which seems to us to be, with regard to the account it gives of the rise of the idea of the New Testament canon at least, quite and even fatally wrong. But this does not affect the general value of this book, which as a whole is a model of what a brief classbook should be, and sets a high standard for the series of “ Christian Study Man- uals ” of which it is the first issue. By the way, this series is issued in England at a shilling a volume, while the American publishers charge sixty cents a volume for it — which appears to us not to the interest of the Ameri- can buying public. We have noticed a few misprints, especially in names, —
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e. g ., Bruce for Brace, p. 13 ; Flornius for Florinus, p. 93. Compare also the
word “ printed,” p. 102 bottom. Dr. Martin Luther’s Reformations-schriften.
Erste Abtheilung. Zur Reformationshistorie gehcirige Documente. A. Wider die Papisten (Schluss). Aus den Jahren 1538 bis 1546. B. Wider die Reformirten. Aufs neue lierausgegeben im Auftrag des Ministeriums der deutschen Ev.-luth. Synode von Missouri, Ohio und anderen Staaten. 4to, pp. xxv, and coll. 2261. (St. Louis, Mo.: Concordia Publishing House,
1901. ) The volumes of the St. Louis revision of Walch’s edition of Luther’s Works have been following one another now for a series of years with commendable regularity, until with the present volume the completion of the great task is brought within sight. “ With this volume,” writes Prof. Hoppe in the Preface, “ the revision of the old edition of the col- lected writings of Dr. Martin Luther edited by Walch, is completed up to the twenty-first volume, which contains Luther’s letters ; to these the reviser must next devote himself before he can proceed to the preparation of the Index. In the reprinting of the letters, however, we are entirely depend- ent on the editions publishing in Germany, because the sources are not accessible in this country, and in the first instance this task cannot be carried further than the publication of the correspondence has proceeded in the Erlangen edition, that is to say up to 24 April, 1531. We must wait patiently for the rest until either the Erlangen Correspondence is advanced further or else the edition of Luther’s letters promised by Knaake comes to hand, — a thing which we pray God to grant us before very long.” Prof. Hoppe and the Missouri Lutherans have every reason to congratulate them- selves meanwhile on the admirable manner in which these twenty volumes have been set out. The editing has been both careful and learned ; the printers’ work has been good : and the result is to place within our reach a German edition of Luther’s works which leaves whether in completeness or in effective presentation very little to be desired. About two-thirds of the present volume is given to the completion of the collection of the documents designed to illustrate the course of the anti-Romish debate: the remainder similarly collects the documents bearing on the controversy with the Reformed — among which are somewhat illogically included also documents directed against other non-Lutheran movements. These documents have place among “ Luther’s works,” of course, only as illustrative material, and provide rather a “ source-book ” of the Reformation than a collection of Luther’s writings. Only a few pieces from Luther’s own hand of large im- portance are included in these two thousand columns — such as his treatises “ Against the Papacy at Rome, the Creation of the Devil,” and “ Against Hans Wurst,” his “ Warning to the Frankforters to guard themselves against the Zwinglian Doctrine,” and his ‘‘Letter to two Pastors on Anabaptism.” But this circumstance only adds to the richness of the contents and gives us
opportunity to study Luther’s whole activity in fuller measure. Centennial
Survey of Foreign Missions. A Statistical Supplement to “ Christian Missions and Social Progress,” being a Conspectus of the Achievements and Results of Evangelical Missions in all Lands at the Close of the Nineteenth Century. By the Rev. James S. Dennis, D.D., Students’ Lecturer on Missions, Prince- ton, 1893 and 1896; Author of “Foreign Missions After a Century ” and “ Christian Missions and Social Progress ” ; Chairman of Committee on Statistics, Ecumenical Conference on Foreign Missions, New York, 1900 ; Member of the American Presbyterian Mission, Beirut, Syria. Oblong 4to, pp. xxii, 401. (New York, Chicago, Toronto : Fleming H. Revell Company,
1902. ) One hardly knows whether to wonder most at the remakable show- ing for the missionary work of the Church which this wonderful body of statistics brings before us, or the amazing industry of the author in com-
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piling them. It is safe to say that never before has the whole material of Foreign Mission work in operation at a given moment been placed in a synoptic view so completely before the eye of the student. The preparation of such a body of statistics had been, from the first planning of his great work on Christian Missions and Social Progress, one of the purposes of Dr. Dennis ; and he had from the first promised it as an Appendix to that work. It was brought to its completion, however, before the finishing of that work, through the demand made on him as Chairman of the Committee on Statis- tics for the Ecumenical Conference on Foreign Missions held in the spring of 1900. The results of his investigations, as now published, form a bulky volume, simply packed with information. It gathers into one panoramic view “the cumulative foreign mission movement of the nineteenth cen- tury,” and records “ the present status of mission activities.” The several series of tables give : (1) The Statistics of Foreign Missionary Societies and Churches, with a view to recording their instrumentalities and achievements in evangelistic work; (2) The Statistics of the Educational Work of Mis- sions ; (3) The Statistics of their Literary Work, especially of Bible Transla- tions; (4) The Statistics of their Medical Work ; (5) The Statistics of their Philanthropic Work; (6) The Statistics of Societies and Associations at Work in the Interests of General Improvement ; (7) Certain other Relative Statistics. At the end (8) a complete Directory of Foreign Mission Socie- ties is added. To the bare statistics there is added a very considerable body of illuminative annotation ; and the volume closes with a series of maps. Nothing could be completer; nothing more welcome to every student of missionary history. It is indeed, as the author modestly expresses it, “an inscribed milestone on the pathway of the advancing Kingdom at the close of a working century ;” and dull of heart must he be who can read this inscrip- tion and not take fresh courage and press on with a new inspiration to the
one great goal of “Thy Kingdom Come.” Outline of a History of Protestant
Missions, from the Reformation to the Present Time. A Contribution to Modern Church History. By Gustav Warneck, Professor and Doctor of Theology. Authorized Translation from the Seventh German Edition. Edited by George Robson, D.D. With a Portrait of the Author and Twelve Maps. 8vo, pp. xiii, 364. (New York, Chicago, Toronto: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1901. Edinburgh : Oliphant, Ferrier & Co.) Dr. War- neck’s History of Protestant Missions has been for twenty years a household treasure of all who love the Kingdom : for eighteen of these it has been accessible in English. But in its original form it has been antiquated since the appearance in 1895 of the third German edition, rapidly followed by a fourth, fifth, sixth and now a seventh. The original volume, to speak of extension only, was scarce a third the size of the latest issue. An English translation of the seventh edition was therefore a necessity, and in the present volume it has been given us in admirable form. Beyond controversy this is the best extant comprehensive history of Protestant Missions. It has its faults, of course. One of them is, the greater comparative fullness with which the German Missions and Continental Missions in general are treated, by which a false proportion is given to the historical sketch. Another is the comparative neglect of missionary operations among corrupt Churches, such as the Roman Catholic— by which Dr. Warneck is led into a defective judg- ment, for example, of the missionary spirit of the Reformers, whereas, in truth, the Reformation age was one of the greatest missionary ages the Church has known. Another is a defective dogmatic background, lead- ing him to a grossly unfair estimate of the vigor of the Reformed missionary spirit— as if, forsooth, the Reformed Churches, in whose hands the mission- ary impulse has reached its highest development, must in principle be non-
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missionary bodies ! The readers of this Review may remember that this defective dogmatic attitude of Dr. VVarneck was made the subject of a wise and conclusive discussion by Dr. N. M. Steffens in our number for April, 1894: a discussion which every reader of Dr. Warneck should revert to. But despite all these drawbacks Dr. Warneck’s book remains the best book on its subject. The value of the English translation is somewhat lessened by the omission of a considerable body of Dr. Warneck’s references to liter- ature. Johns Hopkins University Studies in Historical and Political
Science. Herbert B. Adams, Editor. Series xviii. Parts 1-12. Svo. (Baltimore : The Johns Hopkins Press, 1900.) The Church and Popular Edu- cation. By Herbert B. Adams. (Nos. 8, 9. 8vo, pp. 84.) The Struggle
for Religious Freedom in Virginia: The Baptists. By William Taylor Thorn. (Nos. 10-12. Svo, pp. 105.) We have thrown up into prominence the sub- titles of the two parts of the eighteenth series of this serial publication which will most interest the student of Church History. In the former of these parts the late Prof. Adams himself gives a rather cursory account of the Church and popular education. After a brief historical introduction setting forth how the Church has from the foundation of the English Colonies in America been an educator of the people, he describes by existing examples the several types of the Institutional or Educational Church, then gives some account of the educational work carried on by the Baltimore Churches, and concludes with a few words on the educational duty of the American Church. It is all not very profound, perhaps not very carefully considered, but not un- suggestive. A meagre school bibliography closes the part. Mr. Thorn’s study of the part the Baptists played in the struggle for religious freedom in Vir- ginia is a carefully wrought out aud instructively written piece of history. In his view “ the Baptists represent in Virginia history belated politico- religious Puritanism— not imported, not the Puritanism of England nor of New England, but native, genuine and characteristic.” Virginia had been specially inaccessible to Puritanism: now it bred a variety of its own, — “ the movement was a movement ‘ of the people, by the people, for the people ’ ; and its aim was freedom.” This part is an excellent specimen of the good work such a series of academic monographs may call out.
IV.— SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY.
The Cosmos and the Logos. Being the Lectures for 1901-02 on the L. P. Stone Foundation in the Princeton Theological Seminary ; also delivered in the Theological Seminary at Auburn, New York. By the Rev. Henry Collin Minton, D.D., Stuart Professor of Theology in the San Francisco Theological Seminary. Philadelphia : The Westmins- ter Press. 1902.
These eight lectures on the Princeton Stone foundation will be read with interest and profit. The present writer is so much in agreement with their general lines and main conclusions that he is perhaps not the best person to be their critic. But even those who are not in entire agreement with their positions will find it difficult to deny their ability, vivacity and freshness. The lectures are not doctrinal in the ordinary sense of the word, yet in their course they discuss some of the most vital problems of theology. They will be read with the more interest that they regard these problems from a dis- tinctive point of view, and in their widest lights and relations— the cosmi- cal. It is increasingly becoming felt that Christianity cannot hold itself aloof from the general interpretation we may be led to give of the universe,
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and Dr. Minton does not shrink from the challenge which modern thinking on cosmical questions gives to his Christian faith. He rather rejoices in the opportunity of vindicating his conviction that sound philosophy and true science are in perfect harmony with Christian postulates — nay, need the lat- ter to solve their enigmas and complete their theories. His book, in brief, is a discussion of the terms of adjustment between Christianity, — with its doctrines of God, man, sin, revelation, incarnation and redemption, — with modern idealistic and evolutionary conceptions of the world. He will reject the truth of neither conception, but seeks to show the limitations of both, and the reconciliation found in the truth as it is in Christ.
The general plan of the book is simple, though it is difficult to keep the subjects in the lectures from overlapping. The first lecture turns on the idea that truth is one — that the system of things, therefore, is a unity, a Cosmos. In the second and third lectures the idealistic and empirical ways of interpreting this Cosmos are contrasted, and a just medium is sought in the idea of a theistic, i. e., rational, basis of the universe (lecture six con- tinues this line of thought). In lecture three we come on “ the empirical surprise ” of sin — which is disorder, irrationality — in the universe, and the place of sin in the scheme of the Cosmos is penetratingly discussed. Stress is laid on the origin of sin in human freedom, on the organic constitution of the race, and on the cosmical effects of sin (the last subject is continued in lecture five). Lecture four has mainly to do with the compatibility of an ethical explanation of the Cosmos with evolutionary theory, and results in showing the limitations of the latter. Lectures five and six are devoted to man — the one to his place in the Cosmos as at once part of it and above it (here again the effects of sin are discussed) and the other to his relation to the Cos- mos as intelligent spectator. Here the affinity between man’s intelligence and the world he knows is made the ground of an argument for a rational, personal author of the universe. The link between man and the world in knowledge is the Logos — divine, self-revealing reason. The seventh lecture passes to the subject of special revelation in the Cosmos — to the need, reality and nature of it. This is one of the most interesting chapters in the volume. Finally, in the eighth lecture, the idea of the Cosmos is shown to culminate in the incarnation, which, inasmuch as sin enters as an element into the divine plan of the world, is, from the first, incarnation for the ends of redemption.
In traversing this wide field, the book abounds in crystalline thoughts and sparkling sentences. On the other hand, there is a breezy freedom in coining words to suit the need which the slower minds of the older continent would not venture to emulate. English dictionaries at least (we cannot speak for American) hardly sanction such sentences as “ A man may be so unself-con- sistent as to deny explicitly what he assumes implicitly ” (p. 7), “The im- materiation of the Logos in Creation ” (p. 276), “ The Logos, the self-reveal- ing God, immateriates the truth in the Cosmos, and inscripturates it in the Bible ” (p. 272). In the general treatment what one perhaps misses is a dis- cussion of just the idea which would seem to be fundamental — that of the Logos. This never emerges into distinct treatment. The Logos is postu- lated as involved in the rational structure of the world, but on the divine side comes into view only as the divine Reason. The identity of the self- revealing Logos with the Son of God is assumed in the last lecture on the incarnation, but the Trinitarian basis of the Logos distinction receives little elucidation. Yet a profound interest attaches to this point of the relation of the Logos to the Father and Holy Spirit, and of all three to the created world.
A few points in the lectures may be touched on more by way of suggestion
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than otherwise. The first lecture, as observed, deals with the unity of truth. By this is meant that “ every particular truth bears a certain definite, organic and more or less determinative relation to every other particular truth ” (p. 7). This unity is not proved ; it is postulated (p. 3). “ It is a prius of all connected and systematic thought” (p. 6). “Everything is definitely related to every other thing, and this very fact constitutes the totality of being into a tremendously vast and varied organic unit” (p. 8)- The idea is familiar to the readers of T. H. Green, Prof. E. Caird, Prof. A. Seth (c/. footnote on p. 3), and other writers of that school, and has its origin in Kant’s famous Synthetic Unity of Apperception and Category of Reciprocity. But it ought to be observed that it has implications in the usage of these writers to which Dr. Minton assuredly does not commit him- self, yet against which certain of his phrases, perhaps, do not sufficiently guard. For by “truth” is meant, not simply the agreement of thought with reality, but the system of reality itself. And the point of view of these writers is that reality — the Cosmos — is given from the first to reason as a system in which every part reciprocally determines, and is determined by, every other — a metaphysically necessary whole— in which no breach or change or interposition, such as we mean by miracle, can be thought of as taking place. The reader will see what we mean if he consults, e. g., T. H. Green’s sermon on “ Faith ” ( Works, III, p. 267), in which this postulate of “ ideal unity ” is made the ground of the denial of the possibility of miracle. Miracle is an impossibility, because it is an irrationality. That is to be met, as Dr. Minton meets it, by recognizing that the universe is not “ a closed ciicuit,” of which God is simply the ideal relating principle, and by insist- ing on taking into our conception of the whole the personal God himself and man, with all the free forces involved in humanity and history (pp. 8, 9 ; cf. pp. 54-56). This, however, while it completes, very seriously modifies the conception. For the Cosmos is no longer a system metaphysically pre- determined and complete as a rational unity, but one in which God’s will, and man’s freedom under God, shape the course of the world as it goes along, and determine what is to he the real — what the truth shall be.
This leads to another point. If the universe is “ an organic unit,” firmly knit within itself in the reciprocal relation of its parts — if it must be thought thus, if thought at all — where is the room for “ the empirical surprise ” of sin, with its acknowledged “irrationality”? If sin is that which “ has put to confusion all right-minded, rational and moral world-builders, because, itself irrational, itself immoral, the very best that could be said for it is that it is an imperti- nence, a usurpation, an arbitrariness, an intruder, that which ought not to he ” (p. 107), how is it to be made to fit in with the initial postulate of unity ? We do not say the problem is insoluble, but a few words might have helped to its clearer solution.
We naturally and decidedly agree with most that Dr. Minton has written on the futility of the Kantian and Ritschlian severance of theoretical and practical knowledge. But is there not a danger, in the interests of religion itself, in not recognizing that there is necessarily a relative side to all our knowledge of God — of the universe, too, for that matter — and that it is only to a very limited extent we can be said to know God as He is ? Dr. Minton is not only perfectly aware of this; he states it, and argues for it in the strongest manner (pp. 252-57). But should not the fact be allowed a little more weight when he is discussing the identity of “ seeming ” and “ being” ? “ What God seems to be, that, and that only, we must believe Him to be ” (p. 203). “There can be absolutely no quarrel between Appearance and Reality. We know reality as appearance, and, a3 it appears to be, that it is to us ” (p. 205). “ The underlying question in all this is, whether God really
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is what He seems to us to be ? That is to say, can we rely upon His being what He seems to be, what we believe Him to be ?” (p. 215). “ If we can- not know God as He is, then we cannot know Him at all ” (p. 216). Is this so certain ? Is not the proposition (enshrining in its particular content an important truth) too unqualified ? Is it not the case that in all our knowl- edge of God there must be, and should be known by us to be, a large sym- bolical, analogical, figurative element? The kernel — the central, essential point in our knowledge— we may be absolutely certain of (this against Kant, Sabatier, etc.); but representatively must we not admit that our conception is but a dim approximation to the reality.? “ God is personal,” “ God knows,” “ God is self-conscious ” : of these things we have a clear assurance. More : the propositions are perfectly intelligible to us. But as respects the mode of God’s being or knowing, of His possession and exercise of any of His at- tributes, it is very different. His knowing, e. g., is not like ours: it trans- cends us altogether. We can only figure it to ourselves analogically, aware while we do so that our conception is relative and inadequate. Dr. Minton in various places allows this nearly in so many words. But then are not some of his counter-expressions too absolute ?
Sin is the great crux of the universe. Nothing in the volume is more sat- isfactory than the author’s firm Christian way of handling this dark prob- lem. He will neither explain sin away, nor consent to regard it as a neces- sary element of the Cosmos and of the nature and development of man. But as little in his view is its appearance arbitrary. “ The Cosmical pro- gramme, as divinely purposed, embraced Adam’s fall and race redemption ” (p. 288). This, on any hypothesis, seems to us undeniable, but it is precisely here that the difficulty arises for theodicy. We do not escape that difficulty by placing the origin of sin in the freedom of the creature. Freedom itself is a knotty problem, and we are not clear that Dr. Minton solves it by claim- ing for the initial choice of Adam “ a bona fide possibility of choosing either the right way or wrong way ” (p. 99), while apparently denying, or holding as non-essential to freedom, the power of contrary choice in his descendants (p. 92). If such power was essential to freedom at any time, it can hardly be unessential now ; and it would be better frankly to pronounce that a state of non-freedom in which it is absent. It is a deeper question whether it is proper to hinge liberty on a “ power ” of this kind at all. The “ power ” to a contrary choice is always there ; it is not a question of power, but of will. The essence of the problem is : Does the will, in the exercise of its freedom, ever act without reasons ; and is it conceivable that, under identical condi- tions, it will not be found always choosing alike ? Grant that it is self-de- termining, and acts, in so far as free, purely in obedience to its own laws, is it not involved in any rational idea of freedom, that it lias laws — that it is never arbitrary ? Only on such a hypothesis, so far as one can see, is voli- tion calculable, or could it be the object even of divine prevision. In any case, if the certainty of the act be presupposed, there is no escape from the conclusion that it is a world into which sin should enter which, out of all possible worlds, God in His freedom (p. 54) has chosen as the theatre of His purpose. Then the darkest of all theological enigmas is, How, on the sup. position that sin is the thing that absolutely ought not to be, can the wisdom and goodness of God be vindicated in its ordination or even permission ? Shut out from regarding it as a necessity, as a thing that must be, or as something that through the caprice of the creature took God by surprise — the “ empirical surprise ” was none to Him — how justify its existence here and now ? On that problem no clear light is thrown ; perhaps none can be thrown. The nearest approach to a suggestion at a solution is in the adop- tion of Dr. Hodge’s view, that in the end the numbers of the saved will
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vastly outnumber those of the lost. “ It follows that the saved are to the lost as an innumerable multitude to a few. The ‘ aggregate ’ of the lost is composed of the exceptions ; the rotten fruit that is cut off from the tree is a small part compared with the good fruit which is gathered and garnered ” (p. 291). This is a cheering view, a “ larger hope,” but it is not so clear how it follows from the author’s premises or squares with the sad facts that stare us in the face. We should like at any rate to see it worked out more fully than it is, and its compatibility shown with the past history of mankind, and the spiritual condition of the vast majority of mankind still. We may count in all children dying in infancy and dream of generations in future millennial ages ; but it is hard to feel relieved by this if the vast masses of the adult population of the race up to the present hour are to perish. The difficulty is not peculiar to Dr. Minton’s book. It meets us all.
Without saying more by way of criticism, we would only again express the appreciation with which we have perused this singularly suggestive volume.
Glasgow , Scotland. James Orr.
V. — PRACTICAL THEOLOGY.
Theologischer Jahresbericht. . . . herausgegeben von Dr. G. Kruger , Pro- fessor in Giessen. Zwanzigster Band, enthaltend die Literatur des Jahres 1900. Yierte Abtheilung : Practische Theologie, bearbeitet von Ecerling , Mnrbach, Liilmann , Foerster, Hering, Hasenclever , Spitta. Totenschau von Nestle. 8vo, pp. 163. (Berlin: C. A. Schwetschke und Solin; Xew York: Gustav E. Stechert, 1901.) The part of this important annual which embraces “Practical Theology” appears every year scarcely equally thoroughly wrought out with the rest of the volume. Neverthless it gives a tolerably comprehensive survey of the literature of this department, especially German. The sections into which the material is divided are : 1. Preaching in its theory and practice and Edifying Literature, dealt with by Pastor O. Everling ; Katechetics, by Dr. Fr. Marbach ; Pastoral Theology, by Dr. C. Liilmann ; Church Law and Church Organization, by Pastor Erich Foerster; Ecclesiastical Societies and Charity, by Dr. Otto Hering; Church Art, by Dr. A. Hasenclever ; Liturgies by Dr. Friederich Spitta. At the close of the volume there is a brief necrology for the year, drawn up by Dr. Eberhard
Nestle. Bible School Pedagogy. Outlines for Normal Classes. By A. H.
McKinney , Pli.D., with an Introduction by Jesse Lyman Hurlbut, D.D. 8vo, pp. 78. (New York : Eaton & Mains [1900].) A good practical hand- book for normal classes of Sabbath-school teachers. A useful bibliography
is added. Evening Thoughts. Being Notes of a Threefold Pastorate. By
the Rev. Paton J. Gloag, D.D. , LL.D., Edinburgh. 12mo,pp. x, 284. (Edin- burgh: T. & T. Clark; New York: Imported by Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1900.) Having done his work as unto the Lord, Dr. Gloag at the close of his days is able to look back over the years passed in the three parishes it has fallen to his lot to serve, with peaceful thoughts of thanksgiving to God who made him able as a minister of the New Covenant. He culls out of the Sermons delivered to his people these thirty specimens of lucidly and solidly instructive preaching. It is a very high conception of Scottish parish
preaching one gets as he turns over these pages. Christ’s Valedictory, or
Meditations on the Fourteenth Chapter of John. By Rev. Robert F. Sample, D.D., LL.D., Author of “Memoirs of J. C. Thom,” etc. 12mo, pp. 307. (New York, Chicago and Toronto [1900].) These delightful meditations on the “ epitome of the gospel ” contained in the fourteenth chapter of John may also be looked upon as a legacy of a faithful pastor to his spiritual chil- dren scattered abroad. It is a book full of richness in spiritual instruction
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The Magna Charta of the Kingdom of God. Plain Studies in Our Lord’s
Sermon on the Mount. By George F. Genung, D.D. 12mo, pp. vii, 164. (Philadelphia: American Baptist Publication Society, 1900.) “The stan- dards of interpretation here sought are just the standards of devout common sense.” The object is to promote a clearer understanding of the
New Testament ethical standpoint. It is a good book. Christianity in the
Nineteenth Century. (The Boston-Lowell Lectures, 1900.) By George C. Lorimer, Minister at Tremont Temple. 8vo, pp. xiii, 652. (Philadelphia : The Griffith and Rowland Press, 1900.) In these twelve lectures the author seeks to trace the vicissitudes, and indicate the modifications which Chris- tianity has undergone during the nineteenth century. He finds it a story of the coming of the Lord to His own again. The survey is of necessity a little sketchy : sometimes the point of view is not quite wisely taken : but the
book is a useful one. Eve and Her Daughters, or Heroines of Home. By
the Rev. Thomas Maxwell McConnell, M.A., D.D. , Author of “The Last Week with Jesus,” etc. 12mo, pp. 295. (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1900.) An exposition of the Christian ideal of womanhood through
the medium of sketches of twelve Bible women from Eve to Phoebe.
The Prophet of Hope. Studies in Zechariah. By F. B. Meyer, B.A. 12mo, 157. (New York, Chicago and Toronto: Fleming II. Revell Co. [1900].) A new book of this well-known evangelist is always welcomed to our table
and this one too is full of devout instructiveness. Stewardship. By Rev.
C. A. Cook. 18mo, pp. 112. (Philadelphia : American Baptist Publication Society, 1900.) An extended treatise on Christian economics, or the Chris- tian’s relation to money. What We Owe. From a Lawyer’s Standpoint.
32mo, pp. 53. (Richmond, Ya. : Presbyterian Committee of Publication
[1900].) A plea for the tithe. Deceivers and Their Dupes. BytheReu. R.
C. Reed, D.D. 32mo, pp. 35. (Richmond, Va. : Presbyterian Committee of Publication [1900].) A telling tract on modern vagaries — Mormonism,
Spiritualism, Theosophy, Christian Science, Romish Miraculism, etc.
The Mission of the Presbyterian Church. By J. G. Garth, Humboldt, Tenn. 32rao, pp. 11. (Richmond, Va. : Presbyterian Committee of Publication [1900].) Creed, character, conduct — this is what Mr. Garth finds the Pres- byterian Church to stand for. Studies in the Character of Christ. By
Charles Henry Robinson, M.A., Canon Missioner of Ripon. 12mo, xvi, 130. (London, New York and Bombay: Longmans, Green & Co., 1900.) Mr. Robinson’s object in this book is to withdraw the eyes of Christians from one another and focus them on Christ, our one Pattern and one Reward. The first two chapters treat of the character of Christ as the final argument for the truth of Christianity ; and the third presents the character of Christ as capable of reproduction. The fourth holds up Christ as the goal of humanity, while the fifth expounds the idea of the incarnation of Christ in the Church and the sixth seeks to hold up to view “ the Christ that is to be.” The last chapter stands somewhat separate from the rest and speaks of “ the vision of Christ.” The book is devout and full of Christian aspiration and,
though marred by some doubtful theologizing, is fitted to do good. The
Carpenter. By Rev. Charles A. S. Dwight. 12mo, pp. 122. (New York : E. B. Trent & Co., 1900.) A series of thirteen studies of aspects of our Lord’s
life and influence. About My Father’s Business. By Austin Miles. 12mo,
pp. 265. (New York: The Mershon Company [1900].) A “novel with a purpose.” The author uses the vehicle of fiction to convey his conception of what Church life is coming to be, and what a spiritual life in the Church should rather be. The instances he depicts are drawn from real life. The moral he would read is, that “ in order that the Church may succeed in her mission, she must discontinue the great evils which are taking her from her
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lofty position, and are bringing her down to the arena of pleasure.” The
Heart of David, the Psalmist King. Being certain Bible chronicles set in order to compass the life and to show the love and zeal of the crowned shepherd of Israel, and written with dutiful imagination in the fuller manner of discourse by Augustus George Heaton. Illustrated by the author. 12mo, pp. 388. (Washington: The Neale Company [1900].) The idea of Mr. Heaton is to depict human sentiment as illustrated by the heart of David in four successive episodes, taken as characterizing four periods of his life. He has therefore made Michal, Abigail, Bathsheba and Abishag his theme suc- cessively, in four poems couched in dramatic form ; and has sought to gather into them a picture of David’s heart-development. The narrative is held closely to the saci'ed page and the versification is smooth and correct. Mr. Heaton succeeds in putting into verse a very complete history of the inner life
of David. A Prisoner in Buff. By Everett T. Tomlinson, author of “Ward
Hill at Weston,” etc. 12mo,pp.267. (Philadelphia: The Griffith and Rowland
Press, 1900.) L’hasa at Last. By J. MacDonald Oxley , Author of “ On the
World’s Roof,” etc. 12mo, pp. 269. (Philadelphia: American Baptist Pub- lication Society [1900].) The Lady of the Lily Feet and Other Stories of
Chinatown. By Helen F. Clark. 12mo, pp. 125. (Philadelphia: The
Griffith and Rowland Press, 1900.) The Little Burden Sharers. By Annie
M. Barnes. 12mo, pp. 95. (Richmond, Ya. : Presbyterian Committee of Publication [1900] ) A Face and a Life. By Mrs. May Anderson Haw-
kins, Author of “ Jack Payton and his Friends,’’ etc. 12mo, pp. 352. (Rich- mond, Y a. : Presbyterian Committee of Publication [1900].) Reuben
Delton, Preacher : A Sequel to “ The Story of Marthy.” By S. U'H. Dickson, Author of “ Guessing at Heroes,” etc. 12mo, pp. 296. (Richmond, Va. : Presbyterian Committee of Publication [1900].) Grandma Elliot’s Farm-
house. A Story for Girls and Boys. By Mary E. Ireland , Translator of “ The First School Year,” etc. 12mo, pp. 162. (Richmond, Va. : Presbyterian
Board of Publication [1900].) The Boy from Beaver Hollow. A Young
People’s Story. By Sophie Swett, Author of “ Pennyroyal and Mint,” etc.
12mo, pp. 139. (Philadelphia : The Westminster Press, 1900.) How Donald
Kept Faith. By Kate W. Hamilton. 12mo, pp. 184. (Philadelphia: The
Westminster Press, 1900.) Lee: A Mountain Hero. By Frank H. Sweet.
12mo, pp. 145. (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1900.) We have here a choice selection of recent Sabbath-school books, which may be confi- dently recommended to those charged with purchasing for Sabbath-school libraries. The religious element is not prominent in A Prisoner in Buff: it is designed to teach manliness, morality and history, and it does it. L'hasa at Last is a story of adventure “ on the roof of the world.” The Lady of the Lily Feet is intended to arouse sympathy for our Chinese neighbors ; Little Burden Bearers would perform the same service to our Mexican neighbors : these are examples of missionary stories. The rest are wholesome stories of everyday life with religious motives.
VI.— GENERAL LITERATURE.
Theologischer Jahresbericht. Unter Mitwirkung von Baentsch u. s. w. . . . lierausgegeben von Dr. G. Kruger, Professor in Giessen. Zwauzigster Band, enthaltend die Literatur des Jahres 1900. Fiinfte Abtheilung : Register, bearbeitet von G. Funger, Pfarrer in Heichelheim bei Weimar. 8vo, pp. xvi, 1251-1390 (Berlin: C. A. Schwetschke und Sohn, 1901; New York : Gustav E. Stechert.) With this “ Index ” the twentieth volume of this annual record of theological literature closes. The editor takes this oc- casion to give a brief history of the undertaking, to point out the inadequacy
RECENT GENERAL LITERATURE.
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of the support it is receiving and to outline its future policy. It was inaugu- rated by B. Piinger in 1881 ; he called eleven assistants to his aid and sought only to give an exceedingly brief survey of the field of German theological literature proper, with no attempt to secure completeness in the survey of theological ancillary literature, Catholic theology, works of edification or foreign literature. After four volumes were issued, Piinger died and Lipsius took his place (1885) ; to be succeeded in turn by Holtzmann (1892). Kruger took his station by the side of Holtzmann in 1895, and assumed the entire burden of editorship in 1901. The number of assistants has meanwhile increased to twenty-four : and with them the size of the vol- ume and the completeness and fullness of the survey of literature has also steadily grown. The first volume contained 389 pages, the twentieth has 1391 : the comprehensiveness of the survey has increased until Kriiger feels that he can say that nothing equal to it exists in any other sphere of scien- tific investigation. Of course the price of the volume has increased with its size : the first volume cost eight marks, the last costs thirty* — about a propor- tionate price. But it seems that fewer scholars feel able to pay thirty marks annually than felt able to pay eight. Accordingly the Jahresbericht has reached a crisis in its history. It must either compress itself again to smaller compass, or starve to death. Neither course seems desirable. A middle course is therefore to be sought. All the compression is to be made that the matter will well bear ; an effort is to be made to increase the sub- scription list : and the whole is to be divided into seven parts which will be sold separately in the hope that many will buy the sections that deal with the literature they are more especially interested in who would not feel able to buy the whole. These seven parts will deal with : (1) the History of Religion; (2) the Old Testament; (3) the New Testament; (4) Church History; (5) Systematic Theology; (6) Practical Theology; (7) Index. As in the past year so also in the future the Bibliographies (without the comments) will be issued separately. These arrangements appear to us to be very liberal and we trust that they will reap their reward in a far wider sup- port than this useful publication has as yet received. We could ourselves wish that the Theological Encyclopaedia of the editor could be bettered so far at least as to put the whole material of Apologetics in the first section : in this part there should certainly be included Encyclopaedia, Apologetics, Philosophy and History of Religion, leaving only Dogmatics (and possibly Ethics, though a better place could be found for that) under the head of Systematic Theology. In that case a natural arrangement would be attained, and each purchaser of the parts could obtain in a single part what
most interested him. Bibliographic der Theologischen Literatur fuer das
Jahr 1900. Bearbeitet von Baentsch, O. Clemen, Elsenhaus, Everling, Picker, Foerster, Hasenclever, Hegler, Hering, Koehler, Kohlschmidt, Lehmann, Loesche, Liidemann, Liilmann, Marbach, Mayer, Meyer, Preuschen, Scheibe, Spitta, Sulze; und Todtenschau zusammengestellt von Nestle. Herausgegeben von Dr. G. Kruger , Professor in Giessen. Sonder-Abdruck aus dem 20. Bande des Theologischen Jahresbericht. 8vo, pp. 342. (Berlin: C. A. Schwetschke und Sohn ; New York: Gustav E. Stesbert, 1901.) The method of the Tlieologsciher Jahresbericht is, as is well known, to divide the whole body of theological literature into its main classes and then to subdivide these classes into sections, each containing the literature of a scientifically precised portion of the field. At the head of each of these sections is placed the titles of the books and articles belonging to it, in alphabetical order : while comment on them, taken up in a natural order, succeeds. Obviously these preliminary lists of books, if brought together, the comments being omitted, would supply a comprehensive and 33
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scientifically ordered bibliography of the whole field of theological literature. This is what has been done in the present volume : it is the bibliographical part of the Jahresbericht, with the entire body of comment omitted. Its separate publication is doubtless in the interest of the cheaper and therefore wider circulation of the bibliographical lists : and those who feel that the complete Jahresbericht — a volume of 1250 pages — is too expensive for their purses, should certainly provide themselves at least with this smaller volume, from which they can obtain knowledge of the publications in every
department of theological investigation from year to year. Books on
Egypt and Chaldrea. The Book of the Dead. An English Translation of the Chapters, Hymns, etc., of the Theban Recension, with Introductions, Notes, etc. By E. A. Wallis Budge , M.A., Litt.D., D.Lit., Keeper of the Egyp- tian and Assyrian Antiquities in the British Museum. With Four Hundred and Twenty Vignettes. Crown 8vo, pp. xcvi, 702, in 3 vols. (London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Triibner & Co. Ltd. ; Chicago : The Open Court Pub- lishing Co. Ltd., 1901.) These three beautifully manufactured volumes form the sixth, seventh and eighth volumes of a series of “ Books on Egypt and Chaldsea,” issuing from the press of Messrs. Kegan Paul, Trench, Triibner & Co., under the editorship (and thus far authorship) of Dr. Budge and Mr. L. W. Kiug, of the British Museum. The book itself is a revised and reedited reprint of the translation that accompanied Dr. Budge’s edition of the “ Book of the Dead,” which appeared in three large volumes in 1897, under the title of Chapter of Coming Forth by Day. The reissue of the translation in this separate and cheapened form is in order to meet a consid- erable demand which has showed itself for a useable translation of the great national funeral work of the Egyptians. It is accompanied with extensive Introductions on “ The History of the Book of the Dead “ Osiris, the God of Judgment, the Resurrection, Immortality, the Elysian Fields, etc.”; and “ The Object and Contents of the Book of the Dead ”; with numerous explanatory notes ; and with appendices containing the “ Book of the Dead of Nesi-Khonsa,” the “ Book of Breathings ” and “ A Book of the Dead of the Roman Period.” These Introductions and Appendices, it will be seen, cover nearly the whole ground treated in the extensive Introduction of the larger work, with the exception of the discussion of the “ Magic of the Book of the Dead.” In additiou the present work has been illustrated by a com- plete series of vignettes, representing the drawings by which the Egyptian scribes presented to the eye the significance of the several chapters. The recension of The Book of the Dead chosen for translation is that which is called the Theban— that is, the most extensive of the forms in which the book was used, at the most flourishing period of its use, from about 1600 B.C. to 900 B.C. Everything, it will be seen, has been done to present to the English reader the Egyptian funeral texts in a complete and thoroughly intelligible form : and all but specialists on Egyptian studies will find it to their profit to procure the present admirable edition, which has been given to the American public by The Open Court Publishing Company at a price
within the reach of all. Pyramids and Progress. Sketches from Egypt.
By John Ward, F.S.A. With an Introduction by the Rev. Prof. Sayce, D.D., LL.D. 4to, pp. xx, 288. (London and New York: Eyre & Spottis- woode, 1900.) The origin of this sumptuously printed and beautifully illus- trated book is thus described by its distinguished author. “ Egyptian litera- ture is somewhat heavy. The volumes I have studied in order to learn a little about Egypt are too weighty to carry about, and so I thought a port- able volume, describing something of my wanderings, and with a little his- torical knowledge introduced, illustrated by my own sketches and photo- graphs, might be interesting to folks at home or might tempt a visit to
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Egypt, and when there to go up the Nile farther than Cairo.” If this is a guide book, it certainly is a glorified guide book. Everybody who thinks of going to Egypt and wishes to know what to do and see there — and every- body who does not think of going to Egypt and wishes to be as well oil as if
he had gone — should get this book. Cornell Studies in Philosophy : No. 2.
Brahman : A Study in the History of Indian Philosophy. By Barney Be Witt Griswold , M.A., Fellow of the Punjab University and Professor of Philosophy in the Forman Christian College, Lahore. 8vo, pp. viii, 89. (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1900.) The subject of this mono- graph is the central conception at once of Indian philosophy and of Indian religion. As Brahman does not come to mean the Ultimate Reality uniformly until the Upanishads are reached, the disposition of the essay is determined by the nature of the ease. First the history of the word is traced: then the history of the idea: and then the doctrine of Brahman first in the Upanishads and then in the Vedanta-Sutras is expounded, the latter under the guidance of £ankanacarya. The study is a very fruitful one, and deserves more attention than is likely to be accorded to an academic thesis. The author’s training in Christian theology offers him a point of view from which, as from a parallel evolution, he may survey the course of development of Indian religious thought. The parallel is in our judgment misleading and is easily pushed too far. Thus, for example, the entire comparison instituted between £ankara and Calvin seems to us “literary ” (or in theological circles we might say with a touch of disallow- ance “ homiletical ”) rather than scientific : it may attract interest, it does not seem to elucidate the matter. The same may be said of the whole scheme of comparison used. But this fault of method must not be permitted to obscure the excellence of the exposition which it is sought thus to illustrate.
Publications of the University of Pennsylvania. Series in Philosophy.
No. 4: Hindu Logic as Preserved in China and Japan. By Sadajiro Sugiura. Edited by Edgar A. Singer, Jr., Instructor in Philosophy in the University of Pennsylvania. 8vo, pp. 114. (Philadelphia: The University of Pennsyl- vania, 1900.) This interesting pamphlet opens up in an informing way one of the by-paths in the history of Philosophy. The ground it traverses is practically virgin territory to Western scholars, and indeed is accessible only to those who can make free use of Chinese literature. The pamphlet begins with a brief review of Hindu Philosophy ; its first part is a history of the development of Hindu Logic in India and of its introduction into China and Japan ; the second part is an extended exposition of the Logic of Mahadin- naga ; into a third part is gathered a series of critical notes : the whole
closes with a bibliography of Hindu Logic in China and Japan. The Child.
A Study in the Evolution of Man. By Alexander Francis Chamberlain , M.A., Pli.D., Lecturer in Anthropology in Clark University, Worcester, Mass. Illustrated. Crown 8vo, pp. xii, 495. (London : Walter Scott, 1900 ; New York : Imported by Charles Scribner’s Sons.) “ This volume,” we are told in the Preface, “is neither a treatise on embryology, nor an essay in anatomy or physiological psychology,” but is intended as a study of the child, in the light of the literature of evolution, an attempt to record, and, if possible, interpret some of the most interesting and important phenomena of human beginnings in the individual and in the race. The author has interpreted his subject in the widest possible sense and has collected a vast lot of observations on every phase of child life and on much that goes far beyond the period of childhood. This material will inevitably demand much sifting. Source Book of English History. For the Use of Schools and Read-
ers. Edited by Elizabeth Kimball Kendall, M.A., Associate Professor of History in Wellesley College. 12mo, pp. xxii, 483. (New York : The Mac-
504 THE PRESBYTERIAN AND REFORMED REVIEW.
millan Co., 1900.) We hail with the utmost satisfaction the new method of teaching history by placing in the hands of pupils, as an adjunct to their text- books or courses of lectures, a series of well-selected extracts from “ the sources.” By its use alone can there be attained that sense of reality, that lasting impression, that feeling of personal interest in the characters, that judicial fairness of mind — these are the items of gain mentioned by the editor of the present volume — which add vividness and impart reality to the study of history. The present volume of extracts seems admirably selected and edited : the letter-press is beautiful. It may be confidently recommended
as a good specimen of a good thing. Japanese Notions of European Political
Economy. Being a summary of a voluminous report upon that subject for- warded to the Japanese Government by Tentearo Makato, Commissioner of Japan to make the investigation. Preceded by a sketch of a preliminary inquiry into the same subject by Mr. Teremoto, of the Japanese Legation. Third Edition, revised. Svo, pp. 142. (Philadelphia: John Highlands; Glasgow : Scottish Single Tax League [1900].) The natureof this pamphlet
is sufficiently described by its title-page. World’s Congress Addresses.
Delivered by the President, the Hon. Charles Carroll Bonney , LL.D., the World’s Parliament of Religions and the Religious Denominational Congress of 1893, with the Closing Address at the Final Session of the World’s Con- gress Auxiliary. Printed by the Open Court Publishing Company as a Memorial of the Significant Events of the Columbian Year. 12mo, pp. 88. (Chicago : The Open Court Publishing Company, 1900.) This pamphlet also
is fully described by its title-page. Eros and Psyche. A Fairy Tale of
Ancient Greece retold after Apuleius. By Paul Carus. Illustrated by Paul Thumann. 8vo, pp. xv, 99. (Chicago: The Open Court Publishing Co., 1900.) Dr. Carus’ interest in this old-world story is only in part literary : to him it “reflects the religious life of classical antiquity more strongly than any other book, poem or epic, not excepting the works of Hesiod and Homer.” In retelling it he has therefore sought to emphasize the religious and philosophical ground-tone of it above what is done by Apuleius. He has had it published by “ The Open Court Company ” in a very pretty
edition de luxe. Ulric the Jarl. A Story of the Penitent Thief. By William
O. Stoddard. 8vo, pp. 459. (New York : Eaton & Mains, 1899.) The peni- tent thief, as the title advertises, is identified with “a Saxon jarl”— and
this stirring tale, ending with the cross, is the result. Dickey Downey.
The Autobiography of a Bird. By Virginia Sharpe Patterson , author of The Girl of the Period. With Introduction by Hon. John F. Lacey, M.C. Drawings by Elizabeth M. Hallowell. 32mo, pp. 192. (Philadelphia : A. J. Rowland, 1899.) Every one will see at once that we have here a new mem- ber of the family of Black Beauty and Beautiful Joe , only this time it is a bird that is the hero and the object is reform through early impressions of one of woman’s greatest weaknesses — millinery. It is one of the best stories
of its class we have met with. The First School Year. Translated from the
German of Agnes Sopper by Mary E. Ireland. For Children from Seven to Twelve Years. 12mo,pp. 197. (Richmond, Va.: Presbyterian Committee of Publication [ 1899].) A delightful story of German school-life which may have a mission of value among our little folk too. The Expert Cleaner. A Hand-
book of Practical Information for All who Like Clean Homes, Tidy Appa- rel, Wholesome Food and Healthful Surroundings. Compiled by Hervey J. Seaman. 12mo, pp. 286. Price, 75 cents. (New York and London : Funk & Wagnalls Co.) A very handy little book to have around. It is a classi- fied and well-indexed collection of receipts for meeting the needs and emer- gencies of the housewife. The receipts seem well-selected and simple, and they are written in plain and easily understood language.